JOHN HENRY NEWMAN

New Zealand Tablet, 10 September 1914, Page 19

JOHN HENRY NEWMAN

A MASTER OF ENGLISH PROSE. Of the four great masters of modern English prose— Macaulay, Newman,. Carlyle, and Ruskin, —the greatest is John Henry Newman, He has the lucidity of Macaulay without the ostentatious glitter ;' the directness of Carlyle without the tedious rigidity; the persuasiveness of Ruskin without the conspicuous obtrusion of the author’s personality; in fact, while possessing the individual literary virtues of each, he lacks the defects. Stephen Gwynn says that Newman, in his writings, conceals his personality, a statement with which it is surely impossible to concur. Nowhere is it more evident than in Newman that ‘ Lo style e’est 1’ homme,’ a circumstance caused, doubtless, by the fact that Newman never wrote merely for writing’s sake. From Ruskin’s lips come the silver words of grace : from Newman’s heart pours forth the stream of truth. When reading Ruskin, it is impossible to forget the presence of the graceful lecturer who charms us with his utterances, fastidious, yet delightful it is easy to imagine his light, arrestive gestures; to watch the smile fade from the speaker’s face as his words become sweetly earnest ; it is impossible to mistake the identity of this man. lie is Ruskin, silver-voiced, persuasive, graceful, charming, pre-eminently unique. Imagine Newman preaching in St. Mary’s, or' seated' in his study at Edgbaston. If you have read him, it is no task. You already know him to be dignified yet humble: gentle though unflinching; courageous and sincere. Somehow, his presence makes you recall the words of Chaucer, ‘ He was a. verray parfit geiitil knight ’; a thought comes of Quixote; a recollection, of Wolsey, triumphant in defeat; a vision rtf Tennyson’s great--Arthur; you see the origin of Newman’s own portrait of a gentleman. Do you know hatword picture drawn by the scholarly hand? No? Then listen. ‘ It is almost a definition of a gentleman to say he is one who never inflicts pain. This description is both refined and, as far as it goes accurate. . . . The true gentleman carefully avoids whatever may cause a jolt or a jar in the minds of those among whom he is cast; all clashing of opinion, or collision of feeling, all restraint, or suspicion, or gloom, or resentment ; his great concern being to make everyone at their ease and at home. He has his eyes on all his- company; he is tender toward the bashful, gentle toward the distant, and merciful toward the absurd ; he can recollect to whom he is speaking ; he guards against unseasonable allusions, or topics which may irritate; he is seldom prominent in conversation, - and never wearisome. He makes light of favors while he does them, and seems to be receiving; when he is conferring. .: He never speaks .of-himself except when compelled, never defends himslf by a - mere retort, Tie has no ears for slander or gossip, is scrupulous in imputing .motives to those who interfere with him, and interprets everything for the best. He is never mean or. little in his disputes, he never takes unfair advantage, never mistakes personalities or sharp sayings for arguments, or insinuates evil which he dare not say out. Nowhere shall we find greater candour, consideration, indulgence : he throws himself into the minds of his opponents, he accounts for their mistakes.’ ( Idea of a University.') Nowhere is Newman’s great power of delineation better seen than in his description ■ of ; the lost soul before the judgment ,seat of- Christ. . ... " * Oh, what a moment, -when, breathless with the journey, and dizzy with the brightness, and overwhelmed ■ with the strangeness of what is happening

to him, and unable to realise, where, he is, the sinner hears the voice of the accusing spirit, bringing up all the sins of - the past life, which he 1 has forgotten, or which .he has explained ■ away, which he would v not allow to he sins, though he suspected they were . . And, oh ! still more terrible, still more distracting, when the Judge speaks, and consigns the soul to the jailors, till it shall pay the endless debt which lies against it! ‘.‘lmpossible; I, a lost soul! I, separated from- hope and from peace for ever I' It is not .I of whom the Judge so spake! There is a mistake somewhere : Christ, Saviour, hold Thy hand, —one minute to explain it! My name is Demas; I am but Demas, not Judas. What? Hopeless pain! For me! Impossible, it shall not be!” And the poor soul struggles and wrestles in the grasp of the mighty demon which has hold of it, and whose every touch is torment. “Oh, atrocious!” it shrieks in agony, and in anger too, as if the very keenness of the affliction were a proof of its injustice, “A second! and a third! 1 can hear no more! Stop, horrible fiend, give over: I am a man, and not such as thou ! lam not food for thee, or sport for thee! I never was in hell as thou I have not on me the smell of fire, nor the taint of the charnelhouse ! I know what human feelings are I have been taught religion ; I have had a conscience; I have a cultivated mind ; I am well versed in science and art; I have been refined by literature; I have had an eye for the beauties of nature ; 1 am a philosopher, or a poet, or a shrewd observer of men, or a hero, or a statesman, or an orator, or a man of wit and humor .” Alas ! poor soul ; and whilst it thus fights with that destiny, which it has brought upon itself, and with those companions whom it has chosen, the man’s name is perhaps solemnly chanted forth, and his memory decently cherished among his friends on earth. His readiness in speech, his fertility in thought,- his sagacity, or his. wisdom, are not forgotten." Men .talk of him from time to time; they appeal to his authority ; they quote his words : r perhaps they even raise a-monu-ment, to. his name, or write his history. ‘‘So comprehensive a’ minok! ' Such -a power of ,throwing, light on a perplexed subject, and bringing- conflicting ideas or facts into harmony!” “Such a speech it,.was he made on such and such an occasion; I. happened to be present, and never shall forget it!” - . Or, “It was the saying of a very sensible man” ; ■ or, “A great; personage Whom some of us knew”'; or, “ It was a rule with a very excellent and sensible friend of mine, now no more” ; or, “Never was his,equal in society, so just in-his remarks, so versatile, so unobtrusive”; or, “I was fortunate to see him once when I was a boy” ; or, “So great a benefactor to his country and his kind” ;' “His discoveries so. great” ; or, “His philosophy so profound.’ Oh, vanity! vanity of vanities, all is vanity! What profiteth it? What jirofitcth it? His soul is in hell. Oh, ye children of men, while' thus ye speak, his soul is in the beginning of those torments in which his body will soon have part, and which will never die. ‘' Devs misereatvr nostri, et hevediraf nobis.” God have, mercy on Vis, and bless us; and cause his face to shine upon us, and have mercy on us. God,.even our God, bless us; may God bless us; and may all the ends of the earth fear Him (Discourses fo Mired Congregai ions). What Newman says of Cicero," the only master of style whom he -acknowledges, we may apply to Newman himself: This is the great art of Cicero himself, who, whether he is engaged in statement, argument, i or raillery, never ceases till.he has exhausted the subject going found about it and placing it in every different light,' yet without repetition to offend or weary ’ the reader.’ As well as unfailing penetration, we may attribute-to him nobility of language, richness, beauty, vigor, spiritualness. Who can wonder that the whole world was enthralled by the charm of the incomparable Apologia, that exquisite literary mosaic, on whose page stand the words, Commit thy way to the -Lord, and trust in Him, and He will do it. And He will bring forth thy justice as the light, and thy judgment as the noonday’? Angela Hastings.