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ON A VOLUME ENTITLED

"ESSAYS AND REVIEWS:"

ADDRESSED TO THE

UNDERGRADUATE MEMBERS OF ORIEL COLLEGE.

My Friends—I have determined to address to yourselves the present remarks; their subject, a volume which has recently obtained such a degree of notoriety that it is almost superfluous even to specify it by name.

With unfeigned reluctance do I mix myself up in this strife; but the course of events, when I first took up my pen, left me almost without an alternative. Far more reluctant should I be to seem to make yourselves the arbiters of Theological controversy. But in truth nothing is further from my present intention. As a plain matter of fact, you are called upon weekly, at St. Mary's, to listen to Sermons which indicate plainly enough the troubled state of the religious atmosphere; and which, of late, (too frequently alas!) have inevitably assumed a controversial aspect. The Sermons here published, (which form the constructive part of the present volume,) were preached expressly with an eye to your advantage, and were intended to warn you against (what I deemed) a very serious danger. It is only natural therefore that I should desire to address to yourselves the present remarks likewise. You are, naturally, objects of special solicitude to myself in this place—you, with whom I live as among friends, and for not a few of whom I entertain a sincere affection. And in addressing you, I am not by any means inviting you to exercise your own theological judgment; for that would indeed be an absurd proceeding. I am simply seeking to instruct you, and to guide you with mine.

The case of "Essays and Reviews" is, in fact, altogether exceptional—whether the respectability of its authors, the wickedness of its contents, or the reception which it has met with, is considered. That volume embodies the infidel spirit of the present day. Turn where you will, you encounter some criticism upon it. No advertizing column but contains repeated mention of its name. To ignore so flagrant a scandal to the Church, is quite impossible. I have thought it better, therefore, to encounter the danger in this straightforward way; and I proceed, without further preamble, to remark briefly on each of the Seven "Essays and Reviews," in order.

I. The feeblest essay in the volume is the first. It is not without grave concern that I transcribe the name of its amiable, and (in every relation of private life) truly excellent author—"Frederick Temple, D.D., Chaplain in Ordinary to the Queen; Head Master of Rugby School; Chaplain to the Earl of Denbigh." Under the imposing title of "The Education of the World," we are presented with a worthless allegory, which has all the faults of a schoolboy's theme, (incorrect grammar included;) and not one of the excellencies which ought to characterize the product of a ripened understanding—the work of a Doctor of Divinity in the English Church[19].

Dr. Temple's opening speculations are at once unintelligible, irrelevant, and untrue. But they are immaterial; and serve only to lug in, (not to introduce,) the assumption that the "power, whereby the present ever gathers into itself the results of the past, transforms the human race into a colossal man whose life reaches from the Creation to the day of Judgment. The successive generations of men are days in this man's life. The discoveries and inventions which characterize the different epochs of the world's history are his works. The creeds and doctrines, the opinions and principles of the successive ages, are his thoughts." [Alas, that the Creeds and Doctrines of the Church should be spoken of by a Professor of Divinity as the "thoughts" of men!] "The state of society at different times are (sic) his manners. He grows in knowledge, in self-control, in visible size, just as we do. And his education is in the same way and for the same reason precisely similar to ours. All this is no figure, but only a compendious statement of a very comprehensive fact." (p. 3.) "We may then," (he repeats,) "rightly speak of a childhood, a youth, and a manhood of the world." (p. 4.) And the process of this development of the colossal man, "corresponds, stage by stage, with the process by which the infant is trained for youth, and the youth for manhood. This training has three stages. In childhood, we are subject to positive rules which we cannot understand, but are bound implicitly to obey. In youth we are subject to the influence of example, and soon break loose from all rules, unless illustrated and enforced by the higher teaching which example imparts. In manhood we are comparatively free from external restraints, and if we are to learn, must be our own instructors. First comes the Law, then the Son of Man, then the Gift of the Spirit. The world was once a child under tutors and governors until the time appointed by the Father. Then, when the fit season had arrived, the Example to which all ages should turn was sent to teach men what they ought to be. Then the human race was left to itself, to be guided by the teaching of the Spirit within." (p. 5.)—So very weak an analogy, (where everything is assumed, and nothing proved,) singular to relate, is drawn out into distressing tenuity through no less than 49 pages.

The Answer to all this is sufficiently obvious, as well as sufficiently damaging; and need not be delayed for a minute.

That the Human Race has made considerable progress in Knowledge, from first to last—is a mere truism. That, in the civilized world, one generation is the heir of the generations which went before it, is what no one requires to be told. Thus the discovery of the compass, of printing, and of the steam-engine, have been epochs in human knowledge from which a start was made by all civilized nations, without retrogression. But such facts supply no warrant for transforming the whole Human Race into one Colossal Man; do not constitute any reason whatever why the 6000 years of recorded time should be divided into three periods corresponding with the Infancy, Boyhood, and Manhood of an Individual.

To this theory, however, Dr. Temple even ostentatiously commits himself. It is the purpose of his entire Essay, to establish the fanciful analogy already indicated—which is proclaimed to be "no figure" but a "fact." (p. 3.) But an educated man of ordinary intelligence, on reaching p. 7, (where the writer first discloses his view,) summons the known facts of History to his recollection; and before he proceeds any further, reasons with himself somewhat as follows:—

The Human Race had inhabited the Earth's surface for upwards of sixteen hundred years, when it was destroyed by the waters of the Flood. After that, the descendants of Noah peopled the earth's surface; a transaction of which the sole authentic record is to be found in the xth chapter of the Book of Genesis. Egypt first emerged into importance—as history and monuments conspire to prove; having had a peculiar language and literature, Arts and Sciences, anterior to the period of the Exodus, viz. b.c. 1491. Meanwhile, the chart of History directs our attention to four great Empires: the Assyrian Empire, which was swallowed up by the Persian; and the Persian, which was merged in the Grecian Empire. The Roman Empire came last. [How Law can be considered to be the characteristic of all or any part of this period, I am at a loss to discover. Neither do I see any indication of puling Infancy here.] These four great Empires of the world had run their course when our Saviour Christ was born. God sent His own Eternal Son into the world; and lo, a change passed over the whole fabric of the world's polity. The old forms of social life became, as it were, dissolved; or rather, a new spirit had been breathed into them all. A new era had commenced; and a new principle henceforth animated mankind. That peculiar system of Divine Laws which for 1500 years had separated the Hebrew race from all the nations of the earth—the Mosaic Law which had hitherto been the inheritance of a single family, isolated in Canaan—was explained and expanded by its Divine Author. The ancient promises to Abraham and his posterity were declared in their application to be co-extensive with the whole race of Mankind by faith embracing them. Henceforth, the kingdoms of the world were proclaimed the kingdoms of Christ, and Mankind became for the first time subject to a written Law. The Laws of Christ's Kingdom, the doctrines of Christ's Church, henceforth become supreme. Thus, when a Christian Sovereign is crowned, the Bible is solemnly placed in his hands; and it is required of him that he promise, on his oath, "to the utmost of his power, to maintain the Laws of God." "When you see this Orb set under this Cross," (says the Archbishop, on delivering those insignia of Royalty,) "remember that the whole World is subject to the power and empire of Christ our Redeemer … so that no man can reign happily, who … directs not all his actions according to His Laws." … No further change in the order of things is anywhere intimated. The Faith hath been ἅπαξ—once and for ever—delivered to the Saints. Forsaken, it may be: by many, (alas!) it will be forsaken before the consummation of all things: but it will not itself cease. Heaven and Earth shall pass away; but Christ's Word, never. Not one jot nor one tittle of the Law shall fail. … Such, in brief outline, is the World's true history—past, present, future. Does it correspond with Dr. Temple's account? That may be very soon seen. He calls the human race a Colossal Man; and says that it passes through three stages—Infancy, Boyhood, Manhood: and that during those three stages, it is governed by three corresponding principles—Law, Example, Conscience. How does Dr. Temple establish the first?

The Jews, (he says,) were subject to Law from the period of the Exode to the coming of Christ.—We listen to the statement of a familiar fact without surprise: but we are inclined to express some stronger feeling than surprise when we discover that this is the whole of the proof concerning the infancy of the Colossal Man! Does this writer then mean to tell us that the Jews were all Mankind? If they were not the Colossal Man—if, instead of being the whole Human Race, they were one of the most inconsiderable and least known of the nations—an isolated family, in fact, inhabiting Canaan—what becomes of the analogy? We really pause for an answer. … Such a theory might have been expected, and would have been excusable if it had proceeded from a Sunday-school-boy of fifteen—who had read the Bible indeed, but who was unacquainted with any book besides; and so, had jumped to the conclusion that the Jews were "the World." But Dr. Temple is a Schoolmaster, and therefore must surely know better. If he is fanciful enough to regard Mankind as a Colossal Man; and unphilosophical enough to consider that History is capable of being divided into three periods—corresponding with Infancy, Boyhood, and Manhood; and forgetful enough of the facts of the case to assume that mankind was subject to Law until the coming of Christ, thenceforward to be emancipated therefrom:—yet Dr. Temple ought not to be so unreasonable as to pretend that Canaan was coextensive with the World—the descendants of Abraham with the posterity of Noah! This amiable writer is inexcusable for excluding from the corporate entity of the Human Race the four great Empires of the world, (to say nothing of primæval Egypt and mysterious India;) and for the sake of elaborating a worthless allegory, identifying the least of all people with the Colossal Man, who, (according to his own account of the matter,) represents the aggregate of all the nations.

Once more. The Mosaic Law was not given till b.c. 1491. But the world was then upwards of 2500 years old. Far more than one-third, therefore, of recorded time had already elapsed. How does it happen that the theory under consideration gives no account of those 2500 years; or rather, does not begin to be applicable, until they have rolled away?

Other inconveniences await this silly speculation. Thus, the Colossal Man, (who was under Law from b.c. 1491 to the Christian æra,) proves to have been a marvellously precocious Infant. He wrote the Song of Moses in the year of his birth. Nay, he built pyramids—had a Literature, Arts, and Sciences—ages before he was born! … While yet an infant, he sang with Homer, and carved with Phidias, and philosophized with Aristotle—as none have ever sung, or carved, or philosophized since. Times and fashions have altered, truly; but these three men are still our Masters in Philosophy, in Sculpture, and in Song. Awkward fact, that the colossal Infant should have lisped in a tongue which for copiousness of diction, and subtlety of expression, absolutely remains to this hour without a rival in the world!

Again. At this writer's dogmatic bidding, we force ourselves to think of Mankind as a Colossal Man, who has already gone through three ages—Infancy, Boyhood, and Manhood. Old Age is therefore to come next. When, (if it is a fair question,) may it be expected that the sad period of senile decrepitude will set in? What proof, in the mean time, is there, (we venture to ask,) that this period of decay has not begun already? Or does Dr. Temple perhaps imagine that the world is moving in cycles, (to adopt the grotesque speculation of his own first pages); and that after having run through the curriculum of Infancy, Boyhood, and Manhood, the Colossal Man, (escaping, for some unexplained reason, the penalty of Old Age,) is to grow young again—shake his rattle and cut his teeth afresh? There is a childish vivaciousness, a juvenile recklessness, a skittish impatience of restraint, in this amiable author's speculations, which powerfully corroborate such a view of the case.

"The Childhood of the World was over when our Lord appeared on earth," (p. 20.) says Dr. Temple. But when at last he is compelled to introduce to our notice his Colossal Child (p. 9, bottom.) now developed into a Colossal Youth, he is painfully sensible that the Law and the Prophets, (his schoolmasters,) (p. 8.) have not done their work quite so well as was to have been desired and expected. Some apology is necessary, (p. 13, bottom.) Two great results however he claims for their discipline:—"a settled national belief in the unity and spirituality of God, and an acknowledgement of the paramount importance of chastity as a point of morals." (p. 11.) Not however that the Law or the Prophets had taught them even this. (p. 10, top.) "It was in the Captivity, far from the temple and the sacrifices of the temple, that the Jewish people first learned that the spiritual part of worship could be separated from the ceremonial; and that of the two the spiritual was far the higher." (p. 10.) At Babylon also the Jews first distinctly learned the doctrine of the immortality of the soul. (p. 19.)—The Law, to be sure, had emphatically said—"Hear, O Israel, the Lord thy God is one God[20]." The prophets, to be sure, had protested—"Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice[21]." The Law and the Prophets, to be sure, are full of intimations that "mercy and not sacrifice[22]" is acceptable to the God of Heaven, and that God's Saints well understood the Doctrine[23]; as well as that a belief in the soul's immortality was a part of the instruction of the Jewish people. But what is all this to one who has an allegory to establish? …

The facts of the case, in the meantime, sorely perplex the truth-loving writer. "For it is undeniable that, in the time of our Lord, the Sadducees had lost all depth of spiritual feeling, whilst the Pharisees had succeeded in converting the Mosaic system into a mischievous idolatry of forms." (p. 10.) "In short, the Jewish nation had lost very much when John the Baptist came." (p. 11.) The hopelessly corrupt moral state of the youthful Colossus, described with such sickening force and power by the great Apostle in the first chapter of the Epistle to the Romans, cannot have occurred to Dr. Temple's remembrance, for he says nothing about it. Certain withering denunciations of "a wicked and adulterous generation[24];"—of "adulterers and adulteresses[25];"—"serpents," a "generation of vipers," which should hardly "escape the damnation of Hell[26];"—ought to have reached him with a reproachful echo; but he is silent about them all. Still less would it have suited the amiable allegorizer to state that just midway in the educational process, his Colossal Youth, "as if" the sins of Samaria and of Sodom "were a very little thing," "was corrupted more than they in all his ways. As I live, saith the Lord God," (apostrophizing Dr. Temple's Colossal Youth, in allusion to his character and conduct in the middle of his infant career,) "Sodom thy sister hath not done as thou hast done: … neither hath Samaria committed half thy sins; but thou hast multiplied thine abominations more than they. … Bear thine own shame for thy sins that thou hast committed more abominable than they. They are more righteous than thou[27]!" "Ah sinful nation, laden with iniquity, a seed of evildoers, children that are corrupters! … From the sole of the foot even unto the head,"—[these words, remember, are addressed to the Colossal Infant just midway in his career; and Heaven and Earth are called upon to give ear, "for the Lord hath spoken!" … From the sole to the crown,] "there is no soundness in it; but wounds, and bruises, and putrifying sores. … Your hands are full of blood[28]!" … About all this hideous retrospect of what was going on at school, Dr. Temple is silent.

In like manner, the great fact that our Redeemer came to republish His own two primæval ordinances—the spiritual observance of the Sabbath and the sanctity of Marriage—is quietly ignored. A youth utterly degraded by sensuality[29], and blinded by unbelief[30], is a terrible picture truly. Dr. Temple therefore boldly gives the lie direct to History, sacred and profane; and insists that "side by side with freedom from idolatry, there had grown up in the Jewish mind a chaster morality than was to be found elsewhere in the world:" (p. 12:) that "in chastity the Hebrews stood alone; and this virtue, which had grown up with them from their earliest days (!!!) was still in the vigour of fresh life when they were commissioned to give the Gospel to the nations." (p. 13.)

Behold the Colossal Child therefore, now grown into a Colossal "Youth too old for discipline." (p. 20, bottom.) "The tutors and governors have done their work;" (p. 20;) and he is now to go through a distinct process of training. Three tutors are now brought in to give the finishing touches to the youth's education, and to inaugurate his new career. Rome, Greece, and Asia—which for some unexplained reason never become (according to Dr. Temple) any part of the Colossal Man at all—now come in; "Rome to discipline the human will; Greece, the reason and taste; Asia, the spiritual imagination." (p. 19.) The Law and the Prophets had disciplined the Colossal Child's conscience—with what success we have seen. At all events, Moses and Isaiah are for infants: we have passed the age for such helps as they could supply. In a word—"The childhood of the world was over when our Lord appeared on earth." (p. 20.) It was "just the meeting-point of the Child and the Man; the brief interval which separates restraint from liberty." (p. 22.) "It was time that the second teacher of the Human Race should begin his labours. The second teacher is Example:" (p. 20:) and "the period of youth in the history of the world, when the human race was, as it were, put under the teaching of example, corresponds, of course, to the meeting point of the Law and the Gospel. The second stage therefore in the education of man was the presence of our Lord upon earth." (p. 24.)

Let not this stage of Dr. Temple's allegory suffer by being stated in any language besides his own. "The world" had been a Colossal Child for 1490 years. It was to be a Youth for almost 100. "The whole period from the closing of the Old Testament to the close of the New was the period of the world's youth—the age of examples: and our Lord's presence was not the only influence of that kind which has acted upon the human race. Three companions were appointed by Providence to give their society to this creature whom God was educating, Greece, Rome, and the Early Church." (p. 26.) Behold then, our Blessed Redeemer with His "three companions." (I reproduce this blasphemous speculation with shame and sorrow.) What kind of Example He was, Dr. Temple omits to inform us. But Greece was "the brilliant social companion;"—Rome, "the bold and clever leader;"—the Early Church was "the earnest, heavenly-minded friend." (p. 26.) We are warned therefore against supposing that "our Lord's presence was the only influence of that kind," (i.e. example,) appointed by Providence for the creature whom God was educating. In a word: "The world was now grown old enough to be taught by seeing the lives of Saints, better than by hearing the words of Prophets." (pp. 28–9.)

We come now to the conclusion of the allegory; and Dr. Temple shall again speak for himself. "The age of reflection begins. From the storehouse of his youthful experience the Man begins to draw the principles of his life. The spirit or conscience comes to full strength and assumes the throne intended for him in the soul. As an accredited judge, invested with full powers, he sits in the tribunal of our inner kingdom, decides upon the past, and legislates upon the future without appeal except to himself. He decides not by what is beautiful, or noble, or soul-inspiring, but by what is right. Gradually he frames his code of laws, revising, adding, abrogating, as a wider and deeper experience gives him clearer light. He is the third great teacher and the last." (p. 31.)

And now, it will reasonably be asked—May not the head-master of Rugby write a weak and foolish Essay on a subject which he evidently does not understand, without incurring so much not only of public ridicule, but of public obloquy also? If his own sixth-form boys do not laugh at him, need the Church feel aggrieved at what he has written? Where is the special irreligion in all this?

I answer—The offence is of the very gravest character; and in the course of what follows, it will appear with sufficient plainness wherein it consists. For the moment—singly considered—it is my painful duty to condemn Dr. Temple's Essay on the following grounds.

Whereas the Church inculcates the paramount necessity of an external authoritative Law to guide all her members;—Creeds to define the foundation of their Faith—a Catechism to teach them the necessary elements of Christian Doctrine—the several forms of Prayer contained in the Prayer Book to instruct them further in Religion, as well as to prescribe their exact mode of worshipping Almighty God: whereas too the Church requires of her ministers subscription to Articles "for the avoiding of Diversities of Opinions, and for the establishing of Consent concerning true Religion;"—above all, since all Christian men alike are taught to acknowledge the external guidance of the Divine Law itself contained in Holy Scripture—and every Minister of the Church of England is further called upon to admit the authority of that Divine Law as it is by the Church systematized, explained, upheld, enforced:—notwithstanding all this, Dr. Temple, who has solemnly taken the vows of a minister of the Church of England, and writes after his name that he is Sacræ Theologiæ Professor, in his present Essay more than insinuates, he openly teaches that Man "draws the principles of his life," (not from Revelation, but) "from the storehouse of experience:" that we live in an age when "the spirit or conscience having come to full strength, assumes the throne intended for him in the soul." This "spirit or conscience" "legislates without appeal except to himself." "He is the third great teacher and the last." (p. 31.) The world, in the days of its youth, could not "walk by reason and conscience alone:" (p. 21:) but it is not so with us, in these, the days of the world's manhood. "The spiritual power within us … must be the rightful monarch of our lives." (p. 14.) We, (he says,) "walk by reason and conscience alone." (p. 21.)

Now this is none other than a deliberate dethroning of God; and a setting up of Self in His place. "A revelation speaking from without and not from within, is an external Law, and not a spirit,"—(p. 36,) says Dr. Temple. But I answer—A revelation speaking from within, and not from without, is no revelation at all. "The thought of building a tower high enough to escape God's wrath, could enter into no man's dreams," (p. 7,) says Dr. Temple in the beginning of his Essay, in derision of the Old World. But he has carried out into act the very self-same thought, himself; and his "dreams" occupy the foremost place in 'Essays and Reviews.' He teaches, openly, that henceforth Man must learn by "obedience to the rules of his own mind." (p. 34.) He is express in declaring that "an external law" is for the age which is past, (pp. 34–5.) Ours is "an internal law;" "which bids us yield,"—not to the revealed Will of God, "but—to the majesty of truth and justice; a law which is not imposed upon us by another power, but by our own enlightened will." (p. 35.) In this, the last stage of the Colossal Man's progress, Dr. Temple gives him four avenues of learning: (1) Experience, (2) Reflection, (3) Mistakes, (4) Contradiction. By withholding from this enumeration the Revealed Will of God, and the known sanctions of the Divine Law, he thrusts out God from every part of his scheme; denies that He is even one of the present teachers of the Human Race—explaining that the time has even gone by when Christ could teach by example[31]—"for the faculty of Faith has turned inwards, and cannot now accent any outer manifestations of the truth of God[32]." (p. 24.)—By this Essay, Dr. Temple comes forward as the open abettor of the most boundless scepticism. Whether or no his statements be such as Ecclesiastical Courts take cognizance of, is to me a matter of profound unimportance. In the estimation of the whole Church, it can be entitled to but one sentence. "We use the Bible," (he tells us,) "not to override, but to evoke the voice of conscience." (p. 44.) "The current is all one way—it evidently points to the identification of the Bible with the voice of conscience. The Bible, in fact, is hindered by its form from exercising a despotism (!) over the human spirit; if it could do that, it would become an outer law at once." (p. 45.) Even if men "could appeal to a revelation from Heaven, they would still be under the Law (!!!); for a Revelation speaking from without, and not from within, is an external Law, and not a Spirit." (p. 36.) "The principle of private judgment puts conscience between us and the Bible; making conscience the supreme interpreter, whom it may be a duty to enlighten, but whom it can never be a duty to disobey." (Ibid.)—Even those who look upon the observance of Sunday "as enjoined by an absolutely binding decree," are reproached as "thus at once putting themselves under a law." (p. 44.) … Dr. Temple has written an Essay which he calls "an argument," and for which he claims "a drift." (p. 31.) That argument is neither more nor less than a direct assault on the Faith of Christian men; and carried out to its lawful results, can lead to nothing but open Infidelity;—which makes it a very solemn consideration that the author, (whose private worth is known to all,) should be a teacher of the youth of Christian England. That drift I deplore and condemn; and no considerations of private friendship, no sincere regard for the writer's private worth, shall deter me from recording my deliberate conviction that it is wholly incompatible with his Ordination vows.

I forbear to dive into the depth of irreligion and unbelief implied in what is contained from p. 37 to p. 40, and other parts of the present Essay: but I cannot abstain from asking why does this author—who, in all the intercourse of private life, is so manly a character—fall into the unmanly trick of his brother-Essayists, of insinuating what they dare not openly avow? The great master of this cloudy shuffling art is Mr. Jowett. Even where he and his associates in "free handling," are express and definite in their statements, yet, as their rule is prudently to abstain from adducing a single example of their meaning, it is only by their disingenuous reticence that they escape punishment or exposure. Thus, Dr. Temple speaks of "many of the doctrinal statements of the early Church" being "plainly unfitted for permanent use;" (p. 41;) but he prudently abstains from explaining which of those "doctrinal statements" he means. He goes on to remark:—"In fact, the Church of the Fathers claimed to do what not even the Apostles had claimed—namely, not only to teach the Truth, but to clothe it in logical statements … for all succeeding time." He is evidently alluding to "the forms in which the first ages of the Church defined the Truth;" [i.e. to the Creeds;] of which he says, we "yet refuse to be bound by them." (p. 44.) He goes on—"It belongs to a later epoch to see 'the law within the law' which absorbs such statements into something higher than themselves." (p. 41.) But the writer of that sentence ought to have had the manliness to explain what that "higher something" is.