,,short ,,studies                       
,,on                                    
,,great ,,subjects4                     
,,london                      ,,printed 
,,by ,,spottiswoode ,,and ,,co4         
,,new-,,street ,,square                 
,,short ,,studies                       
,,on                                    
,,great ,,subjects4                     
,,by                           ,,james  
,,anthony ,,froude1 ,m4,a4              
,,late ,,fellow ,,of ,,exeter ,,college1
 ,,oxford4                              
,,second ,,edition4                     
,,london3                               
,,longmans1 ,,green1 ,,and ,,co4        
#ahfg4      ,,contents4                 
,,page  ,,the ,,science ,,of ,,history  
#a  ,,times ,,of ,,erasmus ,,and        
,,luther3     ,lecture ,i               
#bf     ,lecture ,,ii                   
#ej     ,lecture ,,iii                  
#ge  ,,the ,,influence ,,of ,,the       
,,reformation ,,on ,,the ,,scottish     
,,character  #ajb  ,,the ,,philosophy   

,,of ,,catholicism                      
#abd  ,a ,,plea ,,for ,,the ,,free      
,,discussion ,,of ,,theological         
,,difficulties  #acc  ,,criticism ,,and 
,,the ,,gospel ,,history                
#aei  ,,the ,,book ,,of ,,job           
#ahe  ,,spinoza                         
#bbc  ,,the ,,dissolution ,,of ,,the    
,,monasteries                           
#bfe  ,,england',s ,,forgotten          
,,worthies                              
#bid  ,,homer                           
#ccd  ,,the ,,lives ,,of ,,the ,,saints 
#cfc  ,,representative ,,men            
#chd  ,,reynard ,,the ,,fox             
#dja  ,,the ,,cat',s ,,pilgrimage3      
,part ,i                                
#dai     ,part ,,ii                     
#dbb     ,part ,,iii                    
#dbg     ,part ,,iv                     
#dcj  ,,fables3      ,i4 ,the ,lions and
 the ,oxen                              
#dcc     ,,ii4 ,the ,farmer and the ,fox
                              #dcd      
,,parable ,,of ,,the ,,bread-,,fruit    

,,tree                             #dcf 
,,compensation                          
#dci     ,,the ,,science ,,of ,,history3
  ,a ,,lecture ,,delivered ,,at ,,the   
,,royal ,,institution  ,,february #e1   
#ahfd4   ,ladies and ,gentlemen1--,i    
have undertaken to speak to you this    
evening on what is called the ,science  
of ,history4 ,i fear it is a dry        
subject2 and there seems1 indeed1       
something incongruous in the very       
connection of such words as ,science and
 ,history4 ,it is as if we were to talk 
of the colour of sound1 or the longitude
 of the rule-of-three4 ,where it is so  
difficult to make out the truth on the  
commonest disputed fact in matters      
passing under our very eyes1 how can we 
talk of a science in things long past1  
which come to us only through books8 ,it
 often seems to me as if ,history was   
like a child's box of letters1 with     
which we can spell any word we please4  
,we have only to pick out such letters  
as we want1 arrange them as we like1 and

 say nothing about those which do not   
suit our purpose4  ,i will try to make  
the thing intelligible1 and ,i will try 
not to weary you2 but ,i am doubtful of 
my success either way4 ,first1 however1 
,i wish to say a word or two about the  
eminent person whose name is connected  
with this way of looking at ,history1   
and whose premature death struck us all 
with such a sudden sorrow4 ,many of you1
 perhaps1 recollect ,mr4 ,buckle as he  
stood not so long ago in this place4 ,he
 spoke more than an hour without a      
note--never repeating himself1 never    
wasting words2 laying out his matter as 
easily and as pleasantly as if he had   
been talking to us at his own fireside4 
,we might think what we pleased of ,mr4 
,buckle's views1 but it was plain enough
 that he was a man of uncommon power2   
and he had qualities also--qualities to 
which he1 perhaps1 himself attached     
little value1 as rare as they were      
admirable4  ,most of us1 when we have   
hit on something which we are pleased to

 think important and original1 feel as  
if we should burst with it4 ,we come out
 into the book-market with our wares in 
hand1 and ask for thanks and            
recognition4 ,mr4 ,buckle1 at an early  
age1 conceived the thought which made   
him famous1 but he took the measure of  
his abilities4 ,he knew that whenever he
 pleased he could command personal      
distinction1 but he cared more for his  
subject than for himself4 ,he was       
contented to work with patient          
reticence1 unknown and unheard of1 for  
twenty years2 and then1 at middle life1 
he produced a work which was translated 
at once into ,french and ,german1 and1  
of all places in the world1 fluttered   
the dovecotes of the ,imperial ,academy 
of ,st4 ,petersburg4  ,goethe says      
somewhere1 that as soon as a man has    
done anything remarkable1 there seems to
 be a general conspiracy to prevent him 
from doing it again4 ,he is feasted1    
fted1 caressed2 his time is stolen from 
him by breakfasts1 dinners1 societies1  

idle businesses of a thousand kinds4    
,mr4 ,buckle had his share of all this2 
but there are also more dangerous       
enemies that wait upon success like his4
 ,he had scarcely won for himself the   
place which he deserved1 than his health
 was found shattered by his labours4 ,he
 had but time to show us how large a man
 he was--time just to sketch the        
outlines of his philosophy1 and he      
passed away as suddenly as he appeared4 
,he went abroad to recover strength for 
his work1 but his work was done with and
 over4 ,he died of a fever at ,damascus1
 vexed only that he was compelled to    
leave it uncompleted4 ,almost his last  
conscious words were1 ',my book1 my     
book6 ,i shall never finish my book6'   
,he went away as he had lived1 nobly    
careless of himself1 and thinking only  
of the thing which he had undertaken to 
do4  ,but his labour had not been thrown
 away4 ,disagree with him as we might1  
the effect which he had already produced
 was unmistakable1 and it is not likely 

to pass away4 ,what he said was not     
essentially new4 ,some such             
interpretation of human things is as    
early as the beginning of thought4 ,but 
,mr4 ,buckle1 on the one hand1 had the  
art which belongs to men of genius2 he  
could present his opinions with peculiar
 distinctness2 and1 on the other hand1  
there is much in the mode of speculation
 at present current among us for which  
those opinions have an unusual          
fascination4 ,they do not please us1 but
 they excite and irritate us4 ,we are   
angry with them2 and we betray1 in being
 so1 an uneasy misgiving that there may 
be more truth in those opinions than we 
like to allow4  ,mr4 ,buckle's general  
theory was something of this kind3 ,when
 human creatures began first to look    
about them in the world they lived in1  
there seemed to be no order in anything4
 ,days and nights were not the same     
length4 ,the air was sometimes hot and  
sometimes cold4 ,some of the stars rose 
and set like the sun2 some were almost  

motionless in the sky2 some described   
circles round a central star above the  
north horizon4 ,the planets went on     
principles of their own2 and in the     
elements there seemed nothing but       
caprice4 ,sun and moon would at times go
 out in eclipse4 ,sometimes the earth   
itself would shake under men's feet2 and
 they could only suppose that earth and 
air and sky and water were inhabited and
 managed by creatures as wayward as     
themselves4  ,time went on1 and the     
disorder began to arrange itself4       
,certain influences seemed beneficent to
 men1 others malignant and destructive1 
and the world was supposed to be        
animated by good spirits and evil       
spirits1 who were continually fighting  
against each other1 in outward nature   
and in human creatures themselves4      
,finally1 as men observed more and      
imagined less1 these interpretations    
gave way also4 ,phenomena the most      
opposite in effect were seen to be the  
result of the same natural law4 ,the    

fire did not burn the house down if the 
owners of it were careful1 but remained 
on the hearth and boiled the pot2 nor   
did it seem more inclined to burn a bad 
man's house down than a good man's1     
provided the badness did not take the   
form of negligence4 ,the phenomena of   
nature were found for the most part to  
proceed in an orderly1 regular way1 and 
their variations to be such as could be 
counted upon4 ,from observing the order 
of things1 the step was easy to cause   
and effect4 ,an eclipse1 instead of     
being a sign of the anger of ,heaven1   
was found to be the necessary and       
innocent result of the relative position
 of sun1 moon1 and earth4 ,the comets   
became bodies in space1 unrelated to the
 beings who had imagined that all       
creation was watching them and their    
doings4 ,by degrees1 caprice1 volition1 
all symptoms of arbitrary action1       
disappeared out of the universe2 and    
almost every phenomenon in earth or     
heaven was found attributable to some   

law1 either understood or perceived to  
exist4 ,thus nature was reclaimed from  
the imagination4 ,the first fantastic   
conception of things gave way before the
 moral2 the moral in turn gave way      
before the natural2 and at last there   
was left but one small tract of jungle  
where the theory of law had failed to   
penetrate--the doings and characters of 
human creatures themselves4  ,there1 and
 only there1 amidst the conflicts of    
reason and emotion1 conscience and      
desire1 spiritual forces were still     
conceived to exist4 ,cause and effect   
were not traceable when there was a free
 volition to disturb the connection4 ,in
 all other things1 from a given set of  
conditions1 the consequences necessarily
 followed4 ,with man1 the word law      
changed its meaning2 and instead of a   
fixed order1 which he could not choose  
but follow1 it became a moral precept1  
which he might disobey if he dared4     
,this it was which ,mr4 ,buckle         
disbelieved4 ,the economy which         

prevailed throughout nature1 he thought 
it very unlikely should admit of this   
exception4 ,he considered that human    
beings acted necessarily from the       
impulse of outward circumstances upon   
their mental and bodily condition at any
 given moment4 ,every man1 he said1     
acted from a motive2 and his conduct was
 determined by the motive which affected
 him most powerfully4 ,every man        
naturally desires what he supposes to be
 good for him2 but to do well1 he must  
know well4 ,he will eat poison1 so long 
as he does not know that it is poison4  
,let him see that it will kill him1 and 
he will not touch it4 ,the question was 
not of moral right and wrong4 ,once let 
him be thoroughly made to feel that the 
thing is destructive1 and he will leave 
it alone by the law of his nature4 ,his 
virtues are the result of knowledge2 his
 faults1 the necessary consequence of   
the want of it4 ,a boy desires to draw4 
,he knows nothing about it3 he draws men
 like trees or houses1 with their centre

 of gravity anywhere4 ,he makes         
mistakes1 because he knows no better4   
,we do not blame him4 ,till he is better
 taught he cannot help it4 ,but his     
instruction begins4 ,he arrives at      
straight lines2 then at solids2 then at 
curves4 ,he learns perspective1 and     
light and shade4 ,he observes more      
accurately the forms which he wishes to 
represent4 ,he perceives effects1 and he
 perceives the means by which they are  
produced4 ,he has learned what to do2   
and1 in part1 he has learned how to do  
it4 ,his after-progress will depend on  
the amount of force which his nature    
possesses2 but all this is as natural as
 the growth of an acorn4 ,you do not    
preach to the acorn that it is its duty 
to become a large tree2 you do not      
preach to the art-pupil that it is his  
duty to become a ,holbein4 ,you plant   
your acorn in favourable soil1 where it 
can have light and air1 and be sheltered
 from the wind2 you remove the          
superfluous branches1 you train the     

strength into the leading shoots4 ,the  
acorn will then become as fine a tree as
 it has vital force to become4 ,the     
difference between men and other things 
is only in the largeness and variety of 
man's capacities2 and in this special   
capacity1 that he alone has the power of
 observing the circumstances favourable 
to his own growth1 and can apply them   
for himself4 ,yet1 again1 with this     
condition1--that he is not1 as is       
commonly supposed1 free to choose       
whether he will make use of these       
appliances or not4 ,when he knows what  
is good for him1 he will choose it2 and 
he will judge what is good for him by   
the circumstances which have made him   
what he is4  ,and what he would do1 ,mr4
 ,buckle supposed that he always had    
done4 ,his history had been a natural   
growth as much as the growth of the     
acorn4 ,his improvement had followed the
 progress of his knowledge2 and1 by a   
comparison of his outward circumstances 
with the condition of his mind1 his     

whole proceedings on this planet1 his   
creeds and constitutions1 his good deeds
 and his bad1 his arts and his sciences1
 his empires and his revolutions1 would 
be found all to arrange themselves into 
clear relations of cause and effect4    
,if1 when ,mr4 ,buckle pressed his      
conclusions1 we objected the difficulty 
of finding what the truth about past    
times really was1 he would admit it     
candidly as far as concerned            
individuals2 but there was not the same 
difficulty1 he said1 with masses of men4
 ,we might disagree about the characters
 of ,julius or ,tiberius ,csar1 but we  
could know well enough the ,romans of   
the ,empire4 ,we had their literature to
 tell us how they thought2 we had their 
laws to tell us how they governed2 we   
had the broad face of the world1 the    
huge mountainous outline of their       
general doings upon it1 to tell us how  
they acted4 ,he believed it was all     
reducible to laws1 and could be made as 
intelligible as the growth of the chalk 

cliffs or the coal measures4  ,and thus 
consistently ,mr4 ,buckle cared little  
for individuals4 ,he did not believe 7as
 some one has said7 that the history of 
mankind is the history of its great men4
 ,great men with him were but larger    
atoms1 obeying the same impulses with   
the rest1 only perhaps a trifle more    
erratic4 ,with them or without them1 the
 course of things would have been much  
the same4  ,as an illustration of the   
truth of his view1 he would point to the
 new science of ,political ,economy4    
,here already was a large area of human 
activity in which natural laws were     
found to act unerringly4 ,men had gone  
on for centuries trying to regulate     
trade on moral principles4 ,they would  
fix wages according to some imaginary   
rule of fairness2 they would fix prices 
by what they considered things ought to 
cost2 they encouraged one trade or      
discouraged another1 for moral reasons4 
,they might as well have tried to work a
 steam-engine on moral reasons4 ,the    

great statesmen whose names were        
connected with these enterprises might  
have as well legislated that water      
should run up-hill4 ,there were natural 
laws1 fixed in the conditions of things3
 and to contend against them was the old
 battle of the ,titans against the gods4
  ,as it was with political economy1 so 
it was with all other forms of human    
activity2 and as the true laws of       
political economy explained the troubles
 which people fell into in old times1   
because they were ignorant of them1 so  
the true laws of human nature1 as soon  
as we knew them1 would explain their    
mistakes in more serious matters1 and   
enable us to manage better for the      
future4 ,geographical position1 climate1
 air1 soil1 and the like1 had their     
several influences4 ,the northern       
nations are hardy and industrious1      
because they must till the earth if they
 would eat the fruits of it1 and because
 the temperature is too low to make an  
idle life enjoyable4 ,in the south1 the 

soil is more productive1 while less food
 is wanted and fewer clothes2 and in the
 exquisite air1 exertion is not needed  
to make the sense of existence          
delightful4 ,therefore1 in the south we 
find men lazy and indolent4  ,true1     
there are difficulties in these views2  
the home of the languid ,italian was the
 home also of the sternest race of whom 
the story of mankind retains a record4  
,and again1 when we are told that the   
,spaniards are superstitious1 because   
,spain is a country of earthquakes1 we  
remember ,japan1 the spot in all the    
world where earthquakes are most        
frequent1 and where at the same time    
there is the most serene disbelief in   
any supernatural agency whatsoever4     
,moreover1 if men grow into what they   
are by natural laws1 they cannot help   
being what they are2 and if they cannot 
help being what they are1 a good deal   
will have to be altered in our general  
view of human obligations and           
responsibilities4  ,that1 however1 in   

these theories there is a great deal of 
truth is quite certain2 were there but a
 hope that those who maintain them would
 be contented with that admission4 ,a   
man born in a ,mahometan country grows  
up a ,mahometan2 in a ,catholic country1
 a ,catholic2 in a ,protestant country1 
a ,protestant4 ,his opinions are like   
his language2 he learns to think as he  
learns to speak2 and it is absurd to    
suppose him responsible for being what  
nature makes him4 ,we take pains to     
educate children4 ,there is a good      
education and a bad education2 there are
 rules well ascertained by which        
characters are influenced1 and1 clearly 
enough1 it is no mere matter for a boy's
 free will whether he turns out well or 
ill4 ,we try to train him into good     
habits2 we keep him out of the way of   
temptations2 we see that he is well     
taught2 we mix kindness and strictness2 
we surround him with every good         
influence we can command4 ,these are    
what are termed the advantages of a good

 education3 and if we fail to provide   
those under our care with it1 and if    
they go wrong1 the responsibility we    
feel is as much ours as theirs4 ,this is
 at once an admission of the power over 
us of outward circumstances4  ,in the   
same way1 we allow for the strength of  
temptations1 and the like4  ,in general1
 it is perfectly obvious that men do    
necessarily absorb1 out of the          
influences in which they grow up1       
something which gives a complexion to   
their whole after-character4  ,when     
historians have to relate great social  
or speculative changes1 the overthrow of
 a monarchy or the establishment of a   
creed1 they do but half their duty if   
they merely relate the events4 ,in an   
account1 for instance1 of the rise of   
,mahometanism1 it is not enough to      
describe the character of the ,prophet1 
the ends which he set before him1 the   
means which he made use of1 and the     
effect which he produced2 the historian 
must show what there was in the         

condition of the ,eastern races which   
enabled ,mahomet to act upon them so    
powerfully2 their existing beliefs1     
their existing moral and political      
condition4  ,in our estimate of the     
past1 and in our calculations of the    
future--in the judgments which we pass  
upon one another1 we measure            
responsibility1 not by the thing done1  
but by the opportunities which people   
have had of knowing better or worse4 ,in
 the efforts which we make to keep our  
children from bad associations or       
friends we admit that external          
circumstances have a powerful effect in 
making men what they are4  ,but are     
circumstances everything8 ,that is the  
whole question4 ,a science of history1  
if it is more than a misleading name1   
implies that the relation between cause 
and effect holds in human things as     
completely as in all others1 that the   
origin of human actions is not to be    
looked for in mysterious properties of  
the mind1 but in influences which are   

palpable and ponderable4  ,when natural 
causes are liable to be set aside and   
neutralised by what is called volition1 
the word ,science is out of place4 ,if  
it is free to a man to choose what he   
will do or not do1 there is no adequate 
science of him4 ,if there is a science  
of him1 there is no free choice1 and the
 praise or blame with which we regard   
one another are impertinent and out of  
place4  ,i am trespassing upon these    
ethical grounds because1 unless ,i do1  
the subject cannot be made intelligible4
 ,mankind are but an aggregate of       
individuals--,history is but the record 
of individual action2 and what is true  
of the part1 is true of the whole4  ,we 
feel keenly about such things1 and when 
the logic becomes perplexing1 we are apt
 to grow rhetorical about them4 ,but    
rhetoric is only misleading4 ,whatever  
the truth may be1 it is best that we    
should know it2 and for truth of any    
kind we should keep our heads and hearts
 as cool as we can4  ,i will say at     

once1 that if we had the whole case     
before us--if we were taken1 like       
,leibnitz's ,tarquin1 into the council  
chamber of nature1 and were shown what  
we really were1 where we came from1 and 
where we were going1 however unpleasant 
it might be for some of us to find      
ourselves1 like ,tarquin1 made into     
villains1 from the subtle necessities of
 'the best of all possible worlds2'     
nevertheless1 some such theory as ,mr4  
,buckle's might possibly turn out to be 
true4 ,likely enough1 there is some     
great 'equation of the universe' where  
the value of the unknown quantities can 
be determined4 ,but we must treat things
 in relation to our own powers and      
position2 and the question is1 whether  
the sweep of those vast curves can be   
measured by the intellect of creatures  
of a day like ourselves4  ,the ',faust' 
of ,goethe1 tired of the barren round of
 earthly knowledge1 calls magic to his  
aid4 ,he desires1 first1 to see the     
spirit of the ,macrocosmos1 but his     

heart fails him before he ventures that 
tremendous experiment1 and he summons   
before him1 instead1 the spirit of his  
own race4 ,there he feels himself at    
home4 ,the stream of life and the storm 
of action1 the everlasting ocean of     
existence1 the web and the woof1 and the
 roaring loom of time--he gazes upon    
them all1 and in passionate exultation  
claims fellowship with the awful thing  
before him4 ,but the majestic vision    
fades1 and a voice comes to him--',thou 
art fellow with the spirits which thy   
mind can grasp--not with me4'  ,had ,mr4
 ,buckle tried to follow his principles 
into detail1 it might have fared no     
better with him than with ',faust4'     
,what are the conditions of a science8  
and when may any subject be said to     
enter the scientific stage8 ,i suppose  
when the facts of it begin to resolve   
themselves into groups2 when phenomena  
are no longer isolated experiences1 but 
appear in connection and order2 when1   
after certain antecedents1 certain      

consequences are uniformly seen to      
follow2 when facts enough have been     
collected to furnish a basis for        
conjectural explanation1 and when       
conjectures have so far ceased to be    
utterly vague1 that it is possible in   
some degree to foresee the future by the
 help of them4  ,till a subject has     
advanced as far as this1 to speak of a  
science of it is an abuse of language4  
,it is not enough to say that there must
 be a science of human things1 because  
there is a science of all other things4 
,this is like saying the planets must be
 inhabited1 because the only planet of  
which we have any experience is         
inhabited4 ,it may or may not be true1  
but it is not a practical question2 it  
does not affect the practical treatment 
of the matter in hand4  ,let us look at 
the history of ,astronomy4  ,so long as 
sun1 moon1 and planets were supposed to 
be gods or angels2 so long as the sword 
of ,orion was not a metaphor1 but a     
fact1 and the groups of stars which     

inlaid the floor of heaven were the     
glittering trophies of the loves and    
wars of the ,pantheon1 so long there was
 no science of ,astronomy4 ,there was   
fancy1 imagination1 poetry1 perhaps     
reverence1 but no science4 ,as soon1    
however1 as it was observed that the    
stars retained their relative           
places--that the times of their rising  
and setting varied with the             
seasons--that sun1 moon1 and planets    
moved among them in a plane1 and the    
belt of the ,zodiac was marked out and  
divided1 then a new order of things     
began4 ,traces of the earlier stage     
remained in the names of the signs and  
constellations1 just as the             
,scandinavian mythology survives now in 
the names of the days of the week3 but  
for all that1 the understanding was now 
at work on the thing2 ,science had      
begun1 and the first triumph of it was  
the power of foretelling the future4    
,eclipses were perceived to recur in    
cycles of nineteen years1 and           

philosophers were able to say when an   
eclipse was to be looked for4 ,the      
periods of the planets were determined4 
,theories were invented to account for  
their eccentricities2 and1 false as     
those theories might be1 the position of
 the planets could be calculated with   
moderate certainty by them4 ,the very   
first result of the science1 in its most
 imperfect stage1 was a power of        
foresight2 and this was possible before 
any one true astronomical law had been  
discovered4  ,we should not therefore   
question the possibility of a science of
 history1 because the explanations of   
its phenomena were rudimentary or       
imperfect3 that they might be1 and might
 long continue to be1 and yet enough    
might be done to show that there was    
such a thing1 and that it was not       
entirely without use4 ,but how was it   
that in those rude days1 with small     
knowledge of mathematics1 and with no   
better instruments than flat walls and  
dial plates1 those first astronomers    

made progress so considerable8 ,because1
 ,i suppose1 the phenomena which they   
were observing recurred1 for the most   
part1 within moderate intervals2 so that
 they could collect large experience    
within the compass of their natural     
lives3 because days and months and years
 were measurable periods1 and within    
them the more simple phenomena          
perpetually repeated themselves4  ,but  
how would it have been if1 instead of   
turning on its axis once in twenty-four 
hours1 the earth had taken a year about 
it2 if the year had been nearly four    
hundred years2 if man's life had been no
 longer than it is1 and for the initial 
steps of astronomy there had been       
nothing to depend upon except           
observations recorded in history8 ,how  
many ages would have passed1 had this   
been our condition1 before it would have
 occurred to any one1 that1 in what they
 saw night after night1 there was any   
kind of order at all8  ,we can see to   
some extent how it would have been1 by  

the present state of those parts of the 
science which in fact depend on remote  
recorded observations4 ,the movements of
 the comets are still extremely         
uncertain4 ,the times of their return   
can be calculated only with the greatest
 vagueness4  ,and yet such a hypothesis 
as ,i have suggested would but          
inadequately express the position in    
which we are in fact placed towards     
history4 ,there the phenomena never     
repeat themselves4 ,there we are        
dependent wholly on the record of things
 said to have happened once1 but which  
never happen or can happen a second     
time4 ,there no experiment is possible2 
we can watch for no recurring fact to   
test the worth of our conjectures4 ,it  
has been suggested1 fancifully1 that if 
we consider the universe to be infinite1
 time is the same as eternity1 and the  
past is perpetually present4 ,light     
takes nine years to come to us from     
,sirius2 those rays which we may see    
to-night when we leave this place1 left 

,sirius nine years ago2 and could the   
inhabitants of ,sirius see the earth at 
this moment1 they would see the ,english
 army in the trenches before            
,sebastopol2 ,florence ,nightingale     
watching at ,scutari over the wounded at
 ,inkermann2 and the peace of ,england  
undisturbed by ',essays and ,reviews4'  
,as the stars recede into distance1 so  
time recedes with them1 and there may   
be1 and probably are1 stars from which  
,noah might be seen stepping into the   
ark1 ,eve listening to the temptation of
 the serpent1 or that older race1 eating
 the oysters and leaving the shell-heaps
 behind them1 when the ,baltic was an   
open sea4  ,could we but compare notes1 
something might be done2 but of this    
there is no present hope1 and without it
 there will be no science of history4   
,eclipses1 recorded in ancient books1   
can be verified by calculation1 and lost
 dates can be recovered by them1 and we 
can foresee by the laws which they      
follow when there will be eclipses      

again4 ,will a time ever be when the    
lost secret of the foundation of ,rome  
can be recovered by historic laws8 ,if  
not1 where is our science8 ,it may be   
said that this is a particular fact1    
that we can deal satisfactorily with    
general phenomena affecting eras and    
cycles4 ,well1 then1 let us take some   
general phenomenon4 ,mahometanism1 for  
instance1 or ,buddhism4 ,those are large
 enough4 ,can you imagine a science     
which would have,a foretold such        
movements as those8 ,the state of things
 out of which they rose is obscure2 but 
suppose it not obscure1 can you conceive
 that1 with any amount of historical    
insight into the old ,oriental beliefs1 
you could have seen that they were about
 to transform themselves into those     
particular forms and no other8  ,it is  
not enough to say1 that1 after the fact1
 you can understand partially how       
,mahometanism came to be4 ,all          
historians worth the name have told us  
something about that4 ,but when we talk 

of science1 we mean something with more 
ambitious pretences1 we mean something  
which can foresee as well as explain2   
and1 thus looked at1 to state the       
problem is to show its absurdity4 ,as   
little could the wisest man have        
foreseen this mighty revolution1 as     
thirty years ago such a thing as        
,mormonism could have been anticipated  
in ,america2 as little as it could have 
been foreseen that table-turning and    
spirit-rapping would have been an       
outcome of the scientific culture of    
,england in the nineteenth century4     
,the greatest of ,roman thinkers1 gazing
 mournfully at the seething mass of     
moral putrefaction round him1 detected  
and deigned to notice among its elements
 a certain detestable superstition1 so  
he called it1 rising up amidst the      
offscouring of the ,jews1 which was     
named ,christianity4 ,could ,tacitus    
have looked forward nine centuries to   
the ,rome of ,gregory ,,vii41 could he  
have beheld the representative of the   

majesty of the ,csars holding the       
stirrup of the ,pontiff of that vile and
 execrated sect1 the spectacle would    
scarcely have appeared to him the       
fulfilment of a rational expectation1 or
 an intelligible result of the causes in
 operation round him4 ,tacitus1 indeed1 
was born before the science of history2 
but would ,m4 ,comte have seen any more 
clearly8  ,nor is the case much better  
if we are less hard upon our philosophy2
 if we content ourselves with the past1 
and require only a scientific           
explanation of that4  ,first1 for the   
facts themselves4 ,they come to us      
through the minds of those who recorded 
them1 neither machines nor angels1 but  
fallible creatures1 with human passions 
and prejudices4 ,tacitus and ,thucydides
 were perhaps the ablest men who ever   
gave themselves to writing history2 the 
ablest1 and also the most incapable of  
conscious falsehood4 ,yet even now1     
after all these centuries1 the truth of 
what they relate is called in question4 

,good reasons can be given to show that 
neither of them can be confidently      
trusted4 ,if we doubt with these1 whom  
are we to believe8  ,or again1 let the  
facts be granted4 ,to revert to my      
simile of the box of letters1 you have  
but to select such facts as suit you1   
you have but to leave alone those which 
do not suit you1 and let your theory of 
history be what it will1 you can find no
 difficulty in providing facts to prove 
it4  ,you may have your ,hegel's        
philosophy of history1 or you may have  
your ,schlegel's philosophy of history2 
you may prove from history that the     
world is governed in detail by a special
 ,providence2 you may prove that there  
is no sign of any moral agent in the    
universe1 except man2 you may believe1  
if you like it1 in the old theory of the
 wisdom of antiquity2 you may speak1 as 
was the fashion in the fifteenth        
century1 of 'our fathers1 who had more  
wit and wisdom than we2' or you may talk
 of 'our barbarian ancestors1' and      

describe their wars as the scuffling of 
kites and crows4  ,you may maintain that
 the evolution of humanity has been an  
unbroken progress towards perfection2   
you may maintain that there has been no 
progress at all1 and that man remains   
the same poor creature that he ever was2
 or1 lastly1 you may say with the author
 of the ',contrat ,social1' that men    
were purest and best in primeval        
simplicity--      ,when wild in woods   
the noble savage ran4  ,in all1 or any  
of these views1 history will stand your 
friend4 ,history1 in its passive irony1 
will make no objection4 ,like ,jarno1 in
 ,goethe's novel1 it will not condescend
 to argue with you1 and will provide you
 with abundant illustrations of anything
 which you may wish to believe4  ',what 
is history1' said ,napoleon1 'but a     
fiction agreed upon8' ',my friend1' said
 ,faust to the student1 who was growing 
enthusiastic about the spirit of past   
ages2 'my friend1 the times which are   
gone are a book with seven seals2 and   

what you call the spirit of past ages is
 but the spirit of this or that worthy  
gentleman in whose mind those ages are  
reflected4'  ,one lesson1 and only one1 
history may be said to repeat with      
distinctness2 that the world is built   
somehow on moral foundations2 that1 in  
the long run1 it is well with the good2 
in the long run1 it is ill with the     
wicked4 ,but this is no science2 it is  
no more than the old doctrine taught    
long ago by the ,hebrew prophets4 ,the  
theories of ,m4 ,comte and his disciples
 advance us1 after all1 not a step      
beyond the trodden and familiar ground4 
,if men are not entirely animals1 they  
are at least half animals1 and are      
subject in this aspect of them to the   
conditions of animals4 ,so far as those 
parts of man's doings are concerned1    
which neither have1 nor need have1      
anything moral about them1 so far the   
laws of him are calculable4 ,there are  
laws for his digestion1 and laws of the 
means by which his digestive organs are 

supplied with matter4 ,but pass beyond  
them1 and where are we8 ,in a world     
where it would be as easy to calculate  
men's actions by laws like those of     
positive philosophy as to measure the   
orbit of ,neptune with a foot-rule1 or  
weigh ,sirius in a grocer's scale4  ,and
 it is not difficult to see why this    
should be4 ,the first principle on which
 the theory of a science of history can 
be plausibly argued1 is that all actions
 whatsoever arise from self-interest4   
,it may be enlightened self-interest2 it
 may be unenlightened2 but it is assumed
 as an axiom1 that every man1 in        
whatever he does1 is aiming at something
 which he considers will promote his    
happiness4 ,his conduct is not          
determined by his will2 it is determined
 by the object of his desire4 ,adam     
,smith1 in laying the foundations of    
political economy1 expressly eliminates 
every other motive4 ,he does not say    
that men never act on other motives2    
still less1 that they never ought to act

 on other motives4 ,he asserts merely   
that1 as far as the arts of production  
are concerned1 and of buying and        
selling1 the action of self-interest may
 be counted upon as uniform4 ,what ,adam
 ,smith says of political economy1 ,mr4 
,buckle would extend over the whole     
circle of human activity4  ,now1 that   
which especially distinguishes a high   
order of man from a low order of        
man--that which constitutes human       
goodness1 human greatness1 human        
nobleness--is surely not the degree of  
enlightenment with which men pursue     
their own advantage2 but it is          
self-forgetfulness--it is               
self-sacrifice--it is the disregard of  
personal pleasure1 personal indulgence1 
personal advantages remote or present1  
because some other line of conduct is   
more right4  ,we are sometimes told that
 this is but another way of expressing  
the same thing2 that when a man prefers 
doing what is right1 it is only because 
to do right gives him a higher          

satisfaction4 ,it appears to me1 on the 
contrary1 to be a difference in the very
 heart and nature of things4 ,the martyr
 goes to the stake1 the patriot to the  
scaffold1 not with a view to any future 
reward to themselves1 but because it is 
a glory to fling away their lives for   
truth and freedom4 ,and so through all  
phases of existence1 to the smallest    
details of common life1 the beautiful   
character is the unselfish character4   
,those whom we most love and admire are 
those to whom the thought of self seems 
never to occur2 who do simply and with  
no ulterior aim--with no thought whether
 it will be pleasant to themselves or   
unpleasant--that which is good1 and     
right1 and generous4  ,is this still    
selfishness1 only more enlightened8 ,i  
do not think so4 ,the essence of true   
nobility is neglect of self4 ,let the   
thought of self pass in1 and the beauty 
of a great action is gone--like the     
bloom from a soiled flower4 ,surely it  
is a paradox to speak of the            

self-interest of a martyr who dies for a
 cause1 the triumph of which he will    
never enjoy2 and the greatest of that   
great company in all ages would have    
done what they did1 had their personal  
prospects closed with the grave4 ,nay1  
there have been those so zealous for    
some glorious principle1 as to wish     
themselves blotted out of the book of   
,heaven if the cause of ,heaven could   
succeed4  ,and out of this mysterious   
quality1 whatever it be1 arise the      
higher relations of human life1 the     
higher modes of human obligation4 ,kant1
 the philosopher1 used to say that there
 were two things which overwhelmed him  
with awe as he thought of them4 ,one was
 the star-sown deep of space1 without   
limit and without end2 the other was1   
right and wrong4 ,right1 the sacrifice  
of self to good2 wrong1 the sacrifice of
 good to self2--not graduated objects of
 desire1 to which we are determined by  
the degrees of our knowledge1 but wide  
asunder as pole and pole1 as light and  

darkness--one1 the object of infinite   
love2 the other1 the object of infinite 
detestation and scorn4 ,it is in this   
marvellous power in men to do wrong 7it 
is an old story1 but none the less true 
for that7--it is in this power to do    
wrong--wrong or right1 as it lies       
somehow with ourselves to choose--that  
the impossibility stands of forming     
scientific calculations of what men will
 do before the fact1 or scientific      
explanations of what they have done     
after the fact4 ,if men were            
consistently selfish1 you might analyse 
their motives2 if they were consistently
 noble1 they would express in their     
conduct the laws of the highest         
perfection4 ,but so long as two natures 
are mixed together1 and the strange     
creature which results from the         
combination is now under one influence  
and now under another1 so long you will 
make nothing of him except from the     
old-fashioned moral--or1 if you please1 
imaginative--point of view4  ,even the  

laws of political economy itself cease  
to guide us when they touch moral       
government4 ,so long as labour is a     
chattel to be bought and sold1 so long1 
like other commodities1 it follows the  
condition of supply and demand4 ,but if1
 for his misfortune1 an employer        
considers that he stands in human       
relations towards his workmen2 if he    
believes1 rightly or wrongly1 that he is
 responsible for them2 that in return   
for their labour he is bound to see that
 their children are decently taught1 and
 they and their families decently fed   
and clothed and lodged2 that he ought to
 care for them in sickness and in old   
age2 then political economy will no     
longer direct him1 and the relations    
between himself and his dependents will 
have to be arranged on quite other      
principles4  ,so long as he considers   
only his own material profit1 so long   
supply and demand will settle every     
difficulty2 but the introduction of a   
new factor spoils the equation4  ,and it

 is precisely in this debatable ground  
of low motives and noble emotions--in   
the struggle1 ever failing1 yet ever    
renewed1 to carry truth and justice into
 the administration of human society2 in
 the establishment of states and in the 
overthrow of tyrannies2 in the rise and 
fall of creeds2 in the world of ideas2  
in the character and deeds of the great 
actors in the drama of life2 where good 
and evil fight out their everlasting    
battle1 now ranged in opposite camps1   
now and more often in the heart1 both of
 them1 of each living man--that the true
 human interest of history resides4 ,the
 progress of industries1 the growth of  
material and mechanical civilisation1   
are interesting1 but they are not the   
most interesting4 ,they have their      
reward in the increase of material      
comforts2 but1 unless we are mistaken   
about our nature1 they do not highly    
concern us after all4  ,once more2 not  
only is there in men this baffling      
duality of principle1 but there is      

something else in us which still more   
defies scientific analysis4  ,mr4       
,buckle would deliver himself from the  
eccentricities of this and that         
individual by a doctrine of averages4   
,though he cannot tell whether ,a1 ,b1  
or ,c will cut his throat1 he may assure
 himself that one man in every fifty    
thousand1 or thereabout 7,i forget the  
exact proportion71 will cut his throat1 
and with this he consoles himself4 ,no  
doubt it is a comforting discovery4     
,unfortunately1 the average of one      
generation need not be the average of   
the next4 ,we may be converted by the   
,japanese1 for all that we know1 and the
 ,japanese methods of taking leave of   
life may become fashionable among us4   
,nay1 did not ,novalis suggest that the 
whole race of men would at last become  
so disgusted with their impotence1 that 
they would extinguish themselves by a   
simultaneous act of suicide1 and make   
room for a better order of beings8      
,anyhow1 the fountain out of which the  

race is flowing perpetually changes--no 
two generations are alike4 ,whether     
there is a change in the organisation   
itself1 we cannot tell2 but this is     
certain1 that as the planet varies with 
the atmosphere which surrounds it1 so   
each new generation varies from the     
last1 because it inhales as its         
atmosphere the accumulated experience   
and knowledge of the whole past of the  
world4 ,these things form the spiritual 
air which we breathe as we grow2 and in 
the infinite multiplicity of elements of
 which that air is now composed1 it is  
for ever matter of conjecture what the  
minds will be like which expand under   
its influence4  ,from the ,england of   
,fielding and ,richardson to the        
,england of ,miss ,austen--from the     
,england of ,miss ,austen to the        
,england of ,railways and ,free-trade1  
how vast the change2 yet perhaps ,sir   
,charles ,grandison would not seem so   
strange to us now1 as one of ourselves  
will seem to our great-grandchildren4   

,the world moves faster and faster2 and 
the difference will probably be         
considerably greater4  ,the temper of   
each new generation is a continual      
surprise4 ,the fates delight to         
contradict our most confident           
expectations4 ,gibbon believed that the 
era of conquerors was at an end4 ,had he
 lived out the full life of man1 he     
would have seen ,europe at the feet of  
,napoleon4 ,but a few years ago we      
believed the world had grown too        
civilised for war1 and the ,crystal     
,palace in ,hyde ,park was to be the    
inauguration of a new era4 ,battles1    
bloody as ,napoleon's1 are now the      
familiar tale of every day2 and the arts
 which have made greatest progress are  
the arts of destruction4 ,what next8 ,we
 may strain our eyes into the future    
which lies beyond this waning century2  
but never was conjecture more at fault4 
,it is blank darkness1 which even the   
imagination fails to people4  ,what then
 is the use of ,history8 and what are   

its lessons8 ,if it can tell us little  
of the past1 and nothing of the future1 
why waste our time over so barren a     
study8  ,first1 it is a voice for ever  
sounding across the centuries the laws  
of right and wrong4 ,opinions alter1    
manners change1 creeds rise and fall1   
but the moral law is written on the     
tablets of eternity4 ,for every false   
word or unrighteous deed1 for cruelty   
and oppression1 for lust or vanity1 the 
price has to be paid at last3 not always
 by the chief offenders1 but paid by    
some one4 ,justice and truth alone      
endure and live4 ,injustice and         
falsehood may be long-lived1 but        
doomsday comes at last to them1 in      
,french revolutions and other terrible  
ways4  ,that is one lesson of ,history4 
,another is1 that we should draw no     
horoscopes2 that we should expect       
little1 for what we expect will not come
 to pass4 ,revolutions1                 
reformations--those vast movements into 
which heroes and saints have flung      

themselves1 in the belief that they were
 the dawn of the millennium--have not   
borne the fruit which they looked for4  
,millenniums are still far away4 ,these 
great convulsions leave the world       
changed--perhaps improved1--but not     
improved as the actors in them hoped it 
would be4 ,luther would have gone to    
work with less heart1 could he have     
foreseen the ,thirty ,years' ,war1 and  
in the distance the theology of         
,tubingen4 ,washington might have       
hesitated to draw the sword against     
,england1 could he have seen the country
 which he made as we see it now4,b  ,the
 most reasonable anticipations fail     
us--antecedents the most apposite       
mislead us2 because the conditions of   
human problems never repeat themselves4 
,some new feature alters                
everything--some element which we detect
 only in its after-operation4  ,but     
this1 it may be said1 is but a meagre   
outcome4 ,can the long records of       
humanity1 with all its joys and sorrows1

 its sufferings and its conquests1 teach
 us no more than this8 ,let us approach 
the subject from another side4  ,if you 
were asked to point out the special     
features in which ,shakespeare's plays  
are so transcendently excellent1 you    
would mention1 perhaps1 among others1   
this1 that his stories are not put      
together1 and his characters are not    
conceived1 to illustrate any particular 
law or principle4 ,they teach many      
lessons1 but not any one prominent above
 another2 and when we have drawn from   
them all the direct instruction which   
they contain1 there remains still       
something unresolved--something which   
the artist gives1 and which the         
philosopher cannot give4  ,it is in this
 characteristic that we are accustomed  
to say ,shakespeare's supreme truth     
lies4 ,he represents real life4 ,his    
dramas teach as life teaches--neither   
less nor more4 ,he builds his fabrics as
 nature does1 on right and wrong2 but he
 does not struggle to make nature more  

systematic than she is4 ,in the subtle  
interflow of good and evil--in the      
unmerited sufferings of innocence--in   
the disproportion of penalties to       
desert--in the seeming blindness with   
which justice1 in attempting to assert  
itself1 overwhelms innocent and guilty  
in a common ruin--,shakespeare is true  
to real experience4 ,the mystery of life
 he leaves as he finds it2 and1 in his  
most tremendous positions1 he is        
addressing rather the intellectual      
emotions than the                       
understanding1--knowing well that the   
understanding in such things is at      
fault1 and the sage as ignorant as the  
child4  ,only the highest order of      
genius can represent nature thus4 ,an   
inferior artist produces either         
something entirely immoral1 where good  
and evil are names1 and nobility of     
disposition is supposed to show itself  
in the absolute disregard of them--or   
else1 if he is a better kind of man1 he 
will force on nature a didactic purpose2

 he composes what are called moral      
tales1 which may edify the conscience1  
but only mislead the intellect4  ,the   
finest work of this kind produced in    
modern times is ,lessing's play of      
',nathan the ,wise4' ,the object of it  
is to teach religious toleration4 ,the  
doctrine is admirable--the mode in which
 it is enforced is interesting2 but it  
has the fatal fault1 that it is not     
true4 ,nature does not teach religious  
toleration by any such direct method2   
and the result is--no one knew it better
 than ,lessing himself--that the play is
 not poetry1 but only splendid          
manufacture4 ,shakespeare is eternal2   
,lessing's ',nathan' will pass away with
 the mode of thought which gave it      
birth4 ,one is based on fact2 the other1
 on human theory about fact4 ,the theory
 seems at first sight to contain the    
most immediate instruction2 but it is   
not really so4  ,cibber and others1 as  
you know1 wanted to alter ,shakespeare4 
,the ,french king1 in ',lear1' was to be

 got rid of2 ,cordelia was to marry     
,edgar1 and ,lear himself was to be     
rewarded for his sufferings by a golden 
old age4 ,they could not bear that      
,hamlet should suffer for the sins of   
,claudius4 ,the wicked king was to die1 
and the wicked mother2 and ,hamlet and  
,ophelia were to make a match of it1 and
 live happily ever after4 ,a common     
novelist would have arranged it thus2   
and you would have had your comfortable 
moral that wickedness was fitly         
punished1 and virtue had its due reward1
 and all would have been well4 ,but     
,shakespeare would not have it so4      
,shakespeare knew that crime was not so 
simple in its consequences1 or          
,providence so paternal4 ,he was        
contented to take the truth from life2  
and the effect upon the mind of the most
 correct theory of what life ought to   
be1 compared to the effect of the life  
itself1 is infinitesimal in comparison4 
,again1 let us compare the popular      
historical treatment of remarkable      

incidents with ,shakespeare's treatment 
of them4 ,look at ',macbeth4' ,you may  
derive abundant instruction from        
it--instruction of many kinds4 ,there is
 a moral lesson of profound interest in 
the steps by which a noble nature glides
 to perdition4 ,in more modern fashion  
you may speculate1 if you like1 on the  
political conditions represented there1 
and the temptation presented in absolute
 monarchies to unscrupulous ambition2   
you may say1 like ,dr4 ,slop1 these     
things could not have happened under a  
constitutional government2 or1 again1   
you may take up your parable against    
superstition--you may dilate on the     
frightful consequences of a belief in   
witches1 and reflect on the superior    
advantages of an age of schools and     
newspapers4 ,if the bare facts of the   
story had come down to us from a        
chronicler1 and an ordinary writer of   
the nineteenth century had undertaken to
 relate them1 his account1 we may depend
 upon it1 would have been put together  

upon one or other of these principles4  
,yet1 by the side of that unfolding of  
the secrets of the prison-house of the  
soul1 what lean and shrivelled anatomies
 the best of such descriptions would    
seem6  ,shakespeare himself1 ,i suppose1
 could not have given us a theory of    
what he meant--he gave us the thing     
itself1 on which we might make whatever 
theories we pleased4  ,or again1 look at
 ,homer4  ,the ',iliad' is from two to  
three thousand years older than         
',macbeth1' and yet it is as fresh as if
 it had been written yesterday4 ,we have
 there no lessons save in the emotions  
which rise in us as we read4 ,homer had 
no philosophy2 he never struggles to    
impress upon us his views about this or 
that2 you can scarcely tell indeed      
whether his sympathies are ,greek or    
,trojan2 but he represents to us        
faithfully the men and women among whom 
he lived4 ,he sang the ,tale of ,troy1  
he touched his lyre1 he drained the     
golden beaker in the halls of men like  

those on whom he was conferring         
immortality4 ,and thus1 although no     
,agamemnon1 king of men1 ever led a     
,grecian fleet to ,ilium2 though no     
,priam sought the midnight tent of      
,achilles2 though ,ulysses and ,diomed  
and ,nestor were but names1 and ,helen  
but a dream1 yet1 through ,homer's power
 of representing men and women1 those   
old ,greeks will still stand out from   
amidst the darkness of the ancient world
 with a sharpness of outline which      
belongs to no period of history except  
the most recent4 ,for the mere hard     
purposes of history1 the ',iliad' and   
',odyssey' are the most effective books 
which ever were written4 ,we see the    
,hall of ,menelaus1 we see the garden of
 ,alcinous1 we see ,nausicaa among her  
maidens on the shore1 we see the mellow 
monarch sitting with ivory sceptre in   
the ,marketplace dealing out genial     
justice4 ,or again1 when the wild mood  
is on1 we can hear the crash of the     
spears1 the rattle of the armour as the 

heroes fall1 and the plunging of the    
horses among the slain4 ,could we enter 
the palace of an old ,ionian lord1 we   
know what we should see there2 we know  
the words in which he would address us4 
,we could meet ,hector as a friend4 ,if 
we could choose a companion to spend an 
evening with over a fireside1 it would  
be the man of many counsels1 the husband
 of ,penelope4  ,i am not going into the
 vexed question whether ,history or     
,poetry is the more true4 ,it has been  
sometimes said that ,poetry is the more 
true1 because it can make things more   
like what our moral sense would prefer  
they should be4 ,we hear of poetic      
justice and the like1 as if nature and  
fact were not just enough4  ,i entirely 
dissent from that view4 ,so far as      
,poetry attempts to improve on truth in 
that way1 so far it abandons truth1 and 
is false to itself4 ,even literal facts1
 exactly as they were1 a great poet will
 prefer whenever he can get them4       
,shakespeare in the historical plays is 

studious1 wherever possible1 to give the
 very words which he finds to have been 
used2 and it shows how wisely he was    
guided in this1 that those magnificent  
speeches of ,wolsey are taken exactly1  
with no more change than the metre makes
 necessary1 from ,cavendish's ,life4    
,marlborough read ,shakespeare for      
,english history1 and read nothing else4
 ,the poet only is not bound1 when it is
 inconvenient1 to what may be called the
 accidents of facts4 ,it was enough for 
,shakespeare to know that ,prince ,hal  
in his youth had lived among loose      
companions1 and the tavern in ,eastcheap
 came in to fill out his picture2       
although ,mrs4 ,quickly and ,falstaff1  
and ,poins and ,bardolph were more      
likely to have been fallen in with by   
,shakespeare himself at the ,mermaid1   
than to have been comrades of the true  
,prince ,henry4 ,it was enough for      
,shakespeare to draw real men1 and the  
situation1 whatever it might be1 would  
sit easy on them4 ,in this sense only it

 is that ,poetry is truer than ,history1
 that it can make a picture more        
complete4 ,it may take liberties with   
time and space1 and give the action     
distinctness by throwing it into more   
manageable compass4  ,but it may not    
alter the real conditions of things1 or 
represent life as other than it is4 ,the
 greatness of the poet depends on his   
being true to nature1 without insisting 
that nature shall theorise with him1    
without making her more just1 more      
philosophical1 more moral than reality2 
and1 in difficult matters1 leaving much 
to reflection which cannot be explained4
  ,and if this be true of ,poetry--if   
,homer and ,shakespeare are what they   
are1 from the absence of everything     
didactic about them--may we not thus    
learn something of what ,history should 
be1 and in what sense it should aspire  
to teach8  ,if ,poetry must not         
theorise1 much less should the historian
 theorise1 whose obligations to be true 
to fact are even greater than the       

poet's4 ,if the drama is grandest when  
the action is least explicable by laws1 
because then it best resembles life1    
then history will be grandest also under
 the same conditions4 ',macbeth1' were  
it literally true1 would be perfect     
history2 and so far as the historian can
 approach to that kind of model1 so far 
as he can let his story tell itself in  
the deeds and words of those who act it 
out1 so far is he most successful4 ,his 
work is no longer the vapour of his own 
brain1 which a breath will scatter2 it  
is the thing itself1 which will have    
interest for all time4 ,a thousand      
theories may be formed about            
it--spiritual theories1 ,pantheistic    
theories1 cause and effect theories2 but
 each age will have its own philosophy  
of history1 and all these in turn will  
fail and die4 ,hegel falls out of date1 
,schlegel falls out of date1 and ,comte 
in good time will fall out of date2 the 
thought about the thing must change as  
we change2 but the thing itself can     

never change2 and a history is durable  
or perishable as it contains more or    
least of the writer's own speculations4 
,the splendid intellect of ,gibbon for  
the most part kept him true to the right
 course in this2 yet the philosophical  
chapters for which he has been most     
admired or censured may hereafter be    
thought the least interesting in his    
work4 ,the time has been when they would
 not have been comprehended3 the time   
may come when they will seem            
commonplace4  ,it may be said1 that in  
requiring history to be written like a  
drama1 we require an impossibility4     
,for history to be written with the     
complete form of a drama1 doubtless is  
impossible2 but there are periods1 and  
these the periods1 for the most part1 of
 greatest interest to mankind1 the      
history of which may be so written that 
the actors shall reveal their characters
 in their own words2 where mind can be  
seen matched against mind1 and the great
 passions of the epoch not simply be    

described as existing1 but be exhibited 
at their white heat in the souls and    
hearts possessed by them4 ,there are all
 the elements of drama--drama of the    
highest order--where the huge forces of 
the times are as the ,grecian destiny1  
and the power of the man is seen either 
stemming the stream till it overwhelms  
him1 or ruling while he seems to yield  
to it4  ,it is ,nature's drama--not     
,shakespeare's--but a drama none the    
less4  ,so at least it seems to me4     
,wherever possible1 let us not be told  
about this man or that4 ,let us hear the
 man himself speak2 let us see him act1 
and let us be left to form our own      
opinions about him4 ,the historian1 we  
are told1 must not leave his readers to 
themselves4 ,he must not only lay the   
facts before them--he must tell them    
what he himself thinks about those      
facts4 ,in my opinion1 this is precisely
 what he ought not to do4 ,bishop       
,butler says somewhere1 that the best   
book which could be written would be a  

book consisting only of premises1 from  
which the readers should draw           
conclusions for themselves4 ,the highest
 poetry is the very thing which ,butler 
requires1 and the highest history ought 
to be4 ,we should no more ask for a     
theory of this or that period of        
history1 than we should ask for a theory
 of ',macbeth' or ',hamlet4'            
,philosophies of history1 sciences of   
history--all these1 there will continue 
to be2 the fashions of them will change1
 as our habits of thought will change2  
each new philosopher will find his chief
 employment in showing that before him  
no one understood anything2 but the     
drama of history is imperishable1 and1  
the lessons of it will be like what we  
learn from ,homer or                    
,shakespeare--lessons for which we have 
no words4  ,the address of history is   
less to the understanding than to the   
higher emotions4 ,we learn in it to     
sympathise with what is great and good2 
we learn to hate what is base4 ,in the  

anomalies of fortune we feel the mystery
 of our mortal existence1 and in the    
companionship of the illustrious natures
 who have shaped the fortunes of the    
world1 we escape from the littlenesses  
which cling to the round of common life1
 and our minds are tuned in a higher and
 nobler key4  ,for the rest1 and for    
those large questions which ,i touched  
in connection with ,mr4 ,buckle1 we live
 in times of disintegration1 and none   
can tell what will be after us4 ,what   
opinions--what convictions--the infant  
of to-day will find prevailing on the   
earth1 if he and it live out together to
 the middle of another century1 only a  
very bold man would undertake to        
conjecture6 ',the time will come1' said 
,lichtenberg1 in scorn at the           
materialising tendencies of modern      
thought2 'the time will come when the   
belief in ,god will be as the tales with
 which old women frighten children2 when
 the world will be a machine1 the ether 
a gas1 and ,god will be a force4'       

,mankind1 if they last long enough on   
the earth1 may develope strange things  
out of themselves2 and the growth of    
what is called the ,positive ,philosophy
 is a curious commentary on             
,lichtenberg's prophecy4 ,but whether   
the end be seventy years hence1 or seven
 hundred--be the close of the mortal    
history of humanity as far distant in   
the future as its shadowy beginnings    
seem now to lie behind us--this only we 
may foretell with confidence--that the  
riddle of man's nature will remain      
unsolved4 ,there will be that in him yet
 which physical laws will fail to       
explain--that something1 whatever it be1
 in himself and in the world1 which     
science cannot fathom1 and which        
suggests the unknown possibilities of   
his origin and his destiny4 ,there will 
remain yet      ,those obstinate        
questionings     ,of sense and outward  
things2     ,falling from us1           
vanishings--     ,blank misgivings of a 
creature     ,moving about in worlds not

 realised--     ,high instincts1 before 
which our mortal nature     ,doth       
tremble like a guilty thing surprised4  
,there will remain      ,those first    
affections--     ,those shadowy         
recollections--     ,which1 be they what
 they may1     ,are yet the             
fountain-light of all our day--     ,are
 yet the master-light of all our        
seeing--     ,uphold us1 cherish1 and   
have power to make     ,our noisy years 
seem moments in the being               
,of the ,eternal ,silence4  ,,footnotes3
  ,a ,it is objected that ,geology is a 
science3 yet that ,geology cannot       
foretell the future changes of the      
earth's surface4 ,geology is not a      
century old1 and its periods are        
measured by millions of years4 ,yet1 if 
,geology cannot foretell future facts1  
it enabled ,sir ,roderick ,murchison to 
foretell the discovery of ,australian   
gold4  ,b ,february #ahfd4     ,,times  
,,of ,,erasmus ,,and ,,luther3  ,,three 
,,lectures  ,,delivered ,,at            

,,newcastle1 #ahfg4   ,,lecture ,i4     
,ladies and ,gentlemen1--,i do not know 
whether ,i have made a very wise        
selection in the subject which ,i have  
chosen for these ,lectures4 ,there was a
 time--a time which1 measured by the    
years of our national life1 was not so  
very long ago--when the serious thoughts
 of mankind were occupied exclusively by
 religion and politics4 ,the small      
knowledge which they possessed of other 
things was tinctured by their           
speculative opinions on the relations of
 heaven and earth2 and1 down to the     
sixteenth century1 art1 science1        
scarcely even literature1 existed in    
this country1 except as1 in some way or 
other1 subordinate to theology4         
,philosophers--such philosophers as     
there were--obtained and half deserved  
the reputation of quacks and conjurors4 
,astronomy was confused with astrology4 
,the physician's medicines were supposed
 to be powerless1 unless the priests    
said prayers over them4 ,the great      

lawyers1 the ambassadors1 the chief     
ministers of state1 were generally      
bishops2 even the fighting business was 
not entirely secular4 ,half-a-dozen     
,scotch prelates were killed at         
,flodden2 and1 late in the reign of     
,henry the ,eighth1 no fitter person    
could be found than ,rowland ,lee1      
,bishop of ,coventry1 to take command of
 the ,welsh ,marches1 and harry the     
freebooters of ,llangollen4  ,every     
single department of intellectual or    
practical life was penetrated with the  
beliefs1 or was interwoven with the     
interests1 of the clergy2 and thus it   
was that1 when differences of religious 
opinion arose1 they split society to its
 foundations4 ,the lines of cleavage    
penetrated everywhere1 and there were no
 subjects whatever in which those who   
disagreed in theology possessed any     
common concern4 ,when men quarrelled1   
they quarrelled altogether4 ,the        
disturbers of settled beliefs were      
regarded as public enemies who had      

placed themselves beyond the pale of    
humanity1 and were considered fit only  
to be destroyed like wild beasts1 or    
trampled out like the seed of a         
contagion4  ,three centuries have passed
 over our heads since the time of which 
,i am speaking1 and the world is so     
changed that we can hardly recognise it 
as the same4  ,the secrets of nature    
have been opened out to us on a thousand
 lines2 and men of science of all creeds
 can pursue side by side their common   
investigations4 ,catholics1 ,anglicans1 
,presbyterians1 ,lutherans1 ,calvinists1
 contend with each other in honourable  
rivalry in arts1 and literature1 and    
commerce1 and industry4 ,they read the  
same books4 ,they study at the same     
academies4 ,they have seats in the same 
senates4 ,they preside together on the  
judicial bench1 and carry on1 without   
jar or difference1 the ordinary business
 of the country4  ,those who share the  
same pursuits are drawn in spite of     
themselves into sympathy and good-will4 

,when they are in harmony in so large a 
part of their occupations1 the points of
 remaining difference lose their venom4 
,those who thought they hated each      
other1 unconsciously find themselves    
friends2 and as far as it affects the   
world at large1 the acrimony of         
controversy has almost disappeared4     
,imagine1 if you can1 a person being now
 put to death for a speculative         
theological opinion4 ,you feel at once1 
that in the most bigoted country in the 
world such a thing has become           
impossible2 and the impossibility is the
 measure of the alteration which we have
 all undergone4 ,the formulas remain as 
they were on either side--the very same 
formulas which were once supposed to    
require these detestable murders4 ,but  
we have learnt to know each other       
better4 ,the cords which bind together  
the brotherhood of mankind are woven of 
a thousand strands4 ,we do not any more 
fly apart or become enemies1 because1   
here and there1 in one strand out of so 

many1 there are still unsound places4   
,if ,i were asked for a distinct proof  
that ,europe was improving and not      
retrograding1 ,i should find it in this 
phenomenon4 ,it has not been brought    
about by controversy4 ,men are fighting 
still over the same questions which they
 began to fight about at the            
,reformation4 ,protestant divines have  
not driven ,catholics out of the field1 
nor ,catholics1 ,protestants4 ,each     
polemic writes for his own partisans1   
and makes no impression on his          
adversary4  ,controversy has kept alive 
a certain quantity of bitterness2 and   
that1 ,i suspect1 is all that it would  
accomplish if it continued till the day 
of judgment4 ,i sometimes1 in impatient 
moments1 wish the laity in ,europe would
 treat their controversial divines as   
two gentlemen once treated their        
seconds1 when they found themselves     
forced into a duel without knowing what 
they were quarrelling about4  ,as the   
principals were being led up to their   

places1 one of them whispered to the    
other1 ',if you will shoot your second1 
,i will shoot mine4'  ,the              
reconciliation of parties1 if ,i may use
 such a word1 is no tinkered-up truce1  
or convenient ,interim4 ,it is the      
healthy1 silent1 spontaneous growth of a
 nobler order of conviction1 which has  
conquered our prejudices even before we 
knew that they were assailed4 ,this     
better spirit especially is represented 
in institutions like this1 which        
acknowledge no differences of           
creed--which are constructed on the     
broadest principles of toleration--and  
which1 therefore1 as a rule1 are wisely 
protected from the intrusion of         
discordant subjects4  ,they exist1 as ,i
 understand1 to draw men together1 not  
to divide them--to enable us to share   
together in those topics of universal   
interest and instruction which all can  
take pleasure in1 and which give offence
 to none4  ,if you ask me1 then1 why ,i 
am myself departing from a practice     

which ,i admit to be so excellent1 ,i   
fear that ,i shall give you rather a    
lame answer4 ,i might say that ,i know  
more about the history of the sixteenth 
century than ,i know about anything     
else4 ,i have spent the best years of my
 life in reading and writing about it2  
and if ,i have anything to tell you     
worth your hearing1 it is probably on   
that subject4  ,or1 again1 ,i might     
say--which is indeed most true--that to 
the ,reformation we can trace1          
indirectly1 the best of those very      
influences which ,i have been           
describing4 ,the ,reformation broke the 
theological shackles in which men's     
minds were fettered4 ,it set them       
thinking1 and so gave birth to science4 
,the ,reformers also1 without knowing   
what they were about1 taught the lesson 
of religious toleration4 ,they attempted
 to supersede one set of dogmas by      
another4 ,they succeeded with half the  
world--they failed with the other half4 
,in a little while it became apparent   

that good men--without ceasing to be    
good--could think differently about     
theology1 and that goodness1 therefore1 
depended on something else than the     
holding orthodox opinions4  ,it is not1 
however1 for either of these reasons    
that ,i am going to talk to you about   
,martin ,luther2 nor is toleration of   
differences of opinion1 however         
excellent it be1 the point on which ,i  
shall dwell in these ,lectures4  ,were  
the ,reformation a question merely of   
opinion1 ,i for one should not have     
meddled with it1 either here or         
anywhere4 ,i hold that1 on the obscure  
mysteries of faith1 every one should be 
allowed to believe according to his     
conscience1 and that arguments on such  
matters are either impertinent or       
useless4  ,but the ,reformation1        
gentlemen1 beyond the region of         
opinions1 was a historical fact--an     
objective something which may be studied
 like any of the facts of nature4 ,the  
,reformers were men of note and         

distinction1 who played a great part for
 good or evil on the stage of the world4
 ,if we except the ,apostles1 no body of
 human beings ever printed so deep a    
mark into the organisation of society2  
and if there be any value or meaning in 
history at all1 the lives1 the actions1 
the characters of such men as these can 
be matters of indifference to none of   
us4  ,we have not to do with a story    
which is buried in obscure antiquity4   
,the facts admit of being learnt4 ,the  
truth1 whatever it was1 concerns us all 
equally4 ,if the divisions created by   
that great convulsion are ever to be    
obliterated1 it will be when we have    
learnt1 each of us1 to see the thing as 
it really was1 and not rather some      
mythical or imaginative version of the  
thing--such as from our own point of    
view we like to think it was4 ,fiction  
in such matters may be convenient for   
our immediate theories1 but it is       
certain to avenge itself in the end4 ,we
 may make our own opinions1 but facts   

were made for us2 and if we evade or    
deny them1 it will be the worse for us4 
,unfortunately1 the mythical version at 
present very largely preponderates4     
,open a ,protestant history of the      
,reformation1 and you will find a       
picture of the world given over to a    
lying tyranny--the ,christian population
 of ,europe enslaved by a corrupt and   
degraded priesthood1 and the ,reformers1
 with the ,bible in their hands1 coming 
to the rescue like angels of light4 ,all
 is black on one side--all is fair and  
beautiful on the other4  ,turn to a     
,catholic history of the same events and
 the same men1 and we have before us the
 ,church of the ,saints fulfilling      
quietly its blessed mission in the      
saving of human souls4 ,satan a second  
time enters into ,paradise1 and a second
 time with fatal success tempts         
miserable man to his ruin4 ,he          
disbelieves his appointed teachers1 he  
aspires after forbidden knowledge1 and  
at once anarchy breaks loose4 ,the      

seamless robe of the ,saviour is rent in
 pieces1 and the earth becomes the      
habitation of fiends4  ,each side tells 
the story as it prefers to have it2     
facts1 characters1 circumstances1 are   
melted in the theological crucible1 and 
cast in moulds diametrically opposite4  
,nothing remains the same except the    
names and dates4 ,each side chooses its 
own witnesses4 ,everything is credible  
which makes for what it calls the truth4
 ,everything is made false which will   
not fit into its place4 ',blasphemous   
fables' is the usual expression in      
,protestant controversial books for the 
accounts given by ,catholics4           
',protestant tradition1' says an eminent
 modern ,catholic1 'is based on         
lying--bold1 wholesale1 unscrupulous    
lying4'  ,now1 depend upon it1 there is 
some human account of the matter        
different from both these if we could   
only get at it1 and it will be an       
excellent thing for the world when that 
human account can be made out4 ,i am not

 so presumptuous as to suppose that ,i  
can give it to you2 still less can you  
expect me to try to do so within the    
compass of two or three lectures4 ,if ,i
 cannot do everything1 however1 ,i      
believe ,i can do a little2 at any rate 
,i can give you a sketch1 such as you   
may place moderate confidence in1 of the
 state of the ,church as it was before  
the ,reformation began4 ,i will not     
expose myself more than ,i can help to  
the censure of the divine who was so    
hard on ,protestant tradition4 ,most of 
what ,i shall have to say to you this   
evening will be taken from the          
admissions of ,catholics themselves1 or 
from official records earlier than the  
outbreak of the controversy1 when there 
was no temptation to pervert the truth4 
,here1 obviously1 is the first point on 
which we require accurate information4  
,if all was going on well1 the          
,reformers really and truly told        
innumerable lies1 and deserve all the   
reprobation which we can give them4 ,if 

all was not going on well--if1 so far   
from being well1 the ,church was so     
corrupt that ,europe could bear with it 
no longer--then clearly a ,reformation  
was necessary of some kind2 and we have 
taken one step towards a fair estimate  
of the persons concerned in it4  ,a fair
 estimate--that1 and only that1 is what 
we want4 ,i need hardly observe to you1 
that opinion in ,england has been       
undergoing lately a very considerable   
alteration about these persons4  ,two   
generations ago1 the leading ,reformers 
were looked upon as little less than    
saints2 now a party has risen up who    
intend1 as they frankly tell us1 to     
un-,protestantise the ,church of        
,england1 who detest ,protestantism as a
 kind of infidelity1 who desire simply  
to reverse everything which the         
,reformers did4  ,one of these          
gentlemen1 a clergyman1 writing lately  
of ,luther1 called him a heretic1 a     
heretic fit only to be ranked           
with--whom1 do you think8--,joe ,smith1 

the ,mormon ,prophet4 ,joe ,smith and   
,luther--that is the combination with   
which we are now presented4  ,the book  
in which this remarkable statement      
appeared was presented by two bishops to
 the ,upper ,house of ,convocation4 ,it 
was received with gracious              
acknowledgments by the ,archbishop of   
,canterbury1 and was placed solemnly in 
the library of reference1 for that      
learned body to consult4  ,so1 too1 a   
professor at ,oxford1 the other day1    
spoke of ,luther as a ,philistine--a    
,philistine meaning an oppressor of the 
chosen people2 the enemy of men of      
culture1 of intelligence1 such as the   
professor himself4  ,one notices these  
things1 not as of much importance in    
themselves1 but as showing which way the
 stream is running2 and1 curiously      
enough1 in quite another direction we   
may see the same phenomenon4 ,our       
liberal philosophers1 men of high       
literary power and reputation1 looking  
into the history of ,luther1 and        

,calvin1 and ,john ,knox1 and the rest1 
find them falling far short of the      
philosophic ideal--wanting sadly in many
 qualities which the liberal mind cannot
 dispense with4 ,they are discovered to 
be intolerant1 dogmatic1 narrow-minded1 
inclined to persecute ,catholics as     
,catholics had persecuted them2 to be1  
in fact1 little if at all better than   
the popes and cardinals whom they were  
fighting against4  ,lord ,macaulay can  
hardly find epithets strong enough to   
express his contempt for ,archbishop    
,cranmer4 ,mr4 ,buckle places ,cranmer  
by the side of ,bonner1 and hesitates   
which of the two characters is the more 
detestable4  ,an unfavourable estimate  
of the ,reformers1 whether just or      
unjust1 is unquestionably gaining ground
 among our advanced thinkers4 ,a greater
 man than either ,macaulay or           
,buckle--the ,german poet1 ,goethe--says
 of ,luther1 that he threw back the     
intellectual progress of mankind for    
centuries1 by calling in the passions of

 the multitude to decide on subjects    
which ought to have been left to the    
learned4 ,goethe1 in saying this1 was   
alluding especially to ,erasmus4 ,goethe
 thought that ,erasmus1 and men like    
,erasmus1 had struck upon the right     
track2 and if they could have retained  
the direction of the mind of ,europe1   
there would have been more truth1 and   
less falsehood1 among us at this present
 time4 ,the party hatreds1 the          
theological rivalries1 the persecutions1
 the civil wars1 the religious          
animosities which have so long          
distracted us1 would have been all      
avoided1 and the mind of mankind would  
have expanded gradually and equably with
 the growth of knowledge4  ,such an     
opinion1 coming from so great a man1 is 
not to be lightly passed over4 ,it will 
be my endeavour to show you what kind of
 man ,erasmus was1 what he was aiming   
at1 what he was doing1 and how ,luther  
spoilt his work--if spoiling is the word
 which we are to use for it4  ,one      

caution1 however1 ,i must in fairness   
give you before we proceed further4 ,it 
lies upon the face of the story1 that   
the ,reformers imperfectly understood   
toleration2 but you must keep before you
 the spirit and temper of the men with  
whom they had to deal4 ,for themselves1 
when the movement began1 they aimed at  
nothing but liberty to think and speak  
their own way4 ,they never dreamt of    
interfering with others1 although they  
were quite aware that others1 when they 
could1 were likely to interfere with    
them4 ,lord ,macaulay might have        
remembered that ,cranmer was working all
 his life with the prospect of being    
burnt alive as his reward--and1 as we   
all know1 he actually was burnt alive4  
,when the ,protestant teaching began    
first to spread in the                  
,netherlands--before one single         
,catholic had been illtreated there1    
before a symptom of a mutinous          
disposition had shown itself among the  
people1 an edict was issued by the      

authorities for the suppression of the  
new opinions4  ,the terms of this edict 
,i will briefly describe to you4  ,the  
inhabitants of the ,united ,provinces   
were informed that they were to hold and
 believe the doctrines of the ,holy     
,roman ,catholic ,church4 ',men and     
women1' says the edict1 'who disobey    
this command shall be punished as       
disturbers of public order4 ,women who  
have fallen into heresy shall be buried 
alive4 ,men1 if they recant1 shall lose 
their heads4 ,if they continue          
obstinate1 they shall be burnt at the   
stake4  ',if man or woman be suspected  
of heresy1 no one shall shelter or      
protect him or her2 and no stranger     
shall be admitted to lodge in any inn or
 dwelling-house unless he bring with him
 a testimonial of orthodoxy from the    
priest of his parish4  ',the            
,inquisition shall enquire into the     
private opinions of every person1 of    
whatever degree2 and all officers of all
 kinds shall assist the ,inquisition at 

their peril4 ,those who know where      
heretics are concealed1 shall denounce  
them1 or they shall suffer as heretics  
themselves4 ,heretics 7observe the      
malignity of this paragraph7--heretics  
who will give up other heretics to      
justice1 shall themselves be pardoned if
 they will promise to conform for the   
future4'  ,under this edict1 in the     
,netherlands alone1 more than fifty     
thousand human beings1 first and last1  
were deliberately murdered4 ,and1       
gentlemen1 ,i must say that proceedings 
of this kind explain and go far to      
excuse the subsequent intolerance of    
,protestants4  ,intolerance1 ,mr4       
,gibbon tells us1 is a greater crime in 
a ,protestant than a ,catholic4         
,criminal intolerance1 as ,i understand 
it1 is the intolerance of such an edict 
as that which ,i have read to you--the  
unprovoked intolerance of difference of 
opinion4 ,i conceive that the most      
enlightened philosopher might have grown
 hard and narrow-minded if he had       

suffered under the administration of the
 ,duke of ,alva4  ,dismissing these     
considerations1 ,i will now go on with  
my subject4  ,never in all their        
history1 in ancient times or modern1    
never that we know of1 have mankind     
thrown out of themselves anything so    
grand1 so useful1 so beautiful1 as the  
,catholic ,church once was4 ,in these   
times of ours1 well-regulated           
selfishness is the recognised rule of   
action--every one of us is expected to  
look out first for himself1 and take    
care of his own interests4 ,at the time 
,i speak of1 the ,church ruled the      
,state with the authority of a          
conscience2 and self-interest1 as a     
motive of action1 was only named to be  
abhorred4 ,the bishops and clergy were  
regarded freely and simply as the       
immediate ministers of the ,almighty2   
and they seem to me to have really      
deserved that high estimate of their    
character4 ,it was not for the doctrines
 which they taught1 only or chiefly1    

that they were held in honour4 ,brave   
men do not fall down before their       
fellow-mortals for the words which they 
speak1 or for the rites which they      
perform4 ,wisdom1 justice1 self-denial1 
nobleness1 purity1                      
highmindedness1--these are the qualities
 before which the free-born races of    
,europe have been contented to bow2 and 
in no order of men were such qualities  
to be found as they were found six      
hundred years ago in the clergy of the  
,catholic ,church4 ,they called         
themselves the successors of the        
,apostles4 ,they claimed in their       
,master's name universal spiritual      
authority1 but they made good their     
pretensions by the holiness of their own
 lives4 ,they were allowed to rule      
because they deserved to rule1 and in   
the fulness of reverence kings and      
nobles bent before a power which was    
nearer to ,god than their own4 ,over    
prince and subject1 chieftain and serf1 
a body of unarmed defenceless men       

reigned supreme by the magic of         
sanctity4 ,they tamed the fiery northern
 warriors who had broken in pieces the  
,roman ,empire4 ,they taught them--they 
brought them really and truly to        
believe--that they had immortal souls1  
and that they would one day stand at the
 awful judgment bar and give account for
 their lives there4 ,with the brave1 the
 honest1 and the good--with those who   
had not oppressed the poor nor removed  
their neighbour's landmark--with those  
who had been just in all their          
dealings--with those who had fought     
against evil1 and had tried valiantly to
 do their ,master's will1--at that great
 day1 it would be well4 ,for cowards1   
for profligates1 for those who lived for
 luxury and pleasure and                
self-indulgence1 there was the blackness
 of eternal death4  ,an awful conviction
 of this tremendous kind the clergy had 
effectually instilled into the mind of  
,europe4 ,it was not a ,,perhaps2 it was
 a certainty4 ,it was not a form of     

words repeated once a week at church2 it
 was an assurance entertained on all    
days and in all places1 without any     
particle of doubt4 ,and the effect of   
such a belief on life and conscience was
 simply immeasurable4  ,i do not pretend
 that the clergy were perfect4 ,they    
were very far from perfect at the best  
of times1 and the ,european nations were
 never completely submissive to them4   
,it would not have been well if they had
 been4 ,the business of human creatures 
in this planet is not summed up in the  
most excellent of priestly catechisms4  
,the world and its concerns continued to
 interest men1 though priests insisted  
on their nothingness4 ,they could not   
prevent kings from quarrelling with each
 other4 ,they could not hinder disputed 
successions1 and civil feuds1 and wars1 
and political conspiracies4 ,what they  
did do was to shelter the weak from the 
strong4 ,in the eyes of the clergy1 the 
serf and his lord stood on the common   
level of sinful humanity4 ,into their   

ranks high birth was no passport4 ,they 
were themselves for the most part       
children of the people2 and the son of  
the artisan or peasant rose to the mitre
 and the triple crown1 just as nowadays 
the rail-splitter and the tailor become 
,presidents of the ,republic of the     
,west4  ,the ,church was essentially    
democratic1 while at the same time it   
had the monopoly of learning2 and all   
the secular power fell to it which      
learning1 combined with sanctity and    
assisted by superstition1 can bestow4   
,the privileges of the clergy were      
extraordinary4 ,they were not amenable  
to the common laws of the land4 ,while  
they governed the laity1 the laity had  
no power over them4 ,from the throne    
downwards1 every secular office was     
dependent on the ,church4 ,no king was a
 lawful sovereign till the ,church      
placed the crown upon his head3 and what
 the ,church bestowed1 the ,church      
claimed the right to take away4 ,the    
disposition of property was in their    

hands4 ,no will could be proved except  
before the bishop or his officer2 and no
 will was held valid if the testator    
died out of communion4 ,there were      
magistrates and courts of law for the   
offences of the laity4 ,if a priest     
committed a crime1 he was a sacred      
person4 ,the civil power could not touch
 him2 he was reserved for his ordinary4 
,bishops' commissaries sate in town and 
city1 taking cognizance of the moral    
conduct of every man and woman4         
,offences against life and property were
 tried here in ,england1 as now1 by the 
common law2 but the ,church ,courts     
dealt with sins--sins of word or act4   
,if a man was a profligate or a         
drunkard2 if he lied or swore2 if he did
 not come to communion1 or held unlawful
 opinions2 if he was idle or unthrifty2 
if he was unkind to his wife or his     
servants2 if a child was disobedient to 
his father1 or a father cruel to his    
child2 if a tradesman sold adulterated  
wares1 or used false measures or        

dishonest weights1--the eye of the      
parish priest was everywhere1 and the   
,church ,court stood always open to     
examine and to punish4  ,imagine what a 
tremendous power this must have been6   
,yet it existed generally in ,catholic  
,europe down to the eve of the          
,reformation4 ,it could never have      
established itself at all unless at one 
time it had worked beneficially--as the 
abuse of it was one of the most fatal   
causes of the ,church's fall4  ,i know  
nothing in ,english history much more   
striking than the answer given by       
,archbishop ,warham to the complaints of
 the ,english ,house of ,commons after  
the fall of ,cardinal ,wolsey4 ,the     
,house of ,commons complained that the  
clergy made laws in ,convocation which  
the laity were excommunicated if they   
disobeyed4 ,yet the laws made by the    
clergy1 the ,commons said1 were often at
 variance with the laws of the realm4   
,what did ,warham reply8 ,he said he was
 sorry for the alleged discrepancy2 but1

 inasmuch as the laws made by the clergy
 were always in conformity with the will
 of ,god1 the laws of the realm had only
 to be altered and then the difficulty  
would vanish4  ,what must have been the 
position of the clergy in the fulness of
 their power1 when they could speak thus
 on the eve of their prostration8 ,you  
have only to look from a distance at any
 old-fashioned cathedral city1 and you  
will see in a moment the medival        
relations between ,church and ,state4   
,the cathedral is the city4 ,the first  
object you catch sight of as you        
approach is the spire tapering into the 
sky1 or the huge towers holding         
possession of the centre of the         
landscape--majestically                 
beautiful--imposing by mere size amidst 
the large forms of ,nature herself4 ,as 
you go nearer1 the vastness of the      
building impresses you more and more4   
,the puny dwelling-place of the citizens
 creep at its feet1 the pinnacles are   
glittering in the tints of the sunset1  

when down below among the streets and   
lanes the twilight is darkening4 ,and   
even now1 when the towns are thrice     
their ancient size1 and the houses have 
stretched upwards from two stories to   
five2 when the great chimneys are       
vomiting their smoke among the clouds1  
and the temples of modern industry--the 
workshops and the factories--spread     
their long fronts before the eye1 the   
cathedral is still the governing form in
 the picture--the one object which      
possesses the imagination and refuses to
 be eclipsed4  ,as that cathedral was to
 the old town1 so was the ,church of the
 middle ages to the secular institutions
 of the world4 ,its very neighbourhood  
was sacred2 and its shadow1 like the    
shadow of the ,apostles1 was a          
sanctuary4 ,when ,i look at the new     
,houses of ,parliament in ,london1 ,i   
see in them a type of the change which  
has passed over us4 ,the ,house of      
,commons of the ,plantagenets sate in   
the ,chapter ,house of ,westminster     

,abbey4 ,the ,parliament of the ,reform 
,bill1 five-and-thirty years ago1       
debated in ,st4 ,stephen's ,chapel1 the 
,abbey's small dependency4 ,now1 by the 
side of the enormous pile which has     
risen out of that chapel's ashes1 the   
proud ,minster itself is dwarfed into   
insignificance4  ,let us turn to another
 vast feature of the middle ages--,i    
mean the monasteries4  ,some person of  
especial and exceptional holiness has   
lived or died at a particular spot4 ,he 
has been distinguished by his wisdom1 by
 his piety1 by his active benevolence2  
and in an age when conjurors and witches
 were supposed to be helped by the devil
 to do evil1 he1 on his part1 has been  
thought to have possessed in larger     
measure than common men the favour and  
the grace of heaven4 ,blessed influences
 hang about the spot which he has       
hallowed by his presence4 ,his          
relics--his household possessions1 his  
books1 his clothes1 his bones1 retain   
the shadowy sanctity which they received

 in having once belonged to him4 ,we all
 set a value1 not wholly unreal1 on     
anything which has been the property of 
a remarkable man4 ,at worst1 it is but  
an exaggeration of natural reverence4   
,well1 as nowadays we build monuments to
 great men1 so in the middle ages they  
built shrines or chapels on the spots   
which saints had made holy1 and         
communities of pious people gathered    
together there--beginning with the      
personal friends the saint had left     
behind him--to try to live as he had    
lived1 to do good as he had done good1  
and to die as he had died4 ,thus arose  
religious fraternities--companies of men
 who desired to devote themselves to    
goodness--to give up pleasure1 and      
amusement1 and self-indulgence1 and to  
spend their lives in prayer and works of
 charity4  ,these houses became centres 
of pious beneficence4 ,the monks1 as the
 brotherhoods were called1 were         
organised in different orders1 with some
 variety of rule1 but the broad         

principle was the same in all4 ,they    
were to live for others1 not for        
themselves4 ,they took vows of poverty1 
that they might not be entangled in the 
pursuit of money4 ,they took vows of    
chastity1 that the care of a family     
might not distract them from the work   
which they had undertaken4 ,their       
efforts of charity were not limited to  
this world4 ,their days were spent in   
hard bodily labour1 in study1 or in     
visiting the sick4 ,at night they were  
on the stone-floors of their chapels1   
holding up their withered hands to      
heaven1 interceding for the poor souls  
who were suffering in purgatory4  ,the  
world1 as it always will1 paid honour to
 exceptional excellence4 ,the system    
spread to the furthest limits of        
,christendom4 ,the religious houses     
became places of refuge1 where men of   
noble birth1 kings and queens and       
emperors1 warriors and statesmen1       
retired to lay down their splendid      
cares1 and end their days in peace4     

,those with whom the world had dealt    
hardly1 or those whom it had surfeited  
with its unsatisfying pleasures1 those  
who were disappointed with earth1 and   
those who were filled with passionate   
aspirations after heaven1 alike found a 
haven of rest in the quiet cloister4    
,and1 gradually1 lands came to them1 and
 wealth1 and social dignity--all        
gratefully extended to men who deserved 
so well of their fellows2 while no      
landlords were more popular than they1  
for the sanctity of the monks sheltered 
their dependents as well as themselves4 
,travel now through ,ireland1 and you   
will see in the wildest parts of it     
innumerable remains of religious houses1
 which had grown up among a people who  
acknowledged no rule among themselves   
except the sword1 and where every chief 
made war upon his neighbour as the      
humour seized him4 ,the monks among the 
,o's and the ,mac's were as defenceless 
as sheep among the wolves2 but the      
wolves spared them for their character4 

,in such a country as ,ireland then was1
 the monasteries could not have survived
 for a generation but for the enchanted 
atmosphere which surrounded them4  ,of  
authority1 the religious orders were    
practically independent4 ,they were     
amenable only to the ,pope and to their 
own superiors4 ,here in ,england1 the   
king could not send a commissioner to   
inspect a monastery1 nor even send a    
policeman to arrest a criminal who had  
taken shelter within its walls4         
,archbishops and bishops1 powerful as   
they were1 found their authority cease  
when they entered the gates of a        
,benedictine or ,dominican abbey4  ,so  
utterly have times changed1 that with   
your utmost exertions you will hardly be
 able to picture to yourselves the      
,catholic ,church in the days of its    
greatness4 ,our school-books tell us how
 the ,emperor of ,germany held the      
stirrup for ,pope ,gregory the ,seventh 
to mount his mule2 how our own ,english 
,henry ,plantagenet walked barefoot     

through the streets of ,canterbury1 and 
knelt in the ,chapter ,house for the    
monks to flog him4 ,the first of these  
incidents1 ,i was brought up to believe1
 proved the ,pope to be the ,man of     
,sin4 ,anyhow1 they are both facts1 and 
not romances2 and you may form some     
notion from them how high in the world's
 eyes the ,church must have stood4  ,and
 be sure it did not achieve that proud  
position without deserving it4 ,the     
,teutonic and ,latin princes were not   
credulous fools2 and when they          
submitted1 it was to something stronger 
than themselves--stronger in limb and   
muscle1 or stronger in intellect and    
character4  ,so the ,church was in its  
vigour3 so the ,church was not at the   
opening of the sixteenth century4       
,power--wealth--security--men are more  
than mortal if they can resist the      
temptations to which too much of these  
expose them4 ,nor were they the only    
enemies which undermined the energies of
 the ,catholic clergy4 ,churches exist  

in this world to remind us of the       
eternal laws which we are bound to obey4
 ,so far as they do this1 they fulfil   
their end1 and are honoured in          
fulfilling it4 ,it would have been      
better for all of us--it would be better
 for us now1 could ,churches keep this  
their peculiar function steadily and    
singly before them4 ,unfortunately1 they
 have preferred in later times the      
speculative side of things to the       
practical4 ,they take up into their     
teaching opinions and theories which are
 merely ephemeral2 which would naturally
 die out with the progress of knowledge2
 but1 having received a spurious        
sanctity1 prolong their days            
unseasonably1 and become first          
unmeaning1 and then occasions of        
superstition4  ,it matters little       
whether ,i say a paternoster in ,english
 or ,latin1 so that what is present to  
my mind is the thought which the words  
express1 and not the words themselves4  
,in these and all languages it is the   

most beautiful of prayers4 ,but you know
 that people came to look on a ,latin   
paternoster as the most powerful of     
spells--potent in heaven1 if said       
straightforward2 if repeated backward1 a
 charm which no spirit in hell could    
resist4  ,so it is1 in my opinion1 with 
all forms--forms of words1 or forms of  
ceremony and ritualism4 ,while the      
meaning is alive in them1 they are not  
only harmless1 but pregnant and         
life-giving4 ,when we come to think that
 they possess in themselves material and
 magical virtues1 then the purpose which
 they answer is to hide ,god from us and
 make us practically into ,atheists4    
,this is what ,i believe to have        
gradually fallen upon the ,catholic     
,church in the generations which        
preceded ,luther4 ,the body remained2   
the mind was gone away3 the original    
thought which its symbolism represented 
was no longer credible to intelligent   
persons4  ,the acute were conscious     
unbelievers4 ,in ,italy1 when men went  

to mass they spoke of it as going to a  
comedy4 ,you may have heard the story of
 ,luther in his younger days saying mass
 at an altar in ,rome1 and hearing his  
fellow-priests muttering at the         
consecration of the ,eucharist1 ',bread 
thou art1 and bread thou wilt remain4'  
,part of the clergy were profane        
scoundrels like these2 the rest repeated
 the words of the service1 conceiving   
that they were working a charm4         
,religion was passing through the       
transformation which all religions have 
a tendency to undergo4 ,they cease to be
 aids and incentives to holy life2 they 
become contrivances rather to enable men
 to sin1 and escape the penalties of    
sin4 ,obedience to the law is dispensed 
with if men will diligently profess     
certain opinions1 or punctually perform 
certain external duties4 ,however       
scandalous the moral life1 the          
participation of a particular rite1 or  
the profession of a particular belief1  
at the moment of death1 is held to clear

 the score4  ,the powers which had been 
given to the clergy required for their  
exercise the highest wisdom and the     
highest probity4 ,they had fallen at    
last into the hands of men who possessed
 considerably less of these qualities   
than the laity whom they undertook to   
govern4 ,they had degraded their        
conceptions of ,god2 and1 as a necessary
 consequence1 they had degraded their   
conceptions of man and man's duty4 ,the 
aspirations after sanctity had          
disappeared1 and instead of them there  
remained the practical reality of the   
five senses4 ,the high prelates1 the    
cardinals1 the great abbots1 were       
occupied chiefly in maintaining their   
splendour and luxury4 ,the friars and   
the secular clergy1 following their     
superiors with shorter steps1 indulged  
themselves in grosser pleasures2 while  
their spiritual powers1 their supposed  
authority in this world and the next1   
were turned to account to obtain from   
the laity the means for their           

self-indulgence4  ,the ,church forbade  
the eating of meat on fast days1 but the
 ,church was ready with dispensations   
for those who could afford to pay for   
them4 ,the ,church forbade marriage to  
the fourth degree of consanguinity1 but 
loving cousins1 if they were rich and   
open-handed1 could obtain the ,church's 
consent to their union4 ,there were     
toll-gates for the priests at every     
halting-place on the road of life--fees 
at weddings1 fees at funerals1 fees     
whenever an excuse could be found to    
fasten them4 ,even when a man was dead  
he was not safe from plunder1 for a     
mortuary or death present was exacted of
 his family4  ,and then those ,bishop's 
,courts1 of which ,i spoke just now3    
they were founded for the discipline of 
morality--they were made the instruments
 of the most detestable extortion4 ,if  
an impatient layman spoke a             
disrespectful word of the clergy1 he was
 cited before the bishop's commissary   
and fined4 ,if he refused to pay1 he was

 excommunicated1 and excommunication was
 a poisonous disease4 ,when a poor      
wretch was under the ban of the ,church 
no tradesman might sell him clothes or  
food--no friend might relieve him--no   
human voice might address him1 under    
pain of the same sentence2 and if he    
died unreconciled1 he died like a dog1  
without the sacraments1 and was refused 
,christian burial4  ,the records of some
 of these courts survive3 a glance at   
their pages will show the principles on 
which they were worked4 ,when a layman  
offended1 the single object was to make 
him pay for it4 ,the magistrates could  
not protect him4 ,if he resisted1 and   
his friends supported him1 so much the  
better1 for they were now all in the    
scrape together4 ,the next step would be
 to indict them in a body for heresy2   
and then1 of course1 there was nothing  
for it but to give way1 and compound for
 absolution by money4  ,it was          
money--ever money4 ,even in case of real
 delinquency1 it was still money4       

,money1 not charity1 covered the        
multitude of sins4  ,i have told you    
that the clergy were exempt from secular
 jurisdiction4 ,they claimed to be      
amenable only to spiritual judges1 and  
they extended the broad fringe of their 
order till the word clerk was construed 
to mean any one who could write his name
 or read a sentence from a book4 ,a     
robber or a murderer at the assizes had 
but to show that he possessed either of 
these qualifications1 and he was allowed
 what was called benefit of clergy4 ,his
 case was transferred to the ,bishops'  
,court1 to an easy judge1 who allowed   
him at once to compound4  ,such were the
 clergy in matters of this world4 ,as   
religious instructors1 they appear in   
colours if possible less attractive4    
,practical religion throughout ,europe  
at the beginning of the sixteenth       
century was a very simple affair4 ,i am 
not going to speak of the mysterious    
doctrines of the ,catholic ,church4 ,the
 creed which it professed in its schools

 and theological treatises was the same 
which it professes now1 and which it had
 professed at the time when it was most 
powerful for good4 ,i do not myself     
consider that the formulas in which men 
express their belief are of much        
consequence4 ,the question is rather of 
the thing expressed2 and so long as we  
find a living consciousness that above  
the world and above human life there is 
a righteous ,god1 who will judge men    
according to their works1 whether they  
say their prayers in ,latin or ,english1
 whether they call themselves           
,protestants or call themselves         
,catholics1 appears to me of quite      
secondary importance4 ,but at the time  
,i speak of1 that consciousness no      
longer existed4 ,the formulas and       
ceremonies were all in all2 and of ,god 
it is hard to say what conceptions men  
had formed1 when they believed that a   
dead man's relations could buy him out  
of purgatory--buy him out of            
purgatory1--for this was the literal    

truth--by hiring priests to sing masses 
for his soul4  ,religion1 in the minds  
of ordinary people1 meant that the keys 
of the other world were held by the     
clergy4 ,if a man confessed regularly to
 his priest1 received the sacrament1 and
 was absolved1 then all was well with   
him4 ,his duties consisted in going to  
confession and to mass4 ,if he committed
 sins1 he was prescribed penances1 which
 could be commuted for money4 ,if he was
 sick or ill at ease in his mind1 he was
 recommended a pilgrimage--a pilgrimage 
to a shrine or a holy well1 or to some  
wonder-working image--where1 for due    
consideration1 his case would be        
attended to4 ,it was no use to go to a  
saint empty-handed4 ,the rule of the    
,church was1 nothing for nothing4 ,at a 
chapel in ,saxony there was an image of 
a ,virgin and ,child4 ,if the worshipper
 came to it with a good handsome        
offering1 the child bowed and was       
gracious3 if the present was            
unsatisfactory1 it turned away its head1

 and withheld its favours till the      
purse-strings were untied again4  ,there
 was a great rood or crucifix of the    
same kind at ,boxley1 in ,kent1 where   
the pilgrims went in thousands4 ,this   
figure used to bow1 too1 when it was    
pleased2 and a good sum of money was    
sure to secure its good-will4  ,when the
 ,reformation came1 and the police      
looked into the matter1 the images were 
found to be worked with wires and       
pulleys4 ,the ,german lady was kept as a
 curiosity in the cabinet of the        
,elector of ,saxony4 ,our ,boxley rood  
was brought up and exhibited in         
,cheapside1 and was afterwards torn in  
pieces by the people4  ,nor here again  
was death the limit of extortion3 death 
was rather the gate of the sphere which 
the clergy made1 peculiarly their own4  
,when a man died1 his friends were      
naturally anxious for the fate of his   
soul4 ,if he died in communion1 he was  
not in the worst place of all4 ,he had  
not been a saint1 and therefore he was  

not in the best4 ,therefore he was in   
purgatory--,purgatory ,pickpurse1 as our
 ,english ,latimer called it--and a     
priest1 if properly paid1 could get him 
out4  ,to be a mass priest1 as it was   
called1 was a regular profession1 in    
which1 with little trouble1 a man could 
earn a comfortable living4 ,he had only 
to be ordained and to learn by heart a  
certain form of words1 and that was all 
the equipment necessary for him4 ,the   
masses were paid for at so much a dozen1
 and for every mass that was said1 so   
many years were struck off from the     
penal period4 ,two priests were         
sometimes to be seen muttering away at  
the opposite ends of the same altar1    
like a couple of musical boxes playing  
different parts of the same tune at the 
same time4 ,it made no difference4 ,the 
upper powers had what they wanted4 ,if  
they got the masses1 and the priests got
 the money1 all parties concerned were  
satisfied4  ,i am speaking of the form  
which these things assumed in an age of 

degradation and ignorance4 ,the truest  
and wisest words ever spoken by man     
might be abused in the same way4  ,the  
,sermon on the ,mount or the ,apostles' 
,creed1 if recited mechanically1 and    
relied on to work a mechanical effort1  
would be no less perniciously           
idolatrous4  ,you can see something of  
the same kind in a milder form in ,spain
 at the present day4 ,the ,spaniards1   
all of them1 high and low1 are expected 
to buy annually a ,pope's ,bula or      
,bull--a small pardon1 or indulgence1 or
 plenary remission of sins4 ,the exact  
meaning of these things is a little     
obscure2 the high authorities themselves
 do not universally agree about them1   
except so far as to say that they are of
 prodigious value of some sort4 ,the    
orthodox explanation1 ,i believe1 is    
something of this kind4 ,with every sin 
there is the moral guilt and the        
temporal penalty4 ,the pardon cannot    
touch the guilt2 but when the guilt is  
remitted1 there is still the penalty4 ,i

 may ruin my health by a dissolute life2
 ,i may repent of my dissoluteness and  
be forgiven2 but the bad health will    
remain4 ,for bad health1 substitute     
penance in this world and purgatory in  
the next2 and in this sphere the        
indulgence takes effect4  ,such as they 
are1 at any rate1 everybody in ,spain   
has these bulls2 you buy them in the    
shops for a shilling apiece4  ,this is  
one form of the thing4 ,again1 at the   
door of a ,spanish church you will see  
hanging on the wall an intimation that  
whoever will pray so many hours before a
 particular image shall receive full    
forgiveness of his sins4 ,having got    
that1 one might suppose he would be     
satisfied2 but no--if he prays so many  
more hours1 he can get off a hundred    
years of purgatory1 or a thousand1 or   
ten thousand4 ,in one place ,i remember 
observing that for a very little trouble
 a man could escape a hundred and fifty 
thousand years of purgatory4  ,what a   
prospect for the ill-starred            

,protestant1 who will be lucky if he is 
admitted into purgatory at all6  ,again1
 if you enter a sacristy1 you will see a
 small board like the notices addressed 
to parishioners in our vestries4 ,on    
particular days it is taken out and hung
 up in the church1 and little would a   
stranger1 ignorant of the language1     
guess the tremendous meaning of that    
commonplace appearance4 ,on these boards
 is written ',hoy se sacan              
animas1'--',this day1 souls are taken   
out of purgatory4' ,it is an intimation 
to every one with a friend in distress  
that now is his time4 ,you put a        
shilling in a plate1 you give your      
friend's name1 and the thing is done4   
,one wonders why1 if purgatory can be   
sacked so easily1 any poor wretch is    
left to suffer there4  ,such practices  
nowadays are comparatively innocent1 the
 money asked and given is trifling1 and 
probably no one concerned in the        
business believes much about it4 ,they  
serve to show1 however1 on a small      

scale1 what once went on on an immense  
scale2 and even such as they are1 pious 
,catholics do not much approve of them4 
,they do not venture to say much on the 
subject directly1 but they allow        
themselves a certain good-humoured      
ridicule4 ,a ,spanish novelist of some  
reputation tells a story of a man coming
 to a priest on one of these occasions1 
putting a shilling in the plate1 and    
giving in the name of his friend4  ',is 
my friend's soul out8' he asked4 ,the   
priest said it was4 ',quite sure8' the  
man asked4 ',quite sure1' the priest    
answered4 ',very well1' said the man1   
'if he is out of purgatory they will not
 put him in again3 it is a bad          
shilling4'  ,sadder than all else1 even 
as the most beautiful things are worst  
in their degradation1 was the condition 
of the monasteries4 ,i am here on       
delicate ground4 ,the accounts of those 
institutions1 as they existed in        
,england and ,germany at the time of    
their suppression1 is so shocking that  

even impartial writers have hesitated to
 believe the reports which have come    
down to us4 ,the laity1 we are told1    
determined to appropriate the abbey     
lands1 and maligned the monks to justify
 the spoliation4 ,were the charge true1 
the religious orders would still be     
without excuse1 for the whole education 
of the country was in the hands of the  
clergy2 and they had allowed a whole    
generation to grow up1 which1 on this   
hypothesis1 was utterly depraved4  ,but 
no such theory can explain away the     
accumulated testimony which comes to    
us--exactly alike--from so many sides   
and witnesses4 ,we are not dependent    
upon evidence which ,catholics can      
decline to receive4 ,in the reign of our
 ,henry the ,seventh the notorious      
corruption of some of the great abbeys  
in ,england brought them under the      
notice of the ,catholic ,archbishop of  
,canterbury1 ,cardinal ,morton4 ,the    
archbishop1 unable to meddle with them  
by his own authority1 obtained the      

necessary powers from the ,pope4 ,he    
instituted a partial visitation in the  
neighbourhood of ,london2 and the most  
malignant ,protestant never drew such a 
picture of profligate brutality as      
,cardinal ,morton left behind him in his
 ,register1 in a description of the     
great ,abbey of ,st4 ,albans4 ,i cannot1
 in a public lecture1 give you the      
faintest idea of what it contains4 ,the 
monks were bound to celibacy--that is to
 say1 they were not allowed to marry4   
,they were full-fed1 idle1 and sensual2 
of sin they thought only as something   
extremely pleasant1 of which they could 
cleanse one another with a few mumbled  
words as easily as they could wash their
 faces in a basin4 ,and there ,i must   
leave the matter4 ,anybody who is       
curious for particulars may see the     
original account in ,morton's ,register1
 in the ,archbishop's library at        
,lambeth4  ,a quarter of a century after
 this there appeared in ,germany a book1
 now called by ,catholics an infamous   

libel1 the ',epistol ,obscurorum        
,virorum4' ',the obscure men1' supposed 
to be the writers of these epistles1 are
 monks or students of theology4 ,the    
letters themselves are written in       
dog-,latin--a burlesque of the language 
in which ecclesiastical people then     
addressed each other4 ,they are         
sketches1 satirical1 but not malignant1 
of the moral and intellectual character 
of these reverend personages4  ,on the  
moral1 and by far the most important1   
side of the matter ,i am still obliged  
to be silent2 but ,i can give you a few 
specimens of the furniture of the       
theological minds1 and of the subjects  
with which they were occupied4  ,a      
student writes to his ghostly father in 
an agony of distress because he has     
touched his hat to a ,jew4 ,he mistook  
him for a doctor of divinity2 and on the
 whole1 he fears he has committed mortal
 sin4 ,can the father absolve him8 ,can 
the bishop absolve him8 ,can the ,pope  
absolve him8 ,his case seems utterly    

desperate4  ,another letter describes a 
great intellectual riddle1 which was    
argued for four days at the ,school of  
,logic at ,louvaine4 ,a certain ,master 
of ,arts had taken out his degree at    
,louvaine1 ,leyden1 ,paris1 ,oxford1    
,cambridge1 ,padua1 and four other      
universities4 ,he was thus a member of  
ten universities4 ,but how could a man  
be a member of ten universities8 ,a     
university was a body1 and one body     
might have many members2 but how one    
member could have many bodies1 passed   
comprehension4 ,in such a monstrous     
anomaly1 the member would be the body1  
and the universities the member1 and    
this would be a scandal to such grave   
and learned corporations4 ,the holy     
doctor ,st4 ,thomas himself could not   
make himself into the body of ten       
universities4  ,the more the learned men
 argued1 the deeper they floundered1 and
 at length gave up the problem in       
despair4  ,again3 a certain professor   
argues that ,julius ,csar could not have

 written the book which passes under the
 name of ',csar's ,commentaries1'       
because that book is written in ,latin1 
and ,latin is a difficult language2 and 
a man whose life is spent in marching   
and fighting has notoriously no time to 
learn ,latin4  ,here is another         
fellow--a monk this one--describing to a
 friend the wonderful things which he   
has seen in ,rome4  ',you may have      
heard1' he says1 'how the ,pope did     
possess a monstrous beast called an     
,elephant4 ,the ,pope did entertain for 
this beast a very great affection1 and  
now behold it is dead4 ,when it fell    
sick1 the ,pope called his doctors about
 him in great sorrow1 and said to them1 
,if it be possible1 heal my elephant4   
,then they gave the elephant a purge1   
which cost five hundred crowns1 but it  
did not avail1 and so the beast         
departed2 and the ,pope grieves much for
 his elephant1 for it was indeed a      
miraculous beast1 with a long1 long1    
prodigious long nose2 and when it saw   

the ,pope it kneeled down before him and
 said1 with a terrible voice1 ,bar1 bar1
 bar6'  ,i will not tire you with any   
more of this nonsense1 especially as ,i 
cannot give you the really              
characteristic parts of the book4  ,i   
want you to observe1 however1 what ,sir 
,thomas ,more says of it1 and nobody    
will question that ,sir ,thomas ,more   
was a good ,catholic and a competent    
witness4 ',these epistles1' he says1    
'are the delight of everyone4 ,the wise 
enjoy the wit2 the blockheads of monks  
take them seriously1 and believe that   
they have been written to do them       
honour4 ,when we laugh1 they think we   
are laughing at the style1 which they   
admit to be comical4 ,but they think the
 style is made up for by the beauty of  
the sentiment4 ,the scabbard1 they say1 
is rough1 but the blade within it is    
divine4 ,the deliberate idiots would not
 have found out the jest for themselves 
in a hundred years4'  ,well might       
,erasmus exclaim1 ',what fungus could be

 more stupid8 yet these are the ,atlases
 who are to uphold the tottering        
,church6'  ',the monks had a pleasant   
time of it1' says ,luther4 ',every      
brother had two cans of beer and a quart
 of wine for his supper1 with           
gingerbread1 to make him take to his    
liquor kindly4 ,thus the poor things    
came to look like fiery angels4'  ,and  
more gravely1 ',in the cloister rule the
 seven deadly sins--covetousness1       
lasciviousness1 uncleanness1 hate1 envy1
 idleness1 and the loathing of the      
service of ,god4'  ,consider such men as
 these owning a third1 a half1 sometimes
 two-thirds of the land in every country
 in ,europe1 and1 in addition to their  
other sins1 neglecting all the duties   
attaching to this property--the woods   
cut down and sold1 the houses falling to
 ruin--unthrift1 neglect1 waste         
everywhere and in everything--the shrewd
 making the most of their time1 which   
they had sense to see might be a short  
one--the rest dreaming on in sleepy     

sensuality1 dividing their hours between
 the chapel1 the pothouse1 and the      
brothel4  ,i do not think that1 in its  
main features1 the truth of this sketch 
can be impugned2 and if it be just even 
in outline1 then a reformation of some  
kind or other was overwhelmingly        
necessary4 ,corruption beyond a certain 
point becomes unendurable to the        
coarsest nostril4 ,the constitution of  
human things cannot away with it4       
,something was to be done2 but what1 or 
how8 ,there were three possible courses4
  ,either the ancient discipline of the 
,church might be restored by the heads  
of the ,church themselves4  ,or1        
secondly1 a higher tone of feeling might
 gradually be introduced among clergy   
and laity alike1 by education and       
literary culture4 ,the discovery of the 
printing press had made possible a      
diffusion of knowledge which had been   
unattainable in earlier ages4 ,the      
ecclesiastical constitution1 like a sick
 human body1 might recover its tone if a

 better diet were prepared for it4  ,or1
 lastly1 the common sense of the laity  
might take the matter at once into their
 own hands1 and make free use of the    
pruning knife and the sweeping brush4   
,there might be much partial injustice1 
much violence1 much wrongheadedness2 but
 the people would1 at any rate1 go      
direct to the point1 and the question   
was whether any other remedy would      
serve4  ,the first of these alternatives
 may at once be dismissed4 ,the heads of
 the ,church were the last persons in   
the world to discover that anything was 
wrong4 ,people of that sort always are4 
,for them the thing as it existed       
answered excellently well4 ,they had    
boundless wealth1 and all but boundless 
power4 ,what could they ask for more8   
,no monk drowsing over his wine-pot was 
less disturbed by anxiety than nine out 
of ten of the high dignitaries who were 
living on the eve of the ,judgment ,day1
 and believed that their seat was       
established for them for ever4  ,the    

character of the great ecclesiastics of 
that day you may infer from a single    
example4 ,the ,archbishop of ,mayence   
was one of the most enlightened         
,churchmen in ,germany4 ,he was a patron
 of the ,renaissance1 a friend of       
,erasmus1 a liberal1 an intelligent1    
and1 as times went1 and considering his 
trade1 an honourable1 high-minded man4  
,when the ,emperor ,maximilian died1 and
 the imperial throne was vacant1 the    
,archbishop of ,mayence was one of seven
 electors who had to choose a new       
emperor4  ,there were two               
competitors--,francis the ,first and    
,maximilian's grandson1 afterwards the  
well-known ,charles the ,fifth4  ,well1 
of the seven electors six were bribed4  
,john ,frederick of ,saxony1 ,luther's  
friend and protector1 was the only one  
of the party who came out of the        
business with clean hands4  ,but the    
,archbishop of ,mayence took bribes six 
times alternately from both the         
candidates4 ,he took money as coolly as 

the most rascally ten-pound householder 
in ,yarmouth or ,totnes1 and finally    
drove a hard bargain for his actual     
vote4  ,the grape does not grow upon the
 blackthorn2 nor does healthy reform    
come from high dignitaries like the     
,archbishop of ,mayence4  ,the other    
aspect of the problem ,i shall consider 
in the following ,lectures4   ,,lecture 
,,ii4  ,in the year #adfg--the year in  
which ,charles the ,bold became ,duke of
 ,burgundy--four years before the great 
battle of ,barnet1 which established our
 own fourth ,edward on the ,english     
throne--about the time when ,william    
,caxton was setting up his printing     
press at ,westminster--there was born at
 ,rotterdam1 on the #bhth of ,october1  
,desiderius ,erasmus4 ,his parents1 who 
were middle-class people1 were          
well-to-do in the world4 ,for some      
reason or other they were prevented from
 marrying by the interference of        
relations4 ,the father died soon after  
in a cloister2 the mother was left with 

her illegitimate infant1 whom she called
 first1 after his father1 ,gerard2 but  
afterwards1 from his beauty and grace1  
she changed his name--the words         
,desiderius ,erasmus1 one with a ,latin1
 the other with a ,greek1 derivation1   
meaning the lovely or delightful one4   
,not long after1 the mother herself died
 also4 ,the little ,erasmus was the heir
 of a moderate fortune2 and his         
guardians1 desiring to appropriate it to
 themselves1 endeavoured to force him   
into a convent at ,brabant4  ,the       
thought of living and dying in a house  
of religion was dreadfully unattractive2
 but an orphan boy's resistance was     
easily overcome4 ,he was bullied into   
yielding1 and1 when about twenty1 took  
the vows4  ,the life of a monk1 which   
was uninviting on the surface1 was not  
more lovely when seen from within4  ',a 
monk's holy obedience1' ,erasmus wrote  
afterwards1 'consists in--what8 ,in     
leading an honest1 chaste1 and sober    
life8 ,not the least4 ,in acquiring     

learning1 in study1 and industry8 ,still
 less4 ,a monk may be a glutton1 a      
drunkard1 a whoremonger1 an ignorant1   
stupid1 malignant1 envious brute1 but he
 has broken no vow1 he is within his    
holy obedience4 ,he has only to be the  
slave of a superior as good for nothing 
as himself1 and he is an excellent      
brother4'  ,the misfortune of his       
position did not check ,erasmus's       
intellectual growth4 ,he was a          
brilliant1 witty1 sarcastic1 mischievous
 youth4 ,he did not trouble himself to  
pine and mope2 but1 like a young        
thorough-bred in a drove of asses1 he   
used his heels pretty freely4  ,while he
 played practical jokes upon the        
unreverend fathers1 he distinguished    
himself equally by his appetite for     
knowledge4 ,it was the dawn of the      
,renaissance--the revival of learning4  
,the discovery of printing was reopening
 to modern ,europe the great literature 
of ,greece and ,rome1 and the writings  
of the ,christian fathers4 ,for studies 

of this kind1 ,erasmus1 notwithstanding 
the disadvantages of cowl and frock1    
displayed extraordinary aptitude4 ,he   
taught himself ,greek when ,greek was   
the language which1 in the opinion of   
the monks1 only the devils spoke in the 
wrong place4 ,his ,latin was as polished
 as ,cicero's2 and at length the        
,archbishop of ,cambray heard of him1   
and sent him to the ,university of      
,paris4  ,at ,paris he found a world    
where life could be sufficiently        
pleasant1 but where his religious habit 
was every moment in his way4 ,he was a  
priest1 and so far could not help       
himself4 ,that ink-spot not all the     
waters of the ,german ,ocean could wash 
away4 ,but he did not care for the low  
debaucheries1 where the frock and cowl  
were at home4 ,his place was in the     
society of cultivated men1 who were glad
 to know him and to patronise him2 so he
 shook off his order1 let his hair grow1
 and flung away his livery4  ,the       
,archbishop's patronage was probably now

 withdrawn4 ,life in ,paris was         
expensive1 and ,erasmus had for several 
years to struggle with poverty4 ,we see 
him1 however1 for the most part--in his 
early letters--carrying a bold front to 
fortune2 desponding one moment1 and     
larking the next with a ,paris grisette2
 making friends1 enjoying good company1 
enjoying especially good wine when he   
could get it2 and1 above all1 satiating 
his literary hunger at the library of   
the ,university4  ,in this condition1   
when about eight-and-twenty1 he made    
acquaintance with two young ,english    
noblemen who were travelling on the     
,continent1 ,lord ,mountjoy and one of  
the ,greys4  ,mountjoy1 intensely       
attracted by his brilliance1 took him   
for his tutor1 carried him over to      
,england1 and introduced him at the     
court of ,henry the ,seventh4 ,at once  
his fortune was made4 ,he charmed every 
one1 and in turn he was himself         
delighted with the country and the      
people4 ,english character1 ,english    

hospitality1 ,english                   
manners--everything ,english except the 
beer--equally pleased him4 ,in the young
 ,london men--the lawyers1 the noblemen1
 even in some of the clergy--he found   
his own passion for learning4 ,sir      
,thomas ,more1 who was a few years      
younger than himself1 became his dearest
 friend2 and ,warham1 afterwards        
,archbishop of ,canterbury--,fisher1    
afterwards ,bishop of                   
,rochester--,colet1 the famous ,dean of 
,st4 ,paul's--the great ,wolsey         
himself--recognised and welcomed the    
rising star of ,european literature4    
,money flowed in upon him4 ,warham gave 
him a benefice in ,kent1 which was      
afterwards changed to a pension4 ,prince
 ,henry1 when he became ,king1 offered  
him--kings in those days were not bad   
friends to literature--,henry offered   
him1 if he would remain in ,england1 a  
house large enough to be called a       
palace1 and a pension which1 converted  
into our money1 would be a thousand     

pounds a year4  ,erasmus1 however1 was a
 restless creature1 and did not like to 
be caged or tethered4 ,he declined the  
,king's terms1 but ,mountjoy settled a  
pension on him instead4 ,he had now a   
handsome income1 and he understood the  
art of enjoying it4 ,he moved about as  
he pleased--now to ,cambridge1 now to   
,oxford1 and1 as the humour took him1   
back again to ,paris2 now staying with  
,sir ,thomas ,more at ,chelsea1 now     
going a pilgrimage with ,dean ,colet to 
,becket's tomb at ,canterbury--but      
always studying1 always gathering       
knowledge1 and throwing it out again1   
steeped in his own mother wit1 in       
shining ,essays or ,dialogues1 which    
were the delight and the despair of his 
contemporaries4  ,everywhere1 in his    
love of pleasure1 in his habits of      
thought1 in his sarcastic scepticism1   
you see the healthy1 clever1            
well-disposed1 tolerant1 epicurean1     
intellectual man of the world4  ,he     
went1 as ,i said1 with ,dean ,colet to  

,becket's tomb4 ,at a shrine about      
,canterbury he was shown an old shoe    
which tradition called the ,saint's4 ,at
 the tomb itself1 the great sight was a 
handkerchief which a monk took from     
among the relics1 and offered it to the 
crowd to kiss4 ,the worshippers touched 
it in pious adoration1 with clasped     
hands and upturned eyes4 ,if the thing  
was genuine1 as ,erasmus observed1 it   
had but served for the archbishop to    
wipe his nose with--and ,dean ,colet1 a 
puritan before his time1 looked on with 
eyes flashing scorn1 and scarcely able  
to keep his hands off the exhibitors4   
,but ,erasmus smiled kindly1 reflecting 
that mankind were fools1 and in some    
form or other would remain fools4 ,he   
took notice only of the pile of gold and
 jewels1 and concluded that so much     
wealth might prove dangerous to its     
possessors4  ,the peculiarities of the  
,english people interested and amused   
him4 ',you are going to ,england1' he   
wrote afterwards to a friend2 'you will 

not fail to be pleased4 ,you will find  
the great people there most agreeable   
and gracious2 only be careful not to    
presume upon their intimacy4 ,they will 
condescend to your level1 but do not you
 therefore suppose that you stand upon  
theirs4 ,the noble lords are gods in    
their own eyes4'  ',for the other       
classes1 be courteous1 give your right  
hand1 do not take the wall1 do not push 
yourself4 ,smile on whom you please1 but
 trust no one that you do not know2     
above all1 speak no evil of ,england to 
them4 ,they are proud of their country  
above all nations in the world1 as they 
have good reason to be4'  ,these        
directions might have been written      
yesterday4 ,the manners of the ladies   
have somewhat changed4 ',english        
ladies1' says ,erasmus1 'are divinely   
pretty1 and too good-natured4 ,they have
 an excellent custom among them1 that   
wherever you go the girls kiss you4     
,they kiss you when you come1 they kiss 
you when you go1 they kiss you at       

intervening opportunities1 and their    
lips are soft1 warm1 and delicious4'    
,pretty well that1 for a priest6  ,the  
custom1 perhaps1 was not quite so       
universal as ,erasmus would have us     
believe4 ,his own coaxing ways may have 
had something to do with it4 ,at any    
rate1 he found ,england a highly        
agreeable place of residence4           
,meanwhile1 his reputation as a writer  
spread over the world4 ,latin--the      
language in which he wrote--was in      
universal use4 ,it was the vernacular of
 the best society in ,europe1 and no    
living man was so perfect a master of   
it4 ,his satire flashed about among all 
existing institutions1 scathing         
especially his old enemies the monks2   
while the great secular clergy1 who     
hated the religious orders1 were        
delighted to see them scourged1 and     
themselves to have the reputation of    
being patrons of toleration and reform4 
,erasmus1 as he felt his ground more    
sure under him1 obtained from ,julius   

the ,second a distinct release from his 
monastic vows2 and1 shortly after1 when 
the brilliant ,leo succeeded to the     
tiara1 and gathered about him the       
magnificent cluster of artists who have 
made his era so illustrious1 the new    
,pope invited ,erasmus to visit him at  
,rome1 and become another star in the   
constellation which surrounded the      
,papal throne4  ,erasmus was at this    
time forty years old--the age when      
ambition becomes powerful in men1 and   
takes the place of love of pleasure4 ,he
 was received at ,rome with princely    
distinction1 and he could have asked for
 nothing--bishoprics1 red hats1 or red  
stockings--which would not have been    
freely given to him if he would have    
consented to remain4  ,but he was too   
considerable a man to be tempted by     
finery2 and the ,pope's livery1 gorgeous
 though it might be1 was but a livery   
after all4 ,nothing which ,leo the      
,tenth could do for ,erasmus could add  
lustre to his coronet4 ,more money he   

might have had1 but of money he had     
already abundance1 and outward dignity  
would have been dearly bought by gilded 
chains4 ,he resisted temptation2 he     
preferred the northern air1 where he    
could breathe at liberty1 and he        
returned to ,england1 half inclined to  
make his home there4  ,but his own      
sovereign laid claim to his services2   
the future emperor recalled him to the  
,low ,countries1 settled a handsome     
salary upon him1 and established him at 
the ,university of ,louvaine4  ,he was  
now in the zenith of his greatness4 ,he 
had an income as large as many an       
,english nobleman4 ,we find him         
corresponding with popes1 cardinals1    
kings1 and statesmen2 and as he grew    
older1 his mind became more fixed upon  
serious subjects4 ,the ignorance and    
brutality of the monks1 the corruption  
of the spiritual courts1 the absolute   
irreligion in which the ,church was     
steeped1 gave him serious alarm4 ,he had
 no enthusiasms1 no doctrinal           

fanaticisms1 no sectarian beliefs or    
superstitions4 ,the breadth of his      
culture1 his clear understanding1 and   
the worldly moderation of his temper1   
seemed to qualify him above living men  
to conduct a temperate reform4 ,he saw  
that the system around him was pregnant 
with danger1 and he resolved to devote  
what remained to him of life to the     
introduction of a higher tone in the    
minds of the clergy4  ,the revival of   
learning had by this time alarmed the   
religious orders4 ,literature and       
education1 beyond the code of the       
theological text-books1 appeared simply 
devilish to them4 ,when ,erasmus        
returned to ,louvaine1 the battle was   
raging over the north of ,europe4  ,the 
,dominicans at once recognised in       
,erasmus their most dangerous enemy4 ,at
 first they tried to compel him to      
re-enter the order1 but1 strong in the  
,pope's dispensation1 he was so far able
 to defy them4 ,they could bark at his  
heels1 but dared not come to closer     

quarters3 and with his temper slightly  
ruffled1 but otherwise contented to     
despise them1 he took up boldly the task
 which he had set himself4  ',we kiss   
the old shoes of the saints1' he said1  
'but we never read their works4' ,he    
undertook the enormous labour of editing
 and translating selections from the    
writings of the ,fathers4 ,the ,new     
,testament was as little known as the   
lost books of ,tacitus--all that the    
people knew of the ,gospels and the     
,epistles were the passages on which    
theologians had built up the ,catholic  
formulas4 ,erasmus published the text1  
and with it1 and to make it             
intelligible1 a series of paraphrases1  
which rent away the veil of traditional 
and dogmatic interpretation1 and brought
 the teaching of ,christ and the        
,apostles into their natural relation   
with reason and conscience4  ,in all    
this1 although the monks might curse1 he
 had countenance and encouragement from 
the great ecclesiastics in all parts of 

,europe--and it is highly curious to see
 the extreme freedom with which they    
allowed him to propose to them his plans
 for a ,reformation--we seem to be      
listening to the wisest of modern broad 
,churchmen4  ,to one of his             
correspondents1 an archbishop1 he       
writes3--  ',let us have done with      
theological refinements4 ,there is an   
excuse for the ,fathers1 because the    
heretics forced them to define          
particular points2 but every definition 
is a misfortune1 and for us to persevere
 in the same way is sheer folly4 ,is no 
man to be admitted to grace who does not
 know how the ,father differs from the  
,son1 and both from the ,spirit8 or how 
the nativity of the ,son differs from   
the procession of the ,spirit8 ,unless  
,i forgive my brother his sins against  
me1 ,god will not forgive me my sins4   
,unless ,i have a pure heart--unless ,i 
put away envy1 hate1 pride1 avarice1    
lust1 ,i shall not see ,god4 ,but a man 
is not damned because he cannot tell    

whether the ,spirit has one principle or
 two4 ,has he the fruits of the ,spirit8
 ,that is the question4 ,is he patient1 
kind1 good1 gentle1 modest1 temperate1  
chaste8 ,enquire if you will1 but do not
 define4 ,true religion is peace1 and we
 cannot have peace unless we leave the  
conscience unshackled on obscure points 
on which certainty is impossible4 ,we   
hear now of questions being referred to 
the next ,o,ecumenical ,council--better 
a great deal refer them to doomsday4    
,time was1 when a man's faith was looked
 for in his life1 not in the ,articles  
which he professed4 ,necessity first    
brought ,articles upon us1 and ever     
since1 we have refined and refined till 
,christianity has become a thing of     
words and creeds4 ,articles             
increase--sincerity vanishes            
away--contention grows hot1 and charity 
grows cold4 ,then comes in the civil    
power1 with stake and gallows1 and men  
are forced to profess what they do not  
believe1 to pretend to love what in fact

 they hate1 and to say that they        
understand what in fact has no meaning  
for them4'  ,again1 to the ,archbishop  
of ,mayence3--  ',reduce the dogmas     
necessary to be believed1 to the        
smallest possible number2 you can do it 
without danger to the realities of      
,christianity4 ,on other points1 either 
discourage enquiry1 or leave everyone   
free to believe what he pleases--then we
 shall have no more quarrels1 and       
religion will again take hold of life4  
,when you have done this1 you can       
correct the abuses of which the world   
with good reason complains4 ,the unjust 
judge heard the widow's prayer4 ,you    
should not shut your ears to the cries  
of those for whom ,christ died4 ,he did 
not die for the great only1 but for the 
poor and for the lowly4 ,there need be  
no tumult4 ,do you only set human       
affections aside1 and let kings and     
princes lend themselves heartily to the 
public good4 ,but observe that the monks
 and friars be allowed no voice2 with   

these gentlemen the world has borne too 
long4 ,they care only for their own     
vanity1 their own stomachs1 their own   
power2 and they believe that if the     
people are enlightened1 their kingdom   
cannot stand4'  ,once more to the ,pope 
himself3--  ',let each man amend first  
his own wicked life4 ,when he has done  
that1 and will amend his neighbour1 let 
him put on ,christian charity1 which is 
severe enough when severity is needed4  
,if your holiness give power to men who 
neither believe in ,christ nor care for 
you1 but think only of their own        
appetites1 ,i fear there will be danger4
 ,we can trust your holiness1 but there 
are bad men who will use your virtues as
 a cloke for their own malice4'  ,that  
the spiritual rulers of ,europe should  
have allowed a man like ,erasmus to use 
language such as this to them is a fact 
of supreme importance4 ,it explains the 
feeling of ,goethe1 that the world would
 have gone on better had there been no  
,luther1 and that the revival of        

theological fanaticism did more harm    
than good4  ,but the question of        
questions is1 what all this             
latitudinarian philosophising1 this     
cultivated epicurean gracefulness would 
have come to if left to itself2 or      
rather1 what was the effect which it was
 inevitably producing8 ,if you wish to  
remove an old building without bringing 
it in ruins about your ears1 you must   
begin at the top1 remove the stones     
gradually downwards1 and touch the      
foundation last4 ,but latitudinarianism 
loosens the elementary principles of    
theology4 ,it destroys the premises on  
which the dogmatic system rests4 ,it    
would beg the question to say that this 
would in itself have been undesirable2  
but the practical effect of it1 as the  
world then stood1 would have only been  
to make the educated into infidels1 and 
to leave the multitude to a convenient  
but debasing superstition4  ,the monks  
said that ,erasmus laid the egg1 and    
,luther hatched a cockatrice4 ,erasmus  

resented deeply such an account of his  
work2 but it was true after all4 ,the   
sceptical philosophy is the most        
powerful of solvents1 but it has no     
principle of organic life in it2 and    
what of truth there was in ,erasmus's   
teaching had to assume a far other form 
before it was available for the         
reinvigoration of religion4 ,he himself1
 in his clearer moments1 felt his own   
incapacity1 and despaired of making an  
impression on the mass of ignorance with
 which he saw himself surrounded4  ',the
 stupid monks1' he writes1 'say mass as 
a cobbler makes a shoe2 they come to the
 altar reeking from their filthy        
pleasures4 ,confession with the monks is
 a cloke to steal the people's money1 to
 rob girls of their virtue1 and commit  
other crimes too horrible to name6 ,yet 
these people are the tyrants of ,europe4
 ,the ,pope himself is afraid of them4' 
',beware6' he says to an impetuous      
friend1 'beware how you offend the      
monks4 ,you have to do with an enemy    

that cannot be slain2 an order never    
dies1 and they will not rest till they  
have destroyed you4'  ,the heads of the 
,church might listen politely1 but      
,erasmus had no confidence in them4     
',never1' he says1 'was there a time    
when divines were greater fools1 or     
popes and prelates more worldly4'       
,germany was about to receive a signal  
illustration of the improvement which it
 was to look for from liberalism and    
intellectual culture4  ,we are now on   
the edge of the great conflagration4    
,here we must leave ,erasmus for the    
present4 ,i must carry you briefly over 
the history of the other great person   
who was preparing to play his part on   
the stage4 ,you have seen something of  
what ,erasmus was2 you must turn next to
 the companion picture of ,martin       
,luther4 ,you will observe in how many  
points their early experiences touch1 as
 if to show more vividly the contrast   
between the two men4  ,sixteen years    
after the birth of ,erasmus1 therefore  

in the year #adhc1 ,martin ,luther came 
into the world in a peasant's cottage1  
at ,eisleben1 in ,saxony4 ,by peasant1  
you need not understand a common boor4  
,hans ,luther1 the father1 was a        
thrifty1 well-to-do man for his station 
in life--adroit with his hands1 and able
 to do many useful things1 from farm    
work to digging in the mines4 ,the      
family life was strict and stern--rather
 too stern1 as ,martin thought in later 
life4  ',be temperate with your         
children1' he said1 long after1 to a    
friend2 'punish them if they lie or     
steal1 but be just in what you do4 ,it  
is a lighter sin to take pears and      
apples than to take money4 ,i shudder   
when ,i think of what ,i went through   
myself4 ,my mother beat me about some   
nuts once till the blood came4 ,i had a 
terrible time of it1 but she meant      
well4'  ,at school1 too1 he fell into   
rough hands1 and the recollection of his
 sufferings made him tender ever after  
with young boys and girls4  ',never be  

hard with children1' he used to say4    
',many a fine character has been ruined 
by the stupid brutality of pedagogues4  
,the parts of speech are a boy's        
pillory4 ,i was myself flogged fifteen  
times in one forenoon over the          
conjugation of a verb4 ,punish if you   
will1 but be kind too1 and let the      
sugar-plum go with the rod4' ,this is   
not the language of a demagogue or a    
fanatic2 it is the wise thought of a    
tender1 human-hearted man4  ,at         
seventeen1 he left school for the       
,university at ,erfurt4 ,it was then no 
shame for a poor scholar to maintain    
himself by alms4 ,young ,martin had a   
rich noble voice and a fine ear1 and by 
singing ballads in the streets he found 
ready friends and help4 ,he was still   
uncertain with what calling he should   
take up1 when it happened that a young  
friend was killed at his side by        
lightning4  ,erasmus was a philosopher4 
,a powder magazine was once blown up by 
lightning in a town where ,erasmus was  

staying1 and a house of infamous        
character was destroyed4 ,the           
inhabitants saw in what had happened the
 ,divine anger against sin4 ,erasmus    
told them that if there was any anger in
 the matter1 it was anger merely with   
the folly which had stored powder in an 
exposed situation4  ,luther possessed no
 such premature intelligence4 ,he was   
distinguished from other boys only by   
the greater power of his feelings and   
the vividness of his imagination4 ,he   
saw in his friend's death the immediate 
hand of the great ,lord of the universe4
 ,his conscience was terrified4 ,a      
life-long penitence seemed necessary to 
atone for the faults of his boyhood4 ,he
 too1 like ,erasmus1 became a monk1 not 
forced into it--for his father knew     
better what the holy men were like1 and 
had no wish to have son of his among    
them--but because the monk of ,martin's 
imagination spent his nights and days   
upon the stones in prayer2 and ,martin1 
in the heat of his repentance1 longed to

 be kneeling at his side4  ,in this mood
 he entered the ,augustine monastery at 
,erfurt4 ,he was full of an overwhelming
 sense of his own wretchedness and      
sinfulness4 ,like ,st4 ,paul1 he was    
crying to be delivered from the body of 
death which he carried about him4 ,he   
practised all possible austerities4 ,he1
 if no one else1 mortified his flesh    
with fasting4 ,he passed nights in the  
chancel before the altar1 or on his     
knees on the floor of his cell4 ,he     
weakened his body till his mind         
wandered1 and he saw ghosts and devils4 
,above all1 he saw the flaming image of 
his own supposed guilt4 ,god required   
that he should keep the law in all      
points4 ,he had not so kept the         
law--could not so keep the law--and     
therefore he believed that he was       
damned4 ,one morning1 he was found      
senseless and seemingly dead2 a brother 
played to him on a flute1 and soothed   
his senses back to consciousness4  ,it  
was long since any such phenomenon had  

appeared among the rosy friars of       
,erfurt4 ,they could not tell what to   
make of him4 ,staupitz1 the prior1      
listened to his accusations of himself  
in confession4 ',my good fellow1' he    
said1 'don't be so uneasy2 you have     
committed no sins of the least          
consequence2 you have not killed        
anybody1 or committed adultery1 or      
things of that sort4 ,if you sin to some
 purpose1 it is right that you should   
think about it1 but don't make mountains
 out of trifles4'  ,very curious3 to the
 commonplace man the uncommonplace is   
for ever unintelligible4 ,what was the  
good of all that excitement--that agony 
of self-reproach for little things8     
,none at all1 if the object is only to  
be an ordinary good sort of man--if a   
decent fulfilment of the round of common
 duties is the be-all and the end-all of
 human life on earth4  ,the plague came 
by-and-by into the town4 ,the           
commonplace clergy ran away--went to    
their country-houses1 went to the hills1

 went anywhere--and they wondered in the
 same way why ,luther would not go with 
them4 ,they admired him and liked him4  
,they told him his life was too precious
 to be thrown away4 ,he answered1 quite 
simply1 that his place was with the sick
 and dying2 a monk's life was no great  
matter4 ,the sun he did not doubt would 
continue to shine1 whatever became of   
him4 ',i am no ,st4 ,paul1' he said2 ',i
 am afraid of death2 but there are      
things worse than death1 and if ,i die1 
,i die4'  ,even a ,staupitz could not   
but feel that he had an extraordinary   
youth in his charge4 ,to divert his mind
 from feeding upon itself1 he devised a 
mission for him abroad1 and brother     
,martin was despatched on business of   
the convent to ,rome4  ,luther too1 like
 ,erasmus1 was to see ,rome2 but how    
different the figures of the two men    
there6 ,erasmus goes with servants and  
horses1 the polished1 successful man of 
the world4 ,martin ,luther trudges      
penniless and barefoot across the ,alps1

 helped to a meal and a night's rest at 
the monasteries along the road1 or      
begging1 if the convents fail him1 at   
the farm-houses4  ,he was still young1  
and too much occupied with his own sins 
to know much of the world outside him4  
,erasmus had no dreams4 ,he knew the    
hard truth on most things4 ,but ,rome1  
to ,luther's eager hopes1 was the city  
of the saints1 and the court and palace 
of the ,pope fragrant with the odours of
 ,paradise4 ',blessed ,rome1' he cried1 
as he entered the gate--',blessed ,rome1
 sanctified with the blood of martyrs6' 
,alas6 the ,rome of reality was very far
 from blessed4 ,he remained long enough 
to complete his disenchantment4 ,the    
cardinals1 with their gilded chariots   
and their parasols of peacocks' plumes1 
were poor representatives of the        
apostles4 ,the gorgeous churches and    
more gorgeous rituals1 the pagan        
splendour of the paintings1 the heathen 
gods still almost worshipped in the     
adoration of the art which had formed   

them1 to ,luther1 whose heart was heavy 
with thoughts of man's depravity1 were  
utterly horrible4 ,the name of religion 
was there3 the thinnest veil was        
scarcely spread over the utter disbelief
 with which ,god and ,christ were at    
heart regarded4 ,culture enough there   
was4 ,it was the ,rome of ,raphael and  
,michael ,angelo1 of ,perugino1 and     
,benvenuto2 but to the poor ,german     
monk1 who had come there to find help   
for his suffering soul1 what was        
culture8  ,he fled at the first moment  
that he could4 ',adieu6 ,rome1' he said2
 'let all who would lead a holy life    
depart from ,rome4 ,everything is       
permitted in ,rome except to be an      
honest man4' ,he had no thought of      
leaving the ,roman ,church4 ,to a poor  
monk like him1 to talk of leaving the   
,church was like talking of leaping off 
the planet4 ,but perplexed and troubled 
he returned to ,saxony2 and his friend  
,staupitz1 seeing clearly that a        
monastery was no place for him1         

recommended him to the ,elector as      
,professor of ,philosophy at            
,wittenberg4  ,the senate of ,wittenberg
 gave him the pulpit of the town church1
 and there at once he had room to show  
what was in him4 ',this monk1' said some
 one who heard him1 'is a marvellous    
fellow4 ,he has strange eyes1 and will  
give the doctors trouble by-and-by4'    
,he had read deeply1 especially he had  
read that rare and almost unknown book1 
the ',new ,testament4' ,he was not      
cultivated like ,erasmus4 ,erasmus spoke
 the most polished ,latin4 ,luther spoke
 and wrote his own vernacular ,german4  
,the latitudinarian philosophy1 the     
analytical acuteness1 the sceptical     
toleration of ,erasmus were alike       
strange and distasteful to him4 ,in all 
things he longed only to know the       
truth--to shake off and hurl from him   
lies and humbug4  ,superstitious he was4
 ,he believed in witches and devils and 
fairies--a thousand things without basis
 in fact1 which ,erasmus passed by in   

contemptuous indifference4 ,but for     
things which were really true--true as  
nothing else in this world1 or any      
world1 is true--the justice of ,god1 the
 infinite excellence of good1 the       
infinite hatefulness of evil--these     
things he believed and felt with a power
 of passionate conviction to which the  
broader1 feebler mind of the other was  
for ever a stranger4  ,we come now to   
the memorable year #aeag1 when ,luther  
was thirty-five years old4 ,a new       
cathedral was in progress at ,rome4     
,michael ,angelo had furnished ,leo the 
,tenth with the design of ,st4 ,peter's2
 and the question of questions was to   
find money to complete the grandest     
structure which had ever been erected by
 man4  ,pope ,leo was the most polished 
and cultivated of mankind4 ,the work to 
be done was to be the most splendid     
which art could produce4 ,the means to  
which the ,pope had recourse will serve 
to show us how much all that would have 
done for us4  ,you remember what ,i told

 you about indulgences4 ,the notable    
device of his ,holiness was to send     
distinguished persons about ,europe with
 sacks of indulgences4 ,indulgences and 
dispensations6 ,dispensations to eat    
meat on fast-days--dispensations to     
marry one's near relation--dispensations
 for anything and everything which the  
faithful might wish to purchase who     
desired forbidden pleasures4 ,the       
dispensations were simply scandalous4   
,the indulgences--well1 if a pious      
,catholic is asked nowadays what they   
were1 he will say that they were the    
remission of the penances which the     
,church inflicts upon earth2 but it is  
also certain that they would have sold  
cheap if the people had thought that    
this was all that they were to get by   
them4 ,as the thing was represented by  
the spiritual hawkers who disposed of   
these wares1 they were letters of credit
 on heaven4 ,when the great book was    
opened1 the people believed that these  
papers would be found entire on the     

right side of the account4 ,debtor--so  
many murders1 so many robberies1 lies1  
slanders1 or debaucheries4              
,creditor--the merits of the saints     
placed to the account of the delinquent 
by the ,pope's letters1 in consideration
 of value received4  ,this is the way in
 which the pardon system was practically
 worked4 ,this is the way in which it is
 worked still1 where the same           
superstitions remain4  ,if one had asked
 ,pope ,leo whether he really believed  
in these pardons of his1 he would have  
said officially that the ,church had    
always held that the ,pope had power to 
grant them4  ,had he told the truth1 he 
would have added privately that if the  
people chose to be fools1 it was not for
 him to disappoint them4  ,the          
collection went on4 ,the money of the   
faithful came in plentifully2 and the   
pedlars going their rounds appeared at  
last in ,saxony4  ,the ,pope had bought 
the support of the ,archbishop of       
,mayence1 ,erasmus's friend1 by         

promising him half the spoil which was  
gathered in his province4 ,the agent was
 the ,dominican monk ,tetzel1 whose name
 has acquired a forlorn notoriety in    
,european history4  ,his stores were    
opened in town after town4 ,he entered  
in state4 ,the streets everywhere were  
hung with flags4 ,bells were pealed2    
nuns and monks walked in procession     
before and after him1 while he himself  
sate in a chariot1 with the ,papal ,bull
 on a velvet cushion in front of him4   
,the sale-rooms were the churches4 ,the 
altars were decorated1 the candles      
lighted1 the arms of ,st4 ,peter        
blazoned conspicuously on the roof4     
,tetzel from the pulpit explained the   
efficacy of his medicines2 and if any   
profane person doubted their power1 he  
was threatened with excommunication4    
,acolytes walked through the crowds1    
clinking their plates and crying1 ',buy6
 buy6' ,the business went as merry as a 
marriage bell till the ,dominican came  
near to ,wittenberg4  ,half a century   

before1 such a spectacle would have     
excited no particular attention4 ,the   
few who saw through the imposition would
 have kept their thoughts to themselves2
 the many would have paid their money1  
and in a month all would have been      
forgotten4  ,but the fight between the  
men of letters and the monks1 the       
writings of ,erasmus and ,reuchlin1 the 
satires of ,ulric von ,hutten1 had      
created a silent revolution in the minds
 of the younger laity4  ,a generation   
had grown to manhood of whom the ,church
 authorities knew nothing2 and the whole
 air of ,germany1 unsuspected by pope or
 prelate1 was charged with electricity4 
,had ,luther stood alone1 he1 too1 would
 probably have remained silent4 ,what   
was he1 a poor1 friendless1 solitary    
monk1 that he should set himself against
 the majesty of the triple crown8       
,however hateful the walls of a dungeon1
 a man of sense confined alone there    
does not dash his hands against the     
stones4  ,but ,luther knew that his     

thoughts were the thoughts of thousands4
 ,many wrong things1 as we all know1    
have to be endured in this world4       
,authority is never very angelic2 and   
moderate injustice1 a moderate quantity 
of lies1 is more tolerable than anarchy4
  ,but it is with human things as it is 
with the great icebergs which drift     
southward out of the frozen seas4 ,they 
swim two-thirds under water1 and        
one-third above2 and so long as the     
equilibrium is sustained1 you would     
think that they were as stable as the   
rocks4 ,but the sea-water is warmer than
 the air4 ,hundreds of fathoms down1 the
 tepid current washes the base of the   
berg4 ,silently in those far deeps the  
centre of gravity is changed2 and then1 
in a moment1 with one vast roll1 the    
enormous mass heaves over1 and the      
crystal peaks which had been glancing so
 proudly in the sunlight1 are buried in 
the ocean for ever4  ,such a process as 
this had been going on in ,germany1 and 
,luther knew it1 and knew that the time 

was come for him to speak4 ,fear had not
 kept him back4 ,the danger to himself  
would be none the less because he would 
have the people at his side4 ,the       
fiercer the thunderstorm1 the greater   
peril to the central figure who stands  
out above the rest exposed to it4 ,but  
he saw that there was hope at last of a 
change2 and for himself--as he said in  
the plague--if he died1 he died4        
,erasmus admitted frankly for himself   
that he did not like danger4  ',as to   
me1' he wrote to ,archbishop ,warham1   
',i have no inclination to risk my life 
for truth4 ,we have not all strength for
 martyrdom2 and if trouble come1 ,i     
shall imitate ,st4 ,peter4 ,popes and   
emperors must settle the creeds4 ,if    
they settle them well1 so much the      
better2 if ill1 ,i shall keep on the    
safe side4'  ,that is to say1 truth was 
not the first necessity to ,erasmus4 ,he
 would prefer truth1 if he could have   
it4 ,if not1 he could get on moderately 
well upon falsehood4 ,luther could not4 

,no matter what the danger to himself1  
if he could smite a lie upon the head   
and kill it1 he was better pleased than 
by a thousand lives4 ,we hear much of   
,luther's doctrine about faith4         
,stripped of theological verbiage1 that 
doctrine means this4  ,reason says that1
 on the whole1 truth and justice are    
desirable things4 ,they make men happier
 in themselves1 and make society more   
prosperous4 ,but there reason ends1 and 
men will not die for principles of      
utility4 ,faith says that between truth 
and lies1 there is an infinite          
difference3 one is of ,god1 the other of
 ,satan2 one is eternally to be loved1  
the other eternally to be abhorred4 ,it 
cannot say why1 in language intelligible
 to reason4 ,it is the voice of the     
nobler nature in man speaking out of his
 heart4  ,while ,tetzel1 with his bull  
and his gilt car1 was coming to         
,wittenberg1 ,luther1 loyal still to    
authority while there was a hope that   
authority would be on the side of right1

 wrote to the ,archbishop of ,mayence to
 remonstrate4  ,the archbishop1 as we   
know1 was to have a share of ,tetzel's  
spoils2 and what were the complaints of 
a poor insignificant monk to a supreme  
archbishop who was in debt and wanted   
money8  ,the ,archbishop of ,mayence    
flung the letter into his waste-paper   
basket2 and ,luther made his solemn     
appeal from earthly dignitaries to the  
conscience of the ,german people4 ,he   
set up his protest on the church door at
 ,wittenberg2 and1 in ninety-five       
propositions he challenged the ,catholic
 ,church to defend ,tetzel and his      
works4  ,the ,pope's indulgences1 he    
said1 cannot take away sins4 ,god alone 
remits sins2 and ,he pardons those who  
are penitent1 without help from man's   
absolutions4  ,the ,church may remit    
penalties which the ,church inflicts4   
,but the ,church's power is in this     
world only1 and does not reach to       
purgatory4  ,if ,god has thought fit to 
place a man in purgatory1 who shall say 

that it is good for him to be taken out 
of purgatory8 who shall say that he     
himself desires it8  ,true repentance   
does not shrink from chastisement4 ,true
 repentance rather loves chastisement4  
,the bishops are asleep4 ,it is better  
to give to the poor than to buy         
indulgences2 and he who sees his        
neighbour in want1 and instead of       
helping his neighbour buys a pardon for 
himself1 is doing what is displeasing to
 ,god4 ,who is this man who dares to say
 that for so many crowns the soul of a  
sinner can be made whole8  ,these1 and  
like these1 were ,luther's propositions4
 ,little guessed the ,catholic prelates 
the dimensions of the act which had been
 done4 ,the ,pope1 when he saw the      
theses1 smiled in good-natured contempt4
 ',a drunken ,german wrote them1' he    
said2 'when he has slept off his wine1  
he will be of another mind4'  ,tetzel   
bayed defiance2 the ,dominican friars   
took up the quarrel2 and ,hochstrat of  
,cologne1 ,reuchlin's enemy1 clamoured  

for fire and faggot4  ,voice answered   
voice4 ,the religious houses all        
,germany over were like kennels of      
hounds howling to each other across the 
spiritual waste4 ,if souls could not be 
sung out of purgatory1 their occupation 
was gone4  ,luther wrote to ,pope ,leo  
to defend himself2 ,leo cited him to    
answer for his audacity at ,rome2 while 
to the young laymen1 to the noble       
spirits all ,europe over1 ,wittenberg   
became a beacon of light shining in the 
universal darkness4  ,it was a trying   
time to ,luther4 ,had he been a smaller 
man1 he would have been swept away by   
his sudden popularity--he would have    
placed himself at the head of some great
 democratic movement1 and in a few years
 his name would have disappeared in the 
noise and smoke of anarchy4  ,but this  
was not his nature4 ,his fellow-townsmen
 were heartily on his side4 ,he remained
 quietly at his post in the ,augustine  
,church at ,wittenberg4 ,if the powers  
of the world came down upon him and     

killed him1 he was ready to be killed4  
,of himself at all times he thought     
infinitely little2 and he believed that 
his death would be as serviceable to    
truth as his life4  ,killed undoubtedly 
he would have been if the clergy could  
have had their way4 ,it happened1       
however1 that ,saxony just then was     
governed by a prince of no common order4
 ,were all princes like the ,elector    
,frederick1 we should have no need of   
democracy in this world--we should never
 have heard of democracy4 ,the clergy   
could not touch ,luther against the will
 of the ,wittenberg senate1 unless the  
,elector would help them2 and1 to the   
astonishment of everybody1 the ,elector 
was disinclined to consent4 ,the ,pope  
himself wrote to exhort him to his      
duties4 ,the ,elector still hesitated4  
,his professed creed was the creed in   
which the ,church had educated him2 but 
he had a clear secular understanding    
outside his formulas4 ,when he read the 
propositions1 they did not seem to him  

the pernicious things which the monks   
said they were4 ',there is much in the  
,bible about ,christ1' he said1 'but not
 much about ,rome4' ,he sent for        
,erasmus1 and asked him what he thought 
about the matter4  ,the ,elector knew to
 whom he was speaking4 ,he wished for a 
direct answer1 and looked ,erasmus full 
and broad in the face4 ,erasmus pinched 
his thin lips together4 ',luther1' he   
said at length1 'has committed two sins3
 he has touched the ,pope's crown and   
the monks' bellies4'  ,he generously and
 strongly urged ,frederick not to yield 
for the present to ,pope ,leo's         
importunacy2 and the ,pope was obliged  
to try less hasty and more formal       
methods4  ,he had wished ,luther to be  
sent to him to ,rome1 where his process 
would have had a rapid end4 ,as this    
could not be1 the case was transferred  
to ,augsburg1 and a cardinal legate was 
sent from ,italy to look into it4       
,there was no danger of violence at     
,augsburg4 ,the townspeople there and   

everywhere were on the side of freedom2 
and ,luther went cheerfully to defend   
himself4 ,he walked from ,wittenberg4   
,you can fancy him still in his monk's  
brown frock1 with all his wardrobe on   
his back--an apostle of the old sort4   
,the citizens1 high and low1 attended   
him to the gates1 and followed him along
 the road1 crying ',luther for ever6'   
',nay1' he answered1 ',christ for ever6'
  ,the cardinal legate1 being reduced to
 the necessity of politeness1 received  
him civilly4 ,he told him1 however1     
simply and briefly1 that the ,pope      
insisted on his recantation1 and would  
accept nothing else4 ,luther requested  
the cardinal to point out to him where  
he was wrong4 ,the cardinal waived      
discussion4 ',he was come to command1'  
he said1 'not to argue4' ,and ,luther   
had to tell him that it could not be4   
,remonstrances1 threats1 entreaties1    
even bribes were tried4 ,hopes of high  
distinction and reward were held out to 
him if he would only be reasonable4 ,to 

the amazement of the proud ,italian1 a  
poor peasant's son--a miserable friar of
 a provincial ,german town--was prepared
 to defy the power and resist the       
prayers of the ,sovereign of            
,christendom4 ',what6' said the cardinal
 at last to him1 'do you think the ,pope
 cares for the opinion of a ,german     
boor8 ,the ,pope's little finger is     
stronger than all ,germany4 ,do you     
expect your princes to take up arms to  
defend you--you1 a wretched worm like   
you8 ,i tell you1 ,no6 and where will   
you be then--where will you be then8'   
,luther answered1 ',then1 as now1 in the
 hands of ,almighty ,god4'  ,the ,court 
dissolved4 ,the cardinal carried back   
his report to his master4 ,the ,pope1 so
 defied1 brought out his thunders2 he   
excommunicated ,luther2 he wrote again  
to the elector1 entreating him not to   
soil his name and lineage by becoming a 
protector of heretics2 and he required  
him1 without further ceremony1 to render
 up the criminal to justice4  ,the      

elector's power was limited4 ,as yet1   
the quarrel was simply between ,luther  
and the ,pope4 ,the elector was by no   
means sure that his bold subject was    
right--he was only not satisfied that he
 was wrong--and it was a serious        
question with him how far he ought to   
go4 ,the monk might next be placed under
 the ban of the empire2 and if he       
persisted in protecting him afterwards1 
,saxony might have all the power of     
,germany upon it4 ,he did not venture   
any more to refuse absolutely4 ,he      
temporised and delayed2 while ,luther   
himself1 probably at the elector's      
instigation1 made overtures for peace to
 the ,pope4 ,saving his duty to ,christ1
 he promised to be for the future an    
obedient son of the ,church1 and to say 
no more about indulgences if ,tetzel    
ceased to defend them4  ',my being such 
a small creature1' ,luther said         
afterwards1 'was a misfortune for the   
,pope4 ,he despised me too much6 ,what1 
he thought1 could a slave like me do to 

him--to him1 who was the greatest man in
 all the world4 ,had he accepted my     
proposal1 he would have extinguished    
me4'  ,but the infallible ,pope         
conducted himself like a proud1         
irascible1 exceedingly fallible mortal4 
,to make terms with the town preacher of
 ,wittenberg was too preposterous4      
,just then the imperial throne fell     
vacant2 and the pretty scandal ,i told  
you of1 followed at the choice of his   
successor4 ,frederick of ,saxony might  
have been elected if he had liked--and  
it would have been better for the world 
perhaps if ,frederick had been more     
ambitious of high dignities--but the    
,saxon ,prince did not care to trouble  
himself with the imperial sceptre4 ,the 
election fell on ,maximilian's grandson 
,charles--grandson also of ,ferdinand   
the ,catholic--,sovereign of ,spain2    
,sovereign of ,burgundy and the ,low    
,countries2 ,sovereign of ,naples and   
,sicily2 ,sovereign1 beyond the         
,atlantic1 of the ,new ,empire of the   

,indies4  ,no fitter man could have been
 found to do the business of the ,pope4 
,with the empire of ,germany added to   
his inherited dominions1 who could      
resist him8  ,to the new emperor1 unless
 the elector yielded1 ,luther's case had
 now to be referred4  ,the elector1 if  
he had wished1 could not interfere4     
,germany was attentive1 but motionless4 
,the students1 the artisans1 the        
tradesmen1 were at heart with the       
,reformer2 and their enthusiasm could   
not be wholly repressed4 ,the press grew
 fertile with pamphlets2 and it was     
noticed that all the printers and       
compositors went for ,luther4 ,the      
,catholics could not get their books    
into type without sending them to       
,france or the ,low ,countries4  ,yet   
none of the princes except the elector  
had as yet shown him favour4 ,the       
bishops were hostile to a man4 ,the     
nobles had given no sign2 and their     
place would be naturally on the side of 
authority4 ,they had no love for        

bishops--there was hope in that2 and    
they looked with no favour on the huge  
estates of the religious orders4 ,but no
 one could expect that they would peril 
their lands and lives for an            
insignificant monk4  ,there was an      
interval of two years before the emperor
 was at leisure to take up the question4
 ,the time was spent in angry           
altercation1 boding no good for the     
future4  ,the ,pope issued a second bull
 condemning ,luther and his works4      
,luther replied by burning the bull in  
the great square at ,wittenberg4  ,at   
length1 in ,april #aeba1 the ,diet of   
the ,empire assembled at ,worms1 and    
,luther was called to defend himself in 
the presence of ,charles the ,fifth4    
,that it should have come to this at    
all1 in days of such high-handed        
authority1 was sufficiently remarkable4 
,it indicated something growing in the  
minds of men1 that the so-called ,church
 was not to carry things any longer in  
the old style4 ,popes and bishops might 

order1 but the laity intended for the   
future to have opinions of their own how
 far such orders should be obeyed4  ,the
 ,pope expected anyhow that the ,diet1  
by fair means or foul1 would now rid him
 of his adversary4 ,the elector1 who    
knew the ecclesiastical ways of handling
 such matters1 made it a condition of   
his subject appearing1 that he should   
have a safe conduct1 under the emperor's
 hand2 that ,luther1 if judgment went   
against him1 should be free for the time
 to return to the place from which he   
had come2 and that he1 the elector1     
should determine afterwards what should 
be done with him4  ,when the interests  
of the ,church were concerned1 safe     
conducts1 it was too well known1 were   
poor security4 ,pope ,clement the       
,seventh1 a little after1 when          
reproached for breaking a promise1      
replied with a smile1 ',the ,pope has   
power to bind and to loose4' ,good1 in  
the eyes of ecclesiastical authorities1 
meant what was good for the ,church2    

evil1 whatever was bad for the ,church2 
and the highest moral obligation became 
sin when it stood in ,st4 ,peter's way4 
,there had been an outburst of free     
thought in ,bohemia a century and a half
 before4 ,john ,huss1 ,luther's         
forerunner1 came with a safe conduct to 
the ,council of ,constance2 but the     
bishops ruled that safe conducts could  
not protect heretics4 ,they burnt ,john 
,huss for all their promises1 and they  
hoped now that so good a ,catholic as   
,charles would follow so excellent a    
precedent4 ,pope ,leo wrote himself to  
beg that ,luther's safe conduct should  
not be observed4 ,the bishops and       
archbishops1 when ,charles consulted    
them1 took the same view as the ,pope4  
',there is something in the office of a 
bishop1' ,luther said1 a year or two    
later1 'which is dreadfully             
demoralising4 ,even good men change     
their natures at their consecration2    
,satan enters into them as he entered   
into ,judas1 as soon as they have taken 

the sop4'  ,it was most seriously likely
 that1 if ,luther trusted himself at the
 ,diet on the faith of his safe conduct1
 he would never return alive4 ,rumours  
of intended treachery were so strong1   
that if he refused to go1 the elector   
meant to stand by him at any cost4      
,should he appear1 or not appear8 ,it   
was for himself to decide4 ,if he stayed
 away1 judgment would go against him by 
default4 ,charles would call out the    
forces of the empire1 and ,saxony would 
be invaded4  ,civil war would follow1   
with insurrection all over ,germany1    
with no certain prospect except         
bloodshed and misery4  ,luther was not a
 man to expose his country to peril that
 his own person might escape4 ,he had   
provoked the storm2 and if blood was to 
be shed1 his blood ought at least to be 
the first4 ,he went4 ,on his way1 a     
friend came to warn him again that foul 
play was intended1 that he was condemned
 already1 that his books had been burnt 
by the hangman1 and that he was a dead  

man if he proceeded4  ,luther           
trembled--he owned it--but he answered1 
',go to ,worms6 ,i will go if there are 
as many devils in ,worms as there are   
tiles upon the roofs of the houses4'    
,the roofs1 when he came into the city1 
were crowded1 not with devils1 but with 
the inhabitants1 all collecting there to
 see him as he passed4 ,a nobleman gave 
him shelter for the night2 the next day 
he was led to the ,town ,hall4  ,no more
 notable spectacle had been witnessed in
 this planet for many a century--not1   
perhaps1 since a greater than ,luther   
stood before the ,roman ,procurator4    
,there on the raised dais sate the      
sovereign of half the world4 ,there on  
either side of him stood the            
archbishops1 the ministers of state1 the
 princes of the empire1 gathered        
together to hear and judge the son of a 
poor miner1 who had made the world ring 
with his name4  ,the body of the hall   
was thronged with knights and           
nobles--stern hard men in dull gleaming 

armour4 ,luther1 in his brown frock1 was
 led forward between their ranks4 ,the  
looks which greeted him were not all    
unfriendly4 ,the first ,article of a    
,german credo was belief in courage4    
,germany had had its feuds in times past
 with ,popes of ,rome1 and they were not
 without pride that a poor countryman of
 theirs should have taken by the beard  
the great ,italian priest4 ,they had    
settled among themselves that1 come what
 would1 there should be fair play2 and  
they looked on half admiring1 and half  
in scorn4  ,as ,luther passed up the    
hall1 a steel baron touched him on the  
shoulder with his gauntlet4  ',pluck up 
thy spirit1 little monk2' he said1 'some
 of us here have seen warm work in our  
time1 but1 by my troth1 nor ,i nor any  
knight in this company ever needed a    
stout heart more than thou needest it   
now4 ,if thou hast faith in these       
doctrines of thine1 little monk1 go on1 
in the name of ,god4'  ',yes1 in the    
name of ,god1' said ,luther1 throwing   

back his head1 ',in the name of ,god1   
forward6'  ,as at ,augsburg1 one only   
question was raised4 ,luther had broken 
the laws of the ,church4 ,he had taught 
doctrines which the ,pope had declared  
to be false4 ,would he or would he not  
retract8  ,as at ,augsburg1 he replied  
briefly that he would retract when his  
doctrines were not declared to be false 
merely1 but were proved to be false4    
,then1 but not till then4 ,that was his 
answer1 and his last word4  ,there1 as  
you understand1 the heart of the matter 
indeed rested4 ,in those words lay the  
whole meaning of the ,reformation4 ,were
 men to go on for ever saying that this 
and that was true1 because the ,pope    
affirmed it8 ,or were ,popes' decrees   
thenceforward to be tried like the words
 of other men--by the ordinary laws of  
evidence8  ,it required no great        
intellect to understand that a ,pope's  
pardon1 which you could buy for five    
shillings1 could not really get a soul  
out of purgatory4 ,it required a quality

 much rarer than intellect to look such 
a doctrine in the face--sanctioned as it
 was by the credulity of ages1 and      
backed by the pomp and pageantry of     
earthly power--and say to it openly1    
',you are a lie4' ,cleverness and       
culture could have given a thousand     
reasons--they did then and they do      
now--why an indulgence should be        
believed in2 when honesty and common    
sense could give but one reason for     
thinking otherwise4 ,cleverness and     
imposture get on excellently well       
together--imposture and veracity1 never4
  ,luther looked at those wares of      
,tetzel's1 and said1 ',your pardons are 
no pardons at all--no letters of credit 
on heaven1 but flash notes of the ,bank 
of ,humbug1 and you know it4' ,they did 
know it4 ,the conscience of every man in
 ,europe answered back1 that what       
,luther said was true4  ,bravery1       
honesty1 veracity1 these were the       
qualities which were needed--which were 
needed then1 and are needed always1 as  

the root of all real greatness in man4  
,the first missionaries of              
,christianity1 when they came among the 
heathen nations1 and found them         
worshipping idols1 did not care much to 
reason that an image which man had made 
could not be ,god4 ,the priests might   
have been a match for them in reasoning4
 ,they walked up to the idol in the     
presence of its votaries4 ,they threw   
stones at it1 spat upon it1 insulted it4
 ',see1' they said1 ',i do this to your 
,god4 ,if he is ,god1 let him avenge    
himself4'  ,it was a simple argument2   
always effective2 easy1 and yet most    
difficult4 ,it required merely a        
readiness to be killed upon the spot by 
the superstition which is outraged4     
,and so1 and only so1 can truth make its
 way for us in any such matters4 ,the   
form changes--the thing remains4        
,superstition1 folly1 and cunning will  
go on to the end of time1 spinning their
 poison webs around the consciences of  
mankind4 ,courage and veracity--these   

qualities1 and only these1 avail to     
defeat them4  ,from the moment that     
,luther left the emperor's presence a   
free man1 the spell of ,absolutism was  
broken1 and the victory of the          
,reformation secured4 ,the ban of the   
,pope had fallen2 the secular arm had   
been called to interfere2 the machinery 
of authority strained as far as it would
 bear4 ,the emperor himself was an      
unconscious convert to the higher creed4
 ,the ,pope had urged him to break his  
word4 ,the ,pope had told him that      
honour was nothing1 and morality was    
nothing1 where the interests of         
orthodoxy were compromised4 ,the emperor
 had refused to be tempted into perjury2
 and1 in refusing1 had admitted that    
there was a spiritual power upon the    
earth1 above the ,pope1 and above him4  
,the party of the ,church felt it so4 ,a
 plot was formed to assassinate ,luther 
on his return to ,saxony4 ,the insulted 
majesty of ,rome could be vindicated at 
least by the dagger4  ,but this1 too1   

failed4 ,the elector heard what was     
intended4 ,a party of horse1 disguised  
as banditti1 waylaid the ,reformer upon 
the road1 and carried him off to the    
castle of ,wartburg1 where he remained  
out of harm's way till the general      
rising of ,germany placed him beyond the
 reach of danger4  ,at ,wartburg for the
 present evening we leave him4  ,the    
,emperor ,charles and ,luther never met 
again4 ,the monks of ,yuste1 who watched
 on the deathbed of ,charles1 reported  
that at the last hour he repented that  
he had kept his word1 and reproached    
himself for having allowed the          
arch-heretic to escape from his hands4  
,it is possible that1 when the candle of
 life was burning low1 and spirit and   
flesh were failing together1 and the air
 of the sick room was thick and close   
with the presence of the angel of death1
 the nobler nature of the emperor might 
have yielded to the influences which    
were around him4 ,his confessor might   
have thrust into his lips the words     

which he so wished to hear4  ,but       
,charles the ,fifth1 though a ,catholic 
always1 was a ,catholic of the old grand
 type1 to whom creed and dogmas were but
 the robe of a regal humanity4 ,another 
story is told of ,charles--an authentic 
story this one--which makes me think    
that the monks of ,yuste mistook or     
maligned him4 ,six and twenty years     
after this scene at ,worms1 when the    
then dawning heresy had become broad    
day2 when ,luther had gone to his       
rest--and there had gathered about his  
name the hate which mean men feel for an
 enemy who has proved too strong for    
them--a passing vicissitude in the      
struggle brought the emperor at the head
 of his army to ,wittenberg4  ,the      
vengeance which the monks could not     
inflict upon him in life1 they proposed 
to wreak upon his bones4  ,the emperor  
desired to be conducted to ,luther's    
tomb2 and as he stood gazing at it1 full
 of many thoughts1 some one suggested   
that the body should be taken up and    

burnt at the stake in the ,market       
,place4  ,there was nothing unusual in  
the proposal2 it was the common practice
 of the ,catholic ,church with the      
remains of heretics who were held       
unworthy to be left in repose in        
hallowed ground4 ,there was scarcely1   
perhaps1 another ,catholic prince who   
would have hesitated to comply4 ,but    
,charles was one of nature's gentlemen2 
he answered1 ',i war not with the dead4'
   ,,lecture ,,iii4  ,we have now       
entered upon the movement which broke   
the power of the ,papacy--which swept   
,germany1 ,sweden1 ,denmark1 ,holland1  
,england1 ,scotland1 into the stream of 
revolution1 and gave a new direction to 
the spiritual history of mankind4  ,you 
would not thank me if ,i were to take   
you out into that troubled ocean4 ,i    
confine myself1 and ,i wish you to      
confine your attention1 to the two kinds
 of men who appear as leaders in times  
of change--of whom ,erasmus and ,luther 
are respectively the types4  ,on one    

side there are the large-minded         
latitudinarian philosophers--men who    
have no confidence in the people--who   
have no passionate convictions2 moderate
 men1 tolerant men1 who trust to        
education1 to general progress in       
knowledge and civilisation1 to          
forbearance1 to endurance1 to time--men 
who believe that all wholesome reforms  
proceed downwards from the educated to  
the multitudes2 who regard with         
contempt1 qualified by terror1 appeals  
to the popular conscience or to popular 
intelligence4  ,opposite to these are   
the men of faith--and by faith ,i do not
 mean belief in dogmas1 but belief in   
goodness1 belief in justice1 in         
righteousness1 above all1 belief in     
truth4 ,men of faith consider conscience
 of more importance than knowledge--or  
rather as a first condition--without    
which all the knowledge in the world is 
no use to a man--if he wishes to be     
indeed a man in any high and noble sense
 of the word4 ,they are not contented   

with looking for what may be useful or  
pleasant to themselves2 they look by    
quite other methods for what is         
honourable--for what is good--for what  
is just4 ,they believe that if they can 
find out that1 then at all hazards1 and 
in spite of all present consequences to 
themselves1 that is to be preferred4    
,if1 individually and to themselves1 no 
visible good ever came from it1 in this 
world or in any other1 still they would 
say1 ',let us do that and nothing else4 
,life will be of no value to us if we   
are to use it only for our own          
gratification4'  ,the soldier before a  
battle knows that if he shirks and      
pretends to be ill1 he may escape danger
 and make sure of his life4 ,there are  
very few men1 indeed1 if it comes to    
that1 who would not sooner die ten times
 over than so dishonour themselves4 ,men
 of high moral nature carry out the same
 principle into the details of their    
daily life2 they do not care to live    
unless they may live nobly4 ,like my    

uncle ,toby1 they have but one fear--the
 fear of doing a wrong thing4  ,i call  
this faith1 because there is no proof1  
such as will satisfy the scientific     
enquirer1 that there is any such thing  
as moral truth--any such thing as       
absolute right and wrong at all4 ,as the
 ,scripture says1 ',verily1 thou art a  
,god that hidest thyself4' ,the forces  
of nature pay no respect to what we call
 good and evil4 ,prosperity does not    
uniformly follow virtue2 nor are defeat 
and failure necessary consequences of   
vice4  ,certain virtues--temperance1    
industry1 and things within reasonable  
limits--command their reward4           
,sensuality1 idleness1 and waste1       
commonly lead to ruin4  ,but prosperity 
is consistent with intense worldliness1 
intense selfishness1 intense hardness of
 heart2 while the grander features of   
human character--self-sacrifice1        
disregard of pleasure1 patriotism1 love 
of knowledge1 devotion to any great and 
good cause--these have no tendency to   

bring men what is called fortune4 ,they 
do not even necessarily promote their   
happiness2 for do what they will in this
 way1 the horizon of what they desire to
 do perpetually flies before them4 ,high
 hopes and enthusiasms are generally    
disappointed in results2 and the wrongs1
 the cruelties1 the wretchednesses of   
all kinds which for ever prevail among  
mankind--the shortcomings in himself of 
which he becomes more conscious as he   
becomes really better--these things1 you
 may be sure1 will prevent a            
noble-minded man from ever being        
particularly happy4  ,if you see a man  
happy1 as the world goes--contented with
 himself and contented with what is     
round him--such a man may be1 and       
probably is1 decent and respectable2 but
 the highest is not in him1 and the     
highest will not come out of him4       
,judging merely by outward              
phenomena--judging merely by what we    
call reason--you cannot prove that there
 is any moral government in the world at

 all1 except what men1 for their own    
convenience1 introduce into it4 ,right  
and wrong resolve themselves into       
principles of utility and social        
convenience4 ,enlightened selfishness   
prescribes a decent rule of conduct for 
common purposes2 and virtue1 by a large 
school of philosophy1 is completely     
resolved into that4  ,true1 when nations
 go on long on the selfish hypothesis1  
they are apt to find at last that they  
have been mistaken4 ,they find it in    
bankruptcy of honour and character--in  
social wreck and dissolution4 ,all lies 
in serious matters end at last1 as      
,carlyle says1 in broken heads4 ,that is
 the final issue which they are sure to 
come to in the long run4 ,the ,maker of 
the world does not permit a society to  
continue which forgets or denies the    
nobler principles of action4  ,but the  
end is often long in coming2 and these  
nobler principles are meanwhile not     
provided for us by the inductive        
philosophy4  ,patriotism1 for instance1 

of which we used to think something--a  
readiness to devote our energies while  
we live1 to devote our lives1 if nothing
 else will serve1 to what we call our   
country--what are we to say of that8  ,i
 once asked a distinguished philosopher 
what he thought of patriotism4 ,he said 
he thought it was a compound of vanity  
and superstition2 a bad kind of         
prejudice1 which would die out with the 
growth of reason4 ,my friend believed in
 the progress of humanity--he could not 
narrow his sympathies to so small a     
thing as his own country4 ,i could but  
say to myself1 ',thank ,god1 then1 we   
are not yet a nation of philosophers4'  
,a man who takes up with philosophy like
 that1 may write fine books1 and review 
articles and such like1 but at the      
bottom of him he is a poor caitiff1 and 
there is no more to be said about him4  
,so when the air is heavy with          
imposture1 and men live only to make    
money1 and the service of ,god is become
 a thing of words and ceremonies1 and   

the kingdom of heaven is bought and     
sold1 and all that is high and pure in  
man is smothered by corruption--fire of 
the same kind bursts out in higher      
natures with a fierceness which cannot  
be controlled2 and1 confident in truth  
and right1 they call fearlessly on the  
seven thousand in ,israel who have not  
bowed the knee to ,baal to rise and     
stand by them4  ,they do not ask whether
 those whom they address have wide      
knowledge of history1 or science1 or    
philosophy2 they ask rather that they   
shall be honest1 that they shall be     
brave1 that they shall be true to the   
common light which ,god has given to all
 ,his children4 ,they know well that    
conscience is no exceptional privilege  
of the great or the cultivated1 that to 
be generous and unselfish is no         
prerogative of rank or intellect4       
,erasmus considered that1 for the       
vulgar1 a lie might be as good as truth1
 and often better4 ,a lie1 ascertained  
to be a lie1 to ,luther was deadly      

poison--poison to him1 and poison to all
 who meddled with it4 ,in his own       
genuine greatness1 he was too humble to 
draw insolent distinctions in his own   
favour2 or to believe that any one class
 on earth is of more importance than    
another in the eyes of the ,great ,maker
 of them all4  ,well1 then1 you know    
what ,i mean by faith1 and what ,i mean 
by intellect4 ,it was not that ,luther  
was without intellect4 ,he was less     
subtle1 less learned1 than ,erasmus2 but
 in mother wit1 in elasticity1 in force1
 and imaginative power1 he was as able a
 man as ever lived4 ,luther created the 
,german language as an instrument of    
literature4 ,his translation of the     
,bible is as rich and grand as our own1 
and his table talk as full of matter as 
,shakespeare's plays4  ,again2 you will 
mistake me if you think ,i represent    
,erasmus as a man without conscience1 or
 belief in ,god and goodness4 ,but in   
,luther that belief was a certainty2 in 
,erasmus it was only a high             

probability--and the difference between 
the two is not merely great1 it is      
infinite4 ,in ,luther1 it was the root2 
in ,erasmus1 it was the flower4 ,in     
,luther1 it was the first principle of  
life2 in ,erasmus1 it was an inference  
which might be taken away1 and yet leave
 the world a very tolerable and         
habitable place after all4  ,you see the
 contrast in their early lives4 ,you see
 ,erasmus--light1 bright1 sarcastic1    
fond of pleasure1 fond of society1 fond 
of wine and kisses1 and intellectual    
talk and polished company4 ,you see     
,luther throwing himself into the       
cloister1 that he might subdue his will 
to the will of ,god2 prostrate in       
prayer1 in nights of agony1 and         
distracting his easy-going confessor    
with the exaggerated scruples of his    
conscience4  ,you see it in the effects 
of their teaching4 ,you see ,erasmus    
addressing himself with persuasive      
eloquence to kings1 and popes1 and      
prelates2 and for answer1 you see ,pope 

,leo sending ,tetzel over ,germany with 
his carriage-load of indulgences4 ,you  
see ,erasmus's dearest friend1 our own  
gifted admirable ,sir ,thomas ,more1    
taking his seat beside the bishops and  
sending poor ,protestant artisans to the
 stake4  ,you see ,luther1 on the other 
side1 standing out before the world1 one
 lone man1 with all authority against   
him--taking lies by the throat1 and     
,europe thrilling at his words1 and     
saying after him1 ',the reign of        
,imposture shall end4'  ,let us follow  
the course of ,erasmus after the tempest
 had broken4  ,he knew ,luther to be    
right4 ,luther had but said what        
,erasmus had been all his life convinced
 of1 and ,luther looked to see him come 
forward and take his place at his side4 
,had ,erasmus done so1 the course of    
things would have been far happier and  
better4 ,his prodigious reputation would
 have given the ,reformers the influence
 with the educated which they had won   
for themselves with the multitude1 and  

the ,pope would have been left without a
 friend to the north of the ,alps4 ,but 
there would have been some              
danger--danger to the leaders1 if       
certainty of triumph to the cause--and  
,erasmus had no gift for martyrdom4     
,his first impulse was generous4 ,he    
encouraged the elector1 as we have seen1
 to protect ,luther from the ,pope4 ',i 
looked on ,luther1' he wrote to ,duke   
,george of ,saxe1 'as a necessary evil  
in the corruption of the ,church2 a     
medicine1 bitter and drastic1 from which
 sounder health would follow4'  ,and    
again1 more boldly3 ',luther has taken  
up the cause of honesty and good sense  
against abominations which are no longer
 tolerable4 ,his enemies are men under  
whose worthlessness the ,christian world
 has groaned too long4'  ,so to the     
heads of the ,church he wrote1 pressing 
them to be moderate and careful3--  ',i 
neither approve ,luther nor condemn     
him1' he said to the ,archbishop of     
,mayence2 'if he is innocent1 he ought  

not to be oppressed by the factions of  
the wicked2 if he is in error1 he should
 be answered1 not destroyed4 ,the       
theologians'--observe how true they     
remain to the universal type in all     
times and in all countries--'the        
theologians do not try to answer him4   
,they do but raise an insane and        
senseless clamour1 and shriek and curse4
 ,heresy1 heretic1 heresiarch1          
schismatic1 ,antichrist--these are the  
words which are in the mouths of all of 
them2 and1 of course1 they condemn      
without reading4 ,i warned them what    
they were doing4 ,i told them to scream 
less1 and to think more4 ,luther's life 
they admit to be innocent and blameless4
 ,such a tragedy ,i never saw4 ,the most
 humane men are thirsting for his blood1
 and they would rather kill him than    
mend him4 ,the ,dominicans are the      
worst1 and are more knaves than fools4  
,in old times1 even a heretic was       
quietly listened to4 ,if he recanted1 he
 was absolved2 if he persisted1 he was  

at worst excommunicated4 ,now they will 
have nothing but blood4 ,not to agree   
with them is heresy4 ,to know ,greek is 
heresy4 ,to speak good ,latin is heresy4
 ,whatever they do not understand is    
heresy4 ,learning1 they pretend1 has    
given birth to ,luther1 though ,luther  
has but little of it4 ,luther thinks    
more of the ,gospel than of scholastic  
divinity1 and that is his crime4 ,this  
is plain at least1 that the best men    
everywhere are those who are least      
offended with him4'  ,even to ,pope     
,leo1 in the midst of his fury1 ,erasmus
 wrote bravely2 separating himself from 
,luther1 yet deprecating violence4      
',nothing1' he said1 'would so recommend
 the new teaching as the howling of     
fools3' while to a member of ,charles's 
council he insisted that 'severity had  
been often tried in such cases and had  
always failed2 unless ,luther was       
encountered calmly and reasonably1 a    
tremendous convulsion was inevitable4'  
,wisely said all this1 but it presumed  

that those whom he was addressing were  
reasonable men2 and high officials1     
touched in their pride1 are a class of  
persons of whom ,solomon may have been  
thinking when he said1 ',let a bear     
robbed of her whelps meet a man rather  
than a fool in his folly4'  ,so to      
,luther1 so to the people1 ,erasmus     
preached moderation4 ,it was like       
preaching to the winds in a hurricane4  
,the typhoon itself is not wilder than  
human creatures when once their passions
 are stirred4 ,you cannot check them2   
but1 if you are brave1 you can guide    
them wisely4 ,and this1 ,erasmus had not
 the heart to do4  ,he said at the      
beginning1 ',i will not countenance     
revolt against authority4 ,a bad        
government is better than none4' ,but he
 said at the same time1 ',you bishops1  
cease to be corrupt3 you popes and      
cardinals1 reform your wicked courts3   
you monks1 leave your scandalous lives1 
and obey the rules of your order1 so you
 may recover the respect of mankind1 and

 be obeyed and loved as before4'  ,when 
he found that the case was desperate2   
that his exhortations were but words    
addressed to the winds2 that corruption 
had tainted the blood2 that there was no
 hope except in revolution--as1 indeed1 
in his heart he knew from the first that
 there was none--then his place ought to
 have been with ,luther4  ,but ,erasmus1
 as the tempest rose1 could but stand   
still in feeble uncertainty4 ,the       
responsibilities of his reputation      
weighed him down4  ,the ,lutherans said1
 ',you believe as we do4' ,the          
,catholics said1 ',you are a ,lutheran  
at heart2 if you are not1 prove it by   
attacking ,luther4'  ,he grew impatient4
 ,he told lies4 ,he said he had not read
 ,luther's books1 and had no time to    
read them4 ,what was he1 he said1 that  
he should meddle in such a quarrel4 ,he 
was the vine and the fig tree of the    
,book of ,judges4 ,the trees said to    
them1 ,rule over us4 ,the vine and the  
fig tree answered1 they would not leave 

their sweetness for such a thankless    
office4 ',i am a poor actor1' he said2  
',i prefer to be a spectator of the     
play4'  ,but he was sore at heart1 and  
bitter with disappointment4 ,all had    
been going on so smoothly--literature   
was reviving1 art and science were      
spreading1 the mind of the world was    
being reformed in the best sense by the 
classics of ,greece and ,rome1 and now  
an apple of discord had been flung out  
into ,europe4  ,the monks who had fought
 against enlightenment could point to   
the confusion as a fulfilment of their  
prophecies2 and he1 and all that he had 
done1 was brought to disrepute4  ,to    
protect himself from the ,dominicans1 he
 was forced to pretend to an orthodoxy  
which he did not possess4 ,were all true
 which ,luther had written1 he pretended
 that it ought not to have been said1 or
 should have been addressed in a learned
 language to the refined and educated4  
,he doubted whether it was not better on
 the whole to teach the people lies for 

their good1 when truth was beyond their 
comprehension4 ,yet he could not for all
 that wish the ,church to be successful4
  ',i fear for that miserable ,luther1' 
he said2 'the popes and princes are     
furious with him4 ,his own destruction  
would be no great matter1 but if the    
monks triumph there will be no bearing  
them4 ,they will never rest till they   
have rooted learning out of the land4   
,the ,pope expects me to write against  
,luther4 ,the orthodox1 it appears1 can 
call him names--call him blockhead1     
fool1 heretic1 toadstool1 schismatic1   
and ,antichrist--but they must come to  
me to answer his arguments4'  ',oh6 that
 this had never been1' he wrote to our  
own ,archbishop ,warham4 ',now there is 
no hope for any good4 ,it is all over   
with quiet learning1 thought1 piety1 and
 progress2 violence is on one side and  
folly on the other2 and they accuse me  
of having caused it all4 ,if ,i joined  
,luther ,i could only perish with him1  
and ,i do not mean to run my neck into a

 halter4 ,popes and emperors must decide
 matters4 ,i will accept what is good1  
and do as ,i can with the rest4 ,peace  
on any terms is better than the justest 
war4'  ,erasmus never stooped to real   
baseness4 ,he was too clever1 too       
genuine--he had too great a contempt for
 worldly greatness4 ,they offered him a 
bishopric if he would attack ,luther4   
,he only laughed at them4 ,what was a   
bishopric to him8 ,he preferred a quiet 
life among his books at ,louvaine4  ,but
 there was no more quiet for ,erasmus at
 ,louvaine or anywhere4 ,here is a scene
 between him and the ,prior of the      
,dominicans in the presence of the      
,rector of the ,university4  ,the       
,dominican had preached at ,erasmus in  
the ,university pulpit4 ,erasmus        
complained to the rector1 and the rector
 invited the ,dominican to defend       
himself4 ,erasmus tells the story4  ',i 
sate on one side and the monk on the    
other1 the rector between us to prevent 
our scratching4  ',the monk asked what  

the matter was1 and said he had done no 
harm4  ',i said he had told lies of me1 
and that was harm4  ',it was after      
dinner4 ,the holy man was flushed4 ,he  
turned purple4  ',why do you abuse monks
 in your books8 he said4  ',i spoke of  
your order1 ,i answered4 ,i did not     
mention you4 ,you denounced me by name  
as a friend of ,luther4  ',he raged like
 a madman4 ,you are the cause of all    
this trouble1 he said2 you are a        
chameleon1 you can twist everything4    
',you see what a fellow he is1 said ,i1 
turning to the rector4 ,if it comes to  
calling names1 why ,i can do that too2  
but let us be reasonable4  ',he still   
roared and cursed2 he vowed he would    
never rest till he had destroyed        
,luther4  ',i said he might curse       
,luther till he burst himself if he     
pleased4 ,i complained of his cursing   
me4  ',he answered1 that if ,i did not  
agree with ,luther1 ,i ought to say so1 
and write against him4  ',why should ,i8
 urged ,i4 ,the quarrel is none of mine4

 ,why should ,i irritate ,luther against
 me1 when he has horns and knows how to 
use them8  ',well1 then1 said he1 if you
 will not write1 at least you can say   
that we ,dominicans have had the best of
 the argument4  ',how can ,i do that8   
replied ,i4 ,you have burnt his books1  
but ,i never heard that you had answered
 them4  ',he almost spat upon me4 ,i    
understand that there is to be a form of
 prayer for the conversion of ,erasmus  
and ,luther4'  ,but ,erasmus was not to 
escape so easily4 ,adrian the ,sixth1   
who succeeded ,leo1 was his old         
schoolfellow1 and implored his          
assistance in terms which made refusal  
impossible4 ,adrian wanted ,erasmus to  
come to him to ,rome4 ,he was too wary  
to walk into the wolf's den4 ,but       
,adrian required him to write1 and      
reluctantly he felt that he must comply4
  ,what was he to say8  ',if his        
,holiness will set about reform in good 
earnest1' he wrote to the ,pope's       
secretary1 'and if he will not be too   

hard on ,luther1 ,i may1 perhaps1 do    
good2 but what ,luther writes of the    
tyranny1 the corruption1 the            
covetousness of the ,roman court1 would1
 my friend1 that it was not true4'  ,to 
,adrian himself1 ,erasmus addressed a   
letter really remarkable4  ',i cannot go
 to your ,holiness1' he said1 ',king    
,calculus will not let me4 ,i have      
dreadful health1 which this tornado has 
not improved4 ,i1 who was the favourite 
of everybody1 am now cursed by          
everybody--at ,louvaine by the monks2 in
 ,germany by the ,lutherans4 ,i have    
fallen into trouble in my old age1 like 
a mouse into a pot of pitch4 ,you say1  
,come to ,rome2 you might as well say to
 the crab1 ,fly4 ,the crab says1 ,give  
me wings2 ,i say1 ,give me back my      
health and my youth4 ,if ,i write calmly
 against ,luther ,i shall be called     
lukewarm2 if ,i write as he does1 ,i    
shall stir a hornet's nest4 ,people     
think he can be put down by force4 ,the 
more force you try1 the stronger he will

 grow4 ,such disorders cannot be cured  
in that way4 ,the ,wickliffites in      
,england were put down1 but the fire    
smouldered4  ',if you mean to use       
violence you have no need of me2 but    
mark this--if monks and theologians     
think only of themselves1 no good will  
come of it4 ,look rather into the causes
 of all this confusion1 and apply your  
remedies there4 ,send for the best and  
wisest men from all parts of            
,christendom and take their advice4'    
,tell a crab to fly4 ,tell a pope to be 
reasonable4 ,you must relieve him of his
 infallibility if you want him to act   
like a sensible man4 ,adrian could      
undertake no reforms1 and still besought
 ,erasmus to take arms for him4         
,erasmus determined to gratify ,adrian  
with least danger to himself and least  
injury to ,luther4  ',i remember ,uzzah1
 and am afraid1' he said1 in his        
quizzing way2 'it is not everyone who is
 allowed to uphold the ark4 ,many a wise
 man has attacked ,luther1 and what has 

been effected8 ,the ,pope curses1 the   
emperor threatens2 there are prisons1   
confiscations1 faggots2 and all is vain4
 ,what can a poor pigmy like me do8     
99       99       99       99       99  
',the world has been besotted with      
ceremonies4 ,miserable monks have ruled 
all1 entangling men's consciences for   
their own benefit4 ,dogma has been      
heaped on dogma4 ,the bishops have been 
tyrants1 the ,pope's commissaries have  
been rascals4 ,luther has been an       
instrument of ,god's displeasure1 like  
,pharaoh or ,nebuchadnezzar1 or the     
,csars1 and ,i shall not attack him on  
such grounds as these4'  ,erasmus was   
too acute to defend against ,luther the 
weak point of a bad cause4 ,he would not
 declare for him--but he would not go   
over to his enemies4 ,yet1 unless he    
quarrelled with ,adrian1 he could not be
 absolutely silent2 so he chose a       
subject to write upon on which all      
schools of theology1 ,catholic or       
,protestant--all philosophers1 all      

thinkers of whatever kind1 have been    
divided from the beginning of time3 fate
 and free will1 predestination and the  
liberty of man--a problem which has no  
solution--which may be argued even from 
eternity to eternity4  ,the reason of   
the selection was obvious4 ,erasmus     
wished to please the ,pope and not      
exasperate ,luther4 ,of course he       
pleased neither1 and offended both4     
,luther1 who did not comprehend his     
motive1 was needlessly angry4 ,adrian   
and the monks were openly contemptuous4 
,sick of them and their quarrels1 he    
grew weary of the world1 and began to   
wish to be well out of it4  ,it is      
characteristic of ,erasmus that1 like   
many highly-gifted men1 but unlike all  
theologians1 he expressed a hope for    
sudden death1 and declared it to be one 
of the greatest blessings which a human 
creature can receive4  ,do not suppose  
that he broke down or showed the white  
feather to fortune's buffets4 ,through  
all storms he stuck bravely to his own  

proper work2 editing classics1 editing  
the ,fathers1 writing paraphrases--still
 doing for ,europe what no other man    
could have done4  ,the ,dominicans      
hunted him away from ,louvaine4 ,there  
was no living for him in ,germany for   
the ,protestants4 ,he suffered          
dreadfully from the stone1 too1 and in  
all ways had a cruel time of it4 ,yet he
 continued1 for all that1 to make life  
endurable4  ,he moved about in          
,switzerland and on the ,upper ,rhine4  
,the lakes1 the mountains1 the          
waterfalls1 the villas on the hill      
slopes1 delighted ,erasmus when few     
people else cared for such things4 ,he  
was particular about his wine4 ,the     
vintage of ,burgundy was as new blood in
 his veins1 and quickened his pen into  
brightness and life4  ,the ,german wines
 he liked worse--for this point among   
others1 which is curious to observe in  
those days4 ,the great capitalist       
winegrowers1 anti-,reformers all of     
them1 were people without conscience and

 humanity1 and adulterated their        
liquors4 ,of course they did4 ,they     
believed in nothing but money1 and this 
was the way to make money4  ',the water 
they mix with the wine1' ,erasmus says1 
'is the least part of the mischief4     
,they put in lime1 and alum1 and resin1 
and sulphur1 and salt--and then they say
 it is good enough for heretics4'       
,observe the practical issue of         
religious corruption4 ,show me a people 
where trade is dishonest1 and ,i will   
show you a people where religion is a   
sham4  ',we hang men that steal money1' 
,erasmus exclaimed1 writing doubtless   
with the remembrance of a stomach-ache4 
',these wretches steal our money and our
 lives too1 and get off scot free4'  ,he
 settled at last at ,basle1 which the   
storm had not yet reached1 and tried to 
bury himself among his books4 ,the      
shrieks of the conflict1 however1 still 
troubled his ears4 ,he heard his own    
name still cursed1 and he could not bear
 it or sit quiet under it4  ,his        

correspondence was still enormous4 ,the 
high powers still appealed to him for   
advice and help3 of open meddling he    
would have no more2 he did not care1 he 
said1 to make a post of himself for     
every dog of a theologian to defile4    
,advice1 however1 he continued to give  
in the old style4  ',put down the       
preachers on both sides4 ,fill the      
pulpits with men who will kick          
controversy into the kennel1 and preach 
piety and good manners4 ,teach nothing  
in the schools but what bears upon life 
and duty4 ,punish those who break the   
peace1 and punish no one else2 and when 
the new opinions have taken root1 allow 
liberty of conscience4'  ,perfection of 
wisdom2 but a wisdom which1             
unfortunately1 was three centuries at   
least out of date1 which even now we    
have not grown big enough to profit by4 
,the ,catholic princes and bishops were 
at work with fire and faggot4 ,the      
,protestants were pulling down          
monasteries1 and turning the monks and  

nuns out into the world4 ,the ,catholics
 declared that ,erasmus was as much to  
blame as ,luther4 ,the ,protestants held
 him responsible for the persecutions1  
and insisted1 not without reason1 that  
if ,erasmus had been true to his        
conscience1 the whole ,catholic world   
must have accepted the ,reformation4    
,he suffered bitterly under these       
attacks upon him4 ,he loved quiet--and  
his ears were deafened with clamour4 ,he
 liked popularity--and he was the best  
abused person in ,europe4 ,others who   
suffered in the same way he could advise
 to leave the black-coated jackdaws to  
their noise--but he could not follow his
 own counsel4 ,when the curs were at his
 heels1 he could not restrain himself   
from lashing out at them2 and1 from his 
retreat at ,basle1 his sarcasms flashed 
out like jagged points of lightning4    
,describing an emeute1 and the burning  
of an image of a saint1 ',they insulted 
the poor image so1' he said1 'it is a   
marvel there was no miracle4 ,the saint 

worked so many in the good old times4'  
,when ,luther married an escaped nun1   
the ,catholics exclaimed that           
,antichrist would be born from such an  
incestuous intercourse4 ',nay1' ,erasmus
 said1 'if monk and nun produce         
,antichrist1 there must have been       
legions of ,antichrists these many      
years4'  ,more than once he was tempted 
to go over openly to ,luther--not from a
 noble motive1 but1 as he confessed1 'to
 make those furies feel the difference  
between him and them4'  ,he was past    
sixty1 with broken health and failing   
strength4 ,he thought of going back to  
,england1 but ,england had by this time 
caught fire1 and ,basle had caught fire4
 ,there was no peace on earth4  ',the   
horse has his heels1' he said1 when     
advised to be quiet1 'the dog his teeth1
 the hedgehog his spines1 the bee his   
sting4 ,i myself have my tongue and my  
pen1 and why should ,i not use them8'   
,yet to use them to any purpose now1 he 
must take a side1 and1 sorely tempted as

 he was1 he could not4  ,with the       
negative part of the ,protestant creed  
he sympathised heartily2 but he did not 
understand ,luther's doctrine of faith1 
because he had none of his own1 and he  
disliked it as a new dogma4  ,he        
regarded ,luther's movement as an       
outburst of commonplace revolution1     
caused by the folly and wickedness of   
the authorities1 but with no organising 
vitality in itself2 and his chief       
distress1 as we gather from his later   
letters1 was at his own treatment4 ,he  
had done his best for both sides4 ,he   
had failed1 and was abused by everybody4
  ,thus passed away the last years of   
one of the most gifted men that ,europe 
has ever seen4 ,i have quoted many of   
his letters4 ,i will add one more       
passage1 written near the end of his    
life1 very touching and pathetic3--     
',hercules1' he said1 'could not fight  
two monsters at once2 while ,i1 poor    
wretch1 have lions1 cerberuses1 cancers1
 scorpions every day at my sword's      

point2 not to mention smaller           
vermin--rats1 mosquitoes1 bugs1 and     
fleas4 ,my troops of friends are turned 
to enemies4 ,at dinner-tables or social 
gatherings1 in churches and king's      
courts1 in public carriage or public    
flyboat1 scandal pursues me1 and calumny
 defiles my name4 ,every goose now      
hisses at ,erasmus2 and it is worse than
 being stoned1 once for all1 like       
,stephen1 or shot with arrows like      
,sebastian4  ',they attack me now even  
for my ,latin style1 and spatter me with
 epigrams4 ,fame ,i would have parted   
with2 but to be the sport of            
blackguards--to be pelted with potsherds
 and dirt and ordure--is not this worse 
than death8  ',there is no rest for me  
in my age1 unless ,i join ,luther2 and  
,i cannot1 for ,i cannot accept his     
doctrines4 ,sometimes ,i am stung with a
 desire to avenge my wrongs2 but ,i say 
to myself1 ,will you1 to gratify your   
spleen1 raise your hand against your    
mother the ,church1 who begot you at the

 font and fed you with the word of ,god8
 ,i cannot do it4 ,yet ,i understand now
 how ,arius1 and ,tertullian1 and       
,wickliff were driven into schism4 ,the 
theologians say ,i am their enemy4 ,why8
 ,because ,i bade monks remember their  
vows2 because ,i told parsons to leave  
their wranglings and read the ,bible2   
because ,i told popes and cardinals to  
look at the ,apostles1 and make         
themselves more like to them4 ,if this  
is to be their enemy1 then indeed ,i    
have injured them4'  ,this was almost   
the last4 ,the stone1 advancing years1  
and incessant toil had worn him to a    
shred4 ,the clouds grew blacker4 ,news  
came from ,england that his dear friends
 ,more and ,fisher had died upon the    
scaffold4 ,he had long ceased to care   
for life2 and death1 almost as sudden as
 he had longed for1 gave him peace at   
last4  ,so ended ,desiderius ,erasmus1  
the world's idol for so many years2 and 
dying heaped with undeserved but too    
intelligible anathemas1 seeing all that 

he had laboured for swept away by the   
whirlwind4  ,do not let me lead you to  
undervalue him4 ,without ,erasmus1      
,luther would have been impossible2 and 
,erasmus really succeeded--so much of   
him as deserved to succeed--in ,luther's
 victory4  ,he was brilliantly gifted4  
,his industry never tired4 ,his         
intellect was true to itself2 and no    
worldly motives ever tempted him into   
insincerity4 ,he was even far braver    
than he professed to be4 ,had he been   
brought to the trial1 he would have     
borne it better than many a man who     
boasted louder of his courage4  ,and    
yet1 in his special scheme for          
remodelling the mind of ,europe1 he     
failed hopelessly--almost absurdly4 ,he 
believed1 himself1 that his work was    
spoilt by the ,reformation2 but1 in     
fact1 under no conditions could any more
 have come of it4  ,literature and      
cultivation will feed life when life    
exists already2 and toleration and      
latitudinarianism are well enough when  

mind and conscience are awake and       
energetic of themselves4  ,when there is
 no spiritual life at all2 when men live
 only for themselves and for sensual    
pleasure2 when religion is superstition1
 and conscience a name1 and ,god an idol
 half feared and half despised--then1   
for the restoration of the higher nature
 in man1 qualities are needed different 
in kind from any which ,erasmus         
possessed4  ,and now to go back to      
,luther4 ,i cannot tell you all that    
,luther did2 it would be to tell you all
 the story of the ,german ,reformation4 
,i want you rather to consider the kind 
of man that ,luther was1 and to see in  
his character how he came to achieve    
what he did4  ,you remember that the    
,elector of ,saxony1 after the ,diet of 
,worms1 sent him to the ,castle of      
,wartburg1 to prevent him from being    
murdered or kidnapped4 ,he remained     
there many months2 and during that time 
the old ecclesiastical institutions of  
,germany were burning like a ,north     

,american forest4 ,the monasteries were 
broken up2 the estates were appropriated
 by the nobles2 the monks were sent     
wandering into the world4 ,the bishops  
looked helplessly on while their ancient
 spiritual dominion was torn to pieces  
and trodden under foot4 ,the ,elector of
 ,saxony1 the ,landgrave of ,hesse1 and 
several more of the princes1 declared   
for the ,reformation4 ,the ,protestants 
had a majority in the ,diet1 and        
controlled the force of the empire4     
,charles the ,fifth1 busy with his      
,french wars1 and in want of money1     
dared not press questions to a crisis   
which he had not power to cope with2 and
 he was obliged for a time to recognise 
what he could not prevent4 ,you would   
have thought ,luther would have been    
well pleased to see the seed which he   
had sown bear fruit so rapidly2 yet it  
was exactly while all this was going on 
that he experienced those temptations of
 the devil of which he has left so      
wonderful an account4  ,we shall have   

our own opinions on the nature of these 
apparitions4 ,but ,luther1 it is quite  
certain1 believed that ,satan himself   
attacked him in person4 ,satan1 he tells
 us1 came often to him1 and said1 ',see 
what you have done4 ,behold this ancient
 ,church--this mother of                
saints--polluted and defiled by brutal  
violence4 ,and it is you--you1 a poor   
ignorant monk1 that have set the people 
on to their unholy work4 ,are you so    
much wiser than the saints who approved 
the things which you have denounced8    
,popes1 bishops1 clergy1 kings1         
emperors--are none of these--are not all
 these together--wiser than ,martin     
,luther the monk8'  ,the devil1 he says1
 caused him great agony by these        
suggestions4 ,he fell into deep fits of 
doubt and humiliation and despondency4  
,and wherever these thoughts came from1 
we can only say that they were very     
natural thoughts--natural and right4 ,he
 called them temptations2 yet these were
 temptations which would not have       

occurred to any but a high-minded man4  
,he had1 however1 done only what duty   
had forced him to do4 ,his business was 
to trust to ,god1 who had begun the work
 and knew what ,he meant to make of it4 
,his doubts and misgivings1 therefore1  
he ascribed to ,satan1 and his enormous 
imaginative vigour gave body to the     
voice which was speaking in him4  ,he   
tells many humorous stories--not always 
producible--of the means with which he  
encountered his offensive visitor4      
',the devil1' he says1 'is very proud1  
and what he least likes is to be laughed
 at4' ,one night he was disturbed by    
something rattling in his room2 the     
modern unbeliever will suppose it was a 
mouse4 ,he got up1 lit a candle1        
searched the apartment through1 and     
could find nothing--the ,evil ,one was  
indisputably there4  ',oh6' he said1 'it
 is you1 is it8' ,he returned to bed1   
and went to sleep4  ,think as you please
 about the cause of the noise1 but      
remember that ,luther had not the least 

doubt that he was alone in the room with
 the actual devil1 who1 if he could not 
overcome his soul1 could at least twist 
his neck in a moment--and then think    
what courage there must have been in a  
man who could deliberately sleep in such
 a presence6  ,during his retirement he 
translated the ,bible4 ,the confusion at
 last became so desperate that he could 
no longer be spared2 and1 believing that
 he was certain to be destroyed1 he left
 ,wartburg and returned to ,wittenberg4 
,death was always before him as         
supremely imminent4 ,he used to say that
 it would be a great disgrace to the    
,pope if he died in his bed4 ,he was    
wanted once at ,leipsic4 ,his friends   
said if he went there ,duke ,george     
would kill him4  ',duke ,george6' he    
said2 ',i would go to ,leipsic if it    
rained ,duke ,georges for nine days6'   
,no such cataclysm of ,duke ,georges    
happily took place4 ,the single one     
there was would have gladly been        
mischievous if he could2 but ,luther    

outlived him--lived for twenty-four     
years after this1 in continued toil1    
re-shaping the ,german ,church1 and     
giving form to its new doctrine4        
,sacerdotalism1 properly so called1 was 
utterly abolished4 ,the corruptions of  
the ,church had all grown out of one    
root--the notion that the ,christian    
priesthood possesses mystical power1    
conferred through episcopal ordination4 
,religion1 as ,luther conceived it1 did 
not consist in certain things done to   
and for a man by a so-called priest4 ,it
 was the devotion of each individual    
soul to the service of ,god4 ,masses    
were nothing1 and absolution was        
nothing2 and a clergyman differed only  
from a layman in being set apart for the
 especial duties of teaching and        
preaching4  ,i am not concerned to      
defend ,luther's view in this matter4   
,it is a matter of fact only1 that in   
getting rid of episcopal ordination1 he 
dried up the fountain from which the    
mechanical and idolatrous conceptions of

 religion had sprung2 and1 in           
consequence1 the religious life of      
,germany has expanded with the progress 
of knowledge1 while priesthoods         
everywhere cling to the formulas of the 
past1 in which they live1 and move1 and 
have their being4  ,enough of this4     
,the peculiar doctrine which has passed 
into ,europe under ,luther's name is    
known as ,justification by ,faith4      
,bandied about as a watchword of party1 
it has by this time hardened into a     
formula1 and has become barren as the   
soil of a trodden footpath4 ,as         
originally proclaimed by ,luther1 it    
contained the deepest of moral truths4  
,it expressed what was1 and is1 and must
 be1 in one language or another1 to the 
end of time1 the conviction of every    
generous-minded man4  ,the service of   
,god1 as ,luther learnt it from the     
monks1 was a thing of desert and reward4
 ,so many good works done1 so much to   
the right page in the great book2 where 
the stock proved insufficient1 there was

 the reserve fund of the merits of the  
saints1 which the ,church dispensed for 
money to those who needed4  ',merit6'   
,luther thought4 ',what merit can there 
be in such a poor caitiff as man8 ,the  
better a man is--the more clearly he    
sees how little he is good for1 the     
greater mockery it seems to attribute to
 him the notion of having deserved      
reward4'  ',miserable creatures that we 
are6' he said2 'we earn our bread in    
sin4 ,till we are seven years old1 we do
 nothing but eat and drink and sleep and
 play2 from seven to twenty-one we study
 four hours a day1 the rest of it we run
 about and amuse ourselves2 then we work
 till fifty1 and then we grow again to  
be children4 ,we sleep half our lives2  
we give ,god a tenth of our time3 and   
yet we think that with our good works we
 can merit heaven4 ,what have ,i been   
doing to-day8 ,i have talked for two    
hours2 ,i have been at meals three      
hours2 ,i have been idle four hours6    
,ah1 enter not into judgment with thy   

servant1 ,o ,lord6'  ,a perpetual       
struggle4 ,for ever to be falling1 yet  
to rise again and stumble forward with  
eyes turned to heaven--this was the best
 which would ever come of man4 ,it was  
accepted in its imperfection by the     
infinite grace of ,god1 who pities      
mortal weakness1 and accepts the        
intention for the deed--who1 when there 
is a sincere desire to serve ,him1      
overlooks the shortcomings of infirmity4
  ,do you say such teaching leads to    
disregard of duty8 ,all doctrines1 when 
petrified into formulas1 lead to that4  
,but1 as ,luther said1 'where real faith
 is1 a good life follows1 as light      
follows the sun2 faint and clouded1 yet 
ever struggling to break through the    
mist which envelopes it1 and welcoming  
the roughest discipline which tends to  
clear and raise it4  ',the barley1' he  
says1 in a homely but effective         
image--'the barley which we brew1 the   
flax of which we weave our garments1    
must be bruised and torn ere they come  

to the use for which they are grown4 ,so
 must ,christians suffer4 ,the natural  
creature must be combed and threshed4   
,the old ,adam must die1 for the higher 
life to begin4 ,if man is to rise to    
nobleness1 he must first be slain4'  ,in
 modern language1 the poet ,goethe tells
 us the same truth4 ',the natural man1' 
he says1 'is like the ore out of the    
iron mine4 ,it is smelted in the        
furnace2 it is forged into bars upon the
 anvil4 ,a new nature is at last forced 
upon it1 and it is made steel4'  ,it was
 this doctrine--it was this truth rather
 7the word doctrine reminds one of quack
 medicines7--which1 quickening in       
,luther's mind1 gave ,europe its new    
life4 ,it was the flame which1 beginning
 with a small spark1 kindled the        
hearth-fires in every ,german household4
  ,luther's own life was a model of     
quiet simplicity4 ,he remained poor4 ,he
 might have had money if he had wished2 
but he chose rather1 amidst his enormous
 labour1 to work at a turning-lathe for 

his livelihood4  ,he was sociable1      
cheerful1 fond of innocent amusements1  
and delighted to encourage them4 ,his   
table-talk1 collected by his friends1   
makes one of the most brilliant books in
 the world4 ,he had no monkish theories 
about the necessity of abstinence2 but  
he was temperate from habit and         
principle4 ,a salt herring and a hunch  
of bread was his ordinary meal2 and he  
was once four days without food of any  
sort1 having emptied his larder among   
the poor4  ,all kinds of people thrust  
themselves on ,luther for help4 ,flights
 of nuns from the dissolved convents    
came to him to provide for them--naked1 
shivering creatures1 with scarce a rag  
to cover them4 ,eight florins were      
wanted once to provide clothes for some 
of them4 ',eight florins6' he said2 'and
 where am ,i to get eight florins8'     
,great people had made him presents of  
plate3 it all went to market to be      
turned into clothes and food for the    
wretched4  ,melancthon says that1 unless

 provoked1 he was usually very gentle   
and tolerant4 ,he recognised1 and was   
almost alone in recognising1 the        
necessity of granting liberty of        
conscience4 ,no one hated ,popery more  
than he did1 yet he said3--  ',the      
,papists must bear with us1 and we with 
them4 ,if they will not follow us1 we   
have no right to force them4 ,wherever  
they can1 they will hang1 burn1 behead1 
and strangle us4 ,i shall be persecuted 
as long as ,i live1 and most likely     
killed4 ,but it must come to this at    
last--every man must be allowed to      
believe according to his conscience1 and
 answer for his belief to his ,maker4'  
,erasmus said of ,luther that there were
 two natures in him3 sometimes he wrote 
like an apostle--sometimes like a raving
 ribald4  ,doubtless1 ,luther could be  
impolite on occasions4 ,when he was     
angry1 invectives rushed from him like  
boulder rocks down a mountain torrent in
 flood4 ,we need not admire all that2 in
 quiet times it is hard to understand   

it4  ,here1 for instance1 is a specimen4
 ,our ,henry the ,eighth1 who began life
 as a highly orthodox sovereign1 broke a
 lance with ,luther for the ,papacy4    
,luther did not credit ,henry with a    
composition which was probably his own  
after all4 ,he thought the king was put 
forward by some of the ,english         
bishops--',thomists' he calls them1 as  
men who looked for the beginning and end
 of wisdom to the writings of ,thomas   
,aquinas4  ',courage1' he exclaimed to  
them1 'swine that you are6 burn me then1
 if you can and dare4 ,here ,i am2 do   
your worst upon me4 ,scatter my ashes to
 all the winds--spread them through all 
seas4 ,my spirit shall pursue you still4
 ,living1 ,i am the foe of the ,papacy2 
and dead1 ,i will be its foe twice over4
 ,hogs of ,thomists6 ,luther shall be   
the bear in your way--the lion in your  
path4 ,go where you will1 ,luther shall 
cross you4 ,luther shall leave you      
neither peace nor rest till he has      
crushed in your brows of brass and      

dashed out your iron brains4'  ,strong  
expressions2 but the times were not     
gentle4 ,the prelates whom he supposed  
himself to be addressing were the men   
who filled our ,smithfield with the reek
 of burning human flesh4  ,men of       
,luther's stature are like the violent  
forces of ,nature herself--terrible when
 roused1 and in repose1 majestic and    
beautiful4 ,of vanity he had not a      
trace4 ',do not call yourselves         
,lutherans1' he said2 'call yourselves  
,christians4 ,who and what is ,luther8  
,has ,luther been crucified for the     
world8'  ,i mentioned his love of music4
 ,his songs and hymns were the          
expression of the very inmost heart of  
the ,german people4 ',music' he called  
'the grandest and sweetest gift of ,god 
to man4' ',satan hates music1' he said2 
'he knows how it drives the evil spirit 
out of us4'  ,he was extremely          
interested in all natural things4       
,before the science of botany was dreamt
 of1 ,luther had divined the principle  

of vegetable life4 ',the principle of   
marriage runs through all creation1' he 
said2 'and flowers as well as animals   
are male and female4'  ,a garden called 
out bursts of eloquence from him2       
beautiful sometimes as a finished piece 
of poetry4  ,one ,april day as he was   
watching the swelling buds1 he          
exclaimed3--  ',praise be to ,god the   
,creator1 who out of a dead world makes 
all alive again4 ,see those shoots how  
they burgeon and swell4 ,image of the   
resurrection of the dead6 ,winter is    
death--summer is the resurrection4      
,between them lie spring and autumn1 as 
the period of uncertainty and change4   
,the proverb says--      ,trust not a   
day     ,ere birth of ,may4  ,let us    
pray our ,father in heaven to give us   
this day our daily bread4'  ',we are in 
the dawn of a new era1' he said another 
time2 'we are beginning to think        
something of the natural world which was
 ruined in ,adam's fall4 ,we are        
learning to see all round us the        

greatness and glory of the ,creator4 ,we
 can see the ,almighty hand--the        
infinite goodness--in the humblest      
flower4 ,we praise ,him--we thank       
,him--we glorify ,him--we recognise in  
creation the power of ,his word4 ,he    
spoke and it was there4 ,the stone of   
the peach is hard2 but the soft kernel  
swells and bursts it when the time      
comes4 ,an egg--what a thing is that6   
,if an egg had never been seen in       
,europe1 and a traveller had brought one
 from ,calcutta1 how would all the world
 have wondered6'  ,and again3--  ',if a 
man could make a single rose1 we should 
give him an empire2 yet roses1 and      
flowers no less beautiful1 are scattered
 in profusion over the world1 and no one
 regards them4'  ,there are infinite    
other things which ,i should like to    
tell you about ,luther1 but time wears  
on4 ,i must confine what more ,i have to
 say to a single matter--for which more 
than any other he has been blamed--,i   
mean his marriage4  ,he himself1 a monk 

and a priest1 had taken a vow of        
celibacy4 ,the person whom he married   
had been a nun1 and as such had taken a 
vow of celibacy also4  ,the marriage was
 unquestionably no affair of passion4   
,luther had come to middle age when it  
was brought about1 when temptations of  
that kind lose their power2 and among   
the many accusations which have been    
brought against his early life1 no one  
has ventured to charge him with         
incontinence4 ,his taking a wife was a  
grave act deliberately performed2 and it
 was either meant as a public insult to 
established ecclesiastical usage1 or    
else he considered that the             
circumstances of the time required it of
 him4  ,let us see what those           
circumstances were4 ,the enforcement of 
celibacy on the clergy was1 in ,luther's
 opinion1 both iniquitous in itself1 and
 productive of enormous immorality4 ,the
 impurity of the religious orders had   
been the jest of satirists for a hundred
 years4 ,it had been the distress and   

perplexity of pious and serious persons4
 ,luther himself was impressed with     
profound pity for the poor men1 who were
 cut off from the natural companionship 
which nature had provided for them--who 
were thus exposed to temptations which  
they ought not to have been called upon 
to resist4  ,the dissolution of the     
religious houses had enormously         
complicated the problem4 ,germany was   
covered with friendless and homeless men
 and women adrift upon the world4 ,they 
came to ,luther to tell them what to do2
 and advice was of little service       
without example4  ,the world had grown  
accustomed to immorality in such        
persons4 ,they might have lived together
 in concubinage1 and no one would have  
thought much about it4 ,their marriage  
was regarded with a superstitious terror
 as a kind of incest4  ,luther1 on the  
other hand1 regarded marriage as the    
natural and healthy state in which      
clergy as well as laity were intended to
 live4 ,immorality was hateful to him as

 a degradation of a sacrament--impious1 
loathsome1 and dishonoured4 ,marriage   
was the condition in which humanity was 
at once purest1 best1 and happiest4     
,for himself1 he had become inured to a 
single life4 ,he had borne the injustice
 of his lot1 when the burden had been   
really heavy4 ,but time and custom had  
lightened the load2 and had there been  
nothing at issue but his own personal   
happiness1 he would not have given      
further occasion to the malice of his   
enemies4  ,but tens of thousands of poor
 creatures were looking to him to guide 
them--guide them by precept1 or guide   
them by example4 ,he had satisfied      
himself that the vow of celibacy had    
been unlawfully imposed both on him and 
them--that1 as he would put it1 it had  
been a snare devised by the devil4 ,he  
saw that all eyes were fixed on         
him--that it was no use to tell others  
that they might marry1 unless he himself
 led the way1 and married first4 ,and it
 was characteristic of him that1 having 

resolved to do the thing1 he did it in  
the way most likely to show the world   
his full thought upon the matter4  ,that
 this was his motive1 there is no kind  
of doubt whatever4  ',we may be able to 
live unmarried1' he said2 'but in these 
days we must protest in deed as well as 
word1 against the doctrine of celibacy4 
,it is an invention of ,satan4 ,before  
,i took my wife1 ,i had made up my mind 
that ,i must marry some one3 and had ,i 
been overtaken by illness1 ,i should    
have betrothed myself to some pious     
maiden4'  ,he asked nobody's advice4    
,had he let his intention be suspected1 
the moderate respectable people--the    
people who thought like ,erasmus--those 
who wished well to what was good1 but   
wished also to stand well with the      
world's opinion--such persons as these  
would have overwhelmed him with         
remonstrances4 ',when you marry1' he    
said to a friend in a similar situation1
 'be quiet about it1 or mountains will  
rise between you and your wishes4 ,if ,i

 had not been swift and secret1 ,i      
should have had the whole world in my   
way4'  ,catherine ,bora1 the lady whom  
he chose for his wife1 was a nun of good
 family1 left homeless and shelterless  
by the breaking-up of her convent4 ,she 
was an ordinary1 unimaginative          
body--plain in person and plain in mind1
 in no sense whatever a heroine of      
romance--but a decent1 sensible1        
commonplace ,haus ,frau4  ,the age of   
romance was over with both of them2 yet1
 for all that1 never marriage brought a 
plainer blessing with it4 ,they began   
with respect1 and ended with steady     
affection4  ,the happiest life on earth1
 ,luther used to say1 is with a pious1  
good wife2 in peace and quiet1 contented
 with a little1 and giving ,god thanks4 
,he spoke from his own experience4 ,his 
,katie1 as he called her1 was not       
clever1 and he had numerous stories to  
tell of the beginning of their          
adventures together4  ',the first year  
of married life is an odd business1' he 

says4 ',at meals1 where you used to be  
alone1 you are yourself and somebody    
else4 ,when you wake in the morning1    
there are a pair of tails close to you  
on the pillow4 ,my ,katie used to sit   
with me when ,i was at work4 ,she       
thought she ought not to be silent4 ,she
 did not know what to say1 so she would 
ask me4  ',herr ,doctor1 is not the     
master of the ceremonies in ,prussia the
 brother of the ,margrave8'  ,she was an
 odd woman4  ',doctor1' she said to him 
one day1 'how is it that under ,popery  
we prayed so often and so earnestly1 and
 now our prayers are cold and seldom8'  
,katie might have spoken for herself4   
,luther1 to the last1 spent hours of    
every day in prayer4 ,he advised her to 
read the ,bible a little more4 ,she said
 she had read enough of it1 and knew    
half of it by heart4 ',ah6' he said1    
'here begins weariness of the word of   
,god4 ,one day new lights will rise up1 
and the ,scriptures will be despised and
 be flung away into the corner4'  ,his  

relations with his children were        
singularly beautiful4 ,the recollection 
of his own boyhood made him especially  
gentle with them1 and their fancies and 
imaginations delighted him4  ,children1 
to him1 were images of unfallen nature4 
',children1' he said1 'imagine heaven a 
place where rivers run with cream1 and  
trees are hung with cakes and plums4 ,do
 not blame them4 ,they are but showing  
their simple1 natural1 unquestioning1   
all-believing faith4'  ,one day1 after  
dinner1 when the fruit was on the table1
 the children were watching it with     
longing eyes4 ',that is the way1' he    
said1 'in which we grown ,christians    
ought to look for the ,judgment ,day4'  
,his daughter ,magdalen died when she   
was fourteen4 ,he speaks of his loss    
with the unaffected simplicity of       
natural grief1 yet with the faith of a  
man who had not the slightest doubt into
 whose hands his treasure was passing4  
,perfect nature and perfect piety4      
,neither one emotion nor the other      

disguised or suppressed4  ,you will have
 gathered something1 ,i hope1 from these
 faint sketches1 of what ,luther was2   
you will be able to see how far he      
deserves to be called by our modern new 
lights1 a ,philistine or a heretic4 ,we 
will now return to the subject with     
which we began1 and resume1 in a general
 conclusion1 the argument of these      
,lectures4  ,in part1 but not wholly1 it
 can be done in ,luther's words4  ,one  
regrets that ,luther did not know       
,erasmus better1 or knowing him1 should 
not have treated him with more          
forbearance4  ,erasmus spoke of him for 
the most part with kindness4 ,he        
interceded for him1 defended him1 and   
only with the utmost reluctance was     
driven into controversy with him4       
,luther1 on the other hand1 saw in      
,erasmus a man who was false to his     
convictions2 who played with truth2 who1
 in his cold1 sarcastic scepticism1     
believed in nothing--scarcely even in   
,god4 ,he was unaware of his own        

obligations to him1 for ,erasmus was not
 a person who would trumpet out his own 
good deeds4  ,thus ,luther says3--      
',all you who honour ,christ1 ,i pray   
you hate ,erasmus4 ,he is a scoffer and 
a mocker4 ,he speaks in riddles2 and    
jests at ,popery and ,gospel1 and       
,christ and ,god1 with his uncertain    
speeches4 ,he might have served the     
,gospel if he would1 but1 like ,judas1  
he has betrayed the ,son of ,man with a 
kiss4 ,he is not with us1 and he is not 
with our foes2 and ,i say with ,joshua1 
,choose whom ye will serve4 ,he thinks  
we should trim to the times1 and hang   
our cloaks to the wind4 ,he is himself  
his own first object2 and as he lived1  
he died4  ',i take ,erasmus to be the   
worst enemy that ,christ has had for a  
thousand years4 ,intellect does not     
understand religion1 and when it comes  
to the things of ,god1 it laughs at     
them4 ,he scoffs like ,lucian1 and      
by-and-by he will say1 ,behold1 how are 
these among the saints whose life we    

counted for folly4  ',i bid you1        
therefore1 take heed of ,erasmus4 ,he   
treats theology as a fool's jest1 and   
the ,gospel as a fable good for the     
ignorant to believe4'  ,of ,erasmus     
personally1 much of this was unjust and 
untrue4 ,erasmus knew many things which 
it would have been well for ,luther to  
have known2 and1 as a man1 he was better
 than his principles4  ,but if for the  
name of ,erasmus we substitute the      
theory of human things which ,erasmus   
represented1 between that creed and     
,luther there is1 and must be1 an       
eternal antagonism4  ,if to be true in  
heart and just in act are the first     
qualities necessary for the elevation of
 humanity--if without these all else is 
worthless1 intellectual culture cannot  
give what intellectual culture does not 
require or imply4 ,you cultivate the    
plant which has already life2 you will  
waste your labour in cultivating a      
stone4 ,the moral life is the           
counterpart of the natural1 alike       

mysterious in its origin1 and alike     
visible only in its effects4            
,intellectual gifts are like gifts of   
strength1 or wealth1 or rank1 or worldly
 power--splendid instruments if nobly   
used--but requiring qualities to use    
them nobler and better than themselves4 
,the rich man may spend his wealth on   
vulgar luxury4 ,the clever man may live 
for intellectual enjoyment--refined     
enjoyment it may be--but enjoyment      
still1 and still centering in self4  ,if
 the spirit of ,erasmus had prevailed1  
it would have been with modern ,europe  
as with the ,roman ,empire in its decay4
 ,the educated would have been mere     
sceptics2 the multitude would have been 
sunk in superstition4 ,in both alike all
 would have perished which deserves the 
name of manliness4  ,and this leads me  
to the last observation that ,i have to 
make to you4 ,in the sciences1 the      
philosopher leads2 the rest of us take  
on trust what he tells us4 ,the         
spiritual progress of mankind has       

followed the opposite course4 ,each     
forward step has been made first among  
the people1 and the last converts have  
been among the learned4  ,the           
explanation is not far to look for4 ,in 
the sciences there is no temptation of  
self-interest to mislead4 ,in matters   
which affect life and conduct1 the      
interests and prejudices of the         
cultivated classes are enlisted on the  
side of the existing order of things1   
and their better trained faculties and  
larger acquirements serve only to find  
them arguments for believing what they  
wish to believe4  ,simpler men have less
 to lose2 they come more in contact with
 the realities of life1 and they learn  
wisdom in the experience of suffering4  
,thus it was that when the learned and  
the wise turned away from ,christianity1
 the fishermen of the ,galilean lake    
listened1 and a new life began for      
mankind4 ,a miner's son converted       
,germany to the ,reformation4 ,the      
,london artisans and the peasants of    

,buckinghamshire went to the stake for  
doctrines which were accepted afterwards
 as a second revelation4  ,so it has    
been2 so it will be to the end4 ,when a 
great teacher comes again upon the      
earth1 he will find his first disciples 
where ,christ found them and ,luther    
found them4 ,had ,luther written for the
 learned1 the words which changed the   
face of ,europe would have slumbered in 
impotence on the bookshelves4  ,in      
appealing to the ,german nation1 you    
will agree1 ,i think1 with me1 that he  
did well and not ill2 you will not      
sacrifice his great name to the disdain 
of a shallow philosophy1 or to the      
grimacing of a dead superstition1 whose 
ghost is struggling out of its grave4   
,,the ,,influence ,,of ,,the            
,,reformation ,,on ,,the ,,scottish     
,,character3  ,a ,,lecture ,,delivered  
,,at ,,edinburgh1 ,,november #ahfe4   ,i
 have undertaken to speak this evening  
on the effects of the ,reformation in   
,scotland1 and ,i consider myself a very

 bold person to have come here on any   
such undertaking4 ,in the first place1  
the subject is one with which it is     
presumptuous for a stranger to meddle4  
,great national movements can only be   
understood properly by the people whose 
disposition they represent4 ,we say     
ourselves about our own history that    
only ,englishmen can properly comprehend
 it4 ,the late ,chevalier ,bunsen once  
said to me of our own ,reformation in   
,england1 that1 for his part1 he could  
not conceive how we had managed to come 
by such a thing4 ,we seemed to him to be
 an obdurate1 impenetrable1 stupid      
people1 hide-bound by tradition and     
precedent1 and too self-satisfied to be 
either willing or able to take in new   
ideas upon any theoretic subject        
whatever1 especially ,german ideas4     
,that is to say1 he could not get inside
 the ,english mind4 ,he did not know    
that some people go furthest and go     
fastest when they look one way and row  
the other4 ,it is the same with every   

considerable nation4 ,they work out     
their own political and spiritual lives1
 through tempers1 humours1 and passions 
peculiar to themselves2 and the same    
disposition which produces the result is
 required to interpret it afterwards4   
,this is one reason why ,i should feel  
diffident about what ,i have undertaken4
 ,another is1 that ,i do not conceal    
from myself that the subject is an      
exceedingly delicate one4 ,the blazing  
passions of those stormy sixteenth and  
seventeenth centuries are no longer1    
happily1 at their old temperature4 ,the 
story of those times can now be told or 
listened to with something like         
impartiality4 ,yet1 if people no longer 
hate each other for such matters1 the   
traditions of the struggle survive in   
strong opinions and sentiments1 which it
 is easy to wound without intending it4 
,my own conviction with respect to all  
great social and religious convulsions  
is the extremely commonplace one that   
much is to be said on both sides4 ,i    

believe that nowhere and at no time any 
such struggle can take place on a large 
scale unless each party is contending   
for something which has a great deal of 
truth in it4 ,where the right is plain1 
honest1 wise1 and noble-minded men are  
all on one side2 and only rogues and    
fools are on the other4 ,where the wise 
and good are divided1 the truth is      
generally found to be divided also4 ,but
 this is precisely what cannot be       
admitted as long as the conflict        
continues4 ,men begin to fight about    
things when reason and argument fail to 
convince them4 ,they make up in passion 
what is wanting in logic4 ,each side    
believes that all the right is          
theirs--that their enemies have all the 
bad qualities which their language      
contains names for2 and even now1 on the
 subject on which ,i have to talk       
to-night1 one has but to take up any    
magazine1 review1 newspaper1 or party   
organ of any kind which touches on it1  
to see that opinion is still ,whig or   

,tory1 ,cavalier or ,roundhead1         
,protestant or ,catholic1 as the case   
may be4 ,the unfortunate person who is  
neither wholly one nor wholly the other 
is in the position of ,hamlet's 'baser  
nature1' 'between the incensed points of
 mighty opposites4' ,he is the          
,laodicean1 neither cold nor hot1 whom  
decent people consider bad company4 ,he 
pleases no one1 and hurts the           
sensitiveness of all4  ,here1 then1 are 
good reasons why ,i should have either  
not come here at all1 or else should    
have chosen some other matter to talk   
about4 ,in excuse for persisting1 ,i can
 but say that the subject is one about  
which ,i have been led by circumstances 
to read and think considerably2 and     
though1 undoubtedly1 each of us knows   
more about himself and his own affairs  
than anyone else can possibly know1 yet 
a stranger's eye will sometimes see     
things which escape those more          
immediately interested2 and ,i allow    
myself to hope that ,i may have         

something to say not altogether         
undeserving your attention4 ,i shall    
touch as little as possible on questions
 of opinion2 and if ,i tread by accident
 on any sensitive point1 ,i must trust  
to your kindness to excuse my           
awkwardness4  ,well1 then1 if we look   
back on ,scotland as it stood in the    
first quarter of the sixteenth century1 
we see a country in which the old feudal
 organisation continued1 so far as it   
generally affected the people1 more     
vigorous than in any other part of      
civilised ,europe4 ,elsewhere1 the      
growth of trade and of large towns had  
created a middle class1 with an         
organisation of their own1 independent  
of the lords4 ,in ,scotland1 the towns  
were still scanty and poor2 such as they
 were1 they were for the most part under
 the control of the great nobleman who  
happened to live nearest to them2 and a 
people1 as in any sense independent of  
lords1 knights1 abbots1 or prelates1    
under whose rule they were born1 had as 

yet no existence4 ,the tillers of the   
soil 7and the soil was very miserably   
tilled7 lived under the shadow of the   
castle or the monastery4 ,they followed 
their lord's fortunes1 fought his       
battles1 believed in his politics1 and  
supported him loyally in his sins or his
 good deeds1 as the case might be4      
,there was much moral beauty in the life
 of those times4 ,the loyal attachment  
of man to man--of liege servant to liege
 lord--of all forms under which human   
beings can live and work together1 has  
most of grace and humanity about it4 ,it
 cannot go on without mutual confidence 
and affection--mutual benefits given and
 received4 ,the length of time which the
 system lasted proves that in the main  
there must have been a fine fidelity in 
the people--truth1 justice1 generosity  
in their leaders4 ,history brings down  
many bad stories to us out of those     
times2 just as in these islands nowadays
 you may find bad instances of the      
abuses of rights of property4 ,you may  

find stories--too many also--of husbands
 ill-using their wives1 and so on4 ,yet 
we do not therefore lay the blame on    
marriage1 or suppose that the           
institution of property on the whole    
does more harm than good4 ,i do not     
doubt that down in that feudal system   
somewhere lie the roots of some of the  
finest qualities in the ,european       
peoples4  ,so much for the temporal side
 of the matter2 and the spiritual was   
not very unlike it4 ,as no one lived    
independently1 in our modern sense of   
the word1 so no one thought             
independently4 ,the minds of men were   
looked after by a ,church which1 for a  
long time also1 did1 ,i suppose1 very   
largely fulfil the purpose for which it 
was intended4 ,it kept alive and active 
the belief that the world was created   
and governed by a just ,being1 who hated
 sins and crimes1 and steadily punished 
such things4 ,it taught men that they   
had immortal souls1 and that this little
 bit of life was an entirely            

insignificant portion of their real     
existence4 ,it taught these truths1     
indeed1 along with a great deal which we
 now consider to have been a mistake--a 
great many theories of earthly things   
which have since passed away1 and       
special opinions clothed in outward     
forms and ritual observances which we   
here1 most of us at least1 do not think 
essential for our soul's safety4 ,but   
mistakes like these are hurtful only    
when persisted in in the face of fuller 
truth1 after truth has been discovered4 
,only a very foolish man would now      
uphold the ,ptolemaic astronomy4 ,but   
the ,ptolemaic astronomy1 when first    
invented1 was based on real if          
incomplete observations1 and formed a   
groundwork without which further        
progress in that science would have been
 probably impossible4 ,the theories and 
ceremonials of the ,catholic ,church    
suited well with an age in which little 
was known and much was imagined3 when   
superstition was active and science was 

not yet born4 ,when ,i am told here or  
anywhere that the ,middle ,ages were    
times of mere spiritual darkness and    
priestly oppression1 with the other     
usual formulas1 ,i say1 as ,i said      
before1 if the ,catholic ,church1 for   
those many centuries that it reigned    
supreme over all men's consciences1 was 
no better than the thing which we see in
 the generation which immediately       
preceded the ,reformation1 it could not 
have existed at all4 ,you might as well 
argue that the old fading tree could    
never have been green and young4        
,institutions do not live on lies4 ,they
 either live by the truth and usefulness
 which there is in them1 or they do not 
live at all4  ,so things went on for    
several hundred years4 ,there were      
scandals enough1 and crimes enough1 and 
feuds1 and murders1 and civil wars4     
,systems1 however good1 cannot prevent  
evil4 ,they can but compress it within  
moderate and tolerable limits4 ,i should
 conclude1 however1 that1 measuring by  

the average happiness of the masses of  
the people1 the medival institutions    
were very well suited for the           
inhabitants of these countries as they  
then were4 ,adam ,smith and ,bentham    
themselves could hardly have mended them
 if they had tried4  ,but times change1 
and good things as well as bad grow old 
and have to die4 ,the heart of the      
matter which the ,catholic ,church had  
taught was the fear of ,god2 but the    
language of it and the formulas of it   
were made up of human ideas and notions 
about things which the mere increase of 
human knowledge gradually made          
incredible4 ,to trace the reason of this
 would lead us a long way4 ,it is       
intelligible enough1 but it would take  
us into subjects better avoided here4   
,it is enough to say that1 while the    
essence of religion remains the same1   
the mode in which it is expressed       
changes and has changed--changes as     
living languages change and become dead1
 as institutions change1 as forms of    

government change1 as opinions on all   
things in heaven and earth change1 as   
half the theories held at this time     
among ourselves will probably           
change--that is1 the outward and mortal 
parts of them4 ,thus the ,catholic      
formulas1 instead of living symbols1    
become dead and powerless cabalistic    
signs4 ,the religion lost its hold on   
the conscience and the intellect1 and   
the effect1 singularly enough1 appeared 
in the shepherds before it made itself  
felt among the flocks4 ,from the see of 
,st4 ,peter to the far monasteries in   
the ,hebrides or the ,isle of ,arran1   
the laity were shocked and scandalised  
at the outrageous doings of high        
cardinals1 prelates1 priests1 and monks4
 ,it was clear enough that these great  
personages themselves did not believe   
what they taught2 so why should the     
people believe it8 ,and serious men1 to 
whom the fear of ,god was a living      
reality1 began to look into the matter  
for themselves4 ,the first steps        

everywhere were taken with extreme      
reluctance2 and had the popes and       
cardinals been wise1 they would have    
taken the lead in the enquiry1 cleared  
their teaching of its lumber1 and taken 
out a new lease of life both for it and 
for themselves4 ,an infallible pope and 
an infallible council might have done   
something in this way1 if good sense had
 been among the attributes of their     
omniscience4 ,what they did do was      
something very different4 ,it was as if1
 when the new astronomy began to be     
taught1 the professors of that science  
in all the universities of ,europe had  
met together and decided that ,ptolemy's
 cycles and epicycles were eternal      
verities2 that the theory of the        
rotation of the earth was and must be a 
damnable heresy2 and had invited the    
civil authorities to help them in       
putting down by force all doctrines but 
their own4 ,this1 or something very like
 it1 was the position taken up in       
theology by the ,council of ,trent4 ,the

 bishops assembled there did not reason4
 ,they decided by vote that certain     
things were true1 and were to be        
believed2 and the only arguments which  
they condescended to use were fire and  
faggot1 and so on4 ,how it fared with   
them1 and with this experiment of       
theirs1 we all know tolerably well4     
,the effect was very different in       
different countries4 ,here1 in          
,scotland1 the failure was most marked  
and complete1 but the way in which it   
came about was in many ways peculiar4   
,in ,germany1 ,luther was supported by  
princes and nobles4 ,in ,england1 the   
,reformation rapidly mixed itself up    
with politics and questions of rival    
jurisdiction4 ,both in ,england and     
,germany1 the revolution1 wherever it   
established itself1 was accepted early  
by the ,crown or the ,government1 and by
 them legally recognised4 ,here1 it was 
far otherwise3 the ,protestantism of    
,scotland was the creation of the       
commons1 as in turn the commons may be  

said to have been created by            
,protestantism4 ,there were many young  
high-spirited men1 belonging to the     
noblest families in the country1 who    
were among the earliest to rally round  
the ,reforming preachers2 but authority1
 both in ,church and ,state1 set the    
other way4 ,the congregations who       
gathered in the fields around ,wishart  
and ,john ,knox were1 for the most part1
 farmers1 labourers1 artisans1          
tradesmen1 or the smaller gentry2 and   
thus1 for the first time in ,scotland1  
there was created an organisation of men
 detached from the lords and from the   
,church--brave1 noble1 resolute1 daring 
people1 bound together by a sacred      
cause1 unrecognised by the leaders whom 
they had followed hitherto with         
undoubting allegiance4 ,that spirit     
which grew in time to be the ruling     
power of ,scotland--that which formed   
eventually its laws and its creed1 and  
determined its after fortunes as a      
nation--had its first germ in these     

half-outlawed wandering congregations4  
,in this it was that the ,reformation in
 ,scotland differed from the            
,reformation in any other part of       
,europe4 ,elsewhere it found a middle   
class existing--created already by trade
 or by other causes4 ,it raised and     
elevated them1 but it did not materially
 affect their political condition4 ,in  
,scotland1 the commons1 as an organised 
body1 were simply created by religion4  
,before the ,reformation they had no    
political existence2 and therefore it   
has been that the print of their origin 
has gone so deeply into their social    
constitution4 ,on them1 and them only1  
the burden of the work of the           
,reformation was eventually thrown2 and 
when they triumphed at last1 it was     
inevitable that both they and it should 
react one upon the other4  ,how this    
came about ,i must endeavour to         
describe1 although ,i can give but a    
brief sketch of an exceedingly          
complicated matter4 ,everybody knows the

 part played by the aristocracy of      
,scotland in the outward revolution1    
when the ,reformation first became the  
law of the land4 ,it would seem at first
 sight as if it had been the work of the
 whole nation--as if it had been a thing
 on which high and low were heartily    
united4 ,yet on the first glance below  
the surface you see that the greater    
part of the noble lords concerned in    
that business cared nothing about the   
,reformation at all2 or1 if they cared1 
they rather disliked it than otherwise4 
,how1 then1 did they come to act as they
 did8 or1 how came they to permit a     
change of such magnitude when they had  
so little sympathy with it8 ,i must make
 a slight circuit to look for the       
explanation4  ,the one essentially noble
 feature in the great families of       
,scotland was their patriotism4 ,they   
loved ,scotland and ,scotland's freedom 
with a passion proportioned to the      
difficulty with which they had defended 
their liberties2 and yet the wisest of  

them had long seen that1 sooner or      
later1 union with ,england was          
inevitable2 and the question was1 how   
that union was to be brought about--how 
they were to make sure that1 when it    
came1 they should take their place at   
,england's side as equals1 and not as a 
dependency4 ,it had been arranged that  
the little ,mary ,stuart should marry   
our ,english ,edward ,,vi41 and the     
difficulty was to be settled so4 ,they  
would have been contented1 they said1 if
 ,scotland had had the 'lad' and        
,england the 'lass4' ,as it stood1 they 
broke their bargain1 and married the    
little queen away into ,france1 to      
prevent the ,protector ,somerset from   
getting hold of her4 ,then1 however1    
appeared an opposite danger2 the queen  
would become a ,frenchwoman2 her ,french
 mother governed ,scotland with ,french 
troops and ,french ministers2 the       
country would become a ,french province1
 and lose its freedom equally4 ,thus an 
,english party began again2 and as      

,england was then in the middle of her  
great anti-,church revolution1 so the   
,scottish nobles began to be            
anti-,church4 ,it was not for doctrines3
 neither they nor their brothers in     
,england cared much about doctrines2 but
 in both countries the ,church was      
rich--much richer than there seemed any 
occasion for it to be4 ,harry the       
,eighth had been sharing among the laity
 the spoils of the ,english monasteries2
 the ,scotch ,lords saw in a similar    
process the probability of a welcome    
addition to their own scanty incomes4   
,mary of ,guise and the ,french stood by
 the ,church1 and the ,church stood by  
them2 and so it came about that the     
great families--even those who1 like the
 ,hamiltons1 were most closely connected
 with ,france--were tempted over by the 
bait to the other side4 ,they did not   
want reformed doctrines1 but they wanted
 the ,church lands2 and so they came to 
patronise1 or endure1 the ,reformers1   
because the ,church hated them1 and     

because they weakened the ,church2 and  
thus for a time1 and especially as long 
as ,mary ,stuart was ,queen of ,france1 
all classes in ,scotland1 high and low1 
seemed to fraternise in favour of the   
revolution4  ,and it seemed as if the   
union of the realms could be effected at
 last1 at the same juncture1 and in     
connexion with the same movement4 ,next 
in succession to the ,scotch crown1     
after ,mary ,stuart1 was the house of   
,hamilton4 ,elizabeth1 who had just come
 to the ,english throne1 was supposed to
 be in want of a husband4 ,the heir of  
the ,hamiltons was of her own age1 and  
in years past had been thought of for   
her by her father4 ,what could be more  
fit than to make a match between those  
two8 ,send a ,scot south to be ,king of 
,england1 find or make some pretext to  
shake off ,mary ,stuart1 who had        
forsaken her native country1 and so join
 the crowns1 the 'lass' and the 'lad'   
being now in the right relative         
position4 ,scotland would thus annex her

 old oppressor1 and give her a new      
dynasty4  ,i seem to be straying from   
the point2 but these political schemes  
had so much to do with the actions of   
the leading men at that time1 that the  
story of the ,reformation cannot be     
understood without them4 ,it was thus1  
and with these incongruous objects1 that
 the combination was formed which       
overturned the old ,church of ,scotland 
in #aeei-fj1 confiscated its            
possessions1 destroyed its religious    
houses1 and changed its creed4 ,the     
,french were driven away from ,leith by 
,elizabeth's troops2 the ,reformers took
 possession of the churches2 and the    
,parliament of #aefj met with a clear   
stage to determine for themselves the   
future fate of the country4 ,now1 ,i    
think it certain that1 if the ,scotch   
nobility1 having once accepted the      
,reformation1 had continued loyal to    
it--especially if ,elizabeth had met    
their wishes in the important point of  
the marriage--the form of the ,scotch   

,kirk would have been something         
extremely different from what it in fact
 became4 ,the people were perfectly well
 inclined to follow their natural       
leaders if the matters on which their   
hearts were set had received tolerable  
consideration from them1 and the        
democratic form of the ecclesiastical   
constitution would have been inevitably 
modified4 ,one of the conditions of the 
proposed compact with ,england was the  
introduction of the ,english ,liturgy   
and the ,english ,church constitution4  
,this too1 at the outset1 and with fair 
dealing1 would not have been found      
impossible4 ,but it soon became clear   
that the religious interests of         
,scotland were the very last thing which
 would receive consideration from any of
 the high political personages          
concerned4 ,john ,knox had dreamt of a  
constitution like that which he had seen
 working under ,calvin at ,geneva--a    
constitution in which the clergy as     
ministers of ,god should rule all       

things--rule politically at the council 
board1 and rule in private at the       
fireside4 ,it was soon made plain to    
,knox that ,scotland was not ,geneva4   
',eh1 mon1' said the younger ,maitland  
to him1 'then we may all bear the barrow
 now to build the ,house of the ,lord4' 
,not exactly4 ,the churches were left to
 the ministers2 the worldly good things 
and worldly power remained with the     
laity2 and as to religion1 circumstances
 would decide what they would do about  
that4 ,again1 ,i am not speaking of all 
the great men of those times4           
,glencairn1 ,ruthven1 young             
,argyll--above all1 the ,earl of        
,moray--really did in some degree       
interest themselves in the ,kirk4 ,but  
what most of them felt was perhaps      
rather broadly expressed by ,maitland   
when he called religion 'a bogle of the 
nursery4' ,that was the expression which
 a ,scotch statesman of those days      
actually ventured to use4 ,had          
,elizabeth been conformable1 no doubt   

they would in some sense or other have  
remained on the side of the             
,reformation4 ,but here1 too1 there was 
a serious hitch4 ,elizabeth would not   
marry ,arran4 ,elizabeth would be no    
party to any of their intrigues4 ,she   
detested ,knox4 ,she detested           
,protestantism entirely1 in all shapes  
in which ,knox approved of it4 ,she     
affronted the nobles on one side1 she   
affronted the people on another2 and all
 idea of uniting the two crowns after   
the fashion proposed by the ,scotch     
,parliament she utterly and entirely    
repudiated4 ,she was right enough1      
perhaps1 so far as this was concerned2  
but she left the ruling families        
extremely perplexed as to the course    
which they would follow4 ,they had      
allowed the country to be revolutionised
 in the teeth of their own sovereign1   
and what to do next they did not very   
well know4  ,it was at this crisis that 
circumstances came in to their help4    
,francis the ,second died4 ,mary ,stuart

 was left a childless widow4 ,her       
connexion with the ,crown of ,france was
 at an end1 and all danger on that side 
to the liberties of ,scotland at an end 
also4 ,the ,arran scheme having failed1 
she would be a second card as good as   
the first to play for the ,english      
,crown--as good as he1 or better1 for   
she would have the ,english ,catholics  
on her side4 ,so1 careless how it would 
affect religion1 and making no condition
 at all about that1 the same men who a  
year before were ready to whistle ,mary 
,stuart down the wind1 now invited her  
back to ,scotland2 the same men who had 
been the loudest friends of ,elizabeth  
now encouraged ,mary ,stuart to persist 
in the pretension to the ,crown of      
,england1 which had led to all the past 
trouble4 ,while in ,france1 she had     
assumed the title of ,queen of ,england4
 ,she had promised to abandon it1 but1  
finding her own people ready to support 
her in withdrawing her promise1 she     
stood out1 insisting that at all events 

the ,english ,parliament should declare 
her next in the succession2 and it was  
well known that1 as soon as the         
succession was made sure in her favour1 
some rascal would be found to put a     
knife or a bullet into ,elizabeth4 ,the 
object of the ,scotch nobles was        
political1 national1 patriotic4 ,for    
religion it was no great matter either  
way2 and as they had before acted with  
the ,protestants1 so now they were ready
 to turn about1 and openly or tacitly   
act with the ,catholics4 ,mary ,stuart's
 friends in ,england and on the         
,continent were ,catholics1 and         
therefore it would not do to offend     
them4 ,first1 she was allowed to have   
mass at ,holyrood2 then there was a move
 for a broader toleration4 ,that one    
mass1 ,knox said1 was more terrible to  
him than ten thousand armed men landed  
in the country--and he had perfectly    
good reason for saying so4 ,he          
thoroughly understood that it was the   
first step towards a counter-revolution 

which in time would cover all ,scotland 
and ,england1 and carry them back to    
,popery4 ,yet he preached to deaf ears4 
,even ,murray was so bewitched with the 
notion of the ,english succession1 that 
for a year and a half he ceased to speak
 to ,knox2 and as it was with ,murray1  
so it was far more with all the         
rest--their zeal for religion was gone  
no one knew where4 ,of course ,elizabeth
 would not give way4 ,she might as well1
 she said1 herself prepare her shroud2  
and then conspiracies came1 and         
under-ground intrigues with the         
,romanist ,english noblemen4 ,france and
 ,spain were to invade ,england1        
,scotland was to open its ports to their
 fleets1 and its soil to their armies1  
giving them a safe base from which to   
act1 and a dry road over the ,marches to
 ,london4 ,and if ,scotland had remained
 unchanged from what it had been--had   
the direction of its fortunes remained  
with the prince and with the nobles1    
sooner or later it would have come to   

this4 ,but suddenly it appeared that    
there was a new power in this country   
which no one suspected till it was felt4
  ,the commons of ,scotland had hitherto
 been the creatures of the nobles4 ,they
 had neither will nor opinion of their  
own4 ,they thought and acted in the     
spirit of their immediate allegiance4   
,no one seems to have dreamt that there 
would be any difficulty in dealing with 
them if once the great families agreed  
upon a common course4 ,yet it appeared1 
when the pressure came1 that religion1  
which was the play-thing of the nobles1 
was to the people a clear matter of life
 and death4 ,they might love their      
country3 they might be proud of anything
 which would add lustre to its crown2   
but if it was to bring back the ,pope   
and ,popery--if it threatened to bring  
them back--if it looked that way--they  
would have nothing to do with it2 nor   
would they allow it to be done4         
,allegiance was well enough2 but there  
was a higher allegiance suddenly        

discovered which superseded all earthly 
considerations4 ,i know nothing finer in
 ,scottish history than the way in which
 the commons of the ,lowlands took their
 places by the side of ,knox in the     
great convulsions which followed4 ,if   
all others forsook him1 they at least   
would never forsake him while tongue    
remained to speak and hand remained to  
strike4 ,broken they might have been1   
trampled out as the ,huguenots at last  
were trampled out in ,france1 had ,mary 
,stuart been less than the most         
imprudent or the most unlucky of        
sovereigns4 ,but ,providence1 or the    
folly of those with whom they had to    
deal1 fought for them4 ,i need not      
follow the wild story of the crimes and 
catastrophes in which ,mary ,stuart's   
short reign in ,scotland closed4        
,neither is her own share1 be it great  
or small1 or none at all1 in those      
crimes of any moment to us here4 ,it is 
enough that1 both before that strange   
business and after it1 when at ,holyrood

 or across the ,border1 in ,sheffield or
 ,tutbury1 her ever favourite dream was 
still the ,english throne4 ,her road    
towards it was through a ,catholic      
revolution and the murder of ,elizabeth4
 ,it is enough that1 both before and    
after1 the aristocracy of ,scotland1    
even those among them who had seemed    
most zealous for the ,reformation1 were 
eager to support her4 ,john ,knox alone1
 and the commons1 whom ,knox had raised 
into a political power1 remained true4  
,much1 indeed1 is to be said for the    
,scotch nobles4 ,in the first shock of  
the business at ,kirk-o'-,field1 they   
forgot their politics in a sense of     
national disgrace4 ,they sent the queen 
to ,loch ,leven4 ,they intended to bring
 her to trial1 and1 if she was proved   
guilty1 to expose and perhaps punish    
her4 ,all parties for a time agreed in  
this--even the ,hamiltons themselves2   
and had they been left alone they would 
have done it4 ,but they had a perverse  
neighbour in ,england1 to whom crowned  

heads were sacred4 ,elizabeth1 it might 
have been thought1 would have had no    
particular objection2 but ,elizabeth had
 aims of her own which baffled          
calculation4 ,elizabeth1 the            
representative of revolution1 yet       
detested revolutionists4 ,the ,reformers
 in ,scotland1 the ,huguenots in        
,france1 the insurgents in the ,united  
,provinces1 were the only friends she   
had in ,europe4 ,for her own safety she 
was obliged to encourage them2 yet she  
hated them all1 and would at any moment 
have abandoned them all1 if1 in any     
other way1 she could have secured       
herself4 ,she might have conquered her  
personal objection to ,knox--she could  
not conquer her aversion to a ,church   
which rose out of revolt against        
authority1 which was democratic in      
constitution and republican in politics4
 ,when driven into alliance with the    
,scotch ,protestants1 she angrily and   
passionately disclaimed any community of
 creed with them2 and for subjects to   

sit in judgment on their prince was a   
precedent which she would not tolerate4 
,thus she flung her mantle over ,mary   
,stuart4 ,she told the ,scotch ,council 
here in ,edinburgh that1 if they hurt a 
hair of her head1 she would harry their 
country1 and hang them all on the trees 
round the town1 if she could find any   
trees there for that purpose4 ,she      
tempted the queen to ,england with her  
fair promises after the battle of       
,langside1 and then1 to her             
astonishment1 imprisoned her4 ,yet she  
still shielded her reputation1 still    
fostered her party in ,scotland1 still  
incessantly threatened and incessantly  
endeavoured to restore her4 ,she kept   
her safe1 because1 in her lucid         
intervals1 her ministers showed her the 
madness of acting otherwise4 ,yet for   
three years she kept her own people in a
 fever of apprehension4 ,she made a     
settled ,government in ,scotland        
impossible2 till1 distracted and        
perplexed1 the ,scottish statesmen went 

back to their first schemes4 ,they      
assured themselves that in one way or   
other the ,queen of ,scots would sooner 
or later come again among them4 ,they1  
and others besides them1 believed that  
,elizabeth was cutting her own throat1  
and that the best that they could do was
 to recover their own queen's favour1   
and make the most of her and her titles2
 and so they lent themselves again to   
the ,english ,catholic conspiracies4    
,the ,earl of ,moray--the one supremely 
noble man then living in the            
country--was put out of the way by an   
assassin4 ,french and ,spanish money    
poured in1 and ,french and ,spanish     
armies were to be again invited over to 
,scotland4 ,this is the form in which   
the drama unfolds itself in the         
correspondence of the time4 ,maitland1  
the soul and spirit of it all1 said1 in 
scorn1 that 'he would make the ,queen of
 ,england sit upon her tail and whine   
like a whipped dog4' ,the only powerful 
noblemen who remained on the ,protestant

 side were ,lennox1 ,morton1 and ,mar4  
,lord ,lennox was a poor creature1 and  
was soon dispatched2 ,mar was old and   
weak2 and ,morton was an unprincipled   
scoundrel1 who used the ,reformation    
only as a stalking-horse to cover the   
spoils which he had clutched in the     
confusion1 and was ready to desert the  
cause at any moment if the balance of   
advantage shifted4 ,even the ministers  
of the ,kirk were fooled and flattered  
over4 ,maitland told ,mary ,stuart that 
he had gained them all except one4      
,john ,knox alone defied both his       
threats and his persuasions4 ,good      
reason has ,scotland to be proud of     
,knox4 ,he only1 in this wild crisis1   
saved the ,kirk which he had founded1   
and saved with it ,scottish and ,english
 freedom4 ,but for ,knox1 and what he   
was able still to do1 it is almost      
certain that the ,duke of ,alva's army  
would have been landed on the eastern   
coast4 ,the conditions were drawn out   
and agreed upon for the reception1 the  

support1 and the stay of the ,spanish   
troops4 ,two-thirds of the ,english     
peerage had bound themselves to rise    
against ,elizabeth1 and ,alva waited    
only till ,scotland itself was quiet4   
,only that quiet would not be4 ,instead 
of quiet came three dreadful years of   
civil war4 ,scotland was split into     
factions1 to which the mother and son   
gave names4 ,the queen's lords1 as they 
were called1 with unlimited money from  
,france and ,flanders1 held ,edinburgh  
and ,glasgow2 all the border line was   
theirs1 and all the north and west4     
,elizabeth's ,council1 wiser than their 
mistress1 barely squeezed out of her    
reluctant parsimony enough to keep ,mar 
and ,morton from making terms with the  
rest2 but there her assistance ended4   
,she would still say nothing1 promise   
nothing1 bind herself to nothing1 and1  
so far as she was concerned1 the war    
would have been soon enough brought to a
 close4 ,but away at ,st4 ,andrews1     
,john ,knox1 broken in body1 and        

scarcely able to stagger up the pulpit  
stairs1 still thundered in the parish   
church2 and his voice1 it was said1 was 
like ten thousand trumpets braying in   
the ear of ,scottish ,protestantism4    
,all the ,lowlands answered to his call4
 ,our ,english ,cromwell found in the   
man of religion a match for the man of  
honour4 ,before ,cromwell1 all over the 
,lothians1 and across from ,st4 ,andrews
 to ,stirling and ,glasgow--through     
farm1 and town1 and village--the words  
of ,knox had struck the inmost chords of
 the ,scottish commons' hearts4 ,passing
 over knight and noble1 he had touched  
the farmer1 the peasant1 the petty      
tradesman1 and the artisan1 and turned  
the men of clay into men of steel4 ,the 
village preacher1 when he left his      
pulpit1 doffed cap and cassock1 and     
donned morion and steel-coat4 ,the      
,lothian yeoman's household became for  
the nonce a band of troopers1 who would 
cross swords with the night riders of   
,buccleuch4 ,it was a terrible time1 a  

time rather of anarchy than of defined  
war1 for it was without form or shape4  
,yet the horror of it was everywhere4   
,houses and villages were burned1 and   
women and children tossed on pike-point 
into the flames4 ,strings of poor men   
were dangled day after day from the     
walls of ,edinburgh ,castle4 ,a word any
 way from ,elizabeth would have ended   
it1 but that word ,elizabeth would never
 speak2 and1 maddened with suffering1   
the people half believed that she was   
feeding the fire for her own bad        
purposes1 when it was only that she     
would not make up her mind to allow a   
crowned princess to be dethroned4 ,no   
earthly influence could have held men   
true in such a trial4 ,the noble        
lords--the ,earl of ,morton and         
such-like--would have made their own    
conditions1 and gone with the rest2 but 
the vital force of the ,scotch nation1  
showing itself where it was least looked
 for1 would not have it so4  ,a very    
remarkable account of the state of the  

,scotch commons at this time is to be   
found in a letter of an ,english        
emissary1 who had been sent by ,lord    
,burleigh to see how things were going  
there4 ,it was not merely a new creed   
that they had got2 it was a new vital   
power4 ',you would be astonished to see 
how men are changed here1' this writer  
said4 ',there is little of that         
submission to those above them which    
there used to be4 ,the poor think and   
act for themselves4 ,they are growing   
strong1 confident1 independent4 ,the    
farms are better cultivated2 the farmers
 are growing rich4 ,the merchants at    
,leith are thriving1 and1               
notwithstanding the pirates1 they are   
increasing their ships and opening a    
brisk trade with ,france4'  ,all this   
while civil war was raging1 and the flag
 of ,queen ,mary was still floating over
 ,edinburgh ,castle4 ,it surprised the  
,english2 still more it surprised the   
politicians4 ,it was the one thing which
 disconcerted1 baffled1 and finally     

ruined the schemes and the dreams of    
,maitland4 ,when he had gained the      
aristocracy1 he thought that he had     
gained everybody1 and1 as it turned out1
 he had all his work still to do4 ,the  
,spaniards did not come4 ,the prudent   
,alva would not risk invasion till      
,scotland at least was assured4 ,as time
 passed on1 the ,english conspiracies   
were discovered and broken up4 ,the     
,duke of ,norfolk lost his head2 the    
,queen of ,scots was found to have been 
mixed up with the plots to murder       
,elizabeth2 and ,elizabeth at last took 
courage and recognised ,james4 ,supplies
 of money ceased to come from abroad1   
and gradually the tide turned4 ,the     
,protestant cause once more grew towards
 the ascendant4 ,the great families one 
by one came round again2 and1 as the    
backward movement began1 the ,massacre  
of ,st4 ,bartholomew gave it a fresh and
 tremendous impulse4 ,even the avowed   
,catholics--the ,hamiltons1 the         
,gordons1 the ,scotts1 the ,kers1 the   

,maxwells--quailed before the wail of   
rage and sorrow which at that great     
horror rose over their country4 ,the    
,queen's party dwindled away to a       
handful of desperate politicians1 who   
still clung to ,edinburgh ,castle4 ,but 
,elizabeth's 'peace-makers1' as the big 
,english cannon were called1 came round1
 at the ,regent's request1 from         
,berwick2 ,david's tower1 as ,knox had  
long ago foretold1 'ran down over the   
cliff like a sandy brae2' and the cause 
of ,mary ,stuart in ,scotland was       
extinguished for ever4 ,poor ,grange1   
who deserved a better end1 was hanged at
 the ,market ,cross4 ,secretary         
,maitland1 the cause of all the         
mischief--the cleverest man1 as far as  
intellect went1 in all ,britain--died   
7so later rumour said7 by his own hand4 
,a nobler version of his end is probably
 a truer one3 ,he had been long ill--so 
ill that when the ,castle cannon were   
fired1 he had been carried into the     
cellars as unable to bear the sound4    

,the breaking down of his hopes finished
 him4 ',the secretary1' wrote some one  
from the spot to ,cecil1 'is dead of    
grief1 being unable to endure the great 
hatred which all this people bears      
towards him4' ,it would be well if some 
competent man would write a life of     
,maitland1 or at least edit his papers4 
,they contain by far the clearest       
account of the inward movements of the  
time2 and he himself is one of the most 
tragically interesting characters in the
 cycle of the ,reformation history4     
,with the fall of the ,castle1 then1 but
 not till then1 it became clear to all  
men that the ,reformation would hold its
 ground4 ,it was the final trampling out
 of the fire which for five years had   
threatened both ,england and ,scotland  
with flames and ruin4 ,for five         
years--as late certainly as the massacre
 of ,st4 ,bartholomew--those who        
understood best the true state of       
things1 felt the keenest misgivings how 
the event would turn4 ,that things ended

 as they did was due to the spirit of   
the ,scotch commons4 ,there was a moment
 when1 if they had given way1 all would 
have gone1 perhaps even to ,elizabeth's 
throne4 ,they had passed for nothing2   
they had proved to be everything2 had   
proved--the ultimate test in human      
things--to be the power which could hit 
the hardest blows1 and they took rank   
accordingly4 ,the creed began now in    
good earnest to make its way into hall  
and castle2 but it kept the form which  
it assumed in the first hours of its    
danger and trial1 and never after lost  
it4 ,had the aristocracy dealt sincerely
 with things in the earlier stages of   
the business1 again ,i say the          
democratic element in the ,kirk might   
have been softened or modified4 ,but the
 ,protestants had been trifled with by  
their own natural leaders4 ,used and    
abused by ,elizabeth1 despised by the   
worldly intelligence and power of the   
times--they triumphed after all1 and1 as
 a natural consequence1 they set their  

own mark and stamp upon the fruits of   
the victory4  ,the question now is1 what
 has the ,kirk so established done for  
,scotland8 ,has it justified its own    
existence8 ,briefly1 we might say1 it   
has continued its first function as the 
guardian of ,scottish freedom4 ,but that
 is a vague phrase1 and there are       
special accusations against the ,kirk   
and its doctrines which imply that it   
has cared for other things than freedom4
 ,narrow1 fanatical1 dictatorial1       
intrusive1 superstitious1 a spiritual   
despotism1 the old priesthood over again
 with a new face--these and other such  
epithets and expressions we have heard  
often enough applied to it at more than 
one stage of its history4 ,well1 ,i     
suppose that neither the ,kirk nor      
anything else of man's making is        
altogether perfect4 ,but let us look at 
the work which lay before it when it had
 got over its first perils4 ,scotch     
patriotism succeeded at last in the     
object it had so passionately set its   

heart upon4 ,it sent a king at last of  
the ,scotch blood to ,england1 and a new
 dynasty2 and it never knew peace or    
quiet after4 ,the ,kirk had stood       
between ,james ,stuart and his          
kingcraft4 ,he hated it as heartily as  
did his mother2 and1 when he got to     
,england1 he found people there who told
 him it would be easy to destroy it1 and
 he found the strength of a fresh empire
 to back him in trying to do it4 ,to    
have forced prelacy upon ,scotland would
 have been to destroy the life out of   
,scotland4 ,thrust upon them by force1  
it would have been no more endurable    
than ,popery4 ,they would as soon1      
perhaps sooner1 have had what the ,irish
 call the 'rale thing' back again4 ,the 
political freedom of the country was now
 wrapped up in the ,kirk2 and the       
,stuarts were perfectly well aware of   
that1 and for that very reason began    
their crusade against it4  ,and now1    
suppose the ,kirk had been the broad1   
liberal1 philosophical1 intellectual    

thing which some people think it ought  
to have been1 how would it have fared in
 that crusade2 how altogether would it  
have encountered those surplices of     
,archbishop ,laud or those dragoons of  
,claverhouse8 ,it is hard to lose one's 
life for a 'perhaps1' and philosophical 
belief at the bottom means a 'perhaps'  
and nothing more4 ,for more than half   
the seventeenth century1 the battle had 
to be fought out in ,scotland1 which in 
reality was the battle between liberty  
and despotism2 and where1 except in an  
intense1 burning conviction that they   
were maintaining ,god's cause against   
the devil1 could the poor ,scotch people
 have found the strength for the unequal
 struggle which was forced upon them8   
,toleration is a good thing in its      
place2 but you cannot tolerate what will
 not tolerate you1 and is trying to cut 
your throat4 ,enlightenment you cannot  
have enough of1 but it must be true     
enlightenment1 which sees a thing in all
 its bearings4 ,in these matters the    

vital questions are not always those    
which appear on the surface2 and in the 
passion and resolution of brave and     
noble men there is often an inarticulate
 intelligence deeper than what can be   
expressed in words4 ,action sometimes   
will hit the mark1 when the spoken word 
either misses it or is but half the     
truth4 ,on such subjects1 and with      
common men1 latitude of mind means      
weakness of mind4 ,there is but a       
certain quantity of spiritual force in  
any man4 ,spread it over a broad        
surface1 the stream is shallow and      
languid2 narrow the channel1 and it     
becomes a driving force4 ,each may be   
well at its own time4 ,the mill-race    
which drives the water-wheel is         
dispersed in rivulets over the meadow at
 its foot4 ,the ,covenanters fought the 
fight and won the victory1 and then1 and
 not till then1 came the ,david ,humes  
with their essays on miracles1 and the  
,adam ,smiths with their political      
economies1 and steam-engines1 and       

railroads1 and philosophical            
institutions1 and all the other blessed 
or unblessed fruits of liberty4  ,but we
 may go further4 ,institutions exist for
 men1 not men for institutions2 and the 
ultimate test of any system of politics1
 or body of opinions1 or form of belief1
 is the effect produced on the conduct  
and condition of the people who live and
 die under them4 ,now1 ,i am not here to
 speak of ,scotland of the present day4 
,that1 happily1 is no business of mine4 
,we have to do here with ,scotland      
before the march of intellect2 with     
,scotland of the last two centuries2    
with the three or four hundred thousand 
families1 who for half-a-score of       
generations believed simply and firmly  
in the principles of the ,reformation1  
and walked in the ways of it4  ,looked  
at broadly1 one would say they had been 
an eminently pious people4 ,it is part  
of the complaint of modern philosophers 
about them1 that religion1 or           
superstition1 or whatever they please to

 call it1 had too much to do with their 
daily lives4 ,so far as one can look    
into that commonplace round of things   
which historians never tell us about1   
there have rarely been seen in this     
world a set of people who have thought  
more about right and wrong1 and the     
judgment about them of the upper powers4
 ,long-headed1 thrifty industry1--a     
sound hatred of waste1 imprudence1      
idleness1 extravagance1--the feet       
planted firmly upon the earth1--a       
conscientious sense that the worldly    
virtues are1 nevertheless1 very         
necessary virtues1 that without these1  
honesty for one thing is not possible1  
and that without honesty no other       
excellence1 religious or moral1 is worth
 anything at all--this is the stuff of  
which ,scotch life was made1 and very   
good stuff it is4 ,it has been called   
gloomy1 austere1 harsh1 and such other  
epithets4 ,a gifted modern writer has   
favoured us lately with long strings of 
extracts from the sermons of ,scotch    

divines of the last century1 taking hard
 views of human shortcomings and their  
probable consequences1 and passing hard 
censures upon the world and its         
amusements4 ,well1 no doubt amusement is
 a very good thing2 but ,i should rather
 infer from the vehemence and frequency 
of these denunciations that the people  
had not been in the habit of denying    
themselves too immoderately2 and1 after 
all1 it is no very hard charge against  
those teachers that they thought more of
 duty than of pleasure4 ,sermons always 
exaggerate the theoretic side of things2
 and the most austere preacher1 when he 
is out of the pulpit1 and you meet him  
at the dinner-table1 becomes singularly 
like other people4 ,we may take courage1
 ,i think1 we may believe safely that in
 those minister-ridden days1 men were   
not altogether so miserable2 we may hope
 that no large body of human beings have
 for any length of time been too        
dangerously afraid of enjoyment4 ,among 
other good qualities1 the ,scots have   

been distinguished for humour--not for  
venomous wit1 but for kindly1 genial    
humour1 which half loves what it laughs 
at--and this alone shows clearly enough 
that those to whom it belongs have not  
looked too exclusively on the gloomy    
side of the world4 ,i should rather say 
that the ,scots had been an unusually   
happy people4 ,intelligent industry1 the
 honest doing of daily work1 with a     
sense that it must be done well1 under  
penalties2 the necessaries of life      
moderately provided for2 and a sensible 
content with the situation of life in   
which men are born--this through the    
week1 and at the end of it the          
',cottar's ,saturday ,night'--the homely
 family1 gathered reverently and        
peacefully together1 and irradiated with
 a sacred presence4--,happiness6 such   
happiness as we human creatures are     
likely to know upon this world1 will be 
found there1 if anywhere4  ,the author  
of the ',history of ,civilisation' makes
 a nave remark in connexion with this   

subject4 ,speaking of the other country1
 which he censures equally with         
,scotland for its slavery to            
superstition1 he says of the ,spaniards 
that they are a well-natured1 truthful1 
industrious1 temperate1 pious people1   
innocent in their habits1 affectionate  
in their families1 full of humour1      
vivacity1 and shrewdness1 yet that all  
this 'has availed them nothing'--'has   
availed them nothing1' that is his      
expression--because they are loyal1     
because they are credulous1 because they
 are contented1 because they have not   
apprehended the first commandment of the
 new covenant3 ',thou shalt get on and  
make money1 and better thy condition in 
life2' because1 therefore1 they have    
added nothing to the scientific         
knowledge1 the wealth1 and the progress 
of mankind4 ,without these1 it seems1   
the old-fashioned virtues avail nothing4
 ,they avail a great deal to human      
happiness4 ,applied science1 and steam1 
and railroads1 and machinery1 enable an 

ever-increasing number of people to live
 upon the earth2 but the happiness of   
those people remains1 so far as ,i know1
 dependent very much on the old         
conditions4 ,i should be glad to believe
 that the new views of things will      
produce effects upon the character in   
the long run half so beautiful4  ,there 
is much more to say on this subject1    
were there time to say it1 but ,i will  
not trespass too far upon your patience2
 and ,i would gladly have ended here1   
had not the mention of ,spain suggested 
one other topic1 which ,i should not    
leave unnoticed4 ,the ,spain of         
,cervantes and ,don ,quixote was the    
,spain of the ,inquisition4 ,the        
,scotland of ,knox and ,melville was the
 ,scotland of the witch trials and witch
 burnings4 ,the belief in witches was   
common to all the world4 ,the           
prosecution and punishment of the poor  
creatures was more conspicuous in       
,scotland when the ,kirk was most       
powerful2 in ,england and ,new ,england1

 when ,puritan principles were also     
dominant there4 ,it is easy to          
understand the reasons4 ,evil of all    
kinds was supposed to be the work of a  
personal devil2 and in the general      
horror of evil1 this particular form of 
it1 in which the devil was thought      
especially active1 excited the most     
passionate detestation4 ,thus1 even the 
best men lent themselves unconsciously  
to the most detestable cruelty4 ,knox   
himself is not free from reproach4 ,a   
poor woman was burned at ,st4 ,andrews  
when he was living there1 and when a    
word from him would have saved her4 ,it 
remains a lesson to all time1 that      
goodness1 though the indispensable      
adjunct to knowledge1 is no substitute  
for it2 that when conscience undertakes 
to dictate beyond its province1 the     
result is only the more monstrous4  ,it 
is well that we should look this matter 
in the face2 and as particular stories  
leave more impression than general      
statements1 ,i will mention one1        

perfectly well authenticated1 which ,i  
take from the official report of the    
proceedings3--,towards the end of #aeic 
there was trouble in the family of the  
,earl of ,orkney4 ,his brother laid a   
plot to murder him1 and was said to have
 sought the help of a 'notorious witch' 
called ,alison ,balfour4 ,when ,alison  
,balfour's life was looked into1 no     
evidence could be found connecting her  
either with the particular offence or   
with witchcraft in general2 but it was  
enough in these matters to be accused4  
,she swore she was innocent2 but her    
guilt was only held to be aggravated by 
perjury4 ,she was tortured again and    
again4 ,her legs were put in the        
caschilaws--an iron frame which was     
gradually heated till it burned into the
 flesh--but no confession could be wrung
 from her4 ,the caschilaws failed       
utterly1 and something else had to be   
tried4 ,she had a husband1 a son1 and a 
daughter1 a child seven years old4 ,as  
her own sufferings did not work upon    

her1 she might be touched1 perhaps1 by  
the sufferings of those who were dear to
 her4 ,they were brought into court1 and
 placed at her side2 and the husband    
first was placed in the 'lang           
irons'--some accursed instrument2 ,i    
know not what4 ,still the devil did not 
yield4 ,she bore this2 and her son was  
next operated on4 ,the boy's legs were  
set in 'the boot1'--the iron boot you   
may have heard of4 ,the wedges were     
driven in1 which1 when forced home1     
crushed the very bone and marrow4       
,fifty-seven mallet strokes were        
delivered upon the wedges4 ,yet this1   
too1 failed4 ,there was no confession   
yet4 ,so1 last of all1 the little       
daughter was taken4 ,there was a machine
 called the piniwinkies--a kind of      
thumbscrew1 which brought blood from    
under the finger nails1 with a pain     
successfully terrible4 ,these things    
were applied to the poor child's hands1 
and the mother's constancy broke down1  
and she said she would admit anything   

they wished4 ,she confessed her         
witchcraft--so tried1 she would have    
confessed to the seven deadly sins--and 
then she was burned1 recalling her      
confession1 and with her last breath    
protesting her innocence4  ,it is due to
 the intelligence of the time to admit  
that after this her guilt was doubted1  
and such vicarious means of extorting   
confession do not seem to have been     
tried again4 ,yet the men who inflicted 
these tortures would have borne them all
 themselves sooner than have done any   
act which they consciously knew to be   
wrong4 ,they did not know that the      
instincts of humanity were more sacred  
than the logic of theology1 and in      
fighting against the devil they were    
themselves doing the devil's work4 ,we  
should not attempt to apologise for     
these things1 still less to forget them4
 ,no martyrs ever suffered to instil    
into mankind a more wholesome           
lesson--more wholesome1 or one more hard
 to learn4 ,the more conscientious men  

are1 the more difficult it is for them  
to understand that in their most        
cherished convictions1 when they pass   
beyond the limits where the wise and    
good of all sorts agree1 they may be the
 victims of mere delusion4 ,yet1 after  
all1 and happily1 such cases were but   
few1 and affected but lightly the       
general condition of the people4  ,the  
student running over the records of     
other times finds certain salient things
 standing out in frightful prominence4  
,he concludes that the substance of     
those times was made up of the matters  
most dwelt on by the annalist4 ,he      
forgets that the things most noticed are
 not those of every-day experience1 but 
the abnormal1 the extraordinary1 the    
monstrous4 ,the exceptions are noted    
down1 the common and usual is passed    
over in silence4 ,the philosophic       
historian1 studying hereafter this      
present age1 in which we are ourselves  
living1 may say that it was a time of   
unexampled prosperity1 luxury1 and      

wealth2 but catching at certain horrible
 murders which have lately disgraced our
 civilisation1 may call us a nation of  
assassins4 ,it is to invert the pyramid 
and stand it on its point4 ,the same    
system of belief which produced the     
tragedy which ,i have described1 in its 
proper province as the guide of ordinary
 life1 has been the immediate cause of  
all that is best and greatest in        
,scottish character4     ,,the          
,,philosophy ,,of ,,catholicism4,c      
,not long ago ,i heard a living thinker 
of some eminence say that he considered 
,christianity to have been a misfortune4
 ,intellectually1 he said1 it was       
absurd2 and practically1 it was an      
offence1 over which he stumbled4 ,it    
would have been far better for mankind1 
he thought1 if they could have kept     
clear of superstition1 and followed on  
upon the track of the ,grecian          
philosophy4 ,so little do men care to   
understand the conditions which have    
made them what they are1 and which has  

created for them that very wisdom in    
which they themselves are so contented4 
,but it is strange1 indeed1 that a      
person who could deliberately adopt such
 a conclusion should trouble himself any
 more to look for truth4 ,if a mere     
absurdity could make its way out of a   
little fishing village in ,galilee1 and 
spread through the whole civilised      
world2 if men are so pitiably silly1    
that in an age of great mental activity 
their strongest thinkers should have    
sunk under an abortion of fear and      
folly1 should have allowed it to absorb 
into itself whatever of heroism1 of     
devotion1 self-sacrifice1 and moral     
nobleness there was among them2 surely  
there were nothing better for a wise man
 than to make the best of his time1 and 
to crowd what enjoyment he can find into
 it1 sheltering himself in a very       
disdainful ,pyrrhonism from all care for
 mankind or for their opinions4 ,for    
what better test of truth have we than  
the ablest men's acceptance of it8 and  

if the ablest men eighteen centuries ago
 deliberately accepted what is now too  
absurd to reason upon1 what right have  
we to hope that with the same natures1  
the same passions1 the same             
understandings1 no better proof against 
deception1 we1 like they1 are not       
entangled in what1 at the close of      
another era1 shall seem again           
ridiculous8 ,the scoff of ,cicero at the
 divinity of ,liber and ,ceres 7bread   
and wine7 may be translated literally by
 the modern ,protestant2 and the        
sarcasms which ,clement and ,tertullian 
flung at the ,pagan creed1 the modern   
sceptic returns upon their own4 ,of what
 use is it to destroy an idol1 when     
another1 or the same in another form1   
takes immediate possession of the vacant
 pedestal8  ,i shall not argue with the 
extravagant hypothesis of my friend4 ,in
 the opinion even of ,goethe1 who was   
not troubled with credulity1 the human  
race can never attain to anything higher
 than ,christianity--if we mean by      

,christianity the religion which was    
revealed to the world in the teaching   
and the life of its ,founder4 ,but even 
the more limited reprobation by our own 
,reformers of the creed of medival      
,europe is not more just or             
philosophical4  ,ptolemy was not        
perfect1 but ,newton had been a fool if 
he had scoffed at ,ptolemy4 ,newton     
could not have been without ,ptolemy1   
nor ,ptolemy without the ,chaldees2 and 
as it is with the minor sciences1 so far
 more is it with the science of         
sciences--the science of life1 which has
 grown through all the ages from the    
beginning of time4 ,we speak of the     
errors of the past4 ,we1 with this      
glorious present which is opening on us1
 we shall never enter on it1 we shall   
never understand it1 till we have learnt
 to see in that past1 not error1 but    
instalment of truth1 hard-fought-for    
truth1 wrung out with painful and heroic
 effort4 ,the promised land is smiling  
before us1 but we may not pass over into

 the possession of it while the bones of
 our fathers who laboured through the   
wilderness lie bleaching on the sands1  
or a prey to the unclean birds4 ,we must
 gather their relics and bury them1 and 
sum up their labours1 and inscribe the  
record of their actions on their tombs  
as an honourable epitaph4 ,if           
,catholicism really is passing away1 if 
it has done its work1 and if what is    
left of it is now holding us back from  
better things1 it is not for our        
bitterness but for our affectionate     
acknowledgment1 nor for our heaping     
contempt on what it is1 but for our     
reverend and patient examination of what
 it has been1 that it will be content to
 bid us farewell1 and give us ,god speed
 on our further journey4  ,in the       
,natural ,history of ,religions1 certain
 broad phenomena perpetually repeat     
themselves2 they rise in the highest    
thought extant at the time of their     
origin2 the conclusions of philosophy   
settle into a creed2 art ornaments it1  

devotion consecrates it1 time elaborates
 it4 ,it grows through a long series of 
generations into the heart and habits of
 the people2 and so long as no          
disturbing cause interferes1 or so long 
as the idea at the centre of it         
survives1 a healthy1 vigorous1 natural  
life shoots beautifully up out of the   
intellectual root4 ,but at last the idea
 becomes obsolete2 the numbing influence
 of habit petrifies the spirit in the   
outside ceremonial1 while new questions 
arise among the thinkers1 and ideas     
enter into new and unexplained          
relations4 ,the old formula will not    
serve2 but new formul are tardy in      
appearing2 and habit and superstition   
cling to the past1 and policy vindicates
 it1 and statecraft upholds it forcibly 
as serviceable to order1 till1 from the 
combined action of folly1 and           
worldliness1 and ignorance1 the once    
beautiful symbolism becomes at last no  
better than 'a whited sepulchre full of 
dead men's bones and all uncleanness4'  

,so it is now4 ,so it was in the era of 
the ,csars1 out of which ,christianity  
arose2 and ,christianity1 in the form   
which it assumed at the close of the    
,arian controversy1 was the deliberate  
solution which the most powerful        
intellects of that day could offer of   
the questions which had grown with the  
growth of mankind1 and on which         
,paganism had suffered shipwreck4       
,paganism1 as a creed1 was entirely     
physical4 ,when ,paganism rose1 men had 
not begun to reflect upon themselves1 or
 the infirmities of their own nature4   
,the bad man was a bad man--the coward1 
a coward--the liar1 a liar--individually
 hateful and despicable3 but in hating  
and despising such unfortunates1 the old
 ,greeks were satisfied to have felt all
 that it was necessary to feel about    
them2 and how such a phenomenon as a bad
 man came to exist in this world1 they  
scarcely cared to enquire4 ,there is no 
evil spirit in the mythology as an      
antagonist of the gods4 ,there is the   

,erinnys as the avenger of monstrous    
villanies2 there is a ,tartarus where   
the darkest criminals suffer eternal    
tortures4 ,but ,tantalus and ,ixion are 
suffering for enormous crimes1 to which 
the small wickedness of common men      
offers no analogy4 ,moreover1 these and 
other such stories are only curiously   
ornamented myths1 representing physical 
phenomena4 ,but with ,socrates a change 
came over philosophy2 a sign--perhaps a 
cause--of the decline of the existing   
religion4 ,the study of man superseded  
the study of nature3 a purer ,theism    
came in with the higher ideal of        
perfection1 and sin and depravity at    
once assumed an importance1 the         
intensity of which made every other     
question insignificant4 ,how man could  
know the good and yet choose the evil2  
how ,god could be all pure and almighty1
 and yet evil have broken into his      
creation--these were the questions which
 thenceforth were the perplexity of     
philosophic speculation4  ,whatever     

difficulty there might be in discovering
 how evil came to be1 the leaders of all
 the sects agreed at last upon the seat 
of it4 ,whether matter was eternal1 as  
,aristotle thought1 or created1 as      
,plato thought1 both ,plato and         
,aristotle were equally satisfied that  
the secret of all the shortcomings in   
this world lay in the imperfection1     
reluctancy1 or inherent grossness of    
this impracticable substance4 ,god would
 have everything perfect1 but the nature
 of the element in which ,he worked in  
some way defeated his purpose4 ,death1  
disease1 decay1 clung necessarily to    
everything which was created out of it2 
and pain1 and want1 and hunger1 and     
suffering4 ,worse than all1 the spirit  
in its material body was opposed and    
borne down1 its aspirations crushed1 its
 purity tainted by the passions and     
appetites of its companion--the fleshly 
lusts which waged perpetual war against 
the soul4  ,matter was the cause of     
evil1 and thenceforth the question was  

how to conquer matter1 or1 at least1 how
 to set free the spirit from its        
control4  ,the ,greek language and the  
,greek literature spread behind the     
march of ,alexander2 but as his generals
 could only make their conquests        
permanent by largely accepting the      
,eastern manners1 so philosophy could   
only make good its ground by becoming   
itself ,orientalised4 ,the one pure and 
holy ,god whom ,plato had painfully     
reasoned out for himself had existed    
from immemorial time in the traditions  
of the ,jews2 while the ,persians1 who  
had before taught the ,jews at ,babylon 
the existence of an independent evil    
being1 now had him to offer to the      
,greeks as their account of the         
difficulties which had perplexed        
,socrates4 ,seven centuries of struggle1
 and many hundred thousand folios1 were 
the results of the remarkable fusion    
which followed4 ,out of these elements1 
united in various proportions1 rose     
successively the ,alexandrian           

philosophy1 the ,hellenists1 the        
,therapeut1 those strange ,essene       
communists1 with the innumerable sects  
of ,gnostic or ,christian heretics4     
,finally1 the battle was limited to the 
two great rivals1 under one or other of 
which the best of the remainder had     
ranged themselves--,manicheism and      
,catholic ,christianity3 ,manicheism in 
which the ,persian--,catholicism in     
which the ,jewish--element most         
preponderated4 ,it did not end till the 
close of the fifth century1 and it ended
 then rather by arbitration than by a   
decided victory which either side could 
claim4 ,the ,church has yet to          
acknowledge how large a portion of its  
enemy's doctrines it incorporated       
through the mediation of ,augustine     
before the field was surrendered to it4 
,let us trace something of the real     
bearings of this section of the world's 
,oriental history1 which to so many     
moderns seems no better than an idle    
fighting over words and straws4  ,facts 

witnessing so clearly that the especial 
strength of evil lay1 as the            
philosophers had seen1 in matter1 it was
 so far a conclusion which both ,jew and
 ,persian were ready to accept2 the     
naked ,aristotelic view of it being most
 acceptable to the ,persian1 the        
,platonic to the ,hellenistic ,jew4 ,but
 the purer theology of the ,jew forced  
him to look for a solution of the       
question which ,plato had left doubtful1
 and to explain how evil had crept into 
matter4 ,he could not allow that what   
,god had created could be of its own    
nature imperfect4 ,god made it very     
good2 some other cause had broken in to 
spoil it4 ,accordingly1 as before he had
 reduced the independent ,arimanes1     
whose existence he had learnt at        
,babylon1 into a subordinate spirit2 so 
now1 not questioning the facts of       
disease1 of death1 of pain1 or of the   
infirmity of the flesh which the natural
 strength of the spirit was unable to   
resist1 he accounted for them under the 

supposition that the first man had      
deliberately sinned1 and by his sin had 
brought a curse upon the whole material 
earth1 and upon all which was fashioned 
out of it4 ,the earth was created pure  
and lovely--a garden of delight1 loading
 itself of its own free accord with     
fruit and flower1 and everything most   
exquisite and beautiful4 ,no bird or    
beast of prey broke the eternal peace   
which reigned over its hospitable       
surface4 ,in calm and quiet intercourse1
 the leopard lay down by the kid1 the   
lion browsed beside the ox1 and the     
corporeal frame of man1 knowing neither 
decay nor death1 nor unruly appetite1   
nor any change or infirmity1 was pure as
 the immortal substance of the unfallen 
angels4  ,but with the fatal apple all  
this fair scene passed away1 and        
creation as it seemed was hopelessly and
 irretrievably ruined4 ,adam sinned--no 
matter how1 he sinned2 the sin was the  
one terrible fact3 moral evil was       
brought into the world by the only      

creature who was capable of committing  
it4 ,sin entered in1 and death by sin2  
death and disease1 storm and pestilence1
 earthquake and famine4 ,the imprisoned 
passions of the wild animals were let   
loose1 and earth and air became full of 
carnage3 worst of all1 man's animal     
nature came out in gigantic             
strength--the carnal lusts1 unruly      
appetites1 jealousies1 hatreds1 rapines1
 and murders2 and then the law1 and with
 it1 of course1 breaches of the law1 and
 sin on sin4 ,the seed of ,adam was     
infected in the animal change which had 
passed over ,adam's person1 and every   
child1 therefore1 thenceforth naturally 
engendered in his posterity1 was        
infected with the curse which he had    
incurred4 ,every material organisation  
thenceforward contained in itself the   
elements of its own destruction1 and the
 philosophic conclusions of ,aristotle  
were accepted and explained by theology4
 ,already1 in the popular histories1    
those who were infected by disease were 

said to be bound by ,satan2 madness was 
a 'possession' by the ,evil ,spirit2 and
 the whole creation1 from ,adam till    
,christ1 groaned and travailed under    
,satan's power4 ,the nobler nature in   
man still made itself felt2 but it was a
 slave when it ought to command4 ,it    
might will to obey the higher law1 but  
the law in the members was over-strong  
for it and bore it down4 ,this was the  
body of death which philosophy detected 
but could not explain1 and from which   
,catholicism now came forward with its  
magnificent promise of deliverance4     
,the carnal doctrine of the sacraments1 
which ,protestants are compelled to     
acknowledge to have been taught as fully
 in the early ,church as it is now      
taught by the ,roman ,catholics1 has    
long been the stumbling-block to modern 
thought4 ,it was the very essence of the
 original creed4 ,unless the body could 
be purified1 the soul could not be      
saved2 because from the beginning1 soul 
and flesh were one man and inseparable4 

,without his flesh1 man was not1 or     
would cease to be4 ,but the natural     
organisation of the flesh was infected  
with evil1 and unless organisation could
 begin again from a new original1 no    
pure material substance could exist at  
all4 ,he1 therefore1 by whom ,god had   
first made the world1 entered into the  
womb of the ,virgin in the form 7if ,i  
may with reverence say so7 of a new     
organic cell2 and around it1 through the
 virtue of his creative energy1 a       
material body grew again of the         
substance of his mother1 pure of taint  
and clean as the first body of the first
 man was clean when it passed out under 
his hand in the beginning of all things4
 ,in ,him thus wonderfully born was the 
virtue which was to restore the lost    
power of mankind4 ,he came to redeem    
man2 and1 therefore1 ,he took a human   
body1 and ,he kept it pure through a    
human life1 till the time came when it  
could be applied to its marvellous      
purpose4 ,he died1 and then appeared    

what was the nature of a material human 
body when freed from the limitations of 
sin4 ,the grave could not hold it1      
neither was it possible that it should  
see corruption4 ,it was real1 for the   
disciples were allowed to feel and      
handle it4 ,he ate and drank with them  
to assure their senses4 ,but space had  
no power over it1 nor any of the        
material obstacles which limit an       
ordinary power4 ,he willed1 and his body
 obeyed4 ,he was here1 ,he was there4   
,he was visible1 ,he was invisible4 ,he 
was in the midst of his disciples and   
they saw ,him1 and then he was gone     
whither who could tell8 ,at last ,he    
passed away to heaven2 but while in     
heaven1 ,he was still on earth4 ,his    
body became the body of his ,church on  
earth1 not in metaphor1 but in          
fact6--his very material body1 in which 
and by which the faithful would be      
saved4 ,his flesh and blood were        
thenceforth to be their food4 ,they were
 to eat it as they would eat ordinary   

meat4 ,they were to take it into their  
system1 a pure material substance1 to   
leaven the old natural substance and    
assimilate it to itself4 ,as they fed   
upon it it would grow into them1 and it 
would become their own real body4 ,flesh
 grown in the old way was the body of   
death1 but the flesh of ,christ was the 
life of the world1 over which death had 
no power4 ,circumcision availed nothing1
 nor uncircumcision--but a new          
creature--and this new creature1 which  
the child first put on in baptism1 was  
born again into ,christ of water and the
 ,spirit4 ,in the ,eucharist he was fed 
and sustained1 and went on from strength
 to strength2 and ever as the nature of 
his body changed1 being able to render a
 more complete obedience1 he would at   
last pass away to ,god through the gate 
of the grave1 and stand holy and perfect
 in the presence of ,christ4 ,christ had
 indeed been ever present with him2 but 
because while life lasted some particles
 of the old ,adam would necessarily     

cling to every man1 the ,christian's    
mortal eye on earth could not see ,him4 
,hedged in by 'his muddy vesture of     
decay1' his eyes1 like the eyes of the  
disciples of ,emmaus1 are holden1 and   
only in faith he feels ,him4 ,but death1
 which till ,christ had died had been   
the last victory of evil1 in virtue of  
his submission to it1 became its own    
destroyer1 for it had power only over   
the tainted particles of the old        
substance1 and there was nothing needed 
but that these should be washed away1   
and the elect would stand out at once   
pure and holy1 clothed in immortal      
bodies1 like refined gold1 the redeemed 
of ,god4  ,the being who accomplished a 
work so vast--a work compared to which  
the first creation appears but a        
trifling difficulty--what could ,he be  
but ,god8 ,god ,himself6 ,who but ,god  
could have wrested his prize from a     
power which half the thinking world     
believed to be his coequal and coeternal
 adversary8 ,he was ,god4 ,he was man   

also1 for ,he was the second ,adam--the 
second starting-point of human growth4  
,he was virgin born1 that no original   
impurity might infect the substance     
which ,he assumed2 and being ,himself   
sinless1 ,he showed1 in the nature of   
his person1 after his resurrection1 what
 the material body would have been in   
all of us except for sin1 and what it   
will be when1 after feeding on it in its
 purity1 the bodies of each of us are   
transfigured after its likeness4 ,here  
was the secret of the spirit which set  
,st4 ,simeon on his pillar and sent ,st4
 ,anthony to the tombs--of the night    
watches1 the weary fasts1 the           
penitential scourgings1 the life-long   
austerities which have been alternately 
the glory and the reproach of the       
medival saints4 ,they desired to        
overcome their animal bodies1 and       
anticipate in life the work of death in 
uniting themselves more completely to   
,christ by the destruction of the flesh1
 which lay as a veil between themselves 

and ,him4  ,such ,i believe to have been
 the central idea of the beautiful creed
 which1 for #a1ejj years1 tuned the     
heart and formed the mind of the noblest
 of mankind4 ,from this centre it       
radiated out and spread1 as time went   
on1 into the full circle of human       
activity1 flinging its own philosophy   
and its own peculiar grace over the     
common details of the common life of all
 of us4 ,like the seven lamps before the
 ,throne of ,god1 the seven mighty      
angels1 and the seven stars1 the seven  
sacraments shed over mankind a          
never-ceasing stream of blessed         
influences4 ,the priests1 a holy order  
set apart and endowed with mysterious   
power1 represented ,christ and          
administered his gifts4 ,christ1 in his 
twelfth year1 was presented in the      
,temple1 and first entered on his       
,father's business2 and the baptised    
child1 when it has grown to an age to   
become conscious of its vow and of its  
privilege1 again renews it in full      

knowledge of what it undertakes1 and    
receives again sacramentally a fresh    
gift of grace to assist it forward on   
its way4 ,in maturity it seeks a        
companion to share its pains and        
pleasures2 and1 again1 ,christ is       
present to consecrate the union4        
,marriage1 which1 outside the ,church1  
only serves to perpetuate the curse and 
bring fresh inheritors of misery into   
the world1 ,he made holy by his presence
 at ,cana1 and chose it as the symbol to
 represent his own mystic union with his
 ,church4 ,even saints cannot live      
without at times some spot adhering to  
them4 ,the atmosphere in which we       
breathe and move is soiled1 and ,christ 
has anticipated our wants4 ,christ did  
penance forty days in the wilderness1   
not to subdue his own flesh--for that   
which was already perfect did not need  
subduing--but to give to penance a      
cleansing virtue to serve for our daily 
or our hourly ablution4 ,christ         
consecrates our birth2 ,christ throws   

over us our baptismal robe of pure      
unsullied innocence4 ,he strengthens us 
as we go forward4 ,he raises us when we 
fall4 ,he feeds us with the substance of
 his own most precious body4 ,in the    
person of his minister he does all this 
for us1 in virtue of that which in his  
own person ,he actually performed when a
 man living on this earth4 ,last of all1
 when time is drawing to its close with 
us--when life is past1 when the work is 
done1 and the dark gate is near1 beyond 
which the garden of an eternal home is  
waiting to receive us1 his tender care  
has not forsaken us4 ,he has taken away 
the sting of death1 but its appearance  
is still terrible2 and ,he will not     
leave us without special help at our    
last need4 ,he tried the agony of the   
moment2 and ,he sweetens the cup for us 
before we drink it4 ,we are dismissed to
 the grave with our bodies anointed with
 oil1 which ,he made holy in his last   
anointing before his passion1 and then  
all is over4 ,we lie down and seem to   

decay--to decay--but not all4 ,our      
natural body decays1 being the last     
remains of the infected matter which we 
have inherited from ,adam2 but the      
spiritual body1 the glorified substance 
which has made our life1 and is our real
 body as we are in ,christ1 that can    
never decay1 but passes off into the    
kingdom which is prepared for it2 that  
other world where there is no sin1 and  
,god is all and in all6  ,,footnotes3   
,c ,from the ,leader1 #ahea4     ,a     
,,plea ,,for ,,the ,,free ,,discussion  
,,of ,,theological ,,difficulties4,d    
,in the ordinary branches of human      
knowledge or enquiry1 the judicious     
questioning of received opinions has    
been regarded as the sign of scientific 
vitality1 the principle of scientific   
advancement1 the very source and root of
 healthy progress and growth4 ,if       
medicine had been regulated three       
hundred years ago by ,act of            
,parliament2 if there had been          
,thirty-nine ,articles of ,physic1 and  

every licensed practitioner had been    
compelled1 under pains and penalties1 to
 compound his drugs by the prescriptions
 of ,henry the ,eighth's physician1     
,doctor ,butts1 it is easy to conjecture
 in what state of health the people of  
this country would at present be found4 
,constitutions have changed with habits 
of life1 and the treatment of disorders 
has changed to meet the new conditions4 
,new diseases have shown themselves of  
which ,doctor ,butts had no cognizance2 
new continents have given us plants with
 medicinal virtues previously unknown2  
new sciences1 and even the mere increase
 of recorded experience1 have added a   
thousand remedies to those known to the 
age of the ,tudors4 ,if the ,college of 
,physicians had been organised into a   
board of orthodoxy1 and every novelty of
 treatment had been regarded as a crime 
against society1 which a law had been   
established to punish1 the hundreds who 
die annually from preventible causes    
would have been thousands and tens of   

thousands4  ,astronomy is the most      
perfect of the sciences4 ,the accuracy  
of the present theory of the planetary  
movements is tested daily and hourly by 
the most delicate experiments1 and the  
,legislature1 if it so pleased1 might   
enact the first principles of these     
movements into a statute1 without danger
 of committing the law of ,england to   
falsehood4 ,yet1 if the ,legislature    
were to venture on any such paternal    
procedure in a few years gravitation    
itself would be called in question1 and 
the whole science would wither under the
 fatal shadow4 ,there are many phenomena
 still unexplained to give plausibility 
to scepticism2 there are others more    
easily formularised for working purposes
 in the language of ,hipparchus2 and    
there would be reactionists who would   
invite us to return to the safe         
convictions of our forefathers4 ,what   
the world has seen the world may see    
again2 and were it once granted that    
astronomy were something to be ruled by 

authority1 new popes would imprison new 
,galileos2 the knowledge already        
acquired would be strangled in the cords
 which were intended to keep it safe    
from harm1 and1 deprived of the free air
 on which its life depends1 it would    
dwindle and die4  ,a few years ago1 an  
,inspector of ,schools--a ,mr4          
,jellinger ,symonds--opening1 perhaps   
for the first time1 an elementary book  
on astronomy1 came on something which he
 conceived to be a difficulty in the    
theory of lunar motion4 ,his objection  
was on the face of it plausible4 ,the   
true motions of the heavenly bodies are 
universally the opposite of the apparent
 motions4 ,mr4 ,symonds conceived that  
the moon could not revolve on its axis1 
because the same side of it was         
continually turned towards the earth2   
and because if it were connected with   
the earth by a rigid bar--which1 as he  
thought1 would deprive it of power of   
rotation--the relative aspects of the   
two bodies would remain unchanged4 ,he  

sent his views to the ',times4' ,he     
appealed to the common sense of the     
world1 and common sense seemed to be on 
his side4 ,the men of science were of   
course right2 but a phenomenon1 not     
entirely obvious1 had been hitherto     
explained in language which the general 
reader could not readily comprehend4 ,a 
few words of elucidation cleared up the 
confusion4 ,we do not recollect whether 
,mr4 ,symonds was satisfied or not2 but 
most of us who had before received what 
the men of science told us with an      
unintelligent and languid assent1 were  
set thinking for ourselves1 and1 as a   
result of the discussion1 exchanged a   
confused idea for a clear one4  ,it was 
an excellent illustration of the true   
claims of authority and of the value of 
open enquiry4 ,the ignorant man has not 
as good a right to his own opinion as   
the instructed man4 ,the instructed man1
 however right he may be1 must not      
deliver his conclusions as axioms1 and  
merely insist that they are true4 ,the  

one asks a question1 the other answers  
it1 and all of us are the better for the
 business4  ,now1 let us suppose the    
same thing to have happened when the    
only reply to a difficulty was an appeal
 to the ,astronomer-,royal1 where the   
rotation of the moon was an article of  
salvation decreed by the law of the     
land1 and where all persons admitted to 
hold office under the ,state were       
required to subscribe to it4 ,the       
,astronomer-,royal--as it was1 if we    
remember right1 he was a little cross at
 ,mr4 ,symond's presumption--would have 
brought an action against him in the    
,court of ,arches2 ,mr4 ,symonds would  
have been deprived of his               
inspectorship--for1 of course1 he would 
have been obstinate in his heresy2 the  
world outside would have had an         
antecedent presumption that truth lay   
with the man who was making sacrifices  
for it1 and that there was little to be 
said in the way of argument for what    
could not stand without the help of the 

law4 ,everybody could understand the    
difficulty2 not everybody would have    
taken the trouble to attend to the      
answer4 ,mr4 ,symonds would have been a 
,colenso1 and a good many of us would   
have been convinced in our secret hearts
 that the moon as little turned on its  
axis as the drawing-room table4  ,as it 
is in idea essential to a reverence for 
truth to believe in its capacity for    
self-defence1 so practically1 in every  
subject except one1 errors are allowed  
free room to express themselves1 and the
 liberty of opinion which is the life of
 knowledge1 as surely becomes the death 
of falsehood4 ,a method--the soundness  
of which is so evident that to argue in 
favour of it is almost absurd--might be 
expected to have been applied1 as a     
matter of course1 to the one subject    
where mistake is supposed to be         
fatal1--where to come to wrong          
conclusions is held to be a crime for   
which the ,maker of the universe has    
neither pardon nor pity4 ,yet many      

reasons1 not difficult to understand1   
have long continued to exclude theology 
from the region where free discussion is
 supposed to be applicable4 ,that so    
many persons have a personal interest in
 the maintenance of particular views1   
would of itself be fatal to fair        
argument4 ,though they know themselves  
to be right1 yet right is not enough for
 them unless there is might to support  
it1 and those who talk most of faith    
show least that they possess it4 ,but   
there are deeper and more subtle        
objections4 ,the theologian requires    
absolute certainty1 and there are no    
absolute certainties in science4 ,the   
conclusions of science are never more   
than in a high degree probable2 they are
 no more than the best explanations of  
phenomena which are attainable in the   
existing state of knowledge4 ,the most  
elementary laws are called laws only in 
courtesy4 ,they are generalisations     
which are not considered likely to      
require modification1 but which no one  

pretends to be in the nature of the     
cause exhaustively and ultimately true4 
,as phenomena become more complicated1  
and the data for the interpretation of  
them more inadequate1 the explanations  
offered are put forward hypothetically1 
and are graduated by the nature of the  
evidence4 ,such modest hesitation is    
altogether unsuited to the theologian1  
whose certainty increases with the      
mystery and obscurity of his matter2 his
 convictions admit of no qualification2 
his truth is sure as the axioms of      
geometry2 he knows what he believes1 for
 he has the evidence in his heart2 if he
 enquire1 it is with a foregone         
conclusion1 and serious doubt with him  
is sin4 ,it is in vain to point out to  
him the thousand forms of opinions for  
each of which the same internal witness 
is affirmed4 ,the ,mayo peasant crawling
 with bare knees over the splintered    
rocks on ,croagh ,patrick1 the nun      
prostrate before the image of ,st4      
,mary1 the ,methodist in the spasmodic  

ecstasy of a revival1 alike are         
conscious of emotions in themselves     
which correspond to their creed3 the    
more passionate1 or--as some would      
say--the more unreasoning the piety1 the
 louder and more clear is the voice     
within4 ,but these varieties are no     
embarrassment to the theologian4 ,he    
finds no fault with the method which is 
identical in them all4 ,whatever the    
party to which he himself belongs1 he is
 equally satisfied that he alone has the
 truth2 the rest are under illusions of 
,satan4  ,again1 we hear--or we used to 
hear when the ,high ,church party were  
more formidable than they are at        
present--much about 'the right of       
private judgment4' ',why1' the eloquent 
,protestant would say1 'should ,i pin my
 faith upon the ,church8 the ,church is 
but a congregation of fallible men1 no  
better able to judge than ,i am2 ,i have
 a right to my own opinion4' ,it sounds 
like a paradox to say that free         
discussion is interfered with by a cause

 which1 above all others1 would have    
been expected to further it2 but this in
 fact has been the effect1 because it   
tends to remove the grounds of          
theological belief beyond the province  
of argument4 ,no one talks of 'a right  
of private judgment' in anything but    
religion2 no one but a fool insists on  
his 'right to his own opinion' with his 
lawyer or his doctor4 ,able men who have
 given their time to special subjects1  
are authorities upon those subjects to  
be listened to with deference1 and the  
ultimate authority at any given time is 
the collective general sense of the     
wisest men living in the department to  
which they belong4 ,the utmost 'right of
 private judgment' which anybody claims 
in such cases1 is the choice of the     
physician to whom he will trust his     
body1 or of the counsel to whom he will 
commit the conduct of his cause4 ,the   
expression1 as it is commonly used1     
implies a belief that1 in matters of    
religion1 the criteria of truth are     

different in kind from what prevail     
elsewhere1 and the efforts which have   
been made to bring such a notion into   
harmony with common sense and common    
subjects have not been the least        
successful4 ,the ,high ,church party    
used to say1 as a point against the     
,evangelicals1 that either 'the right of
 private judgment' meant nothing1 or it 
meant that a man had a right to be in   
the wrong4 ',no1' said a writer in the  
',edinburgh ,review1' 'it means only    
that if a man chooses to be in the      
wrong1 no one else has a right to       
interfere with him4 ,a man has no right 
to get drunk in his own house1 but the  
policeman may not force a way into his  
house and prevent him4' ,the            
illustration fails of its purpose4  ,in 
the first place1 the ,evangelicals never
 contemplated a wrong use of the thing2 
they meant merely that they had a right 
to their own opinions as against the    
,church4 ,they did not indeed put       
forward their claim quite so nakedly2   

they made it general1 as sounding less  
invidious2 but nobody ever heard an     
,evangelical admit a ,high ,churchman's 
right to be a ,high ,churchman1 or a    
,catholic's right to be a ,catholic4    
,but secondly1 society has a most       
absolute right to prevent all manner of 
evil--drunkenness1 and the rest of it1  
if it can--only in doing so1 society    
must not use means which would create a 
greater evil than it would remedy4 ,as a
 man can by no possibility be doing     
anything but most foul wrong to himself 
in getting drunk1 society does him no   
wrong1 but rather does him the greatest 
benefit1 if it can possibly keep him    
sober2 and in the same way1 since a     
false belief in serious matters is among
 the greatest of misfortunes1 so to     
drive it out of man1 by the whip1 if it 
cannot be managed by persuasion1 is an  
act of brotherly love and affection1    
provided the belief really and truly is 
false1 and you have a better to give him
 in the place of it4 ,the question is   

not what to do1 but merely 'how to do   
it2' although ,mr4 ,mill in his love of 
'liberty1' thinks otherwise4 ,mr4 ,mill 
demands for every man a right to say out
 his convictions in plain language1     
whatever they may be2 and so far as he  
means that there should be no ,act of   
,parliament to prevent him1 he is       
perfectly just in what he says4 ,but    
when ,mr4 ,mill goes from ,parliament to
 public opinion--when he lays down as a 
general principle that the free play of 
thought is unwholesomely interfered with
 by society1 he would take away the sole
 protection which we possess from the   
inroads of any kind of folly4 ,his dread
 of tyranny is so great1 that he thinks 
a man better off with a false opinion of
 his own than with a right opinion      
inflicted upon him from without2 while1 
for our own part1 we should be grateful 
for tyranny or for anything else which  
would perform so useful an office for   
us4  ,public opinion may be unjust at   
particular times and on particular      

subjects2 we believe it to be both      
unjust and unwise on the matter of which
 we are at present speaking3 but1 on the
 whole1 it is like the ventilation of a 
house1 which keeps the air pure4 ,much  
in this world has to be taken for       
granted1 and we cannot be for ever      
arguing over our first principles4 ,if a
 man persists in talking of what he does
 not understand1 he is put down2 if he  
sports loose views on morals at a decent
 dinner party1 the better sort of people
 fight shy of him1 and he is not invited
 again2 if he profess himself a         
,buddhist or a ,mahometan1 it is assumed
 that he has not adopted those beliefs  
on serious conviction1 but rather in    
wilful levity and eccentricity which    
does not deserve to be tolerated4 ,men  
have no right to make themselves bores  
and nuisances2 and the common sense of  
mankind inflicts wholesome              
inconveniences on those who carry their 
'right of private judgment' to any such 
extremities4 ,it is a check1 the same in

 kind as that which operates so         
wholesomely in the sciences4 ,mere folly
 is extinguished in contempt2 objections
 reasonably urged obtain a hearing and  
are reasonably met4 ,new truths1 after  
encountering sufficient opposition to   
test their value1 make their way into   
general reception4  ,a further cause    
which has operated to prevent theology  
from obtaining the benefit of free      
discussion is the interpretation        
popularly placed upon the constitution  
of the ,church ,establishment4 ,for     
fifteen centuries of its existence1 the 
,christian ,church was supposed to be   
under the immediate guidance of the     
,holy ,spirit1 which miraculously       
controlled its decisions1 and precluded 
the possibility of error4 ,this theory  
broke down at the ,reformation1 but it  
left behind it a confused sense that    
theological truth was in some way       
different from other truth2 and1 partly 
on grounds of public policy1 partly     
because it was supposed to have         

succeeded to the obligations and the    
rights of the ,papacy1 the ,state took  
upon itself to fix by statute the       
doctrines which should be taught to the 
people4 ,the distractions created by    
divided opinions were then dangerous4   
,individuals did not hesitate to ascribe
 to themselves the infallibility which  
they denied to the ,church4 ,everybody  
was intolerant upon principle1 and was  
ready to cut the throat of an opponent  
whom his arguments had failed to        
convince4 ,the ,state1 while it made no 
pretensions to ,divine guidance1 was    
compelled to interfere in               
self-protection2 and to keep the peace  
of the realm1 and to prevent the nation 
from tearing itself in pieces1 a body of
 formulas was enacted1 for the time     
broad and comprehensive1 within which   
opinion might be allowed convenient     
latitude1 while forbidden to pass beyond
 the border4  ,it might have been       
thought that in abandoning for itself1  
and formally denying to the ,church its 

pretensions to immunity from error1 the 
,state could not have intended to bind  
the conscience4 ,when this or that law  
is passed1 the subject is required to   
obey it1 but he is not required to      
approve of the law as just4 ,the        
,prayer-,book and the ,thirty-nine      
,articles1 so far as they are made      
obligatory by ,act of ,parliament1 are  
as much laws as any other statute4 ,they
 are a rule to conduct2 it is not easy  
to see why they should be more2 it is   
not easy to see why they should have    
been supposed to deprive clergymen of a 
right to their opinions1 or to forbid   
discussion of their contents4 ,the judge
 is not forbidden to ameliorate the law 
which he administers4 ,if in discharge  
of his duty he has to pronounce a       
sentence which he declares at the same  
time that he thinks unjust1 no indignant
 public accuses him of dishonesty1 or   
requires him to resign his office4 ,the 
soldier is asked no questions as to the 
legitimacy of the war on which he is    

sent to fight2 nor need he throw up his 
commission if he think the quarrel a bad
 one4 ,doubtless1 if a law was utterly  
iniquitous--if a war was unmistakably   
wicked--honourable men might feel       
uncertain what to do1 and would seek    
some other profession rather than       
continue instruments of evil4 ,but      
within limits1 and in questions of      
detail1 where the service is generally  
good and honourable1 we leave opinion   
its free play1 and exaggerated          
scrupulousness would be folly or        
something worse4 ,somehow or other1     
however1 this wholesome freedom is not  
allowed to the clergyman4 ,the idea of  
absolute inward belief has been         
substituted for that of obedience2 and  
the man who1 in taking orders1 signs the
 ,articles and accepts the ,prayer      
,book1 does not merely undertake to use 
the services in the one1 and abstain    
from contradicting to his congregation  
the doctrines contained in the other2   
but he is held to promise what no honest

 man1 without presumption1 can undertake
 to promise--that he will continue to   
think to the end of his life as he      
thinks when he makes his engagement4    
,it is said that if his opinions change1
 he may resign1 and retire into lay     
communion4 ,we are not prepared to say  
that either the ,convocation of #aefb1  
or the ,parliament which afterwards     
endorsed its proceedings1 knew exactly  
what they meant1 or did not mean2 but it
 is quite clear that they did not       
contemplate the alternative of a        
clergyman's retirement4 ,if they had1   
they would have provided means by which 
he could have abandoned his orders1 and 
not have remained committed for life to 
a profession from which he could not    
escape4 ,if the popular theory of       
subscription be true1 and the ,articles 
are articles of belief1 a reasonable    
human being1 when little more than a    
boy1 pledges himself to a long series of
 intricate and highly-difficult         
propositions of abstruse divinity4 ,he  

undertakes never to waver or            
doubt--never to allow his mind to be    
shaken1 whatever the weight of argument 
or evidence brought to bear upon him4   
,that is to say1 he promises to do what 
no man living has a right to promise to 
do4 ,he is doing1 on the authority of   
,parliament1 precisely what the ,church 
of ,rome required him to do on the      
authority of a ,council4  ,if a         
clergyman--in trouble amidst the        
abstruse subjects with which he has to  
deal1 or unable to reconcile some       
new-discovered truth of science with the
 established formulas--puts forward his 
perplexities2 if he ventures a doubt of 
the omniscience of the statesmen and    
divines of the sixteenth century1 which 
they themselves disowned1 there is an   
instant cry to have him stifled1        
silenced1 or trampled down2 and if no   
longer punished in life and limb1 to    
have him deprived of the means on which 
life and limb can be supported1 while   
with ingenious tyranny he is forbidden  

to maintain himself by any other        
occupation4  ,so far have we gone in    
this direction1 that when the ',essays  
and ,reviews' appeared1 it was gravely  
said--and said by men who had no        
professional antipathy to them--that the
 writers had broken their faith4 ,laymen
 were free to say what they pleased on  
such subjects2 clergymen were the hired 
exponents of the established opinions1  
and were committed to them in thought   
and word4 ,it was one more anomaly where
 there were enough already4 ,to say that
 the clergy1 who are set apart to study 
a particular subject1 are to be the only
 persons unpermitted to have an         
independent opinion upon it1 is like    
saying that lawyers must take no part in
 the amendment of the statute-book2 that
 engineers must be silent upon          
mechanism2 and if an improvement is     
wanted in the art of medicine1          
physicians may have nothing to say to   
it4  ,these causes would1 perhaps1 have 
been insufficient to repress free       

enquiry1 if there had been on the part  
of the really able men among us a       
determination to break the ice2 in other
 words1 if theology had preserved the   
same commanding interest for the more   
powerful minds with which it affected   
them three hundred years ago4 ,but on   
the one hand1 a sense1 half serious1    
half languid1 of the hopelessness of the
 subject has produced an indisposition  
to meddle with it2 on the other1 there  
has been a creditable reluctance to     
disturb by discussion the minds of the  
uneducated or half-educated1 to whom the
 established religion is simply an      
expression of the obedience which they  
owe to ,almighty ,god1 on the details of
 which they think little1 and are       
therefore unconscious of its            
difficulties1 while in general it is the
 source of all that is best and noblest 
in their lives and actions4  ,this last 
motive no doubt deserves respect1 but   
the force which it once possessed it    
possesses no longer4 ,the uncertainty   

which once affected only the more       
instructed extends now to all classes of
 society4 ,a superficial crust of       
agreement1 wearing thinner day by day1  
is undermined everywhere by a vague     
misgiving2 and there is an unrest which 
will be satisfied only when the sources 
of it are probed to the core4 ,the      
,church authorities repeat a series of  
phrases which they are pleased to call  
answers to objections2 they treat the   
most serious grounds of perplexity as if
 they were puerile and trifling2 while  
it is notorious that for a century past 
extremely able men have either not known
 what to say about them1 or have not    
said what they thought4 ,on the         
,continent the peculiar ,english view   
has scarcely a single educated defender4
 ,even in ,england the laity keep their 
judgment in suspense1 or remain warily  
silent4  ',of what religion are you1    
,mr4 ,rogers8' said a lady once4  ',what
 religion1 madam8 ,i am of the religion 
of all sensible men4'  ',and what is    

that8' she asked4  ',all sensible men1  
madam1 keep that to themselves4'  ,if   
,mr4 ,rogers had gone on to explain     
himself1 he would have said1 perhaps1   
that where the opinions of those best   
able to judge are divided1 the questions
 at issue are doubtful4 ,reasonable men 
who are unable to give them special     
attention withhold their judgment1 while
 those who are able1 form their         
conclusions with diffidence and modesty4
 ,but theologians will not tolerate     
diffidence2 they demand absolute assent1
 and will take nothing short of it2 and 
they affect1 therefore1 to drown in     
foolish ridicule whatever troubles or   
displeases them4 ,the ,bishop of ,oxford
 talks in the old style of punishment4  
,the ,archbishop of ,canterbury refers  
us to ,usher as our guide in ,hebrew    
chronology4 ,the objections of the      
present generation of 'infidels1' he    
says1 are the same which have been      
refuted again and again1 and are such as
 a child might answer4 ,the young man   

just entering upon the possession of his
 intellect1 with a sense of             
responsibility for his belief1 and more 
anxious for truth than for success in   
life1 finds1 when he looks into the     
matter1 that the archbishop has         
altogether misrepresented it2 that in   
fact1 like other official persons1 he   
had been using merely a stereotyped form
 of words1 to which he attached no      
definite meaning4 ,the words are        
repeated year after year1 but the       
enemies refuse to be exorcised4 ,they   
come and come again1 from ,spinoza and  
,lessing to ,strauss and ,renan4 ,the   
theologians have resolved no single     
difficulty2 they convince no one who is 
not convinced already2 and a ,colenso   
coming fresh to the subject with no more
 than a year's study1 throws the ,church
 of ,england into convulsions4  ,if     
there were any real danger that         
,christianity would cease to be         
believed1 it would be no more than a    
fulfilment of prophecy4 ,the state in   

which the ,son of ,man would find the   
world at his coming he did not say would
 be a state of faith4 ,but if that dark 
time is ever literally to come upon the 
earth1 there are no present signs of it4
 ,the creed of eighteen centuries is not
 about to fade away like an exhalation1 
nor are the new lights of science so    
exhilarating that serious persons can   
look with comfort to exchanging one for 
the other4 ,christianity has abler      
advocates than its professed defenders1 
in those many quiet and humble men and  
women who in the light of it and the    
strength of it live holy1 beautiful1 and
 self-denying lives4 ,the ,god that     
answers by fire is the ,god whom mankind
 will acknowledge2 and so long as the   
fruits of the ,spirit continue to be    
visible in charity1 in self-sacrifice1  
in those graces which raise human       
creatures above themselves1 and invest  
them with that beauty of holiness which 
only religion confers1 thoughtful       
persons will remain convinced that with 

them in some form or other is the secret
 of truth4 ,the body will not thrive on 
poison1 or the soul on falsehood2 and as
 the vital processes of health are too  
subtle for science to follow2 as we     
choose our food1 not by the most careful
 chemical analysis1 but by the          
experience of its effects upon the      
system2 so when a particular belief is  
fruitful in nobleness of character1 we  
need trouble ourselves very little with 
scientific demonstrations that it is    
false4 ,the most deadly poison may be   
chemically undistinguishable from       
substances which are perfectly innocent4
 ,prussic acid1 we are told1 is formed  
of the same elements1 combined in the   
same proportions1 as gum-arabic4  ,what 
that belief is for which the fruits     
speak thus so positively1 it is less    
easy to define4 ,religion from the      
beginning of time has expanded and      
changed with the growth of knowledge4   
,the religion of the prophets was not   
the religion which was adapted to the   

hardness of heart of the ,israelites of 
the ,exodus4 ,the ,gospel set aside the 
,law2 the creed of the early ,church was
 not the creed of the ,middle ,ages1 any
 more than the creed of ,luther and     
,cranmer was the creed of ,st4 ,bernard 
and ,aquinas4 ,old things pass away1 new
 things come in their place2 and they in
 their turn grow old1 and give place to 
others2 yet in each of the many forms   
which ,christianity has assumed in the  
world1 holy men have lived and died1 and
 have had the witness of the ,spirit    
that they were not far from the truth4  
,it may be that the faith which saves is
 the something held in common by all    
sincere ,christians1 and by those as    
well who should come from the east and  
the west1 and sit down in the kingdom of
 ,god1 when the children of the covenant
 would be cast out4 ,it may be that the 
true teaching of our ,lord is overlaid  
with doctrines2 and theology1 when      
insisting on the reception of its huge  
catena of formulas1 may be binding a    

yoke upon our necks which neither we nor
 our fathers were able to bear4  ,but it
 is not the object of this paper to put 
forward either this or any other        
particular opinion4 ,the writer is      
conscious only that he is passing fast  
towards the dark gate which soon will   
close behind him4 ,he believes that some
 kind of sincere and firm conviction on 
these things is of infinite moment to   
him1 and1 entirely diffident of his own 
power to find his way towards such a    
conviction1 he is both ready and anxious
 to disclaim 'all right of private      
judgment' in the matter4 ,he wishes only
 to learn from those who are able to    
teach him4 ,the learned prelates talk of
 the presumptuousness of human reason2  
they tell us that doubts arise from the 
consciousness of sin and the pride of   
the unregenerate heart4 ,the present    
writer1 while he believes generally that
 reason1 however inadequate1 is the best
 faculty to which we have to trust1 yet 
is most painfully conscious of the      

weakness of his own reason2 and once let
 the real judgment of the best and      
wisest men be declared--let those who   
are most capable of forming a sound     
opinion1 after reviewing the whole      
relations of science1 history1 and what 
is now received as revelation1 tell us  
fairly how much of the doctrines        
popularly taught they conceive to be    
adequately established1 how much to be  
uncertain1 and how much1 if anything1 to
 be mistaken2 there is scarcely1        
perhaps1 a single serious enquirer who  
would not submit with delight to a court
 which is the highest on earth4  ,mr4   
,mansell tells us that in the things of 
,god reason is beyond its depth1 that   
the wise and the unwise are on the same 
level of incapacity1 and that we must   
accept what we find established1 or we  
must believe nothing4 ,we presume that  
,mr4 ,mansell's dilemma itself is a     
conclusion of reason4 ,do what we will1 
reason is and must be our ultimate      
authority2 and were the collective sense

 of mankind to declare ,mr4 ,mansell    
right1 we should submit to that opinion 
as readily as to another4 ,but the      
collective sense of mankind is less     
acquiescent4 ,he has been compared to a 
man sitting on the end of a plank and   
deliberately sawing off his seat4 ,it   
seems never to have occurred to him     
that1 if he is right1 he has no business
 to be a ,protestant4 ,what ,mr4        
,mansell says to ,professor ,jowett1    
,bishop ,gardiner in effect replied to  
,frith and ,ridley4 ,frith and ,ridley  
said that transubstantiation was        
unreasonable2 ,gardiner answered that   
there was the letter of ,scripture for  
it1 and that the human intellect was no 
measure of the power of ,god4 ,yet the  
,reformers somehow believed1 and ,mr4   
,mansell by his place in the ,church of 
,england seems to agree with them1 that 
the human intellect was not so wholly   
incompetent4 ,it might be a weak guide1 
but it was better than none2 and they   
declared on grounds of mere reason1 that

 ,christ being in heaven and not on     
earth1 'it was contrary to the truth for
 a natural body to be in two places at  
once4' ,the common sense of the country 
was of the same opinion1 and the        
illusion was at an end4  ,there have    
been ',aids to ,faith' produced lately1 
and ',replies to the ,seven ,essayists1'
 ',answers to ,colenso1' and much else  
of the kind4 ,we regret to say that they
 have done little for us4 ,the very life
 of our souls is at issue in the        
questions which have been raised1 and we
 are fed with the professional          
commonplaces of the members of a close  
guild1 men holding high office in the   
,church1 or expecting to hold high      
office there2 in either case with a     
strong temporal interest in the defence 
of the institution which they represent4
 ,we desire to know what those of the   
clergy think whose love of truth is     
unconnected with their prospects in     
life2 we desire to know what the        
educated laymen1 the lawyers1 the       

historians1 the men of science1 the     
statesmen think2 and these are for the  
most part silent1 or confess themselves 
modestly uncertain4 ,the professional   
theologians alone are loud and          
confident2 but they speak in the old    
angry tone which rarely accompanies deep
 and wise convictions4 ,they do not meet
 the real difficulties2 they mistake    
them1 misrepresent them1 claim victories
 over adversaries with whom they have   
never even crossed swords1 and leap to  
conclusions with a precipitancy at which
 we can only smile4 ,it has been the    
unhappy manner of their class from      
immemorial time2 they call it zeal for  
the ,lord1 as if it were beyond all     
doubt that they were on ,god's side--as 
if serious enquiry after truth was      
something which they were entitled to   
resent4 ,they treat intellectual        
difficulties as if they deserved rather 
to be condemned and punished than       
considered and weighed1 and rather stop 
their ears and run with one accord upon 

anyone who disagrees with them than     
listen patiently to what he has to say4 
,we do not propose to enter in detail   
upon the particular points which demand 
re-discussion4 ,it is enough that the   
more exact habit of thought which       
science has engendered1 and the closer  
knowledge of the value and nature of    
evidence1 has notoriously made it       
necessary that the grounds should be    
reconsidered on which we are to believe 
that one country and one people was     
governed for sixteen centuries on       
principles different from those which we
 now find to prevail universally4 ,one  
of many questions1 however1 shall be    
briefly glanced at1 on which the real   
issue seems habitually to be evaded4    
,much has been lately said and written  
on the authenticity of the ,pentateuch  
and the other historical books of the   
,old ,testament4 ,the ,bishop of ,natal 
has thrown out in a crude form the      
critical results of the enquiries of the
 ,germans1 coupled with certain         

arithmetical calculations1 for which he 
has a special aptitude4 ,he supposes    
himself to have proved that the first   
five books of the ,bible are a          
compilation of uncertain date1 full of  
inconsistencies and impossibilities4    
,the apologists have replied that the   
objections are not absolutely           
conclusive1 that the events described in
 the ,book of ,exodus might possibly1   
under certain combinations of           
circumstances1 have actually taken      
place2 and they then pass to the        
assumption that because a story is not  
necessarily false1 therefore it is      
necessarily true4 ,we have no intention 
of vindicating ,dr4 ,colenso4 ,his      
theological training makes his arguments
 very like those of his opponents1 and  
he and ,dr4 ,m',call may settle their   
differences between themselves4 ,the    
question is at once wider and simpler   
than any which has been raised in that  
controversy4 ,were it proved beyond     
possibility of error that the           

,pentateuch was written by ,moses1 that 
those and all the books of the ,old and 
,new ,testaments were really the work of
 the writers whose names they bear2 were
 the ,mosaic cosmogony in harmony with  
physical discoveries2 and were the      
supposed inconsistencies and            
contradictions shown to have no         
existence except in ,dr4 ,colenso's     
imagination--we should not have advanced
 a single step towards making good the  
claim put forward for the ,bible1 that  
it is absolutely and unexceptionably    
true in all its parts4 ,the 'genuineness
 and authenticity' argument is          
irrelevant and needless4 ,the clearest  
demonstration of the human authorship of
 the ,pentateuch proves nothing about   
its immunity from errors4 ,if there are 
no mistakes in it1 it was not the       
workmanship of man2 and if it was       
inspired by the ,holy ,spirit1 there is 
no occasion to show that the hand of    
,moses was the instrument made use of4  
,to the most excellent of contemporary  

histories1 to histories written by      
eye-witnesses of the facts which they   
describe1 we accord but a limited       
confidence4 ,the highest intellectual   
competence1 the most admitted           
truthfulness1 immunity from prejudice1  
and the absence of temptation to        
misstate the truth2 these things may    
secure great credibility1 but they are  
no guarantee for minute and             
circumstantial exactness4 ,two          
historians1 though with equal gifts and 
equal opportunities1 never describe     
events in exactly the same way4 ,two    
witnesses in a court of law1 while they 
agree in the main1 invariably differ in 
some particulars4 ,it appears as if men 
could not relate facts precisely as they
 saw or as they heard them4 ,the        
different parts of a story strike       
different imaginations unequally2 and   
the mind1 as the circumstances pass     
through it1 alters their proportions    
unconsciously1 or shifts the            
perspective4 ,the credit which we give  

to the most authentic work of a man has 
no resemblance to that universal        
acceptance which is demanded for the    
,bible4 ,it is not a difference of      
degree3 it is a difference in kind2 and 
we desire to know on what ground this   
infallibility1 which we do not question1
 but which is not proved1 demands our   
belief4 ,very likely1 the ,bible is thus
 infallible4 ,unless it is1 there can be
 no moral obligation to accept the facts
 which it records2 and though there may 
be intellectual error in denying them1  
there can be no moral sin4 ,facts may be
 better or worse authenticated2 but all 
the proofs in the world of the          
genuineness and authenticity of the     
human handiwork cannot establish a claim
 upon the conscience4 ,it might be      
foolish to question ,thucydides' account
 of ,pericles1 but no one would call it 
sinful4 ,men part with all sobriety of  
judgment when they come on ground of    
this kind4 ,when ,sir ,henry ,rawlinson 
read the name of ,sennacherib on the    

,assyrian marbles1 and found allusions  
there to the ,israelites in ,palestine1 
we were told that a triumphant answer   
had been found to the cavils of         
sceptics1 and a convincing proof of the 
inspired truth of the ,divine ,oracles4 
,bad arguments in a good cause are a    
sure way to bring distrust upon it4 ,the
 ,divine ,oracles may be true1 and may  
be inspired2 but the discoveries at     
,nineveh certainly do not prove them so4
 ,no one supposes that the ,books of    
,kings or the prophecies of ,isaiah and 
,ezekiel were the work of men who had no
 knowledge of ,assyria or the ,assyrian 
,princes4 ,it is possible that in the   
excavations at ,carthage some ,punic    
inscription may be found confirming     
,livy's account of the battle of ,cann2 
but we shall not be obliged to believe  
therefore in the inspiration of ,livy1  
or rather 7for the argument comes to    
that7 in the inspiration of the whole   
,latin literature4  ,we are not         
questioning the fact that the ,bible is 

infallible2 we desire only to be told on
 what evidence that great and awful fact
 concerning it properly rests4 ,it would
 seem1 indeed1 as if instinct had been  
wiser than argument--as if it had been  
felt that nothing short of this literal 
and close inspiration could preserve the
 facts on which ,christianity depends4  
,the history of the early world is a    
history everywhere of marvels4 ,the     
legendary literature of every nation    
upon earth tells the same stories of    
prodigies and wonders1 of the           
appearances of the gods upon earth1 and 
of their intercourse with men4 ,the     
lives of the saints of the ,catholic    
,church1 from the time of the ,apostles 
till the present day1 are a complete    
tissue of miracles resembling and       
rivalling those of the ,gospels4 ,some  
of these stories are romantic and       
imaginative2 some clear1 literal1 and   
prosaic2 some rest on mere tradition2   
some on the sworn testimony of          
eye-witnesses2 some are obvious fables2 

some are as well authenticated as facts 
of such a kind can be authenticated at  
all4 ,the ,protestant ,christian rejects
 every one of them--rejects them without
 enquiry--involves those for which there
 is good authority and those for which  
there is none or little in one absolute1
 contemptuous1 and sweeping denial4 ,the
 ,protestant ,christian feels it more   
likely1 in the words of ,hume1 that men 
should deceive or be deceived1 than that
 the laws of nature should be violated4 
,at this moment we are beset with       
reports of conversations with spirits1  
of tables miraculously lifted1 of hands 
projected out of the world of shadows   
into this mortal life4 ,an unusually    
able1 accomplished person1 accustomed to
 deal with common-sense facts1 a        
celebrated political economist1 and     
notorious for business-like habits1     
assured this writer that a certain      
mesmerist1 who was my informant's       
intimate friend1 had raised a dead girl 
to life4 ,we should believe the people  

who tell us these things in any ordinary
 matter3 they would be admitted in a    
court of justice as good witnesses in a 
criminal case1 and a jury would hang a  
man on their word4 ,the person just now 
alluded to is incapable of telling a    
wilful lie2 yet our experience of the   
regularity of nature on one side is so  
uniform1 and our experience of the      
capacities of human folly on the other  
is so large1 that when people tell us   
these wonderful stories1 most of us are 
contented to smile2 and we do not care  
so much as to turn out of our way to    
examine them4  ,the ,bible is equally a 
record of miracles2 but as from other   
histories we reject miracles without    
hesitation1 so of those in the ,bible we
 insist on the universal acceptance3 the
 former are all false1 the latter are   
all true4 ,it is evident that1 in       
forming conclusions so sweeping as      
these1 we cannot even suppose that we   
are being guided by what is called      
historical evidence4 ,were it admitted  

that1 as a whole1 the miracles of the   
,bible are better authenticated than the
 miracles of the saints1 we should be   
far removed still from any large        
inference1 that in the one set there is 
no room for falsehood1 in the other no  
room for truth4 ,the writer or writers  
of the ,books of ,kings are not known4  
,the books themselves are in fact       
confessedly taken from older writings   
which are lost2 and the accounts of the 
great prophets of ,israel are a         
counterpart1 curiously like1 of those of
 the medival saints4 ,in many instances 
the authors of the lives of these saints
 were their companions and friends4 ,why
 do we feel so sure that what we are    
told of ,elijah or ,elisha took place   
exactly as we read it8 ,why do we reject
 the account of ,st4 ,columba or ,st4   
,martin as a tissue of idle fable8 ,why 
should not ,god give a power to the     
saint which ,he had given to the        
prophet8 ,we can produce no reason from 
the nature of things1 for we know not   

what the nature of things is2 and if    
down to the death of the ,apostles the  
ministers of religion were allowed to   
prove their commission by working       
miracles1 what right have we1 on grounds
 either of history or philosophy1 to    
draw a clear line at the death of ,st4  
,john--to say that before that time all 
such stories were true1 and after it all
 were false8  ,there is no point on     
which ,protestant controversialists     
evade the real question more habitually 
than on that of miracles4 ,they accuse  
those who withhold that unreserved and  
absolute belief which they require for  
all which they accept themselves1 of    
denying that miracles are possible4     
,they assume this to be the position    
taken up by the objector1 and proceed   
easily to argue that man is no judge of 
the power of ,god4 ,of course he is not4
 ,no sane man ever raised his narrow    
understanding into a measure of the     
possibilities of the universe2 nor does 
any person with any pretensions to      

religion disbelieve in miracles of some 
kind4 ,to pray is to expect a miracle4  
,when we pray for the recovery of a sick
 friend1 for the gift of any blessing1  
or the removal of any calamity1 we      
expect that ,god will do something by an
 act of his personal will which         
otherwise would not have been done--that
 he will suspend the ordinary relations 
of natural cause and effect2 and this is
 the very idea of a miracle4 ,the thing 
we pray for may be given us1 and no     
miracle may have taken place4 ,it may be
 given to us by natural causes1 and     
would have occurred whether we had      
prayed or not4 ,but prayer itself in its
 very essence implies a belief in the   
possible intervention of a power which  
is above nature4 ,the question about    
miracles is simply one of               
evidence--whether in any given case the 
proof is so strong that no room is left 
for mistake1 exaggeration1 or illusion1 
while more evidence is required to      
establish a fact antecedently improbable

 than is sufficient for a common        
occurrence4  ,it has been said recently 
by ',a ,layman1' in a letter to ,mr4    
,maurice1 that the resurrection of our  
,lord is as well authenticated as the   
death of ,julius ,csar4 ,it is far      
better authenticated1 unless we are     
mistaken in supposing the ,bible        
inspired2 or if we admit as evidence    
that inward assurance of the ,christian1
 which would make him rather die than   
disbelieve a truth so dear to him4 ,but 
if the layman meant that there was as   
much proof of it1 in the sense in which 
proof is understood in a court of       
justice1 he could scarcely have         
considered what he was saying4 ,julius  
,csar was killed in a public place1 in  
the presence of friend and foe1 in a    
remarkable but still perfectly natural  
manner4 ,the circumstances were minutely
 known to all the world1 and were never 
denied or doubted by any one4 ,our      
,lord1 on the other hand1 seems         
purposely to have withheld such public  

proof of his resurrection as would have 
left no room for unbelief4 ,he showed   
himself1 'not to all the people'--not to
 his enemies1 whom his appearance would 
have overwhelmed--but 'to witnesses     
chosen before2' to the circle of his own
 friends4 ,there is no evidence which a 
jury could admit that he was ever       
actually dead4 ,so unusual was it for   
persons crucified to die so soon1 that  
,pilate1 we are told1 'marvelled4' ,the 
subsequent appearances were strange1 and
 scarcely intelligible4 ,those who saw  
,him did not recognise ,him till ,he was
 made known to them in the breaking of  
bread4 ,he was visible and invisible4   
,he was mistaken by those who were most 
intimate with ,him for another person2  
nor do the accounts agree which are     
given by the different ,evangelists4 ,of
 investigation in the modern sense      
7except in the one instance of ,st4     
,thomas1 and ,st4 ,thomas was rather    
rebuked than praised7 there was none1   
and could be none4 ,the evidence offered

 was different in kind1 and the blessing
 was not to those who satisfied         
themselves of the truth of the fact by a
 searching enquiry1 but who gave their  
assent with the unhesitating confidence 
of love4  ,st4 ,paul's account of his   
own conversion is an instance of the    
kind of testimony which then worked the 
strongest conviction4 ,st4 ,paul1 a     
fiery fanatic on a mission of           
persecution with the midday ,syrian sun 
streaming down upon his head1 was struck
 to the ground1 and saw in a vision our 
,lord in the air4 ,if such a thing were 
to occur at the present day1 and if a   
modern physician were consulted about   
it1 he would say1 without hesitation1   
that it was an effect of an overheated  
brain and that there was nothing in it  
extraordinary or unusual4 ,if the       
impression left by the appearance had   
been too strong for such an explanation 
to be satisfactory1 the person to whom  
it occurred1 especially if he was a man 
of ,st ,paul's intellectual stature1    

would have at once examined into the    
facts otherwise known1 connected with   
the subject of what he had seen4 ,st4   
,paul had evidently before disbelieved  
our ,lord's resurrection--had           
disbelieved it fiercely and             
passionately2 we should have expected   
that he would at once have sought for   
those who could best have told him the  
details of the truth4 ,st4 ,paul1       
however1 did nothing of the kind4 ,he   
went for a year into ,arabia1 and when  
at last he returned to ,jerusalem1 he   
rather held aloof from those who had    
been our ,lord's companions1 and who had
 witnessed his ascension4 ,he saw       
,peter1 he saw ,james2 'of the rest of  
the apostles saw he none4' ,to him      
evidently the proof of the resurrection 
was the vision which he had himself     
seen4 ,it was to that which he always   
referred when called on for a defence of
 his faith4  ,of evidence for the       
resurrection1 in the common sense of the
 word1 there may be enough to show that 

something extraordinary occurred2 but   
not enough1 unless we assume the fact to
 be true on far other grounds1 to       
produce any absolute and unhesitating   
conviction2 and inasmuch as the         
resurrection is the keystone of         
,christianity1 the belief in it must be 
something far different from that       
suspended judgment in which history     
alone would leave us4  ,human testimony1
 we repeat1 under the most favourable   
circumstances imaginable1 knows nothing 
of 'absolute certainty2' and if         
historical facts are bound up with the  
creed1 and if they are to be received   
with the same completeness as the laws  
of conscience1 they rest1 and must rest1
 either on the divine truth of          
,scripture1 or on the divine witness in 
ourselves4 ,on human evidence the       
miracles of ,st4 ,teresa and ,st4       
,francis of ,assisi are as well         
established as those of the ,new        
,testament4  ,m4 ,ernest ,renan has     
recently produced an account of the     

,gospel story which1 written as it is by
 a man of piety1 intellect1 and         
imagination1 is spreading rapidly       
through the educated world4 ,carrying   
out the principles with which           
,protestants have swept modern history  
clear of miracles to their natural      
conclusions1 he dismisses all that is   
miraculous from the life of our ,lord1  
and endeavours to reproduce the original
 ,galilean youth who lived and taught1  
and died in ,palestine eighteen hundred 
years ago4 ,we have no intention of     
reviewing ,m4 ,renan4 ,he will be read  
soon enough by many who would better    
consider their peace of mind by leaving 
him alone4 ,for ourselves1 we are unable
 to see by what right1 if he rejects the
 miraculous part of the narrative1 he   
retains the rest2 the imagination and   
the credulity which invent extraordinary
 incidents1 invent ordinary incidents   
also2 and if the divine element in the  
life is legendary1 the human may be     
legendary also4 ,but there is one lucid 

passage in the introduction which we    
commend to the perusal of controversial 
theologians3--  ',no miracle such as    
those of which early histories are full 
has taken place under conditions which  
science can accept4 ,experience shows1  
without exception1 that miracles occur  
only in times and in countries in which 
miracles are believed in1 and in the    
presence of persons who are disposed to 
believe them4 ,no miracle has ever been 
performed before an assemblage of       
spectators capable of testing its       
reality4 ,neither uneducated people1 nor
 even men of the world1 have the        
requisite capacity2 great precautions   
are needed1 and a long habit of         
scientific research4 ,have we not seen  
men of the world in our own time become 
the dupes of the most childish and      
absurd illusions8 ,and if it be certain 
that no contemporary miracles will bear 
investigation1 is it not possible that  
the miracles of the past1 were we able  
to examine into them in detail1 would be

 found equally to contain an element of 
error8 ,it is not in the name of this or
 that philosophy1 it is in the name of  
an experience which never varies1 that  
we banish miracles from history4 ,we do 
not say a miracle is impossible--we say 
only that no miracle has ever yet been  
proved4 ,let a worker of miracles come  
forward to-morrow with pretensions      
serious enough to deserve examination4  
,let us suppose him to announce that he 
is able to raise a dead man to life4    
,what would be done8 ,a committee would 
be appointed1 composed of physiologists1
 physicians1 chemists1 and persons      
accustomed to exact investigation2 a    
body would then be selected which the   
committee would assure itself was really
 dead2 and a place would be chosen where
 the experiment was to take place4      
,every precaution would be taken to     
leave no opening for uncertainty2 and   
if1 under those conditions1 the         
restoration to life was effected1 a     
probability would be arrived at which   

would be almost equal to certainty4 ,an 
experiment1 however1 should always admit
 of being repeated4 ,what a man has done
 once he should be able to do again2 and
 in miracles there can be no question of
 ease or difficulty4 ,the performer     
would be requested to repeat the        
operation under other circumstances upon
 other bodies2 and if he succeeded on   
every occasion1 two points would be     
established3 first1 that there may be in
 this world such things as supernatural 
operations2 and1 secondly1 that the     
power to perform them is delegated to1  
or belongs to1 particular persons4 ,but 
who does not perceive that no miracle   
was ever performed under such conditions
 as these8'  ,we have quoted this       
passage because it expresses with       
extreme precision and clearness the     
common-sense principle which we apply to
 all supernatural stories of our own    
time1 which ,protestant theologians     
employ against the whole cycle of       
,catholic miracles1 and which ,m4 ,renan

 is only carrying to its logical        
conclusions in applying to the history  
of our ,lord1 if the ,gospels are tried 
by the mere tests of historical         
criticism4 ,the ,gospels themselves tell
 us why ,m4 ,renan's conditions were    
never satisfied4 ,miracles were not     
displayed in the presence of sceptics to
 establish scientific truths4 ,when the 
adulterous generation sought after a    
sign1 the sign was not given2 nay1 it is
 even said that in the presence of      
unbelief1 our ,lord was not able to work
 miracles4 ,but science has less respect
 for that undoubting and submissive     
willingness to believe2 and it is quite 
certain that if we attempt to establish 
the truth of the ,new ,testament on the 
principles of ,paley--if with ,professor
 ,jowett 'we interpret the ,bible as any
 other book1' the element of miracle    
which has evaporated from the entire    
surface of human history will not       
maintain itself in the sacred ground of 
the ,gospels1 and the facts of          

,christianity will melt in our hands    
like a snowball4  ,nothing less than a  
miraculous history can sustain the      
credibility of miracles1 and nothing    
could be more likely1 if revelation be a
 reality and not a dream1 than that the 
history containing it should be saved in
 its composition from the intermixture  
of human infirmity4 ,this is the        
position in which instinct long ago     
taught ,protestants to entrench         
themselves1 and where alone they can    
hope to hold their ground3 once         
established in these lines1 they were   
safe and unassailable1 unless it could  
be demonstrated that any fact or facts  
related in the ,bible were certainly    
untrue4  ,nor would it be necessary to  
say any more upon the subject4 ,those   
who believed ,christianity would admit  
the assumption2 those who disbelieved   
,christianity would repudiate it4 ,the  
argument would be narrowed to that plain
 and single issue1 and the elaborate    
treatises upon external evidence would  

cease to bring discredit upon the cause 
by their feebleness4 ,unfortunately--and
 this is the true secret of our present 
distractions--it seems certain that in  
some way or other this belief in        
inspiration itself requires to be       
revised4 ,we are compelled to examine   
more precisely what we mean by the word4
 ,the account of the creation of man and
 the world which is given in ,genesis1  
and which is made by ,st4 ,paul the     
basis of his theology1 has not yet been 
reconciled with facts which science     
knows to be true4 ,death was in the     
world before ,adam's sin1 and unless    
,adam's age be thrust back to a distance
 which no ingenuity can torture the     
letter of ,scripture into recognising1  
men and women lived and died upon the   
earth whole millenniums before the ,eve 
of ,sacred ,history listened to the     
temptation of the snake4 ,neither has   
any such deluge as that from which1     
according to the received               
interpretation1 the ark saved ,noah1    

swept over the globe within the human   
period4 ,we are told that it was not    
,god's purpose to anticipate the natural
 course of discovery3 as the story of   
the creation was written in human       
language1 so the details of it may have 
been adapted to the existing state of   
human knowledge4 ,the ,bible1 it is     
said1 was not intended to teach men     
science1 but to teach them what was     
necessary for the moral training of     
their souls4 ,it may be that this is    
true4 ,spiritual grace affects the moral
 character of men1 but leaves their     
intellect unimproved4 ,the most         
religious men are as liable as atheists 
to ignorance of ordinary facts1 and     
inspiration may be only infallible when 
it touches on truths necessary to       
salvation4 ,but if it be so1 there are  
many things in the ,bible which must    
become as uncertain as its geology or   
its astronomy4 ,there is the long       
secular history of the ,jewish people4  
,let it be once established that there  

is room for error anywhere1 and we have 
no security for the accuracy of this    
history4 ,the inspiration of the ,bible 
is the foundation of our whole belief2  
and it is a grave matter if we are      
uncertain to what extent it reaches1 or 
how much and what it guarantees to us as
 true4 ,we cannot live on probabilities4
 ,the faith in which we can live bravely
 and die in peace must be a certainty1  
so far as it professes to be a faith at 
all1 or it is nothing4 ,it may be that  
all intellectual efforts to arrive at it
 are in vain2 that it is given to those 
to whom it is given1 and withheld from  
those from whom it is withheld4 ,it may 
be that the existing belief is          
undergoing a silent modification1 like  
those to which the dispensations of     
religion have been successively         
subjected2 or1 again1 it may be that to 
the creed as it is already established  
there is nothing to be added1 and       
nothing any more to be taken from it4   
,at this moment1 however1 the most      

vigorous minds appear least to see their
 way to a conclusion2 and               
notwithstanding all the school and      
church building1 the extended           
episcopate1 and the religious           
newspapers1 a general doubt is coming up
 like a thunderstorm against the wind1  
and blackening the sky4 ,those who cling
 most tenaciously to the faith in which 
they were educated1 yet confess         
themselves perplexed4 ,they know what   
they believe2 but why they believe it1  
or why they should require others to    
believe1 they cannot tell or cannot     
agree4 ,between the authority of the    
,church and the authority of the ,bible1
 the testimony of history and the       
testimony of the ,spirit1 the           
ascertained facts of science and the    
contradictory facts which seem to be    
revealed1 the minds of men are tossed to
 and fro1 harassed by the changed       
attitude in which scientific            
investigation has placed us all towards 
accounts of supernatural occurrences4   

,we thrust the subject aside2 we take   
refuge in practical work2 we believe1   
perhaps1 that the situation is          
desperate1 and hopeless of improvement2 
we refuse to let the question be        
disturbed4 ,but we cannot escape from   
our shadow1 and the spirit of           
uncertainty will haunt the world like an
 uneasy ghost1 till we take it by the   
throat like men4  ,we return then to the
 point from which we set out4 ,the time 
is past for repression4 ,despotism has  
done its work2 but the day of despotism 
is gone1 and the only remedy is a full  
and fair investigation4 ,things will    
never right themselves if they are let  
alone4 ,it is idle to say peace when    
there is no peace2 and the concealed    
imposthume is more dangerous than an    
open wound4 ,the law in this country has
 postponed our trial1 but cannot save us
 from it2 and the questions which have  
agitated the ,continent are agitating us
 at last4 ,the student who twenty years 
ago was contented with the ,greek and   

,latin fathers and the ,anglican        
divines1 now reads ,ewald and ,renan4   
,the ,church authorities still refuse to
 look their difficulties in the face3   
they prescribe for mental troubles the  
established doses of ,paley and         
,pearson2 they refuse dangerous         
questions as sinful1 and tread the round
 of commonplace in placid comfort4 ,but 
it will not avail4 ,their pupils grow to
 manhood1 and fight the battle for      
themselves1 unaided by those who ought  
to have stood by them in their trial1   
and could not or would not2 and the     
bitterness of those conflicts1 and the  
end of most of them in heart-broken     
uncertainty or careless indifference1 is
 too notorious to all who care to know  
about such things4  ,we cannot afford   
year after year to be distracted with   
the tentative scepticism of essayists   
and reviewers4 ,in a healthy condition  
of public opinion such a book as ,bishop
 ,colenso's would have passed unnoticed1
 or rather would never have been        

written1 for the difficulties with which
 it deals would have been long ago met  
and disposed of4 ,when questions rose in
 the early and middle ages of the       
,church1 they were decided by councils  
of the wisest3 those best able to judge 
met together1 and compared their        
thoughts1 and conclusions were arrived  
at which individuals could accept and   
act upon4 ,at the beginning of the      
,english ,reformation1 when ,protestant 
doctrine was struggling for reception1  
and the old belief was merging in the   
new1 the country was deliberately held  
in formal suspense4 ,protestants and    
,catholics were set to preach on        
alternate ,sundays in the same pulpit2  
subjects were discussed freely in the   
ears of the people2 and at last1 when   
all had been said on both sides1        
,convocation and ,parliament embodied   
the result in formulas4 ,councils will  
no longer answer the purpose2 the clergy
 have no longer a superiority of        
intellect or cultivation2 and a         

conference of prelates from all parts of
 ,christendom1 or even from all         
departments of the ,english ,church1    
would not present an edifying spectacle4
 ,parliament may no longer meddle with  
opinions unless it be to untie the      
chains which it forged three centuries  
ago4 ,but better than councils1 better  
than sermons1 better than ,parliament1  
is that free discussion through a free  
press which is the best instrument for  
the discovery of truth1 and the most    
effectual means for preserving it4  ,we 
shall be told1 perhaps1 that we are     
beating the air--that the press is free1
 and that all men may and do write what 
they please4 ,it is not so4 ,discussion 
is not free so long as the clergy who   
take any side but one are liable to be  
prosecuted and deprived of their means  
of living2 it is not free so long as the
 expression of doubt is considered as a 
sin by public opinion and as a crime by 
the law4 ,so far are we from free       
discussion1 that the world is not yet   

agreed that a free discussion is        
desirable2 and till it be so agreed1 the
 substantial intellect of the country   
will not throw itself into the question4
 ,the battle will continue to be fought 
by outsiders1 who suffice to disturb a  
repose which they cannot restore2 and   
that collective voice of the national   
understanding1 which alone can give back
 to us a peaceful and assured           
conviction1 will not be heard4          
,,footnotes3  ,d ,fraser's ,magazine1   
#ahfc4     ,,criticism ,,and ,,the      
,,gospel ,,history4,e   ,the spirit of  
criticism is not the spirit of religion4
 ,the spirit of criticism is a          
questioning spirit2 the spirit of       
religion is a spirit of faith1 of       
humility and submission4 ,other         
qualities may go to the formation of a  
religious character in the highest and  
grandest sense of the word2 but the     
virtues which religious teachers most   
generally approve1 which make up the    
ideal of a ,catholic saint1 which the   

,catholic and all other churches        
endeavour most to cultivate in their    
children1 are those of passive and loyal
 obedience1 a devotion without reserve  
or qualification2 or to use the         
technical word1 'a spirit of            
teachableness4' ,a religious education  
is most successful when it has formed a 
mind to which difficulties are welcome  
as an opportunity for the triumph of    
faith--which regards doubts as          
temptations to be resisted like the     
suggestions of sensuality1 and which    
alike in action or opinion follows the  
path prescribed to it with affectionate 
and unhesitating confidence4  ,to men or
 women of the tender and sensitive piety
 which is produced by such a training1  
an enquiry into the grounds of its faith
 appears shocking and profane4 ,to      
demand an explanation of ambiguities or 
mysteries of which they have been       
accustomed to think only upon their     
knees1 is as it were to challenge the   
,almighty to explain his ways to his    

creatures1 and to refuse obedience      
unless human presumption has been first 
gratified4  ,undoubtedly1 not in        
religion only1 but in any branch of     
human knowledge1 teachableness is the   
condition of growth4 ,we augur ill for  
the future of the youth who sets his own
 judgment against that of his           
instructors1 and refuses to believe what
 cannot be at once made plain to him4   
,yet again1 the wise instructor will not
 lightly discourage questions which are 
prompted by an intelligent desire of    
knowledge4 ,that an unenquiring         
submission produces characters of great 
and varied beauty2 that it has inspired 
the most splendid acts of endurance     
which have given a lustre to humanity1  
no one will venture to deny4 ,a genial  
faith is one of that group of qualities 
which commend themselves most to the    
young1 the generous1 and the            
enthusiastic--to those whose native and 
original nobleness has suffered least   
from contact with the world--which      

belong rather to the imagination than   
the reason1 and stand related to truth  
through the emotions rather than through
 the sober calculations of probability4 
,it is akin to loyalty1 to enthusiasm1  
to hero-worship1 to that deep affection 
to a person or a cause which can see no 
fault in what it loves4  ',belief1' says
 ,mr4 ,sewell1 'is a virtue2 doubt is a 
sin4' ,iago is nothing if not critical2 
and the sceptical spirit--der ,geist der
 stets verneint--which is satisfied with
 nothing1 which sees in everything good 
the seed of evil1 and the weak spot in  
every great cause or nature1 has been   
made the special characteristic--we all 
feel with justice--of the devil4  ,and  
yet this devotedness or devotion1 this  
reverence for authority1 is but one     
element of excellence4 ,to reverence is 
good2 but on the one condition that the 
object of it be a thing which deserves  
reverence2 and the necessary complement1
 the security that we are not bestowing 
our best affections where they should   

not be given1 must be looked for in some
 quality which1 if less attractive1 is  
no less essential for our true welfare4 
,to prove all things--to try the spirits
 whether they be of ,god--is a duty laid
 upon us by the highest authority2 and  
what is called progress in human        
things--religious as well as            
material--has been due uniformly to a   
dissatisfaction with them as they are4  
,every advance in science1 every        
improvement in the command of the       
mechanical forces of nature1 every step 
in political or social freedom1 has     
risen in the first instance from an act 
of scepticism1 from an uncertainty      
whether the formulas1 or the opinions1  
or the government1 or the received      
practical theories were absolutely      
perfect2 or whether beyond the circle of
 received truths there might not lie    
something broader1 deeper1 truer1 and   
thus better deserving the acceptance of 
mankind4  ,submissiveness1 humility1    
obedience1 produce if uncorrected1 in   

politics a nation of slaves1 whose      
baseness becomes an incentive to        
tyranny2 in religion1 they produce the  
consecration of falsehood1 poperies1    
immaculate conceptions1 winking images1 
and the confessional4 ,the spirit of    
enquiry if left to itself becomes in    
like manner a disease of uncertainty1   
and terminates in universal scepticism4 
,it seems as if in a healthy order of   
things1 to the willingness to believe   
there should be chained as its          
inseparable companion a jealousy of     
deception2 and there is no lesson more  
important for serious persons to impress
 upon themselves than that each of these
 temperaments must learn to tolerate the
 other2 faith accepting from reason the 
sanction of its service1 and reason     
receiving in return the warm pulsations 
of life4 ,the two principles exist      
together in the highest natures2 and the
 man who in the best sense of the word  
is devout1 is also the most cautious to 
whom or to what he pays his devotion4   

,among the multitude1 the units of which
 are each inadequate and incomplete1 the
 elements are disproportionately mixed2 
some men are humble and diffident1 some 
are sceptical and enquiring2 yet both   
are filling a place in the great        
intellectual economy2 both contribute to
 make up the sum and proportion of      
qualities which are required to hold the
 balance even2 and neither party is     
entitled to say to the other1 ',stand   
by2 ,i am holier than thou4'  ,and as it
 is with individuals1 so is it also with
 whole periods and cycles4 ,for         
centuries together the believing spirit 
held undisputed sovereignty2 and these  
were what are called 'ages of faith2'   
ages1 that is1 in which the highest     
business of the intellect was to pray   
rather than to investigate2 when for    
every unusual phenomenon a supernatural 
cause was instinctively assumed2 when   
wonders were credible in proportion to  
their magnitude2 and theologians1 with  
easy command of belief1 added miracle to

 miracle and piled dogma upon dogma4    
,then the tide changed2 a fresh era     
opened1 which in the eyes of those who  
considered the old system the only right
 one1 was the letting loose of the      
impersonated spirit of evil2 when       
profane eyes were looking their idols in
 the face2 when men were saying to the  
miraculous images1 ',you are but stone  
and wood1' and to the piece of bread1   
',you are but dust as ,i am dust2' and  
then the huge medival fabric crumbled   
down in ruin4  ,all forms of thought1   
all objects of devotion1 are made thus  
liable to perpetual revision1 if only   
that belief shall not petrify into      
habit1 but remain the reasonable        
conviction of a reasonable soul4 ,the   
change of times and the change of       
conditions change also the appearance of
 things which in themselves are the same
 which they always were4 ,facts supposed
 once to be as fixed as the stars melt  
into fiction4 ,a closer acquaintance    
with the phenomena of experience has    

revealed to us the action of forces     
before undreamt of working throughout   
nature with unerring uniformity2 and to 
the medival stories of magic1           
witchcraft1 or the miracles of saints1  
we are thus placed in a new relation4   
,the direct evidence on which such      
stories were received may remain        
unimpaired1 but it no longer produces   
the same conviction4 ,even in ordinary  
human things where the evidence is      
lost--as in some of our own ,state      
trials1 and where we know only that it  
was such as brought conviction to       
judges1 juries1 and                     
parliaments--historians do not hesitate 
to call their verdicts into question1   
thinking it more likely that whole      
masses of men should have been led away 
by passion or fraud or cowardice than   
that this or that particular crime      
should have been committed4 ,that we    
often go beyond our office and          
exaggerate the value of our new criteria
 of truth may be possible enough2 but it

 is no less certain that this is the    
tendency of modern thought4 ,our own    
age1 like every age which has gone      
before it1 judges the value of          
testimony1 not by itself merely1 but by 
the degree to which it corresponds with 
our own sense of the laws of            
probability2 and we consider events     
probable or improbable by the habit of  
mind which is the result of our general 
knowledge and culture4 ,to the ,catholic
 of the middle ages a miracle was more  
likely than not2 and when he was told   
that a miracle had been worked1 he      
believed it as he would have believed   
had he been told that a shower of rain  
had fallen1 or that the night frost had 
killed the buds upon his fruit trees4   
,if his cattle died1 he found the cause 
in the malice of ,satan or the evil eye 
of a witch2 and if two or more witnesses
 could have been found to swear that    
they had heard an old woman curse him1  
she would have been burnt for a         
sorceress4 ,the man of science1 on the  

other hand1 knows nothing of witches and
 sorcerers2 when he can find a natural  
cause he refuses to entertain the       
possibility of the intervention of a    
cause beyond nature2 and thus that very 
element of marvel which to the more     
superstitious temperament was an        
evidence of truth1 becomes to the better
 informed a cause of suspicion4  ,so it 
has been that throughout history1 as    
between individuals among ourselves1 we 
trace two habits of thought1 one of     
which has given us churches1 creeds1 and
 the knowledge of ,god2 the other has   
given us freedom and science1 has pruned
 the luxuriance of imaginative          
reverence1 and reminds piety of what it 
is too ready to forget--that ,god is    
truth4 ,yet1 essential as they are to   
one another1 each keeps too absolutely  
to the circle of its own convictions1   
and1 but half able to recognise the     
merit of principles which are alien to  
its own1 regards the other as its       
natural enemy4  ,to the warm and        

enthusiastic pietist the enquirer       
appears as a hater of ,god1 an          
inveterate blasphemer of holy things1   
soiling with rude and insolent hands    
what ought only to be humbly adored4    
,the saint when he has the power calls  
the sword to his aid1 and in his zeal   
for what he calls the honour of ,god1   
makes war upon such people with steel   
and fire4 ,the innovator1 on the other  
hand1 knowing that he is not that evil  
creature which his rival represents him 
as being1 knowing that he too desires   
only truth--first suffers1 suffers in   
rough times at stake and scaffold1      
suffers in our own later days in good   
name1 in reputation1 in worldly fortune2
 and as the whirligig of time brings    
round his turn of triumph1 takes1 in    
,french revolutions and such other fits 
of madness1 his own period of wild      
revenge4 ,the service of truth is made  
to appear as one thing1 the service of  
,god as another2 and in that fatal      
separation religion dishonours itself   

with unavailing enmity to what          
nevertheless it is compelled at last to 
accept in humiliation2 and science1     
welcoming the character which its       
adversary flings upon it1 turns away    
with answering hostility from doctrines 
without which its own highest           
achievements are but pyramids of ashes4 
,is this antagonism a law of humanity8  
,as mankind move upwards through the    
ascending circles of progress1 is it for
 ever to be with them as with the globe 
which they inhabit--of which one        
hemisphere is perpetually dark8 ,have   
the lessons of the ,reformation been    
thrown away8 ,is knowledge always to    
advance under the ban of religion8 ,is  
faith never to cease to dread           
investigation8 ,is science chiefly to   
value each new discovery as a victory   
gained over its rival8 ,is the spiritual
 world to revolve eternally upon an axis
 of which the two poles are materialism 
and superstition1 to be buried in their 
alternate occultations in periods of    

utter darkness1 or lifted into an icy   
light where there is neither life nor   
warmth8  ,how it may be in the remote   
future it is idle to guess2 for the     
present the signs are not hopeful4 ,we  
are arrived visibly at one of those     
recurring times when the accounts are   
called in for audit2 when the           
title-deeds are to be looked through1   
and established opinions again tested4  
,it is a process which has been repeated
 more than once in the world's history2 
the last occasion and greatest being the
 ,reformation of the sixteenth century2 
and the experience of that matter might 
have satisfied the most timid that truth
 has nothing to fear2 and that religion 
emerges out of such trials stronger and 
brighter than before4 ,yet ,churchmen   
have not profited by the experience2 the
 pulpits and the religious press ring   
again with the old shrieks of sacrilege2
 the machinery of the law courts is set 
creaking on its rusty hinges1 and       
denunciation and anathema in the old    

style take the place of reasoning4 ,it  
will not answer2 and the worst danger to
 what is really true is the want of     
wisdom in its defenders4 ,the language  
which we sometimes hear about these     
things seems to imply that while        
,christianity is indisputably true1 it  
cannot stand nevertheless without bolt  
and shackle1 as if the ,author of our   
faith had left the evidence so weak that
 an honest investigation would fail to  
find it4  ,inevitably1 the altered      
relation in which modern culture places 
the minds of all of us towards the      
supernatural1 will compel a             
reconsideration of the grounds on which 
the acceptance of miracles is required4 
,if the ,english learned clergy had     
faith as a grain of mustard seed1 they  
would be the first to take possession of
 the field2 they would look the         
difficulty in the face fearlessly and   
frankly1 and we should not be tossing as
 we are now in an ocean of uncertainty1 
ignorant whether1 if things seem obscure

 to us1 the fault is with our intellects
 or our hearts4  ,it might have been    
that ,providence1 anticipating the      
effect produced on dead testimony by    
time and change1 had raised religion    
into a higher sphere1 and had appointed 
on earth a living and visible authority 
which could not err--guided by the ,holy
 ,spirit into truth1 and divinely       
sustained in the possession of it4 ,such
 a body the ,roman ,catholic ,church    
conceives itself to be2 but in breaking 
away from its communion1 ,protestant    
,christians have declared their         
conviction that neither the ,church of  
,rome1 nor they themselves1 nor any     
other body of men on earth1 are exempt  
from a liability to error4 ,it is no    
longer competent for the ,anglican      
communion to say that a doctrine or a   
fact is true because it forms a part of 
their teaching1 because it has come down
 to them from antiquity1 and because to 
deny it is sin4 ,transubstantiation came
 down to the fathers of the ,reformation

 from antiquity2 it was received and    
insisted upon by the ,catholic ,church  
of ,christendom2 yet nevertheless it was
 flung out from among us as a lie and an
 offence4 ,the theory of the ,divine    
authority of the ,church was abandoned  
in the act of ,protestantism three      
centuries ago2 it was the central       
principle of that great revolt that the 
establishment of particular opinions was
 no guarantee for their truth2 and it   
becomes thus our duty as well as our    
right to examine periodically our       
intellectual defences1 to abandon       
positions which the alteration of time  
makes untenable1 and to admit and invite
 into the service of the sanctuary the  
fullest light of advancing knowledge4   
,of all positions the most fatally      
suicidal for ,protestants to occupy is  
the assumption1 which it is competent   
for ,roman ,catholics to hold1 but not  
for them1 that beliefs once sanctioned  
by the ,church are sacred1 and that to  
impugn them is not error but crime4     

,with a hope1 then1 that this reproach  
may be taken away from us2 that1 in this
 most wealthily-endowed ,church of      
,england1 where so many of the most     
gifted and most accomplished men among  
us are maintained in well-paid leisure  
to attend to such things1 we may not be 
left any longer to grope our way in the 
dark1 the present writer puts forward   
some few perplexities of which it would 
be well if ,english divinity contained a
 clearer solution than is found there4  
,the laity1 occupied in other matters1  
regard the clergy as the trustees of    
their spiritual interests2 but inasmuch 
as the clergy tell them that the safety 
of their souls depends on the           
correctness of their opinions1 they dare
 not close their eyes to the questions  
which are being asked in louder and even
 louder tones2 and they have a right to 
demand that they shall not be left to   
their own unaided efforts to answer such
 questions4 ,we go to our appointed     
teachers as to our physicians2 we say to

 them1 ',we feel pain here1 and here1   
and here3 we do not see our way1 and we 
require you to help us4'  ,most of these
 perplexities are not new3 they were    
felt with the first beginnings of       
critical investigation2 but the fact    
that they have been so many years before
 the world without being satisfactorily 
encountered makes the situation only the
 more serious4 ,it is the more strange  
that as time passes on1 and divine after
 divine is raised to honour and office  
for his theological services1 we should 
find only when we turn to their writings
 that loud promises end in no           
performance2 that the chief object which
 they set before themselves is to avoid 
difficult ground2 and that the points on
 which we most cry out for satisfaction 
are passed over in silence1 or are      
disposed of with ineffectual            
commonplaces4  ,with a temperament      
constitutionally religious1 and with an 
instinctive sense of the futility of    
theological controversies1 the ,english 

people have long kept the enemy at bay  
by passive repugnance4 ,to the          
well-conditioned ,english layman the    
religion in which he has been educated  
is part of the law of the land2 the     
truth of it is assumed in the first     
principles of his personal and social   
existence2 and attacks on the           
credibility of his sacred books he has  
regarded with the same impatience and   
disdain with which he treats            
speculations on the rights of property  
or the common maxims of right and wrong4
 ,thus1 while the inspiration of the    
,bible has been a subject of discussion 
for a century in ,germany1 ,holland1 and
 ,france2 while even in the desolate    
villages in the heart of ,spain the     
priests find it necessary to placard the
 church walls with cautions against     
rationalism1 ,england hitherto has      
escaped the trial2 and it is only within
 a very few years that the note of      
speculation has compelled our deaf ears 
to listen4 ,that it has come at last is 

less a matter of surprise than that it  
should have been so long delayed2 and   
though slow to move1 it is likely that  
so serious a people will not now rest   
till they have settled the matter for   
themselves in some practical way4 ,we   
are assured that if the truth be1 as we 
are told1 of vital moment--vital to all 
alike1 wise and foolish1 educated and   
uneducated--the road to it cannot lie   
through any very profound enquiries4 ,we
 refuse to believe that every labourer  
or mechanic must balance arduous        
historical probabilities and come to a  
just conclusion1 under pain of          
damnation4 ,we are satisfied that these 
poor people are not placed in so cruel a
 dilemma4 ,either these abstruse        
historical questions are open questions1
 and we are not obliged under those     
penalties to hold a definite opinion    
upon them1 or else there must be some   
general principle accessible and easily 
intelligible1 by which the details can  
be summarily disposed of4  ,we shall not

 be much mistaken1 perhaps1 if we say   
that the view of most educated ,english 
laymen at present is something of this  
kind4 ,they are aware that many         
questions may be asked1 difficult or    
impossible to answer satisfactorily1    
about the creation of the world1 the    
flood1 and generally on the historical  
portion of the ,old ,testament2 but they
 suppose that if the authority of the   
,gospel history can be well ascertained1
 the rest may and must be taken for     
granted4 ,if it be true that of the     
miraculous birth1 life1 death1 and      
resurrection of our ,lord1 we have the  
evidence of two evangelists who were    
eye-witnesses of the facts which they   
relate1 and of two others who wrote     
under the direction of1 or upon the     
authority of1 eye-witnesses1 we can     
afford to dispense with merely curious  
enquiries4 ,the subordinate parts of a  
divine economy which culminated in so   
stupendous a mystery may well be as     
marvellous as itself2 and it may be     

assumed1 we think1 with no great want of
 charity1 that those who doubt the truth
 of the ,old ,testament extend their    
incredulity to the ,new2 that the point 
of their disbelief1 towards which they  
are trenching their way through the weak
 places in the ,pentateuch1 is the      
,gospel narrative itself4,f ,whatever   
difficulty there may be in proving the  
ancient ,hebrew books to be the work of 
the writers whose names they bear1 no   
one would have cared to challenge their 
genuineness who was thoroughly convinced
 of the resurrection of our ,lord4 ,and 
the real object of these speculations   
lies open before us in the now notorious
 work of ,m4 ,renan1 which is shooting  
through ,europe with a rapidity which   
recalls the era of ,luther4  ,to the    
question of the authenticity of the     
,gospels1 therefore1 the common sense of
 ,englishmen has instinctively turned4  
,if1 as ,english commentators           
confidently tell us1 the ,gospel of ,st4
 ,matthew1 such as we now possess it1 is

 undoubtedly the work of the publican   
who followed our ,lord from the receipt 
of custom1 and remained with ,him to be 
a witness of ,his ascension2 if ,st4    
,john's ,gospel was written by the      
beloved disciple who lay on ,jesus'     
breast at supper2 if the other two were 
indeed the composition of the companions
 of ,st4 ,peter and ,st4 ,paul2 if in   
these four ,gospels we have independent 
accounts of our ,lord's life and        
passion1 mutually confirming each other1
 and if it can be proved that they      
existed and were received as authentic  
in the first century of the ,christian  
,church1 a stronger man than ,m4 ,renan 
will fail to shake the hold of          
,christianity in ,england4  ,we put the 
question hypothetically1 not as meaning 
to suggest the fact as uncertain1 but   
being--as the matter is of infinite     
moment--being1 as it were1 the hinge on 
which our faith depends1 we are forced  
beyond our office to trespass on ground 
which we leave usually to professional  

theologians1 and to tell them plainly   
that there are difficulties which it is 
their business to clear up1 but to      
which1 with worse than imprudence1 they 
close their own eyes1 and deliberately  
endeavour to keep them from ours4 ,some 
of these it is the object of this paper 
to point out1 with an earnest hope that 
,dean ,alford1 or ,dr4 ,ellicott1 or    
some other competent clergyman1 may earn
 our gratitude by telling us what to    
think about them4 ,setting aside their  
duty to us1 they will find frank dealing
 in the long run their wisest policy4   
,the conservative theologians of        
,england have carried silence to the    
point of indiscretion4  ,looking1 then1 
to the three first ,gospels1 usually    
called the ,synoptical1 we are          
encountered immediately with a          
remarkable common element which runs    
through them all--a resemblance too     
peculiar to be the result of accident1  
and impossible to reconcile with the    
theory that the writers were independent

 of each other4 ,it is not that general 
similarity which we should expect in    
different accounts of the same scenes   
and events1 but amidst many differences1
 a broad vein of circumstantial identity
 extending both to substance and        
expression4  ,and the identity is of    
several kinds4  ,i4 ,although the three 
evangelists relate each of them some    
things peculiar to themselves1 and      
although between them there are some    
striking divergencies--as1 for instance1
 between the account of our ,lord's     
miraculous birth in ,st4 ,matthew and   
,st4 ,luke1 and in the absence in ,st4  
,mark of any mention of the miraculous  
birth at all--nevertheless1 the body of 
the story is essentially the same4 ,out 
of those words and actions--so many1    
that if all were related the world      
itself could not contain the books that 
should be written--the three evangelists
 select for the most part the same2 the 
same parables1 the same miracles1 and1  
more or less complete1 the same         

addresses4 ,when the material from which
 to select was so abundant--how abundant
 we have but to turn to the fourth      
evangelist to see--it is at least       
singular that three writers should have 
made so nearly the same choice4  ,,ii4  
,but this is not all4 ,not only are the 
things related the same1 but the        
language in which they are expressed is 
the same4 ,sometimes the resemblance is 
such as would have arisen had the       
evangelists been translating from a     
common document in another language4    
,sometimes1 and most frequently1 there  
is an absolute verbal identity2         
sentences1 paragraphs1 long passages1   
are word for word the very same2 a few  
expressions have been slightly varied1 a
 particle transposed1 a tense or a case 
altered1 but the differences being no   
greater than would arise if a number of 
persons were to write from memory some  
common passages which they knew almost  
by heart4 ,that there should have been  
this identity in the account of the     

words used by our ,lord seems at first  
sight no more than we should expect4    
,but it extends to the narrative as     
well2 and with respect to the parables  
and discourses1 there is this           
extraordinary feature1 that whereas our 
,lord is supposed to have spoken in the 
ordinary language of ,palestine1 the    
resemblance between the evangelists is  
in the ,greek translation of them2 and  
how unlikely it is that a number of     
persons in translating from one language
 into another should hit by accident on 
the same expressions1 the simplest      
experiment will show4  ,now1 waiving for
 a moment the inspiration of the        
,gospels2 interpreting the ,bible1 to   
use ,mr4 ,jowett's canon1 as any other  
book1 what are we to conclude from      
phenomena of this kind8 ,what in fact do
 we conclude when we encounter them     
elsewhere8 ,in the lives of the saints1 
in the monkish histories1 there are many
 parallel cases4 ,a medival chronicler1 
when he found a story well told by his  

predecessor1 seldom cared to recompose  
it2 he transcribed the words as they    
stood into his own narrative1 contented 
perhaps with making a few trifling      
changes to add a finish or a polish4    
,sometimes two chroniclers borrow from a
 third4 ,there is the same identity in  
particular expressions1 the same general
 resemblance1 the same divergence1 as   
each improves his original from his     
independent knowledge by addition or    
omission2 but the process is so         
transparent1 that when the original is  
lost1 the existence of it can be        
inferred with certainty4  ,or to take a 
more modern parallel--we must entreat   
our readers to pardon any seeming       
irreverence which may appear in the     
comparison--if in the letters of the    
correspondents of three different       
newspapers written from ,america or     
,germany1 we were to read the same      
incidents told in the same language1    
surrounded it might be with much that   
was unlike1 but nevertheless in         

themselves identical1 and related in    
words which1 down to unusual and        
remarkable terms of expression1 were    
exactly the same1 what should we infer8 
,suppose1 for instance1 the description 
of a battle2 if we were to find but a   
single paragraph in which two out of    
three correspondents agreed verbally1 we
 should regard it as a very strange     
coincidence4 ,if all three agreed       
verbally1 we should feel certain it was 
more than accident4 ,if throughout their
 letters there was a recurring series of
 such passages1 no doubt would be left  
in the mind of any one that either the  
three correspondents had seen each      
other's letters1 or that each had had   
before him some common narrative which  
he had incorporated in his own account4 
,it might be doubtful which of these two
 explanations was the true one2 but that
 one or other of them was true1 unless  
we suppose a miracle1 is as certain as  
any conclusion in human things can be   
certain at all4 ,the sworn testimony of 

eye-witnesses who had seen the letters  
so composed would add nothing to the    
weight of a proof which without their   
evidence would be overwhelming2 and were
 the writers themselves1 with their     
closest friends and companions1 to swear
 that there had been no                 
intercommunication1 and no story        
pre-existing of which they had made use1
 and that each had written bon fide from
 his own original observation1 an       
,english jury would sooner believe the  
whole party perjured than persuade      
themselves that so extraordinary a      
coincidence would have occurred4  ,nor  
would it be difficult to ascertain from 
internal evidence which of the two      
possible interpretations was the real   
one4 ,if the writers were men of evident
 good faith2 if their stories were in   
parts widely different2 if they made no 
allusion to each other1 nor ever        
referred to one another as authorities2 
finally1 if neither of them1 in giving a
 different account of any matter from   

that given by his companions1 professed 
either to be supplying an omission or   
correcting a mistake1 then we should    
have little doubt that they had         
themselves not communicated with each   
other1 but were supplementing1 each of  
them from other sources of information1 
a central narrative which all alike had 
before them4  ,how far may we apply the 
parallel to the ,synoptical ,gospels8   
,in one sense the inspiration lifts them
 above comparison1 and disposes         
summarily of critical perplexities2     
there is no difficulty which may not be 
explained by a miracle2 and in that     
aspect the points of disagreement       
between these accounts are more         
surprising than the similarities4 ,it is
 on the disagreements in fact that the  
labours of commentators have chiefly    
been expended4 ,yet it is a question    
whether1 on the whole1 inspiration does 
not leave unaffected the ordinary human 
phenomena2 and it is hard to suppose    
that where the rules of judgment in     

ordinary writings are so distinct1 ,god 
would have thus purposely cast a        
stumbling-block in our way1 and         
contrived a snare into which our reason 
should mislead us4 ,that is hard to     
credit2 yet that and nothing else we    
must believe if we refuse to apply to   
the ,gospel the same canons of criticism
 which with other writings would be a   
guide so decisive4 ,it may be assumed   
that the facts connected with them admit
 a natural explanation2 and we arrive1  
therefore1 at the same conclusion as    
before3 that either two of the          
evangelists borrowed from the third1 or 
else that there was some other ,gospel  
besides those which are now extant2     
existing perhaps both in ,hebrew and    
,greek--existing certainly in           
,greek--the fragments of which are      
scattered up and down through ,st4      
,mark1 ,st4 ,matthew1 and ,st4 ,luke1 in
 masses sufficiently large to be        
distinctly recognisable4  ,that at an   
early period in the ,christian ,church  

many such ,gospels existed1 we know     
certainly from the words of ,st4 ,luke4 
,st4 ,paul alludes to words used by our 
,lord which are not mentioned by the    
evangelists1 which he assumed           
nevertheless to be well known to his    
hearers4 ,he speaks1 too1 of an         
appearance of our ,lord after ,his      
resurrection to five hundred brethren2  
on which the four ,gospels are also     
silent4 ,it is indisputable1 therefore1 
that besides and antecedent to them     
there were other accounts of our ,lord's
 life in use in the ,christian ,church4 
,and indeed1 what more natural1 what    
more necessary1 than that from the day  
on which the apostles entered upon their
 public mission1 some narrative should  
have been drawn up of the facts which   
they were about to make known8 ,then as 
little as now could the imagination of  
men be trusted to relate accurately a   
story composed of stupendous miracles   
without mistake or exaggeration2 and    
their very first step would have been to

 compose an account of what had passed1 
to which they could speak with          
certainty1 and which they could invest  
with authoritative sanction4 ,is it not 
possible then that the identical        
passages in the ,synoptical ,gospels are
 the remains of something of this kind1 
which the evangelists1 in their later1  
fuller1 and more complete histories1    
enlarged and expanded8 ,the conjecture  
has been often made1 and ,english       
commentators have for the most part     
dismissed it slightingly2 not apparently
 being aware that in rejecting one      
hypothesis they were bound to suggest   
another2 or at least to admit that there
 was something which required           
explanation1 though this particular     
suggestion did not seem satisfactory4   
,yet if it were so1 the external        
testimony for the truth of the ,gospel  
history would be stronger than before4  
,it would amount to the collective view 
of the first congregation of            
,christians1 who had all immediate and  

personal knowledge of our ,lord's       
miracles and death and resurrection4    
,but perhaps the external history of the
 four ,gospels may throw some light upon
 the question1 if indeed we can speak of
 light where all is a cloud of          
uncertainty4 ,it would seem as if the   
sources of ,christianity1 like the roots
 of all other living things1 were       
purposely buried in mystery4 ,there     
exist no ancient writings whatever of   
such vast moment to mankind of which so 
little can be authentically known4  ,the
 four ,gospels1 in the form and under   
the names which they at present bear1   
become visible only with distinctness   
towards the end of the second century of
 the ,christian era4 ,then it was that  
they assumed the authoritative position 
which they have ever since maintained1  
and were selected by the ,church out of 
the many other then existing narratives 
as the supreme and exclusive authorities
 for our ,lord's life4 ,irenus is the   
first of the ,fathers in whom they are  

found attributed by name to ,st4        
,matthew1 ,st4 ,mark1 ,st4 ,luke1 and   
,st4 ,john4 ,that there were four true  
evangelists1 and that there could be    
neither more nor less than four1 ,irenus
 had persuaded himself because there    
were four winds or spirits1 and four    
divisions of the earth1 for which the   
,church being universal required four   
columns2 because the cherubim had four  
faces1 to each of which an evangelist   
corresponded2 because four covenants had
 been given to mankind--one before the  
,deluge in ,adam1 one after the ,deluge 
in ,noah1 the third in ,moses1 the      
fourth and greatest in the ,new         
,testament2 while again the name of     
,adam was composed of four letters4 ,it 
is not to be supposed that the          
intellects of those great men who       
converted the world to ,christianity    
were satisfied with arguments so        
imaginative as these2 they must have had
 other closer and more accurate grounds 
for their decision2 but the mere        

employment of such figures as evidence  
in any sense1 shows the enormous        
difference between their modes of       
reasoning and ours1 and illustrates the 
difficulty of deciding at our present   
distance from them how far their        
conclusions were satisfactory4  ,of the 
,gospels separately the history is      
immediately lost in legend4  ,the first 
notice of a ,gospel of ,st4 ,matthew is 
in the well-known words of ,papias1 a   
writer who in early life might have seen
 ,st4 ,john4 ,the works of ,papias are  
lost--a misfortune the more to be       
regretted because ,eusebius speaks of   
him as a man of very limited            
understanding1 ,greek3 panu smikros ton 
noun4 ,understanding and folly are words
 of undetermined meaning2 and when      
language like that of ,irenus could seem
 profound it is quite possible that     
,papias might have possessed commonplace
 faculties which would have been        
supremely useful to us4 ,a surviving    
fragment of him says that ,st4 ,matthew 

put together the discourses of our ,lord
 in ,hebrew1 and that every one         
interpreted them as he could4 ,pantnus1 
said by ,eusebius to have been another  
contemporary of the apostles1 was       
reported to have gone to ,india1 to have
 found there a congregation of          
,christians which had been established  
by ,st4 ,bartholomew1 and to have seen  
in use among them this ,hebrew ,gospel4 
,origen repeats the story1 which in his 
time had become the universal ,catholic 
tradition1 that ,st4 ,matthew's was the 
first ,gospel1 that it was written in   
,hebrew1 and that it was intended for   
the use of the ,jewish converts4 ,jerome
 adds that it was unknown when or by    
whom it was rendered into a ,greek      
version4 ,that was all which the ,church
 had to say2 and what had become of that
 ,hebrew original no one could tell4    
,that there existed a ,hebrew ,gospel in
 very early times is well authenticated2
 there was a ,gospel called the ,gospel 
of the ,ebionites or ,nazarenes1 of     

which ,origen possessed a copy1 and     
which ,st4 ,jerome thought it worth     
while to translate2 this too is lost1   
and ,jerome's translation of it also2   
but the negative evidence seems         
conclusive that it was not the lost     
,gospel of ,st4 ,matthew4 ,had it been  
so it could not have failed to be       
recognised1 although from such accounts 
of it as have been preserved1 it        
possessed some affinity with ,st4       
,matthew's ,gospel4 ,in one instance1   
indeed1 it gave the right reading of a  
text which has perplexed orthodox       
commentators1 and has induced others to 
suspect that that ,gospel in its present
 form could not have existed before the 
destruction of ,jerusalem4 ,the         
,zachariah the son of ,barachiah said by
 ,st4 ,matthew to have been slain       
between the temple and the altar1 is    
unknown to ,old ,testament history1     
while during the siege of ,jerusalem a  
,zachariah the son of ,barachiah        
actually was killed exactly in the      

manner described4 ,but in the ,ebionite 
,gospel the same words are found with   
this slight but important difference1   
that the ,zachariah in question is there
 called the son of ,jehoiadah1 and is at
 once identified with the person whose  
murder is related in the ,second ,book  
of ,chronicles4 ,the later translator of
 ,st4 ,matthew had probably confused the
 names4  ,of ,st4 ,mark's ,gospel the   
history is even more profoundly obscure4
 ,papias1 again the highest discoverable
 link of the ,church tradition1 says    
that ,st4 ,mark accompanied ,st4 ,peter 
to ,rome as his interpreter2 and that   
while there he wrote down what ,st4     
,peter told him1 or what he could       
remember ,st4 ,peter to have said4      
,clement of ,alexandria enlarges the    
story4 ,according to ,clement1 when ,st4
 ,peter was preaching at ,rome1 the     
,christian congregation there requested 
,st4 ,mark to write a ,gospel for them2 
,st4 ,mark complied without acquainting 
,st4 ,peter1 and ,st4 ,peter when       

informed of it was uncertain whether to 
give or withhold his sanction till his  
mind was set at rest by a vision4       
,irenus1 on the other hand1 says that   
,st4 ,mark's ,gospel was not written    
till after the death of ,st4 ,peter and 
,st4 ,paul4 ,st4 ,chrysostom says that  
after it was written ,st4 ,mark went to 
,egypt and published it at ,alexandria2 
,epiphanius again1 that the ,egyptian   
expedition was undertaken at the express
 direction of ,st4 ,peter himself4      
,thus the ,church tradition is          
inconsistent with itself1 and in all    
probability is nothing but a structure  
of air2 it is bound up with the presence
 of ,st4 ,peter at ,rome2 and the only  
ground for supposing that ,st4 ,peter   
was ever at ,rome at all is the passage 
at the close of ,st4 ,peter's ,first    
,epistle1 where it pleased the ,fathers 
to assume that the ',babylon' there     
spoken of must have been the city of the
 ,csars4 ,this passage alone1 with the  
wild stories 7now known to have         

originated in the misreading of an      
inscription7 of ,st4 ,peter's conflict  
with ,simon ,magus in the presence of   
the emperor1 form together the light and
 airy arches on which the huge pretences
 of the ,church of ,rome have reared    
themselves4 ,if the ,babylon of the     
,epistle was ,babylon on the            
,euphrates--and there is not the        
slightest historical reason to suppose  
it to have been anything else--the story
 of the origin of ,st4 ,mark's ,gospel  
perishes with the legend to which it was
 inseparably attached by ,church        
tradition4  ,of ,st4 ,john's ,gospel we 
do not propose to speak in this place2  
it forms a subject by itself2 and of    
that it is enough to say that the       
defects of external evidence which      
undoubtedly exist seem overborne by the 
overwhelming proofs of authenticity     
contained in the ,gospel itself4  ,the  
faint traditionary traces which inform  
us that ,st4 ,matthew and ,st4 ,mark    
were supposed to have written ,gospels  

fail us with ,st4 ,luke4 ,the apostolic 
and the immediately post-apostolic      
,fathers never mention ,luke as having  
written a history of our ,lord at all4  
,there was indeed a ,gospel in use among
 the ,marcionites which resembled that  
of ,st4 ,luke1 as the ,gospel of the    
,ebionites resembled that of ,st4       
,matthew4 ,in both the one and the other
 there was no mention of our ,lord's    
miraculous birth2 and later writers     
accused ,marcion of having mutilated    
,st4 ,luke4 ,but apparently their only  
reason for thinking so was that the two 
,gospels were like each other2 and for  
all that can be historically proved1 the
 ,gospel of the ,marcionites may have   
been the older of the two4 ,what is     
wanting externally1 however1 is supposed
 to be more than made up by the language
 of ,st4 ,luke himself4 ,the ,gospel was
 evidently composed in its present form 
by the same person who wrote the ,acts  
of the ,apostles4 ,in the latter part of
 the ,acts of the ,apostles the writer  

speaks in the first person as the       
companion of ,st4 ,paul2 and the date of
 this ,gospel seems to be thus          
conclusively fixed at an early period in
 the apostolic age4 ,there is at least a
 high probability that this reasoning is
 sound2 yet it has seemed strange that a
 convert so eminent as 'the most        
excellent' ,theophilus1 to whom ,st4    
,luke addressed himself1 should be found
 impossible to identify4 ',most         
excellent' was a title given only to    
persons of high rank2 and it is singular
 that ,st4 ,paul himself should never   
have mentioned so considerable a name4  
,and again1 there is something peculiar 
in the language of the introduction to  
the ,gospel itself4 ,though ,st4 ,luke  
professes to be writing on the authority
 of eye-witnesses1 he does not say he   
had spoken with eye-witnesses2 so far   
from it1 that the word translated in the
 ,english version 'delivered' is        
literally 'handed down2' it is the verb 
which corresponds to the technical      

expression for 'tradition2' and the     
words translated 'having had perfect    
understanding of all things from the    
first1' might be rendered more properly1
 'having traced or followed up all      
things from the beginning4' ,and again1 
as it is humanly speaking certain that  
in ,st4 ,luke's ,gospel there are       
passages1 however they are to be        
explained1 which were embodied in it    
from some other source1 so1 though      
extremely probable1 it is not absolutely
 certain that those passages in the     
,acts in which the writer speaks in the 
first person are by the same hand as the
 body of the narrative4 ,if ,st4 ,luke  
had anywhere directly introduced        
himself--if he had said plainly that he1
 the writer who was addressing          
,theophilus1 had personally joined ,st4 
,paul1 and in that part of his story was
 relating what he had seen and heard1   
there would be no room for uncertainty4 
,but1 so far as we know1 there is no    
other instance in literature of a change

 of person introduced abruptly without  
explanation4 ,the whole book is less a  
connected history than a series of      
episodes and fragments of the           
proceedings of the apostles2 and it is  
to be noticed that the account of ,st4  
,paul's conversion1 as given in its     
place in the first part of the          
narrative1 differs in one material point
 from the second account given later in 
the part which was unquestionably the   
work of one of ,st4 ,paul's companions4 
,there is a possibility--it amounts to  
no more1 and the suggestion is thrown   
out for the consideration of those who  
are better able than this writer to     
judge of it--that in the ,gospel and the
 ,acts we have the work of a careful    
editor of the second century4 ,towards  
the close of that century a prominent   
actor in the great movement which gave  
their present authority to the four     
,gospels was ,theophilus1 ,bishop of    
,antioch2 he it was who brought them    
together1 incorporated into a single    

work--in unum opus2 and it may be1 after
 all1 that in him we have the           
long-sought person to whom ,st4 ,luke   
was writing2 that the ,gospel which we  
now possess was compiled at his desire  
out of other imperfect ,gospels in use  
in the different ,churches2 and that it 
formed a part of his scheme to supersede
 them by an account more exhaustive1    
complete1 and satisfactory4  ,to this   
hypothesis indeed there is an answer    
which if valid at all is absolutely     
fatal4 ,we are told that although the   
names of the writers of the ,gospels may
 not be mentioned until a comparatively 
late period1 yet that the ,gospels      
themselves can be shown to have existed1
 because they are habitually quoted in  
the authentic writings of the earliest  
of the ,fathers4 ,if this be so1 the    
slightness of the historical thread is  
of little moment1 and we may rest safely
 on the solid ground of so conclusive a 
fact4 ,but is it so8 ,that the early    
,fathers quoted some accounts of our    

,lord's life is abundantly clear2 but   
did they quote these8 ,we proceed to    
examine this question--again tentatively
 only--we do but put forward certain    
considerations on which we ask for      
fuller information4  ,if any one of the 
primitive ,christian writers was likely 
to have been acquainted with the        
authentic writings of the evangelists1  
that one was indisputably ,justin       
,martyr4 ,born in ,palestine in the year
 #hi1 ,justin ,martyr lived to the age  
of seventy-six2 he travelled over the   
,roman world as a missionary2 and       
intellectually he was more than on a    
level with most educated ,oriental      
,christians4 ,he was the first          
distinctly controversial writer which   
the ,church produced2 and the great     
facts of the ,gospel history were       
obviously as well known to him as they  
are to ourselves4 ,there are no traces  
in his writings of an acquaintance with 
anything peculiar either to ,st4 ,john  
or ,st4 ,mark2 but there are extracts in

 abundance often identical with and     
generally nearly resembling passages in 
,st4 ,matthew and ,st4 ,luke4 ,thus at  
first sight it would be difficult to    
doubt that with these two ,gospels at   
least he was intimately familiar4 ,and  
yet in all his citations there is this  
peculiarity1 that ,justin ,martyr never 
speaks of either of the evangelists by  
name2 he quotes or seems to quote       
invariably from something which he calls
 ,greek3 apomnmoneumata tn ,apostoln1 or
 ',memoirs of the ,apostles4' ,it is no 
usual habit of his to describe his      
authorities vaguely3 when he quotes the 
,apocalypse he names ,st4 ,john2 when he
 refers to a prophet he specifies       
,isaiah1 ,jeremiah1 or ,daniel4 ,why1   
unless there was some particular reason 
for it1 should he use so singular an    
expression whenever he alludes to the   
sacred history of the ,new ,testament8  
why1 if he knew the names of the        
evangelists1 did he never mention them  
even by accident8 ,nor is this the only 

singularity in ,justin ,martyr's        
quotations4 ,there are those slight     
differences between them and the text of
 the ,gospels which appear between the  
,gospels themselves4 ,when we compare an
 extract in ,justin with the parallel   
passage in ,st4 ,matthew1 we find often 
that it differs from ,st4 ,matthew just 
as ,st4 ,matthew differs from ,st4      
,luke1 or both from ,st4 ,mark--great   
verbal similarity--many paragraphs      
agreeing word for word--and then other  
paragraphs where there is an alteration 
of expression1 tense1 order1 or         
arrangement4  ,again1 just as in the    
midst of the general resemblance between
 the ,synoptical ,gospels1 each         
evangelist has something of his own     
which is not to be found in the others1 
so in these ',memoirs of the ,apostles' 
there are facts unknown to either of the
 evangelists4 ,in the account extracted 
by ,justin from 'the ,memoirs1' of the  
baptism in the ,jordan1 the words heard 
from heaven are not as ,st4 ,matthew    

gives them--',thou art my beloved ,son1 
in whom ,i am well pleased'--but the    
words of the psalm1 ',thou art my ,son1 
this day have ,i begotten ,thee2' a     
reading which1 singularly enough1 was to
 be found in the ,gospel of the         
,ebionites4  ,another curious addition  
to the same scene is in the words       
,greek3 kai pur anphth en ,iordan1 'and 
a fire was kindled in ,jordan4'  ,again1
 ,justin ,martyr speaks of our ,lord    
having promised 'to clothe us with      
garments made ready for us if we keep   
his commandments'--,greek3 kai ainion   
basileian pronosai--whatever those words
 may precisely mean4  ,these and other  
peculiarities in ,justin may be         
explained if we suppose him to have been
 quoting from memory4 ,the evangelical  
text might not as yet have acquired its 
verbal sanctity2 and as a native of     
,palestine he might well have been      
acquainted with other traditions which  
lay outside the written word4 ,the      
silence as to names1 however1 remains   

unexplained2 and as the facts actually  
stand there is the same kind of proof1  
and no more1 that ,justin ,martyr was   
acquainted with ,st4 ,matthew and ,st4  
,luke as there is that one of these     
evangelists made extracts from the      
other1 or both from ,st4 ,mark4 ,so long
 as one set of commentators decline to  
recognise the truth of this relation    
between the ,gospels1 there will be     
others who with as much justice will    
dispute the relation of ,justin to them4
 ,he too might have used another        
,gospel1 which1 though like them1 was   
not identical with them4  ,after ,justin
 ,martyr's death1 about the year #agj1  
appeared ,tatian's ',diatessaron1' a    
work which1 as its title implies1 was a 
harmony of four ,gospels1 and most      
likely of the four2 yet again not       
exactly as we have them4 ,tatian's      
harmony1 like so many others of the     
early evangelical histories1 was silent 
on the miraculous birth1 and commenced  
only with the public ministration4 ,the 

text was in other places different1 so  
much so that ,theodoret accuses ,tatian 
of having mutilated the ,gospels2 but of
 this ,theodoret had probably no better 
means of judging than we have4 ,the     
',diatessaron' has been long lost1 and  
the name is the only clue to its        
composition4  ,of far more importance   
than either ,justin or ,tatian are such 
writings as remain of the immediate     
successors of the apostles--,barnabas1  
,clement of ,rome1 ,polycarp1 and       
,ignatius3 it is asserted confidently   
that in these there are quotations from 
the ,gospels so exact that they cannot  
be mistaken4  ,we will examine them one 
by one4  ,in an epistle of ,barnabas    
there is one passage--it is the only one
 of the kind to be found in             
him--agreeing word for word with the    
,synoptical ,gospels1 ',i came not to   
call the righteous but sinners to       
repentance4' ,it is one of the many     
passages in which the ,greek of the     
three evangelists is exactly the same2  

it was to be found also in ,justin's    
',memoirs2' and there can be no doubt   
that ,barnabas either knew those        
,gospels or else the common source--if  
common source there was--from which the 
evangelists borrowed4 ,more than this   
such a quotation does not enable us to  
say2 and till some satisfactory         
explanation has been offered of the     
agreement between the evangelists1 the  
argument can advance no further4 ,on the
 other hand1 ,barnabas like ,st4 ,paul  
had other sources from which he drew his
 knowledge of our ,lord's words4 ,he too
 ascribes words to ,him which are not   
recorded by the evangelists1 ,greek3    
hout phsin ,isous2 hoi thelontes me     
idein kai hapsasthai mou ts basileias   
opheilousi thlibentes kai pathontes     
labein me4 ,the thought is everywhere in
 the ,gospels1 the words nowhere1 nor   
anything like them4  ,both ,ignatius and
 ,polycarp appear to quote the ,gospels1
 yet with them also there is the same   
uncertainty2 while ,ignatius quotes as  

genuine an expression which1 so far as  
we know1 was peculiar to a translation  
of the ,gospel of the                   
,ebionites--',handle me and see1 for ,i 
am not a spirit without body1' ,greek3  
hoti ouk eimi daimonion asmaton4        
,clement's quotations are still more    
free1 for ,clement nowhere quotes the   
text of the evangelists exactly as it at
 present stands2 often he approaches it 
extremely close2 at times the agreement 
is rather in meaning than words1 as if  
he were translating from another        
language4 ,but again ,clement more      
noticeably than either of the other     
apostolic ,fathers cites expressions of 
our ,lord of which the evangelists knew 
nothing4  ,for instance--  ',the ,lord  
saith1 ,if ye be with me gathered into  
my bosom1 and do not after my           
commandments1 ,i will cast you off1 and 
,i will say unto you1 ,depart from me1  
,i know you not1 ye workers of          
iniquity4'  ,and again3--  ',the ,lord  
said1 ,ye shall be as sheep in the midst

 of wolves4 ,peter answered and said    
unto ,him1 ,will the wolves then tear   
the sheep8 ,jesus said unto ,peter1 ,the
 sheep need not fear the wolves after   
they 7the sheep7 be dead3 and fear not  
ye those who kill you and can do nothing
 to you2 but fear ,him who after you be 
dead hath power over soul and body to   
cast them into hell-fire4'  ,in these   
words we seem to have the lost link in a
 passage which appears in a different   
connection in ,st4 ,matthew and ,st4    
,luke4 ,it may be said1 as with ,justin 
,martyr1 that ,clement was quoting from 
memory in the sense rather than in the  
letter2 although even so it is difficult
 to suppose that he could have invented 
an interlocution of ,st4 ,peter4 ,yet no
 hypothesis will explain the most       
strange words which follow3--  ',the    
,lord being asked when ,his kingdom     
should come1 said1 ,when two shall be   
one1 and that which is without as that  
which is within1 and the male with the  
female neither male nor female4'  ,it is

 needless to say how remote are such    
expressions as these from any which have
 come down to us through the            
evangelists2 but they were no inventions
 of ,clement4 ,the passage reappears    
later in ,clement of ,alexandria1 who   
found it in something which he called   
the ,gospel of the ,egyptians4  ,it will
 be urged that because ,clement quoted  
other authorities beside the            
evangelists1 it does not follow that he 
did not know and quote from them4 ,if   
the citation of a passage which appears 
in almost the same words in another book
 is not to be accepted as a proof of an 
acquaintance with that book1 we make it 
impossible1 it may be said1 to prove    
from quotations at all the fact of any  
book's existence4 ,but this is not the  
case4 ,if a ,father1 in relating an     
event which is told variously in the    
,synoptical ,gospels1 had followed one  
of them minutely in its verbal          
peculiarities1 it would go far to prove 
that he was acquainted with that one2 if

 the same thing was observed in all his 
quotations1 the proof would amount to   
demonstration4 ,if he agreed minutely in
 one place with one ,gospel1 minutely in
 a second with another1 minutely in a   
third with another1 there would be      
reason to believe that he was acquainted
 with them all2 but when he merely      
relates what they also relate in        
language which approaches theirs and yet
 differs from it1 as they also resemble 
yet differ from one another1 we do not  
escape from the circle of uncertainty1  
and we conclude either that the early   
,fathers made quotations with a         
looseness irreconcileable with the idea 
that the language of the ,gospels       
possessed any verbal sacredness to them1
 or that there were in their times other
 narratives of our ,lord's life standing
 in the same relation to the three      
,gospels as ,st4 ,matthew stands to ,st4
 ,mark and ,st4 ,luke4  ,thus the       
problem returns upon us2 and it might   
almost seem as if the explanation was   

laid purposely beyond our reach4 ,we are
 driven back upon internal criticism2   
and we have to ask again what account is
 to be given of that element common to  
the ,synoptical ,gospels1 common also to
 those other ,gospels of which we find  
traces so distinct--those verbal        
resemblances1 too close to be the effect
 of accident--those differences which   
forbid the supposition that the         
evangelists copied one another4 ,so many
 are those common passages1 that if all 
which is peculiar to each evangelist by 
himself were dropped1 if those words and
 those actions only were retained which 
either all three or two at least share  
together1 the figure of our ,lord from  
,his baptism to ,his ascension would    
remain with scarcely impaired majesty4  
,one hypothesis1 and so far as we can   
see one only1 would make the mystery    
intelligible1 that immediately on the   
close of our ,lord's life some original 
sketch of it was drawn up by the        
congregation1 which gradually grew and  

gathered round it whatever ,his mother1 
,his relations1 or ,his disciples       
afterwards individually might           
contribute4 ,this primary history would 
thus not be the work of any one mind or 
man2 it would be the joint work of the  
,church1 and thus might well be called  
',memoirs of the ,apostles2' and would  
naturally be quoted without the name of 
either one of them being specially      
attached to it4 ,as ,christianity spread
 over the world1 and separate ,churches 
were founded by particular apostles1    
copies would be multiplied1 and copies  
of those copies2 and1 unchecked by the  
presence 7before the invention of       
printing impossible7 of any             
authoritative text1 changes would creep 
in--passages would be left out which did
 not suit the peculiar views of this or 
that sect2 others would be added as this
 or that apostle recollected something  
which our ,lord had said that bore on   
questions raised in the development of  
the creed4 ,two great divisions would   

form themselves between the ,jewish and 
the ,gentile ,churches2 there would be a
 ,hebrew ,gospel and a ,greek ,gospel1  
and the ,hebrew would be translated into
 ,greek1 as ,papias says ,st4 ,matthew's
 ,gospel was4 ,eventually the confusion 
would become intolerable2 and among the 
conflicting stories the ,church would   
have been called on to make its formal  
choice4  ,this fact at least is certain 
from ,st4 ,luke's words1 that at the    
time when he was writing many different 
narratives did actually exist4 ,the     
hypothesis of a common origin for them  
has as yet found little favour with     
,english theologians2 yet rather perhaps
 because it would be inconvenient for   
certain peculiar forms of ,english      
thought than because it has not         
probability on its side4 ,that the      
,synoptical ,gospels should have been a 
natural growth rather than the special  
and independent work of three separate  
writers1 would be unfavourable to a     
divinity which has built itself up upon 

particular texts1 and has been more     
concerned with doctrinal polemics than  
with the broader basements of historic  
truth4 ,yet the text theory suffers     
equally from the mode in which the first
 ,fathers treated the ,gospels1 if it   
were these ,gospels indeed which they   
used4 ,they at least could have         
attributed no importance to words and   
phrases2 while again1 as we said before1
 a narrative dating from the cradle of  
,christianity1 with the testimony in its
 favour of such broad and deep          
reception1 would1 however wanting in    
some details1 be an evidence of the     
truth of the main facts of the ,gospel  
history very much stronger than that of 
three books composed we know not when1  
and the origin of which it is impossible
 to trace1 which it is impossible to    
regard as independent1 and the writers  
of which in any other view of them must 
be assumed to have borrowed from each   
other4  ,but the object of this article 
is not to press either this or any other

 theory2 it is but to ask from those who
 are able to give it an answer to the   
most serious of questions4 ,the truth of
 the ,gospel history is now more widely 
doubted in ,europe than at any time     
since the conversion of ,constantine4   
,every thinking person who has been     
brought up a ,christian and desires to  
remain a ,christian1 yet who knows      
anything of what is passing in the      
world1 is looking to be told on what    
evidence the ,new ,testament claims to  
be received4 ,the state of opinion      
proves of itself that the arguments     
hitherto offered produce no conviction4 
,every other miraculous history is      
discredited as legend1 however exalted  
the authority on which it seems to be   
rested4 ,we crave to have good reason   
shown us for maintaining still the one  
great exception4 ,hard worked in other  
professions1 and snatching with         
difficulty sufficient leisure to learn  
how complicated is the problem1 the     
laity can but turn to those for         

assistance who are set apart and        
maintained as their theological         
trustees4 ,we can but hope and pray that
 some one may be found to give us an    
edition of the ,gospels in which the    
difficulties will neither be slurred    
over with convenient neglect or noticed 
with affected indifference4 ,it may or  
may not be a road to a bishopric2 it may
 or may not win the favour of the       
religious world2 but it will earn at    
least the respectful gratitude of those 
who cannot trifle with holy things1 and 
who believe that true religion is the   
service of truth4  ,the last words were 
scarcely written when an advertisement  
appeared1 the importance of which can   
scarcely be over-estimated4 ,a          
commentary is announced on the ,old and 
,new ,testaments1 to be composed with a 
view to what are called the             
'misrepresentations' of modern          
criticism4 ,it is to be brought out     
under the direction of the heads of the 
,church1 and is the nearest approach to 

an official act in these great matters  
which they have ventured for two hundred
 years4 ,it is not for us to anticipate 
the result4 ,the word                   
'misrepresentations' is unfortunate2 we 
should have augured better for the work 
if instead of it had been written 'the  
sincere perplexities of honest minds4'  
,but the execution may be better than   
the promise4 ,if these perplexities are 
encountered honourably and successfully1
 the ,church may recover its supremacy  
over the intellect of the country2 if   
otherwise1 the archbishop who has taken 
the command will have steered the vessel
 direct upon the rocks4  ,,footnotes3   
,e ,fraser's ,magazine1 #ahfd4  ,f ,i do
 not speak of individuals2 ,i speak of  
tendency4     ,,the ,,book ,,of ,,job4,g
   ,it will be matter some day of       
curious enquiry to ascertain why1       
notwithstanding the high reverence with 
which the ,english people regard the    
,bible1 they have done so little in     
comparison with their continental       

contemporaries towards arriving at a    
proper understanding of it4 ,the books  
named below,h form but a section of a   
long list which has appeared during the 
last few years in ,germany on the ,book 
of ,job alone2 and this book has not    
received any larger share of attention  
than the others1 either of the ,old or  
the ,new ,testament4 ,whatever be the   
nature or the origin of these books 7and
 on this point there is much difference 
of opinion among the ,germans as among  
ourselves7 they are all agreed1 orthodox
 and unorthodox1 that at least we should
 endeavour to understand them2 and that 
no efforts can be too great1 either of  
research or criticism1 to discover their
 history1 or elucidate their meaning4   
,we shall assent1 doubtless1 eagerly1   
perhaps noisily and indignantly1 to so  
obvious a truism2 but our own efforts in
 the same direction will not bear us    
out4 ,able men in ,england employ       
themselves in matters of a more         
practical character2 and while we refuse

 to avail ourselves of what has been    
done elsewhere1 no book1 or books1 which
 we produce on the interpretation of    
,scripture acquire more than a partial  
or an ephemeral reputation4 ,the most   
important contribution to our knowledge 
on this subject which has been made in  
these recent years is the translation of
 the ',library of the ,fathers1' by     
which it is about as rational to suppose
 that the analytical criticism of modern
 times can be superseded1 as that the   
place of ,herman and ,dindorf could be  
supplied by an edition of the old       
scholiasts4  ,it is1 indeed1 reasonable 
that as long as we are persuaded that   
our ,english theory of the ,bible1 as a 
whole1 is the right one1 we should      
shrink from contact with investigations 
which1 however ingenious in themselves1 
are based on what we know to be a false 
foundation4 ,but there are some learned 
,germans whose orthodoxy would pass     
examination at ,exeter ,hall2 and there 
are many subjects1 such1 for instance1  

as the present1 on which all their able 
men are agreed in conclusions that      
cannot rationally give offence to any   
one4 ,with the ,book of ,job1 analytical
 criticism has only served to clear up  
the uncertainties which have hitherto   
always hung about it4 ,it is now        
considered to be1 beyond all doubt1 a   
genuine ,hebrew original1 completed by  
its writer almost in the form in which  
it now remains to us4 ,the questions on 
the authenticity of the ,prologue and   
,epilogue1 which once were thought      
important1 have given way before a more 
sound conception of the dramatic unity  
of the entire poem2 and the volumes     
before us contain merely an enquiry into
 its meaning1 bringing1 at the same     
time1 all the resources of modern       
scholarship and historical and          
mythological research to bear upon the  
obscurity of separate passages4 ,it is  
the most difficult of all the ,hebrew   
compositions--many words occurring in   
it1 and many thoughts1 not to be found  

elsewhere in the ,bible4 ,how difficult 
our translators found it may be seen by 
the number of words which they were     
obliged to insert in italics1 and the   
doubtful renderings which they have     
suggested in the margin4 ,one instance  
of this1 in passing1 we will notice in  
this place--it will be familiar to every
 one as the passage quoted at the       
opening of the ,english burial service1 
and adduced as one of the doctrinal     
proofs of the resurrection of the       
body3--',i know that my ,redeemer       
liveth1 and that ,he shall stand at the 
latter day upon the earth2 and though1  
after my skin worms destroy this body1  
yet in my flesh ,i shall see ,god4' ,so 
this passage stands in the ordinary     
version4 ,but the words in italics have 
nothing answering to them in the        
original--they were all added by the    
translators,i to fill out their         
interpretation2 and for in my flesh1    
they tell us themselves in the margin   
that we may read 7and1 in fact1 we ought

 to read1 and must read7 'out of1' or   
'without' my flesh4 ,it is but to write 
out the verses1 omitting the conjectural
 additions1 and making that one small   
but vital correction1 to see how frail a
 support is there for so large a        
conclusion3 ',i know that my ,redeemer  
liveth1 and shall stand at the latter   
upon the earth2 and after my skin       
destroy this       2 yet without my     
flesh ,i shall see ,god4' ,if there is  
any doctrine of a resurrection here1 it 
is a resurrection precisely not of the  
body1 but of the spirit4 ,and now let us
 only add1 that the word translated     
,redeemer is the technical expression   
for the 'avenger of blood2' and that the
 second paragraph ought to be           
rendered--'and one to come after me 7my 
next of kin1 to whom the avenging my    
injuries belongs7 shall stand upon my   
dust1' and we shall see how much was to 
be done towards the mere exegesis of the
 text4 ,this is an extreme instance1 and
 no one will question the general beauty

 and majesty of our translation2 but    
there are many mythical and physical    
allusions scattered over the poem1      
which1 in the sixteenth century1 there  
were positively no means of             
understanding2 and perhaps1 too1 there  
were mental tendencies in the           
translators themselves which prevented  
them from adequately apprehending even  
the drift and spirit of the composition4
 ,the form of the story was too         
stringent to allow such tendencies any  
latitude2 but they appear1 from time to 
time1 sufficiently to produce serious   
confusion4 ,with these recent           
assistances1 therefore1 we propose to   
say something of the nature of this     
extraordinary book--a book of which it  
is to say little to call it unequalled  
of its kind1 and which will one day1    
perhaps1 when it is allowed to stand on 
its own merits1 be seen towering up     
alone1 far away above all the poetry of 
the world4 ,how it found its way into   
the canon1 smiting as it does through   

and through the most deeply-seated      
,jewish prejudices1 is the chief        
difficulty about it now2 to be explained
 only by a traditional acceptance among 
the sacred books1 dating back from the  
old times of the national greatness1    
when the minds of the people were hewn  
in a larger type than was to be found   
among the ,pharisees of the great       
synagogue4 ,but its authorship1 its     
date1 and its history1 are alike a      
mystery to us2 it existed at the time   
when the canon was composed2 and this is
 all that we know beyond what we can    
gather out of the language and contents 
of the poem itself4  ,before going      
further1 however1 we must make room for 
a few remarks of a very general kind4   
,let it have been written when it would1
 it marks a period in which the         
religious convictions of thinking men   
were passing through a vast crisis2 and 
we shall not understand it without      
having before us clearly something of   
the conditions which periods of such a  

kind always and necessarily exhibit4    
,the history of religious speculation   
appears in extreme outline to have been 
of the following character4 ,we may     
conceive mankind to have been originally
 launched into the universe with no     
knowledge either of themselves or of the
 scene in which they were placed2 with  
no actual knowledge1 but distinguished  
from the rest of the creation by a      
faculty of gaining knowledge2 and first 
unconsciously1 and afterwards           
consciously and laboriously1 to have    
commenced that long series of experience
 and observation which has accumulated  
in thousands of years to what we now see
 around us4 ,limited on all sides by    
conditions which they must have felt to 
be none of their own imposing1 and      
finding everywhere forces working1 over 
which they had no control1 the fear     
which they would naturally entertain of 
these invisible and mighty agents       
assumed1 under the direction of an idea 
which we may perhaps call inborn and    

inherent in human nature1 a more        
generous character of reverence and awe4
 ,the laws of the outer world1 as they  
discovered them1 they regarded as the   
decrees1 or as the immediate energies of
 personal beings2 and as knowledge grew 
up among them1 they looked upon it1 not 
as knowledge of nature1 but of ,god1 or 
the gods4 ,all early paganism appears1  
on careful examination1 to have arisen  
out of a consecration of the first      
rudiments of physical or speculative    
science4 ,the twelve labours of         
,hercules are the labours of the sun1 of
 which ,hercules is an old name1 through
 the twelve signs4 ,chronos1 or time1   
being measured by the apparent motion of
 the heavens1 is figured as their child2
 ,time1 the universal parent1 devours   
its own offspring1 yet is again itself1 
in the high faith of a human soul       
conscious of its power and its          
endurance1 supposed to be baffled and   
dethroned by ,zeus1 or life2 and so on  
through all the elaborate theogonies of 

,greece and ,egypt4 ,they are no more   
than real insight into real phenomena1  
allegorised as time went on1 elaborated 
by fancy1 or idealised by imagination1  
but never losing their original         
character4  ,thus paganism1 in its very 
nature1 was expansive1 self-developing1 
and1 as ,mr4 ,hume observed1 tolerant2 a
 new god was welcomed to the ,pantheon  
as a new scientific discovery is        
welcomed by the ,royal ,society2 and the
 various nations found no difficulty in 
interchanging their divinities--a new   
god either representing a new power not 
hitherto discovered1 or one with which  
they were already familiar under a new  
name4 ,with such a power of adaptation  
and enlargement1 if there had been      
nothing more in it than this1 such a    
system might have gone on accommodating 
itself to the change of times1 and      
keeping pace with the growth of human   
character4 ,already in its later forms1 
as the unity of nature was more clearly 
observed1 and the identity of nature    

throughout the known world1 the separate
 powers were subordinating themselves to
 a single supreme king2 and1 as the     
poets had originally personified the    
elemental forces1 the thinkers were     
reversing the earlier process1 and      
discovering the law under the person4   
,happily or unhappily1 however1 what    
they could do for themselves they could 
not do for the multitude4 ,phoebus and  
,aphrodite had been made too human to be
 allegorised4 ,humanised1 and yet1 we   
may say1 only half-humanised1 retaining 
their purely physical nature1 and       
without any proper moral attribute at   
all1 these gods and goddesses remained  
to the many examples of sensuality made 
beautiful2 and1 as soon as right and    
wrong came to have a meaning1 it was    
impossible to worship any more these    
idealised despisers of it4 ,the human   
caprices and passions which served at   
first to deepen the illusion1 justly    
revenged themselves2 paganism became a  
lie1 and perished4  ,in the meantime1   

the ,jews 7and perhaps some other       
nations1 but the ,jews chiefly and      
principally7 had been moving forward    
along a road wholly different4 ,breaking
 early away from the gods of nature1    
they advanced along the line of their   
moral consciousness2 and leaving the    
nations to study physics1 philosophy1   
and art1 they confined themselves to man
 and to human life4 ,their theology grew
 up round the knowledge of good and     
evil1 and ,god1 with them1 was the      
supreme ,lord of the world1 who stood   
towards man in the relation of a ruler  
and a judge4 ,holding such a faith1 to  
them the toleration of paganism was an  
impossibility2 the laws of nature might 
be many1 but the law of conduct was one2
 there was one law and one king2 and the
 conditions under which he governed the 
world1 as embodied in the ,decalogue or 
other similar code1 were looked upon as 
iron and inflexible certainties1        
unalterable revelations of the will of  
an unalterable ,being4 ,so far there was

 little in common between this process  
and the other2 but it was identical with
 it in this one important feature1 that 
moral knowledge1 like physical1 admitted
 of degrees2 and the successive steps of
 it were only purchasable by experience4
 ,the dispensation of the law1 in the   
language of modern theology1 was not the
 dispensation of grace1 and the nature  
of good and evil disclosed itself slowly
 as men were able to comprehend it4     
,thus1 no system of law or articles of  
belief were or could be complete and    
exhaustive for all time4 ,experience    
accumulates2 new facts are observed1 new
 forces display themselves1 and all such
 formul must necessarily be from period 
to period broken up and moulded afresh4 
,and yet the steps already gained are a 
treasure so sacred1 so liable are they  
at all times to be attacked by those    
lower and baser elements in our nature  
which it is their business to hold in   
check1 that the better part of mankind  
have at all times practically regarded  

their creed as a sacred total to which  
nothing may be added1 and from which    
nothing may be taken away2 the          
suggestion of a new idea is resented as 
an encroachment1 punished as an         
insidious piece of treason1 and resisted
 by the combined forces of all common   
practical understandings1 which know too
 well the value of what they have1 to   
risk the venture upon untried change4   
,periods of religious transition1       
therefore1 when the advance has been a  
real one1 always have been violent1 and 
probably will always continue to be so4 
,they to whom the precious gift of fresh
 light has been given are called upon to
 exhibit their credentials as teachers  
in suffering for it4 ,they1 and those   
who oppose them1 have alike a sacred    
cause2 and the fearful spectacle arises 
of earnest1 vehement men contending     
against each other as for their own     
souls1 in fiery struggle4 ,persecutions 
come1 and martyrdoms1 and religions     
wars2 and1 at last1 the old faith1 like 

the phoenix1 expires upon its altar1 and
 the new rises out of the ashes4  ,such1
 in briefest outline1 has been the      
history of religions1 natural and moral2
 the first1 indeed1 being in no proper  
sense a religion at all1 as we          
understand religion2 and only assuming  
the character of it in the minds of     
great men whose moral sense had raised  
them beyond their time and country1 and 
who1 feeling the necessity of a real    
creed1 with an effort and with          
indifferent success1 endeavoured to     
express1 under the systems which they   
found1 emotions which had no proper     
place in them4  ,of the transition      
periods which we have described as      
taking place under the religion which we
 call moral1 the first known to us is   
marked at its opening by the appearance 
of the ,book of ,job1 the first fierce  
collision of the new fact with the      
formula which will not stretch to cover 
it4  ,the earliest phenomenon likely to 
be observed connected with the moral    

government of the world is the general  
one1 that on the whole1 as things are   
constituted1 good men prosper and are   
happy1 bad men fail and are miserable4  
,the cause of such a condition is no    
mystery1 and lies very near the surface4
 ,as soon as men combine in society1    
they are forced to obey certain laws    
under which alone society is possible1  
and these laws1 even in their rudest    
form1 approach the laws of conscience4  
,to a certain extent1 every one is      
obliged to sacrifice his private        
inclinations2 and those who refuse to do
 so are punished1 or are crushed4 ,if   
society were perfect1 the imperfect     
tendency would carry itself out till the
 two sets of laws were identical2 but   
perfection so far has been only in      
,utopia1 and1 as far as we can judge by 
experience hitherto1 they have          
approximated most nearly in the simplest
 and most rudimentary forms of life4    
,under the systems which we call        
patriarchal1 the modern distinction     

between sins and crimes had no          
existence4 ,all gross sins were offences
 against society1 as it then was        
constituted1 and1 wherever it was       
possible1 were punished as being so2    
chicanery and those subtle advantages   
which the acute and unscrupulous can    
take over the simple1 without open      
breach of enacted statutes1 became only 
possible under the complications of more
 artificial polities2 and the oppression
 or injury of man by man was open1      
violent1 obvious1 and therefore easily  
understood4 ,doubtless1 therefore1 in   
such a state of things it would1 on the 
whole1 be true to experience that1      
judging merely by outward prosperity or 
the reverse1 good and bad men would be  
rewarded and punished as such in this   
actual world2 so far1 that is1 as the   
administration of such rewards and      
punishments was left in the power of    
mankind4 ,but theology could not content
 itself with general tendencies4        
,theological propositions then1 as much 

as now1 were held to be absolute1       
universal1 admitting of no exceptions1  
and explaining every phenomenon4        
,superficial generalisations were       
construed into immutable decrees2 the   
,god of this world was just and         
righteous1 and temporal prosperity or   
wretchedness were dealt out by ,him     
immediately by ,his own will to ,his    
subjects according to their behaviour4  
,thus the same disposition towards      
completeness which was the ruin of      
paganism1 here1 too1 was found          
generating the same evils2 the half     
truth rounding itself out with          
falsehoods4 ,not only the consequences  
of ill actions which followed through   
themselves1 but the accidents1 as we    
call them1 of nature--earthquakes1      
storms1 and pestilences--were the       
ministers of ,god's justice1 and struck 
sinners only with discriminating        
accuracy4 ,that the sun should shine    
alike on the evil and the good was a    
creed too high for the early divines1 or

 that the victims of a fallen tower were
 no greater offenders than their        
neighbours4 ,the conceptions of such men
 could not pass beyond the outward      
temporal consequence2 and if ,god's hand
 was not there it was nowhere4 ,we might
 have expected that such a theory of    
things could not long resist the        
accumulated contradictions of           
experience2 but the same experience     
shows also what a marvellous power is in
 us of thrusting aside phenomena which  
interfere with our cherished            
convictions2 and when such convictions  
are consecrated into a creed which it is
 a sacred duty to believe1 experience is
 but like water dropping upon a rock1   
which wears it away1 indeed1 at last1   
but only in thousands of years4 ,this   
theory was and is the central idea of   
the ,jewish polity1 the obstinate       
toughness of which has been the         
perplexity of ,gentiles and ,christians 
from the first dawn of its existence2 it
 lingers among ourselves in our ,liturgy

 and in the popular belief2 and in spite
 of the emphatic censure of ,him after  
whose name we call ourselves1 is still  
the instant interpreter for us of any   
unusual calamity1 a potato blight1 a    
famine1 or an epidemic3 such vitality is
 there in a moral faith1 though now1 at 
any rate1 contradicted by the experience
 of all mankind1 and at issue even with 
,christianity itself4  ,at what period  
in the world's history misgivings about 
it began to show themselves it is now   
impossible to say2 it was at the close1 
probably1 of the patriarchal period1    
when men who really thought must have   
found the ground palpably shaking under 
them4 ,indications of such misgivings   
are to be found in the ,psalms1 those   
especially passing under the name of    
,asaph2 and all through ,ecclesiastes   
there breathes a spirit of deepest and  
saddest scepticism4 ,but ,asaph thrusts 
his doubts aside1 and forces himself    
back into his old position2 and the     
scepticism of ,ecclesiastes is          

confessedly that of a man who had gone  
wandering after enjoyment2 searching    
after pleasures--pleasures of sense and 
pleasures of intellect--and who1 at     
last1 bears reluctant testimony that1 by
 such methods1 no pleasures can be found
 which will endure2 that he had         
squandered the power which might have   
been used for better things1 and had    
only strength remaining to tell his own 
sad tale as a warning to mankind4 ,there
 is nothing in ,ecclesiastes like the   
misgivings of a noble nature4 ,the      
writer's own personal happiness had been
 all for which he had cared2 he had     
failed1 as all men gifted as he was     
gifted are sure to fail1 and the lights 
of heaven were extinguished by the      
disappointment with which his own spirit
 had been clouded4  ,utterly different  
from these1 both in character and in the
 lesson which it teaches1 is the ,book  
of ,job4 ,of unknown date1 as we said1  
and unknown authorship1 the language    
impregnated with strange idioms and     

strange allusions1 un-,jewish in form1  
and in fiercest hostility with ,judaism1
 it hovers like a meteor over the old   
,hebrew literature1 in it1 but not of   
it1 compelling the acknowledgment of    
itself by its own internal majesty1 yet 
exerting no influence over the minds of 
the people1 never alluded to1 and       
scarcely ever quoted1 till at last the  
light which it had heralded rose up full
 over the world in ,christianity4  ,the 
conjectures which have been formed upon 
the date of this book are so various1   
that they show of themselves on how     
slight a foundation the best of them    
must rest4 ,the language is no guide1   
for although unquestionably of ,hebrew  
origin1 the poem bears no analogy to any
 of the other books in the ,bible2 while
 of its external history nothing is     
known at all1 except that it was        
received into the canon at the time of  
the great synagogue4 ,ewald decides1    
with some confidence1 that it belongs to
 the great prophetic period1 and that   

the writer was a contemporary of        
,jeremiah4 ,ewald is a high authority in
 these matters1 and this opinion is the 
one which we believe is now commonly    
received among biblical scholars4 ,in   
the absence of proof1 however 7and the  
reasons which he brings forward are     
really no more than conjectures71 these 
opposite considerations may be of       
moment4 ,it is only natural that at     
first thought we should ascribe the     
grandest poem in a literature to the    
time at which the poetry of the nation  
to which it belongs was generally at its
 best2 but1 on reflection1 the time when
 the poetry of prophecy is the richest1 
is not likely to be favourable to       
compositions of another kind4 ,the      
prophets wrote in an era of decrepitude1
 dissolution1 sin1 and shame1 when the  
glory of ,israel was falling round them 
into ruin1 and their mission1 glowing as
 they were with the ancient spirit1 was 
to rebuke1 to warn1 to threaten1 and to 
promise4 ,finding themselves too late to

 save1 and only1 like ,cassandra1       
despised and disregarded1 their voices  
rise up singing the swan song of a dying
 people1 now falling away in the wild   
wailing of despondency over the shameful
 and desperate present1 now swelling in 
triumphant hope that ,god will not leave
 them for ever1 and in ,his own time    
will take ,his chosen to ,himself again4
 ,but such a period is an ill occasion  
for searching into the broad problems of
 human destiny2 the present is          
all-important and all-absorbing2 and    
such a book as that of ,job could have  
arisen only out of an isolation of mind1
 and life1 and interest1 which we cannot
 conceive of as possible under such     
conditions4  ,the more it is studied1   
the more the conclusion forces itself   
upon us that1 let the writer have lived 
when he would1 in his struggle with the 
central falsehood of his own people's   
creed1 he must have divorced himself    
from them outwardly as well as inwardly2
 that he travelled away into the world1 

and lived long1 perhaps all his matured 
life1 in exile4 ,everything about the   
book speaks of a person who had broken  
free from the narrow littleness of 'the 
peculiar people4' ,the language1 as we  
said1 is full of strange words4 ,the    
hero of the poem is of strange land and 
parentage--a ,gentile certainly1 not a  
,jew4 ,the life1 the manners1 the       
customs are of all varieties and        
places--,egypt1 with its river and its  
pyramids1 is there2 the description of  
mining points to ,phoenicia2 the settled
 life in cities1 the nomad ,arabs1 the  
wandering caravans1 the heat of the     
tropics1 and the ice of the north1 all  
are foreign to ,canaan1 speaking of     
foreign things and foreign people4 ,no  
mention1 or hint of mention1 is there   
throughout the poem of ,jewish          
traditions or ,jewish certainties4 ,we  
look to find the three friends vindicate
 themselves1 as they so well might have 
done1 by appeals to the fertile annals  
of ,israel1 to the ,flood1 to the cities

 of the plain1 to the plagues of ,egypt1
 or the thunders of ,sinai4 ,but of all 
this there is not a word2 they are      
passed by as if they had no existence2  
and instead of them1 when witnesses are 
required for the power of ,god1 we have 
strange un-,hebrew stories of the       
eastern astronomic mythology1 the old   
wars of the giants1 the imprisoned      
,orion1 the wounded dragon1 'the sweet  
influences of the seven stars1' and the 
glittering fragments of the sea-snake   
,rahab,j trailing across the northern   
sky4 ,again1 ,god is not the ,god of    
,israel1 but the father of mankind2 we  
hear nothing of a chosen people1 nothing
 of a special revelation1 nothing of    
peculiar privileges2 and in the court of
 heaven there is a ,satan1 not the      
prince of this world and the enemy of   
,god1 but the angel of judgment1 the    
accusing spirit whose mission was to    
walk to and fro over the earth1 and     
carry up to heaven an account of the    
sins of mankind4 ,we cannot believe that

 thoughts of this kind arose out of     
,jerusalem in the days of ,josiah4 ,in  
this book1 if anywhere1 we have the     
record of some ,greek3 anr polutropos   
who1 like the old hero of ,ithaca1      
,greek3     polln anthrpn iden astea kai
 noon egn1     polla d' hog' en pont    
pathen algea hon kata thumon1           
arnumenos psuchn4444   but the scenes1  
the names1 and the incidents1 are all   
contrived as if to baffle curiosity--as 
if1 in the very form of the poem1 to    
teach us that it is no story of a single
 thing which happened once1 but that it 
belongs to humanity itself1 and is the  
drama of the trial of man1 with         
,almighty ,god and the angels as the    
spectators of it4  ,no reader can have  
failed to have been struck with the     
simplicity of the opening4 ,still1 calm1
 and most majestic1 it tells us         
everything which is necessary to be     
known in the fewest possible words4 ,the
 history of ,job was probably a         
tradition in the ,east2 his name1 like  

that of ,priam in ,greece1 the symbol of
 fallen greatness1 and his misfortunes  
the problem of philosophers4 ,in keeping
 with the current belief1 he is         
described as a model of excellence1 the 
most perfect and upright man upon the   
earth1 'and the same was the greatest   
man in all the east4' ,so far1 greatness
 and goodness had gone hand in hand     
together1 as the popular theory         
required4 ,the details of his character 
are brought out in the progress of the  
poem4 ,he was 'the father of the        
oppressed1 and of those who had none to 
help them4' ,when he sat as a judge in  
the market-places1 'righteousness       
clothed him' there1 and 'his justice was
 a robe and a diadem4' ,he 'broke the   
jaws of the wicked1 and plucked the     
spoil out of his teeth2' and1 humble in 
the midst of his power1 he 'did not     
despise the cause of his manservant1 or 
his maidservant1 when they contended    
with him1' knowing 7and amidst those old
 people where the multitude of mankind  

were regarded as the born slaves of the 
powerful1 to be carved into eunuchs or  
polluted into concubines at their       
master's pleasure1 it was no easy matter
 to know it7--knowing that ',he who had 
made him had made them1' and one 'had   
fashioned them both in the womb4' ,above
 all1 he was the friend of the poor2    
'the blessing of him that was ready to  
perish came upon him1' and he 'made the 
widow's heart to sing for joy4'         
,setting these characteristics of his   
daily life by the side of his unaffected
 piety1 as it is described in the first 
chapter1 we have a picture of the best  
man who could then be conceived2 not a  
hard ascetic1 living in haughty or      
cowardly isolation1 but a warm figure of
 flesh and blood1 a man full of all     
human loveliness1 and to whom1 that no  
room might be left for any possible     
,calvinistic falsehood1 ,god ,himself   
bears the emphatic testimony1 that      
'there was none like him upon the earth1
 a perfect and upright man1 who feared  

,god and eschewed evil4' ,if such a     
person as this1 therefore1 could be made
 miserable1 necessarily the current     
belief of the ,jews was false to the    
root2 and tradition furnished the fact  
that he had been visited by every worst 
calamity4 ,how was it then to be        
accounted for8 ,out of a thousand       
possible explanations1 the poet         
introduces a single one4 ,he admits us  
behind the veil which covers the ways of
 ,providence1 and we hear the accusing  
angel charging ,job with an interested  
piety1 and of being obedient because it 
was his policy4 ',job does not serve    
,god for nought1' he says2 'strip him of
 his splendour1 and see if he will care 
for ,god then4 ,humble him into poverty 
and wretchedness1 so only we shall know 
what is in his heart4' ,the cause thus  
introduced is itself a rebuke to the    
belief which1 with its 'rewards and     
punishments1' immediately fostered      
selfishness2 and the poem opens with a  
double action1 on one side to try the   

question whether it is possible for man 
to love ,god disinterestedly--the issue 
of which trial is not foreseen or even  
foretold1 and we watch the progress of  
it with an anxious and fearful interest2
 on the other side1 to bring out1 in    
contrast to the truth which we already  
know1 the cruel falsehood of the popular
 faith--to show how1 instead of leading 
men to mercy and affection1 it hardens  
their heart1 narrows their sympathies1  
and enhances the trials of the sufferer1
 by refinements which even ,satan had   
not anticipated4 ,the combination of    
evils1 as blow falls on blow1 suddenly1 
swiftly1 and terribly1 has all the      
appearance of a purposed visitation 7as 
indeed it was72 if ever outward         
incidents might with justice be         
interpreted as the immediate action of  
,providence1 those which fell on ,job   
might be so interpreted4 ,the world     
turns disdainfully from the fallen in   
the world's way2 but far worse than     
this1 his chosen friends1 wise1 good1   

pious men1 as wisdom and piety were     
then1 without one glimpse of the true   
cause of his sufferings1 see in them a  
judgment upon his secret sins4 ,he      
becomes to them an illustration1 and    
even 7such are the paralogisms of men of
 this description7 a proof of their     
theory that 'the prosperity of the      
wicked is but for a while2' and instead 
of the comfort and help which they might
 have brought him1 and which in the end 
they were made to bring him1 he is to   
them no more than a text for the        
enunciation of solemn falsehood4 ,and   
even worse again1 the sufferer himself  
had been educated in the same creed2 he1
 too1 had been taught to see the hand of
 ,god in the outward dispensation2 and  
feeling from the bottom of his heart1   
that he1 in his own case1 was a sure    
contradiction of what he had learnt to  
believe1 he himself finds his very faith
 in ,god shaken from its foundation4    
,the worst evils which ,satan had       
devised were distanced far by those     

which had been created by human folly4  
,the creed in which ,job had believed   
was tried and found wanting1 and1 as it 
ever will be when the facts of          
experience come in contact with the     
inadequate formula1 the true is found so
 mingled with the false1 that they can  
hardly be disentangled1 and are in      
danger of being swept away together4  ,a
 studied respect is shown1 however1 to  
orthodoxy1 even while it is arraigned   
for judgment4 ,it may be doubtful       
whether the writer purposely intended   
it4 ,he probably cared only to tell the 
real truth2 to say for the old theory   
the best which could be said1 and to    
produce as its defenders the best and   
wisest men whom in his experience he had
 known to believe and defend it4 ,at any
 rate1 he represents the three friends1 
not as a weaker person would have       
represented them1 as foolish1 obstinate 
bigots1 but as wise1 humane1 and almost 
great men1 who1 at the outset1 at least1
 are animated only by the kindest       

feelings1 and speak what they have to   
say with the most earnest conviction    
that it is true4 ,job is vehement1      
desperate1 reckless4 ,his language is   
the wild1 natural outpouring of         
suffering4 ,the friends1 true to the    
eternal nature of man1 are grave1       
solemn1 and indignant1 preaching their  
half truth1 and mistaken only in        
supposing that it is the whole2         
speaking1 as all such persons would     
speak and still do speak1 in defending  
what they consider sacred truth against 
the assaults of folly and scepticism4   
,how beautiful is their first           
introduction3--  ',now when ,job's three
 friends heard of all this evil which   
was come upon him1 they came every one  
from his own place2 ,eliphaz the        
,temanite1 and ,bildad the ,shuhite1 and
 ,zophar the ,naamathite3 for they had  
made an appointment together to come to 
mourn with him and to comfort him4 ,and 
when they lifted up their eyes afar off1
 and knew him not1 they lifted up their 

voice and wept1 and they rent every one 
his mantle1 and sprinkled dust upon     
their heads towards heaven4 ,so they sat
 down with him upon the ground seven    
days and seven nights1 and none spake a 
word unto him1 for they saw that his    
grief was very great4'  ,what a picture 
is there6 ,what majestic tenderness6    
,his wife had scoffed at his faith1     
bidding him 'leave ,god and die4' ',his 
acquaintance had turned from him4' ,he  
'had called his servant1 and he had     
given him no answer4' ,even the         
children1 in their unconscious cruelty1 
had gathered round and mocked him as he 
lay among the ashes4 ,but 'his friends  
sprinkle dust towards heaven1 and sit   
silently by him1 and weep for him seven 
days and seven nights upon the ground4' 
,that is1 they were true-hearted1 truly 
loving1 devout1 religious men2 and yet  
they1 with their religion1 were to      
become the instruments of the most      
poignant sufferings1 the sharpest       
temptations1 which he had to endure4 ,so

 it was1 and is1 and will be--of such   
materials is this human life of ours    
composed4  ,and now1 remembering the    
double action of the drama--the actual  
trial of ,job1 the result of which is   
uncertain2 and the delusion of these    
men1 which is1 at the outset1           
certain--let us go rapidly through the  
dialogue4 ,satan's share in the         
temptation had already been overcome4   
,lying sick in the loathsome disease    
which had been sent upon him1 his wife1 
in ,satan's own words1 had tempted ,job 
to say1 ',farewell to ,god1'--think no  
more of ,god or goodness1 since this was
 all which came of it2 and ,job had told
 her that she spoke as one of the       
foolish women4 ,he 'had received good at
 the hand of the ,lord1 and should he   
not receive evil8' ,but now1 when real  
love and real affection appear1 his     
heart melts in him2 he loses his forced 
self-composure1 and bursts into a       
passionate regret that he had ever been 
born4 ,in the agony of his sufferings1  

hope of better things had died away4 ,he
 does not complain of injustice2 as yet1
 and before his friends have stung and  
wounded him1 he makes no questioning of 
,providence1--but why was life given to 
him at all1 if only for this8 ,sick in  
mind1 and sick in body1 but one wish    
remains to him1 that death will come    
quickly and end all4 ,it is a cry from  
the very depths of a single and simple  
heart4 ,but for such simplicity and     
singleness his friends could not give   
him credit2 possessed beforehand with   
their idea1 they see in his misery only 
a fatal witness against him2 such       
calamities could not have befallen a    
man1 the justice of ,god would not have 
permitted it1 unless they had been      
deserved4 ,job had sinned and he had    
suffered1 and this wild passion was but 
impenitence and rebellion4  ,being as   
certain that they were right in this    
opinion as they were that ,god ,himself 
existed1 that they should speak what    
they felt was only natural and          

necessary2 and their language at the    
outset is1 all which would be dictated  
by the tenderest sympathy4 ,eliphaz     
opens1 the oldest and most important of 
the three1 in a soft1 subdued1          
suggestive strain1 contriving in every  
way to spare the feelings of the        
sufferer1 to the extreme to which his   
love will allow him4 ,all is general1   
impersonal1 indirect1--the rule of the  
world1 the order of ,providence4 ,he    
does not accuse ,job1 but he describes  
his calamities1 and leaves him to gather
 for himself the occasion which had     
produced them2 and then passes off1 as  
if further to soften the blow1 to the   
mysterious vision in which the infirmity
 of mortal nature had been revealed to  
him1 the universal weakness which       
involved both the certainty that ,job   
had shared in it1 and the excuse for    
him1 if he would confess and humble     
himself3 the blessed virtue of          
repentance follows1 and the promise that
 all shall be well4  ,this is the note  

on which each of the friends strikes    
successively1 in the first of the three 
divisions into which the dialogue       
divides itself1 but each with increasing
 peremptoriness and confidence1 as ,job1
 so far from accepting their            
interpretation of what had befallen him1
 hurls it from him in anger and disdain4
 ,let us observe 7and the ,calvinists   
should consider this71 he will hear as  
little of the charges against mankind as
 of charges against himself4 ,he will   
not listen to the 'corruption of        
humanity1' because in the consciousness 
of his own innocency1 he knows that it  
is not corrupt3 he knows that he is     
himself just and good1 and we know it1  
the ,divine sentence upon him having    
been already passed4 ,he will not       
acknowledge his sin1 for he knows not of
 what to repent4 ,if he could have      
reflected calmly1 he might have foreseen
 what they would say4 ,he knew all that 
as well as they3 it was the old story   
which he had learnt1 and could repeat1  

if necessary1 as well as anyone3 and if 
it had been no more than a philosophical
 discussion1 touching himself no more   
nearly than it touched his friends1 he  
might have allowed for the tenacity of  
opinion in such matters1 and listened to
 it and replied to it with equanimity4  
,but1 as the proverb says1 ',it is ill  
talking between a full man and a        
fasting3' and in ,job such equanimity   
would have been but ,stoicism1 or the   
affectation of it1 and unreal as the    
others' theories4 ,possessed with the   
certainty that he had not deserved what 
had befallen him1 harassed with doubt1  
and worn out with pain and unkindness1  
he had assumed 7and how natural that he 
should assume it7 that those who loved  
him should not have been hasty to       
believe evil of him2 he had spoken to   
them as he really felt1 and he thought  
that he might have looked to them for   
something warmer and more sympathising  
than such dreary eloquence4 ,so when the
 revelation comes upon him of what was  

passing in them1 he attributes it 7and  
now he is unjust to them7 to a falsehood
 of heart1 and not to a blindness of    
understanding4 ,their sermons1 so kindly
 intended1 roll past him as a dismal    
mockery4 ,they had been shocked 7and how
 true again is this to nature7 at his   
passionate cry for death4 ',do ye       
reprove words8' he says1 'and the       
speeches of one that is desperate1 which
 are as wind8' ,it was but poor         
friendship and narrow wisdom4 ,he had   
looked to them for pity1 for comfort1   
and love4 ,he had longed for it as the  
parched caravans in the desert for the  
water-streams1 and 'his brethren had    
dealt deceitfully with him4' ,the       
brooks1 in the cool winter1 roll in a   
full turbid torrent2 'what time it waxes
 warm they vanish1 when it is hot they  
are consumed out of their place2 the    
caravans of ,tema looked for them1 the  
companies of ,sheba waited for them2    
they were confounded because they had   
hoped2 they came thither1 and there was 

nothing4' ,if for once these poor men   
could have trusted their hearts1 if for 
once they could have believed that there
 might be 'more things in heaven and    
earth' than were dreamt of in their     
philosophy--but this is the one thing   
which they could not do1 which the      
theologian proper never has done or will
 do4 ,and thus whatever of calmness or  
endurance ,job alone1 on his ash-heap1  
might have conquered for himself1 is all
 scattered away2 and as the strong gusts
 of passion sweep to and fro across his 
heart1 he pours himself out in wild     
fitful music1 so beautiful because so   
true1 not answering them or their       
speeches1 but now flinging them from him
 in scorn1 now appealing to their mercy1
 or turning indignantly to ,god2 now    
praying for death2 now in perplexity    
doubting whether1 in some mystic way    
which he cannot understand1 he may not1 
perhaps1 after all1 really have sinned1 
and praying to be shown his fault2 and  
then staggering further into the        

darkness1 and breaking out into         
upbraidings of the ,power which has     
become so dreadful an enigma to him4    
',thou enquirest after my iniquity1 thou
 searchest after my sin1 and thou       
knowest that ,i am not wicked4 ,why     
didst thou bring me forth out of the    
womb8 ,oh1 that ,i had given up the     
ghost1 and no eye had seen me4 ,cease1  
let me alone4 ,it is but a little while 
that ,i have to live4 ,let me alone1    
that ,i may take comfort a little before
 ,i go1 whence ,i shall not return to   
the land of darkness and the shadow of  
death4' ,in what other poem in the world
 is there pathos deep as this8 ,with    
experience so stern as his1 it was not  
for ,job to be calm1 and self-possessed1
 and delicate in his words4 ,he speaks  
not what he knows1 but what he feels2   
and without fear the writer allows him  
to throw out his passion all genuine as 
it rises1 not overmuch caring how nice  
ears might be offended1 but contented to
 be true to the real emotion of a       

genuine human heart4 ,so the poem runs  
on to the end of the first answer to    
,zophar4  ,but now1 with admirable      
fitness1 as the contest goes forward1   
the relative position of the speakers   
begins to change4 ,hitherto1 ,job only  
had been passionate2 and his friends    
temperate and collected4 ,now1 becoming 
shocked at his obstinacy1 and           
disappointed in the result of their     
homilies1 they stray still further from 
the truth in an endeavour to strengthen 
their position1 and1 as a natural       
consequence1 visibly grow angry4 ,to    
them1 ,job's vehement and desperate     
speeches are damning evidence of the    
truth of their suspicion4 ,impiety is   
added to his first sin1 and they begin  
to see in him a rebel against ,god4 ,at 
first they had been contented to speak  
generally1 and much which they had urged
 was partially true2 now they step      
forward to a direct application1 and    
formally and personally accuse himself4 
,here their ground is positively false2 

and with delicate art it is they who are
 now growing violent1 and wounded       
self-love begins to show behind their   
zeal for ,god2 while in contrast to     
them1 as there is less and less truth in
 what they say1 ,job grows more and more
 collected4 ,for a time it had seemed   
doubtful how he would endure his trial4 
,the light of his faith was burning     
feebly and unsteadily2 a little more1   
and it seemed as if it might have       
utterly gone out4 ,but at last the storm
 was lulling2 as the charges are brought
 personally home to him1 the confidence 
in his own real innocence rises against 
them4 ,he had before known that he was  
innocent2 now he feels the strength     
which lies in innocence1 as if ,god were
 beginning to reveal ,himself within    
him1 to prepare the way for the after   
outward manifestation of ,himself4  ,the
 friends1 as before1 repeat one another 
with but little difference2 the sameness
 being of course intentional1 as showing
 that they were not speaking for        

themselves1 but as representatives of a 
prevailing opinion4 ,eliphaz1 again1    
gives the note which the others follow4 
,hear this ,calvinist of the old world3 
',thy own mouth condemneth thee1 and    
thine own lips testify against thee4    
,what is man that he should be clean1   
and he that is born of a woman that he  
should be righteous8 ,behold1 he putteth
 no trust in his saints2 yea1 the       
heavens are not clean in his sight2 how 
much more abominable and filthy is man1 
which drinketh iniquity like water4'    
,strange1 that after all these thousands
 of years we should still persist in    
this degrading confession1 as a thing   
which it is impious to deny and impious 
to attempt to render otherwise1 when    
,scripture itself1 in language so       
emphatic1 declares that it is a lie4    
,job is innocent1 perfect1 righteous4   
,god ,himself bears witness to it4 ,it  
is ,job who is found at last to have    
spoken truth1 and the friends to have   
sinned in denying it4 ,and he holds fast

 by his innocency1 and with a generous  
confidence thrusts away the misgivings  
which had begun to cling to him4 ,among 
his complainings he had exclaimed1 that 
,god was remembering upon him the sins  
of his youth--not denying them2 knowing 
well that he1 like others1 had gone     
astray before he had learnt to control  
himself1 but feeling that at least in an
 earthly father it is unjust to visit   
the faults of childhood on the matured  
man2 feeling that he had long1 long     
shaken them off from him1 and they did  
not even impair the probity of his      
after-life4 ,but now these doubts1 too1 
pass away in the brave certainty that   
,god is not less just than man4 ,as the 
denouncings grow louder and darker1 he  
appeals from his narrow judges to the   
,supreme ,tribunal--calls on ,god to    
hear him and to try his cause--and then1
 in the strength of this appeal the mist
 rises from before his eyes4 ,his       
sickness is mortal3 he has no hope in   
life1 and death is near2 but the intense

 feeling that justice must and will be  
done1 holds to him closer and closer4   
,god may appear on earth for him2 or if 
that be too bold a hope1 and death finds
 him as he is--what is death then8 ,god 
will clear his memory in the place where
 he lived2 his injuries will be righted 
over his grave2 while for himself1 like 
a sudden gleam of sunlight between      
clouds1 a clear1 bright hope beams up1  
that he too1 then1 in another life1 if  
not in this1 when his skin is wasted off
 his bones1 and the worms have done     
their work on the prison of his spirit1 
he too1 at last1 may then see ,god2 may 
see ,him1 and have his pleadings heard4 
,with such a hope1 or even the shadow of
 one1 he turns back to the world again  
to look at it4 ,facts against which he  
had before closed his eyes he allows and
 confronts1 and he sees that his own    
little experience is but the reflection 
of a law4 ,you tell me1 he seems to say1
 that the good are rewarded1 and that   
the wicked are punished2 that ,god is   

just1 and that this is always so4       
,perhaps it is1 or will be1 but not in  
the way which you imagine4 ,you have    
known me1 you have known what my life   
has been2 you see what ,i am1 and it is 
no difficulty to you4 ,you prefer       
believing that ,i1 whom you call your   
friend1 am a deceiver or a pretender1 to
 admitting the possibility of the       
falsehood of your hypothesis4 ,you will 
not listen to my assurance1 and you are 
angry with me because ,i will not lie   
against my own soul1 and acknowledge    
sins which ,i have not committed4 ,you  
appeal to the course of the world in    
proof of your faith1 and challenge me to
 answer you4 ,well1 then1 ,i accept your
 challenge4 ,the world is not what you  
say4 ,you have told me what you have    
seen of it3 ,i will tell you what ,i    
have seen4  ',even while ,i remember ,i 
am afraid1 and trembling taketh hold    
upon my flesh4 ,wherefore do the wicked 
become old1 yea1 and are mighty in      
power8 ,their seed is established in    

their sight with them1 and their        
offspring before their eyes4 ,their     
houses are safe from fear1 neither is   
the rod of ,god upon them4 ,their bull  
gendereth and faileth not2 their cow    
calveth1 and casteth not her calf4 ,they
 send forth their little ones like a    
flock1 and their children dance4 ,they  
take the timbrel and harp1 and rejoice  
at the sound of the organ4 ,they spend  
their days in wealth1 and in a moment go
 down into the grave4 ,therefore they   
say unto ,god1 ,depart from us1 for we  
desire not the knowledge of ,thy ways4  
,what is the ,almighty that we should   
serve ,him8 and what profit should we   
have if we pray to ,him8'  ,will you    
quote the weary proverb8 ,will you say  
that ',god layeth up ,his iniquity for  
,his children8' 7,our translators have  
wholly lost the sense of this passage1  
and endeavour to make ,job acknowledge  
what he is steadfastly denying47 ,well1 
and what then8 ,what will he care8      
',will his own eye see his own fall8    

,will he drink the wrath of the         
,almighty8 ,what are the fortunes of his
 house to him if the number of his own  
months is fulfilled8' ,one man is good  
and another wicked1 one is happy and    
another is miserable4 ,in the great     
indifference of nature they share alike 
in the common lot4 ',they lie down alike
 in the dust1 and the worms cover them4'
  ,ewald1 and many other critics1       
suppose that ,job was hurried away by   
his feelings to say all this2 and that  
in his calmer moments he must have felt 
that it was untrue4 ,it is a point on   
which we must decline accepting even    
,ewald's high authority4 ,even then1 in 
those old times1 it was beginning to be 
terribly true4 ,even then the current   
theory was obliged to bend to large     
exceptions2 and what ,job saw as        
exceptions we see round us everywhere4  
,it was true then1 it is infinitely more
 true now1 that what is called virtue in
 the common sense of the word1 still    
more that nobleness1 godliness1 or      

heroism of character in any form        
whatsoever1 have nothing to do with this
 or that man's prosperity1 or even      
happiness4 ,the thoroughly vicious man  
is no doubt wretched enough2 but the    
worldly1 prudent1 self-restraining man1 
with his five senses1 which he          
understands how to gratify with tempered
 indulgence1 with a conscience satisfied
 with the hack routine of what is called
 respectability1--such a man feels no   
wretchedness2 no inward uneasiness      
disturbs him1 no desires which he cannot
 gratify2 and this though he be the     
basest and most contemptible slave of   
his own selfishness4 ,providence will   
not interfere to punish him4 ,let him   
obey the laws under which prosperity is 
obtainable1 and he will obtain it1 let  
him never fear4 ,he will obtain it1 be  
he base or noble4 ,nature is            
indifferent2 the famine and the         
earthquake1 and the blight or the       
accident1 will not discriminate to      
strike him4 ,he may insure himself      

against casualties in these days of     
ours1 with the money perhaps which a    
better man would have given away1 and he
 will have his reward4 ,he need not     
doubt it4  ,and1 again1 it is not true1 
as optimists would persuade us1 that    
such prosperity brings no real pleasure4
 ,a man with no high aspirations1 who   
thrives1 and makes money1 and envelops  
himself in comforts1 is as happy as such
 a nature can be4 ,if unbroken          
satisfaction be the most blessed state  
for a man 7and this certainly is the    
practical notion of happiness71 he is   
the happiest of men4 ,nor are those idle
 phrases any truer1 that the good man's 
goodness is a never-ceasing sunshine2   
that virtue is its own reward1 c4 c4 ,if
 men truly virtuous care to be rewarded 
for it1 their virtue is but a poor      
investment of their moral capital4 ,was 
,job so happy then on that ash-heap of  
his1 the mark of the world's scorn1 and 
the butt for the spiritual archery of   
the theologian1 alone in his forlorn    

nakedness1 like some old dreary stump   
which the lightning has scathed1 rotting
 away in the wind and the rain8 ,if     
happiness be indeed what we men are sent
 into this world to seek for1 those     
hitherto thought the noblest among us   
were the pitifullest and wretchedest4   
,surely it was no error in ,job4 ,it was
 that real insight which once was given 
to all the world in ,christianity1      
however we have forgotten it now4 ,job  
was learning to see that it was not in  
the possession of enjoyment1 no1 nor of 
happiness itself1 that the difference   
lies between the good and the bad4      
,true1 it might be that ,god sometimes1 
even generally1 gives such              
happiness--gives it in what ,aristotle  
calls an ,greek3 epigignomenon telos1   
but it is no part of the terms on which 
,he admits us to ,his service1 still    
less is it the end which we may propose 
to ourselves on entering ,his service4  
,happiness ,he gives to whom ,he will1  
or leaves to the angel of nature to     

distribute among those who fulfil the   
laws upon which it depends4 ,but to     
serve ,god and to love ,him is higher   
and better than happiness1 though it be 
with wounded feet1 and bleeding brows1  
and hearts loaded with sorrow4  ,into   
this high faith ,job is rising1 treading
 his temptations under his feet1 and    
finding in them a ladder on which his   
spirit rises4 ,thus he is passing       
further and even further from his       
friends1 soaring where their            
imaginations cannot follow him4 ,to them
 he is a blasphemer whom they gaze at   
with awe and terror4 ,they had charged  
him with sinning on the strength of     
their hypothesis1 and he has answered   
with a deliberate denial of it4 ,losing 
now all mastery over themselves1 they   
pour out a torrent of mere extravagant  
invective and baseless falsehood1 which 
in the calmer outset they would have    
blushed to think of4 ,they know no evil 
of ,job1 but they do not hesitate to    
convert conjecture into certainty1 and  

specify in detail the particular crimes 
which he must have committed4 ,he ought 
to have committed them1 and so he had2  
the old argument then as now4--',is not 
thy wickedness great8' says ,eliphaz4   
',thou hast taken a pledge from thy     
brother for nought1 and stripped the    
naked of their clothing2 thou hast not  
given water to the weary1 and thou hast 
withholden bread from the hungry2' and  
so on through a series of mere          
distracted lies4 ,but the time was past 
when words like these could make ,job   
angry4 ,bildad follows them up with an  
attempt to frighten him by a picture of 
the power of that ,god whom he was      
blaspheming2 but ,job cuts short his    
harangue1 and ends it for him in a      
spirit of loftiness which ,bildad could 
not have approached2 and then proudly   
and calmly rebukes them all1 no longer  
in scorn and irony1 but in high1        
tranquil self-possession4 ',god forbid  
that ,i should justify you1' he says2   
'till ,i die ,i will not remove my      

integrity from me4 ,my righteousness ,i 
hold fast1 and will not let it go4 ,my  
heart shall not reproach me so long as  
,i live4'  ,so far all has been clear1  
each party1 with increasing confidence1 
having insisted on their own position1  
and denounced their adversaries4 ,a     
difficulty now arises which1 at first   
sight1 appears insurmountable4 ,as the  
chapters are at present printed1 the    
entire of the twenty-seventh is assigned
 to ,job1 and the paragraph from the    
eleventh to the twenty-third verses is  
in direct contradiction to all which he 
has maintained before--is1 in fact1 a   
concession of having been wrong from the
 beginning4 ,ewald1 who1 as we said     
above1 himself refuses to allow the     
truth of ,job's last and highest        
position1 supposes that he is here      
receding from it1 and confessing what an
 over-precipitate passion had betrayed  
him into denying4 ,for many reasons1    
principally because we are satisfied    
that ,job said then no more than the    

real fact1 we cannot think ,ewald right2
 and the concessions are too large and  
too inconsistent to be reconciled even  
with his own general theory of the poem4
 ,another solution of the difficulty is 
very simple1 although it is to be       
admitted that it rather cuts the knot   
than unties it4 ,eliphaz and ,bildad    
have each spoken a third time2 the      
symmetry of the general form requires   
that now ,zophar should speak2 and the  
suggestion1 we believe1 was first made  
by ,dr4 ,kennicott1 that he did speak1  
and that the verses in question belong  
to him4 ,any one who is accustomed to   
,,mss4 will understand easily how such a
 mistake1 if it be one1 might have      
arisen4 ,even in ,shakespeare1 the      
speeches in the early editions are in   
many instances wrongly divided1 and     
assigned to the wrong persons4 ,it might
 have arisen from inadvertence2 it might
 have arisen from the foolishness of    
some ,jewish transcriber1 who resolved1 
at all costs1 to drag the book into     

harmony with ,judaism1 and make ,job    
unsay his heresy4 ,this view has the    
merit of fully clearing up the          
obscurity4 ,another1 however1 has been  
suggested by ,eichorn1 who originally   
followed ,kennicott1 but discovered1 as 
he supposed1 a less violent hypothesis1 
which was equally satisfactory4 ,eichorn
 imagines the verses to be a summary by 
,job of his adversaries' opinions1 as if
 he said--',listen now2 you know what   
the facts are as well as ,i1 and yet you
 maintain this2' and then passed on with
 his indirect reply to it4 ,it is       
possible that ,eichorn may be right--at 
any rate1 either he is right1 or else   
,dr4 ,kennicott is4 ,certainly1 ,ewald  
is not4 ,taken as an account of ,job's  
own conviction1 the passage contradicts 
the burden of the whole poem4 ,passing  
it by1 therefore1 and going to what     
immediately follows1 we arrive at what1 
in a human sense1 is the final          
climax--,job's victory and triumph4 ,he 
had appealed to ,god1 and ,god had not  

appeared2 he had doubted and fought     
against his doubts1 and at last had     
crushed them down4 ,he1 too1 had been   
taught to look for ,god in outward      
judgments2 and when his own experience  
had shown him his mistake1 he knew not  
where to turn4 ,he had been leaning on a
 bruised reed1 and it had run into his  
hand and pierced him4 ,but as soon as in
 the speeches of his friend he saw it   
all laid down in its weakness and its   
false conclusions--when he saw the      
defenders of it wandering further and   
further from what he knew to be true1   
growing every moment1 as if from a      
consciousness of the unsoundness of     
their standing ground1 more violent1    
obstinate1 and unreasonable1 the scales 
fell more and more from his eyes--he had
 seen the fact that the wicked might    
prosper1 and in learning to depend upon 
his innocency he had felt that the good 
man's support was there1 if it was      
anywhere2 and at last1 with all his     
heart1 was reconciled to the truth4 ,the

 mystery of the outer world becomes     
deeper to him1 but he does not any more 
try to understand it4 ,the wisdom which 
can compass that mystery1 he knows1 is  
not in man1 though man search for it    
deeper and harder than the miner        
searches for the hidden treasures of the
 earth2 the wisdom which alone is       
attainable is resignation to ,god4      
',where1' he cries1 'shall wisdom be    
found1 and where is the place of        
understanding8 ,man knoweth not the     
price thereof1 neither is it found in   
the land of the living4 ,the depth said 
it is not with me2 and the sea said it  
is not in me4 ,it is hid from the eyes  
of all living1 and kept close from the  
fowls of the air4,k ,god understandeth  
the way thereof1 and ,he knoweth the    
place thereof ,he1 not man1 understands 
the mysteries of the world which ,he has
 made4 ,and unto man ,he said1 ,behold6 
the fear of the ,lord1 that is wisdom2  
and to depart from evil1 that is        
understanding4'  ,here1 therefore1 it   

might seem as if all was over4 ,there is
 no clearer or purer faith possible for 
man2 and ,job had achieved it4 ,his evil
 had turned to good2 and sorrow had     
severed for him the last links which    
bound him to lower things4 ,he had felt 
that he could do without happiness1 that
 it was no longer essential1 and that he
 could live on1 and still love ,god1 and
 cling to ,him4 ,but he is not described
 as of preternatural1 or at all ,titanic
 nature1 but as very man1 full of all   
human tenderness and susceptibility4    
,his old life was still beautiful to    
him4 ,he does not hate it because he can
 renounce it2 and now that the struggle 
is over1 the battle fought and won1 and 
his heart has flowed over in that       
magnificent song of victory1 the note   
once more changes3 he turns back to     
earth to linger over those old departed 
days1 with which the present is so hard 
a contrast2 and his parable dies away in
 a strain of plaintive1 but resigned    
melancholy4 ,once more he throws himself

 on ,god1 no longer in passionate       
expostulation1 but in pleading          
humility4,l ,and then comes 7perhaps1 as
 ,ewald says1 it could not have come    
before7 the answer out of the whirlwind4
 ,job had called on ,god1 and prayed    
that he might appear1 that he might     
plead his cause with him2 and now he    
comes1 and what will ,job do8 ,he comes 
not as the healing spirit in the heart  
of man2 but1 as ,job had at first       
demanded1 the outward ,god1 the         
,almighty ,creator of the universe1 and 
clad in the terrors and the glory of it4
 ,job1 in his first precipitancy1 had   
desired to reason with him on his       
government4 ,the poet1 in gleaming      
lines1 describes for an answer the      
universe as it then was known1 the      
majesty and awfulness of it2 and then   
asks whether it is this which he        
requires to have explained to him1 or   
which he believes himself capable of    
conducting4 ,the revelation acts on ,job
 as the sign of the ,macrocosmos on the 

modern ,faust2 but when he sinks1       
crushed1 it is not as the rebellious    
upstart1 struck down in his pride--for  
he had himself1 partially at least1     
subdued his own presumption--but as a   
humble penitent1 struggling to overcome 
his weakness4 ,he abhors himself for his
 murmurs1 and 'repents in dust and      
ashes4' ,it will have occurred to every 
one that the secret which has been      
revealed to the reader is not1 after    
all1 revealed to ,job or to his friends1
 and for this plain reason3 the burden  
of the drama is1 not that we do1 but    
that we do not1 and cannot1 know the    
mystery of the government of the        
world--that it is not for man to seek   
it1 or for ,god to reveal it4 ,we1 the  
readers1 are1 in this one instance1     
admitted behind the scenes--for once1 in
 this single case--because it was       
necessary to meet the received theory by
 a positive fact which contradicted it4 
,but the explanation of one case need   
not be the explanation of another2 our  

business is to do what we know to be    
right1 and ask no questions4 ,the veil  
which in the gyptian legend lay before  
the face of ,isis is not to be raised2  
and we are not to seek to penetrate     
secrets which are not ours4  ,while1    
however1 ,god does not condescend to    
justify his ways to man1 he gives       
judgment on the past controversy4 ,the  
self-constituted pleaders for him1 the  
acceptors of his person1 were all wrong2
 and ,job--the passionate1 vehement1    
scornful1 misbelieving ,job--he had     
spoken the truth2 he at least had spoken
 facts1 and they had been defending a   
transient theory as an everlasting      
truth4  ',and it was so1 that after the 
,lord had spoken these words to ,job1   
the ,lord said to ,eliphaz the          
,temanite1 ,my wrath is kindled against 
thee and against thy two friends2 for ye
 have not spoken of me the thing that is
 right1 as my servant ,job hath4        
,therefore take unto you now seven      
bullocks and seven rams1 and go to my   

servant ,job2 and offer for yourselves a
 burnt-offering4 ,and my servant ,job   
shall pray for you1 and him will ,i     
accept4 ,lest ,i deal with you after    
your folly1 for that ye have not spoken 
of me the thing which is right1 like my 
servant ,job4'  ,one act of justice     
remains4 ,knowing as we do the cause of 
,job's misfortunes1 and that as soon as 
his trial was over it was no longer     
operative1 our sense of fitness could   
not be satisfied unless he were         
indemnified outwardly for his outward   
sufferings4 ,satan is defeated1 and     
,job's integrity proved2 and there is no
 reason why the general law should be   
interfered with1 which1 however large   
the exceptions1 tends to connect        
goodness and prosperity2 or why obvious 
calamities1 obviously undeserved1 should
 remain any more unremoved4 ,perhaps1   
too1 a deeper lesson still lies below   
his restoration--something perhaps of   
this kind4 ,prosperity1 enjoyment1      
happiness1 comfort1 peace1 whatever be  

the name by which we designate that     
state in which life is to our own selves
 pleasant and delightful1 as long as    
they are sought or prized as things     
essential1 so far have a tendency to    
disennoble our nature1 and are a sign   
that we are still in servitude to       
selfishness4 ,only when they lie outside
 us1 as ornaments merely to be worn or  
laid aside as ,god pleases--only then   
may such things be possessed with       
impunity4 ,job's heart in early times   
had clung to them more than he knew1 but
 now he was purged clean1 and they were 
restored because he had ceased to need  
them4  ,such in outline is this         
wonderful poem4 ,with the material of   
which it is woven we have not here been 
concerned1 although it is so rich and   
pregnant that we might with little      
difficulty construct out of it a        
complete picture of the world as then it
 was3 its life1 knowledge1 arts1 habits1
 superstitions1 hopes1 and fears4 ,the  
subject is the problem of all mankind1  

and the composition embraces no less    
wide a range4 ,but what we are here most
 interested upon is the epoch which it  
marks in the progress of mankind1 as the
 first recorded struggle of a new       
experience with an established orthodox 
belief4 ,true1 for hundreds of years1   
perhaps for a thousand1 the superstition
 against which it was directed          
continued4 ,when ,christ came it was    
still in its vitality4 ,nay1 as we saw1 
it is alive1 or in a sort of mock life1 
among us at this very day4 ,but even    
those who retained their imperfect      
belief had received into their canon a  
book which treated it with contumely and
 scorn1 so irresistible was the majesty 
of truth4  ,in days like these1 when we 
hear so much of progress1 it is worth   
while to ask ourselves what advances we 
have made further in the same direction8
 and once more1 at the risk of some     
repetition1 let us look at the position 
in which this book leaves us4 ,it had   
been assumed that man1 if he lived a    

just and upright life1 had a right to   
expect to be happy4 ,happiness1 'his    
being's end and aim1' was his legitimate
 and covenanted reward4 ,if ,god        
therefore was just1 such a man would be 
happy2 and inasmuch as ,god was just1   
the man who was not happy had not       
deserved to be4 ,there is no flaw in    
this argument2 and if it is unsound1 the
 fallacy can only lie in the supposed   
right to happiness4 ,it is idle to talk 
of inward consolations4 ,job felt them1 
but they were not everything4 ,they did 
not relieve the anguish of his wounds2  
they did not make the loss of his       
children1 or his friends' unkindness1   
any the less painful to him4  ,the poet1
 indeed1 restores him in the book2 but  
in life it need not have been so4 ,he   
might have died upon his ash-heap1 as   
thousands of good men have died1 and    
will die again1 in misery4 ,happiness1  
therefore1 is not what we are to look   
for4 ,our place is to be true to the    
best which we know1 to seek that and do 

that2 and if by 'virtue its own reward' 
be meant that the good man cares only to
 continue good1 desiring nothing more1  
then it is a true and noble saying4 ,but
 if virtue be valued because it is      
politic1 because in pursuit of it will  
be found most enjoyment and fewest      
sufferings1 then it is not noble any    
more1 and it is turning the truth of    
,god into a lie4 ,let us do right1 and  
whether happiness come or unhappiness it
 is no very mighty matter4 ,if it come1 
life will be sweet2 if it do not come1  
life will be bitter--bitter1 not sweet1 
and yet to be borne4 ,on such a theory  
alone is the government of this world   
intelligibly just4 ,the well-being of   
our souls depends only on what we are2  
and nobleness of character is nothing   
else but steady love of good and steady 
scorn of evil4 ,the government of the   
world is a problem while the desire of  
selfish enjoyment survives2 and when    
justice is not done according to such   
standard 7which will not be till the day

 after doomsday1 and not then71         
self-loving men will still ask1 why8 and
 find no answer4 ,only to those who have
 the heart to say1 ',we can do without  
that2 it is not what we ask or desire1' 
is there no secret4 ,man will have what 
he deserves1 and will find what is      
really best for him1 exactly as he      
honestly seeks for it4 ,happiness may   
fly away1 pleasure pall or cease to be  
obtainable1 wealth decay1 friends fail  
or prove unkind1 and fame turn to       
infamy2 but the power to serve ,god     
never fails1 and the love of ,him is    
never rejected4  ,most of us1 at one    
time or other of our lives1 have known  
something of love--of that only pure    
love in which no self is left remaining4
 ,we have loved as children1 we have    
loved as lovers2 some of us have learnt 
to love a cause1 a faith1 a country2 and
 what love would that be which existed  
only with a prudent view to             
after-interests4 ,surely there is a love
 which exults in the power of           

self-abandonment1 and can glory in the  
privilege of suffering for what is good4
 ,que mon nom soit fltri1 pourvu que la 
,france soit libre1 said ,danton2 and   
those wild patriots who had trampled    
into scorn the faith in an immortal life
 in which they would be rewarded for    
what they were suffering1 went to their 
graves as beds1 for the dream of a      
people's liberty4 ,justice is done2 the 
balance is not deranged4 ,it only seems 
deranged1 as long as we have not learnt 
to serve without looking to be paid for 
it4  ,such is the theory of life which  
is to be found in the ,book of ,job2 a  
faith which has flashed up in all times 
and all lands1 wherever high-minded men 
were to be found1 and which passed in   
,christianity into the acknowledged     
creed of half the world4 ,the cross was 
the new symbol1 the ,divine sufferer the
 great example2 and mankind answered to 
the call1 because the appeal was not to 
what was poor and selfish in them1 but  
to whatever of best and bravest was in  

their nature4 ,the law of reward and    
punishment was superseded by the law of 
love4 ,thou shalt love ,god and thou    
shalt love man2 and that was not        
love--men knew it once--which was bought
 by the prospect of reward4 ,times are  
changed with us now4 ,thou shalt love   
,god and thou shalt love man1 in the    
hands of a ,paley1 are found to mean no 
more than1 ,thou shalt love thyself     
after an enlightened manner4 ,and the   
same base tone has saturated not only   
our common feelings1 but our ,christian 
theologies and our ,antichristian       
philosophies4 ,a prudent regard to our  
future interests2 an abstinence from    
present unlawful pleasures1 because they
 will entail the loss of greater        
pleasure by-and-by1 or perhaps be paid  
for with pain1--this is called virtue   
now2 and the belief that such beings as 
men can be influenced by any more       
elevated feelings1 is smiled at as the  
dream of enthusiasts whose hearts have  
outrun their understandings4 ,indeed1 he

 were but a poor lover whose devotion to
 his mistress lay resting on the feeling
 that a marriage with her would conduce 
to his own comforts4 ,that were a poor  
patriot who served his country for the  
hire which his country would give to    
him4 ,and we should think but poorly of 
a son who thus addressed his earthly    
father3 ',father1 on whom my fortunes   
depend1 teach me to do what pleases     
thee1 that ,i1 pleasing thee in all     
things1 may obtain those good things    
which thou hast promised to give to thy 
obedient children4' ,if any of us who   
have lived in so meagre a faith venture1
 by-and-by1 to put in our claims1 ,satan
 will be likely to say of us 7with      
better reason than he did of ,job71     
',did they serve ,god for nought1 then8 
,take their reward from them1 and they  
will curse ,him to ,his face4' ,if      
,christianity had never borne itself    
more loftily than this1 do we suppose   
that those fierce ,norsemen who had     
learnt1 in the fiery war-songs of the   

,edda1 of what stuff the hearts of      
heroes are composed1 would have         
fashioned their sword-hilts into        
crosses1 and themselves into a crusading
 chivalry8 ,let us not dishonour our    
great fathers with the dream of it4 ,the
 ,christians1 like the ,stoics and the  
,epicureans1 would have lived their     
little day among the ignoble sects of an
 effete civilisation1 and would have    
passed off and been heard of no more4   
,it was in another spirit that those    
first preachers of righteousness went   
out upon their warfare with evil4 ,they 
preached1 not enlightened prudence1 but 
purity1 justice1 goodness2 holding out  
no promises in this world except of     
suffering as their great ,master had    
suffered1 and rejoicing that they were  
counted worthy to suffer for ,his sake4 
,and that crown of glory which they did 
believe to await them in a life beyond  
the grave1 was no enjoyment of what they
 had surrendered in life1 was not       
enjoyment at all in any sense which     

human thought or language can attach to 
the words2 as little like it as the     
crown of love is like it1 which the true
 lover looks for when at last he obtains
 his mistress4 ,it was to be with       
,christ--to lose themselves in ,him4    
,how these high feelings ebbed away1 and
 ,christianity became what we know it1  
we are partially beginning to see4 ,the 
living spirit organised for itself a    
body of perishable flesh3 not only the  
real gains of real experience1 but mere 
conjectural hypotheses1 current at the  
day for the solution of unexplained     
phenomena1 became formul and articles of
 faith4 ,again1 as before1 the living   
and the dead were bound together1 and   
the seeds of decay were already planted 
on the birth of a constructed polity4   
,but there was another cause allied to  
this1 and yet different from it1 which1 
though a law of human nature itself1    
seems nowadays altogether forgotten4 ,in
 the rapid and steady advance of our    
knowledge of material things1 we are apt

 to believe that all our knowledge      
follows the same law2 that it is merely 
generalised experience2 that experience 
accumulates daily1 and1 therefore1 that 
'progress of the species1' in all       
senses1 is an obvious and necessary     
fact4 ,there is something which is true 
in this view1 mixed with a great deal   
which is false4 ,material knowledge1 the
 physical and mechanical sciences1 make 
their way from step to step1 from       
experiment to experiment1 and each      
advance is secured and made good1 and   
cannot again be lost4 ,one generation   
takes up the general sum of experience  
where the last laid it down1 adds to it 
what it has the opportunity of adding1  
and leaves it with interest to the next4
 ,the successive positions1 as they are 
gained1 require nothing for the         
apprehension of them but an             
understanding ordinarily cultivated4    
,prejudices have to be encountered1 but 
prejudices of opinion merely1 not       
prejudices of conscience or prejudices  

of self-love1 like those which beset our
 progress in the science of morality4   
,but in morals we enter upon conditions 
wholly different--conditions in which   
age differs from age1 man differs from  
man1 and even from himself1 at different
 moments4 ,we all have experienced times
 when1 as we say1 we should not know    
ourselves2 some1 when we fall below our 
average level2 some1 when we are lifted 
above1 and put on1 as it were1 a higher 
nature4 ,at such intervals as these last
 7unfortunately1 with most of us1 of    
rare occurrence71 many things become    
clear to us which before were hard      
sayings2 propositions become alive      
which1 usually1 are but dry words2 our  
hearts seem purer1 our motives loftier2 
our purposes1 what we are proud to      
acknowledge to ourselves4  ,and1 as man 
is unequal to himself1 so is man to his 
neighbour1 and period to period4 ,the   
entire method of action1 the theories of
 human life which in one era prevail    
universally1 to the next are unpractical

 and insane1 as those of this next would
 have seemed mere baseness to the first1
 if the first could have anticipated    
them4 ,one epoch1 we may suppose1 holds 
some 'greatest nobleness principle1' the
 other some 'greatest happiness         
principle2' and then their very systems 
of axioms will contradict one another2  
their general conceptions and their     
detailed interpretations1 their rules1  
judgments1 opinions1 practices will be  
in perpetual and endless collision4 ,our
 minds take shape from our hearts1 and  
the facts of moral experience do not    
teach their own meaning1 but submit to  
many readings according to the power of 
the eye which we bring with us4  ,the   
want of a clear perception of so        
important a feature about us leads to   
many singular contradictions4 ,a        
believer in popular ,protestantism1 who 
is also a believer in progress1 ought1  
if he were consistent1 to regard mankind
 as growing every day towards a more and
 more advantageous position with respect

 to the trials of life2 and yet if he   
were asked whether it was easier for him
 to 'save his soul' in the nineteenth   
century than it would have been in the  
first or second1 or whether the said    
soul was necessarily better worth       
saving1 he would be perplexed for an    
answer4 ,there is hardly one of us who1 
in childhood1 has not felt like the     
,jews to whom ,christ spoke1 that if he 
had 'lived in the days of the ,fathers1'
 if he had had their advantages1 he     
would have found duty a much easier     
matter2 and some of us in mature life   
have felt that in old ,athens1 or old   
republican ,rome1 in the first ages of  
,christianity1 in the ,crusades or at   
the ,reformation1 there was a contagious
 atmosphere of heroism1 in which we     
should have been less troubled with the 
little feelings which cling about us    
now4 ,at any rate1 it is at these rare  
epochs only that real additions are made
 to our moral knowledge4 ,at such times1
 new truths are1 indeed1 sent down among

 us1 and1 for periods longer or shorter1
 may be seen to exercise an elevating   
influence on mankind4 ,perhaps what is  
gained on these occasions is never      
entirely lost4 ,the historical monuments
 of their effects are at least          
indestructible2 and when the spirit     
which gave them birth reappears1 their  
dormant energy awakens again4  ,but it  
seems from our present experience of    
what1 in some at least of its modern    
forms1 ,christianity has been capable of
 becoming1 that there is no doctrine in 
itself so pure1 but what the meaner     
nature which is in us can disarm and    
distort it1 and adapt it to its own     
littleness4 ,the once living spirit     
dries up into formul1 and formul1       
whether of mass-sacrifice or vicarious  
righteousness1 or 'reward and           
punishment1' are contrived ever so as to
 escape making over-high demands upon   
the conscience4 ,some aim at dispensing 
with obedience altogether1 and those    
which insist on obedience rest the      

obligations of it on the poorest of     
motives4 ,so things go on till there is 
no life left at all2 till1 from all     
higher aspirations1 we are lowered down 
to the love of self after an enlightened
 manner2 and then nothing remains but to
 fight the battle over again4 ,the once 
beneficial truth has become1 as in      
,job's case1 a cruel and mischievous    
deception1 and the whole question of    
life and its obligations must again be  
opened4  ,it is now some three centuries
 since the last of such reopenings4 ,if 
we ask ourselves how much during this   
time has been actually added to the sum 
of our knowledge in these matters2 what1
 in all the thousands upon thousands of 
sermons1 and theologies1 and            
philosophies with which ,europe has been
 deluged1 has been gained for mankind   
beyond what we have found in this ,book 
of ,job1 how far all this has advanced  
us in the 'progress of humanity1' it    
were hard1 or rather it is easy1 to     
answer4 ,how far we have fallen below1  

let ,paley and the rest bear witness4   
,but what moral question can be asked   
which admits now of a grander solution  
than was offered two1 perhaps three1    
thousand years ago8 ,the world has not  
been standing still2 experience of man  
and life has increased2 questions have  
multiplied on questions1 while the      
answers of the established teachers to  
them have been growing every day more   
and more incredible4 ,what other answers
 have there been8 ,of all the countless 
books which have appeared1 there has    
been only one of enduring importance1 in
 which an attempt is made to carry on   
the solution of the great problem4 ,job 
is given over into ,satan's hand to be  
tempted2 and though he shakes1 he does  
not fall4 ,taking the temptation of ,job
 for his model1 ,goethe has similarly   
exposed his ,faust to trial1 and with   
him the tempter succeeds4 ,his hero     
falls from sin to sin1 from crime to    
crime2 he becomes a seducer1 a murderer1
 a betrayer1 following recklessly his   

evil angel wherever he chooses to lead  
him2 and yet1 with all this1 he never   
wholly forfeits our sympathy4 ,in spite 
of his weakness1 his heart is still true
 to his higher nature2 sick and         
restless1 even in the delirium of       
enjoyment he always longs for something 
better1 and he never can be brought to  
say of evil that it is good4 ,and       
therefore1 after all1 the devil is      
balked of his prey2 in virtue of this   
one fact1 that the evil in which he     
steeped himself remained to the last    
hateful to him1 ,faust is saved by the  
angels4444 ,it will be eagerly answered 
for the established belief1 that such   
cases are its especial province4 ,all   
men are sinners1 and it possesses the   
blessed remedy for sin4 ,but1 among the 
countless numbers of those characters so
 strangely mixed among us1 in which the 
dark and the bright fibres cross like a 
meshwork2 characters at one moment      
capable of acts of heroic greatness1 at 
another hurried by temptation into      

actions which even common men may       
deplore1 how many are there who have    
never availed themselves of the         
conditions of reconciliation as         
orthodoxy proffers them1 and of such men
 what is to be said8 ,it was said once  
of a sinner that to her 'much was       
forgiven1 for she loved much4' ,but this
 is language which theology has as      
little appropriated as the ,jews could  
appropriate the language of ,job4 ,it   
cannot recognise the power of the human 
heart4 ,it has no balance in which to   
weigh the good against the evil2 and    
when a great ,burns or a ,mirabeau comes
 before it1 it can but tremblingly count
 up the offences committed1 and then1   
looking to the end1 and finding its own 
terms not to have been complied with1 it
 faintly mutters its anathema4 ,sin only
 it can apprehend and judge2 and for the
 poor acts of struggling heroism1       
',forasmuch as they were not done1' c41 
c41 it doubts not but they have the     
nature of sin4,m  ,something of the     

difficulty has been met by ,goethe1 but 
it cannot be said that he has resolved  
it2 or at least that he has furnished   
others with a solution which may guide  
their judgment4 ,in the writer of the   
,book of ,job there is an awful moral   
earnestness before which we bend as in  
the presence of a superior being4 ,the  
orthodoxy against which he contended is 
not set aside or denied2 he sees what   
truth is in it2 only he sees more than  
it1 and over it1 and through it4 ,but in
 ,goethe1 who needed it more1 inasmuch  
as his problem was more delicate and    
difficult1 the moral earnestness is not 
awful1 is not even high4 ,we cannot feel
 that in dealing with sin he entertains 
any great horror of it2 he looks on it  
as a mistake1 as undesirable1 but       
scarcely as more4 ,goethe's great powers
 are of another kind2 and this          
particular question1 though in          
appearance the primary subject of the   
poem1 is really only secondary4 ,in     
substance1 ,faust is more like          

,ecclesiastes than it is like ,job1 and 
describes rather the restlessness of a  
largely-gifted nature which1 missing the
 guidance of the heart1 plays           
experiments with life1 trying knowledge1
 pleasure1 dissipation1 one after       
another1 and hating them all2 and then  
hating life itself as a weary1 stale1   
flat1 unprofitable mockery4 ,the temper 
exhibited here will probably be         
perennial in the world4 ,but the remedy 
for it will scarcely be more clear under
 other circumstances than it is at      
present1 and lies in the disposition of 
the emotions1 and not in any            
propositions which can be addressed to  
the understanding4  ,for that other     
question--how rightly to estimate a     
human being2 what constitutes a real    
vitiation of character1 and how to      
distinguish1 without either denying the 
good or making light of the evil2 how to
 be just to the popular theories1 and   
yet not to blind ourselves to their     
shallowness and injustice--that is a    

problem for us1 for the solution of     
which we are at present left to our     
ordinary instinct1 without any          
recognised guidance whatsoever4  ,nor is
 this the only problem which is in the  
same situation4 ,there can scarcely be a
 more startling contrast between fact   
and theory than the conditions under    
which1 practically1 positions of power  
and influence are distributed among     
us--between the theory of human worth   
which the necessities of life oblige us 
to act upon1 and the theory which we    
believe that we believe4 ,as we look    
around among our leading men1 our       
statesmen1 our legislators1 the judges  
on our bench1 the commanders of our     
armies1 the men to whom this ,english   
nation commits the conduct of its best  
interests1 profane and sacred1 what do  
we see to be the principles which guide 
our selection8 ,how entirely do they lie
 beside and beyond the negative tests6  
and how little respect do we pay to the 
breach of this or that commandment in   

comparison with ability6 ,so wholly     
impossible is it to apply the received  
opinions on such matters to practice--to
 treat men known to be guilty of what   
theology calls deadly sins1 as really   
guilty of them1 that it would almost    
seem we had fallen into a moral anarchy2
 that ability alone is what we regard1  
without any reference at all1 except in 
glaring and outrageous cases1 to moral  
disqualifications4 ,it is invidious to  
mention names of living men2 it is worse
 than invidious to drag out of their    
graves men who have gone down into them 
with honour1 to make a point for an     
argument4 ,but we know1 all of us1 that 
among the best servants of our country  
there have been1 and there are1 many    
whose lives will not stand scrutiny by  
the negative tests1 and who do not      
appear very greatly to repent1 or to    
have repented1 of their sins according  
to recognised methods4  ,once more3     
among our daily or weekly confessions1  
which we are supposed to repeat as if we

 were all of us at all times in         
precisely the same moral condition1 we  
are made to say that we have done those 
things which we ought not to have done1 
and to have left undone those things    
which we ought to have done4 ,an earthly
 father to whom his children were day   
after day to make this acknowledgment   
would be apt to enquire whether they    
were trying to do better--whether1 at   
any rate1 they were endeavouring to     
learn2 and if he were told that although
 they had made some faint attempts to   
understand the negative part of their   
duty1 yet that of the positive part1 of 
those things which they ought to do1    
they had no notions at all1 and had no  
idea that they were under obligation to 
form any1 he would come to rather       
strange conclusions about them4 ,but1   
really and truly1 what practical notions
 of duty have we beyond that of         
abstaining from committing sins8 ,not to
 commit sin1 we suppose1 covers but a   
small part of what is expected of us4   

,through the entire tissue of our       
employments there runs a good and a bad4
 ,bishop ,butler tells us1 for instance1
 that even of our time there is a       
portion which is ours1 and a portion    
which is our neighbour's2 and if we     
spend more of it on personal interests  
than our own share1 we are stealing4    
,this sounds strange doctrine2 we prefer
 making vague acknowledgments1 and      
shrink from pursuing them into detail4  
,we say vaguely1 that in all we do we   
should consecrate ourselves to ,god1 and
 our own lips condemn us2 for which     
among us cares to learn the way to do   
it8 ,the devoir of a knight was         
understood in the courts of chivalry2   
the lives of heroic men1 ,pagan and     
,christian1 were once held up before the
 world as patterns of detailed          
imitation2 and now1 when such ideals are
 wanted more than ever1 ,protestantism  
stands with a drawn sword on the        
threshold of the enquiry1 and tells us  
that it is impious4 ,the law1 we are    

told1 has been fulfilled for us in      
condescension to our inherent           
worthlessness1 and our business is to   
appropriate another's righteousness1 and
 not1 like ,titans1 to be scaling heaven
 by profane efforts of our own4         
,protestants1 we know very well1 will   
cry out in tones loud enough at such a  
representation of their doctrines4 ,but 
we know also that unless men may feel a 
cheerful conviction that they can do    
right if they try1--that they can purify
 themselves1 can live noble and worthy  
lives1--unless this is set before them  
as the thing which they are to do1 and  
can succeed in doing1 they will not     
waste their energies on what they know  
beforehand will end in failure2 and if  
they may not live for ,god1 they will   
live for themselves4  ,and all this     
while the whole complex frame of society
 is a meshwork of duty woven of living  
fibre1 and the condition of its         
remaining sound is1 that every thread of
 it1 of its own free energy1 shall do   

what it ought4 ,the penalties of duties 
neglected are to the full as terrible as
 those of sins committed2 more terrible1
 perhaps1 because more palpable and     
sure4 ,a lord of the land1 or an        
employer of labour1 supposes that he has
 no duty except to keep what he calls   
the commandments in his own person1 to  
go to church1 and to do what he will    
with his own1--and ,irish famines       
follow1 and trade strikes1 and          
chartisms1 and ,paris revolutions4 ,we  
look for a remedy in impossible         
legislative enactments1 and there is but
 one remedy which will avail--that the  
thing which we call public opinion learn
 something of the meaning of human      
obligation1 and demand some             
approximation to it4 ,as things are1 we 
have no idea of what a human being ought
 to be4 ,after the first rudimental     
conditions we pass at once into         
meaningless generalities2 and with no   
knowledge to guide our judgment1 we     
allow it to be guided by meaner         

principles2 we respect money1 we respect
 rank1 we respect ability--character is 
as if it had no existence4  ,in the     
midst of this loud talk of progress1    
therefore1 in which so many of us at    
present are agreed to believe1 which is1
 indeed1 the common meeting point of all
 the thousand sects into which we are   
split1 it is with saddened feelings that
 we see so little of it in so large a   
matter4 ,progress there is in knowledge2
 and science has enabled the number of  
human beings capable of existing upon   
this earth to be indefinitely           
multiplied4 ,but this is but a small    
triumph if the ratio of the good and    
bad1 the wise and the foolish1 the full 
and the hungry1 remains unaffected4 ,and
 we cheat ourselves with words when we  
conclude out of our material splendour  
an advance of the race4  ,in two things 
there is progress--progress in knowledge
 of the outward world1 and progress in  
material wealth4 ,this last1 for the    
present1 creates1 perhaps1 more evils   

than it relieves2 but suppose this      
difficulty solved--suppose the wealth   
distributed1 and every peasant living   
like a peer--what then8 ,if this is all1
 one noble soul outweighs the whole of  
it4 ,let us follow knowledge to the     
outer circle of the universe--the eye   
will not be satisfied with seeing1 nor  
the ear with hearing4 ,let us build our 
streets of gold1 and they will hide as  
many aching hearts as hovels of straw4  
,the well-being of mankind is not       
advanced a single step4 ,knowledge is   
power1 and wealth is power2 and         
harnessed1 as in ,plato's fable1 to the 
chariot of the soul1 and guided by      
wisdom1 they may bear it through the    
circle of the stars2 but left to their  
own guidance1 or reined by a fool's     
hand1 the wild horses may bring the poor
 fool to ,phaeton's end1 and set a world
 on fire4  ,,footnotes3  ,g ,westminster
 ,review1 #ahec4  ,h #a4 ,die poetischen
 ,bcher des ,alten ,bundes4 ,erklrt von 
,heinrich ,ewald4 ,gttingen3 bei        

,vanderhoeck und ,ruprecht4 #ahcf4      
#b4 ,kurz gefasstes exegetisches        
,handbuch zum ,alten ,testament4 ,zweite
 ,lieferung4 ,hiob4 ,von ,ludwig        
,hirzel4 ,zweite ,auflage1 durchgesehen 
von ,dr4 ,justus ,olshausen4 ,leipzig4  
#aheb4      #c4 ,qustionum in ,jobeidos 
locos vexatos ,specimen4 ,von ,d4       
,hermannus ,hupfeld4 ,halis ,saxonum4   
#ahec4  ,i ,or rather by ,st4 ,jerome1  
whom our translators have followed4  ,j 
,see ,ewald on ,job ix4 #ac1 and xxvi4  
#ad4  ,k ,an allusion1 perhaps1 to the  
old bird auguries4 ,the birds1 as the   
inhabitants of the air1 were supposed to
 be the messengers between heaven and   
earth4  ,l ,the speech of ,elihu1 which 
lies between ,job's last words and      
,god's appearance1 is now decisively    
pronounced by ,hebrew scholars not to be
 genuine4 ,the most superficial reader  
will have been perplexed by the         
introduction of a speaker to whom no    
allusion is made1 either in the prologue
 or the epilogue2 by a long             

dissertation1 which adds nothing to the 
progress of the argument1 proceeding    
evidently on the false hypothesis of the
 three friends1 and betraying not the   
faintest conception of the real cause of
 ,job's sufferings4 ,and the suspicions 
which such an anomaly would naturally   
suggest1 are now made certainties by a  
fuller knowledge of the language1 and   
the detection of a different hand4 ,the 
interpolator has unconsciously confessed
 the feeling which allowed him to take  
so great a liberty4 ,he1 too1 possessed 
with the old ,jew theory1 was unable to 
accept in its fulness so great a        
contradiction to it3 and1 missing the   
spirit of the poem1 he believed that    
,god's honour could still be vindicated 
in the old way4 ',his wrath was kindled'
 against the friends1 because they could
 not answer ,job2 and against ,job1     
because he would not be answered2 and   
conceiving himself 'full of matter1' and
 'ready to burst like new bottles1' he  
could not contain himself1 and delivered

 into the text a sermon on the          
,theodice1 such1 we suppose1 as formed  
the current doctrine of the time in     
which he lived4  ,m ,see the ,thirteenth
 ,article4     ,,spinoza4,n  ,benedicti 
de ,spinoza ,tractatus de ,deo et       
,homine ejusque ,felicitate ,lineamenta4
 ,atque ,annotationes ad ,tractatum     
,theologico-,politicum4 ,edidit et      
illustravit ,,edwardus ,,boehmer4 ,hal  
ad ,salam4 ,j4 ,f4 ,lippert4 #aheb4     
,this little volume is one evidence     
among many of the interest which        
continues to be felt by the ,german     
students in ,spinoza4 ,the actual merit 
of the book itself is little or nothing2
 but it shows the industry with which   
they are gleaning among the libraries of
 ,holland for any traces of him which   
they can recover2 and the smallest      
fragments of his writings are acquiring 
that factitious importance which        
attaches to the most insignificant      
relics of acknowledged greatness4 ,such 
industry cannot be otherwise than       

laudable1 but we do not think it at     
present altogether wisely directed4     
,nothing is likely to be brought to     
light which will further illustrate     
,spinoza's philosophy4 ,he himself spent
 the better part of his life in clearing
 his language of ambiguities2 and such  
earlier sketches of his system as are   
supposed still to be extant in ,,ms41   
and a specimen of which ,m4 ,boehmer    
believes himself to have discovered1    
contribute only obscurity to what is in 
no need of additional difficulty4 ,of   
,spinoza's private history1 on the      
contrary1 rich as it must have been1 and
 abundant traces of it as must be extant
 somewhere in his own and his friends'  
correspondence1 we know only enough to  
feel how vast a chasm remains to be     
filled4 ,it is not often that any man in
 this world lives a life so well worth  
writing as ,spinoza lived2 not for      
striking incidents or large events      
connected with it1 but because 7and no  
sympathy with his peculiar opinions     

disposes us to exaggerate his merit7 he 
was one of the very best men whom these 
modern times have seen4 ,excommunicated1
 disinherited1 and thrown upon the world
 when a mere boy to seek his livelihood1
 he resisted the inducements which on   
all sides were urged upon him to come   
forward in the world4 ,he refused       
pensions1 legacies1 money in many forms2
 he maintained himself with grinding    
glasses for optical instruments1 an art 
which he had been taught in early life1 
and in which he excelled the best       
workmen in ,holland2 and when he died1  
which was at the early age of           
forty-four1 the affection with which he 
was regarded showed itself singularly in
 the endorsement of a tradesman's bill  
which was sent in to his executors1 in  
which he was described as ,m4 ,spinoza  
of 'blessed memory4'  ,the account which
 remains of him we owe1 not to an       
admiring disciple1 but to a clergyman to
 whom his theories were detestable2 and 
his biographer allows that the most     

malignant scrutiny had failed to detect 
a blemish in his character--that1 except
 so far as his opinions were blameable1 
he had lived to outward appearance free 
from fault4 ,we desire1 in what we are  
going to say of him1 to avoid offensive 
collision with popular prejudices2 still
 less shall we place ourselves in       
antagonism with the earnest convictions 
of serious persons3 our business is to  
relate what ,spinoza was1 and leave     
others to form their own conclusions4   
,but one lesson there does seem to lie  
in such a life of such a man1--a lesson 
which he taught equally by example and  
in word1--that wherever there is genuine
 and thorough love for good and         
goodness1 no speculative superstructure 
of opinion can be so extravagant as to  
forfeit those graces which are promised1
 not to clearness of intellect1 but to  
purity of heart4 ,in ,spinoza's own     
beautiful language1--',justitia et      
caritas unicum et certissimum ver fidei 
,catholic signum est1 et veri ,spirits  

,sancti fructus3 et ubicumque hc        
reperiuntur1 ibi ,christus re ver est1  
et ubicumque hc desunt deest ,christus3 
solo namque ,christi ,spiritu duci      
possumus in amorem justiti et           
caritatis4' ,we may deny his            
conclusions2 we may consider his system 
of thought preposterous and even        
pernicious2 but we cannot refuse him the
 respect which is the right of all      
sincere and honourable men4 ,wherever   
and on whatever questions good men are  
found ranged on opposite sides1 one of  
three alternatives is always            
true3--either the points of disagreement
 are purely speculative and of no moral 
importance--or there is a               
misunderstanding of language1 and the   
same thing is meant under a difference  
of words--or else the real truth is     
something different from what is held by
 any of the disputants1 and each is     
representing some important element     
which the others ignore or forget4 ,in  
either case1 a certain calmness and good

 temper is necessary1 if we would       
understand what we disagree with1 or    
would oppose it with success2 ,spinoza's
 influence over ,european thought is too
 great to be denied or set aside2 and if
 his doctrines be false in part1 or     
false altogether1 we cannot do their    
work more surely than by calumny or     
misrepresentation--a most obvious       
truism1 which no one now living will    
deny in words1 and which a century or   
two hence perhaps will begin to produce 
some effect upon the popular judgment4  
,bearing it in mind1 then1 ourselves1 as
 far as we are able1 we propose to      
examine the ,pantheistic philosophy in  
the first and only logical form which as
 yet it has assumed4 ,whatever may have 
been the case with ,spinoza's disciples1
 in the author of this system there was 
no unwillingness to look closely at it1 
or to follow it out to its conclusions2 
and whatever other merits or demerits   
belong to him1 at least he has done as  
much as with language can be done to    

make himself thoroughly understood4     
,and yet1 both in friend and enemy      
alike1 there has been a reluctance to   
see ,spinoza as he really was4 ,the     
,herder and ,schleiermacher school have 
claimed him as a ,christian--a position 
which no little disguise was necessary  
to make tenable2 the orthodox           
,protestants and ,catholics have called 
him an ,atheist--which is still more    
extravagant2 and even a man like        
,novalis1 who1 it might have been       
expected1 would have had something      
reasonable to say1 could find no better 
name for him than a ,gott trunkner      
,mann--a ,god intoxicated man3 an       
expression which has been quoted by     
everybody who has since written upon the
 subject1 and which is about as         
inapplicable as those laboriously       
pregnant sayings usually are4 ,with due 
allowance for exaggeration1 such a name 
would describe tolerably the            
,transcendental mystics1 a ,toler1 a    
,boehmen1 or a ,swedenborg2 but with    

what justice can it be applied to the   
cautious1 methodical ,spinoza1 who      
carried his thoughts about with him for 
twenty years1 deliberately shaping them1
 and who gave them at last to the world 
in a form more severe than with such    
subjects had ever been so much as       
attempted before8 ,with him1 as with all
 great men1 there was no effort after   
sublime emotions4 ,he was a plain1      
practical person2 his object in         
philosophy was only to find a rule by   
which to govern his own actions and his 
own judgment2 and his treatises contain 
no more than the conclusions at which he
 arrived in this purely personal search1
 with the grounds on which he rested    
them4  ,we cannot do better than follow 
his own account of himself as he has    
given it in the opening of his          
unfinished ,tract1 ',de ,emendatione    
,intellects4' ,his language is very     
beautiful1 but it is elaborate and full2
 and1 as we have a long journey before  
us1 we must be content to epitomise it4 

,looking round him on his entrance into 
life1 and asking himself what was his   
place and business there1 he turned for 
examples to his fellow-men1 and found   
little that he could venture to imitate4
 ,he observed them all in their several 
ways governing themselves by their      
different notions of what they thought  
desirable2 while these notions          
themselves were resting on no more      
secure foundation than a vague1         
inconsistent experience3 the experience 
of one was not the experience of        
another1 and thus men were all1 so to   
say1 rather playing experiments with    
life than living1 and the larger portion
 of them miserably failing4 ,their      
mistakes arose1 as it seemed to         
,spinoza1 from inadequate knowledge2    
things which at one time looked         
desirable1 disappointed expectation when
 obtained1 and the wiser course         
concealed itself often under an         
uninviting exterior4 ,he desired to     
substitute certainty for conjecture1 and

 to endeavour to find1 by some surer    
method1 where the real good of man      
actually lay4 ,we must remember that he 
had been brought up a ,jew1 and had been
 driven out of the ,jews' communion2 his
 mind was therefore in contact with the 
bare facts of life1 with no creed or    
system lying between them and himself as
 the interpreter of experience4 ,he was 
thrown on his own resources to find his 
way for himself1 and the question was1  
how to find it4 ,of all forms of human  
thought1 one only1 he reflected1 would  
admit of the certainty which he         
required4 ,if certain knowledge were    
attainable at all1 it must be looked for
 under the mathematical or demonstrative
 method2 by tracing from ideas clearly  
conceived the consequences which were   
formally involved in them4 ,what1 then1 
were these ideas--these ver ide1 as he  
calls them--and how were they to be     
obtained8 ,if they were to serve as the 
axioms of his system1 they must be      
self-evident truths1 of which no proof  

was required2 and the illustration which
 he gives of the character of such ideas
 is ingenious and ,platonic4  ,in order 
to produce any mechanical instrument1   
,spinoza says1 we require others with   
which to manufacture it2 and others     
again to manufacture those2 and it would
 seem thus as if the process must be an 
infinite one1 and as if nothing could   
ever be made at all4 ,nature1 however1  
has provided for the difficulty in      
creating of her own accord certain rude 
instruments1 with the help of which we  
can make others better2 and others again
 with the help of those4 ,and so he     
thinks it must be with the mind2 there  
must be somewhere similar original      
instruments provided also as the first  
outfit of intellectual enterprise4 ,to  
discover these1 he examines the various 
senses in which men are said to know    
anything1 and he finds that they resolve
 themselves into three1 or1 as he       
elsewhere divides it1 four4  ,we know a 
thing--    #a4 i4 ,ex mero auditu3      

because we have heard it from some      
person or persons whose veracity we have
 no reason to      question4       ii4  
,ab experienti vag3 from general        
experience3 for      instance1 all facts
 or phenomena which come to us through  
our senses as phenomena1 but of the     
causes of which we      are ignorant4   
#b4 ,we know a thing as we have         
correctly conceived the laws      of its
 phenomena1 and see them following in   
their      sequence in the order of     
nature4    #c4 ,finally1 we know a      
thing1 ex scienti intuitiv1 which       
alone is absolutely clear and certain4  
,to illustrate these divisions1 suppose 
it be required to find a fourth         
proportional which shall stand to the   
third of three numbers as the second    
does to the first4 ,the merchant's clerk
 knows his rule2 he multiplies the      
second into the third and divides by the
 first4 ,he neither knows nor cares to  
know why the result is the number which 
he seeks1 but he has learnt the fact    

that it is so1 and he remembers it4  ,a 
person a little wiser has tried the     
experiment in a variety of simple cases2
 he has discovered the rule by          
induction1 but still does not understand
 it4  ,a third has mastered the laws of 
proportion mathematically1 as he has    
found them in ,euclid or other          
geometrical treatise4  ,a fourth1 with  
the plain numbers of #a1 #b1 and #c1    
sees for himself by simple intuitive    
force that #a3bc3f4  ,of these several  
kinds of knowledge the third and fourth 
alone deserve to be called knowledge1   
the others being no more than opinions  
more or less justly founded4 ,the last  
is the only real insight1 although the  
third1 being exact in its form1 may be  
depended upon as a basis of certainty4  
,under this last1 as ,spinoza allows1   
nothing except the very simplest truths1
 non nisi simplicissim veritates1 can be
 perceived2 but1 such as they are1 they 
are the foundation of all after-science2
 and the true ideas1 the ver ide1 which 

are apprehended by this faculty of      
intuition1 are the primitive instruments
 with which nature has furnished us4 ,if
 we ask for a test by which to          
distinguish them1 he has none to give   
us4 ',veritas1' he says to his friends1 
in answer to their question1 'veritas   
index sui est et falsi4 ,veritas se     
ipsam patefacit4' ,all original truths  
are of such a kind that they cannot     
without absurdity even be conceived to  
be false2 the opposites of them are     
contradictions in terms4--',ut sciam me 
scire1 necessario debeo prius scire4    
,hinc patet quod certitudo nihil est    
prter ipsam essentiam objectivam4444    
,cum itaque veritas nullo egeat signo1  
sed sufficiat habere essentiam rerum    
objectivam1 aut quod idem est ideas1 ut 
omne tollatur dubium2 hinc sequitur quod
 vera non est methodus1 signum veritatis
 qurere post acquisitionem idearum2 sed 
quod vera methodus est via1 ut ipsa     
veritas1 aut essenti objectiv rerum1 aut
 ide 7omnia illa idem significant7      

debito ordine qurantur4' 7,de ,emend4   
,intell47  ,spinoza will scarcely carry 
with him the reasoner of the nineteenth 
century in arguments like these4 ,when  
we remember the thousand conflicting    
opinions1 the truth of which their      
several advocates have as little doubted
 as they have doubted their own         
existence1 we require some better       
evidence than a mere feeling of         
certainty2 and ,aristotle's less        
pretending canon promises a safer road4 
,greek3 ,ho pasi dokei1 'what all men   
think1' says ,aristotle1 ,greek3 touto  
einai phamen 'this we say is1'--'and if 
you will not have this to be a fair     
ground of conviction1 you will scarcely 
find one which will serve you better4'  
,we are to see1 however1 what these ide 
are which are offered to us as          
self-evident4 ,of course1 if they are   
self-evident1 if they do produce        
conviction1 nothing more is to be said2 
but it does1 indeed1 appear strange to  
us that ,spinoza was not staggered as to

 the validity of his canon1 when his    
friends1 everyone of them1 so floundered
 and stumbled among what he regarded as 
his simplest propositions2 when he found
 them1 in spite of all that he could    
say1 requiring endless signa veritatis1 
and unable for a long time even to      
understand their meaning1 far less to   
'recognise them as elementary           
certainties4' ,modern readers may1      
perhaps1 be more fortunate4 ,we produce 
at length the definitions and axioms of 
the first book of the ',ethica1' and    
they may judge for themselves3--        
,,definitions4      #a4 ,by a thing     
which is causa sui1 its own cause1 ,i   
mean a thing     the essence of which   
involves the existence of it1 or a thing
 which     cannot be conceived except as
 existing4      #b4 ,i call a thing     
finite1 suo genere1 when it can be      
limited by     another 7or others7 of   
the same nature--e4g4 a given body is   
called finite1 because we can always    
conceive another body     enveloping it2

 but body is not limited by thought1 nor
 thought by     body4      #c4 ,by      
substance ,i mean what exists in itself 
and is conceived by     itself2 the     
conception of which1 that is1 does not  
involve the     conception of anything  
else as the cause of it4      #d4 ,by   
attribute ,i mean whatever the intellect
 perceives of substance     as          
constituting the essence of substance4  
#e4 ,mode is an affection of substance1 
or is that which is in     something    
else1 by and through which it is        
conceived4      #f4 ,god is a being     
absolutely infinite2 a substance        
consisting of     infinite attributes1  
each of which expresses his eternal and 
infinite essence4   ,,explanation4      
,i say absolutely infinite1 not infinite
 suo genere--for of what     is infinite
 suo genere only1 the attributes are not
 infinite but     finite2 whereas what  
is infinite absolutely contains in its  
own     essence everything by which     
substance can be expressed1 and which   

involves no impossibility4      #g4     
,that thing is 'free' which exists by   
the sole necessity of its     own       
nature1 and is determined in its        
operation by itself only4 ,that     is  
'not free' which is called into         
existence by something else1 and     is 
determined in its operation according to
 a fixed and definite     method4       
#h4 ,eternity is existence itself1      
conceived as following necessarily      
and solely from the definition of the   
thing which is eternal4   ,,explanation4
      ,because existence of this kind is
 conceived as an eternal verity1        
and1 therefore1 cannot be explained by  
duration1 even though the     duration  
be without beginning or end4  ,so far   
the definitions2 then follow the        
,,axioms4      #a4 ,all things that     
exist1 exist either of themselves or in 
virtue of     something else4      #b4  
,what we cannot conceive of as existing 
in virtue of something     else1 we must
 conceive through and in itself4        

#c4 ,from a given cause an effect       
necessarily follows1 and if there be    
no given cause no effect can follow4    
#d4 ,things which have nothing in common
 with each other cannot be              
understood through one another--i4e4 the
 conception of one does     not involve 
the conception of the other4      #e4   
,to understand an effect implies that we
 understand the cause of     it4        
#f4 ,a true idea is one which           
corresponds with its ideate4      #g4   
,the essence of anything which can be   
conceived as non-existent     does not  
involve existence4  ,such is our        
metaphysical outfit of simple ideas with
 which to start upon our enterprise of  
learning4 ,the larger number of them1 so
 far from being simple1 must be         
absolutely without meaning to persons   
whose minds are undisciplined in        
metaphysical abstraction2 they become   
only intelligible propositions as we    
look back upon them with the light of   
the system which they are supposed to   

contain4  ,although1 however1 we may    
justly quarrel with such unlooked-for   
difficulties1 the important question1   
after all1 is not of the obscurity of   
these axioms1 but of their truth4 ,many 
things in all the sciences are obscure  
to an unpractised understanding1 which  
are true enough and clear enough to     
people acquainted with the subjects1 and
 they may be fairly made the foundations
 of a scientific system1 although       
rudimentary students must be contented  
to accept them upon faith4 ,of course1  
also1 it is entirely competent to       
,spinoza1 or to any one1 to define the  
terms which he intends to use just as he
 pleases1 provided it be understood that
 any conclusions which he derives out of
 them apply only to the ideas so        
defined1 and not to any supposed object 
existing which corresponds with them4   
,euclid defines his triangles and       
circles1 and discovers that to figures  
so described1 certain properties        
previously unknown may be proved to     

belong4 ,but as in nature there are no  
such things as triangles and circles    
exactly answering the definition1 his   
conclusions1 as applied to actually     
existing objects1 are either not true at
 all or only proximately so4 ,whether it
 be possible to bridge over the gulf    
between existing things and the abstract
 conception of them1 as ,spinoza        
attempts to do1 we shall presently see4 
,it is a royal road to certainty if it  
be a practicable one2 but we cannot say 
that we ever met any one who could say  
honestly ,spinoza's reasonings had      
convinced him2 and power of             
demonstration1 like all other powers1   
can be judged only by its effects4 ,does
 it prove8 does it produce conviction8  
,if not1 it is nothing4  ,we need not   
detain our readers among these          
abstractions4 ,the power of ,spinozism  
does not lie so remote from ordinary    
appreciation1 or we should long ago have
 heard the last of it4 ,like all other  
systems which have attracted followers1 

it addresses itself1 not to the logical 
intellect1 but to the imagination1 which
 it affects to set aside4 ,we refuse to 
submit to the demonstrations by which it
 thrusts itself upon our reception2 but 
regarding it as a whole1 as an attempt  
to explain the nature of the world of   
which we are a part1 we can still ask   
ourselves how far the attempt is        
successful4 ,some account of these      
things we know that there must be1 and  
the curiosity which asks the question   
regards itself1 of course1 as competent 
in some degree to judge of the answer to
 it4  ,before proceeding1 however1 to   
regard this philosophy in the aspect in 
which it is really powerful1 we must    
clear our way through the fallacy of the
 method4  ,the system is evolved in a   
series of theorems in severely          
demonstrative order out of the          
definitions and axioms which we have    
translated4 ,to propositions #a-f we    
have nothing to object2 they will not1  
probably1 convey any very clear ideas1  

but they are so far purely abstract1 and
 seem to follow 7as far as we can speak 
of 'following' in such subjects7 by fair
 reasoning4 ',substance is prior in     
nature to its affections4' ',substances 
with different attributes have nothing  
in common1' and1 therefore1 'one cannot 
be the cause of the other4' ',things    
really distinct are distinguished by    
difference either of attribute or mode  
7there being nothing else by which they 
can be distinguished71 and1 therefore1  
because things modally distinguished do 
not qu substance differ from one        
another1 there cannot be more than one  
substance of the same attribute4        
,therefore 7let us remind our readers   
that we are among what ,spinoza calls   
notiones simplicissimas71 since there   
cannot be two substances of the same    
attribute1 and substances of different  
attributes cannot be the cause one of   
the other1 it follows that no substance 
can be produced by another substance4'  
,the existence of substance1 he then    

concludes1 is involved in the nature of 
the thing itself4 ,substance exists4 ,it
 does and must4 ,we ask1 why8 and we are
 answered1 because there is nothing     
capable of producing it1 and therefore  
it is self-caused--i4e4 by the first    
definition the essence of it implies    
existence as part of the idea4 ,it is   
astonishing that ,spinoza should not    
have seen that he assumes the fact that 
substance does exist in order to prove  
that it must4 ,if it cannot be produced 
and exists1 then1 of course1 it exists  
in virtue of its own nature4 ,but       
supposing it does not exist1 supposing  
it is all a delusion1 the proof falls to
 pieces4 ,we have to fall back on the   
facts of experience1 on the obscure and 
unscientific certainty that the thing   
which we call the world1 and the        
personalities which we call ourselves1  
are a real substantial something1 before
 we find ground of any kind to stand    
upon4 ,conscious of the infirmity of his
 demonstration1 ,spinoza winds round it 

and round it1 adding proof to proof1 but
 never escaping the same vicious circle3
 substance exists because it exists1 and
 the ultimate experience of existence1  
so far from being of that clear kind    
which can be accepted as an axiom1 is   
the most confused of all our sensations4
 ,what is existence8 and what is that   
something which we say exists8          
,things--essences--existences6 these are
 but the vague names with which         
faculties1 constructed only to deal with
 conditional phenomena1 disguise their  
incapacity4 ,the world in the ,hindoo   
legend was supported upon the back of   
the tortoise4 ,it was a step between the
 world and nothingness1 and served to   
cheat the imagination with ideas of a   
fictitious resting-place4      ,if any  
one affirms 7says ,spinoza7 that he has 
a clear1     distinct--that is to say1 a
 true--idea of substance1 but that      
nevertheless he is uncertain whether any
 such substance exist1 it is     the    
same as if he were to affirm that he had

 a true idea1 but yet     was uncertain 
whether it was not false4 ,or if he says
 that     substance can be created1 it  
is like saying that a false idea can    
become a true idea--as absurd a thing as
 it is possible to conceive2     and    
therefore the existence of substance1 as
 well as the essence of     it1 must be 
acknowledged as an eternal verity4  ,it 
is again the same story4 ,spinoza speaks
 of a clear idea of substance2 but he   
has not proved that such an idea is     
within the compass of the mind4 ,a man's
 own notion that he sees clearly1 is no 
proof that he really sees clearly2 and  
the distinctness of a definition in     
itself is no evidence that it           
corresponds adequately with the object  
of it4 ,no doubt a man who professes to 
have an idea of substance as an existing
 thing1 cannot doubt1 as long as he has 
it1 that substance so exists4 ,this is  
merely to say that as long as a man is  
certain of this or that fact1 he has no 
doubt of it4 ,but neither his certainty 

nor ,spinoza's will be of any use to a  
man who has no such idea1 and who cannot
 recognise the lawfulness of the method 
by which it is arrived at4  ,from the   
self-existing substance it is a short   
step to the existence of ,god4 ,after a 
few more propositions1 following one    
another with the same kind of coherence1
 we arrive successively at the          
conclusion that there is but one        
substance2 that this substance being    
necessarily existent1 it is also        
infinite2 that it is therefore identical
 with the ,being who had been previously
 defined as the ',ens absolute          
perfectum4'  ,demonstrations of this    
kind were the characteristics of the    
period4 ,des ,cartes had set the example
 of constructing them1 and was followed 
by ,cudworth1 ,clarke1 ,berkeley1 and   
many others besides ,spinoza4 ,the      
inconclusiveness of the method may      
perhaps be observed most readily in the 
strangely opposite conceptions formed by
 all these writers of the nature of that

 ,being whose existence they            
nevertheless agreed1 by the same        
process1 to gather each out of their    
ideas4 ,it is important1 however1 to    
examine it carefully1 for it is the very
 keystone of the ,pantheistic system4   
,as stated by ,des ,cartes1 the argument
 stands something as follows3--,god is  
an all-perfect ,being1--perfection is   
the idea which we form of ,him3         
existence is a mode of perfection1 and  
therefore ,god exists4 ,the sophism we  
are told is only apparent4 ,existence is
 part of the idea--as much involved in  
it as the equality of all lines drawn   
from the centre to the circumference of 
a circle is involved in the idea of a   
circle4 ,a non-existent all-perfect     
,being is as inconceivable as a         
quadrilateral triangle4  ,it is         
sometimes answered that in this way we  
may prove the existence of              
anything--,titans1 ,chimras1 or the     
,olympian ,gods2 we have but to define  
them as existing1 and the proof is      

complete4 ,but1 this objection summarily
 set aside2 none of these beings are by 
hypothesis absolutely perfect1 and1     
therefore1 of their existence we can    
conclude nothing4 ,with greater justice1
 however1 we may say1 that of such terms
 as perfection and existence we know too
 little to speculate4 ,existence may be 
an imperfection for all we can tell2 we 
know nothing about the matter4 ,such    
arguments are but endless petitiones    
principii--like the self-devouring      
serpent1 resolving themselves into      
nothing4 ,we wander round and round     
them1 in the hope of finding some       
tangible point at which we can seize    
their meaning2 but we are presented     
everywhere with the same impracticable  
surface1 from which our grasp glides off
 ineffectual4  ,spinoza himself1        
however1 obviously felt an intense      
conviction of the validity of his       
argument4 ,his opinion is stated with   
sufficient distinctness in one of his   
letters4 ',nothing is more clear1' he   

writes to his pupil ,de ,vries1 'than   
that1 on the one hand1 everything which 
exists is conceived by or under some    
attribute or other2 that the more       
reality1 therefore1 a being or thing    
has1 the more attributes must be        
assigned to it2' 'and conversely' 7and  
this he calls his argumentum palmarium  
in proof of the existence of ,god71 'the
 more attributes ,i assign to a thing1  
the more ,i am forced to conceive it as 
existing4' ,arrange the argument how we 
please1 we shall never get it into a    
form clearer than this3--,the more      
perfect a thing is1 the more it must    
exist 7as if existence could admit of   
more or less72 and therefore the        
all-perfect ,being must exist           
absolutely4 ,there is no flaw1 we are   
told1 in the reasoning2 and if we are   
not convinced1 it is from the confused  
habits of our own minds4  ,some persons 
may think that all arguments are good   
when on the right side1 and that it is a
 gratuitous impertinence to quarrel with

 the proofs of a conclusion which it is 
so desirable that all should receive4   
,as yet1 however1 we are but            
inadequately acquainted with the idea   
attached by ,spinoza to the word        
perfection2 and if we commit ourselves  
to his logic1 it may lead us out to     
unexpected consequences4 ,all such      
reasonings presume1 as a first          
condition1 that we men possess faculties
 capable of dealing with absolute ideas2
 that we can understand the nature of   
things external to ourselves as they    
really are in their absolute relation to
 one another1 independent of our own    
conception4 ,the question immediately   
before us is one which can never be     
determined4 ,the truth which is to be   
proved is one which we already believe2 
and if1 as we believe also1 our         
conviction of ,god's existence is1 like 
that of our own existence1 intuitive and
 immediate1 the grounds of it can never 
adequately be analysed2 we cannot say   
exactly what they are1 and therefore we 

cannot say what they are not4 ,whatever 
we receive intuitively1 we receive      
without proof2 and stated as a naked    
proposition1 it must involve a petitio  
principii4 ,we have a right1 however1 to
 object at once to an argument in which 
the conclusion is more obvious than the 
premises2 and if it lead on to other    
consequences which we disapprove in     
themselves1 we reject it without        
difficulty or hesitation4 ,we ourselves 
believe that ,god is1 because we        
experience the control of a 'power'     
which is stronger than we2 and our      
instincts teach us so much of the nature
 of that power as our own relation to it
 requires us to know4 ,god is the being 
to whom our obedience is due2 and the   
perfections which we attribute to him   
are those moral perfections which are   
the proper object of our reverence4     
,strange to say1 the perfections of     
,spinoza1 which appear so clear to him1 
are without any moral character         
whatever2 and for men to speak of the   

justice of ,god1 he tells us1 is but to 
see in him a reflection of themselves2  
as if a triangle were to conceive of him
 as eminenter triangularis1 or a circle 
to give him the property of circularity4
  ,having arrived at existence1 we next 
find ourselves among ideas1 which at    
least are intelligible1 if the character
 of them is as far removed as before    
from the circle of ordinary thought4    
,nothing exists except substance1 the   
attributes under which substance is     
expressed1 and the modes or affections  
of those attributes4 ,there is but one  
substance self-existent1 eternal1       
necessary1 and that is the absolutely   
,infinite all-perfect ,being4 ,substance
 cannot produce substance1 and therefore
 there is no such thing as creation2 and
 everything which exists is either an   
attribute of ,god1 or an affection of   
some attribute of him1 modified in this 
manner or in that4 ,beyond him there is 
nothing1 and nothing like him or equal  
to him2 he therefore alone in himself is

 absolutely free1 uninfluenced by       
anything1 for nothing is except himself2
 and from him and from his supreme      
power1 essence1 intelligence 7for these 
words mean the same thing71 all things  
have necessarily flowed1 and will and   
must flow for ever1 in the same manner  
as from the nature of a triangle it     
follows1 and has followed1 and will     
follow from eternity to eternity1 that  
the angles of it are equal to two right 
angles4 ,it would seem as if the analogy
 were but an artificial play upon words1
 and that it was only metaphorically    
that in mathematical demonstration we   
speak of one thing as following from    
another4 ,the properties of a curve or a
 triangle are what they are at all      
times1 and the sequence is merely in the
 order in which they are successively   
known to ourselves4 ,but according to   
,spinoza1 this is the only true         
sequence2 and what we call the universe1
 and all the series of incidents in     
earth or planet1 are involved formally  

and mathematically in the definition of 
,god4  ,each attribute is infinite suo  
genere2 and it is time that we should   
know distinctly the meaning which       
,spinoza attaches to that important     
word4 ,out of the infinite number of the
 attributes of ,god1 two only1 he says1 
are known to us--'extension1' and       
'thought1' or 'mind4' ,duration1 even   
though it be without beginning or end1  
is not an attribute2 it is not even a   
real thing4 ,time has no relation to    
,being1 conceived mathematically2 it    
would be absurd to speak of circles or  
triangles as any older to-day than they 
were at the beginning of the world4     
,these and everything of the same kind  
are conceived1 as ,spinoza rightly says1
 sub qudam specie ternitatis4 ,but      
extension1 or substance extended1 and   
thought1 or substance perceiving1 are   
real1 absolute1 and objective4 ,we must 
not confound extension with body2 for   
though body be a mode of extension1     
there is extension which is not body1   

and it is infinite because we cannot    
conceive it to be limited except by     
itself--or1 in other words1 to be       
limited at all4 ,and as it is with      
extension1 so it is with mind1 which is 
also infinite with the infinity of its  
object4 ,thus there is no such thing as 
creation1 and no beginning or end4 ,all 
things of which our faculties are       
cognizant under one or other of these   
attributes are produced from ,god1 and  
in him they have their being1 and       
without him they would cease to be4     
,proceeding by steps of rigid           
demonstration 7and most admirably indeed
 is the form of the philosophy adapted  
to the spirit of it71 we learn that ,god
 is the only causa libera2 that no other
 thing or being has any power of        
self-determination2 all moves by fixed  
laws of causation1 motive upon motive1  
act upon act2 there is no free will1 and
 no contingency2 and however necessary  
it may be for our incapacity to consider
 future things as in a sense contingent 

7see ,tractat4 ,theol4 ,polit4 cap4 iv41
 sec4 #d71 this is but one of the       
thousand convenient deceptions which we 
are obliged to employ with ourselves4   
,god is the causa immanens omnium2 he is
 not a personal being existing apart    
from the universe2 but himself in his   
own reality1 he is expressed in the     
universe1 which is his living garment4  
,keeping to the philosophical language  
of the time1 ,spinoza preserves the     
distinction between natura naturans and 
natura naturata4 ,the first is being in 
itself1 the attributes of substance as  
they are conceived simply and alone2 the
 second is the infinite series of       
modifications which follow out of the   
properties of these attributes4 ,and    
thus all which is1 is what it is by an  
absolute necessity1 and could not have  
been other than it is4 ,god is free1    
because no causes external to himself   
have power over him2 and as good men are
 most free when most a law to           
themselves1 so it is no infringement on 

,god's freedom to say that he must have 
acted as he has acted1 but rather he is 
absolutely free because absolutely a law
 himself to himself4  ,here ends the    
first book of ,spinoza's ,ethics--the   
book which contains1 as we said1 the    
notiones simplicissimas1 and the primary
 and rudimental deductions from them4   
,his ,dei naturam1 he says1 in his lofty
 confidence1 ejusque proprietates       
explicui4 ,but1 as if conscious that his
 method will never convince1 he         
concludes this portion of his subject   
with an analytical appendix2 not to     
explain or apologise1 but to show us    
clearly1 in practical detail1 the       
position into which he has led us4 ,the 
root1 we are told1 of all philosophical 
errors lies in our notion of final      
causes2 we invert the order of nature1  
and interpret ,god's action through our 
own2 we speak of his intentions1 as if  
he were a man2 we assume that we are    
capable of measuring them1 and finally  
erect ourselves1 and our own interests1 

into the centre and criterion of all    
things4 ,hence arises our notion of     
evil4 ,if the universe be what this     
philosophy has described it1 the        
perfection which it assigns to ,god is  
extended to everything1 and evil is of  
course impossible2 there is no          
shortcoming either in nature or in man2 
each person and each thing is exactly   
what it has the power to be1 and nothing
 more4 ,but men imagining that all      
things exist on their account1 and      
perceiving their own interests1 bodily  
and spiritual1 capable of being         
variously affected1 have conceived these
 opposite influences to result from     
opposite and contradictory powers1 and  
call what contributes to their advantage
 good1 and whatever obstructs it1 evil4 
,for our convenience we form generic    
conceptions of human excellence1 as     
archetypes after which to strive2 and   
such of us as approach nearest to such  
archetypes are supposed to be virtuous1 
and those who are most remote from them 

to be wicked4 ,but such generic         
abstractions are but entia              
imaginationis1 and have no real         
existence4 ,in the eyes of ,god each    
thing is what it has the means of being4
 ,there is no rebellion against him1 and
 no resistance of his will2 in truth1   
therefore1 there neither is nor can be  
such a thing as a bad action in the     
common sense of the word4 ,actions are  
good or bad1 not in themselves1 but as  
compared with the nature of the agent2  
what we censure in men1 we tolerate and 
even admire in animals2 and as soon as  
we are aware of our mistake in assigning
 to man a power of free volition1 our   
notion of evil as a positive thing will 
cease to exist4      ,if ,i am asked    
7concludes ,spinoza7 why then all       
mankind were not     created by ,god1 so
 as to be governed solely by reason8 it 
was     because1 ,i reply1 there was to 
,god no lack of matter to create all    
things from the highest to the lowest   
grade of perfection2 or1 to     speak   

more properly1 because the laws of      
,god's nature were ample     enough to  
suffice for the production of all things
 which can be     conceived by an       
,infinite ,intelligence4  ,it is        
possible that readers who have followed 
us so far will now turn away from a     
philosophy which issues in such         
conclusions2 resentful1 perhaps1 that it
 should have been ever laid before them 
at all1 in language so little expressive
 of aversion and displeasure4 ,we must  
claim1 however1 in ,spinoza's name1 the 
right which he claims for himself4 ,his 
system must be judged as a whole2 and   
whatever we may think ourselves would be
 the moral effect of such doctrines if  
they were generally received1 in his    
hands and in his heart they are worked  
into maxims of the purest and loftiest  
morality4 ,and at least we are bound to 
remember that some account of this great
 mystery of evil there must be2 and     
although familiarity with               
commonly-received explanations may      

disguise from us the difficulties with  
which they too1 as well as that of      
,spinoza1 are embarrassed1 such         
difficulties none the less exist4 ,the  
fact is the grand perplexity1 and for   
ourselves we acknowledge that of all    
theories about it ,spinoza's would      
appear to us the least irrational1      
setting conscience1 and the voice of    
conscience1 aside4 ,the objections1 with
 the replies to them1 are well drawn out
 in the correspondence with ,william de 
,blyenburg4 ,it will be seen at once    
with how little justice the denial of   
evil as a positive thing can be called  
equivalent to denying it relatively to  
man1 or to confusing the moral          
distinctions between virtue and vice4   
,we speak 7writes ,spinoza1 in answer to
 ,blyenburg1 who had urged     something
 of the kind71 we speak of this or that 
man having done a     wrong thing1 when 
we compare him with a general standard  
of     humanity2 but inasmuch as ,god   
neither perceives things in such        

abstract manner1 nor forms to himself   
such generic definitions1 and     since 
there is no more reality in anything    
than ,god has assigned to     it1 it    
follows1 surely1 that the absence of    
good exists only in     respect of man's
 understanding1 not in respect of       
,god's4      ,if this be so1 then       
7replies ,blyenburg71 bad men fulfil    
,god's will     as well as good4        
,it is true 7,spinoza answers7 they     
fulfil it1 yet not as the good nor      
as well as the good1 nor are they to be 
compared with them4 ,the     better a   
thing or a person be1 the more there is 
in him of ,god's     spirit1 and the    
more he expresses ,god's will2 while the
 bad1 being     without that divine love
 which arises from the knowledge of     
,god1 and     through which alone we are
 called 7in respect of our              
understandings7     his servants1 are   
but as instruments in the hand of the   
artificer--they serve unconsciously1 and
 are consumed in their     service4     

,spinoza1 after all1 is but stating in  
philosophical language the extreme      
doctrine of ,grace2 and ,st4 ,paul1 if  
we interpret his real belief by the one 
passage so often quoted1 in which he    
compares us to 'clay in the hands of the
 potter1 who maketh one vessel to honour
 and another to dishonour1' may be      
accused with justice of having held the 
same opinion4 ,if ,calvinism be pressed 
to its logical consequences1 it either  
becomes an intolerable falsehood1 or it 
resolves itself into the philosophy of  
,spinoza4 ,it is monstrous to call evil 
a positive thing1 and to assert1 in the 
same breath1 that ,god has predetermined
 it1--to tell us that he has ordained   
what he hates1 and hates what he has    
ordained4 ,it is incredible that we     
should be without power to obey him     
except through his free grace1 and yet  
be held responsible for our failures    
when that grace has been withheld4 ,and 
it is idle to call a philosopher        
sacrilegious who has but systematised   

the faith which so many believe1 and    
cleared it of its most hideous features4
  ,spinoza flinches from nothing1 and   
disguises no conclusions either from    
himself or from his readers4 ,we believe
 for ourselves that logic has no        
business with such questions2 that the  
answer to them lies in the conscience   
and not in the intellect4 ,spinoza      
thinks otherwise2 and he is at least    
true to the guide which he has chosen4  
,blyenburg presses him with instances of
 monstrous crime1 such as bring home to 
the heart the natural horror of it4 ,he 
speaks of ,nero's murder of ,agrippina1 
and asks if ,god can be called the cause
 of such an act as that4      ,god      
7replies ,spinoza1 calmly7 is the cause 
of all things which have     reality4   
,if you can show that evil1 errors1     
crimes express any real     things1 ,i  
agree readily that ,god is the cause of 
them2 but ,i     conceive myself to have
 proved that what constitutes the       
essence of     evil is not a real thing 

at all1 and therefore that ,god cannot  
be     the cause of it4 ,nero's         
matricide was not a crime1 in so far as 
it     was a positive outward act4      
,orestes also killed his mother2 and we 
do not judge ,orestes as we judge ,nero4
 ,the crime of the latter lay     in his
 being without pity1 without obedience1 
without natural     affection--none of  
which things express any positive       
essence1 but     the absence of it2 and 
therefore ,god was not the cause of     
these1     although he was the cause of 
the act and the intention4      ,but    
once for all 7he adds71 this aspect of  
things will remain     intolerable and  
unintelligible as long as the common    
notions of free     will remain         
unremoved4  ,and of course1 and we shall
 all confess it1 if these notions are as
 false as ,spinoza supposes them--if we 
have no power to be anything but what we
 are1 there neither is nor can be such a
 thing as moral evil2 and what we call  
crimes will no more involve a violation 

of the will of ,god1 they will no more  
impair his moral attributes if we       
suppose him to have willed them1 than   
the same actions1 whether of lust1      
ferocity1 or cruelty1 in the inferior   
animals4 ,there will be but1 as ,spinoza
 says1 an infinite gradation in created 
things1 the poorest life being more than
 none1 the meanest active disposition   
something better than inertia1 and the  
smallest exercise of reason better than 
mere ferocity4 ',the ,lord has made all 
things for himself1 even the wicked for 
the day of evil4'  ,the moral aspect of 
the matter will be more clear as we     
proceed4 ,we pause1 however1 to notice  
one difficulty of a metaphysical kind1  
which is best disposed of in passing4   
,whatever obscurity may lie about the   
thing which we call ,time 7philosophers 
not being able to agree what it is1 or  
whether properly it is anything71 the   
words past1 present1 future1 do         
undoubtedly convey some definite idea   
with them3 things will be which are not 

yet1 and have been which are no longer4 
,now1 if everything which exists be a   
necessary mathematical consequence from 
the nature or definition of the ,one    
,being1 we cannot see how there can be  
any time but the present1 or how past   
and future have room for a meaning4 ,god
 is1 and therefore all properties of him
 are1 just as every property of a circle
 exists in it as soon as the circle     
exists4 ,we may if we like1 for         
convenience1 throw our theorems into the
 future1 and say1 e4g4 that if two lines
 in a circle cut each other1 the        
rectangle under the parts of the one    
will equal that under the parts of the  
other4 ,but we only mean in reality that
 these rectangles are equal2 and the    
future relates only to our knowledge of 
the fact4 ,allowing1 however1 as much as
 we please1 that the condition of       
,england a hundred years hence lies     
already in embryo in existing causes1 it
 is a paradox to say that such condition
 exists already in the sense in which   

the properties of the circle exist2 and 
yet ,spinoza insists on the             
illustration4  ,it is singular that he  
should not have noticed the difficulty2 
not that either it or the answer to it  
7which no doubt would have been ready   
enough7 are likely to interest any      
person except metaphysicians1 a class of
 thinkers1 happily1 which is rapidly    
diminishing4  ,we proceed to more       
important matters--to ,spinoza's        
detailed theory of nature as exhibited  
in man and in man's mind4 ,his theory   
for its bold ingenuity is by far the    
most remarkable which on this dark      
subject has ever been proposed4 ,whether
 we can believe it or not1 is another   
question2 yet undoubtedly it provides a 
solution for every difficulty2 it       
accepts with equal welcome the extremes 
of materialism and of spiritualism3 and 
if it be the test of the soundness of a 
philosophy that it will explain         
phenomena and reconcile contradictions1 
it is hard to account for the fact that 

a system which bears such a test so     
admirably1 should nevertheless be so    
incredible as it is4  ,most people have 
heard of the ',harmonie ,pr-tablie' of  
,leibnitz2 it is borrowed without       
acknowledgment from ,spinoza1 and       
adapted to the ,leibnitzian philosophy4 
',man1' says ,leibnitz1 'is composed of 
mind and body2 but what is mind and what
 is body1 and what is the nature of     
their union8 ,substances so opposite in 
kind cannot affect one another2 mind    
cannot act on matter1 or matter upon    
mind2 and the appearance of their       
reciprocal operation is an appearance   
only and a delusion4' ,a delusion so    
general1 however1 required to be        
accounted for2 and ,leibnitz accounted  
for it by supposing that ,god1 in       
creating a world composed of material   
and spiritual phenomena1 ordained that  
these several phenomena should proceed  
from the beginning in parallel lines    
side by side in a constantly            
corresponding harmony4 ,the sense of    

seeing results1 it appears to us1 from  
the formation of a picture upon the     
retina4 ,the motion of the arm or the   
leg appears to result from an act of    
will2 but in either case we mistake     
coincidence for causation4 ,between     
substances so wholly alien there can be 
no intercommunion2 and we only suppose  
that the object seen produces the idea1 
and that the desire produces the        
movement1 because the phenomena of      
matter and the phenomena of spirit are  
so contrived as to flow always in the   
same order and sequence4 ,this          
hypothesis1 as coming from ,leibnitz1   
has been1 if not accepted1 at least     
listened to respectfully2 because while 
taking it out of its proper place1 he   
contrived to graft it upon              
,christianity2 and succeeded1 with a    
sort of speculative legerdemain1 in     
making it appear to be in harmony with  
revealed religion4 ,disguised as a      
philosophy of ,predestination1 and      
connected with the ,christian doctrine  

of ,retribution1 it steps forward with  
an air of unconscious innocence1 as if  
interfering with nothing which          
,christians generally believe4 ,and yet1
 leaving as it does no larger scope for 
liberty or responsibility than when in  
the hands of ,spinoza1,o ,leibnitz1 in  
our opinion1 has only succeeded in      
making it infinitely more revolting4    
,spinoza could not regard the bad man as
 an object of ,divine anger and a       
subject of retributory punishment4 ,he  
was not a ,christian1 and made no       
pretension to be considered such2 and it
 did not occur to him to regard the     
actions of a being which1 both with     
,leibnitz and himself1 is 7to use his   
own expression7 an automaton spirituale1
 as deserving a fiery indignation and   
everlasting vengeance4  ',deus1'        
according to ,spinoza's definition1 'est
 ens constans infinitis attributis      
quorum unumquodque ternam et infinitam  
essentiam exprimit4' ,under each of     
these attributes infinita sequuntur1 and

 everything which an infinite           
intelligence can conceive1 and an       
infinite power can produce1--everything 
which follows as a possibility out of   
the divine nature1--all things which    
have been1 and are1 and will be1--find  
expression and actual existence1 not    
under one attribute only1 but under each
 and every attribute4 ,language is so   
ill adapted to explain such a system1   
that even to state it accurately is all 
but impossible1 and analogies can only  
remotely suggest what such expressions  
mean4 ,but it is as if it were said that
 the same thought might be expressed in 
an infinite variety of languages2 and   
not in words only1 but in action1 in    
painting1 in sculpture1 in music1 in any
 form of any kind which can be employed 
as a means of spiritual embodiment4 ,of 
all these infinite attributes1 two only1
 as we said1 are known to us--extension 
and thought4 ,material phenomena are    
phenomena of extension2 and to every    
modification of extension an idea       

corresponds under the attribute of      
thought4 ,out of such a compound as this
 is formed man1 composed of body and    
mind2 two parallel and correspondent    
modifications eternally answering one   
another4 ,and not man only1 but all     
other beings and things are similarly   
formed and similarly animated2 the anima
 or mind of each varying according to   
the complicity of the organism of its   
material counterpart4 ,although body    
does not think1 nor affect the mind's   
power of thinking1 and mind does not    
control body1 nor communicate to it     
either motion or rest or any influence  
from itself1 yet body with all its      
properties is the object or ideate of   
mind3 whatsoever body does1 mind        
perceives2 and the greater the          
energising power of the first1 the      
greater the perceiving power of the     
second4 ,and this is not because they   
are adapted one to the other by some    
inconceivable preordinating power1 but  
because mind and body are una et eadem  

res1 the one absolute being affected in 
one and the same manner1 but expressed  
under several attributes2 the modes and 
affections of each attribute having that
 being for their cause1 as he exists    
under that attribute of which they are  
modes1 and no other2 idea being caused  
by idea1 and body affected by body2 the 
image on the retina being produced by   
the object reflected upon it1 the idea  
or image in our minds by the idea of    
that object1 c4 c4  ,a solution so      
remote from all ordinary ways of        
thinking on these matters is so         
difficult to grasp1 that one can hardly 
speak of it as being probable1 or as    
being improbable4 ,probability extends  
only to what we can imagine as possible1
 and ,spinoza's theory seems to lie     
beyond the range within which our       
judgment can exercise itself4 ,in our   
own opinion1 indeed1 as we have already 
said1 the entire subject is one with    
which we have no business2 and the      
explanation of our nature1 if it is ever

 to be explained to us1 is reserved till
 we are in some other state of          
existence4 ,we do not disbelieve        
,spinoza because what he suggests is in 
itself incredible4 ,the chances may be  
millions to one against his being right2
 yet the real truth1 if we knew it1     
would be probably at least as strange as
 his conception of it4 ,but we are      
firmly convinced that of these          
questions1 and of all like them1        
practical answers only lie within the   
reach of human faculties2 and that in   
'researches into the absolute' we are on
 the road which ends nowhere4  ,among   
the difficulties1 however1 most properly
 akin to this philosophy itself1 there  
is one most obvious1 viz41 that if the  
attributes of ,god be infinite1 and each
 particular thing is expressed under    
them all1 then mind and body express but
 an infinitesimal portion of the nature 
of each of ourselves2 and this human    
nature exists 7i4e41 there exists       
corresponding modes of substance7 in the

 whole infinity of the divine nature    
under attributes differing each from    
each1 and all from mind and all from    
body4 ,that this must be so follows from
 the definition of the ,infinite ,being1
 and the nature of the distinction      
between the two attributes which are    
known to us2 and if this be so1 why does
 not the mind perceive something of all 
these other attributes8 ,the objection  
is well expressed by a correspondent    
7,letter #fg73--';,it follows from what 
you say1' a friend writes to ,spinoza1  
'that the modification which constitutes
 my mind1 and that which constitutes my 
body1 although it be one and the same   
modification1 yet must be expressed in  
an infinity of ways3 one way by thought1
 a second way by extension1 a third by  
some attribute unknown to me1 and so on 
to infinity2 the attributes being       
infinite in number1 and the order and   
connexion of modes being the same in    
them all4 ,why1 then1 does the mind     
perceive the modes of but one attribute 

only8'  ,spinoza's answer is curious3   
unhappily1 a fragment of his letter only
 is extant1 so that it is too brief to  
be satisfactory3--      ,in reply to    
your difficulty 7he says71 although each
 particular     thing be truly in the   
,infinite mind1 conceived in ,infinite  
modes1     the ,infinite idea answering 
to all these cannot constitute one and  
the same mind of any single being1 but  
must constitute ,infinite     minds4 ,no
 one of all these ,infinite ideas has   
any connexion with     another4  ,he    
means1 we suppose1 that ,god's mind only
 perceives1 or can perceive1 things     
under their ,infinite expression1 and   
that the idea of each several mode1     
under whatever attribute1 constitutes a 
separate mind4  ,we do not know that we 
can add anything to this explanation2   
the difficulty lies in the audacious    
sweep of the speculation itself2 we     
will1 however1 attempt an illustration1 
although we fear it will be to          
illustrate obscurum per obscurius4 ,let 

,a ,b ,c ,d be four out of the ,infinite
 number of the ,divine attributes4 ,a   
the attribute of mind2 ,b the attribute 
of extension2 ,c and ,d other           
attributes1 the nature of which is not  
known to us4 ,now1 ,a1 as the attribute 
of mind1 is that which perceives all    
which takes place under ,b ,c and ,d1   
but it is only as it exists in ,god that
 it forms the universal consciousness of
 all attributes at once4 ,in its        
modifications it is combined separately 
with the modifications of each1         
constituting in combination with the    
modes of each attribute a separate      
being4 ,as forming the mind of ,b1 ,a   
perceives what takes place in ,b1 but   
not what takes place in ,c or ,d4       
,combined with ,b1 it forms the soul of 
the human body1 and generally the soul  
of all modifications of extended        
substance2 combined with ,c1 it forms   
the soul of some other analogous being2 
combined with ,d1 again of another2 but 
the combinations are only in pairs1 in  

which ,a is constant4 ,a and ,b make one
 being1 ,a and ,c another1 ,a and ,d a  
third2 but ,b will not combine with ,c1 
nor ,c with ,d2 each attribute being1 as
 it were1 conscious only of itself4 ,and
 therefore1 although to those           
modifications of mind and extension     
which we call ourselves1 there are      
corresponding modifications under ,c and
 ,d1 and generally under each of the    
,infinite attributes of ,god1 each of   
ourselves being in a sense              
,infinite--nevertheless1 we neither have
 nor can have any knowledge of ourselves
 in this ,infinite aspect2 our actual   
consciousness being limited to the      
phenomena of sensible experience4       
,english readers1 however1 are likely to
 care little for all this2 they will    
look to the general theory1 and judge of
 it as its aspect affects them4 ,and    
first1 perhaps1 they will be tempted to 
throw aside as absurd the notion that   
their bodies go through the many        
operations which they experience them to

 do1 undirected by their minds4 ,it is a
 thing1 they may say1 at once           
preposterous and incredible4 ,it is1    
however1 less absurd than it seems2 and1
 though we could not persuade ourselves 
to believe it1 absurd in the sense of   
having nothing to be said for it1 it    
certainly is not4 ,it is far easier1 for
 instance1 to imagine the human body    
capable by its own virtue1 and by the   
laws of material organisation1 of       
building a house1 than of thinking2 and 
yet men are allowed to say that the body
 thinks1 without being regarded as      
candidates for a lunatic asylum4 ,we see
 the seed shoot up into stem and leaf   
and throw out flowers2 we observe it    
fulfilling processes of chemistry more  
subtle than were ever executed in       
,liebig's laboratory1 and producing     
structures more cunning than man can    
imitate4 ,the bird builds her nest1 the 
spider shapes out its delicate web1 and 
stretches it in the path of his prey2   
directed not by calculating thought1 as 

we conceive ourselves to be1 but by some
 motive influence1 our ignorance of the 
nature of which we disguise from        
ourselves1 and call it instinct1 but    
which we believe at least to be some    
property residing in the organisation4  
,we are not to suppose that the human   
body1 the most complex of all material  
structures1 has slighter powers in it   
than the bodies of a seed1 a bird1 or an
 insect4 ,let us listen to ,spinoza     
himself3--      ,there can be no doubt  
7he says7 that this hypothesis is true2 
but     unless ,i can prove it from     
experience1 men will not1 ,i fear1 be   
induced even to reflect upon it calmly1 
so persuaded are they that     it is by 
the mind only that their bodies are set 
in motion4 ,and yet     what body can or
 cannot do no one has yet determined2   
body1 i4e41     by the law of its own   
nature1 and without assistance from     
mind4 ,no     one has so probed the     
human frame as to have detected all its 
functions and exhausted the list of     

them2 there are powers exhibited     by 
animals far exceeding human sagacity2   
and1 again1 feats are     performed by  
somnambulists on which in the waking    
state the same     persons would never  
venture--itself a proof that body is    
able to     accomplish what mind can    
only admire4 ,men say that mind moves   
body1 but how it moves it they cannot   
tell1 or what degree of motion     it   
can impart to it2 so that1 in fact1 they
 do not know what they     say1 and are 
only confessing their own ignorance in  
specious     language4 ,they will answer
 me1 that whether or not they understand
     how it can be1 yet that they are   
assured by plain experience that        
unless mind could perceive1 body would  
be altogether inactive2 they     know   
that it depends on the mind whether the 
tongue speaks or is     silent4 ,but do 
they not equally experience that if     
their bodies are     paralysed their    
minds cannot think8--that if their      
bodies are asleep     their minds are   

without power8--that their minds are not
 at all     times equally able to exert 
themselves even on the same subject1 but
     depend on the state of their       
bodies8 ,and as for experience proving  
that the members of the body can be     
controlled by the mind1 ,i fear         
experience proves very much the reverse4
 ,but it is absurd 7they     rejoin7 to 
attempt to explain from the mere laws of
 body such things     as pictures1 or   
palaces1 or works of art2 the body could
 not build a     church unless mind     
directed it4 ,i have shown1 however1    
that we do     not yet know what body   
can or cannot do1 or what would         
naturally     follow from the structure 
of it2 that we experience in the feats  
of     somnambulists something which    
antecedently to that experience would   
have seemed incredible4 ,this fabric of 
the human body exceeds     infinitely   
any contrivance of human skill1 and an  
infinity of     things1 as ,i have      
already proved1 ought to follow from it4

  ,we are not concerned to answer this  
reasoning1 although if the matter were  
one the debating of which could be of   
any profit1 it would undoubtedly have   
its weight1 and would require to be     
patiently considered4 ,life is too      
serious1 however1 to be wasted with     
impunity over speculations in which     
certainty is impossible1 and in which we
 are trifling with what is inscrutable4 
,objections of a far graver kind were   
anticipated by ,spinoza himself1 when he
 went on to gather out of his philosophy
 'that the mind of man being part of the
 ,infinite intelligence1 when we say    
that such a mind perceives this thing or
 that1 we are1 in fact1 saying that ,god
 perceives it1 not as he is ,infinite1  
but as he is represented by the nature  
of this or that idea2 and similarly1    
when we say that a man does this or that
 action1 we say that ,god does it1 not  
qu he is ,infinite1 but qu he is        
expressed in that man's nature4'        
',here1' he says1 'many readers will no 

doubt hesitate1 and many difficulties   
will occur to them in the way of such a 
supposition4'  ,we confess that we      
ourselves are among these hesitating    
readers4 ,as long as the ,being whom    
,spinoza so freely names remains        
surrounded with the associations which  
in this country we bring with us out of 
our childhood1 not all the logic in the 
world would make us listen to language  
such as this4 ,it is not so--we know it1
 and that is enough4 ,we are well aware 
of the phalanx of difficulties which lie
 about our theistic conceptions4 ,they  
are quite enough1 if religion depended  
on speculative consistency1 and not in  
obedience of life1 to perplex and       
terrify us4 ,what are we8 what is       
anything8 ,if it be not divine--what is 
it then8 ,if created--out of what is it 
created8 and how created--and why8      
,these questions1 and others far more   
momentous which we do not enter upon    
here1 may be asked and cannot be        
answered2 but we cannot any the more    

consent to ,spinoza on the ground that  
he alone consistently provides an       
answer2 because1 as we have said again  
and again1 we do not care to have them  
answered at all4 ,conscience is the     
single tribunal to which we choose to be
 referred1 and conscience declares      
imperatively that what he says is not   
true4 ,it is painful to speak of all    
this1 and as far as possible we         
designedly avoid it4 ,pantheism is not  
,atheism1 but the ,infinite ,positive   
and the ,infinite ,negative are not so  
remote from one another in their        
practical bearings2 only let us remember
 that we are far indeed from the truth  
if we think that ,god to ,spinoza was   
nothing else but that world which we    
experience4 ,it is but one of infinite  
expressions of him--a conception which  
makes us giddy in the effort to realise 
it4  ,we have arrived at last at the    
outwork of the whole matter in its      
bearings upon life and human duty4 ,it  
was in the search after this last1 that 

,spinoza1 as we said1 travelled over so 
strange a country1 and we now expect his
 conclusions4 ,to discover the true good
 of man1 to direct his actions to such  
ends as will secure to him real and     
lasting felicity1 and1 by a comparison  
of his powers with the objects offered  
to them1 to ascertain how far they are  
capable of arriving at these objects1   
and by what means they can best be      
trained towards them--is the aim which  
,spinoza assigns to philosophy4 ',most  
people1' he adds1 'deride or vilify     
their nature2 it is a better thing to   
endeavour to understand it2 and however 
extravagant my proceeding may be        
thought1 ,i propose to analyse the      
properties of that nature as if it were 
a mathematical figure4' ,mind being1 as 
he conceives himself to have shown1     
nothing else than the idea corresponding
 to this or that affection of body1 we  
are not1 therefore1 to think of it as a 
faculty1 but simply and merely as an    
act4 ,there is no general power called  

intellect1 any more than there is any   
general abstract volition1 but only hic 
et ille intellectus et hc et illa       
volitio4  ,again1 by the word ,mind is  
understood not merely an act or acts of 
will or intellect1 but all forms also of
 consciousness of sensation or emotion4 
,the human body being composed of many  
small bodies1 the mind is similarly     
composed of many minds1 and the unity of
 body and of mind depends on the        
relation which the component portions   
maintain towards each other4 ,this is   
obviously the case with body2 and if we 
can translate metaphysics into common   
experience1 it is equally the case with 
mind4 ,there are pleasures of sense and 
pleasures of intellect2 a thousand      
tastes1 tendencies1 and inclinations    
form our mental composition2 and since  
one contradicts another1 and each has a 
tendency to become dominant1 it is only 
in the harmonious equipoise of their    
several activities1 in their due and    
just subordination1 that any unity of   

action or consistency of feeling is     
possible4 ,after a masterly analysis of 
all these tendencies 7the most complete 
by far which has ever been made by any  
moral philosopher71 ,spinoza arrives at 
the principles under which unity and    
consistency can be obtained as the      
condition upon which a being so composed
 can look for any sort of happiness2 and
 these principles1 arrived at as they   
are by a route so different1 are the    
same1 and are proposed by ,spinoza as   
being the same1 as those of the         
,christian religion4  ,it might seem    
impossible in a system which binds      
together in so inexorable a sequence the
 relations of cause and effect1 to make 
a place for the action of self-control2 
but consideration will show that1       
however vast the difference between     
those who deny and those who affirm the 
liberty of the will 7in the sense in    
which the expression is usually         
understood71 it is not a difference     
which affects the conduct or alters the 

practical bearings of it4 ,conduct may  
be determined by laws--laws as absolute 
as those of matter2 and yet the one as  
well as the other may be brought under  
control by a proper understanding of    
those laws4 ,now1 experience seems      
plainly to say1 that while all our      
actions arise out of desire--that       
whatever we do1 we do for the sake of   
something which we wish to be or to     
obtain--we are differently affected     
towards what is proposed to us as an    
object of desire1 in proportion as we   
understand the nature of such object in 
itself and in its consequences4 ,the    
better we know1 the better we act2 and  
the fallacy of all common arguments     
against necessitarianism lies in the    
assumption that it leaves no room for   
self-direction3 it merely insists1 in   
exact conformity with experience1 on the
 conditions under which                 
self-determination is possible4         
,conduct1 according to the              
necessitarian1 depends on knowledge4    

,let a man certainly know that there is 
poison in the cup of wine before him1   
and he will not drink it4 ,by the law of
 cause and effect1 his desire for the   
wine is overcome by the fear of the pain
 or the death which will follow4 ,so    
with everything which comes before him4 
,let the consequences of any action be  
clear1 definite1 and inevitable1 and    
though ,spinoza would not say that the  
knowledge of them will be absolutely    
sufficient to determine the conduct     
7because the clearest knowledge may be  
overborne by violent passion71 yet it is
 the best which we have to trust to1 and
 will do much if it cannot do all4  ,on 
this hypothesis1 after a diagnosis of   
the various tendencies of human nature1 
called commonly the passions and        
affections1 he returns upon the nature  
of our ordinary knowledge to derive out 
of it the means for their subordination4
 ,all these tendencies of themselves    
seek their own objects--seek them       
blindly and immoderately2 and the       

mistakes and the unhappinesses of life  
arise from the want of due understanding
 of these objects1 and a just moderation
 of the desire for them4 ,his analysis  
is remarkably clear1 but it is too long 
for us to enter upon it2 the important  
thing being the character of the control
 which is to be exerted4 ,to arrive at  
this1 he employs a distinction of great 
practical utility1 and which is         
peculiarly his own4  ,following his     
tripartite division of knowledge1 he    
finds all kinds of it arrange themselves
 under one of two classes1 and to be    
either adequate or inadequate4 ,by      
adequate knowledge he does not mean what
 is exhaustive and complete1 but what1  
as far as it goes1 is distinct and      
unconfused3 by inadequate1 he means what
 we know merely as fact either derived  
from our own sensations1 or from the    
authority of others1 while of the       
connexion of it with other facts1 of the
 causes1 effects1 or meaning of it we   
know nothing4 ,we may have an adequate  

idea of a circle1 though we are         
unacquainted with all the properties    
which belong to it2 we conceive it      
distinctly as a figure generated by the 
rotation of a line1 one end of which is 
stationary4 ,phenomena1 on the other    
hand1 however made known to             
us--phenomena of the senses1 and        
phenomena of experience1 as long as they
 remain phenomena merely1 and unseen in 
any higher relation--we can never know  
except as inadequately4 ,we cannot tell 
what outward things are by coming in    
contact with certain features of them4  
,we have a very imperfect acquaintance  
even with our own bodies1 and the       
sensations which we experience of       
various kinds rather indicate to us the 
nature of these bodies themselves than  
of the objects which affect them4 ,now1 
it is obvious that the greater part of  
mankind act only upon knowledge of this 
latter kind4 ,the amusements1 even the  
active pursuits1 of most of us remain   
wholly within the range of uncertainty1 

and1 therefore1 are full of hazard and  
precariousness3 little or nothing issues
 as we expect4 ,we look for pleasure and
 we find pain2 we shun one pain and find
 a greater2 and thus arises the         
ineffectual character which we so       
complain of in life--the                
disappointments1 failures1              
mortifications which form the material  
of so much moral meditation on the      
vanity of the world4 ,much of all this  
is inevitable from the constitution of  
our nature4 ,the mind is too infirm to  
be entirely occupied with higher        
knowledge4 ,the conditions of life      
oblige us to act in many cases which    
cannot be understood by us except with  
the utmost inadequacy2 and the          
resignation to the higher will which has
 determined all things in the wisest    
way1 is imperfect in the best of us4    
,yet much is possible1 if not all2 and1 
although through a large tract of life  
'there comes one event to all1 to the   
wise and to the unwise1' 'yet wisdom    

excelleth folly as far as light         
excelleth darkness4' ,the phenomena of  
experience1 after inductive experiment1 
and just and careful consideration1     
arrange themselves under laws uniform in
 their operation1 and furnishing a guide
 to the judgment2 and over all things1  
although the interval must remain       
unexplored for ever1 because what we    
would search into is ,infinite1 may be  
seen the beginning of all things1 the   
absolute eternal ,god4 ',mens humana1'  
,spinoza continues1 'qudam agit1 qudam  
vero patitur4' ,in so far as it is      
influenced by inadequate ideas--'eatenus
 patitur'--it is passive and in bondage1
 it is the sport of fortune and caprice3
 in so far as its ideas are             
adequate--'eatenus agit'--it is active1 
it is itself4 ,while we are governed by 
outward temptations1 by the casual      
pleasures1 by the fortunes or the       
misfortunes of life1 we are but         
instruments1 yielding ourselves to be   
acted upon as the animal is acted on by 

its appetites1 or the inanimate matter  
by the laws which bind it2 we are       
slaves--instruments1 it may be1 of some 
higher purpose in the order of nature1  
but in ourselves nothing2 instruments   
which are employed for a special work1  
and which are consumed in effecting it4 
,so far1 on the contrary1 as we know    
clearly what we do1 as we understand    
what we are1 and direct our conduct not 
by the passing emotion of the moment1   
but by a grave1 clear1 and constant     
knowledge of what is really good1 so far
 we are said to act--we are ourselves   
the spring of our own activity--we      
pursue the genuine well-being of our    
entire nature1 and that we can always   
find1 and it never disappoints us when  
found4  ,all things desire life2 all    
things seek for energy1 and fuller and  
ampler being4 ,the component parts of   
man1 his various appetites and passions1
 are seeking larger activity while      
pursuing each its immoderate indulgence2
 and it is the primary law of every     

single being that it so follows what    
will give it increased vitality4        
,whatever will contribute to such       
increase is the proper good of each2 and
 the good of man as a united being is   
measured and determined by the effect of
 it upon his collective powers4 ,the    
appetites gather power from their       
several objects of desire2 but the power
 of the part is the weakness of the     
whole2 and man as a collective person   
gathers life1 being1 and self-mastery   
only from the absolute good1--the source
 of all real good1 and truth1 and       
energy1--that is1 ,god4 ,the love of    
,god is the extinction of all other     
loves and all other desires4 ,to know   
,god1 as far as man can know him1 is    
power1 self-government1 and peace4 ,and 
this is virtue1 and this is blessedness4
  ,thus1 by a formal process of         
demonstration1 we are brought round to  
the old conclusions of theology2 and    
,spinoza protests that it is no new     
doctrine which he is teaching1 but that 

it is one which in various dialects has 
been believed from the beginning of the 
world4 ,happiness depends on the        
consistency and coherency of character1 
and that coherency can only be given by 
the knowledge of the ,one ,being1 to    
know whom is to know all things         
adequately1 and to love whom is to have 
conquered every other inclination4 ,the 
more entirely our minds rest on him--the
 more distinctly we regard all things in
 their relation to him1 the more we     
cease to be under the dominion of       
external things2 we surrender ourselves 
consciously to do his will1 and as      
living men and not as passive things we 
become the instruments of his power4    
,when the true nature and true causes of
 our affections become clear to us1 they
 have no more power to influence us4    
,the more we understand1 the less can   
feeling sway us2 we know that all things
 are what they are1 because they are so 
constituted that they could not be      
otherwise1 and we cease to be angry with

 our brother1 because he disappoints us2
 we shall not fret at calamity1 nor     
complain of fortune1 because no such    
thing as fortune exists2 and if we fail 
it is better than if we had succeeded1  
not perhaps for ourselves1 yet for the  
universe4 ,we cannot fear1 when nothing 
can befall us except what ,god wills1   
and we shall not violently hope1 when   
the future1 whatever it be1 will be the 
best which is possible4 ,seeing all     
things in their place in the everlasting
 order1 ,past and ,future will not      
affect us4 ,the temptation of present   
pleasure will not overcome the certainty
 of future pain1 for the pain will be as
 sure as the pleasure1 and we shall see 
all things under a rule of adamant4 ,the
 foolish and the ignorant are led astray
 by the idea of contingency1 and expect 
to escape the just issues of their      
actions2 the wise man will know that    
each action brings with it its          
inevitable consequences1 which even ,god
 cannot change without ceasing to be    

himself4  ,in such a manner1 through all
 the conditions of life1 ,spinoza       
pursues the advantages which will accrue
 to man from the knowledge of ,god1 ,god
 and man being what his philosophy has  
described them4 ,his practical teaching 
is singularly beautiful2 although much  
of its beauty is perhaps due to         
associations which have arisen out of   
,christianity1 and which in the system  
of ,pantheism have no proper abiding    
place4 ,retaining1 indeed1 all that is  
beautiful in ,christianity1 he even     
seems to have relieved himself of the   
more fearful features of the general    
creed4 ,he acknowledges no hell1 no     
devil1 no positive and active agency at 
enmity with ,god2 but sees in all things
 infinite gradations of beings1 all in  
their way obedient1 and all fulfilling  
the part allotted to them4 ,doubtless a 
pleasant exchange and a grateful        
deliverance1 if only we could persuade  
ourselves that a hundred pages of       
judiciously arranged demonstrations     

could really and indeed have worked it  
for us2 if we could indeed believe that 
we could have the year without its      
winter1 day without night1 sunlight     
without shadow4 ,evil is unhappily too  
real a thing to be so disposed of4  ,but
 if we cannot believe ,spinoza's system 
taken in its entire completeness1 yet we
 may not blind ourselves to the         
disinterestedness and calm nobility     
which pervades his theories of human    
life and obligation4 ,he will not hear  
of a virtue which desires to be         
rewarded4 ,virtue is the power of ,god  
in the human soul1 and that is the      
exhaustive end of all human desire4     
',beatitudo non est virtutis pretium1   
sed ipsa virtus4 ,nihil aliud est quam  
ipsa animi acquiescentia1 qu ex ,dei    
intuitiv cognitione oritur4' ,the same  
spirit of generosity exhibits itself in 
all his conclusions4 ,the ordinary      
objects of desire1 he says1 are of such 
a kind that for one man to obtain them  
is for another to lose them2 and this   

alone would suffice to prove that they  
are not what any man should labour      
after4 ,but the fulness of ,god suffices
 for us all2 and he who possesses this  
good desires only to communicate it to  
every one1 and to make all mankind as   
happy as himself4 ,and again3--',the    
wise man will not speak in society of   
his neighbour's faults1 and sparingly of
 the infirmity of human nature2 but he  
will speak largely of human virtue and  
human power1 and of the means by which  
that nature can best be perfected1 so to
 lead men to put away that fear and     
aversion with which they look on        
goodness1 and learn with relieved hearts
 to love and desire it4' ,and once      
more3--',he who loves ,god will not     
desire that ,god should love him in     
return with any partial or particular   
affection1 for that is to desire that   
,god for his sake should change his     
everlasting nature and become lower than
 himself4'  ,one grave element1 indeed1 
of a religious faith would seem in such 

a system to be necessarily wanting4     
,where individual action is resolved    
into the modified activity of the       
,universal ,being1 all absorbing and all
 evolving1 the individuality of the     
personal man is but an evanescent and   
unreal shadow4 ,such individuality as we
 now possess1 whatever it be1 might     
continue to exist in a future state as  
really as it exists in the present1 and 
those to whom it belongs might be       
anxious naturally for its persistence4  
,yet it would seem that if the soul be  
nothing except the idea of a body       
actually existing1 when that body is    
decomposed into its elements1 the soul  
corresponding to it must accompany it   
into an answering dissolution4 ,and     
this1 indeed1 ,spinoza in one sense     
actually affirms1 when he denies to the 
mind any power of retaining             
consciousness of what has befallen it in
 life1 'nisi durante corpore4' ,but     
,spinozism is a philosophy full of      
surprises2 and our calculations of what 

must belong to it are perpetually       
baffled4 ,the imagination1 the memory1  
the senses1 whatever belongs to         
inadequate perception1 perish           
necessarily and eternally2 and the man  
who has been the slave of his           
inclinations1 who has no knowledge of   
,god1 and no active possession of       
himself1 having in life possessed no    
personality1 loses in death the         
appearance of it with the dissolution of
 the body4  ,nevertheless1 there is in  
,god an idea expressing the essence of  
the mind1 united to the mind as the mind
 is united to the body1 and thus there  
is in the soul something of an          
everlasting nature which cannot utterly 
perish4 ,and here ,spinoza1 as he often 
does in many of his most solemn         
conclusions1 deserts for a moment the   
thread of his demonstrations1 and       
appeals to the consciousness4 ,in spite 
of our non-recollection of what passed  
before our birth1 in spite of all       
difficulties from the dissolution of the

 body1 ',nihilominus1' he says1         
'sentimus experimurque nos ternos esse4 
,nam mens non minus res illas sentit    
quas intelligendo concipit1 quam quas in
 memori habet4 ,mentis enim oculi quibus
 res videt observatque sunt ips         
demonstrationes4'  ,this perception1    
immediately revealed to the mind1 falls 
into easy harmony with the rest of the  
system4 ,as the mind is not a faculty1  
but an act or acts1--not a power of     
perception1 but the perception itself1  
in its high union with the highest      
object 7to use the metaphysical language
 which ,coleridge has made popular and  
partially intelligible71 the object and 
the subject become one4 ,if knowledge be
 followed as it ought to be followed1   
and all objects of knowledge be regarded
 in their relations to the ,one         
,absolute ,being1 the knowledge of      
particular outward things1 of nature1 or
 life1 or history1 becomes1 in fact1    
knowledge of ,god2 and the more complete
 or adequate such knowledge1 the more   

the mind is raised above what is        
perishable in the phenomena to the idea 
or law which lies beyond them4 ,it      
learns to dwell exclusively upon the    
eternal1 not upon the temporary2 and    
being thus occupied with the everlasting
 laws1 and its activity subsisting in   
its perfect union with them1 it         
contracts in itself the character of the
 objects which possess it4 ,thus we are 
emancipated from the conditions of      
duration2 we are liable even to death   
only quatenus patimur1 as we are passive
 things and not active intelligences2   
and the more we possess such knowledge  
and are possessed by it1 the more       
entirely the passive is superseded by   
the active--so that at last the human   
soul may 'become of such a nature that  
the portion of it which will perish with
 the body in comparison with that of it 
which shall endure1 shall be            
insignificant and nullius momenti4'     
7,eth4 v4 #ch47  ,such are the principal
 features of a philosophy1 the influence

 of which upon ,europe1 direct and      
indirect1 it is not easy to             
over-estimate4 ,the account of it is far
 from being an account of the whole of  
,spinoza's labours2 his ',tractatus     
,theologico-,politicus' was the         
forerunner of ,german historical        
criticism2 the whole of which has been  
but the application of principles laid  
down in that remarkable work4 ,but this 
is not a subject on which1 upon the     
present occasion1 we have cared to      
enter4 ,we have designedly confined     
ourselves to the system which is most   
associated with the name of its author4 
,it is this which has been really       
powerful1 which has stolen over the     
minds even of thinkers who imagine      
themselves most opposed to it4 ,it has  
appeared in the absolute ,pantheism of  
,schelling and ,hegel1 in the           
,pantheistic ,christianity of ,herder   
and ,schleiermacher4 ,passing into      
practical life it has formed the strong1
 shrewd judgment of ,goethe1 while again

 it has been able to unite with the     
theories of the most extreme            
materialism4  ,it lies too1 perhaps 7and
 here its influence has been unmixedly  
good71 at the bottom of that more       
reverent contemplation of nature which  
has caused the success of our modern    
landscape painting1 which inspired      
,wordsworth's poetry1 and which1 if ever
 physical science is to become an       
instrument of intellectual education1   
must first be infused into the lessons  
of nature2 the sense of that 'something'
 interfused in the material world--     
,whose dwelling is the light of setting 
suns1     ,and the round ocean1 and the 
living air1     ,and the blue sky1 and  
in the mind of man2--     ,a motion and 
a spirit1 which impels     ,all thinking
 things1 all objects of all thought1    
,and rolls through all things4  ,if we  
shrink from regarding the extended      
universe1 with ,spinoza1 as an actual   
manifestation of ,almighty ,god1 we are 
unable to rest in the mere denial that  

it is this4 ,we go on to ask what it is1
 and we are obliged to conclude thus    
much at least of it1 that every smallest
 being was once a thought in his mind2  
and in the study of what he has made1 we
 are really and truly studying a        
revelation of himself4  ,it is not here1
 it is not on the physical1 it is rather
 on the moral side1 that the            
stumbling-block is lying2 in that excuse
 for evil and for evil men which the    
necessitarian theory will furnish1      
disguise it in what fair-sounding words 
we will4 ,so plain this is1 that        
common-sense people1 and especially     
,english people1 cannot bring themselves
 even to consider the question without  
impatience1 and turn disdainfully and   
angrily from a theory which confuses    
their instincts of right and wrong4     
,although1 however1 error on this side  
is infinitely less mischievous than on  
the other1 no vehement error can exist  
in this world with impunity2 and it does
 appear that in our common view of these

 matters we have closed our eyes to     
certain grave facts of experience1 and  
have given the fatalist a vantage ground
 of real truth which we ought to have   
considered and allowed4 ,at the risk of 
tediousness we shall enter briefly into 
this unpromising ground4 ,life and the  
necessities of life are our best        
philosophers if we will only listen     
honestly to what they say to us2 and    
dislike the lesson as we may1 it is     
cowardice which refuses to hear it4     
,the popular belief is1 that right and  
wrong lie before every man1 and that he 
is free to choose between them1 and the 
responsibility of choice rests with     
himself4 ,the fatalist's belief is that 
every man's actions are determined by   
causes external and internal over which 
he has no power1 leaving no room for any
 moral choice whatever4 ,the first is   
contradicted by facts1 the second by the
 instinct of conscience4 ,even ,spinoza 
allows that for practical purposes we   
are obliged to regard the future as     

contingent1 and ourselves as able to    
influence it2 and it is incredible that 
both our inward convictions and our     
outward conduct should be built together
 upon a falsehood4 ,but if1 as ,butler  
says1 whatever be the speculative       
account of the matter1 we are           
practically forced to regard ourselves  
as free1 this is but half the truth1 for
 it may be equally said that practically
 we are forced to regard each other as  
not free2 and to make allowance1 every  
moment1 for influences for which we     
cannot hold each other personally       
responsible4 ,if not1--if every person  
of sound mind 7in the common acceptation
 of the term7 be equally able at all    
times to act right if only he will1--why
 all the care which we take of children8
 why the pains to keep them from bad    
society8 why do we so anxiously watch   
their disposition1 to determine the     
education which will best answer to it8 
,why in cases of guilt do we vary our   
moral censure according to the          

opportunities of the offender8 ,why do  
we find excuses for youth1 for          
inexperience1 for violent natural       
passion1 for bad education1 bad example8
 ,why1 except that we feel that all     
these things do affect the culpability  
of the guilty person1 and that it is    
folly and inhumanity to disregard them8 
,but what we act upon in private life we
 cannot acknowledge in our ethical      
theories1 and while our conduct in      
detail is humane and just1 we have been 
contented to gather our speculative     
philosophy out of the broad and coarse  
generalisations of political necessity4 
,in the swift haste of social life we   
must indeed treat men as we find them4  
,we have no time to make allowances2 and
 the graduation of punishment by the    
scale of guilt is a mere impossibility4 
,a thief is a thief in the law's eye    
though he has been trained from his     
cradle in the kennels of ,st4 ,giles's2 
and definite penalties must be attached 
to definite acts1 the conditions of     

political life not admitting of any     
other method of dealing with them4 ,but 
it is absurd to argue from such rude    
necessity that each act therefore1 by   
whomsoever committed1 is of specific    
culpability4 ,the act is one thing1 the 
moral guilt is another4 ,there are many 
cases in which1 as ,butler again allows1
 if we trace a sinner's history to the  
bottom1 the guilt attributable to       
himself appears to vanish altogether4   
,this is plain matter of fact1 and as   
long as we continue to deny or ignore   
it1 there will be found men 7not bad    
men1 but men who love the truth as much 
as ourselves7 who will see only what we 
neglect1 and will insist upon it1 and   
build their systems upon it4  ,and      
again1 if less obvious1 yet not less    
real1 are those natural tendencies which
 each of us brings with him into the    
world1--which we did not make1 and yet  
which almost as much determine what we  
are to be1 as the properties of the seed
 determine the tree which shall grow    

from it4 ,men are self-willed1 or       
violent1 or obstinate1 or weak1 or      
generous1 or affectionate2 there is as  
large difference in their dispositions  
as in the features of their faces4      
,duties which are easy to one1 another  
finds difficult or impossible4 ,it is   
with morals as it is with art4 ,two     
children are taught to draw2 one learns 
with ease1 the other hardly or never4   
,in vain the master will show him what  
to do4 ,it seems so easy3 it seems as if
 he had only to will1 and the thing     
would be done2 but it is not so4        
,between the desire and the execution   
lies the incapable organ which only     
wearily1 and after long labour1         
imperfectly accomplishes what is        
required of it4 ,and the same1 to a     
certain extent1 unless we will deny the 
patent facts of experience1 holds true  
in moral actions4 ,no wonder1 therefore1
 that evaded or thrust aside as these   
things are in the popular beliefs1 as   
soon as they are recognised in their    

full reality they should be mistaken for
 the whole truth1 and the free-will     
theory be thrown aside as a chimera4    
,it may be said1 and it often is said1  
that such reasonings are merely         
sophistical--that however we entangle   
ourselves in logic1 we are conscious    
that we are free2 we know--we are as    
sure as we are of our existence--that we
 have power to act this way or that way1
 exactly as we choose4 ,but this is less
 plain than it seems2 and if granted1 it
 proves less than it appears to prove4  
,it may be true that we can act as we   
choose1 but can we choose8 ,is not our  
choice determined for us8 ,we cannot    
determine from the fact1 because we     
always have chosen as soon as we act1   
and we cannot replace the conditions in 
such a way as to discover whether we    
could have chosen anything else4 ,the   
stronger motive may have determined our 
volition without our perceiving it2 and 
if we desire to prove our independence  
of motive1 by showing that we can choose

 something different from that which we 
should naturally have chosen1 we still  
cannot escape from the circle1 this very
 desire becoming1 as ,mr4 ,hume         
observes1 itself a motive4 ,again1      
consciousness of the possession of any  
power may easily be delusive2 we can    
properly judge what our powers are only 
by what they have actually accomplished2
 we know what we have done1 and we may  
infer from having done it that our power
 was equal to what it achieved4 ,but it 
is easy for us to over-rate our strength
 if we try to measure our abilities in  
themselves4 ,a man who can leap five    
yards may think that he can leap six2   
yet he may try and fail4 ,a man who can 
write prose may only learn that he      
cannot write poetry from the badness of 
the verses which he produces4 ,to the   
appeal to consciousness of power there  
is always an answer3--that we may       
believe ourselves to possess it1 but    
that experience proves that we may be   
deceived4  ,there is1 however1 another  

group of feelings which cannot be set   
aside in this way1 which do prove that1 
in some sense or other1 in some degree  
or other1 we are the authors of our own 
actions4 ,it is one of the clearest of  
all inward phenomena1 that1 where two or
 more courses involving moral issues are
 before us1 whether we have a           
consciousness of power to choose between
 them or not1 we have a consciousness   
that we ought to choose between them2 a 
sense of duty--,greek3 hoti dei touto   
prattein--as ,aristotle expresses it1   
which we cannot shake off4 ,whatever    
this consciousness involves 7and some   
measure of freedom it must involve or it
 is nonsense71 the feeling exists within
 us1 and refuses to yield before all the
 batteries of logic4 ,it is not that of 
the two courses we know that one is in  
the long run the best1 and the other    
more immediately tempting4 ,we have a   
sense of obligation irrespective of     
consequence1 the violation of which is  
followed again by a sense of            

self-disapprobation1 of censure1 of     
blame4 ,in vain will ,spinoza tell us   
that such feelings1 incompatible as they
 are with the theory of powerlessness1  
are mistakes arising out of a false     
philosophy4 ,they are primary facts of  
sensation most vivid in minds of most   
vigorous sensibility2 and although they 
may be extinguished by habitual         
profligacy1 or possibly1 perhaps1       
destroyed by logic1 the paralysis of the
 conscience is no more a proof that it  
is not a real power of perceiving real  
things1 than blindness is a proof that  
sight is not a real power4 ,the         
perceptions of worth and worthlessness  
are not conclusions of reasoning1 but   
immediate sensations like those of      
seeing and hearing2 and although1 like  
the other senses1 they may be mistaken  
sometimes in the accounts they render to
 us1 the fact of the existence of such  
feelings at all proves that there is    
something which corresponds to them4 ,if
 there be any such things as 'true      

ideas1' or clear1 distinct perceptions  
at all1 this of praise and blame is one 
of them1 and according to ,spinoza's own
 rule we must accept what it involves4  
,and it involves that some where or     
other the influence of causes ceases to 
operate1 and that some degree of power  
there is in men of self-determination1  
by the amount of which1 and not by their
 specific actions1 moral merit or       
demerit is to be measured4 ,speculative 
difficulties remain in abundance4 ,it   
will be said in a case1 e4g4 of moral   
trial1 that there may have been power2  
but was there power enough to resist the
 temptation8 ,if there was1 then it was 
resisted4 ,if there was not1 there was  
no responsibility4 ,we must answer again
 from practical instinct4 ,we refuse to 
allow men to be considered all equally  
guilty who have committed the same      
faults2 and we insist that their actions
 must be measured against their         
opportunities4 ,but a similar conviction
 assures us that there is somewhere a   

point of freedom4 ,where that point     
is--where other influences terminate1   
and responsibility begins--will always  
be of intricate and often impossible    
solution4 ,but if there be such a point 
at all1 it is fatal to necessitarianism1
 and man is what he has been hitherto   
supposed to be--an exception in the     
order of nature1 with a power not       
differing in degree but differing in    
kind from those of other creatures4     
,moral life1 like all life1 is a        
mystery2 and as to anatomise the body   
will not reveal the secret of animation1
 so with the actions of the moral man4  
,the spiritual life1 which alone gives  
them meaning and being1 glides away     
before the logical dissecting knife1 and
 leaves it but a corpse to work upon4   
,,footnotes3  ,n ,westminster ,review1  
#ahed4  ,o ,since these words were      
written a book has appeared in ,paris by
 an able disciple of ,leibnitz1 which1  
although it does not lead us to modify  
the opinion expressed in them1 yet      

obliges us to give our reasons for      
speaking as we do4 ,m4 de ,careil,p has 
discovered in the library at ,hanover1 a
 ,,ms4 in the hand-writing of ,leibnitz1
 containing a series of remarks on the  
book of a certain ,john ,wachter4 ,it   
does not appear who this ,john ,wachter 
was1 nor by what accident he came to    
have so distinguished a critic4 ,if we  
may judge by the extracts at present    
before us1 he seems to have been an     
absurd and extravagant person1 who had  
attempted to combine the theology of the
 ,cabbala with the very little which he 
was able to understand of the philosophy
 of ,spinoza2 and1 as far as he is      
concerned1 neither his writings nor the 
reflections upon them are of interest to
 any human being4 ,the extravagance of  
,spinoza's followers1 however1 furnished
 ,leibnitz with an opportunity of       
noticing the points on which he most    
disapproved of ,spinoza himself2 and    
these few notices ,m4 de ,careil has now
 for the first time published as ,the   

,refutation of ,spinoza1 by ,leibnitz4  
,they are exceedingly brief and scanty2 
and the writer of them would assuredly  
have hesitated to describe an imperfect 
criticism by so ambitious a title4 ,the 
modern editor1 however1 must be allowed 
the privilege of a worshipper1 and we   
will not quarrel with him for an        
exaggerated estimate of what his master 
had accomplished4 ,we are indebted to   
his enthusiasm for what is at least a   
curious discovery1 and we will not      
qualify the gratitude which he has      
earned by industry and good will4 ,at   
the same time1 the notes themselves     
confirm the opinion which we have always
 entertained1 that ,leibnitz did not    
understand ,spinoza4 ,leibnitz did not  
understand him1 and the followers of    
,leibnitz do not understand him now4 ,if
 he were no more than what he is        
described in the book before us--if his 
metaphysics were 'miserable1' if his    
philosophy was absurd1 and he himself   
nothing more than a second-rate disciple

 of ,descartes--we can assure ,m4 de    
,careil that we should long ago have    
heard the last of him4  ,there must be  
something else1 something very different
 from this1 to explain the position     
which he holds in ,germany1 or the      
fascination which his writings exerted  
over such minds as those of ,lessing or 
of ,gthe2 the fact of so enduring an    
influence is more than a sufficient     
answer to mere depreciating criticism4  
,this1 however1 is not a point which    
there is any use in pressing4 ,our      
present business is to justify the two  
assertions which we have made4 ,first1  
that ,leibnitz borrowed his ,theory of  
the ,harmonie ,pr-tablie from ,spinoza1 
without acknowledgment2 and1 secondly1  
that this theory is quite as            
inconsistent with religion as is that of
 ,spinoza1 and only differs from it in  
disguising its real character4  ,first  
for the ,harmonie ,pr-tablie4 ,spinoza's
 ,ethics appeared in #afgg2 and we know 
that they were read by ,leibnitz4 ,in   

#afif1 ,leibnitz announced as a         
discovery of his own1 a ,theory of ,the 
,communication of ,substances1 which he 
illustrates in the following manner3--  
',vous ne comprenez pas1 dites-vous1    
comment je pourrois prouver ce que j'ai 
avanc touchant la communication1 ou     
l'harmonie de deux substances aussi     
diffrentes que l'me et le corps8 ,il est
 vrai que je crois en avoir trouv le    
moyen2 et voici comment je prtends vous 
satisfaire4 ,figurez-vous deux horloges 
ou montres qui s'accordent parfaitement4
 ,or cela se peut faire de trois        
manires4 ,la #a;e consiste dans une     
influence mutuelle4 ,la #b;e est d'y    
attacher un ouvrier habile qui les      
redresse1 et les mette d'accord  tous   
moments4 ,la #c;e est de fabriquer ces  
deux pendules avec tant d'art et de     
justesse1 qu'on se puisse assurer de    
leur accord dans la suite4 ,mettez      
maintenant l'me et le corps  la place de
 ces deux pendules2 leur accord peut    
arriver par l'une de ces trois manires4 

,la voye d'influence est celle de la    
philosophie vulgaire2 mais comme l'on ne
 sauroit concevoir des particules       
matrielles qui puissent passer d'une de 
ces substances dans l'autre1 il faut    
abandonner ce sentiment4 ,la voye de    
l'assistance continuelle du ,crateur est
 celle du systme des causes             
occasionnelles2 mais je tiens que c'est 
faire intervenir ,deus ex machin1 dans  
une chose naturelle et ordinaire1 o     
selon la raison il ne doit concourir1   
que do la manire qu'il concourt  toutes 
les autres choses naturelles4 ,ainsi il 
ne reste que mon hypothse2 c'est--dire  
que la voye de l'harmonie4 ,dieu a fait 
ds le commencement chacune de ces deux  
substances de telle nature1 qu'en ne    
suivant que ces propres loix qu'elle a  
reues avec son tre1 elle s'accorde      
pourtant avec l'autre tout comme s'il y 
avoit une influence mutuelle1 ou comme  
si ,dieu y mettoit toujours la main     
au-del de son concours gnral4 ,aprs cela
 je n'ai pas besoin de rien prouver     

moins qu'on ne veuille exiger que je    
prouve que ,dieu est assez habile pour  
se servir de cette artifice1'           
c4--,,leibnitz1 ,opera1 p4 #acc4 ,berlin
 edition1 #ahdj4  ,leibnitz1 as we have 
said1 attempts to reconcile his system  
with ,christianity1 and therefore1 of   
course1 this theory of the relation of  
mind and body wears a very different    
aspect under his treatment1 from what it
 wears under that of ,spinoza4 ,but     
,spinoza and ,leibnitz both agree in    
this one peculiar conception in which   
they differ from all other philosophers 
before or after them--that mind and body
 have no direct communication with each 
other1 and that the phenomena of them   
merely correspond4 ,m4 de ,careil says  
they both borrowed it from ,descartes2  
but that is impossible4 ,descartes held 
no such opinion2 it was the precise     
point of disagreement at which ,spinoza 
parted from him2 and therefore1 since in
 point of date ,spinoza had the         
advantage of ,leibnitz1 and we know that

 ,leibnitz was acquainted with his      
writings1 we must either suppose that he
 was directly indebted to ,spinoza for  
an obligation which he ought to have    
acknowledged1 or else1 which is         
extremely improbable1 that having read  
,spinoza and forgotten him1 he          
afterwards re-originated for himself one
 of the most singular and peculiar      
notions which was ever offered to the   
belief of mankind4  ,so much for the    
first point1 which1 after all1 is but of
 little moment4 ,it is more important to
 ascertain whether1 in the hands of     
,leibnitz1 this theory can be any better
 reconciled with what is commonly meant 
by religion2 whether1 that is1 the ideas
 of obedience and disobedience1 merit   
and demerit1 judgment and retribution1  
have any proper place under it4 ,spinoza
 makes no pretension to anything of the 
kind1 and openly declares that these    
ideas are ideas merely1 and human       
mistakes4 ,leibnitz1 in opposition to   
him1 endeavours to re-establish them in 

the following manner4 ,he conceives that
 the system of the universe has been    
arranged and predetermined from the     
moment at which it was launched into    
being2 from the moment at which ,god    
selected it1 with all its details1 as   
the best which could exist2 but that it 
is carried on by the action of          
individual creatures 7monads as he calls
 them7 which1 though necessarily obeying
 the laws of their existence1 yet obey  
them with a 'character of spontaneity1' 
which although 'automata1' are yet      
voluntary agents2 and therefore1 by the 
consent of their hearts to their        
actions1 entitle themselves to moral    
praise or moral censure4 ,the question  
is1 whether by the mere assertion of the
 co-existence of these opposite         
qualities in the monad man1 he has      
proved that such qualities can co-exist4
 ,in our opinion1 it is like speaking of
 a circular ellipse1 or of a            
quadrilateral triangle4 ,there is a     
plain dilemma in these matters from     

which no philosophy can extricate       
itself4 ,if men can incur guilt1 their  
actions might be other than they are4   
,if they cannot act otherwise than they 
do1 they cannot incur guilt4 ,so at     
least it appears to us2 yet1 in the     
darkness of our knowledge1 we would not 
complain merely of a theory1 and if our 
earthly life were all in all1 and the   
grave remained the extreme horizon of   
our hopes and fears1 the ,harmonie      
,pr-tablie might be tolerated as        
credible1 and admired as ingenious and  
beautiful4 ,it is when forcibly attached
 to a creed of the future1 with which it
 has no natural connection1 that it     
assumes its repulsive features4 ,the    
world may be in the main good2 while the
 good1 from the unknown condition of its
 existence1 may be impossible without   
some intermixture of evil2 and although 
,leibnitz was at times staggered even   
himself by the misery and wickedness    
which he witnessed1 and was driven to   
comfort himself with the reflection that

 this earth might be but one world in   
the midst of the universe1 and perhaps  
the single chequered exception in an    
infinity of stainless globes1 yet we    
would not quarrel with a hypothesis     
because it was imperfect2 it might pass 
as a possible conjecture on a dark      
subject1 when nothing better than       
conjecture was attainable4  ,but as soon
 as we are told that the evil in these  
human 'automata' being a necessary      
condition of this world which ,god has  
called into being1 is yet infinitely    
detestable to ,god2 that the creatures  
who suffer under the accursed necessity 
of committing sin are infinitely guilty 
in ,god's eyes1 for doing what they have
 no power to avoid1 and may therefore be
 justly punished in everlasting fire2 we
 recoil against the paradox4  ,no       
disciple of ,leibnitz will maintain1    
that unless he had found this belief in 
an eternity of penal retribution an     
article of the popular creed1 such a    
doctrine would have formed a natural    

appendage of his system2 and if ,m4 de  
,careil desires to know why the         
influence of ,spinoza1 whose genius he  
considers so insignificant1 has been so 
deep and so enduring1 while ,leibnitz   
has only secured for himself a mere     
admiration of his talents1 it is because
 ,spinoza was not afraid to be          
consistent1 even at the price of the    
world's reprobation1 and refused to     
purchase the applause of his own age at 
the sacrifice of sincerity4  ,p         
,rfutation ,indite de ,spinoza4 ,par    
,leibnitz4 ,prcde d'une ,mmoire1 par    
,foucher de ,careil4 ,paris4 #ahed4     
,,the ,,dissolution ,,of ,,the          
,,monasteries4,q   ,to be entirely just 
in our estimate of other ages is not    
difficult--it is impossible4 ,even what 
is passing in our presence we see but   
through a glass darkly4 ,the mind as    
well as the eye adds something of its   
own1 before an image1 even of the       
clearest object1 can be painted upon it4
  ,and in historical enquiries1 the most

 instructed thinkers have but a limited 
advantage over the most illiterate4     
,those who know the most1 approach least
 to agreement4 ,the most careful        
investigations are diverging roads--the 
further men travel upon them1 the       
greater the interval by which they are  
divided4 ,in the eyes of ,david ,hume1  
the history of the ,saxon ,princes is   
'the scuffling of kites and crows4'     
,father ,newman would mortify the       
conceit of a degenerate ,england by     
pointing to the sixty saints and the    
hundred confessors who were trained in  
her royal palaces for the ,calendar of  
the ,blessed4 ,how vast a chasm yawns   
between these two conceptions of the    
same era6 ,through what common term can 
the student pass from one into the      
other8  ,or1 to take an instance yet    
more noticeable4 ,the history of        
,england scarcely interests ,mr4        
,macaulay before the ,revolution of the 
seventeenth century4 ,to ,lord ,john    
,russell1 the ,reformation was the first

 outcome from centuries of folly and    
ferocity2 and ,mr4 ,hallam's more       
temperate language softens1 without     
concealing1 a similar conclusion4 ,these
 writers have all studied what they     
describe4 ,mr4 ,carlyle has studied the 
same subject with power at least equal  
to theirs1 and to him the greatness of  
,english character was waning with the  
dawn of ,english literature2 the race of
 heroes was already failing4 ,the era of
 action was yielding before the era of  
speech4  ,all these views may seem to   
ourselves exaggerated2 we may have      
settled into some moderate via media1 or
 have carved out our own ground on an   
original pattern2 but if we are wise1   
the differences in other men's judgments
 will teach us to be diffident4 ,the    
more distinctly we have made history    
bear witness in favour of our particular
 opinions1 the more we have multiplied  
the chances against the truth of our own
 theory4  ,again1 supposing that we have
 made a truce with 'opinions1' properly 

so called2 supposing we have satisfied  
ourselves that it is idle to quarrel    
upon points on which good men differ1   
and that it is better to attend rather  
to what we certainly know2 supposing    
that1 either from superior wisdom1 or   
from the conceit of superior wisdom1 we 
have resolved that we will look for     
human perfection neither exclusively in 
the ,old ,world nor exclusively in the  
,new--neither among ,catholics nor      
,protestants1 among ,whigs or ,tories1  
heathens or ,christians--that we have   
laid aside accidental differences1 and  
determined to recognise only moral      
distinctions1 to love moral worth1 and  
to hate moral evil1 wherever we find    
them2--even supposing all this1 we have 
not much improved our position--we      
cannot leap from our shadow4  ,eras1    
like individuals1 differ from one       
another in the species of virtue which  
they encourage4 ,in one age1 we find the
 virtues of the warrior2 in the next1 of
 the saint4 ,the ascetic and the soldier

 in their turn disappear2 an industrial 
era succeeds1 bringing with it the      
virtues of common sense1 of grace1 and  
refinement4 ,there is the virtue of     
energy and command1 there is the virtue 
of humility and patient suffering4 ,all 
these are different1 and all are1 or may
 be1 of equal moral value2 yet1 from the
 constitution of our minds1 we are so   
framed that we cannot equally appreciate
 all2 we sympathise instinctively with  
the person who most represents our own  
ideal--with the period when the graces  
which most harmonise with our own       
tempers have been especially cultivated4
 ,further1 if we leave out of sight     
these refinements1 and content ourselves
 with the most popular conceptions of   
morality1 there is this immeasurable    
difficulty--so great1 yet so little     
considered1--that goodness is positive  
as well as negative1 and consists in the
 active accomplishment of certain things
 which we are bound to do1 as well as in
 the abstaining from things which we are

 bound not to do4 ,and here the warp and
 woof vary in shade and pattern4 ,many a
 man1 with the help of circumstances1   
may pick his way clear through life1    
never having violated one prohibitive   
commandment1 and yet at last be fit only
 for the place of the unprofitable      
servant--he may not have committed      
either sin or crime1 yet never have felt
 the pulsation of a single unselfish    
emotion4 ,another1 meanwhile1 shall have
 been hurried by an impulsive nature    
into fault after fault--shall have been 
reckless1 improvident1 perhaps          
profligate1 yet be fitter after all for 
the kingdom of heaven than the          
,pharisee--fitter1 because against the  
catalogue of faults there could perhaps 
be set a fairer list of acts of         
comparative generosity and              
self-forgetfulness--fitter1 because to  
those who love much1 much is forgiven4  
,fielding had no occasion to make       
,blifil1 behind his decent coat1 a      
traitor and a hypocrite4 ,it would have 

been enough to have coloured him in and 
out alike in the steady hues of         
selfishness1 afraid of offending the    
upper powers as he was afraid of        
offending ,allworthy--not from any love 
for what was good1 but solely because it
 would be imprudent--because the        
pleasure to be gained was not worth the 
risk of consequences4 ,such a ,blifil   
would have answered the novelist's      
purpose--for he would have remained a   
worse man in the estimation of some of  
us than ,tom ,jones4  ,so the truth is2 
but unfortunately it is only where      
accurate knowledge is stimulated by     
affection1 that we are able to feel it4 
,persons who live beyond our own circle1
 and1 still more1 persons who have lived
 in another age1 receive what is called 
justice1 not charity2 and justice is    
supposed to consist in due allotments of
 censure for each special act of        
misconduct1 leaving merit unrecognised4 
,there are many reasons for this harsh  
method of judging4 ,we must decide of   

men by what we know1 and it is easier to
 know faults than to know virtues4      
,faults are specific1 easily described1 
easily appreciated1 easily remembered4  
,and again1 there is1 or may be1        
hypocrisy in virtue2 but no one pretends
 to vice who is not vicious4 ,the bad   
things which can be proved of a man we  
know to be genuine4 ,he was a           
spendthrift1 he was an adulterer1 he    
gambled1 he equivocated4 ,these are     
blots positive1 unless untrue1 and when 
they stand alone1 tinge the whole       
character4  ,this also is to be observed
 in historical criticism4 ,all men feel 
a necessity of being on some terms with 
their conscience1 at their own expense  
or at another's4 ,if they cannot part   
with their faults1 they will at least   
call them by their right name when they 
meet with such faults elsewhere2 and    
thus1 when they find accounts of deeds  
of violence or sensuality1 of tyranny1  
of injustice of man to man1 of great and
 extensive suffering1 or any of those   

other misfortunes which the selfishness 
of men has at various times occasioned1 
they will vituperate the doers of such  
things1 and the age which has permitted 
them to be done1 with the full emphasis 
of virtuous indignation1 while all the  
time they are themselves doing things   
which will be described1 with no less   
justice1 in the same colour1 by an      
equally virtuous posterity4  ,historians
 are fond of recording the supposed     
sufferings of the poor in the days of   
serfdom and villanage2 yet the records  
of the strikes of the last ten years1   
when told by the sufferers1 contain     
pictures no less fertile in tragedy4 ,we
 speak of famines and plagues under the 
,tudors and ,stuarts2 but the ,irish    
famine1 and the ,irish plague of #ahdg1 
the last page of such horrors which has 
yet been turned over1 is the most       
horrible of all4 ,we can conceive a     
description of ,england during the year 
which has just closed over us 7#ahef71  
true in all its details1 containing no  

one statement which can be challenged1  
no single exaggeration which can be     
proved2 and this description1 if given  
without the correcting traits1 shall    
make ages to come marvel why the ,cities
 of the ,plain were destroyed1 and      
,england was allowed to survive4 ,the   
frauds of trusted men1 high in power and
 high in supposed religion2 the         
wholesale poisonings2 the robberies2 the
 adulteration of food--nay1 of almost   
everything exposed for sale--the cruel  
usage of women--children murdered for   
the burial fees--life and property      
insecure in open day in the open        
streets--splendour such as the world    
never saw before upon earth1 with vice  
and squalor crouching under its         
walls--let all this be written down by  
an enemy1 or let it be ascertained      
hereafter by the investigation of a     
posterity which desires to judge us as  
we generally have judged our            
forefathers1 and few years will show    
darker in the ,english annals than the  

year which we have just left behind us4 
,yet we know1 in the honesty of our     
hearts1 how unjust such a picture would 
be4 ,our future advocate1 if we are so  
happy as to find one1 may not be able to
 disprove a single article in the       
indictment2 and yet we know that1 as the
 world goes1 he will be right if he     
marks the year with a white stroke--as  
one in which1 on the whole1 the moral   
harvest was better than an average4     
,once more3 our knowledge of any man is 
always inadequate--even of the unit     
which each of us calls himself2 and the 
first condition under which we can know 
a man at all is1 that he be in          
essentials something like ourselves2    
that our own experience be an           
interpreter which shall open the secrets
 of his experience2 and it often        
happens1 even among our contemporaries1 
that we are altogether baffled4 ,the    
,englishman and the ,italian may        
understand each other's speech1 but the 
language of each other's ideas has still

 to be learnt4 ,our long failures in    
,ireland have risen from a radical      
incongruity of character which has      
divided the ,celt from the ,saxon4 ,and 
again1 in the same country1 the         
,catholic will be a mystery to the      
,protestant1 and the ,protestant to the 
,catholic4 ,their intellects have been  
shaped in opposite moulds2 they are like
 instruments which cannot be played in  
concert4 ,in the same way1 but in a far 
higher degree1 we are divided from the  
generations which have preceded us in   
this planet--we try to comprehend a     
,pericles or a ,csar--an image rises    
before us which we seem to recognise as 
belonging to our common humanity4 ,there
 is this feature which is familiar to   
us--and this--and this4 ,we are full of 
hope2 the lineaments1 one by one1 pass  
into clearness2 when suddenly the figure
 becomes enveloped in a cloud--some     
perplexity crosses our analysis1        
baffling it utterly1 the phantom which  
we have evoked dies away before our     

eyes1 scornfully mocking our incapacity 
to master it4  ,the ,english antecedent 
to the ,reformation are nearer to us    
than ,greeks or ,romans2 and yet there  
is a large interval between the baron   
who fought at ,barnet field1 and his    
polished descendant in a modern         
drawing-room4 ,the scale of appreciation
 and the rule of judgment--the habits1  
the hopes1 the fears1 the emotions--have
 utterly changed4  ,in perusing modern  
histories1 the present writer has been  
struck dumb with wonder at the facility 
with which men will fill in chasms in   
their information with conjecture2 will 
guess at the motives which have prompted
 actions2 will pass their censures1 as  
if all secrets of the past lay out on an
 open scroll before them4 ,he is obliged
 to say for himself that1 wherever he   
has been fortunate enough to discover   
authentic explanations of ,english      
historical difficulties1 it is rare     
indeed that he has found any conjecture1
 either of his own or of any other      

modern writer1 confirmed4 ,the true     
motive has almost invariably been of a  
kind which no modern experience could   
have suggested4  ,thoughts such as these
 form a hesitating prelude to an        
expression of opinion on a controverted 
question4 ,they will serve1 however1 to 
indicate the limits within which the    
said opinion is supposed to be hazarded4
 ,and in fact1 neither in this nor in   
any historical subject is the conclusion
 so clear that it can be enunciated in a
 definite form4 ,the utmost which can be
 safely hazarded with history is to     
relate honestly ascertained facts1 with 
only such indications of a judicial     
sentence upon them as may be suggested  
in the form in which the story is       
arranged4  ,whether the monastic bodies 
of ,england1 at the time of their       
dissolution1 were really in that        
condition of moral corruption which is  
laid to their charge in the ,act of     
,parliament by which they were          
dissolved1 is a point which it seems    

hopeless to argue4 ,roman ,catholic1 and
 indeed almost all ,english1 writers who
 are not committed to an unfavourable   
opinion by the ultra-,protestantism of  
their doctrines1 seem to have agreed of 
late years that the accusations1 if not 
false1 were enormously exaggerated4 ,the
 dissolution1 we are told1 was a        
predetermined act of violence and       
rapacity2 and when the reports and the  
letters of the visitors are quoted in   
justification of the ,government1 the   
discussion is closed with the dismissal 
of every unfavourable witness from the  
court1 as venal1 corrupt1 calumnious--in
 fact1 as a suborned liar4 ,upon these  
terms the argument is easily disposed   
of2 and if it were not that truth is in 
all matters better than falsehood1 it   
would be idle to reopen a question which
 cannot be justly dealt with4 ,no       
evidence can affect convictions which   
have been arrived at without            
evidence--and why should we attempt a   
task which it is hopeless to accomplish8

 ,it seems necessary1 however1 to       
reassert the actual state of the        
surviving testimony from time to time1  
if it be only to sustain the links of   
the old traditions2 and the present     
paper will contain one or two pictures  
of a peculiar kind1 exhibiting the life 
and habits of those institutions1 which 
have been lately met with chiefly among 
the unprinted ,records4 ,in anticipation
 of any possible charge of unfairness in
 judging from isolated instances1 we    
disclaim simply all desire to judge--all
 wish to do anything beyond relating    
certain ascertained stories4 ,let it    
remain1 to those who are perverse enough
 to insist upon it1 an open question    
whether the monasteries were more       
corrupt under ,henry the ,eighth than   
they had been four hundred years        
earlier4 ,the dissolution would have    
been equally a necessity2 for no        
reasonable person would desire that     
bodies of men should have been          
maintained for the only business of     

singing masses1 when the efficacy of    
masses was no longer believed4 ,our     
present desire is merely this--to       
satisfy ourselves whether the           
,government1 in discharging a duty which
 could not be dispensed with1           
condescended to falsehood in seeking a  
vindication for themselves which they   
did not require2 or whether they had    
cause really to believe the majority of 
the monastic bodies to be as they       
affirmed--whether1 that is to say1 there
 really were such cases either of       
flagrant immorality1 neglect of         
discipline1 or careless waste and       
prodigality1 as to justify the general  
censure which was pronounced against the
 system by the ,parliament and the      
,privy ,council4  ,secure in the        
supposed completeness with which ,queen 
,mary's agents destroyed the ,records of
 the visitation under her father1 ,roman
 ,catholic writers have taken refuge in 
a disdainful denial2 and the ,anglicans1
 who for the most part1 while contented 

to enjoy the fruits of the ,reformation1
 detest the means by which it was       
brought about1 have taken the same view4
 ,bishop ,latimer tells us that1 when   
the ,report of the visitors of the      
abbeys was read in the ,commons ,house1 
there rose from all sides one long cry  
of ',down with them4' ,but ,bishop      
,latimer1 in the opinion of ,high       
,churchmen1 is not to be believed4 ,do  
we produce letters of the visitors      
themselves1 we are told that they are   
the slanders prepared to justify a      
preconceived purpose of spoliation4 ,no 
witness1 it seems1 will be admitted     
unless it be the witness of a friend4   
,unless some enemy of the ,reformation  
can be found to confess the crimes which
 made the ,reformation necessary1 the   
crimes themselves are to be regarded as 
unproved4 ,this is a hard condition4 ,we
 appeal to ,wolsey4 ,wolsey commenced   
the suppression4 ,wolsey first made     
public the infamies which disgraced the 
,church2 while1 notwithstanding1 he died

 the devoted servant of the ,church4    
,this evidence is surely admissible8    
,but no3 ,wolsey1 too1 must be put out  
of court4 ,wolsey was a courtier and a  
time-server4 ,wolsey was a tyrant's     
minion4 ,wolsey was--in short1 we know  
not what ,wolsey was1 or what he was    
not4 ,who can put confidence in a       
charlatan8 ,behind the bulwarks of such 
objections1 the champion of the abbeys  
may well believe himself secure4  ,and  
yet1 unreasonable though these demands  
may be1 it happens1 after all1 that we  
are able partially to gratify them4 ,it 
is strange that1 of all extant          
accusations against any one of the      
abbeys1 the heaviest is from a quarter  
which even ,lingard himself would       
scarcely call suspicious4 ,no picture   
left us by ,henry's visitors surpasses1 
even if it equals1 a description of the 
condition of the ,abbey of ,st4 ,albans1
 in the last quarter of the fifteenth   
century1 drawn by ,morton1 ,henry the   
,seventh's minister1 ,cardinal          

,archbishop1 ,legate of the ,apostolic  
,see1 in a letter addressed by him to   
the ,abbot of ,st4 ,albans himself4 ,we 
must request our reader's special       
attention for the next two pages4  ,in  
the year #adhi1 ,pope ,innocent the     
,eighth--moved with the enormous stories
 which reached his ear of the corruption
 of the houses of religion in           
,england--granted a commission to the   
,archbishop of ,canterbury to make      
enquiries whether these stories were    
true1 and to proceed to correct and     
reform as might seem good to him4 ,the  
regular clergy were exempt from         
episcopal visitation1 except under      
especial directions from ,rome4 ,the    
occasion had appeared so serious as to  
make extraordinary interference         
necessary4  ,on the receipt of the      
,papal commission1 ,cardinal ,morton1   
among other letters1 wrote the following
 letter3--      ,john1 by ,divine       
permission1 ,archbishop of ,canterbury1 
,primate of all     ,england1 ,legate of

 the ,apostolic ,see1 to ,william1      
,abbot of the     ,monastery of ,st4    
,albans1 greeting4      ,we have        
received certain letters under lead1 the
 copies whereof we     herewith send    
you1 from our most holy ,lord and       
,father in ,christ1     ,innocent1 by   
,divine ,providence ,pope1 the eighth of
 that name4 ,we     therefore1 ,john1   
the ,archbishop1 the visitor1 reformer1 
inquisitor1     and judge therein       
mentioned1 in reverence for the         
,apostolic ,see1     have taken upon    
ourselves the burden of enforcing the   
said     commission2 and have determined
 that we will proceed by1 and           
according to1 the full force1 tenor1 and
 effect of the same4      ,and it has   
come to our ears1 being at once publicly
 notorious and     brought before us    
upon the testimony of many witnesses    
worthy of     credit1 that you1 the     
abbot afore-mentioned1 have been of long
 time     noted and diffamed1 and do yet
 continue so noted1 of simony1 of       

usury1 of dilapidation and waste of the 
goods1 revenues1 and     possessions of 
the said monastery1 and of certain other
 enormous     crimes and excesses       
hereafter written4 ,in the rule1        
custody1 and     administration of the  
goods1 spiritual and temporal1 of the   
said     monastery1 you are so remiss1  
so negligent1 so prodigal1 that         
whereas the said monastery was of old   
times founded and endowed by     the    
pious devotion of illustrious princes1  
of famous memory1     heretofore kings  
of this land1 the most noble progenitors
 of our     most serene ,lord and ,king 
that now is1 in order that true religion
     might flourish there1 that the name
 of the ,most ,high1 in whose     honour
 and glory it was instituted1 might be  
duly celebrated there2      ,and        
whereas1 in days heretofore1 the regular
 observance of the said     rule was    
greatly regarded1 and hospitality was   
diligently kept2      ,nevertheless1 for
 no little time1 during which you have  

presided in     the same monastery1 you 
and certain of your fellow-monks and    
brethren 7whose blood1 it is feared1    
through your neglect1 a severe          
,judge will require at your hand7 have  
relaxed the measure and form     of     
religious life2 you have laid aside the 
pleasant yoke of     contemplation1 and 
all regular observances--hospitality1   
alms1 and     those other offices of    
piety which of old time were exercised  
and     ministered therein have         
decreased1 and by your faults1 your     
carelessness1 your neglect and deed1 do 
daily decrease more and     more1 and   
cease to be regarded--the pious vows of 
the founders are     defrauded of their 
just intent--the ancient rule of your   
order is     deserted2 and not a few of 
your fellow-monks and brethren1 as we   
most deeply grieve to learn1 giving     
themselves over to a reprobate     mind1
 laying aside the fear of ,god1 do lead 
only a life of     lasciviousness--nay1 
as is horrible to relate1 be not afraid 

to     defile the holy places1 even the 
very churches of ,god1 by infamous      
intercourse with nuns1 c4 c4      ,you  
yourself1 moreover1 among other grave   
enormities and abominable     crimes    
whereof you are guilty1 and for which   
you are noted and     diffamed1 have1 in
 the first place1 admitted a certain    
married     woman1 named ,elena ,germyn1
 who has separated herself without just 
cause from her husband1 and for some    
time past has lived in adultery     with
 another man1 to be a nun or sister in  
the house or ,priory of     ,bray1      
lying1 as you pretend1 within your      
jurisdiction4 ,you have next            
appointed the same woman to be prioress 
of the said house1     notwithstanding  
that her said husband was living at the 
time1 and is     still alive4 ,and      
finally1 ,father ,thomas ,sudbury1 one  
of your brother     monks1 publicly1    
notoriously1 and without interference or
 punishment     from you1 has           
associated1 and still associates1 with  

this woman as     an adulterer with his 
harlot4      ,moreover1 divers other of 
your brethren and fellow-monks have     
resorted1 and do resort1 continually to 
her and other women at the     same     
place1 as to a public brothel or        
receiving house1 and have     received  
no correction therefor4      ,nor is    
,bray the only house into which you have
 introduced disorder4     ,at the       
nunnery of ,sapwell1 which you also     
contend to be under your                
jurisdiction1 you change the prioresses 
and superiors again and     again at    
your own will and caprice4 ,here1 as    
well as at ,bray1 you     depose those  
who are good and religious2 you promote 
to the highest     dignities the        
worthless and the vicious4 ,the duties  
of the order are     cast aside2 virtue 
is neglected2 and by these means so much
 cost and     extravagance has been     
caused1 that to provide means for your  
indulgence you have introduced certain  
of your brethren to preside     in their

 houses under the name of guardians1    
when in fact they are     no guardians1 
but thieves and notorious villains2 and 
with their     help you have caused and 
permitted the goods of the same priories
 to     be dispensed1 or to speak more  
truly to be dissipated1 in the          
above-described corruptions and other   
enormous and accursed     offences4     
,those places once religious are        
rendered and reputed as it     were     
profane and impious2 and by your own and
 your creatures'     conduct1 are so    
impoverished as to be reduced to the    
verge of ruin4      ,in like manner1    
also1 you have dealt with certain other 
cells of     monks1 which you say are   
subject to you1 even within the         
monastery     of the glorious           
proto-martyr ,alban himself4 ,you have  
dilapidated the     common property2 you
 have made away with the jewels2 the    
copses1 the     woods1 the underwood1   
almost all the oaks1 and other forest   
trees1     to the value of eight        

thousand marks and more1 you have made  
to be     cut down without distinction1 
and they have by you been sold and      
alienated4 ,the brethren of the abbey1  
some of whom1 as is reported1     are   
given over to all the evil things of the
 world1 neglect the     service of ,god 
altogether4 ,they live with harlots and 
mistresses     publicly and             
continuously1 within the precincts of   
the monastery and     without4 ,some of 
them1 who are covetous of honour and    
promotion1 and     desirous therefore of
 pleasing your cupidity1 have stolen and
 made     away with the chalices and    
other jewels of the church4 ,they have  
even sacrilegiously extracted the       
precious stones from the very     shrine
 of ,st4 ,alban2 and you have not       
punished these men1 but have     rather 
knowingly supported and maintained them4
 ,if any of your     brethren be living 
justly and religiously1 if any be wise  
and     virtuous1 these you straightway 
depress and hold in hatred4444 ,you     

444  ,but we need not transcribe further
 this overwhelming document4 ,it pursues
 its way through mire and filth to its  
most lame and impotent conclusion4      
,after all this1 the abbot was not      
deposed2 he was invited merely to       
reconsider his doings1 and1 if possible1
 amend them4 ,such was ,church          
discipline1 even under an extraordinary 
commission from ,rome4 ,but the most    
incorrigible ,anglican will scarcely    
question the truth of a picture drawn by
 such a hand2 and it must be added that 
this one unexceptionable indictment     
lends at once assured credibility to the
 reports which were presented fifty     
years later1 on the general visitation4 
,there is no longer room for the        
presumptive objection that charges so   
revolting could not be true4 ,we see    
that in their worst form they could be  
true1 and the evidence of ,legh and     
,leghton1 of ,rice and ,bedyll1 as it   
remains in their letters to ,cromwell1  
must be shaken in detail1 or else it    

must be accepted as correct4 ,we cannot 
dream that ,archbishop ,morton was      
mistaken1 or was misled by false        
information4 ,st4 ,albans was no obscure
 priory in a remote and thinly-peopled  
county4 ,the ,abbot of ,st4 ,albans was 
a peer of the realm1 taking precedence  
of bishops1 living in the full glare of 
notoriety1 within a few miles of        
,london4 ,the archbishop had ample means
 of ascertaining the truth2 and1 we may 
be sure1 had taken care to examine his  
ground before he left on record so      
tremendous an accusation4 ,this story is
 true--as true as it is piteous4 ,we    
will pause a moment over it before we   
pass from this1 once more to ask our    
passionate ,church friends whether still
 they will persist that the abbeys were 
no worse under the ,tudors than they had
 been in their origin1 under the        
,saxons1 or under the first ,norman and 
,plantagenet kings4 ,we refuse to       
believe it4 ,the abbeys which towered in
 the midst of the ,english towns1 the   

houses clustered at their feet like     
subjects round some majestic queen1 were
 images indeed of the civil supremacy   
which the ,church of the ,middle ,ages  
had asserted for itself2 but they were  
images also of an inner spiritual       
sublimity1 which had won the homage of  
grateful and admiring nations4 ,the     
heavenly graces had once descended upon 
the monastic orders1 making them        
ministers of mercy1 patterns of         
celestial life1 breathing witnesses of  
the power of the ,spirit in renewing and
 sanctifying the heart4 ,and then it was
 that art and wealth and genius poured  
out their treasures to raise fitting    
tabernacles for the dwelling of so      
divine a soul4 ,alike in the village and
 the city1 amongst the unadorned walls  
and lowly roofs which closed in the     
humble dwellings of the laity1 the      
majestic houses of the ,father of       
mankind and of his especial servants    
rose up in sovereign beauty4 ,and ever  
at the sacred gates sat ,mercy1 pouring 

out relief from a never-failing store to
 the poor and the suffering2 ever within
 the sacred aisles the voices of holy   
men were pealing heavenwards in         
intercession for the sins of mankind2   
and such blessed influences were thought
 to exhale around those mysterious      
precincts1 that even the poor outcasts  
of society--the debtor1 the felon1 and  
the outlaw--gathered round the walls as 
the sick men sought the shadow of the   
apostle1 and lay there sheltered from   
the avenging hand1 till their sins were 
washed from off their souls4 ,the abbeys
 of the middle ages floated through the 
storms of war and conquest1 like the ark
 upon the waves of the flood1 in the    
midst of violence remaining inviolate1  
through the awful reverence which       
surrounded them4 ,the abbeys1 as        
,henry's visitors found them1 were as   
little like what they once had been1 as 
the living man in the pride of his      
growth is like the corpse which the     
earth makes haste to hide for ever4     

,the official letters which reveal the  
condition into which the monastic       
establishments had degenerated1 are     
chiefly in the ,cotton ,library1 and a  
large number of them have been published
 by the ,camden ,society4 ,besides      
these1 however1 there are in the ,rolls 
,house many other documents which       
confirm and complete the statements of  
the writers of those letters4 ,there is 
a part of what seems to have been a     
digest of the ',black ,book'--an epitome
 of iniquities1 under the title of the  
',compendium ,compertorum4' ,there are  
also reports from private persons1      
private entreaties for enquiry1         
depositions of monks in official        
examinations1 and other similar papers1 
which1 in many instances1 are too       
offensive to be produced1 and may rest  
in obscurity1 unless contentious persons
 compel us to bring them forward4 ,some 
of these1 however1 throw curious light  
on the habits of the time1 and on the   
collateral disorders which accompanied  

the more gross enormities4 ,they show   
us1 too1 that although the dark tints   
predominate1 the picture was not wholly 
black2 that as just ,lot was in the     
midst of ,sodom1 yet was unable by his  
single presence to save the guilty city 
from destruction1 so in the latest era  
of monasticism there were types yet     
lingering of an older and fairer age1   
who1 nevertheless1 were not delivered1  
like the patriarch1 but perished most of
 them with the institution to which they
 belonged4 ,the hideous exposure is not 
untinted with fairer lines2 and we see  
traits here and there of true devotion1 
mistaken but heroic4  ,of these         
documents two specimens shall be given  
in this place1 one of either kind2 and  
both1 so far as we know1 new to modern  
history4 ,the first is so singular1 that
 we print it as it is found--a genuine  
antique1 fished up1 in perfect          
preservation1 out of the wreck of the   
old world4  ,about eight miles from     
,ludlow1 in the county of               

,herefordshire1 once stood the abbey of 
,wigmore4 ,there was ,wigmore ,castle1 a
 stronghold of the ,welsh ,marches1 now1
 we believe1 a modern1 well-conditioned 
mansion2 and ,wigmore ,abbey1 of which  
we do not hear that there are any       
remaining traces4 ,though now vanished1 
however1 like so many of its kind1 the  
house was three hundred years ago in    
vigorous existence2 and when the stir   
commenced for an enquiry1 the           
proceedings of the abbot of this place  
gave occasion to a memorial which stands
 in the ,rolls collection as            
follows3--,r      ,articles to be       
objected against ,john ,smart1 ,abbot of
 the ,monastery     of ,wigmore1 in the 
county of ,hereford1 to be exhibited to 
the ,right     ,honourable ,lord ,thomas
 ,cromwell1 the ,lord ,privy ,seal and  
,vice-gerent     to the ,king's         
,majesty4      #a4 ,the said abbot is to
 be accused of simony1 as well for      
taking     money for advocation and     
putations of benefices1 as for giving of

     orders1 or more truly1 selling     
them1 and that to such persons which    
have been rejected elsewhere1 and of    
little learning and light               
consideration4      #b4 ,the said abbot 
hath promoted to orders many scholars   
when all     other bishops did refrain  
to give such orders on account of       
certain     ordinances devised by the   
,king's ,majesty and his ,council for   
the     common weal of this realm4 ,then
 resorted to the said abbot scholars    
out of all parts1 whom he would promote 
to orders by sixty at a     time1 and   
sometimes more1 and otherwhiles less4   
,and sometimes the     said abbot would 
give orders by night within his chamber1
 and     otherwise in the church early  
in the morning1 and now and then at a   
chapel out of the abbey4 ,so that there 
be many unlearned and light     priests 
made by the said abbot1 and in the      
diocese of ,llandaff1 and     in the    
places afore named--a thousand1 as it is
 esteemed1 by the     space of this     

seven years he hath made priests1 and   
received not so     little money of them
 as a thousand pounds for their orders4 
#c4 ,item1 that the said abbot now of   
late1 when he could not be     suffered 
to give general orders1 for the most    
part doth give orders     by pretence of
 dispensation2 and by that colour he    
promoteth them to     orders by two and 
three1 and takes much money of them1    
both for     their orders and for to    
purchase their dispensations after the  
time     he hath promoted them to their 
orders4      #d4 ,item1 the said abbot  
hath hurt and dismayed his tenants by   
putting them from their leases1 and by  
enclosing their commons from     them1  
and selling and utter wasting of the    
woods that were wont to     relieve and 
succour them4      #e4 ,item1 the said  
abbot hath sold corradyes1 to the damage
 of the     said monastery4      #f4    
,item1 the said abbot hath alienate and 
sold the jewels and plate     of the    
monastery1 to the value of five hundred 

marks1 to purchase     of the ,bishop of
 ,rome his bulls to be a bishop1 and to 
annex the     said abbey to his         
bishopric1 to that intent that he should
 not for     his misdeeds be punished1  
or deprived from his said abbey4        
#g4 ,item1 that the said abbot1 long    
after that other bishops had            
renounced the ,bishop of ,rome1 and     
professed them to the ,king's           
,majesty1 did use1 but more verily      
usurped1 the office of a bishop by      
virtue of his first bulls purchased from
 ,rome1 till now of late1 as     it will
 appear by the date of his confirmation1
 if he have any4      #h4 ,item1 that he
 the said abbot hath lived viciously1   
and kept to     concubines divers and   
many women that is openly known4        
#i4 ,item1 that the said abbot doth yet 
continue his vicious living1     as it  
is known1 openly4      #aj4 ,item1 that 
the said abbot hath spent and wasted    
much of the     goods of the said       
monastery upon the foresaid women4      

#aa4 ,item1 that the said abbot is      
malicious and very wrathful1 not        
regarding what he saith or doeth in his 
fury or anger4      #ab4 ,item1 that one
 ,richard ,gyles bought of the abbot and
 convent of     ,wigmore a corradye1 and
 a chamber for him and his wife for term
 of     their lives2 and when the said  
,richard ,gyles was aged and was very   
weak1 he disposed his goods1 and made   
executors to execute his will4     ,and 
when the said abbot now being ----      
perceived that the said     ,richard    
,gyles was rich1 and had not bequested  
so much of his goods     to him as he   
would have had1 the said abbot then came
 to the chamber     of the said ,richard
 ,gyles1 and put out thence all his     
friends and     kinsfolk that kept him  
in his sickness2 and then the said abbot
 set     his brother and other of his   
servants to keep the sick man2 and the  
night next coming after the said        
,richard ,gyles's coffer was broken1    
and thence taken all that was in the    

same1 to the value of forty     marks2  
and long after the said abbot confessed1
 before the executors     of the said   
,richard ,gyles1 that it was his deed4  
#ac4 ,item1 that the said abbot1 after  
he had taken away the goods of     the  
said ,richard ,gyles1 used daily to     
reprove and check the said     ,richard 
,gyles1 and inquire of him where was    
more of his coin and     money2 and at  
the last the said abbot thought he lived
 too long1 and     made the sick man1   
after much sorry keeping1 to be taken   
from his     feather-bed1 and laid upon 
a cold mattress1 and kept his friends   
from him to his death4      #ae4 ,item1 
that the said abbot consented to the    
death and murdering     of one ,john    
,tichkill1 that was slain at his        
procuring1 at the said     monastery1 by
 ,sir ,richard ,cubley1 canon and       
chaplain to the said     abbot2 which   
canon is and ever hath been since that  
time chief of     the said abbot's      
council2 and is supported to carry      

crossbowes1 and     to go whither he    
lusteth at any time1 to fishing and     
hunting in the     king's forests1      
parks1 and chases2 but little or nothing
 serving the     quire1 as other        
brethren do1 neither corrected of the   
abbot for any     trespass he doth      
commit4      #af4 ,item1 that the said  
abbot hath been perjured oft1 as is to  
be     proved and is proved2 and as it  
is supposed1 did not make a true        
inventory of the goods1 chattels1 and   
jewels of his monastery to the          
,king's ,majesty and his ,council4      
#ag4 ,item1 that the said abbot hath    
infringed all the king's     injunctions
 which were given him by ,doctor ,cave  
to observe and keep2     and when he was
 denounced in pleno capitulo to have    
broken the     same1 he would have put  
in prison the brother as did denounce   
him to     have broken the same         
injunctions1 save that he was let by the
     convent there4      #ah4 ,item1    
that the said abbot hath openly preached

 against the     doctrine of ,christ1   
saying he ought not to love his enemy1  
but as he     loves the devil2 and that 
he should love his enemy's soul1 but not
     his body4      #ai4 ,item1 that the
 said abbot hath taken but small regard 
to the     good-living of his household4
      #bj4 ,item1 that the said abbot   
hath had and hath yet a special favour  
to misdoers and manquellers1 thieves1   
deceivers of their neighbours1     and  
by them is most ruled and counselled4   
#ba4 ,item1 that the said abbot hath    
granted leases of farms and             
advocations first to one man1 and took  
his fine1 and also hath     granted the 
same lease to another man for more      
money2 and then would     make to the   
last taker a lease or writing1 with an  
antedate of the     first lease1 which  
hath bred great dissension among        
gentlemen--as     ,master ,blunt and    
,master ,moysey1 and other takers of    
such leases--and     that often4        
#bb4 ,item1 the said abbot having the   

contrepaynes of leases in his           
keeping1 hath1 for money1 rased out the 
number of years mentioned in     the    
said leases1 and writ a fresh number in 
the former taker's     lease1 and in the
 contrepayne thereof1 to the intent to  
defraud the     taker or buyer of the   
residue of such leases1 of whom he hath 
received the money4      #bc4 ,item1 the
 said abbot hath not1 according to the  
foundation of     his monastery1        
admitted freely tenants into certain    
alms-houses     belonging to the said   
monastery2 but of them he hath taken    
large     fines1 and some of them he    
hath put away that would not give him   
fines3 whither poor1 aged1 and impotent 
people were wont to be     freely       
admitted1 and to receive the founder's  
alms that of the old     customs were   
limited to the same--which alms is also 
diminished by     the said abbot4       
#bd4 ,item1 that the said abbot did not 
deliver the bulls of his     bishopric1 
that he purchased from ,rome1 to our    

sovereign lord the     king's council   
till long after the time he had         
delivered and     exhibited the bulls of
 his monastery to them4      #be4 ,item1
 that the said abbot hath detained and  
yet doth detain     servants' wages2 and
 often when the said servants hath asked
 their     wages1 the said abbot hath   
put them into the stocks1 and beat them4
      #bf4 ,item1 the said abbot1 in    
times past1 hath had a great devotion   
to ride to ,llangarvan1 in ,wales1 upon 
,lammas-day1 to receive pardon          
there2 and on the even he would visit   
one ,mary ,hawle1 an old                
acquaintance of his1 at the ,welsh      
,poole1 and on the morrow ride to       
the foresaid ,llangarvan1 to be         
confessed and absolved1 and the same    
night return to company with the said   
,mary ,hawle1 at the ,welsh ,poole      
aforesaid1 and ,kateryn1 the said ,mary 
,hawle her first daughter1 whom     the 
said abbot long hath kept to concubine1 
and had children by her1     that he    

lately married at ,ludlow4 ,and there be
 others that have     been taken out of 
his chamber and put in the stocks within
 the said     abbey1 and others that    
have complained upon him to the king's  
council of the ,marches of ,wales2 and  
the woman that dashed out his     teeth1
 that he would have had by violence1 ,i 
will not name now1 nor     other men's  
wives1 lest it would offend your good   
lordship to read     or hear the same4  
#bg4 ,item1 the said abbot doth daily   
embezzle1 sell1 and convey the     goods
 and chattels1 and jewels of the said   
monastery1 having no need     so to do3 
for it is thought that he hath a        
thousand marks or two     thousand lying
 by him that he hath gotten by selling  
of orders1 and     the jewels and plate 
of the monastery and corradyes2 and it  
is to be     feared that he will        
alienate all the rest1 unless your good 
lordship     speedily make redress and  
provision to let the same4      #bh4    
,item1 the said abbot was accustomed    

yearly to preach at     ,leynt-warden on
 the ,festival of the ,nativity of the  
,virgin ,mary1     where and when the   
people were wont to offer to an image   
there1 and     to the same the said     
abbot in his sermons would exhort them  
and     encourage them4 ,but now the    
oblations be decayed1 the abbot1 espying
     the image then to have a cote of   
silver plate and gilt1 hath taken       
away of his own authority the said      
image1 and the plate turned to     his  
own use2 and left his preaching there1  
saying it is no manner of     profit to 
any man1 and the plate that was about   
the said image was     named to be worth
 forty pounds4      #bi4 ,item1 the said
 abbot hath ever nourished enmity and   
discord     among his brethren2 and hath
 not encouraged them to learn the laws  
and the mystery of ,christ4 ,but he that
 least knew was most cherished     by   
him2 and he hath been highly displeased 
and hath disdained when     his brothers
 would say that 'it is ,god's precept   

and doctrine that     ye ought to prefer
 before your ceremonies and vain        
constitutions4'     ,this saying was    
high disobedient1 and should be         
grievously punished2     when that      
lying1 obloquy1 flattery1 ignorance1    
derision1 contumely1     discord1 great 
swearing1 drinking1 hypocrisy1 fraud1   
superstition1     deceit1 conspiracy to 
wrong their neighbour1 and other of that
 kind1     was had in special favour and
 regard4 ,laud and praise be to ,god    
that     hath sent us the true          
knowledge4 ,honour and long prosperity  
to our     sovereign lord and his noble 
council1 that teaches to advance the    
same4 ,amen4      ,by ,john ,lee1 your  
faithful bedeman1 and canon of the said 
monastery     of ,wigmore4              
,postscript4--,my good lord1 there is in
 the said abbey a cross of     fine gold
 and precious stones1 whereof one       
diamond was esteemed by     ,doctor     
,booth1 ,bishop of ,hereford1 worth a   
hundred marks4 ,in that     cross is    

enclosed a piece of wood1 named to be of
 the cross that     ,christ died upon1  
and to the same hath been offering4 ,and
 when it     should be brought down to  
the church from the treasury1 it was    
brought down with lights1 and like      
reverence as should have been     done  
to ,christ himself4 ,i fear lest the    
abbot upon ,sunday next1 when     he may
 enter the treasury1 will take away the 
said cross and break     it1 or turn it 
to his own use1 with many other precious
 jewels that     be there4      ,all    
these articles afore written be true as 
to the substance and     true meaning of
 them1 though peradventure for haste and
 lack of     counsel1 some words be set 
amiss or out of their place4 ,that ,i   
will     be ready to prove forasmuch as 
lies in me1 when it shall like your     
honourable lordship to direct your      
commission to men 7or any man7     that 
will be indifferent and not corrupt to  
sit upon the same1 at     the said      
abbey1 where the witnesses and proofs be

 most ready and the     truth is best   
known1 or at any other place where it   
shall be thought     most convenient by 
your high discretion and authority4     
,the statutes of ,provisors1 commonly   
called ,prmunire statutes1 which1       
forbade all purchases of bulls from     
,rome under penalty of outlawry1 have   
been usually considered in the highest  
degree oppressive2 and more particularly
 the public censure has fallen upon the 
last application of those statutes1     
when1 on ,wolsey's fall1 the whole body 
of the clergy were laid under a         
prmunire1 and only obtained pardon on   
payment of a serious fine4 ,let no one  
regret that he has learnt to be tolerant
 to ,roman ,catholics as the nineteenth 
century knows them4 ,but it is a        
spurious charity which1 to remedy a     
modern injustice1 hastens to its        
opposite2 and when philosophic          
historians indulge in loose invective   
against the statesmen of the            
,reformation1 they show themselves unfit

 to be trusted with the custody of our  
national annals4 ,the ,acts of          
,parliament speak plainly of the        
enormous abuses which had grown up under
 these bulls4 ,yet even the emphatic    
language of the statutes scarcely       
prepares us to find an abbot able to    
purchase with jewels stolen from his own
 convent a faculty to confer holy       
orders1 though he had never been        
consecrated bishop1 and to make a       
thousand pounds by selling the exercise 
of his privileges4 ,this is the most    
flagrant case which has fallen under the
 eyes of the present writer4 ,yet it is 
but a choice specimen out of many4 ,he  
was taught to believe1 like other modern
 students of history1 that the papal    
dispensations for immorality1 of which  
we read in ,fox and other ,protestant   
writers1 were calumnies1 but he has been
 forced against his will to perceive    
that the supposed calumnies were but the
 plain truth2 he has found among the    
records--for one thing1 a list of more  

than twenty clergy in one diocese who   
had obtained licences to keep           
concubines4,s ,after some experience1 he
 advises all persons who are anxious to 
understand the ,english ,reformation to 
place implicit confidence in the        
,statute ,book4 ,every fresh record     
which is brought to light is a fresh    
evidence in its favour4 ,in the         
fluctuations of the conflict there were 
parliaments1 as there were princes1 of  
opposing sentiments2 and measures were  
passed1 amended1 repealed1 or censured1 
as ,protestants and ,catholics came     
alternately into power4 ,but whatever   
were the differences of opinion1 the    
facts on either side which are stated in
 an ,act of ,parliament may be uniformly
 trusted4 ,even in the attainders for   
treason and heresy we admire the        
truthfulness of the details of the      
indictments1 although we deplore the    
prejudice which at times could make a   
crime of virtue4  ,we pass on to the    
next picture4 ,equal justice1 or some   

attempt at it1 was promised1 and we     
shall perhaps part from the friends of  
the monasteries on better terms than    
they believe4 ,at least1 we shall add to
 our own history and to the ,catholic   
martyrology a story of genuine interest4
  ,we have many accounts of the abbeys  
at the time of their actual dissolution4
 ,the resistance or acquiescence of     
superiors1 the dismissals of the        
brethren1 the sale of the property1 the 
destruction of relics1 c41 are all      
described4 ,we know how the windows were
 taken out1 how the glass appropriated1 
how the 'melter' accompanied the        
visitors to run the lead upon the roofs1
 and the metal of the bells into        
portable forms4 ,we see the pensioned   
regulars filing out reluctantly1 or     
exulting in their deliverance1          
discharged from their vows1 furnished   
each with his 'secular apparel1' and his
 purse of money1 to begin the world as  
he might4 ,these scenes have long been  
partially known1 and they were rarely   

attended with anything remarkable4 ,at  
the time of the suppression1 the        
discipline of several years had broken  
down opposition1 and prepared the way   
for the catastrophe4 ,the end came at   
last1 but as an issue which had been    
long foreseen4  ,we have sought in vain1
 however1 for a glimpse into the        
interior of the houses at the first     
intimation of what was coming--more     
especially when the great blow was      
struck which severed ,england from      
obedience to ,rome1 and asserted the    
independence of the ,anglican ,church4  
,then1 virtually1 the fate of the       
monasteries was decided4 ,as soon as the
 supremacy was vested in the ,crown1    
enquiry into their condition could no   
longer be escaped or delayed2 and then1 
through the length and breadth of the   
country1 there must have been rare      
dismay4 ,the account of the ,london     
,carthusians is indeed known to us1     
because they chose to die rather than   
yield submission where their consciences

 forbade them2 and their isolated       
heroism has served to distinguish their 
memories4 ,the pope1 as head of the     
,universal ,church1 claimed the power of
 absolving subjects from their          
allegiance to their king4 ,he deposed   
,henry4 ,he called on foreign princes to
 enforce his sentence2 and1 on pain of  
excommunication1 commanded the native   
,english to rise in rebellion4 ,the     
king1 in self-defence1 was compelled to 
require his subjects to disclaim all    
sympathy with these pretensions1 and to 
recognise no higher authority1 spiritual
 or secular1 than himself within his own
 dominions4 ,the regular clergy         
throughout the country were on the      
pope's side1 secretly or openly4 ,the   
,charterhouse monks1 however1 alone of  
all the order1 had the courage to       
declare their convictions1 and to suffer
 for them4 ,of the rest1 we only        
perceive that they at last submitted2   
and since there was no uncertainty as to
 their real feelings1 we have been      

disposed to judge them hardly as        
cowards4 ,yet we who have never been    
tried1 should perhaps be cautious in our
 censures4 ,it is possible to hold an   
opinion quite honestly1 and yet to      
hesitate about dying for it4 ,we        
consider ourselves1 at the present day1 
persuaded honestly of many things2 yet  
which of them should we refuse to       
relinquish if the scaffold were the     
alternative--or at least seem to        
relinquish1 under silent protest8  ,and 
yet1 in the details of the struggle at  
the ,charterhouse1 we see the forms of  
mental trial which must have repeated   
themselves among all bodies of the      
clergy wherever there was seriousness of
 conviction4 ,if the majority of the    
monks were vicious and sensual1 there   
was still a large minority labouring to 
be true to their vows2 and when one     
entire convent was capable of sustained 
resistance1 there must have been many   
where there was only just too little    
virtue for the emergency--where the     

conflict between interest and conscience
 was equally genuine1 though it ended   
the other way4 ,scenes of bitter misery 
there must have been--of passionate     
emotion wrestling ineffectually with the
 iron resolution of the ,government3 and
 the faults of the ,catholic party weigh
 so heavily against them in the course  
and progress of the ,reformation1 that  
we cannot willingly lose the few        
countervailing tints which soften the   
darkness of their conditions4           
,nevertheless1 for any authentic account
 of the abbeys at this crisis1 we have  
hitherto been left to our imagination4  
,a stern and busy administration had    
little leisure to preserve records of   
sentimental struggles which led to      
nothing4 ,the ,catholics did not care to
 keep alive the recollection of a       
conflict in which1 even though with     
difficulty1 the ,church was defeated4 ,a
 rare accident only could have brought  
down to us any fragment of a transaction
 which no one had an interest in        

remembering4 ,that such an accident has 
really occurred1 we may consider as     
unusually fortunate4 ,the story in      
question concerns the abbey of ,woburn1 
and is as follows3--  ,at ,woburn1 as in
 many other religious houses1 there were
 representatives of both the factions   
which divided the country2 perhaps we   
should say of three--the sincere        
,catholics1 the ,indifferentists1 and   
the ,protestants4 ,these last1 so long  
as ,wolsey was in power1 had been       
frightened into silence1 and with       
difficulty had been able to save        
themselves from extreme penalties4 ,no  
sooner1 however1 had ,wolsey fallen1 and
 the battle commenced with the papacy1  
than the tables turned1 the persecuted  
became persecutors--or at least threw   
off their disguise--and were            
strengthened with the support of the    
large class who cared only to keep on   
the winning side4 ,the mysteries of the 
faith came to be disputed at the public 
tables2 the refectories rang with       

polemics2 the sacred silence of the     
dormitories was broken for the first    
time by lawless speculation4 ,the       
orthodox might have appealed to the     
,government3 heresy was still forbidden 
by law1 and1 if detected1 was still     
punished by the stake4 ,but the orthodox
 among the regular clergy adhered to the
 pope as well as to the faith1 and      
abhorred the sacrilege of the           
,parliament as deeply as the new        
opinions of the ,reformers4 ,instead of 
calling in the help of the law1 they    
muttered treason in secret2 and the     
,reformers1 confident in the necessities
 of the times1 sent reports to ,london  
of their arguments and conversations4   
,the authorities in the abbey were      
accused of disaffection2 and a          
commission of enquiry was sent down     
towards the end of the spring of #aecf1 
to investigate4 ,the depositions taken  
on this occasion are still preserved2   
and with the help of them1 we can leap  
over three centuries of time1 and hear  

the last echoes of the old monastic life
 in ,woburn ,abbey dying away in        
discord4  ,where party feeling was      
running so high1 there were1 of course1 
passionate arguments4 ,the ,act of      
,supremacy1 the spread of               
,protestantism1 the power of the ,pope1 
the state of ,england--all were         
discussed2 and the possibilities of the 
future1 as each party painted it in the 
colours of his hopes4 ,the brethren1 we 
find1 spoke their minds in plain        
language1 sometimes condescending to a  
joke4  ,brother ,sherborne deposes that 
the sub-prior1 'on ,candlemas-day last  
past 7,february #b1 #aecf71 asked him   
whether he longed not to be at ,rome    
where all his bulls were8' ,brother     
,sherborne answered that 'his bulls had 
made so many calves1 that he had burned 
them4 ,whereunto the sub-prior said he  
thought there were more calves now than 
there were then4'  ,then there were long
 and furious quarrels about 'my ,lord   
,privy ,seal' 7,cromwell7--who was to   

one party1 the incarnation of ,satan2 to
 the other1 the delivering angel4  ,nor 
did matters mend when from the minister 
they passed to the master4  ,dan ,john  
,croxton being in 'the shaving-house'   
one day with certain of the brethren    
having their tonsures looked to1 and    
gossiping1 as men do on such occasions1 
one ',friar ,lawrence did say that the  
king was dead4' ,then said ,croxton1    
',thanks be to ,god1 his ,grace is in   
good health1 and ,i pray ,god so        
continue him2' and said further to the  
said ,lawrence1 ',i advise thee to leave
 thy babbling4' ,croxton1 it seems1 had 
been among the suspected in earlier     
times4 ,lawrence said to him1 ',croxton1
 it maketh no matter what thou sayest1  
for thou art one of the new world2'     
whereupon hotter still the conversation 
proceeded4 ',thy babbling tongue1'      
,croxton said1 'will turn us all to     
displeasure at length4' ',then1' quoth  
,lawrence1 'neither thou nor yet any of 
us all shall do well as long as we      

forsake our head of the ,church1 the    
,pope4' ',by the mass6' quoth ,croxton1 
',i would thy ,pope ,roger were in thy  
belly1 or thou in his1 for thou art a   
false perjured knave to thy prince4'    
,whereunto the said ,lawrence answered1 
saying1 ',by the mass1 thou liest6 ,i   
was never sworn to forsake the ,pope to 
be our head1 and never will be4'        
',then1' quoth ,croxton1 'thou shalt be 
sworn spite of thine heart one day1 or  
,i will know why nay4'  ,these and      
similar wranglings may be taken as      
specimens of the daily conversation at  
,woburn1 and we can perceive how an     
abbot with the best intentions would    
have found it difficult to keep the     
peace4 ,there are instances of superiors
 in other houses throwing down their    
command in the midst of the crisis in   
flat despair1 protesting that their     
subject brethren were no longer         
governable4 ,abbots who were inclined to
 the ,reformation could not manage the  
,catholics2 ,catholic abbots could not  

manage the ,protestants2 indifferent    
abbots could not manage either the one  
or the other4 ,it would have been well  
for the ,abbot of ,woburn--or well as   
far as this world is concerned--if he1  
like one of these1 had acknowledged his 
incapacity1 and had fled from his       
charge4  ,his name was ,robert ,hobbes4 
,of his age and family1 history is      
silent4 ,we know only that he held his  
place when the storm rose against the   
pope2 that1 like the rest of the clergy1
 he bent before the blast1 taking the   
oath to the king1 and submitting to the 
royal supremacy1 but swearing under     
protest1 as the phrase went1 with the   
outward1 and not with the inward man--in
 fact1 perjuring himself4 ,though       
infirm1 so far1 however1 he was too     
honest to be a successful counterfeit1  
and from the jealous eyes of the        
,neologians of the abbey he could not   
conceal his tendencies4 ,we have        
significant evidence of the espionage   
which was established over all suspected

 quarters1 in the conversations and     
trifling details of conduct on the part 
of the abbot1 which were reported to the
 ,government4  ,in the summer of #aecd1 
orders came that the pope's name should 
be rased out wherever it was mentioned  
in the ,mass books4 ,a malcontent1 by   
name ,robert ,salford1 deposed that 'he 
was singing mass before the abbot at    
,st4 ,thomas's altar within the         
monastery1 at which time he rased out   
with his knife the said name out of the 
canon4' ,the abbot told him to 'take a  
pen and strike or cross him out4' ,the  
saucy monk said those were not the      
orders4 ,they were to rase him out4     
',well1 well1' the abbot said1 'it will 
come again one day4' ',come again1 will 
it8' was the answer2 'if it do1 then we 
will put him in again2 but ,i trust ,i  
shall never see that day4' ,the mild    
abbot could remonstrate1 but could not  
any more command2 and the proofs of his 
malignant inclinations were remembered  
against him for the ear of ,cromwell4   

,in the general injunctions1 too1 he was
 directed to preach against the pope1   
and to expose his usurpation2 but he    
could not bring himself to obey4 ,he    
shrank from the pulpit2 he preached but 
twice after the visitation1 and then on 
other subjects1 while in the prayer     
before the sermon he refused1 as we     
find1 to use the prescribed form4 ,he   
only said1 ',you shall pray for the     
spirituality1 the temporality1 and the  
souls that be in the pains of purgatory2
 and did not name the king to be supreme
 head of the ,church in neither of the  
said sermons1 nor speak against the     
pretended authority of the ,bishop of   
,rome4'  ,again1 when ,paul the ,third1 
shortly after his election1 proposed to 
call a general council at ,mantua1      
against which1 by advice of ,henry the  
,eighth1 the ,germans protested1 we have
 a glimpse how eagerly anxious ,english 
eyes were watching for a turning tide4  
',hear you1' said the abbot one day1 'of
 the ,pope's holiness and the           

congregation of bishops1 abbots1 and    
princes gathered to the council at      
,mantua8 ,they be gathered for the      
reformation of the universal ,church2   
and here now we have a book of the      
excuse of the ,germans1 by which we may 
know what heretics they be3 for if they 
were ,catholics and true men as they    
pretend to be1 they would never have    
refused to come to a general council4'  
,so matters went with the abbot for some
 months after he had sworn obedience to 
the king4 ,lulling his conscience with  
such opiates as the casuists could      
provide for him1 he watched anxiously   
for a change1 and laboured with but     
little reserve to hold his brethren to  
their old allegiance4  ,in the summer of
 #aece1 however1 a change came over the 
scene1 very different from the outward  
reaction for which he was looking1 and a
 better mind woke in the abbot3 he      
learnt that in swearing what he did not 
mean with reservations and nice         
distinctions1 he had lied to heaven and 

lied to man2 that to save his miserable 
life he had perilled his soul4 ,when the
 oath of supremacy was required of the  
nation1 ,sir ,thomas ,more1 ,bishop     
,fisher1 and the monks of the           
,charterhouse--mistaken1 as we believe1 
in judgment1 but true to their          
consciences1 and disdaining evasion or  
subterfuge--chose1 with deliberate      
nobleness1 rather to die than to perjure
 themselves4 ,this is no place to enter 
on the great question of the justice or 
necessity of those executions2 but the  
story of the so-called martyrdoms       
convulsed the ,catholic world4 ,the pope
 shook upon his throne2 the shuttle of  
diplomatic intrigue stood still2        
diplomatists who had lived so long in   
lies that the whole life of man seemed  
but a stage pageant1 a thing of show and
 tinsel1 stood aghast at the revelation 
of ,english sincerity1 and a shudder of 
great awe ran through ,europe4 ,the fury
 of party leaves little room for        
generous emotion1 and no pity was felt  

for these men by the ,english           
,protestants4 ,the ,protestants knew    
well that if these same sufferers could 
have had their way1 they would          
themselves have been sacrificed by      
hecatombs2 and as they had never        
experienced mercy1 so they were in turn 
without mercy4 ,but to the ,english     
,catholics1 who believed as ,fisher     
believed1 but who had not dared to      
suffer as ,fisher suffered1 his death   
and the death of the rest acted as a    
glimpse of the ,judgment ,day4 ,their   
safety became their shame and terror2   
and in the radiant example before them  
of true faithfulness1 they saw their own
 falsehood and their own disgrace4 ,so  
it was with ,father ,forest1 who had    
taught his penitents in confession that 
they might perjure themselves1 and who  
now sought a cruel death in voluntary   
expiation2 so it was with ,whiting1 the 
,abbot of ,glastonbury2 so with others  
whose names should be more familiar to  
us than they are2 and here in ,woburn we

 are to see the feeble but genuine      
penitence of ,abbot ,hobbes4 ,he was    
still unequal to immediate martyrdom1   
but he did what he knew might drag his  
death upon him if disclosed to the      
,government1 and surrounded by spies he 
could have had no hope of concealment4  
',at the time1' deposed ,robert         
,salford1 'that the monks of the        
,charterhouse1 with other traitors1 did 
suffer death1 the abbot did call us into
 the ,chapter-house1 and said these     
words3--,brethren1 this is a perilous   
time2 such a scourge was never heard    
since ,christ's passion4 ,ye hear how   
good men suffer the death4 ,brethren1   
this is undoubted for our offences4 ,ye 
read1 so long as the children of ,israel
 kept the commandments of ,god1 so long 
their enemies had no power over them1   
but ,god took vengeance of their        
enemies4 ,but when they broke ,god's    
commandments1 then they were subdued by 
their enemies1 and so be we4 ,therefore 
let us be sorry for our offences4       

,undoubted ,he will take vengeance of   
our enemies2 ,i mean those heretics that
 causeth so many good men to suffer     
thus4 ,alas1 it is a piteous case that  
so much ,christian blood should be shed4
 ,therefore1 good brethren1 for the     
reverence of ,god1 every one of you     
devoutly pray1 and say this ,psalm1 ',oh
 ,god1 the heathen are come into thine  
inheritance2 thy holy temple have they  
defiled1 and made ,jerusalem a heap of  
stones4 ,the dead bodies of thy servants
 have they given to be meat to the fowls
 of the air1 and the flesh of thy saints
 unto the beasts of the field4 ,their   
blood have they shed like water on every
 side of ,jerusalem1 and there was no   
man to bury them4 ,we are become an open
 scorn unto our enemies1 a very scorn   
and derision unto them that are round   
about us4 ,oh1 remember not our old     
sins1 but have mercy upon us1 and that  
soon1 for we are come to great misery4  
,help us1 oh ,god of our salvation1 for 
the glory of thy name4 ,oh1 be merciful 

unto our sins for thy name's sake4      
,wherefore do the heathen say1 ,where is
 now their ,god8' ,ye shall say this    
,psalm1 repeated the abbot1 every       
,friday1 after the litany1 prostrate1   
when ye lie upon the high altar1 and    
undoubtedly ,god will cease this extreme
 scourge4 ,and so1' continues ,salford1 
significantly1 'the convent did say this
 aforesaid ,psalm until there were      
certain that did murmur at the saying of
 it1 and so it was left4'  ,the abbot1  
it seems1 either stood alone1 or found  
but languid support2 even his own       
familiar friends whom he trusted1 those 
with whom he had walked in the house of 
,god1 had turned against him2 the harsh 
air of the dawn of a new world choked   
him3 what was there for him but to die8 
,but his conscience still haunted him3  
while he lived he must fight on1 and so1
 if possible1 find pardon for his       
perjury4 ,the blows in those years fell 
upon the ,church thick and fast4 ,in    
,february #aecf1 the ,bill passed for   

the dissolution of the smaller          
monasteries2 and now we find the        
sub-prior with the whole fraternity     
united in hostility1 and the abbot      
without one friend remaining4  ',he did 
again call us together1' says the next  
deposition1 'and lamentably mourning for
 the dissolving the said houses1 he     
enjoined us to sing ,salvator mundi1    
salva nos omnes1 every day after lauds2 
and we murmured at it1 and were not     
content to sing it for such cause2 and  
so we did omit it divers days1 for which
 the abbot came unto the chapter1 and   
did in manner rebuke us1 and said we    
were bound to obey his commandment by   
our profession1 and so did command us to
 sing it again with the versicle ,let   
,god arise1 and let his enemies be      
scattered4 ,let them also that hate him 
flee before him4 ,also he enjoined us at
 every mass that every priest did sing1 
to say the collect1 ,oh ,god1 who       
despisest not the sighing of a contrite 
heart4 ,and he said if we did this with 

good and true devotion1 ,god would so   
handle the matter1 that it should be to 
the comfort of all ,england1 and so show
 us mercy as he showed unto the children
 of ,israel4 ,and surely1 brethren1     
there will come to us a good man that   
will rectify these monasteries again    
that be now supprest1 because ,god can  
of these stones raise up children to    
,abraham4'  ',of the stones1' perhaps1  
but less easily of the stony-hearted    
monks1 who1 with pitiless smiles1       
watched the abbot's sorrow1 which should
 soon bring him to his ruin4  ,time     
passed on1 and as the world grew worse1 
so the abbot grew more lonely4 ,desolate
 and unsupported1 he was still unable to
 make up his mind to the course which he
 knew to be right2 but he slowly        
strengthened himself for the trial1 and 
as ,lent came on1 the season brought    
with it a more special call to effort2  
he did not fail to recognise it4 ,the   
conduct of the fraternity sorely        
disturbed him4 ,they preached against   

all which he most loved and valued1 in  
language purposely coarse2 and the mild 
sweetness of the rebukes which he       
administered1 showed plainly on which   
side lay1 in the abbey of ,woburn1 the  
larger portion of the spirit of ,heaven4
 ,now1 when the passions of those times 
have died away1 and we can look back    
with more indifferent eyes1 how touching
 is the following scene4 ,there was one 
,sir ,william1 curate of ,woburn        
,chapel1 whose tongue1 it seems1 was    
rough beyond the rest4 ,the abbot met   
him one day1 and spoke to him4 ',sir    
,william1' he said1 ',i hear tell ye be 
a great railer4 ,i marvel that ye rail  
so4 ,i pray you teach my cure the       
,scripture of ,god1 and that may be to  
edification4 ,i pray you leave such     
railing4 ,ye call the pope a bear and a 
bandog4 ,either he is a good man or an  
ill4 ,domino suo stat aut cadit4 ,the   
office of a bishop is honourable4 ,what 
edifying is this to rail8 ,let him      
alone4'  ,but they would not let him    

alone1 nor would they let the abbot     
alone4 ,he grew 'somewhat acrased1' they
 said2 vexed with feelings of which they
 had no experience4 ,he fell sick1      
sorrow and the ,lent discipline weighing
 upon him4 ,the brethren went to see him
 in his room2 one ,brother ,dan ,woburn 
came among the rest1 and asked him how  
he did2 the abbot answered1 ',i would   
that ,i had died with the good men that 
died for holding with the pope4 ,my     
conscience1 my conscience doth grudge me
 every day for it4' ,life was fast      
losing its value for him4 ,what was life
 to him or any man when bought with a   
sin against his soul8 ',if the abbot be 
disposed to die1 for that matter1'      
,brother ,croxton observed1 'he may die 
as soon as he will4'  ,all ,lent he     
fasted and prayed1 and his illness grew 
upon him2 and at length in ,passion week
 he thought all was over1 and that he   
was going away4 ,on ,passion ,sunday he 
called the brethren about him1 and as   
they stood round his bed1 with their    

cold1 hard eyes1 'he exhorted them all  
to charity2' he implored them 'never to 
consent to go out of their monastery2   
and if it chanced them to be put from   
it1 they should in no wise forsake their
 habit4' ,after these words1 'being in a
 great agony1 he rose out of his bed1   
and cried out and said1 ,i would to     
,god1 it would please him to take me out
 of this wretched world2 and ,i would ,i
 had died with the good men that have   
suffered death heretofore1 for they were
 quickly out of their pain4',t ,then1   
half wandering1 he began to mutter to   
himself aloud the thoughts which had    
been working in him in his struggles2   
and quoting ,st4 ,bernard's words about 
the pope1 he exclaimed1 ',tu quis es    
primatu ,abel1 gubernatione ,noah1      
auctoritate ,moses1 judicatu ,samuel1   
potestate ,petrus1 unctione ,christus4  
,ali ecclesi habent super se pastores4  
,tu pastor pastorum es4'  ,let it be    
remembered that this is no sentimental  
fiction begotten out of the brain of    

some ingenious novelist1 but the record 
of the true words and sufferings of a   
genuine child of ,adam1 labouring in a  
trial too hard for him4  ,he prayed to  
die1 and in good time death was to come 
to him2 but not1 after all1 in the sick 
bed1 with his expiation but half        
completed4 ,a year before1 he had thrown
 down the cross when it was offered him4
 ,he was to take it again--the very     
cross which he had refused4 ,he         
recovered4 ,he was brought before the   
council2 with what result1 there are no 
means of knowing4 ,to admit the papal   
supremacy when officially questioned was
 high treason4 ,whether the abbot was   
constant1 and received some conditional 
pardon1 or whether his heart again for  
the moment failed him--whichever he did1
 the records are silent4 ,this only we  
ascertain of him3 that he was not put to
 death under the statute of supremacy4  
,but1 two years later1 when the official
 list was presented to the ,parliament  
of those who had suffered for their     

share in 'the ,pilgrimage of ,grace1'   
among the rest we find the name of      
,robert ,hobbes1 late ,abbot of ,woburn4
 ,to this solitary fact we can add      
nothing4 ,the rebellion was put down1   
and in the punishment of the offenders  
there was unusual leniency2 not more    
than thirty persons were executed1      
although forty thousand had been in     
arms4 ,those only were selected who had 
been most signally implicated4 ,but they
 were all leaders in the movement2 the  
men of highest rank1 and therefore      
greatest guilt4 ,they died for what they
 believed their duty2 and the king and  
council did their duty in enforcing the 
laws against armed insurgents4 ,he for  
whose cause each supposed themselves to 
be contending1 has long since judged    
between them2 and both parties perhaps  
now see all things with clearer eyes    
than was permitted to them on earth4    
,we also can see more distinctly4 ,we   
will not refuse the ,abbot ,hobbes a    
brief record of his trial and passion4  

,and although twelve generations of     
,russells--all loyal to the ,protestant 
ascendancy--have swept ,woburn clear of 
,catholic associations1 they1 too1 in   
these later days1 will not regret to see
 revived the authentic story of its last
 abbot4  ,,footnotes3  ,q ,from         
,fraser's ,magazine1 #aheg4  ,r ,rolls  
,house ,,ms41 ,miscellaneous ,papers1   
,first ,series4 #cef4  ,s ,tanner ,,ms4 
#aje1 ,bodleian ,library1 ,oxford4  ,t  
,meaning1 as he afterwards said1 ,more  
and ,fisher and the ,carthusians4       
,,england',s ,,forgotten ,,worthies4,u  
#a4 ,the ,observations of ,sir ,richard 
,hawkins1 ,knt41 in his ,voyage in the  
,south ,sea in #aeic4 ,reprinted from   
the ,edition of #afbb1 and ,edited by   
,r4 ,h4 ,major1 ,esq41 of the ,british  
,museum4 ,published by the ,hakluyt     
,society4  #b4 ,the ,discoverie of the  
,empire of ,guiana4 ,by ,sir ,walter    
,ralegh1 ,knt4 ,edited1 with copious    
,explanatory ,notes1 and a ,biographical
 ,memoir1 by ,sir ,robert ,h4           

,schomburgk1 ,phil4 ,d41 c4  #c4        
,narratives of ,early ,voyages          
undertaken for the ,discovery of a      
,passage to ,cathaia and ,india by the  
,north-west2 with ,selections from the  
,records of the ,worshipful ,fellowship 
of the ,merchants of ,london1 trading   
into the ,east ,indies1 and from ,,mss4 
in the ,library of the ,british ,museum1
 now first published1 by ,thomas        
,rundall1 ,esq4   ,the ,reformation1 the
 ,antipodes1 the ,american ,continent1  
the ,planetary system1 and the infinite 
deep of the ,heavens1 have now become   
common and familiar facts to us4 ,globes
 and orreries are the playthings of our 
school-days2 we inhale the spirit of    
,protestantism with our earliest breath 
of consciousness4 ,it is all but        
impossible to throw back our imagination
 into the time when1 as new grand       
discoveries1 they stirred every mind    
which they touched with awe and wonder  
at the revelation which ,god had sent   
down among mankind4 ,vast spiritual and 

material continents lay for the first   
time displayed1 opening fields of       
thought and fields of enterprise of     
which none could conjecture the limit4  
,old routine was broken up4 ,men were   
thrown back on their own strength and   
their own power1 unshackled1 to         
accomplish whatever they might dare4    
,and although we do not speak of these  
discoveries as the cause of that        
enormous force of heart and intellect   
which accompanied them 7for they were as
 much the effect as the cause1 and one  
reacted on the other71 yet at any rate  
they afforded scope and room for the    
play of powers which1 without such      
scope1 let them have been as            
transcendant as they would1 must have   
passed away unproductive and blighted4  
,an earnest faith in the supernatural1  
an intensely real conviction of the     
divine and devilish forces by which the 
universe was guided and misguided1 was  
the inheritance of the ,elizabethan age 
from ,catholic ,christianity4 ,the      

fiercest and most lawless men did then  
really and truly believe in the actual  
personal presence of ,god or the devil  
in every accident1 or scene1 or action4 
,they brought to the contemplation of   
the new heaven and the new earth an     
imagination saturated with the spiritual
 convictions of the old era1 which were 
not lost1 but only infinitely expanded4 
,the planets1 whose vastness they now   
learnt to recognise1 were1 therefore1   
only the more powerful for evil or for  
good2 the tides were the breathing of   
,demogorgon2 and the idolatrous         
,american tribes were real worshippers  
of the real devil1 and were assisted    
with the full power of his evil army4   
,it is a form of thought which1 however 
in a vague and general way we may       
continue to use its phraseology1 has    
become1 in its detailed application to  
life1 utterly strange to us4 ,we        
congratulate ourselves on the           
enlargement of our understanding when we
 read the decisions of grave law courts 

in cases of supposed witchcraft2 we     
smile complacently over ,raleigh's story
 of the island of the ,amazons1 and     
rejoice that we are not such as         
he--entangled in the cobwebs of effete  
and foolish superstition4 ,yet the true 
conclusion is less flattering to our    
vanity4 ,that ,raleigh and ,bacon could 
believe what they believed1 and could be
 what they were notwithstanding1 is to  
us a proof that the injury which such   
mistakes can inflict is unspeakably     
insignificant3 and arising1 as they     
arose1 from a never-failing sense of the
 real awfulness and mystery of the      
world1 and of the life of human souls   
upon it1 they witness to the presence in
 such minds of a spirit1 the loss of    
which not the most perfect acquaintance 
with every law by which the whole       
creation moves can compensate4 ,we      
wonder at the grandeur1 the moral       
majesty of some of ,shakespeare's       
characters1 so far beyond what the      
noblest among ourselves can imitate1 and

 at first thought we attribute it to the
 genius of the poet1 who has outstripped
 nature in his creations4 ,but we are   
misunderstanding the power and the      
meaning of poetry in attributing        
creativeness to it in any such sense4   
,shakespeare created1 but only as the   
spirit of nature created around him1    
working in him as it worked abroad in   
those among whom he lived4 ,the men whom
 he draws were such men as he saw and   
knew2 the words they utter were such as 
he heard in the ordinary conversations  
in which he joined4 ,at the ,mermaid    
with ,raleigh and with ,sidney1 and at a
 thousand unnamed ,english firesides1 he
 found the living originals for his     
,prince ,hals1 his ,orlandos1 his       
,antonios1 his ,portias1 his ,isabellas4
 ,the closer personal acquaintance which
 we can form with the ,english of the   
age of ,elizabeth1 the more we are      
satisfied that ,shakespeare's great     
poetry is no more than the rhythmic echo
 of the life which it depicts4  ,it was1

 therefore1 with no little interest that
 we heard of the formation of a society 
which was to employ itself1 as we       
understood1 in republishing in          
accessible form some1 if not all1 of the
 invaluable records compiled or composed
 by ,richard ,hakluyt4 ,books1 like     
everything else1 have their appointed   
death-day2 the souls of them1 unless    
they be found worthy of a second birth  
in a new body1 perish with the paper in 
which they lived2 and the early folio   
,hakluyts1 not from their own want of   
merit1 but from our neglect of them1    
were expiring of old age4 ,the          
five-volume quarto edition1 published in
 #ahaa1 so little people then cared for 
the exploits of their ancestors1        
consisted but of #bgj copies4 ,it was   
intended for no more than for curious   
antiquaries1 or for the great libraries1
 where it could be consulted as a book  
of reference2 and among a people1 the   
greater part of whom had never heard    
,hakluyt's name1 the editors are        

scarcely to be blamed if it never so    
much as occurred to them that general   
readers would care to have the book     
within their reach4  ,and yet those five
 volumes may be called the ,prose ,epic 
of the modern ,english nation4 ,they    
contain the heroic tales of the exploits
 of the great men in whom the new era   
was inaugurated2 not mythic1 like the   
,iliads and the ,eddas1 but plain broad 
narratives of substantial facts1 which  
rival legend in interest and grandeur4  
,what the old epics were to the royally 
or nobly born1 this modern epic is to   
the common people4 ,we have no longer   
kings or princes for chief actors1 to   
whom the heroism like the dominion of   
the world had in time past been         
confined4 ,but1 as it was in the days of
 the ,apostles1 when a few poor         
fishermen from an obscure lake in       
,palestine assumed1 under the ,divine   
mission1 the spiritual authority over   
mankind1 so1 in the days of our own     
,elizabeth1 the seamen from the banks of

 the ,thames and the ,avon1 the ,plym   
and the ,dart1 self-taught and          
self-directed1 with no impulse but what 
was beating in their own royal hearts1  
went out across the unknown seas        
fighting1 discovering1 colonising1 and  
graved out the channels1 paving them at 
last with their bones1 through which the
 commerce and enterprise of ,england has
 flowed out over all the world4 ,we can 
conceive nothing1 not the songs of      
,homer himself1 which would be read     
among us with more enthusiastic interest
 than these plain massive tales2 and a  
people's edition of them in these days1 
when the writings of ,ainsworth and     
,eugne ,sue circulate in tens of        
thousands1 would perhaps be the most    
blessed antidote which could be bestowed
 upon us4 ,the heroes themselves were   
the men of the people--the ,joneses1 the
 ,smiths1 the ,davises1 the ,drakes2 and
 no courtly pen1 with the one exception 
of ,raleigh1 lent its polish or its     
varnish to set them off4 ,in most cases 

the captain himself1 or his clerk or    
servant1 or some unknown gentleman      
volunteer1 sat down and chronicled the  
voyage which he had shared2 and thus    
inorganically arose a collection of     
writings which1 with all their          
simplicity1 are for nothing more        
striking than for the high moral beauty1
 warmed with natural feeling1 which     
displays itself through all their pages4
 ,with us1 the sailor is scarcely       
himself beyond his quarter-deck4 ,if he 
is distinguished in his profession1 he  
is professional merely2 or if he is more
 than that1 he owes it not to his work  
as a sailor1 but to independent domestic
 culture4 ,with them1 their profession  
was the school of their nature1 a high  
moral education which most brought out  
what was most nobly human in them2 and  
the wonders of earth1 and air1 and sea1 
and sky1 were a real intelligible       
language in which they heard ,almighty  
,god speaking to them4  ,that such hopes
 of what might be accomplished by the   

,hakluyt ,society should in some measure
 be disappointed1 is only what might    
naturally be anticipated of all very    
sanguine expectation4 ,cheap editions   
are expensive editions to the publisher2
 and historical societies1 from a       
necessity which appears to encumber all 
corporate ,english action1 rarely fail  
to do their work expensively and        
infelicitously4 ,yet1 after all         
allowances and deductions1 we cannot    
reconcile ourselves to the mortification
 of having found but one volume in the  
series to be even tolerably edited1 and 
that one to be edited by a gentleman to 
whom ,england is but an adopted         
country--,sir ,robert ,schomburgk4      
,raleigh's ',conquest of ,guiana1' with 
,sir ,robert's sketch of ,raleigh's     
history and character1 form in          
everything but its cost a very model of 
an excellent volume4 ,for the remaining 
editors1,v we are obliged to say that   
they have exerted themselves            
successfully to paralyse whatever       

interest was reviving in ,hakluyt1 and  
to consign their own volumes to the same
 obscurity to which time and accident   
were consigning the earlier editions4   
,very little which was really noteworthy
 escaped the industry of ,hakluyt       
himself1 and we looked to find reprints 
of the most remarkable of the stories   
which were to be found in his           
collection4 ,the editors began          
unfortunately with proposing to continue
 the work where he had left it1 and to  
produce narratives hitherto unpublished 
of other voyages of inferior interest1  
or not of ,english origin4 ,better      
thoughts appear to have occurred to them
 in the course of the work2 but their   
evil destiny overtook them before their 
thoughts could get themselves executed4 
,we opened one volume with eagerness1   
bearing the title of ',voyages to the   
,north-west1' in hope of finding our old
 friends ,davis and ,frobisher4 ,we     
found a vast unnecessary ,editor's      
,preface3 and instead of the voyages    

themselves1 which with their            
picturesqueness and moral beauty shine  
among the fairest jewels in the diamond 
mine of ,hakluyt1 we encountered an     
analysis and digest of their results1   
which ,milton was called in to justify  
in an inappropriate quotation4 ,it is   
much as if they had undertaken to edit  
',bacon's ,essays1' and had retailed    
what they conceived to be the substance 
of them in their own language2 strangely
 failing to see that the real value of  
the actions or the thoughts of          
remarkable men does not lie in the      
material result which can be gathered   
from them1 but in the heart and soul of 
the actors or speakers themselves4      
,consider what ,homer's ',odyssey' would
 be1 reduced into an analysis4  ,the    
editor of the ',letters of ,columbus'   
apologises for the rudeness of the old  
seaman's phraseology4 ,columbus1 he     
tells us1 was not so great a master of  
the pen as of the art of navigation4 ,we
 are to make excuses for him4 ,we are   

put on our guard1 and warned not to be  
offended1 before we are introduced to   
the sublime record of sufferings under  
which a man of the highest order was    
staggering towards the end of his       
earthly calamities2 although the        
inarticulate fragments in which his     
thought breaks out from him1 are strokes
 of natural art by the side of which    
literary pathos is poor and meaningless4
  ,and even in the subjects which they  
select they are pursued by the same     
curious fatality4 ,why is ,drake to be  
best known1 or to be only known1 in his 
last voyage8 ,why pass over the success1
 and endeavour to immortalise the       
failure8 ,when ,drake climbed the tree  
in ,panama1 and saw both oceans1 and    
vowed that he would sail a ship in the  
,pacific2 when he crawled out upon the  
cliffs of ,terra del ,fuego1 and leaned 
his head over the southernmost angle of 
the world2 when he scored a furrow round
 the globe with his keel1 and received  
the homage of the barbarians of the     

antipodes in the name of the ,virgin    
,queen1 he was another man from what he 
had become after twenty years of court  
life and intrigue1 and ,spanish fighting
 and gold-hunting4 ,there is a tragic   
solemnity in his end1 if we take it as  
the last act of his career2 but it is   
his life1 not his death1 which we       
desire--not what he failed to do1 but   
what he did4  ,but every bad has a worse
 below it1 and more offensive than all  
these is the editor of ,hawkins's       
',voyage to the ,south ,sea4' ,the      
narrative is striking in itself2 not one
 of the best1 but very good2 and1 as it 
is republished complete1 we can         
fortunately read it through1 carefully  
shutting off ,captain ,bethune's notes  
with one hand1 and we shall then find in
 it the same beauty which breathes in   
the tone of all the writings of the     
period4  ,it is a record of misfortune1 
but of misfortune which did no dishonour
 to him who sunk under it2 and there is 
a melancholy dignity in the style in    

which ,hawkins tells his story1 which   
seems to say1 that though he had been   
defeated1 and had never again an        
opportunity of winning back his lost    
laurels1 he respects himself still for  
the heart with which he endured a shame 
which would have broken a smaller man4  
,it would have required no large        
exertion of editorial self-denial to    
have abstained from marring the pages   
with puns of which ',punch' would be    
ashamed1 and with the vulgar affectation
 of patronage with which the sea captain
 of the nineteenth century condescends  
to criticise and approve of his         
half-barbarous precursor4 ,and what     
excuse can we find for such an offence  
as this which follows4 ,the war of      
freedom of the ,araucan ,indians is the 
most gallant episode in the history of  
the ,new ,world4 ,the ,spaniards        
themselves were not behindhand in       
acknowledging the chivalry before which 
they quailed1 and1 after many years of  
ineffectual efforts1 they gave up a     

conflict which they never afterwards    
resumed2 leaving the ,araucans alone1 of
 all the ,american races with which they
 came in contact1 a liberty which they  
were unable to tear from them4 ,it is a 
subject for an epic poem2 and whatever  
admiration is due to the heroism of a   
brave people whom no inequality of      
strength could appal and no defeats     
could crush1 these poor ,indians have a 
right to demand of us4 ,the story of the
 war was well known in ,europe2         
,hawkins1 in coasting the western shores
 of ,south ,america1 fell in with them1 
and the finest passage in his book is   
the relation of one of the incidents of 
the war3--      ,an ,indian captain was 
taken prisoner by the ,spaniards1 and   
for that     he was of name1 and known  
to have done his devoir against them1   
they     cut off his hands1 thereby     
intending to disenable him to fight any 
more against them4 ,but he1 returning   
home1 desirous to revenge this          
injury1 to maintain his liberty1 with   

the reputation of his nation1     and to
 help to banish the ,spaniard1 with his 
tongue intreated and     incited them to
 persevere in their accustomed valour   
and reputation1     abasing the enemy   
and advancing his nation2 condemning    
their     contraries of cowardliness1   
and confirming it by the cruelty used   
with him and other his companions in    
their mishaps2 showing them his     arms
 without hands1 and naming his brethren 
whose half feet they had     cut off1   
because they might be unable to sit on  
horseback2 with     force arguing that  
if they feared them not1 they would not 
have used     so great inhumanity--for  
fear produceth cruelty1 the companion of
     cowardice4 ,thus encouraged he them
 to fight for their lives1 limbs1       
and liberty1 choosing rather to die an  
honourable death fighting1     than to  
live in servitude as fruitless members  
of the commonwealth4     ,thus using the
 office of a sergeant-major1 and having 
loaden his two     stumps with bundles  

of arrows1 he succoured them who1 in the
     succeeding battle had their store  
wasted2 and changing himself from       
place to place1 animated and encouraged 
his countrymen with such     comfortable
 persuasions1 as it is reported and     
credibly believed1     that he did more 
good with his words and presence1       
without striking     a stroke1 than a   
great part of the army did with fighting
 to the     utmost4  ,it is an action   
which may take its place by the side of 
the myth of ,mucius ,scvola1 or the real
 exploit of that brother of the poet    
schylus1 who1 when the ,persians were   
flying from ,marathon1 clung to a ship  
till both his hands were hewn away1 and 
then seized it with his teeth1 leaving  
his name as a portent even in the       
splendid calendar of ,athenian heroes4  
,captain ,bethune1 without call or need1
 making his notes1 merely1 as he tells  
us1 from the suggestions of his own mind
 as he revised the proof-sheets1 informs
 us1 at the bottom of the page1 that 'it

 reminds him of the familiar lines--    
,for ,widdrington ,i needs must wail1   
,as one in doleful dumps2     ,for when 
his legs were smitten off1       ,he    
fought upon his stumps4'  ,it must not  
avail him1 that he has but quoted from  
the ballad of ,chevy ,chase4 ,it is the 
most deformed stanza,w of the modern    
deformed version which was composed in  
the eclipse of heart and taste1 on the  
restoration of the ,stuarts2 and if such
 verses could then pass for serious     
poetry1 they have ceased to sound in any
 ear as other than a burlesque2 the     
associations which they arouse are only 
absurd1 and they could only have        
continued to ring in his memory through 
their ludicrous doggrel4  ,when to these
 offences of the ,society we add1 that  
in the long laboured appendices and     
introductions1 which fill up valuable   
space1 which increase the expense of the
 edition1 and into reading which many   
readers are1 no doubt1 betrayed1 we have
 found nothing which assists the        

understanding of the stories which they 
are supposed to illustrate--when we have
 declared that we have found what is    
most uncommon passed without notice1 and
 what is most trite and familiar        
encumbered with comment--we have        
unpacked our hearts of the bitterness   
which these volumes have aroused in us1 
and can now take our leave of them and  
go on with our more grateful subject4   
,elizabeth1 whose despotism was as      
peremptory as that of the ,plantagenets1
 and whose ideas of the ,english        
constitution were limited in the highest
 degree1 was1 notwithstanding1 more     
beloved by her subjects than any        
sovereign before or since4 ,it was      
because1 substantially1 she was the     
people's sovereign2 because it was given
 to her to conduct the outgrowth of the 
national life through its crisis of     
change1 and the weight of her great mind
 and her great place were thrown on the 
people's side4 ,she was able to paralyse
 the dying efforts with which1 if a     

,stuart had been on the throne1 the     
representatives of an effete system     
might have made the struggle a deadly   
one2 and the history of ,england is not 
the history of ,france1 because the     
resolution of one person held the       
,reformation firm till it had rooted    
itself in the heart of the nation1 and  
could not be again overthrown4 ,the     
,catholic faith was no longer able to   
furnish standing ground on which the    
,english or any other nation could live 
a manly and a godly life4 ,feudalism1 as
 a social organisation1 was not any more
 a system under which their energies    
could have scope to move4               
,thenceforward1 not the ,catholic       
,church1 but any man to whom ,god had   
given a heart to feel and a voice to    
speak1 was to be the teacher to whom men
 were to listen2 and great actions were 
not to remain the privilege of the      
families of the ,norman nobles1 but were
 to be laid within the reach of the     
poorest plebeian who had the stuff in   

him to perform them4 ,alone1 of all the 
sovereigns in ,europe1 ,elizabeth saw   
the change which had passed over the    
world4 ,she saw it1 and saw it in faith1
 and accepted it4 ,the ,england of the  
,catholic ,hierarchy and the ,norman    
,baron1 was to cast its shell and to    
become the ,england of free thought and 
commerce and manufacture1 which was to  
plough the ocean with its navies1 and   
sow its colonies over the globe2 and the
 first appearance of these enormous     
forces and the light of the earliest    
achievements of the new era shines      
through the forty years of the reign of 
,elizabeth with a grandeur which1 when  
once its history is written1 will be    
seen to be among the most sublime       
phenomena which the earth as yet has    
witnessed4 ,the work was not of her     
creation2 the heart of the whole        
,english nation was stirred to its      
depths2 and ,elizabeth's place was to   
recognise1 to love1 to foster1 and to   
guide4 ,the ,government originated      

nothing2 at such a time it was neither  
necessary nor desirable that it should  
do so2 but wherever expensive           
enterprises were on foot which promised 
ultimate good1 and doubtful immediate   
profit1 we never fail to find among the 
lists of contributors the ,queen's      
,majesty1 ,burghley1 ,leicester1        
,walsingham4 ,never chary of her        
presence1 for ,elizabeth could afford to
 condescend1 when ships were fitting for
 distant voyages in the river1 the queen
 would go down in her barge and inspect4
 ,frobisher1 who was but a poor sailor  
adventurer1 sees her wave her           
handkerchief to him from the ,greenwich 
,palace windows1 and he brings her home 
a narwhal's horn for a present4 ,she    
honoured her people1 and her people     
loved her2 and the result was that1 with
 no cost to the ,government1 she saw    
them scattering the fleets of the       
,spaniards1 planting ,america with      
colonies1 and exploring the most distant
 seas4 ,either for honour or for        

expectation of profit1 or from that     
unconscious necessity by which a great  
people1 like a great man1 will do what  
is right1 and must do it at the right   
time1 whoever had the means to furnish a
 ship1 and whoever had the talent to    
command one1 laid their abilities       
together and went out to pioneer1 and to
 conquer1 and take possession1 in the   
name of the ,queen of the ,sea4 ,there  
was no nation so remote but what some   
one or other was found ready to         
undertake an expedition there1 in the   
hope of opening a trade2 and1 let them  
go where they would1 they were sure of  
,elizabeth's countenance4 ,we find      
letters written by her1 for the benefit 
of nameless adventurers1 to every       
potentate of whom she had ever heard--to
 the ,emperors of ,china1 ,japan1 and   
,india1 the ,grand ,duke of ,russia1 the
 ,grand ,turk1 the ,persian ',sofee1'   
and other unheard-of ,asiatic and       
,african princes2 whatever was to be    
done in ,england1 or by ,englishmen1    

,elizabeth assisted when she could1 and 
admired when she could not4 ,the springs
 of great actions are always difficult  
to analyse--impossible to analyse       
perfectly--possible to analyse only very
 proximately2 and the force by which a  
man throws a good action out of himself 
is invisible and mystical1 like that    
which brings out the blossom and the    
fruit upon the tree4 ,the motives which 
we find men urging for their enterprises
 seem often insufficient to have        
prompted them to so large a daring4     
,they did what they did from the great  
unrest in them which made them do it1   
and what it was may be best measured by 
the results in the present ,england and 
,america4  ,nevertheless1 there was     
enough in the state of the world1 and in
 the position of ,england1 to have      
furnished abundance of conscious motive1
 and to have stirred the drowsiest      
minister of routine4  ,among material   
occasions for exertion1 the population  
began to outgrow the employment1 and    

there was a necessity for plantations to
 serve as an outlet4 ,men who1 under    
happier circumstances1 might have led   
decent lives1 and done good service1    
were now driven by want to desperate    
courses--'witness1' as ,richard ,hakluyt
 says1 'twenty tall fellows hanged last 
,rochester assizes for small robberies2'
 and there is an admirable paper        
addressed to the ,privy ,council by     
,christopher ,carlile1 ,walsingham's    
son-in-law1 pointing out the possible   
openings to be made in or through such  
plantations for home produce and        
manufacture4  ,far below all such       
prudential economics and mercantile     
ambitions1 however1 lay a chivalrous    
enthusiasm which in these dull days we  
can hardly1 without an effort1 realise4 
,the life-and-death wrestle between the 
,reformation and the old religion had   
settled in the last quarter of the      
sixteenth century into a permanent      
struggle between ,england and ,spain4   
,france was disabled4 ,all the help     

which ,elizabeth could spare barely     
enabled the ,netherlands to defend      
themselves4 ,protestantism1 if it       
conquered1 must conquer on another      
field2 and by the circumstances of the  
time the championship of the ,reformed  
faith fell to the ,english sailors4 ,the
 sword of ,spain was forged in the      
gold-mines of ,peru2 the legions of     
,alva were only to be disarmed by       
intercepting the gold ships on their    
passage2 and1 inspired by an enthusiasm 
like that which four centuries before   
had precipitated the chivalry of ,europe
 upon the ,east1 the same spirit which  
in its present degeneracy covers our    
bays and rivers with pleasure yachts1   
then fitted out armed privateers1 to    
sweep the ,atlantic1 and plunder and    
destroy ,spanish ships wherever they    
could meet them4  ,thus1 from a         
combination of causes1 the whole force  
and energy of the age was directed      
towards the sea4 ,the wide excitement1  
and the greatness of the interests at   

stake1 raised even common men above     
themselves2 and people who in ordinary  
times would have been no more than mere 
seamen1 or mere money-making merchants1 
appear before us with a largeness and   
greatness of heart and mind in which    
their duties to ,god and their country  
are alike clearly and broadly seen and  
felt to be paramount to every other4    
,ordinary ,english traders we find      
fighting ,spanish war ships in behalf of
 the ,protestant faith4 ,the cruisers of
 the ,spanish ,main were full of        
generous eagerness for the conversion of
 the savage nations to ,christianity4   
,and what is even more surprising1 sites
 for colonisation were examined and     
scrutinised by such men in a lofty      
statesmanlike spirit1 and a ready       
insight was displayed by them into the  
indirect effects of a wisely-extended   
commerce on every highest human         
interest4  ,again1 in the conflict with 
the ,spaniards1 there was a further     
feeling1 a feeling of genuine chivalry1 

which was spurring on the ,english1 and 
one which must be well understood and   
well remembered1 if men like ,drake1 and
 ,hawkins1 and ,raleigh are to be       
tolerably understood4 ,one of the       
,english ,reviews1 a short time ago1 was
 much amused with a story of ,drake     
having excommunicated a petty officer as
 a punishment for some moral offence2   
the reviewer not being able to see in   
,drake1 as a man1 anything more than a  
highly brave and successful buccaneer1  
whose pretences to religion might rank  
with the devotion of an ,italian bandit 
to the ,madonna4 ,and so ,hawkins1 and  
even ,raleigh1 are regarded by          
superficial persons1 who see only such  
outward circumstances of their history  
as correspond with their own            
impressions4 ,the high nature of these  
men1 and the high objects which they    
pursued1 will only rise out and become  
visible to us as we can throw ourselves 
back into their times and teach our     
hearts to feel as they felt4 ,we do not 

find in the language of the voyagers    
themselves1 or of those who lent them   
their help at home1 any of that weak    
watery talk of 'protection of           
aborigines1' which1 as soon as it is    
translated into fact1 becomes the most  
active policy for their destruction1    
soul and body4 ,but the stories of the  
dealings of the ,spaniards with the     
conquered ,indians1 which were widely   
known in ,england1 seem to have affected
 all classes of people1 not with pious  
passive horror1 but with a genuine human
 indignation4 ,a thousand anecdotes in  
detail we find scattered up and down the
 pages of ,hakluyt1 who1 with a view to 
make them known1 translated ,peter      
,martyr's letters2 and each commonest   
sailor-boy who had heard these stories  
from his childhood among the tales of   
his father's fireside1 had longed to be 
a man1 that he might go out and become  
the avenger of a gallant and suffering  
people4 ,a high mission1 undertaken with
 a generous heart1 seldom fails to make 

those worthy of it to whom it is given2 
and it was a point of honour1 if of     
nothing more1 among the ,english        
sailors1 to do no discredit by their    
conduct to the greatness of their cause4
 ,the high courtesy1 the chivalry of the
 ,spanish nobles1 so conspicuous in     
their dealings with their ,european     
rivals1 either failed to touch them in  
their dealings with uncultivated        
idolators1 or the high temper of the    
aristocracy was unable to restrain or to
 influence the masses of the soldiers4  
,it would be as ungenerous as it would  
be untrue1 to charge upon their religion
 the grievous actions of men who called 
themselves the armed missionaries of    
,catholicism1 when the ,catholic priests
 and bishops were the loudest in the    
indignation with which they denounced   
them4 ,but we are obliged to charge upon
 it that slow and subtle influence so   
inevitably exercised by any religion    
which is divorced from life1 and        
converted into a thing of form1 or      

creed1 or ceremony1 or system--which    
could permit the same men to be         
extravagant in a sincere devotion to the
 ,queen of ,heaven1 whose entire lower  
nature1 unsubdued and unaffected1 was   
given up to thirst of gold1 and plunder1
 and sensuality4 ,if religion does not  
make men more humane than they would be 
without it1 it makes them fatally less  
so2 and it is to be feared that the     
spirit of the ,pilgrim ,fathers1 which  
had oscillated to the other extreme1 and
 had again crystallised into a formal   
antinomian fanaticism1 reproduced the   
same fatal results as those in which the
 ,spaniards had set them their unworthy 
precedent4 ,but the ,elizabethan        
navigators1 full for the most part with 
large kindness1 wisdom1 gentleness1 and 
beauty1 bear names untainted1 as far as 
we know1 with a single crime against the
 savages of ,america2 and the name of   
,england was as famous in the ,indian   
seas as that of ,spain was infamous4 ,on
 the banks of the ,oronoko there was    

remembered for a hundred years the noble
 captain who had come there from the    
great queen beyond the seas2 and        
,raleigh speaks the language of the     
heart of his country1 when he urges the 
,english statesmen to colonise ,guiana1 
and exults in the glorious hope of      
driving the white marauder into the     
,pacific1 and restoring the ,incas to   
the throne of ,peru4      ,who will not 
be persuaded 7he says7 that now at      
length the great     ,judge of the world
 hath heard the sighs1 groans1 and      
lamentations1     hath seen the tears   
and blood of so many millions of        
innocent men1     women1 and children1  
afflicted1 robbed1 reviled1 branded with
 hot     irons1 roasted1 dismembered1   
mangled1 stabbed1 whipped1 racked1      
scalded with hot oil1 put to the        
strapado1 ripped alive1 beheaded in     
sport1 drowned1 dashed against the      
rocks1 famished1 devoured by            
mastiffs1 burned1 and by infinite       
cruelties consumed1 and purposeth     to

 scourge and plague that cursed nation1 
and to take the yoke of     servitude   
from that distressed people1 as free by 
nature as any     ,christian8  ,poor    
,raleigh6 if peace and comfort in this  
world were of much importance to him1 it
 was in an ill day that he provoked the 
revenge of ,spain4 ,the strength of     
,england was needed at the moment at its
 own door2 the ,armada came1 and there  
was no means of executing such an       
enterprise4 ,and afterwards the throne  
of ,elizabeth was filled by a ,stuart1  
and ,guiana was to be no scene of glory 
for ,raleigh2 rather1 as later          
historians are pleased to think1 it was 
the grave of his reputation4  ,but the  
hope burned clear in him through all the
 weary years of unjust imprisonment2 and
 when he was a grey-headed old man1 the 
base son of a bad mother used it to     
betray him4 ,the success of his last    
enterprise was made the condition under 
which he was to be pardoned for a crime 
which he had not committed2 and its     

success depended1 as he knew1 on its    
being kept secret from the ,spaniards4  
,james required of ,raleigh on his      
allegiance a detail of what he proposed1
 giving him at the same time his word as
 a king that the secret should be safe  
with him4 ,the next day it was sweeping 
out of the port of ,london in the       
swiftest of the ,spanish ships1 with    
private orders to the ,governor of ,st4 
,thomas to provoke a collision when     
,raleigh should arrive there1 which     
should afterwards cost him his heart's  
blood4  ,we modern readers may run      
rapidly over the series of epithets     
under which ,raleigh has catalogued the 
,indian sufferings1 hoping that they are
 exaggerated1 seeing that they are      
horrible1 and closing our eyes against  
them with swiftest haste2 but it was not
 so when every epithet suggested a      
hundred familiar facts2 and some of     
these 7not resting on ,english          
prejudice1 but on sad ,spanish evidence1
 which is too full of shame and sorrow  

to be suspected7 shall be given in this 
place1 however old a story it may be    
thought2 because1 as we said above1 it  
is impossible to understand the actions 
of these men1 unless we are familiar    
with the feelings of which their hearts 
were full4  ,the massacres under ,cortez
 and ,pizarro1 terrible as they were1   
were not the occasion which stirred the 
deepest indignation4 ,they had the      
excuse of what might be called1 for want
 of a better word1 necessity1 and of the
 desperate position of small bands of   
men in the midst of enemies who might be
 counted by millions4 ,and in ,de ,soto1
 when he burnt his guides in ,florida   
7it was his practice1 when there was    
danger of treachery1 that those who were
 left alive might take warning72 or in  
,vasco ,nunnez1 praying to the ,virgin  
on the mountains of ,darien1 and going  
down from off them into the valleys to  
hunt the ,indian caciques1 and fling    
them alive to his bloodhounds2 there    
was1 at least1 with all this fierceness 

and cruelty1 a desperate courage which  
we cannot refuse to admire1 and which   
mingles with and corrects our horror4   
,it is the refinement of the ,spaniard's
 cruelty in the settled and conquered   
provinces1 excused by no danger and     
provoked by no resistance1 the details  
of which witness to the infernal        
coolness with which it was perpetrated2 
and the great bearing of the ,indians   
themselves under an oppression which    
they despaired of resisting1 raises the 
whole history to the rank of a          
world-wide tragedy1 in which the nobler 
but weaker nature was crushed under a   
malignant force which was stronger and  
yet meaner than itself4 ,gold hunting   
and lust were the two passions for which
 the ,spaniards cared2 and the fate of  
the ,indian women was only more dreadful
 than that of the men1 who were ganged  
and chained to a labour in the mines    
which was only to cease with their      
lives1 in a land where but a little     
before they had lived a free contented  

people1 more innocent of crime than     
perhaps any people upon earth4 ,if we   
can conceive what our own feelings would
 be--if1 in the 'development of the     
mammalia1' some baser but more powerful 
race than man were to appear upon this  
planet1 and we and our wives and        
children at our own happy firesides were
 degraded from our freedom1 and became  
to them what the lower animals are to   
us1 we can perhaps realise the feelings 
of the enslaved nations of ,hispaniola4 
,as a harsh justification of slavery1 it
 is sometimes urged that men who do not 
deserve to be slaves will prefer death  
to the endurance of it2 and that if they
 prize their liberty1 it is always in   
their power to assert it in the old     
,roman fashion4 ,tried even by so hard a
 rule1 the ,indians vindicated their    
right2 and1 before the close of the     
sixteenth century1 the entire group of  
the ,western ,islands in the hands of   
the ,spaniards1 containing1 when        
,columbus discovered them1 many millions

 of inhabitants1 were left literally    
desolate from suicide4 ,of the anecdotes
 of this terrible self-immolation1 as   
they were then known in ,england1 here  
are a few out of many4  ,the first is   
simple1 and a specimen of the ordinary  
method4 ,a ,yucatan cacique1 who was    
forced with his old subjects to labour  
in the mines1 at last 'calling those    
miners into an house1 to the number of  
ninety-five1 he thus debateth with      
them3'--      ',my worthy companions and
 friends1 why desire we to live any     
longer     under so cruel a servitude8  
,let us now go unto the perpetual seat  
of     our ancestors1 for we shall there
 have rest from these intolerable       
cares and grievances which we endure    
under the subjection of the             
unthankful4 ,go ye before1 ,i will      
presently follow you4' ,having so       
spoken1 he held out whole handfuls of   
those leaves which take away     life1  
prepared for the purpose1 and giving    
every one part thereof1     being       

kindled to suck up the fume2 who obeyed 
his command1 the king     and his chief 
kinsmen reserving the last place for    
themselves4  ,we speak of the crime of  
suicide1 but few persons will see a     
crime in this sad and stately           
leave-taking of a life which it was no  
longer possible to bear with unbroken   
hearts4 ,we do not envy the ,indian1    
who1 with ,spaniards before him as an   
evidence of the fruits which their creed
 brought forth1 deliberately exchanged  
for it the old religion of his country1 
which could sustain him in an action of 
such melancholy grandeur4 ,but the      
,indians did not always reply to their  
oppressors with escaping passively      
beyond their hands4 ,here is a story    
with matter in it for as rich a tragedy 
as ,o,edipus or ,agamemnon2 and in its  
stern and tremendous features1 more     
nearly resembling them than any which   
were conceived even by ,shakespeare4    
,an officer named ,orlando had taken the
 daughter of a ,cuban cacique to be his 

mistress4 ,she was with child by him1   
but1 suspecting her of being engaged in 
some other intrigue1 he had her fastened
 to two wooden spits1 not intending to  
kill her1 but to terrify her2 and       
setting her before the fire1 he ordered 
that she should be turned by the        
servants of the kitchen4      ,the      
maiden1 stricken with fear through the  
cruelty thereof1 and     strange kind of
 torment1 presently gave up the ghost4  
,the cacique     her father1            
understanding the matter1 took thirty of
 his men and     went to the house of   
the captain1 who was then absent1 and   
slew his     wife1 whom he had married  
after that wicked act committed1 and the
     women who were companions of the   
wife1 and her servants every one4       
,then shutting the door of the house1   
and putting fire under it1 he     burnt 
himself and all his companions that     
assisted him1 together     with the     
captain's dead family and goods4  ,this 
is no fiction or poet's romance4 ,it is 

a tale of wrath and revenge1 which in   
sober dreadful truth enacted itself upon
 this earth1 and remains among the      
eternal records of the doings of mankind
 upon it4 ,as some relief to its most   
terrible features1 we follow it with a  
story which has a touch in it of        
diabolical humour4  ,the slave-owners   
finding their slaves escaping thus      
unprosperously out of their grasp1 set  
themselves to find a remedy for so      
desperate a disease1 and were swift to  
avail themselves of any weakness1 mental
 or bodily1 through which to retain them
 in life4 ,one of these proprietors     
being informed that a number of his     
people intended to kill themselves on a 
certain day1 at a particular spot1 and  
knowing by experience that they were too
 likely to do it1 presented himself     
there at the time which had been fixed  
upon1 and telling the ,indians when they
 arrived that he knew their intention1  
and that it was vain for them to attempt
 to keep anything a secret from him1 he 

ended with saying1 that he had come     
there to kill himself with them2 that as
 he had used them ill in this world1 he 
might use them worse in the next2 'with 
which he did dissuade them presently    
from their purpose4' ,with what efficacy
 such believers in the immortality of   
the soul were likely to recommend either
 their faith or their ,god2 rather1 how 
terribly all the devotion and all the   
earnestness with which the poor priests 
who followed in the wake of the         
conquerors laboured to recommend it were
 shamed and paralysed1 they themselves  
too bitterly lament4  ,it was idle to   
send out governor after governor with   
orders to stay such practices4 ,they had
 but to arrive on the scene to become   
infected with the same fever2 or if any 
remnant of ,castilian honour1 or any    
faintest echoes of the faith which they 
professed1 still flickered in a few of  
the best and noblest1 they could but    
look on with folded hands in ineffectual
 mourning2 they could do nothing without

 soldiers1 and the soldiers were the    
worst offenders4 ,hispaniola became a   
desert2 the gold was in the mines1 and  
there were no slaves left remaining to  
extract it4 ,one means which the        
,spaniards dared to employ to supply the
 vacancy1 brought about an incident     
which in its piteous pathos exceeds any 
story we have ever heard4 ,crimes and   
criminals are swept away by time1 nature
 finds an antidote for their poison1 and
 they and their ill consequences alike  
are blotted out and perish4 ,if we do   
not for give the villain1 at least we   
cease to hate him1 as it grows more     
clear to us that he injures none so     
deeply as himself4 ,but the ,greek3     
thrids kakia1 the enormous wickedness by
 which humanity itself has been outraged
 and disgraced1 we cannot forgive2 we   
cannot cease to hate that2 the years    
roll away1 but the tints of it remain on
 the pages of history1 deep and horrible
 as the day on which they were entered  
there4      ,when the ,spaniards        

understood the simple opinion of the    
,yucatan     islanders concerning the   
souls of their departed1 which1 after   
their     sins purged in the cold       
northern mountains should pass into the 
south1 to the intent that1 leaving their
 own country of their own     accord1   
they might suffer themselves to be      
brought to ,hispaniola1     they did    
persuade those poor wretches1 that they 
came from those     places where they   
should see their parents and children1  
and all     their kindred and friends   
that were dead1 and should enjoy all    
kinds     of delights with the          
embracements and fruition of all beloved
     beings4 ,and they1 being infected  
and possessed with these crafty and     
subtle imaginations1 singing and        
rejoicing left their country1 and       
followed vain and idle hope4 ,but when  
they saw that they were     deceived1   
and neither met their parents nor any   
that they desired1     but were         
compelled to undergo grievous           

sovereignty and command1 and     to     
endure cruel and extreme labour1 they   
either slew themselves1 or1     choosing
 to famish1 gave up their fair spirits1 
being persuaded by     no reason or     
violence to take food4 ,so these        
miserable ,yucatans came     to their   
end4  ,it was once more as it was in the
 days of the ,apostles4 ,the ,new ,world
 was first offered to the holders of the
 old traditions4 ,they were the         
husbandmen first chosen for the new     
vineyard1 and blood and desolation were 
the only fruits which they reared upon  
it4 ,in their hands it was becoming a   
kingdom1 not of ,god1 but of the devil1 
and a sentence of blight went out       
against them and against their works4   
,how fatally it has worked1 let modern  
,spain and ,spanish ,america bear       
witness4 ,we need not follow further the
 history of their dealings with the     
,indians4 ,for their colonies1 a        
fatality appears to have followed all   
attempts at ,catholic colonisation4     

,like shoots from an old decaying tree  
which no skill and no care can rear1    
they were planted1 and for a while they 
might seem to grow2 but their life was  
never more than a lingering death1 a    
failure1 which to a thinking person     
would outweigh in the arguments against 
,catholicism whole libraries of         
faultless catenas1 and a consensus      
patrum unbroken through fifteen         
centuries for the supremacy of ,st4     
,peter4  ,there is no occasion to look  
for superstitious causes to explain the 
phenomenon4 ,the ,catholic faith had    
ceased to be the faith of the large mass
 of earnest thinking capable persons2   
and to those who can best do the work1  
all work in this world sooner or later  
is committed4 ,america was the natural  
home for ,protestants2 persecuted at    
home1 they sought a place where they    
might worship ,god in their own way1    
without danger of stake or gibbet1 and  
the ,french ,huguenots1 as afterwards   
the ,english ,puritans1 early found     

their way there4 ,the fate of a party of
 ,coligny's people1 who had gone out as 
settlers1 shall be the last of these    
stories1 illustrating1 as it does in the
 highest degree1 the wrath and fury with
 which the passions on both sides were  
boiling4 ,a certain ,john ,ribault1 with
 about #djj companions1 had emigrated to
 ,florida4 ,they were quiet inoffensive 
people1 and lived in peace there several
 years1 cultivating the soil1 building  
villages1 and on the best possible terms
 with the natives4 ,spain was at the    
time at peace with ,france2 we are1     
therefore1 to suppose that it was in    
pursuance of the great crusade1 in which
 they might feel secure of the secret1  
if not the confessed1 sympathy of the   
,guises1 that a powerful ,spanish fleet 
bore down upon this settlement4 ,the    
,french made no resistance1 and they    
were seized and flayed alive1 and their 
bodies hung out upon the trees1 with an 
inscription suspended over them1 ',not  
as ,frenchmen1 but as heretics4' ,at    

,paris all was sweetness and silence4   
,the settlement was tranquilly          
surrendered to the same men who had made
 it the scene of their atrocity2 and two
 years later1 #ejj of the very          
,spaniards who had been most active in  
the murder were living there in         
peaceable possession1 in two forts which
 their relation with the natives had    
obliged them to build4 ,it was well that
 there were other ,frenchmen living1 of 
whose consciences the ,court had not the
 keeping1 and who were able on          
emergencies to do what was right without
 consulting it4 ,a certain privateer1   
named ,dominique de ,gourges1 secretly  
armed and equipped a vessel at          
,rochelle1 and1 stealing across the     
,atlantic and in two days collecting a  
strong party of ,indians1 he came down  
suddenly upon the forts1 and1 taking    
them by storm1 slew or afterwards hanged
 every man he found there1 leaving their
 bodies on the trees on which they had  
hanged the ,huguenots1 with their own   

inscription reversed against them--',not
 as ,spaniards1 but as murderers4' ,for 
which exploit1 well deserving of all    
honest men's praise1 ,dominique de      
,gourges had to fly his country for his 
life2 and1 coming to ,england1 was      
received with honourable welcome by     
,elizabeth4  ,it was at such a time1 and
 to take their part amidst such scenes  
as these1 that the ,english navigators  
appeared along the shores of ,south     
,america1 as the armed soldiers of the  
,reformation1 and as the avengers of    
humanity4 ,as their enterprise was grand
 and lofty1 so for the most part was the
 manner in which they bore themselves   
worthy of it4 ,they were no nation of   
saints1 in the modern sentimental sense 
of that word2 they were prompt1 stern   
men--more ready ever to strike an enemy 
than to parley with him2 and1 private   
adventurers as they all were1 it was    
natural enough that private rapacity and
 private badness should be found among  
them as among other mortals4 ,every     

,englishman who had the means was at    
liberty to fit out a ship or ships1 and 
if he could produce tolerable vouchers  
for himself1 received at once a         
commission from the ,court4 ,the battles
 of ,england were fought by her         
children1 at their own risk and cost1   
and they were at liberty to repay       
themselves the expense of their         
expeditions by plundering at the cost of
 the national enemy4 ,thus1 of course1  
in a mixed world1 there were found mixed
 marauding crews of scoundrels1 who     
played the game which a century later   
was played with such effect by the      
pirates of the ,tortugas4 ,negro hunters
 too1 there were1 and a bad black slave 
trade--in which ,elizabeth herself1     
being hard driven for money1 did not    
disdain to invest her capital--but on   
the whole1 and in the war with the      
,spaniards1 as in the war with the      
elements1 the conduct and character of  
the ,english sailors1 considering what  
they were and the work which they were  

sent to do1 present us all through that 
age with such a picture of gallantry1   
disinterestedness1 and high heroic      
energy1 as has never been overmatched2  
the more remarkable1 as it was the fruit
 of no drill or discipline1 no          
tradition1 no system1 no organised      
training1 but was the free native growth
 of a noble virgin soil4  ,before       
starting on an expedition1 it was usual 
for the crew and the officers to meet   
and arrange among themselves a series of
 articles of conduct1 to which they     
bound themselves by a formal agreement1 
the entire body itself undertaking to   
see to their observance4 ,it is quite   
possible that strong religious          
profession1 and even sincere profession1
 might be accompanied1 as it was in the 
,spaniards1 with everything most        
detestable4 ,it is not sufficient of    
itself to prove that their actions would
 correspond with it1 but it is one among
 a number of evidences2 and coming as   
most of these men come before us1 with  

hands clear of any blood but of fair and
 open enemies1 their articles may pass  
at least as indications of what they    
were4  ,here we have a few instances3-- 
,richard ,hawkins's ship's company was1 
as he himself informs us1 an unusually  
loose one4 ,nevertheless1 we find them  
'gathered together every morning and    
evening to serve ,god2' and a fire on   
board1 which only ,hawkins's presence of
 mind prevented from destroying ship and
 crew together1 was made use of by the  
men as an occasion to banish swearing   
out of the ship4      ,with a general   
consent of all our company1 it was      
ordained that     there should be a     
palmer or ferula which should be in the 
keeping of     him who was taken with an
 oath2 and that he who had the palmer   
should give to every one that he took   
swearing1 a palmada with it     and the 
ferula2 and whosoever at the time of    
evening or morning     prayer was found 
to have the palmer1 should have three   
blows given     him by the captain or   

the master2 and that he should still be 
bound     to free himself by taking     
another1 or else to run in danger of    
continuing the penalty1 which1 being    
executed a few days1 reformed     the   
vice1 so that in three days together was
 not one oath heard to     be sworn4    
,the regulations for ,luke ,fox's voyage
 commenced thus3--      ,for as much as 
the good success and prosperity of every
 action doth     consist in the due     
service and glorifying of ,god1 knowing 
that not     only our being and         
preservation1 but the prosperity of all 
our     actions and enterprises do      
immediately depend on ,his ,almighty    
goodness and mercy2 it is provided--    
,first1 that all the company1 as well   
officers as others1 shall duly          
repair every day twice at the call of   
the bell to hear public     prayers to  
be read1 such as are authorised by the  
church1 and that     in a godly and     
devout manner1 as good ,christians      
ought4      ,secondly1 that no man shall

 swear by the name of ,god1 or use any  
profane oath1 or blaspheme ,his holy    
name4  ,to symptoms such as these1 we   
cannot but assign a very different value
 when they are the spontaneous growth of
 common minds1 unstimulated by sense of 
propriety or rules of the service1 or   
other official influence lay or         
ecclesiastic1 from what attaches to the 
somewhat similar ceremonials in which1  
among persons whose position is         
conspicuous1 important enterprises are  
now and then inaugurated4  ,we have said
 as much as we intend to say of the     
treatment by the ,spaniards of the      
,indian women4 ,sir ,walter ,raleigh is 
commonly represented by historians as   
rather defective1 if he was remarkable  
at all1 on the moral side of his        
character4 ,yet ,raleigh can declare    
proudly1 that all the time he was on the
 ,oronoko1 'neither by force nor other  
means had any of his men intercourse    
with any woman there2' and the narrator 
of the incidents of ,raleigh's last     

voyage acquaints his correspondent 'with
 some particulars touching the          
government of the fleet1 which1 although
 other men in their voyages doubtless in
 some measure observed1 yet in all the  
great volumes which have been written   
touching voyages1 there is no precedent 
of so godly severe and martial          
government1 which not only in itself is 
laudable and worthy of imitation1 but is
 also fit to be written and engraven on 
every man's soul that coveteth to do    
honour to his country4'  ,once more1 the
 modern theory of ,drake is1 as we said 
above1 that he was a gentleman-like     
pirate on a large scale1 who is indebted
 for the place which he fills in history
 to the indistinct ideas of right and   
wrong prevailing in the unenlightened   
age in which he lived1 and who therefore
 demands all the toleration of our own  
enlarged humanity to allow him to remain
 there4 ,let us see how the following   
incident can be made to coincide with   
this hypothesis3--  ,a few days after   

clearing the ,channel on his first great
 voyage1 he fell in with a small        
,spanish ship1 which he took for a      
prize4 ,he committed the care of it to a
 certain ,mr4 ,doughtie1 a person much  
trusted by1 and personally very dear to 
him1 and this second vessel was to      
follow him as a tender4  ,in dangerous  
expeditions into unknown seas1 a second 
smaller ship was often indispensable to 
success2 but many finely intended       
enterprises were ruined by the cowardice
 of the officers to whom such ships were
 entrusted2 who shrank as danger        
thickened1 and again and again took     
advantage of darkness or heavy weather  
to make sail for ,england and forsake   
their commander4 ,hawkins twice suffered
 in this way2 so did ,sir ,humfrey      
,gilbert2 and1 although ,drake's own    
kind feeling for his old friend has     
prevented him from leaving an exact     
account of his offence1 we gather from  
the scattered hints which are let fall1 
that he1 too1 was meditating a similar  

piece of treason4 ,however1 it may or   
may not have been thus4 ,but when at    
,port ,st4 ,julien1 'our ,general1' says
 one of the crew1--      ,began to      
inquire diligently of the actions of    
,mr4 ,thomas ,doughtie1     and found   
them not to be such as he looked for1   
but tending rather     to contention or 
mutiny1 or some other disorder1 whereby1
 without     redresse1 the success of   
the voyage might greatly have been      
hazarded4 ,whereupon the company was    
called together and made     acquainted 
with the particulars of the cause1 which
 were found1     partly by ,mr4         
,doughtie's own confession1 and partly  
by the evidence     of the fact1 to be  
true1 which1 when our ,general saw1     
although his     private affection to   
,mr4 ,doughtie 7as he then1 in the      
presence of us     all1 sacredly        
protested7 was great1 yet the care which
 he had of the     state of the voyage1 
of the expectation of ,her ,majesty1 and
 of the     honour of his country1 did  

more touch him1 as indeed it ought1 than
     the private respect of one man2 so 
that the cause being throughly          
heard1 and all things done in good order
 as near as might be to the     course  
of our law in ,england1 it was concluded
 that ,mr4 ,doughtie     should receive 
punishment according to the quality of  
the offence4     ,and he1 seeing no     
remedy but patience for himself1 desired
 before     his death to receive the    
communion1 which he did at the hands of 
,mr4     ,fletcher1 our minister1 and   
our ,general himself accompanied him in 
that holy action1 which1 being done1 and
 the place of execution made     ready1 
he1 having embraced our ,general1 and   
taken leave of all the     company1 with
 prayers for the ,queen's ,majesty and  
our realm1 in     quiet sort laid his   
head to the block1 where he ended his   
life4 ,this     being done1 our ,general
 made divers speeches to the whole      
company1     persuading us to unity1    
obedience1 love1 and regard of our      

voyage1     and for the better          
confirmation thereof1 willed every man  
the next     ,sunday following to       
prepare himself to receive the          
communion1 as     ,christian brethren   
and friends ought to do1 which was done 
in very     reverent sort1 and so with  
good contentment every man went about   
his     business4  ,the simple majesty  
of this anecdote can gain nothing from  
any comment which we might offer upon   
it4 ,the crew of a common ,english ship 
organising1 of their own free motion1 on
 that wild shore1 a judgment hall more  
grand and awful than any most elaborate 
law court1 is not to be reconciled with 
the pirate theory4 ,drake1 it is true1  
appropriated and brought home a million 
and a half of ,spanish treasure1 while  
,england and ,spain were at peace4 ,he  
took that treasure because for many     
years the officers of the ,inquisition  
had made free at their pleasure with the
 lives and goods of ,english merchants  
and seamen4 ,the king of ,spain1 when   

appealed to1 had replied that he had no 
power over the ,holy ,house2 and it was 
necessary to make the king of ,spain1 or
 the ,inquisition1 or whoever were the  
parties responsible1 feel that they     
could not play their pious pranks with  
impunity4 ,when ,drake seized the       
bullion at ,panama1 he sent word to the 
viceroy that he should now learn to     
respect the properties of ,english      
subjects2 and he added1 that if four    
,english sailors1 who were prisoners in 
,mexico1 were molested1 he would execute
 #b1jjj ,spaniards and send the viceroy 
their heads4 ,spain and ,england were at
 peace1 but ,popery and ,protestantism  
were at war--deep1 deadly1 and          
irreconcileable4  ,wherever we find     
them1 they are still the same4 ,in the  
courts of ,japan or of ,china2 fighting 
,spaniards in the ,pacific1 or prisoners
 among the ,algerines2 founding colonies
 which by-and-by were to grow into      
enormous ,transatlantic republics1 or   
exploring in crazy pinnaces the fierce  

latitudes of the ,polar seas1--they are 
the same indomitable ,god-fearing men   
whose life was one great liturgy4 ',the 
ice was strong1 but ,god was stronger1' 
says one of ,frobisher's men1 after     
grinding a night and a day among the    
icebergs1 not waiting for ,god to come  
down and split the ice for them1 but    
toiling through the long hours1 himself 
and the rest fending off the vessel with
 poles and planks1 with death glaring at
 them out of the rocks4 ,icebergs were  
strong1 ,spaniards were strong1 and     
storms1 and corsairs1 and rocks and     
reefs1 which no chart had then          
noted--they were all strong2 but ,god   
was stronger1 and that was all which    
they cared to know4  ,out of the vast   
number of illustrations it is difficult 
to make wise selections1 but the        
attention floats loosely over           
generalities1 and only individual       
instances can seize it and hold it fast4
 ,we shall attempt to bring our readers 
face to face with some of these men2    

not1 of course1 to write their          
biographies1 but to sketch the details  
of a few scenes1 in the hope that they  
may tempt those under whose eyes they   
may fall to look for themselves to      
complete the perfect figure4  ,some two 
miles above the port of ,dartmouth1 once
 among the most important harbours in   
,england1 on a projecting angle of land 
which runs out into the river at the    
head of one of its most beautiful       
reaches1 there has stood for some       
centuries the ,manor ,house of          
,greenaway4 ,the water runs deep all the
 way to it from the sea1 and the largest
 vessels may ride with safety within a  
stone's throw of the windows4 ,in the   
latter half of the sixteenth century    
there must have met1 in the hall of this
 mansion1 a party as remarkable as could
 have been found anywhere in ,england4  
,humfrey and ,adrian ,gilbert1 with     
their half-brother1 ,walter ,raleigh1   
here1 when little boys1 played at       
sailors in the reaches of ,long ,stream2

 in the summer evenings doubtless rowing
 down with the tide to the port1 and    
wondering at the quaint figure-heads and
 carved prows of the ships which        
thronged it2 or climbing on board1 and  
listening1 with hearts beating1 to the  
mariners' tales of the new earth beyond 
the sunset4 ,and here in later life1    
matured men1 whose boyish dreams had    
become heroic action1 they used again to
 meet in the intervals of quiet1 and the
 rock is shown underneath the house     
where ,raleigh smoked the first tobacco4
 ,another remarkable man1 of whom we    
shall presently speak more closely1     
could not fail to have made a fourth at 
these meetings4 ,a sailor boy of        
,sandwich1 the adjoining parish1 ,john  
,davis1 showed early a genius which     
could not have escaped the eye of such  
neighbours1 and in the atmosphere of    
,greenaway he learned to be as noble as 
the ,gilberts1 and as tender and        
delicate as ,raleigh4 ,of this party1   
for the present we confine ourselves to 

the host and owner1 ,humfrey ,gilbert1  
knighted afterwards by ,elizabeth4 ,led 
by the scenes of his childhood to the   
sea and to sea adventures1 and          
afterwards1 as his mind unfolded1 to    
study his profession scientifically1 we 
find him as soon as he was old enough to
 think for himself1 or make others      
listen to him1 'amending the great      
errors of naval sea cards1 whose common 
fault is to make the degree of longitude
 in every latitude of one common        
bigness2' inventing instruments for     
taking observations1 studying the form  
of the earth1 and convincing himself    
that there was a north-west passage1 and
 studying the necessities of his        
country1 and discovering the remedies   
for them in colonisation and extended   
markets for home manufactures4 ,gilbert 
was examined before the ,queen's        
,majesty and the ,privy ,council1 and   
the record of his examination he has    
himself left to us in a paper which he  
afterwards drew up1 and strange enough  

reading it is4 ,the most admirable      
conclusions stand side by side with the 
wildest conjectures4  ,homer and        
,aristotle are pressed into service to  
prove that the ocean runs round the     
three old continents1 and that ,america 
therefore is necessarily an island4 ,the
 ,gulf ,stream1 which he had carefully  
observed1 eked out by a theory of the   
primum mobile1 is made to demonstrate a 
channel to the north1 corresponding to  
,magellan's ,straits in the south1      
,gilbert believing1 in common with      
almost everyone of his day1 that these  
straits were the only opening into the  
,pacific1 and the land to the ,south was
 unbroken to the ,pole4 ,he prophesies a
 market in the ,east for our            
manufactured linen and calicoes3--      
,the ,easterns greatly prizing the same1
 as appeareth in ,hester1 where     the 
pomp is expressed of the great ,king of 
,india1 ,ahasuerus1 who     matched the 
coloured clothes wherewith his houses   
and tents were     apparelled1 with gold

 and silver1 as part of his greatest    
treasure4  ,these and other such        
arguments were the best analysis which  
,sir ,humfrey had to offer of the spirit
 which he felt to be working in him4 ,we
 may think what we please of them2 but  
we can have but one thought of the great
 grand words with which the memorial    
concludes1 and they alone would explain 
the love which ,elizabeth bore him3--   
,never1 therefore1 mislike with me for  
taking in hand any laudable     and     
honest enterprise1 for if through       
pleasure or idleness we     purchase    
shame1 the pleasure vanisheth1 but the  
shame abideth for     ever4      ,give  
me leave1 therefore1 without offence1   
always to live and die in     this mind3
 that he is not worthy to live at all   
that1 for fear or     danger of death1  
shunneth his country's service and his  
own honour1     seeing that death is    
inevitable and the fame of virtue       
immortal1     wherefore in this behalf  
mutare vel timere sperno4  ,two voyages 

which he undertook at his own cost1     
which shattered his fortune1 and failed1
 as they naturally might1 since         
inefficient help or mutiny of           
subordinates1 or other disorders1 are   
inevitable conditions under which more  
or less great men must be content to see
 their great thoughts mutilated by the  
feebleness of their instruments1 did not
 dishearten him1 and in ,june #aehc a   
last fleet of five ships sailed from the
 port of ,dartmouth1 with commission    
from the queen to discover and take     
possession from latitude #de to #ej     
,north--a voyage not a little           
noteworthy1 there being planted in the  
course of it the first ,english colony  
west of the ,atlantic4 ,elizabeth had a 
foreboding that she would never see him 
again4 ,she sent him a jewel as a last  
token of her favour1 and she desired    
,raleigh to have his picture taken      
before he went4  ,the history of the    
voyage was written by a ,mr4 ,edward    
,hayes1 of ,dartmouth1 one of the       

principal actors in it1 and as a        
composition it is more remarkable for   
fine writing than any very commendable  
thought in the author4 ,but ,sir        
,humfrey's nature shines through the    
infirmity of his chronicler2 and in the 
end1 indeed1 ,mr4 ,hayes himself is     
subdued into a better mind4 ,he had lost
 money by the voyage1 and we will hope  
his higher nature was only under a      
temporary eclipse4 ,the fleet consisted 
7it is well to observe the ships and the
 size of them7 of the ',delight1' #abj  
tons2 the barque ',raleigh1' #bjj tons  
7this ship deserted off the ,land's     
,end72 the ',golden ,hinde' and the     
',swallow1' #dj tons each2 and the      
',squirrel1' which was called the       
frigate1 #aj tons4 ,for the uninitiated 
in such matters1 we may add1 that if in 
a vessel the size of the last1 a member 
of the ,yacht ,club would consider that 
he had earned a club-room immortality if
 he had ventured a run in the depth of  
summer from ,cowes to the ,channel      

,islands4      ,we were in all 7says    
,mr4 ,hayes7 #bfj men1 among whom we had
 of every     faculty good choice4      
,besides1 for solace of our own people1 
and     allurement of the savages1 we   
were provided of music in good          
variety1 not omitting the least toys1 as
 morris dancers1 hobby     horses1 and  
,may-like conceits to delight the savage
 people4  ,the expedition reached       
,newfoundland without accident4 ,st4    
,john's was taken possession of1 and a  
colony left there2 and ,sir ,humfrey    
then set out exploring along the        
,american coast to the south1 he himself
 doing all the work in his little       
#aj-ton cutter1 the service being too   
dangerous for the larger vessels to     
venture on4 ,one of these had remained  
at ,st4 ,john's4 ,he was now accompanied
 only by the ',delight' and the ',golden
 ,hinde1' and these two keeping as near 
the shore as they dared1 he spent what  
remained of the summer examining every  
creek and bay1 marking the soundings1   

taking the bearings of the possible     
harbours1 and risking his life1 as every
 hour he was obliged to risk it in such 
a service1 in thus leading1 as it were1 
the forlorn hope in the conquest of the 
,new ,world4 ,how dangerous it was we   
shall presently see4 ,it was towards the
 end of ,august4      ,the evening was  
fair and pleasant1 yet not without token
 of storm to     ensue1 and most part of
 this ,wednesday night1 like the swan   
that     singeth before her death1 they 
in the ',delight' continued in          
sounding of drums and trumpets and      
fifes1 also winding the cornets     and 
hautboys1 and in the end of their       
jollity left with the battell     and   
ringing of doleful knells4  ,two days   
after came the storm2 the ',delight'    
struck upon a bank1 and went down in    
sight of the other vessels1 which were  
unable to render her any help4 ,sir     
,humfrey's papers1 among other things1  
were all lost in her2 at the time       
considered by him an irreparable        

misfortune4 ,but it was little matter1  
he was never to need them4 ,the ',golden
 ,hinde' and the ',squirrel' were now   
left alone of the five ships4 ,the      
provisions were running short1 and the  
summer season was closing4 ,both crews  
were on short allowance2 and with much  
difficulty ,sir ,humfrey was prevailed  
upon to be satisfied for the present    
with what he had done1 and to lay off   
for ,england4      ,so upon ,saturday1  
in the afternoon1 the #cast of ,august1 
we changed     our course1 and returned 
back for ,england1 at which very        
instant1     even in winding about1     
there passed along between us and the   
land1     which we now forsook1 a very  
lion1 to our seeming1 in shape1 hair1   
and colour2 not swimming after the      
manner of a beast by moving of     his  
feet1 but rather sliding upon the water 
with his whole body1     except his     
legs1 in sight1 neither yet diving under
 and again     rising as the manner is  
of whales1 porpoises1 and other fish1   

but     confidently showing himself     
without hiding1 notwithstanding that we 
presented ourselves in open view and    
gesture to amaze him4 ,thus he          
passed along1 turning his head to and   
fro1 yawning and gaping wide1     with  
ougly demonstration of long teeth and   
glaring eyes2 and to     bidde us       
farewell1 coming right against the      
',hinde1' he sent forth a     horrible  
voice1 roaring and bellowing as doth a  
lion1 which     spectacle we all beheld 
so far as we were able to discern the   
same1     as men prone to wonder at     
every strange thing4 ,what opinion      
others     had thereof1 and chiefly the 
,general himself1 ,i forbear to deliver4
     ,but he took it for ,bonum ,omen1  
rejoicing that he was to war     against
 such an enemy1 if it were the devil4   
,we have no doubt that he did think it  
was the devil2 men in those days        
believing really that evil was more than
 a principle or a necessary accident1   
and that in all their labour for ,god   

and for right1 they must make their     
account to have to fight with the devil 
in his proper person4 ,but if we are to 
call it superstition1 and if this were  
no devil in the form of a roaring lion1 
but a mere great seal or sea-lion1 it is
 a more innocent superstition to        
impersonate so real a power1 and it     
requires a bolder heart to rise up      
against it and defy it in its living    
terror1 than to sublimate it away into a
 philosophical principle1 and to forget 
to battle with it in speculating on its 
origin and nature4 ,but to follow the   
brave ,sir ,humfrey1 whose work of      
fighting with the devil was now over1   
and who was passing to his reward4 ,the 
#bnd of ,september the ,general came on 
board the ',golden ,hinde' 'to make     
merry with us4' ,he greatly deplored the
 loss of his books and papers1 but he   
was full of confidence from what he had 
seen1 and talked with eagerness and     
warmth of the new expedition for the    
following spring4 ,apocryphal gold-mines

 still occupying the minds of ,mr4      
,hayes and others1 they were persuaded  
that ,sir ,humfrey was keeping to       
himself some such discovery which he had
 secretly made1 and they tried hard to  
extract it from him4 ,they could make   
nothing1 however1 of his odd1 ironical  
answers1 and their sorrow at the        
catastrophe which followed is sadly     
blended with disappointment that such a 
secret should have perished4 ,sir       
,humfrey doubtless saw ,america with    
other eyes than theirs1 and gold-mines  
richer than ,california in its huge     
rivers and savannahs4      ,leaving the 
issue of this good hope 7about the      
gold71 7continues ,mr4     ,hayes71 to  
,god1 who only knoweth the truth        
thereof1 ,i will hasten     to the end  
of this tragedy1 which must be knit up  
in the person of     our ,general1 and  
as it was ,god's ordinance upon him1    
even so the     vehement persuasion of  
his friends could nothing avail to      
divert him     from his wilful          

resolution of going in his frigate2 and 
when he was     entreated by the        
captain1 master1 and others1 his        
well-wishers in     the ',hinde1' not to
 venture1 this was his answer--',i will 
not     forsake my little company going 
homewards1 with whom ,i have passed     
so many storms and perils4'  ,two-thirds
 of the way home they met foul weather  
and terrible seas1 'breaking-short and  
pyramid-wise4' ,men who had all their   
lives 'occupied the sea' had never seen 
it more outrageous4 ',we had also upon  
our mainyard an apparition of a little  
fier by night1 which seamen do call     
,castor and ,pollux4'      ,monday the  
ninth of ,september1 in the afternoon1  
the frigate was     near cast away      
oppressed by waves1 but at that time    
recovered1 and     giving forth signs of
 joy1 the ,general1 sitting abaft with a
 book in     his hand1 cried out unto us
 in the ',hinde' so often as we did     
approach within hearing1 ',we are as    
near to heaven by sea as by     land1'  

reiterating the same speech1 well       
beseeming a soldier     resolute in     
,jesus ,christ1 as ,i can testify that  
he was4 ,the same     ,monday night1    
about twelve of the clock1 or not long  
after1 the     frigate being ahead of us
 in the ',golden ,hinde1' suddenly her  
lights     were out1 whereof as it were 
in a moment we lost the sight2 and      
withal our watch cried1 ',the ,general  
was cast away1' which was too     true4 
,thus faithfully 7concludes ,mr4 ,hayes1
 in some degree rising above            
himself7 ,i have related this story1    
wherein some spark of the     knight's  
virtues1 though he be extinguished1 may 
happily appear2 he     remaining        
resolute to a purpose honest and godly  
as was this1 to     discover1 possess1  
and reduce unto the service of ,god and 
,christian     piety1 those remote and  
heathen countries of ,america4 ,such is 
the     infinite bounty of ,god1 who    
from every evil deriveth good1 that     
fruit may grow in time of our travelling

 in these ,north-,western     lands 7as 
has it not grown871 and the crosses1    
turmoils1 and     afflictions1 both in  
the preparation and execution of the    
voyage1     did correct the intemperate 
humours which before we noted to be in  
this gentleman1 and made unsavoury and  
less delightful his other     manifold  
virtues4      ,thus as he was refined   
and made nearer unto the image of ,god1 
so it     pleased the ,divine will to   
resume him unto ,himself1 whither both  
his     and every other high and noble  
mind have always aspired4  ,such was    
,sir ,humfrey ,gilbert2 still in the    
prime of his years when the ,atlantic   
swallowed him4 ,like the gleam of a     
landscape lit suddenly for a moment by  
the lightning1 these few scenes flash   
down to us across the centuries3 but    
what a life must that have been of which
 this was the conclusion6 ,we have      
glimpses of him a few years earlier1    
when he won his spurs in ,ireland--won  
them by deeds which to us seem terrible 

in their ruthlessness1 but which won the
 applause of ,sir ,henry ,sidney as too 
high for praise or even reward4         
,chequered like all of us with lines of 
light and darkness1 he was1             
nevertheless1 one of a race which has   
ceased to be4 ,we look round for them1  
and we can hardly believe that the same 
blood is flowing in our veins4 ,brave we
 may still be1 and strong perhaps as    
they1 but the high moral grace which    
made bravery and strength so beautiful  
is departed from us for ever4  ,our     
space is sadly limited for historical   
portrait painting2 but we must find room
 for another of that ,greenaway party   
whose nature was as fine as that of     
,gilbert1 and who intellectually was    
more largely gifted4 ,the latter was    
drowned in #aehc4 ,in #aehe ,john ,davis
 left ,dartmouth on his first voyage    
into the ,polar seas2 and twice         
subsequently he went again1 venturing in
 small ill-equipped vessels of thirty or
 forty tons into the most dangerous     

seas4 ,these voyages were as remarkable 
for their success as for the daring with
 which they were accomplished1 and      
,davis's epitaph is written on the map  
of the world1 where his name still      
remains to commemorate his discoveries4 
,brave as he was1 he is distinguished by
 a peculiar and exquisite sweetness of  
nature1 which1 from many little facts of
 his life1 seems to have affected       
everyone with whom he came in contact in
 a remarkable degree4 ,we find men1 for 
the love of ,master ,davis1 leaving     
their firesides to sail with him1       
without other hope or motion2 we find   
silver bullets cast to shoot him in a   
mutiny2 the hard rude natures of the    
mutineers being awed by something in his
 carriage which was not like that of a  
common man4 ,he has written the account 
of one of his northern voyages himself2 
one of those1 by-the-by1 which the      
,hakluyt ,society have mutilated2 and   
there is an imaginative beauty in it1   
and a rich delicacy of expression1 which

 is called out in him by the first sight
 of strange lands and things and people4
  ,to show what he was1 we should have  
preferred1 if possible1 to have taken   
the story of his expedition into the    
,south ,seas1 in which1 under           
circumstances of singular difficulty1 he
 was deserted by ,candish1 under whom he
 had sailed2 and after inconceivable    
trials from famine1 mutiny1 and storm1  
ultimately saved himself and his ship1  
and such of the crew as had chosen to   
submit to his orders4 ,but it is a long 
history1 and will not admit of being    
curtailed4 ,as an instance of the stuff 
of which it was composed1 he ran back in
 the black night in a gale of wind      
through the ,straits of ,magellan1 by a 
chart which he had made with the eye in 
passing up4 ,his anchors were lost or   
broken2 the cables were parted4 ,he     
could not bring up the ship2 there was  
nothing for it but to run1 and he       
carried her safe through along a channel
 often not three miles broad1 sixty     

miles from end to end1 and twisting like
 the reaches of a river4  ,for the      
present1 however1 we are forced to      
content ourselves with a few sketches   
out of the north-west voyages4 ,here is 
one1 for instance1 which shows how an   
,englishman could deal with the         
,indians4 ,davis had landed at          
,gilbert's ,sound1 and gone up the      
country exploring4 ,on his return he    
found his crew loud in complaints of the
 thievish propensities of the natives1  
and urgent to have an example made of   
some of them4 ,on the next occasion he  
fired a gun at them with blank          
cartridge2 but their nature was still   
too strong for them4      ,seeing iron  
7he says71 they could in no case forbear
 stealing2     which1 when ,i perceived1
 it did but minister to me occasion of  
laughter to see their simplicity1 and ,i
 willed that they should not     be     
hardly used1 but that our company should
 be more diligent to keep     their     
things1 supposing it to be very hard in 

so short a time to     make them know   
their evils4  ,in his own way1 however1 
he took an opportunity of administering 
a lesson to them of a more wholesome    
kind than could be given with gunpowder 
and bullets4 ,like the rest his         
countrymen1 he believed the savage      
,indians in their idolatries to be      
worshippers of the devil4 ',they are    
witches1' he says2 'they have images in 
great store1 and use many kinds of      
enchantments4' ,and these enchantments  
they tried on one occasion to put in    
force against himself and his crew4     
,being on shore on the #dth day of      
,july1 one of them made a long          
oration1 and then kindled a fire1 into  
which with many strange words     and   
gestures he put divers things1 which we 
supposed to be a     sacrifice4 ,myself 
and certain of my company standing by1  
they     desired us to go into the      
smoke4 ,i desired them to go into the   
smoke1 which they would by no means do4 
,i then took one of them and     thrust 

him into the smoke1 and willed one of my
 company to tread out     the fire1 and 
spurn it into the sea1 which was done to
 show them     that we did contemn their
 sorceries4  ,it is a very ,english     
story--exactly what a modern ,englishman
 would do2 only1 perhaps1 not believing 
that there was any real devil in the    
case1 which makes a difference4         
,however1 real or not real1 after seeing
 him patiently put up with such an      
injury1 we will hope the poor           
,greenlander had less respect for the   
devil than formerly4  ,leaving          
,gilbert's ,sound1 ,davis went on to the
 north-west1 and in lat4 #fc fell in    
with a barrier of ice1 which he coasted 
for thirteen days without finding an    
opening4 ,the very sight of an iceberg  
was new to all his crew2 and the ropes  
and shrouds1 though it was midsummer1   
becoming compassed with ice1--      ,the
 people began to fall sick and          
faint-hearted--whereupon1 very          
orderly1 with good discretion1 they     

entreated me to regard the     safety of
 mine own life1 as well as the          
preservation of theirs2 and     that ,i 
should not1 through overbouldness1 leave
 their widows and     fatherless        
children to give me bitter curses4      
,whereupon1 seeking counsel of ,god1 it 
pleased ,his ,divine ,majesty to        
move my heart to prosecute that which ,i
 hope shall be to ,his glory1     and to
 the contentation of every ,christian   
mind4  ,he had two vessels--one of some 
burthen1 the other a pinnace of thirty  
tons4 ,the result of the counsel which  
he had sought was1 that he made over his
 own large vessel to such as wished to  
return1 and himself1 'thinking it better
 to die with honour than to return with 
infamy1' went on1 with such volunteers  
as would follow him1 in a poor leaky    
cutter1 up the sea now in commemoration 
of that adventure called ,davis's       
,straits4 ,he ascended #d ,north of the 
furthest known point1 among storms and  
icebergs1 when the long days and        

twilight nights alone saved him from    
being destroyed1 and1 coasting back     
along the ,american shore1 he discovered
 ,hudson's ,straits1 supposed then to be
 the long-desired entrance into the     
,pacific4 ,this exploit drew the        
attention of ,walsingham1 and by him    
,davis was presented to ,burleigh1 'who 
was also pleased to show him great      
encouragement4' ,if either these        
statesmen or ,elizabeth had been twenty 
years younger1 his name would have      
filled a larger space in history than a 
small corner of the map of the world2   
but if he was employed at all in the    
last years of the century1 no vates     
sacer has been found to celebrate his   
work1 and no clue is left to guide us4  
,he disappears2 a cloud falls over him4 
,he is known to have commanded trading  
vessels in the ,eastern seas1 and to    
have returned five times from ,india4   
,but the details are all lost1 and      
accident has only parted the clouds for 
a moment to show us the mournful setting

 with which he1 too1 went down upon the 
sea4  ,in taking out ,sir ,edward       
,michellthorne to ,india1 in #afjd1 he  
fell in with a crew of ,japanese1 whose 
ship had been burnt1 drifting at sea1   
without provisions1 in a leaky junk4 ,he
 supposed them to be pirates1 but he did
 not choose to leave them to so wretched
 a death1 and took them on board2 and in
 a few hours1 watching their            
opportunity1 they murdered him4  ,as the
 fool dieth1 so dieth the wise1 and     
there is no difference2 it was the      
chance of the sea1 and the ill reward of
 a humane action--a melancholy end for  
such a man--like the end of a warrior1  
not dying ,epaminondas-like on the field
 of victory1 but cut off in some poor   
brawl or ambuscade4 ,but so it was with 
all these men4 ,they were cut off in the
 flower of their days1 and few of them  
laid their bones in the sepulchres of   
their fathers4 ,they knew the service   
which they had chosen1 and they did not 
ask the wages for which they had not    

laboured4 ,life with them was no summer 
holiday1 but a holy sacrifice offered up
 to duty1 and what their ,master sent   
was welcome4 ,beautiful is old          
age--beautiful as the slow-dropping     
mellow autumn of a rich glorious summer4
 ,in the old man1 nature has fulfilled  
her work2 she loads him with her        
blessings2 she fills him with the fruits
 of a well-spent life2 and1 surrounded  
by his children and his children's      
children1 she rocks him softly away to a
 grave1 to which he is followed with    
blessings4 ,god forbid we should not    
call it beautiful4 ,it is beautiful1 but
 not the most beautiful4 ,there is      
another life1 hard1 rough1 and thorny1  
trodden with bleeding feet and aching   
brow2 the life of which the cross is the
 symbol2 a battle which no peace        
follows1 this side the grave2 which the 
grave gapes to finish1 before the       
victory is won2 and--strange that it    
should be so--this is the highest life  
of man4 ,look back along the great names

 of history2 there is none whose life   
has been other than this4 ,they to whom 
it has been given to do the really      
highest work in this earth--whoever they
 are1 ,jew or ,gentile1 ,pagan or       
,christian1 warriors1 legislators1      
philosophers1 priests1 poets1 kings1    
slaves--one and all1 their fate has been
 the same--the same bitter cup has been 
given to them to drink4 ,and so it was  
with the servants of ,england in the    
sixteenth century4 ,their life was a    
long battle1 either with the elements or
 with men2 and it was enough for them to
 fulfil their work1 and to pass away in 
the hour when ,god had nothing more to  
bid them do4 ,they did not complain1 and
 why should we complain for them8       
,peaceful life was not what they        
desired1 and an honourable death had no 
terrors for them4 ,theirs was the old   
,grecian spirit1 and the great heart of 
the ,theban poet lived again in them3-- 
,greek3     ,thanein d' hoisin ananka1  
ti ke tis annumon     gras en skot      

kathmenos hepsoi matan1     hapantn kaln
 ammoros8  ',seeing1' in ,gilbert's own 
brave words1 'that death is inevitable1 
and the fame of virtue is immortal2     
wherefore in this behalf mutare vel     
timere sperno4'  ,in the conclusion of  
these light sketches we pass into an    
element different from that in which we 
have been lately dwelling4 ,the scenes  
in which ,gilbert and ,davis played out 
their high natures were of the kind     
which we call peaceful1 and the enemies 
with which they contended were          
principally the ice and the wind1 and   
the stormy seas and the dangers of      
unknown and savage lands4 ,we shall     
close amidst the roar of cannon1 and the
 wrath and rage of battle4 ,hume1 who   
alludes to the engagement which we are  
going to describe1 speaks of it in a    
tone which shows that he looked at it as
 something portentous and prodigious2 as
 a thing to wonder at--but scarcely as  
deserving the admiration which we pay to
 actions properly within the scope of   

humanity--and as if the energy which was
 displayed in it was like the unnatural 
strength of madness4 ,he does not say   
this1 but he appears to feel it2 and he 
scarcely would have felt it if he had   
cared more deeply to saturate himself   
with the temper of the age of which he  
was writing4 ,at the time1 all ,england 
and all the world rang with the story4  
,it struck a deeper terror1 though it   
was but the action of a single ship1    
into the hearts of the ,spanish people2 
it dealt a more deadly blow upon their  
fame and moral strength than the        
destruction of the ,armada itself2 and  
in the direct results which arose from  
it1 it was scarcely less disastrous to  
them4 ,hardly1 as it seems to us1 if the
 most glorious actions which are set    
like jewels in the history of mankind   
are weighed one against the other in the
 balance1 hardly will those #cjj        
,spartans who in the summer morning sate
 'combing their long hair for death' in 
the passes of ,thermopyl1 have earned a 

more lofty estimate for themselves than 
this one crew of modern ,englishmen4    
,in ,august #aeia1 ,lord ,thomas        
,howard1 with six ,english              
line-of-battle ships1 six victuallers1  
and two or three pinnaces1 was lying at 
anchor under the ,island of ,florez4    
,light in ballast and short of water1   
with half his men disabled by sickness1 
,howard was unable to pursue the        
aggressive purpose on which he had been 
sent out4 ,several of the ships' crews  
were on shore3 the ships themselves 'all
 pestered and rommaging1' with          
everything out of order4 ,in this       
condition they were surprised by a      
,spanish fleet consisting of #ec        
men-of-war4 ,eleven out of the twelve   
,english ships obeyed the signal of the 
admiral1 to cut or weigh their anchors  
and escape as they might4 ,the twelfth1 
the ',revenge1' was unable for the      
moment to follow4 ,of her crew of #aij1 
ninety were sick on shore1 and1 from the
 position of the ship1 there was some   

delay and difficulty in getting them on 
board4 ,the ',revenge' was commanded by 
,sir ,richard ,grenville1 of ,bideford1 
a man well known in the ,spanish seas1  
and the terror of the ,spanish sailors2 
so fierce he was said to be1 that mythic
 stories passed from lip to lip about   
him1 and1 like ,earl ,talbot or ,coeur  
de ,lion1 the nurses at the ,azores     
frightened children with the sound of   
his name4 ',he was of great revenues1 of
 his own inheritance1' they said1 'but  
of unquiet mind1 and greatly affected to
 wars2' and from his uncontrollable     
propensities for blood-eating1 he had   
volunteered his services to the queen2  
'of so hard a complexion was he1 that ,i
 7,john ,huighen von ,linschoten1 who is
 our authority here1 and who was with   
the ,spanish fleet after the action7    
have been told by divers credible       
persons who stood and beheld him1 that  
he would carouse three or four glasses  
of wine1 and take the glasses between   
his teeth and crush them in pieces and  

swallow them down4' ,such ,grenville was
 to the ,spaniard4 ,to the ,english he  
was a goodly and gallant gentleman1 who 
had never turned his back upon an enemy1
 and was remarkable in that remarkable  
time for his constancy and daring4 ,in  
this surprise at ,florez he was in no   
haste to fly4 ,he first saw all his sick
 on board and stowed away on the        
ballast2 and then1 with no more than    
#ajj men left him to fight and work the 
ship1 he deliberately weighed1          
uncertain1 as it seemed at first1 what  
he intended to do4 ,the ,spanish fleet  
were by this time on his weather bow1   
and he was persuaded 7we here take his  
cousin ,raleigh's beautiful narrative1  
and follow it in ,raleigh's words7 'to  
cut his mainsail and cast about1 and    
trust to the sailing of the ship3'--    
,but ,sir ,richard utterly refused to   
turn from the enemy1 alledging     that 
he would rather choose to die than to   
dishonour himself1 his     country1 and 
her ,majesty's ship1 persuading his     

company that he     would pass through  
their two squadrons in spite of them1   
and enforce     those of ,seville to    
give him way3 which he performed upon   
diverse of     the foremost1 who1 as the
 mariners term it1 sprang their luff1   
and     fell under the lee of the       
',revenge4' ,but the other course had   
been     the better2 and might right    
well have been answered in so great an  
impossibility of prevailing3            
notwithstanding1 out of the greatness   
of his mind1 he could not be persuaded4 
,the wind was light2 the ',san ,philip1'
 'a huge high-carged ship' of #a1ejj    
tons1 came up to windward of him1 and1  
taking the wind out of his sails1 ran   
aboard him4      ,after the ',revenge'  
was entangled with the ',san ,philip1'  
four others     boarded her1 two on her 
larboard and two on her starboard4 ,the 
fight     thus beginning at three       
o'clock in the afternoon continued very 
terrible all that evening4 ,but the     
great ',san ,philip1' having            

received the lower tier of the          
',revenge1' shifted herself with all    
diligence from her sides1 utterly       
misliking her first entertainment4      
,the ,spanish ships were tilled with    
soldiers1 in some #bjj1 besides     the 
mariners1 in some #ejj1 in others #hjj4 
,in ours there were none at     all1    
besides the mariners1 but the servants  
of the commander and     some few       
voluntary gentlemen only4 ,after many   
enterchanged vollies     of great       
ordnance and small shot1 the ,spaniards 
deliberated to enter     the ',revenge1'
 and made divers attempts1 hoping to    
force her by the     multitude of their 
armed soldiers and musketeers2 but were 
still     repulsed again and again1 and 
at all times beaten back into their     
own ship or into the sea4 ,in the       
beginning of the fight the ',george     
,noble1' of ,london1 having received    
some shot through her by the            
,armadas1 fell under the lee of the     
',revenge1' and asked ,sir ,richard     

what he would command him2 but being one
 of the victuallers1 and of     small   
force1 ,sir ,richard bade him save      
himself and leave him to his            
fortune4  ,this last was a little touch 
of gallantry1 which we should be glad to
 remember with the honour due to the    
brave ,english sailor who commanded the 
',george ,noble2' but his name has      
passed away1 and his action is an in    
memoriam1 on which time has effaced the 
writing4 ,all that ,august night the    
fight continued1 the stars rolling over 
in their sad majesty1 but unseen through
 the sulphurous clouds which hung over  
the scene4 ,ship after ship of the      
,spaniards came on upon the ',revenge1' 
'so that never less than two mighty     
galleons were at her side and aboard    
her1' washing up like waves upon a rock1
 and falling foiled and shattered back  
amidst the roar of the artillery4       
,before morning fifteen several ,armadas
 had assailed her1 and all in vain2 some
 had been sunk at her side2 and the     

rest1 'so ill approving of their        
entertainment1 that at break of day they
 were far more willing to hearken to a  
composition1 than hastily to make more  
assaults or entries4' ',but as the day  
increased1' says ,raleigh1 'so our men  
decreased2 and as the light grew more   
and more1 by so much the more grew our  
discomfort1 for none appeared in sight  
but enemies1 save one small ship called 
the ,pilgrim1 commanded by ,jacob       
,whiddon1 who hovered all night to see  
the success1 but in the morning1 bearing
 with the ,revenge1 was hunted like a   
hare among many ravenous hounds--but    
escaped4'  ,all the powder in the       
',revenge' was now spent1 all her pikes 
were broken1 #dj out of her #ajj men    
killed1 and a great number of the rest  
wounded4 ,sir ,richard1 though badly    
hurt early in the battle1 never forsook 
the deck till an hour before midnight2  
and was then shot through the body while
 his wounds were being dressed1 and     
again in the head4 ,his surgeon was     

killed while attending on him2 the masts
 were lying over the side1 the rigging  
cut or broken1 the upper works all shot 
in pieces1 and the ship herself1 unable 
to move1 was settling slowly in the sea2
 the vast fleet of ,spaniards lying     
round her in a ring1 like dogs round a  
dying lion1 and wary of approaching him 
in his last agony4 ,sir ,richard1 seeing
 that it was past hope1 having fought   
for fifteen hours1 and 'having by       
estimation eight hundred shot of great  
artillery through him1' 'commanded the  
master gunner1 whom he knew to be a most
 resolute man1 to split and sink the    
ship1 that thereby nothing might remain 
of glory or victory to the ,spaniards2  
seeing in so many hours they were not   
able to take her1 having had above      
fifteen hours' time1 above ten thousand 
men1 and fifty-three men-of-war to      
perform it withal2 and persuaded the    
company1 or as many as he could induce1 
to yield themselves unto ,god and to the
 mercy of none else2 but as they had1   

like valiant resolute men1 repulsed so  
many enemies1 they should not now       
shorten the honour of their nation by   
prolonging their own lives for a few    
hours or a few days4'  ,the gunner and a
 few others consented4 ,but such ,greek3
 daimoni aret was more than could be    
expected of ordinary seamen4 ,they had  
dared do all which did become men1 and  
they were not more than men4 ,two       
,spanish ships had gone down1 above     
#a1ejj of their crew were killed1 and   
the ,spanish admiral could not induce   
any one of the rest of his fleet to     
board the ',revenge' again1 'doubting   
lest ,sir ,richard would have blown up  
himself and them1 knowing his dangerous 
disposition4' ,sir ,richard lying       
disabled below1 the captain1 'finding   
the ,spaniards as ready to entertain a  
composition as they could be to offer   
it1' gained over the majority of the    
surviving company2 and the remainder    
then drawing back from the master       
gunner1 they all1 without further       

consulting their dying commander1       
surrendered on honourable terms4 ,if    
unequal to the ,english in action1 the  
,spaniards were at least as courteous in
 victory4 ,it is due to them to say1    
that the conditions were faithfully     
observed2 and 'the ship being marvellous
 unsavourie1' ,alonzo de ,bacon1 the    
,spanish admiral1 sent his boat to bring
 ,sir ,richard on board his own vessel4 
,sir ,richard1 whose life was fast      
ebbing away1 replied that 'he might do  
with his body what he list1 for that he 
esteemed it not2' and as he was carried 
out of the ship he swooned1 and reviving
 again1 desired the company to pray for 
him4  ,the admiral used him with all    
humanity1 'commending his valour and    
worthiness1 being unto them a rare      
spectacle1 and a resolution seldom      
approved4' ,the officers of the fleet1  
too1 ,john ,higgins tells us1 crowded   
round to look at him2 and a new fight   
had almost broken out between the       
,biscayans and the ',portugals1' each   

claiming the honour of having boarded   
the ',revenge4'      ,in a few hours    
,sir ,richard1 feeling his end          
approaching1 showed not     any sign of 
faintness1 but spake these words in     
,spanish1 and said1     ',here die ,i1  
,richard ,grenville1 with a joyful and  
quiet mind1 for     that ,i have ended  
my life as a true soldier ought to do   
that hath     fought for his country1   
queen1 religion1 and honour4 ,whereby my
 soul     most joyfully departeth out of
 this body1 and shall always leave      
behind it an everlasting fame of a      
valiant and true soldier that     hath  
done his duty as he was bound to do4'   
,when he had finished     these or other
 such like words1 he gave up the ghost  
with great and     stout courage1 and no
 man could perceive any sign of         
heaviness in     him4  ,such was the    
fight at ,florez1 in that ,august of    
#aeia1 without its equal in such of the 
annals of mankind as the thing which we 
call history has preserved to us2       

scarcely equalled by the most glorious  
fate which the imagination of ,barrre   
could invent for the ',vengeur4' ,nor   
did the matter end without a sequel     
awful as itself4 ,sea battles have been 
often followed by storms1 and without a 
miracle2 but with a miracle1 as the     
,spaniards and the ,english alike       
believed1 or without one1 as we moderns 
would prefer believing1 'there ensued on
 this action a tempest so terrible as   
was never seen or heard the like        
before4' ,a fleet of merchantmen joined 
the ,armada immediately after the       
battle1 forming in all #adj sail2 and of
 these #adj1 only #cb ever saw ,spanish 
harbour4 ,the rest foundered1 or were   
lost on the ,azores4 ,the men-of-war had
 been so shattered by shot as to be     
unable to carry sail2 and the ',revenge'
 herself1 disdaining to survive her     
commander1 or as if to complete his own 
last baffled purpose1 like ,samson1     
buried herself and her #bjj prize crew  
under the rocks of ,st4 ,michael's4     

,and it may well be thought and presumed
 7says ,john ,huighen7 that it     was  
no other than a just plague purposely   
sent upon the ,spaniards2     and that  
it might be truly said1 the taking of   
the ',revenge' was     justly revenged  
on them2 and not by the might or force  
of man1 but     by the power of ,god4   
,as some of them openly said in the     
,isle of     ,terceira1 that they       
believed verily ,god would consume them1
 and that     he took part with the     
,lutherans and heretics 444 saying      
further1     that so soon as they had   
thrown the dead body of the             
,vice-,admiral     ,sir ,richard        
,grenville overboard1 they verily       
thought that as he had     a devilish   
faith and religion1 and therefore the   
devil loved him1 so     he presently    
sunk into the bottom of the sea and down
 into hell1     where he raised up all  
the devils to the revenge of his death1 
and     that they brought so great a    
storm and torments upon the ,spaniards1 

because they only maintained the        
,catholic and ,romish religion4 ,such   
and the like blasphemies against ,god   
they ceased not openly to     utter4    
,,footnotes3  ,u ,westminster ,review1  
#ahec4  ,v ,this essay was written #ae  
years ago4  ,w ,here is the old stanza4 
,let whoever is disposed to think us too
 hard on ,captain ,bethune compare      
them3--      ',for ,wetharrington my    
harte was wo1       ,that even he slayne
 sholde be2     ,for when both his      
leggis were hewen in to1       ,he      
knyled and fought on his knee4'  ,even  
,percy1 who1 on the whole1 thinks well  
of the modern ballad1 gives up this     
stanza as hopeless4     ,,homer4,x      
,troy fell before the ,greeks2 and in   
its turn the war of ,troy is now falling
 before the critics4 ,that ten years'   
death-struggle1 in which the immortals  
did not disdain to mingle--those massive
 warriors1 with their grandeur and their
 chivalry1 have1 'like an unsubstantial 
pageant1 faded' before the wand of these

 modern enchanters2 and the ,iliad and  
the ,odyssey1 and the other early       
legends1 are discovered to be no more   
than the transparent myths of an old    
cosmogony1 the arabesques and frescoes  
with which the imagination of the       
,ionian poets set off and ornamented the
 palace of the heavens1 the struggle of 
the earth with the seasons1 and the     
labours of the sun through his twelve   
signs4  ,nay1 with ,homer himself it was
 likely at one time to have fared no    
better4 ,his works1 indeed1 were        
indestructible1 yet if they could not be
 destroyed1 they might be disorganised2 
and with their instinctive hatred of    
facts1 the critics fastened on the      
historical existence of the poet4 ,the  
origin of the poems was distributed     
among the clouds of pre-historic        
imagination2 and--instead of a single   
inspired ,homer for their author1 we    
were required to believe in some        
extraordinary spontaneous generation1 or
 in some collective genius of an age    

which ignorance had personified4  ,but  
the person of a poet has been found more
 difficult of elimination than a mere   
fact of history4 ,facts1 it was once    
said1 were stubborn things2 but in our  
days we have changed all that2 a fact1  
under the knife of a critic1 splits in  
pieces1 and is dissected out of belief  
with incredible readiness4 ,the helpless
 thing lies under his hand like a       
foolish witness in a law court1 when    
browbeaten by an unscrupulous advocate1 
and is turned about and twisted this way
 and that way1 till in its distraction  
it contradicts itself1 and bears witness
 against itself2 and to escape from     
torture1 at last flies utterly away1    
itself half doubting its own existence4 
,but it requires more cunning weapons to
 destroy a ,homer2 like his own         
immortals1 he may be wounded1 but he    
cannot have the life carved out of him  
by the prosaic strokes of common men4   
,his poems have but to be disintegrated 
to unite again1 so strong are they in   

the individuality of their genius4 ,the 
singleness of their structure--the unity
 of design--the distinctness of drawing 
in the characters--the inimitable       
peculiarities of manner in each of them1
 seem to place beyond serious question1 
after the worst onslaught of the        
,wolfian critics1 that both ,iliad and  
,odyssey1 whether or not the work of the
 same mind1 are at least each of them   
singly the work of one4  ,let them leave
 us ,homer1 however1 and on the rank and
 file of facts they may do their worst2 
we can be indifferent to1 or even       
thankful for1 what slaughter they may   
make4 ,in the legends of the ,theogonia1
 in that of ,zeus and ,cronus1 for      
instance1 there is evidently a          
metaphysical allegory2 in the legends of
 ,persephone1 or of the ,dioscuri1 a    
physical one2 in that of ,athene1 a     
profoundly philosophical one2 and fused 
as the entire system was in the         
intensely poetical conception of the    
early thinkers1 it would be impossible1 

even if it were desirable1 at this time 
of day1 to disentangle the fibres of all
 these various elements4 ,fact and      
theory1 the natural and the             
supernatural1 the legendary and the     
philosophical1 shade off so             
imperceptibly one into the other1 in the
 stories of the ,olympians1 or of their 
first offspring1 that we can never      
assure ourselves that we are on historic
 ground1 or that1 antecedent to the     
really historic age1 there is any such  
ground to be found anywhere4 ,the old   
notion1 that the heroes were deified    
men1 is no longer tenable4 ,with but few
 exceptions1 we can trace their names as
 the names of the old gods of the       
,hellenic or ,pelasgian races2 and if   
they appeared later in human forms1 they
 descended from ,olympus to assume them4
 ,diomed was the ,o,etolian sun-god2    
,achilles was worshipped in ,thessaly   
long before he became the hero of the   
tale of ,troy4 ,the tragedy of the house
 of ,atreus1 and the bloody bath of     

,agamemnon1 as we are now told with     
appearance of certainty1,y are humanised
 stories of the physical struggle of the
 opposing principles of life and death1 
light and darkness1 night and day1      
winter and summer4  ,and let them be so2
 we need not be sorry to believe that   
there is no substantial basis for these 
tales of crime4 ,the history of mankind 
is not so pure but that we can afford to
 lose a few dark pages out of the       
record4 ,let it be granted that of the  
times which ,homer sung historically we 
know nothing literal at all--not any    
names of any kings1 of any ministers1   
wars1 intrigues1 revolutions1 crimes4   
,they are all gone--dead--passed away2  
their vacant chronicles may be silent as
 the tombs in which their bones are     
buried4 ,of such stuff as that with     
which historians fill their pages there 
is no trace2 it is a blank1 vacant as   
the annals of the ,hottentot or of the  
,red ,indian4 ,yet when all is said1    
there remain still to us in ,homer's    

verse1 materials richer1 perhaps1 than  
exist for any period of the ancient     
world1 richer than even for the         
brilliant days of ,pericles1 or of the  
,csars1 to construct a history of       
another kind--a history1 a picture not  
of the times of which he sang1 but of   
the men among whom he lived4 ,how they  
acted2 how they thought1 talked1 and    
felt2 what they made of this earth1 and 
of their place in it2 their private life
 and their public life2 men and women2  
masters and servants2 rich and poor--we 
have it all delineated in the marvellous
 verse of a poet who1 be he what he may1
 was in this respect the greatest which 
the earth has ever seen4 ,in extent1 the
 information is little enough2 but in   
the same sense as it has been said that 
an hour at an ,athenian supper-party    
would teach us more ,grecian life and   
character than all ,aristophanes1       
,homer's pictures of life and manners   
are so living1 so distinct1 so palpable1
 that a whole prose encyclopdia of      

disconnected facts could give us nothing
 like them4 ,it is the marvellous       
property of verse--one1 if we rightly   
consider it1 which would excuse any     
superstition on the origin of           
language--that the metrical and rhythmic
 arrangement of syllable and sound is   
able to catch and express back to us1   
not the stories of actions1 but the     
actions themselves1 with all the        
feelings which inspire them2 to call up 
human action1 and all other outward     
things in which human hearts take       
interest--to produce them1 or to        
reproduce them1 with a distinctness     
which shall produce the same emotions   
which they would themselves produce when
 really existing4 ,the thing itself is  
made present before us by an exercise of
 creative power as genuine as that of   
,nature herself2 which1 perhaps1 is but 
the same power manifesting itself at one
 time in words1 at another in outward   
phenomena4 ,whatever be the cause1 the  
fact is so4 ,poetry has this life-giving

 power1 and prose has it not2 and thus  
the poet is the truest historian4       
,whatever is properly valuable in       
history the poet gives us--not events   
and names1 but emotion1 but action1 but 
life4 ,he is the heart of his age1 and  
his verse expresses his age2 and what   
matter is it by what name he describes  
his places or his persons8 ,what matter 
is it what his own name was1 while we   
have himself1 and while we have the     
originals1 from which he drew8 ,the work
 and the life are all for which we need 
care1 are all which can really interest 
us2 the names are nothing4 ,though      
,phoeacia was a dream-land1 or a symbol 
of the ,elysian fields1 yet ,homer drew 
his material1 his island1 his palaces1  
his harbour1 his gardens of perennial   
beauty1 from those fair cities which lay
 along the shores of his own ,ionia2 and
 like his blind ,demodocus1 ,homer      
doubtless himself sung those very hymns 
which now delight us so1 in the halls of
 many a princely ,alcinous4  ,the prose 

historian may give us facts and names2  
he may catalogue the successions1 and   
tell us long stories of battles1 and of 
factions1 and of political intrigues2 he
 may draw characters for us1 of the sort
 which figure commonly in such features 
of human affairs1 men of the unheroic1  
unpoetic kind--the ,cleons1 the         
,sejanuses1 the ,tiberiuses1 a ,philip  
the ,second or a ,louis ,quatorze1 in   
whom the noble element died out into    
selfishness and vulgarity4 ,but great   
men--and all ,,men properly so called   
7whatever is genuine and natural in     
them7--lie beyond prose1 and can only be
 really represented by the poet4 ,this  
is the reason why such men as           
,alexander1 or as ,csar1 or as          
,cromwell1 so perplex us in histories1  
because they and their actions are      
beyond the scope of the art through     
which we have looked at them4 ,we       
compare the man as the historian        
represents him1 with the track of his   
path through the world4 ,the work is the

 work of a giant2 the man1 stripped of  
the vulgar appendages with which the    
stunted imagination of his biographer   
may have set him off1 is full of        
meannesses and littlenesses1 and is     
scarcely greater than one of ourselves4 
,prose1 that is1 has attempted something
 to which it is not equal4 ,it describes
 a figure which it calls ,csar2 but it  
is not ,csar1 it is a monster4 ,for the 
same reason1 prose fictions1 novels1 and
 the like1 are worthless for more than a
 momentary purpose4 ,the life which they
 are able to represent is not worth     
representing4 ,there is no person so    
poor in his own eyes as not to gaze with
 pleasure into a looking-glass2 and the 
prose age may value its own image in the
 novel4 ,but the value of all such      
representations is ephemeral4 ,it is    
with the poet's art as with the         
sculptor's--sandstone will not carve    
like marble1 its texture is too loose to
 retain a sharply moulded outline4 ,the 
actions of men1 if they are true1 noble1

 and genuine1 are strong enough to bear 
the form and bear the polish of verse2  
if loose or feeble1 they crumble away   
into the softer undulations of prose4   
,what the life was whose texture bore   
shaping into ,homer's verse1 we intend  
to spend these pages in examining4 ,it  
is1 of course1 properly to be sought for
 in the poems themselves4 ,but we shall 
here be concerned mainly with features  
which in the original are rather        
secondary than prominent1 and which have
 to be collected out of fragments1 here 
a line1 and there a line1 out of little 
hints1 let fall by ,homer as it were by 
accident4 ,things too familiar to his   
own hearers to require dwelling on1 to  
us1 whose object is to make out just    
those very things which were familiar1  
are of special and singular value4 ,it  
is not an enquiry which will much profit
 us1 if we come to it with any grand    
notions of the 'progress of the         
species1' for in many ways it will      
discourage the belief in progress4  ,we 

have fallen into ways of talking of the 
childhood and infancy of the race1 as if
 no beards had grown on any face before 
the modern ,reformation2 and even people
 who know what old ,athens was under    
,pericles1 look commonly on earlier     
,greece as scarcely struggling out of   
its cradle4 ,it would have fared so with
 all early history except for the       
,bible4 ,the ,old ,testament has        
operated partially to keep us in our    
modest senses1 and we can see something 
grand about the patriarchs2 but this is 
owing to exceptional causes1 which do   
not apply to other literature2 and in   
spite of our admiration of ,homer's     
poetry1 we regard his age1 and the      
contemporary periods in the other people
 of the earth1 as a kind of childhood   
little better than barbarism4 ,we look  
upon it1 at all events1 as too far      
removed in every essential of spirit or 
of form from our own1 to enable us to   
feel for it any strong interest or      
sympathy4 ,more or less1 we have1 every 

one of us1 felt something of this kind4 
,homer's men are1 at first sight1 unlike
 any men that we have ever seen2 and it 
is not without a shock of surprise that1
 for the first time1 we fall1 in reading
 him1 across some little trait of       
humanity which in form as well as spirit
 is really identical with our own       
experience4 ,then1 for the moment1 all  
is changed with us--gleams of light     
flash out1 in which the drapery becomes 
transparent1 and we see the human form  
behind it1 and that entire old world in 
the warm glow of flesh and blood4 ,such 
is the effect of those few child scenes 
of his1 which throw us back into our old
 familiar childhood4 ,with all these    
years between us1 there is no difference
 between their children and ours1 and   
child would meet child without sense of 
strangeness in common games and common  
pleasures4  ,the little ,ulysses        
climbing on the knees of his father's   
guest1 coaxing for a taste of the red   
wine1 and spilling it as he starts at   

the unusual taste2 or that other most   
beautiful picture of him running at     
,laertes's side in the garden at        
,ithaca1 the father teaching the boy the
 names of the fruit-trees1 and making   
presents to him of this tree and of that
 tree for his very own1 to help him to  
remember what they were called2 the     
partition wall of three thousand years  
melts away as we look back at scenes    
like these2 that broad1                 
world-experienced man was once1 then1   
such a little creature as we remember   
ourselves1 and ,laertes a calm1 kind    
father of the nineteenth century4 ,then1
 as now1 the children loved to sport    
upon the shore1 and watch the inrolling 
waves2--then1 as now1 the boy-architect 
would pile the moist sand into mimic    
town or castle1 and when the work was   
finished1 sweep it away again in wanton 
humour with foot and hand2--then1 as    
now1 the little tired maiden would cling
 to her mother's skirt1 and1 trotting   
painfully along beside her1 look up     

wistfully and plead with moist eyes to  
be carried in her arms4 ,nay1 and among 
the grown ones1 where time has not      
changed the occupation1 and the forms of
 culture have little room to vary1 we   
meet again with very familiar faces4    
,there is ,melantho1 the not over-modest
 tittering waiting-maid--saucy to her   
mistress and the old housekeeper1 and   
always running after the handsome young 
princes4 ,unhappy ,melantho1 true child 
of universal nature6 grievous work we   
should make with most households1 if all
 who resemble thee were treated to as   
rough a destiny4 ,and there are other   
old friends whom it is pleasant enough  
to recognise at so long a distance4     
',certain smooth-haired1 sleek-faced    
fellows--insolent where their lords     
would permit them2 inquisitive and pert1
 living but to eat and drink1 and       
pilfering the good things1 to convey    
them stealthily to their friends outside
 the castle wall4' ,the thing that hath 
been1 that shall be again4 ,when ,homer 

wrote1 the type had settled into its    
long enduring form4 ',such are they1' he
 adds1 in his good-natured irony1 'as   
the valet race ever love to be4'  ,with 
such evidence of identity among us all1 
it is worth while to look closer at the 
old ,greeks1 to try to find in ,homer   
something beyond fine poetry1 or        
exciting adventures1 or battle-scenes1  
or material for scholarship2 for awhile 
to set all that aside1 and look in him  
for the story of real living men--set to
 pilgrimise in the old way on the same  
old earth--men such as we are1 children 
of one family1 with the same work to do1
 to live the best life they could1 and  
to save their souls--with the same      
trials1 the same passions1 the same     
difficulties1 if with weaker means of   
meeting them4  ,and first for their     
religion4  ,let those who like it1 lend 
their labour to the unravelling the     
secrets of the mythologies4 ,theogonies 
and ,theologies are not religion2 they  
are but its historic dress and outward  

or formal expression1 which1 like a     
language1 may be intelligible to those  
who see the inward meaning in the sign1 
but no more than confused sound to us   
who live in another atmosphere1 and have
 no means of transferring ourselves into
 the sentiment of an earlier era4 ,it is
 not in these forms of a day or of an   
age that we should look for the real    
belief--the real feelings of the heart2 
but in the natural expressions which    
burst out spontaneously--expressions of 
opinion on ,providence1 on the relation 
of man to ,god1 on the eternal laws by  
which this world is governed4 ,perhaps  
we misuse the word in speaking of       
religion2 we ought rather to speak of   
piety3 piety is always simple2 the      
emotion is too vast1 too overpowering1  
whenever it is genuine1 to be nice or   
fantastic in its form2 and leaving      
philosophies and cosmogonies to shape   
themselves in myth and legend1 it speaks
 itself out with a calm and humble      
clearness4 ,we may trifle with our own  

discoveries1 and hand them over to the  
fancy or the imagination for elaborate  
decoration4 ,we may shroud over supposed
 mysteries under an enigmatic veil1 and 
adapt the degrees of initiation to the  
capacities of our pupils2 but before the
 vast facts of ,god and ,providence1 the
 difference between man and man dwarfs  
into nothing4 ,they are no discoveries  
of our own with which we can meddle1 but
 revelations of the ,infinite1 which1   
like the sunlight1 shed themselves on   
all alike1 wise and unwise1 good and    
evil1 and they claim and they permit no 
other acknowledgment from us than the   
simple obedience of our lives1 and the  
plainest confession of our lips4  ,such 
confessions1 except in ,david's ,psalms1
 we shall not anywhere find more natural
 or unaffected than in ,homer--most     
definite1 yet never elaborate--as far as
 may be from any complimenting of       
,providence1 yet expressing the most    
unquestioning conviction4 ,we shall not 
often remember them when we set about   

religion as a business2 but when the    
occasions of life stir the feelings in  
us on which religion itself reposes1 if 
we were as familiar with the ,iliad as  
with the ,psalms1 the words of the old  
,ionian singer would leap as naturally  
to our lips as those of the ,israelite  
king4  ,zeus is not always the          
questionable son of ,cronus1 nor the    
gods always the mythologic ,olympians4  
,generally1 it is true1 they appear as a
 larger order of subject beings--beings 
like men1 and subject to a higher       
control--in a position closely          
resembling that of ,milton's angels1 and
 liable like them to passion and to     
error4 ,but at times1 the father of gods
 and men is the ,infinite and ,eternal  
,ruler--the living ,providence of the   
world--and the lesser gods are the      
immortal administrators of his ,divine  
will throughout the lower creation4 ,for
 ever at the head of the universe there 
is an awful spiritual power2 when ,zeus 
appears with a distinct and positive    

personality1 he is himself subordinate  
to an authority which elsewhere is one  
with himself4 ,wherever either he or the
 other gods are made susceptible of     
emotion1 the ,invisible is beyond and   
above them4 ,when ,zeus is the personal 
father of ,sarpedon1 and his private    
love conflicts with the law of the      
eternal order1 though he has power to   
set aside the law1 he dares not break   
it2 but in the midst of his immortality1
 and on his own awful throne1 he weeps  
tears of blood in ineffectual sorrow for
 his dying child4 ,and again1 there is a
 power supreme both over ,zeus and over 
,poseidon1 of which ,iris reminds the   
latter1 when she is sent to rebuke him  
for his disobedience to his brother4 ,it
 is a law1 she says1 that the younger   
shall obey the elder1 and the ,erinnys  
will revenge its breach even on a god4  
,but descending from the more difficult 
,pantheon among mankind1 the ,divine law
 of justice is conceived as clearly as  
we in this day can conceive it4 ,the    

supreme power is the same immortal lover
 of justice and the same hater of       
iniquity2 and justice means what we mean
 by justice1 and iniquity what we mean  
by iniquity4 ,there is no diffidence1 no
 scepticism on this matter2 the moral   
law is as sure as day and night1 summer 
and winter4 ,thus in the sixteenth      
,iliad--  ',when in the market-place men
 deal unjustly1 and the rulers decree   
crooked judgment1 not regarding the fear
 of ,god1' ,god sends the storm1 and the
 earthquake1 and the tempest1 as the    
executors of his vengeance4  ,again1    
,ulysses says--  ',god looks upon the   
children of men1 and punishes the       
wrong-doer4'  ,and ,eumus--  ',the gods 
love not violence and wrong2 but the man
 whose ways are righteous1 him they     
honour4'  ,even when as mere ,olympians 
they put off their celestial nature1 and
 mix in earthly strife1 and are thus    
laid open to earthly suffering1 a       
mystery still hangs about them2 ,diomed1
 even while he crosses the path of      

,ares1 feels all the while 'that they   
are short-lived who contend with the    
,immortals4' ,ajax boasts that he will  
save himself in spite of heaven1 and    
immediately the wave dashes him upon the
 rocks4 ,one light word escaped ,ulysses
 in the excitement of his escape from   
the ,cyclops1 which nine years of       
suffering hardly expiated4  ,the same   
spirit which teaches ,christians that   
those who have no earthly friend have   
specially a friend above to care for and
 to avenge them1 taught the ,ionians a  
proverb which appears again and again in
 ,homer1 that the stranger and the poor 
man are the patrimony of ,god2 and it   
taught them1 also1 that sometimes men   
entertained the ,immortals unawares4 ,it
 was a faith1 too1 which was more than  
words with them2 for we hear of no      
vagrant acts or alien acts1 and it was  
sacrilege to turn away from the gate    
whoever asked its hospitality4 ,times   
are changed4 ,the world was not so      
crowded as it is now1 and perhaps rogues

 were less abundant2 but at any rate    
those antique ,greeks did what they     
said4 ,we say what they said1 while in  
the same breath we say1 too1 that it is 
impossible to do it4  ,in every way1 the
 dependence of man on a special heavenly
 ,providence was a matter of sure and   
certain conviction with them4           
,telemachus appeals to the belief in the
 ,council at ,ithaca4 ,he questions it  
at ,pylos1 and is at once rebuked by    
,athene4 ,both in ,iliad and ,odyssey to
 live justly is the steady service which
 the gods require1 and their favour as  
surely follows when that service is     
paid1 as a ,nemesis sooner or later     
follows surely1 too1 on the evil-doers4 
,but without multiplying evidence1 as we
 easily might1 from every part of both  
,iliad and ,odyssey1 the sceptical and  
the believing forms of thought and      
feeling on this very subject are made   
points of dramatic contrast1 to show off
 the opposition of two separate         
characters2 and this is clear proof that

 such thoughts and feelings must have   
been familiar to ,homer's hearers3 if it
 were not so1 his characters would have 
been without interest to his age--they  
would have been individual1 and not     
universal2 and no expenditure of        
intellect1 or passion1 would have made  
men care to listen to him4 ,the two     
persons who throughout the ,iliad stand 
out in relief in contrast to each other 
are1 of course1 ,hector and ,achilles2  
and faith in ,god 7as distinct from a   
mere recognition of him7 is as directly 
the characteristic of ,hector as in     
,achilles it is entirely absent4 ,both  
characters are heroic1 but the heroism  
in them springs from opposite sources4  
,both are heroic1 because both are      
strong2 but the strength of one is in   
himself1 and the strength of the other  
is in his faith4 ,hector is a patriot2  
,achilles does not know what patriotism 
means2--,hector is full of tenderness   
and human affection2 ,achilles is       
self-enveloped4 ,even his love for      

,patroclus is not pure1 for ,patroclus  
is as the moon to the sun of ,achilles1 
and ,achilles sees his own glory        
reflected on his friend4 ,they have both
 a forecast of their fate2 but ,hector1 
in his great brave way1 scoffs at omens2
 he knows that there is a special       
providence in the fall of a sparrow1 and
 defies augury4 ,to do his duty is the  
only omen for which ,hector cares2 and  
if death must be1 he can welcome it like
 a gallant man1 if it find him fighting 
for his country4 ,achilles is moody1    
speculative1 and subjective2 he is too  
proud to attempt an ineffectual         
resistance to what he knows to be       
inevitable1 but he alternately murmurs  
at it and scorns it4 ,till his passion  
is stirred by his friend's death1 he    
seems equally to disdain the greatness  
of life and the littleness of it2 the   
glories of a hero are not worth dying   
for2 and like ,solomon1 and almost in   
,solomon's words1 he complains that     
there is one event to all--      ,greek3

 ,en de i tim  men kakos e kai esthlos4 
,to gratify his own spleen1 he will     
accept an inglorious age in ,thessaly1  
in exchange for a hero's immortality2 as
 again in the end it is but to gratify  
his own wounded pride that he goes out  
to brave a fate which he scorns while he
 knows that it will subdue him4 ,thus1  
,achilles is the hero of the stern      
human1 self-sufficing spirit1 which does
 not deny or question destiny1 but      
seeing nothing in it except a cold1 iron
 law1 meets force with force1 and holds 
up against it an unbroken1 unbending    
will4 ,human nature is at its best but a
 miserable business to him2 death and   
sorrow are its inevitable lot4 ,as a    
brave man1 he will not fear such things1
 but he will not pretend to regard them 
as anything but detestable2 and he      
comforts the old1 weeping king of ,troy1
 whose age he was himself bringing down 
to the grave in sorrow1 with philosophic
 meditations on the vanity of all       
things1 and a picture of ,zeus mixing   

the elements of life out of the two urns
 of good and evil4  ,turn to ,hector1   
and we turn from shadow into sunlight4  
,achilles is all self1 ,hector all      
self-forgetfulness2 ,achilles all pride1
 ,hector all modesty4 ,the confidence of
 ,achilles is in himself and in his own 
arm2 ,hector knows 7and the strongest   
expressions of the kind in all the      
,iliad are placed pointedly in ,hector's
 mouth7 that there is no strength except
 from above4 ',god's will1' he says1 'is
 over all2 he makes the strong man to   
fear1 and gives the victory to the weak1
 if it shall please him4' ,and at last1 
when he meets ,achilles1 he answers his 
bitter words1 not with a defiance1 but  
calmly saying1 ',i know that thou art   
mighty1 and that my strength is far less
 than thine2 but these things lie in the
 will of the gods1 and ,i1 though weaker
 far than thou1 may yet take thy life   
from thee1 if the ,immortals choose to  
have it so4'  ,so far1 then1 on the     
general fact of ,divine ,providence1 the

 feeling of ,homer1 and therefore of his
 countrymen1 is distinct4 ,both the     
great poems bearing his name speak in   
the same language4 ,but beyond the      
general fact1 many questions rise in the
 application of the creed1 and on one of
 these 7it is among several remarkable  
differences which seem to mark the      
,odyssey as of a later age7 there is a  
very singular discrepancy4 ,in the      
,iliad1 the life of man on this side the
 grave is enough for the completion of  
his destiny--for his reward1 if he lives
 nobly2 for his punishment1 if he be    
base or wicked4 ,without repinings or   
scepticisms at the apparent successes of
 bad men1 the poet is contented with    
what he finds1 accepting cheerfully the 
facts of life as they are2 it never     
seems to occur to him as seriously      
possible that a bad man could succeed or
 a good one fail2 and as the ways of    
,providence1 therefore1 require no      
vindicating1 neither his imagination nor
 his curiosity tempts him into          

penetrating the future4 ,the house of   
,hades is the long home to which men go 
when dismissed out of their bodies2 but 
it is a dim1 shadowy place1 of which we 
see nothing1 and concerning which no    
conjectures are ventured4 ,achilles1 in 
his passion over ,patroclus1 cries out1 
that although the dead forget the dead  
in the halls of the departed1 yet that  
he will remember his friend2 and through
 the ,iliad there is nothing clearer    
than these vague words to show with what
 hopes or fears the poet looked forward 
to death4 ,so far1 therefore1 his faith 
may seem imperfect2 yet1 perhaps1 not   
the less noble because imperfect2       
religious men in general are too well   
contented with the promise of a future  
life1 as of a scene where the seeming   
shortcomings of the ,divine             
administration will be carried out with 
larger equity4 ,but whether imperfect or
 not1 or whatever be the account of the 
omission1 the theory of ,hades in the   
,odyssey is developed into far greater  

distinctness2 the future is still1      
indeed1 shadowy1 but it is no longer    
uncertain2 there is the dreadful        
prison-house1 with the judge upon his   
throne--and the darker criminals are    
overtaken by the vengeance which was    
delayed in life4 ,the thin phantoms of  
the great ones of the past flit to and  
fro1 mourning wearily for their lost    
mortality1 and feeding on its memory4   
,and more than this1 as if it were      
beginning to be felt that something more
 was wanted after all to satisfy us with
 the completeness of the ,divine rule1  
we have a glimpse--it is but one1 but it
 is like a ray of sunshine falling in   
upon the darkness of the grave--'of the 
far-off ,elysian fields where dwells    
,rhadamanthus with the golden hair1     
where life is ever sweet1 and sorrow is 
not1 nor winter1 nor any rain or storm1 
and the never-dying zephyrs blow soft   
and cool from off the ocean4'  ,however 
vague the filling up of such a picture1 
the outline is correct to the best which

 has been revealed even in              
,christianity1 and it speaks nobly for  
the people among whom1 even in germ1    
such ideas could root themselves4 ,but  
think what we will of their notions of  
the future1 the old ,greek faith1       
considered as a practical and not a     
theological system1 is truly admirable1 
clear1 rational1 and moral2 if it does  
not profess to deal with the mysteries  
of evil in the heart1 it is prompt and  
stern with them in their darker outward 
manifestations1 and1 as far as it goes1 
as a guide in the common daily business 
of life1 it scarcely leaves anything    
unsaid4  ,how far it went we shall see  
in the details of the life itself1 the  
most important of which in the eyes of a
 modern will be the social organisation2
 and when he looks for organisation1 he 
will be at once at a loss1 for he will  
find the fact of government yet without 
defined form2--he will find law1 but    
without a public sword to enforce it2   
and a 'social machine' moving without   

friction under the easy control of      
opinion4 ,there are no wars of classes1 
no politics1 no opposition of interests1
 a sacred feeling of the will of the    
gods keeping every one in his proper    
subordination4 ,it was a sacred duty    
that the younger should obey the elder1 
that the servant should obey his master1
 that property should be respected2 in  
war1 that the leader should be obeyed   
without questioning2 in peace1 that     
public questions should be brought      
before the assembly of the people1 and  
settled quietly as the ,council         
determined4 ,in this assembly the prince
 presided1 and beyond this presidency   
his authority at home does not seem to  
have extended4 ,of course there was no  
millennium in ,ionia1 and men's passions
 were pretty much what they are now4    
,without any organised means of         
repressing crime when it did appear1 the
 people were exposed to1 and often      
suffered under1 extreme forms of        
violence--violence such as that of the  

suitors at ,ithaca1 or of gisthus at    
,argos4 ,on the other hand1 what a state
 of cultivation it implies1 what peace  
and comfort in all classes1 when society
 could hold together for a day with no  
more complete defence4 ,and1 moreover1  
there are disadvantages in elaborate    
police systems4 ,self-reliance is one of
 the highest virtues in which this world
 is intended to discipline us2 and to   
depend upon ourselves even for our own  
personal safety is a large element in   
moral training4  ,but not to dwell on   
this1 and to pass to the way in which   
the men of those days employed          
themselves4  ,our first boy's feeling   
with the ,iliad is1 that ,homer is      
pre-eminently a poet of war2 that       
battles were his own passion1 and tales 
of battles the delight of his listeners4
 ,his heroes appear like a great        
fighting aristocracy1 such as the after 
,spartans were1 ,homer himself like     
another ,tyrtus1 and the poorer         
occupations of life too menial for their

 notice or for his4 ,they seem to live  
for glory--the one glory worth caring   
for only to be won upon the             
battle-field1 and their exploits the one
 worthy theme of the poet's song4 ,this 
is our boyish impression1 and1 like     
other such1 it is very different from   
the truth4 ,if war had been a passion   
with the ,ionians1 as it was with the   
,teutons and the ,norsemen1 the god of  
battles would have been supreme in the  
,pantheon2 and ,zeus would scarcely have
 called ,ares the most hateful spirit in
 ,olympus--most hateful1 because of his 
delight in war and carnage4 ,mr4        
,carlyle looks forward to a chivalry of 
labour4 ,he rather wishes than expects  
that a time may come when the campaign  
of industry against anarchic nature may 
gather into it those feelings of        
gallantry and nobleness which have found
 their vent hitherto in fighting only4  
,the modern man's work1 ,mr4 ,carlyle   
says1 is no longer to splinter lances or
 break down walls1 but to break soil1 to

 build barns and factories1 and to find 
a high employment for himself in what   
hitherto has been despised as degrading4
 ,how to elevate labour--how to make it 
beautiful--how to enlist the spirit in  
it 7for in no other way can it be made  
humanly profitable71 that is the problem
 which he looks wistfully to the future 
to solve for us4 ,he may look to the    
past as well as to the future2 in the   
old ,ionia he will find all for which he
 wishes4 ,the wise ,ulysses built his   
own house1 and carved his own bed4      
,princes killed and cooked their own    
food4 ,it was a holy work with          
them--their way of saying grace for it2 
for they offered the animal in his death
 to the gods1 and they were not         
butchers1 but sacrificing priests4 ,even
 a keeper of swine is called noble1 and 
fights like a hero2 and the young       
princess of ,phoeacia--the loveliest and
 gracefullest of ,homer's women--drove  
the clothes-cart and washed linen with  
her own beautiful hands4 ,not only was  

labour free--for so it was among the    
early ,romans2 or honourable1 so it was 
among the ,israelites1--but it was      
beautiful--beautiful in the artist's    
sense1 as perhaps elsewhere it has never
 been4 ,in later ,greece--in what we    
call the glorious period--toil had      
gathered about it its modern crust of   
supposed baseness--it was left to       
slaves2 and wise men1 in their          
philosophic lecture-rooms1 spoke of it  
as unworthy of the higher specimens of  
cultivated humanity4  ,but ,homer finds1
 in its most homely forms1 fit          
illustrations for the most glorious     
achievements of his heroes2 and in every
 page we find1 in simile or metaphor    
some common scene of daily life worked  
out with elaborate beauty4 ,what the    
popular poet chooses for his            
illustrations are as good a measure as  
we can have of the popular feeling1 and 
the images which he suggests are1 of    
course1 what he knows his hearers will  
be pleased to dwell upon4 ,there is much

 to be said about this1 and we shall    
return to it presently2 in the meantime1
 we must not build on indirect evidence4
 ,the designs on the shield of ,achilles
 are1 together1 a complete picture of   
,homer's microcosm2 ,homer surely never 
thought inglorious or ignoble what the  
immortal art of ,hephaistos condescended
 to imitate4  ,the first groups of      
figures point a contrast which is       
obviously intentional2 and the          
significance becomes sadly earnest when 
we remember who it was that was to bear 
the shield4 ,the moral is a very modern 
one1 and the picture might be called by 
the modern name of ,peace and ,war4     
,there are two cities1 embodying in     
their condition the two ideas4 ,in one1 
a happy wedding is going forward2 the   
pomp of the hymeneal procession is      
passing along the streets2 the air is   
full of music1 and the women are        
standing at their doors to gaze4 ,the   
other is in the terrors of a siege2 the 
hostile armies glitter under the walls1 

the women and children press into the   
defence1 and crowd to the battlements4  
,in the first city1 a quarrel rises1 and
 wrong is made right1 not by violence   
and fresh wrong1 but by the majesty of  
law and order4 ,the heads of the        
families are sitting gravely in the     
market-place1 the cause is heard1 the   
compensation set1 the claim awarded4    
,under the walls of the other city an   
ambush lies1 like a wild beast on the   
watch for its prey4 ,the unsuspecting   
herdsmen pass on with their flocks to   
the waterside2 the spoilers spring from 
their hiding-place1 and all is strife1  
and death1 and horror1 and confusion4   
,if there were other war-scenes on the  
shield1 it might be doubted whether     
,homer intended so strong a contrast as 
he executed2 but fighting for its own   
sake was evidently held in slight       
respect with him4 ,the forms of life    
which were really beautiful to him      
follow in a series of exquisite         
,rubens-like pictures3 harvest scenes   

and village festivals2 the ploughing and
 the vintage1 or the lion-hunt on the   
reedy margin of the river2 and he       
describes them with a serene1 sunny     
enjoyment which no other old world art  
or poetry gives us anything in the least
 resembling4 ,even we ourselves1 in our 
own pastorals1 are struggling with but  
half success1 after what ,homer entirely
 possessed4 ,what a majesty he has      
thrown into his harvest scene6 ,the     
yellow corn falling1 the boys following 
to gather up the large arms-full as they
 drop behind the reapers2 in the        
distance a banquet preparing under the  
trees2 in the centre1 in the midst of   
his workmen1 the king sitting in mellow 
silence1 sceptre in hand1 looking on    
with gladdened heart4 ,again we see the 
ploughmen1 unlike what are to be seen in
 our corn-grounds1 turning their teams  
at the end of the furrow1 and attendants
 standing ready with the wine-cup1 to   
hand to them as they pass4 ,homer had   
seen these things1 or he would not have 

sung of them2 and princes and nobles    
might have shared such labour without   
shame1 when kings took part in it1 and  
gods designed it1 and the divine        
,achilles bore its image among his      
insignia in the field4  ,analogous to   
this1 and as part of the same feeling1  
is that intense enjoyment of natural    
scenery1 so keen in ,homer1 and of which
 the ,athenian poets show not a trace2  
as1 for instance1 in that night         
landscape by the sea1 finished off in a 
few lines only1 but so exquisitely      
perfect6 ,the broad moon1 gleaming      
through the mist as it parts suddenly   
from off the sky2 the crags and         
headlands1 and soft wooded slopes1      
shining out in the silver light1 and    
earth and sea transformed into fairy    
land4  ,we spoke of ,homer's similes as 
illustrative of the ,ionic feelings     
about war4 ,war1 of course1 was glorious
 to him--but war in a glorious cause4   
,wars there were--wars in plenty1 as    
there have been since1 and as it is like

 there will be for some time to come2   
and a just war1 of all human            
employments1 is the one which most calls
 out whatever nobleness there is in man4
 ,it was the thing itself1 the actual   
fighting and killing1 as apart from the 
heroism for which it makes              
opportunities1 for which we said that he
 showed no taste4 ,his manner shows that
 he felt like a cultivated man1 and not 
like a savage4 ,his spirit stirs in him 
as he goes out with his hero to the     
battle2 but there is no drunken delight 
in blood2 we never hear of warriors as  
in that grim ,hall of the ,nibelungen1  
quenching their thirst in the red       
stream2 never anything of that fierce   
exultation in carnage with which the war
 poetry of so many nations1 late and    
old1 is crimsoned4 ,everything1 on the  
contrary1 is contrived so as to soften  
the merely horrible1 and fix our        
interest only on what is grand or       
beautiful4 ,we are never left to dwell  
long together on scenes of death1 and   

when the battle is at its fiercest1 our 
minds are called off by the rapid       
introduction 7either by simile or some  
softer turn of human feeling7 of other  
associations1 not contrived1 as an      
inferior artist would contrive1 to      
deepen our emotions1 but to soften and  
relieve them4 ,two warriors meet1 and   
exchange their high words of defiance2  
we hear the grinding of the spear-head1 
as it pierces shield and breast-plate1  
and the crash of the armour1 as this or 
that hero falls4 ,but at once1 instead  
of being left at his side to see him    
bleed1 we are summoned away to the soft 
water meadow1 the lazy river1 the tall  
poplar1 now waving its branches against 
the sky1 now lying its length along in  
the grass beside the water1 and the     
woodcutter with peaceful industry       
labouring and lopping at it4  ,in the   
thick of the universal mle1 when the    
stones and arrows are raining on the    
combatants1 and some furious hailstorm  
is the slightest illustration with which

 we should expect him to heighten the   
effect of the human tempest1 so sure    
,homer is that he has painted the thing 
itself in its own intense reality1 that 
his simile is the stillest phenomenon in
 all nature--a stillness of activity1   
infinitely expressive of the density of 
the shower of missiles1 yet falling like
 oil on water on the ruffled picture of 
the battle2 the snow descending in the  
still air1 covering first hills1 then   
plains and fields and farmsteads2       
covering the rocks down to the very     
water's edge1 and clogging the waves as 
they roll in4 ,again1 in that fearful   
death-wrestle at the ,grecian wall1 when
 gates and battlements are sprinkled    
over with blood1 and neither ,greeks nor
 ,trojans can force their way against   
the other1 we have1 first1 as an image  
of the fight itself1 two men in the     
field1 with measuring rods1 disputing   
over a land boundary2 and for the       
equipoise of the two armies1 the softest
 of all home scenes1 a poor working     

woman weighing out her wool before      
weaving it1 to earn a scanty subsistence
 for herself and for her children4 ,of  
course the similes are not all of this  
kind2 it would be monotonous if they    
were2 but they occur often enough to    
mark their meaning4 ,in the direct      
narrative1 too1 we see the same         
tendency4 ,sarpedon struck through the  
thigh is borne off the field1 the long  
spear trailing from the wound1 and there
 is too much haste to draw it out4      
,hector flies past him and has no time  
to speak2 all is dust1 hurry1 and       
confusion4 ,even ,homer can only pause  
for a moment1 but in three lines he lays
 the wounded hero under a tree1 he      
brings a dear friend to his side1 and we
 refresh ourselves in a beautiful scene1
 when the lance is taken out1 and       
,sarpedon faints1 and comes slowly back 
to life1 with the cool air fanning him4 
,we may look in vain through the        
,nibelungen ,lied for anything like     
this4 ,the ,swabian poet can be tender  

before the battle1 but in the battle    
itself his barbaric nature is too strong
 for him1 and he scents nothing but     
blood4 ,in the ,iliad1 on the contrary1 
the very battles of the gods1 grand and 
awful as they are1 relieve rather than  
increase the human horror4 ,in the      
magnificent scene1 where ,achilles1     
weary with slaughter1 pauses on the bank
 of the ,scamander1 and the angry river 
god1 whose course is checked by the     
bodies of the slain1 swells up to       
revenge them and destroy him1 the       
natural and the supernatural are so     
strangely blended1 that when ,poseidon  
lights the forest1 and god meets god and
 element meets element1 the convulsion  
is too tremendous to enhance the        
fierceness of ,achilles2 it concentrates
 the interest on itself1 and ,achilles  
and ,hector1 flying ,trojan and pursuing
 ,greek1 for the time melt out and are  
forgotten4  ,we do not forget that there
 is nothing of this kind1 no relief1 no 
softening1 in the great scene at the    

conclusion of the ,odyssey4 ,all is     
stern enough and terrible enough there2 
more terrible1 if possible1 because more
 distinct1 than its modern counterpart  
in ,criemhildas ,hall4 ,but there is an 
obvious reason for this1 and it does not
 make against what we have been saying4 
,it is not delight in slaughter1 but it 
is the stern justice of revenge which we
 have here2 not1 as in the ,iliad1 hero 
meeting hero1 but the long crime        
receiving at last its ,divine           
punishment2 the breaking of the one     
storm1 which from the beginning has been
 slowly and awfully gathering4  ,with   
,homer's treatment of a battle-field1   
and as illustrating the conclusion which
 we argue from it1 we are tempted to    
draw parallels from two modern          
poets--one a ,german1 who was taken away
 in the morning of his life2 the other1 
the most gifted of modern ,englishmen4  
,each of these two has attempted the    
same subject1 and the treatment in each 
case embodies1 in a similar manner1     

modern ways of thinking about it4  ,the 
first is from the ',albigenses' of young
 ,lenau1 who has since died lunatic1 we 
have heard1 as he was not unlikely to   
have died with such thoughts in him4 ,it
 is the eve of one of those terrible    
struggles at ,toulouse1 and the poet's  
imagination is hanging at moon-rise over
 the scene4 ',the low broad field       
scattered over thick with corpses1 all  
silent1 dead1--the last sob spent1'--the
 priest's thanksgiving for the ,catholic
 victory having died into an echo1 and  
only the 'vultures crying their ,te     
,deum laudamus4'      ,hat ,gott der    
,herr den ,krperstoff erschaffen1       
,hat ihn hervorgebracht ein bser ,geist1
     ,darber stritten sie mit allen     
,waffen     ,und werden von den ,vgeln  
nun gespeist1     ,die1 ohne ihren      
,ursprung nachzufragen1     ,die ,krper 
da sich lassen wohl behagen4  ',was it  
,god the ,lord who formed the substance 
of their bodies8 or did some evil spirit
 bring it forth8 ,it was for this with  

all their might they fought1 and now    
they are devoured there by the wild     
birds1 who sit gorging merrily over     
their carrion1 without asking from      
whence it came4'  ,in ,homer1 as we saw1
 the true hero is master over           
death--death has no terror for him4 ,he 
meets it1 if it is to be1 calmly and    
proudly1 and then it is over2 whatever  
offensive may follow after it1 is       
concealed1 or at least passed lightly   
over4 ,here1 on the contrary1 everything
 most offensive is dwelt upon with an   
agonising intensity1 and the triumph of 
death is made to extend1 not over the   
body only1 but over the soul1 whose     
heroism it turns to mockery4 ,the cause 
in which a man dies1 is what can make   
his death beautiful2 but here nature    
herself1 in her stern1 awful way1 is    
reading her sentence over the cause     
itself as a wild and frantic dream4 ,we 
ought to be revolted--doubly revolted1  
one would think1 and yet we are not so2 
instead of being revolted1 we are       

affected with a sense of vast1 sad      
magnificence4 ,why is this8 ,because we 
lose sight of the scene1 or lose the    
sense of its horror1 in the tragedy of  
the spirit4 ,it is the true modern      
tragedy2 the note which sounds through  
,shakespeare's ',sonnets1' through      
',hamlet1' through ',faust2' all the    
deeper trials of the modern heart might 
be gathered out of those few lines2 the 
sense of wasted nobleness--nobleness    
spending its energies upon what time    
seems to be pronouncing no better than a
 dream--at any rate1 misgivings1 sceptic
 and distracting2 yet the heart the     
while1 in spite of the uncertainty of   
the issue1 remaining true at least to   
itself4 ,if the spirit of the           
,albigensian warriors had really broken 
down1 or if the poet had pointed his    
lesson so as to say1 ,truth is a lie2   
faith is folly2 eat1 drink1 and         
die1--then his picture would have been  
revolting2 but the noble spirit remains1
 though it is borne down and trifled    

with by destiny1 and therefore it is not
 revolting1 but tragic4  ,far different 
from this--as far inferior in tone to   
,lenau's lines1 as it exceeds them in   
beauty of workmanship--is the well-known
 picture of the scene under the wall in 
the ,siege of ,corinth3--      ,he saw  
the lean dogs beneath the wall     ,hold
 o'er the dead their carnival2          
,gorging and growling o'er carcass and  
limb2     ,they were too busy to bark at
 him6     ,from a ,tartar's skull they  
had stripp'd the flesh1     ,as ye peel 
the fig when its fruit is fresh2        
,and their white tusks crunch'd o'er the
 whiter skull1     ,as it slipp'd       
through their jaws when their edge grew 
dull1     ,as they lazily mumbled the   
bones of the dead1     ,when they scarce
 could rise from the spot where they    
fed2     ,so well had they broken a     
lingering fast     ,with those who had  
fallen for that night's repast4     ,and
 ,alp knew1 by the turbans that roll'd  
on the sand1     ,the foremost of these 

were the best of his band3        4    4
    4    4    4    4    4    4    4     
,the scalps were in the wild dog's maw1 
,the hair was tangled round his jaw4    
,close by the shore1 on the edge of the 
gulf1     ,there sate a vulture flapping
 a wolf1     ,who had stolen from the   
hills1 but kept away1     ,scared by the
 dogs1 from the human prey2     ,but he 
seized on his share of a steed that lay1
     ,pick'd by the birds1 on the sands 
of the bay4  ,for a parallel to the     
horribleness of this wonderfully painted
 scene we need not go to the            
,nibelungen1 for we shall find nothing  
like it there3 we must go back to the   
carved slabs which adorned the banquet  
halls of the ,assyrian kings1 where the 
foul birds hover over the stricken      
fields1 and trail from their talons the 
entrails of the slain4  ,and for what   
purpose does ,byron introduce these     
frightful images8 ,was it in contrast to
 the exquisite moonlight scene which    
tempts the renegade out of his tent8    

,was it to bring his mind into a fit    
condition to be worked upon by the      
vision of ,francesca8 ,it does but mar  
and untune the softening influences of  
nature1 which might have been rendered  
more powerful1 perhaps1 by some slight  
touch to remind him of his past day's   
work1 but are blotted out and paralysed 
by such a mass of horrors4  ,to go back 
to ,homer4  ,we must omit for the       
present any notice of the domestic      
pictures1 of which there are so many1 in
 the palaces of ,ulysses1 of ,nestor1 or
 of ,alcinous2 of the games1 so manly1  
yet1 in point of refinement1 so superior
 even to those of our own middle ages2  
of the supreme good of life as the      
,greeks conceived it1 and of the arts by
 which they endeavoured to realise that 
good4 ,it is useless to notice such     
things briefly1 and the detail would    
expand into a volume4 ,but the          
impression which we gather from them is 
the same which we have gathered all     
along--that if the proper aim of all    

human culture be to combine1 in the     
highest measure in which they are       
compatible1 the two elements of         
refinement and of manliness1 then       
,homer's age was cultivated to a degree 
the like of which the earth has not     
witnessed since4 ,there was more        
refinement under ,pericles1 as there is 
more in modern ,london and ,paris2 but  
there was1 and there is1 infinitely more
 vice4 ,there was more fierceness       
7greater manliness there never was7 in  
the times of feudalism4 ,but take it for
 all in all1 and in a mere human sense1 
apart from any other aspect of the world
 which is involved in ,christianity1 it 
is difficult to point to a time when    
life in general was happier1 and the    
character of man set in a more noble    
form4 ,if we have drawn the picture with
 too little shadow1 let it be allowed   
for4 ,the shadow was there1 doubtless1  
though we see it only in a few dark     
spots4 ,the ,margites would have        
supplied the rest1 but the ,margites1   

unhappily for us1 is lost4 ,even heroes 
have their littlenesses1 and ,comedy is 
truer to the details of littleness than 
,tragedy or ,epic4 ,the grand is always 
more or less ideal1 and the elevation of
 a moment is sublimed into the spirit of
 a life4 ,comedy1 therefore1 is         
essential for the representing of men2  
and there were times1 doubtless1 when   
the complexion of ,agamemnon's greatness
 was discoloured1 like ,prince ,henry's1
 by remembering1 when he was weary1 that
 poor creature--small beer--i4e4 if the 
,greeks had got any4  ,a more serious   
discoloration1 however1 we are obliged  
to say that we find in ,homer himself1  
in the soil or taint which even he is   
obliged to cast over the position of    
women4 ,in the ,iliad1 where there is no
 sign of male slavery1 women had already
 fallen under the chain1 and though     
there does not seem to have been any    
practice of polygamy1 the female        
prisoners fell1 as a matter of course1  
into a more degraded position4 ,it is   

painful1 too1 to observe that their own 
feelings followed the practice of the   
times1 and that they composed themselves
 to bear without reluctance whatever    
their destiny forced upon them4 ,when   
,priam ventured into the ,grecian camp  
for ,hector's body1 and stood under the 
roof of ,achilles1 he endured to do     
what1 as he says1 no mortal father had  
ever yet endured--to give his hand to   
his son's destroyer4 ,briseis1 whose bed
 was made desolate by the hand of the   
same ,achilles1 finds it her one        
greatest consolation1 that the conqueror
 stoops to choose her to share his own4 
,and when ,hector in his last sad       
parting scene anticipates a like fate   
for his own ,andromache1 it is not with 
the revolted agony of horror with which 
such a possible future would be regarded
 by a modern husband2 nor does          
,andromache1 however bitterly she feels 
the danger1 protest1 as a modern wife   
would do1 that there was no fear for    
her--that death by sorrow's hand1 or by 

her own1 would preserve her to rejoin   
him4  ,nor1 again1 was unfaithfulness1  
of however long duration1 conclusively  
fatal against a wife2 for we meet       
,helen1 after a twenty years' elopement1
 again the quiet1 hospitable mistress in
 the ,spartan palace1 entertaining her  
husband's guests with an easy matronly  
dignity1 and not afraid even in         
,menelaus's presence to allude to the   
past--in strong terms of self-reproach1 
indeed1 but with nothing like despairing
 prostration4 ,making the worst of this1
 however1 yet even in this respect the  
,homeric ,greeks were better than their 
contemporaries in ,palestine2 and on the
 whole there was1 perhaps1 no time      
anterior to ,christianity when women    
held a higher place1 or the relation    
between wife and husband was of a more  
free and honourable kind4  ,for we have 
given but one side of the picture4 ,when
 a woman can be the theme of a poet1 her
 nature cannot be held in slight esteem2
 and there is no doubt that ,penelope is

 ,homer's heroine in the ,odyssey4 ,one 
design1 at least1 which ,homer had      
before him was to vindicate the         
character of the virtuous matron against
 the stain which ,clytemnestra had      
inflicted on it4 ,clytemnestra has every
 advantage1 ,penelope every difficulty3 
the trial of the former lasted only half
 as long as that of the latter4         
,agamemnon in leaving her gave herself  
and his house in charge to a divine     
,greek3 aoidos1 a heaven-inspired       
prophet1 who should stand between her   
and temptation1 and whom she had to     
murder before her passion could have its
 way4 ,penelope had to bear up alone for
 twenty weary years1 without a friend1  
without a counsellor1 and with even a   
child whose constancy was wavering4 ,it 
is obvious that ,homer designed this    
contrast4 ,the story of the ,argos      
tragedy is told again and again4 ,the   
shade of ,agamemnon himself forebodes a 
fate like his own to ,ulysses4 ,it is   
,ulysses's first thought when he wakes  

from his sleep to find himself in his   
own land2 and the scene in ,hades1 in   
the last book1 seems only introduced    
that the husband of ,clytemnestra may   
meet the shades of the ,ithacan suitors1
 and learn1 in their own tale of the sad
 issue of their wooing1 how far         
otherwise it had fared with ,ulysses    
than with himself4 ,women1 therefore1   
according to ,homer1 were as capable of 
heroic virtue as men were1 and the ideal
 of this heroism is one to which we have
 scarcely added4  ,for the rest1 there  
is no trace of any oriental seraglio    
system4 ,the sexes lived together in    
easy unaffected intercourse4 ,the ladies
 appeared in society naturally and      
gracefully1 and their chief occupations 
were household matters1 care of clothes 
and linen1 and other domestic           
arrangements4 ,when a guest came1 they  
prepared his dressing-room1 settled the 
bath1 and arranged the convenience of   
his toilet-table4 ,in their leisure     
hours1 they were to be found1 as now1 in

 the hall or the saloon1 and their      
work-table contained pretty much the    
same materials4 ,helen was winding      
worsted as she entertained ,telemachus1 
and ,andromache worked roses in very    
modern cross-stitch4 ,a literalist like 
,mr4 ,mackay1 who finds out that the    
,israelites were cannibals1 from such   
expressions as 'drinking the blood of   
the slain1' might discover1 perhaps1 a  
similar unpleasant propensity in an     
excited wish of ,hecuba1 that she might 
eat the heart of ,achilles2 but in the  
absence of other evidence1 it is unwise 
in either case to press a metaphor2 and 
the food of ladies1 wherever ,homer lets
 us see it1 is very innocent cake and   
wine1 with such fruits as were in       
season4 ,to judge by ,nausicaa1 their   
breeding must have been exquisite4      
,nausicaa standing still1 when the      
uncouth figure of ,ulysses emerged from 
under the wood1 all sea slime and       
nakedness1 and only covered with a      
girdle of leaves--standing still to meet

 him when the other girls ran away      
tittering and terrified1 is the perfect 
conception of true female modesty2 and  
in the whole scene between them1 ,homer 
shows the most finished understanding of
 the delicate and tremulous relations   
which occur occasionally in the         
accidents of intercourse between highly 
cultivated men and women1 and which he  
could only have learnt by living in a   
society where men and women met and felt
 in the way which he has described4     
,who1 then1 was ,homer8 ,what was he8   
,when did he live8 ,history has         
absolutely nothing to answer4 ,his poems
 were not written2 for the art of       
writing 7at any rate for a poet's       
purpose7 was unknown to him4 ,there is a
 vague tradition that the ,iliad1 and   
the ,odyssey1 and a comic poem called   
the ,margites1 were composed by an      
,ionian whose name was ,homer1 about    
four hundred years before ,herodotus1 or
 in the ninth century ,b4,c4 ,we know   
certainly that these poems were         

preserved by the ,rhapsodists1 or       
popular reciters1 who repeated them at  
private parties or festivals1 until     
writing came into use1 and they were    
fixed in a less precarious form4 ,a     
later story was current1 that we owe the
 collection to ,pisistratus2 but an     
exclusive claim for him was probably    
only ,athenian conceit4 ,it is          
incredible that men of genius in        
,homer's own land--,alcus1 for          
instance--should have left such a work  
to be done by a foreigner4 ,but this is 
really all which is known2 and the      
creation of the poems lies in           
impenetrable mystery4 ,nothing remains  
to guide us1 therefore1 except internal 
evidence 7strangely enough1 it is the   
same with ,shakespeare71 and it has led 
to wild conclusions3 yet the wildest is 
not without its use2 it has commonly    
something to rest upon2 and internal    
evidence is only really valuable when   
outward testimony has been sifted to the
 uttermost4 ,the present opinion seems  

to be1 that each poem is unquestionably 
the work of one man2 but whether both   
poems are the work of the same is yet   
sub judice4 ,the ,greeks believed they  
were2 and that is much4 ,there are      
remarkable points of resemblance in     
style1 yet not greater than the         
resemblances in the ',two ,noble        
,kinsmen' and in the ',yorkshire        
,tragedy' to ',macbeth' and ',hamlet2'  
and there are more remarkable points of 
non-resemblance1 which deepen upon us   
the more we read4 ,on the other hand1   
tradition is absolute4 ,if the style of 
the ,odyssey is sometimes unlike the    
,iliad1 so is one part of the ,iliad    
sometimes unlike another4 ,it is hard to
 conceive a genius equal to the creation
 of either ,iliad or ,odyssey to have   
existed without leaving at least a      
legend of his name2 and the difficulty  
of criticising style accurately in an   
old language will be appreciated by     
those who have tried their hand in their
 own language with the disputed plays of

 ,shakespeare4 ,there are heavy         
difficulties every way2 and we shall    
best conclude our own subject by noting 
down briefly the most striking points of
 variation of which as yet no           
explanation has been attempted4 ,we have
 already noticed several3 the           
non-appearance of male slavery in the   
,iliad which is common in the ,odyssey2 
the notion of a future state2 and       
perhaps a fuller cultivation in the     
female character4 ,andromache is as     
delicate as ,nausicaa1 but she is not as
 grand as ,penelope2 and in marked      
contrast to the feeling expressed by    
,briseis1 is the passage where the grief
 of ,ulysses over the song of ,demodocus
 is compared to the grief of a young    
wife flinging herself on the yet warm   
body of her husband1 and looking forward
 to her impending slavery with feelings 
of horror and repulsion4 ,but these are 
among the slightest points in which the 
two poems are dissimilar4 ,not only are 
there slaves in the ,odyssey1 but there 

are ,greek3 ,thtes1 or serfs1 an order  
with which we are familiar in later     
times1 but which again are not in the   
,iliad4 ,in the ,odyssey the ,trojans   
are called ,greek3 epibtores hippn1     
which must mean riders4 ,in the ,iliad1 
horses are never ridden2 they are always
 in harness4  ,wherever in the ,odyssey 
the ,trojan war is alluded to 7and it is
 very often71 in no one case is the     
allusion to anything which is mentioned 
in the ,iliad4 ,we hear of the wooden   
horse1 the taking of ,troy1 the death of
 ,achilles1 the contention of ,ulysses  
with ,ajax for his arms4 ,it might be   
said that the poet wished to supply     
afterwards indirectly what he had left  
in the ,iliad untold2 but again1 this is
 impossible1 for a very curious reason4 
,the ,iliad opens with the wrath of     
,achilles1 which caused such bitter woe 
to the ,achaians4 ,in the ,odyssey it is
 still the wrath of ,achilles2 but      
singularly not with ,agamemnon1 but with
 ,ulysses4 ,ulysses to the author of the

 ,odyssey was a far grander person at   
,troy than he appears in the ,iliad4 ,in
 the latter poem he is great1 but far   
from one of the greatest2 in the other1 
he is evidently the next to ,achilles2  
and it seems almost certain that whoever
 wrote the ,odyssey was working from    
some other legend of the war4 ,there    
were a thousand versions of it4 ,the    
tale of ,ilium was set to every lyre in 
,greece1 and the relative position of   
the heroes was doubtless changed        
according to the sympathies or the      
patriotism of the singer4 ,the character
 of ,ulysses is much stronger in the    
,odyssey2 and even when the same        
qualities are attributed to him--his    
soft-flowing tongue1 his cunning1 and   
his eloquence--they are held in very    
different estimation4 ,the ,homer of the
 ,iliad has little liking for a talker4 
,thersites is his pattern specimen of   
such2 and it is the current scoff at    
unready warriors to praise their        
father's courage1 and then to add--     

,greek3                                 
alla ton huion     geinato heio chera   
mach1 agor de t' amein4  ,but the       
,phoeacian ,lord who ventured to        
reflect1 in the ,iliad style1 on the    
supposed unreadiness of ,ulysses1 is    
taught a different notion of human      
excellence4 ,ulysses tells him that he  
is a fool4 ',the gods1' ,ulysses says1  
'do not give all good things to all men1
 and often a man is made unfair to look 
upon1 but over his ill favour they      
fling1 like a garland1 a power of lovely
 speech1 and the people delight to look 
on him4 ,he speaks with modest dignity1 
and he shines among the multitude4 ,as  
he walks through the city1 men gaze on  
him as on a god4'  ,differences like    
these1 however1 are far from decisive4  
,the very slightest external evidence   
would weigh them all down together4     
,perhaps the following may be of more   
importance3--  ,in both poems there are 
'questionings of destiny1' as the modern
 phrase goes4 ,the thing which we call  

human life is looked in the face--this  
little chequered island of lights and   
shadows1 in the middle of an ocean of   
darkness2 and in each we see the sort of
 answer which the poet finds for        
himself1 and which might be summed up   
briefly in the last words of            
,ecclesiastes1 ',fear ,god1 and keep his
 commandments3 for this is the whole    
duty of man4' ,but the world bears a    
different aspect1 and the answer looks  
different in its application4 ,in the   
,iliad1 in spite of the gloom of        
,achilles1 and his complaint of the     
double urn1 the sense of life1 on the   
whole1 is sunny and cheerful4 ,there is 
no yearning for anything beyond--nothing
 vague1 nothing mystical4 ,the earth1   
the men1 the gods1 have all a palpable  
reality about them4 ,from first to last1
 we know where we are1 and what we are  
about4 ,in the ,odyssey we are breathing
 another atmosphere4 ,the speculations  
on the moral mysteries of our being hang
 like a mist over us from the beginning 

to the end2 and the cloud from time to  
time descends on the actors1 and        
envelopes them with a preternatural     
halo4 ,the poet evidently dislikes the  
expression of 'suffering being the lot  
of mortals1' as if it had been abused   
already for ungodly purposes4 ,in the   
opening of the first book1 ,zeus        
reproves the folly of mortal men for    
casting the blame upon the gods1 when   
they themselves1 in spite of all the    
gods can do to save them1 persist in    
their own perverseness2 and we never    
know as we go on1 so fast we pass from  
one to the other1 when we are among mere
 human beings1 and when among the       
spiritual or the mystical4 ,those       
sea-nymphs1 those cannibals1 those      
enchantresses1 if intended to be real1  
are neither mortal nor divine--at any   
rate1 like nothing divine which we had  
seen in ,olympus1 or on the plains of   
,ilium2 and at times there is a         
strangeness even in the hero himself4   
,sometimes it is ,ulysses painfully     

toiling his way home across the unknown 
ocean2 sometimes it is we that are      
,ulysses1 and that unknown ocean is the 
life across which we are wandering1 with
 too many ,circes1 and ,sirens1 and     
',isles of ,error' in our path4 ,in the 
same spirit death is no longer the end2 
and on every side long vistas seem to   
stretch away into the infinite1 peopled 
with shadowy forms4  ,but1 as if this   
palpable initiation into the unseen were
 still insufficient or unconvincing1 the
 common ground on which we are treading 
sometimes shakes under us1 and we feel  
as ,humboldt describes himself to have  
felt at the first shock of an           
earthquake4 ,strange pieces of          
mysterious wildness are let fall in our 
way1 coming suddenly on us like         
spectres1 and vanishing without         
explanation or hint of their purpose4   
,what are those ,phoeacian ships meant  
for1 which required neither sail nor    
oar1 but of their own selves read the   
hearts of those they carried1 and bore  

them wherever they would go8--or the    
wild end of the ship which carried      
,ulysses home8--or that terrible piece  
of second sight in the ,hall at ,ithaca1
 for which the seer was brought from    
,pylos8--or those islands1 one of which 
is for ever wasting while another is    
born into being to complete the         
number8--or those mystical sheep and    
oxen1 which knew neither age nor death1 
nor ever had offspring born to them1 and
 whose flesh upon the spits began to    
crawl and bellow8--or ,helen singing    
round the horse inside the ,trojan      
walls1 when every ,grecian chief's heart
 fainted in him as he thought he heard  
the voice of his own dear wife far away 
beyond the sea8  ,in the far gates of   
the ,loestrygones1 'where such a narrow 
rim of night divided day from day1 that 
a man who needed not sleep might earn a 
double hire1 and the cry of the shepherd
 at evening driving home his flock was  
heard by the shepherd going out in the  
morning to pasture1' we have1 perhaps1  

some tale of a ,phoenician mariner1 who 
had wandered into the ,north ,seas1 and 
seen 'the ,norway sun set into sunrise4'
 ,but what shall we say to that ,syrian 
isle1 'where disease is not1 nor hunger1
 nor thirst1 and where1 when men grow   
old1 ,apollo comes with ,artemis1 and   
slays them with his silver bow8' ,there 
is nothing in the ,iliad like any of    
these stories4  ,yet1 when all is said1 
it matters little who wrote the poems4  
,each is so magnificent1 that to have   
written both could scarcely have        
increased the greatness of the man who  
had written one2 and if there were two  
,homers1 the earth is richer by one more
 divine-gifted man than we had known4   
,after all1 it is perhaps more easy to  
believe that the differences which we   
seem to see arise from ,homer's own     
choice of the material which best suited
 two works so different1 than that      
nature was so largely prodigal as to    
have created in one age and in one      
people two such men2 for whether one or 

two1 the authors of the ,iliad and the  
,odyssey stand alone with ,shakespeare  
far away above mankind4  ,,footnotes3   
,x ,fraser's ,magazine1 #ahea4  ,y      
,mackay's ,progress of the ,intellect4  
,,the ,,lives ,,of ,,the ,,saints4      
#ahej4   ,if the enormous undertaking of
 the ,bollandist editors had been       
completed1 it would have contained the  
histories of #be1jjj saints4 ,so many   
the ,catholic ,church acknowledged and  
accepted as her ideals--as men who had  
not only done her honour by the eminence
 of their sanctity1 but who had received
 while on earth an openly divine        
recognition of it in gifts of           
supernatural power4 ,and this vast      
number is but a selection2 the editors  
chose only out of the mass before them  
what was most noteworthy and            
trustworthy1 and what was of catholic   
rather than of national interest4 ,it is
 no more than a fraction of that        
singular mythology which for so many    
ages delighted the ,christian world1    

which is still held in external         
reverence among the ,romanists1 and of  
which the modern historians1 provoked by
 its feeble supernaturalism1 and by the 
entire absence of critical ability among
 its writers to distinguish between fact
 and fable1 have hitherto failed to     
speak a reasonable word4 ,of the attempt
 in our own day to revive an interest in
 them we shall say little in this place4
 ,the ',lives' have no form or beauty to
 give them attraction in themselves2 and
 for their human interest the broad     
atmosphere of the world suited ill with 
these delicate plants1 which had grown  
up under the shadow of the convent wall2
 they were exotics1 not from another    
climate1 but from another age2 the      
breath of scorn fell on them1 and having
 no root in the hearts and beliefs of   
men any more1 but only in the           
sentimentalities and make-beliefs1 they 
withered and sank4 ,and yet1 in their   
place as historical phenomena1 the      
legends of the saints are as remarkable 

as any of the ,pagan mythologies2 to the
 full as remarkable1 perhaps far more   
so1 if the length and firmness of hold  
they once possessed on the convictions  
of mankind is to pass for anything in   
the estimate--and to ourselves they have
 a near and peculiar interest1 as       
spiritual facts in the growth of the    
,catholic faith4  ,philosophy has       
rescued the old theogonies from         
ridicule2 their extravagancies1 even the
 most grotesque of them1 can be now seen
 to have their root in an idea1 often a 
deep one1 representing features of      
natural history or of metaphysical      
speculation1 and we do not laugh at them
 any more4 ,in their origin1 they were  
the consecration of the first-fruits of 
knowledge2 the expression of a real     
reverential belief4 ,then time did its  
work on them2 knowledge grew1 and they  
could not grow2 they became monstrous   
and mischievous1 and were driven out by 
,christianity with scorn and            
indignation4 ,but it is with human      

institutions as it is with men          
themselves2 we are tender with the dead 
when their power to hurt us has passed  
away2 and as ,paganism can never more be
 dangerous1 we have been able to command
 a calmer attitude towards it1 and to   
detect under its most repulsive features
 sufficient latent elements of genuine  
thought to satisfy us that even in their
 darkest aberrations men are never      
wholly given over to falsehood and      
absurdity4 ,when philosophy has done for
 medival mythology what it has done for 
,hesiod and for the ,edda1 we shall find
 there also at least as deep a sense of 
the awfulness and mystery of life1 and  
we shall find a moral element which the 
,pagans never had4 ,the lives of the    
saints are always simple1 often         
childish1 seldom beautiful2 yet1 as     
,goethe observed1 if without beauty1    
they are always good4  ,and as a        
phenomenon1 let us not deceive ourselves
 on the magnitude of the ,christian     
hagiology4 ,the ,bollandists were       

restricted on many sides4 ,they took    
only what was in ,latin--while every    
country in ,europe had its own home     
growth in its own language--and thus    
many of the most characteristic of the  
lives are not to be found at all in     
their collection4 ,and again1 they took 
but one life of each saint1 composed in 
all cases late1 and compiled out of the 
mass of various shorter lives which had 
grown up in different localities out of 
popular tradition2 so that many of their
 longer productions have an elaborate   
literary character1 with an appearance  
of artifice1 which1 till we know how    
they came into existence1 might blind us
 to the vast width and variety of the   
traditionary sources from which they are
 drawn4 ,in the twelfth century there   
were sixty-six lives extant of ,st4     
,patrick alone2 and that in a country   
where every parish had its own special  
saint and special legend of him4 ,these 
sixty-six lives may have contained 7,mr4
 ,gibbon says must have contained7 at   

least as many thousand lies4 ,perhaps   
so4 ,to severe criticism1 even the      
existence of a single apostle1 ,st4     
,patrick1 appears problematical4 ,but at
 least there is the historical fact1    
about which there can be no mistake1    
that the stories did grow up in some way
 or other1 that they were repeated1     
sung1 listened to1 written1 and read2   
that these lives in ,ireland1 and all   
over ,europe and over the earth1        
wherever the ,catholic faith was        
preached1 stories like these1 sprang out
 of the heart of the people1 and grew   
and shadowed over the entire believing  
mind of the ,catholic world4 ,wherever  
church was founded1 or soil was         
consecrated for the long resting-place  
of those who had died in the faith2     
wherever the sweet bells of convent or  
of monastery were heard in the evening  
air1 charming the unquiet world to rest 
and remembrance of ,god1 there dwelt the
 memory of some apostle who had laid the
 first stone1 there was the sepulchre of

 some martyr whose relics reposed       
beneath the altar1 of some confessor who
 had suffered there for his ,master's   
sake1 of some holy ascetic who in silent
 self-chosen austerity had woven a      
ladder there of prayer and penance1 on  
which the angels of ,god were believed  
to have ascended and descended4 ,it is  
not a phenomenon of an age or of a      
century2 it is characteristic of the    
history of ,christianity4 ,from the time
 when the first preachers of the faith  
passed out from their homes by that     
quiet ,galilean lake1 to go to and fro  
over the earth1 and did their mighty    
work1 and at last disappeared and were  
not any more seen1 these sacred legends 
began to grow4 ,those who had once known
 the ,apostles1 who had drawn from their
 lips the blessed message of light and  
life1 one and all would gather together 
what fragments they could find of their 
stories4 ,rumours blew in from all the  
winds4 ,they had been seen here1 had    
been seen there1 in the farthest corners

 of the earth1 preaching1 contending1   
suffering1 prevailing4 ,affection did   
not stay to scrutinise4 ,when some      
member of a family among ourselves is   
absent in some far place from which sure
 news of him comes slowly and           
uncertainly2 if he has been in the army1
 or on some dangerous expedition1 or at 
sea1 or anywhere where real or imaginary
 dangers stimulate anxiety2 or when one 
is gone away from us altogether--fallen 
perhaps in battle--and when the story of
 his end can be collected but fitfully  
from strangers1 who only knew his name1 
but had heard him nobly spoken of2 the  
faintest threads are caught at2 reports1
 the vagueness of which might be evident
 to indifference1 are to love strong    
grounds of confidence1 and 'trifles     
light as air' establish themselves as   
certainties4 ,so1 in those first        
,christian communities1 travellers came 
through from east and west2 legions on  
the march1 or caravans of wandering     
merchants2 and one had been in ,rome1   

and seen ,peter disputing with ,simon   
,magus2 another in ,india1 where he had 
heard ,st4 ,thomas preaching to the     
,brahmins2 a third brought with him1    
from the wilds of ,britain1 a staff     
which he had cut1 as he said1 from a    
thorn tree1 the seed of which ,st4      
,joseph had sown there1 and which had   
grown to its full size in a single      
night1 making merchandise of the        
precious relic out of the credulity of  
the believers4 ,so the legends grew1 and
 were treasured up1 and loved1 and      
trusted2 and alas6 all which we have    
been able to do with them is to call    
them lies1 and to point a shallow moral 
on the impostures and credulities of the
 early ,catholics4 ,an ,atheist could   
not wish us to say more4 ,if we can     
really believe that the ,christian      
,church was made over in its very cradle
 to lies and to the father of lies1 and 
was allowed to remain in his keeping1 so
 to say1 till yesterday1 he will not    
much trouble himself with any faith     

which after such an admission we may    
profess to entertain4 ,for1 as this     
spirit began in the first age in which  
the ,church began to have a history1 so 
it continued so long as the ,church as  
an integral body retained its vitality1 
and only died out in the degeneracy     
which preceded and which brought on the 
,reformation4 ,for fourteen hundred     
years these stories held their place1   
and rang on from age to age1 from       
century to century2 as the new faith    
widened its boundaries1 and numbered    
ever more and more great names of men   
and women who had fought and died for   
it1 so long their histories1 living in  
the hearts of those for whom they       
laboured1 laid hold of them and filled  
them3 and the devout imagination1       
possessed with what was often no more   
than the rumour of a name1 bodied it out
 into life1 and form1 and reality4 ,and 
doubtless1 if we try them by any        
historical canon1 we have to say that   
quite endless untruths grew in this way 

to be believed among men2 and not       
believed only1 but held sacred1         
passionately and devotedly2 not filling 
the history books only1 not only serving
 to amuse and edify the refectory1 or to
 furnish matter for meditation in the   
cell1 but claiming days for themselves  
of special remembrance1 entering into   
liturgies and inspiring prayers1 forming
 the spiritual nucleus of the hopes and 
fears of millions of human souls4  ,from
 the hard barren standing ground of the 
fact idolator1 what a strange sight must
 be that still mountain-peak on the wild
 west ,irish shore1 where1 for more than
 ten centuries1 a rude old bell and a   
carved chip of oak have witnessed1 or   
seemed to witness1 to the presence long 
ago there of the ,irish apostle2 and    
where1 in the sharp crystals of the trap
 rock1 a path has been worn smooth by   
the bare feet and bleeding knees of the 
pilgrims1 who still1 in the ,august     
weather1 drag their painful way along it
 as they have done for a thousand years4

 ,doubtless the ',lives of the ,saints' 
are full of lies4 ,are there none in the
 ,iliad8 or in the legends of neas8     
,were the stories sung in the liturgy of
 ,eleusis all so true8 so true as fact8 
,are the songs of the ,cid or of        
,siegfried true8 ,we say nothing of the 
lies in these2 but why8 ,oh1 it will be 
said1 but they are fictions2 they were  
never supposed to be true4 ,but they    
were supposed to be true1 to the full as
 true as the ',legenda ,aurea4' ,oh1    
then1 they are poetry2 and besides1 they
 have nothing to do with ,christianity4 
,yes1 that is it2 they have nothing to  
do with ,christianity4 ,religion has    
grown such a solemn business with us1   
and we bring such long faces to it1 that
 we cannot admit or conceive to be at   
all naturally admissible such a light   
companion as the imagination4 ,the      
distinction between secular and         
religious has been extended even to the 
faculties2 and we cannot tolerate in    
others the fulness and freedom which we 

have lost or rejected for ourselves4    
,yet it has been a fatal mistake with   
the critics4 ,they found themselves off 
the recognised ground of ,romance and   
,paganism1 and they failed to see the   
same principles at work1 though at work 
with new materials4 ,in the records of  
all human affairs1 it cannot be too     
often insisted on that two kinds of     
truth run for ever side by side1 or     
rather1 crossing in and out with each   
other1 form the warp and the woof of the
 coloured web which we call history3 the
 one1 the literal and external truths   
corresponding to the eternal and as yet 
undiscovered laws of fact2 the other1   
the truths of feeling and of thought1   
which embody themselves either in       
distorted pictures of outward things1 or
 in some entirely new                   
creation--sometimes moulding and shaping
 real history2 sometimes taking the form
 of heroic biography1 of tradition1 or  
popular legend2 sometimes appearing as  
recognised fiction in the epic1 the     

drama1 or the novel4 ,it is useless to  
tell us that this is to confuse truth   
and falsehood4 ,we are stating a fact1  
not a theory2 and if it makes truth and 
falsehood difficult to distinguish1 that
 is nature's fault1 not ours4 ,fiction  
is only false1 when it is false1 not to 
fact1 else how could it be fiction8 but 
when it is--to law4 ,to try it by its   
correspondence to the real is pedantry4 
,imagination creates as nature creates1 
by the force which is in man1 which     
refuses to be restrained2 we cannot help
 it1 and we are only false when we make 
monsters1 or when we pretend that our   
inventions are facts1 when we substitute
 truths of one kind for truths of       
another2 when we substitute1--and again 
we must say when we intentionally       
substitute3--whenever persons1 and      
whenever facts seize strongly on the    
imagination 7and of course when there is
 anything remarkable in them they must  
and will do so71 invention glides into  
the images which form in our minds2 so  

it must be1 and so it ever has been1    
from the first legends of a cosmogony to
 the written life of the great man who  
died last year or century1 or to the    
latest scientific magazine4 ,we cannot  
relate facts as they are2 they must     
first pass through ourselves1 and we are
 more or less than mortal if they gather
 nothing in the transit4 ,the great     
outlines alone lie around us as         
imperative and constraining2 the detail 
we each fill up variously1 according to 
the turn of our sympathies1 the extent  
of our knowledge1 or our general        
theories of things3 and therefore it may
 be said that the only literally true   
history possible is the history which   
mind has left of itself in all the      
changes through which it has passed4    
,suetonius is to the full as extravagant
 and superstitious as ,surius1 and      
,suetonius was most laborious and       
careful1 and was the friend of ,tacitus 
and ,pliny4 ,suetonius gives us         
prodigies1 where ,surius has miracles1  

but that is all the difference2 each    
follows the form of the supernatural    
which belonged to the genius of his age4
 ,plutarch writes a life of ,lycurgus1  
with details of his childhood1 and of   
the trials and vicissitudes of his age2 
and the existence of ,lycurgus is now   
quite as questionable as that of ,st4   
,patrick or of ,st4 ,george of ,england4
  ,no rectitude of intention will save  
us from mistakes4 ,sympathies and       
antipathies are but synonyms of         
prejudice1 and indifference is          
impossible4 ,love is blind1 and so is   
every other passion4 ,love believes     
eagerly what it desires2 it excuses or  
passes lightly over blemishes1 it dwells
 on what is beautiful2 while dislike    
sees a tarnish on what is brightest1 and
 deepens faults into vices4 ,do we      
believe that all this is a disease of   
unenlightened times1 and that in our    
strong sunlight only truth can get      
received8--then let us contrast the     
portrait1 for instance1 of ,sir ,robert 

,peel as it is drawn in the ,free ,trade
 ,hall at ,manchester1,z at the county  
meeting1 and in the ,oxford ,common     
,room4 ,it is not so4 ,faithful and     
literal history is possible only to an  
impassive spirit4 ,man will never write 
it1 until perfect knowledge and perfect 
faith in ,god shall enable him to see   
and endure every fact in its reality2   
until perfect love shall kindle in him  
under its touch the one just emotion    
which is in harmony with the eternal    
order of all things4  ,how far we are in
 these days from approximating to such a
 combination we need not here insist4   
,criticism in the hands of men like     
,niebuhr seems to have accomplished     
great intellectual triumphs2 and in     
,germany and ,france1 and among         
ourselves1 we have our new schools of   
the philosophy of history3 yet their    
real successes have hitherto only been  
destructive4 ,when philosophy           
reconstructs1 it does nothing but       
project its own idea2 when it throws off

 tradition1 it cannot work without a    
theory3 and what is a theory but an     
imperfect generalisation caught up by a 
predisposition8 ,what is ,comte's great 
division of the eras but a theory1 and  
facts are but as clay in his hands1     
which he can mould to illustrate it1 as 
every clever man will find facts to be1 
let his theory be what it will8         
,intellect can destroy1 but it cannot   
restore life2 call in the creative      
faculties--call in ,love1 ,idea1        
,imagination1 and we have living        
figures1 but we cannot tell whether they
 are figures which ever lived before4   
,the high faith in which ,love and      
,intellect can alone unite in their     
fulness1 has not yet found utterance in 
modern historians4  ,the greatest man   
who has as yet given himself to the     
recording of human affairs is1 beyond   
question1 ,cornelius ,tacitus4 ,alone in
 ,tacitus a serene calmness of insight  
was compatible with intensity of        
feeling4 ,he took no side2 he may have  

been ,imperialist1 he may have been     
,republican1 but he has left no sign    
whether he was either3 he appears to    
have sifted facts with scrupulous       
integrity2 to administer his love1 his  
scorn1 his hatred1 according only to    
individual merit3 and his sentiments are
 rather felt by the reader in the       
life-like clearness of his portraits1   
than expressed in words by himself4 ,yet
 such a power of seeing into things was 
only possible to him1 because there was 
no party left with which he could       
determinedly side1 and no wide spirit   
alive in ,rome through which he could   
feel4 ,the spirit of ,rome1 the spirit  
of life had gone away to seek other     
forms1 and the world of ,tacitus was a  
heap of decaying institutions2 a stage  
where men and women1 as they themselves 
were individually base or noble1 played 
over their little parts4 ,life indeed   
was come into the world1 was working in 
it1 and silently shaping the old dead   
corpse into fresh and beautiful being4  

,tacitus alludes to it once only1 in one
 brief scornful chapter2 and the most   
poorly gifted of those forlorn          
biographers whose unreasoning credulity 
was piling up the legends of ,st4 ,mary 
and the ,apostles1 which now drive the  
ecclesiastical historian to despair1    
knew more1 in his divine hope and faith1
 of the real spirit which had gone out  
among mankind1 than the keenest and     
gravest intellect which ever set itself 
to contemplate them4  ,and now having in
 some degree cleared the ground of      
difficulties1 let us go back to the     
,lives of the ,saints4 ,if ,bede tells  
us lies about ,st4 ,cuthbert1 we will   
disbelieve his stories2 but we will not 
call ,bede a liar1 even though he       
prefaces his life with a declaration    
that he has set down nothing but what he
 has ascertained on the clearest        
evidence4 ,we are driven to no such     
alternative2 our canons of criticism are
 different from ,bede's1 and so are our 
notions of probability4 ,bede would     

expect  priori1 and would therefore     
consider as sufficiently attested by a  
consent of popular tradition1 what the  
oaths of living witnesses would fail to 
make credible to a modern ,english jury4
 ,we will call ,bede a liar only if he  
put forward his picture of ,st4         
,cuthbert as a picture of a life which  
he considered admirable and excellent1  
as one after which he was endeavouring  
to model his own1 and which he held up  
as a pattern of imitation1 when in his  
heart he did not consider it admirable  
at all1 when he was making no effort at 
the austerities which he was lauding4   
,the histories of the saints are written
 as ideals of a ,christian life2 they   
have no elaborate and beautiful forms2  
single and straightforward as they      
are1--if they are not this they are     
nothing4 ,for fourteen centuries the    
religious mind of the ,catholic world   
threw them out as its form of hero      
worship1 as the heroic patterns of a    
form of human life which each ,christian

 within his own limits was endeavouring 
to realise4 ,the first martyrs and      
confessors were to those poor monks what
 the first ,dorian conquerors were in   
the war songs of ,tyrtus1 what ,achilles
 and ,ajax and ,agamemnon and ,diomed   
were wherever ,homer was sung or read2  
or in more modern times1 what the       
,knights of the ,round ,table were in   
the halls of the ,norman castles4 ,the  
,catholic mind was expressing its       
conception of the highest human         
excellence2 and the result is that      
immense and elaborate hagiology4 ,as    
with the battle heroes1 too1 the        
inspiration lies in the universal idea2 
the varieties of character 7with here   
and there an exception7 are slight and  
unimportant2 the object being to create 
examples for universal human imitation4 
,lancelot or ,tristram were equally true
 to the spirit of chivalry2 and ,patrick
 on the mountain1 or ,antony in the     
desert1 are equal models of patient     
austerity4 ,the knights fight with      

giants1 enchanters1 robbers1 unknightly 
nobles1 or furious wild beasts2 the     
,christians fight with the world1 the   
flesh1 and the devil4 ,the knight leaves
 the comforts of home in quest of       
adventures1 the saint in quest of       
penance1 and on the bare rocks or in    
desolate wildernesses subdues the devil 
in his flesh with prayers and penances2 
and so alien is it all to the whole     
thought and system of the modern        
,christian1 that he either rejects such 
stories altogether as monks' impostures1
 or receives them with disdainful       
wonder1 as one more shameful form of    
superstition with which human nature has
 insulted heaven and disgraced itself4  
,leaving1 however1 for the present1 the 
meaning of monastic asceticism1 it seems
 necessary to insist that there really  
was such a thing2 there is no doubt     
about it4 ,if the particular actions    
told of each saint are not literally    
true1 as belonging to him1 abundance of 
men did for many centuries lead the sort

 of life which saints are said to have  
led4 ,we have got a notion that the     
friars were a snug1 comfortable set1    
after all2 and the life in a monastery  
pretty much like that in a modern       
university1 where the old monks'        
language and affectation of             
unworldliness does somehow contrive to  
co-exist with as large a mass of bodily 
enjoyment as man's nature can well      
appropriate4 ,very likely this was the  
state into which many of the monasteries
 had fallen in the fifteenth century4   
,it was a symptom of a very rapid       
disorder which had set in among them1   
and which promptly terminated in        
dissolution4 ,but long1 long ages lay   
behind the fifteenth century1 in which1 
wisely or foolishly1 these old monks and
 hermits did make themselves a very hard
 life of it2 and the legend only        
exceeded the reality in being a very    
slightly idealised portrait4 ,we are not
 speaking of the miracles2 that is a    
wholly different question4 ,when men    

knew little of the order of nature1     
whatever came to pass without an obvious
 cause was at once set down to          
influences beyond nature and above it2  
and so long as there were witches and   
enchanters1 strong with the help of the 
bad powers1 of course the especial      
servants of ,god would not be left      
without graces to outmatch and overcome 
the devil4 ,and there were many other   
reasons why the saints should work      
miracles4 ,they had done so under the   
old dispensation1 and there was no      
obvious reason why ,christians should be
 worse off than ,jews4 ,and again1      
although it be true1 in the modern      
phrase1 which is beginning to savour a  
little of cant1 that the highest natural
 is the highest supernatural1           
nevertheless natural facts permit us to 
be so easily familiar with them1 that   
they have an air of commonness2 and when
 we have a vast idea to express1 there  
is always a disposition to the          
extraordinary4 ,but the miracles are not

 the chief thing2 nor ever were they so4
 ,men did not become saints by working  
miracles1 but they worked miracles      
because they had become saints2 and the 
instructiveness and value of their lives
 lay in the means which they had used to
 make themselves what they were3 and as 
we said1 in this part of the business   
there is unquestionable basis of        
truth--scarcely even exaggeration4 ,we  
have documentary evidence1 which has    
been filtered through the sharp ordeal  
of party hatred1 of the way in which    
some men 7and those1 not mere ignorant  
fanatics1 but men of vast mind and vast 
influence in their days7 conducted      
themselves1 where myth has no room to   
enter4 ,we know something of the        
hair-shirt of ,thomas  ,becket2 and     
there was another poor monk1 whose      
asceticism imagination could not easily 
outrun2 he who1 when the earth's mighty 
ones were banded together to crush him  
under their armed heels1 spoke but one  
little word1 and it fell among them like

 the spear of ,cadmus2 the strong ones  
turned their hands against each other1  
and the armies melted away2 and the     
proudest monarch of the earth lay at    
that monk's threshold three winter      
nights in the scanty clothing of        
penance1 suing miserably for            
forgiveness4 ,or again1 to take a fairer
 figure4 ,there is a poem extant1 the   
genuineness of which1 we believe1 has   
not been challenged1 composed by        
,columbkill1 commonly called ,st4       
,columba4 ,he was a hermit in ,arran1 a 
rocky island in the ,atlantic1 outside  
,galway ,bay2 from which he was         
summoned1 we do not know how1 but in a  
manner which appeared to him to be a    
,divine call1 to go away and be ,bishop 
of ,iona4 ,the poem is a ',farewell to  
,arran1' which he wrote on leaving it2  
and he lets us see something of a       
hermit's life there4 ',farewell1' he    
begins 7we are obliged to quote from    
memory71 'a long farewell to thee1      
,arran of my heart4 ,paradise is with   

thee2 the garden of ,god within the     
sound of thy bells4 ,the angels love    
,arran4 ,each day an angel comes there  
to join in its services4' ,and then he  
goes on to describe his 'dear cell1' and
 the holy happy hours which he had spent
 there1 'with the wind whistling through
 the loose stones1 and the sea spray    
hanging on his hair4' ,arran is no      
better than a wild rock4 ,it is strewed 
over with the ruins which may still be  
seen of the old hermitages2 and at their
 best they could have been but such     
places as sheep would huddle under in a 
storm1 and shiver in the cold and wet   
which would pierce through the chinks of
 the walls4  ,or1 if written evidence be
 too untrustworthy1 there are silent    
witnesses which cannot lie1 that tell   
the same touching story4 ,whoever       
loiters among the ruins of a monastery  
will see1 commonly leading out of the   
cloisters1 rows of cellars half         
under-ground1 low1 damp1 and            
wretched-looking2 an earthen floor1     

bearing no trace of pavement2 a roof    
from which the mortar and the damp keep 
up 7and always must have kept up7 a     
perpetual ooze2 for a window a narrow   
slip in the wall1 through which the cold
 and the wind find as free an access as 
the light4 ,such as they are1 a         
well-kept dog would object to accept a  
night's lodging in them2 and if they had
 been prison cells1 thousands of        
philanthropic tongues would have        
trumpeted out their horrors4 ,the       
stranger perhaps supposes that they were
 the very dungeons of which he has heard
 such terrible things4 ,he asks his     
guide1 and his guide tells him they were
 the monks' dormitories4 ,yes2 there on 
that wet soil1 with that dripping roof  
above them1 was the self-chosen home of 
those poor men4 ,through winter frost1  
through rain and storm1 through summer  
sunshine1 generation after generation of
 them1 there they lived and prayed1 and 
at last lay down and died4  ,it is all  
gone now--gone as if it had never been2 

and it was as foolish as1 if the attempt
 had succeeded1 it would have been      
mischievous1 to revive a devotional     
interest in the ,lives of the ,saints4  
,it would have produced but one more    
unreality in an age already too full of 
such4 ,no one supposes we should have   
set to work to live as they lived2 that 
any man1 however earnest in his         
religion1 would have gone looking for   
earth floors and wet dungeons1 or wild  
islands to live in1 when he could get   
anything better4 ,either we are wiser1  
or more humane1 or more self-indulgent2 
at any rate we are something which      
divides us from medival ,christianity by
 an impassable gulf which this age or   
this epoch will not see bridged over4   
,nevertheless1 these modern             
hagiologists1 however wrongly they went 
to work at it1 had detected1 and were   
endeavouring to fill1 a very serious    
blank in our educational system2 a very 
serious blank indeed1 and one which1    
somehow1 we must contrive to get filled 

if the education of character is ever to
 be more than a name with us4 ,to try   
and teach people how to live without    
giving them examples in which our rules 
are illustrated1 is like teaching them  
to draw by the rules of perspective1 and
 of light and shade1 without designs in 
which to study the effects2 or to write 
verse by the laws of rhyme and metre1   
without song or poem in which rhyme and 
metre are exhibited4 ,it is a principle 
which we have forgotten1 and it is one  
which the old ,catholics did not forget4
 ,we do not mean that they set out with 
saying to themselves1 ',we must have    
examples1 we must have ideals2' very    
likely they never thought about it at   
all2 love for their holy men1 and a     
thirst to know about them1 produced the 
histories2 and love unconsciously       
working gave them the best for which    
they could have wished4 ,the boy at     
school at the monastery1 the young monk 
disciplining himself as yet with        
difficulty under the austerities to     

which he had devoted himself1 the old   
one halting on toward the close of his  
pilgrimage1--all of them had before     
their eyes1 in the legend of the patron 
saint1 a personal realisation of all    
they were trying after2 leading them on1
 beckoning to them1 and pointing1 as    
they stumbled among their difficulties1 
to the marks which his own footsteps had
 left1 as he had trod that hard path    
before them4 ,it was as if the ,church  
was for ever saying to them3--',you have
 doubts and fears1 and trials and       
temptations1 outward and inward2 you    
have sinned1 perhaps1 and feel the      
burden of your sin4 ,here was one who1  
like you1 in this very spot1 under the  
same sky1 treading the same soil1 among 
the same hills and woods and rocks and  
rivers1 was tried like you1 tempted like
 you1 sinned like you2 but here he      
prayed1 and persevered1 and did penance1
 and washed out his sins2 he fought the 
fight1 he vanquished the ,evil ,one1 he 
triumphed1 and now he reigns a saint    

with ,christ in heaven4 ,the same ground
 which yields you your food1 once       
supplied him2 he breathed1 and lived1   
and felt1 and died here2 and now1 from  
his throne in the sky1 he is still      
looking lovingly down on his children1  
making intercession for you that you may
 have grace to follow him1 that         
by-and-by he may himself offer you at   
,god's throne as his own4' ,it is       
impossible to measure the influence     
which a personal reality of this kind   
must have exercised on the mind1 thus   
daily and hourly impressed upon it      
through a life2 there is nothing vague  
any more1 no abstract excellences to    
strain after2 all is distinct1 personal1
 palpable4 ,it is no dream4 ,the saint's
 bones are under the altar2 nay1        
perhaps1 his very form and features     
undissolved4 ,under some late abbot the 
coffin may have been opened and the body
 seen without mark or taint of decay4   
,such things have been1 and the         
emaciation of a saint will account for  

it without a miracle4 ,daily some       
incident of his story is read aloud1 or 
spoken of1 or preached upon4 ,in quaint 
beautiful forms it lives in light in the
 long chapel windows2 and in the summer 
matins his figure1 lighted up in        
splendour1 gleams down on the           
congregation as they pray1 or streams in
 mysterious tints along the pavement1   
clad1 as it seems1 in soft celestial    
glory1 and shining as he shines in      
heaven4 ,alas1 alas6 where is it all    
gone8  ,we are going to venture a few   
thoughts on the wide question1 what     
possibly may have been the meaning of so
 large a portion of the human race1 and 
so many centuries of ,christianity1     
having been surrendered and seemingly   
sacrificed to the working out this      
dreary asceticism4 ,if right once1 then 
it is right now2 if now worthless1 then 
it could never have been more than      
worthless2 and the energies which spent 
themselves on it were like corn sown    
upon the rock1 or substance given for   

that which is not bread4 ,we supposed   
ourselves challenged recently for our   
facts4 ,here is an enormous fact which  
there is no evading4 ,it is not to be   
slurred over with indolent generalities1
 with unmeaning talk of superstition1 of
 the twilight of the understanding1 of  
barbarism1 and of nursery credulity2 it 
is matter for the philosophy of history1
 if the philosophy has yet been born    
which can deal with it2 one of the      
solid1 experienced facts in the story of
 mankind which must be accepted and     
considered with that respectful         
deference which all facts claim of their
 several sciences1 and which will       
certainly not disclose its meaning      
7supposing it to have a meaning7 except 
to reverence1 to sympathy1 to love4 ,we 
must remember that the men who wrote    
these stories1 and who practised these  
austerities1 were the same men who      
composed our liturgies1 who built our   
churches and our cathedrals--and the    
gothic cathedral is1 perhaps1 on the    

whole1 the most magnificent creation    
which the mind of man has as yet thrown 
out of itself4 ,if there be any such    
thing as a philosophy of history1 real  
or possible1 it is in virtue of there   
being certain progressive organising    
laws in which the fretful lives of each 
of us are gathered into and subordinated
 in some larger unity1 through which age
 is linked to age1 as we move forward1  
with an horizon expanding and advancing4
 ,and if this is true1 the magnitude of 
any human phenomenon is a criterion of  
its importance1 and definite forms of   
thought working through long historic   
periods imply an effect of one of these 
vast laws--imply a distinct step in     
human progress4 ,something previously   
unrealised is being lived out1 and      
rooted into the heart of mankind4       
,nature never half does her work4 ,she  
goes over it1 and over it1 to make      
assurance sure1 and makes good her      
ground with wearying repetition4 ,a     
single section of a short paper is but a

 small space to enter on so vast an     
enterprise2 nevertheless1 a few very    
general words shall be ventured as a    
suggestion of what this monastic or     
saintly spirit may possibly have meant4 
,first1 as the spirit of ,christianity  
is antagonistic to the world1 whatever  
form the spirit of the world assumes1   
the ideals of ,christianity will of     
course be their opposite2 as one verges 
into one extreme1 the other will verge  
into the contrary4 ,in those rough times
 the law was the sword2 animal might of 
arm1 and the strong animal heart which  
guided it1 were the excellences which   
the world rewarded2 and monasticism1    
therefore1 in its position of protest1  
would be the destruction and abnegation 
of the animal nature4 ,the war hero in  
the battle or the tourney yard might be 
taken as the apotheosis of the fleshly  
man--the saint in the desert of the     
spiritual4  ,but this interpretation is 
slight1 imperfect1 and if true at all   
only partially so4 ,the animal and the  

spiritual are not contradictories2 they 
are the complements in the perfect      
character2 and in the middle ages1 as in
 all ages of genuine earnestness1 they  
interfused and penetrated each other4   
,there were warrior saints and saintly  
warriors2 and those grand old figures   
which sleep cross-legged in the         
cathedral aisles were something higher  
than only one more form of the beast of 
prey4 ,monasticism represented something
 more positive than a protest against   
the world4 ,we believe it to have been  
the realisation of the infinite         
loveliness and beauty of personal       
purity4  ,in the earlier civilisation1  
the ,greeks1 however genuine their      
reverence for the gods1 do not seem to  
have supposed any part of their duty to 
the gods to consist in keeping their    
bodies untainted4 ,exquisite as was     
their sense of beauty1 of beauty of mind
 as well as beauty of form1 with all    
their loftiness and their nobleness1    
with their ready love of moral          

excellence when manifested1 as          
fortitude1 or devotion to liberty and to
 home1 they had little or no idea of    
what we mean by morality4 ,with a few   
rare exceptions1 pollution1 too         
detestable to be even named among       
ourselves1 was of familiar and daily    
occurrence among their greatest men2 was
 no reproach to philosopher or to       
statesman2 and was not supposed to be   
incompatible1 and was not1 in fact1     
incompatible with any of those especial 
excellences which we so admire in the   
,greek character4  ,among the ,romans   
7that is1 the early ,romans of the      
republic71 there was a sufficiently     
austere morality4 ,a public officer of  
state1 whose business was to enquire    
into the private lives of the citizens1 
and to punish offences against morals1  
is a phenomenon which we have seen only 
once on this planet4 ,there was never a 
nation before1 and there has been none  
since1 with sufficient virtue to endure 
it4 ,but the ,roman morality was not    

lovely for its own sake1 nor excellent  
in itself4 ,it was obedience to law1    
practised and valued1 loved for what    
resulted from it1 for the strength and  
rigid endurance which it gave1 but not  
loved for itself4 ,the ,roman nature was
 fierce1 rugged1 almost brutal2 and it  
submitted to restraint as stern as      
itself1 as long as the energy of the old
 spirit endured4 ,but as soon as that   
energy grew slack--when the religion was
 no longer believed1 and taste1 as it   
was called1 came in1 and there was no   
more danger to face1 and the world was  
at their feet1 all was swept away as    
before a whirlwind2 there was no        
loveliness in virtue to make it desired1
 and the ,rome of the ,csars presents1  
in its later ages1 a picture of enormous
 sensuality1 of the coarsest animal     
desire1 with means unlimited to gratify 
it4 ,in ,latin literature1 as little as 
in the ,greek1 is there any sense of the
 beauty of purity4 ,moral essays on     
temperance we may find1 and praise      

enough of the wise man whose passions   
and whose appetites are trained into    
obedience to reason4 ,but this is no    
more than the philosophy of the old     
,roman life1 which got itself expressed 
in words when men were tired of the     
reality4 ,it involves no sense of sin4  
,if sin could be indulged without       
weakening self-command1 or without      
hurting other people1 ,roman philosophy 
would have nothing to say against it4   
,the ,christians stepped far out beyond 
philosophy4 ,without speculating on the 
why1 they felt that indulgence of animal
 passion did1 in fact1 pollute them1 and
 so much the more1 the more it was      
deliberate4 ,philosophy1 gliding into   
,manicheism1 divided the forces of the  
universe1 giving the spirit to ,god1 but
 declaring matter to be eternally and   
incurably evil2 and looking forward to  
the time when the spirit should be      
emancipated from the body1 as the       
beginning of1 or as the return to1 its  
proper existence1 a man like ,plotinus  

took no especial care what became the   
meanwhile of its evil tenement of flesh4
 ,if the body sinned1 sin was its       
element2 it could not do other than sin2
 purity of conduct could not make the   
body clean1 and no amount of bodily     
indulgence could shed a taint upon the  
spirit--a very comfortable doctrine1 and
 one which1 under various disguises1 has
 appeared a good many times on the      
earth4 ,but ,christianity1 shaking all  
this off1 would present the body to ,god
 as a pure and holy sacrifice1 as so    
much of the material world conquered    
from the appetites and lusts1 and from  
the devil whose abode they were4 ,this  
was the meaning of the fastings and     
scourgings1 the penances and            
night-watchings2 it was this which sent 
,st4 ,anthony to the tombs and set      
,simeon on his pillar1 to conquer the   
devil in the flesh1 and keep themselves1
 if possible1 undefiled by so much as   
one corrupt thought4  ,and they may have
 been absurd and extravagant4 ,when the 

feeling is stronger than the judgment1  
men are very apt to be extravagant4 ,if1
 in the recoil from ,manicheism1 they   
conceived that a body of a saint thus   
purified had contracted supernatural    
virtue and could work miracles1 they had
 not sufficiently attended to the facts1
 and so far are not unexceptionable     
witnesses to them4 ,nevertheless they   
did their work1 and in virtue of it we  
are raised to a higher stage--we are    
lifted forward a mighty step which we   
can never again retrace4 ,personal      
purity is not the whole for which we    
have to care3 it is but one feature in  
the ideal character of man4 ,the monks  
may have thought it was all1 or more    
nearly all than it is2 and therefore    
their lives may seem to us poor1 mean1  
and emasculate4 ,yet it is with life as 
it is with science2 generations of men  
have given themselves exclusively to    
single branches1 which1 when mastered1  
form but a little section in a cosmic   
philosophy2 and in life1 so slow is     

progress1 it may take a thousand years  
to make good a single step4 ,weary and  
tedious enough it seems when we cease to
 speak in large language1 and remember  
the numbers of individual souls who have
 been at work at the process2 but who   
knows whereabouts we are in the duration
 of the race8 ,is humanity crawling out 
of the cradle1 or tottering into the    
grave8 ,is it in nursery1 in schoolroom1
 or in opening manhood8 ,who knows8 ,it 
is enough for us to be sure of our steps
 when we have taken them1 and thankfully
 to accept what has been done for us4   
,henceforth it is impossible for us to  
give our unmixed admiration to any      
character which moral shadows overhang4 
,henceforth we require1 not greatness   
only1 but goodness2 and not that        
goodness only which begins and ends in  
conduct correctly regulated1 but that   
love of goodness1 that keen pure feeling
 for it1 which resides in a conscience  
as sensitive and susceptible as woman's 
modesty4  ,so much for what seems to us 

the philosophy of this matter4 ,if we   
are right1 it is no more than a first   
furrow in the crust of a soil which     
hitherto the historians have been       
contented to leave in its barrenness4   
,if they are conscientious enough not to
 trifle with the facts1 as they look    
back on them from the luxurious         
self-indulgence of modern ,christianity1
 they either revile the superstition or 
pity the ignorance which made such large
 mistakes on the nature of              
religion--and1 loud in their            
denunciations of priestcraft and of     
lying wonders1 they point their moral   
with pictures of the ambition of medival
 prelacy or the scandals of the annals  
of the papacy4 ,for the inner life of   
all those millions of immortal souls who
 were struggling1 with such good or bad 
success as was given them1 to carry     
,christ's cross along their journey     
through life1 they set it by1 pass it   
over1 dismiss it out of history1 with   
some poor commonplace simper of sorrow  

or of scorn4 ,it will not do4 ,mankind  
have not been so long on this planet    
altogether1 that we can allow so large a
 chasm to be scooped out of their       
spiritual existence4  ,we intended to   
leave our readers with something lighter
 than all this in the shape of literary 
criticism1 and a few specimens of the   
biographical style3 in both of these we 
must now1 however1 be necessarily brief4
 ,whoever is curious to study the lives 
of the saints in their originals1 should
 rather go anywhere than to the         
,bollandists1 and universally never read
 a late life when he can command an     
early one2 for the genius in them is in 
the ratio of their antiquity1 and1 like 
river-water1 is most pure nearest to the
 fountain4 ,we are lucky in possessing  
several specimens of the mode of their  
growth in late and early lives of the   
same saints1 and the process in all is  
similar4 ,out of the unnumbered lives of
 ,st4 ,bride1 three are left2 out of the
 sixty-six of ,st4 ,patrick1 there are  

eight2 the first of each belonging to   
the sixth century1 the latest to the    
thirteenth4 ,the earliest in each       
instance are in verse2 they belong to a 
time when there was no one to write such
 things1 and were popular in form and   
popular in their origin4 ,the flow is   
easy1 the style graceful and natural2   
but the step from poetry to prose is    
substantial as well as formal2 the      
imagination is ossified1 and we exchange
 the exuberance of legendary            
creativeness for the dogmatic record of 
fact without reality1 and fiction       
without grace4 ,the marvellous in the   
poetical lives is comparatively slight2 
the after-miracles being composed       
frequently out of a mistake of poets'   
metaphors for literal truth4 ,there is  
often real1 genial1 human beauty in the 
old verse4 ,the first two stanzas1 for  
instance1 of ,st4 ,bride's ,hymn are of 
high merit1 as may1 perhaps1 be         
imperfectly seen in a translation3--    
,bride the queen1 she loved not the     

world2     ,she floated on the waves of 
the world     ,as the sea-bird floats   
upon the billow4      ,such sleep she   
slept as the mother sleeps     ,in the  
far land of her captivity1     ,mourning
 for her child at home4  ,what a picture
 is there of the strangeness and        
yearning of the poor human soul in this 
earthly pilgrimage6  ,the poetical      
',life of ,st4 ,patrick1' too1 is full  
of fine1 wild1 natural imagery4 ,the boy
 is described as a shepherd on the hills
 of ,down1 and there is a legend1 well  
told1 of the angel ,victor coming to    
him1 and leaving a gigantic footprint on
 a rock from which he sprang back into  
heaven4 ,the legend1 of course1 rose    
from some remarkable natural feature of 
the spot2 as it is first told1 a shadowy
 unreality hangs over it1 and it is     
doubtful whether it is more than a      
vision of the boy2 but in the later     
prose all is crystalline2 the story is  
drawn out1 with a barren prolixity of   
detail1 into a series of angelic        

visitations4 ,and again1 when ,patrick  
is described1 as the after-apostle1     
raising the dead ,celts to life1 the    
metaphor cannot be left in its natural  
force1 and we have a long weary list of 
literal deaths and literal raisings4 ,so
 in many ways the freshness and         
individuality was lost with time4 ,the  
larger saints swallowed up the smaller  
and appropriated their exploits2 chasms 
were supplied by an ever ready fancy2   
and1 like the stock of good works laid  
up for general use1 there was a stock of
 miracles ever ready when any defect was
 to be supplied4 ,so it was that1 after 
the first impulse1 the progressive life 
of a saint rolled on like a snowball    
down a mountain side1 gathering up into 
itself whatever lay in its path1 fact or
 legend1 appropriate or                 
inappropriate--sometimes real jewels of 
genuine old tradition1 sometimes the    
dbris of the old creeds and legends of  
heathenism2 and on1 and on1 till at     
length it reached the bottom1 and was   

dashed in pieces on the ,reformation4   
,one more illustration shall serve as   
evidence of what the really greatest1   
most vigorous1 minds in the twelfth     
century could accept as possible or     
probable1 which they could relate 7on   
what evidence we do not know7 as really 
ascertained facts4 ,we remember         
something of ,st4 ,anselm3 both as a    
statesman and as a theologian1 he was   
unquestionably among the ablest men of  
his time alive in ,europe4 ,here is a   
story which ,anselm tells of a certain  
,cornish ,st4 ,kieran4 ,the saint1 with 
thirty of his companions1 was preaching 
within the frontiers of a lawless ,pagan
 prince2 and1 disregarding all orders to
 be quiet or to leave the country1      
continued to agitate1 to threaten1 and  
to thunder even in the ears of the      
prince himself4 ,things took their      
natural course4 ,disobedience provoked  
punishment4 ,a guard of soldiers was    
sent1 and the saint and his little band 
were decapitated4 ,the scene of the     

execution was a wood1 and the heads and 
trunks were left lying there for the    
wolves and the wild birds4      ,but now
 a miracle1 such as was once heard of   
before in the ,church in     the person 
of the holy ,denis1 was again wrought by
 ,divine ,providence     to preserve the
 bodies of these saints from            
profanation4 ,the trunk     of ,kieran  
rose from the ground1 and selecting     
first his own head1     and carrying it 
to a stream1 and there carefully washing
 it1 and     afterwards performing the  
same sacred office for each of his      
companions1 giving each body its own    
head1 he dug graves for them     and    
buried them1 and last of all buried     
himself4  ,it is even so4 ,so it stands 
written in a life claiming ,anselm's    
authorship2 and there is no reason why  
the authorship should not be his4 ,out  
of the heart come the issues of evil and
 of good1 and not out of the intellect  
or the understanding4 ,men are not good 
or bad1 noble or base--thank ,god for   

it6--as they judge well or ill of the   
probabilities of nature1 but as they    
love ,god and hate the devil4 ,and yet  
the story is instructive4 ,we have heard
 grave good men--men of intellect and   
influence--with all the advantages of   
modern science1 learning1 experience2   
men who would regard ,anselm with sad   
and serious pity2 yet tell us stories1  
as having fallen within their own       
experience1 of the marvels of mesmerism1
 to the full as ridiculous 7if anything 
is ridiculous7 as this of the poor      
decapitated ,kieran4        ,mutato     
nomine1 de te     ,fabula narratur4  ,we
 see our natural faces in the glass of  
history1 and turn away and straightway  
forget what manner of men we are4 ,the  
superstition of science scoffs at the   
superstition of faith4  ,,footnotes3  ,z
 ,written in #ahej4     ,,representative
 ,,men4  #ahej4   ,from ,st4 ,anselm to 
,mr4 ,emerson1 from the ',acta          
,sanctorum' to the ',representative     
,men2' so far in seven centuries we have

 travelled4 ,the races of the old       
,ideals have become extinct like the    
,preadamite ,saurians2 and here are our 
new pattern specimens on which we are to
 look1 and take comfort and             
encouragement to ourselves4  ,the       
philosopher1 the mystic1 the poet1 the  
sceptic1 the man of the world1 the      
writer2 these are the present moral     
categories1 the summa genera of human   
greatness as ,mr4 ,emerson arranges     
them4 ,from every point of view an      
exceptionable catalogue4 ,they are all  
thinkers1 to begin with1 except one3 and
 thought is but a poor business compared
 to action4 ,saints did not earn        
canonisation by the number of their     
folios2 and if the necessities of the   
times are now driving our best men out  
of action into philosophy and           
verse-making1 so much the worse for them
 and so much the worse for the world4   
,the one pattern actor1 'the man of the 
world1' is ,napoleon ,bonaparte1 not in 
the least a person1 as we are most of us

 at present feeling1 whose example the  
world desires to see followed4 ,mr4     
,emerson would have done better if he   
had kept to his own side of the         
,atlantic4 ,he is paying his own        
countrymen but a poor compliment by     
coming exclusively to ,europe for his   
heroes2 and he would be doing us in     
,europe more real good by a great deal  
if he would tell us something of the    
backwoodsmen in ,kentucky and ,ohio4    
,however1 to let that pass2 it is not   
our business here to quarrel either with
 him or his book2 and the book stands at
 the head of our article rather because 
it presents a very noticeable deficiency
 of which its writer is either unaware  
or careless4  ,these six predicables1 as
 the logician would call them1 what are 
they8 ,are they ultimate genera refusing
 to be classified farther8 or is there  
any other larger type of greatness under
 which they fall8 ,in the naturalist's  
catalogue1 poet1 sceptic1 and the rest  
will all be classified as men--man being

 an intelligible entity4 ,has ,mr4      
,emerson any similar clear idea of great
 man or good man8 ,if so1 where is he8  
what is he8 ,it is desirable that we    
should know4 ,men will not get to heaven
 because they lie under one or other of 
these predicables4 ,what is that supreme
 type of character which is in itself   
good or great1 unqualified with any     
farther differentia8 ,is there any such8
 and if there be1 where is the          
representative of this8 ,it may be said 
that the generic man exists nowhere in  
an ideal unity--that if considered at   
all1 he must be abstracted from the     
various sorts of men1 black and white1  
tame or savage4 ,so if we would know    
what a great man or a good man means1 we
 must look to some specific line in     
which he is good1 and abstract our      
general idea4 ,and that is very well1   
provided we know what we are about2     
provided we understand1 in our          
abstracting1 how to get the essential   
idea distinctly out before ourselves1   

without entangling ourselves in the     
accidents4 ,human excellence1 after all 
the teaching of the last eighteen       
hundred years1 ought to be something    
palpable by this time4 ,it is the one   
thing which we are all taught to seek   
and to aim at forming in ourselves2 and 
if representative men are good for      
anything at all1 it can only be1 not as 
they represent merely curious           
combinations of phenomena1 but as they  
illustrate us in a completely realised  
form1 what we are1 every single one of  
us1 equally interested in understanding4
 ,it is not the 'great man' as 'man of  
the world' that we care for1 but the    
'man of the world' as a 'great          
man'--which is a very different thing4  
,having to live in this world1 how to   
live greatly here is the question for   
us2 not1 how1 being great1 we can cast  
our greatness in a worldly mould4 ,there
 may be endless successful 'men of the  
world' who are mean or little enough all
 the while2 and the ,emersonian attitude

 will confuse success with greatness1 or
 turn our ethics into a chaos of        
absurdity4 ,so it is with everything    
which man undertakes and works in4 ,life
 has grown complicated2 and for one     
employment in old times there are a     
hundred now4 ,but it is not they which  
are anything1 but we4 ,we are the end1  
they are but the means1 the             
material--like the clay1 or the marble1 
or the bronze in which the sculptor     
carves his statue4 ,the form is         
everything2 and what is the form8 ,from 
nursery to pulpit every teacher rings on
 the one note--be good1 be noble1 be    
men4 ,what is goodness then8 and what is
 nobleness8 and where are the examples8 
,we do not say that there are none4 ,god
 forbid6 ,that is not what we are       
meaning at all4 ,if the earth had ceased
 to bear men pleasant in ,god's sight1  
it would have passed away like the      
cities in the plain4 ,but who are they8 
which are they8 how are we to know them8
 ,they are our leaders in this life     

campaign of ours4 ,if we could see them1
 we would follow them1 and save         
ourselves many and many a fall1 and many
 an enemy whom we could have avoided1 if
 we had known of him4 ,it cannot be that
 the thing is so simple1 when names of  
highest reputation are wrangled over1   
and such poor counterfeits are mobbed   
with applauding followers4 ,in art and  
science we can detect the charlatan1 but
 in life we do not recognise him so     
readily--we do not recognise the        
charlatan1 and we do not recognise the  
true man4 ,rajah ,brooke is alternately 
a hero or a pirate2 and fifty of the    
best men among us are likely to have    
fifty opinions on the merits of         
,elizabeth or ,cromwell4  ,but surely1  
men say1 the thing is simple4 ,the      
commandments are simple4 ,it is not that
 people do not know1 but that they will 
not act up to what they know4 ,we hear a
 great deal of this in sermons1 and     
elsewhere2 and of course1 as everybody's
 experience will tell him1 there is a   

great deal too much reason why we should
 hear of it4 ,but there are two sorts of
 duty1 positive and negative2 what we   
ought to do1 and what we ought not to   
do4 ,to the latter of these1 conscience 
is pretty much awake2 but by cunningly  
concentrating its attention on one side 
of the matter1 conscience has contrived 
to forget altogether that any other sort
 exists at all4 ',doing wrong' is       
breaking a commandment which forbids us 
to do some particular thing4 ,that is   
all the notion which in common language 
is attached to the idea4 ,do not kill1  
steal1 lie1 swear1 commit adultery1 or  
break the ,lord's day--these are the    
commandments2 very simple1 doubtless1   
and easy to be known4 ,but1 after all1  
what are they8 ,they are no more than   
the very first and rudimental conditions
 of goodness4 ,obedience to these is not
 more than a small part of what is      
required of us2 it is no more than the  
foundation on which the superstructure  
of character is to be raised4 ,to go    

through life1 and plead at the end of it
 that we have not broken any of these   
commandments1 is but what the           
unprofitable servant did1 who kept his  
talent carefully unspent1 and yet was   
sent to outer darkness for his          
uselessness4 ,suppose these commandments
 obeyed--what then8 ,it is but a small  
portion of our time which1 we will hope1
 is spent in resisting temptation to    
break them4 ,what are we to do with the 
rest of it8 ,or suppose them 7and this  
is a high step indeed7 resolved into    
love of ,god and love of our neighbour4 
,suppose we know that it is our duty to 
love our neighbour as ourselves4 ,what  
are we to do1 then1 for our neighbour1  
besides abstaining from doing him       
injury8 ,the saints knew very well what 
they were to do2 but our duties1 we     
suppose1 lie in a different direction2  
and it does not appear that we have     
found them4 ',we have duties so positive
 to our neighbour1' says ,bishop        
,butler1 'that if we give more of our   

time and of our attention to ourselves  
and our own matters than is our just    
due1 we are taking what is not ours1 and
 are guilty of fraud4' ,what does       
,bishop ,butler mean8 ,it is easy to    
answer generally4 ,in detail1 it is not 
only difficult1 it is impossible to     
answer at all4 ,the modern world        
says--',mind your own business1 and     
leave others to take care of theirs2'   
and whoever among us aspires to more    
than the negative abstaining from wrong1
 is left to his own guidance4 ,there is 
no help for him1 no instruction1 no     
modern ideal which shall be to him what 
the heroes were to the young ,greek or  
,roman1 or the martyrs to the middle age
 ,christian4 ,there is neither track nor
 footprint in the course which he will  
have to follow1 while1 as in the old    
fairy tale1 the hillside which he is    
climbing is strewed with black stones   
mocking at him with their thousand      
voices4 ,we have no moral criterion1 no 
idea1 no counsels of perfection2 and    

surely this is the reason why education 
is so little prosperous with us2 because
 the only education worth anything is   
the education of character1 and we      
cannot educate a character unless we    
have some notion of what we would form4 
,young men1 as we know1 are more easily 
led than driven4 ,it is a very old story
 that to forbid this and that 7so       
curious and contradictory is our nature7
 is to stimulate a desire to do it4 ,but
 place before a boy a figure of a noble 
man2 let the circumstances in which he  
has earned his claim to be called noble 
be such as the boy himself sees round   
himself2 let him see this man rising    
over his temptation1 and following life 
victoriously and beautifully forward1   
and1 depend on it1 you will kindle his  
heart as no threat of punishment here or
 anywhere will kindle it4  ,people      
complain of the sameness in the ',lives 
of the ,saints4' ,it is that very       
sameness which is the secret of their   
excellence4 ,there is a sameness in the 

heroes of the ',iliad2' there is a      
sameness in the historical heroes of    
,greece and ,rome4 ,a man is great as he
 contends best with the circumstances of
 his age1 and those who fight best with 
the same circumstances1 of course grow  
like each other4 ,and so with our own   
age--if we really could have the lives  
of our best men written for us 7and     
written well1 by men who knew what to   
look for1 and what it was on which they 
should insist71 they would be just as   
like as each other too1 and would for   
that reason be of such infinite         
usefulness4 ,they would not be like the 
old ,ideals4 ,times are changed2 they   
were one thing1 we have to be           
another--their enemies are not ours4    
,there is a moral metempsychosis in the 
change of era1 and probably no lineament
 of form or feature remains identical2  
yet surely not because less is demanded 
of us--not less1 but more--more1 as we  
are again and again told on ,sundays    
from the pulpits2 if the preachers would

 but tell us in what that 'more'        
consists4 ,the loftiest teaching we ever
 hear is1 that we are to work in the    
spirit of love2 but we are still left to
 generalities1 while action divides and 
divides into ever smaller details4 ,it  
is as if the ,church said to the painter
 or to the musician whom she was        
training1 you must work in the spirit of
 love and in the spirit of truth2 and   
then adding1 that the ,catholic painting
 or the ,catholic music was what he was 
not to imitate1 supposed that she had   
sent him out into the world equipped    
fully for his enterprise4  ,and what    
comes of this8 ,emersonianism has come1 
modern hagiology has come1 and          
,ainsworth novels and ,bulwer novels1   
and a thousand more unclean spirits4 ,we
 have cast out the ,catholic devil1 and 
the ,puritan has swept the house and    
garnished it2 but as yet we do not see  
any symptoms showing of a healthy       
incoming tenant1 and there may be worse 
states than ,catholicism4 ,if we wanted 

proof of the utter spiritual            
disintegration into which we have       
fallen1 it would be enough that we have 
no biographies4 ,we do not mean that we 
have no written lives of our            
fellow-creatures2 there are enough and  
to spare4 ,but not any one is there in  
which the ideal tendencies of this age  
can be discerned in their true form2 not
 one1 or hardly any one1 which we could 
place in a young man's hands1 with such 
warm confidence as would let us say of  
it--',read that2 there is a man--such a 
man as you ought to be2 read it1        
meditate on it2 see what he was1 and how
 he made himself what he was1 and try   
and be yourself like him4' ,this1 as we 
saw lately1 is what ,catholicism did4   
,it had its one broad type of           
perfection1 which in countless thousands
 of instances was perpetually           
reproducing itself--a type of character 
not especially belonging to any one     
profession2 it was a type to which      
priest and layman1 knight or bishop1    

king or peasant1 might equally aspire3  
men of all sorts aspired to it1 and men 
of all sorts attained to it2 and as fast
 as she had realised them 7so to say71  
the ,church took them in her arms1 and  
held them up before the world as fresh  
and fresh examples of victory over the  
devil4 ,this is what that ,church was   
able to do1 and it is what we cannot do2
 and yet1 till we can learn to do it1 no
 education which we can offer has any   
chance of prospering4 ,perfection is not
 easy2 it is of all things most         
difficult2 difficult to know and        
difficult to practise4 ,rules of life   
will not do2 even if our analysis of    
life in all its possible forms were as  
complete as it is in fact rudimentary1  
they would still be inefficient4 ,the   
philosophy of the thing might be        
understood1 but the practice would be as
 far off as ever4 ,in life1 as in art1  
and as in mechanics1 the only profitable
 teaching is the teaching by example4   
,your mathematician1 or your man of     

science1 may discourse excellently on   
the steam engine1 yet he cannot make    
one2 he cannot make a bolt or a screw4  
,the master workman in the engine-room  
does not teach his apprentice the theory
 of expansion1 or of atmospheric        
pressure2 he guides his hand upon the   
turncock1 he practises his eye upon the 
index1 and he leaves the science to     
follow when the practice has become     
mechanical4 ,so it is with everything   
which man learns to do2 and yet for the 
art of arts1 the trade of trades1 for   
life1 we content ourselves with teaching
 our children the catechism and the     
commandments2 we preach them sermons on 
the good of being good1 and the evil of 
being evil2 in our higher education we  
advance to the theory of habit and the  
freedom of the will2 and then1 when     
failure follows failure1 ipsa           
experientia reclamante1 we hug ourselves
 with a complacent self-satisfied       
reflection that the fault is not ours1  
that all which men could do we have     

done4 ,the freedom of the will6--as if a
 blacksmith would ever teach a boy to   
make a horseshoe1 by telling him he     
could make one if he chose4  ,in setting
 out on our journey through life1 we are
 like strangers set to find their way   
across a difficult and entangled        
country4 ,it is not enough for us to    
know that others have set out as we set 
out1 that others have faced the lions in
 the path and overcome them1 and have   
arrived at last at the journey's end4   
,such a knowledge may give us heart--but
 the help it gives is nothing beyond    
teaching us that the difficulties are   
not insuperable4 ,it is the track1 which
 these others1 these pioneers of        
godliness1 have beaten in1 that we cry  
to have shown us2 not a mythic          
',pilgrim's ,progress1' but a real path 
trodden in by real men4 ,here is a crag1
 and there is but one spot where it can 
be climbed2 here is a morass or a river1
 and there is a bridge in one place1 and
 a ford in another4 ,there are robbers  

in this forest1 and wild beasts in that2
 the tracks cross and recross1 and1 as  
in the old labyrinth1 only one will     
bring us right4 ,the age of the saints  
has passed2 they are no longer any      
service to us2 we must walk in their    
spirit1 but not along their road2 and in
 this sense we say1 that we have no     
pattern great men1 no biographies1 no   
history1 which are of real service to   
us4 ,it is the remarkable characteristic
 of the present time1 as far as we      
know--a new phenomenon since history    
began to be written2 one more proof1 if 
we wanted proof1 that we are entering on
 another era4 ,in our present efforts at
 educating1 we are like workmen setting 
about to make a machine which they know 
is to be composed of plates and joints1 
and wheels and screws and springs3--they
 temper their springs1 and smooth their 
plates1 and carve out carefully their   
wheels and screws1 but having no idea of
 the machine in its combination1 they   
either fasten them together at random1  

and create some monster of disjointed   
undirected force1 or else pile the      
finished materials into a heap together1
 and trust to some organic spirit in    
themselves which will shape them into   
unity4 ,we do not know what we would be 
at--make our children into men1 says    
one--but what sort of men8 ,the ,greeks 
were men1 so were the ,jews1 so were the
 ,romans1 so were the old ,saxons1 the  
,normans1 the ,duke of ,alva's          
,spaniards1 and ,cromwell's ,puritans4  
,these were all men1 and strong men too2
 yet all different1 and all differently 
trained4 ',into ,christian men1' say    
others3 but the saints were ,christian  
men2 yet the modern ,englishmen have    
been offered the saints' biographies1   
and have with sufficient clearness      
expressed their opinion of them4  ,alas6
 in all this confusion1 only those      
keen-eyed children of this world find   
their profit2 their idea does not       
readily forsake them4 ,in their         
substantial theory of life1 the business

 of man in it is to get on1 to thrive1  
to prosper1 to have riches in           
possession4 ,they will have their little
 ones taught1 by the law of demand1 what
 will fetch its price in the market2 and
 this is clear1 bold1 definite1         
straightforward--and therefore it is    
strong1 and works its way4 ,it works and
 will prevail for a time2 for a         
time--but not for ever1 unless indeed   
religion be all a dream1 and our airy   
notions of ourselves a vision out of    
which our wise age is the               
long-waited-for awakening4  ,it would be
 a weary and odious business to follow  
out all the causes which have combined  
to bring us into our present state4     
,many of them lie deep down in the roots
 of humanity1 and many belong to that   
large system of moral causation which   
works through vast masses of            
mankind--which1 impressing peculiar and 
necessary features on the eras as they  
succeed1 leaves individuals but a       
limited margin within which they may    

determine what they will be4 ,one cause1
 however1 may be mentioned1 which lies  
near the surface1 and which for many    
reasons it may be advantageous to       
consider4 ,at first thought it may seem 
superficial and captious2 but we do not 
think it will at the second1 and still  
less at the third4  ,protestantism1 and 
even ,anglo-,protestantism1 has not been
 without its great men4 ,in their first 
fierce struggle for existence1 these    
creeds gave birth to thousands whose    
names may command any rank in history4  
,but alone of all forms of religion1    
past or present1 and we will add 7as we 
devoutly hope71 to come 7for in her     
present form1 at least1 the ,church of  
,england cannot long remain71           
,protestantism knows not what to do with
 her own offspring2 she is unable to    
give them open and honourable           
recognition4 ,entangled in speculative  
theories of human depravity1 of the     
worthlessness of the best which the best
 men can do1 ,protestantism is unable to

 say heartily of any one1 ',here is a   
good man to be loved and remembered with
 reverence4' ,there are no saints in the
 ,english ,church4 ,the ,english ,church
 does not pretend to saints4 ,her       
children may live purely1 holily1 and   
beautifully1 but her gratitude for them 
must be silent2 she may not thank ,god  
for them--she may not hold them up      
before her congregation4 ,they may or   
they may not have been really good1 but 
she may not commit herself to           
attributing a substantial value to the  
actions of a nature so corrupt as that  
of man4 ,among ,protestants1 the ,church
 of ,england is the worst1 for she is   
not wholly ,protestant4 ,in the         
utterness of the self-abnegation of the 
genuine ,protestant there is something  
approaching the heroic4 ,but she1       
ambitious of being ,catholic as well as 
,protestant1 like that old ,church of   
evil memory which would be neither hot  
nor cold1 will neither wholly abandon   
merit1 nor wholly claim it2 but halts on

 between two opinions1 claiming and     
disclaiming1 saying and in the next     
breath again unsaying4 ,the ,oxford     
student being asked for the doctrine of 
the ,anglican ,church on good works1    
knew the rocks and whirlpools among     
which an unwary answer might involve    
him1 and steering midway between ,scylla
 and ,charybdis1 replied1 with laudable 
caution1 'a few of them would not do a  
man any harm4' ,it is scarcely a        
caricature of the prudence of the       
,articles4 ,and so at last it has come  
to this with us4 ,the soldier can raise 
a column to his successful general2 the 
halls of the law courts are hung round  
with portraits of the ermined sages2    
,newton has his statue1 and ,harvey and 
,watt1 in the academies of the sciences2
 and each young aspirant after fame1    
entering for the first time upon the    
calling which he has chosen1 sees high  
excellence highly honoured2 sees the    
high career1 and sees its noble ending1 
marked out each step of it in golden    

letters4 ,but the ,church's aisles are  
desolate1 and desolate they must remain4
 ,there is no statue for the ,christian4
 ,the empty niches stare out like hollow
 eye-sockets from the walls4 ,good men  
live in the ,church and die in her1     
whose story written out or told would be
 of inestimable benefit1 but she may not
 write it4 ,she may speak of goodness1  
but not of the good man2 as she may     
speak of sin1 but may not censure the   
sinner4 ,her position is critical2 the  
,dissenters would lay hold of it4 ,she  
may not do it1 but she will do what she 
can4 ,she cannot tolerate an image      
indeed1 or a picture of her own raising2
 she has no praise to utter at her      
children's graves1 when their lives have
 witnessed to her teaching4 ,but if     
others will bear the expense and will   
risk the sin1 she will offer no         
objection4 ,her walls are naked4 ,the   
wealthy ones among her congregation may 
adorn them as they please2 the splendour
 of a dead man's memorial shall be1 not 

as his virtues were1 but as his purse2  
and his epitaph may be brilliant        
according as there are means to pay for 
it4 ,they manage things better at the   
museums and the institutes4  ,let this  
pass1 however1 as the worst case4 ,there
 are other causes at work besides the   
neglect of churches2 the neglect itself 
being as much a result as a cause4      
,there is a common dead level over the  
world1 to which churches and teachers1  
however seemingly opposite1 are alike   
condemned4 ,as it is here in ,england1  
so it is with the ,american ,emerson4   
,the fault is not in them1 but in the   
age of which they are no more than the  
indicators4 ,we are passing out of old  
forms of activity into others new and on
 their present scale untried2 and how to
 work nobly in them is the one problem  
for us all4 ,surius will not profit us1 
nor the ',mort d',arthur4' ,our calling 
is neither to the hermitage nor to the  
round table4 ,our work lies now in those
 peaceful occupations which1 in ages    

called heroic1 were thought unworthy of 
noble souls4 ,in those it was the slave 
who tilled the ground1 and wove the     
garments4 ,it was the ignoble burgher   
who covered the sea with his ships1 and 
raised up factories and workshops2 and  
how far such occupations influenced the 
character1 how they could be made to    
minister to loftiness of heart1 and high
 and beautiful life1 was a question     
which could not occur while the         
atmosphere of the heroic was on all     
sides believed so alien to them4 ,times 
have changed4 ,the old hero worship has 
vanished with the need of it2 but no    
other has risen in its stead1 and       
without it we wander in the dark4 ,the  
commonplaces of morality1 the negative  
commandments1 general exhortations to   
goodness1 while neither speaker nor     
hearer can tell what they mean by       
goodness--these are all which now remain
 to us2 and thrown into a life more     
complicated than any which the earth has
 yet experienced1 we are left to wind   

our way through the labyrinth of its    
details without any clue except our own 
instincts1 our own knowledge1 our own   
hopes and desires4  ,we complain of     
generalities2 we will not leave         
ourselves exposed to the same charge4   
,we will mention a few of the thousand  
instances in which we cry for guidance  
and find none2 instances on which those 
who undertake to teach us ought to have 
made up their minds4  ,on the surface at
 least of the ,prayer-book1 there seems 
to be something left remaining of the   
,catholic penitential system4 ,fasting  
is spoken of and abstinence1 and some   
form or other of self-inflicted         
self-denial is necessarily meant4 ,this 
thing can by no possibility be          
unimportant1 and we may well smile at   
the exclusive claims of a church to the 
cure of our souls1 who is unable to say 
what she thinks about it4 ,let us ask   
her living interpreters then1 and what  
shall we get for an answer8 either no   
answer at all1 or contradictory answers2

 angrily1 violently1 passionately1      
contradictory4 ,among the many voices1  
what is a young man to conclude8 ,he    
will conclude naturally according to his
 inclination2 and if he chooses right1  
it will most likely be on a wrong       
motive4  ,again1 courage is1 on all     
hands1 considered as an essential of    
high character4 ,among all fine people1 
old and modern1 wherever we are able to 
get an insight into their training      
system1 we find it a thing particularly 
attended to4 ,the ,greeks1 the ,romans1 
the old ,persians1 our own nation till  
the last two hundred years1 whoever of  
mankind have turned out good for        
anything anywhere1 knew very well1 that 
to exhort a boy to be brave without     
training him in it1 would be like       
exhorting a young colt to submit to the 
bridle without breaking him in4 ,step by
 step1 as he could bear it1 the boy was 
introduced to danger1 till his pulse    
ceased to be agitated1 and he became    
familiarised with peril as his natural  

element4 ,it was a matter of carefully  
considered1 thoroughly recognised1 and  
organised education4 ,but courage       
nowadays is not a paying virtue4        
,courage does not help to make money1   
and so we have ceased to care about it2 
and boys are left to educate one another
 by their own semi-brutal instincts1 in 
this1 which is perhaps the most         
important of all features in the human  
character4 ,schools1 as far as the      
masters are concerned with them1 are    
places for teaching ,greek and          
,latin--that1 and nothing more4 ,at the 
universities1 fox-hunting is1 perhaps1  
the only discipline of the kind now to  
be found1 and fox-hunting1 by forbidding
 it and winking at it1 the authorities  
have contrived to place on as           
demoralising a footing as ingenuity     
could devise4,,aa  ,to pass from        
training to life4 ,a boy has done with  
school and college2 he has become a man1
 and has to choose his profession4 ,it  
is the one most serious step which he   

has yet taken4 ,in most cases1 there is 
no recalling it4 ,he believes that he is
 passing through life to eternity2 that 
his chance of getting to heaven depends 
on what use he makes of his time2 he    
prays every day that he may be delivered
 from temptation2 it is his business to 
see that he does not throw himself into 
it4 ,now1 every one of the many         
professions has a peculiar character of 
its own1 which1 with rare exceptions1 it
 inflicts on those who follow it4 ,there
 is the shopkeeper type1 the            
manufacturer type1 the lawyer type1 the 
medical type1 the clerical type1 the    
soldier's1 the sailor's4 ,the nature of 
a man is              ,like the dyer's  
hand1     ,subdued to what it works in2 
and we can distinguish with ease1 on the
 slightest intercourse1 to what class a 
grown person belongs4 ,it is to be seen 
in his look1 in his words1 in his tone  
of thought1 his voice1 gesture1 even in 
his hand-writing2 and in everything     
which he does4 ,every human employment  

has its especial moral characteristic1  
its peculiar temptations1 its peculiar  
influences--of a subtle and not easily  
analysed kind1 and only to be seen in   
their effects4 ,here1 therefore--here1  
if anywhere1 we want ,mr4 ,emerson with 
his representatives1 or the ,church with
 her advice and warning4 ,but1 in fact1 
what attempt do we see to understand any
 of this1 or even to acknowledge it2 to 
master the moral side of the            
professions2 to teach young men entering
 them what they are to expect1 what to  
avoid1 or what to seek8 ,where are the  
highest types--the pattern lawyer1 and  
shopkeeper1 and merchant8 ,are they all 
equally favourable to excellence of     
character8 ,do they offer equal         
opportunities8 ,which best suits this   
disposition1 and which suits that8      
,alas6 character is little thought of in
 the choice4 ,it is rather1 which shall 
,i best succeed in8 ,where shall ,i make
 most money8 ,suppose an anxious boy to 
go for counsel to his spiritual mother2 

to go to her1 and ask her to guide him4 
,shall ,i be a soldier8 he says4 ,what  
will she tell him8 ,this and no         
more--you may1 without sin4 ,shall ,i be
 a lawyer1 merchant1 manufacturer1      
tradesman1 engineer8 ,still the same    
answer4 ,but which is best8 he demands4 
,we do not know3 we do not know4 ,there 
is no guilt in either2 you may take     
which you please1 provided you go to    
church regularly1 and are honest and    
good4 ,if he is foolish enough to       
persist further1 and ask1 in what       
goodness and honesty consist in his     
especial department 7whichever he       
selects71 he will receive the same      
answer2 in other words1 he will be told 
to give every man his due and be left to
 find out for himself in what 'his due' 
consists4 ,it is like an artist telling 
his pupil to put the lights and shadows 
in their due places1 and leaving it to  
the pupil's ingenuity to interpret such 
instructive directions4  ,one more      
instance of an obviously practical kind4

 ,masters1 few people will now deny1 owe
 certain duties to their workmen beyond 
payment at the competition price for    
their labour1 and the workmen owe       
something to their masters beyond making
 their own best bargain4 ,courtesy1 on  
the one side1 and respect on the other1 
are at least due2 and wherever human    
beings are brought in contact1 a number 
of reciprocal obligations at once       
necessarily arise out of the conditions 
of their position4 ,it is this question 
which at the present moment is          
convulsing an entire branch of ,english 
trade4 ,it is this question which has   
shaken the ,continent like an           
earthquake1 and yet it is one which1 the
 more it is thought about1 the more     
clearly seems to refuse to admit of     
being dealt with by legislation4 ,it is 
a question for the ,gospel and not for  
the law4 ,the duties are of the kind    
which it is the business1 not of the    
,state1 but of the ,church1 to look to4 
,why is the ,church silent8 ,there are  

duties2 let her examine them1 sift them1
 prove them1 and then point them out4   
,why not--why not8 ,alas6 she cannot1   
she dare not give offence1 and therefore
 must find none4 ,it is to be feared    
that we have a rough trial to pass      
through1 before we find our way and     
understand our obligations4 ,yet far off
 we seem to see a time when the lives1  
the actions of the really great1 great  
good masters1 great good landlords1     
great good working men1 will be laid out
 once more before their several orders1 
laid out in the name of ,god1 as once   
the saints' lives were2 and the same    
sounds shall be heard in factory and in 
counting-house as once sounded through  
abbey1 chapel1 and cathedral            
aisle--',look at these men2 bless ,god  
for them1 and follow them4'  ,and let no
 one fear that1 if such happy time were 
come1 it would result in a tame and     
weary sameness2 that the beautiful      
variety of individual form would be     
lost1 drilled away in regimental        

uniformity4 ,even if it were so1 it need
 not be any the worse for us2 we are not
 told to develope our individualities1  
we are told to bear fruit4 ,the poor    
vagabond1 with all his individualities  
about him1 if by luck he falls into the 
hands of the recruiting sergeant1 finds 
himself1 a year later1 with his red coat
 and his twelve months' training1 not a 
little the better for the loss of them4 
,but such schooling as we have been     
speaking of will drill out only such    
individualities as are of the unworthy  
kind1 and will throw the strength of the
 nature into the development of the     
healthiest features in it4 ,far more1 as
 things now are1 we see men sinking into
 sameness--an inorganic1 unwholesome    
sameness1 in which the higher nature is 
subdued1 and the man is sacrificed to   
the profession4 ,the circumstances of   
his life are his world2 and he sinks    
under them1 he does not conquer them4   
,if he has to choose between the two1   
,god's uniform is better than the       

world's4 ,the first gives him freedom2  
the second takes it from him4 ,only     
here1 as in everything1 we must         
understand the nature of the element in 
which we work2 understand it2 understand
 the laws of it4 ,throw off the lower   
laws2 the selfish1 debasing influences  
of the profession2 obey the higher2     
follow love1 truthfulness1 manliness2   
follow these first1 and make the        
profession serve them2 and that is      
freedom2 there is none else possible for
 man4      ,das ,gesetz soll nur uns    
,freiheit geben2  and whatever          
individuality is lost in the process1 we
 may feel assured that the devil has too
 much to do with1 to make us care to be 
rid of it4  ,but how to arrive at this8 
so easy as it is to suggest on paper1 so
 easy to foretell in words4 ,raise the  
level of public opinion1 we might say2  
insist on a higher standard2 in the     
economist's language1 increase the      
demand for goodness1 and the supply will
 follow2 or1 at any rate1 men will do   

their best4 ,until we require more of   
one another1 more will not be provided4 
,but this is but to restate the problem 
in other words4 ,how are we to touch the
 heart2 how to awaken the desire8 ,we   
believe that the good man1 the great    
man1 whatever he be1 prince or peasant1 
is really lovely2 that really and truly1
 if we can only see him1 he more than   
anything will move us2 and at least1 we 
have a right to demand that the         
artificial hindrances which prevent our 
lifting him above the crowd1 shall be   
swept away4 ,he in his beautiful life is
 a thousand times more ,god's witness   
than any preacher in a pulpit1 and his  
light must not be concealed any more4   
,as we said1 what lies in the way of our
 sacred recognition of great men is more
 than anything else the ,protestant     
doctrine of good works4 ,we do not      
forget what it meant when the world     
first heard of it4 ,it was a cry from   
the very sanctuary of the soul1 flinging
 off and execrating the accursed theory 

of merits1 the sickening parade of      
redundant saintly virtues1 which the    
,roman ,church had converted into stock1
 and dispensed for the benefit of the   
believers4 ,this is not the place to    
pour out our nausea on so poor1 yet so  
detestable a farce4 ,but it seems with  
all human matters1 that as soon as      
spiritual truths are petrified into     
doctrines1 it is another name for their 
death4 ,they die1 corrupt1 and breed a  
pestilence4 ,the doctrine of good works 
was hurled away by an instinct of       
generous feeling1 and this feeling      
itself has again become dead1 and a     
fresh disease has followed upon it4     
,nobody 7or1 at least1 nobody good for  
anything7 will lay a claim to merit for 
this or that good action which he may   
have done4 ,exactly in proportion as a  
man is really good1 will be the         
eagerness with which he will refuse all 
credit for it2 he will cry out1 with all
 his soul1 ',not unto us--not unto us4' 
,and yet1 practically1 we all know and  

feel that between man and man there is  
an infinite moral difference2 one is    
good1 one is bad1 another hovers between
 the two2 the whole of our conduct to   
each other is necessarily governed by a 
recognition of this fact1 just as it is 
in the analogous question of the will4  
,ultimately1 we are nothing of          
ourselves2 we know that we are but what 
,god has given us grace to be--we did   
not make ourselves--we do not keep      
ourselves here--we are but what in the  
eternal order of ,providence we were    
designed to be--exactly that and nothing
 else2 and yet we treat each other as   
responsible2 we cannot help it4 ,the    
most rigid ,calvinist cannot eliminate  
his instincts2 his loves and hatreds    
seem rather to deepen in intensity of   
colouring as1 logically1 his creed      
should lead him to conquer them as      
foolish4 ,it is useless1 it is          
impossible1 to bring down these         
celestial mysteries upon our earth1 to  
try to see our way by them1 or determine

 our feelings by them2 men are good1 men
 are bad1 relatively to us and to our   
understandings if you will1 but still   
really1 and so they must be treated4    
,there is no more mischievous falsehood 
than to persist in railing at man's     
nature1 as if it were all vile together1
 as if the best and the worst which     
comes of it were in ,god's sight equally
 without worth4 ,these denunciations    
tend too fatally to realise themselves4 
,tell a man that no good which he can do
 is of any value1 and depend upon it he 
will take you at your word--most        
especially will the wealthy1            
comfortable1 luxurious man1 just the man
 who has most means to do good1 and whom
 of all things it is most necessary to  
stimulate to it4 ,surely we should not  
be afraid4 ,the instincts which ,god has
 placed in our hearts are too mighty for
 us to be able to extinguish them with  
doctrinal sophistry4 ,we love the good  
man1 we praise him1 we admire him--we   
cannot help it2 and surely it is mere   

cowardice to shrink from recognising it 
openly--thankfully1 divinely recognising
 it4 ,if true at all1 there is no truth 
in heaven or earth of deeper practical  
importance to us2 and ,protestantism    
must have lapsed from its once generous 
spirit1 if it persists in imposing a    
dogma of its own upon our hearts1 the   
touch of which is fatal as the touch of 
a torpedo to any high or noble          
endeavours after excellence4  ',drive   
out nature with a fork1 she ever comes  
running back2' and while we leave out of
 consideration the reality1 we are      
filling the chasm with inventions of our
 own4 ,the only novels which are popular
 among us are those which picture the   
successful battles of modern men and    
women with modern life1 which are       
imperfect shadows of those real battles 
which every reader has seen in some form
 or other1 or has longed to see in his  
own small sphere4 ,it shows where the   
craving lies if we had but the courage  
to meet it2 why need we fall back on    

imagination to create what ,god has     
created ready for us8 ,in every         
department of human life1 in the more   
and the less1 there is always one man   
who is the best1 and one type of man    
which is the best1 living and working   
his silent way to heaven in the very    
middle of us4 ,let us find this type    
then--let us see what it is which makes 
such men the best1 and raise up their   
excellencies into an acknowledged and   
open standard1 of which they themselves 
shall be the living witnesses4 ,is there
 a landlord who is spending his money1  
not on pineries and hothouses1 but on   
schools1 and washhouses1 and drains1 who
 is less intent on the magnificence of  
his own grand house1 than in providing  
cottages for his people where decency is
 possible2 then let us not pass him by  
with a torpid wonder or a vanishing     
emotion of pleasure--rather let us seize
 him and raise him up upon a pinnacle1  
that other landlords may gaze upon him1 
if1 perhaps1 their hearts may prick     

them2 and the world shall learn from    
what one man has done what they have a  
right to require that others shall do4  
,so it might be through the thousand    
channels of life4 ,it should not be so  
difficult2 the machinery is ready1 both 
to find your men and to use them4 ,in   
theory1 at least1 every parish has its  
pastor1 and the state of every soul is  
or ought to be known4 ,we know not what 
turn things may take1 or what silent    
changes are rushing on below us4 ,even  
while the present organisation          
remains--but1 alas6 no--it is no use to 
urge a ,church bound hand and foot in   
,state shackles to stretch its limbs in 
any wholesome activity4 ,if the teachers
 of the people really were the wisest   
and best and noblest men among us1 this 
and a thousand other blessed things     
would follow from it2 till then let us  
be content to work and pray1 and lay our
 hand to the wheel wherever we can find 
a spoke to grasp4 ,corruptio optimi est 
pessima2 the national ,church as it     

ought to be is the soul and conscience  
of the body politic1 but a man whose    
body has the direction of his conscience
 we do not commonly consider in the most
 hopeful moral condition4  ,,footnotes3 
,,aa ,written #ahej4     ,,reynard ,,the
 ,,fox4,,ab   ,lord ,macaulay1 in his   
,essay on ,machiavelli1 propounds a     
singular theory4 ,declining the various 
solutions which have been offered to    
explain how a man supposed to be so     
great could have lent his genius to the 
doctrine of 'the ,prince1' he has       
advanced a hypothesis of his own1 which 
may or may not be true1 as an           
interpretation of ,machiavelli's        
character1 but which1 as an exposition  
of a universal ethical theory1 is as    
questionable as what it is brought      
forward to explain4 ,we will not show   
,lord ,macaulay the disrespect of       
supposing that he has attempted an      
elaborate piece of irony4 ,it is        
possible that he may have been          
exercising his genius with a paradox1   

but the subject is not of the sort in   
which we can patiently permit such      
exercises4 ,it is hard work with all of 
us to keep ourselves straight1 even when
 we see the road with all plainness as  
it lies out before us2 and clever men   
must be good enough to find something   
else to amuse themselves with1 instead  
of dusting our eyes with sophistry4     
,according to this conception of human  
nature1 the basenesses and the          
excellencies of mankind are no more than
 accidents of circumstance1 the results 
of national feeling and national        
capabilities2 and cunning and treachery1
 and lying1 and such other 'natural     
defences of the weak against the        
strong1' are in themselves neither good 
nor bad1 except as thinking makes them  
so4 ,they are the virtues of a weak     
people1 and they will be as much        
admired1 and are as justly admirable2   
they are to the full as compatible with 
the highest graces and most lofty       
features of the heart and intellect as  

any of those opposite so called heroisms
 which we are generally so unthinking as
 to allow to monopolise the name4       
,cunning is the only resource of the    
feeble2 and why may we not feel for     
victorious cunning as strong a sympathy 
as for the bold1 downright1 open bearing
 of the strong8 ,that there may be no   
mistake in the essayist's meaning1 that 
he may drive the nail home into the     
,english understanding1 he takes an     
illustration which shall be familiar to 
all of us in the characters of ,iago and
 ,othello4 ,to our northern thought1 the
 free and noble nature of the ,moor is  
wrecked through a single infirmity1 by a
 fiend in the human form4 ,to one of    
,machiavelli's ,italians1 ,iago's       
keen-edged intellect would have appeared
 as admirable as ,othello's daring      
appears to us1 and ,othello himself     
little better than a fool and a savage4 
,it is but a change of scene1 of        
climate1 of the animal qualities of the 
frame1 and evil has become good1 and    

good has become evil4 ,now1 our         
displeasure with ,lord ,macaulay is1 not
 that he has advanced a novel and       
mischievous theory3 it was elaborated   
long ago in the finely tempered         
dialectics of the ,schools of ,rhetoric 
at ,athens2 and so long as such a       
phenomenon as a cultivated rogue remains
 possible among mankind1 it will        
reappear in all languages and under any 
number of philosophical disguises4      
,seldom or never1 however1 has it       
appeared with so little attempt at      
disguise4 ,it has been left for         
questionable poets and novelists to     
idealise the rascal genus2 philosophers 
have escaped into the ambiguities of    
general propositions1 and we do not     
remember elsewhere to have met with a   
serious ethical thinker deliberately    
laying two whole organic characters1    
with their vices and virtues in full    
life and bloom1 side by side1 asking    
himself which is best1 and answering    
gravely that it is a matter of taste4   

,lord ,macaulay has been bolder than his
 predecessors2 he has shrunk from no    
conclusion1 and has looked directly into
 the very heart of the matter2 he has   
struck1 as we believe1 the very lowest  
stone of our ethical convictions1 and   
declared that the foundation quakes     
under it4  ,for1 ultimately1 how do we  
know that right is right1 and wrong is  
wrong8 ,people in general accept it on  
authority2 but authority itself must    
repose on some ulterior basis2 and what 
is that8 ,are we to say that in morals  
there is a system of primary axioms1 out
 of which we develope our conclusions1  
and apply them1 as they are needed1 to  
life8 ,it does not appear so4 ,the      
analogy of morals is rather with art    
than with geometry4 ,the grace of heaven
 gives us good men1 and gives us        
beautiful creations2 and we1 perceiving 
by the instincts within ourselves that  
celestial presence in the objects on    
which we gaze1 find out for ourselves   
the laws which make them what they are1 

not by comparing them with any          
antecedent theory1 but by careful       
analysis of our own impressions1 by     
asking ourselves what it is which we    
admire in them1 and by calling that     
good1 and calling that beautiful4  ,so1 
then1 if admiration be the first        
fact--if the sense of it be the ultimate
 ground on which the after temple of    
morality1 as a system1 upraises         
itself--if we can be challenged here on 
our own ground1 and fail to make it     
good1 what we call the life of the soul 
becomes a dream of a feeble enthusiast1 
and we moralists a mark for the         
sceptic's finger to point at with scorn4
  ,bold and ably-urged arguments against
 our own convictions1 if they do not    
confuse us1 will usually send us back   
over our ground to re-examine the       
strength of our positions3 and if we are
 honest with ourselves1 we shall very   
often find points of some uncertainty   
left unguarded1 of which the show of the
 strength of our enemy will oblige us to

 see better to the defence4 ,it was not 
without some shame1 and much uneasiness1
 that1 while we were ourselves engaged  
in this process1 full of indignation    
with ,lord ,macaulay1 we heard a clear  
voice ringing in our ear1 ',who art thou
 that judgest another8' and warning us  
of the presence in our own heart of a   
sympathy1 which we could not 'deny1'    
with the sadly questionable hero of the 
,german epic1 ',reynard the ,fox4' ,with
 our vulpine friend1 we were on the edge
 of the very same abyss1 if1 indeed1 we 
were not rolling in the depth of it4 ,by
 what sophistry could we justify        
ourselves1 if not by the very same which
 we had just been so eagerly condemning8
 ,and our conscience whispered to us    
that we had been swift to detect a fault
 in another1 because it was the very    
fault to which1 in our own heart of     
hearts1 we had a latent leaning4  ,was  
it so indeed1 then8 ,was ,reineke no    
better than ,iago8 ,was the sole        
difference between them1 that the vates 

sacer who had sung the exploits of      
,reineke loved the wicked rascal1 and   
entangled us in loving him8 ,it was a   
question to be asked4 ,and yet we had   
faith enough in the straight-forwardness
 of our own sympathies to feel sure that
 it must admit of some sort of answer4  
,and1 indeed1 we rapidly found an answer
 satisfactory enough to give us time to 
breathe1 in remembering that ,reineke1  
with all his roguery1 has no malice in  
him4 ,it is not in his nature to hate2  
he could not do it if he tried4 ,the    
characteristic of ,iago is that deep    
motiveless malignity which rejoices in  
evil as its proper element--which loves 
evil as good men love virtue4 ,in       
calculations on the character of the    
,moor1 ,iago despises ,othello's        
unsuspicious trustingness as imbecility1
 while he hates him as a man because his
 nature is the perpetual opposite and   
perpetual reproach of his own4 ,now1    
,reineke would not have hurt a creature1
 not even ,scharfenebbe1 the crow's     

wife1 when she came to peck his eyes    
out1 if he had not been hungry2 and that
 ,greek3 gastros anank1 that craving of 
the stomach1 makes a difference quite   
infinite4 ,it is true that1 like ,iago1 
,reineke rejoices in the exercise of his
 intellect3 the sense of his power and  
the scientific employment of his time   
are a real delight to him2 but then1 as 
we said1 he does not love evil for its  
own sake2 he is only somewhat           
indifferent to it4 ,if the other animals
 venture to take liberties with him1 he 
will repay them in their own coin1 and  
get his quiet laugh at them at the same 
time2 but the object generally for which
 he lives is the natural one of getting 
his bread for himself and his family2   
and1 as the great moralist says1 ',it is
 better to be bad for something than for
 nothing4' ,badness generally is        
undesirable2 but badness in its essence1
 which may be called heroic badness1 is 
gratuitous4  ,but this first thought    
served merely to give us a momentary    

relief from our alarm1 and we determined
 we would sift the matter to the bottom1
 and no more expose ourselves to be     
taken at such disadvantage4 ,we went    
again to the poem1 with our eyes open1  
and our moral sense as keenly awake as a
 genuine wish to understand our feelings
 could make it4 ,we determined that we  
would really know what we did feel and  
what we did not4 ,we would not be       
lightly scared away from our friend1 but
 neither would we any more allow our    
judgment to be talked down by that      
fluent tongue of his2 he should have    
justice from us1 he and his biographer1 
as far as it lay with us to discern     
justice and to render it4  ,and really  
on this deliberate perusal it did seem  
little less than impossible that we     
could find any conceivable attribute    
illustrated in ,reineke's proceedings   
which we could dare to enter in our     
catalogue of virtues1 and not blush to  
read it there4 ,what sin is there in the
 ,decalogue in which he has not steeped 

himself to the lips8 ,to the lips1 shall
 we say8 nay1 over head and             
ears--rolling and rollicking in sin4    
,murder1 and theft1 and adultery2       
sacrilege1 perjury1 lying--his very life
 is made of them4 ,on he goes to the    
end1 heaping crime on crime1 and lie on 
lie1 and at last1 when it seems that    
justice1 which has been so long vainly  
halting after him1 has him really in her
 iron grasp1 there is a solemn appeal to
 heaven1 a challenge1 a battle ordeal1  
in which1 by means we may not venture   
even to whisper1 the villain prospers1  
and comes out glorious1 victorious1     
amidst the applause of a gazing world4  
,to crown it all1 the poet tells us that
 under the disguise of the animal name  
and form the world of man is            
represented1 and the true course of it2 
and the idea of the book is1 that we who
 read it may learn therein to discern   
between good and evil1 and choose the   
first and avoid the last4 ,it seemed    
beyond the power of sophistry to        

whitewash ,reineke1 and the interest    
which still continued to cling to him   
seemed too nearly to resemble the       
unwisdom of the multitude1 with whom    
success is the one virtue1 and failure  
the only crime4  ,it appeared1 too1 that
 although the animal disguises were too 
transparent to endure a moment's        
reflection1 yet that they were so       
gracefully worn that such moment's      
reflection was not to be come at without
 an effort4 ,our imagination following  
the costume1 did imperceptibly betray   
our judgment2 we admired the human      
intellect1 the ever ready prompt        
sagacity and presence of mind4 ,we      
delighted in the satire on the          
foolishnesses and greedinesses of our   
own fellow-creatures2 but in our regard 
for the hero we forgot his humanity     
wherever it was his interest that we    
should forget it1 and while we admired  
him as a man we judged him only as a    
fox4 ,we doubt whether it would have    
been possible1 if he had been described 

as an open acknowledged biped in coat   
and trousers1 to have retained our      
regard for him4 ,something or other in  
us1 either real rightmindedness1 or     
humbug1 or hypocrisy1 would have obliged
 us to mix more censure with our liking 
than most of us do in the case as it    
stands4 ,it may be that the dress of the
 fox throws us off our guard1 and lets  
out a secret or two which we commonly   
conceal even from ourselves4 ,when we   
have to pass an opinion upon bad people1
 who at the same time are clever and    
attractive1 we say rather what we think 
that we ought to feel than what we feel 
in reality2 while with ,reineke1 being  
but an animal1 we forget to make        
ourselves up1 and for once our genuine  
tastes show themselves freely4 ,some    
degree of truth there undoubtedly is in 
this4 ,but making all allowance for     
it--making all and over allowance for   
the trick which is passed upon our      
senses1 there still remained a feeling  
unresolved4 ,the poem was not solely the

 apotheosis of a rascal in whom we were 
betrayed into taking an interest2 and it
 was not a satire merely on the world1  
and on the men whom the world delight to
 honour4 ,there was still something     
which really deserved to be liked in    
,reineke1 and what it was we had as yet 
failed to discover4  ',two are better   
than one1' and we resolved in our       
difficulty to try what our friends might
 have to say about it4 ,the appearance  
of the ,wurtemburg animals at the       
,exhibition came fortunately apropos to 
our assistance3 a few years ago it was  
rare to find a person who had read the  
,fox ,epic2 and still more1 of course1  
to find one whose judgment would be     
worth taking about it4 ,but now the     
charming figures of ,reineke himself1   
and the ,lion ,king1 and ,isegrim1 and  
,bruin1 and ,bellyn1 and ,hintze1 and   
,grimbart1 had set all the world asking 
who and what they were1 and the story   
began to get itself known4 ,the old     
editions1 which had long slept unbound  

in reams upon the shelves1 began to     
descend and clothe themselves in green  
and crimson4 ,mr4 ,dickens sent a       
summary of it round the households of   
,england4 ,everybody began to talk of   
,reineke2 and now1 at any rate1 we said 
to ourselves1 we shall see whether we   
are alone in our liking--whether others 
share in this strange sympathy1 or      
whether it be some unique and monstrous 
moral obliquity in ourselves4  ,we set  
to work1 therefore1 with all            
earnestness1 feeling our way first with 
fear and delicacy1 as conscious of our  
own delinquency1 to gather judgments    
which should be wiser than our own1 and 
correct ourselves1 if it proved that we 
required correction1 with whatever      
severity might be necessary4 ,the result
 of this labour of ours was not a little
 surprising4 ,we found that women       
invariably1 with that clear moral       
instinct of theirs1 at once utterly     
reprobated and detested our poor        
,reynard2 detested the hero and detested

 the bard who sang of him with so much  
sympathy2 while men we found almost     
invariably feeling just as we felt      
ourselves1 only with this difference1   
that we saw no trace of uneasiness in   
them about the matter4 ,it was no little
 comfort to us1 moreover1 to find that  
the exceptions were rather among the    
half-men1 the would-be extremely good1  
but whose goodness was of that dead and 
passive kind which spoke to but a small 
elevation of thought or activity2 while 
just in proportion as a man was strong1 
and real1 and energetic1 was his ability
 to see good in ,reineke4 ,it was really
 most strange3 one near friend of       
ours--a man who1 as far as we knew 7and 
we knew him well71 had never done a     
wrong thing--when we ventured to hint   
something about roguery1 replied1 ',you 
see1 he was such a clever rogue1 that he
 had a right4' ,another1 whom we pressed
 more closely with that treacherous     
cannibal feast at ,malepartus1 on the   
body of poor ,lampe1 said off-hand and  

with much impatience of such            
questioning1 ',such fellows were made to
 be eaten4' ,what could we do8 ,it had  
come to this2--as in the exuberance of  
our pleasure with some dear child1 no   
ordinary epithet will sometimes reach to
 express the vehemence of our affection1
 and borrowing language out of the      
opposites1 we call him little rogue or  
little villain1 so here1 reversing the  
terms of the analogy1 we bestow the     
fulness of our regard on ,reineke       
because of that transcendently          
successful roguery4  ,when we asked our 
friends how they came to feel as they   
did1 they had little to say4 ,they were 
not persons who could be suspected of   
any latent disposition towards          
evil-doing2 and yet though it appeared  
as if they were falling under the       
description of those unhappy ones who1  
if they did not such things themselves1 
yet 'had pleasure in those who did      
them1' they did not care to justify     
themselves4 ,the fact was so3 ,greek3   

arch to hoti3 it was a fact--what could 
we want more8 ,some few attempted feebly
 to maintain that the book was a satire4
 ,but this only moved the difficulty a  
single step2 for the fact of the        
sympathy remained unimpaired1 and if it 
was a satire we were ourselves the      
objects of it4 ,others urged what we    
said above1 that the story was only of  
poor animals that1 according to         
,descartes1 not only had no souls1 but  
scarcely had even life in any original  
and sufficient sense1 and therefore we  
need not trouble ourselves4 ,but one of 
two alternatives it seemed we were bound
 to choose1 either of which was fatal to
 the proposed escape4 ,either there was 
a man hiding under the fox's skin2 or   
else1 if real foxes have such brains as 
,reineke was furnished withal1 no honest
 doubt could be entertained that some   
sort of conscience was not forgotten in 
the compounding of him1 and he must be  
held answerable according to his        
knowledge4  ,what would ,mr4 ,carlyle   

say of it1 we thought1 with his might   
and right8 ',the just thing in the long 
run is the strong thing4' ,but ,reineke 
had a long run out and came in winner4  
,does he only 'seem to succeed8' ,who   
does succeed1 then1 if he no more than  
seems8 ,the vulpine intellect knows     
where the geese live1 it is elsewhere   
said2 but among ,reineke's victims we do
 not remember one goose1 in the literal 
sense of goose2 and as to geese         
metaphorical1 the whole visible world   
lies down complacently at his feet4 ,nor
 does ,mr4 ,carlyle's expressed language
 on this very poem serve any better to  
help us--nay1 it seems as if he feels   
uneasy in the neighbourhood of so strong
 a rascal1 so briefly he dismisses him4 
',worldly prudence is the only virtue   
which is certain of its reward4' ,nay1  
but there is more in it than that3 no   
worldly prudence would command the      
voices which have been given in to us   
for ,reineke4  ,three only possibilities
 lay now before us3 either we should1 on

 searching1 find something solid in the 
,fox's doings to justify success2 or    
else the just thing was not always the  
strong thing2 or it might be1 that such 
very semblance of success was itself the
 most miserable failure2 that the wicked
 man who was struck down and foiled1 and
 foiled again1 till he unlearnt his     
wickedness1 or till he was disabled from
 any more attempting it1 was blessed in 
his disappointment2 that to triumph in  
wickedness1 and to continue in it and to
 prosper to the end1 was the last1 worst
 penalty inflicted by the divine        
vengeance4 ,greek3 ,hin' athanatos      
adikos n--to go on with injustice       
through this world and through all      
eternity1 uncleansed by any purgatorial 
fire1 untaught by any untoward          
consequence to open his eyes and to see 
in its true accursed form the miserable 
demon to which he has sold              
himself--this1 of all catastrophes which
 could befal an evil man1 was the       
deepest1 lowest1 and most savouring of  

hell1 which the purest of the ,grecian  
moralists could reason out for          
himself1--under which third hypothesis  
many an uneasy misgiving would vanish   
away1 and ,mr4 ,carlyle's broad aphorism
 might be accepted by us with           
thankfulness4  ,it appeared1 therefore1 
at any rate1 to have to come to         
this--that if we wanted a solution for  
our sphinx enigma1 no ,o,edipus was     
likely to rise and find it for us2 and  
that if we wanted help1 we must take it 
for ourselves4 ,this only we found1 that
 if we sinned in our regard for the     
unworthy animal1 we shared our sin with 
the largest number of our own sex2      
comforted with the sense of good        
fellowship1 we went boldly to work upon 
our consciousness2 and the imperfect    
analysis which we succeeded in          
accomplishing1 we here lay before you1  
whoever you may be1 who have felt1 as we
 have felt1 a regard which was a moral  
disturbance to you1 and which you will  
be pleased if we enable you to justify--

              ,si quid novisti rectius  
istis1     ,candidus imperti2 si non1   
his uttere mecum4  ,following the clue  
which was thrust into our hand by the   
marked difference of the feelings of men
 upon the subject1 from those of women1 
we were at once satisfied that          
,reineke's goodness1 if he had any1 must
 lay rather in the active than the      
passive department of life4 ,the        
negative obedience to prohibitory       
precepts1 under which women are bound as
 well as men1 as was already too clear1 
we were obliged to surrender as         
hopeless4 ,but it seemed as if1 with    
respect to men whose business is to do1 
and to labour1 and to accomplish1 this  
negative test was a seriously imperfect 
one2 and it was quite as possible that a
 man who unhappily had broken many      
prohibitions might yet exhibit positive 
excellences1 as that he might walk      
through life picking his way with the   
utmost assiduity1 risking nothing and   
doing nothing1 not committing a single  

sin1 but keeping his talent carefully   
wrapt up in a napkin1 and get sent1 in  
the end1 to outer darkness for his      
pains1 as an unprofitable servant4 ,and 
this appeared the more important to us1 
as it was very little dwelt upon by     
religions or moral teachers3 at the end 
of six thousand years1 the popular      
notion of virtue1 as far as it could get
 itself expressed1 had not risen beyond 
the mere abstinence from certain        
specific bad actions4  ,the king of the 
beasts forgives ,reineke on account of  
the substantial services which at       
various times he has rendered4 ,his     
counsel was always the wisest1 his hand 
the promptest in cases of difficulty2   
and all that dexterity1 and politeness1 
and courtesy1 and exquisite culture had 
not been learnt without an effort1 or   
without conquering many undesirable     
tendencies in himself4 ,men are not born
 with any art in its perfection1 and    
,reineke had made himself valuable by   
his own sagacity and exertion4 ,now1 on 

the human stage1 a man who has made     
himself valuable is certain to be       
valued4 ,however we may pretend to      
estimate men according to the wrong     
things which they have done1 or         
abstained from doing1 we in fact follow 
the example of ,nobel1 the king of the  
beasts3 we give them their places among 
us according to the service-ableness and
 capability which they display4 ,we     
might mention not a few eminent public  
servants1 whom the world delights to    
honour--ministers1 statesmen1 lawyers1  
men of science1 artists1 poets1         
soldiers1 who1 if they were tried by the
 negative test1 would show but a poor   
figure2 yet their value is too real to  
be dispensed with2 and we tolerate      
unquestionable wrong to secure the      
services of eminent ability4 ,the world 
really does this1 and it always has     
really done it from the beginning of the
 human history2 and it is only indolence
 or cowardice which has left our ethical
 teaching halting so far behind the     

universal and necessary practice4 ,even 
questionable prima donnas1 in virtue of 
their sweet voices1 have their praises  
hymned in drawing-room and newspaper1   
and applause rolls over them1 and gold  
and bouquets shower on them from lips   
and hands which1 except for those said  
voices1 would treat them to a ruder     
reward4 ,in real fact1 we take our      
places in this world1 not according to  
what we are not1 but according to what  
we are4 ,his ,holiness ,pope ,clement1  
when his audience-room rang with furious
 outcries for justice on ,benvenuto     
,cellini1 who1 as far as half-a-dozen   
murders could form a title1 was as fair 
a candidate for the gallows as ever     
swung from that unlucky wood1 replied1  
',all this is very well1 gentlemen3     
these murders are bad things1 we know   
that4 ,but where am ,i to get another   
,benvenuto if you hang this one for me8'
  ,or1 to take an acknowledged hero1 one
 of the old ,greek sort1 the theme of   
the song of the greatest of human poets1

 whom it is less easy to refuse to      
admire than even our friend ,reineke4   
,take ,ulysses4 ,it cannot be said that 
he kept his hands from taking what was  
not his1 or his tongue from speaking    
what was not true2 and if ,frau ,ermelyn
 had to complain 7as indeed there was   
too much reason for her complaining7 of 
certain infirmities in her good husband 
,reineke1 ,penelope1 too1 might have    
urged a thing or two1 if she had known  
as much about the matter as we know1    
which the modern moralist would find it 
hard to excuse4  ,after all is said1 the
 capable man is the man to be admired4  
,the man who tries and fails1 what is   
the use of him8 ,we are in this world to
 do something--not to fail in doing it4 
,of your bunglers--helpless1 inefficient
 persons1 'unfit alike for good or ill1'
 who try one thing1 and fail because    
they are not strong enough1 and another1
 because they have not energy enough1   
and a third1 because they have no       
talent--inconsistent1 unstable1 and     

therefore never to excel1 what shall we 
say of them8 what use is there in them8 
what hope is there of them8 what can we 
wish for them8 ,greek3 to mpot' einai   
pant' ariston4 ,it were better for them 
they had never been born4 ,to be able to
 do what a man tries to do1 that is the 
first requisite2 and given that1 we may 
hope all things for him4 ',hell is paved
 with good intentions1'the proverb says2
 and the enormous proportion of bad     
successes in this life lie between the  
desire and the execution4 ,give us a man
 who is able to do what he settles that 
he desires to do1 and we have the one   
thing indispensable4 ,if he can succeed 
doing ill1 much more he can succeed     
doing well4 ,show him better1 and1 at   
any rate1 there is a chance that he will
 do better4  ,we are not concerned here 
with ,benvenuto or with ,ulysses further
 than to show1 through the position     
which we all consent to give them1 that 
there is much unreality in our common   
moral talk1 against which we must be on 

our guard4 ,and if we fling off an old  
friend1 and take to affecting a hatred  
of him which we do not feel1 we have    
scarcely gained by the exchange1 even   
though originally our friendship may    
have been misplaced4  ,capability no one
 will deny to ,reineke4 ,that is the    
very differentia of him4 ,an 'animal    
capable' would be his sufficient        
definition4 ,here is another very       
genuinely valuable feature about        
him--his wonderful singleness of        
character4 ,lying1 treacherous1 cunning 
scoundrel as he is1 there is a wholesome
 absence of humbug about him4 ,cheating 
all the world1 he never cheats himself2 
and while he is a hypocrite1 he is      
always a conscious hypocrite--a form of 
character1 however paradoxical it may   
seem1 a great deal more accessible to   
good influences than the other of the   
unconscious sort4 ,ask ,reineke for the 
principles of his life1 and if it suited
 his purpose to tell you1 he could do so
 with the greatest exactness4 ,there    

would be no discrepancy between the     
profession and the practice4 ,he is most
 truly single-minded1 and therefore     
stable in his ways1 and therefore1 as   
the world goes1 and in the world's      
sense1 successful4 ,whether really      
successful is a question we do not care 
here to enter on2 but only to say       
this--that of all unsuccessful men in   
every sense1 either divine1 or human1 or
 devilish1 there is none equal to       
,bunyan's ,mr4 ,facing-both-ways--the   
fellow with one eye on heaven and one on
 earth--who sincerely preaches one      
thing1 and sincerely does another2 and  
from the intensity of his unreality is  
unable either to see or feel the        
contradiction4 ,serving ,god with his   
lips1 and with the half of his mind     
which is not bound up in the world1 and 
serving the devil with his actions1 and 
with the other half1 he is substantially
 trying to cheat both ,god and the      
devil1 and is1 in fact1 only cheating   
himself and his neighbours4 ,this1 of   

all characters upon the earth1 appears  
to us to be the one of whom there is no 
hope at all--a character becoming1 in   
these days1 alarmingly abundant2 and the
 abundance of which makes us find even  
in a ,reineke an inexpressible relief4  
,but what we most thoroughly value in   
him is his capacity4 ,he can do what he 
sets to work to do4 ,that blind instinct
 with which the world shouts and claps  
its hand for the successful man1 is one 
of those latent impulses in us which are
 truer than we know2 it is the universal
 confessional to which ,nature leads us1
 and1 in her intolerance of disguise and
 hypocrisy1 compels us to be our own    
accusers4 ,whoever can succeed in a     
given condition of society1 can succeed 
only in virtue of fulfilling the terms  
which society exacts of him2 and if he  
can fulfil them triumphantly1 of course 
it rewards him and praises him4 ,he is  
what the rest of the world would be1 if 
their powers were equal to their        
desires4 ,he has accomplished what they 

all are vaguely1 and with imperfect     
consistency1 struggling to accomplish2  
and the character of the conqueror--the 
means and appliances by which he has    
climbed up that great pinnacle on which 
he stands victorious1 the observed of   
all observers1 is no more than a very   
exact indicator of the amount of real   
virtue in the age1 out of which he      
stands prominent4  ,we are forced to    
acknowledge that it was not a very      
virtuous age in which ,reineke made     
himself a great man2 but that was the   
fault of the age as much as the fault of
 him4 ,his nature is to succeed wherever
 he is4 ,if the age had required        
something else of him1 then he would    
have been something else4 ,whatever it  
had said to him1 ',do1 and ,i will make 
you my hero1' that ,reineke would have  
done4 ,no appetite makes a slave of     
him--no faculty refuses obedience to his
 will4 ,his entire nature is under      
perfect organic control to the one      
supreme authority4 ,and the one object  

for which he lives1 and for which1 let  
his lot have been cast in whatever      
century it might1 he would always have  
lived1 is to rise1 to thrive1 to        
prosper1 and become great4  ,the world  
as he found it said to him--,prey upon  
us2 we are your oyster1 let your wit    
open us4 ,if you will only do it        
cleverly--if you will take care that we 
shall not close upon your fingers in the
 process1 you may devour us at your     
pleasure1 and we shall feel ourselves   
highly honoured4 ,can we wonder at a fox
 of ,reineke's abilities taking such a  
world at its word8  ,and let it not be  
supposed that society in this earth of  
ours is ever so viciously put together1 
is ever so totally without organic life1
 that a rogue1 unredeemed by any merit1 
can prosper in it4 ,there is no strength
 in rottenness2 and when it comes to    
that1 society dies and falls in pieces4 
,success1 as it is called1 even worldly 
success1 is impossible1 without some    
exercise of what is called moral virtue1

 without some portion of it1            
infinitesimally small1 perhaps1 but     
still some4 ,courage1 for instance1     
steady self-confidence1 self-trust1     
self-reliance--that only basis and      
foundation stone on which a strong      
character can rear itself--do we not see
 this in ,reineke8 ,while he lives1 he  
lives for himself2 but if he comes to   
dying1 he can die like his betters2 and 
his wit is not of that effervescent sort
 which will fly away at the sight of    
death and leave him panic-stricken4 ,it 
is true there is a meaning to that word 
courage1 which was perhaps not to be    
found in the dictionary in which        
,reineke studied4 ',i hope ,i am afraid 
of nothing1 ,trim1' said my uncle ,toby1
 'except doing a wrong thing4' ,with    
,reineke there was no 'except4' ,his    
digestive powers shrank from no action1 
good or bad1 which would serve his turn4
 ,yet it required no slight measure of  
courage to treat his fellow-creatures   
with the steady disrespect with which   

,reineke treats them4 ,to walk along    
among them1 regardless of any interest  
but his own2 out of mere wantonness to  
hook them up like so many cock-chafers1 
and spin them for his pleasure2 not like
 ,domitian1 with an imperial army to    
hold them down during the operation1 but
 with no other assistance but his own   
little body and large wit2 it was       
something to venture upon4 ,and a world 
which would submit to be so treated1    
what could he do but despise8  ,to the  
animals utterly below ourselves1        
external to our own species1 we hold    
ourselves bound by no law4 ,we say to   
them1 vos non vobis1 without any uneasy 
misgivings4 ,we rob the bees of their   
honey1 the cattle of their lives1 the   
horse and the ass of their liberty4 ,we 
kill the wild animals that they may not 
interfere with our pleasures2 and       
acknowledge ourselves bound to them by  
no terms except what are dictated by our
 own convenience4 ,and why should       
,reineke have acknowledged an obligation

 any more than we1 to creatures so      
utterly below himself8 ,he was so       
clever1 as our friend said1 that he had 
a right4 ,that he could treat them so1  
,mr4 ,carlyle would say1 proves that he 
had a right4  ,but it is a mistake to   
say he is without a conscience4 ,no bold
 creature is ever totally without one4  
,even ,iago shows some sort of          
conscience4 ,respecting nothing else in 
heaven or earth1 he respects and even   
reverences his own intellect4 ,after one
 of those sweet interviews with         
,roderigo1 his1 what we must call       
conscience1 takes him to account for his
 company2 and he pleads to it in his own
 justification--      ,for ,i mine own  
gained knowledge should profane         
,were ,i to waste myself with such a    
snipe     ,but for my sport and profit4 
,reineke1 if we take the mass of his    
misdeeds1 preyed chiefly1 like our own  
,robin ,hood1 on rogues who were greater
 rogues than himself4 ,if ,bruin chose  
to steal ,rusteviel's honey1 if ,hintze 

trespassed in the priest's granary1 they
 were but taken in their own evildoings4
 ,and what is ,isegrim1 the worst of    
,reineke's victims1 but a great heavy1  
stupid1 lawless brute8--fair type1 we   
will suppose1 of not a few              
,front-de-,boeufs and other so-called   
nobles of the poet's era1 whose will to 
do mischief was happily limited by their
 obtuseness4 ,we remember that ,french  
baron--,gilbert de ,retz1 we believe1   
was his name--who1 like ,isegrim1 had   
studied at the universities1 and passed 
for learned1 whose after-dinner pastime 
for many years1 as it proved at last1   
was to cut children's throats for the   
pleasure of watching them die4 ,we may  
well feel gratitude that a ,reineke was 
provided to be the scourge of such      
monsters as these2 and we have a        
thorough pure1 exuberant satisfaction in
 seeing the intellect in that little    
weak body triumph over them and trample 
them down4 ,this1 indeed1 this victory  
of intellect over brute force1 is one   

great secret of our pleasure in the     
poem1 and goes far1 in the ,carlyle     
direction1 to satisfy us that1 at any   
rate1 it is not given to mere base      
physical strength to win in the battle  
of life1 even in times when physical    
strength is apparently the only         
recognised power4  ,we are insensibly   
falling from our self-assumed judicial  
office into that of advocacy2 and       
sliding into what may be plausibly      
urged1 rather than standing fast on what
 we can surely affirm4 ,yet there are   
cases when it is fitting for the judge  
to become the advocate of an undefended 
prisoner2 and advocacy is only plausible
 when a few words of truth are mixed    
with what we say1 like the few drops of 
wine which colour and faintly flavour   
the large draught of water4 ,such few   
grains or drops1 whatever they may be1  
we must leave to the kindness of        
,reynard's friends to distil for him1   
while we continue a little longer in the
 same strain4  ,after all1 it may be    

said1 what is it in man's nature which  
is really admirable8 ,it is idle for us 
to waste our labour in passing ,reineke 
through the moral crucible unless we    
shall recognise the results when we     
obtain them2 and in these moral sciences
 our analytical tests can only be       
obtained by a study of our own internal 
experience4 ,if we desire to know what  
we admire in ,reineke1 we must look for 
what we admire in ourselves4 ,and what  
is that8 ,is it what on ,sundays1 and on
 set occasions1 and when we are mounted 
on our moral stilts1 we are pleased to  
call goodness1 probity1 obedience1      
humility8 ,is it8 ,is it really8 ,is it 
not rather the face and form which      
,nature made--the strength which is     
ours1 we know not how--our talents1 our 
rank1 our possessions8 ,it appears to us
 that we most value in ourselves and    
most admire in our neighbour1 not       
acquisitions1 but gifts4 ,a man does not
 praise himself for being good4 ,if he  
praise himself he is not good4 ,the     

first condition of goodness is          
forgetfulness of self2 and where self   
has entered1 under however plausible a  
form1 the health is but skin-deep1 and  
underneath there is corruption4 ,and so 
through everything2 we value1 we are    
vain of1 proud of1 or whatever you      
please to call it1 not what we have done
 for ourselves1 but what has been done  
for us--what has been given to us by the
 upper powers4 ,we look up to high-born 
men1 to wealthy men1 to fortunate men1  
to clever men4 ,is it not so8 ,whom do  
we choose for the county member1 the    
magistrate1 the officer1 the minister8  
,the good man we leave to the humble    
enjoyment of his goodness1 and we look  
out for the able or the wealthy4 ,and   
again of the wealthy1 as if on every    
side to witness to the same universal   
law1 the man who with no labour of his  
own has inherited a fortune1 ranks      
higher in the world's esteem than his   
father who made it4 ,we take rank by    
descent4 ,such of us as have the longest

 pedigree1 and are therefore the        
farthest removed from the first who made
 the fortune and founded the family1 we 
are the noblest4 ,the nearer to the     
fountain1 the fouler the stream2 and    
that first ancestor1 who has soiled his 
fingers by labour1 is no better than a  
parvenu4  ,and as it is with what we    
value1 so it is with what we blame4 ,it 
is an old story1 that there is no one   
who would not in his heart prefer being 
a knave to being a fool2 and when we    
fail in a piece of attempted roguery1 as
 ,coleridge has wisely observed1 though 
reasoning unwisely from it1 we lay the  
blame1 not on our own moral nature1 for 
which we are responsible1 but on our    
intellectual1 for which we are not      
responsible4 ,we do not say what knaves1
 we say what fools1 we have been2       
perplexing ,coleridge1 who regards it as
 a phenomenon of some deep moral        
disorder2 whereas it is but one more    
evidence of the universal fact that     
gifts are the true and proper object of 

appreciation2 and as we admire men for  
possessing gifts1 so we blame them for  
their absence4 ,the noble man is the    
gifted man2 the ignoble is the ungifted2
 and therefore we have only to state a  
simple law in simple language to have a 
full solution of the enigma of ,reineke4
 ,he has gifts enough3 of that1 at      
least1 there can be no doubt2 and if he 
lacks the gift to use them in the way   
which we call good1 at least he uses    
them successfully4 ,his victims are less
 gifted than he1 and therefore less     
noble2 and therefore he has a right to  
use them as he pleases4         99      
99       99       99       99  ,and1    
after all1 what are these victims8      
,among the heaviest charges which were  
urged against him was the killing and   
eating of that wretched                 
,scharfenebbe--,sharpbeak--the crow's   
wife4 ,it is well that there are two    
sides to every story4 ,a poor weary fox1
 it seemed1 was not to be allowed to    
enjoy a quiet sleep in the sunshine but 

what an unclean carrion bird must come  
down and take a peck at him4 ,we can    
feel no sympathy with the outcries of   
the crow husband over the fate of the   
unfortunate ,sharpbeak4 ,wofully1 he    
says1 he flew over the place where1 a   
few moments before1 in the glory of     
glossy plumage1 a loving wife sate      
croaking out her passion for him1 and   
found nothing--nothing but a little     
blood and a few torn feathers--all else 
clean gone and utterly abolished4 ,well1
 and if it was so1 it was a blank       
prospect for him1 but the earth was well
 rid of her2 and for herself1 it was a  
higher fate to be assimilated into the  
body of ,reineke than to remain in a    
miserable individuality to be a layer of
 carrion crows' eggs4  ,and then for    
,bellyn1 and for ,bruin1 and for        
,hintze1 and the rest1 who would needs  
be meddling with what was no concern of 
theirs--what is there in them to        
challenge either regret or pity8 ,they  
made love to their occupation4          

',tis dangerous when the baser nature   
falls     ,between the pass and fell    
incensed points     ,of mighty          
opposites3     ,they lie not near our   
conscience4  ,ah6 if they were all4 ,but
 there is one misdeed1 one which        
outweighs all others whatsoever--a crime
 which it is useless to palliate1 let   
our other friend say what he pleased2   
and ,reineke himself felt it so4 ,it    
sate heavy1 for him1 on his soul1 and   
alone of all the actions of his life we 
are certain that he wished it           
undone--the death and eating of that    
poor foolish ,lampe1 the hare4 ,it was a
 paltry revenge in ,reineke4 ,lampe had 
told tales of him2 he had complained    
that ,reineke1 under pretence of        
teaching him his ,catechism1 had seized 
him and tried to murder him2 and though 
he provoked his fate by thrusting       
himself1 after such a warning1 into the 
jaws of ,malepartus1 ,reineke betrays an
 uneasiness about it in confession2 and1
 unlike himself1 feels it necessary to  

make some sort of an excuse4  ,grimbart1
 the badger1 ,reineke's father          
confessor1 had been obliged to speak    
severely of the seriousness of the      
offence4 ',you see1' ,reineke answers3--
      ,to help oneself out through the  
world is a queer sort of business3      
one can not     ,keep1 you know1 quite  
altogether as pure as one can in the    
cloister4     ,when we are handling     
honey we now and then lick at our       
fingers4     ,lampe sorely provoked me2 
he frisked about this way and that way1 
,up and down1 under my eyes1 and he     
looked so fat and so jolly1     ,really 
,i could not resist it4 ,i entirely     
forgot how ,i loved him4     ,and then  
he was so stupid4  ,but even this       
acknowledgment does not satisfy         
,reineke4 ,his mind is evidently        
softened1 and it was on that occasion   
that he poured out his pathetic         
lamentation over the sad condition of   
the world--so fluent1 so musical1 so    
touching1 that ,grimbart listened with  

wide eyes1 unable1 till it had run to   
the length of a sermon1 to collect      
himself4 ,it is true that at last his   
office as ghostly father obliged him to 
put in a slight demurrer3--      ,uncle1
 the badger replied1 why these are the  
sins of your neighbours2     ,yours1 ,i 
should think1 were sufficient1 and      
rather more now         to the purpose4 
,but he sighs to think what a bishop    
,reineke would have made4  ,and now1 for
 the present1 farewell to ,reineke      
,fuchs1 and to the song in which his    
glory is enshrined--the ,welt ,bibel1   
,bible of this world1 as ,goethe called 
it1 the most exquisite moral satire1 as 
we will call it1 which has ever been    
composed4 ,it is not addressed to a     
passing mode of folly or of profligacy1 
but it touches the perennial nature of  
mankind1 laying bare our own sympathies1
 and tastes1 and weaknesses1 with as    
keen and true an edge as when the living
 world of the old ,swabian poet winced  
under its earliest utterance4  ,humorous

 in the high pure sense1 every laugh    
which it gives may have its echo in a   
sigh1 or may glide into it as excitement
 subsides into thought2 and yet1 for    
those who do not care to find matter    
there either for thought or sadness1 may
 remain innocently as a laugh4  ,too    
strong for railing1 too kindly and      
loving for the bitterness of irony1 the 
poem is1 as the world itself1 a book    
where each man will find what his nature
 enables him to see1 which gives us back
 each our own image1 and teaches us each
 the lesson which each of us desires to 
learn4  ,,footnotes3  ,,ab ,fraser's    
,magazine1 #aheb4     ,,the ,,cat',s    
,,pilgrimage4  #ahej4   ,,part ,i4  ',it
 is all very fine1' said the ,cat1      
yawning1 and stretching herself against 
the fender1 'but it is rather a bore2 ,i
 don't see the use of it4' ,she raised  
herself1 and arranging her tail into a  
ring1 and seating herself in the middle 
of it1 with her fore paws in a straight 
line from her shoulders1 at right angles

 to the hearth-rug1 she looked pensively
 at the fire4 ',it is very odd1' she    
went on1 'there is my poor ,tom2 he is  
gone4 ,i saw him stretched out in the   
yard4 ,i spoke to him1 and he took no   
notice of me4 ,he won't1 ,i suppose1    
ever any more1 for they put him under   
the earth4 ,nice fellow he was4 ,it is  
wonderful how little one cares about it4
 ,so many jolly evenings we spent       
together2 and now ,i seem to get on     
quite as well without him4 ,i wonder    
what has become of him2 and my last     
children1 too1 what has become of them8 
,what are we here for8 ,i would ask the 
men1 only they are so conceited and     
stupid they can't understand what we    
say4 ,i hear them droning away1 teaching
 their little ones every day2 telling   
them to be good1 and to do what they are
 bid1 and all that4 ,nobody ever tells  
me to do anything2 if they do ,i don't  
do it1 and ,i am very good4 ,i wonder   
whether ,i should be any better if ,i   
minded more4 ,i'll ask the ,dog4'       

',dog1' said she1 to a little fat       
spaniel coiled up on a mat like a lady's
 muff with a head and tail stuck on to  
it1 ',dog1 what do you make of it all8' 
,the ,dog faintly opened his languid    
eyes1 looked sleepily at the ,cat for a 
moment1 and dropped them again4  ',dog1'
 she said1 ',i want to talk to you2     
don't go to sleep4 ,can't you answer a  
civil question8'  ',don't bother me1'   
said the ,dog1 ',i am tired4 ,i stood on
 my hind legs ten minutes this morning  
before ,i could get my breakfast1 and it
 hasn't agreed with me4'  ',who told you
 to do it8' said the ,cat4  ',why1 the  
lady ,i have to take care of me1'       
replied the ,dog4  ',do you feel any    
better for it1 ,dog1 after you have been
 standing on your legs8' asked she4     
',hav'n't ,i told you1 you stupid ,cat1 
that it hasn't agreed with me2 let me go
 to sleep and don't plague me4'  ',but  
,i mean1' persisted the ,cat1 'do you   
feel improved1 as the men call it8 ,they
 tell their children that if they do    

what they are told they will improve1   
and grow good and great4 ,do you feel   
good and great8'  ',what do ,i know8'   
said the ,dog4 ',i eat my breakfast and 
am happy4 ,let me alone4'  ',do you     
never think1 oh ,dog without a soul6 ,do
 you never wonder what dogs are1 and    
what this world is8'  ,the ,dog         
stretched himself1 and rolled his eyes  
lazily round the room4 ',i conceive1' he
 said1 'that the world is for dogs1 and 
men and women are put into it to take   
care of dogs2 women to take care of     
little dogs like me1 and men for the big
 dogs like those in the yard--and cats1'
 he continued1 'are to know their place1
 and not to be troublesome4'  ',they    
beat you sometimes1' said the ,cat4     
',why do they do that8 ,they never beat 
me4'  ',if they forget their places1 and
 beat me1' snarled the ,dog1 ',i bite   
them1 and they don't do it again4 ,i    
should like to bite you1 too1 you nasty 
,cat2 you have woke me up4'  ',there may
 be truth in what you say1' said the    

,cat1 calmly2 'but ,i think your view is
 limited4 ,if you listened like me you  
would hear the men say it was all made  
for them1 and you and ,i were made to   
amuse them4'  ',they don't dare to say  
so1' said the ,dog4  ',they do1 indeed1'
 said the ,cat4 ',i hear many things    
which you lose by sleeping so much4     
,they think ,i am asleep1 and so they   
are not afraid to talk before me2 but my
 ears are open when my eyes are shut4'  
',you surprise me1' said the ,dog4 ',i  
never listen to them1 except when ,i    
take notice of them1 and then they never
 talk of anything except of me4'  ',i   
could tell you a thing or two about     
yourself which you don't know1' said the
 ,cat4 ',you have never heard1 ,i dare  
say1 that once upon a time your fathers 
lived in a temple1 and that people      
prayed to them4'  ',prayed6 what is     
that8'  ',why1 they went on their knees 
to you to ask you to give them good     
things1 just as you stand on your toes  
to them now to ask for your breakfast4  

,you don't know either that you have got
 one of those bright things we see up in
 the air at night called after you4'    
',well1 it is just what ,i said1'       
answered the ,dog4 ',i told you it was  
all made for us4 ,they never did        
anything of that sort for you8'         
',didn't they8 ,why1 there was a whole  
city where the people did nothing else1 
and as soon as we got stiff and couldn't
 move about any more1 instead of being  
put under the ground like poor ,tom1 we 
used to be stuffed full of all sorts of 
nice things1 and kept better than we    
were when we were alive4'  ',you are a  
very wise ,cat1' answered her companion2
 'but what good is it knowing all this8'
  ',why1 don't you see1' said she1 'they
 don't do it any more4 ,we are going    
down in the world1 we are1 and that is  
why living on in this way is such an    
unsatisfactory sort of thing4 ,i don't  
mean to complain for myself1 and you    
needn't1 ,dog2 we have a quiet life of  
it2 but a quiet life is not the thing1  

and if there is nothing to be done      
except sleep and eat1 and eat and sleep1
 why1 as ,i said before1 ,i don't see   
the use of it4 ,there is something more 
in it than that2 there was once1 and    
there will be again1 and ,i sha'n't be  
happy till ,i find it out4 ,it is a     
shame1 ,dog1 ,i say4 ,the men have been 
here only a few thousand years1 and     
we--why1 we have been here hundreds of  
thousands2 if we are older1 we ought to 
be wiser4 ,i'll go and ask the creatures
 in the wood4'  ',you'll learn more from
 the men1' said the ,dog4  ',they are   
stupid1 and they don't know what ,i say 
to them2 besides1 they are so conceited 
they care for nothing except themselves4
 ,no1 ,i shall try what ,i can do in the
 woods4 ,i'd as soon go after poor ,tom 
as stay living any longer like this4'   
',and where is poor ,tom8' yawned the   
,dog4  ',that is just one of the things 
,i want to know1' answered she4 ',poor  
,tom is lying under the yard1 or the    
skin of him1 but whether that is the    

whole ,i don't feel so sure4 ,they      
didn't think so in the city ,i told you 
about4 ,it is a beautiful day1 ,dog2 you
 won't take a trot out with me8' she    
added1 wistfully4  ',who8 ,i' said the  
,dog4 ',not quite4'  ',you may get so   
wise1' said she4  ',wisdom is good1'    
said the ,dog2 'but so is the           
hearth-rug1 thank you6'  ',but you may  
be free1' said she4  ',i shall have to  
hunt for my own dinner1' said he4       
',but1 ,dog1 they may pray to you       
again1' said she4  ',but ,i sha'n't have
 a softer mat to sleep upon1 ,cat1 and  
as ,i am rather delicate1 that is a     
consideration4'   ,,part ,,ii4  ,so the 
,dog wouldn't go1 and the ,cat set off  
by herself to learn how to be happy1 and
 to be all that a ,cat could be4 ,it was
 a fine sunny morning4 ,she determined  
to try the meadow first1 and1 after an  
hour or two1 if she had not succeeded1  
then to go off to the wood4 ,a          
,blackbird was piping away on a         
thornbush as if his heart was running   

over with happiness4 ,the ,cat had      
breakfasted1 and so was able to listen  
without any mixture of feeling4 ,she    
didn't sneak4 ,she walked boldly up     
under the bush1 and the bird1 seeing she
 had no bad purpose1 sate still and sung
 on4  ',good morning1 ,blackbird2 you   
seem to be enjoying yourself this fine  
day4'  ',good morning1 ,cat4'           
',blackbird1 it is an odd question1     
perhaps4 ,what ought one to do to be as 
happy as you8'  ',do your duty1 ,cat4'  
',but what is my duty1 ,blackbird8'     
',take care of your little ones1 ,cat4' 
',i hav'n't any1' said she4  ',then sing
 to your mate1' said the bird4  ',tom is
 dead1' said she4  ',poor ,cat6' said   
the bird4 ',then sing over his grave4   
,if your song is sad1 you will find your
 heart grow lighter for it4'  ',mercy6' 
thought the ,cat4 ',i could do a little 
singing with a living lover1 but ,i     
never heard of singing for a dead one4  
,but you see1 bird1 it isn't ,cats'     
nature4 ,when ,i am cross1 ,i mew4 ,when

 ,i am pleased1 ,i purr2 but ,i must be 
pleased first4 ,i can't purr myself into
 happiness4'  ',i am afraid there is    
something the matter with your heart1 my
 ,cat4 ,it wants warming2 good-bye4'    
,the ,blackbird flew away4 ,the ,cat    
looked sadly after him4 ',he thinks ,i  
am like him2 and he doesn't know that a 
,cat is a ,cat1' said she4 ',as it      
happens now1 ,i feel a great deal for a 
,cat4 ,if ,i hadn't got a heart ,i      
shouldn't be unhappy4 ,i won't be angry4
 ,i'll try that great fat fellow4'  ,the
 ,ox lay placidly chewing1 with content 
beaming out of his eyes and playing on  
his mouth4  ',ox1' she said1 'what is   
the way to be happy8'  ',do your duty1' 
said the ,ox4  ',bother1' said the ,cat1
 'duty again6 ,what is it1 ,ox8'  ',get 
your dinner1' said the ,ox4  ',but it is
 got for me1 ,ox2 and ,i have nothing to
 do but to eat it4'  ',well1 eat it1    
then1 like me4'  ',so ,i do2 but ,i am  
not happy for all that4'  ',then you are
 a very wicked1 ungrateful ,cat4'  ,the 

,ox munched away4 ,a ,bee buzzed into a 
buttercup under the ,cat's nose4  ',i   
beg your pardon1' said the ,cat1 'it    
isn't curiosity--what are you doing8'   
',doing my duty2 don't stop me1 ,cat4'  
',but1 ,bee1 what is your duty8'        
',making honey1' said the ,bee4  ',i    
wish ,i could make honey1' sighed the   
,cat4  ',do you mean to say you can't8' 
said the ,bee4 ',how stupid you must be4
 ,what do you do1 then8'  ',i do        
nothing1 ,bee4 ,i can't get anything to 
do4'  ',you won't get anything to do1   
you mean1 you lazy ,cat6 ,you are a     
good-for-nothing drone4 ,do you know    
what we do to our drones8 ,we kill them2
 and that is all they are fit for4 ,good
 morning to you4'  ',well1 ,i am sure1' 
said the ,cat1 'they are treating me    
civilly2 ,i had better have stopped at  
home at this rate4 ,stroke my whiskers6 
heartless6 wicked6 good-for-nothing6    
stupid6 and only fit to be killed6 ,this
 is a pleasant beginning1 anyhow4 ,i    
must look for some wiser creatures than 

these are4 ,what shall ,i do8 ,i know4  
,i know where ,i will go4'  ,it was in  
the middle of the wood4 ,the bush was   
very dark1 but she found him by his     
wonderful eye4 ,presently1 as she got   
used to the light1 she distinguished a  
sloping roll of feathers1 a rounded     
breast1 surmounted by a round head1 set 
close to the body1 without an inch of a 
neck intervening4 ',how wise he looks6' 
she said2 ',what a brain6 what a        
forehead6 ,his head is not long1 but    
what an expanse6 and what a depth of    
earnestness6' ,the ,owl sloped his head 
a little on one side2 the ,cat slanted  
hers upon the other4 ,the ,owl set it   
straight again1 the ,cat did the same4  
,they stood looking in this way for some
 minutes2 at last1 in a whispering      
voice1 the ,owl said1 ',what are you who
 presume to look into my repose8 ,pass  
on upon your way1 and carry elsewhere   
those prying eyes4'  ',oh1 wonderful    
,owl1' said the ,cat1 'you are wise1 and
 ,i want to be wise2 and ,i am come to  

you to teach me4'  ,a film floated      
backwards and forwards over the ,owl's  
eyes2 it was his way of showing that he 
was pleased4  ',i have heard in our     
schoolroom1' went on the ,cat1 'that you
 sate on the shoulder of ,pallas1 and   
she told you all about it4'  ',and what 
would you know1 oh1 my daughter8' said  
the ,owl4  ',everything1' said the ,cat1
 'everything4 ,first of all1 how to be  
happy4'  ',mice content you not1 my     
child1 even as they content not me1'    
said the ,owl4 ',it is good4'  ',mice1  
indeed6' said the ,cat2 'no1 ,parlour   
,cats don't eat mice4 ,i have better    
than mice1 and no trouble to get it2 but
 ,i want something more4'  ',the body's 
meat is provided4 ,you would now fill   
your soul4'  ',i want to improve1' said 
the ,cat4 ',i want something to do4 ,i  
want to find out what the creatures call
 my duty4'  ',you would learn how to    
employ those happy hours of your        
leisure--rather how to make them happy  
by a worthy use4 ,meditate1 oh ,cat6    

meditate6 meditate6'  ',that is the very
 thing1' said she4 ',meditate6 that is  
what ,i like above all things4 ,only ,i 
want to know how3 ,i want something to  
meditate about4 ,tell me1 ,owl1 and ,i  
will bless you every hour of the day as 
,i sit by the parlour fire4'  ',i will  
tell you1' answered the ,owl1 'what ,i  
have been thinking of ever since the    
moon changed4 ,you shall take it home   
with you and think about it too2 and the
 next full moon you shall come again to 
me2 we will compare our conclusions4'   
',delightful6 delightful6' said the     
,cat4 ',what is it8 ,i will try this    
minute4'  ',from the beginning1' replied
 the ,owl1 'our race have been          
considering which first existed1 the    
,owl or the egg4 ,the ,owl comes from   
the egg1 but likewise the egg from the  
,owl4'  ',mercy6' said the ,cat4  ',from
 sunrise to sunset ,i ponder on it1 oh  
,cat6 ,when ,i reflect on the beauty of 
the complete ,owl1 ,i think that must   
have been first1 as the cause is greater

 than the effect4 ,when ,i remember my  
own childhood1 ,i incline the other     
way4'  ',well1 but how are we to find   
out8' said the ,cat4  ',find out6' said 
the ,owl4 ',we can never find out4 ,the 
beauty of the question is1 that its     
solution is impossible4 ,what would     
become of all our delightful reasonings1
 oh1 unwise ,cat6 if we were so unhappy 
as to know8'  ',but what in the world is
 the good of thinking about it1 if you  
can't1 oh ,owl8'  ',my child1 that is a 
foolish question4 ,it is good1 in order 
that the thoughts on these things may   
stimulate wonder4 ,it is in wonder that 
the ,owl is great4'  ',then you don't   
know anything at all1' said the ,cat4   
',what did you sit on ,pallas's shoulder
 for8 ,you must have gone to sleep4'    
',your tone is over flippant1 ,cat1 for 
philosophy4 ,the highest of all         
knowledge is to know that we know       
nothing4'  ,the ,cat made two great     
arches with her back and her tail4      
',bless the mother that laid you1' said 

she4 ',you were dropped by mistake in a 
goose nest4 ,you won't do4 ,i don't know
 much1 but ,i am not such a creature as 
you1 anyhow4 ,a great white thing6'     
,she straitened her body1 stuck her tail
 up on end1 and marched off with much   
dignity4 ,but1 though she respected     
herself rather more than before1 she was
 not on the way to the end of her       
difficulties4 ,she tried all the        
creatures she met without advancing a   
step4 ,they had all the old story1 ',do 
your duty4' ,but each had its own1 and  
no one could tell her what hers was4    
,only one point they all agreed         
upon--the duty of getting their dinner  
when they were hungry4 ,the day wore on1
 and she began to think she would like  
hers4 ,her meals came so regularly at   
home that she scarcely knew what hunger 
was2 but now the sensation came over her
 very palpably1 and she experienced     
quite new emotions as the hares and     
rabbits skipped about her1 or as she    
spied a bird upon a tree4 ,for a moment 

she thought she would go back and eat   
the ,owl--he was the most useless       
creature she had seen2 but on second    
thought she didn't fancy he would be    
nice3 besides that1 his claws were sharp
 and his beak too4 ,presently1 however1 
as she sauntered down the path1 she came
 on a little open patch of green1 in the
 middle of which a fine fat ,rabbit was 
sitting4 ,there was no escape4 ,the path
 ended there1 and the bushes were so    
thick on each side that he couldn't get 
away except through her paws4           
',really1' said the ,cat1 ',i don't wish
 to be troublesome2 ,i wouldn't do it if
 ,i could help it2 but ,i am very       
hungry1 ,i am afraid ,i must eat you4   
,it is very unpleasant1 ,i assure you1  
to me as well as to you4'  ,the poor    
,rabbit begged for mercy4  ',well1' said
 she1 ',i think it is hard2 ,i do       
really--and1 if the law could be        
altered1 ,i should be the first to      
welcome it4 ,but what can a ,cat do8    
,you eat the grass2 ,i eat you4 ,but1   

,rabbit1 ,i wish you would do me a      
favour4'  ',anything to save my life1'  
said the ,rabbit4  ',it is not exactly  
that1' said the ,cat2 'but ,i haven't   
been used to killing my own dinner1 and 
it is disagreeable4 ,couldn't you die8  
,i shall hurt you dreadfully if ,i kill 
you4'  ',oh6' said the ,rabbit1 'you are
 a kind ,cat2 ,i see it in your eyes1   
and your whiskers don't curl like those 
of the cats in the woods4 ,i am sure you
 will spare me4'  ',but1 ,rabbit1 it is 
a question of principle4 ,i have to do  
my duty2 and the only duty ,i have1 as  
far as ,i can make out1 is to get my    
dinner4'  ',if you kill me1 ,cat1 to do 
your duty1 ,i sha'n't be able to do     
mine4'  ,it was a doubtful point1 and   
the ,cat was new to casuistry4 ',what is
 your duty8' said she4  ',i have seven  
little ones at home--seven little ones1 
and they will all die without me4 ,pray 
let me go4'  ',what6 do you take care of
 your children8' said the ,cat4 ',how   
interesting6 ,i should like to see that2

 take me4'  ',oh6 you would eat them1   
you would1' said the ,rabbit4 ',no6     
better eat me than them4 ,no1 no4'      
',well1 well1' said the ,cat1 ',i don't 
know2 ,i suppose ,i couldn't answer for 
myself4 ,i don't think ,i am right1 for 
duty is pleasant1 and it is very        
unpleasant to be so hungry2 but ,i      
suppose you must go4 ,you seem a good   
,rabbit4 ,are you happy1 ,rabbit8'      
',happy6 oh1 dear beautiful ,cat6 if you
 spare me to my poor babies6'  ',pooh1  
pooh6' said the ,cat1 peevishly2 ',i    
don't want fine speeches2 ,i meant      
whether you thought it worth while to be
 alive6 ,of course you do6 ,it don't    
matter4 ,go1 and keep out of my way2    
for1 if ,i don't get my dinner1 you may 
not get off another time4 ,get along1   
,rabbit4'   ,,part ,,iii4  ,it was a    
great day in the ,fox's cave4 ,the      
eldest cub had the night before brought 
home his first goose1 and they were just
 sitting down to it as the ,cat came by4
  ',ah1 my young lady6 what1 you in the 

woods8 ,bad feeding at home1 eh8 ,come  
out to hunt for yourself8'  ,the goose  
smelt excellent2 the ,cat couldn't help 
a wistful look4 ,she was only come1 she 
said1 to pay her respects to her wild   
friends4  ',just in time1' said the     
,fox4 ',sit down and take a bit of      
dinner2 ,i see you want it4 ,make room1 
you cubs2 place a seat for the lady4'   
',why1 thank you1' said the ,cat1 'yes2 
,i acknowledge it is not unwelcome4     
,pray1 don't disturb yourselves1 young  
,foxes4 ,i am hungry4 ,i met a ,rabbit  
on my way here4 ,i was going to eat him1
 but he talked so prettily ,i let him   
go4'  ,the cubs looked up from their    
plates1 and burst out laughing4  ',for  
shame1 young rascals1' said their       
father4 ',where are your manners8 ,mind 
your dinner1 and don't be rude4'        
',fox1' she said1 when it was over1 and 
the cubs were gone to play1 'you are    
very clever4 ,the other creatures are   
all stupid4' ,the ,fox bowed4 ',your    
family were always clever1' she         

continued4 ',i have heard about them in 
the books they use in our schoolroom4   
,it is many years since your ancestor   
stole the crow's dinner4'  ',don't say  
stole1 ,cat2 it is not pretty4 ,obtained
 by superior ability4'  ',i beg your    
pardon1' said the ,cat2 'it is all      
living with those men4 ,that is not the 
point4 ,well1 but ,i want to know       
whether you are any wiser or any better 
than ,foxes were then8'  ',really1' said
 the ,fox1 ',i am what ,nature made me4 
,i don't know4 ,i am proud of my        
ancestors1 and do my best to keep up the
 credit of the family4'  ',well1 but    
,fox1 ,i mean do you improve8 do ,i8 do 
any of you8 ,the men are always talking 
about doing their duty1 and that1 they  
say1 is the way to improve1 and to be   
happy4 ,and as ,i was not happy ,i      
thought that had1 perhaps1 something to 
do with it1 so ,i came out to talk to   
the creatures4 ,they also had the old   
chant--duty1 duty1 duty2 but none of    
them could tell me what mine was1 or    

whether ,i had any4'  ,the ,fox smiled4 
',another leaf out of your schoolroom1' 
said he4 ',can't they tell you there8'  
',indeed1' she said1 'they are very     
absurd4 ,they say a great deal about    
themselves1 but they only speak         
disrespectfully of us4 ,if such         
creatures as they can do their duty1 and
 improve1 and be happy1 why can't we8'  
',they say they do1 do they8' said the  
,fox4 ',what do they say of me8'  ,the  
,cat hesitated4  ',don't be afraid of   
hurting my feelings1 ,cat4 ,out with    
it4'  ',they do all justice to your     
abilities1 ,fox1' said she2 'but your   
morality1 they say1 is not high4 ,they  
say you are a rogue4'  ',morality6' said
 the ,fox4 ',very moral and good they   
are4 ,and you really believe all that8  
,what do they mean by calling me a      
rogue8'  ',they mean you take whatever  
you can get1 without caring whether it  
is just or not4'  ',my dear ,cat1 it is 
very well for a man1 if he can't bear   
his own face1 to paint a pretty one on a

 panel and call it a looking-glass2 but 
you don't mean that it takes you in4'   
',teach me1' said the ,cat4 ',i fear ,i 
am weak4'  ',who get justice from the   
men unless they can force it8 ,ask the  
sheep that are cut into mutton4 ,ask the
 horses that draw their ploughs4 ,i     
don't mean it is wrong of the men to do 
as they do2 but they needn't lie about  
it4'  ',you surprise me1' said the ,cat4
  ',my good ,cat1 there is but one law  
in the world4 ,the weakest goes to the  
wall4 ,the men are sharper-witted than  
the creatures1 and so they get the      
better of them and use them4 ,they may  
call it just if they like2 but when a   
tiger eats a man ,i guess he has just as
 much justice on his side as the man    
when he eats a sheep4'  ',and that is   
the whole of it1' said the ,cat4 ',well1
 it is very sad4 ,what do you do with   
yourself8'  ',my duty1 to be sure1' said
 the ,fox2 'use my wits and enjoy       
myself4 ,my dear friend1 you and ,i are 
on the lucky side4 ,we eat and are not  

eaten4'  ',except by the hounds now and 
then1' said the ,cat4  ',yes2 by brutes 
that forget their nature1 and sell their
 freedom to the men1' said the ,fox1    
bitterly4 ',in the meantime my wits have
 kept my skin whole hitherto1 and ,i    
bless ,nature for making me a ,fox and  
not a goose4'  ',and are you happy1     
,fox8'  ',happy6 yes1 of course4 ,so    
would you be if you would do like me1   
and use your wits4 ,my good ,cat1 ,i    
should be as miserable as you if ,i     
found my geese every day at the cave's  
mouth4 ,i have to hunt for them1 lie for
 them1 sneak for them1 fight for them2  
cheat those old fat farmers1 and bring  
out what there is inside me2 and then ,i
 am happy--of course ,i am4 ,and then1  
,cat1 think of my feelings as a father  
last night1 when my dear boy came home  
with the very young gosling which was   
marked for the ,michaelmas dinner6 ,old 
,reineke himself wasn't more than a     
match for that young ,fox at his years4 
,you know our epic8'  ',a little of it1 

,fox4 ,they don't read it in our        
schoolroom4 ,they say it is not moral2  
but ,i have heard pieces of it4 ,i hope 
it is not all quite true4'  ',pack of   
stuff6 it is the only true book that    
ever was written4 ,if it is not1 it     
ought to be4 ,why1 that book is the law 
of the world--la carrire aux            
talents--and writing it was the         
honestest thing ever done by a man4     
,that fellow knew a thing or two1 and   
wasn't ashamed of himself when he did   
know4 ,they are all like him1 too1 if   
they would only say so4 ,there never was
 one of them yet who wasn't more ashamed
 of being called ugly than of being     
called a rogue1 and of being called     
stupid than of being called naughty4'   
',it has a roughish end1 this life of   
yours1 if you keep clear of the hounds1 
,fox1' said the ,cat4  ',what6 a rope in
 the yard6 ,well1 it must end some day2 
and when the farmer catches me ,i shall 
be getting old1 and my brains will be   
taking leave of me2 so the sooner ,i go 

the better1 that ,i may disgrace myself 
the less4 ,better be jolly while it     
lasts1 than sit mewing out your life and
 grumbling at it as a bore4'  ',well1'  
said the ,cat1 ',i am very much obliged 
to you4 ,i suppose ,i may even get home 
again4 ,i shall not find a wiser friend 
than you1 and perhaps ,i shall not find 
another good-natured enough to give me  
so good a dinner4 ,but it is very sad4' 
',think of what ,i have said1' answered 
the ,fox4 ',i'll call at your house some
 night2 you will take me a walk round   
the yard1 and then ,i'll show you4'     
',not quite1' thought the ,cat1 as she  
trotted off2 'one good turn deserves    
another1 that is true2 and you have     
given me a dinner4 ,but they have given 
me many at home1 and ,i mean to take a  
few more of them2 so ,i think you       
mustn't go round our yard4'   ,,part    
,,iv4  ,the next morning1 when the ,dog 
came down to breakfast1 he found his old
 friend sitting in her usual place on   
the hearth-rug4  ',oh6 so you have come 

back1' said he4 ',how d'ye do8 ,you     
don't look as if you had had a very     
pleasant journey4'  ',i have learnt     
something1' said the ,cat4 ',knowledge  
is never pleasant4'  ',then it is better
 to be without it1' said the ,dog4      
',especially1 better to be without      
knowing how to stand on one's hind legs1
 ,dog1' said the ,cat2 'still you see1  
you are proud of it2 but ,i have learnt 
a great deal1 ,dog4 ,they won't worship 
you any more1 and it is better for you2 
you wouldn't be any happier4 ,what did  
you do yesterday8'  ',indeed1' said the 
,dog1 ',i hardly remember4 ,i slept     
after you went away4 ,in the afternoon  
,i took a drive in the carriage4 ,then  
,i had my dinner4 ,my maid washed me and
 put me to bed4 ,there is the difference
 between you and me2 you have to wash   
yourself and put yourself to bed4'      
',and you really don't find it a bore1  
living like this8 ,wouldn't you like    
something to do8 ,wouldn't you like some
 children to play with8 ,the ,fox seemed

 to find it very pleasant4'  ',children1
 indeed6' said the ,dog1 'when ,i have  
got men and women4 ,children are well   
enough for foxes and wild creatures2    
refined dogs know better2 and1 for      
doing--can't ,i stand on my toes8 can't 
,i dance8 at least1 couldn't ,i before  
,i was so fat8'  ',ah6 ,i see everybody 
likes what he was bred to1' sighed the  
,cat4 ',i was bred to do nothing1 and ,i
 must like that4 ,train the cat as the  
cat should go1 and the cat will be happy
 and ask no questions4 ,never seek for  
impossibilities1 ,dog4 ,that is the     
secret4'  ',and you have spent a day in 
the woods to learn that1' said he4 ',i  
could have taught you that4 ,why1 ,cat1 
one day when you were sitting scratching
 your nose before the fire1 ,i thought  
you looked so pretty that ,i should have
 liked to marry you2 but ,i knew ,i     
couldn't1 so ,i didn't make myself      
miserable4'  ,the ,cat looked at him    
with her odd green eyes4 ',i never      
wished to marry you1 ,dog2 ,i shouldn't 

have presumed4 ,but it was wise of you  
not to fret about it4 ,but1 listen to   
me1 ,dog--listen4 ,i met many creatures 
in the wood1 all sorts of creatures1    
beasts and birds4 ,they were all happy2 
they didn't find it a bore4 ,they went  
about their work1 and did it1 and       
enjoyed it1 and yet none of them had the
 same story to tell4 ,some did one      
thing1 some another2 and1 except the    
,fox1 each had got a sort of notion of  
doing its duty4 ,the ,fox was a rogue2  
he said he was2 but yet he was not      
unhappy4 ,his conscience never troubled 
him4 ,your work is standing on your     
toes1 and you are happy4 ,i have none1  
and that is why ,i am unhappy4 ,when ,i 
came to think about it1 ,i found every  
creature out in the wood had to get its 
own living4 ,i tried to get mine1 but ,i
 didn't like it1 because ,i wasn't used 
to it2 and as for knowing1 the ,fox1 who
 didn't care to know anything except how
 to cheat greater fools than himself1   
was the cleverest fellow ,i came across4

 ,oh6 the ,owl1 ,dog--you should have   
heard the ,owl4 ,but ,i came to this1   
that it was no use trying to know1 and  
the only way to be jolly was to go about
 one's own business like a decent ,cat4 
,cats' business seems to be killing     
rabbits and such-like2 and it is not the
 pleasantest possible2 so the sooner one
 is bred to it the better4 ,as for me1  
that have been bred to do nothing1 why1 
as ,i said before1 ,i must try to like  
that2 but ,i consider myself an         
unfortunate ,cat4'  ',so don't ,i       
consider myself an unfortunate ,dog1'   
said her companion4  ',very likely you  
do not1' said the ,cat4  ,by this time  
their breakfast was come in4 ,the ,cat  
ate hers1 the ,dog did penance for his2 
and if one might judge by the purring on
 the hearth-rug1 the ,cat1 if not the   
happiest of the two1 at least was not   
exceedingly miserable4     ,,fables4    
,i4--,,the ,,lions ,,and ,,the ,,oxen4  
,once upon a time a number of cattle    
came out of the desert to settle in the 

broad meadows by a river4 ,they were    
poor and wretched1 and they found it a  
pleasant exchange2 except for a number  
of lions1 who lived in the mountains    
near1 and who claimed a right1 in       
consideration of permitting the cattle  
to remain1 to eat as many as they wanted
 among them4 ,the cattle submitted1     
partly because they were too weak to    
help it1 partly because the lions said  
it was the will of ,jupiter2 and the    
cattle believed them4 ,and so they went 
on for many ages1 till at last1 from    
better feeding1 the cattle grew larger  
and stronger1 and multiplied into great 
numbers2 and at the same time1 from     
other causes1 the lions had much        
diminished3 they were fewer1 smaller1   
and meaner-looking than they had been2  
and except in their own opinion of      
themselves1 and in their appetites1     
which were more enormous than ever1     
there was nothing of the old lion left  
in them4  ,one day a large ox was       
quietly grazing1 when one of these lions

 came up1 and desired the ox to lie     
down1 for he wanted to eat him4 ,the ox 
raised his head1 and gravely protested2 
the lion growled2 the ox was mild1 yet  
firm4 ,the lion insisted upon his legal 
right1 and they agreed to refer the     
matter to ,minos4  ,when they came into 
court1 the lion accused the ox of having
 broken the laws of the beasts4 ,the    
lion was king1 and the others were bound
 to obey4 ,prescriptive usage was       
clearly on the lion's side4 ,minos      
called on the ox for his defence4  ,the 
,ox said that1 without consent of his   
own being asked1 he had been born into  
the meadow4 ,he did not consider himself
 much of a beast1 but1 such as he was1  
he was very happy1 and gave ,jupiter    
thanks4 ,now1 if the lion could show    
that the existence of lions was of more 
importance than that of oxen in the eyes
 of ,jupiter1 he had nothing more to    
say2 he was ready to sacrifice himself4 
,but this lion had already eaten a      
thousand oxen4 ,lions' appetites were so

 insatiable that he was forced to ask   
whether they were really worth what was 
done for them1--whether the life of one 
lion was so noble that the lives of     
thousands of oxen were not equal to it8 
,he was ready to own that lions had     
always eaten oxen1 but lions when they  
first came to the meadow were a         
different sort of creature1 and they    
themselves1 too 7and the ox looked      
complacently at himself71 had improved  
since that time4 ,judging by            
appearances1 though they might be       
fallacious1 he himself was quite as good
 a beast as the lion4 ,if the lions     
would lead lives more noble than oxen   
could live1 once more he would not      
complain4 ,as it was1 he submitted that 
the cost was too great4  ,then the ,lion
 put on a grand face and tried to roar2 
but when he opened his mouth he         
disclosed a jaw so drearily furnished   
that ,minos laughed1 and told the ox it 
was his own fault if he let himself be  
eaten by such a beast as that4 ,if he   

persisted in declining1 he did not think
 the lion would force him4              
,,ii4--,,the ,,farmer ,,and ,,the ,,fox4
  ,a farmer1 whose poultry-yard had     
suffered severely from the foxes1       
succeeded at last in catching one in a  
trap4 ',ah1 you rascal6' said he1 as he 
saw him struggling1 ',i'll teach you to 
steal my fat geese6--you shall hang on  
the tree yonder1 and your brothers shall
 see what comes of thieving6' ,the      
farmer was twisting a halter to do what 
he threatened1 when the fox1 whose      
tongue had helped him in hard pinches   
before1 thought there could be no harm  
in trying whether it might not do him   
one more good turn4  ',you will hang    
me1' he said1 'to frighten my brother   
foxes4 ,on the word of a fox they won't 
care a rabbit-skin for it2 they'll come 
and look at me2 but you may depend upon 
it1 they will dine at your expense      
before they go home again6'  ',then ,i  
shall hang you for yourself1 as a rogue 
and a rascal1' said the farmer4  ',i am 

only what ,nature1 or whatever you call 
the thing1 chose to make me1' the ,fox  
answered4 ',i didn't make myself4'      
',you stole my geese1' said the man4    
',why did ,nature make me like geese1   
then8' said the ,fox4 ',live and let    
live2 give me my share1 and ,i won't    
touch yours2 but you keep them all to   
yourself4'  ',i don't understand your   
fine talk1' answered the ,farmer2 'but  
,i know that you are a thief1 and that  
you deserve to be hanged4'  ,his head is
 too thick to let me catch him so1      
thought the ,fox2 ,i wonder if his heart
 is any softer6 ',you are taking away   
the life of a fellow-creature1' he said2
 'that's a responsibility--it is a      
curious thing that life1 and who knows  
what comes after it8 ,you say ,i am a   
rogue--,i say ,i am not2 but at any rate
 ,i ought not to be hanged--for if ,i am
 not1 ,i don't deserve it2 and if ,i am1
 you should give me time to repent6' ,i 
have him now1 thought the ,fox2 let him 
get out if he can4  ',why1 what would   

you have me do with you8' said the man4 
',my notion is that you should let me   
go1 and give me a lamb1 or goose or two1
 every month1 and then ,i could live    
without stealing2 but perhaps you know  
better than me1 and ,i am a rogue2 my   
education may have been neglected2 you  
should shut me up1 and take care of me1 
and teach me4 ,who knows but in the end 
,i may turn into a dog8'  ',very        
pretty1' said the ,farmer2 'we have dogs
 enough1 and more1 too1 than we can take
 care of1 without you4 ,no1 no1 ,master 
,fox1 ,i have caught you1 and you shall 
swing1 whatever is the logic of it4     
,there will be one rogue less in the    
world1 anyhow4'  ',it is mere hate and  
unchristian vengeance1' said the ,fox4  
',no1 friend1' the ,farmer answered1 ',i
 don't hate you1 and ,i don't want to   
revenge myself on you2 but you and ,i   
can't get on together1 and ,i think ,i  
am of more importance than you4 ,if     
nettles and thistles grow in my         
cabbage-garden1 ,i don't try to persuade

 them to grow into cabbages4 ,i just dig
 them up4 ,i don't hate them2 but ,i    
feel somehow that they mustn't hinder me
 with my cabbages1 and that ,i must put 
them away2 and so1 my poor friend1 ,i am
 sorry for you1 but ,i am afraid you    
must swing4'     ,,parable ,,of ,,the   
,,bread-,,fruit ,,tree4   ,it was after 
one of those heavy convulsions which    
have divided era from era1 and left     
mankind to start again from the         
beginning1 that a number of brave men   
gathered together to raise anew from the
 ground a fresh green home for          
themselves4 ,the rest of the surviving  
race were sheltering themselves amidst  
the old ruins1 or in the caves on the   
mountains1 feeding on husks and shells2 
but these men with clear heads and brave
 hearts ploughed and harrowed the earth1
 and planted seeds1 and watered them1   
and watched them2 and the seeds grew and
 shot up with the spring1 but one was   
larger and fairer than the rest1 and the
 other plants seemed to know it1 for    

they crawled along till they reached the
 large one2 and they gathered round it1 
and clung to it1 and grew into it2 and  
soon they became one great stem1 with   
branching roots feeding it as from many 
fountains4 ,then the men got great heart
 in them when they saw that1 and they   
laboured more bravely1 digging about it 
in the hot sun1 till at last it became  
great and mighty1 and its roots went    
down into the heart of the earth1 and   
its branches stretched over all the     
plain4  ,then many others of mankind1   
when they saw the tree was beautiful1   
came down and gathered under it1 and    
those who had raised it received them   
with open arms1 and they all sat under  
its shade together1 and gathered its    
fruits1 and made their homes there1     
rejoicing in its loveliness4 ,and ages  
passed away1 and all that generation    
passed away1 and still the tree grew    
stronger and fairer1 and their          
children's children watched it age after
 age1 as it lived on and flowered and   

seeded4 ,and they said in their hearts1 
the tree is immortal--it will never die4
 ,they took no care of the seed2 the    
scent of the flowers and the taste of   
the sweet fruit was all they thought of3
 and the winds of heaven1 and the wild  
birds1 and the beasts of the field      
caught the stray fruits and seed-dust1  
and bore the seed away1 and scattered it
 in far-off soils4  ,and by-and-by1 at a
 great great age1 the tree at last began
 to cease to grow1 and then to faint and
 droop3 its leaves were not so thick1   
its flowers were not so fragrant2 and   
from time to time the night winds1 which
 before had passed away1 and had been   
never heard1 came moaning and sighing   
among the branches4 ,and the men for a  
while doubted and denied--they thought  
it was the accident of the seasons2 and 
then a branch fell1 and they said it was
 a storm1 and such a storm as came but  
once in a thousand years4 ,at last there
 could be no doubt that the leaves were 
thin and sere and scanty--that the sun  

shone through them--that the fruit was  
tasteless4 ,but the generation was gone 
away which had known the tree in its    
beauty1 and so men said it was always   
so--its fruits were never better--its   
foliage never was thicker4  ,so things  
went on1 and from time to time strangers
 would come among them1 and would say1  
,why are you sitting here under the old 
tree8 there are young trees grown of the
 seed of this tree1 far away1 more      
beautiful than it ever was2 see1 we have
 brought you leaves and flowers to show 
you4 ,but the men would not listen4     
,they were angry1 and some they drove   
away1 and some they killed1 and poured  
their blood round the roots of the tree1
 saying1 ,they have spoken evil of our  
tree2 let them feed it now with their   
blood4 ,at last some of their own wiser 
ones brought out specimens of the old   
fruits1 which had been laid up to be    
preserved1 and compared them with the   
present bearing1 and they saw that the  
tree was not as it had been2 and such of

 them as were good men reproached       
themselves1 and said it was their own   
fault4 ,they had not watered it2 they   
had forgotten to manure it4 ,so1 like   
their first fathers1 they laboured with 
might and main1 and for a while it      
seemed as if they might succeed1 and for
 a few years branches1 which were almost
 dead when the spring came round1 put   
out some young green shoots again4 ,but 
it was only for a few years2 there was  
not enough of living energy in the tree4
 ,half the labour which was wasted on it
 would have raised another nobler one   
far away4 ,so the men grew soon weary1  
and looked for a shorter way3 and some  
gathered up the leaves and shoots which 
the strangers had brought1 and grafted  
them on1 if perhaps they might grow2 but
 they could not grow on a dying stock1  
and they1 too1 soon drooped and became  
as the rest4 ,and others said1 ,come1   
let us tie the preserved fruits on      
again2 perhaps they will join again to  
the stem1 and give it back its life4    

,but there were not enough1 for only a  
few had been preserved2 so they took    
painted paper and wax and clay1 and cut 
sham leaves and fruits of the old       
pattern1 which for a time looked bright 
and gay1 and the world1 who did not know
 what had been done1 said--,see1 the    
tree is immortal3 it is green again4    
,then some believed1 but many saw that  
it was a sham1 and liking better to bear
 the sky and sun1 without any shade at  
all1 than to live in a lie1 and call    
painted paper leaves and flowers1 they  
passed out in search of other homes4    
,but the larger number stayed behind2   
they had lived so long in falsehood that
 they had forgotten there was any such  
thing as truth at all2 the tree had done
 very well for them--it would do very   
well for their children4 ,and if their  
children1 as they grew up1 did now and  
then happen to open their eyes and see  
how it really was1 they learned from    
their fathers to hold their tongues     
about it4 ,if the little ones and the   

weak ones believed1 it answered all     
purposes1 and change was inconvenient4  
,they might smile to themselves at the  
folly which they countenanced1 but they 
were discreet1 and they would not expose
 it4 ,this is the state of the tree1 and
 of the men who are under it at this    
present time3--they say it still does   
very well4 ,perhaps it does--but1 stem  
and boughs and paper leaves1 it is dry  
for the burning1 and if the lightning   
touches it1 those who sit beneath will  
suffer4     ,,compensation4   ,one day  
an ,antelope was lying with her fawn at 
the foot of the flowering ,mimosa4 ,the 
weather was intensely sultry1 and a     
,dove1 who had sought shelter from the  
heat among the leaves1 was cooing above 
her head4  ',happy bird6' said the      
,antelope4 ',happy bird6 to whom the air
 is given for an inheritance1 and whose 
flight is swifter than the wind4 ,at    
your will you alight upon the ground1 at
 your will you sweep into the sky1 and  
fly races with the driving clouds2 while

 ,i1 poor ,i1 am bound a prisoner to    
this miserable earth1 and wear out my   
pitiable life crawling to and fro upon  
its surface4'  ,then the ,dove answered1
 ',it is sweet to sail along the sky1 to
 fly from land to land1 and coo among   
the valleys2 but1 ,antelope1 when ,i    
have sate above amidst the branches and 
watched your little one close its tiny  
lips upon your breast1 and feed its life
 on yours1 ,i have felt that ,i could   
strip off my wings1 lay down my plumage1
 and remain all my life upon the ground 
only once to know such blessed          
enjoyment4'  ,the breeze sighed among   
the boughs of the ,mimosa1 and a voice  
came trembling out of the rustling      
leaves3 ',if the ,antelope mourns her   
destiny1 what should the ,mimosa do8    
,the ,antelope is the swiftest among the
 animals4 ,it rises in the morning2 the 
ground flies under its feet--in the     
evening it is a hundred miles away4 ,the
 ,mimosa is feeding its old age on the  
same soil which quickened its seed cell 

into activity4 ,the seasons roll by me  
and leave me in the old place4 ,the     
winds sway among my branches1 as if they
 longed to bear me away with them1 but  
they pass on and leave me behind4 ,the  
wild birds come and go4 ,the flocks move
 by me in the evening on their way to   
the pleasant waters4 ,i can never move4 
,my cradle must be my grave4'  ,then    
from below1 at the root of the tree1    
came a voice which neither bird1 nor    
,antelope1 nor tree had ever heard1 as a
 ,rock ,crystal from its prison in the  
limestone followed on the words of the  
,mimosa4  ',are ye all unhappy8' it     
said4 ',if ye are1 then what am ,i8 ,ye 
all have life4 ,you6 ,o ,mimosa1 you6   
whose fair flowers year by year come    
again to you1 ever young1 and fresh1 and
 beautiful--you who can drink the rain  
with your leaves1 who can wanton with   
the summer breeze1 and open your breast 
to give a home to the wild birds1 look  
at me and be ashamed4 ,i only am truly  
wretched4'  ',alas6' said the ,mimosa1  

'we have life1 which you have not1 it is
 true4 ,we have also what you have not1 
its shadow--death4 ,my beautiful        
children1 which year by year ,i bring   
out into being1 expand in their         
loveliness only to die4 ,where they are 
gone ,i too shall soon follow1 while you
 will flash in the light of the last sun
 which rises upon the earth4'   ,,london
  ,,printed ,,by ,,spottiswoode ,,and   
,,co4  ,,new-,,street ,,square          
,transcriber's ,notes3  ,page #fg3      
popositions3 typo for propositions4     
,corrected4  ,page #aah3 seventeeth3    
typo for seventeenth4 ,corrected4  ,page
 #aih3 assults3 typo for assaults4      
,corrected4  ,page #bgi3 reely3 typo for
 freely4 ,corrected4  ,page #cjj3 appal3
 alternate spelling for appall4  ,page  
#cja3 doggrel3 alternate spelling for   
doggerel4  ,page #caf3 throughly3       
alternate spelling for thoroughly4      
,page #cbb3 ougly3 alternate spelling   
for ugly4  ,page #cbi3 rommaging3       
alternate spelling for rummaging4  ,page

 #ccj3 carged3 ,in 'a huge high-carged' 
,may mean high-charged as with many     
weapons1 or cargo1 as heavy freight8    
,page #ccj3 enterchanged3 alternate     
spelling for interchanged4  ,page #djh3 
befal3 alternate spelling for befall4   
,page #ddj3 wanton3 probably means to   
frolic or move freely in this context4  
,page various3 sate3 alternate1 archaic 
spelling for sat4