Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 02.djvu/81

ARNOLD. ism (1870); Literature and Dogma (1873); Mixed Essays (1879); Irish Essays (1882); Discourses in America (1885); Essays in Criticism, second series (1888). Two volumes of his letters were published in 1895 under the editorship of G. W. E. Russell. These, though they are likely to add little to his literary fame, do, as his editor hoped they might, "reveal aspects of his character ... which could be only imperfectly apprehended through the more formal medium of his published works." Besides all these, there are other theological and social essays, and reports and books on education. He also edited selections from Dr. Johnson (1878), Wordsworth (1879), Byron (1881), and Burke (1881), with noteworthy prefaces. Arnold's work in prose is not altogether uniform in value. Naturally what pertains to schools is of interest primarily to educators: although students of Arnold's'style will find A French Eton (1864) a valuable document. Likewise much that he wrote on politics and theology, though it served its purpose, now possesses chiefly an historical value. Literature and Dogma and God and the Bible, the former of which he himself considered his most significant work, were in his own time much misunderstood. Their purpose was to assert the natural truth of the Christian religion as against its dogma, to emphasize the literary aspect of the Bible, and, in the words of Mr. Brownell, to make "each a theme, a topic of literature" — a part of that generous culture of which he was so persuasive an advocate. Arnold was among the earliest thus to apply to these subjects the methods of literary criticism — he wrote of them in a style quite new in treatises of the sort; but he failed at the time to satisfy either orthodox or radical. His permanent place as a critic is made secure by such volumes as the first series of Essays in Criticism. Not only is the thought here of the first order, but the style is of the best, ranking with that of Newman, his master. The essays follow the sympathetic method of Sainte-Beuve. Especially brilliant is the essay on Heine, an author from whom Arnold derived many of his ideas and the sting with which he attacked Philistinism. The essay on "Pagan and Mediæval Sentiment" is a charming contrast between Greek and mediæval ideals as represented by Theocritus and Saint Francis of Assisi. The Oxford lectures above referred to are now classics. Of the discourses delivered in America, the one on "Literature and Science" is a strong plea for literature against the encroachments of science: and the one on "Emerson," though clearly inadequate as an estimate, contains passages of great eloquence. Arnold's influence is still paramount in English criticism. Many of his phrases, such as 'sweetness and light,' the 'lyrical cry', the definition of poetry as 'a criticism of life,' the contention that criticism should be "a disinterested endeavor to learn and propagate the best that is known and thought in the world," the description of conduct as 'three-fourths of life,' the phrase 'the not-ourselves that makes for righteousness,' the division of the British public into 'Barbarians, Philistines, and Populace,' the infusion of new meaning into the terms 'Hebraism' and 'Hellenism' — all these have become common property: but more, his general manner of treating literary themes very widely prevails. Even during his lifetime his judgments in this field were received as ex cathedra. He did away with the pompous rhetoric and blustering animosities of the Eighteenth-Century school, and substituted therefor restraint, poise, taste — in short, the ethical element. It was thus that he introduced into English criticism a new era. What Principal Shairp has happily called 'the sparkling banter' of his occasional manner (for example, in Culture and Anarchy), has led to the ascription to Arnold by the careless and the unperceptive of a flippancy which, it is hardly necessary to state, was not characteristic of his temper.

It was Arnold's expressed wish that he should not be the subject of a biography. For the details of his laborious life consult the charming Letters cited above; for his influence on education. Fitch, Thomas and Matthew Arnold (New York, 1897); for the social aspect of his work, Robertson, Modern Humanists (London, 1891); and for some of his best recent literary appraisals, Saintsbury, Matthew Arnold (New York, 1899); Gates, Three Studies in Literature (New York, 1899); Woodberry, Makers of Literature (New York, 1900); Harrison, Tennyson, Ruskin, Mill, and Other literary Estimates (New York, 1900); and Brownell, Victorian Prose-Masters (New York, 1902).

ARNOLD, (1828-82). An American soldier. He was born at Providence, R. I., and graduated at West Point in 1850. He was made captain of an artillery company early in 1861, served with gallantry at Bull Run (July 21, 1861), at Savage's Station (June 29, 1862), at Port Hudson (May-July, 1863), and at Fort Morgan (August, 1864), and after various promotions was brevetted major-general of volunteers in August, 1865. In 1875 he became a major in the regular service, and in 1877 he was appointed acting assistant inspector-general of the Eastern Department. In 1882 he became a lieutenant-colonel.

ARNOLD, (1740-1802). An English composer. He was educated under Dr. Nares in the Chapel Royal, and when 23 years old, was appointed to compose an opera for Covent Garden, and produced The Maid of the Mill (1765), which was successful. In 1776, he became composer for the Haymarket; in 1783 was appointed organist and composer to the Chapel Royal, and ten years afterwards organist in Westminster Abbey. He produced forty-three dramatic compositions and his oratorios include The Cure of Saul (1767), The Resurrection (1773), and The Prodigal Son (1777). He edited an edition of Handel's works in thirty-six volumes incomplete and faulty; but he is best remembered by his collection of Cathedral Music (1790).

ARNOLD, (1821-80). An American historian. He was born at Providence, R. I., graduated at Harvard and was admitted to the bar in 1845. He was Lieutenant-Governor of his State in 1852, 1861, and 1862, and was in the United States Senate from December, 1862, to March, 1863. He published an excellent History of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations (1859) and several addresses, including The Spirit of Rhode Island History (1853).

ARNOLD, (1795-1842). An English scholar and educator, best known as master of Rugby. He was born June 13, 1795, at West Cowes, Isle of Wight, where his father was collector of customs. Upon the death of his