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AUTHOR: STOCKER, RICHARD MSDALE TITLE: SPIRIT, MATTER AND MORALS PLACE: LONDON DA TE: [1 908] COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES PRESERVATION DEPARTMENT BIBLIOGRAPIIIC MICROFORM TARGET Original Malerial as Filmed - Existing Bibliographic Record Master Ne^;iii!\(j // S75'?'^-^ f ;L7]^ btocker, H ^^} i 3,> Dimsdale Lb7 7 3-^5 Spirit, matter and morals London, Owen [1908] S 97 p 3!)^fniii U Restrictions on Use: TECHNICAL MICROFORM DATA FILM SIZE: IMAGE PLACEMENT: lA IIA ID DATE FILMED: Z_1__J2 REDUCTION RATIO: ^ y IID INITIALS ^9^ FILMED BY: RESEARCH PUBLICATIONS. INC WOODBRIDGE, CT c Association for Information and image Management 1100 Wayne Avenue, Suite 1100 Silver Spring, Maryland 20910 301/587-8202 Centimeter 12 3 4 I ILL iiiiiiiiiiiiiiimiiii I Inches I nil HI TTT 1 8 10 11 12 13 14 15 mm mmhmjim]^^ II II I II II I II II 2 3 1.0 I.I 1.25 III iiiiliiiilmiliinliinli mi&u. 1.4 TTT III " 2.8 2.5 III " lip^ 3.2 2.2 ill'' II r 3.6 " i 40 2.0 L& 1.8 1.6 I I I I I ll M i il 1 MRNUFfiCTURED TO RUM STfiNDflRDS BY RPPLIED IMRGE. INC. I I t^ spirit, Matter and Morals, w^^T m^^^ By K. Dimsdale Stocker ^ i7i < -.V 6 ^' London A. OWEN & CO 28 Regent Street, S.W I * . ^ \1V ?itS GIVEN BY 7«t .1. McK. CaVicll J' i >k SPIRIT, MATTER AND MORALS I SPIRIT, MATTER AND MORALS By R. DIMSDALE STOCKER Author of "Sub-consciousness," "Clues to Character, "Seership and Prophecy,'* etc., etc. Editor of "The Simple Truths** Series *> / LONDON A. OWEN AND CO 28 Recent Street/. S.W / ^ c m^smmsismms^ssi. Butler & Tanner, The Sblwood Printing works* FROMB, AKD LONDON. I CONTENTS Spiritualism and Ethics . Materialism and Ethics Rational Ethicism • o r o cl / • 43 73 ', V, ff I Spiritual ism an d Eth ics i i )' sS^WfWfM^WWS y Spiritualism and Ethics 1 forms *l».'=^'fT mankind may other, the '<=^^°" J " „ost, if not have assumed, m reaii y ^jj^^eable ,U, the faiths appear ^o^ ^^ ^^,. to a common ong^n. j^^. „igh irAnite y « ^^^ „d tions, man has ^^^ ^ ^^e aid of satisfaction m i"^""""!^ terrestrial, imaginary powers, . Averse ,„per-mundaneandmfernal,^^^^.^^_ as his own pas''°°J „j such incom- amid *e mntaf ^^;' concep- prehensible and « ^„ ^, ^. tions. It IS '^*^'" i,u the common ^"^'I' fa^S between them, r^: d^UrXther such exists. li 10 SPIRIT, MATTER AND MORALS Whether we betake ourselves to modern or to ancient history, the result which is reached is practically identical : we are called upon to witness a singular absence of anything at all approaching uniformity as regards the selection of such objects of man's adoration. When, however, we quit the purely objective aspect of this problem, and proceed to review it as a whole, in order to obtain something approach- ing a synthetic view of such features as it may present, then it is that we discover that the attitude which has all along characterized man must have been well-nigh identical. Almost with- out exception, we shall find that such faiths have centred in that most in- scrutable of all mysteries, death, which the human imagination has invested with a solemnity only equalled by its inevitableness. This, it may fairly be assumed, has acquired significance for man solely for the reason that it came at length to be identified with the SPIRITUALISM AND ETHICS ii advent of a super-terrene existence, whose features his fertile fancy has at all times done its utmost to picture. Religion, as Professor James has said, to the vast majority of us is the synonym for Immortality. And the fact that man has been equal at all to contemplating a state of exist- ence over which the terrors of the tomb had no power, however crude such a conception has often proved, must be accounted as one of his most signal achievements. Upon the whole, the most prevalent form of religion has undoubtedly been the worship of the dead, or communion with the spirits of the departed. Autho- rities, indeed, are not wanting who are inclined to see in so-called ancestor- worship the prototype of all religion. Assuredly, there would appear to be considerable justification for adopt- ing such a view. Only secondary in importance to the miracle of death itself, is the twin-miracle of godliness . And in I •« Birriiiniiriiiimff*' ' ^^^ - "^^ ' " '^^^*'^^-"-^^ 12 SPIRIT, MATTER AND MORALS thus associating with the awe of the Unknown the adoration of the Good, man has unquestionably disclosed the essential foundation of his religious instinct. By inclination, as much as by force of necessity, a worshipper, man could not, if he would, fail to iden- tify his vision of the beautiful, the true and the fair, with the immemorial achievements of those whose names tradition has immortalized. Hence have arisen the world-systems which have severally been associated with some one surpassing example of this perfection. Traces of ancestor-worship may be found in some of the most ancient faiths. In China and Japan it may be said to form the central object of the popular cultus. Nor can it be denied that traces of it are to be found among ourselves. The canonization of saints and martyrs, as well as the adoration of the angehc hosts, bears in- dubitable testimony to the self-same SPIRITUALISM AND ETHICS 13 survival. Furthermore, religion itself, as it is more commonly interpreted, im- plies reverence for the past ; the very practices and customs to which time has lent its sanction almost inevitably acquiring an air of sanctity. To set the time-honoured at defiance is al- most in itself a sacrilegious act. To break with the past, even to this day, is accounted by many the most unpardonable of offences. And over and above this, to this very time, we perpetuate the everlasting remem- brance of the great : our demi-gods, our heroes, our artists, our poets, and others in our abbeys and churches and elsewhere. Thus does this in- stinctive tendency in us to glorify and magnify the venerable disclose itself. This same instinct may assume, however, an almost endless variety of shapes. Sometimes it leads man to indulge in the grossest forms of superstition. Occasionally, too, it ex- hibits itself in a manner less familiar 14 SPIRIT, MATTER AND MORALS than ordinary. One such manner is that which is afforded us in the case of modern spiritualism. In proceeding to consider this sub- ject, and in attempting to develop the ideas which it will become my duty to embody in the following remarks, let me first of all point out that it will be my aim, as far as possi- sible, to avoid the more controversial aspect of the question. At the out- set, it must be confessed, such a topic must, in the very nature of things, open up vast considerations. One is at liberty to speculate and conjecture to practically^ any extent he may please as to the nature and bona fides of the alleged phenomena. Many, no doubt, would prefer to reject these altogether ; some, again, will be dis- posed to attach a certain amount of importance to them ; whilst yet others will be convinced of their absolute reality. With neither class of persons am SPIRITUALISM AND ETHICS 15 I concerned; for it is not to my purpose at the moment to discuss the possibihty or otherwise of the phenomena in question. Those who may already beUeve in them are not in the least likely to run the risk of having their faith shaken by any process of argument; whilst those who may not have, up to the present, satisfied themselves as regards the authenticity of the alleged happenings are recommended to read Mr. Myers' monumental work, Human Person- ality. If that book do not succeed in converting them to spiritualism, it should at least serve to familiarize them with the claims of one of its most enlightened and cultured cham- pions. For the moment, all that we are concerned with is the following ques- tion: whether, if it be entertained, upon any grounds whatsoever, the belief in " spirit return," or the con- tinued existence of the departed, is i6 SPIRIT, MATTER AND MORALS adequate to providing us with a ser- viceable foundation for a religion. Now, in the first place, let us see what such a belief will imply. The '' Spiritualist '' is one who be- lieves, or rather tells us that he knows for a fact, that the '' spirits "of his friends and acquaintances still exist, and moreover, that they not only exist, but that they retain the full possession, or even extension, of their faculties, and are further capable, under cer- tain conditions, of communicating with those who are still incarnate in the flesh. What the popular faiths have taught on authority, therefore, it is his claim that he has revealed to him first hand. Either personally, or by means of a *' medium/' a person whose '* psychical develop- ment '4s adapted to interpret spirit influences, he holds that he is privi- leged to hold intercourse with the inhabitants of super-terrene regions, whither the spirits of the departed. SPIRITUALISM AND ETHICS 17 he would have us beUeve, have re- paired. With the credibiHty of this view I am not immediately concerned. All of us are at liberty to have our own opinions. Many of us may be in- clined to consider that at any rate a large percentage of so-called spirit- istic phenomena are to be explained on a basis of hallucination, " sugges- tion " or sub-conscious mental action, whilst others may perhaps be accounted for by the survival of some inherited instinct. Speaking for oneself, I should cer- tainly in any given instance proceed by a process of exclusion, and should be willing to adopt the hypothesis of " discarnate entities," only when I had satisfied myself that all other explanations were untenable. This, it may be added, is by no means so easy as it might appear. Constrained, however, as I am to acknowledge that the existence of B I i8 SPIRIT, MATTER AND MORALS disembodied souls cannot possibly be disproved — and whilst, for the sake of argument, one may even be dis- posed to concede the spiritualist his point — I cannot disguise the fact that (at any rate to myself) his attitude appears singularly inconsistent. Keeping in view before one Emer- son's definition of the spiritual, that it consists in the self-evident, and can be accepted only as a fact of con- sciousness, and that therefore it is independent of any modes of appear- ance whatsoever, to many of us the " spiritualist's " pretensions must ap- pear strangely at variance with his practice. In the first place, as it seems to me, his whole attitude betokens a fundamental misconception of the facts with which he assumes that he is deahng. Thus, in speaking of him- self as a spirituahst, what would he have us understand ? What meaning, one would hke to know, does he attach to that word ? SPIRITUALISM AND ETHICS 19 So far as I have been able to gather, the average Spiritualist is a person who, as a prehminary, proceeds to divide the universe into two equal (or nearly equal) portions : an outer and an inner, a hither part and a thither, or a " fore " and an " aft "—to borrow a nautical phrase. Why he makes such an arbitrary division I have been unequal to the task of discovering. But so it is. Basing his theory of existence upon the conception which he has derived (without acknowledgment) from the popular religions, the spiritualist next undertakes to tell us that man is a being compounded of two parts — " a body " and " a soul, " the former of which is a mere sheath or instru- ment. The soul, on the other hand, he would have us conceive of as a kind of " vital principle " or " essence " — a curious httle " sort of a something " which, in some inexplicable fashion, contrives to beat and hammer upon 20 SPIRIT, MATTER AND MORALS the body, driving the blood through the veins, superintending the emotions and performing every feat of thought or will, and suchHke trifling services. In dreams, this soul is assumed to work more or less independently of physical assistance, and then it is at Hberty to indulge in quite a variety of interesting and extraordinary occupa- tions, or even to wander abroad at its own sweet will. Apart from its bodily habitation, it is usually described as presenting a deHcate, attenuated and gaseous appearance. And when at length *' death " supervenes, it con- trives to effect its escape intact, and thenceforward exists in an '' imma- terial' ' state — whatever that may mean. Now, I would unhesitatingly pro- nounce this view to be, on the face of it, anything but '' spiritual." It argues, on the contrary, the blankest of blank materialism. To begin with, it affords us no adequate definition of the soul, • SPIRITUALISM AND ETHICS ai such as would suffice to distinguish it from a purely material phenomenon. This shadowy, phantasmal something- or-other, when all is said and done, it is easy to see, is no spiritual creation at all : but is, on the contrary, a phenomenon patterned upon the ap- proved mundane plan. Nay, it pre- sents not one single property which is not peculiar to matter. It is to be conceived of, so we are told, as having form, magnitude and ponderabiHty. Certainly spiritualists are under the necessity of thus describing it ; were it destitute alike of body, parts and passions, its mention would be super- fluous. But, even as it is, its function and destiny are delightfully bewildering. Why, for instance, one asks, does it thus disport itself on the material plane ? How came it to be gallivant- ing about in full possession of five senses and a rational mind — which, on the spiritualists' authority, are gener- ally assumed to blur or obliterate »w-w=;'i3fj#-}:.iljst!jsjjf»-;5Sf':4!|^^ 22 SPIRIT, MATTER AND MORALS " spiritual '' perception ? All that our spiritual philosopher can tell one is that it is here in order that it may '' gather experience '' — although what experi- ence may be worth gaining on so low a plane does not transpire. But, in any case, the upshot of his lucubra- tions comes to this: that life under existing conditions is a mere interlude in an " immortal existence.'' What this may mean, I incHne to think, one is at an utter loss to imagine. Now I need hardly say how exceed- ingly unsatisfactory this view of life, if logically appHed, must tend to be- come. To conceive of the present life as a sort of subordinate or secondary existence, only remotely connected with the essential Hfe of the entity, is to rob it of every possible thing which can make it attractive or desir- able from the moral standpoint. To look upon '' the everydayness of our common days " as a mere stepping- stone or preparation for some other / i : SPIRITUALISM AND ETHICS 23 state, as it seems to me, must be to lose sight of the fact that every in- stant is an eternity. Any such theory inevitably tends to carry one's mind away from the very things that are deserving of the attention of all right- minded men and women. And in this way it must be that we miss the essential beauty and worth of the present. What the spiritualist is apt to over- look, if not to treat with a certain air of contempt, is the eternity of the moment. Certainly, he has a good deal to say about "immortal life," " undying love," " reality," " truth," "justice," and so forth. But what, it may be asked, do these terms really imply ? What knowledge, for in- stance, one would hke to know, have we of " life " apart from death, or what experience of truth, fact, love, etc., save by means of the gradual evolution of the moral and mental nature during terrestrial existence ? I il 24 SPIRIT, MATTER AND MORALS True, this may be partial and in- complete ; but how should we, how would the spiritualist himself, fare without it ? y The spiritualist has much to say about "progress." The soul, it seems, can achieve progress remarkably rapidly when once it has dispensed with its physical vesture. But, I will put it to any sane, sensible man or woman, to what can such " progress " amount ? All that we can possibly know of progress must come through effort- through the subordination of the physi- cal instincts to the dictates of the understanding and will. How, apart from the body in the presence of temptation which arises in daily ex- perience, can we picture any advance ? Take a man away from his environ- ment, and you relieve him of his entire responsibihties. Robbed of these, what is " hf e " ? We may indeed press the spiritualist with the question— / i I SPIRITUALISM AND ETHICS 25 How is this process of spiritual emanci- pation to be worked through, apart from the conditions with which we are familiar ? How different life ap- pears when one is left "to oneself ! " What fine resolutions one can make ! How " good " one can be. But after all where is the test ; and without this how may we decide as to the value of any form of existence ? All the knowledge which we have been able to acquire of man's history points to the unmistakable fact that he cannot possibly be extricated from his environment. So far as can be determined, faculty and organism, function and structure, form an in- dissoluble alliance. Apart from the conditioning of the brain and nervous system, we have no experience of in- telligence ; and minus suitable oppor- tunities in the shape of the requisite training and experience, we cannot possibly conceive how any kind of mentaUty may be manifested. To ii 26 SPIRIT, MATTER AND MORALS drag in " guides '' and '^ controls *' goes very little way towards helping us. Perhaps we cannot explain '' mind "in terms of ^^ matter." But if not, neither can we conceive of mentality apart from its accustomed means of expres- sion. So far as one can tell, human life is nothing but a bundle of relationships — a series of infinitely complex adjust- ments ; actions, re-actions and inter- actions. Of any '' First cause " behind the scenes we know simply nothing. What we certainly do know is this : that apart from the functions which comprise the sum-total of his organic activities, apart from the exhibition of vital power, intelligence, will and feel- ing such as are interpreted by muscular and allied movements, we have simply no experience of the phenomenal man. What he may be apart from his body we simply cannot decide ; nor if we saw him as he might not inconceivably exist apart from his physical exterior, i SPIRITUALISM AND ETHICS 27 could we presumably recognize him. Yet the spiritualist is equal not only to asking us to accept personal sur- vival beyond the grave, but to base an elaborate system of religious faith upon such slender data as his opinion can furnish. That indeed, as I say man may exist under altered circumstances, I should be the last to deny. My readers may think me cautious ; I am. But I 'say emphatically, man as he is, or was, may exist for ever. He may. We cannot tell. I doubt not that whatever is immortal now will endure everlastingly. At the same time, what has proved immortal in the evolutionary process ? Evolution is simply a constant unfold- ment of latent powers which bear an indissoluble relation to the immediate emergency. Where is the analogy for " eternity," in the ordinary, loose acceptation of the word ? Save the law which fashions and sustains the unin- terrupted procession of events, what 28 SPIRIT, MATTER AND MORALS '' endures ? " Does not everything point to diffusion ? Integration, dis- integration, involution, evolution, devo- lution — such is the order. Where can we place the '' beginning,'' where the '' ends ? '' Certain functions and powers which were originally possessed or acquired by primitive man and the lower animals are no longer in exist- ence, their necessity having been dis- pensed with. It may not be true to allege that these are ''lost''; rather might it be true to say that they have been incorporated. They may, for aught we know, reappear at some far distant epoch. They may have found a place, so to say, in the memory of nature, and be embalmed in the sub- conscious storehouse of her inimitable resources. They may have : we cannot tell. Here we have, as it seems to me, only the analogies of hypnotism to go upon, and we may easily be entrapped and misled by too hasty generaUzations. But, in any case, spiri- I SPIRITUALISM AND ETHICS 29 tualist enthusiasts cannot adduce the least particle of proof that these powers are preserved in some species of spiritual pickle. And the thought presents itself —if all are not preserved, why should any be preserved ? Of what use, one may ask, would any power of which we are aware, with which man is endowed, be in another order of existence ? To say that these powers are super- seded by other powers does not much assist matters ! Divested of the powers that they already possess, would our friends be the same to us ? Assuredly not. According to the facts of which we are in possession, spiritistic evolution of the ordinary abstract type is not only unthinkable, it would be super- fluous. Not the slightest evidence is forthcoming to show that mankind has in any way exhausted the resources which lie at its immediate disposal for mundane advancement. On the 30 SPIRIT, MATTER AND MORALS contrary, so far as one is in a position to judge, the race is as yet only in its infancy ; and it is absolutely impossible to tell in what direction the bent of the "soul" may lie. As evolution pro- ceeds, any number of alternatives may present themselves. Then why, we would ask, drag in another life, pat- terned upon the present } We know the fate of the old heaven and hell- may not the same fate await the new substitute for these abodes ? It will be said, perhaps, that it is desirable, if possible, to establish the continuity of life ; and that an after- state, in some shape or form, is neces- sary to that end. But here, as it seems to me, this difficulty presents itself : how can we ever hope to estab- lish individual survival, according to the usual spiritistic mode of thinking, when, so far as we know, our life, accord- ing to the modern estimate, is not an individual affair? The point which I would especially seek to emphasize SPIRITUALISM AND ETHICS 31 is this : what life have we apart from others ? If our whole physical and psychical economy is bound up with that of the race as a whole, what busi- ness have we to infer that we can accomplish our salvation irrespectively of those who brought us into being ? or how can we possibly retain our per- sonal identity, apart from the race ? Is it not true that our very existence is not our own to use as we will ? Are we not amenable to laws ? Is not heredity a fact .? Do not our ancestors live in us ? If this be so, and the fact would appear indisputable, may we not infer that we shall, as surely, live in our descendants — not miraculously, but by the operation of natural laws ? Nay, may we not herein glimpse the truth that, in us, even now, lies all the pro- mise and potency of the future — a future that is, indeed, not ours indi- vidually, but ours in a truer sense ? The thought, I admit, is a tremen- dously suggestive one. It may well V 32 SPIRIT, MATTER AND MORALS stagger us, brought up as we have been with our theories of personal sal- vation in view. But, if it do nothing else, it may at least be the means of bringing home to us the debt which we owe to posterity. And let the fact be taken to heart, that not a deed, not a word, not even a thought, however trivial, but shall re-echo along the march of ages. The chief dangers, however, with which spirituahsm is beset do not lie in its theoretical acceptance. The real trouble hes only too often in the per- sonal attitude which it encourages in the believer. Here we discern, in only too many instances, evidence not only of shallow thinking, but what is far worse, superficial moral philosophy. To keep in view before one an ideal order, and to feel that one is in con- scious touch with intelligent and beneficent laws and influences, is not only helpful and inspiring : it is, on the whole, true to human experience, (i SPIRITUALISM AND ETHICS 33 and as such is to be encouraged and fostered. In all his loftiest and most inspired moments, man has invariably risen to a reaHzation that he was the denizen of a celestial cHme — the par- taker of a higher life than his unaided understanding enabled him to picture. When, however, such a conception as this rests upon a theory of a separate and distinct order of existence, the gravest results may ensue. In spirit- istic Hterature much is told us about '' higher teachings '' which have been communicated to entranced persons, or to those who were under '' spirit control." Yet what, one would like to know, are these '' higher teachings," and what cannot but be the effect of indulging in these abnormal practices ? To what deplorable self-deception, to what an amazing amount of uncon- scious fraud, to what unspeakable folly do not such proceedings Jend them- selves ! Again, how easily this kind of thing may become a means of gratifying >;aJ'aatf*jiSt»;raBa.''.jar^**i^at.»-»fcirAt^-ri' J ^ ■^^ >>^.*i:Mwr>^a:'^ fc «nr«wJ..-n' -w*^. \ ^ JhiA'wrifeSiarjiW^trta.^^ ■■ t^j-r.-.-^.im.Oir- ^■'I'^y'v .■jii!ifi^*-iJifcfcfc^*ffllil- ^*'y=JSa^■'itl 34 SPIRIT, MATTER AND MORALS one's vanity. To feel oneself the speci- ally favoured recipient of messages purporting to emanate from William the Conqueror or Shakespeare or Lady Jane Grey, may be exceptionally flattering to one's egoistic sentiments ; but is not such a receptive attitude entirely incompatible with spiritual enlightenment ? Is the universe around us so devoid of intelligence that we must hunt about in holes and corners for proofs of its existence ? How, as Emerson puts it, can the laws of the universe be baulked and eluded by a meddlesome aunt of the universe for her pets ? How much people may be deceived by the fooleries of these supposed spooks ! How much invaluable time may be wasted in endeavouring to arrange for their manifestation ! As if we had not a completer manifestation of the spiritual ever with us ! And when they '' ap- pear," what do they say ? If report speaks true, little that is of any prac- SPIRITUALISM AND ETHICS 35 tical utility. Of all the innumerable '' messages " supposed to have been received from the spirits of the greater thinkers and writers who have '' passed over," where is one that will scarcely do anything more than mode- rate credit to the intelligence of the average '' medium " to whom it was '' deUvered " ? Does spiritistic literature, as a rule, give evidence of any greater thought than that which is presumably present in the mind of the average spirit-seeker ? When has spiritualism been the means of en- hghtening mankind upon any problem of serious moment ? or when has it contributed to any important scientific discovery ? Such practices, as it seems to me, must be unhesitatingly condemned, on ethical and religious grounds . Nothing, it would appear, is to be gained from them. And more often than not they became the excuse simply for an idle curiosity, if not worse. What can be 36 SPIRIT, MATTER AND MORALS more deplorably at variance with common sense and a becoming appre- ciation for one's moral and mental being, than to pin one's faith upon the ridiculous and absurd statements which so often emanate from " spirit " spheres ? And fooHsh and immoral as such an attitude is, there is an element of physical danger about it as well . The law of suggestion, as we now know, which will account for all such abnormal phenomena, if not wisely recognized, may be attended by the most disastrous of consequences. We need not, therefore, be surprised when some weak-minded individual, with a predilection for planchette or the crystal, who is told by " occult " means that he will shortly fall headlong downstairs, commits the happy dis- patch. It might only have been ex- pected. But to make the " spirits " responsible either for the means or the end of the catastrophe, is rather too much for one's gravity. I SPIRITUALISM AND ETHICS 37 It is often said by spiritists that one should test one's experience in the light of common sense. Here, I con- fess, I am at a loss to understand the position. If common sense is to be our guide at all why should we depart from it by consulting other means of information ? To say that one consults one's judgment and one's conscience should mean that one relies im- phcitly upon these. We cannot serve two masters. The whole matter, as it seems to me, resolves itself into this: Common sense or authority — which is it to be ? In conclusion, it may be well for me to point out that I am not decrying psychic research as a branch of serious inquiry. Science herself at the present time is faced with any number of unclassified facts ; and as the science of psychology progresses, one may confidently anticipate that these will one by one find a place in her domain. At present all that can be done is to rwStS^ J An. >V<^ 38 SPIRIT, MATTER AND MORALS approach such questions with an open mind, which, I may add, is about the last thing that most " inquirers " are prepared to do. What is to be deprecated is the attempt of the ordinary man to per- suade us that spiritualism, if its claims were valid, would afford us spiritual anchorage. This it certainly does not. As a religion it is and must necessarily be lamentably inadequate. What has Mr. Myers himself to tell us of a ghost ? These are his words— " Whatever else a ghost may be, it is probably one of the most complex phenomena in nature. It is a func- tion of two unknown variables — the incarnate spirit's sensitivity and the discarnate spirit's capacity for self- manifestation." After such a luminous exposition, what remains, one would Hke to know, to be said on this aspect of the sub- ject ? Is this " function of two un- known variables " to be the rock upon i f SPIRITUALISM AND ETHICS 39 which mankind is to build its spirit- ual edifice ? Has it nothing better upon which to erect a superstructure ? Assuredly it has. Instead of " spiritualism " ; instead of a belief in a split universe, a remnant of the old discarded metaphysic of an effete system ; instead of a dualistic theory of life and mind — let man be content to take refuge in " the good life " — in morals. These, wherever they be, in the body or out of it, shall suffice for him who knoweth that whereof he is in search. And thus knowing, he shall dwell in quietude and assurance. To sum up: Spiritualism has not been without its place in the religious life. In its modern form it has been almost a species of humanism : as such it has registered an advance upon the old faiths. It marks a stage : a rupture with the deity of tra- dition ; it surmounts the old death ; it robs the grave of its horrors. But it goes hardly further. This thing it •| li 40 SPIRIT, MATTER AND MORALS has done, however : it has established the fact that its followers have begun to search their own souls ; they have at least become human, and are pre- pared to reahze that the memories of their dear ones have meant more to them than the legends which have gathered round the saints and re- deemers of old. Spiritualism, there- fore, is proof of sincerity. But it does not go far enough. The sundry ir- rational prejudices and misjudgments with which a beUef in it must abound must be removed. And to do this a man must have learned that nothing less than virtue itself will satisfy him. To be on the side of virtue, to have cast in one's lot with righteousness and truth, duty and courage, this it is to have tasted immortality whilst yet in the flesh. For this no " behef," how- ever consoling, is needed : life as it is, or rather as we shall make it, is all that we shall desire. i Materialism and Ethics I / V i ) i Materialism and Ethics IN his famous " Belfast address,'' which he delivered in 1874 before the British Association, Professor Tyn- dall raised the point, " Divorced from matter, where is life ? " Continuing, he proceeded thus — " Whatever our faith may say, our knowledge shows them to be indis- solubly joined. Every meal we eat, every cup we drink, illustrates the mysterious control of mind by matter. On tracing the line of life backwards, we see it approaching more and more to what we call the purely physical condition. We come at length to those organisms which I have com- pared to drops of oil suspended in a mixture of alcohol or water. We reach «3 \ 44 SPIRIT, MATTER AND MORALS the pYotogenes of Haeckel, in which we have a type distinguishable from a fragment of albumen only by its finely granular character. Can we pause here ? We break a magnet, and find two poles in each of its fragments. We continue the process of breaking ; but, however small the parts, each carries with it, though enfeebled, the polarity of the whole. And when we can break no longer, we prolong the intellectual vision to the polar mole- cules. Are we not urged to do some- thing similar in the case of life ? Is there not a temptation to close with Lucretius when he affirms that ' Nature is seen to do all things spon- taneously of herself without the med- dling of the gods ? ' or with Bruno, when he declares that matter is not * that mere empty capacity which philosophers have pictured her to be, but the universal mother who brings forth all things as the fruit of her own womb ' ? " " Believing as I do in the > MATERIALISM AND ETHICS 45 continuity of nature " (he concludes), " I cannot stop abruptly where our microscopes cease to be of use. Here the vision of the mind authoritatively supplements the vision of the eye. By a necessity engendered and justified by science, I cross the boundary of the experimental evidence and discern in that matter which we, in our ignorance of its latent powers, and notwith- standing our professed reverence for its Creator, have hitherto covered with opprobrium, the promise and potency of all terrestrial life." Divorced from matter, where is life ? Although, during the course of the past thirty years or so science has made gigantic strides, the question is still as pertinent as ever. Indeed, it naay truly be said that every advance which has been made in scientific research has but contrived to throw still further emphasis upon what would appear to be the indissoluble union of function and form, organization and faculty. I 46 SPIRIT, MATTER AND MORALS Professor Tyndairs words, however, appear to strike a note of warning. As one reads and ponders over them, one seems to be conscious of the fact that he was only too well aware that what is popularly termed '' material- ism," is exposed to the grossest mis- conception. It is bearing this fact in mind that I must beg leave to preface the following remarks with one or two observations. Without in any way attempting, then, to discuss the weighty question as to what *' materialism '' actually is (since that would naturally lead us into a controversy over the constitution of matter), I would point out that, in its philosophic connexion, the word is about as far removed from the popular conception as any term well could be. Every now and then we shall do well to consider, as far as it may be possible for us to do so, whether we are not labouring under a false impression begotten by the tyranny of our ter- i J s 'i s MATERIALISM AND ETHICS 47 minology. This is especially desirable with the word we happen to be con- sidering. Possibly, upon the whole, no spell is more potent than that which a mere term may be capable of casting over the average mind. One might cite numberless instances of this, where certain terms are so overladen with associations as to have acquired an ail- but supernatural significance. Among these words one might include terms such as soul, God, death — neither of which conveys a precisely similar mean- ing to any two persons. Now, everybody, or nearly every one, imagines himself to be equal to the task of furnishing a definition of these terms. Indeed, in all probability, so confident is he that he deems any definition to be altogether superfluous. Herein lies the danger. For untold ages it has been man's invariable cus- tom to distinguish between what have been known, for the sake of conveni- 48 SPIRIT, MATTER AND MORALS MATERIALISM AND ETHICS 49 ence, as '' matter *^ and '' spirit *' re- spectively. And, sanctioned by im- memorial usage, these words have at length proved the most prolific source of confusion and superstition. Un- mindful of the fact that they cannot legitimately be retained, save in a sym- boHc sense, one is still tempted to employ them in a wholly ambiguous and misleading manner. With many professedly rational per- sons, even now, as Professor Tyndall suggests, *' materialism '' is rarely spoken of save in a contemptuous fashion. And in the eyes of not a few it is to this day regarded as no- thing but a gospel of dirt — a veritable synonym for denial and unbelief, if not implicit atheism. The reason which may be assigned for this hostile attitude is by no means so obvious when one comes to think of it. The doctrine, as it is generally expounded, it is true, is not an especi- ally inspiring one ; nor has it often, at any rate in its cruder form, ap- pealed more successfully to the philo- sophic than the devotionally-minded. Nothing is, however, more apparent, upon reflection, than that the prejudice which is usually shown to materialism is traceable in reality to the survival of monastic and puritanic traditions. As we shall presently see, materialism is in no respect essentially immoral, nor is its acceptance necessarily in- compatible with a true appreciation for man's higher nature. So far from being so, in its more philosophic aspect it is distinctly calculated to promote man's spiritual interests. Materialism is no modern gospel. Upwards of 2,000 years ago a certain school of Greek philosophers, headed by Leucippus and Democritus, founded what is known as the '' atomistic theory." According to this view, the explanation of life and existence was sought in the aggregation and segre- gation of ultimate material particles. Bgi^BajMhiat*"'~-"*l:f:j;^«!'^^^ .■-j-..j..^,iaa.^«y.jM5a^ 50 SPIRIT, MATTER AND MORALS Everything which exists, so it was held, has been brought into being by the coUisions and combinations of the atoms to which the collisions gave rise. In this manner, it was con- tended, we may account for the origin and development both of suns, planets, vegetation, animal and human life ; whilst, according to Democritus, the same process will also account for sen- sation, thought and self -consciousness. In effect, though with some modifi- cation (since the ultimate nature of the atom is now a matter of controversy) this view is substantially identical with that which has been accepted by most of our leading physicists and biolo- gists, and notably by Biichner and Haeckel, both of whom are prepared to trace ahke physical, mental and moral phenomena to the evolution of '' world stuff." Into the details of this system of thought I cannot at the present moment delay to enter ; but I would advise t MATERIALISM AND ETHICS 51 my readers, if they have not already done so, to acquaint themselves with that most masterly exposition of scientific '' monism,'' The Riddle of the Universe. In this work the whole question is not only admirably set forth, but ably defended by the author. Now, to most of us, so mechanical a theory of Hf e and mind as this, which seems to exclude alike design, purpose or chance, and is therefore meaningless to many, appears particularly unpro- mising. Apart altogether from certain theoretical difficulties which its accept- ance involves, and which the lay mind is incompetent to appreciate, the ma- jority are instinctively repelled by the arbitrary attempt which, as they inform us, these philosophers make to invest '' matter " with thought, will and feeUng. Is not this idea, they would ask, inconsistent with itself ? These attributes, we are told, are not appro- priate to matter at all, and have nothing in common therewith, but should be n il 52 SPIRIT, MATTER AND MORALS dealt with exclusively by the meta- physician. By what right, then, have Professor Haeckel and his colleagues proceeded to deal with them from their standpoint ? A good deal, no doubt, may be urged in this way. It may be said, for example, that' mind or consciousness and '' matter '' are really antithetical, and that both are mutually preclusive concepts. Thus, whereas '' matter " is objective and may be perceived by the senses — handled, tasted, seen, etc., and has the properties of inertia and extension; mind, on the other hand, presupposes a perceiving sub- ject, and implies thought, self-con- sciousness and will, all of which are immaterial. Hence it may be urged, and from this point of view correctly enough, that the mere attempt to argue the matter after the manner of the '' monist '' is inadmissible, and betokens confusion of the respective provinces of philosophy and science. ll MATERIALISM AND ETHICS 53 So far, it must be confessed, the domains of science and philosophy have lain, from sheer necessity, far asunder. And for her part, science has certainly proved herself utterly unequal to the task of bridging the hitherto impass- able gulf between '' matter " and '' mind.'' But however rash they may be, this at least must be allowed, that Professor Haeckel and his disciples are to be congratulated upon the step which they have taken. Unless one is greatly mistaken, this monistic conception of Hfe and mind is destined, within a very short space of time, to completely revolutionize the unwarran- ted assumption that there can be any fundamental difference, at any rate, between matter and spirit. With the negative conclusions of the material school of thinkers we need not here concern ourselves. If, as I pointed out in the first chapter, it is impossible to affirm aught of the Infinite, still less can we bring our- Ill ill 54 SPIRIT, MATTER AND MORALS selves to adopt an attitude of denial. Neither God, creation, nor immor- tality need receive rejection at our hands. On its constructive side, de- spite the pessimistic conclusions of its opponents and critics, monism has, however, not a Httle to offer us. It is to this aspect of the problem that we may profitably address ourselves. Quitting the realm, then, of specu- lation and conjecture, and entering the region of every-day experience, what do we discover to be the facts of the case ? Briefly, very briefly, this : that throughout the entire Uni- verse which man has explored, from the moneron to the man, from the tiniest protoplasmic cell to the planet- ary system itself, intelligence and matter are found to form an insepar- able alHance— that instinct, tendency, feeling, mind and will all bear the closest approximation to form, struc- ture and function. Given matter of a certain grade and quality, and we i MATERIALISM AND ETHICS 55 are instantly led to infer a particular order of psychic property. Accord- ing to Professor Bose, even metals give evidence of a certain kind of responsiveness or " irritability " when a given stimulus is applied. Hence it is the refractory razor, whose user has subjected it to too great an exertion, if put away for a time will regain its edge ; the " fatigued " metal gradu- ally becoming normal again. The reciprocal relationship in which " life " and " form," or " spirit " and " matter " may be said to stand to one another, appears to be the more completely estabUshed the higher up the scale of evolution we proceed. The more complex the function the more elaborate the organic structure. Thus do we see that what was once regarded as senseless " dead matter," is no longer thinkable. Within matter itself lies every potency and possi- bility of growth and development. " If," remarks Dr. H. Maudsley, ifli i! in 56 SPIRIT, MATTER AND MORALS '' the subtilties of organic processes did not far exceed the subtilties of observation and exposition, it might be possible to read and interpret mind in co-related structure and co-re- lated structure in mind — the cat's mind in the cat's structure, the sheep's mind in the sheep's structure, the monkey's mind in the monkey's struc- ture, and every human mind in the features of its special bodily structure. Give the tiger the sheep's foot and tooth, and what would become of its fierce and destructive proclivites ? Give the sheep the tiger's tooth and claw, and how long would its inoffensive meekness last ? " We are left to infer from this remark, not only that such weapons of offence and defence were developed in response to the animal's requirements, but that the very nature of the creature is interwoven with its bone, muscle and the very texture of its flesh : in short — that for all intents and pur- / k MATERIALISM AND ETHICS 57 poses, function and physical organi- zation and faculty may be regarded as so many aspects of a single fact. Nor, strange to relate, in spite of their pretensions as ^'spiritual" philoso- phers, have those who have striven to present us with a super-terrene world proved equal to the task of dissociating their lofty conceptions from some order of materiaUty. No matter how thin it may be worn, '' matter " still invades the territory of the most spiritual of spheres. Thus one finds our theosophical friends dealing in " astral bodies " and '' mental planes," which are most appropriately deemed as supplementary adjuncts of the alleged exalted exhibitions of con- sciousness with which such folk profess so extensive a familiarity. Whether such states of consciousness and their respective '' planes " exist, is beside the point. All that we need note is — that the human mind is driven to the extremity of postulating " matter " y "I; 4 58 SPIRIT, MATTER AND MORALS as well as '* spirit '' wherever the attempt is made to make its thought intelligible : object as well as sub- ject, in short, being simply inseparable from our mode of thinking. And yet, in spite of this exceedingly obvious fact, hosts of people still delight to discourse to us of '' mys- terious, invisible spirit influences,*' for all the world as though such '' powers " and '' forces " could float about in space, independent of any human rela- tionships. How common it is for these good people to tell us that worship and adoration should be directed to an abstract'' Intelligence,'' to Wisdom, or to Power, or to Love — totally obUvi- ous of the fact that such words mean practically nothing unless they are applied to powers interpreted in human intercourse and experience 1 We still, it seems, find it easier to affect a vague '' behef " in the super- iority of the '' mind " over the '' body,'' than to reahze the reciprocal relation i MATERIALISM AND ETHICS 59 of the one to the other. Numbers of people appear to find very little diffi- culty in swallowing the monstrous and demonstrably fallacious assump- tions of Mrs. Eddy, but how many are willing to rely upon a sane view which would seek to subordinate the life to rational principles, such as would lead them to justly discriminate between mental and physiological states ? What is the use of fancying oneself in paradise when one's diges- tion is disordered, and all that is needed is a little judicious dietary ? Where is the sense of talking about the '' power of the will " over the stomach, when the only safe course to pursue is to face the fact that all that is necessary is to employ one's rational faculties a Httle more in the selection of a more digestible menu ? Can self- hypnotism, I would ask, take the place of common sense in such matters, and can we afford to substitute a course of reading of Science and Health for the 6o SPIRIT, MATTER AND MORALS MATERIALISM AND ETHICS 6i properties of good wholesome food and fresh air ? In these days, very much is said about "thought control." People have laid firm hold upon the notion that somehow, in some " occult " fashion, the human mind is creative. What this term may mean they have perhaps no very precise idea, but they are under the impression that they have only to will— to tense their muscles and corrugate their eyebrows (a curi- ously material proceeding, by the way) and hey presto/ all that they wish will come to pass! That there is more than the proverbial grain of truth in this must frankly be allowed. The mind can, and doubtless does, influ- ence the body enormously, often to a surprising extent. Indeed, the power to initiate effort, and to direct and control the lower emotions and animal functions, would appear to be the supreme test of manhood. What, how- ever, these people are not so ready to c reaHze is this : that the mind itself can act only in so far as adequate means are provided for its doing so : only, in short, as a suitable brain and body enable its potentialities to express themselves. You and I may contemplate the possibility of accomplishing any num- ber of wonderful things. The higher we aim the better. But, unless we are willing to ensure the appropriate conditions, we shall fail utterly to compass our ends. As Browning sings — Let us not always say — Spite of this flesh to-day, I strove, made way, gained ground upon the whole. As the bird wings and sings. Let us cry all good things Are ours, nor soul help flesh more now than flesh helps soul. Professor Huxley has well observed — " changes in the condition of the brain matter are the invariable antecedent of all states of consciousness." By 62 SPIRIT, MATTER AND MORALS MATERIALISM AND ETHICS 63 precisely what means these changes are effected we may not presume to say : but that there is a complete coincidence between mind and brain is certain. And this much at least is estabhshed beyond the possibiHty of doubt or question : that apart from the molecular changes which occur in the brain, we have no experience of volition, thought or feeling. The connexion, however, between the physi- cal and the psychical is even more intimate than this. Besides the brain, the body itself is the most potent agent in promoting mental vigour. Apart from organic and functional integrity, soundness, normahty and morality must be nothing short of impossible. To be holy, in the true sense, means little more than be to whole, complete, and entire. To this end mind and body must be mutually supplemen- tary. The paramount importance of diet, the laws of heredity, climate and I environment, it is now coming to be seen, cannot be over-estimated. And both the degenerate, the criminal and the feeble-minded, it is found, are they whose bodies, as well as '' souls,'' are feeble and defective. If it be true that '' of the soul the body form doth take,'' no less is it a fact that of the body the soul receives its means of manifestation. We may be inclined to place the responsibility, in the first instance, upon the soul, and to assign the unsatisfactory state of affairs to the violation of the laws of hygiene and personal morality. How- ever that may be, things must be taken as they are found. And so long as no improvement is wrought in the body, no change will be effected in a man's life. It is for this reason that our modern social reformers are coming more and more to rely upon physical and intel- lectual discipline. For long ages, man's moral and spiritual nature was sought .T-.^jiy^'^-^-^'^s 64 SPIRIT, MATTER AND MORALS to be captured by way of the emotions. We are at length finding a more excel- lent method. Instead of preaching at mankind, we are beginning to teach that cleanHness, the advantages accru- ing through education, and exercise, cannot be over-estimated, and that when these things are mastered man has a serviceable foundation for his '' higher '' activities. Thus far has " materialism " won its way. To come now to another aspect of this question, which is not without its ideal bearing. We do not, I think, sufficiently recognize the moral and rational tendency (it is no more) which is exhibited in Nature. As often as not relief or even re- covery from many forms of psychic disturbance may be secured if only rest be taken. The medical faculty are coming to see this. By relieving the system from extreme tension and stress for a while, in nine cases out of ten, a man will regain his normal MATERIALISM AND ETHICS 65 state. To what would this appear to point ? To this fact, simply : that resident within the organs and func- tions themselves lies the power whereby equilibrium may be secured. Half the time, with our theories, and creeds, and fads, we are but meddling with the health-promoting processes of nature. If only we could persuade ourselves " to let well alone '' more ! And the same is true of our mental and moral life. If only we trusted more to the good, and strove less against the evil, what a sweet, serene atmosphere our presence would en- gender ! By entering this plea for the inher- ent intelligence of the material prin- ciple, I would not lead my readers to suppose that I am concerned with advocating for one instant a go-as-you- please philosophy. To do that would be utterly subversive of my intention. Life, to be real, must needs be earnest, must be made worth the striving after ; £ ^ SPIRIT, MATTER AND MORALS must include, not exclude^ all that is most distinctively human in its nature. At the same time, I would suggest that the time has arrived when men should disabuse their minds, once and for all, of the notion that nature is an ass and must be driven. *' Blind brute force " does not exist. If science is showing us anything, it is this, that intelHgence inheres in the whole, and in the part no less than the whole. Thus is being accompHshed the trans- figuration of matter. Each physical, mental and moral operation of which an individual may be capable presupposes an effort on his part to relate himself with certain physical as well as mental and moral conditions . Yet, in another, and perhaps a truer sense, such acts are intelligent^ and bear especial refer- ence to the subjective or inner life. Thus is the old materiaUsm insensibly merging itself in a new, and higher (because more practical) idealism. All that now remains for us to touch I \ MATERIALISM AND ETHICS 67 upon is, how may materialism, if adopted, be said to affect the ethical life ? Has it any bearing upon reli- gion ? Can it, if embraced, affect our spiritual aspirations ? Suppose, for the sake of argument, that the non-philosophical view of evo- lution which is sometimes preached turned out to be the whole truth ? It is not prohahle^ perhaps — no more probable than the doctrines which are taught by the spiritualists. But sup- pose that the only life we were des- tined to live were the life we already know. Assume, for argument's sake, that no future state awaited man : that by some cataclysmic or similar catastrophe he were to be snuffed out of existence altogether — would he be at liberty to live the life of the brute, or to protest that he had no need of his ideals ? Assuredly not. Whether or no a future state be in store for him, be his fortune here or elsewhere pleas- ant or the reverse, the moral law^ust ajffi. >■■-■«- «.-^.j:-^.Xi:,^.\3ISitA»liiii/IAtifilt6i * 66 SPIRIT, MATTER AND MORALS must include, not exclude, all that is most distinctively human in its nature. At the same time, I would suggest that the time has arrived when men should disabuse their minds, once and for all, of the notion that nature is an ass and must be driven. '' Blind brute force " does not exist. If science is showing us anything, it is this, that inteUigence inheres in the whole, and in the part no less than the whole. Thus is being accompHshed the trans- figuration of matter. Each physical, mental and moral operation of which an individual may be capable presupposes an effort on his part to relate himself with certain physical as well as mental and moral conditions. Yet, in another, and perhaps a truer sense, such acts are intelligent, and bear especial refer- ence to the subjective or inner life. Thus is the old materiaHsm insensibly merging itself in a new, and higher (because more practical) idealism. All that now remains for us to touch \ MATERIALISM AND ETHICS 67 upon is, how may materialism, if adopted, be said to affect the ethical life ? Has it any bearing upon reli- gion ? Can it, if embraced, affect our spiritual aspirations ? Suppose, for the sake of argument, that the non-philosophical view of evo- lution which is sometimes preached turned out to be the whole truth ? It is not probable^ perhaps — no more probable than the doctrines which are taught by the spiritualists. But sup- pose that the only life we were des- tined to live were the life we already know. Assume, for argument's sake, that no future state awaited man : that by some cataclysmic or similar catastrophe he were to be snuffed out of existence altogether — would he be at liberty to live the life of the brute, or to protest that he had no need of his ideals ? Assuredly not. Whether or no a future state be in store for him, be his fortune here or elsewhere pleas- ant or the reverse, the moral law must II 68 SPIRIT, MATTER AND MORALS still be his stronghold and rock of deliverance. No greater blasphemy against human nature was ever uttered than by the writer in the Epistle : " if the dead rise not, let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die/' Have we, I would ask, nothing better to choose between than faith in some remote personal beatitude or a life of sensual indulgence ? Is there no alternative left to us ? Have we no sense of our present responsibilities, no regard for our mutual needs, no interest in the great Hfe which surges about us ? Shall not this great physi- cal world bring us to ourselves ? If not — what can ? And let it not be that we blind ourselves to the stupendous facts which such a conception involves. Let us be sincere on this point. If we are, we must acknowledge that the worth and the meaning of life, so far as they can be said to exist for us, will depend upon a full recognition of the facts before us. To shut our eyes MATERIALISM AND ETHICS 69 to these must be to miss practically every spiritual opportunity. In conclusion, I have little to add but this, that whilst it may be open to criticism, materialism is not necessarily opposed to ethical religion. Why, as Professor Huxley has asked, should the fact that we have descended from a pithecoid pedigree diminish our divine right of kingship over nature ? Why indeed ? How should mind, even if it were proved to be a function of matter, be any lower on that account ? However '' crass " he may be, the materiahst is perhaps on safer ground than the spirituaUst. He may profess to know less : he may earn, and be entitled to, the name of '' sceptic.'' At least, if he is sincere, he will have laid hold on truth as he sees it — and that, however humble a thing, may serve his purpose better in the long run than the theories and dreams of those who, knowing not, protest that the light is with them. i < y \ '/ (I Rational Ethicism THERE are certain words which, to the minds of many people, may be said almost to suggest a dis- tinction without a difference. Unless I am much mistaken, the words Rationalism and Ethics afford us with an illustration in point. For per- haps the generaUty of persons who are unacquainted with the essential aims of ethical religion, Ethics and Rationalism are practically synony- mous terms. For several generations, Rational- ism, at any rate with ourselves, if not elsewhere, has been a rock of offence — a veritable danger signal, suggesting a deplorable departure from the ordinarily received standards of re- 73 74 SPIRIT, MATTER AND MORALS ligious orthodoxy. And somehow, an erroneous impression appears to have obtained currency— at any rate, among the more unthinking— that Ethicism, when all is said and done, is nothing but a species of diluted free-thought- a kind of attempt to estabUsh secularism upon a respectable footing, with a view to consulting the susceptibihties of those whose con- cessions to good taste may have for- bidden them from following in the foot- steps of the late Charles Bradlaugh and Mr. Foote. Very many people, one fears, to judge from what one is told, entertain some extraordinarily mistaken and exaggerated notions regarding the doctrines of those who are constrained to preach and to teach the gospel of ethics. And among such unfounded impressions may be instanced the exceedingly mischievous, albeit preva- lent opinion, that one is concerned merely with seeking to undermine the RATIONAL ETHICISM 75 f foundations of such religious institu- tions as are already in existence, and has no better object in view than to perpetrate sundry unjustifiable on- slaughts upon what are received as the most holy and sacred objects of men's faith. Never, surely, was a more palpably fallacious opinion entertained. If ever man came not to destroy but to fulfil, assuredly that man is he who would expound the doctrines of ethical religion. To imagine, moreover, that such an one is in any wise committed to any set of tenets by which it is sought to supersede Christianity, must be totally to misconceive the spirit of the religion in question. If one would lay especial emphasis upon one thing more than another, that thing is the inward life and light considered upon their own intrinsic merits, i.e. the life of unconditional self-surrender to those august ordinances which have their origin in the human breast, and which are to be regarded as the only source i ^e SPIRIT, MATTER AND MORALS of every good and perfect thing in heaven or earth. I will assume, therefore, that all who happen to have followed me thus far must realize that the charge which is sometimes preferred against ethic- ism — to the effect that it is necessarily anti-theistic or agnostic — is as un- tenable as it is unwarrantable. At the same time, whilst, in a mea- sure, ethics and rationalism may stand for two distinct modes of thought, presenting as they do certain anti- thetical features, in another sense these terms may be held to bear a similar, if not identical, import, inas- much as they carry us to two depart- ments in man, viz. the moral and the rational, whose mutual indebtedness no student of humanity can question. If only we can once make up our mind to divest such terms of the unfortunate associations which have gathered about them, and are but willing to interpret them in their legitimate sense, we shall RATIONAL ETHICISM 11 not only fail to discover any neces- sary incompatibility between them, but we shall find them to possess a posi- tively supplementary value. But now, first of all, let it be that I avail myself of the present opportunity for making the candid admission that rationalism, in the popular accepta- tion of the word, presents several un- attractive features. Only too often the rationalist poses before the world as a ''materialist'' of the d epest dye — as an individual of the Grad- grind type, from whom every vestige of emotion and imagination have departed : as a being, in short, who has surrendered every right save that by which he contrives to obtain a reputation as a fact - gathering machine. RationaHsm of this sort assuredly leaves not a little to be de- sired, and every ethiculturist has a perfect right to object to its being identified with ethical religion. To cultivate the intellect at the expense 78 SPIRIT, MATTER AND MORALS of the feelings, or the emotions, and above all the moral sense, is indeed a mistaken course to pursue ; and not the least among its countless disad- vantages is that it tends to engender a sceptical, if not bigoted attitude of mind. Certainly, in justice to him let it be said the rationalist oft-times appears to beHe his creed, and is by no means invariably the mental monster that he is painted. At the moment, however, we are not concerned so much with the rationalist in his capacity as a human being, but with his habit of thought. That his reputation, at any rate, is an unenvi- able one cannot be gainsaid. Similar allegations, however, have been brought against ethicism. When he wrote his famous essay on the Sovereignty of ethics, Emerson pointed out, and with no Httle justification, that the religion of rectitude is accounted but a sterile chimney-corner philosophy, and that ethics are adjudged incapable of satis- RATIONAL ETHICISM 79 fying the affections. The criticism is still pertinent. So befogged is the popular intelligence, that it still seeks religion only in supernaturaKsm and revelation, and fails to find in simple, unadulterated moral teaching anything but bare intellectual propositions or metaphysical abstractions. As if the soul of ethicism did not he in the ap- phcation of practical principles ! Perhaps it will be objected by some that the methods of ethicists are not always beyond reproach. Very pos- sibly something is to be said for the views of those who hold that moral culturists do not sufficiently grip the average Hfe, or appeal to the popular intelligence. Perhaps it will be said, too, that this attitude of which we speak is somewhat remote and aloof from that of the man in the street. If so, all that can be done is to take the criticism to heart, and to reconsider the question. But be that as it may, the main con- -•. "Sf^L, n*-Jptt f a>fcfiMa.jaj»aitgftrfi»L»v»iy» ^"=»"*^»*''H iMa m aw-v. Here, however, we may pause in order to make some attempt to realize the untold influence which man's rea- son has at length brought to bear upon his actions. Unless man had gradu- ally accustomed himself to check his uncontrollable desires and emotions by dint of deUberation and forethought, he could not possibly have cUmbed to his present position. Emotion alone could not have effected his emancipa- tion. Admitting, as we well may, that man is inherently moral, nothing short of experience plus reflection could have possibly placed the means at his dis- posal for progressing thus far. No- body with the slightest acquaintance with anthropological research can possibly persuade himself that even that transcendently sublime faculty, conscience, is in itself sufficient to ensure full blown perfection. As we now know, this power, in common with many more, has been conditioned and limited in its range according to 86 SPIRIT, MATTER AND MORALS man's training, experience and en- vironment. Indeed, so true is this, that if manhood may be conceived of as depending upon it, no less must con- science be regarded as the product, the function, of organic development. A supernaturally imparted '' conscience " never has enabled, and we may be very well sure never will enable, man to reach the perfection of holiness. To conscience, almost as much as to fanaticism and ferocity, one may refer innumerable atrocities ; among them the '' holy " wars, the massa- cres and the infernal iniquities of the Inquisition. It may, indeed, be doubted whether, at any time, human advancement has been promoted as much by the " conscience '' as by the natural decline of the animal impulses and the subsequent growth of reason. Perhaps, however, one distinguishes almost too readily between '' ration- ality '' and '' conscience.'' More and more, as time has gone on, have the RATIONAL ETHICISM 87 meanings which we have come to attach to these terms tended to ap- proximate. And though our religious training has favoured in making us regard them as separate and distinct, who does not practically identify a conscientious with an intelligent deed or individual ? To be insincere, to dissemble, to cheat, or to commit murder would be to expose oneself to a charge of folly and defective judg- ment just as surely as of moral ob- liquity. We are rapidly passing be- yond the stage when we can afford to consider the various departments of human life as separable and isolated. On the contrary, we discover ourselves to be'dealing, under any circumstances, merely with given aspects of a funda- mental entity, or ego, whose nature ramifies in any number of unsuspected directions. But in thus identifying moraUty with the rational nature, we shall do well to extend the scope of our inquiry k 88 SPIRIT, MATTER AND MORALS somewhat, otherwise we shall fail to grasp the problem in its entirety. For countless ages the unquestioning ac- ceptance of traditional opinions has blinded men to some of the most impontant facts, among which that of the true essence of the spiritual life must be accounted the chief est. Until quite recently this was supposed to consist in almost anything save the free play of the inner nature. Only very recently have rational questions acquired a spiritual significance at all. Until the last decade or so the very terms '' spiritual " and '' rational " were assumed to be mutually exclusive. Wherefore it behoves us to recognize what we are about when we attempt to effect a reconciliation between them. To this day there are many people who are found to entertain the de- cidedly novel opinion that man is in possession of two distinct natures — a lower and a higher ; and, further, that whilst it is his duty to check and i RATIONAL ETHICISM 89 restrain the former, he is at liberty to allow himself, in some mysterious fashion, to be dominated by the latter. From one point of view this may be correct enough. Most of us, by being conscious of some ancestral taint or inherited weakness, find ourselves in possession of certain habits and in- stincts of which we would willingly rid ourselves. To suppress these is certainly our bounden duty ; and one may even allow that the surest manner by which to correct a lower emotion, is to appeal to — substitute for it — a higher. To conclude, however, that we are justified meanwhile in eliminating the rational mind, is as immoral as it is absurd. An example or two will suf- fice to illustrate this. How common it is to hear people, who affect to embrace '' the gospel of love," hasten to tell us that the golden rule comprehends every conceivable duty of man. To love God and one's neighbour, we are 90 SPIRIT, MATTER AND MORALS assured, is to fulfil the whole law and the prophets : man has no spiritual life apart from love, and to realize uni- versal brotherhood is the only thing that remains for him. Now, whenever I overhear anybody talking in that strain, I am always led to wonder one of two things — either whether they are perfectly sincere, or whether they are entirely conscious of the monstrous nature of their pretension. In one respect, undoubtedly, love is the prime element in Hfe. To burn with kindly emotions, to be tender, com- passionate and wax sympathetic with the suffering, to pity the afflicted, is not alone admirable : it is natural. But at the same time it is not everything. There may be — there is — room for more love in the world. I do not doubt it for one instant. There is also' room for more of other things : as, for instance, more good sense, more reflection, more reason, more wisdom ; and upon the whole, one is inclined to think that the RATIONAL ETHICISM 91 latter commodity would prove dis- tinctly more serviceable in the long run. Has the thought never occurred to any of my readers that love, tender- ness, sympathy, and indulgence may be responsible for as much misery and suffering in the world as callousness, indifference and cruelty ? Beautiful as it may be, the love-policy promises distinctly better than it could ever prove in practice. If it could be Hved up to consistently throughout, such a doctrine might not be without its compensations, I am ready to allow ; at the same time, the whole idea is so utterly inconceivable that we forbear from any discussion of the Utopia to which such a vision gives rise. So far as experience carries us, sym- pathy and love are by no means the universal solvent for ills, either human or inhuman, though so far as we are in a position to discover, they have been awakened by the sight of suffering. Moreover, were this said suffering to 92 SPIRIT, MATTER AND MORALS cease, we cannot conceive of the necessity for the existence of love. Whether it could exist in heaven, we would not undertake to say. But this much is certain, that, taking the world as we find it, sympathy, plus a modi- cum of common sense — in other words, sentiment directed by reason — would appear to be the most practical re- medy for human afflictions. As it is, the mere impulse to be '' kind " is only too often mistaken for a '' divine attri- bute.*' It is nothing of the kind. To say a pleasant word, to do a generous deed, even if it cost us little, may not be a bad thing. It is not, however, necessarily any criterion of character. To be goody a man must be just and intelligent, compassionate and sensi- ble. Thus, by a happy combination of intellect and feeling, he may lay some claim to moral approval. Another illustration showing the mis- take which arises from dissociating ethical and rational values may be RATIONAL ETHICISM 93 seen when we approach the hardly less- extolled virtue, faith. That faith has its legitimate func- tions and uses, even in this professedly rational era, must be apparent to the average observer. Though super- naturalism may have declined, confi- dence and trust are still as necessary as ever between man and man ; in- deed, it may truly be affirmed that faith between two human beings is, if anything, a fairer and more beautiful thing than the faith which our fore- fathers reposed in the supernatural providence. Yet to what lengths may not mis- apphed faith even now go ! How much misled people may be by suffer- ing themselves to be influenced by blind beUef. What can be more la- mentable than to divorce faith from discrimination ? to trust to hearsay ? to give credence to the lightly uttered word ? to heed ill-considered trifles ? Yet how the habit grows on one ! 94 SPIRIT, MATTER AND MORALS What need there is for greater reason, for forethought ; how quickly one's mind may be contaminated by accept- ing statements merely on the author- ity of another. Then again, into what superstition unrestrained credu- lity may lead a man. How many people who boast of their unorthodoxy believe in '' luck/' in charms, and fortune telling, and quack advertise- ments, which derationalize and disorder the mind and disgrace our twentieth century intelligence into the bargain. When one witnesses the unspeakable follies to which such superstitions can lead man, one is sometimes sore tempted, rationalist that one is^ to exclaim, '' Would that the old faith, for all its supernaturalism, with its sin- cerity and steadfastness of purpose, were again a living force among men.*' But as things go, no revival of the old need be anticipated ; nor, on second thoughts, should it be desired. The surest remedy for the follies of this RATIONAL ETHICISM 95 or any other hour, after all, lies not in the uncritical acceptance of any beliefs (modern or ancient), but in the critical attitude which it behoves every man to adopt towards the practical duties of Hfe. Mother- wit, which, as Emerson pointed out, is the surest remedy for false theology, is no less the only safe cure for profane credulity. Thus knowing, and with wisdom and experience to guide us, we have nothing to fear. In bringing my remarks to a conclu- sion now, I would reiterate my plea for an awakened sense of the stupendous responsibilities which are committed to human keeping. As the moral life is not something that admits of being conceived of as separate and detached from our conscious existence, so we must realize the necessity for earnest and deliberate thought upon every question which may engage us. Unless high resolve and lofty purpose be translated into terms 96 SPIRIT, MATTER AND MORALS of intelligent action, no progress need be looked for, and as a matter of course, moral death must inevitably ensue. It may not be, it cannot be, that virtue, courage, temperance, chastity, equality, serenity, faith and humanity, owe their origin to the brain, and are the mere by-product either of mole- cular changes or some "intellectual process." These things lie deeper; they are organic, the florescence of man's very self ; the divine emanation proceeding from his soul ; the express image of his person. Whatever they may be, or may not be, they are not to be dismissed by introducing any conception of the human mind to subordinate them to which Vould be to profane and desecrate them. For all that, these " promises of a wider bUss " will become a man's price- less possession only when he has been willing to obtain an intelligent com- prehension of the principles which underly human Hfe, physical, mental RATIONAL ETHICISM 97 and moral. Only as spiritualism, ma- terialism and rationalism fuse in ethi- cal monism, and the laws of life are interpreted with reference to moral purpose, can the full satisfaction of the soul be reached, and the heart's desire be attained. L 1 RECENT PUBLICATIONS issued by 28, REGENT STREET Tivo doors south of Piccadilly Circus v >» — .*iSi*sj?-'-*— -t i-n./: -A . , *■•:». ^Sf..-»■. i . A. OWEN & CO., PUBLISHERS SOME OF OUR LATEST PUBLICATIONS. DARWINISM AND THE PROBLEMS OF LIFE. A Study of Familiar Animal Life. By Conrad GuENTHER, Ph.D., Professor at the University Freiburg in Baden. Translated from the Third Edition by Joseph McCabe. Royal 8vo. Cloth. 12s. 6d. net. I Introduction— 11. Mammals— -III. Birds— IV. Reptiles and Amphibia— V. Fishes— VI. Tracheates— VII. Crabs and Molluscs— VIII. Worms and Coelenterata— IX. Protozoa X Extensions of the Principle of Selection and other In- voluntary Theories— XL The Mechanical Conception of Life and its Limits— XII. Nature, History, and Morality — Copious Index. Its distinctive attractiveness is, that it engages the reader in the study of animals with which he is famiUar, and leads him on gradually to less obvious problems. It passes in review the chief groups of the animal world, written m lucid and untechnical language ; it is easily adapted to the general reader, while offering the regular student a thorough survey of evolutionary literature up to date. " This well-written, logically-planned, and admirably-executed work affords the best introduction to modem biological thought with which I am acquainted ; and Mr. McCabe and his publishers are to be congratulated, etc. — Pnncipal, Lloyd Morgan, in the Tribune. , , . -i • ♦^h.-^^ku '• To write of evolution and its procession of hfe and to be easily intelUgiDle to the general reader, demand no common abiUty ; to discuss the Question with the exactness science requires, and at the same time to give the book the charm of a romance, might well appear beyond the bounds of possibility. Yet the author has completed this difficult task with enUre success, etc., etc."— r/kJ DaUy News. . 1 4- ♦« «♦« »» ** A highly-readable and instructive gmde to organic evolution, etc. etc. — " Such^a volume is the fairy book of science.**— Reynolds* Newspaper, HAECKEL'S LAST WORDS ON EVOLU- TION. A Popular Retrospect and Summary. By Ernst Haeckel, Professor at Jena University. Translated from the Second Edition by Joseph McCabe. With 3 Plates and Haeckel's latest portrait. Royal 8vo. Cloth. 6s. net. Contents :— The Controversy about Creation— Evolution and Dogma— The Struggle over our Genealogical Tree— Our 28, REGENT STREET, LONDON I' ( Ape-Relatives and the Vertebrate Stem— The Controversy over the Soul ; The Ideas of Immortality and God — Appendix —Evolutionary Tables : Geological Ages and Periods— Man's Genealogical Tree— Classification and Genealogical Tree of the Primates— Postscript : Evolution and Jesuitism. " An exceedingly interesting book, for it contains in a small compass, not only the result of the author's scientific labours, but also a bnef histoncal account of the doings of other writers and philosophers ; it ought certainly to be reaa by all." — Dundee Courier. , . ^.„. ,., rr • »» r-v^-*-., " A book which is even more readable than his Rtddle of the Umverse. —LtUrary Guide, TRUTH: EXPERIMENTAL Re- searches ABOUT THE DESCENT OF MAN. By H. M. Bernelot Moens, Ex-Professeur de Zoologie et de Botanique de I'enseignement secondaire et superieur aux Pays-Bas. 15. net. This booklet, treating on matters essentially scientific, has been written in a form accessible to the pubhc in general, and is likewise of the greatest importance to men of science. The question is a solution of a problem which must interest the most indifferent, namely : THE ORIGIN OF MAN. You will meet here with no grand words or sentences, no speculations, nothing but proved facts which, logically linked together, will lead you direct to truth. The author (a pupil and friend of Pasteur, Haeckel, Metchnikoff, etc., etc.), is going ahead, caring but little about the dogma which he faces boldly, and about prejudices of any nature whatsoever. Developing parental affinity between the anthropoid apes (the gorilla, chimpanzee, orang-utan and gibbon) and man, treating on fecundation, and the favourable results he obtained from superior mammals with artificial fecundation, the author demonstrates clearly how he will succeed in giving experimental proof that man is nothing more than a superior form of anthropoid ape. All those who do not abide in ignorance, and who do not reject thought and reflection, should not hesitate in obtaining this pamphlet, the fruits of deep study and re- searches from one who sought but one result, that of finding out TRUTH. . .ifc-oiJ* *ak^'!.--*^iati&Jt,e^ A. OWEN & CO., PUBLISHERS MATTER AND INTELLECT : A Recon- ciliation of Science and the Bible. By Andrew Allan. Crown^Svo. Cloth. 224 pages. 5s. net. Contents :— Matter — Energy — Gravitation — Evolution, etc.— Life— Consciousness— Sensation and Volition— Rea- son— Intellect— Imagination— Memory— Instinct— Will— bm —The Soul— Theology— Religion— Miracles— Heaven and Hell— Matter— Energy and Will. The style throughout is very simple and direct, and the language is entirely free from theological and philosophical technicalities. The book may be heartily recommended to all who desire to make themselves acquainted with another aspect of the New Theology. - Since Drummond's Natural Law in the Spiritual World, nothing, in our opinion, has appeared at once so original, so suggestive, and so spiritually edifying as this volume. From beginning to end, it wouM be hard to beat and we have to admit that, compared with Drumniond's Mr. Allan sogic is sounder, his knowledge of natural science and the spintual value of his deductions vastly superior. Th? book is one of the ablest and most successful attemp s we have seen to reconcile the Bible with modem science. ^Aberdeen Daily "Of the greatest interest to those who are familiar with the writings of Huxley and CmoTd."— Pall Mall Gazette. u u 1 ,„« ror^a^ •• Is certainly a very interesting book written by a man who has a large range of knowledge and many original ideas." — Contemporary Review. SPIRIT, MATTER AND MORALS. By R. DiMSDALE Stocker. Fcap. 8vo. Cloth. 2s. net; in paper covers, is. net. Contents :— Spiritualism and Ethics— Materialism and Ethics — Rational Ethicism. This book is an attempt to establish practical reUgion upon a thoroughly credible basis. The author finds moral- ity, or human conduct, to be the foundation. He discusses "Spiritualism," "Materialism." and "Modern Rationalism," in the claims of neither of which he discovers that of which the modern thinker is in search. His conclusions will be acceptable to all who are alive to this pressing problem of the hour. BIBLICAL CHRISTIANITY. By Her- mann LuDEMANN, D.D. (Professor in the University, Berne). 28, REGENT STREET, LONDON <^ \ ^f Translated by Maurice A. Canney, M.A. Oxon. Crown 8vo. Cloth. 2s. net. Contents :— Protestantism— Character and Development —The New Protestantism— Ancient Views in the Bible — The Jesus of Mark— Other New Testament Writers— New Concep- tion of the Universe— New Testament and Apocalyptic Literature— What is Religion ?— What is Christianity ?— Development in Christianity— Biblical Christianity. " Those who want to see how one of the most distinguished of modem liberal theologians views the question should read this book, m which the author in a very lucid and scholarly manner, explains the genesis and progress ot Christianity."— i46^^^n Daily Journal. v*;or.i+,. " "This volume puts in a nutshell the real foundation of ChnsUanity. — Perthshire Courier. ,. . ^ , . u ,• ^t^;li♦« " To many who have been estranged from rehgious teaching by maDiiity to overcome doubts occasioned by the mysteries of the Old and New lesta- mcnts, the author's welcome words will come with illumination and encourage- ment, etc., etc." — The Bookman. THE HOLY LAND . Ten Scenes connected with the life of Jesus, containing ten exquisitely Coloured Plates, reproduced from paintings ; with preface and explana- tory notes by Maurice A. Canney, M.A. Oxon. Each Plate mounted on Special Art Paper. Cloth gilt, 2s. 6d. net. Bound in Imitation Art Canvas Cover, is. 6d. net. Specially recommended by high dignitaries of the Church. " Most beautifully executed, one feels transported into the climate and surroundings of our Lord."— Pf. ^ ,x, c ^a^.. " Admirably suited for presentation, for pnzes in connexion with buncia> - schools, etc. The views have been very deUcately reproduced m colour from excellent paintings, and each is accompanied by an appropriate explanatory note.*'-— Glasgow Herald. " An exceedingly pretty book." — The Guardian. THE NEW WORD. An open letter addressed to the Swedish Academy in Stockholm, on the meaning of the word Idealist. (Respecting the Nobel Prize.) Demy 8vo. 311 pages. 5s. net. Contents :— The Riddle— Psychology : The Personal Equation— Etymology : The Castle in the Air— Lexicography : The Play upon Words — Metaphysics : The House of Cards — Altruism : The Face in the Looking-Glass— Materialism : The Shape— Physics : The Knot— Dynamics : The Demon in the Stone— Chemistry : The Man in the Crumb— Mathe- K \ in. ^.TgajfcMMt'iacaMSetinftav o-feggMwaa *!, i II A. OWEN & CO., PUBLISHERS matics: The Conjuring Trick— Logic : The Cipher— On- tology: The End— Metastrophe : The Magic Crystal- Biology: The Elf— Theology : The Painted Window— Exegetics : The Forbidden Fruit— Pathology : The Pyramid -Astrology : The Eclipse— Ethics : The Book of Etiquette— The Heir. " It is one of the most stimulating books we have come across for a long time. The insight and wit with which this inquiry is earned out are remark- able as a deep-going criticism of modem science and philosophy, and niust oe carefully studied in the original to be fully appreciated. This is so deUghtJul a writer that we could go on quoUng him with pleasure lor Pages. He is a shatterer of idols, not for the pleasure of iconoclasm, but for love of the Uving God. No better present can be given to an inquiring fnend than this tnougnt- compelUng and illuminating book. We should like to have wntten a book like this ourselves.'*— JA^ Theosophical Review. , ^ t ** i •• As I turn over the leaves and re-read the passages I have marked, 1 utterly despair of conveying within my appointed Umits any inkhng of the authors fertiUty of thought and illustration. Our New Socratic is unquestionably an admirable writer.'*— WilUam Archer, in The Morning Leader. PSYCHOLOGY. An Exposition in Popu- lar Form, for the Use of Readers in General, as well as Stu- dents. By Alfred Cook, Ph.D., formerly Fellow of Johns Hopkins University. Crown 8vo, xi, 386 pp., cloth. 6s. net. The author hangs before the fascinated reader a panoramic view of human action, in the form of an almost innumerable category of concrete examples from the whole range of history — the actual experiences of real people, of some historic note, generally ; and using these as simple exhibits, the author's plan is to add a word here and there, a phrase or a paragraph, so turned as to establish readily his point of view and the bearing of the examples upon the topic in hand. This brings the reader, though but a tyro in psycho- logy, into direct contact with his own mind's processes. « These fine examples of the working of the human mind consist of historical anecdotes and scientific facts illustrative of such mental phenomena as sen- sation, perception, memory, imagination, judgment, reason, voUtion, and motion, leading up to the consideration of destiny and origin." — Light. •• Is not Dr. Cook's method the only method of teaching ? And the more numerous the examples the better. Dr. Cook gives us example upon example, long after we have seen the meaning of his proposition ; for he will have us remember it for ever as well as see it for the moment." — Expository Times. NAPOLEON'S MEN AND METHODS. By Alexander L. Kielland. Translated by Joseph McCabe, Author of *' Talleyrand." With Vignettes by M. 1 1 i 28, REGENT STREET, LONDON Loose, and a Frontispiece. Demy 8vo. Prmted in large type. Cloth gilt, Gilt top. 1 05. net. This Book is written by the great Norwegian historian, and is therefore more impartial than if it had been written by an Englishman, a Frenchman, or a German. It has had a very large circulation on the Continent. It is brilliantly composed and will doubtless have many readers who will be induced by its perusal to explore, from a less insular point of view, the most marvellous, the most fascinating, the most instructive, career of any individual of modern times. " A real and living Napoleon."— rA<5 Sco/st««n. ^ ^, „ ,,. „ ^, " The book has great hterary merit and is eminently readable. Mr. Kiellana s chapter on the Russian campaign is specially well done. A great-uncle ol the author, who was head chamberlain to Bemadotte m Sweden, was Norwegian envoy at the coronation of Nicolas I, and visited Jommi at St. Petersburg, besides being a guest of Marmont at Moscow. His descendant's somewhat uncomplimentary remark on the whole Embassy is, ' I should have hked some- thing better than to find my great-uncle dispatched as envoy by one traitor, visiting a second, and dancing at the house of a third.' Mr. Loose s vignettes have artistic merit and are certainly appropriate."— TA^ A cademy. "An extraordinarily vivid and interesting account of Napoleon and his lieu- tenants with details and sidelights that appear nowhere eXst."— Aberdeen Daily " It is easy to see that Mr. Kielland has read the memoirs of this period very thoroughly, so that the student has every chance of gaining from the book." — Times. , , , . x u u *' Here we have a history of perhaps the most remarkable phase, told by a man who knows the meaning of history, and can place before the reader the innermost secrets of a man's nature. We know of no book of the many dealing with the rise and fall of the French Empire which tells the story of Napoleon s life in plain facts, with correct inferences, and, therefore, feel it as much a duty as a pleasure to commend it."— English Mechanic and World of Science. *' With the aid of Kielland's masteriy study of Napoleon many a reader will get a clearer conception of his character than he has ever yet attained to. Mr. Kielland, who has a perfect genius for character analysis, uses this material as a means for presenting us with skilful vignettes of Bonaparte's great generals." — Reymlds* Nnvspaper. SECRETS OF THE PAST. By Allen Upward, of the Middle Temple and King's Inn, Barrister- at-Law, etc., etc. Crown octavo. Cloth, 6s. Contents : — Foreword — The Son of Philip IL — A Secret of the Tower of London — A Secret of the Tiber — The Secret History of St. Bartholomew's— The Son of Ivan the Terrible — The Last of the Swedish Kings— A Tragedy of Naples — The Fall of the Borgias— The Tragedy of Kirk-a-Field— A Scandal of Versailles — The Assassination of Henry IV. — The Secret Service of Philip IL— The Chief of the Poisoners— A Dream of < 8 A. OWEN & CO., PUBLISHERS 28, REGENT STREET, LONDON Portugal— A Secret of St. James's Palace— The Galley of Nero. From the Preface. The aim of this collection of historical narratives is to quicken and keep alive the interest of the new generation in the records of the past. The shaping of each story, as far as might be, on the lines of romance is a mere piece of literary craft for which the author does not feel called upon to apologise ; but in order to prevent misconception, he thinks it necessary to explain that these narratives contain nothing of his own invention. It is rather as a critic of history than a historian that the writer must be justified in approaching most of the problems solved, or attempted to be solved, in this book. He has endeavoured, as far as possible, to approach his subject with an open mind, and to review the record in the light of common-sense, and some experience of life. The greatest of English historians has declared that he found his ex- perience as a captain in the Hampshire MiUtia to be of some benefit to him in tracing the manoeuvres of Roman armies. A humbler writer may hope that his own varied experience as an administrator, a politician, and a criminal lawyer may have helped to preserve his judgment from being too much swayed by the romantic propensities of the novelist. MEDIAEVAL AND MODERN HISTORY ; Its Formation, Causes, and Broad Movements. By J. A. De WE. 8 vo. 518 pages, with 5 3 Illustrations and i o Coloured Maps. Cloth. I OS. net. From the Contents : — The Barbarian Invasions — Great Leaders in the Middle Ages — Carolingian Dynasty — Saxon Kings — Empire and Papacy — The Hundred Years' War — The Renaissance — Review of the Leading States of Europe — CathoUc Reformation— Thirty Years' War— Louis XIV— Colonial Expansion of England— French Revolutions — Napoleon — Progress of England — Etc., etc. BRITISH IMPERIALISM. By Baron Felix von Oppenheimer, Jur. Dr. Translated with Intro- ductory note, by D. Hayman. Crown 8vo. Cloth. 2s. 6d, net. I I "Baron Oppenheimer deals with the question upon the broadest possible basis and in the simplest possible terms. His mastery of facts and figures implies a close study of the problem in all its phases. After quoting figures from our Board of Trade Returns, showing the steady decline in the export of goods, and the rapid advance in the import, the Baron remarks that the damage done to England is twofold, etc., etc"— Portsmouth Evening News. " Every Englishman at home or in the Colonies ought to obtain and read this book, as therein the case for a change in the existing relations between Great Britain and her Colonies is most completely staiied."— Outward Bound. " The author understands us much better than the vast majonty of writers, and is desirous, as Mr. Chamberlain, of seeing the British Empire welded into • a single, world- embracing whole.* He writes with much clearness and force. — Bristol Mercury, BOOK PLATES (Artistic, Heraldic, Alle- gorical). 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Analysis of Prose-Forms: The Letter— The Essay— Biography— His- tory— The Oration— Fiction— The Novel— Representative Authors of Fiction.— III. Analysis of Poetic Fornas : Poetry The Drama — Characters of the Drama — Ethics Df the Drama— Representative Authors— The Epic— The Lyric-Conclusion.— Appendix : Special Bibliographies- General Index. TO THE MEMORY OF THE LATE PROFESSOR FREDERICK MAX Mt)LLER, with whom the Author spent many delightful days as a Pupil in the University of Oxford. A special claim in favour of this handbook is conciseness ill iar t»i!/e:ASiiSi£.'jlS)iMfiiak9 lO A. OWEN & CO., PUBLISHERS ! ,, as well as comprehensiveness. While dealing in a practical way with all the departments of literature, the author has endeavoured to give the briefest possible compendium of the best criticism. The numerous quotations from the critiques of so many of the highest authorities constitute in themselves a most effective, whilst most entertaining, object-lesson in a literary criticism. SHAKESPEARE'S BOOKS. A Disserta- tion on Shakespeare's Reading and the immediate sources of his works. By H. R. D. Anders, B.A. 8vo, XX. ^l6 pp. Sewed, ys, net ; cloth, 8s. net. Contents : — Shakespeare and the Classics— Modern Con- tinental Literature— The English Non-Dramatic Polite Literature — The English Drama — Popular Literature — The Bible and the Prayer Book — Shakespeare's Earth and Heaven — Copious Index. DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH AND GERMAN LANGUAGES. By Thieme-Preusser. Entirely rewritten and greatly enlarged by Dr. I. E. Wessely. Two vols, royal Svo. Half Russia, 14s. net the two volumes. Vol. I, EngUsh-German, 840 pages. Vol. H, German-English, 763 pages. Each volume also sold separately at 7s, net each. "The best English and German Dictionary." Ask for Owen's edition, being the only authorized and up-to-date edition of this famous dictionary. COLLECTION OF FRENCH IDIOMS, SAYINGS AND PROVERBS. With their English equiva- lents and meanings, containing about 50,000 phrases. By Professor Armand-George Billaudeau ; revised by A. Antoine, M.S.F.P., Professor of French at the Birkbeck Institute, London. Royal Svo. 452 pages. Cloth, ys, 6d, net. " Without doubt the best and most exhaustive book on the subject ever published." TEACHING BY PICTURE. The Pemot Method. Object Lessons and Grammar. By A. Pernot 28, REGENT STREET, LONDON II I and F. E. Akehurst. With 22 full-page Illustrations and many Illustrations in the Text. Svo. Cloth, ^s. 6d. net. MISS BLUFF'S ACADEMY. A Sketch in Three Scenes. By Maurice A. Canney, M.A. Oxon (a former master at one of our great Public Schools). Crown Svo. 15. net. Chief Characters : A Doctor, anM.P. and a Lawyer, dressed up as schoolboys. " In the first scene ther« is a hit against the absurd arithmetical problems which aie so often set by unreasonable teachers to pupils unable to solve them, and who have accordingly to get their sorely- tried parents to attempt to do their tasks for them. The fathers of two of these children, a doctor and a member of Parliament, along with a lawyer, resolve to dress up as schoolboys and become pupils at Miss Bluff's academy for deUcate and backward boys, which the children attended. The humorous incidents which resulted, the threadbare teaching given at this school, and the happy denouement combine to make up a very laughable sketch, which would no doubt, when played by amateurs, serve to provide a most enjoyable hour for their audience." — Dundee Courier. ** A very clever sketch, depicting not only the condition of things prevalent in our great pubUc schools, but giving suggestions for the improvement in the system of education." — Reynolds* Newspaper. THE RING OF THE NIBELUNG. By RiCHARp Wagner. A companion to opera-goers. Being a synopsis of the four parts, with an introductory sketch and notes on the text and music by O. Kramer. 4 vols. Demy i6mo, cloth, gilt, gilt top, 45. net ; leather Ss. net. In neat slip case. I. Prologue : Rhinegold. With a portrait of the com- poser, by F. von Lenbach — II. The Valkyre (Die Walkiire), with a frontispiece — III. Siegfried, with a frontispiece — IV. The Dusk of the Gods (Gotterdammerung), with a frontis- piece. Each vol. also sold separately. Cloth is. net; leather 25. net. " In these daintily got-up volumes the sketch of Wagner is exceedingly well done, and a perusal of these books will go far to the comprehension of the gigantic scope and fulness of meaning." — Dundee Courier. " There are excellent notes and an introduction, as well as Lenbach's famous portrait of the composer." — Pall Mall Gazette. " Of the greatest service to the amateur." — MusictU News. " Opera-goers will find it extremely helpful in enabUng them to obtain the maximum of enjoyment from their attendance at performances." — Daily Express. " Indispensible for every Wagnerian student and opera-goer." — Standard. "It will certainly add much to the enjoyment of Wagnerian operas, etc. . . . It may be heartily recommended." — Musical World. " Succinctly and exceedingly well told ; in fact, admirable." — The Vocalist, ,\^- 12 A, OWEN & CO., PUBLISHERS 28, REGENT STREET, LONDON 13 ALPINE GEMS. A Series of beautifully coloured Plates vividly portraying the grandest scenes to be found in the Alpine Range, and embracing Specimens of the choicest works of Art. Part I. Oblong quarto. IS. 6d. net. The issue forms a comprehensive and representative col- lection of mountain and pastoral portraiture. Weird scenic effects of Alpine Landscapes are depicted with striking accuracy of detail, while the grandeur of the glorious panorama, as seen from specially selected coigns of vantage favourable from an artist's point of view, is graphically illustrated in tints realistically true to Nature. To be completed in about 10 parts, of 3 plates each. "TTie plates are of unusual excellence in colouring and printing." — Thi Alpine Journal. VENICE. By Pompeg Molmenti. Trans- lated into English by Alethea Wied. Large 8vo. With 132 Illustrations and a Folding Map, in beautiful half-calf binding, gilt top. 65. net. " In the text, which has been carefully written and well translated, Venice is considered mainly in its art, and the history of its art, but not, however, to the rigid exclusion of historical details. The illustrations, which are from photographs of the highest technical excellence, deal with all that is interesting in Venice, from its buildings to its paintings." — Glasgow Herald. THE MOON IN MODERN ASTRONOMY. A Summary of twenty years* Selenographic work, andTa study of recent problems. By Philip Fauth. With 66 Illustrations and a Frontispiece and an Introduction by J. E. Gore, F.R.A.S., M.R.I. A., etc. Demy 8vo. Cloth. 1 05. net. '* This is the most important treatise which has appeared." — Tha Aihenaum. " Written in an excellent way, etc. — most interesting." — Journal of the British Astronomical Association. " Mr. Fauth's book, to which Mr. J. Ellard Gore contributes an excellent epitome, should do much to revive interest. An excellent summary of work done. Lucidly and graphically detailed." — English Mechanic and World of Science.. " Noble work, deserving of the highest praise, etc." — The Nation (formerly Th^ Speaher) " We welcome this new book as an extremely useful contribution tojthe literature of the moon that will have lasting value." — Popular Astronomy. N ALCOHOLIC POISONING AND DEGEN- ERATION. By Professor George Bunge, M.D. Demy 8vo. 6d, net, by post yd. " A perusal of this book tends to the conviction that, in the words of Sir Frederick Treves, ' alcohol is distinctly a poison.* " — Midlaftd Medical Journal. " A most important contribution to the discussion of the alcohol question. It directs needed attention to aspects of the drink difficulty which are little understood, but have a vital relation to certain of the chief points at present at issue in the alcohol controversy." — Alliance News. " The author's name is an unfortunate one, but his work is excellent, and shows clearly and statistically the hereditary consequences of drink upon the suckling of children." — Daily Mirror. " Containing some striking statistics, which all married women would do well to peruse. — Reynolds' Newspaper. MODERN STEAM TURBINES. Com- prising descriptions of some typical systems of construction, under the editorship of Arthur R. Liddell. Vol. I. 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Designing, and Construction of the Modern Marine Steam Engine, including the Marine Steam Turbines. A Manual of the most recent practice for the use of Engineers, Manufacturers, Students, Officers of the Navy and Mer- cantile Marines, and others interested in Marine Engineering. By Henry Wild a. Text-Book. Royal 8vo. 416 pages, with 364 Illustrations and 108 Tables, etc. Cloth. £1 net. 'v\> > "> M A, OWEN & CO., PUBLISHERS Plates, 1,200 Illustrations reduced from Working Drawings with references to all dimensions in the drawings. Large foho, 12 pages and 61 plates. £2 15 s. net. DICTIONARY OF THE INDIA-RUBBER INDUSTRY (Worterbuch des Gummiwaarenhandels). In five languages :— German, French, English, ItaUan. and Spanish. Oblong i6mo. Cloth. 5s. net. Containing all the words and expressions used m every branch of the India-Rubber Industry, together with the true and correct translations, therefore indispensable to every Manufacturer, Shipper, Dealer, etc.. connected with the India-Rubber and Gutta-Percha Industry. TEXTILE DESIGNS. A collection of Patterns for every Textile Specialist and a Guide for the Designing of Textile Fabrics. Edited by F. Donat. Large foho oblong, 300 plates in two, sometimes three colours (i3i by 18 inches), with 9,015 designs, and 41 pages text, very strongly bound in half-morocco, cloth sides. £3 Ss. net. This comprehensive Design Book is methodically and systematically arranged, and contains a rich and unique collection of patterns for woven goods. The designs are made for plain and figured goods, and are indispensable in every branch of the textile industry, as, besides the large number of 9,015 designs, it also serves the purpose of a basis for the formation of innumerable other designs. The chief objects of the work are :— 1. To introduce new ideas into the designing of Textile * fabrics, and to render it possible that with one and the same loom mechanism, a wide range of different patterns can be woven. 2. To illustrate in some measure the infinite variety of * styles that exists in the designing of Textile fabrics. 3. To give the systematic development of designs as wide a range as possible. 4. To supply an aid for designing. The order of design is as follows :— Plain, Twill and Satin weaves with their derivatives, and also further combinations such as Diagonal, Diamond, Crape, Figured Rib, etc., etc. Specimen Plate on Application. P. I v. f M \1\ Stoclcer Sr^irit. matter and morals ,1 St 6 BRiTTLE DO NOT Y -^ COLUMBIA UNiyERSITY 0032147902