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260 THE . LEA'BEB. , rNo. 312, Sa?vkt,A ...
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CHRISTIANITY—PUBE AND SIMPLE. The Preach...
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CONTEMPORARY CONSTELLATIONS. Men of the ...
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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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The Pood Of London". The Food Of London....
some are fattening in those two counties , or in the midland districts ; some may be growing in Flanders , Holland , or Holstein , and some in Ireland ; the short-woolled sheep may be luxuriating on the Downs of Sussex ; the longwoolled may be grazing ia Leicestershire ; some are suckling , and some are fattening . There are twice as many oxen and sheep always existing , destined for London consumption , as there are human beings in London—five millions for two millions and a half . " ^ It is also curious to learn that it has bee % calculated by economists that the London consumption of meat in 1750 could not have exceeded 70 lbs . per head , per annum , and that for our time the average has been set down by Mr . M'Culloch at 122 lbs ., and by Mr . Mayhew at 140 lbs . It appears that the number of cattle and sheep sold at Smithfield in 1853 , according to the official returns of the clerk of the market , was 276 , 888 of the former ,
and 1 , 46 * 1 , 070 of the latter . In 185 * there were 263 , 008 cattle and 1 , 539 , 389 sheep sold . But this does not give the total of the numbers exhibited . Mr . Dodd ' s description of a market-flay at Smithfield is highly graphic ; in concluding , he passes the following comment : — " The great day at Old Smithfield was a sight worth seeing once ; but it is well that the seeneis closed for ever . " In the article on salted and preserved meats we are told that upwards of one thousand million pounds of salted beef , salted pork , bacon , and hams , -were imported into London in 1854 ; that 5 , 000 tons of black-puddings are made annually in England ; that a canister of Gamble ' s boiled mutton , left in Prince Regent ' Inlet by one of tie Arctic expeditions in 1824 , was found in excellent condition by Sir James Ross , when he visited the spot in 1849 , a quarter of a . century afterwards ; and that there are nearly twenty kinds of soup , broth , and meat essences—twelve or fifteen kinds of fish—poultry , Same , and venison—butchers' meat of every kind-r-tonsues , hams , bacon .
kidney , tripe , marrow— -nearly all the fruits and vegetables ordinarily eaten milk and cream—all now preserved in canisters for lengthened keeping . Cmild we venture to Billingsgate , to take note of the quantity of fish brought daily to that market ; could -we go to LeadenhalL , and number the varieties of poultry and game brought into that market , we might showfcow little the subject of the supply of food has yet been exhausted . But our space will not permit . Neither can .: toe mqre than mention that London consumes 80 million quarts of milk , and 29 million pounds of butter du ally ; whilst we must leave it to the reader to determine for
himself what portion of 120 , 000 tons of cheese , and 1 , 500 million eggs the quantity consumed yearly in the United Kingdom is required for toe metropolitanmarket . Neither can we enter upon the subject of fruits and vegetables ; of tea , coffee , cocoa , chocolate , sugar , rice , tobacco , snufly and cigars . For the satisfaction of those who are curious to know the amount of liquids consumed in London , we shall conclude by stating that the nearest estimates make the consumption of beer and ale rise above 1 , 200 , 000 barrels Of beer and ale , or , as it has been facetiously calculated above a thousand million of "tumblers "—of spirits about 2 k million gallons—and of wine about seven million
gallons-_ There is one feature in this work which we think highly valuable . Mr . IJpdd treats his subject from an economical point of view . At every turn we hnd suggestions by whieh the price of provisions may be reduced—either by the mode of transit , a better regulation of dues , or the manner in which the Ojignaal material is converted into articles of diet . This alone would make the work ah . important one .
260 The . Lea'beb. , Rno. 312, Sa?Vkt,A ...
260 THE . LEA ' BEB . , rNo . 312 , Sa ? vkt , A y ,
Christianity—Pube And Simple. The Preach...
CHRISTIANITY—PUBE AND SIMPLE . The Preaching of Christ . By James Augustus St . John . Chapman and Hall . There are at present two grand leligious movements going on in the English world—one consists in the effort to restrict the interpretation of religious truths by dogmatic forms , and to assert that any perception of truth which does not harihomse with those forms is heterodox , non-religious , impious ; tue other movement consists in a general tendency to set aside pedantic iorms , and to ascertain the broader truths which make themselves felt through the ; affecturas and the instincts as well as the intellect . In the one case , any { f ™* ** gradually contract into a sect which , while it drives forth from its bounds an ^ cre ^ m number of schismatics , equally deters strangers from admission to it . Notwithstanding the immense worldly rewards which the r ° * ^ ng » and can bestow upon proselvtes that ioin it . verv few churches lew It in the
nave maue ^ o converts . cannot smallest degree vie with those dissentmg bodies that have abandoned their share in the worldly property of the Church , to cast their bread upon the waters of religious freedom . But it is perhaps in the bosom of the Church itself that we find this living reaction , tbur strong desire to merge the distinction of sect in the broadest union of Uiristianity . The movement is reciprocated from the laity , tnxd even from bodies without the Church . . We even find science aiding in this development oijeligious ideas ; we find forma pf association that rejoice in the prefix of m » - nl ° r % ! ^^ " ( L *^ hostility j and again we find clergymen or lay-SSh ^ « J °% W » eekfng to express themselves in a language which might be adopted by the members of any community ia the United Kuigdora . One of the most interesting worka ' latelv Put forth in this spirit
W yoiume by James Augustus St . John ; a faithful member of the Church or England , wliose commentary on the Preaching qf Christ will speak the USTRi ? ? Y hns ^ ? ' wUl cause surprise to many at finding that they ore ^ hnstians though they did not know it . Few of our public writera We ^ Zl ^ P llBl \ ed * ha ]? , Mr . St . John : he is a learned man , in the literal sense ot the word : familiar with the dead languages , he handles many of the ¦ JSffi ?? i 8 ua ?? familiarly } long active in the discussion of out home S ? ' . . understands our social and commercial questions ; he has tra-SIS Ti » f reign « 8 ' ^ a the cnston » 8 of the people , the scenery in which * KU . l \! ° m the lan 8 K ° which they speak , and the institutions by StK - governed . Amongst the lands to which he has wandered are « Svt « , * ^ , event 8 * hafc nre recorded in the New Testament hapvB & SIS .. ? * haa * rodd « n ; the parables that illustTnte the preach-A »| fcffi ' . ^ M ^'»^^ wM <* he h » 8 surveyed . Ho brought to verScSf ^ S S V ° [ W ** Wel 1 2 * the new * he ^ ad the text in his own vwwuuw , auaMvthe language of the persona of the Biblo . It is not Mi .
St . John s object , however , to edit an edition of the Bible for the sake of pedantically displaying his accomplishments , or for the sake of amending particular interpretations of the text . . After all , the language of the Bible il human language , with all its imperfections ; the translations are human translations , with many of those uncertainties that beset the transfer of meaning irom one tongue to another . But the broad incidents of the story are not dependent upon verbal interpretations ; the truths that were attested by sufferings , and by the wonderful transformation of oldraces in tlieir feelings and opinions , far transcend the narrow limits of any one dialect , and are too much r if T ? " ? . d away m petty disputes of cross-commentators . The accomplished ^ . John has no wonderful worship for what we call " knowledge- " fewer thoughts well thought out , and corrected by the natural inspirations will enrich us more than appropriating the whole substance of a Glossary or Encyclopaedia . J
Mr . St . John takes the Gospels , retraces the events that they record supplies here and there asketch of the scenery , and connects the illustrations of toe tacts with the surrounding circumstances that were a matter of course to the speaker , but are unknown or forgotten by the distant foreigner . He reads over again the New Testament with the light of the traveller and of the humanist . Not departing from the dogma of his church , that a divine Nature walked the earth in a human form , he speaks of Christ , throughout , as being embodied in that human form ; discusses the development of his mind as connected with the character of nature around him ; reminds us that he lived habitually m the vicinity of the Sea of Galilee , at Bethsaida , at Oapernautn ; that all along the shore he had friends and relatives , whom probably he visited , as he did Lazarus . Thus a fresh light is thrown upon at most
cn impressive btory ol a Life . The character of Jesus is brought out by putting together his own acts and words , and the most emphatic rebuke is thus given to the followers of Christianity who have , as it -were , dishonestly appropriated the name , embezzled divine authority , and perverted it to purposes of intolerance . If we accept Christianity , Mr , St . John says , we must learn to think lightly of secular pleasures in comparison with the beauty and splendour of the soul : — To the same object tends that saying , " Whosoever has given a cup of cold water to one of -these little ones in my name , shall not lose his reward . " It is useless to have recourse in interpreting these injunctions of Christ to subtle and refined theories , and to persuade ourselves that he meant to speak figuratively in these places . Hia language is here , if anywhere , to be understood n ' terally , and whoever would imitate him , must make sacrifices for the sake of others , must eay to himself , "I have depraved myself rf such and sueh gratifications to-day , in order to diminish- the sufferings of others / . ' and he must ; derive Mb happiness from that sacrifice
. To be understood literally , and in the most direct sense ;—and there are those now hvingr—aye , and mingling in ordinary society—who are capable of understanding the moral , practical , and substantial rewards of sacrifice ; even as there are those who have known how to accept of sacrifices ; in both cases to procure directly the most positive happiness , even in this world , which worldly possessions are powerless to bestow . Nor is it necessary that those who make the sacrifice , or accept , should be ignorant of the enjoyment that wealth and power can give ? It is not in ignorance that such sacrifices are ever made ? not only because there would be no sacrifice if there were ignorance , but because , if -we may be . allowed the expression , the choice must be made with a true epicurean philosophy , capable of electing the better , and leaving the worse . ^{ . A divine has just favoured the world with a sermon " on the Severity of God ; " let him read once more , in the simple words of M * . St . John , a wellknown story : —
While he waa teaching in the temple , a ¦ woman was brought to him who had been taken in adultery , a sin which , according to the la , w of Moses , waB to be punished with death , by being overwhelmed with , stones . Looking at the woman and her accusers , and knowing well their character and manners , our Saviour said , " Let him who is without sin east the first stone at her . " Whilethey were deliberating on this decision , he stooped down and wrote on the ground , and after awhile , looking Up , he observed -that they had all departed , leaving the accused woman standing alone in the midst . Then Christ said , " Where are those , thine accusers ? " and she answered , " There ib none , Lord . " He then said , " Neither am I thine accuser \ - go and sin no more . "
These , it seems to us , are not the words of Goulburn . There is , indeed , a church in England infinitely wider than that whose gates Goulburn seeks to close . The priests in that Church are not all of them recognised by its Pharisees and its Sadducees . Establishments have beenaddicted to the practice of crucifying any new witness ; it is the advantage of our day , that men can attest the truth without repeating the martyrdoms that have first established the truths ; and amongst the preachers in this national clmrch there are few who speak with so full a knowledge and so simple a language as Mr . St . John .
Contemporary Constellations. Men Of The ...
CONTEMPORARY CONSTELLATIONS . Men of the Time ; Biographical Sketches of Eminent Living \ Character 8 . Uogue . The preface to this volume says that its plan and pretensions may be ascertained by a glance at its title page and table of contents . Not so . Nothing in the title page , or table of contents , led us to expect a Review as well as an Encyclopaedia . It was not the proper office of the compiler to distribute to " men of all politics" their " due meed of praise . " We shall , all of us , benefit by the possession of a manual in which the lives of eminent contemporaries are briefly and accurately sketched j we shall not be harmed by the introduction of some names not at all eminent ; but who wants , in a mere
book of refetence , a collection of anonymous , cut-and-dried opinions ? Will a biographer or a critic consult Men of the Time to know whether Mr ! Carlyle publishes " rant , " " passion torn to tattera , " "truths inflated till they burst ? " or whether Hugh Miller ia " justly" celebrated ? There is too much of this random impertinence in the volume , which ia , in mnny respects , n useful and creditable compilation . Some important " men" and " women " are omitted ; many are introduced who have no claim to a place in this or any other gazette ; but a great amount of labour haa been bestowed on the contents . With its deficiencies and excrescences , therefore , the manual deserves to he popular , for it supplies a real want , and -will , no doubt , take a place in the libraries of all public institutions .
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), March 15, 1856, page 20, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_15031856/page/20/
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