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    ¦¦ ¦ that of to put down lowing nassage:...

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    A BATCH OF BOOKS. The History of British...

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    "History Of Political Literature. The Hi...

    ' * " *! . War ^ rP the v could possibly act : — attempting therefore , m * £ ^! f ^ ££ chManifested their baneful influence , at certain Sg £ ^ S cSKi «&^ theirrespective countries The ' Slowing is worthy of the reader ' s considerat ion on the same sub-^^~ i ,- n a Tjrecedinff chapter , teferrea to the influence of the writings of the Chrtian ^ ather ^^ omfcal opinion generally . The numerous , ^ houg h detached ?? w «« heathen legislation contained in these writings , produced a powerful effect onin ^ de ^ antoi ^ f men in the course- of time ; and gradually prepared the way ? oValr ^ £ teXS on the part of the Church , in the direction and improvement . f I ^ i Xirs The reUlar organisation of the clergy ; the numerous and interesting pSK ^ Sssi o ^ vftal questions of doctrine and discipline ; the V" ™* * £ ***( KZt manifested in their synods and councils ; the inquiries and investigations , Sfh dS ^ d ^ directly i nstituted , on the political questions of the day at such m ^ merou ? theologica l gatherings ; the necessity imposed on all ^^^ Jfgg to the practical operate of the broad principles of legislation , as ^ J ^**^™ own , and their people ' s lives and property ; the learning , talent , and eloquence dis-Sed in the management of their own ecclesiastical affairs ; the constant and em-Shatic appeals madetothe common sense and common feeUngs of mankind onwhat-? home to their -day necessities and duties ; the heroic , andenhghtened

    Ser cam every . _ pT ^ oTm ^ p ^ d ^ gre ' - nationirexigencies by Christen communitiesgenerall y ; ? U these , and a thousand sources of influence , gradually drew civil power into religious channels ; a circumstance which , when looked at from a certain point of view , may be justly and incontrovertibly pronounced as the first decided mark of improvement in the political progress of mankind . What eoes commonly under the denomination of Papal authority , was , then , onginallv the almost necessary result of Christian influence on heathen systems of government . It was the embodiment of the protests , appeals , rights , and privileges which took their rise out of the struggle Christianity had to make for some centuries against lone and firmly-established systems of political misrule and oppression . The more widely the gospel scheme became extended , the more political power ^ influence it conferred upon those who were the delegated instruments of guiding and directing its public movements and concerns . The active and stirring members of the Church had religious constituencies , augmenting in number and authority year after year ; and tinVjrradually increasing power sapped the foundation of the old bulwarks of civil politv , and made them yield to the remonstrances and moral force of these zealous and rational innovators . The clergy and their flocks were , in fact , a Christian republic , grounded on a novel set of political principles , rising into authority and independence aniidst the mass of barbaric and heterogeneous elements , which the old civilisation of

    "the world presented . Mr Blakey gives a pretty full account of the anti-papal movement , which w * s much more potent and significant in the early ages of our modern history than is generally supposed . After speaking of early political satires , he gives the following summary of the views on this subject of the late distinguished-Signor Kossetti , whose theories on the political significance of eaSy Italian literature have excited , during the last thirty years , much attention : — - , , ,. There has been a good deal of light thrown in recent times , on-the general question as to the allegorical character of the chief Italian poets of the fourteenth century by the publication of Signor Rossetti ' s works . He has with g * 5 Ht learning and candour devoted many years to the consideration of the subject . The general conclusions to which he has arrived , relative to the double or political meaning of these poetical effusionsmay be statedfrom his own work , in the following terms .

    , , The greater part of these literary productions , liitherto looked upon as mere works of amusement , as romances , love verses , or even formal and ponderous treatises , are writings which embody certain hidden doctrines and mysterious rites , transmitted from early ages ; and that these portions of their contents , bearing the appearance of fantastic fables , contain amass of unknown history , expressed in particular symbolical characters or terms , calculated to preserve the memory of the secret labours of our ancestors . The obscurity which pervades these works is remarkable , and purposely effected by profound study . The most eminent literary men of various ages and languagesinEurope , * "were pupils inthis mysterious school ,- which f never-losing sight-of i ts principal object , sought out distinguished talents in order to induce their possessors to co-operate in the bold design . The modern civilisation , or political progress ^ of European Btates , is mainly attributable to the incessant labours of this school , which produced a vast number of works fitted for the instruction of nations , and for preparing the public mind for great changes and events . It was chiefly by the unwearied

    activity , and innumerable proselytes of this school of reform , that the seeds of a deep hatred against Rome were disseminated throughout Europe for many centuries , which prepared the way for that explosion of opinion and doctrine which shook the Vatican to its centre , and ushered in the Reformation in the several countries of Christendom . The foregoing passages are from the first volume . In the second our author sketches the history of political writing from the year 1400 to the year 1700 , beyond which the present volumes do not extend . He adopts the same plan here that he did in his Philosophy ' , giving brief summaries of the systems of the various men , with the dates of their lives and labours . This plan gives the work , at all events , the utility of a handbook , to which the general reader may refer occasionally , when he would learn the place of a political writer in the history of his science . We extract the following , because it is by no means generally known how important a place the Treatise of Buchanan ' s holds in literature—though Dryden , by the way , has had the liberality to indicate Milton ' s obligations to its author : —

    George Buchanan . — " De Jure Regni apud Scotos . " This work of Buchanan ' s is worthy of especial notice , for the bold political statements it contains . It made a deep impression upon the political mind of Europe , at the time of its first appearance . The leading object of the work is , to < how that the royal authority of every country is derived from the people ; and that if kings and rulers do not perform their duty , but act falsely to the nation , they may be deposed and killed . Buchanan says , in reference to his book , " Do'Juro Regni , " " I have deemed this publication expedient that it may at once testify my zeal for your service , and admonish you of your duty to the community . . . . Yet I am compelled to entertain some slight degree of suspicion , least evil communication , the alluring nurse of

    the vices , should lond an unhappy impulse to your tondor mind ; especially as I am not ignorant with what facility the external senses yield to seduction . I have , therefore , sent you this treatise not only as an advice , but even as an importunate , and somewhat impudent , oxhortor , to direct you at this critical period of life , safely past the dangerous rocks of adulation ; not merely to point out tho path , but to keep to it ; and If you should deviate , to reprove and reclaim your wanderings ; which monitor if you obey , you will ensure tranquillity to yourself and your family , and transmit your glory to tho most remote posterity . " Buchanan ' s work is written in tho form of a dialogue ; and in that portion of it devoted to the consideration of the origin and nature of government , we find tho

    fol-3 M ^ Thus seems . B . Does compact , doeS anything against his own stipulations ,- * reak his agreement ? M . He does . B . Sih ^ nV the bond which attached the king to the people " broken , all nghts . he ^ de-SsESmKSSKftSial ¦ fesesHsesajSnSSg ^^ is sie ly ^ heir enemy . B . Is there not a just cause of war against an enemy who has inflicted heavy and intolerable injuries upon us ? M . There is . _ ^ I ^ Jf J is the nature of a war against the enemy of all mankind , that is , against a tyrant I SNonSSej S . B . Is it not lawful in a war just commenced , not only for the whXpeople , butfor any single person to kill an enemy ? M . Itmnrtbe jmfessed B What then , shall we say of a tyrant , a public enemy , with whom all Sol mer . asternal ' warfare ? May not any one of all mankind inflict on him any Sty of war ? M . I observe that all nations have been of that opinion ; forTheba Fs S toUed for having killed her husband , and Timoleon for his brother ' s , and Cassius

    f O ^ tieimp rrSnce of Buchanan ' s political works generally , Sir James Mackiatosh remarks , « The science which teaches the rights of man , the eloquence which ^ krndks thlsnirit of freedom had for ages been buried with the other monuments of the wisdomS % lcs ofThe genius of antiquity . But the revival of * $ *«*« " * ££ only to a few the sacred fountain . The necessary labours of criticism ; A " * ** £ - graphy occupied the earlier scholars , and some time elapsed before the spirit of «* £ quitywas transfused into their admirers . The first man of that penod , whatunted elegant learning to original and masculine thought , was Buchanan ; and he . too , Z / to nave been the first scholar who caught from the anciente the noble flame of republican enthusiasm . This praise is merited by his neglected , «^ . ! mw ^ tract , < De Jure Regni , ' in which the principl es of popular politics , and ^ "J ™" a free government , are delivered with a precision , and enforced with an energy , which no former age had equalled , and-no succeeding has surpassed . Mr . Blakey should have given us the date of the De Jure , & c . It was

    published in 1579 . . ,. - ' _ . * ¦ i Mr . Blakey does not , we observe , give every writer his fair proportional space , according to his literary importance . Algernon Sidney has only halt a page-less thfn the eccentric John Gilburne . Jeremy Taylor has but a paragraph-though the Liberty of Prophesying deserves much more . Mr Blakey , too , should have been much fuller in pointing out the difference between " Republicanism , " as it was conceived by the Sidneys and Miltons , and what is now called " Republicanism" in Europe . It is just his deficiency in such points as this which prevents us from being able to pronounce his book a high-class one—though , let us repeat , we respect his intentions and his industry , and think that he deserves credit for selecting a suoject so much in . need of illustration .

    . . We shall conclude with a paragraph , which we do not insert because it has a tendency to magnify pur office of journalists , but because it really contains what is substantially true—though expressed somewhat

    magmloquently : — ¦ ¦ '' ?'¦» And here we shall take the liberty of making a remark or two on the political writers of our own country , to whom we are , at this hour , under such weighty obligations . We ore apt , as a nation , it has been often said , to set a high value on our literary labours , in almost every department of human inquiry ; and not , perhaps , without some good grounds for this national partiality . But making due allowance for whatever may be overcharged hi our estimates on this point , we think it will not be deni ed by any qualified to sit in judgment on the question , that the political literature of Great Britain , taken as a whole , and for the three centuries now under consideration , is superior to that of any other country . It is more varied in its character , more profound and searching in its inquiries , more systematically arranged , and more copipusly and elegantly illustrated , than anything we can find in the other countries of Europe . It displays a much greaterportion of acute ££ 3 ' vigorousi intellect , than we can recognise elsewhere . Take the speculations of anyone of the continental states , and contrast its political disquisitions with those of our own hind , and we shall soon perceive the superiority of the latter in all that appertains to originality of conception , logical order , subtile analysis , and above all to the susceptibility of applying all political writing to the practical concerns of legislation and government .

    There was likewise a vigour , and a capacity for sustaining efforts , displayed in the English mind which are not discernible in the political history of other nations . _ Indeed , when we contrast the personal courage , the lofty independence , the indomitable will , and the total disregard of consequences , when notions of duty were present , which stimulated the great majority of our writers to maintain their respective ideas of general polity , we cannot but see that they stand alone in the great theatre of political contention . They afford an interesting manifestation of the vast superiority of that national intellect , which is alike at home , whether in matters of theory or in practice . They have proved shining lights to all other nations . As a country we stand on a commanding eminence as cultivators of political knowledge . The writers of England have stemmed the tide of intolerance and ignorance , and burst asunder the fetters which would have confined our minds as well as our bodies in hopeless

    subjection . The vindication of general liberty , and the preservation of everything valuable in society , have been the fruits of their pen . Amid the fierce controversies of the day , and the collision of intellects , they have invariably been guided by the loftiest ideas of personal freedom , and national independence .

    ¦¦ ¦ That Of To Put Down Lowing Nassage:...

    ¦¦ ¦ that of to put down lowing nassage : — " B . Is there , then , a mutual compact between the king and the P it not he who first vi olat es the and THE I , E A PER- ffATUia > AY , II I II If a mutual compact between the king and ffie

    A Batch Of Books. The History Of British...

    A BATCH OF BOOKS . The History of British Guiana . By Henry G . Dalton , M . D . Longman Robert Blake : Admiral and General at Sea . By Hepworth Dbcon . Chapman and Hall Detached Thoughts , Extractedfrom the Writings of Archbishop Whately . First Serieo , Blackadcr and Co Later Years . By tho author of " The Old House by the River . " Sampson Low and Son . Studies from Nature . By Dr . Hermann Masiue . Translated by Charles Boner . Chapman and HalL Talpa t or , the Chronicles of a Clay Farm . By Chandos Wren Hoskyns , Esq . Third Edition . Lovell Reeve . The History of British Guiana is a book which ' must have cost tho author vast lubour , and which essentially deserves to be classed among tho useful works of modern literature . Doctor Dalton arrived at the colony , with the purpose of residing there , in tho year 1842 . Naturally desirous to know something of the

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Jan. 13, 1855, page 20, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_13011855/page/20/