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¦«^4fl».. Oct. .18 . 1859.] THE LKADEB. ...
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VICISSITUDES OF FAMILIES, and other Essa...
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THE MFNISTEK'S WOOIXG. By If. Beeclxer S...
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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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Rev. G. R. Gleig, M.A. ; ^Loore's "Lalla...
t ~ 2 === ' = SSSSSS SSS == SS ^ SSS !^ S ^ S = ^^ = philosophy and science in ancient Greece and through We Roman Empire , tracing the advance ofte ^ iife ^ nd philosophy from Socrates and Plato to Cicero . Mathematics culminated into the wonders of astronomical science at Alexandria , and gave the Romans greater advantages than ever fell to the Greeks . The connection between astronomy and religion was then traced , and the lecturer came to the decay of arts and arms in Greece . Generalising npon his Bubject , the professor pointed put that it was not by the exclusive cultivation of one science that the mind is best educated : We need the cultivation of numerous branches to ensure the due cultivation of the mind , After the overthrew of the Roman Empire education fell into neglect ; but with the rise of the baronial and aristocratic power : a superior training was required . Here the professor pointed out the assistance to mental education derived from physical training . In conclusion , the professor pressed upon all young men studying for professions , not to be- contented with the inere requirements of the individual pursuit alone , but hy strenuous cultivation to strengthen all their mental'powers . A man of more learning than sense is , like a general at Balaklava starving his troops for- want of know 1 edge how-to get . at . the stores which are within his reach . •; The -object of the student should be to attain the power of arrangement' and . a sound judgment , by which to bring as it were into a focus all points of value . Variety : of thought and versatility are best attained by broad arid liberal , culture ; and there is a danger of begins ning purely professional studj' at too early a period : A really liberal education makes the man a better citizen , and enables him to sympathise with all science and to gain knowledge from every source .
¦«^4fl».. Oct. .18 . 1859.] The Lkadeb. ...
¦«^ 4 fl » .. Oct . . 18 . 1859 . ] THE LKADEB . U 57
Vicissitudes Of Families, And Other Essa...
VICISSITUDES OF FAMILIES , and other Essays . By Sir ; . Bernard Burke , Ulster King- of Arms . —Longman , Green ,. Lougnian ,- & Roberts . This work , which- is one of great interest , has arrived at a second edition .. The interest is one essentially- ' human ..- The author rightly judges that the interest attaching to individual fortunes excites more sympathy than what belongs to the fate of kingdoms . The mutability characterising these fortunes is of itself striking . " What race , " exclaims Mr . Burke , "in Europe surpassed in royal position , personal achievement , and romantic adventure our own Blantagenets—equally wise as valiant , and no less renowned in the Cabinet than in the field ? But let us look back only so far as the year 1 G 37 , and we shall find the g reat-great grandson of Margaret Plantagenet , erself the daughter and heiress of George , Duke of Clarence , following the cobbler ' s craft at Newport , a little town in Shropshire ! Other instances are also adduced . Among the lineal descendants , for exainple , of Edmund of Woodstock , Earl of Kent , sixth son of Edward I ., King of England , entitfed { to quarter the royal arms , occur a butcher and a toll-gatherer ; the first , a Mr . Joseph Smart , of Hales Owen ; the latter , a Mr . George Wilmot , keeper of the turnpike gate at Cooper ' s Bank , near Dudley . Then , -again , among the- descendants of Thomas Plantagenet , Duke of Gloucester , fifth son of Edward HI . * we discover Mr . Stephen James Penny , the late sexton at St . George ' s , Hanover-square . Such are the changes , more dr less wonderful , effected by time . Scotland and Ireland are' as abundant in instances as in England . r , The catalogue of family misfortunes begins with the Percys and the Nevilles . We have , then , the " rise and fall of the Cromwells , " a iamily of high standing in Huntingdonshire , long before the birth of the great Oliver , and who became rich by the purchase of dissolved monasteries . The male line of the family expired in 1821 with Mr . Oliver Cromwell , an attorney , and the son of a grocer . Within four generations it sank into absolute obscurity , anxTbecame altogether extinct . , The liairde of Gartsherrie Ironworks occupy an important chapter . . The sons Of a small farmer raiding at Monkland , near Glasgow , who , between 1-820 and the present year , have raised themselves to the first position as Scottish merchants by the development of the coal and iron trade . Within tho 4 aat twelve or fifteen years they have secured by purchase magnificent estates . On this subject Sir Bernard Burk ; e indulges in the following rcttectidnsi— T ' ¦ ¦ ¦ v i- • i ... ¦ i . - , ¦ ¦ i .. , . tfl ,. trup , t that I shall , not wound aristocrat to feelings—I will not calji thorn prejudices ( for i such feeling * ore , good in their proper place and , w , ffchin due bound ^ r ^ when J , ' flaythitf ; eiwjh tiwnirf ' ei ? of great « fltat &*;; fcoin the old to the newy-racea . iff an Immense benefit to ^ ho country , < Wot-tbat- the nw manJ » ft
better landlord , neighbour , magistrate , or member of Parliament than the man of ancient lineage ; generally quite thereverse . Not that the individual instances ; of a noble , and time-honoured , race being forced to give way to one fresh from the ranks of the people , are . ^ otherwise than repugnant to our tastes and habits of thought . But such changes serve as the props and bulwarks of the existing social and political iristitutions . of Great . Britain . In this country there is happily no conventional barrier raised against the admission of a man of the people into the ranks of the aristocracy . Industry and good conduct , favoured by Providence , in the acquisition of wealth , may raise a poor man to a place among the rich landed gentry of the country , and another generation may see him not only in the House of Lords , but allied by blood to the highest families of the laud . . " Therefore it is the true interest of the people to maintain those social and political institutions which are thus liberal towards them . >• " If the insurmountable barrier of a proud nobility of sixteen quarters existed in England , as it did , and as it still does , in some continental countries , our government and constitution would « iot be worth six months' purchase . It is the safeguard of English institutions that adrulssion to the aristocracy is not exclusively barred Against the ambition of a man of humble birth , and that a place there , when once obtained , is jealously guarded by the right of primogeniture . Each generation witnesses the ascent of numbers of men of the people among the upper ten thousand of English aristocracy , and when there , they generally become the most exclusive preservers of the footing which they have gained . It is well for England that men like . the Bairds hasten to invest their hundred thousand or their million in great landed estates ; and moreover , that they centre their wealth on their eldest sons . What a contrast does this rich , nourishing , popular aristocracy exhibit to the poverty-stricken nobility of most continental countries , which , on the one hand , rarely admits of accessions from the people , and on the other , fritters away its possessions by eternal subdivisions of titles and estates among every branch of its race , however remote . " This forms one of the most striking and beneficial discrepancies between our social institutions and those . of most of the great continental states . "With us , a merchant no sooner realises a ' fortune then his ambition is to be a country gentleman , and to push upwards among the old families of a county . He sends his son to Eton and Oxford , where he associates on equal terms with young men of birth . He seeks matrimonial alliances for his children among those of a superior class : and , unless there is ( something ridiculous or forbidding about him and his family ,, his efforts are generally successful , and the next generation sees the Liverpool merchant or the Manchester cotton-spinner's son or grandson associated and allied with houses which were founded at tlie conquest or during the barons' wars . There is scarcely a peer , however exalted his ' rank may be , who has not some degree of cousinhood with families of very ordinary pretensions ; and not a few of our Cabinet ministers in modern times are but one remove ftrom the counting-house , through the intermediate step of a merchant or cotton-spinner turned squire . " " Dick Martin ' s A . ct" for preventing cruelty to animals ought to be sufficient to preserve the family of Connemara from oblivion . The member for Galway was the representative of this house . Sir B . Burke devotes a chapter to " the Princess of Connemara , " the last owner of the vast estate -which , notwithstanding its extent , was so encumbered that it became a serious Question in what way she was to keep the inheritance together . The princess married a poor relation , Mr . Gonne Bell ; whereupon the story proceeds as follows ,: — - . ,. ' u . " On the day of marriage Mr . Gonne Bell assumed by royal license , dated 15 th Sept . 1847 , the name of his bride * and shortly afterwards both parties united in borrowing a large sum of money , from the Law Life , Assurance Company , in order to consolidate the encumbrances upon the estate at a lower rate of interest . But this attempt to save themselves was defeated by events over which they had . np ; control . The year , of famine carao on ,. government works were commenced , and tlm tcnant ^ eoon ceased to pay any rent * whatever , and a ? a . natural ; . consequence the owners of ftp , inpny > xUoujaand , n « res wore uo longer able , to pay up the ^ inBtft | me . ntajdue upon tbofi ; mortgage , Men aptlu # in luirgG bodjea ^ ro Beldam ao meraiftU as when they are ., individually , pesponsiblo fw theiu aee ^ s ,, an 4 the Lfrvr ( Li ) T »? A 8 » viinucoi 8 ovJoty formed nooxoeption , fco . Mx \ n mto < pf . genenftl expert " « nco , TUoy ioaia <; ert ) . VPpn . , , thft d , ^ e , (|>© rft > rmanw of thQjr bondt wwl ttoafc ^ ing ^ vwd ^ Rt ^ A cb : oui « atAncea impo ^ ftiblo , tlua . vaat Co »^ mi ^^ ip » ai >«»; ty . « mo . iwfQ the Wnoiw » bttw > d Wrtftltw jpo Wf , iamd pMfmww ^«*
' race of Martin of Ballinahinch was sold out : the times were the worst possible for an advantageous sale ; and the Assurance Company bought in almost the entire of the estate , at a sum immeasurably " beloW its real value , and quite inadequate , even with the produce of the remaarit of the lands bought byother parties , to tlie liquidation of its heavy liabilities . Not a single acre remained for the poor heiress of what was once a princely estate , and while others were thus fattening upon her ancient inheritance , the ' Princess of Connemara , ' without any fault of her own * became an absolute pauper . The home of her fathers had passed away to strangers , leaving nothing behind but debts and the bitter recollection of what she had la & Iy been . A more painful example of family decadence will not easily be found , though the roll of such events , as I have already shown , is sufficiently extensive . In most cases the fall is more , or less gradual , the downward course speeding on with eacli descendant . But here , although the worm of decay had for some time been at work , eating and undermining what seemed from its size to be indestructible , yet its progress ^ was almost too rapid for notice , and when the building fell 4 t seemed to fall at once , sweeping , everything before it . " .-. ¦ '¦ *« -. This narrative will not only speak for itself , but recommend the book of which it forms a part . Nothing more romantic than these true stories can be found in the whole range of fiction . They have , besides , the advantage of being facts , and will command the attention of intelligent readers .
The Mfnistek's Wooixg. By If. Beeclxer S...
THE MFNISTEK'S WOOIXG . By If . Beeclxer Stowe » Author of " Uncle Tom ' s Cabin , '' " Sunny aicinories , '' & c . —Sampson Low , Son & Co . " Thjb Minister ' s Wooing" is a different story from any of-Mrs . Stowe ' s previous works , and : one which will convince niany of her thoughtful anii critical readers , who have hitherto doubted her capabilities , that she is able to write an interesting story of quiet domestic Kfe as well as one made up of horrible incidents of slave life . But before we examine critically the work we will give an outline of the story . In the introduction , Mrs . Stowe says she "ljas endeavoured in this story to paint a style of lifeand manners which existed in New England in the earlier days of her national existence , Some of the characters are historic . The leading events of the story are founded on actual facts , although the author has taken the liberty to arrange and vary them for the purposes of the story ; " and , further , *' has executed the work with a reverential tenderness for those great and religious naiads who laid in New England the foundations of many . generations , and tor those institutions and habits of life from which , asirom a fruitful germ , sprang all the present prosperity of America ; " and concludes by recommending ** " to the kindly thoughts of the British fireside , from which the fathers and motheVs of America first went out to give to English ideas and institutions a growth in , the hew world . " ' The jrtpry opens after the Wax fdt Independence , and treats of Puritan life and planners , from a domestic point of view , as they existed in some of the settlements of New England at thajt time . The . principal scene is laid in Newport , where « tea party is given by Widow Scudder to her neighbours , which gives Mrs . Stowe an opportunity , pf presenting to the reader some well-conceived and ; lively sketches of character and mannerisms , that bear witness that she has closely studied the times of which , her story treats . The widbW has one daughter , whose portrait is so poetically drawn by ; Mrs . Stpwe that wo cannot rofrain from quoting it :-- . " The gentle Mary stands in the . doorway with the afternoon sun streaming in spots of flickenng golden Ught on Iipr smooth palo-brown hair ,-r-a petite figure , in a full stuff petticoat and white Bhortgowu , she stands loacMng up oneliawd andcoouig to something onions tlw api ) lerblossom » ,-rana now a Java dove comes whirring round . and settles pa uer fUuror — -and we , tlwt liav . oeeen pictures , think , as we look on her girlish face , witli itaJtoofsfctfu-, © Bque beauty , ou the trenimlous , JmlWnfantino expression of her lovely month , nnU the general m * of simpUctty and purity .- " ©*! jsomc ^ old piqturoa Qtitho Kirihood of the Virgin . , -B jjU Mrs . Soudder was thinking of no , siw !» J ? opieh matter , 1 . 1 can assure your-jnVftWT I doii ' t- ^ i n ^ ou ooulf tovo dono he * a heater iwdisaltytliftMojaaontioft her a ^ ujjRUtei ? in any such connectio n * ,. fi hjD , h * d ; nox « wr , « pert a painting in . her M < h » txd . * n « reft > j ; o //« v « a ; vnpt Jo'Idq reminded of thW »> . » nd < jforth < mnoxe * : rt ku &; 4 QW } iWaB evidently ) for mwi ® xvtwpnuno faiTotijrlte > rn < fiw > ' > qfo |© said ,, in A 1 qHioky > fli « ne )« iktliy ^ vtiW «^ j : > t < JQmotl « oiae » oWM J don ^ foojl vWnrtlM ^ n *> i * fj » r * tffl Mgfti . liin * fwo war © dReftsea , m < l xmttftTrfsn < lrMiwb » wwgfi ' O < a
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Oct. 15, 1859, page 17, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_15101859/page/17/
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