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    284 The Leader and Saturday Analyst. [Ma...

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    FOREIGN CORRESPONDENCE. (SI'EOIAL.) Home...

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    * Memorial Of Tho Hovhml In Plymouth Chu...

    hiining M . Chavasse ' s Advice to a Mother , we need only , observe that it has reached a fifth edition . Another book , issued by ; the same publisher , is but yet in its first , IDr . Marcet ' s remarks on Chronic Alcoholic Intoxication show its terribleeffect on the nervous system , ^ and should operate as a moral warning . He recommends the use of oxide of zinc as fitted" to control and cura the chronic disorder of the nervous system conr sequent on abuses thrift lead to a morbid condition of the organs of digestion . A selection , judiciously made , has appeared of striking passages in the works , of Mrs . Harriet Beecher Stowe , vrith some introductory remarks \ vhich are worth perusal . We have also two brochures on the study of languages . Asher on Modern , and De Morentin on The French and Spanish Languages , are well worth consulting . The former contains some excellent remarks on the English tongue . The study of its grammar

    the author holds to be a most useful discipline-of the mind , exercising , as it does , its higher faculties , and not merely memory . The language , he adds , acknowledging no law but the law of reason and good sense , and its prospects are the most splendid that the world has ever seen . "It is spreading in each of the quarters of the globe by fashion , by . emigration , and by conquest . The increase of population alone in the two great States of Europe and America in which it is spoken adds to the number of its speakers in every year that passes , a greater amount than the whole number of those who speak some of the literary languages of Europe . 'It is calculated that , before the lapse of the present century- ^ a time that so many now alive will live to witness—it will be the native and vernacular language of about one hundred and fifty millions , of human beings .

    Besides predominating in the Western world , it has travelled , with the nomadic natives of the British isles , into their Asiatic dominions , stretching from the Indus to the Ganges ; has established itself in the islands of the Indian Ocean , and on the Chinese coasts ; over the whole face of our antipodes , and on the western and southern extremities of Africa ; has planted its foot on the Spanish Rock , and seized On the" Ionian isles , so that from the rising of the sun—aye , unto the setting thereof—the uttermost western boundaries of the New World , its accents may be heard , though intermingled with other tongues , that help to enrich it with newwords , and contribute to enlarge its vocabulary . " Dr . Asher dwells much and with enthusiasm on the interact ion of Eng lish and German , and anticipates the greatest results from their union . This little work has been printed at Leipsie .

    All subjects may , now-aTdays , boast of their " philosophy , " and that of Youth has 'at .: length found a sage and teacher to instruct the rising generation in the duty of prudence * Mr . Glass * s discourse is one of great excellence . Other useful brochures demand their due share of commendation . Among these we distinguish Dr . Smith ' s Law of Master and Servant , Laio mid Liberty , a meritorious paper from "• " Meliora , " liilwall's -Bondage in the Bakehouse . We likewise acknowledge wi'h thanks the recerit numbers of the Revue Independante . M . 'Mirecourt's Portrait of Napoleon HI . will also amuse , and M . Manin ' s Letters on the Italian Question will instruct the reader We can sincerely recommend Mr . Mackenzie ' s Solicitors' Book-keejring . The amount and variety of really useful information it contains is quite astonishing ; * ' book-keeping " by no means comprehends its resources , as will be seen presently . But , first , it cannot be too often or too earnestlyaflirmed that double entry is the only trUe method of book-keeping , and here persons desirous of learning that method will find an able exposition of it by Mr . Mackenzie . The plan , he recommends for solicitors' accounts is

    likewise . set out in full , with complete examples , which cannot fail to explain themselves . Next copies the * excellent idea of . " an exposition of commercial and monetary terms , " which is , in truth , a short dictionary of the technical language of commerce , ai » d will be found exceedingly convenient for reference ; short and pithy chapters on costs , t h e charges allowed in conveyancing , and interest of money follow—lo which are added some well-selected memoranda on legal measures , the relative value of coins > arithmetical and mercantile signs , tables of useful dates , a list of some of the most important statutes from Magna Charta . .. downwards , a table of the raonarchs of England , and some useful forms—• in short , the end and object of this little book is utility , an end which we , can safely say has been amply secured . We commend it , therefore , cordially tp take its place on the tables and desks , not only of solicitors , but of all persons who are much engaged in accounts , f eeling sure they Tvill find it of no small advantage as a bopk of reference for those subjects which are constantly recurring in business , but which few men carry in their heads .

    284 The Leader And Saturday Analyst. [Ma...

    284 The Leader and Saturday Analyst . [ Ma » ch ^ 4 , I 860 .

    Foreign Correspondence. (Si'eoial.) Home...

    FOREIGN CORRESPONDENCE . ( SI'EOIAL . ) Home , March 15 , 1860 . A PJVPAX . TRACT . 1 Jr . it has ever been your Ipt to mix in tract-distributing circles , you will doubtless have become acquainted With a peculiar stylo of literature , which , for lack of a more appropriate appellation , I ehould call the " candid inquirer and intelligent operativei" style . Tijo mysteries of religion , the problems pf social lite , the intricate casuistries of contending duties , are all explained in a short and simple dialogue between a maid-servant and her mistress , or a young , a very young . mnn and his parochiaFpastor , or a ne'erdo-Tweel sot and an industrious , sobor avtisan . Tlie price is only a penny ( a reduction made on ordering a quantity ) , nnd the logio ia worthy of tlie price . , In its dire distress and need , the Papacy has resorted to the controversial tract system , aa a jfbrlprn hope . Well , after all , it is only fair play . The Pope has hud so many millions of tracts published against him , that it is hard if he n > ay npt pi'odupe oho little one in ) iis own defeqee . In the words of JuvjuNAii , his Holiness may say , with truth , " Semper ego . auditor , t & ntum , nunquara no roponnm Yoxntus totloa V As a matter ot policy , however , if he has got so yery little to say for himself , it would perhaps bo wiser if ho Yield his tongue . Be that

    as it may , the Vatican has thought fit to bring out a small brown paper tract in answer to the celebrated—too celebrated —• " LePape et le Coligres , " The pamphlet is of the smallest bulk , the clearest type , the best paper , and the y cheapest , price . In fact , it only wants the mystic letters , S . P . P . K ., on the cover , to render it a worthy offshoot , externally as well , as internally , of its British progenitors . Mindful of the Horatian _ dictum , it plunges at once in medias res , and starts out of breathin these words : — " The end of the world lias come . Some want a pnpe and not a king ; others half a pope and half a king ; and others again no pope and no king . . _ " And who are these persons ^—Catholics or . Protestants , Jews or Phalansterians—believers or unbelievers ? Men who have once believed and believe no longer , or men who have never believed at all ?

    _ "Which are the most sincere of the above classes ? The last , who say , * God and the people , ' and who mean to say , ' No more popes and no more kings . ' Which are the most hypocritical ? The second , the men of half measure ? , who wish for half a pope and half a kin" -, trusting the while that either pope or king will die of inanition , or at any rate that the king will . Which are the greatest dupes ? The first , w ho , Pharisee-like , offering up their prayers , and going to church once a year * deceive themselves with the idea that the Pope will be more powerful and more free in the vestry of St . Peter ' s than in the palace of the Vatican . " Any one experienced in tract lore will feel-certain'that this outburst will be followed by the appearance of the candid inquirer , who comes upon the boards at once in obedience to the call , and addresses the eloquent controversialist with the stereotyped phrases : —

    "' These three classes of persons who raise an outcry against the temporal power of the Pope , are of very di fterent stumps . ' * I understand whom you allude to ; you mean , . the sincere , the moderate , and the devout opponents of the Papacy . I have , however , one or two questions I should like to ask you ; would you be kind enough to answer me ?'" ' ' . 'V , . . , X . of course replies that nothing would give him so much pleasure ; and during the first dialogue the candid inquirer appears in the character of the devout opponent . The pamphlet : is much too lengthy and verbose to give in full . Happily ; the arguments are few in number ; and , such as they are , I shall be able to give them succinctl h for my present purpose , quoting with , inverted

    y enoug commas the exact wPrds of the dialogue , wherever it rises to peculiar grandeur . X . opens the discussion by carrying an assault at once into the enemy's weak places : — " You devout believers say that a court is not fitting for a priest . Everybody , however , knows that at the Papal Court the time and money of the public are not inttered away in parties and fe fees and dances . E very body knows , too , that women are not admitted to the Vatican , and therefore the habits of the Court are npt effeminate , while the whole of its time is parsed in managing State affairs ; . and the-course of justice is not disturbed by certain feminine passions . " After this startling statement , the devout inquirer wisely deserts the domain of stern hicfc , and betakes himself to abstract considerations . His

    firstpositionthat the "Vicar of Cheist ought to follow the example of Ins Master , who had neither court nor kingdom , nor where to layhi * - headr- ^ is upset at once by the argumentum ad hominein ,, that , ' according to the same rule , every believer , ought to get crucified . No answer to this dilemma suggesting itself to our devout fr end ' s mind , X . follows up the assault by asking him , as a deduct to ad absurduui , whether he should like to see the Pope in sandals like St . Pbter V The catechnmen falls into the trap at pnee , flares up at the idea of such degradation being inflicted on the "Master of kings and Father of the . Faithful , " and asks indignantly whether ; "for a touch ot ' Italianitu / lie is to be swspeeted of having washed away his baptism from his brpw . " Henceforth , great I ) ., after Charles Reade s style , becomes little d . Logically speaking , it is all ov « r with lam . If the Pope be the Master of kings , he must by analogy have the rights of a master , liberty to instruct and power to correct . T > o his scholars is adducedDfeels

    old parallel of a schoolmaster and . ,. he is caught ; states , in the stock formula , " that this parallel between the Master of kings and the master of schohu-s puzzles me , . . because it is unimpeachable ; and yet , I don ' t waut tp concede everything-, and cannot deny every thing . " As a lust effort he suggests witl ? hesitation that " after all , a law which secured the Pope perfect liberty of speech , action , and judgment , would till hi all his necessities : and that , in other respects , he might be a subject liko anybody else . " On this idea X , tramples , brutally . D , is questioned as to how the observance of this law w to be enforcod , and can give no answer , on which X . bursts into the most virulent aibuae ot all liberal governments , in terms con > mensurate with the oitwnoe . . I suppose , forsooth , you expeot observance of the law Jroin those liberal governments of yours , which m « ike the first use of theuliberty to destroy liberty itself ; whp exile bishops , and who in the face of all the world break the plighted iuith p f treaties , and concorduts . Oh , yes , those gpvernments whp spy into the mpst secret ronftssfls of fainilv lifeand create the nioustroua and fcyiamiioal lot

    , des suspects ! Oh yes , they are sure to reaped ; the liberty and mUe . pendouce of the Bishpp of Kpme ! « md you are baby enough to believo or imagine it T ' » . cpwers beneath -the moml lash , and hints rather than ptoppaea , that if one country dul not respecti the Pppe ' s freedom , he qould niovci into another ; though ho admits at the same time ho can see ravo objectiona to the plan . * 1 von this admission ia unavailing to protect him lVon » X . « savago « n 8 l « H whp winds up another burst of abuso with those words : " Yea I this is no question of the Pope and the Pope ' s person , but pf tho liberty of all the Ohurcli , and pf all the episeppate , of your liberty

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), March 24, 1860, page 16, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_24031860/page/16/