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A RATIONALIST REVIEW.
[ESTABLISHED 1885.]
No. i i . ( N ew S e r i e s .)
MAY i, 18 9 7 .
M o n t h l y ; T w o p e n c e .
mew publications.
M e s s r s . W. B l a c kw o o d & S o n s have issued a useful work on The E th ic s o f Jo h n S tuart M il! , edited, with introductory essays, by Charles Douglas, M.A., D.Sc. This edition of Mill’s chief ethical writings is designed for the use of those who are beginning the study of moral science, and has been prepared in the belief that there is no better introduction to this subject than an accurate knowledge of Mill’s ethical theory. The introductory essays, on Mill’s theory of method are intended to guide the student in his interpretation and criticism of the ethical writings, and to connect these writings with Mill’s philosophy as a whole, and with his place in the development of speculation.
T he Dean of Canterbury has just published, through Messrs. Longman, a volume which he has long had to preparation, on The B ih le : It s Meaning and Supremacy. He discards the theory of verbal inspiration, and points out that the Bible is not a homogeneous book, but a canon gradually formed.
M r . L. C r a n m e r -B y n g (Paganus), whose Daises o f the D awn was recently favourably reviewed in these columns, is preparing for press a further volume of verse, which will be issued shortly by Messrs. Watts & Co.
M e s s r s . W i l l ia m s & N o r g a t e will issue immediately the third volume of Dr. Harnack’s monumental work, The H istory o f Dogma. The first and second volumes were noticed at length in these columns.
M r . J o seph M c C a l l , the author of From Rome to Rationalism , is writing a heterodox novel, dealing with monastic life. It promises to be a noteworthy contribution to Rationalist literature.
P r o f e s so r K a r l P e a r so n ’s new volume, The Chances o f Death, which is nearly ready for publication, will contain several essays of special interest to Rationalists.
M r . F . P. B adham has recently completed an interesting contribution to theological controversy, which Mr. T. Fisher Unwin will publish shortly, under the title of St. M ark's Indebtedness to S t. Matthew.
Mr. A n d r e w L a n g purposes replying to the Right Hon. F. Max Muller’s recent Contributions to the Science o f Mythology, in a volume which is to be called Modern Mythology, and to be brought out by Messrs. Longman This is the first time two former Gifford lecturers have come into open collision.
T h e Clarendon Press has published an expensive work in two volumes, on B r it is h Moralists, consisting of selections from writers principally of the eighteenth century The editor is L. A. Selby-Bigge, M.A.
M r s . M a r g a r e t D e l a n d , the author of the Rationalist novel, Jo h n Ward, Preacher, has completed another work. It will be entitled The Wisdom o f Fools, and will consist of five stories.
Honosticism in tbe Bvoafc Cburcb.
Christian Instincts am i Modern Doubt, liy the Rev. ALEXANDER
H. C raukurd, M .A . (James Clarke & Co.) 356 pp.; 6s. We confess that the volume before us has aroused considerable personal interest in the author, a lively sympathetic interest in his message, and a keen literary appreciation of his appeal. We discover through its pages the soul of a rare companion for all who think and aspire, and who approach with reverence the problems of destiny. Mr. Craufurd has a distinctly spiritual—which may be defined as poetic—message. Sectarian mission he has none. Hear his earnest and wistful introspection in the middle of his book :—
U n d e r the title of The G reat Mysteries o f the World Mr William Andrews has edited for publication by his own'firm a volume dealing with the strange fables, legends, superstitions, and unsolved secrets of bygone times. “ The Wandering Jew,” “ Dr. Faust,” “ Flying Dutchman ” “ Familiar Spirits,” and “ The Anti-Christ ” will be among the subjects handled. °
M e s s r s . W a t t s & Co. are about to publish a pamphlet written by Professor Francis William Newman—probably the last the venerable author will see through the press/ It will be entitled H is Nature Thoughts.
T he forthcoming Romance o f Isabel, Lady Burton .- The S to ry o f H e r L ife , told in part by herself and in part by Mr Wilkins, will contain a defence of Lady Burton’s action in the matters of her husband’s recall from Damascus his alleged conversion to Rome, and the burning of ’ the SCZ ‘8 t G, 7den' suPPorted by documentary evidence now published for the first time.
U n d e r the title of The Harsa-Carita, or H istory o f K in g Harsa, an interesting historical romance of the early part of the seventh century has been published by the Royal Asiatic Society. The translation from the Sanscrit has been made by Professor C. B. Cowell, M.A.
And perhaps the fact that I have personally suffered much from the most harassing and persistent doubts and misgivings may help to make me more sympathetic and useful as a minister to minds diseased and tormented by the agonies of spiritual unrest, perplexity, and sorrow. Even now, after long years of battling with my difficulties, I still seem to some, including so great a judge as Dr. Martineau, as one whose intellect raises far more urgent questions than it ever answers.......A long sojourn in purgatory, or even in hell, is frequently a valuable education.......Probably the most effective doctores dubitantium are often those who are perfectly conscious that they themselves are “ scarcely saved.” To describe this passage as merely frank would be as commonplace and inappropriate as to describe lofty art as commendable, or agony as indisposition. There is all the pathos of mental struggle in what we have quoted. The undisguised consciousness of doubt which descends to intellectual hell; the singular wistfulness of hope to help ; the sigh at being “ scarcely saved ”—does not all this convince us that we have another of the noble yet selftormented spirits who dwell within the walls of the Church of England, not for material welfare, but as a refuge for their own souls and for the sake of those, more belated, who wander in the mazes of orthodoxy, with its chemical and chimerical hells?
Mr. Craufurd is inspired by Dr. Martineau, saturated with Browning, and swayed by Emerson. Three names, and each eloquent in meaning. Perhaps, therefore, if we faintly smile—not in derision, but in understanding—we may be forgiven, when we read that “ a wise and devout
