CHAPTER VI

CONCLUSION. THE RELIGION OF HUMANITY

[Recapitulation of the

results obtained]

Love, then, is our principle; Order our basis; and Progress our

end. Such, as the preceding chapters have shown, is the essential

character of the system of life which Positivism offers for the

definite acceptance of society; a system which regulates the whole

course of our private and public existence, by bringing Feeling,

Reason, and Activity into permanent harmony. In this final synthesis,

all essential conditions are far more perfectly fulfilled than in any

other. Each special element of our nature is more fully developed, and

at the same time the general working of the whole is more coherent.

Greater distinctness is given to the truth that the affective element

predominates in our nature. Life in all its actions and thoughts is

brought under the control and inspiring charm of Social Sympathy.

By the supremacy of the Heart, the Intellect, so far from being

crushed, is elevated; for all its powers are consecrated to the

service of the social instincts, with the purpose of strengthening

their influence and directing their employment. By accepting its

subordination to Feeling, Reason adds to its own authority. To it we

look for the revelation of the laws of nature, of the established Order

which dictates the inevitable conditions of human life. The objective

basis thus discovered for human effort reacts most beneficially on our

moral nature. Forced as we are to accept it, it controls the fickleness

to which our affections are liable, and acts as a direct stimulus to

social sympathy. Concentrated on so high an office, the intellect will

be preserved from useless digression; and will yet find a boundless

field for its operations in the study of all the natural laws by which

human destinies are affected, and especially those which relate to the

constitution of man or of society. The fact that every subject is to be

regarded from the sociological point of view, so far from discouraging

even the most abstract order of speculations, adds to their logical

coherence as well as to their moral value, by introducing the central

principle round which alone they can be co-ordinated into a whole.

And whilst Reason is admitted to its due share of influence on human

life, Imagination is also strengthened and called into constant

exercise. Henceforth it will assume its proper function, the

idealization of truth. For the objective basis of our conceptions

scientific investigation is necessary. But this basis once obtained,

the constitution of our mind is far better adapted to esthetic than to

scientific study, provided always that imagination never disregard the

truths of science, and degenerate into extravagance. Subject to this

condition, Positivism gives every encouragement to esthetic studies,

being, as they are, so closely related to its guiding principle and

to its practical aim, to Love namely, and to Progress. Art will enter

largely into the social life of the Future, and will be regarded as the

most pleasurable and most salutary exercise of our intellectual powers,

because it leads them in the most direct manner to the culture and

improvement of our moral nature.

Originating in the first instance from practical life, Positivism

will return thither with increased force, now that its long period

of scientific preparation is accomplished, and that it has occupied

the field of moral truth, which henceforth will be its principal

domain. Its principle of sympathy, so far from relaxing our efforts,

will stimulate all our faculties to universal activity by urging them

onwards towards perfection of every kind. Scientific study of the

natural Order is inculcated solely with the view of directing all the

forces of Man and of Society to its improvement by artificial effort.

Hitherto this aim has hardly been recognized, even with regard to the

material world, and but a very small proportion of our energies has

been spent upon it. Yet the aim is high, provided always that the view

taken of human progress extend beyond its lower and more material

stages. Our theoretical powers once concentrated on the moral problems

which form their principal field, our practical energies will not fail

to take the same direction, devoting themselves to that portion of the

natural Order which is most imperfect, and at the time most modifiable.

With these larger and more systematic views of human life, its best

efforts will be given to the improvement of the mind, and still more to

the improvement of the character and to the increase of affection and

courage. Public and private life are now brought into close relation

by the identity of their principal aim, which, being kept constantly

in sight, ennobles every action in both. Practical questions must

ever continue to preponderate, as before, over questions of theory;

but this condition, so far from being adverse to speculative power,

concentrates it upon the most difficult of all problems, the discovery

of moral and social laws, our knowledge of which will never be fully

adequate to our practical requirements. Mental and practical activity

of this kind can never result in hardness of feeling. On the contrary,

it impresses us more strongly with the conviction that Sympathy is not

merely our highest happiness, but the most effectual of all our means

of improvement; and that without it, all other means can be of little

avail.

Thus it is that in the Positive system, the Heart, the Intellect, and

the Character mutually strengthen and develop one another, because

each is systematically directed to the mode of action for which it is

by nature adapted. Public and private life are brought into a far more

harmonious relation than in any former time, because the purpose to

which both are consecrated is identical; the difference being merely

in the range of their activities. The aim in both is to secure, to the

utmost possible extent, the victory of Social feeling over Self-love;

and to this aim all our powers, whether of affection, thought, or

action, are in both unceasingly directed.

This, then, is the shape in which the great human problem comes

definitely before us. Its solution demands all the appliances of

Social Art. The primary principle on which the solution rests, is

the separation of the two elementary powers of society; the moral

power of counsel, and the political powers of command. The necessary

preponderance of the latter, which rests upon material force,

corresponds to the fact that in our imperfect nature, where the coarser

wants are the most pressing and the most continuously felt, the selfish

instincts are naturally stronger than the unselfish. In the absence

of all compulsory authority, our action even as individuals would be

feeble and purposeless, and social life still more certainly would lose

its character and its energy. Moral force, therefore, by which is meant

the force of conviction and persuasion, is to be regarded simply as a

modifying influence, not as a means of authoritative direction.

Moral force originates in Feeling and in Reason. It represents the

social side of our nature, and to this its direct influence is limited.

Indeed by the very fact that it is the expression of our highest

attributes, it is precluded from that practical ascendancy which is

possessed by faculties of a lower but more energetic kind. Inferior to

material force in power, though superior to it in dignity, it contrasts

and opposes its own classification of men according to the standard

of moral and intellectual worth, to the classification by wealth and

worldly position which actually prevails. True, the higher standard

will never be adopted practically, but the effort to uphold it will

react beneficially on the natural order of society. It will inspire

those larger views, and reanimate that sense of duty, which are so apt

to become obliterated in the ordinary current of life.

The means of effecting this important result, the need of which is

so generally felt, will not be wanting, when the moderating power

enters upon its characteristic function of preparing us for practical

life by a rational system of education, throughout which, even in its

intellectual department, moral considerations will predominate. This

power will therefore concentrate itself upon theoretical and moral

questions; and it can only maintain its position as the recognized

organ of social sympathy, by invariable abstinence from political

action. It will be its first duty to contend against the ambitious

instincts of its own members. True, such instincts, in spite of the

impurity of their source, may be of use in those natures who are

really destined for the indispensable business of government. But for

a spiritual power formal renunciation of wealth and rank is at the

very root of its influence; it is the first of the conditions which

justify it in resisting the encroachments to which political power is

always tempted. Hence the classes to whose natural sympathies it looks

for support are those who, like itself, are excluded from political

administration.

Women, from their strongly sympathetic nature, are the original source

of all moral influence; and they are peculiarly qualified by the

passive character of their life to assist the action of the spiritual

power in the family. In its essential function of education, their

co-operation is of the highest importance. The education of young

children is entrusted to their sole charge; and the education of more

advanced years simply consists in giving a more systematic shape to

what the mother has already inculcated in childhood. As a wife, too,

Woman assumes still more distinctly the spiritual function of counsel;

she softens by persuasion where the philosopher can only influence by

conviction. In social meetings, again, the only mode of public life in

which women can participate, they assist the spiritual power in the

formation of Public Opinion, of which it is the systematic organ, by

applying the principles which it inculcates to the case of particular

actions or persons. In all these matters their influence will be far

more effectual, when men have done their duty to women by setting them

free from the necessity of gaining their own livelihood; and when women

on their side have renounced both power and wealth, as we see, so often

exemplified among the working classes.

The affinity of the People with the philosophic power is less direct

and less pure; but it will prove a vigorous ally in meeting the

obstacles which the temporal power will inevitably oppose. The working

classes, having but little spare time and small individual influence,

cannot, except on rare occasions, participate in the practical

administration of government, since all efficient government involves

concentration of power. Moral force, on the contrary, created as it is

by free convergence of opinion, admits of, and indeed requires, the

widest ramification. Working men, owing to their freedom from practical

responsibilities and their unconcern for personal aggrandisement, are

better disposed than their employers to broad views and to generous

sympathies, and will therefore naturally associate themselves with

the spiritual power. It is they who will furnish the basis of a true

public opinion, so soon as they are enabled by Positive education,

which is specially framed with a view to their case, to give greater

definiteness to their aspirations. Their wants and their sympathies

will alike induce them to support the philosophic priesthood as the

systematic guardian of their interests against the governing classes.

In return for such protection they will bring the whole weight of their

influence to assist the priesthood in its great social mission, the

subordination of Politics to Morals. In those exceptional cases where

it becomes necessary for the moderating power to assume political

functions, the popular element will of itself suffice for the

emergency, thus exempting the philosophic element from participating

in an anomaly from which its character could hardly fail to suffer,

as would be the case also in a still higher degree with the feminine

character.

The direct influence of Reason over our imperfect nature is so feeble

that the new priesthood could not of itself ensure such respect for

its theories as would bring them to any practical result. But the

sympathies of women and of the people operating as they will in every

town and in every family, will be sufficient to ensure its efficacy

in organizing that legitimate degree of moral pressure which the poor

may bring to bear upon the rich. Moreover, we may look, as one of

the results of our common system of education, for additional aid

in the ranks of the governing classes themselves; for some of their

noblest members will volunteer their assistance to the spiritual

power, forming, so to speak, a new order of chivalry. And yet, with

all this, comprehensive as our organization of moral force may be, so

great is the innate strength of the selfish instincts, that our success

in solving the great human problem will always fall short of what we

might legitimately desire. To this conclusion we must come, in whatever

way we regard the destiny of Man; but it should only encourage us to

combine our efforts still more strongly in order to ameliorate the

order of Nature in its most important, that is, in its moral aspects,

these being at once the most modifiable and the most imperfect.

The highest progress of man and of society consists in gradual increase

of our mastery over all our defects, especially the defects of our

moral nature. Among the nations of antiquity the progress in this

direction was but small; all that they could do was to prepare the

way for it by certain necessary phases of intellectual and social

development. The whole tendency of Greek and Roman society was such

as made it impossible to form a distinct conception of the great

problem of our moral nature. In fact, Morals were with them invariably

subordinate to Politics. Nevertheless, it is moral progress which alone

can satisfy our nature; and in the Middle Ages it was recognized as the

highest aim of human effort, notwithstanding that its intellectual and

social conditions were as yet very imperfectly realized. The creeds

of the Middle Ages were too unreal and imperfect, the character of

society was too military and aristocratic, to allow Morals and Politics

to assume permanently their right relation. The attempt was made,

however; and, inadequate as it was, it was enough to allow the people

of the West to appreciate the fundamental principle involved in it, a

principle destined to survive the opinions and the habits of life from

which it arose. Its full weight could never be felt until the Positive

spirit had extended beyond the elementary subjects to which it had been

so long subjected, to the sphere of social truth; and had thus reached

the position at which a complete synthesis became possible. Equally

essential was it that in those countries which had been incorporated

into the Western Empire, and had passed from it into Catholic

Feudalism, war should be definitely superseded by industrial activity.

In the long period of transition which has elapsed since the Middle

Ages, both these conditions have been fulfilled, while at the same time

the old system has been gradually decomposed. Finally the great crisis

of the Revolution has stimulated all advanced minds to reconsider,

with better intellectual and social principles, the same problem that

Christianity and Chivalry had attempted. The radical solution of it was

then begun, and it is now completed, and enunciated in a systematic

form by Positivism.

[Humanity is the centre

to which every aspect of

Positivism converges]

All essential phases in the evolution of society answer to

corresponding phases in the growth of the individual, whether it has

proceeded spontaneously or under systematic guidance, supposing always

that his development be complete. But it is not enough to prove the

close connexion which exists between all modes and degrees of human

regeneration. We have yet to find a central point round which all will

naturally meet. In this point consists the unity of Positivism as a

system of life. Unless it can be thus condensed, round one single

principle, it will never wholly supersede the synthesis of Theology,

notwithstanding its superiority in the reality and stability of its

component parts, and in their homogeneity and coherence as a whole.

There should be a central point in the system towards which Feeling,

Reason, and Activity alike converge. The proof that Positivism

possesses such a central point will remove the last obstacles to its

complete acceptance, as the guide of private or of public life.

Such a centre we find in the great conception of Humanity, towards

which every aspect of Positivism naturally converges. By it the

conception of God will be entirely superseded, and a synthesis be

formed, more complete and permanent than that provisionally established

by the old religions. Through it the new doctrine becomes at once

accessible to men’s hearts in its full extent and application. From

their heart it will penetrate their minds, and thus the immediate

necessity of beginning with a long and difficult course of study is

avoided, though this must of course be always indispensable to its

systematic teachers.

This central point of Positivism is even more moral than intellectual

in character: it represents the principle of Love upon which the whole

system rests. It is the peculiar characteristic of the Great Being

who is here set forth, to be compounded of separable elements. Its

existence depends therefore entirely upon mutual Love knitting together

its various parts. The calculations of self-interest can never be

substituted as a combining influence for the sympathetic instincts.

Yet the belief in Humanity, while stimulating Sympathy, at the same

time enlarges the scope and vigour of the Intellect. For it requires

high powers of generalization to conceive clearly of this vast

organism, as the result of spontaneous co-operation, abstraction made

of all partial antagonisms. Reason, then, has its part in this central

dogma as well as Love. It enlarges and completes our conception of the

Supreme Being, by revealing to us the external and internal conditions

of its existence.

Lastly, our active powers are stimulated by it no less than our

feelings and our reason. For since Humanity is so far more complex than

any other organism, it will react more strongly and more continuously

on its environment, submitting to its influence and so modifying it.

Hence results Progress which is simply the development of Order, under

the influence of Love.

Thus, in the conception of Humanity, the three essential aspects of

Positivism, its subjective principle, its objective dogma, and its

practical object, are united. Towards Humanity, who is for us the only

true Great Being, we, the conscious elements of whom she is composed,

shall henceforth direct every aspect of our life, individual or

collective. Our thoughts will be devoted to the knowledge of Humanity,

our affections to her love, our actions to her service.

Positivists then may, more truly than theological believers of whatever

creed, regard life as a continuous and earnest act of worship; worship

which will elevate and purify our feelings, enlarge and enlighten our

thoughts, ennoble and invigorate our actions. It supplies a direct

solution, so far as a solution is possible, of the great problem of the

Middle Ages, the subordination of Politics to Morals. For this follows

at once from the consecration now given to the principle that social

sympathy should preponderate over self-love.

Thus Positivism becomes, in the true sense of the word, a Religion; the

only religion which is real and complete; destined therefore to replace

all imperfect and provisional systems resting on the primitive basis of

theology.

For even the synthesis established by the old theocracies of Egypt and

India was insufficient, because, being based on purely subjective

principles it could never embrace practical life, which must always

be subordinated to the objective realities of the external world.

Theocracy was thus limited at the outset to the sphere of thought

and of feeling; and part even of this field was soon lost when Art

became emancipated from theocratical control, showing a spontaneous

tendency to its natural vocation of idealizing real life. Of science

and of morality the priests were still left sole arbiters; but here,

too, their influence materially diminished so soon as the discovery

of the simpler abstract truths of Positive science gave birth to

Greek Philosophy. Philosophy, though as yet necessarily restricted

to the metaphysical stage, yet already stood forward as the rival of

the sacerdotal system. Its attempts to construct were in themselves

fruitless; but they overthrew Polytheism, and ultimately transformed it

into Monotheism. In this the last phase of theology, the intellectual

authority of the priests was undermined no less deeply than the

principle of their doctrine. They lost their hold upon Science, as

long ago they had lost their hold upon Art. All that remained to them

was the moral guidance of society; and even this was soon compromised

by the progress of free thought; progress really due to the Positive

spirit, although its systematic exponents still belong to the

metaphysical school.

[With the discovery of

sociological laws, a

synthesis on the basis

of Science becomes

possible, science being now

concentrated on the study of

Humanity]

When Science had expanded sufficiently to exist apart from Philosophy,

it showed a rapid tendency towards a synthesis of its own, alike

incompatible with metaphysics and with theology. It was late in

appearing, because it required a long series of preliminary efforts:

but as it approached completion, it gradually brought the Positive

spirit to bear upon the organization of practical life, from which that

spirit had originally emanated. But thoroughly to effect this result

was impossible until the science of Sociology had been formed; and

this was done by my discovery of the law of historical development.

Henceforth all true men of science will rise to the higher dignity

of philosophers, and by so doing will necessarily assume something

of the sacerdotal character, because the final result to which their

researches tend is the subordination of every subject of thought to the

moral principle; a result which leads us at once to the acceptance of a

complete and homogeneous synthesis. Thus the philosophers of the future

become priests of Humanity, and their moral and intellectual influence

will be far wider and more deeply rooted than that of any former

priesthood. The primary condition of their spiritual authority is

exclusion from political power, as a guarantee that theory and practice

shall be systematically kept apart. A system in which the organs of

counsel and those of command are never identical cannot possibly

degenerate into any of the evils of theocracy.

By entirely renouncing wealth and worldly position, and that not as

individuals merely, but as a body, the priests of Humanity will occupy

a position of unparalleled dignity. For with their moral influence

they will combine what since the downfall of the old theocracies has

always been separated from it, the influence of superiority in art

and science. Reason, Imagination, and Feeling will be brought into

unison: and so united will react strongly on the imperious conditions

of practical life; bringing it into closer accordance with the laws

of universal morality, from which it is so prone to deviate. And the

influence of this new modifying power will be the greater that the

synthesis on which it rests will have preceded and prepared the way for

the social system of the future; whereas theology could not arrive at

its central principle, until the time of its decline was approaching.

All functions, then, that co-operate in the elevation of man will be

regenerated by the Positive priesthood. Science, Poetry, Morality, will

be devoted to the study, the praise, and the love of Humanity, in order

that under their combined influence, our political action may be more

unremittingly given to her service.

With such a mission, Science acquires a position of unparalleled

importance, as the sole means through which we come to know the nature

and conditions of this Great Being, the worship of whom should be

the distinctive feature of our whole life. For this all-important

knowledge, the study of Sociology would seem to suffice: but Sociology

itself depends upon preliminary study, first of the outer world, in

which the actions of Humanity take place; and secondly, of Man, the

individual agent.

The object of Positivist worship is not like that of theological

believers an absolute, isolated, incomprehensible Being, whose

existence admits of no demonstration, or comparison with anything real.

The evidence of the Being here set forward is spontaneous, and is

shrouded in no mystery. Before we can praise, love, and serve Humanity

as we ought, we must know something of the laws which govern her

existence, an existence more complicated than any other of which we are

cognizant.

[Statical Aspects of

Humanity]

And by virtue of this complexity, Humanity possesses the attributes of

vitality in a higher degree than any other organization; that is to

say, there is at once more intimate harmony of the component elements,

and more complete subordination to the external world. Immense as is

the magnitude of this organism measured both in Time and Space, yet

each of its parts carefully examined will show the general consensus of

the whole. At the same time it is more dependent than any other upon

the conditions of the outer world; in other words, upon the sum of the

laws that regulate inferior phenomena. Like other vital organisms,

it submits to mathematical, astronomical, physical, chemical, and

biological conditions; and, in addition to these, is subject to special

laws of Sociology with which lower organisms are not concerned. But as

a further result of its higher complexity it reacts upon the world more

powerfully; and is indeed in a true sense its chief. Scientifically

defined, then, it is truly the Supreme Being: the Being who manifests

to the fullest extent all the highest attributes of life.

But there is yet another feature peculiar to Humanity, and one of

primary importance. That feature is, that the elements of which she is

composed must always have an independent existence. In other organisms

the parts have no existence when severed from the whole; but this,

the greatest of all organisms, is made up of lives which can really

be separated. There is, as we have seen, harmony of parts as well as

independence, but the last of these conditions is as indispensable as

the first. Humanity would cease to be superior to other beings were it

possible for her elements to become inseparable. The two conditions are

equally necessary: but the difficulty of reconciling them is so great

as to account at once for the slowness with which this highest of all

organisms has been developed. It must not, however, be supposed that

the new Supreme Being is, like the old, merely a subjective result of

our powers of abstraction. Its existence is revealed to us, on the

contrary, by close investigation of objective fact. Man indeed, as an

individual, cannot properly be said to exist, except in the exaggerated

abstractions of modern metaphysicians. Existence in the true sense can

only be predicated of Humanity; although the complexity of her nature

prevented men from forming a systematic conception of it, until the

necessary stages of scientific initiation had been passed. Bearing this

conclusion in mind, we shall be able now to distinguish in Humanity

two distinct orders of functions: those by which she acts upon the

world, and those which bind together her component parts. Humanity

cannot herself act otherwise than by her separable members; but the

efficiency of these members depends upon their working in co-operation,

whether instinctively or with design. We find, then, external functions

relating principally to the material existence of this organism; and

internal functions by which its movable elements are combined. This

distinction is but an application of the great theory, due to Bichat’s

genius, of the distinction between the life of nutrition and the life

of relation which we find in the individual organism. Philosophically

it is the source from which we derive the great social principle

of separation of spiritual from temporal power. The temporal power

governs: it originates in the personal instincts, and it stimulates

activity. On it depends social Order. The spiritual power can only

moderate: it is the exponent of our social instincts, and it promotes

co-operation, which is the guarantee of Progress. Of these functions of

Humanity the first corresponds to the function of nutrition, the second

to that of innervation in the individual organism.

[Dynamical aspects]

Having now viewed our subject statically, we may come to its dynamical

aspect; reserving more detailed discussion for the third volume

of this treatise, which deals with my fundamental theory of human

development. The Great Being whom we worship is not immutable any

more than it is absolute. Its nature is relative; and, as such, is

eminently capable of growth. In a word it is the most vital of all

living beings known to us. It extends and becomes more complex by the

continuous successions of generations. But in its progressive changes

as well as in its permanent functions, it is subject to invariable

laws. And these laws considered, as we may now consider them, as a

whole, form a more sublime object of contemplation than the solemn

inaction of the old Supreme Being, whose existence was passive except

when interrupted by acts of arbitrary and unintelligible volition. Thus

it is only by Positive science that we can appreciate this highest

of all destinies to which all the fatalities of individual life are

subordinate. It is with this as with subjects of minor importance:

systematic study of the Past is necessary in order to determine the

Future, and so explain the tendencies of the Present. Let us then pass

from the conception of Humanity as fully developed, to the history of

its rise and progress; a history in which all other modes of progress

are included. In ancient times the conception was incompatible with the

theological spirit and also with the military character of society,

which involved the slavery of the productive classes. The feeling of

Patriotism, restricted as it was at first, was the only prelude then

possible to the recognition of Humanity. From this narrow nationality

there arose in the Middle Ages the feeling of universal brotherhood,

as soon as military life had entered on its defensive phase, and all

supernatural creeds had spontaneously merged into a monotheistic form

common to the whole West. The growth of Chivalry, and the attempt made

to effect a permanent separation of the two social powers, announced

already the subordination of Politics to Morals, and thus showed that

the conception of Humanity was in direct course of preparation. But the

unreal and anti-social nature of the mediaeval creed, and the military

and aristocratic character of feudal society, made it impossible to

go very far in this direction. The abolition of personal slavery was

the most essential result of this important period. Society could

now assume its industrial character; and feelings of fraternity were

encouraged by modes of life in which all classes alike participated.

Meanwhile, the growth of the Positive spirit was proceeding, and

preparing the way for the establishment of Social Science, by which

alone all other Positive studies should be systematized. This being

done, the conception of the Great Being became possible. It was with

reference to subjects of a speculative and scientific nature that the

conception first arose in a distinct shape. As early as two centuries

ago, Pascal spoke of the human race as one Man.[11] Amidst the

inevitable decline of the theological and military system, men became

conscious of the movement of society, which had now advanced through

so many phases; and the notion of Progress as a distinctive feature

of Humanity became admitted. Still the conception of Humanity as the

basis for a new synthesis was impossible until the crisis of the French

Revolution. That crisis on the one hand proved the urgent necessity

for social regeneration, and on the other gave birth to the only

philosophy capable of effecting it. Thus our consciousness of the new

Great Being has advanced co-extensively with its growth. Our present

conception of it is as much the measure of our social progress as it is

the summary of Positive knowledge.

[Inorganic and organic

sciences elevated by their

connexion with the supreme

science of Humanity]

In speaking of the dignity of Science when regenerated by this lofty

application of it, I do not refer solely to the special science of

Social phenomena, but also to the preliminary studies of Life and

of the Inorganic World, both of which form an essential portion

of Positive doctrine. A social mission of high importance will be

recognized in the most elementary sciences, whether it be for the

sake of their method or for the value of their scientific results.

True, the religion of Humanity will lead to the entire abolition of

scientific Academies, because their tendency, especially in France, is

equally hurtful to science and morality. They encourage mathematicians

to confine their attention exclusively to the first step in the

scientific scale; and biologists to pursue their studies without any

solid basis or definite purpose. Special studies carried on without

regard for the encyclopædic principles which determine the relative

value of knowledge, and its bearing on human life, will be condemned

by all men of right feeling and good sense. Such men will feel the

necessity of resisting the morbid narrowness of mind and heart to which

the anarchy of our times inevitably leads. But the abolition of the

Academic system will only ensure a larger measure of respect for all

scientific researches of real value, on whatever subject. The study

of Mathematics, the value of which is at present negatived by its

hardening tendency, will now manifest its latent moral efficacy, as

the only sure basis for firm conviction; a state of mind that can never

be perfectly attained in more complex subjects of thought, except by

those who have experienced it in the simpler subjects. When the close

connexion of all scientific knowledge becomes more generally admitted,

Humanity will reject political teachers who are ignorant of Geometry,

as well as geometricians who neglect Sociology. Biology meanwhile will

lose its dangerous materialism, and will receive all the respect due to

its close connexion with social science and its important bearing on

the essential doctrines of Positivism. To attempt to explain the life

of Humanity without first examining the lower forms of life, would be

as serious an error as to study Biology without regard to the social

purpose which Biology is intended to serve. Science has now become

indispensable to the establishment of moral truth, and at the same time

its subordination to the inspirations of the heart is fully recognized;

thus it takes its place henceforward among the most essential functions

of the priesthood of Humanity. The supremacy of true Feeling will

strengthen Reason, and will receive in turn from Reason a systematic

sanction. Natural philosophy, besides its evident value in regulating

the spontaneous action of Humanity, has a direct tendency to elevate

human nature; it draws from the outer world that basis of fixed truth

which is so necessary to control our various desires.

The study of Humanity therefore, directly or indirectly, is for the

future the permanent aim of Science; and Science is now in a true sense

consecrated, as the source from which the universal religion receives

its principles. It reveals to us not merely the nature and conditions

of the Great Being, but also its destiny and the successive phases of

its growth. The aim is high and arduous; it requires continuous and

combined exertion of all our faculties; but it ennobles the simplest

processes of scientific investigation by connecting them permanently

with subjects of the deepest interest. The scrupulous exactness

and rigorous caution of the Positive method, which when applied to

unimportant subjects seem almost puerile, will be valued and insisted

on when seen to be necessary for the efficacy of efforts relating to

our most essential wants. Rationalism, in the true sense of the word,

so far from being incompatible with right feeling, strengthens and

develops it, by placing all the facts of the case, in social questions

especially, in their true light.

[The new religion is even

more favourable to Art than

to Science]

But, however honourable the rank which Science when regenerated will

hold in the new religion, the sanction given to Poetry will be even

more direct and unqualified, because the function assigned to it is

one which is more practical and which touches us more nearly. Its

function will be the praise of Humanity. All previous efforts of Art

have been but the prelude to this, its natural mission; a prelude often

impatiently performed since Art threw off the yoke of theocracy at an

earlier period than Science. Polytheism was the only religion under

which it had free scope: there it could idealize all the passions

of our nature, no attempt being made to conceal the similarity of

the gods to the human type. The change from Polytheism to Monotheism

was unacceptable to Art, because it narrowed its field; but towards

the close of the Middle Ages it began to shake off the influence of

obscure and chimerical beliefs, and take possession of its proper

sphere. The field that now lies before it in the religion of Humanity

is inexhaustible. It is called upon to idealize the social life of

Man, which, in the time of the nations of antiquity, had not been

sufficiently developed to inspire the highest order of poetry.

[Poetic portraiture of the

new Supreme Being, and

contrast with the old]

In the first place it will be of the greatest service in enabling men

to realize the conception of Humanity, subject only to the condition

of not overstepping the fundamental truths of Science. Science

unassisted cannot define the nature and destinies of this Great Being

with sufficient clearness. In our religion the object of worship must

be conceived distinctly, in order to be ardently loved and zealously

served. Science, especially in subjects of this nature, is confined

within narrow limits; it leaves inevitable deficiencies which esthetic

genius must supply. And there are certain qualities in Art as opposed

to Science, which specially qualify it for the representation of

Humanity. For Humanity is distinguished from other forms of life by

the combination of independence with co-operation, attributes which

also are natural to Poetry. For while Poetry is more sympathetic than

Science, its productions have far more individuality; the genius of

their author is more strongly marked in them, and the debt to his

predecessors and contemporaries is less apparent. Thus the synthesis on

which the inauguration of the final religion depends, is one in which

Art will participate more than Science, Science furnishing merely the

necessary basis. Its influence will be even greater than in the times

of Polytheism; for powerful as Art appeared to be in those times, it

could in reality do nothing but embellish the fables to which the

confused ideas of theocracy had given rise. By its aid we shall for the

first time rise at last to a really human point of view, and be enabled

distinctly to understand the essential attributes of the Great Being of

whom we are members. The material power of Humanity and the successive

phases of her physical, her intellectual, and, above all, her moral

progress, will each in turn be depicted. Without the difficulties of

analytical study, we shall gain a clear knowledge of her nature and her

conditions, by the poet’s description of her future destiny, of her

constant struggle against painful fatalities, which have at last become

a source of happiness and greatness, of the slow growth of her infancy,

of her lofty hopes now so near fulfilment. The history of universal

Love, the soul by which this Great Being is animated; the history, that

is, of the marvellous advance of man, individually or socially, from

brutish appetite to pure unselfish sympathy, is of itself an endless

theme for the poetry of the future.

Comparisons, too, may be instituted, in which the poet, without

specially attacking the old religion, will indicate the superiority

of the new. The attributes of the new Great Being may be forcibly

illustrated, especially during the time of transition, by contrast with

the inferiority of her various predecessors. All theological types are

absolute, indefinite, and immutable; consequently in none of them has

it been possible to combine to a satisfactory extent the attributes of

goodness, wisdom, and power. Nor can we conceive of their combination,

except in a Being whose existence is a matter of certainty, and who is

subject to invariable laws. The gods of Polytheism were endowed with

energy and sympathy, but possessed neither dignity nor morality. They

were superseded by the sublime deity of Monotheism, who was sometimes

represented as inert and passionless, sometimes as impenetrable and

inflexible. But the new Supreme Being, having a real existence, an

existence relative and modifiable, admits of being more distinctly

conceived than the old; and the influence of the conception will be

equally strong and far more elevating. Each one of us will recognize

in it a power superior to his own, a power on which the whole destiny

of his life depends, since the life of the individual is in every

respect subordinate to the evolution of the race. But the knowledge

of this power has not the crushing effect of the old conception of

omnipotence. For every great or good man will feel that his own life

is an indispensable element in the great organism. The supremacy of

Humanity is but the result of individual co-operation; her power is not

supreme, it is only superior to that of all beings whom we know. Our

love for her is tainted by no degrading fears, yet it is always coupled

with the most sincere reverence. Perfection is in no wise claimed for

her; we study her natural defects with care in order to remedy them as

far as possible. The love we bear to her is a feeling as noble as it

is strong; it calls for no degrading expressions of adulation, but it

inspires us with unremitting zeal for moral improvement. But these and

other advantages of the new religion, though they can be indicated by

the philosopher, need the poet to display them in their full light.

The moral grandeur of man when freed from the chimeras that oppress

him, was foreseen by Goethe, and still more clearly by Byron. But

the work of these men was one of destruction; and their types could

only embody the spirit of revolt. Poetry must rise above the negative

stage in which, owing to the circumstances of the time, their genius

was arrested, and must embrace in the Positive spirit the system of

sociological and other laws to which human development is subject,

before it can adequately portray the new Man in his relation to the new

God.

[Organization of festivals,

representing statical

and dynamical aspects of

humanity]

There is yet another way in which Art may serve the cause of religion;

that is, in organizing the festivals, whether private or public, of

which, to a great extent, the worship of Humanity will consist. For

this purpose esthetic talent is far more required than scientific, the

object in view being to reveal the nature of the great Organism more

clearly, by presenting all aspects of its existence, static or dynamic,

in idealized forms.

These festivals, then, should be of two kinds, corresponding to the two

essential aspects of Humanity; the first illustrating her existence,

the second her action. Thus we shall stimulate both the elements

of true social feeling; the love of Order, namely, and the love of

Progress. In our static festivals social Order and the feeling of

Solidarity, will be illustrated; the dynamic festivals will explain

social Progress, and inspire the sense of historical Continuity.

Taken together, their periodic recurrence will form a continuation

of Positive education. They will develop and confirm the principles

instilled in youth. But there will be nothing didactic in their form;

since it is of the essence of Art not to instruct otherwise than by

giving pleasure. Of course the regular recurrence of these festivals

will not prevent any modifications which may be judged necessary to

adapt them to special incidents that may from time to time arise.

The festivals representing Order will necessarily take more abstract

and austere forms than those of Progress. It will be their object to

represent the statical relations by which the great Organism preserves

its unity, and the various aspects of its animating principle, Love.

The most universal and the most solemn of these festivals will be

the feast of Humanity, which will be held throughout the West at the

beginning of the new year, thus consecrating the only custom which

still remains in general use to relieve the prosaic dullness of modern

life. In this feast, which celebrates the most comprehensiveness of

all unions, every branch of the human race will at some future time

participate. In the same month there might be three festivals of a

secondary order, representing the minor degrees of association, the

Nation, the Province, and the Town. Giving this first month to the

direct celebration of the social tie, we might devote the first days of

the four succeeding months to the four principal domestic relations,

Connubial, Parental, Filial, and Fraternal. In the sixth month, the

honourable position of domestic service would receive its due measure

of respect.

These would be the static festivals; taken together they would form

a representation of the true theory of our individual and social

nature, together with the principles of moral duty to which that theory

gives rise. No direct mention is made of the personal instincts,

notwithstanding their preponderance, because it is the main object

of Positive worship to bring them under the control of the social

instincts. Personal virtues are by no means neglected in Positive

education; but to make them the objects of any special celebration,

would only stimulate egotistic feeling. Indirectly their value is

recognized in every part of our religious system, in the reaction which

they exercise upon our generous sympathies. Their omission, therefore,

implies no real deficiency in this ideal portraiture of human faculties

and duties. Again, no special announcement of the subordination of

Humanity to the laws of the External World is needed. The consciousness

of this external power pervades every part of the Positive system; it

controls our desires, directs our speculations, stimulates our actions.

The simple fact of the recurrence of our ceremonies at fixed periods,

determined by the Earth’s motion, is enough to remind us of our

inevitable subjection to the fatalities of the External World.

As the static festivals represent Morality, so the dynamic festivals,

those of Progress, will represent History. In these the worship of

Humanity assumes a more concrete and animated form; as it will consist

principally in rendering honour to the noblest types of each phase of

human development. It is desirable, however, that each of the more

important phases should be represented in itself, independently of the

greatness of any individual belonging to it. Of the months unoccupied

by static festivals, three might be given to the principal phases of

the Past, Fetichism, Polytheism, and Monotheism; and a fourth to the

celebration of the Future, the normal state to which all these phases

have been tending.

Forming thus the chain of historical succession, we may consecrate

each month to some one of the types who best represent the various

stages. I omit, however, some explanations of detail given in the

first edition of this General View, written at the time when I had

not made the distinction between the abstract and concrete worship

sufficiently clear. A few months after its publication, in 1848,

the circumstances of the time induced me to frame a complete system

of commemoration applicable to Western Europe, under the title of

_Positivist Calendar_[12]. Of this I shall speak more at length in the

fourth volume of the present treatise. Its success has fully justified

me in anticipating this part of my subject. To it I now refer the

reader, recommending him to familiarize himself with the provisional

arrangement of the new Western year then put forward and already

adopted by most Positivists.

[Worship of the dead.

Commemoration of their

service]

But the practice need not be restricted to names of European

importance. It is applicable in its degree to each separate province,

and even to private life. Catholicism offers two institutions in which

the religion of the family connects itself with public worship in

its most comprehensive sense. There is a day appointed in Catholic

countries in which all are in the habit of visiting the tombs of those

dear to them; finding consolation for their grief by sharing it with

others. To this custom Positivists devote the last day of the year. The

working classes of Paris give every year a noble proof that complete

freedom of thought is in no respect compatible with worship of the

dead, which in their case is unconnected with any system. Again there

is the institution of baptismal names, which though little thought

of at present, will be maintained and improved by Positivism. It is

an admirable mode of impressing on men the connexion of private with

public life, by furnishing every one with a type for his own personal

imitation. Here the superiority of the new religion is very apparent;

since the choice of a name will not be limited to any time or country.

In this, as in other cases, the absolute spirit of Catholicism proved

fatal to its prospects of becoming universal.

These brief remarks will be enough to illustrate the two classes of

festivals instituted by Positivism. In every week of the year some new

aspect of Order or of Progress will be held up to public veneration;

and in each the link connecting public and private worship will be

found in the adoration of Woman. In this esthetic side of Positive

religion everything tends to strengthen its fundamental principle of

Love. All the resources of Poetry, and of the other arts of sound and

form, will be invoked to give full and regular expression to it. The

dominant feeling is always that of deep reverence proceeding from

sincere acknowledgment of benefits received. Our worship will be alike

free from mysticism and from affectation. While striving to surpass our

ancestors, we shall yet render due honour to all their services, and

look with respect upon their systems of life. Influenced no longer by

chimeras which though comforting to former times are now degrading, we

have now no obstacle to becoming as far as possible incorporate with

the Great Being whom we worship. By commemoration of past services we

strengthen the desire inherent in all of us to prolong our existence

in the only way which is really in our power. The fact that all human

affairs are subject to one fundamental law, as soon as it becomes

familiarly known, enables and encourages each one of us to live in

a true sense in the Past and even in the Future; as those cannot do

who attribute the events of life to the agency of an arbitrary and

impenetrable Will. The praise given to our predecessors will stimulate

a noble rivalry; inspiring all with the desire to become themselves

incorporate into this mighty Being whose life endures through all time,

and who is formed of the dead far more than the living. When the system

of commemoration is fully developed, no worthy co-operator will be

excluded, however humble his sphere; whether limited to his family or

town, or extending to his country or to the whole West. The education

of Positivists will soon convince them that such recompense for

honourable conduct is ample compensation for the imaginary hopes which

inspired their predecessors.

To live in others is, in the truest sense of the word, life. Indeed the

best part of our own life is passed thus. As yet this truth has not

been grasped firmly, because the social point of view has never yet

been brought systematically before us. But the religion of Humanity,

by giving an esthetic form to the Positivist synthesis, will make it

intelligible to minds of every class: and will enable us to enjoy the

untold charm springing from the sympathies of union and of continuity

when allowed free play. To prolong our life indefinitely in the Past

and Future, so as to make it more perfect in the Present, is abundant

compensation for the illusions of our youth which have now passed away

for ever. Science which deprived us of these imaginary comforts, itself

in its maturity supplies the solid basis for consolation of a kind

unknown before; the hope of becoming incorporate into the Great Being

whose static and dynamic laws it has revealed. On this firm foundation

Poetry raises the structure of public and private worship; and thus

all are made active partakers of this universal life, which minds

still fettered by theology cannot understand. Thus imagination, while

accepting the guidance of reason, will exercise a far more efficient

and extensive influence than in the days of Polytheism. For the priests

of Humanity the sole purpose of Science is to prepare the field for

Art, whether esthetic or industrial. This object once attained, poetic

study or composition will form the chief occupation of our speculative

faculties. The poet is now called to his true mission, which is to give

beauty and grandeur to human life, by inspiring a deeper sense of our

relation to Humanity. Poetry will form the basis of the ceremonies in

which the new priesthood will solemnise more efficiently than the old,

the most important events of private life: especially Birth, Marriage,

and Death; so as to impress the family as well as the state with the

sense of this relation. Forced as we are henceforth to concentrate all

our hopes and efforts upon the real life around us, we shall feel more

strongly than ever that all the powers of Imagination as well as those

of Reason, Feeling, and Activity, are required in its service.

[All the arts may co-operate

in the service of religion]

Poetry once raised to its proper place, the arts of sound and form,

which render in a more vivid way the subjects which Poetry has

suggested, will soon follow. Their sphere, like that of Poetry, will be

the celebration of Humanity; an exhaustless field, leaving no cause to

regret the chimeras which, in the present empirical condition of these

arts, are still considered indispensable. Music in modern times has

been limited almost entirely to the expression of individual emotions.

Its full power has never been felt in public life, except in the

solitary instance of the _Marseillaise_, in which the whole spirit of

our great Revolution stands recorded. But in the worship of Humanity,

based as it is on Positive education, and animated by the spirit of

Poetry, Music, as the most social of the special arts, will aid in the

representation of the attributes and destinies of Humanity, and in the

glorification of great historical types. Painting and Sculpture will

have the same object; they will enable us to realize the conception of

Humanity with greater clearness and precision than would be possible

for Poetry, even with the aid of Music. The beautiful attempts of the

artists of the sixteenth century, men who had very little theological

belief, to embody the Christian ideal of Woman, may be regarded as

an unconscious prelude to the representation of Humanity, in the

form which of all others is most suitable. Under the impulse of

these feelings, the sculptor will overcome the technical difficulties

of representing figures in groups, and will adopt such subjects by

preference. Hitherto this has only been effected in bas-reliefs,

works which stand midway between painting and sculpture. There are,

however, some splendid exceptions from which we can imagine the scope

and grandeur of the latter art, when raised to its true position.

Statuesque groups, whether the figures are joined or, as is preferable,

separate, will enable the sculptor to undertake many great subjects

from which he has been hitherto debarred.

In Architecture the influence of Positivism will be felt less rapidly;

but ultimately this art like the rest will be made available for the

new religion. The buildings erected for the service of God may for

a time suffice for the worship of Humanity, in the same way that

Christian worship was carried on at first in Pagan temples as they

were gradually vacated. But ultimately buildings will be required more

specially adapted to a religion in which all the functions connected

with education and worship are so entirely different. What these

buildings will be it would be useless at present to inquire. It is

less easy to foresee the Positivist ideal in Architecture than in any

other arts. And it must remain uncertain until the new principles

of education have been generally spread, and until the Positivist

religion, having received all the aid that Poetry, Music, and the arts

of Form can give, has become the accepted faith of Western Europe.

When the more advanced nations are heartily engaged in the cause,

the true temples of Humanity will soon arise. By that time mental

and moral regeneration will have advanced far enough to commence the

reconstruction of all political institutions. Until then the new

religion will avail itself of Christian churches as these gradually

become vacant.

[Positivism is the successor

of Christianity, and

surpasses it]

Art then, as well as Science, partakes in the regenerating influence

which Positivism derives from its synthetic principle of Love. Both

are called to their proper functions, the one to contemplate, the

other to glorify Humanity, in order that we may love and serve her

more perfectly. Yet while the intellect is thus made the servant of

the heart, far from being weakened by this subordinate position, it

finds in it an exhaustless field, in which the value of its labours

is amply recognized. Each of its faculties is called directly into

play, and is supplied with its appropriate employment. Poetry

institutes the forms of the worship of Humanity; Science supplies the

principles on which those forms are framed, by connecting them with

the laws of the external world. Imagination, while ceasing to usurp

the place of Reason, yet enhances rather than diminishes its original

influence, which the new philosophy shows to be as beneficial as it

is natural. And thus human life at last attains that state of perfect

harmony which has been so long sought for in vain, and which consists

in the direction of all our faculties to one common purpose under

the supremacy of Affection. At the same time all former efforts of

Imagination and Reason, even when they clashed with each other, are

fully appreciated; because we see that they developed our powers,

that they taught us the conditions of their equilibrium, and made it

manifest that nothing but that equilibrium was wanting to allow them to

work together for our welfare. Above all do we recognize the immense

value of the mediaeval attempt to form a complete synthesis, although,

notwithstanding all the results of Greek and Roman civilization, the

time was not yet ripe for it. To renew that attempt upon a sounder

basis, and with surer prospects of success, is the object of those

who found the religion of Humanity. Widely different as are their

circumstances and the means they employ, they desire to regard

themselves as the successors of the great men who conducted the

progressive movement of Catholicism. For those alone are worthy to be

called successors, who continue or carry into effect the undertakings

which former times have left unfinished; the title is utterly unmerited

by blind followers of obsolete dogmas, which have long ceased to bear

any relation to their original purpose, and which their very authors,

if now living, would disavow.

But while bearing in mind our debt to Catholicism, we need not omit

to recognize how largely Positivism gains by comparison with it. Full

justice will be done to the aims of Catholicism, and to the excellence

of its results. But the whole effect of Positivist worship will be

to make men feel clearly how far superior in every respect is the

synthesis founded on the Love of Humanity to that founded on the Love

of God.

Christianity satisfied no part of our nature fully, except the

affections. It rejected Imagination, it shrank from Reason; and

therefore its power was always contested, and could not last. Even

in its own sphere of affection, its principles never lent themselves

to that social direction which the Catholic priesthood, with such

remarkable persistency, endeavoured to give to them. The aim which it

set before men, being unreal and personal, was ill-suited to a life of

reality and of social sympathy. It is true that the universality of

this supreme affection was indirectly a bond of union; but only when

it was not at variance with true social feeling. And from the nature

of the system, opposition between these two principles was the rule,

and harmony the exception; since the Love of God, even as viewed by

the best Catholic types, required in almost all cases the abandonment

of every other passion. The moral value of such a synthesis consisted

solely in the discipline which it established; discipline of whatever

kind being preferable to anarchy, which would have given free scope

to all the lowest propensities. But notwithstanding all the tender

feeling of the best mystics, the affection which to them was supreme

admitted of no real reciprocity. Moreover, the stupendous nature of

the rewards and penalties by which every precept in this arbitrary

system was enforced, tended to weaken the character and to taint

our noblest impulses. The essential merit of the system was that it

was the first attempt to exercise systematic control over our moral

nature. The discipline of Polytheism was usually confined to actions:

sometimes it extended to habits; but it never touched the affections

from which both habits and actions spring. Christianity took the best

means of effecting its purpose that were then available; but it was

not successful, except so far as it gave indirect encouragement to

our higher feelings. And so vague and absolute were its principles,

that even this would have been impossible, but for the wisdom of the

priesthood, who for a long time saved society from the dangers incident

to so arbitrary a system. But at the close of the Middle Ages, when

the priesthood became retrograde, and lost at once their morality and

their freedom, the doctrine was left to its own impotence, and rapidly

degenerated till it became a chronic source of degradation and of

discord.

But the synthesis based upon Love of Humanity has too deep a foundation

in Positive truth to be liable to similar decline; and its influence

cannot but increase so long as the progress of our race endures.

The Great Being, who is its object, tolerates the most searching

inquiry, and yet does not restrict the scope of Imagination. The

laws which regulate her existence are now known to us; and the more

deeply her nature is investigated, the stronger is our consciousness

of her reality and of the greatness of her benefits. The thought of

her stimulates all the powers of Imagination, and thus enables us to

participate in a measure in the universality of her life, throughout

the whole extent of Time and Space of which we have any real knowledge.

All our real intellectual results, whether in art or science, are

alike co-ordinated by the religion of Humanity; for it furnishes the

sole bond of connexion by which permanent harmony can be established

between our thoughts and our feelings. It is the only system which

without artifice and without arbitrary restriction, can establish the

preponderance of Affection over Thought and Action. It sets forth

social feeling as the first principle of morality; without ignoring

the natural superiority in strength of the personal instincts. To live

for others it holds to be the highest happiness. To become incorporate

with Humanity, to sympathize with all her former phases, to foresee

her destinies in the future, and to do what lies in us to forward

them; this is what it puts before us as the constant aim of life.

Self-love in the Positive system is regarded as the great infirmity of

our nature: an infirmity which unremitting discipline on the part of

each individual and of society may materially palliate, but will never

radically cure. The degree to which this mastery over our own nature is

attained is the truest standard of individual or social progress, since

it has the closest relation to the existence of the Great Being, and to

the happiness of the elements that compose it.

Inspired as it is by sincere gratitude, which increases the more

carefully the grounds for it are examined, the worship of Humanity

raises Prayer for the first time above the degrading influence of

self-interest. We pray to the Supreme Being; but only to express our

deep thankfulness for her present and past benefits, which are an

earnest of still greater blessings in the future. Doubtless it is a

fact of human nature, that habitual expression of such feelings reacts

beneficially on our moral nature; and so far we, too, find in Prayer

a noble recompense. But it is one that can suggest to us no selfish

thoughts, since it cannot come at all unless it come spontaneously.

Our highest happiness consists in Love; and we know that more than any

other feeling love may be strengthened by exercise; that alone of all

feelings it admits of, and increases with, simultaneous expansion in

all. Humanity will become more familiar to us than the old gods were to

the Polytheists, yet without the loss of dignity which, in their case,

resulted from familiarity. Her nature has in it nothing arbitrary,

yet she co-operates with us in the worship that we render, since in

honouring her we receive back ‘grace for grace’. Homage accepted by

the Deity of former times laid him open to the charge of puerile

vanity. But the new Deity will accept praise only where it is deserved,

and will derive from it equal benefit with ourselves. This perfect

reciprocity of affection and of influence is peculiar to Positive

religion, because in it alone the object of worship is a Being whose

nature is relative, modifiable, and perfectible; a Being of whom her

own worshippers form a part, and the laws of whose existence, being

more clearly known than theirs, allow her desires and her tendencies to

be more distinctly foreseen.

[Superiority of Positive

morality]

The morality of Positive religion combines all the advantages of

spontaneousness with those of demonstration. It is so thoroughly

human in all its parts, as to preclude all the subterfuges by which

repentance for transgression is so often stifled or evaded. By pointing

out distinctly the way in which each individual action reacts upon

society, it forces us to judge our own conduct without lowering

our standard. Some might think it too gentle, and not sufficiently

vigorous; yet the love by which it is inspired is no passive feeling,

but a principle which strongly stimulates our energies to the full

extent compatible with the attainment of that highest good to which

it is ever tending. Accepting the truths of science, it teaches that

we must look to our own unremitting activity for the only providence

by which the rigour of our destiny can be alleviated. We know well

that the great Organism, superior though it be to all beings known

to us, is yet under the dominion of inscrutable laws, and is in no

respect either absolutely perfect or absolutely secure from danger.

Every condition of our existence, whether those of the external world

or those of our own nature, might at some time be compromised. Even

our moral and intellectual faculties, on which our highest interests

depend, are no exception to this truth. Such contingencies are always

possible, and yet they are not to prevent us from living nobly; they

must not lessen our love, our thought, or our efforts for Humanity;

they must not overwhelm us with anxiety, nor urge us to useless

complaint. But the very principles which demand this high standard of

courage and resignation, are themselves well calculated to maintain

it. For by making us fully conscious of the greatness of man, and by

setting us free from the degrading influences of fear, they inspire

us with keen interest in our efforts, inadequate though they be,

against the pressure of fatalities which are not always beyond our

power to modify. And thus the reaction of these fatalities upon our

character is turned at last to a most beneficial use. It prevents

alike overweening anxiety for our own interests and dull indifference

to them; whereas, in theological and metaphysical systems, even when

inculcating self-denial, there is always a dangerous tendency to

concentrate thought on personal considerations. Dignified reaction

where modification of them is possible; such is the moral standard

which Positivism puts forward for individuals and for society.

Catholicism, notwithstanding the radical defects of its doctrine, has

unconsciously been influenced by the modern spirit; and at the close

of the Middle Ages was tending in a direction similar to that here

described, although its principles were inconsistent with any formal

recognition of it. It is only in the countries that have been preserved

from Protestantism that any traces are left of these faint efforts

of the priesthood to rise above their own theories. The Catholic God

would gradually change into a feeble and imperfect representation of

Humanity, were not the clergy so degraded socially as to be unable

to participate in the spontaneous feelings of the community. It is a

tendency too slightly marked to lead to any important result; yet it

is a striking proof of the new direction which men’s minds and hearts

are unconsciously taking in countries which are often supposed to be

altogether left behind in the march of modern thought. The clearest

indication of it is in their acceptance of the worship of Woman,

which is the first step towards the worship of Humanity. Since the

twelfth century, the influence of the Virgin, especially in Spain and

Italy, has been constantly on the increase. The priesthood have often

protested against it, but without effect; and sometimes they have

found it necessary to sanction it, for the sake of preserving their

authority. The special and privileged adoration which this beautiful

creation of Poetry has received, could not but produce a marked change

in the spirit of Catholicism. It may serve as a connecting link between

the religion of our ancestors and that of our descendants, the Virgin

becoming gradually regarded as a personification of Humanity. Little,

however, will be done in this direction by the established priesthood,

whether in Italy or Spain. We must look to the purer agency of women,

who will be the means of introducing Positivism among our Southern

brethren.

All the points, then, in which the morality of Positive science excels

the morality of revealed religion are summed up in the substitution

of Love of Humanity for Love of God. It is a principle as adverse

to metaphysics as to theology, since it excludes all personal

considerations, and places happiness, whether for the individual or

for society, in constant exercise of kindly feeling. To love Humanity

may be truly said to constitute the whole duty of Man; provided it

be clearly understood what such love really implies, and what are

the conditions required for maintaining it. The victory of Social

Feeling over our innate Self-love is rendered possible only by a slow

and difficult training of the heart, in which the intellect must

co-operate. The most important part of this training consists in the

mutual love of Man and Woman, with all other family affections which

precede and follow it. But every aspect of morality, even the personal

virtues, are included in love of Humanity. It furnishes the best

measure of their relative importance, and the surest method for laying

down incontestable rules of conduct. And thus we find the principles

of systematic morality to be identical with those of spontaneous

morality, a result which renders Positive doctrine equally accessible

to all.

[Rise of the new Spiritual

power]

Science, therefore, Poetry, and Morality, will alike be regenerated

by the new religion, and will ultimately form one harmonious whole,

on which the destinies of Man will henceforth rest. With women, to

whom the first germs of spiritual power are due, this consecration

of the rational and imaginative faculties to the source of feeling

has always existed spontaneously. But to realize it in social life

it must be brought forward in a systematic form as part of a general

doctrine. This is what the mediaeval system attempted upon the basis of

Monotheism. A moral power arose composed of the two elements essential

to such a power, the sympathetic influence of women in the family, the

systematic influence of the priesthood on public life. As a preliminary

attempt the Catholic system was most beneficial; but it could not last,

because the synthesis on which it rested was imperfect and unstable.

The Catholic doctrine and worship addressed themselves exclusively

to our emotional nature, and even from the moral point of view their

principles were uncertain and arbitrary. The field of intellect,

whether in art or science, as well as that of practical life, would

have been left almost untouched but for the personal character of the

priests. But with the loss of their political independence, which had

been always in danger from the military tendencies of the time, the

priesthood rapidly degenerated. The system was in fact premature;

and even before the industrial era of modern times had set in, the

esthetic and metaphysical growth of the times had already gone too

far for its feeble power of control; and it then became as hostile

to progress as it had formerly been favourable to it. Moral qualities

without intellectual superiority are not enough for a true spiritual

power; they will not enable it to modify to any appreciable extent the

strong preponderance of material considerations. Consequently it is the

primary condition of social reorganization to put an end to the state

of utter revolt which the intellect maintains against the heart; a

state which has existed ever since the close of the Middle Ages and the

source of which may be traced as far back as the Greek Metaphysicians.

Positivism has at last overcome the immense difficulties of this task.

Its solution consists in the foundation of social science on the basis

of the preliminary sciences, so that at last there is unity of method

in our conceptions. Our active faculties have always been guided by

the Positive spirit: and by its extension to the sphere of Feeling, a

complete synthesis, alike spontaneous and systematic in its nature,

is constructed; and every part of our nature is brought under the

regenerating influence of the worship of Humanity. Thus a new spiritual

power will arise, complete and homogeneous in structure, coherent and

at the same time progressive; and better calculated than Catholicism

to engage the support of women which is so necessary to its efficient

action on society.

[Temporal power will always

be necessary, but its action

will be modified by the

spiritual]

Were it not for the material necessities of human life, nothing further

would be required for its guidance than a spiritual power such as is

here described. We should have in that case no need for any laborious

exertion; and universal benevolence would be looked upon as the

sovereign good, and would become the direct object of all our efforts.

All that would be necessary would be to call our reasoning powers, and

still more, our imagination into play, in order to keep this object

constantly in view. Purely fictitious as such an hypothesis may be,

it is yet an ideal limit, to which our actual life should be more and

more nearly approximated. As an Utopia, it is a fit subject for the

poet: and in his hands it will supply the new religion with resources

far superior to any that Christianity derived from vague and unreal

pictures of future bliss. In it we may carry out a more perfect social

classification, in which men may be ranked by moral and intellectual

merit, irrespectively of wealth or position. For the only standard by

which in such a state men could be tried would be their capacity to

love and to please Humanity.

Such a standard will of course never be practically accepted, and

indeed the classification in question would be impossible to effect:

yet it should always be present to our minds; and should be contrasted

dispassionately with the actual arrangements of social rank, with

which power, even where accidentally acquired, has more to do than

worth. The priests of Humanity with the assistance of women will avail

themselves largely of this contrast in modifying the existing order.

Positivist education will fully explain its moral validity, and in

our religious services appeal will frequently be made to it. Although

an ideal abstraction, yet being based on reality, except so far as

the necessities of daily life are concerned, it will be far more

efficacious than the vague and uncertain classification founded on the

theological doctrine of a future state. When society learns to admit no

other Providence than its own, it will go so far in adopting this ideal

classification as to produce a strong effect on the classes who are the

best aware of its impracticability. But those who press this contrast

must be careful always to respect the natural laws which regulate

the distribution of wealth and rank. They have a definite social

function, and that function is not to be destroyed, but to be improved

and regulated. In order, therefore, to reconcile these conditions, we

must limit our ideal classification to individuals, leaving the actual

subordination of office and position unaffected. Well-marked personal

superiority is not very common; and society would be wasting its powers

in useless and interminable controversy if it undertook to give each

function to its best organ, thus dispossessing the former functionary

without taking into account the conditions of practical experience.

Even in the spiritual hierarchy, where it is easier to judge of

merit, such a course would be utterly subversive of discipline. But

there would be no political danger, and morally there would be great

advantage, in pointing out all remarkable cases which illustrate the

difference between the order of rank and the order of merit. Respect

may be shown to be noblest without compromising the authority of the

strongest. St Bernard was esteemed more highly than any of the Popes of

his time; yet he remained in the humble position of an abbot, and never

failed to show the most perfect deference for the higher functionaries

of the Church. A still more striking example was furnished by St Paul

in recognizing the official superiority of St Peter, of whose moral

and mental inferiority to himself he must have been well aware. All

organized corporations, civil or military, can show instances on a less

important scale where the abstract order of merit has been adopted

consistently with the concrete order of rank. Where this is the case

the two may be contrasted without any subversive consequences. The

contrast will be morally beneficial to all classes, at the same time

that it proves the imperfection to which so complicated an organism as

human society must be ever liable.

Thus the religion of Humanity creates an intellectual and moral power,

which, could human life be freed from the pressure of material wants,

would suffice for its guidance. Imperfect as our nature assuredly

is, yet social sympathy has an intrinsic charm which would make it

paramount, but for the imperious necessities by which the instincts of

self-preservation are stimulated. So urgent are they, that the greater

part of life is necessarily occupied with actions of a self-regarding

kind, before which Reason, Imagination, and even Feeling, have to

give way. Consequently this moral power, which seems so well adapted

for the direction of society, must only attempt to act as a modifying

influence. Its sympathetic element, in other words, women, accept this

necessity without difficulty; for true affection always takes the

right course of action, as soon as it is clearly indicated. But the

intellect is far more unwilling to take a subordinate position. Its

rash ambition is far more unsettling to the world than the ambition of

rank and wealth, against which it so often inveighs. It is the hardest

of social problems to regulate the exercise of the intellectual powers,

while securing them their due measure of influence; the object being

that theoretical power should be able really to modify, and yet should

never be permitted to govern. For the nations of antiquity this problem

was insoluble; with them the intellect was always either a tyrant or

a slave. The solution was attempted in the Middle Ages; but without

success, owing to the military and theological character of the times.

Positivism relies for solving it on the reality which is one of its

principal features, and on the fact that Society has now entered on its

industrial phase. Based on accurate inquiry into the past and future

destinies of man, its aim is so to regenerate our political action,

as to transform it ultimately into a practical worship of Humanity;

Morality being the worship rendered by the affections, Science and

Poetry that rendered by the intellect. Such is the principal mission

of the Occidental priesthood, a mission in which women and the working

classes will actively co-operate.

[Substitution of duties for

rights]

The most important object of this regenerated polity will be the

substitution of Duties for Rights; thus subordinating personal

to social considerations. The word _Right_ should be excluded

from political language, as the word _Cause_ from the language of

philosophy. Both are theological and metaphysical conceptions; and

the former is as immoral and subversive as the latter is unmeaning

and sophistical. Both are alike incompatible with the final state;

and their value during the revolutionary period of modern history

has simply consisted in their solvent action upon previous systems.

Rights, in the strict sense of the word, are possible only so long

as power is considered as emanating from a superhuman will. Rights,

under all theological systems, were divine; but in their opposition to

theocracy, the metaphysicians of the last five centuries introduced

what they called the rights of Man; a conception, the value of which

consisted simply in its destructive effects. Whenever it has been taken

as the basis of a constructive policy, its anti-social character, and

its tendency to strengthen individualism have always been apparent.

In the Positive state, where no supernatural claims are admissible,

the idea of _Right_ will entirely disappear. Every one has duties,

duties towards all; but rights in the ordinary sense can be claimed by

none. Whatever security the individual may require is found in the

general acknowledgment of reciprocal obligations; and this gives a

moral equivalent for rights as hitherto claimed, without the serious

political dangers which they involved. In other words, no one has

in any case any Right but that of doing his Duty. The adoption of

this principle is the one way of realizing the grand ideal of the

Middle Ages, the subordination of Politics to Morals. In those times,

however, the vast bearings of the question were but very imperfectly

apprehended; its solution is incompatible with every form of theology,

and is only to be found in Positivism.