Showing 134 results

Includes letters by J. O. Halliwell, J. M. Heath about the August 1846 storm in Cambridge, H. Montagu Butler about a bust of Archdeacon Hare, Vernon Musgrave about a memorial to Archbishop Musgrave, with a draft from William Whewell to Vernon Musgrave.

Concerning the Julius Charles Hare bust.

Itchenstoke - RCT wishes to offer himself as a candidate for the vacant Theological Professorship at Cambridge - 'that is, supposing that Archdeacon Hare [Julius Hare] should not be a candidate. Should he determine to offer himself for the post, in that case every motive of respect & affection to him, & of interest in the theological well being of my university, would hinder me from putting myself forward as competitor, (which would be absurd) with him. Perhaps I might have a line from you to say what steps I ought to take for the purpose of officially declaring myself a Candidate, & whether I ought to announce my intention to each one of the electors'. RCT took great pleasure in WW's (anonymous) review of his Sacred Latin Poetry - 'both for the articles sake itself, & for the sake of it, as coming from you'. He also thanks WW for his volume on Induction: 'The subject lies only too far out of the line of my studies; but I can still perceive how much is at issue, how much more than at first sight might seem, in your differences with Mill [John S. Mill]. My sympathies, (I dare not in my ignorance of the subject use a stronger word) are altogether with you'.

London - RCT has received a letter from Julius Hare declaring that he is still interested in offering himself as a candidate for the vacant Theological Professorship at Cambridge [see RCT to WW, 7 November 1849].

Draft of the preface and notes; three corrected proofs of the preface, July-Aug. 1879, one of which has notes in an unidentified hand, with a note at the end, "If you wish to speak of Richard's Character, and agree in Hare's view of it, turn all this Coleridge twaddle into a few lines of your own good Prose, into which Hare is quite out of tune." Accompanied by a draft of the playscript and notes dated July-Oct. 1879.

Volume of letters arranged alphabetically by correspondent, with usually no more than one letter per person, each correspondent identified at the top of the page on which the letter is mounted, in the form of an autograph book.

Herstmonceux - They are all looking forward to WW's visit. JCH gives instructions on how best to reach them in Hurstmonceux. 'What a beautiful poem Evangeline is. It seems to me to have definitively naturalized the metre: at least it will do so in America. The story is evidently suggested by Hermann & Dorothea; yet the poem is thoroughly original, very like, yet totally different'. JCH longs to hear how the new system is working at the University - 'The new Professors, I suppose, have not downed their harness yet'. What does Sir James Stephen mean by Hazlitt's Life of Luther? Is the article on 'Faith and Reason' in the Edinburgh Review by Stephen? - 'the style has not the same ponderous Gibbonian rhetoric; and though parts are well & forcibly put, I think I wd hardly confound faith so entirely with belief, or join so entirely the thaumalurgie school of reasoners on the evidences'. JCH has read WW's piece on Hegel [On Hegel's Criticism of Newton's "Principia", 1849]: 'Hegel has never been one of my favorites, but the contrary. Still it seems to me that you treat him somewhat over-scurvily, as if he were a mere ass; whereas, with all my repugnance to many of his notions, I have never read twenty pages of him, without feeling that he was a very great thinker and writer'. Hegel is difficult to read in German let alone after he has been translated, and WW seems to have missed the sense of a couple of the sentences JCH checked with the original text.

Herstmonceux - JCH is very pleased with the appointment of Alfred Ollivant as the Bishop of Llandaff - 'a most conscientious appointment it seems to me, on the part of Lord John [Russell]'. JCH's 'first wish was that Trench [Richard C. Trench] shd succeed him in the Professorship [of Theology]; for Maurice [John F. D. Maurice] seemed to me out of the question. However, after talking over the matter with Esther [Hare] in the morning, I was brought to wish that I might myself be allowed to take part in helping to work out the new system in my beloved University. At the last election it seemed to me that I had no right to come forward in opposition to a man so far superior to me in theological learning as Mill [William Hodge Mill]'. However, although JCH knows 'that in many things his claims are higher, I shd not shrink from opposing him. For I cannot think that his doctrinal views are those which are the most likely to promote the cause of Christian truth in our days'. JCH's 'own views have become much firmer of late years, and I have a securer knowledge of the foundations on which my doctrines rest. The many testimonials of gratitude & affection which I have received from students of Divinity at Cambridge encourage me to think that, if I were living amongst them & opening my heart & mind to them, I might render them service in helping them to steer among the quicksands by which theological speculation in these days is best. And it might be of some use to shew them that one may admit and recognise whatever is true and valuable in German theology, and yet retain a strong conviction of all the positive truths of the Gospel. Many signs show that this is one of the main perils of our days; & we cannot escape it by turning away from it. We must face it dauntlessly & overcome it'. Obviously JCH will not stand for the theological chair if WW is considering it. Would it be possible for JCH to take a B.D degree, or a D.D. in time to be qualified for becoming a candidate?'. Could he take the Professorship with his current living?

Herstmonceux - Ma-man and JCH are delighted at the prospect of WW coming to visit them for a second day. If JCH was younger and stronger he would not want to keep Hurstmonceux along with the Professorship of Theology at Cambridge, supposing he were elected [see JCH to WW, 31 October 1849]. However, he needs his living at Hurstmonceux to sustain him through ill health and old age.

Herstmonceux - Notwithstanding all that WW has kindly said to him with with regard to entertaining vain hopes of gaining the Professorship in Theology [see JCH to WW, 31 October 1849], JCH 'cannot quite bring myself at once to give up the desire I had been led to cherish of doing something in my latter years in the service of the University to which I owe so much love & gratitude. Nor was there any one, among the candidates whom you mentioned, whose success would comfort me, as Trench's [Richard C. Trench] would, under my own disappointment'.

London - Asks William to show Hare's friend, Blackstone, around Cambridge. He almost wishes he 'could imbibe a little of Mr Lyell's spirit, who tells us in the Quarterly, that he looks back to the reading of Locke's Essay as an era in his life, that it was the creature Let there be light which dawned upon the chaos of his mind, forgetting that his mind is only one of those puzzle-maps which any poor six-years old child can put together; and then fancying himself soaring upwards by the help of this bubble which he takes from a balloon, he identifies his own mind with that of the universe and has the presumption to tell the world that the said John Locke was not the enlightening spirit only of him the said William Lyell, but also of all the rest of the world, which all the rest of the world also believe implicitly, and have no doubt that, as Mr Lyell tells them, a Junior Soph now knows much more of the nature of the human mind than Plato and Pythagoras, and Heraclitus and Aristotle and Saint Augustine and Saint Thomas Aquinas and Leibnitz and Mallebranche. For my own part I am much more disposed to agree with my friend Le Maistre, who says only one thing is wanting to make the Essay on the human understanding perfect, and that is to call it an Essay on the Understanding of John Locke'. What does WW think regarding the topic which Hare has heard so much of since his return to England - 'the curse of a plenteous harvest? I am not sufficiently at home in our political economists, to determine whether the truth of this proposition that a plenteous harvest is a curse arises necessarily from the axioms of their theories. If so it only proves that their theories are worthless, and I must try to become acquainted with them to be able to lend a hand in pulling down so trumpery an edifice. There must be something essentially false that has this power of transmuting good into evil by its satanic alchemy'.

Whewell's 'Middle Templar must dine in Hall the 22nd of June at latest. As for Lincoln's Inn, the grand day of next term is not yet fixed, nor will be so till the last day of this term; so that it is not yet precisely known what will be the latest day upon which it will be necessary to magistrate law. But I suppose it will be about the same time'. Hare's opinion on the possibility of him teaching: 'I should like to be able to find phials that must stand to be filled with what I had to pour into them; even though nine tenths of it should evaporate in the process of infusion. But this is all nonsense; one's business is much more to excite them to infuse; and this is why Plato is worth ten thousand Aristotles & 100000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 Locke's'. The true centre of a University education should be philosophy - 'or at least that philosophy & religion are two foci which ought ultimately to coincide'. Hare has heard say that 'several Bishops are to vote for the Catholics this time. If so, Bishops for ever! There is some hope for the Church. It may perhaps sooner or later lose its negativeness & become truly positive & real'.

JCH received an offer for the Classical Lectureship from the Master of Trinity College [Christopher Wordsworth] last week, and has decided to accept the post - 'so that you are likely to find annoyance in sufficient quantity, whilst I am muddling the brains which you are attempting to clarify'.

JCH saw Sir John Malcolm - accompanied by Lady Malcolm and Maman - off to Portsmouth. Maman was annoyed that WW did not bother to come and spend a few hours with Sir John in London prior to his departure.

Trinity College - The Cambridge fever seems to have disappeared [see WW to RJ, 10 July 1822]: 'I am sorry to have made you uncomfortable by leading you to imagine that we were in danger but I could not find in my heart to take your advice and leave the place'. They 'have made [Julius Charles] Hare classical lecturer on our side. He is a thoroughly good scholar and will be much more rational in acting than he is in talking'.

Where is Julius Hare's address?: 'I want to get from him the exact title of Bockh's book on the Athenian finances'. Will WW be in Cambridge for the BA examination? Can WW spend a few days with HJR over the vacation? When WW gets a moment could he see whether certain texts [names attached] are in the library, if not HJR will reluctantly have to spend a few days in London.

73 South Audley Street - JCH requires confirmation regarding the day term starts, and gives details concerning the movements of the various members of the Malcolm family.

Herstmonceux - Congratulates WW on becoming Master of Trinity College. JCH has been trying to complete various publications he has promised. JCH asked John F. D. Maurice what he thought might be done to improve the theological education at Cambridge - 'he answered, "a divinity tripos, (which is the usual resort when any general improvement is to take place) wd. surely be an abomination". Herein I agree most entirely Emulation has done us enough harm already: in heaven's name let us not extend it any further. We should try to teach people that knowledge is to be pursued for its own sake, as it used to be pursued more or less down to the present century, and not for the prizes attacht to it. Until we can do this, we produce nothing sound or lasting. When the stimulus is taken away, the student turns to something which will afford him a substitute for it. The only truly powerful influence, by which men's minds and characters are lastingly affected, is personal, that of mind, of moral character on moral character. The advantage of institutions seems rather to be that of affording facilities for such an influence, and of keeping it within legitimate bounds. For instance what a mighty power has been exercised of late years at Oxford by Newman [John H. Newman] and Pusey [Edward B. Pusey]'. JCH thinks the best thing Cambridge could do would be to employ Maurice as a lecturer on philosophy and theology: 'Your present divinity professors are not men to stir the minds of the university'. The appointment of Maurice, if possible, should be done in conjunction with the neutralisation of the excessive amount of examinations: 'In the happier days when we went to Cambridge, & there was not half the number of examinations, Smythe's Lectures, Farish's, Clarke's, exercised much influence. Had they been men of greater moral power, the influence wd. have been much greater. Now the efficacy of the lectures is almost destroyed by the never-ending still-beginning examinations'. A portion of divinity should be compulsory to anyone who passes a degree. JCH gives his answer to a couple of WW's intellectual moral dilemmas given in his last letter: 'though our great sin is the original mother-sin of estrangement from God, and though all our actions in our natural state are more or less tainted with this sin, yet there are better human principles & affections; & he who violates these may, humanely speaking, be infinitely worse than he who reveres & upholds them. There are various stages of transition between the thick Egyptian darkness that can be felt, & the pure light when in God's light we see light. At the same time it is very true that with every increase of light, we acquire a deeper consciousness of the darkness within us; and thus it ever has happened that the best and holiest of men have spoken of themselves as the chiefest of sinners'. The other issue raised in WW's last letter concerned 'the degree in which students may be allowed to follow the bent of their own genius. This, you say, is not to educate'. However, 'to educate seems to me to be to bring out that which is in a man. And this is the business of education, to protect from stunting and blighting influences, and to cherish and develop the innate life, giving it room to spread all its branches around, and to feel forth all its leaves, its our leaves, not another tree's leaves'.

Herstmonceux - JCH's brother, Augustus Hare, has died. Could WW recommend a master for JCH's Training school at Chichester: 'for various reasons it is thought that a Cambridge man would be more acceptable to a large part of the Diocese than one from Oxford. Of course nor do we wish for a man of eminent learning or talents, steadiness, sober mindedness, & piety are the qualities we want'. The number of pupils currently in the school is nine. JCH is annoyed at the possibility of Joseph W. Blakesley standing against John F.D. Maurice as the replacement to John Lonsdale at King's College, London: 'Surely, if there be a man who has a claim, for his services both to the College & to the whole English Church, it is Maurice. A great one he has just been rendering by his noble pamphlet, which, I trust, will do much good, teaching many, who are now bewildered, to understand themselves, their position, & their duties'.

Herstmonceux - Will WW join a Committee which has been established to found a library for the new College in Van Dumin's land: 'of course you will have heard a good deal of it: for Peacock was employed with Arnold in drawing up a code for it, which is said to be somewhat over-liberal'. JCH is pleased WW has invited John F.D. Maurice to preach at St. Mary's. Maurice would make a good head of King's College, London: 'In the first place he has an extraordinary power of attaching & influencing young men'.

Herstmonceux - Could WW recommend a person 'who wd be able to turn a bad school into a good one, & not be sorry to get a large income for doing so'. JCH is referring to the the first ever school he ever attended - the Foundation School at Tunbridge. If the right appointment is made 'it will be a great benefit to all this corner of England'.

Horsham - Information and a query concerning his work on inscriptions ['Inscriptiones Graecae Vetustissianae', 1825]. HJR would be curious to attend Julius Hare's lectures: 'I suppose that Plato illustrated by Coleridge with excursuses on Kant will be the least of Hare's feats'. If HJR is at the Cambridge election he will vote for Lord Hervey. HJR is pleased Richard Jones is not going to marry - 'the woman is old[,] ugly, stupid[,] vulgar, poor, in bad health and beset by brothers and sisters who are really too horrible'.

Herstmonceux - JCH was extremely happy that WW agreed with the doctrine of JCH's last sermon: 'For it seems to me of possessing practical moment, so that the neglect of it has been the cause of dismal evils in our church; nor can I see any likelihood of an approximation toward unity, unless it is generally recognized. But for this conviction I should not have come forward in such direct opposition to my excellent brother Archdeacon'. JCH introduces his good friend and bookseller, Macmillan [Daniel Macmillan], to WW: 'He is a man for whom I have the highest esteem and regards, both morally an intellectually...he has a high moral purpose, to which he desires to devote his life. Maurice [John F.D. Maurice], to whom I introduced him, values him no less than I do; and I really hope it will be a good thing for Cambridge to have so intelligent a bookseller [Macmillan & Co.]. At present his capital is very small, the result of savings out of a clerk's salary, drained by the necessity of assisting his relations: hence he will not be able to muster a large stock of books: but I hope, and can hardly doubt, that in this respect he will improve. In all others, I believe, he will be incomparably superior to any person of his class in Cambridge'. JCH canvasses John F. D. Maurice as a possible successor to Lonsdale [John Lonsdale] as Principal of King's College, London. Christian C. J. Bunsen has asked JCH to recommend someone to translate Ranke's [Leopold von Ranke] 'History of Germany at the time of the Reformation'. Can WW think of anyone. JCH congratulates WW and the University on the honour surrounding the forthcoming visit of the Queen.

Herstmonceux - JCH is upset to find that he is the only one who thinks John F. D. Maurice should be the next Principal of King's College, London - 'almost everybody else says he is unfit for the post, and no one so vehemently as himself'. JCH is unsure what competitors Blakesley [Joseph W. Blakesley] will have for the position: 'He will certainly possess many valuable qualifications for the post'. JCH notes that Leopold von Ranke's book has found a translator in Mrs Austin [presumably Sarah Austin, see also JCH to WW, 21 Oct. 1843]: 'When I wrote last, Bunsen had told me that there was a dispute between Mrs Austin & Longman about terms, which I suppose has been adjusted, & that Ranke himself rather wanted a translator of more masculine intellect & learning'. It must have been both a burthen and great honour for WW to have had the Queen of England as his guest [see JCH to WW, 21 Oct. 1843]. JCH was 'quite unconscious of anything Schleiermacher [Friedrich E.D. Schleiermacher] in my sermon; and knowing how totally different his calm abstract philosophical, almost image-less style is from mine, I was startled at first by what you said. But I dare say there is some foundation for it in some of my later sermons'. JCH has often been struck at the lack of structure in some modern British sermons by people like Arnold [Thomas Arnold], Newman [John H. Newman] and Manning [Henry E. Manning] - 'they seemed to be a series of paragraphs strung together, often excellent in themselves, but with no organic connexion. On the other hand the dialectic development of the fundamental thought in Schleiermacher is almost always exquisite, & in Hofsbach often singularly happy. Our preachers have other high merits, but, except Maurice [John F. D. Maurice], few have this; and of course the defect may be accounted for by our different education & habits of thought. But a natural effect of these observations has been that I myself have of late given more thought to the structure, & less to the details of my sermons, though I was hardly conscious till today that Schleiermacher had had any influence in occasioning this change. I merely fancied I had gained a better insight into what a sermon ought to be'.

JCH is unsure whether Christian C. J. Bunsen is at home. When JCH last saw him he mentioned that he had had to decline a kind invitation from WW to come to Cambridge. Bunsen is concentrating on the printing of his book on Egypt. JCH gives his opinion of a recent Shakespeare production. It seems to JCH 'that the principle of the greatest dramatic poets has not been to make their characters talk in the form of thought which prevailed in their own times, but they have made them give utterance to the deepest thoughts of their own age & of their own individual minds. The most remarkable example of this is of course Hamlet, the Dane, who went to study at Wittenburg, under Doctor Martin Luther. But the same principle prevails in Macbeth, Lear, & indeed everywhere in Shakespeare; one of the chief marvels in whom is the manner in which he combines this with a sufficient regard to the characteristic spirit and manners of the age which he is representing'.

The Athenaeum - JCH was sorry he missed WW in London. They are going to spend the latter half of next month in Westmoreland. 'One cannot wish to live, in men's minds or otherwise, in nobler company than that of Arnold [Thomas Arnold]. Much as I admired and valued him, his life teaches me that I had a very inadequate notion of his extraordinary purity and holy energy. It is a book that will do good to men's hearts for generations; and ought to be in the hand & heart of everyone who engages in the sacred work of teaching'.

WW will see an article in the Times about the Address: 'I mention it only to say I had nothing to do with it nor do I know anything of its parentage except that it must be one of the parties represented by Mont. Villiers - I see no great harm in it except that it seems to postpone the universities to the London clergy which is not my taste. I have read Hare's [Julius Hare] letter and charge - they are excellent and practical. I think they must do good and I really feel obliged to him for them'. RJ is not so happy with Hare's 'tinkering of the address'. On the whole RJ sees 'a prospect of union which must give great strength and have really left off being scared about Tractarian wars'. RJ is very concerned about Charlotte Jones's health. The new Professor at Haileybury has been installed: 'I see nothing to dislike in him but he is not quite so striking a person as I was led to expect...his name is Buckley'.

Herstmonceux - JCH expresses, at great length, his joy on marrying Esther Maurice: 'You will know, from my love for Maurice [John F. D. Maurice], what a delight it is to me to gain him for a brother. My beloved friend Sterling [John Sterling] planned this marriage for me in the year 1837, as I have since learnt, shewing his love for me in seeking out the brightest part of womanhood to be my wife'.