Victorian Literature: Sixty Years of Books and Bookmen

by Clement King Shorter

Darwin had pondered for many years over the theory which was to make him famous before he decided to bring his conclusions before the public. After considerable observation of every form of animal and vegetable life and experiments in selective breeding he concluded that the species of plants and animals now on the earth were not created in their present form, but had been evolved by unbroken descent with modification of structure from cruder forms, the remains of many of which are constantly discovered in the older rocks. He discovered in 1858 that Alfred Russel Wallace1822- had independently arrived at the same conclusions, and so it was agreed that their views should be jointly laid before the Linnæan Society. In 1859 the "Origin of Species" was published, and it was followed by a number of works bearing upon the same subject, the most notable of all being the "Descent of Man." Darwin's work on "Earth Worms," perhaps the most purely literary of all his writings, appeared the year before his death. It is not the province of a sketch of Victorian literature to discuss the many important bearings of the Darwinian hypothesis. Received with unbounded contempt by literary men so eminent as Carlyle and Ruskin, it was accepted only with qualification by men of science like Agassiz, Carpenter, and Owen; but an overwhelming majority of scientific men in England, America, and above all in Continental countries, have declared in its favour. The theory has received popular interpretation in Germany from Haeckel, and in England from Huxley, although in this connection we must not forget George John Romanes1848-1894, the author of "Animal Intelligence" and "Mental Evolution in Animals," Grant Allen, and Edward Clodd.

Thomas Henry Huxley (1825-1895), one of the greatest of our men of science, was of interest not only on account of his vast scientific attainments, but for his profound acquaintance with metaphysics, as illustrated in his "Life of Hume," his wide culture, and his exquisite literary style. He was born and educated at Ealing, in Middlesex, where his father was a schoolmaster. He studied medicine at the Charing Cross Hospital, then entered the Royal Navy as an assistant surgeon, and went in the Rattlesnake to survey the Barrier Reef of Australia. The papers which he sent to the Royal and Linnæan Societies gave him fame. After his return he devoted himself to original research; but work of that sort brings no recompense in money, and Huxley's means were narrow. In 1854, however, he obtained the chairs of Natural History and Palæontology at the School of Mines, and to this he afterwards added the appointment of Inspector of Fisheries. The "blue ribbon" of science, the Presidency of the Royal Society, was conferred on him in 1883. Huxley wrote much on biological problems, and by the publication of his "Physiography" gave a new name to the science which has extended the scope of the old Physical Geography: but his chief interest for us here is in his "Lay Sermons," "Addresses and Reviews," his "Critiques and Addresses," and his "American Addresses," all of which may take rank among the finest prose of our age.

As an interesting contrast to the work of Darwin and Huxley, and all that it has implied to modern literature, one may refer once again to the movement inspired by Cardinal Newman. His most prominent associates for many years, neither of whom, however, left the Church of England for the Church of Rome, were Pusey and Keble.

Edward Bouverie Pusey1800-1882 was practically the founder of the modern High Church movement in the Anglican community. A writer of "Tracts for the Times," he was, after Newman had "gone over to Rome," the recognized head of the movement, and his followers were frequently called "Puseyites." A demoralization of the party seemed inevitable on Newman's secession, but the publication of Dr Pusey's "Letter to Keble" gave it fresh life. In 1866 his "Eirenicon," a proposal for the reunion of Christendom, drew a reply from Cardinal Newman, with whom, however, he maintained the profoundest friendship to the end. John Keble1792-1866, who was born at Fairford, in Gloucestershire, was a man of far higher gifts. Educated at Corpus Christi College, Oxford, he obtained a fellowship at Oriel. For some years he was Professor of Poetry at Oxford, a position for which he had qualified himself by the publication of the "Christian Year," a volume of religious poems for every Sunday and church festival, many of which have been admitted into the hymnology of all the Christian sects. Perhaps truer poetry is to be found in his "Lyra Innocentium," a series of poems on children, for there the human element is more marked. Keble also wrote a "Life of Bishop Wilson," and published several volumes of sermons.

The movement of Liberal theology, to which men like Keble gave the name of "national apostasy," was headed in its earlier developments by Archbishop Whately and Dr Arnold of Rugby, and more recently by the Rev. Frederick Denison Maurice and Dean Stanley. Richard Whately1787-1863, who was at Oriel with Keble, had published his once popular "Logic" and "Rhetoric" before the commencement of the reign of Victoria, and in 1831 had been made Archbishop of Dublin, a position which he held till his death, in 1863, winning all hearts by his kindness and liberality, by his generous tolerance and zeal for progress. His "Logic" is chiefly of importance for the impetus it gave to the study of that science. His "Christian Evidences" gained in its day a wider audience. Thomas Arnold1795-1842 was born at East Cowes, in the Isle of Wight, and was educated at Winchester, and with Keble at Corpus Christi College, Oxford. After ordination he removed to Laleham-on-Thames, where he prepared young men for the universities. When, in 1827, the head-mastership of Rugby became vacant, Arnold was elected on the strength of a recommendation by Dr Hawkins, to the effect that he "would change the face of education all through the public schools of England." The prophecy was fulfilled. He was the first to introduce modern languages and modern history and mathematics into the regular school course. At the same time he always insisted on the value of the classics as a basis of education, and himself prepared an edition of "Thucydides," and wrote a "History of Rome" in its earlier periods, which is at least eminently interesting. His services to his country as an educational reformer were even greater on the moral side. Dr Arnold was a purifying influence to men of the higher classes, to a degree which is inexplicable to the present generation. For a time he was unpopular, and his school suffered, through his advocacy of church reform and his association with political Liberalism; but the success of his pupils at the universities had caused a reaction in his favour at the time of his death, which occurred all too early, for he was only forty-seven. Of his many distinguished pupils, perhaps the best known are Tom Hughes and Dean Stanley. Thomas Hughes1823-1896, who in 1882 was made a county-court judge, wrote many books, but only one of them entitles him to be remembered to-day. In a moment of happy inspiration, he wrote the finest boy's book in the language. "Tom Brown's School Days" was published in 1857. It is a picture of life at Rugby, under Dr Arnold's healthy, manly guidance.

Arthur Penrhyn Stanley1815-1881 wrote his "Life of Dr Arnold" in 1844. A son of Edward Stanley, Bishop of Norwich, he was born at Alderley, in Cheshire. From Rugby he went to Balliol College, Oxford, where he had an exceptionally distinguished career. In 1851 he became a canon of Canterbury, and his picturesque "Memorials of Canterbury" were the outcome of residence in that city. In 1863 he was made Dean of Westminster, notwithstanding the opposition of the High Church party, to whom the theological views expressed in his numerous works were distasteful. Of these writings, "Sinai and Palestine," "Lectures on the Eastern Church," and "Lectures on the Jewish Church," are the best known. As Dean of Westminster Dr Stanley became an active leader of the Broad Church movement. Although not a contributor to "Essays and Reviews" his services to the movement were incalculable. He invited Max Müller to lecture in the Abbey, befriended Père Hyacinthe, and gave sympathy to Bishop Colenso. His speeches in the Lower House of Convocation, particularly one in which he proposed the suppression of the Athanasian Creed in the services of the Church, made him many enemies; but few ecclesiastics have been so beloved by both sovereign and people. One recalls the pleasant, active little man, so proud of his Abbey Church, with a deep sigh that he should be no more. His life was written by his successor, Dean Bradley.

Of the contributors to "Essays and Reviews," the manifesto of the Broad Church party, which appeared in 1860, Frederick Temple must be mentioned, because his contribution, "The Education of the World," led to a frantic effort to prevent his receiving the bishopric of Exeter, an effort which was unsuccessful. In 1885 Dr Temple was made Bishop of London, and in 1896 Archbishop of Canterbury. Other distinguished writers in "Essays and Reviews" were Dr Jowett and Mr Mark Pattison. Benjamin Jowett1817-1893, master of Balliol, who wrote the essay on "The Interpretation of Scripture," achieved his greatest successes by his brilliant translations of Plato, Thucydides, and "The Politics" of Aristotle. His Plato drew from John Bright, who was little inclined to appreciate the great thoughts of the Athenian philosopher, an expression of admiration for the classic English of the Oxford professor. Jowett's life was written by Evelyn Abbott and Lewis Campbell. Mark Pattison1813-1884, whose contribution to "Essays and Reviews" was on "The Tendencies of Religious Thought in England," assisted Newman and Pusey in the early days of the Tractarian movement, but finally went over to the Liberalism which they so much dreaded. In 1861 he was elected Rector of Lincoln College, Oxford. Pattison was a profound scholar. Few men have led lives so absorbed in books. The results of his learning are apparent in his interesting "Life of Isaac Casaubon," which he had hoped to follow by a life of Scaliger.

But men like Jowett and Pattison have been the arm-chair representatives of a movement which found one of its most active supporters in John Frederick Denison Maurice1805-1872. Maurice was the son of a Unitarian minister, and was born at Normanstone, near Lowestoft. For a time he was editor of the Athenæum, but joined the Anglican Church in 1831, and accepted a curacy near Leamington. A treatise entitled "Subscription no Bondage," which defined his position in the Church, excited much attention, as did also his tracts on the "Kingdom of Christ." In conjunction with Kingsley and Hughes he published pamphlets called "Politics for the People," and organised the Christian socialist and co-operative movement of 1850. Like Kingsley, Maurice may be labelled a Broad Churchman, not so much on doctrinal grounds as for the breadth of his sympathies. It was social rather than theological problems to which he attached importance. Kingsley, indeed, described himself to correspondents as a Broad Churchman, a High Churchman, and an Evangelical, as the mood seemed to take him. Bishop Colenso is a good type of the more militant theologians. John William Colenso1814-1883 first came before the public as the author of mathematical text-books. At this time he was vicar of Forncett St Mary, in Norfolk, but in 1853 he was made Bishop of Natal. In South Africa he was a zealous advocate of the rights of the natives against the oppression of the Boers and Cape Town officials; but in a measure his influence was weakened by the publication of his work on Biblical criticism, "The Pentateuch and Book of Joshua Critically Examined," which was condemned by both Houses of Convocation as heretical. When Colenso came to England in 1874 he was inhibited from preaching in the dioceses of London, Lincoln, and Oxford. At Oxford, however, his sermon was read from the pulpit of Balliol while the Bishop sat below, and the same device was pursued at Mr Stopford Brooke's Church in London. Dean Stanley invited him to the Abbey pulpit, claiming freedom from the jurisdiction of Dr Jackson, the then Bishop of London; but Colenso declined to increase the ill-feeling which had been excited.

Another distinguished member of the Broad Church party, Edwin Abbott1838-, was head-master of the City of London School from 1865 to 1889. He has published several educational works. His religious influence has developed itself through "Philochristus; Memoirs of a Disciple of our Lord," and "Onesimus; Memoirs of a Disciple of St Paul," also by a volume of sermons, "Through Nature to Christ," which is perhaps the best evidence of the development of the Broad Church movement. Dr Whately, one of its founders, argued for the miracles as indicative of the Divine origin of Christianity; Dr Abbott esteems the insistence on miracles as a bar to belief. Perhaps the purest and most inspiring of all the eloquent teachers belonging to this party was Frederick William Robertson1816-1853 of Brighton, whose sermons have been widely read, especially in America, and whose lectures are as helpful and bracing as any written in our time. Robertson's remarkable career of only thirty-seven years has been made known to us by the beautiful life which was written by Mr Stopford Brooke. Stopford Augustus Brooke (1832- ) was born in Dublin and educated at Trinity College. At first he was a Church of England clergyman and a Queen's Chaplain, but seceded in 1880 on account of his inability to believe in many supernatural phases of Christian teaching. His "Primer of English Literature," "History of Early English Poetry," "Theology in the English Poets," and "Life of Milton" have the ring of the genuine, and, indeed, of the great, critic.

Outside the pale of the Anglican community, but powerful factors in that same Broad Church movement which has been charged with "stretching the old formula to meet the new facts," one recalls the names of Lynch and Martineau. Thomas Toke Lynch1818-1871 was born at Dunmow, in Essex, and held for many years the ministry of a small Congregational Church, first in Grafton Street and afterwards in the Hampstead Road, London. He died in comparative obscurity; but the poems in his "Rivulet," once condemned as heretical, have found their way into most hymnologies.