THE NEW BISHOP OF DURHAM. T HE difficulties, whatever they were,
which no doubt delayed, and probably imperilled, the acceptance by Dr. Westcott of the Bishopric of Durham, have been removed, and an appointment is made which is in every respect but one satisfactory to the whole Church. The only subject for regret is that Dr. Westcott is no longer a young man, and that the duties of his See are of a kind which even a young man might find laborious. In other respects there is nothing to desire. Like Dr. Lightfoot, Dr. Westcott is one of the most learned men in the Anglican Church. He was one of the best scholars who took his share in the revision of the translation of the New Testa- ment; and yet he is no mere scholar. Nor can he in any sense be called a shadow of Dr. Lightfoot. With all his scholarship, he is more of a religious mystic, more con- templative in his attitude of mind, more disposed to dwell on the spiritual and reflective aspects of theological science, than his great predecessor ; and if less robust in the use he makes of his great learning, there is in him some- thing more of the charm of the spiritual and meditative recluse. If Dr. Lightfoot had in him all the strongest characteristics of English learning and sturdy purpose, Dr. Westcott has, we should say, a deeper sympathy with that Oriental attitude of mind to which we owe the origin of our faith. In one of his most popular books, Dr. Westcott has referred his readers to the fine lines at the close of Mr. Browning's " Luria," in which Browning sketched the religious genius of the East in its contrast to that of the North of Europe. But fine as Mr. Browning's lines are, we think that Dr. Westcott's exposition of the genius of the Jews is at least as powerful, and even more impressive to ordinary readers. We hardly know a more vivid and instructive picture than that which Dr. Westcott has drawn of the people who would not tolerate literature in its epic and dramatic forms, because they were always spending themselves in the effort to picture the impact of the infinite mind on human nature and human limitations. For the Jewish people, he said, " the whole history of mankind " was " an Epic, a Tragedy,—the one Epic, the one Tragedy, of which the fortunes of generations, or families, or men were but scattered fragments. They looked upon history as a life directed by will, and not as catastrophes ruled by destiny or phenomena produced by law. Thus it is that the work of these Jews is written on their character. But it is yet more legibly written on their history. It is difficult to say whether their national integrity or their power of assimilation is the more surprising. One catastrophe after another overwhelmed them, and they rise the same yet nobler from the fire in which they were purified. The old spirit remained, but it clothed itself in a new form. The conqueror lived in the conquered. The people fell beneath each of the great forms of ancient civilisation, and received from each the choicest treasures that it could bestow. Egypt, Persia, Greece, and Rome,— the great Powers of the East and West,—contributed to discipline the mind and further the work of the Jews. The hopes of the people were kindled by times of triumph and chastened by times of captivity. A theocracy, a monarchy, a hierarchy, brought out in succession various sides of their complex character, and gave to it solidity and completeness. Meanwhile, the spiritual teaching of the nation was carried on from stage to stage, so that while nothing was lost which could serve for the training of the simplest, something was ever added which might elevate the faith of those who saw deepest into the divine truth. When the Law, fixed and eternal, failed to satisfy all the wants which were called out by the manifold growth of a high social civilisation, the prophets laid open its inner meaning, and drew the outlines of a spiritual kingdom." That passage will give some notion of Dr. Westcott's clear imaginative grasp of the genius of the people to whose work in the world he has devoted so much time and thought. He will shine less than Dr. Lightfoot among the apologists, and more among the expositors and spiritual interpreters of revelation ; less among those who repel the attacks of assailants, more among those who help us to see what it is that has been assailed. He does not wield so formidable a weapon in crushing the sceptics. But then he employs a still more delicate instrument in expounding the significance and illustrating the mystery of the lessons which explain the relations between infinite and finite character, between eternal and temporary pur- pose. If Bishop Lightfoot added force and solidity and impressiveness to the Bench of Bishops, Dr. Westcott may well add even more to its visionary insight and its spiritual magnetism.
Moreover, the new Bishop of Durham has always dis- played a very deep susceptibility to the social responsi- bilities and opportunities of a spiritual society. He will be the last man to put needless stumbling-blocks in the way of hearty co-operation with other Churches and spiritual communities. " Nothing is more paralysing," he has said, "than a sense of isolation, nothing is more cheering than a consciousness of fellowship in the combined action of a great nation or of a great society." He has a keen feeling for the different functions of different nations. He quotes with enthusiasm the saying, " Nations redeem each other," and he appreciates the power which Churches have to redeem each other, and the immense loss which they incur by a jealous exclusion of each other's influence ; and this though there is nothing in him of that indolent and empty comprehensiveness which is willing to sacrifice distinctive convictions for the purpose of cultivating a shallow and feeble amiability. He realises as vividly as any thinker of our time can realise the ardent yearning for unity, as well as the apparently insurmountable obstacles which render unity incompatible with the single- ness of the devotion to truth. And while no one is more likely to enter eagerly into the Christian aspects of modern Socialism, we believe that no one is more sure to guard himself and his clergy against the danger of confusing the social side of Christian teaching with the selfish side of socialistic dreams. For Dr. Westcott has a mind penetrated with the conviction that revelation has actually renewed the life and history and energy of man, not by subordinating religious principle to the de- sires of the miserable, but by renovating the generous enthusiasm of men through the discovery of a new foun- tain of strength, and a new chivalry in the distribution of its refreshment to all those who are in urgent need of help. He will feel all the attractions and recognise all the dangers of socialistic dreams, for he will feel all the reproach of the selfish question, "Am I my brother's keeper ?" and all the madness of accepting the respon- sibility of answering it in the affirmative on any principle which denies, or even which does not secure, to that brother his full share of the highest spiritual life. Dr. Westcott's tenure of the diocese of Durham can hardly be a very protracted one, but we trust it may be long enough to dignify by his learning and to elevate by his religious enthusiasm one of the most influential Sees in England, and one of the most vigorous sections of the English race.
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