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1Q24 THE LEADER. [Saturday,
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The dispensations of the mysterious Prov...
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BOOKS ON OUR TABLE. The Assurance Magazi...
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THE EELIGIO3ST OF THE HEART. The Religio...
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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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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Pumas, Tho Incommensurable, The Incompar...
test against Dumas , wlio has taken this novel , transferred the scene to England , heightening the reality by a few touches of couletir locale , such as can be afforded by Mrs . Snart , Mr . Stiff , and the " village of Wirchsworth" substituted a visit to le grand poete , Pote , for the original visit to Gtellert , taken , in short , the story just as lie found it in Lafontaine , with only Dumas additions in the way of " sentiment , " description , and dialogue . Thus , where the hero first sees the heroine , Lafontainb simply remarks her freckles on a pale face ; hut for Dumas this is a point d ' orgtie , and he favours us with pages about her Leghorn hat , her white muslin dress and blue sash , her hair , & c . & c . —the rhetoric of millinery .
Two out of four volumes are thus " repossessed" from Lafontaine . In the other two he starts off at a tangent—perhaps to " repossess" himself elsewhere ; a description of Holland House and of Lord and Lady Holland will amuse the English reader—if indeed the whole work do not . Not the least amusing part is the cavalier allusion , towards the close , of the use he has made of his predecessor . Has literature a parallel to this man P
1q24 The Leader. [Saturday,
1 Q 24 THE LEADER . [ Saturday ,
The Dispensations Of The Mysterious Prov...
The dispensations of the mysterious Providence that watches over pensions puzzle us . A letter in the Times of yesterday draws attention to the fact that Mrs . Hogg , the Ettrick Shepherd ' s widow , and three " bonnie lasses , " the Ettrick Shepherd ' s daughters , need the notice of those in "high quarters . " " Sir Francis Head , Bart ., " has his 100 Z . a year from her Majesty , in consideration of his not invaluable services to literature , and in spite of the fact that he is not , like those whom poor Hogg has left behind him , totally unprovided for ; and the widow of Joseph Train—whoever he may have been—has hers ; but Mrs .. Ho gg-, it appears , is too old to push her claims in person , and has no indefatigable
friend in power to sue for the little pension for herself and her daughters with which the niggard bounty of the Crown recognises departed genius , and pays ' its Uoyal tribute to real greatness . Lord Aberdeen should think of this , and let Scottish nationality triumph over Scottish parsimony . Lady Nicolas , we are glad to learn , has at length been remembered . A pension of 1001 . a year , not extending , we regret to find , over the lifetime of any of her numerous family , has been granted her in recognition of the devoted labours of Sir Harris , who so long and so enthusiastically toiled in afield of labour never likely to be pecuniai'ily
productive . This , hoAvever ,. comes too late to look like an act of grace , and appears , whenAve consider the date of his death , rather as if conceded to influence in " . high quarters" than as if proffered in honest generosity to an unquestionably worthy recipient . Dk Qitincey ' s name is not published in . the pension-list . " When will it be ? We suppose the properly-constituted authorities are investigating his claims , and will look through hia works some day . Meanwhile , they axe studying the publications of Mr . Tkatn , and buying up at second-hand bookstalls ( where they maybe had very reasonably ) those of Sin Francis Hkad .
Books On Our Table. The Assurance Magazi...
BOOKS ON OUR TABLE . The Assurance Magazine and Journal of ( he Institute of Actuaries . October , 1853 . C \ and E . Luyton , Fleet Street . Tiitb complete repository of esRays and facts on life assurance makes progress . The opening article exposes tho inadequacy of existing data for determining the rate of mortality among select lives , and brings very clear reasoning and some convincing facts in support of the opinion assorted by the writer . The following from an article on the stain }) duties on fire insurance has a popular tone , incitingus to quotation : — "This primary objection , which applies lo every tax of the kind , however small , becomes strikingly apparent in the cas < i in question , by tho disproportion of tho duty levied to tho actual charge for premium required to cover tho risk . In cases of common hazard , tho duty is double the premium . To insure KMHtf . on a private house , tho charge for premium in I 5 . s \; the duty levied and paid at the samo time , is . 'K > . s \ : ho ' thai , a man impelled hy motives of prudence to relieve himself from n contingent risk , which highly responsible purtios lire willing to cover for Is . <> , / ., j H called upon to pay 3 s . to tho revenue , iu order to give validity to the transaction . " It will bo observed that tho premium in the , case of small amounts is higher than for larger sums ; but it is to be borne in mind thai , the e \ peiiHoand trouble to the Oflieo for small insurances bear a , much larger ratio |() | , | , o premium than Tor larger suniR . The same printed receipts , entries , postages , notices for renewal , indorsements , aro necessary ; bat no one who knows the course of business can doubt that a reduction of duty would bring such an incromied number of policies of this class thai a . considerable reduction of premium might be confidentl y ; ex |> oelod to follow . The case of the honest and hard-working classes , as to insurance , is often made painfully apparent . Whenever a fire happens in a crowded neighbourhood , tho most indubitable evidence is alwayfl
furnished of tho general neglect by the labouring classes of this net of prudent precaution . To such an extent , indeed , does this happen , ( but appeals to Ihe public sympathy for pecuniary relief ure quite ii common appendage to the public notice of the calamity The middle and niercaiililo classes find nl .-io in the , high dut y re-imans either for altogether neglecting- inHurmg , or reducing the amount of their policies to an imprudently low level . The tax lie-comes , in proportion to oilier rales , really a Morions item of chargea per oentagc upon tho rental of houses , equal to the property tax .. The tenant of a . house of HO / , per annum , holding on- lease , probably insurei for r > 0 (>/ . on the building and r >( H >/ : on tlio contents . Tint duty in . ' 10 . s \ , or a little beyond tho amount of tho property tax chargeable for tho house . " , Opinions , thiiH fairly stated , and on professional matters , touching the interests of all , have great value , and must have woight . ITtindley Crow , or , Mr . . Torroc 7 , Hn ffmif . 1 h . Mnnlbury niu \ ylVtmH _ Tlw Art of U . eimoiiiiir / . lly S . Neil . Wallon iind Muberly . Salad for tho Solltttrtj . Hy an lOpiciiro . ^ R . ' Monthly " Tho ihiiiwrKul TAhrttrtf . 1 h . ' Nathaniel ( Jook ' o . Tho Ifiufn rt / of Vyrrhttx . lty . Jacob Abbott . Nathaniel flookn . " Thn Hiufort / of Alfred tho Great . Hy . laeol ) Ablioti . Nathaniel Ooolco . " Thn Podf . uutl . IVorkH of Alexander J ' ope . Vol . 11 . Nuthaniel Oooko Thn ZUimtratM JUimify Novr . lint . —Jf / inirhn tftti JIiitjKonot . Hy W . Anderson . Nathaniel ( Joolco '
Fretty Lessons in Verse for Gfood Children . By Sara Coleridge . John W . Parker and S Immortal Sewerage—The Beer-SItop Evil . By the Hon . and Rev . S . G . Osbome . ' John W . Parker and Son Beading for Travellers—Sketches of the Hungarian Emigration into Turkey . By a Honved 1 ' Chapman and Hal ] " The Drying up of the Euphrates ; or , the Downfall of Turkey . By J . Aston . Is Arthur Hall , Virtue and Co Hope . A Story of Chequered IAfe . By A . W . Cole . 3 vols . ' ¦ t . C Newb ' Thoughts on Cholera . By E . Hearne . Johl ^ ckurchiu ' Salibath Laws and Sabbath Duties Considered in Relation to their Natural and Scrioh 7
Qromds . By R . Cox . Maelachlan and Sfewart Foems . By James Payn . MacmiUan and Co ' Turkey , Past and Present . By JameS llutton , Esq . Is . Clarke , Beeton , and Co * Tlie Family Friend . 2 d . W . S . Orr and Co " The Family Tutor . 2 d . W . S . Orr and Co ' Valentin's Text-book of Physiology . Translated by W . Brinton , M . D . 13 s . Eenshaw " Hhymesfor the Times ; or , " Mercury's" Poems . By J . Jitter . Partridge and Oakev * A Set of Songs : By E . H . Fitzwilliam . D'Almaine and Co ! The Trial of the ' Manchester Bards , and the Bowdon Coronation . By a Manchester Man . Whittaker and Co . New Government Succession-Duty Tables . Computed by A . G . Finlaison . Chapman and Hall
The Eeligio3st Of The Heart. The Religio...
THE EELIGIO 3 ST OF THE HEART . The Religion of the Heart . A Manual of Faith and Duty . By Leigh Hunt . # > John Chapman . Religion has three aspects corresponding with the three fundamental divisions of our nature : it is speculative , emotional , and practical ; a dogma , a feeling , or a guide . Hence the paradoxes we observe of men sincerely orthodox , yet practically atheists ; of others , avowedl y atheist , yet practically Christians ; of others again , orthodox both in creed and in conduct , yet almost wholly without the reverential and ennobling emotions which constitute the whole religion of some .
Dividing mankind in the popular way into those who have a Religion and those who have none—into Believers and Unbelievers , a little experience of the world makes us aware of a secondary division necessary to be established , —namely , those who have religious sentiments , and those who have none . We exclude for the present all consideration of Religion as a rule of conduct , because it is quite clear that while some men act uprightly , drawing their sanction from Religion , other men act uprightly , drawing their sanction from the verdict of conscience , and their perception of the relations due from one to another ; and as in this secular view the main question is with the result rather than the motive , with virtuous life rather than with the legislative sanction , we may omit it from present consideration .
We start , then , from the proposition tliat the world may be divided into two classes with respect to Religion , somewhat as it may withjrespect to Music ( if the illustration be not thought too trivial ) , wherein we see persons so organized as to be keenly susceptible to all the delicacies and varieties of modulation and rhythm , while others are totally insensible to the charm of even a simple tune . A man may have a soul for Religion as he may have " a soul for music . " He may also be destitute of the faculty which shall apprehend the one and the other . Hence , in the class of Believers , we shall find persons who to sincerity in creed add a grace of senlhnenb which is totally wanting in many who , nevertheless , would go to the stake for their convict-ions ! While in the class of
Unbelievers a \ e shall iind persons like the last named , wholly wanting in religions sentiment , and steadfast in their negative creed ; and also persons who , though steadfast in their negations , are nevertheless animated by the most active religious sentiments . In other words , the men of large emotional natures have , over and above their creeds—positive and negative—a common feeling , sentiment , mysticism-, if you please to call it bo ; whereas , the men of narrower natures ( narrower , we mean , in respect of emotive capacity ) have little or nothing beyond their speculative creeds , positive and negative . Thus a man may be a great thinker , and yet he insensible to music ; a great man of science , and yet bo insensible to the appeals made to his Religious sentiment ; his orthodoxy has nothing to do with it .
To the class of thinkers who are feelers also , to those whose soul is larger than mere logic can compass , and who habitually endeavour on the wings of Imagination to soar into regions which transcend Reason , this beautiful hook by Leigh Hunt is specially addressed . " Thorp are ^ thousands of persons in England , as well as in other countries , who appear to bo of no religion ; who are certainly not of any of tho established opinions ; and who join in no Hort of worship , public or private . These pernoim arc of all cIjinhoh . Formerly they wore confined to the more educated ; hut of late years they have spread among all the others . It is admitted , at tho sauie time , that groat numbers of persons of tin ' s description enjoy tho most respectable characters ; are just in their dealings , beloved by their friends , and fit to sot n « example- to society in every respect " hut this one .
It is not ho well known , certainly not ho often admitted , that , however deficient thorns persons may bo with respect to any visible religion , there arc multitudes of them who have a strong senso of religion at heart ; who inako inquiries on tho subject in all directions , vainly Hooking spiritual satisfaction ; an " who are thus driven to wish that they were in ponHossion of some form of rohg" >'' of their own , not inconsistent with those exaltod notions which they entertain <> l the Divine Spirit of the universe , and of the duties of beneficence . A g «« " - reverence for thu character and intentions of the Founder of Christianity is common among them , though they (; ako care-to distinguish their opinions of him from Hioh " winch have boon dictated by theologians . B form of roliion is t on *
" y a g not inconsistent with these sentiments , mean , free from contradiction to tho best ideas of moral goodness . In the service o tho ehureh , spending of' i | , .,, „ wholo , including tho wriptnral as well as « scclflHiftHtnaw portions , nothing is to bo desired in point of eloquence . It is often affecting , often majestic , always nobly and simply written . Tho authors of it , both ancient and modern , were in ' earnest , and brought to their tasks a great portion o natural humanity , as well an eortain induced feelintfH not so worthy of it n « Mjjjy Nupposed , though oq ually calculated to make an impression upon existing states oi " human mind . . Hut not to mention other difficulties in the way of making selection from this Horvieo , those veiy foolings , which woro thought so ossontiiu part of devotion , express , and mix up with bettor things ho many rude ami -mwtau passions , and involve con tradictions , both divine and human , ho incom patiblewi . the proHont advanced state of knowledge and lovo of good , that they aro iounu
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Oct. 22, 1853, page 16, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_22101853/page/16/
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