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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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Untitled Article
^ rrtVTarcUaw belonged to the sect CongregationaUats Indeceoaeata , # he descendants x > f the old X ' ovenanters , and the Forerunners Tffi&Mgx&GBtuMtea , who , aboutLtwelw or fourteen ; y « ars ago , -took umbrage » MS ^ irtte < few » ee ^ « OTern « ent in their ^ urGh ^ ffki ^ threw up their SiiS ^^ swBfc , ^ n ^ fiBd «» Youred : to persuade Jfee-whole body of the »^ &kr « EJ of rfi ^ afclanilitoifollaw their example . ( He Jcept aloof ( for some timctfrom the conflict ,: but * t length , ithen hispersowal feelinaawere-over S ^ tewr -liifflwlf ^^ ^ thcbarwteHStrc . eBerg )' . * 'Ii > ave long re-« MT 3 ed ^ ' 4 » e ^ rrites-to-a friend , * ' reMgioos establishments { or rather I would ^^^ Vthem- « iril establish ments of . religion ) as equally at variance with the jsrihwples t » f the spkitaal'Mngdom oftChrist and with the simplest elements of p < nlticdl justice- "From the political injustice which they involve , the of itherUmted Kingdomconstituting so large a
aesenttng-podles , now very proportion of . its inhabitants , are entitled to be freed . ; and I am persuaded Ike iUng is not distant when , by fair , dispassionate , peaceful , constitutional « ew « 8 , « ie < Miaected with the , force x > f truth and the progress of public opinion , ihoy twill he freed . .. . . . And aoother thing is not less dear as a mrancfrleithaxi . tluBisaBia . ' fact , that , in the bringing ofithe resources . and « renHes-of tXShristianity into practical use : for the support and-advancement <> f < h « r 4 at «? ests , ^ all should be voluntary , the froe-result and expression , on the mart «; # --these who believe her . doctrines , of attachment and principle . " ^ Etra fl uition "to'tbese disputes between the Church establishment and the Voluntary system , "Dr . Wardlaw entered warmly into other polemical and theological ^ controversies . Into these controversies we are not about to . enter . _ . .
£ ) n his-first entrance into public life , 3 > r . Wardlaw had no fixed place of residence , but mas an itinerant preacher . Whilst still a young man he wiaited ^ fiirkcudbrjigibt on some missionbusiness . " On arriving , " he tells us , - "ilaskediibe estlercatJie . inn if he . thotigbt I could have a congregation ^ gathered . HJe « tarcdiniamazement when I said , 'I am quite in earnest ; *« pp ® sed ^ h ad a-cbair placed here , do you think 1 could have a congrega--4 iottT >*© u aye , ' he replied , ' for religion is a great defdtkoeAt o' in this 3 >! ace . ' The- bellman was sent through , and in -about an hour I preached to ia-vety-attentive and excellent congregation : " 'Tius is not the oniy anecdote told of I > r . Wardlaw . Mr . Wardlaw , as he v . as . at the time called , was on a tour through the north of Scotland , and was , iyno-means strictly tilerical in his costume , but wore top-boots . and other Articles ofLdress . corresponding to the necessities , of a journey on horseback . 23 iis vcircumstance , ' , added to the remarkably elegant appearance of the preacher . : catber stumbled the faith of Mrs . M -, one of the old school .
j * $ he ilaoked-wanders as she saw the young minister ascend the pulpit stairs ; 'Inifcas he ^ enteredion . his . subject she -was seen to become _ most grave and ^ attentive . j-Wfcen be iad finished his discourse , she looked round to Mrs . !^__ a person of an . exfieedingly different , cast of mind , and exclaimed , ^ HEHroman ! -wasna' thafr * great sermon for « ieh a young man ? But , oh % e ' s o ' erin-awand o ' er-bomryI" " O'er brawF"Teplied Mrs . S . "Fat ^ signifies a man ' s claes , if there be plenty © ' furniture hVs mind . And to ^^ Sd &wv ? t with the dear young xaan because he ' s bonny , is something very much like a reflexion on . the Creator hanser . " JDr . Wardlaw . ' s reputation as an ethical teacher was not confined ^ to North Britain . When the council of the London . University , an institution which
Jbad just been ; established , were occupied in filling the different chairs in the ^ colleger-he received a request from Zachary Macaulay , one of the council , -to * ttow himself to . fee named for the chair of Mental and Moral Philosophy . tKbis post , " fco-wever , he declined , in consideration of his other duties . From < this'tfme to his death he kept on the ev « n tenour of his way , preaching and -discussing , and in , constant communication with learned theologians . The name of Br . Kitto has long been knownm connexion with his " Pictorial Bible , " " The Journal of Sacred Literature , " and " The Lost Senses" ; tut . it remained for the publication of hia Memoirs to . give us an insight into 4 he early struggles of the man , and the origin of the works he undertook . UTesw men have struggled against greater obstacles in the attainment of Jknowledgerthan did the Doctor in his early years . There is something truly ^ reafc in -that exquisite thirs t fonknowledge , to gratify which the sevei-est sacri-£ ees 4 tmmade . The mind of Dr . ; Kitto , even whilst ji boy , was so constituted
4 hat it' required libraries-to satisfy its cravings . " *• From-the-first awakening of his mental faculties , " -we ar& told , " John Kitto ' s 'j ) rime-. airxiety was to procure books either by purchase or loan . If he heard of a book in . a-neiglibootfs' -houae , whether the owner was known to him or not , he had no rest . andgave no-rest "tHl-he-got hold of it ; antUhe seldom ' haumuch difficulty iu obtain--Jog «« ny- 'v 6 hune-fl [ fter'his granflmotheriiadguaranteed its safe return . " After he Txad become deaf and the hooks of bis neighbours had been ex-3 baufiteu , when halfpennies had "become scarce and could only be obtained '» y his own . exertions ,. he was obliged , in order to raise fundafor the purchase ¦ is
-of , books , to adopt , different expedients , of which the following one narjXAtedby Mr . Bjuanii : At-tho-f )« rt < Jf iPlyaooath ,- « ao * t of Iho trading ! vessels , particularly tliose of tho class o « 114 d ' ' « fibbing tran * lere , " -d 4 acb « Fged-th « ir cargoes in a liarbour or' basin called Sutton-Jta-L ^ At low -water , va-great patt-of' this was coavertod into a « ort cf swamp of soft black jBttii ^ . ^ eodered more iatensely / fetid by-the influx , of tho town drainage , in which boys ¦ were accustomed to grope * ad ^ wade ,-sometimes above their > knees in the deepest parts , 3 a search of bitB of rope and yarn , or old iron . A . pound of either of the former -articles used . to fetch- one halfpenny , and three pounds of the latter a penny . Some clever hands , unchecked in those days by a watchful police , would gain aa much aa ahreepcnce-n-iiay , trtit-Kittd ' flv-weekJyprofita'nevcrbut once amounteu to fourpence .
3 ut . lnis flid . not last long . i ^ jjr ^ tiio time' he hod . Acquired some dexterity in tho employment , an accident forced 'Aim ^ tOusast about for . some other way of making' a penny . Ono duy he trod upon , a ~ bxoknC MtllB , ? uidrBO' injured hia foot as to bo kept at home some weeks . Durinff itifi ^ a period , ' however , he procured himself reading-money by » ainfing [ pS < Mti 3 Ut © 8 in water colours and selling them for a halfpenny apiece . " 1-t is not ouf ^ pwrpoae to follow , bis career of misfortune , to trace him through the worjehouae , to Vihe -workliouso approatico , nor even to accompany him 4 ^ r herhadobtainea tffi « nd * , Jbccame a compoaitov , then missionary , and JM ^^ lbiiiiW ^ . W e . eincerejyir ^ giiet ^ at the cfibrts of his literary exertions should 'have ten him in his old age dependent on tho sympathy of the public , and
that when His country came to his rescue only a miserable annuity of IO 0 Z could ' pe allowed him by the Government . "When will this national dis ^ grace be removed ? For the particulars of his life—his early struggles , his travels , and his after-trials—we send our readers , to the volume of his ^ Memoirs , the materials of which we must confess have not been put together by a judicious hand The editor has spared himself much trouble by allowing the correspondence to narrate the events of Dr . Kitto ' s life ; but he would have done greater justice to his subject had he adopted a system of compression . We have also to protest against the awkward and unwieldy form of the book itself . We do not think that scarlet covers , hot-pressing , gilt edges , or sumptuous lettering , add one jot or one tittle to the positive value of any work . But we do think , that when a book is deemed worthy of publication , it should be presented to the reading world in a readable shape . Dr . Wardlaw has found a more , capable editor and judicious publisher .
Untitled Article
GABRIEL . Gabriel . By Bessie Rayner Parkes . London : Chapman . "To a Grave in Rome ,-to an Immortal Fame in England , and to one who Loves and Honours the Genius of Percy Bysshe Shelley , " is the dedication of a poem , or collection of poems , bearing the title of Gabriel . In this way , the uninitiated are informed of the dramatic intention of the book ; though it would not be difficult for those who are acquainted with the life of the poet of the Cenci to perceive , even without this intimation , who and ¦ what are shadowed forth under the name of the great Jewish Archangel .
Shelley typified himself as Ariel ; Miss Parkes chooses to regard him as Gabriel ; and there was that in'his subtle , gorgeous , and evanescent genius , and in his angelic nature , which justifies both designations . The world is onlv now beginning to wake from the blind , sottish prejudice Avhicb . reviled and persecuted Shelley ; and , as that prejudice has not yet entirely departed , but occasionally howls or grunts forth from dark and miry places , it is a brave and noble tbing in a young lady thus , to come forward into the daylight , and to sing a . panegyric on the genius and goodness of the dead poet —a panegyric of which we are sure Shelley would iave been proud . veiled
The poem before us is written in so dark and a manner , that we may as well state plainly the fietion which is supposed to run through it , lest it be misinterpreted by those who are not well versed in the fact 3 of Shelley ' s life . The reader ( though Miss Parkes does not care to tell him so ) is to regard the whole poem as written by the late Mrs . Shelley , with the exception of those short lyrics , few in number , which are signed by the name of Gabriel , and . are therefore , dramatically speaking , Shelley ' s . We are thus presented with , a sort of . panorama of Mrs . Shelley ' s life , from her first meeting with the poet down to the storm which robbed her of a nusbaud and the world of ; . a noble genius . And in this panorama we have th . e streets x » f-London , where the lad Shelley Always pined and drooped , like a . bird in a hot cage ; the green and golden glooms of the Buckinghamshire beeches , among which he dwelled till persecution drove him forth ; the wild Welsh seashore which he visited ; the flushed , etherial beauty of Italy , into which he grew as into his proper sphere ; and lastly the fatal ocean in which he died . / . .....
Miss Parkes has brought to this high theme a degree of poetical feeling and expression which speak well for her literary future if she will consent to do herself justice by patience and labour , devotion , and self-sacrifice . She has the true , unmistakable elements of poetry ; imagination and fancy , paasion and sympathy , thought and intellectual subtlety , and ( which is perhaps equal to all ) that keen , spiritual sensitiveness which feels all those quickly vanishing , yet most potent , influences which lie at the core of things that exquisiteness of perception which apprehends all the delicate vibrations in the very ^ atmosphere of emotion , as the mimosa of the American prairies feels the approach of the yet distant horseman . Her descriptions of natural scenery are beautiful ; her metres various and musical ; and her powers of reflection far beyond those of the majority of " latter-day poets . " It is because of these really fine qualities that we are the more desirous of pointing out to her what we conceive to be her faults . If we might Parkes is too lcontented
hazard a guess , we should judge that . Miss generaly with the first words which suggest themselves , to her thoughts . Hence ensues incompleteness of result , where the intention has perhaps been excellent ; hence difluseness , " wordiness , " axcess of epithets , weakness where there should be continuous strength , n sudden jar where there should be an even flow of calm and confident harmony , flaws and abrupt nngulantios where , judging from the author's powers , we have a rig ht to expect ( and with some additional labour might have had ) a shapely sphere , smooth and perfect as an ivory ball . Hence , also , obscurity ; for it seems to uh that Miss Parkes often compromises or obliterates her meaning by inattention to the ordinary rules of composition . There arc passages m her book which appear to be defiant of all received methods of expression , and others which for-no apparent purpose , jar against the laws of metre ; as , for instance , where she makes " genius " , a trisyllabic , and when she writes this pamiuliy
halting line i— ( Jiving Jhioa mine own life . and mine own breath . And -why should Mias'Parkes introduce the cant word " queer" into serious poetry ? And why should she adopt the clumsy contrivance , prevalent during last century , of using adjectives adverbially—as , " till gradual rose , &c . l " c fault Of which we complain—namely , want of completeness—is , we know , not uncommonly found in books of poems , and indeed there arc many very noble works which have ' been left by their authors in original roughness ., hut tke , best chance for . endurance lies with that , production which Jnw received Ota mostiabowr , and which comes forth with the , fewest luiuertectionu . A ^ banza at page . 51 , of Miss JParicesk book will exhibit , Jit tho compass Qi a ; ftwwr lines , iter poetical excellencies mid . defects . The thought is subtly true , and tlieoxpreMion is equal to tho thought , with the exception ¦ ol tao third lino , which ia commonplace , nnd injureB the effect- of the -whole i "Times there arc when the spirit hanga * t ) Yor , a ( jgulf , as deep as death ,
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of or , ^ g THE X iE iA . D JE M ,. [ No . $% l , SAgugiu ^
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), June 28, 1856, page 618, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2147/page/18/
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