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KELIGIOUS PBOGKESS. 
 
 
 THE PEACTICAL CHRISTIANITY 
 
 LONDON: 
 TRUBNER AND CO., 
 
 LUDGATE HILL. 
 1885. 
 
 PRICE HALF-A-CROWN. 
 
 OF 
 
 CHRIST. 
 
 [All rights reserved.] 
 
LONDON : 
 
 PRINTED BY WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, Limited, 
 
 STAMFORD STREET AND CHARING CROSS. 
 
RELIGIOUS PROGRESS. 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Prefatory Note 1 
 
 INTEODUCTION 2 
 
 MEASUEES OF CONCILIATION .... 7 
 
 Universal Alliance .... 7 
 
 Principles of Faith .... 7 
 Purpose and Means .... 8 
 
 Christian Alliance 9 
 
 Leading Tenets ... .9 
 
 Conciliatory Progress . . . .10 
 
( iv ) 
 
 JP art ||. Reform. 
 
 CHAPTER I.— CHRISTIANITY PAST AND PRESENT. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 SECTION 1 . — EXPL AN ATOEY REMARKS . . 13 
 
 2. — BRIEF RETROSPECT ... 15 
 
 3. — MODERN THOUGHT . . . . 16 
 
 4. — STUDY OF THE DOCTRINE OF CHRIST 18 
 
 CHAPTER II.— THE MOSAIC AND CHRISTIAN 
 DISPENSATIONS. 
 
 SECTION 1.— THE DIVINE ATTRIBUTES . . 21 
 
 2. — SACRIFICES 24 
 
 3. — A FUTURE LIFE .... 26 
 
 4. — THE MOSAIC INSTITUTIONS . . 28 
 
 5. — RELIGION AND SCIENCE ... 32 
 
 6. — MIRACLES AND PROPHECIES . . 34 
 
 7. — RECAPITULATION .... 36 
 
 CHAPTER III.— THE HEBREW CANON AND THE 
 CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 
 
 SECTION 1.— JUDAISING CHRISTIANITY . . 39 
 
 2. — INSPIRATION. THE PENTATEUCH . 42 
 
 3. — THE FIRST THREE CHAPTERS OF 
 
 GENESIS ... 45 
 
 CHAPTER IV.— THE DOCTRINE OF CHRIST. 
 
 SECTION 1.— LEADING PRINCIPLES ... 48 
 
 2. — FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE ... 52 
 
 3. — THE GOSPEL NARRATIVES 55 
 
 4. — DEFICIENCIES AND IMPERFECTIONS 59 
 
( v ) 
 
 CHAPTER V.— CHRISTIAN DOGMAS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 SECTION 1.— INTEODUCTOEY EEMAEKS . . 62 
 
 2. — THE DOGMA OF THE HOLY TEINITY 63 
 
 3. — THE DOGMA OF ATONEMENT . . 64 
 
 4. — CONCLUSIONS . . . . 71 
 
 CHAPTER I.— ASSOCIATION OF THE DISCIPLES 
 OF CHRIST. 
 
 SECTION 1.— LEADING FEATUEES ... 75 
 
 2. — TENETS 76 
 
 3. — EITES AND SEEVICES ... 79 
 
 The Day of Rest 80 
 
 Parables so 
 
 Scripture Lessons . . . . 8i 
 
 CHAPTER II.— PRAYER. 
 
 SECTION 1.— GENEEAL CONSIDEEATIONS . . 83 
 
 2. — PEIVATE PEAYEE .... 85 
 
 CHAPTER III.— MORAL DUTIES. 
 
 SECTION 1.— GENEEAL DUTIES .... 90 
 
 2. — PEINCIPLES OF EXPENDITUEE . 92 
 
 3. — ALIMENTAEY ECONOMY ... 95 
 
 4. — CONSCIENTIOUSNESS . . . 97 
 
 5. — KINDNESS 100 
 
 6. — BENEVOLENT ECONOMY . . . L03 
 
( vi ) 
 
 CHAPTER IV.— SOCIAL AND POLITICAL ECONOMY. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 SECTION 1.- -LOCAL AND NATIONAL DUTIES . 106 
 
 2. — INTERNATIONAL DUTIES ... 107 
 
 3. — ALLEVIATION OF THE HORRORS 
 
 OF WAR 108 
 
 CHAPTER V.— EDUCATIONAL DUTIES. 
 
 SECTION 1.— RELIGIOUS INSTRUCTION . . 110 
 2.— SECULAR INSTRUCTION ... 113 
 
 CO-OPERATION OF THE CLERGY. 
 
 GENERAL REMARKS 117 
 
 CLERICAL ORGANIZATION 119 
 
 MISSION WORK AT HOME AND ABROAD . . 120 
 
 RELIGIOUS COMMUNITIES 123 
 
PART I. 
 
 Prefatory Note. 
 
 More than once when I have mentioned how re- 
 markably my religious persuasion has comforted and 
 supported me in a life of infirmity, I have been urged 
 to communicate to others what to them also might 
 prove a blessing. I have long looked forward to this 
 as a duty for which old age would be the most appro- 
 priate time, as it would naturally bring about a com- 
 parative retirement from the world, and couple increased 
 leisure with increased experience. That time having 
 come, I have devoted myself earnestly to the arranging 
 and completing of previous notes, and now venture to offer 
 a frank and earnest account of the way in which I have 
 been led to study the original doctrine of Christ in a 
 spirit unbiassed by ecclesiastical erudition, sectarian 
 prejudices, or irreverent research. I sincerely hope 
 that I may thus succeed in inducing others also, to seek 
 spiritual comfort at the fountain-head. 
 
( q - ) 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 My education was in a rather unusuai degree cosmo- 
 politan, and though my instruction in the tenets of the 
 Anglican Church had for a time the advantage of being- 
 conducted by a Cambridge Undergraduate preparing for 
 Holy Orders, and though my Father used to make up in 
 some measure for the want of opportunities of attending 
 divine service, by an impressive delivery of Sundav 
 Prayers, in conformity with the English Liturgy, yet 
 my mind did not, like the minds of sedentary believers, 
 get so thoroughly broken in to the Anglican harness, 
 as to jog along without feeling it. I could not help 
 perceiving that here and there it was rather tight, and 
 though I could not at once discover, as I have since 
 done through the gradual experience of a life-time, that 
 in this, as in other Creeds, the articles of faith which 
 chafe the conscience, are as a rule more or less traceable 
 to a worldly origin, yet I instinctively clung in 
 preference to those more practical tenets, admirable in 
 their simplicity, which are obviously derived from Christ 
 Himself. 
 
 It was in the winter of 182G-27, spent at Milan, 
 and in which I completed my 20th year, that it 
 occurred to me to embody my notions of Christian 
 Duty in some brief sentence which might be always 
 present to my mind, and I adopted the following maxim : 
 " Strive to obtain the favour of God, and to merit the 
 esteem of Man.'* The first injunction included righteous- 
 ness of life, self-control, charity, and in short, all those 
 virtues which Christ has taught us to practise as the 
 offering most acceptable to our Heavenly Father. The 
 second precept had for its aim to foster a legitimate 
 ambition which might give zest and spirit to my 
 exertions for the benefit of my fellow-men, whilst it 
 would improve the chances, and enhance the enjoyment 
 of success. Should I at any time be inclined to let this 
 
( 3 ) 
 
 stimulant get the better of my sober judgment, the fear 
 of transgressing the first precept would at once exercise 
 a wholesome restraint. 
 
 There was something lively and hopeful in my maxim 
 that showed it to be the child of cheerful prospects. In 
 fact about that time I seemed to be in a fair way of 
 recovery from my lameness, and had, notwithstanding 
 the permanent weakness of my eyes, found out many 
 means of interesting occupation ; but I indulged perhaps 
 too much in them, my health became impaired, improper 
 medical treatment aggravated the evil, and through the 
 increased lameness and general debility which ensued, I 
 was obliged to give up, one by one, nearly all my favorite 
 occupations. Even conversation was impeded by neu- 
 ralgic pains in my chest, so that within a year of the 
 time when I adopted the above motto, its second phrase, 
 relating to the esteem of Man, seemed condemned to 
 become a mere mockery. But it is particularly in 
 adversity that a devout study of the doctrine of Christ 
 discloses its treasures of comfort and relief. Placing our 
 relations with the beneficent ruler of all things on the 
 footing of affectionate veneration and filial love, it 
 renders evident that our task is always proportionate to 
 our power. Madame de Stael has rightly said, "Kings 
 are accountable not only for the evil they do, but also 
 for the good they might do, and leave undone ;" and a 
 similar idea is tersely expressed by the French motto, 
 " Noblesse oblige." Now whilst responsibility is 
 proportionately increased by power and influence, it 
 does not attach to them alone, and it is exceedingly 
 instructive to canvass in gradual descent, the successive 
 grades and varied circumstances of social life, and to 
 mark the thousand ways in which conscientious Christians 
 may seek to do good and promote happiness, or dispense 
 consolation around them according to their station or 
 their means, their mental qualifications, or their bodily 
 abilities. Even when loss of health curtails the power 
 
 i? 2 
 
( 4 ) 
 
 of active benevolence, fresh duties towards God and 
 Man, fresh occasions of exercising self-control for the 
 benefit of others, and consequently fresh opportunities 
 for realizing the satisfaction of a conscientious adherence 
 to the precepts of Christ, arise out of the very failure of 
 ordinary means. Thus, when my powers of usefulness 
 were at the lowest ebb, I felt that if I did my best to 
 prevent my infirmities from disturbing the enjoyments 
 or marring the serenity of those around me, I relatively 
 did as much as I should have done, if I had spent a day 
 of strength in fruitful activity. 
 
 The friends who have had opportunities of knowing 
 the state of health in which I have passed a great part 
 of my life in consequence of the remarkable number of 
 serious accidents which have befallen me, may perhaps 
 have been surprised that in the midst of so many infirmi- 
 ties, and consequently with such narrow limits to my bodily 
 and mental enjoyments, I have nevertheless been more 
 contented and really happier, than many men placed in 
 circumstances apparently much more favourable. This 
 must of course to a considerable extent be due to 
 natural temperament; but I think I may safely say that 
 it is also attributable to a religious feeling, not prone to 
 wander in abstract theories, or to make itself conspicuous 
 in outward forms, but fruitful in consoling influences, and 
 blending itself with every occupation of mind and body. 
 
 There is in the dispensations of Providence a beau- 
 tiful mechanism of compensating influences. My bodily 
 afflictions materially promoted the turn of mind by 
 which I could best be enabled to support them. Kept 
 comparatively aloof from the ordinary cares, ambitions 
 and temptations of this world, and familiarized with the 
 thoughts of a better one, I was in some measure in a 
 position to study the maze of life with the eye of a 
 disinterested observer, and to devise calmly and con- 
 siderately, subject to the designs of Providence, the 
 tenour of my conduct, and the plan of my existence. 
 
( 5 ) 
 
 I early became impressed with the importance of that 
 maxim of our Saviour, which teaches us that eternal 
 happiness is not to be earned by merely crying, — " Lord ! 
 Lord ! " in the emotions of speculative piety, but by 
 earnestly and actively doing the will of the Father, 
 striving to conquer the evil tendencies of our nature, 
 and devoting our intelligence, our abilities and our 
 means, to furthering the welfare of our brethren on earth. 
 It is of course necessary that we should guard against 
 being misled by impulsive zeal, and very essential that 
 we should observe in our manifestations of the " love of 
 our neighbour," the gradations of devotedness marked 
 for us by the natural ties of relationship and affection. 
 
 Towards the end of August 1841, my health having 
 been seriously impaired through mental exertion, at a 
 time when I was insufficiently recovered from the effects 
 of a serious accident, and consequent protracted con- 
 finement, I was on my way to seek improvement in the 
 bracing air and refreshing scenery of the Alps. It was 
 a bright continental summer, and as there were but few 
 railways in those days, I suffered much from the hot 
 weather in travelling slowly up the valley of the Rhine ; 
 the more so, because I was not then aware how deep 
 and durable are the ill-effects of exposure to the sun 
 on my peculiar constitution. I never shall forget how 
 unwell I felt one day when we made our mid-clay halt 
 at Freiburg in the Breisgau, and visited its renowned 
 cathedral. The fragrant coolness and pleasingly tem- 
 pered light which there prevailed, were not more 
 welcome to m} r outer senses, than was the solemn 
 grandeur of the imposing edifice congenial to the 
 condition of my mind ; for it felt, as it were, half re- 
 leased from the routine of ordinary thought, and seemed 
 to soar above earthly things, scanning more freely the 
 relations of Man and his Creator, Life and Eternity. I 
 felt intuitively that the religions which perplex and 
 divide nations they ought to enlighten and unite, are in 
 
( 6 ) 
 
 reality at one in the sisterhood of a divine origin, as far 
 as they are the natural and rational development of that 
 holy instinct which draws men in devotion and love 
 towards a Supreme Being, and of that intelligent con- 
 science which teaches us to seek happiness in the ful- 
 filment of His paternal Will. Perplexity and strife are 
 unmistakeable signs that the fountains of divine wisdom 
 have been polluted by human interference. If this 
 could be generally recognized, if the members of diver- 
 gent faiths could agree to substitute for mutual animos- 
 ities a friendly emulation, and devote to conscientious 
 exertions in the direction of practical righteousness the 
 energy now spent in reciprocal proselytizing, would not 
 the several religions draw nearer and nearer to each 
 other, as they all approached a central unity ? 
 
 These truths, revealed to me, as it were, under cir- 
 cumstances of such impressive solemnity, have stood the 
 test of improved health, and of an increased knowledge 
 of the world acquired during the subsequent vicissitudes 
 of more than forty years, and by the guidance they have 
 afforded in my meditations, they have greatly conduced 
 to the peaceful development of a system of religious 
 views, for which I am too grateful not to feel desirous 
 of affording to others an opportunity of sharing similar 
 blessings. At the same time, however, I feel that in a 
 matter of this description, great caution is necessary in 
 order to succeed in giving the advice required by some, 
 without wounding the susceptibilities of others. I have 
 accordingly first distributed a separate tract showing, 
 apart from all controversial topics, how a spirit of Con- 
 ciliation may, without marked innovations, effect a 
 gradual progress of religious improvement. I now pro- 
 ceed to publish those indications as Part I. of the present 
 Pamphlet, adding as Part II., an unreserved account 
 of my well-tried principles of earnest Christian Reform 
 based on the original Doctrine of Christ, and as Part III., 
 a few suggestive outlines of practical Organization. 
 
( 7 ) 
 
 IHcasurcs of CowUuitiaiT. 
 
 The following is a suggestive Syllabus of Fundamental 
 Principles susceptible of being agreed to by the members 
 of all Religions, and of forming a bond of union between 
 them. These Principles being virtually included in 
 nearly all Creeds, there is reason to believe that a 
 preliminary appeal to representative men of various 
 Religions, such as Christians, Jews, Mahometans, Bud- 
 dhists, Hindoos or Parsees, would meet with an en- 
 couraging response. A judicious organization of the 
 Alliance would then attract spontaneous adhesions, and 
 secure practical results. 
 
 PROPOSED UNIVERSAL ALLIANCE OF THE 
 SERVANTS OF GOD. 
 
 Principles of Faith. 
 
 The Universe proclaims the Glory of the Almighty, 
 without whom all would be motionless, inert, and dead. 
 
 Motion, change, and life are the results of Forces 
 acting in obedience to permanent Laws. Those Laws 
 are dictates of an unerring Will, permanent manifesta- 
 tions of a Supreme Mind, the Mind of the Universe, 
 which is God. 
 
 We possess Moral Instincts which assist our Reason, 
 had extend the sphere of its perception. On the other 
 hand what genuine Instinct reveals, genuine Reason con- 
 firms. It is through their joint influence that we are 
 taught : — 
 
 lstly. To acknowledge God as our Almighty 
 Father, to adore and to pray. 
 
 2ndly. To consider as a duty towards God, that 
 we should exert ourselves on earth for the wel- 
 fare of our fellow-creatures. 
 
 3rdly. To cherish the hope of a future existence. 
 
( 8 ) 
 
 Purpose and Means. 
 
 The purpose of this Alliance is the furtherance of the 
 welfare of Mankind, without distinction of Race or Creed, 
 by active means as regards material things, and by 
 conciliatory means as regard spiritual things. 
 
 The Members of the Alliance do not consider it desir- 
 able to subvert suddenly any existing form of worship, 
 except so far as it may be mixed with acts of vice or 
 cruelty, and unsusceptible of improvement. 
 
 They do not allow acrimonious discussions on either 
 religious or social questions, but readily commune on 
 such subjects in a friendly spirit, endeavouring to 
 consider everything on its own merits, without favour or 
 prejudice. 
 
 They freely suggest to Members belonging to a 
 different persuasion from themselves, means whereby 
 they conceive that that persuasion may be improved in 
 practice, without being subverted. They willingly give 
 their attentive consideration to suggestions offered to 
 them in a similar spirit ; and of their own accord, they 
 notice and study in the various forms of worship, auy 
 usages or devices which appear to produce good practical 
 results, and to be susceptible of being safely and con- 
 scientiously adopted. 
 
 They consider that the upright and enlightened men 
 of all Creeds, who seek conscientiously to improve their 
 respective Religions, divesting them of whatever has 
 sprung from a worldly origin, or degenerated into an 
 abuse, and striving in all purity and simplicity of heart 
 to elevate themselves towards God the common Father 
 of all, cannot fail to converge in gradual approximation 
 towards each other, and that this is the true and legiti- 
 mate means of arriving at Unity of Religion. 
 
( 9 ) 
 
 PROPOSED CHRISTIAN ALLIANCE, OE CHRISTIAN 
 BRANCH OF THE UNIVERSAL ALLIANCE. 
 
 Leading Tenets. 
 
 The bonds of tolerance and good-will uniting the 
 Members of the Universal Alliance, would be drawn closer 
 in the present Institution, intended to knit together for 
 purposes of charity and improvement the various 
 Christian Denominations. 
 
 The rallying ground of Christians should be the 
 "Doctrine of Christ," that is to say, the holy truths 
 taught by Christ, which directly or indirectly form a 
 code of Practical Morality and Universal Brotherhood. 
 
 Faith in Christ involves a sincere belief in the sanctity 
 of Christ's teaching, a devout and loving acceptance of 
 his precepts, and an earnest determination to carry them 
 out practically, uniting in the aspirations of a lively 
 Faith, Purity, Charity and Futurity. 
 
 Among the essential bearings of Christ's teaching, are 
 the following : — 
 
 1st. To blend Morality with Religion, and Religion 
 with the concerns of Daily Life, not so much in outward 
 form, as in mental aspirations and in practical conduct, 
 so that as far as possible, our thoughts, words, and actions, 
 may be biassed by a constant spiritual communion with 
 our Heavenly Father, and by a steadfast determination 
 to do His Holy Will. 
 
 2nd. To connect intimately with the Love of God, a 
 sentimentof Brotherly Love towards our fellow-creatures ; 
 a sentiment ever active, thoughtful, and conscientious, 
 free alike from the errors of impulsiveness, and from 
 the trammels of prejudice and intolerance. 
 
 Every one aspiring to partake of the blessings which 
 flow from the moral doctrine of Christ, should joyfully 
 
( io ) 
 
 accept its inherent responsibilities ; he should strive 
 man fully to acquire and maintain the mastery of his 
 propensities, and not lightly have recourse to any device 
 for quieting his conscience, and for effecting a com- 
 promise between Virtue and Sin. 
 
 It behoves the Christian to cultivate with thank- 
 fulness the faculties of mind with which it has pleased 
 God to endow him ; constantly directing his studies 
 towards those attainments through which he may hope 
 best to promote the welfare of himself, and of his 
 neighbours. 
 
 He should acknowledge with all humility the limits 
 be} T ond which his researches would be rash, futile and 
 profane. The manner in which Christ discouraged the 
 curiosity even of his own Disciples, abundantly shows 
 that Man should not presume to scrutinize and discuss 
 the constitution of " heavenly things." 
 
 Christ's moral teaching was so simple and natural, and 
 in every way so well adapted to the comprehension and 
 requirements of the masses of the people, that it could 
 be appreciated by the humblest, and could find an echo 
 in every heart. Mitigating the severity and exclusiveness 
 which characterized the Mosaic Law, he substituted for 
 a stern impersonation of the Supreme Being, the more 
 expanded and milder attributes of the Heavenly Father 
 of all Mankind, and crowned these invaluable improve- 
 ments with a hopeful prospect of the life to come. 
 
 CONCILIATOEY PEOGEESS. 
 
 All eminent Archbishop of Paris called one day on the 
 leading Pastor of the Protestant Community, and pre- 
 faced the business which brought him there by saying, — 
 " Charity is a neutral ground on which all persuasions 
 may join hands and work harmoniously." — Now the 
 
( 11 ) 
 
 doctrine of Christ is Charity itself in its widest sense ; 
 it is the philosophy of universal peace and good-will, 
 and welcomes all who aspire to work for the welfare of 
 their fellow-men. 
 
 Manifold and often strange as are the spiritual 
 conditions of modern society, for practical purposes they 
 may generally be gauged by our Saviour's test, that is 
 to say — " by their fruits." — Willing workers who have 
 proved themselves not wanting in useful qualifications, 
 may from opposite extremes, sometimes be brought 
 nearer, by simply showing them in natural shape and 
 colour, things which seen from their particular point of 
 view, had a deceptive appearance. We have on the one 
 hand strict churchmen and rigid sectarians brought up 
 from their childhood to consider progress as dangerous 
 iu matters of religion, and to look upon orthodoxy as 
 synonymous with truth. Let them mix with spiritual 
 strangers in a charitable intent, like that which animated 
 the good Samaritan, and they will gradually perceive that 
 the " Light of Life," which our Saviour brought into the 
 world, and the " Truth " with which he taught men to 
 worship their Creator, are essential elements of spiritual, 
 as well as of intellectual development and progress. On 
 the other hand, we see philosophers who, attributing to 
 religion in general the blame deserved by some form of 
 religion in particular, have devised independent tenets 
 of their own, and scientists who reject what cannot be 
 demonstrated by positive proof, or accounted for by 
 known agencies, forgetting that the progress of discovery, 
 advancing as it has advanced, will enable the learned 
 men of future ages to look down with knowing eyes on 
 the comparative ignorance of our times. Now philoso- 
 phers, scientists, and churchmen may alike be judged " by 
 their fruits." If their respective persuasions have the 
 effect of rendering them selfish and unscrupulous, they 
 may indulge in the pride of isolation ; but if, as I trust 
 is the case with the majority, their hearts are honest, 
 
( 12 ) 
 
 their aims are noble, and they are really alive to the 
 happiness of doing good, let them increase their useful- 
 ness by joining hands without distinction of creed, on the 
 neutral ground of Charity. They will find that in thus 
 toiling harmoniously, their mutual distrust and antipathy 
 will diminish by degrees, and be replaced by the sort of 
 feeling which unites fellow-passengers on a stormy sea, 
 till at last they are ready, not only to work together at 
 the pumps on an emergency, but occasionally to 
 exchange a few friendly words with the pilot at the helm, 
 who whatever may be the cut and colour of his coat, is 
 steering by the one true magnetic guidance, for the one 
 true haven of rest. 
 
( 13 ) 
 
 PART II. 
 
 CHAPTER I. -CHRISTIANITY PAST AND PRESENT. 
 
 SECTION 1 . — EXPLANATORY EEMAEKS. 
 
 1 have explained through what peculiar circumstances 
 my religious views were guided into a course of develop- 
 ment so conducive to peace of mind and contentment, as 
 to have made me happier in times of trial, than most 
 persons seem to be in the sunshine of life. I related how 
 I became deeply impressed with the advantages which 
 mankind at large might derive from a spirit of concilia- 
 tion, and proceeded to show in what manner tolerance 
 and good-will might, under the divine blessing, replace 
 religious feuds and sectarian animosities, and bring 
 nations to converge by degrees towards the Unity of 
 Truth. It is true that considerable as may be in course 
 of time the actual progress resulting from such con- 
 ciliatory relations, yet nevertheless in order to secure 
 a satisfactory rate of substantial improvement, each 
 Christian Community must, as a rule, look with sincere 
 earnestness into its own affairs, correcting abuses, ex- 
 amining its ecclesiastical organization, and quietly re- 
 moving any imperfections of principle or practice. On 
 the other hand, the studies and meditations of more 
 than forty years have comforted me with the conviction 
 that a safe and simple means of guidance for such 
 
( 14 ) 
 
 Christian reforms, is afforded by the original Doctrine 
 of Christ; guidance fraught with present peace and 
 hopeful prospects. 
 
 In now venturing to communicate my comforting 
 convictions for the benefit of others, it will I fear be 
 impossible to avoid altogether giving offence, as I trust 
 I have done in suggesting principles of universal Con- 
 ciliation. It was in the essence of those principles to 
 eschew all controversial questions, whereas in upholding 
 the original Doctrine of our Saviour, I shall necessarily 
 have to encounter opposition proportionate to the im- 
 portance of the deviations from that doctrine which are 
 to be rectified, to the length of time during which those 
 deviations have become consolidated, and to the interests 
 which stand in the way of any interference with the 
 established routine. I need not however fear being 
 accused of infidelity in seeking faithfully to bring back to 
 the holy words of Jesus, those whom human theories 
 have led astray. It is by using as a touchstone the 
 admirable sentiments which those words convey, that I 
 hope to show the difference between the true gold of 
 genuine Religion, and the tinsel of human alloys. A 
 careful comparison of the Mosaic with the Christian 
 Dispensation, will bring into bright relief the superiority 
 of the latter, and prepare the way for an unreserved 
 devotion to its holy mandates. The spirit of the times 
 favors indeed a full appreciation of the doctrine of uni- 
 versal beneficence brought into the world by our 
 Saviour, and I trust that the period is not far distant, 
 when the faithful Disciples of Christ may be able to 
 inaugurate peacefully the reign of His " Holy Word," 
 (Xdyo?), for the Glory of God, and the Happiness of 
 Mankind. 
 
( 15 ) 
 
 SECTION 2. — BRIEF RETROSPECT. 
 
 It is the growth of concordant views in thousands 
 of individual minds, that constitutes public opinion in 
 a free country, and it is through its mighty develop- 
 ment, known as the " spirit of the times," that the 
 best and most durable reforms are worked out peace- 
 fully and almost imperceptibly. A reform of this 
 description is now progressing with purposes and 
 prospects, for the better appreciation of which a brief 
 Retrospect may be of service. 
 
 Though the doctrine of Christ was pre-eminently clear 
 and practical, inculcating in simple terms filial devotion 
 to the will of our Father in Heaven, and brotherly 
 devotion to the welfare of our fellow-men, it was through 
 a variety of causes which we shall by-and-by have an 
 opportunity of examining, soon so mixed up with the 
 traditions of Judaism, and so obscured with the 
 mystical devices of dreamy philosophers, as to lose its 
 original character amidst confusion, heresy and strife. 
 When order was established in East and West, it was 
 the order of ecclesiastical domination thriving on dogmas 
 that awed the imagination, in proportion as they per- 
 plexed the mind. Moreover, advantage was astutely 
 taken of the common propensity of mankind, first to 
 follow their inclination, and then to find an excuse for it. 
 People willingly gave up the exercise of their reason 
 in exchange for the comfort of being mystically led to 
 salvation with a minimum of thought and self-sacrifice, 
 by the official trustees of the keys of Heaven, and their 
 secular rulers gladly bought with a show of humility, 
 and with substantial liberalities from the public treasury, 
 the favor of a Church which held itself ever ready to 
 pass the sponge over their misdeeds. In short, clerical 
 theories acquired such thorough possession of the 
 
( 16 ) 
 
 Christian world, that when in the early part of the lGth 
 century their abuses ripened to a general crisis of 
 reformation, scarcely any thought was entertained of a 
 return to the simple and practical morality of Christ. 
 Dogmatic teaching, and consequently dogmatic diver- 
 gencies, prevailed even in the reformed churches. Hence 
 the vagaries of sectarianism, which have reached in this 
 country something approaching to a climax. A long- 
 habit of liberty has engendered in our active-minded 
 population, a tendency to push its energies of every kind 
 to extremes, and as people are equally free to preach 
 everything, and to believe nothing, no wonder that one 
 is constantly shocked, on the one hand by barefaced 
 professions of atheism, and on the other hand by an 
 exaggeration and a perversion of religious dogmas carried 
 to the veiy verge of the grotesque. Sensation is the 
 order of the day, and all the while a commercial spirit 
 makes capital of the surging to and fro of ignorant 
 multitudes, whilst in higher social spheres, fashion pre- 
 scribes, even in matters ecclesiastical, the thing to do. 
 
 SECTION 3.— MODEKX THOUGHT. 
 
 Nevertheless an attentive observer may discover in 
 this turmoil, a growing current of Modern Thought, 
 which if left to chance influences, might create mischief, 
 but which might under judicious guidance, safely 
 accomplish one of those gradual reforms which I have 
 just described as the peaceful and durable result of a 
 general consent. — The development of education within 
 the last fifty years has given to cultivated minds an 
 increased love for the free exercise of thought, propor- 
 tionate to the increased facilities afforded for making a 
 profitable use of it. If piously inclined, they regard 
 this noble faculty as an inestimable privilege, separating 
 us from the brute creation, and bringing us in some 
 
( 17 ) 
 
 measure into direct communication with our Heavenly 
 Father. They cherish it as the organ of penitence and 
 all good resolve, and as the inward medium of medita- 
 tion, thanksgiving, praise and prayer, and they naturally 
 take umbrage at the mystical devices interposed by 
 official religion, to prevent their directly approaching 
 the Almighty with ingenuous supplications. Thus 
 suspicions of interested interference on the part of the 
 Church obtrude themselves on those who would fain be 
 its staunch supporters, and a painful conflict arises 
 between their reasoning conscience, and a natural 
 attachment to ideas and forms of worship endeared to 
 them by juvenile reminiscences and family ties. They 
 have perhaps recourse to collating the best theological 
 authorities, but soon turn away disheartened and 
 disgusted from a maze of conflicting arguments and 
 acrimonious discussions, often hinging on the strained 
 interpretation of a few ambiguous words. They then 
 take up in a spirit of fairness, some epitome of the results 
 arrived at by modern commentators in erudite inves- 
 tigations of the canonical scriptures, and of the origin 
 and successive developments of Christianity, and their 
 misgivings as to human interference with heavenly 
 things, are confirmed beyond expectation. Doubts en- 
 gender doubts, till for many a thinker it were better he 
 had never thought ; for the books which are so useful in 
 correcting spurious notions, do not generally mark the 
 difference between thus clearing away human devices 
 from the divine ground-work of religion, and involving 
 in scepticism that ground-work itself. Unless he be 
 clear-headed enough to see these limits, and strong- 
 minded enough to check at will the impetus of his 
 mental career, he may, like the unhappy gamester, lose 
 his self-control in a fever of excitement. He plunges 
 deeper and deeper, stakes his last chance of happiness, 
 and wakes to remorse and despair in the cold pitiless 
 abyss of Materialism. 
 
 c 
 
( 18 ) 
 
 SECTION 4.— STUDY OF THE DOCTRINE OF CHRIST. 
 
 How fortunate are those searchers after the light of 
 truth, who either guided by the advice of an experienced 
 friend, or favored by exceptional circumstances, have 
 been induced to make a special study of the original 
 Doctrine of Christ, and having well ascertained its true 
 character and essential attributes, use that doctrine 
 itself as a test for detecting and eliminating all in- 
 congruous results of human interference ! Not only is 
 this test more satisfactory than any other to a Christian 
 mind, but whilst it disposes summarily of untenable 
 outworks, it leaves the central citadel of faith more 
 firmly established than before. No sane person can 
 impugn, and no earthly power can shake the principles 
 of righteousness and love which form the basis of Christ's 
 teaching. The most elaborate philosophical reasoning 
 could produce nothing more satisfactory to a healthy 
 intellect, or more congenial to an unsophisticated 
 conscience, more conveniently applicable to the varied 
 aspects and requirements of social life, or more capable 
 of promoting peace and mutual good-will among men, 
 or better calculated to foster the development of a 
 sound intelligence, of moderate views, and of genuine 
 happiness, than the code of wisdom and morality 
 provided for us by our Saviour. 
 
 Some of my friends may remember a paper written 
 about twelve or fourteen years ago as the first of an 
 intended series of discourses on the "Principles and 
 Practice of Christianity," and on the first page of which 
 was the following : — 
 
 " Come to Jesus all ye who are lame and vacillating 
 in spirit, and whose mental vision is obscured by the 
 mists of theological controversy ; for he teacheth the 
 
( in ) 
 
 blind to see, and the lame to walk, and rendereth clear 
 and straight the way of salvation." 
 
 The earnestness with which I described the pure 
 original doctrine of our Saviour as the true source of 
 spiritual health and comfort, and as a never-failing 
 treasure of happiness and consolation, was founded on 
 experience of the most conclusive kind, which already 
 embraced a considerable period of my life, and which 
 has been fully confirmed during the years which have 
 since elapsed. Still I should be sorry to obtrude new 
 views on persons who are quite happy in their own ; 
 but there are thousands whose consciences are sorely 
 tried by the theoretical paradoxes and practical failings 
 of their respective churches, yet they dare not indulge 
 in thoughts of reform, lest, venturing to leave the beaten 
 track, they should wander away from Christ. How 
 gladly would they follow the guidance of their reason, if 
 they knew that it would on the contrary lead them to a 
 haven of spiritual rest, hallowed by the perpetual echoes 
 of his voice ! 
 
 That a complete analytical study of the records of 
 Christ's holy teaching is not without difficulties, will be 
 shown in a future section specially dealing with that 
 subject; but it is comparatively easy to arrive at a 
 clear appreciation of those fundamental principles, on 
 the value of which all commentators are agreed, and 
 which find confirmation in every healthy conscience, 
 and an echo in every honest heart. Thus a perfectly 
 reliable and authoritative standard is produced, by 
 means of which the faithful disciple of Christ can test 
 whatever is of dubious character in the present doctrine 
 or practice of hristianity, and separate the false from 
 the genuine, the human adulteration from the divine 
 original. In doing this, he becomes more and more 
 impressed with the fact that the aberrations and failures 
 of the Christian Churches, the cruelties perpetrated in 
 their name, and especially their opposition to intellectual 
 
 c 2 
 
( 20 ) 
 
 progress, are mainly the result of the connection 
 established in the early days of Christianity, between it 
 and the traditions of Judaism, whereby the dispensation 
 of Christ was almost made a mere corollary of that of 
 Moses. We shall by-and-by be better in a position to 
 understand the causes which led to this unfortunate 
 alliance. It is now more urgent to determine clearly 
 on what points the two dispensations harmonise, and 
 on what others they are antagonistic, and consequently 
 to what extent cautious discrimination should be 
 exercised in using the Old Testament for purposes of 
 Christian education, what distinction may without 
 irreverence be made between historical records and 
 legendary traditions, and how the religion of the Gospel 
 may be emancipated from an incongruous connection 
 with the mystical events of Eden. 
 
( 21 ) 
 
 CHAPTER II.— THE MOSAIC AND CHRISTIAN 
 DISPENSATIONS* 
 
 SECTION 1.— THE DIVINE ATTRIBUTES. 
 
 Taking our Lord's solemn utterances at the well in 
 Samaria, in connection with the general tenour of his 
 divine precepts, we have the following fundamental 
 notions of the Divine Attributes : — 
 
 " God is a Spirit : and they that worship Him must 
 worship Him in spirit and in truth." — He is the Spirit of 
 the Universe, Omnipotent, Omniscient, and Omnipre- 
 sent. — We are to love Him as the Heavenly Father of 
 mankind, and the way to love Him is to do His Will. 
 And His Will is that we should live in righteousness and 
 self-control, contentment and peace ; and that we should 
 seek our happiness in promoting that of others, and 
 hope for our reward in a life to come. 
 
 Let us now turn to the Mosaic Dispensation. 
 
 We sincerely admire the characteristic feature of 
 Monotheism, or worship of one God, which so strikingly 
 distinguishes it, from the Polytheism, or worship of 
 many gods, prevalent amongst most nations in those 
 times. But we cannot help regretting the egotistic 
 spirit with which the Jews, instead of indulging in a 
 generous propaganda, sought to keep their God to 
 themselves. It seems also unfortunate that the worship 
 of Jehovah was confined to one central seat of religion, 
 
 * " The law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by 
 Jesus Christ," John i. 17. 
 
( 22 ) 
 
 a circumstance which proving exceedingly inconvenient 
 to outlying communities, may have contributed not a 
 little to the tendency to idol worship of which they 
 gave such frequent instances, and even to the secession 
 of the Ten Tribes. 
 
 The idea that God created Man after His own image 
 might have been comparatively harmless, if it had been 
 used only as a metaphorical expression of the mental 
 superiority of Man above the brute creation, or confined 
 to poetical imagery. When the Psalmist says, — " He 
 came flying on the wings of the wind," or when Milton 
 ventures on his heavenward flights, we are carried away 
 by their poetic genius to a forgetfulness of the difference 
 which exists between their poetic imagery, and the high 
 conception of an Omnipresent Spirit. Again, we may 
 condone, though we cannot approve of the words of 
 Moses, that God spoke to him " face to face as a man 
 speaketh unto his friend." Too often, however, instead of 
 an aspiring flight of imagination, we see what is known 
 as Anthropomorphism, that is to say, the profane re- 
 duction of divine attributes to the standard of humanity. 
 
 I was about 14 years old when, in reading my Bible 
 lesson, I was struck with the impropriety of representing 
 the omniscient and omnipresent Master of the Universe 
 as on His way to verify a doubtful report by personal 
 inspection, and saying to Abraham, " Because the cry of 
 Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is 
 very grievous ; I will go down now, and see whether they 
 have done altogether according to the cry of it, which 
 has come unto me ; and if not, I will know." (Genesis 
 xviii. 20-21.) A similar uncertainty as to the exact 
 state of things is implied in the discussion which follows, 
 as to the number of just men who might be found in the 
 profligate cities, and whose presence might ensure safety 
 from destruction. Another passage which I could not 
 help noticing, was the one so derogatory to the power 
 of the Almighty which occurs in Judges i. 19 : — " And 
 
( 23 ) 
 
 the Lord was with Judah ; and he drave out the in- 
 habitants of the mountain ; but could not drive out the 
 inhabitants of the valley, because they had chariots of 
 iron." — Still more regrettable than these sins against 
 Omniscience, Omnipresence and Omnipotence, are those 
 passages which cast profane aspersions on the goodness, 
 equity, and merciful-kindness of the Almight} r , and bring 
 into play the evil foibles of humanity. Such for instance 
 are the following : — 
 
 Jealousy. " For the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a 
 jealous God. (Ex. xxxiv. 14.) 
 
 Angry Menace. See Leviticus xxvi. 27-29. Too 
 painful to be quoted. 
 
 Wrath and Change of Mind are expressed in Ex. 
 xxxii. 10, where the Lord is represented as saying to 
 Moses respecting the people of Israel, " Let me alone, 
 that my wrath may wax hot against them, and that 
 I may consume them," sentiments which however 
 yielded to the intercession of Moses, for we read at the 
 14th verse that " the Lord repented of the evil which he 
 thought to do unto his people." 
 
 Indiscriminate Slaughter is but too vividly depicted 
 in the wholesale destruction of the tribes that were so 
 unfortunate as to be possessors of the fair land promised 
 to the chosen people.* 
 
 Almost equally profane, though less cruel, are the 
 instances of favor shown to the inventors of fraud and 
 the perpetrators of iniquity ; to say nothing of that 
 leading feature of the Old Testament, the covenant or 
 compact entered into with Abraham for distinguishing 
 his posterity above all other nations, by a perpetual 
 favoritism. 
 
 * See also Joshua x. 
 
( 24 ) 
 
 SECTION 2. — SACRIFICES. 
 
 We read in the 8th chapter of Genesis of Noah's 
 sacrifice after the Deluge, and that " the Lord smelled a 
 sweet savour." I was early struck by this instance of 
 Anthropomorphism, but it was some time before I 
 noticed its connection with the custom of Sacrifices in 
 general. We may assume that they originated in a 
 desire to solemnize mens grateful recognition of bounties 
 received, or his earnest prayers for bounties to come, 
 and the idea of a savoury smell carried upwards by 
 volumes of rising smoke towards the heavenly region 
 where their gods were supposed to live, may account for 
 the institution of burnt sacrifices among savage tribes, 
 and for the maintenance of the custom among compara- 
 tively civilized nations. Familiarized with ancient 
 mythology, I was naturally inclined to put the best 
 complexion on the hecatombs of the Greeks and Romans, 
 though I might sometimes think that as far as the 
 production of mere fumes was concerned, Jupiter would 
 have been as well off, if instead of burning to ashes the 
 joints, and feeding on toasted entrails, they had reversed 
 the operation, feeding on the joints, and burning the 
 entrails. Or again, a smell more savoury than that of 
 burnt carcases, would have ascended from viands slowly 
 and carefully roasted, which might afterwards have been 
 devoutly eaten, as one now drinks to the health of those 
 to whom honour is due. 
 
 Thoughts like these could be indulged in with a light 
 heart in connection with the strange phantasmagoria of 
 heathen m} T thology, but it was with feelings of unmiti- 
 gated regret, that I found that orthodox members of 
 my own dear faith were inclined to sanction among the 
 Jews, practices which they regarded among contempo- 
 raneous nations as heathenish and foolish ; that in fact I 
 was expected to believe on the authority of Moses, that 
 
( 25 ) 
 
 sins were to be atoned for, gratitude to be expressed, and 
 favors to be solicited, by deeds of unnecessary and 
 therefore sinful cruelty, and that men's prayers best 
 ascended to Heaven where the earth was reeking with 
 the blood of victims.* 
 
 It was to me an immense relief to listen to the voice 
 of our Saviour proclaiming "God is a Spirit," and thus 
 absolutely condemning those ignorant assimilations of 
 Divine to human nature, from which sprung the idea 
 of gratifying the Lord with savoury fumes. — Further, 
 " Grod must be worshipped in spirit," thus enjoining in 
 lieu of burnt offerings, the spiritual sacrifice of our 
 sinful inclinations at all times, and of our innocent ones 
 when duty commands. — Again, He must be worshipped 
 " in truth," that is to say, in earnestness, sincerity and 
 reality; strictly avoiding all equivocation, substitution 
 and pretence. 
 
 When at the festival of harvest-home a goodly array 
 of the products of the soil marks the thankfulness of the 
 congregation, the benefit accrues, not to the Lord, for 
 these products would be equally his wherever they 
 might be, but to those whose hymns of praise and thanks- 
 giving are inspired by that pleasing spectacle with more 
 fervent emotions, and whose hearts are warmed with the 
 consciousness that all these good things are destined for 
 the poor. — The case is entirely different with a Sacrifice, 
 in which pious emotions of gratitude are marred by the 
 heart-hardening sight of struggling victims and priestly 
 butchers, blood, agony and death. The feelings of the 
 
 * Sacrifices are strongly condemned in the first chapter of 
 Isaiah, who in the name of the Lord says, — " I delight not in the 
 blood of bullocks or of lambs or of he-goats." — I once came across 
 a tract on the subject of Sacrifices. It made out that blood thus 
 shed was acceptable to the Almighty, that this was proved by the 
 Mosaic ordinances, and that it was in some measure a sound 
 instinct that led the heathen to immolate animals on the altars of 
 their deities. Its pages were so absurd and to disgusting, that I 
 burnt it, which I now regret, for it is instructive to see how far 
 men can go, without discovering that they are on the wrong track. 
 
( 26 ) 
 
 assembled throng are perverted by the profane idea 
 that this is acceptable to the Deity, and filial love is 
 stifled by awe and terror. All this is at absolute 
 variance with the instruction of Christ to address God as 
 " Our Father which art in Heaven." But a still more 
 serious profanation of his doctrine of Truth, Righteousness 
 and Charity, is involved in the principle introduced with 
 deplorable results in the Mosaic Dispensation, of Atone- 
 ment, that is to say, of guilt atoned for by the sufferings of 
 innocence, or- in other words, of the appeasement of the 
 Divine wrath, through the redemption of the guilty 
 by the sufferings of guiltless substitutes. Thus the 
 sinner was supposed to have more or less expiated his 
 sin when a bleeding victim had expired in his behalf on 
 the altar of the Lord, and the consciences of a whole 
 congregation were refreshed when a miserable Scape- 
 goat, loaded with curses, was driven out to perish in 
 the desert waste. — It was through a similar confusion 
 of ideas that God was supposed to visit the sins of the 
 fathers on the children to the third and fourth genera- 
 tion, and that in a far more comprehensive way, the 
 whole race of mankind was condemned to pay the 
 penalty for the sin of our first parents in Eden. 
 
 SECTION 3. — A FUTUEE LIFE. 
 
 One of the most startling of the many discoveries 
 which the Christian student makes in reading the Old 
 Testament by the light of the New, is that the Mosaic 
 dispensation actually ignored the prospect of a future 
 life. As has been rightly remarked by a distinguished 
 authority, this omission is the more extraordinary as 
 the Hebrews in general through their sojourn among the 
 Egyptians, and Moses in particular through his education 
 at the court of Pharaoh, might have been expected to 
 have imbibed such ideas of a future state as prevailed in 
 
( 27 ) 
 
 Egypt.* Notwithstanding the considerable develop- 
 ment to which the idea of recompense and punishment 
 after death, had attained among the Greeks and Romans, 
 its progress among the Jews, even after their return 
 from captivity, was desultory and erratic. The Messianic 
 prophecies may be considered as mostly relating to the 
 coming of a temporal prince, rather than of a spiritual 
 redeemer, and the religious condition of the nation at 
 the advent of our Saviour, was in this as in almost every 
 other respect, very far from satisfactory. Of the three 
 principal sects, only one, that of the Essenes, numerically 
 small and somewhat resembling in its organization a 
 monastic community, held doctrines of a satisfactory 
 character respecting a life hereafter. The notions of a 
 future existence held by the important sect of the 
 Pharisees, were little better than a kind of metem 
 psj^chosis, or transmigration of souls. In fact, their 
 hypocritical puritanism, their exaggerated observance 
 of outward forms and ceremonies, and their conceited 
 and selfish pride, suited them for upholding, not for 
 improving, the sacerdotal regime of the Mosaic dis- 
 pensation. Yet singularly enough the chiefs of the 
 ecclesiastical hierarchy, including the ex-high priest 
 Annas, and his son-in-law Caiaphas, then holding that 
 office, before both of whom in succession Christ was led 
 previously to appearing at the tribunal of Pilate, 
 belonged to the sect of the Saclducees, who absolutely 
 denied a future state. Thus it is not too much to say 
 that, leaving apart a few eminent prophets, the Mosaic 
 Creed was from its institution about B.C. 1491, to the 
 time of our Saviours death, a.d. 33, tainted with a 
 deplorable scepticism. 
 
 * See Dr. W. B. Carpenter's " Egypt and the Egyptians." — The 
 Eevd. Oh. Merivale in his " History of the Eomans nnder the 
 Empire" (vol. iii. p. 372) says, in speaking of the Sadducees, 
 named from the sacerdotal family of Sadok, " They repudiated the 
 notion of a future state, because they could not read it from 
 ( J-enesis to Deuteronomy." 
 
( 28 ) 
 
 SECTION 4. — THE MOSAIC INSTITUTIONS. 
 
 Few if any of the great law-givers of antiquity have 
 had to deal with a nation more restless, stiff-necked, and 
 ungrateful, than the people of Israel, or have had to 
 create national institutions under more adverse circum- 
 stances than those with which Moses had to deal. We 
 must all the more gratefully admire and maintain those 
 among his moral ordinances which are in unison with 
 the voice of our conscience, and which our Saviour 
 confirmed. There is much also in other branches of his 
 legislation which betokens a chieftain well fitted by 
 genius and education, to lead a wild race, through a wild 
 region, to war and conquest. He cleverly subjected the 
 Israelites to a theocratic form of government, well 
 calculated, as far as human foresight could reach, to curb 
 their seditious spirit, and he showed at the same time a 
 laudable appreciation of the great services rendered him 
 by his brother Aaron, in giving to his posterity, and to 
 the Tribe of Levi to which he belonged, a firm and 
 permanent hold on the nation. — Considering the practices 
 prevalent in antiquity, it would not be a matter of 
 surprise, and indeed scarcely a cause for censure, if in 
 order to secure to his people the permanent benefit of 
 his laws, Moses represented them as given by the 
 command and under the authority of the Most High, or 
 in other words, by Divine Inspiration. Nor could it 
 much be wondered at, if the Pentateuch, in order to 
 flatter the patriotic pride of the Children of Israel, was 
 so framed as to unite the traditional annals of their 
 forefathers, with a solemn mystical legend of the origin 
 of the world. 
 
 For us Christians, all this is matter of lively interest, 
 because Christ himself belonged to the Jewish race; 
 but whilst we admire in Moses an unequalled com- 
 bination of the patriot, the chieftain, the legislator and 
 
( 29 ) 
 
 the author, we must not allow his laws or his writings 
 to interfere with the divine principles of our Saviour's 
 doctrine. Certain incompatibilities have already been 
 alluded to, as for instance, the unaccountable error of 
 omission committed by Moses in ignoring altogether a 
 future life, and the grave errors of commission resulting 
 from a mundane conception of the Supreme Being. 
 This, as we have seen, included a system of sacrifices 
 disgusting in itself, and profane when implying that God 
 is gratified with the sight of blood, or the smell of 
 savoury fumes. Of course it was still more profane to 
 attribute to our Heavenly Father, the ordering of the 
 massacre of the nations which had the misfortune to be 
 in possession of the promised land. It was scarcely 
 less so to affirm that the Lord actually condemned to 
 the cruel death of stoning, the unfortunate man who had 
 picked up sticks on the Sabbath day, whereas the 
 Divine Will was pointedly expressed by Christ in the 
 words, " the Sabbath was made for man, and not man 
 for the Sabbath." 
 
 The harsh retaliatory spirit of many of the penal 
 laws, is sufficiently well known to dispense with quota- 
 tions, and as regards the civil laws, it may suffice for 
 the present to call to mind that the institution of slavery 
 or bondage, so repulsive to the true Christian conscience, 
 was distinctly recognised by several ordinances, which 
 it is impossible to consider as coming from the mouth of 
 God, and notably by the following : — " Both thy bond- 
 men, and thy bondmaids, which thou shalt have, shall be 
 of the heathen that are round about you, of them shall 
 ye buy bondmen and bondmaids." (Leviticus xxv. 44.) 
 
 If intrinsic evidence did not sufficiently show the 
 irreverence of attributing the Mosaic Institutions to the 
 direct intervention of the Almighty, there is another 
 test supplied by Christ, which alone would suffice to 
 settle the question, namely, His well-known maxim " By 
 their fruits ye shall know them." Everything devised by 
 God accomplishes to perfection its appointed purpose, 
 
( BO ) 
 
 whereas the Mosaic Institutions entirely failed to secure to 
 the Jewish race a permanently and uniformly prosperous 
 existence. Few nations have had a more undesirable 
 history than that related of the Israelites in the Bible. 
 Not only were they constantly distracted by wars and 
 discord, but owing probably in great measure to the 
 extreme inconvenience entailed on outlying communities 
 by the excessive centralisation of Divine Worship, they 
 became divided into two hostile peoples ; so that whereas 
 twelve tribes were originally included in the prospec- 
 tive benefits of the Lord's covenant with Abraham, only 
 two, besides the Levitical priesthood and their dependants, 
 ultimately monopolised its advantages under the name 
 of Jews. The others, after forming for a period the so- 
 called Kingdom of Israel, were carried into captivity 
 by the Assyrians, and so utterly disappeared, that at the 
 present time they would be almost entirely forgotten, if 
 speculative writers and sensational lecturers did not 
 occasionally start some new resuscitation of the lost Ten 
 Tribes of Israel. These occurrences and the subsequent 
 disasters of the Kingdom of Judah, would not concern 
 my present purpose, were it not that being more or less 
 the fruits of the Mosaic Institutions, they militate 
 against ascribing to these a divine origin. 
 
 Even in the period which elapsed between the return 
 from Babylon, and the advent of Christ, a period which, 
 for the want of a general knowledge of the events 
 which troubled it, is often considered as one of com- 
 parative peace and progress, the Jews were far from 
 profiting morally, as much as might have been expected, 
 by the lessons of adversity. It was but too natural that 
 a selfish and crafty priesthood; relying for its authority 
 over them on their implicit reverence for the Bible, 
 should take mundane advantage of the privilege of 
 being the official depositaries of the sacred Book, and 
 of determining what writings were to be considered as 
 canonical, and what as apocryphal. They had worthy 
 supporters in the Scribes, who were the authorized 
 
( 31 ) 
 
 transcribers and expounders of Holy Writ, and to whom 
 conjointly with the sect which carried to the greatest 
 excess the upholding of the Mosaic Dispensation, in all 
 its ritualistic details, our Saviour repeatedly addressed 
 the well-known anathema — " Woe unto you Scribes and 
 Pharisees, hypocrites ! " 
 
 It is scarcely probable that men of such stamp would 
 feel more compunction in altering obscure texts ac- 
 cording to their mind, than in distorting the interpre- 
 tation thereof to suit their inclination. Strange instances 
 are related of the extent to which this latter licence was 
 carried, in the controversies concerning the Mosaic Law, 
 between the rabbinical school headed by Shammai, the 
 upholder of rectitude, and the far more numerous one 
 headed by Hillel, the advocate of easy-going manners. 
 Thus on the question of Divorce, treated rather am- 
 biguously in Deuteronomy, it is said that the disciples 
 of the latter went so far as to allow that privilege to a 
 man who saw another woman that pleased him better 
 than his wife, or who could show that the latter had 
 over-salted his soup. 
 
 It was indeed an arduous task to introduce improve- 
 ment where the very sources of morality were con- 
 taminated. No wonder that our Saviour's doctrine of 
 righteousness and truth, found so few echoes in this 
 turmoil of iniquity, and that when he cast on its gloom 
 the clear "Light of Life," " the darkness comprehended 
 it not."* 
 
 * A recent Hebrew commentator, Dr. Christian D. Ginsburg, 
 has thrown much light on the endeavours made to establish and 
 preserve the original readings of the Old Testament by means of 
 marginal notes, added by the various transcribers, and of which 
 the entirety constitutes the so-called " Massorah." These notes 
 bear evidence of the multifarious difficulties which had to be sur- 
 mounted, and seem hitherto scarcely to have achieved a satisfactory 
 result, for the present Massoretic Text is pronounced to be " by 
 comparison incomplete, imperfect, incorrect and corrupt," and the 
 conclusion has been arrived at, that " human nature is fallible and 
 scribes are often ignorant, indolent or perverse." — It appears that 
 the extant MSS. of the Old Testament are not of earlier date than 
 the 9th century a.p. 
 
( 32 ) 
 
 SECTION 5.— KELIGION AND SCIENCE. 
 
 Not long ago a discussion on educational measures 
 in the Prussian Chamber of Deputies, brought up the 
 question of the supposed antagonism between Science 
 represented by Darwin, and Religion represented by 
 the Bible. The following brief extracts from the 
 speeches pronounced on that occasion by the liberal 
 Prof. Yirchow and the ultramontane leader Herr Wind- 
 thorst, give an idea of the wide difference of views 
 between some advanced German Protestants, and the 
 Roman Catholics, whose tenets may, in this particular 
 instance, be considered as representing those of nearly 
 all orthodox Christian denominations. 
 
 Yirchow : . . . The Bible itself represents the 
 creation as the result of acts purely material. . . . The 
 doctrine of seven days has nothing to do with Chris- 
 tianity ; it is a work purely human, a legend derived 
 from paganism. If theologians undertake to maintain 
 the infallibility of the Bible, they place themselves in 
 conflict, not only with science, but also with philosophy. 
 
 Windthorst : . . . The results of science agree to 
 demonstrate that the Bible contains the truth, the Mosaic 
 conception of the Creation is inseparable from the 
 Christian religion, the doctrine of the Messiah, and the 
 sacrifice of Golgotha. 
 
 In an unfinished Memorandum on Religion and 
 Science written many years since, I argued at some 
 length that antagonism between these two great elements 
 of our intellectual existence is a misconception ; that 
 they are Sisters born to love each other, and that when 
 they disagree, it is that one or the other, or both, must 
 have gone astray. — Imitating the wisdom with which 
 Christ silenced those who questioned Him concerning the 
 tribute money, we ought to render unto Science the 
 
( 33 ) 
 
 Knowledge of Nature and her Laws, and unto Religion 
 the Knowledge of Spiritual and Moral Philosophy. — 
 Religion teaches us devoutly to acknowledge a Supreme 
 Being, the Mind of the Universe, whose immutable, 
 unerring and omniscient Will constitutes what we are 
 accustomed to call the Laws of Nature. It is for 
 Science to study those Laws, investigating and recording 
 the agencies and modes of development employed by 
 Nature, that is to say, by the Supreme Will, in the 
 accomplishment of an all-wise and ever-progressive 
 system of designs. This is one of the noblest purposes 
 for which the faculties of observation and thought have 
 been vouchsafed to us, and it would be ungrateful and 
 irreverent not to hold their revelations in high esteem 
 and veneration. Would it not indeed show a deficient 
 appreciation of the sublime spiritual nature attributed 
 by Christ to the Supreme Being, if we were to neglect 
 the direct mementos of perennial Will inscribed in the 
 course of untold ages on the crust of our Globe, and to 
 prefer the account of the Creation given in the legendary 
 style of Genesis, and transmitted to us through the 
 uncertain channel of human manipulations ? * 
 
 It may perhaps be said that, after all, the unscientific 
 passages of the Old Testament are few and comparatively 
 unimportant, and that it is, for instance, not a very 
 serious matter if an uncultivated working-class congre- 
 gation takes the six clays of Creation in a literal sense, 
 or believes that fossil remains are proofs of the Deluge. 
 But it is not for uncultured congregations that religious 
 tenets must be chiefly devised. Among the more in- 
 fluential of the well-to-do portions of the community, 
 and even among those slow-going middle-classes which 
 have hitherto found a kind of lazy comfort in keeping 
 
 * St. Anthony when asked how he could live without hooks, 
 replied — " that for him the whole creation was a book always at 
 hand, in which he could read God's word whenever he pleased." — 
 " Sketches of Church History," eh. xiii. p. (56. 
 
 I) 
 
( 34 ) 
 
 their eyes shut in matters of faith, ignorance and routine 
 are on the wane, the tide of knowledge is irresistible, and 
 it would redound more to the secular advantage as well as 
 to the credit of a Church which proclaims the " worship 
 of God in Spirit and in Truth," to take the lead of 
 progress, rather than to denounce as heretical, new 
 facts brought to light by intellectual development, as 
 were denounced of old those of the Copernican system. 
 Facts are stubborn things, and it is self-damaging to 
 anathematize them till they have grown too strong, and 
 then to discover that an easy change in the interpretation 
 of the Hebrew Text, makes them perfectly orthodox. 
 
 On the other hand, it is neither dignified nor useful 
 to throw advanced Science to those who cannot, and 
 will not take it in. The best plan consists in developing 
 among the people by means of well-selected elementary 
 Science, a spirit of practical common-sense, which will 
 be perfectly at one with the true tenets of Christian 
 doctrine. 
 
 SECTION 6. — MIRACLES AND PEOPHECIES. 
 
 This subject is closely allied to the preceding. 
 
 Miracles involve temporary suspensions or alterations 
 of those natural laws, which scientists are mostly agreed 
 to consider as immutable. Now we can imagine the 
 Divine Power which ordained these laws, interfering 
 with them for adequate motives, and we can even 
 conceive in certain cases the power of performing 
 miracles being delegated to worthy proxies. But in 
 discussing the probability of any such occurrence, it is 
 essential to compare the magnitude of the interference, 
 with the importance of the result effected. Above all, it 
 behoves us to consider the nature of that result. If it is 
 obviously at variance with the character of good-will 
 towards all men attributed to Providence by the teaching 
 
( 35 ) 
 
 of Christ, we must show ourselves his faithful disciples, 
 by withholding our belief, till we have thoroughly 
 convinced ourselves that there is no possible room for 
 suspecting a mere human tradition. I here allude of 
 course to the miracles of the Old Testament, as for 
 instance the shower of stones on the defeated Amorites, 
 and the standing still of the Sun at the command of 
 Joshua, that he might have time to exterminate his 
 enemies, which are in painful contrast with the miracles 
 of benevolence wrought by our Saviour.* 
 
 Prophecies may be classed as Miracles, being the 
 foretelling by Prophets, under Divine inspiration, of 
 future events, which they could not otherwise foresee. 
 The chief importance of those of the Old Testament is 
 derived from their being taken as proofs that it must be 
 considered as inspired. Hence the trouble taken by the 
 opponents of that view, to show that some of them were 
 written after the event, an assumption somewhat 
 strengthened by the unreliable character of the deposit- 
 aries of the sacred writings. 
 
 Prophetic Emblems have been of late years so remark- 
 ably multiplied, that it is impossible to ignore them, but 
 it may suffice to say, lstly, that the belief in them 
 implies a full admission of the inspired character of 
 the Scriptures ; and 2ndly, that in indulging in this 
 branch of theological research, one must take heed of 
 becoming too much involved in the doctrine of Pre- 
 destination. Nothing can occur against the will of 
 Omnipotence, and to announce prophetically that a thing 
 will come to pass, implies that it has the prospective 
 sanction of the Almighty, or in other words, that it is 
 pre-destined. 
 
 As searching in the Bible for Texts susceptible of 
 
 * The plagues inflicted on the Egyptians in consequence of the 
 obduracy of their king, whose heart was "hardened," are a subject 
 so painful to most Bible leaders, that it is best to pass over them in 
 silence. 
 
 D 2 
 
( 36 ) 
 
 being interpreted as prophetic, has become a favorite 
 theological pastime, it may be well to remind those who 
 indulge in it, that the first condition is to make sure 
 that the thing foretold is in unison with the doctrine of 
 Christ. Much trouble is sometimes taken to collect 
 proofs of that which it would be more reverential to 
 disprove. 
 
 SECTION 7. — RECAPITULATION. EDUCATIONAL 
 CONSIDERATIONS. 
 
 A brief recapitulation of this Chapter gives the 
 following results : — The difference between the Religion 
 of Moses and the Religion of Christ, might almost be 
 compared to that between Earth and Heaven, Life and 
 Eternity. 
 
 Moses ignored a future existence ; his teaching was 
 addressed to the Israelites only, and bore the impress of 
 a vigorous and unscrupulous mind, seeking to discipline 
 a headstrong people in a barbarous age, when might 
 was right, and men were tyrants or slaves. He trained 
 his followers to a kind of" worldly righteousness, 
 depending not so much on prayer and spiritual devotion, 
 as on a rigidly enforced observance of outward forms 
 and blood-stained ceremonies ; not on loving confidence 
 in a Heavenly Father, and charity and good-will towards 
 all men, but on the constant fear of a stern and jealous 
 master, disobedience to whom would entail all the 
 miseries that life can endure, whilst strict obedience 
 would bring a harvest of earthly benefits, and give the 
 right of reducing enemies to bondage, or of putting to 
 the edge of the sword whole nations that stood in the 
 way. In fact his teaching, conveyed in the Pentateuch, 
 and re-echoed in the subsequent portions of the Hebrew 
 Canon, is so directly contrary to that of Christ, that our 
 Clergy, though tied to the use of the Old Testament by 
 
( 37 ) 
 
 circumstances which we shall have occasion to examine, 
 can only cull lessons of genuine morality from com- 
 paratively few passages, and are obliged to instruct us to 
 disregard others, or to act in opposition to them. Thus 
 the sacrifices so strictly enjoined, are abolished ; the 
 slavery for which special provision was made, is 
 denounced as hateful ; we are taught not to put our 
 foot on the neck of our enemies, still less to believe that 
 we can serve God by pursuing their utter destruction. 
 We are told not to indulge in wine like Noah, nor win 
 fortune by deceit like Jacob, nor to behave as Abraham 
 did towards Hagar, nor to bargain or argue with the 
 Almighty, nor to attempt to read the future in dreams 
 and divinations ; not to be righteous for the sake of 
 earthly treasures, but according to the words of Christ, 
 through the love of G-od, good-will towards our neighbour, 
 and faith in the blessings of a life to come. 
 
 There is a kind of moral color-blindness which 
 prevents our seeing the defects of those we love, or the 
 pernicious tendencies of books we hold in reverence. — A 
 German Pastor once assured me that under the constant 
 influence of a devout and earnest orthodoxy, people 
 accept the reading of the Bible in so peculiar a frame of 
 mind, that neither style nor substance are judged by the 
 rules of ordinary literature. It is thus that under the 
 influence of high art, people acquire conventional ideas of 
 what is decorous or indelicate in painting and statuary. 
 But in order to prevent the indelicate passages and 
 immoral examples of the Bible from having effects like 
 those of ordinary books, it would have been desirable to 
 keep it above the ordinary literary level, occupying a 
 place of honor where it would be a privilege to inspect its 
 hallowed pages. Instead of this, it has been multiplied 
 and made common beyond all bounds. Printed in every 
 possible variety of size, type, cover, illustration, and 
 price, it is distributed so indiscriminately as to entail 
 in thousands of cases rough handling, contumely and 
 
( 36 ) 
 
 derision, and produce fruits the very reverse of those 
 desired. 
 
 It is however more particularly as regards School- 
 education, that it is at once derogatory to the reverence 
 due to the Book, and injurious to the children, to mix 
 in the elements of moral instruction, insidious examples 
 of vice, profligacy, cruelty, and iniquities of every 
 description, individual and national, seemingly sanctioned 
 by Divine authority, or condoned by Divine favor. Even 
 among the Jews, who had so many more reasons for 
 upholding the use of the Old Testament than we 
 Christians, it appears to have been the practice to have 
 special editions for the benefit of the young. In 
 Germany, compendiums of Bible History are used in 
 schools up to the time of preparing for confirmation, 
 and yet in England an uncompromising opinion prevails, 
 that the Bible itself is the only true and fitting ground- 
 work of all religious teaching. 
 
( 39 ) 
 
 CHAPTER III -THE HEBREW CANON AND THE 
 CHRISTIAN CHURCH. 
 
 SECTION 1.— JUDAISING CHEISTIANITY. 
 
 By what strange confusion of ideas has then the 
 Mosaic Dispensation, represented by the Old Testament, 
 come to be so universally considered as the very founda- 
 tion of the Christian Faith ? The cause is as simple as 
 its results have been regrettable. — Our Saviour whilst 
 tacitly mitigating by the whole tenour of his words and 
 actions, the evil tendencies of the Mosaic writings, and 
 inveighing bitterly against their depositaries and chief 
 advocates, wisely avoided explicitly condemning the 
 defects of the religion in which he had been brought up, 
 and to which the multitudes whom he addressed were 
 blindly devoted. This devotion was shared by the dis- 
 ciples on whom devolved, after his death, the care of in- 
 stituting a religious organization, for which he had not left 
 any written code of rules ; the very record of his utter- 
 ances being at that time confined to oral reminiscences. 
 Even St. Paul, surnamed the " Apostle of the Gentiles," 
 was by birth and education a Jew, and his freedom of 
 thought was curbed in by the Jewish, or to use a word 
 commonly applied, the Judaising spirit which was ram- 
 pant at Jerusalem, then the head-quarters of the new faith. 
 The natural consequence was, that though on the one 
 hand, Sunday took the place of the old Sabbath as the 
 Day of Rest, and whilst under the influence of the Gentile 
 converts, the practice of circumcision fell into disuse, and 
 
( 40 ) 
 
 Christianity became leavened with the theories of the 
 Greek philosophers, yet on the other hand, the Judaisers 
 succeeded in achieving a success of more vital im- 
 portance, in perpetuating the spiritual authority of the 
 Hebrew Canon. Without showing themselves as 
 conservative as the sect of the Ebionites, who actually 
 continued to observe the precepts and ceremonies of the 
 Mosaic Law, and kept both the Sabbath and the Sunday, 
 the majority contented themselves with adhering to the 
 Mosaic Ordinances, merely as far as suited their purpose, 
 but as an article of faith, they maintained implicitly the 
 divine authority of the Sacred Book. 
 
 It is infinitely to be regretted that at that juncture of 
 such vast importance for the welfare of the world, a 
 clear distinction was not made between the Mosaic and 
 the Christian dispensations, or in other words, that the 
 Old Testament was not treated with the enlightened 
 spirit of discrimination and progress which Christ 
 himself had initiated in his actions, and foreshadowed in 
 his discourses. Everything in the Hebrew Text cal- 
 culated to promote admiration for the power, and love 
 for the beneficence of an Almighty Father, should have 
 been upheld with pious reverence for the common benefit 
 of all men. The antique records of the Jewish race 
 should have been preserved by its members with patriotic 
 care, always however distinguishing in their proper 
 light, deeds of wisdom, generosity or true valour, and 
 acts of craft or cruelty. — As for the legends of pre- 
 historic ages, they should have been respectfully kept 
 veiled in the interesting haze of their native mystery. 
 It would have sufficed to assume that Moses was inspired, 
 not to divulge to the world the secrets of Creation, but 
 to collect and place on record the traditions current in 
 his time concerning the origin of the Hebrew Race. — 
 Instead of all this, the very Apostles of our Lord appear to 
 have shut their eyes to the Light which they were intended 
 to diffuse. In lieu of bringing it to bear on the pages of 
 
( 41 ) 
 
 Scripture, in order to raise into brighter relief their 
 divine points, and to condemn authoritatively their 
 human ones, they trusted implicitly to the Sacred 
 Books as edited by a Priesthood, whom especially 
 after the late events, there was every reason to mis- 
 trust, and who had only too palpable a cause for 
 upholding the infallibility of the Mosaic Dispensation, 
 since to it they owed their corporate existence and their 
 transcendent power. And thus the Hebrew Canon, to 
 which no New Testament had as yet been added, became 
 the Bible of the Christians. It was upheld with the 
 same mysterious reverence as before, and considered as 
 written under Divine inspiration, that is to say, as the 
 revealed word of God. 
 
 Time might have brought improvement, especially 
 when the converts to Christianity from the Gentiles, 
 became greatly superior in numbers to those of Jewish 
 origin. But we shall see by and by, that the Old 
 Testament was rendered indispensable to the New 
 Faith, by the adoption of the Dogma of Atonement, 
 based on the occurrences in the Garden of Eden 
 described in the third chapter of Genesis. Thus the 
 New Church was pledged to attribute to the Bible 
 a character of infallibility, which became the more 
 firmly established when it was found to afford a means 
 of enhancing its secular as well as its spiritual advantages. 
 — When Luther, in attacking the abuses which thus 
 arose, denounced the monopoly of the Scriptures which 
 the Clergy had not unwisely maintained, and lifted from 
 them the veil of Latinity, Protestants gloated over the 
 conquered prize, and eagerly imbibed the whole 
 contents of the Bible, without properly distinguishing 
 the relative value of the two Testaments. By degrees, 
 however, freedom of use engendered freedom of comment, 
 and within this progressive century, the light thrown on 
 the early parts of the Old Testament by the exegesis of 
 authoritative commentators, has raised doubts as to their 
 
( ^ ) 
 
 Divine origin, and brought about a diversity of opinions 
 which may be summarised as follows : — 
 
 SECTION 2. — INSPIRATION. THE PENTATEUCH. 
 
 At the top of the scale of orthodoxy, are those who 
 uphold the doctrine of Inspiration in its full extent, 
 believing every word of the canonical Scriptures to have 
 been divinely dictated, and therefore " that its author from 
 the first verse of Genesis to the last verse of Eevelation 
 is God, and none other." (The Bible Student's Handbook, 
 p. 4.) They go further, and say that if not the whole, no 
 part of the Bible can be accepted with any certainty as 
 God's word, since the sifting of the true from the spurious 
 would be impossible. There can be no compromise in 
 the matter. 
 
 The theory of Inspiration carried to its full extent is 
 also known as " the doctrine of Eevelation," because it 
 assumes that things are thus revealed to mankind which 
 would otherwise remain unknown. Nevertheless even 
 in works decidedly orthodox, considerable elasticity is 
 given to the sense of the word " Inspiration." Thus 
 it is conceded that in many instances, allowance must be 
 made for the influence of the personal ignorance, leanings 
 or aversions of the several writers, and that the divine 
 interference need not be supposed to extend to minute 
 details. 
 
 Descending a step further, we find that the Penny 
 Cyclopaedia, published about fifty years ago, whilst it 
 acknowledges that from the time of Joshua downwards 
 the Pentateuch was received as the divinely inspired 
 composition of Moses, qualifies that affirmation by stating 
 that the information given on a variety of subjects, 
 including Natural History, is such as might be expected 
 from a man " liberally educated at the Egyptian 
 Court," and avers at the same time that a number of 
 
( 43 ) 
 
 passages besides that concerning the death of Moses, 
 which must of course be ascribed to a different author, 
 may simply be considered as interpolations, inserted by 
 a copyist with a view to make the author's meaning 
 clearer. Moreover " that in some parts of his narratives, 
 Moses appears to have made use of previously existing 
 documents, especially at the beginning of the Book of 
 Genesis." 
 
 It is chiefly since Bishop Colenso's attacks on the 
 authenticity of certain parts of the Pentateuch, and 
 especially of certain numerical paradoxes, that com- 
 mentators have ventured to think more freely, and to 
 speak more openly concerning the infallible nature of the 
 Old Testament in general, and of that most important part 
 of it in particular. Thus we see no less an authority than 
 the Bevd. Bobertson Smith affirming in the Encyclopaedia 
 Britannica, that the Pentateuch may be considered as a 
 fusion of several narratives, partly covering the same 
 ground, and combined into unity by a person acting as 
 Editor. 
 
 I need not take any account of those divines, who 
 playing fast and loose with inspiration, use it to stamp 
 with spiritual authority the passages which suit their 
 argument, but attach no weight to other passages which 
 are against their purpose. — As for the suggestion that 
 the Mosaic Dispensation was not intended to be perma- 
 nent and final, but merely preparatory, having been 
 ordained by God for the provisional guidance of a 
 people not yet ripe for the dispensation of Christ, I must 
 say that I cannot see any such preparatory character in 
 a code of laws of which the tendency was anything but 
 calculated to facilitate the mission of Christ. Nor can 
 I see a stepping-stone to real Christianit} r in the empty 
 ritualism of a sacerdotal regime, of which the hypo- 
 critical supporters incurred the well-merited anathemas 
 of our Saviour, and met them by hatred implacable unto 
 death. — It would be difficult to imagine a combination 
 
( 44 ) 
 
 more antipathetic to the pure and practical sentiments of 
 Christ, than that presented by selfish, epicurean, and 
 withal sceptical Priests, stern conductors of heart- 
 hardening sacrifices, by Scribes, whose propounding of 
 the Law had degenerated into pedantic casuistry and 
 a wrangling about mere nothings, benefiting neither 
 mind nor heart, and by Pharisees who ostentatiously 
 carried out those empty principles in ritualistic minutiae 
 and barren formalism. 
 
 Allusion has already been made to the practice among 
 the Lawgivers of ancient nations, of representing their 
 ordinances as emanating from a divine origin, or 
 sanctioned by a divine authority. I cannot indeed help 
 wondering that we have never heard the idea expressed, 
 that Moses resorted to a similar expedient, wisely 
 adding to the ascendant thus gained over the minds of 
 the Israelites, the prestige of a glowing account of the 
 legendary origin of their race. Considering the great 
 amount of legislative authority which Moses would 
 thus usefully acquire, he could hardly be blamed for 
 such an expedient. 
 
 Perhaps, however, the idea most likely to conciliate 
 conflicting views, would be the one above mentioned 
 which I once took the liberty of submitting to a 
 learned Doctor of Divinity ; viz., whether it might not 
 be perfectly allowable to assume that Moses was simply 
 charged by God with collecting and reducing to writing 
 the legends and traditions current in his time about the 
 Creation of the World, and the origin of the Hebrew 
 Race ; whether in fact there was any passage of Scripture 
 that could be quoted against such an assumption. He 
 was not aware of any, and I conclude that there is no 
 harm in entertaining this amicable solution of a con- 
 troversy, which has wrought much unnecessary mischief. 
 
( 45 ) 
 
 SECTION 3.— THE FIEST THEEE CHAPTEES OF GENESIS. 
 
 Having considered the theory of Inspiration in rela- 
 tion to the Pentateuch in general, let us accompany a 
 sincere and earnest Christian student in his endeavours 
 to analyse, under the assumption of Divine authorship, 
 those chapters of the Book of Genesis which have 
 acquired such special importance in connexion with 
 the Dogma of Atonement. We will suppose him to have 
 been brought up in orthodox principles, but to be ready 
 to set aside any artificial convictions which cannot stand 
 examination by the pure light of common sense issuing 
 from the Divine doctrine of our Saviour, full of grace 
 and truth. 
 
 The solemn Biblical account of the Creation would be 
 so supremely interesting, taken as a venerable relic of 
 pre-historic times, and as one of the earliest specimens 
 of pious poetry, that our student cannot help feeling how 
 sad it is to deprive it of these advantages, by submitting 
 it to the most trying of all ordeals, that of comparison 
 with the works of the one Divine Author, whose every 
 touch is perfection. One could easily excuse a certain 
 amount of confusion in the sequence of ideas of a 
 primaeval rhapsodist, but what is a student to think on 
 reading in an account supposed to be inspired, that 
 Light was separated from Darkness on the 1st day, and 
 that vegetation flourished on the 3rd day, though the 
 Sun, whose presence or absence is to us light and dark- 
 ness, and to whose beneficent influence vegetation owes 
 its existence, was not created till the 4th day ; the Stars 
 being appended at the end of the sentence as if they 
 were merely a host of twinklers ! 
 
 It is not generally known that there are two accounts 
 of the Creation of Man, differing considerably from each 
 other in substance, and what is more, differing in the 
 name given to the Almighty, which is in the one 
 
( 46 ) 
 
 Elohim, and in the other Jehovah Elohim.* Now it is 
 impossible to suppose that both accounts were dictated 
 to Moses by Divine inspiration ; but on the other hand, 
 if one were inspired and the other not, the inferiority of 
 the latter in every respect would be obvious, so that our 
 student sees no other issue than to conclude that both 
 are legendary traditions, rather awkwardly threaded 
 together by the author or authors of the Pentateuch. f 
 
 Incongruities of detail, as well as of general manage- 
 ment, baffle every attempt to reconcile orthodoxy with 
 common-sense. One is sorely puzzled to find a purpose 
 for imposing on Adam, who had not yet eaten of the 
 Tree of Knowledge, the interminable task of giving 
 names to thousands of living creatures. The words 
 oriental tale echo in the student's brain when he reads of 
 the rib taken from Adam during his sleep, in order to 
 supply materials for a companion, and he can hardly 
 help smiling at the characteristic love of lucre exhibited 
 in the Jewish tradition concerning the Eiver Pison, 
 " which compasseth the whole land of Havilah, where 
 there is gold, and the gold of that land is good." — In 
 short he is continually asking himself, " Is all this com- 
 patible with the idea of Inspiration ? " " Am I reading the 
 self-evident word of God addressed to all nations and all 
 ages, or does the Book of Genesis consist of the sayings 
 of venerable oriental sages, learned in their generation, 
 teaching the people of their time the history of the known, 
 and the legends of the unknown, but nowise possessing 
 those exalted conceptions of the Spirit of the Universe, in- 
 troduced by Christ, and confirmed by modern science ? " 
 
 All previous dilemmas are however insignificant com- 
 
 * The second account, in which " Lord God " is substituted for 
 " God," begins at verse 4 of chap. ii. 
 
 t Although the chief commentators, including Smith (" Diet, of 
 the Bible," p. 671), seem to coincide as to the plurality of docu- 
 ments used in the compilation of Genesis, they do not agree as to 
 the probable number, which the learned bJabbi Astruc places as 
 high as twelve. 
 
( 47 ) 
 
 pared with that by which the mind of the student is 
 troubled in scanning the particulars of our first parents' 
 transgression, and of its disastrous consequences. Of 
 course he must not for a moment assume that all that 
 came to pass was pre-arranged, or in other words, a 
 matter of predestination. Yet what other alternative 
 remains, but the almost equally impossible one of 
 supposing, that though Adam and Eve had been created 
 after God's own image, and were the objects of His 
 special care and choicest favours, yet nevertheless a 
 doubt existed as to their moral worth, and that the Tree 
 of Knowledge was accordingly used as a test of their 
 obedience, and that to render the experiment more 
 conclusive, Satan, the arch-tempter, was allowed to try 
 his deceit on the new-bom mind of Eve. Lastly, is it to 
 be supposed that the disappointment and annoyance 
 occasioned by her easy compliance, and that of her 
 husband, in a transgression highly provoking and un- 
 grateful, and yet perhaps betraying more weakness than 
 wickedness, called for the fearful sentence of perennial 
 wrath, which condemned not only them, but their progeny 
 for untold generations, to drudgery, disease and death ! 
 
 The student cannot help seeing in these incidents a 
 profane mixture of the human with the Divine, de- 
 cidedly in keeping with the attributes ascribed to 
 Jehovah in various parts of the Pentateuch ; but 
 decidedly in opposition to those of the Heavenly Father, 
 the supreme essence of all perfection, whom Christ has 
 taught us to glorify in truth and equity, benevolence and 
 forgiveness. — Fortunately the true " Light of Life " is 
 fast dispelling the ignorant misconceptions of a narrow- 
 minded piety ; it is no longer forbidden to admire in the 
 narrative of Genesis an excellent moral lesson, decked 
 with the attractions of oriental imagery, and we may 
 safely follow the authoritative example of the eminent 
 modern Rabbi, Astruc, who in his compendium of Jewish 
 History, considers it as "un charmant apologue." 
 
( 48 ) 
 
 CHAPTER l\/ -THE DOCTRINE OF CHRIST. 
 
 SECTION 1.— LEADING PRINCIPLES. 
 
 The Dispensation of Moses was specially adapted in 
 very trying times and under very peculiar circumstances, 
 to the wants of the small nation of which he was the 
 leader ; it included with certain moral precepts the whole 
 machinery of a powerful and impressive sacerdotal 
 regime, and a complete code of laws for a people that 
 had none. — The Dispensation of Christ was universal ; 
 it taught all sorts and conditions of men to shape their 
 course by the light of religion and common-sense, and 
 far from interfering with worldly legislation, it did not 
 even distinctly trace the outlines of any new religious 
 creed or ecclesiastical organization. The improvement 
 of existing institutions might be inferred from, but was 
 not prescribed by, our Saviour's discourses. Thus he 
 showed that dogmatic theology and ceremonial obser- 
 vances were secondary matters, as compared with esta- 
 blishing a secure foundation of simple, clear and 
 unimpeachable truths. 
 
 One of the first acts of his holy ministry was 
 to proclaim by his memorable discourse at the well 
 in Samaria, the existence of a spiritual God ; thus 
 abrogating the Mosaic conception of a Deity after 
 human likeness, whose jealous wrath visited the sins 
 of the fathers upon whole generations of their unhappy 
 children. For this personal God to be worshipped 
 only by one people in one place, Christ substituted a 
 universal spirit of fatherly beneficence, who could be 
 
( 40 ) 
 
 adored everywhere, who preferred pious prayers to 
 propitiatory offerings, and to whom expiatory sacrifices 
 were less acceptable than the yearnings of a contrite 
 heart. Worshipping in Spirit, men should keep 
 themselves in constant intercourse with their Heavenly 
 Father, and worshipping in Truth, they should actually 
 and unceasingly carry out the practical duties of life, 
 which that intercourse would keep constantly before 
 their minds. 
 
 This was illustrated by that brief but impressive 
 orison composed by Christ with pious phrases in use 
 among the Jews, and which under the name of "The 
 Lord's Prayer," has become a bond of union among 
 Christians. It shows that all sorts and conditions of 
 men, however lowly may be their position on earth, are 
 welcome to enter into direct spiritual communion with 
 their Father in Heaven ; that is to say, not in the 
 realistic Heaven of the Pentateuch, situated above the 
 blue vault of the firmament, and from which the Lord 
 descended to commune with Abraham and Moses, 
 but the spiritual Heaven in the unseen world. This 
 prayer at the same time shows that we should prepare 
 ourselves for asking the benefits of his loving mercy, by 
 being kind and forgiving to those who trespass against 
 us. No opportunity was indeed neglected by our 
 Saviour for convincing his hearers that kindness is the 
 secret of happiness. — It is interesting to observe how 
 much .the precepts which he was sometimes able to 
 borrow from the Hebrew Law, gained in vigour ami 
 significance through such adoption. We read in 
 Deuteronomy, — " Thou shalt love the Lord thy God," 
 but was love compatible with the Mosaic attributes of 
 the Deity ? Christ, on the contrary, made the love of a 
 Heavenly Father easy and natural. The Law further 
 commanded every man, — "Thou shalt love thy neigh- 
 bour as thyself," but in reading the context we perceive 
 that the love of one's neighbour was qualified by the 
 
 E 
 
( 50 ) 
 
 general understanding that that neighbour was a fellow 
 Israelite ; whereas the touching introduction in our 
 Saviour's well-known parable of a Samaritan to perform 
 the duties and acquire the rights of a neighbour (Luke 
 x. 30), broke down the barrier of prejudice where it was 
 strongest, and was equivalent to admitting all mankind, 
 without distinction of nationality or creed, to have 
 neighbourly claims on our sympathy in distress, and 
 on our good-will at all times. 
 
 Most races manifest in the early stages of their re- 
 ligious development, dismal misconceptions of the Deity, 
 unconsciously grounded on human tendencies. Fear 
 reigns supreme. Supplications are addressed in tremb- 
 ling to a stern Master, and his wrath can only be ap- 
 peased by offerings of blood. — The case of the Jews was 
 peculiar. On the one hand the covenant with Abraham 
 was supposed to secure an exceptional share of divine 
 favor, but on the other hand, the sombre shadows of 
 the Mosaic Dispensation were sedulously maintained by 
 an interested clergy. A dark cloud of superstitious 
 terrorism shrouded the grand conception of Monotheism, 
 till our Saviour dispelled that darkness with the pure 
 radiance of the Light of Life, and revealed to the world 
 the true relations between God and Man, — Beneficence 
 and Love. 
 
 It is yet reserved for future generations to understand 
 why antagonistic evil is mixed with good in the vast 
 scheme of universal purposes ; but in the meantime, 
 there is immense importance, and a happy promise of 
 progressive improvement, in the great truth made mani- 
 fest by Christ, that the task for the accomplishment 
 of which man is accountable to his Creator, is to promote 
 well-being, and to counteract harm and suffering. To 
 work in the " vineyard of the Lord," is to strive accor- 
 ding to our abilities and our means, 1o diminish the 
 prevailing amount of vice, foolishness and misery, and to 
 increase the amount of virtue, wisdom and happiness. 
 
( SI ) 
 
 " The yoke is easy and the burden is light " to those 
 who work with a willing heart, humble in prosperous 
 success, and upheld in adverse fate by the consoling 
 assurance of divine appreciation.* — Few principles of 
 doctrine appear to have been more carefully inculcated 
 by our Saviour than the simple and practical character 
 of man's duties, so happily blended heavenward and 
 earthward with love and charity, and in which the 
 hopeful prospect of a future life, far from being ignored, 
 as in the Dispensation of Moses, is taken fully into 
 account as an incontrovertible article of belief. — " Not 
 every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter 
 into the kingdom of Heaveu, but he that doeth the 
 will of my Father which is in Heaven." No burnt 
 offerings like those of the Mosaic Dispensation, and no 
 mysterious dogmatic equivalents, can replace our devoting 
 ourselves heart and soul to the service of the Lord. 
 
 There is scarcely a virtue that cannot be spoiled by 
 exaggeration. We are told with a sad perversion of 
 disinterestedness that we must be virtuous for the love 
 of God, and not with a view to earning Heaven as a 
 recompense. The fact is that virtue always requires so 
 much self-control, and often so much self-sacrifice, that 
 we cannot afford to dispense with any legitimate help, 
 and Christ wisely held out to those who did the will of 
 the Father, the encouraging expectation of entering the 
 Kingdom of Heaven. There was nothing in this 
 derogatory to the purest feeling of love and devotion, 
 as was shown on another occasion by the memorable 
 words : — " Whosoever shall not receive the Kingdom of 
 God as a little child, he shall not enter therein." As a 
 little child in simplicity of heart strives to deserve a 
 recompense promised by a loving parent, and which it 
 
 * I have been told that the worthy Principal of a Training 
 College used to address to his pupils the appropriate quotation 
 from Young's " Night Thoughts," — " Do your best, angels can do 
 no more." 
 
 E 2 
 
( 52 ) 
 
 prizes for its own sake, but far more for the sake of the 
 hand that will bestow it, so we are taught by Christ 
 to look forward to eternal life, with that simple-minded 
 affection which cannot distinguish heavenly bliss from 
 divine favor, or conceive the one without the other. — 
 Let us be ever grateful to our Saviour for having made 
 Religion so clear and simple as to be within the compass 
 of every understanding, and let us re-echo the cry of 
 exultation, — " I thank thee, 0 Father, Lord of heaven 
 and earth, that thou hast hid these things from the wise 
 and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes ! " 
 
 SECTION 2.— FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE. 
 
 There is something in the oriental tone which pervades 
 most of the discourses of Christ, that is peculiarly fascina- 
 ting, provided their symbolism be properly understood, 
 and no attempt be made to interpret literally, ex- 
 pressions which were used figuratively. Every Gospel 
 reader should give his mind a little special training- 
 concerning some of these expressions, which embody 
 instruction of paramount value. Thus the utterances of 
 Christ, " I am the Light of the World," or " The Light 
 of Life," clearly established the great object of his 
 mission, namely to dispel the prevailing moral darkness 
 by the brightness of Righteousness. Those who rejected 
 it, pronounced their own condemnation ; for Sin shuns the 
 Light of Heaven. They " loved darkness rather than 
 light because their deeds were evil " ; those who accepted 
 it, were spiritually born again, leaving the sombre 
 atmosphere of Levitical domiuion and formalistic laws, 
 to enter with the open minds and loving hearts of 
 children into the bright realms of practical virtue and 
 eternal hope. — It may be truly said that the " Light of 
 the "World " is the light of righteousness, which results 
 from a well-trained conscience, and the light of common- 
 
( 53 ) 
 
 sense which results from a well-trained intelligence, and 
 the light of knowledge which results from well-trained 
 faculties of the mind, and that the Light of Life is the 
 light of salvation, which showeth the way to unite all 
 these in the service of God. 
 
 The very simplicity of the Doctrine of Christ may 
 not have been without some influence in determining a 
 frequent use of strong symbolic language, for inculcating 
 what in itself was not of a sufficiently stirring character 
 to rivet the attention of a sensation-seeking multitude. 
 They would soon be tired of hearing that their welfare 
 simply depended on their worshipping Grod in truth, 
 and that the actuality of their devotion would be 
 measured by its fruits. It was much more startling 
 and effective to hear our Saviour symbolically assimilate 
 himself with the doctrine of spiritual health and strength, 
 which it was his divine mission to diffuse as the true 
 lbod of the soul, saying, as he taught in the synagogue 
 in Capernaum, — " I am the living bread which came 
 down from heaven : if any man eat of this bread he shall 
 live for ever : and the bread that I will give is my flesh, 
 which I will give for the life of the world." And again, 
 " He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood, 
 dwelleth in me, and I in him." 
 
 It appears that among our Lord's humble hearers on 
 this occasion, some were surprised at this language, but 
 generally speaking, as Canon Farrar remarks in his 
 " Life of Christ," the metaphors which Jesus used had 
 not to an educated Jew, one hundredth part of the 
 strangeness which they have to us. Jewish literature 
 was exceedingly familiar with the symbolism which 
 represented by " eating," an entire acceptance of, and 
 incorporation with, the truth, and by "bread" a 
 spiritual doctrine. — The analogous use of the terms 
 "llcsh and blood "is evidently an enforcement of the 
 same train of argument. 
 
 Again, it must be remembered that at that period, the 
 
( 54 ) 
 
 imagination of the Jews was kept in a constant ferment 
 by Messianic dreams and apocalyptic rhapsodies, and 
 that religions discourses devoid of these stirring elements 
 might have seemed tame, and therefore might have proved 
 unprofitable. This may in some measure account for 
 certain outbursts of poetic imagery relating to an 
 imminent advent of the Kingdom of Heaven, and which 
 caught up with febrile eagerness, have been transmitted 
 to us in a manner calculated to mislead superficial 
 students.* 
 
 As an instance of the importance of attaching to the 
 expressions of Christ their real sense, I may mention 
 the word " believe " used in various impressive sentences. 
 It is frequently construed as simply applying to the 
 divine origin of Jesus, whereas an attentive study 
 shows that besides this, is meant an earnest belief in, 
 and acceptance of the divine Word or Doctrine which he 
 brought into the world ; a belief not confined to passive 
 acquiescence, but implying a firm and unalterable 
 determination to maintain through life the accomplish- 
 ment, of the moral and practical duties which that 
 doctrine involved. This is shown by the text, " Blessed 
 are they that hear the word of the Lord and keep it." 
 
 The Parables and Comparisons which figure so promi- 
 
 * It will be seen further on how many causes combine to 
 render unreliable, certain portions of the accounts transmitted to us 
 of the discourses of our Saviour. There is indeed much reason 
 to suppose that the minds of his hearers, full of superstitious 
 expectations, would but too readily magnify, distort, and represent 
 as actual prophecies, what in the original utterances of Christ had 
 a mere allegorical signification. This distortion would naturally 
 increase during the period of at least half a century in which 
 those utterances were only preserved by oral tradition, and thus 
 Christ may have been at last misrepresented as predicting the 
 occurrence within the limits of his generation, of events which 
 did not come to pass. — I may here mention incidentally that 
 whatever may have been the origin and mode of growth of the 
 expectation of an approaching cataclysm, it certainly tended very 
 effectually to promote the development of the early Christian 
 communities. By the time it was dispelled, they were sufficiently 
 consolidated to dispense with it. 
 
( 55 ) 
 
 nentlyand so attractively in the discourses of Christ, are 
 another feature of the same judicious employment of 
 allegories. Besides many considerations in common with 
 the above-mentioned forms of figurative language, they 
 suggest one peculiar to themselves. How much might 
 the sermons of the present time gain in interest and 
 effectiveness, if our preachers, following the example of 
 our Saviour, set aside, except on special occasions, the 
 practice of scrutinising Bible-texts in order to extract 
 from them some new sense, or hidden particle of truth, 
 or for the purpose of displaying an erudition which a 
 common congregation is incompetent to appreciate, and 
 made Parables of any required length out of the incidents 
 of daily life, spinning out of these materials the heart- 
 compassing tissue of popular homilies ! 
 
 SECTION 3.— THE GOSPEL NAEEATIVES. 
 
 It is of course important that reformers who wish to 
 use the original doctrine of Christ as a test for detecting, 
 and a means for remedying the errors of the Christian 
 Church, should acquire a special knowledge of the 
 Essential Elements of that doctrine, by a review of the 
 four Gospels, carefully undertaken for that purpose, with 
 minds neither biassed by educational routine, nor warped 
 by too concentrated a study of isolated texts. They will 
 thus become thoroughly impressed with the divine 
 principles, admirably simple and clear, designed to 
 regenerate mankind ; principles embracing all peoples 
 and all times, and calculated alike to promote social 
 improvement and individual happiness. They will by 
 the same process become competent to distinguish, and 
 to separate from the true records of our Saviour's uni- 
 versal doctrine, many passages of a Jewish bearing and 
 signitieancy, not a few of them strongly colored by the 
 Messiauic aspirations with which the atmosphere was so 
 
( 56 ) 
 
 extraordinarily pregnant at that troubled time. They 
 may further remark that in the latter portions of his 
 ministry, the war he had to wage against the Pharisees, 
 often caused arguments of justification or attack to take 
 the place of those general principles of righteousness and 
 love, which were previously inculcated on attentive 
 multitudes of simple-minded Galileans. — It is obvious 
 that before attempting to distil for present use from the 
 records of Christ's teaching the pure essence of the Light 
 of Life, it is necessary to eliminate all passages thus 
 stamped with a local or temporary bias, and in addition 
 to these, to set reverently aside all those sentences of an 
 abnormal and perplexing character, of which the frequent 
 presence is but too fully accounted for by the peculiar 
 difficulties under which the acts and sayings of our 
 Saviour have been transmitted to us. 
 
 The orthodox belief is indeed that the records of our 
 Saviour contained in the four Gospels of St. Matthew, 
 St. Mark, St. Luke, and St. John, were directly in- 
 spired, and their very discrepancies are adduced by 
 certain divines as proofs of this.* It would perhaps be 
 more correct to say, that where the discrepancies of the 
 Gospel narratives, obviously arising from human trans- 
 mission, are of a merely incidental and extrinsic 
 character, they need not materially interfere with our 
 acceptance of passages which clearly and intrinsically 
 convey the genuine principles of our Lord's divine 
 doctrine. 
 
 Of late years Biblical researches have materially 
 elucidated the circumstances under which the four 
 Gospels had their origin. It appears to be generally 
 agreed that the dates at which they received their 
 standard Greek form were considerably later than 
 hitherto supposed. The Rcvd. H. R. Haweis, of St. 
 
 * It is contended that uninspired authors would " have striven 
 to adapt their histories the one to the other." (Bible Student's 
 Handbook, p. 101.) 
 
( 57 ) 
 
 James's, Marylebone, has affirmed in one of his " Even- 
 ings for the People" (Feb. 1883), that as late as 
 70 a.d. (the siege of Jerusalem by Titus), no connected 
 narrative had been set down, because people were ex- 
 pecting the end of the world, and preferred oral to 
 written accounts. St. Mark's date was about 70 
 to 75 ; St. Matthew, 88 to 90 ; St. Luke, 90 to 94 ; St. 
 John, or Recollections of St. John (put into good Greek 
 at Ephesus), 120 to 180. Thus according to the Revd. 
 gentleman, the Gospels had before they reached their 
 present form, or anything like it, passed through a long 
 period of oral tradition, and more than one written 
 account.* 
 
 The Revd. Robertson Smith in his article on the Bible 
 already quoted, says :— " All the earliest external evi- 
 dence points to the conclusion that the Synoptical 
 Gospels are non-apostolic digests of spoken and written 
 apostolic tradition." 
 
 It is but fair to mention that the oral traditions of 
 those days must not be judged of by our modern ideas. 
 Men of experience, gifted with a retentive memory, made 
 it their special profession to learn and to deliver orally, 
 narratives like that of our Lord's deeds and sayings. 
 It is however obvious, that this mode of transmission 
 repeated for many years, was at the best far from per- 
 
 * The following are the above dates in a tabular form with 
 some of the less recent chronological conjectures. 
 
 
 JIaweis 
 (1883). 
 
 Smith's 
 Dictionary 
 (1863). 
 
 Chamberss 
 Encyclopedia 
 (1882). 
 
 Bible Student's 
 Handbook. 
 
 
 A.D. 
 
 A.D. 
 
 A.D. 
 
 A.D. 
 
 Matthew 
 
 88-90 
 
 50-00 
 
 60-70 
 
 38-42 
 
 Mark . 
 
 70-75 
 
 63-70 
 
 60-70 
 
 65 
 
 Luke 
 
 90-94 
 
 58-60 
 
 60-70 
 
 63 
 
 John 
 
 120-180 
 
 78 
 
 120-170 
 
 87 
 
( 58 ) 
 
 feet. Nor were narratives committed to writing thereby 
 rendered secure. We have the Eevd. Robertson Smith's 
 authority, and not his alone, for the fact that in those 
 times, when only manuscript literature existed, expen- 
 sive and scarce, there was no law of copyright. If a 
 man copied a book, it was his to add and modify as he 
 pleased, and he was not in the least bound to distinguish 
 the old from the new. — Somewhat characteristic of the 
 way in which the Gospels were altered and re-altered to 
 suit the contending views of sects, each of which thought 
 itself orthodox, is afforded by a passage in " The Bible 
 Student's Handbook " (Ward & Lock, London), a very 
 useful introduction to the study of the Holy Scriptures, 
 from which it appears that it is not decided whether the 
 Gospel of St. Matthew was originally written in Greek, 
 or translated into that language from the Syro-Chaldaic, 
 which prevailed among the Jews at the time of our 
 Saviour, but that if a translation, it was generally pre- 
 ferred to the original, which had been " corrupted and 
 mutilated by the Ebionites, a sect of Jewish Christians, 
 in order to 'support their own heretical tenets." This of 
 course implies that the translator had full license to 
 correct according to his own views. 
 
 In order to have an adequate idea of the temptations 
 to which both the professors of oral tradition and the 
 authors of written accounts were exposed, and of the 
 extent to which their discretion was too frequently over- 
 come, we must remember the state of social and political 
 disorganization which prevailed at the time of our 
 Saviour, and of which the climax was marked b}' the 
 siege and fall of Jerusalem. Such a condition of 
 things may somewhat account for the animosity with 
 which the various interpretations of his mission were 
 upheld by conflicting sects, which would little hesitate 
 to tamper with a manuscript for the purpose of 
 putting down a heretical enenry. Thus Judaising 
 Christians would do their utmost to bring the doctrine 
 
( 59 ) 
 
 of Christ into connection with that of Moses, just as 
 Gnostic Christians would seek to interweave it with 
 their mystic theories. 
 
 SECTION 4. — DEFICIENCIES AND I MPEEFECTIONS. 
 
 It results from the facts and opinions thus briefly 
 summarised, that we must esteem ourselves fortunate in 
 finding the gist and import of our Saviour's doctrine 
 clearly and unmistakably established by the concurrent 
 testimony of the Four Gospels. It is not too much to 
 say that general unanimity would prevail as to the 
 nature of that import, among any number of unbiassed 
 students devoutly compassing in their minds the general 
 character of our Saviour's oral teaching, and combining 
 it with the equally instructive tenour of his holy life. 
 The intimate appreciation of fundamental principles 
 which may be thus obtained, is of value paramount, and 
 this mental training should precede the selecting and 
 committing to memory of a certain number of repre- 
 sentative texts. There are also a few moral precepts, 
 such as those in praise of peace-making, humility and 
 other social virtues, which should similarly be learnt 
 by heart; but by far the best way to obtain a 
 detailed and methodical code of moral duties, is to 
 frame it by logical deduction from the main doctrinal 
 principles. 
 
 We may fairly assume that duties to parents, relatives, 
 friends, superiors, inferiors, and so on, were frequently 
 iuculcated by Jesus on his hearers, but that whether 
 addressed to his select apostles, or to assembled crowds, 
 they were less likely to be retained by the memory, 
 incorporated in oral tradition, and ultimately recorded 
 by the Evangelists, than the more sensational utterances 
 
( 60 ) 
 
 relating to the divine origin of his doctrine, and its 
 importance for salvation.* 
 
 One cannot help wishing that the four canonical 
 Gospels were less duplicative of each other, so that 
 they might include incidents of our Saviour's life now 
 omitted, or in other words, a larger portion of those 
 instructive treasures to which St. John alludes (xxi. 25), 
 saying in oriental style, that " if they should be written 
 every one, I suppose that even the world itself could 
 not contain the books that should be written." — At all 
 events it is probable, that if the reverend Fathers in 
 oecumenical council assembled, who condemned and 
 caused to be destroyed as entirely false and apocryphal, 
 the many more or less spurious Gospels then existing, 
 had tolerated their existence for the sake of such truths 
 as might be in them, fragments of information might 
 thus have been preserved, for want of which certain 
 passages of the true Gospels are scarcely intelligible. 
 
 An attentive examination of the reported utterances 
 of our Lord, shows that in many instances they are 
 fragments caught up here and there, and of which for 
 want of the light that would have been reflected on them 
 by the intervening portions of the discourse, it is unsafe 
 to attempt determining the precise bearings. To this 
 element of uncertainty must be added the ambiguities 
 arising from our inability to appreciate idiomatic 
 phrases, and to comprehend popular allusions, though 
 they might be perfectly intelligible to those to whom 
 the discourses of our Saviour were addressed. Thus the 
 expression " Son of Man," so often applied to himself by 
 Jesus, may be misleading to a modern reader, though 
 perfectly intelligible to the Jews, accustomed to hearing 
 it applied to the Messiah in their popular prophecies. 
 
 * Assertions of spiritual authority would particularly suit the 
 purjiose of writers engaged in establishing the influence ot the 
 new faith, and the preponderance of sentences of this description 
 is especially noticeable in the Gospel of St. John. 
 
( CI ) 
 
 In studying the Gospels for practical purposes, it is, 
 as a rule, expedient to confine one's attention to those 
 portions of the Text which unmistakably chime in 
 with the fundamental tenour of our Saviour's doctrine.* 
 There is altogether more risk of confusion than hope of 
 profit, in the investigation of dubious and obscure 
 passages, and when they are so worded that they cannot 
 possibly be accepted as conveying the true meaning of 
 Christ, it would be far more judicious on the part of our 
 divines, to set them respectfully aside, than to render 
 them more conspicuous by a lame defence.! 
 
 I trust it will be ere long generally admitted that the 
 best way to glorify our Saviour, is humbly to acknowledge 
 that* the records of his holy words which we possess, 
 show here and there signs, much to be regretted but 
 little to be surprised at, of human manipulation. Great 
 prudence must be exercised in attempting to correct 
 these imperfections, but they should be carefully es- 
 chewed by the Gospel Student who sincerely aims at 
 the elucidation of the doctrine of Christ. He should 
 only accept and treasure up as thoroughly genuine, 
 that which unmistakably breathes those divine principles 
 of Righteousness and Charity, Honour to God, and 
 Happiness to Mankind, which appeal alike to the 
 enlightened convictions of the Christian, and to the 
 reasoning faculties of the Philosopher. 
 
 * This precaution would be still more necessary in an analysis 
 extended to the Acts and the Epistles, which exhibit the develop- 
 ments of the new faith, no longer controlled by its Author, branch- 
 ing out under a variety of local and personal influences. 
 
 t The following are examples of the kind of sentences in 
 question: — "Let the dead bury their dead" (Matt. viii. 22). . . . 
 If any man " hate not his father and mother and wife and children 
 and brethren and sisters, yea and his own life also, he cannot be 
 my disciple " (Luke xiv. 26). 
 
( 62 ) 
 
 CHAPTER V -CHRISTIAN DOGMAS. 
 
 SECTION 1. — INTRODUCTORY REMARKS. 
 
 Among the multitudes that flocked around our 
 Saviour, thousands would have become his faithful 
 followers, if he had promised them that their souls would 
 be lifted to Heaven by some spiritual miracle ; but the 
 faint-hearted and indolent shrank from accepting his 
 doctrine, when they found that it required them to 
 achieve their own salvation, by constantly doing the 
 will of the Father in earnest devotion and self-denial, 
 and serving Him by serving their fellow-men all the days 
 of their lives. — When Christ had departed, leaving no 
 authoritative digest of instructions, nor for a time aught 
 beyond oral traditions, it happened as might be 
 expected from human nature, that the possessors of 
 those traditions, partly perhaps in a spirit of kindness, 
 but partly also in a sense of self-importance, or carried 
 away by an injudicious fervour of devotion, forgot the 
 practical bias which formed so inseparable a part of 
 their Master's teaching, and were induced to give 
 increased weight to their narratives, by attaching to the 
 mere belief in them, an intrinsic efficacy fraught with 
 salvation. It was natural that such an idea should at 
 once gain favor, and as it was equally natural that belief 
 should be meritorious in proportion as the things to be 
 believed were wonderful, one cannot feel surprised at a 
 growing prevalence of the marvellous and supernatural. 
 We have seen that for a time, men's minds were mainly 
 absorbed by the sensational expectation of the coming of 
 
( G3 ) 
 
 the Kingdom of Heaven before that generation had passed 
 away, an expectation strong enough to exercise a very 
 important influence on the development of the new 
 religion. — More durable was the excitement produced by 
 two Dogmas, to which it is necessary to devote special 
 attention : that of the Holy Trinity, and that of 
 Atonement. 
 
 SECTION 2.— THE DOGMA OF THE HOLY TEINITY. 
 
 There has been a frequent, perhaps a not unnatural 
 tendency among ancient nations to emphasize distinc- 
 tively the chief attributes of the Divinity, till they 
 became so many entities or god-heads.* Great however 
 as was the influence acquired by the dreamy philosophers 
 of the Greek School over the development of the 
 nascent religion, the glorious monotheism which dis- 
 tinguished the native Jewish faith of our Saviour 
 and his apostles, from the paganism of the surrounding 
 Gentiles, was too firm to be shaken to that extent 
 by gnostic visionaries, though some of them tried hard 
 at it. If certain circumstances connected with our Lord 
 seemed to favor the trinitarian idea, which has become 
 so inherent a feature of Christianity, no definite 
 injunction settled authoritatively its form from the 
 beginning. A wide field was left for theological specula- 
 tion, and thus arose a number of distinct sects, each 
 glorifying its own orthodoxy, and cordially deprecating 
 the errors of all the rest. Their divergencies chiefly 
 related to the relative position and attributes of the 
 three members of the Trinity, and to the more or less 
 divine nature of Christ, ranging from the high orthodox 
 standard since stereotyped by the Athanasian Creed, 
 
 * These were often grouped in a triadic form, as shown by the 
 Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva of the Indians ; the Kneth, Keith and 
 Phtha of the Egyptians ; and the Odin, Braga and Freia of the 
 Scandinavians. 
 
( 64 ) 
 
 down to the level of those Unitarians who only see in 
 Christ a holy Prophet, appointed by God as special 
 representative, and endowed at his baptism with super- 
 natural knowledge and power. — The interval is immense, 
 but viewed from a purely utilitarian standpoint, distinc- 
 tions of this character have not by any means the 
 amount of influence that might be expected on the 
 concerns of social life. We shall see in the next section 
 that the case is different with the Dogma of Atonement, 
 which merges in some measure the moral benefits of all 
 the active life and teaching of our Saviour, in certain 
 spiritual benefits connected with the one event of his 
 death ; and which thus forms one of the greatest difficul- 
 ties to be contended with, in bringing round the 
 Christianity of the present day to the Christianity of 
 Christ. 
 
 SECTION 3. — THE DOGMA OF ATONEMENT. 
 
 In order to have some idea of the manner in which 
 a theory so much at variance with the fundamental 
 principles of Christ's doctrine has grown to be commonly 
 looked upon as an indispensable element of the Christian 
 faith, we must again revert to the times and circum- 
 stances in which the latter first took root and flourished. 
 
 I need not dwell on the change from the lessons of 
 practical morality taught by Christ, to the pious 
 speculations initiated even in the Epistles, and welcomed 
 by popular favor,* or to those indulged in by the fertile 
 imagination of gnostic philosophers. Now it was quite 
 natural that such being the public bias, a mysterious 
 theory which represented the death of our Saviour as an 
 inexhaustible fund of Salvation available on easy terms, 
 
 * In the Epistles " the mysterious parts of our holy faith are more 
 fully opened and explained than they were hy the Lord himself " 
 (Lowth, quoted at p. Ill of the Bible Student's Handbook). 
 
( 65 ) 
 
 should find ready acceptance. It took for starting-point 
 the sin supposed to have been committed by Adam and 
 Eve in eating of the forbidden fruit, whereby not only 
 they, but the whole human race, had become the 
 children of wrath. It assumed that Christ, the second 
 member of the Holy Trinity, had come into the world to 
 suffer death on the cross, and thereby to redeem from 
 perdition the souls of all who might duly acknowledge 
 his divine nature, and might obtain from the ministers of 
 his Church, admission to the benefits of his holy inter- 
 cession. It was welcomed by men vested with ecclesi- 
 astical authority, who became as it were the repositaries 
 of that fund of salvation, and it was hailed with equal 
 satisfaction by believers, who thus saw opened to them a 
 new and less laborious road to Heaven. The Gnostics 
 had dreamt to some purpose, and the Judaisers, who 
 had succeeded in maintaining the infallibility of the 
 Hebrew Canon, now had the delight of seeing it firmly 
 linked to the Gospel of Christ by means of the most 
 representative Chapter of the whole Pentateuch. Both 
 parties were elated with the idea that they had glorified 
 Jesus Christ as the Redeemer of the World. Whether 
 it was a redemption of this kind that our Saviour alluded 
 to when he proclaimed that he came into the world as 
 the Light of Life, to show men how to worship their 
 Heavenly Father in spirit and in truth, and to inherit 
 the Kingdom of Heaven by doing His blessed will, — that 
 question no one seems to have asked. Nor whether, 
 tested by the doctrine of Christ, various passages of the 
 Pentateuch in general, and the narrative of Eden in 
 particular, could be attributed to divine authorship 
 without profaning the attributes of the Almighty. 
 Still less does it seem to have occurred to any one at 
 that time, that the sweeping sentence of suffering and 
 death pronounced at the gates of Eden on our first 
 parents, and on millions of their progeny, had at least 
 this comfort in the minds of Moses and his followers, 
 
 v 
 
( «6 ) 
 
 that death was a perpetual sleep, an entire cessation of 
 existence, whereas the Christian Church in proclaiming 
 the immortality of the soul, virtually added to the stern 
 Mosaic sentence, an eternity of torture. Nor does any 
 one seem to have thought of asking why Atonement, 
 which meant redemption from the consequences of 
 divine wrath, did not restore life on earth to what it was 
 before the " Fall." 
 
 But these and similar considerations are eclipsed by 
 others so painful that I could not find courage to allude 
 to them, save for a hope that to disclose the evil may 
 promote the cure. — Suppose we can sufficiently strain 
 our reasoning faculties to accept as a matter of fact that 
 the parental love of a beneficent Creator for His firstling 
 creatures, could by their foolish disobedience be suddenly 
 converted into ages upon ages of wrath, involving 
 innocent millions upon millions in a fearful doom. By 
 what further mental distortion can we bring ourselves 
 to believe that that wrath was as suddenl} r pacified hy 
 an occurrence a thousand times more likely to kindle it 
 than the first, — by a viudictive and atrocious murder, 
 deliberately perpetrated with odious cruelty on God's 
 beloved Son, the chief criminals being the very priests 
 of His holy temple, and the official guardians of religion 
 and the law ? Moreover according to the dogma of the 
 Holy Trinity, would not the idea that the Almighty 
 sent His Son into the world to atone for original sin 
 by the sacrifice of Golgotha, be equivalent to imagining 
 that His anger was appeased by a self-inflicted injury ? 
 
 Christ was indeed a Eedeemer of the world, not by 
 his death alone, but by the whole of his ministry, which 
 that death hallowed, and made fruitful through the 
 sanctity of martj-rdom. He made the spiritual light of 
 Heaven shine on the darkness of an age when moral 
 gloom was on the earth, and religious and political 
 power vied with each other in spreading degradation 
 and misery. Nothing could be clearer or more emphatic, 
 
( 67 ) 
 
 than the way in which he marked out the leading 
 principles of the religion that was wanted. Simple and 
 practical, free alike from dogmatic complications, osten- 
 tatious ceremonials, and rigid observances, it led to 
 Heaven by a filial devotion to God's will, that is to say 
 by Righteousness, in which lie self-control, furtherance of 
 all good and hindrance of all evil, — Truth, in which lie 
 knowledge, improvement and progress, — and Charity, in 
 which lies the welfare of mankind. 
 
 In briefly alluding to the passages of Scripture 
 said to have a prophetic bearing on the dogma of Atone- 
 ment, I may be allowed to revert to what I said 
 concerning the care and discretion that must be used 
 in admitting prophetic announcements of events, lest 
 these become stamped with predestination, and the 
 perpetrators of the greatest iniquities obtain thereby the 
 excuse of being but the passive agents of the designs of 
 Providence. A chief argument will however consist in 
 the indications supplied, as shown above, by Christ him- 
 self of the objects of his mission ; indications so clear, 
 precise and emphatic, so often repeated, and so uniformly 
 given by the several Evangelists, that no doubt of their 
 genuineness can be entertained. The incontrovertible 
 arguments they afford against the dogma of Atonement 
 are twofold : — lstly, if our Saviour had come into the 
 world to appease by his sufferings the wrath of the 
 Father, this motive would have been expressed with the 
 same explicit frankness as that of saving the world from 
 darkness by his heavenly Light.* 2ndly, by that very 
 Light, the awful condemnation pronounced against our 
 first parents, and the attendant prophecy, are shown to 
 be utterly at variance with a true appreciation of the 
 Divine Attributes. 
 
 * That Christ's enlightening ministry was the true means of our 
 salvation, and not his death, is evident from the words reported 
 by St. John (xvii. 4) as pronounced before his martyrdom, " 1 have 
 finished the work which thou gavest me to do." 
 
 p 2 
 
( G8 ) 
 
 As regards Types* let us take as leading example 
 the Sacrifices alleged to have been instituted by Moses 
 as foreshadowing the great sacrifice of Golgotha. It 
 is unnecessary to repeat what I have said in a previous 
 section concerning the melancholy absurdity, so prevalent 
 of old, of supposing that the Lord delighted in cruel 
 sacrifices. But the idea of typifying or prophecying, 
 that is to say, of announcing as a predestined and 
 authorized occurrence the event of Golgotha, involves 
 considerations of a deeper cast. We must descend to a 
 low level in the aberrations of semi-barbarous peoples 
 to find carried out to its full extent the principle of 
 measuring the value of sacrifices by the importance of 
 the victims, and consequently of esteeming human sacri- 
 fices above all others. We read in Ihne's History of 
 Roine (Yol. Y.) that in the year 113 b.c. in order to ap- 
 pease the anger of the gods, manifested in the defeat of 
 five successive armies by the Cimbri and Teutones, the 
 Romans sacrificed, by burying them alive, four human 
 victims, a male and female Greek, and a male and female 
 Gaul. — In the year 97 b.c. a senatus consultum declared 
 human sacrifices illegal. — Compare this humane decree 
 with the institution by the originators of the Christian 
 Church, of a dogma representing the anger of the benefi- 
 cent Father of all men as satisfied and appeased by a 
 more than human sacrifice, involving peculiarities from 
 which the mind recoils with respectful horror ; and ima- 
 gine Christian priests still refreshing the remembrance 
 of that fearful appeasement, by the symbol of the Holy 
 Communion. Yet such are the hallucinations of which 
 the human mind becomes susceptible when led by the 
 blind zeal of impulsive piety, away from that doctrine 
 which is alone the true " Light of Life." 
 
 As for certain sentences which occur in the New 
 
 * " A Type is a symbol of something future and distant, or an 
 example prepared and evidently designed by God to prefigure 
 that future thing " (Pinnock's Analysis of Scripture). 
 
( 69 ) 
 
 Testament, especially in the Gospel of St. John, and 
 in the Epistles, and which have been interpreted as 
 allusions to the doctrine of Atonement, they could not 
 under any circumstances be set up in antagonism to the 
 standard utterances of our Saviour. Moreover they lose 
 a great part of their importance through the complex 
 hindrances of those illiterate and troubled times, so 
 entirely different from the stereotyped publicity of 
 events and discourses to which we are accustomed. 
 Many utterances of Christ have self-evidently been ill 
 reported without any ostensible cause. So much the 
 more must we be on our guard, where indiscreet zeal 
 and party bias are likely to have mixed sensational 
 accounts and appreciations of our Lord's ministry, with 
 the true ones; thus gradually perturbing the many 
 streams of oral tradition which flowed in various localities, 
 and under various influences, during the considerable 
 period before the Synoptical Gospels made their appear- 
 ance. It has been shown that even manuscripts used to 
 be tampered with for sectarian purposes in a very un- 
 scrupulous manner by copyists and translators, and it 
 may indeed be assumed that the dogma of Atonement, 
 equally welcome to both clergy and laity, had become 
 so popular as to influence the wording of many passages 
 of the New Testament, long before the latter had 
 received its definitive Greek form. There was abundant 
 time for this, for the earliest copies of the Greek Testa- 
 ment extant, date from the 4th century. 
 
 Before setting aside this painful subject, I wish to apply 
 to it that golden rule of results, which Christ instituted 
 when he said " by their fruits ye shall know them." 
 Assuming the benefit of Atonement to be reserved for 
 orthodox believers, we see excluded from salvation all 
 non-christian nations, and all heretical sects, in addition 
 to all individual souls condemned for their own sins, 
 and we thus find the aggregate of the lost fearfully 
 preponderating over that of the saved. It is indeed 
 
( TO ) 
 
 impossible to shut our eyes to the fact that this dogma, 
 though it has immensely contributed to the power and 
 wealth of the Church, has notwithstanding all that has 
 been done in the way of proselytising by force of 
 argument and by force of arms, failed to prove a boon 
 to humanity at large, as might have been the propaga- 
 tion of the practical and eminently conciliatory doctrine 
 of Christ. 
 
 Then as regards the promotion of peace and concord 
 in the Christian community, it is through the substitution 
 of theoretical for practical piety, and the consequent 
 heretical disputes on various points of dogma, that 
 have arisen at different periods such fearful scenes of 
 relentless persecution and internecine strife — Again, if 
 we seek to measure the success of the dogma of Atone- 
 ment up to the present time by the moral results 
 achieved, we find the general averages of virtue and vice 
 presented in a long succession of centuries, discouraging 
 in a lamentable degree. The ordained clergy, having in 
 virtue of " Apostolic succession," become sole dispensers 
 of the benefits of Atonement in the form of Absolution 
 from Original Sin, found in due time that they were 
 equally qualified to remit all manner of venial sins 
 actually committed, imposing such conditions as they 
 thought fit, either for the moral discipline of the 
 offenders, or for the material advantage of the Church. 
 Another discovery was that the merits of the holy 
 martyrs, and of pious persons canonised as saints, so 
 much transcended the amount of their respective sins, as 
 to leave an available surplus, which was stored up in 
 the spiritual treasury of Heaven, to serve similarly for 
 the remission of sins. 
 
 The system having culminated in the sale of Indul- 
 gences and other abuses of the Church of Rome, these 
 were suppressed by the Eeformation, but the Doctrine 
 of Atonement remained undisturbed, and with certain 
 mystical corollaries is still so identified with our own 
 
( 71 ) 
 
 religious education, that few devout persons beyond 
 those who have specially compared human theology 
 with the divine doctrine of Christ, have the least notion 
 of any incompatibility between them. Fortunately, the 
 practical result is not so serious as one might be inclined 
 to suppose. Genuine piety delights in following the 
 instinctive suggestions of conscience and common-sense, 
 and is little prone to escape self-sacrifice by seeking 
 benefit from the sufferings of our Saviour on the Cross. 
 I have already said that wherever such real piety 
 prevails, and well-meaning Christians of any denomina- 
 tion are happy in their orthodoxy, it will be the policy 
 of the true Disciples of Christ to refrain from un- 
 necessarily disturbing it ; but if encouraged by the 
 progressive spirit of the times, they contemplate earnest 
 measures of progress, especially as regards the religious 
 training of the rising generation, the Dogma of Atone- 
 ment must have a first claim to their attention. 
 
 SECTION 4.— CONCLUSIONS. 
 
 In entering on the subject of Religious Reform, I 
 undertook to explain to my friends the comforting 
 convictions to which study and meditation had brought 
 me, concerning the improvement of Christianity through 
 a return to the original Doctrine of Christ. We have 
 found it necessary to examine the manner in which the 
 Judaising propensities of the first members of the 
 Christian Church, interfered with the sublime simplicity 
 of the principles of Truth, Righteousness and Love, 
 proclaimed by our Saviour. Contrarily to his express 
 injunction, they put the new wine into old bottles, or in 
 other words, they grafted the promising young shoots of 
 the new faith, on the old stock of the Hebrew Canon. 
 A brief investigation has painfully convinced us of its 
 unfitness to receive them, but we have had the comfort 
 
( 72 ) 
 
 of seeing a comparison with the Mosaic Dispensation, 
 bring out in bright relief that of Christ. 
 
 We have further had the satisfaction of finding that 
 notwithstanding the irregular and incomplete manner 
 in which the discourses of our Lord have been re- 
 corded, we see nevertheless clearly represented in their 
 general tenour, and confirmed by the whole aspect of 
 his ministry, the fundamental principles of his divine 
 doctrine ; principles from which may be logically 
 deduced all that we require for our spiritual and moral 
 guidance. 
 
 Passing to the complex dogmatic additions made to 
 the simple and practical teaching of our Saviour, we 
 have seen that though the Dogma of the Holy Trinity 
 has constantly been, even as to minute details, a source 
 of dissidence and strife, it is a subject on which, as 
 well as in reference to the miracles connected with it, 
 different opinions may be entertained without much 
 difference of practical results ; provided there be a 
 devout appreciation of the divine character of our Lord's 
 doctrine. 
 
 The case is different with the Dogma of Atonement, 
 evidently a Judaising conception, forming a bond of union 
 between the Mosaic and the Christian Dispensations. It 
 casts on the bright " Light of Life," one of the dark- 
 est shadows of the Pentateuch, the principle of innocence 
 suffering for guilt. Strength of conscience may guard 
 pious believers against its dangerous tendencies, but it 
 rests on principles incompatible with those taught by 
 our Saviour, and it should be openly or tacitly renounced 
 by all who aspire to regenerate Christendom by his 
 holy doctrine, and who have the courage to proclaim 
 themselves " Disciples of Christ.'''' Such a renunciation 
 need not outwardly involve so much change as might be 
 imagined. Most of the present terms used in speaking 
 of our Lord, such as " Saviour," " Redeemer," and the 
 like, would be retainable in a more rational sense, for he 
 
( 73 ) 
 
 came to save and redeem the world from the dark 
 degradation of sin, by enlightening mankind as to the 
 true attributes of the Almighty Father, by establishing 
 for heavenward guidance the holy doctrine of truth, 
 righteousness and charity, and by cementing it with the 
 blood of martyrdom. 
 
 In order to feel convinced that the word "Kedemp- 
 tion" thus acquires a meaning more legitimate and 
 rational, it suffices to ask oneself: — Which is the best 
 way to honor Christ ? Is it to assume that the main 
 purpose and value of his mission was not in his ministry, 
 but in his cruel death, which was predestined to atone 
 for the comparatively small offence of our first parents, 
 and thus after 4,000 years to arrest the fearful doom of 
 perdition inflicted on their innocent progeny, by a God 
 of Wrath ; — or is it to adore not in trembling, but in 
 filial love, a God of Mercies, and gratefully to acknow- 
 ledge the true redemption of mankind, through that Holy 
 Doctrine, that Divine Wisdom (Xoyo?) of which our 
 Saviour so emphatically proclaimed himself the personi- 
 fication, when he said " I am the Light of the World " ? 
 
 It may be urged that the dogma of Atonement has 
 already been denounced more than once as a reflex of 
 semi-barbarous times, but always ineffectually. The fact 
 is that these denunciations have mostly lost their weight 
 through having been made by sceptical philosophers, 
 who carried away by their animosity against human 
 sophistications of religion, have involved in their aggres- 
 sions religion itself. It would be a new spectacle, and 
 one calculated to obtain the sympathy of the pious and 
 intelligent of all Christian communities, to see the 
 " Disciples of Christ " carry out reform under his own 
 guidance. Lenient as regards comparatively innocuous 
 aberrations, they would be firm where moral principles 
 are involved, and their disinterestedness would give 
 them a right to be uncompromising where the wisdom 
 of mammon has been substituted for the wisdom of 
 
( 74 ) 
 
 righteousness. Unobtrusive and unostentatious, they 
 would chiefly seek to make proselytes by that conclusive 
 logic, — the example of their happiness. Mindful of the 
 words of Christ, — " by their fruits ye shall know them," 
 they would organize on the secure foundation of his holy 
 doctrine, a system of moral and social discipline, adapt- 
 able to all the conditions and vicissitudes of Daily Life. 
 Thus guided, they would unceasingly strive to dissemi- 
 nate happiness among all around them, and would reap 
 the blessings of contentment and hope. 
 
( 75 ) 
 
 PART III. 
 
 CHAPTER I.— ASSOCIATION OF THE DISCIPLES 
 OF CHRIST* 
 
 SECTION 1. — LEADING FEATUEES. 
 
 Should the friends of progress in the various Christian 
 Denominations, encouraged by the spirit of the times, 
 adopt for their guidance in their respective spheres of 
 improvement, that enlightened original doctrine of Christ 
 which neither philosophers can impugn, nor churchmen 
 disavow, they will proceed to organize on that secure 
 foundation, a System of Spiritual, Moral and Social 
 Discipline, adaptable as far as possible, to all the 
 conditions and vicissitudes of Daily Life. 
 
 That System will find its written expression in a 
 carefully prepared Programme, adaptable by its cosmo- 
 politan and conciliatory character, to the aspirations of 
 nearly all Christian Churches, Denominations and Sects. 
 Each of these will have its more or less autonomic 
 organization of Friends of Religious Progress, and the 
 leading principles of the common Programme will unite 
 the several organizations as so many branches of a 
 general Association, under the name of " Disciples of 
 Christ," or any other title found more suitable. 
 
 * This Association must not be confounded with the " Christian 
 Alliance." (p. 9.) 
 
( 76 ) 
 
 Persons wishing to join the Association as members, 
 will make known to the constituted authorities of their 
 Branch, that desire, implying adhesion to the leading- 
 principles, though not necessarily to every detail of the 
 Programme. 
 
 Persons desirous of co-operating in the charitable, 
 educational or other useful work of the Association, with- 
 out adopting its more advanced principles, but simply 
 pledging themselves to treat them without prejudice, 
 may joiu it as associates. 
 
 I originally intended to suggest for the Members of 
 the proposed Association, the title of Theodulians, and 
 it was only through fear of its conveying the idea of 
 a monastic order, that I was led to the title of " Disciples 
 of Christ." Either term has its appropriateness; the 
 one indicating a reform based on the original doctrine of 
 Christ, the other showing that reform to be characterised 
 by a practical devotion to the Will of God. The term 
 " Theodulians " might perhaps conveniently serve to bind 
 together Members of the "Universal Alliance of the 
 Servants of God," separated in Creed, but united in moral 
 discipline and aspirations. Thus besides Theodulian 
 Christians, there might be Theodulian Theists, Jews, 
 Mahometans, Hindoos, and so on. 
 
 SECTION 2.— TENETS. 
 
 It has been shown that for Reformers who wish to bring 
 Christianity as near as is now possible to the lines 
 originally traced out for it by our Lord's doctrine, it is a 
 first duty thoroughly to imbibe its fundamental principles 
 through a conscientious study of the four Gospel narratives, 
 specially undertaken for that purpose, with minds as free 
 as possible from the bias of pre-conceived notions. Guided 
 by natural judgment and common-sense, they will select 
 those teachings, so simple and so expansive, embracing 
 all nations and all times, in which our Saviour inculcated 
 
( 77 ) 
 
 Truth, Righteousness and Charity, filial love to our 
 Heavenly Father, and fraternal kindness to all men. 
 They will easily distinguish from these holy teachings, 
 many sentences, the offspring of circumstance, which 
 were specially addressed to Jewish multitudes brought 
 to extremely abnormal conditions by Mosaic institutions, 
 political misfortunes and Messianic dreams. Such 
 sentences must be reverently set aside as not answering 
 to the requirements of the present age, and with them all 
 passages of an ambiguous or paradoxical character, or 
 susceptible of perverse interpretation.* 
 
 The essential elements of the spiritual and moral 
 Doctrine of Christ, thus made plainly manifest by elimi- 
 nating all that is commonly allowed to veil their clear 
 perception, and further brought into relief by an at- 
 tentive consideration of the general tenour of our 
 Saviour's life and ministry, should be devoutly con- 
 sidered from the standpoint of the present times. Thus 
 will be produced by a plastic process of pious medi- 
 tation, the practical tenets of a reformed Programme. 
 — Principles of Faith like those proposed for a 
 " Universal Alliance " of the Servants of God (see 
 p. 7), would come first, as establishing relations of 
 rational tolerance and good-will among the various 
 peoples of the Earth, irrespective of Creed. — Next would 
 come a series of leading tenets marking somewhat, like 
 those given at page 9, closer bonds of amity and mutual 
 improvement, designed to unite the members of a 
 Christian Alliance. — Thus far the path would be smooth, 
 only such innovations being contemplated as might 
 gradually flow from a conciliatory intercourse of the 
 Christian communities. But we have seen that in 
 endeavouring to restore Christianity to its original con- 
 ception, it is impossible to avoid altogether interfering 
 with orthodoxy. Fortunately however, we have also 
 
 * The value of useful sentences is of cotirse not affected by verbal 
 or chronological discrepancies in the Gospel narratives. 
 
( T8 ) 
 
 seen that having once clearly defined the standard 
 principles of the Doctrine of Christ, we may safely 
 proceed to use them as a test for accepting what is 
 divine, and rejecting what is human. 
 
 At the same time it will be in accordance with the 
 enlightened spirit of our Saviour's teaching, to disarm as 
 far as possible by freedom of opinion, the virulence of 
 controversy in matters of dogma, and it Mill be expedient 
 to leave uninterfered with, whatever is rather of 
 theoretical than of practical bearing. A careful scrutiny 
 will show that some of the most prominent causes of 
 religious divergence, lose much of their importance when 
 considered in reference to their moral results for com- 
 munities or individuals. Accordingly, great liberty of 
 opinion may safely be allowed as regards the constitution 
 and functions of the Heavenly Powers recognized in 
 the various Christian Creeds, the belief in miracles, and 
 the mysteries of our future life, though as a general rule, 
 it is best to avoid indulging unnecessarily in topics of 
 this description. 
 
 A more serious case is presented by the Dogma of 
 Atonement, which the Disciples of Christ will for 
 reasons both practical and theoretical be fully justified 
 in omitting from their tenets : — lstly. It has been shown 
 that, directly or indirectly, this dogma has been for ages 
 conducive to abuse of clerical power, and to laxity of 
 morals among the laity. 2ndly. The incident of Eden 
 on which it is founded, has been recognized by modern 
 critics to be of a legendary and allegorical character. 
 3rdly, and this is still more important, the notions it 
 conveys respecting Jehovah are entirely at variance with 
 those inculcated by Christ respecting our Heavenly 
 Father, the Essence of Equity, and the God of Mercies. 
 4th ly. Much more honor is done to our Lord by con- 
 sidering the titles of " Saviour " and " Redeemer/' as due 
 to him for having rescued mankind from superstitious 
 degradation, by diffusing the light of truth, righteousness 
 
( 79 ) 
 
 and love, rather than for having endured torture at the 
 hands of wicked men, to atone for the disobedience of our 
 first parents in Eden. 5thly. It is indeed utterly 
 derogatory to the idea of a divine origin to regard the 
 crucifixion of the Messiah as merely an equivalent 
 atonement or compensation, for the foolish transgression 
 of such infinitely subordinate beings, as the clay-born 
 progenitors of the human race. 6thly. Christ himself 
 has clearly said that they shall inherit the kingdom of 
 Heaven, who do the will of the Father which is in 
 Heaven. — Each man striving to do his best should, 
 without spirit of calculation, curiosity or pride, enjoy 
 lovingly the certainty of divine appreciation, even as a 
 simple child enjoys beforehand with affectionate delight, 
 the thought of receiving a token of satisfaction from a 
 loving parent. 
 
 SECTION 3. — EITES AND SERVICES. 
 
 It is clear that whilst most of the present Rites of the 
 several Christian Churches might be retained, some 
 would require a modified interpretation. 
 
 Baptism and Confirmation might be considered as 
 tokens of admission to the bosom of the Church, without 
 connecting them dogmatically with Salvation. 
 
 The Holy Communion, leaving aside its present 
 dogmatic sense, would remain an appropriate fulfilment 
 of the words of Christ, " This do in remembrance of me." 
 (Luke xxii. 10.) 
 
 Repentance should, time and circumstances permitting, 
 be stamped with positive and practical proof, in order to 
 deserve Remission of Sin. — Absolution, no longer based 
 on divine Atonement, would only convey soothing words 
 of hope. 
 
 Confession might safely become a useful institution, if 
 reduced to the voluntary outpour of troubled consciences 
 
( 80 ) 
 
 seeking advice from a revered pastor, the enlightened 
 father of his flock, and the discreet family peace-maker. 
 
 The Day of Rest. 
 
 The Sabbath, originally a boon of hebdomadal rest 
 obtained by Moses from the King of Egypt for the 
 benefit of his oppressed countrymen,* became through 
 his associating it with his mystical account of the 
 Creation, a religious ordinance, a test and an instrument 
 of priestly supremacy, stamped with the stern severity 
 attributed throughout to Jehovah by the relentless 
 leader of a warlike race. 
 
 When Christ substituted the God of Mercies for the 
 God of Wrath, he redeemed the Lord's Day by his 
 memorable words, " The Sabbath was made for Man, 
 and not Man for the Sabbath," and we are accordingly 
 at liberty to give it for social and ecclesiastical purposes, 
 any complexion endeared to us by custom, or which 
 circumstances may render appropriate, provided it be in 
 all cases made a practical blessing, giving rest to those 
 who have toiled throughout the week, exercise to the 
 sedentary, fresh air to those pent up, and recreation to 
 those who otherwise have none, as well as spiritual 
 comfort and guidance for every one according to his 
 needs. 
 
 Parables. 
 
 It is obviously desirable that the Disciples of Christ 
 in the various countries, should if sufficiently numerous, 
 have special Church Services, Liturgies, Missals, and 
 the like, being however mostly adaptations of their 
 habitual ones. There are localities where novelty finds 
 
 * See article on the Sabbath in Sunday Eevievv (Jan. 1884), 
 based on the Talmud. 
 
( 81 ) 
 
 favor, but generally speaking, it is safer to take 
 advantage of the pious regard which in religious matters 
 attaches to long usage, and not to innovate, save where 
 a practical and utilitarian purpose is clearly in view. 
 
 Such would decidedly be the case in adopting the use 
 of Parables, which were so important a feature in the 
 ministry of our Lord. The Clergy might as before 
 mentioned, imitate this practice with unquestionable 
 advantage, substituting for erudite analyses of Bible 
 Texts, lessons of Practical Morality clothed in the 
 attractive garb of simple narratives and comparisons. 
 On these they would be free to dilate with impressive 
 eloquence, always carefully adapting it to the average 
 requirements of their congregations. They would review 
 in succession the moral features of daily life, taking 
 advantage of any occurrences which might serve to add 
 a zest of a propos to their discourse, and frequently 
 introducing one important ingredient of which our 
 Saviour's Parables had not the benefit, namely, incidents 
 from the lives of the most usefully virtuous, and most 
 amiably great among the believers in his holy doctrine 
 up to the present time. 
 
 Scripture Lessons. 
 
 One of the most difficult questions in reference to the 
 Protestant Rituals, is the constant use of Lessons from the 
 Old Testament in the vernacular tongue. It is obvious 
 from what has been said that these must be either omitted 
 from the special Liturgies of the Disciples of Christ, 
 or very carefully revised, so as not to retain anything 
 derogatory to the reverence due to the attributes of the 
 Supreme Being, or any examples of objectionable 
 conduct.* 
 
 * Similar caution should be enjoined to Scripture Eeaders, who 
 should moreover be supplied with a variety of rtligious and moral 
 books calculated to unite entertainment with instruction. 
 
 u 
 
( 82 ) 
 
 As regards the New Testament, it has been shown 
 that only practised students can safely read it without 
 explanatory annotations, and that few chapters are 
 suited for being incorporated without comment in a 
 church service, though on the contrary, certain repre- 
 sentative passages are admirably calculated to form the 
 themes of one or more sermons. Such are for instance 
 the sentences in which the love of God is so emphatically 
 confirmed, and the love of our neighbour so practically 
 explained. Then we have seen what a world of sense 
 is contained in the words pronounced at the Well of 
 Samaria, and with which Christ may be said to have 
 inaugurated his ministry, namely " God is a Spirit, 
 and they that worship Him, must worship Him in spirit 
 and in truth." The first sentence, taken in earnest, 
 disposes of all tendencies to connect the conception of a 
 universal Spirit with human attributes, to say nothing 
 of human imperfections. It separates at once the per- 
 sonal Jehovah of the Pentateuch from the spiritual 
 God of Christians, and loosens the charmed tie unhappily 
 established at the dawn of Christianity, and hitherto 
 thoughtlessly maintained, between our Saviour's mission 
 and the events of Eden. 
 
 "To worship in Spirit" is to worship in Prayer. — 
 This is a subject of such transcendent importance that a 
 special Chapter will be allotted to it. 
 
 " To worship in Truth " in the full sense conveyed by 
 the repeated injunctions of our Saviour, we must not 
 only be truthful in our prayers, but also in the actuality 
 of our endeavours to do the will of God ; in other words 
 we must not only keep ourselves in constant intercourse 
 with our Heavenly Father, but really and unceasingly 
 carry out the practical duties of life, which that inter- 
 course will bring constantly before our minds. — This is 
 Practical or Applied Religion, a. few remarks concerning 
 which are reserved for a special Chapter, under the title 
 of " Moral Duties." 
 
( 83 ) 
 
 CHAPTER II.— PRAYER. 
 
 SECTION 1. — GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS. 
 
 "To worship in Spirit" is to worship in Prayer, — in 
 that communion of the mind with the Creator which 
 through meditation unravels the Divine Will, through 
 thanksgiving vivifies the enjoyment of favors received, 
 and through supplication raises a hope of favors to come. 
 
 Prayer is the very essence of Eeligion. It organizes 
 the action of the Conscience, rendering its influence 
 constant and practical when circumstances are normal, 
 and affording comfort and guidance in difficult ones. 
 
 To facilitate Prayer, and render it more solemn and 
 earnest, is a main purpose of outward pomp and cere- 
 monial. There are indeed persons whose minds are 
 easily concentrated on pious thought, and some who even 
 prefer the most unadorned and quiet surroundings ; but 
 for the greater number there is in the majesty of a sacred 
 edifice, and in the harmonizing impressions of a service 
 judiciously conducted in accordance with the tastes and 
 habits of the congregation, something that greatly tends 
 to rouse apathetic consciences, and to induce a devotional 
 frame of mind. It is for the expert preacher to strew 
 the proper seed on the ground thus prepared. 
 
 Even solitary Prayer mostly requires fitting aid of 
 some kind in setting aside worldly pre-occupations, in 
 gathering together pious feelings, and in preparation for 
 good resolves. Hence the devices adopted in some 
 branches of the Christian Church, for appealing to the 
 senses in a variety of ways. Habit may make them 
 
 g 2 
 
( B4 ) 
 
 useful reminders and aids to devotion ; but care must 
 be taken lest either the use of these outward tokens, or 
 a multiplication of sentences, imperfectly understood or 
 thoughtlessly repeated, be reckoned as an equivalent of 
 actual prayer. 
 
 Christ himself has taught us by the example of the 
 Lord's Prayer, to adore our Heavenly Father in direct 
 communion ; nevertheless the practice so prevalent in 
 the Roman and Eastern Churches of addressing prayers 
 to the Holy Virgin and to the Saints, is not seriously to 
 be found fault with, provided only intercession be asked 
 for, and not any direct interference with the supreme 
 administration of natural events. 
 
 In framing Liturgies for the use of the Disciples of 
 Christ, great care should be taken to avoid in Professions 
 of Faith, whatever might give unnecessary offence to 
 orthodox friends. An example relating to the attributes 
 of the Almighty may serve to illustrate my meaning : — 
 
 " God is the supreme mind of the Universe. His 
 existence is eternal, His power infinite, and His creative 
 wisdom is made manifest to us by the facts and laws of 
 Nature." 
 
 Now it is important that the ideas of power and 
 wisdom, omnipotence, omnipresence, and omniscience, 
 should always be enhanced by a devout sense of their 
 union with all spiritual and moral perfections, and by a 
 special recognition of that divine benevolence proclaimed 
 by our Saviour to mankind at large. Occasional oppor- 
 tunities should be taken of reminding the faithful how 
 essential it is to avoid, except in poetic flights of 
 devotional imagery, any assimilation of divine to human 
 proceedings, especially any tendency to represent the 
 Supreme Being as stooping to human imperfections, 
 patronising deceit or cruelty, punishing the innocent for 
 the guilty, or delighting in blood-stained sacrifices. But 
 in inculcating these and other similar precepts, it is not 
 necessary to say anything about the Old Testament, and 
 
( 85 ) 
 
 especially the Pentateuch, being so much at variance 
 with them. — Similarly the Dogma of Atonement may 
 be silently refuted by simply upholding the emphatic 
 declarations of Christ himself, concerning the object of 
 his mission. Impersonating the divine Xoyos, Word, or 
 Doctrine, he came to redeem mankind from the darkness 
 of ignorance, sin and misery, making clearly manifest as 
 " Light of the World," how to enjoy its blessings con- 
 tentedly and usefully, and as " Light of Life," brightly 
 illumining the way to heaven.* 
 
 SECTION 2. — PRIVATE PRAYER. 
 
 However elevating and instructive may be the Sunday 
 service, its congregational Prayer, and its pulpit oratory, 
 there is generally between these incentives to good and 
 holy conduct, and that conduct itself, something wanting 
 which may realise the emotions of the heart, and turn to 
 account the wisdom of the understanding. This is 
 effected by those private and individual prayers, which 
 are the language of the conscience, and the yearnings of 
 the soul, and which should be systematized, and never 
 neglected without potent necessity. To hold this humble 
 communion with the Almighty Father of all Righteous- 
 ness, is to worship Him in Spirit, and in order that we 
 may also worship Him in Truth, every thought, word 
 and aspiration, must be perfectly genuine. We must be 
 constantly asking ourselves not only, — "Am I praying 
 for a good and proper thing ? " but also, — " Am I doing 
 my best towards the purpose for which I pray ? " This 
 thoughtful and conscientious sifting of our desires, and 
 these continual reminders to bestir ourselves to the 
 
 * Of the three Creeds used in the Anglican Church, the Apostles' 
 Creed is the one least open to objection. But even this might he 
 omitted from some editions of the proposed revised Liturgy, in 
 order not to avert tbe good-will of certain denominations, and 
 notably of the Unitarians. 
 
( 8G ) 
 
 utmost to deserve the aid we ask for, are in themselves 
 an abundantly sufficient motive for the use of Prayer, 
 apart from any benefit resulting from it, either by a 
 direct intervention of Providence, or by a less con- 
 spicuous intervention through secondary causes. 
 
 Under ordinary circumstances it is desirable to have 
 every morning, independently of any customary Family 
 Prayers, a few minutes at least of private devotion, 
 affording an opportunity of applying the touchstone of 
 conscience to the chief prospective affairs of the day. 
 Every evening, or if that should be engaged, at any 
 other convenient time, ten minutes or a quarter of an 
 hour, or more according to circumstances, should be 
 similarly devoted to solitary meditation, pious and 
 practical, compassing not only a conscientious review of 
 the proceedings of the clay, of affairs in hand and 
 prospects entertained, but also a reminder of duties and 
 an expression of kind wishes owed to nearest relatives 
 and friends, and an appropriate thought for superiors and 
 inferiors. A brief miscellaneous orison might be framed 
 to serve as a standard conclusion.* 
 
 It may be assumed that the same private prayer will 
 be used on Sunday mornings as on week-days, but if 
 favored by meditative leisure, the private evening- 
 devotion of Sunday should be considerably expanded, 
 though maintaining the same utilitarian character. 
 More persons should be mentally called up in succession 
 for the purpose of noting those to whom on any account 
 of affection or sympathy, duty, gratitude or expectation, 
 more than a passing thought is due. Even the names 
 
 * The following may afford suggestive indications : — " Grant, O 
 Lord, that my thoughts, words and deeds may be in accordance with 
 duty and good sense, and that I may not be misguided by any 
 worldly propensity or weakness, or thoughtless impulse, or occasion 
 any person any unnecessary pain or displeasure, but that on the 
 contrary, I may be able to render myself agreeable, and even in 
 some degiee useful to my fellow-creatures, and particularly to 
 those who aie most entitled to my affection or my sympathy." 
 
( 87 ) 
 
 of departed relatives and friends may suggest something 
 in honour of their memory : kindness to those dear to 
 them, fulfilment of legitimate desires they were prevented 
 from carrying out, doing what they ought not to have 
 left undone, and remedying, if possible, what they ought 
 not to have done ; also rectifying unfavorable impressions 
 concerning them, shown by subsequent events to have been 
 erroneous. — More earnest is the task of scrutinising the 
 facts and failures, joys and sorrows of the past seven 
 days, and the probabilities and aspirations of the seven 
 days to come, by that spiritual light of Christ which 
 unerringly brightens what seeks it, and condemns w hat 
 shrinks from it. 
 
 Whenever a journey is about to be started on, or an 
 undertaking, work, or pleasure of any kind is about to be 
 initiated, it should be a regular practice, provided it can 
 be done without involving inconvenience, or exciting 
 attention, to address heavenward a momentary supplica- 
 tion for favor and aid. Conscience will at once either 
 give its support, or denounce the unworthy prayer, and 
 though its adverse verdict may be put down by one of 
 those excuses which so readily present themselves to 
 those who seek them, the momentary conflict will be 
 called to mind and dwelt upon at the evening prayer, and 
 another time one will be loth to initiate that for which 
 one feels ashamed to invoke the divine blessing. 
 
 It will be for parents to train their children in 
 Systematic Prayer, in addition to their ordinary devo- 
 tions, and it will be for clergymen and missionaries to 
 endeavour to introduce at least an approximation to this 
 system among the poor, developing facilities of every 
 kind for their benefit. They will find that deficient 
 education is a serious impediment to a steady working of 
 mind and conscience in devotional union. The ignorant, 
 easily led by others, are when left to themselves, apt to 
 substitute desultory efforts of impulsive piety for or- 
 ganized improvement, and the care of guiding their good 
 
( 88 ) 
 
 will to good results, will demand the constant attention 
 of the Clergy, in an expanded, and more intimate inter- 
 course with the people. 
 
 For many persons, and especially in the lower social 
 grades, the chief difficulty will be in the many causes 
 which oppose a devotional frame of mind, and a quiet 
 concentration of thought. I hope therefore that the 
 practice prevalent in Catholic countries, of providing the 
 poor with open Churches and Oratories, and which is 
 beginning to be appreciated among us, will receive useful 
 extension. As for the amount of time actually needed, 
 it is, except for the uneducated, far less than might be 
 imagined. A trained mind travels fast, method assists 
 the memory, and practice renders easy a succession of 
 valuable mental glances, each lasting only a few seconds, 
 except when conscience thus roused, calls for an 
 appreciative thought, an earnest resolve, and perhaps 
 for an entry in a note-book, of errors to be rectified, or 
 of duties to be performed. Moreover, self-study thus 
 regularly pursued, soon produces a thorough self-ac- 
 quaintance, and one knows where the weak points are 
 that require looking after. — Of course a system of this 
 kind to be durably successful, must be elastic, and not 
 only business ties, but pleasure engagements must be 
 consulted ; generally however the greater the difficulty 
 in finding time for the control of Prayer, the greater is 
 the need of it. 
 
 Conscientious persons accustomed to this kind of 
 spiritual discipline, become so averse to giving up or 
 curtailing their appointed devotions when indisposition 
 renders brain work injurious, that it may be well to 
 remind them that every fatigue of the brain is so much 
 taken from the power to contribute to the happiness of 
 those around. 
 
 Confirmed sinners will regard self-testing prayers as 
 something that does not concern them, or prefer to rely 
 on existing spiritual panaceas. Confirmed pleasure- 
 
( 89 ) 
 
 seekers, and men absorbed with worldly aspirations, will 
 affect to treat lightly an unpalatable device, which would 
 render conscience more irksome to them than it is 
 already, but the thoughtful will at once recognise its 
 value. Even those whose philosophic minds generally 
 turn away from everything of which they cannot actually 
 analyse the modus operandi, will, I trust, candidly 
 acknowledge that Systematic Prayer yields very positive 
 results. As for earnest Disciples of Christ, who by 
 patient perseverance have succeeded in working out this 
 plan to practical success, they would not relinquish it on 
 any account. Their yoke will truly be made easy, and 
 their burden light by the spiritual support always vouch- 
 safed to those who show their love of God by doing His 
 holy will, and in times of trouble they will be infinitely 
 comforted. The boundless attributes of omniscience and 
 omnipresence bring the divine influence into direct com- 
 munication with all, who seek it in the pure emotions of 
 earnest and conscientious Prayer, and a refined sense of 
 spiritual perception, constantly makes manifest the 
 soothing presence of a friend. 
 
( 90 ) 
 
 CHAPTER III.— MORAL DUTIES. 
 
 SECTION l.-GENEKAL DUTIES. 
 
 It has been explained that though a certain number of 
 moral precepts bearing on the Duties of Daily Life, occur 
 here and there in the Gospel Narratives, it not only 
 would be futile, but might be misleading, to attempt to 
 collect a comprehensive and methodical series of them. 
 It is far more profitable to have recourse to the funda- 
 mental principles of the divine teaching, and to derive 
 from them by common-sense deduction, the elements of 
 spiritual and moral discipline required for the guidance 
 of the Disciples of Christ. — The following fragmentary 
 suggestions, partly summarising the conclusions arrived at 
 in previous pages, may serve to show the spirit in which 
 I conceive that the work should be undertaken. — * 
 
 The noble task of Man on earth, the tribute of love 
 which he owes to his Creator, is to combat and to 
 conquer the elements of evil, which for reasons yet 
 unrevealed, form part of the universal scheme of antago- 
 nistic forces. Pre-eminent among the Compound Agencies 
 of Nature, his purpose is one of improvement, develop- 
 ment, and progress. 
 
 * For general purposes, an authoritative digest of "Social and 
 Moral Duties" carefully compiled, without dogmatic or sectaiian 
 tendencies, arranged to meet various requirements of Civilized 
 Life, and explained as well as rendered interesting hy numerous 
 examples borrowed from truth or fiction, might render unquestion- 
 able service. Apart from this comprehensive work for the use of 
 the general public, special educational series should be prepared, 
 constantly upholding the fact too often lost sight of, that Morality 
 is Practical Keligion. Primers and Eeaders would progress from 
 the Infant School upwards ; and in the higher grades of culture, 
 Moral Philosophy and Ethics might become prominent features of 
 academic and especially of clerical curricula. 
 
( 91 ) 
 
 We should strive to diminish the prevailing amount 
 of vice, foolishness and misery, and to increase the 
 amount of virtue, wisdom and happiness, extending 
 compassion and kindness even to the brute creation. 
 We should work with a willing heart, humble in 
 prosperous success, and upheld in adverse fate by the 
 consoling assurance of divine appreciation. 
 
 The Disciples of Christ will be specially expected to 
 devote themselves, according to their means and abilities, 
 to the well-being and happiness of their fellow-creatures, 
 duly considering the claims of duty and affection, and 
 constantly governed by truthfulness, honesty, equity, 
 earnestness, perseverance, and humility. The systematic 
 and practical character of their religion, which will bring 
 its influence to bear on all the concerns of Daily Life, 
 will train their minds to that valuable faculty of quickly 
 and correctly summing up knowledge, experience, fore- 
 thought, and moral sentiment, which faculty is Common 
 Sense. Self-control will second its decisions, and secure 
 results worthy of being offered in grateful tribute to 
 their Divine Master. 
 
 Numerous as are the abnormal influences which in our 
 complex civilization disturb the simple habits, even of 
 the lowest social levels, interfering with the earnings of 
 the industrious workman, and with the judicious disposal 
 of those earnings by a frugal housewife, yet there are 
 features in the life of the poor from which their wealthier 
 neighbours might borrow a useful example ; particu- 
 larly a sympathetic desire to comfort and assist one 
 another. 
 
 It is too often forgotten that power, wealth and 
 knowledge have their respective duties, and every 
 privilege its proportionate obligations.* 
 
 It must also be remembered that persons in exalted 
 position will be called to account, not only for the evil 
 
 * Luke xii. 48. 
 
( 92 ) 
 
 they have done, and for any evil example they may have 
 set, but also for the good they have neglected to do. 
 
 Wealth should be considered as a trust to be con- 
 scientiously administered, and involving among other 
 duties, a thoughtful and discriminating liberality towards 
 relatives, friends, and dependants. Adhesion to this 
 principle will not only alleviate painful inequalities of 
 condition among the members of a family, but in an 
 extended sphere, it will do more to counteract the ill-effects 
 of ponderous fortunes, and to obviate the antagonism of 
 social grades, than the invidious devices of communism. 
 
 SECTION 2. — PRINCIPLES OF EXPENDITURE.* 
 
 Every Disciple of Christ is bound to attend with care, 
 method and firmness, to a judicious management of his 
 income. His Principles of Expenditure must be 
 thoughtfully organized according to his means, his 
 position and his duties, and should these allow, he 
 should regularly separate and set aside from his ordinary 
 or current expenditure, a Benevolent Fund, available, 
 lstly, for the assistance of necessitous relatives and 
 friends ; 2ndly, for charitable, educational, and other 
 benevolent objects ; 3rdly, for purposes of public benefit.f 
 
 One of the greatest difficulties to contend with in 
 
 * A well-digested, and at the same time popularly written, 
 exposition of Principles of Expenditure, based on Christian 
 duties, common sense and self-control, might be, not perhaps 
 quite a novelty, yet if methodically carried out, a valuable addition 
 to home literature. 
 
 There is much usefulness as well as interest, in an analytical 
 study and comparison of the good or evil results likely to be 
 effected in the various channels through which money flows, 
 whether favoring healthy, respectable and eligible occupations, or 
 the reverse. I once thought of proposing to the National Associa- 
 tion for the Promotion of Social Science, a prize for the best essay 
 on this subject, which might be entitled the " Science of Ex- 
 penditure." 
 
 f Joyous events of personal or family importance, might afford 
 additional opportunities of benevolence. 
 
( 93 ) 
 
 practice, is that protean imdefinable influence called 
 Fashion, the great temptation of small minds, and the 
 great hindrance of gentility with small means. — Countries 
 and localities, whether urban or rural, generally have 
 something approaching to normal standards of style, 
 comfort and display, indicated by common consent as 
 appropriate for the several social levels. With a little 
 taste and judgement, and a desire not to be conspicuous, 
 one can be near enough the mark to satisfy oneself 
 without displeasing others. But where Fashion is in 
 the ascendant, new, fanciful, and ever-changing claims 
 assail the purse. The fact is that manufacturing 
 industry can produce, and is of course anxious to 
 produce, especially as regards clothing, furniture and 
 decoration, a great deal more than the actual require- 
 ments of a sober population. To producers therefore, 
 Fashion is a signal boon, engendering as it does a 
 craving for new articles before the old ones are worn out. 
 Independently of a constant development of new inven- 
 tions, often inferior to those they push out of the market, 
 it is from an industrial point of view, a welcome spectacle 
 to see new forms of adornment originated by the leaders 
 of the fashion, and upheld in ephemeral success by its 
 votaries. If the former always had notions of hygiene, 
 and the latter were all persons of abundant means, there 
 would be little to be said. Unfortunately the Laws of 
 Health, and the precepts of financial prudence, are little 
 heeded by the thousands who follow suit in a spirit of 
 foolish rivalry, to say nothing of the spirit of imitation, 
 that extends the mischief from grade to grade, down the 
 social scale. To the growing expenditure for Dress, 
 must be added that for House Decoration and Furniture, 
 and in short for every form of luxury that can be 
 indulged in under the plea of comfort or refinement. 
 
 Feminine frivolity has its counterpart in masculine 
 selfishness, which less conspicuous in some directions, 
 makes up by more objectionable ones, such as for 
 
( M ) 
 
 instance what is called good living * One sees pampered 
 gourmets reverse the maxim of the philosopher, — "I eat 
 to live, and do not live to eat." In certain quarters 
 luxury in Food has become so habitual, as to be 
 unnoticed by those who breathe its atmosphere, and on 
 festive occasions, a wasteful accumulation of articles out 
 of season, far-fetched delicacies, and high-priced wines, 
 reminds one painfully of the hungry misery which dwells 
 reproachfully hard by. 
 
 As a natural result of luxurious civilization, we hear 
 a general complaint of the increasing difficulty of making 
 ends meet, which means of course anxious thoughts for 
 the welfare of the family circle, and very few thoughts 
 for purposes of benevolence outside. The young men of 
 the period begin to look upon Matrimony as costing 
 more than it is worth, and bachelorships are indefinitely 
 prolonged. 
 
 The subject is a vast one, but these few remarks may 
 suffice to show that the Disciples of Christ will be called 
 upon to exercise, as regards themselves, much thoughtful 
 self-control, and as regards others, much tact and 
 forbearance. The general fascination is so strong, that 
 more harm than good is done by inconsiderate remon- 
 strance. The golden rule that advice should always be 
 kindly given, must be remembered even by those who 
 are fully entitled to give it. Most effective will be the 
 great influence of an example of moderation and good 
 taste, clearly proving that one can be cheerful without 
 being fast, and prudent without being slow.f 
 
 * Eagerness to have the best of everything, which as a general 
 principle is so useful an incentive to industrial progress, often 
 misleads to paying exorbitantly for minute differences of quality. 
 Eemarkable examples of this occur in choice wines, preposterous 
 prices being paid for shades of excellence, appreciable only to 
 practised connoisseurs. 
 
 f Persons who habitually live up to their income, will find 
 after a time that they are living beyond it, on account of the 
 general fall in the rate of interest, and the general rise in the cost 
 of the necessaries of life. 
 
( 95 ) 
 
 SECTION 3. — ALIMENT AEY ECONOMY. 
 
 Total Abstinence is a necessary barrier against the 
 abuse of Intoxicating Liquors among those who have 
 not the power of mind to distinguish the limits 
 between moderation and excess, and the power of will 
 never to transgress those limits. An immense effort was 
 necessary for checking the fearful vice of Drunkenness, 
 which has brought down misery on so many thousands, 
 and too much praise cannot be bestowed on the suc- 
 cessful exertions of our Total Abstinence Associations, 
 and especially on the achievements of the Blue Eibbon 
 Army. It may be hoped however that if the true 
 discipline of Christ should be established in the land, 
 Common Sense and Self Control may in time suffice for 
 restraining intemperance, without the expedient of a 
 Pledge, so as to allow of deriving from Alcohol a full 
 measure of its benefits, without fear of its dangers. 
 
 Smoking is often associated in a medical point of view 
 with Drinking, which it resembles in the theory of its 
 ascendency. It would be here out of place to discuss 
 the good or evil effects produced on the system by the 
 use or abuse of Tobacco in various forms, and under 
 various circumstances. Opinions nre strongly divided 
 on this subject, and moral duty need only step in 
 authoritatively, where Science and experience have 
 made out a clear condemnation ; though in the mean- 
 time, prudence demands that we should watch with a 
 suspicious eye, a drug of which the acting principle (Nico- 
 tine) is one of the most virulent poisons in existence. 
 
 The principles of Hygiene ought to be treasured by 
 all who value their Health. The rules relating to Food 
 in particular, are as interesting as they are useful, but 
 our Saviour's parable of the Sower, is here forcibly 
 exemplified by ordinary students, among whom many a 
 good resolve falls away in the hour of temptation. Not 
 
( 96 ) 
 
 so with the faithful Disciples of Christ, who feeling how 
 essential Health is to their usefulness, will earnestly 
 bring to bear on the Hygiene of Nutrition, their habitual 
 elements of success, — Common Sense and Self Control.* 
 
 Waste shows at all times a deficient appreciation of 
 earthly blessings, and it becomes sinful when unrelieved 
 want is at hand. Improved domestic arrangements 
 respecting those broken victuals of which kind Sisters of 
 Charity have shown the value for the poor, should do 
 away with certain forms of Waste, which are apt to 
 culminate in the mysteries of the hog-tub. Children 
 should be taught to consider all that appertains to their 
 daily meals, and Bread in particular, as a boon, of which 
 the practice of saying grace very properly marks the 
 pious t appreciation, and it might be well that they 
 should constantly have in view inscriptions, such as the 
 following : — " Waste not, want not." — " The Lord saith 
 to the poor man, Waste not to-day, that thou mayest not 
 want to-morrow, — and he saith to the rich man, Waste 
 not that others may not want." — " Honor the goodly 
 produce of the earth, for it is the gift of Heaven." — 
 " Remember in thy abundance that others are hungry."f 
 
 * It is important for all classes to be aware how often complaints 
 of the stomach are brought on by overloading it, or by swallowing 
 what is insufficiently chewed, or too hot ; the rich should bear in 
 mind that a too free use of unwholesome delicacies, or heating 
 spices, prepares a store of gout for futui-e years, or even for future 
 generations. 
 
 It is highly satisfactory to note how much the attention of first- 
 rate Hygienists has been bestowed on the alimentary resources of 
 the poor. The applications of Science to the preservation and 
 importation of new Food Resources, have given to these industries 
 a development, which for the middle and lower classes is an in- 
 estimable boon, and of which it is desirable to extend a judicious 
 and grateful appreciation. 
 
 f I remember seeing lines to the following effect in the dining- 
 room of an eminent philanthropist :• — 
 
 " May I in moderation fed, 
 
 Be never heard to say, 
 O had I now that crust of bread 
 
 Which once I threw away." 
 
( M ) 
 
 Among the many facts more useful than pleasant 
 to know, which the growing attention paid to Domestic 
 Economy cannot fail to bring into prominence, are the 
 numerous instances of Cruelty to food-animals, con- 
 nected with their rearing, their transport and their 
 death. Many members of the Society specially instituted 
 for the prevention of such evils, will be shocked to find 
 that they have unwittingly promoted their perpetration. 
 
 SECTION 4.— CONSCIENTIOUSNESS. 
 
 Though Conscience embraces all Moral Duties, the 
 term " Conscientiousness " may be conveniently attached 
 to a certain group of them. Its sense is two-fold : 
 positive, as in the case of the man who conscientiously 
 keeps his promise, requites a benefit, or takes faithful 
 care of whatever is entrusted to his charge ; or it is 
 negative, as in the case of the man who avoids deceit, 
 abstains from the infliction of hidden harm, and shrinks 
 from offending against the most scrupulous sense of 
 honor. There are indeed in the strange intricacies of 
 civilized life, many points where artificial notions of 
 right and wrong prevail, rendering vague the transition 
 from truth to falsehood, from open-heartedness to dissi- 
 mulation, and from honesty to deceit, but there are few 
 of these perplexities that cannot be solved by submitting 
 them to that Light of the World, whose rays of tran- 
 scendent purity show every object in its proper color. 
 
 Certain professions seem to claim special license for 
 deviating from the straight line of Truthfulness. 
 The diplomatist may be inclined to smile at the idea 
 of negotiations ruled simply by equity and philan- 
 thropy, and a military commander may be indignant 
 if one attempts to interfere with his privilege to 
 deceive an enemy. A more serious difficulty is pre- 
 sented by numerous branches of the industrial and 
 commercial community, where by degrees artificial 
 
 H 
 
( 98 ) 
 
 standards of rectitude have become so prevalent that the 
 public is, as it were, acclimatised to tacit acquiescence. 
 For all this I know but one effective remedy, namely 
 the system of Test Prayer previously suggested, which 
 will continually bring the current of transactions within 
 cognisance of the inward conscience. That conscience 
 will gradually acquire increased watchfulness and 
 thoughtfulness, its verdicts will become more strict, the 
 boundary between ingenuity and fraud, fair profits and 
 advantage-taking, will become better defined, and the 
 time will come when the good commercial fame of the 
 Disciples of Christ, will everywhere command credit and 
 respect, whilst their integrity and consequent mutual 
 reliance, may greatly conduce to a full development of 
 the co-operative system in manufactures and agriculture. 
 
 Speculation, a frequent error of sanguine and im- 
 pulsive temperaments, becomes imprudent when it 
 involves a risk of seriously affecting family comfort, and 
 culpable when it is carried on with money not one's own ; 
 it is then that it often leads the unhappy victim of 
 golden phantoms, from folly to guilt and despair.* 
 
 There is scarcely a vice through which normal ideas 
 of rectitude have been more perverted in the develop- 
 ment of a mistaken civilization, than that of G-ambljng. 
 Stock Exchange speculations are but a minor branch of 
 this baneful propensity, which the more urgently 
 demands the attention of the Disciples of Christ, because 
 Christianity, as hitherto constituted, has signally failed 
 to eradicate it. The very Crusaders indulged in it, and 
 
 * There would be less of that speculation in public securities, 
 which in some countries has reached such disastrous proportions, 
 if financiers were as scrupulous as was my dear Father, who being 
 in Paris at the time of the allied occupation, was told by his 
 French Professor, occasionally employed by Wellington, that a 
 document was being prepared, which would cause a very consider- 
 able rise in the French funds. My Father asked if this was a 
 secret ; " perfectly secret," was the answer, and my Father's reply 
 was that he would not avail himself of intelligence thus divulged, 
 for enriching himself at the expense of less favored fund-holders. 
 
( 99 ) 
 
 at the present time public conscience has become so 
 accustomed to it, that scarcely any social class is above 
 yielding, in one form or another, to its fascinations. 
 This is in an extraordinary degree the case in that 
 network of fashionable mischief called the Turf, through 
 which a praiseworthy interest in the rearing of noble 
 animals, long the pride of our pastures, has become an 
 all-absorbing vortex of giddy gaiety, reckless extrava- 
 gance, wild excitement, unscrupulous knavery, mad 
 speculation and ruined homes. 
 
 Another prospect is rather less dismal. The most 
 noted Gambling Hells of the Continent have, with 
 a flagrant exception, been closed, and the celebrated 
 German Spas have proved the feasibility of maintaining 
 their attractiveness without roulette or rouge et noir ; 
 but the intensity of the spirit which has thus been 
 obliged to content itself with less public excitement, 
 may be judged of by the fact that gambling debts, not 
 being recognised by law, are regarded as debts of honor, 
 and take the precedence of all others. Thus the poor 
 tradesman whose family depends for subsistence on the 
 good faith of his customers, is allowed to manage as he 
 can, rather than that one fashionable gamester should 
 keep another waiting for a conventional due. 
 
 It is not easy to emerge from this contaminated 
 atmosphere. By rule of right, one should not accept 
 any money that is not either the valued gift of a friend, 
 or the legitimate payment for a service rendered, but it 
 would be a valuable compromise to establish by rule of 
 fashion, that one half of all monies changing hands 
 through gambling of any kind, should be set aside for 
 charitable purposes. 
 
 The inducement of Chance often assumes other more 
 perplexing forms, in which the transition from rectitude 
 to laxity, from harmlessness to mischief, is too vague to 
 admit of being marked by a hard and fast line. Thus 
 no one objects on moral grounds to securities of which 
 
 h 2 
 
( 100 ) 
 
 the bonds are from time to time called in by lot, and 
 paid off at par ; but there is something questionable in 
 the loans with dazzling prizes attached, which in some 
 countries take undisguisedly the name of " Lottery 
 Loans " ; and as for the regular State Lotteries of ill- 
 starred renown, there is no question as to their well 
 deserving condemnation.* Then re-ascending, we rise 
 through various forms of Tombola and Bazaar Lotteries 
 for benevolent purposes, to the harmless raffling for a 
 picture, or the still more innocent subscribing to an Art 
 Union. — All this proves the value of a practical religion 
 which will bring methodically and unceasingly to bear 
 on the concerns of Daily Life, the administrative in- 
 fluence of Common Sense, and the executive regime of 
 Self Control. 
 
 SECTION 5.— KINDNESS. 
 
 Politeness, which persons of morose temper or 
 unpolished manners, affect to despise as interestedness 
 or servility, is when genuine, far from either. It 
 manifests in a manner determined outwardly by local 
 custom, an inward desire to be agreeable, backed by a 
 readiness to be useful. By small attentions it creates 
 kind feeling, and promotes that general good-will which 
 St. John was in his old age continually recommending to 
 young Christianity, with the words, — "Little children, 
 love one another." 
 
 The germs of family dissension often lie in a neglect 
 of that constant kindness and considerateness of tone 
 and manner, which betoken inclination to oblige, and 
 unwillingness to offend. Some families seem thoroughly 
 permeated with these sentiments ; in others the casual 
 overhearer of an ordinary conversation would expect a 
 quarrel. Its members seem to think, — " We all know 
 
 * It appears that the sum swallowed by the Italian Lottery in 
 the period from 1863 to 1883, amounted to nearly 55 Millions of 
 Pounds sterling. 
 
( ioi ) 
 
 very well that we love each other ; why should we take 
 any trouble to show it?" — The fact is that real love 
 delights, not only in restraining every impulsive word 
 that might occasion the least friction, but also in keeping 
 as it were, all contacts well lubricated with tiny drops 
 of the oil of affection.* — Married people in particular 
 should strive to make themselves throughout life as 
 amiable as they were in courtship. — Each Disciple of 
 Christ should try to behave to relatives and friends, as 
 after losing them, he might wish he had behaved to 
 them. — Good Domestic Servants perform dutifully the 
 services for which they are hired ; but if you wish them 
 to have really at heart your welfare and interest, and 
 those of your family, you must show yourself kindly 
 inclined to reciprocate. 
 
 Many a dispute arising from difference of opinion, 
 might be toned down, if the contending parties could be 
 made to understand that the object of their discussion, 
 like objects in Nature, may present totally different 
 appearances when seen from different standpoints. This 
 particularly occurs with persons whom sectarian intoler- 
 ance, ignorant isolation, or international prejudice and 
 distrust, keep far from each other, and far from the 
 central overlooking position of enlightenment and peace, 
 which is the standpoint of our Lord. Thither it will be 
 the duty of his true disciples to attract the wayward 
 stragglers of his flock, carefully studying, and intelli- 
 gently counteracting their several causes of miscon- 
 ception and ill-will. 
 
 Quarrelsome people affect to be such lovers of the 
 
 * There are asperities of character, natural or acquired, that are 
 best cured by rubbing down ; but the case is different with 
 persons of affectionate and sensitive temperament, who are pained 
 by anything however slight, that betokens a want of reciprocity 
 on the part of those they love. They should .strive to subdue any 
 excess of this tendency irksome to their family and friends ; but 
 these, wisely kind, will not attempt to cure it by not heeding it, 
 for they would only irritate a nervous system already too 
 excitable. 
 
( 102 ) 
 
 truth, that a sense of duty compels them to say what 
 comes into their mind, be it palatable or not to those 
 whom they address. This is one of those perversions of 
 a good principle to an evil purpose, which are the more 
 dangerous for the mask they wear.* There is scarcely 
 a good principle of behaviour which cannot through 
 exaggeration become a defect, and instances of this are 
 sufficiently frequent to exercise the discriminating study 
 of the Moralist. For instance dignity of manner 
 demanded by exalted authority or representative position, 
 and per contra, haughtiness of demeanour or pride of 
 wealth ; judicious economy and parsimony or avarice ; 
 firmness and stubborness ; humility and weakness ; and 
 so on. 
 
 Reproof is most successful when it is obviously not 
 the effect of impulse, nor marked with ill-humour or 
 tinged with irony, but is felt, especially among the 
 members of a family, to be unmistakably the language 
 of sincere and judicious affection. Account should as 
 far as possible be taken of differences of temperament. 
 Expressions that would be only too quickly forgotten by 
 some, would kindle in others a lively resentment, and 
 by others again be taken sorely to heart in silent pain. 
 This particularly applies to sarcastic remarks, which 
 should be very cautiously indulged in. 
 
 Small suspicions, such as frequently occur respecting 
 subordinates, should neither be acted upon impulsively, 
 nor kept in to grow and rankle. One must give the 
 suspected offender an opportunity of clearing away an 
 undeserved suspicion, or of alleviating and toning down 
 a real offence. 
 
 Our comments on the conduct of others would often 
 be more charitable if we knew its real causes, which 
 
 * There is much truth in the French proverb, — " Toute verite 
 n'est pas bonne a dire," and not less in a saying of my Father, — 
 " They who do whatever they think right, will often do what 
 others think wrong." 
 
( 103 ) 
 
 when we cannot ascertain, we should endeavour to divine. 
 Nevertheless it is necessary in order to check the evil 
 tendencies of society, not to condone too lightly, offences 
 which only a wholesome dread of public opinion can keep 
 in due restraint. 
 
 The safety of the community requires Penal Laws, 
 but their enforcement should unite as far as possible 
 with the prevention of crime, the improvement of 
 criminals. Justice should be even-handed, that is to say, 
 not governed by caprice, prejudice, or favor, but at the 
 same time account should be duly taken of aggravating or 
 extenuating circumstances, as far as it is given to mortal 
 judges to scrutinize the aberrations of a sinner's mind.* 
 
 SECTION 6. — BENEVOLENT ECONOMY. 
 
 Indiscriminate Alms have engendered so much im- 
 posture, as to disgust many a kindly disposed person, 
 and to furnish an excuse for others less charitably 
 inclined. 
 
 To secure the full value of charitable relief, a 
 painstaking investigation of the several cases is re- 
 quired. But when the intermediary of charitable 
 organization societies, or the like, is resorted to, it is 
 well to make sure that the working expenses do not 
 absorb too great a per-centage, that a kindly and 
 intelligent spirit pervades the staff, and that the value 
 of the gifts is not lowered by the unfeeling tone of an 
 official distributor. — A much more sympathetic distribu- 
 tion can be expected from Lady District Visitors, whose 
 
 * Independently of the clouded intellect, which in uneducated 
 persons often deadens the conscience, and renders less clear the 
 distinction between right and wrong, there prevails a general 
 ignorance of the law, due to its extreme intricacy. A compendious 
 digest of the Penal Statutes for popular use, would be one of the 
 excellent results of their codification, a task which I am told has 
 actually been effected by one of our most eminent jurists, nothing 
 preventing its sanction by Parliament, but the usual impediments 
 to improvement. 
 
( 104 ) 
 
 organization in every parish is an essential duty of the 
 Clergy of all denominations.* 
 
 Great praise is due to the Christian spirit which has 
 in this country, perhaps more than in any other, 
 accomplished a vast amount of social and charitable 
 improvement, through intelligent co-operation added to 
 wealthy support. Voluntary work done with regularity 
 and earnestness on the Councils, Boards of Management 
 or Committees of the various Provident and Benevolent 
 Institutions, is an excellent employment for persons 
 having abilities and leisure to dispose of. They should 
 not neglect to enhance the value of their services, by a 
 careful study of the books and reports recording the 
 experience acquired in the United Kingdom and abroad, 
 in the respective branches of Chakitable Economy. f 
 
 * The devotion to the poor of certain religious sisterhoods is 
 not only beyond praise, but has even been known to go beyond 
 discretion. I have been told that among the Petites Soeurs des 
 Pauvres, at Bruxelles, the exertions are so excessive, and the food 
 so indifferent, consisting of remnants left by the poor whom they 
 feed with the remnants of the rich, that they do not live long, and 
 that they themselves and their friends, actually rejoice when .-igns 
 of an incurable decline set in. — Admirable as is this martyrdom of 
 charity, one cannot help feeling that it defeats its own object, by 
 destroying in the bud the fruit of future years. Cases of exagge- 
 rated piety more or less similar in their melancholy results, are 
 too frequently the outcome of blighted hopes, but the eminently 
 practical doctrine of Christ, teaches us that lives which for our- 
 selves seem not worth living, should be lived usefully, and if 
 possible cheerfully, for the sake of others. 
 
 \ Among the endlessly varied Institutions here referred to, I 
 may mention, as particularly deserving of study, with a view to 
 improved organization, the following types : — -Industrial colonies 
 including farms, dairies, fisheries, and similar undertakings, on 
 the co-operative principle ; self-supporting Eeformatories and 
 Penitentiaries; self-supporting Unions and the like; provident 
 Dispensaries and Hospitals of every description ; Savings' Banks ; 
 Benefit and Insurance Societies ; Charitable Societies ; Clothing 
 and Needle-work Societies ; and generally all societies worked by 
 voluntary exertions for benevolent purposes. — Two books of the 
 following description would be desiderata, if not already in 
 existence : — A Treatise on Practical Benevolence as a text-book for 
 earnest workers, and a Manual of Provident and Benevolent 
 Institutions. 
 
( 105 ) 
 
 When industrial capital is fructified by the toil of 
 many hands, the wealth accruing to its possessor, may 
 in the eyes of the world be considered as fully paid for 
 by the risk to which that capital is subjected ; but the 
 religion of Christ sees in the companionship of exertions, 
 when cemented by good conduct, a claim to companion- 
 ship of results, a moral right to some participation in 
 good fortune, as there would be heavy participation in 
 the disaster of a failure. That right, better secured by 
 reciprocal good-will than by pugnacious organizations, 
 may be met by principles of co-operation, or by pledges 
 of assistance in accident or disease, and of comfort in old 
 age. When such precautions fail in securing mutual 
 good-will, and unfortunate misunderstandings arise, let 
 employers and employed vie with each other in sub- 
 mission to a soundly established system of arbitration, 
 remembering that Christ said, — "Blessed are the Peace- 
 makers ! " 
 
 By these various means a durable solidarity may 
 gradually take the place of an estrangement equally 
 prejudicial to the interests of both parties, and an 
 effective safeguard may be established against the war 
 of classes, socialism and communism. 
 
( 106 ) 
 
 CHAPTER IV.— SOCIAL AND POLITICAL ECONOMY. 
 
 SECTION 1.— LOCAL AND NATIONAL DUTIES. 
 
 In a country governed to a great extent by authorities 
 of a more or less voluntary character, it is very essential 
 that capable and conscientious men should come to the 
 front, in order that public affairs may not fall into less 
 worthy hands. Disinterested principles, conciliatory 
 demeanour, regularity and assiduity, supported by 
 special studies, are particularly desirable in Boards 
 connected with Local Self Government, Education, and 
 the Guardianship of the Poor. 
 
 Able-minded ambition should be encouraged, when it 
 has for its aim the attainment of good objects by honest 
 means, and esteems power and popularity simply in 
 proportion to the useful leverage they afford. 
 
 Political intrigues and all participation in polemical 
 bitterness should be avoided. The conciliatory spirit 
 with which the Disciples of Christ would approach 
 religious difficulties should also guide them in social and 
 political ones. Advocating Measures rather than Men, 
 they should conscientiously promote what they consider 
 conducive to public good, without becoming the blind 
 supporters of distinguished talent, or the tools of a 
 party. No one should indulge in the presumption of 
 imagining that he understands all possible sides of a 
 question. Making due allowance for circumstances 
 of which one has no personal experience, one should 
 avoid sweeping opinions and declarations that admit of 
 
( 107 ) 
 
 no compromise, remembering that policies strictly 
 correct in theory, must sometimes be flexible in 
 practice. 
 
 SECTION 2. — INTEENATIONAL DUTIES. 
 
 The same principles of Equity and mutual Good-will 
 which should regulate the reciprocal behaviour of 
 individual men, ought also to govern international 
 relations. Such principles will never fail to secure to a 
 people that strives to maintain them through prosperous 
 and adverse fortune, an honorable place in history. 
 
 Nations should rejoice in the prosperity of their 
 neighbours, seeing in it not only an incentive to 
 honorable emulation, but also a source of mutual benefit. 
 
 A people made prosperous by a well-ordered adminis- 
 tration, is welcome to be proud of it, but must not 
 lightly deprecate all other forms of government. The 
 success or failure of national institutions depends on so 
 many intricacies of inward temperament and outward 
 circumstance, that the result in one country, does not 
 prove what it would be in another. 
 
 More durable than the alliances of diplomacy, founded 
 on casual interests, or jealous theories of " Balance of 
 Power," will be the alliances of Peoples animated by a 
 desire to become leaders of peaceful progress and 
 universal prosperity. 
 
 The destinies of Nations have for so many ages been 
 influenced by a preponderance of Might over Right, that 
 numerous instances occur of communities in a state of 
 dependence, of which the sudden subversion would be 
 injurious. Wherever this is the case, it should be re- 
 membered that with nations as with individuals, power 
 has its obligations, and every privilege its corresponding 
 duties. Political guardianship should be so exercised as 
 to be obviously a mutual advantage. — This principle of 
 
( 108 ) 
 
 mutual advantage should particularly prevail in the 
 relations of Colonies to the Mother-country, and ought to 
 perpetuate their union. 
 
 Among the best political devices of modern times, are 
 Neutral States, which interposed between powerful ones, 
 present an impediment to collision. — Another, is the 
 system of Arbitration proposed as a substitute for War, 
 and which if it became a recognized institution, might 
 lead to the establishment of an International Areopagus. 
 Nothing could be more calculated to promote such a 
 result, than a reconstruction of Christianity according to 
 the principles of Christ. 
 
 SECTION 3.— ALLEVIATION OF THE HOEEOES OF WAE. 
 
 Painful as are some portions of the annals of 
 Christianity, it is satisfactory to notice that on various 
 occasions, Christian sentiments have mitigated the 
 horrors of war.* All honor is due to the Convention of 
 the Red Cross, originated by Henri Dunant of Geneva, 
 soon after the battle of Solferino, and under the protec- 
 tion of which the wounded are attended to on the battle- 
 field, in comparative safety. To promote works of 
 benevolence like this, will obviously be an essential duty 
 of the Disciples of Christ. f 
 
 A subject here presents itself which deserves the 
 earnest attention of those who in all humility aspire to 
 walk in the footsteps of our Lord in the relief of human 
 
 * e.g. The " Treve de Dieu " of the middle ages. 
 
 t War is such an unbridling of the worst impulses, and tends so 
 much to pervert the moral intellect, that any rational endeavour 
 to institute " Laws of War " is deserving of encouragement. I 
 may mention as much needing interference, but at the same time 
 requiring accurate knowledge of facts, much tact in discussing 
 tbem, and considerable influence in high quarters for attaining 
 to practical results, the following three subjects : — Eeprisals, 
 Wars of civilized against uncivilized nations, and Suppression of 
 Eebellions. 
 
( ion ) 
 
 suffering. Modern Science has revealed to us certain 
 admirable anaesthetics, or deadeners of pain, an intelli- 
 gent use of which renders a patient unconscious under 
 the most severe surgical operations ; also means by 
 which the tortures, even of soldiers lying fearfully 
 wounded on the battle-field, can for a time be allayed in 
 a degree almost miraculous. But that alleviation is 
 only a passing bliss, and hopeless agonies return to be 
 terminated only by a lingering death. To put a prompt 
 end to them in an almost painless moment of comparative 
 composure and resignation, with a thought for home and 
 a thought for heaven, — is not this in every way conform- 
 able to the principles of wise compassion taught us by 
 our Saviour in the name of the God of Mercies ? 
 
( no ) 
 
 CHAPTER V.— EDUCATIONAL DUTIES. 
 
 SECTION 1.— EELIGIOUS INSTRUCTION. 
 
 We have seen that where people are contented and 
 peaceful, acting practically right though on principles 
 theoretically wrong, their convictions need not be dis- 
 turbed, and they may be invited without adopting 
 the tenets of the Disciples of Christ, to co-operate as 
 Associates in works of Christian benevolence. Some 
 of them may insist on moulding the education of their 
 children on the pattern of their own, but many may be 
 brought gradually to see better chances of a happy and 
 useful life, in religious and secular educational lines such 
 as the following : — 
 
 An essential feature of the reformed creed, and one 
 which should show itself in the earliest stages of 
 religious instruction, is that it does not represent the 
 religion taught by Moses, but that taught by Christ 
 himself. Consequently the first lessons, instead of being 
 borrowed from Genesis, should give with simplicity of 
 ideas as well as of language, elementary notions concern- 
 ing God, the almighty and beneficent Spirit of the 
 Universe. 
 
 Children are generally capable of being impressed at 
 an early age, with the attributes of the God of Christ, 
 full of kindness for those who come to Him with a pure 
 and loving heart, who thankfully enjoy the blessings 
 vouchsafed to them, and who in earnest devotion to His 
 will, strive to spread happiness around them. On this 
 
( 111 ) 
 
 foundation should be thoughtfully developed a system of 
 religious morality, gradually expanding till its precepts 
 embrace, with due consideration for the varied circum- 
 stances of life, all that can' be devised to ensure life's 
 moral success. — In imitation of the plan adopted by our 
 Saviour of teaching by parables, moral duties should be 
 inculcated by illustrative examples, real or imaginary, 
 calculated to captivate as well as to instruct. 
 
 At a period still early, though varying according to 
 the intelligence and cultural advantages of the children, 
 their education might receive its theological element, 
 still however, divested of dogmatic abstruseness. They 
 would be taught that Jesus Christ, our Saviour and 
 Redeemer, came into the world as the representative of 
 God, to save and redeem mankind from the darkness and 
 misery of sin, by diffusing the Light of Truth, Right- 
 eousness and Charity. He instructed men to approach 
 their Heavenly Father in a constant communion of 
 thanksgiving, prayer, and devoted love, and to those who 
 prove the sincerity of that love by earnestly striving to 
 do the divine will, he promised the inheritance of a future 
 life.— All this can be corroborated by selections from the 
 Gospels, which must, however, be made with great care 
 and discrimination. There are a certain number of 
 passages so tersely typical of the Doctrine of Christ, at 
 once practical and sublime, that they should be learned 
 by heart, but many are ill adapted for the young on 
 account of their figurative language, or of the knowledge 
 of times and circumstances necessary for properly under- 
 standing them, whilst some would be dangerous if taken 
 literally, and others treat of things of which the knowledge 
 would be premature. 
 
 The Doctrine of Christ being adopted as the standard 
 of orthodoxy, the Old Testament will only be regarded 
 as authoritative, as far as the holy nature of its teaching 
 is conformable to that standard. All passages derogatory 
 to the attributes of our Almighty Father as depicted to 
 
( 112 ) 
 
 us by our Saviour, are to be considered as human, not 
 divine, and the incident of the disobedience of our first 
 parents, instead of serving as a foundation for perennial 
 wrath against mankind, to be appeased by a pre-determined 
 fearful atonement, is to be regarded as an instructive 
 episode of the legendary traditions of the Jewish race. 
 As a record of the remotest antiquity, the Bible would 
 present extreme interest, even if it were not hallowed 
 by the reverence of so many ages, and by having upheld 
 when idolatry was rampant on the earth, that monotheism 
 which our Saviour raised to its full value. It would 
 indeed be difficult to over-rate the instruction which 
 persons previously well grounded in the doctrine of 
 Christ, might safely derive in various branches of study 
 from a careful perusal of the sacred book to say nothing 
 of the great moral lesson taught by the sad annals of a 
 selfish people, that proudly arrogated to itself a privilege 
 of divine favor incompatible with the paternal benevolence 
 of the Creator of all men, and that ended a career of about 
 twenty centuries, in an accumulation of miseries, an 
 overthrow, and a dispersion, of which the world's annals 
 present no parallel. 
 
 But the moral instruction of the young is an entirely 
 different consideration. Among the portions of the 
 Bible now given to children on account of their enter- 
 taining character, there are few that do not contain here 
 and there inappropriate passages, or of which the heroes 
 thoroughly deserve imitation. 
 
 In the schools organized by the Disciples of Christ, 
 truth and sincerity should reign supreme, and many a 
 historical text-book now in use, especially in the upper 
 grades, should be set aside or revised, because it judges 
 acts according to the persons who commit them, instead 
 of judging persons by their acts. In too many instances 
 we see a falsification of colors begun by enlisting youthful 
 reverence for Bible heroes whose faults are ignored, 
 continued by upholding unreservedly the rapacious and 
 
( 113 ) 
 
 cruel Romans as admirable warriors, and confirmed by the 
 general practice that each nation proudly records, under 
 the plea of patriotism, its successes in the field, without 
 distinguishing whether the cause was a just or an unjust 
 one. — Much might be done by historical works written 
 without fear or favor, according to true Christian 
 principles, to tone down the system of military glory and 
 supremacy, which now so much sways the destinies of 
 nations. 
 
 It is not surprising that an insular country like ours 
 should be noted for educational peculiarities demanding 
 to be rectified by a cosmopolitan regime. Under a 
 mistaken impression that a kind of boldness approaching 
 to effrontery is necessary for pushing one's way in the 
 world, a certain roughness of manner is encouraged, 
 rather than repressed, in many of our public schools. 
 This generally yields to the polishing influence of good 
 society, but it is occasionally brought into ugly relief, 
 especially through the effects of a narrow-minded 
 practice, now happily on the wane, of training the boys, 
 under the plea of patriotism, to look down on all other 
 nations. One still sees persons, who behave very well 
 among their home surroundings, cast off all restraint 
 when travelling abroad, and seemingly delight in making 
 themselves either disagreeable or ridiculous. They 
 should remember that the duties of hospitality are 
 reciprocal, and bear in mind that every misbehaviour 
 on their part is put down to a general account against 
 the reputation of their country. 
 
 SECTION 2.— SECULAR INSTRUCTION. 
 
 Foremost among the evils chargeable to the organizers 
 of the Christian Church, who preferred to plant dogmatic 
 theories on a Judaic foundation, rather than to develop 
 the simple and practical system of Christ, may be 
 reckoned the fierce conflicts of opinion which arose 
 
 i 
 
( 114 ) 
 
 concerning things unintelligible. But apart from these 
 conspicuous and stirring results, it is sad to see, especially 
 in the early ages of Christianity, how many capable and 
 studious men, instead of making themselves really useful, 
 wasted their brains in working out dogmatical problems, 
 or pushed the virtue of self-control to the vanity of 
 asceticism ; or leaving the world to its fate, buried them- 
 selves alive in deserts as barren as their existence. — A 
 somewhat consoling period followed, in which monastic 
 institutions, though still too much occupied with dialectic 
 discussions, became valuable repositories of the knowledge 
 of the times, largely composed of the literature of Greece 
 and Rome, the latter in particular being greatly favored 
 by the circumstance that Latin had become the official 
 language of the Church. The furtherance given to the 
 Fine Arts by Catholicism is undeniable, but Science has 
 unfortunately a different tale to tell. Dealing with the 
 truths of Nature, she might have become a pillar of 
 strength for the Christian Church, had it been built up 
 with the spiritual truths of the Doctrine of Christ ; but 
 her progressive discoveries could not fail to be, sooner or 
 later, in antagonism with the record transmitted to us by 
 Moses, of the unscientific ideas which prevailed at his 
 time. Enough, however, has been said to show that 
 scientific errors are among the least important of the 
 educational defects of the Pentateuch. Nor is there on 
 the other hand much cause for alarm in the spirit of 
 scepticism occasionally displayed by scientists. Accus- 
 tomed to deal constantly with positive entities and 
 demonstrable facts, they acquire without being aware of 
 it, a peculiar rigidity of ideas that tends to Materialism, 
 whilst at the same time a proud consciousness of the 
 comprehensive grasp of their knowledge, and of their 
 indefatigable acumen, makes them disinclined to acknow- 
 ledge limits to either. 
 
 There is reason, however, to hope that Science herself 
 will provide the remedy. The history of the past fore- 
 
( 115 ) 
 
 shadows that of the future, and the discoveries of the 
 present century, founded on the researches of previous 
 ones, most assuredly contain the germs of future progress. 
 Centuries to come will reveal facts more and more 
 recondite, and agencies more and more ethereal, till the 
 perfected mind is competent to analyse its own functions, 
 to unveil the secret of vitality, and to fathom the holy 
 mystery of our connection with an unseen world. 
 
 There are other motives of an essentially practical 
 character, for which the friends of Religion should 
 earnestly seek to promote the educational diffusion of 
 Science among all classes of the community. — Education 
 has two important purposes : to store the memory with 
 useful knowledge, and to enable the mind to make a good 
 use of it. Formerly the practice prevailed of effecting 
 the drilling of the mind by a kind of treadmill work that 
 had no further purpose ; but it is now beginning to be 
 understood that Science of the proper sort, unites the two 
 educational advantages, of supplying information that 
 every one wants, and sharpening the intellect for the 
 best use of it. I say of the proper sort, because what 
 every one wants is not, as supposed by some, a deep 
 study of isolated branches of Science, but a sound acquain- 
 tance with a carefully made selection of scientific facts 
 and principles, and with their applications to the current 
 requirements of daily life. All this can be rendered not 
 only intelligible, but even entertaining to youthful minds, 
 and the habitual practice of noticing cause and effect, 
 produces in an eminent degree the quick Common Sense 
 and Practical Wisdom, of which we have had more than 
 once occasion to notice the paramount value for a proper 
 discharge of Christian duties- 
 
 The educational worth of Science is, I am happy to say, 
 fast gaining appreciation among those classes whose 
 industrial or commercial interests it is calculated to 
 promote, but it is less acknowledged among those wealthier 
 members of society, who not having to work for a liveli- 
 
( 116 ) 
 
 hood, fancy they have no occasion to work at all. It is 
 to be hoped that the Doctrine of Christ will open their 
 eyes to a clearer perception of the value of developed 
 abilities. As proprietors of estates, they should know 
 the theory and practice of agriculture, as a captain ought 
 to know the construction and management of his ship. — 
 As magistrates, they should know the laws they have to 
 administer, whilst at the same time they should endeavour 
 to identify themselves in some measure, with the ways of 
 living and thinking of the indigent and the uneducated, 
 with whom they will chiefly have to deal. The penal 
 institutions of other countries offer interesting matter for 
 study and comparison. — Men of the world, trained under 
 scientific guidance to genuine worldly wisdom, will exercise 
 an improving influence on the progress of civilization, and 
 bring to bear the restraint of Hygiene, good taste, and 
 sound principles of economy, on the extravagances of 
 fashion. Civil and political careers will assume a healthier 
 and happier tone, when based on earnest and well-directed 
 studies, and attended to with that spirit of practical 
 religion, which brings men nearer to God, by bringing 
 them nearer to each other in mutual good-will. It is 
 in this sense that Political and Social Economy, and 
 especially Moral Philosophy, should have high academic 
 honors, and that History should be placed at their 
 service. 
 
 To civilized nations, the Industrial Arts bring wealth, 
 the Fine Arts honorable distinction. Architecture takes 
 the lead in the noble devices of high art for elevating the 
 mind to a devotional pitch. Music is not only invaluable 
 for that purpose, but may, through judicious manage- 
 ment, become a means of elevating the moral tone of 
 every grade of the community. 
 
( 117 ) 
 
 CO-OPERATION OF THE CLERGY. 
 
 GENERAL REMARKS. 
 
 Education is in this country so much in the hands of 
 the Clergy, that even if there were not other urgent 
 motives, it would on this account be extremely desirable 
 to gain their favourable appreciation of the proposed 
 movement for restoring Christianity to the principles 
 laid down by its divine Founder. Nor need this be 
 despaired of; for they have not remained strangers to 
 the intellectual development which is exercising so much 
 influence on other bodies of well-educated men, and 
 which I have described as the "spirit of the times." 
 Except with a few veterans of immobility, we see 
 orthodoxy itself wearing a much more genial coun- 
 tenance than fifty years ago. Eminent members of the 
 Church now say openly what one would then scarcely 
 have ventured to think, and many things are only 
 upheld in the pulpit, for the good reason that as long as 
 the Church maintains them, its ministers must adhere to 
 them. — To feel that one is in a false position is the first 
 step towards improvement, and it is but to do justice to 
 the shrewdness of intellect and honesty of purpose of a 
 large proportion of Clergymen, to assume that they do 
 full oft experience that feeling in the discharge of their 
 ministry. They have acquired in their lay studies too 
 much knowledge of the sublime grandeur of the universe 
 as revealed by modern science, and too much veneration 
 for the omnipotent wisdom which breathes life into the 
 
( 118 ) 
 
 glorious fabric of nature, not to read to their congrega- 
 tions with inward compunction, the passages of the 
 Pentateuch in which the attributes of Jehovah are 
 almost reduced to human proportions, and profanely 
 tainted with human propensities. 
 
 The remedy is at hand. Persevering erudition has 
 shown, and is daily rendering more evident, that the 
 Book of the Law, which a power-seeking and un- 
 scrupulous Jewish priesthood upheld as entirely written 
 by inspiration, and consequently as the direct and 
 veritable word of God, is only the most venerable and 
 most interesting of all human records ; that each portion 
 is to be taken on its own merits, and that the incidents 
 of a legendary character are simply to be treasured as 
 the antique legends of the Jewish race. To that race 
 our Saviour belonged, and this reason would of itself 
 suffice to render the annals of the Children of Israel 
 interesting for us above all others ; but they should 
 obviously be used to prepare and support, not to 
 interfere with and detract from, the strict obedience due 
 to his holy teaching. 
 
 No one better than the studious members of our 
 Clergy, can be in a position to appreciate the immense 
 difference between the Mosaic dispensation and that of 
 Christ ; the latter eminent for expansive benevolence and 
 active charity, the former characterized outwardly by 
 blood-stained ceremonies, and inwardly by a spirit of 
 dismal egotism, stern, arrogant, and unprogressive. No 
 one better than they can understand the Judaic influences 
 through which the followers of Christ were led to mar 
 the clear brightness of that " Light of Life " which their 
 Master had brought into the world, by associating with 
 it mysteries of a diametrically opposite character. 
 
 It behoves the Christian Clergy of all denominations 
 to undertake cautiously but resolutely, to re-instate the 
 divine Doctrine of Christ in its original simplicity of 
 form and purpose ; a work of duty which may ultimately 
 
( HO ) 
 
 prove to be of material benefit to the Church itself. 
 The irresistible current of modern thought is diffusing a 
 spirit of religious enquiry in quarters where it is not yet 
 noticed at the surface. Thousands are thirsting for 
 progress, for whom the best safeguard against the 
 impulses of sectarianism, the callous apathy of dis- 
 appointment, or the sophistries of materialism, would be 
 to join a peaceful union of Christians under the original 
 banner of Christ; and it is obvious, that by first 
 treating the movement with silent tolerance, and then 
 gradually acquiring its guidance though cautious co- 
 operation, our Clergy might ensure a lasting confirmation 
 of their influence. 
 
 CLEEICAL OKGANIZATION. 
 
 Independently of doctrinal improvement, the advo- 
 cates of Christian progress, to whatever creed or country 
 they may belong, should devote constant attention to 
 perfecting the organization and functions of their respec- 
 tive Churches, seeking to derive from general experience, 
 the best guarantees of respect and stability, and the most 
 successful developments of practical usefulness. It must 
 be remembered, however, that as in matters politic, the 
 same institutions and customs w hich in one locality have 
 met with success or failure, may have different results in 
 different circumstances of race, political and social con- 
 stitution, and educational advancement. 
 
 Among the numerous questions of which an earnest 
 and unbiassed study from a utilitarian point of view will 
 be alike interesting and instructive are the following : — 
 
 Where Church and State are united, does the influence 
 of the latter appear to restrain religious progress, or does 
 it on the contrary tend to make religious matters parti- 
 cipate in the progress of secular ones ? — In the case of 
 separation, is it expedient that each country should have 
 
( 120 ) 
 
 its distinct religious organization, or that a general hier- 
 archy should unite many countries, as is the case with 
 the Roman Catholic Church ? 
 
 What country or denomination presents the most suc- 
 cessful pattern of a clerical hierarchy, uniting with all 
 the requirements of a strict discipline, a satisfactory 
 system of appointments and preferments, and giving due 
 weight to the approval of parishioners, without obliging 
 the pastor to accommodate his teaching to their propen- 
 sities ? 
 
 Which of the two systems respectively adopted by the 
 Catholic and Protestant Churches, celibacy or matrimony, 
 appears to work most satisfactorily ; or is it perhaps found 
 that their relative advantages stand as follows ? — With 
 unmarried priests, greater devotion to their work, and as 
 long as they conduct themselves properly, greater respect 
 on the part of the laity, but the reverse if they fall away 
 from strict behaviour. With married clergy greater 
 suitableness for admission to family circles, by which the 
 sphere of their sympathy and advice is extended. To 
 this may be added the assistance of a most appropriate 
 helpmate in many branches of parish work. 
 
 Is the balance of advantages in favour of the freedom 
 of behaviour still prevalent among many ministers of the 
 Anglican Church with regard to hunting, dancing, fre- 
 quenting of theatres and the like, or are the honor and 
 usefulness of Holy Orders better upheld by the system 
 of abstention from such indulgence, and by the general 
 sedateness of social demeanour maintained in some other 
 Protestant countries ? 
 
 MISSION WORK AT HOME AND ABROAD. 
 
 Great would be the increase of honorable authority 
 which Eeligious Teachers might derive from an improved 
 aptitude for their work. The training time they now 
 
( 121 ) 
 
 spend at the University or the College, in acquiring 
 controversial erudition, could be devoted to familiarising 
 themselves with such branches of practical knowledge as 
 Sanitary, Domestic, Educational and Social Economy, 
 eminently calculated to win the grateful confidence of 
 their flock in private intercourse, and thus to prepare a 
 ready acceptance of religious and moral teaching. 
 
 Civilization has its maladies. Where local advantages 
 attract an industrial population, plethora soon sets in, and 
 in the multitude that has outgrown its resources, a spon- 
 taneous fermentation engenders vice and misery. There, 
 ordinary Parish Work is powerless, and recourse must 
 be had to some such an organization as that which has 
 wrought so much good, under the name of the " London 
 City Mission," uniting if possible, practical Science with 
 practical Eeligion. Operations thus accomplished under 
 direct public supervision, have a very notable advantage 
 over Mission Work carried on in distant regions, without 
 the guarantee of an efficient control, and with a con- 
 sequent liability to regrettable accusations. 
 
 There are savage races whose religion, unworthy of the 
 name, is so redundant with superstition and iniquity, as to 
 be a disgrace to humanity. Infinitely worthy of praise 
 are the dauntless Missionaries of various denominations, 
 who seek to introduce ideas of comfort and feelings of 
 kindness, among bushmen and cannibals. But for one 
 branch of mission work demanding the courage of a 
 martyr, there are many requiring a zeal tempered with 
 discretion, that can take due account of circumstances 
 and surroundings. It is an unquestionable gain to con- 
 vert at once a population numerous enough, or otherwise 
 free enough, to enjoy the full fruits of its enlightenment ; 
 and it is another thing to accomplish here and there 
 conversions entailing disruption of the most sacred 
 ties, isolation, contumely, and danger, in the midst of a 
 fanatical population. 
 Among the various ways in which the Association of 
 
 K 
 
( 122 ) 
 
 the Disciples of Christ may be expected to influence 
 Mission work in foreign parts, are the following: — 
 
 The uncultured heathen are likely to embrace more 
 readily the Christianity of Jesus, appealing in the 
 simplest terms to mind and heart, than they do the 
 Christianity of a complex orthodoxy. — Being assured 
 that the testimony of Scripture is to be held in reverence, 
 only as far as it is in accordance with the Doctrine of 
 Christ, they will not, like the Zulu convert of Bishop 
 Colenso, find here and there, their faith grating on 
 their conscience, which on the contrary, cannot find 
 fault with so golden rule as, — enjoy life's blessings 
 rationally and thankfully, and help thy fellow-men to do 
 the same. 
 
 The Disciples of Christ, thoroughly imbued with the 
 practical principles of his divine doctrine, and trained 
 as members of the Christian Alliance to great tolerance 
 of opinion in matters of controversy and observance, 
 will when sent among the Heathen by Societies of 
 different denominations, behave as brothers, and never 
 display those reciprocal ill-feelings, not to say animosi- 
 ties, which are now to wondering natives so frequent a 
 cause of diffidence and disgust. 
 
 Then again, as members of the Universal Alliance, 
 they will have accustomed themselves to judge men 
 rather by what they do, than by what they believe, and 
 they will be disinclined to interfere by direct conversion, 
 with those who do their duty to the best of their 
 knowledge, and are inoffensive and happy. 
 
 There are few forms of religion that do not contain 
 germs of truth, which might be developed into enlighten- 
 ment and happiness, especially if that development were 
 taken in hand by the priests themselves, who ought to 
 constitute everywhere the vanguard of intellectual and 
 moral progress. Thus for instance, devout followers 
 of Mahomet would have no difficulty in selecting from 
 the Koran itself, elements of tolerance and peace, or 
 
( 123 ) 
 
 better still, they might undertake to give it cn its 
 author's behalf such a revision and adaptation as the 
 Prophet himself might be supposed to wish it to receive, 
 in accordance with the knowledge and requirements 
 of the present times. The undertaking, if discreetly 
 managed and well supported, might be a great success, 
 and at all events, it would help to establish the im- 
 portant principle, that the founder of a Religion is better 
 honoured by those who prove its adaptability to the 
 progress of successive ages, than by those who uphold it 
 in rigid immutability.* 
 
 RELIGIOUS COMMUNITIES. 
 
 The monastic principle of separation from the world, 
 has given to the history of Christianity a peculiarity of 
 coloring, always instructive, often sad.f Apart from 
 the extraordinary aberrations related by Zimmermann in 
 his celebrated work on " Solitude," and which almost 
 make one lose patience with the human mind, there is 
 generally speaking in the idea of persons in a normal 
 condition of bodily and mental capabilities, exchanging 
 the fruitful duties of ordinary existence for the sterile 
 ones of a monastic life, something that produces a painful 
 impression of wasted energy. On the other hand, it is 
 but fair to say that in reviewing the feudal ages, one 
 sees many examples of monastic establishments acting as 
 the pioneers of knowledge and civilization, reclaiming 
 uncultivated regions, and making good use of their 
 power in cariying out works of public benefit, like the 
 
 * Is not this principle tacitly acted upon by enlightened numbers 
 of the Mosaic persuasion ? 
 
 f The word monastic originally applied to solitary life, has itself 
 become a singular misnomer in its application to institutions 
 eminently gregarious. 
 
( 124 ) 
 
 dam along the torrent Liitschenen, which still serves to 
 protect from inundations the vale of Interlaken.* 
 
 There is one direction in which Religious Associations 
 achieve truly admirable results, namely, the relief of 
 suffering and distress. They are so peculiarly well 
 fitted for hospital work, that Protestant ones have been 
 successfully established, and are daily gaining favor, 
 notwithstanding the prevailing distrust of all that bears 
 the impress of a Catholic origin. 
 
 It is truly refreshing to see Institutions founded and 
 supported by enlightened members of both persuasions, 
 bestowing relief on the infirm and needy, irrespective of 
 Creed. This pleasingly reminds us of the truly 
 Christian words of the Archbishop of Paris, — " Charity 
 is a neutral ground, on which all persuasions may join 
 hands, and work harmoniously." Such utterances are 
 harbingers of times not far distant, when Conciliation 
 and the Companionship of Good Works may rally the 
 Clergy of all denominations round that banner of Purity 
 and Progress, which our Saviour originally unfurled 
 when he came to redeem the world, and on which were 
 inscribed in letters of Light, the words, " Glory to God, 
 and Happiness to Mankind." 
 
 * A few suggestive hints may be borrowed from the Moravian 
 Brotherhoods, and other communities with a practical tendency. 
 As an example of a danger-beacon may be mentioned Mormonism. 
 
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