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A WOMAN’S LETTER.
PUBLISHED BY THOMAS SCOTT,
MOUNT PLEASANT, RAMSGATE.
Price, Threepence.
��A WOMAN’S LETTER.
-------- ♦---------
My Dear Friend,—You have expressed much sur
prise, and no little sorrow, at the opinions held by me
on the subject of Bible inspiration, opinions which,
however, are fast gaining ground amongst educated
women in the present day.
Will you allow me briefly to lay before you some of
the reasons which have induced me to form those
opinions, contrary as they are to the teaching and
training on such subjects, received in early youth.
Perhaps I may at least be able to convince you that
they are not the wild and impious theories that many
suppose them to be, but the natural result of honest,
unprejudiced, and impartial investigation.
There is an idea very prevalent, though seldom
plainly stated,—that it is unbecoming in a woman to
think for herself at all, except on such subjects as may
directly affect her household interests. Politics,
science, art, and, above all, religion, are held to be
matters beyond her sphere, and her ideas (if she have
any) on these subjects are to be received without
question from her nearest male relatives; or, failing
these, from the man who gains the greatest influence
over her. Where this view is not so clearly expressed,
it still appears under a more veiled form in the axioms
we daily hear, that “men may reason, women must
trust; ”—that “ faith is woman’s privilege,” and others
of a similar character. Now it is quite clear that to a
certain extent this is true. Without an education
�>4
4
A Woman’s Letter.
far superior to that she generally receives, a woman
cannot verify for herself the truth, of gravitation, nor
investigate the theories of light and sound. Neither
can she form an opinion on the currency, or on free
trade, without a political education such as she seldom
enjoys. ‘In such matters she must take her views
from those about her best qualified to judge, and re
frain from obtruding her second-hand ideas on those
who are able to form an independent judgment. It is
clear, however, that in this case, the faith or reliance
on others that she is obliged to exercise, is the result
of a defect in her mental training, and adds in no way
to her grace or virtue. She would be nobler, wiser,
and happier, were she able to come to a reasonable
conclusion, thinking out the subject for herself, rather
than taking the bare word of others who are themselves
liable to error. If this be true in science or art, it is
doubly so in religion. Here none can presume to
claim superior knowledge or more unerring judgment.
The Book which is received as the sole text-book of
religion, is open to all, and the most learned divines
agree that its teaching is so plain that “ a wayfaring
man, though a fool, shall not err therein.” You hold
the doctrine of the inspiration of the Bible, but is such
a doctrine tenable if none but the wise and learned can
comprehend its pages ? Or of what use would he a
revelation from God to man if none but scholars were
entitled to search out its meaning ? You cannot really
mean that the command “Search the Scriptures” only
applies to University men in Holy Orders, and that
none but these, or persons of equal learning, have any
right to investigate the truth for themselves ! There
is a strange inconsistency in checking the spirit of
enquiry amongst educated women in England, whilst
encouraging it amongst ignorant savages abroad. Here
you urge the principle that safety lies in accepting
without question, or as it is called,—in simple faith,—
whatever has been taught us in infancy, there you
�A Womans Letter.
5
press on every 'hearer the duty of investigating the
nature of his idols, and of doubting the assertions and
pretensions of his priests. Nay, nearer liomej by what
right can you send missionaries to sow doubt in. the
hearts of your Roman Catholic brethren, if. you your
self hold that doubt, and the spirit of enquiry that
leads to doubt, is a deadly sin ? If “ simple faith ” in
her early teaching be the proper limit to woman’s
religious thought, then, to be consistent, we must leave
undisturbed the belief of a Hindoo widow in the
efficacy of Suttee, nor seek to interfere with the
religious training of Harem or Zenana. Still less can
we assume the right to arouse a spirit of enquiry in
those who have been taught from infancy to believe im. >
doctrines which, though more nearly resembling our ”
own, we still hold to be full of fatal error. The
Reformation would have been impossible had its
leaders never shaken off the yoke of “simple faith,”
and fairly measured their strength against their
teachers. Go further back, and Christianity itself
would never have arisen had its Founder or his
apostles shrunk from the responsibility of shaking off
the trammels of early religious training. Remember
that we are as responsible for our own belief, as for
our own conduct,—by these we shall be judged, and
neither the faith nor the life of others can excuse or
justify our own. It cannot surely be presumptuous to
exercise the reason God has given us, in the examina
tion of doctrines we have hitherto received with a
C*
faith which, if applied to the commonest worldly
A
transaction, would be called by some less attractive
name.
There is an objection sometimes made to the spirit of
religious enquiry amongst women, a purely sentimental
one, and almost unworthy of serious notice. Still it
influences many. I may call it the sesthetical objection.
There is an idea that religious doubt is unbecoming,
ungraceful, and contrary to all established poetic con
�6
A Womans Letter.
ceptions of female character, that were it to supplant
faith, both painters and poets would lose their favourite
themes, and that on the whole,—as a lady once ex
pressed herself to me,—“ men wouldn’t like it.” I will
fain hope that men are not responsible for half the
foolish sentiments attributed to them, and that this,
amongst others, is a false and distorted idea of their
real opinion. Of one thing I am sure,—that no honest
man will ever do otherwise than respect honest
enquiry,—and that a very small exercise of courage will
enable the most timid of women to face the censure of
those whose only conception of womanly grace is
drawn from the imaginative works of the artist. The
true beauty of woman’s character is to be found rather
in a pure, simple honest-hearted search for truth, than
in any number of poems and pictures.
There is another objection which meets every one
whose mind is first aroused to religious enquiry. It
is this ! “ Am I prepared to face the possible conse
quences of free investigation ?” “ Whither will it
lead me ?” “ Would it not be wiser not to embark on
a voyage whose end I cannot foresee ?” To this the
answer is plain. Our duty is simply to ascertain the
truth as it is without bias as to what we may wish it
to he. We must not grumble, if, in our search for
truth, we find her of different aspect from what we had
imagined or hoped, and God will most surely not hold
us responsible for what we may discover during our
honest, single-hearted enquiry, though He may justly
condemn us for neglecting to investigate those subjects
which are at the root of our spiritual life. I grant
that the shock may be rude when we find our pre
conceived ideas to have no solid foundation ; when
the beliefs and fancies, and imaginations which have
grown with our growth, prove hollow and insecure,
but painful as it may be, we are safer, wiser, more
near to God than when a mist of falsehood hung
between us and Him.
�A Womans Letter.
7
How many poetic fancies of onr childhood .have
been dispelled by the more accurate knowledge of
later years ! And yet do we not feel that we are the
gainers by our loss ? The child who thinks the rainbow a path for angels to tread, may grieve to find his
dream a delusion, but does not his maturer knowledge
of the cause of that glorious arch, show him far more
clearly the wisdom and the power of God than any
such poetic fancy could do ? If you ask me what will
supply the place of old beliefs and cherished creeds
should you be compelled to relinquish these, I can
offer you but one substitute—but that an all-sufficing
one ; viz :—the consciousness that you have earnestly
and honestly sought for truth, and that God will give
His blessing on the search.
And now, having touched upon some of the difficul
ties thrown in the way of every woman who wishes to
analyse the religious teaching she has received, I
will frankly tell you what are the chief conclusions at
which I have arrived during my examination. The
key-note to all such religious teaching, the stand-point
from which all doctrinal points are decided, is the
Inspiration of the Bible. What does the word mean ?
Teachers interpret it variously; some maintaining
that every phrase and expression was directly dictated
by God to the authors of the various books, others
that He put the general idea, as it were, into their
minds, leaving them to express it as they pleased,
with their own glosses, and often with their own
errors; while a third party consider that part of the
scriptures was dictated by God to the writers, and
part is simply the expression of their own sentiments.
How this Inspiration, or mental dictation, is per
formed, or by what means we can recognise its oper
ation, is never explained. Let me now point out to
you why these three views of the Inspiration of the
Bible appear to me alike untenable. That the God
of the universe should have directly dictated every
■
J
e
' .
-
•
.
�A Womans Letter.
word and line of the whole scriptures is so preposter
ous an idea that it seems impossible for any reasonable
being to hold it. Can we conceive the Creator of all
things, the Spirit whom we must worship in the spirit,
dictating from His throne on high pages upon pages
of frivolous directions about the ceremonial of worship,
the vestments of priests, the adornment of the taber
nacle, without one precept, one promise, for the guid
ance or comfort of men’s souls ? Is it possible that
taches of gold, almonds, and knops, spoons and
snuffers, can be in His eyes subjects worthy of being
specially dictated in wearisome detail, while the deeper
matters of righteousness are passed over 1 Can we
conceive an unerring and omniscient Being dictating
errors in facts, errors in numbers, errors in physical
science, or more incredible still, commanding the prac
tice of cruel, revengeful and immoral laws, which the
Founder of Christianity, far from recognising as
divinely inspired, dismisses from his notice with the
contemptuous phrase, 11 It hath been said by them
of old time ?” Besides, if every line of the Bible is
alike inspired by God, there can be no degrees or grad
ations in that inspiration, every precept must be of
equal weight, alike perfect as becomes His word, and
true as He Himself is true. We have no right to
press upon one command which pleases our moral
sense, and to pass over another which may offend it.
I confess I can not believe that God ever inspired the
command that a man who beats his man-servant or
maid-servant to death, provided the victim does not
die within forty-eight hours, shall go unpunished, (Ex.
xxi. 20, 21,) nor that a wilful boy shall be “ stoned
with stones that he die,” (Deut. xxi. 18-21,) for the
faults probably produced by the over indulgence of
his parents. Take the law as written in the Penta
teuch, and see whether your mind does not recoil from
many of its precepts. Legislation for slavery, legis
lation for polygamy, cruel enactments against the
�A Womans Letter.
9
impossible crime of witchcraft, superstitious trial by
ordeal, these we find in its pages, and if the Bible be
the word of a God who cannot change, we dare not
pass these passages by, as being obsolete, as being
ephemeral utterances of no permanent value. If you
say that these unjust and vindictive laws were given
by God to the Jews in the infancy of their civilisation,
what is it you lay to His charge, but this : that He
inspired degrading precepts and enactments because
the people to whom He spoke were degraded !
I will not ask you how I am to believe that the
Creator of all things knew so little about his own
creations as to suppose that the sun moved, or that
the shadow on the dial could move backwards without
the destruction of our planet and the convulsion of
our system. Neither will I enquire whether He
whose lesser works are so marvellous, could have
inspired a writer with the idea that labbits and hares
chew the cud. Nothing but a determination to shut
our eyes to clear plain fact, will enable us to avoid the
impossibility of reconciling such statements with the
doctrine of verbal inspiration.
But perhaps you hold that the general idea only
was inspired by God, and that the writers were left to
express this idea in their own manner and with their
own interpretation. Would this be a revelation at
all ? What should we think of the report of a speech
in the House of Commons, by which the reporter
should have expressed his own ideas about what Mr
Gladstone or Mr Disraeli wished to say, introducing
his own glosses into the text, and mixing up his own
mistakes as to names, dates, and figures, with the real
facts given by the speaker? Would not either of
these orators indignantly repudiate such a version of
his speech ? And yet this is what such a view of
Bible inspiration results in. Far better that God
should never have spoken, than that He should speak
merely to be mis-interpreted. It is difficult to see of
�IO
A Womans Letter.
what use would be the pure spring of divine truth, if
it flowed through so foul and corrupt a channel that
its waters, ere they reached us, were tainted by the
conduit. Clearly, from this stand-point, you can
never appeal to the Bible as to an infallible authority;
for if the writers have misconstrued the word of God
in one place, there can be no security against their
having done so in another.
The third opinion as to the inspiration of the Bible
held by some is, thatpartof the volume is a purely human
production, and part God’s own dictation. Thus they
consider the minute directions for the temple service
to have been the work of a Jewish legislator, while
they accept the ten commandments, and other moral
precepts as the word of God himself. The chapters of
useless genealogies and lists of names they attribute to
the uninspired mind of the writer, while those pas
sages which treat of higher themes are supposed to
have divine authority. They do not, however, explain
how the difference can be distinguished, -when trivial
and frivolous matters are mingled with those of
greater importance ; and the same objection applies to
this, as to the preceding view of inspiration, viz : that
it stultifies the very purpose of a revelation. A book
which is partly composed of human remarks and
observations, and partly of the words of a supreme
Being,—the whole appearing in one form—clothed
with the same authority, and with nothing to indicate
the varying value of its contents, would be indeed,
a fatal gift from God to man. Surely He cannot be
imagined to make a special revelation of His will—and
then render it unintelligible by allowing it to be
mingled with a mass of purely human inventions 1
If a revelation were needed to teach us His will, then
most certainly it would have been given to us in plain
terms, and we should not have been left to sift the
wheat from the chaff,—relying on our intuitive sense
of right alone to decide which we should retain and
which cast away.
�A Womans Letter.
ir
I have now briefly told you some of the reasons
which prevent me from accepting the Bible as a
Divinely inspired book.
I have of course, only glanced at the considerations
which weigh most in my own mind, and even though
you should think them valueless, still, you may perhaps
grant that they deserve at least examination.
As a storehouse of Jewish learning, as a record of
the sublime truth of monotheism,—a truth held firmly
amidst opposing influences by a despised people
as a collection of noble precepts and struggling
aspirations, the Bible remains to me, though my
better nature revolts from the idea that the falsehood,
cruelty, and immorality contained in its pages can be
the inspired word of Him who is truth and mercy and
purity. It is often assumed that without the Bible,
we should be unable to form for ourselves any just
estimate of right and wrong, and that our moral
perceptions would become distorted without constant
reference to the precepts contained in its pages. But
is this so 1 Is not this mistaking its power ? Surely
it is our innate moral feeling which enables us to
admire the beautiful and reject the base in the Bible,
and not the Bible itself which confers this power of
discrimination. It cannot be the Bible alone which
teaches us the true knowledge of God, if our own
unaided views of Him are higher and holier than
many of those contained in its pages. When we find
this to be the case, we are certainly justified in prefer
ring those which do Him most honour, to those which
claim to be divinely inspired. Again, when two
passages in Scripture directly contradict each other,
we must, from our own conception of God, decide
which is most likely to be true, which most likely to
be His will. But this cannot be called an infallible
revelation, an inspired Bible, if private judgment
must be trusted to decide on its merits.
How one inspired dogma can be totally opposed to
�12
A Womans Letter.
another inspired dogma, people do not trouble them
selves to enquire, but are content to receive each
separately and by turns without question. Thus they
will at one time speak of the many beautiful passages
which show us one, true, divine Being, sharing His
glory with none,—and at another time they dwell on
verses which show a second, and even a third Divinity
dividing the empire and sharing His attributes.
From one passage they teach that God is love, ready
to forgive, waiting to pardon,—from another they
teach that His pleasure is to create men who are to
suffer agonizing torture for ever. Here is set forth
that the highest reward for virtue, is length of days
and honour, and prosperity,—there—that we must
despise the glory of this world, and esteem happy the
poor and the sorrowful.
Sects have thus arisen, professing the most opposite
doctrines,, each practising rites and ceremonies esteemed
abomination by others, yet all basing their creed on
some portion of the writings they hold to be infallible.
Now I cannot really suppose that God said at one time
what He contradicted at another, neither can I conceive
the irreverent idea which some people hold, that He is
capable of having “ repeated,”—altered His plan,—
improved His doctrine as it were, from the rough,
rudimentary teaching of early times, to the later, purer
doctrine of the Gospels. Surely the words “develop
ment,” “improvement,” “progress,” so often used by
preachers when dwelling on the superiority of New to
Old lestament teaching,—imply some previous error
and imperfection. But how without blasphemy, can
they attribute this imperfect, this erroneous teaching
to the direct word and inspiration of a Being who can
not err 1 Would it not be more honest to acknowledge
that where two passages in the Bible give irreconcil
able views of God’s will, His word, or His works,—
they cannot both be infallible ? Most certainly it
would,—but this admission cannot be made, if,—at all
�A Womans Letter.
13
hazards,—at any sacrifice of truth,—the claim for the
infallibility must be maintained;—for if one passage
be proved false, in a book declared to be inspired by
God,—false in doctrine, or false in facts,—then that
passage invalidates the claim of such a book to be the
pure and unerring exponent of His will. I believe
there are, not one only, but hundreds of passages in
the Bible, where even those unlearned in Hebrew or
Greek may discover for themselves discrepancies and
errors which would prevent any unprejudiced mind
from accepting it as an authority which admits of
neither doubt nor appeal; and yet those who hold it
to be their sacred duty to study its pages,—to become
familiar with its most trivial expressions, and to ex
tract from them a meaning they were never meant to
bear,—resolutely close their eyes, and refuse to see the
truth because it is not such as they desire it. All I
would urge is, the duty of fulfilling in honesty and
simplicity, the precept “ Search the Scriptures.” . This
is not done by perusing a few verses daily as a kind of
talisman to guard us from physical or moral evil, nor
by reading its pages in a spirit of blind assent to what
ever construction we may have been taught to put on
them. To examine closely, to analyse carefully, to sift
and separate the good grain from the bad, to enquire
on what reasonable evidence our belief is grounded,—this is the duty of every humble follower of the
command.
Perhaps you will ask me on what are we to frame
our lives if we should no longer be able to accept the
Bible as infallibly true, or its teaching as divinely in
spired ; what moral guide will remain, if this is not a
lamp sent from Heaven expressly to light our path.
Enough remains to be our guide and our comfort,—
its precepts none the less admirable, its promises none
the less consoling, The eternal truths of true religion
are still there, the purer for being freed from the
tangled weeds that choked them,—and we are able to
�14
A Woman’s Letter.
gather in the sound and wholesome wheat, without
being forced to garner with if the tares also. Were
the scriptures themselves to be destroyed to-morrow,
our foundation would still be firm. Faith in a God,
whose mercy, and truth, and justice, we see in all
His works, love and adoration of His perfection, a sin
cere desire to do His will by ministering as far as lies
in our power to the wants of our fellow-creatures, and
lastly a humble hope of a better life beyond the grave,
these would remain to us, a heritage for ever.
I have now very briefly stated some of my principal
reasons for holding opinions on Bible inspiration differ
ing widely from those taught and held by most of those
with whom I am thrown in contact,—I fear that my
task has been too badly performed to convey to you any
similar convictions, but I shall be contented if you ac
knowledge that they are not the result of any presump
tuous spirit, but the honest conclusions arrived at in a
course of humble enquiry.
I remain,
Sincerely yours.
�
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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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2018
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Conway Hall Ethical Society
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Title
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A woman's letter
Description
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Place of publication: Ramsgate
Collation: 14 p. ; 18 cm.
Notes: From the library of Dr Moncure Conway. Date of publication from British Library catalogue. Argues for women's ability and right to question biblical inspiration.
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Thomas Scott
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[1871]
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Women
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Conway Tracts
Women
Women and religion
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PDF Text
Text
OUR
INSINCERITY.
PUBLISHED BY THOMAS SCOTT,
11 THE TERRACE, FARQUHAR ROAD, UPPER NORWOOD,
LONDON, S.E.
Price Threepence.
�LONDON :
PRINTED BY C. W. REYNELL, LITTLE PULTENEY STREET,
HAYMARKET, W.
�OUR INSINCERITY.
------- >-------
OST of us are insincere—frequently from
laudable motives, sometimes from cowardice
or indolence. St. Bernard found out that he was
“ never less alone than when alone,” and many of us
early discover that we are never less at home than
when at home, and that in more senses than one
“ there is no place like home ”!
Adolescents of both sexes are generally delighted
to get away from home, to shake off but for a few
hours the unavoidable restraints of the home-circle,
and say what they really think and feel without fear
of censure or admonition.
Unquestionably young people as well as older folk
require to be both censured and admonished, but it
must be admitted that if censure and admonition, to
say nothing of derision and contempt, follow the
free expression of opinions, the probability is that
they will be repressed altogether or reserved for less
scrupulous ears. Young women who have less easy
access to other circles, frequently become from the
mere force of circumstances accomplished hypocrites,
better understood and better appreciated by some
casual acquaintance than by their nearest and dearest
relatives. The domestic felicity of England is very
much vaunted; it may possibly bear a favourable
comparison with that of other nations, but the
private experience of most of us can supply such a
formidable array of dismal exceptions, that the other
M
�4
Our Insincerity.
side of the question is likely to fade out of sight*
If you wish to form a fair opinion of Mr. Brown and
his grown-up son, you must not invite them together,
for neither of them can come out in his true colours
in the presence of the other, and though from long
habit they may appear quite at ease when together,
you will find out when you see them apart that they
are conscientious Jesuits, each bent upon concealing
his real opinions from the other,—that Brown junior
does not retain one of the principles in which he has
been so carefully brought up, although he has “ Daily
Portions ” on his table to remind him of them, and
that Brown senior has long ago given up most of the
notions he has been at such pains to instil into his
son. Father and son, mother and daughter, sisters
and brothers, are very rarely upon confidential terms
with each other. Insincerity, especially in religious
matters, is the order of the day. People go to Church
to propitiate a mother, or to satisfy a father, to pacify
their wives or to edify their servants,—certainly not
to please themselves or their Maker, for they know
full well that their motives will not stand his scru
tinizing eye. Going to Church saves a disturbance
at home, hides peoples’ real sentiments, and makes
everything seem straight. At home we are insincere
upon principle, and insincere we must always be so
long as those who think differently from ourselves
are sneered at, and avoided as fools or criminals.
Some of us need not walk far to find Protestant
parents who have turned their sons and daughters
out of doors for becoming Papists—but what is a
Papist to a Materialist ? Suppose the thoughtful
daughter of an Evangelical mother were quietly to
inform her parents that she did not believe in a
future state, that she found the Bible very unsatis
factory upon the subject, and that she felt no sort of
aversion to the doctrine of annihilation, that though
the notion of another and a better world was a
�Our Insincerity.
5
pleasing conceit, she felt grateful for and satisfied
with her life here, which she was willing to give up
when called upon.
Suppose she were to question the authenticity of
the Bible, the identity of the Great First Cause
with the Jehovah of the Old Testament, and then
finish up by insinuating that the minister they “ sat
under” was intellectually below the average ; would
the expression of such sentiments, however cautiously
worded, meet with such a reception in the home
circle as to encourage her fearlessly to avow her
opinions in future ? I trow not. Sorrow, con
sternation, indignation, and anger would put an
effectual and abiding extinguisher upon her and
her opinions, and she would learn to imitate her pru
dent brother Jack, who fills his book-shelves with
Cumming’s works and his pockets with heretical
pamphlets, never tells the Governor what he really
thinks about anything, but goes to church as good
as gold and says Amen to all he hears, “ deceiving,
if possible, the very elect,” and saving appearances
with Jesuitical conscientiousness.
Children under seven are allowed a latitude of
opinion and a freedom of expression denied them in
after life. Most of us began by being practically
Atheists and Materialists,, content to be “ without
God in the world,” and abundantly satisfied with
temporal rewards; but after a while we get taken in
hand by our elders and are taught what we must say
we believe whether we do or not; and so we go
through life Jesuits from childhood, boasting like
grateful Protestants of our glorious privilege of
“ private judgment,” but, like wily Papists, cautiously
concealing the conclusions to which it leads us.
Our ears have become so much accustomed to
certain statements which from time immemorial have
been handed down and accepted without scrutiny,
that it is not until we have become acquainted with
�6
Our Insincerity.
innumerable exceptions to the supposed rule that we
begin to look doubtfully at it. Good people have a
tendency to make out that what they think ought to
be really is, but in a highly civilised community it is
extremely difficult to determine whether a belief in
God, a horror of death, and a yearning after immor
tality are really innate or not, because education with
her creeds and catechisms is calculated to repress
innate ideas.
“ Let’s play at funerals and I’ll be the corpse,”
said a child of five to her little cousins a few minutes
after her father’s remains had been removed from the
house, and when her widowed mother returned from
the cemetery, she was horrified to find that the
funeral obsequies were not concluded in the nursery,
nor would her little girl consent to give up her
amusing game until she had extorted a solemn
promise from mamma to be allowed to go to a real
funeral before long.
“ Mind the coffins,” cried Charlie to his papa just
returned from the City, and who was rushing
upstairs to prepare for dinner. Charlie’s aunt had
given him a very large box of bricks, and he had set
up little coffins all over papa’s bedroom, each con
taining a bit of stick wrapped in rag ; he passed the
evening in cutting out stiff paper lids for his coffins,
and in the morning a portion of the Funeral Service
was read over them by Charlie in his night-shirt,
while indulgent papa said “ Amen like a clerk ” from
the bed.
It is so frequently asserted that the fear of death
is innate that people learn to look upon the assertion
as a fact, and take it for granted that somebody or
other must have looked into the matter and found
it all true; but those who have been thrown much
among children, especially among the children of the
poor, are well aware that, so far from dreading death and
shunning corpses, they exhibit a ghastly indifference to
�Our Insincerity.
7
the subject which must be seen in order to be believed.
The children of the poor will put pins and marbles into
their dead brother’s mouth, and even take the corpse
off the bed and set it in a chair near the fire,
reprove it for not “ holding up,” and conduct them
selves in such a way as to put all idea of innate fear
to flight. We are taught to dread death, taught to
pull down blinds, to speak in a whisper, walk about
silently, and, if we can afford it, to put on black
clothes ; but suppose we were not taught so to behave,
(and the neglected children of the poor are not so
taught), would the conduct of the community at
large be such as to put the assertion respecting the
innate fear of death beyond all dispute ?
Let us admit that we are insincere, and that for
the sake of peace we follow suit. The little girl in
that queer book called “ Gates Ajar,” after listening
to the received account of the joys of heaven, is so
little enticed thereby that she asks if she may be
allowed to go to hell on a Saturday afternoon, if she
had been very good all the week in heaven—a
thoroughly unconventional, irreligious, but sincere
little girl! a wicked, ungrateful little girl, who had
had so much pains taken with her and yet is not
allured by the prospect of perpetual worship here
after ! How can we be sincere as long as creeds,
catechisms, and ceremonies are considered the tests
of religion, piety, and. morality, and what is “ private
judgment” worth if the expression of it alienates
our nearest relatives and scares away our best
friends? “ Private judgment ” sounds grand and
glorious, but let any one dare to come to his own
conclusions upon religious matters and he will soon
see how his spiritual pastors and masters like
the result, and what the Protestant’s privilege of
“private judgment ” really amounts to when put into
practice.
If but for one Sunday we would really act
�8
Our Insincerity.
honestly, how many of us would he found listening
to sermons ? How lamentable and ludicrous it
is to make unintelligible creeds and the patient
endurance of pulpit platitudes the test of probity
and sterling worth ! Well may our attractive writer,
Greg, express his amazement that, “ out of anything
so simple as the life of Jesus could have grown up
anything so marvellously unlike its original as the
current creeds of Christendom.” The most rigid
advocates of Divine Service cannot point to Jesus as
an upholder of public worship, for he prayed on
mountain tops far away from observation, and em
phatically gave the preference to private devotion,
which is to be “ openly rewarded.”
Was anybody ever so entirely unconventional as
the Christ is represented to have been, so indifferent
to forms and ceremonies, and so callous to public
opinion F If he “ to whom all hearts are open ” were
to visit our churches in order to expel the infidels as
he did the money-changers of old, how many of us
would be left to receive his blessing ?
Tied up in a tight knot by our mother the Church,
we are years and years enthralled by creeds, dogmas,
catechisms, and articles, and when at last we do get
free, how great is that freedom ! Most of us have been
informed by devout friends that an infidel is an incar
nation of moral depravity, and some of us have read
appalling accounts of the last hours of unbelievers ;
but in after-life it may chance that we discover a
decidedly sceptical tendency in many of our most
honoured friends which in no way militates against
the received standard of right and wrong ; and it may
also happen that we come across sincere believers
who are distressingly attached to things of this
world, and who quit it with unedifying reluctance.
However, it would never do to hint at such discoveries
in the presence of Mrs. Grundy, because she has
decided otherwise, and must not be thwarted. But
�Our Insincerity.
9
what good end is answered by our habitual insincerity ?
Is it supposed to please God ? Certainly Christ’s
disciples are said to have been indignant when they
actually saw outsiders casting out devils in his name,
but Christ was not reported to have been at all angry.
Would he be angry now with a well-conducted infidel
because he is sorry for poor Mrs. Lot, and thinks it
would have been far better to have turned her infamous
daughters to salt ere they reached that cave of unholy
memory; evidently then, as now, one person might
steal a horse while another might not look over
the gate.
Poor Mrs. Lot’s is a very hard case, and kindhearted people wish it were not true; but it would
never do to say so, for the Jews believe it, and Mrs.
Grundy believes it, and we must believe it because it
is alluded to in the Mew Testament, and is beyond all
dispute. Could the Christ of the Gospels really be
angry with those who cannot believe that his Father
burns his rebellious children for ever and ever; and
would he be pleased with us if we followed the divine
example and baked ow disobedient sons and daugh
ters in red-hot ovens ?
If that unfortunate collection of books in an evil
hour called “ The Word of God ” had had the advan
tage of being revised by Jesus Christ, it is just pos
sible that it would have undergone a very considerable
alteration, and even now not a few of us are looking
forward to the time when it may be divested of much
that disfigures it and makes it so objectionable in a
moral point of view, presenting us with a God so
grovelling and so bloodthirsty that the wonder is not
that there are infidels, but that there are believers ;
believers, moreover, of high principle, who, by a
Curious inconsistency, are not ashamed to confess
that they really do believe it, and who are quite en
chanted to see their daughters reading the edifying
pages of the “ Blessed Book.” That Romanists should
�IO
Our Insincerity.
believe in the infallibility of the Pope is amazing, but
that the enlightened members of the Reformed Church
should believe in the infallibility of a book, and of
such a book, is far more incomprehensible.
Parents tenderly anxious to protect their children
from all contaminating influences, purchase a Family
Shakespeare for home use, but it does not occur to
them that the Family Bible contains the very things
which have been so -carefully expunged from the
works of the great poet. “ I do wish God would
write some novels ” said a lively girl, whose books
were selected for her by her judicious parents, “ for
Pa lets us read all God writes.”
A clergyman’s daughter, well known to the writer,
when at school, took up, one Sunday afternoon, a
novel, and was wrapt up in it, when all at once
she was reminded that it was Sunday and that secular
books were not allowed. She contended that her
father always permitted her to read any of Miss
Edgeworth’s novels even on Sunday, but nevertheless
she was of course made to yield for the sake of
example; so the pert young lady exclaimed in her
haste, “ then I’ll go and read the 23rd of Ezekiel and
much good it will do me.” The following year the
same young lady refused to be confirmed, and quietly
informed the principal of the school (well-known to
the writer) that as she did not believe the Bible was
written by the inspiration of God, she objected to
answer the Biblical questions drawn up for candidates
for confirmation ; so the rite was in her case put off
till a “ more convenient season.” Such pupils are
awkward to deal with in orthodox schools, but they
are few and far between as the sincere are every
where.
A benighted Papist in the form of a young
Frenchman bought a Bible the other day at the
Crystal Palace.
He had never read the Bible-.
�Our Insincerity.
ii
After dipping into it for an hour or two he said,
“je n’ ai jamais suqu’ il y eut des obscenites dans la
Bible! He is sure to become a Protestant in the
most literal sense of the word! Should we not all
protest against obscene statements wherever we find
them ? Does coarse language cease to shock us
because we are taught that God inspired the writers ?
Ought we not rather to be the more shocked because
God did inspire them. Infidels have too high an
opinion of God to believe that He had anything to
do with the composition of such a volume as the
Bible. They hope not—but unfortunately they are not
sincere—frequently they act the part of believers so
well that they are never found out ; and so we go on,
wearing our masks, singing our hymns, and denoun
cing the Jesuits with exemplary zeal, while acting
upon their principle that “ the end justifies the
means,” and thinking it best to keep the peace at
home—not a bit afraid of God, but in great and
abiding awe of Mrs. Grundy.
PRINTED BY C. AV. REYNELL, LITTLE PULTENEY STREET, HAYMARKET.
�
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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
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2018
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Conway Hall Ethical Society
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Our insincerity
Description
An account of the resource
Place of publication: London
Collation: 11 p. ; 18 cm.
Notes: From the library of Dr Moncure Conway. Printed by C.W. Reynell, Little Pulteney Street, London. Date of publication from KVK.
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Thomas Scott
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[1875]
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Free thought
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Conway Tracts
Free Thought
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Text
F
THE
Quarterly
Journal
OF
_________ E D U C A T I O N.
No. i.
'Vol. i.
MAY, 1867.
A WORD TO OUR READERS.
there room and need at the present time for a new educational
HI iournal? We think there is. Within the last quarter of a
Blsl century especially, education has made rapid strides through•
.
out the land. Not only have schools greatly multiplied, but
the improvement in the quality of their teaching is even more marked
than the increase in their number. Results, and not attendance of
scholars merely, is now expected and required from them. Grants for
education—which have increased from year to year; Schools of Design,
Mechanics Institutions, and Working Men’s Colleges ; the movement in
our great universities; the local examinations of Oxford and Cambridge
of the Society of Arts, and of the College of Preceptors; the discussions
m Parliament and the press, in social congresses and public meetings__all
evidence that the public mind is at length, and rapidly, becoming fully
alive to the importance of education, and attaining to a better under
standing of its requirements. It will be our ambition to render what aid
we can m furtherance of this great work. Education is a vast continent
even yet but partially explored and imperfectly cultivated. There is
much to be done, and we hope to secure the co-operation of many who
are engaged m the work of tuition, and of earnest, able, and tried friends
01 education 111 carrying out our enterprise.
It will be the especial aim of the Quarterly Journal of Education, by
promoting intercommunication among teachers and others interested in
education to bring about a closer sympathy between them, and a better
understanding of all matters connected with their common work.
m
wit11 PartP or sect’ the Quarterly Journal of Education
will afford facilities to the advocates of different systems and methods of
teaching to make known their respective views, so that all may benefit
by their mutual comparison. We shall discuss the books and appliances
most useful for teaching, and endeavour to place our readers as far as
possible au courant with whatever is most interesting in regard to educa
tion and its progress in all. parts of the kingdom. Essays, and occasion
ally examination-papers, will also appear in our columns. Such will be
the freight of the little bark we this day launch on its first voyage.
X’
I
�2
OUR EARLY ENGLISH SCIENTIFIC WRITERS.
BY THE EDITOR.
—---- LONG and barren period intervenes between the scientific
activity of ancient Greece and that of modern Europe.
During the middle ages philosophy was mystical and dog
matic father than experimental and inductive. Men did not
matic, rather
trust to Nature and experiment, but leaned upon the staff of authority,
and looked for guidance to the wisdom of the ancients, There was a
disposition “to study the opinions of others, as the only mode of form
ing their own; to read Nature through books; to attend terwhat had
been already thought and said, rather than to what really is and happens.
Euclid was mathematics, Aristotle natural history. To question what
Aristotle had said was almost as great an heresy as to question tne
dogmas and authority of the Church.
Philosophy thus came to be little else than an exposition of. the
thoughts of other men; and in place of independent investigation into
the phenomena of Nature, were compilations and epitomes.
Experi
menters were replaced by commentators; criticism took the place of
induction : and instead of great discoverers we had learned men; and
as a consequence (as Lord Bacon, in describing the character and state
of knowledge at this period, remarks), philosophy was 1 barren m effects,
fruitful in questions, slow and languid in its improvement. The following
sentences, which form the conclusion of a lecture—one upon a course .of
Euclid, delivered at Oxford—illustrate better, perhaps, than any descrip
tion, this temper of mind :—“ Gentlemen hearers, I. have performed
mv promise, I have redeemed my pledge, I have explained according tomy ability the definitions, postulates, axioms, and first eight propositions,
of the 1 Elements of Euclid.’ Here, sinking under the weight oi years,
I lay down my art and instruments.”
.
.
But though the great strides made by modern science date back
no farther than from the beginning of the seventeenth century, yet
earlier beams of light during that drear interval penetrated the thick
darkness around : a few bold spirits, from time to time, rose sypenor
to the mental indolence and superstition and scholastic pedantry that
prevailed, and, despite opprobrium and persecution, had the courage
to interrogate nature for themselves. Their “.ineffectual fires may
have “paled” in presence of the greater luminaries that have since
risen above the horizon; but they were the heralds, of the dawn, the
precursors of that brighter and better day in which it is. our happiness
to live
They faithfully handed down the torch of science, and did
somewhat also to increase its light. As there were reformers before
Martin Luther, so in modern Europe there were philosophers who to
some extent applied the inductive method in their researches before
Francis Bacon. They were the avant couriers of that great power which
has revolutionized the thought and changed the face of modern society,
and their names therefore deserve a place among, those which the world
will not willingly let die. Holding this conviction, I propose \ery
B
�Our Early English Scientific Writers,
,
3
briefly, to recall the names of some of those old English worthies who
in their day rendered such service as they pould in promoting a spirit
of inquiry into
“Nature’s infinite book of secrecy,”
(
•
j
’ ■
and in advancing our knowledge of, and control over, the phenomena
and forces of Nature.
The earliest English writer on science whose works have come down
to us was Adelard, a monk of Bath, who lived in the mid Hie of the
twelfth century. He is said to have been learned in all the science of
his time. In pursuit of knowledge he travelled through France, Ger
many, Italy, and Spain; and also visited Arabia, then the great seat of
learning. The. “Elements of Euclid” was translated by him out of
Arabic into Latin; a copy of which, beautifully written on parchment,
with illuminated capitals, may be seen among the Arundel Manuscripts
in the library of the British Museum. Beside this, and the translation
of a work on the “ Seven Planets,” he wrote several treatises on Physics,
and on Medicine, and one on the Seven Liberal Arts. A treatise by
him. on the Astrolabe is also preserved among the manuscripts in the
British Museum; its chief, if not its only, value now is as a curious spe
cimen of our early scientific literature.
Another scientific author, of some note in his time, was Daniel of
Merley, or, as he is sometimes called, Daniel Morley, who, if not a
contemporary of Adelard, flourished in the same century with him; and
like him travelled into Spain and Arabia to increase his learning.’ He
wrote a work on the “ Principles of Mathematics,” but of which no copy
is known to be extant. Another work by him, entitled “ De Inferior!
et Superior! Parte Mundi,” has been more fortunate in escaping the
ravages of time; a copy of it is preserved in the British Museum, bound
up with Adelard’s treatise on the Astrolabe. It is based on the Alma
gest of Ptolemy, and is dedicated to John, Bishop of Norwich. •
But, next to Roger Bacon, perhaps the most celebrated of our early
scientific authors was Robert Grosseteste, Bishop of Lincoln, who was
born in 1175, and died in 1253. If we are to credit his biographer, he
must have been a living encyclopaedia, having been not only profoundly
versed in Scripture (a rare attainment in those days, even in a bishop),
in theology, and. in ecclesiastical law, but also excelling in music, logic,’
metaphysical philosophy, mathematics, astronomy, and other branches
of natural philosophy. Besides being active in his episcopal duties, he
was a voluminous author. The catalogue of his works appended to’ his
biography shews that in addition to many theological and miscellaneous
treatises, he wrote on the “ Heat of the Sun,” on “ Motion,” on the
“ Quadrature of the Circle,” on the “ Air,” on the 11 Rainbow,” and on
the “Utility of the Sciences.” A selection of his scientific works was
published at Venice in 1514. From writing on astronomy he was called
an astrologer, and is so designated by the poet Gower; and like all who
at that time distinguished themselves by superior knowledge, he enjoyed
—or we should rather say suffered—the reputation of being a magician.
Stories were widely circulated and believed of his having invented a
speaking head made of brass, and of an infernal horse which he had
1— 2
�4
History- Teaching.
erected by his magic art, and on which he was said to have ridden
through the air to Rome. Whether these stories point to some mecha
nical inventions, which popular ignorance would be sure to attribute to
sorcery and connect with supernatural legend, cannot now be ascer
tained ; but we know that any extraordinary invention or discovery, as
the printing press, or gunpowder, would indubitably, in that age, be
fathered on the Evil One, as the illustrious friend of Grosseteste, Roger
Bacon, found to his cost.
But I must defer to another paper the sketch I propose to give of
this the most distinguished Englishman in our scientific annals prior to
the advent of his still greater namesake, the author of the “ Novum
Organon.”
HISTORY-TEACHING.
BY WILLIAM ROSSITER, F.R.G.S.
TTEMPTING to “get blood from a stone” has generally been
considered work in vain, and “ skinning flints ” is sometimes
described as unprofitable labour. The same truth is put
classically as “ ex nihilo, nihil fit" and also colloquially as
“ out of nothing, nothing comes.” I suppose most of us have felt the
truth of this, probably in more ways than one; but I think also that we
teachers, especially teachers of English, suffer frequently from this law,
without even realizing, fully, the cause of the failure of our work.
In teaching Latin or Greek, we never expect a pujpil to use a word
or a construction that has not been explained to him; nor do we look,
in teaching physical science or mathematics, for our pupils to know what
we have not taught them: yet, how frequently do we wish, rather than
hope, for our school-boys to write good English, and to compose narra
tives and essays, without first supplying them with the means of acquiring
the requisite knowledge or ability !
No subject is more frequently chosen for “composition” than
history; and what materials do we give the minds of the “ composers ?”
Generally, compilations of historical facts—frequently admirable as con
taining in a few hundred pages a resume of the facts of history, but
generally dry and barren for the purpose of instruction, giving school
boys nothing but a stereotyped list of names and-dates, summing up a
reign in a chapter, a campaign in half a page, a character in three lines,
and this generally in language the most general and comprehensive pos
sible, and therefore the most difficult for a boy to comprehend.
As a step towards remedying this evil—and a very great step it is—
we have school-books which are not compilations, but extracts from good
authors. These are exceedingly useful, so far as they can be useful, but
they do not satisfy the want I am endeavouring to describe, the want on
the part of school-boys of a sufficient familiarity with facts to know what
to say, and with good English to be able to say it.
�History- Teaching.
5
The very excellence of the extracts is one great cause of this. An
extract from Hallam or Macaulay is nourishment to a mind familiar with
the names and things spoken of; but to one who knows but little of the
facts, and comprehends, and that but imperfectly, but few of the allusions,
an extract from a philosophical author is but a delusion and a mockery,
except for the purpose of accustoming the mind, to expressions which it
may one day understand and know how to value.
There may be much difference of opinion as to the extent of this
“want” on the part of our scholars, there will probably be even more as
to the best means of supplying it, if admitted to be existing. The means
I have adopted is to use, as reading-books, historical novels and plays.
For example, in the study of the Plantagenet period, we have read
“Ivanhoe,” “King John,” and “Richard II.” I don’t mean -selec
tions, but the whole book in each case, taking care to remember that
we were reading “fiction” and not “fact,” but on the whole en
joying the graphic descriptions of the novelist or poet somewhat
more than we should the correct statement of carefully compiled facts,
and, it is to be hoped, educating our hearts as well as our minds, by
learning that “history” does not mean a list of battles, treaties, and
persecutions, but a record of the lives of men and women by whose
struggles, successes, and failures, we may learn to guide ourselves.
Probably our plan may call forth objections on many different
grounds. If so, I will try to be guided by them, and if I can to meet
them. Practically, at examinations, instead of some boys sitting chew
ing their pens, wondering what they shall say, I find every one complain
that the time was not half long enough.
Industrial and Reformatory Schools for the County of
Kent.—The Justices of Kent have resolved to avail themselves of the
provisions of the Industrial Schools Act and the Reformatory Schools
Act passed last session. At a meeting of magistrates held in January,
a committee was appointed to consider the expediency of the court
taking action under these Acts, and their report was presented- at a
court of general session, held on Thursday, 19th March. The com
mittee were of opinion that it was desirable that the system of indus
trial schools should be put into operation in the county. They recom
mended that, in the first instance, suitable buildings, with land attached,
should, if practicable, be hired for this purpose; but that, failing this,
the court should erect one house for boys and another for girls, each
house to be capable of accommodating about 50 children. With refer
ence to the’reformatory schools, the committee recommended that the
court adopt the provision of the 27th section of the Act 29th and 30th
Viet. cap. 117, by making contracts with the managers of the Reforma
tory School at Redhill, or any similar institution for the reception of
boys and girls respectively. The court unanimously adopted the above
recommendations, and notice was ordered to be given that at a subse
quent session the justices would proceed to make a contribution out of
the county rate for such purposes.
�6
ON THE CULTIVATION OF THE MEMORY.
"
BY S. E. EENGOUGH.
AN possesses three primary intellectual faculties, imagination,
memory, and reason. Reason is the monarch, which every
other portion of his nature was created to obey: but the
character and extent of the sway exercised by this kingly attri
bute over the realm of mind depends upon the harmonious action of its
two subordinates, the imagination and the memory. If imagination does
not impart creative life to every province of science in which reason
claims to exercise a judicial function, if memory does not retain its stores
of knowledge in readiness for service at a moment’s notice, reason
expends its energies in vain, and, exhausted by fruitless efforts, too
often becomes the deluded and willing slave of sense and appetite. In
plain terms, the prerogatives of reason can only be maintained by the
judicious culture of the other faculties. Yet any systematic discipline of
the imagination has hitherto had little place in schemes of education,
while it has been the custom to tax unduly the powers of memory with
out the slightest regard to the laws which regulate its action. The time,
we trust, is not far distant when education will be based on rational
principles; when the nature of the human mind, and the processes by
which alone it can be normally developed, will be studied with no less
care than that at present bestowed by the agriculturist on the com
position of soils and the chemical elements of the crops which they are
required to bear.
Youth is the seed-time of our life, and the mind cannot be expected
to produce a harvest useful and rich in quality, and beautiful in form,
unless the germs of future intelligence be early implanted within the
memory. It is a manifest duty, therefore, of all engaged in education to
analyze carefully the constitution of this faculty, and to become ac
quainted with any methods by which the treasures committed to it may
be preserved from perishing. Every individual possesses two almost
distinct kinds of memory, one of which is for the most part under the
control of the will, and is more properly termed recollection; the other
is the passive recipient of impressions conveyed to it through the medium
of the senses. The efficiency of this latter faculty depends mainly on the
possessor’s physical constitution, bent of character, and habits of life, and
is only susceptible of a limited measure of improvement. It is far ptherwise with the recollection, which is subject to volition, and the capabili
ties of which may be increased to an indefinite extent. With this
portion of memory the educator is of course chiefly concerned, and the
failure of attempts to impart information to the young generally arises
from inattention to the laws on which the power of recollection depends.
These are referable to the two heads of association and attention.
The principle of association of ideas may be described as the ten
dency of two or more facts or conceptions, which have been con
templated together or in immediate succession, to become so connected
that one of them at a future time recalls the other, or introduces a train
of thoughts which follow each other in the order in which they were
�Ou the Cultivation of the Memory.
7
originally associated. The causes or conditions of this association of
■ideas are threefold—resemblance or contrast, contiguity in time or place,
■cause and effect. On these principles, then, one thought may suggest
or recall another, which has some relation to it in either of these respects.
The success of the teacher or student in educating and strengthening
the powers of recollection is mainly dependent on the judgment with
which he seizes upon the associations best adapted to insure a lasting
connection between some new fact, which it is desired to imprint upon
the memory, and some other idea, which already exists within the mind.
Now, whether the associations in any particular case should be strictly
logical, local, or merely accidental and arbitrary, must be decided, not only
by the subject matter to be remembered, but also by the mind and
circumstances of -the pupil. Associations, for example, of the strongest
and most serviceable kind for one who had always lived in a city would
be weak and almost unintelligible to a person brought up in the country,
and w? versa. As a general rule, an association should be natural and
rational, should be calculated to quicken the attention by exciting interest,
and should be of intrinsic value, and add to the stock of information at
the same time that it furnishes assistance to the memory.
li Every fresh fact or idea,” it has been truly said, “ should be put by
in its proper place in the mind—that is to say, the new fact or idea
■should be associated with its proper class of facts or ideas already
existing in the mind. A general principle gives the key to the remem
brance of a whole series of facts or events. Physical facts are best
remembered through a knowledge of their general law, effects through a
knowledge of their cause, and results through a knowledge of the general
principles upon which they depend.”
The unwillingness which every intelligent teacher must feel to en
courage his pupils to form frivolous and unnatural, and therefore neces
sarily transient associations, will always prevent artificial aids to memory
from occupying any but a very subordinate place in education. But a
good mnemonical system has its use, and, if properly applied, would save
a vast amount of time and labour. There are many things which it is
necessary to remember, and which are incapable of rational association,
.such as statistics of every sort, unconnected events and lists of names.
How much of the mental energy of children is wasted in the vain attempt
to engrave upon the memory by wearisome repetition such items of
information, which might be mastered more effectually in one tenth of
the time by the aid of mnemonical association !
A striking instance of what may be done in this way is afforded by
Mr. Stokes’s ingenious method of teaching the multiplication table, by
means of which—incredible as the statement may appear—a child of
ordinary capacity may be made perfectly familiar with that formidable
task in a single hour. This great boon to infancy has now been intro
duced into the chief national schools of Glasgow, the masters of which,
fifteen in number, have signed a testimonial to its efficiency. Mr. Stokes
is certainly at the head of all mnemonical professors. Having spent
much time over different systems of artificial memory, we feel able to
-assert with confidence, that the mnemonical key which he places in the
�8
On the Cultivation of the Memory.
hands of his pupils combines in itself the advantages shared among all
other systems, and we strongly recommend it to any one preparing for a
competitive examination.
We have next to consider the surest method of quickening the
attention, the importance of which arises from memory being often the
result of the complex action of several senses. There is, so to speak, a
muscular memory, or involuntary movement, the result of habit and
suggestion—and a memory of the tongue, the eye, and ear, as well • as
reason. If each of these memories can be brought to bear simul
taneously on the same object, an indelible impression is commonly pro
duced. And this is not so difficult as might be supposed. We are
acquainted with an accomplished German linguist who has availed him
self of this principle in teaching language with astonishing success.
Appealing to the eye by written words, to the ear by clear and forcible
enunciation, and quickening the attention by always obliging his pupils
“ to suit the action to the word, and the word to the action,” he under
takes to impart a conversational facility in French or German within a
few weeks. To the simultaneous appeal made to eye, ear, and reason,
we must attribute the success of the Pestalozzian system of instruction,
which is especially adapted to infancy, when the activity of the powers
of observation, as contrasted with those of reflection, clearly indicates
that the senses are the chief channels by which knowledge should reach
the mind. To us it seems scarcely credible, that fifty years ago geo
graphy was commonly taught without an atlas. Fifty years hence, it
may seem equally astounding, that the minds of children of seven years
old and upwards should be nourished, or rather starved, as they generally
are at present, on a diet of grammatical abstractions never fully under
stood until the reason is matured.
Lastly, it is obvious that nothing quickens the attention so much aspleasurable interest. That which is learned unwillingly never sinks deep
in the memory ; and school tasks are too often rendered unnecessarily
irksome and distasteful. We believe there are very few children who, if
taught judiciously, would not take delight in their school books, instead
of listlessly dogearing their leaves, or moistening them with their tears..
It is needless to add, that when a lesson is learned con amorext is learned
in half the time, and the mind receives on a sensitive surface a perma
nent impression.
The Number of Candidates for Examination at the Train
Colleges.—By a return just issued, it appears that the number of
candidates who presented themselves for examination at the training
colleges at Christmas, 1866, was 1614, against 1555 at the previous
Christmas, of whom 1207 passed their examination, against 1306 at the
previous Christmas. The number of those who entered the training
colleges in January, 1867, was 1121, against 1215 in January, 1866, and
the number of pupil teachers apprenticed in 1866 was 3070, against
2631 in the previous year.
ing
�9
THE USE OF CYCLOPAEDIAS
*
BY VERNON LUSHINGTON, ESQ., B.C.L.
HE English Cyclopaedia consists of eleven great volumes, twodevoted to geography, three to biography, two to natural
history, and four to arts and sciences. No critic can pretend
to have read it, but only to have read in it; all, however.,
speak highly, most highly, in its praise. Its peculiar merits seem to
consist in its convenient divisions, and a large degree of completeness,
combined with a very moderate price. I have hardly done more than
look into the Biography and Geography, but with very great satisfaction;
reading descriptions of strange places I have visited, and life-stories of
memorable men now passed away or still living.
Perhaps the first sensation of the reader on opening these massive
volumes will be one of bewilderment, and unwillingness to traverse any
such vast mountain of knowledge. But on better consideration he will
feel two things; first, that kind of reverence which the spectacle of any
great human labour cannot but call forth; and secondly, that this (or
indeed any) Cyclopaedia is a witness to the inexhaustible interest of
reality and simple truth. He will see that it is in fact a record of a
thousand thousand conquests over thick night, won in many generations
by a far-reaching industry, and patient intelligence, in many cases even
—say the discovery of America—by downright unmistakable valour:
and so gazing on these columns, there may come flashing through his
mind something of the exultation with which a people greets a victorious
army returning homeward. At least he cannot but observe how the
age in which we live is assiduously minding and doing her business;
everywhere extending and consolidating positive knowledge; with honest
sober eyes scrutinizing the past of human history, studying the starry
heavens, the solid earth, and all living things, tracking everywhere the
dominion of steadfast laws, then recording what is found, for ourselves
and for those who come after. A Cyclopaedia witnesses that all these
things are being done.
But let not the reader stop here ! Admiration is good, but not
barren admiration. Let the book be really used. A great dictionary
of this. kind, if -within easy reach, should be constantly appealed to.
There is no study, no reading, which does not involve local conditions,
the. history of particular men, the growth of successive efforts, and a
variety of other matters which it is well to know, sometimes even indis
pensable to know, if we would rightly understand the subject in hand.
It is here that a Cyclopaedia, the design of which we owe mainly to the
great Frenchmen of the last century, may be of real service to the indi
vidual student. It is “ a teaching all round,” a catalogued summary of
all knowledge. Under the names of particular men and places, it posts
up such information as ordinary inquirers seek for concerning them;
* “The English Cyclopaedia,” conducted by Charles Knight.
Evans.
London: Bradburv and'
�IO
S
The Use of Cyclopaedias.
under the titles of subjects or things, it gives short popular treatises,
popular in the right sense, which relate the history, and describe the
scope of the special matter, whatever it may be: the essence of a good
Cyclopaedia being, as already suggested, that the information shall be
easily found, and when found, shall be accurate, clear, and, so far as it
goes, sufficient. Thus a Cyclopaedia is a condensed library; which omits,
of course, a whole world of truth and beauty that lies in the works of
original authors, yet guides us to them, in some measure gives us their
results, or at least announces them: it contains also much that is not to
be found elsewhere. There might be worse desultory reading than in
this big book; but its true use is to promptly supplement or animate
our study of this or that subject, which we are otherwise steadily pur
suing ; to make our knowledge sure, precise; a thing of great importance.
Therefore, when in doubt, look !
To take the biographical volumes, for instance. What interest to
those who are studying mathematics or drawing, to look up the biography
•of Euclid or Titian ; to our students of Latin, to find a life of Ctesar or
Horace or Cicero ready at hand, with some reasonable criticism of their
work as a whole; to our lovers of music, to read what follows under the
names of Beethoven, Mozart, Rossini! Again, students of the physical
sciences will often here find a helper at hand to solve some pressing
doubt: often, also, they are discouraged from attacking scientific books
{even if accessible) by their bulk and complexity; in this Cyclopaedia
they will find numerous articles contributed by distinguished professors,
short and readable, yet thoroughly trustworthy, which may send them
instructed and refreshed on their way. Again, to every thoughtful man
the history of his own occupation and its processes presents peculiar
interest: a banker’s clerk may rightly wish to learn something of the
history of banking; a wool-spinner to learn where the wool comes from,
and how his beautiful machinery has been produced; an engineer to
read of the labours of Watt and Stephenson, and so on. .All such
matters are very conveniently studied in a Cyclopaedia. Again, for we
must not pass over the two noble geographical volumes; our home, the
city or town in which we live, the country round about, the places we
visit in our holidays—these we cannot know too much of, and here
again the Cyclopaedia will be our friend.
These slender indications must suffice. It will be observed that a
Cyclopaedia does not dispense with ordinary text-books, and ordinary
steady work, still less with poetry and art, and all that supreme class of
human utterances which speak directly to the heart of man; but it has
a use of its own for every class of students. As such it well deserves a
place in every student’s library.
This notice should not pass without a grateful tribute to Mr. Charles
Knight himself. He is not the publisher, but the “ conductor ” of this
Cyclopaedia, the publishing part being undertaken by the firm of Brad
bury and Evans : they also deserve our thanks, for they take upon them
selves a heavy money-risk which can only be rewarded in many years.
Mr. Knight’s publishing days seem now over. He began his career at
.a time when books were printed for the rich few: he was the first of
�The Use of Cyclopcedias.
II
British publishers who dedicated themselves to the people. He has
since been followed by many: new readers have produced new pub
lishers, and these again new readers; and so the good work goes on.
But Mr. Knight has the credit of leading the way; he was the first man;
he threw his bread upon the waters. The object of his life has been to
bring to the numerous humbler classes sterling English literature and
solid information on national and every-day subjects. We cannot
remember the first appearance of the “ Penny Magazine,” but it still
.gives pleasure in many a cottage, and in its day it wrought great things.
Since then, Mr. Knight (whose own name is modestly omitted from the
biographies) has brought out good volume upon volume, good series upon
series; himself an author of considerable note, the writer of a history of
England and many other books; and what is an especial claim of
honour, he has done more, as editor and publisher, than any other
Englishman for the name and fame and large use of Shakspere.
One day his own name will appear in this book, and all his labours
be duly chronicled; and he will then show well worthy of comparison
with the illustrious family of the Etiennes, more commonly known by
the Latin name of Stephens, the celebrated printers of the sixteenth
century, whose lives I have been reading (for the first time) among the
biographies. They dwelt in Paris and Geneva, patronized, in the
ancient worthy sense, by princes and wealthy merchants, by Francis I.
and Henry III. of France, by the State Council of Geneva, by the
munificent Fuggers of Augsburg; and, on the other hand, persecuted
and hindered (not very seriously, however) by Catholic prelates. There
they produced grand “ Dictionariums ” of Greek and Latin, editions of
Greek and Latin authors, editions of the Bible, and theological works;
writing and printing for the scholars of Europe. What could be done
for letters in those days they did, and excellently well. The same noble
enterprise and unwearied industry has marked the career of our English
printer in the nineteenth century, in his labours to give to the people of
England English secular literature. And here Mr. Knight stands as the
representative of the latest—may we also say, in promise the highest ?—
effort of the English printing-press. What a contrast, what a progress
between the sacred missal, written by one hand, and tenderly illuminated
for the delight of a few high-born eyes, and these stout volumes of secular
lore, printed and stereotyped for the service of the million ! Something
may be lost, but how great the gain ! Worthy of a “ Hymn of Praise,”
such as Mendelssohn actually wrote in honour of Gutemberg, the first
printer’s anniversary day.
At the same time, this is true and most true—that life is a thousand
fold more than books; and especially that no man can live upon a
Cyclopaedia. And the service which positive knowledge has to render
is but begun. It has yet to make itself felt as a disciplined orderly whole;
to deal with far higher subjects (a real political economy, for instance);
and to do what no Cyclopaedia can do—fashion a methodic education,
and reach, in a living form, the great multitude of men. What is espe
cially needed, is that the modern mind should be able to unite itself
wholly with the past; should be able to rise above details—in history
�I
12
The Use of Cyclopaedias.
above chronicles, in science above specialities, in life above professional
subtleties; not despising or neglecting these, but subordinating them;
should comprehend the relations of the great provinces of knowledge to
each other, their office to the individual mind and the social life of men.
This seems a gigantic task, almost an impossible one, and, indeed, to
the first undertaker it is a work of the first order of magnitude; but the
thing once done or truly conceived, practical success is ultimately cer
tain, and every step gained will wonderfully simplify and illuminate all
our conceptions. A right education will, then, aim at communicating
this ascertained order as the basis of all knowledge. But for.this pur
pose a Cyclopsedia is not the instrument. To the philosopher it is but a
quarry of materials, to us it is and must remain only a discoursing dic
tionary. Such thoughts are naturally suggested by the spectacle of this
vast accumulation of knowledge ; and the question which will be asked,
Whither is it all tending? And if, with such great issues before us,
involving inevitable large changes of opinion and practice, we cannot
but look with anxiety to the future, sincerity tells us we must on, and is
full of noble hope withal. In the early times of maritime discovery,
there was an African cape, called Bojador, or the “ Outstretcher,”
which the navigator dared not pass; and rumour said that those who
went beyond would become black men. The cape was passed, and the
outward figure of the world made known; but the bold Portuguese did
not become black !
To go back to Francis I. and the Stephens. Francis, whose face you
may read in Holbein’s portrait of him in Hampton Court, had faults
enough, and an intriguing, warring life with the Emperor Charles V. and
even our Henry VIII.; but he had a genuine love of having gifted men
of peace working about him. Thus Andrea del Sarto, “ the faultless
painter ” (of Browning’s admirable poem), the knave also for once, who
ran away to Florence with the King’s money, describes his former joy
“In that humane great monarch’s golden look,—
One finger in his beard or twisted curl
Over his mouth’s good mark that made the smile,
One arm about my shoulder, round my neck,
The jingle of his gold chain in my ear,
I painting proudly with his breath on me.’
And so it is told how Francis would often visit Robert Stephens in his
printing-house, and might be seen silently watching him finish his proof
before he started upon familiar talk. The English people cannot so
visit Mr. Knight; they are not kings at all; they can but buy Mr.
Knight’s books or read them, which is what Mr. Knight desires. But
many and many a man unknown to him bears him silent gratitude, and,
hereafter, a poor English student asking, “ How came these good books
to me ?” may have for answer, “ By the faithful work of many men;
among the foremost, the worthy English printer, publisher, editor, and
author, Charles Knight.” And so we heartily congratulate him on this
his great work.
�i3
ON TEACHING CHEMISTRY IN SCHOOLS.
BY W. H. WALENN, F.C.S.,
Compiler of Abridgments of Specifications relating to “Electricity and Magnetism,
their generation and applications,” “Photography,’ “Plating or coating metals with
metals,” etc., for the Commissioners of Patents.
HE reasons why chemical science has received so little atten
tion in schools maybe shortly stated under two heads
ist.
The belief that no practical good could be effected, in the
pupil’s mind, by adding to a curriculum already full to re
pletion, a science difficult in itself and only useful to those who intend
to make it the study and profession of their lives. 2nd. The very
general, but erroneous idea, that chemical science is difficult to teach,
more difficult to illustrate, and nearly impossible of experimental de
monstration by the pupils themselves.
In respect to the first point, Dr. W. A. Miller, F.R.S., Professor of
Chemistry in King’s College, London, at the meeting of the British
Association at Birmingham, in 1865, as President of the Chemical
Section, gave it as his deliberate opinion, that the methods of investi
gation employed in Chemistry entitle it to be regarded as an “ instru
ment in training the mind, and shaping the intellectual development of
the future.” After setting forth the difficulty which those whose edu
cation is based upon the linguistic system have to realize the magnitude
and true bearing of the power of the science, “and its educational
value,” he goes on to say that, “ Science is not merely to supply her
facts : she is to be employed to develop the powers of the mind, and
to discipline them for action. Hence it is of far more importance
to instil principles, and to cultivate precision in observation, in thought,
and in description, than it is to load the memory with mere facts, how
ever valuable. In short, the system of cramming is to be eschewed,
while the formation of habits of comparing, reasoning, and judging is
to be encouraged in every way.”
In respect to the second point, in answer to questions put by the
Select Committee of the House of Lords on the Public Schools Bill, in
1865, Dr. Sharpey, L.L.D., F.R.S., observes, that the elements of inor
ganic chemistry are well adapted to render instruction in physical
science exact and solid, “provided that instruction be carried on mainly
by practical lessons at which the pupils take part themselves in the ex
periments, and are permitted to handle and work with apparatus.” .
Apart from the weight which necessarily attaches itself to the opinions
of these celebrated men, we have no doubt that any well-informed
person who looks into the subject for himself will come to the same
conclusion, and that the introduction of Chemistry into schools is but a
question of time.
It is now acknowledged, on all sides, that when learning is imposed
as a duty only—as a task—that the progress of pupils therein is slow
compared with that which is made when their interest is excited. Of
�14
On Teaching Chemistry in Schools.
all sciences, Chemistry is the one most capable of exciting interest in
boys. . In order to do so, however, striking results must be presented
to their view, and, when they have sufficient facts in their minds, those
facts may be applied to analyzing the results and deducing further facts
from them; thus the development of the perceptive and of the rational
faculties goes hand in hand, and one faculty is made to assist the other
by action and re-action.
The labour of teaching is reduced, and the ability of the pupils is
further stimulated, if they are allowed to make such experiments them
selves as their progress in the subject warrants.
The method of teaching Chemistry may be by class books, followed
up by lectures, oral and written examinations, and by certain experi
ments made by the pupils themselves.
Class books’6 are very serviceable in the intervals between lectures;
their principal uses seem to be, laying the foundation of the mnemonics
of the subject, elucidating, by precept and example, the mathematical
principles of the science, and explaining, in proper sequence, the vari
ous processes that are necessary to the attainment of a given result.
They may either be employed to prepare the student for what will come
in the next experimental lecture, or to explain more fully the results
shown at the previous lecture, or (which is the most complete plan) to
clear up the points of the last, and to lay a foundation of theory for
the next lecture. In cases where only a small time can be allotted to
the subject, the class book may be made the text book of the lecture,
both in respect to the arrangement of the experiments and as to the
matter to be placed before the pupils.
Lectures afford the means of laying before the pupils, in a connected
view, the principles and practice of the subject, and many important
details of manipulation may be successfully explained, which would be
dry and trivial if written. Verifications of grand truths and the beauty
of certain results may be made manifest, also deductions may be drawn
from them which would scarcely appear warranted if merely read in a
book. Where experiments are not admissible, as in illustrating the
manufacture of iron, well marked and coloured diagrams of the furnacesand apparatus used are very suitable. Every boy should have a note
book (of ordinary copy-book size) so as to take notes of the points of each
lecture and sketches of the principal experiments and diagrams. At
the end of each lecture, it is a very salutary practice to give out certain
questions bearing upon the subject, to be answered in writing at the
next lecture, also to examine the boys orally upon the principles that
have been inculcated. A weekly examination or “ recapitulation” may
also take place with advantage.
The extent to which the pupils may be permitted to work out their
own experiments must depend very much upon the class of school and
upon the appliances at hand. That this can be done much more easily
than is generally thought possible, the author has endeavoured to de* One of the newest and best class books is ‘ ‘ Lessons in Elementary Chemistry : inor
ganic and organic,” by Henry E. Roscoe, B.A., F.R.S., Professor of Chemistry in Owen’s
College, Manchester. London : Macmillan and Co. 1867. Price 4s. 6d.
�On Teaching Chemistry in Schools.
15;
*
monstrate, but, in establishments that have a laboratory attached, the
pupils may readily work out most of the leading experiments to the
verge of organic chemistry.
In imparting instruction in Chemistry, as in any other subject, the
most important thing is to lay a good foundation. The great principlesof the science should be deeply impressed, both on the memory and on
the reason, at the beginning of the course, by repeated experiments, and
by constant reference to examples in common life so as to connect the
knowledge which is being imparted to that which already exists in the
pupil’s mind.
In the mnemonical part, every student should write out fairly in his.
note book and commit to memory good definitions of what the science
treats of, and of the terms used; the principal elements should also be
learnt by heart, together with their symbols and atomic weights. As the
chief laws of the subject are elucidated (by experiment or otherwise),
they should be placed in the said note book in a tabular form. By this
means, at the end of the course, each student has a complete annota
tion and memoria technicci written by himself, which he can therefore
more easily refer to than any other book.
In the rational part, the notes on the lectures themselves will furnish
abundant instances of the steps by which the discoveries of the science
were made, and of the rationale of well established processes and de
finite changes. All calculations of atomic weights, density of gases, &c.,
as well as the laws and systems of crystallography, and of nomenclature
and notation, come under this head, and afford good practice.
In the experimental part, it is also essential that lucid notes be taken,
and it will be found most successful in the end if the demonstrator or
teacher requires each boy to read over his notes to him before the
students are dismissed; this is important, because it will be found
that the experimental division of the subject clears up all points that
were previously obscure, and there often remains some debris that
require removal; also in interpreting the bearings and results of experi
ments, students necessarily require much guidance. All experiments
should form a connected series, and should elucidate brilliantly and.
pointedly some great truth, the only exception to the latter rule being
the exhibition of useful details of manipulation. Mere “ cookery book”
experiments (as the author has heard them called) such as “ How to
make green fire,” “ How to make mimic lightning,” &c., and all that
are isolated or have no immediate relation to the matter in hand, should,
generally speaking, be avoided.
The highest authorities upon the Science of Chemistry have given
their decided opinion that it should be taught according to the latest
theoretical views, and with as little as possible reference to theories that
rather form a matter of history than of present interest. For this reason
the. new nomenclature and notation should be adhered to throughout, in
their pure and simple form; the notation fully deserves this straight
forward treatment and this universal adoption, for it at once connects
* See ‘‘Little Experiments for Little Chemists,” by W. H. Walenn, F.C.S.
T. J. Allman, 463, Oxford Street. Price is.
London;
�■I 6
On Teaching Chemistry in Schools.
atomic weights with volumes and with specific heats; further assistance
to the unity of the science, as well as to its grasp of facts under a
minimum of general laws, is afforded by the adoption of the theory of
types in inorganic as well as in organic Chemistry, and the doctrines of
atomicity and saturation of combining power remove many difficulties
that have always been felt in the subject. The molecular and substitu
tion formulae that have lately come into general use, appear, in conjunc
tion with the above theoretical principles, to have brought the science
into a sufficiently stable condition to warrant the teaching of the latest
theories in a connected form/''
In conclusion, it appears scarcely possible that the conscientious and
enlightened preceptors of England will deny the entrance, into their
scholastic system, of a science which draws out so many of the latent,
but easily excited, faculties of the mind, and of outward application, as
Chemistry. Chemistry is the rallying point of other exact and experi
mental sciences, and its branches are many, reaching even to the
-celestial bodies.
LATIN FOR LADIES.
is only the other day that we were informed that the young
ladies who were examined by the roving Cambridge authorities
acquitted themselves eminently to the satisfaction of their
questioners. And now we learn that the preparations for the
•similar annual proceedings on the part of the University of Oxford are
completed, and that girls and boys alike, though not, we presume, in
company, are to be put through the examination process with due
severity and rigour. On the whole, it strikes us that this is about the
most astonishing of all the astonishing things which indicate the reality
of that social revolution which English society has for some time been
undergoing. That the old universities should send delegates all over the
country to examine the sons of the smaller gentry and the men of busi
ness was a sufficiently startling novelty. But that “the cloister” should
actually dispatch its missionaries to report upon the acquirements of the
sisters of these long-neglected boys is a proof that our fundamental ideas
as to what constitutes the perfection of the female character are radically
changed. Of course it is not to be doubted for a moment that no sen
timental gallantry has warped the judgment of the presiding examiners.
We cannot suppose that a Latin translation, or the solution of a quad
ratic equation, presented by blushing sixteen, would not be as accurately
estimated at its real value as the same performance sent up by an
ungainly boy. We accept, therefore, the figures by which the examiners
represent the amount of success attained by their fair students, and con* To preceptors the following work is a great boon, and is thoroughly exhaustive of the
subject:—“Elements of Chemistry, theoretical and practical,” by William Allen Miller,
M.D., L.L.D., &c., Professor of Chemistry in King’s College, London. Longman & Co.
3 vols. 3rd Ed. Price £2 17s.
�Latin for Ladies.
17
gratulate them on the delicacy and good sense which have led them to
abstain from publishing the individual names of the interesting postulants
for academic honours. We are quite satisfied with their report, and
it only remains for us to speculate, with no little curiosity, as to the prac
tical results which may be expected to follow from the success of this
wonderful scheme.
That the general character of women would be materially altered, and
altered for the better, by an improved education can hardly be doubted.
Setting aside the popular nonsense about the absolute identity of men’s
and women’s natural powers, it is certain that most of the defects which
men so often cast in the teeth of women are mainly due to the wretched
imitation of education which is all that is in the reach of the immense
majority of Englishwomen. If then they can be made to learn any
thing, or rather to study anything thoroughly, and to carry on their
studies beyond the period of mere girlhood, they must certainly acquire
in some considerable measure that accuracy of thought, that dislike for
rhetorical platitudes, that solidity and fairness of judgment, and that
soundness of critical taste, for which, as things now are, the gentler sex
is not, as a rule, highly distinguished. But it is the incidental conse
quences of the creation of a love for serious study among English girls
of the middle and upper classes which present the most curious subjects
for speculation. What will be its effect upon the “ matrimonial
market,” and upon the education of men? We do not ask whether it
will frighten away our ingenuous youth from offering their hands to
young ladies of whose acquirements they stand in awe and dread.
Possibly here and there some foolish man might abstain from making
pretensions to the companionship of a pretty girl, through dread of being
despised for his inability to extract the cube root and to discuss the
doctrine of the Greek subjunctive mood. But as it is, cases of clever
women marrying stupid husbands are quite numerous enough to reassure
us on this head. The question is not as to the marrying prospects of
stupid men, but as to the marrying inclinations of well-educated women
in general. And here there does seem a probability of a change. At
present, as we take it, it is the want of a definite interest in some work
or occupation of real moment which sets girls speculating about mar
riage at so early a period. It is not because she has a dread of being
an old maid, or is longing to be “ settled in life,” or is discontented
with her home, that the thoughts of a girl of eighteen or nineteen are
so often turned to matrimonial contingencies. It is rather because she
has no present object on which to expend her energies, and nothing to
work upon with a view to any permanent benefit. With boys and
young men it is the reverse. Life with them is very soon a reality,
without any necessity for an early marriage. Men, as a rule, do not
look forward to marrying until they are eight or ten years older than
girls are when they seriously contemplate it. Their business or their
profession, that profession being more or less the continuation of the
work of education itself, furnishes them with an object fortheir thoughts
and for the employment of their energies. But when the average girl
has gone through the wretched “ course of studies” prescribed by the
VOL. I.
2
�18
Latin for Ladies.
schoolmistress or the governess, all comes to an end, and the next'
thing is to be married, or, at any rate, to be engaged. Her education has
totally failed to awaken her interest in the subjects of men’s studies, and
to cultivate her natural faculties to such an extent as to make their
further cultivation and the acquisition of more knowledge a delight and
a necessity. If, then, this new movement succeeds in converting the
■education of girls from a sham into a reality, it -will follow that by hun
dreds and thousands they will be far less impatient for a “ settlement,”
-and will by common consent postpone by three or four years the re
cognised age at which girls may be expect to be mistresses of a home of
their own. Some people may regret the change, but others will wel
come the advent of the theory that a young woman of three-and-twenty
is more likely to be wise in her arrangements for her future life than a
.girl of eighteen or nineteen.
Then, as to the education of the brothers and expectant husbands of
these highly cultured girls. If we have to abandon the idea that the
life of a woman is to be inspired by feeling and the life of a man by
thought and knowledge, a man’s standard as to what is expected of him
self must be raised. Boys who habitually look down upon their sisters’
learning and capacities are pampered in their own idleness, and never
made, as they ought to be, to feel ashamed. At this time, with all our
-advances, the average amount of the real education of the faculties of
English boys, with occasional exceptions, is simply disgraceful, from the
Boys of Eton down to the boys of the humblest grammar-school. And
while Oxford and Cambridge examiners are scouring the country and
’decorating the young provincial prodigies with the title of A.A., the
university system itself is so bad that of those who take an ordinary
bachelor’s degree a very large number are allowed to spend two-thirds
of their time of residence in all but utter idleness, supplemented by six
months’ cram at the end, while the annual six months’ vacation time is
passed in pure, unmitigated amusement. But when the new order of
things reigns in all good households, new ideas will take possession of
the lads who now disport themselves so royally in their ignorance and
self-satisfaction. Shame will do what self-respect and a sense of duty
have failed to accomplish. And while the Oxford and Cambridge
examiners are indoctrinating their charming candidates for distinction in
the country, they will be preparing' for themselves a condemnation as
men incapable of controlling and teaching their own undergraduates.—
Pall Mau Gazette.
Cambridge Local Examinations.—The greatest number of suc
cessful candidates from any one school, at the late Cambridge Local
Examinations, was thirty-six from the Devon County School, West
Buckland, which for three years in succession has passed a greater num
ber than any other school. Thirteen of these were in honours, and five
were distinguished in particular subjects, among them being the first and
second in order of merit in the Senior English Section.
�19
A PLEA FOR THE ART OF READING ALOUD, AS A
BRANCH OF REGULAR SCHOOL EDUCATION.
BY CHARLES JOHN PLUMPTRE,
Lecturer on Public. Reading, King’s College, Evening Class Department. .
HERE is no complaint more general than the rarity of good
readers in all classes of society. About five or six years ago,
in consequence of a notification on the part of the late Bishop
of Rochester, that a certificate of competence as a reader would
be required in the case of candidates for ordination in his lordship’s
diocese, a general awakening to the importance of the subject seemed to
take place among clergy and laity, and for several weeks one could
hardly take up a newspaper, from “ The Times ” to the humblest pro
vincial journal, without seeing leading articles and letters on “ Clerical
Elocution.”
But no adequate practical result of any substantial and permanent
nature followed from all these discussions. It was an illustration of the
old proverb, “ Great cry but little wool.” Complaints teemed on all
sides, but there was little done to remedy the complaint. Several of
the ¿¿shops have, I. know, from that time advised young curates and
candidates for orders to take a regular course of instruction in the art of
public reading, from those whom they thought were competent, from
natural qualifications, education, position, and experience, to teach that
art. But beyond this nothing has been done, and the evil is nearly, if
not quite, as prominent and widely spread as ever.
What a very able writer says, under the signature of 11 Rhetor,” in a
letter to the editor of 11 The English Churchman,” dated October 3,
1861, may be reproduced now with as much truth as then. The laity
(he says towards the close of his letter!) complain, and most justly, of the
bad reading inflicted on them Sunday after Sunday. But how can it be
otherwise while the present system lasts ? Candidates for the ministry
have no proper instruction, either in the public schools or universities.
They enter on their professional duties with provincialisms and cockneyisms uncorrected, and read positively worse than many of their con
gregation. The varieties of professional incapacity are endless—the
mutterer, who swallows all his final syllables—the drawlev. who wearies
with his tediousness—the gabbler, who rushes through the service at
express speed—the preacher, who mistakes prayers for sermons—the
spouter, who mouths the prayers with the most painful affectation. All
these evils are the necessary consequences of the inadequate estimate of
the end in view, and the means to be employed for its attainment.
Some take half a dozen lessons, perhaps, from a strolling player, or trust
to one lecture on church reading, given by the examining chaplain at the
close of the examination for orders ! The only true mode is a regular
course of instruction under a judicious teacher, carried on during the
year which ought to be devoted to theological training, after taking the
ordinary degree. It rests with the bishops to secure this by insisting
on a certificate of attendance on such a course, and I hope the time is
2—2
�20
A Plea for the Art of Reading Aloud.
not far distant when a reform so urgently required will be effected by
the rulers of the Church.
A recent offer has been made by an anonymous benefactor, to found
an annual prize of /40, at the universities of Oxford and Cambridge,
for the encouragement of proficiency in the art of good reading, but, I
regret to say, has been declined by both universities, on the ground, I
believe, of the difficulty of carrying out the wishes of the donor by
adequate and systematic instruction at the universities, as well as by the
alleged difficulty of deciding who are, or are not, the best readers in
the competition for the prize. The rejection, and the ground of the
rejection, of this liberal offer, have excited much dissatisfaction in the
public mind, and the leading journals have expressed their opinions on
the subject in no very measured language, which I have no desire to
reproduce; but I cannot help thinking that what has been found to
work so well, and to be so easily carried out in London, may also be
introduced and flourish at Oxford and Cambridge.
At King’s College, London, there has existed for nearly twenty
years, a Lectureship of Public Reading and Speaking, most ably filled
now by my friend and colleague, the Rev. Alex. J. D. D’Orsey. On the
establishment of the Evening Class Department of King’s College, a
similar Lectureship was made part of its instruction, to which I had the
honour of being appointed last summer j and though my experience
does not date so far back as Mr. D’Orsey’s, I am enabled to confirm all
that he has said on the subject of public reading and speaking, in his
lecture at the Royal Institution and other places, and can bear witness
to the need for instruction in the art, as well as to the excellent results
that ‘in most cases quickly follow from a regular course of practical
training. Prizes and certificates of merit are given for excellence in
public reading and sp&aking in both the Day and Evening Departments
of King’s College; and my colleague and I have hitherto found no very
great difficulty in deciding to whom such prizes and certificates should
be awarded. Surely, then, what has so long been found practicable
here will be found practicable elsewhere.
The prevalence of bad reading, in one or other of its almost count
less forms, is too generally admitted to need any formal quotation from
writers or other authorities in support of such an assertion. Whence
does this fault proceed ? I believe, in general, from inattention in child
hood, and the almost total absence of any system of teaching in a scien
tific yet natural manner in our public and private schools. I should
prefer on this point taking the evidence of a most competent -witness in
regard to all that relates to educational matters—the Rev. Francis
Trench—rather than offer any remarks of my own. Mr. Trench, in a
lecture delivered at St. Martin’s Hall in 1854, and subsequently pub
lished, says:—
“I must confess I can recall nothing worse than ordinary school
reading and recitation (mark, I say ordinary, because I am well aware
there are some exceptions), whether in the institutions for the rich or for
the poor in our land. Many amongst us can remember very well the
method in which we ourselves said our scholastic lessons in our former
�A Plea for the Art of Reading Alorid.
21
days. Whether any improvement in this matter has of late taken place,
I am unable to say. I trust that it may be so; but at the public school
■where I myself was, and one, too, not inferior in repute to any in the land
—I mean Harrow—the utmost attainable speed in repetition was allowed,
a false key and monotonous delivery of the worst kind was never
corrected or rebuked, no attempt whatever was made to render, or to
keep, the utterance in harmony with the sense; and bad habits of
delivery were formed and allowed, in a manner almost too strange for
belief, and on which I can only now look back with exceeding surprise.
Nor do I conceive that the system was in the least better at other schools.
I cannot let them escape. For should the Etonian, or the Winchester,
Rugby, or Westminster man, or the representative of any other public
school, ask me what grounds I have for such a statement, my answer to
the challenge would be, that at college I had full means and opportunity
to judge from the reading of the students there. They were gathered
from all schools of distinction; and to any one hearing them it was
evident enough that the general delivery at other schools was by no
means superior to that which was allowed, and which prevailed at my
■own. A system this not only most objectionable, and most injurious at
the time even to a just impression of the sense of the passage read, but
also so lasting in its evil consequences, that many never are emancipated
■or escape from them. I say this advisedly; and even those who do
•escape often only escape after many years, and with no little difficulty.
Hence, I believe, originates much of the bad reading which we hear in
public worship. Hence, I believe, originates that monotonous cadence
and drawl, which is so adverse to the due expression by the reader, and
to the due comprehension by the hearer, of any passage read. The ear
may be lulled, but the mind is not reached ; at least, if reached, it is
-reached in spite of the readers’ bad tone and enunciation. And here I
quote the words of one who felt this evil very deeply, and laboured very
constantly for its removal, or, at least, its mitigation—the Rev. C.
Simeon. ‘ How often,’ said he, ‘ are the prayers of the Church spoiled,
and good sermons rendered uninteresting, by bad delivery on the part
of ministers.’ ”
Mr. Trench then proceeds to show in detail how the same lamen
table neglect of the art of reading aloud prevails equally in private
schools, from the highest to the lowest class, and calls attention to the
fact, that even at the time when he was speaking, so glaring was the evil
in our national schools that a circular letter had been sent from Her
Majesty’s Board of the Privy Council to the various inspectors of schools,
stating that “ complaints have been made to their lordships concerning
the very small degree of attention which reading (as part of elocution)
receives in elementary schools, and making it imperative to include an
exercise on the art of reading in the oral part of the next Christmas
examination at the training schools.”
I trust I have said enough to prove how general is the neglect of the
art of reading aloud in our public and private schools. The neglect is,
however, I am strongly disposed to believe, far greater in schools for
boys than“ in schools for girls. As far as my own experience goes, I
�22
A Plea for the Art of Reading Aloud.
know that in London and the suburbs, out of a hundred schools where
elocution is taught, at least three-fourths are ladies’ schools. Hence,
probably, may be found one reason why, as a rule, women read aloud
better than men.
But what is the cause of this admitted neglect of the art of reading
in so many schools and families ? Why is it that elocution has been of
late years so much disregarded as a part of education, and yet music,
singing, drawing, and other accomplishments, have all received their due
share of attention? One reason is, I believe, to be found in the fact that
this very word, elocution, has been made a bugbear of, and has frightened
away many from its study, through a completely erroneous interpretation
of its meaning and character. Do not many persons imagine that the
study of elocution must lead to a pompous, bombastic, stilted, or pedantic
style—a style in which the artificial reigns predominant over everything
that is simple and natural ? I can only say, if elocution meant anything
of the kind I should be the last man to advocate its adoption in schools
or anywhere else. If I am asked to define what I then mean by elocu
tion, I think I should answer—“ That which is the most effective
pronunciation that can be given to words when they are arranged into
sentences and form discourse.” In this, of course, I include the appro
priate inflections and modulations of the voice, the purity of its intona
tion, the clearness of articulation, and, when suitable to the occasion, the
accompaniments of expression of countenance and action. This art of
elocution, then, I may further define as that system of instruction which
enables us to pronounce written or extemporaneous composition with
proper energy, correctness, variety, and personal ease; or, in other
words, it is that style of delivery which not only expresses fully the sense
and the words so as to be thoroughly understood by the hearer, but at
the same time gives the sentence all the power, grace, melody, and
beauty of which it is susceptible.
Is it not strange, let me ask, when we reflect on the marvellous power
which spoken language has to excite the deepest feelings of our common
nature, that the cultivation of the art of speaking which onceTeceived
so much attention, should afterwards and for so long a time have been
almost completely neglected. We know what importance the ancient
orators of Greece and Rome attached to the study of rhetoric. The
prince of them all, Demosthenes, asserted that “Delivery” (under which
term is included everything that relates to the effective management of
voice, look, and gesture) is the first, the second, and the last element of
success in a speaker; and the great Roman orator (Cic. de Orat. lib. i.)
most truly remarks that “ address in speaking is highly ornamental and
useful in private as well as in public life.” And surely this is as true in
our own day as it was in his. For even, assuming that a youth has no
apparent prospect of debating in Parliament, of addressing judges or
juries at the Bar, or appealing on the most solemn and important topics
of all from the pulpit, does it therefore follow that he need bestow no
trouble in learning to speak his native language elegantly and effec
tively ? Will he never have occasion to read aloud in his family circle,
or to a company of friends, some leader from “ The Times ” or other
�A Plea for the Art of Reading Aloud.
newspaper, some chapter from a book, or some verses from a poem ?
And what a difference will there be in the effect produced upon thereader and upon his audience accordingly as this is done well or ill ?•
We are most of us in the present day accustomed to have our sons and
daughters taught dancing, drilling, or calisthenic exercises, that give
strength, flexibility, and elegance to the limbs—and very excellent areall such accomplishments in their way. But after all, the limbs are por
tions of our frames far less noble than the tongue; and yet, while no
gentleman who can afford it hesitates about expending time and money
in sending his son to the fencing, drilling, or dancing master, how few,
comparatively, send as systematically their children to the elocution
master, to be taught the full development of that which is the crowning
glory of man—the divine gift of speech.
I believe firmly that consumption, and many other diseases of the
respiratory organs, which carry off so many thousands amongst us, while
they are in the very spring-time of life, would be greatly lessened in
number, and prevented in development, if the art of reading aloud were
more generally and properly taught and practised. This is not mere
vague assertion. Let me call in support of my statement a high medical
authority, Sir Henry Holland. In Sir Henry Holland’s “Medical
Notes,” at p. 42.2, I read as follows
“ Might not more be done in practice towards the prevention of pul
monary disease, as well as for the general improvement of health by
expressly exercising the organs of respiration—that is by practising accord
ing to method those actions of the body through which the chest is in
part filled or emptied of air ? Though suggestions to this effect occur
in some of our best works on consumption, as well as in the writings of
certain continental physicians, they have hitherto had less than their due
influence, and the principle as such is comparatively little recognised,
or brought into general application. In truth, common usage takes for
the most part a directly opposite course; and under the notion or pre
text of quiet, seeks to repress all direct exercise of this important function
in those who are presumed to have any tendency to pulmonary dis
orders. ... As regards the modes of exercising the function of respi
ration, they should be various, to suit the varying powers and exigencies
of the patient. Reading aloud (clara lectio) is one of very ancient recom
mendation, the good effects of which are not limited to this object alone.
It might indeed be well were the practice of distinct recitation, such as.
implies a certain effort of the organs beyond that of mere ordinary speech,
■more generally used in early life, and continued as a habit, or regular
exercise, but especially by those whose chests are weak, and who cannot
sustain stronger exertions. Even singing may for the same reasons, beallowed in many of such cases, but within much narrower limits, and
under much more cautious notice of the effects than would be requisite
in reading. If such caution be duly used as to posture, articulation, and
the avoidance of all excess, these regular exercises of the voice may be ren
dered as salutary to the organs of respiration as they are agreeable in their
influence on the ordinary voice. The common course of education is much
at fault in this respect. If some small part of the time given to crowd
�24
A Pica for the Art of Reading Aloud.
ing facts on the mind not yet prepared to receive or retain them, were
employed in fashioning and improving the organs of speech under good
tuition, and with suitable subjects for recitation, both mind and body
would often gain materially by the substitution.”
I might quote opinions to precisely the same effect from the works
on consumption and other diseases of the respiratory organs, of Dr.
James Bright, Dr. Godwin Timms, Combe, Mayo, and other eminent
physicians and physiologists, but there is no need to multiply quotations;
suffice it to say that all these high medical authorities concur in the same
opinion, viz., that “reading aloud” is, when conducted on sound
principles, an exercise for the delicate and for the robust, as healthy
and strengthening to the body as it is pleasant and profitable to the
mind.
I am not without strong hope that the whole subject will, in course
of time, meet with the attention it so well deserves. It is now nearly
eight years ago since, with the sanction of the Vice-Chancellor, and the
approval of the Bishop of the diocese, I began my work as a lecturer and
teacher of elocution, in reference to professional and public life, at the
University of Oxford on the same day that my colleague, Mr. D’Orsey,
entered on a similar course at the university of Cambridge; and now we
are associated in the same work, though in different departments, at King’s
College. Our pupils have steadily increased, our services have been
called into requisition at many large schools in the provinces, as well as
in London,°jand I have every reason to believe that a growing interest
in the art of public reading and speaking has been manifested. I only
trust that this interest may extend to all classes—high and low, rich and
poor—and bear substantial and enduring fruit, in the shape of men and
women with sound and healthy lungs, pleasant and agreeably modulated
voices, and clear and effective enunciation.
! The Education Grant.—In the year ending March 31, 1866,
¿£622,730 was expended from the Parliamentary grant in aid of Edu
cation in Great Britain. The amount was thus distributed : In annual
grants to elementary schools in England and Wales, ¿£378,003 for day
scholars, and ¿£10,003 for evening scholars ; ¿£68,034 in annual grants
in Scotland ; ¿£21,040 in building grants ; ¿£69,935 in grants to train
ing colleges; ¿£685 in unexpired pensions ; ¿£75,03° in administration
and inspection. Classified according to the denominations of the re
cipients, the expenditure was as follows :—On schools connected with
the church of England, .£351,498; on schools connected with the
British and Foreign School Society, ¿£58,623 ; Wesleyan Schools,
¿£28,592 ; Roman Catholic Schools in England, ¿£26,084 ; parochial
union schools, ¿£120; schools in Scotland connected with the Es
tablished Church, ¿£46,465 ; the Free Church, ¿£29,297 ; the Episcopal
Church, ¿£4,019; Roman Catholic schools in Scotland, ¿£3,002. *
�25
JOHN STUART MILL ON THE VALUE OF THE ANCIENT
CLASSICAL LANGUAGES AND LITERATURE IN
EDUCATION.
From the Inaugural Address delivered to the University of St. Andrew’s, Feb. ist. 1867. >
NIVERSITIES do enough to facilitate the study of modern
languages, if they give a mastery over that ancient language
which is the foundation of most of them, and the possession
of which makes it easier to learn four or five of the conti
nental languages than it is to learn one of them without it. . . . .
The only languages, then, and the only literature, to which I would
allow a place in the ordinary curriculum, are those of the Greeks and
Romans ; and to these I would preserve the position in it which they
at present occupy. That position is justified, by the great value, in
education, of knowing well some other cultivated language and litera
ture than one’s own, and by the peculiar value of those particular lan
guages and literatures.
There is one purely intellectual benefit from a knowledge of lan
guages, which I am specially desirous to dwell on. Those who have
seriously reflected on the causes of human error, have been deeply im
pressed with the tendency of mankind to mistake words for things.
Without entering into the metaphysics of the subject, we know how
common it is to use words glibly and with apparent propriety, and to
accept them confidently when used by others, without ever having had
any distinct conception of the things denoted by them. To quote again
from Archbishop Whately, it is the habit of mankind to mistake fami
liarity for accurate knowledge. As we seldom think of asking the
meaning of what we see every day, so when our ears are used to the
sound of a word or a phrase, we do not suspect that it conveys no clear
idea to our minds, and that we should have the utmost difficulty in de
fining it, or expressing, in any other words, what we think we understand
by it. Now it is obvious in what manner this bad habit tends to be
corrected by the practice of translating with accuracy from one language
to another, and hunting out the meanings expressed in a vocabulary
with which we have not grown familiar by early and constant use. I
hardly know any greater proof of the extraordinary genius of the
Greeks, than that they were able to make such brilliant achievements in
abstract thought, knowing, as they generally did, no language but their
own. But the Greeks did not escape the effects of this deficiency.
Their greatest intellects, those who laid the foundation of philosophy
and of all our intellectual culture, Plato and Aristotle, are continually
led away by words ; mistaking the accidents of language for real rela
tions in nature, and supposing that things which have the same name in
the Greek tongue must be the same in their own essence. There is a
well-known saying of Hobbes, the far-reaching significance of which you
will more and more appreciate in proportion to the growth of your
own intellect: “ Words are the counters of wise men, but the money of
fools.” With the wise man a word stands for the fact which it repre-
�26
On the Value of the Ancient Classical Languages
sents; to the fool it is itself the fact. To carry on Hobbes’ metaphor,
the counter is far more likely to be taken for merely what it is, by those
who are in the habit of using many different kinds of counters. But
besides the advantage of possessing another cultivated language, there
is a further consideration equally important. Without knowing the lan
guage of a people, we never really know their thoughts, their feelings,
and their type of character: and unless we do possess this knowledge,
of some other people than ourselves, we remain, to the hour of our
death, with our intellects only half expanded. Look at a youth who has
never been out of his family circle: he never dreams of any other
opinions or ways of thinking than those he has been bred up in; or, if
he has heard of any such, attributes them to some moral defect, or in
feriority of nature or education. If his family are Tory, he cannot con
ceive the possibility of being a Liberal; if Liberal, of being a Tory.
What the notions and habits of a single family are to a boy who has had
no intercourse beyond it, the notions and habits of his own country are
to him who is ignorant of every other. Those notions and habits are to
him human nature itself; whatever varies from them is an unaccountable
aberration which he cannot mentally realize: the idea that any other
ways can be right, or as near an approach to right as some of his own,
is inconceivable to him. This does not merely close his eyes to the
many things which every country still has to learn from others : it hin
ders every country from reaching the improvement which it could other
wise attain by itself. We are not likely to correct any of our opinions
or mend any of our ways, unless we begin by conceiving that they are
capable of amendment: but merely to know that foreigners think differ
ently from ourselves, without understanding why they do so, or what
they really do think, does but confirm us in our self-conceit, and connect
our national vanity with the preservation of our own peculiarities. Im
provement consists in bringing our opinions into nearer agreement with
facts; and we shall not be likely to do this while we look at facts only
through glasses coloured by those very opinions. But since we cannot
divest ourselves of preconceived notions, there is no known means of
eliminating their influence but by frequently using the differently coloured
glasses of other people : and those of other nations, as the most different,
are the best.
But if it is so useful, on this account, to know the language and lite
rature Of any other cultivated and civilized people, the most valuable of
all to us in this respect are the languages and literature of the ancients.
No nations of modern and civilized Europe are so unlike one another,
as the Greeks and Romans are unlike all of us; yet without being, as
some remote Orientals are, so totally dissimilar, that the labour of a life
is required to enable us to understand them. Were this the only gain
to be derived from a knowledge of the ancients, it would already place
the study of them in a high rank among enlightening and liberalizing
pursuits. It is of no use saying that we may know them through mo
dern writing. We may know something of them in that way; which is
much better than knowing nothing. But modern books do notteach us
ancient thought; they teach us some modern writer’s notion of ancient
�and Literature in Education.
27
thought. Modern books do not show us the Greeks and Romans ; they
tell us some modern writer’s opinions about the Greeks and Romans.
Translations aré scarcely better. When we want really to know what a
person thinks or says, we seek it at first hand from himself. We do not
trust to another person’s impression of his meaning, given in another
person’s words; we refer to his own. Much more is it necessary to do
so when his words are in one language, and those of his reporter in
another. Modern phraseology never conveys the exact meaning of a
Greek writer; it cannot do so, except by a diffuse explanatory circum
locution which no translator dares use. We must be able, in a certain
degree, to think in Greek, if we would represent to ourselves how a
Greek thought: and this not only in the abstruse region of metaphysics,
but about the political, religious, and even domestic concerns of life. I
will mention a further aspect of this question, which, though I have not
the merit of originating it, I do not remember to have seen noticed in
any book. There is no part of our knowledge which it is more useful to
obtain at first hand—-to go to the fountain head for—than our knowledge
of history. Yet this, in most cases, we hardly ever do. Our concep
tion of the past is not drawn from its own records, but from books
written about it, containing not the facts, but a view of the facts which
has shaped itself in the mind of somebody of our own or a very recent
time. Such books are very instructive and valuable; they help us to
understand history, to interpret history, to draw just conclusions from
it; at the worst, they set us the example of trying to do all this ; but
they are not themselves history. The knowledge they give is upon
trust, and even when they have done their best, it is not only incom
plete, but partial, because confined to what a few modern writers have
seen in the materials, and have thought worth picking out from among
them. How little we learn of our own ancestors from Hume, or Hallam,
or Macaulay, compared with what we know if we add to what these tell
us, even a little reading of cotemporary authors and documents 1 The
most recent historians are so well aware of this, that they fill their pages
with extracts from the original materials, feeling that these extracts are
the real history, and their comments and thread of narrative are only
helps towards understanding it. Now it is part of the great worth to us
of our Greek and Latin studies, that in them we do read history in the
original sources. We are in actual contact with cotemporary minds; we
are not dependent on hearsay; we have something by which we can test
and check the representations and theories of modern historians. It
may be asked, why then not study the original materials of modem his
tory ? I answer, it is highly desirable to do so : and let me remark by
the way, that even this requires a dead language j nearly all the docu
ments prior to the Reformation, and many subsequent to it, being written
in Latin. But the exploration of these documents, though a most use
ful pursuit, cannot be a branch of education. Not to speak of their
vast.extent, and the fragmentary nature of each, the strongest reason is,
that in learning the spirit of our own past ages, until a comparatively
recent period, from cotemporary writers, we learn hardly anything else.
Those.authors, with a few exceptions, are little worth” reading on their
�28
On the Vctlne of the Ancient Classical Languages
own account. . While, in studying the great writers of antiquity, we are
not only learning to understand the ancient mind, but laying in a stock
of wise thought and observation, still valuable to ourselves; and at the
same time making ourselves familiar with a number of the most perfect
and finished literary compositions which the human mind has produced
—compositions which, from the altered conditions of human life, are
likely to be seldom paralleled, in their sustained excellence, by the times
to come.
Even as mere languages, no modern European language is so valuable
a discipline to the intellect as those of Greece and Rome, on account
of their regular and complicated structure. Consider, for a moment,
what grammar is. It is the most elementary part of logic. It is the
beginning of the analysis of the thinking process. The principles and
rules of grammar are the means by which the forms of language are
made to correspond with the universal forms of thought. The distinc
tions between the various parts of speech, between the cases of nouns,
the moods and tenses of verbs, the functions of particles, are distinc
tions in thought, not merely in words. Single nouns and verbs express
objects and events, many of which can be cognized by the senses : but
the modes of putting nouns and verbs together, express the relations of
objects and events, which can be cognized only by the intellect; and
each different mode corresponds to a different relation. The structure
of every sentence is a lesson in logic. The various rules of syntax
oblige us to distinguish between the subject and predicate of a propo
sition, between the agent, the action, and the thing acted upon; to mark
when an idea is intended to modify or qualify, or merely to unite with,
some other idea; what assertions are categorical, what only conditional;
whether the intention is to express similarity or contrast, to make a plu
rality of assertions conjunctively or disjunctively; what portions of a
sentence, though grammatically complete within themselves, are mere
members or subordinate parts of the assertion made by the entire sen
tence. Such things form the subject-matter of universal grammar; and
the languages which teach it best are those which have the most definite
rules, and which provide distinct forms for the greatest number of dis
tinctions in thought, so that if we fail to attend precisely and accurately
to any of these, we cannot avoid committing a solecism in language.
In these qualities the classical languages have an incomparable supe
riority over every modern language, and over all languages, dead or
living, which have a literature worth being generally studied.
But the superiority of the literature itself, for purposes of education,
is still more marked and decisive. Even in the substantial value of the
matter of which it is the vehicle, it is very far from having been super
seded. The discoveries of the ancients in science have been greatly
surpassed, and as much of them as is still valuable loses nothing by
being incorporated in modern treatises : but what does not so well admit
of being transferred bodily, and has been very imperfectly carried off
even piecemeal, is the treasure which they accumulated of what may be
called the wisdom of life: the rich store of experience of human nature
and conduct, which the acute and observing minds of those ages, aided
�and Literature in Education.
29
in their observations by the greater simplicity of manners and life, con
signed to their writings, and most of which retains all its value. The
speeches in Thucydides; the Rhetoric, Ethics, and Politics of Aristotle ;
the Dialogues of Plato; the Orations of Demosthenes; the Satires, and
especially the Epistles of Horace; all the writings of Tacitus; the great
work of Quintilian, a repertory of the best thoughts of the ancient world
on all subjects connected with education ; and, in a less formal manner,
all that is left to us of the ancient historians, orators, philosophers, and
even dramatists, are replete with remarks and maxims of singular good
sense and penetration, applicable both to political and to private life :
and the actual truths we find in them are even surpassed in value by the
encouragement and help they give us in the pursuit of truth. Human
invention has never produced anything so valuable in the way both of
Stimulation and of discipline to the inquiring intellect, as the dialectics
of the ancients, of which many of the works of Aristotle illustrate the
theory, and those of Plato exhibit the practice. No modern writings
come near to these, in teaching, both by precept and example, the way
to investigate truth, on those subjects, so vastly important to us, which
remain matters of controversy from the difficulty or impossibility of
bringing them to a direct experimental test. To question all things;
never to turn away from any difficulty: to accept no doctrine either from
ourselves or from other people without a rigid scrutiny by negative, criti
cism, letting no fallacy, or incoherence, or confusion of thought, slip by
unperceived; above all, to insist upon having the meaning of a word
clearly understood before using it, and the meaning of a proposition.be
fore assenting to it; these are the lessons we learn from the ancient
dialecticians. With all this vigorous management of the negative . ele
ment, they inspire no scepticism about the reality of truth, or indiffer
ence to its pursuit. The noblest enthusiasm, both for the search after
truth and for applying it to its highest uses, pervades these writers, Aris
totle no less than Plato, though Plato has incomparably the greater
power of imparting those feelings to others. In cultivating, therefore,
the ancient languages as our best literary education, we are all the while
laying an admirable foundation for ethical and philosophical culture. In
purely literary excellence—in perfection of form—the pre-eminence of
the ancients is not disputed. In every department which they at
tempted, and they attempted almost all, their composition, like their
sculpture, has been to the greatest modern artists an example to be
' looked up to with hopeless admiration, but of inappreciable value as a
light on high, guiding their own endeavours. In prose and in poetry,
in epic, lyric, or dramatic, as in historical, philosophical, and oratorical
art, the pinnacle on which they, stand is equally eminent. I am now
speaking of the form, the artistic perfection of treatment: for, as regards
substance, I consider modem poetry to be superior to ancient, in the
same manner, though in a less degree, as modern science : it enters
deeper into nature. The feelings of the modern mind are more various,
more complex and manifold, than those of the ancients ever were. The
modem mind is, what the ancient mind was not, brooding and self-con
scious ; and its meditative self-consciousness has discovered depths in
�30
Ou the Value of the Ancient Classical Languages
the human soul which the Greeks and Romans did not dream of, and
would not have understood. But what they had got to express’ they
expressed in a manner which few even of the greatest moderns’ have
seriously attempted to rival. It must be remembered that they had more
time, and that they wrote chiefly for a select class, possessed of leisure.
To us who write in a hurry for people who read in a hurry, the attempt
to give an equal degree of finish would be loss of time. But to be
familiar with perfect models is not the less important to us because the
element in which we work precludes even the effort to equal them.
They shew us at least what excellence is, and make us desire it, and
strive to get as near to it as is within our reach. And this is the value
to us of the ancient writers, all the more emphatically, because their
excellence does not admit of being copied, or directly imitated. It does
not consist in a trick which can be learnt, but in the perfect adaptation
of means to ends. The secret of the style of the great Greek and
Roman authors, is that it is the perfection of good sense. In the first
place, they never use a word -without a meaning, or a. word which adds
nothing to the meaning. They always (to begin with) had a meaning;
they knew what they wanted to say; and their whole purpose was to say
it with the highest degree of exactness and completeness, and bring it
home to the mind with the greatest possible clearness and vividness. It
never entered into their thoughts to conceive of a piece of writing as
beautiful in itself, abstractedly from what it had to express ; its beauty
must all be subservient to the most perfect expression of the sense. The
curiosa felicitas which their critics ascribed in a pre-eminent degree to
Horace, expresses the standard at which they all aimed. Their style is
exactly described by Swift’s definition, li the right words in the right
places.” Look at an oration of Demosthenes; there is nothing in it
which calls attention to itself as style at all: it is only after a close exa
mination we perceive that every word is what it should be, and where it
should be, to lead the hearer smoothly and imperceptibly into the state
of mind which the orator wishes to produce. The perfection of the
workmanship is only visible in the total absence of any blemish or fault,
and of anything which checks the flow of thought and feeling, anything
which even momentarily distracts the mind from the main purpose.
But then (as has been well said) it was not the object of Demosthenes
to make the Athenians cry out “ What a splendid speaker !” but to make
them say “ Let us march against Philip !” It was only in the decline of
ancient literature that ornament began to be cultivated merely as orna
ment. In the time of its maturity, not the merest epithet was put in
because it was thought beautiful in itself; not even for a merely descrip
tive purpose, for epithets purely descriptive were one of the corruptions
of style which abound in Lucan, for example : the word had no busi
ness there unless it brought out some feature which was wanted, and
helped to place the object in the light which the purpose of the com
position required. These conditions being complied with, then indeed
the intrinsic beauty of the means used was a source of additional effect,
of which it behoved them to avail themselves, like rhythm and melody
of versification. But these great writers knew that ornament for the
�and Literature in Education,
i
3*
sake, of ornament, ornament which attracts attention to itself, and shines
by its own beauties, only does so by calling off the mind from the main,
object, and thus not only interferes with the higher purpose of human
discourse, which ought, and generally professes, to have some matter to
communicate, apart from the mere excitement of the moment, but also
spoils the perfection of the composition as a piece of fine art, by de
stroying the unity of effect. This, then, is the first great lesson in com
position to be learnt from the classical authors. The second is., not to
be prolix. In a single paragraph, Thucydides can give a clear and vivid
representation of a battle, such as a reader who has once taken it into
his mind can seldom forget. The most powerful and affecting piece of
narrative, perhaps, in all historical literature, is the account of the
Sicilian catastrophe in his seventh book, yet how few pages does it fill 1
The ancients were concise, because of the extreme pains they took with
their compositions ; almost all modems are prolix, because they do not.
The great ancients could express a thought so perfectly in a few words
or sentences, that they did not need to add any more : the moderns, be
cause they cannot bring it out clearly and completely at once, return
again and again, heaping sentence upon sentence, each adding a little
more elucidation, in hopes that though no single sentence expresses the
full meaning, the whole together may give a sufficient notion of it. In
this respect, I am afraid we are growing worse instead of better, for want
of time and patience, and from the necessity we are in of addressing
almost all writings to a busy and imperfectly prepared public. The de
mands of modern life are such—the work to be done, the mass to be
worked upon, are so vast, that those who have anything particular to say
—who have, as the phrase goes, any message to deliver—cannot afford
to devote their time to the production of masterpieces. But they would
do far worse than they do, if there had never been masterpieces, or if
they had never known them. Early familiarity with the perfect makes
our most imperfect production far less bad than it otherwise would
be. To have a high standard of excellence often makes the whole
difference of rendering our work good when it would otherwise be
mediocre.
For all these reasons, I think it important to retain these two. lan
guages and literatures in the place they occupy, as a part of liberal edu
cation, that is, of the education of all who are not obliged by their
circumstances to discontinue their scholastic studies at a very early age.
But the same reasons which vindicate the place or classical studies in
general education, shew also the proper limitation, of them. They
should be carried as far as is sufficient to enable the pupil, in after life,
to read the great works of ancient literature with ease. Those who have,
leisure and inclination to make scholarship, or ancient history, or gene
ral philology, their pursuit, of course require much more; but there is
no room for more in general education. The laborious idleness in which
the school-time is wasted away in the English classical schools deserves
the severest reprehension. To what purpose should the most precious
years of early life be irreparably squandered in learning to write bad
Latin and Greek verses ? I do not see that we are much the better even
�32
Value of the Ancient Classical Langrtages and Literature.
for those who end by writing good ones. I am often tempted to ask the
favourites of nature and fortune, whether all the serious and important
work of the world is done, that their time and energy can be spared for
these nugce difficiles 1 I am not blind to the utility of composing in a
language, as a means of learning it accurately. I hardly know any
other means equally effectual. But why should not prose composition
suffice? What need is there of original composition at all? if that can
be called original which unfortunate schoolboys, without any thoughts to
express, hammer out on compulsion from mere memory, acquiring the
pernicious habit which a teacher should consider it one of his first duties
to repress, that of merely stringing together borrowed phrases ? The
exercise in composition, most suitable to the requirements of learners, is
that most valuable one, of retranslating from translated passages of a
good author: and to this might be. added, what still exists in many Con
tinental places of education, occasional practice in talking Latin. There
would be something to be said for the time spent in the manufacture of
verses, if such practice were necessary for the enjoyment of ancient
poetry; though it would be better to lose that enjoyment than to pur
chase it at so extravagant a price. But the beauties of a great poet
would be a far poorer thing than they are, if they only impressed us
through a knowledge of the technicalities of his art. The poet needed
those technicalities : they are not necessary to us. They are essential
for criticising a poem, but not for enjoying it. All that is wanted is suf
ficient familiarity with the language, for its meaning to reach us without
any sense of effort, and clothed with the associations on which the poet
counted for producing his effect. Whoever has this familiarity, and a
practised ear, can have as keen a relish of the music of Virgil and
Horace, as of Gray or Bums, or Shelley, though he know not the me
trical rules of a common Sapphic or Alcaic. I do not say that these
rules ought not to be taught, but I would have a class apart for them,
and would make the appropriate exercises an optional, not a compulsory
part of the school teaching.
Science and Art Department,—Nero Minute. — My Lords have
promulgated a new Minute to the effect, that every student in the future
who obtains a first or second class position in the May examination, in
any science subject, may teach, and earn the payments or results, a pri
vilege hitherto confined to certificated teachers. The teachers’ exami
nations for certificates in November are to be abolished. This action
of the Committee of Council assimilates, in this particular, the relation
of science teachers with the lately modified relation of the art teachers
to the Department
"
�33
THE SUPPLEMENTARY MINUTE OF THE REVISED CODE.
BY J. STUART LAURIE, FORMERLY H. M. INSPECTOR OF SCHOOLS.
HE reception accorded to the Revised Code four years ago is
still fresh in the memory of every one interested in the ques
tion of popular education. Educational bodies viewed, with
an alarm that amounted almost to a panic, the threatened
demolition of what they had been accustomed for a quarter of a century
to regard as the bulwarks of the system. But all protest was in vain;
and the representatives of the people sanctioned and ratified the official
proposals. Indiscriminate building grants to Primary,’and various grants
to Training, schools were cancelled; pupil-teachers could no longer
claim the enviable title of “pampered recipients of State bounty;”
teachers were constrained to relinquish, suddenly and unexpectedly,
their “ vested interests,” in the shape of the money-value which thencertificates variously represented; and annual grants henceforth took
the simple form of 4s. per head on the average attendance, and 2s. 8d.
per pass in the three fundamental branches of knowledge, Reading,
Writing, wiA Arithmetic. This was aptly termed, “payment for results”
and the practical ring of the phrase doubtless contributed largely to the
success of the measure. The gross result shows an annual “ saving ”
of no less than ^400,000, together with, in Mr. Lowe’s opinion, “in
creased efficiency,” into the bargain 1
But the permanency of that orator’s notable triumph was ever liable
to be endangered by a grave omission in his subversive system of tactics.
He omitted to include Her Majesty’s Inspectors in his taboo. He had at
hand a sufficiently feasible and ready-made plea for their abolition, too ;
seeing that the occupation of those gentlemen was, in a dignified pro
fessional -sense, clearly gone ; while the proposal would have been ably
■seconded by personal predilections, if one may draw an inference
from various acts of scant courtesy, and a uniformly supercilious bearing.
From whatever cause, H. M. Inspectors remained in the field, empowered
to report progress to two successive chiefs, neither of whom was above
lending an ear to deliberate representations, based on the results of
arduous experience acquired at the Queen’s expense.
Excellent a beginning to a scheme of national education as the
Revised Code would unquestionably have been, and admirably fitted as
it even, still is, as a groundwork for a noble superstructure, it has been
ascertained that, as a practical measure, it is capable of improvement:
that, for example (r), small schools—generally the most needy section—
derive but a meagre proportion of pecuniary benefit from the new form
of |rant; that (2), the rate at which pupil teachers are everywhere
diminishing forbodes the steady decay of that key-stone of the system ;
and that (3),the higher, non-paying subjects, such as Geography, Grammar,
and History, are vanishing, or have already vanished, from the common
routine of instruction. With a praiseworthy unanimity, the late VicePresident of the present, and the previous Vice-President of the late,
Government have combined their efforts to supply, at the trifling cost
vol. 1.
3
�34
The Supplementary Minute of the Revised Code.
of
ooo, remedies for the defects alluded to; and, what may be
styled, their joint plan has taken the form of a Supplementary Minute.
*
The title of the new Minute, and Mr. Corry’s early assurance that it
“ did not cancel a single article of the Revised Code]' ought, in all
reason, to have satisfied Mr. Lowe that the latter measure was not
about to be “tinkered” and “tampered with;” and it is therefore
hoped that his menace of “ a speedy and well-merited extinction of the
whole system,” will graciously be allowed to remain in abeyance, until
the country is ripe for a comprehensive, and emphatically national
scheme.
The heads of the Supplementary Minute are briefly as follow:—
I. The payment per pass in reading, writing and arithmetic, respec
tively, is raised from 2s. 8d. to 4s.—up to the maximum of 120 passes;
all in excess of that number being rated as formerly, at 2s. 8d.
The conditions annexed to this additional grant of
are («), that for
all scholars above 25 there be an apprentice for every 40, or an assistant
for every 80 in average attendance; (¿), that the number of passes exceed
200 per cent, of the annual average over six years of age, and, further,
that one fifth part of the whole number of passes fall under Standardsiv. to vi.; and (c), that at least one-fifth of the average over six years of
age pass a satisfactory examination in any specific subject or subjects;
scholars who have already passed in Standard vi. being, on the same
condition, entitled to claim a repetition of the grant.
II. In reference to condition («), the new Minute offers a distinct
aid towards its fulfilment, by means of a prospective bonus to schools of
¿10 and fs respectively, for every male apprentice admitted into a
training school in the first and second class; and the same schools are
further entitled to participate in the success of their former apprentices,
at the rate of
and ¿5 respectively, according to their rank in the
annual students’ examinations.
While no doubt can be entertained of the practical judiciousness of
these provisions, and of their fitness to dovetail into the structure of the
Revised Code, it remains to be seen whether much material advantage will
accrue to the smaller schools, shackled as they are by a too heavy
expenditure, and deplorable irregularity in the attendance ; and whether
the indirect inducements held out to apprentice-recruits will prove equal
to an emergency which want of confidence in the bona fides of the
Government and the large demands of rival labour markets have created.
This at least is certain—that the stimulus now given to the conservation
or restoration of the old scale of indispensable branches—Geography,
Grammar and History (which may be taught singly, or all three succes
sively adjusted to the progress of the several standards), will impart fresh
heart to the teacher; and that the moral intention of the measure will
be accepted by educationalists at large as an earnest that the legislature
did not mean, after all, to throw them eventually on their own, often
sorely overstrained, resources
*
In regard to the historical phases of the question, we seize this op
portunity to disabuse the public mind of the various illusory fictions with
�The Supplementary Minute of the Revised Code.
35
which the results of the “ Government ” scheme anterior to the present
one have been wantonly beset:—
1. “That system, where adequately developed, was not a failure, but
a triumphant success. The teaching was thoroughly good, not superfi
cial and ambitious, but sound and practical.” — (Mr. Fraser, Times,
April 18, and Commissioners’ Report, 1. 308—313.)
2. Where the efficiency was at fault, “ the great source lay in the
want of adequate funds preventing the employment of competent
teachers.”—(Com. Rep. n. 115.)
3. It was, therefore, a physical impossibility for teachers to pay the
requisite attention to the lower classes, especially in cases where pupil
teachers or stipendiary monitors were not procurable. And on the other
hand.
4. The unwise extension of the old capitation grant (for attendance
alone) to towns above 5000 inhabitants, in addition to the somewhat
lavish expenditure on building Primary, and subsidizing Training,
Schools, incited warrantable apprehensions as to the pitch which the
Parliamentary vote would ultimately be required to reach.
5. The unsatisfactory condition of the lower sections, which, how
ever, was greatly exaggerated, and so amplified in argument as to be
made to apply to schools as a -whole, combined with the desirability of
retrenchment to pave the way for a change.
6. Accordingly, when Mr. Lowe propounded the plan of the Revised
Code, professedly based on the conclusions of the Commissioners, and
guaranteed for the measure efficiency coupled with economy, the assent of
the House to the measure was readily given.
7. The new code substituted a simple and palpable, for a cumbrous
and indefinite, machinery, and it therefore displayed, among other
virtues, a captivating fitness for administrative purposes.
8. But, although many educationalists are prepared to acknowledge
its expediency as a basis for a national scheme, those immediately
acquainted with its mode of working, or practically engaged in working
it, object not so much to the limitation of the scale of subjects, as to the
virtual exclusion of education, in the true sense of the term, in connexion
with the instruction. The form of the teaching is now purely mechani
cal ; the memory and manual dexterity are exercised—the understanding
and imagination, not at all. Hence the grave complaint that the
“ tone ” of schools is lowered, a result which could not well be antici
pated by Mr. Lowe, seeing that “tone” is neither a quantititive
element; nor, as he confessed, cognizable by his intelligence. Obviously
it is only by increasing the teaching-power that larger and higher results,
can be secured, and we therefore hail the supplementary Minute as a.
step in the right direction.
3—2
�36
NEW EDUCATIONAL MINUTE.
The following minute by the Lords of the Committee of Council for
Education was adopted on the 20th of February last:—
Their lordships, having considered—1. The present ratio of teachers
to scholars in the elementary day schools under inspection, and the state
of instruction in such schools, as shown by the result of the examinations
under article 48 of the code, and by the reports of Her Majesty s in
spectors ; also, 2. The present supply of candidates qualified for ad
mission into the normal schools for training masters Resolved :
1. To provide in the estimate for public education in England and
Wales, during the financial year 31st March, 1867-8, for an additional
grant of is. 4d. per pass in reading, writing, or arithmetic, up to a sum
not exceeding ^8 for any one school (department), upon the following
conditions beyond those now specified in the articles 38'63
the code,
viz.:—
(«) The number of teachers must have allowed, throughout the
past year (article 17), at least one certificated or one assistant
teacher, fulfilling respectively the condition of articles 67 and
91-3, for every 80 scholars, or one pupil teacher fulfilling the
conditions of articles 81-9 for every 40 scholars after the first
25 of the average number of scholars in attendance.
(3) The number of passes in reading, writing, and arithmetic must 1.
exceed 200 per cent, of the annual average number of scholars
in attendance who are over six years of age. In schools where
the calculation of average attendance is made indiscriminately
upon scholars above and scholars under six years of age, the
school registers of age are to determine in what ratio the aveiage number in attendance is to be divided. 2. Fall under
Standards IV.—VI. to the extent of at least one-fifth part of
the whole number of passes.
(A The time tables of the school, in use throughout the past yeai
(article 17) must have provided for one or more specific sub
jects of secular instruction beyond article 48- The- inspector
must name the specific subject or subjects in his report, and
must state that at least one-fifth part of the average number of
scholars over six years of age have passed a satisfactory exami
nation therein.
.
.
2. To exempt for one year, from the operation of article 46, chil
dren who have already passed in Standard VI., provided they pass a
satisfactory examination in the subjects professed in their school beyon
articles 48 conformably to section (<?) in paragraph. 1 of this minute.
3. To provide in the same estimate for certain new grants to ele
mentary schools wherein it should appear from the inspector s ast
report that the number of teachers throughout the year (article 17) ia
been sufficient to satisfy section (zz) in paragraph 1 of this minute , sue
grants to be at the rate of ^10 for every male pupil teacher admitted
(articles 105-110) from the said elementary schools into any norma
school under inspection from candidates placed by examination m ie
�New Educational Minute.
yj
first class, and ^5 for every male pupil teacher so admitted from candi
dates in the second class.
3. To offer certain further new grants to the same elementary
schools for every male pupil teacher who having been admitted from
them into a normal school under inspection at the examination (articles
103) held in December, 1867, or at any later examination, should at
the end of his first year’s residence, be placed in the first or second
division (articles 119, 121, 1^2); such grants to be at the rate of ^8
for every student placed in the first division, and ^5 for every student
placed in the second division. No grants of this kind can become pay
able before December, 1868, and, therefore, although offered now, they
have no place in the estimate for the financial year March 1867-8.
5. To pay, in the financial year 31st March 1867-8, only so many
twelfth parts of the additional grants offered by this minute as, in the
case of grants under paragraph 1, equal the number of months from
1st April to the end of the school year (article 17), and, in the case of
grants under paragraph 3, equal the number (nine) of months from 1st
April to 31st December (article 81, f. 2.)
THE NEW EDUCATIONAL MINUTE IN THE HOUSE OF
COMMONS.
In the House of Commons on Friday, April 5th, Mr. Lowe, on the
motion for going into Committee of Supply, moved “ That this House
dissents from so much of the minute of the Committee of Council on
Education as provides for an increase of the grants now made to pri
mary schools.” He entered into an elaborate argument to show that in
most cases the money granted under this minute would be wasted, and
that it would do mischief instead of good. He stated that the minute
involved an increased expenditure of ^70,000 a year, and he contended
that this was not justified, considering the steady and satisfactory pro
gress which had been made under the system introduced in 1862.
There had already been an increase in the number of pupils amounting
to
10,000, and a saving of ^400,000, as compared with the expen
diture under the old system.
Mr. Corry defended the minute, and explained that its object was to
give assistance to small schools. He had felt from the representation
made to him that these schools were entitled to aid, and it was upon his
recommendation that the minute had been issued.
After some observations from Mr. P. F. Powell,
Mr. H. A. Bruce said the result of the new system introduced in
1862 was that the schools were receiving two-fifths less than they re
ceived formerly, the sum paid being ^620,000 instead of a million.
As to the minute, his only objection to it was that it was too econo
mical.
Mr. Henley and Mr. Pugh supported the minute.
i Mr. Hadfield denounced all State education whatever.
i. Upon a division Mr. Lowe’s motion was rejected by 203 to 40.
�38
; FORTHCOMING UNIVERSITY EXAMINATIONSOXFORD.
Three scholarships of ^70 a year each for three years, having been
founded in Balliol College by Miss Hannah Brackenbury “ for the
encouragement of the study of law and history, and of the study of
natural science, or one of the aforesaid studies, in order to qualify
students for the professions of law and medicine respectively;” there
will be an examination for one Scholarship, in the subject of natural
science, in November next; the precise time and further particulars to
be announced hereafter. Candidates must not have exceeded eight
terms from their matriculation. Papers will be set in the following sub
jects:—1, Mechanical Philosophy and Physics; 2, Chymistry,; 3, Phy
siology; but candidates will not be expected to offer themselves for
examination in one or more of the above subjects, if the Examiners
should consider it expedient.
_
On Saturday, May 4, there will be held an election at Merton College
to—1, One Classical Postmastership, value ^jioo per annum, tenable
for five years; 2, one Mathematical Postmastership, value ^j8o per
annum, tenable for five years; 3, one Classical Postmastership, value
¿£80 per annum, tenable for five years; 4, one National Science Scholar
ship, value £6q per annum, tenable for five years. Candidates for the
above must be under twenty years of age. Also, 5, one Classical Post
mastership, value ^j8o per annum, for five years, open to candidates of
any age; 6, one Exhibition, value ^25, for three years, also with no
limit of age. Candidates for the Natural Science Scholarship will be
examined in the ordinary classical matriculation subjects; viz., a portion
of a Greek and Latin author, Latin writing, grammar, arithmetic, and
algebra; and to those who pass this examination, papers will be offered
in physics, chymistry, and physiology. The examination begun April 30th.
A Fellowship will be filled up at Lincoln College on Tuesday, July
2. Candidates must call on the Rector some time before the 25th of
June. The examination will begin on Tuesday, the 25th of June, at
10 a.m. The Fellowship is open to all members of the University who
have passed all the examinations required for the degree of B.A. The
Fellow elected will be required to reside, and, except under certain con
tingencies, to take Holy Orders, within ten years.
There will be an election at Brasenose College on Friday, May 10, to
(at least) four open Scholarships—viz., three of the value of ¿£80 a
year during residence, and one of the value of ^73 during residence.
One of the former will be awarded for proficiency in mathematics, sub
ject to a pass examination in classics. Candidates, who must produce
evidence of being under 20 years of age, and must bring testimonials of
good conduct from their college or school, are required to present them
selves to the Principal between 8 and 9 p.m. on Monday, May 6, or
between 9 and 10 a.m. on Tuesday, May 7. The examination will
begin at the last-named hour.
_ _
There will be an election to an Open Scholarship in Pembroke Col
lege on Friday, May 17. The Scholarship is worth £72, and is tenable
for five years. An Exhibition, worth ^50, may be filled up at the same
�Forthcoming University Examinations.
39
time. In awarding this, the pecuniary circumstances of candidates will
be taken into account. The examination will commence on Tuesday,
the 14th, at 10 a.m., and candidates must be under 20 years of age.
CAMBRIDGE.
There will be an examination for two Exhibitions at King’s College on
the 12th, 13th, and 14th of June. The Exhibitions will be of the value
of ¿50 per annum, and will be tenable for three years, or until such
time as the student shall succeed in obtaining one of the Open Scholar
ships hereafter to be offered by the College. Candidates must be under
20 years of age, and have not previously entered any other College in
the University. Further information may be obtained from the Rev.
W. R. Chur ton, Tutor of the College..
There will be two minor Scholarships at Clare College open for com
petition to those intending to commence residence in October, of ^60
each, tenable for two and a half years, or till exchanged for a Founda
tion Scholarship. The examination will commence on Wednesday,
June 5, at 9 a.m. These Scholarships will be awarded to deserving
•candidates only. Preference will be given to those who show special
proficiency in either classics or mathematics. Candidates to send in
their names, with testimonials as to character, to the Rev. W. Raynes,
tutor. Subjects for examination:—Latin and Greek translation and
composition; Euclid, plane trigonometry, arithmetic, algebra, geome
trical and analytical conic sections.
An examination for four Minor Scholarships will be held in-Downing
College on Wednesday, the 5 th of June next, and the two following
days, and will begin at 9 a.m. on Wednesday. The examination will be
in Classics and Elementary Mathematics, but some weight will be given
to proficiency in French and German. Two additional papers of an
elementary character will be set, one on Moral Philosophy, .in connexion
with the principles of Jurisprudence, and on International Law; the
other on the Natural Sciences in connexion with Medicine—namely,
Chymistry, including Analysis, Mineralogy, Botany, Comparative
Anatomy, and Physiology: and in awarding two of these Scholarships
•considerable importance will be attached to any special proficiency in
the legal or in the medical subject. Persons who have not been entered
at any College in the University, or who have not resided one entire
term in any such College, are eligible to these Minor Scholarships,
which will be of the value of ^40 per annum, and tenable for two years,
or until their holders are elected to Foundation Scholarships. No one
elected Minor Scholar will receive any emoluments until he has com
menced residence as a student of the College.
The syndicate for conducting the non-gremial examinations at Cam
bridge have just presented a report as to the girls’ examination, which
was originally put forward merely as a' three years’ experiment. They
-state that the scheme has been a complete success, and recommend
that the examination be made a permanency. No lists are to be pub
lished, but each girl who passes is to receive a certificate, and those who
have passed with credit, certificates of honour. The examinations are
�40
Forthcoming University Examinations.
to be at the same times and in the same subjects as those of the boys.
For the junior examination the girls are not to be more than sixteen
years of age, and for the senior examination not more than eighteen
years; all,, except in cases where the parents disapprove, are to be
examined in religious knowledge.
.The Oxford Local Examinations.—The Oxford Local Exami
nations will be held this year at Oxford, London, Bath, Birmingham,
righton, Exeter, Faversham, Finchley, Gloucester, Leeds, Lincoln,
Liverpool, Manchester, Northampton, Nottingham, Southampton,
launton, Truro, West Buckland, Windermere. The examination will
commence in each place on Tuesday, the nth of June, at 9 o’clock, a.m.
The Master and Fellows of Balliol College, Oxford, anxious to encouiage middle-class education, have offered five exhibitions to be com
peted, foi at the Oxford Local Examinations in the present year. These
exhibitions will be of the annual value of ^52 i°s., and will betenable
during residence for four years. They will be offered to those among
the senior candidates who shall obtain the highest places in the first
division of the. general list. The Exhibitioners will be expected to pro
duce testimonials of good conduct, and to commence residence in
January, 1868 ; and will be required to pass the first of their University
Examinations (Responsions) within six months. The Exhibitioners will
have to pay to the University an admission fee of ^2 10s. and an
annual fee of ^1. They will also have to pay to Balliol College the
annual sums of ^22 8s. for tuition, and of ¿"io for furnished lodgings ;
but they will not be subject to any other College charges, and they will
be able to regulate the expense of their own living.
Middle Class Education in the Metropolis. — The second
annual meeting of the Governors of the Corporation lately established
by Charter for the promotion of Middle Class Education in the Metro
polis, was held on Monday, March 18th, in the Mansion House, the
Lord Mayor in the chair. The school in Bath Street, City Road, was
opened at Michaelmas, and the Council congratulated the Governors on
the success which had attended it. During the first quarter there were
518 scholars, there are now 650, with upwards of 200 applicants for
admission, for whom the Council cannot find accommodation in the
present building. They hoped to be able to obtain from the Ecclesias
tical Commissioners, with whom they were in treaty on the subject,
upwards of an acre of freehold ground of the Finsbury estate, on which
a school capable of accommodating 1000 scholars could be built. The
erection of a similar school would shortly be commenced in Southwark.
There was a sum of ^48,412 in hand. The report and statement of
accounts were adopted. Sir John Lubbock, Mr. Aiderman J. Lawrence,
Mr. J. P. Gassiot, Mr. Samuel Morley, Mr. Sheriff Waterlow, and
others, addressed the meeting. Letters were read from Mr. Goschen
and other members of Parliament, regretting their inability to attend.
After the transaction of some formal business, a vote of thanks to the
Lord Mayor closed the proceedings.
�4i
'KING EDWARD’S SCHOOLS, WITLEY, GODALMING.
HE pleasant and healthy neighbourhood of Witley, a village
and railway station on the line from London to Portsmouth,
a few miles beyond Godaiming, has been chosen as the new
site of the above schools, consisting of an Industrial School
for Boys, and a Girl’s School. The schools were formally opened out
Friday, April the 5th.
It is worth while to glance at the history of this foundation. In the
year 1552 the citizens of London presented a supplication to King
Edward VI., “in the name of the poor, and for Jesus Christ’s sake,”
that his Majesty would be pleased to grant them one of his houses,
called the Palace of Bridewell (situated between St. Bride’s Church and
the Fleet, which is now New Bridge Street), for the harbour and lodging,
of the said poor. This request was granted; and while stringent lawswere enacted to put down the social evils of beggary, misery and thievery,
which were then rife in the city of London, it was provided that the
poor-house at Bridewell should be a workhouse, where those who needed
relief at the public cost should be compelled to earn' it by their labour.
But the legislators and social reformers of that day, being wiser, ap-#
parently, than we are now, did not think it was doing enough to deal
with the case of adult pauperism. They sought also to prevent its
growth, by teaching the young to work for an honest living. “And first,”
say.the citizens of London, in their supplication to the King, “we
thought to begin -with the poor child; that he should be harboured, fed
and clothed, and virtuously trained up;” whereupon they proceed to
state their plans for the establishment of the Industrial Schools, or
“ House of Sundry Occupations,” in which a variety of useful trades may
be taught to the boys and girls who would else be running wild and
wicked in the streets. So truly did the benevolence or prudence of the
Londoners, three hundred years ago, anticipate the efforts of the foundersof our modem “Homes” and “Refuges,” which are “supported by
voluntary contributions,” and are confessedly unequal to the wants of
the present time. Bridewell Hospital was intrusted, in 1557, to the
management of the governors of the House of Bethlem, which was then
situated on the north side of the City walls, outside Bishopsgate, and
was afterwards erected in Moorfields. It very naturally came to pass
that, in connection with the relief of the destitute, and with the educa
tion of children at Bridewell, there were cells or prisons for the punish
ment of beggars, prostitutes, and other disorderly persons, as well as of
idle or disobedient apprentices, such as we see in some of Hogarth’s
pictures; this part of the establishment, with the whipping-post and
stocks, being under the magisterial jurisdiction of the Aldermen of the
city of London. In 1831 the Schools and House of Occupations be
longing to Bridewell were removed from New Bridge Street to a site
adjoining the premises now occupied by Bethlem.
The prison and the workhouse have been superseded by the modem
establishment of Houses of Correction in the one case, and by the
�42
King Edward's Schools, Witley, Godalming.
operation of the New Poor Law in the other; but King Edward’s
Schools have continued their useful work. This institution was, for
many years, .to all intents and purposes, a reformatory school for juvenile
criminals; in fact, it might claim the honour of having set the first
example of that great movement which has latterly been carried on by
the reformatory schools established in London and in other parts of the
kingdom. We find it stated in a report by the chaplain, the Rev. E.
Rudge, that, so lately as 1856, nearly one fourth of the inmates of King
Edward’s Schools were convicted criminals, and some of the boys had
been several times in prison. The institution is now placed on quite a
different footing. It has been converted into a school rather for desti
tute than for criminal children. By the existing rules, criminal children
are not to be received, except in special cases, and the proportion of
them is limited to one sixth part of the whole number of inmates; but,
practically, even this proportion has never been reached since the new
scheme came into operation, and there are now only two or three of the
boys who have been convicted of crime. A few destitute cases are
admitted from the city of London on the recommendation of the Aider
men. The number of boys at the end of last year in the schools was
74, and of girls 100; the total number of both sexes from 1830 to 1866
e inclusive having been 3653. Their average age on admission is twelve
or thirteen. Some of the boys are instructed by “ arts-masters ” in such
trades as tailoring and shoemaking, to which gardening will now perhaps
be added; the girls learn needlework, and that of the kitchen and
laundry; the school teaching consists of reading, writing, arithmetic,
English history, geography, singing, and the Church Catechism. Of
those who left the school during the last year, twenty boys entered the
royal navy, eleven entered the army, and others were apprenticed to
trades, or sent home to their friends; the girls were placed in domestic
service. By a wholesome and praiseworthy regulation, 178 boys’and 42
girls, former inmates of the schools, attended before the committee of
governors with certificates of good conduct from their employers, and
received the customary reward of ^1 each, some for the first time,
others for the second or third time; as the governors keep an eye upon
them during three years from their leaving the schools.
University Education-.—The Bill brought in by Mr. Ewart, Mr. Neate, and Mr.
Pollard-Urquhart to extend the benefits of Education in the Universities of Oxford
and Cambridge to students not belonging to any college or hall, provides that, not
withstanding anything contained in any Act of Parliament now in force relating to
either of the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge, or in statutes, charters, deeds of
composition, or other instruments of foundation, of either of the said Universities,
or of any college or hall within the same, any person may be matriculated without
being entered as a member of any college or hall, and may, if he shall think fit. join
himself to any college or hall, with the consent of the head thereof, but without being
obliged to reside within the same ; and every person so matriculated shall in all re
spects and for all intents or purposes be and be considered as a member of the Uni
versity, and upon joining any college or hall shall in all respects and for all intents or
purposes be and be considered as a member thereof. For the purposes of this Act
the cathedral or house of Christ Church, in Oxford, shall be considered to be to all
intents and purposes a college of the University of Oxford.
�43
’ Mr. Gladstone on Compulsory Education.—Mr. Gladstone has
addressed the following letter to the Rev. J. Oakley .
« ii, Carlton House Terrace, S.W. Feb. 20.
“Rev. and dear Sir—I have read the report of the subcommittee
of the London Diocesan Board of Education with much interest, and it
is from no feeling of indifference or aversion if I decline to take part in
its proceedings on the subject. It is because I make it a rule on all
questions of a nature to come before Parliament for its decision, to
avoid, if possible, taking any part beyond its walls, 111 order that I may
be at liberty to act freely for the best at the proper time.
“ As regards opinion, however, I may say that while I well understand,
or at least appreciate, the grounds of the present movement, and.a“very glad that the clergy, under the bishop, have entered actively into
the matter, I yet see much difficulty in the way of direct compulsory
measures. I have always leaned very much to a scheme, the mam point
of which was, that it should be made penal to employ for wages persons
below a certain age not furnished with certain certificates of education
and attainment.
,
, , • „
“ A plan of this kind was prematurely proposed some years back in a
bill by Mr. Adderley, and was rejected on account of the immature
state of circumstances, which, however, must probably ripen from year
to year. A measure of that nature might be brought into action gra
dually, like the new law of 1834.
.
“ I remain, dear Sir, your very faithful servant,
“Rev. J. Oakley.”
“w- K Gladstone.
NOTICES OF NEW BOOKS.
Calisthenics; or the Elements of Bodily Culture-—On Pestalozzian Prin
ciples, designed for Practical Education in Schools, Colleges, Families,
&c. By Henry de Laspee, 2nd Ed. Griffin & Co.
This work is well known to teachers of Calisthenics, and has been so
often favourably noticed, that we need here merely record the appearance
of a second edition of it. In the preface the author makes the following
TCixi^^ks * —-
,
“In reply to the chief objections raised against my system: First, 'That
it is too scientific and laborious for general use,’ . I can only say, that
having myself been from early youth regularly trained, and being per
fectly well acquainted with all which passed for, and was admitted into
schools as, Physical Education ; it was the inadequacy and inefficiency
as branches of Education, which caused me to deviate from, and re
linquish them, and led me to this system, as more simple and compre
hensive than the others; and which will be found to be so, after a little
study, when it will enable any judicious teacher, governess or mother,
to teach and apply it with good effect. Secondly: 'that I had copied my
work from another abroad,’ is easily answered, when I state, that, even to
�44
Notices of New Books.
this day, there exists not another book on the subject of Physical Edu
cation, like mine: methodically treated as to tendency, from elements
to object. When I resolved and proceeded to commit my system to
writing, it had no precedents, nor were there authorities, which I could
ave consulted, except Pestalozzi’s method, for the treatment of the
subject of Bodily Culture/: Pursuing the same, the course lay already
before me; I was no more my own master, so as to write down, or leave
out,.what I wished; and even what remained of my own prejudices had
to give way, to what method dictated.”
An Elementary Physical Atlas, intended chiefly for Map drawing. By the
Rev. J. P. Faunthorpe, B.A., F.R.G.S., Vice-Principal and Geogra
phical Lecturer of Battersea Training-College.
Map drawing though comparatively a new branch of instruction is
m Middle-Class, as well as Primary Schools, steadily attaining the
prominence it deserves as a mechanical aid towards, and confirmatory
test of, Geographical knowledge. The work before us is the latest, and
one of the most meritorious efforts in this direction; and, as the Batter
sea students have always stood in the first rank in this subject, in con
nexion with the Certificate examinations, the authorship is a satisfactory
guarantee of the practical ability displayed in this compilation. The
maps are severally executed in Mr. Stanford’s well known style ; and the
whole is preceded by concise instructions in letter-press, first, in regard
to the general difficulties, and, secondly, in the form of specific directions
for each map
Questions and Answers on Geography, the Globes and Astronomy with a
short Account of the Winds, Tides, Air, &c. By J. J. Hooke. London :
T. J. Allman.
This new Historical Geography of Mr. J. J. Hooke, supplies a desi
deratum long felt in schools; seeing it contains a large amount of in
formation, interestingly put together, and which is found in no other
book of the same kind. The answers to the questions are not verbose,
nor is there one word de trop; and, therefore, the pupil is not neces
sitated to cull his information from matter which is often made obscure
by a too profuse use of words.
We do not say that Mr. Hooke’s book is superior to other geographies
or even that it is equal to some; but we consider it is free from the
fault which many of them have, viz., of saying too much, and thus
yearying the pupil; or of others, which are too meagre. The subjects
introduced are,. of necessity, numerous, so that the amount of instruc
tion contained in so small a compass is somewhat surprising. A brief
discourse on Astronomy is added ; but no more is said about it than the
youthful mind can readily comprehend. There are also short chapters'
on the Winds, Tides, Air, Eclipses, the Thermometer, and various other
subjects, all explained in as concise a form as possible, and in a manner
capable of being easily understood by the learner.
�45
WORDS.
^Passages from various Writers in illustration of certain words.
words arranged alphabetically.
Abrade (to wear away). “For fifteen
years the treaty of Vienna was observed as
sacredly as if it had been written on the
skies ; and it has taken nearly fifty years
altogether to abrade this mighty land
mark down to the level of history.”
Times.
Absinthe (a narcotic). “The American
Tax Bill adopts all these in an exaggerated
form, and swallows them as a whet, just
as an epicure swallows a taste of absinthe
or an anchovy, or half-a-dozen oysters, to
prepare the appetite.”—Times.
Abstention (?vs/?'«iU). “The dignity
Of France will end by being compromised
and abstention will become a duty.”—
Times.
■ Ab sums (to destroy gradually'). . “ Since
we last mentioned the Pontiff, his patri
mony had absumed away from him like
grease before the fire.”—Temple Bar.
Acclaim (shout ofpraise). ‘“The Liberty
of the Press ; it is the air we breathe, if
we have it not we die
And then what
Stentorian cheering till the walls of the old
Crown and Anchor shook again ; and the
crowds in the Strand took up the acclaim
■—and even sleepy Temple Bar seemed in
clined to make an effort towards an echo.”
—Times.
Acclimatized (inured to a climate).
“ The general good health of sailors in the
Arctic regions proves nothing against the
depressing influence of cold, for these
sailors are picked men, and in the prime
of life. Under such circumstances it may,
perhaps, be possible to become ‘ acclima
tized,’ and to feel the cold less the longer
the exposure to it.”—Times.
Acolyte (boys attendant upon the priest
hood. “ Then comes the bishop in his
mitre, his yellow stole upheld by two prin
cipal priests (the curate and sub-curate),
and to him his acolytes waft incense, as
well as to the huge figure of the Madonna
Which follows.”—Roba de Roma, by W.
Story.
Acumen (quickness of intellect). “In
the north of America the people are all
protectionists, in the south they are all
free-traders,notbecausethe south possesses
any greater amount of logical ACUMEN
The
than the north, but because each acts only
for its own interests.”—Times.
Adhibit (to apply). “ In May, 1830,
George IV. became so greatly debilitated
that it was found inconvenient and painful
for him to sign with his own hand public
documents; a bill was, therefore, passed
allowing the sign manual to be adhibited
by a stamp in his Majesty’s presence.”—
Dr. Farr.
JEgis (a shield).
“But as General
Hunter has friends in the cabinet, and is
supposed to be sheltered under the broad
jEG-is of Mr. Secretary Stanton, to whom
the president defers in military matters, it
is possible that he will be allowed to re
tain his post.”—-Times.
“ Providence has covered you with its
2EGIS, and the country with its acclama
tions.”—Address oe the Legislative
Body to the Emperor Napoleon,
March, 1861.
^Esthetic (the science of our feelings and
emotions.) “ No rich drawing-room could
show more taste in its arrangements, or
have a more soothing effect on a mind to
which the sense of ¿esthetic fitness is its
native element.”—Miss Mulock.
“ A purely painful domestic tragedy in
deed, or a subject calculated merely to
harrow up the feelings of the spectator, or
to excite feelings of horror and disgust
like many of the Spanish pictures of mar
tyrdom, should, in our judgment, be pro
scribed as violating ¿ESTHETIC propriety.”
—Times.
Affluent (flowing). “There is another
word which I have just employed.—
affluent—in the sense of a stream which
does not flow into the sea, but joins a
larger stream; as, for instance—the Isis
is an affluent of the Thames, the Moselle
of the Rhine.”—Dr. Trench.
Agglomerate (to gather up as a ball).
“ The rest of the place and of the inhabi
tants, as I saw it, and them, might be con
sidered as an agglomerate of three or
four sheds, a few long huts, a saw mill,
and some twenty negroes sitting on a log
looking at the trains.”—Times Corre
spondent (Mr. Russell).
Agnatic (a descentfrom the samefather).
�46
Words.
“ The Duchies can, therefore, in no way
pretend that violence has been done to
their rights. Their agnatic succession
has been completely respected, and is now
the law of the whole monarchy. The only
question then, regards the Augustenburg
family.”—Times.
Alembic (a vessel used in distilling).
“ The moment a doctrine is propounded,
hundreds of busy brains are at work to
look at it, from every possible point of
view, to ventilate, to sift, to examine, and
regard it under every conceivable light or
shade. In this fiery alembic truth is
effectually separated from falsehood, and
things are brought down from vague ge
neralities [to practical principles.” —
Times.
“ Cobden’s ideal of universal peace was
not perchance the highest ; but every
thing that was good and noble in his idea
remains with us, and is still a part of our
vital force. Purged of its crudities, in
the sacred alembic of death, it is now of
tenfold worth and purity.” — Tele
graph.
Ambidexter (« double dealer). “ In
comparably more brilliant, more splendid,
eloquent, accomplished, than his rival, the
great St. John could be as selfish as Ox
ford was, and could act the double art as
skilfully as ambidextrous Churchill
(Marlboro).’ ’—Thackeray.
Amenities {agreeableness of situation).
“ I see nothing in the acquirement of a
livelihood by manual labour that degrades
a man of good character. I want to know
why it j is that these amenities of life
should be confined to one class—that the
man that gets his livelihood by mere ma
nual labour should not be as refined as the
greatest man in the land.”—Mr. Roebuck.
Amplify (to enlarge). “ I cannot, how
ever, go along with the honourable mem
ber in thinking that the mere abolition of
passports is a great security for peace be
tween two nations, and I think that in
making such an assertion, the hon. mem
ber rather amplifies a small matter.”—
Lord Palmerston.
Amplitude (largeness, abundance). “Had
Mr. Page only put the public to great in
convenience by pulling down the old
Westminster Bridge, and stopping the
traffic till the new one was thrown open in
all its amplitude of way, what a jubilee
there would have been at its opening.”—
Times.
Anachronism (an error in computing
time). “ And now that Italy has organ
ized herself, and the period of revolution
has passed into that of regular and estab
lished government, the intervention of
France is an anachronism which she her
self ought to be the first to recognize.”—
Times.
“For the ancient history of Egypt, four
authorities; are relied upon; they differ
one from another by hundreds, indeed by
thousands of years. To make Napoleon
the Great the immediate successor of
Charlemagne would not be a greater ana
chronism than is to be found in com
paring the assertions of the four authori
ties in question.”—Examiner.
Ancillary (subservient). “ The mover
and supporters of this bill very fairly avow
that it is the first step towards proposing
the ballot for parliamentary elections.
One honourable member has told us that
it is ancillary and supplementary to a
proposal of vote by ballot.”—Lord Pal
merston.
Angularities (angles or corners). “We
have debated upon public affairs till we
have hardly left to ourselves a substantial
difference of opinion to debate about.-—
We have rounded the corners, and planed
off the angularities, till there is hardly
anything left to lay hold of.”—Times.
Anneal (to temper). “In that case war
would gratify the warlike passions of the
American people, both north and south,
and would tend in popular opinion to
strengthen and anneal the broken links
of their ancient partnership.”—Times. .!
Anomalies (irregularities). “ It is in
evitable that the question should arise—
shall these anomalies be meddled with ?
shall it be attempted to remove them, and
bring writing and speech into harmony
and consent.”—Dr. Trench.
“ The new anomalies which it intro
duces, and the old anomalies which it
spares and re-enacts, are equally mischiev
ous and unmeaning.”—Times.
Anomaly (a deviation). “The Horse
Guards receive three-pence a day—or
twenty-five per cent, more pay than the
Blues. This has gone on for many years
—at last the anomaly struck some medi
tative individual, and he devoted his lei
sure to an. historical inquiry into the
matter.’ ’—Times.
Anonyme (feigned name). “Historicus
in his reply to me yesterday, does himself
great credit as an adroit special pleader,
whatever judgment must be passed upon
that candour which his chosen ANONYME
seems to claim.”—G. N. SAUNDERS.
�THE
AGENCY
DEPARTMENT
In connection with the “ Quarterly Journal" is conducted by Mr. F. S. de
Carteret-Bisson, at 70, Berners Street, Oxford Street, W., to whom all
Communications relating to this Department should be made.
Ko in SCHOOLS FOR SALE.
No. in
Register.
suburb. Held on lease, 14 years unex
281. LONDON.—Superior School for La- pired, at a very low rental. The rent of
dies. Established. 25 years, and situate
the mansion is only £150 (worth £250).
in a favourite suburb of London. Aver
Price for this valuable lease, £550 ; fix
age attendance 30 Boarders : terms 50
tures and fittings at valuation. Full
guineas each, besides extras (day pupils
particulars, with view of house, on ap
easily obtained if desired). A splendid
plication at 70, Berners Street.
detached Mansion, standing in its own 299. MIDDLESEX.—A high class School
grounds, with lawns, croquet ground,
for Gentlemen’s sons ; numbering 75
conservatory, and every convenience.
Boarders. The premises are delightfully
Bent £130. Gross receipts past year
situate not far from Town, and are his
£2,007 7s. Goodwill £650. School
own freehold property, comprising a com
fixtures and furniture at valuation. The
modious house, with dormitories, school
average gross receipts for past 3 years
rooms, out-houses, master’s residence,
are £1.990 6s. 4d. The house and
covered play-ground, fives-court, a
grounds are in every way suited for a
cricket-field of 5 acres, gardens, &c. The
high class school. A bath room and hot
terms for pupils were originally from 60
and cold water for the upper rooms, also
to 80 guineas,but they have been raised
gas has been introduced at the vendor’s
to 80 and 100 guineas. Rent only £200
expense. Books and accounts (clearly
per annum, goodwill £3,000 to be spread
kept) may be seen at Mr. Bisson’s Office,
over a number of years. Furniture at
extending over a period of 10 years.
valuation.
229a. MIDDLESEX.—A Boarding and
Day School for Gentlemen’s sons, situ SCHOOLS AND PARTNERSHIPS
ate in a healthy locality in the N.W.
WANTED.
district of London. A capital house, 3fr. Bisson calls the attention of intending pur
well adapted for school purposes, large chasers to his Bi-monthly List No. 4, issued gratis,
on the 2nd inst. The successful result of a large
playground and garden adjoining, all number of negotiations (see page 8) has reduced the
held upon lease (9 years unexpired) at school properties at present in the market to a very
the low rental of £60. There are 25 small number.
Boarders, averaging from 25 to 40 271. A B.A. of Dublin seeks a partner
ship, £1000 at command.
guineas each, 3 day boarders, and 3 day
pupils, paying good terms. The gross 274. A B.A. of Dublin wants a school
income for past year was £800. Terms
near Town.
for goodwill £200; household furniture 275. A B.A. of Cambridge wishes to join
or part can be taken, if desired, at a
as partner, £500 to invest.
276. An M.A. of Cambridge desires a
valuation.
.
*
295 STAFFORDSHIRE.—ABoarding
partnership.
and Day School for Boys, established 10 281. A B.A. of Cambridge in orders will
years. There are at present 20 board
buy a good-school.
ers. Terms 28 to 30 guineas, with ex 283. A B.A. of Oxford, £300 to invest.
tras, and 50 day pupils, paying £5 and 284. An M.A. of Cambridge (in orders),
£6 a year, besides extras. There is a
£1000 at command.
good play-ground with outbuildings. 285. A Wrangler. Experienced. £300
Rent £60, taxes about £10. The gross
to invest.
receipts the past year were £900. 286. A B.A. of Oxford. £500 to invest.
Terms of sale, goodwill £300, (a year’s 272. A Middle class Boarding and Day
purchase). School and household fur
School wanted.
niture at a valuation.
273. An experienced Tutor (age 24) de
240. MIDDLESEX.—The nucleus of an
sires a partnership.
old established School, with a splendid 276. A B.A. of Oxford wishes to purchase
and commodious Mansion, in thorough
a School. £1000 to invest.
repair, to be obtained on most advanta 277. A Clergyman wishes to purchase a
geous terms. The house is an elegant
good School near London.
building, and can accommodate 50 to 278. A Clergyman (in high honours)
60 Boarders ; it is situate in a favourite
wants a first class School.
Register.
,
�The Agency Department.
Schools, &c., Wanted—continued.
No. in
*
'¡Register
289. An experienced teacher seeks a good
Partnership. Capital to invest, £700.
282. A Clergyman wishes to purchase a
^School in Hants, Bucks, or London.
2/9. An M.A. of Cambridge seeks a good
, opening, Partnership or otherwise.
The following are a few Lady Clients, who
wish to purchase Schools.
-300. A Lady wants a small school, near
London. Capital £150.
No. in
Register.
301. A small preparatory School for Boys.
£250 to invest.
302. A boarding School for Girls. £300
to invest.
303. A School for Ladies, near’ Town.
£500 at command.
300. A boarding and day School. £800
at command.
305. Asmall School. Capital£300 to invest.
306. A good School, near Town. Capital
I to invest, £700.
TUTORS SEEKING APPOINTMENTS AT THE MIDSUMMER
QUARTER, 1867.
arista.
Graduates.
5361. B.A. Oxford, (2nd class Classical
4667. B.A. Oxford (in orders). Classics,
honours). Classics, mathematics, and
mathematics junior, chemistry, French,
English subjects. Age 27, salary £150.
German and English subjects. Age
English Masters.
27, experience 6 years, salary £120.
4738. B.A. Cambridge. Classics, mathe 4710. Classics, moderate mathematics to
quadratics, French gram. English sub
matics, French and English subjects.
jects. Age 22, salary £25.
Age 24, salary £100.
4771. M.A. and B.A. Cambridge. Clas 4883. Classics, mathematics, French and
English subjects. Age 28, salary £60.
sics, mathematics, French, German and
English subjects. Age 30, (in orders), 4897. Drawing, all styles, and English
subjects. _ Age 24, salary £60.
Salary £180.
4778. B.A. Cambridge, (Senior Optime) 4912. Classics, mathematics, drawing
music, and English subjects. Age 21,
Classics, mathematics, French, German,
salary £30.
Drawing and English subjects. Age
5041. Classics, mathematics, French,
24, salary £100.
Drawing and English subjects. Am
■4887. M.A. Dublin. Classics, mathema
36, salary £50.
°
tics, music, organ singing and English
5056. Classics, mathematics, and English
subjects. Age 30, salary, £120.
subjects. Age 21, salary £30.
.5015. B.A. Cambridge (19 Wrangler).
Classics, mathematics, English. A<m 5107. Classics and mathematics, high,
French, German, and English subjects.
22. Salary £150.
°
5059. B.A. Durham (in honours). Clas- ; Age 30, salary £60.
sics, mathematics junior, English sub- I 5114. Classics and mathematics, high, and
jects. Age 25, salary £100.
; English subjects. Age 24, salary £45.
5063. B.A. of Cambridge (Wrangler and 5173. Mathematics, English subjects,
piano, organ, &c. Age 21, salary'£30.
2nd Class Classical Tripos). Age 27,
5309. Classics, mathematics, French,
salary £200.
piano, and English subjects. Age 20,
5074. B.A. Oxford. Classics, mathema
salary £30.
tics, and English. Age 27, salary £120.
5086. B.A. Cambridge (Wrangler). Clas
Foreign Masters.
sics, mathematics, and English sub
136. French and drawing in all styles.
jects. Salary, £150.
Age 30, salary £50.
5135. B.A. Oxford (in orders). Classics,
Mathematics, German and English 315. French, German, drawing. Age 27,
salary £50.
subjects. Age 28, salary £120.
5156. B.A. Cambridge (15 Wrangler). 277. French, German, classics, piano,
organ. Age 29, salary £50.
Classics, mathematics, French and
404. French, German, mathematics,
English. Age 24, salary £150.
drawing. Age 24, salary £40.
5334. M.A. Cambridge. High Second
Classical Tripos. Classics, French, En 416. French, German, drawing, music.
Age 24, salary £50.
glish. Age 27, salary £150.
5316. B.A. Oxford. Classics, mathema 418. French, classics, mathematics, music,
piano, drawing. Salary £60.
tics, French and English. Age 22,
salary £100.
150 numbers omitted for want of space.
�
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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
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Conway Hall Ethical Society
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The quarterly journal of education, Vol.1 No.1, May 1867
Date
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1867
Identifier
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G5681
Description
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Place of publication: [London?]
Collation: 48 p. ; 21 cm.
Notes: From the library of Dr Moncure Conway.
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[Unknown]
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[s.n.]
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Education
Women
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<img src="http://i.creativecommons.org/p/mark/1.0/88x31.png" alt="Public Domain Mark" /><br /><span>This work (The quarterly journal of education, Vol.1 No.1, May 1867), 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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Text
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English
Conway Tracts
Education of women
Education-Great Britain
Teaching
-
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Text
SECOND EDITION, NOW READY.
THE
SACRED
ANTHOLOGY
A BOOK OF ETHNICAL SCRIPTURES.
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 have been carefully revised.
The book contains 740 Readings from the Asiatic and Scan
dinavian Sacred Books and ClassicsJarranged 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 Hebrew and Christian Scriptures.
The idea of the work is an excellent one, and Mr. Conway deserves great
credit for being the first to realise it.— Westminster Review.
It remains for us to point out some of the remarkable coincidences
in the principles of morals and religion which Mr. Conway’s diligence
and tact have brought together. Hillel and Confucius enunciated the
same warning in almost the same words—“ What you 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
jt 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 a 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 wise 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 :—“ Sdnyfisis (? 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, but 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 E Festus,” announced as forthcoming
a book entitled “ Poetical Divinity,” the 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 Advertise-M^
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 in existence 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, 11, South Place, Finsbury.
Price, ios. Postage, 9d.
�
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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
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: a book of ethnical scriptures [announcement]
Description
An account of the resource
Place of Publication: London
Collation: [4] p. ; 22 cm.
Notes: From the library of Dr Moncure Conway. The publisher's announcement for the second edition. Includes extracts from press reviews of the first edition. Duplicated between pages 200-201 of Joseph Estlin Carpenter's review also in Conway Tracts 6.
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Trubner & Co.
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
[1889?]
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
G5598
Creator
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[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: a book of ethnical scriptures), 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
Subject
The topic of the resource
Book reviews
Book Reviews
Conway Tracts
Moncure Conway
Oriental Literature
Sacred Books
-
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f827b7b2cc9c0c5a93354e8080c50b96
PDF Text
Text
PROFESSOR TYNDALL’S
INAUGURAL ADDRESS.
[From The Inquirer of September 5, 1874.]
HE Inaugural Address delivered at Belfast, on
August 19, by Professor Tyndall, President of
the British Association, has probably come like a
thunder-clap to thousands who have read it or heard
of it. For here is one of the strongest, one of the
most generally acknowledged, representatives of
science, the chief, indeed, of the highest scientific
society in the world, from the very throne of science
—the presidential chair—speaking what will seem to
multitudes no other, than the most undisguised
Materialism, which to them will also be the blankest
Atheism. For it will seem the burden of the Address,
that matter alone is the mother and cause of all things,
and that beside it there is no other cause. No God,
no human soul.
When so intelligent a journal as the Spectator thus
interprets the Address in the issue immediately after
its delivery, we may be sure that thousands of persons
will thus interpret it also. And this word of Tyndall,
coming from such a source, supported by such pres
tige and such authority, will make the hearts of many
quail and sicken with fear and sadness. They will
feel a great darkness falling on them. The same
doctrine they will no doubt have often heard before,
but not from such a quarter, with such distinctness,
and coming with such terrible weight. They have
T
�2
thought of it hitherto as the craze of individual and
eccentric scientists, but now it comes as the testimony
of the whole spirit of science, past and present,
spoken through the mouthpiece of one of her latest
and greatest sons. And the thought cannot but
whisper itself: “ Is it, then, really true, or, if not
true, is science going to be all-powerful and make it
seem true, and so make it ultimately prevail ? If so,
then hope and faith must fade. Religion will have
no place. Prayer and preaching will cease. All the
various creeds through which we believe and about
which we contend will equally vanish. Religious
societies will be dissolved, and the whole spirit of
our civilisation must be changed, so that it is terribleto think what the future ages may be.”
We cannot wonder that already the tocsin of alarm
has resounded from many a pulpit. We may be sure
that for months, perhaps years to come, there will be
heard from thousands of pulpits protests, arguments,
denunciations, pleadings, intended to lay the terrible
ghosts which this memorable Address has raised.
But what is it that Dr Tyndall has really said to
cause such sensation and such fear ? He has simply
said out boldly what science has been really saying,
though often with timid, hesitating speech, for many a
year, we may say for many an age. It is this : that
matter, as we become more and more acquainted with it,
shows itself to us as capable, by its own inherent laws
and forces, of developing into all the forms and causing
all the phenomena in the universe that we witness or
experience. And so with matter given to begin with,
existing it may be in its crudest form, but still with
all its inherent laws and forces, there is no need of
any other Being, any Creator, any God to mould it,
for it will infallibly mould itself. It is but the same
thought with a wider extension which Laplace
uttered : “ I ask no more than the laws of motion,
heat, and gravitation, and I will write you the
nativity and biography of the solar system.”
�3
Yet do not let us be alarmed through mistaking
the real force and bearing of this apparently most
materialistic affirmation. Observe at the outset the
expression, that matter being given with its inherent
laws and forces, no other creator is necessary to
mould it. Surely not, we, too, say, because the
Creator, the eternal former and sustainer, is in the
laws and forces : they are but the expression of his
action. It is not, then, against the idea of God
Himself that the hostility of science, as represented
by the President of the British Association, is
directed, but against a form of thought in which
men in general have clothed God and presented him
to their minds. They have thought of Him under
the image of a Great Artificer, one who, using matter
as his raw material, worked it up by his power and
skill into the forms which we behold. It is this
thought of an Almighty Artificer, separate from
matter, that science cannot tolerate. But the de
struction of this form of thought, instead of plunging
us into the darkness of Atheism, opens upon us the
light of true Theism. It leaves us free to form
another far grander and worthier thought of God,
that of the In-dwelling, all-forming, and all-sustaining
Spirit of the Universe, which it is clear that Dr Tyndall
recognises under what he calls a Cosmical life—that
is, a life of the Universe.
The truth is, that this conception of God as the
Great Artificer has been inadequate and erroneous
from the beginning. We can now see that it was an
idol, because not the highest conception that we can
form, though perhaps inevitable to the times of
ignorance at which God has winked. And science,
like a young Abraham, has sought from its very
youth to break the idol in pieces. This is why
science has seemed so Atheistic in its tendencies.
The legend of Abraham preserved in the Koran is,
that when he was a young man he went into one of
the temples of his people in their absence and broke
�in pieces all the idols except the biggest there.
Abraham’s hostile feeling towards the idols was
known. He was arrested and brought before the
Assembly. “ Hast thou done this unto our gods,
O Abraham ? ” they inquired. “Nay, that biggest
of them has done the deed : ask them, if they can
speak.” For a time the people were confounded
with his reply, but soon recovered to say to oneanother, “Burn him, and avenge your gods.” The
young Abraham, science, conceived from the first a
hostility to the idol of an artificer God set up in the
temple of man’s mind, and sought to destroy it.
Dr Tyndall’s Address is partly a history of these
endeavours of science to break in pieces the idol.
He tells how in the infancy of Greek science Demo
critus, the laughing philosopher, declared his uncom
promising antagonism to those who deduced the
phenomena of nature from the gods. Empedocles,
who probably met death in his zeal for science in the
burning crater of Etna, and then Epicurus, followed
in the footsteps of Democritus. In the century
before Christ the Roman poet Lucretius boldly
announced the doctrine that Nature was sufficient for
herself. “If,” said he, “you will apprehend and
keep in mind these things, Nature, free at once and
rid of her high lords (the gods and demons), is seen
to do all things spontaneously of herself without the
meddling of the gods.” Whilst science slept, during
the Middle Ages, the voice of protest was not heard;
but when she awoke again, in the era of the Refor
mation, Giordano Bruno, once an Italian monk, again
raised the old witness, and declared that the infinity
of forms under which matter appears were not
imposed upon it by an external artificer. “ By its
own intrinsic force and virtue f he said, “ it brings
these forms forth. Matter is not the mere naked,
empty capacity which philosophers have pictured it,
but the universal mother who brings forth all things
as the fruit of her womb.” And the devotees of the
�5
idol, an artificer god, which he sought to break in
pieces, said, “Burn him, and avenge your god.” And
the Venetian Inquisitors did burn him at the stake.
Taking up Tyndall’s thought, we can now see that
the whole progress of science has seemed to strengthen
the protest and to give more strength to the doctrine
of Lucretius and Bruno, that “ matter, by its own
intrinsic force and virtue, brings these forms (of
nature) forth.”
Newton’s “Principia” went to show that, given,
in matter, the force and law of gravitation and the
laws of motion, there needed no artificer now to
conduct the solar system. The nebular hypothesis
of Kant and Laplace set forth that matter originally
needed no artificer to mould it into worlds, if we
suppose its particles scattered abroad in space
endowed with repulsion and attraction. They would
of themselves form rings, planets, satellites, and sun.
Dalton’s Chemistry showed that if we suppose a few
kinds of primordial atoms of different magnitudes, or
endowed with different forces and possessing certain
laws of attractive affinity, no artificer is necessary to
combine them into the innumerable compounds and
endow them with the qualities with which we are
familiar.
Darwin’s “ Origin of Species ” and
“ Descent of Man ” suggested that, given certain
organic forms of lowly type, no artificer was needed
to construct all the countless forms of organic nature.
For there were in these lowly forms intrinsic force and
virtue, by which they develop into higher forms, and
these into higher, until the ascidian becomes the man.
Herbert Spencer, and now Tyndall, suggest that even
in the inorganic forms of air, water, phosphorus, and
a few other elements, there are intrinsic force and
virtue to make them at some period or other of the
world’s history—Bastian says to make them now—of
themselves combine and form organisms of low type,
which develop, according to Darwin’s idea, even into
higher type ; therefore these inorganic atoms possess
�6
a latent life. Huxley would persuade us not only
that these inorganic atoms come in organic forms to
live, but that in the human brain they think and feel
and will. Thus every line of scientific inquiry seems
to have led to larger and larger belief in Bruno’s
intrinsic force and virtue of matter, making more
and more needless the conception of a Supreme
Artificer.
But we shall be mistaken if we suppose that this
antagonism between matter and God—that is, God
as the Artificer—has been felt only in the world of
science. It has been felt, too, though with less open
confession, in the world of religion. It has been
felt, it may be, where ignorance was bliss. As long
as science was unknown or ignored in the Church,
as during the Middle Ages, religions minds could
hold the belief in an artificer God without misgiving.
But as soon as science began to creep into the Church,
the paralysis of faith began. From that moment was
acted over again the story which the Greek poets
give us of the Theban Sphinx, the beautiful monster,
half-maid, half-lion, who, sitting on a rock, proposed
enigmas to the passers-by, and those who could not
answer them destroyed.
Beautiful but terrible science became the Sphinx.
She was always proposing to those who came near
her the enigma, “How can matter, which seems to
have force and virtue in it sufficient to account for
all things, have any need for an artificer Creator ? ”
And those who could not answer the question were
lost as to their faith in God. This, we believe, is
partly the explanation of the coldness and deadness
that came upon our Churches, especially our Pres
byterian Churches, during the last century. Ministers
and people had become more educated, they had
learnt something of the new science that was rising;
and then they heard the enigma of the Sphinx and
were troubled. Thenceforth it was a struggle with
them to believe. They had lost the child-like faith of
�7
their fathers. The old heartiness of prayer was gone.
Ministers and people began to be shy of strictly reli
gious topics, and to fall back on these ethical common
places of which they were more sure. And if this
same coldness and deadness has lasted on in some of
our churches till our own day, we suspect it has been
because there the old conception of God as the Arti
ficer has been maintained, whilst all the while the
Sphinx has been putting the question which has made
it unbelievable ; and that it is chiefly where the new
conception of the In-dwelling God has been introduced
through the influence of men like Dr Channing,
Martineau, and Theodore Parker, that the devotional
life has been again quickened and deepened.
Truly, then, men like Tyndall and Huxley, Spencer
and Darwin, with the terrible weapons of their
materialism, do but break down an old and much
battered idol which has long been the cause of dread
ful doubts, even to its own devotees, and has set
religion and science at bitter variance. But in
breaking down the idol they are doing us the greatest
service. They are letting in the light; they are
leaving us face to face with a conception of God
before hidden from us by our idol, but which presents
him to us not only in a form which science will allow
—before which, indeed, science and religion become
one—but in a form which is immeasurably grander,
more beautiful, and every way worthier of God than
that which has been broken down. Let us clearly
recognise that, when Tyndall claims for matter that
it is sufficient for everything, he is not thinking of
matter as that dead brute thing which the mass of
men suppose it. To him, as to Herbert Spencer,
matter is but the manifestation of a Great Entity, in
itself unknown and unknowable. It is but the
garment of what Tyndall calls the great cosmical
life—the great life of the cosmos—the Universe.
What is this Great Entity, what is this Great
Cosmical Life, but the Eternal God Himself, of whom,
�8
and through whom, and to whom are all things, who
“besets us behind and before,” and “ in whom we
live and move and have our being ” ? What is this
■conception suggested of the relation of God to the
world but that of the Psalmist—“The heavens shall
wax old as doth a garment, and as a vesture shalt
thou change them ” ? And what is this doctrine of
the unknown and unknowable life but that of Job?
“Lo ! these are parts of his ways, but how little a
portion is heard of him ! but the thunder of his power
who can understand ? ”
T. E. P.
FRITTED BY C. W. REYNELL, LITTLE PULTEKEY STREET, HAYMARKET.
�
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
Professor Tyndall's inaugural address
Description
An account of the resource
Place of publication: [London]
Collation: 4 p. ; 18 cm.
Notes: From the library of Dr Moncure Conway. Signed 'T.E.P.'; possibly Thomas Elford Poynting. The Address was given in Belfast to the British Association for the Advancement of Science on August 19, 1874. Reprinted from 'The Inquirer', September 5, 1874. Printed by C.W. Reynell, Little Pulteney Street, London. "The address before the annual meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science was an occasion to state the aims and concerns of the premiere body of elite men of Victorian science. It was consequently one of the most prestigious places from which to pronounce on what men of science should be doing. John Tyndall famously used his address in 1874 to argue for the superior authority of science over religious or non-rationalist explanations. By the time of this address the Association had largely been taken over by the young guard, men like T.H. Huxley and Tyndall. Nevertheless, Tyndall's bold statement for rationalism and natural law was made in Belfast, a stronghold of religious belief then as now and so it was taken as an aggressive attack on religion. The address was popularly believed to advocate materialism as the true philosophy of science. It remains a powerful call for rationalism, consistency and scepticism." From Victorianweb: http://www.victorianweb.org/science/science_texts/belfast.html [accessed 12/2017].
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
[Thomas Scott]
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
G5529
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
[Unknown]
Subject
The topic of the resource
Philosophy
Rationalism
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 (Professor Tyndall's inaugural address), 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
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
Conway Tracts
Materialism
Natural Law
Philosophy and Science
Rationalism
Science and Religion
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803f9d7ba65c1a87b0c496edebd595af
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
Moncure D. Conway
Description
An account of the resource
Place of publication: [s.l.]
Collation: 299-304 p. ; 22 cm.
Notes: From the library of Dr Moncure Conway. Inscription on title page: 'The Biograph, March '81'. Extracted from an issue of 'The Biograph'. March 1881.
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
[1881]
Identifier
An unambiguous reference to the resource within a given context
G5201
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
[Unknown]
Subject
The topic of the resource
Conway Hall Ethical Society
Moncure Conway
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 (Moncue D. Conway), 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
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
Conway Tracts
Moncure Conway
-
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a41a5dc0993497f73392bdc400a6804b
PDF Text
Text
b'2.SA ó
NATIONAL SECULAR SOCIETY
ON RELIGION.
BY
a ¡former elder in a scotch church.
PUBLISHED BY THOMAS SCOTT,
MOUNT PLEASANT, RAMSGATE.
Price Sixpence.
�“If the religion of the present differs from that of
the past, it is because the theology of the present has
become more scientific than that of the past; because
it has not only renounced idols of wood and idols of
stone, but begins to see the necessity of breaking in
pieces the idols built up of books and traditions and
fine-spun ecclesiastical cobwebs; and of cherishing the
noblest and most human of man’s emotions, by wor
ship ‘for most part of the silent sort’ at the altar of
the Unknown and Unknowable.”—Huxley : Lay Ser
mons and Addresses.
�ON RELIGION.
��ON
RELIGION.
------ >-------
ORDS are things of extraordinary power. Al
though they possess only an arbitrary or conven
tional meaning, yet it is surprising to see the tyranny
which they exercise over men’s minds. This is especially
manifested during a time of rapid change in opinion. It
then becomes quite a study to watch how parties range
themselves under the cover of words, and how multi
tudes are more scared by having an ill-favoured word
applied to them, than by having done an evil action.
To a student of English history, for example, how
much is brought to mind by the mere words—Puritan
and courtier ; roundhead and cavalier ; covenanter and
dragoon; methodist, moderate, dissenter, churchman,
&c. Not only is he reminded that such parties once
existed in this country, and were in violent opposition
to one another ; but he is reminded, also, that the
name often gave a title to favour and reward if its
holders were great and in power, or was sufficient to
call down ignominy and hardship if its holders were
few and in subjection. The merit or demerit lay in
the name, not in ability or character. Nor are things
much- different even yet. A great conflict in opinion
is at present waging in this country, and, as in former
times, great importance attaches to certain words.
Thus when a man is said to be conservative or liberal
in politics, we know what statesmen think about him;
when he is said to be evangelical or infidel in opinion,
we know what religionists think about him; and this,
W
�4
On Religion.
although the person who may claim the favoured
name is a much less honourable and useful member of
society than the man who is spotted with its opposite.
In this conflict the word religion and its congeners not
only perform most important duty of the kind referred
to, but often blind even the rational inquirer himself
to the perception of what is true. Thus, when the
exposure of orthodox superstitions is sometimes being
pressed to the last defence, is not the cover thrown out
and too readily admitted : 1 Man cannot do without reli
gion : therefore, until you find something better than
the Gospel, leave him with his belief in God, in future
life and responsibility.’ The word religion has over
awed the disputant. Or again, when the ignorance
and badness of some religious professor has been made
manifest, is judgment never arrested by the remark, he
is a “good” man, a “religious” man; although he may
be mistaken, or for the moment left to himself? The
reason in both cases is alike. I hope to make plain to
the reader, before concluding, both what I consider the
nature of religion to be, and the meaning which is
likely in the future to attach to the word.
Nor is it only by half-educated people that Truth is
thus sought to be killed or protected by a word. The
following is copied from the newspapers of the month
of July 1870:—“A letter from the Bishop of Man
chester was read at the meeting of the Manchester
Secular Society last night, declining a challenge to
meet one of their practised speakers in debate on the
evidence and benefits of Christianity and the Church.
His lordship justified his description of the Society as
a manifestation of the powers of evil, by saying that
though he respected the honesty of his correspondent,
he was bound as a Christian to believe that a society
which opposed and denied the principles of Christianity
was a manifestation of a maleficent power. The religion
which had survived the assaults of Hume, Voltaire,
�On Religion.
5
and Tom Paine would survive the attacks of Holyoake
and Bradlaugh.”
I have no wish for the present either to defend secu
larists, or to say a word against their assailants, but
surely there is misunderstanding or misapplication of
words in the sentences quoted. There is no point at
all in the Bishop’s remarks unless the words “ principles
of Christianity” in the middle sentence are synonymous
with the word “religion” in the last. And yet few
facts will be more readily admitted than that the “ re
ligion” which the Bishop says has survived the assaults
of Hume and others is a very different thing from what
is commonly known by “ the principles of Christianity.”
Por are not these last always set forth as a series of
dogmatic propositions, based upon revelation■ and do
not these propositions change in their aspect and form
of expression with each generation of men, or at all
events with each educational epoch; and is it not a
recognized fact that such an epoch has been passed in
the history of this country since Hume’s days 1 If,
therefore, religion is identical with the principles of
Christianity, then, because it is matter of literary his
tory that great changes have taken place in these
principles during the last century, we shall most cer
tainly fail to find the religion of Hume’s time surviving
at the present. More than this, if the identity is to be
entertained, I wonder where we shall look for religion
in what are called Apostolic days-—for according to the
most recent and most scholarly investigation of the earliest
Christian literature no traces of what are now called
principles of Christianity are found to exist therein.
Evidently, the Bishop here uses the word “ religion”
as equivalent to the theological dogmas of his own
Sect; whereas correct thinkers now for the most part
abstain from employing it in that antiquated sense.
In very olden times, it is true, Religion was much less
dogmatic than it has ever since been, but this was be
cause everything was then placed under its control, and
�6
On Religion.
none dreamed of questioning its authority. Family re
lations, business connexions, war, peace, the arrange
ments of national and social life, amusements, food,
dress, &c., &c., were all regarded as part of religious
service. This is very well illustrated in the social and
national life of Hindostán at the present day ; not to
speak of other peoples, among whom the priestly
authority is superior to the military. A careful student
of English history and manners finds numerous illustra
tions of it also in his own country.—As men become
wiser, the sphere affected by religion gets narrower ;
delivered from its governance they get experience of
life under new conditions; and as members of a republic
are emboldened to inquire into and criticize what is
called the “ divine right of kings,” so when men are
thus emancipated, they often seem disposed to analyse
the “ religious sense,” and see what really originates
and constitutes the essence of religion.
All men are said to be religious : religion is considered
by most people the proper product of man’s highest
cultivation. Let us look at these two statements with
some attention. First : When we speak of national
religion, Christian religion, Hindoo religion, Pagan
religion, and such like, it is evident that we do not
refer to something which is common to man as man,
but to something special to him as inhabiting a district
of country or as dwelling in parts of the world which
differ in thoughts and manners. The fact, however,
that it is the same substantive which is qualified by
these different adjectives indicates that it is the same
phase of human life which is referred to, although the
attention is immediately directed to the formal ex
pression in ceremony or speech, rather than to the
spirit which underlies the word or act. Eeligion in
this sense is more properly a system of doctrine
which metaphysically explains and systematizes the
religious life of different peoples, than religion’s self ;
�On Religion.
7
yet hitherto this has all hut universally passed for re
ligion, and he has been counted by his own nation or
sect the most religious man who has been most skilled
in its particular theology.
If religion, in the usual sense of the word, he com
mon to mankind, is there not something unaccountable
in the fact that, in all countries and in all times, a
class of individuals has been singled out and called
“ Divines ” because they were learned in that which
separated them and their fellows from all others?
Had they been so called because they were skilled in
all the varied hypotheses and opinions which men
had entertained respecting the mystery of Being, one
could have understood the distinction. As a result
of their theological knowledge thus widened, they
would most certainly have exerted themselves to
allay animosity and promote brotherhood. But it
has been far otherwise. They have got the name,
and worn the distinction, because they were masters
of that dialectic skill which could prove to those
of their own way of thinking that their notions
were right. This might or might not be occasioned
by men pinning their faith to the words of a con
secrated book, or of a consecrated class of men; but
the fact remains that hitherto it has been too much
the rule to count other men’s habits and opinions ir
religious—our own only, religious. The Christian has
regarded Hindoo and Mahommedan as heathen ; the
Boman Catholic has regarded the Protestant as apostate.
Second ~ regarded in the light of these differences,
one certainly cannot look upon religion as having as
yet produced any very high style of humanity.
I am aware that another aspect of religious life is more
frequently presented than this one,—an aspect in which
we are shown the enlightened, the graceful, the brotherly,
the heroic adorning the religionist. I gladly admit it;
but invite attention to the fact, that in all such ex
amples, natural disposition or culture will be found to
�8
On Religion.
have predominated over religious feeling, so much that
their contemporaries for most part knew them less as
religious persons than as persons of extraordinary intel
ligence, force of character, patriotism, or humaneness.
Oftentimes, indeed, they were put to death as having
no religion. Succeeding generations, when educated
in manners and general intelligence to their emi
nence, may have recognised and even paid homage
to their religious spirit, but this only shows that
Culture is at all times a generation at least in advance
of Religion. In further proof of this, is it not an
undoubted fact, that, when any great advance in know
ledge, in social usage, in economic or industrial art
has hitherto been attempted, religious thought and
prejudice have had to be contended with, ministers
of religion and their influence have had to be over
thrown? And these contentions have been carried
on with a bitterness unknown in any other human
strivings. No matter to whom he was opposed,
to the king, the philosopher, the man of science, or
the philanthropist, as much as to the evil doer,
the religious man always placed himself on God’s
side, and his opponent on the side of the Adversary.
Hence the melancholy scroll of antipathies, feuds,
and cruelties which religionists have now to answer
for and explain. More than nationality, more than
education, wealth, station, or age has religion separated
between man and man. Fiercer than rage for political
power, stronger than love of country, have been the
passions which religion has awakened and fanned into
flame. Cruel in hate and stubborn in opposition,
even the ties of blood and the family relations are
weak in the presence of the spirit of religion when intent
upon the differences of its manifestation among men.
But while these facts prevent numbers now-a-days
from awarding a high place to the religious sentiment,
they nevertheless are conducting them to a truer
knowledge than they have yet attained of its nature
�On Religion.
9
sad value. They prove that religion originates in
feeling, and is sustained by feeling. Physiology makes
plain that feeling is occasioned by things outside
affecting some part or other of the nervous system.
Rational philosophy maintains that thought is the
expression given to our varied sensations ; and by con
sequence that religious thought is just the expression
given to one of these varieties. If this be so, then
religion may be common to all men, provided that out
ward objects have impressed them all in the way calcu
lated to produce the sensations and expressions we call
religious. But this proves nothing respecting the
superiority of these sensations, and rests the universality
upon an entirely new finding; for hitherto it has been
regarded as ascertained that religion was the product
of a special faculty given to man, in virtue of which
he was not merely religious, but also God-conscious.
This notion of a special religious faculty has evidently
emanated from the mind of priests.
Current with
it is the corollary, that no races of men have been
discovered, or are discoverable, who do not possess
a religion, and a notion, however rude, of God. Our
belief in the special faculty, however, is completely
upset by the investigations of modern science and the
logic of the phenomenal philosophy; and our belief
in its corollary is fast giving way before the facts
ascertained by modern travellers. According to some
of the most trustworthy of these, including among
their number Roman Catholic missionaries, many of
the tribes inhabiting South America have no religion
whatever, have no idea of a Supreme Being—conse
quently have no word to express it in their languages.
Others, long resident among the Indians of California,
affirm that idols, temples, religious worship or cere
monies were unknown to them, and that they neither
believed in the true and only God, nor adored false
deities. The five nations of Canada, and the North
�IO
On Religion.
American Indians, had no public worship nor any word
for God. According to others, in a great many islands
of the Pacific ocean, there are neither temples, nor
altars, nor offerings ; nor traces of any religious belief
or observance. Dr. Schort, Captain Grant, Burchell,
Baker, Palgrave, all speak of tribes in Asia and Africa
who have no form of worship or religion.
The authentication and verification of facts like
these, is of immense importance in an inquiry like the
present. Some of the names quoted from are beyond
suspicion, although the facts borne witness to are new
and very hard of belief. In addition, a great number of
similar witnesses are quoted, with considerable fulness
of detail, by Sir John Lubbock in his ‘ Pre-historic
Times,’ and also in his recent book on the 1 Origin of
Civilization;’ and the reports of several Boyal Com
missions for inquiring into the state of the working
classes in our own country, furnish numerous proofs
that human beings destitute of religion and of a notion
of God are found elsewhere than in foreign lands and
among ‘ savages.’
I am not concerned to account for the fact that some
races of men, in their most savage state known to us,
have no religious ideas, whilst other races, possibly in
a more savage state, have such ideas. This is no more
to be wondered at than the fact that some nations are
naturally of a warlike and others of a peaceful disposi
tion. But the facts, as certified by the best authorities,
are serious difficulties in the way of those who believe
in the Hebrew narrative, and in the theories which are
built thereon. And what is most worthy of remark is,
that in some cases travellers have been obliged to
admit these facts much against their inclination. Thus
Father Dobritzzhoffer says, “ Theologians agree in
denying that any man in possession of his reason can,
without a crime, remain ignorant of God for any length
of time. This opinion I warmly defended in the
University of Cardoba, where I finished the four years’
�On Religion.
11
course of theology begun at Gratz, in Styria. But
what was my astonishment, when, on removing from
thence to a colony of Abipones, I found that the whole
language of these savages does not contain a single
word which expresses God or a divinity. To instruct
them in religion, it was necessary to borrow the
Spanish word for God, and to insert it into the Cate
chism, with an explanation.”
The truth is, that men and nations must have
advanced considerably in civilization, before they could
take up the religious idea, and the entertaining of it
marks a period or era in the process of human develop
ment. For, as will appear presently, the rudest reli
gious belief implies not only acquaintance with natural
phenomena, but also reflection upon the way in which
they relate themselves to man. I know that it is diffi
cult, if not impossible, for the educated mind to under
stand the uneducated, and that when it speculates upon
the bygone history of mankind, to a certainty it looks
upon men and things in these former times through the
eyes of its own experience. But when we seek for the
dawn of “ religion,” we are not so much peering into
pre-historic times, as tracing to its origin a state of
idealism which could not belong to absolutely unedu
cated man; and which our knowledge of man’s intel
lectual nature assures us could be the result only of
a process of reasoning—however imperfectly or blunder
ingly that process had been followed through its
successive logical stages.
It is in keeping with this conclusion that the earliest
gods which savages worship appear to have been for
the most part of cruel nature. They are such them
selves ; and besides, dangers and fears had more to do
with their earliest reflections than pleasures and hopes.
The reason of this is obvious. They are dependent
upon soil and climate far beyond civilized men.
Not having learned economy or thrift, they live
�12
On Religion.
riotously while weather is good and food lasts, and
then imagine themselves the victims of vengeance
when their supplies fail. They battle fiercely with
one another for the last morsel of food and the
snuggest shelter. In consequence they think much
of the club or stone which does them good service
in the struggle, and are deeply impressed with any
happy chance which they think has helped them to
victory. Hence they get to worship sticks and stones,
a gust of wind, a glint of sunshine, a stream of water,
or any thing they have associated with their welfare or
success. Their religion originates out of the accumula
tion of these mental effects or deposits—which in
philosophic times are called ideas, knowledge, thought.
Now, observe the point where the religious sense
begins. It is not to the act of the savage shrinking from
the impact of the stone thrown at him, or exulting
at its deadly effect upon an opponent, that we attach
the term religious, but to his state of mind after he
has come to regard the stone as possessed of qualities
which will serve him advantageously if employed
against his enemy, or on the contrary, injure self
greatly, if used by the enemy against him. His fear
as manifested in the shrinking, or his hope as evidenced
in the exultation, may be the root of the whole matter;
and the ultimate findings of reason may by and by shut
us up to the conclusion that we have no nobler origin
for religion in man than this instinctive love of life
which he has in common with all animated nature.
Meanwhile, I content myself with the remark, that
in the mere perception that the stone possessed qualities
which admirably fitted it for purposes of offence and
defence, the untutored mind had not passed into the
idealistic stage. It is to this stage that rationalism
has as yet limited the application of the word religious.
When our savage ancestor first thought of the qualities
of stone being inherent in it as life is in man, and
invested the stone with a will which he conceived
�On Religion.
Blight be inclined to him or turned from him, and
which will, working in the stone like passion in him.«!£, rendered its hardness and power of motion more
«viceable ' or more hostile to him—then we consider
that he attained to the state of religions consciousness.
Immediately he would resort to expedients to avert the
stone’s enmity, and to propitiate its favour. This was
his religion, and these acts of propitiation, dèe., would
constitute his religious service.
•
A process of idealization originating in some such
fashion as this appears to have been the beginning of
all varieties of the religious idea. In some rude minds
it began by imaginings suggested by a serpent or wild
beast, in others by ponderings on the destructive forces
of Nature or musings on its productive power ; but in
all cases it is to the ideal entertained, and not to the
object that originates it, that worship is paid. I do not
wonder at believers in a book-revelation being opposed
to this theory, and disposed to question the facts upon
which it rests, for it tells against them in twTo ways.
It show's that the god and the religion of the “heathen”
m not the invention of a devil ; and that the god and
the religion of the Christian can be traced to the same
Oligin as those of the savage.
The origination of the religious idea in respect of the
heavenly bodies is another case in proof of the correct
ness of this theory, and I adduce it for the purpose of
directing attention to the additional fact, that religion
Séems to have originated through men, in their ignor
ance, investing the images in their minds with attri
butes which they did not attach to the objects as known
to their senses. Thus, it could not be the knowledge
that the sun was the centre of light and heat to the
earth which caused our forefathers to worship it ; but it
must have been a process of reasoning on the natural
phenomena connected with the sun’s rising and shining,
�14
On Religion.
ingenious enough to us who look hack and seek to
unravel it, doubtless profound and conclusive to those
early peoples who were impressed by it. When his
beams in mild and placid mood gladdened the earth,
primitive man saw that flowers blossomed and were
fragrant, that corn waved, and fruits ripened, and that
joy filled the breast of animated nature ; when at other
times the solar rays shot down upon the earth in
strength, he saw the ground parch, plants wither, and
man and beast smitten with heat run to shelter; and
when in winter the ruler of day shone only for a short
time, or hid his face altogether for a season, he found
that the earth became sterile and cheerless, and that
men and beasts shivered with the cold and often
perished. Reflecting on these changes in the light of
very imperfect knowledge, minds strongly imaginative,
and little educated conceived the force residing in
the sun to be like the life in their own bodies, that its
movements were directed by a will variable as their
own, and fitful and partial as their own tempers.
Hence they used sacrifices, libations, invocations, lauda
tions, to turn away its wrath, and secure its favourable
regard.
So was it, in short, with all the skiey influences and
other natural phenomena. Even in the later deification
of heroic men the same principles are found at work ;
and the best scholars now-a-days know of no other
origin of the voluminous and marvellous mythologies of
antiquity,—any of which, when read in the light of
this hypothesis is full of beauty and meaning, however
much it may have been a puzzle to our forefathers. In
such rude beginnings erudite ethnographers and archae
ologists see the starting point of the human intellect,
and trace onward its growth to its present development.
Working in the same fight, and with the same materials,
the greatest authorities in philology are studying the
various languages of antiquity, and are gathering the
fragments for the foundations of a science of religion,
�On Religion.
15
which promises not only perfectly to explain the past,
but also to make men feel truly akin to the present.
But the Evangelical school will not permit the name
11 religion” to be applied to any of these manifestations.
They say that they are the superstitions of mankind.
According to them, religion consists in those beliefs and
services which take their rise from the revealed word of
God. In their theory the religious is not only the highest
product of humanlife; but man was created perfect in re
spect to all the requirements of religion—with conscience
‘set’ like the mariner’s compass so that infallibly it
could decide between good and evil; and he was animated
with an entity, distinct from and superior to the life
of the body—called spirit—a morsel of the Divine.
These are held to distinguish him from all other
creatures; and because of his distinction and superiority,
God is represented as constantly dealing with man in
special to prepare him for inconceivable dignity in a
future world.
My present purpose does not require that I should
further describe this hypothesis. In every particular it
opposes the theory of religion and of the religious life
as I have endeavoured to set it forth. It says that
man in his earliest days was not uneducated, but per
fect in wisdom and holiness; that the object he
worships is not the product of his imagination, but a
far-distant and inapproachable Being who, from time to
time, acquaints a selected tribe of men with as much
of his nature and character as they are able to compre
hend, leaving it to the chapter of accidents to dis1
seminate such revelation among the vast family of
mankind. I have not the slightest wish for the present
to raise even one of the many questions which such a
theory suggests ; but I deem it important to observe,
that whether the religious sense is quickened in man s
•mind by natural phenomena, or by the words of a book,
the mode of operation and the effect produced is much the
�16
On Religion.
same, so that if the product of the Bible is religion as
distinguished from superstition, the product of natural
phenomena is no less so. There is indeed this difference
to begin with, that what is termed the fundamental pos
tulate of religion, the being of God, is taken for granted
in all. systems of revealed, more than it is taken for
granted in any system of natural religion. Over and
above this, we must remember that a book (even the
Bible) stands as much outside of man as the phenomena
of nature, and that its power to excite reflection, which
is the true originator of religious emotions, is limited
by the same conditions.
It is true that without
reflection its revelations can awaken emotions of
wonder and awe, or paralyse with fear, for what the
ear hears, as well as what the eye sees, acts upon the
nervous system. But then, as we have seen, ration
alists do not consider these things religion; and if
any revelationists are disposed to maintain that they
should be called the “beginning of wisdom,” I commend
to their consideration the following words of Sir John
Lubbock.—“ If the mere sensation of fear, and the
recognition that there are probably other beings, and
especially one, more powerful than man, are sufficient
alone to constitute a religion, then indeed we must
admit that religion is general to the human race ; but
if the definition be adopted, we cannot longer regard
religion as peculiar to man. We must admit that the
feeling of a dog or a horse towards its master is of the
same character; and the baying of a dog to the moon
is as much an act of worship as some ceremonies which
have been so described by travellers.”
Judging from the Bible narrative itself, however,
there is no sentiment which we can call religion till
the mind is not only impressed with what it sees, or
reads, or hears, but farther, till it believes that the
things or beings it has thus become acquainted with,
bear relation to itself, and have or can acquire influence
over it—and is excited in the contemplation of them
�On Religion.
*7
by hope as well as fear. If, therefore, we must with
hold the epithet, “ religious,” from the lowest manifes
tations of the feelings of awe, &c. (those feelings which
horses and dogs have in common with man), even be
lievers in Scripture must fall hack upon the very pro
cess which we saw carried on in the case of those who
had worshipped stones and the heavenly bodies.
As we have said, the attention must be fixed upon the
Being the Bible speaks of, just as the worshipper of
images fixes his attention upon figures, pictures, music,
legends and acts of devotion, until not only is there.an
ideal formed in the mind, but also until the imagination
has clothed this ideal with attributes such as it considers
noble, good, wonder-working, and awe-inspiring. Nor
must it be forgotten that this ideal is in every case
conditioned by the natural constitution and experience
of the person who beholds and reflects. Thus, 1 the
Bible being witness,’ a man of pastoral habits conceives
the Being whom he worships to be a wise and good
shepherd—untiring in care and watchfulness over his
flock; unerring and considerate in his choice of pasture, &c. A patriarch conceives the being whom he
worships to be the acknowledged and revered head of
tribes and families—supreme in authority, because his
worshippers are his children. Religious kings conceive
God to be as their own nature is inclined. One thinks
him Lord of lords, God of battles, leading to victory or
suffering defeat; another thinks him to be of milder
mood—“ruling in righteousness,” giving his people
peace in their day. The sage and the prophet conceive of
God after their fashion—rising early to instruct;
patiently teaching the ignorant, “ line upon line, pre
cept upon precept;” laying open the future, and show
ing the consequences of conduct so that hearers may
be restrained from wickedness, and encouraged in well
doing. So, also, in what is called the New Testament
part of the Bible, we find the Hebrew student of Greek
philosophy thinking of God as spirit unencumbered
�18
On Religion.
with body, removed from the transitoriness, and pas
sion, and corruption of earth, and having intercourse
with it only for the purpose of electing a chosen num
ber of its inhabitants to live with him for ever in the
same state of ethereal perfection. This same Greek
philosophy holds sway even to the present time over
the cultivated mind in Western Europe, and hence the
permanence of this last conception, aided by the circum
stance that the revelation of the Book which contains
and popularizes it, is believed to have been closed at
the time when the civilization which gave birth to the
philosophy was falling into decay.
Now in all these cases, which are merely suggestive
of what might be greatly detailed, the most ardent
Biblist must admit that the conception of God is con
ditioned by the habits and culture of the worshipper
quite as much under the revelational as under the
rational theory. This admission not only gives great
insight into the nature of religion, but weightily de
termines the question of the necessity for, and useful
ness of, a Book-revelation—which has hitherto rested
mainly on the assumption that without the Bible man
could not have discovered anything respecting the
character and purposes of God.
But besides this, other very important conclusions
also emerge, some of which relate themselves closely
to not a few of the discussions of the present day
—as for example to the Education question. For
the second time in the course of our brief inquiry it is
made evident that the religious state is a state of emo
tion, governed by ideals, and that these ideals are the
product of a man’s circumstances and training. In
this sense it is impossible to communicate religion
either by teacher or by book. By either or by both
means you can teach doctrines and opinions, but these
are not religion; religious service is the throbbing of
the pulse in the presence of what we consider surpas
�On Religion.
ï9
singly good and "beautiful and true, and you can no
more produce that by instruction than you can make a
man love by telling him to do so. To attempt to com
municate such emotions by direct teaching and injunc
tion will have a most injurious effect on the nature of
man or child. A stronger and more suggestive state
ment than this, is, I think, warrantable, viz., that when
you seek to teach men or children to be religious, the
product is not religion, but hypocrisy or superstition ;
but I am content for the present with the more
moderate and general way in which I have put it. _ It
is in fact just as useful and as efficacious to say,'be
poetical, as to say be religious or good. We can give
information one to another regarding phenomena, their
similarities, differences, relations ; we can draw out and
quicken one another’s powers of observation and com
parison; and thus we can affect the nervous system of
our friend or pupil. But whether his feelings shall
express themselves in the way we call religious is
beyond our control, and must be left to his own con
stitution and intention.
A further important remark occurs here, in close
connection, viz., that it is the ideal and imaginative
alone which man worships—-not the real and substan
tive. In other words, it is round a being and towards
attributes which have no existence save in the mind,
• that the ideas and services usually called religious
centre ; and religion thus becomes a varying and
diminishing thing as men get better informed. A
curious illustration of this is furnished by the negroes
on the west coast of Africa. They have deities—who
are charged with all the evils that befall them; so
much so, indeed, that the negroes represent them as
“ black and mischievous, delighting to torment them
various ways.” 11 They said that the European’s God
was very good, who gave them such blessings, and
treated them like his children. Others asked, mur
�20
On Religion.
muring, Why God was not as good to them ? Why
did not he supply them with woollen and linen cloth,
iron, brass, and such things, as well as the Dutch 1
The Dutch answered, that God had not neglected
them, since he had sent them gold, palm-wine, fruits,
corn, oxen, goats, hens, and many other things neces
sary to life, as tokens of his bounty. But there was
no persuading them these things came from God.
They said the earth, and not God, gave them gold,
which was dug out of its bowels ; that the earth yielded
them maize and rice, and that not without the help of
their own labour ; that for fruits they were obliged to
the Portuguese, who had planted the trees; that their
cattle brought them young ones, and the sea furnished
them with fish ; that, however, in all these their own
industry and labour was required, without which they
must starve; so that they could not see how they were
obliged to God for any of those benefits.” They knew
not whence their diseases and calamities came, therefore
they attributed them to gods, whose favour they sought
to propitiate, so that these things might be averted:
they knew whence gold, palm-wine, fruits, &c., came,
therefore “ they could not see how they were obliged
to God for any of those benefits.” If they had known
how cloth, iron, brass, &c., were produced would they
have had the thought of God and of His goodness
suggested by the sight of “ such blessings ? ”
So, I believe, it has been in all cases and in all times.
That which our ancestor knew about the stone—its
colour, its hardness, its sharpness, &c., he never thought
of worshipping; the qualities he supposed or believed it
to possess, viz., the ability to help him and the willing
ness, toward these he directed his religious acts. So
with the worshipper of the sun or any other heavenly
body j so with the Egyptian and his deified animal—
with the Greek and his apotheosized hero—with the
Hindoo and Brahm—with the Hebrew and God—with
the Christian and Emmanuel. Moreover, while man
�On Religion.
21
nsvsr worships an object or being for those qualities
which he knows it to possess, it appears an inevitable
result, that as soon as he becomes convinced an object
does not possess these qualities which in his fondness
he had attributed to it, he diminishes his reverence and
ceases to worship altogether. Thus, when his growing
intelligence assured him that the sun in the heavens
had no passions and no will, as he had in the days
of his ignorance supposed, but was only matter in a
certain mode of existence, he ceased to worship
it; when our not very remote Catholic forefathers
came to look upon departed saints as only dead men,
and Mary the mother of Jesus as only a beatified
woman, their religious services towards them were
brought to an end. In all these cases, in a wonderfully
true sense, Protestants are able to see the old saying
verified—“ Ignorance is the mother of devotion.” In
like manner, is it not equally true that when modern
Christians come to see that it is entirely ideal qualities
with which they have invested the historical Jesus,
(qualities become now as much inconsistent with our
conception of the divine as of the human) they cease
their Christian worship ? While men remain unaware
that it is their own conceptions and idealizations only
which they worship, they continue to address prayers
and praises Jo them; it remains to be seen whether,
after they lea,In that the only God man has hitherto
■ known, possibly can know, is an ideal one, they will
continue religious service—in the form of prayer and
praise.
All through our inquiry it has been evident that when
man reflects upon anything which affects and interests
him much, he is prone to form an ideal of it to worship.
We have moreover seen, that the religious idea took
its rise in man after he had risen so far in the scale of
civilization. The question which now occurs, presses
heavily upon some of the most thoughtful minds of
�22
On Religion.
our time, viz., whether, when in the progress of develop
ment, he has attained a certain point in civilization, he
may not leave the religious idea, in every sense in
which it has hitherto been understood, altogether be
hind as no longer compatible with his education and
knowledge. The evolution of events will supply the
only satisfactory answer; but a very common experience
in human life often forces itself on our attention when
revolving this speculation. The youth when courting
the mistress of his affections is very worshipful, in the
old sense of that word.
He is, moreover, full of
visions of excellence, which all crystallize round her.
By and by they get married, and they come to know
each other more truly. The worship becomes tamer, and
the visions more like the reality. But if they are honest
natures, properly mated, as the bright visions get dull,
purpose and action coalesce more promptly and fitly,
and grow into that noble, and beautiful and durable
thing known as wedded life. Shall it be with mankind
that, as they become better acquainted with the processes
and powers of Nature, they will be less influenced than
they have been by their speculations upon the Unknown,
less prone to resort to intreatings and commendations
addressed to it, and more intent promptly to conform
themselves to Nature’s regulations, wisely to avail them
selves of her helps, and composedly to submit them
selves to her decrees ? It may be; but analogies are
not arguments.
Two things, however, are already evident from the
thinkings and sayings of educated men ; (1.) As regards
the ideal, which we have seen holds such a prominent
place in religion: cultivated men seem unable to live
without an ideal; and admit it to be axiomatically
true, that no man can improve in intelligence and
manners without one. To quote the words of Principal
Shairp : “ You may dislike the word, and reject it, but
the thing you cannot get rid of, if you would live any
life above that of brutes. An aim, an ideal of some
�On Religion.
23
sort, be it material or spiritual, you must have, if you
have reason, and look before and after.” (2.) As regards
the question of religion: some of the most highly edu
cated of the present day, while renouncing religion in
every sense in which it has hitherto been understood,
nevertheless claim to be counted religious, because they
are silent and conscious of ignorance, when worshippers
after the old fashion are loud in prayer and praise; or be
cause they are devoted to the discharge of duty, a thing
which former religionists called mere morality. Thus,
to cite a recent extreme example, the philosopher Comte
idealized the human race, past, present and future, and
invested it with attributes fitted to call out and occupy
the best sympathies and services of which his nature
was capable. Our fathers, if not also most of our
contemporaries, would see in all this only the com
monest acts of morality; in virtue of these services,
however, Comte claimed to be called religious, because
he believed in “ the Infinite nature of Duty.” I need
make no reference to the spirit and manner in which he
might seek to discharge these duties ; for all hitherto
known as religionists would say, the distinction lies not
in the mode, but in the essential nature of the two
services.—So, to cite another example, furnished by a
different type of mind, and a different kind of train
ing, the late James Cranbrook, in his later days,
often said that, when thinking of God, the only ideal
present to his mind (if ideal it could be called)
was that of force—Force, not defaced by quality,
not limited by time, nor space, nor knowledge. In
the presence of such inconceivable mystery, he said
he was for the most part silent when worshipful,
and that his religious service consisted in humbly inquirin^into the modes by which this Mystery manifests
itself, through the co-ordinations and successions of
phenomena.—John Stuart Mill, also, in treating of this
subject, remarks :—“ It may not be consonant to usage
to call this a religionj but the term so applied has a
�24
On Religion.
meaning, and one which is not adequately expressed
by any other word. Candid persons of all creeds may
be willing to admit, that if a person has an ideal ob
ject, his attachment and sense of duty towards which
are able to control and discipline all his other senti
ments and propensities, and prescribe to him a rule of
life, that person has a religion.”*
One word in conclusion. I beg to remind my readers
that in the present paper I have carefully abstained
from introducing any questions relating to the exist
ence and nature of Deity. These I consider extraneous
to the subject which has been under review. In proof
that the nature of religion may be discussed without
dealing with these other topics of controversy, may I
not appeal to the personal experience of many “free
inquirers,” who must be conscious of the endurance of
those feelings they call religious, notwithstanding the
change which has taken place in their theological
opinions'? In this conviction, I leave it for earnest
consideration.
* Auguste Comte and Positivism, by J. S. Mill.
The Editor of this series, anxious for outspoken inquiry
on these great topics, from which true philosophy will
never shrink, counsels the reader to study, along with
these pages, the essay " On Matter, Force, and Atheism,”
by the Rev. T. P. Kirkman, M.A.
TUBNBULL AND SPD«RS, PRINTERS, EDINBURGH.
�
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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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2018
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Conway Hall Ethical Society
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Title
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On religion
Description
An account of the resource
Place of publication: Ramsgate
Collation: 24 p. ; 18 cm.
Notes: Part of the NSS pamphlet collection. Published anonymously. Printed by Turnbull and Spears, Edinburgh. 'By a former elder in a Scotch church'.
Publisher
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Thomas Scott
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[n.d.]
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N275
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<p class="western"><img src="http://i.creativecommons.org/p/mark/1.0/88x31.png" name="graphics1" align="bottom" width="88" height="31" border="0" alt="88x31.png" /></p>
<p class="western">This work (On religion), identified by <span style="color:#0000ff;"><span lang="zxx"><u>Humanist Library and Archives</u></span></span>, is free of known copyright restrictions.</p>
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Subject
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Religion
NSS
Religion
-
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PDF Text
Text
1874.]
Rebecca Amory Lowell.
57
Your own consciousness of being involved in this plan will be
come more vivid and more blissful, and your duties in it more im
perative and more delightful. “ I will hide you in a cleft of the
rock,” said Jehovah to his servant, “ and cover your face as I
pass.” That is, you shall not see my face, but you shall see my
train after I have passed along. You shall see me in all past
history if you will read it, though you shall not see me before you
so as to overwhelm and repress your own free and spontaneous
agency. Glorious faith I that the whole past of the world, includ
ing our own little world of to-day, from the heights of the future
shall be revealed as the bright train where the Infinite Father has
passed along.
/ r ’ , ; ■»
REBECCA AMORY LOWELL.
We can imagine that to many of that wide circle who have
associated some of the best memories of their lives with this
venerated woman, just now taken from our midst, the first thought
as they read her name upon our pages will be that we are doing
• her a wrong by so public a mention ; for, perhaps, the most con
spicuous trait in her character was that peculiar delicacy and
modesty which made her shrink from publicity and almost refuse
the grateful deference which her rare gifts and graces irresistibly
commanded in the intercourse with society. But, on the other
hand, they will remember that her constant desire always was
how she might best serve others, and there is a power of service
in the record of such a life which she would hardly decline to
render. We feel that few things are more helpful, and more
appropriate to the purpose of this Review, than the memorials
' of those who have so adorned and illustrated our Christian faith.
Miss Lowell was born in Boston, Nov. 13, 1794. Her father
was John Lowell, son of Judge John Lowell, appointed by
Washington Judge of the United States District Court. Her
mother was Rebecca Amory.
8
* ■
/
�58
Rebecca Amory Lowell.
[Mar.
At the age of nine years she accompanied her parents to Europe,
and, during their three-years residence abroad, was placed by
them in a school in Paris, where she surprised her schoolmates by
her intelligence and the rapidity of her acquisitions. She, of
course, acquired the French language and always spoke it with
facility. Even at that early age she read Racine and Fenelon
with delight. When a mere child she evinced a strong love of
letters,\ and soon developed an enthusiasm for the beautiful and
noble in literature, united to a delicate critical taste. But, along
with this fondness for study and this intellectual development, was
a no less remarkable development of character. Her sweet,
gentle disposition made her universally beloved.
She completed her school education in Boston, and at the age
of eighteen she undertook the education of her younger sister,
then four years old, and of a little cousin. To their education
she devoted the best portion of her time for twelve or thirteen
years. After that she taught several of her nephews and nieces,
as opportunity occurred, and a few other pupils. Her method of
teaching was most systematic and painstaking. She attended to
every branch of scholarship, writing for her pupils volumes of
abridged histories, philosophies, &c., in French and in English,
adding, by way of wholesome variety and stimulus, the reading
aloud of poetry and romance and the best selections of light
literature. There was a charm in her voice and in her enthusiasm
which could not fail to inspire the young minds with a desire
< for culture and knowledge.
At a later period she was in the habit of receiving classes of
young ladies at her home for the study of history and literature,
and it was her delight besides to lend to young people from her
rich store of books on every subject, and foster in them the love
of useful learning.
Her care for the religious culture of her pupils was as constant
as for their intellectual culture, and-her influence in this direction
was very great. In 1832 she began to teach in the Sundayschool, first at King’s Chapel and then at Dr. Putnam’s, in Rox
bury, and continued this service without interruption till she had
completed her seventieth year. She kept her classes five or six,
and sometimes eight years, till the minds of her pupils became
�1874.]
Rebecca Amory Lowell.
59
mature, adopting, as in her secular instructions, thorough and
systematic methods, bringing in illustrations from every depart
ment of literature and life, and seeking to train them to habits of
accurate and conscientious thought on moral and religious questions
and to stimulate their higher spiritual sentiments and desires.
Very often young men continued in her class till they left for
college or for business life, and some men now in the ministry can
refer to her as one of those to whom they owe the most.
Since the death of her parents, in 1842, Miss Lowell has lived
with her sister in Roxbury, and it is in connection with this portion
of her life that she is chiefly known by the large portion of those
who will read this notice. It was an attractive New England
home, furnished without ostentation, but on a generous scale, and
with tokens everywhere of culture and refinement, and the visitor
was sure, not only of hospitable welcome, but of instructive and
profitable occupation. She was ready to be interested in every
subject. On all the topics of the day, political or social or literary,
she had clear and decided opinions, and was ready to support them
by argument or by illustration. Her memory was very remarkable,
and her references to history and literature were accurate and full •
of value.
In questions of politics and moral reform she was very liberal.
She was an early opponent of the system of slavery when such a
course was unpopular with many with whom she was associated;
but along with the intensity of her feelings and convictions there
was such sweetness of temper and such tender sensibility that in
her discussions she never wounded another’s feelings, and she won
by the contagion of her sympathy as much as by the force of her
argument.
Her active benevolence was manifested by her generous par
ticipation in all the charitable and philanthropic and religious move
ments of the day. During these many years there have been
few benevolent undertakings in this community to which she has
not contributed, of counsel or money or of actual service, and
she was ready to give her aid to causes or to individuals of what
ever name or nation, with a sympathy as wide as humanity. One
who knew it well fitly describes hers as “ a life shared in just pro
portion between good deeds and gopd books, between the activity
�60
Rebecca Amory Lowell.
[Mar.
of kindness and the repose of culture,” “ such a life as does not
go out in darkness, but leaves a long trail of blessed influences
behind.” If we could summon the many men and women, now
adorning society, who could testify that they have been indebted
to her or to that home for much of what is most valuable in the'r
character, we should realize how great and abiding, the influence
has been.
It remains only to speak of her religious character. She was a
devoted Unitarian. Her interest in this form of faith began in
the days of Dr. Freeman, for whom she had a great veneration.
Afterwards she enjoyed, greatly Dr. Channing, and shared in his
opinions, and she was always earnestly watchful of everything that
pertained to the interests of this denomination. She was liberal
and open to every ne phase of thought, and her convictions
were all grounded in reason; but nothing could disturb
the clearness and serenity of her faith. God was indeed her
Father, and Jesus was her Master and her guide and her most
loved Friend. She had a humble, childlike piety, and she culti
vated it by daily devout reading and meditation, and it pervaded
* her whole being. In her activities and in her studies and in her
conversation she seemed to carry with her the air of this communion
with the unseen. It shone in her countenance and it gave her a
peculiar sweetness and charm. She retained to the very day of
her death perfect vigor of mind and freshness of feeling, with her
last words testifying to the glad assurance of her Christian faith.
‘ We have tried only to give in simplest outlines a sketch of her
character, striving not to offend that sense of delicacy which would
forbid words of eulogy, and all the while, as we have remembered
how all this rare excellence kept itself from observation, we have
rejoiced to think that there is much of this highest type of Chris
tian living, nestled, fair and perfect, beneath the showy life of our
time — as the lily of the valley, of which she was always peculiarly •
fond, hides its fragrance and beauty under its broad, green leaves.
�
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Title
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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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Original Format
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Pamphlet
Dublin Core
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Title
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Rebecca Amory Lowell
Description
An account of the resource
Place of publication: [Boston]
Collation: 57-60 p. ; 25 cm.
Notes: From the library of Dr Moncure Conway. From the Unitarian Review and Religious Magazine. Vol. 1 (March 1874). For complete issue see: https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=wu.8906965 (accessed 11/2017).
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[Unitarian Review and Religious Magazine]
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[1874]
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G5436
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[Unknown]
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Biography
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English
Conway Tracts
Rebecca Amory Lowell
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PDF Text
Text
NATIONAL SECULnk SOCIETY
THE
FABLES OF FAITH:
Immmrdxfg anb ^tarbifjL
BY
AN EASTERN TRAVELLER.
“Il est affreux sans doute que l’Eglise chretienne ait toujours ete
dechiree par ses qtterelles et que le sang ait could pendant tant de
siecles par des mains qui portaient le Dieu de la paix.”—“ Le Siecle de
Louis XIV.,” par Voltaire.
LONDON:
FREETHOUGHT PUBLISHING COMPANY
28, STONECUTTER STREET, E.C.
1882.
PRICE
THREEPENCE.
�LONDON:
PRINTED BY ANNIE BESANT AND CHARLES BRADLAUGH,
28, STONECUTTER STREET, E.C.
�6 2-40'2-
CU-CA"
TO
HIS EMINENCE
CARDINAL MANNING.
ARCHBISHOP OF WESTMINSTER,
THIS ESSAY IS DEDICATED,
AS A TOKEN OF RESPECT
FOR
HIS CHARACTER AND LIFE,
SO HIGH ABOVE THE LEVEL OF HIS
ADOPTED FAITH.
�PREFACE.
The writer of this little essay was born and educated in the
Church of England. The prejudices of his education were
strong enough (as is usually the case) to bind him to the
belief in a church, and, on arriving at years of discretion,
his reason convinced him that if there be a church it must
be an infallible one, and thus he “ submitted ” to the Church
of Rome as the only church claiming infallibility. A study
“ on the spot ” of Mahometanism and other Eastern faiths
led him to a comparison of all faiths, and ultimately to the
reluctant conclusion that they are all founded on assump
tions more or less inconsistent with truth, and that their
doctrines and practices are prejudicial to morals and human
happiness. His reasons for coming to this conclusion are
sketched in the following pages—pages which must inevi
tably be painful to the “ faithful,” and not only to them,
but also to him who has felt forced to retire from their
ranks, and thus abandon many cherished theories, many
beloved friends. The sacrifice he has thus made is a great
one, but truth is a sufficient consolation.
�THE FABLES OF FAITH.
------- ♦-------
CHAPTER I.
Fnth: its Definition, its Origin, its Evidences and their
Value.
(1) It is not to the faithful only, but also to the sceptical,
that faith is a matter of profound interest, for it is closely
woven into the history of every country, in every age, and
remains an important factor in many vital questions of the
present and of the future. Who, for example, would
venture to govern India without taking into account her
religions and sects ? We may disbelieve and despise these
religions, but the “lively faith” reposed in them by 250
millions of our fellow subjects is a fact which, however much
we may deplclre it, we cannot ignore.
(2) What is, then, this “ faith,” so dear to its votaries,
so praised by poets and painters, so pregnant with influence
on the destinies of nations and of individuals ? St. Paul
defines it as the “ substance of things hoped for, the evi
dence of things not seen.” But this definition, however satis
factory to a Christian believer, falls short of presenting any
accurate idea to a mind of another “ persuasion,” or to that
of a mere philosopher. If faith be the “ substance of things
hoped for ” it must be undiluted happiness; and yet those
who possess it do not appear any happier than those who
possess it not. And if it be the “ evidence of things not
seen,” how is it that, as regards such things, the faithful
know just as much and just as little as the unbelievers?
The revolution of the earth round the sun is, in a sense, a
thing not seen ; yet the faithful Joshua was ignorant of the
fact, and when it was discovered, the Prince of the faithful
hurled his anathemas against the unhappy astronomer who
had dared to find better evidence of “ things not seen ” than
the combined faith of the college of cardinals was able to
accumulate.
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THE FABLES OF FAITH.
(3) Faith would be better defined as the belief in things
unproved by evidence; and if faith be in itself evidence, as
St. Paul advances, it is merely evidence of credulity in its
votary. In the ordinary affairs of life we believe little that
we hear, and not all we see, and the laws of every country
discourage the admission of hearsay evidence. But in the
concerns of our salvation we are less exacting: an envoy
from heaven is never asked for his credentials, and we
believe greedily and gratuitously all he alleges with regard
to his instructions from his august master. If a trades
man’s assistant call to collect his master’s account, we take
care to have evidence of his authority ; but if an ignorant
shoemaker or a reformed thief ties a bit of white cambric
round his neck and announces his arrival on a mission from
the king of kings, we rush in our thousands to heai' the
glad tidings, without even thinking of demanding a sight of
his “ full powers.”
(4) Man has an innate love of the marvellous, and from
his cradle yearns for something higher than his own
standard. His imagination is equally great and permeates his
thoughts and even his language, which is more or less impreg
nated with hopes and figures in proportion to the accuracy, or
rather the inaccuracy, of his mode of thought. And so
possessing both the will and the way, he easily conjures up
for himself “ troops of spirits,” “ black spirits and white, red
spirits and grey,” witches, fairies, hobgoblins, demons, gods,
and hosts of other “things not seen.” And with the lapse of
time these “ vain imaginings ” crystalise into faith—faith by
which the cunning often live, and for which the credulous
often die. The awe of ignorance, and the zeal of fanaticism
have covered the earth’s crust with altars of all shapes and
sizes, to the “ great unknown
and no mystery, however
improbable, or even impossible, can exceed the bounds of
the faith of the faithful. Indeed, the very merit of faith is
credulity; and so we are told that St. Thomas was rebuked
for requiring evidence of what he had heard, haphazard as
it were, and which appeared to him too improbable to
deserve credence.
(5) But the difficulty of believing things without evidence
presented itself very early to those who undertook to syste
matise faith ; but they scrambled over it, sans cere'monie, by
declaring faith to be a gift. But if it be a gift, who has
�THE FABLES OF FAITH.
7
selected the donees, and how has it come to pass that each of
them has a gift of a different sort ? For every religion
differs from every other religion, and there are no two
members of the same religion whose gifts of faith are
exactly alike. Indeed one may go farther and say, that
if all the dogmas of all the religions were tabulated, and so
arranged as to give a bird’s-eye view of their various
similarities and differences, we should see at a glance
that one half of the faithful anathematises what the other
half looks on as essential portions of the “ deposit
of faith.”
And as all these faiths are different
they cannot all be true, and so in spite of the old pro
verb about looking a gift horse in the mouth, the re
cipients, as well as the non-recipients, of the gift of faith,
are at last reduced to the necessity of going more or less
into the question of evidence. The faithful enter on the
inquiry with excusable reluctance, for they have the case of
St. Thomas before their eyes; and in the end they argue the
case in a circle and produce as evidence a book 1 bound and
lettered, which they claim should be received without evidence
as the Word of God ; or they call into court a witness who
proposes to be Vicarius Dei Generates in terris,1 though he
possesses no power of attorney duly “ signed, sealed, and de
livered ” by his supposed august principal. If one accept
the book or the “ Vicar ” as being what they profess to be,
we must believe a host of improbabilities, and not a
few contradictions and impossibilities—all, it must be
admitted, for we wish to be candid, attested by the blood of
martyrs, the best possible evidence of sincerity, and which
would settle the question at once and for ever if it were
only one of sincerity. But it is not: it is a question of
truth, and on such a question sincerity, if mistaken, has no
bearing. If a honest but stupid ignoramus tells me in all
sincerity that three times one make one or five, his mere
sincerity does not convince me ; I prefer demonstration to
his stupid but sincere miscalculation. And if he assure me
that three Almighty persons make one Almighty God, I
1 As we are writing in the English language we have here, for the
sake of brevity, selected the two “ rules of faith ” best known to the
English-speaking faithful, and which are in fact more than “ equal to
average” when compared with the rest. Faith has, therefore, the
advantage of being judged “ in bulk” by flattering “ samples.”
�THE FABLES OF FAITH.
stop his arithmetic at once by pointing out the impossibility of more than one Almighty person existing at the
same time. His sincere belief in this impossibility does not
prove it to my mind, even if he die for it.
(6) The value of evidence does not, therefore, depend
entirely on the witness’s sincerity, but also on his means of
knowledge, and on his capacity for availing himself of these
means. A hundred persons may see a man die, but if the
question be one of poisoning it might well be that not one
of them would be competent to give material evidence ; one
would require a post-mortem examination by surgeons and
physicians, assisted by analysts learned in poisons—in fact,
the evidence of persons with good means of knowledge, and
competent to avail themselves of those means. And yet,
after all this would only be a question of the shortening by
a few years of the life of one single individual. How much
more careful ought we not to be in receiving evidence on
which depends (according to theologians) the length of life
of millions upon millions of human beings, and that not for
a question of a few short years, but of the countless ages of
eternity, when clocks and watches and calendars shall have
perished in an universal fire and “ time shall be no
more.”
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9
CHAPTER II.
The Miracles and Prophecies of the gods of faith.
(7) “The fool hath said in his heart, there is no God; ”
but then he was but a fool, though not, it would seem, the
greatest of fools, for he does not appear to have been guilty
of the supreme folly of attempting to prove openly the
negative proposition which formed the subject of his secret
sayings, “ in his heart.” We are not such fools as to say,
even in our own heart, there is no God. We cannot help
admitting, indeed, we gladly avow that the universality of
nature’s laws, and the absolute impossibility of disobeying
them, are quite consistent with the existence of a Supreme
Being of absolute power to do all that is possible, and of
unchanging will. We say advisedly, all that is possible, for
there are things absolutely impossible, such as making twice
two into five, or making that not to have existed which, in
point of fact, has existed. If God were to persuade all his
creatures of any such nonsensical impossibility, he might be
said to have wrought a “ miraclebut it would be a mere
triumph of falsehood over truth, and the fact would remain
the same.
(8) But the gods created by “faith” are neither
Almighty nor of immutable will; they are supposed to
have made a huge universe for the benefit of a few preda
tory tribes, whose common ancestor, although a miserable
savage, was powerful enough to frustrate the will of his
maker and make that maker repent of having carried
out his original design! It is not against the Supreme
Being that we write (God forbid!), but against tribal gods,
the creation of their own votaries, the offspring of man’s
imagination and woman’s credulity, “crossed” with igno
rance and superstition.
(9) The faithful may demand : “ If we are wrong, how is
it that the great bulk of the human race are with us ? ”
�10
THE FABLES OF FAITH.
Because man is a gregarious and imitative animal—indepen
dent minds with original thoughts are rarities, the great
mass of mankind are followers, they are like sheep at a gap,
or the “field” at a fox-hunt, they must be “shown the
way ”—and the leaders ? Are as a rule themselves mere
followers though of a higher class ; their imitation is not so
immediate, they follow, at a more respectful distance, some
model, forgotten of the multitude, making the path a little
broader here, a little narrower there, but still following it.
The fashion of faith changes like the fashion in costume,
and the leaders of both fashions are equally arbitrary; to
be out of fashion is to be out of favor, and so the faithful
and the fashionable are always numerous, though always
divided into contradictory sections and sub-sections. All
they have in common is the belief in things unproved by
evidence; that is their fundamental principle, the founda
tion on which each separate section of the faithful builds its
house, in its own style, and repairs in the same style, or
in another, in accordance with the prevailing fashion. If
all these houses formed a beautiful and united city it
would be strong and possibly impregnable. But the city
of faith is always divided against itself, always in a state
of civil war, and its gutters often flow with the blood of
its citizens. Faith has, it is true, a great following, but
no one of her followers can say he has the rest with him ;
he should rather say against him. Ishmael is the patron
saint of every faith, if not of every “ faithful.”
(10) “But we have our prophets and our miracles, which,
attest the truth of our faith.” Every faith has its prophets,
“true” and “false,” and its miracles and counter-miracles;
but is salvation a mere prize for the guessers of conundrums
and the connoisseurs in jugglery ? The Egyptian wizards
were, perhaps, cleverer than Messrs. Maskelyne and Cooke;
they turned sticks into snakes, but Aaron, the idolator, was,
according to his brother Moses, a better juggler still ; he
turned his stick into a snake that eat up the Egyptian
snakes. But does this prove that Aaron’s god was a better
god than those of the Egyptians ? and if so, in what propor
tion, calculated in decimals ? (for w’e should be accurate
in theological matters, and decimals sound more respectful
to the gods than mere vulgar fractions.) Let us state the
case thus: God A can turn sticks into snakes, God B can
�THE FABLES OF FAITH.
11
turn sticks into snakes that will eat up other sticks turned
into snakes—assuming the value of God A to be unity, or 1,
what is the value of God B ? On the answer to this
absurd sum depends the future of millions! not of sticks or
of snakes, as one might think, but of intelligent human
beings!
(11) Raising the dead is a favorite miracle with some faiths,
but it is an unsavory one, and no one seems to have gone
close enough to it to have the testimony of his senses on its
genuineness. When the experiment is tried under the noses
of experts it invariably fails; there is not one solitary
instance of success. And it is an unnecessary miracle which
would be much better replaced by the miracle of keeping a
good and true witness of the faith alive for ever. A respect
able venerable-looking old man of two or three thousand
years of age, living a regular life without eating or drinking,
and enjoying good health and the “ possession of all his
faculties,” and the memory of all the remarkable events of
his lifetime, would be a standing witness of the faith, and, at
the same time, a useful historian. No one would doubt Azs
word, and the faith would be “ kept,” not only by enthusiasts
but by philosophers and men of business; and thus a multi
tude of silly miracles, such as the liquefaction of some old
bloodstains, the periodical appearance of saints to patients
suffering from those effects of indigestion which are known
as nightmare, would be as unnecessary as they are to most
minds ridiculous.
(12) But to come to the prophets: they are divided into
two classes, “true” and “false;” but both classes are so
much alike that each has nearly the same chance of deceiving
the very “ elect ”—i.e., the persons who have been privately
supplied with the only “ correct card of the race ” for heaven,
including the winners’ names, or at all events their own. A
prophecy, according to the faithful, is not the accurate and
definite anticipation of a future event incapable of calcula
tion ; on the contrary, it is the use of indefinite language
capable of various interpretations, and is generally of the
nature of a conundrum or riddle. All definite, or compara
tively definite, promises have failed. The greatest of all
prophets is reported to have said that the generation in which
he lived should not pass away till all should be accom
plished. Yet his generation has passed away many centuries
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THE FABLES OF FAITH.
ago, and no part of his prophesy has been accomplished, and
his followers have nothing left but a miserable play on the
word “ generation.”
(13) But the most celebrated of all prophecies, the one
on which millions of the most educated of the faithful rely
for the origin of a third of their deity was not so definite,
and was therefore not open to immediate refutation.
‘ Behold,” said the prophet, “ a virgin shall conceive.” No
particular virgin is indicated and no particular time is
fixed for her conception, so that no precautions are possible
for providing evidence of the conception not being the
result of human agency. We wish to speak with all respect
for the faith of our fellow-men, but it is necessary to
examine this matter somewhat closely, and if it be indeli
cate, the prophet is to blame and not we. If a married
woman conceive a child the world and the law assume, as
a matter of prima facie evidence, that her husband is the
father of it: and that evidence is not likely to be rebutted.
But when an unmarried woman conceives a child, who
does not recognise the difficulty of proving its paternity?
Yet every modest matron and every innocent virgin of the
Christian faith is bound to examine or rather to believe
this matter of a virgin having conceived! Can it be
possible that the true God, who alone can be called the
god of purity, ever intended to exact from his creatures—
men, matrons, or maids—a belief on a question of pater
nity under penalty of death ? And without any evidence ?
For under what circumstances did the virgin in question
—(i.e., begging the question for the sake of argument)—
under what circumstance did she conceive ? She was living
in daily intercourse with her intended husband, in an age
when the forms of marriage were not respected so much as
they are now; both were young, both were poor, and both
probably had the average of human instincts and passions
—there is absolutely no evidence that they did not anticipate
the formal ceremony of their marriage. Yet in her case
we are called upon to assume that she was the virgin
alluded to by the prophet, and that his most indefinite
prophecy was fulfilled in her person 1 The prophesy and
its fulfilment are equally unsatisfactory, and neither can be
accepted by any but the faithful—i.e., by those who can
believe without evidence. And even they would find a diffi
�the fables of faith.
13
culty if, as magistrates, or judges or jurymen, they had to
deal with a similar case of our own times, even if it only
involved the legitimacy of an insignificant “ bit of
humanity,” the inheritance to a few “ dirty ” acres, or
a miserable pittance of a few shillings per week. Yet in
the affairs of “ salvation ” they greedily swallow an
“opening statement” unsupported by a tittle of satis
factory evidence and improbable in the highest degree.
Why ? It is the foundation of their faith, the rock on
which they have built their house, and they do not dare to
blast it “ in the mere interest of scientific investigation.”
In time, when the flood of knowledge shall have under
mined their little bit of sandstone, or when it shall itself
have crumbled gradually away, the house will fall, and
the dwellers therein will then be able to see the scientific
difference between the sandstone of Faith and the eternal
rock of Truth. Meanwhile, they will live in their house
and occupy their time in mending their own windows
and breaking those of their neighbors.
(14) If a prophet wish to prophesy a birth and be
believed, let him select the mother by name, and let him
indicate the day and hour of the birth, the sex of
the child, the color of its hair and eyes, and any other
“ distinguishing marks;” it is idle to say a virgin shall
conceive without naming the person, place, or time, and it
does not help the matter to say that the child shall bear a
certain name, because names are generally given by parents,
and parents naturally select a good one, especially if any
thing is to be got by it. Or if the prophet know that the
“ sun is going to stand still” let him name the day and hour,
so as to give us an opportunity of consulting our clocks and
almanacks, and of thus testing his prophecy. It is playing
with us to give the prophecy and its fulfilment as pages from
his own history, when he was engaged in carrying fire and
sword into the country of his “ unbelieving ” neighbors.
And the matter is not mended when we consider that the
movement (if any) of the sun had absolutely nothing to do
with the matter, and that it was the earth, and not the sun,
that he wanted to “stand still,” to give him time to
slaughter his fellow-men and their women and children.
The unblushing ignorance of this prophet and the re
volting circumstances of his alleged prophecy (or “ com
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THE FABLES OF FAITH.
mand ” as he calls it) are sufficient to stamp him as an im
poster ; but his prophesy is so old that it has “ crystalised ”
on the deposit of faith and the faithful believe it implicitly.
Would the faithful believe a modern “ prophet ” who should
incidentally mention that the world is flat, and that we have
only to walk to the end of it and look over the wall to see
the Ksole inhabitant of the moon chopping up the old moons
into stars ? Yet that would scarcely be more absurd than
Joshua’s ignorance of the motion of the earth round the
sun, for he professed to be on intimate terms with the
Supreme, and to be authorised to speak in His name. It is
childish to say that when Joshua said the sun he meant the
earth, and that he only used the language of ignorance to
ignorant people that they might the better understand him.
If he had had miraculous powers he could have used the
language of truth and have given his hearers the capacity
of understanding it. Or are miracles inconsistent with
truth ? Let the faithful ponder a little over that question.
(15) But, say the faithful: “ We do do not pin our faith
on Joshua; we'have the whole of the Old Testament, we
have the New, we have the Koran, and many other good
books, and all containing intrinsic evidence of divine inspir
ation, and all attested by the blood of martyrs.” The blood
of martyrs is, as we have seen, a mere evidence of perfect
sincerity. There is, or was, a patient in a lunatic asylum
in Staffordshire whose only trouble was that they would
not recognise him as Jesus Christ come a second time. He
was not Jesus Christ, but he merely believed he was, and
was willing to be crucified “ again,” as he put it, to prove
the authenticity of his mission. If he had lived when the
inquisition flourished, his blood would have possibly testified
to his belief in his identity with the founder of the greatest
religion on earth; but it would not have proved that
identity. Let us therefore leave for the moment the poor
martyrs on their crosses, their gridirons, their slow fires, and
cast a glance at the intrinsic evidence of the divine inspira
tion of what are called the “ sacred scriptures.”
�THE FABLES OF FAITH.
15
CHAPTER III.
Science
The Inspiration of the Scriptures and their Internal
Evidences.
(16) No one who is sincerely convinced of the inspiration
of the scriptures can possibly doubt anything they contain,
and where they clash with the so-called discoveries of
modern science, he is bound to accept the higher evidence
of God in preference to the lower evidence of science, how
ever perfect it may seem to be—he must believe with
Joshua that the sun goes round the earth, and reject as an
optical illusion the “appearances” which have led men of
science into the “ erroneous ” belief that the earth goes
round the sun. It is uncandid and illogical to “ cut and
snip at inspiration and science in order to make them
dove-tail into each other. Let us therefore be candid and
just, though the heavens fall, or our cherished notions on
astronomy, geology and the other sciences have to be re
jected as pretty but fatal fancies into which our weak
judgments have seduced us. What, then, are the scrip
tures ? Let us first consider the collection of books known
as the Old Testament. They are said to express the will
of the creator to his creatures. But we find a difficulty at
the outset; they are not signed either in person or by proxy,
or duly attested. When a human legislator makes laws
he signs them, and publishes them over the whole area of
territory to which they are to apply, and it very seldom
happens that a question arises as to the making of these
laws or their publication. The scriptures of the Old Testa
ment, on the other hand, are unsigned, and were never
published to the world until most of them had lost all
interest except that of history. This difficulty is, however,
surmounted by the assumption that the scriptures in ques
tion contain intrinsic evidence of divine inspiration. Let
us, then, “ search the scriptures” for this evidence, and let
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THE EABLES OF FAITH.
us not forget what we are looking for—viz., an expression
of the will of the Supreme to his creatures. What ought
we to expect to find? Omnipotence, Justice, Purity,
Knowledge. What do we find ? God ingloriously defeated
in his grand design by an anti-god! God inciting to murder
and pillage! God relating indecent stories! God ignorant
of his own works ! God speaking in a language almost un
known I God scolding his people and repenting his crea
tion of them! In one word, we find a tribal god, “ the god
of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.”
(17) “But all these charges are false.” Let us see, and
first as to the defeat of this tribal deity. According to the
scriptures, he made man in his own image, intending that
man should always be his faithful and obedient servant—
that was his will. But a strange personage, who seems to
have created himself, and who, besides working that miracle,
had the habit of miraculously assuming various forms and
shapes, turned himself into a serpent, and in that form
seduced the brand new man from the service of his maker !
Both wanted the servant; the serpent got him, and was
not that a defeat for the God ? Where was his omnipotence
when this miserable, miraculous, self-created serpent took
to talking, and talking with success, on the “ other side ? ”
And, moreover, the serpent’s advice was in favor of know
ledge, whilst the “ god ” inculcated ignorance as a virtue.
And, indeed, well he might, for he was himself ignorant of
the works he claimed as his own. He made the sun to rule
the day (in going round the earth!) and the moon to rule
the night (though, as a matter of fact, she often dances
attendance on mid-day), and we are told parenthetically by
the scriptures “he made the stars also,” as though that
brilliant assemblage of bigger worlds than ours were thrown
in as kinds of understrappers to the moon! Then as to the
creation itself, the account of it is grotesquely inaccurate,
and Noah’s ark is only fit to be a plaything for children’
What naturalist could believe the absurd story of a perfect
menagerie being established in one ship long before Great
Easterns were thought of. And where was the food for the
carnivora kept ?—not to mention the hay, straw and chaff
for the other animals. The writer of this story must have
been a thorough ignoramus, who wrote for a “ public ” even
more ignorant than himself, and the notion of his having
�THE FABLES OF FAITH.
17
obtained his ideas from God is as absurd as the belief of his
story by sane people is strange and wonderful.
(18) All this is only grotesque. The incitement to
murder and rapine is more serious, and places at once the
“ god of Abraham ” on the same level with the “ one god”
who has Mahomet for “ his prophet.” Both gods are
equally bloodthirsty, equally narrow-minded, equally partial
to their robber bands; in a word, both are tribal gods in
the strictest sense of the term, and neither evinces the
slightest trace of the character of the God of the Universe,
who made heaven and earth.
(19) As to the indecent stories, it is a difficult matter
even to allude to them without shocking that sense of
decency which God has implanted in the nature of man, and
which even the most abandoned (with the exception of tribal
gods) cannot thoroughly eradicate. We will only mention
the stories told of Lot, referring our readers to the
Bible for the details, which are too foul for our pages.
An edifying composition of drink, debauchery, and incest
for the delectation of the children of faith! And the
story is told without a single word of condemnation of its
disgusting depravity! This gutter literature never flowed
from the pen of the God of purity, and it is mere blasphemy
to impute it to Him. Yet this is part of the intrinsic
evidence of the inspiration of the Scriptures 1
(20) As to the language in which each book of the
Scriptures is written, the fact that it is not a universal
language proves that the writings themselves were not in
tended for universal circulation. God is almighty, and if
he wants to speak to his creatures, he does not require inter
preters ; and the story of his having confounded the tongues
of men when they were building the Tower of Babel, lest
they should “ climb up to heaven,” is no apology for the
non-universality of the language ; it is merely a proof that
the writer of that story was utterly ignorant of the necessity
of oxygen for the existence of animal life, and knew nothing
of the law of gravity or of the distance of “ heaven ” from
earth. This story of the confusion of tongues may be in
teresting to the admirers of the “ Thousand and One Nights,”
but the crass ignorance of its writer proves conclusively that
the Supreme took no part in concocting it. The simple
circumstance that the god spoken of was jealous of men
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THE FABLES OF FAITH.
and afraid they would “ climb up to heaven ” is sufficient to
stamp that god as a mere tribal god, the creation of ignorant
superstition.
(21) “ But the New Testament is of a higher standard of
morality, and evinces nobler ideas of God. Surely the New
Testament is true? ” The New Testament is but a supplement
to the Old, as is proved by the first chapter of its first book,
where we find the pedigree of Jesus Christ from Abraham
to Joseph, and the statement that Joseph was not his father,
but that the Holy Ghost was, and that his birth was a mira
culous fulfilment of the prophecy we have considered (§ 13),
“ Behold, a virgin shall conceive.” The New Testament is,
therefore, founded entirely on the Old; and if the founda
tion be rotten, the superstructure must perish with it. The
Old Testament was the “rule of faith” of the Jews:
Jesus Christ was a Jew and a great Jewish reformer, but
he founded all his reforms on the prophets of the Old
Testament. It is true that Jesus Christ’s morality is of a
much higher standard than that of the Old Testament; but
what does that prove ? That the god of his father Abraham
was a changeable god, willing one thing at one time and
something very different at another—was, in fact, a mere
tribal god.
(22) “Then, was Jesus Christ an impostor?” We do
not say so : he gave the best proof of his sincerity, his life;
but the enthusiasts of other religions have done the same, and,
as we have seen, martyrdom proves nothing beyond the mar
tyr’s individual sincerity. “ But his miracles ? ” Were not
recorded by himself, but by his followers, chiefly ignorant
and all superstitious, and ready to believe anything and every
thing wonderful with regard to their great and good leader.
They idolised him during his life, and in their writings after
his death they deified him, and magnified his “ miracles,”
which are unproved by any tittle of independent and im
partial evidence. If Jesus Christ had had a mission from
the Supreme to his creatures, he would have been provided
with credentials sufficient to satisfy those creatures of the
reality of his mission ; but, as a matter of fact, Jesus
Christ spent the best part of his life working at a humble,
though honorable, trade, and the rest of it in vainly
attempting to persuade his people, in a remote corner of the
world, that he had received a divine mission. The great
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19
mass of mankind was absolutely ignorant of his existence,
and the few who were not, only knew him as an itinerant
street preacher, who was endeavoring to form a schism in
the religion in which he had been born. And his judicial
murder was only regarded by those who knew of it as an
execution for heresy, or as a result of that religious intole
rance which has in all ages spilt the blood of religious
enthusiasts. And if the “King of Kings” really sent Jesus
Christ on a mission, why did he not protect his ambassador,
or demand immediate satisfaction for his murder ?
(23) One final word as to the New Testament. Although
it is the second dispensation of the “ God of Abraham,” it
is by no means the last. That wonderful dreamer, St.
John the Divine, in his “revelations,” tells us, amongst
other things, that Satan was, or is to be (when, as is usual
in such matters, left doubtful), bound for a thousand years,
during which his privilege to “ deceive the nations ” is to
be suspended, though it is afterwards to be revived for “ a
little season! ” Now this Satan has played a grand part
under the two dispensations of the two testaments, and, as
we have seen, succeeded in defeating the original design
of the God of Abraham, and, moreover, was powerful
enough to seize that God’s son and place him on a pinnacle
of the temple ; in fact, Satan has played the important
role of god’s rival, and successful rival. But St. John tells us
that he is to be shut up for a thousand years: and it is
reasonable to suppose that during that period God will have
it all his own way. This will, indeed, be a new dispensa
tion—an Almighty without a rival has the appearance of
a real Almighty. But, unfortunately, it is only another
temporary arrangement, and after a thousand years the
rival is to play his part again for a “ little season,” as St.
John, the stage manager, indefinitely phrases it.
(24) It is difficult to write seriously of the “ prophecy ”
of St. John, especially as he told us nearly two thousand
years ago that the time of its fulfilment was “ at hand,”
and it remains unfulfiled to the present day. It is a
mixture of grotesque romance and unintelligible conundrum,
all very well for a midsummer night’s dream or nightmare,
but totally unworthy of a Supreme Being of infinite power
and unchangeable will. And yet it is the foundation of a
new dispensation of the will of the God of Abraham !
�20
THE
fables of faith.
(25) The Koran and other sacred scriptures of “ faith,”
although containing here and there moral precepts of uni
versal application are, like the Bible, all strongly impreg
nated with the principles of tribal theology: they all picture
a god of limited power and wisdom, of vacillating will, of
strong passions, of absurd partiality for his own particular
tribe—on which he lavishes all his gifts and all his little
power, to the neglect of the greater part of this tiny
world, and in complete oblivion of those bigger and brighter
worlds, whose light reaches us through millions of miles of
space.
The scriptures tell us nothing that is new and much that
is not true ; and it is only by an “ act ” of blind “ faith ”
that we can find in them any internal evidence of having
been written under the inspiration of the God and Maker of
the universe.
�THE FABLES OF FAITH.
21
CHAPTER IV.
The Substitute for Faith—Truth—Future Rewards and Punish
ments—A Glance at “ Heaven” and “ Hell.”
(26) “ But if we abandon the ‘ faith of our fathers’ what
can you give us in its stead?” Truth! demonstrated truth,
who claims no sacrifice of her votaries’ reason. Truth, who,
conscious of her own power and ultimate victory, has no per
secution for her ignorant enemies. If faithful enthusiasts
believe that the Alps were once in the ocean, and were
removed to their present site by an “ act of faith ” on the
part of some pious prince in want of a “scientific frontier,”
truth does not burn them alive to extinguish their foolish
faith; she pities them and patiently watches for an oppor
tunity to convince them of the folly and absurdity of their
unfounded faith. Truth does not preach ignorance as a
virtue, she does not coquet with drunkenness and impurity;
she is the foundation of all morality, and the great
antagonist of all crime. A thief is a liar (“ Show me a liar,
I will show you a thief ”). A seducer is a liar, for truth
cannot seduce. An adulturer is a liar, for he breaks his
marriage vow. A murderer is a liar, for he always denies
his crime (those who plead guilty to murder are invariably
insane or consider their homicide justifiable). In short,
there is no offence against morality that is not at the same
time an offence against truth. Do the “faiths” inculcate
a higher morality than Truth ? The Bible sanctions
murder and rapine of neighbors, including women and
children. The Bible and the Koran sanction plurality of
wives, which is an untruth to the first. Then holy books
wink at slavery, which is opposed to the now recognised
truth of the freedom of man. The Bible visits the sins of
the fathers on the children. The Bible winks at lying, for
Abraham, who “walked with his god,” said his wife was
his sister. The Bible inculcates religious persecution, the
“ casting out of the heathen.”
�22
THE FABLES OF FAITH.
(27) “ But the Christian religion is more moral.” Possibly ;
but what explanation is there of the murders and tortures
of the Inquisition, of the autos da fe, of the fires of Smithfield, of the dragonnades, and of the horrors that followed the
revocation of the Edict of Nantes ? The blood shed by
Faith in all ages has stained almost every page of the history
of every country; “religious” war is par excellence the
war of inhumanity and of extermination ; and it borders on
a miracle that Faith has not depopulated the world. If the
wretched gipsies under Moses had fully carried out their
god’s commands where should we Gentiles be now ? And a
similar question may be asked with regard to almost every
“ faith.”
(28) “ Good, but the truth you speak of has no system of
future rewards and punishments, such as faith has, and with
out these inducements and deterrents it is impossible to rule
mankind.” No one has, as yet, made any serious attempt
to rule without them, and all the attempts to rule with them
have failed, and failed miserably. The heaven and the hell
invented by faith are too clumsily made for the purposes for
which they were intended, and the conditions of admission
are simply absurd. Heaven, according to the Christian, is
a huge concert-room, in which 144,000 Jews and a “ multi
tude which no man could number ” of other persuasions sing
without ceasing a monotonous bit of flattery to their tribal
god: terms of admission, simple credulity 1 The Mohametan is not so musical; he furnishes his heaven with beauti
ful women; it is a sort of “ gay ” house without the drunken
ness: price of admission, simple credulity. Then look at hell
—its temperature is kept up at a ridiculously high degree,
and the fuel, though always burning, is never burnt ; its
aboriginal inhabitants enjoy an immortality which they
appear to have created for themselves, and their chief takes
a change of air as often as he pleases, and plays an occa
sional game at cards with the chief of the “ other place,” in
which he sometimes loses, but more frequently wins ; for,
according to theologians, hell is more frequented than
heaven : terms of admission quite as easy, incredulity. “ He
that believeth not shall be damned.”
(29) There are “ faiths,” rewards, and punishments : how
do they work in practice ? Do they lead men to lead good
lives? Not at all: they lead men to slaughter the “ un
�THE FABLES OF FAITH.
23
believers,” and steal their goods or burn them—to commit,
in a word, all the atrocities of a “ holy war.” Good lives ?
It is good deaths that the faithful prize. A life spent in
bloodshed and plunder is atoned for by a death-bed re
pentance—the giving of a share of the plunder to “ holy
church,” and falling asleep in her bosom. The brigand,
whose profession is a combination of habitual robbery with
occasional murder, goes regularly to his “ Easter duties he
fulfils the condition of admission to heaven; he believes, and
he is safe. But let us take another and a better-known son
of the Faith—Louis XIV. of France—the sovereign of his
century. Louis was a “ patriot,” a “ pattern king,” and a
powerful “ defender of the faith/’ and lived his life under the
eyes of his resident confessor. What kind of life ? He
carried fire and sword amongst his weaker neighbors, he
revoked the edict of Nantes, he broke “ unbelievers ” on the
wheel, and, whilst his dragoons were protecting the faith
against thousands of harmless unarmed citizens, he was lying
in the lap of debauched luxury, surrounded by his mistresses
and his illegitimate children, and attended by his faithful
confessor, ever ready to give him absolution when he felt in the
humor to receive it. Did the hope of heaven, or the fear of
hell, influence his life for good ? Or take another king of
the same kidney—David. He was also a defender of the
faith. Did he scruple to seduce Uriah’s wife and murder her
husband out of fear of future punishment? (And, by the
way, this guilty pair are said by St. Matthew to be direct
ancestors of Jesus Christ!) Or, to come to our own times.
Some of the Glasgow Bank directors were shining lights of
faith: they even built churches. Did the fear of hell induce
them to look on other people’s money as sacred ?
(30) As a matter of fact the heaven of faith is too in
definite, her hell is too absurd and too easily evaded, to form
any real inducement to a good life or deterrent from a bad
one. They are mere “ bogies,” whose real influence has
never done the world any good, though the faith they are
supposed to enforce has done the world incalculable mischief.
(31) Having supped full of the horrors of Faith, having
seen “ in a vision,” the nightmare of the ghosts of her
millions of victims, let us awake to the beauty of Truth.
Her hands are not stained with innocent blood, she is not
guilty of any amorous embrace of Ignorance, she puts no
�24
THE FABLES OF FAITH.
prohibition on the tree of knowledge, she has no slaves, she
is not capricious, she is the same to all men, in all ages, she
has no worthless favorites. She is eternal and, conscious
of her own strength, and of her ultimate triumph, she has
no hatred to cherish, no enemies to punish ; she would con
vert them all into friends, her triumphs are the triumphs of
peace. The pursuit of truth and of peace are the only
noble pursuits, and they alone contribute to the happiness
of the human race. War and Faith,1 despite their sham
glory, bring but misery and ruin alike to their devotees and
their victims.
(32) We do not know all the laws of the Supreme, but
such as we do know are certain and unchangeable : let us
search diligently after the others, reserving our judgment
on them until they be demonstrated, and respecting, at the
same time, the judgments of others. Let us be charitable,
and endeavor to shame Faith out of her intolerance, her
ignorance, her superstition, her immorality; and we shall
certainly ultimately be successful, if we only live that good
moral life which Truth, and the experience of enlightened
minds, demonstrate to be most consistent with the real
happiness of the human race.
Truth is the blessing, par excellence ; and it is this blessing
which the author of this humble vindication of her wishes
his readers, both friends and foes.
1 The faithful have always admitted the likeness Faith bears to War:
we recognise the likeness as perfect.
�
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Fables of faith : their immorality and absurdity, by an Eastern Traveller
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Place of publication: London
Collation: 24 p. ; 18 cm.
Notes: Essay, dedicated to Cardinal Manning "as a token of respect for his character and life, so high above the level of his adopted faith." Published anonymously. Printed by Annie Besant and Charles Bradlaugh. Part of the NSS pamphlet collection.
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1882
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Faith
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Fables-History and Criticism
Faith
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“THE DUTY OF INSTRUCT
ING THE CONSCIENCE.”
A SERMON
PREACHED AT ST. GEORGE’S HALL, LANGHAM PLACE,
AUGUST 18th, 1872. BY A
CLERGYMAN
of the
CHURCH
of
ENGLAND.
*
[From the Eastern Post, August 24tZi, 1872.]
On Sunday last, in the absence of Mr Voysey, a Minister of the
Church of England officiated, and preached on “The Duty of In
structing the Conscience,” taking for his text, Romans xiv., pt. of
23,—“ For whatsoever is not of faith is sin.”
Some persons have understood this statement to mean that all
actions are in their nature sinful that do not spring from a
principle of Christian faith ; i.e. that all the works of unbelievers
“ have the nature of sin,” as the 13th Article of the Church of
England says. Whatever Divines, however, may allege for this
theory, it must be evident from a consideration of the whole scope
of the chapter, that St. Paul here means nothing of the kind.
He is treating of persons who are in doubt as to the lawfulness or
unlawfulness of certain proceedings ; though he himself, he says,
is persuaded of their lawfulness or indifference, yet it would be
wrong for anyone to do them who thinks them unlawful, “ for
whatsoever is not of faith is sin i.e. whatever action is ventured
on without a full persuasion of its rightfulness is wrong in the
doer of it; which is no more than what Cicero tells us when he
says, “ Nothing ought to be done concerning which you doubt,
whether it may be rightly done.” The declaration of Paul, there
fore, comes to this, that in any case it must be wrong to act
against the persuasion of one’s own conscience. A statement which
�THE DUTY OF INSTRUCTING THE CONSCIENCE.
none of us would be likely to deny, for if one doubts of the recti
tude of an action, to persist in it notwithstanding such doubt
argues a deliberate carelessness as to whether one’s actions are
right or she contrary, and as to the criminality of such conduct,
I think there is no room for difference of opinion.
But then arises the question, can we be always sure that when
we act on the prompting of conscience we are certainly right ?
That is, are the affirmative dictates of conscience a safe guarantee
of the rectitude of actions ? Experience, I think, compels us to
answer this question in the negative. To do what our conscience
forbids is clearly wrong; but it by no means follows
that to do what our conscience prompts is clearly right.
Although subjectively a man may be held guiltless who has
acted conscientiously, and yet erroneously, yet objectively
it is evident the action itself derives no sanction from the edict of
conscience. And since experience has so often taught us this
lesson of the defectiveness of conscience, it is a question whether
a man can be held guiltless who gratuitously makes his own con
science the measure of actions beyond his personal and proper
sphere. Certainly he cannot be acquitted of arrogance and pre
sumption.
Examples of the fallibility of conscience crowd upon us from all
quarters. Louis IN., perhaps the most sincerely conscientious man
that ever existed, made no scruple in robbing heterodox bankers.
Many a one has conscientiously persuaded a Hindoo widow into sui
cide. It is needless to rake history for instances of this kind, espe
cially as common experience shows us the same thing every day. A
pious family in Tyburnia thinks it wrong to open the ipiano on
Sundays, when an equally pious family in Saxony finds its con
science unwounded in listening through the harmless afternoon to
the public band, playing Straus’s Waltzes. In fact, conscience
changes with the latitude; the incoherent collection of sentiments
which a man calls his conscience, North of the Tweed, forms a
curious contrast with the equally heterogeneous convictions of
dwellers South of the Seine.
Some persons endeavour to evade objections of this sort'
against the absolute authority of conscienc, by alleging that
there is pre-supposed a belief in God and goodness. But it is
evident this is only shifting the difficulty from one shoulder to
the other; for what is your standard of goodness ? ’ Goodness is
�THE DUTY OF INSTRUCTING THE CONSCIENCE.
what your conscience approves,—and conscience is your opinion
with respect to what constitutes goodness. We are, you perceive,
going round in a circle. It has been shown by numberless reasoners
that there is no innate infallible test on these matters ; morals have
varied from age to age according to the world’s progress, and their
historical developement is as traceable as that of the intellect.
Now what is the result of all this ? Not as some of the Sophists
once alleged an utter Scepticism as to the difference between
right and wrong, nor a denial of the utility and authority of con
science in her proper sphere. Nothing we have said affects the
validity of the rule of St. Paul and Cicero with which we set out,
that where we are not fully persuaded of the rectitude of an action,
to do it is wrong. But the confession of the errors to which
conscien ce is liable, at once involves the positive duty of informing
the conscience ; if, as some say, conscience is the great judge in the
human breast, it must certainly be as much our interest as our
duty to see that the judge is as fully instructed as possible ; it
becomes a man’s duty in short to convince himself of the correct
ness of his creed, by examining its grounds and weighing sub
stantial objections against it. Our creed is to our conscience as the
motive power and governing-wheel to a machine. Conscience
prompts us to act in such or such a manner because of certain
beliefs and opinions. As a sweet stream will not flow from a
bitter fountain, so neither can a truth-loving and charitable con
science result from a bitter creed, when such creed is personally
realised.
Now it does'not appear to me thatthe partisans of rational religion
can be justly charged with failing in this duty of enlightening the
conscience, sincethedifferenceswhichnowdistinguish them from the
rest of the community have mainly1 arisen from their endeavour
ing to seek out the grounds on which the judgments of conscience
are founded. But here we come upon a curious anomaly, the
rationalists who do not consider a correct creed the most important
thing in the world, at any rate they do not think an incorrect one
a damning matter, they are most scrupulous in examining the
round of their conclusions; while the orthodox, who for the most
part think correctness of belief of vital necessity, who even venture
in their public proclamations to put forth such declarations, as,
“Whosoever will be saved before all things, it is necessary that he
hold this,” and “furthermore it is necessary to everlasting salvation
�THE DUTY OF INSTRUCTING THE CONSCIENCE.
that he also believe rightly that,” these orthodox, who thus stickle
for exactness of creed, discountenance that free enquiry and re
search by which only exactness can be arrived at, and while pro
claiming the peril of error denounce the processes by which error is
to be avoided. No one at all acquainted with the subject can deny
that the most prominent representatives of orthodoxy withstand
free enquiry, and too often decry and calumniate its advocates,
They ^commonly represent that hesitation, and doubt, which are
the parents of enquiry; “are diabolical temptations bombshells. as
a certain prelate called them, from the camp of Satan shot into the
citadel of the soul. The mass of their followers readily accept this
representation, they have been .content to take their creed whole
sale, as it was provided for them in infancy, and no more think of
enquiring into its evidence than into that of their nationality. In
face of piled up masses of evidence, increased bj every newspaper
which brings tidings from other lands, all evincing the conflict of
human judgments and the variation of that moral thermometer,
which men call conscience, they congratulate themselves on re
taining their old-fashioned weather-glass, which persistently points
to “set fair” in all weathers. Like a boy’s watch, more for show
than use, it is all the same to them that it never shows the right
hour. They refuse to be told that as far as keeping time goes, as
far as answering to outward facts, their machine is perfectly use
less. They are careless as to its use and object, while they glory
in its possession. The very object of a creed and a conscience is to
discriminate the true from the untrue, the right from the wrong,
like the needle of a hand-compass, whichever way you turn, it
should always find its way round to the north, but they have fixed
their needle down for the rest of the voyage, and wherever borne
still consider it a safe indicator of their course- But Niccea is no
more a perpetual test of truth than the letter N of the real north.
The magnetic current of the universe is. the heaven-sent force
which sways the living needle round to the pole, as the heavendirected onward march of humanity is the invincible attraction
which leads the eye of a living faith to the never setting star of
truth. But the orthodox sometimes endeavour to vindicate the
wisdom and conscientiousness of their refusal to entertain enquiry
by affirming for themselves “our conscience is fully informed
already, complete instructions were laid down for us, and the
limits of its safe exercise determined long ago by wise men, who
�THE DUTY OF INSTRUCTING THE CONSCIENCE.
went into all these matters you wish us to re-open; we feel quite
sure of the correctness of this judgment, and. do not consider
ourselves bound to enter upon enquiry <on our own account.” All
we can reply is, if this is'what your teachers tell you to rely on,
you are buildiug on a simple historical fallacy, which an hour’s
honest reading will enable the most illiterate to refute. Your
wise men, you say, went into thfese matters, why how many hundred
new matters have entered the mental spectrum since your latest
creed was manufactured. Why, man, since your old theory of the
universe was concocted, an absolutely new world has come
into existence; Columbus has sailed the waters, and
a new race has been planted in the West, while scholarship
and commerce have lifted the curtains of the east, have broken
the slumber of centuries, and disclosed to us vast churches and
religions which your sages never dreamt of. In the writings of
those old-world teachers you may find the most difficult problems
of religion and philosophy treated, and theories on which your
best doctors are still unsettled, estimated, argued out, exploded,
and thrown away ages before yofir venerable patriarchs had
mastered the rudiments of grammar. While your Western
fathers and schoolmen were blundering in bad .Latin, and still
innocent of Greek—ay ! even before Greece herself had a philoso
phical literature—the problems had long been squeezed dry, over
which some of your orthodox Divines are still addling their brains,
You would not choose to sail the globe by a -chart constructed on
their- limited knowledge, whose whole world lay round the Medi
terranean, and which was adapted to the voyage of the good ship
Argo. But youT spiritual chart is just about as much in accord
ance with modern discovery, and bears about as exact a relation to
truth and reality.
This then is the answer we give to our orthodox friends—this is
the challenge that is borne to them, whether they will hear or
whether they will forbear, not merely from a few liberal thinkers
here in London, but from every corner of thd intellectual and civi
lised world. We say, that your old theory of existence, your in'
fallible book, your exclusive creeds are totally inconsistent with
the truth and reality of things-. They cannot anyhow be made
to square with the patent phenomena of the universe. We do not,
of course, presume to say that you are bound to accept what one or
another of us, may offer you in their place, but we say you are
�THE DUTY OF INSTRUCTING THE CONSCIENCE,
hound to examine, to inquire, to inform yourselves; that you
cannot, as honest men, ignore the voices and the light pressing
upon you from every side; that it is impossible for you to keep a
safe and candid conscience while you resolutely blind its eyes and
close its ears,
I do not, indeed, affirm of the orthodox that their conscience
is always as narrow as their written creed ; in various ways the
creed has submitted to a sort of smoothing down of its more horrescent parts—fashionable lectures on science and language have
loosened a few misconceptions, have accustomed them to bear a
little light, and the general tone of society encourages a certain
laxity. It is notorious, moreover, that some have arrived at the
stage of “ making believe to believe.” But this, it appears to me,
makes their conduct all the more disingenuous, they have seen
enough light through the chinks to certify them that there is much
more behind if they would only draw the curtain, but yet when
their theories are challenged they immediately recur to the old
barriers, they deny or prevaricate their former concessions, they
count those as enemies who would be their friends, and excite a
prejudice where they are at a loss for an argument; they bolster
up with all their might those institutions and societies which
carry on the war against enlightenment a outranee. If they were
truly conscientious, the light they have attained would at least
lead them earnestly to examine the asserted unsoundness of their
belief. But the very fact of being in their secret heart suspicious
of the validity of their creed, seems to make them all the more
angry with those who would call their attention to it.
As I explained last Sunday, I can make every allowance for that
natural apprehension with which some view any kind of change,
nor do I think that the less wealthy of the middle-class, whose
time and energies are so severely taxed, are to be blamed if they
are not the first in'encountering such inquiries, or removing the
obstacles which hinder the progress of truth. But what are we
to say of those who labour under no such impediments, who
have great opportunities for enlightenment, whose time even
often hangs wearily on their hands for want of useful employment,
who many of them have more than a shrewd suspicion of the
groundlessness of the popular orthodoxy, who yet not only decline
all candid enquiry themselves, but do all they can to make enquiry
difficult and dangerous for others.
�THE DUTY OF INSTRUCTING THE CONSCIENCE.
We can understand the feeling which resents in others that
activity of mind to which they feel themselves disinclined, we can
even feel a certain sympathy with that love of ease and quiet which
dreads the noisy invasion of religious and social problems,—(were
it not for overwhelming evidence that shows that ere long these
problems will seek a solution in a way they most dislike,)—but we
cannot understand that they should consider this a mark of
conscientiousness, that they should even pretend they are paying
a deference to conscience when they decline the opportunity of
enlightenment, when they refuse to hearken to the injunctions of
their own Apostle St. Paul. For how can a man “prove all things”
and study, as St. Paul says, to “have a conscience void of offence
towards God and towards men”, who is indifferent to the distinction
between sham and reality, who refuses evidence, who is careless
whether or no the light in him be darkness, or how great is that
darkness. If they simply deny that it is their duty to enlighten
their conscience and that they accept the consequences, then
of course we have nothing more to say to them except
that they deny the very basis on which Christianity
itself professes to rest. When Christianity was first preached, it
was professed to be an appeal to every man’s conscience in the sight
of God, Why had not those who refused to listen to evidence in
that day, as good an excuse as those who refuse in this ?
After all, however, it might be but small concern to the more
reflecting part of the community that the orthodox should
acquiesce in an unillumined conscience, and shape their lives on
baseless theories, if they would be content to restrain its exercise
to their own concerns, and simply forbear themselves from doing
that of which they doubt the legality. But this would never
satisfy them. Not happy in a monopoly of darkness, they seek to
make it universal. The languid crowds of orthodoxy throng the
fashionable churches, and strive to spread their system everywhere;
too listless for the intellectual exertion to which we call them,
their interest is, however, excited when it is a question of lording
it over God’s heritage and dictating to other men’s faith, and
they subscribe their handsome sums, to those favoured religious
societies whose chief ambition it is to run down, persecute, mulct
of their honest gains, and if possible, ruin every soul within their
reach who has shown the slightest sympathy with freethought.
The faithful now-a-days, instead of keeping their conscience to its
�THE DUTY OF INSTRUCTING THE CONSOIE
E.
proper office of checking their own. acts, and restraining the judg
ment for which prejudice disqualifies them, make it the chief ex
cuse for interfering with others- Gne man’s conscienc is wounded
because someone else sees fit' to use the post-office on
Sunday, another man has severe inward searchings because his
neighbour likes toitake a glass of beer. There is hardly a path
of life into which they do not intrude their conscientious scruples;
they would certainly have a stroh'ger plea for their interference
if they tried earnestly to enlighten their conscience. As it is
they upset the world with blunderihg efforts to make their narrow
notions the measure of other men’s faith and .practise, and then
when their ignorant and injudicious missionaries have embroiled
themselves with offended governments, they expect European
fleets and armies to fly to the rescue, and carry out their delusive
gospel at the point of the bayonet.' Certainly before trying to make
their notions palatabledo the numberless votaries of Buddha and
Brahm, they should furnish a solid answer to the objections raised
on their own hearth. Butit has beena comm on mse of superannuated
despots, ecclesiastical and other by enterprise abroad, to divert
attention from defects and collapse ' at home. It was during the
throes of the Reformation, for instance that the Roman Church
set on foot its missions t0 China, India, Japan and elsewhere.
This much . may suffice to show the plain duty of every man to
try and inforni his conscience, both:oh account of the truth which
he thus may require himself; and as restraining that unwarrant
able interference with the rights of others, and those harsh judg
ments against which both Christ and the Apostles protest.
The consideration of the best mode of instructing the conscience
would be ample material for a separate discourse. I will conclude
therefore with a passage which affords some indication of the
true method, from the works of a> renowned political writer and
patriot lately deceased.
“ God;‘the Father and Educator of
Humanity, reveals his law to Humanity’ through Time and
Space. Interrogate-the' traditions- bf Humanity, which is the
Council of yohr .brother, mfen, hot hi the restricted circle of an
age or sect? but in ‘all ages, and in a; majority of mankind past aDd
present. Whensoever that; con sent .bf humanity Corresponds with
the teachings of-your own conscience; you are certain of the
truth, certain of having’read ope lint) of thelaw of God?"
�
Dublin Core
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Title
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Victorian Blogging
Description
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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>
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
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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
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The duty of instructing the conscience. A sermon preached at St. George's Hall, Langham Place, August 18th,1872, by a clergyman of the Church of England.
Date
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[1872?]
Identifier
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CT9
Description
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Place of publication: [s.n.]
Collation: [8] p. ; 19 cm.
Notes: From the Eastern Post, August 24th, 1872. From the library of Dr Moncure Conway. Text taken from Romans xiv, pt. of 23 - 'For whatsoever is not of faith is sin'.
Creator
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[Unknown]
Publisher
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[s.l.]
Subject
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Sermons
Rights
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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 duty of instructing the conscience. A sermon preached at St. George's Hall, Langham Place, August 18th,1872, by a clergyman of the Church of England.), 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
Conscience
Conway Tracts
Sermons