The Sun.
London, England, 1869-11-01 00:00:00

711 E QUAR7ERLIES,

The Quarterly Review is an exceptionally fine number—
not to be surpassed in excellence even by the famous
Talmud issue. Three out of the nine articles for tho
October quarter- call for special notice. First, and of most
enduring importance, comes " Islam," which is a continua-
tion, by the same writer, of the memorable article on the
Talmud. " Islam" is specially devoted to a general survey
•f the rise, progress, and characteristics of the Mohamme-
dan power. Though less striking than the essay which
:fussed such a sensation in the world of letters, this sequel
is nevertheless admirably written, and is distinguished by
the same depth of research and boldness of speculation by
which Mr. Emmanuel Deutsch first attracted public atten-
tion. The contribution on the Byron mystery has already
established itself as the leading brief on the side of the
lefence against Mrs. Stowe's charge. The author of
Uncle Tom's Cabin " is likely to find it an exceedingly
tough problem. The article is ably written throughout,
and bristles with telling pleas; but its most important
feature is the correspondence of Lady Byron—the affec-
tionate and confiding letters written to Mrs. Leigh after
the separation of the poet from his wife, and,
sonsequently, after the discovery by Lady Byron
of the crime attributed to her husband and
Min. Leigh. But I find that the Saturday Review, which
has throughout warmly supported Mrs. Stowe, is not satis-
fied with this evidence. It is not easy, it admits, to con-
;ludo that Lady Byron could have believed in the
;barge of incest while she was writing to Mrs. Leigh in
these loving and confiding terms. But, as a matter of fact,
she did believe it—the Quarterly Reviewer himself acknow-
'edges this—and expressed her belief to Mr. Lushington'
as well as to another person ; and yet she wrote the letters.
The Saturday cleverly points out that whilst the objection
to Mrs. Stowe's story is the co-existence of the charge of
incest and the affectionate letters, a' monomaniacal or
insane belief in a non-existent crime is an equal objection
to the Quarterly Reviewer's story. In other words, it is as
hard to think that Lady Byron believed a false charge, and
wrote the letters as it is to admit that she was certain of
the charge and yet wrote. The Reviewer undoubtedly does
confess that Lady Byron not only believed the charge, but
made no scruple of repeating it "ri,;ht and left to almost
anybody who chose to listen to it." It certainly is a. re-
markable mystery. "The Past and Future of the Conser-
vative Party"—attributed by common consent to the Marquis
of Salisbury—is another exceptionally good contribution to
this fine number. It is as able as the " Conservative Surrender,"
and far more hopeful and practical. The fortunes of the
party, argues the writer, were never so low as at the pre-
sent moment ; never were the Conservative forces so weak
in numerical strength, and deficient in organisation. The
disasters which have reduced the opposition to this ebb aro
solely to be attributed to the persistent efforts of its
leaders to gain or retain power by alliances with the dis-
sontented Radicals—their most inveterate foes. These
attempts have been partially successful. Three times
within twenty years have the Conservatives enjoyed a
brief tenure of office. But it has always been found im-
possible to maintain the unnatural coalition with the
Radicals, and expulsion from power, combined with a
decided advance of democratic principles, has been the
invariable fruit of these flagitious combinations. If the
Conservative party would be true to itself it must for some
time, at least, abandon all hope of power, at all events it
must forego all union with the Radicals; and must be con-
tent to do the hard, but honest, work of Constitutional
Opposition. Instead of forming immoral combinations
which promote democracy, it must be the especial care of
the party to arrest the triumph of extreme prin-
'iples. The advice is good, and might succeed if
politics were more a matter of principle than of
interest. Unfortunately, it can hardly be said that this is
the case. Especially is it unlikely that the policy of the
Quarterly will prevail whilst Mr. Disraeli remains at the
helm. Several of the minor contributions this quarter
will be found pleasant reading. "Sacerdotal Celibacy" is
a compendious historical review of the ordinances and
customs affecting the marriage of priests. Lord Lytton's
translations of " Horace " receives very high praise, which
it deserves. There can be little doubt that this new version
of the Latin poet is a substantial achievement. " The
Water Supply of London " is chiefly a digest of Govern-
ment inquiries by Royal Commissions and Select Com-
mittees. The general conclusions are that there is no fault
to be found with the sources from which the water of the
metropolis is at present derived ; but the control of the
supply ought to be transferred from private companies to
municipal hands. There can be little question that one of
the chief grievances relating to the London water supply
is not the quantity nor the quality, but the receptacles
and. conveniences furnished to the poor A sketch of
Isaac Barrow, one of the great theologians of the latter
half of the seventeenth century, and an inevitable dis-
quisition on the reconstruction of the Irish Church, are
amongst the remaining articles.
The Llndon Quarterly devote 3 itself chiefly to philoso-
phical and theological matters. The articles on " Brazil and
the Amazon " and " Motley's United Netherlands " are
the excei,tion. The reviewer of Veitch's " Life of Sir
William Hamilton " is written by an old pupil of the

great Scotch philosopher, and contains many interesting
personal anecdotes. But though a pupil and an admirer,
the reviewer is not prepared to swear to all the words of

Lis master, and he criticises some portions of Hamilton's
philosophy unfavourably. For instance, with regard to
what Hamilton viewed as an important discovery—that all
positive thought lies between two extremes, which, as

mutually contradictory, cannot be true, but of which for
the same reason one must be true, while at the same time
neither of these extremes is conceivable—Sir William him.
self admitted to the reviewer at the close of his life that
he was not wholly satisfied. The criticism on Lecky's
"History of Morals" is on the whole favourable, anc the
writer acknowledges with gratitude the triumphant way
in which Mr. Lecky has overthrown the Utilitarians. The
biography of Rudolph Stier, who was known to Englishmen
chiefly by his " Words of Jesus," is especially
valuable, as no English life has been written. Stier,
it must bo admitted, was not a very large-minded
man. He answered to the devout, earnest, but somewhat
narrow-minded Low Churchman of our own country. Ho
was an unwearied student of, and commentator upon, the
Bible ; but was wholly incapable of entering upon points of
canonicity and authenticity. The article on " Protoplasm"
is a refutation of Mr. Huxley's notable article in the Fort-
nightly Review of last February, and shews that, though the
Professor has chosen a new term, he is advancing an old
error, known to all the world as " materialism." The
article dealing with " Arnold on Culture and Anarchy" is
a protest, setting forth the part which Christianity has
played in the culture of the human race. The writer on
the approaching Ct cumenical Council does not expect that
it will lead to much result.