Lesson 6 Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Lesson 6 - Assignment Example Other roles carried out by a case manager involves patients referral, delivery of healthcare, adjustment and evaluation of results for every patient and most importantly evaluating the entire health program effectiveness by making adjustments to the health program. Coordinate and arrange for special services: It is the duty of case managers to evaluation cases that require specialist attention and refer them accordingly. This ensures patients with complicated conditions are examined and treated by medical practitioners of a given specialty. Negotiating rates: It is the function of a case manager to negotiate rates with clients. Different cases are managed at varied rates and in application of a win to win situation between a client and a hospital, the case manager represents the hospital in negotiating the most appropriate rate (Finkelman, 2001). Collaboration and negotiation: A case manager primary role involves facilitating client recipient of services. In order to effectively perform this task, a case manager must establish a cooperative relationship with all people. Self-determination and ability to make choices: According to Edlin (2002), similar to other people, a case manager should possess the ability to make their own choices with regard to life decisions and as far as case management models are concerned. Clinical studies gathered about a patient should be set in an individualized context. A health practitioner must clearly understand the patient’s background, how such information impacts on the problem at hand and the reasons as to why a patient is seeking help at that given time(Jesitus, 2001). In this regard, such contextual details requires enquiry into patients complains, past admissions and readmissions within a span of four weeks, past cases of drug usage, family history, past medical history and personal and family history among others. Family history: This

Sales Tax in Canada Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Sales Tax in Canada - Term Paper Example There are various types of taxes such as the income tax, sales tax, import tax and export tax but the discussion in this paper will be based on the sales tax and its impact. Sales tax is levied by a city or state on retail prices of items (Kesselman, 2011). This tax is usually imposed by governments and collected at point of sale with the retailer to collecting and passing the tax to the state (Kesselman, 2011). There are three kinds of sales taxes levied in Canada namely the provincial sales tax PST collected by provinces; goods and services tax which is collected by federal government, Lastly, there is the harmonized sales tax (HST) which combines both PST and GST and is levied in various provinces and then shared out to participating provinces (Sherman, 2009). The rate of sales tax levied is based on various factors which include the product and the place they are being shipped; for instance, publications shipped into any Canadian destination are levied a 5 percent GST although th ey are not subjected to PST (Smart, 2011). The costs incurred in shipment and cargo handling expenses are also subjected to sales taxes. This paper will present three products subjected to sales tax in Canada and evaluate who bears the burden from this budgets. Products subject to sales tax in Canada On 1st July 2010, the harmonized sales tax (HST) was adopted which did away with payment of sales taxes to two governmental levels (Smart, 2011). Previously, eight percent sales tax was paid under the PST while 5 percent was levied by the federal government for various products. Despite the harmonization of the sales taxes, products that were previously not subjected to sales tax remained unaffected as the total sales tax become aggregated (Smart, 2011). The products which are never subjected to sales tax include prescription drugs, basic groceries and municipal transits (Roukhkain, 2011). Clothing and footwear are subjected to sales tax in Canada (Chetty, Looney, and Kroft, 2008). Unde r HST, clothing for adults is subjected to 13 percent in Ontario. The aggregate tax rate is equal to the cumulative sales tax levied before July, 2010 where GST was 5 percent and the PST was 8 percent. Clothing for the children is subjected to a 5 percent sales tax as was the case before HST was adopted as they were exempted from 8 percent PST rate (Roukhkain, 2011). Furthermore, footwear for children are subjected to 5 percent sale tax as shoes beyond size six have a 13 percent sales tax levied on them. The tax system on clothing is based on the age group of their users and it is lower for children clothing to ensure that they are cheap and affordable thereby guaranteeing quality life for them (Smart, 2007). Although not all food products and beverages are subjected to sales tax; others have the tax charged (Smart, 2007). Basic groceries such as meat, vegetable, dairy and canned products are not subjected to sales tax and this has been the case even before HST was adopted. However, snack foods for instance chips and pop corn are charged a 13 percent sale tax. In addition, meals sold in restaurants for more than $ 4 have a 13 sales tax levied. Similarly, alcoholic drinks are also subjected to 13 percent sale tax. These products have a tax levied on them given that they are considered as luxuries and therefore a person enjoying them is well off in the society (Duff, 2003). On the other hand, no tax is levied on basic groceries as they are usually needed for maintenance of life and if sales tax is levied on products in this category, they would become expensive and unaffordable for the poor (Duff, 2003). Motor vehicles and their spare parts are the other products

Globalisation Effect on Singapore

Globalisation Effect on Singapore Globalization can be described as an ongoing process where resources, believes, ideas and technology from different cultures are integrated to each other and promote new ways of thinking and practices among the society. As a continuing progression, globalization aroused from the influences of other cultures, which has been adapted with the local cultural conditions and modified to fit in the context of social behaviour. The external influences will directly override some local particularities, and the culture itself will be altered, or maybe damaged, or even enhanced, according to the perspective of society life. Therefore, the expression of culture itself will be interpreted and analysed in different way which encouraged the people to think, act, and learn the new disciplines in every aspect of life. These processes, hence, have an outcome of a cultural diversity, in which introducing the local values in global culture. In other words, it offered a global and local linkage of social changes that happened in the nation. Looking through the contemporary social life, globalization has become a major issue all over the world. Many countries have developed new approaches in most of the living aspects, and transformed peoples lifestyle in order to follow the major flow that happened globally. In todays modern days, globalization can act as a tool to open the opportunities of influence by other countries, and expand the cross-cultural interaction that may build up the cohesion among the nation. Globalization, however, implies to westernization in present days. The nature of western countries seems to appear as a science based tradition and the world is highly developed towards that tradition, as a sense of control. These global forces appear to superficially standardized and homogenized cultures, and equivalent to westernization. Majority of cultures are converging to the western standards, local identities have been replaced with global culture, and western values have become significant trends in this modern world. Looking at Singapore, a cosmopolitan city, where variety of cultures merges together, is one of a good example of a country that embraces globalization. Besides accepting the westernization, Singapore has been spanning borders through other cultures, such as Malay, Chinese, Indian, and Caucasian. These four interwoven cultures has created a genuine blending of traditions, believes, and ideas. A fusion of cultures in which Singapore brought in, has created a multi-disciplinary notions and practices, rooted in many cultural traditions. This synthesis has altered and transforms the peoples way of life according to the local context. On the other hand, not only western value that the world, including Singapore, has been developing on, but also majority of the countries have welcoming influences from Asian culture. Japan has brought a significant shift in the worlds globalization. Beside westernization, it has been become a popular culture among the world. Japanese culture has generated a different approach in global trends. Its tradition does not rest on science based technology and for them technology is a choice, not a necessity. Japan has greatly developed their long standing traditions towards something that instinctive rather than rationalistic way of thinking, like what the western do. Japan has its own original characteristic, which has a capacity to adapt and integrate new forms and function. Hence, there is no doubt that Japanese influence has an impact on the worlds culture, such as, in space, design, architecture, style, and even food culture. There is no large city in the world in which a Japanese restaurant cannot be found. Far from being a passing fad, Japanese cuisine is an establishment item in restaurants all over the world. The popularity of Japanese food is in part due to its reputation as a healthy alternative and also the curiosity and willingness to constantly introducing new tastes in their daily meals. Japanese way of dining, since the olden days, has put emphasized on food arrangement as a piece of art. For the Japanese, food must be enjoyed visually and pleasing to the eyes. They have developed the aesthetic sense to design exquisite harmony between colours, texture and shape throughout the food arrangement. This visual pleasure is an essential prelude and accompaniment to the savoury pleasure that follow. The influence of Japanese cuisine has been successfully creating a new atmosphere in Singapore food culture. It is proven that Singapore people accepted the taste and ambience of Japanese food by looking to the increasing number of sushi chain restaurant, such as Sushi Tei, Sakae Sushi; numerous traditional and contemporary Japanese restaurant, and also Japanese themed food court such as Ishimura and Manpuku. The diversity of food which has been influenced by Japanese cuisine, has become an inspiration for the designers to introduce innovative and exciting solutions to design dining spaces, through the essential aspect of Japanese dining and design in new ways that suit todays restaurant-goers. Recognizing the context of social behaviour in Singapore, innovation is the key elements for Singaporean. In terms of food culture, people like an excitement and it is a challenge for them to try something fresh and different, both in food and also ambience of dining space. Experience is another strong point, another extra ordinary atmosphere can attract people to get in and try a new restaurant. Besides the tendency to look for new things, the image of Singapore as a fast paced country gave an impact to the society. The time-oriented and multi-tasking people have built a busy working environment and hectic lifestyle in this metropolis city. Consequently, they are likely dont have time to have the luxury of enjoying social fellowship during the weekdays. This could be why it seems that forms of entertainment in Singapore tend to be designed to fit peoples activity on weekends. The big leisure activity that Singapore offers is shopping. There are numerous numbers of malls and shopping centres have been build or even renovated to drag people in the shopping as an attraction. Other than shopping; casinos, theme parks, nature reserves, are the other forms of leisure that Singapore provided. Despite the fact that all those type of facilities can serve as a very relaxing and stress relieving activity, people need to spend their time on weekend to do these activities.

Brown v. Board of Education: A Civil Rights Milestone Essay -- Ending

â€Å"’The Supreme Court decision [on Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas] is the greatest victory for the Negro people since the Emancipation Proclamation,’ Harlem’s Amsterdam News exclaimed. ‘It will alleviate troubles in many other fields.’ The Chicago Defender added, ‘this means the beginning of the end of the dual society in American life and the system†¦of segregation which supports it.’†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Oliver Brown, father of Linda Brown decided that his third grade daughter should not have to walk one mile through a railroad switchyard just to get to the bus stop before she could even get to the separate Negro school for her area. He attempted to enroll her in the white public school only three blocks from their home, but her enrollment was denied due to her race. The browns believed this was a violation of their rights, and took their case to the courts. This wasn’t the first time that blacks found their constitutional rights violated. After the civil war, laws were passed to continue the separation of blacks and whites throughout the southern states, starting with the Jim Crow laws which officially segregated the whites from the black. It wasn’t until 1896 in Plessy vs. Ferguson that black people even began to see equality as an option. Nothing changed in the world until 1954 when the historical ruling of Brown vs. The Board of Education that an ything changed. Until then, all stores, restaurants, schools and public places were deemed ‘separate but equal’ through the Plessy vs. Ferguson ruling in 1896. Many cases just like the Brown vs. Board of Education were taken to the Supreme Court together in a class action suite. The world changed when nine justices made the decision to deem segregation in public schools unconstitutional.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  After the Civil War, white southerners had to figure out ways to continue feeling superior to their former slaves. Anxious to regain power over former slaves, southerners created the Black Codes of 1865. These codes were different from state to state, but most held similar restrictions. If blacks were unemployed, they could be arrested and charged with vagrancy. White Southerners believed blacks were to only work as agricultural laborers so the laws also restricted their hours of labor, duties, and behavior. Additionally, the codes prevented the raising of their own crops by black people. They were prohibited from ent... ...south. Because of the decision of nine justices of the Supreme Court, the term ‘separate but equal’ was eliminated when it came to schools, and opened the door for integration of restaurants and all public places. Bibliography African-American History News Letter. â€Å"The Black Codes of 1865†. Web. 25 May 2015. http://afroamhistory.about.com/library/weekly/aa121900a.htm. Beggs, Gordon. The American University Law Review. "Novel Expert evidence in federal civil rights litigation.† 1995. Brown V. Board of Education. â€Å"About the Case.† BrownvBoard.org Web. 25 May 2015. www.brownvboard.org Patterson, James T. Brown v. Board of Education a civil Rights Milestone and it’s Troubled Legacy. Oxford University Press. New York 2001. Perry, Imani. "Five myths about Brown v. Board of Education" The Washington Post. May 16, 2014. Web. 25 May 2015. http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/five-myths-about-brown-v-board-of-education/2014/05/16/fd84b82c-dc3b-11e3-8009-71de85b9c527_story.html Robinson, Susan. â€Å"A Day in Black History: Plessy Vs. Ferguson†. Gibbs Magazine. October 2008. Web. 25 May 2015. Sitkoff, Harvard. The Struggle for Black Equality. 2008

Discuss the Major Issues Associated With Expatriate Failure and Assess Some Strategies HR Can Formulate and Implement In Order To Increase the Rate of Successful Assignments

Introduction The importance of the management of expatriate’s has grown as the number of multinational companies has increased significantly over the last few decades, therefore increasing the need to be aware of potential problems which could cause high failure rates in expatriate assignments (Anderson,2005). Porter and Tansky (1999) write that an unsuccessful expatriate assignment is very costly for both an organisation and the expatriate themselves. But despite this very few companies have adequate processes for both selecting and training these expatriates. As Harzing (1995: 457) notes, virtually every writer measures expatriate failure as â€Å"the percentage of expatriates returning home before their assignment contract expires†. Brewster (1988) also defines failure as assignments where expatriates were brought home earlier than planned. Brewster and Scullion (1997) say that the fact that corporations have heavy cost pressures has led to the policies for employee movement acro ss countries being looked at. They also observe that it is becoming more noticeable that both the social and economic cost of failure in business abroad is more damaging than business done in home countries, especially in terms of market share and damage of customer trust (Zeira and Banai,1984). It is therefore pertinent for academic research to both look at the major issues associated with expatriate failure and why expatriates often ‘fail’ in their assignments. From reading the literature these can be identified mainly as a lack of thorough selection procedures from employers to identify which managers would be successful on assignments in foreign countries. This can range from not identifying what attributes certain candidates have that would make them more likely to succeed, to not identifying the family situations of potential expatriates which would also be conducive to successful assignments abroad. Once these factors have been identified it is then logical to assess what procedures could be put in place for the company to stop failure of expatriate assignments and how they can identify successful candidates for the roles. This is the format this essay will follow. Reasons for expatriate failure This study will first look at the issues associated with expatriate failure and what reasons and factors there are which lead to this end result. Enderwick and Hodgson (1993) observe that expatriate failure is caused by rash recruitment policies combined with preparation and training which is not thorough enough for the manager. This draws attention to the limited role of HR in the management of expatriates, and Halcrow (1999) also writes that HR are confined to administrative support as opposed to playing any meaningful role in any strategic aspects. It is this lack of attention to detail and impulsive selection practice for expatriates which causes many of the problems. It fails to identify different characteristics and traits which are likely to be conducive to success in expatriate projects. Klaus (1995) notes that in the majority of companies expatriate selection happens quickly and irrationally. Something which is inherent in many international businesses is the fact that their selection procedures for expatriate managers are rather informal and they do not possess thorough enough assessments (Brewster.1991). Mendenhall and Oddou (1985: 39) argue that companies often think that domestic performance success would equal overseas performance success, regarding the manager’s technical skills as being the most important factor to consider when looking at candidates to select for managing projects abroad. This shows a disregard for identifying the differences which can affect performances in different countries and cultures. The underlying assumption that companies who use this formula is that â€Å"Managing [a] company is a scientific art. The executive accomplishing the task in New York can surely perform as adequately in Hong Kong† (Baker & Ivancevich,1971: 40). Therefore a lot of multinational companies tend to send the manager and their family to the foreign countries without any cultural training. And when training is administered it is often far too broad or is not followed up with any reflection on how effective it was (Tung, 1981). Brewster and Scullion (1997) discuss these difficulties that International companies who do actually undertake training and development programmes for expatriates come across. The first of these is that the manager not only has to adjust to a new job but also to an entirely different culture which they are not familiar with (Mendenhall and Oddou, 1985). As well as this, there is the family to consider. Training programmes for families also needs to be addressed as this is considered a major factor behind expatriate failure, and this is often not addressed correctly or at all. There is however, evidence that managers themselves value cultural training an awful lot and see the benefits from this (Brewster and Pickard, 1994). Cross-cultural training has long been proven to enable effective cross cultural assignments, yet still a lot of firms do not utilise this (Black, 1988). Different training and developmental models for these managers working abroad have been worked on over the last decade. These tend to take into account the job and the individual as well as the culture before deciding the amount and type of personal development that is required (Tung, 1981). Mendenhall and Oddou (1986) have developed a ’cross- cultural training approach’, consisting of three varying levels. Information-giving approaches are those which consist of factual briefings and cultural awareness development. Affective approaches would usually consist of cultural development combined with different scenarios and role plays. Finally, immersion approaches. These are different styles of assessment centres and in the field experience and scenarios. According to this model the style of management training given should take into account on a number of factors dependent on the project and the manager. These could include the length of stay and the amount of integration required to fit in with the host culture.(Mendenhall and Oddou, 1986) Mendenhall et al. acknowledge there are many personal obstacles which could lead to many expatriates not completing their assignments and being branded a failure. These include factors such as â€Å"culture shock, differences in work-related norms, isolation, homesickness, differences in health care, housing, schooling, cuisine, and the cost of living, to name but a few† (1987: 331). These are all personal characteristics and attributes which would affect expatriate manager’s morale and ability to do an effective job. Porter and Tansky (1999) write that a high learning orientation is critical for an expatriate manager, this is because they will have continual experiences which are not similar to those they usually experience, and will need to be able to be resilient in the face of different challenges. Anderson (2005: 567) notes that although in the private sector the selection of expatriates is usually down to their technical competence, with â€Å"minimal attention being paid to the interpersonal skills and domestic situations of these potential expatriates†, that non-government organisations do actually utilise methods such as psychological testing and a variety of methods to ensure that the expatriates family is taken into consideration as well . These methods therefore usually lead to more effective expatriate assignments and less failures, in the next section of this report we will delve deeper into ways in which the likelihood of expatriate success can be increased. What can be done to improve expatriate failure rates? Currently the selection processes for expatriate candidates are not effective enough in predicting which managers will be successful in these assignments. It is necessary to focus on how these can be improved to address the rate of failures among expatriates. Halcrow (1999) has reported that less than two thirds of a survey of HR professionals identified personality as an important consideration when picking expatriate candidates, and 11 percent said it has little or no importance at all to the process. Family issues were also given the lowest of priorities, and 25 percent did not regard them as important. Here then, are the issues that need to be addressed, as can be seen from the previous section whereby these were identified as major factors in the success of expatriate projects. Effective selection, training and placement of expatriate managers is critical to international success argue Nicholson et al. (1990), and therefore the procedures put in place for this need to be effecti ve. Mendenhall et al.(1987: 333) state they have attempted to find the criteria which can predict productivity and acclimatisation in overseas assignments, and that a set of personality factors have been identified by numerous authors. They profess that these are â€Å"self-orientation, others-orientation and perceptual orientation† . Self-orientation includes factors such as how to reduce stress and how managers deal with being alone whilst abroad. ‘Others’ orientation includes factors such as how good the manager is at forming relationships and their ability to communicate with others. ‘Perceptual’ orientation includes different factors such as how flexible a person is and how open minded they can be. However, they indicate that US firm’s still appear to use only technical competence as their criteria for expatriate selection, and this is what needs to change as that is not a great predictor of expatriate manager success. The model proposed by Ay can (1997) also says that factors should be identified which are expected to account for a substantial amount of variance in expatriate adjustment. This is the fit between the expatriate and their environment which leads to less stress and better work productivity. This encompassed psychological, socio cultural and work adjustment. It is also required that organisational support and preparation is necessary. Porter and Tansky write about the possibility of a learning orientation which could be important for both assessment and training for expatriates. They suggest that employee’s with weaker learning orientation could result in low levels of judgement in challenging foreign circumstances and vice versa. They state that this learning orientation approach could â€Å"benefit employees and their families and can increase the organisation’s chance for international success† (1999: 48). Porter and Tansky (1999: 50) observe that to eliminate the risk of expatriate failure that more emphasis should be placed on: â€Å"better identification of employee’s who are likely to function effectively in different cultures, development activities to enhance functioning in the expatriate role, and systematic analysis of problems during the expatriate assignment.† Mendenhall et al (1997) observe the impact upon spouses and families is also not taken into account when sel ecting managers for expatriation. As can be seen in the previous half of this report, how their family copes with the relocation can impact greatly upon the morale of expatriate managers. Some academics also suggest that the families of expatriates should be assessed on similar criteria to the managers themselves. Stone (1986) observes that failing to identify this problem is the greatest failure in the selection process for expatriates. Therefore one would have to agree that, as the family is seen as a major factor in whether a expatriate manager succeeds or not then they should definitely be taken into account during the selection process. Guptara (1986) has written that there are a number of psychological tests that can be used in the recruitment processes for expatriates to test such psychological traits which could be conducive to successful expatriates, however this does not appear to be commonplace in corporate recruitment processes. Ioannou (1995) discusses the results of a National Foreign Trade Council of New York survey. Here it was shown that a variety companies did not use any form of psychological testing for possible expatriate managers. Tung (1982) finds that it is extremely rare that a company carries out a thorough assessment of a manager who is being considered to work in another part of the company abroad. Porter and Tansky (1999) advocate the application of a learning orientation to help this. They suggest questionnaire responses to show details on a managers beliefs about different traits and if they possess them. As well as task simulations to show if a person has different learning orientation beh aviours. For example who which people will look for new strategies rather than rescind from these strategies when things do not go as planned immediately (1999:52).Here can be seen the discrepancy between academic musings on the topic and that of the practitioners. Writers emphasise soft skills while actual research into company practice indicates an obvious reliance on technical competence for the selection. If this were to change then expatriate projects may achieve a greater success rate. Two major propositions can also be derived from Mendenhall and Oddou (1985) findings. The first would be that expatriate cultural adaptation is a multi dimensional process rather than a one dimensional one. This means that selection procedures of international companies for expatriates should be changed from their present one dimensional focus on technical competence as the most important criteria towards a more multi dimensional one. This should focus therefore focus on personal attributes which may be conducive to success working as an expatriate manager. Mendenhall and Oddou (1985) also recommend that training which deals with these factors needs putting in place, and which needs to be multi dimensional as opposed to one dimensional. Gudykunst, Hammer, and Wiseman (1977) combined a number of differing development approaches and compared the cultural adaptation abilities of managers who received the integrated training with managers who were the recipients of just one dimensional training. Integrated training produced much greater levels of culture adaptation. Along with other academics they again mention that both the selection and training processes must include the family of the expatriate. As well as this the culture adaptation training should be given to the expatriate’s family. As observed in the first half of this essay, it was shown that it was vital that not only the expatriate manager themselves, but also their family was happy as both had an effect on morale and performance. Corporate HR teams should have a clear direction to also hire a work fore who are internationally comfortable and experience too. Thus these would prove to be effective expatriate managers as they are relatively used to the process and overcoming the challenges they would face (Mendenhall and Oddou.1985). Conclusion In conclusion as many academics have identified there are serious problems with the way many corporations select and manage expatriate managers and their assignments. Many problems stem from the initial selection stage which is seen to be very lax and informal from many different businesses. These initial mistakes in the selection process mainly centre around focusing purely on technical competencies within managers for expatriate selection, and this has been proven to not be the most successful of indicators for success in international assignments of this manner. This is because it fails to take into account other factors which make a person more likely to be successful. This can include personality traits such as adaptability and how resilient they are. It also neglects the domestic and family situation of different managers, and indeed many HR teams have said that they do not even take this into consideration or treat it as important at all. Academics have also suggested solutions to these problems in the way of recruitment processes and training processes which would be incredibly useful for business’s to implement with their selection and training for expatriates. These vary from personality tests to assess the traits that people have and if these would be conducive to being successful as an expatriate manager abroad, to a variety of assessment centre styles testing out people in different scenarios and if they were the type of person likely to succeed. As well as this it would be recommended that companies look at the family of potential expatriate managers to see if these were also likely to be happy once moving abroad as this has a visible and proven impact on the morale of expatriate managers. Training also needs to be more effective and focus on broader issues as opposed to just technical competency and understanding company systems fully, but to train expatriate managers culturally as well. Overall the key problems are predominantly to do with the selection processes of corporations. They need to improve by taking a wider range of issues into consideration and not just a one dimensional view of ‘if it works in our country it will work in another culturally different county’ approach. But they need to consider the softer side of managers, such as their characteristics and family lives, this is something business leaders could learn from academics. Bibliography Anderson, B.A.(2005). Expatriate selection: good management or good luckThe international journal of human resource management. 16:4 567-583. Aycan. Z. (1997) Expatriate adjustment as a multifaceted phenomenon: individual and organizational level predictors, The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 8:4, 434-456, Baker, J. C., & Ivancevich, J. M. (1971). The assignment of American executives abroad; Systematic, haphazard, or chaoticCalifornia Management Review, 13:3, 39-41. Birdseye M, Hill J. (1995). Individual, Organizational/Work and Environmental Influences on Expatriate Turnover Tendencies: An Empirical Study. Journal of International Business Studies, 26:4, 787-813 Black, J. S. (1988). ‘Work role transitions: a study of American expatriate managers in Japan’. Journal of international Business Studies, 30:2,119-34 Brewster, C. (1988) Managing Expatriates, International Journal of Manpower, 9:2. 17–20. Brewster, C. (1991). The Management of Expatriates, London: Kogan Page. Brewster, C. and Scullion, H. (1997), A review and agenda for expatriate HRM. Human Resource Management Journal. 7. 32–41 Enderwick, P. and Hodgson, D. (1993) ‘Expatriate Management Practices of New Zealand Business’, International Journal of Human Resource Management, 4:2. 407–23. Gudykunst, W. B., Hammer, M. R., & Wiseman, R. L. (1977). An analysis of an integrated approach to cross-cultural training. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 1, 99-110. Guptara, P. (1986) ‘Searching the Organisation for the Cross-cultural Operators’, International Management, 41(8): 40–2 Halcrow, A. (1999) ‘Expats: The Squandered Resource’, Workforce, 78(4): 42–8. Ioannou, L. (1995) ‘Unnatural Selection’, International Business, July: 54–7. Klaus, K.J. (1995) ‘How to Establish an Effective Expatriate Program – Best Practices in International Assignment Administration’, Employment Relations Today, 22:1. 59–70. Mendenhall, M. and Oddou, G. (1985) ‘The Dimensions of Expatriate Acculturation: A Review’, The Academy of Management Review, 10 (January): 39–47. Mendenhall, M.E., Dunbar, E. and Oddou, G.R. (1987) ‘Expatriate Selection, Training and Career Pathing: A Review and Critique’, Human Resource Management, 26:3). 331–45 Nicholson, J.D., Stepina, L.P., & Hochwarter, W. (1990). Psychological aspects of expatriate effectiveness. In B.B. Shaw, J.E. Beck, G.R. Ferris, & K.M. Rowlans (Eds.), Research in personnel and human resources management, supplement 2, 127–145. Porter G. and Tansky J. (1999) Expatriate success may depend on a learning orientation: Considerations for selection and training. Human Resource Management. Spring. 47-59 Tung, R. L. (1981) Selection and training of personnel for overseas assignments. Columbia Journal of World Business, 16:1, 68-78 Tung, R.L. (1982). Selection and training procedures of U.S., European, and Japanese multinationals. California Management Review, 25, 117–126 Zeira, Y. and Banai, M. (1984). ‘Present and desired methods of selecting expatriate managers for international assignments‘. Personnel Review, 13:3, 29-35.

The Function of Criticism at the Present Time

THE FUNCTION OF CRITICISM AT THE PRESENT TIME Matthew Arnold THE FUNCTION OF CRITICISM AT THE PRESENT TIME Table of Contents THE FUNCTION OF CRITICISM AT THE PRESENT TIME†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 1 Matthew Arnold†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ 1 i THE FUNCTION OF CRITICISM AT THE PRESENT TIME Matthew Arnold This page copyright  © 2001 Blackmask Online. ttp://www. blackmask. com â€Å"Our antagonist is our helper. This amicable conflict with difficulty obliges us to an intimate acquaintance with our object, and compels us to consider it in all its relations. It will not suffer us to be superficial. â€Å" BURKE. THE FUNCTION OF CRITICISM AT THE PRESENT TIME. MANY objections have been made to a proposition which, in some remarks of mine on translating Homer, I ventured to put forth; a proposition about criticism, and its importance at the present day.I said: â€Å"Of the literature of France and Germany, as of the intellect of Europe in general, the main effort, for now many years, has been a critical effort; the endeavour, in all branches of knowledge, theology, philosophy, history, art, science, to see the object as in itself it really is. † I added, that owing to the operation in English litera? ture of certain causes, â€Å"almost the last thing for which one would come to English literature is just that very thing which now Europe most desires criticism;† and that the power and value of English literature was thereby impaired.More than one rejoinder declared that the importance I here assigned to criticism was excessive, and asserted the inherent superiority of the creative effort of the human spirit over its critical effort. And the other day, having been led by an excellent notice of Wordsworth published in the North British Review, to turn again to his biography, I found, in the words of this great man, whom I, for one, must always listen to with the profoundest respect, a sentence passed on the critic's business, which seems to justify every possible disparagement of it.Wordsworth says in one of his letters: â€Å"The writers in these publications† (the Reviews), â€Å"while they prosecute their inglorious employment, can? not be supposed to be in a state of mind very favour? able for being affected by the finer influences of a thing so pure as genuine poetry. † And a trustworthy reporter of his conversation quotes a more elaborate judgment to the same effect: â€Å"Wordsworth holds the critical power very low, in? initely lower than the inventive and he said to? da y that if the quantity of time consumed in writing critiques on the works of others were given to original com? position, of whatever kind it might be, it would be much better employed; it would make a man find out sooner his own level, and it would do infinitely less mischief. A false or malicious criticism may do much injury to the minds of others; a stupid invention, either in prose or verse, is quite harmless. It is almost too much to expect of poor human nature, that a man capable of producing some effect in one line of literature, should, for the greater good of society, voluntarily doom himself to impotence and obscurity in another. THE FUNCTION OF CRITICISM AT THE PRESENT TIME 1 THE FUNCTION OF CRITICISM AT THE PRESENT TIME Still less is this to be expected from men addicted to the composition of the â€Å"false or malicious criticism,† of which Wordsworth speaks. How? ver, everybody would admit that a false or malicious criticism had better never have been written. E very? body, too, would be willing to admit, as a general propo? sition, that the critical faculty is lower than the inventive. But is it true that criticism is really, in itself, a baneful and injurious employment; is it true that all time given to writing critiques on the works of others would be much better employed if it were given to original composition, of whatever kind this may be?Is it true that Johnson had better have gone on producing more Irenes instead of writing his Lives of the Poets; nay, is it certain that Wordsworth himself was better employed in making his Ecclesiastical Sonnets, than when he made his celebrated Preface, so full of criticism, and criticism of the works of others? Wordsworth was himself a great critic, and it is to be sincerely regretted that he has not left us more criticism; Goethe was one of the greatest of critics, and we may sincerely congratu? late ourselves that he has left us so much criticism.Without wasting time over the exaggeration which Wordsworth's judgment on criticism clearly contains, or over an attempt to trace the causes, not difficult I think to be traced, which may have led Wordsworth to this exaggeration, a critic may with advantage seize an occasion for trying his own conscience, and for asking himself of what real service, at any given moment, the practice of criticism either is, or may be made, to his own mind and spirit, and to the minds and spirits of others. The critical power is of lower rank than the creative.True; but in assenting to this proposition, one or two things are to be kept in mind. It is undeniable that the exercise of a creative power, that a free creative activity, is the true function of man; it is proved to be so by man's finding in it his true happiness. But it is un? deniable, also, that men may have the sense of exercising this free creative activity in other ways than in producing great works of literature or art; if it were not so, all but a very few men would be shut out from the true happiness of all men; they may have it in well? oing, they may have it in learning, they may have it even in criticising. This is one thing to be kept in mind. Another is, that the exercise of the creative power in the production of great works of literature or art, however high this exercise of it may rank, is not at all epochs and under all conditions possible; and that therefore labour may be vainly spent in attempting it, which might with more fruit be used in preparing for it, in rendering it possible. This creative power works with elements, with materials; what if it has not those materials, those elements, ready for its use?In that case it must surely wait till they are ready. Now in literature, I will limit myself to literature, for it is about literature that the question arises, the elements with which the creative power works are ideas; the best ideas, on every matter which literature touches, current at the time; at any rate we may lay it down as certain that in modern literature no manifestation of the creative power not working with these can be very important or fruitful.And I say current at the time, not merely accessible at the time; for creative literary genius does not principally show itself in discovering new ideas; that is rather the business of the philosopher; the grand work of literary genius is a work of synthesis and exposition, not of analysis and discovery; its gift lies in the faculty of being happily inspired by a certain intellectual and spiritual atmosphere, by a certain order of ideas, when it finds itself in them; of dealing divinely with these ideas, presenting them in the most effective and attractive combinations, making beautiful works with them, in short.But it must have the atmosphere, it must find itself amidst the order of ideas, in order to work freely; and these it is not so easy to command. This is why great creative epochs in literature are so rare; this is why there is so much that is unsatisfactory in the productions of many men of real genius; because for the creation of a master? work of literature two powers must concur, the power of the man and the power of the moment, and the man is not enough without the moment; the creative power has, for its happy exercise, appointed elements, and those ele? ents are not in its own control. Nay, they are more within the control of the critical power. It is the business of the critical power, as I said in the words already quoted, â€Å"in all branches of know? ledge, theology, philosophy, history, art, science, to see the object as in itself it really is. † Thus it tends, at last, to make an intellectual situation of which the creative power can profitably avail itself.It tends to establish an order of ideas, if not absolutely true, yet true by comparison with that which it displaces; to make the best ideas prevail. Presently these new ideas reach society, the touch of truth is the touch of life, and there is a stir and growth eve rywhere; out of this stir and growth come the creative epochs of literature. Or, to narrow our range, and quit these considerations of the general march of genius and of society, THE FUNCTION OF CRITICISM AT THE PRESENT TIME 2THE FUNCTION OF CRITICISM AT THE PRESENT TIME considera? tions which are apt to become too abstract and impalp? able, every one can see that a poet, for instance, ought to know life and the world before dealing with them in poetry; and life and the world being, in modern times, very complex things, the creation of a modern poet, to be worth much, implies a great critical effort behind it; else it must be a comparatively poor, barren, and short? ived affair. This is why Byron's poetry had so little endurance in it, and Goethe's so much; both Byron and Goethe had a great productive power, but Goethe's was nourished by a great critical effort providing the true materials for it, and Byron's was not; Goethe knew life and the world, the poet's necessary subjects, mu ch more comprehensively and thoroughly than Byron. He knew a great deal more of them, and he knew them much more as they really are.It has long seemed to me that the burst of creative activity in our literature, through the first quarter of this century, had about it, in fact, something premature; and that from this cause its productions are doomed, most of them, in spite of the sanguine hopes which accompanied and do still accompany them, to prove hardly more lasting than the productions of far less splendid epochs. And this prematureness comes from its having proceeded without having its proper data, without sufficient materials to work with.In other words, the English poetry of the first quarter of this century, with plenty of energy, plenty of creative force, did not know enough. This makes Byron so empty of matter, Shelley so incoherent, Words? worth even, profound as he is, yet so wanting in com? pleteness and variety. Wordsworth cared little for books, and disparaged Goethe. I admire Wordsworth, as he is, so much that I cannot wish him different; and it is vain, no doubt, to imagine such a man different from what he is, to suppose that he could have been different; but surely the one thing wanting to make Wordsworth an even greater poet than he is, is thought richer, and his influence of wider application, was that he should have read more books, among them, no doubt, those of that Goethe whom he disparaged without reading him. But to speak of books and reading may easily lead to a misunderstanding here. It was not really books and reading that lacked to our poetry, at this epoch; Shelley had plenty of reading, Coleridge had immense reading. Pindar and Sophocles, as we all say so glibly, and often with so little discernment of the real import of what we are saying, had ot many books; Shakspeare was no deep reader. True; but in the Greece of Pindar and Sophocles, in the England of Shakspeare, the poet lived in a current of ideas in the highest degree ani mating and nourishing to the creative power; society was, in the fullest measure, permeated by fresh thought, intelligent and alive; and this state of things is the true basis for the creative power's exercise, in this it finds its data, its materials, truly ready for its hand; all the books and reading in the world are only valuable as they are helps to this.Even when this does not actually exist, books and reading may enable a man to construct a kind of semblance of it in his own mind, a world of knowledge and intelligence in which he may live and work; this is by no means an equivalent, to the artist, for the nationally diffused life and thought of the epochs of Sophocles or Shakspeare, but, besides that it may be a means of preparation for such epochs, it does really constitute, if many share in it, a quickening and sustaining atmosphere of great value. Such an atmosphere the many? sided learning and the long and widely? ombined critical effort of Germany formed for Goethe, when he lived and worked. There was no national glow of life and thought there, as in the Athens of Pericles, or the England of Elizabeth. That was the poet's weakness. But there was a sort of equivalent for it in the complete culture and unfettered thinking of a large body of Germans. That was his strength. In the England of the first quarter of this century, there was neither a national glow of life and thought, such as we had in the age of Elizabeth, nor yet a culture and a force of learning and criticism, such as were to be found in Germany.Therefore the creative power of poetry wanted, for success in the highest sense, materials and a basis; a thorough interpretation of the world was necessarily denied to it. At first sight it seems strange that out of the immense stir of the French Revolution and its age should not have come a crop of works of genius equal to that which came out of the stir of the great productive time of Greece, or out of that of the Renaissance, with its powerfu l episode the Reformation. But the truth is that the stir of the French Revolution took a character which essentially distinguished it from such movements as these.These were, in the main, disinterestedly intellectual and spiritual movements; movements in which the human spirit looked for its satisfaction in itself and in the in? creased play of its own activity: the French Revolution took a political, practical character. The movement which went on in France under the old regime, from 1700 to 1789, was far more really akin than that of the Revolution itself to the movement of the Renaissance; the France of Voltaire and THE FUNCTION OF CRITICISM AT THE PRESENT TIME 3THE FUNCTION OF CRITICISM AT THE PRESENT TIME Rousseau told far more powerfully upon the mind of Europe than the France of the Revolution. Goethe reproached this last expressly with having â€Å"thrown quiet culture back. † Nay, and the true key to how much in our Byron, even in our Words? worth, is this! that the y had their source in a great movement of feeling, not in a great movement of mind. The French Revolution, however, that object of so much blind love and so much blind hatred, found undoubtedly its motive? ower in the intelligence of men and not in their practical sense; this is what distinguishes it from the English Revolution of Charles the First's time; this is what makes it a more spiritual event than our Re? volution, an event of much more powerful and world? wide interest, though practically less successful; it appeals to an order of ideas which are universal, certain, permanent. 1789 asked of a thing, Is it rational? 1642 asked of a thing, Is it legal? or, when it went furthest, Is it according to conscience?This is the English fashion; a fashion to be treated, within its own sphere, with the highest respect; for its success, within its own sphere, has been prodigious. But what is law in one place, is not law in another; what is law here to? day, is not law even here tomorrow ; and as for conscience, what is binding on one man's conscience is not binding on another's; the old woman who threw her stool at the head of the surpliced minister in St. Giles's Church at Edinburgh obeyed an impulse to which millions of the human race may be permitted to remain strangers. But the pre? criptions of reason are absolute, unchanging, of universal validity; to count by tens is the simplest way of counting,* *A writer in the Saturday Review, who has offered me some counsels about style for which I am truly grateful, suggests that this should stand as follows: To take as your unit an established base of notation, ten being given as the base of notation, is, except for numbers under twenty, the simplest way of counting. I tried it so, but I assure him, without jealousy, that the more I looked at his improved way of putting the thing, the less I liked it.It seems to me that the maxim, in this shape, would never make the tour of a world, where most of us are plain easy? sp oken people. He forgets that he is a reasoner, a member of a school, a disciple of the great Bentham, and that he naturally talks in the scientific way of his school, with exact accuracy, philosophic propriety; I am a mere solitary wanderer in search of the light, and I talk an artless, un? studied, every? day, familiar language. But, after all, this is the language of the mass of the world.The mass of Frenchmen who felt the force of that prescription of the reason which my reviewer, in his purified language, states thus: to count by tens has the advantage of taking as your unit the base of an * that is a proposition of which every one, from here to the Antipodes, feels the force; at least, I should say so, if we did not live in a country where it is not impossible that any morning we may find a letter in the Times declaring that a decimal coinage is an absurdity.That a whole nation should have been pene? trated with an enthusiasm for pure reason, and with an ardent zeal for making its prescriptions triumph, is a very * established system of notation, certainly rendered this, for themselves, in some such loose language as mine. My point is that they felt the force of a prescription of the reason so strongly that they legislated in accordance with it. They may have been wrong in so doing; they may have foolishly omitted to take other prescriptions of reason into account; he non? English world does not seem to think so, but let that pass; what I say is, that by legislating as they did they showed a keen susceptibility to purely rational, intellectual considerations. On the other hand, does my reviewer say that we keep our mone? tary system unchanged because our nation has grasped the intellec? tual proposition which he puts, in his masterly way, thus : {{â€Å"}}to count by twelves has the advantage of taking as your unit a number in itself far more convenient than ten for that purpose? Surely not; but because our system is there, and we are too practical a pe ople to trouble ourselves about its intellectual aspect. To take a second case. The French Revolutionists abolished the sale of offices, because they thought (my reviewer will kindly allow me to put the thing in my imperfect, popular language) the sale of offices a gross anomaly. We still sell commissions in the army. I have no doubt my reviewer, with his scientific powers, can easily invent some beautiful formula to make us appear to be doing this on the purest philosophical principles; the rinciples of Hobbes, Locke, Bentham, Mr. Mill, Mr. Bain, and himself, their THE FUNCTION OF CRITICISM AT THE PRESENT TIME 4 THE FUNCTION OF CRITICISM AT THE PRESENT TIME worthy disciple. But surely the plain unscientific account of the matter is, that we have the anomalous practice (he will allow it is, in itself, an anomalous practice? ) established, and that (in the words of senatorial wisdom already quoted) â€Å"for a thing to be an anomaly we consider to be no objection to it whatever. â⠂¬  emarkable thing, when we consider how little of mind, or anything so worthy and quickening as mind, comes into the motives which alone, in general, impel great masses of men. In spite of the extravagant direction given to this enthusiasm, in spite of the crimes and follies in which it lost itself, the French Revolution derives, from the force, truth, and universality of the ideas which it took for its law, and from the passion with which it could inspire a multitude for these ideas, a unique and still living power; it is, it will probably long remain, he greatest, the most animating event in history. And, as no sincere passion for the things of the mind, even though it turn out in many respects an unfortunate passion, is ever quite thrown away and quite barren of good, France has reaped from hers one fruit, the natural and legitimate fruit, though not precisely the grand fruit she expected; she is the country in Europe where the people is most alive. But the mania for giving an immediate political and practical application to all these fine ideas of the reason was fatal.Here an Englishman is in his element: on this theme we can all go on for hours. And all we are in the habit of saying on it has undoubtedly a great deal of truth. Ideas cannot be too much prized in and for themselves, cannot be too much lived with; but to transport them abruptly into the world of politics and practice, violently to revolutionise this world to their bidding, that is quite another thing. There is the world of ideas and there is the world of practice; the French are often for suppressing the one and the English the other; but neither is to be suppressed.A member of the House of Commons said to me the other day: â€Å"That a thing is an anomaly, I consider to be no objection to it what? ever. † I venture to think he was wrong; that a thing is an anomaly is an objection to it, but absolutely and in the sphere of ideas: it is not necessarily, under such and such circumsta nces, or at such and such a moment, an objection to it in the sphere of politics and practice. Joubert has said beautifully: â€Å"C'est la force et le droit qui reglent toutes choses dans le monde; la force en attendant le droit. † Force and right are the governors of this world; force till right is ready.Force till right is ready; and till right is ready, force, the existing order of things, is justified, is the legitimate ruler. But right is something moral, and implies inward recognition, free assent of the will; we are not ready for right, right, so far as we are concerned, is not ready, until we have attained this sense of seeing it and willing it. The way in which for us it may change and transform force, the existing order of things, and become, in its turn, the legitimate ruler of the world, will depend on the way in which, when our time comes, we see it and will it.Therefore for other people enamoured of their own newly discerned right, to attempt to impose it upon us as ours, and violently to substitute their right for our force, is an act of tyranny, and to be resisted. It sets at nought the second great half of our maxim, force till right is ready. This was the grand error of the French Revolution, and its movement of ideas, by quitting the intellectual sphere and rushing furiously into the political sphere, ran, in? eed, a prodigious and memorable course, but produced no such intellectual fruit as the movement of ideas of the Renaissance, and created, in opposition to itself, what I may call an epoch of concentration. The great force of that epoch of concentration was England; and the great voice of that epoch of concentration was Burke. It is the fashion to treat Burke's writings on the French Revolution as superannuated and conquered by the event; as the eloquent but unphilosophical tirades of bigotry and prejudice.I will not deny that they are often disfigured by the violence and passion of the moment, and that in some directions Burke' s view was bounded, and his observation therefore at fault; but on the whole, and for those who can make the needful corrections, what distinguishes these writings is their profound, permanent, fruitful, philosophical truth; they contain the true philosophy of an epoch of concentration, dissipate the heavy atmosphere which its own nature is apt to engender round it, and make its resistance rational instead of mechanical.But Burke is so great because, almost alone in England, he brings thought to bear upon politics, he saturates politics with thought; it is his accident that his ideas were at the service of an epoch of concentration, not of an epoch of expansion; it is his characteristic that he so lived by ideas, and had such a source of them welling up within him, that he could float even an epoch of con? centration and English Tory politics with them. It does not hurt him that Dr. Price and the Liberals were enraged with him; it does not even hurt him that George the Third THE FUN CTION OF CRITICISM AT THE PRESENT TIME 5THE FUNCTION OF CRITICISM AT THE PRESENT TIME and the Tories were enchanted with him. His greatness is that he lived in a world which neither English Liberal? ism nor English Toryism is apt to enter; the world of ideas, not the world of catchwords and party habits. So far is it from being really true of him that he â€Å"to party gave up what was meant for mankind,† that at the very end of his fierce struggle with the French Revolution, after all his invectives against its false pretensions, hollow? ess, and madness, with his sincere conviction of its mischievousness, he can close a memorandum on the best means of combating it, some of the last pages he ever wrote, the Thoughts on French Affairs, in December, 1791, with these striking words: â€Å"The evil is stated, in my opinion, as it exists. The remedy must be where power, wisdom, and information, I hope, are more united with good intentions than they can be with me. I have done wi th this subject, I believe, for ever. It has given me many anxious moments for the last two years.If a great change is to be made in human affairs, the minds of men be fitted to it; the general opinions and feelings will draw that way. Every fear, every hope will forward it; and then they who persist in opposing this mighty current in human affairs, will appear rather to resist the decrees of Providence itself, than the mere designs of men. They will not be resolute and firm, but perverse and obstinate. † That return of Burke upon himself has always seemed to me one of the finest things in English literature, or indeed, in any literature.That is what I call living by ideas; when one side of a question has long had your earnest support, when all your feelings are engaged, when you hear all round you no language but one, when your party talks this language like a steam engine and can imagine no other, still to be able to think, still to be irresistibly carried, if so it be, by t he current of thought to the opposite side of the question, and, like Balaam, to be unable to speak anything but what the Lord has put in your mouth.I know nothing more striking, and I must add that I know nothing more un? English. For the Englishman in general is like my friend the Member of Parliament, and believes, point? blank, that for a thing to be an anomaly is absolutely no objection to it whatever. He is like the Lord Auckland of Burke's day, who, in a memorandum on the French Revolution, talks of â€Å"certain miscreants, assuming the name of philosophers, who have presumed themselves capable of establishing a new system of society. The Englishman has been called a political animal, and he values what is political and practical so much that ideas easily become objects of dislike in his eyes, and thinkers â€Å"miscreants,† because ideas and thinkers have rashly meddled with politics and practice. This would be all very well if the dislike and neglect confined thems elves to ideas transported out of their own sphere, and meddling rashly with practice; but they are inevitably extended to ideas as such, and to the whole life of intelligence; practice is everything, a free play of the mind is nothing.The notion of the free play of the mind upon all subjects being a pleasure in itself, being an object of desire, being an essential provider of elements without which a nation's spirit, whatever compensations it may have for them, must, in the long run, die of inanition, hardly enters into an Englishman's thoughts. It {{is}} [[[it]]] noticeable that the word curiosity, which in other languages is used in a good sense, to mean, as a high and fine quality of man's nature, just this disinterested love of a free play of the mind on all subjects, for its own sake, t is noticeable, I say, that this word has in our language no sense of the kind, no sense but a rather bad and disparaging one. But criticism, real criticism, is essentially the exercise of this very quality; it obeys an instinct prompting it to try to know the best that is known and thought in the world, irrespectively of practice, politics, and everything of the kind; and to value knowledge and thought as they approach this best, without the intrusion of any other considerations whatever.This is an instinct for which there is, I think, little original sympathy in the practical English nature, and what there was of it has undergone a long benumbing period of blight and suppression in the epoch of concentration which followed the French Revolution. THE FUNCTION OF CRITICISM AT THE PRESENT TIME 6 THE FUNCTION OF CRITICISM AT THE PRESENT TIME But epochs of concentration cannot well endure for ever; epochs of expansion, in the due course of things, follow them.Such an epoch of expansion seems to be opening in this country. In the first place all danger of a hostile forcible pressure of foreign ideas upon our practice has long disappeared; like the traveller in the fable, there fore, we begin to wear our cloak a little more loosely. Then, with a long peace, the ideas of Europe steal gradually and amicably in, and mingle, though in infinitesimally small quantities at a time, with our own notions.Then, too, in spite of all that is said about the absorbing and brutalising influence of our passionate material progress, it seems to me indisputable that this progress is likely, though not certain, to lead in the end to an apparition of intellectual life; and that man, after he has made himself perfectly comfortable and has now to determine what to do with himself next, may begin to remember that he has a mind, and that the mind may be made the source of great pleasure. I grant it is mainly the privilege of faith, at present, to discern this end to our railways, our business, and our fortune? aking; but we shall see if, here as elsewhere, faith is not in the end the true prophet. Our ease, our travelling, and our un? bounded liberty to hold just as hard and secur ely as we please to the practice to which our notions have given birth, all tend to beget an inclination to deal a little more freely with these notions themselves, to canvass them a little, to penetrate a little into their real nature. Flutterings of curiosity, in the foreign sense of the word, appear amongst us, and it is in these that criticism must look to find its account.Criticism first; a time of true creative activity, perhaps, which, as I have said, must inevitably be preceded amongst us by a time of criticism, hereafter, when criticism has done its work. It is of the last importance that English criticism should clearly discern what rule for its course, in order to avail itself of the field now opening to it, and to pro? duce fruit for the future, it ought to take. The rule may be summed up in one word, disinterestedness. And how is criticism to show disinterestedness?By keeping aloof from practice; by resolutely following the law of its own nature, which is to be a free play of the mind on all subjects which it touches; by steadily refusing to lend itself to any of those ulterior, political, practical con? siderations about ideas which plenty of people will be sure to attach to them, which perhaps ought often to be attached to them, which in this country at any rate are certain to be attached to them quite sufficiently, but which criticism has really nothing to do with. Its busi? ess is, as I have said, simply to know the best that is known and thought in the world, and by in its turn making this known, to create a current of true and fresh ideas. Its business is to do this with inflexible honesty, with due ability; but its business is to do no more, and to leave alone all questions of practical consequences and applications, questions which will never fail to have due prominence given to them. Else criticism, besides being really false to its own nature, merely continues in the old rut which it has hitherto followed in this country, and will certa inly miss the chance now given to it.For what is at present the bane of criticism in this country? It is that practical considerations cling to it and stifle it; it subserves interests not its own; our organs of criticism are organs of men and parties having practical ends to serve, and with them those practical ends are the first thing and the play of mind the second; so much play of mind as is compatible with the prosecution of those prac? tical ends is all that is wanted. An organ like the Revue des Deux Mondes, having for its main function to under? tand and utter the best that is known and thought in the world, existing, it may be said, as just an organ for a` free play of the mind, we have not; but we have the Edinburgh Review, existing as an organ of the old Whigs, and for as much play of mind as may suit its being that; we have the Quarterly Review, existing as an organ of the Tories, and for as much play of mind as may suit its being that; we have the British Quarterly Revi ew, exist? ng as an organ of the political Dissenters, and for as much play of mind as may suit its being that; we have the Times, existing as an organ of the common, satisfied, well? to? do Englishman, and for as much play of mind as may suit its being that. And so on through all the various fractions, political and religious, of our society; every fraction has, as such, its organ of criticism, but the notion of combining all fractions in the common pleasure of a free disinterested play of mind meets with no favour.Directly this play of mind wants to have more scope, and to forget the pressure of practical considerations a little, it is checked, it is made to feel the chain; we saw this the other day in the extinction, so much to be regretted, of the Home and Foreign Review; perhaps in no organ of criticism in this country was there so much knowledge, so much play of mind; but these could not save it; the Dublin Review subordinates play of mind to the prac? tical business of Englis h and Irish Catholicism, and lives. It must needs be that men should act in sects and par? ies, that each of these sects and parties should have its organ, and should make this organ subserve the interests of its action; but it would be well, too, that there should be a criticism, not the minister of these interests, not their enemy, but absolutely and entirely THE FUNCTION OF CRITICISM AT THE PRESENT TIME 7 THE FUNCTION OF CRITICISM AT THE PRESENT TIME independent of them. No other criticism will ever attain any real authority or make any real way towards its end, the creating a current of true and fresh ideas.It is because criticism has so little kept in the pure intellectual sphere, has so little detached itself from practice, has been so directly polemical and controver? sial, that it has so ill accomplished, in this country, its best spiritual work; which is to keep man from a self? satisfaction which is retarding and vulgarising, to lead him towards perfection, by making his m ind dwell upon what is excellent in itself, and the absolute beauty and fitness of things. A polemical practical criticism makes men blind even to the ideal imperfection of their prac? ice, makes them willingly assert its ideal perfection, in order the better to secure it against attack; and clearly this is narrowing and baneful for them. If they were reassured on the practical side, speculative considera? tions of ideal perfection they might be brought to entertain, and their spiritual horizon would thus gra? dually widen. Adderley says to the Warwickshire farmers: â€Å"Talk of the improvement of breed! Why, the race we ourselves represent, the men and women, the old Anglo? Saxon race, are the best breed in the whole world. †¦The absence of a too enervating climate, too un? clouded skies, and a too luxurious nature, has produced so vigorous a race of people, and has rendered us so superior to all the world. † Mr. Roebuck says to the Sheffield cutlers: â€Å"I look aro und me and ask what is the state of England? Is not property safe? Is not every man able to say what he likes? Can you not walk from one end of England to the other in perfect security? I ask you whether, the world over or in past history, there is any? thing like it? Nothing. I pray that our unrivalled happiness may last. â€Å"Now obviously there is a peril for poor human nature in words and thoughts of such exuberant self? satisfaction, until we find ourselves safe in the streets of the Celestial City. â€Å"Das wenige verschwindet leicht deln Blicke Der vorwarts sieht, wie viel noch ubrig bleibt † says Goethe; the little that is done seems nothing when we look forward and see how much we have yet to do. Clearly this is a better line of reflection for weak humanity, so long as it remains on this earthly field of labour and trial. But neither Mr. Adderley nor Mr. Roebuck are by nature inaccessible to considerations of this sort.They only lose sight of them owing to the con troversial life we all lead, and the practical form which all specu? lation takes with us. They have in view opponents whose aim is not ideal, but practical, and in their zeal to uphold their own practice against these innovators, they go so far as even to attribute to this practice an ideal perfection. Somebody has been wanting to introduce a six? pound franchise, or to abolish church? rates, or to collect agricultural statistics by force, or to diminish local self? government. How natural, in reply to such pro? osals, very likely improper or ill? timed, to go a little beyond the mark, and to say stoutly: â€Å"Such a race of people as we stand, so superior to all the world! The old Anglo? Saxon race, the best breed in the whole world! I pray that our unrivalled happiness may last! I ask you whether, the world over or in past history, there is anything like it! † And so long as criticism answers this dithyramb by insisting that the old Anglo? Saxon race would be still more s uperior to all others if it had no church? rates, or that our unrivalled happiness would last yet longer with a six? ound franchise, so long will the strain, â€Å"The best breed in the whole world! † swell louder and louder, everything ideal and refining will be lost out of sight, and both the assailed and their critics will remain in a sphere, to say the truth, perfectly unvital, a sphere in which spiritual progression is impossible. But let criticism leave church? rates and the franchise alone, and in the most candid spirit, without a single lurking thought of practical innovation, confront with our dithyramb this paragraph on which I stumbled in a news? paper soon after reading Mr. Roebuck: A THE FUNCTION OF CRITICISM AT THE PRESENT TIME 8 THE FUNCTION OF CRITICISM AT THE PRESENT TIME shocking child murder has just been committed at Nottingham. A girl named Wragg left the workhouse there on Saturday morning with her young illegitimate child. The child was soon afterwards found dead on Mapperly Hills, having been strangled. Wragg is in custody. † Nothing but that; but, in juxtaposition with the absolute eulogies of Mr. Adderley and Mr. Roebuck, how elo? quent, how suggestive are those few lines! † Our old Anglo? Saxon breed, the best in the whole world! how much that is harsh and ill? favoured there is in this best! Wragg! If we are to talk of ideal perfection, of â€Å"the best in the whole world,† has anyone reflected what a touch of grossness in our race, what an original short? coming in the more delicate spiritual perceptions, is shown by the natural growth amongst us of such hideous names, Higginbottom, Stiggins, Bugg! In Ionia and Attica they were luckier in this respect than â€Å"the best race in the world;† by the Ilissus there was no Wragg, poor thing! And â€Å"our unrivalled happiness;† hat an element of grimness, bareness, and hideousness mixes with it and blurs it; the workhouse, the dismal Map? perly Hills, how dismal those who have seen them will remember; the gloom, the smoke, the cold, the strangled illegitimate child! † I ask you whether, the world over or in past history, there is anything like it? † Perhaps not, one is inclined to answer; but at any rate, in that case, the world is very much to be pitied. And the final touch, short, bleak, and inhuman: Wragg is in custody. The sex lost in the confusion of our unrivalled happiness; or, hall I say? the superfluous Christian name lopped off by the straightforward vigour of our old Anglo? Saxon breed! There is profit for the spirit in such contrasts as this; criticism serves the cause of perfection by esta? blishing them. By eluding sterile conflict, by refusing to remain in the sphere where alone narrow and relative conceptions have any worth and validity, criticism may diminish its momentary importance, but only in this way has it a chance of gaining admittance for those wider and more perfect conceptions to whic h all its duty is really owed. Mr.Roebuck will have a poor opinion of an adversary who replies to his defiant songs of triumph only by murmuring under his breath, Wragg is in custody; but in no other way will these songs of triumph be induced gradually to moderate themselves, to get rid of what in them is excessive and offensive, and to fall into a softer and truer key. It will be said that it is a very subtle and indirect action which I am thus prescribing for criticism, and that by embracing in this manner the Indian virtue of detach? ment and abandoning the sphere of practical life, it condemns itself to a slow and obscure work.Slow and obscure it may be, but it is the only proper work of criticism. The mass of mankind will never have any ardent zeal for seeing things as they are; very inadequate ideas will always satisfy them. On these inadequate ideas reposes, and must repose, the general practice of the world. That is as much as saying that whoever sets himself to see things a s they are will find himself one of a very small circle; but it is only by this small circle resolutely doing its own work that adequate ideas will ever get current at all.The rush and roar of practical life will always have a dizzying and attracting effect upon the most collected spectator, and tend to draw him into its vortex; most of all will this be the case where that life is so powerful as it is in England. But it is only by remaining collected, and refusing to lend himself to the point of view of the practical man, that the critic can do the practical man any service; and it is only by the greatest sincerity in pursuing his own course, and by at last convincing even the practical man of his sincerity, that he can escape misunderstandings which perpetually threaten him.For the practical man is not apt for fine distinctions, and yet in these distinctions truth and the highest culture greatly find their account. But it is not easy to lead a practical man, unless you reassure him as to your prac? tical intentions you have no chance of leading him, to see that a thing which he has always been used to look at from one side only, which he greatly values, and which, looked at from that side, more than deserves, perhaps, all the prizing and admiring which he bestows upon it, hat this thing, looked at from another side, may appear much less beneficent and beautiful, and yet retain all its claims to our practical allegiance. Where shall we find lan? guage innocent enough, how shall we make the spotless purity of our intentions evident enough, to enable us to say to the political Englishman that the British Constitu? tion itself, which, seen from the practical side, looks such a magnificent organ of progress and virtue, seen from the speculative side, with its compromises, its love of facts, its horror of theory, its studied avoidance of clear thoughts, hat, seen from this side, our august Consti? tution sometimes looks, forgive me, shade of Lord Somers! a colossal machine for the manufacture of Philistines? How is Cobbett to say this and not be mis? understood, blackened as he is with the smoke of a life? long conflict in the field of political practice? how is Mr. Carlyle to say it and not be misunderstood, after his THE FUNCTION OF CRITICISM AT THE PRESENT TIME 9 THE FUNCTION OF CRITICISM AT THE PRESENT TIME furious raid into this field with his Latter? ay Pamphlets how is Mr. Ruskin, after his pugnacious political economy? I say, the critic must keep out of the region of immediate practice in the political, social, humanitarian sphere, if he wants to make a beginning for that more free specu? lative treatment of things, which may perhaps one day make its benefits felt even in this sphere, but in a natural and thence irresistible manner. Do what he will, however, the critic will still remain exposed to frequent misunderstandings, and nowhere so much as in this country.For here people are particu? larly indisposed even to comprehend that wi thout this free disinterested treatment of things, truth and the highest culture are out of the question. So immersed are they in practical life, so accustomed to take all their notions from this life and its processes, that they are apt to think that truth and culture themselves can be reached by the processes of this life, and that it is an impertinent singularity to think of reaching them in any other. â€Å"We are all terr? ilii,† cries their eloquent advocate; â€Å"all Philistines together. Away with the notion of proceed? ing by any other course than the course dear to the Philistines; let us have a social movement, let us organise and combine a party to pursue truth and new thought, let us call it the liberal party, and let us all stick to each other, and back each other up. Let us have no nonsense about independent criticism, and intellectual delicacy, and the few and the many; don't let us trouble our? elves about foreign thought; we shall invent the whole thing fo r ourselves as we go along; if one of us speaks well, applaud him; if one of us speaks ill, applaud him too; we are all in the same movement, we are all liberals, we are all in pursuit of truth. † In this way the pursuit of truth becomes really a social, practical, pleasureable affair, almost requiring a chairman, a secretary, and advertisements; with the excitement of an occasional scandal, with a little resistance to give the happy sense of difficulty overcome; but, in general, plenty of bustle and very little thought.To act is so easy, as Goethe says; to think is so hard! It is true that the critic has many temptations to go with the stream, to make one of the party of movement, one of these terr? filii; it seems ungracious to refuse to be a terr? filius, when so many excellent people are; but the critic's duty is to refuse, or, if resistance is vain, at least to cry with Obermann: Perissons en resistant. How serious a matter it is to try and resist, I had ample opportunity of experiencing when I ventured some time ago to criticise the celebrated first volume of Bishop Colenso. The echoes of the storm which was then raised I still, from time to time, hear grumbling round me. That storm arose out of a misunderstanding almost inevitable. It is a result of no little culture to attain to a clear perception that science and religion are two wholly different things; the multitude will for ever con? fuse them, but happily that is of no great real im? portance, for while the multitude imagines itself to live by its false science, it does really live by its true religion.Dr. Colenso, however, in his first volume did all he could to strengthen the confusion, and to make it dangerous. * So sincere is my dislike to all personal attack and controversy, that I abstain from reprinting, at this distance of time from the occasion which called them forth, the essays in which I criticised the Bishop of Natal's book; I feel bound, however, after all that has passed, to m ake here a final declaration of my sincere impenitence for having published them.The Bishop of Natal's subsequent volumes are in great measure free from the crying fault of his first; he has at length succeeded in more clearly separating, in his own thoughts, the idea of science from the idea of religion; his mind appears to be opening as he goes along, and he may perhaps end by becoming a useful biblical critic, though never, I think, of the first order. Still, in here taking leave of him at the moment when he is pub? ishing, for popular use, a cheap edition of his work, I cannot forbear repeating yet once more, for his benefit and that of his readers, this sentence from my original remarks upon him: There is truth of science and truth of religion; truth of science does not become truth of religion till it is made religious. And I will add: Let us have all the science there is from the men of science; from the men of religion let us have religion. THE FUNCTION OF CRITICISM AT THE P RESENT TIME 10THE FUNCTION OF CRITICISM AT THE PRESENT TIME It has been said I make it â€Å"a crime against literary criticism * He did this with the best intentions, I freely admit, and with the most candid ignorance that this was the natural effect of what he was doing; but, says Joubert, â€Å"Igno? ance, which in matters of morals extenuates the crime, in itself, in intellectual matters, a crime of the first order. † I criticised Bishop Colenso's speculative confusion. Im? mediately there was a cry raised: â€Å"What is this? here a liberal attacking a liberal. Do not you belong to the movement? are not you a friend of truth?Is not Bishop Colenso in pursuit of truth? then speak with proper respect of his book. Dr. Stanley is another friend of truth, and you speak with proper respect of his book; why make these invidious differences? both books are excellent, admirable, liberal; Bishop Colenso's perhaps the most so, because it is the boldest, and will have the best prac tical consequences for the liberal cause. Do you want to encourage to the attack of a brother liberal his, and your, and our implacable enemies, the Church and State Review or the Record, the High Church rhinoceros and the Evangelical hy? na?Be silent, therefore; or rather speak, speak as loud as ever you can, and go into ecstasies over the eighty and odd pigeons. † But criticism cannot follow this coarse and indiscriminate method. It is unfortunately possible for a man in pur? suit of truth to write a book which reposes upon a false conception. Even the practical consequences of a book are to genuine criticism no recommendation of it, if the book is, in the highest sense, blundering. I see that a *and the higher culture to attempt to inform the ignorant. † Need I point out that the ignorant are not informed by being confirmed in a confusion? ady who herself, too, is in pursuit of truth, and who writes with great ability, but a little too much, perhaps, under the influen ce of the practical spirit of the English liberal movement, classes Bishop Colenso's book and M. Renan's together, in her survey of the religious state of Europe, as facts of the same order, works, both of them, of â€Å"great importance;† â€Å"great ability, power and skill;† Bishop Colenso's, perhaps, the most powerful; at least, Miss Cobbe gives special expression to her gratitude that to Bishop Colenso â€Å"has been given the strength to grasp, and the courage to teach truths of such deep import. In the same way, more than one popular writer has compared him to Luther. Now it is just this kind of false estimate which the critical spirit is, it seems to me, bound to resist. It is really the strongest possible proof of the low ebb at which, in England, the critical spirit is, that while the critical hit in the religious literature of Germany is Dr. Strauss's book, in that of France M. Renan's book, the book of Bishop Colenso is the critical hit in the religious li terature of England. Bishop Colenso's book reposes on a total misconcep? ion of the essential elements of the religious problem, as that problem is now presented for solution. To cri? ticism, therefore, which seeks to have the best that is known and thought on this problem, it is, however well meant, of no importance whatever. M. Renan's book attempts a new synthesis of the elements furnished to us by the four Gospels. It attempts, in my opinion, a synthesis, perhaps premature, perhaps impossible, cer? tainly not successful. Up to the present time, at any rate, we must acquiesce in Fleury's sentence on such recastings of the Gospel story : Quiconque s'imagine la pouvoir mieux ecrire, ne l'entend pas.M. Renan had himself passed by anticipation a like sentence on his own work, when he said: â€Å"If a new presentation of the character of Jesus were offered to me, I would not have it; its very clearness would be, in my opinion, the best proof of its insufficiency. † His friends may with perfect justice rejoin that at the sight of the Holy Land, and of the actual scene of the Gospel? story, all the current of M. Renan's thoughts may have naturally changed, and a new casting of that story irresistibly suggested itself to him; and that this is just a case for applying Cicero's maxim: Change of mind is not inconsistency emo doctus unquam mutationem consilii inconstantiam dixit esse. Nevertheless, for criticism, M. Renan's first thought must still be the truer one, as long as his new casting so fails more fully to commend itself, more fully (to use Coleridge's happy phrase about the Bible) to find us. Still M. Renan's attempt is, for criticism, of the most real interest and importance, since, with all its difficulty, a fresh synthesis of the New Testament data, ot a making war on them, in Voltaire's fashion, not a leaving them out of mind, in the world's fashion, but the putting a new construction upon them, the taking them from under the old, adoptive, traditi onal, un? spiritual point of view and placing them under a new one, is the very essence of the religious problem, as now presented; and only by efforts in this direction can it receive a solution. Again, in the same spirit in which she judges Bishop Colenso, Miss Cobbe, like so many earnest liberals of our THE FUNCTION OF CRITICISM AT THE PRESENT TIME 11THE FUNCTION OF CRITICISM AT THE PRESENT TIME practical race, both here and in America, herself sets vigorously about a positive reconstruction of religion, about making a religion of the future out of hand, or at least setting about making it; we must not rest, she and they are always thinking and saying, in negative criti? cism, we must be creative and constructive; hence we have such works as her recent Religious Duty, and works still more considerable, perhaps, by others, which will be in everyone's mind.These works often have much ability; they often spring out of sincere convictions, and a sincere wish to do good; and they some times, perhaps, do good. Their fault is (if I may be permitted to say so) one which they have in common with the British College of Health, in the New Road. Everyone knows the British College of Health; it is that building with the lion and the statue of the Goddess Hygeia before it; at least, I am sure about the lion, though I am not absolutely certain about the Goddess Hygeia. This building does credit, perhaps, to the resources of Dr.Morrison and his disciples; but it falls a good deal short of one's idea of what a British College of Health ought to be. In England, where we hate public inter? ference and love individual enterprise, we have a whole crop of places like the British College of Health; the grand name without the grand thing. Unluckily, credit? able to individual enterprise as they are, they tend to impair our taste by making us forget what more grandiose, noble, or beautiful character properly belongs to a public institution. The same may be said of the religions of t he future of Miss Cobbe and others.Creditable, like the British College of Health, to the resources of their authors, they yet tend to make us forget what more grandiose, noble, or beautiful character properly belongs to religious constructions. The historic religions, with all their faults, have had this; it certainly belongs to the religious sentiment, when it truly flowers, to have this; and we impoverish our spirit if we allow a religion of the future without it. What then is the duty of criticism here? To take the practical point of view, to applaud the liberal movement and all its works, its New Road religions of the future into the bargain, or their general utility's sake? By no means; but to be perpetually dis? satisfied with these works, while they perpetually fall short of a high and perfect ideal. For criticism, these are elementary laws; but they never can be popular, and in this country they have been very little followed, and one meets with immense obstacles in followi ng them. That is a reason for asserting them again and again. Criticism must maintain its independence of the practical spirit and its aims. Even with well? meant efforts of the practical spirit it must express dissatisfaction, if in the sphere of the ideal they seem impoverishing and limiting.It must not hurry on to the goal because of its practical importance. It must be patient, and know how to wait; and flexible, and know how to attach itself to things and how to withdraw from them. It must be apt to study and praise elements that for the fulness of spiritual perfection are wanted, even though they belong to a power which in the prac? tical sphere may be maleficent. It must be apt to discern the spiritual shortcomings or illusions of powers that in the practical sphere may be beneficent. And this with? ut any notion of favouring or injuring, in the practical sphere, one power or the other; without any notion of playing off, in this sphere, one power against the other. When one l ooks, for instance, at the English Divorce Court, an institution which perhaps has its practical conveniences, but which in the ideal sphere is so hideous;* *A critic, already quoted, says that I have no right, on my own principles, to â€Å"object to practical measures on theoretical grounds,† and that only â€Å"when a man has got a theory which will fully explain all the duties of the legislator on the matter of marriage, will he have a right to abuse the Divorce Court. In short, he wants me to produce a plan for a new and improved Divorce Court, before I call the present one hideous. But God forbid that I should thus enter into competition with the Lord Chancellor! It is just this invasion of the practical sphere which is really against my principles; the taking a practical measure into the world of ideas, and seeing how it looks there, is, on the other hand, just what I am recom? mending. It is because we have not been conversant enough with ideas that our practice now falls so short; it is only by becoming more conversant with them that we shall make it better.Our present Divorce Court is not the result of any legislator's meditations on the subject of marriage; rich people had an anomalous privilege of getting divorced; privileges are odious, and we said everybody should have the same chance. There was no meditation about THE FUNCTION OF CRITICISM AT THE PRESENT TIME 12 THE FUNCTION OF CRITICISM AT THE PRESENT TIME marriage here; that was just the mischief. If my practical critic will but himself accompany me, for a little while, into the despised world of ideas; f, renouncing any attempt to patch hastily up, with a noble disdain for transcendentalists, our present Divorce law, he will but allow his mind to dwell a little, first on the Catholic idea of marriage, which exhibits marriage as indissoluble, and then upon that Protestant idea of marriage, which exhibits it as a union terminable by mutual consent, if he will meditate well on these, and afterwards on the thought of what married life, according to its idea, really is, of what family life really is, of what social life really is, and national life, and public morals, he will find, fter a while, I do assure him, the whole state of his* an institution which neither makes divorce impossible nor makes it decent, which allows a man to get rid of his wife, or a wife of her husband, but makes them drag one another first, for the public edification, through a mire of unutterable infamy, when one looks at this charming institution, I say, with its crowded benches, its newspaper? reports, and its money? compensations, this institution in which the gross unregenerate British Philis? tine has indeed stamped an image of himself, one may be permitted to find the marriage? heory of Catholicism refreshing and elevating. Or when Protestantism, in virtue of its supposed rational and intellectual origin, gives the law to criticism too magisterially, criticism may and must remind it t hat its pretensions, in this respect, are illusive and do it harm; that the Reformation was a moral rather than an intellectual event; that Luther's theory of grace no more exactly reflects the mind of the spirit than Bossuet's philosophy of history reflects it; and that there is no more antecedent probability of the Bishop of Durham's stock of ideas being agreeable to? erfect reason than of Pope Pius the Ninth's. But criticism will not on that account forget the achievements of Protestantism in the practical and moral sphere; nor that, even in the intellectual sphere, Protestantism, *spirit quite changed; the Divorce Court will then seem to him, if he looks at it, strangely hideous; and he will at the same time discover in himself, as the fruit of his inward discipline, lights and resources for making it better, of which now he does not dream.He must make haste, though, for the condition of his â€Å"practical measure† is getting awkward; even the British Philistine begins t o have qualms as he looks at his offspring; even his â€Å"thrice? battered God of Palestine† is beginning to roll its eyes convulsively. though in a blind and stumbling manner, carried for? ward the Renaissance, while Catholicism threw itself violently across its path. I lately heard a man of thought and energy contrasting the want of ardour and movement which he now found amongst young men in this country with what he re? membered in his own youth, twenty years ago. â€Å"What reformers we were then! he exclaimed; â€Å"what a zeal we had! how we canvassed every institution in Church and State, and were prepared to remodel them all on first principles! † He was inclined to regret, as a spiritual flagging, the lull which he saw. I am disposed rather to regard it as a pause in which the turn to a new mode of spiritual progress is being accomplished. Everything was long seen, by the young and ar