LITERATURE.

Otago Witness, Issue 1856, 17 June 1887, Page 35

LITERATURE.

CRITICAL SKETCHES. By Aristaeohus. CHARACTERISTICS OF WOMEN. Mrs Jameson's critical remarks upon the women of Shakespeare are vague,, colourless, * ; and even commonplace. Her divisions are often arbitrary and. capricious. Where intellect terminates, and passion, and imagination, and affection „ begin', is not sufficiently indicated, if indeed' sucha line of demarcation is possible. Artificial distribution of the faculties of the mind is seldom' happy, because such' distinctions exist not in rcrwm natwa. Intellect includes all. 'Jhey are only separate manifestations of the mind. With respect to the difference between the male arid female intellect, the fair authoress hits the point well : " The intellect of woman bears the same relation to that of man as Her physical organisation ; it is inferior in power, and different in kind" I should rather say in degree. However, the bobk is an excellent one of its own kind, and fairly captivates the' imagination of a genuine lover of the fair sex. THE GROUNDWORK OF BELIEF.— , , . No. 11. H. Candler, M.A., mathematical master of Uppingham School, in these 265 pages institutes a searching inquiry into the origin and foundation of the religious sentiment. The ,real groundwork of belief is comprised in -the author's motto — to wit : " Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy soul, and thou .shalt love thy, neighbour as thyself." This goes higher than the celebrated Roman sentiment — Homo simi;> lmmani nihih a nw aliemmyputo. Candler ■ lays special stress on right conduct — good deeds ; and ■with respect to dogmas of theology he exercises the part of an eclectic— a rational inquirer after truth.' The one thing needful . " is theattitude of love^ truth, reverence, and obedience due from children to their father." The fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of men : that is the cardinal question. Such • difficult problems as' " the nature of Christ, the atonement, the efficacy of prayer, 1 the iiature of the life to come, free will, and the origiriof evil," he Considers of secondary importance." re ■ In the Arts' and Sciences we begin with certain- primary axioms — which' we cannot' 1 prove to ' be' absolutely certain — and reason l therefrom; Precisely' J so, in Religion 1 . We" I assume certain axioms which are 1 morally certain, and' build th'eron. We, must go back to these certain prirriary propositions, fundamental principles, common notions, self-evident axioms, in the discussion of social, political, moral, arid religious questions'. " The words of the wise must be themselves verified by the test of these same axi6mat;ic principles which are founded on universal' assent." As in Science we riiust discriminate between essential and contin-' gent truths, so in Religion we must draw a clear line of demarcation between essentials and non-essentials. Our religious primary axioms' are the unity of truth, of God, the Governor of the universe. There are certain virtues and vices — a conscience, a future life; and' sincerity is a real virtue. Seeing how really little can be known, we ought to be charitable in our judgments of those who j differ.from us. , j The .object of simple religious faith is right living ; therefore, as Pope said — For modes of faith let graceless zealots fight, I His can't be wrong whose ljfo is in the right. A good life is better than an orthodox profession. I /agree with Candler as to the .necessity laid upon us " to examine, ab initio, Jesus as He was', before we presume to teach what iHe is." Let us separate truth from opinion. The mass of our sermons is trash. " The object of religion is right living, and the essentials in religion, are those beliefs without which right living is impossible." Baxter tells us how to act : Unity in. essentials, liberty in nod-essentials, charity in all things. In all religions arid schools of thought there is an element of truth ; 'but truth is many-sided. :.'"<The thing to be aimed at is riot orthodoxy, not agnosticism 1 , not latitudinarianism, not (necessarily) Chris- , tianity, but (hated word I) eclecticism, which implies schools of opinion." Let us have a real man at bottom. What is practical infidelity but mistaking the shadow for the substance, the means for the end, the acci- , dental for the essential; the ecclesiastical for the moral, the indifferent for the important, the Church, the Bible for -a true and holy life. The Bible is the best of all books, but let us exercise our reason in studying it and our judgment in selecting and interpreting its lessons. The' tendency oft the age is to do away with creeds and to insist upon good .conduct. We need not abandon religion altogether, though we may justly refuse'to- " submit to its inanities, hypocrisies, and falsehoods." True religion is "as the rain and the sunshine which are equally shed on the juefc and the unjust, and freely imparted to the' evil and the good." Let us preach this universal religion of goodness to all Gods-c hildren. .' .' , '*'.'„ For the Athanasian, Apostolic, and Nicene Creeds, Candler substitutes the following

confession of faith,- the technical^ parts fofy which* some ? might even reject l :i-"I- believe*in God the Father, all-wise and all-loving, • Upholder- of the Universe, Mduldeh and Fashioner, of all . , good. .things, visible ..and invisible. I' believe that He has put His ■ goodness into the hearts of all men, giying,/love and wisdom freely to all who. desir,e, and love them ; and especially that He has,. -5 at many times in the history of the world, inspired with the spirit of His, Jove and wisdom the souls of divers of His servants . to proclaim truth, to disperse error, and to be examples of holy life ; and, above all, I -, believe that he, gave a glorious message, of «. truth and life to His Son Jesus, to be a ' Saviour, and Master, and Brother to >whpso- . ever will; .who,, with others, the, blessed • apostles and saints of God, sits , at His right ,, hand, and will come to judge the And they who have a desire to. fulfil God's , f will shall live in His presence for evermore, . and they -who dp not love His , will and. J worth shall be banished from .His presence.' , And I believe that His -Providence, guides „' and directs the world, so that the law of His „- , Godhead is impressed upon it, as a law of ,[ progress and life." , • , ; . ,; Candler's book is calculated to,, broaden ! our, religious views, to strengthen,pur.religious convictions, and to teach us clemency, charity, aud wisdom in our deportment towards our fellow brethren. The work is thoughtful, scholarly, interesting, and in- , structive. Atheism is essentially repulsive., Upon this supposition we are all most miserable creatures. We may say, with Pliny, that " man is full' of desires and wants that reach to infinity, and can never bc'satisfie'd. v His nature is a lie, uniting the greatest ' poverty with the greatest pride. " Among ' such great evils the greatest good (bestowed • on him) is the power of taking his own life. ' Suicide then, as now, is the only refuge from the miseries and woes of a Godless" world.' " Scientific" babblers babble about laws. 'But' ' surely to' the very meanest intellect "a' 'law implies a lawgiver, and the thing made' implies a maker." If there is no God and no future life, let us eat, drink, laugh', and be ■merry while we may, and afterwards, die; or, if we are irreparably miserable, let us' ' follow the stoical teaching and do away with, ourselves. Suicide is, on the assumption, of ' Atheism, a clear duty to the wretched. Man without religion is simply a degraded beast — yea, he is of all auimals the most miserable.