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If any proof were needed , of the almost inevitable misunderstanding which awaits all who treat of subjects intimately affecting the interests and passions of men , the history of our Journal would suffice . Toleration has been our animating principle : free speech and free thought our watchwords Unfortunately , Toleration is commonly understood like the Irishman ' s reciprocity , all on one side . " Each section claims it for itself , and denies it to the rest . We , who claim it for ourselves and for others , incur the suspicion of all .
It is assuredly arrogating nothing that any reader will refuse , if we say that our dogmatic convictions on the subject of Religion have been plainly , markedly , unequivocally expressed , over and over again ; so plainly , that although many may hesitate as to whether they clearly understand what our system is , at any rate they know that it is distinctly opposed to all forms of Orthodoxy . In our earlier days , while reviewing Newman and Foxton , we were reproached by the orthodox for our " jmfijdeljty ;* f . « Mid reproached by one class of freethinkers for our " sentimental religion . " Smith was in terror , Jones sneered at our want of " courage . " The sum total of the impression , however , was , that we were sufficiently free and liberal to deserve liberal support . Then came the Catholic furor . True to our own principles , we took the
lead , and unhesitatingly sided with the Catholics , claiming for them the right to their own Religion , and all the forms or measures they deemed necessary to its active operation . The consequence was curious : we were accused of " having gone over to the Church ; " and plain hints of " Jesuits" reached our ears . To be suspected of Catholicism was more dangerous than to be accused of infidelity . Having been classed as Catholics , we next found ourselves attacked for supporting the Church of England , because we sided with Archdeacon Denison in his call for Convocation . Hating compromise , abatement , weakness , of whatsoever kind , and ( since there was a Church believed in by Englishmen not without the ordinary indications of sanity ) wishing that Church to have its action unfettered , we claimed for it what we had claimed for the Catholics , and the cry was , "Oh , the Leader has turned round ! " '
So we went on , till the Patagonian Missionary defence drew down upon us the reproach of having abetted an absurdity , and having failed in our office in not attacking such an instance of superstition and fanaticism . This week we have received a letter , which has called forth the present remarks , and we print it to give an explanation to our friends of our supposed inconsistency : — Sir , —I have been a reader and warm supporter of the Leader from the very first , on account of the liberal tone of its political and social sentiments ; and have often noticed , with surprise , the great amount of attention it pays to Church matters ; from which , and the language used , an inference is to be drawn that the Leader is a supporter of a State-paid church .
Of late , too , I have observed , with deep regret , that this extraordinary inconsistency in a liberal journal has assumed a more than usual marked appearance , which makes me fear for the stability and usefulness of almost the only really liberal and high-toned newspaper amongst the " Weoklics , " and of which I had formed great hopes . I regret this , especially , because of your admirable views of foreign polities ; and I write this to say that there are others besides myself , who think that some explanation of this singular circumstance is duo to your Radical and free-thinking readers , who form , I suspect , the bulk of your supporters , few of whom , I imagine , are to bo found in the church you trouble yourself so much about . Yours respectfully , A . K .
To those friends who arc in doubt we would simply say : The inconsistency with which we are reproached would have prima facie evidence to those who only read particular articles which from time to time appear ; and upon this evidence we may bo convicted of Catholicism , Patagonianism , Church-of-Englandism ; but no readers of the Leader , more especially on all topics where dogmatic differences come into question , can mistake our position . The only perplexity lies in our impartiality ; our consistency has the aspect of inconsistency , because , consistently with our own principles , we are frequently claiming liberty for doctrines and forms inconsistent with each other . That form of " liberalism" which spends all its liberality on its own sect , and claims toleration while insulting its antagonists , is not ours . That form of " freedom" which , not content with believing in its
own sincerity , deems its self-assertion necessary to be accompanied by an insinuation that all who express contrary opinions arc fools or hypocrites , is a Freedom so despotic in spirit that we protest against it . Freedom , as we conceive it , is liberty of thought , liberty of act ; therefore , whatever a man believes he may express , and express in whatever way ho finds fitting j the cmly limitation being that he must not entrench on the liberty of others .
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Is a classical education desirable ? The question has been frequently and hotly debated , with the exaggeration customary in such party questions . Those whos * c interests and amour propre are implicated in the study of the Classics , of course abound in arguments to prove the utility of Greek and Latin j those who have been deprived of these pretended benefits , and yet do not greatly suffer from the deficiency , are eloquent and sarcastic against Greek and Latin : but both sides have exaggerated . It is not easy to make the uneducated perceive the advantages of classical education , simply because
these advantages , though real , are not , for the most part , substantial , and when they arGjCiipi be compensated from other sources . Having jdevoted laborious years to classic authors , we are not disposed to undervalue the result , and yet severe truth compels the avowal that , while we think it desirable an accurate knowledge of Greek and Latin should be preserved , it should be made a . special study ( like ' ^ Numismatics ) , not the b , asis of general education , The question has , however , taken a new turn in France lately . It has become complicated with the religious question . The newspapers are
discussing whether Religion is not injured by this basis of Pagan learning . Bishops and Cardinals enter the arena * The Bishop of Orleans is in favour of the ancietits > the Cardinal Gousset and the Bishop of Mbntauban against them . It js amusing to read the absurdities put forth on both sides ; but the assailants of classical education , to be consistent , should proclaim the dogma of the Caliph . Omar , on burning the Alexandrian Library— " All books that contain anything contrary to the Bible to be burnt as false j all books agreeing with the Bible to be burnt as superfluous . "
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BCRS . EOMEH'S FILIA DOLOROSA . Filia Dolorosa . Memairs 6 f Marie Thdrese , Duchess of Angouletne , the last of ih $ JDaup hines . By Mrp . Romer , author of *< ¦ A Pilgrimage to the Temples and Tombg of Egypt . " Twovols . Bentley . Under the somewhat affected title of Filia Dolorosa , and in a somewhat affected style—rdserpink style—these two volumes present an interesting picture of the career of that unfortunate Madame Boyale , / daughter of Louis XVI . and Marie Antoinette , who shared the captivity of her parents
in Xe Temple , who ivas thrice an exile , and who lived through the devolution of ' 89 , the two Restorations , and the Bevolutioii of ' 30 , buffeted about the world , and always a figure of pathetic interest . Those who have read her memoirs in the BervOle collection , or who have followed wath any patience the history of France during the period , 1779-1830 , will in all probability sf ill find something in these volumes that has escaped their notice , and at any rate will not be sorry to find such a mass of details thus gathered into one continuous narrative ; while to the less instructed public the volumes will have the charm ; of novelty , no less than
of biographical arrangement . Mrs . Itomer began this work , "but " severe indisposition" forced her to relinquish it into the hands of Dr . Doran . So much is stated in the preface ; but as no indication of authorship exists in the text , we are left undecided where the blame and where the praise ? should fall . That rosepink style , before alluded to , pervades the work ; so also does the ineffable commonplace of the penny-a-liner * which critics are bound to protest against . "When a man is hurriedly writing a report , to be printed almost before the ink is dry , he may be allowed to talk of " beings wearing the form of man , " and to use similar stereotyped phrases ; but a writer preparing a work of Belles Lettres , in which style is of consequence , has no
such excuse , and should have no pardon from those who care for the English language . The great characteristic of this style is its evasiveness : it always shirks the plain , direct phrase , without reaching any felicity of paraphrase . "We see the effort of style , but not the style—e . g ., " There was a library for learned leisure therein to be luxurious , and it looked into laughing gardens wherein that same leisure might disport itself . The writer , doubtless , believed ho had delicately touched the right note there ; what say you , reader , to two volumes of such elegancies P If the style might have been better , and the whole tone of thought less shallow and circulating libraryish , there is , nevertheless , sufficient praise claimed bv the interest of the narrative , and the diligence with which it has
been compiled . The stories of the three pretenders are extremely curious , and we especially refer the reader to them as to striking examples of the passionate credulity manifested by the masses when their imagination ia appealed to . For those who wish to see how the grossest imposture wall be greedily accepted as sacred truth , in defiance of all evidence but the believer ' s own prepossessions , these chapters are unusually curious . Our space admits of no quotation from theso chapters , and to abridge thorn would be to destroy their interest . We will select , in preference , a passage from the chapter on the first Restoration . ... ' < It was a brilliant May , day that saw them enter Paris . The Duchess hod left
it secretly by night , a poor terrified girl , half distrusting the course she was compelled to tako , She ro-entored it on the 3 rd of May , 1814 , beneath a mid-day sun ; and triumph seemed to bo seated everywhere but on her own features . Her eyes were yet red with weeping , and some observant republican , who witnessed nor entry , and who mnrkcd the inflamed lids that covered the calm yet sad blue and white of the cyca beneath them , oxultingly exclaimed that tho Duchess was a good republican after all , and that her very eyes bore tho old tricolour . That she was more popujar with tho multitude than tho King himself , was nmdo manifest by the number of political squibs that wore fired against tho monarch oven on that day of his entry . Tho clergy distrusted him , as being more given to p hilosophy than religion ; while the populace did not believe he was so free a thinker as Ins partisans aeclarod him to bo . Varnhagen von Knso says tho general feeling towards him waa cold and suspicious ; even tho Royalists , adds tho Gorman j ournalist , tho harms
' at least tho most ardent among thorn , had rather tryst their aflairs in of tho Count d'Artois and of tho Duchess of Angoul 6 mo than in those of tlio King . ' For tho moment , however , nil wont as merry as a marriage bell ; ana Louis , spatcd oh the right ofi his niece , in n royal carriage drawn by eight iniJK whito steeds , passed on to Notre Damo , and bowed good-lmmouredly to tho . people from that Beat from which gout and othor inttrmitieH would not permit him torijo . For a people who loved to soo their supremo master on hpraoback , a King wn camo in search of popularity could not havo been loss oxtornally llttod to flu" tan which ho sought . Seated in tho snino carriage wore tho Prince- of Cond 6 and tn Duke do Bourbon ; on either side rodo tho Count d'Artoia , as gallantly us tlwugn ho wub still wowing hia youth in the park of Versailles , and tho Duko do Xieir , whoso almost rudeness of character and look of courtesy were little calculated win tho affections of a then courteous people . It is confessed that the P ° Pm' 1 shout of tho day was in honour of < Madame / Tho people seemed anxious
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Cri' ica are not the legislators , but the judges ana police of literature . . They do not » - ' « - ' ake la-vsrs—they interpret and try to enforce them . —Edinburgh Review .
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590 THE IifAPEli ESatbtrpay ,
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Leader (1850-1860), June 19, 1852, page 590, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1940/page/18/
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