v:\ il ii I I::;:-?,;: , I:-,,* LIBRARY I F UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA. X Accessions No. Jb H >m ' 1 --- LIFE AND LETTERS OF FREDERICK W. ROBERTSON, M.A. LIFE AND WORKS The late Rev. F. W. ROBERTSON, M.A. SERMONS. Four Series. cloth, price 3*. 64. each. Small crown 8vo. NOTES on GENESIS. Small c/own 8vo. price The HUMAN RACE, and other Sermons preached at Cheltenham, Oxford, and Brighton. Small crown 8vo. cloth, price 3$. 6d. EXPOSITORY LECTURES on ST. PAUL'S EPISTLE to the CORINTHIANS. Small crown 8vo. price 5.9. LECTURES and ADDRESSES, with other LITERARY REMAINS. With Introduction by the Rev. STOPFORD A. BROOKE, M.A. Uniform with the Sermons. Small crown 8vo. price 5$. An ANALYSIS of TENNYSON'S 'IN MEMORIAM.' (Dedicated by permission to the Poet- Laureate.) Fcp. 8vo. price zs. The EDUCATION of the HUMAN RACE. Translated from the German of GOTTHOLD EPHRAIM LESSING. Fcp. 8vo. price 25. 6d. LIFE and LETTERS. Edited by the Rev. STOPFORD A. BROOKE, M.A. I. In 2 vols. Uniform with the Sermons. With Steel Portrait. Price js. 6d. II. Library Edition. With Steel Portrait. Demy 8vo. price iaj. III. Popular Edition. In i vol. price 6s. The above Works can also be had bound in half-morocco. London : KEGAN PAUL, TRENCH, & CO. LIFE AND LETTERS OF FRED. W. ROBERTSON, M.A. INCUMBENT OF TRINITY CHAPEL, BRIGHTON, 1847-53. EDITED BY STOPFORD A. BROOKE, M.A. PEOPLE'S EDITION. OP NIVERSITY LONDON: KEGAN PAUL, TRENCH, & CO., i PATERNOSTER SQUARE. 1884. {The rights ef translation and of reproduction are reserved) PREFACE. IN response to many earnest requests made on behalf of the Working Men, a cheap edition of Mr. Robertson's Life and Letters is here presented. It is an exact reprint of the Library Edition, which is issued in one Volume with two portraits. 1871. INTRODUCTION. THE " Life and Letters of Frederick W. Robertson " has now been two years before the public, and has passed through four editions. It is hoped that the present edition will bring the book into contact with a larger circle of readers. The matter is in all essential respects identical with that of the original two volumes. No abbreviations have been made ; a few alterations only in the arrangement of the letters seemed advisable, and a few additional notes have been inserted. Not one of the letters has been omitted : on the contrary, a few are added, which have come to hand since 1865. The rapid sale of the previous editions proves the undiminished interest of the public in Mr. Robertson's life and character. The testimony of the reviews to the influence and value of his teaching, whether in sermons or letters, has been generous and comprehensive. Nor has this been confined to those who are in harmony with the tone of his mind, or agree with his opinions. A tolerance, a just weight given to his life, as distinguished from his theological views a desire to find out the good and not the evil in the man whom they, nevertheless, oppose as a teacher, have marked the generality of the Evangelical, Anglican, and Dissenting reviews. It is pleasant to feel how much in twelve years the tone of criticism has altered for the better. There have been, with two miserable excep- tions, no senseless imputations of infidelity or rationalism, no implied slander, no attempts to push forward ' the truth ' by depreciating or staining Mr. Robertson's character. The educated and gentlemanly partisans of that school which most vi Introduction. strongly opposes Mr. Robertson's theology have spoken of him with kindness and Christian charity. Of those who have reversed this mode of action I need not speak. The Ethiopian cannot change his skin. It has seemed to me, in sending out this book in the form in which it will probably continue permanent, that this is the fitting place to speak of a few of the more salient criticisms which have been made upon the biography and its subject. It has been said by some critics that there is no adequate account given in this book of the '* extraordinary ' alteration in Robertson's opinions which took place at Cheltenham. But there was very little to record till the moment of change arrived. Like all radical changes, it was the product of numberless small, and in themselves unnoticeable things passing conversations, passing events, slight shocks, the books he read, the reflex action of his sermons on his own mind, and the set which the current of his thoughts took under the general influences I have described in the text. It was a great change, but not greater than that which occurs again and again in the history of men who are forced to win faith out of doubt. It seems sudden and unexpected, 'but in reality it extended over three or four years. It is because we do not see the steps which led to it, and because its crisis came in a moment that it appears to be extraordi- nary. But it was no more extraordinary than is the rapid development of a plant when it is removed from a soil unsuited to it into one entirely congenial to its nature. It may be said, that it is this very process of removing on which infor- mation is required, and little or none given in the biography. The fact is, all that could be given was given. There were no diaries of his feelings kept by Mr. Robertson. There were no letters written during that period which could be used. Those who knew him best seem to have known little about the work- ings of his mind, and all that they knew has been embodied in the biography. It was a slow and insensible growth and I do not think he was conscious himself of its full meaning till just before the crisis came. Moreover, even had he written diaries at that time of his spiritual life had he dissected himself in these, and watched hour by hour the progress of his soul, and recorded it I would not have given it to the world. It is a diseased state of the public mind which demands -to look into the heart of a man and to see it in all its nakedness : and nothing would have induced me to gratify this morbid curiosity. There are persons who wish to have everything explained to them with mathematical precision even the secret progress of the soul. I am glad not to have satisfied such persons and if I could I would not have satisfied them. The Record newspaper, to which my thanks are due for the striking confirma- tion which its review has given to Robertson's severe judgment of its mission and spirit, has brought against me two charges of inaccuracy. It contradicts my declaration that it had reasserted, after Robertson's death, a charge of socialistic opinions against him. In reply, I quote the passage on which my opinion was founded (Record newspaper, December 27, 1853). * It will be Introduction. vii remembered that Mr. Maurice, Mr. Kingsley, the late Mr. Robertson of Brighton, Mr. Ross, and others of the same school, were all mixed up, a few years ago, with schemes of Christian Socialism/ Captain Robertson sent two indig- nant denials of this charge to the Record. They were inserted January 5th and January I2th, 1854 ; and the letter of the latter date was accompanied by an in- troduction, in which the editor states that the wrong done to Mr. Robertson, and complained of by his father, was ' purely imaginary.' It was not so at least to Captain Robertson, nor, as it seems, was it altogether so to the Record; for in its first review of Robertson's Life there occur these words : ' In the beginning of 1854, we received a long letter from Captain Robertson, defending his son from the charge of socialism, implied in a short paragraph , in which he was named as having been associated with Maurice and Kingsley/ The words I have italicised are a sufficient answer to the Record's accusation of inaccuracy. They prove, from its own columns, that if the charge of socialism was not defined, it was at least implied. Every one knows the way in which the Record does its work ; and in this case, even after inserting Captain Robertson's two letters of contra- diction, it managed, in a comment upon them, to imply the charge over again. 4 We trust,' it says, ' on the contrary, that he (Mr. Robertson) was saved from falling into the abyss of error round which he seemed to sport, and that, whilst numbered with Christian Socialists,' etc., etc. The second charge of inaccuracy is thus expressed : ' It is another of Mr. Brooke's strange blunders, to insert two letters from Mr. Maurice, which he alleges, without inquiry and contrary to fact, to have been "part of a correspond- ence published in the columns of the Record."' I reply, that I am right, and the Record wrong. The two letters from Mr. Maurice did appear in the Record, January 12, 1854. Robertson has been accused of that which is called ' negative theology.' No accusation can possibly be further from the truth. If he spoke strongly against views in his opinion erroneous, he never did so without bringing forward a posi- tive view on the subject, lest men should be left with a soul empty, swept, and garnished. His continual effort to bring into clear light the living spirit of dogmas, forms, and even of errors, marks the positive character of his teaching. Above all, he insisted on the historical reality of the Life of Christ. He preached those facts as the foundation of all spiritual life and he held that with the loss of the reality of the incarnation, the childhood, the temptation, the daily life, the miracles, the death, and the resurrection of Christ, we should lose Christian- ity. In this he differed, ab initio, from all forms of negative theology; and at the same time, it resulted from the same antecedent that he differed from every form of theology which seeks to reduce all minds to one mode of doctrinal con- ception. For he rested on a Life, not on a system. He did not deny the necessity of a system of theology, but he did deny the necessary permanence of any system. Christianity was founded on a Life, the spirit of which was infinite and capable of infinite expansion. It would therefore be necessarily born again and again under new forms, conditioned by the character and thought of viii Introduction. the several countries and ages it existed in. But all this continuance, under diverse forms, of Christianity, depended, in Robertson's mind, on the historical reality of Christ's person and Christ's life. Probably, had he been asked what he thought of the negative 'theology, which has now intruded upon the skirts of Liberal Theology, he would have quoted Goethe's words as an answer : ' Every work of opposition is a negative work, and a negation is a non-entity. When I have called the bad bad, have I gained much by that ? But if, by chance, I have called the good bad, I have done a great wrong. He who wishes to have a useful influence on his time ought to insult nothing. Let him not trouble himself about what is absurd, let him consecrate all his activity on this on the bringing to light of new good things. He is bound not to overthrow, but to build up.' I have quoted these wise words, because they express as clearly as possible one of the fundamental tones of Robertson's mind, and one of the chief charac- teristics of his teaching. It was part of his work, then, to assimilate within himself all that was true in all parties, and to exhibit the truth of which any error was a perversion by bringing it face to face with the error. There is a noble passage in Spenser's Faerie Queen, where the false Florimell, who had been formed of ' purest snow in massy mould congealed/ and whom ' a wicked spright, yfraught with fawning guyle,' inhabited the snow signifying the cold- ness, lifelessness, and slippery nature of all false representations of any truth or beauty : and the guileful spirit the seducing nature of untruth in the garb of truth is at last brought face to face with the true and living Florimell, 'like the true saint beside the image set/ and how then the ' enchanted damzell vanished into nought.' It is a picture of Robertson's mode of dealing with false repre- sentations of doctrinal or moral truth. He brought them face to face with the real truths they counterfeited. His teaching has had the effect of extending fai beyond its usual sphere this mode of action, out of which alone a true toleration can arise, and the result has been the establishing on a wider basis of the idea of the necessary manifoldness of Christian thought which it is so important to keep before our eyes, and which we are always in danger of losing. There is, even among those who call themselves Liberal Churchmen, a tendency towards an intolerant denunciation and scorn of those whom they think less advanced than themselves. This is striking at the very keystone of the arch of their building ; and, if the blows of this intolerance are continued, the result will be as fatal to the Liberal as it has been already to other parties in the Church, This sort of work is making them into a mere party; and the moment a move- ment in the Church becomes, in essence, a party movement, it receives the seeds of death. The Liberal school will be productive and powerful as long as every man in it is not so bound down by the exigencies of party as to lose that individuality, independence of thought, freedom of development, and variety of character and teaching, which make at present the special strength of this school of theological thought. Liberal theologians ought to see and allow, if they would make their toleration perfect and gradually win their opponents to Introduction. j x their side, that at present a certain class of minds cannot approach God except through the channel of Evangelicalism, and another only through the channel of High Churchism, just as these classes in their turn should see that the more modern form of theology is necessary as a means of arriving at God to another cast of mind and character. It is this union in diversity which ought to be seized as the first principle of a Church, and to the reception of this principle Robertson's teaching, in spite of his intolerance of a certain type of Evan- gelicalism, directly tended and is tending. I may mention, in connection with the above, that those Evangelicals who repudiate with pain the Record as their exponent, have complained that Mr. Robertson did not do justice to them, that he speaks of them in an unchristian manner, and that I have disfigured the pages of the Biography by exhibiting a hatred of Evangelicalism. With regard to myself, I have consistently refrained from doing that which has been imputed to me. I have known too many noble workers and Christian warriors belonging to that school to speak of it with hatred. I confess that I abhor the spirit in which the Record and its followers and admirers strive to defend their position of infallibility and persecution, and I think it the very spirit of the Devil : but I equally hate that spirit when it is manifested by any school, Anglican, Tractarian, or Liberal. I do not abhor it because it may belong to this or that party I abhor it because it is the contradiction and the enemy of Christianity ; and I inserted that letter of Robertson's which has been so much spoken of, because I believe that the fierce language he used was well deserved, and I hoped that it would cling because he was there attacking, not religious feelings or intellectual error in doctrine, but a base and lying spirit, and that to brand it with a name which expressed its infamy was clearly a righteous act. But I should as soon have thought of confounding all Evan- gelicalism with the Record as I should have thought of confounding all Christianity with denunciation of the religious opinions of others. It is true I have said that Evangelicalism had a weakening effect upon Robertson, and that when he escaped from it he sprang from a dwarf into a giant, and I suppose it is the extreme truth of that it lies on the surface which has irritated these critics. But they have quite mistaken me. I do not hold that Evangelicalism has a weakening effect upon all men. It would be ridiculous to say that their system enfeebled such men as Scott, Wilberforce, or Venn. On the contrary, it strengthened them, and they could not have done their work in an atmosphere of Liberal theology. But Robertson was differently constituted. That air which they breathed easily, choked Robertson, and change of air gave him life, power, and mental energy. I spoke of the effect of Evangelicalism, not on all men, but on this man ; and to accuse me of intolerance in stating a fact of this kind is like accusing an Englishman of insular exclusiveness because he says that he could not live with any pleasure under the irritating, daily restrictions of French Imperialism. With regard to Robertson himself, I have always felt, and I have stated it, x Introduction. that he showed scant justice to the Evangelical School. He undervalued their efforts, and he did not allow sufficient merit to their theology. It was the only exception to his large and healthy tolerance. But he was a man and not an angel, and I never attempted to exhibit him as superhumanly perfect. There are few who arrive at faultless tolerance, and those who do, often do so from a defectiveness in their nature of noble anger and enthusiasm. I confess I would, in many cases, rather keep the latter with the spice of intolerance which distils from it, than, in losing the intolerance, find the man afflicted with a rigid prudence and a cold indifference. Moreover Robertson had, as I have said, some excuse. In London, and in great towns, the poison of religious virulence is diluted by the multitude of opinions in the country the distance at which clergymen live from one another disperses the venom. But in places like Cheltenham and Brighton it is concentrated, and Robertson being almost alone, with one or two exceptions who were passive, found it coming drop by drop upon his head. It is scarcely in human nature not to feel indignant and some- times to let loose one's indignation, and it is not unnatural, as in Robertson's case, to fall into the mistake that the spirit he suffered from in Brighton was the characteristic spirit of the school which was foremost in the attack upon him. The criticism which the Dissenting Reviews have given to Robertson's career has been uniformly generous, and marked by a fresh and intellectual apprecia- tion of his life and work. This generosity is the more remarkable because Robertson used now and then somewhat strong expressions about Dissenters in his recoil from their want of union, and from their consequent loss of power. On looking back upon the last few years, and seeking for the results which have flowed from Robertson's Sermons, and from the publication of his Letters, perhaps the greatest is the extension of liberal religious thought among those who would not have received it from any other man. It has filtered into the minds of thousands who would refuse to read the works of others of the Liberal school, but who cannot help reading Robertson. His teaching, for example, is largely modifying Evangelicalism, because the higher Evangelical- ism is capable of modification. In Ireland, and especially in Dublin, Robertson -** has had a very decided influence upon the preaching of many of the clergymen. In England, I have heard from every quarter, of men of anti-liberal tendencies being changed the whole basis of their theological thinking altered by the _ reading of his sermons. It is not difficult to find the reason of this. The fault v of most of the sermons of the Liberal school is a want of emotion. They are often too purely efforts of the intellect. Often they want fervour personal enthusiasm for Christ, pietistic warmth appeals to the heart. In one word, they want the very element which made the sermons of the early Evangelicals tell so forcibly upon their hearers. Now Robertson possessed this fervent ^ emotional piety, and he had derived it from his early connection with Evangeli- calism. Such men as Simeon, Newton, and others had an almost mystical ardour of devotion, from which Robertson had drunk deeply. This was in- ^ creased in him by his eager reading of such sermons as those of Newman and Introduction. xi Manning, who were as fervent as Simeon and Martyn upon another side of Christian feeling. His early sermons exhibit a passionate exaltation of religious emotion, in which thought and logic are all but consumed in love. Afterwards, when he changed, this element remained in him beneath his intellectual work, and made it warm and glowing ; and it is owing to the subtle and insensible influence of this Evangelical element^ that he has crept into the hearts of so many of that school, and introduced into their teaching the leaven of liberal theology. I do not find that Robertson has had any wide-spread influence upon the High Church party. This party is far more rigid in its system than the Evan- gelical, and though more tolerant in words, is less inclined to real toleration. The Evangelicals have the natural intolerance which accompanies a strictly dogmatic system, but the High Church party have not only dogmatic intoler- ance, but, in addition, priestly intolerance. Robertson's views on the nature of the Priesthood and on the nature of the Sacraments shut him out completely from the sphere of the High Churchmen. They always speak of him kindly and with gentlemanly forbearance, but they reject him utterly and with rigid logic from any union with them. While ready, with a somewhat patronizing dignity, to admit of his life having claims on their admiration they are too firmly wedded to their ecclesiastical theory, which Robertson repudiated, to permit his influence to affect them. On the more advanced school of Liberal theologians Robertson has also had very little influence. He is not Radical enough in his views. He is not fond enough of destroying. He has too little to do with the intellectual side of Christianity, and too much to do with the emotional, for their pleasure. They wonder at his being so widely read. They admire his genius, reverence his life, but they find his theology weak and behind the age. They do not seem to understand that the generality of men really want for life, not an intellectual but a heartfelt religion ; and that it is because Robertson has given them the latter in conjunction with a fair amount of Liberal thought and of culture that he has become the cherished companion, in his Sermons and Letters, of so large a mass of their countrymen. For it is not so much on declared followers of any particular school that Robertson has had the widest influence. It is upon that numerous class of men who are weary of going to church at all, who exist apart from any distinct denomination, who wish to be religious, but who have turned away, sick at heart, from religions, that Robertson's teaching has told with the greatest effect. Whether this influence will be permanent or not is another question. One portion of it will, I am sure, be permanent ; that portion which bears on the moral life and spiritual being of men. To all in spiritual difficulty, in doubt, or in trouble to all whom sorrow has touched or whom suffering has enfeebled to all those spirits whose sensitive organization has made life so subtle in its varieties of feeling, so difficult to live, owing to the various aspects in which to such persons both action and thought present themselves he will always be the Vii Introduction. comforter and the guide of the way to the highest Comfort. To all who are perplexed \vith casuistry, with the solution of peculiar cases of moral action in which two duties appear to clash, or in which of two duties the highest is to be discovered and chosen to all who wish, by the accurate performance of the smallest duties of life, to reach the starting point of the higher life where Christ replaces the Law in our hearts by the Gospel, and coerced obedience to the moral law is succeeded by the willing obedience which love renders to a right- eous Father Robertson will always be a helper and a director. But considered only as a theological teacher, I doubt if his influence will be permanent. I do not see how it can last in the rapid advance of the river of religious thought in England. I will try in conclusion of this Introduction to mark as distinctly as possible Robertson's theological position. He represents the transition period of the theological movement of this century in England. He was partly a prophet of the old, partly of the new. Hence he is a favourite with all those minds who in this age of inquiry have not determined their position. The religious Radical, while admiring his religious thinking, looks down upon his theological teaching. The defined High Churchman and Evangelical adopt the same position. The true Liberal clearly recognizes Robertson's position and work, but at the same time holds that to fix himself into another man's mould when time and know- ledge are advancing, would deny not only the necessity of progress, but even the principles on which Robertson insisted. But there are thousands, on as it were a kind of theological bridge, to whom Robertson's teaching is dear, and whom he helps to see their position. Representing, as he did, the transitionary period some time before it appeared, these men find themselves reflected in him, Some of them cross over to the bank of Liberal Theology, others return to the shore they had left. He has helped them to find certainty of opinion, not only by showing them to themselves, but by the whole drift of his moral teaching, which above all else urges men to be true to their convictions. Again, his spiritual life, itself travelling through so many phases, has an attraction for such men. They see their own fluctuations there, and either pass on with him to his secure position, or go back, finding that they cannot accept his conclusions. As long as this large section of men who are unsettled exists, Robertson's influence as a theological teacher will endure. But the moment a man, having used Robertson thus as a means of determining his position, becomes a declared Liberal, or retires into the opposite ranks, Robertson, as a theological teacher, though not as an ethical or religious teacher, ceases to be of any use to him. Therefore when Liberal Christianity, assisted as it is by the march of social, scientific, and political events, becomes the regnant form of Christianity among the educated classes in England, Robertson will cease to possess his present wide-spread influence as a theologian. Nevertheless he will always be read. As a theological teacher he will always be useful at that point of an inquiring man's religious life, when his opinions are floating in solution. At the time of his death High Churchmen tried to claim Robertson as tending ^ Introduction. xiii to their views. Since his death Evangelical reviewers have declared that he would have returned, if he had lived, to their orthodox fold So much devotion, such love of Christ, has seemed to them quite inexplicable to one who was wan- dering on the dark mountains of scepticism. But such a return would have been impossible to Robertson. The principles which formed the very back-bone of his mind, were in direct opposition to principles which have been very generally enunciated in the late discussions ; such as the assumed infallibility of the Bible on all questions ; the necessity of stifling doubt ; the repression of all who stir up theological discussions ; the duty of keeping strictly in the old paths ; the habits of shutting the eyes to difficulties and of answering opponents with- out the requisite knowledge ; the denial of the development of doctrine and of reli- gious progress, and the general deprecation, as an evil to be dreaded, of active and critical inquiry. In none of these things could Robertson have concurred. He liked war and excitement. He believed in progress. He had no fear of God's truth being overwhelmed. To him Christianity could not be in danger. I do not think he could have breathed in an atmosphere of obstinate theological optimism. It was not stir, or inquiry, or scepticism, which he feared, but unrelenting conser- vatism and stagnation ; and there are few who will not believe that he was right, few who will not declare, in spite of all our divisions and troubles, that the Church is in a healthier condition than it was twenty years ago who will not hope, taking the very excitement as the ground of the hope, that the Church is advancing towards that condition of well-established health which is characterized by the possession, not of the spirit of fear, but of power, of love, and of a sound mind. A writer in the Revue des deux Mondes of February I, 1866, says : ' Should you ask now what is the present condition of Christianity in France, I answer, look at the two opposed camps where a remnant of life exists, one for the attack, the other for the defence of the Christian faith. Then look beyond these two camps, and what do you see remaining? An innumerable crowd, inert, inani- mate, a veritable Dead Sea in which no living being dwells. That is the world you must reconquer. This "insouciance torpeur engourdissement" of the souls of men this is the wound which is eating into our society this is the real disease of the age.' Now it is this state, which this writer so deplores, from which we in England, at least, are rescued. We live in a world of religious excite* ment, from the highest to the lowest ranks. We are going through a religious revolution, and it is not impossible that we shall manage it with as much wisdom as we managed, in 1688, our political revolution. ' It was not very long ago,' says another French writer, whom I quote from memory, 'since some senti- mental politicians discovered the model empire in China. They contrasted Europe, torn with theological disputes rent asunder with wars and revolutions labouring like a ship in a hurricane, with the quiet national life and the un- interrupted paradise of peace which for centuries had prevailed in China. But what is the true view ? China is dying of prolonged infancy. Europe is still full of life of faith in the future of belief in itself.' If we insist on reducing the Church to the standard of China, it will die and xiv Introduction. deserve to die ; if we accept, as necessary elements of the age in which we live, the excitement, controversy, criticism, revolutionary opinions, which are now dis- turbing us, and set ourselves to find means of bringing order out of disorder, we shall step soon into a more vigorous existence than ever. I am certain that would have been Robertson's opinion. I shall not readily forget the fervour with which I heard him read, ' " Ring in the Christ which is to be." ' No one holding such principles could have found a home in Evangelicalism, or have retired into that High Church system which holds that the Christianity and practice and ritual of the past are better than those of the present or the future. I am far from depreciating the noble and honourable work which the two Conservative parties in the English Church have done and may yet do. There are principles at the root of Ritualism, or rather lying hidden in it, which it would be a misfortune to the Church to lose, and which will probably, as time goes on, shake off the mists of error which now conceal them and come forth into clear light to help forward the march of Christianity. There are hopes, and I think with good grounds, that the large Evangelical party in the Church will soon, if it has not done it already, take up more Liberal ground and revive into a Liberal-Conservative condition. This is earnestly to be desired, for it is most important that there should be a strong opposition to prevent the Liberal theologians from going too fast for Christian safety. But one thing at least is necessary for the existence of such an opposition that it should allow that Theology has not reached its ultimate expression, and that it should reserve its strength, not to oppose all extension of Theology, but only an unconsidered, hasty, and unwise extension. Theology is not Christianity it is the scientific exposition of Christianity; and to declare that it is now perfect is to degrade it from the ranks of all true sciences, which are always relative, perfectible, and therefore cannot be delivered to man in a moment. Those who say that no higher views of truth can be given or discovered by Theology, say that we have exhausted the meaning of the Words of Christ tantamount to the absurdity of saying that we have exhausted the Infinite and make of Theology not the temple, but the sepulchre of the human mind. To views such as I have expressed in these latter pages the whole of Robert- son's teaching tended. Those who embark upon the river of his thought, and do not leave it, are carried out into this sea. It has its dangers, its quicksands, its deceitful currents ; and it needs, especially now, wary sailing and good! pilots ; but it ought to be a subject of earnest thought whether it is better to bel sailing there, on to something better in the Infinite, or riding at anchor in al tranquil land-locked bay. 1 868. PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION. THERE would seem to be no apology necessary for presenting to the Public the Life and Letters of FREDERICK W. ROBERTSON. The abiding influence of his published writings on all those readers who are capable of being interested in spiritual questions and in Christian experience, has awakened in them a desire to know more of his career. Constant allusions made in the Public Press and in Reviews to his pre-emi- nence as a Preacher the wide diffusion of his Sermons, not only over this Kingdom, but also over part of the Continent and of America the interest in his teaching, which now (more than twelve years after his death) is increasing rather than diminishing, have led men to ask whether his life corresponded to the Ideal pictured in his writings whether his private letters would be worthy companions of his public utterances. The friends who lived with him and loved him his Congregation, and espe- cially those Working Men of Brighton with whom he was connected have long and eagerly wished to have some record of his life. Those, on the other hand, who knew him not, but who since his death have learned to reverence him as their Teacher who have found in his sermons a living source of Impulse, a practical direction of Thought, a key to many of the problems of Theology, and, above all, a path to Spiritual Freedom, these, with an amount of feeling rarely given to one personally unknown, have hoped to possess some more intimate memorial of him, without whose life they had not lived. For these reasons this book has been undertaken. The publication of Mr. Robertson's Letters was considered to be of great importance. They seemed to add a personal interest to his Sermons, to explain fully his mode of thought, to indicate the source and progress of many of his views, and to supplement his general teaching. They are full of tender human thought, of subtle and delicate feeling, and of much tried and suggestive expe- rience. They possess also, in common with his Sermons, a peculiar literary interest. This interest lies not so much in the originality of their ideas as in the mode in which these ideas are represented. The choice of words in them is remarkable. There is sometimes a happy indefiniteness which belongs to and which suggests the infinite nature of the things discussed. A spirit pervades them which influ- ences unconsciously their reader, and renders him receptive of their truths, by inducing in him a kindred tone of heart. Even Robertson's slight sketches of xvi Preface. an idea, traced perhaps in a single sentence, contain the materials for a finished composition. If he is not a Creator, he is eminently a lucid Interpreter of thought. It is in this power of apt, logical, and striking expression that the chief literary interest of his writings consists. I cannot but believe also that the noble, truthful life he lived, and the ' very courageous' battle which he fought, will have an influence as real and as helpful as his Sermons. The inadequacy with which this Life has been represented cannot be more a subject of regret to his friends than it is to myself. The fault can only, perhaps, be pardoned for the sake of the love and reverence with which the following pages have been written. I have to thank many of his friends, and especially his father, Captain Robertson, for their assistance and advice. I wish to draw attention to the interesting letters written from the Tyrol to Mrs. Robertson, and collected in the first Appendix, and to those from some of his friends, which are inserted in the Text and in the second Appendix.* In conclusion, I must regret the delay in the appearance of this book. It is due partly to my absence from England, but chiefly to my desire to make the collection of Mr. Robertson's letters as complete as possible. The arrival of new matter has often compelled me to recast whole chapters, and I have waited for months in the hope of pbtaining an important Correspondence, and found at last my hope in vain. STOPFORD A. BROOKE. LONDON : Sept. 15, 1865. t * In this Edition, incorporated with the body of the work. CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. PAGE Birth of F. W. Robertson Childhood Love of Nature Character as a Boy at the Academy in Edinburgh Youthful Interests Choice of Profession Military Enthusiasm Studies for the Indian Service Circumstances which led him into the Church Enters Oxford Contact with Tractarianism Religious Views and Christian Effort Reading Arnold and Wordsworth Speaking at 'The Union' His Opinion as to the Position of a Popular Preacher Two Letters recalling his College Life Ferment of his Mind at Oxford Letter expressing his Opinion of the Tract School and his Desire for a Military Chaplaincy Ex- amination for Degree He Studies for Ordination Letter reviewing the Position of the English Church i Letter Letters from May, 1838, to June, 1840. I. Reading Oxford Donnishness 19 II. Desire for the Coming of Christ 20 III. Conversation with an ' Infidel ' 20 IV. Separation from his Brother 21 V. Anticipations of the Difficulties of the Ministry 22 VI. To a Friend whose Birthday approached 22 VII. Farewell to Oxford 23 CHAPTER II. Passage from Collegiate to Active Life Growth of his Christian Faith Early Sadness of his Heart Ordination Curacy at Winchester First Appearance in the Pulpit Difficulties of his Work Letter Recalling his Life in Winchester Success as a Minister Description of him by a Friend Spiritual Life Devotional Reading Prayer Preaching Despond- ency arising from Illness Examination for Priest's Orders Close of Ministerial Life at Winchester Continental Tour Geneva and its Parties 24 Letters from September 17, 1840, to August 3, 1841. VIII. On first entering the Ministry 38 IX. To his Brother, on his Work 38 X. To a Friend, on the same subject 39 XI. Justification by Faith 39 XII. Aspiration after greater Self-devotion 40 XIII. Geneva; Discussion with M. Malan on 'Assurance'- with M. on the Deity of Christ 40 CHAPTER III. Marriage Death of his Sister He takes the Curacy of Christ Church, Cheltenham- Character and Influence of his Preaching His Despondency and its Causes His In- fluence in Society His Conversation His Daring Character His Reading Extracts and Letter throwing Light on his Spiritual Development Influences which contributed to the Change in his Opinions Progress of this Change Its Crisis He Leaves Cheltenham for the Continent 41 Letters during his Journey. XIV. Arrival at Innsbruck Description of his Feelings Tomb of Hofer Chamois- Hunting Lassitude of Heart and Restlessness Walk to Botzen 57 a xviii Contents. Letter PAGE XV. Account of Mental Difficulties Struggle after Truth In the ' thickest Darkness ' hold fast to Moral Good Perplexity as to the Ministry Heidelberg 59 XVI. Re'sume' of the Crisis of Thought through which he was passing 60 Correspondence with Mrs. Robertson 61 i. Munich and Rubens The Journey to Innsbruck Loveliness of the Valley of the Inn Influence of Beauty on a troubled Heart Hofer 62 a. Colour in the Fir Woods Impressions of the Tyrolese and their Religion Storm Clouds in the Pass of Ampezzo Walk to Coffara Magnificent View... 63 3. First Impressions do not return ; Record them at once The Shepherd's Inn The Dolomite Mountains Botzen 65 4. Tyrolese Character and Religion Religious Superstitious Reverence Dislike of English Travellers of the Germans I Travel as a Duty, not for Pleasure 66 5. The Stelvio Love of Solitude Scene alluded to in the Lectures on Poetry Wood Logs in the Torrent 67 6. The Falls at Schaffhausen by Day and Night ' I have bad Dreams' 68 7. Heidelberg View from the Terrace 69 8. Decision with respect to Curacy of ChristchurcR Openness to Sympathy Plans for the Future 70 9. Disinclination for Ministerial Work Influence at Heidelberg over Socinians and others. He is Encouraged and again Depressed 71 CHAPTER IV. OXFORD. Return to Cheltenham Surrender of Curacy of Christchurch He accepts the Charge of St. Ebbe's, Oxford Position in Relation to the High Church and the Evangelical Parties Results of his Work on the Parish of St. Ebbe's and on himself Trinity Chapel, Brighton, is offered to him He refuses, but afterwards accepts the Offer Sad Presentiments ... 72 CHAPTER V. BRIGHTON, 1847, 1848. Arrival at Brighton Trinity Chapel Death of his Infant Daughter Self-analysis and Reso- lutions on entering on his Ministry at Brighton First Sermon Characteristics of his Teaching Rapid Increase of his Congregation He is Appreciated by Servants and Working Men Wide Sphere of his Work at Brighton How he met the Questions raised by the Revolutions of 1848 Afternoon Lectures on the First Book of Samuel Results of these Lectures He is accused to the Bishop of preaching Political Sermons His Reply Foundation of the Working Man's Institute He is asked to Deliver the Opening Lecture His Answer, and his Opinions on the Institution Delivery of the First Address His boldness of Speech Endeavour to Reconcile Rich and Poor Qualifica- tions which fitted him to be a Mediator 75 Letters from August 9, 1847, to January 5, 1849. XVII. Reception of the 'Address' The Events of 1848 86 XVIII. Charge of Radicalism 'Alone with Christ' Grounds of the Brotherhood of the Race Pantheism ' Baptism of John,' and Baptism of the Spirit ' That which calls itself Evangelicalism' 87 XIX. ' The Wear and Tear ' of ceaseless Preaching 90 XX. ' Every one is not called upon to be a Martyr for Truth ' 90 CHAPTER VI. BRIGHTON, 1849. His Interest in all the Questions which agitated Society Clairvoyance and Mesmerism Speech at the Meeting for the ' Early Closing Association ' Opposition which was roused by his Preaching Work and hidden Life 91 Letters from January, 1849, to "November, 1850. XXI. Reply to Strictures brought against a Sermon on the Suicide of Judas 94 XXII. On the Death of a School Friend 98 Contents. xix Letter PAGE XXIII. The Character of a Man is measured by the Poets whom he loves 98 XXIV. The true Means of developing our Human Nature 99 XXV. To a Friend about to become a Roman Catholic 99 XXVI. To the same 100 XXVII. To the same 101 XXVIII. Loneliness of Heart ; but Loneliness with Christ 101 CHAPTER VII. His Letters Complexity of his Character His Sensitiveness His Knowledge of Men His Life in Society Effect of Climate upon him Exquisite Perception of Natural Scenery Impressions received from Art, and how he used them Appreciation of Poetry Intensity of Enthusiasm and of Indignation His Eloquence and its Charac- teristics Hatred of the Reputation of a ' Popular Preacher ' The natural Morbidity and the dangerous Tendencies of his Character The Means he employed to conquer them His noble Truth and Self-devotion Causes of the Gloom which appears in his Letters 102 Letters, August and September, 1849. XXIX. Fichte Life in the ' Supersensuous ' World .'. 112 XXX. ' My sins nailed Him to the Tree ' f 112 XXXI. Who are these who criticise my Sermons 113 XXXII. 'When I felt the Days before me' 114 XXXIII. Souvenirs Joy in Early Morning Air Beautiful Aurora Delight that a Friend had determined to solve the Mystery of Life 115 XXXIV. Evil of Desultory Reading Desultory Life Sacrificial Expression Fickle- ness Night on the Sea 117 XXXV. Effects of Suspicion on Character Is Prayer ' of the Nature of a Charm ' ? Where does the Inward Change begin? 119 XXXVI. A Character 120 XXXVII. Another Character 122 XXXVIII. ' Is Sensibility to Sensuous Beauty necessary for the attainment of the Highest Excellence?' The Sharpness of saying Farewell to half of One's Being ... 123 CHAPTER VIII. BRIGHTON, OCTOBER, 1849, TO DECEMBER, 1850. Visit to Cheltenham New Interest in the Lives of Others and in Ministerial Work Depres- sion Great Intellectual Activity Afternoon Lectures on the Book of Genesis Gorham Case Sermons on Baptism, on the Sabbath, on the Atonement Virulent Opposition Solitary Position Summing up of His Life Internal Dissension in the Working-Man's tute Proposition to admit Infidel Publications into the Library His Speech on the Occasion Its Meaning Its partial Success Reconstruction of the Association His Letters on the Subject Speech at the Meeting against the Papal Division of England into Dioceses Two Letters of Gratitude from Working Men ... 124 Letters from October, 1849, to December, 1850. XXXIX. Miss Martineau's ' Feats on the Fiord 'Religious Superstitions Moments of Sacred Rest in Life 136 XL. Effect of Violent Tragedies, e.g. Phedre, on the Mind, also of Speculative Reading 136 XLI. Sabbath Observance Duty of Cheerfulness in Christian Life 138 XL 1 1. The Blessing of the Lot of Woman The inarticulate Sorrows of the World- How to conquer the oppressive Weight of Time Giving Happiness 139 XLIII. Transmission of Letters on Sunday The Puritan's Sabbath True Basis of a Day of Rest 140 XLIV. Irony and Indignation of Christ Resignation of Heart Recollection of Swiss Tour 141 XLV. Evil of taking Opiates 142 XLVI. Feelings during the Sunday Services Is human Love Idolatry? The Mystery of Suffering 142 XLVII. St. Paul's Estimate of Women The Agony of Scepticism , 143 XLVIII. The Temperaments of the Northern and Southern Nations contrasted ... ... 144 xx Contents. Letter PAGE XLIX. Sunset, and Sympathy with Nature Desolate Loneliness with Truth better than a comfortable Life with the Consciousness of being in Error Walk by Night in Hove Churchyard 144 L. Keble's Hymn for the 22nd Sunday after Trinity Influence of Carlyle 146 LI. 'Walk in the Spirit,' &c. &c. Does Friendship gain by Absence ? 146 LII. The Mercy which is Just The Poetry of Prosaic Life When Solitude is useful to Character Keble's Hymn for the 23rd Sunday after Trinity 147 LIII. Inspiration 149 LIV. Description of a Stormy Day Capital Punishment Keble's Line ' Who for the spangles wears the funeral pall ? ' Shelley's Gloom Love of cheerful healthy Life 149 LV. Source of the Strength of the Will of Christ Sins of Thought Dr. Chan- ning's Life Did Channing Worship Christ ? 151 LVI. Depression Keble's Hymn for the 24th Sunday after Trinity The Temptation of Christ as enabling Him to sympathise with Men 154 LVII, Swedenborg Story Illustrating how Scepticism is born of Superstition 156 LVIII, Self-devotion as a mere Instinct Majesty of Law Keble's Hymn for the 25th Sunday after Trinity 157 LIX. Robespierre's Theory and Practice of the Punishment of Death Administra- tration of the Communion to the Murderer Superhuman Forgiveness ' Le mystere de 1'existence, c'est le rapport de nos erreurs avec nos peines ' The Trial of Christ, only three Years ! 158 LX. Shakspeare and his Critics Healthy Humanity of Shakspeare 161 LXI. ' Romeo and Juliet ' Threefold Web of Life A Friend's Analysis of the teaching in Trinity Chapel 161 LXII. Keble's Hymn for the Sunday next before Advent The Doctrine of the Atone- ment 163 LXIII. The true Mode of beginning a Christian Life' My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken Me ? ' Christ as Conqueror of ALL Evil Are -we guilty of His Death ? Character judged by Handwriting ' If God is Love, why do we need a Mediator?' 165 LXIV. End served by the Mutilation of our Affections Rigid Rules do not produce Goodness Greek Art ' Comus ' Deep Sadness Difficulties of position 167 LXV. Jan. 4, 1850 : Duty of larger Interest in Humanity Death of the Queen Dowager 170 LXVI. Anecdotes of the Kaffir War 170 LXVII. The same subject 171 LXVIII. Afternoon Lectures on Genesis 172 LXIX. Anecdote of the Bishop of Glasgow Self-sacrifice Walk by the Sea Coast 173 LXX. Humble Resignation 174 LXXI. Relative Priority of Will and Law Where can we best worship, alone in the Temple of the Universe, or in a Church with living Men ? 174 LXXII. Need of devotional Reading Channing's Life 175 LXXIII. Advice to a Friend perplexed by petty Domestic Troubles 176 LXXIV. Uselessness of mere Eloquence Lessing and Warburton 176 LXXV. Hatred of Evil Sad Fate of an English Lady Lessing's Speculation as to pre-Existence The ' Veracity ' of Woman 177 LXXVI. The Gorham Judgment 178 - LXXVIL Sermons on Baptism The Phrase ' Too Late ' The so-called Means of Grace 179 LXXVIII. On Baptism i8c LXXIX. Unconscious Influence 'The Luxury of doing Good?' Intellectual Cultiva- tion versus Moral Good Lord Byron Ph