The following passage describes a pair of characters from Anthony Trollope’s second book of the Barsetshire sequence, “Barchester Towers”. They are; Dr. Grantly, son of the late Bishop of Barchester and thereby a privileged individual who has the luxury of being far more indulgent than his opponent, Mr. Slope. Arisen, as he has, from a hardscrabble background, Mr. Slope is far more cunning and covetous of the position and wealth that have so come so easily into Dr. Grantly’s grasp. However, both of them are singularly devoted to the religious system that ensconces them in their places of power. So much so, that they each fall victim to the lures of commanding their fellow man, be it from the pulpit, a church council or whispering into the ear of a newly appointed Bishop.
Both men are eager, much too eager, to support and increase the power of their order. Both are anxious that the world should be priest-governed, though they have probably never confessed so much, even to themselves. Both begrudge any other kind of dominion held by man over man. Dr. Grantly, if he admits the QueenÂ’s supremacy in things spiritual, only limits it as being due to the quasi priesthood conveyed in the consecrating qualities of her coronation; and he regards things temporal as being by their nature subject to those which are spiritual. Mr. SlopeÂ’s idea of sacerdotal rule are are of quite a different class. He cares nothing, one way or the other, for the QueenÂ’s supremacy; these to his ears are empty words, meaning nothing. Forms he regards but little, and such titular expressions such as supremacy, consecration, ordination, and the like, convey of themselves no significance to him. Let him be supreme who can. The temporal, judge, or gaoler, can work but on the body. The spiritual master, if he have the necessary gifts, and can duly use them, has a wider field of empire. He works upon the soul. If he can make himself be believed, he can be all powerful over those who listen. If he be careful to meddle with none who are too strong in intellect, or too weak in flesh, he may indeed be supreme.
“Let him be supreme who can”, fairly summarizes the concealed or submerged ruthlessness of these two individuals. Despite the mitigating qualities of Dr. Grantly’s more accommodating attitudes regarding minor vices or perks of office, both he and Mr. Slope are seduced by the lure of power. Neither of them finds anything wrong with an all powerful church or the substitution of its doctrine as law. Meshed into this polite English novel are the bare bones of theocracy and the evil it represents. Both men are “anxious that the world should be priest-governed” and this is their fatal flaw. Neither find fault with lack of democratic governance or absence of constitutional law.
It is remarkable how Trollope anticipated by much more than a century the same motivating factors that now drive Islamic terrorism. "Let him be supreme who can" and that "the world should be priest-governed" embody the exact same threats we now face with theocratic Islam. However more benign Trollope's characters might seem, they most certainly are not. They represent the same sort of evil that we now confront. While Trollope's passages may not resonate with the ringing sentiment of Charles Dickens or George Eliot, he certainly deserves his place in the upper reaches of British authors. Any of you who might doubt this are invited to read, "The Way We Live Now". Few better condemnations can be found regarding elitism and its corrosive effect upon society. |