Leading Articles in the Reviews. 



173 



HOW TO FIND SPIRITUAL PEACE. 



By John Masefield. 



Mr. Masefiki.h, whose portrait appeared in our 

 last number, publishes in the quarterly Quest a very 

 interesting and thoughtful article concerning contem- 

 plaiives It is a thoughtlul survey of the various 

 methods by which men I. ve sought to find spiritual 

 peace. He begins by describing the monastic system, 

 of which he speaks with great appreciation. The 

 earlier religious orders, he says, provided man with a 

 way of escape from the world, the later ones fitted 

 him with a means for conflict with it. The great 

 object ol the monk was to beat down self in order to 

 obtain the peace which passes understanding : — 



I'licy strove to make themselves vessels of Christ, exponents 

 of the spirit of Christ, and ihey sought Christ's cross cheerfully, 

 wherever it might be found most heavy, in the world, the 

 monxslcry, or the wilderness. 



After the Reformation the place of the monk was 

 taken by tlie Alchemist, who became the typical 

 religious thinker : — 



But the true .\lchenii>t sought by a knowledge of matter and 

 a subtlety of reason to make the spiritual Gold, the Perfect 

 Metal, the Incorruptible Substance, in himself and in the 

 universe, and to practise in short (though not presumptuously) 

 the .\rt of God. 



When .'\lchemy came to the ground thought ceased 

 to be religion. Thought began to undermine religion 

 as it undermined .Alchemy ; and although much of 

 Christianity remains, it is now not a light illuminating 

 the multitude : — 



I do not know whi. in lliis age can be cailcd contemplative?, 

 seeking union with the Divine .N'ature, though all seek it some- 

 how, according lo tlicif cnlii;hlenmenl. It has been urged to 

 nie that artists are the pi.' .pic most like the religious of past 

 limes; but all who set llumselvcs to attain mental or .spiritual 

 power take the three vom s of the monk, and fight the rebellion 

 of the alchemical Sulpliur, and walk the dark night, often 

 enough. 



But he remarks that there is in nearly all art of the 

 time a want of any thing that will feed the soul. How, 

 then, shall we find spiritual peace ? Mr. Masefield's 

 conclusion is stated in the following passage : — 



Inner peace, tranquil liappincsj, the possession of the spirit, 

 and all the spiritual gifi^, are not to be got by reading the new 

 U)ok and listening lo the old fossil. If we want them, they are 

 within ourselves, here and now, near the surface or not as the 

 case may U-, waiting to gb>rify our work here, whatever it 

 may l>c, and we can get ihcm, if we want Ihem, as Ihey have 

 Ixin got in the past, by the contemplative man. I know that 

 the contemplative man got ihein, and what he did we can do. 

 We can get ihcin ourselves by trying for Ihem anil paying the 

 price, and in no other way. And wlial is the price? The monk 

 and the alchemist paid ihrmsclvcs, and got, as ihey declared, 

 GckI for the price paid. For the s.iiiie price really paid down, 

 without haggling, wc can have the same reward. When we 

 come lo look at the price paid and to ask, Can wc pay this? Is 

 ii really worth it ? we re.ilisc more the heroism and the nobility 

 of those old de.ad thinkrr. who paid the price centuries ago : 



"Casting down im.i^inalions and every high thing that 

 cxaltelh itself against the knowledge of God and bringing 

 Into captivity every Ihounhi lo the obedience of Christ." 



That was the price paid ; and it was paid very cheerfully by 

 thousands of earthly men and women, who were the happier 

 for paying it. And if we, whose lives are so much wider and 

 finer than theirs, will pay that price, not leaving the world as 

 they did, but making the world our monastery, and our work 

 our lalRiratory, we, too, shall attain their Union, and touch our 

 fellows with Incorruptible .Substance. 



f As a sequel to Mr. Masefield's paper may be read 

 with advantage another paper in the same periodical. 

 It is Mr. G. R. S. Mead's paper on " The Ideal Life 

 in Progressive Buddhism," which, he says, is essen- 

 tially indistinguishable from the highest Ideal 

 preached in the West. 



THE EARLY MARIE CORELLI. 

 In "Sixty Years in the \Vil(lerness," appearing 

 in Ccnihill, Sir Henry Lucy recalls times he had in 

 1879 with Professor Blackie. He mentions a meeting 

 with a young lady who has since acquired multi- 

 tudinous fame : — 



Some weeks later Blackie and I foregathered at Oban, where 



he had a house encircled by hills and fronting the Bay. Charles 

 Mackay, the poet, also h.ad quarters at Oban, and was accus- 

 tomed to be at home after dinner to a little circle of friends, 

 amongst the most regular altendants being William Black and 

 Professor Blackie. The mistress of the household was a lady 

 in the prime of young womanhood, whom we knew as Miss 

 iMackay, niece of the poet and journalist. She played Ihe 

 piano with fine touch and sang charmingly. Blackie was 

 .iccustomcd to break into song as inconsequently as lie dropped 

 into poetry. He always insisted upon a chorus to Miss 

 .Mackay's song, regardless of the composer's intentions in the 

 matter. In later years we knew the simple-mannered songstress 

 as Marie Corelli. 



THE GROWTH OF THE RACE MEETING. 

 ^In Baily's Maf^azine for February "Sprinter" 

 writes on the development of race-courses. He gives 

 the following striking statistics : — 



According lo the returns in " Baily's Racing Register," Vork 

 meeting was Ihe only one, from 1709 until 1714, of which a 

 record was kept. In 1715 Black Hambleton meeting finds its 

 way into type, and in 1716 a return of a programme at New 

 market is given. Kor a year Newmarket falls out, but by 1719 

 it b.as two meetings a year. Krom 17 19 until 1724 there are 

 five meetings reported. In 1727 one finds twenty-six meetings 

 to record, and in 1728 forty-two. By 1728 they had grown 

 to sixty-four, and by 1760 there were seventy-nine race meet- 

 ings a year. In 1790 there were exactly eighty meetings 

 recognised, but about iSoo a select sixty-six reunions were run 

 iitf year in and year out. 



The growth of the movement up to the present 

 time is given in the following table : — 



Vcar, 

 1709 

 1719 



1727 

 1728 

 1729 

 1760 

 1790 

 1800 



No. of 



Mccrinij*. 



1 1 5 



1 12 

 . 176 

 . 184 



194 



217 



205 



