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curing a fair representation of views in morals , politics , or theology . " The proposal of the . minority , it is expected , will meet with virulent Opposition , arid '" Rusticus" requests us to discuss itr and to state what , if anything , can be said iagainst it . ' . The question is a practical one , and must receive a practical solution . Their proposal is fair enough in a commercial point of view . Minorities also , as " Rusticus" observes , have ( theoretically ) their ri g hts ; but practically they do not get them , and then * great privilege is to strive to become the majority . When men associate they must
compromise , they must yield individual claims , and prefer the ends of their association . That end alone they must not compromise . The purpose of the society in question is the intellectual and moral improvement of its members . This should be kept steadily in view in the formation of their library . They must consider what sort of library will best answer their purpose , not what will best represent the views of individual members . A good general library is what is wanted ; and such a ubrary will fairly represent all views , those of the
members as well as others unknown to them . In the first place , it should include all standard works , and , in the next , all important works of o-eference ; or ( if the funds at the disposal of the society fall short of providing all such , then ) the most important standard works on all subjects ; and a committee will be best able to determine which these are . How , supposing the proposal of the minority adopted , are such works to be provided ? One may have a favourite author , another , another ; but it does not follow that in course of time all the best authors will be selected ! Besides ,
there is too general a tendency , under such an arrangement ( which we have seen in operation ) to introduce books on special subjects—of interest only to the members who order them . A doctor orders the work on medicine which he should have purchased for his own use ; the clergyman orders a commentary ; and the curate a book of sermons ; while Mrs . insists on the interesting new work on crotchet ! Now , if a member wants a book or books on shop subjects , he should buy it or them for himself . It is plain that by the plan proposed by the minority the end of the association might be defeated . So far we differ from . " Rusticus , " that we
recommend the appointment of a committee to superintend the formation of the library . But let its members bo well selected . The committee should contain one representative , at least , of every class in the association ; if possible , the most intelligent of his class , and there rarely is a difficulty in deciding -who he is . Towards the object which u Rusticus" appears to have especially in view , we would recommend that the committee be obliged
to place on the library shelves any book agreed upon by a certain number ( to be determined ) of the members , and that the number bo small in proportion to the whole society . By this means , a book for which there is a class of readers provided will always be certain of introduction . With this proviso , and care in the selection of the committee , difficulties should be partially removed from the harmonious association of men
of different creeds either in politics or religion . As for the bigoted intolerance complained of by " Rusticus , " we have not overlooked it , and are sorry to say that there arc few places in which it is not to be found . In small country towns it must bo particularly irritating . When a book is forbidden because of the opinions it contains , there is danger of a split in the camp . It is curious enough that our parsons erect themselves into popes within the limits of their parishes , and undertake to determine what their flocks shall read and what they
shall not read . No doubt they do so m pursuit of that grand end—self-interest ; and have a peculiar pleasure in standing sentinel over the forbidden fruit of knowledge . They denounce the Pope because he forbids inquiry , and especially because he prohibits the reading of the Word . In their turn they damn other Words , forbidding their flocks to read Mew under penalty-of eternal death , and arc too stupid as a rule to bo struck by the inconsistency of their conduct . Wo do not expect that any library , formed under such auspices , will fairly represent the views of the people .
In a case which came under our own observation , a mechanics' institute having got into financial difficulties , an appeal was made to the clergyman , among others , for assistance ; which he refused , on the grounds that the mechanics ' library contained the works of Charming and
Emerson , both of whom he classed with infidel writers ! Having intimated his intention to erect a Christian Young Men ' s Association on the ruins of the institute , the efforts of its friends were ^ redoubled , and its finances repaired , not only without his assistance , ' but in spite of his intervention . It was found , on inquiry , that he had read neither of the works to which he objected , on the principle that one should not taste poison to ascertain its injurious properties . It is useless to remark ^ on J . 1- ™ , l />» ln-nnM /\ C rv * t st «* n in n n ^ irTl 1 /» li nlQCCOfl I . ll OT 1 T \ 1 Tl Cf / t / iui
Lilt ! UtJUUJJL ilLM-O igixui . auoc » uuaji-i vj . * sjiJ ^ v « . vuun . p with infidels , or the still more deplorable weakness which induced this clergyman to arrest the progress of his mind by abstaining from whatever did not go to back up his own dearly-loved prejudices , or to contract his already narrow views . "Try all things ; hold fast that which is good , " was a maxim worthy of the Christian gentleman and philosopher who used it . "Try nothing ; and hold fast what I tell you , " is the unphilosophic version of the apostolic maxim now in use with the majority of parsons .
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THE PKOTESTANT TURRETS IN ITALY . The traveller entering Turin by the Via del Re , one of the newest and handsomest streets in a capital whose approaches are amongst the finest of Europe , would lift his eyes at the sight of a building which he had never seen before—a tall church , in the old Lombard style , with turrets and pinnacles rising against the open sky .
Churches are not uncommon sights in Italy , nor is it unusual to see a concourse gathering to the edifice ; and the traveller would enter without any feelings of astonishment . But what would be his surprise to mark the absence of the costume with which he is familiar in that theatre , and to hear from the pulpit the doctrines , not of Popery , but of Protestantism ! Where is he ? Amongst whom does he stand ?
He stands in a Protestant congregation . The people around him are the Valdesi or Waldenses , that Protestant race who so early adopted the doctrines of the Reformation . Although proscribed , persecuted , and put to the sword , long years have they undergone their tribulation faithfully . Recently the English Government and people had extended to them a faint sympathy . An English divine Avrote a book about them , and was rewarded
with a prebendal stall in Durham Cathedral . An English gentleman , General Beckwith , has generously given money for their congregational and scholastic institutions ; but the hand of Popery remained heavy upon them , and they were still a proscribed sect . In the meanwhile changes have taken place in Italy ; 1848 has not been quite in vain . King Charles Albert once more conceived the idea of
introducing constitutional freedom into his patrimonial kingdom ; and although , as it had done before , his saturnine temperament vacillated ; although the uncompleted effort cost him his life , and his dying ears listened in exile to reproaches more strongly expressed than praises , his heart is still in his country , and his sou has carried on his mission . Our Government , after many earnest
despatches rebuking Austria , after inciting the Duke of Genoa to accept the crown of Sicily , left Sicily and Sardinia to their fate . There have been conflicting councils in Turin , disaffections in Genoa , uncertainty of purpose in the very Ministry , and intrigues against Victor Emanuel , which Austria levelled at him from Milan , and the Pope could introduce into the churches of Turin itself .
Still , sustained by the great body of the public in Piedmont , the Government has stood firm to constitutional freedom ; and the ceremony which was performed in that new church on the 15 th of this month marked the crowning triumph for the course on which the King , Government , and people of Piedmont have taken their march . No longer proscribed , the Waldenses arc taken by the hand , and admitted to equality of citizenship
and religious freedom . The representatives of Prussia and England assisted at the ceremony ; the newly-elocted Deputy of the Valdesi was one of the congregation ; anil the congregation , under their pastors , put forth , in the capital of the Catholic King , the Protestant prayer of a common Christianity , beseeching safety and stability for a state which has secured to its people these groat immunities .
And this was on Italian soil . Much h « s been made by Protestants of proselytes here and there . A courier and his wifewerotho objects of Welcome and rejoicing ; but how much more rejoicing is
demanded by this event ! A great tract of ground is ^ secured , on which Protestant and Catholic may freely tread with equal step . ! N " or is it only a , gain to the Waldenses or to Protestantism ; in granting what he has , King Victor Emanuel has not only vouchsafed a boon from his own bounty but he has braved the enemies who before sought to undermine his power . They will now have greater reason than ever to hate the constitutional Sovereign who has established on Italian soil an exemplar and model of constitutional and religious freedom . To raze the church which lifts its turrets to the sky , and proclaims to all Italy , from the Alps to the Bay of Naples , immunity for Protestant doctrine—to raze that church , Pope and
Emperor , Grand Duke and Priest , will have a new impulse to pull down the crown and the constitution that guard the church . The Protestant Alliance was not long since importuning Lord Clarendon to secure immunity for the fellow-proselytes of the Madiai , still languishing under Tuscan proscription ; some would have made Miss Cunmghame the Helen of a Protestant crusade ; but here is a kingdom spontaneously establishing itself as the constitutional stronghold of political and religious freedom in Italy—braving by the act the enmity of ancient and powerful adversaries ; and surely claiming , far more than any precarious proselytism , the political support of an ally like England .
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« SCOTS WHA HAE WI' WALLACE BLED . " If Scotland would only be equal to herself , she would not have any occasion to complain of being put upon by England . The allegation which Lord Eglinton makes on behalf of his beloved country , and amid acclamations of his beloved countrymen , from platforms in Edinburgh and Glasgow , is , that Scotland is slighted by the Government , does not have its due share in the personnel of office ,
does not occupy its right place m the " achievement" of the royal arms , lacks a floor to its Holyrood Palace , and a roof to its Glasgow Post-office ; and , in short , is neglected and despised by the very Government to whom it furnishes a Premier . According to this statement by the Lord of the Tournament , the Thistle , which so boldly declares "Nemo me impune lacessit "—" no one unscathed shall hurt me "—is quite accustomed to be gnawed by every English jackass , and is kicked even byits own native ass , when that animal is promoted to some English capacity .
It is to no purpose that English writers answer Lord Eg linton and his coadjutors out of their own mouths . Professor Ay toun , for instance , comp lains that Scotland has no Secretary of State , but only a Lord Advocate , and stultifies his complaint by the admission that the Scottish Lords Advocate have been distinguished for zeal and ability , only they have the Lordly instead of the Secretarial title . You refute yourselves , cries the Times . Still we do not see the force of the retort . If Scotland
wishes its Lord Advocate to be called Secretary of State , and cannot obtain even that trifling boon , the great nation of the North is humbled ; and no representation that its demand is trifling ) can have any effect but to aggravate the humiliation . It is true that the national palace has been cursed with a floor so unstable - that the public
could not come into look at the Peers at the : last election of a representative , for fear of fallino through ; while Hampton Court rejoices m » flooring as stable as it is ornamental , and every week sustains the public thronging to look at tn pictures . It is true that St . MurtinVle-kranu has a Post-office which vies with the Parthenon , and that Glasgow still complains of a post expose
to the pelting of tho pitiless storm . And it » ° iy - rood cannot obtain a roof , nor Glasgow a ttoo , the privation is not disproved by showing tliatw claim is small . t . , „_ Still , as success is the test of merit , so helpi cb ness is tho proof of demerit ; and one » tttaI J"i asks how it is that Scotland , which can boast ^ such great achievements , cannot get a floor •' palace , a roof to its post-olacc , or a seeroW » title to its Minister ? Is it because Scotlim" ^ behind Scotchmen ? It is rather r ° f * . thcjr contrast the boasts Scotchmen put forth loi i own countrymen with the way in wHC n uc
^ adopt the teaching , of those countrymen , glory , " says Lord I < Vlinton— „ .. " Wo dorr in tho triumphs of a MarlborougnJ * " ^ and n Wellington ; but aro wo not to look with P " J aUSo . ) nchiovcmontH of u Walluco and a Bruce ? ( Ur 0 ! £ ''L r (> rtl » . Wo road with delight tho works of Byron , " ° \ | i oUr Dickens , and Bulwor , but can wo not claim as <» I > ocia J
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1236 THE LEADER . [ Saturday ^ ^
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Dec. 24, 1853, page 1236, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2018/page/12/
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