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j^jgg^ ATjaTJST 21 ^ 1858.] ^ THE ' LEAJ...
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POETRY TROM THE NORTH. TU Ballads of Sco...
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THE NEW TESTAMENT. An Historico-critical...
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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 People In Church. The People In Chur...
But-were the people in . church—and' it was a congregation of the poor—participants ? By no ' means . They were abashed , or bewildered , or contumacious it might be , but they were comparatively silent . "We could not resist the irnprcssionthat though such embellishments might stimulate the fervour of the instructed , and the genteel , they might perhaps involve a graver error than that estrayal from the ancient and orthodox mode of Protestant worship , with which , this zealous author charges the Anglo-Catholic Church of to-day . ¦ ¦ "
J^Jgg^ Atjatjst 21 ^ 1858.] ^ The ' Leaj...
j ^ jgg ^ ATjaTJST 21 ^ 1858 . ] ^ THE ' LEAJEB , 843
Poetry Trom The North. Tu Ballads Of Sco...
POETRY TROM THE NORTH . TU Ballads of Scotland . Edited by William Edmottdstoune Aytonn , D . C . L . Two Vola . ( Blackwood and Son . )—The northern counties of England and the southern of Scotland were the homes of that fine ballad literature -which was the aurora to "the full daylight of our modern poetry . From those border lauds came the gleemen who delighted the palace of the king and the cottage of the peasant ; and it was there that from age to age were preserved those tales of love and adventure which are associated in our minds with whatever is gay , gallant , and fascinating in the old times . Peopled by a race of common origin , though split into antagonistic nationalities — a race compounded of Saxons , Danes , and Britons—the language , legends , habits , and modes of thought of the ' meu of these districts continued very similar , ' though Englishman and Scot were deadly foes , and though the wild border land was loud with the frequent clangour of their battles , and red . with the constant spilling of their blood . The country was in itself calculated to excite and encourage a feeling for tbe poetry of action ; old British traditions of King Arthur and Lanncelot , of Merlin and the Lady of the Lake , still hung about the hills and valleys in
the middle ages , like ghosts from the vanished kingdoms of Cumbria and Strathcly . de- ; and the population inherited from the Scandinavian part of their ancestry a natural tendency to a lyrical form of expression . Thus they soon accumulated a rich stove of ballad poetry , which passed from mouth to mouth , and from district to district , and which has descended from generation to generation , even down to the present day . These ballads , indeed , seem to have been used as a kind of current coin of the
literary realm . Scotch productions were adopted in England , and English productions in Scotland ; so that , in this new collection of the ballads of the latter country , Mr . Aytoun has included some which are substantially English , -though they appear in a Scotti s h dress . There ' are two on the subject of Robin Hood and his merry men of Sherwood Torest . These gallant outlaws , Mr . Aytoun informs us , were great favourites with the Scotch . The " game of Kobin Hood" was frequently played by the men north of the Tweed ; andin 1555—when tne gloomy clouds of Puritanism were beginning to darken Scotland—it received the special condemnation of the Parliament of that country . Any person
joining jn the game , or m certain other specified sports , was to lose his freedom for five years ! But the people would not calml y submit to such bigoted tyranny ; and in 1561 the citizens of Edinburgh rose in mutiny , for no other reason , and seized on the city gates . Even some years later than this , liobin Hoou , brigand and outlaw though he was , was constantly made the . subject of Sabbath plays in staid and thrifty Scotland . The collection of ballads here put forth by Mr . Avtoun in two handsome volumes is of great intc-Aytoun in two handsome volumes is of great
interest to all who love the xittcrances of n bygone day . The editor professes to have gathered together all those productions the age and genuineness of which he thinks he can authenticate , and to have excluded whatever is spurious or doubtful . The scries ranges from very early times down to the reign of Charles II . Mr . Aytoun has been at great pains to collate the several versions which may exist of any one ballad ; and , by taking the best of each , he has pjiven his readers what ho believes to bo the most reliable
result . This is a mode of procedure fraught with Bome danger ; but Mr . Aytoun champions it against the authority of Mr . Mothcvwell . There is no doubt that such n course , in skilful hands , often results in the production of a more readable poem than could otherwise bo obtained ; yet something in . the nature of a new ballad has at the same time been elaborated . All the component ports may be old and genuine ; but the whole , thus reset , is dearly something -which had not previously existed . This will be more especially the case when , o » Mr . Aytoim himself remarks , the variations do not
merely arise from the corruptions of time , but are the eiFect of that community of property in such matters to which we have already alluded , and which left every minstrel at liberty to alter any sl . ory which found its way to him , in whatsoever Avay pleased his own fancy , or -was likely to gratify his audience . Still , by tins system of collation , the spirit , and even the phraseology , of the old ballad literature may be perfectly preserved , while "blemishes are removed ; and we have no doubt that Mr . Aytoun—who has given his life to the study of such subjects , who works in the spirit of love as well as
of intelligence , and whose genius is such as to make him sympathise with that of the harpers and gleemen of the past—has exercised his editorial judgment with alt possible skill . We must confess that our " Southron" blood aud breeding-will not permit us to enjoy some of the ballads in these ^ volumes ; a few even appear to us not worth printing ; but several have in them that fire of genius which burns through all distinctions of nationality , and kindles an answering glow in the breast of any reader whose heart is not a mere machine for pumping blood . How can we be too thankful for
The grand old ballad of Sir Patrick Spens , as Coleridge called that noble production- —a ballad which throbs with passion from one end to the other , and which , in the course of three-and-twenty stanzas , abounds with action , character , and Homeric description 3 vital with simple truth and force ? " Edom O'Gordon , " "Edward , " " The Twa Corbies , " " The Douglas Tragedy , " "The Wife of
Usher ' s Well , " '* ' Clerk . Saunders , " others , are also remarkable for the directness of their pathos and passion , and often for their wonderfully lyrical instincts ; but we know Of nothing equal to cc Sir Patrick . " The version given by Mr . Aytoun is much fuller and finer than that which appears in Percy ' s Rcliqiies .. The picture of the storm at sea is new to us , and , 'doubtless ,: will be to many of Mr . Aytoun ' s readers . By the way , we are glad to see that the editor of this new collection of old ballads
does justice to Bishop Percy , in whose excellent work many of the productions here reissued were first made generally known to southern readers Mr . Aytoun also speaks with generous candour of his other predecessors in the way of collection ; but lie shows that their labours were in many respects imperfect , and : he conceives that to him was left , the task of gathering up , and winnowing from extraneous matter , a complete edition of the traditionary poetry of his native country . His Introduction" is amusing and suggestive , but might have been better put together . "We observe also
a great want m connexion with the work . A good glossary should have been appended ; but nothing of the kind appears , and the English reader is left in ignorance or the meaning of many words . With this collection of Scottish Ballads we may couple a book of still more northern poetry—The Frithiqf-Saga ; or , Lay of FritKiof . Translated , in the Original Metres , from the Swedish of Esaias Tegiier , Bishop of TVexio , by the Rev . William Lewery Blackley , MiA . ( Dublin
M'Glashan and Gill . )—Of tlie faithfulness of this work as a translation we do not feel qualified to speak ; but the reader who is tired of the dreaming indistinctness of current poetry will hero find a counterpoise in the shape of several amusing stories told with that fulness of concrete imagery which distinguishes the legendary writings of the Scandinavian races , and gives to them a character which often brings to mind the stately , processional march of the poetry of ancient Greece .
The New Testament. An Historico-Critical...
THE NEW TESTAMENT . An Historico-critical Introduction to the Canonical Books of the New Testament . By Wilhclm Martin JT . ebcrecht De Wette , D . D ., & c , Translated from the Fifth improved and enlarged Edition , by Frederick Frotliinglmm . Boston ( U . S . ) : Crosby and Co . Amongst the most important additions which Germany lias presented to biblical literature , illustrative of the history of tlie texts of the- Old find New Testament , almost the foremost rank is due to I ) r . Do Wetto ' s Lehrbufli dor historisch-IcritiscJien Eiu-Itiluiig in die Buechcr des jtlten itnd Neucn Testaincuts , which consist of two volumes . Tlio second , by fuv the more important , is devoted to the books of the Now Testament , and we are indebted to Mr . F rot hi ugh am , of Harvard University , for presenting that portion to us in an English dress , rendering the text of liis author with great fidelity—not with mere verbal accuracy , but with that which is of far greater consequence—an accurate rendering of the
the text and the origin of the first three Gospelshe has failed to satisfy himself . " Of two of thebooks of the New Testament De Wette denies the > genuineness , whilst several others are placed by him as doubtful ; but as he gives the evidences and arguments for and against with great impartiality ,, the reader is , in some measure , left to sum up and judge for himself . It is this impartiality in the arrangement of thematerials that is the great merit of the book , and it was this very impartiality that brought against hV o > n its first appearance , a host of assailants of every denomination ; yet from 1826 to 1849 , which is tb . fr date of De WetteV death , the author stood his ground , had lived down prejudice , and came to be considered " a conservative critic of middle rank . " '
sense . To accomplish this object the more readily , the proof-sheets were submitted to Professor Noves , of the Cambridge ( Mass . ) Theological School / and to Mr . Ezra Abbot , of Harvard University . ° f , , work enjoying so European a reputation , it would be simply an act of supererogation in our limits to attempt anything like an analysis . We , however , call the reader ' s particular attention tothe author ' s own remark , that " that is no genuine love of truth which is not ready to sacrifice its inordinate curiosity where certainty is unattainable , no less than its pious prejudices . " It is . this rule that we must not lose sight of in studying : the work of De Wette , because he at once startles us by the announcement that on the two most important subjects of investigation— - " the history of
His own words are : — My experience in New Testament criticism is singular . When I first entered this field I stood in . theforemost rank and was regarded by many as a dangerous assailant . Now I lehold myself thrust back into thetniddle rank of conservative critics , —who indeed ar <» far in advance of the Apologists who would retain thewhole ,---and yet my views and position are in general unchanged . I hope that this new tempest will passover , as did that raised by Strauss . I admire the learning , acutenees , and dialectic skill of Dr . Baur , lut ia his investigations I miss freedom from bias , and
blamethe excessive haste with which he always seeks positive results , at the sacrifice of thoroughness ; as ^ for ^^ instance , in respect of the Gospel of the Hebrews and Marcion ' s Gospel . I can , notwithstanding , learn from him , and wish that others likewise would do so , and oppose Mm with candour and calmness . To oppose his" tendency" theory Yry a style of criticism of the samecharacter is not serving the truth . Nothing is gained by magisterial decisions and bold assertions , arbitrary explanations arid forced combinations ; nor does a writer ' sassertion become true and valid because another writerpronounces it excellent , " truly an acquisition . "
"We cannot conclude better than with tlie following extract , as the subject is one of paramount importance ,, and must be interesting both to learned ; and unlearned readers To the question , " Why was the New Testament written in Greek ? " he says : — The Greek language was at that time extended over the whole civilised world . It prevailed even in several cities of Palestine , and -was to the Jews of Egypt , and of all other foreign lands , the language of tlie Bible and of literature . As soon , therefore , aa Christianity passed
the bounds of Palestine , it was necessarily propagated in this language , although at the outset it was preached first to the Jews . At an early period , however , there were found among the Christians native Greeks or Greek . Jews , who preached the Gospel to the Greeks . At Antioch , the point whence proceeded the missions to the ' Greeks , and the Greek Jews , the Greek language and culture prevailed . Barnabas and Paul , who led these missions , wore Greek Jews ; and the latter was probably the father of the New Testament literature . Ancient
tradition claims foT but one of the New Testament books a non-Greek original . The supposition of other Buch originals is inadmissible . And wisely was this so , for from the earliest rise of Christianity to the present time , the spread oZ the Gospel has waited on extension , of commerce , Alexandria was the grand emporium of trade , the resort of the great Jewish merchants , and the seat of their celebrated philosophical school , where tho commoft language was tho so-called popular dialed of Greek , or the Macedonio-Alcxandriaii . Into that
dialect the Old Testament had been translated , centuries before the advent of the Saviour , hy the Seventy , and but upon especial occasions it is to that translation that Our Lord himself , aw we 1 as the Apostles , always refers . Tlie Gospel had been rejected by the unbelieving Jews . It was to bo preached to the Gentiles , and Greek was , at that period , pre-eminently tho language of tho Gcntilo world—evcn Unit Maccdonio-Alexandrmn Greek , which had become the vernacular languages of commerce throughout all the ports of the Mediter > rancuu .
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Aug. 21, 1858, page 19, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_21081858/page/19/
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