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    the decision is contained in the act just ratified by the Sovereign . The constitution was not really changed by this enactment ; it was simply cleared fronv arbitrary interpolations . Thus commenced a new era with the house of Stuart ; a nd it is by their conduct , froin this da 3- forward , relatively to the constitution , to a definite interpretation of which they had thus given their sanction , that the justice or injustice of the resistance afterwards offered to them in the senate and on the battlefield is- rightly to be estimated . It appears to me thar , after'this era in his lifej there never was another opportunity presented to Charles I . of governing with complete honour to himself and real safety to the liberties of England . Had he signed the Petition of Eight in without to

    premeditated and traitorous attempt upon the privilege of the House of Commons and the persons of five of its members on the 4 th of January , 1642 . Having here concluded his studies of the " constitutional period" of the contest , Mr . Sanford approaches " the Revolution , " i . e . the civil war , which he follows with intense accuracy and occasional fervour as far as the victory of Marston Moor , where he leaves us , we hope , for the present only . ^^^^^^ . _

    good faith , and adhered to it any attempt evade or infringe it , he might have passed the rest of his life in the peaceful enjoyment of a considerable share of power—quite as much as had legally been possessed by any of his predecessors—much more than was ever again possessed by any English king . Afterwards , when sec urities became necessary against his dissimulation , and when many of his personal advisers became so involved in his misdeeds , that neither could he , on the one hand , abandon them with honour , nor the Parliament , on the other , pass over their offences with safety , all real chance of an honest agreement between the contending parties was at an end ; the Parliament was compelled to demand conditions inconsistent with the existence of a real limited monarchy , and to arrogate

    powers to itself inconsistent with the proper balance among constituted authorities ; the deposition of the King became a matter of course ; his death on the scaffold proved a terrible necessity . In the essay on The Antecedents and First Years of King Charles , which comprises some well-drawn portraits of Eliot , Pym , Hampdenj Went worth * and Selden , the author argues from ambassadorial reports given in Von Raumur ' s Ilistory of the 167 A and 17 th Centuries , and from Mr . Halliwell ' s Letters of the Kings of England , for a graver complicity of that prince in his own and Ms country ' s misfortunes than he lias even hitherto

    been charged with . In fact each new labourer in this field seems to render it more clear that the English revolution was a necessity , and that the unfortunate monarch conceived , from his youth upward , that his mission , was to redress the balance which he found against the power of the Crown . From his boyhood it is clear that he counselled his father to severity .,- that he was . neither ingenuous nor young in heart , but crafty ; . thoroughly , acquainted with the march of public affairs and the temper of the people and Parliament ; and that he fondly hoped to oe another Rehoboam . Fearless where he should have trembled , vacillating where he should have been inflexible , he scorned

    conciliation , compromise , and expediency at the wrong moments only . His gentle breeding , accomplishments , and personal qualities [ procured him many adherents , but the foremost ranks of the Royalist party were mainly recruited from families who had hopes of profit , pecuniary or political , from the arrest of liberty and a return to feudality . The same spirit lives now . There are men yet in England who would raise h orse and foot for an absolute monarch if the } ' could once believe his promises of fresh territories and mediaeval privileges . Mr . Sanford and the Puritans of our times would beat them , it is true ; but for all that the old leaven is not yet

    cximct . We may dismiss , as more suited to the pages of our valuable contemporary , Notes and Queries , tlian to the society of Mr . Sanford ' s ejravcr essays , the chapters entitled " The Early Life of Oliver Cromwell" and " The Long Parliament . " In the first our industrious author collects and collates all the proofs of the Protector ' s gentle birth , and much material for an account of his career as country gentleman , fanner , religious ( inthusiast , and local politician , from his marriage to Ins appearance at St . Stephen ' s . ' The latter is a

    mere corrected roll of the Long Pn . rliu . mcut . In the essay on " Stratford and Pym" tho political transactions of the period are noted from the meeting of the House in November , 1 GJO , to its adjournment in Soptembor , 1041 . Tho history is again continued under tho head " Parliamentary Koyalism , " which refers to tho reactionary movement of 1041 , with biographical notices of Falkland , Hyde , Colepeppor ,: Ifionn . es , Vano the younger , Hasclriggc , Mavuarcl , Whitclocke , Hamilton , Argyll , and lastly Montroso . Mr . Sanford agrees with Forstor and Macaulay that tho finality doctrine . of Mr . Hallam is inadmissible , and that it would have been us inexpedient as impossible then to arrest the tide of liberty , > had even , CUarJos not courted au inundation by his long

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    * DR . LIVINGSTONE'S CAMBRIDGE LECTURES . Dr . Livingstone ' s Cambridge Lectures , together with a Prefatory Letter by the Rev . Professor Sedgwick , M . A Edited with Introduction , Life of Dr . Livingstone , Notes and Appendix , by the Rev . W . Monk , M . A . Grown 8 vo . Cambridge : Deighton , Bell * and Co . London : Bell and Daldy . We welcome this little volume . It is a timely supply to what has been felt to be a want . When Dr . Livingstone ' s large work came out , it was too unwieldy in bulk , matter , and p rice for the use of the commonalty . It was unget-at-able and uncarryable by railway and ojnnibus-book readers ; it was unprocurable by Institutes for Mechanics , Associations for Young Men , or Unions of Sunday-school Teachers , as well as beyond the reach of libraries connected with our public and private schools . However , here we have the desideratum ; and it

    comes season . What with , discoveries of auriferous rivers and lands , with the pacification of " India ' s coral strand , " and the newly-opened dominions of the rich and over-populous Empire of China , there is a tendency to overlook the lately explored territory of Afric ' s sable sons . When Livingstone came over , and , in an unassuming and simple manner , told his T ' eni , vidi , vici , all were startled , aroused , electrified ; nor has the effect of his brief visit or of his ample details ( as given in his larger work ) been lost on those who have viewed his discoveries in a calm , unbiased spirit . But there is , with the majority of Englishmen , a disposition to relapse into indifference about a thing , after tremendous excitement about the same- ^ is there no t ? The name " John Bull" is a good type of-the English character , to denote generally his capacity , solidity ( stolidity in some things , too ) , calmness , " " all-scrcneuess , " endurance , and immovability , Still , he is spasmodic at times ; he takes tits and starts , and is afflicted with " St . Vitus ' s dance . " How he did jump , reel , and whirl , as soou as the discovery of Central Africa was developed ! But he fell back into a sort of sleep about the same topic . Now , however , we congratulate " John Bull" on having the present work brought out in a form so portable , purchasable and rcadublc , that the humblest sons of England may learn and inwardly digest the most important item ! of Livingstone ' s revelations .

    It is not our purpose to review Livingstones own narrations . What we have to do is simply to lay before the readers of this section of the Leader , the claims and merits of this manual , entitled Dr . Livingstone ' s Cambridge Lectures . The lectures consisted of only two in number . They were brief—^ and a brief summary of his labours , travels , and researches in South Africa . They were delivered , the fust " before the University of Cambridge in the Senate-house , on Friday , 4 th December , 1857 , " and the second in the Town Hall on the day after . Speaking of tho reception of the missionary traveller by " all ranks of tho University and their friends " on the occasion specified , Professor Sedgwick observes in his " Prefatory Letter : " — In the long period of my academic life , I have many times been present in our Senate-house on occasions of joyful excitement Again and again , I have soen good stout-hearted inon who , under God , had helped to work out tho deliverance of Europe from military servitude , greeted in the Senate-house with our loudest acclamations . I have been present at four Installation festivals The luat Installation festival was graced and honoured by the presence of our Sovereign On none of tho public festivals , to which I ulludo , were the grat ulntiona of tho University more honest mid truchonrtcd than those which were ottered to Dr . Livingatone , lie oamo amongst ua without any long notes of preparation , without any pageant or eloquence to charm oud captivate our senses , lie stood before us—a plain , single-minded , cheerful man—somewhat uttonuntcd by years of toil , and -with n face tinged by tho sun of Africa ; mid ho addressed ua in unadorned and simple words , mid said nothing that savoured of self-glory , ' ( On glancing at this compendium of Livingstone ' s researches and travels , one at first feels surprised

    at finding that , out of 300 pages , only 47 are really occupied by the " Cambridge Lectures ; " the other parts consisting of " Introduction , Life of Livingstone , and large Appendix by the Editor , the Rev . W " . Monk , M . A ., F . R . SJL , " as well as a copious " Prefatory Letter by the Rev . Professor Sedgwick , " However , the object both of Professor Sedgwick and Mr . Monk has been to make the Lectures of Livingstone Me text , and to draw ^ from his printed volume a clear and ample Commentary ; or , as the editor states , " to convey valuable information illustrative of the lectures , drawn mainly from Dr . Livingstone ' s own resources . Hence , this part of the book is in reality essentially his own . " So that "Mr . Monk is perfectly justified ^ in his introductory remark : — „ ^_ ^ » » _ m « w *^ ^^ ^^ ' ¦ ^ ^ t T 1

    Although our traveller speaks verbally in but a small part in this book , still in fact and substance it is mainly as essentially his as though he had dictated or written its pages . In fact , for ] the ordinary reader , we think the present little volume will be more suitable than the larger . What Professor Sedgwick says of hia " Letter " may be said of the entire manual : — It is t o give a synopsis , of the physical and scientific information with which the ( large ) admirable volume abounds . It greatly wants an Index , for it is written , inartificially , and most important facts are so scattered

    throughout the journal , that when partly forgotten they are not easily referred to . The Appendix lays before the reader an excellent summary of Livingstone ' s labours , explorations , and discoveries , as to their extent and results , under four aspects—I . The historical ; II . The Scientific y III . The Ethnological ; IV . The Moral and Religious . Each section is full of interesting matter , dealt out judiciously , and not to weary a reader . Section the first gives a rehearsal of the various attempts to penetrate into the interior of Africa up to this date . Section the second brings at once before the reader the new light thrown by these

    recent discoveries on the great questions of science ^ -e . g . geography of Central Africa , geology , mineralogy , botany , zoology , &c . &c ., illustrations of which are selected out of the bulky journal . The third section presents a b rief review of the various tribes of Central Africa , their geographical position , their connexions with each Other , and the prevailing language . The last division gives a cursory glance at the religious habits of the various clans , and takes a retrospect of the missionary enterprise in Africa .

    With reference to the part which Professor Sedgwick has taken in the present instance , "to show the true character of a Christian hero through the light of his own works , " we can but respond with all our heart to the tribute which the editor pays him , when he writes : — To the Rev . Professor Sedgwick I express my deep obligations , for labouring so successfully beneath a weight of years , and despite continued sickness , in writing the accompanying prefatory letter , the completeness and value of which can only really be appreciated by those persons who have carefully studied the book of Travels .

    We beg , in conclusion , to compliment the " Curate of Christ ' s Church , Cambridge , " the Rev . W . Mouk ^ on the ability with which he has edited this manual for the public . We trust he will meet with countenance from all classes ; and we especially commend the volume to the Institutes for Young ; Men and Mechanics , as well as to the more select libraries of the private schools in our country . It is accompanied by a capital portrait of the traveller , as well as by clear , distinct maps . That there has been no attempt at ^ book-emiczzling or book-making for secret aims and ends , it is enough to peruse the following paragraph in the Introduction : —

    It is desirable to state that I have the full concurrence of Dr . Livingstone and of Mr . Murray , the publisher of the book of travels , in editing these lectures . Both have given me liberty to make such discretionary use of that book as I may find necessary in striving to make this volume as useful as possible . Both approve of my project and have expressed a desire to forward it . I thank them for their kindness and confidence ; and for tho omall map , life , notes , and appendix , I am

    mainly indebted to that work . With tho same noble generosity which has characterised Dr . L . ' a life , ho presented me with the copyright of the lectures , revised by himnolf , and left me to dispose of any proooeds us J . may think best . Due consideration has led mo to deem © on devoting tho entire proceeds of the work m » " ° w « ; -n-In , pWrchu 8 i » g ( 1 . ) SochuanaBibleo ' forCentra South a ^ -wates ss ssr ^ ruSgas Cambridge Memorial Library .

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    Ko . 4 M , October 2 , 1858 ] P ^ LEADER . . 1033 ¦ —^^^^^^^^*^^^^^^^^^^™^^^^^^^^^^^^^ , ^^^^ fc ^^^ aj ^^^^^^^ fcJ ^^ M ^ JM ^ B ^^^^ m ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ¦ » — —

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Oct. 2, 1858, page 1033, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2262/page/17/