Literary CuriositiesSource: The American Art Journal (1866-1867), Vol. 6, No. 9 (Dec. 22, 1866), p. 141Published by:Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/25306696 .

Accessed: 13/05/2014 19:59

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

.JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range ofcontent in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new formsof scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.

.

http://www.jstor.org

This content downloaded from 194.29.185.189 on Tue, 13 May 2014 19:59:12 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

AMERICAN ART JOURNAL 141 into a tavor or the government the legitimate (le cisions of a competitioin open- to every one,.and that those journals lhave designated as the recip ient o' this pretende(d lavor a person attached to tlle service of the Prince Imperial."

The correspoindent of the London lAews writes that "themost imuportant operation going oln away from the Exbibition building andpark is the election of the jury that is to select the Frenchi works of art whiclh are to be exhibited next year as representing the living Frencb school. The v'oting takes place in the Louvre, an(d will be clo sed this week, The jury will be mainly a repres entative body. All French artists -who hiave re ceived the cross of the Legion of Honor, as a rec ognition of the muerit of their works, and all ar tists who have received a medal of one of the

exhibitions ot fine arts in Paris have a vote. The

,jury will cousist of fifty-seven miiembers, divided into iour sectiolns; 1. Oil paintings, water-colors, and drawings; twenty-ifur jurymen. 2, Sculp ture, including medallions; fifteen juLrymen. 3.

Architectural models and (lrawings; niine jury meni, 4. Engraving- and(l litbography, nine jury ien, Of this jury two-thlirds are elected, and one-third is i"ndirectly appointedl by the Imperial Commiiission; so tbat'tlie artists will elect sixteen jurymen in the first sectioln, ten in tbc second sec tioIn, and six in the third andl fourth sections.

Each artist votes only in that section in which he has obta'.ned honors. A preparatory meeting of the sculptors has already been lie'd in the Palais deo l'Industrie, in the Champs-Elysee, to draw up a list ot thirty- candidates who will be submitted ior election as jurymien in the second section.:'

THE NoX0th American contains au interesting, article on 'TAP

- Ma lat 't4'? the&,celabrated epic poem of tthe Hindoos written about two cen turies before Homer, or eleven B. C. Malaa

means great, and Baharata is the niamie of an an tediluvian prince, of the race of Altri, who, according to IIiiidoo mythology, was one of the sonis of Brabmiiia, or the Creator. The particular dynasties ob the old world that succeedled in r- ta tion to supreme rule-from the creationl to the delu,,e, J 656 years, were, according to Hin(loo necounts, fourteen in nulmber, and with the pos terity of Bharata they ended. Thie Hindoos regard everything in these writiong as sacred.- They give spirited descriptions of the battles, record strange incidents anid romanitic adventures, and relate curious legends and miraculous stories, arising out of a war of vengeance, in which two royal houses are engaged. The various clharac ters are composed ot diviuities and demons, kings and queens, princes and princesses, soldliers an(d priests, froni which we may g!ean much in lorniation of the political. religious and social condition- of the people of India at thlis early period. The epic is written, la the mletaphorical style peculiar to Eastern poetry. The reputed autlhor is called Vyasa, who also wrote anotheer

poemi called Vishnu or Crishnu, the black shep hercd. The hero, like Achilles, is invulnerable, except in tlhe right heel, is indispensable on the battle-field, and is killed by an airow in the only vulnerable part. The author of' the Rameauna Valmeekee-is calledtle father ot Hindoo poetry. Respecting poet, the following legend is current among his countrymnen: one of the klinos beingr

charmle(d with the poetry of the Raiieauna, re quested him to write another ep:c poem, in cele bration ot the wars of thle Panduvus amid Konru vaus. The poet dleclinled. Vyasa then oflered his services to thle ksing. His verses wrere examlined

anid approved of an(t he became the authbor of the Mababbarata. It is a fact that .adds greatly to the literary hionor of the Hindoo sagges, that theyr studied bothi poetry and miiusic as mi en of science, at this early period, and laidl dowvn exce'Lent rules for them. Eg-ypt and Assyria were in very earlr times in coimmunicati'on with India, but'it is no uitil Alexander the Great invades India, that we obtain ainy authentic account of the country. This was 325 years before Christ.

LITERARY CURIOSITIES.

At one perio(d of timlC the pr'actice of medicine was rather (lang,erous. At Dijon, in 1386, a phy s.cian was tined fifty gclden francs and imprison ed for not completing a cure. The beautiful Aus trigilda, consort to Gontran, King of Burggundy, of the sixth century, ha(l been permitted by her husband, in compliance m ithi her cdyin*g request, to have her two physicians slain and buried ivith her.

A persecutedI Huguenot said: "Your unchris tian 'virulence against me shall cost hundreds of people their livos." For this remark he was brought before a court of justice, charged witlh halborin- the nmost bloody designs; " I am inno

cent," he replied. "M Ay only miieaning was, that I meant, sin-ce I could not preach, tL) practice as a physician."

The origin of Round Robin is thlis: "It was

customary amolng the ancients to write names, whether of gods or of their friends, in a circle, that none might talke offence at seeing another's name preferred to lhis own. Sailors, alone, pre serve this custom in its purity, tor when any re

moLs.rance is amliong them, they sign it in a cirele and call it a Round Robin."

Perhaps it is not possible to give a reasonable account of the origin of names. But we may con

clude that many names were taklen from bo(lily

peculiarities, qualities, accomplishments, or de fects-as Crookshanks, Sheepsbanks, Lighttfot, Golightly, Swift, Hopper, Ambler, Pace, Jumper, Walker, &c., took their names from the bodily

agility of the first bearers, and Heavysides, Saun

ter, Onslow, Waddle, &c., is from the cohtrary quality. Tlle Pains, Aniguishes, Hedacres, owed their appellatories to, perhaps, the imprudence of their ancestors in eating- and drinking, while the progenitors of the Wilds, Sangwines, Joys, Mer rys and Bucks were a frolicsome set.

Mlany niamiies originated itom found(llings, as

Townsend, Lane, Street, Churchyard, Court, Star, Barn, Stable, Grange and Orchard. Some who,

unfortunately, di(d not know their lather, took

their maternal niame, as Mission, Goodyson, Mol

lyson, Anson, Jennison, Bettison, Nelson, while others wvho were not born in wedloclk, to 'the pa ternal name, as Masterson, Stewardson, Jackson,,, Thomllson and Wtlson- Somie were named aftek their complexion, as Black, Wlite, Brown and

Scarlet, anid others after their callings, as Butch

er, Baker, Smith, Mason, Carpenter.

Dr. Buirney's 'anecdote of a set of parish offi

cers might apply pretty near at home. These offi cers applied to Sonetzen, a celebrated organ

builder, to examine their organ and to make im

provements in it. " Gentlemen, " says he, " your

orgran be wort von hundred poulnd, just inow, well, 1 will spend von hundred pound upon it, and it

shall then be wort fifty-."

Dr. Campbell and Lord Holland were talking, upon the sulbject of particular Providence. W hilb thus conversing, a wvell known paymaster and

contractor entered, full of health. Upon being con0ratulated upon his goo(d health, "Yes, Provi dence liad been very k;ind to him, lor he had niever kiinwi i lmoment's sickness in his life." As soon as he left, Lord Hollan(d said: "Tbere, now. Campbell, there, now, you see what Providence has been abott-taking care of that scoundrel's health, torsootb, and niot miiiding what becomes of your dropsical belly or of my L- d ring worm!'

MAKING POETRIY IN BED..-They tell tlle fol

lowing ; 6c f tle late Jolhn Pierponit:

We were aftt breakfast-it wvas rather late.

Where on earthl is ouir good husband?1"

In bed, makinig poetry," said slie.

'Inideed !" "Yes; flat on hiis baickl, withi hiis eyes rolled ulp

in his lhead !"

Soon after the genitlemiani hiimself nppeared,

loolkingo somewhlit the 'worse for the laiboro lie liad

gone thiroughli witlh, aind all the happier that the

thiroes wNere over, aind thlc offsprilng ready for ex

hibition.

"Here," said lIe, " tell me wlat you tliik of

these two lines," lhandinig miie at paper oni whlichi

was w^rittenl, wvith the clearniess aln(d beauty of

copperplate: "Their reverend beards that sweep their bosoms wet

With thechill dews of shady Olivot."

"Cliarni!iD g !" said 1. " And what then-whlat

are youi driving at?"

Well, I w,as thlininiglc of Olivet, anid then I

walited a rlhymine for Olivet ; anid rhlymes are tthe

ruddes, yoi klniow, according to Hudibrias; and

then uprose tile picture of the Apostles before

me-' tleir reverelid beards all drippilig with

the dews of niglit.' "

ENGLISuI MASONIC ITEMS.-Amolng the Kings of

England who were Graond M1asters, were Alfred in

the year 900; Henry VI., 1446; Henry VII., 1500; James l., 1603; Charles I., 1625; Charles

IL, 1660; and Witliaim I11.,. 1692.

The Duke of Wellington was made -a Mason

when a colonel in the British army, his own father

beingI at the time Master of the Lodge he joined.

Sir Robert Peel was also a Mason. Lordl

Brougham was initiated on the 20th of August,

1790. The Red Cross Kniglhts cannot close their Col

leg,e of Viceroys in England without the recital of

the seven precepts of the prelate3. AtLer the

Engslish Masonic dinners, Yon Nobis Dornine is frequently sung, the toasts, songs, and( glees fol

lowing.

TII1E Ros8.-The trade in roses, as is wvell

kno11Wn, is of considerable imiiportanice in France.

Rose trees are cultivated in differenit parts of

the country in opeln fields, jtust as tuirnips or

cabbatges. Tlhus thiere atre 500,000 rose trees

niear Orleans, 200,000 near MIetz, 1,000,000 niear

Angers, 1,500,000 niear Lyons, 2,000,000 nietir

Paris, and 2,000,000 in the thiirteeni commllzunes

-of Bri-Comte-12obert. Thoe varieties called the

Rose-Tlie, thle Bourboni, and Mousseuse flourishi

particularly in the envirolis of Paris and Orleans.

These flowers are raised for distillation into ex

tracts, used -in perfumiiery as rose-water and as a

constitutenit of cant de Colog>ne. Thle ottar of rose is manuilifactured manilly .ia thle East and is exceedinigly v aluablle. _

This content downloaded from 194.29.185.189 on Tue, 13 May 2014 19:59:12 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions