New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1874-03-03

AZ length seems 10 have lost patience with the phiios
OphY that does not at least postuate GOD OF soe &
or another TO begin with; all events any such PM
Osophy has been left high and dry by tue poeueab
no choice One or the other must PERISH o ,anE
could not live together. The devices desert OF on
and barren denial no place for the eehlle mus
Imagination cannot breathe its atmosphere anu ~
And yet though not present the times have
changed, and we have changed win the' ny
for the youth OF thirty forty years ago has given
place In day to refined and vaguely ~ y, an
belief at has kind OF nigsar1y reGog ,i indn
personal God about ~ STU ehercise ga , Svafrrs
Of atheism, not Objectionable as the oil orn, Tn
count Of what 1t admits OF evil ne OF wnhu S diion
Of it's nfluence-aud indeed we question nuon u l" nr
81 M Roe9ea ~ What thew believe ana what they
do not beeve-we yet OF opinion that u puts nm
itaon on genus aud especially on poetieal genus; ~
nearly the same proportion that IT falls short OF de
mite faith.
In illustration Of his argument the writer places tne
examples OF Shelley Goethe IN contrast with hose
Of Shakespeare the intense purpose OF whose heroes
converts such characters Werther, ana "iineih
Meister, and Faust, into mere shadows EVEN !" '"O
presence Of shakespeares villains we are never qu
out OF an atmosphere OF faith. Among the very "'i'
there is an implied recognition OF GOD, power "o"
and beyond them, aud an accusing II not an afpio''"e
conscience.
Perhaps the most striking illustration in more modern
fumes OF the manner which the poecal faculty nav
be oyesdds1 S e and SrHss Of Arthur Hugh
Clough The his life IL studied the more ~ APPEAR
TO rise above the Nentionallty OF douo anu
90 represent the highest possible phase Oh JonsO I
tious skeptlcism-one, indeed Of those sacrca sUa
which the Creator seems TO throw from nm a ln.o ~
tto the ocean of religious opinion to keep the waters III
healthy fermentation and save t1em irOm stag' NJ,
by tradition, freezing by convention INTO ,ntnr
less HIS case presents many undue ana ,h tbe
esting points Differing from Shelley inasnuch as te
very elements left in Shelleys hali-hnnan compos
ton amongst Cioughs most Conspicuous o iss
ments-the social side OF genus-its simple homehness'
and the keenness OF IT'S human e as a n,
beautifully complete. Differing again. from the sKep cpl
csm of Goethe-for ClOughs moral productions were
strong and anything like indifference was Win nun IN
possbe-his skepucsm seemed rather TO rise ou Oh an az
most morbid overkeenness and oVersensltveness 10 e
requirements OF conscience Wltn suons du p , go,
craving for solid ground OF penei ne Wouln 1et
nave no part of his faith At second hand Following
Coneh,s career from his schoolays at Rugby onwaru
il ~ melancholy and even Illuminating tnlng 10 nhu
how much even Of the unseen and sprVual Ioiee y,
eat mans mind is overruled by the irresponsible CIR
eumstance of its earthly surroundings WIN an lts u
questionable excellences, there wor idta nav III ne
Rnghy training under the Arnold regime In many cases
and these cases necessarily the most importahlt haa
bows ont into the world with dangerously prematoIs
! moral equipment; an education that yieueu gSoi
deal OF dOgmatie brainfOrcel but at tne sdcrince
of intellectual accuracy and the inner moral usciim-
nations An old head upon Young s"EuIuJ L Is s
spec V hones arc SET not vet here is doubt
| i'm the matter With the great majority OF suons na
lures, 1t simply the best eoQse!Fsoo nsi~ ad
ultimate moral shpwreck. Not the most cdte'uiy w.
| niinistered education, accompanied by the utmost
socitude OF parents take that highest part OF
every education out Of the hands OF ms Maker
Father or mother teacher may In some measure nod
the onward frame hut God alone breathe into its
nostris breath of ife and make such an education
living thing. Clough whO by the inherent tendency OF
| his ia would have been seeker alter Goa, bau
| he had higher advantages than neathenl
has always to us to have been the victim OF
| premature moral development. He came from RUGBY
with the Arnold mint marks fresh and strong upon hm
his mind fully made up, and an aniabe determl-
nation do battle IL need be- for all the theories or his
worthy master. But man proposes, God dlsposes.
moral influence was lying in wait for him that he never
had taken Into account and which proved TO bs the
at in 1885, the Tractarian movement at ts
hight Newman stretching out, through pulpit and
platform through and those subtle prehensic
entace of his that touched softly and yet have closed
so firmly, upon modern thought IL was an atmosphere
Cough had never breathed before ana u proved 100
for his tender years. Speaking OF II atSrWu ne
| the draught OF a chimney" The struggle he
passed through never he altogether known, and Is
chance excamatiCns in his correspondence OF the
severity of IL there be no doubt His mind was not
altogether unhOrsedhe had too firm seat for tha-but
he may be said TO have lost his srrups and never again
10 have recovered them until tne ha
had done its work upon him. and worn MIN down 10 the
cant OF your easy minded believer something that
| almost approaches blasphemy All that he sur
VealedIfha t"" valley Of the shadow Of death, SO
hickly with the bones OF the spiritually dead
by what nscruabe decree OF Providence we know mott
bat that all was borne without murmur, and with a
rare humility aud integrity his me Is sulhcent guar
antee. with all his doubts and difficulties we should DO
inclined 10 question the cathoctty OF the Church that
refused 10 extend to him the invitation Of Laban Come
outp
The tribute OF the writer to Arthur Clough will meet
with heartfelt sympathy from many readers in this
country who were acquainted with his pure and beau
full character during his residence among u.s. No words
can do better justice to the traits which won their adj
mration and love 1--WE know which Was called forth
in the highest degree than the fine analysis which closes
the paper His doubt seemed TO find him out and to
hunt him 10 cover whenever and wherever he yentured
out. He could not it. There was nothing left
for him. but ia his own melancholy words TO pace the
sad confusion through Bafled and tempesttost by
conflicting opinions, he excaims in one of his poems:
20 may we for assurance sake
Some arbitrary judgment take,
And willtuny pronounce IL true
We almost wish he could have done so, even at some
little intellectual sacrifice But that just the thing
be could not do He too keenly suspicious OF his
intellectual life With him there deeper form OF
dishonesty than that which shrnks from its
vlction There never character more spotlessly
free from anything even approaching compromise in
this respect His intellectual honesty without
Jaw Everything went down before his convictions
his living oxford Gt should not be forgot that in his
position pecunary sacrifice meant poverty, aud with
IT, in many mems eyes, his social status WELL And
last what to him Of far value than these, the
confidence of his dearest friends and at the head Of
the list Arnold himself Happiness, health, all went;
aud In their place to use phrase Of his own, came
spiritual vertigo and megrims unutterable, and
loneliness and misery. Everything his conscience
required of him paid down TO the last farthlng.
All was given away TIL only his great unrooted honesty
remained to him. Religion would indeed be rhapsody
OF words II in such could not spend his life
lose his lie shan preserre IT, 1t is beautiful belief and
beat into the metal OF actual hard
with subimer selfdenial than the life of Clough."
THE CONTEMPORARY REVIEW.
One Of the most interesting papers in the
present number is on Charity Its Aims and Means"