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" Every man who attains a clear recognition of the Godhead is inspiredand he is inspired in proportion to the strength and clearness of that recognition . If by patient meditation the mind is enabled to ascend to higher regions of truth , that mind is assuredly nearer to the Divinity than ordinary minds , and its utterances are of deeper significance . Only to a few men is it ever given to attain any extraordinary clearness of recognition , but those fewmust be listened to as the teachers of a higher wisdom . It is impossible to doubt that men such as Moses and Isaiah were inspired : not perhaps in the vulgar sense of the term , but in that higher sense which I attach to it . " " Your explanation is by no means orthodox . " " What is the meaning of orthodoxy ? It is keeping to the letter instead of the spirit . I maintain-that my explanation of Inspiration is the only rational view to be taken of it , and is in strict accordance with the whole spirit of religion . It enables me to get rid of an objection , frequently made , founded on the scientific errors of the scriptures . I say the astronomy and geology of the scriptures are the astronomy and geology of the age in which the writers lived , and merit no more consideration than strict scientific appreciation can award them ; but the theology of the scriptures is the theology of men inspired—the utterances of men who have by force of intellect pierced into higher regions , and brought back tidings to us . " " But , " objected Armand , " if your explanation be correct , every founder of a religion has been inspired : Mahomet no less than Moses . " " Assuredly . Had you not been taught to consider religion as an invention , you would at once have seen that every religion is a truth—it is the formula of what is working in the soul of man . Some of your old teachers pretend that there are savage races destitute of all religion , and they quote travellers in confirmation . What ignorance of human nature ! As if man in any condition , however brutish , could exist without forming some rude explanation of the mysteries around him !" " Are those reports of travellers false then ? " " Not false , perhaps , as statements , but false in philosophy . If you find a race of men without a distinct culius , without what we call an Established Church , are you to conclude that they have no religion ? By no means . If they do not adore God they adore Fetiches . Because their dull souls have attained no clear recognition of the unity of the Godhead , because their formula is miserably imperfect , that is no reason why they should have no formula . The religious sentiment is as powerful with them as with us ; it is only the formula which is less clear . And , as I often say , Religion is a Sentiment before it is a Belief ;—the intellectual part of it , the formula , will vary with tli 3 intelligence of mankind , but there is little variation in the sentiment . " ft But how arc you to prove that the Christian formula is clearer than the Mahometan , or any other formula ?" " Easily . Christianity is cosmopolitan . All other religions are Nationalities . " " I do not understand you . " " Every other religion is the Ideal of the Nation j Christianity is the Ideal jf Mankind . In Judaism , as in Islamisin , we see the unmistakeable peculiarities of the nations from which they sprang ; the morality is not universal , t is national : the Future they announce is the heaven which a Jew or an \ rab can conceive as the height of felicity . Not so Christianity . Sprung him the Jewish race , it has little that is especially Jewish in it . Its morality s the ideal morality of the human soul , and not of any nation . This has carried it over the world . It suits one nation as well as another . The lifferences between Greeks and Africans , between Celts and Teutons , wide md manifold as they be , never interfere to prevent the adoption in common if the one religion which speaks equally to all . When Islamisin or Judaismirhen any other religion has manifested a similar universality , it will be time o ask whether its Inspiration is comparable to that of Christianity in truth , hmrness , and comprehensiveness . " " You have made me a Christian ! " exclaimed Armand , throwing himself uto Frangipolo ' s arms . ( 7 b be continued . )
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THE LYRIC DRAMA . The operatic events at Her Majesty's Theatre have been chiefly confined at present to the reappearance of well-known favourites in well-known mn 9 ic , if we except the debut , and triumphant success of Mademoiselle Ferraris , the young Neapolitan dancer , who , in one short pas de deux with M . Charles , fairly established herself in the highest grade , and by the most legitimate means . For perfect mastery over the mechanism of her art , and a winning elegance of style , which seems innate rather and studied , we know of no dancer , save perhaps Garlotta Grisi , who can approach her . " We hope that opportunity will speedily be afforded her of proving her powers of action in a new ballet . The success of Miss Catherine Hayes and Mr . Sims Reeves in the opera of " Lucia di Lammcrmoor " is one more instance of the fallacy of the cry that " talent" pines in its own country for want of patronage . Operatic audiences seek alone for excellence in the interpretation of a composer ' s ideas . Where this excellence is to be found they will go , and where it is not to be found they will not go . Artists , therefore , must not rest satisfied with the empty praise of being an honour to their " country " —they must study to be an honour to their art , and they may then command the applause which before they begged for . The Edrjardo of Mr . Reeves and the Lucia of Miss Hayes are already too well known to need comment . Their success on Tuesday evening was most decisive , and we may now look forward with , confidence to their united appearance in parts less hackneyed . On Thursday Madame Sontag returned to us in the opera of " Don Fasquale : the part of Norina admirably displaying her brilliant style of vocalization . She was welcomed most cordially ; as was also our old friend JLablache , who sang and acted the part of the amorous Don in his accustomed unctuous manner . We should have a word or two with Lablache on his tendency to ultra-buffoonery , did not " his age protect him . " At the Royal Italian Opera " Masaniello " has been revived , for the debut of Signor Tamberlik , of the San Carlo at Naples , who made his first appearance in England on Thursday . The part of Masaniello is no gi-eat favourite with , tenor singers , as it hardly offers opportunity for the display of first-rate powers . Signor Tamberlik , probably , does not aspire to be more than a second-rate singer in a first-rate establishment . He has a nice tenor voice—and though it is deficient in volume and evenness of tone , he makes it effective by the dramatic energy of his style . lie achieved a decided success—being encored in most of his prominent pieces , and called for at the termination of the opera . M . Massol was the Pietro , and evinced no falling off from his execution of the part last season . It is needless to say that the orchestra and chorus were perfection . The overture , and the " Prayer" in the market-place , were the two most solid encores of the evening .
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THE EASTER PIECES . Druky-lane , —Mr . Anderson will not give up Drury's traditions , and with a faith in them truly remarkable in these days , he set forth " Jane Shore" Easter Monday , to show , wo presume , how efficient it was as a bit of pantomime ! However , he made amends by "The Devil ' s Ring , " a genuine- Easter l > ioi : e of the old stamp , with magnificent scenery , dresses , and fairy-work , enlivened by some pretty music and g u > d singing . " It is a beautiful law . of compensation in nature that every Achilles has a heel . The same law applies to enchanters and ningici ma , only their heels are in their heads—their vulnerable point is imbecility . Truly delightful is it to observe how mighty enchanters are bnlHed , all their arts frustrated , fill their power r = et at nought by some youthful her-. ) . They have , earth , sea , and fire at command ; hell itself gives them its " wannest support ; " but in vain ! they can but scowl and stamp , call up snakyhaired , lurid demons , with flashing torches of spirits of wine , and otherwise make great demands upon the " properties" — they cannot frighten the hero , they cannot win the love- of the heroine . Mr . C . Fisher in " The Devil ' s Ring " is an example . He is bound under the severest penalties of annihilation to win the love ni Mi ^ s Nelson , and how do you think the enchanter sets about it ? He lias earth , air , water , and fire , at his beck . Ho makes water sprites in pink gauze , dance before her—superior sprites even going the length of entrechats in a pas de deux . —but he forfeits to niako himself amiable . How could a delicate female think of so truculent a suitor * Are those scowls and stamps the- language of ) ovc ; ? Could she fondle that terrific benrd ? Could she love such a Disonehanter—surh a dusky , spangled Terror ? If a an enchanter ? Why Carnaby Jinks of the Ulues , with blonde moustache , and a difficulty in pronouncing the letter " r , " would show him a very different and far more effective stylo of enchantment—and yet Jinks is no conjuror . In fact the enchanter , with all his
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R A I N . A MiKKitADLK i > ay . " The rain is beating at the windows ; the busy livelier , who must not slay at homo , is drenched ; the townsman splashes ilong the muddy streets , crestfallen and dejected . Rain always makes him 1 low-spirited ; " everything is so dark , cheerless , and inconvenient . "A inferable day" it is , ii" we . look only at the muddy streets , the water-darkened / alls , the . opaque strip of sky between the rows of houses , the streaming ' inflow , and the dripping umbrella . But have you been abroad into the field or the garden ? Why , then , do on not see how the wnrm wind and lifesoine moisture have called forth the f ' e i » f the I'lH ' i oC violation , our fellow sojourncr in this planet , with life ulike ours , dimly apparent to us , but not dim to itself . iSce how the buds : ive le : ij \( l sharply 1 ' orlh \ o meet the elemental water , deftly handed to it in rystnl drops ; how the plnnt drinks in the draught , and is alive again , pring has shed her glad shower of green upon the sad nakedness of winter , id the alien cyv . of man rejoices for the sake of his g ; vccn companion . Nay , ) ur own eheek is losing its paleness—in you , too , the lifesome wind is ingling with your blood , and you feel the advancing year in every awakened > rc . It is a glad day , this fresh and balmy day of April ,
" A miserable day" is it , even to you imprisoned in some town ? What , man , have you forgotten how these things are going on over the face of the earth to which you were born ? Is there no greenness in your memory . " Miserable ! " what , have you not awakened once more , by the blessing of God , to the life about you ? Has no kiss of affection visited your life , or no hope of it ? Are you alive , and do you not live in others ? If so , indeed most miserable . But you who read are not of that downcast and abandoned race . Even if you are toiling , it is for those you love ; and if the flesh winces under the strain of work , the ready heart recals its memories and its hopes , and you are strong again—and glad . The troubling of the rain sings to you the tale of the varied blessings which visit you wheresoever , and you bless the stream that comes round again in its certain—uncertain course , bearing life , health , and gladness to the world you love . Miserable ! is there any remnant of that feeling in your heart for the sake of this blessed rain ? Can it soak into the casket of life within your warm breast and there dilute the ruddy treasure ? What is it renders you so weak to enjoy the circle of life ? Is it " Business" which makes a slave of you , and has made you degenerate ? Why , then , in God ' s name , rise up , man ! and be no longer a slave : master this Business , and make it your servant not your tyrant . Take counsel with your fellow men dwelling in towns to that end ; bind down not-omnipotent Business and force it into some reasonable space of time , as your more rational fellow-workmen of the factory classes have done . Conquer from the day some remnant space for life ; go forth , then , and see if the glad rain can make you , —finite and transitory , —miserable in presence of the Eternal and Universal . Rather glad , grateful , and strong to serve .
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i i 44 ffifte % ttibtt > [ Saturday ,
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Leader (1850-1860), April 6, 1850, page 44, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1839/page/20/
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