H. NEWMAN AND MATTHEW ARNOLD 12Q and we must not let the worship of any fetish, any

126 OCHLTUBE AND SOCIETY 1780-1950

J. H. NEWMAN AND MATTHEW ARNOLD 12Q and we must not let the worship of any fetish, any

machinery, such

^asmanufacturesor

populationwhich

are _not, likeperfection, absolute goods ⁱⁿthemselves,

though we

think

them

so create forus

such

amulti

tude

of miserable,

sunken and

_ignorant

human

_beings,

thattocarry

them

allalong

with

usis impossible,

and

perforcethey

must

forthe

most

_part

be

left

by

^{us in}

theirdegradation

and

wretchedness.²³

The

_positionis quiteclear,

and

itis evidently in^linewith the basiccriticismof Industrialism,

and with

thetraditional reaction tothe accumulating evidence ofpoverty

and

suf fering. Others

had _argued

for a

new

national education,

but none with

theauthority or^effectofArnold.

Those who

accuse

him

of a policy of "cultivated inaction* forget not only^his

arguments but

^hislife.

As an

_Inspector of schools,

and

independently,^hiseffortto establish

a

systemof general

and humane

education

was

intense

and

sustained.

There

is

nothing

^ofthe

dandy

^{in Arnold's} fight against thevicious

mechanism

of the Revised

Code. On

a

number

of similar educational matters _{of great}importance

he showed a

fine capacity for detailed application of principles that in his theoreticalwritings are^often

open

^toa charge^ofvagueness.

Culture

and

_Anarchy, infact,

needs

to

be

read alongside the_reports, minutes, evidence^to commissions

and

_specifi callyeducational_essays

which made _up

_{so large}

a

_part of Arnold's

working

^life.

When we have

said this,

we _may have

rescued

Arnold from

a

common and

insupportablecharge,but

we have

not finally construed either his significance or^{his effect.}

The most

interestingpoint^toconsiderishis

recommendation

of the Stateasthe agent^of generalperfection. Here, in_part,

he

isfollowing the ideas,

and

the language, ^ofBurke.

He

speaks, characteristically, of

ways which

^arenaturally alluring tothefeet of

democ

racy,

though

^inthiscountry they^arenovel

and

untried

ways.

^I

may

^call

^them

^the

ways

^ofJacobinism. Violent indignation

with

thepast, abstractsystems ^ofrenova tion applied wholesale, a

new

doctrine

drawn up

ⁱⁿ black

and white

for elaborating

down

to the very

13O

^CULTtJKE

AND

SOCIETY

1780-1950

smallestdetails a rational society forthefuture these are the

ways

^ofJacobinism.²⁴

1 _may

call

them

the

ways

^of Jacobinism' (they

had been

called this for three-quarters of a century). In

any

event,

we

are

now

well

used

to this kindof criticism as typical of the opposition^to'State

7

power.

In Arnold,^{as in}Burke,this is notthe conjunction; the

argument

against ^'State'

power

depends, nearly always,

on who

isthe'State'. Arnold's

po

sitionisthat ofBurke:

He who _gave

our natureto

be

_perfected

by

^ourvirtue willed also the necessary

means

ofits perfection:

He

willed thereforetheState.25

Arnold,similarly,

imagined

^{theStateasthe} 'centre of light

and

authority', the organ ^of the 'best self.

But how,

ⁱⁿ practical terms,

was

thiscentreto

be composed? Burke had

accepted theexistingrulingclass as,

though

imperfect, the natural 'centre of light

and

authority'. Arnold,

though he

lookedat

each

class in turn,couldfind

none which seemed

to

him

at allqualified for so

high

^a duty.

The

aristocracy (Barbarians) were, ^as a class, useless, because their char acteristicvirtues

were

those created

by

^thebusiness of

de

fending the ^status quo. Their very vigour ^{in this} defence

made them

inaccessible to thefree play^of

new

ideas,

on which

_light

and

authority'

must depend. The middle

classes (Philistines)

were

also _useless,

because

of their at

tachment

to

an

externalcivilization.Theirfaith in'machin ery' (Wealth, Industry, Production, Progress)

and

in in dividual successdenied,respectively,the ^harmonious*

and

the_'general*pursuit of perfection.

As

forthe

working

^classes (Populace), they ^eithershared

with

the

middle

classesthe

attachment

to externalcivilization,

wishing

only^to

become

Philistine as quickly ^aspossible; or else they

were merely degraded and

brutal, therepository ofdarknessrather

than

of_light.

Others

might

^seeallthis,

and

consequently^fearthe idea of State

power, which

_{could only}

be

the

embodiment

ofthe interest of

one

or other ofthese classes.

And

if this

were

J. H.

NEWMAN AND MATTHEW

AKNO3LD 131

indeed

_{true, could the State,} in practical terms,

be

con sideredas

a

_likely"centre of_light

and

_authority'at all?

But how

toorganize^thisauthority, or to

what hands

to entrust the wielding ^{of it?}

How

to get your State,

summing up

^theright reason ofthe

community, and

giving^effecttoit, ascircumstances

may

require,

with

vigour?

And

hereIthinkIsee

my

enemies waiting^for

me with a hungry

joy in their eyes.

But

I shallelude them.²⁶

He saw

his

enemies

waiting indeed;

and we

too,

who

are nothisenemies,^stillwait,

and

arestill,ina_sense,hungry.

One

is glad ^to seeArnold eluding the nineteenth-century pack; or^tosee

him

enjoying the thought^ofdoingso,

even

if the _glint has a certain ridiculous effect

The

_problem,

however, remained

a

most

difficultone.

The

existing social classes,the ordinary candidatesforpower,

were

in Arnold's

view

_inadequateforitsproper^exercise.

The

_political

con

flict

was _{merely a}

deadlockoftheirimperfections.

For

these reasons aState

was

needed, ^as

an

_adequate

and

transcend ing organ.

The

classes

were

the

embodiment

ofour ordinary selves; to

embody

^ourbestself

we must

create

a

State.

But by what means, and

through

what

_persons? Arnold's

an swer depends on what he

called the 'remnant'. In each class,

he

argued, thereexisted, alongsidethecharacteristic majority,

a

_minority, a

number

of _'aliens',

who were

not disabled

by

the ordinarynotions

and

habits of their class:

persons

who

_{are mainly led,} not

by

^{their class}spirit,

but by

a general

humane

_spirit,

by

^{thelove of}

human

perfection.²⁷

In

such

persons the^{'best selfis} active,

and

_they

can

_try, ina

number

ofways,^to

awaken

theT>estselfthatislatent in all

men but

is obscured

by

the inadequacies ^{of class} ideology

and

habit.

The means

of

awakening wil

include education, poetry

and

criticism.

Education

willbase itself

on

'thebestthathas

been

_thought

and

writtenintheworld'.

By

extending

and communicating

^{this record of die *best}

self' of

humanity

^itwillcreate

an adequate

general

knowl

edge and a

^{standardofeffective} thinking. Poetry, asa dis-