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Januar* 22, 1853.} THE LEA PER. P*
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KANKE'S CIVIL WAItS IN FItANCE. Civil Wa...
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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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Itutil Bath. A Novel. By Tho Author Of "...
was when you spoke of your pig . But of yoursel' you ' re nothing to boast on , and so 111 bid you good night , and I'll keep rny manners , or else , if I told the truth , I should say It had been a great loss of time listening to you . But I'll be civil—so good-night . "' b J
sally ' s caee or her soul . « ' ¦ ' What do I do wrong ? ' said Ruth ; « I try to do all I can / "' Yes , in a way / said Sally , puzzled to know how to describe her meaning . ' Thou dost it—but there's a right and a -wrong way of setting about everythingand to my thinking , the right way is to take a thing up heartily , if it is only making a bed . Why ! dear ah me , making a bed may be done after a Christian fashion , I take it , or else what ' s to come of such as me in heaven , who ' ve ljad little enough time on earth for clapping ourselves down on our knees for set prayers ? When I was a girl , and wretched enough about Master Thurstan , and the crook on his back which came of the fall I gave him , I took to praying and sighing , and giving up the world ; and I thought it were wicked to care for the
flesh , so I made heavy puddings , and was careless about "dinner and the rooms , and thought I was doing my duty , though I did call myself a miserable sinner . But one night , the old missus ( Master Thurstan ' s mother ) came in , and sat down by me / as I was a-scolding myself , without thinking of what I \ t as saying ; and , ' says she , ' Sally ! what are you blaming yourself about , and groaning over ? We hear you in the parlour every night , and it makes my heart ache / ' Oh , ma ' am / says I , 'I ' m a miserable sinner , and I'm travailing in the new birth / ' Was that the reason / says she , ' why the pudding was so heavy to-day ? ' ' Oh , ma ' am , ma ' am , ' said I , ' if you would not think of the things of the flesh , but trouble yourself about your immortal soul / And I sat a-shaldng my head to thing about her soul . ' Bub / says she , in her sweet-dropping voice , ' I do try to think of my soul every hour of the day , if by that you mean trying to do the will of God , but we'll talk
now about the pudding ; Master Thurstan could not eat it , and I know you'll be sorry for that / Well ! I was sorry , but I didn't choose to say so , as she seemed to expect me ; so says I , ' It ' s a pity to see children brought up to care for things of the flesh ; ' and then I could have bitten my tongue out , for the fhissus looked so grave , and I thought of my darling little lad pining for want of his food . At last , says she , ' Sally , do you think God has put us into the world just to be selfish , and do nothing but see after our own souls ? or to help one another with heart and hand , as Christ did to all who wanted help ? ' I was silent , for , you see , she puzzled me . So she went on , ' What is that beautiful answer in your Church catechism , Sally ? ' I were pleased to hear a Dissenter , as I did not think would have done it , speak so knowledgably about the catechism , and she went on : 'to do my duty in that station of life unto which it shall please God to call me ; ' well , your
station is a servant , and it is as honourable as a king's , if you look at it right ; you are to help and serve others in one way , just as a king is to help others in another . Now what way are you to help and serve , or to do your duty , in that station of life unto which it has pleased God to call you ? Did it answer God ' s purpose , and serve Him , when the food was unfit for a child to eat , and unwholesome for any one ? ' Well ! I would not give it up , I was so pig-headed about my soul ; so says I , ' I wish folks would be content with locusts and wild honey , and leave other folks in peace to work out their salvation ; ' I groaned out pretty loud to think of missus ' s soul . I often think since she smiled a bit at me ; but she said , ' Well , Sally , to-morrow , you shall have time to work out your salvation ; but as we have no locusts in England , and I don't think they'd agree with Master Thurstan if we had , I will come and inaks the pudding ; but I shall try and do it well , not only
for him to like it , but because everything may be done in a right way or a wrong ; the right way is to do it as wellae - we caii , as in God ' s sight ; the wrong is to do it in a self-seeking spirit , which either loads us to neglect it to follow out some device of our own for our own ends , or to give up too much time and thought to it both before and after the doing / Well ! I thoug ht of old missus ' s words this morning , when I saw yon making iho beds . You sighed so , you could not half shake the pillows ; your heart was not in your work ; and yet it was the duty God had set you , I reckon ; I know it ' s not the work parsons preach about ; though I don't think they go so far oft * the mark when they read , ' whatsoever thy hand findeth to do , that do with all thy might . ' Just try for a day to think of all the odd jobs as to be done well and truly a . s in God ' s sight , not just shirred over anyhow , and you'll go through them twice as cheerfully , and have no thought to spare for sighing or crying / " Lot no ono leave Ruth unread .
Januar* 22, 1853.} The Lea Per. P*
Januar * 22 , 1853 . } THE LEA PER . P *
Kanke's Civil Waits In Fitance. Civil Wa...
KANKE'S CIVIL WAItS IN FItANCE . Civil Wars and Monarchy in France in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries . A History of Franco during that period . Jiy Leopold Itanko . Translated by M . A Garvey . 2 vols . Bentley , No work by ftanlce will bo unworthy of careful attention . If not a brilliant nor a deep-thinking historian , he is ono whoso researches are laborious and independent , and whose writing escapes the genera defects of Gorman metaphysics . Ho takes what may be called " sensible" views of characters and epochs . In tho work before us , we traco good honest inquiry , but wo cannot say that we have seen !< ranee more vividly tlian before . Jianlco is not a suggestive writer , —assured y not an artist Tho religious wars aro here narrated with a certain cold impartiality , but with no superiority of pictorial or philosophic power lie is far indeed from the fascination of a Thierry or a Macau I ay , but not less so from the insight and aagaeity of a Guizofc . What ho says m his
Preface may bo accepted as a description : — « Much I hih been written upon the history of tills epoch , but to me it appears that tho appropriate conception of the times 1 ms scarcely been attained . I he contemporary writiiiKH carry in their vivid colouring thu impress of th « moment hi which each originated ; they « ro for tho most part imbued with the peculiar v . ews of pnrt . es or of private individuals . Of tho traditional history which has been formed smco Me / er ay ' s iim « w nfid the manner in which Swmoii . li has extended . 1 , learned - ronchmonhuve long since remarked how insecure the foundation ih upon which it ih Wd . In a few instnncoH thin traditional authority has been departed from , but it ban been on the whole submitted to .
" For a closer examination of the truth of facts , the original documentary matter published in Franco during the la « t ten yean ,, as well as that which has appeared to Netherlands and in Italy , none of which has ever before been used 1 have f n , 1 of tho greatest value . 1 have , in tho progress of tho work , had opportu . nt . es f raw ng my information " from u vast number of unprinted documents : _ lt « lm « rclato ftom the Venetian Ambammdora and the I > upul Nuncos at lto , to tbeir
respective courts , extending over the whole period ; Spanish and English correspondence relating to some of the most important years , the former having reference to the sixteenth , the latter to the seventeenth century ; letters and proclamations of French kings and statesmen ; rolls of the Estates , and records of the parliamentary debates ; diplomatic communications , and many other original sources of information , much of which deserves to be published in its entire extent . These documents have given me valuable information at all times , and have not unfrequently decided my historical convictions . I may take another opportunity of giving a detailed account of them . They are to be found , not in the French and English libraries alone , but also in the archives of Italy , Germany , and Belgiumfor all took an interest in that which affected all . " I have not desired , even had I the ability , to produce a history arranged according to the models of the ancient and modern masters of narrative ; for such a work it would require a whole life devoted to the uninterrupted study of the archives of France and neighbouring countries .
" It will be sufficient for me if , unaffected by the reciprocal complaints of the contemporary writers of the age , and avoiding the frequently limited conceptions of later authors , I may flatter myself with having , through authentic and credible information , succeeded in placing before the reader the great and true features of the events which have occurred . " Th j work is divided into six Books ; but there are more to come . Book I . briefly and broadly sketches the earlier epochs of French history ; Book II . is devoted to the politics and wars of 1450-1550 , an agitated century ; Book III . narrates the appearance of various efforts for ecclesiastical reform in France ; Book IV . gives us more in detail the fifteen years of religious struggle , closed with the Massacre of St . Bartholomew ; Book V . tells of Henry III . and the League ; and
Book VI . of Henry IV . and the League . It saddens even the most hopeful mind to read these terrible records of religious animosity and intellectual tyranny , —the Gospel of Love preached with such implacable hatred ! One strives to penetrate beneath sophisms into the actual workings of men ' s minds , and to unmask the real tyrannical feeling which gratifies itself under the pretext of serving God . That men are intolerant of differences , even . in matters of taste , we all know . To refuse admiration for an artist or an amusement , is enough to make some men regard you as an enemy . To wear your hair or beard
of a different length , your coat of a different cut , is to rouse bitterness that would be ludicrous were it not so sad . How , then , can it be otherwise on subjects of more fundamental importance ? The great commandment is , Thou shalt not differ ! How relig ion contrives to draw secular minutige within its intolerance may be seen in endless directions , from the Quaker ' s costume to the fopperies of pro and anti-Puseyism , the wax candles that may stand on the altar , but may not be lighted , and the prohibitions of " dancing and other frivolous amusements , " so alarming to Low-Church moralists . Head this of Calvin : —
" Under his guidance—for he also took part in the temporal legislation—tbe ^ strongest fetters of discipline were laid upon outward conduct ; the expenses of clothing and of the table were confined within certain limits ; dancing was prohibited , and the reading of certain books , such as Amadis , forbidden ; gamblers were Been in the pillory with the curds in their hands . Once a year an examination took place in every house , to ascertain whether t ho religious precepts were known and observed ; mutual imputations of failings which the members of the Council observed in one another were permitted at their sittings . No indulgence was known for transgression : a woman was burned for having sung immodest songs ; one of the most distinguished of the citizens was compelled to kneel in the great square with an inverted torch in his hand , and publicly to entreat forgiveness , because he bad mocked the doctrine of salvation and personally insulted the great preacher . In accordance with a requisition of an assembly of the people , adultery was made punishable with death ; and the man who suffered for it praised God , in
dying for the strict laws of his native city . " The fundamental principle of these proceedings was that vice and sin must bi destroyed , because to tolerate them would draw down the vengeance of God . " A woman burned for having sung immodest songs ! and this without the slightest misgiving on the- part of the burners . ' . Docs it not seem monstrous ? And yet for men who believed that God would punish scepticism with eternal hell-fire , 7 io sense of disproportion between the offence and the punishment would bo likely to mitigate wrath . ^ We have said that Kanke was by no means pictorial . Even such a , subject as the St . Bartholomew massacre does not inspire him . He despatches it in three or four pages ; and how he describes it you may judge : —
" The murder of the Admiral , and of those who were most closely associated with him , was undertaken by Guise , Auinale , and the Hastard of Angoulcnu ? . According to one account , which wears the appearance of truth , the Admiral was assailed in his own chamber , without any respect shown for his grey hairs ; he was mortally wounded , but before life became quite extinct he was dragged to the window and Hung out . It is said that he had laid hold of a column of tin ; window with his lett arm , and received repealed wounds before he reliiKHiished it , but was at last hurled into the court-yard , where ( Jui . se and Angoulcme stood by whilst lie expired . " La Itoehefoucald and his son , Teligny the Admiral ' s . son-in-luw , Hriuucinont , his sons , and all who were with them , were then killed , and their bodies thrown into the street , where they wen ; stripped by the populace . bthe
" The ' Paris Matins , ' as the massacre was called—a name suggested y remembrance of the ' Sicilian Vespers' had meanwhile commenced in all quarter * of the capital . The tocsin was Hounded everywhere , and the populace stormed the houses of tho Huguenots , murdering ( hem and plundering their property , with the cry , ' The King desires and commands it / They had come confiding in tho hospitality which had been ollered to them : they wen ; surprised in their beds , and indiscriminately slaughtered ; there was no distinction made between those who hud borne amis and those who had not , between the illustrious and tho ol > - Hcure , tho muster and the servant . The King of Navarre ' s bed was sprinkled with the blood of friends , strangers as well as natives , who hud come , from the remotest parts of the king dom to witness tho ceremony of his murringe . Tho kohIoiih reformer of the university , La Hiimee , was hunted out , in bin liiding-pluce by ono of his colleagues , whose ignorance he hud frequently exposed , and by him
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Jan. 22, 1853, page 19, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_22011853/page/19/
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