The International Monthly, Volume 2, No. 1, December, 1850Various
History
The International Monthly, Volume 2, No. 1, December, 1850
Various
Art, Modern -- 19th century -- Periodicals; Literature, Modern -- 19th century -- Periodicals; Science -- History -- Periodicals
Professor G.J. Adler, of the New York University, the learned author of
the German and English Dictionary, is now printing a translation which
he has just completed, of the _Iphigenia in Taurus_, by Goethe. Of the
eighteen that remain of the sixty to ninety plays of Euripides, the
_Iphigenia at Tauri_ is one of the most remarkable. When Goethe returned
from Italy, his spirit was infused with the love of ancient art, and his
ambition tempting him to a rivalry of its masters, he selected this
subject, to which he brought, if not his finest powers, his severest
labor; and the drama of Iphigenia--which is in many respects very
different from that of Euripides,--is, next to Faust, perhaps the
noblest of his works. We are not aware that it has hitherto appeared in
English. The forthcoming translation, (which is in the press of the
Appletons,) strikes us very favorably. It is exact, and is generally
flowing and elegant.
* * * * *
The Official Paper of China has a name which means the _Pekin Gazette_.
It is impossible to ascertain when its publication was first commenced,
but it seems to be the oldest newspaper in the world. There is a
tradition that it began under the Sung dynasty in the latter part of the
tenth century. It is originally a sort of handbill, containing official
notices, posted up on the walls of the Capital and sent in manuscript to
provincial officers. At Canton it is printed for the public at large and
sold. It appears every other day in the form of a pamphlet of ten or
twelve pages. It consists of three parts; the first is devoted to Court
news, such as the health and other doings of the Imperial family; the
second gives the decrees of the Sovereign; the third contains the
reports and memorials of public functionaries made to the imperial
government on all subjects concerning the interests of the country. The
decrees are concise in style; the reports and memorials are the
perfection of verbiage. The former have the force of laws, the Emperor
being both legislative and executive. As a record of materials for
history the _Gazette_ is of little value, for a little study shows that
lies are abundant in it, and that its statements are designed as much to
conceal as to make known the facts. Since the English war the number of
documents published relating to affairs with foreign nations is very
small. Something is given respecting the finances, but that too, is of
very little value.
* * * * *
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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