This essay following the treatise on St. Paul and Protestantism, was meant to clear away offense or misunderstanding which had arisen out of that treatise. There still remain one or two points on which a word of explanation may be useful, and to them this preface is addressed. The general objection, that the scheme of doctrine criticized by me is common to both Puritanism and the Church of England, and does not characterize the one more essentially than the other, has been removed, the author hopes, by the concluding essay. But it is said that there is, at any rate, a large party in the Church of England,—the so-called Evangelical party,—which holds just the scheme of doctrine the author has called Puritan; that this large party, at least, if not the whole Church of England, is as much a stronghold of the distinctive Puritan tenets as the Nonconformists are; and that to tax the Nonconformists with these tenets, and to say nothing about the Evangelical clergy holding them too, is injurious and unfair.

To disengage the religion of England from unscriptural Protestantism, political Dissent, and a spirit of watchful jealousy, may be an aim not in our day reachable; and still it is well to level at it.--Provided by author in preface.

Reprint of the original, first published in 1875.

The Victorian English poet and essayist Matthew Arnold was the archetypal sage writer, noted for his classical attacks on the tastes and manners of his time. His poetry is characterised by its classically poised, serene and grand style, which is often intimate, personal, full of romantic regret and nostalgic in tone. Arnold’s incisive essays chastised and instructed the reader on contemporary social issues, fashioning himself as the apostle of “culture” in his landmark work ‘Culture and Anarchy’. The Delphi Poets Series offers readers the works of literature's finest poets, with superior formatting. This volume presents the complete poetical works of Matthew Arnold, with beautiful illustrations and the usual Delphi bonus material. (Version 2) * Beautifully illustrated with images relating to Arnold's life and works * Concise introductions to the poetry and other works * Excellent formatting of the poems * Special chronological and alphabetical contents tables for the poetry * Easily locate the poems you want to read * Includes a selection of Arnold's non-fiction, including his seminal collection of essays CULTURE AND ANARCHY * Features two bonus biographies - discover Arnold's literary life * Ordering of texts into chronological order and literary genres * UPDATED with rare uncollected poems, five prose works and one biography The Poetry Collections The Strayed Reveller, and Other Poems Sonnets Empedocles on Etna, and Other Poems Tristram and Iseult Poems, a New Edition The Church of Brou Poems, Second and Third Series, 1855 Merope. a Tragedy Poems from Magazines New Poems, 1867 Uncollected Poems The Poems List of Poems in Chronological Order List of Poems in Alphabetical Order The Prose On Translating Homer Culture and Anarchy St. Paul and Protestantism, with an Essay on Puritanism and the Church of England Literature and Dogma Discourses in America The Study of Celtic Literature Selected Essays The Biographies Matthew Arnold by Leslie Stephen Matthew Arnold by George William Erskine Russell Matthew Arnold by George Saintsbury