The Press. — London, England, 1856-05-03 00:00:00

MAY 3, 1856. varieties of Protestants . , contains also Jews and Roman C a tholics, the subtraction of all the differences would leave so little that it would be hardly worth while to insist on retaining part to Jews and Roman Catholics are, there fore, set apart to be treated as special exceptions. And since the Bible is the acknowledged Protestant standard of all commun ions, the daily reading o f the Bible is proposed as the defi n ition of the religious instruction. All religious formularies, except the . Bible, are expressly prohibited, thou a requirement is generally added that each child shall attend some place of worship on Sunday, wherever Its parents m ay prefer. Thus the instruction is defined, and so far all is easy. • • • The combined plan proposes to separate the civil f r om the religious instruction—to put the former under the ratepayers, the latter under the denominations— bat to provide in some degree, if not entirely, for both. Oil this plan there would be one school in a parish for all deuoinitiations: but there would be special opportunities for the officers of each denomination to give religious teaching to the children belonging to that denomination. How far this provision is to extend—whether a class-room is to be built for each sect, or the school-room altogether is to be given up to each sect in turn—or in what wa:, the religions teaching is to he communicated, may be variously determined. But the essential feature of this scheme, as distinct from the secular, is the recognition of religious teaching as part of the school business. _ _ The comparative disadvantages of the com prehensive and the denominational form the staple of the essay. NVe say disadvantages, because Mr. Temple's remarks are wholly of a negative kind. We shall not attempt to follow him through his entire argument, but shall content ourselves with selecting for cri ticism one or two passages of a general character in which we think the views ad vanced are of questionable soundness. At the commencement of the essay, in speaking of the secular schools, Mr. Temple seems to assume that all teaching must be direct : He (the schoolmaster) would be obliged to bear in mind the prohibition of all religious instruction, and to use his discretion in interpreting the limits of that prohibition, and his discretion would of course be liable to be over ruled by his superiors. But everyone knows that in this country no master would have need to fear that he would be forbidden to use such broad fundamental dogmas as alone can enter into the discipline of a school of children. There would, therefore, be no rea...on to suppose that the secular school would by its non religious character in the slightest degree interfere with the impressions made by the Suuday school, the Sunday worship, or any other means employed to give the distinctly religious teaching. But what becomes of the glance of the eye, the curl of the lip, the shrug of the shoulder, the looks and gestures by which an opinion may be insinuated with perhaps greater chance of its taking root than when formally taught by words ? Does Mr. Temple mean to assert that neither a Roman Catholic nor a Socinian could make the teaching of profane histo►y subsidiary to his own views without a verbal assertion of his creed? Of the voluntary system we find it said:— If the religious communities are to govern the schools, it will follow that they must pay for them. In so far as they cannot afford to pay, they will obviously have no right 13 govern. Now, we are not going to argue this subject at length, but we protest against it as a plain begging of the question. The arguments of dose who contend, as Dr Arnold did, that the propagation of religious truth is the first duty of the State, have not yet been fairly met. That this doctrine in its integral form may be in applicable at the present mo ment, is possible But it is here denied by implication ; or, if it is not denied, the pro visional doctrine is stated so baldly as to lead . nine people out of ten to suppose list it is so. In the passage which treats of denomina tionalists occur the following remarks : The phrase religious liberty is ambiguous. By religious liberty may be meant the liberty of self•government by a religious community, or the liberty of religious action by an individual. These two senses, so far from being iden tical, are most often mutually opposed. To allow religious liberty to'a community is very often only another phrase for allowing the oppression of the members by the leaders, of the quiet by the busy. The distinction between the religious liberty of a com munion and the religious liberty of an individual becomes immediately practical when applied to school. , . If absolute liberty were granted to religious communities, several would found schools in which the management would be entrusted entirely to the religions leaders, as such, and the children would be instructed iu distinctive religious r"rlolaries, or not admitted at all. If religious liberty wac reserved to individuals, the management of every school would be open to all members of the denomination to which the school belonged, and the parents of the scholar' would be permitted to withdraw their children THE PRESS. from any part of the teaching without withdrawing them from the real. Here, however, a modicum of theological knowledge is assumed in the parents which in reality they very seldom : possess. And we much fear, also, that the adoption of Mr. Tem ple's " liberty of religious action " would have a tendency to aggravate the disposition to stray away from their parish church which is already sufficiently prevalent among the lower orders The concluding remarks upon grammar schools are able and useful; and, notwith standing the several points in which we have been compelled to differ with him, we can pronounce his essay a most valuable contribu tion to our stock of knowledge on this in teresting and urgent topic. " Carlovingian Romance," by Mr. King, of Exeter College, is one of the most pleasing articles in the whole number It is full of reading, without being heavy ; and the style, though ornate, is never disagreeably florid. Mr. Goldwin Smith's essay upon the Roman Empire of the West" is a masterly exposure of Mr. Congreve's morbid craving after despotism. The hollowness of the pre tences on which this admiration affects to rest itself is completely laid bare ; and the true character of the Juggernaut before which so many foolish enthusiasts would prostrate themselves is depicted in plain language. This is the kind of article to recal people to their senses ; to refix their attention on the sober realities of politics; and to put to scorn that weak and womanish impatience of con stitutional action which, like some foreign epidemic, has infected the robust and prac tical character of Englishmen. A fine vein of irony runs through the whole article. The opening paragraph is inimitable of its kind : It has recently occurred to an advanced and slightly terrorist school of philanthropists that under free institu tions it is necessary occasionally to defer to the opinions of other people, and that as other people are obviously in the wrong, this is a great hindrance to the improvement of our political system and the progress of the species. They therefore propose, for the checks and responsibilities of a constitutions) system, to substitute an autocracy with no checks except those which may be imposed on the autocrat by his own sense of the eternal fitness of things, and no responsibility, except to the judgment of professors of the political science, for the safety of whose heads, when the adverse verdict of science shall have been pronounced, no adequate provision has yet been made. To secure the as- cendancy of reason in politics, the autocrat is to be elected through a process not yet determined on, by the uneducated part of the nation ; and to purify governo..ent from class influences and antipathies, and inaugurate the fraternity of men, he is to represent the interests and feelings of the lower classes against the upper. In our time and country probably the fulfilment of this theory would have raised Mr. Feargus O'Connor to the throne, or rather to the altar; and the first measure of that eminent leader of the proletariat would most likely have been tc create a few dozen dukes; his second, to take otf the beads of writers of Roman history and editors of Greek classics, as ob viously useless to a proletariat republic founded on the organisation of labour. This bright hope of a demagogic tyranny for the future, with which Mr. Congreve feels a cultivated sympathy, has not failed to throw back its light upon the past, and in the clear and interesting résumé of the history of the empire before us, it gilds the cruelties of Caligula, the extortions of Caracalla, and even the brow of Tiberius. The character of Julius Caesar is drawn with useful severity. We had thought the " worship of intellect" had long ago been delegated to schoolgirls and young gentlemen with Byronic collars. But it has returned in another shape. The pestilent jargon of certain writers who are perpetually clamoring for " a man," wh forget that the supremacy of individuals is indicative of either barbarism or effeminacy, but never of the meridian ..if civilisation, has seldom received a more well-directed chastise ment than in the pages before us. PERIODICAL LITERATURE. THE Quarterly Review fin• March (why does it ap pear about the 20th of April !) opens with an article upon " British Family Histories." We wish to call special attention to this article, less on account of its literary merit than of the great importance of the subject to which it is related. That is none other than the influence still attiihutable to ancient blood upon the whole social and political fabric of this country. We could wish, indeed, that the author, who is evidently master of his subject, and waiting within himself, had permitted this aspect of the question to assume a more prominent position in his article; that it bad been, we mean, more practical and less antiquarian. But we must be grateful to 425 him for a skilful essay, full of information and of suggestive hints. Of the second article, "An In quiry into the Credibility of Early Roman History," we need only say that it is an attempt to set up the authority of the present Chancellor of the Exchequer against Arnold and Niebuhr. No doubt the inevita ble reaction against Niebuhrism is now proceeding; but we have no fancy for being schooled by Sir G. C. Lewis—Afato Mehcrcle cum Platone, &c. The review of Mr. Ruskin is a very bitter article; the writer allows him neither knowledge of art, honesty of purposo, nor vigour of thought. The "Triton and the Minnows" is a pleasing account of the gigantic iron steamer now building off the Isle of Dogs . We next have a long article upon Southey, with a vindication of Mr. Murray from certain hasty asper sions of the poet ; and after that a sensible and well written essay on " The Peace and its Effects upon Turkey," which has, however, lost a good deal of its interest. by being written before the publication of the terms. The last article of all is an attack upon M. Montalembert. The chapter on " The Political Future of England," dealing with the subject of Popery, has provoked the most virulent animosity in various quarters. We certainly differ from the count's views upon this matter as widely as possible, but. we think it a pity that this one blot upon his otherwise masterly pamphlet, a blot which does not affect the gist of his subject-matter in the least, should blind anybody to his admirable, rational, and deeply thoughtful panegyric on the English con stitution. In Fraser, " College Life in Glasgow " is the opening article, and perhaps the best. It is a lucid and lively account of the customs of the university, the studies pursued there, and the character of the students. It is followed by a brief and sketchy notice of the two lady travellers—the Hon. Miss Murray and the "Englishwoman in America." After which comes the welcome instalment of " Kate Coventry.' Cousin John has discovered what is going on with Frank Lovell, and becomes pale, handsome, and heroic. A spirited sketch of a run with the Queen's hounds and a servant's ball in the country, are the two most prominent features of the present number. " The New Pitaval" contains an interesting account of some German murders. Alison's " History of Europe" is a would-be facetious critique of the baronet's last volumes. " The Treaty "is a sensible article, showing that we have in the present instance approached nearer to gaining the end for which we went to war than we usually do ; and dwelling, though with great good temper and moderation, on tine inevitable evils springing from a divided com mand. •I'he Dublin gives us a long article entitled " cEuvres de Napoleon III.," the writer of which be-• lieves that afterall it is clear enough that the Prince's professions have since the commencement of his career been sufficiently consistent. " The Fortunes of Glen • core" becomes very interesting : the Countess has been compelled suddenly to leave Florence in consequence of Lord Glencore's avowal that she is not his wife; the fashionable criticisms on the event are admirably done. " Novels and Novelists" deals with an authoress little known to the general public, Mrs. Bohn, who lived in the days of the Charleses. " Great Wits and Little Stories" is an admirable summary of the three latest works of table•talk and gossipping b;ography—Samuel Rogers, Sydney Smith, and Thomas Raikes. " The Darragh "is the opening of a new Irish story, which promises well. " The French Story of the War" is a witty and well deserved exposure of the Baron de Bazancourt " We grudge no man his proper enjoyments," says the writer ; " and if this miserable buffoonery be " pleasing to the Emperor, to France, anti to the " army, so be it." The remaining articles are all of substantial merit. In Bentley the eternal "Spendthrift" still stares us in Oil face. The "Joint-stock Banker" is well written and amusing, but the characters are too close a copy of those in the "Dock Warrants." The re maining articles possess that degree of merit we are accustomed to meet with in Bentley. The May number of the New Monthly is better than usual. Mr. Cyrus Redding's essay upon "Peace and its Adversaries " is a fair and well-argued pap"r, taking very much the same line as the writer in Fraser. The " Mail cart Robbery " is an exciting story, but ends far too abruptly. Mr. Andrews, the author of the " Eighteenth Century," gives us the first of a series of articles on the newspaper press, which is not devoid of curious matter, though a little spun out. Mr. Stanley's " Sinai and Palestine "is the subject of a nicely written review; and "Finish. ing with Scotland" is a readable magazine article. The Eclectic Review contains an article on Dr. Kitto ; one on the " Arts (if the Middle Ages ;" the " Reformers before the Reformation ;" and the "Food of London." The Churchman's Magazine gives us a variety of interesting ecclesiastical matteni. The only purely secular article is on the moon's rotation. We are glad to see this subject popularly demonstrated,