On this page
-
Text (2)
-
^ Apbii-5, 1856.]
-
CHURCH HISTORY OP THE NINETEENTH CENTURY...
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.
-
-
Transcript
-
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.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
A Political Student. The European Revolu...
^ itpresented , in clear ge ™**>» $ ™> . the series °£ »^* *^** signs of trouble to the French Coup d Etat of 1851 . Ur it tne wi ite , authenticating his narrative , had rhetorically and bnlliantly ^ toldJfce ^ movin story , or judicially analysed the interests and passions , the ^ JeBteJiml con species ' that o / erated in the insurrectionary year , ta j ™*^» ht j £ ™ received the attention of serioas readers . But Mr . ^ J ^ 11011 ° , lan rities , exhibiting- no capacity of criticism , unable to **" * " 4 ^? J £ a ^ ^» t ^ - » - ^ 7 S £ JS ? ft
! other term they have been called , indifferently , republics or states . The wora " democratic , " as a qualification of republic , signifies that the people are to le Koverned as they like , and not aa any body else likes . Now , the meaning of the oath to remain faithful to the democratic republic , if it meant anything at all , was to remain faithful to the state in which the people had their own way To suppose that the President meant to swear , or the assembly to impose , fidelity to the state in which the rabble was uppermost , is sheer nonsense . The worst of this defence of perjury is that it is not ingenious . But it would be a waste of criticism to follow him closely through this verbose and uninteresting compilation . He talks of the people being < chopped down" at Milan ; attributes the great troubles of the continent to incidents which were only the occasions , not the causes of the Revolution ; speaks 01 his Holiness -being in a violent pucker ; " of the llotaan populace as " the greatest scoundrels on earth ; " aud satirises certain theories in this conflicttnau ^ ^^ B
l ? f ^ £ the wr ti ' s desk He says it was not originally intended for pubhcafon HavLg tea inspired by ' the uproar of 1848 with pohtieal cuno . g , Mr . Cayley determined to learn a little politics , ** VT " ii T 1 m « , t of thought himself qualified , inevitably , to teach . He had " collected most of the historical works bearing on the subject , as well as all the printed pol t cal articles and pamphlets that could be procured , both foreign and English . The " most " and the < all , " here indicated , were , we suspect , a tew haphazard selections . Otherwise , Mr . Cayley would not have shrunk from quoting « all " or any of their titles and authors . Moreover , he gathered such oral information as was available to him , " which , being- interpreted , means gossip believed at random . However , it is of no consequence where Mr . Cayley found his materials , as he has not told us what they were . We can only judge of the manner in which he has used them prennsin- that to all appearance , they were inadequate , since Mr . Cayley has been forced to * Wv W , n «« . « nf rvmderous irrelevancy on the English Currency Latis ,
It is curious to find , after a severe , one s ouueu ,, «"» " ~" have been all the while agreed on the thing , but have only differed in . the mode of expressing it . The ingenious gentleman who called out his friend , and saot him for declaring that he could not have seen anchovies growing in a garden , and in walking home afterwards , mentioned to Ms second— "And sure , wasn t it capers I meant all the while ? " is only an illustration of a too ordinary folly . Only in a book by such a dunce as Mr . Cayley would it be possible to find , among politicat illustrations , the following : — It was reported that one orator was heard to expound as follows : — Dirty Boy ( in worsted epaulets ) , No queen !—Mob , Hurrah ! Dirty Boy , No paurlament !—Mob , Hurrah ! Dirty Boy , No caunstitooshun !—Mob , Hurrah ! Dirty Boy , No bloody nuffiuk !—Mob , Hurrah ! Dirty Boy , To the pallis !—Mob , Hurrah ! . This refers to England . After discussing on rabbles and seoxindrels ^ wery part of Germany , he says " all the rogues and vagabonds f Germany bred in Frankfort , justifies the execution of Messenhauser and Blum , and , witn n ' t _ i _ "l . _ T >_ J « - « in % i iiMnnfmn rtncOpVPQ —^ - to i iuauncui ««« ni ¦ v »
and the Bank Charter Act , and on " The English Revolution ( that was tO The chapters , for the most part , contain , besides irregular sections of the narrative , separate essays on the political elements . Mr . Cayley , venturing into historical literature , has been delighted by the crisp conciseness of certain axioms and epigrams which he imitates . with a strong confidence in te general effect ! Starting with the French Revolution of 1848 which he carefully misunderstands , he attributes its success , partly to the laxity ol morals in the capital , partly to the number of convicts at large in the capital . An amnsino- imbecility is displayed in his illustration of this theory ot the ^ vmn'i , 0 h , immornlitv and revolution . He refers to Jjamartine s
reierence . cue > aueu - «» u , . . The main results of these events were disordered finances , for the republican leaders had appropriated the public money without scruple . This is another specimen of liisimpudent and ignorant warmer . Who told him that the money was appropriated without scruple ? Wba appropriated it ? Tor what was it appropriated ? He mentions the execution ot eighty , victims with as much levity as he notices the upsetting of j cabm the streets of an Italian city . Affecting , in the treatment of . ^* W politics , a magnanimous impartiality , he brings his reasonings on thejustice of the imperfal government to this result that Austria by her ¦ . ^^ uation and Hungry by her folly , necessitated and justified the mtei-ventiQii of cmuui
account of Emma Hamilton , considering it a proof of national depravity that M . Lainaitine did not treat tlmt unhappy woman with less sympathy than she has received from numerous English writers . This reminds me ol the godly captain who said the French were beaten at Waterloo because they plftyed with immorally-painted cards , and charged in columns . However , Mr . Cayley goes on to say that the chiefs of the secret societies emb « zzled most ol the funds collected for political purposes , which is a scandalous and puerile . * ........ . ' . : w . t _ o _ -, i- ~ i-. - » : •¦— *> - *• *> *_ ...- " ¦ -- ¦ - *¦ - •¦¦«• -- ' •! -- »¦* - «• ' --aSSertLOll j SUlCe iui , v »;» C ) lias 11 O ilUiatuiii- ^ tut tt » c ; » uti , cuu : ui < , ui hji uiu uua Lie writes as-ainst some of the most respectable men in France . Nor does he
Russia . German liberalism he dismisses by saying urn . ^^ . governed by iambics , and that the German student considers that ^ eK has no affinity to grocery , " or " philosophy to farming . " Mr . Cayley hu ; a right to be smart , if he can , but these clever little apothegms do not Aaw that he is acquainted with the state of German opinion or f *? *™^^ causes of the half-completed Revolution . We have seldom met with W W » impertinence in combination with so much vulgarity . M * . _ Cayley hupgerf ^ alter eloquence , ana is oomoascic ; ue aungers alter wit , anrt is low , spiritless , and feeble . , ,
know what were the numbers , or the principles of the associations he alludes to . In describing the three days of February he asserts that tlie majority of the National Guard supported the king , that the populace began by murdering the troops , that helpless persons were assassinated , and that the Palais Royal and the Tuileries were sacked for the sake of booty . All this is notoriously and gratuitously false . What follows concerning tlie provisional Government is a wordy imitation of Burke ' s eloquent rhapsody on the Revolution . Thence to the election of the President , Mr . Cayley's narrative is a tame and commonplace recapitulation of events too well-known to be successfully misrepresented . It is a proof of his perfect incapacity to deal with historical subjects that be describes Louis Napoleon as representing , in France , ' the principle of legitimacy , " the " hereditary principle , " which "" appears so strongly implanted in man ' s nature , that it cannot have been put there but for goo < l purpose . " Declining a philosophical discussion with such a writer , we , ndust remind him that there is a dynasty called the Bourbon , and that he ought , when he began his political studies , to have read buck a little in the history of Prance . Uiivuic
If we add that he maintains the hereditary principle to be repiesentecj . Dy Napoleon the Third , as strictly as by Victoria the First , denies that the Coup d'Etnt was consummated by a massacre , affirms that the President of the Republic did not break his oath , it will be obvious how far this rabid compilation may be trusted . We make our objections on critical grounds merely . If a writer pretends to give us an historical book , we insist on historical evidence , care , caution , and decency . We want authorities ; references , and justifications . We will not receive , as compensations , the fritterings of ribaldry , ignorance , and rancour . Had a sensible man undertaken Mr . Cayley ' s task , and written as unambiguously as he against the princi p les of the revolution of 1848 , and in behalf of the Imperial Coup d'Etat in France , his historical argument might have been well worth perusal , and not easy to refute . But , judging this narrative from the author ' s point of view , it is not even a creditable failure . Mr . Cayley , in utter contempt of his reader ' s judgment , flings before him a compilation without one quality of style to make it readable , or one historical authentication in proof of its candour or accuracy .
J . TJH . v >« iyit ; y , wwu UlltvS ( Jl pilUUipiUS 1 U 1 J . HUUI . IH 1 111 IIlit 11 S » w * guuu purposes , quotes the oaths and the speeches of Louis Napoleon , on being elected President : — Citizon ltopreaentntLves—It in impossible that I cnu keep silouce after tho calumnies of which I havo been thoobjoct . I must express frankly , aiadnt tho earliest moinont of my taking my soat amongst you , tho ruol raoutiuaonts which animate , aad which huve over animated mo . Aftor thirty-throe yoara of proscription and exile , lam at last , entitled to resume my rights as a citizen . Th « liopublic has bostowod on mo happiness : to tho Hopublic I tender may oath of gratitude , my oath of devotion ; and my gonorous countrymen who havo rotiu'uod me to this plcioo , uiny bo sismivod that £ will endeavour to juatii ' y their choico by exerting myself with you to maintain tranquillity , tho first necessity of tho country , and tho development of democratic institution !* , which the people have tlio right to demand . For a . long tirno I have boon unable to oonseorato to Fmnoo anything but the meditations of exile and captivity . At , last tho career which you puvsuo i . s open to mo . lloooive mo , thou , my dear oolloatmoH , into your ranks ,
with tho sumo aenao of ; ufTootionato confidence which 1 bring thwe . My conduct —always inspired by duty , always animated by rospoot for ( ho lnw—my oouduot will provo tho falsehood of those who havo attempted to bluckou mo for tho purpose of » till keeping mo proscribed , nud will dumonatrato that uo one is more firmly ronolvud than myself to oatablish aud defoud tho ltoimblio . Tho oath was idoatical . After the Coup d'Etat—rend Mr . Cayley's burof Cftsuiwtry : — He had mvurn to maintaiu tho doinooratio republic , aud to fulfill tho duties myosod on him by tho constitution : any attempt to prorogue tUo assembly wan yisitocl with the paiua of high troiwion . But wliat did tho oatli really moan ? Wunt is a " democratic ropuLlio ' ( " What a ropublio is , we all know : it is anotlxor word 1 ' or a stato . All statow are republic , proporly uo oalkid . Somo wtutOH are kiugdomH , moro aro empires some aro noithor ouo nor tlio other , naid for tho lupjk of auy
^ Apbii-5, 1856.]
^ Apbii-5 , 1856 . ]
THE LE ADER , 331
Church History Op The Nineteenth Century...
CHURCH HISTORY OP THE NINETEENTH CENTURY . Kirchcnqescldchte do- ncucstcn Zeit , von 1811 bis auf die Gcgenwart . ( History oftha Church f rom 1814 to the Present Tine . ) By Dr . Gicsulor . Edited by Dr Kcilupuiuilng . London : Williams and Norgate . The history of the Church , as of every other department of human affairs , is the history of revolutionary movements and of reactions : the tide of opinion and sentiment is never really stationary , though to the unobservant eye it seems to sleep lazily at ebb , and to sustain for a long while the force with which it rushes ngainst the barriers at hig h water . Tho reaction towards positive religion and pietism , which followed tho revolutionary movement of tlie eighteenth century , did not beyin in 1814 , but it reached that point at which its onward movement became palpable . The War of Liberation in Germany had exalted the religious and imaginative tendencies of the nation j enthusiasm was the order of the day ; the " Kaltes Vorstand "—the cold 1 , 1 * . ¦ 1 11 ... 1 — A . „ - ^ „ ..., n .. ll n » I » -a / -k « ¦¦ vl Ik r » V \ i \ f * ll 1 */ " \ 1 I ft * It f" 1 Wl ll ( lV /> t \ T at \ i \ uiuipiwt uaiauK ^ i . »« v > »»»»
understanding was snuauuruu us uu uv » , «» w x ~* fervid emotion , Gott , Kb ' nig , and Vatcrlandvtive blended together , and shone aa a Trinity in Unity . This religious and political reaction was strengthened by its alliance with the Romantic movement in literature and art which fcegan with the nineteenth century , The main feaiture of this movement was the exaltation of the MeUii « val above the Classic , of art animated by Christian spiritualism above tlio art animated b y Greek humanism . And as medineval ait was developed in the closest union with Catholicism tho Uomantic school naturally hud little sympathy with tho ltoformntion , which had gome on tho principle , so highly lauded by Andrew Fauservice , of " combing off" from the churches tho productions of modiasval ait , aa unhealthy adjuncts to religious worship . Ilonco , some of tlie chief Romanticists , notably Frederic Stolberg and Frederic Schlcgol , became converts to Rome , and of oourao these large fish were not
-
-
Citation
-
Leader (1850-1860), April 5, 1856, page 19, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_05041856/page/19/
-