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.

  • 

    764 THE I* EADER. [Saturday,

  • 

    , ^ < ^ j . XIFE AND TIMES OF DE STAEL. ...

  • 

    HOME LIFE IN GERMANY. Some Life in Germa...

• 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.

    U 1. " , Burton's Scottish History, 1(58...

    neither branch of the protestanfc church did the wretched conflicts of the time permit sufficient peace for the cultivation of letters . It is not that high and tierce controversy generally leaves a church intellectually barren ; on the other hand , it sometimes ' fosters the highest powers , and draws their harvest into prominent light . It seems to have been the petty local character of the dispute , with its low malignity and sordid motives , that left the age so barren of distinction . In the great conflict of the Reformation , Scotland came forth with bright lustre , in the genius and high acquirements of men like Knox and the Melvilles , Arbuthnot and the elder Spotswood . All the universities of Europe attested the intellectual growth of the Scottish Reformation in Buchanan and Scrimgeour , the Johnstons , Craig , Napier , Gordon , Boy d , Jack , and a host of other names whose fame reached foreign lands from Scotland , ' or was sent home to their native country from the continental seats of learning which they adorned . All this glory was departed , and Scottish Protestantism had scarcely a representative in the republic of letters . Of the inferior , but still eminent , generation who followed the first reformers , and made the age of the Covenant , all the ablest men were gone . ^

    "It was , perhaps , from the very causes which made the church so barren m the fairer intellectual departments , that in another , of a for less pleasing character , the party which had been persecuted stands forth almost unrivalled . This is ; in the literature of complaint , remonstrance , and castigation , shown in the various testimonies of the sufferers , and their declamations against the tyranny to which they were subjected . Occasionally such remnants of this class of documents as pror truded beyond the Revolution are quoted in these pages , and may afford a faint idea of a curious department in the world of letters , not without its attractions to those who admire a terse , strong , effective style , turned to the purposes of rapid and powerful declamation . These documents are rarely matched in earnestness and strength . The words are sonorous and abundant , yet never too many to enfeeble the stern fierceness of the writers' thoughts . There is a luxuriance of imagery—frequently scriptural—but it is always apt and expressive ; and however coarse or irreverent ' it may be , it is never allowed to degenerate into feebleness or incoherence .

    " Along with this literary growth of persecution and controversy , is another of a sadder and sweeter character in the histories of those who suffered for the cause of conscience in the long dreary age of persecution . It required no literary merit to give interest to such narratives , and none came to the task . The best of them were written by a pedlar , whose unadorned descriptions of suffering and heroism convey a lesson to the heart which no genius or learning could strengthen . And herenaturally we are brought to the name of one who , in the opinion of many , is sufficient in himself to withdraw from the church of the Revolution Settlement the reproach of being illiterate—Robert Wodrow , the voluminous historian of The Trottbles . - OFthe value of his labours there can be no doubt . He set himself to the task otcovenanting m artyrology with a single-hearted zeal , and a protracted patienceto which the sustained literary ardour of a Gibbon or a Niebuhr could

    , only furnish a parallel . He well-earned the title of 'The indefatigable / Besides his great work , he wrote an abundance of biographical memoirs , and set down his fugitive opinions and the more remarkable events of which he heard from time to time , in a diary or series of notes , second only to Pepys' diary in garrulous interest . The note-book of Wodrow , indeed , derives its peculiar flavour from the same source which confers so lively an interest on the journal of the candid secretary to the Admiralty . It was the repository of his own secret communing with himself , and was not intended to meet the public eye . The great source of entertainment in both , is in the weakness rather than the strength of the writer . Wodrow does not , of course , adorn his pages with the moral shortcomings which censorious human nature delights to find in the experiences of the well-intending but frail secretary . His weaknesses are intellectual rather than moral , and consist in an inordinate

    credulity and avidity for the marvellous . His pages are crowded with ghost stories , dreams , visions , prophecies , portents , and miraculous interventions , which , like those in the lives of the saints , always have a tendency to elevate the cause he loves , confer substantial benefit on its champions , and overwhelm with calamity and dismay its opponents . His prejudice is as intense as his credulity ; there is no height of excellence on his own side , and no depth of depravity on the other , to which he does not give instantaneous and intuitive credit . Indeed , according to his principle , all people of the episcopal persuasion are by nature blasphemers and proiligates—cheats , drunkards , and incontinent—just as , on the other hand , all zealous presbyterians are children of light and purity . Yet with all his bitter prejudice , few works are more truthful than his History of the Troubles . Apart from the

    imputation of motives , and portraitures of private life , he spoke to matters which were before the day , and could not safely be discoloured . And it was his fortune that no language , certainly none within his capacity , could make the history more tragic to the one side , and scandalous to the other , than a bare narrative of events rendered it . The most valuable feature of the work is the quantity of documents it contains . But to its value literary merit contributes nothing , for it is difficult to conceive anything more destitute both of literary solidity and decoration than the stylo of the indefatigable Wodrow . " In several shapes , as will appear from time to time in these pages , tho dearth of intellectual power in the church wan felt throughout Scotland . One shape in which ' it peeinfl to have acted in unison with tho re-actionary influence of a hightoned fanaticism , was in filling the junior church with whut might be cnlled petty horosies Tho students in divinity have no high intellects to overawe and direct themselves

    the tendency of their studies and opinions , searched ami thought for , and frequently discovered what it was not intended or desired that they should disc-over llonco in Wodrow ' n notes , and in the contemporary correspondence of tho elomy there is a . perpetual tromour about lapses into infidelity and heresy . Tho departure of tho old dnys when great ; men ruled absolutely over the intellect of tho church is lamented , and they arc sadly compared with the right-hand complmnees and left-hand defljclioils of the day . Tho stifl-neckcdncss and conceit of vomiirmon puffed up with ill-digest ed carnal knowledge , who audaciously set forth now doctrines unsanotioncd by the fathers of tho church , arc sadly mourned over . There whs nothing in » quiet , moderately-endowed church , slumbering in the exhaustion of strong excitoment , to call into existence a new host of commanding intellects ; and so the inferior race wont on with little earnestness ol purpose generally conforming , but in some measure prying about , and finding omwion to carp and doubt . Tho seeds which , in their ripening , brought on tho Church of

    Scotland tho reproach of lukownnnnesH , if not of a slight degree of scepticism , were thus sown in the re-action against stern fanaticism ; and , indeed , jt is apparent that for the firet twenty or thirty yoara after tho Revolution , many of the students in divinity had found thoir way to an imporfect boliof , if not to infidelity .

    764 The I* Eader. [Saturday,

    764 THE I * EADER . [ Saturday ,

    , ^ < ^ J . Xife And Times Of De Stael. ...

    , ^ ^ j . XIFE AND TIMES OF DE STAEL . Life and Times of Madame de Stael . By Maria Norris . D . Bogus When will writers learn the felicity and infelicity of Titles P Many a work gets snubbed by critics , and thrown aside by the public because it introduces itself under false pretences ; an amateur who sings agreeably will be heard with pleasure if heard as an amateur , but let him claim professional rank and his incompetence is resented , Sounding titles , are dangerous introductions ; ana the Life and Times of Madame de Stael will raise expectations which Maria Norris ( Mistress or ' -Miss P ) is unhappily in no condition to fulfil . # . . Let any one for a moment imagine what such a title implies . There is first the French Revolution , with Necker ( her father ) , ' as an important

    ^ £ f actor ; then comes Napoleon , with whom she is in active antagonism . So much for the historico-political themes . Then there is Coppet , and her residence there , animated by the presence of Schlegel , Montmorency , Chateaubriand , Benjamin Constant , Madame Recamier , _ and others—what a topic for a pen such as St . Beuve's ! After that , think of her visit to Germany- —the scenes which a writer would have delighted to paint , between her and Goethe , Schiller , Jean Paul , not omitting Bettina , who cordially hated her ! Of her visit to England , with the abundant anecdotes about Coleridge , Byron , Macintosh , & c . Such a succession of pictures from the " times" of De Stael ! Or , supposing the biographer to have had another aim , what a fine subject De Stael offers for an exposition of the rise of the Mcole Itomantique , and the introduction of German

    Literature into Erance . - Whichever way we turn we see how fertile is this field— -Life and Times of Madame de Stael ! But on reading the work just published our disappointment is excessive . Maria Norris has written a sensible , but somewhat dull Memoir , that is all ; and as De Stael ' s life does not furnish maierial for an interesting story told memoir-wise , all we can say of this work is , that it belongs to the class of books which parents are fond of presenting to young ladies , but which the parents themselves are but moderately disposed to read .

    Home Life In Germany. Some Life In Germa...

    HOME LIFE IN GERMANY . Some Life in Germany . By Charles Loring Brace . Bentley . Me . Bbace is an A merican , who lias already proved Ms ability as a writer of travels by \ m Hungary 'in 1851 , and who now presents us with the results of his experience of German life as seen under its _ more familiar domestic aspects . Those who have lived in Germany will testify to the general fidelity of the picture , and will not be sorry to have their own impressions recalled . Those who have never been there will get a tolerably distinct idea of the forms of life peculiar to Germany as they present themselves to a sensible Englishman or American . Mr . Brace speaks kindly , heartily , yet discriminatingly , and we have enjoyed his book almost as much as a rapid trip into the old localities dear to . ¦

    memory . __ _ „ . .. __ _ . ., _ .. Mr . Brace is astonished , as all strangers have been , at the " swearing ' permitted in society : — "In colloquial language , nothing will so utterly surprise the stranger—yes . shock him—as the universal profanity among the ladies . In the best circles of Germany I have heard more oaths in one evening , than I would in the same time from a ship ' s crew . Ach Gottl Mein Gott ! mein Goti ! Jesus Christus ! rung over and over at the veriest trifles . ^ « It was some time before I could accustom myself to it . Of course the words have no irreverent sound to them , and are used like tho French Mon Bieul still how so foolish a habit could have become so general among sensible people

    sur"It is singular , in the usual literary conversation , how little is said of modern German literature . Gothe and Schiller are classics now ; and Jean Paul is even quite passe , so that few of the young people know anything about him , except his inextricable sentences . This would not be so strange , for the great teachers of a nation are seldom discussed in common talk ; but among all the many romances read , there is scarcely ono of tho German . And an American is surprised to find hims ' elf discussing the naturalness of Johanna ( Jane ) Eyre ' s character , or the morality of Bulwer , or laughing over the remembered jokes of Bots ( Boz ) , as they call and 1 find and tho

    him , iust as ho did at home . Cooper Irving everywhere , children all know ' Lcatherstocking / and the Indian chiefs perfectly , and have confident hopes of meeting him , if they should ever cross to the New World . In fact , tho English and American novels are tho mode at present in Germany , and there has scarcely app eared one of any worth for several years without being speedily translated into German . But the foreign work , which , of all others , has been read most eagerly by thinking men in Germany theso late years , and which is exerting a most happy influence , is Macaulay ' a History of England . And if Macaulay never does any other good through it , than what is effected in this land , he will

    have accomplished a great work . ' But ho is hasty in saying Gotho , Schiller , and Jean Paul , are not talked of . They are quite as much as Shakflpoaro , Byron , and Wordsworth arc with us , perhaps more so ; and if ho did not hoar them so frequently named , it . must have been because his friends supposed ho was not familiar witli thorn . Tho following is an instructive illustration of

    PATKRNAL GOVERNMENT . "It appear * on the 31 st of March , lust year , a child was- born nt Soolmuflon in Prussia , which the father wished to be baptised under tho nume of Jacob ! Waldeck , oach name being that of ti distinguished democrat . The officiating clergyman refused to baptiHO the child under such detested names . The father was determined it should ho baptised as a democrat , or nothing else , and accordingly was letting it grow up without tho rite . Such a heathenish state of things was not to bo porinittcd , and ho was summoned before a court , and a guardian appointed to tho child , who was oinpowored to baptise it ; with or without tho names desired by the father , according an the consistory ( of clergymen ) should dotormino . They decided that it should be baptised with the usual names . Tho parents still refused to sona tho child , and the guardian was proceeding to administer a forced baptism , when tho mother with her babe suddenly disappeared , and could not bo found .

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Aug. 6, 1853, page 20, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_06081853/page/20/