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five ffood for the absolute good , you must equally accept your relative evil for the absolute evil . Now this is shocking the mind refuses \ p accept such ^ conception ; and would be plunged in despair , did it not learn that Wisdom , Goodness , Evil , are but relative terms , and pertain to ^ our San finite conditions , not to the Infinite ; yet , if ^ persist in S ^ surinff the Infinite according to theirfinite standard , they must do so in the one case as in the other . If the argument of design is good in one case it is in the other . Theologians usually escapefrom , the dilemma by saying , when any ease of manifest evg is propounded , " God ' s ways are inscrutable j" and they are right . But , if inscrutable in one direction , inscrutable in all . We do not understand Evil , nor do we understand Good ; the Finite cannot understand the Infinite . A loftier conception of the Deity than this of a Contriver , and a proiounder theory of the Universe than the common mechanical one , would emancipate men from this tendency to see in Nature nothing but a reflection of human powers . But we have formerly touched on this topic , and may
^ As ^ fair specimen of the absurd interpretation of Nature in the search for final causes , let us quote this : — " The most interesting part of the anatomy of the Leech relates , however , to the structure of its mouth , which presents a piece of mechanism that is quite unique in the animal creation . In the medicinal Leech , which alone possesses the apparatus we are about to describe in a complete condition , the mouth is a dilatable orifice , situated near the centre of the anterior sucker , and would seem , at first sight to be but a simple hole . Just within the margin of the aperture , are situated ' three beautiful little semicircular horny saws , arranged in a tri-radiate manner ; so that their edges meet in the centre . It is by means of these saws that the Leech makes the incisions whence blood is to be procured , an operation firml t
that is performed in the following manner : no sooner is the sucker y fixed o the skin , than the mouth becomes slightly everted , and the edges of the saws thus made to press upon the tense integument , a sawing movement being at the same time given to each , whereby it is made gradually to pierce the surface , and cut itsway to the sluices of blood beneath . Nothing could be more admirably adapted to secure the end in view than the shape of the wound thus inflicted , the lips of which must necessarily be drawn asunder by the very contractility of the skin itself ; nor can we . doubt that the enormous sacculated stomach , which fills nearly the whole body of the Leech , is equally a contrivance to render these creatures efficient as medicinal agents for tlieuse of mankind . That it was for man , and not for the Leech , that this structure was desired , there can be no reasonable question . The Leech , m its native element , could hardly hope for a supply of hot blood as food ; and on the other hand , its habits are most abstemious , and it may be kept alive and healthy for years with no other apparent nourishment than what is derived from pure water frequently changed ; even when at large , minute aquatic insects and larvae form its usual diet : whencethen , the necessity for this curious cupping apparatus ? _
, " Another convincing proof of the adaptation of the economy of these Leeches to the necessities of mankind , rather than to their own support , is the remarkable disproportion between the quantity of blood swallowed at a meal , and the slowness of its appropriation as nutriment . A Leech , in the course of half an hour , will gorge itself almost to bursting ; while observation proves that it requires a whole year to digest the quantity of food thus rapidly imbibed , during the whole of which time the blood remains in the body of the Leech in a fluid condition , instead of coagulating or becoming putrid , as it would inevitably do under any other circumstances . " There is something so laughable in the first portion of this that we cannot gravely answer it ; as Goethe says , there are men who think cork bottlesWith to the bottles iwi d
trees were invented to stop ginger-beer . regard trees were invented to stop ginger-beer , vv regarw me second " convincing proof / ' we would ask Mr . Rymer Jones how so accomplished a naturalist could forget that the boa-constrictor stands m similar relations to its food P The idea of the universe being subordinate to Man , madeior him and for his wants—so that no flower blooms save for his delight , no leech lives but as a possible cupping-machine to be called upon when wantedis not the idea which our minds can accept ; and although we study every feature of the divine face of Nature with a love as fervent , and xnat uwia
with emotions of wonder and joy aa deep as mosc move ^ ™ theologian , seeking for " contrivance , * and ostentatiously applauding " skill —although wo know that , being human , wo have only human language wherewith to translate our feelings , and that we must employ the words Beauty , Goodness , and Wisdom , when speaking of the thoueand-fold activities of the great Life which encompasses and sustains us g ^ ll reprove as necessarily erroneous and certainly dangerous , all speculation founded on a mechanical theory of the universe and a great [ Designer who " contrives" in human fashion . We will accompany Mr . Bvmer Jones into the remotest recesses of Nature , and admire with him the marvel of beauty and fitness there displayed ; but when he pretends to ho admitted into the secrets of the Creator , there wo leave lam . Rniuifcv and fitness , lie may reply , are they not human conceptions also V
They are . Wherein , then , lies the difference betweon us Y In this : wo use language which wo know to be human , and incommensurate with the Deity - the natural theologians use the same language , and insist upon its being commensurate , Wo " sit down in quiet ignor * rfeo , ' as Locko advised ; they declare their ignorance to bo final truth .
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THE STORY OP NELL GWYN . ** gK & £££ iZL " *¦* " ° ° " " " ¦ ^^ 'inaibnl That it is Character more than Conduct which guides our affections , may bo soon in tho affectionate regard which , in History as in Life , accompanies certain persons whoso career Eas not perhaps been that of all others suited to illustrate tho beauty of rigorous morals . Miraboau was , conventionally , aUvtmy \ vlZTm L than lioboapierro , Camillo Dcsmoul ns far less so than St Just ; yet we all lovo tho genial reprobates , and grudge our praise to tho niloibfo patriots . There * iB Nell Gwyn too , whom tho Enghah people loved , and will love , lot moralists sermonize with iorty parson power" against her . Ab Potor Cunningham remarks : — " Tho English people Imvo always entertained ft peculiar liking for Nell Gwyn .
There is a sort of indulgence towards her not generally conceded to any other woman of her class . Thousands are attracted by her name , they know not why and do not stay to inquire . It is the popular impression that , with all her failings ' she had a generous as well as a tender heart ; that when raised from poverty , she reserved her wealth for others rather than herself ; and that the influence she possessed was often exercised for good objects , and never abused . Contrasted with others in a far superior rank in life , and tried by fewetf temptations , there is much that marks and removes her from the common herd . The many have no sympathy , nor should they have any , for Barbara Palmer , Louise de Querouelle , or Erengardde Schulenberg ; but for Nell Gwyn , ' pretty witty Nell / there is a tolerant and kindly regard , which , the following pages are designed to illustrate rather than extend /'
This is not the time , or we could show that , on a deeper view of morals , the apparent contradiction disappears , and that it is our health y moral sense which awards this praise to Character over Conduct , perceiving that Life is a Problem not a Theorem , a thing to be acted , not a thing to be prescribed ; and that truly speaking , kindnessy tendernessj charity , and joyousness are really of more consequence than the rigorous adherence to a code of maxims , admirable and necessary as those maxims may be . The coal-yard in Drury-lane—a low alley on the east side of the lane , and famous , among other things , as the residence of Jonathan Wild ;—
claims the honour of being Nelly ' s birth-place ; but while seven cities claim a Homer , may not two dispute about a Nelly Pandthere is Hereford , the birthplace of Gairick , equally proud of its traditional claim to be the mother-city of Nell Gwyn . Peter Cunningham tells us that " oddly enough , one of Nelly ' s grandsons died Bishop of Hereford , " a detail which , all right-minded persons will at once pronounce decisive in favour of the Hereford claim , in spite of pertinacious antiquaries . At any rate "Nell was born on the 2 nd February 1650 ; her father , we are told , belonging to an
, ancient Welch family ; but the Captain , if captaincy there was , must have dragged his lineage somewhat through the dirt , as Nell ' s early life was spent in company wo * precisely the most choice , and in , avocations not usually regarded as favourable to the culture of female purity . We find her as an " Orange girl , holding her basket of fruit covered with vineleaves , in the pit of the King ' s Theatre , and taking her ^ stand with her fellow fruit-women in the front row of the pit with her back to the stage . jjcajivo ^ J i ^*» -v « T ^
xlow lasnions cnange . uue xvuug . , ,,.. , ^ ., .., ^—w—^ . ^ . ^^ the stalls of Her Majesty's with a quill tooth-pick ostentatiously protruding from their foolish mouths , as if to announce to the mild public that they , the Heavies , have just left their club , and have <• ¦¦ dinedi damme ! would be thrown into fits at the idea of being offered " oranges , apples , ginger beer , bill of the play ! " and of being suspected of eating oranges there . Yet as our biographer says : — " With the orange-girls ( who stood as we have seen in the pit , with their back to the stage ) the beaux about town were accustomed to break their jests ; and that the language employed was not of the most delicate description ; we may gather from the dialogue of Dorimant , in Etherege ' s comedy of Sir Fopling Flutter . familiarlkno Molland
" The mistress or superior of the girla was y wn as Orange , filled the same sort of office in the theatre that the mother of the maids occupied at court among the maids of honour . Both Sir William Penn and Tepys would o ccasionally have ' a great deal of discourse' with Orange MoU ; and Mrs . Itnep the actress , when in want of Pepys , sent Moll to the Clerk of the Act ? with the welcome message . To higgle about the price of the fruit was thought beneath the character of a gentlemen . < The next step / says the Young Gallant s Academy , 'is to give a turn to the China orange wench , and give her her own rate tor Her oranges ( for ' tis below a gentleman to stand haggling like a citizens ^ wife ) , jin * then to present the fairest to the next vizard mask / Pepys , when challenged in the pit for the price of twelve oranges which the orange-woman said he owed her , but which he says was wholly untrue , was not content with denying the debt , dug for quiet bought four shillings' worth of oranges from her at sixpence a piece . This was a high price / but the Clerk of the Acts was true to the direction in tno
Gallant ' s Academy . " , Nelly is always associated in tho public mind with the gaieties ot tno Restoration : >— _ . , firn cilA « She was ten years of age at the restoration of King Charles II ., in 16 bU . » no was old enough , therefore , to have noticed the extraordinary change wmcu ™ return of royalty effected in the manners , customs , feelings , and even conV ™\ of tho bulk of the people . Tho strict observance of the Sabbath was no longer rigidly enforced . Sir Charles Sedlcy and the Duke of Buckingham rode * n tuo coaches on a Sunday , and tho barber and the shoe-black shaved beards and ^ Ue anc of tho parishinniic b
boots on tho same day , without the overseers of the poor ^ fines on them for such ( as they were then thought ) unseemly breaches of w »« ^ bath . Maypoles were once more erected on spots endeared by old ossociaw , tho people again danced their old dunces around them . Tho Cavalier ^™?\ , royal insignia on his fire-place to its old position ; the King ' s Head , tno i ^_ Howl , and tho Crown were onco more favourite signs by which tavcr" 8 Countrv tinguished ; drinking of healths nnd deep potations , with all their now- . ^ honours and observances , wore again in vogue . . Oughtrcd , tho matheiimuo ^ ^ of joy ; and Urquhart , tho translator of Kabclaifl , of laughter , at » cft " f lth _ enthusiasm of tho English to * welcome home old Rowley . ' * U » o &mh »
' Iloro ' a a lioalth unto his Majoufcy , with a fa , la , la , f werfl was made a pretext for tho worst excesses , and irreligion and in *} f 2 iciHH , tliought to secure conversation ngninet a suspicion of diBk ^ ftlty ^^^ ^ __ — * . * ' ' ' llrttl tuno
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" Woicomo homo , old ltowloy / ' is tho name of tho well-known Scottish c « Had away frno mo , ]> onalct . " 8 oa Johnson ' s Scott ' s Musical Mtl 8 ?™\>~ :: ' in th ree , + Ono of tho fiovon " Choice New , Englieh Ayroa" in Songs « nd , * S ° J Musiok , four , i \\ o parts , botli ttpt ibr tho Voices and Viols , with a briot ^™" 'J ™ J ' joOll by J ° - a « taught in tho Musick-Sohool of Abordoon , third edition , enlarged , Aooruu Forpou , 1082 , is— . , , ln " Hero ' s a hoaltli unto his Majoflty , with a in , la , la . Conversion to his onomioa , witli a fa , la , la . And ho that will not pledge his health , 1 wish him neither wit nor wealth , Hot Vet a ropo to hang himself . With a fa , la , la , la , With a fa , la , " &o . Ravilo . " Bh ^ ° 11 Tho music appears to have been , tho composition ol " Mr . Jo&n p » y » rofors to the « ong , Works , ii . 208 \ iii . 52 .
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566 THE LEAJDEIt . £ ^
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), June 12, 1852, page 566, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1939/page/18/
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