Literary Notes [pp. 739-741]

18~2.]
LITBi?ARY ~~~~~ a
739
wrong, although a marked exception to the
operation of the rule existed in Mr. Lincoln's
ease, whose humor not only greatly endeared
him to the people, hut strengthened their faith
in him. He is the only man we can recall
who made humor a political power. But if
we take a glance at humorists as a class, we
will discover that, however delightful their
gifts, they have not been men whom the
world could safely trust in places of responsibility. Sterne, for instance, was a delightful
character; we love the man with all his foibles,
but we would never dream of placing imp ortant trusts in the hands of a man of his character; and Sterne is an excellent representative of the wits-men of fancy, quickness of
imagination, and geniality of temperament but
men whose susceptibilky often played strange
pranks with their judgments. We are not to
be understood as asserting that Mr. Greeley
belonged to this class; far from it, for his
humor was only an embroidery, and not the
fabric of his talent; but the Uourant's intimation that popular judgment is blunt and stupid in this matter is what we question; for
the judgment is supported by the dramatists
and novelists in their delineations, is illustrated by the essayists and the poets, and is
abundantly confirmed in biography and history.
"Hung be the heavens in black!"
exclaims the mourner in the Shakespearian
play; but, on the occasion of Horace GreeIcy's funeral, recently, the heavens in Broadway were fairly hung in scarlet and blue, so
great was the display of bunting. Flags at
half-mast convey to every one the idea that
some one is dead whose memory it is desirable to honor; but flags at half-mast are no
more solemn or grave than flags at the height
of the staff. The "stars and stripes "that
flutter in the breeze are always full of color,
brilliancy, and animation. The Americam colors are exceedingly radiant, and, when flung
forth in a bright sun, give marvellous sparkle
and life to a picture, whether the occasion be
a solemn one or not. This fact leads a correspondent to suggest the adoption of a mourning-flag, or a banner which in its color should
express the sentiment of the occasion for
which it is displayed. He suggests a black
flag-but that would be piratical in its expression, unless a wreath of green in the centre relieved the black. As an alternative, our
correspondent recommends a black ground set
with stars-which certainly would be appropriate. But there is no reason why one uniform model should be adopted. So, without
deciding which,in our judgment, would be
the better plan for a 0mourning-fla we simply
commend the suggestion to the consideration
of the public.
-- People in New York, who like
studies of interiors, have an excellent opportunity to indulge their tastes by rides on the
elevated railway. This route, which runs on
the levei of the second-story windows, and so
near that one may almost extend his hand to
the shutters, gives to the inquisitive passenger a ceaseless succession of queer glimpses
into other people's apartments. The inside
views thus afforded are not generally of very
elegant modes of life, but for this reason they
are all the more novel and suggestive. Ele
gance is monotonously circumspect; but the
struggle for respectable existence in secondstory fronts shows life under a good many
individual aspects. It is true the glimpses
we get are rapid, and sometimes almost too
fleeting for special observation; but, by repeated rides, one may multiply impressions to
an extent that will give him a very good idea
of how people live in the quarters thus unceremoniously exposed. There is not much
neatness of apparel, although ladies are often
seen before their mirrors giving finishing
touches to their toilets. Bureaus are occasionally seen, prettily set out with ornaments;
but taste, as a rule, shows itself sparingly.
There are numerous tumbled beds and other
evidences of slovenly house - kecpin~ The
newspaper is not neglected, but the idlers,
for the most part, are in groups for the purpose of gossip. The children are not commonly in attractive trim, although the washtub and the sewing-machine are actively employed. There are some tidily-kept rooms, but
even the better apartments are not invitingthey look gloomy, lack sunlight, and cheer of
every sort. The succession of pictures is
a little curious, but not calculated to give
pleasant impressions of city home-life.
~jt~~%~ ~nt~~.
R. DO~LLINGER seems to think that the
great, perhaps the only, obstacle to the
union of all the various sects of Christendom
into one common "household of faith" is presented by the papacy; at least, we gather this
impression from reading his "Lectures on the
Reunion of the Churches." (Dodd and Mead.)
All Protestants and old Catholics will doubtless agree that he is right in part, but most of
these will see breaches between certain Protestant commurnons which are almost as wide
as the one between Protestantism and the papacy itself. For the benefit of those who are
in any doubt as to the good to result from the
establishment of a universal church, the doctor devotes his first two lectures t6 a review
of the religious condition of the world at large,
and4]to pointing out the great hinderanco that
delays the performance of an acknowledged
duty to the heathen. This hinderanco, as may
be supposed, is, according to the author, the
dissensions that prevail in the Church, a view
be well sustains by hringing forward the moral
effect on unheliovers of the fruits that ~ppear
from such division. To show how he does
this we quote ftom the close of the second lecture (pp. 30, 31): "Christ says that every
kingdom divided against itself shall be destroyed. We understand the failure of missionaries. And that is not all. What is to
Christians the holiest and most venerable of
all places, the birth-land of our faith, where
Christ taught, lived, and suffered, is now the
meeting-place of churches that hate one another. Greeks, Russians, Latins, Armenians,
Copts, Jacobites, Protestants of various sects,
all have there their fortresses and intronchments, and are intent on making fresh conquests for the rival churches. To the shame
of the Christian name, Turkish soldiers have
to interfere between rival parties of Christians,
who would else tear one another to pieces in
the holy places, and the pacha holds the key
of the holy sepulchre." The third lecture is
a resume' of the causes leading to the separation
of the Eastern and Western Churches. Then
we have a brief history of tile German Reformation, which is characterized as a movement
"deeply rooted in the needs of the ago," and
that "sprang inevitably from the ecclesiastical
conditions of the centuries immediately preceding it." Luther and his colleagues receive
no blame, except for interrupting the order of
apostolic succession, for which there was no
external necessity. The loss of this is found
a "peculiar difficulty" in the way of reunion
between certain classes of Christians, and 0110
which, the doctor thinks, ought not to have
arisen. The fifth loeture treats of "The Reaction toward Union in the Seventeenth Century;" the sixth, of "The English Reformation; its Nature and Results;" and the seventli and concluding one of the series of diffi~ culties ii' the way of union, and the ground of
hope for its ultimate accomplishment. The
doctor is careful throughout to hold up the cruelties of the popes and the intrigues of the
Jesuits as largely to blame for the continued
division of the Church, and his "ground for
hope" seems to lie in the reaction that has set
in from the culmination of the papal idea in
the famous decree of infallibility. The "leetures" are popular in style, and will doubtless
command much attention from all who have
any interest in the weighty question at issue.
A somewhat peculiar story is attached to
the posthumous work, by M. Villemain, "The
History of Gregory VII.," which is about to
be published in Paris. The deceased academician commenced this voluminous dissertation more than forty years ago, and did not
complete it till 1851. After M. Villemain's
death, which took place on the day when so~en and a half mllllons of ayes were being elicited by the last of the Napoleonic ~7Jbiscetes,
his family were about to publish the work
whicb, for some unaccountable reason, the anthor bad kept so long in reserve, when their
plans were quite upset by the outbreak of the
war. When Paris was seriously threatened
by the Germans, the manuscripts were sent
out of the capital. Their transportation was
no easy matter, for M. V illemain bad the habit
of never burning a single scrap of paper, and
all the notes, copies, articles, etc., connected
with this work, made up a heavy load of literature, added to, as they were, by an unpublished translation of" Pindar," and fragments
about the Restoration. From Paris they w~ere
sent to Angers, and, when that town was
threatened, Lord Lyons was asked to take
them under his protection, but he seems to
have thought that he could hardly he expected
to do so. Eventually the precious deposit
appears to have reached Bordeaux, wh once it
was sent back to Paris just before the conflagrations in the Rue de Lille and the Rue de
Vernoull. The house in which the manuscripts
were lodged was in this quarter, but luckily
escaped destruction, and the hook has at last
reached the hands of the printer.
Literary treasures are often brought to light
in quite unpromising quarters. One does not
expect much, for instance, from such a field as
heathen India, yet from time to time the students of its unfamiliar literature point out
gems of art that would do credit' to any
people. In a recent article in tlie ~o~t-3fott
61orstts on "Heathen Poetry," we find such
specimens as this from Tamli authors:
vux saxs~xnn OF TIlE woaans.
"flow many various flowers
Did I in by-gone hours
Cull for the god, and in his uonor strew!
In vain how many a prayer
I breathed into the air!
And made, with many ilirms, obeisance due.