MATTHEW AENOLD'S CKITICISM 85 



misleading. Arnold has reduced the Scotchman's 

 strange mixture of wrath and tenderness, poetry and 

 eloquence, prophecy and philosophy, to a system, 

 and has drawn out of it the pure metal available for 

 a sharp and telling criticism. Culture and Anarchy, 

 ]?riendship's Garland, the Mixed Essays, the Irish 

 Essays, are but the Latter-day Pamphlets and Past 

 and Present running pure and clear. What was 

 like a mountain of mixed ores in the latter, becomes 

 weapons of polished steel in the former. Take this 

 passage from Past and Present: — 



"Ask Bull his spoken opinion of any matter, — 

 oftentimes the force of dullness can no farther go. 

 You stand silent, incredulous, as over a platitude 

 that borders on the Infinite. The man's Church- 

 isms, Dissenterisms, Puseyisms, Benthamisms, Col- 

 lege Philosophies, Fashionable Literatures, are un- 

 exampled in this world. Pate's prophecy is fulfilled; 

 you call the man an ox or an ass. But get him 

 once to work, — respectable man ! His spoken sense 

 is next to nothing, nine tenths of it palpable non- 

 sense; but his unspoken sense, his inner silent feel- 

 ing of what is true, what does agree with fact, what 

 is doable and what is not doable, — this seeks its 

 fellow in the world. A terrible worker; irresistible 

 against marshes, mountains, impediments, disorder, 

 incivilization ; everywhere vanquishing disorder, leav- 

 ing it behind him as method and order. He ' retires 

 to his bed three days, ' and considers ! " 



In this passage of strong Carlylese, and in many 

 more like it, lies the germ of Arnold's indictment 



