English Humanism

238 THE UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO QUARTERLY to act in the best interests of the majority. "That's the question)" said Cromwell, "what's for their good, not what pleases them." It has been the pretext of dictators in every age, and it is the antithesis of democracy, whose re1iance must be on the possibility, through persuasion, of making the will of the majority .and the good of the community coincide. Persuasion is not only democratic but social-it is an experience that fosters the spirit on which it relies; violence is the antithesis of both democracy and society. It seems possible that a nation whose citizens had really accepted the democratic principle at home might, as time went on, be willing to try its application in a wider community whose members were n" ot persons but states. ENGLISH HUMANISM' W. G. R I CE Contemporary reviewers sometimes seem akin to the American lady who expressed to Matthew Arnold her satisfaction in the thought that excellence is common and abundant; and no doubt we need frequently to be reminded, with Arnoldian firmness, that excellence (as the Greek poet long ago observed) is a dweller among rocks hardly accessible, so that a man must almost wear his heart out before he can reach her. One can be sure. however, that Professor Bush (though he shows no signs of exhaustion) has reached the high plac","; and that accordingly The Renaissance and English Humanism is a distinguished" addition to an excellent series. Its author is an admirable lecturer, able to contrive discourses that are at once orderly, perspicuous, lively, and full of ideas. As their background they have the reading . and reflection of many studious years; but this learning is borne with a lightness which is in itself a graceful compliment to those who listened. And the prose is a delight. The pl~asant gleams which shimmer across its surface never dazzle or bewilder the reader, who always knows which way the stream is flowing, and the nature of the terrain ' through which it passes. Nor does it forget its bright speed until it comes finally safe to sea.·The Rmai,uanu and English Humanism. by Douglas Bush~ The Alexander Lectures in English, 19J9, The University of Toronto Press. $1.50. 238 THE UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO QUARTERLY to act in the best interests of the majority. "That's the question)" said Cromwell, "what's for their good, not what pleases them." It has been the pretext of dictators in every age, and it is the antithesis of democracy, whose re1iance must be on the possibility, through persuasion, of making the will of the majority .and the good of the community coincide. Persuasion is not only democratic but social-it is an experience that fosters the spirit on which it relies; violence is the antithesis of both democracy and society. It seems possible that a nation whose citizens had really accepted the democratic principle at home might, as time went on, be willing to try its application in a wider community whose members were n" ot persons but states. ENGLISH HUMANISM' W. G. R I CE Contemporary reviewers sometimes seem akin to the American lady who expressed to Matthew Arnold her satisfaction in the thought that excellence is common and abundant; and no doubt we need frequently to be reminded, with Arnoldian firmness, that excellence (as the Greek poet long ago observed) is a dweller among rocks hardly accessible, so that a man must almost wear his heart out before he can reach her. One can be sure. however, that Professor Bush (though he shows no signs of exhaustion) has reached the high plac","; and that accordingly The Renaissance and English Humanism is a distinguished" addition to an excellent series. Its author is an admirable lecturer, able to contrive discourses that are at once orderly, perspicuous, lively, and full of ideas. As their background they have the reading . and reflection of many studious years; but this learning is borne with a lightness which is in itself a graceful compliment to those who listened. And the prose is a delight. The pl~asant gleams which shimmer across its surface never dazzle or bewilder the reader, who...