The Sun.
London, England, 1864-04-04 00:00:00

SPIRIT OP THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

from offering the justification now which he did not
offer earlier, by hault courage—whatever virtue of
romance that term may mean. _

THE LONDON REVIEW ON MR. KINGSLEY AND
FATHER NEWMAN.—For the first time in the his-
tory of controversy good Protestants may expe.
rience a lawful and profitable attutsetnent in seeing
an English Professor soundly chastised by a Roman
Catholic divine. Mr. Charles Kingsley has received
a most wholesome lesson, and no amount of disap-
proval of the tenets of Father Newthan and of the
Roman Catholic Church will Make a single member
of the Church Of England stir an inch to Mr.
Kingsley'e aid. When Mr. Kingsley attacks
institutions and doctrines only,—however much
we may lament at seeing the cause of the Refor-
mation handed over to the championship of a divine
who is accustomed to look at politics and theology
from the point of view of an inspired foxhunter—we
shall all wish to see him as successful in polemics as
it is his destiny to be. On this occasion Mr. Kings.
ley was foolish enough to make a random personal
assault. He mist take the consequences. The
Church of PAngland's honour is not involved ; the
superstitions of the Church of Rome are not in
issue ; and we leave him with all much amusement
to his fate as we ehneld leave Christian himself to
his fate in the " Pilgrim's Progress" if we had
caught him using obscene language to the doughty
Giant Pope. At such times the Old Adam rises up
very powerfully in the breasts of the soundest lovers
of the Church. They particularly dislike the opi-
nions of Giant Pope. But they also particularly
dislike insolence; and if Mr. Kingsley does nut
mind being insolent to a Catholic priest when
he sees him, he cannot hope to get assis-
tance by raising a tardy cry of " Protes-
tant principles to the rescue." Of all Men living
Mr. Kingsley was perhaps the most certain
at some time. in his literary career to provoke the
punishment he has at last received. The religion of
muscles is an admirable and certainly a healthy out-
door creed; but it is the one creed that cannot afford
to be satirical at the expense of the rest of the un-
muscular creation. After all, as the late Mr. Justice
Mettle observed, we are vertebrated animals.
Muscles cannot for ever go on making merry at our
expense, without sooner ur later involving theme
selves it a contest where pedestrian piety may
chalice to be overmatched. But Mr. Kingsley can-
not avoid sneering at all who are not of his way, we
will not say of thinking, but of walking. A singular
instance of this may be found in a few lines which
the rector of Eversley composed in an enthusiastic
moment, as a preface to his last children's book—
" The Water Babies." They convey very accurately
the estimate formed by the author of the relative
merits of himself and of hie generation
Hence unbelieving Badducees,
And more believing Pharisees
With dull conventionalities ;
And leave a Country Muse at ease
To play at leapfrog if she please
With children and realities."
Disbelievers in the Country Muse of Mr. Kingsley
are accustomed to be relegated to the respective
classes of Pharisee and Sadducee. But it does move
the temper of the most quiet Pharisee or Sadducee
to be without the faintest provocation at once set
down as " dullb9 It seems a hard penalty for not
caring to play at leapfrog with realities. Mr.
Kingsley has leapt gambolling and light-
hearted across the path of Father Newman—a
Pharisee who happens to be a bit of a wag ha his
way. Mr. Kingsley, catching a Pharisee of this
kind, is for all the world like the English soldier in
the story Who was unfortunate enough to make a
Tartar his prisoner. The way in which Mr. Kingsley
caught the Pharisee who was not dull is as follows :
—ln the course of a review of Mr. Froude in Mac-
millan's Magazine he fell upon declaiming against
the iniquities of the Church of Rome. So tar so
good. But, just as Mr. Gladstone was not content
with abusing insurance societies without dragging
into his oration the name of the uneffending Mr.
Sheridan, mere denunciation of Roman Catholicism
in the abstract appeared to the Cambridge professor
a poor and miserable kind of leapfrog. What he
wanted was a back in the flesh over which to bound ;
and in an evil hour for his comfort he bethought him
of the back of Father Newman. With that gentle-
man's name he accordingly proceeded to disport
himself. Abstracted from the Protestant world in
which he once played so dazzling a part, Father
Newman would never in all human probability have
heard of Mr. Kingsiey's attack upon him had not
some acquaintance forwarded to him in Lie
retreat the frolicsome passage, referred to
as occurring in Mr. Kicgs!ey's article in Mac-
millan. The clang of professional armour
stirred the slumbering spirit of the cloistered
veteran. When be first read it he said to himself,
as he tells us, "Here is a young scribe, who is
making himself a cheap reputation by smart hits at
safe objects.". But when he heard that Mr.
Kingsley was the aggressor he burnished up his
arms, and took down his old lance from the wall.
The correspondence has been published in which he
drew the attention of Messrs. Macmillan to the
paragraph complained of; and in which Mr. Kings-
ley is confronted with the man upon whose quiet he
intruded. Mr. Kingsley in self-defence referred
Father Ncwnien to his writings passion (a con-
venient and safe reply), and particularly to
" one of your sermons on Subjects of the Day, No.
20 in the volume published in 1844, and entitled,
' Wisdom and Innocence.'" He could not, how-
ever, produce any passage in that celebrated sermon
to justify the personal slander of which he was the
author; and a witty epistle from Father Newman
to " X. Y.," a mutual friend, extracted from Mr.
Kingsley a characteristic letter containing the fol-
lowing curious extract :
" As the tone of your letters (even more than their lan-
guage) makes me feel, to my very deep pleasure, that my
opinion of the meaning of your words was a mistaken one,
I shall send at once to .Maomillan's Magazine the few lines
which I enclose."
To the few lines enclosed, as well as to the modifi-
cation of them that appeared in the February num-
ber of Macmillan, Father Newman took the not
unnatural objection that they would lead the public
to beiieve that he had been shown a definite passage
in his own writings, and had explained it away as
meaning something different from the sense assigned
to it by Mr. Kingsley. Mr. Kingsley had shown
Father Newman nothing of the kind. Father
Newman had challenged him to point out any
paragraph of the sort, and had failed, to obtain even
an answer to his challenge. This being the case,
he was not unreasonably dissatisfied at the semi-
apologetic retractation published at last by the
Cambridge Professor of History, in which he
expressed regret at having seriously mistaken Dr.
Newman- —Dr. Newman having "bp letter ex-
pressed in the strongest terms his denial of the
meaning which I have put upon his words."
In reply Father Newman printed the entire
correspondence, summing it all up in a piece
of witty criticism, which for power and
satire has probably seldom been rivalled.
The public amusement created by this humorous
flagellation has been naturally galling to Mr.
Kingsley. This week he has in his turn printed a
furious answer in forty pages to Father Newman's
single sheet. After reading
it we regret to be
obliged to come to the conclusion that it is not only
the Pharisees and Sadducees who can be dull. A
Country Muse hitting about her in a passion is not
so entertaining a companion as a Country Muse
shaking her curls bewitchingly and playing in a
corner with the children. In the first place he
starts with asserting that Father Newman has
made " a great mistake ;"
wh
eit
the
lt
lizse
utsertrhi
ablteF/la/trh.
eKr .In the second place
we presume in grappling
tNngeswlemY an has lost his tem-
per. With the healthiest Protestant sentiments
and a true wish to see the Country Muse in the
same conquering attitude ovr the Pope that St.
George occupies when he bestrides the Dragon, we
confess we cannot think it. Father Newman did
nothing of the kind ; and Mr. Kingsley attributes
too much effect to his undoubted powers of aggra-
wan contented himself with
vation. Father New
ridiculing the absurd
position of a man who, having
made a false charge against another, tried to
thathßiumtselfthat he was in the wrong.
in his last pamphlet has
shamble out of admitting
we believe, wit, be seen by
lo s
tMhris Kingsleytem pers
any one who wades through it, and does not mind
being privy to the edifying spectacle of a robust
haug in te
Christian in a rage,
ex
out ststinandin himselfg
commithtedvain to
attempt to swear with
country Muse! And before
profane language. A -
after
the children. And all to be as heavy in
ante
the
as the most con ven-
answer to a witty
The point at issue, it must
tional of :Sadducees !
be remembered, is really a simple one. Where,
in the sermon entitled " Wisdom and In-
nocence," does Father Newman inform us that
truth for its own sake is not and ought not to be a
virtue ? For neither producing a passage to justify
ithdra.wing the charge like
the charge, nor w
a man, Mr. Kingsley no received a castigation amid
the inextinguishable laughter of the literary world.
Provoked at the smile on every face, he has turned
again to attack Dr. Newman. But he does not even
. e
Fr not havng done so
DOW produce tbo pas
sagsd ed o
cu , an excuse that is most
originally he gives us, i
is
s
worth the attention of all
remarkable, and that
persona in delicate health. He had been " in-
formed" that Dr. Neweon was not well and wished
for peace and quiet. This, if true, was a reason for
not attacking Dr. Newman, but scarcely a reason
for not giving him the passage on which so serious
an `,tack was based.
,%.Irhen Father Newman
ade-
mands an explanation 0: a violent onset made upon
his honour, Mr' Kthg€3ley's line of defence seems a
curious one. First of aI he likes Father Newman's
'g very anxions about Father
tone; secondly,
•he
ssa. his most comical way of
Newman's health. yet to be told. In the
evading the difficulty hs. Newman's nerves are
first correspondence Father
new. corres
an insuperable obstacle, In the . precludedpon-
deuce Mr. Kingsley comiders that

"I am, of totirse, precluded from using the ser-
mon, Wisdom and Innocence, to prove my words.
I have accepted Dr. Newman's denial that it means
what I thought it did ; and Heaven forbid that I
should withdraw toy word once given at whatever disad-
vantage to myself. But more—l am informed by those
from Whose judgment oil such points there is no appeal,
that 'en halt courage,' or strict honour, I am also precluded
by the terms of my explanation from using any other of
Dr. Newman's past writings to prove my assertion,"
Mr. Kingsley is t person who appears to be in
the habit of receiving very singular pieces of infor-
mation. Father Newman " informs" him that
truth is not for its own sake a virtue. When
the moment arrives for satisfying Father
Newman's wounded feelings, some one else
"informs" him that Father Newman is in
weak health, and he is lastly " informed," on
the highest authority, that it is Mr. Kingsley's
solemn duty to " waive the point." The sentence
above quoted, in which he tells us so, belongs un-
mistakeably to the Elizabethan order of architec-
ture. " Heaven," and " hault courage," and
" strict honour," are the native and chaste orna-
ments of the edifice; but the voice, which, in
answer to all inquiries, informs us that Mr.
Kingsley is bound in honour not to be "at home,"
hasa rich Pecksniffian ring about it that seems
almost to belong to a later age. After this Father
Newman may give up calling. Mr. Kingsley,
under his doctor's orders,—from whose judgment
"on such points" there is no appeal—is confined to
his room, with Sir Walter Raleigh and Spenser's
" Faery Queen." But as he leaves the door in de-
spair, Father Newman hears the familar tones of
chivalry from the window over his head, pouring
out vials of wrath upon the head of St. Sanuarius,
St. Alfonso da Liguori, and all the superstitions of
the Papacy. To this safe and orthodox occupation
Mr. Kingsley may be left. Another time, we dare
say, he will content himself with laughing only at
those Papists who are dead and ennonised, and not
touch living fanatics. There is, however, one piece
of muscular writing in his answer to Father New.'
matt, which is also of the " hault courage" and
" Elizabethan" style, and which deserves not to be
passed by. It is illustrative of a certain manner
after studying which we feel less inclined than
ever to shout the praises of Mr. Kingsley, or to
identify the cause of Protestantism with the present
personal issue. Thelast few pages of Mr. li.ingsley's
publication are devoted mainly to a sonorous pane-
gyric upon truth. The preceding pages are occupied
with a gross misrepresentation of Dr. Newman a
pamphlet, put in we presume for the benefit of those
who have not read it. If Mr. Kingsley concludes
with a glorious principle, it must therefore be ad-
mitted that he begins with a little 2eccadillo :
"Dr. Newman has committed on the very Title-page of
his pamphlet an economy which some men will cone Lier a
very serious offence, He has there stated that the questiol:
is ' Whether Dr. Newman teaches that Truth is no virtue.'
He has repeated this misrepresentation at p. 32, where he
has ventured to represent me as saying, Dr. Newman
tells us that lying is never any harm.' He has econo-
mised the very four words of my accusation which make
it a reasonable one, namely—' For its own sake.' . . .
While no one knew better than he the importance of the
omission, none knew better that the public would not do so ;
that they would never observe it. , . . So when I had
accused him and the Romish clergy of teaching that 'truth
is no virtue for its own sake,' he simply economised the last
four words, and said that I accused him and them of teach-
ing that ' truth is no virtue.' •
These last four words, whatever their value, are
not omitted at all by Father Newman. In the first
extract in Father Newman's pamphlet they are
printed at full length. They are printed at full
length again in sue] next page which contains
Father Newman's letter to Messrs. Macmillan. In
his next letter, p. 12, they again are correctly
given. In his next letter, p. 18, they are given at
full length again. In every single passage in which
Father Newman deals with Mr. Kingsley's words
they are to be found unabridged. Where are they
left out? In theme of humorous epitome only which
we have given above,and in the title of the pamphlet
—" Whether Dr. Newman teaches that Truth is no
virtue "—in neither of which does Father
Newman profess to quote or to do more than tra-
vestie. In the face of this, and with Father New-
man's sheets before him, Mr. Kingsley dares to tell
us that, " When I had accused him (Dr. Newman)
of teaching that truth is no virtue for its own sake,
he simply economised the last four words, and said
that I accused him and them of teaching that truth
is no virtue." These be thy gods, 0 Israel! This
is hault courage, and robust virtue, and chivalrous
romance !
THE EXAMINER ON THE STJRPLUf.4.—There is no
beating down the revenue by fair play. Last year
Mr. Gladstone cut off sd. a pound duty on tea, and
2d. in the pound of income tax. He knew, he said,
that neither would be as much the worse for it as
some people might suppose; and that, after a cer-
tain time, the Treasury would have no cause to re-
gret these concessions. But the elasticity of the
reproductive power of the country beffies his wisest
calculations. He estimated the loss on customs at
11,300,000, and it has proved to be no more than
£802,000. The income tax would yield, he sup-
posed, on the diminished scale, something over
18,000,000, and, lo ! it has brought him in
£9,084,000. Tho nursery maxim seems to contain
all the wisdom of finance—the more you cut off the
hair the stronger it grows. The power of consump-
tion, enhanced by relief from taxation, has grate-
fully shown itself in a variety of ways. We have
had less to pay the tax-gatherer on incomes and on
tea, and therefore we have had more to spend on
excisable articles. In the year ending Ist of April,
1863, the indirect taxes levied at home produced
£17,155,000 ; in the year ending Ist of April, 1864,
they have produced £18,207,000. The total figures
of the national account still show the enormous sum
of £70,208,963, the greatest amount ever raised by
taxation under so few heads, and with so little
hardship or pressure. Mr. Gladstone is certainly
the most fortunate of Chancellors of the Exchequer,
for he has fallen upon a period not only of peace
but of unexampled variety and vastness of enter-
prise. Other men have drained the soil and grubbed
up the hedgerows, and let in the air and sun, and
planted the good seed; while he has entered into
their labours and reaped the golden fruit. And now
what is to be done with the new surplus of two mil-
lions and a half? Mr. Gladstone made a bold and sue
easeful experiment three years ago, when, having al
deficiency, the first step he took in dealing with it
was to double it. Why should he not try the coun-
terpart of the experiment now, and by wise re-
trenchment give as much more to the nation as by
industry the nation has given to him ? With a
surplus of £5,000,000 in band, what might he not
do in the way of financial reform ? For 671 mil-
lions a year of expenditure, at a time when we are
at peace with the whole world, there is and can be
no sufficient justification. We are prosperous now,
but it is impossible to suppose that prosperity will
prove everlasting. We are at peace, but who can
tell when we may be driven by the madness or
wickedness of others into war ? The present is the
time, and by paying off debt or remitting taxation
we ought to provide for the evil day. It requires
no effort of patriotism or of financial skill to go on
raising the same extravagant amount of revenue by
diffusing the incidence of taxation over a greater
number of transactions than before. The rate of
each tax may be lessened ; but if the actual sum it
yields be the same or nearly the same, though tile
painful sensation in paying it may doubtless be
mitigated, the fund, out of which industry is em-
ployed, and wages paid, and provision laid be for
old age or infirmity, is eaten into as much as ever.
We do not grudge Mr. Gladstone his good luck—
on the contrary we are heartily glad of it. But as
the praise is really due to the untiring toil and
energy of the people, we arc entitled to claim for
them the reward which they have earned. Let us
at least have Retrenchment if we are not to have
Reform.

THE SATURDAY REVIEW ON FEDERAL WAR-
FARE.—The proverbial fact that degeneracy is
always gradual is consoling to humanity as an ab-
stract proposition, but it is certainly irritating to
the bystanders in any particular case. It is during
that easy but slow descent that the world laaishes
its censure most liberally upon the traveller who
is milking the journey. Few people are at the
trouble of abusing offenders who have formally
taken leave of their character. It is commonplace
and dull to fling epithets at the head of politicians
who are avowedly professional, or of women who
are quite abandoned. It is only the politician who,
having once been high-minded, becomes dirtier and
dirtier in his tricks, or the woman who was once
religious and is now visibly " friskifying," that
provokes spectators into saying bitter things. The
same rule applies to the system of warfare which
the Fcderals are pursuing. A good deal of very
genuine horror is excited in this country by the ac-
counts we receive of it, and very strong epithets
are freely applied to it. There can be no question
that it thoroughly deserves them all. All war is
systematised destruction, and that is bad enough.
But in civilised countries war is made as it were
mechanically, and without passion. The Govern-
ment which makes war determines upon the mea •
sures that will bring its enemy to terms, and then
employs its machines, its erity and navy, to execute
those measures. But both the combatants them-
selves and the Government which directs them are
careful to avoid any destruction which does not
evidently promote the attainment of their chief ob-
ject, or which tends to assume the form of vulgar
robbery or murder. Having, on the whole, attained
to this grade of humanity ourselves, we have a right
to stigmatiae as savage and barbarous any warfare
conducted upon different principles. But it is only
a small portion of the human race that has adopted
this more refined plan, and if the Federale choose to
eepart from it they 'Aye the majority of the epoles