Читать книгу Centuries of Meditations - Thomas Traherne - Страница 21

very little. It is not at all necessary to believe as Milton believed in order to appreciate " Paradise Lost " : nor is it any more necessary to subscribe to the doctrines of Christianity as Traherne subscribed to them in order to derive much spiritual benefit from the " Centuries." Notwithstanding the fervour of the author's faith in his creed, it is noteworthy that there is much in his work which is not distinctively Christian, and which may be accepted by men of all shades of opinion. This is not to say that there is anything in the book which is contrary to the Christian faith ; but only that there is much besides in it. It might indeed be fitted by omission only for the use of members of any creed or sect. Nor will Theists or even Pantheists fail to find much in it with which they will be in thorough agreement or complete sympathy. None in short save those who are so firmly wedded to their own narrow creed that they can see nothing good in anything outside it, can fail to find in the " Centuries " guidance, refreshment and inspiration for their spiritual life. The books which render such services are few in number ; and few of those few are so little alloyed with matter of inferior worth or of questionable tendency as the " Centuries." There are, I suppose, hardly any books in which a serious and thoughtful reader cannot discover some blemish, though it may be one which only slightly affects their worth or usefulness. Nor is the present work free from one such blemish : or at least what appears to me to be one. There is a passage in it which to all—or nearly all—readers of the present day will seem entirely repellent, and

xxii