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426 T H E __ LEADE H. [No. 371, Satukbat...
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FHANTASMATA. Phantasmata ¦: or, Illusion...
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NOVELS. Roua Pass ; or, Englishmen in th...
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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Calvin's Letters. Letters Of John Calvin...
faith and confidence of the iProtestant powers ; he was hurrying to and fro to -establish the weak Churches and confirm the strong . He combated against what he termed the tyranny of Lruther , and reproved the mildness of Mdcanethon . He denounced the doctrines of Scrvetus , called in the temporal arm of the Genevese magistracy to extirpate the heretic and his creed , . and only paused to ask a commutation of his sentence when his victim was about to be bound at the stake . " We" endeavoured to alter the mode of his death , but in vain , " observes Calvin , in a letter tolarel . ^ neaccountwehaveof the unfortunate Servetus , g iven us in another , letter addressed to his friend Sulzer , exhibits in painful colours the ferocity oi the times , and the unmitigated severity of the lean Cassius-like Reformer . As Michael Servetus , twenty years a «* o , infected the Christian world with his virulent and pestilent inionI should suppose his name is not unknown to you . It
op , > mhe whom that faithful minister of Christ Master Bacon of holy memory , in other respects of a mild disposition , declared from the pulpit to be worthy of having his bowels pulled out and torn to pieces . VV hile he has not permitted any of his poison to go abroad since that time , he has lately , ihowever , brought out a larger volume , printed secretly at Vienne , but patched up from the same errors . To be sure , as soon as the thing became iaiown , he -was cast into prison . He escaped from it some way or other , and wandered in Italy for nearly four months . Pie at length , in an evil hour , came to this place , when , at my instigation , one of the syndics ordered Mm to be conducted to prison ; for I could not disguise it that I considered it my duty to put a check upon this most obstinate and ungovernable man . ' This question , as well as others we have in view , will be more properly considered -when we have the entire collection in our hands . In the meanwhile ,
we shall look forward to the publication of the third and fourth volumes of this important correspondence , and hope that Dr . Jules Bonnet will not allow bo long an interval to elapse as that between the publication of the iirst and second .
426 T H E __ Leade H. [No. 371, Satukbat...
426 T H E __ LEADE H . [ No . 371 , Satukbat ,
Fhantasmata. Phantasmata ¦: Or, Illusion...
FHANTASMATA . Phantasmata ¦ : or , Illusions and Fanaticisms of Protean Forms Productive of Great Evils . By JB . R . Madden , Author of " Memoirs of Lady lilessington , & c . 2 vols * . Newby . £ e : b « msis who undertake to write history have been distributed into two ¦ classes the artists , and the artisans . We must add a third division—the labourers . Dr . Madden is a labourer . He throws his industriously collected materials into a formless heap ; whether compiling or speculating , he is equally confused . Isot that he disdains a plan of systematic arrangement , but that he only vaguely understands his subject , and having accumulated a mass of quotations and testimonies , is at a loss what to do with them . Too ambitious to content himself with a " Me ' moire pour servir , " he prefixes to his long succession of chapters the proposition of a theory ,
deducing certain reasons in evidence from Pascal , Fuller , Stdbaeus , and , as secondhand , from Prudhorame . We warn all readers , however , who may be fascinated by Dr . Madden ' s subject , and by the curious contents of his two large volumes , to pass leniently over the preface . It is a specimen of toil , and nothing more , and is disfigured by some chimerical statistics of the French Reign of Terror . There is the more necessity for denying the claim of the ° book to rank among philosophical histories , as Dx . Madden raises a lofty basement of introductory disquisition , synopsis , index , and authority . But we must nofc be understood to imply that the performance is worthless , or wanting in merit . It is a laborious selection of curious particulars relating to historical illusions , impostures , and mental disorders ; ft is replete with interest ; it cites a singular variety of anecdotes ; it brings together a large quantity of information from scattered sources , and it will have a charm for such readers as love to dwell upon the eccentricities of
human nature . The traditions of the Wandering Jew , of the Trembling Aspen , of the Millennium , were poetical p hantasms ; such also have been the popular "beliefs in the approaching annihilation of the world . Witchcraft points the way to a broad department of Dr . Madden ' s inquiry ; but his scope is irregular and he neglects many legitimate branches of his investigation . He / irst—after the long preliminary—touches the question whether the early Christians wore really addicted to the murder sacrifice , and eating of children j but leaves the point where he found it , in considerable obscurity . Thence he passes to dreams and visions , to Swedenborg , St . Teresa , and thence , with arbitrary case , to the Inquisition , which is scarcely to be enumerated among Phantnsmata . His account of this institution is excessivelmeagre . Next ho reviews the opinions of old Catholic and
Proy testant writers on magic , enriching the chapter with some remarkable extracts . Still more interesting is the picture of middle-age sorcery and of L-yeanthrony , preceding a notice of the flagellation mania . The famous sect , of fheTTlageUants arose in Hungary in the fourteenth century , to avert by their mortifications the terrors of the Black Death ep idemic ; then , sweeping through Eastern and Northern Europe , all clasaes joined them—men , women And children—who scourged themselves in public . Boileau ' a work , the ^ English notes to which have apparently escaped Dr . Madden ' s attention , goes back to Arcadian history in search of precedents ; various other ancient nations Tielieved in the virtue 3 of voluntary and involuntary ' whipping ; in monasteries it was adapted to lacerate the fleah , in nunneries as the most direct and
graceful means of discipline . Boiloau , however ,, denounces the system as having led to great abuses . "What "was intended as a punishment becamo a pleasure , especially as , when a lady had been condemned to a hundred lashes , she was . sojnetiwiefl permitted to cUoqbo a bundlo of feathers , or of the lightest ; tWiga ,, aa the instrument of her mortification , instead of the twisted cords or inexorable rattuns of the less tender penitqnts . The grand ludy mentioned by Brantomc . Buffered her smart by proxy , and agreed-with u number oi 'her maids that she should do penance in their , persons ; but others prided themselves on their capacity of endurance , added knots to their thongs , and converted discipline into torture . Certain old anchorites oven beat themselves with heavy stakes , and counted the blows by thousands . Even this iwariia , though . as monatroua m airy that Juggernaut over witnessed , was leas
repulsive than the epidemic hj-steria , the convulsive chorea , and the Tarantula dancing madness of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries , since these were the antics of populations smitten by plagues , overcome by horror , and reduced to a state of savage mental imbecility . Whole towns became ' temporary Bedlams . The people assembled in great multitudes ; their preachers addressed them ; a trumpet was sounded or a drum beaten ; and everv indi ' - vidual began to tramp , prance , jump , and hop as though he would make file last moment of his life coincident with a kick of his feet . The dancers wore garlands , and other bridal decorations ; but being under the iniluence of a strange epidemic malady , producing a tynipanitic distension of the body , each person wore a bandage round the waibt with a stick to twist it tightly whenever the convulsion should commence . St . Vitus was a patron of these illusionists ; so also was St . John , whose festival is still associated with similar practices . " Not only in Germany , but in several other countries , and in Ireland within my own recollection , " says Dr . Madden , " the festival of St . John and the eve of it were solemnized by bonfires , leaping through the flames ; by patterns at holy wells dedicated to the g $ rint ; by music and
dancing . In his second volume , Dr . Madden devotes more than two hundred pages to the story of Jeanne d'Arc and her inspirations . His remaining chapters are occupied with epidemic monomania and demonopath y in con ^ vents , with theoinania and the Janscnist convulsionaries . There is a good deal of monotony in this part of the narration . " \ Ye must characterize the book , in general , as a rude compilation , abounding- in pofnts oi' interest , but valuable rather as historical material than as history itself .
Novels. Roua Pass ; Or, Englishmen In Th...
NOVELS . Roua Pass ; or , Englishmen in the Highlands . By Erick Mackenzie . 3 vols . ( Smith , Elder , and Co . )—The name of this book suggests its character . It depicts Hig hland lite with the usual concomitants—a whisky still , a crone with a creaky voice , fishing-parties , and a Highland lassie proper , as follows —Graceful short attire , naked feet white as lilies , hair transmuted by the sunbeams to molten gold , eyes darkly , brightly , beautifully blue . Then there is Norah , the tall brunette , with Esme , of the floating brown locks , sometimes looking like the Magdalen , at other times like the Cenei—always lovely , however . The scenery is elaborately painted ; there are good descriptions of local customs , after the style oi ' ScoLt ; fashionable elegances form a contrast with the natural manners of the mountains ; but the storv
itself is neither very real nor very new . It is a drama of platonie love , of a daughter ' s escape , of a tragedy , of a lynx-eyed Italian mistress , of a fair sweet face and brig ht blue eyes gazing through a mist of memory , of Esme's and Normal ' s ultimate happy union , —all strongly tinned with sentimentality . Scottish readers may be fascinated by the landscapes , circulating-library readers by the spasms of love , hate , and alarm ; but we cannot bestow any better praise on Mr . Mackenzie ' s novel . We should add , perhaps , that the style , though artificial and often exaggerated , is generally correct and euphonious . The Rival Sailors . A Novel . By Mrs . Hubback , Authoress of the" Wife ' s Sister . " 3 vols . ( Skeet . )—The " Wife ' s Sister" was a popular novel—it was called for at the libraries ; it was extensively read hy ladies ;
it was a story of strong family interest . In Ti y Rival Suitors the interest is of a similar quality , only the clement of love is move predominant . Love , pure and simple , has gone somewhat out of fashion as a staple of romance , and " youno people" have deplored the innovation which came m with heroines " not strictly beautiful , " and other originalities by no means iascinuti-ii rr to minds all music and roseate imaginations . Airs , llubbaek , to suit the taste of the times , has added bigamy ; but , for the must pai-t , her tale which suitor
is one of love and jealousy , and a climax of marriage , m one proudly leads his bride to the chancel-rails , while tuo other , " with heart still bleeding from the bitter wound , " gnaws his chain ot unrequited affection . Such a novel , especially with the agonies in store ior the third volume opens a delightful prospect to young lady readers . Wo will not damp their curiosity by setting forth what happens to Mortimer , and whether Nora ) , after all , marries Gerard , who says , » Nora , it s no use trying , I can . otbo silent ; 1 cannot help it , 1 loye you dUs » erutely " -but vre vrill commend Th Rival Suitor * to such persons as care about ( intiuatit . edjealou . sie .. . ^ John Halifax , Gentleman . By the Author of " The llead of the I ami y New Edition . ( Hurst and Blackett . ) Juhu JJah / ax has been re , M * W with revisions , in one volume . In this form , a wiII , no doubt , enha u . c M * s Mulock ' s popularity . The story is interesting throughout , di » , 1 ; > < i u , markablc knowledge of human nature , and is told with toucl . nig sim
phcity . , r , \ The Two Convict * . By Frederick Gerstaookor . ( lioutlcdgo am Co . ; This is an orig inal novel , full of stirring scenes , tlcscnpUve oi lie . u ^ Australian cJnvict colony . Ciorslaucker has a style ol lite own , aim manages his plot so as to keep up the excitement to Lhu end . Grattan ' s successful novel , Jacqueline of Holland , has been add » d to * [ J Parlour Library , forming the hundred and sixtieth volume . J o iU > mo series has been contributed a translation of T / w Two Dumas , by JJunub story told with the author's customary urt uml power . / ; ,-. Oliver * * i Servant . By Miss Meteyard Bilverpen . ( 1 a > i . « Ioh ,: Artlm Hall and Co . 1857 . )—Miss Meteyard tells a pretty story , " > J ^ endeavours to enforce upon servants the advantages o being J «> ""^ dutiful toward their employers , »»( 1 « P ° » 7 OU 1 ) S » i »™« Uadies the » £ ™ 01 ,, consequences of running away from " the most allectio . mto oi husbands with officer in the Guards rIlA uuiwr mi \ jui
an . _ . , ,, v r wiui an uno - « uo . Tim Stories ami Sketch ** . Hy Jan . es Pnyn . . ( S « nitli f Kl . lor , llllll . ^;{ , ~ , > . character of these Stories and Sketches will ^^ Y ^)^\ f ^ way and occasional reading .
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), May 2, 1857, page 18, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_02051857/page/18/
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