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$& fffl XliAimik L&^BaxAg,
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XtfeT^feltl" *
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Critica are not tiie legwTatora, "but th...
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Ih» any of <rar reader* *rhonfcere ia&rm...
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The French Academy has made another poli...
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The second volume of M. Viixemain's Souv...
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THE SCIENCE OF HEALTH. The Mode of Commu...
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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$& Fffl Xliaimik L&^Baxag,
$ & fffl XliAimik L &^ BaxAg ,
Xtfet^Feltl" *
Ettrrateto
Critica Are Not Tiie Legwtatora, "But Th...
Critica are not tiie legwTatora , "but the judges anoCpolice of literature . They do not make laws—they interpret and try to enforce them . —Edinburgh Review .
Ih» Any Of <Rar Reader* *Rhonfcere Ia&Rm...
Ih » any of < rar reader * * rhonfcere ia & rmed last week that in the new number of the- Revue de » Deux Monde 9 there was am article by M . Gcizot on *<¦ L * Amour dans U Manage "—did any , we say , look with morbid impatience for * Shakwsan ehapter on family clocks , or su Baxzacian chapter on Fourposters' , or a G * oBGas Sandiaj * chapter on the incompatibilities , or an Axphoksv Tg » wBT * iff chapter on that universal text Les Maris me font toimurs rire ? If there be among our readers- any mind so ill-regulated as t < r Bare- conceived one or other of these shocking inconsistencies in connex « wr with tire name ofGvizor , we can only rejoice in the disappointment .
We may be pardoned for having kept tfce secret . The article that bears so captivating a title , and so austere a signature , is one of the most familiar episodes of our own English history , which has been often related , and in various forms , but never we think- sd nobly as now , by M . Gtjizot . The first few lines of the essay , we confess , seemed unpromising ; the remark that - " history is full of romance' * struck us as somewhat trite , but at the second page we were charmed and attentive ; the hand of the master was visible . " In studying the history of England , " writes M . Guizot , " I have met with , two stories more interesting to my mind than any novel : a . king seeking to marry for love ; and love in the home of a liberal and Christian nobleman . Here is domestic life , with its most charming , and most painful secrets , presented by personages of the highest rank , moving in . the midst of the greatest events of public life . Some day or . other I may perhaps relate the love-suit of the king : ; for my present picture I select the domestic
history of the nobleman . " The . " Christian and liberal nobleman" is . the Lord William Russell of 1683 , and the " love in marriage" is the " strength and beauty of woman ' s devotion , " never more beautifully , morer pathetically personified than in Rachel Wbiotheslby . M . Gtjizot relates with admirable feeling and grace the earlier years of this noble lady : her marriage at seventeen years of age with Lord Vaughan , whom she had scarcely seen , "T & yaou arrangement between the families ; " " one of those unions , " as she . said Herself ; " rather accepted than , chosen : " the serious and gentle piety , the perfect kindness of heart , the affectionate simplicity with which-she discharged the duties of her new " estate , beloved , respected , and honoured then introduces
by all : the dignity and seclusion of her widowhood . He ^ young man some three years' younger than Lady Vaugh ^ William Russell , second son of the Earl of Bedfobd , who was just entering upon the world of public life , of a naturally pious and affectionate disposition , 4 jven amongst the frivolities of youth- M . Guizot gives a letter from this jsoungraaa to his father ^ " instinct with simplicity and goodness . " " Where the heart-is so sincere ^ respectful , and tender , the life cannot long be disorderly . ^ " Lady VaugHim , " he continues , " had probably some share in the restoration of moral harmony in the noble young man to whom she was to g ive herself . Of all human influences , that of a virtuous love is at onceTthe most powerW
younger son without fortune or title ; Lady Vaughan was a wealthy beirewss and * widow without issue . The lover was timid and reserved , but there w ^ s too deep a native sympathy between them . to . nernut conventional hesitations to keep them separate . " In J 67 O they wxre marxiefit , and heie , let us request M .. Guizot to speak . " This world' Has no-spectacle more charming than that of a pure and happy passion . Passion ,, that free and sincere explosion of the desires and seerei energies of ; our inner nature , has for us so great an . attraction that we take infinite ' pleasure in . aontenaplaAing . it even when it presents itself cnarged ' wftfr guilty errors , with troubles , disappointments , sorrows ; but the passion that displays itself in harmony with the conscience , and
overflows ? the soul with joy without , disturbing its beauty and its peace ; that is the fu & expansion * of owr natwpe r the satisfaction of our most human aad most , divine aspirations ; that vs Phradise regained . The union of . Rachjcl WmKOHJistET and of William Rbssb & l , presents this rare and perfect char jEMiUff . " M- Gmzoi dwella with almost the emphasis of personal affection upon ., the . passionate tenderaess ,, the confiding and serene piety of the Lady ILuihbxi '& letters- to- her husband , upon all of- which the soul , undimmed by tHe satiety , of love , sftads * steady and . tranquil light . In one of these lfeitera , written , about eleven years before her husband ^ execution ^ there is A * shadow of . apreaentiinant > , a * cb . aa Qftello felt when he clasped Desdemona in
in his amau * at Cyproa . ^ ub > tJl * s p * eaentuaent « expressed a few touching words of unmurmuring * resignation' and thankfulness to the Beneficence that had granted past felicities . " By a coincidence it is impossible toMmwik withoirt . emotionv '' cofttinuea M . Gukzot , "it was almost at the tHtnre period tbatf Jkard ; JforoBKxii married Lady Vaughan , and became a leader of the national' party against the Court . Domestic happiness and p « UnaiLep «» i © n-began , for . him at the same time . " Lady Russell shared tile fifth , the fcdnagsy . juid tha opinions of her husband ; but " more faraqgh ' ted ! and ! lfess < prejudiced , " she more- than once warned him with a firm and tender frankness against tho consequences of his extreme resistance to the Court .
We cannot here ; accompany M . Guizot ia his brief but powerful sketch of the historical crisis * which ; is > as it were , the framework of the episode . ffl . Guizot ' s historical manner is celebrated for its large and brilliant generalisations : here it is in the opposite qualities of the most finished and delicate . portraiture that we recognise the master-hand . The Lady Rachel ' s constancy , and her husband ' s courage , are , ever in the foreground of the picture r hot a touch is wanting , and eyei'y touch is equally rapid and" sure . There iff an incidental sketch of Shattesbuky , singularly lifelike . We have said enough to indicate the manner and the subject of iLis
remarkable paper . Seldom , it appears to us , has M . Gcjizot written with a more sustained and chastened dignity , with more elevation of tone and serenity of thought . While M . Cousn * seeks " the true , the beautiful , and the good , " among the fair penitents of the seventeenth century in France , M . Guizot finds repose in the contemplation of the purest homes and the bravest hearts of England , as they loved , and suffered , and died , about the time when Madame de Lokgueville and Madame de Sable trifled and repented . The fallen French statesman writes lovingly and reverentl y the story of the ancestor of the English Minister . The house of Bedford has seldom had better reason to be proud of the name of Russell .
We have little space to speak of the second article of the present Revue as it deserves . The subject is The Philosophy of the History of Franco and the writer is M . Edgab Quxnet , an exile . Edgar Quinet's name is illustrious in the ranks of that liberal party to which all the genius , learning , and science of France belong , and he is one of the long list of the proscribed who form the absent cortege of the second Empire . This article is in many respects the iuost suggestive we remember to have read for many a year . Exile has this advantage : it removes the films of prejudice and passion from the political vision ; it restores to the thinker the faculty of self-examination , of tracing the paths of past aberrations -with almost the decision of posterity . In his present essay , the distinguished Professor seems to have- probed to the core the moral malady of France , as with unsparing severity he tears away the fallacy of that historical fatalism
which in all the French writera for the last twenty years has pursued the phantom of " equality" at the expense of liberty , and apologised for every atrocity of despotism in the darkest times , as if despots and dictators Avere the true forerunners and " pioneers x » f free institutions . A constitutional Government was to be the happy solution of all those providential tyrannies ; but now that-the constitutional regime has disappeared , mark the consequences of a doctrine preached , in various forms by MM . Thierry , Michelet , Buchez , and the rest ! This essay deserves to be read and studied again and again by alf who desire to sound the abysses of the present dis * honour of France . It is not less remarkable for the boldness with which it condemns the fetichism which has been ready to sacrifice the freedom , dignity , and independence of the citizen to that devouring idol the " unity , ' the " glory , " the " frontiers " of the State . When better days return 11 Quinet may claim a civic crown . He has deserved well of his country iu writing this essay .
The French Academy Has Made Another Poli...
The French Academy has made another political demonstration m electing M . db Bboglie last . week . Our readers may remember the higlr position of the ~ Buc- » B-BHOGij ; E-under _ th M $ Z may not remember that he is the son of the i > e Bboglie who fell a victim to the Revolution , and whose last words to his son were , " Inn-get the guillotine and he faithful to the Revolution . " When the present Duke edited the Revue Lib / rale under the Restoration , the motto of the review was his father ' s last words , to which were added the following : — " Posterity will say if I have kept my word . " We will not anticipate the verdict of posterity . JVI . de Bboglie has no remarkable literary titles to a seat in tho Academy , but . hia name and character give weight and significance to the choice- His son is known as a frequent contributor to the lievue dea Deux Mondes . The other election fell upon M . Ernest Legouvjq , the dramatic author ; a man universally esteemed in the world of literature , and in society . M . Legouve has celebrated his election into the Academy by a timely victory over Mademoiselle Rachel and M . Fould . Mademoiselle Rachel has been condemned bv the Imperial Court of Appeal to pay a fine of 5000
francs-, by way of damages , for refusal to appear in M . Legouve s tragedy of Media , after accepting tho part . M . Legouve has divided the 3000 francs between the Society of Dramatic Authors , and the Society des gas de letlres .
The Second Volume Of M. Viixemain's Souv...
The second volume of M . Viixemain ' s Souvenirs Contemporains is on the eve of publication . It contains the history of the Hundred Days .
The Science Of Health. The Mode Of Commu...
THE SCIENCE OF HEALTH . The Mode of Communication , of Cholera . By J . Suow , M . D . Churchill . Food and its Adulterations . Being llocorda of tho Kesulta of Some Th ' ou * nndd o Original Microscopical and . Chemical Aoalysca of tho Solida and I'luwfa ^'"^ " ^ by ail Classes of the Public . By A . H . Haaeull , M . D .,, Chief Aualyst of Lancet Sanitary Commission . Illustrated by Engravinga Sbowing tho fllmua Structures of Articles of Food , aud the Subatauces used for Adulteration . ' Lougmanii unu ui . The Ckemi ^ j of Common Lifk . By J . E . W . Johnston , M . A ., ^ j ^^ J ^ Hbaeth and happiness—the twin blessings of humanity , the best wish o \ our best friende—liow wo trifle with them both ! how we waste them , jut as if wo could find each fresh and young ovory day like the sunlig it . ^ is , in facti a continuous decay from beginning to end— < vhro jig tca burn oo long as the fireplace holds together—while we treat it as thou B n
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), March 10, 1855, page 18, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_10031855/page/18/
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