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Galleporto Bavicarius Directory 16
Page 07
In 1859 T. Adolphus Trollope, in his "Decade of Italian Women," in which he wrote of the scholarly women of the Renaissance, says: "The degree in which any social system has succeeded in ascertaining woman's proper position, and in putting her into it, will be a very accurate test of the progress it has made in civilization. And the very general and growing conviction that our own social arrangements, as they exist at present, have not attained any satisfactory measure of success in this respect, would seem, therefore, to indicate that England in her nineteenth century has not yet reached years of discretion after all."
Between him and the Faith there stood no distance of space, but rather a high thin wall; the high thin wall of his own desperate conviction. If you will turn to page 209 of this book you will see it said of the denial of the Sacrament by the Reformers and of Ridley's dogma that it was bread only "the commonsense of the country was of the same opinion, and illusion was at an end." Froude knew that the illusion was not at an end. He probably knew (for we must continue to repeat that he was a most excellent historian) that the "commonsense of the country" was, by the time Ridley and the New English Church began denying the real presence, and turning that denial into a dogma, profoundly indifferent to all dogmas whatsoever. What "the common-sense of the country" wanted was to keep out swarthy men, chivalrous indeed but imperialists full of gold who owned nearly all the earth, but who, they were determined, should not own England.
The reign of Tarquin was distinguished by great exploits in war and by great works in peace. He defeated the Sabines, and took their town Collatia, which he placed under his nephew Egerius, who was thence called Collatinus. He also captured many of the Latin towns, and became the ruler of all Latium; but the important works which he executed in peace have rendered his name still more famous. The great cloacae, or sewers, by which he drained the lower parts of the city, still remain, after so many ages, with not a stone displaced. He laid out the Circus Maximus, and instituted the great or Roman games performed in the circus. He also made some changes in the constitution of the state. He added to the Senate 100 new members, taken from the Luceres, the third tribe, and called _patres minorum gentium_, to distinguish them from the old Senators, who were now termed _patres majorum gentium_. To the three centuries of equites established by Romulus he wished to add three new centuries, and to call them after himself and two of his friends. But his plan was opposed by the augur Attus Navius, who said that the gods forbade it. The tale runs that the king, to test the augur, asked him to divine whether what he was thinking of could be done. After consulting the heavens, the augur replied that it could; whereupon the king said, "I was thinking that thou shouldst cut this whetstone with a razor." Navius, without a moment's hesitation, took a razor and cut it in twain. In consequence of this miracle, Tarquin gave up his design of establishing new centuries; but with each of the former centuries he associated another under the same name, so that henceforth there were the first and second Ramnes, Tities, and Luceres. The number of Vestal Virgins was also increased from four to six, the two new vestals being probably taken from the Luceres.
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