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Leader (1850-1860), 31st July 1858, Edition 1 of 2, Page 748

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      The Doctrine Of Sacrifice. Strictures On...

      texts of Scripture launched against him by antagonists ,, whose moral feelings do not appear to have been acute enough to interfere with , the exercise of their critical faculty , or to make them regard as other than legitimate deductions what might sometimes be considered as a reductio ad absurdum of their own arguments . In these contests between genius , eloquence , and wide human sympathy on the one sicta , and , on the other , strict dogmatic orthodoxy , the partisans of the latter have been , we admit , on both occasions , victorious ; but it is open to doubt whether the true interests of religion would not have been more

      advanced b y their failure than , by the maintenance of their position . The supposed Scri p ture doctrine of sacrifice has long been a stumbling-block to theologians professing to derive their notions of right , justice , and common sense from other than exclusively biblical sources . The difficulties which surround it have been urged continually by the various enemies of Christianity , and have variously affected the different minds into which they have entered . They are so evidently felt and acknowledged by Mr . Maurice , that , if he still clingy , as he pro fesses , to the literal inspiration , of the Bible , his only remain-• ' * i ¦ ¦ i * ¦ ¦ 11 Cf # )/\ ilt * co ic r /\ i r » imi * a fiw £ iirv \ I mn •¦* nrn wt ww nvtit v «< ih UW UV / Ul

      ** q ^** _ - ¦>* . ** J -ig UVLO VAUHUU € * Wt \ J U 1 AUT LJCfcO * sages unfavourable to his views . The amount of success with which he has attempted this maybe gathered from a perusal of Mr . Barker's j Strictures . " These are not unfair to Mr . Maurice , where , not diverging into malevolent imputations and impertinent criticism of his motives and cliaracter , they deal only with his statemeats ; nor , except where they wander off into the regions of philosophy , are they more absurd than tlie very . nature of the task demanded . We will take the offering up of Isaac as an example of the different methods of these rival commentators . Mr . Maurice has resolved the

      transaction into a spontaneous wish on the part of the patriarch to prove his excessive thankfulness for Divine mercies . He treats it as the irresistible outpouring of a grateful spirit- —an act of devotion and gratitude , but not at all of obedience . The champion of orthodoxy , Mr . Barker , sees no difficulty in the reception of the literal story , and enters into a comparison of it in all its details , with the garbled version propounded by his adversary . He admits no metaphor ia the case , no figurative representation of wnat was passing in Abraham ' s mind ; and we are compelled , on reference , to acknowledge that this position appears tlie stronger one , although it may still remain a matter of doubt how far it was worth while to establish it ..

      __ It is Mr . Maurice ' s own fault that he exposes himself to defeat from such antagonists . If he were contented to be simply a moral teacher , and to apply his wide experience about men and things to the elucidation of other than biblical history , his friends would" reverence him no less than at ^ presenfc , and the orthodox patty , perchance not understanding him , might let him alone . But as long as lie persists in taking the Bible for his sole text-look , and in wresting from it , per fas atque nefas , a hidden

      interpretation for every tale , and a moral mystery in every precept , he must expect to find the religious world in arms against him , and prepared to dispute his novel method of gathering figs from thistles . The task of refutation , however , is really not a difficult one . Despite , of Mr . Maurice ' s surpassing genius , any charity boy might be competent , intel-Ieotually , to break a lance upon these points with him ; and our impression is that very few of a much higher order of intellect would be anxious to undertake an Office so ungracious and so useless .

      748 The Leide ^ B. ^ Lg°-Jgg. Jtoy 31, 1...

      748 THE LEIDE ^ B . ^ Lg ° -Jgg . Jtoy 31 , 1858 .

      The Edinburgh Ileview. The Edinburgh Rev...

      THE EDINBURGH IlEVIEW . The Edinburgh Review . 2 fr > . 219 . Longman and Co . The Northern Quarterly , once ao potent in the Held of politics and literature , comes before us shorn of much of its old glory . More advanced , if not abler , rivals have taken the wind out of its sails , and the politics of no important party of the present day square exactly with the whi frgism still rampant in our Scotch quarterly . The Whigs , as a party , indeed are nowhere—they are principally recognised by then ? tenacious appetite for Government appointments , by their family adhesiveness , and by their desire to assume the cloak of Liberalism , hoping to strengthen their ranks with the aid of the laberal party , m which hope , however , they see " looming in the future" unexpected disappointment—their rivals the Tories havingj , by a maaterttroko of political generalship , bid higher , given up

      more , and promised , greater concessions than pure Wlriggism can bring it 3 elf at present to stomach . It is on its literary power that the reputation and influence of the Edinburgh Review must mainly rest ; but even here formidable opposition , everywhere meets it , and if tin ' s quarterly cannot put forth more original literary might than the present number displays , we fear that it must come down from its < e pride of place , " drop into the water of younger rivals , and be content with only that share of popular favour which , its intrinsic merits entitle it to demand . :

      The first article is on the writings of Hugh Miller . We do tliink the subject hardly possesses sufficient importance to entitle it to the foremost place in the Heview . Miller was a clever , self-educated genius- —and a respectable addition to the list of Scottish wbrtliies . But his writings will leave no mark upon the age in which he livedneither will Ins geological conjectures nor his theological speculations be received as proved truths by the more scientific geologist and the higher order of theological mind of the present day . The paper on " the Progress and Spirit of Physical Science " will be acceptable to lovers of scientific statisticsand is

      , full of sound information . The review of M . Thiers ' s Histoire du Consulat et de VEmpire is to our mind one ^ of the best contributions to this number . The reviewer , with courteous but unsparing severity , has pointed out the grave objections that can honestly be urged to accuracy and fairness on the part of M . Tliiers— -qualities without which historical works are but impositions on the credulity of the world , and rank properly far below the historical romance . When we find a writer with abundant sources of reliable information ,

      documentary , official , ani . personal , at hand , almost always embodying fallacious statistics in his work , reasoning on these statistics , and drawing conclusions either in favour of his particular hero or people and against all other nations , then it is that we are compelled to entertain the belief that the writer has -wilfully falsified figures and facts at his command , and that lie has done so for purposes and motives wholly unworthy of the lustorian . Tile most conspicuous quality in the English character is the love of truth , aud Englishmen insist on truth even though that truth should

      be humiliating to us as a nation . This is a quality that M . Thiers appears imperfectly to apprehend the value of , and it is the want of this quality that will ever detract seriously from the value of his great national work as a truthful record of events which took place during one of the most important and stirring periods of French history . The literary execution of M . Thiers ' s work is of the highest order ; pity that its truthfulness and impartiality in so many instances can be justly impugned . The article on " Cunning ' s Literary Remains" is

      not very first-rate . The bias of the reviewer may be collected from one paragraph : — " Nature had intended Canning fora Whig . " " ' This , we think , will be amusing news for the -worshippers of this brilliant man . " The Health of the Army , " " The Celts and the Germans , " * ' The Chronicles of the Teutonic Knights / ' will no doubt interest some few miscellaneous readers . The elaborate review of Froude ' s " History of England , " Vols . I . to IV ., in which the author ' s estimate of the character of Henry VIII . undergoes a severe criticism ,

      is exhaustive of tlie subject . Froude is not our " model historian . " In fact , the " model historian "—the writer of history who shall satisfy everybody—has not yet made his appearance . Macaulay will always have liis admirers , and so will Froude , but neither will be accepted as the authority from which there is no appeal ; and unluckily for Mr . Froude ' s reputation , recent researches in public records have incontestably proved the inaccuraoy of some of his authorities on which he relies for the vindication of Henry VIII . Tho " Hindu Drama " might have been made much more readable . " Earl Grey on Parliamentary Government " winds up the series of articles . The publication of " Parliamentary GnvfirnrY >> .. * : nr . nsiii- » iv » d with re-^^ ¦» w »» ——¦ ¦ ~

      _ _ _ ., _____ __ , _ _ wflk mmmm * *_**_* wi ^* ^ - ^ « ^ —*—* ^^ - » — — - — __ ference to a Reform in Parliament , " will not add materially to the reputation of the noble author . The same hard , unyielding tone is perceptible throughout the work , aa ia conspicuously visible in Lord Grey ' s parliamentary speeches and his official administration . Lord Grey is essentially a theorist —not a thoroughly practical statesman . He manufactures clover constitutions in his library ; he finda , however , to his amazement , that they will not work , and simply because , though he understands great principles j _ nd great truths , and has great

      administrative vigour and experience , he knows verv little of men , and cannot take into account S other than a state of society in which he finds himself an aristocratic member of cultivated mindful honest purposes . This production , we think , was intended to have an effect on the question of Pa ? haxnentary . Reform , the nice little piece of legislation which will set politicians and the world—of Urea ? Britain at least—by the ears next session

      Traits And Stories Of Angio.India.Jf Tra...

      TRAITS AND STORIES OF ANGIO . INDIA . Jf Traits and Stories of Anglo-Indian Life . By Lieutenant Colonel . Addison , Author of " Diary of a Juda-e ' " " Belgium as She Is , " & c . Smith / Elder , and O > We have all of us so often breakfasted , dined and supped on Indian horrors , that even the reader , who may only sip at will the cup that reviewers must dram , will appreciate our satisfaction when we found that the pleasant little volume before us had no connexion with the great Eastern revolt . The gallant author , who besides his own recollections has incorporated those of several other shrewd and humorous observers , some of them of very old Indian

      standing , has admirably hit on , not the salient peculiarities alone , but the finer shades of Anglo-Indian society aud native character . Had all observers apt as himself , whom the Indian services may number , devoted themselves during the last half-century , with half his assiduity , to the study of the latter as to the amenities of the former , it is hard to say what a world pf sorrow might not have been saved . But the prophets—and prophets there were—who foretold , that the British raj was preparing its own Nemesis , were too-few arid too isolated to attract the attention of the thoughtless and tlie self-sufficient

      among _ the men in office , and the evil is upon vis . But this moan of ours , evoked from hearts yet bleeding by every-mention , of the fatal word BEiudbstan , can be little to the purpose of our reader for the moment . So , to return to Colonel Addison and his little book : let us say in brief that this is just such a slight and trippingly written collection of Anglo-Indian experiences as the cadet in . expectancy may marvel at and profit by ; its gladsome pages , brimming with old associations , Svill provoke the smile of tlie sere and yellow idlers at Cheltenham and Muida " Vale , and to all the uninitiated , who directly or indirectly

      feel interested or curious about Anglo-Indian manners and customs , its photographic touches will be welcome . For those who fancy tales of hairbreadth 'scapes > of tiger-hunts—what Indian book was ever complete without a tiger-hunt ?—pig-sticking , snake-charming , centipedes , and soothsayers , tlie author has made liberal provision ; and so felicitously invests many a simple tale favnil iav as a household word to those who have resided in the East , with graces of romantic and dramatic diction , that

      while to ourselves they arc acceptable as old friends with new faces , they must be pleasant as Fresh acquaintances to the novice . The stories of " The Black Prophet , " "Tlie Scoffer ' s Fate , " "A Tale of Writer ' s Buildings , " " A Fifth at Whist , " either of which we should like to extract at length , were it fair to our space or the gallant author , exliibit considerable serious power , while " Jerry Iiangstavc , the Griffin , " and " Table Talk , " may be instanced among the many lighter delineations to be found in this very agreeable volume .

      Purification 01? The Thames. Purificatio...

      PURIFICATION 01 ? THE THAMES . Purification of the Thames : a Letter hyF . 0 . Ward , Esq ., addressed to William Coningkam , Esq ., M . P . ( Privately printed . ) We presume that this is the pamphlet from which the houoxirable member read the copious and unreported extracts in his place in the House on Thursday evening . But all the lucubrations of Mr . F . O . Ward , and all the entreaties of Mr . Coningham in favour of deliberation , could not obtain an instant's arrest of the hot haste with which the Government are bent upon cantering the Local Management Act Amendment Bill through Parliament . Still , though the voice of tho legislator—so familiar to his audience upon far more elegant ; topics than the disposition of sewage—falls upon dull cars when ho described his metier , and though , again , we nre by no means competent to spenk upou . engincoring , the possibility of the phms here nayocatcd , we are bound , for the sake of one proposition laid down in the brochure , to call tho attention ot the reeilcr to it . " The whole of tho rainfall , " soya Mr . Ward , " is due to the river ; tho wholo of tho sewage to the soil . " This , ho contends , is as csseu-

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), July 31, 1858, page 748, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/ldr_31071858/page/20/