Current:

Leader (1850-1860), 19th April 1851, Edition Town of 1, Page 371, Untitled Article

Page 371
Page 17
17 of 26

On this page

  • Text (5)
  • 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.

      Untitled Article

      in a message of pain along the nerves , justifies the ganglionic nervous centre in determining towards it aswifter supply of blood , or of nervous power , for its cure ; just so the complaint of a parish or town , testified in a report of excessive mortality , or in a petition from the suffering inhabitants , justifies the metropolitan sanitary centre in directing thither , by the medium of a commissioner , the power necessary to abate ita disorder . Again , and further , just as this curative invasion of the liver may be justified not only by its own complaint , but by the complaint of neighbouring organs impeded in their action by the liver ' s disorder ; just so may the remedial interference of a central authority with any house in a town , or any town in a realm , be justified not only by complaints from inhabitants of the disordered place , but also by detriment accruing to the residents in its vicinity .

      " So close , indeed , is the analogy between the two organisms , individual and social , that in both cases the remedy becomes worse than the disease when central interference is premature or excessive ; so as to supersede , instead of regulating and restoring the normal action of the disordered part . A country whose provincial towns should be permanently subject to the direct control of a central sanitary board , ruling by local nominees irresponsible to the ratepayers , would be in the exact condition of an individual , whose local organs of digestion ,

      &c , instead of working spontaneously , should be habitually urged to preternatural activity by the administration of stimulating drugs . In both these cases ( as indeed in all others ) excess is followed by equivalent privation ; and the unnatural tension , kept up for a time by undue excitement , induces , in the social as in the individual organs , a state of ultimate torpor and debility . From centralization in this obnoxious sense our sanitary consolidation differs as much as the occasional use of tonics or aperients differs from habitual gin-drinking , or from Mr . Morrison ' s daily purge . "

      In Socialism this Central and Sectional method of Government is indispensable ; nay , not only ia Socialism , but in every other form of polity ; without it society becomes split into tribes , and the nation disappears in parishes . Next week we shall examine Mr . Toulmin Smith's arguments ; referring meanwhile to the article in the Quarterly as a powerfully argued , beautifully written , defence of the Sanitary Board against the clamours of parish interests , and the prejudices of those who oppose all centralization !

      Untitled Article

      RELIGIOUS UNITY . Pure Christianity Restored . A Trealite on an Original and Complete System of theology , founded on the Attributes of the Lord Jehovah . By Philip Wood . Simpkin , Marshall , and Co . The desire for accord and uniformity in religious opinion has for ages filled the hearts and animated the exertions of sincere and earnest men . The sources of this desire have been as various as the ways in which it has been manifested . In some men it has had its rise in a burning zeal for unity in doctrine , in a conviction of the essential

      necessity for the submission of mankind to one unvarying rule of faith , and the erection of one absolute standard to which all inquiry must defer . Once possessed with this conviction , religionists have been hurried on by it irresistibly to the extremest measures , in order to enforce what they have deemed essential . The safety of their own souls , and those of mankind in general , even of offenders against their rule of uniformity , is the end which they have set before themselves to be pursued at all hazards of repose , and all sacrifices of humanity . Once convinced that the unquestioning reception of any dogma is indispensable to future life and happiness , the earnest believer felt himself bound , not only for his own sake and for the rest of the orthodox , but for that of the heretic himself , at any

      cost to enforce it . Others have felt the expediency of an uniform belief for the peace and progress of religion more strongly than its essential necessity to the spiritual welfare of mankind . Two classes of minds have been thus affected , and exertions in two opposite directions have been the consequence . From one quarter has come the effort to persuade men to accept the rule of faith adopted at the period when , as they hold , ChriHtianity prevailed in unadulterated purity ; and held since- that period , semper uhique et ah omnibus , in all timcH , in all places , and by all men , though encumbered by additions and debased by

      corruptions . From another , the eclectic endeavour to cull from exiting systems all points of difference in which oHsentialN arc not involved , trusting that tho residue may form a " bond of peace " by which the " unity of the spirit" may be preserved . The dream of both clutsucs i « amiable , but their task is hopdesH . Amid tho prevalence of independent thought and free inquiry , it is vain to enforce Hiihuimitm to undisputed authority . Amid ho great an attachment to peculiar tenets an our existing sects display , it is us idle to expect that , for years to come , any process of diminution will lead to the establishment of a formula which all will be

      contented to accept . The true policy for those who desire religious peace seems to be this , viz ., to abandon the hope of uniformity in opinion , and to seek to arrive at unity of action in all matters wherein religious men , however widely differing in opinion , may work together for the advancement of those practical measures for the good of humanity , in which they all agree . To carry out this idea into practice may be a work of difficulty , requiring at once clearness in the enunciation of their own views on the part of its maintainers , and a delicate appreciation of and respect for those of others . Years of dogmatic intolerance have drawn men from the

      contemplation of the sources from whence all opinion is derived 5 and it may take years of charitable and friendly intercourse , in the furtherance of practical and benevolent objects , to soften down the rancour engendered by past contentions , and raise up in its room that mutual respect and forbearance that shall make to each the conscientious conviction of his neighbour a sacred thing , which he would shrink from defaming or deriding with the same constancy of purpose as he would resist the defamation or derision of his own . This will not preclude ample and fair discussion . It will , on the contrary , facilitate and encourage it , in that candid and conciliatory spirit in which alone can be undertaken a mutual inquiry after truth .

      The object of the benevolent author of the work before us , may be drawn from the title of his book ; and we are bound to say that he has laboured earnestly and conscientiously to accomplish it . If he should fail , it will be because , while giving full credit to the holders of opposite views for sincerity and praiseworthy zeal , he sets forth his own peculiar notions with more of positiveness than those whom he wishes to bring over to them will be inclined to accept . Apparently a partaker of the views of Swedenborg , he is at issue with most other religionists on the subiects of the Trinity , the Atonement , Election , in

      Predestination , Free Will , &c . The difficulty - volved in the discussion of these questions , and the reconciliation of the apparent contradictions involved in them , will show the arduous character of the task which Mr . Wood has undertaken ; and he has executed it with eloquence , fervour , and consideration for the feelings of those whose views he controverts ; though from the fact of his work being controversial and the advocate of one special set of opinions , it will be acceptable chiefly to those who wish to inquire what the views of his particular sect may be , and to those by whom those views are already entertained . This is the way in which he inculcates THE LAW OF KINDNESS . " Speak kindly to thy brother man for he has many cares thou dost not know—many sorrows thine eye hath not seen ; and grief may be gnawing at his heart-strings , which ere long will snap them in sunder . Oh , speak kindly to him ! Perhaps a word from thec will bo the means to kindle the light of joy in his o ' enshadowed heart , and make his pathway to the tomb a pleasant one . Speak kindly to thy brother man , even though sin haa marred the spirit ' s heauty , and turned into discord the

      once perfect harmony of his being . Harshness can never reclaim him . Kindness may . For , far down beneath all his depravity , there still lingers a spark of the Rpirit ' s loveliness , that one word from thee may kindle to aflame , which will eventually be the means to purify the whole man , and make him what he was designed to be—the true spiritual image of his God . It is enough for thee to know that lie belongs to the common brotherhood of man , and needs thy sympathy . Then give it to him freely—ay , freely ( comparatively ) aa thy Father , who is in heaven , g iveth to thee . "

      Mr . Wood thus speaks of the end and aim of Christianity : — " It was especially the purpose of the Lord Jesus Christ to redeem men from the slavery of HtliishnesH , to raise them to a divine disinterested love . By this he intended his followers should be known , that hit * religion should be broadly divided from all former institutions . He meant thstt this should be worn a . s a frontlet on the brow , should beam as a light from the countenance , should shed a grace over the manners , should give tones of sympathy to the voice , and especially should give energy to do and Buffer for others' good . Here is one of the grand distinctions of Christianity , incomparably grander than all the mysteries which have borne its mime . () ur knowledge of Christianity is to be measured , not by the laboriousneRS with which we have dived into the depths of theological Hysteniti , but by our comprehension of the nature , extent , energy , and glory of that disinterested principle which Christ enjoined us our likeness to God , and aa the perfection of human nature . " And thuH of the soul of all pure Religion , the love of (« od and man : — " This love , increased in us . will not . exhibit , itself by our Hitting at . our ease and with folded li . iinln , idly wishing man well , but by alleviating hix huller ii » gn , imne « Kinj <

      his comforts , removing his ignorance , correcting his errors advancing the knowledge of his true interests , andaseistV * him to form and establish habits of true Christian conduct , founded 011 the Word of GodI ; but the height of this virtue is to be attained , not by the ignorant man , who fears being spoiled by vain philosophy , not by the timid hesitator , who would not dare to look into the works of his Heavenly Father , for fear of being confounded ; but by him alone whose mind is informed by just notions of the constitution , the circumstances , and the destinies of man ; who knows well the organic structure and its relation to all the external objects that surround him , and the manifold vicissitudes to which he is subject ; and who would for the sake of becoming instrumental in raising him from the dust 10 a more elevated place , and of administering to his necessities , be well content to use his talents and time for nis service , from pure ' love to his neighbour . '

      Untitled Article

      BOOKS ON OUR TABLE . General History of the Christian Religion and Church . By Dr Ncander . Translated by Joseph Torrey . New edition , careiuliy revised by the'Reverend A . 3 . W . Morrisr n , B . A . vol . 2 , ( Bonn ' s Standard Library . ) H . G . Bonn . The second volume of Neander ' s erudite and philosophical history of the Church is even more interesting than the first , embracing a minute and comprehensive account of the Gnostics and their particular offshoots : both as connected with Judaism and as opposed to it , and leaning towaids Paganism . Having set forth in his patient manner all the doctiines and tendencies of these sects , Neander then undertakes to show the development of the Catholic Church as it grew up amidst these sects , and absorbed tnem . Origen is treated in masterly style . Valuable also are his sections on the Fathers , for he is one of those rare historians who do not speak at second hand . Two indices are a ded which make reference easy , one of names and subjects , and one of quot * tions and citations .

      Historical and Critical Account of the Caricatures of James Gtlrav . By Thomas Wrig ht and K . H . Kvans . J J H . G . Bohn . An excellent volume to accompany the w irks of Gilray , now unintelligible except by means of some such commentary . Mr . Bohn gives a curious history of the purchase of the plates , formerly worth several thousand pounds , and finally rescued from the melting-pot as old copper by Mr . Bohn , who now issues a complete set of them , to which this volume forms the letter press . It contains much interesting gossip connected with the political and personal history of the latter years of George III . and his reign ; and has been compiled wiih great

      diligence . A Biographical Sketch of JV . C . Macready . By W . J . Fox M . P . ; with Portrait by Tiiorburn : also . Macbeth , being Part IV of iHhakspeare ' s complete Works . Edited by famiiel Phelpa , Esq . Willuughby and Co . An enthusiastic account of the career of Macready , written with more eloquence tJian discrimination , but containing , nevertheless , some fine and subtle touches , and interesting as a complete view of the artist ' s progress . Of the edition of Shakspeare ' s works which Mr . Phelps is superintending , we shall speak at length when it is completed ; hitherto we have only seen two parts ( IV . and VII . ) , and must content ourselves with intimating that the text is taken from the first folio , with such corrections as obvious typographical errors suggest—it is printed in double columns in small but clear type—and has brief

      notes appended . The Operative : I ' arts I . U . III . Hergcr . This periodical belongs , we understand , to a stirring and earnest , body of working men connected with engineering . The contributions are very creditable performances , and display the right spirit . A great deal of useful information and valuable advice is contained in the Operative , especially for operatives ; but its pages are not monopolized by "dry" and "heavy" matter ; tales and sketches . spiritedly told relieve the gravity of politics , and enliven the dulness of social economics .

      Chanticleer ; a Thanksgiving Story of the Peabody Family . By Cornelius Mat hewn . Second Ktluion . lio . st . on : JJ . H . MuHveyand Co . A charming story for young people , illustrating American country life , and bringing out an excellent moral .

      Untitled Article

      Coi'i'Kit Coinaok oi- W ii . mam IV . — When the copper coinn of the last reign appeared , u Blight tinge in the . colour of the . metal excited the suspicion of those accustomed to examine tuich things , that it contained gold , which proved to be the fact ; hence their real value waH greater Hum that for which they panned current , and they were speedily collected and melted down b y manufacturers , principally , J- believe , aa nn alloy to gold , whereby evc-iy particle of thai . niHil whi , h tli yc > rit . aineil wan turned to account . 1 hiivi- turn told that varioiiH I { iriiiiii" ; Miiiii tu \ iiblii'liiiicrit s hint i . ; - < - ¦ 11 m in different parts of I Ik- con n r y u ppoin t . nl t , i cillci t , this Cdiliiiue . — A ' o / i ' . s ami ( iue . ne : ; .

      Untitled Article

      April 19 , 1851 . ] SEf ) * ILtaXltT . 371

      Untitled Article

      f ^ hitcj'riars ; or the Days of Charles II . ( Railway Library . ) G . Koiitlodfffi . The Dramatic fforks of William Shakspcare , from the text of Johnson , Stevens , and Head , with Glonsarial Notes , Life , t ( c . A new Kdit . ion . By William llazlilt . ( i . Koutled K' "* Christian Aspects of Faith and Duty . DiscourneH . Hy John JiuncH Taylor , It . A . J . Chapman The Odyssey of Homer , with the . Hymns , Epigrams , and Battle of the . /'' rogs and Mice . Literally translated , witli explanatory Note * . My Theodore AIoih Itur . kluy , It . A . II . ( J . Holm . 1 ' cter Little , and tin ; Lucky Sixpence , the 1 ' rogs' Lecture , and other Stories ; ti Versa Hook Jor my Children and their I'Utymatc . s . J . lticlK'viiy-The British Journal of Homwopathy . ( I * art 3 <> . ) 8 . Higliloy .

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), April 19, 1851, page 371, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1879/page/17/