PERSECUTION.
E observe by a report of certain proceedings the other day
in connection with the Dedication Festival of St. Mary Magdalene, Paddington, that the Rev. Berdmore Compton and several other High-Church clergymen spoke with much warmth of feeling on the new duties within the Church which recent events had forced upon them. They appear to have given utter- ance to many things true, natural, and pertinent, in these times ; but if we collect rightly the drift of their observations, they were in some degree misled by a fallacy which often deceives minorities, ecclesiastical and secular. They seemed to think that the cir- cumstance that they were in a minority, and were prepared to face all extremities in defence of their convictions, was of itself almost proof positive that they were in the right. Now, we all know that there is a common notion that endurance of persecution for con- science's sake is a fair presumption that the person who endures it must be in possession of the truth. When a man is ready to go to the stake, or even when he is prepared to brave social obloquy and unpopularity, it is apt to be taken for granted, by impartial persons, that he is probably correct ; and if he or his friends give him the title of a martyr to truth, there is usually no one found to question his brevet. People who have not lent a hand in piling up the faggots or lighting them are disposed to look with generous eyes on the brave apostle, and find themselves taking for granted, without further proof, that the cause which enlists so raueli devotion must be true, or at all events, that the sublime endurance of the victim adds new evi- dence or some strong probability in favour of its truth. Of course this may not be a proposition to which, if stated in a bald, abstract form, many persons would assent; but we find every day that the most careful thinkers, persons who are most wary in arriving at their opinions, yield uncon- sciously to the impression that the man who braves death or the newspapers must be in the right. Now, what sediment of truth, if any, is there in this theory ? In point of fact, does readineee to endure suffering in the assertion of a particular opinion in any degree make it more credible? It does ; without adding strictly to the evidence, it does add to credibility, but only in a limited degree, and in a way which is not always understood—only, in fact, as evidence on oath is more credible in most circumstances than unsworn evidence. Suffering persecution is, in fact, a solemn affirmation or deposition, the victim pledging his belief by readiness to face worldly consequences, even as the witness in a Court of Law is ready to expose himself to the wrath of Heaven in testimony of his sincerity. It is indeed nothing more than what Bentham calla "a security against mendacity." It adds nothing to the evidence in itself, but much perhaps to the credibility of the witness.
Probably this comparison helps to indicate more clearly the true limits within which courage and readiness to bear peraeou- tion strengthen credibility than the speakers at the Paddington( meeting conceived, and to discredit some popular exaggerations. If a witness on oath testifies to what he has seen, or heard, or ex
perienced, - his evidence is justly treated with respect and the same respect is due to one who is prepared to back his depositions as to what he saw or beard, by enduring all pains and penalties. But if a man takes Heaven to witness that he is speaking truly when he testifies to mere matters of opinion or speculation, do we believe him any the more readily ? And if he says, further, that he is willing to go prison, or endure the rack, or even be laughed at, rather than surrender his view or opinion, does he really in any degree strengthen it, or make it more worthy of being believed? We do not say that such conduct is a rather rash wager, the stake of which is the reputation, liberty, or life of the person who is willing to back his opinion to the last,—a sort of thriftless bet, akin to that of the Roman his body as security for his credit. But debtor who pledged
after all, it only means that in regard to a matter of opinion, of which presumably others are as good judges as he is, he is so confident that they are 'wrong and that he is right, that he is willing to stake everything on the truth of his view. Mr. De Morgan thinks that ho and his friends have a legal right to fill up all gravel-pits on a certain common. The Master of the Rolls differs from him ; and it does not add to the credibility of Mr. De Morgan's opinion on a question of real property that he flinches from nothing in asserting it. This is one limitation of the accepted view of persecution. It adds to credibility in matters upon which testimony is receivable. A suffering martyr is a good witness, if a witness at all ; but his pains do not trans- form opinion into evidence. Another limitation is obviously
suggested by the variety of forms which persecution takes. An oath, to return to our comparison, may be the most potent of the securities against mendacity, or it may be one of the weakest. When it is administered with solemnity to persons who realise every syllable of its import, there is nothing which can vie with it in efficacy ; and when persecution is really that which it professes to be, it is, indeed, a fan to winnow the chaff from the wheat, the half-hearted from the true and leal spirits. But there are in these days so many cosy forms of martyrdom, and a little persecution is so often the making of a man in this world, to say nothing of the next, that the endurance of it has almost ceased to be a test of even sincerity of conviction. The modern martyr does not get burnt, but he is pretty sure to get a subscription. He is not put in prison, unless he particularly likes it, or is very noisy ; and he may, perhaps, be put instead into the House of Commons. He does not go to the stake, but only into Opposition. No worldly compensations sweetened the lot of Foxe's Martyrs, but in these times, he will be a strange martyr who has not photographers struggling for his portrait, and people ready to interview and lionise him. One difference, all-important in this point of view, is that the modern martyr is sure to be rewarded with fame or notoriety. He knows that if he suffers in any form, the doctrines which he has espoused will be trumpeted abroad ; that if he falls, it will be in the eyes of the world, and with some sympathetic faces before him to encourage him ; and that he will be able to proclaim what he holds to be truth to the utmost parts of the earth. He is spared that which was the bitterest drop in the cup of true persecution,—the feeling that one suffered in soli- tude; that the truth which one believed to be the seed of new life among men would be entombed in the prison ; and that the last words which one would fain utter may be drowned in the silence of the grave, or the roll of drums round the scaffold. Your modern martyr has plenty of opportunities for uttering last words, and he has rarely to wait for posthumous canonisation, but is prematurely presented with his crown by a host of admirers. Modern persecution, which is at worst rarely more than social annoyance, is in fact no test of sincerity at all, for it generally means that the victim exchanges the indifference or ignorance of many with respect to his existence for the intense admiration and perhaps idolatry of a few.
But we have not exhausted the list of limitations. The temper of mind which makes a man ready to endure all in defence of his convictions is in many respects favourable to the acquisition of truth, but not in all, One of the speakers at the meeting to which we have referred said that a north-easter would do them good. Of course it may, but we do not know that a north-easter blowing so that the captain can scarcely keep his feet on deck and take observations accurately is most favour- able for ascertaining his bearings, and it is more than doubtful whether a rude blast of persecution, whether in the form of blows or biting words, is calculated to bring the man who bears their brunt into the exact frame of mind in which his faculties are most wakeful, their edge keenest, and his capacity for discovering truth greatest. Who ever expects a martyr to reconsider his position ? It is not his way. When stones or hard words arc flying about his ears, is he likely to revise the articles of his creed, to expel its crudities, and to move with the times, and to observe with docile, open mind, the good points in the faith of his opponents ? Is he not too sure to gravitate, under the impulse of persecution and wrongs, to exaggera- tion, and are not his doctrines likely to become crystal- lised in some form not in accordance with his best judg- ment P This, we are inclined to think, is one of the worst and surest effects of persecution, whether it takes the shape of actual corporal injury or restraint, or is confined to mere abuse. It sometimes injures the victim's capacity to make any new departure in quest of truth. It prevents him from learning those reservations, and admitting those exceptions, of the propriety of which experience, wisely and humbly used, rarely fails to convince us all. In short, it almost inevitably tends to perpetuate excrescences and crudities which, in the natural course of things, would havo. dropped off. And this fact is not without its importance and point in regard to the present phase of the Ritualistic movement. If we expose its adherents to what they believe to be persecution for conscience's sake,—if we expel from public offices clergymen connected with the Society of the Holy Cross merely on account of this connection,—we cannot hope that their conduct will be marked by moderation, that non-essentials or matters of secondary consequence will be kept in the background, and that the extravagances and exaggera- tions of particular individuals will not be applauded and imitated. We may expect from martyrs only the characteristics of men under fire, among which are not numbered precision and cool- ness of judgment. Another limitation remains to be mentioned. George Eliot finely says, "That is a rare and blessed lot, to which some greatest men have not attained, to know ourselves guiltless before a condemning crowd,—to be sure that what we are denounced for is solely the good in us." But just as that is the sweetest feeling given to a man to taste, so it is the one which is most frequently counterfeited. People who are not by any means of the temperament of Faithful are quite as sure as he could have been, when on his trial, that the jury which brings in a verdict against them is composed of Mr. Blindman, Mr. No-Good, Mr. Malice, Mr. Love-Lust, and gentlemen of that kidney. The first city of refuge, in fact, to which the man who has himself done wrong flies is the consciousness that others have wronged him, and his first subterfuge with himself is to explain away the retribution of his sins into the pains of mar- tyrdom. If he happens to be the victim of a little perse- cution, his self-complacency is confirmed ; there is little hope of his ever seeing himself in his true light ; he is henceforth for ever a martyr in his own estimation. On the whole, reflection on the effects of persecution forces upon one the con- clusion that burning or even singeing a man for conscience's sake does him no good ; that the endurance of it is but an indifferent criterion of truth ; that it clouds the vision not only of its agents, but often of its victims; and that it sometimes serves to feed a spiritual pride, which is not the less dangerous because it grows hard by and bears fruit and foliage outwardly not unlike those of the noblest virtues. IIobbes somewhere says that there is but one article in a man's creed for which he ought to suffer. We do not certainly agree with that, but at the same time, persecution, so called, is a medicine which ought to be taken with care.
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