1853.] Means of Conveyance to the Palace. exert itself. The grand terrace for two thousand feet lets fall a living fringe of silver from dolphins' mouths into the long-drawn basin at its foot -the central fountain shoots up 230 feet-its 1000 jets contrived to form a moving constant pyramid, like some arctic glittering peak of ice; on every side he sees the thread-like streams of silver drilling the air, and down on either hand of the grand avenue leaping floods form long descending stairs of glittering light, and then sweep tumultuously into the lake. Such will be the circulating system of this garden, and such the force of its heart's pressure, that 2000 tons of water will be forced through its entire frame every minute. The water-works at Versailles, hitherto the finest in the world, are but very rarely set in motion, and the cost of working them is said to be 500l. each time. Those of Sydenham will be five times as extensive, and will play fifty times in the year. new But how is the great public to take advantage of all these wonders, located far away in the country, and without easy reach of people's pockets or time? This difficulty has been seen and forestalled by the directors, who, in order to provide for the City and North-Eastern traffic to the Palace, have come to an arrangement with the Brighton Railway Company, by which people will be carried from a station especially devoted to the Crystal Palace, direct from London Bridge to the building for one shilling, admittance into the building included. The carriages will run on rails laid down upon the Brighton line as far as the Sydenham station, where they will diverge upon a branch which makes a wide sweep round the bottom of the grounds, then mounts its southern flank, an incline of nearly 200 feet, and enters a spacious crystal gallery, formed by the right wing of the Palace. Trains will take up and set down here every quarter of an hour. The West-End traffic will be provided for by the Crystal Palace and West-End line, which will have two termini in London, one near the Penitentiary, the line from which will cross the Thames by a bridge 621 between the Westminster and Vauxhall bridges, and run on through Lambeth until it joins the branch coming from the south side of the new Battersea bridge, at the corner of the park, along the eastern flank of which it will run, until it communicates with the South-Western line; from this point its progress will be through Norwood to the Palace. By means of this line the north-west of London will be well supplied with railway conveyance to the new Palace, as well as its south-western portion by means of the junction with the South-Western Railway. A third communication is sketched out by a company, which proposes to run a direct line to Hastings from a station on the north bank of the river, situated between Blackfriars and Southwark bridges, crossing the river thereabouts, going on through Clapham, and then sending off at Dulwich a branch to the Palace. Thus, it will be seen, there will be three lines of railway to the People's Palace. Still, if the undertaking is to be a success, which we sincerely believe it will, yet more communications will have to be opened, for we question even if the three lines combined could send down as many as a hundred thousand people with any promptitude or comfort; and surely twice as large a number as this will often, in the summer, rush down here on fête days, when the grand fountains are to be seen in full play. More than 109,000 never visited the old building in one day, yet we all know what a constant river of people was always seen flowing on fine days towards the Palace from every open corner of the park. Louis XIV., it is said, was so terrified at the cost of Versailles, that he burnt all the bills. We question, however, if that splendid pile cost anything like the sum that the people's palace will ultimately draw from the pockets of the shareholders. At the last general meeting of the Company the report stated, that payments had already been made to the extent of 440,550l. 6s. 9d. Can it be doubted, then, that a million will be approached, before the undertaking is completed? With such an expenditure will the Crystal Palace pay ? It strikes us that, to ensure its paying, the most lavish expenditure is absolutely necessary. Unless the Crystal Palace is made one of the wonders of the world it will not draw a sufficient stream of people, seven miles from their homes, and it will not extend its centripetal force to the uttermost ends of the earth. But there can be no doubt that, whatever the ingenuity of man can accomplish, and whatever art, regardless of expense, can produce, will here find their home. Lovers of the beautiful, who are generally a little sanguine, are not the only persons who think it will succeed. On the Stock Exchange, where fancy and imagination are at an awful discount, the shares of the Company are at a premium. More, then, upon the question, Will it pay? need not be said. On the faith of this success, land, in the neighbourhood of the Palace, has risen to ten times its former value. The Company, itself, sold 100 acres of the Penge estate, which it did not require, for 100,000l. Already we see the skeleton of a city sketched around the Palace. In every direction we find new roads laid out, in a rectangular manner, terraces begun, and intimations of 'land to be let for building purposes.' A splendid hotel has already been planted, close to the Palace, and this one will shortly be eclipsed by a building to be constructed by the Crystal Palace Company, which is, we believe, to be more extensive and beautiful than anything of its kind in England. From this establishment a covered way will lead direct to the Palace, and it is supposed that many persons affected with chest complaints will take up their abodes here for the winter, and pass their days in the warm and equable temperament of the nave, which will thus become to them a kind of home Madeira, and, it is to be hoped, will prove a valuable aid to the physician, in the attempt to tide valuable lives over the trying portion of the year, in our changeable climate. It seems to be the 'mission' of the present age to bring to a head questions which heretofore all parties have allowed to remain in abey * ance. The erection of the Crystal Palace has raised the question whether innocent recreation for the toiling millions on the sabbath is a thing to be desired or denounced. We must confess that to us shutting the Palace and its grounds on a Sunday would be like playing Hamlet with the character of Hamlet left out by special desire; for on what other day can the working-classes of all denominations escape from the drudgery of life? It is argued by many excellent persons that the opening of the Palace would form a precedent for the universal desecration of the Lord's Day. But surely this precedent has long enough been established without such awful consequences by the Government itself, in throwing open on Sunday to thousands of grateful visitors, Kew Gardens, with its museum, and Hampton Palace, with its picture gallery. But against this argument it is urged that no charge for admission is made to these places, and the chink of coin does not break the peaceful silence of the seventh day; an argument which seems to us completely disposed of by the fact that more money is taken for Sunday pleasure-trips by railway, upon many lines, than during the whole remainder of the week, or the notorious truth, that on that day it is high change' at the gin-shop. We cannot help agreeing with the opinion of Mr. Maurice, that every crystal palace may be closed, but there will not be one human spirit more quickened or purified.'* Whilst it is to us equally evident that the Sunday opening of this Palace of Beauty and Instruction will prove 'a heavy blow and great discouragement' to the publican interest' of the metropolis. If this positive good were alone to result by answering in the affirmative the question, Shall the Crystal Palace be opened on a Sunday?' we should say ay most heartily; but it is impossible to deny that the influence of the place itself will have a vast effect in civilizing and Christianizing that portion of the populace which cannot be driven to places of worship either by act of parliament or private exhortation. Sermons on the Sabbath Day. GREEK AND ROMAN PHILOLOGY.* TWO editions within fourteen years of a pair of treatises upon Linguistic Science-a subject which must, in some degree, be presumed caviare to the general reader-imply both sterling merits in the volumes themselves, and no inconsiderable amount of philological interest in the public at large. On both accounts, therefore, it may be thought that such good wine needs no bush, and that further recommendation of these treatises on our part is, at least, superfluous. Yet the contents of Dr. Donaldson's volumes are so various, suggestive, and important, that we make no apology to our readers for drawing attention to them, more especially as, although they have been much read, they have hitherto been rarely noticed by our critical contemporaries, and because, also, since the date of their first publication, geology and physiology, the sister-sciences of philology, have thrown new light upon the history and vicissitudes of mankind. Our readers, however, need not apprehend from us a dissertation on Grammar. We shall confine ourselves to such portions of the volumes before us as deal with the families and the dispersion of the human race, rather than with the divisions of their speech or the mechanism of their expression. Once again the human swarm is setting forth to replenish the waste places of the earth: and it may be interesting to glance, however briefly, at the course and history of its earlier migrations. A word or two is, however, due to philology itself, and its present aspects and functions in this country. Its recognition as a science, putting forth equal claims, and standing upon parallel ground with the exact sciences, is comparatively of recent date. The term philologer has undergone several changes. At one period it was nearly as vague as that of Francis Moore, physician.' It implied, simply, a person addicted to literature, and was appended to works treating of archæological, historical, and even ethical questions. Thomas Hearne dubbed himself a philologer, and orator Henley, from his 'gilt tub,' professed to give lectures on philology. Next, it was restricted to proficients in the languages of Greece and Rome; and if Hicks, Lye, or Manning, with all their knowledge of the Teutonic idioms, had styled themselves philologers, the insulted majesty of Oxford and Cambridge would have been up in arms against such presumptuous intruders. We have become more tolerant, as the knowledge of languages has advanced. The title of philologer is now as willingly accorded to Bopp and Grimm, as to Hermann and Buttmann. Rome and Greece submit to the custom of gavelkind, and no longer assume an elderbrother's share. Linguistic science surveys mankind from China to Peru, and embraces the speech of all the families of the earth, without reference to the superior mechanism or refinement of one or more among their various dialects. About twenty years ago, the learned Archdeacon of Lewes, in the Preface to the Philological Museum, deplored, and with much reason, the general feebleness of English philology. He observed, that, with one or two brilliant exceptions, our native scholars had contributed, for several years, a mite, and a mite only, to the knowledge of classical antiquity: and that our principal reviews, which at one time handled such topics with considerable learning and acuteness, had, since 1825, nearly abandoned that field of speculation. From works then on the anvil, or of which samples had been published, this distinguished writer, who has himself done much Varronianus: a Critical and Historical Introduction to the Ethnography of Ancient Italy, and the Philological Study of the Latin Language. By J. W. Donaldson, D.D., Head Master of King Edward's Grammar School, Bury St. Edmund's. Second Edition, enlarged. London: John W. Parker and Son. Cambridge: John Deighton. 1852. The New Cratylus: Contributions towards a more Accurate Knowledge of the Greek Language. By J. W. Donaldson, D.D. Second Edition, much enlarged. London: John W. Parker and Son. 1850. to remove the reproach he makes, augurs, indeed, a renascence of the philological spirit among us. His augury has since been amply fulfilled. We have no longer cause to blush at the disproportion between the learning we impart and that which we produce. The ancient spirit of our Gattakers, and Hickeses, and Bentleys was not dead, but sleeping: and we can at the present moment point with becoming pride to a wellappointed auxiliary corps of English philologers, keeping time and step with the sturdy and numerous German phalanx. Whether merited or not, we Englishmen have the character of being a particularly practical race and as history is the most practical offspring of philology our progress in that science has very consistently been most conspicuous in the department of ancient history. In Thirlwall and Grote, in Arnold and Merivale, we possess a quaternion of writers in that province unsurpassed by laborious Germany or by livelier France. In Mr. Kemble's Saxons in England, we possess a work founded on sound philological investigations, and treating of the fontal problems of the English constitution. Mr. Paley's editions of Eschylus and Propertius will entitle him to be addressed, as docte sermones utriusque linguæ,' and prove that, while other departments have been more generally studied, verbal criticism has not declined. Professor Wilson and Colonel Rawlinson sustain our ancient reputation for oriental scholarship-a field which, considering the extent, importance, and expansion of our Indian Empire, should be peculiarly our own; while Dr. Donaldson, in the treatises we now proceed briefly to notice, contributes to general and comparative grammar-the nursing parent of all branches of philology two solid bases or buttresses, at least, which, by their reception, both at home and abroad, are confirming Dr. Arnold's prediction, that he would one day produce a work on the science of language which would rank beside the most acute and elaborate performances of German erudition.' Neither our limits now, nor the general character of our pages, permit us to dissect with the minute ness due to such works either the New Cratylus, or the Varronianus. We can merely afford to glance at their design, plan, and materials, with a strong recommendation indeed of their more recondite chapters to all studious readers.' But philology is a science much more comprehensive than grammar; and from its many aspects we shall select the ethnological, both as the easiest of compression and as the most generally attractive in itself. And we the rather incline to this selection, because ethnology not only readily and indeed almost inseparably connects itself with geology and physiology, but also, owing to certain present movements and mutations of the human race, promises to exhibit some novel features, and to be entering upon strange and extensive combinations in at least two quarters of the globe. The Spectator remarks that, in order to relish a book thoroughly most persons require to know something of its author's appearance and complexion, life, and conversation. The observation may be extended to the titles of books, especially if, like the New Cratylus and Varronianus, they contain something allusive, not to say enigmatical. So acting on the spirit, although not on the letter of the Spectator's remark, and leaving the author to be his own biographer if he will, or to take his posthumous chances of being chronicled justly, we shall pause for a moment to ask why he has so denominated his literary offspring. What is Hecuba to us? Who is Cratylus that he should expound Greek to us, or Varronianus that he should pore into the origins of Latin? Who the new Cratylus may be, will perhaps be best understood by ascertaining the character and pretensions of Cratylus senior. Of him many persons know thus much, that he was a disciple of Heracleitus, who accommodated Plato with his name as the title of a dialogue principally turning on etymologies. But knowing this is by no means an intimate acquaintance with Cratylus père. There are few more unfortunate positions in life than that of a person who, firing off a jest in company, is taken to be in earnest, and set down as a dealer in truisms, if not indeed a profane and scurrilous fellow. Now this is very nearly what has happened to old Cratylus, or rather to his representative Plato. The philosopher had been vexed in his inmost soul by the verbal tricks and quibbles of the Heracleitan and Eleatic schools, and thought to expose and extinguish them for ever by reducing their linguistic fooleries to ad absurdum, and making them ridiculous in the eyes of the laughter-loving Athenians. The wits and sages of his own days probably understood his drift; but the pleasantry was quite thrown away upon the learned of later ages, who either adopted Plato's jests as so many etymological canons or abused him for attempting to bamboozle the whole grammarian race. Old Cratylus, then, has been until very recently a much misrepresented gentleman. He meant to be amusing; he was supposed to be serious and dogmatical, and, under this delusion, he was not unfairly put down for a most unconscionable twaddler. There is no danger of Cratylus fils being similarly misunderstood. Now and then indeed he shows himself by an occasional spurt of wit capable of shooting with his father's bow; but he is generally a grave and earnest investigator of his subject, dealing after a trenchant fashion with the Eleatic and Heracleitan sciolists of his day. His name is nearly all he borrows or inherits from his humorous but mistaken ancestor. But what is the import of Varronianus? According to Roman usage the name would imply that for private or political ends Dr. Donaldson had been adopted by some paterfamilias who had no lineal heirs, or having such, thought them slow coaches,' and not likely to do credit to his gens. Now, had this been so, we should have said that the adopting Varro had secured for himself a very learned and sharp-witted successor a highly creditable graft upon the Varronian stock. But it is no such matter. M. Terentius Varro, it appears, nearly nineteen centuries ago published, although he never printed, an instructive work entitled, De Lingua Latina, wherein, after the ancient fashion, he boggled a good deal about the origin of words, but preserved many curious examples of their earlier uses and forms, besides rescuing many from oblivion. 625 And now Dr. Donaldson, in consideration of Varro's learning and other merits, enrolls himself in his clan, so far as philology is concerned, and discourses, with far ampler means and appliances at hand, upon the roots, cognates, and offsets of the Roman tongue. Having thus in some measure acted upon the Spectator's hint we proceed to examine the contents of these treatises, giving precedence to the elder volume, which professes on its title page to be a contribution towards a more accurate knowledge of the Greek language.' And let us not be deemed paradoxical for asserting, in limine, that an English doctor of divinity-for Cratylus fils is no less-writing several centuries after the Greek ceased to be a living tongue, may be better acquainted with its structure and relations than even an Athenian or Byzantine born. Of the Greeks in all ages-whether listening to Demosthenes in the assembly, or expounding Homer to Petrarch and Boccaccio at Florence -it may be affirmed that they were neither themselves philologers, nor did they possess the materials for philological inquiries. Language they regarded universally from a purely literary point of view, and as their own unrivalled literature reigned paramount-having within the range of their observation nihil simile aut secundum, they felt and expressed a lordly scorn of all other mundane dialects. For all purposes of art, logic, and elaboration of the internal mechanism of their language this exclusive pride was highly serviceable. But it was fatal to all pretensions to philology, of which the strength lies in expansion, not in seclusion, in comparative, not in single examples. Nay, in some respects it was unfavourable to the development of the Grecian mind itself, since it severed the Hellenic race, in a measure, from the human family, and by narrowing the ground of their sympathies and interests, hastened their intellectual decline. The Greek grammarians, like the Italian Della Crusca, comprehended perfectly the right usage and the fine and almost imperceptible shades of meaning in their subtle and harmonious idioms. But here their function ends. They never dreamedand they would have resented the |