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No. 464, February 12, 1859.J T H E X. E ...
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PHILIP THE SECOND. History of the Reign ...
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WINTER, EVENINGS: Winter Evenings. By Le...
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Other Countries. In Very Much That M. Ko...
exist only for the nobility , the merchants , and the function aries , that is to say , for about a million of people . It may also be allowed that the tradespeople of the towns and some peasants , an aggregate of about one million , consume manufactured goods of an inferior description , the raw material of which is imported from abroad . It follows , that in reality Europe trades not with Russia , but with two millions of Russians , arnongst the sixty-two millions which form her population . This shows also the lamentably extravagant proportions which luxury has attained in Russia , because all its imports ^ which amount to so considerable a value , are distributed amongst only two millions of individuals .
Two more short extracts will afford a vivid picture of the condition of the people , and enable idolaters of despots to see the value of a succession of barbarous rulers wasting upon aggressive wars capital that would have sufficed to raise the permanent condition of millions of their people . It should be remembered , in reading the first paragraph , that no small portion of the slaughtering of beasts in Russia is for the sake of the tallow , and that the meat is thrown away : — The rearing of cattle in England takes place on a
scale which is , indeed , widely different from that in Russia ; one slaughters there annually ten times as many beasts as in Russia ; and nevertheless England imports from Russia hides and tallow to a large amount , so great is in that country the consumption of those products , or , more correctly speaking , to so great extent does the English people possess the means of support , and even of comfort ! There exists still , it is true , some misery in Irelandj but there is a probability that this misery will cease with the introduction of drainage , projected by the formation of various companies .
As to the tallow , it will find in the interior of the country a still readier sale than the corn . When the peasants will be able to substitute the candle for those nasty chips of wood that injure the sig ht , interrupt work , occasion numerous conflagrations , and which they use for want of better , for lighting their cabins , in all the northern and central parts of Russia , we shall scarcely hare enough of tallow to supply out home consumption . The same may be said of the hides required for the boots that are to replace those shoes made , of the bark of trees , now in use . in a good half of Russia .. We cannot but believe , at least we should be very- sorry not to believe , that these things will one day become necessaries . .
No. 464, February 12, 1859.J T H E X. E ...
No . 464 , February 12 , 1859 . J T H E X . E A D E B . 205
Philip The Second. History Of The Reign ...
PHILIP THE SECOND . History of the Reign of Philip II , King of Spain ., By William H . Frescott . Vol . III . Routledge , Warnes , and Routledge . We are here presented with the third volume of Mr . Prescott ' s invaluable history of the celebrated monarch , King Philip II . It exhibits to us , in limine , the picture of the great struggle between the Morisco apostate and the Spanish Catholic . It is a stirring , animated scene , full of contrasts natural and moral . Mr . Prescott is jus , t the writer to bring the subject out in all its terror , and all its
beauty . What a personal interest , too , belongs to the history of John of Austria , the natural son of the Emperor Charles Vf , whose first entrance into public life is at an auto do fe 7 Such was the first lesson of his education . To that , as well as to his subsequent studies , no doubt . he " gave duo attention . " Those studios were mainly connected with the art of war . Pcrfcot in chivalrous accomplishments , he sighed for some field on which he could display them . " The knowledge of his real parentage . idled his soul with a generous ambition , and Iir lnrrn-rtrl hv snmn liornirv nnhmvnmnnf ; t . o vindieato
his claim to' his illustfunis descent . " His premature effort to take part in the famous siege of Malta in 1564 , made him as popular in the country as attractive to the court . His royal brother soon : found employment for him , in the nominal command of a fleet fitted out against the Barbary corsairs . His lieutenant , and tho man really responsible for the expedition , was Antonio do Zuuigay Requosens . Sco , too , how the moral attributes of the business wore regarded : ~
On tho 8 rd of Juno , Don John sailed out of port , nt tho head of as bravo an armament as over floated on tho waters of tho Mediterranean . Tho Princo ' e own voesol was a stately galley gorgeously fitted up , and docoratod with a profusion of paintings , tho subjects of w hich , drawn chiefly from ancient history , and mythology , wore of didactic import , intondod to convoy Bpmo useful lesson to tho young commander . Tho moral of each pwturo was oxpreesod by somo pithy nia ^ im inscribed bonoatjh it in Latin . Thus , to whatovor quarter Don John turned his © yes , they > Voro euro to fall on somo homily for his instruction j so that his galley might bo compared to a volume richly filled with illustrations ,
that serve to impress the contents on the reader ' s memory . . We next meet this favoured son of fortune in Granada ; and with all this moral training , we find him an inflexible warrior . We pity the poor Moriscoes , who could expect , from such a hero , " such justice only as comes from the hand of an enemy . " The renoval of the M' oriscoes , as the result of his operations , is depicted with power and pathos by the historian . The moral , too , is properly enforced .
The oppressors suffered not only from the reaction but from the immediate results of the oppression . Such were the natural consequences " ¦ of that system of religious intolerance which had converted into enemies those who , under a beneficent rule , would have been true and loyal subjects , and who by their industry and skill would have added incalculably to the resources of the country . " So much for the peculiar moral education of Prince John , who possessed , however , some noble qualities and a magnanimous disposition .
But these virtues , under a system of bigotry , only add to the mischief to which they are made ancillary . Another name , nearly as great as his own , starts up also on the Morisco . side—that of Aben-Abbo—and fills up many a page of romantic adventure . It was the battle of Paladin and Panim , and is replete with all , the pomp and circumstance of warlike heroism . The central figure of each opposing body is a truly grand object . The monstrous irreg ularity that characterised the whole of the pro ^ ceedings only renders them more strange , startling , and interesting . Siege , assault , and massaoi-e in turn brought on the stage all the horrors of war .
And . what if the final triumph appeared to rest with the Paladin—even this was a delusion ; for , in the words of the Castilian proverb , quoted by our author , " If Africa had cause to weep , Spain had little reason to rejoice . " The fame of . his exploits , and his successful cruelties , atrocious as they were , against the Morisco apostates and infidels , as they were regarded , pointed out Don John to Rome as the champion of Christendom , and the baton of Generalissimo of the formidable league which the Pope / was then , organising against the Ottoman Empire was entrusted to his hands .
With tliis , war against the Turks , and the domestic affairs of Spain , the remainder of the volume is occupied . The stout-hearted Pius V . was then Pontiff , and Philip II . was his faithful ally . The preparations were on a colossal scale and consecrated with gorgeous ceremonials , pious masses , and other religious rites . On the 16 th of September , 157 . 1 , a magnificent armament , unrivalled by any . ¦ which had y et ridden on the Mediterranean since the days of imperial Rome , stood out to sea . The Papal Nuncio , dressed in his pontificals , took a prominent station on the Mole , and as each vessel passed successively before him , he bestowed on it
his apostolic benediction . . Then , without postponing a . moment longer his return , he left Messina and hastened back to Rome to announce the joyful tidings to his master . The Battle vof Lepanto is described with great spirit . The result proved that the Turks were no longer invinqible at sea . Nevertheless , tho Porte was enabled to enter into a sepai'ate treaty with Venice oh the 7 th of March , 1573 , by which the republic agreed to nay a large annual sum to the Sultan , ana to cede the island of Cyprus , the original cause of tho war . So fruitless , in general , arc bloody victories . In estimating the state of Spain at this time , Mi * .
Prescott rightly takes into consideration tho tastes , habits , and prejudices of tho Spaniards , and nortrays tho character of her monarch with tho skill of a master . , Ho demonstrates that , though » cdentary , he was not indolent . He was intellectually active , but ho was too fond of doing everything himself . This oauscd dcluy in business which somotimes made the royal decision arrive too late for tho purpose intended . Tlicro wore indications , however , that the important sixtconth century had commonced , and , that a great chimgo was coming oil tho world . Tho reign of mind hndbegu " , though
yot encountered with persecution and opposition . The fourth qucon of tho gjoomy mpnaroh , Anno of Austria , shed an air of gaiety over the manners of tho Court . Sho was fond of diversions . Among them we find inontiou made of autvs saercemcntales , a scries of religious dramas resembling tho ancient Mysteries and Moralities of our own country—a significant faot for both . It only remains to add that Iliis volumo fully sustains tho character of tho author for caro , aoouraoy , and ologanoo .
Winter, Evenings: Winter Evenings. By Le...
WINTER , EVENINGS : Winter Evenings . By Leitch Ritchie . Two Vols . : Hurst and Blackett . Pleasant volumes these , by the author of Schinderhannes and The Magician , The novelist and the essayist both merit praise . The initial paper describes a Christmas party , the members of which are-supposed to contribute the different papers in the form of conversations at subsequent meetings . Conformable to this idea , the articles are composed in a familiar style , and seldom rise above a certain level . Grandiloquence there is none , and they are all the better on that account . The subjects are
for the most part interesting , and of all kinds , from the philosophical to the narrative , from the scientific fact to the instructive fable , constituting altogether a miscellany of very agreeable reading . We recognisej however , nothing either profound or subtle ; what might be expected , however , we find , a characteristic shrewdness , and a quiet natural humour . In the second volume , there is one essay that deserves to be distinguished as of great literary service . It proposes to remove , and does effectually remove , from Milton the opprobrium of having been flogged or rusticated at Cambridge . The charere was originally brought by Aubrey , who
stated it in the coarsest manner . Milton , he dared to write , was " vomited , after an inordinate and riotous youth , out of the university . " To this infamous accusation Milton replied indignantly , thanking his accuser for the '' commodious lie , " since it had given him " an apt occasion , to acknowledge publicly , with all grateful mind , the more than ordinary favour and respect which I found , above any of my equals , at the hands of those courteous and learned men , the fellows : Of my college , wherein I spent some years ; who , at my parting , after I had taken two degrees , as the manner is , signified mariv ways how much better it would content them , that ' l should stay ; as by many letters full of kindness andloviim- respect , both before , that time and
long after , 1 was assured of their singular good affection towards me . " .. In another _ place ; he says , that his father sent him to college , where he studied for seven years with : the approbation of the good , and without -any . -stain upon his " character , till he took the degree of Master of . Arts . These denials are positive , and might have settled the question , but that Milton had written a Latin elegy , addressed to his friend Diodati , in which he seems to confess to a fault , in the following lines . The criminatory words are printed : in . italics : — Me tenet urbs reflua . quam Thamesis alluit unda , Meque nee invituin patria dulcis habet . Jam nee arundiferum mihi cura revisere camum , Nee dudum votlii me laris an git amor . ¦ * m * . •' ¦* Si sit hoc exilium patrios adiisse penates , Et vacuum cuTis otia grata sequi , Nori ego vel jprqfugl nomen sortemve recuso , Lootus et exilii conditione fruor . Dr . Johnson , among others , put such an interpretation on these phrases in italics that , in his life of Milton , he wrote : — "I am ashamed to relate what I fear . is true , that Milton was one of the last students in cither university that suffered the public indignity of corporal correction . " The mistaken view of these lines shows how little , after all , the Latin tongue has really been understood among us , even by scholars ; and Milton ' s fame has suffered exclusively from this general ignorance . The occasion of tho elegy , iu tho first place , was never considered . The poem , was written in London during a vacation in the poet ' s cigtcenth year , and addressed to Diodnti , his schoolfellow and friend , who had addressed from Cheshire an epistle to Miltgn , in which he condoled with him on his absozieo from it during tho vacation , and poetically spoke of this temporury separation as a state of exile . Milton objects to tin ' s view , referring , by tho phrase dudum ret . Hi laris not to his cheerless apartments in Christ ' s College , Cambridge , as supposed , but to his / tome , his fathers Jireside , which during term-timo had , by tho discipline of his college , boon lately iorbiddon him . This is the plain and Hi oral moaning of tho passage Tho usual and misohiovous ono is a figurative interpretation which the pool , could not have intended , ana . which it rocuiircs much straining to niako out . " Milton , " says T ) r . Macluro , to whom Mr . Eitohio is indebted for ' his remarks , " was too good ft Laliniat ovor to employ tho word lar for a purposo so unsuitable . " " When read in this light , " continues tho Doctor , " tho pnesago assumes consistonoy with itsolf , withothor portions of Milton ' s writings ,
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Feb. 12, 1859, page 13, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_12021859/page/13/
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