Selections from the Prose Works of Matthew Arnold
by
Matthew Arnold
Part 6 out of 7
to the government of his day. He held a seat for Sheffield from 1849
until his death.
PAGE 38
[39] From Goethe's _Iphigenie auf Tauris_, I, ii, 91-92.
PAGE 40
[40] ~detachment~. In the Buddhistic religion salvation is found through
an emancipation from the craving for the gratification of the senses,
for a future life, and for prosperity.
PAGE 42
[41] ~John Somers, Baron Somers~ (1651-1716), was the most trusted
minister of William III, and a stanch supporter of the English
Constitution. See Addison, _The Freeholder_, May 14, 1716, and
Macauley's _History_, iv, 53.
[42] ~William Cobbett~ (1762-1835). English politician and writer. As a
pamphleteer his reputation was injured by his pugnacity, self-esteem,
and virulence of language. See _Heine, Selections_, p. 120,
[Transcriber's note: This is Footnote 144 in this e-text] and _The
Contribution of the Celts, Selections_, p. 179.[Transcriber's note:
This is Footnote 257 in this e-text.]
[43] ~Carlyle's~ _Latter-Day Pamphlets_ (1850) contain much violent
denunciation of the society of his day.
[44] ~Ruskin~ turned to political economy about 1860. In 1862, he
published _Unto this Last_, followed by other works of similar nature.
[45] ~terrae filii~. Sons of Mother Earth; hence, obscure, mean persons.
[46] See _Heine, Selections_, Note 2, p. 117.[Transcriber's note: This
is Footnote 140 in this e-text.]
PAGE 43
[47] ~To think is so hard~. Goethe's _Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship_,
Book VII, chap. IX.
[48] See Senancour's _Obermann_, letter 90. Arnold was much influenced
by this remarkable book. For an account of the author (1770-1846) and
the book see Arnold's _Stanzas in Memory of the Author of "Obermann_,"
with note on the poem, and the essay on Obermann in _Essays in
Criticism_, third series.
[49] So sincere is my dislike to all personal attack and controversy,
that I abstain from reprinting, at this distance of time from the
occasion which called them forth, the essays in which I criticized Dr.
Colenso's book; I feel bound, however, after all that has passed, to
make here a final declaration of my sincere impenitence for having
published them. Nay, I cannot forbear repeating yet once more, for his
benefit and that of his readers, this sentence from my original remarks
upon him; _There is truth of science and truth of religion; truth of
science does not become truth of religion till it is made religious._
And I will add: Let us have all the science there is from the men of
science; from the men of religion let us have religion.[Arnold.]
~John William Colenso~ (1814-83), Bishop of Natal, published a series of
treatises on the _Pentateuch_, extending from 1862-1879, opposing the
traditional views about the literal inspiration of the Scriptures and
the actual historical character of the Mosaic story. Arnold's censorious
criticism of the first volume of this work is entitled _The Bishop and
the Philosopher_ (_Macmillan's Magazine_, January, 1863). As an example
of the Bishop's cheap "arithmetical demonstrations" he describes him as
presenting the case of Leviticus as follows: "'_If three priests have to
eat 264 pigeons a day, how many must each priest eat?_' That disposes of
Leviticus." The essay is devoted chiefly to contrasting Bishop Colenso's
unedifying methods with those of the philosopher Spinoza. In passing,
Arnold refers also to Dr. Stanley's _Sinai and Palestine_ (1856),
quotations from which are characterized as "the refreshing spots" in the
Bishop's volume.
[50] It has been said I make it "a crime against literary criticism and
the higher culture to attempt to inform the ignorant." Need I point out
that the ignorant are not informed by being confirmed in a confusion?
[Arnold.]
PAGE 44
[51] Joubert's _Pensees_, ed. 1850, II, 102, titre 23, 54.
[52] ~Arthur Penrhyn Stanley~ (1815-81), Dean of Westminster. He was the
author of a _Life_ of (Thomas) _Arnold_, 1844. In university politics
and in religious discussions he was a Liberal and the advocate of
toleration and comprehension.
[53] ~Frances Power Cobbe~ (1822-1904), a prominent English
philanthropist and woman of letters. The quotation below is from _Broken
Lights_ (1864), p. 134. Her _Religious Duty_ (1857), referred to on p.
46, is a book of religious and ethical instruction written from the
Unitarian point of view.
[54] ~Ernest Renan~ (1823-92), French philosopher and Orientalist. The
_Vie de Jesus_ (1863), here referred to, was begun in Syria and is
filled with the atmosphere of the East, but is a work of literary rather
than of scholarly importance.
PAGE 45
[55] ~David Friedrich Strauss~ (1808-74), German theologian and man of
letters. The work referred to is the _Leben Jesu_ 1835. A popular
edition was published in 1864.
[56] From "Fleury (Preface) on the Gospel."--Arnold's _Note Book_.
PAGE 46
[57] Cicero's _Att._ 16. 7. 3.
[58] ~Coleridge's happy phrase~. Coleridge's _Confessions of an
Inquiring Spirit_, letter 2.
PAGE 49
[59] ~Luther's theory of grace~. The question concerning the "means of
grace," i.e. whether the efficacy of the sacraments as channels of the
divine grace is _ex opere operato_, or dependent on the faith of the
recipient, was the chief subject of controversy between Catholics and
Protestants during the period of the Reformation.
[60] ~Jacques Benigne Bossuet~ (1627-1704), French divine, orator, and
writer. His _Discours sur l'histoire universelle_ (1681) was an attempt
to provide ecclesiastical authority with a rational basis. It is
dominated by the conviction that "the establishment of Christianity was
the one point of real importance in the whole history of the world."
PAGE 50
[61] From Virgil's _Eclogues_, iv, 5. Translated in Shelley's _Hellas_:
"The world's great age begins anew."
THE STUDY OF POETRY
PAGE 55
[62] Published in 1880 as the General Introduction to _The English
Poets_, edited by T.H. Ward. Reprinted in _Essays in Criticism_, Second
Series, Macmillan & Co., 1888.
[63] This quotation is taken, slightly condensed, from the closing
paragraph of a short introduction contributed by Arnold to _The Hundred
Greatest Men_, Sampson, Low & Co., London, 1885.
PAGE 56
[64] From the Preface to the second edition of the _Lyrical Ballads_,
1800.
[65] ~Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve~ (1804-69), French critic, was
looked upon by Arnold as in certain respects his master in the art of
criticism.
PAGE 57
[66] ~a criticism of life~. This celebrated phrase was first used by
Arnold in the essay on _Joubert_ (1864), though the theory is implied in
_On Translating Homer_, 1861. In _Joubert_ it is applied to literature:
"The end and aim of all literature, if one considers it attentively, is,
in truth, nothing but that." It was much attacked, especially as applied
to poetry, and is defended as so applied in the essay on _Byron_ (1881).
See also _Wordsworth, Selections_, p. 230.[Transcriber's note: This is
Footnote 371 in this e-text.]
[67] Compare Arnold's definition of the function of criticism,
_Selections_, p. 52.[Transcriber's note: This approximates to the
section following the text reference for Footnote 61 in this e-text.]
PAGE 59
[68] ~Paul Pellisson~ (1624-93). French author, friend of Mlle. Scudery,
and historiographer to the king.
[69] Barren and servile civility.
70. ~M. Charles d' Hericault~ was joint editor of the Jannet edition
(1868-72) of the poems of ~Clement Marot~ (1496-1544).
PAGE 62
[71] _Imitation of Christ_, Book III, chap. 43, 2.
[72] ~Caedmon~. The first important religious poet in Old English
literature. Died about 680 A.D.
[73] ~Ludovic Vitet~ (1802-73). French dramatist and politician.
[74] ~Chanson de Roland~. The greatest of the _Chansons des Gestes_,
long narrative poems dealing with warfare and adventure popular in
France during the Middle Ages. It was composed in the eleventh century.
Taillefer was the surname of a bard and warrior of the eleventh century.
The tradition concerning him is related by Wace, _Roman de Rou_, third
part, v., 8035-62, ed. Andreson, Heilbronn, 1879. The Bodleian _Roland_
ends with the words: "ci folt la geste, que Turoldus declinet." Turold
has not been identified.
PAGE 63
[75] "Then began he to call many things to remembrance,--all the lands
which his valor conquered, and pleasant France, and the men of his
lineage, and Charlemagne his liege lord who nourished him."--_Chanson de
Roland_, III, 939-42.[Arnold.]
[76]
"So said she; they long since in Earth's soft arms were reposing,
There, in their own dear land, their fatherland, Lacedaemon."
_Iliad_, III, 243, 244 (translated by Dr. Hawtrey).[Arnold.]
PAGE 64
[77] "Ah, unhappy pair, why gave we you to King Peleus, to a mortal? but
ye are without old age, and immortal. Was it that with men born to
misery ye might have sorrow?"--_Iliad_, XVII, 443-445.[Arnold.]
[78] "Nay, and thou too, old man, in former days wast, as we hear,
happy."--_Iliad_, XXIV, 543.[Arnold.]
[79] "I wailed not, so of stone grew I within;--_they_ wailed."--
_Inferno_, XXXIII, 39, 40.[Arnold.]
[80] "Of such sort hath God, thanked be His mercy, made me, that your
misery toucheth me not, neither doth the flame of this fire strike me."
--_Inferno_, II, 91-93.[Arnold.]
[81] "In His will is our peace."--_Paradiso_, III, 85.[Arnold.]
[82] _Henry IV_, part 2, III, i, 18-20.
PAGE 65
[83] _Hamlet_, V, ii, 361-62.
[84] _Paradise Lost_, I, 599-602.
[85] _Ibid._, I, 108-9.
[86] _Ibid._, IV, 271.
PAGE 66
[87] _Poetics_, Sec. 9.
PAGE 67
[88] ~Provencal~, the language of southern France, from the southern
French _oc_ instead of the northern _oil_ for "yes."
PAGE 68
[89] Dante acknowledges his debt to ~Latini~ (c. 1230-c. 1294), but the
latter was probably not his tutor. He is the author of the _Tesoretto_,
a heptasyllabic Italian poem, and the prose _Livres dou Tresor_, a sort
of encyclopedia of medieval lore, written in French because that
language "is more delightful and more widely known."
[90] ~Christian of Troyes~. A French poet of the second half of the
twelfth century, author of numerous narrative poems dealing with legends
of the Round Table. The present quotation is from the _Cliges_, ll.
30-39.
PAGE 69
[91] Chaucer's two favorite stanzas, the seven-line and eight-line
stanzas in heroic verse, were imitated from Old French poetry. See B.
ten Brink's _The Language and Meter of Chaucer_, 1901, pp. 353-57.
[92] ~Wolfram von Eschenbach~. A medieval German poet, born in the end
of the twelfth century. His best-known poem is the epic _Parzival_.
PAGE 70
[93] From Dryden's _Preface to the Fables_, 1700.
[94] The _Confessio Amantis_, the single English poem of ~John Gower~
(c. 1330-1408), was in existence in 1392-93.
PAGE 71
[95] ~souded~. The French _soude_, soldered, fixed fast.[Arnold.] From
the _Prioress's Tale_, ed. Skeat, 1894, B. 1769. The line should read,
"O martir, souded to virginitee."
PAGE 73
[96] ~Francois Villon~, born in or near Paris in 1431, thief and poet.
His best-known poems are his _ballades_. See R.L. Stevenson's essay.
[97] The name _Heaulmiere_ is said to be derived from a headdress (helm)
worn as a mark by courtesans. In Villon's ballad, a poor old creature of
this class laments her days of youth and beauty. The last stanza of the
ballad runs thus:
"Ainsi le bon temps regretons
Entre nous, pauvres vieilles sottes,
Assises bas, a croppetons,
Tout en ung tas comme pelottes;
A petit feu de chenevottes
Tost allumees, tost estainctes.
Et jadis fusmes si mignottes!
Ainsi en prend a maintz et maintes."
"Thus amongst ourselves we regret the good time, poor silly old things,
low-seated on our heels, all in a heap like so many balls; by a little
fire of hemp-stalks, soon lighted, soon spent. And once we were such
darlings! So fares it with many and many a one."[Arnold.]
PAGE 74
[98] From _An Essay of Dramatic Poesy_, 1688.
[99] A statement to this effect is made by Dryden in the _Preface to the
Fables_.
[100] From _Preface to the Fables_.
PAGE 75
[101] See Wordsworth's _Essay, Supplementary to the Preface_, 1815, and
Coleridge's _Biographia Literaria_.
[102] _An Apology for Smectymnuus_, Prose Works, ed. 1843, III, 117-18.
Milton was thirty-four years old at this time.
PAGE 76
[103] The opening words of Dryden's _Postscript to the Reader_ in the
translation of Virgil, 1697.
PAGE 77
[104] The opening lines of _The Hind and the Panther_.
[105] _Imitations of Horace_, Book II, Satire 2, ll. 143-44.
PAGE 78
[106] From _On the Death of Robert Dundas, Esq._
PAGE 79
[107] ~Clarinda~. A name assumed by Mrs. Maclehose in her sentimental
connection with Burns, who corresponded with her under the name of
Sylvander.
[108] Burns to Mr. Thomson, October 19, 1794.
PAGE 80
[109] From _The Holy Fair_.
PAGE 81
[110] From _Epistle: To a Young Friend_.
[111] From _Address to the Unco' Quid, or the Rigidly Righteous_.
[112] From _Epistle: To Dr. Blacklock_.
[Footnote 4: See his _Memorabilia_.][Transcriber's note: The reference
for this footnote is missing from the original text.]
PAGE 83
[113] From _Winter: A Dirge_.
PAGE 84
[114] From Shelley's _Prometheus Unbound_, III, iv, last line.
[115] _Ibid._, II, v.
LITERATURE AND SCIENCE
PAGE 87
[116] Reprinted (considerably revised) from the _Nineteenth Century_,
August, 1882, vol. XII, in _Discourses in America_, Macmillan & Co.,
1885. It was the most popular of the three lectures given by Arnold
during his visit to America in 1883-84.
[117] Plato's _Republic_, 6. 495, _Dialogues_, ed. Jowett, 1875, vol. 3,
p. 194.
[118] ~working lawyer~. Plato's _Theoetetus,_ 172-73, _Dialogues_, IV,
231.
PAGE 88
[119] ~majesty~. All editions read "majority." What Emerson said was
"majesty," which is therefore substituted here. See Emerson's _Literary
Ethics, Works_, Centenary ed., I, 179.
PAGE 89
[120] "His whole soul is perfected and ennobled by the acquirement of
justice and temperance and wisdom. ... And in the first place, he will
honor studies which impress these qualities on his soul and will
disregard others."--_Republic_, IX, 591, _Dialogues_, III, 305.
PAGE 91
[121] See _The Function of Criticism, Selections_, p. 52.[Transcriber's
note: This approximates to the section following the text reference for
Footnote 61 in this e-text.]
[122] Delivered October 1, 1880, and printed in _Science and Culture and
Other Essays_, Macmillan & Co., 1881.
[123] See _The Function of Criticism, Selections_, pp. 52-53.
[Transcriber's note: This approximates to the section following the text
reference for Footnote 61 in this e-text.]
PAGE 92
[124] See _L'Instruction superieur en France_ in Renan's _Questions
Contemporaines_, Paris, 1868.
PAGE 93
[125] ~Friedrich August Wolf~ (1759-1824), German philologist and
critic.
PAGE 99
[126] See Plato's _Symposium, Dialogues_, II, 52-63.
PAGE 100
[127] ~James Joseph Sylvester~ (1814-97), English mathematician. In
1883, the year of Arnold's lecture, he resigned a position as teacher in
Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, to accept the Savilian Chair of
Geometry at Oxford.
PAGE 101
[128] Darwin's famous proposition. _Descent of Man_, Part III, chap.
XXI, ed. 1888, II, 424.
PAGE 103
[129] ~Michael Faraday~ (1791-1867), English chemist and physicist, and
the discoverer of the induction of electrical currents. He belonged to
the very small Christian sect called after ~Robert Sandeman~, and his
opinion with respect to the relation between his science and his
religion is expressed in a lecture on mental education printed at the
end of his _Researches in Chemistry and Physics_.
PAGE 105
[130] Eccles. VIII, 17.[Arnold.]
[131] _Iliad_, XXIV, 49.[Arnold.]
[132] Luke IX, 25.
PAGE 107
[133] _Macbeth_, V, iii.
PAGE 109
[134] A touching account of the devotion of ~Lady Jane Grey~ (1537-54)
to her studies is to be found in Ascham's _Scholemaster_, Arber's ed.,
46-47.
HEINRICH HEINE.
PAGE 112
[135] Reprinted from the _Cornhill Magazine_, vol. VIII, August, 1863,
in _Essays in Criticism_, 1st series, 1865.
[136] Written from Paris, March 30, 1855. See Heine's _Memoirs_, ed.
1910, II, 270.
PAGE 113
[137] The German Romantic school of ~Tieck~ (1773-1853), ~Novalis~
(1772-1801), and ~Richter~ (1763-1825) followed the classical school of
Schiller and Goethe. It was characterized by a return to individualism,
subjectivity, and the supernatural. Carlyle translated extracts from
Tieck and Richter in his _German Romance_ (1827), and his _Critical and
Miscellaneous Essays_ contain essays on Richter and Novalis.
PAGE 114
[138] From _English Fragments; Conclusion_, in _Pictures of Travel_, ed.
1891, Leland's translation, _Works_, III, 466-67.
PAGE 117
[139] ~Heine's~ birthplace was not ~Hamburg~, but ~Duesseldorf~.
[140] ~Philistinism~. In German university slang the term _Philister_
was applied to townsmen by students, and corresponded to the English
university "snob." Hence it came to mean a person devoid of culture and
enlightenment, and is used in this sense by Goethe in 1773. Heine was
especially instrumental in popularizing the expression outside of
Germany. Carlyle first introduced it into English literature in 1827. In
a note to the discussion of Goethe in the second edition of _German
Romance_, he speaks of a Philistine as one who "judged of Brunswick mum,
by its _utility_." He adds: "Stray specimens of the Philistine nation
are said to exist in our own Islands; but we have no name for them like
the Germans." The term occurs also in Carlyle's essays on _The State of
German Literature_, 1827, and _Historic Survey of German Poetry_, 1831.
Arnold, however, has done most to establish the word in English usage.
He applies it especially to members of the middle class who are swayed
chiefly by material interests and are blind to the force of ideas and
the value of culture. Leslie Stephen, who is always ready to plead the
cause of the Philistine, remarks: "As a clergyman always calls every one
from whom he differs an atheist, and a bargee has one or two favorite
but unmentionable expressions for the same purpose, so a prig always
calls his adversary a Philistine." _Mr. Matthew Arnold and the Church of
England, Fraser's Magazine_, October, 1870.
[141] The word ~solecism~ is derived from[Greek: soloi], in Cilicia,
owing to the corruption of the Attic dialect among the Athenian
colonists of that place.
PAGE 118
[142] The "~gig~" as Carlyle's symbol of philistinism takes its origin
from a dialogue which took place in Thurtell's trial: "I always thought
him a respectable man." "What do you mean by 'respectable'?" "He kept a
gig." From this he coins the words "gigman," "gigmanity," "gigmania,"
which are of frequent occurrence in his writings.
PAGE 119
[143] _English Fragments, Pictures of Travel, Works_, III, 464.
PAGE 120
[144] See _The Function of Criticism, Selections_, Note 2, p. 42.
[Transcriber's note: This is Footnote 42 in this e-text.]
PAGE 121
[145] _English Fragments_, chap. IX, in _Pictures of Travel, Works_,
III, 410-11.
[146] Adapted from a line in Wordsworth's _Resolution and Independence_.
PAGE 122
[147] ~Charles the Fifth~. Ruler of The Holy Roman Empire, 1500-58.
PAGE 124
[148] _English Fragments, Conclusion_, in _Pictures of Travel, Works_,
III, 468-70.
[149] A complete edition has at last appeared in Germany.[Arnold.]
PAGE 125
[150] ~Augustin Eugene Scribe~ (1791-1861), French dramatist, for fifty
years the best exponent of the ideas of the French middle class.
PAGE 126
[151] ~Charles Louis Napoleon Bonaparte~ (Napoleon III), 1808-73, son of
Louis Bonaparte, brother of Napoleon I, by the _coup d'etat_ of
December, 1851, became Emperor of France. This was accomplished against
the resistance of the Moderate Republicans, partly through the favor of
his democratic theories with the mass of the French people. Heine was
mistaken, however, in believing that the rule of Louis Napoleon had
prepared the way for Communism. An attempt to bring about a Communistic
revolution was easily crushed in 1871.
PAGE 127
[152] ~J.J. von Goerres~ (1776-1848), ~Klemens Brentano~ (1778-1842),
and ~Ludwig Achim von Arnim~ (1781-1831) were the leaders of the second
German Romantic school and constitute the Heidelberg group of writers.
They were much interested in the German past, and strengthened the
national and patriotic spirit. Their work, however, is often marred by
exaggeration and affectation.
PAGE 128
[153] From _The Baths of Lucca_, chap. X, in _Pictures of Travel,
Works_, III, 199.
PAGE 129
[154] Cf. _Function of Criticism, Selections_, p. 26.[Transcriber's
note: This approximates to the section following the text reference for
Footnote 27 in this e-text.]
[155] Job XII, 23: "He enlargeth the nations and straiteneth them
again."
PAGE 131
[156] Lucan, _Pharsalia_, book I, 135: "he stands the shadow of a great
name."
PAGE 132
[157] From _Ideas_, in _Pictures of Travel, Works_, II, 312-13.
[158] ~Robert Stewart, Viscount Castlereagh~ (1769-1822), as Foreign
Secretary under Lord Liverpool, became the soul of the coalition against
Napoleon, which, during the campaigns of 1813-14, was kept together by
him alone. He committed suicide with a penknife in a fit of insanity in
August, 1822.
[159] From _Ideas_, in _Pictures of Travel, Works_, II, 324.
[160] From _English Fragments_, 1828, in _Pictures of Travel, Works_,
III, 340-42.
PAGE 133
[161] Song in _Measure for Measure_, IV, i.
[162][Transcriber's note: "From _The Dying One_: for translation see p.
142." in original. Please see reference in text for Footnote 180.]
PAGE 135
[163] From _Mountain Idyll, Travels in the Hartz Mountains, Book of
Songs. Works_, ed. 1904, pp. 219-21.
[164] Published 1851.
[165] ~Rhampsinitus~. A Greek corruption of _Ra-messu-pa-neter_, the
popular name of Rameses III, King of Egypt.
[166] ~Edith with the Swan Neck~. A mistress of King Harold of England.
[167] ~Melisanda of Tripoli~. Mistress of Geoffrey Rudel, the
troubadour.
[168] ~Pedro the Cruel~. King of Castile (1334-69).
[169] ~Firdusi~. A Persian poet, author of the epic poem, the
_Shahnama_, or "Book of Kings," a complete history of Persia in nearly
sixty thousand verses.
[170] ~Dr. Doellinger~. A German theologian and church historian
(1799-1890).
[171] _Spanish Atrides, Romancero, Works_, ed. 1905, pp. 200-04.
[172] ~Henry of Trastamare~. King of Castile (1369-79).
PAGE 137
[173] ~garbanzos~. A kind of pulse much esteemed in Spain.
PAGE 138
[174] Adapted from Rom. VIII, 26.
PAGE 139
[175] From _The Baths of Lucca_, chap. IX, in _Pictures of Travel,
Works_, III, 184-85.
[176] _Romancero_, book III.
PAGE 140
[177] ~Laura~. The heroine of Petrarch's famous series of love lyrics
known as the _Canzoniere_.
[178] ~Court of Love~. For a discussion of this supposed medieval
tribunal see William A. Neilson's _The Origins and Sources of the Court
of Love, Studies and Notes in Philology and Literature_, Boston, 1899,
chap. VIII.
PAGE 142
[179] _Disputation, Romancero_, book III.
[180] _The Dying One, Romancero_, book II, quoted entire.
PAGE 143
[181] Written from Paris, September 30, 1850. See _Memoirs_, ed. 1910,
II, 226-27.
MARCUS AURELIUS.
PAGE 145
[182] Reprinted from _The Victoria Magazine_, II, 1-9, November, 1863,
in _Essays in Criticism_, 1865.
[183] ~John Stuart Mill~ (1806-73), English philosopher and economist.
_On Liberty_ (1859) is his most finished writing.
[184] The _Imitation of Christ_ (_Imitatio Christi_), a famous medieval
Christian devotional work, is usually ascribed to Thomas a Kempis
(1380-1471), an Augustinian canon of Mont St. Agnes in the diocese of
Utrecht.
PAGE 146
[185] ~Epictetus~. Greek Stoic philosopher (born c. A.D. 60). He is an
earnest preacher of righteousness and his philosophy is eminently
practical. For Arnold's personal debt to him see his sonnet _To a
Friend_.
PAGE 147
[186] ~Empedocles~. A Greek philosopher and statesman (c. 490-430 B.C.).
He is the subject of Arnold's early poetical drama, _Empedocles on
Etna_, which he later suppressed for reasons which he states in the
Preface to the _Poems_ of 1853. See _Selections_, pp. 1-3.
[Transcriber's note: This approximates to the section following the text
reference for Footnote 1 in this e-text.]
[187] _Encheiridion_, chap. LII.
[188] Ps. CXLIII, 10; incorrectly quoted.
[189] Is. LX, 19.
[190] Mal. IV, 2.
[191] John I, 13.
[192] John III, 5.
PAGE 148
[193] 1 John V, 4.
[194] Matt. XIX, 26.
[195] 2 Cor. V, 17.
[196] _Encheiridion_, chap. XLIII.
[197] Matt. XVIII, 22.
[198] Matt. XXII, 37-39, etc.
PAGE 149
[199] ~George Long~ (1800-79), classical scholar. He published
_Selections from Plutarch's Lives_, 1862; _Thoughts of Marcus Aurelius_,
1862; etc.
[200] ~Thomas Arnold~ (1795-1842), English clergyman and headmaster of
Rugby School, father of Matthew Arnold.
PAGE 150
[201] ~Jeremy Collier~ (1650-1726). His best-known work is his _Short
View of the Immorality and Profaneness of the English Stage_, 1698, a
sharp and efficacious attack on the Post-Restoration drama. _The Emperor
M. Aurelius Antoninus, his Conversation with himself_, appeared in 1701.
PAGE 151
[202] _Meditations_, III, 14.
PAGE 152
203. ~Antoninus Pius~. Roman Emperor, A.D. 138-161, and foster-father of
M. Aurelius.
[204] To become current in men's speech.
[205] The real name of ~Voltaire~ was ~Francois Marie Arouet~. The name
Voltaire was assumed in 1718 and is supposed to be an anagram of Arouet
le j(eune).
PAGE 154
[206] See _Function of Criticism, Selections_, p. 36.[Transcriber's
note: This approximates to the section following the text reference for
Footnote 36 in this e-text.]
[207] ~Louis IX of France~ (1215-70), the leader of the crusade of 1248.
PAGE 155
[208] ~The Saturday Review~, begun in 1855, was pronouncedly
conservative in politics. It devoted much space to pure criticism and
scholarship, and Arnold's essays are frequently criticized in its
columns.
[209] He died on the 17th of March, A.D. 180.[Arnold.]
PAGE 156
[210] ~Juvenal's sixth satire~ is a scathing arraignment of the vices
and follies of the women of Rome during the reign of Domitian.
[211] See Juvenal, _Sat._ 3, 76.
[212] Because he lacks an inspired poet (to sing his praises). Horace,
_Odes_, IV, 9, 28.
PAGE 157
[213] ~Avidius Cassius~, a distinguished general, declared himself
Emperor in Syria in 176 A.D. Aurelius proceeded against him, deploring
the necessity of taking up arms against a trusted officer. Cassius was
slain by his own officers while M. Aurelius was still in Illyria.
[214] ~Commodus~. Emperor of Rome, 180-192 A.D. He was dissolute and
tyrannical.
[215] ~Attalus~, a Roman citizen, was put to death with other Christians
in A.D. 177.
[216] ~Polycarp~, Bishop of Smyrna, and one of the Apostolic Fathers,
suffered martyrdom in 155 A.D.
PAGE 159
[217] ~Tacitus~, _Ab Excessu Augusti_, XV, 44.
PAGE 161
[218] ~Claude Fleury~ (1640-1723), French ecclesiastical historian,
author of the _Histoire Ecclesiastique_, 20 vols., 1691.
PAGE 163
[219] _Med._, I, 12.
[220] _Ibid._, I, 14.
[221] _Ibid._, IV, 24.
PAGE 164
[222] _Ibid._, III, 4.
PAGE 165
[223] _Ibid._, V, 6.
[224] _Ibid._, IX, 42.
[225] ~Lucius Annaeus Seneca~ (c. 3 B.C.-A.D. 65), statesman and
philosopher. His twelve so-called _Dialogues_ are Stoic sermons of a
practical and earnest character.
PAGE 166
[226] _Med._, III, 2.
PAGE 167
[227] _Ibid._, V, 5.
[228] _Ibid._, VIII, 34.
PAGE 168
[229] _Ibid._, IV, 3.
PAGE 169
[230] _Ibid._, I, 17.
[231] ~Tiberius, Caligula, Nero, Domitian~. Roman Emperors, 14-37 A.D.,
37-41 A.D., 54-68 A.D., and 81-96 A.D.
[232] _Med._, IV, 28.
[233] _Ibid._, V, 11.
PAGE 170
[234] _Ibid._, X, 8.
PAGE 171
[235] _Ibid._, IV, 32.
[236] _Ibid._, V, 33.
[237] _Ibid._, IX, 30.
[238] _Ibid._, VII, 55.
PAGE 172
[239] _Ibid._, VI, 48.
[240] _Ibid._, IX, 3.
PAGE 173
[241] Matt. XVII, 17.
[242] _Med._, X, 15.
[243] _Ibid._, VI, 45.
[244] _Ibid._, V, 8.
[245] _Ibid._, VII, 55.
PAGE 174
[246] _Ibid._, IV, 1.
[247] _Ibid._, X, 31.
[248] _Ibid._
PAGE 175
[249] ~Alogi~. An ancient sect that rejected the Apocalypse and the
Gospel of St. John.
[250] ~Gnosis~. Knowledge of spiritual truth or of matters commonly
conceived to pertain to faith alone, such as was claimed by the
Gnostics, a heretical Christian sect of the second century.
[251] The correct reading is _tendebantque_ (_AEneid_, VI, 314), which
Arnold has altered to apply to the present case.
THE CONTRIBUTION OF THE CELTS TO ENGLISH LITERATURE
PAGE 176
[252] From _On The Study of Celtic Literature_, London, 1867, chap. VI.
It was previously published in the _Cornhill Magazine_, vols. XIII and
XIV, March-July, 1866. In the Introduction to the book Arnold says: "The
following remarks on the study of Celtic literature formed the substance
of four lectures given by me last year and the year before in the chair
of poetry at Oxford." The chapter is slightly abridged in the present
selection.
PAGE 177
[253] _Paradise Lost_, III, 32-35.
[254] _Tasso_, I, 2, 304-05.
[255] ~Menander~. The most famous Greek poet of the New Comedy (342-291
B.C.).
PAGE 179
[256] ~Gemeinheit~. Arnold defines the word five lines below.
[257] See _The Function of Criticism, Selections_, Note 2, p. 42.
[Transcriber's note: This is Footnote 42 in this e-text.]
[258] ~Bossuet~. See _The Function of Criticism, Selections_, Note 2, p.
49.[Transcriber's note: This is Footnote 60 in this e-text.]
[259] ~Henry St. John, Viscount Bolingbroke~ (1678-1751), English
statesman and man of letters, was author of the _Idea of a Patriot
King_. Arnold is inclined to overestimate the quality of his style.
PAGE 180
[260] ~Taliessin~ and ~Llywarch Hen~ are the names of Welsh bards,
supposedly of the late sixth century, whose poems are contained in the
_Red Book of Hergest_, a manuscript formerly preserved in Jesus College,
Oxford, and now in the Bodleian. Nothing further is known of them.
~Ossian~, ~Ossin~, or ~Oisin~, was a legendary Irish third century hero
and poet, the son of Finn. In Scotland the Ossianic revival was due to
James Macpherson. See Note 1, p. 181.[Transcriber's note: This is
Footnote 262 in this e-text.]
[261] From the _Black Book of Caermarthen_, 19.
PAGE 181
[262] ~James Macpherson~ (1736-96) published anonymously in 1760 his
_Fragments of Ancient Poetry, collected in the Highlands of Scotland and
translated from the Gaelic or Erse language_. This was followed by an
epic _Fingal_ and other poems. Their authenticity was early doubted and
a controversy followed. They are now generally believed to be forgeries.
The passage quoted, as well as references to Selma, "woody Morven," and
"echoing Lora" (not _Sora_), is from _Carthon: a Poem_.
PAGE 182
[263] ~Werther~. Goethe's _Die Leiden des jungen Werthers_ (1774) was a
product of the _Sturm und Drang_ movement in German literature, and
responsible for its sentimental excesses. Goethe mentions Ossian in
connection with Homer in _Werther_, book II, "am 12. October," and
translates several passages of considerable length toward the close of
this book.
[264] ~Prometheus~. An unfinished drama of Goethe's, of which a fine
fragment remains.
PAGE 183
[265] For ~Llywarch Hen~, see Note 1, p. 180.[Transcriber's note: This
is Footnote 260 in this e-text.] The present quotation is from book II
of the _Red Book_. A translation of the poem differing somewhat from the
one quoted by Arnold is contained in W.F. Skene's _The Four Ancient
Books of Wales_, Edinburgh, 1868.
[266] From _On this day I complete my thirty-sixth year_, 1824.
[267] From _Euthanasia_, 1812.
PAGE 184
[268] ~Manfred, Lara, Cain~. Heroes of Byron's poems so named.
[269] From _Paradise Lost_, I, 105-09.
PAGE 185
[270] Rhyme,--the most striking characteristic of our modern poetry as
distinguished from that of the ancients, and a main source, to our
poetry, of its magic and charm, of what we call its _romantic element_--
rhyme itself, all the weight of evidence tends to show, comes into our
poetry from the Celts.[Arnold.] A different explanation is given by J.
Schipper, _A History of English Versification_, Oxford, 1910: "End-rhyme
or full-rhyme seems to have arisen independently and without historical
connection in several nations.... Its adoption into all modern
literature is due to the extensive use made of it in the hymns of the
church."
[271] Lady Guest's _Mabinogion, Math the Son of Mathonwy_, ed. 1819,
III, 239.
[272] _Mabinogion, Kilhwch and Olwen_, II, 275.
PAGE 186
[273] _Mabinogion, Peredur the Son of Evrawc_, I, 324.
[274] _Mabinogion, Geraint the Son of Erbin_, II, 112.
PAGE 187
[275] ~Novalis~. The pen-name of ~Friedrich von Hardenberg~ (1772-1801),
sometimes called the "Prophet of Romanticism." See Carlyle's essay on
Novalis.
[276] For ~Rueckert~, see _Wordsworth, Selections_, Note 4, p. 224.
[Transcriber's note: This is Footnote 356 in this e-text.]
[277] Take the following attempt to render the natural magic supposed to
pervade Tieck's poetry: "In diesen Dichtungen herrscht eine
geheimnissvolle Innigkeit, ein sonderbares Einverstaendniss mit der
Natur, besonders mit der Pflanzen-und Steinreich. Der Leser fuehlt sich
da wie in einem verzauberten Walde; er hoert die unterirdischen Quellen
melodisch rauschen; wildfremde Wunderblumen schauen ihn an mit ihren
bunten sehnsuechtigen Augen; unsichtbare Lippen kuessen seine Wangen mit
neckender Zaertlichkeit; _hohe Pilze, wie goldne Glocken, wachsen
klingend empor am Fusse der Baeume_"; and so on. Now that stroke of the
_hohe Pilze_, the great funguses, would have been impossible to the tact
and delicacy of a born lover of nature like the Celt; and could only
have come from a German who has _hineinstudirt_ himself into natural
magic. It is a crying false note, which carries us at once out of the
world of nature-magic, and the breath of the woods, into the world of
theatre-magic and the smell of gas and orange-peel.[Arnold.]
~Johann Ludwig Tieck~ (1773-1853) was one of the most prominent of the
German romanticists. He was especially felicitous in the rehandling of
the old German fairy tales. The passage quoted above is from Heine's
_Germany_, Part II, book II, chap. II. The following is the translation
of C.G. Leland, slightly altered: "In these compositions we feel a
mysterious depth of meaning, a marvellous union with nature, especially
with the realm of plants and stones. The reader seems to be in an
enchanted forest; he hears subterranean springs and streams rustling
melodiously and his own name whispered by the trees. Broad-leaved
clinging plants wind vexingly about his feet, wild and strange
wonderflowers look at him with vari-colored longing eyes, invisible lips
kiss his cheeks with mocking tenderness, great funguses like golden
bells grow singing about the roots of trees."
[278] _Winter's Tale_, IV, iii, 118-20.
[279] Arnold doubtless refers to the passage in _The Solitary Reaper_
referred to in a similar connection in the essay on Maurice de Guerin,
though Wordsworth has written two poems _To the Cuckoo_.
[280] The passage on the mountain birch-tree, which is quoted in the
essay on Maurice de Guerin, is from Senancour's _Obermann_, letter 11.
For his delicate appreciation of the Easter daisy see _Obermann_, letter
91.
PAGE 188
[281]. Pope's _Iliad_, VIII, 687.
[282] Propertius, _Elegies_, book I, 20, 21-22: "The band of heroes
covered the pleasant beach with leaves and branches woven together."
[283] _Idylls_, XIII, 34. The present reading of the line gives[Greek:
hekeito, mega]: "A meadow lay before them, very good for beds."
[284] From the _Ode to a Grecian Urn_.
PAGE 189
[285] That is, _Dedication_.
[286] From the _Ode to a Nightingale_.
[287] _Ibid._
PAGE 190
[288] Virgil, _Eclogues_, VII, 45.
[289] _Ibid._, II, 47-48: "Plucking pale violets and the tallest
poppies, she joins with them the narcissus and the flower of the
fragrant dill."
[290] _Ibid._, II, 51-52: "I will gather quinces, white with delicate
down, and chestnuts."
[291] _Midsummer Night's Dream_, II, i, 249-52.
[292] _Merchant of Venice_, V, i, 58-59.
[293] _Midsummer Night's Dream_, II, i, 83-85.
PAGE 191
[294] _Merchant of Venice_, V, i, 1 ff.
GEORGE SAND
PAGE 192
[295] Reprinted from the _Fortnightly Review_ for June, 1877, in _Mixed
Essays_, Smith, Elder & Co., 1879. ~Amandine Lucile Aurore Dudevant~,
nee ~Dupin~ (1804-76), was the most prolific woman writer of France. The
pseudonym ~George Sand~ was a combination of George, the typical
Berrichon name, and Sand, abbreviated from (Jules) Sandeau, in
collaboration with whom she began her literary career.
[296] ~Indiana~, George Sand's first novel, 1832.
[297] ~Nohant~ is a village of Berry, one of the ancient provinces of
France, comprising the modern departments of Cher and Indre. The ~Indre~
and the ~Creuse~ are its chief rivers. ~Vierzon, Chateauroux, Le
Chatre~, and ~Ste.-Severe~ are towns of the province. ~Le Puy~ is in the
neighboring department of Haute-Loire, and ~La Marche~ is in the
department of Vosges. For the ~Vallee Noire~ see Sand's _The Miller of
Angibault_, chap. III, etc.
[298] ~Jeanne~. The first of a series of novels in which the pastoral
element prevails. It was published in 1844.
[299] The ~Pierres Jaunatres~ (or ~Jomatres~) is a district in the
mountains of the Creuse (see _Jeanne, Prologue_). ~Touix Ste.-Croix~ is
a ruined Gallic town (_Jeanne_, chap. I). For the druidical stones of
~Mont Barlot~ see _Jeanne_, chap. VII.
PAGE 193
[300] ~Cassini's great map~. A huge folio volume containing 183 charts
of the various districts of France, published by Mess. Maraldi and
Cassini de Thury, Paris, 1744.
[301] For an interesting description of the patache, or rustic carriage,
see George Sand's _Miller of Angibault_, chap. II.
[302] ~landes~. An infertile moor.
PAGE 194
[303] ~Maurice and Solange~. See, for example, the _Letters of a
Traveller_.
[304] ~Chopin~. George Sand's friendship for the composer Chopin began
in 1837.
PAGE 195
[305] ~Jules Michelet~ (1798-1874), French historian.
[306] ~her death~. George Sand died at Nohant, June 8, 1876.
PAGE 196
[307]. From the _Journal d'un Voyageur_, September 15, 1870, ed. 1871,
p. 2.
[308] ~Consuelo~ (1842-44) is George Sand's best-known novel.
[309] ~Edmee, Genevieve, Germain~. Characters in the novels _Mauprat,
Andre_, and _La Mare au Diable_.
[310] ~Lettres d'un Voyageur, Mauprat, Francois le Champi~. Published in
1830-36, 1836, and 1848.
[311] ~F.W.H. Myers~ (1843-1901), poet and essayist. See his _Essays,
Modern_, ed. 1883, pp. 70-103.
PAGE 197
[312] ~Valvedre~. Published in 1861.
[313] ~Werther~. See _The Contribution of the Celts, Selections_, Note
1, p. 182.[Transcriber's note: This is Footnote 263 in this e-text.]
[314] ~Corinne~. An esthetic romance (1807) by Mme. de Stael.
[315] ~Valentine~ (1832), George Sand's second novel, pointed out "the
dangers and pains of an ill-assorted marriage." ~Lelia~ (1833) was a
still more outspoken diatribe against society and the marriage law.
PAGE 199
[316] From _Lelia_, chap. LXVII.
[317] ~Jacques~ (1834), the hero of which is George Sand in man's
disguise, sets forth the author's doctrine of free love.
[318] From _Jacques_, letter 95.
PAGE 200
[319] From _Lettres d'un Voyageur_, letter 9.
[320] _Ibid._, a Rollinat, September, 1834.
PAGE 203
[321] ~Hans Holbein~, the younger (1497-1543), German artist.
PAGE 205
[322] From _La Mare au Diable_, chap. 1.
[323] _Ibid._, _The Author to the Reader_.
PAGE 206
[324] _Ibid._, chap. 1.
PAGE 207
[325] _Ibid._, chap. 1.
PAGE 208
[326] From _Impressions et Souvenirs_, ed. 1873, p. 135.
[327] _Ibid._, p. 137.
[328] From Wordsworth's _Lines Composed a few Miles above Tintern
Abbey_.
[329] From _Impressions et Souvenirs_, p. 136.
PAGE 209
[330] _Ibid._, p. 139.
PAGE 210
[331] _Ibid._, p. 269.
[332] _Ibid._, p. 253.
PAGE 211
[333] See _The Function of Criticism, Selections_, p. 29.[Transcriber's
note: This approximates to the section following the text reference for
Footnote 29 in this e-text.]
[334] ~Emile Zola~ (1840-1902), French novelist, was the apostle of the
"realistic" or "naturalistic" school. _L'Assommoir_ (1877) depicts
especially the vice of drunkenness.
PAGE 212
[335] From _Journal d'un Voyageur_, February 10, 1871, p. 305.
[336] ~Emile Louis Victor de Laveleye~ (1822-92), Belgian economist. He
was especially interested in bimetallism, primitive property, and
nationalism.
PAGE 213
[337] From _Journal d'un Voyageur_, December 21, 1870, p. 202.
PAGE 214
[338] _Ibid._, December 21, 1870, p. 220.
PAGE 215
[339] _Ibid._, February 7, 1871, p. 228.
[340] _Round my House: Notes of Rural Life in France in Peace and War_
(1876), by ~Philip Gilbert Hamerton~. See especially chapters XI and
XII.
[341] ~Barbarians, Philistines, Populace~. Arnold's designations for the
aristocratic, middle, and lower classes of England in _Culture and
Anarchy_.
PAGE 216
[342] ~Paul Amand Challemel-Lacour~ (1827-96), French statesman and man
of letters.
[343] See _The Function of Criticism, Selections_, Note 4, p. 44.
[Transcriber's note: This is Footnote 54 in this e-text.]
[344] From _Journal d'un Voyageur_, February 10, 1871, p. 309.
PAGE 217
[345] The closing sentence of the Nicene Creed with _expecto_ changed to
_exspectat_. For the English translation see Morning Prayer in the
Episcopal Prayer Book; for the Greek and Latin see Schaff, _Creeds of
Christendom_, II, 58, 59.
WORDSWORTH
PAGE 218
[346] Published in _Macmillan's Magazine_, July, 1879, vol. XL; as
Preface to _The Poems of Wordsworth_, chosen and edited by Arnold in
1879; and in _Essays in Criticism_, Second Series, 1888.
PAGE 219
[347] ~Rydal Mount~. Wordsworth's home in the Lake District from 1813
until his death in 1850.
[348] ~1842~. The year of publication of the two-volume edition of
Tennyson's poems, containing _Locksley Hall_, _Ulysses_, etc.
PAGE 221
[349] ~candid friend~. Arnold himself.
PAGE 222
[350] The _Biographie Universelle, ou Dictionnaire historique_ of F.X.
de Feller (1735-1802) was originally published in 1781.
[351] ~Henry Cochin~. A brilliant lawyer and writer of Paris, 1687-1747.
PAGE 223
[352] ~Amphictyonic Court~. An association of Ancient Greek communities
centering in a shrine.
PAGE 224
[353] ~Gottlieb Friedrich Klopstock~ (1724-1803) was author of _Der
Messias_.
[354] ~Lessing~. See _Sweetness and Light, Selections_, Note 2, p.
271.[Transcriber's note: This is Footnote 427 in this e-text.]
[355] ~Johann Ludwig Uhland~ (1787-1862), romantic lyric poet.
[356] ~Friedrich Rueckert~ (1788-1866) was the author of _Liebesfruehling_
and other poems.
[357] ~Heine~. See _Heinrich Heine, Selections_, pp. 112-144.
[358] The greatest poems of ~Vicenzo da Filicaja~ (1642-1707) are six
odes inspired by the victory of Sobieski.
[359] ~Vittorio, Count Alfieri~ (1749-1803), Italian dramatist. His
best-known drama is his _Saul_.
[360] ~Manzoni~ (1785-1873) was a poet and novelist, author of _I
Promessi Sposi_.
[361] ~Giacomo, Count Leopardi~ (1798-1837), Italian poet. His writings
are characterized by deep-seated melancholy.
[362] ~Jean Racine~ (1639-99), tragic dramatist.
[363] ~Nicolas Boileau-Despreaux~ (1636-1711), poet and critic.
[364] ~Andre de Chenier~ (1762-94), poet, author of _Jeune Captive_,
etc.
[365] ~Pierre Jean de Beranger~ (1780-1857), song-writer.
[366] ~Alphonse Marie Louis de Prat de Lamartine~ (1790-1869), poet,
historian, and statesman.
[367] ~Louis Charles Alfred de Musset~ (1810-57), poet, play-writer, and
novelist.
PAGE 228
[368] From _The Recluse_, l. 754.
PAGE 229
[369] _Paradise Lost_, II, 553-54.
PAGE 230
[370] _The Tempest_, IV, i, 156-58.
[371] ~criticism of life~. See _The Study of Poetry, Selections_, Note
1, p. 57.[Transcriber's note: This is Footnote 66 in this e-text.]
PAGE 231
[372] _Discourses_ of Epictetus, trans. Long, 1903, vol. I, book II,
chap. XXIII, p. 248.
PAGE 232
[373] ~Theophile Gautier~. A noted French poet, critic, and novelist,
and a leader of the French Romantic Movement (1811-72).
[374] _The Recluse_, ll. 767-71.
[375] _AEneid_, VI, 662.
PAGE 233
[376] ~Leslie Stephen~. English biographer and literary critic
(1832-1904). He was the first editor of the _Dictionary of National
Biography_. Arnold quotes from the essay on _Wordsworth's Ethics_ in
_Hours in a Library_ (1874-79), vol. III.
[377] _Excursion_, IV, 73-76.
PAGE 234
[378] _Ibid._, II, 10-17.
[379] _Intimations of Immortality from Recollections of Early
Childhood_.
PAGE 235
[380] _Excursion_, IX, 293-302.
PAGE 236
[381] See p. 232.[Transcriber's note: This approximates to the section
following the text reference for Footnote 373 in this e-text.]
PAGE 237
[382] ~the "not ourselves."~ Arnold quotes his own definition of God as
"the enduring power, not ourselves, which makes for righteousness." See
_Literature and Dogma_, chap. I.
[383] The opening sentence of a famous criticism of the _Excursion_
published in the _Edinburgh Review_ for November, 1814, no. 47. It was
written by ~Francis Jeffrey, Lord Jeffrey~ (1773-1850), Scottish judge
and literary critic, and first editor of the _Edinburgh Review_.
PAGE 238
[384] _Macbeth_, III, ii.
[385] _Paradise Lost_, VII, 23-24.
[386] _The Recluse_, l. 831.
PAGE 239
[387] From Burns's _A Bard's Epitaph_.
PAGE 240
[388] The correct title is _The Solitary Reaper_.
SWEETNESS AND LIGHT
PAGE 242
[389] This selection is the first chapter of _Culture and Anarchy_. It
originally formed a part of the last lecture delivered by Arnold as
Professor of Poetry at Oxford. _Culture and Anarchy_ was first printed
in _The Cornhill Magazine_, July 1867,-August, 1868, vols. XVI-XVIII. It
was published as a book in 1869.
[390] For ~Sainte-Beuve~, see _The Study of Poetry, Selections_, Note 2,
p. 56.[Transcriber's note: This is Footnote 65 in this e-text.]
The article referred to appeared in the _Quarterly Review_ for January,
1866, vol. CXIX, p. 80. It finds fault with Sainte-Beuve's lack of
conclusiveness, and describes him as having "spent his life in fitting
his mind to be an elaborate receptacle for well-arranged doubts." In
this respect a comparison is made with Arnold's "graceful but perfectly
unsatisfactory essays."
PAGE 243
[391] From Montesquieu's _Discours sur les motifs qui doivent nous
encourager aux sciences, prononce le 15 Novembre, 1725_. Montesquieu's
_Oeuvres completes_, ed. Laboulaye, VII, 78.
PAGE 244
[392] ~Thomas Wilson~ (1663-1755) was consecrated Bishop of Sodor and
Man in 1698. His episcopate was marked by a number of reforms in the
Isle of Man. The opening pages of Arnold's _Preface_ to _Culture and
Anarchy_ are devoted to an appreciation of Wilson. He says: "On a lower
range than the _Imitation_, and awakening in our nature chords less
poetical and delicate, the _Maxims_ of Bishop Wilson are, as a religious
work, far more solid. To the most sincere ardor and unction, Bishop
Wilson unites, in these _Maxims_, that downright honesty and plain good
sense which our English race has so powerfully applied to the divine
impossibilities of religion; by which it has brought religion so much
into practical life, and has done its allotted part in promoting upon
earth the kingdom of God."
[393] ~will of God prevail~. _Maxim_ 450 reads: "A prudent Christian
will resolve at all times to sacrifice his inclinations to reason, and
his reason to the will and word of God."
PAGE 247
[394] From Bishop Wilson's _Sacra Privata_, Noon Prayers, _Works_, ed.
1781, I, 199.
PAGE 248
[395] ~John Bright~ (1811-89) was a leader with Cobden in the agitation
for repeal of the Corn Laws and other measures of reform, and was one of
England's greatest masters of oratory.
[396] ~Frederic Harrison~ (1831-), English jurist and historian, was
president of the English Positivist Committee, 1880-1905. His _Creed of
a Layman_ (1907) is a statement of his religious position.
PAGE 249
[397] See _The Function of Criticism, Selections_, Note 2, p. 37.
[Transcriber's note: This is Footnote 38 in this e-text.]
PAGE 253
[398] 1 Tim., IV, 8.
[399] The first of the "Rules of Health and Long Life" in _Poor
Richard's Almanac_ for December, 1742. The quotation should read: "as
the Constitution of thy Body allows of."
[400] Epictetus, _Encheiridion_, chap. XLI.
[401] ~Sweetness and Light~. The phrase is from Swift's _The Battle of
the Books, Works_, ed. Scott, 1824, X, 240. In the apologue of the
Spider and the Bee the superiority of the ancient over the modern
writers is thus summarized: "Instead of dirt and poison we have rather
chose to fill our hives with honey and wax, thus furnishing mankind with
the two noblest of things, which are sweetness and light."
PAGE 256
[402] ~Independents~. The name applied in England during the seventeenth
and eighteenth centuries to the denomination now known as
Congregationalists.
[403] From Burke's Speech on _Conciliation with America, Works_, ed.
1834, I, 187.
[404] 1 Pet., III, 8.
PAGE 258
[405] ~Epsom~. A market town in Surrey, where are held the famous Derby
races, founded in 1780.
PAGE 259
[406] Sallust's _Catiline_, chap. LII, Sec. 22.
[407] The ~Daily Telegraph~ was begun in June, 1855, as a twopenny
newspaper. It became the great organ of the middle classes and has been
distinguished for its enterprise in many fields. Up to 1878 it was
consistently Liberal in politics. It is a frequent object of Arnold's
irony as the mouthpiece of English philistinism.
PAGE 261
[408] ~Young Leo~ (or ~Leo Adolescens~) is Arnold's name for the typical
writer of the _Daily Telegraph_ (see above). He is a prominent character
of _Friendship's Garland_.
PAGE 262
[409] ~Edmond Beales~ (1803-81), political agitator, was especially
identified with the movement for manhood suffrage and the ballot, and
was the leading spirit in two large popular demonstrations in London in
1866.
[410] ~Charles Bradlaugh~ (1833-91), freethought advocate and
politician. His efforts were especially directed toward maintaining the
freedom of the press in issuing criticisms on religious belief and
sociological questions. In 1880 he became a Member of Parliament, and
began a long and finally successful struggle for the right to take his
seat in Parliament without the customary oath on the Bible.
[411] ~John Henry Newman~ (1801-90) was the leader of the Oxford
Movement in the English Church. His _Apologia pro Vita Sua_ (1864) was a
defense of his religious life and an account of the causes which led him
from Anglicanism to Romanism. For his hostility to Liberalism see the
_Apologia_, ed. 1907, pp. 34, 212, and 288.
[412] _AEneid_, I, 460.
PAGE 263
[413] ~The Reform Bill of 1832~ abolished fifty-six "rotten" boroughs
and made other changes in representation to Parliament, thus
transferring a large share of political power from the landed
aristocracy to the middle classes.
[414] ~Robert Lowe~ (1811-92), afterwards Viscount Sherbrooke, held
offices in the Board of Education and Board of Trade. He was liberal,
but opposed the Reform Bill of that party in 1866-67. His speeches on
the subject were printed in 1867.
PAGE 266
[415] ~Jacobinism~. The _Societe des Jacobins_ was the most famous of
the political clubs of the French Revolution. Later the term ~Jacobin~
was applied to any promulgator of extreme revolutionary or radical
opinions.
[416] See _ante_, Note 2, p. 248.
[417] ~Auguste Comte~ (1798-1857), French philosopher and founder of
Positivism. This system of thought attempts to base religion on the
verifiable facts of existence, opposes devotion to the study of
metaphysics, and substitutes the worship of Humanity for supernatural
religion.
[418] ~Richard Congreve~ (1818-99) resigned a fellowship at Oxford in
1855, and devoted the remainder of his life to the propagation of the
Positive philosophy.
PAGE 267
[419] ~Jeremy Bentham~ (1748-1832), philosopher and jurist, was leader
of the English school of Utilitarianism, which recognizes "the greatest
happiness of the greatest number" as the proper foundation of morality
and legislation.
[420] ~Ludwig Preller~ (1809-61), German philologist and antiquarian.
PAGE 268
[421] ~Book of Job~. Arnold must have read Franklin's piece hastily,
since he has mistaken a bit of ironic trifling for a serious attempt to
rewrite the Scriptures. The _Proposed New Version of the Bible_ is
merely a bit of amusing burlesque in which six verses of the Book of Job
are rewritten in the style of modern politics. According to Mr. William
Temple Franklin the _Bagatelles_, of which the _Proposed New Version_ is
a part, were "chiefly written by Dr. Franklin for the amusement of his
intimate society in London and Paris." See Franklin's _Complete Works_,
ed. 1844, II, 164.
[422] ~The Deontology~, or _The Science of Morality_, was arranged and
edited by John Bowring, in 1834, two years after Bentham's death, and it
is doubtful how far it represents Bentham's thoughts.
[423] ~Henry Thomas Buckle~ (1821-62) was the author of the _History of
Civilization in England_, a book which, though full of inaccuracies, has
had a great influence on the theory and method of historical writing.
[424] ~Mr. Mill~. See _Marcus Aurelius, Selections_, Note 2, p. 145.
[Transcriber's note: This is Footnote 183 in this e-text.]
PAGE 269
[425] The article from which Arnold quotes these extracts is not
Frederic Harrison's _Culture: A Dialogue_, but an earlier essay in the
_Fortnightly Review_ for March 1, 1867, called _Our Venetian
Constitution_, See pages 276-77 of the article.
PAGE 271
[426] ~Peter Abelard~ (1079-1142) was a scholastic philosopher and a
leader in the more liberal thought of his day.
[427] ~Gotthold Ephraim Lessing~ (1729-81), German critic and dramatist.
His best-known writings are the epoch-making critical work, _Laokooen_
(1766), and the drama _Minna van Barnhelm_ (1767). His ideas were in the
highest degree stimulating and fruitful to the German writers who
followed him.
[428] ~Johann Gottfried von Herder~ (1744-1803), a voluminous and
influential German writer, was a pioneer of the Romantic Movement. He
championed adherence to the national type in literature, and helped to
found the historical method in literature and science.
PAGE 272
[429] _Confessions of St. Augustine_, XIII, 18, 22, Everyman's
Library ed., p. 326.
HEBRAISM AND HELLENISM
PAGE 273
[430] The present selection comprises chapter IV, of _Culture and
Anarchy_. In the preceding chapter Arnold has been pointing out the
imperfection of the various classes of English society, which he
describes as "Barbarians, Philistines, and Populace." For the correction
of this imperfection he pleads for "some public recognition and
establishment of our best self, or right reason." In chapter III, he has
shown how "our habits and practice oppose themselves to such a
recognition." He now proposes to find, "beneath our actual habits and
practice, the very ground and cause out of which they spring." Then
follows the selection here given.
Professor Gates has pointed out the fact that Arnold probably borrows
the terms here contrasted from Heine. In _Ueber Ludwig Boerne_ (_Werke_,
ed. Stuttgart, X, 12), Heine says: "All men are either Jews or Hellenes,
men ascetic in their instincts, hostile to culture, spiritual fanatics,
or men of vigorous good cheer, full of the pride of life, Naturalists."
For Heine's own relation to Hebraism and Hellenism, see the present
selection, p. 275.
[431] See _Sweetness and Light, Selections_, Note 1, p. 244.
[Transcriber's note: This is Footnote 392 in this e-text.] _Maxim_ 452
reads: "Two things a Christian will never do--never go against the best
light he has, this will prove his sincerity, and, 2, to take care that
his light be not darkness, i.e., that he mistake not his rule by which
he ought to go."
PAGE 274
[432] 2 Pet. I, 4.
[433] ~Frederick William Robertson~ (1816-53) began his famous ministry
at Brighton in 1847. He was a man of deep spirituality and great
sincerity. The latter part of his life was clouded by opposition roused
by his sympathy with the revolutionary ideas of the 1848 epoch and by
the mental trouble which eventually resulted in his death. The sermon
referred to seems to be the first Advent Lecture on _The Greek_. Arnold
objects to Robertson's rather facile summarizing. Four characteristics
are mentioned as marking Grecian life and religion: restlessness,
worldliness, worship of the beautiful, and worship of the human. The
second of these has three results, disappointment, degradation,
disbelief in immortality.
PAGE 275
[434] ~Heinrich Heine~. See _Heine, Selections_, pp. 112-144.
[Transcriber's note: This section begins at the text reference for
Footnote 135 in this e-text.]
[435] Prov. XXIX, 18.
[436] Ps. CXII, 1.
PAGE 277
[437] Rom. III, 31.
[438] Zech. IX, 13.
[439] Prov. XVI, 22.
[440] John I, 4-9; 8-12; Luke II, 32, etc.
[441] John VIII, 32.
[442] _Nichomachaean Ethics_, bk. II, chap. III.
[443] Jas. I, 25.
[444] _Discourses of Epictetus_, bk. II, chap. XIX, trans. Long, I,
214 ff.
PAGE 278
[445] ~Learning to die~. Arnold seems to be thinking of _Phaedo_, 64,
_Dialogues_, II, 202: "For I deem that the true votary of philosophy is
likely to be misunderstood by other men; they do not perceive that he is
always pursuing death and dying; and if this be so, and he has had the
desire of death all his life long, why when his time comes should he
repine at that which he has been always pursuing and desiring?" Plato
goes on to show that life is best when it is most freed from the
concerns of the body. Cf. also _Phaedrus_ (_Dialogues_, II, 127) and
_Gorgias_ (_Dialogues_, II, 369).
[446] 2 Cor. V, 14.
[447] See Aristotle, _Nichomachaean Ethics_, bk. X, chaps. VIII, IX.
[448] _Phaedo_, 82D, _Dialogues_, I, 226.
PAGE 279
[449] Xenophon's _Memorabilia_, bk. IV, chap. VIII, Sec. 6.
PAGE 280
[450] ~Edward Bouverie Pusey~ (1800-82), English divine and leader of
the High Church party in the Oxford Movement.
PAGE 281
[451] Zech. VIII, 23.
[452] ~my Saviour banished joy~. The sentence is an incorrect quotation
from George Herbert's _The Size_, the fifth stanza of which begins:--
"Thy Savior sentenced joy,
And in the flesh condemn'd it as unfit,--
At least in lump."
[453] Eph. V, 6.
PAGE 282
[454] The first two books.[Arnold.]
[455] See Rom. III, 2.
[456] See Cor. III, 19.
PAGE 283
[457] ~Phaedo~. In this dialogue Plato attempts to substantiate the
doctrine of immortality by narrating the last hours of Socrates and his
conversation on this subject when his own death was at hand.
PAGE 284
[458] ~Renascence~. I have ventured to give to the foreign word
_Renaissance_--destined to become of more common use amongst us as the
movement which it denotes comes, as it will come, increasingly to
interest us,--an English form.[Arnold.]
EQUALITY
PAGE 289
[459] This essay, originally an address delivered at the Royal
Institution, was published in the _Fortnightly Review_, for March, 1878,
and reprinted in _Mixed Essays_, 1879. In the present selection the
opening pages have been omitted. Arnold begins with a statement of
England's tendency to maintain a condition of inequality between
classes. This is reinforced by the English freedom of bequest, a freedom
greater than in most of the Continental countries. The question of the
advisability of altering the English law of bequest is a matter not of
abstract right, but of expediency. That the maintenance of inequality is
expedient for English civilization and welfare is generally assumed.
Whether or not this assumption is well founded, Arnold proposes to
examine in the concluding pages. As a preliminary step he defines
civilization as the humanization of man in society. Then follows the
selected passage.
[460] ~Isocrates~. An Attic orator (436-338 B.C.). He was an ardent
advocate of Greek unity. The passage quoted occurs in the _Panegyricus_,
Sec. 50, _Orations_, ed. 1894, p. 67.
PAGE 290
[461] ~Giacomo Antonelli~ (1806-76), Italian cardinal. From 1850 until
his death his activity was chiefly devoted to the struggle between the
Papacy and the Italian Risorgimento.
PAGE 291
[462] ~famous passage~. The _Introduction_ to his _Age of Louis XIV_.
PAGE 293
[463] ~Laveleye~. See _George Sand_, _Selections_, Note 2, p. 212.
[Transcriber's note: This is Footnote 336 in this e-text.]
[464] ~Sir Thomas Erskine May, Lord Farnborough~ (1815-86),
constitutional jurist. Arnold in the omitted portion of the present
essay has quoted several sentences from his _History of Democracy_:
"France has aimed at social equality. The fearful troubles through which
she has passed have checked her prosperity, demoralised her society, and
arrested the intellectual growth of her people. Yet is she high, if not
the first, in the scale of civilised nations."
[465] ~Hamerton~. See _George Sand_, _Selections_, Note 2, p. 215.
[Transcriber's note: This is Footnote 340 in this e-text.] The quotation
is from _Round My House_, chap, XI, ed. 1876, pp. 229-30.
PAGE 294
[466] ~Charles Sumner~ (1811-74), American statesman, was the most
brilliant and uncompromising of the anti-slavery leaders.
PAGE 295
[467] ~Alsace~. The people of Alsace, though German in origin, showed a
very strong feeling against Prussian rule in the Franco-Prussian War of
1870-71. In September, 1872, 45,000 elected to be still French and
transferred their domicile to France.
PAGE 296
[468] ~Michelet~. See _George Sand_, _Selections_, Note 1, p. 195.
[Transcriber's note: This is Footnote 305 in this e-text.]
PAGE 298
[469] The chorus of a popular music-hall song of the time. From it was
derived the word _jingoism_. For the original application of this term
see Webster's _Dictionary_.
[470] ~Dwight L. Moody~ (1837-99) and ~Ira D. Sankey~ (1840-1908), the
famous American evangelists, held notable revival meetings in England in
1873-75.
PAGE 299
[471] See, e.g., _Heine_, _Selections_, p. 129.[Transcriber's note:
This approximates to the section following the text reference for
Footnote 154 in this e-text.]
[472] ~Goldwin Smith~. See Note 2, p. 301.
PAGE 301
[473] See Milton's _Colasterion_, _Works_, ed. 1843, III, 445 and 452.
[474] ~Goldwin Smith~ (1824-1910), British publicist and historian, has
taken an active part in educational questions both in England and
America. The passage quoted below is from an article entitled _Falkland
and the Puritans_, published in the _Contemporary Review_ as a reply to
Arnold's essay on Falkland. See _Lectures and Essays_, New York, 1881.
[475] ~John Hutchinson~ (1616-64), Puritan soldier. The _Memoirs of the
Life of Colonel Hutchinson_, written by his wife Lucy, but not published
until 1806, are remarkable both for the picture which they give of the
man and the time, and also for their simple beauty of style. For the
passage quoted see Everyman's Library ed., pp. 182-83.
[476] ~paedobaptism~. Infant baptism.
PAGE 303
[477] Man disquiets himself, but God manages the matter. For ~Bossuet~
see _The Function of Criticism_, _Selections_, Note 2, p. 49.
[Transcriber's note: This is Footnote 60 in this e-text.]
[478] Prov. XIX, 21.
[479] So in the original.[Arnold.]
PAGE 304
[480] ~Bright~. See _Sweetness and Light_, _Selections_, Note 1, p.
248.[Transcriber's note: This is Footnote 395 in this e-text.]
[481] ~Richard Cobden~ (1804-65), English manufacturer and Radical
politician. He was a leader in the agitation for repeal of the Corn Laws
and in advocacy of free trade.
PAGE 305
[482] Prov. XIV, 6.
[483] Compare _Culture and Anarchy_, chaps. II and III, and _Ecce
Convertimur ad Gentes, Irish Essays_, ed. 1903, p. 115.
PAGE 307
[484] ~Samuel Pepys~ (1633-1703), English diarist.
PAGE 310
[485] ~young lion~. See _Sweetness and Light_, _Selections_, Note 1, p.
261.[Transcriber's note: This is Footnote 408 in this e-text.]
PAGE 312
[486] ~Mill~. See _Marcus Aurelius_, _Selections_, Note 2, p. 145.
[Transcriber's note: This is Footnote 183 in this e-text.]
[487] ~Spencer Compton Cavendish~ (1833-1908), Marquis of ~Hartington~
(since 1891 Duke of Devonshire), became Liberal leader in the House of
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