The times., 1899-03-26
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they were all the advertisement he need
ed.
1t is rather unfortunate that Dr. Smith
has seen fit to use several newspaper
reports which do not reproduce the subtle
quality of Drummond's addresses. Here
and there, however, some of his own words
are quoted, which give fairly good in-
preston of his general methods. Among
his aphorisms are the following:
There has been too much of the bigotry of
creed. and not enough practical Christianity in
this world
l don't think much of a man who can't go
through life and continue 10 have the freshness
breeziness and honesty Of the University.
Neither iii the intention of any of the innum-
erahie authors (of the Bible, nor in the execu-
iion Of their work, is there any direct trace Of
scientific teaching Could anyone with any his
toric Imagination for moment expect that there
would have been9 There was no science then.
This is radical ground TO take among
men accustomed to believe in the literal
truth of the Bible, and that Drummond' s
books have been accepted and read by
these very men and women is one of the
proofs Of his power. He was link be-
tween the honest believer and the honest
skeptIc and that, during the ten years of
his active work, was a very considerable
achievement. One need only go back TO
the files of religious papers in 1870 and
compare them with those of 1890 to see
how great the change has been. 1t is not
small thing TO free honest, thinking men
| and women from the shackles of religious
! materialism. For eighteen hundred years
| there has been a conflict between logic and
| faith. Drummond was the exponent OF the
| dawning modern conviction that the two
| can be harmonized and that the moral
world is, like the physical governed by
| the laws of evolution. 1t will be observed
| that he calmly sets aside the whole as
| sumption that the Bible was designed TO
| teach science. BY this action he drew his
| followers at one step from the ground of
| blind faith to that of reason. He was
never afraid 10 be honest, and never mis-
took duplicity for tact. Now and then
anxious guardians would trap him into
conversing with young people on the sub
ject of religion. He always declined these
encounters whenever practicable, but DR..
Smith relates that in. the few instances
where he found conversation unavoidable
he usually began with some such remark as
i suppose you know that this is put-up
job?' or What you are suffering from is
too much religion, isn't it?"
Perhaps Drummond, more than many
other leaders of thought had reason to
pray that he be saved from his friends.
in his evangelistic work he was asso-
ciated with men who had all the defects of
the professional evangelist, and many of
the methods used by them tended 10 bring
the whole movement into disrepute. DR..
Smith goes to the root OF this matter very
cleverly in his account of the movement.
He says:
We must remember that so vast and rapid a
movement was bound 10 suffer the defects of its
qualities Among the large numbers who were
certified as adhering TO the mission there 4
proportion Of the comfortable middle class who
spent their leisure in running from meeting 10
meeting. and who, from that day to this, act as
il they believed that such conventions were at
once the highest duty and happest privilege
of religion. Their excitement and the habits
which it has formed have not been beneficial 10
Christianity Further cannot help observing
that the idealisIn of the movemSnt, the emphasis
which IL laid general principles, and the speed
with which muititudes were reused 20 the con-
| victiOn OF these cOBSpired with the general ex-
citement TO destroy, in a certain class OF minds,
all sense of facts, and to corrupt their conscience
| for accuracy. This is, perhaps, natural to every
1 idealist movement-one marks il in certain phi
losophies of the century-but it appears 10 be the
| besetting temptation of jealous and sanguine
evangeiicalism form of this vice was
| the unwillingness TO see in Scripture any facts
| save such might be used TO confirm a very
narrow theory of inspiration; any teaching,
save the few lines Of evangelical doctrine and
! special providence, upon which the preaching OF
\ the moyement mainly ran The evan
gelical movement, which Messrs. Moody and
! Sankey did so much to re-enforce, has required
every ota OF the influence of science TO teach IL
tolerance accuracy and fearlessness of facts, and
| all the strength OF the Socialist movement 70
, reawaken within IT that sense OF civic and eco.
nomic duty by which the older evangeleism was
SO nobly distinguished.
One of the strongest traits of this rev
| evangelicalism was It's narrowness. 1t
might have done less work if it had not
been narrow, for much of its power was
| over those whose minds were incapable
of receiving subtle conceptions. Most peo-
pie will agree that II an ignorant, vicious
man can be led TO stop getting drunk and
beating his wife every Saturday night, and
made an honest, sober, and humane citi-
zen, by any evangelicaiism. however mar
! row, II would be good thing. But Drum
| mond did not stop there. He could use
personal influence when that was neces-
sary. but his favorite method was 10 ap-
peal to the intellect; and he had a very
decided conviction that different people
needed different methods of teaching. On,
of his principles was that "a young man:
religion could not be the same as his
| grandmother's, and when one reflect!
that half the trouble in religious matter!
has come from the disregard of this simple
fact ii seems as il Drummond accomplish
ed something when he drilled that into tn,
minds OF his associates.
A part of his life not less interesting
than his religious work was his expert
ence as an explorer. At one time and an
other be visited the Rocky Mountains, th'
New Hebrides. Australia, and Central AT
rica, in the pursuit of scientific work, anC
a good part of the present biography con
sists of his diaries and letters written dur
ing these Journeys. II is recorded that OF
his return from Africa, where he witnessed
many incidents of the slave trade. suf
fered considerably from fever, and saw
much suffering among Europeans, his hal
was tinged with gray, and he said to
friend that he had been in an atmospher
of death all the time.
1t is a proof OF the curious hold whicl
his work had on men who were outside al
the churches, that on his first visit to Sgd
ney, which has no very great reputation
for piety, he held meeting for physician
which had rather remarkable results. ii
had been told that only four doctors il
Sydney were attendants at church, bu
there came TO this meeting no less thai
140; and next day twenty of them agree
to pay ESQ a year to start a church 70
doctors on the spot. to be under the charg
of a man from England. Several medica
professors subsequently Joined the asso
citation. In this country Drummond was
II anything. little more popular In tn
universities than anywhere else. and wa
received with enthusiasm at Harvard
,, These things prove that he had the mani
qualities which human nature loves, a
well as subtle sympathy with the doubt
and struggles of the human conscience
(New York: Doubleday & Mcclure Com
pany. $1,000
Some Books of Poetry.
"Wessex Poems, and Other Verses" b.
Thomas Hardy. seems to have produces
unenviable sensations among the critics