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popularity was anticipated . It seemed too critical , too judicial for the unprofessional reader , who was assumed not to care for the analysis of evidence , © r the effect of disputed testimony . Nevertheless , the stereotype plates were worn out by a continually increasing demand , so that Mr . Jardine has been encouraged to rearrange his materials , and to present compendiously a complete account of the affair , from the origin to the extirpation of the conspiracy- More -than five hundred depositions and examinations were taken by the Royal Commissioners appointed to investigate the Plot ; all these have been sifted by Mr . Jardine , who has exposed the system of fraud resorted to by the Government of the day in order to circulate a garbled rersion , favourable to the character of the king and the policy of his
mi-Misters . Some important documents are still missing ; but there is reason to believe that the whole story has now been elicited , so far as it can possibly be known . N " ot many years ago , on the removal of a lintel over an ancient doorway iii the hereditary mansion of the Treshams , at Kushton , a handsomely bound breviary fell out of the wall . The -workmen examined Farther and found , in the enormously thick masonry , anofclong cavity , about five feet long and iifteen inches wide , almost filled with bundles of manuscripts and religious books , in excellent preservation . Some of the records were historical ; some of purely family interest ; others-were letters throwing considerable light on the causes which led to the desperate conspiracy of 1604 . There can be little doubt that an effective examination of old residences
throughout England would result in the discovery of many a rich cabinet of personal and public history . The Treshams were not tie only people who concealed their correspondence behind lintels and panels , or between double floors . On the subject of the Gunpowder Plot , however , enough , is known to prove that , while nothing could justify such a project as that of Catesby and Fawkes , nothing could exceed the malignant tyranny of the Protestants over the Roman Catholics . The performance of any sacred rite by a Catholic priest was felony . " Was it wonderful , then , that among men to whom , religion was more than life a few were found so daring and so devoted
as to concert a scheme for revenging and delivering themselves by one tremendous blow ? The plan was extraordinary ; the conspirators were extraordinary ; but the idea of striking secretly at the dominant class in the state was intelligible enough . All the participators in the dark scheme were men of earnest and superstitious piety . While they worked at their excavation under the Parliament House they were agitated by hearing the mysterious tolling of a bell . They sprinkled the wall with holy water , " when the sound instantly ceased . " The tolling coinmeneed again , again the holy water was applied , with the same effect as before . By a repetition of the process , the noisy spirit was ultimately exorcised .
An explosion of gunpowder took place in London in 1603 , by which thirteen persons were killed . It has been said that this accident suggested to Catesby his scheme of Catholic vengeance . But Mr . Jardine shows that the plot of 1604 was not the first of its kind . The Protestants of Antwerp once devised a conspiracy which , had it succeeded , would have blown up the Prince of Parma and all his nobility ; a Dutch enthusiast once plotted to blow up the whole Council of Holland at the Hague . In Queen Elizabeth ' s reign , it is related in Abbott ' s " Antilogia , " a project was formed for blowing up the English Houses of Parliament . These
precedents , however , must not be quoted in disparagement of the genius of Robert Catesby or the courage of Gruy Fawkes . Anotler point in connexion with the conspiracy deserves conspicuous notice . James I ., the dirtiest pedant and the most vulgar egotist known to history , did not detect the meaning of the anonymous letter sent to Lord Monteagle . It -was detected by Lord Salisbury a day before the king saw the letter , and he had communicated his idea to several persons before the subject was mentioned in council . James I . thus loses a feather from his unclean bonnet .
For a clear , full , and consistent narrative of the Gunpowder Plot and its results , we may recommend Mr . Jardine ' s volume . It is written in a plain English style , and is distinguished by the judicial accuracy of its historical criticism .
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DOCTOR JOHN TAULER . The Life and Sermons of Doctor John Tauter of Strasbourg . Translated by Susanna Winkworth , with a Preface by the Rev . Charles Kingsley . T Smith , Elder , and Co . John 1 auxer was born at Strasburg in the year 1290 . His father was probably a senator of that city ; at all events , he was a wealthy man , though the 8 on preferred to preach and to subsist upon alms rather than upon the h of his famil
eritage y . Early in life he adopted the ecclesiastical profession as a brother of the Dominican order , and soon afterwards went to study theology at Paris . There the schoolmen shared some of the heresies of Abelard , Poree , and Beny , read Aristotle in illicit lamplight ; and the holy Jacobins had more than enough to do in controverting those daring writers , who brought philosophy to the aid of religion . Vast books were read and written , say a Tauler , who himself had been a companion of the Strasburg mystics Eckard and Nicolas , who hated the cold pedantry of the dialecticians who from the 6 rat maintained the prerogative of the emperors against the popes , and who , throughout the bitter strueales of tlio nfirirul . wll with »
courage and consistency that did honour to the Dominican name . He even ventured to preach in the interdicted cities , and continued in the same upwfe , * ™ d zealous career until the great change was wrought in his mind which made hua the pupil of Nicolas , a man far less famous , less learned , less eloquent than himself . The translator of his sermons refuses to describe this change as a conversion . He had already been recognized us a chief W ? 5 ° ^ f of G < yV" Switzerland , Bavaria , and L Shenisu territones ; but h « advanced tar , n his opinions , maintained them to the day of his death and , no doubt prepared a large leaven in the German 3 nind which m another epoch worked powerfully on behalf of the Iteforma ion 01 the extraordinary number of sermons left in nmnuscrint \ w Tni ^ ' * i «
,, , 1 ™ 7 ?«? selected twenty-ftve , preferring tho practical to the metaphysical and adding tho original History of his Life , with a preface , and a biocrraphicat note based on the publications of Schmidt , Wackernagel
Neander , and Milman . Mr . Kingsley , in his preface , begins by saying what he does not propose to do . He does not propose to become Tauler ' s critic or his commentator—to add to the biographical or historical information sxipplied by Mrs . Winkworth , or to trace the genealogy of the preacher's peculiar views . Some of the reasons given for this reserve are singular , and not altogether tenable , we think . Thus , Mr . Kingsley says : " The critic of Tauler no man has a right to become who has not first ascertained that he is a better man than Tauler . " We take this to be an unmixed fallacy . We have a right to arraign Tauler ' s teaching , however great and good Tauler may have been , exactly as we have a right to arraign the doctrines of Bellarmine , or Jewel , or any other divines , and to criticize them , in the light of the nineteenth century , without pretending to be better than they . Any zealous student of the military art has a right to become the critic of Cajsar
any statesman of Washington , any orator of Burke , and why not Mr . Kingsley , or any other modern , of the Strasburg Dominican , whose opinions , no doubt , are not invariably unexceptionable ? The commentator of Tauler , Mr . Kingsley adds , no man has a right to become who has a strong belief that Tauler ' s sermons need no comment whatsoever ; but that all which is good and eternal in them will r ecommend itself at once to those hearts , let their form of doctrine be what it may , who have told of , or are seeking after , eternal goodness . There is some obscurity in this passage , but if we comprehend its meaning , the argument would apply against all orthodox commentators of the Bible . However , the task undertaken by Mr . Kingsley does not extend to an investigation into "the spiritual pedigree
of Tauler ' s view ; " how far Philo Judseus and the Brahmins may be supposed to have influenced the Pseudo-Dionysius ; how far the Pseudo-Dionysius may have influenced John Erigena ; how far " that wondrous Irishman" may have influenced Eckard ; how far Eckard , claimed by some as the founder of the German philosophy , may have influenced Tauler himself . He merely glances along the line of that inquiry , and , placing the entire body of mystical writers on a common level , asserts that one principle unites them all , the Christian with the Greek , the Persian , the Hindoo , the Buddhist , and the Mohammedan Sufi . Churchmen , he says , upon making this discovery , may shrink from , opinions which are traceable to such scenes , as well as to the pure fountain of the Christian philosophy : —
They can either reject the whole of such thoughts as worthless , assuming that anything which Christianity has in common with heathendom must be an adulteration and an interpolation ; or , when they see such thoughts bubbling up , as it were spontaneously / among men divided utterly from each other by race , age , and creed , th « y can conclude that those thoughts must lea normal product of the human spirit , and that they indicate a healthy craving after some real object ; they can rise to a tender and deeper sympathy with the aspirations and mistakes of men who sought in great darkness for a ray of light , and did not seek in vain . All students of St . Bernard , a . Kempis , and Madame Guyon , will no doubt become siudents of Tauler , whose sermons could not be more fittingly presented than in this volume . It is in small quarto , beautifully printed and bound in the old style , with rich red edges , and quaint head and tailpieces—exactly the book for a Gothic library .
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MANUALS . A Treatise on the Law Relating to Bankers and Banking . By James Grant , M . A . ( Butterworths . )—This is a very complete and convenient work , setting forth the whole duty , rights , and risks of bankers—from Common Law , Equity and Bankruptcy decisions , us well as from Statutes . It is intended chiefly as a volume of reference for " the professional advisers of the banking interest . " Mr . Grant avoids all scientific disquisition , deals with the realities of his subject alone , and adds to his condensed a . ud classified account of the actual Law an alphabetical list of cases , and an historical sketch of thejkgislation affecting Banks and Bankers . The utility of such , a treatise is obvious . Mr . Grant ' s manual will take its place at once in the Standard Library , not of the Solicitor only , but of the Shareholders and the Director—if Shareholders ever mean to take care of themselves , and if Directors ever mean to understand their business .
The Cabinet Lawyer : a Popular Digest of the Laws of England . ( Longman and Co . )—Seventeen editions of this work have been published , so that there is no calculating how many persons it has induced to follow Lord Bacon ' s counsel , and learn as much law as will enable them to keep themselves out of it . The changes in statute law and judicial procedure , up to the close of the past year , have been incorporated . A new edition of a volume so popular and so valuable needs only a few words of announcement . The law is every one ' s interest , and should be every one ' s study . The Household Maiiager : being a Practical Treatise upon the Various Duties in large or small Establishments , from the Drawing-room to the Kitchen . By Charles Pierce , Maitre d'HoteL ( ltoutledge . )—Aristotle , treating of EtUics , was not more impressed by the importance of his subject than Mr . Pierce when treating of removes and wines , of servants and cellarers . The art of
governing a household is thoroughly explained , from a somewhat lofty point of view , —with the - supplementary arts of cookery , of ordering a bill of fare , choosing wines , laying tables , preparing for a ball , brewing , and engaging servants . His solemnity is often ridiculous , since he argues with Ude and Soycr as though they were groat theologians ; but he has compiled a readable handbook , which , wiLb . its quaint quotations and seasoning of anecdote , will interest even those who have no household to manage . It is mainly important , however , to the cook and his master ; for the kitchen is still unregeherato ; it is still true that in England " one does not dine , one eats . " The London and Provincial Medical Director )/ for 1857 ( Churchill ) has been published . The Medical ^ List , or English Medical Directory for 1 857 ( Lane and Lara ) , seems a less satisfactory compilation . The editor has taken it upon himself "to exclude the names of persons who , although they possess legal qualifications , would not be mot in consultation by tho regular practitioner . " J tt l
^ Useful Information / or Mmfmcers . By William Fuirbairn , F . K . S . Second Edition . ( Longman and Co . )—Tho subject of this work ia too technical for us to discuss , or even to comprehend it . It has already attained reputation ; the -writer ' s name seems a guarantee that this reputation is deserved .
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68 THE LEADER . [ No . 356 , Sattibday ,
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Jan. 17, 1857, page 68, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2176/page/20/
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