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Article REVIEW OF NEW PUBLICATIONS. ← Page 3 of 8 →
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Review Of New Publications.
Jogist in condemning the modern mode of printing Greek without accents , yet we are far from estimating the present value of those marks so hig hly as he has here done . However , " the work deserves the careful perusal of every man who pretends to the character of a scholar , anil there may be many who will objeit to its positions , that have not the ability to overturn them . We forbear to give extra'fts from this essay , because the general reader would not be amused by them , and the man of learning ' would not be satisfied
without reading- the whole . The History of Vnnilio Gonzales , surnamed the Merry Balchefar- From the French of Atma-Rene Le Sage , Author of the celebrated Novels of '< Gil Bias " ¦ and'the Devil upon Crutches . ' 2 vols . -izmo . 9 * . boards . ' Robinsons . THE reader is informed in the preface to this work that it is the last effort
of the expiring genius of Le Sage , author of Gil Bias and Le Diable de Boiteux : that there is a Spanish novel of nearly the same title ; but , except m one or two trilling instances , bearing as little resemblance to each other as Macedon , by Flueliin ' s comparison , does to Monmouth . ' In the comparison between Macedon and Monmouth , '' says the ingenious Welchman , ' the situation , * look you , is both alike : there is a river in Macedon ; there is also , moreover , a river at Monmouth ; and there is salmon
in both . ' A co-incidence , peculiarly unfavourable to the writings of any author , is their resembling , without being equal to some other publication universally known and admired ; aud the case is by no means altered , even by the circumstance of both being the work of the same writer . Paradise Regained , it is true , proceeded'from the pen of " the immortal author of Paradise Lost ; avid it is possible , though we think barely so , that the History of Vanillo
Gonzales may have beeti the work of the author of Gil Bias . Yet , whilst nature and probability mark every feature of the hero of Santillane , _ in Vanillo we are disgusted with low caricature , and with a patchwork of incidents , to which the title of' a history' is scarcely applicable . We discover this , indeed , without advancing beyond a few pages of the first volume ; from which we borrow the following cxtrart , that our readers may f ' oim their own opinion . Vanillo , after an account of his birth and parentage , proceeds
thus' Barmen Camicero , my mother ' s brother , the most celebrated surgeon in Murcia , and my godfather , took us under his care . Conceiving that I was more likely fo succeed in his profession than in that of my father , who , accredited as hi- was for medical skill , had not died rich , he took me immediately from school , and bound me apprentice to himself . Like other apprentices , I was at first obliged to sweep the shop , to draw water from the well , to wash the shaving-cloths , and to heat the curling irons . I had at
this time just entered into the fourteenth year of my age , and being a thoughtless , giddy , gay , lively lad , 1 acquired the nick-name of Merry Pin . At the expiration of two months I was permitted to handle , and instructed how to Use the razor . A poor beggar , who came to ask a charitable shaving at the shop , was the first subject on which 1 tried my skill in surgery ; for , as my uncle and Ids assistant were both abroad , the operation of course devolved upon me . Desiring the poor mendicant to seat himself on a bench which
was appropriated to these kind customers , I placed a dirty shop-cloth beneath his chin , and lathered him so spiritedly about the nose , mouth , and eyes , that be grinned like an old monkey tormented by its keeper . But things took a very different turn when 1 began to use the razor ; for the in-
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Review Of New Publications.
Jogist in condemning the modern mode of printing Greek without accents , yet we are far from estimating the present value of those marks so hig hly as he has here done . However , " the work deserves the careful perusal of every man who pretends to the character of a scholar , anil there may be many who will objeit to its positions , that have not the ability to overturn them . We forbear to give extra'fts from this essay , because the general reader would not be amused by them , and the man of learning ' would not be satisfied
without reading- the whole . The History of Vnnilio Gonzales , surnamed the Merry Balchefar- From the French of Atma-Rene Le Sage , Author of the celebrated Novels of '< Gil Bias " ¦ and'the Devil upon Crutches . ' 2 vols . -izmo . 9 * . boards . ' Robinsons . THE reader is informed in the preface to this work that it is the last effort
of the expiring genius of Le Sage , author of Gil Bias and Le Diable de Boiteux : that there is a Spanish novel of nearly the same title ; but , except m one or two trilling instances , bearing as little resemblance to each other as Macedon , by Flueliin ' s comparison , does to Monmouth . ' In the comparison between Macedon and Monmouth , '' says the ingenious Welchman , ' the situation , * look you , is both alike : there is a river in Macedon ; there is also , moreover , a river at Monmouth ; and there is salmon
in both . ' A co-incidence , peculiarly unfavourable to the writings of any author , is their resembling , without being equal to some other publication universally known and admired ; aud the case is by no means altered , even by the circumstance of both being the work of the same writer . Paradise Regained , it is true , proceeded'from the pen of " the immortal author of Paradise Lost ; avid it is possible , though we think barely so , that the History of Vanillo
Gonzales may have beeti the work of the author of Gil Bias . Yet , whilst nature and probability mark every feature of the hero of Santillane , _ in Vanillo we are disgusted with low caricature , and with a patchwork of incidents , to which the title of' a history' is scarcely applicable . We discover this , indeed , without advancing beyond a few pages of the first volume ; from which we borrow the following cxtrart , that our readers may f ' oim their own opinion . Vanillo , after an account of his birth and parentage , proceeds
thus' Barmen Camicero , my mother ' s brother , the most celebrated surgeon in Murcia , and my godfather , took us under his care . Conceiving that I was more likely fo succeed in his profession than in that of my father , who , accredited as hi- was for medical skill , had not died rich , he took me immediately from school , and bound me apprentice to himself . Like other apprentices , I was at first obliged to sweep the shop , to draw water from the well , to wash the shaving-cloths , and to heat the curling irons . I had at
this time just entered into the fourteenth year of my age , and being a thoughtless , giddy , gay , lively lad , 1 acquired the nick-name of Merry Pin . At the expiration of two months I was permitted to handle , and instructed how to Use the razor . A poor beggar , who came to ask a charitable shaving at the shop , was the first subject on which 1 tried my skill in surgery ; for , as my uncle and Ids assistant were both abroad , the operation of course devolved upon me . Desiring the poor mendicant to seat himself on a bench which
was appropriated to these kind customers , I placed a dirty shop-cloth beneath his chin , and lathered him so spiritedly about the nose , mouth , and eyes , that be grinned like an old monkey tormented by its keeper . But things took a very different turn when 1 began to use the razor ; for the in-