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    Apbil 20, 1850.] &t>e 3Le&ttev+ 8?

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    Revolutionary heroes! Are we never to ce...

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    THE DESTINY OF MAN. The Purpose of Exist...

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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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    Odious As All Attempts Are To Degrade A ...

    Dumas can do in that way , and then ask yourself what chance h & s'Vivia—a work written with the sobriety of he seventeenth century and speaking lo the seep cism of the nineteenth ? The mention of scepticism leads us to intimate that Mazzini has a new pamphlet about to appear , in which the Faith that is to guide the future will be the subject of his eloquence , it is called Foi et Avenir .

    Apbil 20, 1850.] &T>E 3le&Ttev+ 8?

    Apbil 20 , 1850 . ] & t > e 3 Le & ttev + 8 ?

    Revolutionary Heroes! Are We Never To Ce...

    Revolutionary heroes ! Are we never to cease this resuscitation of defunct demigods ? All Germany is at this moment called upon to read the works of Maximilien Robespierre ; which are translated and published in cheap parts ; and as if that were not enough , there is Gribpenkerl ( whose Kunstgenius der Deutschen lAteratur will be favourably known , perhaps , to some of our readers of belles lettres ) , who has written a tragedy called Robespierre . The subject , of course ,

    excludes it from the stage . But the poet is not thus to be put out . If the stage will not receive it the lecture-room shall . Accordingly Griepenkebl and his play wander over Germany ;—he reads it to enthusiastic audiences . The hint may , perhaps , he taken by our unacted dramatists . If managers are impenetrable , if they have but a mediocre confidence in the attractiveness of poetry , are there not rooms throughout the kingdom where magnificent rejected tragedies may be read to thrilled audiences ? Rooms , yes ; but audiences !

    Rosbespierre , however , is not the only hero at present . Raupach has seized upon Mirabeau j and Auerb ach upon Andreas Hofer . Those who remember Atjereach ' s beautiful tales—especially the genuine village colouring which pervaded them—will look with keen expectation for his Andreas Hofer . The only danger is lest he , too , should have been carried away by this invasion of politics into art—and what politics ! and what art !

    The Destiny Of Man. The Purpose Of Exist...

    THE DESTINY OF MAN . The Purpose of Existence Popularly Considered in Relation to the Origin , Development , and Destiny of the Human Mind . John Chapman . Anonymous though this book is , we have little difficulty in divining the class of persons to which its author belongs , without , however , the faintest suspicion as to the individual . He must be one of the restless clergy , daily becoming a more important class , and daily swelling the ranks either of Catholicism or of Spiritualism ( to use a word which

    better characterizes the body than the old term Infidelity—seeing that the modern seceders from the Church are so totally opposed to the Deniers , the merely negative thinkers of the last century ) ; both out of profound and irresistible dissatisfaction with the forms of the Church itself . It is many , Tery many , degrees below some other works recently published to the same effect . The author has not

    the genius of Froude ; though he has more learning , lie has not the beautiful spirit of tolerant appreciation and the powers of simple straightforward exposition of Foxton . He has not the grasp , the power , and the eloquence of Newman . But the book is remarkable , nevertheless , as the work of an earnest , thoughtful , and independent mind . It is the result of fifty years' meditation , and must be received with the respect due to earnest endeavour .

    Employing the ordinary tactics of reviewing , it would be easy to make this book appear very absurd ^ very aggressive , and very feeble , or very curious and striking . It is indeed a strange compound of weakness and power . There is twaddle in it and there is eloquent thought . There is a fine inquiring independent spirit , and there is a oiiesidedness in its attacks—especially on " priests "—which is neither philosophical nor decorous . In the hands of some reviewers wo could name it would he treated as a

    flagrant attack on religion ; yet an impartial reader , grieving over its occasional misrepresentations , would nevertheless sec in it a religious and meditative mind , bent solely on the utterance of truth . Far be it from us to object to the energy and sincerity of its tone ; but far also from us all sympathy with its exaggerated denunciations of forms of belief in which the author sees only error , and docs not see sincerity . The constunt distinction drawn between Jesus of Nazareth

    and Christianity—though an old method of attackis really worth very little as an argument . When "vvo speak of Christianity we do not speak of the woods which have grown up beside it , nor of the infirmities and crimes which have accompanied its believers in their endeavours to work it out . To judge a religion by the conduct of its professors is

    not fair . It smacks too much of the last century , and is not only ungenerous but untrue . The very sincerity of his own convictions should teach the author the sincerity of others . That the history of Christianity contains many a page written in blood , and soiled by the licentiousness of licentious ages ; that its teachers have often been intolerant , vindictive , foolish , luxurious , and rapacious , is very true : but is this true of all ? is that the sum total , or even the dominant characteristic , of its history ? and is this a philosophic sentence to write when speaking , not of individual cases , but of the whole

    ?—« ' The whole aim and effect of Christianity has been the subjection , of reason to authority , the prostration of intellect before mysticism . To receive unintelligible dogmas as unquestioned truths—to profess a blind faith in inexplicable impossibilities—to subscribe , without inquiry , dictated creeds—to bow with stupified awe before revolting mysteries—to cherish the most intolerant hatred for all dissident opinion—to tremble before a jealous , vindictive , damnation-dealing Deity ; but , above all , to allow his priests to domineer , insult , and plunder unrestrained—these are the duties which Christianity enjoined on humbled , degraded , and vitiated man . "

    To us it seems that the author , here and elsewhere , led away by partial lights , is incapable of viewing the whole . He places himself , not in front of the subject , but on one side of it . Christianity , which has been the faith of eighteen centuries , must be looked at from a different point of view : what it has done for us , how it has elevated and strengthened us , the author omits to consider ! The object of the book is to trace the law of progress in the universe : the unresting development upwards to perfection from the inorganic atom to organic life and soul . Mind is the crowning glory of the universe : — " So vast a plan , so bliss-creating a process , terminates not in man . He is but a point in the universe—a stage in the series . What is law below him must be equally so above him , throughout the infinite space between him and the Eternal Parent . By its resistless working he must be impelled ever onward , for ever conscious , for ever improving , and for ever happy . " In what form , then , does progression go on ? " We see that the human frame remains on earth , is sooner or later dissolved , and returns into the elements out of which it was moulded . It can , then , only be in a spiritual condition that man continues to exist ; and hence it follows that he constitutes that stage in this universal process , where Mind arrives at such a degree of maturity as to be fitted for an independent and separate state of being . What we call death is , then , the liberation of Mind from its nursery or school of Matter , and its entrance upon its higher sphere of existence . That hour , which mortals await with so much trepidation and fear , is the commencement of their true life ; this world is but its portal , on quitting which the emancipated soul leaves all its earthly frailties behind , and sets out on a free course of unimpeded improvement . This is the consummation

    of the great working principle of nature—that spirit survives the dissolution of the material frames in which it is evolved . From first to last this principle is maintained in all its integrity , the chain of operations shows an unbroken continuity . As the spirit of vitality , drawn by vegetation out of matter , perishes not with the decaying herb , but is transfused through a succession of animal bodies , gaining strength and power as it advances—so in man , expanded into mind , and having acquired all that it can derive from the most perfect organic structure , when that collapses it still survives , and is transferred to its destined home—the world of

    souls . The last step in this progression is strictly analogous to the first , and is necessarily involved in it . The work cannot begin without going on—it cannot be arrested ; and thus every blade of grass , as it springs from the earth , bears with it , to the calm observer , the clearest and most convincing demonstration of our continued existence after death . The stages of this process may be marked by the three terms , Spirit , Mind , and Soul : the first denoting the animating faculty , the breath of intelligence , the inspiring principle , the spring of energy , and the prompter of exertion ; the second is the recording power , the y ) reserver of impressions , the storer of deductions , the nurse of knowledge , and the parent of

    thought ; the last is the disembodied , ethereal , selfconscious being , concentering in itself all the purest and most refined of human excellences , every generous affection , every benevolent disposition , every intellectual attainment , every ennobling virtue , and every exalting aspiration . To form such aouls is the purpose of human life . Man , by his habits and pursuits , either sensualizes or spiritualizes his nature . All that partakes of the former character is of the body , and dissolves with the dissoluble materials to which it adheres ; it is only the spiritualized part which enters permanently into the formation of his mind , and survives in another world . "

    Having thus stated the lnw , ho proceeds to examine the causes which have hitherto retarded the development of Mind and prevented man from accomplishing the purpose of his being . In various chapters on the causes of human misery—the progress of Errorwealth-worship—luxury—lust of power — contrivances of Legislation—popular Delusions and forms of-Religious Belief , —he sets forth his opinions . This

    portion of his book wants precision of purpose and breadth of comprehensiveness . With some excellent remarks , it generally travels through commonplaces . We dissent altogether from the view taken . We believe that the law of progress is written as emphatically in history a s in the development of external life ; and that the " retarding causes " have been the inevitable crudities in the process of ripening . The final portion of the work examines how man is to accomplish the purpose of his existence—what can be done by legislation , by Religion , and by private reformation .

    In his chapter on the forms of Religious Belief there are many things admirably put and deserving minute attention . With considerable erudition , with unmistakeable plainness , and with dexterous use of materials , he examines in the spirit of modern rationalism the origin of Christianity , the origin of the Gospels , and the connection between Christianity and Platonism ; and his conclusion is that the dectrinal part of Christianity is an infusion of Platonism —the ethical part alone being properly that of Christ : a conclusion which seems supported , we confess , by the

    bulk of historic evidence , and one which is very widely adopted in the present day ; but which to our minds rests upon a misconception of the character of Christ . It robs him of his special mission . It removes him from his exalted position of inspired Teacher to place him beside Epictetus or Seneca . Nothing is clearer than that he was the Founder of a new Creed . But our author evidently believes that ethics form the great purpose of Religion . So little does he seem to recognize the principles which actuate religious reformers , that he adopts the paradox—originally thrown out by Paulus—that Christ did not expire

    upon the cross : — " Crucifixion is not itself a cause of death , except when protracted as a torture . When the term of exposure is short , nails piercing the hands and feet inflict no mortal wounds ; the fatal result then ensues from th « coup de grace , the final blow , which , after breaking the limbs , strikes on the head or heart of the punished , and so terminates their sufferings . This is the meaning of the breaking of the legs of the two malefactors , who were at the same time exposed on the cross . It is evident that this was necessary in order to consummate their punishment ; and it was done at the request of the Jewish authorities , before sunset , so that their sabbath should not be desecrated ; but it was not applied to

    Jesus of Nazareth . This is admitted in all the narratives ; and it is a most important fact , for it proves that there was no sufficient cause of death . In his autobiography ( Op ., torn , iii ., p . 117 ) , Josephus relates an incident which confirms these views . After the fall of Jerusalem , while on an expedition with the Roman general , Cerealis , he saw , among some crucified captives still lingering in agony , three of his former comrades . On his return he made intercession for thtm with Titus , who , yielding to his entreaties , gave orders to have them taken down . Two of them died while under medical care , but the life of the third was saved . This man must have been on the cross much longer than Jesus of Nazareth was , and still we see that the same wounds did not produce death .

    " St . John , in his account of the crucifixion , adds , that he was present , and saw that blood flowed from the wound made in the sufferer ' s side by the Roman soldier ' s spear , and ran down mixed with the perspiration which pain had produced . This confirms the conclusion that he was not dead , but had swooned . In this state of apparent decease lie was taken from the cross , and given up to a friend , who conveyed him to a new sepulchre of his own , hewn out of a rock ; ' not that grave over which a costly temple has been erected , and the devotions of millions of pilgrims paid ; but an artificial cave in the side of a mountain , like those in the glen of Tophet , described by Dr . Clarke in his Travels ( vol . ii ., pp . 57-9 ) . The stone which closed the entrance to this

    tomb was secured by the seal of the Roman governor , and guarded by Roman soldiers , not to prevent the disciples stealing the body ; but to take care that no emissary of the priests should consummate what the public executioner had left undone . The cautious silence of the Roman authorities , after the event , proves their complicity in the escape of the intended victim to a fanatical persecution , which they disapproved , but could not openly oppose without causing disturbance and tumult . It was necessary that the life thus preserved by the sense of justice that swayed an impartial executive should not be exposed to further diuiger . Thin in evident in the caution with which , for a short time , Jesus of Nazareth afterwards conversed with a few of

    his followers , and in his speedy retirement from public observation . " These facts , impartially and calmly considered , can lead to no other conclusion tlian this , that he did not die on the cross ; every circumstance concurs to prove this . His disciplr-s , no doubt , believed that he hud actually expired , and , of course , hud also the conviction that he had been restored to life by a divine interposition . This gave a new turn to all their thoughts , feelings , and opinions ; it first inspired tlirm with the idea that ho was endowed with supernatural power ; and , looking back on all the events of his life , they asrribrd to mch agency whatever appeared to be , in any degree , susceptible of that interpretation . " St . John , in his gospel ( ch . xx ., vcr . 9 ) , utates most

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), April 20, 1850, page 15, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_20041850/page/15/