PREFACE My foremost design in writing this Preface is to address a word of exhortation to the Society for 1 Promoting Christian Knowledge.

In the essay which follows, the reader will often find Bishop Wilson !oted. "o me and to the mem#ers of the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge his name and writings are still, no do!#t, familiar. B!t the world is fast going away from old$fashioned people of his sort, and I learnt with consternation lately from a #rilliant and disting!ished %otary of the nat!ral sciences, that he had ne%er so m!ch as heard of Bishop Wilson, and that he imagined me to ha%e in%ented him. &t a moment when the Co!rts of 'aw ha%e (!st ta)en off the em#argo from the recreati%e religion f!rnished on S!ndays #y my gifted ac !aintance and others, and when St. Martin*s +all and the &lham#ra will soon #e #eginning again to reso!nd with their p!lpit$ elo !ence, it distresses one to thin) that the new lights sho!ld not only ha%e, in general, a %ery low opinion of the preachers of the old religion, #!t that they sho!ld ha%e it witho!t )nowing the #est that these preachers can do. &nd that they are in this case is owing in part, certainly, to the negligence of the Christian Knowledge Society. In the old times they !sed to print and spread a#road Bishop Wilson*s Maxims of Piety and Christianity. "he copy of this wor) which I !se is one of their p!#lications, #earing their imprint, and #o!nd in the well$)nown #rown calf which they made familiar to o!r childhood, #!t the date of my copy is 1-1.. I )now of no copy #esides, and I #elie%e the wor) is no longer one of those printed and circ!lated #y the Society.1 +ence the error, flattering, I own, to me personally, yet in itself to #e regretted, of the disting!ished physicist already mentioned. . B!t Bishop Wilson*s Maxims deser%e to #e circ!lated as a religio!s #oo), not only #y comparison with the cartloads of r!##ish circ!lated at present !nder this designation, #!t for their own sa)e, and e%en #y comparison with the other wor)s of the same a!thor. /%er the far #etter )nown Sacra Privata they ha%e this ad%antage, that they were prepared #y him for his own pri%ate !se, while the Sacra Privata were prepared #y him for the !se of the p!#lic. "he Maxims were ne%er meant to #e printed, and ha%e on that acco!nt, li)e a wor) of, do!#tless, far deeper emotion and power, the Meditations of Marc!s &!reli!s, something pec!liarly sincere and first$hand a#o!t them. Some of the #est things from the Maxims ha%e passed into the Sacra Privata. Still, in the Maxims, we ha%e them as they first arose, and whereas, too, in the Sacra Privata the writer spea)s %ery often as one of the clergy, and as addressing the clergy, in the Maxims he almost always spea)s solely as a man. I am not saying a word against the Sacra Privata, for which I ha%e the highest respect, only the Maxims seem to me a #etter and more edifying #oo) still. "hey sho!ld #e read, as 0o!#ert says 1icole sho!ld #e read, with a direct aim at practice. "he reader will lea%e on one side things which, from the change of time and from the changed point of %iew which the change of time ine%ita#ly #rings with it, no longer s!it him, eno!gh will remain to ser%e as a sample of the %ery #est, perhaps, which o!r nation and race can do in the way of religio!s writing. M. Michelet ma)es it a reproach to !s that, in all the do!#t as to the real a!thor of the Imitation, no one has e%er dreamed of ascri#ing that wor) to an 2nglishman. It is tr!e, the Imitation co!ld not well ha%e #een written #y an 2nglishman, the religio!s delicacy and, the profo!nd asceticism of that admira#le #oo) are hardly in o!r nat!re. "his wo!ld #e more of a reproach to !s if in poetry, which re !ires, no less than religion, a tr!e delicacy of spirit!al perception, o!r race had not done great things, and if the Imitation, ex !isite as it is, did not, as I ha%e elsewhere remar)ed, #elong to a class of wor)s in which the perfect #alance of h!man nat!re is lost, and which ha%e therefore, as spirit!al prod!ctions, in their contents something excessi%e and mor#id, in their form something not thoro!ghly so!nd. /n a lower range than the Imitation, and awa)ening in o!r nat!re chords less poetical and delicate, the Maxims of Bishop Wilson are, as a religio!s wor), far more solid. "o the most sincere ardo!r and !nction, Bishop Wilson !nites, in these Maxims, that downright honesty and plain good sense which o!r 2nglish race has so powerf!lly applied to the di%ine impossi#ilities

of religion, #y which it has #ro!ght religion so m!ch into practical life, and has done its allotted part in promoting !pon earth the )ingdom of 3od. 4 With ardo!r and !nction religion, as we all )now, may still #e fanatical, with honesty and good sense, it may still #e prosaic, and the fr!it of honesty and good sense !nited with ardo!r and !nction is often only a prosaic religion held fanatically. Bishop Wilson*s excellence lies in a #alance of the fo!r !alities, and in a f!lness and perfection of them, which ma)es this !ntoward res!lt impossi#le. +is !nction is so perfect, and in s!ch happy alliance with his good sense, that it #ecomes tenderness and fer%ent charity. +is good sense is so perfect, and in s!ch happy alliance with his !nction, that it #ecomes moderation and insight. While, therefore, the type of religion exhi#ited in his Maxims is 2nglish, it is yet a type of a far higher )ind than is in general reached #y Bishop Wilson*s co!ntrymen, and yet, #eing 2nglish, it is possi#le and attaina#le for them. &nd so I concl!de as I #egan, #y saying that a wor) of this sort is one which the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge sho!ld not s!ffer to remain o!t of print and o!t of c!rrency. 5 &nd now to pass to the matters can%assed in the following essay. "he whole scope of the essay is to recommend c!lt!re as the great help o!t of o!r present diffic!lties, c!lt!re #eing a p!rs!it of o!r total perfection #y means of getting to )now, on all the matters which most concern !s, the #est which has #een tho!ght and said in the world, and thro!gh this )nowledge, t!rning a stream of fresh and free tho!ght !pon o!r stoc) notions and ha#its, which we now follow sta!nchly #!t mechanically, %ainly imagining that there is a %irt!e in following them sta!nchly which ma)es !p for the mischief of following them mechanically. "his, and this alone, is the scope of the following essay. &nd the c!lt!re we recommend is, a#o%e all, an inward operation. 6 B!t we are often s!pposed, when we criticise #y the help of c!lt!re some imperfect doing or other, to ha%e in o!r eye some well$)nown ri%al plan of doing, which we want to ser%e and recommend "h!s, for instance, #eca!se we ha%e freely pointed o!t the dangers and incon%eniences to which o!r literat!re is exposed in the a#sence of any centre of taste and a!thority li)e the 7rench &cademy, it is constantly said that we want to introd!ce here in 2ngland an instit!tion li)e the 7rench &cademy. We ha%e, indeed, expressly declared that we wanted no s!ch thing, #!t let !s notice how it is (!st o!r worship of machinery, and of external doing, which leads to this charge #eing #ro!ght, and how the inwardness of c!lt!re ma)es !s sei8e, for watching and c!re, the fa!lts to which o!r want of an &cademy inclines !s, and yet pre%ents !s from tr!sting to an arm of flesh, as the P!ritans say,$$ from #lindly flying to this o!tward machinery of an &cademy, in order to help o!rsel%es. 7or the %ery same c!lt!re and free inward play of tho!ght which shows how the Corinthian style, or the whimsies a#o!t the /ne Prime%al 'ang!age, are generated and strengthened in the a#sence of an &cademy, shows !s, too, how little any &cademy, s!ch as we sho!ld #e li)ely to get, wo!ld c!re them. 2%ery one who )nows the characteristics of o!r national life, and the tendencies so f!lly disc!ssed in the following pages, )nows exactly what an 2nglish &cademy wo!ld #e li)e. /ne can see the happy family in one*s mind*s eye as distinctly as if it were already constit!ted. 'ord Stanhope, the 9ean of St. Pa!l*s,. the Bishop of /xford,4 Mr. 3ladstone, the 9ean of Westminster, Mr. 7ro!de, Mr. +enry :ee%e,$$e%erything which is infl!ential, accomplished, and disting!ished, and then, some fine morning, a dissatisfaction of the p!#lic mind with this #rilliant and select coterie, a flight of Corinthian leading articles, and an irr!ption of Mr. 3. &. Sala. Clearly, this is not what will do !s good. "he %ery same fa!lts,$$the want of sensiti%eness of intellect!al conscience, the dis#elief in right reason, the disli)e of a!thority,$$which ha%e hindered o!r ha%ing an &cademy and ha%e wor)ed in(!rio!sly in o!r literat!re, wo!ld also hinder !s from ma)ing o!r &cademy, if we esta#lished it, one which wo!ld really correct them. &nd c!lt!re, which shows !s tr!ly the fa!lts to #e corrected, shows !s this also (!st as tr!ly. ; 1at!ral, as we ha%e said, the sort of mis!nderstanding (!st noticed is, yet o!r !sef!lness depends

!pon o!r #eing a#le to clear it away, and to con%ince those who mechanically ser%e some stoc) notion or operation, and there#y go astray, that it is not c!lt!re*s wor) or aim to gi%e the %ictory to some ri%al fetish, #!t simply to t!rn a free and fresh stream of tho!ght !pon the whole matter in !estion. In a thing of more immediate interest, (!st now, than any !estion of an &cademy, the li)e mis!nderstanding pre%ails, and !ntil it is dissipated, c!lt!re can do no good wor) in the matter. When we criticise the present operation of disesta#lishing the Irish Ch!rch, not #y the power of reason and (!stice, #!t #y the power of the antipathy of the Protestant 1onconformists, 2nglish and Scotch, to esta#lishments, we are called enemies of the 1onconformists, #lind partisans of the &nglican 2sta#lishment, possessed with the one desire to help the clergy and to harm the 9issenters. More than a few words we m!st gi%e to showing how erroneo!s are these charges, #eca!se if they were tr!e, we sho!ld #e act!ally s!#%erting o!r own design, and playing false to that c!lt!re which it is o!r %ery p!rpose to recommend. < Certainly we are no enemies of the 1onconformists, for, on the contrary, which we aim at is their perfection. B!t c!lt!re, which is the st!dy of perfection, leads !s, as we in the following pages ha%e shown, to concei%e of tr!e h!man perfection as a harmonious perfection, de%eloping all sides of o!r h!manity, and as a general perfection, de%eloping all parts of o!r society. 7or if one mem#er s!ffer, the other mem#ers m!st s!ffer with it, and the fewer there are that follow the tr!e way of sal%ation, the harder that way is to find. &nd while the 1onconformists, the s!ccessors and representati%es of the P!ritans, and li)e them sta!nchly wal)ing #y the #est light they ha%e, ma)e a large part of what is strongest and most serio!s in this nation, and therefore attract o!r respect and interest, yet all which, in what follows, is said a#o!t +e#raism and +ellenism, has for its main res!lt to show how o!r P!ritans, ancient and modern, ha%e not eno!gh added to their care for wal)ing sta!nchly #y the #est light they ha%e, a care that that light #e not dar)ness, how they ha%e de%eloped one side of their h!manity at the expense of all others, and ha%e #ecome incomplete and m!tilated men in conse !ence. "h!s falling short of harmonio!s perfection, they fail to follow the tr!e way of sal%ation. "herefore that way is made the harder for others to find, general perfection is p!t f!rther off o!t of o!r reach, and the conf!sion and perplexity, in which o!r society now la#o!rs, is increased #y the 1onconformists rather than diminished #y them. So while we praise and esteem the 8eal of the 1onconformists in wal)ing sta!nchly #y the #est light they ha%e, and desire to ta)e no whit from it, we see) to add to this what we call sweetness and light, and to de%elop their f!ll h!manity more perfectly. "o see) this is certainly not to #e the enemy of the 1onconformists. - B!t now, with these ideas in o!r head, we come !pon the operation for disesta#lishing the Irish Ch!rch #y the power of the 1onconformists* antipathy to religio!s esta#lishments and endowments. &nd we see 'i#eral statesmen, for whose p!rpose this antipathy happens to #e con%enient, flattering it all they can, saying that tho!gh they ha%e no intention of laying hands on an 2sta#lishment which is efficient and pop!lar, li)e the &nglican 2sta#lishment here in 2ngland, yet it is in the a#stract a fine and good thing that religion sho!ld #e left to the %ol!ntary s!pport of its promoters, and sho!ld th!s gain in energy and independence, and Mr. 3ladstone has no words strong eno!gh to express his admiration of the ref!sal of State$aid #y the Irish :oman Catholics, who ha%e ne%er yet #een serio!sly as)ed to accept it, #!t who wo!ld a good deal em#arrass him if they demanded it. &nd we see philosophical politicians with a t!rn for swimming with the stream, and philosophical di%ines with the same t!rn, see)ing to gi%e a sort of grand stamp of generality and solemnity to this antipathy of the 1onconformists, and to dress it o!t as a law of h!man progress in the f!t!re. 1ow, nothing can #e pleasanter than swimming with the stream, and we might gladly, if we co!ld, try in o!r !nsystematic way to ta)e part in la#o!rs at once so philosophical and so pop!lar. B!t we ha%e got fixed in o!r minds that a more f!ll and harmonio!s de%elopment of their h!manity is what the 1onconformists most want, that narrowness, one$ sidedness, and incompleteness is what they most s!ffer from, in a word, that in what we call

provinciality they a#o!nd, #!t in what we may call totality they fall short. = &nd they fall short more than the mem#ers of 2sta#lishments. "he great wor)s #y which, not only in literat!re, art, and science generally, #!t in religion itself, the h!man spirit has manifested its approaches to totality and to a f!ll, harmonio!s perfection, and #y which it stim!lates and helps forward the world*s general perfection, come, not from 1onconformists, #!t from men who either #elong to 2sta#lishments or ha%e #een trained in them. & 1onconformist minister, the :e%. 2dward White, who has written a temperate and well$reasoned pamphlet against Ch!rch 2sta#lishments, says that *the !nendowed and !nesta#lished comm!nities of 2ngland exert f!ll as m!ch moral and enno#ling infl!ence !pon the cond!ct of statesmen as that Ch!rch which is #oth esta#lished and endowed.* "hat depends !pon what one means #y moral and enno#ling infl!ence. "he #elie%er in machinery may thin) that to get a 3o%ernment to a#olish Ch!rch$rates or to legalise marriage with a deceased wife*s sister is to exert a moral and enno#ling infl!ence !pon 3o%ernment. B!t a lo%er of perfection, who loo)s to inward ripeness for the tr!e springs of cond!ct, will s!rely thin) that as Sha)speare has done more for the inward ripeness of o!r statesmen than 9r. Watts, and has, therefore, done more to moralise and enno#le them, so an 2sta#lishment which has prod!ced +oo)er, Barrow, B!tler, has done more to moralise and enno#le 2nglish statesmen and their cond!ct than comm!nities which ha%e prod!ced the 1onconformist di%ines. "he fr!itf!l men of 2nglish P!ritanism and 1onconformity are men who were trained within the pale of the 2sta#lishment,$$Milton, Baxter, Wesley. & generation or two o!tside the 2sta#lishment, and P!ritanism prod!ces men of national mar) no more. With the same doctrine and discipline, men of national mar) are prod!ced in Scotland, #!t in an 2sta#lishment. With the same doctrine and discipline, men of national and e%en 2!ropean mar) are prod!ced in 3ermany, Swit8erland, 7rance, #!t in 2sta#lishments. /nly two religio!s disciplines seem exempted, or comparati%ely exempted, from the operation of the law which appears to for#id the rearing, o!tside of national Ch!rches, of men of the highest spirit!al significance. "hese two are the :oman Catholic and the 0ewish. &nd these, #oth of them, rest on 2sta#lishments, which, tho!gh not indeed national, are cosmopolitan, and perhaps here, what the indi%id!al man does not lose #y these conditions of his rearing, the citi8en, and the State of which he is a citi8en loses. 1> What, now, can #e the reason of this !ndenia#le pro%incialism of the 2nglish P!ritans and Protestant 1onconformists? Men of geni!s and character are #orn and reared in this medi!m as in any other. 7rom the fa!lts of the mass s!ch men will always #e comparati%ely free, and they will always excite o!r interest, yet in this medi!m they seem to ha%e a special diffic!lty in #rea)ing thro!gh what #o!nds them, and in de%eloping their totality. S!rely the reason is, that the 1onconformist is not in contact with the main c!rrent of national life, li)e the mem#er of an 2sta#lishment. In a matter of s!ch deep and %ital concern as religion, this separation from the main c!rrent of the national life has pec!liar importance. In the following essay we ha%e disc!ssed at length the tendency in !s to Hebraise, as we call it, that is, to sacrifice all other sides of o!r #eing to the religio!s side. "his tendency has its ca!se in the di%ine #ea!ty and grande!r of religion, and #ears affecting testimony to them. B!t we ha%e seen that it has dangers for !s, we ha%e seen that it leads to a narrow and twisted growth of o!r religio!s side itself, and to a fail!re in perfection. B!t if we tend to +e#raise e%en in an 2sta#lishment, with the main c!rrent of national life flowing ro!nd !s, and reminding !s in all ways of the %ariety and f!lness of h!man existence,$$#y a Ch!rch which is historical as the State itself is historical, and whose order, ceremonies, and mon!ments reach, li)e those of the State, far #eyond any fancies and de%isings of o!rs, and #y instit!tions s!ch as the @ni%ersities, formed to defend and ad%ance that %ery c!lt!re and many$sided de%elopment which it is the danger of +e#raising to ma)e !s neglect,$$how m!ch more m!st we tend to +e#raise when we lac) these pre%enti%es. /ne may say that to #e reared a mem#er of a national Ch!rch is in itself a lesson of religio!s moderation, and a help towards c!lt!re and harmonio!s perfection. Instead of

#awling for his own pri%ate forms for expressing the inexpressi#le and defining the !ndefina#le, a man ta)es those which ha%e commended themsel%es most to the religio!s life of his nation, and while he may #e s!re that within those forms the religio!s side of his own nat!re may find its satisfaction, he has leis!re and compos!re to satisfy other sides of his nat!re as well. 11 B!t with the mem#er of a 1onconforming or self$made religio!s comm!nity, how differentA "he sectary*s eigene grosse Erfindungen, as 3oethe calls them,$$the precio!s disco%eries of himself and his friends for expressing the inexpressi#le and defining the !ndefina#le in pec!liar forms of their own, cannot #!t, as he has %ol!ntarily chosen them, and is personally responsi#le for them, fill his whole mind. +e is 8ealo!s to do #attle for them and affirm them, for in affirming them he affirms himself, and that is what we all li)e. /ther sides of his #eing are th!s neglected, #eca!se the religio!s side, always tending in e%ery serio!s man to predominance o%er o!r other spirit!al sides, is in him made !ite a#sor#ing and tyranno!s #y the condition of self$assertion and challenge which he has chosen for himself. &nd (!st what is not essential in religion he comes to mista)e for essential, and a tho!sand times the more readily #eca!se he has chosen it of himself, and religio!s acti%ity he fancies to consist in #attling for it. &ll this lea%es him little leis!re or inclination for c!lt!re, to which, #esides, he has no great instit!tions not of his own ma)ing, li)e the @ni%ersities connected with the national Ch!rch to in%ite him, #!t only s!ch instit!tions as, li)e the order and discipline of his religion, he may ha%e in%ented for himself, and in%ented !nder the sway of the narrow and tyranno!s notions of religion fostered in him as we ha%e seen. "h!s, while a national esta#lishment of religion fa%o!rs totality, hole-and-corner forms of religion Bto !se an expressi%e pop!lar wordC ine%ita#ly fa%o!r pro%incialism. 1. B!t the 1onconformists, and many of o!r 'i#eral friends along with them, ha%e a pla!si#le plan for getting rid of this pro%incialism, if, as they can hardly !ite deny, it exists. *'et !s all #e in the same #oat,* they cry, *open the @ni%ersities to e%ery#ody, and let there #e no esta#lishment of religion at allA* /pen the @ni%ersities #y all means, #!t, as to the second point a#o!t esta#lishment, let !s sift the proposal a little. It does seem at first a little li)e that proposal of the fox, who had lost his own tail, to p!t all the other foxes in the same case #y a general c!tting off of tails, and we )now that moralists ha%e decided that the right co!rse here was, not to adopt this pla!si#le s!ggestion, and c!t off tails all ro!nd, #!t rather that the other foxes sho!ld )eep their tails, and that the fox witho!t a tail sho!ld get one. &nd so we might #e inclined to !rge, that, to c!re the e%il of the 1onconformists* pro%incialism, the right way can hardly #e to pro%incialise !s all ro!nd. 14 +owe%er, perhaps we shall not #e pro%incialised. 7or Mr. White says that pro#a#ly, *when all good men ali)e are placed in a condition of religio!s e !ality, and the whole complicated ini !ity of 3o%ernment Ch!rch patronage is swept away, more of moral and enno#ling infl!ence than e%er will #e #ro!ght to #ear !pon the action of statesmen.* 15 We already ha%e an example of religio!s e !ality in o!r colonies. *In the colonies,* says The Times, *we see religio!s comm!nities !nfettered #y State$control, and the State relie%ed from one of the most tro!#lesome and irritating responsi#ilities.*B!t &merica is the great example alleged #y those who are against esta#lishments for religion. /!r topic at this moment is the infl!ence of religio!s esta#lishments on c!lt!re, and it is remar)a#le that Mr. Bright, who has ta)en lately to representing himself as, a#o%e all, a promoter of reason and of the simple nat!ral tr!th of things, and his policy as a fostering of the growth of intelligence,$$(!st the aims, as is well )nown, of c!lt!re also,$$Mr. Bright, in a speech at Birmingham a#o!t ed!cation, sei8ed on the %ery point which seems to concern o!r topic, when he saidD *I #elie%e the people of the @nited States ha%e offered to the world more %al!a#le information d!ring the last forty years, than all 2!rope p!t together.* So &merica, witho!t religio!s esta#lishments, seems to get ahead of !s all, e%en in light and the things of the mind.

16 /n the other hand, another friend of reason and the simple nat!ral tr!th of things, M. :enan, says of &merica, in a #oo) he has recently p!#lished, what seems to conflict %iolently with what Mr. Bright says. Mr. Bright a%ers that not only ha%e the @nited States th!s informed 2!rope, #!t they ha%e done it witho!t a great apparat!s of higher and scientific instr!ction, and #y dint of all classes in &merica #eing *s!fficiently ed!cated to #e a#le to read, and to comprehend, and to thin), and that, I maintain, is the fo!ndation of all s!#se !ent progress.* &nd then comes M. :enan, and saysD *"he so!nd instr!ction of the people is an effect of the high c!lt!re of certain classes. The countries hich! li"e the #nited States! have created a considerable popular instruction ithout any serious higher instruction! ill long have to expiate this fault by their intellectual mediocrity! their vulgarity of manners! their superficial spirit! their lac" of general intelligence$*5 1; 1ow, which of these two friends of light are we to #elie%e? M. :enan seems more to ha%e in %iew what we o!rsel%es mean #y c!lt!re, #eca!se Mr. Bright always has in his eye what he calls *a commenda#le interest* in politics and in political agitations. &s he said only the other day at BirminghamD *&t this moment,$$in fact, I may say at e%ery moment in the history of a free co!ntry, $$there is nothing that is so m!ch worth disc!ssing as politics.* &nd he )eeps repeating, with all the powers of his no#le oratory, the old story, how to the tho!ghtf!lness and intelligence of the people of great towns we owe all o!r impro%ements in the last thirty years, and how these impro%ements ha%e hitherto consisted in Parliamentary reform, and free trade, and a#olition of Ch!rch rates, and so on, and how they are now a#o!t to consist in getting rid of minority$mem#ers, and in introd!cing a free #rea)fast$ta#le, and in a#olishing the Irish Ch!rch #y the power of the 1onconformists* antipathy to esta#lishments, and m!ch more of the same )ind. &nd tho!gh o!r pa!perism and ignorance, and all the !estions which are called social, seem now to #e forcing themsel%es !pon his mind, yet he still goes on with his glorifying of the great towns, and the 'i#erals, and their operations for the last thirty years. It ne%er seems to occ!r to him that the present tro!#led state of o!r social life has anything to do with the thirty years* #lind worship of their nostr!ms #y himself and o!r 'i#eral friends, or that it throws any do!#ts !pon the s!fficiency of this worship. B!t he thin)s that what is still amiss is d!e to the st!pidity of the "ories, and will #e c!red #y the tho!ghtf!lness and intelligence of the great towns, and #y the 'i#erals going on glorio!sly with their political operations as #efore, or that it will c!re itself. So we see what Mr. Bright means #y tho!ghtf!lness and intelligence, and in what matter, according to him, we are to grow in them. &nd, no do!#t, in &merica all classes read their newspaper, and ta)e a commenda#le interest in politics, more than here or anywhere else in 2!rope. 1< B!t in the following essay we ha%e #een led to do!#t the s!fficiency of all this political operating, p!rs!ed mechanically as o!r race p!rs!es it, and we fo!nd that general intelligence, as M. :enan calls it, or, as we say, attention to the reason of things, was (!st what we were witho!t, and that we were witho!t it #eca!se we worshipped o!r machinery so de%o!tly. "herefore, we concl!de that M. :enan, more than Mr. Bright, means #y reason and intelligence the same thing as we do. &nd when M. :enan says that &merica, that chosen home of newspapers and politics, is witho!t general intelligence, we thin) it li)ely, from the circ!mstances of the case, that this is so, and that in the things of the mind, and in c!lt!re and totality, &merica, instead of s!rpassing !s all, falls short. 1- &nd,$$to )eep to o!r point of the infl!ence of religio!s esta#lishments !pon c!lt!re and a high de%elopment of o!r h!manity,$$we can s!rely see reasons why, with all her energy and fine gifts, &merica does not show more of this de%elopment, or more promise of this. In the following essay it will #e seen how o!r society distri#!tes itself into Bar#arians, Philistines, and Pop!lace, and &merica is (!st o!rsel%es, with the Bar#arians !ite left o!t, and the Pop!lace nearly. "his lea%es the Philistines for the great #!l) of the nation,$$a li%elier sort of Philistine than o!rs, and with the press!re and false ideal of o!r Bar#arians ta)en away, #!t left all the more to himself and to ha%e

his f!ll swing. &nd as we ha%e fo!nd that the strongest and most %ital part of 2nglish Philistinism was the P!ritan and +e#raising middle$class, and that its +e#raising )eeps it from c!lt!re and totality, so it is notorio!s that the people of the @nited States iss!es from this class, and reprod!ces its tendencies,$$its narrow conception of man*s spirit!al range and of his one thing needf!l. 7rom Maine to 7lorida, and #ac) again, all &merica +e#raises. 9iffic!lt as it is to spea) of a people merely from what one reads, yet that, I thin), one may witho!t m!ch fear of contradiction say. I mean, when in the @nited States any spirit!al side in man is wa)ened to acti%ity, it is generally the religio!s side, and the religio!s side in a narrow way. Social reformers go to Moses or St. Pa!l for their doctrines, and ha%e no notion there is anywhere else to go to, earnest yo!ng men at schools and !ni%ersities, instead of concei%ing sal%ation as a harmonio!s perfection only to #e won #y !nreser%edly c!lti%ating many sides in !s, concei%e of it in the old P!ritan fashion, and fling themsel%es ardently !pon it in the old, false ways of this fashion, which we )now so well, and s!ch as Mr. +ammond, the &merican re%i%alist, has lately at Mr. Sp!rgeon*s "a#ernacle #een refreshing o!r memory with. 1= 1ow, if &merica th!s +e#raises more than either 2ngland or 3ermany, will any one deny that the a#sence of religio!s esta#lishments has m!ch to do with it? We ha%e seen how esta#lishments tend to gi%e !s a sense of a historical life of the h!man spirit, o!tside and #eyond o!r own fancies and feelings, how they th!s tend to s!ggest new sides and sympathies in !s to c!lti%ate, how, f!rther, #y sa%ing !s from ha%ing to in%ent and fight for o!r own forms of religion, they gi%e !s leis!re and calm to steady o!r %iew of religion itself,$$the most o%erpowering of o#(ects, as it is the grandest,$$ and to enlarge o!r first cr!de notions of the one thing needf!l. B!t, in a serio!s people, where e%ery one has to choose and stri%e for his own order and discipline of religion, the contention a#o!t these non$essentials occ!pies his mind. +is first cr!de notions a#o!t the one thing needf!l do not get p!rged, and they in%ade the whole spirit!al man in him, and then, ma)ing a solit!de, they call it hea%enly peace. .> I remem#er a 1onconformist man!fact!rer, in a town of the Midland co!nties, telling me that when he first came there, some years ago, the place had no 9issenters, #!t he had opened an Independent chapel in it, and now Ch!rch and 9issent were pretty e !ally di%ided, with sharp contests #etween them. I said that this seemed a pity. *& pity?* cried he, *not at allA /nly thin) of all the 8eal and acti%ity which the collision calls forthA* *&h, #!t, my dear friend,* I answered, *only thin) of all the nonsense which yo! now hold !ite firmly, which yo! wo!ld ne%er ha%e held if yo! had not #een contradicting yo!r ad%ersary in it all these yearsA* "he more serio!s the people, and the more prominent the religio!s side in it, the greater is the danger of this side, if set to choose o!t forms for itself and fight for existence, swelling and spreading till it swallows all other spirit!al sides !p, intercepts and a#sor#s all n!triment which sho!ld ha%e gone to them, and lea%es +e#raism rampant in !s and +ellenism stamped o!t. .1 C!lt!re, and the harmonio!s perfection of o!r whole #eing, and what we call totality, then #ecome !ite secondary matters. &nd e%en the instit!tions, which sho!ld de%elop these, ta)e the same narrow and partial %iew of h!manity and its wants as the free religio!s comm!nities ta)e. 0!st as the free ch!rches of Mr. Beecher or Brother 1oyes, with their pro%incialism and want of centrality, ma)e mere +e#raisers in religion, and not perfect men, so the !ni%ersity of Mr. 28ra Cornell, a really no#le mon!ment of his m!nificence, yet seems to rest on a misconception of what c!lt!re tr!ly is, and to #e calc!lated to prod!ce miners, or engineers, or architects, not sweetness and light. .. &nd, therefore, when Mr. White as)s the same )ind of !estion a#o!t &merica that he has as)ed a#o!t 2ngland, and wants to )now whether, witho!t religio!s esta#lishments, as m!ch is not done in &merica for the higher national life as is done for that life here, we answer in the same way as we did #efore, that as m!ch is not done. Beca!se to ena#le and stir !p people to read their Bi#le and

the newspapers, and to get a practical )nowledge of their #!siness, does not ser%e to the higher spirit!al life of a nation so m!ch as c!lt!re, tr!ly concei%ed, ser%es, and a tr!e conception of c!lt!re is, as M. :enan*s words show, (!st what &merica fails in. .4 "o the many who thin) that spirit!ality, and sweetness, and light, are all moonshine, this will not appear to matter m!ch, #!t with !s, who %al!e them, and who thin) that we ha%e traced m!ch of o!r present discomfort to the want of them, it weighs a great deal. So not only do we say that the 1onconformists ha%e got pro%incialism and lost totality #y the want of a religio!s esta#lishment, #!t we say that the %ery example which they #ring forward to help their case ma)es against them, and that when they tri!mphantly show !s &merica witho!t religio!s esta#lishments, they only show !s a whole nation to!ched, amidst all its greatness and promise, with that pro%incialism which it is o!r aim to extirpate in the 2nglish 1onconformists. .5 B!t now to e%ince the disinterestedness which c!lt!re teaches !s. We ha%e seen the narrowness generated in P!ritanism #y its hole$and$corner organisation, and we propose to c!re it #y #ringing P!ritanism more into contact with the main c!rrent of national life. +ere we are f!lly at one with the 9ean of Westminster, and, indeed, he and we were trained in the same school to mar) the narrowness of P!ritanism, and to wish to c!re it. B!t he and others seem disposed simply to gi%e to the present &nglican 2sta#lishment a character the most latit!dinarian, as it is called, possi#le, a%ailing themsel%es for this p!rpose of the di%ersity of tendencies and doctrines which does !ndo!#tedly exist already in the &nglican form!laries, and then they wo!ld say to the P!ritansD *Come all of yo! into this li#erally concei%ed &nglican 2sta#lishment.* B!t to say this is hardly, perhaps, to ta)e s!fficient acco!nt of the co!rse of history, or of the strength of men*s feelings in what concerns religion, or of the gra%ity which may ha%e come to attach to points of religio!s order and discipline merely. When Mr. White tal)s of *sweeping away the whole complicated ini !ity of 3o%ernment Ch!rch patronage,* he !ses lang!age which has #een forced !pon him #y his position, #!t which is de%oid of all real solidity. B!t when he tal)s of the religio!s comm!nities *which ha%e for three h!ndred years contended for the power of the congregation in the management of their own affairs,* then he tal)s history, and his lang!age has #ehind it, in my opinion, facts which ma)e the latit!dinarianism of o!r Broad Ch!rchmen !ite ill!sory. .6 Certainly, c!lt!re will ne%er ma)e !s thin) it an essential of religion whether we ha%e in o!r Ch!rch discipline *a pop!lar a!thority of elders,* as +oo)er calls it, or whether we ha%e 2piscopal (!risdiction. Certainly, +oo)er himself did not thin) it an essential, for in the dedication of his Ecclesiastical Polity, spea)ing of these !estions of ch!rch$discipline which ga%e occasion to his great wor), he says they are *in tr!th, for the greatest part, s!ch silly things, that %ery easiness doth ma)e them hard to #e disp!ted of in serio!s manner.* +oo)er*s great wor) against the imp!gners of the order and discipline of the Ch!rch of 2ngland was written Band this is too indistinctly sei8ed #y many who read itC, not #eca!se 2piscopalianism is essential, #!t #eca!se its imp!gners maintained that Pres#yterianism is essential, and that 2piscopalianism is sinf!l. 1either the one nor the other is either essential or sinf!l, and m!ch may #e said on #ehalf of #oth. B!t what is important to #e remar)ed is, that both ere in the Church of England at the %eformation, and that Pres#yterianism was only extr!ded grad!ally. We ha%e mentioned +oo)er, and nothing #etter ill!strates what has (!st #een asserted than the following incident in +oo)er*s own career, which e%ery one has read, for it is related in Isaac Walton*s &ife of Hoo"er, #!t of which, pro#a#ly, the significance has #een f!lly grasped #y %ery few of those who ha%e read it. .; +oo)er was thro!gh the infl!ence of &rch#ishop Whitgift appointed, in 16-6, Master of the "emple, #!t a great effort had first #een made to o#tain the place for a Mr. Walter "ra%ers, well )nown in that day, tho!gh now it is +oo)er*s name which alone preser%es his. "his "ra%ers was then afternoon$lect!rer at the "emple. "he Master whose death made the %acancy, &l%ey,

recommended on his death#ed "ra%ers for his s!ccessor. "he Society was fa%o!ra#le to "ra%ers, and he had the s!pport of the 'ord "reas!rer B!rghley. &ltho!gh +oo)er was appointed to the Mastership, "ra%ers remained afternoon$lect!rer, and com#ated in the afternoons the doctrine which +oo)er preached in the mornings. 1ow, this "ra%ers, originally a 7ellow of "rinity College, Cam#ridge, afterwards afternoon$lect!rer at the "emple, recommended for the Mastership #y the foregoing Master whose opinions, it is said, agreed with his, fa%o!red #y the Society of the "emple and s!pported #y the Prime Minister,$$this "ra%is was not an 2piscopally ordained clergyman at all. +e was a Pres#yterian, a partisan of the 3ene%a ch!rch$discipline, as it was then called, and *had ta)en orders,* says Walton, *#y the Pres#yters in &ntwerp.* In another place Walton spea)s of his orders yet more f!llyD$$*+e had disowned,* he says, *the 2nglish 2sta#lished Ch!rch and 2piscopacy, and went to 3ene%a, and afterwards to &ntwerp, to #e ordained minister, as he was #y Eillers and Cartwright and others the heads of a congregation there, and so came #ac) again more confirmed for the discipline.* Eillers and Cartwright are in li)e manner examples of Pres#yterianism within the Ch!rch of 2ngland, which was common eno!gh at that time. B!t perhaps nothing can #etter gi%e !s a li%ely sense of its presence there than this history of "ra%ers, which is as if Mr. Binney were now6 afternoon$reader at 'incoln*s Inn or the "emple, were to #e a candidate, fa%o!red #y the Benchers and #y the Prime Minister, for the Mastership, and were only )ept o!t of the post #y the accident of the &rch#ishop of Canter#!ry*s infl!ence with the F!een carrying a ri%al candidate. .< Pres#yterianism, with its pop!lar principle of the power of the congregation in the management of their own affairs was extr!ded from the Ch!rch of 2ngland, and men li)e "ra%ers can no longer appear in her p!lpits. Perhaps if a go%ernment li)e that of 2li8a#eth, with sec!lar statesmen li)e the Cecils, and ecclesiastical statesmen li)e Whitgift, co!ld ha%e #een prolonged, Pres#yterianism might, #y a wise mixt!re of concession and firmness, ha%e #een a#sor#ed in the 2sta#lishment. 'ord Boling#ro)e, on a matter of this )ind a %ery clear$(!dging and impartial witness, says, in a wor) far too little read, his %emar"s on English HistoryD$$*"he meas!res p!rs!ed and the temper o#ser%ed in F!een 2li8a#eth*s time tended to diminish the religio!s opposition #y a slow, a gentle, and for that %ery reason an effect!al progression. "here was e%en room to hope that when the first fire of the 9issenters* 8eal was passed, reasona#le terms of !nion with the 2sta#lished Ch!rch might #e accepted #y s!ch of them as were not intoxicated with fanaticism. "hese were friends to order, tho!gh they disp!ted a#o!t it. If these friends of Cal%in*s discipline had #een once incorporated with the 2sta#lished Ch!rch, the remaining sectaries wo!ld ha%e #een of little moment, either for n!m#ers or rep!tation, and the %ery means which were proper to gain these friends were li)ewise the most effect!al to hinder the increase of them, and of the other sectaries in the meantime.* "he temper and ill (!dgment of the St!arts made shipwrec) of all policy of this )ind. Get spea)ing e%en of the time of the St!arts, #!t their early time, Clarendon says that if Bishop &ndrewes had s!cceeded Bancroft at Canter#!ry, the disaffection of separatists might ha%e #een stayed and healed. "his, howe%er, was not to #e, and Pres#yterianism, after exercising for some years the law of the strongest, itself in Charles the Second*s reign s!ffered !nder this law, and was finally cast o!t from the Ch!rch of 2ngland. .- 1ow the points of ch!rch$discipline at iss!e #etween Pres#yterianism and 2piscopalianism are, as has #een said, not essential. "hey might pro#a#ly once ha%e #een settled in a sense altogether fa%o!ra#le to 2piscopalianism. +oo)er may ha%e #een right in thin)ing that there were in his time circ!mstances which made it essential that they sho!ld #e settled in this sense, tho!gh the points in themsel%es were not essential. B!t #y the %ery fact of the settlement not ha%ing then #een effected, of the #reach ha%ing gone on and widened, of the 1onconformists not ha%ing #een amica#ly incorporated with the 2sta#lishment #!t %iolently cast o!t from it, the circ!mstances are now altogether altered. Isaac Walton, a fer%ent Ch!rchman, complains that *the principles of the

1onconformists grew at last to s!ch a height and were %ented so daringly, that, #eside the loss of life and lim#s, the Ch!rch and State were #oth forced to !se s!ch other se%erities as will not admit of an exc!se, if it had not #een to pre%ent conf!sion and the perilo!s conse !ences of it.* B!t those %ery se%erities ha%e of themsel%es made !nion on an 2piscopalian footing impossi#le. Besides, Pres#yterianism, the pop!lar a!thority of elders, the power of the congregation in the management of their own affairs, has that warrant gi%en to it #y Script!re and #y the proceedings of the early Christian Ch!rches, it is so consonant with the spirit of Protestantism which made the :eformation and which has great strength in this co!ntry, it is so predominant in the practice of other :eformed Ch!rches, it was so strong in the original :eformed Ch!rch of 2ngland, that one cannot help do!#ting whether any settlement which s!ppressed it co!ld ha%e #een really permanent, and whether it wo!ld not ha%e )ept appearing again and again, and ca!sing dissension. .= Well, then, if c!lt!re is the disinterested endea%o!r after man*s perfection, will it not ma)e !s wish to c!re the pro%incialism of the 1onconformists, not #y rendering Ch!rchmen pro%incial along with them, #!t #y letting their pop!lar Ch!rch$discipline, formerly present in the national Ch!rch and still present in the affections and practice of a 3ood part of the nation, appear in the national Ch!rch once more, and th!s to #ring 1onconformists into contact again, as their greater fathers were, with the main stream of national life? Why sho!ld not a Pres#yterian Ch!rch, #ased on this considera#le and important tho!gh not essential principle, of the congregational share in the ch!rch$management, #e esta#lished,$$with e !al ran) for its chiefs with the chiefs of 2piscopacy, and with admissi#ility of its ministers, !nder a re%ised system of patronage and preferment to #enefices,$$side #y side with the 2piscopal Ch!rch, as the Cal%inist and '!theran Ch!rches are esta#lished side #y side in 7rance and 3ermany? S!ch a Pres#yterian Ch!rch wo!ld !nite the main #odies of Protestants who are now separatists, and separation wo!ld cease to #e the law of their religio!s order. &nd th!s,$$thro!gh this concession on a really considera#le point of difference,$$ that endless splitting into hole$and$corner ch!rches on !ite inconsidera#le points of difference, which m!st pre%ail so long as separatism is the first law of a 1onconformist*s religio!s existence, wo!ld #e chec)ed. C!lt!re wo!ld then find a place among 2nglish followers of the pop!lar a!thority of 2lders, as it has long fo!nd it among the followers of 2piscopal (!risdiction. &nd this we sho!ld gain #y merely recognising, reg!lari8ing, and restoring an element which appeared once in the reformed national Ch!rch, and which is considera#le and national eno!gh to ha%e a so!nd claim to appear there still. 4> So far, then, is c!lt!re from ma)ing !s !n(!st to the 1onconformists #eca!se it for#ids !s to worship their fetishes, that it e%en leads !s to propose to do more for them than they themsel%es %ent!re to claim. It leads !s, also, to respect what is solid and respecta#le in their con%ictions. 1ot that the forms in which the h!man spirit tries to express the inexpressi#le, or the forms #y which man tries to worship, ha%e or can ha%e, as has #een said, for the follower of perfection, anything necessary or eternal. If the 1ew "estament and the practice of the primiti%e Christians sanctioned the pop!lar form of ch!rch$go%ernment a tho!sand times more expressly than they do, if the Ch!rch since Constantine were a tho!sand times more of a depart!re from the scheme of primiti%e Christianity than it can #e shown to #e, that does not at all ma)e, as is s!pposed #y men in #ondage to the letter, the pop!lar form of ch!rch$go%ernment alone and always sacred and #inding, or the wor) of Constantine a thing to #e regretted. 41 What is alone and always sacred and #inding for man is the ma)ing progress towards his total perfection, and the machinery #y which he does this %aries in %al!e according as it helps him to do it. "he planters of Christianity had their roots in deep and rich gro!nds of h!man life and achie%ement, #oth 0ewish and also 3ree), and had th!s a comparati%ely firm and wide #asis amidst all the %ehement inspiration of their mighty mo%ement and change. By their strong inspiration they

carried men off the old #asis of life and c!lt!re, whether 0ewish or 3ree), and generations arose who had their roots in neither world, and were in contact therefore with no f!ll and great stream of h!man life. If it had not #een for some s!ch change as that of the fo!rth cent!ry, Christianity might ha%e lost itself in a m!ltit!de of hole$and$corner ch!rches li)e the ch!rches of 2nglish 1onconformity after its fo!nders departed, ch!rches witho!t great men, and witho!t f!rtherance for the higher life of h!manity. &t a critical moment came Constantine, and placed Christianity,$$or let !s rather say, placed the h!man spirit, whose totality was endangered,$$in contact with the main c!rrent of h!man life. &nd his wor) was (!stified #y its fr!its, in men li)e &!g!stine and 9ante, and indeed in all the great men of Christianity, Catholics or Protestants, e%er since. 4. &nd one may go #eyond this. M. &l#ert :H%ille, whose religio!s writings are always interesting, says that the conception which c!lti%ated and philosophical 0ews now entertain of Christianity and its 7o!nder, is pro#a#ly destined to #ecome the conception which Christians themsel%es will entertain. Socinians are fond of saying the same thing a#o!t the Socinian conception of Christianity. 1ow, e%en if this were tr!e, it wo!ld still ha%e #een #etter for a man, d!ring the last eighteen h!ndred years, to ha%e #een a Christian and a mem#er of one of the great Christian comm!nions, than to ha%e #een a 0ew or a Socinian, #eca!se the #eing in contact with the main stream of h!man life is of more moment for a man*s total spirit!al growth, and for his #ringing to perfection the gifts committed to him, which is his #!siness on earth, than any spec!lati%e opinion which he may hold or thin) he holds. '!ther,$$whom we ha%e called a Philistine of geni!s, and who, #eca!se he was a Philistine, had a coarseness and lac) of spirit!al delicacy which ha%e harmed his disciples, #!t who, #eca!se he was a geni!s, had splendid flashes of spirit!al insight,$$ '!ther says admira#ly in his Commentary on the Boo) of 9anielD *& 3od is simply that whereon the h!man heart rests with tr!st, faith, hope, and lo%e. If the resting is right, then the 3od too is right, if the resting is wrong, then the 3od too is ill!sory.* In other words, the worth of what a man thin)s a#o!t 3od and the o#(ects of religion depends on what the man is, and what the man is, depends !pon his ha%ing more or less reached the meas!re of a perfect and total man. 44 C!lt!re, disinterestedly see)ing in its aim at perfection to see things as they really are, shows !s how worthy and di%ine a thing is the religio!s side in man, tho!gh it is not the whole of man. B!t while recognising the grande!r of the religio!s side in man, c!lt!re yet ma)es !s also eschew an inade !ate conception of man*s totality. "herefore to the worth and grande!r of the religio!s side in man, c!lt!re is re(oiced and willing to pay any tri#!te, except the tri#!te of man*s totality. @nless it is pro%ed that contact with the main c!rrent of national life is of no %al!e Band we ha%e shown that it is of the greatest %al!eC, we cannot safely, e%en to please the 1onconformists in a matter where we wo!ld please them as m!ch as possi#le, admit their doctrines of disesta#lishment and separation. 45 C!lt!re, again, can #e disinterested eno!gh to percei%e and a%ow, that for Ireland the ends of h!man perfection might #e #est ser%ed #y esta#lishing,$$that is, #y #ringing into contact with the main c!rrent of the national life,$$the :oman Catholic and the Pres#yterian Ch!rches along with the &nglican Ch!rch. It can percei%e and a%ow that we sho!ld really, in this way, #e wor)ing to ma)e reason and the will of 3od pre%ail, #eca!se we sho!ld #e ma)ing :oman Catholics #etter citi8ens, and #oth Protestants and :oman Catholics larger$minded and more complete men. @ndo!#tedly there are great diffic!lties in s!ch a plan as this, and the plan is not one which loo)s %ery li)ely to #e adopted, "he Ch!rchman m!st rise a#o%e his ordinary self in order to fa%o!r it. &nd the 1onconformist has worshipped his fetish of separatism so long that he is li)ely to wish to remain, li)e 2phraim, *a wild ass alone #y himself.* It is a plan more for a time of creati%e statesmen, li)e the time of 2li8a#eth, than for a time of instr!mental statesmen li)e the present. "he centre of power #eing where it is, o!r statesmen ha%e e%ery temptation, when they m!st act, to go along as

they do with the ordinary self of those on whose fa%o!r they depend, to adopt as their own its desires, and to ser%e them with fidelity, and e%en, if possi#le, with ardo!r. "his is the more easy for them, #eca!se there are not wanting,$$and there ne%er will #e wanting,$$thin)ers to call the desires of the ordinary self of any great section of the comm!nity edicts of the national mind and laws of h!man progress, and to gi%e them a general, a philosophic, and imposing expression. "herefore a plan s!ch as that which we ha%e indicated does not seem a plan so li)ely to find fa%o!r as a plan for a#olishing the Irish Ch!rch #y the power of the 1onconformists* antipathy to esta#lishments. 46 B!t altho!gh c!lt!re ma)es !s fond stic)ers to no machinery, not e%en o!r own, and therefore we are willing to grant that perfection can #e reached witho!t it,$$with free ch!rches as with esta#lished ch!rches, and with instr!mental statesmen as with creati%e statesmen,$$yet perfection can ne%er #e reached witho!t seeing things as they really are, and it is to this, therefore, and to no machinery in the world, that we stic). We insist that men sho!ld not mista)e, as they are prone to mista)e, their nat!ral taste for the #athos for a relish for the s!#lime. &nd if statesmen, either with their tong!e in their chee) or with a fine imp!lsi%eness, tell people that their nat!ral taste for the #athos is a relish for the s!#lime, there is the more need to tell them the contrary. 4; It is del!sion on this point which is fatal, and against del!sion on this point c!lt!re wor)s. It is not fatal to o!r 'i#eral friends to la#o!r for free trade, extension of the s!ffrage, and a#olition of ch!rch$rates, instead of gra%er social ends, #!t it is fatal to them to #e told #y their flatterers, and to #elie%e, with o!r social condition what it is, that they ha%e performed a great, a heroic wor), #y occ!pying themsel%es excl!si%ely, for the last thirty years, with these 'i#eral nostr!ms, and that the right and good co!rse for them now is to go on occ!pying themsel%es with the li)e for the f!t!re. It is not fatal to &mericans to ha%e no religio!s esta#lishments and no effecti%e centres of high c!lt!re, #!t it is fatal to them to #e told #y their flatterers, and to #elie%e, that they are the most intelligent people in the whole world, when of intelligence, in the tr!e and fr!itf!l sense of the word, they e%en sing!larly, as we ha%e seen, come short. It is not fatal to the 1onconformists to remain with their separated ch!rches, #!t it is fatal to them to #e told #y their flatterers, and to #elie%e, that theirs is the one tr!e way of worshipping 3od, that pro%incialism and loss of totality ha%e not come to them from following it, or that pro%incialism and loss of totality are not e%ils. It is not fatal to the 2nglish nation to a#olish the Irish Ch!rch #y the power of the 1onconformists* antipathy to esta#lishments, #!t it is fatal to it to #e told #y its flatterers, and to #elie%e, that it is a#olishing it thro!gh reason and (!stice, when it is really a#olishing it thro!gh this powerD or to expect the fr!its of reason and (!stice from anything #!t the spirit of reason and (!stice themsel%es. 4< 1ow c!lt!re, #eca!se of its )een sense of what is really fatal, is all the more disposed to #e rather indifferent a#o!t what is not fatal. &nd #eca!se machinery is the one concern of o!r act!al politics, and an inward wor)ing, and not machinery, is what we most want, we )eep ad%ising o!r ardent yo!ng 'i#eral friends to thin) less of machinery, to stand more aloof from the arena of political present, and rather to try and promote, with !s, an inward wor)ing. "hey do not listen to !s, and they r!sh into the arena of politics, where their merits, indeed, seem to #e little appreciated as yet, and then they complain of the reformed constit!encies, and call the new Parliament a Philistine Parliament. &s if a nation, no!rished and reared as o!rs has #een, co!ld gi%e !s, (!st yet, anything #!t a Philistine ParliamentA$$and wo!ld a Bar#arian Parliament #e e%en so good, or a Pop!lace Parliament? 7or o!r part, we re(oice to see o!r dear old friends, the +e#raising Philistines, gathered in force in the Ealley of 0ehoshaphat pre%io!s to their final con%ersion, which will certainly come. B!t, to attain this con%ersion, we m!st not try to o!st them from their places and to contend for machinery with them, #!t we m!st wor) on them inwardly and c!re their spirit. /!sted they will not #e, #!t transformed. /!sted they do not deser%e to #e, and will not #e. 4- 7or the days of Israel are innumerable, and in its #lame of +e#raising too, and in its praise of

+ellenising c!lt!re m!st not fail to )eep its flexi#ility, and to gi%e to its (!dgments that passing and pro%isional character which we ha%e seen it impose on its preferences and re(ections of machinery. 1ow, and for !s, it is a time to +ellenise, and to praise )nowing, for we ha%e +e#raised too m!ch, and ha%e o%er$%al!ed doing. B!t the ha#its and discipline recei%ed from +e#raism remain for o!r race an eternal possession, and, as h!manity is constit!ted, one m!st ne%er assign to them the second ran) to$day, witho!t #eing prepared to restore to them the first ran) to$morrow. 'et !s concl!de #y mar)ing this distinctly. 4= "o wal) sta!nchly #y the #est light one has, to #e strict and sincere with oneself, not to #e of the n!m#er of those who say and do not, to #e in earnest,$$this is the discipline #y which alone man is ena#led to resc!e his life from thraldom to the passing moment and to his #odily senses, to enno#le it, and to ma)e it eternal. &nd this discipline has #een nowhere so effecti%ely ta!ght as in the school of +e#raism. "he intense and con%inced energy with which the +e#rew, #oth of the /ld and of the 1ew "estament, threw himself !pon his ideal of righteo!sness, and which inspired the incompara#le definition of the great Christian %irt!e, faith,$$the substance of things hoped for! the evidence of things not seen,$$this energy of de%otion to its ideal has #elonged to +e#raism alone. &s o!r idea of perfection widens #eyond the narrow limits to which the o%er$rigo!r of +e#raising has tended to confine it, we shall yet come again to +e#raism for that de%o!t energy in em#racing o!r ideal, which alone can gi%e to man the happiness of doing what he )nows. *If ye )now these things, happy are ye if ye do themA*$$the last word for infirm h!manity will always #e that. 7or this word, reiterated with a power now s!#lime, now affecting, #!t always admira#le, o!r race will, as long as the world lasts, ret!rn to +e#raism, and the Bi#le, which preaches this word, will for e%er remain, as 3oethe called it, not only a national #oo), #!t the Boo) of the 1ations. &gain and again, after what seemed #reaches and separations, the prophetic promise to 0er!salem will still #e tr!eD$$&o! thy sons come! hom thou sentest a ay' they come gathered from the est unto the east by the ord of the Holy (ne! re)oicing in the remembrance of *od.