Fix this text
THE LITERARY NEWS,
Fix this textA REVIEW AND MAGAZINE OF FACT AND FICTION;
Fix this textITfjc slris, Sciences, antr Belles Uctivcs.
Fix this textPrice ss. per Quarter.
Fix this textSingle Numbers, 6d.
Fix this textNo. 13.]
Fix this textSYDNEY, SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 1837.
Fix this text[Vol. 1.
Fix this textOUR PAPER.
Fix this textAt the close of our first quarter we take the
Fix this textopportunity of saying a few words on the pros-
Fix this textpects and progress of our new journal. We
Fix this texthave, on the whole, every reason to he satisfied
Fix this textwith the reception we have met with at the
Fix this texthands of the public. Still we must confess that
Fix this textthe circulation of our paper is but yet compara-
Fix this texttively limited; some are even in ignorance of its
Fix this textexistence; others know it only by repute ; while
Fix this textmany who have become subscribers evidently
Fix this textmistake the purport and nature of the work.
Fix this textWe have in more than one instance heard com-
Fix this textplaints of a dearth of original matter in the
Fix this textLiterary News; as if we had ever professed to
Fix this textfill our pages with the manuscripts of untried or
Fix this textunpublished authors. We confess ourselves un-
Fix this textequal to the task; and the whole contributions
Fix this textwe have received from other quarters, even if fit
Fix this textfor publication, would hardly complete one of
Fix this textour numbers. A periodical of this description
Fix this textwould not only, in this country, be morally im-
Fix this textpossible to produce, but the production itself, if
Fix this textit were feasible, could answer no end, save that
Fix this textof ministering to the vanity of the respective
Fix this textwriters. For surely it will be at once conceded,
Fix this textthat, whatever may be the merit of Australian
Fix this textauthors, there are few, if any, whose effusions
Fix this textwould be preferred by the general reader, even
Fix this textto the twice-told tales of a Scott, a Marryatt, or
Fix this texta Cooper, or to that monthly mass of new-born
Fix this textliterature, in its variety of form and spirit, which
Fix this textis exported in such perfection, and arrives here
Fix this textnone the older for its voyage, in the pages of the
Fix this textReviews and Magazines. Supposing it be true,
Fix this textthen, that our work professes to be nothing more
Fix this textthan a compilation, is it not a compilation of
Fix this textinfinitely more valuable matter than the most
Fix this textvoluminous lucubrations of experimental or un-
Fix this textknown authorship ? What virtue is there in the
Fix this textword originality P Who would not rather hear
Fix this textone Paganini than listen to the catgut-scraping
Fix this textof twenty original violinists? But, after all, is
Fix this textour work not original ? or does every reader of
Fix this textthe Literary News pretend to say that he has
Fix this textmet with nothing in its pages which he had not
Fix this textpreviously perused ? Do all the books to which
Fix this textwe have access for selection lie on their own
Fix this texttables ? or if so, have they emptied their contents,
Fix this textor even taken the trouble to extract from them
Fix this textthat which seemed most worthy of preservation P
Fix this textIt is our business to do this; and although it is
Fix this textfairly open to any one to question the judgment
Fix this textexercised in the selection, it is absurd to make
Fix this textthe mere fact of selection a ground of reproach
Fix this textto our work. We confess ourselves wholly unable
Fix this textto discover any difference, in point of interest,
Fix this textbetween the works of an author in octavo or
Fix this textquarto; nor can we see why the value of an
Fix this textextract should he lessened, if it come new to the
Fix this textreader, because he who is its editor is not also its
Fix this textauthor. Supposing that, instead of resorting to
Fix this textprinted works for our literary material, the same
Fix this textmaterial were supplied to us direct from the
Fix this textauthors themselves, would the value of our
Fix this textjournal, as far as the reader is concerned, he at
Fix this textall increased by such original contributions?—in
Fix this textother words, would he be put in possession of
Fix this textany thin'g more than he is now, assuming, as in
Fix this textgeneral we have a right to do, that the sources
Fix this textfrom which we borrow are not necessarily, or
Fix this texteven probably, consulted by him, and may be,
Fix this textperhaps in many cases are, entirely out of his
Fix this textreach? At a venture we will undertake to say
Fix this textthat not one in a thousand has read, and not one
Fix this textin a hundred has ever heard of, the works of
Fix this textDr. Channing; yet these works are among the
Fix this textmost powerful and eloquent—perhaps the most
Fix this textpowerful and eloquent—that this a S£ g
Fix this textduced. Thev w
Fix this textfflUHvlAb OmM" TTinral and intellectual
Fix this text«miiirof*f*T. which no other work that we know of
Fix this textis capable of imparting. They are equally
Fix this textmarked by grandeur, force, and originality, and
Fix this textbreathe alike the spirit of the poet, the Christian,
Fix this textar.d the philosopher. As the contemplation of
Fix this textheight or depth in nature, of looking up to or
Fix this textdown from a lofty mountain, gives a degree of
Fix this textsublimity to the imagination—it is impossible to
Fix this textcommune with the towering mind of this all but
Fix this textinspired writer, and not feel lifted up above the
Fix this textmiserable speculations of this earth-besotted
Fix this textworld. And shall we be deterred frofn dissemi-
Fix this textnating such works, because they are not original
Fix this textforsooth, or because, haply, they do not happen
Fix this textto be of the same genus with Police Reports,
Fix this textCoroner’s Inquests, and Shipping Intelligence ?
Fix this textThere are other sources for these ; and to those
Fix this textsources we refer such of our readers as have yet
Fix this textto learn the distinction between the nature of
Fix this textthis journal and that of a professed newspaper.
Fix this textHaving said thus much as to the deficiency of
Fix this textoriginality with which we are charged, it is but
Fix this textdue to ourselves to assert and to prove that our
Fix this textwork is in many respects not only original, but
Fix this textcontains a greater quantity of original matter
Fix this textthan the majority of similar works in England,
Fix this textIn the first place it must be borne in mind, that
Fix this textours is, strictly speaking, neither a review nor
Fix this textmagazine; for, as before observed, the Colony is
Fix this textnbt equal to the wants of the latter, and produces
Fix this textno literature applicable to the purposes of the
Fix this textformer. Occasionally, however, we combine the
Fix this textrequisites of the two, giving not only several
Fix this textoriginal articles, but also reviewing such works
Fix this textas come legitimately under our notice. These,
Fix this texthowever, are such rare instances, as scarcely to
Fix this textdeserve mention, so that our work may be said,
Fix this textperhaps, to resemble Chambers’ Edinburgh Jour-
Fix this textnal more than any other periodical. But it has
Fix this textthe advantage over that journal, of giving news,
Fix this textand contains much more original matter, that
Fix this textportion in Chambers’ being confined to the
Fix this textLeader, whilst in the Literary News there are
Fix this textfew numbers which do not contain two and
Fix this textoccasionally three, original articles. The selec-
Fix this texttion too is as varied, and combines, as far as our
Fix this textspace will allow, the different kinds of prose and
Fix this textverse from which we pledged ourselves to cull
Fix this textand extract. Let us refer to one or two of our
Fix this textprevious numbers, and see whether our assertion
Fix this textis not borne out. What, for instance, are the
Fix this textcontents of No. 3? There are ten articles in
Fix this textprose, of which the first is original, and the others
Fix this textcombine a variety of information and amusement
Fix this textfrom some of the best Magazines and works
Fix this textof the day ; there is also Original Poetry and
Fix this textCorrespondence, together with some humorous
Fix this textverses, extracts with reference to the arts, a Miscel-
Fix this textlanea of two columns, Colonial Intelligence, and
Fix this texta summary of Parliamentary and English news,
Fix this textthe gleanings of a quantity of newspapers up to
Fix this textthe date mentioned. No. 5 contains notices of
Fix this texttwo of the most recent and interesting English
Fix this textworks, with two original articles, a serious and
Fix this textcomic tale, a chapter on Natural History, on
Fix this textBathing, besides the usual complement of Poetry,
Fix this textMiscellanea, Colonial Intelligence, &c. &c. In
Fix this textother numbers are several articles relative to the
Fix this textAborigines of Australia ; and in the Leaders to
Fix this texteach, the attempt, humble though it may be,
Fix this texthas been always made to convey, in the guise of
Fix this textliterary apparel, higher and more instructive
Fix this textlessons, than usually falls within the aim of
Fix this textperiodical literature. We shall not be deterred
Fix this textfrom pursuing this aim, even at the risk of being
Fix this textcalled prosy, by those whose vitiated tastes dis-
Fix this textpose them to digest nothing which is offered to
Fix this texttheir minds in a more substantial shape than the
Fix this textcontents (good as we admit them to be in their
Fix this textway) of the Comic Annual or the Pickwick
Fix this textPapers. But here, too, we must protest against
Fix this texta charge of dulness in our work; for we have
Fix this textdrawn largely, though not solely, from Boz, and,
Fix this textin point of fact, ihe humorous articles in our
Fix this textnumbers preponderate over the serious. We
Fix this textmay have been somewhat fastidious in our
Fix this textjudgment of the contributions with which we
Fix this texthave been favored; but we have at the same
Fix this texttime been anxious to give admission to all com-
Fix this textmunications which would, in any way, admit of
Fix this textinsertion. As, however, what we may receive in
Fix this textthis way will afford some specimen of colonial
Fix this textauthorship, we have determined, for the future,
Fix this texton being less strict in our consideration of such
Fix this textarticles; though we take this opportunity of in
Fix this textIt's easy and takes two shakes of a lamb's tail!
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(1837). The Literary news : a review and magazine of fact and fiction; the arts, sciences and belles lettres Retrieved June 16, 2025, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-832020787
The Literary news : a review and magazine of fact and fiction; the arts, sciences and belles lettres Sydney, N.S.W: James Tegg, 1837. Web. 16 June 2025 <http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-832020787>
1837, The Literary news : a review and magazine of fact and fiction; the arts, sciences and belles lettres James Tegg, Sydney, N.S.W viewed 16 June 2025 http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-832020787
{{Citation
|
| title=The Literary news : a review and magazine of fact and fiction; the arts, sciences and belles lettres.
| year=1837
| section=1 v.
| issue=Vol. 1 No. 13 (4 November 1837)
| location=Sydney, N.S.W
| publisher=James Tegg
| url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-832020787
| id=nla.obj-832020787
| access-date=16 June 2025
| via=Trove
}}
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