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May 18, 1850.] ffifc* &££&£?+ l85
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BOOKS ON OUR TABLE. +. Marriage : its Or...
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Life Of Andrew Comjje. T/Ie Life And Gnr...
go wrong ? A paradox , perhaps , yet demonstrably true . Mr . George Combe , no doubt , saw as disdistinctly as his advisers * the force of the counsel , but he also saw that , inasmuch as his brother ' s life offered none of the advantages of dramatic effect , —was in itself neither romantic nor capable of being elaborated into a story—the task of the biographer was clearly to see what other advantages the life offered . Instead of a story he has given us a substantial book . It is a book interesting as the record of the acts and thoughts of a remarkable man ; and as embracing a -variety of details , philosophical and medical , for which the public will be grateful .
The picture here given of a Calvinist family has a sombre power , and leaves behind it an impression the pain of which is mitigated by the consciousness that every year such experiences are becoming fewer . The shadow of John . Knox still darkens Scotland . Still does that unloving and unlovely creed warp the minds and hearts of thousands into bigotry and — -we must say it—blasphemy . If , as Plutarch and Bacon admirably said , it were better to have no idea of God at all than to have an unworthy idea of him , it surely is less blasphemous to say
no God exists ( which at the worst is only intellectual arrogance assuming infinite knowledge ) than to say , as the Shorter Catechism says in its terrible distinctness , " All mankind by their fall lost communion with God , arc under his wrath and curse , and so made liable to all the miseries of this life to death itself , and to the pains of hell fur every" and that out of these doomed victims of eternal wrath—a wrath drawn upon , them not for sins of their own , but for sins committed eight thousand years ago by two creatures whom their creator made
liable to sin , and with full foreknowledge that they would sin—out of these victims , we say , only a few of the elect will be spared ! Horrible , horrible Blasphemy against the divinity of God , blasphemy against the beneficence of God , blasphemy against the moral conscience within us , which resents this delirious drunkenness of theological pride substituting its own ferocity in place of the boundless beneficence of God ! We have spoken strongly for we feel strongly . Yet the great national poet of Scotland , in one of his most popular poems , has said the same— O Thou who in the heavens dost dwell , AVho dost wh & te ' er does please thysel' , Sends aue to Heaven and ten to Ilell , A' for Thy glory ; And no for ony gude or ill They ' ve done before thee . " Frightful as this creed is , there is a fortunate inconsistency in the human character which robs it of its full operative power . Men are often better than their creeds . And Scotland which produced a Burns , and millions who sympathize with Burns —Scotland is saved from all the consequences of her creed by the genuine humanity which frustrates it . Sad , indeed , the result where the creed does operate . Look at this picture of , SUNDAY IN" A CALVINIST FAMILY , " To complete the picture of domestic life at Livingston ' s Yards , it remains only to mention the Sunday ' s uc % cupations and discipline . The gate of the brewery was locked , and all , except the most necessary work , was suspended . The children rose at eight , breakfasted at nine , and were taken to the West Church at eleven . The forenoon ' s service lasted till one . There was a lunch between one and two . The afternoon ' s service lasted from two till four . They then dined , and after dinm r
portions of Psulms and of the ShortPr Catechism with the Proofs' were prescribed to be learned by heart . After these had been repeated , tea was served . Next the children sat round a table and read the Bible aloud , each a verse in turn , till a chapter for every reader had been completed . After this , sermons or other pious works were read till nine o ' clock , when supper was served , after which all retired to rest . Jaded and exhausted in brain and body as the children were by the performance of heavy tasks at school during six days in the week , these Sundays shone no dajs of rest to them . "
And ponder on this mode of cultivating A JOYOUS DISPOSITION . "So little was enjoyment recognised as an allowable aim in lifo , that when , in the buoyancy of youth , a natural feeling of gratitude , springing from Ihe spontancoun activity of the moral faculties , occasionally lod them to give utterance to expressions of satisfaction with the world , their mother would say—* Hush—do not talk so —you do not know how lung it may last ! ' There . seemed to be in her mind si strong a convictnn that thi «* was a world of wo , that she regarded si it-ding of enjoyment as sinful , and as indicative of something wrong in the religious condition of the individual . "
Under such happy influences can you wonder at the following : — " The world then always presented itself to me in the characters described by the Reverend David Dickson ( afterwards D . D . ) , with such fervour and reiteration , as the abode of nothing but the blackest sin and misery . I shrunk from contact with it , even in thought ; and believing myself equally , or rather more in danger of hellfire than all the rest , I looked upon retirement from the world as affording the only chance of escape from the dangers of eternal perdition .
" This was my state of mind from my earliest consciousness , and it continued for years to depress and cramp my energies . I never could fancy myself good enough to be of use in the world ; and , instead of aspiring to greatness , I have a vivid recollection of often looking at Dr . Dickson in the pulpit , and thinking , ' Oh , if I was only clever enough to be a minister , I would be sure to be saved . ' This must have begun before I was five years old . But I felt a woful consciousness that I could never learn to preach , and there was thus no hope for me in that quarter . Then it occurred to me that even a precentor was almost sure to be saved , as a ' church' man ; but then I was equally conscious that singing was as impossible as preaching to me .
" In this hopeful state I well recollect standing behind Matthew Aikman , a mason , when the new kiln was building ( I could scarcely have been seveu years old then , but I forget the exact date ) , and at every stone he laid down upon another , the intense wish came upon me , 'Oh that I were that stone , to be sure of never living again , and never going to hell ! ' For days I looked on in this mood . Once , soon after , in a dream , I lay as if upon the declivity of the Castle-bank , and began slowly to slide
down in spite of every exertion , when to my horror / saio the mouth of hell , like a deep well full of fire and flames , just beloto , and the devil with his Jork ready to receive me on approaching the Brink . As I neared it the horror was awful , and when my toes reached the edge I awoke in a tremor . I offer no comment on the fitness of ductrines which could induce such a state of mind in a well-disposed child , sighing only for good , and for the power of doing God's will .
" About a year or two later , in a very different frame of mind , when pleased , I believe , with having acted on some of my good resolutions , I dreamt that I lay on another part of the slope looking towards the south , and at mid-day ; when suddenly , as I gazed at the sky , the heavens opened , and I saw Jesus sitting at the right hand of God , surrounded by angels , and by a splendour which almost dazzled me , and yet all looking down upon me with a benignity of tenderness which moved me to the very soul , and inspired me with the most vivid desire
to render myself worthy of the happiness . Even now I cannot help considering these two scenes as strikingly illustrative of the two principles of teaching religion . The threatenings of hell-fire terrified and bewildered without improving me . The spirit of love from heaven , on the contrary , inspired me with feelings of humble devotion and admiration of moral excellence , which have not yet faded , and which repudiated the very notion of God being the ' avenger , ' and of his willingly destroying the creatures he had made . "
Mr . George Combe relates that his father was troubled with doubts upon the eternity of punishment and the doctrine of election : — " When charged with inconsistency for doubting on these points , he used to say , ' It may be very wrong , but I cannot help it . ' This showed that the internal moral and religious struggles which had distressed his son were not unknown to himself ; but he also had so humble an idea of his own powers of judgment , that he never ventured to modify , by his own convictions , the faith taught in the church , lest he should be wrong , and lead his children into error . It was only after they had attained to maturity , and had mustered courage to break through the trammels of authority , and think for themselves , that he candidly acknowledged to the elder branches of them the state of his own mind .
" Are there not thousands of parents in Great Britain and Ireland at this moment timidly concealing their own convictions of truth from their children , out of seeming deference to authorities which they no longer respect ? And are there not thousands of children suffering agonies of mental distress , which a few candid sentences spoken by their parents would remove ? Parents shrink from the jcsponsibility of leading their children into possible error , by countenancing in them any disregard of established authorities ; but do th * y incur no responsibility in deliberately teaching thorn , as true , views which they themselves no longer believe . " This admirable remark wo bid the reader lay to
heart . In England at the present day it is rare to meet with a man who docs truly and conscientiously believe in Hell , and in the eternal tormen-ts said to await us there . It is notorious that men do not believe in it ; why , then , do they continue to teach it ? Why not say boldly at once that it outrages their consciences , that it is unworthy of the Deity , and that they will not pretend to believe it any longer ?
The reader must not suppose that The Life and Correspondence of Andrcio Combe is mainly occupied with the topics wo huve eelected in preference . It follows him through his professional career , and unroU the panorama of an honourable life . In our Xotcs and Extracts , wo shall borrow from its valuable puyes , and meanwhile recommend it us a book of grout interest .
May 18, 1850.] Ffifc* &££&£?+ L85
May 18 , 1850 . ] ffifc * & ££ & £ ? + l 85
Books On Our Table. +. Marriage : Its Or...
BOOKS ON OUR TABLE . +. Marriage : its Origin . Uses , and Duties . A Discourse delivered in the New Jerusalem Church , Cross-street . Hatton-garden , March 3 rd , 1850 , by the Kev . W . Bruce . London : George Slater . A very pleasing and lucid exposition of the doctrines of the New Church on the subject of marriage . The Scriptural interpretations on which these doctrines are based are in the highest degree ingenious , but , like many other of the beautiful and subtle dreams of Swedenborg , they vanish into thin air at the first touch of rigid analysis . Such at least is our view . Still , whatever may be thought of their philosophy , all must admire the tone of refined and lofty morality which everywhere pervades them ; and nothing could well be more felicitous than the exposition here given of
them . An Elementary Course of Geology , Mineralogy , and Physical Geography . By David Ansted , M . A ., i ? . Jl . S ., Professor of Geology iu King ' s College . Van Voorst . This is quite a model of what manuals should be . To sound scientific exposition it unites the charm of popular treatment , and the advantage , which cannot be too highly prized in a work meant for reference and use , of very ample indices , tables , glossary , and illustrations . In this solid volume every paragraph conveys information ; there is no surplussage , rhetoric , nor idle disquisition . It is a book meant for tise . and is arranged with
admirable forethought . At the same time ^ very agreeable to read : we remember no scientific manual that is more so . It opens with a treatise on Physical Geography , which is followed by an outline of Mineralogy ; and then come Descriptive Geology and Practical Geology : all brought down to the latest discoveries . The White Charger , that cost me Two Hundred Pounds ; lost vie Seventy Thousand Pounds ; drove me from Society ; and finally compelled me to quit the Service . By the Author of *• The Horse Guards , " & c . J . and D . A . Darling . Quite recently we reviewed The Horse Guards ; we have now before us another little work by the same author , this time with no political purpose , but simply giving a humorous narrative of how he was courting a young lady with seventy thousand charms , and thought
that caracolllng on a white charger was the best method of appealing to the female heart . She wishes him to swim out to sea upon his Bucephalus . Her wish is law . But he bethinks him ' twould be as well to practise the feat before he attempts it openly ; and , as it is needless to spoil a suit of clothes in this private rehearsal , he ventures naked on the animal ' s back . Unhappily the animal , after imperilling his life , carries his nude rider on shore just under the windows of his beloved , and then gallops madly to the barracks ! The denouement may be foreseen . He loses his lady—is arraigned for indecent exposure of his person—is discharged from his regiment—condemned to the treadmill—goes to law , loses his money , gets no satisfaction , and finally sees his charger yoked " to an omnibus !
Lives of the Successors of Mahomet . By Washington Irving ( Uuhu ' s Shilling Series . ) H . G . Bohn . It is idle prdantry to accuse this work of not fulfilling alt the demands of exhaustive erudition , when the author , in his manly , modest preface , distinctly says that to such , erudition he lays no claim ; that he does not aspire to be consulted as an authority , but merely to be read as a digest of current knowledge adapted to popular use . It is eminently a popular book ; but not a superficial book . There are new materials worked into it , and the old materials are carefully compiled . Critical it is in no sense ,
but most pleasant to read . The strange story of fanatical conquest is luminously set forth . It moves and lives before the eye . The few proselytes rise to be leaders of mighty armies , and founders of a mighty nation . The doctrine elaborated with difficulty by a solitary thinker we here see becoming the doctrine of millions . From its analogies and contrasts with Christianity , the rise and progress of Mahornedanism is a subject of intense interest to us , and Washington Irving has told the story with a power which leaves behind it lasting impressions . We may add , in conclusion , that this Shilling Series promises to surpass , in cheapness and elegance , the Standard Library Mr . Bohn so venturously carries on .
The Modern Linguist ; or . Conversations in English , French and ( Jarwan . By Albert Bartels . D . M utt . These three volumes are usefully arranged . They carry the learner from the vocabulary ( which is classified according to subjects ) to familiar phrases , then to dialogues becoming more and more complicated , and finally to notes and letters . The plan is simple and efficient , corresponding with the progress and wants of the learner . The first volume contains English and French ; the second volume English and German ; the third unites the two former iu one . They are separate publications , all illustrative of one system .
Tim Pupil ' s Guide to English Etymology . By George Mariaon , Head Master of the General Assembly's Normal School , Edinburgh . Third Thousand . Edinburgh : Macphail . This useful work contains the principal roots from tho Greek , Latin , and other languages which so richly diversify our tongue . To those who have not received a clas-Hical education , it will bo a great assistance iu understanding English . The Jltinolulion . in fha Mind and Practice of the Human Race ; ur , I hit Coining Cfmni / n front Irralional . it if to nationality . —Ji fluji / jlammt to I fit ; Jtneol ution \ n Mind and fraction of tho JJumnn Race ; showing the necessity fur , unit the Advantage of tfm Universal Change . liy lloburt Ihvon . Eiflugham Wilson .
These volumes are to bo valued , as well for their being tho production of one who , at four score years , is yet the earnest and effective advocate of the principles which animated his early and mntuicr manhood , as for the exposition which they contain of the systrm which it has bopn the constant and conscientious effort of his long and devoted life to promulgate . Mr . Owen has lately spoken for himself in our " Open
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), May 18, 1850, page 17, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_18051850/page/17/
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