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passed over , you order-me to beg among my friends the means of paying . '¦ what I owe . What equity is this of yours—what justice ? " Has he not , he asks , suiFered enoug-li contumely without being ordered now to beg for charity ? " Either , " he cries , " confess or deny that the Emperor is in . my debt . If he owes money to me , take his pledge , accept him as my bail , unless you hold that he is unfit to be trusted . But if lie owes ine nothing , free me from my oath of service to him , and I will not only find wherewith to pay my creditors , but will soon turn this calamity into a matter of rejoicing . " Just and bold speech , utterly unwise , doubtless , but would to God all men . disdained , as . Agrippa did , to cover honest feeling with false words . Such direct language being added to the general strain in the Vanity of Sciences and Arts , we need
not -mperor ivgrippa ueatn . To the Emperor , this bold , unpaid author , sent a note , begging that if his clemency would not permit him . to pay what he owed , he might hare the hewjii of Ms indignation in dismissal from Ms post and freedom to depart . High words these to send to an imperial- debtor , words issuing from stung temerity ' But who so bold as an ¦ unpaid , author ? The creditor courage is a known implacability ; and when the creditor is at the same time an author , leonine audacity is nothing- to it . They are not a savage race , theauthora , nor , on the whole , a courageous race , but If you want to see spirit flaming in wrath , despise their writings , and withhold their money ! Agrippa -was at all times free of speech , ilear how manfully he stands up for Luther against the Louvain theologians : —
THE UXCONCjrrEnED HERETIC . . The manner in which , in this Apology , Cornelius Agrippa- spoke of Luther to tlie men-who were denouncing him for heresy , is the one feature of it interesting to tlie student of his life ; That he swept with a strong hand through the websof sophistry in . which , the monks endeavoured to entangle liim , we may take easily for granted . But it was urged by the sophists that in his book he had called Luther " the unconquered heretic . " Upon this lead , what would he answer ? " I know not , " he said , ¦ " whether by chance there may not be some superstitious theologians who would , . grudge Luther the name of heretic ,, as one shared by him with the Apostle Paul , who , before Felix , professed that he served God after the sect -which the Jews called heresy ; but I make no doubt that our masters of Louvaiu approve of me for having called Luther a heretic , onLy it offends them much that I have called him unconquered whom they and their associates at Cologne were , the first men dogmatically to condemn . But I
am not ignorant that Luther lias been condemned for heresy , only I do not see that he is vanquished , when to this day he gains ground in . his battle , and reigns in tlie miad of the people which is won to him in spite of authority by the dishonesty , ignorance , malice , and falsehood of many of our priests , and monks , and masters . I speak of the event , not of the doctrine , against which , though it has been opposed in the best manner of the schools , judged with all strictness and subjected to the most august condemnation , all efforts end unprosperously . " He proceeds to point out the defections to the side of Luther even from among the chosen champions of tlie GhuxchV . If Luther be conquered , he aaks , why the ' cry for a general council ? Why so much effort on the part , not only of priests , but of popes and great potentates ' ? I know , indeed , he says , that Luther is most stoutly fought against , but I do not vet see that he is conquered . " First , there descended into this arena Hochstraten and EckhiSj so JfightLng as to earn , nothing but ridicule . Then succeeded monks ,
vociferating among the common people rude abuse of Luther ; what did they thereby but scatter among the multitude those questions which before were discussed , in Latin by the learned , and confined witMn the limits of the schools / So they impelled Lutber to _ write in the vernacular , and heresy was then sown broadcast . The schools of Lotivain , Cologne , and Paris afterwards came out -with their bare articles and dogmatical censures * which , whale they spread abroad the smoke and fire of books ¦ committed to be burnt— as if fire could put out fire—made Luther ' s worlcs more to be sought after , more sold . At length there appeared the terrific bull of Leo , which is 50 much scorned by the Lutherans that they have not hesitated openly to jest at it , ¦ with contemptuous scholia * and glosses . An Imperial decree was added , with . no better success . The slarighter-houses were next opened : what else resulted but the cutting off heads from a hydTa ? , Is this the conquest of Luther V I speak of the event , not of the doctrine , and I wish that Christ were not preached as religiously by of these heretics
some as by our teachers . Was Arius conquered when his sect occupied more churches than the orthodox ? Is Mahomet conquered when there are more men of his creed than Christians ? Again , I say , I speak of the event , not of the doctrine . How have I sinned , then , if I have called Luther an unconquered heretic ? Would that I lied , and that Luther had been conquered as happily as he haa been boldly provoked to war . I wish he were not unconquered heretic , and even , also , conqueror of heretics , to the great shame of our teachers . For who conquered the Anabaptists ? Who- has- withstood the Sacramentarians ? Was it not Luther alone ? Show me one writing out of your academies by which you have moved tlieni so much as a finger ' s breadth . Of what use are you in the Church , if it be enougli to say : We condemn , because so has the Church decided ? ( Aud to decrees of the Church our teachers fly whenever they are hardly pressed , and there abide , unable to produce the Scripture that defends them . ) Certainly , rustics who have not learnt thalphabetnd idiots
e , a , can profess as much . If that sufliced for the reconquest of heretics , oh , now would I welcome Martin Luther , who , while our masters slept and snored , alone watched for the Church , and alone freed it from the strong and violent heresies of Anabaptists and Sacramentarians , who were getting possession of almost all Germany . But I seem here to approve of Luther , and herein I do , indeed , approve' of him . But be not enraged ; 1 approve of him as of the serpent in theriaca , which though in itself deadly , is in . this form poisonous to poison . " Ho ends by urging , that if they would conquer Luther they must conquer by arguments drawn trom the Word of God ; that if they must needs arguo with lire and sword , they will provoke retort with fire and sword , and only make the storm blacker around them . ltey must use , also , against Luther letter reasoning than they had brought against Agrrppay who professed himself a Catholic and not a Lutheran , and who , if he had fal * J lraman error > ""'a n ° t obstinately bent on persevering in it , and who hud not fallen where he could not riso .
Well said , Agrippa ! Nor is this without its sarcastic truth , in our days as then : — fhfctL *^ m ? t 6 achin S » if I had Panted thorny syllogisms , produced docks and mrnriTh * * Y wntinS » with , such salad on their lips tho asses who have judged me with l t PT 0 duce t 0 their twite , and have devoured these books of mine fnrin , - > ^ avc P lftuted something higher than their reach , and they becom e nnSLagJUn ! m ( t " * thiulc ' therefore , that hi theac days , my Kiwloclmw , there is alrnoaTL ?! - * ^ ^ S ™ 1106 . nothing safer than to teach men nothing , when Zv * w ? ° * WTitt 0 n ftt ^ " ^ h thero shall not too some to talic oilbnce : but are fZ I teach , J d k *™ nothing , or nothing but the meanest nnd . thc basest things , imnoMihu " , , frOB \ this feaE ' from tllC 80 dttu e ™ fo' of little things largo ruin is lSSfSlm ?? , Wh , ° - g T el 8 Cannot tumbl ° i but ho who £ cclia ^ climb Uie u *" out 8 , seems to be seeking bin misfortune . " Ono more specimen of his satiric style and we have done : —
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A BATCH OF BOOKS . We have several books on our tahle sufficiently important to call for notice , but ¦ which would scarcely bear separate treatment . . The Pictorial History of the Russian War ( W . and 11 . Chambers ) is a carefully executed work , in -which the main incidents of the . diplomatic and military narrative are cleverly grouped , the story of the siege , in particular , being told "with great animation . The volume is large , well printed , and bound in crimson cloth , -with a gold emblazonment , and an excellent series of maps and illustrations . In The Situation and its Masters ; or , The Forces anil the Future of Europe , a book •¦ of ' . eccentric appearance , an anonymous writer aims at developing a political theory in connexion with the existing aspects of the world . It is not easy to obtain a clue to his meaning ; but ' * the rnen" indicated appear to be Louis Napoleon and Mr . Disraeli , while the scheme
they are to carry out vvt > uld seem to consist of a grand revolution , to be effected at a cost offifty thousand lives . The author is violent , reckless , and affects a strange familiarity with , bloodshed and with the infernal regions ; but his work abounds in evidences of useful though indiscriminate reading . Had he been coherent in his method of explaining himself , he might have contributed serviceably to the political discussions of the day . We are sorry that a similar objection applies , though with far less force , to a volume on Trtrfh and Error , by John Hamilton , of St . Ernans ( Macmillan and Co . ) . Mr . Hamilton writes , in prose and verse , on the principles of Truth , and on . the -Causes ' and ' Effects . of-Error /' . ¦ He is amiable , earnest , bold in his -ways of thinking , sometimes very vivid in his illustrations . J 3 ut the drift of his teaching is often difficult to comprehend . The doctrine is set forth in
snatches ; the argument becomes confused while the author is trying to elaborate it . This is observable iu the prose chapters . In the verse , Mr . Hamilton ' s ideas are totally unmanageable . Were it not that there are many signs of premeditation in the preliice , and in the interludes of personal rerriai-k , we should say that the writer had sent to press a volume of miscellaneous memoranda . Another didactic book , but of a practical character , is 'Scandinavia : its Hopes and Fears , by G . Xallerstedt ( King and Co . ) This volume contains an able statement of all the political considerations involved in the projected union of the three kingdoms of the North—Norway , Denmark , and Sweden . Tho principle of this union , says M . Lallerstedt , is recognized by all the enlightened men of Scandinavia ; the public mind has been thoroughly prepared for it ; it was partly the motive of the agitations
in Holstein . during the revolutionary years . His account ot Russian encroachments on Norwegian Finmark , of Finmark geography , of old disputes between Sweden and France , of the progress of Sweden since 1815 , of the political ideas represented by " Scandinaviauisiu" and of the national movement in . Denmark , will possess an interest for many readers . A volume entitled Characters and Incidents ; or , Jounic' / inr / s through England anil IFales ( King ) , by J . W . King , is of a different stamp . It is a pleasant , sketchy book , descriptive of familiar scenes and places , with occasional indiscretions in the form of " smart and satirical" sayings . One anecdote related by Mr . King is really good . At Huntingdon , within sight of Cromwell ' s house , he was told by n " respectable employer" that Oliver Cromwell lived all his life at St . Ives , and died there ! An Introduction to the Study of Esthetics , by J . C . MofTat ( Sampson Low and Co . ) , is an elegant treatise by the Professor of Greek in the College of New Jersey , l ? riueeton . The professor rejects Mr . ltusliin ' s proposal of the -word . Theoretic as a substitute for Aislftelio , but
admits that the old term is far from satisfactory . His inquiries in connexion with the laws and the limits of art have been varied and extensive , and his treatment of the subject in its several branches proves him to be an original thinker as well as a zealous student . It is not often that American literature is so creditably represented in association with a topic so noble an « 1 yet so trite . Ancient and noble , also , is the topic selected by Madame lloxey Caplin in her volume on Health and Beauty ( Darton and Co . ) . She writes , however , with good sense and taste , on the fashions that have alllicted the human form , pointing out the wondrous caprices of the modern fancy , and oflbring certnin good and friendly counsels to ladies of nil ages find nations . A book like this is sure to attract the class of readers to which it is specially addressed . May it work tho reform which is the desire of Madame Capliu's mind ! In tho opposite hemisphere of literature , we have a cheap edition ( licntlcy ' s Standard Novels ) of Emilio Carlen ' s
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NATIONAL , CHARACTERISTICS . t ( Who , " says Agrippa , " that beholds a man strutting like a cock , with the bearing of a prize-fighter , an unruly look , an ox . voice , austere discourse , fierce behaviour , a dress unfastened or torn , does not at once judge him to be a German ? Do we not know the French by a -well-ordered gait , -mild gestures , bland aspect , fair-sounding voice , facile discourse , modest behaviour , and loose dress ? "We know Spaniards hy their holiday step and behaviour , the high lifting of the countenance , the plaintive voice , the choice speech , and the exquisite attire . But we see the Italians rather slow of pace , in gesture grave , in countenance unsettled , low-voiced , captious in talk , magnificent in behaviour , and having a well-ordered attire . We know , also , that in singing the Italians bleat , the Spaniards howl , the . Germans hoot , and the French , trill . In speech the Italians are grav <* but crafty , the Spaniards polished but vainglorious , the Trench ready but proud , the Germans hard but simple . In counsel the
Italian is provident , the Spaniard astute , the Frenchman inconsiderate , the German useful . Over food the Italian * is clear , the Spaniard choice , the Frenchman & free eater , the German clumsy . ; Towards strangers the Italians are obliging , Spaniards placid , Frenchmen gentle , Germans boorish and inhospitable . In dialogue Italians are prudent , Spaniards cautious , Frenchmen polished , Germans overbearing and intolerable . In love Italians are jealous , Spaniards impatient , Frenchmen fickle , Germans ambitious ; bxit in hate Italians are secret , Spaniards are pertinacious , Frenchmen are threateners , Germans avengers . In transacting business Italians are circumspect , Germans laborious , Spaniards . - watchful , Frenchmen anxious ; in war the Italians are stout but cruel , the Spaniards subtle and thievish , the Germans truculent and venal , the French high-spirited but rash . The Italians are distinguished by their literature , the Spaniards by their navigation , the . French "by their courtesy , tlie Germans by their religion and mechanic arts . " These passages have exhausted our space for the present , but we shall return to the volumes to cull from them some curious ' matter illustrative of the superstitions of the time .
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Novemberl ^ J-856 . ] THE ; IE 1 DEB . 1051
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Leader (1850-1860), Nov. 1, 1856, page 1051, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2165/page/19/
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