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faith and confidence of the Protestant powers ; he was hurrying to and fro to establish the -weak Churches and confirm the strong . He combated against what he termed the tyranny of Luther , and reproved the mildness of Melancthon . He denounced the doctrines of Servetus , called in the temporal arm of the Oenevese magistracy to extirpate the heretic and his creed and only paused to ask h commutation of his sentence when his victim was about to be bound at the stake . " We endeavoured to alter the mode of bis death , but in vain , " observes Calvin , in a letter to Farel . ± he account we have of the unfortunate Servetus , given us in another ; letter addressed to his friend Sulzer , exhibits in painful colours the ferocity of the times , and the unmiti ° -ated severity of the lean Cassius-like Reformer . " As Michael Servetus , twenty years ago , infected the Christian world with his virulent and pestilent opinion , I should suppose his name is not unknown to you . It was he whom that faithful minister of Christ , Master Bacon , of holy meto
anory , in other respects of a mild disposition , declared from the pulpit be worthy of having his bowels pulled out and torn to pieces . While he has not permitted any of his poison to go abroad since that time , he has lately , however , brought out a larger volume , printed secretly at Vienne , but patched up from the same errors . To be sure , as soon as the thing became known , be was cast into prison . He escaped from it some way or other And wandered in Italy for nearly four months . He at length , in an evil Jiour , came to this place , when , at my instigation , one of the syndics ordered him to be conducted to prison ; for I could not disguise it that I considered it my duty to put a check upon this most obstinate and ungovernable man . This question , as well as others we have in view , will be more properly considered when we have the entire collection in our hands . In the meanwhile , we shall look forward to the publication of the third and fourth volumes of this import-ant correspondence , and hope that Dr . Jules Bonnet will not allow so long an interval to elapse as that between the publication of the rfixst and second .
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PHANTASMATA . Phantasmata : or , Illusions and Fanaticisms of Protean Forms Productive of Great Evils Bv B . K- Madden , Author of " Memoirs of Lady Blessington , &c . 2 vols . . . Newb ^ Persons who undertake to -write history have been distributed into two . classes— -the artists , and the artisans . We must add a third division—the labourers . Dr . Madden is a labourer . He throws his industriously collected materials into a formless heap ; whether compiling or speculating , he is equally confused ! Not that he disdains a plan of systematic arrangement , but that he only vaguely understands his subject , and having accumulated a mass of quotations and testimonies , is at a loss what to do with them . Too ambitious to content himself with a " Menioire pour servir , he prefixes to his long succession of chapters the proposition of a theory ,
deducing certain reasons in evidence from Pascal , Fuller , Stobaeus , and , as secondhand , from Prudhomme . We warn all readers , however , who may be fascinated by Dr . Madden ' s subject , and by the curious contents of his -two Iar > 'e volumes , to pass leniently over the preface . It is a specimen of toil , and nothing more , and is disfigured by some chimerical statistics of the French Reign of Terror . There is the more necessity for denying the claim of the ° book to rank among philosophical histories , as _ Dr . Madden raises a lofty basement of introductory disquisition , synopsis , index , and -authority . But we must not be understood to imply that the performance is worthless , or wanting in merit . It is a laborious selection of curious particulars relating to historical illusions , impostures , and mental disorders ; it is replete with interest ; it cites a singular variety of anecdotes ; it brings together a large quantity of information from scattered sources , and it will liave a charm ^ for such readers as love to dwell upon the eccentricities of
human nature . The traditions of the Wandering Jew , of the Trembling Aspen , of the Millennium , were poetical phantasms ; such also have been the popular beliefs in the approaching annihilation of the world . Witchcraft points the way to a broad department of Dr . Madden ' s inquiry ; but his scope is irregular and he neglects many legitimate branches of hie investigation . He first—after the long preliminary—touches the question whether the early -Christians were really addicted to the murder sacrifice , and eating of ¦ children } but leaves the point where he found it , in considerable obscurity . Thence he passes to dreams and visions , to Swedenborg , St . Teresa , and thence , with arbitrary ease , to the Inquisition , which is scarcely to be enumerated aihong Phantasmata . His account of this institution is excessively meagre . Next he reviews the opinions of old Catholic and Protestant writers on magic , enriching the chapter with some remarkable -extracts . Still more interesting is the picture of middle-ago sorcery find df Lyeanthropy , preceding a notice of the flagellation mania . The fumous to avert
sect of the Flagellants arose in Hungary in the fourteenth century , uy their mortificationa the terrors of the Black Death ep idemic ; then , sweeping { through Eastern and Northern Europe , all classes joined them— -men , women ! and children—who scourged themselves in public . Boileau ' s work , the English notes to which have apparently escaped Dr . Madden ' s attention , goes back to Arcadian history in search of precedents ; various other ancient nations believed in the virtues of voluntary and involuntary whipping ; in monasteries at was adopted ^ to lacerate the flesh , in nunneries as the most direct and graceful means of discipline Boileau , however , denounces the system as having led to great abusca . What waa intended as a punishment became a pleasure , ^ especially as , when a lady had been condemned to a hundred lashes , sho ! was sometimes permitted to choose a bundle of fcuthers , or of the lightest twigs , as the instrument of her mortification , instead of the twisted cords or inexorable rattans of the loss tender penitents . The grand lady mentioned by Urantorae Buffered her smart bv » rdxv . and acreed with a number of
her maids that she should do penance in their persons ; but others prided themselves on their capacity of endurance , added knots to their thongs , and converted discipline into torture . Certain old anchorites even beat , themselves with heavy stakes , and counted the blows by thousands . Even this mania , though as . monstrous as any that Juggernaut over witnessed , wns less
repulsive than the epidemic hysteria , the convulsive chorea , and the Tarantula dancing madness of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries , since these were the antics of populations smitten by plagues , overcome by horror , and reduced to a state of savage mental imbecility . Whole towns became temporary Bedlams . The people assembled in great multitudes ; their preachers addressed them ; a trumpet was sounded or a drum beaten ; and every individual began to tramp , prance , jump , and hop as though he would make the last moment of his life coincident , with a kick of his feet . The dancers wore garlands , and other bridal decorations ; but being under the influence of a strange epidemic malady , producing a tympanitic distension of the body , each person wore a bandage round the waist with a stick to twist it tightly whenever the convulsion should commence . St . Vitus was a patron of these illusionists ; so also was St . John , whose festival is still associat ed with similar practices . " Not only in Germany , but in several other countries , and in Ireland within my own recollection , " says Dr . Madden , " the festival of St . John and the eve of it were solemnized by bonfires , leaping through the flames ; by patterns at holy wells dedicated to the saint ; by music and
dancing . In his second volume , Dr . Madden devotes more than two hundred pages to the story of Jeanne d'Arc and her inspirations . His remaining chapters are occupied with epidemic monomania and demonopathy in coi £ vents , with theomania and the Jansenist conyulsionaries . There is a good deal of monotony in this part of the narration . Wo must characterize the book , in general , as a rude compilation , abounding in points of interest , but valuable rather as historical material than as history itself .
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NOVELS . Roua Pass ; or , Englishmen in the Highlands . By Erick Mackenzie . 3 vols . ( Smith , Elder , and Co . )—The name of this book suggests its character . It depicts Highland life with the usual concomitants—a whisky still , a crone with a creaky voice , fishing-parties , and a Highland lassie-proper , as follows —Graceful short attire , naked feet white as lilies , hair transmuted by the sunbeams to molten gold , eyes darkly , brightly , beautifully blue . Then there is Norah , the tall brunette , with Esme , of the floating brown locks , sometimes looking like the Magdalen , at other times like the Cenci—always lovely , however . The scenery is elaborately painted ; there are good descriptions of local customs , after the style of Scott ; fashionable elegances form a contrast with the natural manners of the mountains ; but the story
itself is neither very real nor very new . It is a drama of platoiuc love , of a daughter's escape , of a tragedy , of a lynx-eyed Italian mistress , of a fair sweet face and bright blue eyes gazing through a mist of-memory , of Esme ' s and Normal ' s ultimate happy union , —all strongly tinged with sentimentality . Scottish readers may be fascinated by the landscapes , circulating-library readers by the spasms of love , hate , and alarm ; but we cannot bestow any better praise on Mr . Mackenzie ' s novel . We should add , perhaps , that the style , though artificial and often exaggerated , is generally correct and
euphcoHtnrsv The Ric ( it \ S // itors . A Novel . By Mrs " . Hubbnck , Authoress of the " Wife ' s Sister . " 3 vols . ( Skcet . )—The . " Wife ' s Sister" was a popular novel—it was called for at the libraries ; it was extensively read by ladies ; it was a story of strong family interest . In The Jlical Suitors the interest is of a similar quality , only the element of love is more predominant . Love , pure and simple , has gone somewhat out of fashion as a staple of romance , and " youno- people" have deplored the innovation which came in with heroines " not strictly beautiful / ' and other originalities by no means iasciination ? Hubbackto suit
nntino- to minds all music and roseate imag . Mrs . , the taste of the times , has added bi-aniy ; but , for the most part , her tale is one of love and jealousy , and a climax-of marriage , m which one suitor proudly leads his bride to the chancel-rails , while ( Me other , " with hoait still bleeding from the bitter wound , " gnaws his chain of unrequited aflection . Such a novel , especially with the Hgonk-s m store . for the third volume , opens a delightful prospect to young lady readers . We will « ot . lamp 1 heir curiosity b / aetting forth what happens to Mortimer , and whet her iSoiab , after all , marries Gerard , who says , " Nora , it ' s no . use trying , 1 ca mot , bc silent , X cannot help it , I love you despcrutely " -but ^ ye will comm end lho Rival Suitors to such persons as care about < lr . unat . sud jealousies ^ lead of tbeIiuni >»
- John Halifax , Gentleman . By the Author of " The , -. ^ New Edition . ( Hurst and XJluekett . ) Jvhu / lahcu bus been >^ 1 ^ c £ with revisions , in one volume . In this form , it will , no doubt , e , ¦ "" *{ £ Mulock ' s popularity . The story is interesting thronghout , d . sj . ) s « i c markablo knowledge of human nature , and is told with touching sun plicity . , ,, -v The Two Convicts . By Frederick Gerstueckur . ( Itoutledgo sin . Co ) This is an original novel , full of stirring scenes , desenplive ol lilc . n Australian convict colony . Gerstaecker has a sty le ol b w own , tuiu manages his plot so as to keep up tho excitement to the end . Grattan ' s successful novel , Jacqueline of Holland , has been addec to the Parlour Library , forming the hundred and sixtieth volume . Jo i ho uno series has been contributed a transl ation of The Two Dumas , by D umas story told with tho author's customary art and power . London Arthm
Dr . Oliver ' s Servant . By Miss Meteyard tiilvorpon . ( ^ : Hall and Co . - 1867 . )—ftliaa Meteyard tells a pretty story »» J £ ^ endeavours to enforce upon servants the advantages o being J £ dutiful toward their employers , and upon young marned lad . es ihe nwoiowo consequences of running uwny from " the most allootionatu ol hiiabunUb with an officer in tho Guards . ,,,, Storitn ami Sketches . By Jmnea Fayn . ( Smith , KMer , and Co . ) . --AM character of these Storiea-und Sketches will bo bos Ku-ented k lu an nounceinunt that they arc , for the most part , , rcprnita lrom / W / f ' JJ ^ and Clumber * * Journal . Mr . Fay" wntoa hia beat , of course , ° ™^* £ Words . Ho is prny , spirited , obsorvant , and throw * into his n iscoll . nks no mUo knowledge < S men and books . The volume is u pleasant one loi m » l way aud occasional reading .
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426 T H E _ LEADE II . [ No . 371 , Saturday ,
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), May 2, 1857, page 426, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2191/page/18/
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