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Leader (1850-1860), 24th April 1852, Edition Town of 2, Page 398, Untitled Article

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      «' Said , ' Stay this night until we sup , . The morn until we dine ; 'Twill be a token of good ' greement , ' 'Twistyour good lord and mine . '" « They remained , and thus Frendraught had under his roof the son of his great feudal enemy , Huntly , arid the son of the man for whose slaughter he had to make pecuniary compensation .. Part of the Castle of Frendraught was the grim , windo ^ less old square tower , so common in Scotland * Each floor had but one chamber , the thick walls occupying the greater part of the space .. The lowest chamber was vaulted , the others were covered with wood . The owners of such edifices were sometimes jealous of permanent stairs , and in the centre of the vault at Frendraught there was a round hole for reaching the floor above by a ladder . In the room thus entered slept Aboyne , with his follower Robert Gordon , and his page ' English Will . ' In the floor above slept Bothiemay with some of his followers , and in the third another band of followers ; it was observed that the whole of the

      party who had escorted Frendraught from Strathbqgic were lodged in this tower . Af ter a convivial evening they slept soundly . What afterwards happened cannot be better told t han in the simple words of a contemporary annalist : " * Thus all being at rest , about midnight this dolorous tour took fire in so suddent and furious a manner , yea , in one clap , that this noble viscount , the Laird of Rothiemay , English Will , Colin Ivat , another of Aboyno ' s servitours , and other twa , bemg six in number , were cruelly brunt and tormented to the death , but help or relief , the Laird of Frendraugh V his lady and whole household looking on , without moving or stirring to deliver them fra the fury of € his fearful fire as was reported . _ _ ... ... ¦ ... , , ' t t hamber

      " ' Robert Gordon , called Sutherland Robert , being in he viscouns c , escaped this fire with his life . George Chalmer and Captain Rollok being in the third room , escaped also this fire , and , as was said , Aboyne might have saved himself also if he had gone out of doors , quhilk he would riot do , but sudaintly ran upstairs to Rothiemay ' s chamber and wakened him to rise ; and as he is wakening him the timber passage and lofting of the passage hastily takes fire , so that none of them could come down stairs again . So they turned , to ane window looking to the close , where they piteously cried help , help , many times , for God ' s cause . The laird and the lady with their servants , all seeing and hearing this woful crying , but made no help nor maner of helping , which they perceiving , they cried often tunes mdrcy at God ' s hands for their sins , syne claspit in each other ' s armes and cheerfully suffered this cruel martyrdom . Thus died this noble viscount of singular expectation , Rothiemay , a brave youth , and the rest , by tbi-j doleful fire never eBOttghr ^ o be deplored , to . the great sorrow and grief of their kin , friends , parents , and hail country people , especially the noble marquisywlrofbr his good-will -got this reward . '"

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      OEBSTED'S SOT 7 L IN FATTJKE . ' = , The Soul in Nature ; with Supplementary Contributions . ^ By Hans Christian Oersted . Translated from the German by Leonora and Joanna Homer . ( Bohn ' s Scientific IAbrary . ) \ H . G . Bohn . The readers of this journal have not to learn our -wide dissidence from German Metaphysics , ( and the term dissidence must be understood according to its etymology , as a " sitting apart , " in supreme disregard of all that Metaphysics may have in debate ); if , therefore , we commend this last volume of Sir . Bohn's Scientific Library , we must do so with ^ the reservation , that it is to some extent vitiated by German p hilosophy . The great merit of the book consists in its being the production of a scientific thinker—one whose life has been given to positive science , and whose discoveries prove him to have the imagination and high generalizing power necessary to a philosopher . It is not a treatise , but a collection of articles , essays , conversations , and speeches , all more or less remotely bearing on the one subject—the Spiritual Presence in the Material World . Schelling , after Spinoza , and Coleridge after both , have rendered tolerably familiar the conception of a Law of Nature as the correlate of an Idea . They , and most other metaphysicians , owing to their primary assumption of Man being the measure of all things—the microcosm , of whom whatever is truo must likewise be true of the universe—conclude that if we can make a logical series of explanations of the phenomena of the universe , it will follow that the laws themselves must be logical . In other words , that what we reason about must be Boason I See how Oersted sums up : — " We are all agreed that , except the fundamental forces in Nature , the creating forces , there is n othing constant but those laws by which everything is regulated , and that these Laws in Nature may justly bo called the Thoughts of Nature . The

      fundamental forces themselves exist in all bodies ; their difference only depends upon the natural laws by which they are governed . That from which an object derives its enduring peculiarity , its peculiar essence , is , therefore , as we have already admitted , that combination of Nature ' s laws by which it was produced and is sustained . But the Laws of Nature are the Thoughts of Nature , and tho essence of things depends upon tho Thoughts that are expressed in them . In so far as anything is said to bo a distinct essence , all tho Thoughts of Nature expressed in it must combine in one essential Thought , which we call tho Idea oi tho thing . Tho essence of a thing is therefore its living Idea . " S . Then the essence of a thing becomes a more thought . « A . Do not let us forget that I said its living idea , and I mean by that tho idea realized by the forces of nature . " There can be no difficulty in proving All Existence a Dominion of Reason , as Oersted entitles one essay , if wo are allowed thus to measuro the universe by our mental standard ; and for those who like speculations of such refined anthropomorphism , Oersted ' s book will bo a dolightf u { guide . For ourselves , we object profoundly to til © whole scope and method of such speculations . In tho scientific aspect tho book is moro acceptable , and we would especially direct attention to the luminous essay on tho History < tf Chemistry , exhibiting a masterly power of tracing tho filiation ot ideasto the essay on Superstition and Infidelity in their Relation to boience — and , in general , to the fine vindication of Science as itself an exorcise ot Religion . There are many profound thoughts and noblo sentiments scattered through these pages , but wo limit our extracts to this on THE POETEY Olf SCIENCE . " Lot us first consider the impression produced , on a quiet night , by a clear

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      cloudlesssky .-.. ' There is a universal impression in it which is felt by all men . The clearness arid force of the impression , however , is not alone modified according to the different temperaments peculiar to each man , but . also in proportion to the different degrees of mental culture each may have received . It is this point towards which we will principally direct our attention , but we must first take into account and lay aside that which is common to all . " We need scarcely mention the vastness of the impression which the starry heavens produce , since it is so powerful as to be felt by every one . He even who seeks no more than the gratification of his senses , and-whose dawning reason is but faintly traceable in his sensational apprehensions , must acknowledge that the canopy of heaven is the grandest object he knows ; , this vast extent however would be dead and blank to us were it not enlivened by the innumerable host of stars . Their light comes to us with double force from the darkness of the surromidbff which remind of the trivial circumstances

      earth , when those objects us of daily life or which are of transitory importance , and which would otherwise attract our attention on all sides , are invisible . This enlarges the scale of our ideas , and quickens our perceptions for the reception of that light which proceeds from a higher , a greater , and a less transitory world . The glorious nature of light is here wonderfully manifested ; its animating and beneficial effects have in all times caused it to be the most beautiful emblem of life and virtue . Beneath the mild , clear , undazzling light of stars , which scarcely enables us to see anything around us , while , if I may so express myself , the light shines but to manifest itself , we feel as if Light , and Life , arid Happiness dwelt far away above us in those distant regions , while , on the other hand , Darkness , Death , and Terror remained here on earth . This idea interpreted in one manner may be easUy misunderstood ; but the feeling which such a sight exercises tipon the unperyertcd senses has nothing to do with these miscoristructiorfs .

      " Added to all this , we have the deep , and , we may say , tangible silence of night , by which the ear receives as faint impressions of the world beneath us , as are conveyed to the eye by the mild starlight . In short , it is not a mere flight of . the imagination which causes ^ our devotional feelings to be excited on a starli ght night > but it springs from a feeUng deeply rooted in our nature . " How different is the impression of a moonlight night . The mild light of the moon ' s disk , unlike that of the sun , does not oblige us to lower our eyes , but rather draws them upwards to Heaven . At the same time , it so far overpowers the light of stars that they no longer attract our notice , and sometimes become almost invisible . Moonlight also shows just so much of earth as to prevent bur entirel y forgetting it j thus , Fancy and Thought , rapt in mild enthusiasm , hover indefinitely between Heaven and Earth . " Let us now consider the forma which this original view assumes in the

      different degrees of development of the human , mind . We can easily fancy the impressioa of a starlight night on the mind of uncivilized man : the expansive vault , rising above the surrounding woods and mountains , embraces all that is known to him of the earth ' s surface . His ideas of measurement are indeed far too limited to grasp the expanse of Heaven : and yet it is the most imposing object he knows ; the stars to him are only points of light , but the clearness and purity of that light is not without its influence . The contrast between the bright vault of heaven and the dark earth , the silence , and the accompanying repose of mind , are so familiar to our senses , that we are noue of us strangers to the impression . "Let us now imagine a man whose powers of intellect and observation are perceptibly developed ; his conception of the immensity of the heavens will have proportionately increased . Ho has noticed particular stare , which he again recognises , and some distinguished groups more especially attract his attention : he has watched them over distant mountain summits , and as lie advanced , perceived how their

      remoteness to each other seemed to increase , -while their distance from him remained the same ; this distance must consequentl y be so immense , that the journey he has made can bear no comparison with it . Ho now therefore has a greater standard by which to take his measurements : this enlarges his conception of the extent of tho heavens . Ho observes that all terrestrial lights grow feebler and feebler the farther they are removed from us , and at a comparatively small distance they totally disappear . But the lights of heaven which he knows , are many times more distant than tho farthest hills , yet remain as pure and clear as if they belonged to a different order of things . He has arrived at these conclusions by observation and reflection , but the recollection of the results follow him in those hours in which he quietly resigns liimself to tho great impression of

      nature . " Wo will now imagine one so far advanced as to have acquired a certain knowledge of astronomy , as much as wo may suppose was tho case with tho Chaldroans , and the aspect of the heavens increases in . magnitude and completeness . He now knows that among the lesser stars , some wander in a pre-ordained path , while others are fixed in tho vault of heaven ; and ho knows that these , as well as the sun and moon , have a regulated course . Tho uninterrupted observations of successivo races have led to sorno knowledge of tho unequal distances of these wandering bodies , but wo may fool ' sure that hp docs not recapitulate all the knowledge which has resulted - from tho inquiries of the human race , and which is in some part his own , whenever ho resigns himaclf to the impression which tho heavenly

      bodies produce ; yot , still those discoveries are ns present to his contemplation as tho occurrences of everyday life aro to men in gonoral . His scale of measurement is far largor than on tho former position lie hold ; the remoteness of the moon Hccms to him now enormous compared to all tho distances on earth , and yet very small in comparison with those of the other heavenly bodies before which the moon frequently pusses , and which it conceals from our view . It will bo evident to every one how tho idea of tho magnitude of the heavens has increased in size and in importance ; and added to this , there is now the still grander idea of an order existing among tho heavenly movements , which is nlsp full of beneficial results to our earth . It i « tho thought of a reasonable guidance , independent of condition of

      tho earth ; of a higher Heason manifested in accordance with tho human nature , though not devoid of extraneous olcinonta . From ^ tho previous position on which wo stood , imagination filled up tho oinpty space in knowledge , by tho idea that a Sun-god guided tho flaming car of Day across tho Heavens , that ho might roposo . at night on tho lap of Ocean . Tho moon traversing tho vault ot heaven wu » also doHled . The . so ideas yield at a very early stage of astronomical science , though they lingor long among tho multitude ; and not only among tho ignorant , but even with those who have received aomo education , which however may not have included a diligont study of , tho heavens . Tho idea , on the other , hand , hns not yot reached tho unity of a , divino guidance ; each of the wandering

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      398 . - ¦ : ' THE' JL EAI ? ffiffi . . . . [[ . ^ M ^ M ^ :-

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), April 24, 1852, page 398, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1932/page/18/