The Press. — London, England, 1856-02-02 00:00:00

114 sprawling authors is certainly to be traced to Mr. Carlyle. To conclude, the cant of Benthamism, with its jargun of a strange nomenclature, has past away. In the same way the cant of Carlylism, and the spiritualised gibberish of " Sartor Itesartus ' is destined to die out. Wilkes boasted that he was no Wilkesite, and we aro sure that Mr Carlyle's " inwardness " is not that of a C.u•lyliau. Sermons for the Times. By Charles Kingsley. London: J. W. Parker and Son. WE admire Mr. Kingsley's .ability, and we respect his honesty. The union of these iu a clergyman must always produce great results ;. yet it is disheartening to reflect how many men of not less earnestness or genius have created a powerful sensation for a time, and.. then either totally disappeared . from pub-. lie notice, or dwindled into the eccentric leaders of some insignificant sect. Far, in deed, are we from predicating any such result as likely to be the end of the path which Mr. Kingsley has chosen ; yet, as Mr. Kingsley -is himself a friend to plain speaking, and as he must know very well that it is the critic's duty rather to indicate defects than to waste his eulogies upon what all acknowledge to be merits, he will, we trust, forgive us if, in the few brief remarks we have to offer, we shall seem to dwell too exclusively on his weaker points. There are many different ways of influencing our own generation, but for our present pur pose we need only notice two. The one is the assertion of common truths in an uncom mon manner—the other the assertion of uncommon truths in a common manner. Writers and teachers are frequently not con scious to themselves of doing either the one or the other, but the thoughtful reader or listener seldom fails to detect the difference ; and when we find a moralist or divine dwelling with severity on the external characteristics of his own age, and laying groat stress on the manners, language, and modes of thought pre valent in other times, we shall seldom be far wrong in concluding that such a man, know ing instinctively that the substance of what he has to say will hardly arrest attention, has fallen back on these artificial modes of exciting our curiosity. The worst of this is, that the good he dues is likely to die with him : the world will not relish the same viands without seasoning which they have been accustomed to with it; and other pious or learned men, finding a difficulty in following in his steps, will be apt to think that his popularity de pended on a knack. We cannot but fear that Mr. Kingsley is treading on the boundary line which separates such writers from men of genuine and solid genius. He seeks in a return to anti quated modes of speech for that vigour which thought alone can confer. He endeavours to assume a simplicity which too often becomes mere familiarity, and about the effectiveness of which we hold him to be greatly in error. Men do not talk in bible language now, for the very simple reason that the Bible is nu longer a novelty. Men to whom it had only just been revealed, after its long eclipse by me difeval Popery, naturally quoted it on every occasion, as we might now quote from a re covered decade of Livy ; but we do not nee why they were a bit more in earnest because they were always likening their civil and eccle siastical rulers to the kings and prophets of Judea. Again, Mr. Kingsley always addresses his congregation as " my friends," instead of " my brethren," in the good old fashion of our Church. What can he hope from this? That he will bring himself nearer to the hearts of his audience? We deny it in Coto. It is not one whit more hearty or more striking than the regular formula. It is innovation for innovations sake, which all classes dislike, and 'none more than the poorest. It is cer tainly a slight matter for censure, but it is one of the symptoms that show us more clearly than faults, ill themselves worse, the necessity under which Mr. Kingsley finds himself of seeming unlike other people. In his efforts to re,:atl our attention to the '-ich to ;, Mr. Bible narrative as the. stanchtrd by whit measure the character of hu►nan events, THE PRESS. Kingsley overlooks too much the danger which threatens those who suffer themselves to fall exclusively into this way of thinking. The hand of God, it is true, directs all around us, and, relatively to the entire scheme of the universe, we must of course admit that what ever is is right ; but obviously this doctrine, if acted upon in any less general sense, would necessitate our acquiescence in what all human instincts pronounce to be evil. Some such consequence, indeed, Mr. Kingsley does not seem wholly disinclined to avow. Writing of the present Emperor Napoleon, to which excellent prince we would be understood to intend nothing derogatory, Mr. Kingsley says : And God has as yet prospered his rule. That country of France, which had languished so long, first under a false anti hypocritical tyranny which was eating out its very soul, and then under lawless confusion and civil war, is now, it seems, more prosperous, more quiet, more wealthy and industrious than ever, anti is rising again, as it were, out of its ntins. God alone knows whether its prosperity be sound and enduring; but while we see things as they are now, we can only lay our hands on our mouths and say,This hath God done: He is the judge ; He Betted' up one and putteth down another; lie will divide between the light and the darkness, the good and the evil ; He will surely punish all the evil done by this strange man, and He will as surely reward all the good. And in the mean• while we must take him as God sends him, and cheerfully join with him as far as we can honourably and justly, and especially in the honourable and just war in which we are now allied with him. Now, all this might have been said of his uncle—all this might have been said of Louis Philippe—all this ►night now be said of even the Emperor of Russia. To say that it is God's work, and that if wrong we are to wait for God to put it down, is just the old doctrine of passive obedience in another shape. But, from another point of view, it is a simple ab surdity. How are we to know when God thinks a Government worthy of destruction except through the actions of the men who destroy it? Yet, according to Mr. Kingsley, those who destroyed it would be wholly in the wrong Or is success to be the sole criterion of God's approbation ? But then, again, men must be content to start their designs in ignorance whether they are on the side of Heaven or of Hell. Such are the inconsis tencies into which able men may be brought by making haste to be clever, and resolving to startle the world from its indifference, if not by profundity, at least by paradox. We wish that our space permitted us to do fuller justice to the volume before us, for, though replete with the kind of statements of which we have above given a specimen, it would be the height of unfairness to deny to many of the discourses it contains the merit of very considerable eloquence, mingled with a healthier tone on Church questions than we remember to have seen in any other of our author's works. PERIODICAL LITERATURE. Blackwood opens with an article most unjustly de preciatory of modern poetry. In his criticism of " In Memoriam " the writer evidently confuses the emotion of deep grief with that after-melancholy which deep grief leaves upon us. And it is this latter feeling which "In Memoriam " is intended to express—a kind of sentiment which a man may dwell upon, dream over, or analyse. To look at" In Memoriam" for passionate outbursts, is entirely to mistake its character and intention. The article entitled " The Wondrous Age " is most eloquent and impressive ; the evils of Materialism were never exposed by a more powerful pen. " Touching Ox ford "is a very genial and pleasant paper. The author is evidently well acquainted with the natural beauties of the spot, and with those pretty and picturesque nooks in its vicinity which only a few Oxonians explore. We must correct him in one little error, lest .v.,me of his Oxford readers should take a long walk for nothing. The village near which Stow Wood is situated is Ela.field, not Elstrce. " Tickler among the Thieves " is de lightful. We are very glad to welcome back our canine friend who figured so prominently in the autumn numbers. The essay upon the drama con tains nothing perhaps that is very novel, but it is a sound, sensible exposition of its present degradation. The verbal wits of the Talfourd (junior) school are treated to a little not unmerited castigation, though we own we think that Mr. Talfourd's bur lesques answer that first essential purpose of making the audience laugh so well, that the criticism will be a good deal thrown away. In "Lessons from the War " we find much the same views enforced SATURDAY as have for a long time past been advocated by THE PRESS. " Peace," says the writer, " will descend on the heated nation like dew." lie teaches us that the object of the war is "not to destroy, " but to coerce Russia;" and that, after all deduc tion are made, we have great reason to congratulat e ourselves on the results obtained. The tone is very different from that which prevailed in previous num bers of Blackwood. But what succeeds like success ! The number concludes with a tribute to Mr. Caird's excellent sermon on " Religion in Common Life," printed by command of her Majesty. Fraser.—We cannot follow "Friends in Council" through the thousand and one subjects which are discussed in the present number. There is some very "good talk" in it, and it is more free than usual from the clumsy attempts at fun in which the author sometimes indulges. The opinion about women is worth quoting : Women are more complete creatures, at least, Icsi in complete than we are. They are less affected by educa tion, or by the want of it. By the way, this talking about men and women reminds me of something I have been longing to say during the whole of this morning's discus sion. Mr. Midhurat objects to Milverton's great hopes for mankind from laws, and statesmanship, and other fine•sounding things, and obstinately brings him back to common life—to dinners. I wish to bring him back to domestic life. You know, my dear philosopher, polish up the rest of human affairs as cleverly as you may, you cannot get over domestic misery. Will anybody over love any other body at the right time in the right way? There is more misery in the Court of Luve than in the Court of Chancery. The reviewer of Macaulay devotes the greater part of his space to an examination of the foreign affairs treated of in the two volumes. His summary of the whole is as follows : But for all that, we cannot accept it as a fair account of the times of William 111., or as unshakeable authority for the great events of that period. Even if we doubt and waver while we read of events familiarly known to us in our home policy, how can we do less than protest against the distortion of view which presents our foreign relations in so untrue a light, and, for the sake of displaying one giant, peoples all Europe with pigmies'? We have a capital instalment of " Kate Coventry," in which Frank Lovell makes greet way. But the re maining articles are heavy. " Bain on Sense and Intellect " is not a lively topic ; and the rest, though learned and scholarly, are .scarcely adapted for fight reading. T.ie Dublin opens with an article which cannot be otherwise than most acceptable to all its readers at the present conjuncture. Russia in the last century is a most interesting study to those who are com pelled to feel so much curiosity about her position iu the present century. Prince Potemkin is one of those persons whose lives are a study ; and the ar ticle does full justice to the high reputation of this magazine. "The Fortunes of Ulencure," erro neously supposed by a weekly contemporary to have been prematurely concluded, progresses with great vigour. The story is a remarkably good one. The reviewer of Macaulay takes up the lino which seems now to be generally recognised as the true one — namely, that history in his hands becomes pietry; and, though we may look for brilliant descriptions and imaginative language, it is idle to expect front him sound, solid information. "The Doctor in the Witness box " is an opportune article, which all should read who take a serious interest in the very serious aspect which refined crime is assuming in this country. " l'anergus Pebbles" is a humorous article ; while a " Handful of Cavalier Songs " shows that, after all, the old loyal spirit is still alive amongst us. In the Eclectic are several articles of an interest ing character, and executed with the usual ability to be found in that Review. The critique on Mr. Ma caulay's "History of England" is perhaps more re tuarkahle for its lengthy extracts than from any extraordinary sagacity of comment. In the discus sion of religious questions, and the treatment of theological schools, the writer complains, with too much justice we admit, of the" temporising timidity " of the Whig historian. " Ildievest thou the Prophets?" is not precisely the question we should feel disposed to put to the right hon. gentleman, as we should tremble f..r the orthodoxy of the reply. In another article there are bitter complaints that "the memory " of Mr. James Montgomery is most woefully coni• " promised by his tasteless biographers." The most interesting page in this notice is an account of a sermon preached by the famous Robert Hall, under which, it appears, the poet himself and the reviewer had the privilege to " sit." Robert Hall was really a pulpit orator of the highest class, a man endowed with the true inspiration of eloquence, and whose fate would now seem to be that his . life is ill-written, and his oratory feebly imitated. The Law Magazine contains its usual variety of highly interesting articles. The paper on Sir Samuel Romilly, and the judgment of the Right Hon. Stephen Lushington, will well repay perusal.