3 - Social, Literary and Musical Criticism: 1893–1897

Summary

IN the 1880s and 1890s Newman wrote on a broad range of subjects in the freethought press including religion and society, science and scientific method, literary criticism and music. With the exception of music, the freethinkers regarded these topics as the most pressing of the time. Newman's essays on religion and society, as well as science and scientific method, were infused with the parlance of positivism and evolutionary theory. These connections were also made in his literary criticism, though Newman's emphasis was to analyse plot, narrative and character. His musical criticism, showing a strong interest in Wagner, aesthetics and opera, brought Newman high praise. However, his talent as a literary critic was called into question, and this resulted in an ugly and dramatic confrontation with his employer and mentor John M. Robertson.

Newman got his break as a writer in September 1889 in the National Reformer, the leading intellectual freethought journal of its time. He had met the journal's editor, Charles Bradlaugh, the month before. Newman proceeded to write about twenty pieces for the National Reformer (and related periodicals) over the next four years.

Essays for the National Reformer, 1889–1894

The National Reformer was first published on 14 April 1860. It focused on politics and government ‘which it discussed in the sober terms of a respectable review’. John M. Robertson became one of its assistant editors in 1884 and, on the death of Bradlaugh in January 1891, was elevated to editor. He took Newman under his wing and provided him with opportunities for publication.

During his term, Robertson did much to turn the National Reformer into a high-end journal rivalling such publications as the Westminster Review but, with increased competition and declining subscriptions, it ceased trading in 1893. Originally pitched to a working-class readership, by the time of its demise the National Reformer had become a heady and intellectual publication that claimed to attract the ‘pick’ and ‘elite’ of the working classes.

The National Reformer gave Newman a platform on which he could push the freethought agenda, though most of his writings were preaching to the converted. Nevertheless, a study of some of these early essays reveals that Newman was exceptionally well read and had developed a capacity for a direct and sometimes combative turn of phrase, which was a hallmark of much of his later work.