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March 1, 1856.] THE LEADER. 209
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SCOTTISH HEROES. ScottisJi Heroes in the...
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THE INCA.S OF PERU. Cuzco aftd Lima : a ...
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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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 .
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Citation
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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/
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