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therefore , reprinted it verbatim from the original edition , to which . Mr . Maeaulay makes such frequent reference . Sir John Lowtlier was a Baronet of Westmoreland , and took an active part in the peaceful revolution . King William , upon coming to the throne , appointed him a Privy Councillor and Vice-Gharuberlain of the Household . He-was afterwards Tirst Lord of the Treasury , then , held tlie Privy Seal , and in 1700 became one of the Lords Justices to govern the kingdom during' William ' s absence in Holland . Mr . Macaulsiy has drawn at large upon this singularly characteristic Memoir ; but it should be read through by those who care for close -views of history . Lonsdale was a spirited actor in the llevolution ; from the date of James ' s accession he took up an attitude of independent resistance to the aggressions of the [ prerogative ; he was a Whig when Whiggery meant patriotism ; but he conducted himself with so much dignity and moderation that , although , impeached b y the purchased libellers of the Tory party , he gained the approval of all his respectable contemporaries , and was valued by the King as one of the steadiest and safest supporters of his constitutional throne .
The Memoir runs rapidly through the events of the last Stuart ' s reign . In the month pf September , 1688 , Lonsdale proposed , " by God ' s permission , " to -write concerning the public events of the period , and hoped to find an innocent enjoyment , in the .. task , '" for without innocence no enjoyments are satisfactorie ; no criminall pleasure in the world is either- perleet or lasting . " In this admirable frame of mind he reverts to February , 1684 , when , in the deadof the night , a messenger awakened bim with , news that apoplexy had assailed the first king of the Restoration . Four days afterwards thV death , of Charles the Second was announced , James ascended the throne , said gracious things concerning the Church of England , and " within
specuLates soberly on comets , " ffor if they be onlie exhalations , as our phi losophers iniagin , ' tis not easy to iinagin how they should occasion wars ; they may , indeed , so far effect the aer as to create diseases , but hardlie to begett quarrels . " And yet , he argues , the prodigious comet which appeared in 1681 bred no epidemics , jio pestilence , no famines , but animosities multiplied ; among men and nations ; wars were prolonged ^ persecutions were embittered , ami earthquakes ensued " which , whether they had anie relation to it , whether it -was a sign or a caus of these things , the author of all things only knows . " This grave annalist , guessing at truth , and reverentially discussing tlie possible eflfects of comets on the moral constitutions of men , was afterwards Prime Minister , Privy Seal , and one of the three Lords Justices . " This is certain , " he adds , " no age or time ever
produced a comet equal to it . It appeared m the west ; its beard , or rather streamer , reached to a third part of the heavens ; it made its revolution in — months , quite l'ound the heavens , by the pole , and disappeared in the east . " Strange , that with such a monster in the sky , the Turks should coincidental ^ devastate the borders of Europe , that religious wars should drench France in the blood of her own children , that England should be terrified by rumours of cruelty without a precedent : — They ffound out torments not before heard of by the crueltie of man : they vould sometimes lett th « m up and down , into a well , tied by the arms , till there was no appearance of life ; they would row them naked upon , broken glass ; they would make them swallow liott-waterr , and infinite other such-things , according to the various notions- of crueltie , w those tormentors fframed to themselvs .
However , tlie heavens were so troubled that Lonsdale could not devote his Memoir exclusively to events passing on the earth : — - Oh Tuesday 1 he 30 att night , not onelie three of my own' ffamilie , but several ! people in divers parts of the countrie saw certain phenomena in the aer of clouds that turned into ffire , and -which dividing , mett again with that swiftnesse , which is naturall to that element . That they appeared like armies frighting or musketts as they imagined , I suppose to be rather such ffonnatibns as are apt to be in the minds of timorous and . superstitious mankind , in times of publick ffears , than anie real ffigures those meteors have ; tbe appearances of which are not veryunfrequent . The philosophers give no very satisfactorie account in their ghessingabout these matters , and yett what they say hath as good a ffoundation as the divines , who would , have them extraordinarie indications of God Almightie ' s anger ; which term how ffar it is applicable to the puritie of his nature , I shall not determine . But wherever such accidents are made use of more to magnifie the authoritie of the Church than to enforce moralitie , ' tis no doubt a crime .
He then sails , stem on , among the arrogant philosophers of the period , " who , like the Turks of late , tsike anie coin for current that is but well guilt . " Finally he fellow's the revolution rapidly until the accession of William and the attainder of Monmouth , at which point the relation is suddenly broken off ..-. ¦; ¦ As an illustration of the style and spirit of the times , this Memoir is well worth perusal . It forms a fitting addition to the interesting literature of the Standard Library .
lesse than a moneth we had an account that he ivent publicklie to masse . " Lord Lonsdale accurately represents , in his language , and in the solemnity of his recital , the public feelings of the day , the apprehensions of the Church , the unflinching firmness of the political class , whose energy afterwards bore fruit in the Bill of Rights , the Protestant succession , and the national privileges , surmounting the golden , arches of the Crown . Parliament -was called ; and Lonsdale , with his cousin Bellinghana , stood for the county of Buckingham and " was chosen knight . " But James soon allowed his councillors to detect the Roman lining to his mantle , and the conspiracy he-had formed against the liberties of the commonwealth . Danger was manifest , '¦ " in some things done alreadie , and in some things tlien proposed " - — .
The ffirst of these was , the destroying the antient method of elections in burroughs by prescription ; by obliging them to accept charters w vested the power of election in some perticular people named ffor the purpose . This seeme < l to strike at tlxe root of the government ; ffor tis manifest the hous of comiuons will ietain nothing but the name , the vertue will be gone w = hen the king shall have the power of nominating all the citizens and burgesses . I therefore was one of those that -was desirous to have the antient custbme re-established ; thinking that weSrere chosen to sitt there to no purpose , if we tamelie suffered such an alteration in the ffundamentals of the government , without endeavouring any reparation of so materiall an alteration . Lonsdale moved the House of Commons in a courtly yet resolute speech ,
to inquire into this innovation ; the motion -was stifled . But , on the other hand , a monarchical plan for exasperating the severity of the laws against treason was so mutilated , that James thought it not worth passing into law . Mean-while , Argyll ' s insurrection took place , and Lonsdale , recording the incidents of the Duke ' s trial and execution , bursts into bitter sarcasms against Lord Grey , who turned king ' s evidence , and who , when Argyll complained of a cold , alluded mockingly to his inevitable fate , and promised him an effectual cure within a few days . Major Holmes , three days before the battle of Sedgemore , had suspected the courage and the fidelity of this miserable nobleman :
The courage of this Major was remarkable : He had hia arm broke in the battle , was brought up to London , had his life offered him by the King , if he would promise to live quietlie , and endeavour no disturbance . His answer was , tha . t his principles had ever been , republicarian , as thinking that fform of go-verment best for this nation ; that ho was still of that mind ; that he was now an old man , and his life aa little -worth asking as t ' was worth his Majestie ' s giveing ; and i ' was indifferent to him whether his Majestio pardoned him or not . He was therefore sent into the countrie and hanged , whilst my Lord Giay had his pardon , and became an evidence against severall . Besides those that were killed in the ffeild tliere were about seven hundred sentenced to death and executed , insomuch that all the high -ways of that countrie were no longer to be travailed , whilst the horrour of so many quarters of men and the offensive stench of them lasted .
The anecdote of the old " republicarian , " and the picture of the highways hung- with dead " traitors , " could mot be more effectively presented . Alter the acquittal of the bishops , Lonsdale , by a few graphic words , revives the great scene of popular excitement . " There arose a shout , and a noise so loud and so continuing , the like of which had never before been heard . It went out of the hall , which was crowded with people , and was taken up by the watermen , and ia a moment like a train of gunpowder , sett on Hire , went both up and down the river , and along the streets , to the astoniahment even of those that contributed to it . " From this incident the Memoir digresses to Hudson ' s Bay , and to Algeria , and then to " the caso of mv Lord Devonshire "— :
Who was struck by one Coll . Culpepcr , in the little room next the King ' s bedchamber ; ffor which fTact , he was tryed before the Green Cloth , and condemned to loos his hand , there being blood drawn ; but was pardoned upon promise thut he would make his submission to my Lord ; which he not docing , my Lord meeting him in the great ffano room , asked him the reason of that omission . Ho giving nonnswer , but some scornful action , my Lord was so provoked , ( hat he fell upom him tliero and boat him much ; but no blood being drawn , he was onlio prosecuted by information in the King ' s Bench , where they dined him 00 thousand pound , imprisoned him ffor ir , and fforced him to give bond flfor the money , othorwaya they would have extended his estnte to the ruin of it .
Lord Lonsdale was not a man of a doubting mind , lie believed in invisible links connecting great events on the earth with signs in the heavens ; the five yoars before l ( j « 8 , he eay « , were prolific in " accidents of importance' of revolutions of empires , violent and amazing earthquakes , persecution for reli gion , and a fearful comet . We who live in the dread of Juno may profitably study the rellections of tlio eighteenth century statesman , who
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MISCELLANIES . A Ramble through the United States , Canada , and the West Indies . ¦ By John Shaw , M . D ., F . G . S ., F . L . S . ( Hope . )—Dr . Shaw , while travelling , accompanies himself on the flute . His title-page informs us that he is the " author of several pieces of music" for that instrument . We have always kept at a careful distance from flute-players in private life ; but Dr , Shaw insists on being familiar and confidential . We should say that he is a selfsatisfied gentleman , with an appetite for the smallest of small-talk , and a notioa that readers ia general participate in his tendency , lie rambles with an innocent swagger through tlic West Indies , Canada , and the United States , indites condescending notices of the various gentlemen encountered in railway carriages or hotels , and occasionally drawing forth his oaten pipe , performs in character . Excessively garrulous , he is at the same time
uncommonly vague , and flies oiF upon a curious variety of topics generally contrived to suggest a vast deal of consequence enjoyed in this world by Dr . Shaw . With all his egotism and frivolity , however , he manages at times to write agreeably and instructively . Aldershot , and All About It : with Gossip , Lilercny / , Military , and Pictorial . By Mrs . Young , Author of " Our Camp in Turkey . " With illustrations . ( Houtledge and Co . )—Mrs . Young , once known as Mrs . Poatana , has contrived to compile a very readable little book , upon the " Manual " scale , concerning Aldershot and its neighbourhood . To a neat and livel y account of tliecamp she has added many pleasant sketches of tradition , and of historical incidents associated with X ' iirnham Castle , Wnverley Abbey , the cottage of Stella , Selbourne , and other places of note in the vittinity . They that dwell in Aldershot , and they that visit it , will assuredl y place the volume on their shelves , or among their holiday equipments . Goltliold ' sJ ' Jinblems j or , Invisible Things Understood bi / Things that Are . By Christian Striven . Translated by the Itev . Robert Menzies . ( Edinburgh : T . and T . Clark . )—Twenty-eight editions of this book have been published in Germany , and it id a wonder that this should be the first translation of it
in England . It belong * , as Mr . Menzies says , to the class of literature of which liogntsky ' s Golden Treasury is a conspicuous illustration . We have masses of . ( jennnn scientific theology , ecclesiastical histories , and embodied doctrines ; " \ ve havo more than one of Krununacher ' s works ; but of such publications as we alluded to , scarcely any have been introduced to English readers . Scrivcn was , towiirdsjhe close of the seventeenth centurj ' , a . pastor of Magdeburg , and later a consiatorial councillor at Qucdliuburg ; lie was reverenced by his countrymen ahnoat as an apostle . The Queen of Sweden invited him to become her court preacher , mid wept when ho refused . Spuner and l ' ritius praised him as one excellent beyond all hia contemporaries . Yet his works had nearly disappeared from the booksollors * shops , when certain pious men selected them for ro . publiciitiou , and kindled anew their ancient popularity . The " emblems" arc aneeriote . s in the life of an ideal Gotliold , or rather imaginary Gesta , narrated in a grave , sweet , fascinating style , and pointing , hi every case , some wise and sulutury moral . Conversations on Topics of hdcreat between Two Friends . ( Saundcrs and
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APBiL ^ 185 r . ] T HE LEAPBE , 331
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Leader (1850-1860), April 4, 1857, page 331, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2187/page/19/
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