"NATURAL RELIGION." [To THE EDITOR OT THE "SPECTATOR. "] Sfit,—The interesting
passage cited in your last number from a .
private letter by the author of "Natural Religion " reminds me that, as far as I know, it has never been yet pointed out that the- motto or text chosen by the author for his book is, in fact, a garbled quotation.
On the fly-leaf appears the motto, with the name of Words- worth subjoined, " We live by admiration." What Wordsworth wrote, in the Fourth Book of the "Excursion," is as follows :—
" We live by Admiration, Hope, and Love ; And, even as these are well and wisely fixed, In dignity of being we ascend."
Now, we clergy are often justly blamed for preaching froze single verses or portions of verses of Scripture, as if they con- tained the whole truth of the matter. I think we may fairly retort the blame, in this instance. What Wordsworth meant to- teach is most certainly not represented by the first four words of the first line. It is precisely the omission of the two things- Hope and Love from the passage that, as it seems to me, leaves the new religion proposed for the world by the ingenious author,. a sterile and ineffectual thing.—I am, Sir, &C.,
2 Upper Terrace, Hampstead, June 19th.
ALFRED ALS GER.
Previous page
