On this page
- Departments (1)
-
Text (5)
-
Untitled Article
-
^artfnlin.
-
Untitled Article
-
Untitled Article
-
Untitled Article
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.
Untitled Article
among whom it took place . All that occurs between these two periods is more or less factitious , transitory , and deceptive . The stream winds and wanders in its course ; two points alone , its source and its mouth , determine its direction . * ' Just in this manner , during the course of a revolution , parties are formed and transformed , divided and subdivided , and seize the empire by turns , to lose it again each in its turn ; but that is really the national party which appears at the origin and termination of the crisis—which , after having begun the war and endured all its vicissitudes , finds itself , at last , strong and wise enough to restore peace . "
- He has written the history of our Revolution in sketching- the lives of the Revolutionists ; for we must not forget that all parties were revolutionary in those days—the Cavaliers by their denial of right no less than the Parliamentarians by their assertion of it . The studies here presented are of Denzil Hollis , Edmund Ludlow , Thomas May , Sir P . Warwick , John Lilburne , Fairfax , Mr . Hutchinson , Sir Thomas Herbert , John Price , Lord Clarendon , Burnet , Duke of Buckingham , Sir John Reresby , with notices of the Eikdn Basilike and the Memoirs of James II . ; a sufficient variety to enable the author to exhibit all the facettes of the diamond .
Of course the historian predominates over the biographer . Guizot has little interest in the dramatic portions of his subject . His severe , historical mode of viewing events—as if he were always seated in the professor ' s chair—little inclines him to dwell upon the more romantic traits , although he does not altogether forget them . But his main object in each case is to wring a moral from his theme—to make it teach or illustrate some principle . This gives a gravity and a value to his sketches not to be found in memoirs generally .
From a book so cheap as this , it is almost needless to make extracts ; but we cannot resist one as a good specimen of the general remarks which enhance the volume : — ' " England has enjoyed its season of national paiety and pleasure . This was during the reign of Elizabeth , when religious excitement , occasioned by fear of foreign invasion , arose in the very midst of the English . Reformation . The condition of the people was still one of difficulty and agitation—liberty was far from complete , public prospects were uncertain ; nevertheless the country was free from civil war , and
seemed to be preparing itself for approaching prosperity . The Government possessed the confidence of the nation : the Queen , though often tyrannical , was popular and respected . In a time of such tranquillity there was no lack either of employment or of recreation . With the exception of the Puritans , then a small and obscure sect , the minds of the people , although active , were not absorbed by any onepassion , nor committed to any regular system . They gave a ready reception to ideas and adventures , from whatever source they might be derived . In the pursuit of fame , wealth , or pleasuie , no expense wag spared , no difficulty seemed insurmountable . At court and among the people , alike in the cottages of the poor and the mansions of the rich , there Avas
diffused a general taste for society , whether festive or serious ; the peasant had his rustic , the noble his sumptuous , festivals . Luxury with the great was gay , though pompous ; the poor also found their circumstances no hindrance to mirth . In London , both the higher and lower orders flocked to the theatres to witness the performance of Shakspeare ' s dramas ; in the country , they listened to the strains of wandering minstrels . Banquets and games almost daily relieved the monotony of labour imd the constraint of religious solemnities . It was a time of great moral and political turmoil , but of free and happy movement , in which all seemed young and fresh ;—a time at once peaceable and threatening , when society , as yet exacting little , was nevcitheless full of ambition , curiosity , and hope .
" When Charles I . ascended the throne the stream of progress had increased , and England was much changed . The religious spirit had extended itself , and had become excited and gloomy . The spirit of liberty , gathering intelligence and vigour , nought to express itself , and npoke loudly of its rights and expectations . In the place of that unsettled and m > to ''peak Hunting activity , ready to recognize , and oven to nerve , without any consideration of payment , a glorious and formidable national power , there arose «> n all isiduM determinate ideas , indent passions ,
undeveloped factions , a tendency to mcomi and oppose King JdincH and hi « ignoble ( Jov < rnment . In proportion at ) the country had become exacting in its reqwirementH , and Hevero in its habits , power had become nrrogimt in its pretensions , and dissipated in iIk morale ; and the court pageantry which , under Lliziil » eth , had ho greatly excited popular curiosity and admiration , was , under her succeafior , an object only of reprehension and disguat . " _ Chariot * I . invested royalty and its adjuncts with an imposing exterior . His character was dignified ,
kis manners grave , and his morals pure . But things remained in all essential respects the same . The court , always brilliant , became more and more estranged from the country . The haughty nobility , indolent and impoverished , thronged round the Prince , seeking only advancement and pleasure . The King ' s favourite , the Duke of Buckingham—an arrogant , haughty , pompous , frivolous man—trafficked with the power and wealth of office , as if they were only valuable as a means of purchasing the subserviency of his creatures and gratifying his indi . vidual caprices . The Queen , Henrietta Maria ,
desirous of preserving unaltered the habits in which she had been nurtured , busied herself in the endeavour to introduce at Whitehall the customs , pastimes , and ideas of the Court of France ; considering absolute power necessary to kingly dignity , and Catholicism the only religion becoming a Prince . Poets , literary men , and wits , frequented the court in search of opportunities of display for their talent , distinction for their vanity , and pensions for their poverty . MoTe excuse may be found for these than for other courtiers : for the tastes and pleasures of
intellect create a certain noble and gentle fascination , which severs the imaginative man from the citizen , and fills his fancy with visions of those occupations alone which charm , and those protectors alone who encourage . In the midst of spectacles , elegant conversation , festivities , masquerades in which all the court shared , in animated and brilliant clubs , where the successors of Shakspeare met , and where Ben Jonson still presided , they easily forgot the ship-money , the controversies of the Puritans with Archbishop Laud , and the just though gloomy dissatisfaction of the country . " ° » 1 1 ' '
A warning should be entered , however , against the high authoritative trenchant manner which is peculiar to Guizot , and which sometimes covers either a miserable sophism or an audacious absurdity . For example , he says , in his grand way : — ' But men introduce disturbance into positions which Providence had consecrated to order . " This is simply foolish . How can he presume to tell what Providence has consecrated to order ? and , granting that the case were clearly made out , what does he mean by man thwarting God—making a disturbance of what God had ordained should be '• i i
order ? If there be meaning in his aphorism it is that God willed order and Man willed disturbance , and Man gained the point ! Such a meaning he would repudiate . Then why that lofty sentence , which seems to throw the revolutionary leaders into open conflict with Providence ? Aphoristic writing has its charm and its effects . It also has its dangers ; M . Guizot does not escape them .
Untitled Article
BOOKS ON OUR TABLE . Ordination , Matrimony , Vectig-alia , and Extreme Unction , Theologically Considered . hy the Reverend D . ftl . Hulbcrr , M . A ., 1 ' riest in Holy Orders , ; ind Member of the Senate <> 1 Cambridge , Tuintcr . The orthodox views on the two first and the last subjects treated of in this vohune are stoutly maintained by its reverend and industrious author , who goes beyond many writers on his own side , in asserting the duty of matrimony in all cases , and in treating as evidences of want of faith those prudential considerations for its postponement or avoidance which the necessities of our present state of society are too often supposed to involve . Like most controversial works , the estimate of its success or failure will much depend on the prepossessions of its readers ; but none can deny the piety and earnestness with which , in language frequently rising to eloquence , Mr . Hulbert advocates opinions , at times in advance of those of his own party , and opposed , we believe , to the true principles of religious freedom In the treatise on Vcctiyalia , or Taxation , the author recommends the extinction of the National Debt , by the appropriation of the sum at present paid annually as interest to the gradual reduction of the principal . He vindicates the right of the State to have recourse to this measure , by reference to tin ; fact of the interest having repeatedly been reduced by successive enactments ; and in glowing language anticipates the advantages which would accrue to society , not only by the extinction of the debt , but by the bare announcement of its being the State's determination to extinguish it . We question whether the patience of the suffering classes will endure , during the period necessary for th « accomplishment of his scheme , which lie estimates at thirty yearn . They must , however , be grateful for the way in which their wrongs are recognized , and their emancipation advocated , by u man of philanthtopy , of sincerity , and of zeal .
Denotation of the Hiinctiinry and Timed of KcBtitution , h Count ; of Lecture * tlcHiifncd to Htiow tlint . ih « Flrat ChrlHti . in . Church him comn to it a end . and that a New Church in now lieinir CHUbhnhftri . Uy the Kevrrend Uobeit / Vbhott , Minintur of th « INew Church , Norwich . llodi , on . Tim book will be particularly acceptable to the members of the Swodenborginn Church , its aim being to trace from the earliest times thu deviations from what is held to bo the truth by that communion , on tho part of Christiana in general .
^Artfnlin.
^ artfnlin .
Untitled Article
Aug . 30 , 1851 . ] ffifl * It «« & ««? 827
Untitled Article
We should do our utmost to encourage the Beautiful for the Useful encourages itself .-GoBTHK . -Bea ™""^
Untitled Article
TRIALS AND TROUBLES OF A POOR WORKING ASS . ™ " * " For you shall find hia vanities forespent Were but the outside of the Roman Brutus , Covering discretion with a coat of folly . " Part I . —Master and Man . It was noon . The farmer ' s cart was waiting at the roadside opposite his house ; and the Ass was making an uncomfortable dinner , standing as he was between the shafts , on the dusty gorse-bushes in the hedgerow . " Ah ! " said he to himself , as a bee came buzzing among the flowers close to where ho was munching , " that is a happy fellow , to sing at his work like that ! There is a great honey-bap , half as big as himself ; and away he goes from flower to flower , with his heart as light as his wing—as if there was no better fun in life than to be filling it and carrying it ! " There was such a wistful , wondering expression in his face as he kept watching the Bee ,
that at last the latter perceived it . " " What is the matter , old fellow ? " said she , as she glided up , and pitched on his nose . " You don't look as if you half liked it . No wonder , with those nasty gorse prickles running into your lips . Come with me over the hedge into the meadow . I'll show you where there is grass—long grass , and clover so thick , you may eat all day for a week together ; and for every mouthful you take , two will grow up in its place . " The Ass attempted to smile , but he could n ' t manage it : it had changed to a tear before lie could get his answer out , and then he could do no more than utter the one word " Master , " as he pointed with one ear to the door of the house ; and then , turning the other to the farmer in the field to which the Bee was inviting him , and revolving it significantly on its pivot towards his back , tried to give the Bee to understand that his sides would pay for it if he ventured on such a liberty . " Master ! " said the Bee , " what is ' master ? ' " The Ass opened his eyes very wide . " Master , " thought he , " she does not know what * mast « r ' means . No wonder she is light-hearted . ' 14 That is master yonder , " he said , " and I am his ass ; and if I go with you he will beat me . " " Beat you ! " said the Bee ; " beat you ? Then why don ' t you sting him ; your tail is long enough ?" " Ah ! " said the Ass . " Yes , it is long enough ; but it is empty enough , too . I am afraid . It i > good ior nothing but to flap the flies off . Thtre is no harm in it . " " Well , then , haven ' t you horns ? What are those long things on your head ? is there nothing inside them ? Make the creatures afraid of ) ou , Ass : that is the way to be respected . If I didn't u-e my sting , those little rascally boys would treat me no better than if 1 was a cockchafer " " You are much littler than me , Bee—a great deal littler ; « nd if you can make them afraid of you , I am sure I ought . But I can ' t . If I look fierce , they only laugh at me . I haven ' t got any horns , Bee . Those long things are ears . ' 1 hoy say asses are meant to do what they are told ; and to we : have the biggest ears of any of the creatures to help \ ib to hear with . I might kick ; but I only tried once . That was when little master tied the sting-ncttla under my tail . But I didn ' t do it well , 1 suppose ; and I didn ' t get any good by it : be only put athorn-1 ) ub 1 i there instead . " " Poor Ass ! " said the Bee . " Poor fellow ! Thin is a rough world for tho ^ e that , can ' t help themselves . If you had my spirit inside ; that big body of yours , I think we would do something . " " 1 can do something , " said the Ash . "Now and then , when it has been very bad , 1 have lookt-d round in master ' s face — and , I don't know why , hut somehow , he has left off beating me . so badly for that time . " " Try it now , " said she sharply , n . s a noi . se behind her made her look quick round , and she saw the farmer climbing into his cart . " Try it now . ' But shts spoke too late . Do an sate the farmer— - whuck down came the whip , and the poor donkey couldn ' t restrain a groan an he g- > t heavily into motion . " Good morning , " buzzed the lice . " Youninnupo your way ; 1 manngu mini * . Kvery body to their taste ; but I think mine is the best , though . " " Don ' t go yet , " said the Ash , as ho got into his trot : "it is tmch n pleasure , to hear a kind voice . l ) on ' t go . . . ( ieton my buck , and I can givo you a lift . If you are afrnid of the whip , get into my ear ; you will be safe , enough there ; ; Ih . uuUh , I nhall bo able to hear what you Nay ho well . " - The Bee , alter finding that tho Ash wan going her way , and that sho wouldn ' t bo giving herself any extra trouble , had no objection ; m » she slowed herself away , airl they begun to try to go on with thoir talk . But she booh found that , however well tho ana could hear what she said , sho couldn ' t hear a
-
-
Citation
-
Leader (1850-1860), Aug. 30, 1851, page 827, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1898/page/15/
-