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- , verse,
. lsggtingticld, Muss:
Literature and Art.
‘A SUMMARY Svrurrxo or THE Cusnorss, with
their refutations, in attacks upon Noah “Webster,
L . ., ‘ i ronaries, or his Publishers; made
by Mr. Jose h E. VVorcester. Mr. liermnn Con-
and Icssrs. Jenks, Hickling, and Swan.
Geo. an has. Merriam.
1? Tnrs pamphlet is sutliciently explained
in its title. It is a. defence of Webster's
Dictionary from attacks made by the friends
of VVorcester‘s. The work is well done.
Mr. Worcester was employed by Dr. VVeb-
ster to abridge the great work of the latter,
and he publisheda dictionary of his own,
(which he claimed to be superior to Web-
ster's. So fhr as we have seen the question
discussed, and judging by such testimonies
as we have read, the preference is decided-
ly in favor of Webster’s Dictionary. It is
rapidly winning its way into the favor of
men, and seems destined to become the
High Court of authority in Language,
where the English tongue is spoken. So
well aware of this do the publishers of
“lorcestcr seem to be, that Webster's name
, has been adixed to W'orcestcr‘s work, and
thus it has been sold in England.
Hrsronr or
I By Jacob Abbott. With
engravings. .
Pvnnxns.
Published by the Harpcrs
Axornnn number in the series of deep-
ly interesting and deservedly popular juve-
nilc works by Abbott. We doubt not that
it equals its predecessors, and this is as
much praise as any juvenile work needs.
Trcormnnooa: on, Tun BLACK Earns. A Ro-
mance of days not far distant. By G. 1’. R.
James. Published by the Harpers.
Mn. JAMr:s, having chased the “ solitary
horseman enveloped in a. cloak ” all around
‘Europe, has now, as we see by the volume
before us, cornered him. He had him at
the last accounts, in the New VVorld, in a
room writing. “ He sat and wrote.” W o
doubt not that his adventures in and around
“ Old Ti.,” as Ethan Allen used to call it,
will be as interesting as the accomplished
f author usually makes his novels.
Harzn Tmss, by Charles Dickens, has
‘been received. Fetridge 8: Co. have pub-
lished an edition for 25 cents, and the
"Harpers another for 12 1-2. The enterprise
of the latter house is illustrated in the dis-
patch with which they have issued this
work. VVe received their copy from New
York, through Bumharn 8: Brothers, with-
in twelve hours of the time that Fetridge’s
came. They are models of business on-
terprise and energy. The book, we think,
’is hardly equal in interest and excellence
to most ofx its predecessors, but it is worthy
the time necessary to its perusaL Its mor-
al is grand, and its story simple and attrac-
tive.
WE are indebted to the kindness of Hon.
Charles Sumner for the Thirty-Seventh
Annual Report of the American Coloniza-
tion Society, and a copy of the President's
Message.
1 True Palhjincler Railway Guide for the
N. E. States for August is out. It can be
found at any of the periodical dealers.
Tm: llrkmlsnx Magazine is the name of
a new monthly, published at Little Rock,
and edited by Newbem & Ringo. Albert
Pike is one of the contributors.
g<g3> EV]-‘.NlNI'l Diuzssns.-Perhaps there
is a hit in the following at the prevailing
style of ladies’ dresses:
“ When dressed tor the evenlng,the girls nowadays,
i , Source an atom of dress on them leave;
Nor blame them-for what is an evening dress,
Inn a dress that is suited for live? "
gnhgfs llliitiedr-tpiltluaum.
“ That” Plagiarism Again.
PHILADELPHIA, Aug. 5th., 1854.
Dear Dodge,-I have just been reading,
in your journal for this date, a letter over
the signature of T. H. Chivers, which really
makes me feel very much like exclaiming,
“ VVhew, Moses!” and which also most ur-
gently calls for a reply from me. Doubtless
the aforesaid gentleman will be much sur-
prised to hear this, for, from the tone of his
attack, any one can see that be thought to
annihilate me.
I would not encroach upon your valuable
space, my dear Dodge, to refer to this silly
matter at all, did I not think that simple
justice demanded that I have some chance
to reply. I will, therefore, say my say as
briefly as possible.
Illore than a year ago the IVaverly diago-
zine contained, over the signature of J. R.
Sneed, that same “pretty little poem ” which
has since been published by T. H. Chivers
in the Literary Museum. This is the affair
that has created all this hubbub, which may
very appropriately be termed “ atempest in
a teapot! ”
lVell; with that hatred to plagiarism and
plagiarists which I must forever feel, as soon
as I noticed the last na.med appearance of
the piece, I wrote to the l'Vuvcrlcy [Maga-
zine-being one of its Corresponding Edi-
tors-as follows: [I include only so much
of the letter as refers to the matter before
us.]
“I cannot close this without saying a
word about something that, to say the least
ofit, strikes me as being rather singular;
and Dr. Chivers, who has been made, or
rather has made himself, so notorious through
the columns of the l‘Vaverley dlayazine, fig-
ures in it. I notice in a literary journal for
the current wcek, (let me say here that my
not mentioning the name of the Jlluseum
was altogether for a different reason from
that which T. H. Chivers assigns,) over the
signature of the M. D., those very pretty
verses, entitled ‘Annals Grave,’ which ap-
peared in the lVauerley about a year ago,
over the signature of J. R. Sneed. Now
these two names may belong to one person,
as Dr. Chivers is suspected of a variety of
soubriqucts, (Fiat Juslitia for instancc,) but
I very much doubt it. If it is so, or if the
M. D. can be proved to be the author of the
stanzas in question, I shall be very sorry for
what I am saying. But I very much doubt
whether he can‘, there is too much imita-
tion visible in the Doctor’s writings, and of
the very man, too, that he most thoroughly
denounces.”
‘Reference is made in the last sentence to
Edgar A. Poe, but as it is foreign to the
subject in dispute, and would not, saving
through a. long ,' ' be ’
by the Jluseum readers,and is not, after all,
worth the understanding, we will pass it.
It will be seen that I admitted the possi-
bility of the two names belonging to one
person, though I did not half believe it. As
to the allusion of being sorry for what I
said, I here forever retract it; on the con-
trary, I now feel glad, very glad; I do so
love to sec impotent rage.
T. H. Chivers should have thought, be-
fore he wrote this letter, that his day would
be a short one, that my turn would soon
come, and that his wings might be clipped.
He should have considered also, that instead
of fnuling me a “ young one," he might find
me quite as old as he, the great “ Bridlcr ! "
I am repeating his own langua.,r.vc,) the
great “ child ” that (lid “ lie down with dogs,“
but that instead of “ getting up with linens,"
got torn to pieces.
And then to think of an individual as lit-
tle known as T. H. Chivers, calling a. pro-
duction of his own immortal I VVhy, in ten
years, aye, in ten days, this “ Anna’s Grave”
would have sunk into utter oblivion, had it
not been for this great “ tempest in a tea-
pot l ”
As to the term “ billingsgate,” I leave it
to the candid reader which of these commu-
nications is more deserving of the designa-
tiou.
With one word more I am done. He
charges me, J. Starr Hollow-way-that pun
-with stealing his refrain of Ah, no, no!
His Ah, no, no! That is too good to be
lost, really 1 Next we shall hear him claim-
ing as his own, the beautiful and euphonious
exclamation of “ O, myl"
I have now placed this matter right with
the public. Both sides have been heard,
and I will not trouble our good friend
Dodge with anything more on the subject.
If T. H. Chivers desires to continue it, how-
ever, let him address me personally-as he
and I are the only ones interested-and if
his communications be couched in a gentle-
manly manner, they will receive from me
every attention. Below he has my address
in full. Believe me, my dear Dodge,
Your friend,
J. STARR HOLLOWAY,
308 Washington Street, Philadclzrhia.
The True Spirit.
VVM. CuAMnr:ns,of the Edinburgh Jour-
nal, speaking of his visit to the American
Capitol, says :-“I was obligingly conduct-
ed to the top of the cupola, whence a splen-
did view was obtained of the city beneath;
the two environing arms of the Potomac,
beyond which were the woody hills of Vir-
ginia, forming a. framework to the picture.
On descending from this giddy altitude, I
ventured to otfcr a. gratuity to my conduc-
tor, which he respectfully refused, with an
explanation worthy of recording: ‘I can-
not take any money, sir, for doing my duty.
I am a public officer, and paid by the pub-
lic.’ If there be a door or gallery-keeper
in either House of Parliament, who would,
in this way, refuse half-a-crown, let him by
all means be named, for he must unques-
tionably bc a. prodigy 1”
Effects of Good Company.
M. RornscnILD was asked one day, by
a young man, an intimate friend of his fam-
ily, to lend him 5,000 francs.
“ No,” said the Baron; “ I only do busi-
ness now with crowned heads, but I'll get
you the money. You my walk with me
once along the arcadeb to the Bourse, tak-
ing me familiarly by the arm.”
The r ’ was eifected, and at the
end of it the young man had his 5,000
francs in his pocket, and had refused offers
of 50,000 more.
Not Ashamed of Their Trades.
Hos. W. W. Parran, one of the Cir-
cuit Judges of Tennessee, was for-mcrlya
blacksmith; and “for the fun of it,” he
lately made, with his own hands, an iron
tire-shovel, which he presented to the Gov-
ernor, Hon. Andrew Johnson. In return,
Gov. Johnson, who was formerly a tailor,
cut and made with his own hands a coat,
and presented it to the Judge. Such men
not only add lustre to their official positions,
but set an example which “ Young Ameri-
co. " would do well to imitate.
ET‘ R!<‘.AD Aunt Debbie's Visit. to New
York, on page 18‘).
189
The Lawl
THE “ purc vexation, and long procrasti-
nation,” and “glorious uncertainty" of the
Law, were lately illustrated in England. A
tailor brought an action against a customer
for 9.51, for a suit of clothes. He proved
the delivery of the goods to the satisfaction
of the County Court of Marylebone, and
just as he was congratulating himself on his
success, his opposing counsel enquired :-
“ hVha.t sort of buttons did you furnish? "
He answered “cloth buttons." Said the
Judge: “ What has such a question to do
with the case ?” “Very much,” was the re-
ply. And the learned gentleman proceeded
to produce statute after statute, passed during
the reigns of Wm. the Third, Queen Anne
and George the First, to protect the Birming-
ham button trade, which proved the making
of cloth buttons illegal, and that the plaintiff
had forfeited his claim, and laid himself liable
to heavy penalties. The London Times,
from which this account is abridged, adds :-
“ It is here enacted,” said this accomplished
excavator, “ that no person in England shall
make, sell or sew on any clothes, buttons or
button-holes made or bound with cloth, serge,
camelets or druggets, or any other stud",
under a penalty of forty shillings for every
dozen butttons so made ; and the provisions
further direct that no person can recover for
clothes made without brass buttons.” At the
close of this notable speech a roar of laugh-
ter, according to the rcport, proceeded from
the persons who were in the Court. Every-
body laughed but the poor tailor. For him,
these absurd statutes, so glibly quoted, were
no laughing matters. The Judge found that
these acts, which had been passed to encour-
age the Birmingham button trade, in the
good old days of protection, had never been
repealed; and the result was that the tailor
was onsuited, and impudently told by the
man who had cheated him that he would he
proceeded against. for the recovery of the
penalties specified in the acts!”
Macready’s Dying Spot.
Mr. Macready was never very popular
with stock actors. He annoyed them ex
ceedingly at rehearsals, by every
man his particular place on the stage, so
that in the picture presented he should he
the center. This actor must stand here,
that actor there-it was his will. On one
of the nights of his last engagement in New
Orleans, when he was to play Hamlet, he
was very particular, at rehearsal,in the
disposition of characters at the fall of the
curtain. Hehad selected the most com-
manding place on the stage, well down to
the lights, and declared that there he in-
tended to die. It so happened that as the
fatal moment was approaching, just after
Hamlet bad stabbed the king, his majesty
took it into his head to die on the spot se-
lected by the philosophic Dane. The poi-
son was burning in Hamlet's veins: he was
in the agonies of death; but still he found
time to say, some voce, to his step-father,--
“Back-baek-I'rn going to die there."
The blood of outraged royalty was up;
and thc stabbed monarch rcplied--
“ I am king, and I’ll die where Iplease-
pick out a place for yourself” And Ham-
let was compelled to let his soul out further
up the stage.
-T-4?--v""‘
fly the “individooals" in L. who am
so anxious to know the amount of property
we are taxed for, will apply per-somlly u;
this olIice, we'll give ‘em all desired in.
formation, and--a flea. The hour is not
pm-ticular; we're always in good humor.