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Dublin Core
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Title
A name given to the resource
Victorian Blogging
Description
An account of the resource
A collection of digitised nineteenth-century pamphlets from Conway Hall Library & Archives. This includes the Conway Tracts, Moncure Conway's personal pamphlet library; the Morris Tracts, donated to the library by Miss Morris in 1904; the National Secular Society's pamphlet library and others. The Conway Tracts were bound with additional ephemera, such as lecture programmes and handwritten notes.<br /><br />Please note that these digitised pamphlets have been edited to maximise the accuracy of the OCR, ensuring they are text searchable. If you would like to view un-edited, full-colour versions of any of our pamphlets, please email librarian@conwayhall.org.uk.<br /><br /><span><img src="http://www.heritagefund.org.uk/sites/default/files/media/attachments/TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" width="238" height="91" alt="TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" /></span>
Creator
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Conway Hall Library & Archives
Date
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2018
Publisher
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Conway Hall Ethical Society
Text
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text.
Original Format
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Pamphlet
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The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
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[Demonology and Devil-Lore]
Creator
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Allen, Grant
Description
An account of the resource
Place of Publication: London
Collation: 6 leaves ; 19 cm.
Notes: Handwritten review on 6 leaves of Savile Club notepaper of Moncure Conway's work 'Demonology and Devil-Lore'. From, 'Mind', July 1879. From the library of Dr Moncure Conway.
Publisher
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[The author]
Date
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[1879]
Identifier
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G5595
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<a href="http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/"><img src="http://i.creativecommons.org/p/mark/1.0/88x31.png" alt="Public Domain Mark" /></a><span> </span><br /><span>This work (Demonology and Devil-Lore), identified by </span><a href="https://conwayhallcollections.omeka.net/items/show/www.conwayhall.org.uk"><span>Humanist Library and Archives</span></a><span>, is free of known copyright restrictions.</span>
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application/pdf
Type
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Text
Language
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English
Subject
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Book reviews
Book Reviews
Conway Tracts
Demonology
Moncure Conway
-
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‘
RECENT MISCELLANEOUS LITERATURE.
441
we think, redeems Motley from all misconstruction, placing him in
the position of nn unjustly treated public servant.
This memoir is the simple expression of tender and fervid
friendship, not without fair discrimination, by one who loved its
subject for high and fine qualities, with which his own nature can
sympathize. The author calls it only an outline, which may be of
service to a future biographer. No other hand than his own should
venture to complete it.
Mr. Conway appends to his name on the title-page of “ Demon
ology and Devil-Lore ” his degree-mark of B. D. of Divinity Col
lege, Harvard University. He omits a motto. We suggest “Parcus deorum cultor et infrequens.” He would scornfully ask if it is
not plain on every page that he worships no false gods ? Perfectly
so, and equally plain, for all the pages show that he worships no
gods at all. Granted that he may have convinced himself that the
religion of our day is a “ creed outworn.” Then, if he attacks it, it
is his duty to commend a substitute. At least, let him not deal
bitterly or sneeringly with “the fair humanities of old religion.”
For millions these are still the breath of life. If the writer really
believes Christianity to be a superstition, he will not strive to scoff
men out of it any more than he would wish to frighten them into it.
The double title of the book denotes a distinction between its
subjects. Devils are not demons. They differ in age, demons
being the eldest creation of human fancy and fear. They differ in
character, the acts of demons being impelled by the necessity of
their nature, while devils work with a malignant will. As the au
thor states the distinction, the first personate the obstacles with
which men have had to contend in the struggle for existence, as
hunger, cold, destructive elements, darkness, disease. The latter
represent the history of the moral and religious struggles through
which churches and priesthoods have had to pass.
The idea of -a personal spirit of evil is the correlative of that of
a personal divinity. The primal thought of man that imaged the
last as a source of good must have been driven by the evil in nature
to shape the first as its cause.
One race copied or inherited the thought from another, and re
ligion followed religion in adapting it to its needs. This principle
of dualism is carefully traced out by the author through a varied
series of legends and impersonations. We look in vain, however,
for the ultimate statement of the matter, which is really this : The
origin of evil has nowadays almost ceased to be discussed. Evil is
�442
THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.
held either to be permitted by the Supreme Being as a discipline,
or, less theologically and more scientifically, to be the clinging taint
and weakness of the lower order of things out of which humanity
has emerged. In either case there is no need of a personal evil
spirit, and none the less need of a guiding divinity, for whom the
author seems to find no place.
The author traces the modern idea of an evil spirit to the con
flict of religions. Nothing is more normal, in ancient systems, he
says, than the belief that the gods of other nations are devils. When
the new religious system prevails, the old idol is treated with re
spect, and assigned some function in the new theologic regime.
The logic of this theory does not recommend it; but it is ingenious
ly carried out through speculations too subtile to be even summa
rized. In the course of them many traditions of our religion, now
conceded to be myths, are handled with the needless irreverence
and obtrusive contempt which weaken the author’s hold on the read
er’s convictions.
Ingenious, however, and elaborate, his book certainly is. Its
researches present the story of every kind of goblin, imp, specter,
dragon, and thing that walketh in darkness, that has made human
life piteous since it began. It is rich in curious legends and myths
of the darker sort, and it is a startling proof of the halting prog
ress of mankind, that some of the most ancient and horrible of
these superstitions, as the dread of the vampire and the were-wolf,
prevail at this day in certain parts of Europe.
Few women could employ the evening of a life in tracing the
remembrances of its early prime more agreeably than Mrs. Kemble
does. Her story ends abruptly, dramatically, with the words “1
was married at Philadelphia, on the 7th of June, 1834, to Mr.
Pierce Butler, of that city.” Scarcely more than a third of hex
conscious and active life is represented by those twenty-five years.
Yet there is nothing immature in this girlhood. It is filled with
little incidents, bright people, clever sayings. There is not much
sentiment, but plenty of honest, hearty family affection. The whole
memoir is so spirited, sunny, and confidential, that one reads it.
twenty pages at a time, with the kind of interest felt in reading a
piay.
The book is a record in substance as well as by its title. Soon
after her return to England from a French seminary, an acquaint
ance grew up between Miss Kemble and a Miss H----- S----- ,
which on their separation was continued by correspondence. Her
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Victorian Blogging
Description
An account of the resource
A collection of digitised nineteenth-century pamphlets from Conway Hall Library & Archives. This includes the Conway Tracts, Moncure Conway's personal pamphlet library; the Morris Tracts, donated to the library by Miss Morris in 1904; the National Secular Society's pamphlet library and others. The Conway Tracts were bound with additional ephemera, such as lecture programmes and handwritten notes.<br /><br />Please note that these digitised pamphlets have been edited to maximise the accuracy of the OCR, ensuring they are text searchable. If you would like to view un-edited, full-colour versions of any of our pamphlets, please email librarian@conwayhall.org.uk.<br /><br /><span><img src="http://www.heritagefund.org.uk/sites/default/files/media/attachments/TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" width="238" height="91" alt="TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" /></span>
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Conway Hall Library & Archives
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2018
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Conway Hall Ethical Society
Text
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text.
Original Format
The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data
Pamphlet
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
[Demonology and Devil-Lore]
Description
An account of the resource
Place of publication: [New York, NY]
Collation: 441-442 p. ; 23 cm.
Notes: From the library of Dr Moncure Conway. A review, by an unknown reviewer, of Moncure Conway's work 'Demonology and Devil-Lore' from North American Review,128, April 1879.
Publisher
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[s.n.]
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
[1879]
Identifier
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G5605
Creator
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[Unknown]
Subject
The topic of the resource
Book reviews
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<img src="http://i.creativecommons.org/p/mark/1.0/88x31.png" alt="Public Domain Mark" /><br /><span>This work ([Demonology and Devil-Lore]), identified by </span><span><a href="https://conwayhallcollections.omeka.net/items/show/www.conwayhall.org.uk">Humanist Library and Archives</a></span><span>, is free of known copyright restrictions.</span>
Format
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application/pdf
Type
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Text
Language
A language of the resource
English
Book Reviews
Conway Tracts
Demonology
Moncure Conway
-
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383
P^Bi.mMSe god of wind and messenger of heaven, to ascertain th® cause of this indifference. Pavana returning, reports to the gods that the corruptions which had
crept into their religion and the rise of Christianity had weakened the old faith. Tn
a rage, the entire Pantheon sallies forth in battle array to attack the intruders, but is
confronted by a Seraph, who overwhelms the foe with a glance, informing the old
gods that—
“ Jehovah will no longer bear
Your lawless presence here;
For He’s sole King, must ever reign I
Hence to the abodes of night 1
Hence to the brimstone sod !
The land where darkness reigns unblest,
And weary spirits never rest;
Where sinners be, sinners away
From hallow'd ground far driven ;
Immortal life to ye belong,
Go taste immortal pains,
With sighs and wails and blasphemies,
Amid the funeral screams of hell.’’
Though not perfectly simplified or polished, this poem is conceived in a spirit of
sympathy and kindness, and will be liked by all who are truly religious withou*
being strictly critical. One could readily conceive that the “Vision of Sumeru,” and
many other of the smaller poems, might have been far better in Hindi : so much do
they seem like goo d work not very well translated.
We have received a valuable contribution to mythological literature in Demonology
ancl Devil-lore, by Moncure Daniel Conway (Chatto & Windus : 1879). Acomplete
history of the devil and all his angels, with that of all the lurid horrors and smoky
phantoms accompanying them, would, if written with the accuracy which even the
mob who read with ease now exact, be a tremendous task. It would be ahistory of
religion, of superstition, of occult philosophy, of half the popular legends known,
and would make deep inroads on poetry. As the reverend author admits, “any attempt
to catalogue the evil spectres which have haunted mankind were like trying to count
the shadows cast upon the earth by the rising sun.” The older demonographers,
such as Bodinus, and Bakker in his Monde Enchante, satisfied themselves by simply
giving all they could collect, and by entertaining the reader with interminable stories^
But in an age when even many soundly religious people havefgrave or quiet
misgivings as to a personal devil, these marvellous legends are simply regarded as
fairy-tales. As history and theories of evolution are becoming popular, the stories
lose, however, none of their interest, only the interest is transferred to another field,
that of explaining and illustrating change or progress. The thinking world is as
much interested as ever in the history of the diabolical idea, its tremendous influence
on mankind is still too apparent to be treated with indifference; but faith in the
details is now lost in examination of a leading fact, as belief in the Elohim became
absorbed in the unity of Yahveh. Such is the ground taken by Mr. Conway, an
honest and sincere Rationalist, yet one who is, like most of the Boston Unitarian
clergymen, too deeply penetrated by a conviction of what is good and pure in
Christianity to believe that God could ever allow man, in his helplessness, to be
tempted and tormented by a devil. His book is not an attempt to tell all that might
be told about Demonology, and herein lies its merit and its fault. Recognising the
impossibility of detailing the devil with all that is devilish, he has subordinated the
innumerable illustrations to a theory of development which is well enough conceived,
whatever other theorists may think of it; and it is this very fidelity to the principle
or theory which induced classification or method, which leads him to indulge in
many pages of disquisition, which some readers will wish had been devoted to
mere facts. On the other hand, it must be admitted that this disquisition never
degenerates into idle rhapsody or padding. Thousands of readers—and we may
well say thousands of a book of which three thousand copies have already been
sold—will prefer Mr. Conway's preaching to his facts ; others who do not, will be
of the class who are capable of drawing their own conclusions. In fact, there is
much good writing among these disquisitions, a vast fund of humanity, un
deniable earnestness, and a delicate sense of humour, all set forth in pure English.
It is much to say that we have found the nine hundred pages of these two large
volumes, without exception, interesting.
The early religions were generally without a devil. The Hindus, notwithstanding
�384
THE CONTEMP ORA W&REVIEW*
their Rakhshas and fiends, maintain that their vast Pantheon contains no su<
creature. The gods were both good and evil. There were punishing demon
demons of storms and of death, but no such quintessence of malignity, decei
anti-godness, cruelty and petty meanness, as is incarnate in the Christian Sata
In “The Sketch-Book of Meister Karl,” Satan is represented as vindicating his raise
d’etre on the ground that he represents the necessary suffering and pain atte
dant upon the destruction of the old, leading to higher beauty in the new,
creation. itself, but is promptly snubbed by the author, who informs him that j
is ^nothing of the kind, but “only the transitory ugliness of the ruins of t’
tempest and the pestilence.” The old religions represented the devil as he repi
sented himself to the writer: Christianity has made him an abstract of the revoltin
Mr. Conway, beginning with Dualism, proceeds to the degradation of divinities ai
ex-gods into devils, and then finds causes for the existence of others in hunger, het
cold, the elements and animals,in enemies and barrenness, obstacles,illusion,darknes
disease and death. From these he proceeds to a history of the decline of demo
and their generalization as shown in art and in the decay of mythologies. T
next step is of course an account of the principal types of demons or devils, such
the serpent and dragon. Hence we have connections and affinities with these—su
as Fate, Diabolism, or the direct connection of incarnate evil with demons, and h
tories of degraded powers, such as Ahriman, Elohim, Visramitra, the consuming fi
and others. The second volume is in part occupied with the numerous deductio
from these types through the Middle Ages down to the present day. The great me
of the work consists, not merely in great research and a shrewd selection of striki
examples and interesting illustrations, but in the clearness with which Mr. Conw
develops his ideas. Its demerit is an exaggerated susceptibility to simile, and
readiness to assume derivations and connections without proving them—the gre
sin of all symbolists from Creuzer, Godfrey Higgins, and Faber, down to Inms
Not that we would class Mr. Conway with these blunderers ; on the contrary, he h
tried hard to avoid their company, but he often unconsciously falls into their fault
the fault, it is true, of a poetic mind, but one to be guarded against when one is n
writing poetry. We* should do injustice to this work did we not mention th
1
Mr. Conway writes like a man without prejudice against aught save tyranr
Abstractly speaking, his freedom from bigotry is almost naively amusing. Had
been a Calvinist he would probably have prayed, as did the Scotch clergyman, for t
conversion of “ the puir deil.” As it is, he sets forth his own very broad faith in t
following words, with which he concludes his first volume :—
“It is too late for man to be interested in an ‘ Omnipotent’ Personality, who
power is mysteriously limited at the precise point when it is needed, and whose moi
government is another name for man’s own control of. nature. Nevertheless tl
Oriental pessimism is the Pauline theory of Matter, and is the speculative protoplas
out of which has been evolved in many shapes that personification which remai
for our consideration—the Devil.”
These be plain words, but we have thought it best to cite them, that the read'
whether heterodox or orthodox, may know exactly what he may expect in this i
teresting and singular work.
THE PROFESSIONAL STUDIES OF THE CLERGY.
To the Editor of the Contemporary Review.
Sir,—I have to acknowledge an error of some importance in my account of the varic
courses of theological study now pursued in the different Divinity Schools of England.
In describing the subjects for the Theological Tripos at Cambridge, I set down or
the variable portions, omitting the fixed and more important part of the course whim
make it fully equal in character and value to the Theological Honour Course at Oxfoi
I cannot charge myself entirely with the mistake, as I applied to Cambridge for t
list of subjects, and was furnished with no more than I set down. I have similarly
omitted to credit King’s College, London, with having lately added Logic or Moi
Philosophy to its ciu’riculum ; while I learn that Logic is also the alternative of t'
compulsory subjects at Lampeter.
I am glad to make these corrections, and trust that if I have done unintentiou
injustice elsewhere, that it may be brought to my notice.
Your obedient servant, R. F. Ltttledale.
1
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Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Victorian Blogging
Description
An account of the resource
A collection of digitised nineteenth-century pamphlets from Conway Hall Library & Archives. This includes the Conway Tracts, Moncure Conway's personal pamphlet library; the Morris Tracts, donated to the library by Miss Morris in 1904; the National Secular Society's pamphlet library and others. The Conway Tracts were bound with additional ephemera, such as lecture programmes and handwritten notes.<br /><br />Please note that these digitised pamphlets have been edited to maximise the accuracy of the OCR, ensuring they are text searchable. If you would like to view un-edited, full-colour versions of any of our pamphlets, please email librarian@conwayhall.org.uk.<br /><br /><span><img src="http://www.heritagefund.org.uk/sites/default/files/media/attachments/TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" width="238" height="91" alt="TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" /></span>
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Conway Hall Library & Archives
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2018
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Conway Hall Ethical Society
Text
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text.
Original Format
The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data
Pamphlet
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
[Demonology and Devil-Lore]
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
[188-]
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
G5603
Description
An account of the resource
Place of publication: [London]
Collation: 383-384 p. ; 22 cm.
Notes: From the library of Dr Moncure Conway. A review, by an unknown reviewer, of Moncure Conway's work 'Demonology and Devil-Lore from 'Contemporary Review' [Date and issue number unknown].
Subject
The topic of the resource
Book reviews
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
[Unknown]
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
[s.n.]
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<img src="http://i.creativecommons.org/p/mark/1.0/88x31.png" alt="Public Domain Mark" /><br /><span>This work ([Demonology and Devil-Lore]), identified by </span><span><a href="https://conwayhallcollections.omeka.net/items/show/www.conwayhall.org.uk">Humanist Library and Archives</a></span><span>, is free of known copyright restrictions.</span>
Format
The file format, physical medium, or dimensions of the resource
application/pdf
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Language
A language of the resource
English
Book Reviews
Conway Tracts
Demonology
Moncure Conway
-
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a78a51dd16df5c1bc85f6ff7c5b8724d
PDF Text
Text
��
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Victorian Blogging
Description
An account of the resource
A collection of digitised nineteenth-century pamphlets from Conway Hall Library & Archives. This includes the Conway Tracts, Moncure Conway's personal pamphlet library; the Morris Tracts, donated to the library by Miss Morris in 1904; the National Secular Society's pamphlet library and others. The Conway Tracts were bound with additional ephemera, such as lecture programmes and handwritten notes.<br /><br />Please note that these digitised pamphlets have been edited to maximise the accuracy of the OCR, ensuring they are text searchable. If you would like to view un-edited, full-colour versions of any of our pamphlets, please email librarian@conwayhall.org.uk.<br /><br /><span><img src="http://www.heritagefund.org.uk/sites/default/files/media/attachments/TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" width="238" height="91" alt="TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" /></span>
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Conway Hall Library & Archives
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2018
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Conway Hall Ethical Society
Text
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text.
Original Format
The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data
Pamphlet
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
[Necklace of Stories and other reviews]
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
G5613
Description
An account of the resource
Collation: 1 leaf.
Notes: From the library of Dr Moncure Conway. Extracts, handwritten, from reviews of Conway's works. 'Necklace of Stories' (Spectator, Athenaeum, Academy? 'Demonology and Devil-lore' (London World, March 19).
Subject
The topic of the resource
Book reviews
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Conway, Moncure Daniel, 1832-1907
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
[1881]
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/"><img src="http://i.creativecommons.org/p/mark/1.0/88x31.png" alt="Public Domain Mark" /></a><span> </span><br /><span>This work ([Necklace of Stories and other reviews]), identified by </span><a href="https://conwayhallcollections.omeka.net/items/show/www.conwayhall.org.uk"><span>Humanist Library and Archives</span></a><span>, is free of known copyright restrictions.</span>
Format
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application/pdf
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Language
A language of the resource
English
Book Reviews
Conway Tracts
Moncure Conway
-
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8o
Notes.
Mr. Conway’s “ Earthward Pilgrimage ” seems to have produced a
strong impression on both friends and foes in England. In a recent
debate in the House of Commons, Mr. Bouverie, a conservative, spoke
of it as a work of remarkable ability, and quoted passages from it to
show that a revolutionary school of thought on social subjects is grow
ing to strength in Great Britain. “ The Theological Review ” says,
“The book is full of suggestive thoughts, poetically and pointedly
expressed: and though, to a thoughtful and judicious reader, he may
seem extravagant, one-sided and unfair in his statements and represen
tations, the general impression left by the whole is that it is the earnest
and healthy skepticism of a man of real genius.” “ The Academy ”
: peaks of Mr. Conway’s style as possessing “ high intellectual vitality,
the subtle, pointed, exquisite manner, the fertility in sparkling conceits,
striking analogies and similes, happy historical allusions and anec
dotes,” and his charges against the traditional religion, though violent,
as “ so refined and cultivated, so cool, disengaged, full of well-bred
restraint, as almost to persuade us of their moderation.”
“The New York Tribune” says of Mr. Weiss’s new book: “From
the specimens we have given of Mr. Weiss’s trains of thought, our readers
may obtain an idea, correct, although inadequate, of the main drift of this
remarkable volume, which we do not hesitate to pronounce one of the most
original and suggestive which have ever appeared in our native literature.”
“The Modern Epoch in Politics” is a new work by D. A. Wasson,
which will, when published, if we do not mistake, create a “ sensation ” of a
wholesome character.
“The Spiritual Annalist and Scientific Record” is the name of
a new magazine, edited by J. H. W. Toohey, and published in Boston by W.
F. Brown & Co. It is ably conducted.
We shall publish in our next number a carefully prepared paper on “ The
French Commune,” by W. J. Linton, who has had favorable opportunities
for an impartial review of the whole subject.
A friend sends us “ a few new subscribers to help the ‘ boiling pot.’ ”
We wish many others may be as thoughtful, and not forget us during this
“hot weather,” persuaded that the pot will boil itself.
�Notes.
79
and hear the voice of reason everywhere. Do you see Jesus walking
among men as himself only a man, and so lose your heaven-born
Lord? You are restored to your own birthright, and have the priv
ilege of being a son of God yourself. God becomes your present
source of supply, and is no longer “ a Hebrew tradition.” To this in
visible Well you may go and drink and thirst no more.
What then is the burden of all this protest and passion ? It is that
all those hindrances of Church and State which, under pretense of
mediating, are separating mankind from God, shall be removed. Men
claim the present and shining light of God to show them what they
may do for themselves and each other.
The questions of the moral or spiritual life are not affected by the
intellectual or moral stature of Jesus, and no Radical can take other
interest in the discussion than is prompted by the desire to rightly
estimate the characters of all who have lived on the earth and left
their fame to posterity. There seems to be no excuse, however, for
any to set him up, lawyer-like, and try him as a prosecuting attorney
would a criminal. His name has suffered enough from the treatment
of Orthodoxy. Radicals can afford, in all justice, to show him a little
personal sympathy, and especially since they do not propose to ride
into heaven on his back.
Father Taylor’s little prayer, as prayers go, is quite refreshing:
“Blessed Jesus, give us common sense, and let no man put blinkers on
us, that we can only see in a certain direction, for we want to look
around the horizon; yea, to the highest heavens and to the lowest
depths of the ocean.”
Robert Collyer finds a hearty welcome among the Unitarians of
England, in spite of the “ loose way ” of saying things to which he
is adicted. At their Festival he told them, “ I like to meet a company
of Unitarians that will speak out their convictions, and show, as we say
in the West, that they ‘ain’t nothing else, nohow.’” “We are no bet
ter for being Unitarians and at the same time tasting very strongly of
Orthodoxy. “You have a right to feed your hearts on the story of
the past. But I tell you it began to be a (Question whether Egypt was
going to live much longer, when she paid more attention to embalming
her grandfathers than she did to inspiring her children.” He rejoiced
that the Unitarians were not “going to tumble the cream back into
the blue milk.”
Are the signs as hopeful this side the water ?
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Victorian Blogging
Description
An account of the resource
A collection of digitised nineteenth-century pamphlets from Conway Hall Library & Archives. This includes the Conway Tracts, Moncure Conway's personal pamphlet library; the Morris Tracts, donated to the library by Miss Morris in 1904; the National Secular Society's pamphlet library and others. The Conway Tracts were bound with additional ephemera, such as lecture programmes and handwritten notes.<br /><br />Please note that these digitised pamphlets have been edited to maximise the accuracy of the OCR, ensuring they are text searchable. If you would like to view un-edited, full-colour versions of any of our pamphlets, please email librarian@conwayhall.org.uk.<br /><br /><span><img src="http://www.heritagefund.org.uk/sites/default/files/media/attachments/TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" width="238" height="91" alt="TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" /></span>
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Conway Hall Library & Archives
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2018
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Conway Hall Ethical Society
Text
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text.
Original Format
The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data
Pamphlet
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
[The Earthward Pilgrimage]
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
[c.1871]
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
G5714
Description
An account of the resource
Place of publication: [s.l.]
Collation: p. 80 ; 22 cm.
Notes: From the library of Dr Moncure Conway. A review of Moncure Conway's work 'The Earthward Pilgrimage'.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
[Unknown]
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
[s.n.]
Subject
The topic of the resource
Book reviews
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/"><img src="http://i.creativecommons.org/p/mark/1.0/88x31.png" alt="Public Domain Mark" /></a><span> </span><br /><span>This work ([The Earthward Pilgrimage]), identified by </span><a href="https://conwayhallcollections.omeka.net/items/show/www.conwayhall.org.uk"><span>Humanist Library and Archives</span></a><span>, is free of known copyright restrictions.</span>
Format
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application/pdf
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Language
A language of the resource
English
Book Reviews
Conway Tracts
Moncure Conway
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Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Victorian Blogging
Description
An account of the resource
A collection of digitised nineteenth-century pamphlets from Conway Hall Library & Archives. This includes the Conway Tracts, Moncure Conway's personal pamphlet library; the Morris Tracts, donated to the library by Miss Morris in 1904; the National Secular Society's pamphlet library and others. The Conway Tracts were bound with additional ephemera, such as lecture programmes and handwritten notes.<br /><br />Please note that these digitised pamphlets have been edited to maximise the accuracy of the OCR, ensuring they are text searchable. If you would like to view un-edited, full-colour versions of any of our pamphlets, please email librarian@conwayhall.org.uk.<br /><br /><span><img src="http://www.heritagefund.org.uk/sites/default/files/media/attachments/TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" width="238" height="91" alt="TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" /></span>
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Conway Hall Library & Archives
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2018
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Conway Hall Ethical Society
Text
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text.
Original Format
The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data
Pamphlet
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
[The Sacred Anthology]
Description
An account of the resource
Place of publication: [London]
Collation: 2 leaves; 20 cm.
Notes: From the library of Dr Moncure Conway. Handwritten review by unknown hand of Moncure Conway's work 'The Sacred Anthology' from Pall Mall Gazette, February 17th 1874.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
[s.n.]
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
[1874?]
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
G5596
Subject
The topic of the resource
Book reviews
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
[Unknown]
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
<a href="http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/"><img src="http://i.creativecommons.org/p/mark/1.0/88x31.png" alt="Public Domain Mark" /></a><span> </span><br /><span>This work ([The Sacred Anthology]), identified by </span><a href="https://conwayhallcollections.omeka.net/items/show/www.conwayhall.org.uk"><span>Humanist Library and Archives</span></a><span>, is free of known copyright restrictions.</span>
Format
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application/pdf
Type
The nature or genre of the resource
Text
Language
A language of the resource
English
Book Reviews
Conway Tracts
Oriental Literature
Sacred Books
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History and Biography.
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269
Thucydides, against the modern “ temptation to read into an inscrip
tion more, than is really to be found in it.”
Mr. Moncure Conway, following up his invaluable elucidations of
Folk-lore, discusses in his new book the significance and the teaching of
the legend of the Wandering Jew.9 It is scarcely necessary to remark
that the book is full of interest. The main feature in the argument
is that this legend of the Wandering Jew is a notable example of that
“ sacerdotal sorcery which, for the lover of enemies, substituted a
curser of enemies in the earliest Christian theology.” We are told,
first of all, how the legend is recorded in Roger de Wendover’s “ Ilistoria Major,” and how the Wandering Jew himself appeared in Ger
many in 1547, and in various other European countries, with a clever
and wonderful knowledge of previous history, and so forth. From
this we are led on to a most instructive account of the more general
legend of “ the Undying Ones” and. of Curses. The ramifications and
amplifications of the Wandering Jew legend are portrayed with most
entertaining and instructive detail. And the story is carried through
the ages of popular ignorance and vivid beliefs to the more recent
renovation of the Ahasueres as a poetic ideal. The Eternal Jew
becomes the favourite “ subject” of great German poets from Schubert
to Goethe.
Edgar Quinet, Eugene Sue, and Grenier follow the
same lead in France. And we have an admirable account of the in
fluence of the legend on the English drama and on English poetry. But
underlying the whole, and gradually working its way in the end to
prominence, comes a powerful vindication of the Jewish race, and a
powerful exposition of the hoped-for approach of better times for
humanity at large.
The growing prosperity of India and its consequently increasing
importance to Englishmen of all classes ensure a welcome for Mr.
Talboy Wheeler’s “Tales from Indian History.”10 The author himself
had some misgivings concerning this title, and it is matter for regret
he did not allow these misgivings more influence; for the title fails
to convey to the ordinary mind an adequate idea of the character and
value of the book. It is, in short, an epitomized account of most things
Indian ; and he who has read it will have no bad idea of nearly every
point that Indian affairs present to English notice. The author in
this volume manages to communicate to the reader his own firm hope
in a great future for India—closer bound to the British empire by
representative and business connections; and his belief that the
English, having instituted law and order in India, are now offering
most favourable opportunities for the great native races to work out
their own advancement by assimilating the educational and science
achievements of Western civilization.
Yet another national history11 is put before the public, and it may
9 “The Wandering Jew.” By Moncure Conway. London: Chatto & Windus
1881.
10 “Tales from Indian History.” By J. Talboy Wheeler. London: W.
Thacker & Co. 1881.
11 “A History of the British Empire.” By Edgar Sanderson. London:
Blackie & Son. 1881.
�270
Contemporary Literature.
well be asked how it comes about that such a uever-ending issue can
“pay.” It will be observed that the title, “History of the British
Empire,” might lead us to expect more account than is usually given
of the oversea realms the nation has ruled from time to time. But
beyond a short chapter devoted to the history of the Indian Empire,
and three pages devoted to the growth of our Colonial Empire, the
book is merely a new version of the oft-told tale of the successions of
sovereigns and the wars of the English nation, rigidly confined to the
British Islands. Of its kind the work is good, and it has a very
complete accompaniment of tables, maps, plans, illustrations, and
index.
It would be well if the numerous class of reformers would carefully
study an admirable outline of the history of the English Constitution
now published by Messrs. Longman.* They would thus understand
12
the true story of the development in English history of self-govern
ment, and learn that kings and nobles, as well as the commons, have
each in turn assisted’ in the good work. The politician of to-day is
too apt to forget that the future will be worked out of the past. Our
land reformers will do well to bear in mind the result worked out in
the book, “All ownership in theory is tenancy; in practice all tenancy
is ownership.” And in regard to Ireland it is interesting to trace the
obstruction Celtic influence has always opposed to the spread of repre
sentative self-government. In Scotland the same influence delayed
this for some three hundred years after its introduction into England;
and in Ireland local Parliamentary government, inaugurated in 1300,
could only take root “within the pale” when English descent and
custom came to prevail. As a whole this little work is admirably
written. We would, however, point out that in its opening chapters
the Norse element in our population is altogether ignored, though
it is now proved to have largely modified our institutions and our
national character. Again, on the last page there is a very partial
account of the main principle of free-trade. It is described as
merely prescribing that ho import duty should be levied on necessary
food, and so securing the people “ from being overcharged for the
necessaries of life.” The utter inadequacy of such a description of
free-trade should be remedied in the future editions to which the
work is sure to run.
It has been termed a natural function of Women to provide for the
education of children ; and the compiling of schoolbooks for the special
use of children is a task by no means neglected by women. “A French
History for English Children” is a full, clearly-written account of historica^France suited to schoolroom capacities.13 It has no pretensions to
advanced erudition, and is a plain matter-of-fact account of persons and
events that young people are expected to be familiar with. The book
13 “ Historical Outline of the English Constitution, for Beginners.” By D. W.
Itannie. London : Longmans. 1881.
13 “French History for English Children.” By Sarah Brook. London: Mac
millan. 1881.
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Victorian Blogging
Description
An account of the resource
A collection of digitised nineteenth-century pamphlets from Conway Hall Library & Archives. This includes the Conway Tracts, Moncure Conway's personal pamphlet library; the Morris Tracts, donated to the library by Miss Morris in 1904; the National Secular Society's pamphlet library and others. The Conway Tracts were bound with additional ephemera, such as lecture programmes and handwritten notes.<br /><br />Please note that these digitised pamphlets have been edited to maximise the accuracy of the OCR, ensuring they are text searchable. If you would like to view un-edited, full-colour versions of any of our pamphlets, please email librarian@conwayhall.org.uk.<br /><br /><span><img src="http://www.heritagefund.org.uk/sites/default/files/media/attachments/TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" width="238" height="91" alt="TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" /></span>
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Conway Hall Library & Archives
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2018
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Conway Hall Ethical Society
Text
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text.
Original Format
The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data
Pamphlet
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
[The Wandering Jew]
Description
An account of the resource
Place of publication: [s.l.]
Collation: 270 p. ; 23 cm.
Notes: From the library of Dr Moncure Conway. A review of Moncure Conway's 'The Wandering Jew' by an unknown reviewer in an unidentified journal. Includes bibliographical references.
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[s.n.]
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[188-]
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G5604
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Book reviews
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[Unknown]
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<a href="http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/"><img src="http://i.creativecommons.org/p/mark/1.0/88x31.png" alt="Public Domain Mark" /></a><span> </span><br /><span>This work ([The Wandering Jew]), identified by </span><a href="https://conwayhallcollections.omeka.net/items/show/www.conwayhall.org.uk"><span>Humanist Library and Archives</span></a><span>, is free of known copyright restrictions.</span>
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application/pdf
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Text
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English
Book Reviews
Conway Tracts
Demonology
Folklore
Judaism
Moncure Conway
-
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a8c3c2032382569f0bdf2b32d94dd314
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IV.
A FRIEND OF LORD BYRON *
Mr. Hodgson has written his father’s life upon a very unusual
plan, for which he makes apologies in his preface. The apologies,
however, were not strictly necessary, for the book is an interesting
one, more so, perhaps, than if it had been composed in the manner
usually followed in such cases. The late Archdeacon Hodgson
was a genial and accomplished scholar, a man of the world, and an
indefatigable versifier ; but he was not a brilliant writer, and our
loss is not great, in the fact that his letters have for the most part
not been preserved. His son and biographer lays before us, in de
fault of any specimens of his own share in his correspondence, a
selection from the letters that he received from his friends. These
were numerous, for Francis Hodgson had the good fortune to in
spire a great deal of affection and confidence. His chief claim to
the attention of posterity resides in the fact that he was an early
and much-trusted intimate of Lord Byron. A good many of By
ron’s letters to him were printed by Moore, to whom, however,
Hodgson surrendered but a portion of this correspondence. His
son here publishes a number of new letters, together with a great
many communications from Mrs. Leigh, the poet’s sister, and two
or three from Lady Byron. All this portion of these volumes is
extremely interesting, and constitutes, indeed, their principal value.
It throws a clearer, though by no means a perfectly clear, light
upon the much-discussed episode of the separation between Byron
and his wife, and upon the character of his devoted sister. The book
contains, besides, a series of letters from Hodgson’s Eton and Cam
bridge friends, and in its latter portion a variety of extracts from
* Memoir of the Rev. Francis Hodgson, B. D., with Numerous Letters from Lord
Byron and Others. By his Son, the Rev. T. P. Hodgson, M. A. London: Macmillan,
1879.
�A FRIEND OF LORD BYRON.
389
his correspondence with such people as Lord Denman (Chief Justice
of England, who presided at the trial of Queen Caroline, and in
curred the bitter animosity of George IV.), James Montgomery, the
late Herman Merivale, the late Duke of Devonshire, and the charm
ing Mrs. Robert Arkwright, who figures in the lately published
memoirs of Fanny Kemble. The picture of Hodgson’s youth and
early manhood, with his numerous friendships, his passion for lit
erature, his extraordinary and unparalleled fecundity in the produc
tion of poetical epistles, his good spirits, good sense, and great
industry, is an extremely pleasant one, and gives an agreeable idea
of the tone of serious young Englishmen, sixty or seventy years
ago, who were also good fellows. Hodgson’s first intention on
leaving Cambridge had been to study for the bar ; but after some
struggles the literary passion carried the day, and he became an
ardent “ reviewer.” He worked a great deal for the critical peri
odicals of the early years of the century, notably for the “ Edin
burgh Review,” and he produced (besides executing a translation
of Juvenal) a large amount of satirical or wTould - be satirical
verse. His biographer gives a great many examples of his poetical
powers, which, however, chiefly illustrate his passion for turning
couplets d propos of everything and of nothing. The facility of
these effusions is more noticeable than their point. In 1815 Hodg
son went into the Church, and in 1836, after having spent many
years at Bakewell, in Derbyshire, in a living which he held from
the Duke of Devonshire, he was appointed Archdeacon of Derby.
In 1840 he was made Provost of Eton College, a capacity in which
he instituted various salutary reforms (he abolished the old custom
of the “ Montem,” which had become a very demoralizing influence).
Archdeacon Hodgson died in 1852.
Mrs. Leigh wrote to him at the time of Byron’s marriage, in
which she felt great happiness, that her brother had “ said that in
all the years that he had been acquainted with you he never had
had a moment’s disagreement with you : ‘ I have quarreled with
Hobham, with everybody but Hodgson,’ were his own words.” By
ron’s letters and allusions to his friend quite bear out this dec
laration, and they present his irritable and passionate nature in the
most favorable light. He had a great esteem for Hodgson’s judg
ment, both in literature and in life, and he defers to it with a do
cility w'hich is touching in a spoiled young nobleman who, on occa
sion, can make a striking display of temper. Mr. Hodgson gives
no definite account of the origin of his father’s acquaintance with
�390
THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.
Byron—he simply says that their intimacy, which in 1808 had
become complete, had “ doubtless been formed previously, during
Hodgson’s visits to London and Cambridge and to the Drurys at
Harrow.” In 1808 Hodgson was appointed tutor in moral philoso
phy at King’s College, Cambridge, and in this year “ Byron came
to Cambridge for the purpose of availing himself of his privilege
as a nobleman, and taking his M. A. degree, although he had only
matriculated in 1805. . . . From this time until early in 1816 the
friends constantly met, and when absent as constantly correspond
ed.” Hodgson was completely under the charm of Byron’s richlyendowed nature ; but his affection, warm as it was (and its warmth
is attested by the numerous copies of verse which he addressed to
his noble friend, and which, though they exhibit little poetical in
spiration, show great tenderness of feeling), was of that pure kind
which leaves the judgment unbribed. Byron’s letters have always
a great charm, and those quoted by Mr. Hodgson, whether pub
lished for the first time, or anticipated by Moore, are full of youth
ful wit and spontaneity. In 1811, while the second canto of “ Childe
Harold ” (Hodgson was helping to revise it) was going through the
press, the poet’s affectionate Mentor had, by letter, a religious dis
cussion with him. Hodgson’s side of the controversy has disap
peared, but Byron’s skeptical rejoinders are full of wit, levity, and
a cynicism which (like his cynicism through life) was half natural
and half affected. “ As to your immortality, if people are to live,
why die ? And any carcasses, which are to rise again, are they worth
raising? I hope, if mine is, that I shall have a better pair of legs
than I have moved on these two-and-twenty years, as I shall be
sadly behind in the squeeze into paradise.” The letters which
throw light upon Byron’s unhappy marriage are all, as we have
said, of great interest. Hodgson’s correspondence with Mrs. Leigh,
which became an intimate one, began in 1814 and lasted for forty
years. Staying with Byron at Newstead in the autumn of that
year, she first writes to him as a substitute for her brother, who,
“ being very lazy,” has begged her to take his pen. It was at this
moment that he became engaged to Miss Milbanke, and one of the
few extracts from his father’s own letters, given by Mr. Hodgson,
is a very sympathetic account of a meeting with Byron in Cam
bridge while the latter was in the glow of just having completed
his arrangements for marrying “ one of the most divine beings on
earth.” There are several letters of Mrs. Leigh’s during 1815, after
the marriage had taken place, going on into the winter of 1816,
�A FRIEND OF LORD BYRON.
391
when they assume a highly dramatic interest. It is interesting, in
view of the extraordinary theory which in the later years of her
life Lady Byron was known to hold on the subject of the relations
between her husband and his sister, and which were given to the
world in so regrettable a manner not long after her death, to observe
that Mrs. Leigh’s letters afford the most striking intrinsic evidence
of the purely phantasmal character of the famous accusation, and
place the author’s character in a highly honorable and touching
light. This is the view taken, in the strongest manner, by the edi
tor of these volumes, who regards Mrs. Leigh as the most devoted
and disinterested of sisters—as the good genius, the better angel,
of the perverse and intractable poet. She appears to have been a
very sympathetic and conscientious woman, not very witty or very
clever, but addicted to writing rather expansive, confidential, lady
like letters, and much concerned about the moral tone and religious
views of her brother, whose genius and poetic fame inspire her with
a quite secondary interest. She appeals to Hodgson, as her brother’s
nearest and most trusted friend, to come up to town and intercede
with either party to prevent the separation. Hodgson obeyed her
summons, and did his best in the matter, but his efforts were una
vailing. His son quotes a remarkable letter which he wrote to Lady
Byron, urging her to the exercise of patience and forbearance ; and
he quotes as well Lady Byron’s reply, which on the whole does less
credit to her clemency than his appeal had done to his tact and wis
dom. There is an element of mystery in the whole matter of her
rupture with her husband which these letters still leave unsolved ;
but, putting this aside, they leave little doubt as to her ladyship’s
rigidity of nature.
“ I believe the nature of Lord B.’s mind to be most benevo
lent,” she says in answer to Hodgson’s appeal. “ But there may
have been circumstances (I would hope the consequences, not the
causes of mental disorder) which would render an original tender
ness of conscience the motive of desperation, even of guilt, when
self-esteem had been forfeited too far” And in reply to Hodg
son’s request, made on Byron’s behalf, that she would specify those
acts of his which she holds to have made a reconciliation impos
sible, she says, “ He does know, too well, what he affects to in
quire.” Mrs. Leigh says to Hodgson, in writing of her brother : “ If
I may give you mine [my opinion], it is that in his own mind there
were and are recollections fatal to his peace, and which would have
prevented his being happy with any woman whose excellence
�392
THE NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW.
equaled or approached that of Lady B., from the. consciousness of
being unworthy of it. Nothing,” she adds, “ could or can remedy
this fatal cause but the consolation to be derived from religion, of
which, alas ! dear Mr. H., our beloved B. is, I fear, destitute.” In
such allusions as these some people will always read the evidence
of some dark and definite wrong-doing on the part of one who de
lighted in the appearance of criminality, and who, possibly, simply
by overacting his part, in the desire to mystify, rather viciously, a
woman of literal mind, in whom the sense of humor was not
strong, and the imagination was uncorrected by it, succeeded too
well and got caught in his own trap.
Even if the inference we speak of were valid, it would be very
profitless to inquire further as regards Byron’s unforgivable sin; we
are convinced that, if it were ascertained, it would be, to ingenuous
minds, a great disappointment. The reader of these volumes will
readily assent to Mr. Hodgson’s declaration that they offer a com
plete, virtual exoneration of Mrs. Leigh. The simple, touching,
pious letters addressed to her brother’s friend at the time of Byron’s
death and of the arrival of his remains in England, strongly contribute to this effect; as does also the tone in which she speaks
of Lady Byron’s estrangement from her, which took place very
suddemy some years after the separation. The tone is that of a
person a good deal mystified and even wounded.
IIeney James, Jr.
�
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Victorian Blogging
Description
An account of the resource
A collection of digitised nineteenth-century pamphlets from Conway Hall Library & Archives. This includes the Conway Tracts, Moncure Conway's personal pamphlet library; the Morris Tracts, donated to the library by Miss Morris in 1904; the National Secular Society's pamphlet library and others. The Conway Tracts were bound with additional ephemera, such as lecture programmes and handwritten notes.<br /><br />Please note that these digitised pamphlets have been edited to maximise the accuracy of the OCR, ensuring they are text searchable. If you would like to view un-edited, full-colour versions of any of our pamphlets, please email librarian@conwayhall.org.uk.<br /><br /><span><img src="http://www.heritagefund.org.uk/sites/default/files/media/attachments/TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" width="238" height="91" alt="TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" /></span>
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Conway Hall Library & Archives
Date
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2018
Publisher
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Conway Hall Ethical Society
Text
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Pamphlet
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Title
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A friend of Lord Byron
Creator
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James, Henry
Description
An account of the resource
Place of publication: [s.l.]
Collation: p. 388-392 ; 22 cm.
Notes: From the library of Dr Moncure Conway. From North American Review 128 (April 1879). Review of "a memoir of the Rev. Francis Hodgson with numerous letters from Lord Byron and others. By his son, the Rev. T.F. Hodgson"..London: Macmillan, 1879.
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[s.n.]
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[n.d.]
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CT45
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Book Reviews
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<a href="http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/"><img src="http://i.creativecommons.org/p/mark/1.0/88x31.png" alt="Public Domain Mark" /></a><span> </span><br /><span>This work (A friend of Lord Byron), identified by </span><a href="https://conwayhallcollections.omeka.net/items/show/www.conwayhall.org.uk"><span>Humanist Library and Archives</span></a><span>, is free of known copyright restrictions.</span>
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application/pdf
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Text
Language
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English
Book Reviews
Conway Tracts
Francis Hodgson
George Gordon Byron
Lord Byron
-
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596d6778bbb920735856259273e8c31d
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Text
i66
CHRISTIANITY AGAIN CONSIDERED.
no earthly law smites him, he still is sinning against God, inflicts
injury on himself. For he that breaks a law of God, whether it be
a material one—in the physical globe or his own body ; or a spiritual
one, in his own soul, or in society, inflicts damage on his own
being; while he who works righteousness by living in obedience to
the law of God, is the better man for it, in himself, alike in time and
eternity. If there be any reader who rejects these statements, I
can only answer in the words of another, “We believe that con
science exists, just as fully as that we believe all men have bones,
and as it seems to us for the same reasons. Why is that to be
struck out of the list of evidence, any more than any physical testi
mony whatsoever ? Surely a more powerful item of evidence, not
only as to the personality of the First Cause, but as to the character
of that personality, could hardly be conceived.”(/)
(a) History of Latin Christianity, vol. ii., p. 253. Second edition.
(b) Church of England Prayer Book, Article 9: Confession of Faith, chap. vi. 6.
(c) Works, vol. iii., p. igg.
(d) R. H. Hutton.
(e) Duration of Future Punishment, by the Rev. George Rogers, p. 4,
(/) The Spectator.
&gain (EonstWlc
HRISTIANITY” is the title of a new book, by M. D. Conway,
M.A., and it is issued by Trubner & Co., of London. It is a
small but striking book. Indeed whatever comes from the pen of
Mr. Conway is always worth perusal. He has a knack of hitting
his opponents straight from the shoulder, of calling a spade a spade,
of denouncing superstition in unmeasured terms. As a preacher
Mr. Conway prefers an “ unfettered pulpit,” from which he can
fearlessly expose the errors and hypocrisy of the popular creed.
We wish there were more unfettered pulpits in the world, occupied
by men of culture and zeal, and “ no longer bribed by the social or
pecuniary endowments of an established creed.”
The book before us should be in the hands of every one who
wishes to be acquainted with the numerous phases through which
Christianity has passed, and we can confidently say that its perusal
will afford both pleasure and profit.
Mr. Conway considers
Christianity under six aspects : its morning state, its dawn, its day, its
decline, its afterglow, and its mosrow, and each of these divisions
receives masterly treatment.
There are several allusions to English Unitarianism, and the
Unitarian Association comes in for a share of the Author's
criticism. We think, however, that Mr. Conway’s strictures
on what he terms the “ professed liberality ” of the Association
are somewhat strong. No Association can exist without obe
dience to certain laws, and the “ fundamental law” which appears
to be so obnoxious to Mr. Conway is not, in our opinion, such an
obnoxious one as he would make it appear.
Personally, we
should like to see an independent Association formed, which should
e
�ANDREW AYLMER: A SKETCH.
167
include all Theists, whether Jews, Unitarians, Brahmins, or
Rationalists, in fact all who worship a supreme Governor of the
Universe, and wish to assist the extension of a Universal Brotherhood
of Man. But reforms whether social or religious are not carried in
a day, so we must be content to plod patiently alsng that road
which leads to the goal we are all aiming at, and we doubt not it
will be reached e’er many years more have been added to the
world’s age.
There are many-paragraphs having especial reference to the
Unitarian faith which we should like to quote, but our space forbids.
We cannot however conclude this brief notice without giving one
or two extracts. On page 89, Mr. Conway writes : “ Where is the
author of our time who defends the wild notion of an eternal
punishment—a punishment without end, and consequently without
purpose—inflicted on millions for a sin they did not commit, and
who have not even determined their own existence!” On page
124 he says:—“ The English Unitarians have an honorable history,
and no page of it is brighter than the last; but they can retain what
they have wn only by following up their advance.” Mr. Conway
brings his book to a conclusion as follows :—“ The highest religion
of to-day is to look and labour for a nobler day. Nor can I think
that new day so distant. For this matter the world of men means
mainly all those who think. The thinkers of the world are but
thinly divided by veils of language and tricks of expression ; speedily
wii^, they pierce these and discover that round the world hearts
beat with one moral blood, and eyes see by one and the same
sunlight. And as thought moves so will the most motionless
masses gravitate; and every sect in the world be subtly consumed
through and through by that popular disgust of bigotry and
hyprocrisy, which will emanate from the fairly awakened con
science and intellect of humanity.”
winter: &
CHAPTER IV.--- A WORD CONCERNING WILL, AND AYLMER’S INFLUENCE.
ACHEL AYLMER, soon after Andrew left home to attend
Mr. Cuthberton’s class at the Institute, dressed herself for
going out to pay a visit to her brother, Benjamin Harton, who lived
in the village of Ronesburn. As he worked the same “ place ” with
Andrew in the Scottingley mine, she was anxious lest the persecu
tion towards her son had been extended to her brother as well.
And then she wanted a talk with him about the whole matter.
Long had she and Joshua chatted over it, but the thing had not
come out any clearer to their minds. As she stood by her hearth
bound husband, to bid him good-bye for her two-hour visit, she saw
the newspaper was by his side, unused, and she had to touch his
shoulder ere he lifted his eyes from the fire. Responsive to her
touch, he said,—
“ Dinna be lang, wife, for I’m nae owre canny the night. Dis
B
�thoo think the laddie troubles aboot his loss o’ wark ? ”
“ Hinny, An’rew winna let his troubles clood his brow. Let’s
hope he dis’na feel them mair than he shows.”
“ Aye, as Ben said once, ‘ he tabs things philosophically.’ ”
“ Aboot that, I dinna kna,” replied Rachel, thoughtfully, “but
sure, as the boy says in one o’ his ain varses,
*
1 The dew o’ heaven is in his heart,’
an’ he’ll mak’ the best o’t, safe enough.”
The old man was comforted, the cloud passed from his face, the
newspaper was resumed, and Rachel wended her way in the direction
of Ronesburn. Approaching Scottingley, which stands between the
cottage and her destination, she saw a larger crowd of men than
usual at the corner of the road leading towards the colliery. This
would not have taken her attention, but, as she came opposite to
them, one, whom she did not recognise in the twilight, left the
crowd, and, as he neared her, said,
“ Mrs. Aylmer, I want a word wi’ ye.”
“ Is’t Will Bardoyle ? Hoo is’t there’s sae mony oot ? Hae
they shut up the public-hoose ? It’s nae a dog-race being made up
or thoo wouldna’ be in’t.”
“Nay, Mrs. Aylmer, we’ve been having a long talk about
Andrew, and I want to see him for the men ; but I suppose he’ll
not be at home for some time, as it is class night.”
“ He’ll no be hame till late, as he’s cornin’ roond for me frae
brother’s after class, but when thoo’s dune here thoo canst find the
way to Ben’s.”
In spite of her concern on Andrew’s account, she could not
help smiling as she said this, for there were a pair of bright eyes at
Ben’s which drew him there, and not against his will.
“ I don’t know if I dare call in to-night,” said Will, in reply,
“ for I have been offered the situation of overman, and I want to see
Andrew first. Ben has’na been out with us, or he would have known
and agreed with what I propose to do, so I’ll just meet Andrew,
and maybe call in with him.”
With a quiet “ good-night ” she passed on toward Ronesburn,
and Will joined the men, who were still talking in clusters.
The men had talked with each other that evening of many
things__ of the franchise, of improvements connected with their work
and their houses, and especially of the treatment Aylmer had been
subjected to; and of these things Will Bardoyle’s mind was full, as
some time after he took the road to Cuthberton, with a view to meet
Andrew. Not meeting him, however, and learning that he had
taken the river-path leading to the Hall, he continued his walk along
the highway, passed Mr.' Pembroke’s villa, and chatted with the old
lodge-keeper until Andrew came out.
Will was some years older than Andrew, but Will could not
have reverenced him more nad he been as aged as he counted him
worthy. Indeed, Andrew had been tne making of Will, for when he
was Aylmer’s present age he was a rough character truly, taking
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Victorian Blogging
Description
An account of the resource
A collection of digitised nineteenth-century pamphlets from Conway Hall Library & Archives. This includes the Conway Tracts, Moncure Conway's personal pamphlet library; the Morris Tracts, donated to the library by Miss Morris in 1904; the National Secular Society's pamphlet library and others. The Conway Tracts were bound with additional ephemera, such as lecture programmes and handwritten notes.<br /><br />Please note that these digitised pamphlets have been edited to maximise the accuracy of the OCR, ensuring they are text searchable. If you would like to view un-edited, full-colour versions of any of our pamphlets, please email librarian@conwayhall.org.uk.<br /><br /><span><img src="http://www.heritagefund.org.uk/sites/default/files/media/attachments/TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" width="238" height="91" alt="TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" /></span>
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Conway Hall Library & Archives
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
2018
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Conway Hall Ethical Society
Text
A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text.
Original Format
The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data
Pamphlet
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Christianity again considered
Description
An account of the resource
Place of publication: [s.l.]
Collation: 166-167 p. ; 22 cm.
Notes: From the library of Dr Moncure Conway. A review, by an unknown reviewer, of Moncure Conway's work 'Christianity' from 'Free World' February,1877.
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Conway Tracts
Moncure Conway
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Conway’s Sacred Anthology.
191
attempts to reconcile the irreconcilable ; let him rather rest
at a point where faith supplements instead of conflicting
with reason; and with the reverence, more especially his own,
which forbids him to close his soul against the spiritual
influences he dimly but intensely feels around him, let him
combine that other form of reverence, born of the loyal
search for scientific truth, which equally forbids all prema
ture claim to have pushed back the boundaries of the
*
unknown.
Ernest Myers.
TIL—CONWAY’S SACRED ANTHOLOGY.
Col
lected and edited by Moncure Daniel Conway. London :
Triibner and Co. 1874.
The Sacred Anthology, a Book of Ethnical Scriptures.
When Demetrius Phalereus was forming the royal library
at Alexandria, he recommended Ptolemy Philometor to pro
cure from Jerusalem a copy of the laws of the Jews. Whe
ther or not we trust the plea of their divine origin with
which Josephus has credited him,-|- it seems clear that the
great confluence of religions in the third century B.C. at the
meeting-point between the East and West, was beginning to
attract considerable attention. How far Demetrius carried
his intention of “making a collection of all the books
throughout the world,” it is no longer within the power of
the historian to trace. Had the communities of Hindus and
Persians been sufficiently numerous, it is possible, as Ewald
* Since writing the above, 1 have been interested to find the following pas
sage in Mr. J. S. Mill’s Autobiography (p. 39). Speaking of his father, James
Mill, he says: “He found it impossible to believe that a world so full of evil
was the work of an Author combining infinite power with perfect goodness and
righteousness. His intellect spurned the subtleties by which men attempt
to blind themselves to this open contradiction. The Sabaean or Manichaean
theory of a Good and an Evil Principle, struggling against each other for the
government of the universe, he would not have equally condemned ; and I have
heard him express surprise that no one revived it in our time. He would have
regarded it as a mere hypothesis; but he would have ascribed to it no deprav
ing influence.”
+ Jos. Ant. xii. 4.
�192
Conway's Sacred Anthology.
has suggested * that the sacred writings of these races also
might have been gathered and translated at the same time.
The opportunity, however, slipped away, and no further
efforts seem to have been made in the study of comparative
religion. But the influence of the wide culture of the Alex
andrian schools was not wholly lost, and re-appears in the
first Apologists for Christianity. The doctrine of the “ Sper
matic Word” enabled them to look with genial eyes upon
every attempt to arrive at the knowledge of divine things :
they did not desire to claim for one race alone the exclusive
possession of the oracles of God; they eagerly welcomed
the testimonies to their own truths which had fallen from
the lips of the wise and good in other ages and in other lands ;
“whatever things,” affirmed Justin Martyr, “have been
rightly said among all men are the property of us Christians ;-fand Clement attributed inspiration to' Plato or Cleanthes
as readily as to Moses or Isaiah. £ The fall of Rome, the
Mohammedan conquests, the decay of Western learning, all
contributed to disperse completely what little interest had
ever been felt in the Oriental faiths ; and Protestantism in
its turn, founded on the finality of the Bible, reversed the
scepticism of the Pharisees of old, and was unwilling to
believe that any good thing could come from anywhere but
Nazareth. Only here and there some mind of rarer insight
and elevation, like Cudworth’s, detected the broken har
monies of a “symphony of religions” which it was reserved
for a later day to rescue from the confusion of tongues in
which it at first appeared wholly lost.
In India, indeed, the experiment had been already tried.
In the sixteenth century, the Emperor Akbar gathered round
him at his court at Delhi, Jews and Christians, Brahmans
and Zoroastrians. Week by week the learned of all deno
minations assembled at the palace to discuss the most intri
cate questions of theology. Nights and days alike were
spent in investigation, and the august student displayed a
spirit of inquiry which was in truth fundamentally opposed
to every Islamitic principle, and excited the gravest disap
proval of one of the contemporary historians of his feign.
The result of the imperial researches was in the highest
* History of Israel, Vol. V. p. 251.
+ Cohort, vi.
+ Second Apology, xiii.
�Conway’s Sacred Anthology.
193
degree disastrous in the eyes of this worthy Mohammedan.
“ There gradually grew, as the outline on a stone, the con
viction in his heart that there were sensible men in all reli
gions” ! Well indeed might the believer ask, “ If some true
knowledge were thus everywhere to be found, why should
truth be confined to one religion, or to a creed like the
Islam, which was comparatively new, and scarcely a thou
sand years old ? why should one sect assert what another
denies? and why should one claim a preference without
having superiority conferred on itself?”*
These questions have not yet wholly ceased to perplex
some minds nearer home. Vague and indefinite ideas about
revelation still obscure “ the true light which lighteth every
man that cometh into the world;” and it is probable that
no better contribution to liberal theology could be made at
the present day than a collection of the best utterances of
morality and faith produced by other races and creeds such
as Mr. Conway has aimed at compiling. In the East alone,
the labours inaugurated by Anquetil du Perron and Sir Wil
liam Jones a century ago, have already proved marvellously
fruitful; and the study of comparative philology has paved
the way for the no less important study of comparative
religion. The soundness of the scholarship of Sir William
Jones remains, we believe, unimpeached, and those who
have followed in his steps have simply extended, without
having to correct, his discoveries. Du Perron’s work, how
ever, has not stood equally well the test of subsequent ex
plorations in the same field. His unwearying energy and
splendid devotion brought the Zend Avesta to light; but
the progress which has since been made in the knowledge
of Zend has to some extent thrown doubt upon the trust
worthiness of his translation; and as Mr. Conway gives his
readers no precise marginal references, it is to be regretted
that he has nowhere stated how far he has availed himself
of it. But the Brahmanic and Zoroastrian religions are not
the only Oriental faiths which have established themselves
on sacred books. Within fifty years Buddhism has gene
rated a literature which threatens to rival its own canon in
voluminousness ; and the writings of Lao-tsze and Confucius
* Badaoni, quoted by Max Muller, Introduction to the Science of Religion,
p. 89.
�194
Conway's Sacred Anthology.
are yielding up their meaning to the indefatigable deter
mination of recent investigators. From Mr. Conway’s cata
logue of authorities, however, we miss some familiar names,
such as those of Eugene Burnouf and Stanislas Julien ; nor
can it be said that this miscellaneous list at the end of the
volume compensates for the want of exact indications of
the sources from which the separate passages have been
derived.
The materials which modern inquiry has placed at the
disposal of the compiler of a sacred anthology, are indeed
embarrassing from their extent and variety. But if they
are to throw any light on the inner relations of different
religions to one another, they ought to be carefully sifted and
methodically grouped. These requirements we cannot think
that Mr. Conway’s collection satisfactorily fulfils. It appears
deficient in principles both of choice and of arrangement.
A glance at the subjoined table will shew the range of
*
nationalities which have contributed to it. Mr. Conway has
wisely passed the limits which he seemed at first sight to
impose on himself by the use of the term “ Scriptures,” and
has for the most part drawn his “testimonies” from a much
wider area. But it is to be regretted that he has adhered
to the canonical restrictions in some cases and not in others.
The numerous Persian poets who supply so many charming
fancies and wise apothegms would no doubt be the first to
disclaim the faintest supposition of rivalry with the Pro
phet, yet here they meet on equal terms. Three millenniums
divide the Dabistan from the Zend Avesta, but in Mr. Con
way’s pages they stand side by side; the fables of Hito* The following table is a rough classification of the passages ascribed to each
religion or nationality :
3
Sabzean..................... ..............
Persian (Mohammedan) .. . 185
Tartar ..................... ..............
2
Hindu (Brahmanic).......... . 140
1
African..................... ..............
Hebrew, Old Test, in- ) 1 AK
1
Chaldzean................. ..............
eluding the Apocrypha )
English..................... ..............
1
Christian ........................... . 102
1
Japanese................... ..............
Buddhist ........................ . 49
Russian..................... ..............
1
Arabian (Mohammedan) .. . 44
Syrian ..................... ..............
1
. 40
Chinese...............................
Theurgists ............. ..............
Parsi .................................. . 30
1
Unknown ................. ..............
Talmud........... ................... . 12
1
—
Scandinavian .................. . 12
4
Total................. .............. 740
Egyptian ........................... .
Turkish ........................... .
4
�Conway's Sacred Anthology.
-
195
pades& take their place along with the hymns of the Rig
Veda and the laws of Manu ; and the chronicles of Ceylon
are on a par with the sermons of Buddha. The cordon, which
is relaxed for the Mohammedans and the Parsis, the Brah
mans and the Buddhists, is tightly drawn for the Christians,
whose literature is apparently regarded as complete with
the last book of the New Testament. Yet it may be doubted
whether, among ordinary readers, Augustine, Tauler, and
Pascal are so much better known than Sadi or V^mana, as
to justify their entire exclusion and if the Imitatio Christi
was too familiar, some of the old Latin hymns might have
represented a spirit of devotion unknown in the East. It
is probably the same fear of intruding upon his readers what
they were already acquainted with, which has led Mr. Con
way to ignore the poets and philosophers of Greece and Rome
altogether. Happily this dread did not compel the psalm
ists and apostles to be silent also ; but no other cause could
have kept out Homer and let in the Eddas
.
*
Yet Sophocles
is at least as well worth reading, and almost as little read,
as Hafiz; it is difficult to see why Marcus Aurelius should
be unheard while Vladimir II. is permitted to speak; the
extracts from the Gospels, under the head of the “ Ethics
of the Intellect,” might well have been supplemented with
passages from the Apology of Socrates ; Plutarch or Seneca
could have furnished maxims quite as good as those of
Turkey, Japan, or England; and in the section entitled
“ Sanctions,” we look in vain for one of Plato’s wonderful
myths, such as that of Er the son of Armenius. Nor can
we think that Mr. Conway does justice to the oldest civilis
ation in the world, in omitting all reference to the Egyptian
“ Book of the Dead.” It may be that the doctrine of im
mortality appears there in a form <too pronounced for his
taste ; but the remarkable conceptions of personal and social
duty implied in the confessions of the soul before the fortytwo assessors in the “Hall of the Two Truths” deserve
recognition in any work which is designed like this to secure
a wider appreciation for “the converging testimonies of ages
and races to great principles.” The mystic sayings of Hermes
Trismegistus”* are pallid and obscure by the side of the
vows and aspirations of the funeral ritual so touchingly
called the “ Book of the Manifestation to Light.”
CLVII.
VOL. XI.
P
�196
Conway's Sacred Anthology.
Of hardly less importance, however, than the selection of
the ethnical Scriptures is their classification. If the object
is to enable the reader to compare together different types
of religion, the quotations ought snrely to be arranged ac
cording to the faiths from which they spring; and extracts
taken from works separated by a long range of time should
be set as far as possible in chronological order, so as to
exhibit the phases of development through which any par
ticular religion has passed. Mr. Conway, however, has pre
ferred a division by subjects rather than by creeds; and has
gathered his materials under the somewhat Emersonian
titles of “ Laws,” “ Nature,” “ Character,” “ Conduct of Life,”
and the like. An arrangement of this kind might have been
advantageously combined with a classification according to
religions, if a few well-defined orders of thought had been
adopted. The opening section of “ Laws,” however, contains
precepts upon every variety of virtue, and deals largely
with “ Charity,” “ Love,” and “ Humility between “ Wis
dom” and “ Knowledge,” “ Religion,” “ Theism,” and “ Wor
ship,” it is somewhat difficult to draw any clear line ; and
these headings do not facilitate the inquirer in ascertaining
whether any given passage is included. This task is, indeed,
rendered harder by the absence of any table of sources. To
each extract a title is prefixed, and of these, it is true, a list
is supplied; but (to take instances only from the Christian
Scriptures) not every one would seek for the parable of the
owner of the vineyard and his two sons under the desig
*
nation, “ The Established Church,” nor would many divine
that “ Demand for a Cause” signified the story of the young
ruler who went away sorrowful, having made what Dante
called “ the great refusal.” To any one, therefore, who takes
up the volume for the first time, the index of titles is almost
useless; and the book is simply a mass of citations, many
of them of high moral and religious value, but unavailable
for critical comparison, and beyond the reach of verification.
Mr. Conway has apparently, however, desired to provide
his readers with some little apparatus which should help
their judgment, and has accordingly appended a series of
Chronological Notes on the various works which have sup
plied him with quotations. But the information imparted
* With the connected discourses, Matt. xxi. 23—32.
�Conway's Sacred Anthology.
197
must be said to be exceedingly meagre: to those who are
already acquainted with Oriental literature it is superfluous,
while to the uninitiated it is tantalisingly inadequate. The
Chinese books are dealt with first; but though Lao-tsze and
*
Confucius- were the founders of religions entirely distinct,
no hint is afforded us of their divergence. The list of Parsi
writings extends over a period of three thousand years, but
we look in vain for any estimate of the relations between
the Zend Avesta and the Dabistan at its two extremes. It
would be perhaps needless to discriminate the Sama Veda
and the Yagur Veda from the Pig Veda (the Atharva Veda
does not appear at all); but some indication of the epic
character of the Ramayana and the Mahabharata would
have been acceptable. But the obliteration of all distinc
tions between the authoritative books of an established
religion and works of poetry or history, ought not to have
caused any confusion between the literatures of rival faiths.
Among the Hindu writings, however, between the Vedas and
the laws of Manu, three works are enumerated which are not
Hindu at all, but Singhalese—not Brahmanic, but Buddhist.
The Mahavamsa, placed by Mr. Conway about B.C. 477—
459, is a kind of royal chronicle, different parts of which
bear different dates. The language in which it is written is
not the Sanskrit of the Vedas, but the Pali of the Buddhist
Scriptures. The author or compiler of the first thirty-seven
chapters was Mah&nama, the uncle of Dhatusena, king of
Ceylon from 459 to 477 A.D.; the next section, written by
a priest named Dharmakirti, carried down the history to
1267; and a third hand has concluded it at 1758. The
Raja-Waliya, which Mr. Conway ascribes to the fourth cen
tury B.C., is of uncertain age; but the oldest portion of it
is probably not so old as the corresponding part of the Mah&vamsa. The same date is affixed to the Raja-Ratnakara,
though the Singhalese in which it is written is of a more
modern form than that of the Raja-Waliya already named.
The author was a certain Abhaya-Raja, who lived about the
middle of the sixteenth century of our era I Even Upham’s
translation, included by Mr. Conway among his “ principal
authorities,” if not altogether trustworthy, would at least
* Mr. Conway separates them by an interval of a century and a quarter.
Max Muller, however, and other writers speak of them as at any rate during a
part of their lives contemporary.
P 2
�198
Conway’s Sacred Anthology.
have enabled him to assign these works to their proper
place among the Buddhist writings, subsequent to the col
lection of the “ Three Baskets.”*
The Hebrew and Christian Scriptures hardly meet with
more satisfactory treatment. Of the Pentateuch we are told
that “ the tendency of modern criticism is to the conclusion
that a large number of very ancient fragments, historical,
legendary and poetic, were sifted, fused, or to use Ewald’s
expression, compounded, into the books which we now have ;
and that they assumed their present shape in the eleventh
century B.C.” The primitive document which lies at the
foundation of the books of Genesis and Exodus may possibly
be ascribed to the period of Samuel, or placed a little later
than that of Solomon. But if Mr. Conway had taken the least
pains to acquaint himself with the views of Ewald, he could
hardly have overlooked the fact that that great historian, in
common with the vast majority of recent critics, postpones the
completion of the Pentateuch till after the composition of
the book of Deuteronomy, which he assigns to the seventh
century.-f- Nor have subsequent investigators contented
themselves with leaving the question there. Prof. Russell
Martineau, in accordance with the views of some of the
Dutch scholars, has shewn in the pages of this Review J that
there is good ground for believing that a large portion of the
Levitical legislation did not come into existence before the
return from the captivity. If the Pentateuch is thus brought
to the front too early, the book of Job seems not admitted
till too late. Its date is, it is true, somewhat difficult to
determine: Mr. Conway, however, adopts a view of its origin
* See “Le Bouddha et sa Religion,” by M. Barthelemy Saint-Hilaire, pp.
327, 328. We do not know exactly what use has been made by Mr. Conway
of Upham’s translation ; but its grave deficiencies might have been corrected by
the work of Tumour, which, though incomplete, is of far higher value. The
further dates assigned to such books asDhammapada (246 B.C.) and Kuddhaka
P&tha (250 B.C.) must likewise be received with some caution. The White
Lotus of the Good Law is also referred to the year 246 B.C.; it is not, like
Dhammapada and Kuddhaka P&tha, included in the “Three Baskets” acknow
ledged in Ceylon, which do not appear to have been reduced to writing till about
88 B.C ; it is in Sanskrit, not Pali; but it does not seem possible to fix the
year of its production with precision.—As I have been unable to resort to stan-'
dard works on this subject, I must express my obligations for the greater part
of my information to T. Rhys Davids, Esq., late of Ceylon.
+ History of Israel, I. p. 127, IV. p. 220, sqq.
J Theol. Rev. for Oct. 1872, p. 474, sqq.
�Conway's Sacred Anthology.
199
which prevents him from finding a place for it till after the
Jews had been brought in contact with some of the nations
of the East in the sixth century. In the margin of the
section “ Sorrow and Death,” where an abridgement of it
*
appears, he characterises it as “ Hebrew or Persian.” This
designation is explained in the Chronological Notes by the
statement that it is a version probably of a Persian form of
a Brahmanic story of similar character. As well might we
say that Hamlet was a “version” of a French form-f- of a
Danish tale. If there be any book in the Old Testament
which bears the stamp of strong individual genius, surely it
is the book of Job. It stands entirely outside of the limits
of pure Mosaism, but it is Semitic and not Aryan. Its
author was not shut up in the domestic politics or faith of
Israel; but it was from the wisdom of Teman and the civi
lisation of Egypt that he drew much of his argument and
his imagery. The Satan who presents himself among the
sons of God bears no resemblance to the Zoroastrian Ahri
man ; and the story of his ineffectual endeavours to prove
that Job did not “serve God for nought” may have been
the common property of the wide East as that of Othello
was of Europe, but it needed a Hebrew Shakspeare to weld
it into the earliest, and in some respects the greatest, tragic
drama of the world. With the same want of critical per
ception (as we must consider it), Mr. Conway cites the open
ing and the closing chapters of the book of Isaiah as if they
all alike came from the same pen ; and upon this principle
compiles into one passage verses from oracles against Philistia, against Moab, and against Babylon, separated by
nearly two centuries. The result is described as “The
Tyrant’s Fall/’J For this, perhaps, the wretched divisions
of our English Bible are in part responsible; but this plea
does not excuse a similar treatment of soma, of the Psalms.
Who would think it fair if some continental collector were
to put together stanzas from Milton, Wesley, and Faber, and
present the compound as a specimen of an English hymn ?
We may pass over Mr. Conway’s notices of the Septua* P. 393, sqq.
+ That of the novelist Belleforest.
J dcx. , made up apparently from Is. xiii. 2, 3, 11, 12, xiv. 7, 12, 16, 26,
30, and xvi. 5.
>
’
’
�200
Conway's Sacred Anthology.
gint and the Apocrypha, as they are of slight importance ;
*
but graver issues are raised by his views of the growth of
the New Testament. The Apocalypse, the book of Acts,
and the Epistles of Paul, are the only books which he saves
for the first century. The judgment which treats the book
of Revelation and the letters of Paul as the earliest Christian
documents which we possess, is no doubt a sound one ; but
its correctness seems almost fortuitous, for the next sentence
sweeps away the Epistles to the Ephesians, the Galatians,
the Colossians, and Timothy (together with that to the
Hebrews and those bearing the names of Peter, James, John
and Jude), as of uncertain date and apocryphal authorship.
Why the Epistle to the Galatians should be thus boldly
struck out, we are at a loss to conceive ; the hardiest critics
(with the exception of Bruno Bauer *-) have never ventured
f
to impugn its authenticity; and it is difficult to know on
what grounds it should be thrown overboard while the Epistle
to the Philippians is retained. A still stronger reversal of
accepted decisions is to be found in the priority assigned to
the book of Acts. If there is any point on which all schools
are agreed, it surely is that this book supplemented, instead
of preceding, the Gospel of Luke. Mr. Conway, however,
thinks otherwise. In virtue, perhaps, of the narrative of
the voyage of Paul to which the use of the first person lends
so fresh an air, he reserves a place for this work among the
earliest productions of the primitive church. The four Gos
pels are all relegated into the second century, that of Mat
thew being referred to its first quarter, that of Mark being
set down near its last, while intermediate positions are pro
vided for those of Luke and John. This theory, however,
brings down the composition of the Gospel of Mark hazard* Mr. Conway places the version of the Septuagint in the year 250 B.C. It
is, however, clear that the translation was not made all at once ; but the point
is of minor interest except as it helps us to fix the date of the book of Wisdom,
the author of which seems to have been acquainted with the Greek rendering
of the Pentateuch and Isaiah. The period assigned by Mr. Conway (B.C. 250
—300) would thus appear to be too early.—The “four books of Esdras, ranging
from B.C. 150—31,” are in reality only two. The Vatican MS. contains two
books of Esdras, the first being the book known by that name in our Apocrypha,
and the second being the canonical Ezra. In the Vulgate, however, the canon
ical Ezra stands first; Nehemiah is designated the second book of Esdras; what
we know as the first book of Esdras follows in the third place; and the so-called
second book, of which no Greek text exists, comes fourth and last.
f Davidson’s Introduction to the New Testament, I. p. 101.
J
-Sj'
'.f
3
�SECOND EDITION, NOW READY.
SACRED ANTHOLOGY
THE
j
i. 'ilif r.f ■!
a
BOOK OF ETHNICAL SCRIPTURE^
BY MONCURE DANIEL CONWAY.
Triibner & Co., Ludgate Hill.
The second edition of this work contains an Index of Authors,
in addition to the Index of Subjects, List of Authorities, &c.,
and the Chronological Notes
carefully revised.
The book contains 740 Readings from the Asiatic and Scan
dinavian Sacred Books and Cla^jfes, arranged according to
subjects in 480 pages royal 8vo, with marginal notes.
OPINIONS OF THE PRESS.
It is certainly instructive to see the essential agreement of so many
venerated religious writings, though for depth of meaning and classicality
of form none of them approaches the HebrewSfcmd Christian Scriptures.
The idea of the work is arj^cellentone, and Mr. Conway deserves great
credit for being the first to realise it.— We^^B^i^keview.
It remains for us to point out so^ of the remarkable coincidences
in the principles of morals and reli||on which Mr. Conway’s diligence
and tact have brought together. HillaMand Confucius enunciated the
safhe warning in almost the same words—“ WhaWou do not wish done
to yourself do not to others.” Beneath a tropic sky, the flamingoes and
green parrots suggest the same lessons as the ravens and lilies of the
■field upon the hills of Galilee. A few words sum up with unsurpassed
pathos the parable of the virgins—“ A poor man watched a thousand
years before the gate of Paradise ; then, while he snatched one little nap
it opened and shut.”— Theological Review.
�2
Few more valuable contributions have been made to the popular study
of comparative theology than Mr. Conway’s “ Sacred Anthology,” well
fitted to serve as a volume of devout reading to those who choose without
theological forethought or afterthought to apply it to that use. To the
more speculative student, it curiously illustrates at once the different
genius of the various nations of the world, and the identity of human
nature in its apprehension of the loftiest topics of faith and morals. Few
can read it without feeling their mental horizon enlarged, and without a
deeper sense of the common humanity that lies at the basis of the dif
ferences by which history, climate, and civilisation disguise men and
nations from each other.—Daily News.
The book may fairly be described as a bible of humanity, and as an
ethical text book it might well be adopted in all schools and families
where an attempt is made to instil the highest principles of morality
apart from religious dogma. He has produced a work which a great
number of people have long been desiring to possess, and which is likely
to mark a distinct epoch in the progress of ethical culture.—Examiner.
The result is most interesting. For the first time, an English reader
may judge for himself of the moral and religious merits of writings which
heretofore have been to him only venerable and shadowy abstractions.
We shall be much surprised if every reader does not lay it down in a
better mental frame than was his when he took it up. It teaches charity
and toleration, and makes men less spiritually arrogant. It is not with
out even greater lessons to those who have ears to hear.—The Echo.
The “ Sacred Anthology ” should find a place on every library shelf.
It is a bible free from bigotry, and were an Universal Church ever estab
lished, might fairly be a lesson book for that church. The labour ex
pended by Mr. Conway in editing, abridging, and selecting, can hardly
be fairly estimated. We can heartily recommend it to Freethought
Societies as a volume in which they may find readings otherwise inaccess
ible to them.—National Reformer.
The principal authorities for the beautiful thoughts and precepts so
skilfully collected by the editor, are given at the close of the volume, to
make his work as complete as possible. Mr. Conway also publishes
chronological notes, and it is scarcely necessary to say that his views
with regard to the dates of our sacred books differ considerably from those
adopted by orthodox divines.— The Pall Mall Gazette.
A very slight examination of the volume will show that it is indeed a
valuable anthology of the scriptures of all races. As complete and
entertaining a volume as one would wish to read.—The Bookseller.
It will be seen that all the sacred books of mankind have their prin
cipal features in common ; that the differences between them are not of
essential nature, but of degrees of manner and style, and that an inspired
spirit variously modified and expressed breathes through all. Mr. M. D.
�Conway has contributed a real service to an enlightened view of this
subject by his “ Sacred Anthology,” a book which we commend to the
attention of all who are accustomed to speak of the bible as the only
word of God.— The Inquirer.
Such of our readers as may have studied a remarkable book, India in
Greece, which appeared some twenty years ago, are well aware of the
extent to which Indian rites and customs after having been transported
to Greece, and thence re-exported to Italy, have become permanently
imbedded in the Romish system. Indeed, we believe there is scarce a
Popish notion, emblem, or ceremony that may not be distinctly traced
to 9. Pagan source. However, if the original have come from thence,
thence also may be derived an anecdote that may somewhat tend to
diminish its ill effects. For among the guse Hindoo aphorisms (as ren
dered in Mr. Moncure Conway’s recent book), we find the following,
which some amongst us might ponder with advantage at the present
time:—“Sdnyasis (?Hindu Rits) acquaint themselves with particular
words and vests; they wear a brick-red garb and shaven crowns; in
these they pride themselves ■ their heads look very pure, hut are their
hearts so ?” “ Religion which consists in postures of the limbs (mark
this ye clergy of St. Alban’s, Holborn) is just a little inferior to the
exercises of the wrestler.” “ In the absence of inward vision boast not
of oral divinity.” We are not sure that Vishnu’s philosophy would not
compare favourably with that of Pio Nono.—The Rock.
Many years ago, Philip Bailey, of “Festus,” announced as forthcoming
a book entitled “ Poetical Divinity,” th^object of which was to show by
quotations from the bards of all time, that they all held substantially the
same creed which we presume was held by Festus himself—Pantheism
plus Universal Restoration. This book never has appeared, but Mr
Conway’s is arranged on a somewhat similar plan, and is altogether a
volume of such a unique yet delightfully varied character that it must
commend itself to readers of every sort. We have seen already the eyes
of a rather strictly orthodox person glistening with eager delight over
many of the maxims and beautiful little moral fables with which it abounds.
—The Dundee Advertiser.
It would be impossible that such a book, even if it were compara
tively carelessly done, could be without interest ; but Mr. Conway’s task
has been most conscientiously performed, and it will be found of the
greatest possible value, for it casts a strong light upon many matters
which are frequently in discussion.—The Scotsman.
Mr. Conway has conferred a signal service on the literature of Theism by
publishing for the first time a comprehensive collection of some of the best
passages from the ancient scriptures of different nations. A few years ago
we, in the Brahmo-Somaj, made an humble effort in that direction, which
resulted in the issue of a small book of theistic texts now in use during
service in most of our churches. Mr. Conway’s excellent publication
is on a far grander scale, embraces a wider variety of subjects, and ex
tends its selection through a much larger range of scriptural^ writings
than we could command.—The Indian Mirror.
�4
There is, I suppose, no book inexistence quite like it, perhaps none on
the same plan and of equal scope. He who found no higher use for the
book would rejoice in it as a handbook for scriptural quotations not
otherwise readily accessible, as the number of volumes from which they
have been brought together sufficiently proves. There is nothing we
more need mentally than a tinge of Orientalism, something to give a new
bent and scope to minds fed perpetually on the somewhat narrow and
practical literature of the Western races. Mr. Conway, with his eager
poetic instincts, his warm feeling and wide sympathies, is a good guide
to those in search of what is most impressive to the imagination or
stimulating to the sensibilities.—“ G. W, S.,” in the New York Tribune.
A Significant Book.—Significant of what? Of interest in the
religious life of men who are outside the pale of Christianity, of that
“ sympathy of religions ” which has lately found in the missionary lecture
of Max Muller in Westminster Abbey an exhibition which might
well strike terror into High Church dignitaries, of a growing faith that
the attitude of Christianity towards the other great religions of the world
is not wholly that of a teacher, but may be that of a pupil; of this, at
least—we trust of much beside.—Rev. John W. Chadwick, in the
“ Liberal Christian” New York.
He then read a few sentences from a book called “ Sacred Anthology,”
which work, he said, was a compilation from the religious works of all
nations, some older than our bible : the book he should leave on the desk
as his bequest to the society.—Report of an Address by A. Bronson
Alcott, Esq.,at the opening of a new hall in Massachusetts.
“The Anthology ” may be obtained through any Bookseller, or
from the Librarian, the Chapel, 1I, South Place, Finsbury.
Price, ios. Postage, 9d.
■f
f J
�201
Conway's Sacred Anthology.
-ously late; nor are we aware of any strong grounds for
postponing it till after the appearance of the fourth Gospel.
Altogether it must be said that the value of the book
before us is needlessly impaired by these rash remarks.
For the general purposes of comparative religion, it is unne
cessary to enter into the “ results of modern criticism ” of
the Christian Scriptures. Their position in the history of
thought is sufficiently well known to enable their contents
to be correctly estimated by the side of the Vedas or the
Koran without any previous determination of the authorship
of Epistles or the order of the Gospel narratives. The in
version of a couple of books of the New Testament is of
light consequence compared with the transposition of writ
ings belonging to one language or religion into another a
millennium or so too soon ; but such critical lapses throw
an air of inexactness over the whole work, and somewhat
detract from our appreciation of the genial sympathy which
has evidently directed its preparation. It may be hoped
that in a future edition Mr. Conway will substitute for his
Chronological Notes an introduction such as he well knows
how to write, which may pass in rapid review the genius
of each great faith, assign to the various phases of its de
velopment the books respectively belonging to them, and
thus assist his readers in taking a general survey over the
wide field through which he is so admirably qualified, by
the range of his own reading and the delicacy of his per
ceptions, to be their guide.
It remains to point out as briefly as possible some of the
remarkable coincidences in the principles of morals and
religion which Mr. Conway’s diligence and tact have brought
together. Hillel and Confuciusd" enunciated the same
*
warning in almost the same words,
“ What you do not wish done to yourself^ do not to others
and the Arab sages supply a similar repetition^ of the more
pointed Hindu proverb,
“Do not force on thy neighbour a hat that hurts thine own
head.Ӥ
To return good for evil ceases to be a virtue peculiarly
enjoined on (would that we could also say practised by)
* XXVII.
+ X.
J XII.
§ XLI.
�202
Conway's Sacred Anthology.
Christians ; for the followers of Lao-tsze are hidden to “ re
compense injury with kindness;”* the Buddhist finds in
Dhammapada the command,
“ Let a man overcome anger by love; let him overcome evil
by good; let him overcome the greedy by liberality, and the liar
by truth+
and Mohammed assigns the deeper reason already revealed
by Jesus,
“For God loveth that you should cast into the depths of your
souls the roots of his perfections.’’^;
All class distinctions are abolished, and the foundations
of universal brotherhood are laid by the simple question of
Vemana,
“ Of what caste is He who speaks in the pariah
In this vast circle, however, particular duties are not to
be lost in general obligations, and Indian wisdom provides
in a breath for the aged and the young:
“ Educate thy children; then thou wilt know how much thou
owest thy father and mother
for servants—
“ What sort of master is that who does not honour his servants
while they discharge their duty 1 .... By taking up the whole
time of a servant, by increasing expectation, by denying reward,
the ill-disposed master is recognised. Favourable discourse to a
servant, presents that denote affection, even in blaming faults
taking notice of virtues, these are the manners of a kind master.
He who knows how to consider his servants, abounds in good
ones ;”5T
and for animals.
**
Beneath a tropic sky, the flamingoes
and green parrots++ suggest the same lessons as the ravens
and the lilies of the field upon the hills of Galilee ; and the
Persian poet discloses the same source of hidden wealth as
Christ:
“ Place your affections on the Creator of the universe : that
will suffice.” U
From this quarter, also, comes a tale of a treasure hid in
* DXCIX.
f
II COXXXIX.
HI C00LXI.
H DOLIV.
CCCOLXXXI.
I OCCXLI.
** CCCXXVIII.
§ OOCCXLIV.
++ CCCCLXVH.
�Conway*ts Sacred Anthology.
,203
•a field, which relates that the finder, unlike the buyer in
*
the gospel story, insisted on sharing his discovery with the
original owner, who in his turn refused to receive it; and
a few words sum up with unsurpassed pathos the parable
of the virgins:
“ A poor man watched a thousand years before the gate of
Paradise. Then, while he snatched one little nap—it opened,
and shut.”+
From the far North rings out a note of blended caution
and trust in human nature:
“No one is so good that no failing attends him, nor so bad as
to be good’for nothing
while a Chinese proverb compresses into one brief maxim
the art of living with others :
“ When alone, think of your own faults; when in company,
forget those of others.” §
In spite of this advice, however, divisions may be inevit
able here; but in the future, if Mohammed’s insight is
correct, they shall disappear:
“ All have a quarter of the heaven to which they turn them;
but wherever ye be, hasten emulously after good; God will one
day bring you all together.” ||
Should any hapless soul be left to struggle with an adverse
destiny, one spirit, at any rate, was ready to bear it com
pany even in its conflicts and its pains, for, in one of the
finest extracts of the book, Kwan-yin, a Fo (Chinese Budd
hist) prophetess, answers by implication the “ comfortable”
doctrine of the sovereign mercy of God in the torments of
the damned, and declares :
“ Never will I seek nor receive private individual salvation,
never enter into final peace alone ; but for ever and everywhere
will I strive for the universal redemption of every creature
throughout all worlds. Until all are delivered, never will I leave
the world of sin, sorrow, and struggle, but will remain where
I am.”T
But her self-imposed privations shall at length have an
* DLX.
+ CCCCLXXVIII.
X Saemund’s Edda, cccclxx.
§ CCCCLXXXIV.
|| LXXXIV.
U COOLIII.
�204
Conway's Sacred Anthology.
end, if the Arabian saying (relating, it is true, to a wholly
different order of conceptions) may be trusted:
“In the last day, when all things save paradise shall have
passed away, God will look upon hell, and in that instant its
flames shall be extinguished for ever.” *
It must be confessed, however, that we have here morality,
sometimes “ touched with emotion/’ and sometimes destitute
of it, rather than religion. And so far as Mr. Conway’s
extracts enable us to judge, it appears that religion, in the
sense of personal communion with God, finds more fervent
expression in the Semitic than in the Aryan mind. This
is observable even in the treatment of nature, which is but
the vesture of the unseen Will. The metaphysical phrases
of the hymns to Brahma "f and Vishnu J do not thrill us
*
like the joyousness of the hundred and fourth psalm ; and
it is to the Koran that we must go to strike another note in
the same chord of sympathy with universal life.
“ Hast thou not heard how all in the heavens and in the earth
uttereth the praise of God ? The very birds as they spread their
wings ? Every creature knoweth its prayer and its praise. Ӥ
The relations between Deity and his creatures are those
of reason rather than affection ; their quality is that of light,
not warmth. It is the Mohammedan traditions ||—even in
their Persian dress, for the genius of religion triumphs over
nationality—which exhibit with most beauty the deep sense
of the abiding presence of God, to which the habit of prayer,
in the bazaar, on the river-bank, or by the road-side, as
well as in the mosque, bears such touching witness. Spiri
tual religion is not, indeed, ignored. Hindu pilgrimages
gave birth to the pungent protest,
“Going to holy Benares will make no pig an elephant ;”1T
and the land of the fakirs further humiliates ritualism with
the quiet saying,
“ Religion which consists in postures of the limbs is just a
little inferior to the exercises of the wrestler.”**
But only here and there do we seem clearly to touch the
“ higher pantheism” which blends in one the spiritual forces
+ C.
* D00XV.
|| CLXVI., CLXVII.
’
H CLXIV.
I Oil.
** COXXVID.
§ Oil.
�Comvay's Sacred Anthology.
205
of the universe, without however destroying the individual
ity of the soul. Of this, the following passage of the Zend
Avesta may serve as an example:
. “ God appears in the best thought, the truth of speech and the
sincerity of action, giving through his pure spirit health, pros
perity, devotion and eternity to this universe. He is the Father
of all truth.”*
It is natural, therefore, that of the language of penitence,
of consciousness and confession of sin, there should be Httle
trace among the Aryan hymns. The Vedic prayer, “to be
united by devout meditation with the Spirit supremely blest
and intelligent,” f contains no provision for the wounded
and struggling conscience ; the passionate utterances of the
fifty-first psalm would be unintelligible to the mystics of
the far Fast; even in the midst of the sorrow and misery
by which he is surrounded, it is by his own strength that
man is to rise to higher things—it is by the path of intel
lectual enlightenment rather than by that of moral conflict
that his progress is to be made; and so the whole range of
Aryan literature does not appear capable of producing any
thing like the parable of the Prodigal Son.
The last section of Mr. Conway’s book is entitled “ Sanc
tions.” Its general purport is to illustrate the well-known
couplet,
“ Our acts our angels are, or good, or ill,
Our fatal shadows that walk by us still.”|
But how far this unseen attendance will follow us, is left
obscure. “ Let the motive be in the deed,” it is well said in
the Bhagavat Ghita ;§ and Rama truly declares that
“ Virtue is a service man owes himself: though there were no
heaven nor any God to rule the world, it were not the less the
binding law of life.” ||
The belief in immortality need not, however, be confounded
with “otherworldliness;” and we are surprised that the
intense moral conviction which formerly shaped itself into
* CXVII.
CLXX.
I See in particular the four vivid pictures from the book of Ardai Viraf the
Persian Dante (one of which, however, has strayed a long way from its compa
nions), DCXXXVII., DOCXXVII., DCOXXX., DOXXXII.
§ DCLXVI.
|| dlvi. ; the whole passage is of remarkable force and elevation.
F
�206
Report of the Committee of Council on Education.
the doctrines of heaven and hell, and now re-appears as the
striving after perfection, receives no fuller recognition as the
prophecy of an endless destiny. It is not at least for want
of testimonies. The oldest monuments of human thought
*
the ripest genius of human wisdom, the deepest insight of
human love, have all contributed their choicest fruits to
nurture the faith of an undying life. The noblest races, and
minds which seem to stand above race and belong to man
kind, have found in this hope the spring and the spur of all
aspiration, and the prospect of the solution of problems in
determinable here. The new philosophy may perhaps be
summed up in the words of Omar Kheyam (eleventh
century, A.D.), with which Mr. Conway closes his selection:
11 Resign thyself, then, to make what little paradise thou canst
here below; for as for that beyond, thou shalt arrive there, or
thou shalt not.”
But it must at any rate be remembered that on this great
theme the “ symphony of religions ” does not in reality thus
fade away in a doubt.
J. Estlin Carpenter.
TV.—THE REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE OF COUNCIL
ON EDUCATION FOR 1872-73.
There are not many subjects on which the press has been
more busy during the last few years than on all the various
topics which have arisen in connection with plans for Na
tional Education. Government returns of the most compre
hensive nature extending over many volumes, reports as
to educational methods adopted at home and abroad, the pub
lications of associations founded for the promotion of anta
gonistic principles, volumes published by earnest workers
in defence of their own plans and criticising the opinions
and proposals of others, pamphlets and leading articles
without number—all shew how deep an interest is felt in
* We have not space to multiply quotations from the Egyptian Book of the
Dead, the Hindu Vedas, or the Iranian Zend Avesta, to say nothing of Plato.
�
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Victorian Blogging
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A collection of digitised nineteenth-century pamphlets from Conway Hall Library & Archives. This includes the Conway Tracts, Moncure Conway's personal pamphlet library; the Morris Tracts, donated to the library by Miss Morris in 1904; the National Secular Society's pamphlet library and others. The Conway Tracts were bound with additional ephemera, such as lecture programmes and handwritten notes.<br /><br />Please note that these digitised pamphlets have been edited to maximise the accuracy of the OCR, ensuring they are text searchable. If you would like to view un-edited, full-colour versions of any of our pamphlets, please email librarian@conwayhall.org.uk.<br /><br /><span><img src="http://www.heritagefund.org.uk/sites/default/files/media/attachments/TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" width="238" height="91" alt="TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" /></span>
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Conway Hall Library & Archives
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2018
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Conway Hall Ethical Society
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Conway's Sacred Anthology
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Carpenter, J. Estlin (Joseph Estlin)
Description
An account of the resource
Place of publication: [s.l.]
Collation: 191-206 p. ; 23 cm.
Notes: From the library of Dr Moncure Conway. A review by Joseph Estlin Carpenter of Moncure Conway's work 'The Sacred Anthology' from 'Theological Review' 11, April 1874. Includes bibliographical references.
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[s.n.]
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[1874]
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G5609
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Book reviews
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<img src="http://i.creativecommons.org/p/mark/1.0/88x31.png" alt="Public Domain Mark" /><br /><span>This work (Conway's Sacred Anthology), identified by </span><span><a href="https://conwayhallcollections.omeka.net/items/show/www.conwayhall.org.uk">Humanist Library and Archives</a></span><span>, is free of known copyright restrictions.</span>
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application/pdf
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Text
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English
Book Reviews
Conway Tracts
Moncure Conway
Sacred Books