Part 33 (2/2)

I began at ten ht to write to you, but as the postman appeared at five in where I left off? I should like to talk to you about s I hope you will not say, as Johnson says to Boswell, ”Sir, you have only two subjects, yourself and hted with Mr Asquith's success He has the certainty of a great th and simplicity and independence and superiority to the world and the clubs You see three such friends as Mr Asquith, Mr Milner and Mr Balfour I believe that you reat deal for them, and they are probably the first men of their tiood a leader of the House of Commons in opposition as he hen he was in office He is too aggressive and not dignified enough I fear that he will lose weight He had better not coquette with the foolish and unpractical thing ”Bimetallism,” or write books on ”Philosophic Doubt”; for there are s which we h either for the highest idealism or for ordinary life

He will probably, like Sir R Peel, have to change many of his opinions in the course of the next thirty years and he should be on his guard about this, or he will commit himself in such a manner that he may have to withdraw from politics (about the currency, about the Church, about Socialism)

Is this to be the last day of Gladstone's life in the House of Co his last great display almost in opposition to the convictions of his whole life I hope that he will acquit himself well and nobly, and then it does not much matter whether or no he dies like Lord Chatham a few days afterwards It see the last fortnight They have, to a great extent, reland that they were the friends of disorder Do you know, I cannot help feeling I have more of the Liberal element in me than of the Conservative? This rivalry between the parties, each surprising the other by their liberality, has done a great deal of good to the people of England

HEADINGTON HILL, near OXFORD, July 30th, 1893

MY DEAR MARGARET, Did you ever read these lines?--

'Tis said that es are made above-- It may be so, some few, perhaps, for love

But fro MATCHES here all day

(Orpheus returning from the loorld in a farce called ”The Oly)

Miss Nightingale talks to s usually called love,” but then she is a heroine, perhaps a Goddess

This love-h society makes fun of it, perhaps to test the truth and earnestness of the lovers

Dear, I ae” (Homer), and I as, but I would do anything I could to save any one who cares for ht in not running the risk without a modest abode in the country

The real doubt about the affair is the family; will you consider this and talk it over with your mother? The other day you were at a masqued ball, as you told , the care of five children, with all the ailreeables of children (unlike the children of soh you will have to be athe greatest part of your life Is not the contrast more than human nature can endure? I know that it is, as you said, a nobler le

If you are, I can only say, ”God bless you, you are a brave girl”

But I would not have you disguise from yourself the nature of the trial It is not possible to be a leader of fashi+on and to do your duty to the five children

On the other hand, you have at your feet a h character, and who has attained an extraordinary position--far better than any aristocratic lath or hop-pole; and you can render hie of the world Society will be gracious to you because you are a grata persona, and everybody ish you well because you have her life if you are yourself equal to it

To-day I read Huenerally at the beginning of his History of England

There have been saints a, Hume and Spinoza, on behalf of who as the Church has devoted them to eternal flames To use a German phrase, ”They were 'Christians in unconsciousness'” That describes a good et rid of a good h our lives

Believe aret,

Yours truly and affectionately,

B JOWETT

BALLIOL, Sunday 1893

MY DEAR MARGARET,

I quite agree with you that ant hts, that is quite enough; there need be no trouble about doght there to be any trouble about historical facts, including miracles, of which the view of the world has naturally altered in the course of ages I include in this such questions as whether Our Lord rose from the dead in any natural sense of the words It is quite a different question, whether we shall ilad you think about these questions, and shall be pleased to talk to you about theion is contained in tords: Truth and Goodness, but I would not have one without the other, and if I had to choose between theive Truth the first place I think, also, that you nation to the Will of God and the order of nature There ht be other definitions, equally true, but none suited better than another to the characters of men, such as the iions, which would be an adequate description of it The Christian religion seems to me to extend to all the parts and modes of life, and then to come back to our hearts and conscience I think that the best way of considering it, and the , is to view it as it ood men everywhere, whether Christians or so-called heathens-- Socrates, Plato, Marcus Aurelius, St Augustine, as well as in the lives of Christ, or Bunyan, or Spinoza The study of religious biography see

As to the question of Disestablishment, I am not like Mr Balfour, I wobble rather, yet, on the whole, I agree with Mr Gladstone, certainly about the Welsh Church Churches are so worldly and so her classes I think that a person who belongs to a Church should always endeavour to live above his Church, above the serood part of the prayer, above the Athanasian Creed, and the fors and public s The best individuals have always been better than Churches, though I do not go so far as a Gerious until they leave off going to church, yet I aation the hearers should attempt to raise themselves above the tone of the preacher and of the service

I am sorry to hear that Mr Balfour, who has so much that is liberal in him, is of an extreh on a subject which may not interest you, but of which I should like to talk to you again e meet It seems to me probable that the Church WILL be disestablished, because it has been so already in most countries of Europe, and because the school is everywhere taking its place