Notes On Literature, Science, And Art.

people has been so great as that , of the present inhabitants , the Celtic race is , if not inferior in point of numbers , vastly so in possession of property and education . In many counties , the owners of the land are of Teutonic extraction , and the same rule applies to tbe class of large fanners and traders . 'What , then , are the Irish people , peculiarly so called , and what is their claim to distinct and independent nationality ? Is the Celtic remnant to impose laws on the Teutonic element ? If sowh ? Not because these Irish

, y excel their countrymen in wealth and intelligence . Is it because they surpsss in numbers only ? Or because they have the special name of the Irish in Ireland ? If the quarrel rests on a name , let us see what the name implies . The name , Ireland , is half Celtic , half Teutonic , like the origin of the people , its first syllable being derived from lar , the west , as also in use in lar , or West Connaughtand its second is a Teutonic wordOr take a still older

, . designation , Eire , and we see it has the same origin , being from lar , west , and e or ei , the Scandinavian term for an island . An Irishman , therefore , signifies no more than a denizen of the Western Isle . If he be of Celtic race , there are sufficient reasons for styling him a West Briton ; and should lie decline to be categorised with cimovians

cne of Wales ami the Scots of North Britain , he may be asked what claim has he to higher distinction . We shall examine his pretensions presently ; yet cannot forego the declaration that we ourselves are proud of being Irishmen , not yielding to -any in ardent desire to see our countrymen contented and prosperous ; and we are also proud of the fact , that our country is the right arm of Great Britain , and that it is , under the will of Providence , destined to stronger b Who are the le who

grow year y year . peop , assuming an exclusive right to the title of Irish , pretend to deem themselves superior to the Anglo-Saxon race , and too exalted to be included in the British nation ? It will be found , we believe , on the strictest and most impartial inquiry , that the stock whence these supercilious Hibernians derive is no other than British . So that of all the races inhabiting Ireland , this is the very one which may properly be styled West British . "

The Athenmum does not believe in looking upon Joseph MnYlord William Turner ( the barber's son , who died not long ago possessed of a hundred and forty thousand pounds , all amassed by the sale of his paintings ) , as a " neglected genius : " in fact , who can ? In noticing the life of that artist , by Mr . "Walter Thornbury , just published , our contemporary , after showing up some of Turner ' s

meannesses , remarks : — " Wo have gone further in grouping these details and traits—all put forward by a panegyrist—than we might have done , were it not for the claims on veneration for the man , thrust forward in every page , and foiled by disparaging epithets applied to those who surrounded Turner . When we find the * restless poison of envy' which ' oozed incessantly from Constable ' s tongue' dwelt upon to enhance by contrast the geniality of tho man whowe had been reading a line earlier' was too reserved

, , often to praise ;'—when we find Sir Thomas Laurence , the gentle , the munificent , wdiose patronage of and delight in Art went far to entangle his own fortunes , sneered at as ' the landlord's son , '—it is only fit that the barber's son , were he twice the divinity in his art he was , should be shown , as he was in reality , —the miserly master of his barber father ! " And it adds : — " Turner's life as an artist—as can be proved past cross-examination from the book

before us—was one of success from the first , of gain and appreciation . There is no saying at how low a rate literature of a sort can be done . We have before us an advertisement from a brother of the quill located at Lynn , in Norfolk , offering to write ""for the press , at fixed and very low charges . " The almost fabulous sums received

bysome of the popular writers of the day seem to be alike out of the hopes and aspirations of the Norfolk prodigy ; for prodigy he must be of a sort to gain even an existence at his " very low charges . " No sort of literature seems to be above his grasp or below his notice . " Original local and other tales , poetry , charades , enigmas , riddles , " & c , are manufactured at tho rate of fourpence per hundred words ;

whilst " reports of public meetings , police news , events of any kind , addresses , advertisements , ice ., " are " corrected and rewritten" at the " rate of twopence per hundred words ; " and " all matters will be penned in a generous or humorous style , according to order . " The advertiser names no political principles ; we presume that he is not tied to a shade in such trifles .

Miss Agnes Strickland , in her recent Lines of the Bachelor Kings of England , thus describes the death of the pious young monarch , Edward the Sixth : — " The last fatal change took place ¦ on the Gth of July . The morning of that day was ushered in b y ]

the most dreadful thunderstorm that had passed over Europe ill the memory of man . England had its full share of it . The turbid state of the atmosphere probably hastened the young king ' s death . A few hours before he expired , darkness as at midnight , came down upon the earth at noonday , the thunder crashed and lightnings blazed , trees were torn up by the roots , and bridges were swept away by the torrents . But the fury of the storm disturbed not the tranquility of Edward ' s departing irit . Dr . Owenthe

sp , physician who had been present at his birth , and two of his favourite gentlemen in waiting , Sir Henry Sidney and Sir Thomas Wroih , were the sole watchers beside the deathbed of this fairest and most promising of England's royal hopes . In that solemn hour , when hovering on the verge of eternity , the dying sovereign explained to Sidney , ' that his zeal for the permanent establishment of the true reliion of the Gospel in Englandand his desire to

g , prevent a relapse into Popery , was the reason of his electing the Lady Jane Gray to succeed him , in preference to his sister Mary , not any personal ill-will or spleen unto that princess ; but out of pure love to his subjects , desiring that they might live and die in the Lord as he did . ' Exhausted , perhaps , by this discourse the royal youth long remained silent and motionless , with closed eyes ,

as if unconscious . At length he gave utterance to the following prayer : — ' 0 Lord God , free me , I beseech thee , out of this miserable and calamitous life , and receive mo among the number of thine elect if so it bo thy pleasure , although not mine , but thine , bo done . To thee , 0 Lord , do I commend my spirit . Thou knowest , 0 Lord , how happy I shall be may I live with thee for ever , yet would I might live and be well for thine elect ' s sake , that I miht faithfully serve thee . 0 Lord Godbless thy people and

g , save thine inheritance ! 0 Lord God , save thy people of England , defend the kingdom from Popery , and preserve thy true religion in it , that I and my people may bless thy holy name for thy Son , Jesus Christ . Then opening his eyes , which had previously been closed , and seeing Dr . Owen , his physician ( from whose report we have this prayer ) , sitting by , he said , ' Are you there ? I had not thought you had been so near . ' Yes' replied the physician'I heard your highness

, , speak . ' ' Indeed , ' said Edward , ' I was making my prayer to Clod . ' About three hours after he suddenly exclaimed , 'I am faint Lord Jesus , have mercy upon me and receive my soul ; then , sinking on the bosom of Sir Henry Sidney , who was tenderly supporting him , he gently breathed his last sigh , with those words on his lips . He expired about six o'clock in the evening , in the midst of the storm , aged fifteen years , eight months , and eight days . "

Sir John Forbes , M . D ., D . C . L ., F . R . S ., physician to her Majesty ' s household , and one of the Editors of the Cyclojieedia of Practical Medicine , died on Wednesday , the 13 th inst ., in his seventy-fourth year . The following is a specimen of the superstitious rubbish which some of the educated classes both in England and in America

believe most firmly in . We quite from the Spiritual Magazine , the organ of the spirit-rappers : —• " The lights being extinguished , footsteps were heard as of persons walking in their stocking-feet , accompanied by the rustling sound of a silk dress . It was then rapped out by the alphabet : 'My dear , I am here in form ; do not speak . ' A globular light rose up from the floor behind me , and , as it became brightera faceswraaormteu . by a crownwas distinctl

, , , y seen by the medium and myself . Next the head appeared , as if covered with a white veil ; this was withdrawn after the figure had risen some feet higher , and I recognised unmistalceably the full head and face of my wife , surrounded by a semi-circle of light about eighteen inches in diameter . The recognition was complete , derived alike from the features and her natural expression . The globe of light was then raised , and a female hand held before it was

distinct ,, v visible . Each of these manifestations was repeated several times , as if to leave no doubt in our minds . Now the figure , coming lower down and turning its head , displayed , falling over the globe of light , long Jioioing hair , which even in its shade of colour , appeared like the natural tresses of my wife , and , like hers , was unusually luxuriant . This whole mass of hair was whisked in outfaces many times , conveying the same sensations as if it had been actually natural human hair . This also was frequently repeated

, and the hair shown to us in a variety of ways . The light and the rustling sound then passed round the table and approached me , and what seemed to the touch a skirt of muslin was thrown over my head , and a hand was felt as if holding it there . A whisper was now heard , and the words ' Sing , sing , ' were audibly pronounced . I hummed an air , and asked , ' Do you like that ? ' ' Yes , yes , ' was plainly spoken in a whisper , and in both cases I recognised

distinctly the voice of my wife , to which I had become sensitively familiarised during her last illness , when she had become too weak to talk aloud . An arm was passed round my neck , and I asked her to kiss me . The light immediately approached me , and a . form