[To THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR.") SIR, — AS an admirer
of Mr. Frank Bullen's work, may I suggest that he has not fully appreciated Mr. Matthew Arnold's breadth of sympathy (see Spectator, November 15th) ? There is surely little in human nature which was more kindly thought of by that great man. That Mr. Arnold did know something of the "poor man" is abundantly proved in his writings. He fully entered into the emotions of those whose humble lives are lightened and ennobled by finding a " Friend that sticketh closer than a brother." His quarrel would rather have been with those persons who are too "genteel" to claim so close a relationship. In proof of his sympathy I may recall his extract from the letter of "a common soldier in Walmer barracks to a lady whom he had met at a Methodist prayer-meeting." The passage is to be found in the essay on "British Liberalism," reprinted in "Mixed Essays." In the same essay Mr. Arnold refers to " Breton mariners hanging on the lips of an impassioned Jesuit preacher in one of the crowded churches of Brittany." And a little lower down he remarks that " a cure, a divine cure, for the bondage and the misery has been found for nearly two thousand years to lie in the word, the character, the influence of Jesus."—I am, Sir. &c., REGINALD TURNER.
Reform, Club, Pall Mall, S.W.
Previous page
