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Leader (1850-1860), 1st March 1856, Edition 2 of 2, Page 17, SCOTTISH HEROES. ScottisJi Heroes in the...

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      ; Ch^ * ¦¦ History Of (Thrhttan Churches...

      posure of so very sacred a truth is " unscnptural and dangerous . " Here the Sleepers Awakened detected Jesuitry . Many young students were induced to secede to Rome . A . deeper argument was opened in " Tract ninety . " It endeavoured to show that the thirty-nine articles might be subscribed'in safety by those who held the doctrines of the Church of Rome , though not of individual members of that Church , or of certain sects or schismatics within her bosom ; that it was against these errors , and not against the Church of Rome , nor against her legitimate teaching that the articles had been drawn up . The legitimate consequence , not of the Tracts , but of the Articles , has been secession to Rome amongst the honest—hypocrisy and reservation in the noble army of preachers . Hence have arisen

      the squabbles about " credence-tables , " " candlesticks , " " crosses , " decorated altars , " and the more subtle points of " baptismal regeneration , ' and the ' royal supremacy . " The tendency of such , questions cannot be doubted . Mr . Marsden ' s object in the present work has been not argument , but history ; not reasoning , but statement . He proves his familiarity with the subject , and ably manages his materials . There is an inevitable bias in the volumes , but the narrative is , for the most part , candid and impartial . The references given at the end of each " church" will be useful to the student who wishes to extend his investigations , and is within reach of an ecclesiastical library . With these qualifications the work cannot fail to become a useful Manual of Church History .

      March 1, 1856.] The Leader. 209

      March 1 , 1856 . ] THE LEADER . 209

      Scottish Heroes. Scottisji Heroes In The...

      SCOTTISH HEROES . ScottisJi Heroes in the Days of Wallace and Bruce . By the Bev . Alexander Low , A . M ., 2 vols . Hurst and Blackett . Wallace and Bruce belong to the same epoch of Scottish history , fought in the same cause , appealed to th « same national spirit , are celebrated together in epic songs , yet Bruce is the contrast of Wallace . Wallace was not more brave or devoted , or in resolution more dauntless , or in spirit more free ; but he was of the pure heroic type . Into the patriotism of Bruce there entered suggestions of timidity and reserve , not unwise or ignoble , but which subdue the romantic colouring . The Scots sing of Stirling and Bannockburn , of Douglas and the Lord of the Isles ; but their minstrels take up the career of Wallace when , as a youth , he sleyv the Northumbrian knights , and retired into

      the wood of Laglans , and weave a canto from every episode , to the last dismal day in London ¦ . Nothing is wanting to the attraction of the story . Part of the hero ' s life was obscure . Tradition , therefore , which abhors a vacuum , opens a range of pleasant myths , with green forest vistas * love passages , knightly feats , and days enriched by beauty and poetry , by recitatives , music , and all the merry round of outlaw revelry . In these scenes Sir William . Wallace , in stature a Telamon , in pride an Achilles , makes a "prominent _ figure . With his gigantic frame clothed in a surcoat and tabard , with the martial habergeon on his shoulders , an iron capleyne on his head , a collar of steel , gauntl ets on his hand , a broadsword , a mace , and a dagger slung to his belt , he is the model of chivalry . Establishing among the woods and hills a commonwealth of courage , he is seen , rescuing the beautiful ¦

      - - - " ' •' . ... « . i ,.. ; j _ i i ; , v , vrpuiau « i jucuuiiugtuii , Tatting Her to nis nean , ai a . secret unum , tuamg *^« . after a fray , beholding her execution , and avenging it . Then , his night attacks on the English camps , scaling the ramparts of castles like a Red-Cross Knight , charging at the head of his Scots through the ranks of the English soldiers , and the splendid Gascon cavalry , meeting with his circular phalanx of pikemen , the onset of Edward ' s Earl Marshal , with the archers pouring in their arrows ^ fighting the great pirate , the Red Rover , hand to hand , and vanquishing him as much by magnaminity as by prowess , scouring the hill-districts of Scotland , bugle in hand , and

      bringing men and boys out of their glens to arm m his behalf , against one of the least scrupulous and one of the bravest kings of England . As the narrative progresses , it becomes more radiant with poetry , more inspiring , and more heroic . . The climax is reached at the capture of Wallace , for , afterwards , though the great chief dies not less nobly than he has lived , his punishment is too ghastly to form a picture . Mr . Low touches this episode lightly , and he does well . Who can fix his eye on the loftiest of men , when his blood drips on the hurdle and the scaffold , when he is cut down , half dead , and disembowelled , —when his head and arms are cut off—as the trophies of victory and revenge ? When such is the closing scene , it is discreet to draw over it a decent veil .

      Mr . Low , though he has collected all the legendary incidents attributed to the career of Wallace , and has woven them into a narrative full of colour and variety , does not confound the supposititious with the historical . His criticism is bold , clear , and penetrating , and his authorities are , in general , entitled to respect . Therefore , however vivid the impressions created by his forest panorama , and his anecdotes of early daring , they are not confused with the results of practical research , nor has Mr . Low fallen into tlie error , common in Scottish historians , of blackening the character of Edward

      to illustrate the virtues of Wallace . He affirms , what most English writers admit , that the wars in Scotland were excited by the usurpations of the English and the unjustifiable violence and tyranny of their government . But he recounts , in a generous spirit , the excellent qualities of the English king , and haa some criticism for his Scottish heroes , especially for Bruce , whose earlier career was marked by hesitation and complicity . His description of the battle of Bannockburn is honest and spirited . The English soldiers , horse and foot , exhibited on that memorable field the utmost intrepidity , charging , undismayed by failure again and again upon the Scottish lines , rushing between the squares of pikemen , sweeping forward under the storm of arrows ,

      engaging so hercely that the two armies broke into eight , as a fleet divides when each ship has fixed upon her antagonist , reversed all the military dispositions , and fought , as it were , four battles on the same field . The Earl of Gloucester , with forty thousand horsemen , began the action ;—Tho shook of the first charge of Englnnd'e envoi ry is said to havo been dreadful , And being received on the spears of tho Scottish infantry , tho wash was hoard at a groat diatnuoo , and dashed many knights from their saddles , whono horses wero stabbed and rendorod furiouB by their wounds . The centre division , under tho gallant Randolph , stood in a steady body to receive tho charge of tho English , and when their thousands wore spread out in front of tho centre , tho Scottish squares , which attaolced them with groat bravery and iufcrepKUfcy , although ten to one , wore lost among the English , as if they hod plunged into the sea

      When both armies joined battle ,- the great horses of England rushed nnon fl , * Scottish lances , as . if upon a thick wood , and one mighty and horrible sound ar ^ from the breaking of tb e lances , the shock of falling horsemen , and the shri ^ K of the dying . exs The siege of Caerlaverock is described with pictorial effect : the castle stood between the forest and the sea : — It was surrounded on all sides by numerous bodies of the enemy , each anxious to signalise its skill and bravery , and many a shining shield of siTrer , many a lance and pennon were alternately displayed before the walls ; and as one baron and his followers were wounded , or forced to retire before tie besieged , another host of knights advanced to the charge , assailing the gate , or covering the entrance , and shouting their respective war-cries . It would seem , that before this

      insignificant fortress , which , poured its rude artillery upon the assailants with courage and effect , all tlie chivalry of England was displayed ; bearing on their shields and banners of every line and colour , red pitchers with besants , gold lioncels , white saltire and chief , green crosses , lion rampant , the r « d chevron , dancette and billets of gold on blue , red § tid ermine , gemell of gold ,. golden mullets , and almost every device of that cfiivalrous age . When one shield was beaten back , another took its place ; when one banner was torn , another -was displayed ; and the numerous engines , which were supplied by the English fleet , made great destruction upon the walls , where the brave defenders continually relieved each other , till neither iron cap nor wooden target could save them from wounds .

      Mr . Alexander Low , minister of the parish of Keig , in Aberdeenshire , lias illustrated , with considerable success , one of the most stirring periods of his national history . His scholarship is large , and he applies a sound judgment to the decision of involved or disputed issues . While , therefore , his style is picturesque and vigorous , his method is strictly historical ; and the result is , that ScottisJi Heroes in the Days of Wallace and Bruce , with all the elements of popularity , is also a work of practical and permanent ¦ value .

      The Inca.S Of Peru. Cuzco Aftd Lima : A ...

      THE INCA . S OF PERU . Cuzco aftd Lima : a Visit to the Ancient and Modern . Capitals and Provinces of Peru . By C . R . . Markhain , F . R . -. G . S . Qhapnann and Hall . Few Europeans have visited Cuzco , the ancient capital of the Incas ; scarcely one has described it . Though it forms the centre of the great range of American architectural monuments , and contains in itself an epitome of the extinct civilisation of Peru , travellers have preferred to tread the worn paths round the mounds of Cholula , or through the ruins of Tlaseala , without attempting to compare the Mexican with the principal Peruvian remains .

      Mr . Markham , when his inquiries were directed to this subject , found the written sources of information so scanty ' that he was compelled to choose between a sacrifice of curiosity , and a journey to Cuzco . Travelling to that dilapidated and mystic city , he carefully examined the ground , surveyei the mouldering relies of art and beauty , the traces of a cultured , nation , the points of contrast and similitude , suggested by the / antique mpauments of Europe . The result is presented in a volume originally and specially , interesting . But , unhappily , Mr . Markham was pursued to Cuzco by in inveterate assumption , which , in spite of parenthetical humilities , and ia addition to

      some harsh prejudices that spot and streak his narrative , maierieeiiy . JLauiSff !? ishes its authenticity . It is not surprising to find the old temples and palaces , ornate and solid , standing out from , an horizon of theory ; since the archaeology of the Western continent is , for the most part , conjectural ; and the imagination wanders between , poetry and logic , far in advance of exact discovery . A vast . historical restoration is claimed by successive and conflicting writers , who have built up Aztec empires , and many a Babylon and Damascus of the West , wtich others have battered into absurdity . . But Mr . Markham , who penetrates , not by a clue of his own finding , into the primal epoch of migration , owes some deference to speculatists who soar as high , and prophecy with as much authority , as he . At the outset , it is with more than warrantable confidence that he declares the monuments of Peru to be less mysterious in their historjr than those of Central America . Certainly , the elaborate investigations which have been made into the

      architecture of Axtnul and Palenque , have led only to inferential conclusions ^ but these conclusions , in the minds of some very learned men , have been in the nature of doubts as to the long antiquity of the buildings . The use of timber by the architects of Central America is not analogous to its use by the architects of Egypt . In the dry climate of the Nilotic valley , clamps of wood were applied in concealed parts of the structure , and specimens have been discovered , hard and sound , at the lapse , hypothetically , of thirty centuries . But the sun and dews were excluded ; there was no rank vegetation to clamber and drip upon the walls . In the moist region of Central America timber was used for lintels , which , in many places are found in decay , establishing a strong presumption against the idea of their remote antiquity . Nothing , at least , that is obscure in the history of Palenque or Axmul , is transparent in the history of Pachacamac or Caxamarquilla .

      Mr . Markham , reciting the supposititious archaeology of the Peruvian ruins , asks whence came those mystic Incas ? They have been described . by an English antiquarian « is a colony planted b y Kublai Khan , the first Chinese emperor of the Yuen dynasty j by a Spanish chronicler as Armenians , who left their country five centuries after the Delude ; by Berreo , of Trinidad , as transfigured Englishmen ; by others as Egyptians or Mexicans . Mr . Markham enumerates , in one clause , the last three notions , implying that they are equally wild . It is by no means positive , however , that the theory of their emigration from China is not at least as apocryphal j or , if they came thence , that they were not sent by Kublai Khan , who may or may not have existed . The opinion may be " generally reqeived' * because that is an elastic phrase * as indefinite as " orthodoxy ;*' but it ia , and is likely to bo , -disputed , and cannot be proved . Wherever there is doubt , there inevitably does Mr . Markham ' s dogmatism alight , though ho betrays an inconsistency of opinion common to rapid and prejudiced reasoners .

      So far , by way of protest against the absolutism of Mr . Marltham ' s deductions . In archoeology , in history , in politics , in social ideas , he ia an exaggerated sectarian . The few political generalisations that occur in tho volume are ridiculously presumptuous ; and , though the antiquarian argument is based on personal observation and peculiar studies , and in unison with th < ideas of Humboldt nnd Schlogel , tho great fabric of restored '" Incarial" in . atitutions and manners is marvellously flimsy .

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), March 1, 1856, page 17, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_01031856/page/17/