ow-minded and
self-satisfied people, according to Arnold, whom he satirizes with the idea
of opening their minds to new ideas. "Hebraism" is Arnold's term for moral
education. Carlyle had emphasized the Hebraic or moral element in life, and
Arnold undertook to preach the Hellenic or intellectual element, which
welcomes new ideas, and delights in the arts that reflect the beauty of the
world. "The uppermost idea with. Hellenism," he says, "is to see things as
they are; the uppermost idea with Hebraism is conduct and obedience." With
great clearness, sometimes with great force, and always with a play of
humor and raillery aimed at the "Philistines," Arnold pleads for both these
elements in life which together aim at "Culture," that is, at moral and
intellectual perfection.

GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS. Arnold's influence in our literature may be summed
up, in a word, as intellectual rather than inspirational. One cannot be
enthusiastic over his poetry, for the simple reason that he himself lacked
enthusiasm. He is, however, a true reflection of a very real mood of the
past century, the mood of doubt and sorrow; and a future generation may
give him a higher place than he now holds as a poet. Though marked by "the
elemental note of sadness," all Arnold's poems are distinguished by
clearness, simplicity, and the restrained emotion of his classic models.

As a prose writer the cold intellectual quality, which mars his poetry by
restraining romantic feeling, is of first importance, since it leads him to
approach literature with an open mind and with the single desire to find
"the best which has been thought and said in the world." We cannot yet
speak with confidence of his rank in literature; but by his crystal-clear
style, his scientific spirit of inquiry and comparison, illumined here and
there by the play of humor, and especially by his broad sympathy and
intellectual culture, he seems destined to occupy a very high place among
the masters of literary criticism.

JOHN HENRY NEWMAN (1801-1890)

Any record of the prose literature of the Victorian era, which includes the
historical essays of Macaulay and the art criticism of Ruskin, should
contain also some notice of its spiritual leaders. For there was never a
time when the religious ideals that inspire the race were kept more
constantly before men's minds through the medium of literature.

Among the religious writers of the age the first place belongs
unquestionably to Car