MATTHEW ARNOLD'S CRITICISM 107 



makes him indifferent to the element of personalism, 

 the flavor of character, the quality of unique indi- 

 vidual genius, wherever found in art, literature, or 

 religion. It is one secret of his preference of the 

 establishment over the dissenting churches. The 

 dissenter stands for personal religion, religion as a 

 private and individual experience: the established 

 churches stand for institutional religion, or religion as 

 a public and organized system of worship ; and when 

 the issue is between the two, Arnold will always be 

 found on the side of institutionalism. He always 

 takes up for the state against the individual, for 

 public and established forms against private and per- 

 sonal dissent and caprice. "It was by no means in 

 accordance with the nature of the Hellenes," says 

 Dr. Curtius, " mentally to separate and view in the 

 light of contrast such institutions as the state and 

 religion, which in reality everywhere most inti- 

 mately pervaded one another." 



What Arnold found to approve in this country 

 was our institutions, our success in solving the social 

 and political problems, and what he found to criti- 

 cise was our excessive individualism, our self-glorifi- 

 cation, the bad manners of our newspapers, and, in 

 general, the crude state of our civilization. 



One would expect Arnold to prefer the religion 

 of the Old Testament to that of the New, for, as he 

 himself says: "The leaning, there, is to make re- 

 ligion social rather than personal, an affair of out- 

 ward duties rather than of inward dispositions ; " and, 

 to a disinterested observer, this is very much like 



