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waa when you spoke of your pig . But of yoursel' you ' re nothing to boast on , and so I'll bid you good night , and I'll keep my 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 . '" sally ' s caee of heb soul . " < ¦ What do I do wrong V 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 nay 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 had
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 Mas 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-shaking my head to thing about her soul . ' But / 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 6 ee children brought up to care for things of the flesh / and then I could have bitten my tongue out , for the missus 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 xmto 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 , a * nd leave other folks in peace to work out their salvation / and 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 maks the pudding ; but I shall . try and do it well , not only for him to like it , but because evei'ything may be done in a right way or a wrong ; the right way is to do it as well as we can , as in God ' s sight ; the wrong is to do it in a self-seeking spirit , which either leads 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 thought of old missus's words this morning , when I saw yon making the 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 hud sot you , I reckon ; I know it ' s not the work parsons preach about ; though I don't think they go so far oil" the mark when they road , ' whatsoever thy hand findeth to do , that do with all thy might . ' Just try for n duy to think of all the odd jobs as to be done well and truly as in God ' s sight , not just slurred over anyhow , and you'll go through them twice as cheerfully , and huvo no thought to spare for Ni c hing or crying . ' " Let no one leave Jtuth unread .
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RANKE'S CIVIL WAKS IN FRANCE . Civil Wars and Monarchy in France in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries . A IfiHtory of Franco during that period . By Leopold Jtankc . Translated by M . A darvey . 2 vols . JJentloy .-No work by Rnnke will be unworthy of careful attention . If not a brilliant nor a deep-thinking historian , lie is one whoso researches are laborious and independent , and whose writing escapes the general defects of ( Jerrnan metaphysics . He takes what may be called " sensible" A iews of characters and epochs . In the work before uh , we trace good honest inquiry , but we cannot say that wo have seen France moro vividly than before , iiaiiko is not a suggestive writer , —assuredly not an artist . The religious Avars are hen ; " narrated with a certain cold impartiality , but witli no superiority of pictorial or philosophic power . JIo is far indeed from the fascination of a Thierry or a Macau luy , but not less ho from the insight and sagacity of a Cuizot . What he says in his Preface may be accepted as a description : -
" Much has been written upon the history of thin epoch , but to me it appears that tho appropriate conception of the times has . scarcely been attained . The contemporary writings carry in their vivid colouring the impress of the moment in which ouch originated ; they arc for the most part imbued with the peculiar views of parties or of private ! individuals . Of the traditional history which has boon formed since Mc / cniy ' H time , and the manner in which Sisuioudi luis extended it , learned Krenchmen have long since remarked how insecure the foundation is upon which it is based , in a few instances this traditional authority has been departed from , hut it has lieen on the whole submitted to .
" For a closer examination of the truth of facts , tlie original documentary matter publinhed in France during llu ! laH << lvn ymrs , as well as that which has appeared in tho Netherlands and in Italy , none- of which bus ever before been u . scd , 1 have found of tho greatest value . I have , in the progress of » , ho work , had opportunities of drawing my information from 11 vast number of unprinted documents : Italian rolationn from tho Vonotiun AmbuHrfudorn and the I ' upal Nuncios at 1 ' , to their
respective courts , extending over the whole period ; Spanish and English correspondence relating to some of the most important years , tho 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 xinfrequently 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 librai-ies alone , but also in the archives of Italy , Germany , and Belgiumfor all took an interest in that Avhich 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 . " The 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 IY . 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 religion contrives to draw secular minutiae within its intolerance may be seen in endless directions , from the Quaker's costume to the fopperies of pro and anti-Piiseyism , the wax candles that mhy 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—tho 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 seen in the pillory with the cards in their bands . Once a year an examination took place in every house , to ascertain whether the 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 w : us compelled to kneel in the great
square with an inverted torch in his hand , and publicly to entreat forgiveness , because he had 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 be 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 ! Does it not seem monstrous P And yet for men who believed that God would punish scepticism with eternal hell-fire , no sense of disproportion between the offence and the punishment would be likely to mitigate wrath .
We have said that Rauke waa by no means pictorial , liven such a subject as the St . Bartholomew . massacre ) docs 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 , Aumale , and ihe liustard of Angoiilcme . According to one account , which wears the appearance of truth , the Admiral was assailed in Ii ' ih own chamber , without any respect shown for hi « . grey hairs ; he was mortally wounded , but before life became quite extinct he was dragged to tho window and Hung out . It is said that he had laid hold of a column of the window with his left arm , and received repeated wounds before he relinquished it , but was nt last hurled into the courtyard , where ( Juise and Aiigoiilcine stood by whilst he expired . " La ltochefoucald and his son , Teligny the Admiral ' s . son-in-law , Hriqucinont , his sons , and all who were with them , with then killed , and I heir bodies thrown into tho street , when ) they were stripped by tho populace .
" The ' Paris Matins , ' as the inaswicre was called—a name suggested by the remembrance of the ' Sicilian Vespers' had meanwhile commenced in all quartern of the capital . ' The tocsin was sounded everywhere , and tlie populace stormed the houses of the Huguenots , murdering them ' plundering their property , with the cry , ' The King desires and commands it . ' They hud come confiding in the hospitality which hud been offered to them : they u-rr < : surprised in their beds , and indiscriminately slanghiered ; there was no distinction madu between those who had borne amis and those who had not , between the illustrious aiul tho obscure , the muster and the servant . The King of Navarre's bed was nprinkled with the blood of friends , strangers as well as natives , who had come from tho remotest parts of the kingdom to witness tho enromony of his marriage . The zealous reformer of tlie university , La Knim ' e , was hunted out in hin hiding-placo by ono of hi « colleagues , whouo ignorance ho had frequentl y exposed , and by him
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January 22 , 1853 . ] THE LEADER . 91
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Leader (1850-1860), Jan. 22, 1853, page 91, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1970/page/19/
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