I cannot be sorry to have forced Mr. Kingsley to bring out in fulness his charges against me. It is far better that he should discharge his thoughts upon me in my lifetime, than after I am dead. Under the circumstances I am happy in having the opportunity of reading the worst that can be said of me by a writer who has taken pains with his work and is well satisfied with it. I account it a gain to be surveyed from without by one who hates the principles which are nearest to my heart, has no personal knowledge of me to set right his misconceptions of my doctrine1, and who has some motive2 or other to be as severe with me as he can possibly be.
And first of all, I beg to compliment him on the motto in his title-page; it is felicitous3. A motto should contain, as in a nutshell, the contents, or the character, or the drift, or the animus4 of the writing to which it is prefixed. The words which he has taken from me are so apposite as to be almost prophetical. There cannot be a better illustration than he thereby5 affords of the aphorism6 which I intended them to convey. I said that it is not more than an hyperbolical expression to say that in certain cases a lie is the nearest approach to truth. Mr. Kingsley's pamphlet is emphatically one of such cases as are contemplated7 in that proposition. I really believe, that his view of me is about as near an approach to the truth about my writings and doings, as he is capable of taking. He has done his worst towards me; but he has also done his best. So far well; but, while I impute9 to him no malice10, I unfeignedly think, on the other hand, that, in his invective11 against me, he as faithfully fulfils the other half of the proposition also.
This is not a mere12 sharp retort upon Mr. Kingsley, as will be seen, when I come to consider directly the subject to which the words of his motto relate. I have enlarged on that subject in various passages of my publications; I have said that minds in different states and circumstances cannot understand one another, and that in all cases they must be instructed according to their capacity, and, if not taught step by step, they learn only so much the less; that children do not apprehend13 the thoughts of grown people, nor savages14 the instincts of civilization, nor blind men the perceptions of sight, nor pagans the doctrines15 of Christianity, nor men the experiences of Angels. In the same way, there are people of matter-of-fact, prosaic17 minds, who cannot take in the fancies of poets; and others of shallow, inaccurate18 minds, who cannot take in the ideas of philosophical19 inquirers. In a lecture of mine I have illustrated20 this phenomenon by the supposed instance of a foreigner, who, after reading a commentary on the principles of English Law, does not get nearer to a real apprehension21 of them than to be led to accuse Englishmen of considering that the queen is impeccable and infallible, and that the Parliament is omnipotent22. Mr. Kingsley has read me from beginning to end in the fashion in which the hypothetical Russian read Blackstone; not, I repeat, from malice, but because of his intellectual build. He appears to be so constituted as to have no notion of what goes on in minds very different from his own, and moreover to be stone-blind to his ignorance. A modest man or a philosopher would have scrupled23 to treat with scorn and scoffing24, as Mr. Kingsley does in my own instance, principles and convictions, even if he did not acquiesce25 in them himself, which had been held so widely and for so long—the beliefs and devotions and customs which have been the religious life of millions upon millions of Christians26 for nearly twenty centuries—for this in fact is the task on which he is spending his pains. Had he been a man of large or cautious mind, he would not have taken it for granted that cultivation27 must lead every one to see things precisely28 as he sees them himself. But the narrow-minded are the more prejudiced by very reason of their narrowness. The apostle bids us "in malice be children, but in understanding be men." I am glad to recognise in Mr. Kingsley an illustration of the first half of this precept29; but I should not be honest, if I ascribed to him any sort of fulfilment of the second.
I wish I could speak as favourably30 either of his drift or of his method of arguing, as I can of his convictions. As to his drift, I think its ultimate point is an attack upon the Catholic Religion. It is I indeed, whom he is immediately insulting—still, he views me only as a representative, and on the whole a fair one, of a class or caste of men, to whom, conscious as I am of my own integrity, I ascribe an excellence31 superior to mine. He desires to impress upon the public mind the conviction that I am a crafty32, scheming man, simply untrustworthy; that, in becoming a Catholic, I have just found my right place; that I do but justify33 and am properly interpreted by the common English notion of Roman casuists and confessors; that I was secretly a Catholic when I was openly professing34 to be a clergyman of the Established Church; that so far from bringing, by means of my conversion36, when at length it openly took place, any strength to the Catholic cause, I am really a burden to it—an additional evidence of the fact, that to be a pure, german, genuine Catholic, a man must be either a knave37 or a fool.
These last words bring me to Mr. Kingsley's method of disputation, which I must criticise38 with much severity;—in his drift he does but follow the ordinary beat of controversy39, but in his mode of arguing he is actually dishonest.
He says that I am either a knave or a fool, and (as we shall see by and by) he is not quite sure which, probably both. He tells his readers that on one occasion he said that he had fears I should "end in one or other of two misfortunes." "He would either," he continues, "destroy his own sense of honesty, i.e. conscious truthfulness40—and become a dishonest person; or he would destroy his common sense, i.e. unconscious truthfulness, and become the slave and puppet seemingly of his own logic41, really of his own fancy.... I thought for years past that he had become the former; I now see that he has become the latter." (p. 20). Again, "When I read these outrages42 upon common sense, what wonder if I said to myself, 'This man cannot believe what he is saying?'" (p. 26). Such has been Mr. Kingsley's state of mind till lately, but now he considers that I am possessed43 with a spirit of "almost boundless44 silliness," of "simple credulity, the child of scepticism," of "absurdity45" (p. 41), of a "self-deception which has become a sort of frantic46 honesty" (p. 26). And as to his fundamental reason for this change, he tells us, he really does not know what it is (p. 44). However, let the reason be what it will, its upshot is intelligible47 enough. He is enabled at once, by this professed48 change of judgment49 about me, to put forward one of these alternatives, yet to keep the other in reserve;—and this he actually does. He need not commit himself to a definite accusation50 against me, such as requires definite proof and admits of definite refutation; for he has two strings51 to his bow;—when he is thrown off his balance on the one leg, he can recover himself by the use of the other. If I demonstrate that I am not a knave, he may exclaim, "Oh, but you are a fool!" and when I demonstrate that I am not a fool, he may turn round and retort, "Well, then, you are a knave." I have no objection to reply to his arguments in behalf of either alternative, but I should have been better pleased to have been allowed to take them one at a time.
But I have not yet done full justice to the method of disputation, which Mr. Kingsley thinks it right to adopt. Observe this first:—He means by a man who is "silly" not a man who is to be pitied, but a man who is to be abhorred52. He means a man who is not simply weak and incapable53, but a moral leper; a man who, if not a knave, has everything bad about him except knavery54; nay55, rather, has together with every other worst vice56, a spice of knavery to boot. His simpleton is one who has become such, in judgment for his having once been a knave. His simpleton is not a born fool, but a self-made idiot, one who has drugged and abused himself into a shameless depravity; one, who, without any misgiving57 or remorse58, is guilty of drivelling superstition59, of reckless violation60 of sacred things, of fanatical excesses, of passionate62 inanities63, of unmanly audacious tyranny over the weak, meriting the wrath64 of fathers and brothers. This is that milder judgment, which he seems to pride himself upon as so much charity; and, as he expresses it, he "does not know" why. This is what he really meant in his letter to me of January 14, when he withdrew his charge of my being dishonest. He said, "The tone of your letters, even more than their language, makes me feel, to my very deep pleasure,"—what? that you have gambled away your reason, that you are an intellectual sot, that you are a fool in a frenzy65. And in his pamphlet, he gives us this explanation why he did not say this to my face, viz. that he had been told that I was "in weak health," and was "averse66 to controversy," (pp. 6 and 8). He "felt some regret for having disturbed me."
But I pass on from these multiform imputations, and confine myself to this one consideration, viz. that he has made any fresh imputation67 upon me at all. He gave up the charge of knavery; well and good: but where was the logical necessity of his bringing another? I am sitting at home without a thought of Mr. Kingsley; he wantonly breaks in upon me with the charge that I had "informed" the world "that Truth for its own sake need not and on the whole ought not to be a virtue68 with the Roman clergy35." When challenged on the point he cannot bring a fragment of evidence in proof of his assertion, and he is convicted of false witness by the voice of the world. Well, I should have thought that he had now nothing whatever more to do. "Vain man!" he seems to make answer, "what simplicity69 in you to think so! If you have not broken one commandment, let us see whether we cannot convict you of the breach70 of another. If you are not a swindler or forger71, you are guilty of arson72 or burglary. By hook or by crook73 you shall not escape. Are you to suffer or I? What does it matter to you who are going off the stage, to receive a slight additional daub upon a character so deeply stained already? But think of me, the immaculate lover of Truth, so observant (as I have told you p. 8) of 'hault courage and strict honour,'—and (aside)—'and not as this publican'—do you think I can let you go scot free instead of myself? No; noblesse oblige. Go to the shades, old man, and boast that Achilles sent you thither74."
But I have not even yet done with Mr. Kingsley's method of disputation. Observe secondly:—when a man is said to be a knave or a fool, it is commonly meant that he is either the one or the other; and that,—either in the sense that the hypothesis of his being a fool is too absurd to be entertained; or, again, as a sort of contemptuous acquittal of one, who after all has not wit enough to be wicked. But this is not at all what Mr. Kingsley proposes to himself in the antithesis75 which he suggests to his readers. Though he speaks of me as an utter dotard and fanatic61, yet all along, from the beginning of his pamphlet to the end, he insinuates76, he proves from my writings, and at length in his last pages he openly pronounces, that after all he was right at first, in thinking me a conscious liar78 and deceiver.
Now I wish to dwell on this point. It cannot be doubted, I say, that, in spite of his professing to consider me as a dotard and driveller, on the ground of his having given up the notion of my being a knave, yet it is the very staple79 of his pamphlet that a knave after all I must be. By insinuation, or by implication, or by question, or by irony80, or by sneer81, or by parable82, he enforces again and again a conclusion which he does not categorically enunciate83.
For instance (1) P. 14. "I know that men used to suspect Dr. Newman, I have been inclined to do so myself, of writing a whole sermon ... for the sake of one single passing hint, one phrase, one epithet84, one little barbed arrow which ... he delivered unheeded, as with his finger tip, to the very heart of an initiated85 hearer, never to be withdrawn86 again."
(2) P. 15. "How was I to know that the preacher, who had the reputation of being the most acute man of his generation, and of having a specially87 intimate acquaintance with the weaknesses of the human heart, was utterly88 blind to the broad meaning and the plain practical result of a sermon like this, delivered before fanatic and hot-headed young men, who hung upon his every word? That he did not foresee that they would think that they obeyed him, by becoming affected89, artificial, sly, shifty, ready for concealments and equivocations?"
(3) P. 17. "No one would have suspected him to be a dishonest man, if he had not perversely91 chosen to assume a style which (as he himself confesses) the world always associates with dishonesty."
(4) Pp. 29, 30. "If he will indulge in subtle paradoxes93, in rhetorical exaggerations; if, whenever he touches on the question of truth and honesty, he will take a perverse92 pleasure in saying something shocking to plain English notions, he must take the consequences of his own eccentricities94."
(5) P. 34. "At which most of my readers will be inclined to cry: 'Let Dr. Newman alone, after that.... He had a human reason once, no doubt: but he has gambled it away.' ... True: so true, etc."
(6) P. 34. He continues: "I should never have written these pages, save because it was my duty to show the world, if not Dr. Newman, how the mistake (!) of his not caring for truth arose."
(7) P. 37. "And this is the man, who when accused of countenancing95 falsehood, puts on first a tone of plaintive96 (!) and startled innocence97, and then one of smug self-satisfaction—as who should ask, 'What have I said? What have I done? Why am I on my trial?'"
(8) P. 40. "What Dr. Newman teaches is clear at last, and I see now how deeply I have wronged him. So far from thinking truth for its own sake to be no virtue, he considers it a virtue so lofty as to be unattainable by man."
(9) P. 43. "There is no use in wasting words on this 'economical' statement of Dr. Newman's. I shall only say that there are people in the world whom it is very difficult to help. As soon as they are got out of one scrape, they walk straight into another."
(10) P. 43. "Dr. Newman has shown 'wisdom' enough of that serpentine98 type which is his professed ideal.... Yes, Dr. Newman is a very economical person."
(11) P. 44. "Dr. Newman tries, by cunning sleight-of-hand logic, to prove that I did not believe the accusation when I made it."
(12) P. 45. "These are hard words. If Dr. Newman shall complain of them, I can only remind him of the fate which befel the stork99 caught among the cranes, even though the stork had not done all he could to make himself like a crane, as Dr. Newman has, by 'economising' on the very title-page of his pamphlet."
These last words bring us to another and far worse instance of these slanderous100 assaults upon me, but its place is in a subsequent page.
Now it may be asked of me, "Well, why should not Mr. Kingsley take a course such as this? It was his original assertion that Dr. Newman was a professed liar, and a patron of lies; he spoke101 somewhat at random102, granted; but now he has got up his references and he is proving, not perhaps the very thing which he said at first, but something very like it, and to say the least quite as bad. He is now only aiming to justify morally his original assertion; why is he not at liberty to do so?"
Why should he not now insinuate77 that I am a liar and a knave! he had of course a perfect right to make such a charge, if he chose; he might have said, "I was virtually right, and here is the proof of it," but this he has not done, but on the contrary has professed that he no longer draws from my works, as he did before, the inference of my dishonesty. He says distinctly, p. 26, "When I read these outrages upon common sense, what wonder if I said to myself, 'This man cannot believe what he is saying?' I believe I was wrong." And in p. 31, "I said, This man has no real care for truth. Truth for its own sake is no virtue in his eyes, and he teaches that it need not be. I do not say that now." And in p. 41, "I do not call this conscious dishonesty; the man who wrote that sermon was already past the possibility of such a sin."
Why should he not! because it is on the ground of my not being a knave that he calls me a fool; adding to the words just quoted, "[My readers] have fallen perhaps into the prevailing103 superstition that cleverness is synonymous with wisdom. They cannot believe that (as is too certain) great literary and even barristerial ability may co-exist with almost boundless silliness."
Why should he not! because he has taken credit to himself for that high feeling of honour which refuses to withdraw a concession104 which once has been made; though (wonderful to say!), at the very time that he is recording105 this magnanimous resolution, he lets it out of the bag that his relinquishment106 of it is only a profession and a pretence107; for he says, p. 8: "I have accepted Dr. Newman's denial that [the Sermon] means what I thought it did; and heaven forbid" (oh!) "that I should withdraw my word once given, at whatever disadvantage to myself." Disadvantage! but nothing can be advantageous108 to him which is untrue; therefore in proclaiming that the concession of my honesty is a disadvantage to him, he thereby implies unequivocally that there is some probability still, that I am dishonest. He goes on, "I am informed by those from whose judgment on such points there is no appeal, that 'en hault courage,' and strict honour, I am also precluded109, by the terms of my explanation, from using any other of Dr. Newman's past writings to prove my assertion." And then, "I have declared Dr. Newman to have been an honest man up to the 1st of February, 1864; it was, as I shall show, only Dr. Newman's fault that I ever thought him to be anything else. It depends entirely110 on Dr. Newman whether he shall sustain the reputation which he has so recently acquired," (by diploma of course from Mr. Kingsley.) "If I give him thereby a fresh advantage in this argument, he is most welcome to it. He needs, it seems to me, as many advantages as possible."
What a princely mind! How loyal to his rash promise, how delicate towards the subject of it, how conscientious111 in his interpretation112 of it! I have no thought of irreverence113 towards a Scripture114 Saint, who was actuated by a very different spirit from Mr. Kingsley's, but somehow since I read his pamphlet words have been running in my head, which I find in the Douay version thus; "Thou hast also with thee Semei the son of Gera, who cursed me with a grievous curse when I went to the camp, but I swore to him, saying, I will not kill thee with the sword. Do not thou hold him guiltless. But thou art a wise man and knowest what to do with him, and thou shalt bring down his grey hairs with blood to hell."
Now I ask, Why could not Mr. Kingsley be open? If he intended still to arraign115 me on the charge of lying, why could he not say so as a man? Why must he insinuate, question, imply, and use sneering116 and irony, as if longing117 to touch a forbidden fruit, which still he was afraid would burn his fingers, if he did so? Why must he "palter in a double sense," and blow hot and cold in one breath? He first said he considered me a patron of lying; well, he changed his opinion; and as to the logical ground of this change, he said that, if any one asked him what it was, he could only answer that he really did not know. Why could not he change back again, and say he did not know why? He had quite a right to do so; and then his conduct would have been so far straightforward118 and unexceptionable. But no;—in the very act of professing to believe in my sincerity119, he takes care to show the world that it is a profession and nothing more. That very proceeding120 which at p. 15 he lays to my charge (whereas I detest121 it), of avowing122 one thing and thinking another, that proceeding he here exemplifies himself; and yet, while indulging in practices as offensive as this, he ventures to speak of his sensitive admiration123 of "hault courage and strict honour!" "I forgive you, Sir Knight," says the heroine in the Romance, "I forgive you as a Christian16." "That means," said Wamba, "that she does not forgive him at all." Mr. Kingsley's word of honour is about as valuable as in the jester's opinion was the Christian charity of Rowena. But here we are brought to a further specimen124 of Mr. Kingsley's method of disputation, and having duly exhibited it, I shall have done with him.
It is his last, and he has intentionally125 reserved it for his last. Let it be recollected126 that he professed to absolve127 me from his original charge of dishonesty up to February 1. And further, he implies that, at the time when he was writing, I had not yet involved myself in any fresh acts suggestive of that sin. He says that I have had a great escape of conviction, that he hopes I shall take warning, and act more cautiously. "It depends entirely," he says, "on Dr. Newman, whether he shall sustain the reputation which he has so recently acquired" (p. 8). Thus, in Mr. Kingsley's judgment, I was then, when he wrote these words, still innocent of dishonesty, for a man cannot sustain what he actually has not got; only he could not be sure of my future. Could not be sure! Why at this very time he had already noted128 down valid129 proofs, as he thought them, that I had already forfeited131 the character which he contemptuously accorded to me. He had cautiously said "up to February 1st," in order to reserve the title-page and last three pages of my pamphlet, which were not published till February 12th, and out of these four pages, which he had not whitewashed132, he had already forged charges against me of dishonesty at the very time that he implied that as yet there was nothing against me. When he gave me that plenary condonation133, as it seemed to be, he had already done his best that I should never enjoy it. He knew well at p. 8, what he meant to say at pp. 44 and 45. At best indeed I was only out upon ticket of leave; but that ticket was a pretence; he had made it forfeit130 when he gave it. But he did not say so at once, first, because between p. 8 and p. 44 he meant to talk a great deal about my idiotcy and my frenzy, which would have been simply out of place, had he proved me too soon to be a knave again; and next, because he meant to exhaust all those insinuations about my knavery in the past, which "strict honour" did not permit him to countenance134, in order thereby to give colour and force to his direct charges of knavery in the present, which "strict honour" did permit him to handsel. So in the fifth act he gave a start, and found to his horror that, in my miserable135 four pages, I had committed the "enormity" of an "economy," which in matter of fact he had got by heart before he began the play. Nay, he suddenly found two, three, and (for what he knew) as many as four profligate136 economies in that title-page and those Reflections, and he uses the language of distress137 and perplexity at this appalling138 discovery.
Now why this coup139 de théatre? The reason soon breaks on us. Up to February 1, he could not categorically arraign me for lying, and therefore could not involve me (as was so necessary for his case), in the popular abhorrence140 which is felt for the casuists of Rome: but, as soon as ever he could openly and directly pronounce (saving his "hault courage and strict honour") that I am guilty of three or four new economies, then at once I am made to bear, not only my own sins, but the sins of other people also, and, though I have been condoned141 the knavery of my antecedents, I am guilty of the knavery of a whole priesthood instead. So the hour of doom142 for Semei is come, and the wise man knows what to do with him;—he is down upon me with the odious143 names of "St. Alfonso da Liguori," and "Scavini" and "Neyraguet," and "the Romish moralists," and their "compeers and pupils," and I am at once merged144 and whirled away in the gulph of notorious quibblers, and hypocrites, and rogues145.
But we have not even yet got at the real object of the stroke, thus reserved for his finale. I really feel sad for what I am obliged now to say. I am in warfare146 with him, but I wish him no ill;—it is very difficult to get up resentment147 towards persons whom one has never seen. It is easy enough to be irritated with friends or foes148, vis-à-vis; but, though I am writing with all my heart against what he has said of me, I am not conscious of personal unkindness towards himself. I think it necessary to write as I am writing, for my own sake, and for the sake of the Catholic priesthood; but I wish to impute nothing worse to Kingsley than that he has been furiously carried away by his feelings. But what shall I say of the upshot of all this talk of my economies and equivocations and the like? What is the precise work which it is directed to effect? I am at war with him; but there is such a thing as legitimate149 warfare: war has its laws; there are things which may fairly be done, and things which may not be done. I say it with shame and with stern sorrow;—he has attempted a great transgression150; he has attempted (as I may call it) to poison the wells. I will quote him and explain what I mean.
"Dr. Newman tries, by cunning sleight-of-hand logic, to prove that I did not believe the accusation when I made it. Therein he is mistaken. I did believe it, and I believed also his indignant denial. But when he goes on to ask with sneers151, why I should believe his denial, if I did not consider him trustworthy in the first instance? I can only answer, I really do not know. There is a great deal to be said for that view, now that Dr. Newman has become (one must needs suppose) suddenly and since the 1st of February, 1864, a convert to the economic views of St. Alfonso da Liguori and his compeers. I am henceforth in doubt and fear, as much as any honest man can be, concerning every word Dr. Newman may write. How can I tell that I shall not be the dupe of some cunning equivocation90, of one of the three kinds laid down as permissible152 by the blessed Alfonso da Liguori and his pupils, even when confirmed by an oath, because 'then we do not deceive our neighbour, but allow him to deceive himself?' ... It is admissible, therefore, to use words and sentences which have a double signification, and leave the hapless hearer to take which of them he may choose. What proof have I, then, that by 'mean it? I never said it!' Dr. Newman does not signify, I did not say it, but I did mean it?"—Pp. 44, 45.
Now these insinuations and questions shall be answered in their proper places; here I will but say that I scorn and detest lying, and quibbling, and double-tongued practice, and slyness, and cunning, and smoothness, and cant153, and pretence, quite as much as any Protestants hate them; and I pray to be kept from the snare154 of them. But all this is just now by the bye; my present subject is Mr. Kingsley; what I insist upon here, now that I am bringing this portion of my discussion to a close, is this unmanly attempt of his, in his concluding pages, to cut the ground from under my feet;—to poison by anticipation155 the public mind against me, John Henry Newman, and to infuse into the imaginations of my readers, suspicion and mistrust of everything that I may say in reply to him. This I call poisoning the wells.
"I am henceforth in doubt and fear," he says, "as much as any honest man can be, concerning every word Dr. Newman may write. How can I tell that I shall not be the dupe of some cunning equivocation? ... What proof have I, that by 'mean it? I never said it!' Dr. Newman does not signify, 'I did not say it, but I did mean it'?"
Well, I can only say, that, if his taunt156 is to take effect, I am but wasting my time in saying a word in answer to his foul157 calumnies158; and this is precisely what he knows and intends to be its fruit. I can hardly get myself to protest against a method of controversy so base and cruel, lest in doing so, I should be violating my self-respect and self-possession; but most base and most cruel it is. We all know how our imagination runs away with us, how suddenly and at what a pace;—the saying, "Caesar's wife should not be suspected," is an instance of what I mean. The habitual159 prejudice, the humour of the moment, is the turning-point which leads us to read a defence in a good sense or a bad. We interpret it by our antecedent impressions. The very same sentiments, according as our jealousy160 is or is not awake, or our aversion stimulated161, are tokens of truth or of dissimulation162 and pretence. There is a story of a sane163 person being by mistake shut up in the wards8 of a lunatic asylum164, and that, when he pleaded his cause to some strangers visiting the establishment, the only remark he elicited165 in answer was, "How naturally he talks! you would think he was in his senses." Controversies166 should be decided167 by the reason; is it legitimate warfare to appeal to the misgivings168 of the public mind and to its dislikings? Anyhow, if Mr. Kingsley is able thus to practise upon my readers, the more I succeed, the less will be my success. If I am natural, he will tell them, "Ars est celare artem;" if I am convincing, he will suggest that I am an able logician169; if I show warmth, I am acting170 the indignant innocent; if I am calm, I am thereby detected as a smooth hypocrite; if I clear up difficulties, I am too plausible171 and perfect to be true. The more triumphant172 are my statements, the more certain will be my defeat.
So will it be if Mr. Kingsley succeeds in his man?uvre; but I do not for an instant believe that he will. Whatever judgment my readers may eventually form of me from these pages, I am confident that they will believe me in what I shall say in the course of them. I have no misgiving it all, that they will be ungenerous or harsh with a man who has been so long before the eyes of the world; who has so many to speak of him from personal knowledge; whose natural impulse it has ever been to speak out; who has ever spoken too much rather than too little; who would have saved himself many a scrape, if he had been wise enough to hold his tongue; who has ever been fair to the doctrines and arguments of his opponents; who has never slurred173 over facts and reasonings which told against himself; who has never given his name or authority to proofs which he thought unsound, or to testimony174 which he did not think at least plausible; who has never shrunk from confessing a fault when he felt that he had committed one; who has ever consulted for others more than for himself; who has given up much that he loved and prized and could have retained, but that he loved honesty better than name, and truth better than dear friends.
And now I am in a train of thought higher and more serene175 than any which slanders176 can disturb. Away with you, Mr. Kingsley, and fly into space. Your name shall occur again as little as I can help, in the course of these pages. I shall henceforth occupy myself not with you, but with your charges.
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doctrine
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| n.教义；主义；学说 | |
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motive
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felicitous
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animus
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thereby
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aphorism
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contemplated
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| adj. 预期的 动词contemplate的过去分词形式 | |
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wards
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| 区( ward的名词复数 )； 病房； 受监护的未成年者； 被人照顾或控制的状态 | |
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9
impute
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| v.归咎于 | |
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10
malice
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| n.恶意，怨恨，蓄意；[律]预谋 | |
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11
invective
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| n.痛骂，恶意抨击 | |
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12
mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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13
apprehend
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| vt.理解，领悟，逮捕，拘捕，忧虑 | |
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14
savages
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| 未开化的人，野蛮人( savage的名词复数 ) | |
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15
doctrines
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| n.教条( doctrine的名词复数 )；教义；学说；（政府政策的）正式声明 | |
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16
Christian
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| adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒 | |
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17
prosaic
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| adj.单调的，无趣的 | |
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18
inaccurate
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| adj.错误的，不正确的，不准确的 | |
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19
philosophical
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| adj.哲学家的，哲学上的，达观的 | |
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20
illustrated
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| adj. 有插图的，列举的 动词illustrate的过去式和过去分词 | |
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21
apprehension
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| n.理解，领悟；逮捕，拘捕；忧虑 | |
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22
omnipotent
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| adj.全能的，万能的 | |
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23
scrupled
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| v.感到于心不安，有顾忌( scruple的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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24
scoffing
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| n. 嘲笑, 笑柄, 愚弄 v. 嘲笑, 嘲弄, 愚弄, 狼吞虎咽 | |
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25
acquiesce
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| vi.默许，顺从，同意 | |
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26
Christians
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| n.基督教徒( Christian的名词复数 ) | |
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27
cultivation
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| n.耕作，培养，栽培（法），养成 | |
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28
precisely
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| adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地 | |
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29
precept
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| n.戒律；格言 | |
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30
favourably
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| adv. 善意地，赞成地 =favorably | |
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31
excellence
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| n.优秀，杰出，(pl.)优点，美德 | |
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32
crafty
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| adj.狡猾的，诡诈的 | |
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33
justify
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| vt.证明…正当(或有理)，为…辩护 | |
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34
professing
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| 声称( profess的现在分词 )； 宣称； 公开表明； 信奉 | |
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35
clergy
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| n.[总称]牧师，神职人员 | |
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36
conversion
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| n.转化，转换，转变 | |
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37
knave
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| n.流氓；（纸牌中的）杰克 | |
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38
criticise
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| v.批评，评论；非难 | |
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39
controversy
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| n.争论，辩论，争吵 | |
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40
truthfulness
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| n. 符合实际 | |
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41
logic
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| n.逻辑(学)；逻辑性 | |
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42
outrages
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| 引起…的义愤，激怒( outrage的第三人称单数 ) | |
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43
possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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44
boundless
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| adj.无限的；无边无际的；巨大的 | |
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45
absurdity
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| n.荒谬，愚蠢；谬论 | |
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46
frantic
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| adj.狂乱的，错乱的，激昂的 | |
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47
intelligible
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| adj.可理解的，明白易懂的，清楚的 | |
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48
professed
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| 公开声称的，伪称的，已立誓信教的 | |
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49
judgment
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| n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见 | |
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50
accusation
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| n.控告，指责，谴责 | |
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51
strings
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| n.弦 | |
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52
abhorred
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| v.憎恶( abhor的过去式和过去分词 )；（厌恶地）回避；拒绝；淘汰 | |
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53
incapable
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| adj.无能力的，不能做某事的 | |
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54
knavery
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| n.恶行，欺诈的行为 | |
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55
nay
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| adv.不；n.反对票，投反对票者 | |
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56
vice
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| n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的 | |
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57
misgiving
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| n.疑虑，担忧，害怕 | |
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58
remorse
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| n.痛恨，悔恨，自责 | |
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59
superstition
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| n.迷信，迷信行为 | |
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60
violation
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| n.违反(行为)，违背(行为)，侵犯 | |
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61
fanatic
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| n.狂热者，入迷者；adj.狂热入迷的 | |
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62
passionate
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| adj.热情的，热烈的，激昂的，易动情的，易怒的，性情暴躁的 | |
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63
inanities
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| n.空洞( inanity的名词复数 )；浅薄；愚蠢；空洞的言行 | |
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64
wrath
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| n.愤怒，愤慨，暴怒 | |
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65
frenzy
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| n.疯狂，狂热，极度的激动 | |
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66
averse
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| adj.厌恶的；反对的，不乐意的 | |
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67
imputation
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| n.归罪，责难 | |
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68
virtue
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| n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力 | |
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69
simplicity
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| n.简单，简易；朴素；直率，单纯 | |
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70
breach
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| n.违反，不履行；破裂；vt.冲破，攻破 | |
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71
forger
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| v.伪造；n.（钱、文件等的）伪造者 | |
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72
arson
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| n.纵火，放火 | |
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73
crook
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| v.使弯曲；n.小偷，骗子，贼；弯曲(处) | |
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74
thither
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| adv.向那里；adj.在那边的，对岸的 | |
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75
antithesis
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| n.对立；相对 | |
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76
insinuates
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| n.暗示( insinuate的名词复数 )；巧妙或迂回地潜入；（使）缓慢进入；慢慢伸入v.暗示( insinuate的第三人称单数 )；巧妙或迂回地潜入；（使）缓慢进入；慢慢伸入 | |
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77
insinuate
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| vt.含沙射影地说，暗示 | |
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78
liar
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| n.说谎的人 | |
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79
staple
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|
| n.主要产物，常用品，主要要素，原料，订书钉，钩环；adj.主要的，重要的；vt.分类 | |
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80
irony
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| n.反语，冷嘲；具有讽刺意味的事，嘲弄 | |
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81
sneer
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| v.轻蔑；嘲笑；n.嘲笑，讥讽的言语 | |
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82
parable
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| n.寓言，比喻 | |
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83
enunciate
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| v.发音；（清楚地）表达 | |
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84
epithet
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| n.（用于褒贬人物等的）表述形容词，修饰语 | |
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85
initiated
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|
| n. 创始人 adj. 新加入的 vt. 开始，创始，启蒙，介绍加入 | |
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86
withdrawn
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|
| vt.收回；使退出；vi.撤退，退出 | |
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87
specially
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| adv.特定地；特殊地；明确地 | |
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88
utterly
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| adv.完全地，绝对地 | |
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89
affected
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| adj.不自然的，假装的 | |
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90
equivocation
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|
| n.模棱两可的话，含糊话 | |
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91
perversely
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| adv. 倔强地 | |
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92
perverse
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|
| adj.刚愎的；坚持错误的，行为反常的 | |
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93
paradoxes
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|
| n.似非而是的隽语，看似矛盾而实际却可能正确的说法( paradox的名词复数 )；用于语言文学中的上述隽语；有矛盾特点的人[事物，情况] | |
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94
eccentricities
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| n.古怪行为( eccentricity的名词复数 )；反常；怪癖 | |
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95
countenancing
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| v.支持，赞同，批准( countenance的现在分词 ) | |
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96
plaintive
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| adj.可怜的，伤心的 | |
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97
innocence
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| n.无罪；天真；无害 | |
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98
serpentine
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| adj.蜿蜒的，弯曲的 | |
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99
stork
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| n.鹳 | |
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100
slanderous
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| adj.诽谤的，中伤的 | |
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101
spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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102
random
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| adj.随机的；任意的；n.偶然的(或随便的)行动 | |
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103
prevailing
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| adj.盛行的；占优势的；主要的 | |
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104
concession
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| n.让步，妥协；特许(权) | |
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105
recording
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| n.录音，记录 | |
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106
relinquishment
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| n.放弃；撤回；停止 | |
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107
pretence
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| n.假装，作假；借口，口实；虚伪；虚饰 | |
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108
advantageous
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| adj.有利的；有帮助的 | |
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109
precluded
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| v.阻止( preclude的过去式和过去分词 )；排除；妨碍；使…行不通 | |
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110
entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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111
conscientious
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| adj.审慎正直的，认真的，本着良心的 | |
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112
interpretation
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| n.解释，说明，描述；艺术处理 | |
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113
irreverence
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| n.不尊敬 | |
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114
scripture
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| n.经文，圣书，手稿；Scripture:(常用复数)《圣经》，《圣经》中的一段 | |
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115
arraign
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| v.提讯；控告 | |
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116
sneering
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| 嘲笑的，轻蔑的 | |
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117
longing
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| n.（for）渴望 | |
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118
straightforward
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| adj.正直的，坦率的；易懂的，简单的 | |
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119
sincerity
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| n.真诚，诚意；真实 | |
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120
proceeding
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| n.行动，进行，(pl.)会议录，学报 | |
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121
detest
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| vt.痛恨，憎恶 | |
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122
avowing
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| v.公开声明，承认( avow的现在分词 ) | |
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123
admiration
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| n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕 | |
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124
specimen
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| n.样本，标本 | |
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125
intentionally
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| ad.故意地，有意地 | |
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126
recollected
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| adj.冷静的；镇定的；被回忆起的；沉思默想的v.记起，想起( recollect的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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127
absolve
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| v.赦免，解除（责任等） | |
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128
noted
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| adj.著名的，知名的 | |
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129
valid
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| adj.有确实根据的；有效的；正当的，合法的 | |
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130
forfeit
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| vt.丧失；n.罚金，罚款，没收物 | |
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131
forfeited
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| （因违反协议、犯规、受罚等）丧失，失去( forfeit的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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132
whitewashed
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| 粉饰，美化，掩饰( whitewash的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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133
condonation
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| n.容忍，宽恕，原谅 | |
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134
countenance
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| n.脸色，面容；面部表情；vt.支持，赞同 | |
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135
miserable
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| adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的 | |
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136
profligate
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| adj.行为不检的；n.放荡的人，浪子，肆意挥霍者 | |
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137
distress
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| n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛 | |
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138
appalling
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| adj.骇人听闻的，令人震惊的，可怕的 | |
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139
coup
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| n.政变；突然而成功的行动 | |
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abhorrence
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| n.憎恶；可憎恶的事 | |
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condoned
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| v.容忍，宽恕，原谅( condone的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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doom
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| n.厄运，劫数；v.注定，命定 | |
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odious
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| adj.可憎的，讨厌的 | |
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merged
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| （使）混合( merge的过去式和过去分词 )； 相融； 融入； 渐渐消失在某物中 | |
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145
rogues
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| n.流氓( rogue的名词复数 )；无赖；调皮捣蛋的人；离群的野兽 | |
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warfare
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| n.战争(状态)；斗争；冲突 | |
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resentment
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| n.怨愤，忿恨 | |
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foes
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| 敌人，仇敌( foe的名词复数 ) | |
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legitimate
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| adj.合法的，合理的，合乎逻辑的；v.使合法 | |
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transgression
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| n.违背；犯规；罪过 | |
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151
sneers
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| 讥笑的表情（言语）( sneer的名词复数 ) | |
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permissible
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| adj.可允许的，许可的 | |
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cant
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| n.斜穿，黑话，猛扔 | |
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154
snare
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| n.陷阱，诱惑，圈套；（去除息肉或者肿瘤的）勒除器；响弦，小军鼓；vt.以陷阱捕获，诱惑 | |
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anticipation
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| n.预期，预料，期望 | |
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taunt
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| n.辱骂，嘲弄；v.嘲弄 | |
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foul
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| adj.污秽的；邪恶的；v.弄脏；妨害；犯规；n.犯规 | |
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158
calumnies
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| n.诬蔑，诽谤，中伤（的话）( calumny的名词复数 ) | |
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habitual
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| adj.习惯性的；通常的，惯常的 | |
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jealousy
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| n.妒忌，嫉妒，猜忌 | |
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stimulated
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| a.刺激的 | |
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dissimulation
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| n.掩饰，虚伪，装糊涂 | |
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sane
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| adj.心智健全的，神志清醒的，明智的，稳健的 | |
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asylum
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| n.避难所，庇护所，避难 | |
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elicited
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| 引出，探出( elicit的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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controversies
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| 争论 | |
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decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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misgivings
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| n.疑虑，担忧，害怕；疑虑，担心，恐惧( misgiving的名词复数 )；疑惧 | |
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logician
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| n.逻辑学家 | |
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170
acting
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| n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的 | |
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plausible
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| adj.似真实的，似乎有理的，似乎可信的 | |
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triumphant
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| adj.胜利的，成功的；狂欢的，喜悦的 | |
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slurred
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| 含糊地说出( slur的过去式和过去分词 )； 含糊地发…的声； 侮辱； 连唱 | |
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174
testimony
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| n.证词；见证，证明 | |
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175
serene
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| adj. 安详的，宁静的，平静的 | |
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slanders
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| 诽谤，诋毁( slander的名词复数 ) | |
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