, 1889-03-07

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freedom for man; either slave of Christ
or q slave OF his own lust; there is no other
choice" Such characters as these must
clearly have been created by the writer, in
order to prejudice the reader against all
solutions of the great questions of religion
except her own. OF course, Elsmere was
repelled and disguised, and more than
ever determined to get all that the Squire
or his books had to reveal to him.
Turning now to the leading characters
chosen to represent the revolt against the
whole scheme of traditional Christianity,
the frat to come In contact with Robert is
Tutor Laneham at Oxford. He is hand.
some. scholarly man, still young, who is
already q confirmed skeptic-has lost
faith. not only in orthodoxy. but Ia every.
thing and everyone. even in himself. He
expresses his faith, or rather his skepti-
he reads thus to Elsmere: There was
time when men seemed TO- be sincere;
when thought was nourished on friend.
ship, kindness, love. But soon
comes resistance, difficulty. Fools,
will all these resounding projects. tho
| they enable us to cheat ourselves, enable us
to cheat the icy fate which rules US and
our globe wandering forsaken thro' the
vast silence of the heavens?"
At another time, he closes discussion
With Elsmere. thus: "No use to discuss
it further. You have q strong case, OF
course, and put 1t we'll. Only when you
are pegging away at reforming, and en-
tightening the world. don't trau,ple too
much on the people who have more than
enough, to do to enliehten them
In another talk at the parsonage soon
after Elsmere's marriage with Catherine
Leyburn, Langham speaks sneerinely of
Prof. Grey's hope Of reforming the church,
adding, In manner, more than in words,
Nothing particular is true. Get through
the day somehow, with as little harm to
yourself and other people as may be; do
your duty If you like it, but for heavens
to other people" Later still, think
ing of the young rector and his wife 30
enthusiastic in their labors of love among
the poor, he exclaims in Thought:
Happy! in this world where men sit
and hear each other Rroan' What Is 1t
based onp In the first place, on the pas.
sionate acceptance of an exquisite fairy
the critical sense, withers in our grasp.
That, Eismere has never given it, and in
all probability never will. A man sees
none the straighter for having wife whom
he adores and q profession that suits
him, between him and unpleasant facts"
There is a pessimist of the worst kind;
one Of the natural fruits of rationalistic |
thought, in certain classes of minds, when |
given to hesitancy and unrestrained or
uninspired by a personal experience of the
love of God in Christ as personal Re- |
deemer. Mrs, Ward deserves credit for
faithfully portraying this style of skeptic, |
and in the story, throughout, representing
him as man whose good impulses ways
fall short of ripening into action, and whose
work in life, as it natures. consists mainly
in making himself miserable and in SOW !
ing the seeds of discomfort in other people. |
Aud this is the man who sows in the |
young students mind ut Oxford the first |
seeds of doubt. He first calls his attention
to the train Of thought which at last lands |
him in entire skepticism as to the historic |
facts Of Christianity's origin. though it
fails to land him in practical atheism and |
despair, thanks to better training and a |
Langham expressed his thoughts in these
words, in a talk with Robert:
There is one thing that doesn't seem to |
come to you yet But you will come to it. |
To my mind, it makes almost the chief in |
terest OF history. 1t is this History, de-
pends on testimony. Did the |
man of the third century understand, or |
report, or interpret facts in the same way
as the man of the sixteenth or the nine |
teenthp'
The second character referred to as used !
to influence the young student and rector,
Is introduced to his attention by Tutor |
Lan0ham. He was, however, a much no
bier skeptic, and is understood to be drawn !
from real life, Prof. Green, OF Oxford, be-
ing the original, In the romance his name |
10 Grey, who, while declining to take orders
in the church, does, every two or three
years, preach the sermon expected from his
professorship. Langham takes Elsmere to
hear one of these sermons, tho! he was not
then one of Prof. Grey's students. The
subject, founded on Colopssiaus 81 was
gives the question in: "What was Paul's
precise idea in the expression, Risen with
CHRISTI" Are this death and this res
tain alleged historical facts? or, are they
not primarily, and were they not even In
the mind of St. Paul, two aspects of o
spiritual process perpetuaily re-enacted in
the soul of man, and constituting the veri- |
table revelation of God? Which is the
stable and lasting witness of the Father;
the spiritual history of the individual aud |
tine world; or the envelope of miracle. to
which, hitherto, mankind has attributed |
so mucn importance"
The whole effort of this professor, tried
before aud since, was to get the spiritual
truth out of the life and words Of Jesus
and his apostles, without the supernatural
facts upon whica Jesus, with Peter and
Paul. based their lives and works and
words. The sermon, at the time. made
little impression on Roberts mind but
certain phrases employed, clung to his
memory, and in after years. exerted great
influence; such as: "The Fairy Tale Of |
Christianity" "The origins of Oh ristian
mythology"
But the man, above all others. chosen to
accomplish the revolution in Elsmere, was
Squire Wendover. He was an aristocrat;