The sacred Gospels, and the new command 'Tis well to hear the weighty words and thoughts The erudite and philosophical With pregnant emphasis enunciate; But sweeter still to learn of love divine In silver accents dropped from ruby lips, And thrill with gentle touch the pulsing veins; And holy fellowship of saints on high In soul communion with the best beloved, Another embassy to Goa hies To seek a bride of Portuguese descent A maid of royal lineage appears, Become the spouse of the great potentate, THE DEMISE. Upon his death-bed lies the King of kings, And with these words bids all his last farewell: "Religious liberty I have conferred Upon the worshipers of every god, And thus have welded with a jointure firm The sects and peoples of my broad domains. Alas! that I, misled by arrogance, And the success of my despotic sway, So, son Jehangir, let humility And toleration be thy watchwords aye. I see a vision of a future age When sons of men no more will meet in war But, gathered in some peaceful Parliament, And through comparison will come to know They worship one and the same deity Whose image was in the beginning stamped Upon the mind when Godhead fashioned man; And thus a universal cult arise, To honor, till the ages are no more, The sole existent, sempiternal God. THE ORIGINAL OF THE DROESHOUT SHAKESPEARE. The Droeshout engraving published in the first folio edition of 1623, seven years after the poet's death, is commonly considered the most authoritative portrait of Shakespeare. That it bore a resemblance to the poet is testified to by Ben Jonson in an adjoined poem; in which, however, he expressed at the same time his dissatisfaction at the poor workmanship. It is certain that Martin Droeshout must have worked after an oil painting, for the young engraver was only twenty-one years of age at the time of its appear ance. Now there is an oil painting in existence to which attention has only lately been drawn, and which is now in the possession of the Shakespeare Memorial of Stratford-on-Avon. Mr. W. Salt Brassington, curator of the Shakespeare Memorial, describes the history of this interesting painting in his attractive book Shakespeare's Homeland as follows: "In the eighteenth century the portrait belonged to a member of the Hart family, and was exhibited in London. It next passed to another owner who sold it to Mr. Clements of Sydenham, in whose possession it remained for nearly forty years, and by whom it was exhibited at the Alexandra Palace, where a fire occurred and the portrait narrowly escaped destruction. Being afterwards sent to Stratford-on-Avon, it remained at the Shakespeare Memorial until after the death of Mr. Clements, when it was purchased from his family by Mrs. Flower of Avonbank, and presented to the Shakespeare Memorial Association. "The portrait is painted upon a panel of elm wood, composed of two pieces, with transverse braces; and the whole panel is covered with a coating of white, upon the top of which a light red pigment is spread. The face is solidly, but the rest of the picture rather thinly painted, and the detail is much finer than that of the engraving, though the resemblance between the two is obvious to the most casual observer. "A closer inspection leads to the conviction that this portrait is the orig inal from which Martin Droeshout copied when making his engraving for the folio of 1623. "The chief points to bear in mind are: "I. That the picture is unmistakably an unrestored work dating from the early years of the seventeenth century. "2. That in the upper left-hand corner it bears the name 'Willm. Shakespeare,' in characters of early seventeenth-century date, and written in the same pigment as used for the lace and other adornments of the dress. "3. That below the name appears the date 1609. "4. That the head is quite life-size, while the body, being in perspective, is smaller in proportion. "5. That it is the only painting with contemporary evidence of being a portrait of Shakespeare. "Though darkened by age and of severe aspect, the face is represented as a faithful likeness, not flattering, but with most of its marked characteristics accentuated. The color of the eyes is a dark grey, shaded with brown, corresponding with the Ely Palace portrait. The hair is arranged exactly as in the Droeshout engraving and the Ely Palace portrait, representing Shakespeare as bald from the forehead to the crown of the head. The mustache is upturned, and a small tuft of hair is visible upon the chin. The mouth is full and humorous in expression. When considered in comparison with the engraving, which it nearly resembles, Ben Jonson's lines, and the signature at the top of the portrait, we are led to the conclusion that this is a portrait of Shakespeare painted from life. The evidence in its favor is conclusive, and it must therefore be regarded as the most interesting extant likeness of the poet." CHARLES CARROLL BONNEY. Sept 4, 1831-August 23, 1903. Three years ago the world suffered a great loss in the death of the Honerable Charles Carroll Bonney, best known as the inaugurator of the World's Congresses which were held in connection with the World's Columbian Exposition at Chicago, in 1893; and also as the President of the Religious Parliament Extension which was founded two years later. This season which brings the anniversary both of his birth and his death, seems an appropriate time for the appearance of the poem "Akbar the Eclectic" which in its Oriental imagery furnishes a fitting tribute to the life-work and purpose of that Christian "eclectic," who was the originator of a movement that will prove to have an enduring influence on all generations to come. JAPANESE EDUCATION. The modernization of Japan has raised her rapidly to the rank of a modern power, and we can readily understand that she has been greatly benefited by the institution of Western inventions and in general by the practical spirit of Western civilization, but these advantages are not without their drawbacks, and it is noticeable that in many quarters the old stability seems to be lost. The growing generation is inclined to accept with Western views also the looser conception of moral maxims, and the leading statesmen watch this progress not without solicitude. Here is a rescript of his Excellency, the State Minister of Education, Mr. Makino. It is a denunciation of present tendencies as well as a serious attempt at meeting the danger before it is too late. "It is scarcely necessary to say that the duty of scholars and students is to have a steadfast mind, to propose to themselves a fixed purpose, and to look forward to achieving great results by zeal and diligence.... Nevertheless among the youth of both sexes I detect, to my great regret, a tendency to occasional despondency and to moral negligence. Certain of those now in the schools show an inclination to luxury, or trouble themselves about vain theories, or, in extreme cases, allow their minds to become absorbed in dissipation and, violating the precepts of virtue, lose their sense of shame....Unless steps be presently taken to severely reprimand these errors, their harmful results will be incalculable. There are signs that the trend of a part of society is towards insincerity and that the youth of both sexes are being led astray in increasing degree. Especially is this the case with recent publications and pictures, for these either ventilate extreme doctrines, or inculcate pessimistic views, or depict immoral conditions....Steps must be taken to suppress publications that suggest such danger whether within or without the schools. Again there are men who, advocating an extreme form of socialism, have recourse to various devices for leading astray students and teachers. If such views, destructive as they are towards the very foundations of nationalism and dangerous to the good order of society, obtain currency in educational circles, so as to disturb the bases of our educational system, nothing could be more regrettable in the interests of the country's future. It behooves educators to be specially on their guard and to prepare for checking these evils before they bear fruit. Persons who occupy pedagogic positions should bear these things constantly in mind, and in co-operation with parents and guardians should endeavor to purify the habits of students and to invigorate their spirit, thus aiming at the achievement of good results for education.” BOOK REVIEWS AND NOTES. APLLONIUS OF TYANA AND OTHER ESSAYS. By Thomas Whittaker. London: Sonnenschein, 1906. Pp. 211. Price, 3s. 6d. net. Of the six essays contained in this volume, the first three which comprise fully three-fourths of the whole book are historical in character. The first one on Apollonius of Tyana, appeared in The Monist some three years ago. It gives a thorough account of the life and teachings of this Greek reformer. Mr. Whittaker's authority is the life of Apollonius written by Philostratus early in the third century and the extant letters ascribed to him, some of which his biographer evidently knew. Whether the letters are genuine is not certain, but the biography is clearly a romance, using the familiar literary device of introducing the memoirs of a disciple as material, though admitting that they had to be worked over into literary form. However, the fact remains that Apollonius was a real person born at Tyana, and there is no uncertainty about the character of his life and teaching. He was a Neo-Pythagorean of the ascetic type, but the interest in his life lies in the parallels of which he was made the subject and which probably never occurred to Philostratus. These tend to prove that the marvels attributed to Apollonius were similar to those of Christ and are better authenticated historically. This phase makes the study of the life of Apollonius of valuable interest in comparative religion as illustrating how it is possible for new religions to originate. The next essay treats of an equally interesting subject, being devoted to a discussion of Origen's refutation of Celsus. The only access that we can have to contemporary criticism of the first centuries of Christianity is through quotations in the works of the church fathers who refuted them, since the originals of all such heretical documents were zealously burned when the newer religion came into power. In this way we learn of the arguments of Celsus, a well-informed opponent of Christianity in the second century, who represents the attitude of the governing classes in the Roman Empire at that time. A century later the devout Origen gives the ablest apology for Christianity that could be made in those days in refutation of Celsus, enumerating and answering his objections consecutively. The object of the present article is not to bring into view all the complex issues, but to give a straight-forward account, mainly from the intellectual side, of this particular controversy which throws light on the perennial strife of ideas. The practical object which Celsus had in view in his arraignment was to dissuade the separatist Christians from their new and unreasonable faith; but in case they could not be persuaded, at least let them not set themselves in open opposition to public institutions and withdraw wholly from civic life; the Empire needed their strength and help, civil and military. Origen's replies throughout were in keeping with the ecclesiastical spirit of the time, but when all other arguments fail, he falls back on the unanswerable ethical test that the Christian followers have been led to better lives by their faith than the devotees of other religions, The third essay deals with the works of John Scotus Erigena, the Irish scholastic of the ninth century. It aims at giving some account of his philosophy. Our interest in him is purely historical as his works recall the light of the past and prefigure the return to it. Erigena could carry forward some of the ideas of Neo-Platonism to what we now recognize as a more modern stage, although he probably did not know it in its genuine Hellenic form. While repeating the mystical position he seems very little of a mystic, and is more explicitly a pentheist, and of a more naturalistic type than the ancient Neo-Platonists. The three short essays which follow are positive in character rather than historical. Of them "A Compendious Classification of the Sciences" was published in Mind for January 1903. In this the author proposes to carry out systematically the completion of Comte's classification by including subjective principles which Comte would have repudiated, but which are recognized by the successors of both Kant and Mill as indispensable for a full account of knowledge. "Animism, Religion and Philosophy" is an attempt at a kind of philosophical schematism for anthropology which the author thinks will be useful in so new a science, as it may at least suggest points for research. The last few pages are devoted to a discussion of final causes,-"Teleology and the Individual." |