The Sun.
London, England, 1840-10-23 00:00:00

EVEN ll\ .2r I 1 14`D 111 0-C 1 •

LITERATURE.

REV
EDINBURGH REVIEW, No. CXLV.
Longman, London, 1840.
In the spirited and eloquent notice of
" Rankes
History of the Popes"—a skilful work, wan
think
ch has'
of late attracted considerable attention--w
we recognise the pen of the Secretary-at-War.
The article is by far the best in the present Num-
ber ; and takes a rapid, bird's-eye view of the
various revolutions that have occurred in the
Papacy for the last tight hundred years and or
wartls. Regaided merely as a hasty summary
n of
events—for it is manifestly intended to be nothig,
more—it is one of the cmpletest we know of ;is
eminently suggestive in its character ; and is re-
commended by a style, nervous and flowirig'
thickly bestrewed, but not encumbered, with the
licit lights of imagery—and full of piSqua
effects. The conclusion to which the
Reviewer.'
conies, after bliefly enumerating the causes
w.hicl)
from time to time have contributed to accelerate or
retard the progress of the Papal Power, is .th°
that Power, so far from hen). a mere antique' life
declining influence—is,is, in
Catholic Church,
rtalitv, full of
and youthful v;gour. " The
he boldly assures us, o u
"is still sending
.forth s
to the furthest ends of the earth missionaries astio
zealous as those who landed in Kent with A
and still confronting hostile kings with the sae number
spirit
with which she confronted Atila. Tile
of her children is greater than in any former age:.
The members of her communion are certainly n?;
fewer than a hundred and fifty millions ; and It vil.
be difficult to show that all the other Chriat',r
seets united amount to a hundred and twentY,' 'Tat
lions. Nor do we see any sign which indicates She
saw the commencement of all the
the term of her long dominion is approachng. [l,l
of all the ecclesiastical establishments that noW ex's.
in the world ; and we feel no assurance that she is
not destined to sec the end of them all." These•reo:
!narks are just, but with a reservation. Catholici.kst
is, we really believe, on the increase; but not
readtil
strict, uncompromising Catholicism vvhich we is
where it
~
of in the history of the Middle Ages,
constantly thrusting itself into the fore-grotionoel..
holding Europe in fee under a Gregory and an in.
,-
cent, and embroiling her in incessant litigatic° 'f $
government, and
that fire-and-faggot Catholicism, as, for weet °er ;
better term, we may call it, is extinct fore 100
and a milder and more enlightened form has sot
ceeded, better suited to the character of the age. °an
which it still aspires, and not vainly, to exercise
....
i influence. The Reviewer's comments on the P:,
icy of the Church of Rome, as regard 'stet
thusiasts, whom she shrewdly causes to rain
toi her purposes, instead of driving therni, gra
inquiringier fold, as Protestantism does, show an to' of
thought, and quick at getting to the
mind, habituated to the exerelse_f
root u__ s_
inferenct:St
question. One or two of his historical
,h,owever, are, we think, not altogether waitratilana
Frederick the Second," he says " the Germanab'es•
mostc accomplished of the long' line of sof
Caesars, had in vain exhausted all the resources
mlitary and political skill in the attempt encroach'de
the rights of the civil power against the .est.
ments of the Church. The vengeance of the Prloo.
_ hoodi had pursued his house to the third genereilie;
1V anfred had perished on the field of hat rs,
Conradin on the scaffold." True, but the direetit Ptllo
telling cause of their death, was not so much 4,
" vengeance of the priesthood,"as the o holes ue,
made to the usurper of their kingdom ---C
Anjou, who, though certainly an ally of the F°Pbe
wash far too bold and unscrupulous amoresoldier s°.oili
the
tool ; and regarded his victims-4 esPtel as
young. Conradin—in no other light than
rebels against his Sicilian sovereignty- We Acitir of
the Reviewer's account of the celebrated f00n,..e- of
the Order of Jesuits, which is as lustrous a bit of
pposition to A
colouring, as Gibbon's sketch of the rise °' -
tribune Rienzi :
In the convent of the Thetrines at Vo°' big
: oder
the eye of Caraffa, a Spanish gentleman took. up id
abode, tended the poor in the hospitals, went Ab°:llie
intoto the streets, mounted on stones, and,
rags, starved himself almost to death, and often big
bst
jargon invite the passers-by, began to, preach in a
butlax,staown
tdehr
ietsh
cir among. movements th e most
te of mingled Castilian and Tuscan.
The,rneri;
enthusiastic neophyte their discipline ,eeryold
naturally passionate and imaginative, had passed ---.l.°e A
a training
which had given toall its uliarin-• god
morbid intensity and energy. In
his pee. ~, 10
early life ii; ,rb,
been the very prototype of the
hero of Cervante.v.s,roto,
single study of the young
romance ; and
dream of princesses
his existence
He had chosen a rescuedDulcinea'
s—tatthioense, are his own words no'
ins at her
chid turbans Hidalgo had been chi
fix,
had been one gorgeldued.
and infidels onesebaq
bCaotunotneess,ofnefamr 0 gibs;
and he flattered himself with the hope °f..o•
feet the keys. of Moorish castles and the toe,
bigwrimgiiloloi' 11:th-' 1:
::::
of Asiatic kings. In the midst Of fare
visions of martial glory and prosperous love, ,a,,see- otY
wo wound stretched him on a bed of sickness. PiAb-, s
in
nripple for life. The palm of strength
stitution was shattered, and he was doomed °A ikill
, grace, ,„"0141
no longer
exercises, was no longer for him. Pe -0. to
longer hope to strike down gigantic soldsasr , 01
find favour in the sight of beautiful women. with
visionbis then arose in his mind, and mingled Itself "got
mustold delusions in a manner which, to most Eats boo
close seem singular ; but which those vvbo knoW,r, ip
Ssin,
was the union between religion and chiveildioill
be at no loss to understand. He 'lot the
be a ' willldier—he would still be a knight-errant' the
soldier and knight-errant of the spouse of Chriet' the
He would be IP
would smite the Great Red Dragon•
champion of the Woman clothed with the SAT, be
would break the charm und •which fahe pronhed bite
the souls of men in bondage.ei
His restless spirit le se,
to the Syrian deserts, and to the cba el of I.ittlst
pulchre. Thence be' wandered backP to the 'era the
west, and astonished the convents of SPaierre sole
schools of France by his penances and vigils! 1.;",-,,,srieg,
lively imagination which had been employed
in Pr," ores'
he tumult of unreal battles, and the charms o sgels.
queens, now peopled his solitude with saints and a•
00
The Holy Virgin descended to
the
with b'e'veti
saw the Saviour face to face with the eye of flesh' t trial
those mysteries of religion which are the bard° jt is
of faith, were in his case al able to sight' tbe
palpable
wile, that, beaks
difficult to relate without a
sacrifice of the mass, he saw iransubstantiatioa of
on the sAtePoept
place ; and that, as he stood praying
St. Dominic, he saw the Trinity in UnltY,
celebrateaed
boreprot
Protestant
nstammoe
aloud with joy and wonder. Such the etoo,
Ignatius Loyola, who in the great Catholic ree oat
move Went.
which
't°
The great charm of the above descriptionsir of
say nothing of its picturesque effect---is the not
heart-felt earnestness that pervades it. •
1 teo $5
mere declamatory parade, but seems wrt% task'
Luther bore it) the
though the Reviewers whole soul were In his is
Every phase of the enthusiast Loyola's eha.rcal light.
set before us in the boldest and most viand woe
Flow different is Robertson's sketch of tueroble
remarkable individual—one of the most rellillivi well
that modern Europe has known I A °depth,
rounded sentences, without either bteadt °r fifth
are all that the historian of Charles the brava
deems it necessary to bestow on the ce eahuovi
founder of the Jesuits—an Order, which tilstience
fast declining, has exercised a greater Nor,
over the destinies of the world, than evert coed
leon, in his most sanguine moments, ever.
critic's ac'
011
of I " Democracy in America" is ailcriti.eboro.
De Tocqueville's well-known work' isd .adoe
terized by a subtle tone of thinking, ae „re are
the conclusion that all the nations of
Ecri'oon of
tending I I
s.ow_y but surely to a democratic uoie, On
Government. The article is, on the "'"chable,
ably reasoned one, and its spirit unille°drawni
but some of the speculations are too i'lle ; wight
We strive to grasp them, but in vain---w,. tool
just as well attempt to clutch the tolstit'sf the
• d A ''
gossamer that floats in the " .
morning win • pulpit
Review entitled " The British I, late
—suggested by the publication of
te eilent
Mr. Hare's Sermons—there are several e"c We
remarks en the subject of clerical eloquence' this
have been struck with teal truth and force of
.t in
passage :—" Who that has arrived at maturtlow
intellect, taste, and feeling, does not recoliee-upoo
hard it was in early life to ut the extinguisher 'ect
on ;}aret° rei a
finea
metaphor or dazzling ex •
expression
tinsel ,however worthless, if it did but g octet'
epithets, however superfluous, if they but s°l; and
grand ? How hard it was to forget one's-sel lest,
to become sincerely intent upon the best,
.sittlPost
stroll,
gest, briefest mode of communicating, 1
we deemed important to the minds of others I
re_;st
is indeed very difficult fir a young writer to
with
the temptation of embro daring his sentences ,d
0 ceeae
trope and
metaphor; and he who has sucibitej
betimes in overcoming this difficulty, has exit
• beSC
a power 'of self-restraint which will stand his .
• oficitY
friend through life. Ease, clearness, and
nil olg
constitute, we conceive, thestaple of a soallo v
, who
fish style ; arid these are not to be attaineu----
trail"'
the eon oh
ever the superficial may fancy to
without the exercise of much thousht efltliil