Solomon Maimon: An Autobiography Part 18

"A very agreeable little book for an idle hour. The author shows himself equally at home in the serious as in the comic."--_Graphic._

"They are exceedingly clever, and br.i.m.m.i.n.g over with fun and humour. The author has earned a right to be called the Laureate of the Law, for certain it is that he invests the most prosaic of all professions with quite a halo of poetical interest."--_Nonconformist._

"Unkempt enthusiasm and rollicking good humour are the chief features of this little volume."--_Academy._

"A charming little book. We should seek the author on the bench, not at the bar."--_Glasgow Daily Mail._

"Will please not only those 'gentlemen of the long robe' to whom the tiny volume is dedicated, but a far larger circle. It is a delightful book of verses daintily got up."--_Glasgow Herald._

"These lyrics will bear comparison with the best work that has been done in this particular line. Will rival some of the best of Outram's lyrics in common sense and humour."--_Scottish News._

"The lyrics are written for the most part with sprightliness and ease.

The more serious and imaginative pieces disclose a rich vein of poetic fancy. There are many who will procure the second edition from a recollection of the pleasure which the first gave them."--_Journal of Jurisprudence._

"Will bear comparison with Outram's, Neave's, and Aytoun's. Faultless in rhythm, and remarkable for rhyme."--_Evening News._

"The picture seems to us exquisite. Altogether, the work proves the writer to be a true poet."--_Stirling Advertiser._

"The verses are inspirited and inspiring, expressive of the feelings of many in these golden days of summer. To the second edition the author has added some sixty pages brimful of the delightful verses which are found so attractive in the first edition."--_Weekly Citizen._

"One of the two strongest and purest writers in the Scottish vernacular that have been added to the choir of Northern minstrels during the present century."--_Christian Leader._

"The admirable _Law Lyrics_ ... bright with strokes of pawky humour, and abounding in verses each of which contains a picture, the volume is one which will become a lasting favourite with its readers."--_The Bailie._

"Strongly incentive to hearty honest laughter which makes the heart grow brighter, while to staid and grave and reverend seigniors the sweet lark-song-like verses relating to nature, no less form subjects for reflection."--_Ayrshire Weekly News._

"The little volume is interesting from the first page to the last."--_Inverness Courier._

"Some of the verses exhibit a power of picturesque description which it would be difficult to match, except out of the masters of song. Reveal in attractive style the patriotism which animates the poet, and establishes a claim additional to that of his undoubted genius, to a large and appreciative Scotch audience."--_Greenock Telegraph._

"Such pieces as 'Scotch Porridge, etc." are amongst the most felicitous examples of Scotch poetry we have seen in recent years."--_Brechin Advertiser._

"Strong common sense pervades the whole, and the views of the author are expressed with a directness, force, clearness, and simplicity, which leaves nothing to be desired."--_North British Advertiser._

"Of a highly captivating nature, the author being possessed of a keen sense of the humourous."--_Stirling Observer._

"Equal to anything of their kind known to us after Burns. A very genial and enjoyable volume."--_Aberdeen Gazette._

"He expresses himself with a felicity and pawky humour that equal Lord Neaves and Outram at their best, and in several poems the natural grace and pith of expression remind one more of Burns than any other writer.

This may seem pitching it very high, but in our opinion, the poems will bear out the a.s.sertion. We recommend it to all in the profession of its author, and to everyone who can appreciate true humour and good poetry."--_The People's Friend._

"Many of the lyrics which celebrate the charms of rural life and scenery are extremely fine, displaying as they do rare observing powers, a rich fancy, and flowing tasteful language."--_Dumfries Standard._

"He is a follower of Robert Burns and finds in the Court, and in the Temple, an inspiration which the great Scotch poet found in the fields of Ayrshire."--_Pall Mall Gazette._

"He possesses the power of writing simple flowing verse in an eminent degree."--_Literary World._

_THE SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST AND THE SALVATION OF THE FEW._ A Criticism of _Natural Law in the Spiritual World_. By Rev. A. WILSON. Crown 8vo, cloth, 2s. 6d. Post free.

"In a former number of this _Review_ we drew attention to two or three of the main fallacies of Professor Drummond's shallow but attractive book. We are glad to see that Mr. Alexander Wilson has, with a scientific knowledge equal to Professor Drummond's, and with a logical faculty far superior, subjected it to a far more systematic and exhaustive a.n.a.lysis. Those who were interested in the dazzling pages of _Natural Law in the Spiritual World_, but not blinded by their glitter, will welcome this justification of their doubts in the solid form of facts and arguments, and those who were fascinated by the Professor's brilliant rhetoric and imagery will have a rather painful awakening.

They will see the idol shattered which they had to fall down and worship as a condition of attaining to an intellectual standpoint from which they might see all known facts in their harmony and continuity. It is, no doubt, very fascinating to be able to harmonize and to systematize; but suppose your theory of law, identical in the natural and in the spiritual worlds, results in the necessity of a.s.suming that man is nothing more than a part of material nature until he is "converted," and of believing that the survival of the fittest means the salvation of the few (according to the a.n.a.logy of the seeds of an orchid, of about one person in a generation), would a G.o.d who has made men so be the object of religious feeling, or this spiritual world, with its rare and lonely tenants, be worth arguing for? It is probable that few readers of this new "a.n.a.logy" drew such inferences, but were merely interested in Professor Drummond's spiritual and scientific gymnastics; but for the thoughtful few who may have been disturbed by them it is well that he has been answered by one so capable, both from a Christian and scientific point of view, as Mr. Wilson."--_Sat.u.r.day Review._

"It is this fallacy, the presumption that the laws of matter are continuous through the spiritual universe, that Mr. Wilson finds himself first called on to meet; and he does so by contending that the principle of continuity applies only if the spiritual universe be itself material, and not necessarily even them, inasmuch as there are in the material universe imponderable bodies to which the law of gravitation, for example, does not extend.... Mr. Wilson has written a very able, acute, and temperate criticism, in a thoroughly religious spirit, with perfect courtesy to his opponent; and we should be glad to think that his work would be widely read."--_Scotsman._

"... The critique is interesting, clever, earnest, and, we may add, respectful to Professor Drummond.... Here, we think, Mr. Wilson occupies a very strong--indeed, an invulnerable position. This is not, however, so much the critic's own position as that of other writers, but, he appears to us, in great measure, to recognise and accept it. His own words farther on are: 'The identification of the natural and spiritual laws, if taken absolutely, would lead to the confounding together of mind and body, G.o.d and Nature.' ... We are much interested in the author's criticism of the Professor's arguments touching the subject which gives the book its t.i.tle. It forms an earnest and powerful chapter...."--_Literary World._

"An answer to Professor Drummond, a work of some importance has just made its appearance. It is certain that Mr. Wilson's able examination of 'Natural Law in the Spiritual World' will attract a good deal of attention and controversy."--_London Figaro._

"Mr. Wilson, with great vigour and intrepidity, criticises the Professor's conclusions.... The great question raised by Professor Drummond's work is that of the relation of the natural law of the survival of the fittest to the doctrine of election. His critic combats this conclusion with much acuteness and ability."--_Glasgow Herald._

WITH PORTRAIT AND NUMEROUS ILl.u.s.tRATIONS.

_DAVID KENNEDY, The Scottish Singer: Reminiscences of his Life and Work._ By MARJORY KENNEDY. And _SINGING ROUND THE WORLD: A Narrative of his Colonial and Indian Tours_. By DAVID KENNEDY, Junr. Demy 8vo, 480 pages, cloth extra, 7s. 6d. Post free.

"These unique musical tours were from time to time described by the chief musician's son David in different books having reference to the Colonies, to India, and to the Cape. They have now found a graceful and appropriate preliminary chapter in the form of a memoir of David Kennedy himself.... The memoir has been prepared by Miss Marjory Kennedy with much taste and judgment, and will be read with interest, not only for the sake of her father's characteristic letters and stories of early life, but as recalling in various other ways pleasant memories a.s.sociated with a family of rare gifts and graces."--_Glasgow Herald._

_LIFE IN SHETLAND._ By JOHN RUSSELL. Crown 8vo, Cloth, 3s. 6d. Post free.

"Contains a great quant.i.ty of very interesting information about Shetland and its people. By a happy instinct, Mr. Russell has been led to write about those things which he knows thoroughly--namely, his own doings and experiences.... There follows the story of the strange minister at the 'second diet' of a Presbytery meeting who wanted to propose a toast, but was informed by the horrified moderator that 'G.o.d's people in that part of the country were not in the habit of drinking toasts.' The rebuked stranger quietly rejoined that he 'had never before seen G.o.d's people drink so much toddy.' Much, both edifying and entertaining, might be quoted from this unique volume, but enough may have been said to gain for it the public attention it deserves."--_Scotsman._

"We owe much to men like Mr. Russell, who, without any pretence, note down what comes under their observation of an interesting nature regarding curious customs, habits of life, and folk-lore, among the people with whom they come into contact.... He is never entirely dull, and we prefer such volumes which bring us into actual contact with a poor but unsophisticated people to many pretentious stories. We follow the minister as he goes out and in among the people, suffering hardship, visiting, catechising, getting up a stock of fifty sermons, relating odd anecdotes, and noting down peculiarities. We recommend this book to all who are interested in the subject. It makes luminous to us the obscure lives and labours of an interesting people."--_Pen and Pencil._

"An interesting and thoroughly realistic picture of life in Shetland is presented to us in this volume by Mr. Russell, whose sojourn in those Northern islands gave him good opportunity of observing the place and the people.... Good stories, and brief observations and remarks on the geology, natural history, and antiquities of the islands, and the peculiar manners and customs of the people, ever and anon crop out in the narrative.... It contains, however, a faithfully accurate and very reliable description of _Ultima Thule_. And as the reader closes the volume he will find that he has made acquaintance at once with a singular country, and a pleasant guide to its chief points of interest."--_Aberdeen Free Press._

"A bright and entertaining volume, and a valuable volume withal, anent Shetland and the Shetlanders.... I know no book on Shetland equal to this of Mr. Russell's. Its style is pointed and racy; the author talks about what he knows and what he knows intimately. To put the matter in a word, there isn't a dull page in 'Three Years in Shetland,' from the t.i.tle to the sentence at the close in which Mr. Russell expresses the wish that 'all good things may attend' the islanders among whom he spent three delightful years."--_Bailie._

"A very readable book about a very interesting people.... A minister, of course, enjoys altogether exceptional opportunities, and Mr. Russell seems to have made good use of them. He writes frankly about things as he found them, which he is perhaps all the better able to do for his change to the position of an outsider."--_Glasgow Herald._

"It contains some of the best clerical stories--though not always of the most dignified nature, nor such as will tend to exalt the cloth in the estimation of rude and irreverent laics--that we have come across, and it gives very interesting, and for the most part accurate, details of the everyday life of the people."--_Elgin Courant and Courier._

UNIFORM WITH "BENDERLOCH."

_LOCH CRERAN. Notes from the West Highlands._ By W. ANDERSON SMITH.

Crown 8vo, cloth, 6s. Post free.

"Readers of Mr. W. Anderson Smith's _Benderloch_ will welcome from the same pen a second instalment of notes of natural history in the Western Highlands ent.i.tled _Loch Creran_.... The influences of free moorland air and buoyant water, of a s.p.a.cious heaven and wide horizon, are with us, and give zest to the study of fish and fowl and flower that are liberally displayed. Whether it is the flight of a solitary bunting, or the habitat of the pipe-fish (_Sygnathus_), the progress of _Myae_ in the refluent tide or a nested robin domiciled among strange perils, the scenic suggestion cannot fail to persuade the senses. A large and distinctive portion of Mr. Smith's book is devoted to the investigation of the rich spoil of the dredger, as might be antic.i.p.ated of so enthusiastic a student of fish culture, and many of the most interesting pages describe excursions on the waters of Etive and Creran and Benderloch, or among the rocky pools and stretches of sand exposed by the ebbing sea. By sea or land, on the wild hills or among the flowers and insects of his garden, Mr. Smith has ever something to say that is worth hearing, and he says it with admirable clearness and force."--_Sat.u.r.day Review._

"These charming notes from the Western Highlands are truly fascinating.

Entering into the very spirit of the life and scenery by which he is surrounded, Mr. Smith gives his readers the benefit of the vast and out-of-the-way stores of information he has gathered in all branches of natural history. Each month, as it pa.s.ses, has a chapter devoted to all its manifold changes and doings, and we get many glimpses of charming excursions, not unmixed with danger, when overtaken by those sudden climatic changes to which that grand wild mountainous coast is often exposed. An enthusiastic naturalist, the writer does not ride his hobby to death, but, like a true lover of Nature, his sketches are bright and fresh, and full of vivid descriptions, interspersed with many curious anecdotes and facts relating to both the animal and vegetable kingdoms.

No better or more instructive guide to the fauna and flora of the Western Highlands could be had than Mr. Anderson Smith's most pleasant book."--_Literary World._

"They will be well rewarded who follow Mr. Anderson Smith along the sea-sh.o.r.e, the hill-side, or the trouting stream; they will find how much a quiet and attentive eye can glean from a loving study of the denizens of earth, air, and water. The book is provided with a good index, and those who have not leisure or patience to read it through at a sitting may dip where they please. Like Mr. Smith's dredge, they hardly ever fail to bring up something of interest."--_Scotsman._

"Students of natural history who read _Benderloch_, by Mr. W. A. Smith, will give a cordial welcome to _Loch Creran_, another and even more attractive work by the same observant author. With the exception, perhaps, of Mr. Jefferson, no living naturalist is gifted with a more picturesque manner of depicting the habits of birds, beasts, and fishes than is Mr. Smith.... Then what a vast fund of entertaining instruction is gathered in these excursions; a royal road to natural history is laid down by Mr. Smith, and the student follows it leisurely, culling charming bits of zoological lore here and there. One never knows what a new day may bring forth when accompanying Mr. Smith on his rambles....