The Works of Thomas De Quincey, Part III vol 15

Grevel Lindop, Barry Symonds

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2020
• eBook ISBN: 9781000749779
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Essays in Education

Thomas De Quincey (1785-1859) is considered one of the most important English prose writers of the early-19th century. This is the final part of a 21-volume set presenting De Quincey's work, also including previously unpublished material.

EXPLANATORY NOTES

The abbreviation DNB in a note indicates that an entry on the person referred to may be found in the Dictionary of National Biography. The abbreviation OED refers to the Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd edition.

Secession from the Church of Scotland

1 Non–seceders] churchmen who remained in the Established Church after 1843.

2 Seceders] churchmen who left to form Free Church (see below).

3 fate of the Scottish church?] consequences of the Secession, 18 May 1843, when 474 clergymen left the Established church over the issue of secular intrusion in the appointment ministers.

4 Lord Aberdeen’s Act] Lord Aberdeen (1784–1860), Tory MP, attempted to resolve Non-intrusionist controversy; his Act of 1840 attempted a compromise between Intrusionists and Non-intrusionists parties by allowing confirmation of appointments by male heads of families within Presbytery, but providing for a confirmation of such votes by civil courts. Non-intrusionists would not accept the latter and withdrew support from the bill. The failure of the Act marked a loss of parliamentary recourse for the Non-intrusionist cause.

5 Lord Melbourne,] head of Whig government 1835 to 1841. Opposed Tory attempt to pass Lord Aberdeen’s Act.

6 May in 1834,] passage of Veto Act (see below).

7 ‘Kirk’] Scottish church.

8 one third of her children] actually 40% seceded.

9 acharnement] furious energy.

10 Papal latitude of jurisdiction.] authority similar to the Pope’s freedom in the installation Roman Catholic clergy.

11 ultra-Presbyterian] insisting on the right of congregation to veto appointments of the clergy.

12 Jacobinism;] any radical movement, in this case the seceders.

13 presbytery] local ecclesiastical unit of Scottish Church.

14 galvanism] the chemical generation of electricity.

15 sine quâ non] without which nothing; an absolute requirement.

16 Southern reader] English reader

17 Address of the two Houses] Parliament’s formal response to the Speech from the Throne (see note below).

18 Speech from the Throne] the speech that the Sovereign reads at the opening of every Parliament, enumerating legislation desirable to the Crown.

19 Barmecide Banquets,] a reference to ‘The Barber’s Tale of his Sixth Brother’ in Arabian Nights, in which the Barmecide tests the patience and humour of his hungry guest by serving him empty dishes.

20 ab extra] from outside.

21 congé-d’élire] leave-to-choose. The Sovereign’s license to dean and chapter to elect a bishop, with the Crown’s own nomination attached.

22 Act of Queen Anne (10th chap.)] 1665–1714, queen from 1702. 1712 act restored Patronage to Scottish church.

23 Sir James Graham] (1792–1861; DNB) Sir Robert Peel’s unpopular home secretary, 1841–6. His rigorous defence of the Government’s position precipitated the schism.

24 two great revolutions … in 1649, … in 1688–9)] In 1649 Oliver Cromwell and the Parliamentarian party executed Charles I and established the Protectorate; in 1688–9, Parliamentary leaders invited William of Orange and Mary Stuart to assume the throne of Mary’s father James II in the Glorious Revolution.

25 Charles II.,] 1630–85, king from 1660, notoriously self-indulgent but tremendously popular.

26 Restoration] re-installation of Stuart line on English throne in 1660, in person of Charles II (see above note).

27 St Bartholomew’s day in 1662,] the day on which the Act of Uniformity of 1662 came into effect. As a result, all ministers who would not consent to the Book of Common Prayer or to wearing the surplice were ejected from their benefices.

28 rumoured apostasy of the royal family,] Charles II was reputed to have converted to Roman Catholicism on his deathbed, while his brother and successor, James II, was openly Catholic.

29 from Edgehill fight, in the autumn of 1642, to the defeat of the king’s last force under Sir Jacob Astley at Stow–in–the–wolds in the spring of 1646.] first and last battles in the first English Civil war. Astley (1579–1672) was the royalist commander at both battles. His defeat at the hands of Thomas Brereton’s Parliamentary forces at Stow–in–the–Wolds effectively ended the war.

30 insecurity of every government between 1638 and 1702,] reference to period of political upheaval including the fall of Charles I, Interregnum, collapse of Protectorate, the Glorious Revolution, and ending with crowning of Queen Anne.

31 Queen Anne’s reign] 1702–14. Anne ruled as an Anglican, and the Act of Settlement of 1701 guaranteed the succession of her Protestant cousin, George I.

32 Dr Sacheverell,] Henry Sacheverell (1674?–1724), fanatical high-church Anglican impeached by Whigs in 1710. Painted as a martyr by Tories in 1710 elections, helping them capture government.

33 American and French Revolutions.] 1776 and 1789 respectively.

34 Methodism.] Evangelical Protestant movement founded by Wesley and Whitfield (see below). Existed first within Church of England in 1739, separated in 1795.

35 Wesley and Whitfield] John Wesley (1703–91), founder of Methodism. Devoted open-air preacher hugely popular amongst working and agricultural populations; George Whitfield (1714–70), key co-founder of Methodism during the years 1735–41, but subsequently split away to develop his own Calvinist beliefs.

36 Bible Societies, Missionary Societies, &c.;)] aspects of enthusiast religious mission; involved spread of religion through working classes and colonies/foreign lands.

37 In the years 1824–5, Parliament had passed acts] Although the Conspiracy Laws were strengthened during the Tory ministery (1812–27) of Robert Banks Jenkinson, second Earl of Liverpool (1770–1828), Parliament repealed the Combinations Acts, making it easier for religious and trade union groups to organize.

38 bona fide] with good faith, genuine.

39 quoad sacra] ‘as far as concerns sacred matters’, a...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Series Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• CONTENTS
• Preface
• Abbreviations
• Conventions for Manuscript Transcription
• Articles from Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, 1844–5:
• Articles from Tait’s Edinburgh Magazine, 1845–6:
• Manuscript Transcripts:
• Explanatory Notes
• Textual Notes