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642 THE LEADER. [ No. 432, Jtjlt 8, is 5...
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THE KEIGN OF GEORGE THE THIRD. -4 Histor...
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MISSIONARY ADVENTURES IN TEXAS AND MEXIC...
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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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The Magazines, Mindful Of The Necessitie...
When tike curtail * fell , I found that Sedley had quitted the bos ; so . I lay back aud xna ~ tinate & on tfala ireful apparition —this deep ¦ breasted Komau matron . But Cafcarina ' s triumph , was reserved for the last act . The general conception of tile act was ridiculous enough ; but her acting redeemed it . She lias taken off her 3 « vrels and the rich robes which befit a noble ' s wife : there is nothing save her white niifht-gevr arouatf the . queeu . Her small feet are bare ; and though they are blue with , cold , th . e marble floor does not chill her . She advances coldly , calmly , stillylike the visitant of a dream . "What wants the queen ? She knows well , no doubt ; for there is neither hesitation nor embarrassment in her gait . But look into her eyes . They are blank , expressionless , like a statue's . The lamp is there , but the light has
. been extinguished , or rather inverted , turned in , to illumine that inner life men call the conscience . Fo * see , a spasm of pain contracts the pale lips , and the white hands wring each other iu a > fierce pressure . " Out , damned spot . " 'Tis in vain . That white arm and that little hand , alt the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten them again . Ay 1 , she kno-ws it . She will give up the fight . The fever has devoured her life , and the damned spot has eaten into her soul . What a sigh is there ! ' Twas that sigh snapped the heart-strings . Back to bed , fair queen , an you list : but it xnatters n « t . The houra are numbered . No man or womaa could groan that bitter . groan and live . So the pale apparition passes away to her doom , —pale , but -with the flush of pAin still upon her eUeek .
" Catarina wants us to sup with her , " whispered Sedley , as the curtain fell upon ihe funeral train that bore the queen to burial . " Where ? In Hades ? " I asked , for the spell was not yet broken . We bear and read enough of the Ciianceixob cm ? the Exchequer , yet are . glad to recognize his portrait in the following brief sketch : — D was a remarkable man in his way . There vras an exaggeration , an epigrammatic bombast in his talk at which many wiseacres grinned , and which Catarina mimicked to the life . But he was a remarkable man— -much more so than his critics . His political and historical creed was nodontot partly fictitious : it smacked of the insincerity which must always-attach to the creed of the Tnere artist ; but he construed it at leas-t -with the breadth and generosity of a poetic intellect .. His nature was large and unselfish . He was insanely ambitious , but never base . H « could abandon bis principles ; ho never abandoned his friends . And his persevering insouciance , l * is obstinate nonchalance , were indomitable . Nothing could shake him from his purpose : he heldo-n to it like grim death or an English terrier . And he did not exactly fail . He was first minister of the Oceanic Republic when he diedv
AuiOBgst the interesting pages in Fraser ^ e may notice a good review of lEnoVD ^& JIisioty of England * audan amusing one entitled " The Zoologist about ^ Eown . " ¦ : ' . ''¦ . : " ¦ ¦ .. ' ¦ ' ¦ ' : ' : ' ¦ ¦ ¦ . ' ¦' ¦ ' : - ' ^ - ¦ ¦ ¦ : ¦ : "' ¦ ' ¦ ' ¦ . ¦'¦ The Dublin University Magazine has a long biographical article on Sir E ; B . 3 JYTT 0 N , that wilL be attractive just now ; a striking narrative , entitled ' ¦ " The Identification ; " and a third article on " Trinity College / ' to which we may probabLv return .
642 The Leader. [ No. 432, Jtjlt 8, Is 5...
642 THE LEADER . [ No . 432 , Jtjlt 8 , is 58 . ¦ ¦¦¦ ..- ¦ - . —^— - ^—^—^—^^^^—^ M ^>—^ 1 —ifc ^^ i ^^ i——^—^—^— . ——^ . 1 1 " ¦ - ¦ ¦ _ . . .
The Keign Of George The Third. -4 Histor...
THE KEIGN OF GEORGE THE THIRD . -4 History of England during the Reign of George the Third . By William Blassey , M . J . Vol . II . —1770-1780 . J . W . Parker and Son "We may now anticipate the immediate completion of this work , and when the remaining-volumes have appeared , it will come before us as a whole for Appreciation as a history . Written throughout with ¦ vi gour , and distinguished by many graces of style , it possesses one other merit , rare in productions of the same cbaracter—it is purely and invariably impartial . Mr . Massey has no heroes ; he has not set up his king as the denri-god of an era ; this purpose is chiefly descriptive , and be varies the colours of his picture ¦ without any apparent intention to glorify one man or party at the expense of another . However , the book must be judged , from this point of view ,
an its entirety . As yet only two decades of the reign have been concluded ; but Mt . Massey has paused to preface the second by an elaborate account of morals and fashions during the Georgian epoch , surnamed the English Augustus by the pedantic flatterers of a later day . This , aguin , is preluded by a glance at the progress of manners from the middle ages , through the Stuart period , and down to the moment when the Royal George , kissing his dying wife , promised to fulfil her last request , declared he would never marry again , and vowed that for her satisfaction in the-tomb he would henceforth content himself with mistresses . In picturesqueuess the medioe-vul period , of course , was superior to the eighteenth century ; but the variegations of romance vanish at « a closer view , even of high-born maidens in palace-towers , and of plumed knights in giant castles . The ruin , it mny
be conceived , fractured and moss-grown , produces a deceptive effect upon the imagination , which forgets the scullion mob that has tilled the hall , the ¦ dirt and damp of the corridors , the grossness of the Piantagenet chivalry iniduLiiig upon the floor , nobles and Indies in the same dormitory with horseboys and beggars . Mr . Massey ' s notices of the three classes of architecture , as developed towards the close of the Tudor reign , are particularly interesting . And yet what had been gained when the dirty traditions of the first -Jaiues -were revived by the second Charles—a more indiscriminate and a less hypocritical libertine—when the palace was a haunt of wantons , when murder 4 ind blusphemy denied the king ' s favourites , when bullies were employed by
noblemen to assassinate a poor pluyor ? If , nevertheless , the court of ( Charles II . presented a revolting combination of brutality and indecency , it was no worse than that of George III . Mr . Masaey , we are glad to suy , has been misled by none of the purchased eulogies in honour of the " first gentleman" dynasty . There is hardly any instance of grossness and profligacy since the Kestoration , lie remarks , which cannot be matched from the records of Booiety during the first half , at least , of the rei ^ n of George 111 . The fulness and clearness with which ho justifies this opinion confer a peculiar Talau upon his work . It is well that tho good old times whim George III . was king should be painted faithfully for the benefit of a sceptical generation .
The ordinary pu ! p . ita wore crowded with parasites , pimps , and brokendawu adventurers ; tho superior clergy were t !> e agents and lluukcys of tho Court and aristocracy ; the ruce of statesmen , though brilliant intellectually , vrere in morals utterly degenerate ; men of fuwhion , tho admirution of the < day-, were nothing more thim the devotees of dandyism and sensuality That silken and gold-lace era , red with paint and sickly with perfume , that
day of gewgaws and patches , of iools-chattering simiously on the M-iil n i debauchees gambling at the taverns , rendered' London ' tlie woikU-i- of tl provinces , but it converted the Court into the principal hell j n tiu . .,,, Then came th . e Duke of Grai ' ton to St . James ' s with his miss , im \ S ; tiul \ and Dash wood stood upon the Corinthian capitals of polished sou ; tv attitudes which would have sent less ancestral profligates to IJriii ,. « -,.: i' th ^ iranciscan Club , with its defiled cloisters , mock ouns , and li . i-ntious cerr > monies , helped to do the work which Protestantism was sm >| , oWto n- » * doing , and fine ladies , who imitated their husbands in the dash ami < rlitt of their manners , gambled themselves into insolvency , and then xr . ? u \ fo assistance—to harsh . creditors or benevolent friends—the hig u \ st price of all . On the general subject of feminine education and naauiior-T Air \ l \ sse ' has the following passage : — '
The manners of women were a favourite theme of satirical writers for tlieiiiNfc h If at least , of the eighteenth century . The great writers of the age of Anne exhibit the prominent foibles of the sex . in those days ; but neither the exquis-ite raillcrv of V < 1 V son , nor the polished couplets of Pope , nor the stern censure of Swift , had tlie -l'Mit ' t effect in producing a reformation . Ladies have in all times resented m- . liaised Uics discipline of satirists ; nor am I aware of any instance in -which wit \ v . \ a obtained ¦» victory over faslrion . Excepting in dress , which is the subject of ever-varyin- iapvice the ladies who flourished in tue early part of the reign of George III . diftWeJ little from the ladies who adorned the side-box , or sauntered in Spring-garden , in the days of Anne . The same rage for play , the same appetite for scandal , the same Wity of carriage , and the same licentious freedom of conversation , were still prevalent . * The education of women , in the former period , was either-wholly neglected , <> r perversely
misapplied . The daughter of a country gentleman was taught tins daiies of a cooit * - sometimes , also , if her parents were ambitious that she should shims in al ' tei-lifo as an accomplished hostess , she received lessons from a carving-master . The cardinal duty of hospitality , as s > he heard it inculcated at home , was for the lady to press tin-guests to eat to repletion ; while it was the province of the master of the . house to uiake ' thein drink to excess . This , perhaps , was a fitting education for a young woman > iho -was to become the lielpmate of a rude landlord , who regarded a wife as an tippi-i- si-rvant , and who thought the company of -women an irksome restraint upoii the freedom of social intercourse . To a woman of any education or refinemeut , an English manorhouse , during at least the earlier years of the Hanoverian succession , must nave been an intolerable home .
Here is another picture of the regretted good old times : — The insolence , licentiousness , and ferocity of the people , especially in the capital and other great towns , were such as a traveller would hardly now encounter in the most remote and savage regions of the globe . No well-dressed individual , "f either sex , could walk the streets of London , without risk of personal insult or injury . It was , indeed , an undertaking of difficulty to pass through , the streets at all . The narrow foot-way , separated from the carriage-road only by a line of unconnected stakes , or posts , at wide intervals , was frequently blocked up with chairs , wheelbarrows , and other obstructions * some of them placed there wantonly , to annoy loot-passengers Carmen and hackney-coach drivers considered it excellent sport to splash , decent people from head to foot ; and when a terrified female or bewildered stranger was tumbled ' into * the kennel , the accident was hailed with shouts of delight . Yet , on the whole , it was as safe and less disagreeable to traverse the streets on foot than in . a
conveyance . Chairs and carriages were upset , and collisions were constantly occurring ; the least inconvenience -was , that the progress of vehicles through the great thoroughfares was interrupted by tbe absence , or rather disregard , of regulations for the traffic . But the delay was not the only annoyance . When a stoppage took place , or an accident happened , the ears were stunned by a storm of oaths , and abusive altercation from the drivers and servants . Thieves were always ready to take advantage of the confusion , which they had themselves probably originated for their own purposes . Beggars , also , availed themselves of the opportunity to ply their trade . Tbe dismal tale of sickness and famiht : was drawled out , and corroborated by horrible exhibitions . Stumps of limbs and diseased children were held up to the carriage windows of the quality . If there were ladies in the family coach , a street vocalist would probably begin -chanting some filthy doggerel , of which the refrain would be taken up by the bystanders .
This part of Mr . Massey ' s volume is of remarkable interest . The » oneral narrative , coming down to the Lord George Gordon riots , is full of animation , and has obviously been based upon extensive and discriminating research .
Missionary Adventures In Texas And Mexic...
MISSIONARY ADVENTURES IN TEXAS AND MEXICO . Missionary Adventures in Texas and Mexico . A Personal Narrative oV Six Ycara ' Sojourn in these Regions . By the -Abbe Domcnech . Translated from the Freuch under the author ' s superintendence . Longman and Co . The chequered and perilous existence ot a Catholic missionary cousi > cialing himself to the cure of souls in tho wilds of Texas and Western Ann rica , his physical and moral struggles , arc here portrayed with a vivid truthfulness well calculated to arrest tho sympathy of our rcaderi * . Jlis efforts in this behalf are either very partiulfy understood or iuadcquaitely appreciated by society . The utmost exertions ot zual , devot « dnej > s , iiiul ouiuagc avail him not . He dies amidst the ice of the north or in the sai'dy deserts of
the tropics . His lifts is one long conflict with imperative necessities , which soon undermine his constitution , and which compel him to dissipate , in providing for the commonest necessities , thoae . energies barely sullicutnt to enable him to educate those for whom he bivuks the bread of life . . Most persons require to be informed that Catholic missionaries , bishops , und priests , receive no stipend lrom their government or church ; tin-ir only resource for subsistence , maintenance , journeying , building of churches , hospitals , schools , convents , mid college ^ , is derived irom their personal industry , tlie otferings of thuir families—in general very poor - and j ) blic or private charity , with some small and inadequate contribution from the
Propagation of the Faith . The entire receipt * of that body for all purposes , ia the space of twenty-four jeard , that is , from 1822 to 1 B' 1 (> , amounted to about thirty millions of ¦ fbinea . The English Bible Society , in o . \ istenco only a tew years comparatively , hail disbuist'd in 1851 nbovo nim .-ly-livo millions . If to this be added the enormous outlays of the Ainuricnn ' liiblo ISoeiety , the Hindoslun , Anglo-Indian , and German Societies for tin ; dill'nnion of Bibles und religi-ous books in India alone , we buvo a total quite fabulous and incredible , in comparison with which tho means ut the disposal of tho Romish priesthood will appear as the grain of mustard-seed mentioned in Holy Writ .
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), July 3, 1858, page 18, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_03071858/page/18/
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