None that knew Sir Rider Haggard in the flesh would
have denied him the quality of sincerity ; those who knew him most intimately would add to this that a fine simplicity was also one of his marked attributes. This latter trait comes out very strongly in A Note on Religion (1s.), which formed a chapter in his autobiography and which Messrs. Longmans have now selected for separate publication. The Note is a plain man's confession of faith; and will surely help many another plain man as he struggles through this world into the next. Haggard was no theologian, nor was he a bigot : in all modes of Christian belief he discerned merit, but in the bosom of the Church of England he lived and within that ample fold he died. He had laid fast hold on the Eternal Verities : that belief in the Resurrection is the core of the Christian faith : if that fails, all else crumbles. That belief in this central doctrine is only to be obtained by prayer, which he defines as the habitual uplifting of the heart to Heaven" : that through the Bible rings the voice of God. There are indications that he would have the clergy celibate, and, convinced as he is of the immortality of the soul, he sees no objection to prayers being offered for the dead. The origin of evil he assigns to the existence of " the old scriptural Satan now so generally discarded." But in prayer, rightly directed, he maintained unswerving faith.
* * * *
Previous page
