Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Critical Notices Of The Literature Of The Last Three Months,
out , together with strong human interest in bis themes , and fulness of action . What Mr . Arnold wants , Mr . Tennyson lias : a quick fancy , an instinctive tendency to clothe his thoughts in a rich dress—we should almost call it , now and then , a thick veil of imagery . Mr . F . Tennyson never seems to sit down , like Mr . Arnold , and think out an image ; he sits down to write , and then metaphor , simile , personifications come of themselves , for they belong evidently to the unaffected language of his muse . "
These are opinions of which we readily avail ourselves and which , wc gladly endorse ; both writers , in fact , are true to themselves , and in their seA'eral ways to nature , under the aspects in which she severally presents herself to each . By careful cultivation too they will each certainly attain pre-eminence , but to do so , they must strive to sink the mannerism of peculiar theories , and endoaA'our less to prove and maintain their own particular crotchets , than to write poetry which shall have for its end the
refinement and gratification of their countrymen . Our attention has been directed to a course of lectures by Cardinal Wiseman , * on the connection existing between science and religion . It is now , we believe , some years since these lectures were delivered , and now that they are published we can safely say that , apart from all controversial matters , the subject as well as the style in which the work is Avritten , is calculated to arrest the attention of every cultivated mind .
The care too Avith which they have been prepared , and the amount of information they contain reflect the greatest credit upon the author , as well as bear testimony to his attainments , and it must be highly gratifying to the votaries of science to find ranked on their side one , whose position
and prepossessions might have been supposed to conduce to a very different view of the subject . Cardinal Wiseman boldly stands forth , ' in spite of and in opposition to the Galileon tradition , to assert that religion and science are perfectly reconcilable , and that it is quite consistent with tho highest veneration for revelation to accept all the discoveries which science has brought to light , and by admitting whilst he explains away the apparent discrepancy which seems to exist between the two , he takes the wind out of the sails of those who would attempt to refute the mysteries of the one
by an appeal to the approved facts of the other . Space does not allow our entering upon the various heads under which the subject is treated most successfully , the author displaying an intimate acquaintance with the writings and opinions of those who in times gone by , as well as at present , have devoted their talent and industry to the consideration of different branches of scientific lore . One feature characterising this work , hoAvever , is deserving of mention : it is the evident desire of the writer
to bear witness to the ability of scientific writers , and the candid admission of the difficulties which exist in reconciling the statements of Scripture and those of science , although he argues with considerable force , and we think with perfect success , to prove that such difficulties are but apparent , and that , by the attainment of perfect scientific knowledge , we shall be tho better enabled to understand holy Scripture—that , in fact , it is our ignorance of science which makes divine revelation appear to contain
difficulties . We can sincerely recommend these lectures , and Avithout , too , AVO hope , a suspicion of being Jesuits in disguise , for general perusal , as a safeguard against the fallacy of supposing that the pursuit of scientific discovery can be detrimental to man ' s highest interests , by inducing a spirit of scepticism or infidelity .
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Critical Notices Of The Literature Of The Last Three Months,
out , together with strong human interest in bis themes , and fulness of action . What Mr . Arnold wants , Mr . Tennyson lias : a quick fancy , an instinctive tendency to clothe his thoughts in a rich dress—we should almost call it , now and then , a thick veil of imagery . Mr . F . Tennyson never seems to sit down , like Mr . Arnold , and think out an image ; he sits down to write , and then metaphor , simile , personifications come of themselves , for they belong evidently to the unaffected language of his muse . "
These are opinions of which we readily avail ourselves and which , wc gladly endorse ; both writers , in fact , are true to themselves , and in their seA'eral ways to nature , under the aspects in which she severally presents herself to each . By careful cultivation too they will each certainly attain pre-eminence , but to do so , they must strive to sink the mannerism of peculiar theories , and endoaA'our less to prove and maintain their own particular crotchets , than to write poetry which shall have for its end the
refinement and gratification of their countrymen . Our attention has been directed to a course of lectures by Cardinal Wiseman , * on the connection existing between science and religion . It is now , we believe , some years since these lectures were delivered , and now that they are published we can safely say that , apart from all controversial matters , the subject as well as the style in which the work is Avritten , is calculated to arrest the attention of every cultivated mind .
The care too Avith which they have been prepared , and the amount of information they contain reflect the greatest credit upon the author , as well as bear testimony to his attainments , and it must be highly gratifying to the votaries of science to find ranked on their side one , whose position
and prepossessions might have been supposed to conduce to a very different view of the subject . Cardinal Wiseman boldly stands forth , ' in spite of and in opposition to the Galileon tradition , to assert that religion and science are perfectly reconcilable , and that it is quite consistent with tho highest veneration for revelation to accept all the discoveries which science has brought to light , and by admitting whilst he explains away the apparent discrepancy which seems to exist between the two , he takes the wind out of the sails of those who would attempt to refute the mysteries of the one
by an appeal to the approved facts of the other . Space does not allow our entering upon the various heads under which the subject is treated most successfully , the author displaying an intimate acquaintance with the writings and opinions of those who in times gone by , as well as at present , have devoted their talent and industry to the consideration of different branches of scientific lore . One feature characterising this work , hoAvever , is deserving of mention : it is the evident desire of the writer
to bear witness to the ability of scientific writers , and the candid admission of the difficulties which exist in reconciling the statements of Scripture and those of science , although he argues with considerable force , and we think with perfect success , to prove that such difficulties are but apparent , and that , by the attainment of perfect scientific knowledge , we shall be tho better enabled to understand holy Scripture—that , in fact , it is our ignorance of science which makes divine revelation appear to contain
difficulties . We can sincerely recommend these lectures , and Avithout , too , AVO hope , a suspicion of being Jesuits in disguise , for general perusal , as a safeguard against the fallacy of supposing that the pursuit of scientific discovery can be detrimental to man ' s highest interests , by inducing a spirit of scepticism or infidelity .