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" GUESSES AT THE RIDDLE OF EXISTENOE." A LECTURE ON DR. GOLD WIN SMITH'S RECENT WORK. SUPPLEMENT TO "THE LITERARY GUIDE," ./ULY, I897. IN the ancient hi story of th e Jews it is told how disast e r fell upon the land of Israel! and how the P~ilistines had carried away that precious glid ed chest wherelll lay th e two tablets of stone which had been pl aced there by th e very hands of Moses. The old priest ~amuel die~ when. h e heard the story of the calamity. HIs daughter-ll1·law, III a spasm of grief, sank in th e throes of labour. When th e women about her said, "Fear nokt, for thou h h~s t . bornSeha Oil " she gave no answer that spa 'e a mot er s JOY. e ~ho~ght only of the lost ark, ~f her d ead fathe r, o f her slai.n h sband. And, with her dylllg breath, she gave a trag ic ume to her babe, I chabod-i. e. , "Departed Glory." The n~ory was departed from Israe l. This little Ichabod, weeping tesid e a dead moth e r, is a type of THE SOUL o~' EUROP E TO'DAY, bereft of its faith in B ibl e, Immortality, a.nd God; bereft f th ark of faith ' be re ft of th e old sa nctIOn s and th e old ~ons~lations. Ac;oss the cover of this book of Professor G Id 'n Smith's* should be stamped the word Ic!zabod. It is \~ wail for departed glory. The a~~Gof Christia faith has gone, and le ft us t? moan out. our uesses at t l e Riddle of Existence." EXistence-Riddle-Guesses: one l n . Its well fac e death as such a tnplet of words! Yet mhl g I .a a redeemi ng feature in the sad ness of this book. It t ere IS . d d' I d I tells the truth ; truth that pnnces an car llla s ~n c e r~y and all the educated world know, yet truth ~vhlch .parll.a- ments an d ne wspapers fea r to utt e r. Dr. Snllth writes 111 . I" . t: . " There is no longer any use In c lllglllg to t e hiS pre ~~e ~r in shutting our eyes to th a t which cannot be untena h l 'd 'ed The edu ca ted 1V0rld, and to a g reat honest Yth eunnl ed'ucated also, has got beyond th e point at extent e . d" I d b which frank dealing With b a tr a r~~n~ ~r~ 1 can e regarded as a wanton distur ~ncedo halt b r ·~ .e ra ~h e~ l o gians have at least half reslgne t de e. I ~ ~n. mlrac h es, . l' 'In g wherever they can, an mll11mlzlllg w ere ratlOna IZ hI ' d hi ' that proceSS fail s. Liberal tl . beo 0Ig I~ps'han even b no means ranked as I era, I t e~ .a re earne a~ l t eo do gIands y 'nded have g ive n up the authentiCity and authOrIty open-ml , I . of Genesis. With these they must appar.e nt y give up t~ e Fall the Redemption, an? t~e IncarnatIOn . A~t~r thi S, littl~ is left of th e eccleSIastical creeds for CrIticism to destroy." "" o the second paae of the Guesses he states that I n tall tl1e Churches are troubled with he terodo xy, and "a 010S . ., fi art: trying clergymen for heresy .. QUite as Slg~1 clafnlt see~hs h I'na t ende ncy of the pulpit to concern Its e ess Wit t e grow 0 . h f . . . I·' s dogma and more With t estate 0 man m hiS re IglOU, I . f b I' f resent world. It is needless to say W 1at vOice? 0 un e le P 'd the Churches are heard, and how high are th e outSI e Ch " h' intellectual quarte~s fro~ which thse y cdom e . h Crlsh·tlanhet ICS that are still more di sturbing. Small as thi s earth is, it is darkly stained with blood. This nin eteenth ct:llt ury, out of which we sha ll soon march, is proud o f its di scove ry of th e doctrine of evolution, THE UPWARD CLl~1B OF ~{AN from th e brutishness of hi s ances try to politics, a rt, sc ie nce, poetry. But how has h e go t so far? By pa ss in g alon g a road str ewn with victim s. In the making of c ivili za ti o n, in th e shapin g of nationaliti es , in th e progress o f th ought, how many men have had to die because th ey stood in th e way, o r fail ed to solve diffi culties, or to g rasp a ne lV id ea! We have evolved through th e defeat of milli o ns o f men and women. They went under that we might ris e. Th e history of man is the hi story of one long purgatory, o ne vast discipline, a putting to painful proof that lasts for age s. Not only men mu st go under. Institutions have to di e. There is a great in stitution dyin g now, thou gh Mr. Balfour, in hi s FOlt1ldatio1ts (If B elief, has tried to give it fr es h vitality. It is called Authority. And what is this Authority? It is th e thought of th e past se t on thrones. A prophet has said a thin g, or a philosopher, or a theOlogian , or a Church-and we are to order our lives by that, and our speech, and our custo ms. The ve ry poor a re to be poor because Auth ority has foret old that th e poor we have always with us! But men are beginning to search into th e na ture of this Authority. They are going down int o th e damp cellars and dusty crypts under th e Church, seeking for charters and justifications. And what d ead men's bones they are dragg in g into li ght! They a re asking: "What a re thes e mi racles whi ch th e Church r es t s its Authority upon? Who reported th em? Who examined them ? Who guaran tee d th em? Where are th e proofs ?" There are no proofs. There is no miraculous revela ti on from God. We have got to begin life on a new bas is. Copernicus taught us th e earth revolved round th e sun ; modern sci ence teaches us that nature proceeds without miracles . . And we are left looking at the world as if we were childre n only just com e into it, with everything to learn . Goldwin Smith says we may now study th e universe and humanity as "manifestations of th e Supreme Power, " and "if revelation is lost, manifestation remains; and great manifestations appear to be opening on our view. " Manifestations! It is a word that may be big with hope. Whether it has any message for us we may presently see. Such are the chief points in Dr. Smith's first essay. The rest of the book takes up the questions of the Bihle, the Future Life, God, and Morality. '11 'n part retam their hold. 0 ot:s t e urc as a stJ , I'd f . I d B social centre and a reputed safegudar h O h~oc:a or er. . ut f . h 'n the dogmatic creed an t e Istory are waxmg ..a~t t,,1 Waxina fai~t! The glory has departed! .aln . 0 b' h C . Goldwin Smith says the trouble egan Wit opermc~s, the humble Prussian priest, who, three and a half centunes looked out at the stars and wrot e a littl e book, and 10 ! a~o'human attitud e towards the uni\'erse was thenceforward ~o \e changed. In stead of man believing he ~vas lord o~ a orId that was the greatest globe in creatiOn, standmg fast with a glittering curtain of sky all round, he m.ust n,ow think of the universe as an endless realm of space, III which ten thousand times ten thousand systems of suns and What shall we say of the Bible? I do not wonder that Socialists and other reformers cry out that it is a waste of time to attack the popular belief in the sacredness of the Bible. It see ms to them a wicked irony that, whil e children hunger for bread, any of us sh ould spend precious moments in arguing with th e doctors in the T emple as to the ori g in and value of th e Bible. "Le t the Bible be," th ey say ; "go and fac e th e problem of th e unemployed." But what are th e facts before us? All over the Western world th ere rise the countless spires of churches built on the assumption that the Bible is th e world's Authority on all moral and soc ial question s. An army uf Christian cl ergy-perhaps the best organized army in the world-support this idea by ceaseless preaching and by glittering ceremonial. Week in, week out, little children, millions of littl e children, aristocrats and prol etariat, have their brains subtly shaped by th e hands of the theologian. Even your democratic Board school teacher is but a tool in the hands of th e theologian. And what is the lan ets are ever rolling; and on one ob?cure plan.et, one Poor grain of th e cosmos, we live ~nd die-we, ~vlth our ~yramids and railways, and our empires, and our literature, and our petty revolutions, and our little" movements," .and our tiny graves. Then Goldwin Smith goes on to re flectIOns - ' . . .' h DeL That men ,,,ere created pure, and fell into evil courses; HISTORICAL THEORY OF THE BIBLE? * Guesses a! Ih e> R iddle of 4x~sfmce. By Goldwm Sml~, ., " 1 and God punished them, and almost swept them out of formerly Reglll s I rofesso r of History at Oxford. (Macmlllan.) 244 . t b fl d d h Id I fi d I't I 'b . 6 t eXIs ence y a 00 ; an e cou on}' n one I t e tn e pp., s.

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" GUESSES AT THE RIDDLE OF EXISTENOE."

A LECTURE ON DR. GOLD WIN SMITH'S RECENT WORK.

SUPPLEMENT TO "THE LITERARY GUIDE," ./ULY, I897.

IN the ancient hi story of th e Jews it is told how disast e r fell upon the land of Israel! and how the P~ilistines had carried away that precious glid ed chest wherelll lay th e two tablets of stone which had been pl aced there by th e very hands of Moses. The old priest ~amuel die~ when. h e heard the story of the calamity. HIs daughter-ll1·law, III a spasm of grief, sank in th e throes of labour. When th e women about her said, "Fear nokt, for thou h h~s t . bornSeha

Oil " she gave no answer that spa 'e a mot er s JOY. e ~ho~ght only of the lost ark, ~f her d ead fathe r, o f her slai.n h sband. And, with her dylllg breath, she gave a trag ic ume to her babe, I chabod-i. e. , "Departed Glory." The n~ory was departed from Israe l. This little Ichabod, weeping tesid e a dead moth e r, is a type of

THE SOUL o~' EUROP E TO'DAY,

bereft of its faith in B ibl e, Immortality, a.nd God; bereft f th ark of faith ' be re ft of th e old sa nctIOn s and th e old ~ons~lations. Ac;oss the cover of this book of Professor G Id 'n Smith's* should be stamped the word Ic!zabod. It is \~ wail for departed glory. The a~~Gof Christia faith has gone, and le ft us t? moan out. our uesses at t l e Riddle of Existence." EXistence-Riddle-Guesses: one l n

. Its well fac e death as such a tnplet of words! Yet mhl g I .a a redeemi ng feature in the sad ness of this book. It t ere IS . d d' I d I tells the truth ; truth that pnnces an car llla s ~n c e r~y and all the educated world know, yet truth ~vhlch .parll.a-

ments an d ne wspapers fea r to utt e r. Dr. Snllth writes 111

. I"

. t: . " There is no longer any use In c lllglllg to t e hiS pre ~~e ~r in shutting our eyes to th a t which cannot be untena h l 'd 'ed The edu ca ted 1V0rld, and to a g reat honest Yth eunnl ed'ucated also, has got beyond th e point at extent e . d" I d b which frank dealing With b a tr a r~~n~ ~r~ 1 can e regarded as a wanton distur ~ncedo halt b r ·~ .e ra ~h e~ l o gians have at least half reslgne t de e. I ~ ~n. mlrac h es, . l' 'In g wherever they can, an mll11mlzlllg w ere ratlOna IZ hI ' d hi ' that proceSS fail s. Liberal tl . beo 0Ig I~ps'han even b no means ranked as I era, I t e~ .a re earne a~

l t eo do gIands y 'nded have g ive n up the authentiCity and authOrIty open-ml , I . of Genesis. With these they must appar.e nt y give up t~ e Fall the Redemption, an? t~e IncarnatIOn . A~t~r thi S, littl~ is left of th e eccleSIastical creeds for CrIticism to destroy." "" o the second paae of the Guesses he states that

I n tall tl1e Churches are troubled with he terodo xy, and "a 010S . ., fi art: trying clergymen for heresy .. QUite as Slg~1 clafnlt see~hs h I'na t ende ncy of the pulpit to concern Its e ess Wit t e grow 0 . h f . . .

I·' s dogma and more With t estate 0 man m hiS re IglOU, I . f b I' f resent world. It is needless to say W 1at vOice? 0 un e le P 'd the Churches are heard, and how high are th e outSI e Ch " h' intellectual quarte~s fro~ which thse y cdom e . h Crlsh·tlanhet ICS

that are still more di sturbing. Small as thi s earth is, it is darkly stained with blood. This nin eteenth ct:llt ury, out of which we sha ll soon march, is proud o f its di scove ry of th e doctrine of evolution,

THE UPWARD CLl~1B OF ~{AN

from th e brutishness of hi s ances try to politics, a rt, sc ie nce, poetry. But how has h e go t so far? By pa ss in g alon g a road str ewn with victim s. In the making of c ivili za ti o n, in th e shapin g of nationaliti es , in th e progress o f th ought, how many men have had to die because th ey stood in th e way, o r fail ed to solve diffi culties, or to g rasp a ne lV id ea! We have evolved through th e defeat of milli o ns o f men and women. They went under that we might ris e. Th e history of man is the hi story of one long purgatory, o ne vast discipline, a putting to painful proof that lasts for age s. Not only men mu st go under. Institutions have to di e. There is a great in stitution dyin g now, thou gh Mr. Balfour, in hi s FOlt1ldatio1ts (If B elief, has tried to give it fr es h vitality. It is called Authority. And what is this Authority? It is th e thought of th e past se t on thrones. A prophet has said a thin g, or a philosopher, or a theOlogian , or a Church-and we are to order our lives by that, and our speech, and our custo ms. The ve ry poor a re to be poor because Auth ority has foret old that th e poor we have always with us! But men are beginning to search into th e na ture of this Authority. They are going down int o th e damp cellars and dusty crypts under th e Church, seeking for charters and justifications. And what d ead men's bones they are dragg in g into li ght! They a re asking: "What a re thes e mi racles whi ch th e Church r es t s its Authority upon? Who reported th em? Who examined them ? Who guaran tee d th em? Where are th e proofs ?"

There are no proofs. There is no miraculous revela ti on from God. We have got to begin life on a new bas is. Copernicus taught us th e earth revolved round th e sun ; modern sci ence teaches us that nature proceeds without miracles . . And we are left looking at the world as if we were childre n only just com e into it, with everything to learn . Goldwin Smith says we may now study th e universe and humanity as "manifestations of th e Supreme Power, " and "if revelation is lost, manifestation remains; and great manifestations appear to be opening on our view. " Manifestations! It is a word that may be big with hope. Whether it has any message for us we may presently see.

Such are the chief points in Dr. Smith's first essay. The rest of the book takes up the questions of the Bihle, the Future Life, God, and Morality.

'11 'n part retam their hold. 0 ot:s t e urc as a stJ , I'd f . I d B social centre and a reputed safegudar h O h~oc:a or er. . ut f . h 'n the dogmatic creed an t e Istory are waxmg ..a~t t,,1 Waxina fai~t! The glory has departed! .aln . 0 b' h C . Goldwin Smith says the trouble egan Wit opermc~s, the humble Prussian priest, who, three and a half centunes looked out at the stars and wrot e a littl e book, and 10 ! a~o'human attitud e towards the uni\'erse was thenceforward ~o \e changed. In stead of man believing he ~vas lord o~ a orId that was the greatest globe in creatiOn, standmg fast with a glittering curtain of sky all round, he m.ust n,ow think of the universe as an endless realm of space, III which ten thousand times ten thousand systems of suns and

What shall we say of the Bible? I do not wonder that Socialists and other reformers cry out that it is a waste of time to attack the popular belief in the sacredness of the Bible. It see ms to them a wicked irony that, whil e children hunger for bread, any of us sh ould spend precious moments in arguing with th e doctors in the T emple as to the ori g in and value of th e Bible. "Le t the Bible be," th ey say ; "go and fac e th e problem of th e unemployed." But what are th e facts before us? All over the Western world th ere rise the countless spires of churches built on the assumption that the Bible is th e world's Authority on all moral and soc ial question s. An army uf Christian cl ergy-perhaps the best organized army in the world-support this idea by ceaseless preaching and by glittering ceremonial. Week in, week out, little children, millions of littl e children, aristocrats and prol etariat, have their brains subtly shaped by th e hands of the theologian. Even your democratic Board school teacher is but a tool in the hands of th e theologian. And what is the lan ets are ever rolling; and on one ob?cure plan.et, one Poor grain of th e cosmos, we live ~nd die-we, ~vlth our ~yramids and railways, and our empires, and our literature, and our petty revolutions, and our little" movements," .and our tiny graves. Then Goldwin Smith goes on to re flectIOns - ' . . .' h DeL That men ,,,ere created pure, and fell into evil courses;

HISTORICAL THEORY OF THE BIBLE?

* Guesses a! Ih e> R iddle of 4x~sfmce. By Goldwm Sml~, ., " 1 and God punished them, and almost swept them out of formerly Reglll s I rofesso r of History at Oxford. (Macmlllan.) 244 . t b fl d d h Id I fi d I't I 'b . 6 t eXIs ence y a 00 ; an e cou on}' n one I t e tn e pp., s.

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