The Press. — London, England, 1858-10-16 00:00:00

would be decidedly inaccurate. We believe, in deed, that the manuscript of Goldsmith's poetry was either incorrect or else that it wanted critical revision. In the noble passage, for instance, be ginning, Like some tall cliff that lifts its awful form, -- the beautiful metaphor of the mountain towering over clouds is all made to depend on the word c liff," which is inadequate to such grandeur of effect. As a speculator on grand moral causes, Disraeli was often too ingenious. One of the most characteristic articles in the volume before us is called "Of a History of Events which have not happened." He observes in it : One of the great revolutions of Modern Europe perhaps had not occurred, had the personal feelings of Luther been respected, and had his personal interest been consulted. Guicciardini, whose veracity we cannot suspect, has preserved a fact which proves how very nearly some im portant events which have taken place, might not have happened ! I transcribe the passage from his thirteenth book: "Caesar (the Emperor Charles V.), after he had given an hearing in the l)iet of Worms to Martin Luther, and caused his opinions to he examined by a number of divines, who reported that his doctrine was erroneous and pernicious to the Christian religion, had, to gratify the pontiff, put him under the ban of the empire, which so terrified Martin, that, if the injurious and threatening words which were given him by Cardinal San Salto, the apostolical legate, had not thr,.wn him into the utmost despair, it is believed it would have been easy, by giving him some preferment, or providing for hint some honour. able way of living, to make him renounce his errors. ' By this we may infer that one of the true authors of the Reformation was this very apostolical legate ; they bad succeeded in terrifying Luther ; but they were not satisfied till they had insulted him ; and with such a temper as Lather's, the sense of personal insult would remove even that of terror ; it would unquestionably survive it. A similar proceeding with Franklin, from our ministers, is said to have produced the same effect with that political sage. What Guicciardini has told of Luther preserves the sentiment of the times. Charles V. was so fully per suaded that he could have put down the Reformation, had he rid himself at once of the chief, that having granted Luther a safeguard to appear at the Council of Worms, in his last momenta he repented, as of a sin, that having had Luther in his hands be suffered him to escape ; for to have violated his faith with a heretic he held to be no crime. In the history or religion,human instruments have been permitted to be the great movers of its chief revolutions ; and the most important events concerning national religions appear to have depended on the passions of in- dividuals, and the circumstances of the time. Impure means have often produced the most glorious results ; and this, perhaps, may be among the dispensations of Providence. Let any reader turn to Robertson's " llistory of Charles V.," and he will there see, in the copious enumeration of secondary causes which assisted in producing the Reformation, that the appearance of Luther was comparatively of little importance. The printing of the Bible, and its circulation in the vernacular, would have produced scores of Luthers or Knoxes; and the history of the Reformation in England shows that, in any case, whether Luther had existed or not, the downfall of the Church of Rome would have taken place in this country. The supposition that " had the " personal feelings of Luther been consulted" the Reformation would not have taken place is perfectly untenable. It is one of those rash ad missions :which a Jesuit would fasten upon, and know how to use. " Where was your religion before Luther ?" is the common question put in controversy by a Romanist disputant, to which the Protestant reply should always be, " Where was your face before it was washed ?" The conjecture in the following passage is more sound : After his immense conquest, had Gustavus Adolphus nut perished in the battle of Liitzen, where his genius obtained a glorious victory, unquestionably a wonderful change had operated on the affairs of Europe; the Pro testant cause hail balanced, if not preponderated over, the Catholic interest; a n d A us t r i a , w hi c h appeare d a sort o f universal monarchy, h id seen her eagle's wings clipped. But "the Antichrist," as Gustavus was called by the pnests of Spain and I trly, the Saviour of Protestantism, as he is called by Eugland and Sweden, whose death occasioned so many bonfires among the Catholics, that the Spanish Court interfered lest fuel should become tro scarce at the approaching winter—Gustavus fell— the fit hero fur one of those great events which have never happened! And so also in the next paragraph : On the first publication of the " Icon Basilike," of Charles 1., the instantaneous effect produced on the nation was such—fily editions, it is said, appearing in one year —that Mr. Malcolm Laing observes, that " had this book," a sacred volume to those who considered that sovereign RS a martyr, " appeared a week somer, it might have pre served the King," and possibly have prAuced a reaction of Popular feeling ! The chivalrous Dundee made an offer to James 11., which, had it been acted on, Mr. Laing ac- THE PRESS, OCTOBER 16, 1858. knowledges, might have produced another change! What then, had become of our " glorious Revolution," which from its earliest step, throughout the reign of William, was still vacillating amidst the unstable opinions and con tending interests of so many of its first movers? It would have been well for the annotator to have cited what the offer of Dundee was. Sir George Mackenzie confirms the assertion in the foregoing passage, as we remember, for that learned and acute observer said, " If James had put all his " affairs in the hands of Dundee, matters would " have fared otherwise with him." Yet here, again, we cannot altogether accept the reflections of the author. Dundee might indeed have pre served for a time the dynasty of the Stuarts, but Parliamentary Government was secured in Eng land. The Union with Scotland, and the conse quent growth of Great Britain as a ruling empire, would have, however, been greatly retarded. Individuals have, doubtless, vast influence at special conjunctures, but they cannot retard the overpowering force of general causes, acting in a long sequence. If an Alfred the Great, or a Napoleon, had lived in 1688, and had either of them attempted the policy of James 11., they would have failed. But the history of Ireland would probably have been seriously influenced if a Napoleon had been in the place of James at the head of a French and Irish army at the Boyne or at Limerick. Our ingenious speculator then proceeds : The great political error of Cromwell is acknowledged by all parties to have been the adoption of the French interest in preference to the Spanish ; a strict alliance with Spain }.ad preserved the balance of Europe, enriched the commercial industry of England, and, above all, had checked the overgrowing power of the French Government. Before Cromwell had contributed to the predominance of the French power, the French Huguenots were of conse• queuce enough to bemire an indulgent treatment. The Parliament, as Elizabeth herself lied formerly done, con sidered so powerful a party in France as useful allies; and anxious to extend the principles of the Reformation, and to further the suppression of Popery, the Parliament had once listened to, and had even commenced a treaty with, deputies from Bordeaux, the purport of which was the assistance of the French Hnguenots in their scheme of forming themselves into a republic, or independent state ; but Cromwell, on his usurpation, not only overthrew the design, but is believed to have betrayed it to Mazarin. What a change in the affairs of Europe had Cromwell adopted the Spanish interest, and assisted the French Huguenots in becpming au independent state! The re vocation of the Edict of Nantes, and the increase of the French dominion, which so long afterwards disturbed the peace of Europe, were the consequence of this fatal error of - Cromwell's. The independent state of the French Huguenots, and the reduction of ambitious France, per haps to a secondary European power, had saved Europe from the scourge of the French Revolution ! This line of reasoning could not stand before criticism; and the conjecture that the French Revolution would have been prevented is utterly fantastic. If Cromwell had adopted the Spanish interest, his Protectorate would have had to bear the full brunt of French hostility, he could not have struck so terrible a blow at the naval supremacy of Holland, and our commercial de velopment would have been kept hack. By taking the course he actually pursued in his foreign policy, Cromwell had his hands free to strike at Holland, and the national wisdom of his course can be easily understood by a reference to Adam Smith on the origin of the Navigation Act. It is entirely erroneous of Isaac Disraeli to assert that " before Cromwell interfered the French " Huguenots were of consequence sufficient to " have secured an indulgent treatment." Their " consequence" did not save them from persecu tion, and when Cromwell was gone, and another basis of policy acted on between France and Eng land, the Edict of Nantes was revoked. If Crom well had taken up the Spanish interest, he might have contributed to the prosperity of that bigoted and retrograde Power, and saved that Monarchy from its downward tendency. Englishmen have seen the gradual fall of Spain without regret. It has long ceased to be a substantive power, and it is well for the interest of European society that Spain is not potential in the affairs of the world. Besides, Spain had far more resources than France for keeping up a navy in the seventeenth century; and if Cromwell had taken the policy suggested by Isaac Disraeli, England would have been really assisting a naval rival of a formidable kind. Passages like these, which rest on no fanciful ground (and they are not few), give some edge to the assertions of Mr. Disraeli's detractors : Books he brought forth with most prolific vent, On true research his mind being rarely bent ; He sought the laurels of a deep read sage, And yet his b►ys have scarce surviv'd his age. 1009 But his satirical detractor has omitted to record the exquisite zest which Disraeli imparted to his charming exercitations in literature. He sparkled over a subject with the vivacity of a Horace Walpole ; under his ductile pen difficult subjects became easily understood ; he could play with some questions, and be profound upon others. On religion and ethics, indeed, we could have wished that his views were more firm and resolved. His thinking is too often like a dis ciple of Bayle, and some of his speculations tend to mere Pyrrhonism. We like least in his works those portions in which he disserts upon religion, and we miss in them the gravity and peculiar turn of thought to be expected in an English writer. He too often makes us think of the lines— In Tory times, when Whigs were weak and few, And Parliament was nearly all True Blue— When George, Prince Regent, still WAS on the town, As " First of Gentlemen in Europe " known Before of flesh a mountain he had grown— When Hurry Brougham was a rising man, And at the heels of Burdett myriads ran— In Blootnsh, - .ce, just close to number six, Y - north the ion corner cut by spot will fix, There lived an author whom the cliques well knew, In creed a Deist, and by race a Jew. The imputation in the last line of Deism ;s too harsh, and is not supportable. Isaac Disraeli was a Latitudinarian, not a Deist. Ile was not a scoffer ; he was not irreverent; and his writings are free from immorality, although some of his anecdotes were often too free. Of these last we are glad to see several removed from the present edition. We might particularise those illus trative of the times of Queen Elizabeth, &c. &c. The notes now added to this edition are not particularly good, and we cannot discover in them the brilliant pen of the Chancellor of the Exchequer. To the interesting article on " Diaries " there is this flimsy note appended : The Diary of William Raikes, Esq., has only recently been putdished: it relates to the first half of the present century, and prcveb that the race of diarists are not extinct among ourselves. This is no flowing note, and it would have been better to have cited the Christian name of Mr. Raikes correctly. It was Thomas, not William. The following note is on the article on the " Songs of Trades " The late Rowland Hill constantly sang at the Surrey Chapel a hymn to the tune of " Rule Britannia," altered to " Rule Emmanuel." There was published in Dublin, in 1833, a series of " Hymns written to favourite tones." They were the innocent work of one who wished to do good by a mode sufficiently startling to those who see impropriety in the conjunction of the sacred and the profane. Thus, one " pious chanson " is written to " Gramachree," or " The Harp that once through Tara's Halls," of Moore. Another, describing the death of a believer, is set to "The Groves of Blarney." We may indulge a critical doubt as to whether the Chancellor of the Exchequer is responsible for this note. Taking this edition, however, as it stands, we can praise it strongly. It is cheap and portable, and it has excellent typography. It is a valuable presentment of a work which is already classic, and we are glad to see it published in a shape that happily suits the requirements of elegance for library shelves, and of lightness of appearance for general circulation. A Handbook for Travellers in Sinai and Pales tine, 6-c. In Two Parts. London : Murray. To praise Mr. Murray's Handbooks has become almost a work of supererogation. They are all so thoroughly well done that if we were simply to say of a new one that it is as good as the rest, it would be equivalent to predicating of it an excellence superior to that of all other guide books previously published. That the art in general of compiling or composing these useful manuals has in some slight degree emerged from chaos and taken a cosmical form, must be set down to the influence of Mr. Murray's example; though the standard he has set up is so very high a one, that, even in fields still unappropriated, that example has not been so readily followed as one would have anticipated. The Enk, , lish com mercial mind, especially in literature, is so timid on the one hand, and so imitative on the other, that the red covers, their success being once established, might have been expected•to meet with a host of rivals identical in method, and possibly more accessible in price, sun - eying man kind from China to Peru at the bidding of enter prizing publishers. But those beings have for