Evelyn Abbott

“ Paul,' and the remarks apply with equal force to the 'Plato.' If we ask ourselves what were Plato's views on ethics, or politics, or art, we shall indeed find many far-reaching observations in Jowett's introductions, but not a systematic statement, such as is given e. g. in Zeller's 'History of Greek Philosophy.' We shall also find much which, though it arises out of Plato's thoughts, is only indirectly connected with him criticism of modern forms of old views, of ideal governments other than that of Plato, of recent utilitarianism, of Hegel, of the nature and origin of language. ”

“ Plato's view changes in different dialogues, and in some no definite conclusion is reached. It was therefore better to treat each dialogue separately. It was also characteristic of his own mind to be constantly changing his point of view. 'Mr. Jowett's forte is mental philosophy. How has this or that metaphysical question presented itself to different minds, or to the same mind at different times? Under what contradictory aspects may a particular religious sentiment or moral truth be viewed? What phenomena does an individual mind exhibit at different stages in its growth? ”

“ Yet theology was the chief study of these days. For some years past Jowett had been on terms of intimate friendship with Stanley, and finally the two friends planned an edition of St. Paul's epistles. Jowett undertook the Thessalonians, Galatians, and Romans; Stanley the Corinthians. From these labours they were drawn away for a time by the movement for reform which now swept over Oxford. Stanley and Jowett had already begun a joint work on university reform, when in 1850 a commission was appointed to take evidence on the subject. ”

“ Few books cover so wide a field, or show keener powers of observation, or contain deeper thoughts. If the result often seems inadequate, it is because it was the author's aim to get at the truth, not to support any theory. And what is written is written with a finish and beauty rarely surpassed, just as the translation of the text of Plato and of Thucydides too has superseded all previous translations.
In 1891 Jowett had a very serious illness, which returned upon him in 1893. Towards the end of September in this year he left Oxford on a visit to Professor Campbell in London. ”

“ He seems also to have been greatly stimulated by Hegel's 'History of Philosophy' in the lectures which he was now giving as tutor, on the 'Fragments of the Early Greek Philosophers' lectures in which he first gave proof of his peculiar powers. From 1846 onwards his position as tutor was assured; he was the centre of a number of pupils, who were devoted to him, and proved the value of his teaching by their success in the schools. In 1848 he began the practice, which he continued till near the end of his life, of taking pupils with him in the vacation to some quiet healthy place. ”

“ Jowett's essays. On the other hand, those who are satisfied with being made to think instead of being thought for, and are willing to follow out for themselves important lines of reflexion, when suggested to them, will find no lack of interest or instruction in these volumes. The value of Mr. Jowett's labours is far from consisting solely in the definite results attained, which are poorer than might have been looked for. The reconstructive process bears no proportion to the destructive. ”

“ Meanwhile Jowett was working earnestly with pupils in college, travelling on the continent in the long vacations. In 1844 he made the acquaintance of some of the most distinguished German scholars of the time, G. Hermann, Bekker, Lachmann, and Ewald, and consulted Erdmann, the historian of philosophy, on the best method of approaching the philosophy of Hegel, by whose teaching he was now becoming fascinated. For some years he remained an eager student of Hegel's writings, and even translated a good deal of the logic in conjunction with [Archbishop] Temple (Life, i. 120, 129, 142) . ”

“ When it was arranged in 1874-5 that the age of the candidates for the Indian civil service should be fixed at seventeen to nineteen, and that successful candidates should pass two years of probation at a university, Jowett made arrangements to receive a number of candidates at Balliol College, and helped in establishing a school of oriental languages. ”

“ In 1841 he obtained the chancellor's prize for the Latin essay, and in 1842 he was appointed by Dr. Jenkyns, the master, to a tutorship in the college, a post which he retained till his election to the mastership in 1870. He took deacon's orders in 1842, and priest's in 1845. Jowett had been brought up amid evangelical views, which were traditional in his tamily. He now found himself in the midst of the Oxford movement, and was greatly attracted by William George Ward [q. v.] ”

“ A long succession of pupils regarded him with the greatest affection, and at the close of his life the friends of his youth were his friends still, for he never lost them. Among the earliest were Lord Farrer, Professor W. Y. Sellar, Sir A. Grant, T. C. Sandars, F. T. Palgrave, Theodore Walrond, Professor H. J. S. Smith. ”