On this page

• Text (3)

  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.

  • 

    542 T H O S.^:i^;4^ : ^^vv,; ESAW^y; ¦ •...

  • 

    POLITICAL ELEMENTS. Political Elements, ...

  • 

    CUBTIS'S LOTOS EATING. JLotos Bating: a ...

• Transcript

  • 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.

    Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.

    The Eclipse Of Faith. Theeclipse Of Fait...

    ideas and no amount of " historical evidence" or " ere £ etieal erudition /' no amount of eloquence or ingenuity can disguise their inherent falsehood . This being the case , shall we regard our convictions as " guilty r bnalt we keep them in trembling secresy , or shall we utter them as the agonies of our heart ? Noj to the belief m these propositions as true , we oppose our belief in their falsity ; and that not , we hope , because our heart is corrupt—assuredly not because our heart is miserable , for few hearts are lighter ! " . , . ,, , The Eclipse of Faith is useless , because it never once touches the realcentre of the question : it will flatter one party , but ifc will convince no one , strengthen no one .

    542 T H O S.^:I^;4^ : ^^Vv,; Esaw^Y; ¦ •...

    542 T H O S . ^ : i ^; 4 ^ ^^ vv , ; ESAW ^ y ; ¦ . . ' . ¦ . : . _¦ „ i ' —¦—¦ . i imp i ¦¦! ¦ ' ' ''¦ ' , .

    Political Elements. Political Elements, ...

    POLITICAL ELEMENTS . Political Elements , or the Progress of Modem Legislation . By Joseph Moseley , B . C . L . J . ~ W . Parker and Sqip . At-thotjgh we cannot say that Mr . Moseley has the clue to a science < jf politics , such as we conceive to be not only possible but inevitable , yet th ^ s thoughtful volume will not be unwelcome to the student . The sflent revolution , which , he truly says , has been changing this country during the last thirty years , has been owing to certain principles , the presence of which he undertakes to indicate . " Not France , with all her commotions , " he says , " has undergone so complete a change as we . There they havie but altered the name , the form of government , the dynasty on the throne —here we have had revolutions in the opinions , in the sentiments , in the , material interests of the people . " If any one wishes to see how striking is the change , let him read Miss Martineau ' s History of the Thirty Tears '

    Mr . Moseley , in seeking for the principles of this silent but mighty revolution , is first led to consider the principle of Reform , which he vindicates as the instinct for Perfection—the craving for progressive development implanted in the human race . " This was the means by which all that higher destiny which awaited him was to be worked out . And it has been . All that surpassing excellence in religious , moral , and intellectual well-being which he has achieved—every comfort that he enjoys above that of his earliest state , has been obtained by the impulse of this inferior orders of

    longing . The essential distinction between man and the beings , consists in this , that they are content to think , and to act , to eat , drinks and to sleep , as now , so ever , and so on for ever ; whilst man is urged by an ever-renewing , never-to-be-satisfied desire to ameliorate his condition— -to add something of the comfortable , of the noble of to-day to that of yesterday . The doctrine of contentment—the proverb of " leave well alone , " and such like , acting exclusively , is peculiarly that of the lower grades of the Creation . In . its ftdl extent it is at variance with this first principle of the physical temperament of man in the individual— -and if carried out , were fatal to the destiny of man as a race . He had not yet left the caves where he first dwelt , if he had yielded to it , "

    And he also sees that no amount of political action so produced is to be undervalued , because , perhaps , the instruments were insignificant or

    worse : — « Doubtlessly , there are other , secondary motive powers , as it were , that have operated in this political change , besides that referred to . A disposition to change is a matter of physical habit , a fidgettiness , a nervous affection , with some—though in this sense , perhaps , it is only an undue operation of the principle we speak of . In others , the desire for political alteration is a vanity for imposing their own theories upon society ; in others , a means of thrusting themselves upon the theatre of events ; a standard under which political adventurers , like soldiers of fortune , enlist and fight their way to honour and power . And even by parties , by whole bodies of men , it is not unfrequently held in this mean view . But an abstract truth is not affected by this—that men see it in a false light ; nor is the unity , the

    identity , the absoluteness of truth , destroyed by this—that men worship it through a thousand different shrines . Even religion operates on different men in different ways ; with some it is a fear—with some a hope—with some a veneration for the Omnipotent Being ; with others a mere means of gain , and with not a few a mere vanity—a display . And so , too , with morality—fear of what the world saysdread of what the law may do—conviction that on the whole it is the best policy , and many other such mean motives , are the impulses of its action on many minds But for all that , religion and social morality are not the less true in their general results—neither is political morality . By it all men are led to the same end that

    is ordained to them , though by different ways . Even if we grant progress or reform to bo a series of operations , originating in and carried out by a series of political combinations of men , with a view to serve their own ends , this will not render it the less , what we have above contended it to be—the natural impulse which mankind has to ameliorate his condition . For in so doing , those combinations must have been actuated either by their own innate instinct of love of perfection for that which was best in the institutions of the country ; or else , by a conviction that the public mind was impelled by such an instinct . In either case , it was the desire of man for his well-being . which was the moving power . "

    Nor docs ho less clearly recognise the function of that apparently antagonistic principle of Conservatism which claims a party for its expression : — " The very first principle of humanity—of every living thing—is that of selfpreservation . It is in accordance with this instinctive impulse , that man ever finds himself urged by nn innate fear of what ho doosnot know—what ho docs not comprehend . Ho refuses to take as nourishment things ho has not tasted of beforeto enter into places whero ho has not been—or in any thing to trust to what he has no cxperionco of . if ho docs , it is because that ho is not in reality ignorant of the it bears to something that He

    what he trusts to—that ho knows it by analogy was acquainted with before ; and even then he confides in it by degrees—with a fear a trembling , with a caution proportionate to his inexperience . And as ho has a dread of tho now , so nlfio ho has a rational clinging to the old—to that which ho is acquainted with and comprohondfl , and so need not fear ; for , do as ho will , ho must always ho dependent upon what is about him . Ho calls this tho actual—the real and tlio disposition towards it , contentment . And so it ia with society : what tho instinct of self-preservation is to man in tho individual , that of solf-conservation —of conservatism—is to man in tho aggregate . Mankind , like man , not only finds itself urged by a tendency to preserve itself from direct injury and annihilation , but by a fooling also to anticipate such occurrences . Society , also , fears to take any

    new nourishment ^ to adopt any unknown remedy / for relieving those maladies ' t ' subject to—to follow ^ any new / course of life—any new rule of action of which it ^ ignorant . And in so doing , man , in the aggregate , is actuated by an intuitf perception of that profound truth that lies at the bottom of all instinctive impulses just as man in the individual js . yujses , ** But , again , there is a conservatism of the sentiment . It is in some—pefhans in most— -a passion of the imagination for the past . In this sense it is the tra ^* of ideas and feeungs which an Englishman feels for the institutions of hw country It is like those which tho scion of some long old family feels for the mansion-house *

    or those which we all experience when beneath the gothic arch of some cathedral ' Veneration—a wonder that astonishes—a pride that makes it all our own , and a sweet sense of gratitude that at once repays the debt ^—the vasrtnessthat receives and protects all , if all do not ofiiciate—the righteousness of ' proportion as a whole even though some parts be ^ £ ^ portions- ^ -the ages , it has stood- ^ -the ¦ assaults tthafc have wasted their little strength ttpon it—the marvel it . has been in all ages ,, the moclel it is now—the bold minds that conceived it , and the lives that wore their we & ry selves away upon the work , and which now sleep quietly beneath it— -how is it possible not to be conservative of

    such a structure as this ? " And in such sentiments there is truth . For wonder at that which is vast , ad . miration of that which is beautiful—even though it be not perfect— -are true . And gratitude is truth . Such sentiments are but the short cuts by which the feeli ings , stealing a march on . the reasoning faculties , arrive at just conclusions before them . And as true , so useful . No truth rises and passes away idle—without having performed the functions assigned to it . It is these sentiments that attach tis to our inrtftutions ; and shice they exist in us , and are dependent on us , it js these sentiments , therefore , that give them stability . And since those institutions have and shall contribute so essentially to our well-being , those feelings—those embtions- ^ -contribute powerfully to our welfare . "

    Having laid down and illustrated these ( principles , Mr . Moseley next proceeds to consider the position of political parties—of Progress—the Elements of Legislation . Public Opinion and its £ vidences-r-Legiglative Science and . the functions of a legislator ; but we cannot follow him through these chapters . Enough has been said to indicate the purpose and the style of the work , which occupies ground too little cultivated by our writers .

    Cubtis's Lotos Eating. Jlotos Bating: A ...

    CUBTIS'S LOTOS EATING . JLotos Bating : a Simmer Boole . By George William , Curtis . Author of "Nile Notes , " & c . , . > . - ¦ Bentley . These is one peculiarity in modern literature wholl y unlike anything we can find in ancient writers , namely , the deep and abiding sense of Nature speaking symbolically to Man of his hopes ,-his aspirations , his sorrows , and his troubles . Critics have endeavoured by the terms Classic and [ Romantic , and by the terms Ethnic and Christian , to draw the distinct line of demarcation , but on examination the Somantic element is found animating Grecian Literature , as the Classic lives in the modern . In the

    one peculiarity to which we allude * Greek thought stands as remote troih European thought , as the Acropolis -from St . Paul ' s . We have , on a former occasion , compared the introduction of this new element to the introduction into music of moving basses , by Carissimi , —the greatest modification ever made in music , —without which all those stupendous orchestral effects , and all those subtle , intricate harmonies ^ which in ^ the great composers ravish the ear , would have been impossible . Think ot what Literature would be were all those passages effaced which speak ot Nature as if its phenomena were but reflections of the poems " written on the red-leaved tablets of the heart ! " . , _ . ,.. a . Like everything else this feeling is exaggerated , and Literature reflects it is not wul iew iO t

    the exaggeration , a neaitny symptom w » w ;*^ . _ — speak of Nature without rising into rhapsodies ; and that description loses itself in interpretation . For one man who can paint a scene , we nave thousands who can give lyrical utterance to the emotions they did not teei in the presence of that scene , but which they d ' esire you to believe they

    The merit and the fault we touch upon are both illustrated in tho little volume before us . It announces itself as a Summer Book—as a dreamy Lotos eating , —and bears the same relation to Literature as lolling on a sunny slope un « er the chequered branching shade of some old tree , with a rivulet running at your feet , and birds and insects musical arouna vou , bears to active life . It is a reverie , and let us add , a sweet ana pleasant reverie , wherein the misty forms of the Hudson and the Jinine , nf Niagara and Saratoga , of Lake George and Trenton Falls , pass betoro

    the half closed eye of "Jdlesse in her dreaming mood . Mr . Curtis is an American , a travelled American , an agreeable companion , a poetic nature , an eloquent writer ; ho has made a summer tour , and written a sort of journal of his reveries during the tour , ne nrej compares the Hudson with the Bhine while sailing on the former , ana after speaking eloquently of the German river , says" The Hudson , however , is larger and grander . It is not to bo devoured in < joj tail . No region without association , is , except by / science . But its spacious » stately character , its varied and magnificent outline , from tho Palisades to Catskill , are aa epical as the IovoHucbs of tho Ehino is lyrical . The Hudson imp ™ a continent behind . For vineyards it has forests . For a holt of water , a lnaj stream . For graceful and grain-goldened hills it has imposing mountains , x is no littleness about tho Hudson , but there is in tho Rhino . Hero everyw * n b , boldly touched . What lucid and ponetrant lights , what broad and sober simu The river moistens the foot , and the clouds anoint the heads , of regal wiw . l > anube has , in parts , glimpses of such grandeur . The Elbe has sornot rnos s ^ delicately penciled effects . But no European rivor is so lordly in its bearing *

    flows i" such state to tho sea . " , The ground he travels over has been so often trodden before ™* can only look to him for novelty of style . Hero is ^/^^^ r ^ ttho from his chapter on that inexhaustible subject , Niagara ; »»» p > - reador will gather evidence of all we have said afcout his little dqo * . ^ " Tho beauty of Niagara is in its immediate neighbourhood .. It is "p ™ ^ Island—upon tho cUffi > , over which hangs the prcatefit verdure ^ tlio w *

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), June 5, 1852, page 18, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_05061852/page/18/