Ellustrative Notices. LORD MAHON, in his Historical Essays,' considers it as certain that John Knox knew and approved the scheme for the murder of David Rizzio. "This charge is the more credible,' Douglas Jerrold's Newspaper remarks, 'when we remember that Knox accounted the injunctions in the Old Testament, to put idolaters to death, still binding, and that as regarded those, who, in his estimation, were worse than heathen idolaters, Roman Catholics.' When Lord Holland was on his death-bed, his friend George Selwyn called to inquire how his lordship was, and left his card. This was taken to Lord Holland, who said, 'If Mr. Selwyn calls again, show him into my room. If I am alive, I shall be glad to see him; if I am dead, I am sure that he will be delighted to see me.' An American paper has the following:- Do you know, sirrah, where those little boys go who are wicked enough to play marbles on a Sunday?' 'Yes, your vorship; some on 'em goes to the common, and some on 'em down by the river side.' The Rev. Sydney Smith, in speaking of the prosy nature of some sermons, said, 'They are written as if sin were to be taken out of a man, like Eve out of Adam, by putting him to sleep.' 'The Rev. Dr. Drewe, of Belfast,' says the Eastern Counties Herald, No. 548, 'is engaged in a civil war with divers officers of the garrison, who have been giving amateur theatrical entertainments for charitable purposes. The doctor told his congregation the other day that he would never preach another sermon for the General Hospital, if the trustees accepted money so contributed.' Why should not war be allowed to practice acts of humanity? It needs the discipline of charity, and the stage, to any one but a divine, would be deemed a wise exchange for the field. 'The Rev. J. Mildmay, rector of Chelmsford, Essex, has refused to bury within the church walls, deeming the practice dangerous to public health. This refusal will cause a great pecuniary loss to the reverend gentleman, as almost all the wealthy families in the district have vaults underneath the church.' I quote this on the authority of the last-named paper, and am happy to record so creditable a determination. The Latter-Day-Saints have been fined at Chard, for holding assemblies in private houses without certificates from the Bishop. So says the Northern Star. M. Jules Janin, according to the Morning Chronicle, gives the following illustration of the mode in which the theatrical censorship was exercised at Paris last year. In one of Scribe's vaudevilles the gallant asks the cookmaid the way to her apartment. She very properly and pointedly answers, Through the Church ;' the censor, thinking this both irreverent and out of character, substituted— "Through the Kitchen.' The indignation of the author may be supposed. Mr. Dixon, of Aberdeen, writes-'I have to acknowledge the receipt of £1 1s. 6d. for Mrs. Shirron, who begs leave to express her gratitude to Mr. Holyoake and those gentlemen who have shown such a kindly interest in her behalf. The committee also return thanks to the Reasoner, for the publicity given to the case of our friend, the late Mr. James Shirron, and family.' A weekly periodical is announced for this month, edited by Thomas Cooper, entitled the Plain Speaker.' Mr. Macaulay gives, in his new History, the following picture of the Puritans: The Puritans, inthe day of their power, had undoubtedly given cruel provocation. They ought to have learned, if from nothing else, yet from their own discontents, from their own struggles, from their own victory, from the fall of that proud hierarchy by which they had been so heavily oppressed, that in England, and in the seventeenth century, it was not in the power of the civil magistrate to drill the minds of men into conformity with his own system of theology. They proved, however, as intolerant and as meddling as ever Laud had been. They interdicted, under heavy penalties, the use of the Book of Common Prayer, not only in churches, but even in private houses. It was a crime in a child to read by the bedside of a sick parent one of those beautiful collects which had soothed the griefs of forty generations of Christians, Severe punishments were denounced against such as should presume to blame the Calvinistic mode of worship. Clergymen of respectable character were not only ejected from their benefices by thousands, but were frequently exposed to the outrages of a fanatical rabble. Churches and sepulchres, fine works of art, and curious remains of antiquity, were brutally defaced. The parliament resolved that all pictures in the royal collection which contained representations of Jesus or of the Virgin Mother should be burned. Sculpture fared as ill as painting. Nymphs and Graces, the work of Ionian chisels, were delivered over to Puritan stonemasons to be made decent. Against the lighter vices the ruling faction waged war with a zeal little tempered by humanity or by common sense. Sharp laws were passed against betting. It was enacted that adultery should be punished with death. The illicit intercourse of the sexes, even where neither violence nor seduction was imputed-where no public scandal was given-where no conjugal right was violated, was made a misdemeanor. Public amusements, from the masques which were exhibited at the mansions of the great, down to the wrestling matches and grinning matches on village greens, were vigorously attacked. One ordinance directed that all the May-poles in England should forthwith be hewn down. Another proscribed all theatrical diversions. The playhouses were to be dismantled, the spectators fined. the actors whipped at the cart's tail. Rope-dancing, puppet-shows, bowls, horse-racing, were regarded with no friendly eye; but bear-baiting, then a favou rite diversion of high and low, was the abomination which most strongly stirred the wrath of the austere sectaries. It is to be remarked that their antipathy to this sport had nothing in common with the feeling which has, in our own time, induced the legislature to interfere for the purpose of protecting beasts against the wanton cruelty of men. The Puritan hated bear-baiting, not because it gave pain to the bear, but because it gave pleasure to the spectators. Indeed, he generally contrived to enjoy the double pleasure of tormenting both spectators and bear.' The Council of the People's Charter Union met on Friday and fixed Tuesday, January 16, for the Quarterly Meeting-which will be held in the Coffee Room at John Street; when an address, recommending the abolition of the newspaper stamp as a part of Mr. Cobden's national budget, will be submitted to the approval of the meeting. On Thursday evening, says the Birmingham Mercury, a lecture was delivered by the Rev. Mr. Godden (evangelist to the nation) at the Odd-Fellows' Hall, King Street, on the subject of Prophecy. Pray what new sect is this? It was said by Lord Brougham of a fashionable preacher: 'His style is so inflated, sir, that one of his sermons would fill the Nassau Balloon.' LECTURES FOR THE VICTIM FUND. Thomas Cooper, true to his generous feelings, as a working man by birth and sufferings—as a poet and lecturer by gifts and development-is about to give four lectures at John-street in aid of the Chartist Victim Fund. We are happy to see that, though Mr. Cooper differs radically from the unfortunate men who have fallen victims to the exertions of paid spies and their own impatience, as to the best means of obtaining the rule of right and of dethroning the rule of usurpation, he yet comes nobly forward, and gratuitously exerts himself for those who are, with all their faults and mistakes, still brethren by birth and political aspiration. The lectures will take place on the 9th, 16th, 23rd, and 30th of January. The subjects are, Thomas Paine, William Cobbett, and the Commonwealth. We wish Thomas Cooper success in this his generous and graceful effort to add a mite to the Victim Fund.-Spirit of the Age. LIMITS OF PRIVATE JUDGMENT. it: cease endeavouring to proselytize, and to turn their attention increasingly to those sunk in poverty and ignorance, and who, as yet, have no man to care for them' MR. NOEL'S BOOK. We understand, from a correspondent, that the work has been some time in the hands of the publisher, and that the greatest secrecy was to be observed in passing it through the press: proofs were to be forwarded under seal: the name of the author unknown: and its proposed time of issue was about Midsummer, 1849. When, however, the secession of the honourable and reverend gentleman became known, it was found essential that the book should appear immediately. Accord ingly, the volume, containing between passed through the press in the short six hundred and seven hundred pages, space of fourteen days !-perhaps, the the book-printing art.'-Church and State most rapid performance ever achieved in Gazette. (Per Mr. Shepherd, Liverpool) J. A. S. F. Green J. W., senior Frater, Manchester (who, on the Mr. Engledow, per Mr. True- love. Mr. Dawson makes the following useful request in the first number of the Birmingham Mercury:-The Protestant Clergy would do us a great service if they would define for us the limits of private judgment, for limits they do practically put upon our case book (for we keep one of such matters) would supply many instances of punishments, social and commercial, inflicted upon those who have pushed Protestant principles too far. "Search the Scriptures" is the command. A man does it earnestly and devoutly and arrives at conclusions not accepted by the Church: these results he brings to the Church as the product of his obedience to Protestant principles-let us give the consequences in the words of a recent writer: "But how is he received? with joy? with satisfac. M. A. L, per Mr. Watson tion? with approbation, as an earnest lover of truth, and a patient seeker for it? nothing less. He was sent to the Bible not to seek truth, but to find it their own distinctive system: and the error of not finding it there complete is unpardonable." We perfectly agree with him when he adds: "I say, therefore, that our Protestantism has this duty incumbent upon it, either to allow of private judgment to the utmost, or to think out for itself some intelligible principle by which the rationalistic results of individualism are to be curbed and prevented." In conclusion, let us advise the Clergy of all Churches to Mr. D. Liff 261 THE WEEK'S LECTURES. LITERARY INSTITUTE, John-st., Fitzroysquare.—Jan. 14, (12, a.m.) Mr. G. J. Holyoake, The Causes of the Inefficiency of Political Associations Elucidated.' (7) Thomas Cooper, The Myths or Legends of the Four Gospels.' HALL OF SCIENCE, City Road.-Jan. 14, (7) Mr. G. J. Holyoake, Life and Writ ings of Richard Carlile.' FINSBURY HALL, Bunhill Row.-Jan. 15, (83) Mr. J. Lambe, Mystic Literature.' 13, (9) Discussion. Subject, 'Emigration.' 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Christian Journals.-The Reasoner will exchange advertisements with Christian Journals. Reports of Facts are desired to be under rather than over-stated, and accompanied by name and address of the informant. Letters not marked private' are deemed eligible for publication. Mirahaud's System of Nature, 2 vols. in 1 Wealth, 1 vol. John Clark's Letters to Dr. Adam Clark on Haslem's Letters to the Clergy of all denomi- Letters to the Bishop of Exeter, 1 vol -on Home Colonisation, 1 vol. in answer to the Bishop of Exeter, 1 vol. 30 A Catalogue, containing a variety of pamphlets on political and social subjects, may be had by application to the publisher. London: J. Watson, 3, Queen's Head Passage, Paternoster Row. SPU PURR'S TEMPERANCE COFFEE HOUSE, 10, Williamson Square, Liverpool. Travellers accommodated upon the most reasonable terms. J. S. informs his friends and others who are about to Emigrate, either to the Canadas or United States, that he has entered into arrangements with a respectable shipping house, and is prepared to furnish information as to cost of passage, time of sailing, &c., &c. All communications must be post paid, and contain a postage stamp, or they will not be answered. Just Published, Price 28., 88 HAIL! HAIL! HAIL! OUR VICTOR'S SAFE RETURN. A SONG written on the return of Robert Owen, Esq., from America, after his application to Congress for the Abolition of Slavery. THE WORDS AND MUSIC BY MRS. CAPTAIN GRENFELL. 3 0 20 3 0 4 6 5 0 5 0 6 0 1 6 and Hand Book, 1 vol.... 2 6 Mathematics no Mystery, 1 vol. 26 1 6 Remains of C. R. Pemberton, 1 vol. pub lished at 128. Shelley's Queen Mab, with notes, 1 vol..... 1 6 3 0 7 6 Palmer's Principles of Nature, 1 vol. R. Carlile's Manual of Freemasonry, 1 vol. Preparing for publication, by the same authoress, THE DUKE OF ROTHESAY, A MARCH. OH! BREATHE, BREATHE HIS NAME. London: D'Almaine & Co., Soho Square, and can be had through Mr. Watson. TO CORRESPONDENTS. RECEIVED.-J. Arnott.-The Zoist.-A. Allen. (Certainly the book can be easily mastered. If opportunity occurs, the subject may be entered on.)-George Edwards.-Brighton Herald.Spectator, No. 1070, from W. J. B.-G. White. *Two articles by Mr. Holyoake, on the 'Socialists' Banquets in Honour of Christ' and the "Theatrical Creation of the World,' were prepared, but are obliged to stand over this week. London: Printed by A. Holyoake, 54, Exmouth Street, Clerkenwell, and Published by J. Watson, 3, Queen's Head Passage, Paternoster Row. Wednesday, January 10, 1849. The Reasoner. No. 138.] EDITED BY G. J. HOLYOAKE. [PRICE 2d. THE SOCIALISTS' BANQUETS IN HONOUR OF CHRIST. 'IN the very worst days of the Revolution,' says the Journal des Débuts,' savage hordes invaded the churches, dressed themselves in the sacerdotal vestments, violated the tabernacles, and insulted God by sacrilegious parodies. The recollection of those revolting and sanguinary mascarades does not fill us with more horror and indignation than the spectacle of the impious Saturnalia we now witness. Every Christian will celebrate the festivity of Christmas, the nativity of Jesus Christ. God knows, we should not have mixed up such a name with our passions and daily quarrels, if we were not forced to do so by the indignation pervading all honest consciences. We are not to blame if that divine name be introduced into the arena of discussion. We have not rolled that symbol of peace and charity in the dust of polemical controversy; we find it there, and are obliged to take it up. We read the following in the journals of the Democratic and Social Republic:"Anniversary Banquet in honour of the Birth of Christ,in the Salle Valentino. -The committee charged with its organisation is composed of Democratic and Socialist women, who presided at the organisation of the banquet which lately took place at the Chaussée du Maine. Cabet, Pierre Leroux, and Proudhon are to be invited." "Another Solemnity.-Religious and Social banquet, patronised by Citizen Chatel, founder of the French church, in memory of the birth of Christ, the great apostle of Socialism! This solemnity being the feast of universal fraternity, ladies will be admitted as well as those who wish to receive the sacrament of God and humanity, whatever political or religious opinions they may profess!" ""A Third Solemnity.-The night of Christmas is the feast of equality. Socialist Democrats have often been reproached for not patronising luxury and the arts. Hitherto political pre-occupations have prevented them from giving a féte in accord with their sentiments, and attesting their profound sympathy with the arts. An opportunity naturally offers. Christmas is the feast of equality. Jesus, born in a stable, is the natural symbol of Socialist doctrines. The Socialist Democrats intend to celebrate his birth in a splendid manner, on the very night of Christmas, in the place that appears to them best adapted to that popular solemnity, the Jardin d'Hiver."' 'The place,' exclaims the Journal des Débats, is truly well chosen! The feast of that God, who was born in a stable, because there was no room in the inn, quia non erat eis locus in diversorio, is to be celebrated by the Socialists in the Jardin d'Hiver and in the Salle Valentino-the temple of fancy balls and the sanctuary of masquerades! It was not enough to drag that holy image through the mire of the clubs, blasphemers must also pollute the sanctuaries and the calendar of that religion-which they insult and turn into ridicule! And, amidst those bacchanalia a voice (M. Barbès's) is heard from the bottom of the dungeon of Vincennes, to chant the hymn of murder, to call assassins heroes, and to place robbers under the invocation of Jesus Christ! But, ye Pagans, what have you to do with Jesus, as you call him? What is there in common between you and him? [No. 3, Vol. VI.] |