E TURF IN FIFTY-TWO." BY CRAVEN. e mari magno turbantibus equora ventis, nia vexari quemquam est jucunda voluptas, very chivalrous confession of faith, assum.ng writer alluded to before, as well in those physical d their masters, as in the h all the advantage of the said that they have yet of learning: that is, the And immediately followed writers, who were, so to ountains. And though d which, should circumtellectual resources of roportion, again arise, heir results to a more 19 W Epsom Steeple Chases. 20 T Nithsdale Coursing Meeting. 21 F Altcar Coursing Meeting. 22 S 23 24 M Septuagesima Sunday. r 7 5810 2 30 9 s 4 2611 3 37 10 510 40 r 7 5612 4 4411 1511 50 s 4 3613 5 49 No tide 0 20 r 7 5314 6 47 0 45 1 10 s 4 3315 7 37 1 30 1 55 25 T Southminster and Spiddal C. M.r 7 51 FRISES. 26 W 27 T 28 F Oundle Steeple Chases. 29 S s 4 3617 6 5 2 14 2 35 2 55 3 15 r 7 4818 7 24 3 30 3 50 s 4 4019 8 44 4 10 4 30 r 7 452010 5 4 50 55 30 S Sepagesima Sunday. [C. M. s 4 442111 26 31 M Hilary Term ends. Wiltshire Ch. r 7 4222 Morning. 5 30 5 50 610 6 35 "Suave mari magno turbantibus æquora ventis, This is certainly not a very chivalrous confession of faith, assuming that it represents the poet's practical philosophy; neither is the principle it involves especially becoming the antique spirit of Imperial Rome. It is, however, an allegorical view, which, in all courtesy, may be supposed to sympathize with the popular system of these downright days-a logical canon, whose premises are the stern realities of life in the maturity of the nineteenth century. Let us then, “e terrâ—” standing on the threshold of the coming year, thus meditate upon the points of interest developed in the panorama of the past-not, indeed, for the satisfaction of seeing how our neighbour is tossed about on the waters of strife, "Sed nil dulcius est, bene quam munita tenere, Edita doctrina sapientum templa serena." "The study of modern history," said a subtle essayist of the beginning of the present century, "is the study of kings, financiers, statesmen, and priests." How different will be the materiel of the historian of this epoch of our annals! It may be destined to receive a check; it may be fated to retrograde; but, beyond all question, a class movement is now in progress, wholly unparalleled in the social relations of monarchical constitutions. What combination of moral and political circumstances may have produced it, will be a problem for posterity to solve: the fact is for our present wonder and conjecture. The effect which it is calculated to bring about in the destiny of civilized man promises to be the most memorable in the history of mankind. "The modern nations of the civilized world," observes the writer alluded to before, "owe the progress which they have made as well in those physical sciences in which they have already excelled their masters, as in the moral and intellectual inquiries in which, with all the advantage of the experience of the latter, it can scarcely be said that they have yet equalled them to what is called the revival of learning: that is, the study of the writers of the age which preceded and immediately followed the government of Pericles, or of subsequent writers, who were, so to speak, the rivers flowing from those immortal fountains. And though there seems to be a principle in the modern world which, should circumstances analogous to those which modelled the intellectual resources of the age to which we refer, into so harmonious a proportion, again arise, would arrest and perpetuate them, and consign their results to a more equal, extensive, and lasting improvement of the condition of manthough justice and the true meaning of human society are, if not more accurately, more generally understood-though perhaps men know more, and therefore are more, as a mass, yet this principle has never been called into action, and requires, indeed, an universal and an almost appalling change in the system of existing things." Has the summons gone forth? Has the startling moral revolution begun? Has " occasion," or "transition," or any other dilettantism of fashionable political economy, wrought out this principle, whose mission it is to call into action "a universal and an almost appalling change in the system of existing things"? Is the fulness of time arrived when mankind shall eat of the fruit whose seed is progress? Fabulous as the fancy may seem, the theory propounded for the suggestion of such a proposition is simple and homely enough. If Homer was justified in asserting “ Οἴη περ φύλλῶν γενεὴ τοιήδε καὶ ανδρῶν:” that the generations of men are identical with the anniversaries of leaves-surely it is not begging the question to assume that human nature in the mass-considered as one entire and perfect family-is bound and influenced by the same laws which control it when partitioned into communities and households. Looking thus at life, or the world, or whatever we may call the wonder of existence-our being— that which we are and feel-it is not difficult, taking the relative result to be accomplished into account, to imagine the ages that have elapsed since the Creation the pupilage of the human race, and that mind which began its A B C in Adam, had made considerable antediluvian advances, as preserved by the traditions of Noah; physical science was developed in Aristotle and Theophrastus; Plato was remarkably well "up" in moral philosophy, and indeed, that metaphysics and logic were already on a firm basis. The Muses claim the maternity of "The blind old bard of Scio's rocky isle;" and in the matter of contemporary masonry, the Parthenon will not plead in vain. Of the music of this period we are in the dark; but Orpheus must have been an eminent hand at the lyre, and the fluteplayers of Athens certainly discoursed good melody, or we should never find them at feasts frequented by Socrates, Pausanias, Aristophanes, Alcibiades, and worthies of that class. It were not necessary to adduce any instances of the position of the arts during the Assyrian and Chaldean epochs, as of course you have been to see what Mr. Layard has dug out of the ruins of Babylon and Nimroud, and deposited in the British Museum. As to the Grecian miracles in marble, all the world is familiar with the Medicean Venus and the Apollo of the Belvidere. How to speak about Rome; of Praxitiles, Scopas, Phidias; of the Coliseum the Thermæ of Caracalla, the Arch of Titus; of Raffaele and Guido; the Pantheon, St. Peter's-which "flogs" St. Paul's even as Homer "bangs Shakspeare-I'm sorry for it! but 'tis a fact. Have you ever visited the Vatican? If not, imagine a universe of Great Exhibitions of All Nations rolled into one, and placed under a conservatory in Hyde Park, and then you will have such an idea of it as the blast of a penny trumpet might afford you of the music of the spheres. About four thousand years of mortal schooling have now been bestowed on mind, and it has brought forth good fruit. It is the year 1, there or thereabouts, and "the schoolmaster is abroad," worse luck for him and his classes, as we shall observe in what follows. The Cæsars couldn't let well alone, and so the Imperial Eagle bit the dust, as also it has done within more modern memory. Circumscribing the circle of observation, however, as circumstances presently did that of civilization, and marking the era as not remote from "The Constantine,' we will take a peep at home, premising that Julius Cæsar had previously made a call on our coasts. That thing without "shreds and patches' upon “puris naturalibus"—is a serf of Queen Boadicea, whose descendant became a subject of the House of Brunswick, clad in top-boots, with a propensity for strong beer, under the title of John Bull. Whether the Roman people adopted the word "talent" as a term denoting a large sum of money, in consequence of the cost of teaching the young idea how to shoot, is beyond my reading; but it certainly is very expensive work after you have caught your "noble savage," to dress him up to the standard of good taste. Should you entertain any doubt this point, send down for a sample of the raw material, say to Hampshire, and you will have an opportunity of forming a practical opinion sufficient to satisfy any moderate scepticism. Leaving hypothesis aside, the charges according to the most accurate returns of the "Funded Debt," for transmuting the Barbarian" Bull of Cæsar's Commentaries into the gentleman of Sir Bulwer Lytton's "Pelham " are about £800,000,000. This, as Theodore Hook might have said, is a good dollop of money, and strongly contrasts with the policy of that "brave Ines," sung by Lord Byron, who, pour s'amuser, set up a Sunday seminary, gratis. The interval of popular polishing between the reigns of Queens Boadicea and Victoria is certainly a considerable one, and involves what is termed in official jargon, a wide "margin" of outgoings. The capital, however, is disbursed; the sum is a heavy one; we know what we have got for it; and all that remains to be done is to keep up our payments of the interest. There's the rub" the tauromachia. Are succeeding calves to pay for the intellectual thirst of the wildernesses of herds by which they have been preceded at the Pierian springs? 66 If social signs and tokens be the shadows of coming events, their augury should seem portentous. Test life in its communal character; analyze its principles and their practical development; then ponder upon what civilization has done, and is doing for spiritual and responsible man; what heirloom progress has bequeathed to truth, and what legacy it has left to hypocrisy and falsehood. Whatever philosophy may urge against its practicability, the natural equality of man is a canon of Christianity. Do its professors in scarlet stockings or in lawn sleeves practise what they propound? Do Cardinals consort with the mere masticators of maccaroni? Does the Bench of Bishops banquet with the heavers of wood and drawers of water? What is the divinity doth hedge a king"? a million sovereigns a year, or twentyfive millions of francs, according to the local currency. What is the majesty of the people of this the peculiar abode of liberty? the prerogative of a Popular parliament, provided for by the patrician system of clection, as revealed on the late Derby commission. What's honour? 66 |