in a condition to dispense, if need be, with the historical proof. . . . just as in the case of the circulation of the blood [we are] in a position to dispense with the expedient of verifying the feeble indications of our own pulse by the help of somebody who has a strong one. * * * You say, How revealed-externally or internally? The latter way (that is, from a view of the world at large) would be external, the former (the interrogation of religious emotion) internal. If we cannot have both, it is better to have one than none. He saw for himself, and hoped to aid others to see, the compatibility of a fearless philosophy with genuine Christianity;" this is the sum of an "eager talk late into the night," held with an old and trusted friend, on what turned out to be their last meeting, at the little cottage at Hampstead, and it is the key to a great part of Dr. Appleton's life. "He had long planned a work which should reconcile the conflicting claims of religion and of science, from a philosophical point of view." He lamented the estrangement; he thought it was cruelly accentuated by heated champions on either side, and, with the characteristic generosity of his nature, he threw himself between the two armies, at the imminent risk of being struck by the missiles of both. And he had, no doubt, to a remarkable degree, the qualities which belong to a peacemaker.1 That truth must be sought by a fearless presentation of all sides of a problem, and that it is the work of philosophy to find the reconciliation of contradictory phenomena - this was no mere theory to him, but a ruling principle of thought and life. It might make him appear inconsistent to many, who, involved in the heat of party strife, find it 1 "I recognise in him an essentially reverent mind, which has grasped clearly and strongly the indissoluble connection which exists between faith in God and a living hold on moral truth; and he is strong enough in this vital conviction to be able to treat its opponents with a tenderness and generosity which may appear at times to exceed the demands of critical justice."-From a Letter from the Rev. H. P. Liddon, D.D., Canon of St. Paul's. difficult to appreciate this meeting of the old and the new, of faith and reason, of reverence and free handling of sacred things; and yet it is remarkable how little, on the whole, he was misunderstood. At the time of his lamented decease it was my great privilege to receive a very large number of sympathetic letters from persons of widely differing schools of thought: to some he was the fearless thinker, to others the devout Christian; but all bore a most affecting testimony to his purity of life, singleness of aim, and great fairness of mind; to all it was a career of rare promise cut short-one that seemed destined to bear rich fruit in harmonizing the discordant utterances of these anxious times. But, doubtless, unto (him) is given A life that bears immortal fruit In those great offices that suit for a And these remarks may serve to clear the way few final quotations, which, as relating to personal religion, I greatly shrink from publishing, and certainly should not introduce, did I not feel that, by affording a glimpse into an inner chamber of thought to which very few were admitted, they will serve to complete the picture which I am endeavouring to draw. I will only add that these devotional fragments are a few out of many, and belong, not to the period of declining health, but to that of Dr. Appleton's vigorous life at Oxford-a period, as we have seen, of fearless analysis and criticism, when destructive forces were in full play, and every truth was sternly challenged before it was admitted into the new edifice of independent and individual opinion. In spite of the perversion of the mind, in spite of the weakness and estrangement of our spiritual nature, the true home of our being is God. . . . . He is the One Reality to which the spirit can cling with complete satisfaction. As an object of desire God moves us in the world of our spirits, moves us to desire Him more abundautly, makes us fit to receive Him, moves us at last into that perfect unity of mind with Him whereby man stands, as it were, within the circle of the Divine Life, ... is transformed into the perfect image of Christ. Does not the soul of every one of us shrink up into itself with a sense of unprofitableness before the glory of the Redeemed? None more than my own. There is no Easter without Lent, no rising from the dead without entering through the grave of death; you will not find Christ unless you first humble yourself before Him. However unprofitable the way of life may seem to be, this very consciousness is a ray of light, and, in the things of God, to desire with all the heart is to have what we desire. The following words were written on the eve of a new year: Let us look upon the passing of the year, not as a mere lapse of time, but as the passing by of the Lord God Himself, -as once He swept by Elijah, so now sweeping by us, carrying us with Him into the boundless future, yet safe with Him, shielded, strengthened, cheered by Him. The next extract is a translation into devotional language of a leading thought in the first chapter of What is the Ego?" Our I cannot presume to speak of the nature of our Lord's temptation, because, like the death of Christ, it is one of those awful and inscrutable mysteries attendant on the manifestation of Deity to the world, which no words can clear up, no thought can grasp, and which, I always think, are best left, as the Bible leaves them, to be brought home to our souls by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. business is not to pry curiously into the details of what Christ endured for our sakes-putting our fingers into the print of the nails, and thrusting our unbelieving hand into His side as if HE were not sufficient for us, as if we could not trust Him to bring us to the Father without knowing, without having a theory about all He suffered for our Redemption. After speaking of the Blessed Humanity of Jesus Christ enthroned in Heaven, he adds, in words which seem almost prophetic of his own early death: Wondrous miracle of Divine Omnipotence, that this poor flesh and blood I bear about me, often pained, always decaying, too weak, it may be, to bear up against the winters of threescore years and ten, shall be so purified, strengthened, glorified, as never to decay. We shall be like Him, not in His own unspeakable glory, but still like Him. Is not an eternity of even the greatest happiness a fearful thought ? We can only lean upon the will of God, crying, with David, "My times are in Thy hand. . . Make Thy face to shine upon Thy servant, and save me, for Thy mercies' sake." 30, ST. MICHAEL'S PLACE, BRIGHTON, October, 1880. JOHN H. APPLETON. |