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Article REVIEWS OF NEW BOOKS. Page 1 of 6 →
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Reviews Of New Books.
REVIEWS OF NEW BOOKS .
fPublishers are requested to send works for review addressed to the Editor of the Freemasons' Magazine , 74-5 , Great Queen-street , Lincoln's-Inn-fields . ] School Dai / s of Eminent Men , by John Times , F . S . A ., Author of " Curiosities of London , " & c . London : Kent & Co . ( late Bogue ) , Fleet Street . — Mr . Timbs is one of those writers whose works are always acceptable ^ not so much for their original views or depth of thought , as for what to general readers is far more valuable , —the bringing together in the most agreeable form , and in the clearest language , facts and matters of interest which , spread over a library , are likely to beoverlooked as comparatively unimportant , or which the maj ority of mankind have n ot the leisure to collect for themselves . Often aaM have come under our notice , there are none which we have consulted with greater pleasure than this , which certainly goes far to prove the adage that " the hoy is father to the man , though that the rule is not without
exception is also shown by its pages . The plan of the work is so admirably explained by the author himself , that we make no apology for presenting it " The present volume is divided into two sections . The first is historical as well as biographical : it sketches the Progress of Education , commencing with the dark age of our history , when knowledge was wrapt in the gloom and mysticism of the Druidical grove ; and thence the narrative travels onward and upward to the universal teachings of the present time . In this section are
pourtrayed the education of each sovereign , his early habits and tastes , which often exercised powerful influence upon the people . In each reign I have described the foundation of the great schools , and sketched the educational customs of the period . The teaching of its illustrious men is also incidentally recorded ; and wherever such men have proved benefactors by the proposition or establishment of special schools or' sytems of education , their lives and plans are narrated with fuller detail . How fraught with pious memories and hallowed associations are those great institutions of this great country — her public schools ! How consecrated are their localities — how illumined by the
bright lights of centuries — whether around an ancient college nestling at the hill-foot—fit home for the tender young—as at Winchester ; whether amid picturesque spires and towers , as in ' the watery glade' of Eton ; or in the kindred regal munificence of Christ ' s Hospital and Westminster —¦ in the olden cloister and cell peopled with busy sons of learning and earnest expounders of the reformed faith ; or where citizenship and philanthropy have kept pace with kingly dispensation , raising within many a city , town , and hamlet , homes for the orphan and friendless , —where the good seed might be sown , and tiny child trained up in the way he should go .
" Each of these foundations has its history , relics of its celebrated sons , and fond memorials of their worth . For centuries after the victory of Agincourt , were shown the rooms in which was reared Henry V . at Oxford ; to this day , Dry den ' s autograph in wood is preserved at Westminster ; and with each returning summer is renewed the leafy shade beneath which Addison loved to meditate at Magdalene . " Among the incidental varieties of this section are the descriptions of the changes in manners and customs , the old usages and quaint forms , ceremonies and observances , of a more picturesque age than the present . " JTor , in journeying through these byeways of local history have I pas » ed
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Reviews Of New Books.
REVIEWS OF NEW BOOKS .
fPublishers are requested to send works for review addressed to the Editor of the Freemasons' Magazine , 74-5 , Great Queen-street , Lincoln's-Inn-fields . ] School Dai / s of Eminent Men , by John Times , F . S . A ., Author of " Curiosities of London , " & c . London : Kent & Co . ( late Bogue ) , Fleet Street . — Mr . Timbs is one of those writers whose works are always acceptable ^ not so much for their original views or depth of thought , as for what to general readers is far more valuable , —the bringing together in the most agreeable form , and in the clearest language , facts and matters of interest which , spread over a library , are likely to beoverlooked as comparatively unimportant , or which the maj ority of mankind have n ot the leisure to collect for themselves . Often aaM have come under our notice , there are none which we have consulted with greater pleasure than this , which certainly goes far to prove the adage that " the hoy is father to the man , though that the rule is not without
exception is also shown by its pages . The plan of the work is so admirably explained by the author himself , that we make no apology for presenting it " The present volume is divided into two sections . The first is historical as well as biographical : it sketches the Progress of Education , commencing with the dark age of our history , when knowledge was wrapt in the gloom and mysticism of the Druidical grove ; and thence the narrative travels onward and upward to the universal teachings of the present time . In this section are
pourtrayed the education of each sovereign , his early habits and tastes , which often exercised powerful influence upon the people . In each reign I have described the foundation of the great schools , and sketched the educational customs of the period . The teaching of its illustrious men is also incidentally recorded ; and wherever such men have proved benefactors by the proposition or establishment of special schools or' sytems of education , their lives and plans are narrated with fuller detail . How fraught with pious memories and hallowed associations are those great institutions of this great country — her public schools ! How consecrated are their localities — how illumined by the
bright lights of centuries — whether around an ancient college nestling at the hill-foot—fit home for the tender young—as at Winchester ; whether amid picturesque spires and towers , as in ' the watery glade' of Eton ; or in the kindred regal munificence of Christ ' s Hospital and Westminster —¦ in the olden cloister and cell peopled with busy sons of learning and earnest expounders of the reformed faith ; or where citizenship and philanthropy have kept pace with kingly dispensation , raising within many a city , town , and hamlet , homes for the orphan and friendless , —where the good seed might be sown , and tiny child trained up in the way he should go .
" Each of these foundations has its history , relics of its celebrated sons , and fond memorials of their worth . For centuries after the victory of Agincourt , were shown the rooms in which was reared Henry V . at Oxford ; to this day , Dry den ' s autograph in wood is preserved at Westminster ; and with each returning summer is renewed the leafy shade beneath which Addison loved to meditate at Magdalene . " Among the incidental varieties of this section are the descriptions of the changes in manners and customs , the old usages and quaint forms , ceremonies and observances , of a more picturesque age than the present . " JTor , in journeying through these byeways of local history have I pas » ed