Heciew of HfPifiC". iOf',i>n,. 



Notable Books of the Month. 



42.5 



which is discussfd the bearing uf the prayers issued 

 for use in the time of war upon the question of 

 prayers for the dead. And that is all ! 



WHO IS TO BLAME? 

 This is ver_\ unsatisfactory. If on such grave 

 moral issues as those which testetl the humanitv and 

 the Christianity of the nation the I'rlmate was dumb, 

 what are we to think of his claim to be a statesman, 

 a leader of men, and a director of the conscience 

 of his jK-ople? If, on the other hand, he had con- 

 victions, and did his best to give effect to them, why 

 are we not told of it ? Either the Primate grievously 

 failed in the duties incumbent upi>n one who is the 

 chief represi-ntative of the .Anglican Church t)f 

 Christ, or the seven friends failed not less grievously 

 in leaving us completely in the dark on the subject. 

 They are mightily concerned abnut his views on 

 questions of ecclesiastical tithe of mint and anise 

 and cumin, but as to these weightier matters of the 

 law of righteousness, of peace, and of justic- the\ 

 say nothing. 



THE l'Kl.M VIE .\.N1) THE EIUIC.VI ION ACT. 

 There is one public question upon which the late 

 I'rimate spoke constantly. National Education was 

 a subject always dear to his heart, and a monograph 

 of his views on the question would have bet^n very 

 welcome just now. Hut, although there is a great 

 deal about educ.ition in these two \olumes, it is very 

 difficult to dis<.-nianglc his utterances so as to know 

 what he really wanted to be at. At one time he 

 seems to have inclined to secular education ; then he 

 was willing to accept Noncorifortuist teaching rather 

 than to submit to secularisation. Xo one spoke 

 more serious words of warning than he as to the 

 consequences of (ilaciiig Church schools on the rates, 

 but he afterwards forgot his own warnings and 

 snat<hed at rate aid. with results which are now only 

 beginning to dawn u[)on the perception of the 

 Church. The sixth friend, who describes the clos- 

 ing scene in the Primates life, innocently remarks : 

 •' The possibility was overlooked that there might be 

 Nonconformists who would rather have their goods 

 sold than pay an education rate," etc. Overlooked, 

 indeed ' Hut ■' the Archbishop, we are told, " made 

 no .secret of his desire that the cost of definite reli- 

 gious instruction should be paid by the religious 

 comnumitv whose definite views were taught in the 

 voluntary school." Neither he nor any of the 

 bishops knew anything of the provisions of the Edu- 

 cation Bill until the Bill itself was public property. 

 That is true as to the '■ precise form " of the Bill, but 

 only as to the precise form. I do not think so ill of 

 the ''ommon sense of the late Government as to 

 imagine the\ would bring in a Bill that drove the 

 Dissenters dancing-mad without at least ascertaining 

 beforehand whether its provisions would be accept- 

 able to the Church. That the Primate in his ex- 

 treme old age should have abandoned his objection 

 to rate aid for Church schools was verv unfortunate. 



As a statesman he ought to have stood firm. Had 

 he done so, the Church schools would have escaped 

 the destruction which is now imjjending over them — 

 a terrible doom to be exacted for three years' rate 

 aid. 



THE SEVEN PEIENDS AND THEIR DEPARTMENTS. 

 Having said so much in criticism of the Memoirs, 

 it is only fair to the reader, and to the authors, to 

 set forth a little more in detail how the book has 

 been made up. It is written, as I have stated, h\ 

 seven friends : — 



1. Oauon Wilson— Memoir ol Earlier Years, 1821-1848. 



2. H. J. Roby— Memoir of Education Period, 18181857 



3. F. E. Kitfliener— Memoir of Rugby Period. 1857-1869. 



A. Archdeacon Sandlord — Memoir of E.\e,er Period, 1869-138i. 



5. Arclideacon Bevan— Memoir of J/oiidon Period. 188s-18%. 



6. Arcbdeaeon Spooner — Memoir of Canterbury Period. 1896- 



19.2. 



7. Hisbop Browne — The Prjma<'.\ . 



To these seven Memoirs the editor, Archdeacon 

 Sandford. appends an Editor s Supplement, which is 

 the most iiitcresling section of the book. 



EREDEKKK TEMPLE AS A MAN. 



For i-rederick Temple as a 'human being the 

 reader must turn to the first section and the last. . 

 .All the middle-between papers deal with him as an 

 administrator — educational or episcopal. This was 

 the editor's aim. He tells us in the preface that the 

 aim of thes<; two sections was to supply to the public 

 a knowledge of the man — Frederick Temple : — 



The first memoir recalls tbe story of the home where the 

 foundation of the chara<ter was laid; and the section 

 added at tbe close of tbe book aims at binding tbe whole 

 life into a complete unity by tr.icing tli© training and self- 

 development which ran throughout the different stages. 



The general impression ieti upeMi the reader is that 

 of a man who from his boyhood was a tremendous 

 worktr, whose genius consisted in .111 infinite capacity 

 for takng pains — a man with a con.science like steel 

 and with the driving energy ol a dynamo. He 

 worked unceasingly until he dropped, literally in 

 harness, iit the age of eighty-one. He wore out his 

 eve.s and he wore out his body ; but nothing could 

 wear out his indomitable resolution. He believed 

 that he had his marching orders direct from Al- 

 niightv God, and he trusted the power that gave 

 him his task to su|)ply him with strength adequ.ite 

 thereto. What he said to his Rural Deans at the 

 l)eginning of his London episcojiat*' might have been 

 said about everything he did ; — 



In what I have done in this matt.ei- 1 believe I bare acted 

 according to the will of Him who sent me here. If I be- 

 . lieve anything to be His will I must obey it; no considera- 

 tion of anv kind must come in the way: nothing on earth 

 can prevent me. If I have offended you I am sorry. Him 

 I dare not offend. 



• THE GREAT OVERWORKED CLERK. ' 

 ■ Our Bishops," Liddon was used to remark, .ir- 

 I'reat overgrown clerks -they have no time to th'nk 

 of the Church, they are so busy with their appoint- 

 ments." Bishop Temple's appointments, which were 

 usually made six months ahead, numbered from six 

 to eight a day. He thought nothing of running 

 down to Bristol after a hard dav's work in London, 



