distaff, with the marginal explanation-" Here Adam digs ground in the world; Eve spins to make dresses;" and hence the present legal term "spinster," to denote an unmarried woman. The ladies of the Middle Ages seem to have been at least as fond of music and dancing as are their descendants now; and life in the Castle was, apparently, of a somewhat free and easy fashion. Chess was one of their most loved games of skill. Mr. Wright gives us some amusing extracts on the great subject of a lady's deportment in public. Thus, says he, the author of the Menagier de Paris, compiled in 1393, gives his young wife, to whom it is addressed, especial advice as to the manners of a lady in walking in public. "As you go," he says, "look straight before you, with your eyelids low and fixed upon the ground, at a distance of five toises (thirty feet) and not looking at or turning your eyes to man or woman, who may be to your right or left, nor looking upwards nor changing your look from one place to another, nor laughing nor halting to speak to anybody in the street." Other similar instructions bear the same spirit. An English metrical code of instructions, compiled probably some thirty or forty years later, is printed in Mr. Furnivall's Babees Book, under the title of "How the good wiif taughte her Doughtir." Among other things, she is told when she goes in public "And when thou goest in the way, go thou not to (too) faste; Have not thou to many wordis; to swere be thou not leefe (ready); 66 When will people be so good as to let the Revelations" alone? It would be a positive blessing if no so-called "Interpretation of Prophecy" were to be published for the next century. Surely, we have not yet digested Faber and Elliot to say nothing of the host of minor "interpreters"-and here we have again our voluminous," not "luminous," Dr. Cumming, with the awful title, "The Fall of Babylon foreshadowed in her teachings, in History, and in Prophecy." We don't like Rome or Roman teaching. We hold with our ancestors of the English Reformation, that, for her lust of power and other selfish reasons, Rome has, for centuries, overladen the pure doctrines of the Gospel with an enormous amount of corrupt, because merely human, teachings; but we don't, therefore, believe that Dr. Cumming is the man to set all this matter straight, or to convince any but those who were convinced already. The book is a striking example of bigotry and intolerance-we fear we must add of ignorant intolerance -and the interpretations in it of many portions of prophecy are not unlike his many previous predictions (all of which have failed to come to pass when Dr. Cumming said they would), and for which, to the detriment of true religious belief, Dr. Cumming's name is unfortunately notorious. Dr. Cumming tells us that he has been extremely careful to say nothing that can give the slightest pain to any member of the Roman Catholic Church, and that he has spoken out only in the interests of Truth. Yet he says of that Church, that, "with the loudest pretensions to be the Bride of the Lamb, she exhibits in her character the most distinct brands of the woman' throned on seven hills, whose history is written in blood; whose ascendancy has been the decay or death of freedom, science, social purity, and national greatness; whose doom is destruction, near, terrible, and unsparing." And again," If the Inspired Word of God has any weight, and is true, the Roman Church is fearfully guilty. Her crimes are awful, her corruption of vital truth unpardonable, and her destruction of the freedom, the rights, the liberties, the happiness, and the souls of millions of mankind such and of so great guilt that she is not to be forgiven, but punished and utterly destroyed amid consuming retributions (what can these be?) before Heaven and Earth." Assuredly the "Romans" must be models of forgiveness and of Christian charity if they can love the man who thus assails them, however great may be the "zeal" he pleads for the "Lord of Hosts." "When falls the Coliseum, Rome shall fall And when Rome falls-the World"— may be a majestic image in poetry, but we don't see that Rome is showing any signs of decay at present, and we suspect she will be still alive, and vigorous and green, even in her old age, long after the last sheets of Dr. Cumming's last "counter-blast" have been exhausted in the last butter-shop. 66 A very different book from Dr. Cumming's we find in Lord Lindsay's four Letters on Ecumenicity in relation to the Church of England," which, like every thing that comes from his pen, is deserving of careful reading and of serious thought, whether or no we agree with all his views and reasonings. The four letters have been really written at different periods, and the two first with no view to the present state of things. The two later letters have, as may be presumed from the title of the whole volume, a decided reference to the Council of the last year. The first was written to an Italian priest, and contains a very clear narrative of Lord Lindsay's own views of the Church of England from the High Church side of the question; the second was written to a friend whom Lord Lindsay feared would join the Church of Rome; the third, also addressed to a friend, deprecates the strong and overwhelming desire of some people for reunion with Rome, and shows that this feeling mainly arises from extravagant notions of the dogmatic pretensions and of the historical prestige of the Roman Church. The fourth expresses Lord Lindsay's just indignation at the assertion by the Roman Church that the Council lately held in Rome is, in any sense, a true Ecumenical Council. Lord Lindsay maintains that the "Anglo-Catholic Church of England" has rejected the pious opinions which, in the Roman Church, have been refined into the doctrine of the worship of the saints and of the Blessed Virgin, the veneration of relics, the dogma of the Immaculate Conception, the doctrine of Purgatory, Pardons, and Indulgences, the abuse of masses, the dogma of Transubstantiation, and the claim of Vicarial supremacy, and of Infallibility for the Papacy, all of which she regards as developments of mystical materialism; while, in the opposite direction, she condemns those Protestant theories which have expressed themselves in the denial of original sin, in the rejection of the doctrine of the Real Presence, and of effective Grace in the Sacraments; in the denial, generally, of miracles, and of the inspiration of Holy Scripture, together with a disregard of the Apostolic Succession, and of the authority of the Church, all of which she considers as developments of Rationalism." Lord Lindsay states his case with his usual clearness and precision of language; and we rejoice to find, at a period when there is more than usual coquetry with Rome, that we have an English writer tolerant to others, but capable of drawing the line where tolerance should end. Since the publication of Mr. Buckle's famous book, we have not had an instance of statistical researches applied in a manner so scientific in its treatment as have been the statistics made use of by Mr. Galton in his "Hereditary Genius; an Inquiry into its Laws and Consequences." Not that we agree with the whole of his deductions; not that we accept Mr. Galton's statistics a bit more than we do Mr. Buckle's as solving their respective problems; but both have, in their way, great value, and Mr. Galton's are, of the two, by far the most convincing. It is but fair that he should state his own case in his own language: "I purpose," says he, "to show that a man's natural abilities are derived by inheritance under exactly the same limitations as are the form and physical features of the whole organic world. As it is easy," he adds, " notwithstanding those limitations, to obtain by careful selection a permanent breed of dogs or horses gifted with peculiar powers of running, or of doing any thing else, so it would be quite practicable to produce a highly gifted race of men by judicious marriages during several consecutive generations." One obvious objection to this is that you can train the dog, but you cannot the man or the woman. You can watch the dog as closely as you please, and can arrange the diet or the exercise he is to have to any degree of nicety; you cannot do this with the intended parents of future intellectual giants, simply because they are not only animals, but have moral senses of their own, which you cannot absolutely control, and which may, in the end, vitiate your whole scheme. Now, even if it be granted to Mr. Galton that all babies are not born alike, are we able to say how much or how little education and training of various kinds have done to make the son as eminent, perhaps much more eminent, than his father? Mr. Galton remarks, "That the experiences of the nursery, the school, the university, and of professional careers, are a chain of proofs to the contrary. I acknowledge freely the great power of education and of social influences in developing the active powers of the mind, just as I acknowledge the effect of use in developing the muscles of a blacksmith's arm, and no further. Let the blacksmith labour as he will, he will find there are certain feats beyond his power, that are well within the strength of a man of Herculean make, even though the latter may have led a sedentary life. Some years ago the Highlanders held a grand gathering in Holland Park, when they challenged all England to compete with them in their games of strength. The challenge was accepted, and the well trained men of the hills were beaten in a foot-race by a youth who was stated to be a pure cockney, the clerk of a London banker." All very true, no doubt, but no answer to the objections we have already urged. As a matter of fact, physiologists, we believe, have long held that muscular development is far more frequently transmitted than brain power or mental energy-in other words, as was said of old," Fortes creantur fortibus." Some of the statistics he adduces are certainly curious. Thus he shows that, of 286 Judges between 1660 and 1865, more than one in every nine have been either father, son, or brother of another Judge. Ten Judges had a Bishop or Archbishop for a brother, while there were several instances of poet-relations, as Cowper, Coleridge, Milton, Sir Thomas Overbury, and Waller. Does not this, however, rather show that the sons in many instances, pursued, as they would naturally, the pursuits which had made their fathers eminent? And how is it possible to know how far the son was urged on by a desire to emulate his father's fame ? Take the case of the Pitts and the Herschels in modern times. It does not follow that W. Pitt became a greater statesman than his father, or Sir J. F. W. Herschel a greater mathematician than his father, because political and mathematical genius were, in the respective cases, inherited, or rather in the blood. We have heard that, had he not wished to extend that branch of knowledge whereby Sir William Herschel is best known, his son, Sir John, would have preferred giving his great abilities to the prosecution of chemical studies. Anyhow, we are, in his case, quite ready to endorse the words of Dr. Phillimore, when he introduced Sir John Herschel for his degree as D.C.L., thirty years ago, in the theatre at Oxford, as "jure hærè 66 ditario Philosophus." Though disagreeing with him in principle, we will quote the remarkable list Mr. Galton gives in illustration of his views (his Darwinian views may we call them ?) on Hereditary Genius." Speaking of the Chancellors he says:-"1. Earl Bathurst and his daughter's son, the famous Judge, Sir F. Buller. 2. Earl Camden and his father, Chief Justice Pratt. 3. Earl Clarendon and the remarkable family of Hyde, in which were two uncles and one cousin, all English Judges, besides one Welsh Judge, and many other men of distinction. 4. Earl Cowper, his brother the Judge, and his great nephew, the poet. 5. Earl Eldon and his brother, Lord Stowell. 6. Lord Erskine and his eminent legal brother, the Lord Advocate of Scotland, and his son the Judge. 7. Earl of Nottingham and the most remarkable family of Finch 8,9,10. Lord Hardwicke and his son, also a Lord Chancellor, who died suddenly, and that son's great uncle, Lord Somers, also a Lord Chancellor. 11. Lord Herbert, his son a Judge, his cousins, Lord Herbert of Cherbury, and George, the Poet and Divine. 12. Lord King, and his uncle John Locke the Philosopher. 13. The infamous but most able Lord Jeffreys had a cousin just like him, namely, Sir J. Trevor, Master of the Rolls. 14. Lord Guildford is a member of a family to which I simply despair of doing justice, for it is linked with connexions of such marvellous ability, judicial and statesmanlike, as to deserve a small volume to describe it. It contains thirty first-class men in near kinship including Montagues, Sydneys, Herberts, Dudleys, and others. 15. Lord Truro had two able legal brothers, of whom one was Chief Justice of the Cape of Good Hope, and his nephew is an English Judge recently created Lord Penzance. I will here mention Lord Lyttelton, Lord Keeper of Charles I., although many members of his most remarkable family do not fall within my limits. His father, the Chief Justice of North Wales, married a lady the daughter of Sir J. Walter, the Chief Justice of South Wales, and also sister of an English Judge. She bore him Lord Keeper Lyttelton, also Sir Timothy, a Judge. Lord Lyttelton's daughter's son (she married a cousin) was Sir T. Lyttelton, the Speaker of the House of Commons." The list is certainly a remarkable one; but it should be remembered that the Chancellor, more than any man in the kingdom, has the power of "pushing" his relations-we don't say that this has been often done-but, in our own times, is it likely that Lords Cowley and Maryborough would have won seats in the House of Peers had they not been the brothers of the great Duke of Wellington ? "Historic Devices, Badges, and War-cries," by Mrs. Bury Palliser, is another and perhaps the best, of the several contributions to literature for which we are indebted to this indefatigable writer, who is already most favourably known to the public by her admirable and unique "History of Lace." Several papers on this curious subject have been already contributed by the author to the "Art Journal," and we rejoice that the appreciation with which these have been received has induced her to work up, and so successfully, too, the great collection of materials she had already amassed for their illustration. Abounding as it does with illustrations, of which there are fully three hundred, this book will be found of great interest to the student of history, to whom it will afford this further advantage, that it is arranged under the three distinct heads noted on its title-page, and is therefore, in fact, an alphabetical catalogue. To the general reader it recalls constant and pleasant reminiscences of famous men and famous women all over the world, with many choice allusions dear to the professed antiquary. Having spoken with needful severity of another work by Mr. J. C. Jeaffreson, we are glad to speak more favourably of his "Book about the Clergy," thinking as we do that, having established a certain literary reputation, by his books “About Doctors" and " About Lawyers," Mr. Jeaffreson will not lose this by the work we are now noticing. We are, further, bound to state that it is very full of information, shows extensive reading, and some talent for generalizing and grouping details. The reader will find in it a very complete account of the clergy, from the earliest pioneers who went out into the forest to reclaim the heathens and the pagans, down to the period he designates by the titles of "Religion under the Commonwealth," and "Religion before and after the Restoration." We like, especially, the way in which Mr. Jeaffreson has spoken of the different classes of the clergy, and shown that, in all their various orders, there was much of good, though often at times much overladen by superstition. It is quite clear from Mr. Jeaffreson's book that "the monks of old" were a very different race from what has become their popular portrait; and that, if there may have been among them a few sensualists, the system really availed to produce statesmen, scholars, able administrators in every walk of life, men conspicuous for their activity of body and mind-some, as studious men, chiefly engaged on the Scriptorium, others working at architecture and illumination, carving in wood and sculpturing in stone; while others, again, devoted themselves to politics or to ascetic rites. Very interesting, again, is Mr. Jeaffreson's account of the Lollards, of the persecution of the church, of the law of heresy, of the punishments by fire and the stake, together with his notice of the clerical wives of the period before Elizabeth; and, since then, during the times of the Stuarts and of the Commonwealth, till we reach the clerical home of the present day. On all these points Mr. Jeaffreson shows that he has read and digested a great mass of interesting matter. His description of the " Church Ale," much beloved by our ancestors, is as good as the ale probably was. "Of the Church Ale," says he, "often called the Whitsun Ale, from being generally held at Whitsuntide, it is necessary to speak at greater length, for it was a far more important institution than the 'bid ale' or the 'clerk ale.' The ordinary official givers of Church Ale were two wardens, who, after collecting subscriptions in money or kind from everyone of their affluent or fairly wellto-do fellow parishioners, provided a revel that not unfrequently surpassed the wake in costliness and diversity of amusements. The board, at which every one received a welcome who could pay for his entertainment, was loaded with good cheer; and, after the feasters had eaten and drunk to contentment, if not to excess, they took part in sports on the turf of the church-yard or on the sward of the village green. The athletes of the parish distinguished themselves in wrestling, boxing, quoitthrowing; the children cheered the mummers and morris-dancers, and round a May-pole, decorated with ribbons, the lads and the lasses plied their nimble feet to the music of fifes, bagpipes, drums, and fiddles. When they had wearied themselves by exercise, the revellers returned to the replenished board; and not seldom the feast, designed to begin and end in a day, was protracted into a demoralizing debauch of a week's or even of a month's duration." We feel much pleasure in commending to our readers Mr. Jeaffreson's very entertaining volumes, and, especially, those portions of them in which he describes, with much skill and knowledge, the spread of the doctrines inculcated by Wycliffe and his followers, whose views were accepted the more readily by the people, both high and low, that the Romish Church at that period had become corrupt in manners and doctrine, and so had lost nearly all the moral influence it once possessed. |