Newman. By William Barry. (Hodder and Stoughton. 3s. 6d.) —The
author of this readable monograph writes in fetters, and is quite aware of the fact. It is a contribution to a series known as "Literary Lives," and Dr. Barry persistently tries to contemplate Newman as a man of letters, not as a theologian. He is thus enabled to finish his enterprise with the prophecy that "by his style Newman will live when the questions upon which it was employed have sunk below the horizon or appear above it in un- dreamt-of shapes; for it is in itself a thing of light and beauty, a treasure from the classic past, an inheritance bequeathed to those peoples and continents which shall bear onward to far-off ages the language and literature that entitle England to a place beside Rome and Hellas in the world's chronicle." But, of course, it is quite impossible for Dr. Barry to try to separate the life of his hero from his diction, and it is to his credit that the attempts to effect this separation are not specially strenuous. In fact the value of this book lies in the circumstance that it is one of the most discriminating biographies of Newman yet written. In his hands the career of the great "pervert" becomes a natural development; thus even the memorable controversy with Kingsley, which is in every way judiciously dealt with, from being something outside of the ordinary Course of events, and even violent, has all the appearance of "a harmony not understood." Dr. Barry writes eloquently, occasionally rather too eloquently. But, on the whole, the book is a sound per- formance in every sense, and hits the happy medium between scrappiness and oppressive amplitude.
Previous page
