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    THE PItOVlNCli OF ltEASOX. *

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    FEW works have appeared which are calculated to exercise so beneficial avi influence on the educated portion of the reli g ious world as Dr . Young ' s " 'Province . of Keason , " which is a criticism of Mr . ManseU ' s now famous Bumptoii Lecture on the ' Limits of Religious Thought . " In that publication , under the guise of assailing sceptical rationalism , reason itself was attacked ; and for the sake of terrifying men to take refuge within the precincts , of revelation , a philosophical basis was denied to those convictions of our nature which form the legitimate foundation of all religjous ideas . Mr . ManseU ' s , labours were also important in their bearings upon the entire range of speculation , because , if the human faculties were limited as he contended , man himself must be a poor miserable creature , a fitting victim for despotism , both ecclesiastical mid secular .

    Dr . Young , who is an able master of dialectics , saw at onqe the errors of the Bumpton Lecture , and his zual for religious as well as philosophical ' truth impelled him to the present criticism , which will gratify the enlightened portion of the Christian community , as well as vindicate tho claims of , philosophy against the able but insidious assaults of the Oxford divine . Dr . Young tells us that to him , " if the principles of the Hampton Lecture be conceded , the chief attribute of humanity as constituted by the Great Futher is laid in the dust , the sacred Scriptures are an elaborate and meaningless pretence , the possibility of worship and of trust in tho Supreme is destroyed , and above all , the authority of conscionco and tho immutable foundations of morality aro undermined . " Tho- assertions of Mr . Mansell . whioh drew forth this

    protest relato to tho Infinite , and man ' s alleged inability to conceive of it except by a consciousness " which is self-contradictory . " The tendency , if not the purpose , of Mr . Mansell ' fl teachings is , in tho words of Dr . Young , to " separate mental philosophy from religious fuith , to show that they aro irrooonoileablo , and that faith 1 ms no security save in a universal protest against the authority of the understanding 1 . " To accomplish this result it was necessary for Mr . Munsoll to introduce as much confusion as possible into the conception of tho Infinite , and < i considerable portion of the present work is devoted to an exposure- ot

    tho errors he has committed . After a few preliminary remarks Dr . Young claims for " rationalism rightly so called" the character not of a sectional , but of n universal fuith , " and lip protests ayiiiiisfc confining the torm to a particular method of arriving at nutfutivo conclusions . \ V hile Mr . Mansell endeavours to impose arbitrary limits upon speculation , Dr . Young proclaims the tendency to speculate even upon tho highest subjects as so universal and ii'roprosuiblo as to doserve to bo considered aB a law of our nature . He ountonda for tho reality of un outward revelation , but likewise for " an inward , unwritten revelation in our intelligent nature . " In his crusade against

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    402 The > Leadei-andSaturday Analyst . [ April 28 , i 860 .

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    a good portion , the small sum of eighty pounds a year . It is generally said that he first attracted James ' s attention at a horse race some time in 1614 , but the point is uncertain . Although well introduced at Courtj and favoured , by noble patrons who . sought the overthrow of Somerset , the then all-powerful favourite * he did not at first get on very well ; but upon James ' s visit to Cambridge , in March , 1615 , upon the occasioil of the installation of the Earl of Suffolk as Chancellor of the University , he again attracted James ' s notice . He was made cupbearer , and thenceforward his rise was assured . The good will of AN . N . E of Denmark was secured him by AbBgtt , Archbishop of Canterbury , whose assistance Viixiebs , when-. ' allrpowerful , - requited with great ingratitude . He was knighted , and made a gentleman of the bedchamber , receiving- also a pension of £ 1 , 000 a year wherewith to support his new dignity , in April of the saine year . In the January following- he was appointed Master of the Horse . The fall of Someb set—committed to the Tower with his Countess for the murder of Sir Thomas Oveebuey in March—removed every obstacle to Villiers ' s advancement . Henceforth he reigned paramount over James . He was made a Knight of the Garter in April , and created Baron Bletchly and Viscount Villiers in August : the king bestowing upon him most lavishly lands , pensions , and monopolies . In January of the following- year he was made Earl of Buckingham and a Privy Councillor , and accompanied James in the journey he made that spring to Scotland . Whilst there it was alleged that a plot was discovered to assassinate him . In the beginning : of the next year he was made Marquis of Buckingham , and his mother Countess of Buckingham in her own right ; the whole family of his brothers and . sisters being likewise provided for with titles , pensions , monopolies , and rich marriages . The Marquis married , in May , 1620 , Katharine Manners , only daughter and heiress of the Earl of Rutland , having- taken her away from her father ' s house some time before ; and now , enjoying an enormous fortune with her ; as well as the lavish grants of James—the Litest boon conferred ; upon him being the post of Lord . High Admiral—he mig ht-have been tleemed at the summitof felicity . 3 ut his uiiquie . t spirit could not rest : By a singular-fortune he had acquired the same favour with Prince CiIables as with his father , and had become the counsellor and friend of the young Prince . James had for years been bent upon a Spanish marriage , although itwas directly opposed to the feelings of the people , and negotiations ' -had long been going on for the betroth men t of Charles to the Infanta . Buckingham suggested to Charles an incognito journey to Madrid to see the Princess , and the romantic spirit of the Prince caught at the proposition . With great difficulty the assent of Jamjes was obtained , arid " Steenie " and " J 3 abie Charles " set out on their expedition . We will not refer to this well-known expedition further than to observe that ] 3 uckingham , who had been made a Duke whilst absent , exerted himself on his return to break off the marriage which had been solemnly agreed upon , to gratify his own pride and desire of revenge , &s well as to catch a little popularity ; and although the repudiation was hostile to every wish of James he succeeded , induced a declaration of war against Spain and negotiations for the ill-fated marriage of Charles with Henrietta Maria of France , At this time James died , but the power of Buckingham ; was rather strengthened than weakened by that -event .- James had begun to tiro a little of his favourite ; Charles clung- to him most . . tenaciously , Hence the charge , for which his own imprudence furnished the greatest occasion , that Buckingham had poisoned the king * . James died in March , 1625 . Charles was married by proxy to Henrietta in May , and Buckingham was sent to Paris to bring home the bride . The splendour of the mission and the folly 6 f the . Ambassador are notorious facts . The fair fame of Anne of Austria was sullied by his mad , escapade , and his desire for revenge upon Richelieu plunged England into a disgraceful vvar . In the beginning of 1 ( 520 , Buck , incui :, vm impeached Bristol , who had been Ambassador at Madrid , to prevent , his own impeachment by the latter , but the House of Commons took the matter up and impeached the fuvoiirite . The king , gravely offended , commanded the . House to desist from its impeachment , and go on with the subsidies . The favourite was now oven more powerful than at any time before . He ventured to insult the queen ; but ho received a severe blow in the disastrous failure of Jus attempt to relieve the Huguenots in La Kocliollo . J-io retreated thence with great loss in November , 1627 ; but in tho following year ho prepared for another attempt , partly to gratify his hatred of Richelieu , partly to gain some popularity to up . hold'him against tho denunciations of the House of Commons , and whilst pi'eparing * to sail from Portsmouth , in August , L 628 , wns assassinated by Felton . Where Buckingham used his great influence j \ nd power for tho benefit of his country it is impossible to discover ; where he used them to its mischief and mi p fortuno is easy to find . Throughout his enrepr he was guided by his own cupidity , iimbition , or thirst of revenge ; and to gratify those passions he did not scruple to peril the interests of England , or , thwart tho wishes of his benefactors . Ho whb instrumental in superseding Coice , because that great judge refused to concur in an arrangement to give a lucrative place in his court to some creature of the favourite * He suffered IWuEjan to die when a word would have saved him , if indeed ho did not promote his exeoution . Ho broke off tho marriage of Charms vyith the Infanta , and involved England in a war with Spain to gratify his scandalous hatred to Oxivakep , and led hor into a ruinoua attack upon Franco to gratify the same personal fueling 1 against Riciusljeu . Ho induced Char&es to treat > yjtiw scorn and tyranny thopo oarly parliaments whoso counsels , if listened to , would have averted the devolution .

    incorporated . The result is much reiteration , and an irksome going backward and ,. forward in the narrative . One half of the last volume is moreover quite unnecessary , and its--introduction savours of-. mere book-making . Mrs . Thomson has chosen to give an account , embellished with her own critical opinions , of the artists and dramatists of the reigns of James and Ciiaei . es , with . most of whom Buckingham had not the faintest relation . It would have been quite as much to the purpose to have / inflicted upon the reader biographical sketches of all the leading men of the Great Revolution . The life of Buckingham was a fair and well-nigh uu worked subject , 'but . it did not involve biographies of the great men : isl whose day he lived . If a second edition of these volumes should ever be called lor , Mrs . Thomson will have the opportunity ,-by . careful correction , compression , and unsparing excision , reducing the book to-little , more h ' an half its present bulk , of giving the world a very useful work .

    We have characterized Mrs . Thomsons as interesting ; They present , in fact , a very readable account of the favourite and his times . But they are not without serious faults . The subject is scarcely one for a lady ' s pen ; and if the result is a book faultless in moral tone , and lit for the perusal of young women , historical accuracy suffers , and the whole character qf the mau is not presented to us . But there are-faults' of execution which are inexcusable . Dates are throughout jumbled in an extraordinary manner ; and in the latter half of the book to an extent wh ich becomes exceedingly annoy ing 1 . This latter part is , besides , confusedly written , Mrs . Tiio ^ isox had nearly finished her Work when the State Paper Office supplied her with fresh materials , relating principally to the closing scenes of her hero ' s career . ' These she has grafted upon her original work , and r . ot thoroughly

    volumes able and He engrossed every office and honour to himself or his creatures , or sold them to those who would give the most money for them . He was arrogant , unscrupulous , revengeful , and sensual . The only excuse that can be ottered for his cupidity is really . an accusation : — he was alienicrppetens ,, suLpfofiisus , and for his hatreds and immoralities that he was , as Guizot says , equally incapable of hypocrisy and virtue . He had a handsome person , winning ' . manners ,- and a certain readiness ; but the talents for which his admirers give him credit are assumed upon acts counselled if not performed by others . He was a patron of the arts and of literature , but only in so far as they contributed to his magnificence and amusement . . In .-fine , he exerted a most disastrous influence over his masters , and inflicted great injuries upon his Country .

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    * Who Provlnoo of Jloanoit , By Jon . V Yovwa , Uj . P » , Edinburgh . Smith , laidexyivnd Oy ,

    The Pitovlncli Of Lteasox. *

    THE PItOVlNCli OF ltEASOX . *

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), April 28, 1860, page 402, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2345/page/14/