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 BR 145 .C73 1895 
 
 Crawford, John Howard 
 
 The brotherhood of mankind 
 
1! 
 
THE BROTHERHOOD OF MANKIND 
 
PRINTED BY MORRISON AND GIBB, 
 FOR 
 
 T. & T. CLARK, EDINBURGH. 
 
 LONDON : SIMPKIN, MARSHALL, HAMILTON, KENT, AND CO. LIMITED. 
 
 NEW YORK : CHARLE.S SCRIBNER'S SONS. 
 
 TORONTO : THE WILLARD TRACT DEPOSITORV. 
 
THE 
 
 BROTHERHOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 A STUDY TOWARDS A CHRISTIAN 
 PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY 
 
 Eev. JOHN HOWARD CRAWFORD, M.A. 
 
 EDINBURGH 
 
 T. & T. CLARK, 38 GEORGE STREET 
 
 1895 
 
ROBERT FLINT, D.D., LL.D., 
 
 the Illsloriaii of llic Phlhsophy of History^ 
 
 this study ill tlud l'h.ilosophy is inscribed 
 
 I) If his friend and some time xmjjil, 
 
 THE AUTHOn. 
 
PREFACE 
 
 The object of this book is to show that the end to^v•ards 
 which maukiiid are progressing is a united brotherhood. 
 
 This goal of mankind is the key to human history, 
 wliich unfolds a steady progress towards its realisation. 
 
 We approach the question from several aspects. 
 
 As a matter of historical investigation, we trace the 
 growth of the idea of a united humanity as revealed in 
 the progress of mankind, showing how all life tends to 
 exhibit an advance towards it. 
 
 As a theological inquiry, we endeavour to identify 
 it with the teaching of Christ and the general growth 
 of the Church. It appears as the central spirit of 
 Christianity. It underlies all the doctrines of the 
 Church, and unfolds the earthly meaning of the 
 Incarnation. And although in this book we do not 
 consider the life beyond, we may add that it supplies 
 the key to all eschatology. 
 
 The relation which the progress of mankmd towards 
 unity bears to morality and knowledge has also a place 
 in our theory. It is possible here only to give a general 
 view of so wide a subject ; but we hope, as opportunity 
 oflers in tlie future, to elucidate more fully some of the 
 
vm PREFACE 
 
 more important aspects of the great principle which 
 underlies all human life. 
 
 The whole of humanity is a unity, and is subject to 
 the same law of growth. The Manich^an theory which 
 represents the natural tendency of mankind as towards 
 social disintegration, which religion steps in to counteract, 
 is not confirmed by an examination of history. We read 
 in the movement of secular thought and action the same 
 great law of association, ever tending to a brotherhood 
 of love, which Christianity unfolds to us. Literature, 
 art, politics, and commerce show its operation as well as 
 religion. That this law is the inner secret of the whole 
 history of the human race in all its activities, we beHeve ; 
 and the destiny of man will be accomplished when that 
 perfect unity is attained. Not that perfection may be 
 taken in its absolute sense, for that is not possible for 
 man ; but a nearer and nearer approach may be made 
 towards complete human brotherhood. 
 
 That the unity of mankind, as Church and State, will 
 one day be accomplished, history and the Christian faith 
 agree in hoping for. 
 
 But, since this is the great aim towards which men 
 are destined, is it not our duty to aid it by all means in 
 our power ? 
 
 We take no such dark \"iew of our present social state 
 as some passionate hearts among social thinkers seem to 
 brood over : but we make some inquiry into the actual 
 conditions of life among us, trusting we may do some- 
 thing to remove obstacles to that free and imited brother- 
 hood of man in which God has placed the perfection of 
 humanity. The eloquent words of Lameunais express 
 
PREFACE ix 
 
 our hopes for the future : " When each of you, loving all 
 men as Ijrothers, shall act to each other like brotliers ; 
 when each of you, seeking his own well-being in the well- 
 being of all, shall identify his life with the life of all, and 
 his interest ^vith the interest of all ; when each shall be 
 ever ready to sacrifice himself for all the members of the 
 Common Family, who are equally ready to sacrifice them- 
 selves for him, — most of the e\'ils which now weigh upon 
 the human race will disappear, as the gathering mists of 
 the horizon flee at sunrise, and the will of God will be 
 fulfilled. For it is His will that love shall unite the 
 shattered members of humanity and organise them into a 
 single whole, so that humanity may be one, even as He 
 is One." 
 
 I have to thank my brother-in-law, the Eev. J. A. 
 MacCulloch, Acting Yice-Principal of the Theological 
 College of the Episcopal Church of Scotland, for revising 
 the proofs, and making tlic index, of this book. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 Pkeface 
 
 PAGE 
 V 
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 CHAP. 
 
 I. The Development of Christianity in Human Thought 1 
 
 II. Time the Interpreter .... 
 III. The Ethical Purpose of Development 
 
 THE BROTHERHOOD OF MANKIND 
 IV. Brotherhood before Christ 
 V. The Unity of Man .... 
 VI. Jesus the Carpenter .... 
 VII. The Theology of Jesus 
 VIII. The Ethical Principle of Jesus . 
 IX. The Authority of Jesus 
 X. Brotherhood in the Epistles 
 XI. Individualism in the Life of the Church 
 XII. The Family, its Past and Future 
 
 XIII. The Sacraments 
 
 XIV. Entrance into the Life of Brotherhood, 
 
 gress therein 
 
 38 
 52 
 65 
 80 
 96 
 115 
 128 
 139 
 154 
 171 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 CHAP. 
 
 XV. 
 
 XVI. 
 
 XVII. 
 
 ^ XVIII. 
 
 XIX. 
 
 XX. 
 
 XXI. 
 
 XXII. 
 
 XXIII. 
 
 XXIV. 
 
 XXV. 
 
 XXVI. 
 
 The Christian Personality 
 
 Brotherhood in the Early Church .... 
 
 Brotherhood in the Middle Ages, with a View of 
 the Relation of Christianity to Childhood 
 
 Brotherhood since the Reformation . 
 
 Social and Political Progress . 
 
 The Service of Literature and Art . 
 
 The Natural Growth of Altruism . 
 
 Christianity and Patriotism 
 
 The Opposition of Scepticism 
 
 Other Forces which are against Brothe: 
 
 The Kingdom of God and the Church 
 
 The, Future 
 
 PAOE 
 
 198 
 
 224 
 242 
 259 
 271 
 295 
 310 
 321 
 334 
 345 
 360 
 
THE 
 
 BROTHERHOOD OF MANKIl^D 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 THE DEVELOPMENT OF CHPJSTIANITY IX HUMAN THOUGHT 
 
 Men have always desired to know the inner meaning 
 of Christianity, to express its central thought. It is 
 gathered from many sources, and embraces many spheres 
 of life ; but there must be a spiritual principle round 
 which all its manifestations cluster, and an end to which 
 they all tend. The efforts of all thinkers help to unfold 
 this central thought, to get nearer and nearer the heart 
 of the divine truth. It is too great a task for one man 
 unaided to try. He might as well attempt to know the 
 whole of the laws of nature. But as the scientific 
 thinker begins where his predecessor left off' so has the 
 theologian the benefit of every previous worker's labour. 
 And he has still more the help of the course of time, 
 which, as it unrolls itself, also lays bare the meaning 
 and purpose of the Christian faith. The history of the 
 Church is a long commentary on the teaching of Christ. 
 
2 THE BROTHERHOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 Nor must we confine ourselves to the history of the 
 Church, for the history of the world is also a guide to 
 the inquirer as to the inner principle and final goal of 
 Christianity. The divine purpose reveals itself in the 
 history of mankind, though we can but imperfectly 
 discern it. Whatever it be, it must be the same goal 
 as that to which the Christian religion tends. History 
 and religion have the same inner principle, and must 
 unfold the same destiny for mankind. 
 
 It is not given to any age to express the full truth of 
 the Christian doctrine, or reach the perfection of the 
 Christian life. The history of the Church reveals an 
 ever - expanding interpretation of the oracles of God. 
 The old analogy of the tree of existence, Ygdrassil, 
 which was daily watered by the Nornen from the foun- 
 tain at its root, is a true figure of the progressive life of 
 Christianity. To narrow the living force into a fixed 
 system is an impossibility. For the life is eternal and 
 divine in its nature, and any system is but a child of 
 time and the mind of man. The intelHgence of man 
 itself expands ; and shall his understanding of divine 
 truth not grow with his ever-increasing capacity ? To 
 doubt the fact that our knowledge of Christianity in its 
 doctrines and practice is enlarged with the progress of 
 other attainments, is to doubt the constant presence of 
 God in the world. Shall we go forward in all things 
 except the highest ? What a mockery of the onward 
 march of the human race is it to tell us that in religion 
 alone there is no hope of advancement ! 
 
 We know as a fact that Christian doctrine has 
 developed ; we have learned that the very canon of the 
 
DEVELOPMENT OF CHRISTIANITY IN HUMAN THOUGHT 3 
 
 New Testament was a growth of centuries ; we see that 
 the outward form of the Chiu-ch has been subject to the 
 law of change : and how then can we say that the 
 fuhiess of Christianity was reached at any one time ? 
 St. Paul himself looks forward to advancing knowledge 
 and fuller faith. " For we know in part, and we 
 prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect is 
 come, then that which is in part shall be done away." 
 
 If the Christian religion were so fixed in a final, per- 
 manent, and unchangeable form of human conception, 
 where and when was it fixed ? If at any time the mind 
 of man grasped its divine perfection, its form must have 
 been unchanging in all circumstances and for all ages. 
 The Sacred Scriptures themselves are the growth of 
 several generations, and we can trace the progress of 
 their various writers. They give us no formal creed, 
 but leave it to the elucidation of successive ages. God 
 spoke " at sundry times and in divers manners " in days 
 gone by, and the same law of advancement still rules 
 our being. The explanations of the mental life of man 
 and the material life of nature, which satisfied Origen 
 and his contemporaries, fail to meet the needs of our 
 present-day knowledge. And since they are in part 
 our instrument for understanding what God has told us, 
 our view of divine truth must also expand with our 
 keener means of insight. Every increase of attainment 
 which man receives sheds light on his character, duty, 
 and destiny, and enables us to interpret more fully 
 the will of God concerning him. 
 
 The view which some hold, that our interpretation of 
 divine truth may be confined within a system which 
 
4 THE BROTHERHOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 remains permanent and immutable, is not consistent with 
 the ever present power of God in the world of men's 
 thoughts. It is a relic of older ways of thinking, when 
 God was regarded as apart from the universe, and as 
 little nearer men than the deities of the Epicureans. 
 Some have endeavoured to find in this a Latin mode 
 of thought as distinguished from a Greek. They have 
 traced it to St. Augustine, but it is also in Plato's 
 Timceus, and is perhaps more a mood of thought than a 
 real belief. 
 
 The truer doctrine which St. Athanasius and his 
 forerunners, Clement of Alexandria and Origen, taught, 
 that God is always present in all His work, and manifests 
 Himself in the laws of nature and the mind of man, is 
 more and more being received in our day. While the 
 faith, as it is embodied in the Apostles' Creed, is simply 
 a statement of facts, which must ever remain the 
 foundation of our holy religion, the relations of these 
 facts to life may be variously expounded, and with 
 increasing accuracy, as knowledge advances. 
 
 The development we assert, it will be observed, is a 
 growth in ability to interpret divine truth. This differs 
 somewhat from the Eoman view, which is maintained in 
 theory by such theologians as Newman and Mohler, and 
 in practice by the dogmatic additions which the Pope 
 makes to the creed of the Church over which he rules. 
 These additions imply a power of constructing new founda- 
 tions, of declaring the existence of new facts, of practically 
 making fresh revelations to mankind. Both the Eoman 
 and Protestant Churches hold that the Church is divinely 
 guided, but they differ as to the results of that guidance. 
 
DEVELOPMENT OF CHRISTIANITY IN HUMAN THOUGHT 5 
 
 The Protestants claim no more than a liberty to interpret 
 the divine truth, in which interpretation they must, by 
 the very nature of things, make progress. The Koman 
 Church holds that it can add to the actual store, not 
 only of spiritual fact, but of principles of divine authority. 
 The attachment of Protestants to their systems has, how- 
 ever, made little difference in practical result between 
 them and Rome. To make human thought an absolute 
 standard for religious guidance, as Protestants do with 
 their elaborate Confessions, is to take the same stand- 
 point as the Pope himself. Both alike exclude the power 
 of advancement ; and if any is better than the other, it 
 is the Pope, who declares himself, by the mere history of 
 his Church, ever open to new light. This is happily 
 expressed by Steele, who does not forget his humour in 
 his theology.^ " We cannot but esteem the advantage to 
 be exceedingly on our side, because we have all the 
 benefits of Infallibility, without the absurdity of pretend- 
 ing to it. Many of the quick-sighted and sagacious 
 persons have not been able to discover any other differ- 
 ence between us, as to the main principle of all Doctrine, 
 Government, Worship, and Discipline, but this one, viz., 
 that you cannot err in anything you determine, and we 
 never do. That is, in other words, that you are infallible, 
 and we are always in the right." 
 
 It was the form of thought in days not long gone, to 
 reduce all science to a series of propositions often as 
 devoid of actuality as a map of a landscape. Political 
 
 1 In tlie Dedication to the Pope prefixed to An Account of the 
 Roman Catholic Religion, whicli Dedication, however, some think was 
 not Steele's own. 
 
6 THE BROTHERHOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 economy could be reasoned out from a few general prin- 
 ciples, to which facts must agree or be ignored; and so 
 was it with theology. If these had been mere sciences 
 of the study, if they had dwelt in the retirement of 
 thought, the world might not have felt the error so 
 deeply. But the system - maker came forth from his 
 books and parchments, and set up his idols in the market- 
 place for men to worship. Many a dark page in the 
 history of mankind is due to the baleful influence of 
 the disbeliever in development in the spheres of economics 
 and religion. 
 
 When Lord Macaulay wrote that neither natural nor 
 revealed theology is progressive, there were more people to 
 agree with him than he would now find. His adherents 
 are rather to be seen in sceptical ranks than among 
 devout men. He says : " All divine truth is, according 
 to the doctrine of the Protestant Churches, recorded in 
 certain books. It is equally open to all who in any age 
 can read those books ; nor can all the discoveries of all 
 the philosophers in the world add a single verse to any 
 of those books. It is plain, therefore, that in divinity 
 there cannot be a progress analogous to that which is 
 constantly taking place in pharmacy, geology, and navi- 
 gation. A Christian of the fifth century with a Bible is 
 neither better nor worse situated than is a Christian of 
 the nineteenth century with a Bible, candour and acute- 
 ness being, of course, supposed equal." ^ We find stronger 
 language used by Dr. Draper in his History of the Con- 
 jlict between Religion and Science, where he tells us that a 
 religion based on divine revelation " must repudiate all 
 ^ Essay on Rauke's History of the Popes. 
 
DEVELOPMENT OF CHRISTIANITY IN HUMAN THOUGHT 7 
 
 improvement in itself, and view with disdain that arising 
 from the progressive intellectual development of man." 
 And Mr. F. E. Conder, with perhaps a better grasp of 
 the modern conditions of the problem, says : " The theo- 
 logical doctrine of development occupies the same place 
 in religious theory that evolution holds among the dis- 
 ciples of Darwin. A man can be developed out of a 
 child, but A cannot be developed out of Not A, when 
 not implies, not absence, but negation." 
 
 Similarly, a certain school of theologians hold opinions 
 adverse to a theory of religious growth, and aver that 
 the Confessions of the Eeformed Churches, to which they 
 adhere, such as the Thirty-nine Articles or the West- 
 minster Confession, teach a permanent and unchanging 
 systematisation of divine truth. Such a view is not 
 fairly drawn from these documents, and the history of 
 thought in the Churches is a sufficient refutation of it. 
 The old Scots Confession of 1560 prefaces its Declara- 
 tion of Faith by an admission of the possibility of error, 
 and the promise of amendment on fuller knowledge.^ 
 
 Now, assuming Lord Macaulay to have stated the 
 truth when he said that the whole of divine truth was 
 contained in certain books, he could have learned, even 
 at the time when he wrote, that it was possible, by 
 increased knowledge of these books, to alter the whole 
 conception of biblical theology, and by placing these 
 
 1 " Protesting that gif any man will note in this oure Confessioun 
 any article or sentence repugning to Godis holie word, that it wald 
 pleis him of his gentilnes, and for Christiane cherites saik, to admo- 
 neise us of the samyn in writ ; and We of our honour do promeia 
 unto him satisfactioun, or ellis reformatioun of that quhilk he sail 
 prove to be amyss." — Knox's Works, ed. Laing, ii. 96. 
 
8 THE BROTHEKHOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 books in their true relation, to advance theology as much 
 as astronomy was made to progress when it was dis- 
 covered that the sun, and not the earth, was the centre 
 of our system. 
 
 I do not stay to point out the fallacy which underlies 
 the theory that the individual Christian can understand 
 the whole counsel of God, which ignores the whole inter- 
 pretation which the general thought of the Church, and 
 the history of the world, give to the Sacred Scriptures ; 
 for of that I shall afterwards speak. But who can 
 believe that the Spirit of God leaves the Church desti- 
 tute of guidance ? As men advance in knowledge, so 
 they grow better able to apply divine truth to human 
 life, which supplies itself the best commentary on it. 
 It would be no hard task to show how doctrines and 
 discussions have lost significance with changed times ; 
 and how questions, which were unnoticed by our fathers, 
 have become of deep moment to us. But the whole 
 record of the history of the Church is a demonstration 
 of the fact. 
 
 The present conditions of man's thought make it 
 impossible for anyone seriously to hold that his theo- 
 logical system is absolute, and, as it were, archetypal in 
 the divine mind. It is probably due to Herder, in 
 modern times, that we have returned to a sense of the 
 unreasonableness of such a belief. He shows how, in 
 the desire to systematise, men have had to add to 
 Christianity elements of their own, fleeting fantasies 
 of their time, which faded at the dawn of fuller 
 knowledge. 
 
 It was an older thouoht than Pascal's, though it is 
 
DEVELOPMENT OF CHRISTIANITY IN HUMAN THOUGHT 9 
 
 chiefly associated with his name,^ that mankind may be 
 represented as one living being, who exists throughout 
 the ages, and is ever learning. We can trace the same 
 ideal unity in the Christian Church, which has ever been 
 regarded by the devout heart as a living body united to 
 her divine Head. There are many analogies which are 
 well worth observing between the processes of organic 
 life and the growth of the Church. 
 
 We see how doctrines are adapted to the spiritual 
 life of their time, and perish of atrophy, when they are 
 no longer so understood as to be useful. In the Middle 
 Ages the doctrine of a purgatory had tremendous power, 
 as Dante's great poem shows us ; but men grew out of 
 it, and the Eeformation swept it away. 
 
 Obscurantist theologians join with deists like Lord 
 Herbert of Cherbury in thinking such additions to the 
 Church creed were made by priesthoods and statecraft. 
 But how unhistorical is such a way of reading history ! 
 Men believed these doctrines because they thought them 
 honest interpretations of the great facts of divine revela- 
 tion. Their life seemed to them to hang on faith in 
 them ; and it appears as if they were urged by some 
 necessity into their belief. While they trusted the 
 dogma, which at last they threw away, it was an organ 
 of life to them ; it was a practical, if imperfect, instru- 
 ment. But it was more : it had within itself the power 
 of an education to lead to a higher and better know- 
 ledge, which would teach them to cast it aside. It bore 
 
 1 It is found in tlie early Fathers ; and is fuller in William of 
 Auvergne, in Lessing, and others, such as Bishop Temple. It does 
 not occur in the early editions of the Pens^es. 
 
10 THE BROTHEIlHOOl) OF MANKIND 
 
 on its face its temporary character ; it was a mere 
 makeshift, while time ripened its purposes. 
 
 For, after all, doctrines and worship are but means to 
 a great end, the perfecting of the soul. " Men are not 
 religious merely by the use of them, but by that which 
 is attained by them. They are not religion itself, but 
 productive and preservative and declarative of it." ^ As 
 an organ in the human body, no longer needed, shrinks 
 into a rudimentary suggestion of the past, so it is with 
 the thoughts of men. They come to a time when they 
 " put away childish things," and are conscious of man- 
 hood. 
 
 There is a time for a truth to have its perfect day ; 
 a time when it reaches its consummation, and has its 
 greatest influence on men. Mr. Matthew Arnold gives 
 an instance of this in the religious history of Germany. 
 The two influences which moved the theology of the 
 Church, and tended to reform it, were those of Tauler 
 and Luther. The earlier form of thought was not easily 
 grasped by the people, whereas Luther's came home to 
 their hearts. " The one leavened a group and indi- 
 viduals ; the other created the Protestant Churches." 
 The time had not come for Tauler's views, if, indeed, such 
 mysticism could ever find a wide acceptance ; but Luther 
 gave men what they needed, and they took his gift with 
 eagerness. Other minds and other ages might receive 
 Tauler's ways of looking at spiritual truth ; and, indeed, 
 Mr. Arnold suggests that our own age might be ready to 
 receive them. 
 
 Men grow and progress in line with their fellows ; 
 ^ Wliichcote on Epli. ii. 22. 
 
DEVELOPMENT OF CHRISTIANITY IN HUMAN THOUGHT 11 
 
 they march in crowds, and obey a general impulse, 
 inbreathing the spirit of their time. It is the sum 
 of the thoughts of individuals which makes up that 
 spirit. Whence these thoughts come we ask not ; but 
 can we think them wholly due to environment? We 
 accept the fact that each age has a form of thinking, 
 a way of considering the question which religion offers, 
 a method of using the gifts which the divine Spirit 
 bestows upon men. The average of human thought and 
 morals at any one time is a real fact. The writer on 
 morals cannot escape from its compelling power. When 
 Kant announces his categorical imperative, — " Act only 
 on that principle which thou canst will as law universal," 
 — he implies the underlying principle that a man cannot 
 separate himself from his fellow-men in the march of 
 knowledge, but must keep pace with them.^ The same 
 truth is also seen in the argument for Theism e consensu 
 gentium. We learn how to all men, in presence of the 
 same facts, the same thoughts arise, and we cannot shut 
 out from our acknowledgment the universal need, and 
 the universal supply of that need, in the worship of 
 divine beings. 
 
 No one can doubt that every age and people has its 
 mental character, which reveals itself in the form by 
 which it receives and applies the truths of Christianity. 
 
 1 De Wette shows tins ; and Mr. Bradley, in his Ethical Studies, 
 Bays that a man who seeks to have a higher morality than that of 
 his world, is on the threshold of immorality. We may add that 
 some such specious belief led to the irregularities of life with which 
 such poets as Goethe and Shelley, such novelists as George Eliot and 
 George Sand, such theologians as Hamann and Swedenborg, shocked 
 the moral sense of men. 
 
12 THE BROTHERHOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 The river of truth contains the same water through all 
 its course, but it flows through varied scenes. Some- 
 times it glides softly ; and at crises in human history 
 it rushes in a foaming torrent. Over every mile of 
 its course there are different reflexions : at one time 
 it is open to the blue heaven, and mirroring its serene 
 brightness, while at another it is deeply shadowed over 
 by interlacing trees through which the light pierces in 
 struggling and fitful rays. 
 
 Amid all the changes of doctrinal thought there 
 abides an essential unity. True growth shows both 
 the abiding element, which links the present with the 
 past, and the advancing element, which joins it with the 
 future. There is therefore both rest and change at 
 every moment in the history of the Church. The unity 
 may be found in the idea of the Church (to speak 
 the language of Plato), what Hennas and Clement of 
 Alexandria call the Heavenly Church, to which the 
 earthly embodiment ever comes nearer an exact simili- 
 tude. The earthly elements change and decay, they 
 blossom and wither ; but the life of the Church ever 
 becomes fuller and richer, and ever tends onwards to the 
 great purpose before it. Ever imperfect on earth, the 
 Church is ever striving toward divine perfection. " It 
 is vain to look for aught but a limited power of insight 
 from man as he is constituted at present ; just as an 
 infant has but a limited faculty of seeing ; but the main 
 lines are already there, and as the vision ever broadens, 
 so does the knowledge of religion become fuller." ^ 
 
 These main lines remain the centres from which other 
 ' Steudel's Led area on Old Testament Theology. 
 
DEVELOPMENT OF CHRISTIANITY IN HUMAN THOUGHT 13 
 
 truths radiate, till the circle of knowledge comes nearer 
 and nearer to completion. Hence present Christianity 
 is so related to the past as to retain a recollection of it, 
 which ever governs its thought and action. As Pro- 
 fessor Clifford says : " It is the peculiarity of living 
 things, not merely that they change under the influence 
 of surrounding circumstances, but that any change which 
 takes place in them is not lost, but retained, and, as it 
 were, built into the organism to serve as the foundation 
 for future actions. If you cause any distortion in the 
 growth of a tree, and make it crooked, whatever you do 
 afterwards to make the tree straight, the mark of your 
 distortion is there ; it is absolutely indelible ; it has 
 become part of the tree's nature." 
 
 It is practically impossible for any age to cut itself off 
 from the past and make an entirely new beginning. 
 The theory of Protestant Church life, which seems to 
 find its origin in the Keformation, and takes no heed 
 of the long centuries before, is barely coherent, far less 
 probable. There is no fact more certain than that the 
 life of the Church is a unity, a living unity, animated by 
 a spirit of growth and progress. Every Christian shares 
 in the life of the Church, and is shaped by it. Macaulay's 
 fifth century Christian and his nineteenth century suc- 
 cessor have many points in common, but their life- 
 education has been in widely different schools ; and the 
 language of their soul is not the same. An individualist 
 interpretation of divine truth is an impossibility, however 
 men may feel sure they are free. We are children of 
 our time, and are borne on the currents of the thought 
 around us. 
 
14 THE BROTIIEllHOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 The efficacy of doctrines depends on the fact that they 
 are real to the age that conceives them ; that they are 
 felt to be a sincere interpretation of divine truth. Men 
 can only speak as they know ; they can only use their 
 own language ; and if a doctrine is unintelligible, it is 
 useless. Nay, if it comes from outside, if it is not the 
 effort of the times to reahse the truth, it is without 
 meaning to those who hear it. Our Saviour took not on 
 Him the nature of angels ; He came as man. Divine 
 truth speaks in human language when it speaks to 
 men. 
 
 The law of development is truly regarded, therefore, 
 as growth in interjjretiru/ power. The basis on which it 
 works is ever the same : " Jesus Christ, the same yester- 
 day, to-day, and for ever." The foundation is immutable, 
 though the superstructure is a creation of time, and sub- 
 ject to its laws. I do not say that our knowledge may 
 not bring to light truths which Jesus and His apostles 
 taught, but which other ages have not seen ; for I believe 
 that we do recover forgotten elements in their teaching. 
 But as time goes on, we also come to understand them 
 better. Eevelation is an unveiling of truth — truth 
 hidden in the heart of God, and made known to man ; 
 and we come to be better able to read the scroll which 
 is opened to our view, with every successive generation. 
 The giving of revelation is but the starting-point of the 
 new world which opens to the soul of man. 
 
 Such a view excludes the possibility that our beliefs 
 are but the toiling of our reason, which, like a blind 
 Samson, urges us on some devious way ; are but the 
 poetic imagination of our brain, and have no reality out- 
 
DEVELOPMENT OF CHRISTIANITY IN HUMAN THOUGHT 15 
 
 side the mind that thinks them, and beyond the brief 
 season of their existence. When Simmias asked " a word 
 from God " to confirm the speculations of Socrates, he 
 expressed what all men feel ; and we would have our 
 desire still unsatisfied, were we told that there was 
 nothing in our religion but the gradual growth of the 
 thoughts of man. It is because we are sure of the divine 
 seed, and have seen it sown, that we know the fruits that 
 we harvest. Nay more, it is because we are assured of 
 the divine end of all things, that we are able to under- 
 stand them in the feeble measure that we do. As 
 Hamann says : " The future determines the present, and 
 the present determines the past." 
 
 The devout mind is not content, therefore, to accept 
 the mere statement of the law of development as summing 
 up the history of the Church. What is the power, we 
 are compelled to ask, which is ever present to animate 
 the ever living, ever growing Church ? This brings us to 
 the clearer theological statement of our position. 
 
 Our Saviour, the divine Logos, appeared on earth and 
 revealed to us the nature of God and the complete 
 destiny of man. He did this, not only by His life on 
 earth, but by the perpetuation of that life through the 
 Church and in the world. We could only faintly trace 
 the progress of mankind by toilsome effort, had not 
 Christ revealed to us in one supreme moment the great 
 purpose of God. It is as if for the time we shared the 
 eternity of God, which knows not the limitations of time 
 and its slow process. But our mind cannot, after all, 
 receive this revelation in its fulness : it requires ages to 
 interpret it. It unfolds itself with the lapse of centuries, 
 
16 THE BROTHERHOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 and every year discovers some new ray of light hitherto 
 wrapped in darkness. 
 
 It is by the developing life of the Church in the 
 world that alone we can come fully to understand the 
 whole truth of Christianity, which is ever living and 
 active, and not formal and theoretical. When Jesus 
 said, " Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of 
 the world," we must understand the passage in its full 
 meaning. The life of the Church is divine in its source, 
 its progress, and its destiny. 
 
 The ordinary forces of our human life must not be left 
 out of our consideration of the development of Chris- 
 tianity. The history of the world is a vast commentary 
 on the life of Christ. Nor are the truly Christian 
 energies which give life to mankind separated from the 
 currents of our common existence. The progress of 
 civilisation, the increase of secular knowledge, the in- 
 fluences of art and industry, the spreading of the peoples 
 of the earth over its surface, the growth of political and 
 social institutions, and the thousand other facts of human 
 history, have all their tribute both given to and received 
 from Christianity. They give the Christian religion 
 forms of thought and modes of application, expand its 
 meaning, and are brought into various relations with it. 
 Men begin to see how the Christian life includes all 
 science, all morals, all politics, all art, and all literature. 
 It was the dream of Comte to include everything human 
 within the scope of his philosophy : what he could not 
 attain, Chxistianity has accomplished. 
 
CHAPTER II 
 
 TIME THE INTERPKETEK 
 
 The development of Christianity is, as we have seen, 
 an advance towards better interpretation of divine 
 truth. Strictly speaking, a creed, such as that called 
 the Apostles', does not fall within the description of in- 
 terpretation, for it is really statement of facts. To doubt 
 these facts was to the early Christian the same as to 
 doubt the sunrise. But as they were facts which to 
 believe needed a certain knowledge and a special con- 
 dition of soul, the possession of the creed was one of the 
 last of the privileges of those who were admitted to the 
 Church. Probably it was a wise plan, and our modern 
 methods might take a hint from it. At all events, it is 
 well to make it clear that the Church, when it formed 
 the creeds into connected statement, regarded them as 
 the foundation truths of Christianity, and did not think 
 of them as mere theologisings of men. 
 
 What is to be the canon by which we are to unfold 
 the meaning of these truths ? The answer to this 
 question determines the whole character of our theo- 
 logical thought. 
 
 Briefly, we may say that the life of the Church and 
 the history of mankind are the true interpreters of divine 
 
18 THE BROTHERHOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 truth. The pages of history are but a successive unfold- 
 ing of the divine purpose. As we have seen, that pur- 
 pose is fully revealed in Christ ; but the progressive 
 wisdom of mankind, the sequence of events in human 
 history, alone can make the divine end fully clear to 
 men. 
 
 The historical method is the only way in which we 
 can come to see the development of Christianity in the 
 life of mankind. By observing the movement through 
 the centuries of its thought and activity, we can discover 
 its essential ideas, and trace its future purpose. As the 
 astronomer who knows a part of the orbit of a planet can 
 follow it through its whole course and predict its future 
 position, so the historian can trace the march of the 
 Church through time, and deduce therefrom its steps yet 
 untrod. 
 
 The method which begins a iiriori is no longer held 
 in such honour as once it was. When men's materials 
 were slender, there was a temptation to resort to it, 
 as no other way was open ; and now, when the facts 
 we must take account of are overwhelming in their 
 bulk, there may again be an inducement to return 
 to the rt ijriori method. But where is the need of 
 hypothesis when such a vast accumulation of experiment 
 is embedded in history and in present civilisation ? We 
 see what Christianity has been ; we see its present con- 
 ditions and tendencies ; and we can form some induction 
 as to its inner principles and its future destiny. 
 
 It is not enough to examine individual consciousness, 
 and listen to its testimony. Not enough is it to analyse 
 the highest forms of piety, and tell their internal con- 
 
TIME THE INTERPRETEK 19 
 
 tents. Such a process, basing itself on the subjective 
 feeling and knowledge, as in the theory of Eothe, does 
 not meet the claims of the inquii^er into the history and 
 future of Christianity. 
 
 In our investigations we must follow the corresponding 
 methods in mental science, where the historical and 
 anthropological standpoints have their share in the 
 survey of morals and psychology. It is from the point 
 of vantage of an observer who has eighteen centuries 
 to look back on that we view the Christian Church. 
 Though the future may be wrapped in clouds which 
 refuse to open before us, the past is within our ken. 
 
 Our course of inquiry limits itself to this world and 
 the possibilities of this mortal life ; for the other lies 
 outside the limits of our reasoning powers. " Eye hath 
 not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the 
 heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for 
 them that love Him." ^ 
 
 We humbly desist from a task which is by no means 
 laid on man, the duty of inquiring into the future con- 
 ditions of existence beyond the bounds of our mortal 
 life. Nay, we are rather dissuaded from it by the words 
 of the Master, and asked to lean our faith on His sole 
 word, meanwhile ceasing our vain speculations. 
 
 Confining ourselves, therefore, to the actual operations 
 of the Christian religion among mankind, we are relieved 
 of the burden of much dogmatic discussion. Time is the 
 best eclectic philosopher. In its course the useless and 
 untrue dogmas drop out of sight, and the true and 
 serviceable remain. Through the long sifting process of 
 1 1 Cor. ii. 9. 
 
20 THE BROTHERHOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 the centuries all the thoughts of men must pass, but 
 the transient moods vanish into oblivion, while the 
 permanent forms abide. Coleridge, with many other 
 philosophers before and after him, expressed a desire 
 for such a system as " would at once explain and collect 
 the fragments of truth scattered through systems appar- 
 ently the most incongruous. The truth," he goes on to 
 say,^ "is diffused more widely than is commonly believed; 
 but it is often painted, and oftener masked, and is some- 
 times mutilated, and sometimes, alas! in close alliance 
 with mischievous errors. There is," he says, " one per- 
 spective central point which shows regularity and a 
 coincidence of all the parts in the very object, which 
 from every other point of view appear confused and 
 distorted. The spirit of sectarianism has been hitherto 
 our fault, and the cause of our failures." 
 
 Such a point of view is afforded us by the process of 
 time. The natural selection, which must, and which 
 does, act through the course of ages, enables us to see 
 the best of each system, and the real influence of all. 
 Nay more, our very thought, by the power of heredity, 
 is conditioned by elements from all the varied move- 
 ments of the past, and our intelligence is a composite of 
 the mental energies of our ancestors. 
 
 Such a survey enables us to see the relative import- 
 ance and usefulness of various doctrines. We are able 
 to have a true perspective of the forms of Church 
 thinking ; and are able to rise above the theory that 
 attaches as much value to abstruse minutite as to the 
 cardinal beliefs of religion. It is, indeed, a truth of the 
 ^ Bioc/raphia Literaria, cliap. xii. 
 
TIME THE INTEEPKETER 21 
 
 Sacred Scriptures that doctrines are only a means to an 
 end, as St. Paul says, " that the man of God may be 
 perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works." ^ 
 Dogma has been made an end in itself, as if men existed 
 for the expression of belief, and not for its practical 
 issues. The opening of the classical writings to the 
 study of men at the Keformation put to flight so dark a 
 shadow over life. The lofty heights which were reached 
 by the best men of the ancient world enlarged the sense 
 of Hfe to those who for the first time saw the clouds 
 dispersed that had concealed the summits, and made 
 them impatient of their ecclesiastical confinement. 
 
 It was the Eeformation which ensured for men the 
 possession of a truer ideal of Christianity, which had 
 been lost or forgotten through the preceding ages. The 
 doctrines and worship of the Church exist for the 
 purpose of making men holy ; religion has its end in 
 morals. Without such a purpose it descends to mere 
 ritual. But in order that the moral ideal may reach its 
 triumph, it must be enforced by religion. In God alone 
 can man find the harmony of his soul and of the world ; 
 and on a foundation of Christianity alone can the social 
 fabric be built and held together. 
 
 It is doubtful whether the true view of dogma and 
 worship as instruments is yet fully realised in the 
 Church among theologians, yet the most careless observer 
 cannot but note how it has permeated the lay mind. 
 The progress of secular knowledge, which awakened the 
 leaders of the Eeformation to grasp the truth, has aided 
 to spread it through all men ; and the general mass of 
 1 2 Tim. iii. 16. 
 
22 THE BEOTHERHOOD OP MANKIND 
 
 men have probably sounder thoughts on this matter than 
 many professed theologians. It is the knowledge of the 
 history of the Church which enables us to feel firm 
 ground beneath our feet here. We see how dogmas 
 which appear of cardinal value to the makers of theo- 
 logical systems, are rudely brushed past in the march of 
 mankind. Nor think that it is the individual reason 
 which has so acted ; a higher power lies behind. The 
 instincts of man are in themselves a revelation. When 
 the strings of the wide harp of human thought sound in 
 a long unison, we feel that they are touched, not by the 
 capricious will of men, but by the finger of God. As 
 Cousm says,^ and with reservations it is true : " History 
 is the manifestation of God's supervision of humanity : 
 the judgments of history are the judgments of God 
 Himself." 
 
 The doctrines which bulk most largely in the eye of 
 the theologian, have often least influence on the world ; 
 nay, the world of Christian thought as a whole, the 
 untechnical judgment of the people, often reverses the 
 decision of theological experts. A remarkable instance 
 of this may be found in the Councils of Carthage held in 
 the third century, which declared the baptism of heretics 
 to be invalid. The dogma is, from a Church point of 
 view, of great importance, for baptism is the condition of 
 entrance to the Church ; and yet the mere drift of 
 popular opinion, which ignored the decisions of the 
 Councils, was so strong as to render them null, and, like 
 a court of appeal, to reverse them. The currents of 
 popular thought have an almost irresistible power in 
 1 History of Philosophy, -p. 159. 
 
TIME THE INTERPRETER 23 
 
 theological discussion, and though at any one point of 
 history a hasty decision as to the real value of any such 
 current cannot be given, time shows where the truth 
 lies. Talleyrand once said that there is one who has 
 more intellect than Voltaire or Napoleon : it is the 
 body of the people. M. Guizot, quoting this, adds to 
 the weighing of opinion of men at any one time a 
 consideration of the progressive and collective reason of 
 humanity, saying : " There is a deeper observer than 
 Bacon, a greater thinker than Kant : it is mankind." 
 Thus, at all events, the popular voice generally speaks 
 authoritatively as to the value to men which results 
 from any dogma ; for the dogma is either sown as a 
 seed, and we see the fruits, and know them ; or else it 
 is borne away by the wind, and passes into oblivion. 
 
 The doctrine of the Trinity is an essential point of 
 the Christian system, and one which marks it out as 
 distinct from the Jewish theology. At one time such 
 importance did the Church attach to the correct pro- 
 mulgation of the dogma, that the whole spirit of the 
 people was raised in its favour ; and, notwithstanding 
 the subtleties of theologians, the general mind of the 
 Church was determined to vindicate the orthodox view, 
 which the Council of Nicsea declared. And yet it soon 
 faded out of sight, because no practical issues were 
 connected with it, and gave place in the Middle Ages to 
 the worship of the Virgin Mary.^ To the ordinary 
 uneducated Christian of the mediseval Church, the 
 
 ^ That this was connected with the Apollinarianism which has so 
 often accompanied views which seem orthodox, is prol^ably true. 
 See Plumptre's Borjle Lectures, p. 372. 
 
24 THE BROTIIEKHOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 Trinity was practically expressed by the Father, the 
 Son, and the Virgin,^ whom he regarded for all purposes 
 of devotion and influence on the events of this world as 
 equal. 
 
 It was not till Luther's dogma of justification by faith 
 showed the various agency of the Father, the Son, and 
 the Holy Ghost, that the popular grasp of the Trinity 
 was restored. Again, when that view of justification 
 became obscured, so also a mist enfolded the doctrine of 
 the Trinity, and it vanished from the spiritual vision 
 of great numbers of mankind. Its further course, in the 
 minds and faith of men, would still more serve to show 
 that doctrines exist for moral purposes ; and when they 
 are taught as mere abstract formula so as to lose touch 
 with the real life of mankind, they fade into mere 
 memories. 
 
 Of necessity, the thought of men seeks the truth by 
 a process of trial and error, as in most experimental 
 acts. It seems as if we must believe for a time the 
 wrong, so as to know its falsehood, and cling more 
 closely to the right. The view that sin is a needful 
 element in the discipline of our life, though often 
 crudely enough stated, is not without its evidence as a 
 fact of human experience. To feel a due abhorrence of 
 evil, we must have been under its power ; and then we 
 strive the more to hold fast that which is good. 
 
 It is history alone which can give us the result of the 
 experiments of man in theological thought, and appraise 
 
 1 This was Mahomet's idea of the Christian Trinity, which he 
 derived from the practice of a sect of Arabian Chiistians in 
 worshijiiiing the Virgin. — Monier Williams. 
 
TIME THE INTEKPRETER 25 
 
 their true worth. Yet we must not think that Church 
 history is a mere record of controversies. The historians 
 have too much directed their attention to this series of 
 facts, and often unintelligently enough. Wiser thought 
 would have endeavoured to see in the issue of events a 
 reconcihng element. In the great controversy as to the 
 Trinity, it is clear that both sides were aiming at assert- 
 ing the close union of Christ and mankind, and that, 
 though the Church was saved from polytheism by the 
 triumph of Athanasius, it was also preserved from a 
 vague theism by the efforts of Arius and his successors. 
 
 It is really only by observing the moral and practical 
 issues that we can come to true conclusions. The living 
 humanity who constituted the real Church are more 
 worthy of study than the dry bones of discussions, many 
 of which have lost all bearing on our modern times, even 
 if they ever had any influence on their own. We should 
 treat the early Fathers as literature, speaking the hopes, 
 the fears, the joys of the hearts from which they came, 
 and not as mere herbaria for dried specimens of theo- 
 logical opinion. The Confessions of St. Augustine, and 
 the career of St. Athanasius, have a value to the 
 historian far above the accurate statement of predestina- 
 tion or of homoousianism. Then as now, Christianity, 
 with its feverish zeal in seeking for the divine truth, its 
 perpetual interest in divine worship, which culminated 
 in the sublime and elaborate liturgy, and its growing 
 complications of hierarchical government, sought to 
 direct the lives of men into harmony with each other 
 and with God. 
 
 In the present day, theologians of one school attach 
 
26 THE BROTHERHOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 primary importance to the principle of apostolic succes- 
 sion through bishops, and hold that the very existence 
 of the Church hangs on the presence of Episcopacy. 
 Theologians of another school oppose such a theory 
 with all their energy, and even with bitterness. 
 Apparently the world goes on at present heedless of 
 the controversy. Men see that the influence of the 
 Church in the moral progress of the world is the 
 cardinal consideration in religion, and do not seem to 
 see any relation of the apostolic succession to that 
 influence. Their minds are in suspense on the subject 
 in a world of sin and sorrow. But let them be con- 
 vinced that this question involves practical issues ; that 
 it holds inwrapped in it a living faith in the unity and 
 brotherhood of the Church ; that it points to solutions 
 of Church problems which bear on social life, — and their 
 attention and sympathy would be aroused. It is the 
 practical side of Christianity which after all is our 
 touchstone. 
 
 That the mission of Jesus to this world was to 
 interpret to mankind the true goal to which they were 
 marching forward, we shall try to show ; and that He 
 enabled them to see it clearly before them, and journey 
 steadfastly towards it. He was the Way for mankind ; 
 and the history of the world explains in what sense 
 this was true. Both the history of the Church and the 
 history of the world show the definite ends which the 
 progress of mankind has in view. 
 
CHAPTEE III 
 
 THE ETHICAL PURPOSE OF DEVELOPMENT 
 
 The ideal perfection of mankind is revealed in Jesus, 
 who expresses to us the goal to which the human race 
 must strive : a unity among men, and that unity finding 
 its eternal completion in union with God. The life of 
 the Church and the progress of mankind exhibit the 
 development of this great purpose. We see it unfold- 
 ing itself in the understanding of men, who are able 
 more and more to know, as time goes on, the divine 
 end of humanity. But we have more than a progress 
 in human thought ; before us lies the whole course of 
 events of human history, which is likewise inspired by 
 the same onward tendency. 
 
 The development of theology, accordingly, shows this 
 ethical end becoming more and more distinct, both in 
 the thoughts and acts of the Church. All doctrine and 
 worship advance for moral ends, with the single goal of 
 the unity and perfection of mankind in view. 
 
 There are, as we have seen, two kinds of theological 
 statement : such teaching as we find in the Apostles' 
 Creed, which is regarded as pure matter of faith ; and 
 the interpretation of these facts, which is the progressive 
 effort of man's mental and spiritual powers. 
 
 27 
 
28 THE BROTHERHOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 Although men apply their reason to the facts in the 
 creed, their thought does not always rise out of them, 
 while it unfolds them more fully. In the very effort 
 to interpret them, age after age returns to the same 
 standpoint after a long journey. In the nature of the 
 case this must be so, when we are thinking of matters 
 that are outside the scope of our reason, as at present 
 we are made. When Mr. Mill said, in his Essays on 
 Religion, " that the indulgence of a hope with regard to 
 the universe and the destiny of man after death, while 
 we recognise as a clear truth that we have no ground 
 for more than a hope, is legitimately and philosophically 
 defensible," his position comes very close to that of the 
 devout thinker. The pious heart, indeed, has more 
 than a hope, but its assurance is not based on rational 
 grounds, but on trust in the word of Jesus. At present 
 these questions are beyond the capacity of reason to 
 establish, though there is no ground for saying that 
 they will ever be inaccessible to its efforts. As Mr. 
 John Fiske says : " The belief in a future life is without 
 scientific support ; but at the same time it is placed 
 beyond the need of scientific support, and beyond the 
 range of scientific criticism." 
 
 It is thus characteristic of many of our intellectual 
 efforts after divine truth, that they move in a circle. The 
 modern world advances beyond the mediaeval, it may be, 
 but it only returns to the speculations of the Fathers. 
 As Sir Thomas Browne says : " For as though there were 
 metempsychoses, and the soul of one man passed into 
 another ; opinions do find, after certain revolutions, men 
 and minds like those that first begat them." 
 
THE ETHICAL PURPOSE OF DEVELOPJIENT 29 
 
 But this is not true of all doctrines, and it is never 
 the ease with those which touch the moral life of man, 
 or the unity and brotherhood of the human race. 
 When any real step is to be taken forward which will 
 open up the way of men to their great goal, it is 
 marvellous with what power the doctrinal movement 
 progresses. 
 
 The doctrine of the Trinity in its orthodox form was 
 won at Nicffia, not so much by the energy of technical 
 theologians, as by the general enthusiasm of the whole 
 Church. For men seem to have felt that the teaching 
 of Arius would deprive them of assurance in the real 
 presence of God among men, unifying and purifying 
 them. They saw, more clearly than we now can 
 fathom, that to deny the divine being of the Son was to 
 return to the old external view of God as dwelling apart 
 from men, and to lose that moral life of love and union 
 which the divine Spirit could alone impart. It was no 
 mere subtlety of theology which was at stake, but the 
 very existence of Christianity as something more than 
 a philosophical system. A perception of far-reaching 
 issues moved the heart of men ; an unconscious percep- 
 tion it may have been, a feeling after rather than a 
 grasping the realities which were in jeopardy ; but it was 
 an irresistible movement, and a permanent victory of the 
 great truth that " God is with us." 
 
 The developing movement of Christianity has been 
 ethical in its aim and results. It is the effort of men to 
 apply divine truth to human life which makes them 
 examme into it. Mere theoretical reasoning dies with 
 the mind that conceives it, or remains the curious 
 
30 THE BROTHEKHOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 inquiry of leisurely thinkers. But questions which 
 involve practical issues take root in the heart of man- 
 kind ; and to the observer, at such a distance as we now 
 stand from the past, the moral end is apparent. I do 
 not say that such a conscious purpose has been present 
 to the minds of those who were pioneers of doctrinal 
 progress, or to those who crowned any stage of it with 
 completeness, but the divine power that rules all men 
 has guided them into the truth, though they knew not 
 how great was to be the fruit of their labours. 
 
 The old view, that is not without its adherents in our 
 time, among the cruder scepticism of ignorance, which 
 attributed the rise of dogma to the design of priesthoods 
 to aggrandise themselves, is manifestly without any 
 historical ground. It gave occasion, in its day, for many 
 a tirade against priestcraft, and the echoes of such 
 denunciations still abide with us. Dean Stanley says, 
 speaking of Aaron's dedication of the golden calf : " And 
 not then only, but again and again in the history of the 
 Jewish and of the Christian Church, has the same 
 temptation returned. The Priest has set up what the 
 Prophet has destroyed." Similarly, Sir Edwin Arnold, 
 in the preface to his poem, " The Light of Asia," 
 tells us that " the extravagances which disfigure the 
 record and practice of Buddhism are to be referred 
 to that inevitable degradation which priesthoods always 
 inflict on great ideas committed to their charge." 
 
 The little truth that is in these statements lies in the 
 fact that men pursue in detail, often profitless, the 
 special lifework they undertake. The theologian wastes 
 his time on useless subtleties, the poet on pedantic 
 
THE ETHICAL PURPOSE OF DEVELOPMENT 31 
 
 refinements, the priest on trivialities in ritual ; but they 
 do not necessarily lose sight of the great principle 
 of their work. It is a far wider and deeper influence 
 than the vagaries of individuals which governs the 
 adaptation and accretion of dogma. 
 
 Doctrines may be promulgated by priests, but they 
 are the best thought that the spirit of their time can 
 give to the question they treat of. We read in Plutarch 
 that when Solon was asked if the code of laws he had 
 given to the people of Athens was the best possible, he 
 answered that it was the best that the people would 
 have accepted. The same thought is found in the 
 teaching of Jesus and the apostles. When speaking of 
 divorce to the Pharisees, who asked Him if it were 
 lawful. He replied : " For the hardness of your heart 
 Moses wrote you this precept." There must be a 
 capacity to receive and understand a law which is laid 
 on any body of men, and a certain preparedness of will 
 before they can obey it. Otherwise the result of 
 absolute commandment is a heedless reaction which goes 
 far beyond mere refusal to obey, and often carries away 
 moral safeguards already attained. The records of 
 modern missionary labour show the necessity of gradual 
 development in questions of practice. Here the strong 
 words of Jesus sometimes find application in our experi- 
 ence. " Give not that which is holy to the dogs, neither 
 cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them 
 under their feet, and turn again and rend you." Men 
 do not reach heights of moral excellence by a leap, but 
 by slow and toilsome steps. They unconsciously adapt 
 the truths they hear to their own power of realising them. 
 
32 THE BKOTHERHOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 The doctrine of purgatory was, in all probability, 
 the child of philosophic thought, but it became a part of 
 the Christian religion for many centuries, in answer to a 
 felt ethical need. The moral sense of the ancient and 
 mediaeval world could not grasp the dogma which is now 
 found in orthodox Protestantism, of an immediate passage 
 into paradise or hell. All the discipline of this life 
 leaves us by no means perfect at its close ; and the 
 ordinary feeling of mankind desired something more to 
 fit them for eternal joys. Such things were beyond 
 their deserts, they thought ; and so also they may have 
 regarded eternal woe.^ The natural revolt against forms 
 of a possible Antinomianism, which lies dormant in 
 orthodoxy, led to the growth of a belief in purgatory. 
 Whether the moral effects of such a doctrine were all 
 that was needed, it is hard to say ; but it is clear that it 
 grew out of the requirements of the conscience of man. 
 Men saw that they could not have the communion with 
 the saints which was presented as the doctrinal form of 
 human unity, and the best hope of mankind for the 
 future, without being themselves pure ; and to express 
 the belief that neither could they see God without 
 holiness, nor could they be in perfect harmony with 
 man, they shaped their thoughts into the doctrine of 
 purgatory. And now, when our religion seems in danger 
 of becoming wholly formal, and when men reflect on the 
 strange adjustments of reward and pain in this world of 
 ours, the thoughts of man move round this theory of 
 probation in the world to come. The assumed ethical 
 need brings again the dogma into the circle of present 
 1 See this treated by Comte, Philoso])hie Positive, v. 
 
THE ETHICAL PUKPOSE OF DEVELOPMENT 33 
 
 discussion. But how little it meets the wants of our 
 age, is shown by the almost total absence of response 
 from any but professed theologians. 
 
 The worship of the Virgin Mary has been explained 
 as a transfer of heathenism into the Christian faith. 
 The Queen of Heaven in the pagan pantheon finds her 
 representative in the " Mother of God." But the heart 
 of man must have craved for her presence, or Mary 
 would have been as little honoured as she is among 
 most Protestants. The religious consciousness of man is 
 not an Athens, where the altars of many strange gods are 
 erected ; and a mere eclecticism of classic tradition and 
 Christian creed will not explain the remarkable and 
 widespread worship of the Virgin, which, as a note of 
 medieval Christianity, as also of modern Eomanism, 
 needs further inquiry. 
 
 It arose at a time when the world was in danger 
 of losing its deepest reverence for these mysteries of our 
 being by the spread of the celibate life, and some 
 sanction of family life was required to anchor the heart. 
 The devotion which a knight paid to his lady love, 
 which a son gave to his mother, found a substitute in 
 the loyalty to Mary which brooded in the solitary 
 monk's heart, whither earthly passions were denied an 
 entrance. While the rise of monasticism was one of the 
 main causes of the growth of Mariolatry, in that the 
 monk, shut out from sweet thoughts of earthly woman- 
 hood, fixed his soul on the motherhood of the Virgin, 
 that worship maintained itself because of the longing 
 to consecrate the family life by the holy influence of 
 devotion. In rude, unsettled times, when life was 
 3 
 
§4 THE BEOTHERHOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 brought down to its barest elements, such a worship 
 infused refining thought into hard hearts. Art helped 
 to strengthen the practice, for it could realise the dream 
 of piety. The spiritual influence of Giotto, Cimabue, 
 Botticelli, Fra Angelico, must have been a power in the 
 world they lived in. From the mere abstract formulae 
 which the Byzantine artists gave as representing divine 
 things, we pass into a time when the life of man seems 
 to reach an ideal purity in the pictures of the pre- 
 Eaphaelites. 
 
 To vindicate the unity of the family as the great 
 preparation for the unity of the race, the thought of 
 motherhood was worshipped in Mary. It needed a 
 strong force to fight against the ascetic theory of life, 
 which endeavoured to detach men from their true rela- 
 tionships, and place them in an artificial setting. Had 
 religion taken entirely the ascetic form, and withdrawn 
 its sanction from family life, it must have failed to 
 reach the first step on its onward journey. Men would 
 have been hopelessly sundered into natural and religious, 
 and the natural instincts of man would have overpowered 
 what religious influence was left. But the reverence 
 paid to the mother of Jesus ever reminded the world 
 that the most sacred associations clung to the facts of 
 human kinship ; that a radiance of heaven shone on 
 family life, and that its love and tenderness were in their 
 origin divine. 
 
 The lleformation was one of the great crises of human 
 history. Some men of our time are inclined to under- 
 rate its supreme importance ; but a wise observer sees 
 in it a movement which more nearly resembled the rise 
 
THE ETHICAL PUEPOSE OF DEVELOPMENT 35 
 
 of Christianity from Judaism, than any ordinary doctrinal 
 progress. The appeal which Luther made to the sole 
 authority of Jesus altered the whole course of religious 
 thought, and gave a fresh impulse to religious growth. 
 
 The fact that the Eeformation broke with the old 
 theology, and disturbed the continuity of the Church's 
 worship, without staying the current of her life, proves 
 that the development of Christianity, of which it was an 
 important manifestation, is on ethical lines. Luther 
 endeavoured to gain for mankind the sense of individual 
 life which had been extinguished in the religious sphere, 
 that he might prepare men for a Church which should 
 express the brotherhood of men who had yielded their 
 individualism as a gift on the altar of love. In later 
 days, Schleiermacher did the same office to mankind, and 
 each has been widely fruitful of result. Both great 
 teachers made an effort to realise the brotherhood of men 
 in Christ ; both revolted from a world in which that great 
 truth was lost. And we may see, too, how the history 
 of the world illustrates and develops the doctrine of 
 Christianity, for Luther and Schleiermacher found their 
 motive power in the secular progress of mankind. The 
 revival of learning gave to men a wider sense of the 
 universal love of God, and made them turn from narrow 
 ecclesiasticism and feudalism to the thought of the 
 republic of mankind in all ages and all lands. Luther's 
 preaching of individual faith had this fertile soil to 
 spring up in, and the Eeformation was the result. Before 
 Schleiermacher's age there passed the awful tragedy of 
 the French Eevolution, with its baptism of blood, and its 
 gospel of fraternity. To men who saw such portents, 
 
36 THE BROTHERHOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 the voice of a Christianity which proclaimed itself social 
 in its aim, was as the still small voice after the thunder 
 and the storm. 
 
 Let us now see what point we have arrived at in our 
 view of doctrinal development. The source of Christi- 
 anity is the life and teaching of Jesus. Not only has 
 the Church gathered strength to interpret the documents 
 where these are told us, but she also has placed them 
 in ever truer relation to mankind. This she does by 
 the divine presence, which is never withheld from her. 
 But that divine presence is also manifested in the move- 
 ment of history, which itself is an interpretation of the 
 mission of Jesus, and ever tends to fulfil it. That move- 
 ment includes the progress of human thought in the 
 philosophy of morals and religion, in biological and 
 sociological science, which, though taking their journey 
 independent of Christianity, are in reality interpreters 
 of it, and travel alongside of the Christian faith. 
 
 The main interest of doctrinal development is in 
 observing the ethical result of Christ's life and teaching 
 in the progress of man. We can gather the divine 
 purpose of the Christian religion from its past history ; 
 and all our science comes to our aid in explaining and 
 confirming that purpose. The sublime end which Christ 
 had in view was the union of all humanity ; and history 
 tells us that the world is marching on to that great 
 conclusion. The study of that purpose is the noblest 
 which man can undertake, and affords most stimulus to 
 practical life. Many philosophical studies are by their 
 nature removed from the sphere of action, and prison the 
 student in an abstract region ; but the observation of 
 
THE ETHICAL PURPOSE OF DEVELOPMENT 37 
 
 this great ethical development moves him to take part 
 in it, and urge it on. However little his effort may be 
 worth, it always helps to swell the great and ever-rising 
 tide of love and union which must one day bear all men 
 into universal brotherhood. 
 
CHAPTEE IV 
 
 BROTHERHOOD BEFORE CHRIST 
 
 Jesus came to this world to establish and perfect the 
 brotherhood of man. The human race was at His com- 
 ing a collection of separate atoms, divided from each 
 other by many causes. His life and love were given in 
 order that they all might be brought into one great 
 unity. The sum of the processes by which that unity 
 was to be attained is the Christian religion, embodied in 
 the Christian Church. The operations and efforts of the 
 Church will continue till the human race are brought 
 into a perfect unity, when the ideal of the creation of 
 man will be reached and made permanent. 
 
 In the above words we have stated our purpose, 
 which we shall now go on to unfold more fully. 
 
 The development of the principle of brotherhood was 
 slow and gradual. There are no truths to which man's 
 ascent has not been toilsome ; and yet, when they 
 appear above the horizon, they come suddenly revealed, 
 like the sunrise in the tropical seas. The twilight of 
 morn is faint and struggling, till it is all at once turned 
 into splendour by the approach of the sun. 
 
 In all nations there was a certain advance made age 
 by age into tlie knowledge and practice of the brother- 
 
BROTHERHOOD BEFORE CHRIST 39 
 
 hood of man. Yet that advance was by no means 
 rapid, and was rather a theory for the few nobler spirits 
 than a practical belief of the multitude. 
 
 Jesus Himself was come of the Jewish nation, which 
 has ever held itself a peculiar people. The more closely 
 they held by each other, the wider they were separated 
 from the rest of mankind. Their law and custom bound 
 them with strong ties to each other, but it was in a 
 league of defence against the Gentiles, among whom 
 their neighbours the Samaritans were included. This 
 feeling we read of in the New Testament, sometimes 
 apparently to be deferred to, as in the injunction to the 
 disciples, " Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into 
 any city of the Samaritans enter ye not " ; and some- 
 times to be reproved, as in the parable of the Good 
 Samaritan. 
 
 In the Old Testament a wider thought had visited 
 the nobler hearts of ancient Judaism. In the second 
 Isaiah we find a vision which extends beyond the bounds 
 of Israel, and which stretches forth to all mankind. The 
 magnificent strains of triumph which greet the opening 
 dawn of the great doctrine of a united human race, are 
 worthy of so lofty a theme. The gates of Judaism were 
 to be thrown open,, and the Gentiles were to enter a 
 city, no longer of David, but of mankind. The accept- 
 able year of the Lord was to appear ; and as the earth 
 brought forth her tender sprouts in spring, so the first 
 signs of brotherhood were to be the heralds of its 
 universal reign. 
 
 But how slow were the Jews to enter into this lofty 
 prophecy ; and it is, indeed, doubtful if they ever realised 
 
40 THE BROTHERHOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 its full force even as an anticipation. Their old ways 
 are still with them, notwithstanding the swelling tides of 
 modern thought. We are assured by the Abbt^ Chiarini 
 that the law enjoined — if not explicitly, yet as inwrapped 
 in the other precept — that men should hate and injure 
 those outside of their brotherhood, as well as love and 
 benefit those within it. The same writer, indeed, draws 
 a distinction between the teaching of the older Judaism, 
 and the later, of the Mishna ; but while there are many 
 differences, the essential exclusiveness of the Jew is 
 maintained throughout all his history. The earlier Jews 
 may not have thought that immortality was confined to 
 their race, but they had no clear view of immortality ; 
 and when they came to regard it as one of the 
 possible privileges which God gives, they claimed it, as 
 they did the other blessings of the covenant, for their 
 special possession. Doubtless there were some who 
 were better than their creed, as always happens ; for we 
 read in the Talmud : " It is our duty to maintain the 
 heathen poor with those of our own nation. We must 
 visit their sick, and relieve them, and bury their dead." 
 " The pious men of the heathen," said Eabbi Joshua, 
 " will have their portion in the next world. Be kind 
 and friendly to all, even to the heathen." Such 
 statements do not affect the general fact of national 
 exclusiveness, but they enable us to receive with more 
 readiness the Chief Eabbi (Dr. Adler's) assurance that 
 the Jews of the present day believe in the brotherhood 
 of man. 
 
 In G-reece the same national exclusiveness was found, 
 though it would be hard to say that it was a stronger 
 
BEOTHERHOOD BEFORE CHRIST 41 
 
 feeling than the French have to the Germans. The 
 nobler minds among them were led through the pursuit 
 of truth or beauty to a wider thought of humanity. In 
 all ages the pursuit of knowledge or of art has so 
 enlarged the heart of men, that they overleap the bounds 
 of their hereditary prejudices. The wandering bard or 
 minstrel has in all times enjoyed immunity, even among 
 hostile peoples, so great is man's reverence for the 
 divine arts. But though the feeling of unbrotherliness 
 may be laid aside by the populace for a little, it abides 
 with them, and constitutes one of the most powerful 
 forces in human history down to this day. Let us 
 not even be deceived by Greek ideals of democracy, 
 for the Demos was but a limited number of free citizens. 
 At their feet were the provinces, whom they ruled with 
 an iron despotism. And yet some of their best thinkers 
 rose above the narrow thoughts of their nation. In 
 Xenophon's Cyroimdeia we read that Cyrus, when dying, 
 charged his sons to have regard to the good of the whole 
 human race. And the Stoic philosophers, who reflected 
 on the dignity of man, and his independence of outward 
 surroundings, naturally arrived at a point from which 
 they did not concern themselves with such an accident 
 as being born in a particular country. And the nobler 
 teaching, which St. Paul refers to in his discourse at 
 Athens, that men are the offspring of God, which is 
 found in Kleanthes and other poets, is used by Epic- 
 tetus ^ as a proof of the brotherhood of man. We find 
 both in Cicero and Epictetus, that Socrates, when he was 
 asked what country he belonged to, replied that he was a 
 1 Bk. i. 13. 
 
42 THE BROTHERHOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 citizen of the world.^ The famous line which Terence 
 translated from Menander, that all things human were 
 withm his sympathies, represented rather a Greek than 
 a Eoman view of life, though the same cause, extension 
 of empire and intercourse with foreign peoples, broke 
 down the barriers of exclusiveness to both nations. An 
 ancient writer attributes to Alexander the Great the 
 desire that all should regard the whole world as their 
 common country. The same benevolent motive has 
 been claimed by other conquerors, and finds expression 
 in the " Idees Napoleoniennes," which aims at developing 
 the first Napoleon's policy ; but it is so plainly an after- 
 thought, that it is surprising that panegyrists should still 
 bring it forward for their heroes. If the world is a 
 brotherhood, whence comes the right of conquest ? 
 
 The Koman people, from their intercourse with Greece, 
 were permeated with its best thoughts, and accordingly 
 what advancement Greek philosophy had made was also 
 shared by Eome. The mere association with so many 
 nations as Eoman conquest brought into the empire, gave 
 the death-blow to an exclusive national feeling. The 
 evidences of civilisation in Greece and Egypt were so 
 many reminders to the Eomans that the world was 
 wider than the bounds of Latium. The history of their 
 people, from the earliest times, is marked by a large 
 foreign influence. That foreign influence was so marked, 
 that there is no parallel to it except in the modern 
 phases of government in the United States, and 
 specially in some of the separate States. The result 
 of this infusion of aliens into Eome was the formation 
 ^ Epictetus, i. 9 ; Cicero, Tuscul. v. 37. 
 
BROTHERHOOD BEFORE CHRIST 43 
 
 of a law of nations, which was based on a kind of 
 assumption of equality of all men. But, as an actual 
 fact, it was the offspring of jealousy which was un- 
 willing to admit foreigners to the privileges of the Civil 
 Law. The ideas of the lavj of nations were strengthened 
 by the movements of philosophy, specially that of Zeno 
 and Chrysippus, which brought into thought, conditions 
 like those which the law of nations realised in politics. 
 The idea of equity, of a fraternal justice, penetrated the 
 Roman Empire, and prepared the way for a true view of 
 human brotherhood. National jealousy died away, and 
 class distinctions took its place. Professor Flint's state- 
 ment is substantially right, that " the Eoman mind recog- 
 nised that there was One Law, embracing all nations and 
 all times, which no senate or people had created or could 
 annul, and which enjoined universal justice and universal 
 benevolence. That men are not merely citizens^that 
 every man is debtor to every other — that they have a 
 common nature, and, in consequence, reciprocal rights 
 and obligations — were well-known truths in the time of 
 Cicero, and commonplaces in the times of even the 
 earliest emperors. . . . Christianity is often represented 
 as having exclusively originated and promulgated truths 
 which were, intellectually at least, undoubtedly recognised 
 in pagan Rome."^ The words of Cicero are worth 
 remembering, so full are they of that spirit of fraternity 
 which has too often been regarded as wholly modern. 
 In his treatise, Dc Legibus, such passages occur as the 
 following : — " The whole of the world should be con- 
 
 ^ Philosophy of History in Europe, 1st ed. p. 51. See also Lecky, 
 History of European Morals, 1. chap. 2 
 
44 THE BROTHERHOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 sidered one State, the common home of gods and men." 
 " By nature we incline to love men, which fact is the 
 foundation of law." " A wise man does not regard him- 
 self as the inhabitant of any one place, but as a citizen 
 of the whole world, counting it but one city." ^ In his 
 treatise, De Officiis, as is natural, the statements are even 
 clearer in declaring the universal brotherhood of man. 
 The tolerant Cicero, however, had nothing but scorn and 
 hatred for the Jews, whom he calls a race born for 
 slavery ; ^ and his scorn is shared by the genial Horace 
 and the philosophic Seneca. And, doubtless, the popular 
 feeling echoed such sentiments, not to Jews only, but to 
 all foreigners, with as much cordiality as, in days gone 
 by, the English people hated the French. The spirit of 
 selfish nationalism could not but have possessed the 
 Eoman people, notwithstanding their cosmopolitan tend- 
 encies. It finds expression in the Satires of Juvenal, 
 who laments this national equality ; and doubtless he 
 expressed the feeling of his age.^ 
 
 Among nomadic peoples the tribal exclusiveness is 
 modified by the laws of hospitality. These laws are a 
 necessity of a scattered population, for without some 
 sacred sanction given to the duty of kindly treating a 
 wayfarer or a stranger, mankind would return to a state 
 of mutual suspicion, and to the ferocious solitude of wild 
 beasts. When men can go from place to place in safety, 
 they carry knowledge with them, and trade becomes 
 possible. The laws of hospitality are a guarantee of 
 
 ^ De Legibus, Bk. i. 
 
 2 De Prov. Cons. 5. Judaeis et Syris nationibus natis servituti. 
 
 ^ See Ecce Homo, xii. 
 
BROTHERHOOD BEFORE CHRIST 45 
 
 some measure of progress in arts and morality. We 
 read in Tacitus how the ancient Germans gave as kindly 
 a welcome to strangers in their homes as they met them 
 fiercely in the field of fight. And the Eclda gives us a 
 like picture of the northern Teutons. Such verses as 
 these occur more than once : — 
 
 "Never treat with scorn or with wanton slight 
 
 The wayfaring stranger or guest." 
 " Hail to the giver ! the guest has come ! 
 
 Where shall he have his seat ? " ' 
 
 A similar condition of things is found among the early 
 Eranians, where one of the articles of the Avestan creed 
 is a promise " to householders that they may roam at 
 will and abide unmolested wherever upon the earth they 
 may be dwelling with their herds." ^ Zoroaster, indeed, 
 imbued his followers with a deep hatred against the 
 Turanian nomads, who descended on the Eranians like 
 Highland caterans, regardless of every law but the right 
 of the strongest. But the national boundaries could be 
 enlarged to receive proselytes to the Avestan creed, as 
 we read in its early precepts. And it was a tradition 
 of the Persian monarchs, which Cyrus, Cambyses, and 
 Darius carried out, to tolerate, and even to reverence, 
 foreign religions. The one power, as we shall see, which 
 mitigates national jealousy is not mingling through 
 conquest, which in Eome failed to cure it, but the 
 recognition of the powers above men. Erom heaven 
 always comes peace on earth and goodwill among men. 
 The most singular state of things occurs in India, 
 
 1 Translated by Karl Blind in The Ethic Ideas of the Edda. 
 
 2 Ragozin's Media, p. 111. 
 
46 THE BROTHERHOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 where the people are broken up into several parts. 
 In Hinduism the system of caste at once shuts out the 
 idea of brotherhood. Each caste is a walled fortress, 
 where intercourse is free enough within, but cannot pass 
 the gates. It must not, indeed, be thought that the dis- 
 tinction is regarded as a disgrace by the lower castes, 
 however much the upper castes may pride themselves 
 on their superiority. " The Mangs, whose poverty and 
 squalor are unrivalled, would indignantly refuse a Brah- 
 min who might offer himself in marriage. The Chench- 
 wars carry their contempt for all castes and tribes but 
 their own to such an extent, that they declare they live 
 in the jungle for the sake of health, because there the 
 smells of other men cannot reach them." Exclusiveness 
 is here carried to its utmost, and whatever the relative 
 rank in their own, or in each other's eyes, of the various 
 castes, their position is utterly inconsistent with brother- 
 hood. 
 
 Buddhism disapproved of the caste system, and de- 
 clared all men equal so far as religious privileges were 
 concerned. Its admirable ethical system, which pre- 
 scribes universal benevolence, and which really is put 
 into practice by its adherents, cannot fail to beget kindly 
 and social feelings towards all men. The presentation of 
 Buddhism which Sir Edwin Arnold gives in his Light of 
 Asia, is such as to impress the reader that the Buddhists 
 have little to learn in the way of brotherly feeling. But 
 it is the sympathy of slaves bound to a hopeless chain, 
 where services are given and received in dull apathy. 
 To take religion as an opiate, that we may spend life in 
 a trance, is to give up the right to live. Such a view of 
 
BROTHERHOOD BEFORE CHRIST 47 
 
 existence makes one long for the fierce competition of 
 our modern paganised Christianity, or the more strenuous 
 days of the older polytheisms ; for anything rather than 
 this intoxicating draught of death itself. 
 
 Modern Hinduism, as represented by the Brahmo 
 Somaj, has for one of the articles of its creed : " Knowing 
 God to be the common Father, thou shalt love every 
 man as thy brother, and every woman as thy sister." 
 But the Brahmo Somaj borrowed its principal tenets 
 from Christianity, and, like the faith from which it 
 originated, it does not permit caste within its borders. 
 
 There is, notwithstanding all the pecuHar institutions 
 of Oriental peoples, a certain national brotherliness, which 
 is a legacy of primitive times, and which is not found in 
 our more elaborate civilisations. It is this feeling which 
 made an Eastern country the first home of the great 
 principle of brotherhood. 
 
 Even the Chinese, who seem to have been separated 
 from the rest of mankind for long ages, and to have 
 been walled off from the world without them, are said 
 to be not unacquainted with the principle of benevolence 
 to all as a law of life. In the Chinese classics we read 
 several exhortations to mutual love as a duty ; and the 
 strictly ethical character of Confucius' teaching gives it 
 a strong likeness to modern positivism, which has an 
 enlightened altruism for its practical form. In such a 
 saying of Confucius as this, — " The good man loves all 
 men ; all within the four seas are his brothers," — we 
 have as clear a statement of the universal principle 
 that Christ came to teach, as may be found in our own 
 literature. 
 
48 THE BROTHERHOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 There is a darker side to the picture of human life 
 than any that the mere sundering of nations can show. 
 The presence of slavery in the ancient world made a 
 mock of the lofty philosophies and the cosmopolitan laws 
 of Greece and Kome. The artisans themselves were 
 regarded as little better than slaves, though they were 
 free from the awful tortures which the ancients inflicted 
 so recklessly on their bondsmen. In Egypt, the splendid 
 luxury of the Pharaohs had its bloody fringe of oppres- 
 sion and cruelty. The toilers in all that is useful in life, 
 by whom the world is kept going on its way, and whose 
 worth only now we are getting to know, were treated 
 with contempt. What rights had the " stinking masses," 
 " craven labourers," to aught but toil and death ? ^ 
 
 And the lot of the slaves was yet worse. The lash of 
 the taskmaster, amid famine and heavy labour in the 
 cruel sun, was all that life yielded them, and their only 
 happiness was the uneasy sleep which gave them a night's 
 respite from the day's bitterness, till they won the prize 
 of death. All the life of Egypt lies open to us in the 
 monuments, and such is the tale they tell. Of the 
 horror of Greek and Eoman slavery we need not speak ; 
 it is embalmed for us in the writings of classical times. 
 All labour but that of the fields was counted ignoble, 
 and the traditions of that scorn are still with us. The 
 knowledge of the past may have kept it in our minds, 
 but it seems a rehc of the days when all men were 
 shepherds and farmers, and the Aryan people dwelt on 
 the great European plain. 
 
 The philosophers might talk (as Zeno is recorded to 
 1 Brugsch's Geschichte Aecjyptens unter den Pharaonen, p. 21. 
 
BKOTHEKHOOD BEFOKE CHRIST 49 
 
 have said that all men were equal, and that the only 
 difference between them was in their measure of virtue) 
 and the poets might dream of equal justice, which some- 
 times might in common life be given to aliens, but 
 charity was unknown. Kindness to the poor and the 
 aged was better known among the barbarian Germans, 
 or the wandering tribes of Asia, than to the Greeks or 
 Komans. These possessed neither the spirit of bene- 
 volence nor had any systematic way of relieving suffering. 
 Their chief thought was to keep it out of sight. The 
 same spirit exists in the heart of modern luxury as it 
 did in the days before the French Eevolution, in spite of 
 Christian influences. But it only lurks in a corner ; it 
 does not vaunt itself in open day as it did in the old 
 world. 
 
 That Jesus came to a world which had little know- 
 ledge of the principle of brotherhood, is a commonplace 
 of literature, and needs not to be further enforced. But 
 it is also true that throughout the ancient world the 
 sanctions of religion and the teachings of philosophy were 
 often on the side of kindness and benevolence. But these 
 feelings were not the coin of everyday exchange, but rare 
 pieces in the cabinet of the collector. The world has 
 taken long strides forward since then, and yet we are 
 not even now familiar with the spirit of love as the 
 moving power among men. But we cannot neglect these 
 premonitions of the fuller knowledge which Christ gave 
 us : we are bound to remember that all the world belongs 
 to God, and has been always His. " The earth is the 
 Lord's, and the fulness thereof." Any harvest of truth 
 which was reaped in days before our Saviour, was due to 
 4 
 
50 THE BROTHERHOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 the divine sowing. This great truth has not always been 
 remembered, though some of the earher Fathers freely 
 acknowledge it. It is one which modern thought grudges 
 to the Christian system. A writer/ who speaks always 
 with a voice of authority, assures us that " theology is 
 bound to pass by in disdain or silence all that was great 
 and beautiful in the vast ages which believed in many 
 gods ; the polytheisms and the theocracies ; the heroic 
 growth of Eome ; the thought and grace of Hellas ; the 
 complex civilisation of Egypt ; all that the Assyrian, 
 Persian, Indian, or Chinese teachers or prophets ever 
 gave to the countless myriads who rose into civilised 
 life beneath their care. All this theology is bound, 
 as theology, to ignore, if not to condemn." But who 
 gave this critic the right to mark out the bounds of 
 theological inquiry, or set the limits of theological 
 science ? True theology is concerned with all that con- 
 cerns the efforts of man towards religion ; and St. Paul 
 has shown, as in his speech at Athens, that it comes 
 within our scope. There have been few theologians 
 since St. Paul's day who would accept the narrow limits 
 in which their jealous opponents would confine them. 
 We must therefore do justice to all the anticipations in 
 ancient thought of the great future of oiu: race, for these 
 thoughts have rendered the acceptance of the gospel more 
 ready among men. These natm-al instincts of our race 
 often appear long before there is any hope of realising 
 them ; they are barely understood by those who pubKsh 
 them ; but they show the guidance of Providence in the 
 hearts of men, and point the onward way. 
 
 1 Mr. Frederic Harrison iu the Nineteenth Century, 1880, p. 528. 
 
BROTHERHOOD BEFORE CHRIST 51 
 
 Though we have dwelt more on the opposition to the 
 principle of brotherhood than on its manifestations, as 
 was necessary to give a true historical picture of what, 
 indeed, has often been described before ; yet there is no 
 doubt that our attention should be also given to the fore- 
 gleams of this glorious dawn of the Sun of Eighteousness, 
 which are seen in the sages of ancient times. It was a 
 beautiful thought of the reformer Zwingli, that God had 
 His chosen among the heathen as well as the people who 
 saw the great Light; and that heaven is shared by 
 Socrates, Plato, Cato, Seneca, and the other good men of 
 former times.^ We see the debt we owe to the Eefor- 
 mation, when we remember that Dante places in hell, in 
 the first circle, it is true, but still in the place of pain, 
 " the master of scientific men," Aristotle,^ Socrates, Plato, 
 and the other sages of antiquity. The old theory of the 
 Fathers, from Justin Martyr downwards, that the divine 
 Logos moved the hearts of men to knowledge even before 
 He taught them on earth, has such truth that we are 
 grateful to Zwingli for recovering it ; and we must not 
 let it altogether perish, though the form in which we 
 believe it may be changed. St. Augustine himself tells 
 US that any follower of Plato might become a Christian,^ 
 " with only a slight change of opinions and expressions " ; 
 and we should rejoice to know that the human soul is in 
 many ways Christian by nature, as Tertullian called it, 
 and that its higher thoughts tend in all times to reach 
 the divine ideal of love and brotherhood. 
 
 1 Expositio Christiance Fidei. 2 Inferno, iv. 131. 
 
 * De Vera Relvjione, cap. 4 : " et paucis mutatis verbis atque sen- 
 tentiis Chriatiani fierent (Platonici sc.)." 
 
CHAPTEE V 
 
 THE UNITY OF MAN 
 
 Modern anthropology has gone further than the facts 
 of human history lead us in considering the separation 
 of mankind, and told us that not only were men divided 
 in national life and habits, and at variance by reason 
 of jealous exclusiveness, for which they claimed a 
 sanction from the gods, but that the human race was 
 broken up into hostile sections, because it embraces 
 families which are of diverse origin, and really com- 
 prises distinct species. 
 
 Our science long followed the teaching of the biblical 
 narrative, and assumed that men were derived from a 
 single pair. Men of the emmence of Dr. Prichard and 
 M. de Quatrefages came to the same conclusion, from 
 an examination of the facts that scientific anthropology 
 had collected. But a change has come over the teaching 
 of those who have devoted special attention to this 
 subject. We are now assured that men are so diverse, 
 that no hypothesis can really meet the facts but the 
 assuming them to come from distinct parentage. 
 
 This is, indeed, no new theory, for it is found in the 
 mythology of the ancient peoples. The Greeks thought 
 that every tribe descended from a common ancestor, 
 
THE UNITY OF MAN 53 
 
 who either sprung from the gods or was a direct 
 product of the earth. Each of these mythical parents 
 was a separate creation, having no relation to the 
 origmator of the neighbouring tribe. The aboriginal 
 inhabitants of every country were supposed each to 
 have so come into being from the mother earth, which 
 was the begetter of all things. This belief in separate 
 origins undoubtedly strengthened the exclusive spirit 
 which the ancient peoples manifested to each other. 
 But its evidently legendary character deprived it of 
 any claim to regard, as even shadowing forth a fact in 
 human history. So far from a tribe deriving its name 
 from an eponymous ancestor, we know that he is an 
 afterthought, and the name of the tribe has been given 
 to an imaginary being, for whom some lofty or singular 
 origin is supposed. And still, though it was a mere 
 fiction of the myth-making fancy of man, it had great 
 effect in keeping men apart, and fostering national 
 jealousies and hostilities. 
 
 The diiferences between the great races of men are 
 very marked, and are such, in the estimation of some 
 men, as to lead us to conclude that they arose from 
 ancestors whose features were specifically different. 
 
 Agassiz thought that men came into being in eight 
 different centres upon the earth, without relation to 
 each other ; and these centres, he points out, are dis- 
 tinguished by their plant and animal species as well 
 as by their variety of men. The more common opinion, 
 however, takes note of the variations by which species 
 originate, and does not need to suppose so many distinct 
 ancestors. Such anthropologists as Broca and Topinard 
 
54 THE BEOTIIERHOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 represent man as going backward into time, not to a 
 single centre, but by lines which are sometimes parallel, 
 sometimes intersecting. They take account of many 
 circumstances which cause variation, but refuse to admit 
 the need for supposing that only one species was the 
 ancestor of all mankind. One would think that the 
 surroundings of man and the natural varieties that occur 
 even still among men, would account for the different 
 races of mankind, more especially as geology gives us 
 tens, perhaps hundreds of thousands, of years for the 
 period of man's dwelling on earth. But the question 
 is one on which opinion is too much divided for any- 
 one to be able to form a decided conclusion, though the 
 candid observer will ask much more evidence than 
 has been shown, if he is to disbelieve that unity of 
 man which is almost a postulate of human life and 
 history. 
 
 The growth of race peculiarities needs not, moreover, 
 so drastic an explanation as to suppose separate species 
 of man. Are not the present facts of human life 
 enough to explain the national divisions without any 
 such hypothesis ? The nation is but a large tribe ; 
 the tribe but a larger family ; and the family tends to 
 isolation from others as much as to union among its 
 own members. The primitive communism was a league 
 of mutual labour and defence, when all men shared in 
 the work and had a common harvest of their toil, and 
 isolated themselves from their neighbouring community. 
 Even in the time of the great Hordes, if such a time 
 ever existed, when men lived in a rude promiscuity, 
 and relationship was hardly realised, the men of one 
 
THE UNITY OF MAN 55 
 
 tribe or totem had a natural antagonism to the men 
 of another. The mere accidents of life and of the 
 struggle for existence would be enough to beget an 
 exclusive and hostile spirit. 
 
 It seems to be little else than an ill-grounded hypothesis 
 that man emerged into an earnest of his present bodily 
 and mental condition and powers from some lower 
 form, and that this happened at various parts of the 
 earth, as Haeckel imagines the long-headed men of 
 Europe and Africa may be derived from the long- 
 headed chimpanzee and gorilla of these regions, and 
 the broad-headed Asiatics may descend frorn the broad- 
 headed orangs of Borneo and Sumatra. But suppose 
 that the species of men have fundamental differences, 
 arising from the fact that the primal ancestors, who 
 emerged from the vast sea of the lower animal life, 
 were also marked by strong distinctions. Let all this 
 be granted ; it is clear to the most casual observer, 
 that the march of the human race is towards unity. 
 
 We do not think any evidence at all strong enough 
 has been brought forward to establish the theory that 
 man has diverse origins ; but still less is it clear that 
 man has diverse natures. The present varieties of 
 mankind possess many outward differences, but their 
 mental nature and possibilities seem similar in character. 
 To imagine the early river -drift men to have been 
 necessarily inferior in brain-power to the average of 
 theii" successors, is to make a gratuitous assumption, 
 for the originators of all arts must have made a huge 
 mental effort to produce their work. The first dis- 
 coverer of fire, the first maker of musical sound, were 
 
56 THE BROTHERHOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 geniuses of no common rank, for the step they took 
 is a vaster one than subsequent advances can show. 
 There is every reason to hold that men are alike in 
 nature, and it is a profound thought which makes 
 M. de Quatrefages draw attention to his religious 
 character as marking man out to a separate place in 
 the zoological series — the human kingdom.^ 
 
 The tendencies which make for unity in the present 
 day are numerous. The blending by intermarriage, the 
 connection by intellectual sympathy, the union in 
 common activities, have all aided in the past to 
 obliterate the distinctions of mankind. The cosmopolitan 
 cities of the ancient world, such as Eome, showed, in 
 a much less degree, that intercommunication which the 
 whole world now manifests. The causes which unite 
 are destined in the future to have still greater influence. 
 The needs of commerce and the facilities of travel have 
 already made the world one great people. Some lands 
 are getting too crowded to give support to their teeming 
 people, who must set out to seek other worlds to 
 conquer. Colonisation breaks down the barriers between 
 nations, and the knowledge of one becomes the posses- 
 sion of all, so that we gradually advance in the scale 
 of being. Still more do the thousand daily communica- 
 tions of civilised life bring people practically to think 
 and act alike. Men tell us there is a lack of originality 
 in mankind ; but what could be expected from the 
 uniformity of education, of occupation, of recreation, 
 
 1 In this lie follows Sclileiermaclier and Jean Paul, who both 
 teach us that the distinguishing feature of man which alone 
 separates him from the Lrutes is his religiousness. 
 
THE UNITY OF MAN 57 
 
 which our life gives us ? It has come to this, that we 
 almost think the same thought at the same moment, 
 and our whole mental nature becomes more and more 
 sympathetic with that of our neighbours. 
 
 Such are some of the facts which point to an ever- 
 increasmg kinship of the human race, which may have 
 been one in the past, but is certainly going forward to 
 future unity. 
 
 If men were as far sundered by various origins as the 
 anthropologists say, they have made immense strides 
 towards a general resemblance and brotherhood. The 
 truth which St. Paul tells us, that Jesus came in the 
 fulness of time, even receives further force from these 
 theories. Onward moves the great purpose of God for 
 mankind ; onward sweeps the great force which is bring- 
 ing men closer and closer together, till, when the race 
 has achieved a certain measure of unity, and a certain 
 approximation of intellectual and moral endowment, the 
 great event which crowns the history of man appears, 
 and the divine incarnation takes place. 
 
 If the theories of the anthropologists are true, there 
 have been times when the man of one race could have 
 been but an imperfect representative of all ; it was only 
 the lapse of ages that could obliterate the distinctions 
 and bring the consciousness of mankind to one form. 
 But, on the other hand, if we are to regard Christ as the 
 ideal man, to whom the race may tend by varying degrees 
 to approach, there seems no difficulty in holding that the 
 approaches might be made from different starting-points. 
 We hold that the imity of the human race is the theory 
 most reconcilable with all the facts, but it is worth 
 
58 THE BROTHERHOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 while pausing a moment to observe that the beliefs in the 
 gradual ascent of man, and his diverse origin, do not 
 seem incompatible with the appearance on earth of the 
 divine Son in the garment of humanity. 
 
 To those who doubt these theories, the form of the 
 argument little alters. The differences of man are wide ; 
 and if these differences have been caused by a departure 
 from the original unity, as we are taught in the Scriptures 
 of the Old Testament, they are none the less real. It is 
 a fact of deep meaning when we are told that the original 
 separation which set Cain wandering was caused by a 
 violent rupture of the tie of brotherhood ; by triumph 
 of the individualistic spirit of evil. The glimpse of the 
 unbridled fierceness of primitive man which we have in 
 the song of Lamech,^ tells us how soon the spirit of man 
 rejoiced in his unbrotherliness. It is probably the most 
 ancient poetical fragment we have, and may carry us 
 back to the days when men dwelt in caves in the ruder 
 stone age ; but it shows how completely and how soon 
 man learned the lesson of hatred and war. 
 
 The ascent of man is one of the commonly received 
 theories of science, and all history goes to prove that man 
 has gradually advanced from ruder times to his present 
 civilisation ; but the question remains if this ascent was 
 not from the ruins of a past which was pure and good. 
 There is much to establish the view that man shows 
 signs in his history and mental and moral condition of a 
 fall from some better condition. We need not go so far 
 as Schelling, and believe that there was a primitive 
 revelation of knowledge and morals and religion of a 
 1 Gen. iv. 23, 24. 
 
THE UNITY OF MAN 59 
 
 high and complete character. Nor need we suppose, 
 with Julius Miiller, who gives us a Christian Platonism, 
 that we carry with us the memory of some pre-existent 
 form. It is enough to believe that the nature of man 
 was at one time morally sound, that love and brother- 
 hood were the law of life. His knowledge might be 
 small, his attainments in the arts childish, and indeed 
 the Old Testament represents the arts of life arising 
 after the separation through hatred and murder ; but 
 the unity of family life was at first undisturbed. From 
 that unity he fell, and after long centuries he is still 
 striving to regain it. 
 
 He who has an open eye for truth may find in the 
 early relations of mankind a promise of something higher. 
 Under their diversity, since there is a diversity, however 
 caused, there lay buried an ideal of unity, a germinal 
 power which compelled man to rise out of his isolation 
 and division into a complete whole. Through all the 
 ages this power has been working, and is still working 
 toward perfection. It is the divine seal on the soul of 
 mankind, which cannot be effaced. As the fruit-bearing 
 tree surely comes from the seed which is planted, so the 
 final perfect unity of mankind is assured by the original 
 divine impulse which urges it ever on. 
 
 Whether this unity is a lost ideal, which we are now 
 toiling after that we may regain, is perhaps not a prac- 
 tical question. But it is a vision not without encourage- 
 ment to think that the perfect divine ideal, as it rested in 
 the heart of God, had and has a real existence, which, 
 though veiled in the struggling darkness of our mortal 
 world, has a noontide yet to come. 
 
60 THE BROTHEKHOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 The anthropological history of man shows, as we have 
 seen, a gradual development from individualism ; and 
 certain savages, such as the Australian, are still in a con- 
 dition of primitive isolation. One of the most interesting 
 fields where this can be studied is in the negroes of the 
 United States. It seems pretty well agreed that the 
 negro has little power of association. He cannot so 
 keep in check his individual impulse as to allow it to be 
 controlled by any collective purpose. He is barely able 
 to enter into joint action or social partnership, and his 
 sense of family obligations or personal purity is said to 
 be low. One of the great safeguards of Southern society 
 before and after slavery was this incapacity for any kind 
 of co-operation, which rendered insurrection an impos- 
 sibility. Whether this is the result of slavery altogether, 
 or is a characteristic slaves had in common with their 
 kindred in Africa, is a moot point. The truth probably 
 combines both ; but this is certain, that the individualistic 
 tendency of slavery, which dissociated a man from family 
 life, and made him, as Aristotle calls him, a mere living 
 tool, could not but bring about such a result. 
 
 And many of the socialistic movements of our day 
 aim at little else than an organised slavery, which would 
 entirely destroy the brotherly spirit. Among slaves little 
 sympathy is known, little brotherly feeling, and a general 
 callous indifference is the ruling sentiment which they 
 have towards mankind. Such a state of things would 
 result from the success of some plans for reconstructing 
 society which have been proposed. They might produce 
 their own cure by the excess of individualism, but would 
 more likely bring man in a gradual descent to a selfish 
 
THE UNITY OF MAN 61 
 
 torpor which would annihilate the higher affections and 
 nobler impulses of life. Freedom is an essential element 
 in brotherhood, freedom in the exercise of will and com- 
 mand of action. The present disorderly state of Hayti 
 is a proof that even when the freedom is won, men only 
 slowly rise above the habits and traditions of the past, 
 and slowly do we recover any ground which we have 
 lost. The ascent of man is at all times a toilsome process ; 
 but if at any time he loses his natural impulse upwards, 
 it seems almost impossible for him to regain it. As a 
 wound which might heal if treated with care loses all 
 restorative power with a fresh injury, so it is with the 
 progress of man when it is paralysed by a backward fall. 
 The mental difference of mankind need not form a 
 serious difficulty to a belief in its unity. In every indi- 
 vidual man there are various stages of acquirement, and 
 among the people of any one race the same variety is 
 found. We only come slowly into consciousness, which 
 is in all its forms a growth. The consciousness of indi- 
 viduality is in a true sense a late acquirement, but by 
 degrees we come to have the family consciousness and 
 the tribal consciousness, which more and more relate 
 themselves to a conception of individual existence. Out 
 of these emerge the general sense of a human kinship, in 
 which we may discern the development of an organic 
 consciousness of humanity. Savages do not possess this, 
 for they think that the missionaries and travellers are of 
 another race, whether divine or devilish. But the 
 civilised man has no doubt of his actual unity with the 
 darkest savage. As Edmond About says, writing to his 
 own countrymen : " Let me suppose that business takes 
 
62 THE BEOTIIERHOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 you to the heart of Africa. You are among the Gallas, 
 the most barbarous of the negro tribes. Suddenly, at 
 a turn of the road, a white face appears. Your heart 
 beats ; you run. What joy ! It is a Prussian of Konigs- 
 berg. He is a Protestant, you are a Catholic ; his flag 
 is not the same colour as yours ; his fellow-citizens are 
 perhaps engaged in sabring yours on the Ehine ! But 
 what matters it ? Your provisions, your arms, your 
 purse, are at his service. Is he not a citizen of Europe, 
 a member of the great European society ? The first who 
 attacks him will have to reckon with you. 
 
 " But if, three months after, in some wilderness, in 
 the midst of serpents, crocodiles, and jaguars, you meet a 
 Galla ; that glossy skin, those tangled locks, fill you only 
 with confidence and joy. He is black, he is a heathen, 
 and he eats raw flesh ; but he is a man like yourself, a 
 member of the great human society You have need of 
 each other in the fight against death." ^ 
 
 But it must be kept in mind that the original unity 
 of man, if proved, is rather a theoretical than a practical 
 triumph. For that unity has been long lost, and man- 
 kind is only awaking to the blessing of its future recovery. 
 It is more stimulating to the mind of man to place the 
 golden age in the future, than to dream of it in a long- 
 distant past. The desire of unity may be a native 
 instinct in the mind of man, which lay long dormant, 
 and only had a fitful existence in the light of common 
 day ; or it may be due to a new development which 
 realises the future destiny of mankind, and hastens to 
 accomplish it. But the fact is that all the thought and 
 1 Le Frogres, pp. 72, 73. 
 
THE UNITY OF MAN 63 
 
 action of man are striving to co-operate towards its 
 attainment ; and we are bound to believe that all the 
 forces which govern this earth are on the side of this 
 great principle. Not only the commercial activity, but 
 the missionary energy of man, use their utmost efforts 
 to bring about this purpose of unity, — half unconsciously 
 it may be, but not the less surely. 
 
 And there are other facts, of which we have not a 
 full interpretation, which seem to point in the same 
 direction. The unity of the human race is in process 
 of slow accomplishment even on physical grounds. We 
 cannot but lament the disappearance of the aboriginal 
 people from countries which have been colonised. The 
 Caribs and Tasmanians have entirely perished ; the 
 Australians and Eskimo and American Indian are rapidly 
 diminishing in numbers. Influences of many kinds, 
 some unspeakably sad, are bringing about this result. 
 The fatal progress of new diseases, and the equally fatal 
 infection of new vices, are among the most rapid agencies ; 
 while slower but not less certain forces are found in the 
 compulsory change of habits, and the lessening of the 
 natural food supplies by the spread of cultivation. In 
 Africa it is said that certain tribes have become extinct 
 from no known cause, but by gradual diminution in pro- 
 ductiveness. The process has been going on ever since 
 man came upon this earth, and the less developed races 
 have had to succumb before the arrival of the more 
 powerful. It is an unhappy and mysterious page in 
 human history, which we can only record and not inter- 
 pret; but it is a page which is not yet finished. Some 
 theorists suppose that the negro race is destined to 
 
64 THE BROTHERHOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 people all the world, although there are not many facts 
 to give support to such a view. Others think the 
 future of the world is with the spread of the white 
 peoples ; but all is the vaguest speculation. All we can 
 be certain of is, that while the greater families of man- 
 kind seem to keep their steadfast position, the lesser 
 varieties are doomed to extinction. We can only record 
 the fact, as we are led to do in our consideration of the 
 subject, but its meaning in providence we do not presume 
 to interpret. We can only say that its tendency is to 
 bring into a gradual identity all the inhabitants of the 
 globe. 
 
 We have confined our present survey to the physical 
 unity of man, but there are important aspects of the 
 subject yet to be considered, especially in the growth of 
 the social and altruistic feelings. These deserve thought, 
 and will repay inquiry. 
 
CHAPTER VI 
 
 JESUS THE CARPENTER 
 
 The humble birth of Jesus is one of the reproaches 
 which Celsus brings against the Christians in his True 
 Word (\c<yo<i aXrjOy]^), the work which Origen refutes, 
 and which he largely quotes, and thus preserves to us. 
 Some orthodox catechisms, such as those of the West- 
 minster Assembly, account the poverty of the surround- 
 ings of Jesus as part of His humiliation. The Fathers, 
 including St. Augustine, attribute to Mary perfect free- 
 dom from sin ; while the Orthodox Greek Church put her 
 above all created beings ; and the Roman Church has 
 held, since 1854, the doctrine that she was born immac- 
 ulate from all stain of original sin. This removes the 
 birth of Jesus from any shadow in the eyes of those who 
 believe the infallible pope ; but the " low condition " 
 seems to strike the minds of Protestants : and the pious 
 Jansenist Quesnel says : " The humble condition of Jesus 
 is an occasion of offence to many. It seems to be 
 unworthy of Him ; but it was necessary on our account." 
 To hold that the birth of Jesus was a part of His 
 humiliation, is in accordance with Scripture, because it 
 was a change from a divine to a human nature, in 
 which He emptied Himself of His glory. But to add 
 5 
 
66 THE BROTHERHOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 that an additional part of the divine humiliation, another 
 drop in the cup of bitterness, was the birth " in a low 
 condition," excites our wonder. Who may bring such 
 paltry earthly distinctions into the lofty temple of God's 
 love ? Is a peer higher in the scale of being than a 
 peasant ? God forbid that we should introduce these 
 toys of our childhood, these trappings of our vanity, into 
 events of such infinite import. What are such things 
 viewed suh specie ceternitatis ? A little thought will 
 show us that all these earthly differences of rank or 
 circumstance mean very little, and weigh very lightly in 
 the scale of our real value or happiness. If a Diogenes 
 can grasp this truth, what would be its significance to 
 Jesus ? 
 
 In that elementary view of life which we are forced 
 to take sometimes during life, and always at the approach 
 of death, we recognise no grades of worth except as 
 they are measured by truth and purity. In our ordi- 
 nary daily existence we are willing to give their due 
 meed of ceremonious respect to those who claim it or 
 who merit it ; it is a part of the machinery of the w^orld, 
 and no sensible man refuses it. But we do not blind 
 ourselves to its actual value, and times come to all men 
 when it counts for nothing. The importance of the life 
 and mission of Jesus dwarf it into as utter insignificance 
 as any number divided by infinity. 
 
 We can form some judgment on the meaning of Jesus 
 taking the position of a carpenter, from the general 
 course of His teaching and His life, as well as from 
 Jewish feelings and customs. When the disciples were 
 sent out, they were told not to burden themselves with 
 
JESUS THE CARPENTER 67 
 
 superfluities, and not to be in bondage to any artificial 
 wants, so that they might have the full liberty of their 
 whole being. May we not conclude, therefore, that 
 Jesus chose His calling and rank in life because it was 
 least encumbered ? When we speak of rank in life, we 
 must remember, too, that in the Holy Land, in the time 
 of Jesus, such distinctions had less meaning among the 
 Jews than they have in our day. 
 
 It seems clear that Jesus chose the calling of a work- 
 man because it is nearer the natural condition of things, 
 and touches life to the quick in a way that many callings 
 lack. Eiches and rank are great hindrances to our 
 knowing and feeling the realities of life. They waste 
 time in ceremony, and create a host of appetites which 
 are not born with us, and which we are better without. 
 They make us the spoiled children of fortune, and cripple 
 us in many ways. Why should man not use his limbs 
 if he can ; why suffer himself to be driven in a carriage 
 while he has health to walk ? 
 
 We read that, when Socrates was asked, " Who was the 
 richest man ? " he replied, " He that is content with least, 
 for the natural wealth of man is to be independent of 
 •outward surroundings." The ancient world was made 
 familiar with this view of life from its forming the heart 
 of its Stoic philosophy ; but modern life has laid it aside. 
 It is only now and then that men, who seek better 
 things than outward conformity to the world, preach the 
 gospel of simplicity, to which, whether it come from the 
 lips of American transcendentalists or Eussian nobles, 
 the most of men listen with a pitying smile. 
 
 But Jesus often recurs to the subject. " How hardly 
 
68 THE BROTIIEEHOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 shall they that have riches enter the kingdom." " Blessed 
 are the poor : for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." When 
 the young ruler came to Him, with some measure of 
 sincere love for goodness and of anxiety for truth, what 
 kept him from following the higher impulse of his 
 nature ? He could not break with the conventionalities 
 of life ; he was enslaved by the poor deception of outward 
 wealth. When wealth and power and dominion came 
 before the heart of Jesus, they came as a temptation 
 of the evil one, which He spurned from Him. To most 
 men they come in like manner to tempt them. It is 
 not because they afford opportunity of pleasure or idle- 
 ness, or facility for the primrose path that leads to the 
 eternal fire, as because they actually burden the soul, 
 and disturb its balance and blear its sight. They feed 
 the selfishness of the soul, and shut men out from the 
 true fellowship of mankind. 
 
 The noble Mazzini found that the love of ease and 
 art, and the cravings which an indulged youth had 
 created, were too strong for many of his young followers 
 to resist. Like the young man who came to Jesus, they 
 went away sorrowful, for they had great possessions. 
 They were traitors to eternal truth and justice, because 
 they had been born to sleep on soft pillows and drink 
 generous wines. Mazzini found that his followers in 
 humbler life were encumbered by no such childish help- 
 lessness. Among them were shown indomitable courage, 
 a scorn of comfort and steadfastness of purpose, which 
 proved how free a life the plain man lives, and how 
 much readier is his perception of lofty ideals and divine 
 thoughts. 
 
JESUS THE CArvPENTER 69 
 
 Christ chose His friends from among working people, 
 and committed His gospel for all the world to a handful 
 of humble fishermen. The common people heard Him 
 gladly; and throughout His earthly life He identified 
 Himself with their simple joys and sorrows. I doubt 
 if we realise how near the life of Jesus comes to simple 
 people who are out of the busy intellectual currents and 
 material progress of our times. We need to go to some 
 more primitive community than our Western civilisation 
 can show, to see its full power. In Kussia, a French 
 writer tells us, we may be able to observe its work- 
 ings among the peasants — unlearned and ignorant men. 
 " Every lesson, every parable of the New Testament, fits 
 into the peasant's way of life, and goes to the heart of 
 his desires and his sorrows ; the feeble are persecuted ; 
 the humble are glorified ; a few fishermen turn the 
 world upside down. The reader goes on to the Acts, 
 and sees with wonder the society of his peasant dream, 
 of poor men living in community, helping each other, 
 aiid ruled by love and justice, without the interference 
 from without of a hard and elaborate mechanical govern- 
 ment. He sees a sublime moral code perfectly adapted 
 to simple hearts. The letter is sacred to him, and 
 enough for him ; it fits in with his ideas of the universe ; 
 he does not need to twist it so as to suit the exigencies 
 of a complex civilisation." ^ 
 
 It has been said that Jesus took His station in life 
 out of the depth of His sympathy with the poor. True 
 it is there is a peculiar tenderness among the poor to 
 
 1 M. E. M. de Vogiie in the Revue des Deux Mundes, January 1883, 
 pp. 64, 65. 
 
70 THE BROTHERHOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 each other, that there is a pathetic beauty about the few 
 enjoyments, that there is a soft light which illumines the 
 self-denying acts of aid and half-uttered consolation, and 
 a heavenly lustre about the bond of communion in toil 
 and sorrow which unites the poor. But we cannot read 
 all this into the life of Jesus as a carpenter. 
 
 On the contrary, we see a simple, cheerful, homely life, 
 with all the sweet affection and happy days which peace 
 and contentment bring. There is not much said of 
 privation or suffering through straitened means, but the 
 current of life flows with placid tranquillity. The 
 patronising sympathy and aid which seem the highest 
 attainable form of our Christian benevolence are never 
 once heard of in the New Testament, except, perhaps, 
 from the lips of Judas Iscariot. 
 
 Christ meets the working people on their own level 
 
 with a frank brotherhood which they at once recognise ; 
 
 and the blessings they gain by that receptive impressibility 
 
 which opens their souls to His loving life and teaching, 
 
 far outweigh the doubtful advantages which the rich 
 
 men of Judea possessed in combination with a hardness 
 
 of heart which made them deaf to the words of Jesus.^ 
 
 ^ A great writer of our time, wlio, amid much that is evil, lias 
 given us not a little that is noble and true, has brought this vividly 
 before the imagination in an allegory, which he entitles Jesus Christ 
 in Flanders. In the boat in which Christ is represented as travelling, 
 He takes His place beside the poorer passengers, one of whom 
 makes way for Him. " It was one of these indications of willing- 
 ness to oblige each other by which poor people who know the 
 happiness of brotherly sympathy, show the oj^enness and natural- 
 ness of their hearts," says Balzac, with his keen observation. The 
 allegory further develo^is the mutual sympathy, and the aid which 
 Jesus is able to give, liecause the jjoor trust Him. Balzac, Romans 
 Philosophiqucs, tome 3, 2nd ed. 
 
JESUS THE CARPENTER 71 
 
 It was in accordance with the custom of the Jews 
 that their teachers were poor men. The " wise men " 
 who guarded the laws and traditions of the Hebrews 
 were held in high esteem. Many of them were artizans, 
 yet no priest or nobleman was more revered. We read 
 that many of them spoke of the value of labour, and all 
 abhorred idleness. Such sayings as these are handed 
 down. " The tradesman at his work is the equal of the 
 most learned doctor." " He who derives his livelihood 
 from the labour of his hands is as great as he who fears 
 God." 1 The Jews taught every boy a trade, and piety 
 and learning were only honoured when they were joined 
 to bodily work. In modern times this has been taught 
 with but poor success, as far as the winning of followers 
 is concerned, by the founders of Brook Farm, by Mr. 
 Euskin and Count Tolstoi. The Eabbis, we are assured,^ 
 deemed it an unworthy act if they were paid in any 
 way for their religious duties, and, like St. Paul, main- 
 tained themselves by their own toil. It is strange to 
 find the trade of the Rabbi often mentioned in the 
 Talmud in connection with his teachings, as thus : " It 
 
 1 The following additional maxims may be added from Farrar's 
 St. Paul, i. 23 : " Learning of any kind, unaccompanied by a trade, 
 ends in nothing, and leads to sin " (Gamaliel). " Labour honours 
 the labourer " (Rabbi Judah). " Not to teach one's son a trade is 
 like teaching him robljery" (Rabbi Judah). Additional instances 
 are given by Chief Ral^bi Adler in the Nineteenth Century for Dec. 
 1881, " Recent Phases of Judseophobia." On the other hand, we 
 read in the Jew Leopold Kompert's Jewish story. Trended, that 
 one of the most obstinate prejudices of the Jews of the present day 
 is that the law of God forbids them to be artizans. The object of 
 the tale is to correct this view. 
 
 - Dr. Adler, loc. cit. 
 
72 THE BROTHERHOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 was taught by Rabbi Jochanan, the shoemaker " ; " by 
 Jose ben Chalafta, the tanner." 
 
 The traditions of Greece were different from those of 
 Judea in the matter of labour. In Athens the free 
 citizens did not think it worthy of them to engage in 
 mechanical toil, which was only fit for slaves. Aristotle 
 excluded tradesmen from equal rights of citizenship in 
 his ideal commonwealth, and mentions that in former 
 times the mechanics were either slaves or foreigners, 
 " for which reason," he adds, " many of them are so now." 
 The same tendency is shown in Plato ; and Aristophanes' 
 contempt for workmen, shown in his Comedies, seems to 
 have been appreciated by the Athenians. 
 
 A similar state of things was long seen in India, 
 though times have somewhat changed. The handicrafts- 
 men and artizans are all placed in the lowest caste, the 
 Sudras, who were supposed to have sprung from the foot 
 of Brahma. As was natural to a people whose chief 
 industry was agriculture, the farmers, herdsmen, and 
 hunters belonged to the class above the Sudras. In our 
 own country, the people of the Celtic parts of it for 
 long looked down on many crafts as unworthy of man, 
 and indeed all occupations of peace which had no relation 
 to war were placed in that class. The same feelings 
 seem to have animated almost all the branches of the 
 human family speaking the Aryan tongues. We find 
 that throughout long periods of history, labour was 
 regarded as ignoble ; that the early Greek and Roman 
 heroes despised any calling but war ; and that the same 
 feeling animated the Teutonic peoples down to the 
 borderland of modern civilisation. The hard toil of 
 
JESUS THE CAKPENTER 73 
 
 life was done by bondmen, or, as among the North 
 American Indians, by the women. In the existence of 
 slavery is found the reason for this ; and even in our 
 own day a like sentiment inspires the planters of the 
 Southern States of America. 
 
 The loss to a community of the discipline of regular 
 labour is not easily reckoned, and the restless democracy 
 of Greece needed the balancing influence of settled 
 occupation, in which the day could be spent better than 
 in their ceaseless and useless babble. It was not until 
 the guilds of tradesmen were formed in Europe that the 
 civil condition of society became stable, and the arts of 
 life began to recover from the torpor of the Middle Ages. 
 The Church, as well as the State, benefited by the stead- 
 fastness and uprightness which honest toil begets ; and 
 the revival of religious life in Europe was in no small 
 degree aided by the labouring classes, whose life, dealing 
 with realities, helped them to look at all questions with 
 a clear vision and direct insight. The value of simplicity 
 began to be more evident to their minds, and their view 
 of active life conditioned their ideas of religious truth. 
 This state of things, however, is even more seen in the 
 East, where the great religious movements have had a 
 close connection with labour and self-denial and sim- 
 plicity of life. 
 
 There is in the East, notwithstanding the Hindu 
 castes, and always has been in the East, a readier 
 recognition of the value of such simple ways than among 
 Western nations. It may be merely the influence of 
 civilisation which makes the difference, or it may be a 
 feature of the races who dwell in more genial climates 
 
74 THE BROTHEKHOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 than ours. The Germans seemed to Tacitus a manlier 
 race than his own, by reason of their plain ways of life, 
 and those who praised the olden times in Eome thought 
 with envy of the simple labours of the heroic Cincinnatus, 
 as in Athens they spoke of the men who fought at 
 Marathon. The golden age, to their mind, appeared as 
 a time when " a few strong instincts and a few plain 
 rules " did " more for mankind than all the pride of 
 intellect and thought." 
 
 The pastoral habits of a great part of the population 
 of Eastern countries, and the easier life they led, caused 
 them to keep to the primitive instincts of mankind, daily 
 toil and plain fare. It was of the essence of Buddha's 
 teaching ^ to live simply and avoid all covetousness ; and 
 he showed his followers the example of a great renuncia- 
 tion, by giving up his princely state, and teaching man- 
 kind that by such sacrifice of self-seeking they may 
 gain a true insight into life.^ 
 
 We must not, however, regard the voluntary choice of 
 the working life and earthly portion of an artizan which 
 our Saviour made as a renunciation. We see in it 
 rather that healthy state of the natural soul of man which 
 craves the open road of life. Too often the teachers of 
 mankmd have loved the seclusion of the academic grove, 
 
 1 Strauss says, in the Old and the New Faith, that Buddhism and 
 Christianity both discourage labour ; but in this he has no justifi- 
 cation. 
 
 - " In the Norse legend of our ancestors, Odin dwells in a fisher's 
 hut, and patches a boat. In the Hindu legends, Hari dwells a 
 peasant among peasants. In the Greek legend, Apollo lodges with 
 the shepherds of Admetus ; and Jove liked to rusticate among the 
 poor Ethiopians." — Emerson, Works and Days. 
 
JESUS THE CARPENTER 75 
 
 have held aloof from the great heart of humanity, and 
 have chosen bypaths sheltered and pleasant, whither 
 few have cared to follow them. Socrates lived and 
 taught right in the centre of Athenian life, in the crowded 
 market-place, or in the busy harbour, with open sym- 
 pathies and a genial heart and simple ways ; but Plato 
 retired to his garden, and shunned the multitude, whom 
 he never trusted. There have been more to follow 
 the course Plato took than to imitate Socrates ; and 
 though one does not willingly judge, in a critical spirit, 
 the leaders of mankind, we are compelled to ask if 
 there is not a weakness in this. There is a reluctant 
 shrinking from the real world which is eminently unwise 
 in those who seek to guide it. Jesus took the broad 
 highway of life, with its freedom, its sympathy, its reality. 
 The workman is the traveller afoot through time; lie 
 breathes the pure air of common life, a true son of man. 
 He is " on the broadest human plane " ; as a writer says, 
 " on the level of the great laws and heroic deeds." His 
 emotions are 
 
 " Cliietly those 
 Essential and eternal in the heart, 
 Tliat 'mid the simpler forms of rural life, 
 Exist more simple in their elements, 
 And speak a plainer language." 
 
 Wealth brings isolation, which develops into selfish- 
 ness, and a man walls his soul round as he does his park. 
 The workman gets a closer grasp of his kind, comes 
 nearer to his brother man, and learns every day those 
 lessons of mutual aid and tolerance and sympathy on 
 whicli our life depends. 
 
76 THE BROTHERHOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 The mission of Christ was to all mankind, and He 
 would not lose any possibility of bringing Himself nearer 
 the affections of men ; He would not exclude any from 
 His sympathies ; He was a man, and His heart was free 
 to all. He chose His calling because He felt that it 
 best gave Him the scope for carrying out His great and 
 divine work. pjuddha did the same in old time ; so, 
 too, did Socrates ; and men have seen, even in our own 
 times, the value of a simple life lived in the heart of 
 humanity. Who can tell the amount of religious indif- 
 ference among the working classes which is due in 
 England to the great social division which often separates 
 their clergy from them ? Fortunately, they seek teachers 
 born in their own circumstances, whose influence is 
 strong with them. The heart of England has been kept 
 pure, not so much by the clergy of the Established 
 Church, as by the less observed labours of the obscure 
 ministers of many sects who go in and out and live their 
 lives among the artizans. 
 
 There are, indeed, other considerations which enter 
 into the worth of a position where one must labour 
 steadfastly for sustenance. The discipline in which our 
 lawless self must keep itself, if we have to continue in 
 work, is one of the best educations of body and mind. 
 The moral faculties acquire a truthfulness which the 
 selfish lounger in life soon loses, and the sense of justice 
 is strengthened by orderly action, while work by fits and 
 starts, at the bidding of irregular impulse, is apt to make 
 mere passing pleasure the test of conduct rather than an 
 unvarying moral standard. The " exact arts," as Goethe^ 
 ^ Strange Kunst, JFilhclm Aleister^s loanderjahre, iii. 12. 
 
JESUS THE CAEPENTER 77 
 
 calls the handicrafts, imply such a degree of practical 
 usefulness, that they must be sound and true in their 
 workmanship ; which fact itself acts on the mind, and 
 begets a love for truth and justice. These influences on 
 the hfe of man are real, and no mere theoretical fancy ; 
 and history confirms them. In modern times the poets 
 have drawn our attention to such moral forces, and the 
 teaching of Wordsworth and Clough has made us con- 
 scious of the presence of a great moral stability from 
 their agency. 
 
 But the social influence of labour is, after all, its main 
 power among men. The compulsory association of some 
 men in great undertakings is only a type of the relations 
 of labour throughout all the world, which unites the 
 common contributions of mankind to the store of real 
 riches. In the classic passage, so familiar, Carlyle, with 
 perhaps too sorrowful a feeling, recognises the unselfish 
 sacrifice which labour makes for others, thus fulfilling 
 the highest social ideal. " Hardly entreated brother ! 
 For us was thy back so bent, for us were thy straight 
 limbs and fingers so deformed ; thou wert our conscjipt, 
 on whom the lot fell, and fighting our battles wert so 
 marred." 
 
 Common toil is a parable of deep meaning ; it shadows 
 forth for us the lofty destiny and complete unity of 
 mankind, where each lives for the other, and all for God. 
 
 It is true, therefore, that the main power which labour 
 exerts on the heart of man is to develop the social feel- 
 ing ; it is the strongest force against selfish individualism 
 that the world has ever had. This isolation, which seems 
 characteristic of ancient Greek life, the individual selfish- 
 
78 THE BROTHERHOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 ness which marks much of their history, was largely clue 
 to the fact that they did not work together at any 
 industrial task, but left it to slaves. In the Middle 
 Ages, the guilds showed the need and the value of 
 company, each helping the other by succour and hospit- 
 ality ; and in modern times, with not a little that is 
 unwise pursuit of passing interest, rather than permanent, 
 there is much generous self-sacrifice in the unions of our 
 workmen in their various trades for collective action. 
 For even though a man be a solitary workman, he works 
 for others, and he is united to them by that labour and 
 service. And if he work with a crowd, the lessons of 
 sympathy and need of dependence on others that such a 
 life teaches him, rob him of selfish tendencies to isola- 
 tion. The kmdness and thoughtfulness which such joint 
 labour brings are among the best gifts that earth can 
 bestow on man. 
 
 Jesus came to develop the social life of the race, to 
 bring men into union one with another ; and He recog- 
 nised as one of the best means of doing so, the taking 
 upon Himself the duty of a labouring man. For we owe 
 to each other more than mere pecuniary gifts, especially 
 if such gift be the result of inherited wealth. We must 
 give part of ourselves, our strength, our life, to mankind ; 
 and only by doing so can we realise the true brotherhood 
 of humanity. The workman spends his life for others 
 as well as with them ; he is the unknown benefactor of 
 all who enjoy the fruits of his toil, and by his labours 
 unites all mankind. Merely to bestow money is an idle 
 and worthless gift, and often the source of more evil 
 than good. Even though a man's title to inherited 
 
JESUS THE CARPENTER 79 
 
 wealth were undisputed, and his right to the usury which 
 comes from others' work undoubted, the gifts which he 
 gives from such a source are, as far as he is concerned, 
 worthless. The pleasure of giving is great, and its 
 blessing to giver and receiver one of the best of the lights 
 of life ; but to give what one has not wrought for, is to 
 give naught. It is the joy of labour beyond what is 
 needed for personal wants, that one can bestow on others ; 
 and in such bestowal one gives not the mere gold, but a 
 part of life itself — time and strength. The social force 
 of labour is thus unmeasured ; it is the great bond which 
 unites the human race. 
 
 It is clear that the future is to give a different distri- 
 bution of manual toil. It will be divided more equally 
 among all the members of the community, by the mere 
 force of causes which are already present, but which are 
 acquiring more force. The true duty to each other will 
 be more fully recognised, and the blessings of art and 
 poetry and beauty will be more equally distributed, as 
 well as the social enjoyment of common toil. 
 
CHAPTEE VII 
 
 THE THEOLOGY OF JESUS 
 
 The centre of the teaching of Christ is the great truth 
 that God is our Father. 
 
 Need we inquire if it was known before His coming ? 
 Even if it were reached by the nobler and purer hearts 
 of Israel in Old Testament times, it is not their usual 
 thought of God. They did not commonly represent God 
 by such a relation ; nor had it entered into the hearts of 
 the Jews of the time of Christ as a real belief. How 
 could they have held to the faith that God was their 
 Father, when they accused Jesus of blasphemy when He 
 claimed sonship for Himself ? Their great birthright was 
 hid from their sight till Jesus revealed its glory. There 
 is no importance in the fact that Christ was not the 
 first teacher of this doctrine; nor does it lessen His 
 glory that in heathenism and Judaism there was a pro- 
 gress to the truth concerning God's Fatherhood ; for 
 Christ gave it a completeness and certainty which it had 
 not known before His coming. 
 
 The Fatherhood of God was the sum of the revelation 
 made by Christ. The Gospel of St. John differs in many 
 ways from the other Gospels, but it shows no difference 
 here. All the four evangelists represent Jesus as speak- 
 
THE THEOLOGY OF JESUS 81 
 
 ing of God as His Father, and as the universal Father 
 of all men. 
 
 It is this which He impresses on His disciples as the 
 thought of God which should be ever before their minds. 
 For in the prayer He taught them, which embraces the 
 whole of human life. He tells them to begin, Our Father. 
 The Father He revealed to them was a Father who loved 
 them and forgave them ; who cared for their wants on 
 earth and their dwelling in heaven ; who blessed them 
 with His Spirit, and sought the worship of all true 
 hearts : but who withheld not His gifts from the 
 unthankful and evil. " He maketh His sun to rise on 
 the evil and the good, and sendeth rain on the just 
 and the unjust." Like a Father, He loves all His 
 children, and discerns in them some virtue or goodness 
 which is hardly present to theii' own consciousness, and, 
 always believing the best of their imperfect lives, has 
 hope of them all. For they are His children, and even 
 if they have long forgotten Him, if they have no claim 
 on Him but then- necessities. He still gives them His 
 love and aid. 
 
 By direct teaching, and by parable, the great doctrine 
 of the Divine Fatherhood was made plain to the hearts 
 of the hearers of Jesus. The Sermon on the Mount is 
 the sum of the truth regarding it, and the parable of the 
 Prodigal Son shows all the heart of God to the trembling 
 child of man, who had for ages been offering his sacrifice 
 of blood to propitiate some dark power, whom his thought 
 had pictured as supreme, in place of the Father of infinite 
 love.^ And if the inquiring soul of man asked yet further 
 1 Tlie conception of God which underlies sacrifice is that which is 
 6 
 
82 THE BPtOTHEKIIOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 knowledge of the divine goodness of the universal Father, 
 he had but to consider the work and character of His 
 Son. " Philip saith, Show us the Father, and it sufficeth 
 us. Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time 
 with you, and yet hast thou not known Me, Philip ? He 
 that hath seen Me hath seen the Father." 
 
 To understand the moral nature of God, we are told 
 we must examine the life of Jesus. He revealed the 
 divine Father, not only through His word, but through 
 all that He did, through every relation He had with 
 man. He presents His own life as the best knowledge 
 man could have of the nature of God. His love and 
 kindness, His sympathy with men in all the surroundings 
 of their life, His forgiveness and tenderness, are so many 
 revelations of the heavenly Father, of whom He was the 
 express image. He appeals, indeed, to the common 
 experience of mankind in support of His teaching, and 
 exhibits the providence of God as havmg the breadth 
 and universality of His love. He directs our attention 
 to those facts of life which bear out the view He wishes 
 to impress, which help to create the filial feeling on 
 which the Christian rests. 
 
 Jesus shows clearly the purpose which the religion 
 He gave to man was destined to serve, by this revelation 
 
 found in natural religion, and is fundamentally different from that 
 revealed by Christ. This fact opens up trains of inquiry as to the 
 relation which Christianity bears to the heathen religions and to 
 Judaism, but shows that it cannot be called an ordinary develop- 
 ment from them. Still less true is the older naturalistic thought, 
 found in the English deists and their German contemporaries, that 
 Christianity is simijly a republication of the truths of natural 
 religion. 
 
THE THEOLOGY OF JESUS 83 
 
 of God. He unveils Him to our sight, but in no other 
 light than as a Father ; for Christ's mission to men was 
 moral, not intellectual. He desires them to realise that 
 they are all alike children of the one heavenly Father, 
 and that their life finds its crown in acting as sons of 
 the divine Father, moved by love like His, generous and 
 universal. " Be ye perfect, as your Father in heaven 
 is perfect." 
 
 The conception of God thus given by Jesus is wholly 
 an ethical representation for an ethical purpose— the 
 salvation of mankind. We must not think it is given 
 us as a complete exhibition of the divine nature or attri- 
 butes ; though, indeed, to speak of such completeness of 
 understanding of God is an impossibility, for no finite 
 can comprehend the Infinite. Our Saviour Himself 
 assures His hearers of this when He says : " No man hath 
 seen God at any time." The nature of God must always 
 remain an insoluble mystery to man. But does such a 
 belief in the limitation of our powers necessarily repel 
 us from the inquiry ? Surely the philosophy, whether 
 of Spencer or Hamilton or Mansel, bears no such 
 meaning. Even if we are baffled, and our result is 
 almost naught, may we not still aspire ? Is it not 
 something to know that the nature of God is beyond 
 our knowledge ? 
 
 We may, in the words of St. Paul, jet feel after God ; for, 
 though we cannot put our knowledge in words, He may 
 yet manifest Himself to our souls. Justin Martyr asks : 
 " Can a man know God, as we know arithmetic or 
 astronomy ? " Our knowledge may not be entirely 
 coherent ; we may not be able to arrange it into a 
 
84 THE BEOTHERHOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 perfect system, yet every point of knowledge gained is a 
 fresh insight into truth. 
 
 Suppose now a conflict between the ethical revelation 
 and the scientific attainment of man. These must 
 essentially harmonise, but it is doubtful if our faculties 
 will ever be able to reach the reconciliation, though they 
 may ever tend to it. Meanwhile, however, we assume 
 that a discrepancy occurs ; which shall we follow ? ^ 
 
 1 We here come in sight of the theory of the double truth, which 
 is expressed in the familiar words : " I lielieve as a Christian what 
 I cannot believe as a philosoi^her." The Platonists have always 
 inclined to this view with more or less adjustment. One of the 
 best of the Humanists, Pomponazzi, clearly expounds this aspect of 
 the apparent discrepancy between reason and faith. He holds that 
 there is a speculative and practical reason ; the one inquires into 
 truth, the other regulates conduct. The danger is that here we 
 have theology removed from the rank of a science and made a mere 
 collection of unconnected precepts ; but Pomponazzi was not really 
 interested in favour of Christianity. The Platonic theory of a 
 yivvxlov i/zstioof, by which we can teach what will influence men 
 without regard to its truth, was doubtless present to his mind ; but 
 it is a dangerous theory, and the needless thought of a spurious 
 superiority. It was intellectual vanity as well as dishonesty which 
 made Synesius, an earlier Platonist, say : " If I am made l)ishop, I 
 must be allowed to philosophise in my own mind, while I talk 
 mythology to the people." It was this imagined opposition which 
 was the death of scholasticism, which did not survive the condemna- 
 tion of the double truth by the Council of the Lateran in 1513. 
 Descartes was sincere in his exjoression of belief when he said : " If 
 God reveals anything about Himself or others that is beyond the 
 natural powers of our mind, such as the mysteries of the Incarnation 
 and Trinity, we are not entitled to refuse to believe in them, 
 although we may not clearly understand them." We must never 
 forget there is an inner circle of the soul, to which mere reasoning 
 never penetrates, and which is, after all, the centre of our faith. 
 It was Neander who said of Pascal that he was " a witness to that 
 religious conviction which is founded in immediate perception, 
 and is elevated above all reflection." 
 
THE THEOLOGY OF JESUS 85 
 
 The answer in the experience of mankind is that we 
 must trust and obey the ethical truth as Jesus gives it 
 to us. We do not now consider what the authority of 
 Jesus is, as we shall afterwards examine its source ; but 
 even here we may find the direction in which one form 
 of that authority points, the practical soundness of His 
 commands as regulating human conduct. 
 
 The position here taken up is the exact contrary of 
 what Mr. Frederic Harrison gives as the Christian view. 
 He asserts that " bishops, priests, and deacons, for the 
 most part sweep theology away from the whole field of 
 systematic thought and active life. Science, they say, 
 explains the laws of nature and the laws of society ; 
 social motives are an adequate explanation of worldly 
 activity." I doubt if Mr. Harrison states truly the 
 position of those whom he opposes ; but even if he be 
 accurate, it is worth pointing out that the view we pre- 
 sent looks towards the opposite direction. 
 
 The inquiries of man into the universe are by no 
 means restrained by this attitude to scientific inquiry, 
 whose difference with the ethical view of Jesus may be 
 no more than a possible theory. Man may, with the 
 reason given to him, examine into the relation of God 
 to the universe, and find out what is revealed in the 
 creation. He may search for the laws by which this 
 frame of things is held together, or came into being, and 
 form some idea of the Infinite Power behind them all. 
 But is there an absolute need that we should try to 
 reconcile the knowledge gained by scientific inquiry and 
 that given by the teaching of Christ ? Whether there is 
 need or not, we cannot withhold our minds from the effort. 
 
8 b THE BROTHERHOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 The link between the two forms of knowledge may 
 not be given to us ; these forms come from two separate 
 sources, which we know are distinct in their appeal to 
 our souls. They stand related to each other, since they 
 both speak truth to us, but we may not discern any 
 other relation between them. They are apprehended by 
 different mental states, the one by faith, and the other 
 by reason. We set ourselves a hard task when we try 
 to find a harmony between our scientific knowledge 
 and the fatherhood of God ; but, we ask, is a complete 
 synthesis necessary, even if possible ? 
 
 There cannot be a doubt that the human mind craves 
 for unity, and desires to see the same God that communes 
 with the soul realising Himself in creation. We rejoice 
 to find any confirmation of our religious faith in the 
 teachings of science ; and every new correspondence 
 which we discover between the Father whom our hearts 
 love, and the Almighty Power that rules the universe, 
 gives us gladness. But what of the dark chasms which 
 no light illumines ? There are mysterious gaps in our 
 knowledge which we have not yet bridged, such as are 
 found in the slow evolution of nature as well as in its 
 cataclysms. 
 
 We know we cannot arrive at all the truth ; these 
 gaps must, some of them, always exist ; and we do not 
 give up our faith because some scientific man has lighted 
 on a question which he cannot answer. Human conduct 
 is within our sphere ; we have the power to survey it 
 all, and any defects in our system of morals are corrected 
 by the growing experience of ages. As a practical 
 science it advances, but all its possibilities are before us 
 
THE THEOLOGY OF JESUS 87 
 
 in the ideal of goodness. We have therefore within us 
 a moral and religious consciousness which we cannot 
 fully bring into harmony with the world around us, but 
 which enables us to unite ourselves to God and man in 
 love and duty. We can show a complete view of the 
 moral nature of man, which includes all the tendencies 
 he has ever manifested, which takes count of his progress, 
 which harmonises with the divine truths that have been 
 given to him, as well as with the discoveries in morals 
 which he has toilsomely reached ; and this result of our 
 scientific study has nothing in it except what strengthens 
 our belief in the Fatherhood of God. We cannot lay 
 down as an ascertained fact the position of man in rela- 
 tion to the wide universe which lies beyond our know- 
 ledge, except in the vast generalisations of astronomical 
 theory ; still less can we see the being of God as 
 revealed in His works. 
 
 Jesus does not enter the field of science at all, which 
 is altogether left for the mind of man to explore. He 
 presents theology to us solely with a view to the regula- 
 tion of our conduct, and all the speculations of man's 
 reason may still go on undisturbed by any check from 
 His command. As He interfered not with the social or 
 family life of man, but sanctioned it by His gracious 
 sympathy in rejoicing with them that did rejoice, and 
 weeping with them that wept ; as He overturned not 
 the rehgious authority which ruled the temple worship, 
 nor the secular that governed the national affairs, 
 but gave tribute to both ; as He encouraged all the 
 manifold activities of man, by His sharing in the 
 industry of a carpenter : so He left the mind of man 
 
88 THE BEOTHERHOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 free to pursue its speculations iu physics, or metaphysics, 
 or theology. 
 
 Not only does He not discourage the inquiries of human 
 reason, or cast doubt on its truthfulness ; He even seems 
 to put value on the conclusions our speculative thought 
 arrives at. " If it wea?e not so," He said, speaking of the 
 belief in a future life, " I would have told you." Does 
 He not practically tell us that the instincts within us, 
 the " moving about in worlds not realised," are a means 
 whereby we come to know truth, and truth of the deepest 
 moment. He really assures His followers that if one 
 of these interior thoughts of the soul were false, He 
 would have told them, nor let them cherish a delusion. 
 The light of human reason, He tells us in almost as 
 many words, glows with a divine radiance, and is a real 
 guiding star, not a mere Will-o'-the-wisp deception. He 
 encourages us, therefore, in our search for the synthesis 
 of all knowledge ; but however far onward we may go, 
 we are not promised an arrival at the goal. To know 
 God we must be divine. As an actual fact, we have 
 seen that we find the synthesis in moral progress. Man 
 always makes the ethical purpose the standard of his 
 life. There is a sureness of foot on the highway of 
 conduct which the soul does not find in any other walk 
 of life. Hence it is that ordinary men seize on the 
 centre truth of Christ's teaching in a way that the 
 professed theologian is often a stranger to. 
 
 Through the history of the Church, amid all its dog- 
 matic speculation, the humble Christian has always a 
 practical belief in the Fatherhood of God. Even those 
 doctrinal systems which more or less keep this truth 
 
THE THEOLOGY OF JESUS 89 
 
 in the background, such as Calvinism, do not lessen the 
 hold of this great principle on the minds of the devout 
 multitude. The modern theology, which makes the 
 doctrine of the Fatherhood of God a central point from 
 which all truth radiates, only puts into more or less 
 scientific form what has always been the unexpressed 
 though general conviction of Christendom. 
 
 The movement of doctrine among theologians follows 
 the guiding of philosophical systems. Plato, Aristotle, 
 Kant, Hegel, are the steersmen at different times to the 
 ship of doctrine. But it is otherwise with the ordinary 
 life of faith in the Church. The truth is conducted 
 from soul to soul by the intercommunication of men, 
 and as it passes, the non-essential elements fall into 
 oblivion, the real and living heart alone abiding. It 
 is, after all, a certain disposition of the heart, call it faith 
 or love,^ by which man receives and retains the living 
 gospel, which is the same for all generations. 
 
 It is the ethical element which the heart of man 
 absorbs in the religion of Christ, for that religion revealed 
 truth in ethical forms and for ethical ends. How pro- 
 found was the saying of Napoleon : " For my part, it 
 is not the mystery of the Incarnation which I discover 
 in religion, but the mystery of social order, which associ- 
 ates with heaven that idea of equality which prevents 
 the rich from destroying the poor " ! 
 
 But though the teaching of Jesus has this ethical form 
 and purpose, we are not restrained from doctrinal inquiry 
 or speculation. As St. Augustine says : " The Christian 
 
 1 Julius Miiller said that Glaulje, faith, and Liebe, love, were 
 etymologically the same. 
 
90 THE BROTHERHOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 claims as his Master's own possession every fragment 
 of truth, wherever it may be found." The unity of truth 
 must exist, though we may but imperfectly apprehend it ; 
 and our reason must go fearlessly on, for all the land of 
 truth which lies before us is subject to the same divme 
 law. Nothing but gain can come from the pursuit of 
 knowledge in religion ; we are certain to find seemingly 
 parallel rays, which yet are coming from the one centre, 
 if we could stretch our vision far enough into the infinite. 
 But Christ reveals to us, not only God as our Father, 
 but also Himself as the Son of God ; and He gives the 
 assurance that he who hath seen Him hath seen the 
 Father. As Jesus revealed God as the Father, and . 
 revealed Him only in that ethical aspect ; so, in like 
 manner, He teaches the divine Sonship. He enters into 
 no metaphysical statements such as after ages have 
 thought it needful to make, but, while asserting His 
 own divinity, dwells on the moral attributes of His 
 Sonship. 
 
 He renders perfect obedience as a Son, and thus be- 
 comes a model for all mankmd. He has complete union 
 with God as His Father, and He calls men to share that 
 union, and in it to find peace and rest. " Come unto me 
 all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give 
 you rest." " I have declared unto them Thy name, and 
 will declare it ; that the love wherewith Thou hast loved 
 me may be in them, and I in them." Jesus did not 
 teach all the truth about Himself or His Father. We 
 cannot but ask why. Is it not plain that He confined 
 His teaching to the great purpose of His life ? He 
 wished to restore man to a unity of brotherhood and 
 
THE THEOLOGY OF JESUS 91 
 
 love, and revealed what was necessary for that purpose. 
 The doctrine of Christ about God has a practical end, and 
 is limited by that practical end. What is told us about 
 Father, Son, and Holy Ghost is given with a view of 
 creating the filial and brotherly feeling in man, of com- 
 pleting the divine purpose of unity in him. 
 
 The life of Jesus shows the same limitations. He 
 cured the sick, but did not stay the hand of disease and 
 death in the Holy Land while He dwelt there, still less 
 in the world at large. The laws of nature went on their 
 regular course without interruption from Him. Nay, 
 He often appeals to the order of all things, as pointing 
 to some moral thought. His perfect submission to the 
 dominion of law is seen when He speaks of the people 
 on whom the tower of Siloam fell. Why were they cut 
 off ? The Jews thought it was a judgment on them : 
 He simply saw an instance of universal natural law. 
 How was that law brought into the normal relations 
 of our human life ? Why were lives useful and happy 
 cut off suddenly ? He offers no reply to such questions, 
 which, indeed, may be asked of every death that ever 
 happened. These may imply some unknown standpoint 
 which human intelligence may not fully reach. It seems 
 as if Jesus took the simple attitude, here as elsewhere, of 
 trust in the inscrutable providence. Whatever happens, 
 God is our Father. Do not ask to know the secret of 
 His workings, but confide in His love. De Maistre 
 expresses this with fine insight : '• The just law is not that 
 which is executed upon all, but that which is made for 
 all. To find difficulties in such an order of things, one 
 must love them. . . . Strange that we should find it 
 
92 THE BKOTHERHOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 easier to be just to man than to God ! " ^ Who cannot 
 see that the mner unity of God's providence cannot be 
 unfolded to our imperfect sight ? We are not ourselves 
 divine, but mere creatures dependent on that providence. 
 What way is there out of the darkness, but to say with 
 Calvin that the absolute decrees of God cannot be known 
 by us ? Not that the Eeformer thought that the decree 
 was arbitrary, as we think it, but that it was outside our 
 power to harmonize. The completely filial attitude of 
 Jesus is seen in Gethsemane, when He prays as He 
 taught us. Thy will he done. 
 
 Jesus refers to the limitations of His knowledge here 
 and elsewhere when He says the Father only knows the 
 appointed time ; that the knowledge is not in the Son's 
 possession. Much thought has been given to this subject 
 of the limitations of the human life of Christ, and many 
 theories, especially in recent times, have been formed 
 upon it. We do not stay to discuss them, but simply 
 would point out that Jesus ever keeps in view the filial 
 relation He had to the divine Father. His purpose in 
 speaking at all about God was to bring men to the know- 
 ledge of their true sonship ; and no other thought of 
 God is taken heed of in the life and words of Jesus 
 Christ. All that would strengthen men's hearts to that 
 great divine end is dwelt upon, but the many questions 
 which our minds may ask are left unsolved, and the 
 problem of immortality itself is referred solely to the 
 Father's love. " In My Father's house are many 
 mansions." 
 
 It is manifest that Jesus confined His presentation 
 1 Soirees de St. Petersbourg, i. p. 25. 
 
THE THEOLOGY OF JESUS 93 
 
 of the divine nature as it was in Himself to its moral 
 manifestations. This may have been because it is only 
 in these aspects that man can be like God, and only in 
 these qualities could the divine appear in mortal flesh. 
 All other divine attributes are impossible to humanity. 
 But certain it is that if Christ was divine, He must be 
 perfectly pure and holy, the absolute moral ideal. His 
 goodness is not the mere effort after perfection that we 
 make by a process of trial and error ; as He says : " I have 
 glorified Thee on the earth ; I have finished the work 
 which Thou gavest Me to do." 
 
 Men's strivings after goodness are mere temporary 
 resting-places in the great progress to perfection, but 
 His life was a complete view of that perfection laid bare 
 to the sight of men. As the eye in seeing a wheel 
 revolving cannot discern aught but a dim circle in which 
 the separate parts are blended, but with the sudden 
 gleam which a lightning flash gives can distinguish 
 each spoke as if at rest ; so the human gaze which can 
 trace a slow development in man, and hope for its com- 
 pletion in far distant time, was able to learn by a divine 
 illumination the divine end of humanity shown in Jesus 
 Christ. 
 
 His knowledge, though divine, was conditioned by the 
 form of human thought, which cannot express the divine 
 ideas except through a long development in time. He 
 could not know as man what man could not apprehend. 
 But to God the long development is an immediate per- 
 ception : its unfolding is a condition of our thought alone ; 
 for it is we alone who are the bond-servants of time and 
 space. 
 
94 THE BROTHERHOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 In moral ideas the same development is seen, but 
 they are not beyond the reach of mortal speech. The 
 ethical presentation of the divine character of Jesns was 
 within the apprehension of man, who saw enwrapped in 
 Him the perfect union of the whole human race.^ The 
 theology of Jesus unfolded the great and final goal of 
 the universal brotherhood of man in God. 
 
 The teaching of Jesus exhibited therefore the Father- 
 hood of God, and in His life He shows Himself the Son 
 of Man, so that men might know the perfect love of God 
 from His words and works, and also realise their true 
 filial relation by His example. Christ had the one pur- 
 pose steadfastly before Hun, to unite men with one 
 another and with God. It is with this thought in His 
 mind that He unfolds the doctrine of the Holy Spirit. 
 The divine Spirit is to make and keep alive in the hearts 
 of men the teaching and life of Jesus, and thus establish 
 and perpetuate their brotherly union. " He shall teach 
 you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, 
 whatsoever I have said unto you." St. Paul tells us 
 how this became an ever-increasing reality in the ex- 
 perience of mankind. 
 
 We have been told that our present age is the dis- 
 pensation of the Spirit ; and the signs of the times assure 
 us of the fact. The increase of human sympathy and 
 charity, the desire for peace and unity among nations, 
 the progress in the knowledge of the work of God in 
 universal nature, are all evidences of the ceaseless opera- 
 tions of the Spirit, who is sent to guide us into all truth, 
 St. Paul will unfold for us more fully the working of the 
 1 St. Jolm xii. 32. 
 
THE THEOLOGY OF JESUS 95 
 
 Spirit, but Christ completed His work of love by reveal- 
 ing, not only God as our Father, but also the Holy 
 Spirit, who confirms us in our filial position, and 
 heareth witness with our spirit that we are the children of 
 God. 
 
CHAPTEE VIII 
 
 THE ETHICAL PEINCIPLE OF JESUS 
 
 The ethical teaching of Jesus groups itself round the 
 central thought of the Fatherhood of God and its con- 
 sequent, the brotherhood of man. The Master does not 
 give set commandments which fence in the daily life, but 
 bestows an inward principle of love, which allows the 
 whole being a perfect freedom. The follower of Christ 
 must regard himself through all his life as a member of 
 the human family, and all his actions must be conditioned 
 by his regard to others. Jesus gave a summary of the 
 commandments which embodies this idea — love to God 
 leading to love to our neighbour. 
 
 The question has been asked, whether Christ added 
 any new ethical principle to the life of man ? Had His 
 teaching any law of life to lay down which man had not 
 known before ? His own attitude seems to disclaim any 
 novel doctrine, for He says He came to fulfil the law, 
 not to destroy it. Human nature was not altered by 
 the coming of Christ ; the natural relations which the 
 soul has to God are eternal in their character ; and the 
 laws of conduct must therefore have a certain form which 
 is essentially permanent, though appearing only in an 
 ever-developing idea. It is by degrees, therefore, that 
 
 96 
 
THE ETHICAL PRINCIPLE OF JESUS 97 
 
 men can understand them and apply them ; and every 
 age shows an advance in practical morality. The human 
 race leaves behind it its days of the weakness of child- 
 hood, and goes on to ever-renewing strength. Men 
 have grown in their knowledge of duty ; they better see 
 how to act to each other so as to promote the general 
 welfare. All their best thoughts are aided by the 
 teaching and example of Christ, who showed in His life 
 and death an absolute sacrifice. Those who have chosen 
 to look have found forerunners of almost all His teach- 
 ings in different moralists ; but no such perfect life has 
 ever been known. 
 
 The absolutely pure life of Christ gave a new ideal to 
 mankind. In our weakness we shelter ourselves under 
 the shadow of a great man's sins. We remember that 
 our hero was of like passions, and often, without following 
 his nobleness, we excuse our own baseness by his some- 
 time fall. All the moral teaching in the world up to 
 Christ's time had lacked the sanction of a stainless hfe. 
 This He gave, and thus gave a baptism of power to man- 
 kind. The divine purity became incarnate in man, and 
 opened up a new ideal of human life and character. 
 The dispensation of Jesus may be said truly, therefore, 
 to be a new ethical revelation, both in man's relation 
 to the absolute good, and in his relation of love to his 
 fellow-men. But that the rudiments of all that is true 
 and good are in the soul of man, we dare not deny, and 
 it is because Jesus saw them that He was able to lead 
 us upward. 
 
 It may accordingly have been no new revelation when 
 Jesus summed up His teaching in the words which 
 7 
 
98 THE BEOTHERHOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 follow ; but He spoke with a voice of authority, and not 
 as the scribes : " Thou shalt love the Lord thy God 
 with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy 
 mind. This is the first and great commandment. And 
 the second is like unto it. Thou shalt love thy neigh- 
 bour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all 
 the law and the prophets." 
 
 What is the nature of the love which we are to bear 
 to God ? It is that which children ought to have to a 
 perfectly loving father ; when we know that God is our 
 Father, that knowledge will always beget that love in our 
 souls. It implies, therefore, a complete trust in God ; 
 and since we trust Him, we yield ourselves to His will. 
 We are convinced that that will is perfectly wise and 
 kind, and we do not question its behests. The efforts of 
 mystics to realise an absorption of the spirit into God are 
 not acts of reason, but are the imperfect efforts of deep 
 affection to express itself. Between mortals in this earthly 
 life there are certain possibilities of unspoken love, the 
 glance of the eye, the touch of the hand, the joy in the 
 presence of the loved one, which lead the soul to crave 
 some analogy in its relations with God. Without saying, 
 with Kant, that we cannot feel a passive love to God, 
 and can only show it in action, it yet remains true that 
 the filial love of the soul must mainly find its utterance 
 in love of the brethren, as St. John teaches : " He that 
 loveth not his brother, whom he hath seen, how can he 
 love God, whom he hath not seen ? " 
 
 The words of Jesus, which command us to give the love 
 of our heart and soul and mind to God, seem, however, to 
 imply that the filial attitude of the soul to God is in 
 
THE ETHICAL PRINCIPLE OF JESUS 99 
 
 itself a love of Him. But to make love no more than 
 such a filial attitude is the very summit of selfishness, 
 and assumes that God has no children but ourselves. 
 The motive of love which Christ appeals to is the grate- 
 ful acknowledgment of the gifts we receive from God, 
 gifts which reach their crown in the forgiveness of sins. 
 Those who tell us that we should love God with pure 
 adoration, from a sense of this perfection, say what they 
 cannot find easy to prove. For we cannot think of Him 
 except in relation to ourselves ; to think of Him as our 
 Father, is to be moved by filial affection into which a certain 
 amount of gratitude enters. It is true that in such love 
 there must always be an element of self ; but how can 
 man escape from his own consciousness ? Fenelon tells 
 us that the special self-interest which we manifest in 
 such feelings removes from them their highest glory. 
 " Love," he says, " without any motive of self-interest, 
 with a view to blessedness, is evidently more perfect than 
 that which is mingled with such a motive." Such may 
 be the case with reference to an anticipation of future 
 rewards, the thought of which must awake the selfish- 
 ness of man's nature, but it does not apply to that feel- 
 ing of grateful thanksgiving for the present and the past. 
 Men feel that Xavier's hymn speaks truthfully with refer- 
 ence to the love to God we have at our best moments — 
 
 "Not tliat in heaven my liome may be, 
 Not lest I die eternally, — 
 Not from tlie hopes of joys above me, 
 But even as Thou Thyself didst love me, 
 So love I and will ever love Thee." ^ 
 
 ^ Longfellow's translation. It is more probable that the hymn 
 was St. Teresa's. 
 
100 THE BROTHEEHOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 The references which Christ makes to the love which 
 man bears to God are fewer than might be supposed 
 from the intensity with which the mystics have urged 
 this on mankind as the supreme ideal of religion. He 
 knew the limitations of our nature, and directs His dis- 
 ciples to give brotherly love to Him and to each other, 
 apparently because the love of God which the mystics 
 delight to speak of, was well-nigh, if not altogether, 
 unattainable. Beyond the words in which He sums up the 
 commandments. He does not speak much to His disciples 
 of the duty of love we owe to God, but rather directs 
 their thoughts to the practical fruits of it in the brotherly 
 life. Even to the Jews, He points out that if they really 
 loved God as their father, it would be more than a 
 mere word with them : it would bring out of their hearts 
 a real affection for Jesus, His Son, instead of a constant 
 mistrust and hatred. The love of God is the essential 
 condition of the new life, but Christ concerns Himself 
 rather with its practical applications than with dis- 
 cussing its source and mental consciousness. In this He 
 differs from His followers, who have too much occupied 
 themselves with theories, and not enough applied their 
 energies to a world whose sin and sorrow are ever calling 
 for comfort and guidance. 
 
 The practical teaching of Christ is not hard to under- 
 stand, yet it is not often that we meet with men who try 
 to carry it out. It depends for its motive on a loving 
 knowledge of the principle of brotherhood, which is not 
 easily won in a world where the struggle for life is so 
 fierce as it is with us. Its general form is that of the 
 golden rule : Wliatsoever ye vmuld that men should do to 
 
THE ETHICAL PRINCIPLE OF JESUS 101 
 
 you, do ye even so to them. This is said to be found in 
 the utterances of earlier teachers of mankind, such as 
 Confucius ; l3ut when it is a mere maxim, without the 
 inspiring principle of love, it lacks power. To act in 
 such wise is easy enough when one loves another, as 
 in a family; one does not consciously apply the rule, 
 which, though it lies hidden in the mind, is yet the 
 secret spring of action. The flower of all generous 
 action is its unconsciousness : morality is ruined when it 
 becomes a thing of set enactments which we con over 
 and try to obey. Yet such is the weakness of our heart, 
 that the direct guidance of a definite command is a great 
 help to us. In the teaching of Christ there are few 
 such commandments, and those that seem plain enough 
 are rarely observed. 
 
 The root of the practice of brotherhood is love. And 
 over and over again Jesus enforces it on His hearers. 
 " A new commandment I give unto you. That ye love one 
 another." " Love your enemies." " By this shall all 
 men know that ye are My disciples, if ye love one 
 another." " This is My commandment. That ye love one 
 another, as I have loved you." There is no essential 
 difference between St. John and the Synoptic Gospels, 
 but the form of the commandment is more restricted in 
 the later writer. Church ideas seem to have come in to 
 narrow his views and cloud his vision of truth ; and he 
 omits the wide and generous thoughts of the universal 
 love which we find in the Sermon on the Mount. 
 
 That men's chief duty is social, is enforced throughout 
 all the life of Jesus ; a duty which stays not at the 
 sacrifice of life itself. What light we have we must give 
 
102 THE BROTHERHOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 to others ; we must let our light so shine before men that 
 they may see our good works. Virtue which is private 
 and individual loses its real power, which is to promote 
 the welfare of mankind. The parable of the Talents 
 enforces the same truth. Every moral precept is referred 
 to the same standard. Truthfulness, purity, mercy, are 
 all considered with a view to the duty which members of 
 the same family owe to each other. The whole ethical 
 field is social ; and individual life has no meaning apart 
 from its fellowship with mankind. A thoughtful writer ^ 
 has in recent times denied that Christianity teaches this. 
 Deeply interested in social questions, he seems to see 
 that Christianity fails to rise to the highest social ideal, 
 while yet admitting that the central spirit of Christianity 
 is the spirit of self-sacrifice, the effacement of personal 
 ambition for the general welfare. What nobler form of 
 social life could exist ? Greater love hath no man than 
 this, that he lay down his life for his friends. The same 
 writer thinks there was a fatal taint of individualism in 
 the followers of Christ, if not in Jesus Himself ; and that 
 the reason of this is, that the key to the character of 
 Christ was lost. But that is a mere assumption. We 
 have shown that Christ revealed, as never had been done 
 before, the Fatherhood of God. He tells us that love for 
 His Father, and obedience to that compelling love, moved 
 Him to love men and to die for them. The same love He 
 desired His disciples to share, even though they could 
 only show it in a less degree. Of all the religions, and 
 of all the forms of moral life, which the world has ever 
 
 ^ J. S. Mackenzie, in the International Journal of Ethics, April 
 1892, p. 331. 
 
THE ETHICAL PKINCIPLE OF JESUS 103 
 
 seen, the religion of Jesus is the least individual, and 
 affords the largest and most generous social ideal. 
 
 To represent it as a life lived for the world beyond, is 
 equally untrue. The life of Christ was eminently a full 
 human life, taking count of material needs and enjoy- 
 ments, as well as of spiritual desires. It is a caricature 
 of Christianity which we see in the monkish or ecclesi- 
 astical ideal, which is neither a service of God nor man, 
 but simply of self. The golden rule has an individualistic 
 aspect, which is increased when we read into it the sum 
 of the commandments, " Love thy neighbour as thyself." 
 But the precepts enjoining non-resistance to evil, recom- 
 mending lending where no repayment is possible, and 
 giving love without hope of return, shed a more generous 
 light on the practical application of it. We are not to 
 make mere justice the standard of our life, for God does 
 not do so with us, but to yield to others a love which is 
 self-sacrificing even to giving life itself for others. The 
 rule of duty seems to be a development higher than 
 loving our neighbour as ourselves ; we are to love him 
 more. We must give up our happiness to secure his 
 goodness, our ease to recover his health, our possessions 
 at his demand. And what is left for us ? The joy of 
 being like God ; and the power which our self-sacrificing 
 love gives of purifying the world, and making all men 
 united in the love and service of God. The gospel is the 
 uncompromising teacher of altruism, specially because it 
 has assurance of a great end in view. 
 
 Among Christian writers, Vinet is the most eloquent 
 and philosophic advocate of individualism. His teaching 
 represents a phase of life which is now past, and in 
 
104 THE BROTHERHOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 Christian thought his ideas are rarely present. The 
 individualist theory of politics which is associated in our 
 land with Mr. Mill has gone into the limbo of lost 
 causes ; and Vinet's religious ideas, which have the same 
 parentage, are little else than matters of history. Vinet 
 points out that it is the individual who possesses con- 
 science and responsibility who will be brought to judg- 
 ment, and who alone can have direct relation with God. 
 But the theology of Vinet is defective. The future of 
 humanity is not to be thought of as a group of beings 
 separately existing, but as a restored world. We are all 
 members one of another, and we lose our independent life 
 for the sake of each other. The world was redeemed, 
 and the world will be finally restored, as a unity. The 
 individual is higher than society, says Vinet, which is 
 the mere aggregation of men. But whence comes this 
 maxim ? If we live for mankind, is not the human race 
 greater than any of the items which compose it ? His 
 theory would not destroy the Church so much as the 
 family. It is the clearest expression of much of our 
 modern selfish Protestantism, which deserves much of the 
 invective which Positivists lavish on it. 
 
 We see the same type of mind in Channing, who also 
 preached the gospel of individualism. He tells that 
 " society is chiefly important as it ministers to, and calls 
 forth, intellectual and moral energy and freedom. Our 
 social nature and connections are means. Inward power 
 is the end." Surely this is only partly true : if we have 
 inward power, it is that we may promote the good of our 
 fellow-men. We exist for the whole good of mankmd, 
 in so far as we can promote it. What did Christ say ? 
 
THE ETHICAL PRINCIPLE OF JESUS 105 
 
 " Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of 
 these My brethren, ye have done it unto Me." We serve 
 God in serving man ; indeed, it is our truest way of show- 
 ing our love to Him. We may deceive ourselves about 
 that abstract love which Fenelon urges on us, — love 
 which is true enough as to its origin in the sense of the 
 divine Fatherhood, but which vanishes into a mist if it 
 does not breathe the outer air of human fellowship and 
 duty. Dr. Channing regretted that religion had not done 
 more to promote the enlarged intercourse of minds ; but 
 he need not have had any surprise, if religion is to be of 
 so intensely individual a type. Individualism of any 
 form is destined to perish as an influence over mankind, 
 which is daily awaking to a richer knowledge of this 
 social unity. When Madame Chantal said she was will- 
 ing to be damned for God's glory if it so pleased Him, 
 she could not really have trusted His fatherly love ; 
 and when Madame Guyon was hardly conscious of her 
 own existence, to such a degree of holy quietude had she 
 reached, she had forgotten that she was but one of a 
 great family, many of whom had too hard a fight with 
 life to have the possibility of such raptures, and whose 
 necessities were calling ever for aid and sympathy. 
 
 There is indeed a disease of the contemplative soul 
 which wraps itself in its individual life, and this malady 
 appears in various forms of religious belief. We see it 
 in the Amiels and Senancours ^ as well as the more 
 
 1 Not that Senancour or Amiel were selfishly heedless of others, 
 but they did not realise their duty as social beings. Senancour says 
 the peace he desires is the peace which all good men long for — 
 " peace in the peace of all men." 
 
106 THE BROTHERHOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 religious solitaries. Nature avenges herself for such 
 disobedience to our best instincts ; and the nobler the 
 soul, the deeper the sorrow of a lonely and fruitless 
 life. What Sainte-Beuve said of Obermann is true of all 
 such careers. " He is the type of the dumb and abortive 
 genius, of the full spring of sensibility wasted upon 
 desert sands, of the hail-smitten harvest which never 
 matures its gold." Man must not make the life of con- 
 templation an end in itself: our years are too few to 
 spend on ourselves. We must indeed take time to think 
 over our actions, if we would not have them unwise ; 
 but we must not think for thinking's sake. The desire 
 of culture which Goethe taught men is a part of our 
 nature, but the culture should bear fruit. The longing 
 for rest and peace, which is the poet's dream, will be 
 satisfied if we earn it by work for others. The time we 
 spend in thought and prayer is the time of refreshing, 
 but we must use the strength we get from our quiet 
 hours. Such is Jesus' teaching: "Work while it is 
 day : the night cometh when no man can work." 
 
 The harvest Christ called His disciples to was not the 
 harvest of their own souls, but of mankind. The whole 
 scheme of Christian morals starts from this idea, and 
 moves steadily onward to the goal of universal brother- 
 hood. 
 
 It is true that the gospel gives us the freedom of 
 children, but it is that we may serve others. Whosoever 
 will he great, let him he a servant. The servant has often 
 work from which his soul shrinks, but let him remember 
 the divine Master, and his service will be freedom and 
 joy. How untrue are the words of Eenan, untrue in 
 
THE ETHICAL PRINCIPLE OF JESUS 107 
 
 their application to St. Paul, of whom they were spoken, 
 but equally false as regards all human life. " The man 
 of action, though noble, and working for a noble end, 
 is less near to God than he who has lived in the pure 
 love of the true, the good, and the beautiful. The con- 
 tact with reality always soils a little. The first places in 
 the kingdom are reserved for those who adore the ideal 
 alone. We must even, I think, place Paul below Francis 
 of Assisi and the author of the Imitation, who both saw 
 Jesus much nearer." This is the preference of an 
 unhealthy nature, to whom all things were distorted. 
 
 Do not let us be deceived by such false thoughts, 
 which come to us sometimes as temptations. It is by 
 the active life that we show our love to God ; the 
 service of man is the service of our own souls. It is an 
 essential principle of Christ's teaching, that mankind is 
 one social body, for the welfare of which all are bound 
 to labour. The individual is entirely lost in the duty to 
 mankind, as Christ assures us that our private affections 
 may become a temptation to us, and may gender selfish- 
 ness in our heart by confining its sympathies to our own 
 narrow sphere. He that loveth father or mother more 
 than Me, is not worthy of Me. No more startling paradox 
 has ever been uttered on the social relations of mankind 
 than these words. They have their parallel in the 
 EepubHc of Plato, where family life was to lose its isola- 
 tion, and become a universal affection. 
 
 The ethical principle of Christ is entirely social, and 
 has for its root the well-being of the whole human 
 family. But to give it a standard, He asks His disciples 
 to make their conduct to Him a rule for all men. If 
 
108 THE BKOTHEKHOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 they would give everything to Jesus, then so are they 
 to act to all men ; if they feel a love to Him, so are 
 they to love all men, even their enemies. Some see in 
 this command of Jesus to give to others as to Himself, a 
 representation of Him as the ideal man, the type of 
 humanity. I doubt if such thoughts entered into the 
 minds of His followers then, or if at any time they are 
 easily conceivable. A philosophical conception such as 
 the ideal man does not readily enter the sphere of active 
 life, and the ethics of Jesus were for the common people, 
 who heard Him gladly. For plain men the remembrance 
 of Him, especially of His dying love, is a stimulus of 
 surpassing sympathetic power. It is a standard of 
 action which affords hardly any limit to the philan- 
 thropic feeling. Love one another, as I have loved you. 
 
 We here arrive at the Christian conscience. The con- 
 science consists of a perception of duty, accompanied 
 with an element of pleasure and pain. This emotional 
 element in ordinary life in all likelihood arises from the 
 opinion of our fellow-men. Their approval or dis- 
 approval is really the standard of our emotional attitude 
 to conduct. An individual may defy such opinion, but 
 it is because he has come to the conclusion that the 
 judgment of other men is ill-founded. Jesus reprobates 
 the conscience which is limited by the standard of 
 the ordinary human life about the disciples. Woe unto 
 you, ivhen all men shall speak well of you. Except your 
 righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and 
 Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of 
 heaven. If ye love them luhich love you, what reivard have 
 ye ? Do not even the publicans the same ? What then 
 
THE ETHICAL PRINCIPLE OF JESUS 109 
 
 does He supply instead of this public opinion, made up of 
 the traditions of the ciders ? He asks them to remember 
 Him, and do according to His commandment, ever 
 dwelling in His love. The writer to the Hebrews speaks 
 of crucifying the Son of God, afresh, which expresses the 
 extreme form of remorse of conscience ; but in all 
 spheres of life this feeling becomes the standard. In 
 the ideal judgment which men are subjected to in the 
 parable which Christ gives of the Son of Man coming in 
 glory, the righteous are accepted because they saw their 
 Master hungered and gave Him meat ; thirsty, and gave 
 Him drink ; a stranger, and took Him in ; naked, and 
 clothed Him ; sick, and visited Him ; in prison, and 
 came unto Him. They had not so served Christ, but 
 He said : " Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of 
 the least of these of My brethren, ye have done it unto 
 Me." What power has this conscience when awakened 
 in a man ! It is the strongest moral force in the world, 
 and may be seen in its typical example in the case of 
 Zinzendorf, whose whole life was changed by seeing under 
 an Eccc Homo : " This have I done for thee : what hast 
 thou done for Me ? " 
 
 The ordinary conscience has few moments of approval : 
 it only visits us when we have wandered from the path 
 of right. To do our duty is apt to make us feel that 
 at best we are but unprofitable servants. But the 
 Christian conscience has a joy in service which ordinary 
 life is hardly conscious of. Bitter is our regret when we 
 come short of our duty, as indeed we always do ; but 
 the gladness of seeming to serve, however poorly, so kind 
 a Master, is one of the highest happinesses in life. The 
 
110 THE BROTHERHOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 emotion of pleasure which generally accompanies an act 
 of kindness is sometimes disappointed by ingratitude, and 
 the man who finds his chief joy in benevolence from the 
 happiness it gives others, has his feelings overcast by 
 almost as dark a shadow as a bad conscience gives. Mere 
 moral rectitude can hardly bear up against open indifier- 
 ence to the giver of some benefit ; but it is otherwise 
 with the Christian conscience. What was done, was done 
 for His sake ; and the reward of service is thus a constant 
 quantity, whatever be the effect on the receiver of the 
 kindness. That the disciple is one with Christ, is shown us 
 in the parable of the Vine and the Branches ; and St. Paul 
 carries this feeling of unity to the inner sources of being. 
 
 The law of the Christian conscience is to do to all men 
 as we should do to the best, to Jesus Himself. In actual 
 practice it sometimes takes another form, to do as Jesus 
 Himself did. The imitation of Christ has been the effort 
 of His followers in all ages, and is counselled by the 
 apostles. Too often has such effort been limited to the 
 devout life, as in a Kempis's treatise ; but the imitation 
 is there most imperfect. The greater part of Christ's life 
 was spent in active work in which intervals of retirement 
 rarely appear. How the monastic ideal of the Eoman 
 Church could come to take such a life as its source, is one 
 of the mysteries of the wayward reason of man. 
 
 The whole theory of life by rule, which monkery bred 
 in men's minds, is contrary to the organic freedom of the 
 soul. To serve men because it is a duty, to help them 
 from fear of hell or hope of heaven, are all clumsy 
 methods of existence. The Christian heart should have 
 laid them all aside, for they are but the measured right- 
 
THE ETHICAL PKINCIPLE OF JESUS 111 
 
 eousness of the scribes and Pharisees. Love to mankind 
 not consciously doled out by drops from some phial daily 
 filled, as in the monastic life, but a free movement of the 
 organic principle within the heart, is the true impelling 
 power. "We do not feed a man because we are told to do 
 so, but because he is hungry, and our fellow mortal. 
 Accompanying this act there may be that tacit appeal to 
 the remembrance of Christ which we have called con- 
 science ; but it may lie latent within us, and only appear 
 on great occasions when there is a strife of opinion within 
 our soul. The man who has truly reached the social 
 ideal of Christianity, will feed another with as little 
 conscious motive as he feeds himself. This is the com- 
 plete arrival at the goal of Christian ethics. It is not 
 necessarily an enthusiastic feehug ; it is no necessarily 
 exhilarating atmosphere ; but is simply our common air. 
 We must have regard to others in all we do ; and we 
 must actively seek their good. But may not there be a 
 conflict in our life ; may we not neglect ourselves while 
 helping other men ? There need be none, for we shall 
 attain our highest ideal in the desire to give men the 
 best we can do for them ; as Christ illustrates by the 
 parable of the Talents. 
 
 But we are not called to random benevolence, which 
 takes no heed of consequences. Ordinary worldly people 
 are fond of giving because it warms their heart. It may 
 ruLQ the receiver of charity, it may pauperise a whole 
 generation ; but that is naught, if the giver has a passing 
 glow of benevolence. This is what St. Paul condemns, 
 and assures us that no gift is worth anything if love be 
 not its root. St. Paul had in view the error of regarding 
 
112 THE BROTHERHOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 giving as the sum of our charity. Are we to do no more 
 than bestow our surplus on men ? Are we to regard life 
 simply as a hospital where we are all nurses ? Surely it 
 were wise to find out the reason why so many soldiers 
 are down with the camp fever, and remove the deadly 
 poison. We must blame the Eoman Church with its 
 noxious theories of good works counted up and paid for 
 by the divine Treasury, and weighed out as in the 
 balance of the Mohammedan judgment day, for the 
 effeminate folly of copious and undiscerning charity. We 
 are bound to give to men our wise thoughts as well as 
 our gifts : to give without reflection is to deprive them of 
 the benefit of our knowledge. This is against the teach- 
 ing of the gospel, which ever teaches us that our inner 
 life is to take account of other men ; that even in our 
 thoughts we must neither withhold from them any good 
 nor do them any injustice. Such, indeed, is the true 
 meaning of love, which is a feeling within us, more than 
 a plan of action without. Eeal love for men will think 
 over how best to serve them, and will not idly run into 
 frantic showers of gold. When Carlyle and Dickens 
 poured their scorn on " model prisons," the philanthropic 
 world felt a thrill as if some revived heathenism were among 
 us, and speaking through them. After all, it was only a 
 call to men to see that their ways were wise. Good in- 
 tentions, so called, are not everything ; an indulgent 
 parent is not the best. Our Lord gives His sanction to 
 no such weak and thoughtless way of viewing life ; nor 
 do His apostles. 
 
 And here we come to the kernel of practical wisdom 
 in our social conduct. Christianity lays down as 
 
THE ETHICAL PRINCIPLE OF JESUS 113 
 
 absolute the law of altruism. We are bound to live for 
 others, and in all things consider their highest advantage, 
 which it tells us is their union in a race of brothers who 
 love God and serve each other. 
 
 How is this to be attained ? Christ gives no complete 
 system of ethical detail ; as in His theology. He leaves it 
 open for the mind of man to philosophise. The great 
 principles of human conduct are discoverable by reason, 
 as the efforts of the ancient moralists show ; and these 
 should be our guidance. We must modify all our 
 thoughts by the svipreme authority of love, but otherwise 
 they have free play. What is best for the community ? 
 Such must be our question. Everyone must sacrifice 
 his personal preferences to the urgent needs of social 
 welfare. If it be required that one should bestow all 
 his goods to feed the poor, then it must be done ; but 
 if it be good that men should gather wealth that they 
 may distribute it wisely, then let rich men increase their 
 stores. Christ supplies the general principle which 
 should fill our hearts — the feeling of love to all man- 
 kind ; He sets before us the ideal at which we must aim, 
 the brotherly communion of all men in all that is good 
 and true and beautiful, in all that is happy and peace- 
 ful and hopeful — in love to man and love to God. 
 
 All ethical systems help to this end, since to the 
 Christian they receive their sanction from Jesus. The 
 wisest system is His best helper. Utilitarianism, in- 
 tuitionalism, the ethics of the evolutionary and of the 
 Hegelian schools, are all alike maps of the territory 
 of human conduct, and will guide us well, provided 
 we have the true compass — the love of man inspired 
 
 + 
 
114 THE BROTHERHOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 by love to God and to His Son Jesus Christ. Our 
 Saviour regards sin as the departure from this great 
 principle. We are lost sheep, if we leave the love of 
 God ; and our selfish wanderings, as He teaches in the 
 parable of the Prodigal Son, lead us further and further 
 into the mire and darkness of a sinful life. It is love 
 that brings us back ; and dwelling in love we abide in 
 purity, and are in deed and truth the sons of God. 
 
CHAPTER IX 
 
 THE AUTHORITY OF JESUS 
 
 The pious mind does not question the authority of Jesus 
 Christ. It accepts Him as the divine Saviour, and lays 
 aside every doubt of His absolute truth and the perpetual 
 obligation of His commands. The inner intuition of love 
 admits of no change in the constant trust which the soul 
 gives. No reasonings could alter a conviction which has 
 become part of the life of the Christian. The verifica- 
 tion of experience which the devout man has had, is an 
 assurance far above the conclusions of reason. " The 
 heart has reasons which the reason has no knowledge of," 
 said Pascal ; and the voice of mankind has spoken assent 
 to his words in many phases of life. This acceptance 
 of Christ may come from a distinct considering of His 
 claims, and concluding that He is divine, and therefore 
 infallible ; or from feeling that the heart gives a response 
 to His teaching, and has received a divine illumination. 
 
 To the thoughtful observer the need of a divine 
 sanction for the duties of life becomes a self-evident fact. 
 We must find it in some phase of the divine revelation 
 to man. " Eeligion," said Kant, " is the recognition of 
 all our duties as divine commands." That form of ethicjil 
 science which regards our life as a gradual growth 
 
 115 
 
116 THE BROTHERHOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 towards a divine ideal, brings before iis, with great clear- 
 ness, the ever constant presence of God's working in the 
 human soul. It sees that a God distant from men, as 
 the Epicureans fabled their deities, is not readily 
 received by the human heart at its best. To such a 
 view may be traced the severance between morals and 
 religion in the ancient world ; though one cannot but 
 think the divorce is sometimes exaggerated, when we see 
 how the poets appeal to the gods as the final arbiters of 
 all human conduct. To such a view, also, is to be attri- 
 buted the divorce between outward piety and honesty of 
 which our commercial world has shown too many in- 
 stances. Men say God is far away : He is not with us ; 
 and He enters not into our life. 
 
 To know that there is a God who approves of goodness 
 is not enough to satisfy the human heart. We need a 
 divine sanction, but it must be in our very sight. It 
 must come into our consciousness, and become a factor 
 of all our moral judgments. Such an influence is some- 
 times seen in the thought of rewards and punishments. 
 The knowledge that God " is a jealous God," still has its 
 force in human hearts. The hope of heaven and the fear 
 of hell still move mankind, though it is the latter that 
 has the heaviest weight. No universalism has ever been 
 able to shake the invincible sense of justice within the 
 average man ; and if his idea as to the method of divine 
 retribution be crude, it is unwavering in its fidelity to the 
 great principle that what a man sows that shall he reap. 
 
 But the Christian soul has found a better way than the 
 stony path where we are driven by the scourge of the law 
 as reluctant travellers to some land which we are told is 
 
THE AUTHORITY OF JESUS 117 
 
 pleasant, but of which all we know is that it is far off. 
 This better way is that identification of the soul with 
 Christ which is felt in true faith. When Luther said, 
 " I am Christ," he did not go far beyond the words of St. 
 Paul, who finds the " life of Jesus manifest in his mortal 
 flesh." This faith does not come from knowing that Jesus 
 was divine, from His proving Himself so by His word 
 and works, by His life and death. It does not arise from 
 our carefully weighing the evidence as if we were the 
 judges in the case. Books are written to gather up all 
 the facts which may help men to right thought on this 
 doctrine about Jesus ; and they have doubtless some 
 value. But the fact is that the knowledge comes after 
 the inner life is begun, and is not the highway thither. 
 The writer of the Epistle known as that of the Second 
 of St. Peter puts this very clearly. He puts faith first, 
 then the practical proof of that faith — virtue, and know- 
 ledge follows. This agrees with the words of Jesus, who 
 tells the Jev/s that obedience precedes knowledge^ as to 
 His authority, whether it is divine or human. 
 
 Many devout men can give a very meagre account of 
 Christian dogma, and may make many departures from 
 what the Church has laid down, while all the time having 
 within them a true faith. True union with Christ does 
 not result from accurate thinking, but from love to God 
 and man, which is shown in the life. With most, the 
 motive which fills the soul is the memory of Jesus, and 
 especially of His death, which excites the emotion of 
 grateful love to a passionate height. But the inner 
 experience of the soul does not willingly lend itself to 
 1 St. Jolin vii. 17. 
 
118 THE BROTHERHOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 analysis, and no man knows himself well enough to tell 
 us his secret heart. Still less can anyone penetrate into 
 the consciousness of another ; for even if he could have 
 such sympathy as to understand it, he would translate it 
 into his own soul-workings. Men are isolated from each 
 other in the form of their union with God. They are 
 united in the fruit which that union bears of love to Him 
 and to their fellow-men. 
 
 The inner certainty is the only real certainty we have 
 of God. We only can conceive Him to our hearts in His 
 fatherly love as revealed in Jesus. Finding that trust in 
 Jesus gives us that inexpressible confidence, that hidden 
 impulse of life in our souls, we cannot withhold our being 
 from the assurance that He is divine. 
 
 There is an analogy in our emotion of joy and solemnity 
 in the presence or memory of the beauty of nature. There 
 is nothing before our mind, even if we reflect, but a great 
 scheme of cause and effect ; yet our heart knows there is 
 a higher thought enwrapped. Who has not felt, on a bright 
 morning in spring, when the earth was revealing her life 
 and fairness, a thrill of assurance that God was the uni- 
 versal life of all, that a glimpse was given of 
 
 " That Light whose emile kindles the universe, 
 That Beauty in which all things work and move " ? 
 
 And the certainty to the inner life of the divine nature 
 of Christ comes on us with a like mysterious movement 
 as much beyond the understanding. " The light of soul 
 consciousness," says Baader, " is born of the lightning." 
 
 When once the whole being has grasped the belief in 
 Christ, all His teaching and life have a divine sanction. 
 
THE AUTHORITY OF JESUS 119 
 
 Not that one takes the commands of the Master as 
 separate precepts, and recalls them at need, for such 
 mechanical obedience is foreign to true love. But the 
 soul is so united to the life of Christ, and has such 
 sympathy with Him, even to the fellowship of His suffer- 
 ings, that the moral life flows as a natural stream from 
 the heart of faith. 
 
 There are many ways of expressing the inner truth of 
 faith, each of which is but an approach to the reality. 
 The feeling of dependence we have on Jesus has been 
 interpreted by many human facts, which are in part 
 analogies, in part actual verities. But they all combine 
 to strengthen the soul in that faith which is the centre 
 of her true life of brotherhood, which leads to the per- 
 petual joy of love and service. This feeling of inward 
 response to Jesus may be aided by the natural dependence 
 we have on great teachers, whatever their claims may be. 
 Many who do not acknowledge Jesus as divine, who 
 regard Him merely as a Jewish rabbi, yet carry out with 
 unvarying diligence His commandments. When we see 
 the devotion of certain thinkers to such a man as Comte, 
 it is not difficult to understand how the wisest and best 
 of men would bow before the will of Jesus, though they 
 thought Him but a fellow mortal. 
 
 The influence of great minds on their followers is one 
 of the most wonderful facts of life. It is an appointed 
 way for the mass of mankind to know truth ; for they 
 can only learn it after it has passed through another's 
 mind. Most people need to be fed with knowledge ; 
 there are few that can roam through the world, and, like 
 hunters, find game ready to their guns. The natural 
 
120 THE BROTHERHOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 loyalty of the human heart is a powerful lever for human 
 progress ; for it is the best men who come to lead, and 
 the divine voice speaks through them. 
 
 Is it not true that all great movements have been led 
 by a great man ? Whence he arises, we ask not ; if he 
 is the mere creature of the influences of his time, he 
 comes from Grod, who rules the course of time. And if 
 he is the mere product of his age, he gathers into a focus 
 the light of his age, so that all men turn to him. Not 
 only during his own brief day does his light shine, but 
 the generations after him are also blessed. It was some 
 feeling of admiration for the truly lofty in man that 
 brought the disciples first to Jesus' feet ; and it was long 
 before they knew how high they had climbed. But had it 
 not been for that inborn loyalty of the human heart to the 
 great and good, the first step would not have been taken. 
 Carlyle must be quoted here, for no other has told us the 
 truth about great men so nobly as he. " No nobler feel- 
 ing than this of admiration for one higher than himself 
 dwells in the breast of man. It is to this hour, and at 
 all hours, the vivifying influence in man's life. EeHgions, 
 I find, stand upon it ; not paganism only, but far higher 
 and truer religions — all religions hitherto known. Hero 
 worship, heartfelt prostrate admiration, submission, burn- 
 ing, boundless, for a noblest God-like Form of Man, — is 
 not that the germ of Christianity itself ? ... Is not all 
 loyalty akin to religious faith ? Faith is loyalty to some 
 inspired teacher, some spiritual hero." 
 
 When Jesus Himself was asked as to the character of 
 His earthly work, whether He were really the divine 
 Son, what did He reply? We have His reply to St. 
 
THE AUTHORITY OF JESUS 121 
 
 John the Baptist, who in prison inquired as to the 
 mission of Jesus. In replying, Christ simply appealed 
 to certain facts, without discussing any theology, such as 
 the Jews seemed to find pleasure in. In effect He said : 
 " Here am I doing all these good works, heahng, comfort- 
 ing, preaching to the poor. If these things do not prove 
 My divine message, then there is no proof worth having." 
 We are directed again, as we have been already, in con- 
 sidering the theology of Jesus, to a purely ethical and 
 not a- doctrinal view, to observe the fruits of a loving 
 heart shown in the life. What now do we need from 
 God ? Is it His power that He would teach us ? Do 
 we not see it in the majesty of the creation ? It is His 
 love that we seek, and Jesus proves that He comes from 
 God by the kind, and helpful, and generous life He leads. 
 Nor, in connection with that great truth of brother- 
 hood we are enforcing, should we forget that He laid 
 stress on the gospel being preached to the poor. Is this 
 an important part of Christ's mission, so important that 
 it is an evidence of it ? It surely cannot be that the 
 poor for the first time had the blessings of rehgion 
 opened to them ; for in the Jewish temple their sacrifice 
 was as acceptable as the rich man's more splendid gift, 
 and in the heathen worship there was a like equality. 
 Does it not mean that it is the beginning of that 
 universal reign of love, when the poor shall no longer 
 suffer for their poverty, for they shall dwell among 
 friends and brothers ? The divine mission to unite 
 humanity was here announced in this gospel, " Goodwill 
 to men." At other times in His life Jesus drew atten- 
 tion to His works of love, so proving His divine nature. 
 
122 THE BROTHERHOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 " The same works that I do bear witness of Me that 
 the Father hath sent Me." " Though ye believe not Me, 
 believe the works ; that ye may know and believe that 
 the Father is in Me, and I in Him." " Believe Me that 
 I am in the Father, and the Father in Me ; or else 
 believe Me for the very works' sake." 
 
 These words did not lose their applicability because 
 the generation passed that saw these works. Men in 
 our time have yet more wonderful works to look on. 
 They can see how the religion of Jesus has never lost its 
 power ; how, during all the centuries, it has been the 
 beacon light of mankind ; how it has purified, ennobled, 
 and united men ; and how it speaks of worlds yet to be 
 entered, of love and peace, and eternal brotherhood. 
 
 Believe for the works' sake. The authority of Jesus has 
 been proved in the experience of mankind. They have 
 found Him their best guide and friend, and His religion 
 the noblest ideal possible to the human soul, with a 
 future of ever-increasing brightness before it. 
 
 The life of Jesus is found to be the secret of the true 
 life of mankind. " In Him was life, and the life was 
 the light of men." Any other life falls short of the 
 ideal of humanity revealed by science. It is not a 
 personal experience this, not an inner conviction which 
 might be an individual illusion, but the conclusion formed 
 by a study of the developing life of the human race. 
 What is the goal they are marching towards ? The 
 answer of all our best ethical thinkers is, that we are 
 realising by degrees the life of Jesus and the mission of 
 Jesus in the hopes of mankind, which are daily receiv- 
 in({ more and more fulfilment. 
 
THE AUTHOEITY OF JESUS 123 
 
 The utilitarian system has perhaps least alliance with 
 the teaching of Jesus ; yet its moral services, which have 
 been of immense value to our modern world, have arisen 
 from its widening the range of sympathy, and making 
 men feel a desire to benefit others as largely as possible. 
 It is but an imperfect version of the universal charity 
 of Christ, and confirms His authority by approaching 
 to His methods. " In so far as utilitarianism is more 
 rigorous than Common Sense in exacting the sacrifice of 
 the individual's happiness to that of mankind generally, 
 it is strictly in accordance with the most characteristic 
 teachings of Christianity." ^ 
 
 The views of Mr. Herbert Spencer, in the Data of 
 Ethics, are essentially Christian in their ideal ; and since 
 they are said to be reached by purely scientific reason- 
 ing, we find an evidence that in man there are native 
 instincts which point to the divine purposes which 
 Christ revealed. " In the future," Mr. Spencer says, " a 
 regard for others will eventually become so large a 
 source of pleasure, as to compete with in its amount, 
 and indeed overgrow, the pleasure which is derived from 
 direct egoistic gratification. . . . Eventually, then, along 
 with the approximately complete adaptation of man to 
 the social state, along with the evolution of a society 
 complete in its adjustments . . . there will also come a 
 state in which egoism and altruism are so conciliated that 
 the one merges in the other." ^ 
 
 Kant's theory of morals can only be rightly under- 
 
 ^ Sidgwick's Methods of Ethics, 2nd edition, p. 464. See also 
 Green's Prolegomena, p. 361. 
 
 2 Data of Ethics, 3rd edition, Appendix, p. 300. 
 
124 THE BROTHERHOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 stood in connection with his rehgious views. In the 
 Critique of Practical Reason it has an individualistic 
 character ; but if we read into it the views and hopes 
 expressed in his Philosophy of Religion and his Idea of a 
 Universal History, we cannot but hear the echoes or 
 overtones of the divine Word. In its very form it 
 impHes an ideal man in an ideal fellowship of men ; 
 and in its practical issues a recent writer rightly 
 described it as showing the moral " end as self-sacrifice." ^ 
 To say that every ethical system which seeks the highest 
 good is a confirmation of the authority of Christ, is no 
 new thing, for we find it plainly taught in the writings 
 of Campanella in the sixteenth century. He maintained 
 that there was a general law throughout mankind which 
 brought them by the exercise of their reason to the true 
 life, and that law was alone found in Christ's teaching, 
 which therefore had the supreme authority of truth. 
 
 Still more striking is the agreement between Positivism 
 and Christianity as to the end of life ; but the system 
 of the Positivists is in its nature eclectic, and cannot 
 be regarded as logically coherent. The religion and 
 morality of Comte and his followers are taken from 
 all sources, and the reconciling power is found in offering 
 them all up on the altar of humanity. Lofty thoughts are 
 expressed and great purposes are sought by the advocates 
 of Positivism ; and though its intellectual basis is by no 
 means clear, its moral ends are generous. That such a 
 system should be based on purely secular grounds is in 
 itself a testimony to the divine Author of Christianity. 
 
 Even the gloomy philosophy of Schopenhauer is not 
 ' Mr. J. H. Muirliead, Elements of Ethics. 
 
THE AUTHORITY OF JESUS 125 
 
 without a divine ray. He maintains that to cling to 
 one's own will as against existence outside of us is 
 individualism, which is in itself the principle of evil ; but 
 if we blend our own will by sympathy with all men and 
 all things, we are living a truly good life. The supreme 
 good is only to be found when we give up entirely our 
 own selfish desires, and yield ourselves entirely as a 
 sacrifice to the general welfare of all men. In this we 
 shall find peace and freedom. Strange it is to find 
 ethics so pure coming from a philosophy so perverse in 
 its theories ; but if Schopenhauer's reflections are the 
 fruit of study of this world, they point to its destiny in 
 obeying the commands of Christ. 
 
 But the moral teaclier who in our day has been most 
 honoured, and worthily so, is Mr. T. H. Green. His 
 ethics are based on what we may call a natural founda- 
 tion, and yet his conclusions are entirely Christian. 
 " The realisation and fulfilment " of the human spirit 
 " can only take place in and through society." " Tliere 
 may be reason to hold that there are capacities of the 
 human spirit not realisable in persons under the con- 
 ditions of any society we know, or can positively conceive, 
 or that may be capable of existing on the earth. . . . 
 We may justify the supposition that the personal life, 
 which historically or on earth is lived under conditions 
 which thwart its development, is continued in a society 
 with which we have no means of communication through 
 the senses, but which shares in and carries further every 
 measure of perfection attained by man under the con- 
 ditions of life that we know." ^ 
 
 ^ rrolegomena to Etliics, 2ii(l edition, ]>p. 191), 195. 
 
126 THE BUOTHEKHOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 Men who have no thought of moral or theological 
 theories have found that their life is only truly lived if 
 lived according to Christ ; and, believing as they do that 
 God gave the life of their bodies, they cannot but beheve 
 that it is God also who has given this life to their souls.^ 
 Thinkers who have examined the nature and tendencies 
 of the soul have come very near the divine truth of 
 Jesus, near enough to strengthen our faith in His 
 supreme authority. As far as we can grasp His clue to 
 human life we are sure He leads us right, and we trust 
 Him for the rest. " For even moral honesty itself is 
 part of the law of God and an adumbration of the divine 
 life. So that, when regeneration has more thoroughly 
 illuminated his understanding, I doubt not but that he 
 will fall into that pious admiration and speech of the 
 ancient patriarch : ' Verily God was in this place, and 1 
 knew it not.' " ^ 
 
 We must not think that Christ refuses the homage of 
 deeds which are done in His spirit, though not in His 
 name. The gifts of the Magi are not spurned, though 
 they return again to their far land. Did He not say 
 Himself : " Whosoever shall do the will of My Father 
 which is in heaven, the same is My brother and sister 
 and mother." The philosophers may unconsciously do 
 this will, but though they know not the relation in 
 which they stand to God by their acts, the divine wisdom 
 does not disregard the kinship of love. Strange it is, 
 indeed, that simple faith can reach at a step the height 
 
 1 See Mr. Matthew Arnold's Literature and Dogma, chap. x. § 3, 
 for a naturalistic statement of this. 
 
 2 Henry More, Divine Dialogues, 
 
THE AUTHORITY OF JESUS 127 
 
 which the wisest thought toils long after, if ever it 
 attains at all. But the heart of man, when it turns 
 to goodness, is irresistibly drawn to the ways and works 
 of Christ, and by following His example shows its 
 belief " for the works' sake." Belief indeed it is, lying 
 hidden under all kinds of dead mummies of rational 
 thought, but the unconscious and perhaps unwilling 
 faith is not to be scorned by man if God is ready to 
 receive it. Fichte said that if Christ were now to 
 return to earth, it would concern Him but little though 
 His name and person were forgotten, if He only found 
 men enthusiastic in His cause and labouring for it. 
 What he means is clear enough : to do the works of 
 Christ is to admit His authority, whatever strange turn 
 our thoughts may take about Him. It is not by our 
 mind and speech only, in this world of ours, that we can 
 acknowledge Christ to be supreme, for love binds us 
 in its golden cords, and though we know it not, as we 
 are yielding to our affectionate desires for the welfare 
 of mankind, it brings us to the feet of Jesus. No man, 
 however little creed he may profess, can labour earnestly 
 for his fellow-men without revealing in his enthusiasm 
 glimpses of a deeper faith than he acknowledges. The 
 very steadfastness of his unselfish purpose implies such 
 a belief in human brotherhood and the overruling love 
 of God, as unites him in unconscious submission to the 
 Saviour of mankind. 
 
CHAPTEK X 
 
 BROTHERHOOD IN THE EPISTLES 
 
 That there were oppositions in the early Church between 
 the apostles in their teaching, is told us in the Acts. 
 How far these went is a matter of opinion. Men may 
 judge from the documents and from the subsequent 
 history of the Church how much truth there is in the 
 Tubingen theories. But the apostles were agreed in 
 one thing, that it was their duty to love one another, 
 and keep the unity of the brotherhood. 
 
 It is true that ecclesiastical ideas soon entered into 
 their hearts, and their sympathies seem to have limited 
 themselves too much to the brotherhood of the faithful, 
 and overlooked the wider thought of general humanity. 
 But in their writings as well as in their acts they 
 could not help showing that the divine Spirit was 
 leading them into opener heavens than they knew. 
 Their earnestness to give all men the blessing of the 
 gospel was in itself a testimony to human brotherhood, 
 and we can see how the truth they taught, with but 
 imperfect apprehension of its fuller meanings, has been 
 read with a keener insight than their own by the develop- 
 ing life of humanity. 
 
 It is in the First Epistle of St. Peter that we find the 
 
BROTHERHOOD IN THE EPISTLES 129 
 
 expression, " Love the brotherhood"; and it does not stand 
 alone as an injunction to charity and unity. For the 
 whole Epistle is inspired by such thoughts of love and 
 humility. " See that ye love one another with a pure 
 heart fervently." The Christian unity is exemplified by 
 the figure of a building in which the individual believers 
 are stones ; and the whole idea of the Epistle is that 
 love and unity come from the indwelling Spirit, and 
 are the fruits of faith. There are some resemblances 
 between this First Epistle and the Gospel of St. Mark, 
 but there is even a closer connection with St. Paul's 
 Epistle to the Ephesians. Both lay stress on the graces 
 of faith, hope, and love as springing from the unity of 
 the Church. There is in this Epistle a recognition of 
 duty to the Gentiles, and a specific command to " honour 
 all men," which is in itself a proof of the influence of 
 Christ on a mind which has always been regarded as 
 essentially Jewish. 
 
 The other apostle who may be placed in the same 
 class is St. James, who shows many links which bind 
 him to St. Peter. But in this teacher of the morality of 
 Christianity how kind and brotherly a spirit is shown. 
 He tells those to whom he writes that the whole spirit 
 of rehgion is active love. His sympathy with the poor, 
 with the sorrowful, with " the fatherless and widows in 
 their affliction," is a treasury of comfort and exhortation 
 for men ; and he follows closely in the footsteps of his 
 Master. His exaltation of good works is one of the 
 most precious things in all the Epistles, and reminds us of 
 the words of Jesus : " Not every one that saith unto Me, 
 Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven ; but 
 9 
 
130 THE BROTHERHOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 he that doeth the will of My Father which is in heaven." 
 Indeed, not a few resemblances have been found between 
 the teaching of the Sermon on the Mount and the words 
 of St. James ; and it is clear that they both express the 
 divine law as it was given by Christ — " the royal law, 
 Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself." 
 
 This doctrine receives its supreme exposition in the 
 writings of St. John, who is indeed the Apostle of Love. 
 He doubts the possibility of any love to God which 
 does not show itself in love to the brotherhood ; and 
 in this he echoes his Master's words. It is an oft-told 
 story of the conclusion of his life, that when no longer 
 able to manifest his love in action, he leaves it to men 
 as his dying exhortation : " Little children, love one 
 another." 
 
 But St. John brings before us the ideal Christian 
 society. No believer is a mere unit of mankind : he is a 
 member of a great family. The Church is the exhibition 
 of a perfect harmony, which is symbolized in the Apoca- 
 lypse in the concord of music. It is in St. John's 
 Apocalypse that we see that brotherly union is an end 
 in itself ; that to rest in the love of the brethren and of 
 God in a united humanity is the perfect destiny of man. 
 Our earthly lives teach us this : we do not toil for 
 labour's sake, but to bless others by the fruits of our 
 work ; we do not deny ourselves for the mere sake of 
 ascetic discipline, but that others may benefit ; we seek a 
 higher end than the mere training of self, or the occupa- 
 tion of the hour. In all this, are we not unconsciously 
 pointing, by our family love, and our helpful charity, and 
 our work for others, to that great harmony of perfect 
 
BROTHERHOOD IN THE EPISTLES 131 
 
 brotherhood which is in itself the end of existence ? 
 Are love, friendship, and the communion of souls on earth 
 not ends in themselves ? Are they not a sufficient reason 
 for their own being ? And do we not know that, while 
 our earthly labours perish, and their memory is forgotten, 
 our love is our immortal part ? So St. John brings 
 before us the Church not as a mere instrument for 
 spreading the gospel, but as the actual embodiment of 
 that gospel. The Church, according to him, is the end of 
 mankind, and shows the perfect restitution into eternal 
 harmony of the whole life of mankind in God. 
 
 The same sublime thoughts inspire St. Paul, who has 
 been the great teacher of the Christian Church. He 
 develops the doctrine of Christian unity with great 
 fulness, and views it from various standpoints, and at 
 last leads up to a final prospect of the perfect realisation 
 of a united humanity. 
 
 He teaches that the Church is an organic unity, not a 
 mere voluntary association. This unity is obtained, not 
 by dead monotony, but by diverse members performing 
 duties which tend to a perfect harmony. On the divine 
 side, the bond of the union is the Spirit ; while, on the 
 human, it is love, which is the essence and form of the 
 communion of man. The Church is, with St. Paul, the 
 city of the saints and the household of God. He sums 
 up the features which constitute the unity of the Church 
 in the Epistle to the Ephesians. Christians have one 
 Head — " one Lord " ; they are united in their faith, their 
 baptism, their hope of eternal life ; they are one in love, 
 and they express their unity in an outward form, " one 
 body." The position from which St. Paul starts is that 
 
132 THE BROTHERHOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 of the freedom of all men in Christ. The old distinction 
 which the Jews prided themselves on, which marked 
 them out from other peoples, was at best but a shadow 
 of the future. It may be that their national unity was 
 a good thing ; but it was but a type of a wider and 
 more generous union. " For as many of you as have 
 been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is 
 neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, 
 there is neither male nor female : for ye are all one in 
 Christ Jesus," 
 
 How St. Paul rejoices in the breaking down of the 
 " middle wall of partition," which made the world no 
 longer a gathering of " strangers and foreigners," but of 
 fellow-citizens ! And yet we know he clung to his 
 Jewish nationality, and loved his own people dearly. 
 Was it not the sorrow of his heart that they received 
 him so coldly ? He used his birthright as he used his 
 individual life, not to wrap himself in it as a defensive 
 cloak, but as a means whereby he might serve all 
 mankind. 
 
 It is with this view that he asserts the individual 
 freedom of the follower of Christ from any limitations 
 which the world may have made as to our fellowship with 
 men. The soul of man, in its inner life, knows nothing 
 of the narrow boundaries which hedge in its outward 
 existence ; and when it realises its union to Christ, it 
 refuses to be held in any human trammels. 
 
 St. Paul it is, of all the New Testament writers, who 
 reaches highest in the conception of a universal humanity. 
 This he does by looking at Christ as the ideal man, to 
 whom all men are related, and therefore claim our love. 
 
BROTHERHOOD IN THE EPISTLES 133 
 
 For we are not freed from the limitations of earth in 
 order that we may assert our independence of our 
 brethren : " For, brethren, ye have been called unto 
 liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, 
 but by love be slaves to one another." 
 
 St. Paul himself acted on this maxim, for his whole 
 life was one long self-sacrifice. No man came so near 
 his Master in his love for men as the Apostle of the 
 Gentiles. Gladly did he spend and was spent for man- 
 kind ; and took " pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, 
 in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses," if his work of 
 love still went on. He was willing that he should be 
 accursed from Christ for his brethren, his kinsmen accord- 
 ing to the flesh. To such height did his patriotic feeling 
 of true religious brotherhood attain. Far off comes the 
 famous saying of Danton, who had his strange baptism 
 of fraternity or death, and cared not if his name were 
 blighted, if only France were free. Few men can calmly 
 go forward to such awful conclusions to our little life, 
 with its passion for eternity, which takes all forms, from 
 the pantheon of history, in which Danton hoped to dwell, 
 to that presence of God which the apostle longed to win. 
 But a true belief in the unity and brotherhood of man 
 will enable men so to yield themselves for others. It 
 was because St. Paul followed his Master in identifying 
 himself with humanity, that he was capable of such self- 
 sacrifice as almost passes our belief. 
 
 His writings abound with exhortations to love and 
 peace and unity, and to labour for each other ; for it was 
 the God of love and peace who was the universal Father. 
 The Fatherhood, indeed, he saw more clearly in Christ ; 
 
134 THE BKOTHERHOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 and our union with the Son assured us of the possession 
 of God as our Father, " of whom are all things, and we 
 in Him." But our kinship to Christ enforces on us the 
 truth that " none of us liveth unto himself." When we 
 sin against the brethren, he tells us, we sin against 
 Christ. 
 
 It is characteristic of St. Paul, that it is he who has 
 preserved to us that saying of Jesus which is not given 
 in the Gospels : " It is more blessed to give than to 
 receive." ^ It is from St. Paul also that we have 
 the sublime hymn on love, in his First Epistle to the 
 Corinthians. Here he opens to us the principle of his 
 doctrine of man, that love is the goal and perfection of 
 our nature. He does not look on love as a means to an 
 end, but as the purpose of our being. All the efforts of 
 reason are but the striving after that harmony which 
 finds its consummation in love. Knowledge in all its 
 manifestations is but the groping of a child after that 
 perfection which is realised in the union of love. So St. 
 John in the Apocalypse represents the future state of 
 man as one of musical harmony. Mankind are to exist 
 for the sake of their harmony one with another ; love is 
 to be its own end ; and the perfect concord which is 
 symbolised in the harpers harping with their harps, and 
 the new song, are shown to us as the law of our new and 
 eternal bemg. A shadow of this great truth is seen in 
 the Banquet of Plato, which Shelley rightly calls the most 
 beautiful and perfect of all the works of Plato ; and the 
 poet himself has taught us to see the " beauty in which 
 all things work and move," as an expression of a real 
 1 In his address to the elders of Ephesus at Miletus, Acts xx. 25. 
 
BROTIIEKHOOD IN THE EPISTLES 135 
 
 harmony which tells us what the end of the creation is, 
 as well as opens to our gaze the law which guides it. 
 
 It is this thought of the unity of all things which 
 inspires St. Paul's speculations on the final union of all 
 men. Mr. Arnold tells us that the two main ethical 
 thoughts which govern St. Paul are these : " the one, the 
 earnest insistence with which he recommended ' bowels 
 of mercies,' as he calls them, meekness, humbleness of 
 mind, gentleness, unwearying forbearance, crowned all of 
 them with that charity ' which is the bond of perf ectness ' ; 
 the other, the force with which he dwells on the solidarity 
 of man — the joint interest, that is, which binds humanity 
 together, the duty of respecting every one's part in it, 
 and doing justice to his efforts to fulfil that part." ^ Mr. 
 Arnold is a somewhat cold interpreter of St. Paul, and 
 cannot translate the apostle's fiery enthusiasm into his 
 own measured words, but he has hold of the substantial 
 truth. These are really central ideas of St. Paul, who 
 relates them both, however, to Christ, and finds in Him 
 their unity. It is because He died for men that we are 
 to love them, since He showed us the brotherhood of all 
 men ; it is because He so unites all men that we hold to 
 their solidarity, not only as a principle, but as a practical 
 guide. 
 
 St. Paul carries this idea of the solidarity of mankind 
 to yet higher issues, and brings before our bewildered gaze 
 the prospect of a general restoration. 
 
 The language of the apostle is very strong, and has 
 excited much thought from the earliest times till now. 
 He tells us that it is the divine purpose " that in the 
 ^ Bt. Paul and Protestantism, p. 32. 
 
136 THE BROTHERHOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 dispensation of the fulness of times He might gather 
 together in one all things in Christ, both which are in 
 heaven and which are on earth." Christ is tlie Head of 
 the human race, who are so inspired with His life, that 
 " as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made 
 alive." 
 
 We have here a conception brought before us of the 
 unity of mankind as the final goal of their being. With 
 this idea St. Paul struggled, and in vain attempted to 
 give a complete thought of it which should be ethically- 
 intelligible to us. To his mind, a final separation between 
 mankind could not seem a resting-place for the thought 
 and hope of the devout believer in the union of the 
 human race with Christ its Head. As he passionately 
 repudiated the division between Jew and Gentile, and 
 rejoiced at the destruction of the " wall of partition," so 
 did his thought try to compass a final union of all man- 
 kind. He was convinced at least of this, that such a 
 union was in the divine purpose of love, however man 
 might thwart it. 
 
 The vision which St. Paul had of the universal 
 harmony of all things is not completely intelligible to us, 
 but we can see how it elevates and strengthens his ideal 
 of human unity, and gives him courage and hope for the 
 future. To discuss the theories of universal restoration 
 which have been based on it from the days of Origen till 
 now, which fascinated the minds of Bengel and Schleier- 
 macher, is not within our purpose, which withholds itself 
 from any consideration of the future life — • 
 
 " I do not ask to see 
 The distant scene, one step enougli for me." 
 
BROTHERHOOD IN THE EPISTLES 137 
 
 It is better to regard the statements of St. Paul as 
 revealing the profound truth of the solidarity of man- 
 kind, — a truth which, in all its aspects, we may fail to 
 grasp, but which is the root-principle of human life. 
 
 There is, indeed, an earthly fulfilment to which they 
 look forward. We have a vision of a united humanity, 
 as a family of love and peace, to which all the thoughts 
 and works of mankind will be brought to consolidate. 
 The Apocalypse turns its gaze on the same earthly 
 Paradise, for the great voice from heaven says : " Behold 
 the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell 
 with them, and they shall be His people." It is not 
 our earthly Jerusalem that rises to heaven, we must 
 remember, but " the holy city, the new Jerusalem," 
 which comes down from God. 
 
 The same lofty thought inspires the writer to the 
 Hebrews, whose Epistle is full of the spirit of sonship 
 and of brotherly love. He has a deep sense of the unity 
 through all time of mankind, and sees that the future 
 alone can complete the present. The heroes of faith 
 were not perfect till their brethren of ages after them 
 had received the " better thing " provided for them. 
 What the full meaning of that deep saymg is, who can 
 unfold ? But does it not speak to us of a gradual 
 raising up of all men to the level of the highest ? ^ If 
 the patriarchs were not perfect till they attained the 
 knowledge and purity of the later ages, is the same 
 thing not true of all undeveloped men ? The final 
 salvation of the soul does not consist in individual 
 
 ^ It is this thought which led Origen and Clement and their 
 successors to the belief in universalism. 
 
138 THE BROTHERHOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 exaltation so much, as in a communion of the whole of 
 redeemed mankind. This is the lofty purpose of Christ, 
 as we are taught in the Epistles ; and to that purpose 
 the whole forces of man's life are ever contributing. 
 " What a thought for each man ! I am a member of 
 mankind, universal mankind, of which Christ is the 
 Head, and God is the indwelling Spirit ! When all are 
 perfect, I shall be perfect. I am permitted to con- 
 tribute to the whole divine empire of humanity, but 
 much more will the whole empire contribute to me, 
 infuse strength into me, and everlastingly renew and 
 refresh my heart, my mind, and all my powers." ^ 
 1 Pulsford, The Swpremacy of Man, p. 263. 
 
CHAPTER XI 
 
 INDIVIDUALISM IN THE LIFE OF THE CHUKCH 
 
 We have seen that the theology of Christianity under 
 the teaching of Jesus and His apostles began from an 
 idea of the human race viewed as a unity. This meant 
 more than the fact that men are linked together in their 
 life, so that they work for each other, and with each 
 other, and exert a mutual influence. It meant more 
 than the common relationships and interdependence of 
 our social existence. It takes heed of the fact that our 
 personality is controlled by heredity and surroundings, 
 by our character born with us, and made for us by the 
 world we live in. Individual life is a plant conditioned 
 by its environment to such an extent that it loses much 
 of its individual character. The belief in an actual 
 unity and solidarity of the race is an essential foundation 
 of the early Christian theology. Apparently we are 
 taught that men are one, not only by their mental and 
 physical structure, by the sum of their being, but are 
 one also by their origin, in that they are children 
 of Adam. Some theologians regard the Adamic 
 descent as a mere figure of the actual unity of the race, 
 and pointing to no reality outside of that unity. What- 
 ever it signify, it is clear that sin and salvation, as 
 
140 THE BROTHERHOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 taught to the first learners of Christianity, imply a 
 historical and collective unity of mankind. The idea is 
 familiar enough to modern thought as being used by 
 Comte for the purposes of his religion. Some thinkers 
 are of opinion that this idea is carried so far in the 
 Scriptures as to imply that no personal guilt attaches to 
 man in respect of his inborn character or that acquired 
 by surroundings, although it may bring his share of the 
 sorrows of the human race, as they happen to fall 
 heavily or lightly on him. And similarly, they read in 
 St. Paul's teaching a doctrine that the salvation of any 
 one man is incomplete till the whole race is raised to 
 the destined height of purity. 
 
 Whether these views have full warrant or not, it is 
 plain that the Christian is taught to regard himself not 
 as an individual, but as a member of a family, whose 
 interests on earth, and whose destiny hereafter, are so 
 bound up with his own that it is impossible to sever 
 himself from them, and that in all his life he must have 
 regard to this unity. The sacraments of Baptism and 
 the Eucharist tended to strengthen this communion ; 
 such is their basis, and such should have been their 
 result. And yet the truth that " we are members one 
 of another," soon began to be obscured, and Christianity 
 became individualistic in its tendency. 
 
 The causes of this change are worth inquiring into. 
 What influence did the Church come under which 
 weakened its sense of its true unity ? The need of 
 independent action, which would often arise in the midst 
 of a hostile world, may have helped to make the 
 Christian self-reliant. SoHtary, and in danger of his 
 
INDIVIDUALISM IN THE LIFE OF THE CHURCH 141 
 
 life, he must have had strong courage and individual 
 convictions. To profess his faith must have cut him off 
 from family ties, and little opportunity may have been 
 given him of making a new kinship with those of like 
 creed with himself. Times of persecution may, indeed, 
 bind the persecuted more closely together, where they 
 have the power to meet each other, but it oftener 
 scatters them, and turns them forth as lonely wanderers 
 from the fellowship of men. The surroundings of the 
 primitive Christian must have had a strong moulding 
 power over the form of his practical religion. 
 
 In like manner, the times of trouble which the Jews 
 had to pass through before the coming of Jesus gave birth 
 to the Essenes. They renounced fellowship with their 
 own people, because the nation was too corrupt to be 
 reformed, as Elijah had in days before gone into the 
 desert alone. The idea of nationality was entirely for- 
 gotten, when the nation presented no longer the form of 
 a united people, but a war of opposing forces, political 
 and religious. The only hope they could have was to 
 save their own souls amidst the ruin around them. It 
 is a natural impulse which finds expression in all times 
 of human history. It concerns us not by what outside 
 religious forces Essenism was moulded ; the idea of 
 seclusion and individualism was created by the circum- 
 stances in which its founders were placed, and which 
 gave them at once a following. 
 
 Such of the early Christians as were Jews w^ere 
 exposed to the same influences as were round the 
 Essenes ; and their character was apt to take the same 
 form. The practice of asceticism here found its origin ; 
 
142 THE BROTHERHOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 and events favoured its development, till it culminated 
 in the excesses of the solitary and monastic life. 
 
 The apostolic Fathers are still in the current of the 
 New Testament teaching, and their general view of 
 Christianity is largely social, rather than individual ; but 
 the Church soon turned aside from the old path, and 
 conformed to the Gnostic and Judaic theories of indi- 
 vidual life. The theological diversity thus occasioned 
 was no rupture of the principle of union ; for though the 
 odium theologicum does strain hard the outward rela- 
 tionships of men, it rarely touches the inner unity, 
 which belongs to all true seekers after truth. If men 
 are free to think, they must sometimes differ as to the 
 conclusions they come to ; but though that diff"erence 
 may sever them to the eye, their antagonism may be 
 merely the process by which truth may find a recon- 
 ciliation. Hence we look rather at practical than at 
 doctrinal divergence. 
 
 The first break in the social unity of the Church 
 came from distinction between religion of the higher 
 culture and that of the simpler faith, which was begun 
 by Clement of Alexandria. The teaching of Plato is 
 here brought into Christianity, and the moral eff'ect is 
 not good. What was fit enough for Plato's system was 
 out of keeping with the franker teaching of Jesus, whom 
 " the common people heard gladly." The strong intel- 
 lectual tendency of the Alexandrian Platonists had 
 elements of disservice to the Christian life. The 
 Montanists were foes to that intellectualism, yet they 
 made the same distinctions between the spiritually- 
 minded Christians and those who were merely carnal (or 
 
INDIVIDUALISM IN THE LIFE OF THE CHURCH 143 
 
 psychic) in their souls. The effect of these lines of 
 demarcation soon made itself felt in the life of the 
 Church. Men were not content with the fellowship in 
 goodness which they had with theii' brothers of the same 
 faith ; they longed for some special gift for themselves. 
 The Montanist prophet, like the Irvingite copyist of 
 modern times, felt that he was exalted above the level 
 of ordinary Christian brotherhood ; and his orthodox 
 brother, who looked askance on his spiritual utterances, 
 longed for a corresponding elevation. This he found in the 
 practice of asceticism and celibacy. He confined himself 
 in these by his view of the contrast between matter and 
 spirit, which made life consist in the Buddhist ideal of 
 extinguishing the sense-element in our existence. In 
 all this the individualising tendency which was seen in 
 Greek philosophy in the teaching of the Stoics, and 
 which had its part in Eoman civilisation, from the heart 
 of which the profane crowd were withdrawn, was mani- 
 fested. It is a natural growth of man's intellectual life, 
 and shows itself in the fastidiousness of modern culture, 
 which shrinks from contact with the unwashed mob. 
 But it is a tendency which early Christianity was at war 
 with ; for it not only sins against true human brother- 
 hood, but renders impossible the advancement of the 
 ignorant, and the progress of man. In this the old 
 Toryism of this and other lands, which had its highest 
 point in the ancien regime of France, was a sin, not only 
 against political freedom, but also against the love of 
 Christ Himself. It was hostile to the heart of the 
 Christian faith. 
 
 The ancient individualism had its own merits : it was 
 
144 THE BHOTHEKHOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 a renunciation of evil and of self ; from which, indeed, 
 if evil were conquered, self emerged with greater power 
 than ever. The new superior culture which would 
 enjoy the fruits of the toil of others without thinking of 
 them, which would dwell in luxury while others are in 
 penury, seems to have no merit whatever ; and doubt- 
 less some strong tide of human and divine vengeance 
 will rise to sweep it away, as happened a century since 
 in France. 
 
 Despite the influence of Novatianism, which kept 
 before it the ideal of a Christian brotherhood, and the 
 compromising efforts of Cyprian, who placed before man- 
 kind the idea of a united Church, the individualistic 
 tendency went on its triumphant way. An ideal of 
 higher perfection was laid down, which found embodi- 
 ment in monasticism and the life which endeavoured 
 more or less to reach the monastic excellence. This 
 view of life can hardly be said yet to be extinct, and an 
 ascetic spirit pervades much of modern religiosity. It is 
 extraordinary to find writers identifying it with Calvin- 
 ism, which is represented as a gloomy shadow over 
 human life, hostile to art and to social freedom. As a 
 fact, Calvinism was one of the means by which men 
 were freed from the pursuit of the monastic ideal, 
 although it was not able wholly to purge itself from the 
 ascetic admixture. 
 
 There is a sense, as we shall see, in which the 
 Christian faith accepts the self-denial which is found in 
 asceticism ; but in its Church form the practice is rather 
 pagan than Christian. It is not even Jewish ; for the 
 people of Israel rejoiced in life with its social duties, and 
 
INDmDUALISM IN THE LIFE OF THE CHURCH 145 
 
 its patriotic enthusiasm, and trusted that Jehovah would 
 cause His face to shine on them. To the Jews, life was 
 a period of sunshine, with a darkness overshadowing its 
 close ; to the monk, a long slavery with much suffering, 
 which at last earned paradise. The ascetic ideal fostered 
 mdividualism by its division of the Christian people into 
 the religious and secular, — an error which has borne the 
 bitterest fruits. It has removed the best influences of 
 religion from the concerns of ordinary life, and has 
 retarded the growth of moral enlightenment. To 
 separate men from each other under different laws of 
 life, is seriously to endanger the moral sanction of both 
 codes of law. But to separate men in that which, they 
 are assured, is of primary importance, is to strike a 
 heavy blow at the unity and solidarity of man. Every 
 man becomes a law unto himself ; and as the religious 
 life becomes more distinctly religious, the secular has 
 less and less of piety. The whole conception of religious 
 superiority is foreign to the humble spirit of Christi- 
 anity.^ The sects which close their doors to any but 
 the initiated are destitute of the first principles of the 
 teaching of Jesus, which tells us that our love and 
 service and fellowship are to be given to the evil and the 
 
 1 The striking words of Jovinian, wlio strove against this separat- 
 ing tendency, are worth quoting : " There is but one divine 
 element of life, which all believers share in common ; but one 
 fellowship with Christ, which proceeds from faith in Him ; but one 
 new birth. All who possess this in common with each other have 
 the same calling, the same dignity, the same heavenly blessings ; 
 the diversity of outward circumstances creating no difference in this 
 respect." Both St. Jerome and St. Augustine regard Jovinian as a 
 heretic ; but such views as these could stand any test that the Church 
 might make of their orthodoxy. 
 
146 THE BROTHERHOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 good ; that the distinctions we make as men are not 
 regarded by the universal Father, who makes His sun to 
 rise on the evil and the good, and sendeth rain on the 
 just and the unjust. It may be that there are men 
 better than others, nay, it must be so ; but the way is 
 open to all. Still more, we must recognise that in all 
 men there is the germ of goodness, and the possibility of 
 the highest goodness. Our Saviour never forgot this, 
 and His insight was able to discern it in those who were 
 outcast from men by reason of their sins. If we are 
 inclined to forget this, and our modern science seems to 
 tend to make us doubt it, we can turn to the inspiring 
 poems of Victor Hugo, who never forgets that every 
 child of man, however low he has sunk, possesses a 
 redeeming trait, a reflection of the universal love in 
 which our life is bathed, as in the serene all-surrounding 
 air. Plutarch expresses this truth with clearness, and 
 his words are worth quoting : " God, when He takes in 
 hand a human soul, sees the inchoate virtue that is 
 invisible to every human eye, and the ignorance or 
 weakness that to human eyes has taken the aspect of 
 vice, — sees even in that which looks to human eyes a 
 mere evidence of a mind inclined to evil, the signs of a 
 latent vigour in things excellent." ^ 
 
 The division of religious callings, which leaves it 
 open to individual choice as to their measure of piety, 
 has its root in a mistrust of ordinary life. The 
 daily occupations and social relations of mankind 
 are suspected of evil ; and it almost looks as if the 
 
 1 Plutarch : " Aniiui ne au Corporis Affectiones sint pejores " 
 (trans. Wedgwood). 
 
INDIVIDUALISM IN THE LIFE OF THE CHURCH 147 
 
 ascetics thought the world was of the devil's making 
 and not of God's, as the Gnostics attributed it to the 
 Demiurge. 
 
 The idea that labour of the body was less worthy than 
 meditation of the soul — that the body, in fact, by its 
 appetites and desires was a hindrance to true communion 
 with God — was a strange one for those who were followers 
 of Jesus, who spent the greater part of His life in the 
 work of carpentry. Not content with breaking up the 
 Christian Church into two classes of more and less 
 religious, so as to injure all sense of unity, the ascetics 
 shattered the unity of man's nature, and looked with 
 suspicion at the ordinary healthy impulses of the human 
 frame. Food and sleep were but temptations, and life 
 itself but a waiting for death. This wretched pessimism 
 was the result of individualistic desires for a life other 
 than has been given us, for a higher sphere than other 
 men have to dwell in. It is an impossibility to sever 
 the mind from the body ; for to such an extent has this 
 truth been admitted in our time, that the one is regarded 
 but as a function of the other. The idealists say that 
 our consciousness (through a kind of determination at 
 the first moment of our existence) shapes not only our 
 nature, but even our bodily form and features ; and the 
 materialists tell us that thought is a mere physical pro- 
 duct of the brain. Whatever our philosophy teach us, 
 our experience makes it very plain that we cannot 
 separate the soul from the body in any view of life. 
 Our life here depends on certain material conditions, and 
 thought so wears out the brain that it requires food to 
 repair the waste. To win the best results of life we 
 
148 THE BEOTHERHOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 must submit to its laws. " Your Father knoweth that 
 ye have need of these things." 
 
 It is hard to say how much strong thinking and active 
 virtue have been lost to the world through the lack of 
 material sustenance which some good men have compelled 
 themselves to endure. It is still harder to say how much 
 of the purity of the mystic has been due to his fasting 
 and solitude ; some of his visions may have come from a 
 brain tortured by unnatural treatment. But it is certain 
 that for most men a certain physical ease in life is 
 necessary to get the best work both from body and soul. 
 Here and there an individual may be otherwise made, as 
 there are giants and dwarfs in this world ; but the rule 
 of life is as Jesus expressed it, that we " have need of 
 these things." It is the folly of individualism to strive 
 after being more than human, when Christ Himself 
 accepted all the conditions of our material life. A man 
 may deny himself for the sake of others, as the wayfarer 
 shares his crust with the poorer man he meets, though 
 there is not enough for one scanty meal for either ; and 
 in doing so, will do what is good and generous. But to 
 refuse G-od's gifts without reason, to regard the supply of 
 every want as a temptation, to weaken the bodily strength 
 so as to maim the usefulness, to be an ascetic for the sake 
 of self, is to doubt the wisdom of God who has made us, 
 soul and body, and His love who has bestowed upon us 
 the means of satisfying the needs of both. 
 
 Practically, the solitary ascetic withdrew all his service 
 from man. What contribution he was able to give to 
 the general sum of human usefulness or happiness he 
 withheld. His whole concern was in securing his own 
 
INDIVIDUALISM IN THE LIFE OF THE CHURCH 149 
 
 salvation, " in hopes to merit heaven by makmg earth a 
 hell." The true life is the life of society with our 
 fellows, whom we can serve and sympathise with ; and 
 this is the Christian ideal. To put our talent in a 
 napkin and bury it away in a monastic cell, is to defraud 
 men of what is due to them. To withdraw ourselves 
 from the world while there is work to do therein, and 
 we are able to help in it, with a view to saving our 
 souls, is to reach the very acme of selfishness.^ The 
 individualistic tendency of Christian life continued 
 throughout all the Middle Ages. It manifested itself in 
 a mysticism of various forms, which, though making the 
 individual soul as nothing before God, yet isolated it 
 from true communion with men. The result of this was 
 that men with mystical tendencies carried their indi- 
 vidualism so far as to scorn ordinary morality; and the 
 excesses of John of Leyden in Miinster are a not un- 
 natural conclusion to theorising so remote from true 
 human life. It is the opinion of a solitary himself, the 
 Abbd Roux in the Fens^es d'un Solitaire, that men 
 who rely wholly on intuitive experiences are bound to 
 act now and then like fools. The history of religion 
 supplies abundant proof of the statement ; and it is one 
 of the happiest results of the Reformation that we have 
 
 1 St. Chrysostom's words may be quoted : " Though you fast, 
 though your bed be the earth and your food ashes, though you 
 mourn continually without doing good to others, you will make no 
 progress. Though you practise the monastic perfection in its highest 
 form, all the while recking not though others are going to destruc- 
 tion, you cannot keep a clear conscience in God's sight. Neither 
 voluntary poverty, nor martyrdom, nor anything we do, will be to 
 our credit, if we have not reached the supreme virtue of love." — 
 Horn. 25 in Ei). I. to Corinth 
 
150 THE BROTHEKHOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 left behind us the individual excesses in asceticism and 
 seclusion from life which Christianity in its mediaeval 
 form shared with the religion of the Aztecs of Mexico 
 and the Brahmans of India. The stagnation of morals 
 and progress in Europe till the revival of letters was a 
 result of this unhappy view of human life and of the 
 Christian Church, For many centuries the ethical litera- 
 ture of the Church is very meagre ; but it is not the 
 absence of her literature we lament, it is the lack of the 
 moulding influence of a true Christian life through the 
 artificial sundering of religion and common duty. 
 
 The individualistic theory is not yet gone from among 
 us. It no longer calls a man from his social relations, 
 and separates him from family life ; but it often gives a 
 selfish bent to his thoughts. The popular preacher calls 
 on him to save his soul ; and, moved by desire of reward 
 or fear of punishment, he bends his energy to the task. 
 Assured of his salvation, he too often shuts himself in 
 from sympathy with his fellow-men, and dwells with his 
 own soul. It is a wonder to the observer of mankind 
 how the religious person can see with such indifference 
 the miseries of the poor and the sufferings of the weak. 
 How they can have in any way entered into the follow- 
 ing of Him who gave His life for men, is hard to be 
 understood. And yet the religious class, who, by reason 
 of their more worthy and steadfast character, are often 
 prosperous, enjoy their comforts in selfish isolation, or 
 share them only with their kindred. The fault lies in 
 their view of Christianity and the Church, which is 
 essentially a fellowship that calls on all to seek the 
 good of others. The social union of mankind begins 
 
INDIVIDUALISM IN THE LIFE OF THE CHUKCH 151 
 
 with the family ; but with many of us, our social interests 
 are exhausted in our own household. " Every English- 
 man is an island," said Novalis, and the only extension 
 of boundary which he permits himself is his children 
 and other kindred. Family life, which is meant to be 
 the preparation for the brotherhood of man, often locks 
 the door of wider sympathies, and becomes but another 
 form of individualism. Herein we must hear the word 
 of Jesus : " If any man come to Me, and hate not his 
 father and mother, and wife and children, and brothers 
 and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be My 
 disciple." 
 
 In this Jesus simply means that family affection must 
 not exclude from our hearts the wider and deeper sym- 
 pathy which is due to all men.^ The Christian must 
 rise above the mere natural instincts of the heart, which 
 are not even special to the human race. Yet there is 
 no commoner form of individualism than this family 
 affection, to the exclusion of all the world beside. 
 Asceticism had in it the germ of all the theories of the 
 Church which aimed at separation from the world. It 
 was the parent of schisms and dissent ; for its funda- 
 mental idea was that the Christian should be an island 
 dweller in the sea of human life. The Novatianist idea 
 of the Church as the exclusive congregation of saints 
 may perhaps be the ideal of the fellowship of men, but 
 
 ^ As St. Augustine says : " Extend your love, then, and limit not 
 to your wives and children. Such love is found even in beasts and 
 sparrows. You know the sparrows and swallows, how they love 
 their mates, how together they hatch their eggs and nourish their 
 young together, by a sort of sweet and natural kindness, and with 
 no thought of return," — Horn, in Matt. 90. 
 
152 THE BROTHERHOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 its arbitrary interpretation of saintship, its love of erecting 
 barriers around the Christian fellowship, deprive it of 
 much human use and charity, and not a little insight 
 into truth. Separatists of the centuries since Novatian 
 have largely given up the ruling thoughts of their early 
 forerunners, and it is only an uncharitable thought which 
 will find in our modern dissent any likeness of the early 
 narrowness, which is not also discoverable in the Churches 
 who have kept in the primitive traditions. Still it is a 
 chapter by no means fragrant with love and unity which 
 tells us of the divisions in the Church of Christ. 
 
 Some early Separatists maintained, in opposition to St. 
 Cyprian, that every association of Christians which met 
 in the name of Christ was a Church. The movement 
 which began so early, of separation from the general 
 body of the Church without any sufficient reason, bore 
 abundant fruits afterwards, some good, some evil. The 
 progress into wider thoughts of the unity of the Church 
 may have been aided by it ; but it also prevented that 
 collective Christian force, which union would have 
 brought, from exercising its full weight in the world. 
 St. Cyprian's answer to the Separatists was irrefutable. 
 They quoted the promise of Jesus to be with two or 
 three who met in His name. The bishop replied that 
 the condition of Christ's presence was a union of hearts 
 in love ; " and how is it possible for one to agree with 
 another who does not agree with the body of the Church ? 
 How can two or three be assembled together in the 
 name of Christ, who are separated from Christ and His 
 gospel ? " 
 
 The alteration in the meaning and administration of 
 
INDIVIDUALISM IN THE LIFE OF THE CHURCH 153 
 
 the Eucharist was also a development of individualism. 
 At first a common meal, which was to develop the 
 brotherly love of the partakers, it became an individual 
 reception of some special blessing ; and the love-feast 
 which went along with it soon ceased to be a part of 
 the Church service. Of this something will be said later 
 on ; and we only add another instance of the growth 
 of individualism, which will also receive fuller treatment. 
 The foundation idea of the primitive fellowship of the 
 Church implied a community of gifts to be used for the 
 edification of the Church. There was no separation 
 between clergy and laity, for the priestly calling and 
 character were common to both. But very soon this 
 idea of the universal priesthood was lost sight of, and a 
 separate class claimed for their order a sacramental 
 power which, so far as it existed at all, was the joint 
 right of the whole Church. This, along with the ascetic 
 and monastic ideas, was the greatest blow that the 
 brotherhood of Christians received, and prevented the due 
 development of Christianity in the brotherhood of man. 
 
CHAPTEK XII 
 
 THE FAMILY: ITS PAST AND FUTURE 
 
 In the Book of Genesis we read that God gave to man 
 two gifts at once, the family and the Church. The affec- 
 tion which unites man to man, was born along with that 
 which unites man to God, These gifts are so noble and 
 divine, that men have viewed them as ends in themselves, 
 as ideals which were perfect and eternal. That death 
 does not sever us from those we love, has been the faith 
 of mankind, kept up in heathen races by their funeral 
 rites, which involved the willing or unwilling doom of 
 wives and servants of him who had died, in order that 
 in the world to come he might not be alone and un- 
 attended ; and in Christian peoples the same idea has 
 been strengthened by the practice of prayers for the 
 dead ; so that it is an article of almost universal accept- 
 ance that families are again united in the world to come.^ 
 The teachings of the poets have lent their aid to the 
 beautiful and consoling thought that there are inner 
 realities in our souls sacred from the touch of death ; 
 and the instincts of the human race have compelled men 
 to believe that the purest feelings of the soul cannot 
 
 ^ It is needless to refer to the theories of Swedenborg on this 
 subject, although they are stated with his usual dogmatism. 
 
 154 
 
THE FAMILY: ITS PAST AND FUTUKE 155 
 
 share our mortality. In all our hopes there must be 
 some truth, for our instincts were not given to mislead 
 us. But are we right in thinking that the love and 
 kinship of family is more than a mere education for 
 something better ? Is it not but a first step in an 
 ascending scale of union with mankind, out of which we 
 pass, and upwards ? 
 
 The first step must, however, be taken if we are to 
 reach the brotherhood of man as a universal fact. That 
 brotherhood must spring from the natural kinship which 
 exists among men. The very words we use express 
 physical facts ; for when we speak of brothers we mean 
 children of the same parents. It matters not whether 
 the family grow by paternal or maternal filiation, whether 
 the children are reckoned of one family because they are 
 of one mother or of one father. It is enough that they 
 group themselves by natural kinship, which gives com- 
 mon duties and interests. 
 
 The family at first, however, was rather a means of 
 separation than of union. The description of the Cyclops 
 which Homer gives in the Odyssey -^ — " They had neither 
 assemblies to deliberate or give sentence, but each ruled 
 his wives and children, and took no heed of his neighbour" 
 — is quoted by Plato,^ with the remark that the same 
 state of things existed in some parts of Greece and among 
 barbarians. Aristotle also refers to it ^ as illustrating the 
 following words : " That society which Nature has estab- 
 lished for daily support is the domestic ; but the society 
 of many families is called a village, and a village is most 
 naturally composed of the descendants of one family." 
 1 Od. X. 112. 2 D^ i^gy^ iii, 3 2^iit. i. 2. 
 
t56 THE BROTHERHOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 The relation of families to each other was often one of 
 jealousy, which, as occasion rose, might turn into hostility; 
 but the internal unity was a certain fact. So much so, 
 that, as Sir H. Maine says, " the unit of an ancient society 
 was the family, of a modern society the individual." ^ 
 
 Some doubt has been cast on the theory that the 
 family is the original condition of mankind. It has 
 been maintained that some other mode of life must have 
 existed, as many savage people seem to be without 
 family union, living in a tribe where marriage ties, 
 according to our common understanding of them, do not 
 exist. There seem to be traces of some such custom of 
 life in the early history of both Aryan and Semitic 
 peoples. Those races in past days were divided into 
 tribes, each of which was marked by a badge of some 
 natural object, such as a plant or animal. This was held 
 sacred, and the tradition was that the whole tribe 
 descended from it in some mythical past. The evidence 
 for this, in reference to early man, is found in such 
 historical notices as survive of animal worship, descent 
 through the mother, and marriage out of the tribe. The 
 observation of travellers supplies proof of like habits 
 among various savage peoples. 
 
 Did this state of life exist among primitive men ? 
 Has the world passed through this condition on the way 
 to a liigher and better order ? 
 
 It seems clear that the family is the oldest human 
 
 institution. In the early patriarchal life the father was 
 
 the head of the family, being priest and king in his 
 
 household. It does not need that we suppose that 
 
 ^ Ancieiit Law, p. 126. 
 
THE FAMILY: ITS PAST AND FUTUKE 157 
 
 man started from a life of innocence to establish this as 
 highly probable. There is, even to the inquirer who 
 will not make any postulate except that man started 
 from animalism, not a little proof that the family life is 
 the original. In all the peoples who dwell on the great 
 continents, there is a universal worship of the male 
 ancestors : surely this points to a unity of family, when 
 they worshipped a common head. Darwin, in his 
 studies of mankind from the point of view of his theory, 
 came to the conclusion that mankind originally dwelt in 
 family kinship. He says : " The most probable view is that 
 primaeval man aboriginally lived in small communities, 
 each with as many wives as he could support or obtain. 
 In primaeval times, men would probably have lived as 
 polygamists, or temporarily as monogamists. They 
 would not, at that period, have lost one of the strongest 
 of all instincts, the love of their young offspring." 
 
 An original family life seems to be a certainty from 
 all we can learn : how did man come to fall from it 
 to dwell in hordes ? The answer to this is found in 
 certain facts of human life, which are dark blots on 
 man's history. 
 
 If men dwelt in hordes, the physical explanation is 
 that there was not such an equality of sexes as would 
 give a wife to every man. This equality is the natural 
 condition of our life, and if it had passed away, there 
 must have been a reason for it. The custom of female 
 infanticide may account for the fewness of women, and 
 would disturb the level of the sexes : it is certain that it 
 is still practised, as a woman is less useful in savage life 
 than a man. When we see that the life in hordes is 
 
158 THE BROTHEKIIOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 rather an island custom than a continental, being found 
 in countries which were peopled late in time, we are on 
 the track of another important fact. Such groups of 
 colonisers would naturally start with few women, and 
 this unusual disproportion between the sexes would lead 
 to the tribal union, with its unspeakable accompani- 
 ments. This form of life would last long after any need 
 for it could be imagined ; and the insecurity of settlers 
 in a new country might help to retain it. Certain it 
 seems, therefore, that some special circumstances had 
 tended to degrade man to this bestial herding. 
 
 May we not find in the studies of the anthropologists 
 some confirmation of the teaching of the Sacred Scrip- 
 tures as to primitive man ? And is it not noteworthy to 
 find there the ancient record of aboriginal family life 
 among the Semites, who, we learn from Professor Eobert- 
 son Smith's inquiries, seem to have possessed in early 
 days the lower form of horde life ? 
 
 Everywhere, as we trace the footsteps of early man- 
 kind, we find faint marks of a fall from a better life. 
 When men lost their first estate, how hard it was for 
 them to regain it ! But the divine purpose in human 
 life was not obscurely shown. By slow effort men arose 
 to the nobler family union, which was the ideal of 
 humanity : the divine Spirit ever unfolding more fully 
 the progressive life of the race. 
 
 The family is the highest stage possible of our earthly 
 condition, and we cannot doubt that it is a permanent 
 and divine institution. 
 
 But recent theorists have assailed its perpetuity, and 
 have persuaded themselves that a better state of things 
 
THE FAMILY : ITS PAST AND FUTURE 159 
 
 might come to pass, and that, in the interests of universal 
 brotherhood, family life should be abolished. A French 
 writer,^ who seems to glory in the shame of reducing 
 man by his theories to his lowest and most brutal origin, 
 speaks as follows : " We are justified in believing, con- 
 trary to the opinion of Mr. Herbert Spencer, that in 
 certain societies at least, the part which the family now 
 holds in everyday life will gradually tend to diminish. 
 We cannot predict how this great transformation will be 
 effected in our social organism. But before such a con- 
 dition can be realised, altruism must altogether gain the 
 upper hand over egoism, and the moral standard must 
 be very considerably raised." Plato thought his ideal 
 Eepublic would be the better of such a development ; 
 but he knew human nature was too strong for him to 
 realise it, and, as he says, " if we might not see it on 
 earth, in heaven there is probably a model of this our 
 city, where he who wishes to behold it may see it." ^ 
 The Nihilists of Eussia, with their terrible " gospel " of 
 individualism, are opposed to marriage and the family 
 unity. They look to the time when the chains which 
 are called " science, civiHsation, property, marriage, 
 morality, and justice, will snap asunder like threads." 
 The only law of a human being, according to their view, 
 should be his own happiness, and they are therefore 
 bitterly opposed to any socialism, or communism, or 
 co-operation in anything but destruction. 
 
 But without going to the extremes of these Eussian 
 anarchists, the institution of the family is threatened 
 
 1 Letourneau, Sociology, trans, by Trollojie, p. 379. 
 
 2 Plato, Eepublic, ix. 592. 
 
160 THE BROTHEKHOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 by forces nearer home. The frequency and facility of 
 divorce in the United States have often been noted, and 
 we are threatened in the United Kingdom with an 
 approach to such a state of things. It is evident that 
 the unity and sanctity of the family depend on the per- 
 manence of the marriage bond. Without taking any 
 extreme view, such as the Eoman Church holds in 
 theory, that a divorce is altogether unlawful, we may 
 well be alarmed at the state of opinion and law in the 
 United States on this subject. Such causes as intoxi- 
 cation, or failure to support through idleness, or habitual 
 indulgence of ungovernable temper, are regarded as suffi- 
 cient. In Wisconsin and Kentucky, married persons may 
 separate, by agreement, for a certain period as a pre- 
 liminary to divorce at the end of that time. In Wash- 
 ington Territory a divorce may be given to people who 
 seem unable to live together. It is found that divorce 
 is least common among the wealthy classes, on account, 
 as is said, of difficulties as to property arrangements, and 
 that it abounds in the middle classes, which are usually 
 considered the stronghold of religion and order. It 
 seems as if the trend of legislation in America was 
 towards making the marriage contract one which was 
 easily entered into and easily dissolved, by this means 
 shattering the unity and the very existence of the family. 
 The figures which are given us tell of a remarkable state 
 of things. In the State of Vermont, the ratio of divorces 
 to marriages increased from one in twenty-three in 1860 
 to one in fourteen in 1878; but since then there has 
 been a decrease. In Ehode Island the proportion is 
 one in thirteen, which is not so large as that in Con- 
 
THE FAMILY : ITS PAST AND FUTURE 161 
 
 necticut, where we find one divorce for every ten mar- 
 riages.^ This is an unnatural and dangerous state of 
 things, which must affect the future of the country. It 
 is said to be a development of the individualistic move- 
 ment, and as such Humboldt and John Stuart Mill 
 defend a general freedom of divorce, with hardly any 
 restriction. But the world wishes now to move out of 
 selfish regard for mere individual desires, and their 
 arguments will have less weight than when they were 
 written. 
 
 The danger which menaces us is that an ignorant 
 socialistic movement may wish to annul the sanctity of 
 marriage, as the Eussian Nihilists do; but this may be 
 checked by showing that all true social brotherhood is 
 imperilled by the relaxation of the marriage bond. That 
 there are unhappy marriages no one can doubt ; but the 
 remedy does not lie in freedom of divorce, — such liberty 
 can only increase the number of unsuitable unions, for 
 people are less careful about entering on any course 
 from which they can readily escape. If marriage is 
 rendered indissoluble except for gross offences against 
 the marriage bond, it will not be so lightly considered. 
 A due sense of the importance of care before taking a 
 step which is practically irrevocable will do more to 
 prevent unhappy unions than any facility for divorce. 
 The habits of our society are less inclined to foster this 
 than they might be. The sole thought that enters into 
 the minds of the parents is generally the pecuniary 
 conditions of the case ; and if wealth or freedom from 
 money troubles is likely to result, they pay little atten- 
 ^ Gladden, Century Magazine, 1882, 
 II 
 
162 THE BROTHERHOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 tion to anything else. On the part of the persons about 
 to marry, it often happens that there is even less reflec- 
 tion. A hasty acquaintance, in which altogether but few- 
 hours have been spent, is often a preliminary to a life 
 union, which is unhappy almost from the very nature of 
 the case. The marriages of the working classes are, 
 perhaps, generally happiest in this country, though in 
 America a different state of things seems to prevail. 
 The habits of forbearance which poorer people are com- 
 pelled to learn enable them to endure much inconvenience, 
 and the fact that both husband and wife equally share 
 the toil of life gives the partnership more lasting 
 elements. The main cause of unhappiness among the 
 operative classes is the habit of intoxication, for which 
 some legislative control other than divorce is imperatively 
 necessary in the present state of society. It is clear 
 that what is necessary to give marriage a certainty of 
 adding to the happiness of life is not the opportunity of 
 divorce should it turn out badly, but a due regard by 
 people about to marry to the character of their proposed 
 companion for life. And even though exceptional cases 
 of hardship occur now and then, as they must, which no 
 wise divorce law can reach, the sufferers must bear their 
 wrongs for the good of the community. It may be a 
 hard thing to say, but the happiness of some few indi- 
 viduals cannot be allowed to peril the general welfare of 
 the whole people. If those who are in this bad pUght 
 remember this fact, it may serve to mitigate their sense 
 of injustice. 
 
 The family life, with its union and affection, with its 
 training in self-sacrifice and its labour for others, is the 
 
THE family: its past and future 163 
 
 essential preliminary of the brotherhood of man. All 
 hope of attaining such a glorious future is ended if this 
 first condition be not fulfilled. The human heart can 
 only be trained in the school of the home. If the sacred 
 and divine institution of the family be impaired, the 
 injury to the general cause of human brotherhood is 
 irreparable. We should soon return to a selfish isolation, 
 and barbarism of jealous hostility, which would render all 
 progress in the social affections impossible. A system 
 like Plato's, instead of leading to heaven, would point the 
 way to hell. What safeguards have we that men will 
 not revert to the primitive condition, when every man 
 was at war with his neighbour ? The conditions of 
 modern life are harder, and competition fiercer ; and the 
 struggle for existence would but develop a deeper enmity. 
 The one hope which mankind have as a foundation on 
 which to build their temple of love and brotherhood, is 
 the family : without that divine institution we can do 
 nothing. 
 
 Having laid down as an absolute and permanent con- 
 dition of brotherly feeling on earth, that the family must 
 be kept untouched in its divine simplicity, we now pro- 
 ceed to ask if the purpose of the family is such as to 
 render its existence perpetual in any higher state of life 
 to which the future may bring us. Its ideal usefulness 
 is even here not attained by a mutual affection among its 
 members : it must not be a mere alliance for defence or 
 advantage. Too often does our sympathy confine itself 
 to the limits of our household ; and our family affection 
 often injures our sense of justice. A man is a hard 
 master, an unscrupulous trader, in order that his means 
 
164 THE BllOTHERHOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 may increase so as to benefit his children. He cares 
 nothing for himself ; he denies himself pleasure and rest 
 to work for them : but his view of duty does not extend 
 beyond them. In so acting, he is abusing God's best 
 gift to us ; taking the pure gold of love, and turning it 
 into the base alloy of selfish pride. The family union 
 was not given to strengthen the power of selfishness 
 over the soul of man, but to slowly extinguish it for 
 the nobler feeling of human sympathy and human 
 fellowship. 
 
 The purpose which the family serves, therefore, is to 
 train in the habits of thought and action necessary for 
 the promotion of universal brotherhood. That it does so 
 is evident from our daily experience. Who does not at 
 once recognise the motherly instinct which makes a 
 mother kind to all children ? or which makes men kind 
 to a schoolboy when they think of their own ? It is 
 worth noting here that our public-school system has 
 some dangers in developing selfishness by removing the 
 boys from the sweeter influences of family life. A day- 
 school education is to be preferred. Professor Sewell^ 
 said some years since what is still true : " The English 
 Church has thought more of individuals than of families. 
 It has created and dispersed abroad a power inadequate 
 even to cope with children, certainly not adequate to 
 control parents. And too often, especially of late, it has 
 broken up the family relationship, by transplanting the 
 children into large schools, and superseding the parental 
 authority. It is the mistake rather of her poverty than 
 of her will ; but unless speedily and decidedly corrected, 
 1 On the Dialogues of Plato, p. 270. 
 
THE FAMILY: ITS PAST AND FUTURE 165 
 
 it will have led to serious mischief." The pauper chil- 
 dren, when allowed to herd together in the workhouse, 
 grow up amidst harsh discipline and imperfect training 
 to be the foundation of a dangerous proletariat ; but now, 
 since they have been boarded out in private families, they 
 will be trained in family affection, so as to know and to 
 exercise the brotherhood of citizenship.^ The modern 
 idea, which recognises individuals rather than families, is 
 only a makeshift for a time. But we must not have our 
 family life isolated as in the patriarchal days ; we must 
 be closely interlocked with the community, and have 
 interests and sympathy with all men. It is only thus 
 that we can arrive at true human brotherhood. 
 
 Modern civilisation is manifesting great influence over 
 the family union. The dispersion of families in pursuit 
 of labour and commerce tends to weaken the family tie 
 at too early an age, and the facilities of travel and com- 
 munication are hardly enough to counteract the effects of 
 the severance. There may, however, be the growth of a 
 wider human sympathy as a result from the dispersion of 
 mankind ; and there may be also a closer form of associa- 
 tion born of the creation of great centres of population. 
 The questions which thus arise are somewhat complicated, 
 and, like the astronomical problems of several bodies 
 mutually influencing others in space, can only be approxi- 
 mately solved. 
 
 The influence of poor-law legislation, and its kindred 
 
 ^ A similar measure, with the best results, has been carried out in 
 regard to Scottish "hospitals" for the education of children; 
 although in a few cases some foolish people have prevented this 
 very much needed change of method. 
 
166 THE BROTHEKHOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 enactments with reference to education, are serious factors 
 in our modern life. The family ties in the pauper classes 
 are becoming dangerously lax, by the provisions which 
 absolve men from family duties ; and if the influence 
 spreads upward, the coherence of the nation will be 
 injured. We are doing our best, by the compulsory pro- 
 vision of poor relief, to which paupers may lay legal 
 claim, to create a proletariat whose weakness is the only 
 security against their power to bring the national life to 
 chaos. For the family is not only the foundation of 
 earthly happiness, but also of national stability as well 
 as of human brotherhood. 
 
 Family life, however, has moved away from the patri- 
 archal idea of the authority of the head, to centre itself 
 rather in the sympathy and affectionate duty which 
 parents owe to children. There is an increase in parental 
 affection, at the same time that the filial respect seems 
 weaker to the outward observer. A father or mother is 
 willing to make any sacrifice or give any indulgence to 
 their children. The loss of parental authority is easily 
 explained by the gradual growth of the State, which tends 
 to remove all sanctions from parental control except 
 purely moral forces. The isolation of the family is lost, 
 and the parent merges himself in the fabric of society. 
 He no longer looks on his children as his property, but 
 feels that he owes to society the duty of educating and 
 caring for them, and in the task he develops new affec- 
 tions which were unknown to the older parental relation- 
 ship. Motherhood always possessed this deep feeling of 
 sacrificing love ; but it has been the mission of Christi- 
 anity to deepen this in the hearts of fathers, so as to 
 
THE FAMILY: ITS PAST AND FUTURE 167 
 
 prepare the way for the universal unselfishness of human 
 brotherhood. 
 
 For the family, by its close union and mutual affection, 
 was but a preparation of heart for something wider. The 
 isolation in which the patriarchal family dwelt, and which 
 marks, in a measure, family life in the present day, was 
 a necessary part of its existence. It could not have held 
 together unless by a strong bond, openly recognised ; to 
 loosen that bond was to open the way for promiscuous 
 hordes. But its spiritual influence was none the less 
 real, although not openly known ; the Spirit of God moved 
 the heart of man to prepare the way for the great future, 
 when every family would be but a wave on the great 
 ocean of universal love. 
 
 The true object of religion is not the development of 
 the individual life, but the social perfection. Individual 
 truth and goodness and beauty are only beautiful and 
 good and true when given for the service of man ; and 
 so family life is the great unconscious preparation for 
 the one family in heaven and earth. 
 
 Accordingly, we are compelled to ask what is the 
 ultimate destiny of family life. If the brotherhood of 
 man should ever be attained, will it be necessary, in so 
 glorious a communion of body and soul, to keep the family 
 as a spiritual limitation in that ideal and celestial com- 
 monwealth ? ^ Here we are wholly in the realm of the 
 1 As a physical fact, the family is a permanent condition of 
 earthly life ; but its inner spiritual meanings need not be limited 
 by its physical characteristics. It is solely to these soul-relation- 
 ships of love and union that our attention is directed. It may here 
 be observed that the full meaning of human brotherhood is, in all 
 likelihood (to speak from a merely philosophical standpoint), not 
 
168 THE BEOTHERTIOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 ideal, and we are departing a little from the earthly path 
 to which we have limited ourselves ; but it may be neces- 
 sary to look upwards for a time to understand the fulness 
 of the principle of human brotherhood as taught by Christ. 
 
 Plato, who knew that in the corrupt state of family 
 life at Athens he had little hope of realising his ideal, 
 assures us he does not wish to do without the affection 
 which is the bond of family union. His hope was that 
 it would be none the less strong because spread over a 
 wider area. The whole State would, he hoped, be one 
 of brothers, fathers, and sons, who should use these names 
 endearingly.^ He thought by these means to slay all 
 selfishness, and to cultivate pure and generous hearts ; 
 and although he knew it was impracticable, he yet set 
 it before the world as an ideal State. 
 
 In the teaching of Jesus there is at least one saying 
 on this subject which needs considering; and possibly 
 two. When the Sadducees came to Him with their 
 question about the woman who had married seven 
 husbands in succession. He replied : " In the resurrection 
 they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are as 
 the angels of God in heaven." This sentence has not 
 been easy to understand, and has awakened many 
 thoughts. Kingsley, for one, seems to have been much 
 exercised about it. He writes : " I know that if im- 
 mortality is to include in my case identity of person, I 
 shall feel to my wife for ever as I do now. That 
 
 exliausted by the conditions of our mortal life. See the words of 
 T. H. Green on p. 125, and of Lotze on p. 254. But, as we have 
 said, we do not propose to consider this aspect of the subject in this 
 treatise. 
 
 1 Republic, v. 463, 472. 
 
THE FAMILY: ITS PAST AND FUTURE 169 
 
 feeling may be developed in ways which I do not 
 expect : it may have provided for it forms of expression 
 very different from any which are among the holiest 
 sacraments of life : of that I take no care. The 
 union I believe to be as eternal as my own soul." 
 Again : " In heaven they neither marry nor are given in 
 marriage : but is marriage not the mere approximation 
 to a unity which shall be perfect in heaven ? . . . All 
 expressions of love here are but dim shadows of a union 
 which shall be perfect, if we will but work here so as to 
 work out our own salvation." ^ Here he has a glimpse 
 of the great truth that family life is not an end in itself, 
 but a means of preparing us for a deeper and eternal 
 brotherhood. It is in the Church, says St. Ambrose, 
 " that the names by which we express relationship 
 receive their full meaning, — the reverence of sons, the 
 piety of parents, the kinship of brothers." ^ The family 
 is but the shadow of something better ; the preparation 
 for something we do not realise, but can look forward to. 
 We can see how it fits us for a fuller earthly brother- 
 hood : let us use our home affections so as to leave our 
 hearts opener to a world-brotherhood, into which all 
 lesser fellowships shall flow as rivers to the sea. 
 
 There is another saying attributed to Jesus which we 
 find in the Second Epistle of St. Clement.^ The Lord 
 being asked by a certain man when His kingdom would 
 come, replied : " When the two shall be one, and the 
 external as the internal, and the male with the female, 
 neither male nor female." This is said to be from a 
 
 1 C. Kingsleifs Life, by his wife, ii. 103, 104. 
 
 2 St. Ambrose, De Officiis, i. 33. ^ ii_ Epistle xii. 2. 
 
170 THE BKOTHERHOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 work called the " Gospel according to the Egyptians," 
 which is now lost, but was formerly used by the 
 Encratites and other heretics. The authenticity of the 
 saying is at least doubtful, though, as Lightfoot suggests, 
 it may have been based on some saying of Christ's 
 similar in meaning to St. Paul's words in the Epistle to 
 the Galatians : ^ " There is neither male nor female." 
 The meaning is evidently similar, though its mystical 
 character, so different from the usual manner of our 
 Lord in His speech as reported in the Gospels, renders it 
 open to many interpretations. We can only conclude 
 that we have here a vision of the ideal purpose of 
 conjugal love and family affection in preparing the heart 
 for a fuller and more generous draught of universal love 
 and sympathy and brotherhood. Such a view does not 
 make us value it less because it is incomplete in its 
 purpose ; but it teaches us to cherish it the more, as it 
 is the means of so great and glorious a destiny. Every 
 thought of love that fills the breast attunes it to receive 
 more and more of the music which is the harmony of all 
 things ; and if we yield ourselves to the melody of the 
 familiar song of home affection, we shall train our ears 
 for deeper and more majestic harmonies that await us, 
 and which one day we may attain. 
 1 Gal. iii. 28. 
 
CHAPTEE XIII 
 
 THE SACRAMENTS 
 
 The Christian religion in its most solemn rites declares 
 its great purpose. As if to guard against any possible 
 forgetfulness of the unity and brotherhood of man being 
 the appointed goal of all human life and effort, Christ 
 instituted the sacraments as perpetual witnesses to His 
 divine end in giving life to the Church. Eeligion, said 
 Novalis, is a social thing ; without a Church it cannot 
 exist. The union of the disciples to one another and to 
 Christ, said the Master Himself, is an essential condition 
 of true life. "As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself 
 except it abide in the vine, no more can ye except ye 
 abide in Me." 
 
 To give this union an outward form, the sacraments 
 were appointed. By baptism we are admitted into the 
 Church, and become ourselves living witnesses of that 
 brotherhood which the Church exists to declare and 
 advance. 
 
 That the Church is a universal brotherhood, is clear 
 from the fact that we baptize infants. What right or 
 title can one infant have to baptism more than another ? 
 There is no hint in the teaching of Jesus that any child 
 is preferred before another. " Suffer the children to 
 
172 THE BROTHERHOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 come unto Me, and forbid them not." " It is not the 
 will of your Father which is in heaven that one of these 
 little ones should perish." 
 
 It is not by baptism that we become sons of God ; 
 we are already His children. But we declare that we 
 recognise our true position towards Him as our Father, 
 who loves us, and has forgiven us. It is from this 
 knowledge of our sonship to the divine Father that we 
 come to realise our brotherly relation to man. 
 
 Although baptism is thus the entrance gate to the 
 Church, it is essentially an individual act with an 
 individual meaning. It is true that it is the way in 
 which the Christian brotherhood receives into its fold 
 those who are born into the human family ; but is it 
 not rather a declaration that all men are the sons of 
 God, and therefore already in that family of which He 
 is the Father ? It is in baptism that the child is 
 declared an heir to the great treasures of love and unity 
 which God has appointed as the future possession of 
 mankind. 
 
 That baptism is an act of universal meaning is clear 
 from the doctrine held by the orthodox Church in all 
 times, that the baptism of heretics is valid. The Councils 
 of Laodicea and Constantinople and other Councils 
 affirmed its entire validity, when administered in the 
 name of the Trinity, however heterodox the person 
 baptizing might be ; and St. Augustine, St. Jerome, and 
 many others of the early Christian writers, express the 
 same opinion. If baptism is admission to the Christian 
 community in any narrow sense, how could men admit to 
 a community of which they were not themselves members ? 
 
THE SACEAMENTS IVS 
 
 Here we have a glimpse of one of these great universal 
 truths which the Church preserved, while hardly knowing 
 the full worth of her treasure. The recognition of 
 heretic and schismatic baptism had for its inner meaning 
 a recognition of the universal love of the divine Father, 
 of the universal redemption of Christ, of the universal 
 sonship of men. It was removed by a wide horizon 
 from purely ecclesiastical acts such as ordination. The 
 Church kept for herself this power, and refused to 
 recognise schismatic orders, and insisted on reordaining 
 those who had such orders. But baptism was not the 
 peculiar possession of the orthodox ; it was like the 
 sunlight, the universal privilege of mankind. Hence it 
 was that the baptism of the Baptist was regarded as an 
 admission to the fellowship of the Church, for we read 
 that Apollos was received into the Church apparently on 
 the ground of this baptism. 
 
 This sacrament has therefore, in its essential principle, 
 a foreshadowing of the great final unity of mankind. 
 It is always spoken of in Scripture as an element of 
 union, and one of the keys of God's world of peace and 
 harmony to which He will one day bring mankind. 
 The sacrament of baptism is, perhaps, not valued as it 
 should be ; but, notwithstanding man's ignorance of its 
 power and beauty, it bears them, though they know it 
 not, on a wide current of brotherly union into real and 
 abiding love. 
 
 In the Holy Communion we have another form of the 
 same brotherly influence brought before us. By uniting 
 in the Eucharist we recognise our relationship to men, in 
 that they are to share in our material possessions as well 
 
174 THE BROTHERHOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 as iu love and fellowship. And we acknowledge that 
 union is to be consummated by realising the universal 
 brotherhood of Christ Himself to all mankind. 
 
 In earlier times, it is apparent that sharmg in the 
 material elements of this life of ours took a more 
 prominent place than it does now. For the agape was 
 joined with the Eucharist, and the needy were aided by 
 the gifts which were brought for the sacrament and for 
 the feast.^ At this weekly union the early Christians 
 had an opportunity of laying aside the worldly seeking 
 after selfish interests ; and the blessing of the bread and 
 wine made them remember that all gifts come from the 
 universal Father. The Church has never quite forgotten 
 the communion in material things which the sacrament 
 typifies, for there is no communion ever held without 
 an almsgiving. In the old days the bread and wine 
 for the communion were taken out of the offerings of 
 the people, and then the rest consumed at the agape or 
 given to the poor.^ 
 
 This is an important view of the sacrament which 
 
 must not be overlooked. 
 
 " The Holy Supper is kept indeed, 
 In wliatso we share with another's need : 
 Not what we give, but what we share, 
 For the gift without the giver is bare ; 
 Who gives himself with his alms feeds three — 
 Himself, his hungering neighbour, and Me." 
 
 The Koman Church has much weakened the force of 
 the two great sacraments which Christ appointed by 
 adding others. ' By this means the true ideas of the 
 
 ^ Tertullian, ^^joZ. c. 39. 
 
 2 1 Cor. ix. 21. Justin Martyr, Apol. ii. 98. 
 
THE SACRAMENTS 175 
 
 sacraments have been lost, and other notions added 
 contrary to the divine teaching as well as to the human 
 usefulness of the rites. Some have thought that there 
 are too few sacraments ; ^ but if they express the sum of 
 existence, how can they be added to ? The one brings 
 before us the individual life, which is asserted in baptism 
 to consist in the sonship which we have to the divine 
 Father. When that individual life has been fully 
 realised by us, when we are old enough to have it as an 
 actual possession, we come to the second sacrament, and 
 yield it to the brotherhood. Not for ourselves was 
 our life given, but for others. " No man liveth unto 
 himself." 
 
 The so-called other sacraments have little relation to 
 these ideas, with, perhaps, the single exception of mar- 
 riage, which might have been retained, as in a sense a 
 sacrament of humanity ; but its logical position would 
 have been difficult in that case to define. 
 
 A communion in material things is nothing, as St. 
 Paul tells us, without charity. The sacrament, there- 
 fore, had for its essence the true brotherly love. A 
 feast of joy is a feast of friendship, for it implies a 
 sharing of our joy with others, and the communion had 
 this for its chief ethical idea. 
 
 The early Christians accordingly were anxious that 
 no thought of strife should enter into their hearts while 
 together at this feast. Tertullian, in the well-known 
 chapter of his Apology, tells the Christians who had any 
 dispute to be reconciled, and not make a mockery of 
 
 ^ Goethe thought so ( Wahrheit und Dichtung, B. 7), and some 
 Lutherans (e.g. Vilmar) and Anglicans wish to add to their number. 
 
176 THE BROTHERHOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 their communion of love by inward variance while pro- 
 fessing outward union. 
 
 It is clear how far off the Eoman Church (and 
 perhaps every Church more or less) has wandered from 
 the early intent of this sacrament, by making it a matter 
 of individual reception rather than brotherly communion. 
 The Christian sects who sit down together seem to come 
 nearer the original idea in outward form, whatever their 
 inward thought may be. 
 
 Brotherhood brings gladness to the heart, and the 
 feast of communion was a feast of thanksgiving. They 
 remembered with gladness the divine Father whose chil- 
 dren they were, and whose bounties they were receiving^ 
 and bathed themselves in the brotherhood of man, which 
 they thought of, not only as embracing the living, but also 
 the dead, from whom their life, both physical and moral, 
 came; and this great brotherhood they specially traced to 
 its divine source in Christ Himself. 
 
 When Emerson says, " What was once a mere circum- 
 stance, that the best and the worst men in the parish, the 
 poor and the rich, the learned and the ignorant, young 
 and old, should meet one day as fellows in one house, in 
 sign of an equal right in the soul, has come to a par- 
 amount motive for going thither," he really touches the 
 heart of Christianity, though he knows it not. At no 
 time was the common brotherhood of man a mere 
 circumstance ; at all times it was the essential aim of 
 Christianity : and if advancing progress has brought its 
 true meaning more into prominence, such is the natural 
 result of the process of education through which the 
 human race is going. Through the sieve of the years 
 
THE SACRAMENTS 177 
 
 only the finer wheat falls, and the coarser is cast away, 
 for it is useless. The appetite craves better food than 
 the old husks, and the true aim of religion is cleared of 
 its unserviceable accretions. 
 
 The social and brotherly element is the foundation 
 purpose of the communion. If we remember that it 
 closed a series of teachings given by Jesus as to the 
 importance of brotherly love and perfect union, it will 
 be plain to us that it was a mere symbolic summing up of 
 all that He had said. He prayed that His own might be 
 one, even as He and His Father were one ; that they 
 might be made perfect in one. And He had exhorted 
 them over and over again that they should love one 
 another, as He had loved them. 
 
 He appeals to that motive which we have called the 
 Christian conscience — the remembrance of His love. 
 And the sacrament specially brings this before us, for 
 it is to be taken in remembrance of Him. His desire 
 for unity, His death for men, are all to be in our hearts 
 as we unite together in this holy rite. 
 
 The meaning of the sacrament one would think it 
 impossible to obscure ; but how have men darkened it ! 
 By elaborate ritual, by mysterious doctrine, by strange 
 talk about fasting and the like, they have clouded its 
 primary purpose from the vision of men. 
 
 Still, when we consider the ethical evolution of the 
 Christian doctrine with reference to the sacraments, we 
 see how the dogma served to keep the idea before the mind 
 of the Church. In baptism, the theory of baptismal re- 
 generation was a strong presentation of the fact that the 
 child was a child of God, and had the blessing of a Father's 
 
1;7.8 THE BROTHERHOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 love. The washing with water brings vividly to view 
 the truth that God has pardoned our sins, and that to 
 come before Him with sacrifices of atonement, as in the 
 days of ignorance, was to doubt the work of Christ. In 
 some form or other, accordingly, the Church still clings 
 to a doctrine of baptismal grace. 
 
 In the communion the real fellowship of men with each 
 other through Christ was enforced by the teaching as to 
 His real presence with them. They felt that it was 
 from Him that the true unity proceeded, and without 
 Him the soul would lose its sense of the ideal complete- 
 ness of that unity, and the future perfection to which it 
 must attain. Under various forms the Church exhibited 
 this truth ; and at the Reformation the German and Swiss 
 and English Keformers felt that it must be preserved. 
 It is sometimes said that Zwingli did not hold this doc- 
 trine ; but his writings testify to the contrary.^ To lose 
 this truth was to lose the great blessing of the sacra- 
 ment; so the Church has held. On the other hand, 
 the teaching of some branches of the Church, which 
 regards the Eucharist as an efficacious sacrificial act,'^ was 
 
 ^ See his confession sent to King Francis i. , quoted by Scliaff. 
 
 ^ The simpler form of this doctrine, which represents it as a 
 commemoration of the sacrifice of Christ, is an effort to realise that 
 united worship and atmosphere of brotherly life which the in- 
 dividual reception, and still more the priestly reception, as in later 
 times, put into the l)ackground. St. Chrysostom and St. Augustine 
 teach this view, the latter with remarkable beauty. The whole city 
 of God, the communion of saints, is the offering presented to God by 
 our High Priest ; and so the Church, commemorating the offering of 
 Christ, presents itself as a sacrifice to God. So did St. Augustine, 
 who, of all theologians, brings best before us the thought of the 
 Eucharist as a communion, endeavour to strengthen our hold on the 
 great reality of united mankind. 
 
THE SACRAMENTS 179 
 
 an addition to the Christian faith, which did not appear 
 for some centuries, and departed from the meaning of the 
 sacrament. It would not endure the spirit of inquiry 
 which the Eeformation brought, and accordingly was 
 swept out of true Christian thought for ever after. 
 Nothing illustrates more clearly the process of time in 
 developing the ethical purpose of Christianity, than the 
 history of Christian doctrine as to the sacraments. The 
 true purpose becomes clearer with increasing light ; all 
 dogma that obscured that purpose falls away ; and even 
 the very form of celebration rises from individualism, as 
 in the Eoman, to collective worship, as in the Eeformed 
 Churches. Perhaps the ordinary Protestant view, that 
 faith is necessary to the benefit of the sacrament, is a little 
 narrowly interpreted by most people. Such a belief as 
 brings men to the communion may not always be faith, 
 as we understand it ; but there must be some good come 
 to the soul from the act of brotherly union. Imperfect, 
 indeed, may be the conception of it, but there must be 
 some unconscious groping after the truth, which cannot 
 but lead to fuller enlightenment. It is a limited range 
 of vision which shuts out men from the feast of com- 
 munion with united humanity, because they do not fully 
 realise the idea it enfolds. Who can shut them out 
 from the great fact itself to which the history of man 
 is ever advancing ? 
 
 The Lutherans give the due prominence to the sacra- 
 ments which their meaning requires. In the Churches 
 which see little force in the sacraments, and which 
 attach importance to pulpit instruction, there is a strong 
 individualistic tendency, which in our age tends to 
 
180 THE BROTHEEHOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 weaken theii' testimony to the great fact of human 
 brotherhood. They think too much of personal religion, 
 and too little of the wider human fellowship which 
 Christianity implies. Hence it is that as Churches they 
 stand aloof from the modern altruistic movements ; and 
 their place is largely taken by those Churches which 
 attach importance to the sacraments. A view of the 
 Church which makes it a mere association for personal 
 culture in religion, is false to the divine end it has 
 before it. The Unitarians, perhaps, hold the extreme 
 form of this opinion ; but many Protestant Churches, 
 such as the Congregationalists and Presbyterians, also 
 tend in the same direction. 
 
 The sacraments are the external representation of the 
 great fact of human unity. Faith in that fact may exist 
 and grow to completeness without the outward form ; as 
 we see in the Quakers, whose intense effort to realise the 
 spiritual unity in some cases is rewarded by a vision of 
 that unity. But life cannot be carried on through 
 thought alone ; it must figure itself in action. Love 
 which has no symbols of affection may live in the 
 sublimer hearts of mankind ; but ordinary mortals cling 
 to its expression in tender caresses, without which, they 
 fear, it would die. Union which is only felt in the 
 heart, without being strengthened by some sign that 
 men can see, some seal that impresses it on the soul, is 
 apt to lose reality. 
 
 As I have said, the more recent Lutheran theologians 
 seem to have before them the true thought as to the 
 brotherly idea of the sacrament, and its importance in 
 the life of the Church. It is really the best ordinary 
 
THE SACRAMENTS 181 
 
 means of bringing men to realise their brotherhood, and 
 keeping them in it. The teaching of Delitzsch and 
 Khefoth,! especially the latter, is of great value in 
 enforcing this practical truth. 
 
 The AngHcan theories, though in many ways valuable, 
 have less coherence, as they are not a natural develop- 
 ment, and have an individualist character which makes 
 the sacrament little but a kind of commentary or 
 appendix to preaching. The Church of England seems 
 partly to have forgotten the truth, which Schleiermacher, 
 who was in one sense the prophet of individualism, 
 taught with such clearness, that Christianity is a social 
 religion. Hence some English theologians, and also 
 Bishop Martensen, seem to have departed from the 
 essential doctrine of the sacraments, which declares that 
 in them the whole body of the Church acts, and not a 
 priestly order. We find that Justin Martyr, in his 
 Apology, regards the congregation as a whole as the 
 acting priests in the Eucharist, and not any special 
 officers of the congregation. The same view is confirmed 
 by Tertullian and St. Augustine ; and no other opinion 
 can be made to correspond with the true idea of the 
 sacrament as the symbol and seal of brotherhood. All 
 must move their souls by the same feeling of love, and 
 must unite in giving as well as receiving the sacrament. 
 
 It is a crude theological arrangement which we find in 
 the Augsburg Confession and the Westminster Confession, 
 which classifies the sacraments as means of grace. Why, 
 the whole of our life, with all its changes and chances, is a 
 
 1 See an admirable summary in Lichtenberger's Tlieology of the 
 Nineteenth Century, Clark's edition. 
 
1'82 THE BEOTHERHOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 means of grace. To view the sacraments as one of the 
 means of grace, along with other spiritual exercises, is to 
 remove them from the central position. Secular writers, 
 like Goethe, have recognised more fully their true place 
 than many theologians. The sacrament of the Com- 
 munion is the visible expression of the sum and end of 
 the Christian faith, and occupies a distinctive position, 
 therefore, in the Christian life, which is not satisfied by 
 ranging it alongside preaching as one of the means of 
 grace. It is this blindness which has made our 
 Christianity so individual, which has exposed it to the 
 taunts, not undeserved, of being a selfish effort to " make 
 the best of both worlds " for our personality, and of 
 turning the sublime altruism which Jesus taught us by 
 His life and death into a glorified egoism. The sacra- 
 ments have in their outward presentation a . grand 
 testimony to the truth that the salvation of God is 
 for the whole of humanity as a regenerated brotherhood. 
 Are all the great promises of the general blessing of 
 mankind, which Christ and His apostles gave us, to be 
 reduced to one narrow thought of an individual safety ? 
 What becomes of the sayings of Jesus Himself, such as 
 that which St. John tells us of, that He would draw all 
 men unto Him ? What did St. Paul mean when he 
 said, " the free gift came upon all men," " that God 
 might have mercy upon all," that " in Christ all might 
 be made alive " ? This is not the place to discuss the 
 subtleties of the " restitution " theory of many devout 
 hearts from Origen to Bengel and Schleiermacher, for it 
 passes into that region of speculation which we must 
 carefully guard from influencing our practical religion ; 
 
THE SACRAMENTS 183 
 
 and besides, as Kothe has convincingly pointed out, 
 injures the whole ethical side of Christianity, by dealing 
 a deadly blow at the free receiving of it by the souls of 
 men. But a more generous form of saving faith is found 
 in the New Testament than that which occupies itself as 
 John Bunyan's Pilgrim did, with a solitary effort to 
 " flee from the wrath to come." That faith is per- 
 manently held before the vision of mankind in the great 
 sacrament of love and lirotherhood. 
 
CHAPTEE XIV 
 
 ENTRANCE INTO THE LIFE OF BROTHERHOOD, AND 
 PROGRESS THEREIN 
 
 The heart which trusts the words of Jesus must believe 
 that its sins are forgiven. There can be no other begm- 
 ning in the life of a son than to believe in the Father's 
 love. It is perhaps hard to realise that God could 
 forgive sins so great as they sometimes appear to our 
 consciousness. But to doubt the love of God is to doubt 
 His Fatherhood. We may count it impossible for human 
 beings to " believe and tremble " ; for if our hearts are 
 filled with terror at the knowledge that there is a God 
 above us, we are really sceptics as to His being, which is 
 love. It is not our faith which makes us sons, for we 
 are sons however far we wander from God ; but our faith 
 helps us to see that we are children of the Father of love. 
 This knowledge sometimes comes on us like a flash, 
 though we may have been long toiling after it. It comes 
 at last, as all God's best gifts fall on us, like the joy of 
 the dawn, without our effort, or even our prayer. How 
 true was the old doctrine of God's grace as it appeared 
 to St. Augustine and his followers since ; and how close 
 it follows the analogy of all our divine Father's dealings 
 with men. We are borne out of the mist of self, with 
 
ENTRANCE INTO THE LIFE OF BROTHERHOOD 185 
 
 its shadow of sacrifices offered in fear, into the ampler 
 ether of the adoption of sons. 
 
 The state of mind that goes before the recognition of 
 this truth is often a heavy burden to the soul. We feel 
 our entire isolation, and our hearts are dark. Never were 
 the thoughts of the darkness of such an hour better given 
 voice to than by Eichter, who, if he speaks more in the 
 language of our modern scientific days than of the earlier 
 ages, yet expresses the universal feeling of mankind : 
 " As he saw the grinding press of worlds ... he raised 
 his eyes to the void Immensity, and said . . . How is 
 each so solitary in the wide grave of the All ! I am alone 
 with myself ! Father, Father, where is Thy infinite 
 bosom, that I might rest on it ! Ah ! if each soul is its 
 own father and creator, why cannot it be its own 
 destroyer too ? " 
 
 When such thoughts cast their shadow over us, and 
 no light appears, we cry, as we loathe our lonely selfhood, 
 which chills us as if we were bound to a corpse : " 
 ivretchcd man that I am, who will deliver me from this 
 lody of death ? " 
 
 But this sense of sin, this morbid distrust of the 
 divine Fatherhood, is a disease of the soul. It is a 
 malaria born of the marshy land of selfish life. The 
 Pteformers, when they proclaimed the great truth of 
 justification by faith, taught us that we must not spend 
 our days in self-contemplation, and raking up the sins of 
 the past. All is forgiven, and now let us forget those 
 things which are behind, and reaxih forth to those things 
 which are hefore. When the seeker after God offered 
 sacrifice to Him, he was ignorant of His fatherly love. 
 
186 THE BROTHERHOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 Men in past times dreaded God as an unknown power, 
 whose anger might be death to His creature ; and with 
 no higher thought than fear of the might of God, and 
 desire to appease Him, they dehiged their altars with 
 blood. 
 
 The Aryan view of the divine Being, which sprung from 
 their scientific inquiry as to the origin of things, and 
 naturally impressed the devout thinker with a sense of 
 mysterious power ; and the Semitic, which regarded Him 
 chiefly as the Holy One, equally gave birth to this awful 
 view of the divine character. In the Vedas we can read 
 the awestruck heart in the words of the prayer : " Let me 
 not yet, Var una, enter into the house of clay: have mercy, 
 Almighty, have mercy ! If I go trembling like a cloud 
 driven before the wind, have mercy. Almighty, have 
 mercy ! " The gradual growth of the knowledge that God 
 was the divine Father turned the hearts of the Jews from 
 their old thoughts, which regarded Him as an angry 
 Being who desired sacrifices. The words of Samuel give 
 a glimpse of- the idea of filial duty as a better attitude 
 than that of the wish to propitiate a dread Power. " To 
 obey is better than sacrifice ; and to hearken, than the 
 fat of rams." And David, in the depth of his remorse 
 for sin, has a ray of hope even from his imperfect 
 apprehension of tbe true nature of God's fatherly love. 
 " The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit ; a broken and 
 a contrite heart Thou wilt not despise." While, still 
 later, we see how Micah arrived at the gate of light after 
 the long darkness of the human soul. " Shall I come 
 before the Lord with burnt-offerings ? Shall I give my 
 firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for 
 
ENTRANCE INTO THE LIFE OF BROTHERHOOD 187 
 
 the sin of my soul ? He hath showed thee, man, what 
 is good : and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to 
 do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with 
 thy God ? " And after the Captivity still more did the 
 Jews realise the true nature of God, and man's relations 
 to Him. We read in the Second Isaiah that there were 
 no sacrifices offered ; ^ and in the Song of the Tliree 
 Children, that " there was at that time neither burnt- 
 offering, nor sacrifice, nor oblation, nor incense, nor place 
 to sacrifice." ^ 
 
 The thought of men upon this change has turned on 
 the contrast between ceremonial and spiritual worship ; 
 but the advance in religious life did not really take that 
 form. Dean Stanley is especially ready to mark the 
 distinction between priest and prophet, and apparently the 
 progress from the one to the other ; but in this his position 
 is not historically justified. It was not because the 
 worship was less ceremonial, for their circumstances in 
 a foreign land might account for that ; but because it 
 disclosed a new thought of God as the Father who 
 rejoiced to receive His children, and from whose love no 
 sin of theirs could cut them off. It is not till we come 
 to the Second Isaiah, to Malachi, and to the Psalms 
 written after the Exile, that we find recognition of God as 
 our Father.^ This entered into Jewish thought, though 
 they grasped it but feebly, and prepared the way for the 
 sublime statement of the truth in the teaching and life 
 of Jesus. 
 
 The first step in the new life is to realise that we are 
 
 1 Isa. xliii. 23. 2 yerg. 14, 15. 
 
 3 Isa. Ixiii. 16, Ixiv. 8 ; Mai. ii. 10 ; Ps. Ixxxix., ciii. 
 
188 THE BROTHERHOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 the children of God, and therefore bound by essential ties 
 of duty and affection toward all his family. What a 
 caricature of true religion is the popular view, that our 
 efforts are to be given to save our own soul. The 
 conscious desire for personal salvation often keeps men 
 long out of the knowledge of God's love, and their own 
 sonship. We have but to realise that God is a Father, 
 and we at once are certain that no sins of ours can keep 
 His love from us. Once the heart knows God's divine 
 Fatherhood, we come to the belief that all children have, 
 that the parental affection cannot be lost by wrong-doing. 
 To trust this infinite love makes us tender, forgiving to 
 others, and eager to serve them. 
 
 The history of all those who have come to know God 
 as their Father follows the same general course. St. 
 Paul teaches that the love of God is shed abroad in our 
 hearts hy the Holy Ghost ; and St. John assures us that 
 we love Him because He first loved us. St. Cyprian -^ tells 
 us that " no bound or measure can be assigned in the 
 reception of divine gifts, as is the case with earthly 
 benefits." St. Hilary of Poitiers says : " Since the Son of 
 God became man, men may become the sons of God. A 
 man who with gladness receives this doctrine, renews his 
 spirit by faith, and conceives a hope full of immortality. 
 Having once learned to believe, he rejects the captious 
 difficulties, and no longer judges after the maxims of the 
 world." 2 St. Augustine came to see, through the study 
 of some of the Platonists, that everything that came from 
 God was good, and that universal nature was justly called 
 on to bless God for His goodness. "Too late did I love 
 ^ Epistle to Donatus ^ De Trinitate. 
 
ENTRANCE INTO THE LIFE OF BROTHEEHOOD 189 
 
 Thee, Thou primeval Beauty. Thou didst call aloud and 
 overcome my deafness ; Thou didst shine and dispel my 
 darkness." " I am a little child, but my Father always 
 lives." ^ St. Bernard says: "One man confesses to God 
 because He is mighty ; another, because He is kind to 
 him who confesses ; a third, because God is good, and 
 for naught else. The first is a slave, and fears for him- 
 self ; the second is mercenary, and seeks only his own 
 advantage ; the third is a son, and acts dutifully to a 
 Father." 2 
 
 The road to the new life is not through examining one's 
 own heart, but by seeking after God as Jesus reveals 
 Him. Truly does He say that He is the way. The 
 discovery of the divine Fatherhood is the entrance to a 
 new state of being. As Luther says : " To such a Father, 
 who overwhelms me with His inestimable loving-kindness, 
 must I not liberally, cheerfully, and with my whole heart, 
 do everything which I shall know to be pleasing in His 
 sight ?"=^ 
 
 It is to be remembered that St. John, who of the 
 evangelists gives us most light on the beginning of the 
 true life, speaks of the new birth, as we have done, 
 chiefly, if not solely, with reference to the future. It is 
 a new impulse which leads a man onward to life. We 
 have simply entered on the way, but all the journey is 
 before us. It is not without good reason that Words- 
 worth, in his " Ode on the Intimation of Immortality from 
 Eecollections of early Childhood," regards the child as 
 conscious of certain truths which fade away with man- 
 
 ^ Confessions, x. '^Epistle 11. 
 
 3 Luther, " Of the Freedom of a Christian Man." 
 
190 THE BROTHERHOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 hood. It is only by effort that we regain that sense of 
 sonship which is natural to us as children. The know- 
 ledge that God is our Father is indeed latent in our souls, 
 and may rarely take any form except the love of our 
 earthly father, who stands as the type of the divine and 
 perfect Fatherhood ; but the spiritual attitude of the 
 child's nature is a necessity of the human soul. As 
 Jesus said : "Except ye he converted, and heeome as little 
 children, ye shall not enter the kingdom of heaven." 
 
 To become a member of the human brotherhood, or 
 rather to realise our membership since we already belong 
 to it, as St. Bernard says, " God's gifts in creation and 
 redemption are the common heritage of all men," we 
 must first know that we have a common Father, and have 
 our heart filled with love to Him. When this entrance 
 into the life of brotherhood is made, we are prepared to 
 go forward, our heart ever expanding toward the fulness 
 of love to all men which God has, and which we are to 
 strive after. The sacrament of baptism has been given 
 as the outward type of this new life. The rite is 
 symbolical of the forgiveness of sins which is already 
 given to the world, and only needs to be received by the 
 devout heart. It does not make men God's children, 
 but simply declares that they are. Hence it is a form 
 which the Cliurch should never dispense with, lest man- 
 kind lose the truth which it is appointed to teach. 
 
 Nothing can be more true to the root-idea of the 
 Christian faith, to the real position of men to God, than 
 to baptize children. It brings them into surroundings 
 where they will grow into a deeper knowledge of the love 
 and brotherhood which are the highest manifestations of 
 
ENTRANCE INTO THE LIFE OF BROTHERHOOD 191 
 
 man^s inner atid outer life. But it must not be forgotten 
 and laid aside as a mere memory of childhood : it must 
 be kept before the mind as an acknowledgment of the 
 bu'thright of men as sons of God. St. Augustine lamented 
 that he had not been baptized when a child : he would 
 have known God sooner than he did, if his parents had 
 brought him to his heavenly Father. 
 
 Perhaps it is the surest foundation for a permanent 
 life of brotherhood, that one should be early taught to 
 know one's true relation to men and God. There is no 
 essential difference between the sudden enlightenment of 
 the soul which St. Paul experienced, and the gradual 
 growth of a pure spirit from childhood, for both are 
 entrances into the filial feeling. But when the nature is 
 gently trained into true sympathy, its actions are sweeter 
 and more uniformly fraternal. The gusts of selfishness 
 that rush over the hearts of men, who have had a great 
 change come on them like a lightning flash, sometimes 
 extinguish the lamp of love which has begun to shine 
 within them. Plato desired his young people to have 
 truth infused into them by association, till they had their 
 being attuned to its harmony. And so too would St. 
 Augustine desire for all that they be early brought into 
 the " citadel of faith," that they may be strengthened 
 before they have to fight, and taught goodness before 
 they learn evil. If we have " a golden gift from God " 
 within us in our filial love as children, let us not lightly 
 esteem it. Above all, let us not begin to doubt our son- 
 ship, and torture our souls as too many young people do, 
 with the doubt whether they are " converted." The 
 teaching of Aristotle, that we must search for truth 
 
192 THE BROTHERHOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 through doubts, is common enough in religion ; but it is 
 seldom the way to peace. Do not make children sceptics 
 in their youth ; remember the Saviour's teaching : " Whoso 
 shall offend one of these little ones that believe in Me, it 
 were better for him that a millstone were hanged about 
 his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the 
 sea." 
 
 Our children have a part in the organic life of the 
 family and of the community which shapes their soul 
 towards the true faith. The spiritual life of the parents 
 is communicated to the child in a thousand other ways 
 than direct instruction. The mysterious links which 
 bind soul to soul are not fully known to us ; but we can 
 see the results of their action, and so strong a force one 
 must not pass by.^ 
 
 The life of Christ is in this, as in all other respects, an 
 example ; and happy are they who increase in wisdom 
 with their stature, and in favour with God and man. The 
 narrowness which we deplore in St. Augustine, and the 
 fierceness of Loyola, are reversions to that selfish heed- 
 lessness of others out of which they awoke to the love of 
 God and men, and some such weakness accompanies all 
 such violent experiences. A popular religion which 
 
 1 " So glued is our mental habit to the impression that religious 
 character is wliolly the result of choice in the individual, or, if 
 generated by a divine ictus, preceded by absolute necessity by con- 
 victions and struggles, that we cannot comprehend that a child should 
 be prepared for God by causes prior to his own will" (Bushnell, 
 Argument for Discourses on Christian Nurture, p. 39). "A godly 
 education is God's first and ordinary appointed means for the 
 begetting of actual faith " (Baxter, Christian Directory). " Family 
 education and order are some of the chief means of grace " (Jonathan 
 Edwards). 
 
ENTKANCE INTO THE LIFE OF BROTHERHOOD 193 
 
 demands such from all men, cannot but result in an 
 increase of selfish forms of religious thought, and is a real 
 danger to the progress of true, and generous, and self- 
 sacrificing brotherhood. 
 
 Once that the soul has grasped the truth of its 
 sonship, its path is ever onward. We recognise that 
 other men are also sons, however they may be, like 
 ourselves, unworthy of the divine and Fatherly love. 
 By loving and serving them, we enter into a purer 
 thought of our kinship to them, and become more worthy 
 children of our divine Father. Forgivmg, and loving, 
 and working for men, whoever they be, we are like our 
 Father, who maketh His sun to rise on the evil and the 
 good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust, and 
 we slowly approach the divine ideal: " Be ye perfect, as 
 your Father in heaven is perfect." 
 
 The way of holiness is by work ; but that work is 
 perverted from its purpose if it be done with conscious 
 purpose of purity. It must be done from love of 
 mankind. St. Paul says : " Work out your own salvation." 
 Develop in your soul a growing principle of loving 
 altruism, not for the sake of having a loving soul, but 
 to benefit mankind and promote the human brother- 
 hood. You must not work for your own sake, but for 
 others. 
 
 This is the essence of sanctification.i It must not 
 be pursued in a selfish spirit, for the reward of purity, 
 for it cannot be so reached. Every good action will 
 only add more to the selfish corruption of the heart. 
 Herein is the fatal error of justification by works. To 
 1 The word dyict(rfc6i means a consecration to service. 
 13 
 
194 THE BROTHERHOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 serve God or men for personal reward or benefit, is to 
 take all the value from the service ; for the real object 
 is to serve self all the while. Here is the evil of 
 asceticism. For what do we deny ourselves ? That 
 we may serve others ? Such a thought is far from 
 the heart of the ascetic : he dreams only of himself, 
 and some distant reward. Whether the work be in 
 Christian lands or in Thibet or India, the motive is 
 the same, individualism ; and unworthy a man, born to 
 serve men. Nay, each successive act begets a self- 
 satisfaction which is the foe of real goodness. The 
 rapture of the pictures of the solitary saints expresses 
 the congratulations of self, not the joy of service or 
 of God. When Thorwaldsen was advanced in life, he 
 doubted his skill was gone ; for, as he said, " Here is 
 my statue of Christ : it is the first of my works that 
 I have ever felt satisfied with. Till now my idea has 
 always been far beyond what I could execute. But 
 it is no longer so. I shall never have a great idea 
 again." The calm which breathes from the features 
 of these saintly pictures is a sign that the onward 
 movement of the soul has ceased. It is a quiet pool 
 of self, not a stream flowing on to God through the 
 service of man. 
 
 The only way to holiness is to serve others : to slay 
 self day by day, as St. Paul told us to do. 
 
 Every kind act that we do is a purifying of our 
 soul. We have rid ourselves by it of some little part 
 of our burden of self. Nor think that the burden of 
 self is a mere figure which carries no deep meaning 
 with it ; for if the end of our being is a union with 
 
ENTKANCE INTO THE LIFE OF BROTHERHOOD 195 
 
 man and God, all that keeps from that union must 
 be like a weight on our soul, and make our forward 
 steps heavy. What is the beginning of the new life 
 in our practical conduct ? We know it is love in our 
 hearts ; but we are also assured by Christ and His 
 apostles,^ that the sign of it in our lives is the ceasing 
 to Hve to self and to seek our own joys and interests ; 
 and to strive to live for others. It is the beginning, 
 the middle, and the end of the true life. Through it 
 we make constant progress ; but our progress has no 
 higher purpose than to continue in the unselfish life. 
 Many are the sides from which this progress may be 
 viewed. It is doubt of God which keeps us outside 
 His great purpose of union among men. We cherish 
 our little life as if it were our all, not knowing how 
 rich it becomes when we live for others. Faith in 
 God and man leads us out of our isolation, and we 
 yield ourselves to the great stream of destiny, trusting 
 that God will bring us to richer fields of being than 
 we dream of now. 
 
 Man is an imperfect creature : he is only the 
 possibility of something higher and nobler, to which 
 he ever tends, if in the true line of the divine purpose. 
 All sin comes from the will turning aside from that 
 purpose. The soul in its darkness loses sight of the 
 divine end, and seeks some near object which seems 
 to " show good." To know and work to the divine 
 future of brotherhood defends the soul against those 
 temptations of the way, and every kind act gives a 
 
 1 St. Luke xiv. 26 ; St. John xii. 25 ; Rom. xiv. 7, 8 ; Gal. 
 ii. 20 ; Phil. ii. 3, etc. 
 
196 THE BROTHERHOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 glimpse of the celestial city of universal love. How 
 brightly illumined the heart becomes with the radiance 
 of its own unselfish desires. Evil is a privation of 
 good, and has no real existence in itself. The whole 
 universe is an expression of the will of God, and more 
 and more tends to realise that will. Evil is a stay of 
 the process, in which man tries a path of his own to 
 his own loss.^ Or it may be that he merely refuses to 
 go on, while the river of divine destiny flows past 
 him. As Fichte said, the sinfulness of man proceeds 
 from "an inherent inertia or indolence of human 
 nature." 
 
 With what energy St. Paul entreats us to work out 
 our own salvation : it is high time, he says, to awake 
 out of sleep. As Goethe says in the second part of 
 Faust — 
 
 "Whoe'er asi^ires unweariedly 
 Is not beyond redeeming." 
 
 It is effort which cleanses our soul: as work cleanses 
 and strengthens the outer man, and the healthful 
 perspiration removes the impurities of our body ; so to 
 strive for others gives an ever-renewing sanctification. 
 We are in the divine Spirit when so we work, and so 
 long as we yield ourselves to His influence we shall 
 not slack our energies. 
 
 Some thinkers 2 have told us that our very in- 
 dependent existence, implying as it does a departure 
 
 1 The student of jihilosophy will recognise in the above state- 
 ments the thought of St. Augustine in his anti-Manicheean works, 
 and Leibnitz in his Theodicee. 
 
 2 In its extreme form this theory is found in Blasche's Evil in 
 Harmony with Natural Law. 
 
ENTEANCE INTO THE LIFE OF BROTHERHOOD 197 
 
 from unity, is a condition from which we should strive 
 to rise out of. To be born is in itself a fall, and our 
 life is to be given to restore ourselves to that unity 
 we thus have lost. The original sin is to have an 
 individual life at all, and we must, day by day, have 
 it purged by our endeavours. This we are assured is 
 the thought of Buddhism, and it is essentially a shadow 
 of the truth. To enter on the new birth is to know 
 that we have our Father's will to realise in the unity 
 of men through love ; and to that purpose we must 
 offer the sacrifice of self. 
 
CHAPTER XV 
 
 THE CHKISTIAN PERSONALITY 
 
 When Socrates said that no man is willingly wicked, he 
 uttered a truth which goes to the root of human person- 
 ality.^ Man as an individual knows that he exists, and 
 supx30ses that he has free will. His consciousness of 
 existence and his free will make up his personality. 
 But if his free will should turn out to be a mere 
 supposition, what becomes of his personality ? 
 
 We hear the voice of physical science telling us loudly, 
 that as the world is a great chain of cause and effect, 
 we are but links in the chain, and our thoughts, our 
 desires, and our acts are as inevitable as the sunrise or 
 the dew. Is it not true of many men that their lives 
 are little better than this unthinking automatism ? 
 
 " Most men eddy about 
 Here and there, eat and drink, 
 Chatter and love and hate, 
 Gather and squander, are raised 
 Aloft, are hurled in the dust, 
 Striving blindly, achieving 
 Nothing ; and then they die — 
 
 ^ Plato, in the Gorr/ias, puts this into the mouth of Socrates, whose 
 opinion we know it was from Aristotle and Xenophon : his o^vn 
 matured view takes a different form. 
 
THE CHRISTIAN PERSONALITY 199 
 
 Perish, and no one asks 
 
 Who or what they have been, 
 
 More than he asks what waves, 
 
 In the moonlit solitudes mild 
 
 Of the midmost ocean, have swelled. 
 
 Foamed for a moment, and gone." 
 
 " The average man," said Schopenhauer, " is engrossed 
 in the vortex and turmoil of existence, to which he is 
 bound hand and foot." It is hard, indeed, to realise 
 that we are aught but the plaything of forces about us, 
 and it is only after slow steps and long years that man 
 reaches his personal consciousness. 
 
 When we turn to St. Paul, we find that he seems to 
 agree with Socrates, for he says the evil he does is 
 not done by himself, but sin that dwelleth in him. 
 There is within us, he would seem to say, a blind force 
 which leads whither we would not willingly go, like the 
 Homeric Ate which Helen says caused her to be 
 unfaithful. 
 
 Apparently we have here a recognition that man sinks 
 part of his personality when he sins ; that he is not really 
 himself, but a mere manifestation of unintelligible powers. 
 If we hold in any way, as many wise men have held, the 
 bondage of the human will, we must assent to this view. 
 For if man is bound, by what is he bound ? Not surely 
 by himself, for then would he make himself free. Then 
 it must be by some external force, such as his inherited 
 tendencies, or his life-surroundings. Or you may seek 
 still further back, and image, as Julius Miiller and many 
 other thinkers have followed the Platonists in represent- 
 ing, some dark shadow of a life before the present which 
 hangs like a pall over us. 
 
200 THE BROTHERHOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 It is a simpler way, however, to take the facts as we 
 find them without any speculation. When a man comes 
 to know God, he hates sin. He learns that God is his 
 Father, and he would not grieve Him willingly. Some- 
 times the old unreflecting nature comes back, and his 
 soul is in misery. Will he never outgrow the time when 
 he was a mere child of the world, and subject to its 
 commanding tide ? 
 
 A man is not a real person until he knows God as his 
 Father. Before that consciousness comes to him, he has 
 only within him the possibility of being a person. He 
 is a child, speaking as a child, understanding as a child, 
 thinking as a child ; but when the consciousness of God 
 visits his soul, he becomes a man. A full and complete 
 personality belongs only to the man renewed by the 
 knowledge of God. It is with him as with the heir to 
 a throne who knows not his royal birth : till the day 
 it is told him, he is but a plain citizen, although all the 
 time he was in reality a prince. Our being slumbers in 
 its ignorance, and we only awake when we realise that 
 we are sons of God : we become free, as Jesus tells us, by 
 the truth. 
 
 Our awaking does not make us the sons of God, for 
 we were born in His image ; but as far as our birthright 
 was concerned, we might as well not possess it while we 
 are ignorant of it. 
 
 Personality, in a man, consists in knowing the relation 
 his ego beyars to the God in whom he lives. While we 
 are children, the sense of individuality is only slowly 
 acquired : it is long before we know that we are in any 
 way self-conscious. Still, we are individuals, and 
 
THE CHRISTIAN PERSONALITY 201 
 
 separate existences, though we are not able to represent 
 the fact to ourselves ; and we are likewise related to 
 God, though the God-consciousness is dormant within us. 
 
 The only glimpses of the moral ideal which men have 
 are through the consciousness of their sonship to God. 
 Imperfectly, indeed, they may possess it, but it always 
 bears the fruit of good living to the honour and praise 
 of His name. In no man is this consciousness always 
 present, for we fit our hearts day by day for the dwelling 
 of the divine Spirit. The good men of heathen times, 
 as St. Paul tells us, were similarly guided, though 
 perhaps their personality was more intermittent and 
 their fruits less regularly harvested. 
 
 It is commonly said that Christianity first taught men 
 the value of the individual life. The world learned that 
 infinity was wrapped up in a single soul from the intense 
 passion for personal salvation which Christians showed. 
 But it might be more truly said that it was the Christian 
 religion that gave the power of personality to man. 
 
 The savage can hardly be called a free agent ; he is so 
 much the creature of his surroundings. He is so mobile, 
 so easily affected, that he cannot be said to bring motives 
 into the province of reason at all. The civilised child is 
 a being possessing far more government of the will than 
 the ordinary savage, who seems to yield to outside 
 influences like a tree or the wild animals. From what 
 paroxysms of sorrow the savage passes in a moment to 
 joy as wild ! A few beads, a child's trumpet, some 
 scarlet cloth, will affect him to rapturous tears. Nor 
 has he to any extent the power of voluntary association : 
 he acts with uncontrolled impulse, which seems com- 
 
202 THE BROTHEEHOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 municated from miud to mind, in a mob, whose passion 
 subsides like the wind, as rapidly as it rose. Our lower 
 classes in great cities have many features that resemble 
 these traits of savage life, for their personality is to some 
 extent in like manner undeveloped ; and they are 
 
 "A pipe for Fortune's finger, 
 To sound what stop she please." 
 
 The full consciousness of personality comes to the 
 savage and the uneducated from his knowing that he is 
 the child of God, that he has an individual soul which is 
 dear to his Father. It is an essential preliminary of the 
 life of brotherhood that the sense of the personality 
 should be aroused. The Christian must feel that he is 
 not a slave, a mere " living tool " of the world and man, 
 but a son, with power of individual action to love, and 
 help, and work for others. As Jesus said to His disciples : 
 " Henceforth I call you not servants." 
 
 We awake to the consciousness of self, but not to 
 dwell in proud independence. Freedom is the essential 
 condition of all duty, which does not rise to moral height 
 if the doer is not free to perform it. But the freedom 
 we possess simply to resign it : free from all, we, like the 
 apostles, make ourselves servant to all. As Christ told 
 us : " Whosoever will be chief, let him be a servant." As 
 in Measure for Measure we read that the Provost said to 
 the Duke : " I am your free dependent." We are 
 dependent on each other, but none the less free. The 
 essence of love is, that the heart cannot be compelled into 
 it; and it is in love to God that the soul awakes to its 
 consciousness of real existence. 
 
THE CHRISTIAN PERSONALITY 203 
 
 The common possession of this God-consciousness by 
 those who meet each other, leads to an instant sympathy : 
 "Whoever doeth the will of My Father which is in 
 heaven, the same is My brother, and sister, and mother." 
 The walls in which we fortify our personality are broken 
 down, and we are admitted into the common life of the 
 brotherhood of man. 
 
 It has been said that this sympathy leads to an 
 assimilation. Husband and wife who live long together 
 become like each other in thought and feature ; and 
 men trace a remarkable resemblance between those who 
 live in communities, such as Moravians, Shakers, and 
 monks. Furthermore, the union in industries which is so 
 common in our time, coupled, doubtless, with the struggle 
 for existence, which tends to make people shun any dis- 
 tinguishing peculiarity if they wish to pass their life in 
 tranquillity, as the ermine turns white in the winter 
 snows, brings about a monotony of character and feature 
 in our large cities and in our modern life. These things 
 point to the gradual growth of a family resemblance 
 among men, specially in the thoughts of the soul. 
 
 Since filial love is the main feeling of the Christian, it 
 is possessed by all, and has the same kind of influence in 
 every life, though it differs in degree. It must there- 
 fore tend to make all the brothers of the great family of 
 man resemble each other. Here we are brought in sight 
 of a closer unity than has hitherto marked the human 
 race. We arrive at personality, simply to surrender our 
 independence by constant service of each other. 
 
 Accordingly, though this personality of ours is a gain 
 of our new life, we need not think that it exhausts the 
 
204 THE BROTHERHOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 fulness of that life. The naturalistic ethics is inclined 
 to find in personality the complete consummation of our 
 moral life. Mr. T. H. Green asks : " If society is the 
 condition of all development of our personality, and if 
 the necessities of social life, as alone we can know or 
 conceive it, put limits to our personal development, can 
 we suppose it to be in persons that the spirit operative in 
 men finds its full expression and realisation ? " ^ 
 
 Let us look at the question before we hear Mr. 
 Green's answer. It is in the service of men, whom the 
 child of God knows as his brethren, that he finds the 
 purification of his soul from self ; and it is by that service 
 he unites himself to men. The bond of union is love 
 given and received, and that love unites him to God. 
 In this sacrifice of self he comes to his true personality ; 
 and what need is there for any limitation to the sacrifice, 
 if, by the complete yielding of the individual soul, the 
 great purpose of the perfect unity of man is assured ? 
 " No man liveth unto himself." 
 
 Mr. Green says : " The spiritual progress of mankind is 
 an unmeaning phrase, unless it means a progress of per- 
 sonal character and to personal character. It is simply 
 unintelligible, unless understood to be in the direction of 
 more perfect forms of personal life." ^ We must accept 
 this as evident, under the present condition of humanity. 
 As we live now, and as we are likely to live on the 
 earth, there does not seem any other form of the ideal of 
 mankind within our thought. All men are steadily to 
 advance by the spreading of the virtues of the good 
 among those who are less good. Men are to share their 
 1 Prolegomena to Ethics, p. 192. ^ Ihid. p. 195. 
 
THE CUKISTIAN PERSONALITY 205 
 
 moral riches with their fellows, as they now see it their 
 duty more and more to share their actual possessions 
 with the needy. The divine ideal of mankind becomes 
 realised by the spread of the consciousness of brother- 
 hood among men, leading both from and to that of the 
 Fatherhood of God. 
 
 But is this all ? Is the soul of man satisfied ; and 
 are the hopes and promises of revelation exhausted with 
 this ? It is a glorious consummation, a city of God, 
 from whose gateway we are yet far ; but God has yet 
 greater riches in store for mankind, as the writer we 
 have quoted himself hopes. 
 
 When St. John said, " Beloved, now are we the sons of 
 God : and it doth not yet appear what we shall be : but 
 we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like 
 Him ; for we shall see Him as He is," he looked for- 
 ward to a closer union of mankind in God than we can 
 conceive. When St. Paul said, " It is no longer I that 
 live, but Christ that liveth in me," he had a foretaste of 
 a more perfect love and communion than often dawns 
 upon our selfish hearts. He does not cling frantically 
 to the poor possession of personal individuality we have 
 here, but seems to see himself merged in a glorious and 
 unspeakable unity. This sublime thought is beyond our 
 feeble grasp ; but there are moments when reflections of 
 its radiance illumine our earthly life, to prepare us for 
 the great and unknown future. 
 
CHAPTEE XVI 
 
 BROTHERHOOD IN THE EARLY CHURCH 
 
 The law of brotherhood, which was the idea of the 
 Church, had httle to check its operations in primitive 
 times. The Church had a free course to develop itself, 
 independent of any outside influence, for its numbers 
 were small and its disciples obscure. But the early 
 Christians were, by the nature of their surroundings, 
 driven to form a society which, like that of the Jews in 
 modern times, was a kind of close corporation. The 
 persecutions which they had to face, and which were 
 practically universal throughout the world they dwelt in, 
 for it was all under the Eoman dominion, supphed them 
 with motive sufficient for retiring from the public view 
 and forming a fellowship apart. No other practical 
 solution was possible to them at the time ; but whether 
 their method agreed with the teaching of Jesus, is doubt- 
 ful Christ prayed for His disciples, not that they should 
 be taken out of the world, but that they might be kept 
 from the evil.^ And their seclusion bore unkindly fruit ; 
 for the narrow idea of the Church, which was fostered by 
 the circumstances of the primitive Christians, at last 
 
 1 Tertullian contrasts Christians with the solitaries of India, for, 
 he says, the Christians mix with the world. 
 
 206 
 
BEOTHERHOOD IN THE EARLY CHURCH 207 
 
 developed into the excesses of monasticism. But the 
 monastic life could not be carried out in its complete- 
 ness among creatures who were human and not angelic ; 
 and there was a parallel movement which more closely 
 represented the idea of the Church and its operations as 
 seen in the Scriptures. The Church was content to ask 
 from most men but a nominal adherence to its creed, 
 trusting to the educative influence of the great principles 
 on which it was founded to develop a higher type of life. 
 The apostles held a wider view of the Church. The 
 vision which St. Peter saw when called to go to Cornelius, 
 enlarged his heart as well as his intelligence. The idea 
 of the Church which he seems to have had before this 
 vision was that of a Jewish society, linked together by 
 mutual love and remembrance of Jesus. He does not 
 even seem to have been conscious of claims of outside 
 people on his services, far less his love and brotherhood. 
 The fact is that the doctrine of universal brotherhood 
 was the crucial question at the outset of Christianity. 
 If it was to be an exclusive fellowship of Jews, its great 
 purpose would be unfulfilled. Cornelius was in reality 
 already a member of the Church, though he had not 
 received any seal of such membership. And, indeed, the 
 question arises as to the essential character of such a 
 seal ; but we must not digress to consider it. Similarly, 
 too, when St. Paul met the disciples of St. John the 
 Baptist, who were ignorant of anything but what they had 
 received from him, he did not hesitate to commune with 
 them as of the true fellowship. It is hard to see where 
 a line can be drawn between those men of imperfect 
 knowledge and the purest of the heathen of the times of 
 
"208 THE BKOTHERHOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 the apostles. The early apologists were in the right 
 path when they traced the resemblances between the 
 best thought and life of the philosophic paganism and 
 the Christian faith. It was due to such efforts, however 
 imperfect their conception of the true nature of the con- 
 nection was, that ecclesiastical Christianity took up its 
 universal position. The apostle speaks in his Epistle to 
 the Ephesians of the whole family in heaven and earth. 
 •Whom did he think of when he wrote these words ? Is 
 there any reason to suppose that he had no wider vision 
 than of the professing Church ? Did the apostle, who 
 had so just a view of the ethical position of the natural 
 man who was " a law unto himself," who gave so tolerant 
 a description of the " times of ignorance," hedge in the 
 family by any barriers of ecclesiasticism ? He who came, 
 not to baptize, but to preach the gospel, was unlikely to 
 take a restricted view of the fellowship of men. 
 
 For, after all, the family of men must mean the whole 
 of humanity, to whom Christ united Himself, and of whom 
 He was the Head. It was doubtless this exclusiveness 
 of the early Church which kept it hid from the observa- 
 tion of the poets, historians, and philosophers who lived 
 at the time, and whose writings have been preserved to 
 us. There remain but few notices of the first days of 
 Christianity from the heathen writers who saw its early 
 growth. The persecutions which it endured are the chief 
 occasion for mentioning it ; otherwise its very existence 
 would have been unrecorded by the great moral historian 
 of antiquity — Tacitus. The only passage in which 
 Marcus Aurelius refers to the Christians is where he 
 stigmatises them as willing to die from mere obstinacy, 
 
BROTHEEHOOD IN THE EARLY CHURCH 209 
 
 evidently regarding them as a kind of insensate bar- 
 barians.^ Epictetus knows as little about them, and 
 seems to have only in view the more fanatical members 
 of the Church, who, he says, are free from fear of death 
 " through habit." ^ The younger Pliny is one of the 
 most attractive characters of ancient times ; his letters 
 show him an earnest seeker after wisdom, and a kind- 
 hearted and tolerant man ; ^ yet his examination of 
 Christianity could only bring him to the conclusion that 
 it was an " extraordinary and extravagant superstition," 
 as he styles it in his famous letter to Trajan.^ In the 
 writings of Plutarch there is no reference, favourable 
 or unfavourable, to Christianity ; while Lucian merely 
 speaks of Christians with a kind of pity, as simple people 
 whom knaves imposed on ; ^ and Celsus, whom Origen 
 confuted, seems to have regarded it as a secret society. 
 
 This silence or slighting statement about Christianity is 
 an evidence of the seclusion in which the faithful lived. 
 The fact that all kinds of dark deeds were laid to their 
 charge as taking place in their secret assemblies, is only 
 one sign of the retirement in which they passed their 
 lives. Probably no other method was possible for them : 
 the temper of the times was violent against them ; but 
 one seems to see a wider door which might have opened 
 for the mission of the early faith, if its claims had been 
 duly considered by the nobler and better spirits of 
 the time. 
 
 1 xi. 3. 2 iy_ 7_ 
 
 3 See his description of Euphrates (i. 10), and his view of the 
 equal treatment of freedmen. 
 
 * X. 98. ^ De Morte Pereyrini. 
 
 14 
 
21G THE BKOTHERHOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 The beginnings of this spirit of exclusiveness are seen 
 in the Gospel of St. John, which has a more ecclesiastical 
 character than the Synoptists. When we remember 
 when it was written, we cannot wonder at this feature. 
 The Church had lost its original simple unity, and the 
 disciples were scattered far and wide. Thrown in on 
 themselves, on their inner life, and such little fellowship 
 as they had with kindred believers, they dwelt on those 
 phases of Christ's teaching which fostered this individual 
 faith. 
 
 In the Synoptists, the love which men are to show is 
 not confined to the brethren, as in St. John, for the idea 
 of a limited brotherhood had not appeared. The kernel 
 of the teaching of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount is 
 that divine obligation of forgiveness and love to all men, 
 whatever they are in character, even though they are 
 enemies to God and man. God Himself shows this for- 
 .giving love, and we must he perfect, as our Father in 
 heaven is perfect. St. John does not give us this teach- 
 ing; but shows us Jesus enjoining over and over again 
 the love of the brethren. He loves to recollect that Jesus 
 ;spoke about laying down His Hfe for His friends. This 
 narrowing of the scope of the universal Love is born of 
 the age when the Gospel appeared. 
 
 We find St. John representing Jesus as at first having 
 an inner circle of friends, to whom He told His great 
 mission before He spread it abroad to the whole people. 
 In the other Gospels, the message of Jesus is at once 
 proclaimed openly. He suddenly flashes on the horizon 
 of Capernaum, where He was unknown. In all this we 
 may see the jealousy of the disciple, who could not bear 
 
BROTHERHOOD IN THE EARLY CHURCH 211 
 
 to see His Master's love lightly considered. Should He 
 squander a treasure on those who loved Him not ? Since 
 our possession is so infinitely precious, let us guard it 
 carefully. Such must have been the thought of the 
 disciples in these early and dangerous times, and St. 
 John gave voice to it. 
 
 Take also the central thought of St. John's Gospel 
 and place it beside that of the Synoptists. They speak 
 of the kingdom of heaven as the object of the mission 
 of Jesus to men, and see in it a mighty influence which 
 shall regenerate all mankind, because it includes all the 
 activities of humanity within its scope. To this St. 
 John makes few references : his idea of the coming of 
 Jesus is the eternal life which is given to the individual 
 believer. To St. John the salvation is an individual 
 blessing : to the Synoptists, a general restoration of all 
 men. Such teaching as that of St. John's Gospel must 
 have been a welcome influence in an age whose thought 
 it so fully embodied, and it conflrmed the early Christians 
 in their isolation. 
 
 Doubtless we have glorious beams of the universal 
 Love shining in the page of St. John, where we read that 
 Christ takes away the sin of the world. And is there 
 another view of the purpose of God shown when the 
 blessing is only given to those vjJio helieve, in the con- 
 versation with Nicodemus ? ^ Where else do we see so 
 clearly the Light of the world revealed to men, that 
 Light which lighteth every man which cometh into the 
 world ? Or where do we breathe more fully the free 
 
 ^ What is the meaning of belief ? Much depends on the answer 
 to such a question. 
 
212 THE BROTHEEHOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 air of the universal Spirit than in the words to the 
 woman of Samaria : " God is a Spirit, and they that 
 worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth." 
 The difference does not lie in any narrowing of the 
 divine thoughts, but in their application to men : while 
 the other evangelists think of a union of humanity, St. 
 John dwells on the union with God. 
 
 He is the father of all the mystics, who have always 
 been the disbelievers in a wide, social religion. Their 
 intense affection shrinks from the rude touch of the 
 outer world, and the light which should be seen of men 
 is hidden away in some lonely cell. St. John's early 
 religious impressions were coloured by this mystic or 
 ascetic element. He was a pupil of the Baptist, who 
 seems to have a relation to the Essenes, and he was in 
 later life a diligent student of Philo. Personally, he 
 seems to have had a larger view of truth than many of 
 his followers took, for he loves to record the sayings of 
 Jesus on the need of work, which they ignored. But 
 the selective tendency of men to choose in divine 
 teaching what is most in accord with their outer life let 
 these things pass unheeded, and fixed its grasp on the 
 individualism of the Gospel. Unnoticed were the great 
 cosmical ideas in which St. John, like St. Paul, delighted 
 to absorb his thought, for the depth of these was 
 bewildering to the Christian mind. But personal affec- 
 tion, close union to the Master, a love and communion 
 which were eternal, — these they could feel ; and these 
 made the sum of their religion. The brotherhood of 
 man became restricted to the brotherhood of the faithful ; 
 and the little flock were more and more inclined to keep 
 
BEOTHERHOOD IN THE EARLY CHURCH 213 
 
 themselves apart from the world, forgetting the prayer of 
 Jesus : " I pray not that Thou shouldest take them out of 
 the world, but that Thou shouldest keep them from the 
 evil." 
 
 The candid student of Church history will bring no 
 reproach on the early Christians for their isolation from 
 the world. How could they do otherwise amid hostile 
 forces so great ? Their war was not alone with 
 heathenism outside in forms of State intolerance, but 
 with foes among themselves, which threatened the very 
 existence of their religion, not to speak of its purity. 
 Entrusted as they had been with a sacred deposit for 
 mankind, they felt that they must hand down, unstained 
 and undiminished, to future generations, the heritage of 
 knowledge. Watch must be kept on the speech, nay, on 
 the hearts of each one, lest they should lose a drop of 
 the water of life. A few pilgrims on a perilous journey, 
 their only hope for future generations was that they 
 should keep together, and thus by joint effort preserve 
 the faith from corruption. Such was their thought, 
 and such their action ; and we cannot say it was not 
 wise. 
 
 It was a necessary part in the development of the 
 Church that she should become a reality before she tried 
 to leaven the world ; and, though our impatient hearts 
 would have had the Church leave her seclusion, to come 
 forth too soon, and try to blend with the world, would 
 have sapped her life and wrecked her future. She 
 must abide awhile in her solitude ere she dwelt in the 
 busy life of men. 
 
 In the providential guiding of the Church, this period 
 
214 THE BROTHERHOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 of her history was her sojourn m the wilderness, when, 
 like Moses, she prepared herself for the great task of 
 leading the world into freedom and brotherhood. 
 
 But the internal life of the Christians at this time 
 was led in accordance with the principles of Christ, 
 though the separation from the world was not in accord 
 with His teaching. The very circumstances that kept 
 them separate from the world bound them closer together. 
 The community of goods which the disciples at Jerusalem 
 established practically continued for many years, though 
 it was rather a voluntary giving than a complete re- 
 signation of individual possession. Justin Martyr and 
 Tertullian both declare that the Christians had all things 
 in common, and in the Teaching of the Twelve Apostles 
 we read : " Thou shalt not turn away from him that is in 
 want, but shalt share all things with thy brother, nor 
 claim them for thine own ; for if you together share in 
 the things that perish not, how much more in those that 
 perish ! " But though this existed as a motive to 
 charity, it does not seem to have been an invariable or 
 compulsory arrangement. The very case of Ananias and 
 Sapphira, whom St. Peter asked, "Whiles it remained, 
 was it not thine own ; and after it was sold, was it not 
 in thine own power ? " proves that it was no religious 
 obligation in any outward form, though the spirit was 
 essential to true brotherhood. The claims of family life 
 and circumstances were acknowledged, and the duty of 
 the Church did not interfere with these. Accordingly, 
 Clement of Alexandria considered " community of goods 
 as contrary to the order of things appointed by God." 
 By and by it came to be a tenet of heretics, such as the 
 
BROTHERHOOD IN THE EARLY CHURCH 215 
 
 Apostolici or Encratites, of whom St. Augustine ^ says : 
 " They will not receive into their communion any who 
 possessed private property. They considered those who 
 did not follow the same practice as themselves to have 
 no hope of salvation." 
 
 The evils which might have attended the custom may 
 have led to its decline ; but it is quite as likely that the 
 change was caused by the diminution of the brotherly 
 spirit. The first enthusiasm of discipleship passed away, 
 and the Christians lost hold of the fundamental principle 
 of their morals. The rise of Neo-Platonism, with its 
 intense individualism, with its indifference to all social 
 and civic duties, was the most powerful factor in the 
 change. Still we find the purer minds looking back to 
 the spring-time of the Church, and longmg for its return. 
 St. Chrysostom ^ saw how an actual presentation of the 
 gospel of brotherhood, such as it showed, would win 
 the attention of the surrounding heathen. The social 
 anomalies of the time struck the early Church with 
 greater force than they have done in any time since till 
 our own age. The unequal division of the world's goods 
 seemed to them due to some neglect of the true laws of 
 life. Their political economy based itself on morals, and 
 they thought the obligation to charity should prevent 
 accumulation. St. Ambrose says that " all things are 
 made by nature for common use ; and if any is excluded 
 from the enjoyment of the fruits of the earth, it is an 
 unnatural state of things." ^ St. Augustme, with many 
 professions that he only counsels and does not compel 
 
 1 Aug. De Hceres. c. 40. - Chrysostom, Homil. in Act 
 
 3 Ve Off. Minist. i. 29. 
 
216 THE BROTHERHOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 advises men to give freely of their means. Speaking of 
 rich and poor, he addresses the rich man : " God set you 
 both one and the same journey, this present life ; you 
 have found that you are fellow-travellers in it, you are 
 walking one way ; he is carrying nothing with him, thou 
 art carrying with thee more than thou dost need. Give 
 him of that thou hast : so shalt thou at once feed him, 
 and lessen thine own burden." ^ 
 
 St. Augustine gives here the true philosophy of life, 
 as well as the reason of brotherly feelings and actions. 
 The same journey lies before us ; the same needs we 
 feel : why should we not cheerfully recognise the fact ? 
 The early apologists lay their principal stress on the 
 outward moral progress and brotherly union of Chris- 
 tians. The dogmas which in later ages took a chief 
 place, are kept in the background, and the atonement 
 and its mysteries are little spoken of. Justin Martyr 
 points out how men have been brought to Christianity 
 by observing the lives of Christians ; and Tertullian 
 says that the contrast between the selfish isolation of 
 heathenism and the love of Christians, seemed extra- 
 ordinary to the heathen. The kiss of peace, which was 
 a part of their eucharistic worship, and which was one of 
 the welcomes given to the baptized, was an index of the 
 state of heart which prevailed. The community liberally 
 provided for widows, orphans, and the poor ; and had 
 care of those in prison or slavery. And one Church 
 helped another : it was sufficient that any should be in 
 need, to have a claim on the charity of the faithful. 
 Although hospitality and kindness were chiefly given to 
 1 Horn, in Mat. 61. 
 
BROTHERHOOD IN THE EARLY CHURCH 217 
 
 those who professed themselves Christians, the claims of 
 the outside world were not forgotten. During the plague 
 at Carthage, when the pagans left their dead unburied, 
 the Christians perceived the call of duty and removed 
 the bodies. St. Cyprian reminded them of the sublime 
 teaching of Jesus. " If we do good only to our own, 
 we do no more than the publicans and heathen. But 
 if we are the children of God, who makes His sun to 
 rise, and sends His rain on the just and unjust, who 
 scatters His blessings, not merely on His own, but even 
 on those whose hearts are far from Him, we must show 
 it by our actions, striving to be perfect, as our Father in 
 heaven is perfect." 
 
 Many instances of generous self-denial are handed 
 down to us from these times ; of which as noble as any 
 is that one man would go into slavery to redeem another, 
 or to give food to those in want. But the whole spirit 
 of the early Church was one of community and brother- 
 hood. The principle supplied the motive power, and its 
 applications were easy. As we have seen, there was no 
 absolute call for a community of goods, which in the 
 nature of things would be hard to maintain, so much do 
 men's tastes and habits differ ; but every man held his 
 possessions in trust. It was an essential condition of 
 true religion to free the soul from covetous pride of 
 possession. Luxury and splendour were not necessarily 
 forbidden, but no one must starve alongside of it all. 
 And if they interfere with the true feeling of Christian 
 fellowship, they must be given up. Clement of Alex- 
 andria points out that where the love of money is in the 
 heart, it is that which must be rooted out, rather than 
 
318 THE BROTHERHOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 the mere possession given up. The great law of brother- 
 hood was paramount over all other considerations, and 
 thus led to a true socialism. 
 
 The Christians were apt to be limited in their views, 
 and to help only those who professed to be faithful. 
 Lucian tells us they were often deceived by people who 
 sought them merely for their gifts; and The Teaching of 
 the Twelve Apostles gives a caution against the encour- 
 agement of such people. But it would be little heeded ; 
 for there is, to this day, no readier passport to the 
 purse of the professing Christian than a talk of religion 
 from the lips of the beggar, with its natural result in 
 the increase of hypocrisy. This results from a narrow- 
 ing of the sympathies : indigence is of no creed ; the 
 poor are always with us ; and surely to relieve the 
 hunger of an irreligious man is as natural an act as 
 to help a professing Christian, if we are to act on the 
 principle of the Sermon on the Mount ? The career of 
 Christianity was checked in its outward flow by this 
 exclusive spirit. It may have been necessary, as we 
 saw, for the Church to dwell in seclusion that she might 
 purify her heart in the desert, and keep herself free 
 from foreign elements. We see, indeed, how soon these 
 alien influences entered into her life, destroying her idea 
 of the absolute unity of the Church, without gaining that 
 of the brotherhood of man. 
 
 Christianity lost sight of the identification of Christ 
 with the human race, and held to some other view of 
 His incarnation. Christ, when He came to earth, took 
 our natural body and was kin to all mankind. The 
 Church was not then formed, and this relation to men 
 
BROTHERHOOD IN THE EARLY CHURCH 219 
 
 cauiiot be limited to His union with the Church. The 
 Apostle Paul looked forward to an absolute unity, not 
 of the Church alone, but of the whole human race. To 
 him the progi-ess of tlie Church was not the develop- 
 ment of an ecclesiastical fellowship, but of a universal 
 humanity, from which none were excluded. The unity 
 of the faith was but a means to a great end, " till we 
 come unto a perfect man." The universal redemption of 
 mankind is one of the chief truths in the gospel ; and 
 the Church too soon lost its hold on this great prin- 
 ciple of life. The universal Fatherhood of God and the 
 universal brotherhood of man are of the essence of the 
 teaching of Jesus. These truths were not fully received 
 by the Church in any age, so as to be put in practice, 
 and we are only marching forward to them now ; but 
 the essential elements of these principles were already 
 in operation in the early Church, " cribbed, cabined, and 
 confined," but still alive. 
 
 To the great practical principles of brotherhood the 
 early Church was true. We have seen with what love 
 they lived together, and what charity they bestowed. 
 Nor did they think, as too many do, that such liberality 
 excused a heart of selfishness, or a life given to un- 
 scrupulous gain. For usury was condemned by them as 
 contrary to that law of Christ which said : " Give to him 
 that asketh of thee ; and from him that would borrow of 
 thee turn not away." " And if ye lend to them of whom 
 ye hope to receive, what thanks have ye ? for sinners 
 also do the same." The early Fathers followed in the 
 steps of Christ, condemning all interest, in which they 
 were followed by the English and German Eeformers. 
 
220 THE BEOTHERHOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 " It is a sin," said St. Augustine, " to take back more 
 than the debt which is due." ^ " Interest is an unjust 
 possession, which should be restored : even the law and 
 the judges decree its restitution." ^ Similar passages 
 may be found in Tertullian, St. Cyprian, St. Ambrose, 
 St. Jerome, St. Chrysostom, and other Fathers. The 
 thought which fills them all is that usury is a return to 
 the law of an eye for an eye, which Jesus condemned ; 
 and contrary to that principle of Christianity which 
 regards the possessions of each as held for the advantage 
 of all. It is as an index to this feeling that it has weight, 
 proving, as it does, that men could make their religion 
 an everyday fact, not a mere occasional theory. Our 
 modern economists have seen need to think of the 
 question of interest, not on mere religious grounds, as 
 Mr. Euskin looks at it, but with regard to the social 
 welfare, as Mr. F. W. Newman points out. The fearful 
 oppression of the poor which it causes,^ which St. 
 Augustine described as massacring the poor man with 
 its exactions, makes some kind of check on certain 
 kinds of usurers advisable for the common good. The 
 same regard for the general good of the commonwealth 
 which early Christianity had from motives of love, has 
 become necessary from motives of prudence. 
 
 We shall often find the traces of the evolution of the 
 community towards the social ideal of Christianity, to 
 which the world is steadily progressing. In this men 
 may see one of the strongest proofs of its truly divine 
 
 1 Contra Fanstum, 19. 25. 2 Epist. 54. 
 
 ^ The exijulsion of the Jews from Eiissiawas a revohitionaiy way 
 of adjusting a great social wrong. 
 
BROTHEKHOOD IN THE EARLY CHURCH 221 
 
 character, as unfolding to us that secret of the destiny 
 of man which we strive to enter into through the long 
 and upward path of philosophy. The almost hopeless 
 dulness of soul which some men have, makes them think 
 that whatever the letter of Scripture does not forbid is 
 not contrary to God's law. On this ground interest has 
 been defended, and, what is hardly to be believed, the 
 institution of slavery. Dr. Hodge took up this incred- 
 ible position ; and his misunderstanding of this question 
 of slavery is enough to disqualify him from being heard 
 in any way as an expounder of Christianity. There are 
 surely certain principles of life by which we relate our- 
 selves to our fellow-men, without seeking absolute pre- 
 cepts ; but can we find any common ground on which 
 to meet such irreligious speculation ? On these general 
 principles of Christian morals we must settle the question 
 of interest, of slavery, and all practical conduct. The 
 early Church had no doubt on the matter of slavery. 
 The extraordinary obliquity of commentators is seen in 
 their treatment of St. Paul's entreaty to Philemon to treat 
 Onesimus as a brother. This they regard as not imply- 
 ing emancipation. What marvellous bondage to legal 
 forms ! How can a man be a slave, if he is a brother ? 
 The very idea of slavery implies an unnatural relation 
 utterly inconsistent with brotherhood, which extinguishes 
 that idea for ever, St. Paul simply enjoined Philemon 
 to take the " slave " and keep him in his house, showing 
 to him all the brotherly love due to a fellow-man. If 
 those who try to make the sources of Christianity clear 
 to their readers thought more of the spirit and less of 
 the letter, the Church would not lag behind its true 
 
222 THE BROTHERHOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 purpose as it does. Time was when it led the van of 
 every such liberal and loving deed. It was so in the 
 early Christian days ; when man strove to put in action 
 the true life of equal brotherhood, which is taught by 
 Christ. A false note is struck often enough by such 
 preachers as St. Ambrose and St. Chrysostom, which was 
 born of their distrust of the material life. They see the 
 sweet uses even of such adversity as Eoman slavery was ; 
 and for their false ethics of life the world was long com- 
 pelled to suffer this wrong ; and after it had freed itself, 
 driven again into ways of error from their example and 
 their dull method of unfolding the true Christian life. 
 
 Meanwhile, while the popular preachers trimmed their 
 sails, the humbler folks did their Christian duty. They 
 redeemed captives taken in war, and debtors who became 
 enslaved ; they even went themselves to take the place 
 of the unfortunate who had been brought into slavery ; 
 and by countless charities mitigated a great evil which 
 they could not abolish in so great an empire, where they 
 were themselves outcasts. 
 
 It was then as it always has been, the true heart of man 
 beat in the simpler life of plain men. The refinements 
 of theology and philosophy stitie common feeling as they 
 often obscure common sense; and while the Hodges and 
 Chrysostoms apologise for crimes against humanity, the 
 soul of the universal man turns from their nauseous 
 sophistries and looks to God Himself for guidance. 
 
 It is to the general feeling of humanity that we must 
 make our last appeal. The early Christians, we know by 
 the testimony of their enemies, were a generous, self- 
 sacrificing set of men ; and Heaven will never permit 
 
BROTHERHOOD IN THE EARLY CHURCH 223 
 
 priests to tamper with the divine inspirations of love 
 which the Spirit puts into the heart of the sons of God. 
 The love and brotherhood of the early Christians were 
 indeed imperfect ; their sympathies were narrow ; but 
 their entire faith in the Fatherhood of God and the 
 Christian brotherhood are worthy the imitation of all 
 
CHAPTEE XVII 
 
 BROTHERHOOD IN THE MIDDLE AGES, WITH A VIEW OF 
 THE RELATION OF CHRISTIANITY TO CHILDHOOD 
 
 In the Medieval Church we see the interpretation which 
 the lives of men and the current of history put on the 
 great ideas committed to them by the earlier ages. The 
 ideas may have been unfolded in new forms, but they 
 remained substantially the same in their inner being. 
 
 The unity of the Church became a more impressive 
 fact as it extended its borders. To St. Augustine the 
 world owes the grand thought of the universal Church, 
 Against the Donatists,^ who would make themselves the 
 standard by which God's love was to be measured, he 
 vindicated the freedom of Christian brotherhood, as 
 Gregory of Nyssa overthrew the theory of Eunomius, 
 which reserved the privileges of the Church for those 
 who were experts in theology.^ Well would it have been 
 for men if St. Augustine's precept to keep love as our 
 central motive had never been forgotten ; but men have 
 rather preferred to dwell on his interpretation of the 
 words in the parable : " Compel them to come in." ^ 
 There are ways of compulsion which are divine, and a 
 
 ^ See his treatise, De unitate Ecclesice. 
 
 2 Gregory Nyssen, Oral. adv. Eunomium. ^ Epist. 93. 
 
 224 
 
BROTHERHOOD IN THE MIDDLE AGES 225 
 
 love which the hardest heart cannot resist ; but the 
 CathoUc Church has not always kept to these gentle 
 persuasives. The bloody deeds of the Inquisition are a 
 chapter in the history of mankind which does not speak 
 of brotherhood. By them the unity of the Church was 
 wrecked, some men think, never to be restored. It 
 cannot be that this madness of intolerance is a product 
 of the Catholic idea of the Church, any more than the 
 awful deeds of the Eeign of Terror are to be put to 
 the account of the principles of Liberty, Equality, and 
 Fraternity. 
 
 The Catholic idea of the Church is an attempt to 
 realise the fellowship of mankind ; and to make any 
 barriers which are not in the essence of the nature of the 
 Church, is to weaken its representation of united humanity. 
 To shut out the ignorant, to exclude the sinner, from the 
 education which the Church gives, is to throw away our 
 hope of reforming the world. Though the gates of the 
 Church are wide, the truths it teaches are unaltered, 
 and the life which it inspires does not lose its vitality. 
 What is sometimes called its compromise with heathenism 
 was but the increase of its charity ; for when the Church 
 welcomed the barbarians to its fold, there came in a power 
 which in after days renewed its life. To bring men into 
 the outward Church was to strengthen their communion 
 with Christ which was already begun, and so establish 
 their fellowship with men. As St. Chrysostom says of 
 prayer, that its blessing consists in the unity of feelmg, 
 the harmony of thought, and the bond of love which it 
 realises ; so St. Augustine says the true matter of the 
 sacrament of the Eucharist is the fellowship of the body 
 15 
 
226 THE BIIOTIIERIIOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 and its members, which fellowship constitutes the Church. 
 According to the Catholic view, no one could be in the 
 outward union without sharing some of the life which 
 was the source and sustaining power of that outward 
 union. This idea of the Church as a visible society was 
 the salvation of the Middle Ages. Had that thought of 
 the Church, which Neander so often dwells upon, been 
 the ruling view of thinking men, — the thought of the 
 Church as an invisible society of good men who are 
 united in a spiritual communion, — the great moral power 
 of Christianity would have been confined to the few who 
 drank its deeper waters. Mr. Lecky ^ says that Chris- 
 tianity has rather leavened individuals than society ; and 
 so saying, he hardly speaks with accuracy; but if men had 
 not had a strong hold of the Church as an outward body 
 of men who, notwithstanding their different stages of 
 attainment in virtue and knowledge, felt themselves 
 members of one family, Mr. Lecky's conclusion would 
 only have been too just. By the influence of the sublime 
 unity of the Church, which was too lofty to take note of 
 the lesser differences of mankind, the progress of man- 
 kind was assured in the virtues which led to true 
 brotherhood. It is only in more recent times, when a 
 mania of creed-making has invaded the Roman Church, 
 that she has lost sight of the older principle of true 
 catholicity, and surrendered the generous freedom of the 
 Church in earlier days for a narrow and jealous exclusive- 
 ness. But the picture drawn by one of her sons in 
 our own time is true with regard to the past. " The 
 Catholicism of the Middle Ages, although recognising the 
 1 History of Euwpean Morals^ ii. 147. 
 
BROTHERHOOD IN THE MIDDLE AGES 227 
 
 supreme value of the individual soul, and addressing itself 
 primarily to the individual conscience, yet by no means 
 left men in introspective subjectivity, a chaos of discon- 
 nected atoms, but, drawing them together by the strongest 
 principle of cohesion the world has ever known, a belief 
 in a divine fraternity worked, according to the evangel- 
 ical similitude, as leaven upon the mass of humanity. 
 The Catholic Church was the Christian family, a gens 
 sanda, and its members were domestici Dei. The great 
 thought by which Christendom was permeated and knit 
 together, was the thought of God, the beginning and final 
 end of each soul ; but apprehended in the household of 
 faith, in which each soul had its fellowship of sacred 
 things. This, then, was the organisation of human society 
 in the Middle Ages, — an organisation based on the 
 Fatherhood of God and the brotherhood of Christians as 
 the great objective facts of life." ^ 
 
 The great fact of the Church's existence was a lofty 
 testimony to human brotherhood. All lands were united 
 in her communion ; and the words of St. Paul, that there 
 was neither Jew or Greek within her fold, were realised. 
 The missionary activity of the Church, which flourished 
 till the fourteenth century, was itself a perpetual witness 
 to the doctrine of the equal birth of all men as sons of 
 God. And in a feudal age, which still bore traces of the 
 scars which slavery had left on human society, the fact 
 that the career lay open to talent in the Church, served 
 to give men a practical reminder of the essential brother- 
 hood of men, in spite of original differences of rank or 
 
 1 "The Goal of Modern Thought," Nineteenth Centurt/, May 1882, 
 by W. S. Lilly. 
 
228 THE BROTHERHOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 cii-cum stances. So strong, indeed, is the force of the 
 living presence of the Church as a demonstration of 
 human unity, that it receives less attention from philo- 
 sophers and theologians during the Middle Ages than it 
 did during the first centuries of the Christian era. What 
 need was there to prove one of the most evident facts 
 of daily existence ? 
 
 Philosophy and theology, accordingly, took a strong 
 individualist tendency, v^hich had its invariable accom- 
 paniment of pantheistic thought. Man cannot be 
 satisfied with himself ; and if he cuts himself off from 
 true relation with his fellow-man, he seems naturally 
 to think his individuahty but an illusion, which he 
 desires to escape from into the one Eeality which absorbs 
 him. The speculations of Scotus Erigena are but another 
 side of the views of such mystics as Hugo of St. Victor 
 and Bernard of Clairvaux. In both, man is isolated from 
 his hereditary past, his surrounding present, and his 
 collective future, and is viewed as a single phenomena. 
 We have travelled far from the thought of St. Paul 
 when we come up with speculations like these. Their 
 influence was, however, but small ; for the great fabric of 
 the Church threw its vast shadow over them, and preached 
 by its very existence the unity and continuity of man. 
 Nor is the thought of mystical religion one which is easily 
 grasped by the general mind of man. Men see their re- 
 lation so much more clearly to their fellows than they do 
 to their God, that a religion which is based on isolation 
 from mankind cannot be accepted by any large number, 
 even were it possible that the circumstances of life 
 should permit it. Ordmary mortals find their true 
 
BROTHERHOOD IN THE MIDDLE AGES 229 
 
 existence lie in their fellowship with other men ; and if 
 religion endeavours to train them to another way of life, 
 it must begin by making something else of them than 
 human beings. In this struggle with the conditions on 
 which our life is founded, such forms of religion cannot 
 prevail. The common instincts of mankind must at last 
 overturn asceticism and mysticism. 
 
 The Catholic Church departed from its divine idea, 
 and gave itself a fatal wound by its growing use of 
 excommunication. It was a right at all times doubtful, 
 and dangerous to true thoughts of charity and brother- 
 hood ; and men were unwilling to have recourse to it in 
 the earlier ages. And when it did come into use, it was 
 as a mere weapon of war, and had no real love for the 
 honour and purity of the Church as its basis. Excom- 
 munications were issued at the desire of princes, and the 
 Church lowered her lofty banner of peace and goodwill 
 to promote some petty quarrel. Occasionally, indeed, she 
 laid a whole kingdom under an interdict, and levelled 
 her thunders against monarchs. In all this it was the 
 Papacy which spoke for the Church, a right to which 
 it had no claim ; and began that career of ecclesiastical 
 narrowness which made the Church as governed by the 
 Pope the foe of true human unity and peace. 
 
 One of the most remarkable works of any age was the 
 product of the conflict between papal individualism and 
 the universality of the Church. In the De Monarclda of 
 Dante we find those ideas of universal humanity which 
 our century has rejoiced in as almost a new discovery. 
 Mankind is a united, collective being with a common 
 end in their activity. The unity of mankind, which God 
 
230 THE BROTHERHOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 has given them, should be maintained by an outward 
 unity of government. The centre of the thought of 
 mankind constituted a universal natural religion, which 
 again found expression in an empire of justice, whose 
 seat should be Rome. With Dante, the Papacy would 
 have to give way to a larger conception of the Church, 
 its unity, and its mission. Condemned by the Papacy, 
 the work of Dante fell into oblivion, and remained 
 rather a landmark of thought than a stimulus to action. 
 
 The errors of the Papacy were not, however, able to 
 counteract the influence of the Church, whose divine 
 life made her a strong force on the side of the brother- 
 hood of man. All through the Middle Ages there was 
 a recollection of the best thoughts of the Latin philo- 
 sophers and of Aristotle. This universal element acted 
 as a breath of freer air amid the clouds of narrow 
 ecclesiasticism. The Church did not disown her obliga- 
 tions to the ancient teachers of morality. Abelard 
 regarded the Greek moralists as nearer to Christian truth 
 than the Jewish law. Christianity, in his view, only 
 enabled men to win as a common possession what, in the 
 days before it, had belonged to a few specially gifted 
 men. And Aquinas raised Aristotle to an equal posi- 
 tion of authority with the Sacred Scriptures ; while the 
 brilliant and beautiful speculations of Nicolaus of Cusa 
 summed up the best thought of the comprehensive 
 charity of the Middle Ages at their close. 
 
 Throughout all the Middle Ages we can see a stead- 
 fast effort to realise the views of St. Paul with respect to 
 the universal freedom of mankind. There is a gradual 
 diminution of slavery, and the freeing of slaves and 
 
BROTHERHOOD IN THE MIDDLE AGES 231 
 
 prisoners was a frequent religious act, often recorded in 
 charters, and connected with holy festivals. In almost 
 all the countries of Europe, through the influence of the 
 Church, slavery was extinct by the fourteenth century. 
 It left, however, its legacy of unequal conditions, and 
 the great body of the people were in little better plight 
 than the slaves of the older world. It was not until the 
 spreading of a purer view of Christianity, such as Wiclif 
 taught, that the villeins of the feudal system acquired 
 their freedom. The progress of the true religion of 
 Christ has ever been the means of the advancement of 
 human freedom and brotherhood ; and it was the Ee- 
 formation which swept away the last traces of the feudal 
 tyrannies. Eussia was outside the current of the 
 European movement, and it has been reserved for the 
 nineteenth century to see the abolition of serfdom ; but 
 it is foreign to our present purpose to consider its case, 
 or the extraordinary slavery of the United States of 
 America, which lived so long in a land of free Christian 
 people. But we must not ourselves dwell in a fool's 
 paradise in this matter of slavery. To Carlyle's view, 
 the working classes were nought but slaves, whose only 
 freedom was their power to starve and die ; and most 
 thoughtful men will find much to confirm his sad words. 
 Mr. Zmcke compared the Egyptian fellah with the 
 English peasant, and found their lot much alike, — hard 
 toil, poor fare, and a life lacking enjoyment and hope. 
 In name, serfdom may be abolished, but the thing still 
 abides with us, and many of the mitigating influences of 
 the feudal system are absent from our modern society. 
 Christianity has yet a hard task before it, ere it 
 
232 THE BROTHERHOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 bring about a reign of brotherly feeling in the lives 
 of men. 
 
 The Middle Ages showed many different tendencies 
 with regard to the position of women. They were 
 benefited by the sacramental character which was given 
 to marriage by the Church ; but they were injured by 
 the assumption of ascetic superiority in the celibate 
 condition. The mere fact of the clergy holding aloof 
 from the married condition was in itself a stigma on the 
 equality of women. It was a form of the same feeling 
 which condemned second marriages, and put the man or 
 woman who contracted them under certain disabilities.^ 
 In the best days of classical times a depth of personal 
 regard sometimes kept sacred the memory of the wife 
 who had been loved and lost, but the Middle Ages gave 
 few instances of a like passion. 
 
 The peculiar devotion paid to women by the later 
 chivalry had its origin in the Arabian love songs, and 
 it is doubtful whether the artificial homage paid was 
 compensation enough for the looseness of manners which 
 accompanied it. It was an unnatural state of things at 
 best to treat women even in theory as angels, and had 
 its root in the base Mohammedan habit which made 
 them but the playthings of men. But the troubadour 
 was a mere excrescence in chivalry, whose heart we can 
 read in the mediaeval romances. In these, women 
 occupy a leading place, and though their position is 
 different in the sterner Nibelung legends from that 
 which we find in the Chansons de Geste, we see in 
 
 1 For example, a person who had married two wives in succession, 
 or one widow, was excluded from " benefit of clergy." 
 
BROTHERHOOD IN THE MIDDLE AGES 233 
 
 them all that practical equality in mind and in action 
 which implies that the doctrine of the subjection of 
 women was a thing of the past, and their true place 
 in life had been won by the influences of Christi- 
 anity. Of the rightful position of women, the worship 
 of the Virgin Mary was both an evidence and a 
 guarantee for permanence. It was one of the most 
 humanising influences of the Middle Ages ; and since it 
 is a necessary part of the true unity of man that woman 
 should have her due place, that worship cannot be over- 
 looked as one of the causes that tended to promote 
 human brotherhood. 
 
 Whether it embodied the feminine ideal of Christianity, 
 which we are often told is the essence of its moral 
 excellence, is at least doubtful. The worship of Mary 
 had its fullest developments in the most warlike period 
 of mediffival times. To the cry of the Mohammedan 
 devotee, which gave the name of the Prophet as the word 
 of battle, the Christian soldier opposed the invocation of 
 Our Lady. Nor, indeed, did Christianity promote peace, 
 as its early preachers hoped. The early Fathers lived at 
 a time when war was outside the lines of their life, and 
 discouraged the followers of Christ from taking the 
 sword. Their successors in the Middle Ages saw no 
 reason why the God of battles should not accompany the 
 Christian armies as He had aided the Jews ; and the 
 gospel of peace was forgotten. The world is no better 
 in this respect since these days ; but as long as it is 
 possible to find the Church defending war by recollecting 
 the old times of Judaic narrowness, the reign of brother- 
 hood is yet far off. We can only say that if Christianity 
 
234 THE BKOTHERHOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 has not removed war, nor apparently sought to do so, it 
 has lessened its horrors, and taught men clemency to con- 
 quered foes, and a brotherly kindness to prisoners taken 
 in battle. 
 
 It is in the movement of charity that we see the 
 onward march of true Christianity. The institution of 
 hospitals, and the kindly care which noble women gave 
 the sick in them, were a following in the footsteps of 
 Jesus. The legends of the saints abound with instances 
 of self-sacrifice for the poor and the suffering; and it 
 matters not whether they were true or not, for they 
 show the ideal of the times which produced them, and 
 in which they were current. The familiar tales of St. 
 Elizabeth of Hungary, of St. Martin of Tours, and of the 
 Cid taking the leper on his own horse to sup with him 
 at the inn, prove how deeply the parable of the Good 
 Samaritan had sunk into the heart of man. It is these 
 tales which are the real lustre of the Middle Ages, and 
 it seems as if their radiance had a clearer light than the 
 less personal charity of our own times can yield. 
 
 It is no long step that we take from the worship of 
 the Virgin to that of the child Jesus ; from the reverence 
 for womanhood, which begat so many kindly virtues, to 
 the care of children, who appeal to all the tender 
 thoughts of the heart. To deny oneself for offspring is 
 the first form in which altruism manifests itself ; but 
 savage life shows a frequent indifference to the young. 
 Infanticide is an almost invariable accompaniment of the 
 lower stages of human barbarism, whether in Arctic lands 
 or South Sea Islands. Where children are spared, and 
 where the parents do take care of them, that care does 
 
BROTHERHOOD IN THE MIDDLE AGES 235 
 
 not last long. It is an instinct which soon perishes, 
 and a new interest easily overpowers it. Slowly, indeed, 
 does man advance to a recognition of the weak and 
 helpless as truly his brothers, with a claim on his love ; 
 and how easy it is for him to revert to his barbarous 
 indifference to them, A state of luxury almost always 
 manifests a dark border of savage selfishness. We are 
 told by St. Vincent de Paul that the abandonment of 
 children in his day was not an uncommon occurrence. 
 And we know that in the decadence of Eome the same 
 thing was true. 
 
 The recognition of children as individual souls, as the 
 sons of God, as our brothers, begins for mankind with 
 the words of Jesus : " Take heed that ye despise not one 
 of these little ones. Whoso shall receive one such little 
 child in My name, receiveth Me. It is not the will of 
 your Father which is in heaven that one of those little ones 
 should perish." None could disregard so plain a state- 
 ment of the equal privilege of all men as the children of 
 God, whatever their attainment be, and consequently of 
 the duty which we owe to all as in the all-embracing 
 human brotherhood. The sacrament of baptism recog- 
 nises this sublime reality, and it utterly fails of its great 
 meaning when it is employed by some sects as a rite 
 confined to adults. 
 
 The teaching of Clirist, however, adds an element of 
 mystic purity to childhood which has been a great 
 influence in making men look on them with reverence, as 
 coming fresh into this world from the heart of God : 
 " Except ye become as little children, ye shall not enter 
 into the kingdom of heaven. Their angels do always 
 
236 THE BROTHERHOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 behold the face of My Father which is in heaven." Plato, 
 indeed, has a glimpse of this primal innocence of children 
 in the Laws, where he says : " All our three choruses 
 shall sing to the young and tender souls of children, 
 reciting in their strains all the noble thoughts of which 
 we have spoken or are about to speak ; and the sum of 
 them shall be, that the life which is by the gods deemed 
 to be the happiest is the holiest, and we shall affirm this 
 to be a most certain truth ; and the minds of our young 
 disciples will be more likely to receive those words of ours 
 than any others which we might address to them." -^ 
 But how different is the hopefid and inspiring view which 
 Jesus takes of childhood, from the melancholy way in 
 which Lucretius speaks of the opening of life : " Then, 
 too, the baby, like to a sailor cast away by the cruel 
 waves, lies naked on the ground, speechless, wanting 
 every furtherance of life, soon as nature by the throes 
 of birth has shed him forth from his mother's womb into 
 the borders of light : he fills the room with a rueful 
 wauling, as well he may whose destiny it is to go 
 through in life so many ills." ^ No such dark thought 
 enfolds the Christian heart. The babe is the child of 
 God, a dear brother of His Son, and a sharer in all the 
 great hopes of the human race. 
 
 The spirit of brotherhood derives its best impulses 
 from the loving care of children ; the water of baptism 
 laves in its kindly beneficence, not the infant only, but all 
 mankind. 
 
 Eound the childhood of Jesus a legendary halo rested, 
 
 1 De Legg. ii. 664 (Jowett's trans.). 
 
 2 Lucretius, v. 222 (Munro's trans.). 
 
BROTHERHOOD IN THE MIDDLE AGES 237 
 
 and the apocryphal Gospels of pseudo-Matthew, of 
 Thomas, and the Arabic Gospel of the Infancy, embodied 
 narratives which found currency in the Golden Legend 
 and the popular literature of the Middle Ages. We find 
 them throughout all Europe, even as far north as Iceland ; 
 and they did more to form the belief of the people than 
 the actual truth contained in the evangelists. The way 
 the people thought of the child Jesus is an index of their 
 general thought of childhood, although the veil of a 
 strange ecclesiasticism may seem to modern eyes to rest 
 over the legends. Not content with imagining the early 
 years of Jesus, they pictured also the infancy of the 
 Virgin Mary and of the saints. Of St. Catherine, of 
 St, Elizabeth of Hungary, of St. Genevieve, marvellous 
 tales of their childhood are told, which both gratified the 
 sense of wonder, and created a pious feeling toward all 
 children. To remember the Innocents on their festival, 
 and the other child-martyrs in the Lives of the Saints, was 
 to bring into the heart a tenderness for all the little ones. 
 It is a touching part of the Eoman ritual which entrusts 
 some of the functions of worship to young boys ; and a 
 sweet reminder of childish innocence when we are told 
 that the consecrated elements in the Eucharist which 
 were not consumed were given to children. All such 
 observances have had a marvellous power in bringing 
 about a reverent and loving care for the young, who were 
 so near to God. 
 
 It was the Church which first began the care of 
 orphans, and first received foundlings into her sheltering 
 arms. Monasteries and nunneries, where dwelt men and 
 women who had renounced family joys, became the homes 
 
238 THE BROTHERHOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 and schools of children ; and to bring an infant to their 
 care was in many cases to give them the best gift they 
 could wish for. 
 
 This care of children was the best evidence the Church 
 could give of its thorough belief in the brotherhood of 
 man. It was enough that the child required its care to 
 bring out all the charity of the religious. It mattered 
 not what the past or possible future of the child might 
 be, the babe was baptized into the love of God and the 
 fellowship of men. 
 
 Childhood occupies but a little place in the literature 
 of the Middle Ages outside the Service-books of the 
 Church and the Legends of the Saints. How little 
 there is in the medieeval romances which speaks of chil- 
 dren ; and how few are the references in the great poem 
 of Dante to child-nature I When Chaucer tells us in 
 his " Prioresses Tale " the story of little Hugh of Lincoln, 
 he gilds the little boy with an ecclesiastical halo. It was 
 the Church which threw her protection over the young, 
 rather than the ordinary feeling of society. Chaucer 
 makes Hugh 
 
 " A litel clergeoun, that seve yer was of age, 
 That day by day to scole was his wone, 
 And eek also, wherso he saugh thymage, 
 Of Cristes moder, had he in usage, 
 As him was taught, to knele adoun, and say 
 His Ave Maria, as he goth by the way." 
 
 This is an exact echo of the legends of the Breviary to 
 which Chaucer indeed himself refers. The Church has 
 preserved myths of the early piety of St. Chrysostom, of 
 St. Nicholas, and others, in the same spirit as modern 
 
 \ 
 
BROTHERHOOD IN THE MIDDLE AGES 239 
 
 pietism loves to read its sickly books about unnaturally 
 religious children who die early. But medipeval litera- 
 ture, outside the Church circle, speaks little of children. 
 With the new world the Eeformation opened, we come 
 to a still broader sympathy and more universal 
 human tenderness. Still, in the Middle Ages, the 
 young were cared for, as the rise of schools and univer- 
 sities proves. 
 
 What work the monasteries did as centres of the 
 higher learning is a disputed question, but they at least 
 diffused elementary knowledge. At all times the pursuit 
 of knowledge has been a great leveller, and there is 
 nothing which gives a more vivid sense of the open and 
 brotherly feeling of the Middle Ages, than the stories 
 of the students begging as they travelled. Learning was 
 not the exclusive possession of the rich, and it seemed 
 to open a door for that obliteration of class distinction 
 which, in our time, it has largely brought about. The 
 monasteries, by their encouragement of steady labour 
 and mutual service, gave a lesson of equal brotherhood, 
 which their generous hospitality enforced. And this 
 lesson was brought home to every corner of the land by 
 the mendicant friars, who, in their earlier days, lived 
 pure and humble lives. Such influences as these helped 
 to mitigate that strong class feeling which was the natural 
 birth of chivalry. Just and generous and noble-hearted 
 as the ideal of chivalry was, it was an aristocratic move- 
 ment, and limited itself to a privileged few. It produced 
 an exclusive caste, and tended to widen the gulf between 
 the classes of the people. 
 
 But monasteries, as a form of brotherly co-operation, 
 
240 THE BROTHERHOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 were inferior to the old Teutonic guilds. These were 
 fraternities of men, who voluntarily combined to help 
 each other in industry, to defend each other against 
 injury, and to relieve each other in need. They had an 
 essentially religious character in most cases, though it is 
 unimportant to inquire what part the Church had in 
 their origin, even were it possible to answer the question 
 correctly. We seem to see in them a reflection of 
 primitive Christianity in the common feast and the 
 common purse. Necessity, perhaps, it was that drove 
 men so to combine ; for the power of nobles and prmces 
 had little limit, and an individual was powerless against 
 them. It is at least certain that the ruling authorities 
 regarded them with jealousy, as strong combinations of 
 men. Their services to the cause of brotherhood have 
 hardly yet been duly appreciated, though their merit as 
 advancing the industrial arts is fully recognised. But 
 the frank intercourse of members of the same guild was 
 an education of the moral nature of the greatest value ; 
 and the whole freedom of modern life is in large measure 
 due to the social feeling created by these guilds. Out of 
 them arose the democratic government of cities, which 
 still remains one of our best schools of universal brother- 
 hood, notwithstanding the outrages perpetrated in its 
 name by the Commune of Paris. As Hallam says : " From 
 the private guild, possessing already the vital spirit of 
 faithfulness and brotherly love, sprung the sworn com- 
 munity, the body of citizens, bound by a voluntary but 
 perpetual obligation to guard each other's rights." ^ The 
 
 ^ Hallam's Middle Ages, i. p. 351. See Breutano's History and 
 Develojmmit of Guilds, 
 
BEOTHERHOOD IN THE MIDDLE AGES 241 
 
 guilds mark, as Lotze says, " an undoubted advance of the 
 human race." "^ For they maintained brotherhood on 
 Christian lines, and pointed to that combination in work 
 and mutual aid and sympathy which must form the 
 society of the future. 
 
 ^ Microcosmus, ii. 378, Clark's trans. 
 
 16 
 
CHAPTEE XVIII 
 
 BROTHERHOOD SINCE THE REFORMATION 
 
 It is in modern times that the principle of human 
 brotherhood has received its fullest exposition, and that 
 most endeavours have been made to realise it in practice. 
 In theology and philosophy it has found its interpreters 
 and defenders, and in social and political life it has won 
 its triumphs. 
 
 The theology of the Eeformation was a great movement 
 for freedom, which is the primary condition of brother- 
 hood. To establish the truth of man's immediate relation 
 to God, without the intervention of Church or priest, was 
 to restore to men their sonship to God. The universal 
 priesthood of the faithful, as taught by the Eeformers, is 
 an ideal presentation of the highest future of mankind. 
 And yet the limited conceptions of theologians like Calvin 
 were apt to mar the full beauty of the new truth. He 
 was in part able to realise a city of God on earth, where 
 all the dwellers should be His children, elect by His 
 grace, and adopted into His family ; yet he barred the 
 gates too strictly by his extreme views on predestination. 
 
 The countervailing influence of Zwingli was only able 
 to reach a few of the opener hearts of the times. The 
 doctrine which Zwingli taught, of the natural illumination 
 
BROTHERHOOD SINCE THE REFORMATION 243 
 
 of all men by the one true Light, was the expansion of 
 the Eeformation idea of the immediate relation of the 
 soul to God. To believe, as Zwingli did, that God mani- 
 fests Himself in all men, of whatsoever creed, is to 
 acknowledge the universal sonship of mankind, and the 
 universal Fatherhood of God. 
 
 Socinianism, which in its later developments has loved 
 to enlarge on these great truths, did not teach them at 
 all m its early days. Its first teachers denied that 
 universal light which was the keystone of Zwingli's 
 system, and presented a hard legal form of religion which 
 was less catholic than Judaism. And to this day there 
 are some evidences of selfish concentration among pro- 
 fessed Unitarians which are absent in more orthodox 
 bodies. At the opposite pole from the Socinians stood 
 the Mystics, who built the fabric of their theology on the 
 doctrine of the universal Spirit; but few could receive 
 their difficult creed. It moved out into the world, how- 
 ever, in such dreams of a new heaven and new earth as 
 the Eosicrucians hoped for and strove after. But it was 
 not till the theology of the nineteenth century had made 
 plain the great truth of the universal Fatherhood, that 
 Christendom fully realised the general brotherhood of 
 man. 
 
 To enforce this truth, the open world, which the 
 Eenaissance revealed in art and letters and philosophy, 
 brought all its powers. The social teaching of Plato and 
 Aristotle, of Cicero and Seneca, received a new meaning 
 in the reviving life of the modern world. The bondage 
 of the feudal ages was passing away, and wider thoughts 
 about mankind were becoming current. The " civitas 
 
244 THE BEOTIIEEIIOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 generis humani," which the classical writers had spoken 
 of, which Dante had before him in his treatise, De 
 Monarchia, was becoming a part of Christian thought. 
 Learning and commerce alike aided to bring the con- 
 ception of a human race, bound together in brotherhood, 
 into the realm of fact. The New World of the West, as 
 well as the new world of G-reek philosophy, were re- 
 discovered together, and their ampler skies enlarged the 
 horizon of men's thought. 
 
 The theological movement, though enforced by classical 
 sympathies, went on its way but slowly ; but its progress 
 was ever to wider views. In the nineteenth century the 
 influence of Goethe acted as an expansive force on Ger- 
 man theology, and made a second Kenaissance in thought. 
 
 The restricted views of the Eeformed Church are seen 
 in the attitude of Luther and Calvin toward missions. To 
 such extensions of Christianity they were indifferent, 
 Luther saying : " Let the Turks live and believe as they 
 choose, just as the Pope and other false Christians are 
 allowed to live." The Eoman Church was truer to the 
 ideal of a restored humanity when it sent missionaries in 
 the track of the conquerors of the New World ; and men 
 like Las Casas showed truly apostolic zeal. But within 
 the bounds of Protestantism the missionary movement 
 was slow of growth. The conflicts of the seventeenth 
 century occupied all the energies of Europe, and it was not 
 till its close that missionary activity began to show itself. 
 And even the early bloom of its enthusiasm was killed by 
 the chilling individualism which was preached from the 
 pulpits of almost all Protestantism till the nineteenth 
 century dawned. The moral teaching, which was the 
 
BROTHERHOOD SINCE THE REFORMATION 245 
 
 type of pulpit instruction in the eighteenth century, was 
 injurious, not so much by its absence of distinct Christian 
 doctrine, as some think, but by its defective and narrow 
 type of morality, which was destitute of altruistic en- 
 thusiasm. The discourses, which were sometimes com- 
 pared to the teaching of Seneca or Cicero, lacked the 
 generous breadth of the ancient sages. It was social and 
 political movement which upset the easy contentment of 
 the moralists of the eighteenth century. The upheaval 
 brought about more than a mere doctrinal change ; it 
 gave birth to the widespread missionary effort of our 
 times, which desires to give all mankind the highest 
 knowledge and the best Kfe possible. Kecognising that 
 all men have the same birthright in the gospel, it cements 
 the human race together by its brotherhood of love. 
 
 The doctrinal changes which the French Revolution 
 brought about were not comparable to its social and 
 political force, but they are too important to be over- 
 looked. It was with the thunder of the Eevolution still 
 pealing in his ears that Schleiermacher wrote his famous 
 Discourses on Religion, in which he taught men that 
 religion was in its essence social, and the Church the 
 brotherhood of mankind. From his teaching have sprung 
 many noble messages to men. It is his followers that 
 have led men into those purer regions of theological 
 thought, where they rejoice in the recovered truth of the 
 universal Fatherhood of God. Such thinkers as Erskine 
 and Maurice, not to name the many other men who 
 belong to the " Broad Church," have set men's souls free 
 from the limited views of God and man which were a 
 heritage from the darker ages of men's thinking. To 
 
246 THE BROTHERHOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 them is due the openmg prospects of the future, and the 
 great hopes which the unborn years are to realise. More 
 especially, the teaching of Maurice as to Christ being 
 the archetype of all humanity, has given an impulse to 
 thoughts of the human race as a unity which is not 
 yet spent, and which is showing itself in all schools 
 of theology. The characteristic doctrine, indeed, of our 
 time is the universal Fatherhood of God, which brings 
 into view, parallel with it, the universal sonship of man. 
 This dogma is in part based on the teaching of the Scrip- 
 tures, but also takes shape from philosophical speculation. 
 
 Indeed, it may be said of our century especially, what 
 is true to some extent of all ages, that theological thought 
 takes its form and tendency from philosophy. In these 
 latter days, both physical and metaphysical speculation 
 have controlled religious thinking. Nevertheless, it is 
 true that theology has in its own province travelled to 
 the same goal as philosophy, and that they both seek the 
 same lofty conclusion as to the unity and progress of 
 humanity. 
 
 The general current of philosophic thought with 
 reference to the social relations of mankind, takes its rise 
 in the culture of the Eenaissance. To this source are 
 due the English Deism, the Age of Eeason in France, and 
 the Aufkliirung in Germany. The stream of classical 
 learning, as it flowed on, rested for awhile in these creeks, 
 whence it gained volume for a fuller current. 
 
 The current swelled in France till it fell in the head- 
 long torrent of the French Eevolution, in which were 
 seen the principles of brotherhood and equality drifting 
 to strange conclusions. Such issue had come from the 
 
BROTHERHOOD SINCE THE REFORMATION 247 
 
 idyllic dreams of Eousseaii, with his belief in the natural 
 equality of man working itself into a " Social Contract." 
 Whatever may be said of the awful portents of the 
 Eevolution, this much is clear, that it established as one 
 of the axioms of life, that there is a natural brotherhood 
 of mankind ; and taught men that they dare not sin 
 against that great and divine law without paying a heavy 
 penalty. Accordingly, the philosophy of the Eevolution 
 had the theory of universal humanity for its central idea. 
 Condorcet's Sketch of the Progress of the Spirit of Man 
 is the first proclamation of the gospel of the Eevolution. 
 It clearly shows the lines on which all steps forward to 
 human brotherhood must be made. With what a terrible 
 voice did the Eevolution proclaim that extinction of 
 national and social inequality on which Condorcet 
 founded his hopes of the future. The theory of the 
 equality of man, steadfastly realising itself in a growing 
 similarity of circumstances and knowledge, did not imply, 
 with Condorcet, any lessening of the total contents of 
 human knowledge and wealth. Far from that, the 
 uniting force which such a social condition would bring, 
 is in itself a guarantee of progress. The laggards in the 
 race of life, for whom now we have to tarry, would no 
 longer tax the energies of the pioneers. There would be 
 no levelling down, but a gradual ascent upwards. And 
 so men would advance to ever-increasing fulness of life, 
 the better they approached the ideal of unity and equality. 
 As Lessing taught, the path of the individual to perfection 
 must be that of the whole race of mankind. 
 
 The ideas of Condorcet bore fruit in the teaching of 
 Saint-Simon and Fourier, who are the parents of modern 
 
248 THE BEOTHEKHOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 Socialism, and they culminated in the great humanitarian 
 scheme of Comte. Men have seen in Saint-Simon's views 
 a too narrow thought of life, as a mere gratifying of the 
 physical side of man. As Mazzini says : " It is only the 
 kitchen of humanity they will succeed in organising." 
 Pierre Leroux,^ a disciple of Saint-Simon, with a singular 
 attractiveness of his own, takes a higher view of the 
 nature and destiny of mankind. Defining man as " an 
 animal transformed by reason and united to mankind," 
 he sees that the life of a man is in the true sense not 
 individual, but a manifestation of the general life of 
 mankind. The progress of mankind is not an advance 
 of the individual, but of the whole human race. In a 
 family, the wealthy brother enriches the others, if he 
 lives the true family life. Leroux teaches the solidarity 
 of mankind in a high and noble sense, though not with- 
 out extravagances of his own. The same motive inspires 
 Comte, and suppHes the motive power for the unselfish 
 and ever-progressive life. 
 
 An essential element in the doctrine of the unity of 
 mankind, according to the French thinkers, is a belief in 
 perpetual human j)rogress. The closer the brotherhood, 
 the purer will men's hearts become, and the stronger 
 their mental powers. They will bring to the solution of 
 the great questions of human life a united force, before 
 which the darkest clouds of ignorance must vanish. 
 The belief " in the progress of the species towards un- 
 attainable perfection " is, says Wordsworth, " a necessity 
 of a good and greatly gifted nature." It may be said to 
 be natural to a theist, but it elevates the creed of the 
 1 De VHiimanitf'. 
 
BEOTHEKIIOOD SINCE THE REFORMATION 249 
 
 materialist, who holds it far above the narrow horizon of 
 his system. And almost the whole range of French 
 thought includes this ideal perfection within its scope. 
 
 The system of Conite is, however, the fullest exposition 
 of the creed of humanity which the French Eevolution 
 gave birth to. With him the individual is lost in the 
 species : one man is merely a member of the collective 
 Great-Being, and exists solely for that Great-Being, as he 
 calls the whole human race. For Comte, humanity is a 
 real existence, not a mere general idea. Out of his lofty 
 conception of human brotherhood arises a scheme of 
 ethics which is in essence Christian. The duty of each 
 man to the human race, and specially the subjection 
 of the mere animal existence to the true humanity, 
 develop a noble ideal of elevated altruism. We see but 
 the earthly side of the divinely taught ethics of 
 Christianity in the teaching of Comte. Does not he 
 show, by his working out his theory on a naturalistic 
 basis, that the only ethical system which is fundamentally 
 Jmman is the Christian life ? If, then, there be sanction 
 for the whole practical sphere of Christianity outside of 
 its distinctive doctrines, can we not see in this but an 
 evidence of the unity of human life, which in all its 
 manifestations proceeds from the same divine source ? 
 
 The German philosophers arrived at the same con- 
 clusions regarding mankind and the nidividual as the 
 French, though their thought did not pass through the 
 fiery alembic of the Revolution. 
 
 Lessing ^ and Herder ^ both saw that the human 
 
 1 On the Education of the Human Race, trans. F. W. Robertson. 
 
 2 Ideen zur Philosophie der Geschichte der Menschheit, 
 
25 Q THE BROTHERHOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 species is an end in itself ; that man lives for mankind, 
 and attains his goal in a general perfection of humanity. 
 Both writers were inspired by a catholic feeling of 
 sympathy with all mankind which has never been sur- 
 passed, which had great moral influence in their time, 
 and from which we may still draw noble enthusiasms. 
 It is Kant, however, who presents in a logical form 
 the idea of united humanity. He brings before us the 
 ultimate goal of human effort as realised in a perfect 
 political union of all mankind. The great consummation 
 towards which time is leading us is a complete brother- 
 hood of man. " The rational powers of man can attain 
 their perfect development in the species alone, and not 
 in the individual." Kant, indeed, in his Principles of 
 Political Bight, purposely alters the French formula of 
 Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity, to that of Liberty, 
 Equality, and Self-dependency ; but he does so only to 
 show more clearly the method in which brotherhood is 
 brought into the actual work of government. Still more 
 fully does Kant endeavour to show the way to the 
 federation of all nations in his " Essay on a Perpetual 
 Peace." To him it was no dream, but an anticipation 
 of a certain future, whose unveiling, he trusted, might 
 help men to work towards that future. He felt the 
 great law of being under which man lived had an 
 irresistible tendency towards peace and unity, and he 
 wished to make himself a co-worker with God. " It is 
 to Providence," he says,^ " that we must look for the 
 realisation of the End of Humanity in the whole of the 
 species, as furnishing the means for the attainment of 
 1 Kant's Principles of Politics, trans. Hastie, p. 74. 
 
BROTHERHOOD SINCE THE REFORMATION 251 
 
 the final destination of man." In the words of his 
 translator, Dr. Hastie, " in its ultimate sense the pur- 
 pose of Nature is only another name for the will of 
 Providence, and the order of the State is none other 
 than the growing organisation of the Kingdom of God." ^ 
 
 But Kant is only one of many mighty forces which 
 revealed themselves in the eighteenth century, which all 
 tended in the same direction — of the solidarity of 
 mankind. 
 
 There is, of course, manifested in the progress of 
 thought directed to the great problems of human destiny, 
 the natural antagonism between the individualist school 
 and the believers in universal humanity. But the general 
 direction has been out of individualism into a conception 
 of united mankind. This onward movement may even 
 be traced in the gradual development of individual 
 thinkers. How far does Fichte, for instance, go beyond 
 his original idea of the rational freedom of the individual 
 as the end of human existence in his deeply interesting 
 lectures on " Politics," where he finds in the principle of 
 love the basis of all human relations ? In other writers, 
 such as Schelling, a somewhat similar development may 
 be traced. 
 
 The most perfect embodiment of the idea of universal 
 humanity is, however, to be found in the writings of 
 Hegel.^ The actual gifts of knowledge which this 
 thinker has bestowed on mankind in the appreciation of 
 art and history are great, but the stimulus he has given 
 to other minds is a still loftier boon. It is due to 
 
 ^Kant's Principles of Politics, Translator's Introduction, xliii. 
 2 See his Philosophy of History, trans. Sibree. 
 
252 THE BROTHERHOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 Hegel more than to any other philosopher, that men 
 have come to regard as the primary postulate of their 
 political thought that they should aim at the social 
 perfection of humanity. The idea of freedom, which is 
 the summit of human perfection, can be realised only in 
 the community which gathers into one all the actual 
 elements of human life. 
 
 But still further does he carry his thought of human 
 development. It is not in mere outward communion 
 that men realise their collective unity : their spirits 
 must unite. To this divine end the history of mankind 
 is moving, and to this it was specially guided and 
 inspired by Christ. To this di\dne purpose all human 
 activities lend their aid : the love of beauty, of justice, 
 of truth, are expressions of the inward longings of men's 
 mind for its attainment. The Church of mankind, the 
 true universal Church, is thus being served through all 
 the secular movements and all the political forms which 
 mankind may develop. 
 
 But still more completely does Krause i give us the 
 idea of a united humanity. He is one of the earliest 
 writers to insist on the organic development of humanity, 
 that history is, in fact, a form of biology. This enables 
 him to take a firm grasp of the unity of mankind 
 as ever realising itself more fully. All mankind is a 
 
 ^ Krause is a ditficult writer, but the English reader has now the 
 privilege of reading the admirable translation of Dr. Hastie. In 
 that great storehouse of thought, Professor Flint's Philoso'phy of 
 History in Europe, there will be found an admirable exposition 
 of Krause's philosophy, which is summarised with a clearness 
 even greater tlian usual by a thinker whose lucidity is pre- 
 eminent. 
 
BEOTHEKHOOD SINCE THE REFOEMATION 253 
 
 Great-Being, such as appears in Comte's thought, and 
 individual life is only perfected in that Being, and is, 
 indeed, but a means towards the social perfection of 
 humanity. To quote Professor Flint : " The humanity 
 of the earth must become increasingly organised and 
 mcreasingly conscious of its social unity. All the 
 nations of the earth will ultimately be drawn closely 
 together by association and confederation.^ . . . The 
 whole of mankind on earth will be united into one great 
 peaceful and prosperous State. They will not only 
 become conscious of their unity in God and humanity, 
 but will realise it in every sphere of life. Science and 
 art, religion and morals, law and policy, will all become, 
 when they have reached their maturity, cosmopolitan, 
 and will all contribute to bind together, to unify, our 
 earthly race into a city and kingdom of God." 
 
 The thoughts of these philosophers have come to 
 influence men mainly through the systems of theology 
 and morals, which have been guided by them. Thence 
 they have filtered into popular thought, and in some 
 measure directed political action. 
 
 But there is an English school of thinkers, whose 
 speculations are less remote from the ordinary currents 
 of the popular mind, to whom the cause of brotherhood 
 also owes a debt not easily estimated. The leaders of 
 the utihtarian school which was long dominant in 
 England, such as Mill and Bentham, were able to 
 influence legislation, and bring into practice their 
 theories. The inestimable service which Bentham did 
 to law-makers in England, in showing them that the 
 1 Mensclilieitbufid. 
 
254 THE BEOTHEEHOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 good of the community must be their main object, 
 cannot be vahied too highly. And his influence 
 travelled also to other lands. " The greatest happiness 
 of the greatest number " was a happy formula which did 
 good in its day, and is yet useful. 
 
 The whole course of philosophic thought has been an 
 endeavour to put into form the great belief that man is 
 marching forward to a united brotherhood, which is the 
 end of his existence on earth. Such a theory is the only 
 explanation of our activities, which we cannot regard as 
 the mere effluence of our individual powers. We live and 
 act for each other, and there can be no other explanation 
 possible of our work. It may be, and doubtless is, true 
 that we are not conscious of this end when we are 
 active, but none the less we obey the great law of 
 human solidarity. Still more, to regard the progress of 
 history as the manifestation of the perfection of the 
 individual, is to stultify all theories of life. " For," as 
 Lotze says,-^ " no education of mankind is conceivable 
 unless its final results are to be participated in by those 
 whom this earthly course left in various stages of 
 backwardness." To complete our idea, we must regard 
 mankind as an organic whole, whose full life is not yet 
 reached, but which is slowly marching toward it. That 
 life is reached when a complete brotherhood or union of 
 all humanity is attained. 
 
 Such has been the progress of theological and philo- 
 sophical thought, and that progress is mirrored in 
 the social and political development of the modern 
 world. 
 
 1 Microcosmus, ii. 175, Clark's trans. 
 
BKOTHEKHOOD SINCE THE EEFOEMATION 255 
 
 The democratic principle had its origin in religion, 
 and religion alone can be its true interpreter and guide. 
 When the Eeformers taught men that they were citizens 
 of the kingdom of heaven by right of their new birth, 
 and not by any gifts which men could bestow on them, 
 or by any mercenary purchase, their thought saw in the 
 things of earth an image of heavenly places. Deep 
 down, too, in the Teutonic heart there lay the un- 
 conscious remembrance of the freedom of long-past days, 
 when Tacitus told the Eomans of the nobler German tribes. 
 It needed no great effort of the Teutonic imagination to 
 dream of a future equally free and brotherly. But the 
 process of recovering their former liberty was a slow 
 struggle. 
 
 The close connection of political freedom with religion 
 is seen in the religious wars which devastated Europe 
 during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. 
 Throughout all Europe, for two centuries, men were 
 making endeavours after individual liberty, which 
 they only won by degrees at the point of their 
 swords. And when the eighteenth century opened, 
 the battle was but partly gained. Puritanism was 
 the triumph of the religious element, and became 
 the parent of the republican idea. To the Puritan 
 spirit is due the founding of the American republic, 
 with its extraordinary, though indirect, influence on 
 European politics. 
 
 The triumph of the civil element in freedom was in 
 part due to the establishment of that republic, which the 
 French made the model of their own. The lofty 
 sentiments in the Declaration of Independence might 
 
256 THE BROTHERHOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 have come from an immediate follower of Eousseau. 
 But the actual force which flooded European life with 
 the democratic feeling was the terrific storm of the 
 French Eevolution. At all times a priest-ridden people, 
 the French found that the priestly religion had played 
 them false, and arrayed itself against the true law of 
 human existence. Destitute of any sound guidance out 
 of the darkness into which they had been led, they 
 fell back on those instincts which had been developed 
 in the soul of man by his social life, and declared their 
 gospel of Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity. To a down- 
 trodden people the draught of these strong natural prin- 
 ciples was too intoxicating, and the marvellous portent 
 of the Eevolution burst on the horizon of the darkened 
 sky. 
 
 It matters not that the theories of savage life on 
 which these truths of hmnan brotherhood were based 
 were false and unnatural, the mere creatures of a senti- 
 mental imagination. Men can walk by a light whose 
 origin they do not know ; and the response which the 
 principles of liberty awoke in men's hearts proved in 
 large measure their authentic character. For it must be 
 remembered that in the great democratic movements of 
 almost all nations, no great leaders have summoned the 
 people to their crusade ; it has been the dumb pressure of 
 the multitude which has forced on the cause of the 
 people. Even the greatest leaders, such as Mazzini and 
 Kossuth, seem to be little heeded in the progress of the 
 movement, and still less at any of its resting-places, 
 when there is contentment with what has been attained 
 for a time. 
 
BKOTHERHOOD SINCE THE REFORMATION 257 
 
 The history of Europe since the French Eevohition 
 makes it clear enough that from its compelling power 
 the growth of modern democracy took its strongest 
 impulse, almost its origin. And even the later develop- 
 ments of the democratic spirit show evidence of their 
 source. At first, men were content with efforts after 
 individual liberty. Their religion, their ethics, their 
 economics, were all conceived in an individualistic spirit. 
 The dull morality of the eighteenth century had a fit 
 companion in the selfish economics of the school of 
 Smith ; and Mill, in his " Essay on Liberty," expressed 
 the corresponding political creed. But the great power 
 which they liberated could not be confined within their 
 narrow limits. The onward course of the stream, which 
 they had seen gain new strength from their efforts, could 
 not be turned by their entreaties. It was a great 
 natural law which had been opened to mankind, and it 
 must go on to its fulfilment. Hence it is that men are 
 now thinking less of the individual than of the com- 
 munity ; thinking less of personal freedom, and more of 
 the general well-bemg. 
 
 To this great principle the growth of industry and 
 commerce have contributed. Men who have to work 
 together must consider each other, and their intercourse 
 must be on equal terms. Nations learn the same 
 lesson, and the common needs of mankind turn their 
 thoughts and acts into brotherly forms. The vast 
 increase of commercial activity in this century has 
 not only given men many problems to solve with 
 regard to the condition of the mass of the people, but 
 has also inspired men with the principles on which 
 
258 THE BROTHEEHOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 to solve them — the principles of mutual aid and 
 brotherly love. 
 
 The modern world has shown in all its varied activities 
 a steady progress in, and a longing desire for, the united 
 brotherhood of mankind, the realisation of which is the 
 accomplishment of human destiny. 
 
CHAPTEE XIX 
 
 SOCIAL AND POLITICAL PROGRESS 
 
 That the condition of the labouring classes under the 
 theories of individualism which prevailed before the 
 French Eevolution was wretched in the extreme, is a 
 truism of history. In England and Scotland/ at the 
 close of the eighteenth century, the lot of all rural 
 workers was pitiable. Their misery was to some extent 
 mitigated by the Poor Law, which was a child of the 
 Eeformation ; ^ but the evils apparently are of such a 
 character that they are still calling for an allotment 
 system. The Parish Councils Acts mark a step forward 
 towards the attainment of a measure of breadth in our 
 country life. Our present state is but a disguised 
 feudalism, which is the hardest of all enemies of brother- 
 hood to destroy. 
 
 In France the great blessing of peasant proprietorship 
 was conferred on the people by the Code Napoleon. 
 Who can depict the miseries of the people before the 
 Eevolution ? What a universal testimony there is to 
 the degradation and poverty of the great mass of the 
 population ! And yet, notwithstanding all the political 
 
 ^ Young's Eastern Tour, etc. ; Scottish Review, Jan. 1895. 
 
 - 1536 in England, and 1579 in Scotland, to take the earliest dates. 
 
 259 
 
260 THE BROTHEEHOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 turmoils of the century, all the heavy wars which have 
 burdened the peasantry, their present lot is one of toil, 
 indeed, but also of security and comfort.i 
 
 Other nations, such as Germany and Switzerland, 
 show the same features, and exemplify the same law.- 
 In matters pertaining to land, the movement is towards 
 an equal brotherhood in its possession. All the English 
 legislation points to this end, and doubtless, as time 
 goes on, this aim will be more and more kept in view. 
 The Irish Land Acts and the Crofters Acts are instances 
 of this prevailing tendency. And it may be added that 
 the suggestion of such schemes of Land Nationalisation 
 as Mr. Henry George's, futile as they are, is a sure 
 indication of the signs of the times. 
 
 But in manufacturing industry the view that the 
 good of the community must overrule the mterest of an 
 individual is equally manifest. It was in 1802 that the 
 first Factory Act to regulate the conditions of labour was 
 passed ; and what a long series has there been of such 
 legislation. Hardly a year passes but the law is amended 
 in favour of the operative classes. Hours of labour are 
 restricted, conditions of labour are improved, and em- 
 ployers are liable for injuries to their workmen. In 
 these enactments the law only speaks the voice of the 
 
 ^ See Kay's Social Condition and Education of the People. 
 
 ^ Some writers, such as Lady Verney, persist, oil very insufficient 
 data, in taking a gloomy view of the condition of j)easant jiroprietors. 
 Doubtless instances exist of misery and destitution among this class, 
 and on a large scale may be seen in the village communities of 
 Eussia; but in most instances some special economic injustice of a 
 remediable kind will be found the true cause of the failure of such 
 peasant proprietorship. 
 
SOCIAL AND POLITICAL PROGRESS 261 
 
 Grolden Eule, only illustrates the practical application of 
 the law of brotherhood. 
 
 The dwellings of the poor are the care of the muni- 
 cipalities, and their health is guarded by every possible 
 sanitary restriction. It may be no more than common 
 prudence that causes this interest in poor people's sur- 
 roundings, for each may be the centre of a plague. As 
 Carlyle says of the poor Irish widow who died of fever 
 and infected others : " But she proves her sisterhood ; 
 her typhus fever kills them : they were actually her 
 brothers, though denying it ! Had human creature ever 
 to go lower for a proof ? " But the knowledge of 
 remedies begets an interest in the subjects of them ; and 
 out of prudence for ourselves, or mere scientific curiosity 
 in others, comes some faint spark of real brotherly feel- 
 ing, which by and by becomes a real flame. The number 
 of those who have a kindly interest in the poor was 
 never greater, and their interest never more wisely 
 shown. 
 
 It is unnecessary to enlarge on the amelioration of 
 our criminal law ; but while the changes which have made 
 it milder show the growth of a humane spirit, a more 
 important modification of the whole theory of the penal 
 code is seen in the efforts men are making towards the 
 reform of the criminal. While, as a whole, the view 
 that punishment should have for its purpose the reforma- 
 tion of the offender is not generally accepted, the estab- 
 lishment of reformatory schools for young offenders, and 
 prisoners' aid societies for others, indicate a marked tend- 
 ency in this direction. Men who interest themselves 
 in the question have the Howard Association and other 
 
262 THE BROTHERHOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 societies for the promulgation of humanitarian views ; 
 and the success of the experiments in reform at Elmira 
 have given encouragement to those who love their fellow- 
 men to persevere in their efforts. The increase of 
 orphanages, hospitals, and general charity has been very 
 great in recent times ; and the Vagrancy Acts are prac- 
 tically a dead letter. And even though the Poor Law is 
 humanely administered, men have come to feel that the 
 community must do more for its aged members than 
 has yet been tried. Out of this feeling come mjunctions 
 from the Local Government Board to administer the 
 Poor Law with tenderness, and proposals of various kinds 
 for old-age pensions. Nay, in Prussia and Denmark 
 these pensions are in operation, with happy results. 
 
 One of the great means which Condorcet relied on to 
 bring about his future of happy brotherhood among 
 men, was the advance of education. Every child was to 
 have his fill from the fountain of knowledge. The best 
 wisdom of the wisest was to be the common possession 
 of all. In great measure the desire of the French 
 thinker has been accomplished. The State has in the 
 British Isles taken up the task which was before in the 
 hands of voluntary societies, and educates the children of 
 the nation. Throughout Europe this had already been 
 carried out, and in all Christian countries the benefits of 
 knowledge are being diffused. Still further does the 
 State go, and the starving children are clothed and fed 
 as well as taught ; and doubtless we shall see yet further 
 advances made in the methods which the State takes so 
 as to rear her children strong in body and mind. Time 
 was when it was res-arded as undue interference with 
 
SOCIAL AND POLITICAL PROGRESS 263 
 
 labour to prevent infants from toiling in factories, but 
 what strides has the conception of the welfare of the 
 community being the rule of legislation made since that 
 day! 
 
 The whole aspect of government has changed during 
 this century. Before the various Eeform Bills were 
 passed, it could not be said that there was any real 
 recognition of the labouring classes as members of the 
 family of mankind. Their life was mapped out for them 
 like children, and they were slaves, not sons. Some 
 have, indeed, said that they were and are but children, 
 and must be led by wiser heads than their own. This 
 is true of all mankind, but it is aside from the main 
 issue. The franchise is not a mere arrangement by 
 which property and interest shall be represented, but is 
 one of the roots of human life. Without the franchise 
 a man is not a true member of the community ; for as 
 long as his voice is not heard in the family councils, as 
 long as he is excluded from them, he is deprived of part 
 of his status as a brother in the brotherhood of men. 
 Hence the desire in our country, and the practice in 
 other lands, of manhood suffrage, and the agitation to 
 extend to women the same status as men. 
 
 These objects will one day be attained, and soonest to 
 come will be a franchise for women. For in our times 
 a more perfect sense of tlie true unity of the community 
 has admitted women to share in all the possessions of 
 knowledge and activity which the community has at 
 its disposal. Universities and. professions are open to 
 women, and their legal disabilities are largely removed. 
 The removal of the remainder is a question of but few years. 
 
264 THE BROTHERHOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 The gradual abolition of absolute monarchy is one 
 of the best features of modern history. Men seek for 
 a constitution which will most fittingly embrace most 
 men within the actual working and governing brother- 
 hood. Men unite in governing themselves with a view 
 to the highest good of all. A community which is 
 not conscious of its real bond of union has a precarious 
 existence ; and an absolute monarchy cannot realise any 
 permanent ideal of national union. Hence, when men 
 have grown into better powers of associating with each 
 other, they modify the absolutism by degrees till it is 
 reduced to a mere puppet kingship, or do away with 
 it altogether. 
 
 In the same line of growth is the unifying of nations. 
 Italy and Germany have in recent times gathered up the 
 fragments of their people and welded them into a homo- 
 geneous whole. In the task, what lofty ideas came in 
 sight above the struggle ! The views of Mazzini have 
 eternal significance in the history of mankind, and are a 
 prophecy of wider unions still. For although patriotism 
 is a great thought, there is a still greater and nobler 
 union than that which is limited by the bounds of any 
 country. There was truth in the words of Schiller, who 
 thought it but a preparation for better things in the 
 progress of mankind. Out of national union springs a 
 real fellowship of heart which must overleap the barriers 
 of race. But doubtless Goethe, Schiller, and Lessing 
 were less patriotic than German thinkers are nowadays, 
 because of the division of their country. They belonged 
 to mere fragments of the Teutonic nation, whose narrow 
 governments largely repressed the national feeling. The 
 
SOCIAL AND POLITICAL PROGRESS 265 
 
 rise of German patriotism is largely due to the iinion of 
 the peoples in suffering, and their recent union in 
 triumph. 
 
 But there are dark shadows on the landscape whose 
 happier features we have been describing. Industrial 
 wars paralyse labour, and international wars hinder the 
 progress of mankind. But men are not content that 
 these things should for ever block our way. In the 
 sphere of industry, courts of conciliation are proposed, 
 and it is hoped that by their means strikes will be 
 averted. And in the wider conflicts of nations, arbitra- 
 tion has already prevented sanguinary strife. It was in 
 France that first the idea of a universal peace was bruited, 
 and it has been in France that it has found its most 
 frequent advocates. Philosophers like Leibnitz and 
 Kant, sovereigns like the two Napoleons, poets like Hugo, 
 and communists like Fourier, have shown how a united 
 Europe would put an end to international wars.^ The 
 Peace Society has its own methods of attaining the same 
 end ; and many men have each their separate plan for a uni- 
 versal peace. We need not call them impracticable, for the 
 sentiment which such discussions must bring about will 
 leaven the public mind, and help to hasten the day when 
 war shall be no more. The mere fact that a wider 
 brotherhood of nations is looked forward to, will help to 
 prepare men for its accomplishment. In some measure 
 
 1 Professor Seeley popularised the idea in liis United States of 
 Eurofe. 
 
 De Maistre's idea of uniting all the States of the world into a 
 Federation of which the Pope was to be president, deserves a passing 
 notice, as writers of the Roman Catholic Church since his day have 
 developed it; but it has no actuality out of their dreanas. 
 
266 THE BROTHERHOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 commerce and literature and art have already linked 
 the civilised world together ; and time will yet produce 
 a closer union. 
 
 Plainly enough, all the social and political movements 
 of our times are in obedience to the great law of human 
 brotherhood. This principle underlies them all, and 
 every new way of life and thought leads to the same 
 great goal. All that has been said in this chapter is 
 familiar to everyone ; the most unobservant eye cannot 
 have failed to read signs of the times which are so clear. 
 But none the less the deeper law of onward movement 
 must be acknowledged in all these facts. It is not from 
 men who hold special theories on Socialism that we receive 
 leadership in such attempts to unite more closely, to 
 assimilate more perfectly, the whole body of the people ; 
 but from the ordinary thinker who lives according to the 
 spirit of the times. He is obeying the unseen law which 
 guides him ; he is merely the interpreter of the uncon- 
 scious instinct of humanity which urges him on. He is 
 often borne on currents with which his desires do not go ; 
 but even then he bears most evidence that the community 
 of which he forms a part is an organic whole, which 
 thinks and acts, and uses him as its instrument. The 
 community, however, is only imperfectly formed at 
 present, and can only imperfectly shape its thoughts and 
 imperfectly express them. But its life is ever becoming 
 fuller and richer and freer. 
 
 The progress of society has been truly described as 
 from status to contract. Among the earlier races a man's 
 relations were made for him by birth, and his life was 
 entirely conditioned by them. His first step is to feel 
 
SOCIAL AND POLITICAL PROGRESS 267 
 
 himself free, and in the act he makes a contract of 
 brotherhood with his fellow-man. He realises his indi- 
 vidual life, but comes to know that he cannot be inde- 
 pendent. There is a tacit contract in the free recognition 
 of brotherhood ; and the community therefore takes its 
 form as a collection of individuals. 
 
 These individuals principally base their intercourse 
 with one another on their " rights." The doctrine of the 
 " Eights of Man " is a companion of the " Social Contract " ; 
 but both are imperfect expressions of the facts of life. 
 The next step which society takes after it recognises its 
 existence as a community, cohering, not by some predeter- 
 mined circumstances entirely, but partly by individual 
 will, is to rise out of the conception of rights to that of 
 duties. 
 
 It is this stage which most communities are now 
 reaching. The stormy toils of past struggles have led 
 the nations to this resting-place ; and the peoples are 
 beginning to consider all law and government from this 
 standpoint. Although they at present regard their duty 
 through the medium of their welfare, the result is the 
 same, for the law of life has invariably joined them 
 together. A man rises from the status of a slave to 
 contract himself as a free workman. The State, not 
 content any longer with leaving him free to pursue his 
 activity, surrounds him with conditions which shall be 
 to his own advantage and the general well-being. From 
 a theory of rights, the community has advanced to an 
 examination of duties. 
 
 But there is a still higher plane of social and political 
 life. Our duty to a man may be carefully weighed and 
 
268 THE BROTHERHOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 measured. We may keep strict accounts of what we owe 
 to him, and our principle of action throughout be a 
 regard to justice. Though in actual life we cannot get 
 beyond justice, which includes in itself every virtue, yet 
 the purer form of the idea is love. The highest progress 
 in social life is from justice to love. This is the summit 
 of the Christian teaching, and the perfection of the 
 social life. A community bound together by ties of love 
 to one another has reached the sum of attainment in 
 principle ; all that remains is to develop it more fully in 
 practice. 
 
 There are indications in our modern life that men are 
 ascending in part to this stage. The countless charities 
 of life, the abundant pity which overflows the rim of our 
 selfish luxury, and the earnest efforts to reclaim the 
 erring, act like finger-posts pointing to the true secret of 
 human life. 
 
 In the evolution of society the law of the struggle 
 for existence applies only in a very modified form to its 
 individual members. Family affection extends its pro- 
 tection to the weak, and the social instincts of mankind 
 are developed so early, and act so strongly, that the 
 individual life is hedged in by strong fences. The young 
 and the old alike rest in the shelter of the community. 
 It is civilisation, with its love of luxury, that creates 
 individualism in some hearts, that teaches some men the 
 lesson of selfishness. But such selfishness is an artificial 
 growth in men's heart, and, like a fungus, flourishes only 
 in corrupt and unnatural forms of life. 
 
 Some have thought that the religious sanction it is 
 which alone operates to check the selfish desires of men's 
 
SOCIAL AND POLITICAL PROGEESS 269 
 
 hearts, and prevent the struggle for existence being a 
 fierce conflict. But there is no sufficient ground for 
 behoving this. The family love, the social friendship, 
 the patriotic alhance, may indeed be forms of religion ; 
 and I do not object so to term them. They may be 
 unconscious forms of the allegiance to the divine Father 
 who is over us all. If we love His children we love Him- 
 self. " Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least 
 of these My brethren, ye have done it unto Me." But this, 
 at all events, is certain, that the same law of develop- 
 ment is found in the social instincts of mankind which 
 is manifest in the tendencies of their purest religion 
 put into practice. There is no conflict between the 
 innate tendencies of men's heart and the better life 
 which Christianity teaches us. They both come from the 
 same Creator, and show the general unity of all His 
 works. It is a harsh and external view of Christianity 
 which regards it as at war with the general instincts of 
 mankind and the general tendencies of his development. 
 It only strengthens and confirms these tendencies, and 
 makes them clearer to human understanding. By its 
 help man walks intelligently and hopefuUy on ways where, 
 before Christ came, he only blindly groped. This great 
 law of unity is one of the most important in all con- 
 siderations of human life and destiny. 
 
 But although the individual is only in a very 
 imperfect form subject to the law of the struggle for 
 existence, the same cannot be said of social organisms. 
 They must conform to the general tendency of human 
 development, and the fittest for carrying out the destiny 
 of mankind alone can survive. Despotisms, oligarchies, 
 
270 THE BROTHERHOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 aristocracies, have been all tried and found wanting, 
 because they refused to aid the cause of human brother- 
 hood. That form of government alone can abide which 
 will aid this cause. Hence the progress of mankind is 
 always toward a more broadly based State, with the 
 largest liberty and most equal conditions of life. Our 
 social and political development has been on these lines 
 in the past, and it is manifest that on these lines its 
 future course is still more to be guided. This is the 
 lesson of history, and the open prophecy of the future. 
 
CHAPTEE XX 
 
 THE SERVICE OF LITERATURE AND ART 
 
 If there is one feature more marked than any other 
 in literature, it is its universal character : it speaks to 
 man as man ; and unites the human race, not only 
 through space, but through the successive ages of time. 
 Nothing makes one realise better that the human family 
 is one, than the common possession we all have in the 
 best writings of every age and country. We feel we 
 belong to a brotherhood who hold the best gifts in 
 common ; we each sit down at tlie common feast. 
 
 The separation which language makes between different 
 peoples prevents us enjoying the full blessing of the 
 brotherly union which literature brings. But how 
 closely a nation is welded by a common speech and 
 national literature ! Not institutions or interests or 
 religion have the force to make the hearts of fellow- 
 citizens warm to each other which their possession of 
 a great poet has. " The tongue that Shakespeare spake " 
 becomes a bond of union because Shakespeare spake it. 
 The songs of Burns and the tales of Scott sum up 
 Scottish nationality, and in remembrance of them social and 
 religious differences are forgotten. Patriotism is created 
 and nourished by the songs and stories of a people. 
 
 271 
 
272 THE BROTHERHOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 And in times when life was more disjointed than now 
 it is, with our easy communication, the ballad-singer was 
 the means of spreading through wide lands a common 
 feeling of sympathy. Among the wandering minstrels of 
 the Middle Ages every class was represented. Spendthrift 
 nobles brought to sing for lack of gold, and workmen 
 when their craft was idle, and monks, in weariness of their 
 vows, took to this ballad-singing life. The very throng 
 that heard him, in their common enjoyment of the song 
 had a thrill of brotherhood through them. The whole 
 world is made kin by their share in the heritage of 
 poetry. What a uniting influence have the Calmuck 
 bards who wander over the wide plains of Asia ! The 
 delight of the scattered tribes, their journey is a series of 
 hospitable receptions, and their willing listeners hear 
 their tales as if one mind and being animated them all. 
 
 The drama has immense force as a means of social 
 union. All classes enjoy it, and meet together to share 
 the pleasure. Large bodies of the people in other lands 
 have little other means of mental culture, and the audience 
 are children of a larger grow^th once more at school. To 
 laugh together, to weep together, are bonds of common 
 life ; and though the fellowship be but brief, it is very 
 genuine. To bring the monarch, the noble, the merchant, 
 the artisan together, even for a time, in a common 
 sympathy, is to realise in fact the brotherhood of man. 
 Emerson ^ says that the best thing about the Church is 
 
 ^ Compare Carlyle's words : " I liave strange glimjises of the jjower 
 of association. Therein lies the true element of religion." "The 
 action of mind on mind is infinite ; religion can hardly sui^jjort 
 itself without this aid." 
 
THE SERVICE OF LITERATURE AND ART 273 
 
 that it is a congregation of all sorts and conditions of 
 men once a week, and has thus a healthy brotherly 
 influence. This is still more true of the drama ; and the 
 nations that love it most have a keener social feeling 
 than those that neglect it. The drama is destined to be 
 a more powerful social bond in days to come. What it 
 was in the days of the miracle plays, it is not easy for us 
 to realise. But it is possible to form some idea from the 
 intense joy it was to the Italians in the days, of their 
 oppression. At Naples and Milan the people flocked to 
 the theatre as the one common platform they might 
 stand on together. Forbidden other co-operation, they 
 found it in the crowded seats of the auditorium of the 
 opera or the playhouse. 
 
 What is true of the theatre is still more true of the 
 unifying power of music. The extraordinary effect which 
 the sounds of pipe and drum have had on people, savage 
 and civilised, is not to be paralleled in the more rational 
 appeals of literature. What mad excitement did the 
 rippling flutes produce in the days of Nero and of 
 Theodora ! What frenzy wakes in the minds of the 
 South Sea Islanders when their huge drums are set 
 a-roaring ! No one can fully account for these things, 
 which are yet seen among us. A revival meeting of 
 Negro Methodists will sing the same chorus time after 
 time till they are half-frantic with the sounds ; and the 
 same feeling is shown in less enthusiastic gatherings over 
 a familiar hymn. A wave of such sympathetic emotion 
 sweeps over a vast audience. Less worthy, perhaps, but 
 also moved by a joint fellow-feeling, are the crowd who 
 sing some refrain over and over again in a concert hall. 
 i8 
 
274 THE BROTHERHOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 The reasons for this sympathy are not easily stated, but 
 we come within sight of the truth. 
 
 Music unveils for us part of the general harmony of 
 nature, and we feel ourselves partakers of it. Men who 
 hear together some sweet strains, are moved into an 
 emotional communion which makes the heart tender. 
 This ethical quality in Beethoven, specially marked in 
 " Fidelio," is one of the marvellous instances of this power 
 in music. The feeling of brotherhood, of harmonious 
 affection, of serene union, is expressed by Beethoven as 
 no other musician has ever done it ; and brings the 
 hearers' hearts into the same exalted regions. Plato puts 
 among the principal results of music, that it begets love 
 in the heart, a sympathy with one another and with 
 what is good and true. It brings about that evrjdeia, 
 that willingness to believe the best of men, to enter into 
 communion with them, to turn the sweetest side of our 
 nature to them. How our hearts are moved by the 
 memory even of sweet songs we have heard ! Not a 
 little of religious earnestness is brought into our life by 
 the influence of sacred music. Our hearts become more 
 gentle, and our beings more receptive, and love and 
 brotherhood capture us before we know. Jean Paul 
 thought that music was the suggestion to us of a world 
 of perfect harmony to which our souls sent out their 
 longings. And Schopenhauer develops the same thought : 
 " The unspeakable inwardness of all music, by virtue 
 of which it brings before us a heaven so near and yet so 
 far, arises from the quickening of the inner nature which 
 it produces." There is no more rapid link between the 
 souls of men than music ; none which wakes in them so 
 
THE SEEVICE OF LITERATURE AND ART 275 
 
 warm a sympathy. And Shakespeare tells us how the 
 opposite feeling of estrangement is the result of a lack of 
 love for music — 
 
 " Nouglit so stockisli, hard, and full of rage, 
 But music for the time doth change its nature. 
 The man that hath no music in himself, 
 Nor is not moved with concord of sweet sounds, 
 Is fit for treasons, stratagems, and spoils : 
 The motions of his spirit are dull as night, 
 And his affections dark as Erebus." 
 
 Whatever there may be in psychological explanations 
 of the sympathetic power of music, the fact cannot be 
 doubted. How has patriotism been quickened by the 
 familiar strains of " Scots wha hae," " Die Wacht am 
 Ehein," or the "Marseillaise"! Such songs as these are 
 the real emblems of national unity. 
 
 The joys of life as well as its duties arouse men's 
 social feelings, and help on the cause of human brother- 
 hood. The innocent pleasure which accompanies light 
 and cheerful airs is a common feeling of humanity, and 
 excites a friendly communion of spirit. The plantation 
 songs of the Negroes were to them one of their few 
 social bonds, and the common sympathy of their natures, 
 repressed at all other points, found an outlet in the 
 enthusiasm of their nearly meanhigless singing. And 
 they spread their uniting influence far beyond the bounds 
 of the Slave States. They linked the pleasure of men in 
 other lands to the darkened life of the Negroes, and 
 prepared the way for their entrance into the equal 
 brotherhood of man. 
 
 Amusements have their origin in this social feeling, 
 which also they help to encourage. It is only an 
 
276 THE BROTHEKHOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 afterthought which regards amusements as a means of 
 strengthening the body or refreshing the mind. They 
 take their origin in a time when bodies were not 
 weakened, nor minds overwrought, by civilisation. If 
 it is to give skill of hand and eye that men play 
 golf or cricket, there is an immense amount of labour 
 for very little result. The real secret is, of course, 
 the social element. Men come together, happy that 
 no jarring element need intrude. And the development 
 of the social sympathy which our age has shown, has 
 also had its power manifested in the amusements of the 
 common people. The crowd who come to look at a 
 football or cricket match are but another evidence of 
 the increase of the united life of brotherhood among 
 us. The same law runs through all our life : " music " 
 and " gymnastic," to use the words as Plato meant 
 them, both serve the universal end of man. 
 
 The words of Schiller are probably the best state- 
 ment of the social force of art. " Men are driven by 
 necessity to associate with each other, and Reason gives 
 them principles of association ; but Beauty alone can 
 bestow on them a social character. ... A common share 
 in the beautiful is a bond of society, for the beautiful 
 has relation to what is the common possession of all 
 men. . . . Beauty alone brings joy to the whole world, 
 and every being forgets the narrow bounds of its 
 existence while under the sway of its magic power." ^ 
 
 Of painting and sculpture, the same laws will be found 
 generally true that apply to music. The general appeal 
 
 ^ Ueber die asthdische Erziehung des Alenschen, in einer Ecihe 
 von Brief en. Brief 27. 
 
THE SERVICE OF LITERATURE AND ART 277 
 
 is calmer aud less persuasive, but the sympathy aroused 
 is as real. To the Greeks, the thrill of delight at 
 seeing the unveiling of the great statue of Zeus, which 
 was the masterpiece of Phidias, was as powerful and 
 contagious as the raptures which follow a great singer's 
 best song with an English audience. 
 
 And, apart from its power of uniting men's hearts, 
 art can by its choice of themes deeply impress on men 
 the claims of sorrow, or awake in them sympathy with 
 labour or happiness. The painter can awake in our 
 feelings a readier response to his rendering of scenes 
 which are in their nature tender and touching. He 
 can make us feel our common heritage with all man- 
 kind in the real elements of our human life. It is a 
 truth as old as the Memorabilia of Socrates, that pictures 
 have a moral influence. Who can doubt the magic 
 power which the paintings of Millet possess, to wake 
 within us a sympathetic union with the toiling peasants 
 whom they reveal to us in the simplicity of their life ? 
 It is an initiation into human brotherhood to look on 
 such representations. All art is permeated with this 
 religion of humanity ; this love of scenes and tales which 
 inspire us with brotherly kindness. 
 
 Art degrades itself under a despot. It lends itself 
 to the low ideas and narrow thoughts of its surroundings. 
 It may live, for an artist has a freedom of a sort under 
 every form of government ; but it reflects only the 
 thoughts of the class that is free, and keeps aloof from 
 the great slave-mass of the people. Beautiful after 
 their kind are Boucher and Watteau, but they do not 
 call out the higher or better sympathies of mankind. 
 
278 THE BROTHERHOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 Art, to win its best rewards of beauty and truth, must 
 breathe the air of true human brotherhood. 
 
 Still more does poetry aid the cause of brotherly 
 union. What fresh human fellowship breathes in 
 Chaucer ; what sympathetic power in Piers Plowman ! 
 What a faith in human nature speaks in every one 
 of Shakespeare's plays ! And all the long roll of English 
 poets is a record of men who were inspu-ed by freedom, 
 friendship, and love for mankind. Mr. Stopford Brooke 
 shows how the idea of universal human sympathy grows 
 from Pope to Wordsworth ; but the artist need not 
 have a perfect intellectual grasp of all the wide issues 
 his work may lead to. The unconscious force of genius 
 may lead him to express a deeper sympathy with a 
 wider range than his intellect may intend. Wordsworth 
 is a conscious labourer in the cause of universal 
 humanity, but none the less has his work enduring 
 power. His fellow-feeling for simple life, where the 
 true humanity within men has a plainer voice, helped 
 to bind together the English nation. And can his 
 loftier services to freedom be forgotten ? Can men 
 ever forget the sonnet to Toussaint I'Ouverture, with the 
 noble lines ? — 
 
 " Thy friends are exultations, agonies, 
 And love, and man's unconqueraljle mind." 
 
 In Grray's " Elegy " there is a universal note which we 
 hear sounding in 
 
 "The short and simple annals of the poor." 
 
 And Crabbe paints these with a stern truthfulness 
 which compels our entering into the actual facts of 
 
THE SERVICE OF LITERATURE AND ART 279 
 
 human life, and taking our part in its sorrows and 
 
 hopes. 
 
 How many generous inspirations have been drawn from 
 
 Burns' songs ; how often have men been raised to a 
 
 genuine feehug of true humanity by the simple words ? — 
 
 "For a' that, an' a' tliat. 
 
 It's coming yet for a' that, 
 That man to man the world o'er 
 Shall brothers be for a' that." 
 
 And what heart so hard as not to be moved with his 
 
 picture of — 
 
 " Yonder poor, o'erlaboured wight, 
 So abject, mean, and vile. 
 Who begs a brother of the earth 
 To give him leave to toil." 
 
 The healthy sympathy which we have in Sir Walter 
 Scott is worth a thousand treatises on the social union 
 of mankind. We rise refreshed with a draught of 
 brotherly feeling after reading the pages of the Waverley 
 Novels. More frothy, but not less genuine, is the 
 human interest in Dickens. Though the great writers 
 have it deepest, the feehng of human brotherhood is 
 a common possession of our poets and novelists. It 
 appears in different forms, from the mild landscape of 
 Goethe's " Hermann and Dorothea," to the deeper shadows 
 of Victor Hugo and George Sand. The enthusiasm of 
 democracy inspired the two great French writers, and 
 their association with Leroux, Lamennais, and the other 
 leaders of revolutionary thought, has given some of 
 their writings a set purpose of political reform which 
 deprives them of true insight. But there is, as we 
 have seen, a movement towards brotherhood in literature 
 
280 THE BROTHERHOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 as well as in politics. It is partly conscious, as in 
 writers like George Sand, and partly unconscious, as 
 in the songs of Beranger, or the " Comedie Humaine " of 
 Balzac. Of deeper import are the signs of progress 
 toward brotherhood in the pure regions of art and 
 emotion, than those which speak of political purpose. 
 The fact that our poets and novelists give their in- 
 spiration in the homes and lives of the labouring classes, 
 is both a great aid to a general sympathy and a proof 
 of its existence. Literature, which under despotic rule 
 confined itself mainly to the gilded idleness of life, has 
 taken a wider flight, and brought back a richer burden 
 of beauty and strength. As the heart has more joy 
 in seeing the true life of men as set forth by the 
 Dutch school, or English painters like Morland or 
 Hunt or Wilkie, or French like Bastien Lepage, Frere, 
 and Millet, than in any theatrical scenes from a false 
 Arcadia ; so books must now speak the truth or be 
 silent. And the truth is fuller of refreshment to men 
 than any fabric of dreams. 
 
 The movement towards the idea of humanity has, in 
 modern times, three distinct stages. It existed in older 
 days, and our EngHsh verse in the Middle Ages is full 
 of it. The natural kinship between religious freedom 
 and human brotherhood showed itself in the commun- 
 ism of the followers of Wiclif, and in the vision of 
 secular empire which Dante as a Ghibelline brought 
 before mankind in his De MonarcJiia. But, after the 
 enthusiasm of the Eeformation was over, there seems 
 to have arisen in men's lives a great chasm between 
 classes. Sectarian and political strife embittered life. 
 
THE SERVICE OF LITERATURE AND ART 281 
 
 and it was not till the close of the eighteenth century 
 that the fresh feeling of true natural life began to 
 return. It appeared in art as well as in letters first 
 as a return to naturalism. 
 
 The first stage is represented by such writers as 
 Fielding and Smollett in fiction, and Cowper and Burns 
 in verse. With these writers it is the compelling power 
 of genius which urges them to their view of human 
 society as essentially one from highest to lowest, nature 
 having made all men brothers. There is no set political 
 purpose in their verse, except perhaps in Burns at 
 times, and they move freely within the broad sphere 
 of humanity. 
 
 Not long after these writers came Goethe and Schiller, 
 who were inspired by the same thoughts. These poets 
 frankly accepted human life, and enjoyed all its vari- 
 ous forms ; to them men were men, bare of the acci- 
 dents of their mode of existence. It was this that 
 inspired them with a love for liberty, as shown in 
 Goethe's " Egmont " and Schiller's " William Tell " ; but 
 it is in their lyrics that their true human sympathy 
 appears. 
 
 In France, the intensity of feeling which Eousseau 
 put into his gospel of individualism carried the nation 
 along on a torrent of sentiment. Both Saint-Pierre 
 and Eousseau were by nature believers in mankind ; 
 and though the gay Sybarites of Paris thought it a 
 strange gospel, as did also Frederick the Great,^ it took 
 root in men's hearts. 
 
 ^ His well-known reply to Sulzer, the writer on aesthetics, in- 
 dicates his opinion of the " damned race." 
 
282 THE BROTHEEHOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 The second stage in the mission of literature to 
 unfold human brotherhood, is due to the influence of 
 the French Eevolution. Wordsworth, Campbell, Byron, 
 and Shelley illumined with their genius the new love 
 of humanity which had burst in on the torpid soul of 
 the European States. The struggles of Greece inspired 
 Byron and Delavigne to lift their voices for her 
 liberty, as Campbell sung the woes of Poland. Shelley 
 found at home motive enough for an ardour as great 
 for the cause of humanity ; but rather inspired other 
 singers than found the people ready to hear his own 
 song. 
 
 Chateaubriand was a connecting link between the new 
 world and the world before the Eevolution, and the 
 great apostles of humanity were arrayed on different 
 sides, but striving towards the same grand end. Paul- 
 Louis Courier and Lamennais, Lamartine and Constant, 
 Hugo and Beranger, did not see eye to eye in their 
 mission of brotherhood, but their efforts joined to swell 
 the rising tide. 
 
 The movements for national unity which this century 
 has seen, had each their poets, to whom is due much of 
 their triumphant success. It was the voice of Leopardi 
 which awakened Italy, and the stern republicanism of 
 Giusti was a strong force towards the triumph of the 
 final unity. The hero of the conflict, Mazzini, was one 
 of the noblest men in the history of mankind. His 
 thoughts on the future of humanity are a gospel in 
 themselves : but many of his writings were like flashes 
 of his sword, seen but to vanish ; and most of his literary 
 work will soon be forgotten. It was by his acts, rather 
 
THE SERVICE OF LITERATURE AND ART 283 
 
 than by his speech, that Mazzini reaHsed for Italy her 
 true place m the federation of mankind. 
 
 To the songs of Petofi, and the tales of Eotvos and 
 Josika, Hungary ^ owes her freedom as much as to the 
 indomitable courage of Kossuth, and the statesmanship of 
 Deak. 
 
 To fanatics like Jahn, and poets like Arndt and Freili- 
 grath, the Germans owe the strongest impulse to unity. 
 The roll of their patriotic poets is a long one, from the 
 fiery Korner and the gentler Uhland and Schenkendorf, 
 to the songsters of our own day. And Heine is an apostle 
 of freedom, whom no nation may claim, though all admire. 
 " The great work of our age," he said, " is emancipation. 
 Civil equality is one of the most pressing needs of 
 mankind." 
 
 In Eussia, that strange land which we gaze on with 
 wonder in our Western eyes, there lay a dark blot on our 
 modern world. Slowly was the wrong of serfdom righted. 
 Karamsin did not see the darker side of the serf life of 
 Eussia, but his writings penetrated into the hut of the 
 peasant, and enlarged their sense of being. Pushkin, in 
 his late days, was untrue to the liberal creed of his 
 youth ; but his poems, which earned for him the name of 
 the Eussian Byron, were seeds of true humanity in the 
 deep soil of Eussian life. The gloomy pictures which 
 Gogol drew of peasant life, with all its dull ignorance 
 of the shame of its degraded slavery, had an almost 
 maddening power ; but they filled the heart with despair. 
 
 1 The iwpular poetry of the Magyars, Avhich kept alive the 
 national spirit, is well described by Mme. Dora D'Istria in the 
 Eevue des Deux Moncles for August 1, 1870. 
 
284 THE BROTHERHOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 It is to Tourgenieff we owe the tender touch that opened 
 the yearning heart of the vast millions of Paissia to the 
 sympathetic gaze of mankind. The writings of Tourge- 
 nieff are one of the most marvellous products of our 
 century, and breathe the purest air of human brother- 
 hood. Too heavy clouds still hang over the great empire 
 of Eussia ; but when writers like Tourgenieff' and Tolstoi 
 can find their way to men's hearts, the future is not 
 to be despaired of. The great principles of humanity 
 will triumph there as they have done in the rest of 
 Europe. 
 
 The poems of Whittier and Longfellow, and Uncle 
 Tom's Cabin by Mrs. Beecher Stowe, rang the knell of 
 Negro slavery, and helped to bring about the greatest 
 revolution in history since the storm of 1789. And the 
 less known struggles for freedom and unity have each 
 their poet. The Panslavonie idea has been sung by 
 Hanka and Palacky, and the Croats had Gaj and Jella- 
 chich, with their Illyrian scheme. Modern Greece has 
 had a hundred bards who have emulated the lyre of 
 Tyrtseus; but the strongest strains were heard from 
 Ehigas, a man of heroic heart. 
 
 But the unnamed writers of the ballads of the nations 
 have been greater powers than the authors whom the 
 world rejoices to remember. What a fire there is in the 
 ballads of modern Greece,^ which tell us of the brave 
 deeds of the Klephts ; and the Servians ^ and Spaniards ^ 
 
 1 Collected by M. Fauriel. 
 
 2 Collected by Talvj. 
 
 3 The Spanish ballads are familiar enough from Lockhart's trans- 
 lations ; and of late years more attention has been paid by Spanish 
 scholars to the ballads of their country. In Sweden, Arwidsson, not 
 
THE SERVICE OF LITERATURE AND ART 285 
 
 have their popular songs with the same martial clang. 
 The true poet has the spirit of freedom and brother- 
 hood as part of his dower from nature, who teaches him 
 to sing. Genius loses its inspiration when it turns aside 
 from its nobler impulses, and prostitutes itself to the 
 cause of tyranny, oppression, or the lust of empire. " To 
 give to a party what was meant for mankind," is, after 
 all, impossible, for the gift so narrowed loses its brilliance. 
 The precious things of this world are only of value when 
 they are made to serve the great and generous cause of 
 humanity. 
 
 Alongside of these enthusiasms for national unity and 
 freedom, there has sprung up a deep and strong sym- 
 pathy with literature which depicts the life of the 
 labouring masses of men. This sympathy has spread 
 through all nations and animated all literatures. The 
 writmgs of Dickens, whom the Hungarian poet Petofi 
 called " the benefactor of mankind," have marked an era 
 in the history of literature. Perhaps he did not see very 
 far into the reality of things, but he was animated by a 
 spirit of kindly brotherhood which has helped to re- 
 generate England. Scott's is a greater name, but his 
 service to man has not been more weighty ; and although 
 others, such as Charles Lamb and Leigh Hunt, prepared 
 the way for Dickens, yet his path was one he made for 
 hunself. Many other writers have walked in the way 
 
 to name earlier collectors ; in Provence, Arbaud ; in Italy, Ferraro, — 
 have preserved for us these important illustrations of popular life 
 and feeling. It is worth noting that in Professor F. J. Child's 
 English and Scottish Popular Ballads, he is able to cull his illus- 
 trations from almost all the languages of Europe, and from well- 
 nigh a hundred collections like his own. 
 
286 THE BROTHERHOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 of the people's life, from the strong flight of George 
 Eliot to the more retired paths of our Scottish story- 
 tellers. 
 
 In France, imitators of Dickens like Daudet, and 
 unpretending writers like Souvestre, love the highway of 
 our common life, though they come far behind their 
 great fellow-travellers, George Sand and Balzac. Nor 
 must we forget the burning page of the marvellous 
 writer of Les MisSraUes, " the great epic and tragic poem 
 of contemporary life and of eternal humanity." 
 
 The German Auerbach and the Flemish Conscience 
 have opened to us the hamlets of their native land, and 
 Miss Bremer has made us find close kindred in Swedish 
 homes. 
 
 In America the people are even brought nearer to us. 
 There is a wonderful reality of touch in the work of the 
 Western writers, which makes us feel we are in the 
 presence of deeper instincts of brotherhood than our old- 
 world life commonly shows. Miss Murfree, Bret Harte, 
 and Cable paint the New World with a pen dipped in 
 some genial liquid of tender sympathy which flows 
 deeply in these wide-watered lands. This love to read 
 of simple people and their ways is a long step to dwell- 
 ing in community with them. We journey in life to- 
 gether with them in thought, and our heart expands with 
 the consciousness of a common humanity. Nothing so 
 surely tells us how far a point we have reached in our 
 way to a general brotherhood. Time was when the life 
 of the noble alone presented any features of interest to 
 the artist, when commerce was too mean, and labour too 
 wretched, to give him a subject that would command 
 
THE SERVICE OF LITERATURE AND ART 287 
 
 interest. But that time is past : all that is human 
 interests mankind ; and the simpler the human element, 
 the less trammelled by circumstances, the more do men 
 love and admire. To bring this about, women have 
 done good service. Their gentler hearts have seen the 
 true pathos of life, and opened it to our view. And the 
 more they enter the world of letters, the purer and 
 sweeter will the air become, and more fragrant with 
 universal charity. 
 
 But the poets have a vision beyond the present. 
 To them it is given to unlock the gates of the 
 future. " Poets," said Shelley, " are the mirrors of 
 the gigantic shadows which futurity casts on the 
 present." 
 
 '"Tis still remembered that in days of old, 
 The poets, ere Time's page was yet unrolled, 
 Could to the eager world its fate unfold." 
 
 And still the far-seeing singer can open to us a long 
 vista. While we have the sublime and hopeful strains of 
 Shelley, Victor Hugo, Tennyson, and Browning, we need 
 ask no clearer book of fate. 
 
 Shelley was inspired with the enthusiasm of humanity 
 as few men have been. He lived and breathed in a 
 world of his own making, where love was the universal 
 element. He seemed to see 
 
 "The world's great age begin anew, 
 The golden years return, 
 The earth, like to a snake, renew 
 Her winter weeds outworn." 
 
 To him the spirit of love and harmony and beauty was 
 
288 THE BKOTHERHOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 destined to conquer the estrangements of mankind, and 
 give its imsetting light to earth. 
 
 " They know that never joy ilhimed my lirow, 
 Unlinked with hope that thou wouldst free 
 This world from its dark slavery." 
 
 The inequalities of life, and its sorrows and wrongs, 
 were ever before his mind ; but they passed out of sight 
 in his prophetic vision of a world of love and peace. 
 That vision, which to others was but a dream, but an 
 airy cloud of unreality, was to him his refuge and 
 strength. Men find it hard to follow him in his flight ; 
 and his attempts to turn into the plain prose of action 
 his creed of the future, were but failures. His thought 
 was in a world outside of this, and he was not at home 
 with ordinary men. It is only those who love him that 
 he becomes clear to ; only to them become intelligible 
 his " Epipsychidion," and his " Lines Written among the 
 Euganean Hills." The one reconciling force among men was 
 " love, which heals all strife," and his future of the world 
 was a time when all the material elements which now 
 make discords are removed, and our true selves are all in 
 communion with each other. And yet Shelley had to be 
 translated into other men's thoughts before he became 
 intelligible to mankind. His message was to remind 
 men of a higher ideal of their possible relations one to 
 another ; but he removed that ideal too far out of the 
 ken of ordinary mortals. Tennyson's clearer song, with 
 the same burden, was all the more welcome to the hope- 
 ful and aspiring hearts of his time. The new bard had 
 a loftier mind and keener insight. Tennyson, by his 
 wide eagle flight into the far regions of the future of 
 
THE SERVICE OF LITERATURE AND ART 289 
 
 mankind, is the greatest poet of our time. His name is 
 imperishable, because it is allied with the great move- 
 ment of mankind towards brotherhood. Swinburne is an 
 ardent apostle of freedom, and his song is inspired by a 
 deep sympathy with humanity : he is a noble poet ; but 
 the keen vision of Tennyson goes far beyond the gaze of 
 Swinburne, occupied with the present and the past. 
 
 In his earlier poems he struck the chord which more 
 and more is heard, though with different harmonies, 
 through all his work. Is not the root of the whole tree 
 of human brotherhood in the words ? — 
 
 "From yon bhie lieavens above us lienl, 
 
 The gardener Adam and liis wife 
 Smile at the claims of long descent. 
 Howe'er it be, it seems to me 
 
 'Tis only noble to be good. 
 Kind hearts are more than coronets, 
 
 And simple faith than Norman blood." 
 
 And is not the accomplished goal brought before us in 
 the vision of " The Parliament of Man, the Federation of 
 the World " ? 
 
 The perfect future is unfolded to us in " In Me- 
 moriam " ; the ideal world which death opens for the 
 individual, and eternal progress, shall we not say, for the 
 human race — 
 
 "And we shall sit at endless feast, 
 Enjoying each the other's good : 
 What vaster dream can hit the mood 
 Of Love on earth?" 
 
 The poet's ears can discern the aeonian music of the 
 
 universe ; he can look forward to the 
 
 "One far-off divine event, 
 To which the whole creation moves." 
 
 19 
 
290 THE BROTHERHOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 Perhaps no poet has ever had such a deep sense of the 
 eternal progress of things as Tennyson. Other singers 
 have been moved by the sense of the shadowy character 
 of life and all its teeming forms, that the world is an 
 air-image, and 
 
 " Shall dissolve, 
 And, like an unsubstantial pageant faded. 
 Leave not a rack behind." 
 
 To Shelley this is an almost paralysing thought : but 
 Tennyson sees that if the world fades behind us, it 
 grows and expands before us ; and his firm grasp of the 
 true reality of things in their unfolding progress makes 
 him the poet of science and of the future of mankind. 
 In such joyful hopes as are hymned in " In Memoriam," 
 to the chime of the Christmas Bells, or are more doubt- 
 fully sung in " Locksley Hall," — sixty years after, we 
 open the book of time. True, it is with a trembling hand 
 that the aged poet reads it — 
 
 "When the schemes and all the systems, Kingdoms and Ee- 
 publics fall. 
 Something kindlier, higher, holier, all for each, and each for 
 all? 
 
 All the full-l)rain, half-brain races, led by Justice, Love, and 
 
 Truth ; 
 All the millions one at length with the visions of my youth? 
 
 Forward then, but still remember how the course of Time will 
 
 swerve, 
 Crook and turn upon itself in many a backward streaming 
 
 curve. 
 
 Follow you the star that lights a desert pathway, yours or 
 
 mine, 
 Forward, till you see the highest, Human Nature is divine." 
 
THE SERVICE OF LITERATURE AND ART 291 
 
 But notwithstanding the doubts and sorrow of his heart 
 at the awful woes and wrongs of life, which blinded his 
 sight at times, as they did the eyes of Shelley even more, 
 the poet in his old age will not give up the 
 
 " Golden dream 
 Of Knowledge fu,sing class with, class, 
 
 Of civic Hate no more to be. 
 Of Love to leaven all the mass, 
 
 Till every Soul be free." 
 
 And amid his waning light he falls back on his faith — - 
 
 " Our Playwright may show 
 In some fifth Act what this wild drama means." 
 
 After all, we must not reproach our great poet with his 
 
 sad moods, when hope seemed to vanish from him. In 
 
 the words of another poet, Arthur Hugh Clough, who 
 
 had a baptism of a like spirit, but with little joy for 
 
 himself — 
 
 " 'Tis not the calm and peaceful l)reast 
 That sees or reads the problem true ; 
 They only know on whom't has prest 
 Too hard to hope to solve it too." 
 
 How, too, was the undaunted spirit of Byron brought 
 to a despair of the future ! And Goethe, who in days 
 before had sung his songs of hope, came to despair in his 
 old age of mankind altogether, and think that God 
 would grow weary of them too. Weakness and age 
 isolate us from men ; we commune with our own sad 
 thoughts of the past, and our intercourse with men 
 becomes laboured and painful. But if we can keep our 
 hearts in contact with others, we will not lose the sight 
 of the advancing progress of man, and the swelling tides 
 of love that rise in mankind. After all, it is this love 
 
292 THE BROTHEKIIOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 for some one clear to him that Tennyson falls back on to 
 cheer his vision of the future. Victor Hugo has been 
 called " the spiritual sovereign of the nineteenth century " ; 
 and though the words are strong, it is certain that no 
 man has expressed the inner thought of the century 
 more truly. Mr. Swinburne, who so speaks, tells us 
 that Hugo is a redeemer and a prophet. We know, at 
 least, that disappomtments and evils could not shake his 
 trust in the great future of his own people and of 
 mankind. At the close of " Les Chatiments," how he 
 rises to the height of his faith in the progress of the 
 race ! — 
 
 " The name of the future is Love." 
 
 Humanity, released from every fetter, shall come at last 
 to his home in the perfect brotherhood of man and of 
 Christ. The dawn and the day are before him, and he 
 calls on men to see and believe in the future of love. 
 In " Sordello," Browning says — 
 
 "God has conceded two sights to a man — 
 One of men's whole work, time's completed plan ; 
 The other of the minute's work, man's first 
 Step to the plan's comjileteness." 
 
 In both of these visions Browning had his part. It 
 is in his earlier work that he thought more of 
 the future of mankind ; in later years the present 
 absorbed him. But his universal sympathy is itself a 
 lesson of hope. Michael Angelo's art was nothing but 
 sorrow, if the love of beauty had not in it the promise of 
 immortality. And our present love for men must be an 
 earnest of closer and better relationship. As Tennyson 
 learns this lesson from looking at the great process of 
 
THE SERVICE OF LITERATURE AND ART 293 
 
 time, the march of the whole universe of law, so Browning 
 seems to read it in the soul of man. The one poet looks 
 around at the vast harmony of all things, and feels that 
 the jarring life of man must be brought also into order 
 and beauty, into unity and love ; the other anatomises 
 the soul, and reads its inward testimony to the same 
 great purpose. With less buoyancy of hope than his 
 wife possessed, and a nearer knowledge of the actual 
 world, Browning is yet a prophet of hope to mankind. 
 
 It is, after all, what we might look for, — that in the 
 New World the hopes of the future should be highest. 
 Life begins there a second childhood, but with the 
 strength of a man, and rejoices at the long ages in front 
 of us. It is Emerson who assures us that, though our 
 earthly communions fade and vanish, they can only be 
 supplanted by what is more beautiful, and so on for ever. 
 There is an ascending scale of love and brotherhood 
 which time cannot exhaust. And Walt Whitman takes 
 up the theme with his deep and elemental tones. He 
 sees as the root-idea of all religions and philosophies — 
 
 "The dear love of mau for his comrade, the attraction of 
 friend to friend, 
 Of the well-married husband and wife, of children and parents, 
 Of city for city, and land for land." 
 
 He summons us to hear his promise of the years to 
 come — 
 
 " I will make divine magnetic lands, 
 With the love of comrades, 
 With the lifelong love of comrades." 
 
 Truly has it been said that such words as Whitman 
 speaks are spoken to centuries far beyond us, to which 
 
294 THE BKOTHEKHOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 our children will be travelling ; but the inspiration of 
 these hopes may shape our lives towards them — 
 
 " What whispers are these, lands, running ahead of you, 
 passing under the seas ? 
 Are all nations communing? is there going to be but one 
 heart to the globe ? " 
 
 The future of brotherhood never had a bolder and more 
 confident expounder ; the rush of his thought carries 
 with it the most sluggish mind of the Old World. 
 What a vision of love and glory he gives us ; our 
 timid hearts refuse to believe it. But hear his own 
 voice — 
 
 " Is it a dream ? 
 Nay, but the lack of it the dream. 
 And failing it, life's love and wealth a dream, 
 And all the world a dream." 
 
CHAPTER XXI 
 
 THE NATURAL GROWTH OF ALTRUISM 
 
 In Bishop Butler's sermon on the Social Nature of Man, 
 he lays down as proved fact that " there is a natural 
 principle of benevolence of man which is in some degree 
 to society what self-love is to the individual." He points 
 to the instincts of family affection and of natural com- 
 passion as evidence of the existence of this feeling ; and 
 looks on any who are destitute of it as exceptions to the 
 general course of nature. From a consideration of the 
 whole subject, he concludes that " it is as manifest we 
 were made for society, and for the happiness of it, as 
 that we were intended to take care of our own life and 
 health and private good." 
 
 The writer of Ecce Homo similarly speaks of " natural 
 kindness, which was not killed, but only partially 
 paralysed, by ethical morality " ; and enlarges on the 
 " fellow-feeling, the yearning towards a human being as 
 such, which is not dependent upon the character of the 
 particular human being who excites it, but rises before 
 that character displays itself, and does not at once or 
 altogether subside when it exhibits itself as unamiable." 
 This fellow-feeling, at once primitive and natural, as the 
 writer calls it, does not fit in very well with what he 
 
296 THE BROTHERHOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 says of " the earliest condition of mankind of which we 
 have any knowledge," which is described as being " one 
 of perpetual war," only tempered by the " imperative 
 law of nature," which makes members of the same family 
 live in perpetual alliance. 
 
 While admitting much of Bishop Butler's theory, the 
 groioth of man's moral nature is not taken enough account 
 of in that common view which speaks of the natural 
 altruism of mankind. It is because man is a social 
 animal that he has developed social instincts ; but these 
 moral impulses show different stages of development. 
 The utter lack of sympathy which some savages feel for 
 each other may be on a par with their callousness to 
 pain ; but it is proof enough that the altruistic instinct 
 is by no means a strong one in great multitudes of 
 mankind. Lotze is probably speaking scientific truth 
 when he says that " absolutely naked egoism must be 
 regarded as the only motive power of our activity, until 
 a higher development has discovered better ideals of 
 action." According to the extent of this development 
 will be the nature and character of the altruistic 
 feelings. 
 
 We may, with the evolutionists of Mr. Spencer's 
 school, find the origin of altruism in the mere animal 
 tendencies of man. M. Letourneau, in his Sociology, 
 draws attention to instances of benevolence among the 
 lower animals, such as birds; and our own naturalists 
 record many corroborative incidents. In the lowest of 
 mankind, these instincts have some form, though among 
 the Australians and Fuegians they have not attained a 
 permanent home in tlie savage breast. 
 
THE NATURAL GROWTH OF ALTRUISM 297 
 
 The great scliool of altruism is the family life. 
 Whether the family is a later development of human 
 association, or the primitive form, is a disputed point ; 
 but this fact is certain, that when it does not exist, the 
 social instincts are very low. It looks like a paradox to 
 say that man, by isolating himself in his own family, 
 develops more love to others ; but it is certainly true. 
 Even in our civilised life, the bachelor is regarded as the 
 type of selfishness ; and often with marked truth. It 
 is found, moreover, that where polygamy exists, the 
 altruistic feelings are less developed than where the 
 marriages are between a husband and one wife. The 
 reasons are not far to seek. A state of horde life, such 
 as the early peoples are said to have dwelt in, must lead 
 to perpetual strife ; for there must be many claimants 
 for anything that is regarded as worth possessing, and 
 whose possession would only be decided by the right of 
 the strongest. The fiercer passions of humanity, rather 
 than the gentler affections, are naturally strengthened 
 by such contests. A similar state of war is found in 
 polygamous households. There is a clashing of interests ; 
 and although the husband may pronounce his judgments, 
 he is powerless to check the feelings of rancour which 
 rise in the hearts of those who are bound together by a 
 chain which is their only bond of union. The Scriptures 
 reveal to us the fatal discords which are an almost 
 certain consequence of polygamy. 
 
 In monasteries, phalansteries, and other artificial 
 associations, similar conditions are found ; and neither 
 the enthusiasm of fraternity, nor the principles of 
 Christianity, have been found equal to keeping down 
 
298 THE BROTHERHOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 the selfishness and strife of then* members. The 
 phalansteries have all naturally dissolved ; and so would 
 every monastery, had it not been for the perpetual vow 
 which the Eoman Church prudently exacted from monks, 
 whose instincts would have soon scattered them as far 
 as possible from each other. 
 
 Since the family life has been found to be the only 
 true source of the social and altruistic feelings, anything 
 which weakens the family bond is certain to develop 
 egoism. The Nihilist movement, which some wrong- 
 fully identify with Socialism, but which is its extreme 
 opposite and the acme of individualism, aims first at the 
 abolition of all marriage relations. In America this is 
 carried out to some extent by the Divorce Laws, and the 
 fruit of these laws cannot do otherwise than hinder the 
 progress of true social union. It is true this is in 
 harmony with some currents of American life, which 
 have tended towards a dangerous individualism. The 
 weakest must go to the wall in the rush of a world not 
 yet welded together. But if any relaxation of the 
 marriage tie is advocated in the interests of purer 
 relations in social life, the voice of history pronounces 
 such an expectation a delusion. Nature tells us the 
 first true step in the life for others is the family union. 
 The family union carries its sympathies to all its 
 kindred, and we have the patriotic fellow-feeling which 
 induces all who belong to a nation to help and care for 
 each other. This fellow-feeling becomes established in 
 the heart, and at last rises into the general benevolence 
 to all men which Bishop Butler speaks of. It becomes 
 an involuntary instinct, and without any express reason- 
 
THE NATURAL GROWTH OF ALTRUISM 299 
 
 iug, men (and more especially women) are ready to show 
 kindness to the stranger, simply because they have been 
 in the habit of doing the same to their own people. 
 
 Parallel with the extension of the family, there is the 
 growth of law and practical ethics, to which the sanction 
 of religion is given. These arose from the commands 
 of the head of the family, and the reverence paid 
 to him gave his precepts a solemn weight. Family 
 tradition preserved the usages of the clans to which 
 families grew, and out of which nations were born. 
 Thus the laws of hospitality had mythological meanings 
 attached to them, which by and by faded from the 
 memory of the people as practical impulses, without 
 rendering them less obedient to the customs. The 
 children, however, were still educated in the traditions 
 and mythology of the tribe, and habits of altruism were 
 thus implanted in their thought and action. Such a 
 tale as that of Baucis and Philemon would enforce the 
 moral of kindness to strangers, who were, whoever they 
 might be, under the protection of Zeus Xenios. The 
 Arab custom of respecting him who had taken salt, 
 had doubtless some far back reference to some sacred 
 association with that necessity of life ; and similar usages 
 are found in other nations. In China, as in Athens, 
 there are temples of Pity, where at least the women and 
 children pray. 
 
 Thus the early religions, though in many ways 
 narrow in their ideas of tribal worship, lent their aid 
 to benevolent feelings and kindly actions. 
 
 The growth of altruism was fostered by the national 
 unity, which led men to admire the hero who died for 
 
300 THE BROTHERHOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 his fatherland; and the pious deed of a Curtius was for 
 all time a noble example. The poets and philosophers 
 aided the education of mankind, and the teaching of 
 Plato and Aristotle marked a new stage in the history 
 of mankind. Their conception of morals as conditioned 
 by political life became the seed of the permanent social 
 thinking of men. Though, in later ages, those who knew 
 their teaching departed from them and thought more 
 and more of the individual, yet their pervading power 
 was never absent from the higher currents of social 
 inquiry. Their influence was felt in the Christian 
 Church through the great theologians and the education 
 given at the universities ; and moral life has been largely 
 conditioned by the theories of Aristotle and Plato, which, 
 though taking different forms, yet sprung from the same 
 root-idea. 
 
 As we have seen, the spreading of the peoples of 
 Europe among each other and in the other continents 
 gave men a sense of the wider world ; and with advan- 
 cing knowledge, broader thoughts of social duty and 
 international morality took root in the minds of men. 
 
 The two greatest forces which waged perpetual war 
 against human brotherhood were the unequal condition 
 of women and the possession of slaves. As long as 
 woman is held inferior to man, as long as she is regarded 
 as the servant of his pleasure, or kept for her useful- 
 ness, it is impossible that the true family life can be 
 developed, and consequently a true human brotherhood 
 be hoped for. We must not, however, accept the con- 
 clusions of writers on this subject who have generalised 
 too freely. It is difficult to see a great difference 
 
THE NATURAL GROWTH OF ALTRUISM 301 
 
 between the position of the wife in classical times and 
 that which she occupied during the most part of our 
 English history. We must remember that the classical 
 writers state facts where we shut our eyes to them, and 
 that irregular and temporary relations between men and 
 women are still both common and largely condoned. 
 Too often the master of the house is as complete a 
 monarch in his own territory as the ancient Greek or 
 Eoman or Arab, and looks on his wife in the same lordly 
 way as a possession. A historian of modern Europe 
 would not describe the wife's status in very different 
 language from that which we find in the classical writers. 
 Even in the East the influence and independence of 
 woman is higher than what we think, as we may judge 
 from the Scriptures, from the Arab tales, and the Hindoo 
 poetry. But that the spread of knowledge has helped 
 to raise woman is a certain fact ; and although it is a 
 circumstance on a lower plane, the dowry which women 
 received and came in part to control has done much to 
 vmdicate her freedom and equality. The position of 
 women in France is doubtless due to this custom of 
 dowry. 
 
 The equal position of husband and wife, where both 
 could confer obligations, has an important function in 
 trainmg the children in habits of altruism ; and there 
 has been in recent years a gradual advance towards 
 removing the disabilities of women, and giving them 
 their due place in the social fabric. The commercial 
 growth of modern Europe is the chief factor in this 
 change, which owes, however, not a little to the worship 
 of the Virgin and the customs of chivalry. 
 
302 THE BROTHERHOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 The slavery of the ancient world came to be in form 
 abolished, but it left a legacy in the social degradation 
 of masses of the population which is still with us. 
 " The Germans in their primitive settlements were 
 accustomed to the notion of slavery, incurred not only 
 by captivity, but by crime, by debt, and specially by loss 
 in gaming. When they invaded the Eoman Empire, 
 they found the same condition established in all its pro- 
 vinces." ^ The feudal system carried this on, though 
 with many modifications which the growing activity of 
 commerce brought about. The Keformation saw the 
 end of serfdom in the countries which it took hold of, 
 but in France the worst evils which accompanied feudal- 
 ism — for villenage had no necessary connection with the 
 feudal tenure — remained till the Eevolution of 1789. 
 From France, accordingly, came the impulse to the new 
 movement of social altruism. 
 
 The diffusion of Christianity had infused into the 
 earlier ages habits of kindness for others, but the polit- 
 ical circumstances of the development of Europe had 
 largely limited their exercise. Had it not been for 
 the charities of the Church, the condition of the peasant 
 would have been a hopeless one. And when faith de- 
 clined, and the Church became little but a part of 
 the governing power of the State, a new influence 
 was born which was to form an epoch in the history 
 of mankind. 
 
 What was the condition of the poor at the time of the 
 Eevolution ? " They are sent for to do statute labour, 
 to pay statute taxes, to fatten battlefields — named 
 1 Hallam, Middle Ages, i. 198. 
 
THE NATURAL GROWTH OF ALTRUISM 303 
 
 " beds of honour " — with their bodies, in quarrels which 
 are not theirs, their hand and toil is in every possession 
 of man ; but for themselves they have little or no pos- 
 session, untaught, uncomforted, unfed ; to pine stagnant 
 in thick obscuration, in squalid destitution and obstruc- 
 tion : this is the lot of the millions ; 2^(^uple taillaUe et 
 corv^dble a merci et mis&icorde." '^ 
 
 In sight of this wretchedness there arose the dreams 
 of Eousseau and the other philosophers of the time, — 
 dreams of equality and fraternity, which were not with- 
 out rays of hope, but which were a cruel mockery of the 
 existing facts of life. Different standpoints were taken 
 by the writers who helped in the work of liberty. 
 Eousseau held that " the public welfare is nothing unless 
 all the individuals who make up society are safe and 
 protected," and that liberty would be too dearly bought 
 with the blood of a single man. On the other hand, 
 Helvetius put the well-being of the State first, and 
 maintained that " any action becomes lawful and virtuous 
 in the furtherance of the common weal." 
 
 The democratic movement, which was born of such 
 thoughts, and baptized in blood at the French Revolution, 
 is regarded by many as the germ of the social sympathy 
 which the more hopeful among us think is increasing in 
 our civilisation. As Mazzini says : " What is the move- 
 ment but an attempt at the practical realisation of the 
 prayer (Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth 
 as it is in heaven) ? We are labouring that the de- 
 velopment of human society may be as far as possible in 
 the likeness of the divine society, in the likeness of the 
 1 Carlyle, French Revolution, i. 2, 
 
304 THE BROTHERHOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 heavenly country, where all are equal, where there exists 
 but one law, one happiness for all." ^ 
 
 The Eevolution did not vindicate the principle of 
 liberty and fraternity, but it at least avenged the 
 wrongs of centuries of oppression, and made impossible 
 a return to such a hell on earth as the poor lived in 
 under the ancicn rdgime. Men came to see that their 
 own safety lay in obeying to some extent the law of 
 brotherhood ; that if they did not care for the poor, 
 social disaster and epidemic disease would result. The 
 spread of plague has been in all times a reminder to 
 the rich, tliat if they do not regard the kinship of their 
 poorer brethren by giving them healthy surroundings, 
 the levelling hand of nature will show them that they 
 too are mortal, and liable to contagion from their unac- 
 knowledged brother. The events of the Eevolution cast 
 a horror over Europe which made men reflect, and the 
 gradual amelioration of the lot of the labouring classes 
 became a theory of politicians, if but poorly put in 
 practice. Further, the recognition that freedom was a 
 necessary forerunner of true social welfare led to the 
 progressive movement of liberalism, which in England 
 and other countries was of real service to the working 
 classes and to the cause of human brotherhood. 
 
 The Eevolution in France and the growth of the 
 United States mark the new epoch in the progress 
 towards social altruism. 
 
 The next period in the development of fraternal sym- 
 pathy is marked by the Saint-Simonian movement and 
 its connection with the Eevolution of 1830. The funda- 
 ' Tlwwjhts on Democracy in Europe. 
 
THE NATURAL GROWTH OF ALTRUISM 305 
 
 mental error of the old Eevolution was its principle of 
 the rights of man, which is practically a declaration of 
 war ; but the new movement rather inclined to that 
 gospel of the duties of man of which Mazzini became 
 the great apostle. To labour for the people as a unity 
 became a maxim of the new movement, which desired 
 to associate men on an equal platform. Men must 
 resign their dreams of individual happiness with a view 
 to the general welfare ; and they could best do this by 
 a co-operation in labour. Associations of their disciples 
 were formed, soon to break up ; but an experiment on 
 a large scale was tried by the French Government in 
 1 848, at the entreaty of Louis Blanc, in the national 
 workshops. With the commercial aspects of the move- 
 ment we do not concern ourselves, but it is clear that it 
 makes a new ethical standpoint for the modern world. 
 The recognition of the State's interest in the poor, and 
 duty towards them, as well as the sentiment of fraternity 
 that pervaded the whole movement, render it of great 
 interest to the student of the developing thought of 
 mankind. 
 
 As important a result as any that flowed from Saint- 
 Simon's work, was the philosophy of Comte, who was his 
 follower for the time. 
 
 His whole theory based itself on tlie unity of man, and 
 the social duties which that unity implied. Men were 
 under the sway of two powers, a strong egoist influence, 
 and a less prevailing altruist or social feeling. The 
 latter must be victorious if man is to realise his exist- 
 ence. To carry out more perfectly his life, man must 
 regard himself as a part of the great being of humanity, 
 
306 THE BROTHERHOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 to whom he is bound by feelings of gratitude and rever- 
 ence which reach a rehgious fulness. He directs attention 
 to the union of co-operation of men in labour and progress, 
 and shows how all the facts of life lead us up to a true 
 sociability. The idea of the unity and solidarity of the 
 human race was by no means a new one, yet Comte 
 seems to have given it its widest currency ; nor was his 
 thought of the natural altruism of man's nature essentially 
 different from that of Bishop Butler, but it struck deeper 
 into the soil which was prepared for the seed. His 
 intellectual contradictions and his repudiation of Chris- 
 tianity have but little to do with the message of Comte 
 to his age. Those who believed him had already attained 
 to that stage of his teaching before they came under his 
 influence ; but the altruistic spirit of his philosophy was 
 a revelation to them. It may be nothing more than a 
 shadow of Christianity, but it wins men to Christian 
 kindness who repudiate the great founder of the Christian 
 rehgion. And its influence has been felt in Christian 
 circles. Light has been borrowed even from the lamps 
 of Comtism and Socialism for the temple of divine 
 worship ; and men have been moved to recall the teach- 
 ing of Jesus with regard to their brethren. It may be 
 true, as Quinet says, that " the spirit of the gospel of 
 Christ has only just begun to be applied in the civil and 
 political world " ; but it cannot be doubted that the 
 Church has been led to examine her ways and rouse 
 herself out of her individualistic teaching by the wmd 
 which has blown from the strange lands of Comtism and 
 the socialistic theories of Saint-Simon and his followers. 
 It was the condition of the poor in France that caused 
 
THE NATURAL GROWTH OF ALTRUISM 307 
 
 the terrible upheaval in 1789 ; and the rise of Socialism 
 in Germany was due to a like state of things. The hard 
 lot of the German peasant is one of the best-known facts 
 of modern life. Writers of all schools, with many different 
 lessons to teach us, from oJBicials like Von Goltz to 
 socialists like Liebknecht and believers in happy England 
 like Lady Verney, have told us how dark an existence is 
 that of the peasant homes of Germany. The wages 
 earned by a peasant family is generally little more than 
 a half of what is necessary to sustain healthy life;^ while 
 the labourers who have no allotment of land are still 
 worse off. The whole family must toil, and that for a 
 long day of twelve hours at least, and the house is cared 
 for by the school children when they come home. 
 
 Meanwhile the peasant sees around him luxury which 
 is indifferent to his sorrows, and a Church which is too 
 busy with dogmatic speculation to attend to such trivial 
 concerns as material welfare. Out of these fermenting 
 elements arose the sympathetic study of Eodbertus, 
 Lassalle, Marx, Liebknecht, and Bebel. They saw how 
 the surroundings of the labourer failed to realise any 
 approach to a real brotherly condition ; that the poor 
 were worse off than the slaves of the ancient world ; and 
 held that free competition and the monopoly of land 
 helped to increase the misery of the working classes. 
 The social democrats enlisted in their number a host of 
 people of all classes anxious to put these things right. 
 Professors and clergymen, merchants and artisans, frater- 
 
 1 Von Goltz calculated that to keep a peasant family a sum of not 
 less than £45 per annum was necessary, whereas the total earnings 
 (three workers) never exceeded £35. 
 
308 THE BROTHERHOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 nised freely, and whatever their hope of success through 
 political action might be, the kindly intercourse of men 
 of different ranks and pursuits had a healing influence. 
 Whether Socialism may ever be able to realise its dream, 
 and whether it would be well could it do so, we do not 
 discuss ; but it has done much to develop the mutual 
 interest of men in each other, and help on the cause of 
 true brotherhood. One of the ablest of socialistic writers, 
 Dr. Schaftle, does not expect to reach his goal till every 
 man will work as hard for society as at present he does 
 for his own gain ; -^ but meanwhile the very possibility of 
 such a future helps to create feelings of social unity. 
 
 In England the movement has been almost entirely 
 dependent on German and French influences. English- 
 men do not take kindly to theories, and in Scotland they 
 may be said to have taken no hold whatever. Hard 
 times in Ireland have compelled State interference in 
 socialistic directions, but it cannot be said that it has in 
 any way inaugurated a reign of brotherhood. On the 
 contrary, class feeling has grown more bitter, till the 
 social unity is in danger of being entirely broken up. 
 
 The rural labourer of the southern counties of England, 
 and the " sweated " factory hand of the East of London, 
 as well as the underpaid nail-maker and the stunted 
 operative of the manufacturing towns, have made men 
 think what their duty was to these people. Carlyle was 
 the strongest force to set men thinking about the problem, 
 and the socialistic writers of the Continent got a band of 
 followers in our own country. The movement to regulate 
 labour and rearrange life so as to give all workers a fairer 
 ^ Die Quintessenz des Socialismus, Eiig. trans. 
 
THE NATURAL GROWTH OF ALTRUISM 309 
 
 share than they have now, has enhsted in its sendee the 
 rehgious teachers of our country, and a considerable 
 amount of talk about the matter is current, but Uttle 
 fruit has been realised. It may have helped to induce men 
 to study the condition of others, but it is very doubtful 
 whether it does not spend in dreams of the future the 
 practical energy which would be useful in the present. 
 Our social chasms are wide, thousands of our people are 
 in abject poverty, and they are suffering and dying while 
 all this dilettante talk is going on. Sentiment is apt to 
 expend itself in words, and the robuster charity, which 
 would have sacrificed some luxuries in days gone by for 
 the poor, is now too often satisfied with lamenting their 
 case. It still remains largely true that the Church is 
 the great source of charity, notwithstanding all the new 
 methods proposed and never carried out. But that there 
 is a daily advance in sympathy is undoubted, and its 
 increase must lead, not only to the profession, but the 
 practice, of human brotherhood. The life of Mr. Edward 
 Denison ^ in Stepney was an example to others which 
 has borne fruit. Mr. Denison's thoughts were far-reach- 
 ing, but it is his acts which have done most good ; and 
 the university settlements in East London in memory of 
 Mr. Toynbee, and their imitators, have a vision of future 
 possibihties within them as well as a present practical 
 good. The time will come when rich and poor will be 
 closely associated together, and love regulate their 
 relations one to another. 
 
 1 See Letters and other JFritings of E. Denison, by Sir B. Leighton. 
 
CHAPTEE XXII 
 
 CHRISTIANITY AND PATRIOTISM 
 
 As the family is the first training school for human 
 sympathy, the wider affection for the fatherland is also a 
 condition of progress in human brotherhood. There may 
 be a patriotism which is narrow and selfish, which is built 
 up of interest and prejudice, but there is also a generous 
 and heroic feeling which is one of the noblest elements 
 of human nature. 
 
 Love of fatherland was in classical times the most 
 religious of passions, for it took the place of tliat Chris- 
 tian enthusiasm which in later days led men on to 
 martyrdom. The memory of captivity and struggles for 
 liberty begot similar feelings in the Jewish heart, and the 
 story of the Maccabees reads like a page of Greek history. 
 Nor was the patriotic spirit extinguished in the breast 
 of the Christians, for St. Paul is willing to give his life 
 for his fellow-countrymen. But the surroundings of the 
 early Christians were not favourable to a close attach- 
 ment to the empire of Ptome. The heathen rites, whicli 
 were mingled with public duty, prevented them taking 
 any share in the life of the State, and they became a class 
 apart, not unlike the Jews of our own time. Nor did 
 the Christianising of the Eoman Empire much aflect the 
 
CHRISTIANITY AND PATRIOTISM 311 
 
 attitude of the Church towards it. The fatherland the 
 devout looked to was, as St. Augustine taught them, the 
 " paradise above " ; and although life and its circum- 
 stances were more stable than when the writer of the 
 Hebrews wrote, amid the great tides of change that were 
 engulfing the world, " Here we have no continuing city, 
 but we seek one to come," the Christians still held to the 
 same creed. It is true that St. Augustine occasionally 
 gives us some such echo of Cicero, as when he says that 
 " the good man knows no limit to his zeal for his father- 
 land";^ but the leadmg thought of men in connection 
 with national life and public duty was taken from the 
 pagan and not the Christian writers. There was a 
 slumbering consciousness of the unity of mankind, but it 
 had more regard to their future union in heaven than to 
 their actual present condition. 
 
 This condition of things lasted till the dissolving of 
 the empire and the gradual formation of the European 
 monarchies. Some stronger feudal lord, with the help 
 of some large city, gained to himself power over his 
 neighbours, and by force of arms founded a State, 
 Europe, which before had been broken up in small 
 baronies, began to concentrate itself in these absolute 
 despotisms, and the birth of the new feeling of patriotism 
 took place. At first it was the attachment of soldiers to 
 their chief, of vassals to their lord ; but a settled posses- 
 sion of land brought into being a deeper form of loyalty 
 of the whole body politic, corresponding closely to the 
 teaching of Cicero and Aristotle. Along with national 
 life in secular matters, there grew up a national religious 
 1 Epist, 202. 
 
312 THE BKOTHERHOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 consciousness, which indeed was the real formative influence 
 in the building up of the nation. Usages of worship and 
 independence of government began to mark out each 
 individual nation ; and with the rising tide of national 
 independence these became more and more distinctive. 
 But it was the policy of Eome to fight against any such 
 defiance of her universal authority and uniformity of 
 ritual, and one by one the national Churches gave up 
 their own flags for that of the chair of St. Peter. The 
 history of the Gallican Church is an instance. It had its 
 origin independently of the Eoman See, and was finally 
 unified and strengthened by Charlemagne, who created a 
 patriotic and religious empire. It struggled for centuries 
 against Eome, but its final extinction came when it 
 forsook the cause of the people for that of the court and 
 its own ecclesiastical privileges ; and when it yielded to 
 Ultramontanism it became unpatriotic. 
 
 It was the Eeformation which gave the national 
 Churches a real hold on the people, and true patriotism 
 in the European countries may be said to date from that 
 era. In Eoman Catholic countries to this day the baleful 
 influence of the Papal See is felt, and the most steadfast 
 foes of the unity and progress of Italy, Germany, Austria, 
 Ireland, and the United States, are the priests who have 
 given their allegiance to the foreign power of the Papacy. 
 
 De Tocqueville said that patriotism and religion are 
 the only forces which can permanently direct the whole 
 of a body politic to one end. The history of mankind 
 testifies to the truth of this ; and it is equally certain that 
 there is no guarantee for sound patriotic feeling unless it 
 is inspired by religion. Men will not be easily moved 
 
CHKISTIANITV AND PATEIOTISM 313 
 
 from their luxurious enjoyment of life, which now may 
 reach such a height, unless some strong power urge them. 
 If we indulge self, we lose our power of serving others ; 
 our altruistic feelings become atrophied for lack of use. 
 But it is easy for the Christian, whose whole life is moved 
 by love, to give himself for his fatherland. Indeed, the 
 true love for country cannot be taught by direct instruc- 
 tion, or take the form of a wholly rational judgment of 
 gain or loss by serving it. Is it not a passion which 
 thinks not of reckoning with danger or death ? A writer 
 says " that it exists in a child from the beginning : we 
 breathe it in as we do nature. Our institutions have in 
 them the spirit of our fatherland, and through them that 
 spirit takes possession of our minds involuntarily,"^ 
 
 But not only does religion prepare the soul for true 
 patriotism ; all national unity comes from a common 
 faith. It is not by chance that men come together as a 
 people ; they do not form a " social contract " of partner- 
 ship ; they are united by influences which they do not 
 control. The nation is a real unity formed by the 
 providence of God, and men are born into the life of the 
 nation, with its benefits and responsibilities. Neither 
 common advantage nor common necessity can consolidate 
 a people ; there must be a deeper source of union. That 
 deeper union is found alone in religion. From the 
 earliest times, when the tribe held the same totem sacred, 
 down to the wars of religion in modern Europe, the 
 common faith of men in some divine truth has been the 
 
 Cf. Mazzini : " The true country is the idea to which it 
 gives birth. It is the thought of love, which unites in one all the 
 sons of the territory." 
 
314 THE BROTHEKHOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 centre of their national life. In Greece the national life 
 centred in its religion ; art, literature, politics were but 
 expressions of the piety of the people. The temples and 
 statues of the gods, the poems of Aeschylus and the 
 other great writers of G-reece, the appeal to the Delphic 
 oracle, are all proofs of that deep religious feeling which 
 St. Paul spoke of in his address to the Athenians. In 
 Rome the same spirit is found, and the Arcadian Polybius, 
 who always loves to philosophise what he sees, is struck 
 with the reverence paid to the gods in that city. If we 
 go still further back to the earlier empires of the valleys 
 of the Nile and the Euphrates, we find still more evidence 
 of the power of religion to associate men ; and when we 
 stretch our glance back to primitive man, we see all life 
 finding its centre in religion, which was the atmosphere 
 in which it lived. The decay of Greek and Ptoman piety 
 heralded the decline of patriotism and the fall of their 
 States. It is by religion that the peoples are formed ; and 
 the State organisation is a result, not a cause, of religious 
 unity} Thus patriotism is but a form of the practical 
 action of Christianity. It is but an endeavour of men to 
 realise the human brotherhood within the limits which 
 are practicable for them. Wider and wider their 
 boundaries grow as the common faith extends, and the 
 tribe becomes a nation, and the nation an empire. Such 
 is the history of the greater peoples, and such is the 
 future of mankind. 
 
 The nation is a divine organism for the development 
 
 1 " The English Revolution has succeeded because it has the 
 sanction and authority of religion. This gives it a security which 
 we have not in France." — Quinet's La Revolution. 
 
CHRISTIANITY AND PATRIOTISM 315 
 
 of the individual with a view to his fuller membership iu 
 the whole human family. The wider sphere of duty 
 which a man has as a citizen of a great State, the more 
 complicated relations which he has with other men, train 
 him for his perfect duty to all mankind.^ It is only in 
 the training school of the national life that a man can 
 grow to a stature sufficient to enable him to take his 
 part as a citizen of the world. " Our country is the 
 fulcrum of the lever we have to wield for the common 
 good. If we abandon that fulcrum, we run the risk of 
 rendering ourselves useless, not only to humanity, but to 
 our country itself."^ Whether the nation, like the 
 family, is a permanent institution on earth, has been 
 doubted ; but the diversity of men's ways of thinking and 
 acting make us think that it will ever abide with us as 
 a factor of human life. Although men have different 
 speech and customs, they may have the same umer faith, 
 and manifest the same brotherly kindness. 
 
 And yet the nation is but a shadow of the universal 
 citizenship into which St. Paul said he had entered, but 
 to which certainly the brotherhood of men must one day 
 lead us. In the far future such dreams must lie ; but 
 their brightness may come into our hearts, and quicken 
 our sense of universal humanity. 
 
 There are certain forms of thought and action which 
 prevent the nation from fulfilling its mission with regard 
 to the brotherhood of man. 
 
 That feeling, which would maintain the interests of 
 
 ^ M. Renan doulits this, and tliinks that any people which seeks 
 the well-being of mankind must perish. 
 - Mazzini. 
 
316 THE BKOTHERHOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 the native country in spite of justice and honour, did not 
 die with the decline of barbarism. It is still present in 
 our thought, and nations are moved by its madness to 
 their own ruin. What was the cause of the imhappy 
 Franco -German War, but this folly of unreasoning self- 
 assertion ? Bitter was the price that then was paid for 
 the wrong ; but often it happens, as in dealings with 
 savage peoples, that the anger of Heaven sleeps long ere 
 the poor barbarians are avenged. No civilised power has 
 been free from the stain of such crimes against God and 
 man ; and the national life which is appointed for such 
 noble ends is basely prostituted in the cause of oppression. 
 We may read on a monument to a naval hero : ^ " A man 
 who always maintained the cause of his country, right or 
 wrong." Such a sentiment is only to be expected from 
 half -civilised peoples, like the Chinese ; but it is doubtful 
 if many Christians would repudiate it. It has been said 
 that no nation can act from the same motive of love 
 as an individual can. M. Challemel-Lacour said, in a 
 speech made while he was ambassador to England : " We 
 must not ask a people to sacrifice its hiterests. The 
 spirit of self-sacrifice is a great individual virtue, but it 
 is not one which is possible for a nation or a govern- 
 ment." Hegel holds the same opinion, which is essen- 
 tially Macchiavellian : "The history of the world is 
 outside the standpoint of righteousness and virtue." And 
 in Professor Mozley's University Sermons we read, not 
 without astonishment : " It may be said, why may not a 
 nation give up its rights on a principle of humility and 
 generosity, as the individual does ? But to impose such 
 1 Commodore Decatur. 
 
CHEISTIANITY AND PATRIOTISM 317 
 
 humility on a nation would be to impose on it something 
 quite different in ethical constitution from the same 
 humility in an individual. An individual's abandonment 
 of his rights is what the words grammatically mean, the 
 individual sacrificing himself ; but a nation's abandon- 
 ment of its rights means the individual sacrificing the 
 nation ; for the nation only acts through individuals. 
 The mdividual is humble, not for himself, but for another, 
 which is a very different thing." 
 
 There is an extraordinary confusion of thought in this 
 passage ; and the writer has not the remotest idea of 
 either the unity of national sentiment, or the fact that 
 free peoples can express that sentiment. The basis of 
 the opposition to Christian principle here is a form of 
 the love of glory which we are so fond of attributing to 
 the French. The fact is that the whole of national life 
 implies such sacrifices on the part of individuals as are 
 spoken of here, and these sacrifices are often offered on 
 the altar of strife by an unwilling people at the bidding 
 of ministers, who have the power to act till they are 
 removed from office by an mdignant people. Certain it 
 is that, if we disregard justice, not to say mercy, in our 
 dealings with foreign peoples, it is vain to offer them a 
 share in that religion which our own acts blaspheme. 
 
 There has occasionally appeared at different stages of 
 the world's history a cosmopolitan spirit, which regards 
 patriotism as a narrow absurdity. Frederick the Great 
 shared this opinion ; and Schiller thought patriotism a 
 weakness. 
 
 One of the objects of the Society of the Illuminati, under 
 Weishaupt, was to promote this cosmopolitan feeling, as 
 
318 THE BROTHERHOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 against the low and selfish idea, as they styled it, of 
 patriotism. Priests, kings, nobles, as well as separate 
 languages and customs, were to vanish before this dream 
 of a united humanity. The part which Anacharsis 
 Clootz took in this movement in its French phase is 
 best told in Carlyle's picture of it graved with his 
 savage burin : " One scene the hastiest reader will 
 momentarily pause on, that of Anacharsis Clootz and 
 the collective sinful posterity of Adam. It occurred to 
 the mind of Anacharsis that, while so much was em- 
 bodying itself into club or committee, and perorating 
 applauded, there yet remamed a greater and greatest ; 
 of which, if it also took body and perorated, what might 
 not the effect be ! Humankind, namely : in what rapt 
 creative moment the thought arose in Anacharsis' soul ; 
 all his throes while he went about giving shape and birth 
 to it, . . . of all this the spiritual biographies of that 
 period say nothing. Enough that, on the 19 th eve of 
 June 1790, the sun's slant rays lighted a spectacle such 
 as our foolish little planet has not often had to show, 
 Anacharsis Clootz entering the august salle de menage, 
 with the human species at his heels — Swedes, Spaniards, 
 Polacks, Turks, Chaldeans, Greeks, and dwellers in Meso- 
 potamia : behold them all ; they have come to claim place 
 in the grand federation, having an undoubted interest 
 in it." ^ 
 
 Poor Clootz came to the guillotine as his share of 
 universal fraternity, and doubtless some of his com- 
 panions too. Since his day the cosmopolitan idea has 
 been advocated by sceptics and revolutionaries, but has 
 1 French Revolution, vol. ii. p. 43. 
 
CHKISTIANITY AND PATKIOTISM 319 
 
 obtained few followers among thinking men. Cosmo- 
 politanism is but another name for selfish individualism, 
 and is a certain foe to human progress and union. The 
 words of Mazzini are true : " To desire to efface the 
 sentiment of country from the heart of the peoples, to 
 suppress at once all nationalities, to confound the special 
 destinies of countries, to bring down to the level of, I do 
 not know what cosmopolitanism, all the beings that God 
 has classed in races, as a ladder by which humanity must 
 mount to Him, — that cannot be done ; and all labour 
 directed to such an end will be labour in vain." 
 
 There are men who are in practice cosmopolitan, or who 
 are at least denationalised. The selfish Englishman or 
 American, who lives abroad in luxurious indifference to the 
 progress of his native land, is a contemptible being, whom 
 the forces of time will soon extinguish ; but meanwhile 
 he is not without elements of danger to the true realisa- 
 tion of peace and brotherhood. His wealth becomes the 
 object of envy, and his luxury demoralises the poor 
 around hun. However, he is so useless and unworthy 
 a being, that his power even to do harm is hardly worth 
 reckoning. 
 
 A more dangerous form of antipatriotism is found in 
 pessimistic views of life, which lead men to abandon 
 faith in humanity, and to think of nothing but seizing 
 what poor consolation the passing pleasure of the day 
 may yield. But life is too real, and men are too busy, 
 to be much troubled with pessimistic thought. Were it 
 not that there is a tendency to throw government into 
 the hands of literary doctrinaires, who are apt to be 
 infected with the passing malady of the age, the danger 
 
320 THE BROTHERHOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 from this source would not be serious. But when men 
 whose culture has been in the idle dreams of philosophy 
 turn their hands to governing men, their powers of evil 
 are augmented. We cannot believe that free peoples, 
 who desire to serve God and man, will allow themselves 
 to be sneered out of one of their best possessions — which 
 Heaven has bestowed on them in the love of fatherland — 
 by a few men who think themselves superior to the great 
 laws and generous emotions which govern our human 
 nature. There is every hope, on the contrary, with the 
 increase of the people's share in the government, that 
 their patriotism will grow, and will rise out of the 
 narrower forms of race-jealousies into the nobler desire 
 for the welfare of humanity. 
 
CHAPTEE XXIII 
 
 THE OPPOSITION OF SCEPTICISM 
 
 The movement towards human brotherhood is essentially 
 a Christian one. It may appear in secular life and take 
 secular form, but has essentially a religious foundation. 
 That great and noble man, Mazzini, recognised this 
 central principle ; in his own words : " When the arms of 
 Christ, even yet stretched out on the cross, shall be 
 loosened to clasp the whole human race in one embrace, 
 — when there shall be no more pariahs nor brahmins, 
 nor servants, nor masters, but only men, — we shall adore 
 the great name of God with much more love and faith 
 than we do now." 
 
 It is in the faith of Christ that true social progress 
 finds its loftiest impulse, though we only may see in- 
 directly the working of that faith in the minds of men. 
 Silently it transforms the heart, influencing even those 
 who openly deny it. It brings about an atmosphere of 
 consideration for each other which no man can disregard. 
 The Etlios of the modern world, the spirit of the age, is 
 steeped in Christian altruism, which the sceptic himself 
 is born into. The mighty hand of God shapes the 
 thoughts of men, not only in the so-called religious 
 duties and reflections of mankind, but also in secular 
 
322 THE BROTHERHOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 affairs. As Rothe says : " That Christ in our day takes a 
 much more lively interest in the development of our 
 political circumstances and conditions, than in our so- 
 called Church movements and current questions, I 
 cannot for a moment doubt. He knows full well on 
 what things really depend, and on what they do not." ^ 
 
 The spirit of brotherhood, then, even though taking 
 form and impulse chiefly in secular life, has a religious 
 origin. Sceptics have not been slow to discern this, and 
 from them no little opposition to all brotherly move- 
 ments has come. On the other hand, it has been an 
 accusation against Christianity by its foes, that it has 
 weakened the forces of altruism. Professor Clifford 
 thought that it " lowered men's reverence for the 
 marriage bond " ; and Mr. Frederic Harrison sees in 
 Christianity a great influence in favour of selfishness. 
 These opinions have little ground, and the interpretations 
 they give of Christianity are repudiated by its adherents. 
 It is otherwise with the opposition to hopes and purposes 
 of brotherhood which are found in sceptical writers. 
 They speak plainly enough, and have no wish to disown 
 their individualist sentiments. 
 
 Sir James Stephen in his treatise. Liberty, Equality, 
 and Fraternity, utterly opposes the doctrine of the 
 brotherhood of man, and disclaims any obligation which 
 such a belief might possibly enjoin on him. His view 
 of life is that for people who are moderately fortunate, 
 and take a just view of their position, life may be still 
 extremely pleasant ; although he does not shut his eyes 
 to the fact that if Christian theology went, Christian 
 ^ Btilh Stunden, p. 274. 
 
THE OPPOSITION OF SCEPTICISM 323 
 
 charity would go too. Everyone for himself; and this 
 world for men of hard hearts and good digestions may 
 then be bearable, perhaps even enjoyable. Such are the 
 selfish thoughts of some of the new evolutionist sceptical 
 school. A man is the creature of his environment, and 
 must make the best of it. As for rights, they resolve 
 themselves into mights. If a man can obtain wealth and 
 power, he is lucky ; but if not, he must learn philosophic 
 contentment as the next best thing. 
 
 M. Eenan said cheerfully that the millions must toil 
 for the few, must give their lives and their happiness 
 that a select class should enjoy all manner of pleasures 
 without caring for the men and women who made the 
 enjoyment possible for them. Should a vision of the 
 injustice rise before the dull brain of the oppressed 
 labourer, who reaps so few fruits, and those mostly 
 bitter, of his toil, stern repression must be tried. The 
 brute mob must yield their lives, lest they soil the 
 garment of culture and refinement. The cruel 
 cynicism of such acquiescence in the worst facts of life 
 is possible only for a sceptic, not only in God, but in 
 man's capacity of progress. To think that there are 
 minds which can accept the dismal actualities of modern 
 life, with its daily sacrifices of blood and tears, more 
 awful than the altars of the Aztecs were wont to witness, 
 makes one doubt if such culture be not a snare of the 
 power of evil rather than a gift of Heaven. Yet such 
 is the gloomy view which scepticism takes of human 
 prospects, and all the time refuses to improve them. 
 
 The views of Strauss^ on human brotherhood are worth 
 1 The Old Faith and the New, trans. Blind. 
 
324 THE BEOTHEEHOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 hearing. Having done his best to take from men their 
 religion, he desires to steal their freedom also. With 
 him only the rich have a right to govern, and the masses 
 have already got more in the way of privilege than they 
 ought to possess. He does not give a cheering picture of 
 futurity, but tells us that there will always abide as the 
 enduring scourges of the human race, bloody wars, social 
 estrangements, and the scaffold. Alas for the new faith ! 
 The old was at least a sweeter element in human life, if 
 it were but a smiling rainbow which we follow and never 
 reach. 
 
 M. Lefevre, in his PMloso'phy , Historical and Critical, 
 written from a materialist point of view, says in criticis- 
 ing Comte : " To love our neighbours as ourselves, and still 
 more to live for others, are exaggerated formulas, whose 
 application is as undesirable and useless as it is im- 
 possible. Why ? Because such maxims are opposed to 
 nature, which, though he may modify, man cannot 
 suppress. What a dull and commonplace society that 
 would be in which everybody loved and lived for every- 
 body else ! What value would love, friendship, 
 generosity possess in such a state of things ? Nor is 
 this all. A moral system based exclusively on duty and 
 sacrifice becomes arbitrary, the instrument of tyranny, as 
 despots are well aware. If merely inaccurate in point 
 of thought, it becomes dangerous in its practical applica- 
 tion to the social order." The lofty contempt for the 
 liroletariat which fills the French philosopher, is born of 
 a scepticism in the possibility or usefulness of elevating 
 the masses. 
 
 The curse of modern life is the desire for luxury, for 
 
THE OPPOSITION OF SCEPTICISM 325 
 
 au increase of sensual enjoyment. In France this has 
 become a passion which absorbs the soul of the successful 
 man, ay, and rouses the cupidity and anger of the un- 
 successful. Anarchism is but a protest of the desperate 
 wild beast which lurks in the nature of the oppressed 
 and struggling man. But anarchism is but the prelude 
 to a more bitter warfare, if views like M. Eenan's still 
 maintain themselves in sceptical thought. The memories 
 of the Commune are not yet extinct, and the way in 
 which those who emerged from the iJroletariat glutted 
 themselves on the remains of Imperial luxury, should be 
 a lesson to men that the citadel of their selfishness is not 
 impregnable. If the conflict come, with whom will the 
 victory lie ? Suppose it is not M. Eenan's friends who re- 
 press, and that they find themselves among the repressed. 
 The materialist view of life, however, need not take 
 account of anyone but the individual himself. Professor 
 Moleschott says : " The moral rule for each man is given 
 by his own nature only, and is different, therefore, for 
 each individual. What are excesses and passions by 
 themselves ? Nothing but a larger or smaller overflow- 
 ing of a perfectly legitimate impulse." And the voice of 
 another modern prophet speaks thus : " Enjoyment is 
 good, and frenzy and love are good ; but hatred also ! 
 Hatred answers well when we cannot have love. Wealth 
 is good, because it can be changed into enjoyment. 
 Power is good, because it satisfies our pride. Fraud is 
 good, theft, robbery, murder, if they lead to wealth and 
 enjoyment." ^ To Max Stirner there is no significance 
 
 1 Translated by Max Miiller from Carriere's Die sittliche 
 Weltordnung. 
 
326 THE BROTHERHOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 in such expressions as a general thought of morahty or 
 of united humanity. " Of all men, he whom I know and 
 love best is myself. The ego is my whole catechism. I 
 do what I wish, and what pleases me." Laas follows in 
 the same lines : " The primary right of man is that of 
 self. My rights are my needs, without regard to my 
 duties." ^ 
 
 The career of Garibaldi supplied an interesting com- 
 mentary on the effect of atheism on the sentiment of 
 human brotherhood. In early days, Garibaldi was a 
 believer in God and man. He had abandoned the Eoman 
 Church, but he avowed himself a devout believer in God. 
 He said he was " of the religion of Christ." In his first 
 romance, Clelia, which he began during his imprison- 
 ment in Varignano, we see evidence that scepticism had 
 taken some hold of his mind, and at the same time his 
 trust in humanity and its destiny was waning. The 
 man who in his youth was filled with thoughts of free 
 human brotherhood, who cherished the same ideals as 
 Mazzini, whom he called his master, turned his back 
 on all these great ideals in his later years. In his 
 romance, Cantoni, the Volunteer, written before his French 
 campaign, he describes the whole race of mankind as a 
 " family of apes," and said he " covered his face with 
 shame at belonging to this race of asses." He spoke 
 of himself as an " atheist " ; said that " man created 
 God, and not God, man"; and at the same time rejoiced 
 in the attempts to assassinate the various crowned heads 
 of Europe which were made some years since. To such 
 utter forgetfulness of the great principle of love and 
 ^ Quoted in Lichtenberger's History of German Theolotjy. 
 
THE OPPOSITION OF SCEPTICISM 327 
 
 unity and sympathetic fraternity did scepticism bring 
 that heroic heart. " Oh, what a noble mind is here 
 o'erthrown ! " 
 
 The pursuit of science seems in some men to fill the 
 heart with a contempt for the ignorant, who are for little 
 use except as hewers of wood and drawers of water, 
 with the wages of slaves, and to lead the life of slaves. 
 Their lives are of little value, and a famine may be 
 regarded as nature's way of ridding the world of surplus 
 population. Still more, if they are dead, they are at 
 peace ; their life was not happy, and there is nothing 
 beyond. So speaks the atheistic materialist, as he 
 philosophises on the wreck of other men's lives. Men 
 are so manifestly unequal to the scientific observer, that 
 such an idea as that of brotherhood is impossible between 
 them. The old theory was that they had souls, and 
 were alike children of the divine Father ; but evolution 
 scorns such a view. They have developed in various 
 degrees out of lower existences, and it is the fate of the 
 inferior development to perish and the higher to abide. 
 But will the inferior men believe this ? They have the 
 majority on their side, and will they not awake to see it 
 if the materialist theory of life be true ? 
 
 It is undoubted that the love of luxury and refinement 
 renders the soul selfish, and may exist with the most 
 utter indifference to other people, nay, may even base 
 itself on the misery of other people. A sceptical life 
 which is self-seeking, and which has means to gratify its 
 desires, has in it a great power of social estrangement. 
 Most men will sympathise with Mr. William Morris 
 when he says : " I do not want art for a few, any more 
 
328 THE BROTHERHOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 than education for a few or freedom for a few. No, 
 rather than that art should live this poor, thin life 
 among a few exceptional men, despising those beneath 
 them for an ignorance for which they themselves are 
 responsible, for a brutality which they will not struggle 
 with, — rather than this, I would rather that the world 
 should sweep away all art for awhile." But the sceptic 
 does not generally sympathise with such a view, although 
 we cannot leave out of our consideration the fact that 
 a great deal of socialist thought seems to have taken an 
 irreligious attitude. In this country, as well as in 
 France and Germany, socialists are opposed to religion, 
 as in their view it is on the side of their antagonists. 
 To what extent they are right, and to what extent 
 Socialism would really act in furtherance of human 
 brotherhood, we have already considered. Meanwhile we 
 may say that there are many ways in which scepticism 
 assaults the faith and practice of human brotherhood. 
 To loosen the ties of marriage, which has not only found 
 advocates among the extreme Nihilists of Eussia, but in 
 other free-thinkers, cannot but be a prelude to social 
 anarchy of the worst kind. 
 
 The spurious cosmopolitanism which scepticism is 
 inclined to put in the place of patriotism, is another 
 precursor of the war of individualism, when every man 
 will be an Ishmael. Uhi he7ie, ibi patria, is an infamous 
 maxim in the lips of men who have been well treated by 
 fate in their early life ; but we cannot judge hardly a 
 man who has known nothing but poverty and misery 
 and wrong as the only gifts his fatherland has yielded 
 him. It is a blind instinct which leads the oppressed 
 
THE OPPOSITION OF SCEPTICISM 329 
 
 mau to abuse the national feeling ; he seems to see in 
 centralisation the terrible force which has held him 
 down, and gives his hatred to that nnity which he 
 imagines has been the cause of his wrongs. The artificial 
 consolidation of society by the Eoman Church, which 
 represses the individual instincts in their noblest form, 
 has led to a violent reaction, when the religious allegiance 
 is thrown over. Men learn to think for themselves, 
 and decline to recognise any duty to care for others. 
 The Eoman Church treated men in the mass, and took 
 charge of their conscience. Society under its discipline 
 became more compact, and the wheels of life rolled more 
 smoothly on. Even yet, in countries under papal 
 direction, there is a unity and similarity of the people 
 which is not found in Protestant lands, and a harmony 
 of life which is easy enough, but perhaps monotonous. 
 There is less individuality of action, less marked 
 character of thought, and a stronger social bond, than is 
 seen in the nations which have thrown off the yoke of 
 Eome. The long list of religious sects in Whitaker's 
 Almanac would be an impossibility in France. There is 
 much that is admirable in this, but we must not forget 
 that it is the result of discipline, not of free choice ; 
 that it is not a voluntary surrender of the individuality, 
 but a primary privation of it. Thus it happens that 
 when a reaction does come in such countries as France, 
 it is a violent storm, and breaks asunder, not only the 
 bonds of religious creed, but the social unity. The 
 scepticism which succeeds unquestioning and mechanical 
 faith is also hostile to the compact social organism which 
 was bound up with that faith. When we turn to 
 
330 THE BKOTHERHOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 Russia, we see an equally impulsive reaction from the 
 dull uniformity of the life which despotic tyranny inflicts 
 on the people, — a life as flat and cheerless as the vast 
 steppes of that empire. In these facts we may find 
 some of the origin of the opposition of scepticism to the 
 brotherhood of man. 
 
 But the real root lies in the nature of atheism 
 itself. To doubt God is to doubt man. The world 
 is a hopeless place if it is not governed by a wise 
 and good Power who is on the side of love and 
 truth. Throw overboard that essential belief, and there 
 is no reason why we should live for any interests but 
 our own. Have we not returned to the old worship of 
 strength, which was a characteristic of pagan times ? 
 Power and self-assertion, these are the qualities which 
 must make man's success, if life is a struggle for existence 
 where the fittest survive. Where is the room for that 
 self-denial and gentle yielding to others which have been 
 the glory of the Christian ages ? If life is best when 
 its good things are most plentiful, what is to prevent a 
 contest for them ? And will not he win who fights the 
 battle least encumbered by care for others or regrets for 
 the fallen and the vanquished ? If our career on earth 
 is the mere manifestation of blind forces, and there is no 
 future, why not give ourselves over to the old maxim, 
 " Let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die " ? In 
 France they have had the courage to face this problem, 
 and the utterly egoistic and unscrupulous tendency of 
 atheism is painted with a master hand by M. Octave 
 Feuillet in La Morte, and in deeper tones by M. Paul 
 Bourget in Lc Disciple. 
 
THE OPPOSITION OF SCEPTICISM 331 
 
 It is but natural, after all, that scepticism should 
 decline to believe in human brotherhood. Self-sacrifice 
 without motive of love for man, or hope of reward in 
 their progress, is an impossible factor in human life. 
 The mere sentimental love of doing good, which reaps 
 its recompense in the gratitude of the receiver, is not 
 a lasting feeling in man's heart. It soon gives way to 
 other forms of emotion, which take its place in the ranks 
 of pleasurable sensations. The man who is a pleasure- 
 seeker finds most of them pall on his palate, and, like 
 Nero, he turns from his music or other fine art to lust 
 and cruelty to excite his jaded sensibilities. M. Eenan ^ 
 said he did not know that the chaste man had the best 
 of it after all ; that perhaps the libertine was right, and 
 practised the true philosophy of life ; this is sure, at 
 least, that the unchaste man is regardless of his victim. 
 Cruelty is but the other side of the base animal passion, 
 as the experience of mankind tells us in those dark pages 
 of history which we turn our eyes from. To seek one's 
 own pleasure is in the very act to heed not for other 
 people ; and the vulgar Epicurean view of life which our 
 rich men often show, is a steadfast foe of true brother- 
 hood, even where the denial of the human kinship may 
 not be heard. 
 
 But to cull our pleasures carefully and selfishly, from 
 the pessimist point of view, is even more hostile to 
 humanity. To hold that this life is so bad that we can 
 but endure it, is a doctrine which does not make one love 
 one's fellow-men. The awful cynicism of contempt for 
 
 1 Souvenirs d'Enfance et de Jcuncsse, p. 149. " I saw clearly the 
 vanity of this virtue," p. 359. 
 
332 THE BEOTHERHOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 his fellow-mortals which Swift showed, proceeded from a 
 heart sick of life, and doubtful as to the future. What 
 a description of man he gives under various masks in his 
 Gulliver, where hardly a kindly sentiment escapes him ; 
 and what rancour breathes in the oft-quoted lines— 
 
 " Offending race of liumankind, 
 By nature, reason, learning, blind ; 
 You who through frailty stepped aside, 
 And you who never fell from pride ; 
 You who in different sects were shammed, 
 And come to see each other damned." 
 
 Nothing keeps men more closely wrapped in their 
 selfish thoughts and ways than the thought that selfish- 
 ness will do most for them in life. An enlightened 
 selfishness the new scepticism preaches : obey the laws 
 which lead to earthly ease and comfort and pleasure, and 
 you will pass a more cheerful life than if you occupied 
 yourself with other people's needs and sorrows. Science 
 teaches us that this world will all come to an ignoble 
 end ; and a day will come when the sun itself will roll 
 a cold black ball through infinite space, Man will have 
 long perished from the earth, and the page of his 
 history closed for ever. Such is our destiny ; and if 
 there is no more before us, why should we grieve over 
 the sorrows of anyone but ourselves ? Let us keep 
 health and a cheerful spirit, says the pessimist, and we 
 may manage to live. And if life goes fairly well with 
 men, why should they darken it by the shadow of 
 self-sacrifice, or anticipate the day of their death ? 
 
 Atheism must, in its very nature, cut men off from 
 their fellows, seeing there is no God to serve but one's 
 
THE OPPOSITION OF SCEPTICISM 333 
 
 own desires, and must in the nature of things be a foe 
 to human sympathy. The picture of love which the 
 Cross presents, and which for ever has consecrated meek- 
 ness and martyrdom, will only give to the atheist 
 an instance of a man who was weak enough to perish, 
 and who was not Jit enough to survive. The brother- 
 hood of man which He taught will be regarded as the 
 delusion of sentiment ; and while the ignorant remain in 
 their ignorance, the poor in their poverty, the wise and 
 well-to-do will felicitate themselves on the evolution 
 which has made them not as other men. As the 
 Pharisaism of the atheistic heart, which reckons up its 
 treasures of existence, will not imperil its happiness by 
 sharing a jot with the poorer neighbour ; so the prospect 
 of the future of an atheistic world is a vision of selfish 
 greed, disturbed at times by anarchic war. 
 
CHAPTEE XXIV 
 
 OTHEK FORCES WHICH ARE AGAINST BROTHERHOOD 
 
 The opposition of scepticism is not the only foe with 
 which the spirit of brotherhood has to fight. There are 
 in our modern life tendencies which are hostile to its 
 growth, and which are commanding in their power. In 
 part they are legacies of a darker past which ever casts 
 its shadow over the progress of man, and in part they 
 are the creation of our own time and its apparent 
 needs. 
 
 When men have a hard fight for life, they have little 
 time to think of others. It is only when despair has 
 numbed the energy of the mind, and made it hopeless of 
 life, that most men are willing that others should take 
 their share of the necessaries of existence. In our own 
 crowded cities this stage is often enough reached, and 
 the trembling hand of exhaustion gives the cup of 
 sustenance, with its few drops, to the lips of youth, which 
 still has dreams of a future. The struggle for existence 
 in the centres of population palsies the feelmgs of 
 brotherhood. Mazzini tells the poor peasant " that he 
 injures his brother by accepting a remuneration below 
 the value of his labour " ; that he owes a duty to his 
 fellow-workmen : but his words are in vain. When 
 
OTHER FORCES WHICH ARE AGAINST BROTHERHOOD 335 
 
 there is but the day's pittance between the labourer and 
 starvation, when his little wages is the frail plank on 
 which his life rests, there is no time for him to pause 
 till the world goes right. The Eoman matron looked 
 callously on at the horrors of the struggles for life in the 
 great amphitheatres ; and her British successor loathes 
 her for her cruelty. Yet the wealthy classes are in- 
 different spectators of a greater arena and a more 
 bitter contest, where more blood and tears are shed. 
 In the crowded lanes of our metropolis the circum- 
 stances of our time have enclosed a famishing host, who 
 cannot be blamed if they trample each other down in 
 the awful fight for life itself. 
 
 It is folly to talk of brotherhood till this unnatural 
 state of things is remedied ; and it is the duty of the 
 Church to care for the poor in the truest sense, not by 
 doles of charity, but by removing conditions which tend 
 to obliterate all the better human instincts. It is time 
 to cease the mockery of telling men to love one another, 
 when they are placed on a battlefield where some must 
 slay the other, and where they have no possession but a 
 common misery. Eeligious teaching to such people, 
 especially coming from the rich or well-to-do, is a 
 blasphemy against Christ. 
 
 The struggle for existence is a powerful force against 
 brotherhood ; but even its darkness is illumined by rays 
 of affection and kindness. The poor, we are told in the 
 Eeport of the Parliamentary Commission, have some of 
 the evils of their existence mitigated by the social feel- 
 ing which leads them to share each other's sorrows and 
 help each other's poverty. I believe, after all, more is 
 
336 THE BKOTHERHOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 done for the very poor by their own neighbours than by 
 the condescending charity of the rich, Haud ignarus 
 mali, the poor man tries to come to the rescue of his 
 still poorer brother. 
 
 It is this struggle, which is fostered by unnatural 
 conditions, that is the parent of anarchism and pessim- 
 ism, which are dangerous foes of humanity, and which 
 spread rapidly in disguised forms through life and 
 literature. 
 
 Another great obstacle to brotherhood is the separa- 
 tion between the life of employers and employed which 
 the great factory system begets. In field and farm 
 labour the master and labourer live near each other, and 
 join more or less in the same toil. There is a human 
 union in all their operations, and the farmer is not 
 hedged in from his men by a great band of underlings. 
 The same is even truer of small shops, such as those of 
 the blacksmith, where the same work is done by master 
 and man. The kindliest feelings prevail in most of 
 these cases of joint labour, and a healthy and manly 
 acknowledgment of guidance by the master and aid by 
 the servant. There is a wholesome air of brotherhood 
 in the co-operation in useful work, which makes the 
 farm or the smithy an actual aid in the furtherance of 
 true human communion. It is far otherwise with a 
 great factory : the owner dwells in isolation, and often in 
 luxury ; the factory hands have a sense of working for 
 some unknown power which fate has doomed them to 
 serve. Doubtless some men know their many work- 
 people, and take an interest in them ; but the whole 
 system is unnatural, and contrary to the general 
 
OTHER FORCES WHICH ARE AGAINST BROTHERHOOD 337 
 
 interests of mankind. It reverses the truth which 
 Kousseau states in Emilc : " It is tlie common people 
 who constitute the bulk of mankind ; the rest above 
 that order are so few in number that they are not worth 
 our consideration." The utilitarian formula of " The 
 greatest happiness for the greatest number " is a good 
 rule-of-thumb for working life ; and the concentration of 
 wealth in the hands of a few, for whom the many toil, is 
 a violation of it so gross as to lead to a reversal of all the 
 conditions of life, and a blasting of the hopes of progress. 
 The true remedy for this unhappy cause of social 
 disunion is in profit-sharing. This has been tried in 
 various instances, with general success. It may be that 
 its commercial aspects would not turn out entirely 
 prosperous, though there is every reason to anticipate 
 the contrary ; but even if wealth were not so rapidly 
 accumulated, the better result of a store of brotherly 
 love would be garnered. " A man's life consisteth not 
 in the abundance of things which he possesseth." The 
 natural state of things would be restored by such a 
 co-operation of labour as the farm or smithy will show. 
 There need be no equal partnerships ; it is enough to 
 make men feel that they are sharers in the common 
 fortunes of the factory, to remove from them the sense 
 of a social chasm. Some tell us that we should miss the 
 successful men ; that their force of character and power 
 of riches are a valuable element in our life. But are the 
 rich manufacturers so useful men ? Are they not used as 
 the type of vulgar ostentation and selfish vanity ? Is it 
 not the case that the lowest forms of talent — such as the 
 skill of overreaching by cunnmg, lawful enough perhaps, 
 
338 THE BROTHERHOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 but contrary to the best altruism — are the road to riches ? 
 We may be assured that the world would lose nothing 
 by reducing the overgrown proportions of some of those 
 so-called captains of industry. 
 
 Joint-stock companies have been regarded by some as 
 an approach to the social unity as shown in a common 
 activity ; and at first sight it seems right so to class 
 them. But unless the members of the company are 
 themselves sharers in its work, it is at least doubtful 
 if it in any way realises the hopes or beliefs of such 
 thinkers. Is it not by joint-stock companies that we 
 often see the pound of flesh exacted from the labourer ? 
 Heedless of all save the dividend, the Christians who 
 form them are sometimes found indifferent as to the poor 
 housing of their employees, to their protracted labours, 
 to the loss of their Sunday rest, to the arbitrary rule 
 of their superintending officials. They are probably a 
 dangerous feature of our social system, constituting as 
 they do small and almost irresponsible oligarchies. The 
 agitators of this country and of the United States have 
 some justification in seeing in them forms of organised 
 tyranny of an ominous kind. If the citizens who are 
 members of such companies realised their responsibility, 
 they would lose their worst features ; and they would 
 become valuable aids to the great cause of human brother- 
 hood if the workers were all partners in the concern, and 
 were sharers in the profits of the association. What 
 has been done in this direction has been of great promise 
 for the future, and goes far to lead us to hope for a time 
 when capital and labour shall be one in sympathy. 
 
 The greed of gain and love of luxury is in all its forms 
 
OTHER FOECES WHICH AEE AGAINST BROTHERHOOD 339 
 
 the most deadly foe of brotherhood. It shows itself in 
 many forms, and begets many hideous products. But 
 one which is common enough to be lightly esteemed is 
 the heedlessness which employers manifest to the feelings 
 of those under them. As an American workman said : 
 " We working people don't envy you your pie or your 
 pictures, if we can have bread. It is the deeper thing 
 that makes us indignant : it is being called fools and 
 simpletons by our employers, and bearing it, because 
 we must have the dollar. Labour is owned, and women 
 are owned more than men, and will be until they can 
 dare to combine and dare to refuse offers of ill-paid work, 
 larded with harsh words." 
 
 The fierce complaints which many people make of 
 imperfect work, such as Carlyle seems to have often 
 been unfortunate enough to meet with, are a form of the 
 same feeling of tyranny. We do not find fault with our 
 equals in like manner for their faults. 
 
 The root of the whole matter is in the unconscious 
 feeling of caste, which governs the hearts of men. 
 Thackeray did not dislike Colonel Newcome for showing 
 it ; but none the less it is a dangerous possession. Our 
 Saviour should have taught us by this time to rise above 
 it ; but inherited instincts are too strong ; and even 
 though the better part of mankind should forget it, the 
 great mass of men have in their blood the memory of 
 the slavery of bygone centuries, and calmly acquiesce in a 
 state of injustice. 
 
 It cannot be said that the co-operative store system is 
 altogether a wholesome movement. True brotherly feeling 
 does not always dictate it, but often a love of petty gain. 
 
340 THE BROTHEKHOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 Among well-to-do people it is especially selfish. A 
 sound social life is best promoted by the increase in the 
 number of those who are not in servitude to other 
 persons, but who, as tradesmen, merchants, and the like, 
 serve the community. The store system is simply a 
 means of changing men who might think for themselves 
 in business, into servants of others. Such a loss of real 
 individual character is not compensated by the gain to 
 other people of some small sums of money. Speaking 
 generally, where the co-operative store system does not 
 arise from the actual poverty of the members through 
 scanty wages, it is a system which has many of the 
 faults of the joint-stock system, and it masquerades all 
 the while as a promoter of social union. 
 
 But on a wider field we see greater obstacles to the 
 brotherhood of man. The antipathies which certain 
 races feel to others is a very real fact in human life, 
 however it may be accounted for. It leads to a Chau- 
 vinist patriotism which cannot but end in war, which 
 is engaged in without much consideration as to success 
 or cost. Without doubt its presence in Europe, not to 
 speak of the other continents, constitutes a real danger, 
 which is augmented when there is a religious difference 
 as well as a racial. The hatred which the Irish Celt 
 seems to have to the English Saxon is found even in 
 the prejudice which the more intellectual Scot has to 
 the ways of England, which returns to both people a 
 still greater feeling of aversion. It apparently is also 
 found in the mutual dislike of French and German, and 
 another race antipathy is observable between Germans 
 and Hungarians. History may tell us the reason of 
 
OTHER FORCES WHICH ARE AGAINST BROTHERHOOD 341 
 
 these feelings. People at war with each other for cen- 
 turies cannot be expected to love each other much ; but 
 it is also possible that unrecorded history may have the 
 secret. Men of diverse character are antipathetic as 
 individuals ; and the same seems true of nations. The 
 lower forms of literature strengthen this unreasoning pre- 
 judice between peoples ; and the theatre, often in recent 
 times the mouthpiece of low views of life and vulgar 
 thought, or rather unthinldngness, has helped in the un- 
 happy cause of race separation. Even Communism has its 
 prophet of race-antagonism ; for Felix Pyat proposed in 
 1870 a coalition of the Latin against the Teutonic race. 
 
 This fact appears in its most aggravated forms in the 
 contact of white races and the black or yellow. The 
 aversion which Americans feel to Chinamen, and their 
 treatment of the Negroes, are explicable by a sense of the 
 marked difference between the various races. A foreigner 
 who settles in an English village is soon made to learn 
 very forcibly the strength of this prejudice against 
 strangers among the uneducated classes. 
 
 Other examples are seen in the treatment which 
 Hindoo and other natives of India receive from the 
 English there ; and the relations between the Dutch and 
 the South African tribes. English feeling is hardened 
 beyond belief on this subject, as the langviage of travellers 
 and correspondents proves ; and if such is the sentiment 
 of the better taught among nominally Christian people, 
 what is to be expected of those of less education ? It 
 springs from an antipathy which has as little reason to 
 guide it as the mad rush of a bull at a wayfarer ; it is a 
 mere animal impulse, unworthy of civilised man, and 
 
342 THE BROTHEKHOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 ought sternly to be repressed. It is not difficult to 
 check, for missionaries tell us they soon come to love 
 those whom they give their lives for ; and I suppose even 
 an Englishman would master his dislike to them, and en- 
 deavour to save a drowning Zulu or Hindoo. It would 
 be easy to collect a number of instances of this disregard 
 of our common humanity in dealing with savage races. 
 The case of Governor Eyre is not forgotten ; and although 
 the Governor's own action is quite defensible, it is not so 
 with the language of some of his supporters, who spoke 
 of Negroes as if they were noxious animals. There were 
 instances in the late Burmese war, as in every war we 
 have had with uncivilised, or less civilised, races, of the 
 same contempt for human brotherhood, which, after all, 
 is an equal insult to our common Father in heaven. 
 
 Soldiering is a trade which is carried on amid sur- 
 roundings which cannot help to humanise men ; yet the 
 excesses of cruelty in its operations have not solely been 
 found among savage peoples. The "century of dishonour " 
 which records the history of the dealings of the United 
 States with the Eed Indians, still more enforces this 
 practical disbelief in the real kinship of man. 
 
 It is a formidable portent for the future to find men 
 apparently unable to rid themselves of race-antipathy, 
 nay, to find these antipathies growing even stronger. 
 Till man can subdue the mere animal impulse of hatred 
 to the man who does not look like himself, and can master 
 his brute lust of conquest, the final realisation of human 
 brotherhood is yet far off. But surely these antipathies 
 should not be fostered by the religion of peace, which 
 should enlist all its professors in an army of reconciliation. 
 
OTHER FORCES WHICH ARE AGAINST BROTHERHOOD 343 
 
 And pity it is that a most powerful enemy to the 
 communion of men with each other in friendly inter- 
 course and aid is connected with religion itself, though it 
 is by no means a part of it. The spirit of religious 
 intolerance is the refined form of the hatred which 
 savage tribes have to their neighbours. It no longer uses 
 the same weapons of murder and torture which it formerly 
 shared with the barbarian warriors ; but its feelings of 
 hatred are little less bitter. No sect has a monopoly of 
 it, though perhaps in the great national Church of Eussia 
 may be found its present triumphs, while England is 
 not free from it. Clergy who still find occasion of bitter 
 strife over the burial of the dead, have a good deal to 
 learn, even from the great heathen moralists, not to say 
 the ordinary everyday feelings of the ancient world. 
 Church and Dissent, with their mutual prejudices, poison 
 the life of many a village, and estrange people from each 
 other who ought to be united in love and service. 
 England is rent in twain because some theologians have 
 differed from others. Mr. Mill deplores this in the 
 interests of truth and freedom ; but its worst result is 
 the fact of the separation itself. No possible dogmatic 
 disagreement could justify a social separation so great ; 
 and it is mere irrational prejudice, a survival of the Stone 
 age, which keeps apart men of the same nation, and with 
 the same great purposes m life. This intolerance is 
 found in sceptics as well as in orthodox thinkers, and the 
 sceptics rise with ease to the height of the odium theo- 
 logicum in argument at least. A recognition of the great 
 truth that God is the Father of all men, and that His 
 Spirit guides them, will teach men to believe in the 
 
344 THE BROTHERHOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 sincerity of those who differ from them, and enable them 
 to preserve both respect and affection for the worthy of 
 all forms of creed. If they cannot rise to that height, 
 and still must hold to the belief that they alone have 
 received the divine teaching, and obeyed it, a knowledge 
 of human infirmity will surely moderate the bitterness of 
 their intolerance. We are all mortal, and liable to error; 
 let us not think worse of our fellow-men because we find 
 them fallible, as we know we are ourselves. 
 
 These elements of opposition to human brotherhood 
 which we have spoken of, are strong powers deeply rooted 
 in our modern life ; but they all may be made to yield 
 to the influence of Christianity. If only men come to 
 recognise how hostile they are to the progress of true 
 religion, they will bend their efforts to remove such 
 obstacles. It will be long till men see that the poor 
 have not to struggle desperately for bare existence, till 
 employers and employed have the bond of common 
 sympathy and interests, till race prejudices disappear, 
 and religious intolerance be forgotten in the brotherhood 
 of the true love of God and man ; but the world is 
 marching on to that goal, and the divine purpose will 
 be accomplished. 
 
CHAPTEE XXV 
 
 THE KINGDOM OF GOD AND THE CHUEGH 
 
 It is clear that a phrase such as " the kingdom of God," 
 which is used often by Christ and His apostles, deserves 
 our close attention. It cannot be said that " the 
 kingdom of God " was an idea whose interpretation was 
 much developed in this country until recently. The 
 loose way of thinking, which ran into one mould all the 
 expressions which Jesus or His disciples used in order to 
 describe their mission, has even yet too many followers 
 among us. But the more thoughtful mind of the 
 present-day theologian looks with earnest attention at 
 the exact force of any words which are so often used as 
 to be a characteristic utterance of Jesus. 
 
 The words " kingdom of God " are manifestly in 
 their first use calculated to direct the Jewish mind to 
 the Messianic hopes which the nation cherished. They 
 have their backward gaze to the old theocracy, and a 
 forward prospect of some future kingdom which would 
 be in some way like the former. Hase believed, and 
 apparently the author of Ecce Homo followed him in 
 thinking, that Jesus had an idea in His early teaching 
 of an outward and temporal monarchy, which He after- 
 wards laid aside for a more spiritual view of His 
 
 345 
 
346 THE BEOTHERHOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 mission as the Founder of the divine society. It is not 
 easy to establish any such opinion, for the spiritual 
 character of the new dispensation is proclaimed from the 
 first. But it is manifest that the attention of the 
 people was meant to be fixed on this view of the mission 
 of Jesus as the beginning of a new kingdom, a kingdom 
 of God. 
 
 Although the words Jesus used were not dwelt on by 
 the older Christian writers, the idea of the extension of 
 the kingdom of G-od is a root of their theology. In the 
 Mcene Creed, indeed, we find the words, speaking of 
 Christ, " whose kingdom shall have no end." St. 
 Augustine, in his City of God, develops his conception 
 of the divine life in mankmd, subject to the perpetual 
 growth and eternal triumph of the work of Christ. And 
 in times before St. Augustine we find in the apologists of 
 Christianity a grasp of the growing power of Christianity 
 which has had much effect in later days. Justin Martyr 
 and Clement of Alexandria, each in his own way, show an 
 appreciation of the universal character of Christianity, 
 which Christ Himself unfolds over and over again in His 
 explanation of the kingdom of God. Justin speaks of the 
 Word as seed in the souls of men of old ; and Clement 
 regards the Word as the instructor of all, because all men 
 are His children. It is, however, Origen who, in his treatise 
 De Frlncijjiis, first puts into distinct form those thoughts 
 of the universal kingdom which have become current 
 among men. The Alexandrian theology has had little 
 influence on Western thought, which has been a long 
 shadow of St. Augustine, and the wide views of Origen 
 were almost forgotten. 
 
THE KINGDOM OF GOD AND THE CHURCH 347 
 
 The newer German theology has many affinities to 
 the Alexandrian mind, and the kingdom of God has been 
 much thought about in many aspects. It has come to 
 be regarded as a centre from which to view the complete 
 Christian scheme of moral regeneration for man. The 
 result of this examination has always led to that wider 
 idea of the historical development of Christianity which 
 embraces its total influence on mankind. 
 
 The older Protestant view had its limitations. It 
 identified the kingdom of God with the personal accept- 
 ance of the offer of salvation. The kingdoms of grace 
 and glory were looked at in an individual light, and their 
 boundaries too narrowly defined. The Church and the 
 gospel were presented in a personal aspect, which may 
 have been a natural reaction against the too exclusively 
 corporate idea of Catholicism, but which has maimed 
 Lutheran and Calvinist Christianity for centuries. 
 
 Out of this the Churches are slowly ascending to a 
 higher view of the Church and its mission in the general 
 progress and improvement of mankind. The idea of the 
 kingdom of God has been a great stimulus to right thinking 
 in this direction. There seems, indeed, still a tendency 
 to narrow thoughts of the Church, and a desire to escape 
 from these shows itself, not by enlarging the conception of 
 the Church, but by substituting for it as a new centre of 
 Christian influence the kingdom of God ; as Mr. Matthew 
 Arnold contrasts his ideal infallible Church Catholic with 
 the concrete papal Catholicism. 
 
 But the theory of the invisible Church which came 
 into prominence with the Eeformation, and whose ablest 
 expounder in recent times is Neander, has lost practical 
 
348 THE BROTHERHOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 force, though it still underlies much of Protestant dog- 
 matics. It is extending its meaning, however, in the 
 direction which Zwingli pointed out, to embrace all 
 good men of all creeds ; and begins to correspond almost 
 exactly to what the Eoman theologians call the soul of 
 the Church. Still, such a conception is too far removed 
 from actual life to be of much real service to men ; and 
 most thinkers see the need for making objective the 
 results of Christianity. The view of the kingdom of God 
 which the Lutheran theology has in recent times 
 developed, comes very near to the Eoman idea, in its 
 best form, of the Catholic Church. 
 
 The natural rebound from the crude modern form of 
 the Eoman view, as taught in the Vatican theories of 
 Catholicism, is seen in StahP and his opponent Bunsen. 
 Both agree in making the State the kingdom of God, 
 though Stahl approaches from the side of authority, and 
 Bunsen from that of freedom. The real organic uniiy of 
 the State, and its duty to the individuals composing it, 
 are clearly recognised in both theories. But a principle 
 which says that the welfare of all may be wrought out in 
 this human sphere by one man, is an absurdity which 
 history has exposed.^ 
 
 Dean Fremantle^ is a follower of the free State 
 theory, and. points out that those who now govern nations 
 are waking up gradually to the fact that they, and not 
 the clergy only, are the ministers of religion. But the 
 
 1 For an account of Stalil's views, see Liclitenberger's History of 
 German Theology, Hastie's trans. 
 
 2 See Mazzini's essay on Ccesarism. 
 ^ Gospel of the Semlar Life. 
 
 \ 
 
THE KINGDOM OF GOD AND THE CHURCH 349 
 
 chief source of the movement which leads men to identify 
 Church and State, the great expounder of this view of 
 the kingdom of God, was Dr. Arnold of Eugby. With 
 a lack of practical clearness as well as of theoretic sym- 
 metry, his scheme was one of the formative conceptions 
 of modern theology, and well entitles him to be placed 
 in the first rank of English theologians. True though it 
 be, that since his death other theological forms have 
 occupied the English mind, yet these differ rather in 
 expression than in inward essence. The Oxford Move- 
 ment had many points of difference with the theology of 
 Dr. Arnold, which differences neither school made little 
 of ; but its practical issue has come to be the same — a 
 desire to permeate all activity with religion. There is 
 evidence to show that the Oxford theology is freeing 
 itself from its exclusive occupation with dogma, and 
 finding a new avatar in the practical world. Its founda- 
 tions are no longer the object of its ceaseless study ; it 
 has arrived past the apologetic stage ; and, after all, it is 
 going to turn out very like the school which opposed it 
 most. Such movements as Christian Socialism now 
 nestle under its wing, and it breathes the spirit of 
 freedom, not of hierarchical domination. 
 
 In Stahl there is a bitter distrust of all movements 
 towards freedom, which Stahl identifies with individualism. 
 Bunsen showed how far wrong all Stahl's premisses were, 
 when the latter pointed out the evil effects of tolerant 
 charity, and how impossible it was to be Christian and 
 yet autocratic. There is an absolute discrepancy between 
 the principles of personal government and the freedom 
 of the gospel of Christ. The direction of the affairs of 
 
350 THE BROTHERHOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 life involves a thousand interests which are too grave to 
 be at the hazard of any man's will. It is hard to see 
 how the principle of brotherhod can work, when one man 
 must, by the nature of things, hold himself aloof from all 
 the rest. Carlyle thought such a government the best ; 
 but the days of hero worship are no longer possible. 
 The State has ends to serve which are within the 
 ken of every man, and which it is every man's duty 
 to forward. It is true that Stocker and other State 
 socialists attempt to reconcile this general welfare 
 with a warm belief in an autocratic system ; but the 
 State hardly can be said to live at all in such a 
 system. It becomes the apotheosis of an individual will 
 working outside the members of the community. Such 
 a community as Stahl imagined is an impossibility in 
 our day. The whole tendency of Christianity is to move 
 away from autocratic government in Church or State, 
 and to tend to brotherhood. 
 
 A different view of the same theory is brought before 
 us by Eothe.^ The mission of Christianity is to form an 
 ideal State, which is the kingdom of God. Christianity 
 will so regenerate the whole world of human activity, 
 that the Church, as a separate institution, will cease to 
 exist, being no longer necessary. All aspects of human 
 life will be then religious, and the kingdom of God be 
 established on earth. 
 
 The opposite side of the same view has been taken by 
 
 Kliefoth,^ who sees that the leaven to which Christianity 
 
 is compared is meant to leaven the whole lump. It is 
 
 from the possession of the truth by a nation that an 
 
 ^ Anf tinge der Christlichen Kirche. - Von der Kir die. 
 
THE KINGDOM OF GOD AND THE CHURCH 351 
 
 individual grasps it. The divine Spirit animates the 
 Church, which is the fountain of grace to those who 
 dwell within its fold, and which extends itself till it 
 embraces all humanity. The Church will then come to 
 be identical with mankind. By a different route we 
 come to Eothe's conclusion. 
 
 The kingdom of Grod, according to Martensen,^ is the 
 highest good, which, apart from eschatology, is that 
 influence which penetrates the natural life of man, so as 
 to elevate his nature and form the divine unity blending 
 together all his earthly existence. To this all other 
 things are but as means to an end. The family, the 
 State, the Church, art and science, are but servants of 
 this ideal. All are but temporary vestures which will 
 become time-worn. Some other and greater thing is 
 before us ; but we must not expect it on earth. To 
 dream of a harmony of existence here would be but to 
 set ourselves a vain task and to cherish for ourselves an 
 impossible hope. 
 
 The impression that the Lutheran theologians rather 
 make an interpretation of their own than follow humbly 
 the guidance of the Master and His disciples, and the 
 lessons of His Church's life and history, is deepened 
 when we come to the views of Eitschl and his followers. 
 There is a depth of insight in these writers which makes 
 them even more stimulating than the always interesting 
 speculations of Eothe. They examine into the subjective 
 principle, which is the spiritual essence of the kingdom, 
 which gives it life, which binds it together. They truly 
 expound this as love. And while the heart is filled 
 ^ Ethics, i., trans. Clark's Tlieol. Library. 
 
352 THE BROTHERHOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 with this uniting spirit, there is an objective manifesta- 
 tion of the kingdom which inchides every kind of moral 
 and aesthetic activity of man. By this love working in 
 the hearts of men, and showing itself in their outward 
 energies, the complete moral regeneration of mankind 
 will be accomplished. 
 
 There is in the Eitschlians that confusion which is 
 natural to the mind of man in contemplating his future 
 destiny. Is the kingdom of God to be accomplished 
 upon earth ? Or must we look forward to a new heavens 
 and a new earth ? There is a manifest development in 
 the later followers of Eitschl towards a view which looks 
 to a solution of the hopes of men beyond the sphere of 
 mortality, to an accomplishment of the kingdom of God 
 in heaven, not in earth. It is not within our present 
 purpose to point out how difficult it is to reconcile the 
 central principle of Eitschl with such theories as his 
 followers Kaftan and Weiss express.^ It is enough to 
 show how large and comprehensive a view they all take 
 of the aim of Christianity and the future destiny of man. 
 There is, indeed, in all these writers too light an estimate 
 of the actual facts of history, too narrow a conception of 
 the great unfolding of the providential government of 
 God. But that the Church is indebted to the theology 
 of the writers who are more or less allied to the views of 
 Eitschl for an entrance into a wide atmosphere of thought, 
 no one would deny. 
 
 The Eitschlian ideas take their place among the many 
 noble thoughts and great conceptions of Christianity 
 which our century has brought forth. The theories 
 1 Herrmann does not go far from Ritsclal's own views. 
 
THE KINGDOM OF GOD AND THE CHURCH 353 
 
 which we have noticed are in themselves interesting as 
 meditations on the future of mankind, founded on the 
 teachmg of Christ ; but they also mark the tendency of 
 theological thought to rise out of the individual to the 
 general salvation, and in this they are related to the 
 views of theologians like Maurice, Flint, Bruce, and 
 Mulford. Some of the Germans, such as Hase, insist 
 more on this consecration of all human life : they desire 
 not to call anything common which God hath cleansed. 
 The root of this principle, as far as the Germans are 
 concerned, is found in Schleiermacher's Discourses on 
 Religion ; but the practical English mind had long 
 appropriated it. In our literature, if not always in our 
 theology, it has made itself seen ; and it is the funda- 
 mental spiritual truth which underlies the Arthurian 
 legends and the poems of Chaucer. From these golden 
 fountains it has flowed through English life and thought. 
 The narrow view which German Protestantism has 
 taken of the Church as a mere system of public worship 
 and individual concern for another world than this earth 
 of ours, has made them welcome the wider idea of the 
 kingdom of God. But the Church, as thought of by 
 St. Paul, has in itself none of these limitations : it is 
 sectarianism which has made them. Surely a considera- 
 tion of the long history of the Church, and its countless 
 activities in all the elements of human life, might teach 
 men to form a nobler ideal of its reason for existing. If 
 it is the Reformation which has given man so narrow 
 thoughts of the mission of the Church, it is a great loss 
 to have been deprived of a catholic idea, notwithstanding 
 many compensating gains. The separation from the 
 23 
 
354 THE BROTHERHOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 historical Western Church which Luther effected, had 
 perhaps too dogmatic a ground ; the subsequent course 
 of the German Protestantism has certainly occupied itself 
 too much with doctrinal discussion. The extraordinary- 
 idea that the basis of union in a Church is dogma has 
 often been shown, both in theory and practice, in Scot- 
 land ; but it is perhaps more prevalent on the Continent. 
 So able a man as Julius Miiller elaborately developed in 
 different forms this conception, first in a broader and 
 simpler form, and afterwards in a narrow and restricted 
 sense.^ 
 
 The first great truth to establish is that the unity of 
 the Church is a part of its essence. The Church is a 
 brotherhood of men who acknowledge they are brothers. 
 They may do so from different reasons, but the fact of 
 their brotherly union makes them members of the 
 Church. To keep alive in their hearts this feeling, the 
 sacraments have been appointed. The early history of 
 the Church proves this, for St. Paul over and over agam 
 insists that unity and charity are supreme ; that difference 
 in doctrine forms no reason for separation, or likeness of 
 doctrine no sufficient basis for union. The Church is 
 therefore a visible body, a social communion, whose 
 unchangeable element is the feeling and fact of brother- 
 hood. Changeable elements are forms of doctrine, of 
 worship, of government, of outward activity or of inward 
 thought ; but the great fact of the unity remains as the 
 raison d'etre of the Church. Eothe said that Christianity 
 was of all things the most svibject to change ; and in 
 doing so he did no more than echo the words of St. 
 ^ Die Evangelische Union, etc. 
 
THE KINGDOM OF GOD AND THE CHURCH 355- 
 
 Paul, who told us that prophecies shall fail, and tongues 
 shall cease, and knowledge shall vanish away. But there 
 is one element which is permanent, which ever abides ; 
 and that is love and unity. 
 
 Sects which keep fast to the social bond, such as 
 Methodists and Moravians, have supreme power over 
 morals ; while those who neglect this form of Christian 
 life lose their most powerful means of edification. 
 Though such social union be only imperfect while it is 
 sectarian, it yet is an effort after and longing for a fuller 
 communion. The most worthless form of religious life is 
 that which centres itself round a special preacher, who 
 is, for some reason, the focus of admiration. Nothing is 
 more fatal to the true ideal of the Church, and the soul 
 of the preacher is often itself darkened by the surround- 
 ings. He forgets the universal mission of the Christian 
 religion, and becomes a self-seeking man, believing chiefly 
 in himself. Such men are mostly found indifferent to 
 the wider ideas of the Church, where they do not oppose 
 them ; and their influence, while seeming extended, is 
 really nothing. The career of Edward Irving gives a 
 good example of the results of such individual action. 
 The giddy crowd who followed him, heard his message 
 only to forget it ; and his unconscious vanity was hurt. 
 Himself an egoist in religion, his training had not led 
 him to think of the universal Church as a real existence. 
 But circumstances taught him that the voice of a single 
 man was nothing, that the organic life of the Church 
 was great. " How little," said Neander, " it is in the 
 power of anyone to create anything ! How little one 
 can achieve in a conflict with Providence, which leads 
 
356 THE BROTHEEHOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 and forms according to its own eternal decree the spirit 
 of all the periods of history." Though Edward Irving 
 got to see this truth, his excessive personality again led 
 him astray ; and although his sect have got hold of a real 
 truth, they make a poor use of it. 
 
 The unity of the Church has, as its correlative, the 
 universal priesthood. The community is, in a sense, 
 wrapped up in every member of it. Every man who has 
 the feeling of Christian brotherhood within him is a priest 
 of Christ. The priestly office is exercised by many who 
 are not conscious of their calling, " for he that is not 
 against us is for us." 
 
 The Church, therefore, is outward and visible, and 
 unity is the breath of its life. Whence, then, come our 
 divisions ? It is because we forget the principle of 
 union. We drug our hearts by an easy belief in an 
 invisible unity. What kind of unity is it which never 
 manifests itself, which is a mere article of faith contra- 
 dicted by our daily experience ? It is a vain imagina- 
 tion to think that the ideal of the Christian Church can 
 be satisfied by an invisible unity, whose proofs are too 
 hard to seek for. We are assured that in the strife of 
 sects there is a real unity, which they believe in and 
 seek after. It is hard to credit this, and harder to see 
 the advantage of such a union. We need a unity which 
 men can see and know, and whose fruits are daily 
 reaped in our life ; mere empty verbiage cannot satisfy 
 our hearts. 
 
 What advantage is there to any thinker in dissociating 
 the Church from the kingdom of God ? It is, we are 
 assured, a return to a consideration of Jesus' own words, 
 
THE KINGDOM OF GOD AND THE CHURCH 357 
 
 apart from the interpretation time has put on them. 
 But we cannot disregard the events of history and the 
 development of human life. The Church is the per- 
 manent element in our being, and is destined to be the 
 expression of universal mankind. The words " kingdom 
 of God " do indeed bring before us the divine sovereignty, 
 which none can deny, and which exists independent of 
 man altogether. But the Church, the gathering of men, 
 has a nearer human meaning. It may be but a part of 
 God's kingdom, but it embraces all mankind. 
 
 The kingdom of God is but the divine aspect of the 
 visible Church of mankind, of which Christ is the 
 Head. Its life principle is love and unity, of which 
 the Church is the outward and real manifestation. 
 
 The poor have the kingdom for theirs, because of 
 their mutual help and aid ; the rich, because of their 
 selfish isolation, find it hard to enter. The kingdom 
 spreads like a leaven because love begets love, and 
 knits men to men. It is within us, because it is an 
 inner principle which God kindles in our hearts, and 
 Cometh not with observation. It is righteousness and 
 peace and joy in the Holy Ghost, who is the Spirit of 
 unity. It comes with power when the Church fully 
 realises its divine end. 
 
 Briefly speaking, therefore, the kingdom of God is 
 realised on earth by the visible Church, which is ever 
 marching on to a perfect unity, until at last it mirrors 
 the unity of God. " That they may he one, even as ice 
 are one." 
 
 But this unity of the Church does not mean any 
 hierarchical or dogmatic unity. It cannot be confined 
 
358 THE BEOTHERHOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 within these narrow bounds, but must embrace every- 
 one who " in every nation feareth God and worketh 
 righteousness." It is a unity in " faith which worketh 
 by love." 
 
 But what practical plan shall we take to realise it ? 
 The basis of dogma will never suffice. There is no 
 evidence that such agreement will exist among men 
 within any conceivable time. Is there any mind so 
 formed that it can grasp all the truth ? Yet such a 
 supposition really underlies the theory that a doctrinal 
 basis will be found on which to unite the Christian 
 world. 
 
 Another plan is suggested and more and more put 
 into practice, and that is the union of those who hold 
 the same system of Church government. Pan-Anglican- 
 ism, Pan-Presbyterianism, Pan-Wesleyanism, are schemes 
 to which more or less of an actual shape has been 
 given. Now, though this seems a less dignified basis 
 than doctrinal unity, though it seems less permanent 
 to take the outward organisation, which after all may 
 be temporary, as the uniting element, it is nearer 
 the heart of the truth. For the outward organisation 
 is in itself a testimony to the social and brotherly 
 unity of Christians ; it is in itself, with its agencies of 
 mutual intercourse, friendship, and help, a mirror of 
 what the whole Church should be ; and is in itself a 
 promise of better things, of a wider and deeper union. 
 
 But it is not enough. We cannot be content to 
 divide Christendom into sections, however large they 
 be. The unity of the Church can only be realised 
 on the principle of the unity in the Christian life of 
 
THE KINGDOM OF GOD AND THE CHURCH 359 
 
 brotherhood. This is its basis, and on this alone will 
 it reach its divine ideal. Still more, that form of Church 
 life and government, which best serves the cause of unity 
 and brotherhood, alone possesses elements of permanence, 
 and eventually must absorb all other systems. 
 
 The Church can never fulfil its complete duty with 
 reference to human brotherhood till it is itself united. 
 A spectacle of jarring sects, such as Christendom now 
 presents, — and must always present if disunited, not- 
 withstanding people shutting their eyes and talking 
 of spiritual union, — is a permanent obstacle to the 
 growth of human brotherhood. It may be that the 
 union of the Church will come from the union of 
 mankind ; that ecclesiastics, as in days gone by, will 
 not interpret the signs of the times till they are made 
 clear by secular events : but the unity of the Church 
 must come, for it is a necessity of humanity. We must 
 strive for it with all the might we can ; for it is not 
 a mere matter of worldly convenience, as sometimes 
 people think, it is the divine life of the Church coming 
 to perfection. I do not hope for it soon, but the purer 
 our hearts become, the nearer we shall come to it. 
 We must keep in view the commandment — " Be ye 
 therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in 
 heaven is perfect." 
 
CHAPTER XXVI 
 
 THE FUTUKE 
 
 What, then, have we ascertained as to the progress of 
 mankind which would lead us to hope for the future ? 
 
 We have seen the gradual formation of nations into 
 united societies ; and we have seen these nations longing 
 for wider federations. Men's thoughts have risen to 
 a conception of united humanity, not as a mere idea 
 of the imagination, but as a practical possibility. In- 
 fluenced by this conception, they have striven for equal 
 freedom and social brotherhood. They are beginning 
 to look at life from the standpoint of duty to all man- 
 kind, for all are sharers in the common life. 
 
 Eeligion has, equally with secular life, lent its aid 
 to the great cause of human unity. The doctrines which 
 have divided mankind into sects, with their shibboleths^ 
 are being relegated to their true place. The Church is 
 now being regarded as a vast society of helpers and 
 lovers of mankind, whose uniting principle is brother- 
 hood. With this living force in their hearts, men are 
 being impelled to seek such a unity in the Church 
 as will make it include all the children of the divine 
 Father. 
 
 Both in Church and in State the tendencies of men 
 
THE FUTURE 361 
 
 are towards union. What is to be the outcome of 
 it all ? 
 
 We believe that these tendencies show the divine 
 purpose towards man ; that they point the goal to 
 which the race is tending. They reveal the secret of 
 man's existence, and explain all the course of his 
 history. Man came into the world to train himself, 
 by a long course of action and thought, to a perfect 
 association in love with all his kind. Mankind is 
 destined to attain to a complete unity in itself. 
 
 Mankind must be regarded as a thing which has its 
 end in itself, i.e. apart from the other works of God. 
 A theory of life which is sufficient to explain human 
 life in the relations of men to each other, is a complete 
 theory of humanity. Such a theory, indeed, could not 
 escape accounting for more than the mere existence of 
 man, present and future ; but it could, nevertheless, be 
 self-contamed as regards mankind. It is almost certain 
 that any explanation which we are able to arrive at 
 regarding the purpose of human life and the destiny 
 of the human race, would also have something to say 
 on the relation of man to the universe. All creation 
 is a harmony, and to discover the secret of any one 
 sphere, must necessarily bring us over the border into 
 other regions. Human duty and human hopes may 
 be unfolded in their entireness without a true theory 
 of astronomy. Some men say that they cannot be so 
 explained ; others think they have found an entrance 
 in the secret of all things. Carlyle despairs of a 
 solution that will bring all into harmony ; the Hegelian 
 and the Positivist are confident that they have found 
 
362 THE BROTHEKHOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 a universal key. Time will bring us nearer a complete 
 solution of all things ; though eternity will be needed 
 to attain it. Meanwhile let us inquire within the region 
 at our command, and try to make a theory of man. 
 
 The first character of that theory will be its unity. 
 We must have no chasms in our explanation, no con- 
 tradictions. The progress of man in material things 
 and in moral, must tend in the same direction. The 
 animal nature of man, and his inner soul of reason and 
 conscience, must serve the same great end. It is a 
 favourite way of looking at life with some writers, to 
 deepen the contrasts of existence ; to multiply the 
 oppositions that appear in our earthly life. They revel 
 in discord, and are incredulous of unity. "We are told 
 that the animal instincts of man would lead him to 
 utter selfishness, to that natural condition of war which 
 Hobbes believed in, and that these instincts still fight 
 against love and brotherhood. Another power, — too 
 often conceived as external to man, — the power of 
 religion, will, however, overmaster these separating 
 tendencies, and teach man to love and serve and live 
 at peace with his neighbour. But may we not ask if 
 it was not the same God who gave man his physical 
 instincts as well as his nobler powers ? Is it not a dark 
 relic of Manichseanism to believe in this conflict within 
 the life of man ? It needs not a deep observer to see 
 how the physical passion of love is made to serve the 
 highest ends ; how it runs alongside the spiritual steed 
 which draws the chariot of man's soul. Still more, 
 does it not bring about man's first form of unity — 
 that family life which is the promise and potency of 
 
THE FUTURE 363 
 
 his perfect future ? These ordinary affections, which 
 are the conditions of our earthly existence, are uncon- 
 scious longings for the divine Father : it is through these 
 ■ethical purities that we learn to love the Supreme. 
 
 And in less deep matters of life, does not the fact that 
 men have to league themselves for self-defence against 
 the powers of nature, lead them to a close association for 
 mutual aid and comfort ? Eeligion acts on the lines of 
 man's nature ; and that nature is a harmony of tendencies, 
 physical, animal, and spiritual, which lead all in the same 
 direction. Not that there are not desires and weak- 
 nesses, physical, mental, and moral, which take us from 
 the true way ; but the general tendency of human nature 
 in all its activities is towards the same goal. 
 
 We believe that that goal for humanity is a perfect 
 association of men in brotherly love. This union of man- 
 kind implies as its correlative an absolute recognition of, 
 and enjoyment of, God as the universal Father. The one 
 cannot exist without the other ; a complete recognition 
 of man's brotherhood is only possible when God is 
 recognised as the Father of all ; a complete recognition of 
 the divine Fatherhood is only possible when all mankind 
 are acknowledged as brothers. The course of God's ways 
 with man is to assure men of the sublime truth of His 
 Fatherhood ; the course of man's life on the earth is to 
 bring him into this universal brotherhood. The ideal of 
 this brotherhood is the Church, which has Christ for its 
 Head. The Church is the image of the future projected 
 on the present. But by the Church we do not mean 
 any present embodiment of it in hierarchical form ; but 
 rather that outward and inward unity of which all such 
 
364 THE BROTHERHOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 embodiments are but shadows. A free State at present 
 offers such benefits as it can confer to all. There is no 
 question as to the religion or philosophy of the citizen ; 
 he is a member of the civic community simply because 
 he is a human being dwelling within the bounds of the 
 country. A similar catholic view must some day be taken 
 by the Church : it must be universal as humanity itself. 
 
 The complete union of mankind could not have been 
 accomplished without Christ. Though age after age 
 might contribute, and did contribute, some aid to the 
 bringing about the union of mankind, yet the task would 
 have been infinitely far off without the mission of Jesus 
 to direct and complete it. 
 
 Such a society of mankind implies ethical furity. If 
 men live in love with their neighbours, seeking at all 
 times their neighbour's welfare, they will not do him any 
 wrong. The commandments, which are all summed up 
 in lom, will all be observed. An altruism which is 
 perfect leaves no loophole for offence. The life of 
 brotherhood is the perfect life for man. 
 
 The hapinness of mankind will be secured. It is vain 
 for any system of morals to exclude happiness from its 
 sphere ; for men will seek it. Those who preach stern 
 duty cannot fail to see that in an ideal state of existence, 
 happiness must always accompany duty ; and that the 
 two will tend by degrees to become invariably com- 
 panions. The main source of happiness in this world is 
 in the intercourse we have with one another in our 
 family and in our social life. Our love, our friendship, 
 are the summits of human joy. Perfect love among men 
 will bring perfect happiness. 
 
THE FUTURE 365 
 
 But what of the physical conditions of life ? Will 
 pain and disease not visit men with their dark shadows, 
 and chill the glow of being within us ? As long as man 
 is imperfect, he must bear the consequences of that con- 
 dition ; so these elements of life cannot be overcome. But 
 we shall come nearer to conquering them as time goes 
 on. Life must free itself more and more from their 
 bondage, and the travailing of the creature come to an 
 end. After all, when we speak of perfect things in con- 
 nection with man, we only mean a growing approach to 
 perfection. Nearer and nearer we come, till an infinitely 
 small distance severs us from the absolute consummation. 
 And if pain and sorrow dwell with us, will they not 
 be soothed almost to stinglessness by the happy thought 
 of perfect love surrounding us ? If our present service 
 to each other can so lighten the burdens of life, we may 
 be sure that, as life becomes more loving, its loads will 
 almost disappear. For the greater part of the sorrow of 
 life comes from unkindness, from unbrotherly acts ; and 
 if these sources are dried up, the river of misery will 
 cease to flow. Sin is nothing but selfishness ; and if we 
 conquer selfishness by a perfect love for others, sin will 
 vanish from our hearts. 
 
 Happiness is but one side of the principle of love. It 
 is one harmony of our souls, and love is the complete 
 unity of our being which causes that harmony. 
 
 The view of the end of man's life on earth, as being a 
 perfect society of love, satisfies, then, the ethical needs of 
 purity and happiness. How does it stand related to 
 knowledge ? 
 
 Clearly an advance in knowledge is a condition of 
 
366 THE BROTHERHOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 our life here. Our minds cannot rest in the attainments 
 of the past. We must advance, though advance be toil- 
 some and slow. But it is evident that a general 
 sympathy of being implies a mental ease of communica- 
 tion, which will make discovery more ready and progress 
 more rapid. The whole mental energy of the race will 
 be given to solving any problem ; the mind of man will 
 move, not in scattered skirmishers, but as a solid phalanx. 
 Of this mental sympathy we have examples in the ready 
 understanding which people who love each other have of 
 the working of each other's minds. Sometimes, even, 
 when such are far apart from each other, they can each 
 know the other's thoughts. There is evidence enough 
 of this possibility to make us see that men's minds have 
 a capacity for sympathetic intercourse in ways we do not 
 entirely discern. 
 
 But still more proof of this sympathy is found in the 
 fact that discoveries are made often at the same time by 
 separate observers ; that scientific men who come much into 
 each other's company develop similar methods of reason- 
 ing. The great examples of this universal sympathy 
 are found in the wider movements of human thought,, 
 which work like leaven, and are spread from mind ta 
 mind with inconceivable quickness. What power does 
 man gain from this combined emotion and intelligence ? 
 It is this alone which can accomplish anything great in 
 deed or thought. And it seems nowadays that this i& 
 to be the general character of human thought. History 
 used to be largely the biography of the men who made 
 their names famous in the age when they lived. Carlyle 
 and Macaulay give us a series of epics, more or less 
 
THE FUTURE 367 
 
 stately, but we do not arrive at any close understanding 
 of how the world moved in the days they write of. 
 Modern historians like Stubbs and Maine, and Freeman 
 and Coulanges, pay little heed to individual careers, but 
 the whole march of events is brought before us. De- 
 mocracy does not in our time choose great leaders ; it 
 does not follow some trumpet call of a hero ; but 
 speaks through some average man, who is the child of 
 his age, and the product of its combined mental activity 
 is seen in his acts. 
 
 Outstanding men are less common ; it may be because 
 the whole race whose life we know is being elevated. 
 But it is certain that the perpetual intercourse of men, 
 and the common enjoyment of the intellectual facilities 
 of our life must lead, and do lead, to a sameness of 
 mental structure. Men work much together, and play 
 much together ; they take their ideas from the same 
 sources, and express their opinions much in the same 
 words. This is a natural result of political organisation, 
 which demands so much surrender of the individual will, 
 if that individual will should exist. Eccentricity is 
 almost a memory of the past ; and decided individuality 
 is rarer than ever. The association of men must tend to 
 this ; but while it lessens the prominence of such features, 
 it strengthens the total mental capacity of humanity, and 
 gives it a stronger impulsive force. For though one man 
 may be weary and baffled, the race ever renews its youth, 
 and goes forward with unabated vigour. 
 
 Does such an association of mankind as we seem to 
 see in the future as the goal of mankind, imply equality ? 
 Condorcet said that what we must look for is an equality 
 
368 THE BKOTHEEHOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 of fad, as well as what men were supplied with in his 
 day, an equality of right. 
 
 There must be a tendency towards equalisation of pos- 
 sessions, by the mere operations of the law of love ; and as 
 there will be equal facilities for acquiring knowledge, 
 there will be a tendency to equal attainments. But the 
 individual soul will not therefore be extinguished in its 
 freedom. The process of the spread of knowledge and 
 happiness will find its fittest analogy in the doctrine of 
 the dissipation of energy. Energy overflows when it 
 can, and tends to bring all its manifestations to one level ; 
 and a time will, in the nature of things, come when 
 everything will possess an equal amount of energy, and 
 the universe be quiescent. But this dissipation of energy 
 depends on the fact (or theory) that atoms have a 
 certain physical size. If they are infinitely divisible, no 
 dissipation is possible ; for an equal level never could be 
 reached. 
 
 If mental processes have any likeness to physical, it is 
 
 clear that any equalisation which would take place would 
 
 still leave the individual soul with its own mental 
 
 dimensions. But we know that physical analogies cannot 
 
 hold in the sphere of mind. The dissipation of energy 
 
 is a fact which depends on the conservation of energy,^ 
 
 1 Dr. Macquorn Rankine suj)posed that the conservation of energy 
 must be believed in, subject to a belief in its absolute renewal on 
 dissipation ; for the margin at the bounds of our universe between 
 the atoms adjacent to the void beyond, must be the difference between 
 nothing and the general diffused energy of this universe. A belief 
 in the immediate action of the divine Spirit on the souls of men 
 presents an analogy to this speculation of Dr. Rankine's. A 
 Christian may, at least, always j)oint to the divine Life as renewing 
 and invigorating the collective soul of man. 
 
THE FUTURE 369 
 
 which cannot apply to the intellectual progress of the 
 race. Higher and still higher will the race rise, and the 
 mere fact, therefore, of its progress implies the pre- 
 servation of inequalities in intellectual endowment, and 
 probably also of actual possessions. 
 
 The goal of humanity is far removed from the Utopia 
 of the socialist. In the first place, it is arrived at by 
 the action of free will, not of compulsion. Its principle 
 is the welfare of the body, while its advocates leave the 
 soul to take care of itself. Love cannot be commanded ; 
 it must rise spontaneous in the heart ; and an association 
 of men based on any other principle than love is a 
 tyranny, not a brotherhood. Such a tyranny contains 
 within itself its own elements of dissolution. It has 
 within the idea of caste, of inequality, of the surrender 
 of freedom, the unwilling surrender of some to the power 
 of others. Such a state of life, however its form may be 
 attractive, is but a makeshift to be overturned in the 
 progress of man. 
 
 Again, the true ideal of life is a harmony of various 
 activities and levels of intelligence ; not a dull unison of 
 minds that are cast in the same mould. As St. Paul 
 says : " For as we have many members in one body, and 
 all members have not the same office ; so we being 
 many are one body in Christ, and members one of 
 another." The socialist plan represses individuality, 
 so that man has nothing to offer as a sacrifice to 
 humanity. A slave cannot offer a freedom he does 
 not possess, and under Socialism men would be slaves. 
 The human will repressed would cease to exist, and 
 love and intelligence perish of atrophy. But it is an 
 24 
 
370 THE BROTIIEEHOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 impossible theory which we combat, and a complete 
 Sociahsm would only lead to an arrogant opposition 
 of Nihilism. 
 
 How different is the free association in love for which 
 God has been preparing the human race during all the 
 ages of humanity ! As Mr. Euskin says : " The love of 
 the human race is increased by their individual differ- 
 ences, and the unity of the creature made perfect Ijy 
 each having something to bestow and to receive, bound 
 to the rest by a thousand various necessities and various 
 gratitudes ; humility in each rejoicing to admire in his 
 fellow that which he finds not in himself, and each being 
 in some respect the complement of his race." 
 
 There is no need to suppose that even the extremest 
 democracy would lead to a dull level of life, where 
 existence would be little more than automatic. A deep 
 thinker, who spent his whole life in the most republican 
 State of modern times, — the author of the Journal 
 Intime, — does not anticipate any such gloomy future to 
 our hopes of universal brotherhood. " Is equality," he 
 asks, " which in the dawn of existence is mere inertia, 
 torpor, and death, to become at last the natural form of 
 life ? Or rather, above the economic and political 
 equality to which the socialist and non-socialist demo- 
 cracy aspires, taking it too often for the term of its 
 efforts, will there not arise a new kingdom of the mind, 
 a church of refuge, a republic of souls, in whicli, far 
 beyond the region of mere right and sordid utility, 
 beauty, devotion, holiness, heroism, enthusiasm, the extra- 
 ordinary, the infinite, shall have a worship and an abi<ling 
 city ? " 
 
THE FUTUKE 371 
 
 The universal principle of love and brotherhood, whicli 
 we regard as tlie end for which man came into being, 
 satisfies the intellectual conditions of such an end. It 
 is a universal principle, and is also an abstract principle. 
 No material end whatever can be regarded as the goal of 
 man's life. We are not born to achieve mechanical pro- 
 gress, however great, or scientific acquirement, however 
 high. For mechanical and scientific advances have for 
 their end the quickening and enriching the social life of 
 man. The real end in all man's labour and effort is man 
 himself, — not the individual, but the race. In this view 
 our systems of education should be carefully considered, 
 and should be based on the foundation idea of complet- 
 ing the social perfection of man. The newer methods 
 largely lack this central thought, though their deficiency 
 is supplied by the other conditions of modern life, whicli 
 develop the social instincts. 
 
 The principle of brotherhood is equally applicable to 
 all men, and forms a solution of every life. No other 
 kind of progress can be said to have this general applic- 
 ability. 
 
 But further, this principle in man is a reflection of 
 the character of God, as far as our knowledge extends of 
 Him. " God is love," we are told by St. John ; " and he 
 that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him." 
 If man is ever to see God, this is the impulsive force 
 which will lead him to the true vision. If the. divine 
 nature is to be communicated to mankind, it must be 
 because man makes himself receptive of and kindred to 
 the essential principle of that nature. " We shall bo 
 like Him ; for we sliall see Him as He is." 
 
372 THE BKOTlIERIIOOl) OF MANKIND 
 
 Our labour and knowledge, and our life itself, are 
 fundamentally dilferent from the knowledge, activity, 
 and self-existeuce of God. The limitations of our being 
 so condition us, that we cannot say we resemble the 
 Absolute in these attributes. But the union which sub- 
 sists between the hearts of men may be like that which 
 unites God to all His cliildren. Love is one, wherever it 
 is found throughout the universe. St. John tells us that 
 our intellectual efforts must fail to grasp the Eternal ; 
 for " no man hath seen God at any time." There is one 
 way by which the soul can rise to communion with the 
 divine existence, and only one. If we yield ourselves to 
 the great tide of divine goodness which brings us day by 
 day nearer our fellow-men, we enter into God's purpose 
 and commune with Him. " If we love one another," 
 says St. John, " God dwelleth in us. and His love is per- 
 fected in us." His purpose of love towards men is 
 completed, their destiny is accomplished, when they all 
 love one another. 
 
 But the universal character of the destiny of mankind 
 in a social union of love is further illustrated by the 
 intellectual analogy of love, which is, indeed, its other 
 aspect. It is almost beyond the power of human speech 
 to give form to the thought, but in his best moments 
 man is conscious that the harmony of the universe is 
 akin to love. Shelley was sure of his vision here. He 
 had glimpses of 
 
 " That sustaining Love 
 Which, througli the web of being blindly Avove 
 By naan and Ix-ast, and earth and air and sea, 
 Burns bright or dim, as each are mirrors of 
 The lire for whicli all tliirst." 
 
THE FUTUKE 373 
 
 Whitman, too, is aglow with the same feeling. " Smile," 
 he says, " voluptuous, cool-breath'd earth ! Smile, for 
 your lover comes ! " 
 
 That " cosmic emotion," as Professor Clifford called it, 
 is one of the highest joys of man ; but it is felt most 
 deeply by a soul which is tuned to the love of mankind. 
 We cannot but feel that when the world seems fairest 
 to us, on some summer day at noontide, that there is a 
 deep chord of love vibrating through the whole earth 
 before us, to which our souls respond. And it is a 
 fuller joy to the open and loving heart. As men have 
 loved mankind more, they have felt the beauty of the 
 universe more strongly. The poets of nature are the 
 poets of man. Mr. Euskin says truly : " Instead of 
 supposing the love of nature necessarily connected with 
 the faithlessness of the age, I believe it is connected 
 properly with the benevolence and liberty of the age." 
 
 We often speak of faith as the link between man and 
 man, and between man and God. It would better express 
 our meaning did we follow Plato, who generally calls the 
 sympathy between mind and mind by the name of love. 
 It is from Him who is Love that this uniting power 
 descends, and fills our hearts. It is this Love which is 
 destined to be the common possession of united and 
 regenerated humanity. 
 
 To this by slow steps we are advancing. I do not say 
 that the progress is steadfast, although its general move- 
 ment is onward. There are times when the spirit of 
 mankind grows weary, and his energies droop, and he 
 falls back in his march upwards. But the infinite Power 
 above us cannot be stayed in His divine purpose, nor 
 25 
 
374 THE BROTHERHOOD OF MANKIND 
 
 ever slacken His etforts. We do not despair of the 
 returning- tide because here and there a wave does not 
 reach the height of its forerunner. 
 
 "For while the tired waves, vainly breaking, 
 Seem here no painful inch to gain, 
 Far back, through creeks and inlets ]iiaking. 
 Conies silent, flooding in, the main." 
 
 Nor do we despair of the return of summer because tlie 
 spring is checked by some bitter frosts. The seasons 
 will fultil their course, and the year reach its destined 
 height. And the cause of love and brotherhood, not- 
 withstanding some hours of sorrow and darkness, must 
 one day prevail, and men abide for ever in the peace of 
 God, which passetli all understanding. 
 
INDEX 
 
 Aborigines, extinction of, 63. 
 
 About, Edmond, on human unity, 61. 
 
 Adam, descent from, 139. 
 
 Adler, Dr., on Jews, 40, 71. 
 
 Agape, 174. 
 
 Altruism, natural growtli of, 295. 
 
 Ambrose, St., 169, 215. 
 
 American literature and freedom, 
 
 284, 286. 
 Amiel, H. F., 105, 370. 
 Amusements aid social unity, 275. 
 Antipathies between races, 340. 
 Apostolic Fathers, their teaching 
 
 social, 142. 
 Apostolic succession, 26. 
 Aristophanes, 72. 
 Aristotle, 72, 155, 300. 
 Arnold, Dr., 349. 
 Arnold, Sir Edwin, 30. 
 Arnold, Matthew, 10, 126, 347. 
 Art, its social influence, 273, 276. 
 Asceticism, pagan, 144 ; opposed to 
 
 labour, 147. 
 Augustine, St., on the immaculate 
 
 conception, 65 ; on conversion, 
 
 188; quoted, 25, 51, 89, 145, 151, 
 
 188, 191, 215, 224, 311. 
 Aurelius, Marcus, 208. 
 Avestan creed, 45. 
 
 Ballads, influence on national life 
 
 of, 284. 
 Balzac, his human sympathy, 70, 
 
 280. 
 Baptism, of heretics, 22, 172 ; of 
 
 infants, 171, 190 ; its meaning, 
 
 173 ; baptismal regeneration, 177. 
 Beranger, service to brotherhood, 
 
 280. 
 Bernard, St., 189, 190. 
 
 Boarding out of pauper children, 165. 
 
 Bradley, F. H., 11. 
 
 Brahmo Soraaj, 47. 
 
 Brotherhood, before Christ, 39 ; 
 taught by Christ, 96 ; in the 
 Epistles, 128 ; in the early Church, 
 206 ; in medieval Church, 224 ; 
 since Reformation, 242 ; forces 
 against, 321, 334; its future, 360. 
 
 Browning, 292. 
 
 Buddhism, its ethics, 46, 197. 
 
 Bunseu, 348. 
 
 Butler, Bishop, on social instinct, 
 295. 
 
 Burns, 279. 
 
 Byron, 282, 291. 
 
 Calvinism, 89, 144. 
 
 Canon of Scripture, 2. 
 
 Carlyle, 77, 112, 120. 
 
 Chantal, Mme., 105. 
 
 Charity in early Church, 216. 
 
 Chateaubriand, 282. 
 
 Chiarini, Abbt5, 40. 
 
 Children, religious training, 191 ; in 
 
 Middle Ages, 234. 
 Chinese ethics, 47. 
 Chivalry, 232. 
 Christianity, social, 101 ; relation to 
 
 patriotism, 310. 
 Chrysostom, 149, 215, 225. 
 Church, Catholic idea, 225 ; Neander's 
 
 view, 226, 347 ; disunion, 343 ; 
 
 unity the essence of, 354. 
 Cicero, 41, 43. 
 
 Clemens, Alexandrinus, 12, 142. 
 Clemens, Romanus, 169. 
 Clifford, W. K., 13, 322. 
 Clough, A. H., 77, 291. 
 ColeridL'e, 20. ' 
 
 375 
 
376 
 
 Communion, Holy. See Eucharist. 
 Communities, life in, 203. 
 Community of goods, 214. 
 Comte, 16, 32, 124, 140, 249, 305. 
 Condorcet, 247. 
 Confession, Scots, 7 ; Augsburg, 181 ; 
 
 Westminster, 181. 
 Conscience, the Christian, 108, 177. 
 Co-operative stores, 339. 
 Cosmopolitanism, 317, 328. 
 Councils, Carthage, 22 ; Nicrea, 23 ; 
 
 Lateran, 84. 
 Crabbe, 278. 
 Creed, Apostles', 17. 
 Cyprian, St., 144, 152, 188, 217. 
 
 Dante, Purgatory, 9 ; Hell, 51 ; De 
 
 Monarchia, 229_, 280. 
 Darwin on aboriginal life, 157. 
 Delitzsch, 181. 
 Democracy, 240, 255, 303. 
 Denison, Edward, 309. 
 Development of Christianity, Roman 
 
 and Protestant views, 4 ; its 
 
 ethical purpose, 27. 
 Dickens, 112, 279, 285. 
 Didache, 218. 
 Divorce, in United States, 160 ; 
 
 dangerous, 161. 
 Doctrine, its end in morals, 10; 
 
 how elRcacious, 14 ; not made by 
 
 jiriesthoods, 30. 
 Donatists, 224. 
 Duties of man, political theory of, 
 
 268, 305. 
 
 Edua, hospitality in, 45. 
 
 Education, advance of, 262. 
 
 Egoism in Christian life, 182. 
 
 Egypt, slavery in, 48. 
 
 Eliot, George, 11, 286. 
 
 Emerson, 74, 176, 293. 
 
 Employers, relation to employed, 
 336. 
 
 Epictetus, 41, 209. 
 
 Epistles, brotherhood in, 128. 
 
 Eranians, 45. 
 
 Essenes, 141. 
 
 Ethical princii)le of Jesus, 96. 
 
 Ethics, relation of systems to Chris- 
 tianity, 113 ; relation of brother- 
 hood to. 364. 
 
 Eucharist, administration, 153 ; 
 communion in material things, 
 174 ; sacrificial doctrine, 178. 
 
 Evil, nature of, 196. 
 
 Factory Acts, 260. 
 
 Fall of man, 58. 
 
 Family, its past and future, 154 ; 
 
 primary social union, 151 ; school 
 
 of altruism, 297. 
 Ft^nelon on love of God, 99. 
 Fichte, 127, 251. 
 Fiske, J., 28. 
 
 Flint, Professor R., 43, 252, 353. 
 Fourier, 247. 
 Franchise, the, 263. 
 Freedom, condition of morality, 202; 
 
 struggles for, 282. 
 Fremantle, Dean, 348. 
 Future of mankind, 360. 
 
 Gallican Church, 312. 
 
 Garibaldi, 326. 
 
 Giusti, 282. 
 
 God, conception of, in .sacrifice, 81 ; 
 
 fatherhood of, 80, 184 ; Aryan 
 
 and Semitic views of, 186. 
 Goethe, 11, 76, 106, 175, 196, 279. 
 Gogol, 283. 
 Gospels, agi-eement, 80 ; Synoptists 
 
 compared with St. John, 210. 
 Greece, national cxclusiveness, 40 
 
 modern, 282, 284. 
 Greek Church, 65. 
 Green, T. H., 125, 204. 
 Guilds, social influence of, 73, 240. 
 Guyon, Mme., 105. 
 
 Hamann, 11, 15. 
 
 Happiness through union of man- 
 kind, 364. 
 
 Harrison, F., 50, 85, 322. 
 
 Hegel, ethics, 113 ; future of man- 
 kind, 251. 
 
 Heine, 283. 
 
 Helvetius, 303. 
 
 Herbert of Cherbury, 9. 
 
 Herder, 8, 249. 
 
 Hermas, "the heavenly Church," 12. 
 
 Hilary, St., on conversion, 188. 
 
 Hindu castes, 46 ; attitude to labour, 
 72. 
 
INDEX 
 
 377 
 
 History an unfolding of divine 
 
 purpose, 18. 
 Hordes, did man dwell in ? 55, 156. 
 Hospitality, 44, 299. 
 Hugo, v., 279, 292. 
 Humiliation of Christ, 65. 
 
 Immaculate conception, 65. 
 Incarnation, 66, 246. 
 Individual character, decline of, 367. 
 Individualism, Vinet and Channing, 
 
 103 ; in life of Church, 139 ; in 
 
 politics, 257. 
 Infanticide, 234. 
 Inquisition, 225. 
 Interest on loans, 219. 
 Intolerance, religious, 343. 
 Intuitionalism, 113. 
 Irving, Edward, 355. 
 
 James, St., brotherhood in Epistle 
 of, 129. 
 
 Jerome, St., 145. 
 
 Jesus, why He chose calling of 
 workman, 67 ; centre of His 
 theology, 81 ; Son of God, 90 ; 
 ethics of, 96 ; authority of, 115. 
 
 John, St., Gospel narrower than 
 Synoptists, 210 ; view of new 
 birth, 189 ; brotherhood in 
 Epistles, 130; in Apocalypse, 130. 
 
 Joint-stock companies, 338. 
 
 Jovinian, 145. 
 
 Judaism, exclusiveness, 40 ; teaching 
 on labour, 71. 
 
 Justice, progress from, to love, 268. 
 
 Justification, by faith, 184 ; by 
 works, 193. 
 
 Justin Martyr, 51, 83. 
 
 Kant, categorical imperative, 11 ; 
 
 on passive love, 98 ; on religion, 
 
 115 ; on morals, 123 ; on united 
 
 mankind, 250. 
 Karamsin, 283. 
 Kempis, a, 107 ; Imitation defective, 
 
 110. 
 Kingdom of God, views of Fathers, 
 
 Reformers, German and English 
 
 theologians, 345. 
 Kingsley on marriage, 168. 
 Kliefoth, 181, 350. 
 
 Knowledge through union of man- 
 kind, 365. 
 
 Kompert on Jewish dislike to 
 labour, 71. 
 
 Krause, 252. 
 
 Labour, attitude of Jesus to, 66 ; 
 
 blessing to community, 73 ; social 
 
 influence, 77 ; future of, 79 ; end 
 
 of, 371. 
 Labouring classes, 231, 258, 261, 
 
 302. 
 Lamennais, 279. 
 Lecky, W. E. H., 43, 226. 
 Leopardi, 282. 
 Leroux, 248, 279. 
 Lessing, 9, 249. 
 Letourneau, 159, 296. 
 Lilly, W. S., 226. 
 Limitations of earthly life of Jesus, 
 
 91. 
 Literature, its service to freedom, 
 
 278 ; and symimthy, 285. 
 Lotze, 241, 254, 296. 
 Love, motive of love to God, 99 ; 
 
 l^rinciple of action, 101 ; progi'css 
 
 from justice to, 268 ; of nature 
 
 and man, 373. 
 Luther, on justification, 24, 35, 117; 
 
 on missions, 244. 
 Lutheran doctrine of sacraments. 1 79. 
 
 Macaulay on theological progi-ess, 6. 
 
 Magyar poetry, 283. 
 
 Maine, Sir H., 156, 266. 
 
 Maistre, De, 91, 265. 
 
 Man, unity of, 52 ; fall of, 58. 
 
 Marriage, 154, 300. 
 
 Martensen, 181, 351. 
 
 Mary, Virgin, worship of, 23 ; its 
 
 origin, 33 ; in Middle Ages, 233. 
 Maurice, F. D., 246, 353. 
 Mazzini, 68, 282, 303, 305, 315. 
 Method in theology, 18. 
 Mishna, 40. 
 Mohler, 4. 
 Moleschott, 325. 
 Monarchy, absolute, 264 ; formation 
 
 of, 311. 
 Monasticism, 145, 239, 297. 
 Montanists, 142. 
 
 Mozley on national self-sacrifice, 316. 
 Music aids social unity, 273. 
 
378 
 
 INDEX 
 
 Mysticism, its nature, 98, 105 ; its 
 selfishness, 148 ; in St. John, 
 212 ; medipeval, 228, 
 
 Napoleon on social influence of 
 
 Christianity, 89. 
 Naturalism in art, 280. 
 Neander, view of Church, 226, 347. 
 Negi'o incapacity for co-operation, 
 
 60. 
 Neo-Platonism, 142, 215. 
 Newman, F. W. , 220. 
 Newman, J. H., 4. 
 Nihilists, 159, 298. 
 Novalis, 151, 171. 
 Novatianism, 144, 151. 
 
 Obedience, means of knowledge, 
 
 117 ; unconscious to Christ, 127. 
 Origen, 3, 65, 346. 
 
 Pascal, 8, 84, 114. 
 
 Patriarchal life, 156. 
 
 Patriotism, 264 : relation to Chris- 
 tianity, 310 ; false forms of, 315. 
 
 Paul, St., brotherhood in Epistles, 
 132 ; conception of united human- 
 ity, 132. 
 
 Peace, universal, 265. 
 
 Peasant proprietors, 258. 
 
 Personality, the Christian, 198. 
 
 Pessimism, an anti-social force, 319, 
 331. 
 
 Peter, St., brotherhood in First 
 Epistle, 128. 
 
 Petiifi, 283, 285. 
 
 Philemon, Epistle to, 221. 
 
 Plato, 72, 75, 84, 155, 198, 236; 
 Eepublic, 107, 159, 163, 168, 191. 
 
 Pliny, 209. 
 
 Polygamy, 297. 
 
 Poor laws, 259. 
 
 Positivism. See Comte. 
 
 Priest, opposition of prophet and, 
 30, 187. 
 
 Profit-.sharing, 337. 
 
 Progress, social and political, 259. 
 
 Purgatory, belief in, 32. 
 
 Purity through union of mankind, 
 363. 
 
 Pushkin, 283. 
 
 QUESNEL, 65. 
 
 Race, peculiarities, 54 ; antipathies, 
 
 340. 
 Real presence, 178. 
 Reformation, its importance, 35 ; 
 
 its theology, 242 ; social influence, 
 
 312. 
 Religion, the distinction of man, 56 ; 
 
 the formative influence in nations, 
 
 314. 
 Renaissance, 21, 243. 
 Renan on St. Paul, 107 ; on social 
 
 inequality, 323, 331. 
 Revolution, French, 303 ; of 1848, 
 
 305. 
 Richter, J. P. F., 56, 185, 274. 
 Rights of man, 267, 305 ; progress 
 
 to duties, 268. 
 Ritschl, school of, 351. 
 Roman Church, 65, 112, 226 ; sacra- 
 ments, 174 ; missions, 244. 
 Roman law of nations, 43. 
 Rothe, 19, 322, 350. 
 Rousseau, 281, 303. 
 Roux, Abb^, 149. 
 Ruskin, 71, 370, 373. 
 
 Sacraments, witnesses to brother- 
 hood, 171 ; their number, 175 ; 
 views of, 179. 
 
 Sacrifice, conception of God implied 
 in, 81, 185. 
 
 Saint-Pierre, 281. 
 
 Saint-Simon, 247, 304. 
 
 Sainte-Beuve, 106. 
 
 Sanctification, 193. 
 
 Sand, George, 11, 279. 
 
 Savages, free will in, 201. 
 
 Scepticism opposed to brotherhood, 
 322. 
 
 Schelling on iirimitive revelation, 58. 
 
 Schiller on art, 276. 
 
 Schleiermacher, 35, 56, 245, 353. 
 
 Scholasticism, 84, 230. 
 
 Schools, English public, 164. 
 
 Schopenhauer, 124, 199, 274. 
 
 Scott, Sir Walter, 279. 
 
 Semites, early life, 158 ; conception 
 of God, 186. 
 
 Senancour, 105. 
 
 Separatists, 152. 
 
 Sermon on the Mount, 81. 
 
 Shelley, his view of the future, 287. 
 
 Sidgwick, H., 123. 
 
379 
 
 Slavery, iu ancient world, 48, 221, 
 300 ; decline of, 231. 
 
 Smith, Robertson, 158. 
 
 Social contract, 267. 
 
 Socialism, may be opposed to 
 brotherhood, 60 ; rise of, 267. 
 
 Society in Roman Catholic and Pro- 
 testant countries, 328. 
 
 Socinianism. 242. 
 
 Socrates, 41, 198. 
 
 Spencer, H., Data of Ethics, 123. 
 
 Spirit, Holy, doctrine of, 94. 
 
 Stahl, 348. 
 
 Stanley, Dean, 30, 187. 
 
 Stirner, 325. 
 
 Stoics, 41, 67. 
 
 Strauss, 74; opposed to brotherhood, 
 323. 
 
 Swinburne, 289. 
 
 Synoptic Gospels, their central 
 thought, 210. 
 
 Synthesis of knowledge, 85. 
 
 Tacitus, 45, 74. 
 
 Temple, Bishop, 9. 
 
 Tennyson, his vision of the future, 
 289. 
 
 TertuUian, 51, 174, 175. 
 
 Theatre, a social force, 272. 
 
 Theology, its scope, 49 ; develop- 
 ment, 1 ; of Jesus, 80. 
 
 Tolstoi, 71, 284. 
 
 Totemism, 53. 
 
 Tourgenietf, 284. 
 
 Trinity, Mahomet's view of doctrine, 
 24 ; victory of orthodoxy, 29. 
 
 Truth, scholastic theory of a double, 
 84. 
 
 Unification, of nations, 264 ; of 
 
 Churches, 358. 
 Uniformity not implied in human 
 
 unity, 370. 
 Unitarians, 180. 
 United States, 255, 304 ; of Europe, 
 
 265. 
 Unity of man, 52. 
 Utilitarianism, 113, 123, 253. 
 
 ViLMAR on sacraments, 175. 
 Vinet, his individualism, 103. 
 Vogiie, E. M, de, 69. 
 
 Wealth, its relation to life, 68. 
 
 Whichcote, 10. 
 
 Whitman, Walt, his vision of the 
 
 future, 293. 
 Whittier, J. G., 284. 
 Will, bondage of the, 198. 
 William of Auvergne, 9. 
 Women, position of, 232, 300; 
 
 fi-anchise for, 263. 
 Wordsworth, 77, 189, 248, 278. 
 
 Xavier, 99. 
 Xenophon, 41. 
 
 ZiNZENDORF, 109, 
 
 Zoroaster, 45. 
 Zwingli, 61, 242, 348. 
 
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 BY THE 
 
 Rev. WILLIAM SANDAY, D.D., LL.D., 
 
 LADV MARGARET PROFESSOR OF DIVINITY, AND 
 CANON OF CHRIST CHURCH, OXFORD; 
 
 AND THE 
 
 Rev. ARTHUR C. HEADLAM, B.D., 
 
 FELLOW OP ALL SOULS COLLEGE, OXFORD. 
 
 Now ready, in post 8vo. price 12S., 
 A 
 
 CRITICAL AND EXEGETICAL 
 COMMENTARY 
 
 JUDGES 
 
 BY THE 
 
 Rev. GEORGE F. MOORE, D.D., 
 
 PROFESSOR OF HEBREW IN ANDOVER THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY. 
 
 EDINBURGH : T. & T. CLARK, 38 GEORGE STREET 
 LONDON: SIMPKIN, MARSHALL, HAMILTON, KENT, & CO. LTD. 
 
SDIjt IntcriTalinatitl Ctitkal Cnrnmcntar^ 
 
 ail i\n |l)0fe Stripfurts of i\n #Itr mib 
 EDITORS' PREFACE. 
 
 There are now before the public many Commentaries, 
 written by British and American divines, of a popular or 
 homiletical character. The Cambridge Bible for Schools, 
 the Handbooks for Bible Classes and Private Students, The 
 Speaker's Commentary, The Popular Commentary (SchafF), 
 The Expositor's Bible, and other similar series, have their 
 special place and importance. But they do not enter into 
 the field of Critical Biblical scholarship occupied by such 
 series of Commentaries as the Kurzgefasstes exegetisches 
 Handbuch sum A. T.; De Wette's Kurzgefasstes exegetisches 
 Handbiich sum N. 7". ; * Meyer's Kritisch-exegetischer Kom- 
 mentar ; * Keil and Delitzsch's Biblischer Com7nentar fiber 
 das A. T. ; * Lange's Theologisch-homiletisches Bibelwerk ; 
 Nowack's Handkommentar zu7n A. T ; Holtzmann's Hand- 
 kommentar sum N. T. Several of these have been translated, 
 edited, and in some cases enlarged and adapted, for the 
 English-speaking public ; others are in process of translation. 
 But no corresponding series by British or American divines 
 has hitherto been produced. The way has been prepared 
 by special Commentaries by Cheyne, Ellicott, Kalisch, 
 Lightfoot, Perowne, Westcott, and others ; and the time has 
 come, in the judgment of the projectors of this enterprise, 
 when it is practicable to combine British and American 
 scholars in the production of a critical, comprehensive 
 Commentary that will be abreast of modern biblical scholar- 
 ship, and in a measure lead its van. 
 
 * Authorised Translations published by Messrs. Clark. 
 
EDITORS PREFACE. 
 
 Messrs. T. & T. Clark of Edinburgh, Scotland, and 
 Messrs. Charles Scribner's Sons of New York, U.S.A., 
 propose to publish such a series of Commentaries on the 
 Old and New Testaments, under the editorship of Prof. S. R. 
 Driver, D.D., for the Old Testament, and the Rev. Alfred 
 Plummer, D.D., for the New Testament, in Great Britain ; 
 and of Prof. C. A. Briggs, D.D., in America. 
 
 The Commentaries will be international and inter-con- 
 fessional, and will be free from polemical and ecclesiastical 
 bias. They will be based upon a thorough critical study of 
 the original texts of the Bible, and upon critical methods of 
 interpretation. They are designed chiefly for students and 
 clergymen, and will be written in a compact style. Each 
 book will be preceded by an Introduction, stating the results 
 of criticism upon it, and discussing impartially the questions 
 still remaining open. The details of criticism will appear 
 in their proper place in the body of the Commentary. Each 
 section of the Text will be introduced with a paraphrase, 
 or summary of contents. Technical details of textual and 
 philological criticism will, as a rule, be kept distinct from 
 matter of a more general character ; and in the Old Testa- 
 ment the exegetical notes will be arranged, as far as 
 possible, so as to be serviceable to students not acquainted 
 with Hebrew. The History of Interpretation of the Books 
 will be dealt with, when necessary, in the Introductions, 
 with critical notices of the most important literature of 
 the subject. Historical and Archaeological questions, as 
 well as questions of Biblical Theology, are included in the 
 plan of the Commentaries, but not Practical or Homiletical 
 Exegesis. The Volumes will constitute a uniform series. 
 
 President W. R. HARPER of Chicago University, announcing the Series in "The 
 Biblical World," writes: "It is hardly necessary to say that this Series will stand 
 first among all English serial commentaries upon the Bible. It stands with and 
 admirably supplements the ' International Theological Library, ' to which we have 
 already learned to look for the best and most recent in the historical, literary, and 
 linguistic study of the Bible. We are greatly in need of Just what this Series 
 promises to giue." 
 
on tbc IJoIn Scrtpturi^s of tbe §1^ mxii 
 
 UNDER THE EDITORSHIP OF 
 
 The Rev. SAMUEL ROLLES DRIVER, D.D., 
 
 Regius Professor of Hebrew, Oxford; 
 
 The Rev. ALFRED PLUMMER, M.A., D.D., 
 
 master oj University College, Durham; 
 
 AND 
 
 The Rev. CHARLES AUGUSTUS BRIGGS, D.D., 
 
 Edward Robinson Professor of Biblical Theology, 
 Union Theological Seminary, New York. 
 
 The following eminent Scholars are engaged upon the 
 Volumes named below : — 
 
 THE OLD TESTAMENT. 
 
 Genesis. The Rev. T. K. Cheyne, D.D., Oriel Professor of the 
 
 Interpretation of Holy Scripture, Oxford. 
 Exodus. The Rev. A. R. S. Kennedy, D.D., Professor of Hebrew, 
 
 University of Edinburgh. 
 Leviticus. The Rev. H. A. White, M.A., Fellow of New College, 
 
 Oxford. 
 Numbers. G. Buchanan Gray, B.A., Lecturer in Hebrew, Mans- 
 
 field College, Oxford. 
 Deuteronomy. The Rev. S. R. Driver, D.D., Regius Professor of Hebrew, 
 
 0.\ford. [Ready, 12s. 
 
 Joshua. The Rev. George Adam Smith, D.D., Professor of 
 
 Hebrew, Free Church College, Glasgow. 
 Judges. The Rev. George Moore, D.D., Professor of Hebrew, And- 
 
 over Theological Seminary, Andover, Mass. [Ready, 12s. 
 Samuel. The Rev. H. P. Smith, D.D., late Professor of Hebrew, 
 
 Lane Theological Seminary, Cincinnati, Ohio. 
 Kings. The Rev. Francis Brown, D.D., Professor of Hebrew and 
 
 Cognate Languages, Union Theological Seminary, New 
 
 York City. 
 Isaiah. The Rev. A. B. Davidson, D.D., LL.D., Professor of 
 
 Hebrew, Free Church College, Edinburgh. 
 Jeremiah. The Rev. A. F. Kikkpatrick, D.D., Regius Professor of 
 
 Hebrew, and Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge. 
 Minor Prophets. W. R. Harper, Ph.D., President of the University of 
 
 Chicago, Illinois. 
 
THE INTERNATIONAL CRITICAL COMMENTARY— continued. 
 
 THE OLD TESTAMENT— co?iiiHi(cd. 
 
 Psalms. The Rev. Charles A. Bkiggs, D.D., Edward Robinson 
 
 Professor of Biblical Theology, Union Theological 
 
 Seminary, New York. 
 Proverbs. The Rev. C. H. Toy, D.D., Professor of Hebrew, Harvard 
 
 University, Cambridge, Massachusetts. 
 Job. The Rev. S. R. Driver, D.D., Regius Professor of Hebrew, 
 
 Oxford. 
 Daniel. The Rev. John P. Peters, Ph.D., late Professor of 
 
 Hebrew, P. E. Divinity School, Philadelphia, now Rector 
 
 of St. Michael's Church, New York City. 
 The Rev. L. W. Batten, Ph.D., Professor of Hebrew, 
 
 P. E. Divinity School, Philadelphia. 
 The Rev. Edward L. Curtis, D.D., Professor of Hebrew, 
 
 Yale University, New Haven, Conn. 
 
 Ezra and 
 
 Nehemiah. 
 
 Chronicles. 
 
 THE NEW TESTAMENT. 
 
 The Rev. E. P. Gould, D.D., Professor of New Testament 
 Exegesis, P. E. Divinity School, Philadelphia. 
 
 [/« f/ie Press. 
 The Rev. Alfred Plummer, D.D., Master of University 
 
 College, Durham. 
 The Rev. Frederick H. Chase, D.D., Fellow of Christ's 
 
 College, Cambridge. 
 The Rev. William Sanday, D.D., I.ady Margaret Pro- 
 fessor of Divinity, and Canon of Christ Church, Oxford ; 
 and the Rev. A. C. Headlam, M.A., Fellow of All Souls 
 College, Oxford. [J^eac/jy, 12s. 
 
 The Rev. Arch. Robertson, D.D., Principal of Bishop 
 
 Hatfield's Hall, Durham. 
 The Rev. Ernest D. Burton, A.B., Professor of New 
 
 Testament Literature, University of ( Ihicago. 
 The Rev. T. K. Abbott, B.D., D.Lit., formerly Professor 
 
 of Biblical Greek, Trinity College, Dublin. 
 The Rev. Marvin R. Vincent, D.D., Professor of Biblical 
 Literature, Union Theological Seminary, New York City. 
 The Rev. Walter Lock, M.A., Fellow of Magdalen 
 Epistles. College, and Tutor of Keble College, Oxford. 
 Hebrews. The Rev. T. C. Edwards, D.D., Principal of the Theo- 
 
 logical College, Bala ; late Principal of University College 
 of Wales, Aberystwyth. 
 Revelation. The Rev. Robert H. Charles, M.A., Trinity College, 
 
 Dublin, and Exeter College, Oxford. 
 Oiker engagements will be announced shortly. 
 
 Mark. 
 
 Luke. 
 
 Acts. 
 Romans. 
 
 Corinthians. 
 Galatians. 
 Ephesians. 
 Philippians. 
 The Pastoral 
 
 Edinburgh : T. & T. CLARK, 38 George Street. 
 New York: CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS, 153, 155, & 157 Fi""H Avenue. 
 
^Ije international i^ljeologiral Wihvav^* 
 
 EDITED BY 
 
 Pkofessors S. D. F. SALMOND, D.D., and C. A. BRIGGS, D.D. 
 
 No. I. of the Series. Fifth Edition. Post 8vo, price 12s. , 
 
 yi/1/ INTRODUCTION TO THE LITERATURE 
 OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. 
 
 By Professor S. R. DRIVER, D.D., Oxford. 
 
 ' By far the best account of the great critical problems connected with the 
 Old Testament that has yet been written. ... It is a perfect marvel 
 of compression and lucidity combined. A monument of learning and well- 
 balanced judgment.'— T/iC Guardian. 
 
 No. II. of the Series. Third Edition. Post 8vo, 10s. 6d., 
 
 CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 
 
 By NEWMAN SMYTH, D.D., 
 
 author of 
 'old faiths in new light,' 'the reality of faith,' etc. etc. 
 
 'There is not a dead, dull, conventional line in the volume. It is the 
 work of a wise, well-informed, independent, and thoroughly competent writer. 
 It removes a reproach from our indigenous theology, fills a glaring blank in 
 our literature, and is sure to become the text-book in Christian Ethics.' — 
 Professor Marcus Dods, D.D., in The Bookman. 
 
 'It is so beautifully clear, devoid of dulness, and has so many " bursts 
 of eloquence," that it will take the reader who considers Christian Ethics for 
 the first time under his tuition literally by storm.' — Methodist Times. 
 
 No. III. of the Series. Now ready, Second Edition, post 8vo, 10s. 6d., 
 
 APOLOGETICS; 
 
 OR, CHRISTIANITY DEFENSIVELY STATED. 
 By Professor A. B. BRUCE, D.D., 
 
 author of 
 
 'the training of the twelve,' 'the humiliation of CHRIST,' 
 ' THE KINGDOM OF GOD,' ETC. 
 
 ' In this noble work of Dr. Bruce, the reader feels on every page that he 
 is in contact with a mind and spirit in which all the conditions for a genuine 
 apologetic are fulfilled. ... At the end of Dr. Bruce's work the reader 
 is uplifted with a great and steady confidence in the truth of the gospel ; the 
 evangel has been pleading its cause with him, and he has felt its power.'— 
 British Weekly. 
 
 Detailed Prospectuses of the ' International Theological Library ' free 
 on application. 
 
 Edinburgh: T. & T. CLARK, 38 George Street. 
 
4 
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Pynceton Theoloaical Seminary Libraries 
 
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