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j 2 The Leader and Saturday Analyst. [Ja...
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lately still * those incisive and intens...
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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.
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Papalism And Protestantism. It Is Natura...
After all , when we come to consider it seriously , the ^ por tion of England has net been so anomalous as it once appeared . . U-J ? ro-. testantism was the difficulty With England , it turns out that the Papacy has been the difficulty with the continental Powers . What shall be done with the Rornagna ? Authority , suggests ™ 9 <» ebrated pamphlet , gives it to his Holiness , but conscience ^ witlUiolds it Thetwo difficulties are but opposite poles of one and the same erarid danger . The great question asked , indeed , is * whether the libertjrof Italy—nay ( not to shirk any portion of the matter , ) the liberty of Europe , be consistent with the temporal power of the Papacy ? The solution proposed by the Imperial pamphlet suggests to us a line in one of Dry den ' s tragedies , with the corresponding one supplied by the pet critic . They may be thus parodied as a propos of thePapacy :- ^ - " Its power is great , because its realm is smaU ; That would be greater were this none at all . And the couplet , so modified , expresses the indisputable truth . The spiritual supremacy of the Pontiff would be better preserved by separation from all temporal admixture . The Head of a religion is only powerful within religious limits . Step from the church vato the world , and the spiritual man is out of place . These are hard sayings for the Pope of Rome . The Emperor of France has at last uttered them . Why were they not uttered long ago ? It would have been imprudent , perilous . Even now the danger is not passed , and the prudence will appear doubtful to many . ' ¦ . If must , nevertheless , be conceded that , in making this declaration , NapolEon III . has been more prudent than in that concerning Italian freedom . He has stopped short—far short of the possible lilfchmite issue . He lias not said that the question is , after all , a
struggle between Protestantism and Pa . palis . rii ' , and that Protestantism , like truth , is great andI strong , and must finally prevail .. He has not said it ^—though he might have said it with sincerity , and it might have proved itself , at no distant , period * and may prove itself soon , to be an accomplished fact . Neither has England said it , though she might have said it more appropriately , with even yet more sincerity , and a stronger desire that it might receive embodiment in early experience . England does not consider it prudent yet to make such an announcement . She will not rashly forejudge the conflictj neither its manner nor its season . The Italians will have tb deal with the- question in their own way . Already they have patronised an order of Evangelists , whom they prefer to their priests , and Evangelism may have with them a better '' . sound than Protestantism ; arid , perhaps , they may not exactly mean the same thing . But time will shpwr
The last phase of the matter is , that the Pope , under these circumstances , objects to being represented in congress , with so fearful an Imperial manifesto against him . Truly , he might appeal to Austria—but Austria has exhausted her resources . It is perhaps more than she can dp to take care of herself . She cannot at any rate help the Pontiff ; France may , to a certain extent ^ and for a certain period-r ^ bufc only by restraining him . . . within limits . He depends , at this present , on her support . She would get rid of the responsibility : arid that she may do so , she would render the Pope insignificant . No longer dreaded , he may be no longer opposed ; and the soldiers of France may safely leave him to his own guards . This , perhaps / is the utmost that Roman Catholic States may attempt . At any rate ,, for a while they must be content with this .
We in England should recollect that Catholicism and the Pa , pacy are not identified . The distinction is made and preserved among the Italians . There are many good Catholics in Rome who are not Papalists , and to whom the chair of St . Peter is but as the see of Canterbury is to Protestants ; These , of course , look for " a good time coming , " when such papal assumptions as infallibility and the immaculate conception of the Virgin shall be discarded . They would rationalize tlie Church , and see Pio Nono irierely the Bishop of Rome . But the history of their $ uccess is yet to be written . Sooner or later all such influences will have worked out their results . They will operate to , the full extent of their tether . That is the law with all principles . But when they shall hayo done their all , there will still be work to do . All this stops short of that spiritual
freedom which Protestantism demands , and will at last realize . To England then is reserved the final victory . This comes to her by logical necessity , and by political position . It is , therefore , jnot without reason in the nature of things- ^ that rational principle which works at the heart of the universe , and guides and shapes the conduct of man and the structure of society—that England lias maintained the calm , patient , thinking rather than active attitude , during the conflict of which the passing year has been a witness . We think we enn interpret ijb well enough . The time for activity will come . Meanwhile , England imposes , meditative , ;' until the hour shall strike when deeds shall be demanded , Until then our energies are nursed and strengthened ; that , when called forth by necessity , they may be irresistible in action . .
J 2 The Leader And Saturday Analyst. [Ja...
j 2 The Leader and Saturday Analyst . [ Jan . 7 , 1860 .
Lately Still * Those Incisive And Intens...
lately still * those incisive and intense articles , which , from the pen of Mr Dott & i-as Jebkom ? , threw such a lurid light upon the first and middle pao-es of Zloyds Weekly Newspaper . Doubtless there is a public which still appreciates the mental food , as there . is another public which demands something hot and stinging m what it eats , and something ardent and acrid in its drink . But the better class have grown into better tastes , and we wonder at the state otspciety which could have pi dduced fools enough to patronize Mr . Babnabij Gregory , the faciler princeps of the Satirist , and have r ° " amusement in the scandalous paragraph which acquainted the Avorld with the fact of the " Duke of A—being seen riding with a cham thwife of
bermaid in his chariot , " or the " Earl of C— - enticing e one of his -subalterns into the barrack mess-room . " Still more do we wonder at the greasy satisfaction with which the " Editor penned the words , " Qub eye is on the delinquents , " and at the cowardice of those delinquents in subsidising the " Editor" in order to keep their names put of the paper . The success of these enterprises produced imitations in the inferior walks of life . Even . in lowest depths there were found deeper still . The Town and Paul Pry and Penny Satirist did for greengrocers and butchers , what the Age and Satirist performed for baronets and earls . " Joe S- -, or little black-whiskered Jack , " were advised not to talk so much to the barmaid ; or "to give over paying visits to the
tommyshop , " " or Paul" would again be at them ; so that what with tne " " of the Satirist , and the muddy umbrella of PaulPry , society , high and low , must have been kept in a state of chronic ferment . We may be sure that ; some of this mud stuck . Indeed , the satirists themselves were but bad imitations of the Bon Ton and Town and Country magazines ; and searchersiin contemporary history will find it difficult to distinguish between the false and true , in reading some of the Ute-a-tites of the latter , such as those between the Rev . W . Whitfield—and the subtle sinner , and Jemmy Twitcher ( Earl of Sandwich ) and Miss R ( eay ) , ' ,., . ; did it
Satire now-a-davs does not walk so much in the mud , nor ever do so with the masters of the art . If Dbyden be abusive and foul in hisi Mack'flecknoe , one cannot but acknowledge that he is wise and beneficent in his Absolom and Achitophel . ^ The characters there are drawn with a pen which never faltered in its delineations , and they stand out as real arid as true iu their Way as the Raphael Chalk portraits in theirs . ; Vili-ieks and Shaftesbijey will never escape from the pen of Dbyben ; any more than John Dennis will from that of Pope . But the satirist , as all satirists do , harmed hiinself as much as he did the objects of his anger , and himself was gibbeted when caught . The Recording Angel which reaches the Heaven of posterity , drops a . tear upon men ' s failings which effectually erases themalthough their vices are proof against such a detergent ; and
, follies , riot vices , are the true objects of satire . In saying this we are not excusing eitlier ; indeed , we doubt whether , for actual amount of evil done , the fpoj does not surpass the rogue ; certain it is that folly has done more harm to society than vice . We suspect a rogue , but we caimot guard against a fpol ; we may shield ourselves from the pistol of an enemy , but we are lost if our own weapon breaks in our hand . A race of gentler satirists than Dbyden and Pope soon perceived this , just as the former had seen that the ridicule of Aeistophaneb was ever so much keener , and more useful as a weapon than the tremendous invective of J y vENAi . or Pebsitis . Indeed , the latter can scarcely be called satirists in the true sense . It is not satirical to photograph a pest-house , or to give a linc-for-line drawing of a horrible deformity . Hogabth was not satirical when
he drew " Gin . Lane , " but he was so in his " Election , " and his " March to Finchley , " and in many other works . The lastpicture of his " Harlot ' s Progress " or of his " Rnkc " boast one or two satiric toyches ; but the Painter rises far above satire , and wails , like another Jeremiah ; ' over the sins and sorrows of the cit 3 ' . So again with Swift , That writer had far top liigh a genius to be commonly understood , Hence many people abuse him instead of loving him ; hence the words , beast , man-hater , fpul-tongued fellow , applied to him . But Swift understood himself . In his " Tale of a Tub " and " Gulliver "he penned as fine satires as the world ever saw ; but iu his verses "On a Lady's Bedchamber , and others of the sort , he spoke dirt , and meant to speak dirt , and was too earnest to be satirical . He claims credit for it in more places than one , and of his satire he says , in his letter to Sir Charles Hx > gan , " I had a
design to laugh the follies out of existence , and to whip the vices out of practice ; " but lie adds , that that design and that satiric genius hud been his great bar through life . Sp it was , and is : try tp improve the world , and it will hate you , if it suspects the design . # The poets knowing this , as we have said , a milder kind of satire grew prevalent . Dr . Youn g lias shown , in his " Universal Passion , " that he knew too well what he was about to hit ; very hard . His remarks were general , and he left particulars to themselves . Great sinners , he thought , ahould be dealt with by the law . He would attack the vice , and not the vicious , A judge might just n » well have sentenced Murder , and let go Gkeenacbe or Daniel Good . But the astute Doctor thrived , and nobody said of him , an they did of Popb , that ho was a " nasty , spiteful little devil . " Dr . Yotjwo never had the courage of Pope ; the latter writes : — " There are—I scarce can think it , but am told , There are to whom my satire auoms too bold , Sqarce to wise—7 T-oomplivisant enough , 'And something aiiid of Ohartrqemuch too rough . " But , in fipito of , this > lie still spoke of Chabtbes , and still hit at Lord Fanny ( Hebvby ) - — —— ** That bug with gSWqd winga , That paiutotl ohiW of dirt , who stinks an 4 etinga , "
SATIRJE . ENGLISH literature may be presumed to have reached that state indicated by the Roman poet , > ylion lie said " that it was difficult not to write satire , " for literature is , aftor all , but a reflex of society , and surely sooiety demands a purge ,, and requires an occasional i ^ atire , aa sharp and pungent as it can bo made . ; Wo have , however , passed ^ long ago , that , early stage of satiric genius which produced euch rude and raw exponents of the art as Donjtjs and Oldham , who may , in literature , stand as parallel examples to the Ago mid , Argus , the Censor and the Satirist ^ in the newspaper press ; or , moro
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Jan. 7, 1860, page 12, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_07011860/page/12/
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