f
the question; but we may notice the effective continuance of the plan of
giving general historical dissertations on the progress of knowledge. Of
some of these dissertations we have had to take separate notice; and all
will be referred to in our ordinary treatment of current literature.[468]

The literary excellence of these two extensive undertakings is of the same
high character. To many this will {289} need justification: they will not
easily concede to the cheap and recent work a right to stand on the same
shelf with the old and tried magazine, newly replenished with the best of
everything. Those who are cognizant by use of the kind of material which
fills the _Penny Cyclopaedia_ will need no further evidence: to others we
shall quote a very remarkable and certainly very complete testimony. The
_Cyclopaedia of the Physical Sciences_, published by Dr. Nichol[469] in 1857
(noticed by us, April 4), is one of the most original of our special
dictionaries. The following is an extract from the editor's preface:

"When I assented to Mr. Griffin's proposal that I should edit such a
Cyclopaedia, I had it in my mind that I might make the _scissors_
eminently effective. Alas! on narrowly examining our best Cyclopaedias,
I found that the scissors had become blunted through too frequent and
vigorous use. One great exception exists: viz., the _Penny Cyclopaedia_
of Charles Knight.[470] The cheapest and the least pretending, it is
really the most philosophical of our _scientific_ dictionaries. It is
not made up of a series of treatises, some good and many indifferent,
but is a thorough _Dictionary_, well proportioned and generally written
by the best men of the time. The more closely it is examined, the more
deeply will our obligation be felt to the intelligence and
conscientiousness of its projector and editor."

After Dr. Nichol's candid and amusing announcement of his scissorial
purpose, it is but fair to state that nothing of the kind was ultimately
carried into effect, even upon the work in which he found so much to
praise. I quote this testimony because it is of a peculiar kind.

{290}

The success of the _Penny Magazine_ led Mr. Charles Knight in 1832 to
propose to the Useful Knowledge Society a Cyclopaedia in weekly penny
numbers. These two works stamp the name of the projector on the literature
of our day in very legible characters. Eight volumes of 480 pages each were