CHAPTER I. THE PROCLAMATION OF SALVATION. I (Zarathustra) make known to

THE WORLD'S GREATEST BOOKS

JOINT EDITORS

ARTHUR MEE

J.A. HAMMERTON

VOL. XIII RELIGION PHILOSOPHY

Copyright, MCMX MCKINLAY, STOKE & MACKEKZU

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

RELIGION

APOCRYPHA

AUGUSTINE, ST.

City of God

BAXTER, RICHARD

Saints' Everlasting Rest

BOOK OF THE DEAD

BRAHMANISM, BOOKS OF

BROWNE, SIR THOMAS

Religio Medici

CALVIN, JOHN

Institution of the Christian Religion

COLERIDGE, S.T.

Aids to Reflection

CONFUCIANISM

FÉNELON

Existence of God

GALILEO GALILEI

Authority of Scripture

HEGEL, G.W.F.

Philosophy of Religion

HINDUISM, BOOKS OF

KEMPIS, THOMAS À

Imitation of Christ

KORAN

NEWMAN, CARDINAL

Apologia pro Vitâ Sua

PAINE, THOMAS

Age of Reason

PASCAL, BLAISE

Letters to a Provincial

PENN, WILLIAM

Some Fruits of Solitude

RENAN, ERNEST

Life of Jesus

SWEDENBORG, EMANUEL

Heaven and Hell

TALMUD

ZOROASTRIANISM

PHILOSOPHY

ARISTOTLE

Ethics

AURELIUS, MARCUS

Discourses with Himself

BACON, FRANCIS

Advancement of Learning

BERKELEY, GEORGE

Principles of Human Knowledge

DESCARTES

Discourse on Method

EMERSON, RALPH WALDO

Nature

EPICTETUS

Discourses and Encheiridion

A COMPLETE INDEX OF THE WORLD'S GREATEST BOOKS WILL BE FOUND AT THE END

OF VOLUME XX.

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RELIGION

THE APOCRYPHA

Apocrypha is a Greek word, signifying "secret" or "hidden,"

but in the sixteenth century it came to be applied to a list

of books contained in the Septuagint, or Greek translation of

the Old Testament, but not in the Palestinian, or Hebrew

Canon. Hence, by theological or bibliographic purists, these

books were not regarded as genuine Scripture. That view was

adopted by the early Greek Church, though the Western Church

was divided in opinion. They appeared as a separate section in

Coverdale's English Bible in 1538, and in Luther's German

Bible in 1537. The Council of Trent in 1546 admitted them as

canonical, except the First and Second Esdras and the Prayer

of Manasses--a view rejected after the Reformation by

Protestants, who recognised only the Palestinian Record as

canonical. The Westminster Confession declared that they were

only to be made use of as "human writings," and the Sixth

Article of the Church of England states that they are "to be

read for example of life and instruction of manners, but not

to establish doctrine." As the result of a violent controversy

in Scotland and America between 1825 and 1827, the Apocrypha

was deleted from the copies of the Holy Scriptures issued by

the British and Foreign Bible Society. The controversy was

revived in 1862 when a quotation was engraved on the Prince

Consort's Memorial in Kensington Gardens from the Wisdom of

Solomon: "He, being made perfect in a short time, fulfilled a

long time. For his soul pleased the Lord: Therefore hasted He

to take him away from among the wicked." All the books bear

evidence of having been written long after the date to which

they are ascribed.

FIRST ESDRAS

And Josias held the feast of the Passover in Jerusalem unto his Lord,

the 14th day of the first month of the 18th year of his reign, and

ordered the Levites, the holy ministers of Israel, to hallow themselves

unto the Lord, and set the Holy Ark of the Lord in the house that King

Solomon had built. And there were offered in sacrifices to the Lord on

the altar 37,600 lambs and kids, and 4,300 calves. And they roasted the

Passover with fire: as for the sacrifices, they sod them in brass pots

and pans with a good savour, and set them before all the people. And

such a Passover was not kept in Israel since the time of the Prophet

Samuel. And the works of Josias were upright before his Lord with an

heart full of godliness.

Now, after all these acts of Josias, it came to pass that Pharaoh, the

King of Egypt, came to raise war at Carchamis upon Euphrates; and

Josias, not regarding the words of the Prophet Jeremy, spoken by the

mouth of the Lord, went out against him and joined battle with him in

the plain of Magiddo. Then said the king unto his servants: Carry me

away out of the battle; for I am very weak. And being brought back to

Jerusalem he died and was buried in his father's sepulchre. And in all

Jewry the chief men, with the women, yea Jeremy the prophet, made

lamentation for him unto this day.

And the people took Joachaz, the son of Josias, and made him king; but

the King of Egypt deposed him, and made Joacim, his brother, King of

Judea and Jerusalem, who did evil before the Lord. Wherefore, against

him, Nabuchodonosor, King of Babylon, came up and bound him with a chain

of brass, and carried him into Babylon. Nabuchodonosor also took of the

holy vessels of the Lord and carried them away, and set them in his own

temple at Babylon, and made Zedechias king. Zedechias reigned eleven

years, but did evil also in the sight of the Lord.

The governors of the people and of the priests did likewise many things

against the Lord, and defiled the Temple of the Lord, who, being wrath

with his people for their great ungodliness, commanded the Kings of the

Chaldees to come up against them. This they did, and slew and spared

neither young man nor maid, old man nor child, among them. And they took

all the holy vessels of the Lord, both great and small, with the vessels

of the Ark of God and the king's treasures, and carried them away into

Babylon. As for the House of the Lord, they burnt it, and broke down the

walls of Jerusalem and set fire upon her towers. And the people that

were not slain with the sword were carried unto Babylon, who became

servants to Nabuchodonosor, till the Persians reigned, to fulfil the

word of the Lord spoken by the mouth of Jeremy.

In the first year of Cyrus, King of the Persians, the Lord raised up his

spirit, and he made proclamation through all his kingdom, saying: The

Lord of Israel, the most high Lord, hath made me king of the whole

world, and commanded me to build him an house at Jerusalem in Jewry. If

there be any of you that are of his people, let the Lord, even his Lord,

be with him; let him go up to Jerusalem and build the house of the Lord

of Israel.

Then the chief of the families of Judea and of the tribe of Benjamin,

the priests also, and the Levites moved up to Jerusalem to build an

house for the Lord there. And they were helped in all things with silver

and gold, with horses and cattle, and with very many free gifts. King

Cyrus also brought forth the holy vessels which Nabuchodonosor had

carried away from Jerusalem and had set up in his temple of idols. The

vessels of gold and of silver which were brought back by Sanabassar,

together with them of the captivity from Babylon to Jerusalem, were, in

number, five thousand four hundred three score and nine.

But in the time of Artaxerxes, the building of the Temple ceased. Now,

when Darius reigned, he made a great feast unto all the governors and

captains that were under him from India unto Ethiopia, of an hundred and

twenty-seven provinces. And when they had eaten and drunken, three young

men that were of the guard that kept the king's body strove to excel

each other in wise speeches. Every one wrote his sentence and referred

the writings to the judgment of the king. The first declareth the

strength of wine; the second declareth the power of a king; the third

the force of women and of truth. The third, who was Zorobabel, was

judged to be wisest; and all the people then shouted: Great is Truth,

and mighty above all things.

Then said the king unto him: Ask what thou wilt, and we will give it to

thee, because thou art found wisest. Then Zorobabel said unto the king:

Remember thy vow which thou hast vowed to build Jerusalem in the day

when thou camest into thy kingdom, and to build up the Temple, which the

Edomites burned when Judea was made desolate by the Chaldees.

Then Darius the king stood up and kissed him, and wrote letters for him

unto all the treasurers and governors that they should safely convey on

their way both him and all those that went with him to build Jerusalem.

He also wrote letters unto the lieutenants in Celosyria, Phenice, and

Libanus, that they should bring cedar wood from Libanus to Jerusalem;

and that they should build the city. Then the families and tribes with

their men-servants and maid-servants and singing men and women, escorted

by a thousand horsemen which Darius sent with them, were brought back to

Jerusalem.

On the first day of the second month, in the second year after they were

come back to Jerusalem, the foundation of the House of God was laid; and

the Temple was finished in the three and twentieth day of the month of

Adar, in the sixth year of Darius, and dedicated with a great feast and

sacrifices.

After these things, when Artaxerxes, the King of the Persians, reigned,

came Esdras of the family of Aaron, the chief priest, from Babylon, and

with him certain priests, Levites, holy singers and ministers of the

Temple unto Jerusalem. He brought commission from the king to look into

the affairs of Judea and Jerusalem, agreeably to that which is in the

Law of the Lord, and gifts of vessels of gold and silver for the use of

the Temple of the Lord.

Then Esdras made proclamation in all Jewry and Jerusalem to all them who

were of the captivity, that they should be gathered together at

Jerusalem. Three days after all the multitude gathered in the broad

court of the Temple, and they gave their hands to put away their heathen

wives and children, and to offer rams to make reconcilement for the

errors they had committed. And Esdras stood up upon a pulpit of wood,

which was made for that purpose, and opened the Law of Moses to the

people.

So Esdras blessed the Lord God, most High, the God of Hosts, Almighty.

And all the people answered: Amen; and, lifting up their hands, they

fell to the ground and worshipped the Lord, saying: This day is holy

unto the Lord; for they all wept when they heard the Law. So the Levites

published all things to the people, saying: This day is holy to the

Lord; be not sorrowful. Then went they their way every one to eat and

drink, and make merry and to give to them that have nothing, and to make

great cheer.

SECOND ESDRAS

The word of the Lord came unto the prophet Esdras, saying: Go thy way,

and show my people their sinful deeds which they have done against me,

for they have forgotten me, and have offered unto strange gods. I

gathered you together, as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings:

But now I will cast you out from my face. Then Esdras willed to comfort

Israel, but they refused, and despised the commandments of the Lord;

therefore he announced that the heathen were called to the heavenly

kingdom. After that, Esdras saw upon the Mount Sion a great people who

praised the Lord with songs; and the angel said unto him: These be they

that have put off the mortal clothing, and put on the immortal, and have

confessed the name of God. Now are they crowned, and receive palms in

their hands from the Son of God in their midst.

In the thirtieth year after the ruin of the city, Esdras was in Babylon

and troubled because of the desolation of Sion. He acknowledged to God

the sins of the people, yet complained that the heathen who were lords

over them were more wicked than they. Uriel, the angel, then said that

when Adam transgressed God's statutes the way was made narrow, and the

days few and evil; but, behold, the time shall come when my son Jesus

shall be revealed and shall die, and all men that have life. And after

seven days of silence, the earth shall restore those that are asleep,

and the most High shall appear upon the seat of judgment; and misery

shall pass away but judgment shall remain; truth shall stand; and faith

wax strong.

Then Esdras said: I know the most High is called merciful, and he

pardoneth; for if he did not so that they which have committed

iniquities might be eased of them, the ten thousandth part of men should

not remain living; there should be very few left, peradventure, in an

innumerable multitude. And the angel answered: There be many created,

but few shall be saved. Every one that shall be saved shall be able to

escape by his works and by faith, and then they shall be shown great

wonders. And it came to pass that a voice out of a bush called Esdras,

which prophesied that God would take vengeance upon Egypt, Syria,

Babylon, and Asia; that the servants of the Lord must look for troubles,

and not hide their sins but depart from evil, and they would be

delivered because God is their guide.

TOBIT

This is the Book of Tobit, of the tribe of Nephthali, who in the time of

Enemessar, King of the Assyrians, was led captive to Nineve. Tobit in

captivity still remembered God with all his heart, and was deprived of

his goods under King Sennacherib for privily burying fellow-captives who

had been killed. Then Tobit, who became blind, remembered that he had in

the days of his prosperity committed to Gabael in Rages of Media the sum

of ten talents; and he called his son Tobias to go forth and seek

Gabael, giving him handwriting. Tobias sought a guide and found Raphael,

who was an angel though Tobias knew it not, and who said he knew and had

lodged with Gabael. So they went forth both.

When Tobias and Raphael came to the River Tigris, a fish leaped out of

the water and would have devoured him, but the young man laid hold of

it, and drew it to land. The Angel bade Tobias open the fish, and take

the heart and the liver and the gall, and put them up safely. The young

man said to the Angel: To what use are these? And the Angel said:

Touching the heart and the liver, if an evil spirit trouble any, we must

make a smoke thereof, and the party shall be no more vexed. As for the

gall: it is good to anoint a man that a whiteness in his eyes shall be

healed.

When they came near to Rages, the Angel said: To-day we shall lodge with

Raguel, who is thy cousin and hath an only daughter named Sara. The maid

is fair and wise, and I will speak that she may be given thee as a wife.

Then the young man answered the Angel, that he had heard that this maid

had been given to seven men who all died in the marriage chamber, and he

feared lest he should also die. But the Angel said: Fear not, for she is

appointed unto thee from the beginning.

Now they came to the house of Raguel, and Sara met them and brought them

therein. Raguel and Edna his wife recognised Tobias as a kinsman, and

kissed and blessed him. Tobias and Raphael were entertained cheerfully;

and after Raphael had communicated with Raguel, Edna, his wife, was

called and an instrument of covenants of marriage between Sara and

Tobias were written and sealed. And a chamber was prepared for them by

Edna, who blessed Sara and asked the Lord of Heaven and Earth to give

her joy. And when they had all supped, Tobias was brought in unto Sara.

And, as he went he remembered the words of Raphael, and put the heart

and liver of the fish upon the ashes of the perfume, and made a smoke

therewith. When the evil spirit had smelled the smoke he fled into the

utmost parts of Egypt, where an angel bound him. Then Tobias and Sara

arose and prayed that God would have pity upon them, and bless them, and

mercifully ordain that they might become aged together. So they slept

both that night.

Raguel praised God because the Lord had had mercy upon two that were the

only begotten children of their fathers, and prayed that they might

finish their life in health and joy. Raphael then went to Rages to

Gabael for the money, and the two returned to Raguel's house with the

bags sealed up.

Now Tobit and his wife longed for their son, and Tobias said to Raguel:

Let me go, for my father and mother look no more to see me. Then Raguel

gave him Sara, his wife, and half his goods, servants, cattle and money.

And he and Edna blessed them and sent them away.

After a prosperous journey, they drew near unto Nineve. Then Raphael

told Tobias to make haste before his wife to prepare the house, and to

take in his hand the gall of the fish. Now Anna sat looking about toward

the way for her son, and when she espied him coming, she said to his

father: Behold, thy son cometh and the man that went with him. And Anna

ran forth, and fell upon the neck of her son and said: From henceforth I

am content to die. Tobias met his father at the door, and strake of the

gall on his father's eyes, saying: Be of good hope, my father. And Tobit

recovered his sight. When he saw his son, he fell upon his neck and

wept, and blessed God. Then Tobit went out to meet his daughter-in-law

at the gate of Nineve, and welcomed and blessed her; and there was joy

among all his brethren which were at Nineve.

Tobit offered to Raphael half of all that had been brought from Rages;

but Raphael called him and Tobias apart and exhorted them to praise and

magnify the Lord for all the things which he had done unto them; and

told them that he, Raphael, was one of the seven holy angels which

present the prayers of the saints, and which go in and out before the

glory of the Holy One. Then they were both troubled and fell upon their

faces; but he said: Fear not, for it shall go well with you. I go up to

him that sent me; but write all the things which were done in a book.

And when they arose they saw him no more.

Tobit wrote a prayer of rejoicing, saying: In the land of my captivity

do I praise thee, O Lord, and declare thy might and majesty to a sinful

nation. For Jerusalem shall be built up, her walls and towers and

battlements restored. And all her streets shall say: Alleluia.

And when he was very aged, Tobit called his son and the six sons of his

son, and bade them go into Media, for he was ready to depart out of this

life, and he surely believed that which Jonas the prophet spake of

Nineve, that it should be overthrown. When he had said these things he

gave up the ghost. Tobias departed with his wife to Media, and died

there; but before he died he heard of the destruction of Nineve, which

was taken by Nabuchodonosor.

JUDITH

In the days of Arphaxad, which reigned over the Medes in Ecbatane, he

fortified Ecbatane with great stone walls, and towers and gates, for the

going forth of his mighty armies. Nabuchodonosor, who reigned in Nineve,

made war with King Arphaxad, and sent ambassadors to Cilicia, Damascus

and Syria, and the land of Moab and Ammon and Judea and all Egypt asking

aid; but the inhabitants thereof made light of the commandment, and sent

away his ambassadors with disgrace. Therefore, Nabuchodonosor was very

angry, and sware by his throne that he would be avenged upon all the

inhabitants of these countries, and would slay them with the sword.

Nabuchodonosor, in the seventeenth year of his reign, marched in battle

array against Arphaxad and overthrew his power and, all his horsemen and

chariots, and took his cities even unto Ecbatane, and spoiled the

streets thereof, and turned the beauty of the city into shame. He also

took Arphaxad in the mountains of Ragau and smote him. So he returned to

Nineve with all his company of sundry nations and feasted. In the

eighteenth year, Nabuchodonosor called the chief captain of his army,

Holofernes, and commanded him to take one hundred and twenty thousand

footmen and twelve thousand horsemen and go against all the west country

because they had disobeyed his commandment. He charged also Holofernes

to spare none that would not yield, and put them to the slaughter, and

spoil them. And the army went forth with a great number of allies like

locusts into Cilicia, and destroyed Phud and Lud, and all the children

of Rasses and Ishmael. Then the army went over Euphrates and went

through Mesopotamia, and destroyed all the high cities on the river

Arbonai to the sea, and then to Japheth over against Arabia, and Media

and Damascus, and burned up their tabernacles, destroyed their flocks

and herds, utterly wasted their countries, and smote all their young men

with the edge of the sword. Then fear fell upon the inhabitants of Tyrus

and Sidon, on the sea coasts, who sent ambassadors unto Holofernes, and

made submission. He received them, yet he cast down their frontiers, cut

down their groves, destroyed all the gods of the land, and decreed that

all the nations should worship Nabuchodonosor only, and call upon him as

God.

Now, the children of Israel that dwelt in Judea, who were newly returned

from captivity, were exceedingly afraid for Jerusalem and for the Temple

of the Lord their God. Therefore, they possessed themselves of all tops

of the high mountains, and fortified the villages, and laid up victuals

for the provision of war. And Joacim and all the priests ministered unto

the Lord in the Temple, and offered sacrifices and prayed that he would

not give the children of Israel for a prey, their wives for a spoil, the

cities of their inheritance to destruction, and the sanctuary to

profanation.

Holofernes was very angry when he heard this. And Achior, captain of the

sons of Ammon, told Holofernes what the Jews were, their history, and

what their God had done for them; and advised Holofernes not to meddle

with them. There was then tumult in the council of the Assyrian host,

and Holofernes despised the God of the people of Israel, and sent Achior

to the children of Israel that were in Bethulia, in the hill country.

Then Holofernes with all his army besieged Bethulia, and took possession

of the fountains of water, so that the inhabitants fainted for thirst,

and there was no longer any strength in them. They murmured against the

governors, and called upon them to deliver the city to Holofernes and

his army. Ozias, the chief of the city, said: Brethren, be of good

courage; let us yet endure five days, in which space the Lord our God

may turn his mercy towards us; for he will not forsake us utterly.

Now Judith heard thereof. She was a widow and was of a goodly

countenance and very beautiful to behold, and she feared God greatly.

Judith sent for the ancients of the city, and blamed them for provoking

the Lord to anger by their lack of trust, and she promised that she

would do a thing within the days before the city was to be delivered to

their enemies which should go throughout all generations to the children

of the nation. Then Judith went to the House of the Lord and fell upon

her face and called upon the Lord who breakest the battles to bless her

purpose. She went thereafter to her house, put off the garments of

widowhood and of sackcloth, and bathed, and anointed herself with

precious ointment, and put on the garments of gladness, with bracelets

and chains and rings and ornaments to lure the eyes of all the men that

should see her. Then she went forth with her maid out of the city of

Bethulia into the camp of the Assyrians, and was taken by the guard to

the tent of Holofernes, who marvelled at her beauty. Holofernes asked

Judith the cause of her coming, and she declared that if he would follow

her words, he and his army would be led by her through the midst of

Judea unto Jerusalem wherein he would set op his throne.

Holofernes and all his servants were pleased, and said there was not

such a woman in all the earth for beauty of face and wisdom of words.

Judith would not eat of the meats and wine which Holofernes offered her,

but partook only of the provisions which her maid had brought with her

in a bag. Then she was brought into a tent and abode in the camp three

days, going out every night into the valley of Bethulia to pray. In the

fourth day Holofernes made a feast, and said to Bagoas, the eunuch, to

go and persuade the Hebrew woman to come and eat and drink with him and

his officers. Judith arose and decked herself, and went in and sat on

the ground on soft skins over against Holofernes, whose heart was

ravished with her, and his mind moved, and he desired greatly her

company.

Now Judith took and ate and drank what her maid had prepared, and

Holofernes was greatly delighted with her, and drank much more wine than

he had drunk at any time in one day since he was born. Judith, when the

evening was come, was left alone with Holofernes, and the servants were

dismissed. Then she came to the pillar of the bed, which was at

Holofernes's head, took down his fauchion, seized hold of the hair of

his head, and said: Strengthen me, O Lord God of Israel, this day. And

she smote twice upon his neck with all her might, and took away his head

from him.

She put the head in her bag of meat and gave it to her maid, and the

twain went forth together, according to their custom, as unto prayer,

and passed the camp. Then came they to Bethulia, and were admitted into

the city; and the people were astonished wonderfully and worshipped God,

and said: Blessed be thou, O our God, which hast this day brought to

nought the enemies of thy people. The head of Holofernes was hanged up

on the highest place of the city walls, and the men of Israel went forth

by bands into the passes of the mountain. When the Assyrians saw this,

they sent to Holofernes's tent, and said that the slaves of Israelites

had come forth against them in battle. Then Bagoas went into the tent

and found the body of Holofernes cast upon the ground and his head taken

away. When also he found not Judith, he leaped out to the people and

told them; and great fear and trembling fell upon them, and they fled,

being chased until past Damascus and the borders thereof by the children

of Israel, who gat many spoils. Then Judith sang a song of thanksgiving

in all Israel, and the people sang after her. She dedicated the spoil of

Holofernes, which the people had given her, for a gift unto the Lord;

and when she died in Bethulia, a widow of great honour, all Israel did

lament.

THE BOOK OF ESTHER

These are the chapters of the Book of Esther, which are found

neither in the Hebrew nor in the Chaldee.

In the second year of the reign of Artaxerxes the Great, Mardocheus, who

was a Jew and dwelt in the city of Susa, had a dream. And the same night

he overheard two eunuchs plotting to lay hands on Artaxerxes, and he,

being a servitor in the king's court, told the king; and the eunuchs,

after examination, were strangled. Aman, because of this, induced

Artaxerxes to write to all the princes and governors from India unto

Ethiopia to destroy all the Jews, with their wives and children, without

pity, on the fourteenth day of the twelfth month of Adar. Mardocheus and

Queen Esther, being in the fear of death, resorted unto the Lord, and

prayed for deliverance, and for the preservation of the children of

Israel. On the third day, Queen Esther cometh unto the king's presence;

and she was ruddy through the perfection of her beauty, but her heart

was in anguish for fear. The king looketh angrily at her as she stood

before his royal throne, and she fainteth. Then God changed the spirit

of the king, who leaped from his throne, took her in his arms, saying:

Be of good cheer, thou shalt not die, though our commandment be general.

As he was speaking, she fell a second time for faintness, and the king

was troubled and all his servants comforted her.

Artaxerxes then wrote a letter to all the princes wherein he taxed Aman,

the Macedonian, with having by manifold and cunning deceits sought the

destruction of Mardocheus, who had saved the king's life, and also of

the blameless Esther, partaker of his kingdom, with their whole nation.

The king revoked the decree procured by Aman, who, with all his family,

was hanged at the gates of Susa. And the king commanded the day of their

deliverance to be kept holy.

THE WISDOM OF SOLOMON

Love righteousness, ye that be judges of the earth, for into a malicious

soul wisdom shall not enter. The spirit of the Lord filleth the world:

therefore he that speaketh unrighteous things cannot be hid. Seek not

death in the error of your life: for God made not death, and

righteousness is immortal. The ungodly reason, but not aright: life is

short and tedious, which, being extinguished, our bodies shall be turned

into ashes, and our spirit vanish as the soft air. Come, therefore, let

us enjoy the good things that are present. Their own wickedness hath

blinded them, for God created man to be immortal.

Nevertheless, through envy of the devil came death into the world. The

souls of the righteous are in the hands of God, and there shall no

torments touch them. Having been a little chastised they shall be

greatly rewarded. Better to have no children and to have virtue; for

children begotten of unlawful beds are witnesses against their parents.

Honourable age is not measured by number of years. He, being made

perfect in a short time, fulfilled a long time. For his soul pleased the

Lord: Therefore, hasted he to take him away from among the wicked. This

the people saw and understood it not, neither laid they up this in their

minds. That his grace and mercy are with his saints, and that he hath

respect unto his chosen. The wicked wonder at the godly, and say: What

hath pride profited us? And what good hath riches, with our vaunting,

brought us? All those things are passed away like a shadow. The hope of

the ungodly is like dust that is blown away: but the righteous live for

evermore: their reward is a beautiful crown from the Lord's hand. Wisdom

is easily found of such as seek her, therefore princes must desire her;

for a wise prince is the stay of his people. He that hath Wisdom hath

every good thing. Moreover, by her means man shall obtain immortality,

and leave behind him an everlasting memorial.

THE WISDOM OF JESUS THE SON OF SIRACH; OR ECCLESIASTICUS.

There are two prologues to this book. The first is by an

uncertain author, stating that the book is the compilation of

three hands and is in imitation of the Book of Solomon. The

second prologue is by Jesus, the son of Sirach and grandchild

to Jesus of the same name, who had read the law and the

prophets and other books of the fathers, and had been drawn

himself to write something pertaining to wisdom and learning.

Coming into Egypt when Euergetes was king, Jesus, son of

Sirach, found a book of no small learning and bestowed

diligence and travail to interpret it, and to bring it to an

end. The following are among the precepts given:

All wisdom cometh from the Lord: she is with all flesh according to his

gift. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and driveth away

sins. My son, if thou come to serve the Lord, prepare thy soul for

temptation. Set thy heart aright, and constantly endure. Woe be to

fearful hearts; but they that fear the Lord shall be filled with the

law. Whoso honoureth his father maketh an atonement for his sins. He

that honoureth his mother layeth up treasure. Seek not out the things

that are too hard for thee: profess not the knowledge that thou hast

not. Defraud not the poor of his living: and be not fainthearted when

thou sittest in judgment. Set not thy heart upon thy goods, for the Lord

will surely revenge thy pride. Winnow not with every wind, and let thy

life be sincere. Do not extol thy own conceit: if thou wouldst get a

friend, prove him first. A faithful friend is a strong defence. Seek not

of the Lord preeminence: humble thy soul greatly. Fear the Lord, and

reverence his priests. Stretch thine hand unto the poor, and mourn with

them that mourn. Strive not with a mighty man: kindle not the coals of a

sinner. Lend not unto him that is mightier than thyself: be not surety

above thy power. Go not to law with a judge: consult not with a fool.

Judge none blessed before his death. He that toucheth pitch shall be

denied therewith: like will to like. Say not thou: it is through the

Lord that I fell away: He has caused me to err. The Lord made man from

the beginning and left him in the hand of his counsel. He has commanded

no man to do wickedly, neither has he given any man licence to sin. The

knowledge of wickedness is not wisdom: neither at any time the counsel

of sinners prudence. Whoso discovereth secrets loseth his credit and

shall never find friend to his mind. Health and good estate of body are

above all gold. There is no joy above the joy of the heart. Give not

over thy mind to heaviness: the joyfulness of a man prolongeth his days.

Envy and wrath shorten life: carefulness bringeth age before the time.

[Then follow praises of a good householder, a good physician, a wise

interpreter of the law, and injunctions as to how a man should bear the

miseries of life, and face the approach of death. And the book concludes

with praises of the Patriarchs and the Prophets.]

BARUCH

Baruch, the son of Nerias, wrote a book in Babylon what time the

Chaldeans took Jerusalem and burnt it with fire. Baruch read the words

of his book in the hearing of Jechonias, the son of the King of Juda,

and in the ears of all the people. The Jews wept at the reading of it,

by the river Sud, and made a collection of money to send to Jerusalem,

unto the High Priest Joachim, to buy burnt offerings and sin offerings

and incense, and to prepare manna to be offered upon the altar of the

Lord. The people at Jerusalem are asked also to pray for the life of

Nabuchodonosor, King of Babylon, and his son Balthasar, and for those

who sent the gifts and the book. The book begins with a prayer and

confession which the Jews at Babylon make, acknowledging that they are

yet this day in captivity for a reproach and a curse, and to be subject

to payments according to all the iniquities of their fathers which

departed from the Lord our God. Then beginneth the book:

Hear, Israel, the commandments of life: give ear to understand wisdom.

Let them that dwell about Sion come, and remember the captivity of my

sons and daughters, which the Everlasting hath brought upon them. Be of

good cheer, O my children, crying unto the Lord, and He shall deliver

you from the power and hand of the enemies. I sent you out with mourning

and weeping: but God will give you to me again with joy and gladness for

ever. Put off, O Jerusalem, the garment of thy mourning and affliction,

and put on the comeliness of the glory that cometh from God for ever;

for behold, thy children gathereth from the west and from the east and

return out of captivity with glory.

[With this book of Baruch there is an Epistle of Jeremy, which he sent

unto them that were to be led captive into Babylon because of their

sins. The prophet describes the idols and the conduct of the priests and

those who attend the heathen temples and warns the captives not to

worship the false gods in Babylon.]

SONG OF THE THREE HOLY CHILDREN

[This Song is not in the Hebrew of the Book of Daniel.]

They walked in the midst of the fire praising God and blessing the Lord.

Azarias opened his mouth in the midst of the flame and made confession

of sins, and prayer for deliverance to the confusion of their enemies.

Whereupon, the king's servants that put them in ceased not to make the

oven hot with rosin, pitch, tow, and small wood, so that the flame

passed through and burned those Chaldeans it found about the furnace.

But the Angel of the Lord came down into the oven and made the midst of

the furnace as it had been a moist whistling wind, so that the fire

touched Azarias and his fellows not at all, neither hurt nor troubled

them. Then the three, as out of one mouth, praised, glorified, and

blessed God in the furnace, saying: The Lord hath delivered us from

hell, and saved us from the hand of death: for his mercy endureth for

ever.

THE HISTORY OF SUSANNA

There dwelt a man in Babylon called Joacim. And he took a wife whose

name was Susanna, a very fair woman, and one that feared the Lord. The

same year were appointed two of the ancients of the people to be judges;

and they saw Susanna walking in her husband's garden, and their lust was

inflamed towards her. Now, Susanna went into the garden to bathe, for it

was hot, and dismissed her maids. The two elders, who had hidden in the

garden, rose up and said: Consent and lie with us. If thou wilt not, we

will bear witness against thee that a young man was with thee, and

therefore thou didst send thy maids away. Then Susanna cried with a loud

voice, and the two elders cried out against her, and declared their

matter. The servants rushed in at the privy door and were greatly

ashamed, for there was never such a report made of Susanna. It came to

pass the next day when the people were assembled to her husband Joacim,

with the two elders full of mischievous imagination against Susanna,

these wicked men commanded Susanna to uncover her face that they might

be filled with her beauty, and her friends and all that saw her wept.

Then the elders made their charge which they had agreed upon against

Susanna, and the assembled people believed them: so they condemned her

to death. Then Susanna cried to the Everlasting God, saying: Thou

knowest that they have borne false witness against me, and that I never

did such things as these men have maliciously invented against me. And

the Lord heard her voice.

When she was led to be put to death, the Lord raised up the holy spirit

of a youth named Daniel, who said: Are ye such fools, ye sons of Israel,

that without examination or knowledge of the truth ye have condemned a

daughter of Israel? Then Daniel put the two elders aside, one far from

the other, to examine them. To the first he said: If thou hast seen her,

under what tree sawest thou them companying together? He answered: Under

a mastic tree. Daniel said: Very well; and he put him aside and

commanded the other to be brought. Tell me, he said, under what tree

didst thou take them companying together? He answered: Under an holm

tree. Then Daniel said: These men have lied against their own heads, for

even now the Angel of God waiteth with the sword that he may destroy

them. Then all the assembly arose against the two elders, for Daniel had

convicted them of false witness by their own mouth; and they put them to

death. Thus the innocent blood was saved the same day; and from that

time forth was Daniel had in great reputation in the sight of the

people.

THE HISTORY OF THE DESTRUCTION OF BEL AND THE DRAGON

When Cyrus of Persia received his kingdom, Daniel conversed with him,

and was honoured above all his friends. Now, the Babylonians had an idol

called Bel, which the king worshipped, but Daniel worshipped his own

God. The king said unto him: Why dost thou not worship Bel? Daniel

answered: Because I may not worship idols made with hands, but the

living God. Then the king said: Thinkest thou not that Bel is a living

god? Seest thou not how much he eateth and drinketh every day? Then

Daniel smiled and said: O king, be not deceived; for this is but clay

within and brass without, and it never eateth or drinketh anything. Then

trial was made by order of the king, and meat and wine were set in the

temple, the door made fast, and sealed with the king's signet. The

priests of Bel were three score and ten, besides their wives and

children, and they little regarded the trial, for under the table they

had made a privy entrance, whereby they entered the temple continually

and consumed the meat and the wine. But Daniel had commanded his

servants to strew the temple floor with ashes, before the door was shut

and sealed. Now, in the night came the priests with their wives and

children, as they were wont, and did eat and drink up all.

In the morning betimes the king arose, and Daniel with him. As soon as

the door was opened, the king looked upon the table, and cried with a

loud voice: Great art thou, O Bel, and with thee is no deceit at all.

Then laughed Daniel, and said: Behold the pavement, and mark well whose

footsteps are these. And the king saw the footsteps of men, women, and

children, and was angry when he was shown the privy doors where they

came in and consumed such things as were upon the table. Therefore the

king slew them, and delivered Bel into Daniel's power, who destroyed the

idol and the temple.

In the same place there was a great dragon, which they of Babylon

worshipped. The king said to Daniel: Lo! this dragon liveth, eateth,

drinketh; thou canst not say that he is no living god; therefore worship

him. Then said Daniel: I will worship the Lord, for he is the living

God. But give me leave, O king, and I shall slay this dragon without

sword or staff.

The king gave him leave, and Daniel took pitch, and fat, and hair, and

did seethe them together, and made lumps thereof. These he put in the

dragon's mouth, and the dragon burst in sunder. Then Daniel said: Lo,

these are the gods ye worship!

When they of Babylon heard that, they conspired against the king,

saying: The king is become a Jew. So they came to the king, and said:

Deliver us Daniel, or else we will destroy thee and thine house. Being

sore constrained, the king delivered Daniel unto them, and they cast him

into the lions' den, where he was six days, during which the seven lions

were given no carcases, to the intent that they might devour Daniel.

Now, there was in Jewry a prophet called Habakkuk who made pottage and

broken bread to take to the reapers in the field. An Angel of the Lord

said unto Habakkuk: Go, carry the dinner that thou hast into Babylon

unto Daniel, who is in the lions' den. And Habakkuk said: Lord, I never

saw Babylon; neither do I know where the den is. Then the Angel of the

Lord took Habakkuk by the crown, and bare him by the hair of his head,

and through the vehemency of his spirit set him in Babylon over the den.

And Habakkuk cried: O Daniel, take the dinner which God has sent thee.

And Daniel said: Thou hast remembered me, O God: neither hast thou

forsaken them that seek thee and love thee. So Daniel arose, and did

eat: And the Angel of the Lord set Habakkuk in his own place

immediately. Upon the seventh day the king went to bewail Daniel; and

when he came to the den, behold, Daniel was sitting. Then cried the king

with a loud voice, saying: Great art thou, O Lord God of Daniel, and

there is none other besides thee. And he drew Daniel out, and cast those

that were the cause of his suffering into the den; and they were

devoured by the lions in a moment before his face.

THE PRAYER OF MANASSES

The Prayer of Manasses, King of Juda, when he was holden captive in

Babylon, is an enumeration of the attributes of the Almighty God of

Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and of their righteous seed; a general

confession of sins; and an entreaty that God would show him great mercy

and goodness, forgive him, and condemn him not into the lower parts of

the earth. Therefore, he would praise the Lord for ever, all the days of

his life.

THE FIRST BOOK OF THE MACCABEES

Antiochus, surnamed Epiphanes, reigned in the hundred and thirty-seventh

year of the kingdom of the Greeks. In those days certain wicked men of

Israel went to the king, who gave them licence to do after the

ordinances of the heathen. Whereupon, they built a place of exercise at

Jerusalem according to the custom of the heathen. Now, Antiochus made

war against Egypt, and when he had smitten the strong cities, and taken

the spoils thereof, he returned in the hundred forty and third year and

went up against Israel and Jerusalem, and captured the city with great

massacre and spoiled the Temple, and took away the vessels of gold and

silver and hidden treasures which he found therein. Therefore, there was

great mourning in Israel. Two years after, the king sent his chief

collector of tribute unto the cities of Juda, and he fell suddenly upon

Jerusalem, set fire to it, and pulled down the houses and walls thereof.

And the women and children he took away captive, and defiled the

sanctuary.

But the enemy builded the city of David, with a great and strong wall

and mighty towers, and stored it with armour and victuals and the spoils

of Jerusalem, so that it became a sore snare against the sanctuary and

an evil adversary to Israel. Moreover, King Antiochus wrote to his whole

kingdom that all should be one people, and sent letters unto Jerusalem

and the cities of Juda commanding that the Israelites should abandon

their own worship, cease to circumcise their children, and adore his

idols. Then was the abomination of desolation set up in the Temple, and

idol altars were builded throughout the cities of Juda, and the books of

the law were burned. Howbeit many in Israel chose rather to die that

they might not be defiled with meats and profane the Holy Covenant. In

those days arose Mattathias, a priest of the sons of Joarib. He dwelt in

Modin, and had five sons--Joannan, Simon, Judas who was called

Maccabeus, Eleazar, and Jonathan. The king's officers came to Modin and

asked Mattathias to fulfil the king's commandment; but Mattathias said:

Though all the nations consent, yet will I and my sons walk in the

covenant of our fathers. And he slew a Jew that did sacrifice to idols

in his presence, and the king's messenger also. So he and his sons fled

into the mountains, and, being joined by a company of mighty men of

Israel, went round about, and pulled down idol altars and circumcised

the children valiantly. And the work prospered in their hands, and they

recovered the law out of the hands of the Gentiles. When Mattathias came

to die he appointed Simon as a man of counsel, and Judas Maccabeus, who

had been mighty and strong in battle even from his youth up, to be their

captain to avenge the wrongs of their people. So he died in his hundred

forty and sixth year, and was buried in the sepulchre of his fathers at

Modin, and all Israel made great lamentation for him.

Now, Judas Maccabeus fought the battles of his people with great

valiance, captured the cities of Juda, drove Apollonius and a great host

out of Samaria, slew Apollonius, took their spoils, and Apollonius's

sword also, and therewith he fought all his life long. Judas also

overthrew Seron and the great army of Syria. Then Judas was renowned

unto the utmost parts of the earth, and an exceeding great dread fell

upon the nations round about. Now, when King Antiochus heard these

things he was full of indignation; wherefore he sent and gathered

together all the forces of his realm. And the king sent Lysias, one of

the blood royal, with a great army to go into the land of Juda and

destroy it. Judas and his brethren, when he heard this, assembled the

Israelites at Maspha, over against Jerusalem, where they fasted; and

Judas organised and armed them to battle, and camped at Emmaus. Gorgias,

the lieutenant of Lysias, attempted to surprise Judas, but Judas joined

him in battle and discomfited him, putting his host to flight and

gaining great spoil. Next year Lysias gathered another army, that he

might subdue the Israelites, and came into Idumea, and pitched tents at

Bethsura. But Judas joined him in battle, and put Lysias and his army to

flight. After this, Judas and his brethren came to Jerusalem, pulled

down the altar which the heathen had profaned, and set up a new altar.

He also builded up Mount Sion with strong towers and high walls. After

that Judas smote the children of Esau, Bean, and Ammon, and sent Simon

into Galilee, while he, with his brother Jonathan, went over Jordan, and

captured the cities of Galaad. About that time Antiochus was in Persia,

and heard of the doings of Judas. He was astonished and sore moved, and

fell sick of grief and died. Lysias set up Antiochus, his son, as king,

and called him Eupator, and brought a great army into Juda. The number

of his army was an hundred thousand footmen, twenty thousand horsemen,

and two and thirty elephants. Judas went out from Jerusalem and pitched

in Bathzacharias over against the king's camp. Then a great battle was

fought, when Judas was defeated. There being a famine in the city, he

made peace with Eupator, who, however, ordered the wall round about Sion

to be pulled down.

Demetrius came from Rome and attacked Eupator in Antioch, captured the

city, and slew Eupator and Lysias. Alsimus, who wished to be high

priest, complained to Demetrius of Judas, and the king sent Nicanor, a

man that bare deadly hate unto Israel, to destroy the people; but he was

defeated by Judas at Capharsalama with great slaughter, and in a second

battle Nicanor's host was discomfited and he himself was slain, and his

head and right hand were hanged up on the tower at Jerusalem. This was a

day of great gladness to Israel, and the victory was kept holy every

year after.

Now, Judas, being informed of the power and policy of the Romans, made a

league with them of mutual help. Notwithstanding, Demetrius sent

Bacchides and Alcimus a second time into Judea with a great host, and

camped at Berea. Now, Judas had pitched his tent at Eleasa, where,

seeing the multitude of the other army to be so great, his men began to

desert him, whereupon Judas said: God forbid that I should flee away

from the enemy; if our time be come, let us die manfully for our

brethren, and let us not stain our honour.

The armies came to battle, and the earth shook at the noise thereof, and

the fight continued from morning to night. Judas discomfited the right

wing of the enemy under Bacchides and pursued them to Mount Azotus, but

the left wing followed upon Judas and a sore battle took place, insomuch

that many were slain on both sides. Judas was killed also, and the rest

of his army fled. The body of Judas was taken to the sepulchre of his

fathers at Modin by Jonathan and Simon, his brothers, and all Israel

made lamentation for him, and mourned many days, saying: How is the

valiant man fallen that delivered Israel!

Jonathan took command of the Israelites in the room of Judas, and made

peace with Bacchides. Thereafter, Demetrius made large offers to have

peace with Jonathan, including freedom of worship and release of

tribute, together with the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem and the

towers thereof, and the repairs of the sanctuary; but Jonathan and the

people gave no credit to these words because they remembered the great

evil Demetrius had done in Israel. Jonathan made peace with Alexander,

and joined him in battle against Demetrius, whose host fled, and he

himself was slain.

After that Demetrius the younger came out of Crete, and sent a great

host to Azotus. Here Jonathan attacked him, and with the help of Simon,

his brother, defeated the enemy and set fire to Azotus, and the temple

of Dagon therein. There were burned and slain with the sword eight

thousand men. Now, King Alexander honoured Jonathan and sent him a

buckle of gold such as is given to those of the king's blood. After

these days, Jonathan did many wonderful exploits in Galilee and

Damascus, and then returned to Jerusalem. Now, when Jonathan saw that

the time served him, he renewed his league with the Romans and

Lacedemonians, and pursued the Arabians unto Damascus. He strengthened

the cities of Juda, but he was captured by fraud by Tryphon at

Ptolemais. Simon was made captain in his brother Jonathan's room, and

prepared to attack Tryphon and, rescue his brother, but Tryphon slew

Jonathan, and returned into his own country.

The land of Juda was quiet all the days of Simon, and every man sat

under his own vine and fig-tree. When Simon was visiting the cities that

were in the country, Ptolemeus, son of Abubus, the captain of Jerico,

invited Simon and his two sons into his castle, called Docus. There a

great banquet was given, at which Simon and his sons drank largely, and

Ptolemeus and his men came into the banqueting place and slew them.

THE SECOND BOOK OF THE MACCABEES

The brethren, the Jews that were at Jerusalem and in the land of Judea,

wrote a letter to the Jews that were throughout Egypt to thank God for

the death of Antiochus. In his letter are recounted all the sayings of

Jeremy, and the great deeds of Judas Maccabeus and his brother Simon, as

recorded in the books of Jason, until Nicanor the blasphemer was killed,

and his head hanged upon the tower at Jerusalem, from which time forth

the Hebrews had the city in their power.

* * * * *

ST. AUGUSTINE

THE CITY OF GOD

A French critic has said of Augustine's "City of God" that it

is the earliest serious attempt to write a philosophy of

history, and another has spoken of it as the encyclopaedia of

the fifth century. These two remarks together characterise the

work excellently. It is a huge treatise in twenty-two books,

begun in the year 413, and finished in 426, and was given to

the public in sections as these were completed. Augustine (see

LIVES AND LETTERS) himself explains the origin of the work.

The fall of Rome by Alaric's invasion in 410 had been ascribed

to the desertion of the old gods of Rome and to the wide

extension of Christianity, or the City of God, throughout the

empire. It was to refute this calumny that the learned African

bishop elaborated his great defense of Christ's kingdom, the

"Catholic Church, which should include all nations and speak

in all tongues." In Books 1-5 St. Augustine shows that the

catastrophe of Rome was not due to the neglect of the old

mythological superstitions; and in Books 6-10 that the heathen

cult was helpless for the life after death. Books 11-14 deal

with the origin of the two cities, namely, of God and the

World; Books 15-18 with their respective histories, and Books

19-22 with their respective ultimate destinies.

_I.--THE ORIGIN OF THE TWO CITIES_

I write, dear Marcellinus, of that most glorious City of God, both in

her present pilgrimage and life by faith, and in that fixed and

everlasting seat which she awaits in patience. I write to defend her

against those who place their gods above her Founder--a great and

arduous work, but God is my aid. I well know what power a writer needs

who would show the proud how great is the virtue of humility. For the

law of our King and Founder is this: "God is against the proud but gives

grace to the humble"; but the swollen and insolent soul loves herein to

usurp the divine Majesty, and itself "to spare the subject and subdue

the proud." Wherefore I may not pass over in silence that earthly city

also, enslaved by its lust of empire.

For it is from this City of the World that those enemies have arisen,

against whom we have to defend the City of God; Romans, spared by the

barbarians on Christ's account, are haters of the name of Christ. The

shrines of the martyrs and the basilicas of the apostles received, in

the devastation of the city, not their own people only, but every

fugitive; and the fury and greed of the invaders were quenched at these

holy thresholds. Yet with thankless arrogance and impious frenzy these

men, who took refuge under that Name in order that they might enjoy the

light of fugitive years, perversely oppose it now, that they may

languish in sempiternal gloom.

Never has it been known, in so many wars as are recorded from before the

foundation of Rome to the present day, that an enemy, having reduced any

city, should have spared those who had fled to the temples of their

gods; not even the Romans themselves, whose moderation in victory has so

often been justly praised, have respected the sanctuary of vanquished

deities. The devastation and massacre and pillage and conflagrations of

the sack of Rome were nothing new. But this one thing was new and

unheard of--these savages became suddenly so mild as to set apart

spacious basilicas and to fill them with people on whom they had mercy;

no one might be killed therein nor any dragged from thence. Who does not

see that this is due to the name of Christ and to a Christian age? Who

can deny that these sanguinary hordes were bridled by Him Who had said:

"I will visit their sins with the rod, but will not take my mercy from

them"?

All natures, because they exist and therefore have their manner and

species and a certain peace with themselves, are good; and when they are

in the places belonging to the order of nature, they preserve the being

which they have received.

The truest cause of the felicity of the good angels is to be found in

this, that they adhere to Him Who supremely is; and the cause of the

misery of bad angels lies in this, that they have turned away from Him

Who supremely is, to themselves, who have not supreme being. This vice

has no other name but pride, which is the beginning of every sin. They

refused to preserve their strength for Him, and so threw away that in

which all their greatness consisted. It is vain to seek for an efficient

cause for the bad will; we have to do, not with anything efficient, but

with a deficiency. The mere defection from that which supremely is to

things which are on a lower grade of being is to begin to have a bad

will.

Now God founded mankind, not as the angels, so that even did they sin

they should not die; but in such a way that did they obey, they should

enter, without death, on a blessed eternity; but, did they disobey, they

should suffer the most just penalty, both of body and of soul. For

though the human soul is truly said to be immortal, yet is there a sense

in which it dies when God forsakes it.

Only because they had begun inwardly to be evil did the first of mankind

fall into overt disobedience. A bad will had preceded the bad action,

and of that bad will the beginning was pride, or the appetite for an

inordinate rank. To lift oneself up is in itself to be cast down and to

fall. Wherefore humility is most highly of all things commended in and

to the City of God, and in Christ her King; but the contrary vice of

arrogance especially rules her adversary, the devil, and this is

unquestionably the great difference by which the two cities are divided,

and the society of the pious from the society of the impious. Thus two

loves have founded two cities, the love of Self extending to contempt of

God has made the City of the World; the love of God extending to

contempt of Self has made the Heavenly City.

_II.--THE GROWTH OF THE CITIES_

This whole universal time or age, in which the dying give way and the

newborn succeed them, is the scene and history of those two cities which

are our theme. The City of the World, which lasts not for ever, has its

good here below, and rejoices in it with such joy as is possible. The

objects of its desire are not otherwise than good, and itself is the

best of the good things of earth. It desires an earthly peace for lower

ends, makes wars to gain this peace, wins glorious victories, and when

victory crowns a just cause, who shall not acclaim the wished-for peace?

These things are good indeed, and unquestionably are the gifts of God.

But if, neglecting the better things, which belong to the supernal city,

they covet these lower ends as if there were none higher, misery must

inevitably follow.

All men, indeed, desire peace; but while the society which does not live

by faith seeks its peace in the temporal advantages of the present life,

that which lives by faith awaits the promised blessings, and makes use

of earthly and temporal things only as pilgrims do. The earthly city

seeks its peace in a harmony of the wills of men with respect to the

things of this life. And the heavenly city also, or, rather, that part

of it which travels in this mortality, must use that earthly peace while

mortality remains. Living a captive life in the midst of the earthly

city, it does not hesitate to respect its laws. Since this mortality is

common to both cities, there is a concord between them in the things

that belong to it. Only, the heavenly city cannot have common laws of

religion with the earthly city, but has been forced to dissent, and to

suffer hatred and the storms of persecution.

Therefore, this heavenly city, a pilgrim upon earth, calls out citizens

from all peoples and collects a pilgrim society of all tongues, careless

what differences there may be in manners, laws and institutions by which

earthly peace is achieved and maintained, destroying none of these, but

rather serving and fulfilling them. Even the celestial city, therefore,

uses the earthly peace, and uses it as a means to the heavenly peace;

for that alone can be called the peace of a rational creature which

consists in a harmonious society devoted to the enjoyment of God and one

another in God.

As for that uncertainty with regard to everything, which characterises

the New Academy, the City of God detests all such doubting as a form of

madness, since she has the most certain knowledge of those things which

she understands by mind and reason, however that knowledge may be

limited by our corruptible body. She believes also the evidence of the

senses, which the mind uses through the body, for he is miserably

deceived who regards them as untrustworthy. She believes also the holy

Scriptures, which we call canonical.

It is no matter to the City of God what dress the citizen wears, or what

manner of life he follows, so long as it is not contrary to the Divine

commands; so that she does not compel the philosophers, who become

Christians, to change their habit or their means of life, which are no

hindrance to religion, but only their false opinions. As for these three

kinds of life, the contemplative, the active, and that which partakes of

both qualities, although a man living in faith may adopt any of them,

and therein reach eternal reward, yet the love of truth and the duties

of charity alike must have their place. One may not so give himself to

contemplation as to neglect the good of his neighbour, nor be so deeply

immersed in action as to neglect the contemplation of God. In leisure we

ought to delight, not in an empty inertia, but in the inquisition or

discovery of truth, in such a way that each may make progress without

envying the attainments of another. In action we ought to seek neither

the honours of this life nor power, since all that is under the sun is

vanity; but only the work itself, which our situation enables us to do,

and to do it rightly and serviceably.

According to the definitions which Scipio used in Cicero's "Republic,"

there never really existed a Roman republic. For he briefly defines a

republic as the estate of the people--"res publica" as "res populi," and

defines the people as a multitudinous assemblage, united by consent to

law and by community of advantage. So, then, where justice is not, there

can be no people; and if no people, then no estate of the people, but

only of a confused multitude unworthy of the name of a people. Where no

justice is, there is no commonwealth. Now, justice is a virtue

distributing unto everyone his due. Where, then, is the justice of the

man who deserts the true God and gives himself over to unclean demons?

Is this giving everyone his due?

But if we define a people in another way, and consider it as an

assemblage of rational beings united by unanimity as to the objects of

their love, then, in order to ascertain the character of a people, we

must ascertain what things they love. Whatever it loves, so long as it

is an assemblage of rational creatures and not a herd of cattle, and is

agreed as to the objects of its love, it is truly a people, though so

much the better as its concord lies in better things, and so much the

worse as its concord lies in inferior things. According to this

definition, then, the Roman people is indeed a people, and its estate is

a commonwealth. But what things that people has loved in its earlier and

later times, and how it fell into bloody seditions and into social and

civil wars, breaking and corrupting that concord which is the health of

a people--of these things history is witness. Yet I would not on that

account deny it the name of a people, nor its estate the name of a

republic, so long as there remains some assemblage of rational persons

associated by unanimity with regard to the objects of love. But in

general, whatever be the nation in question, whether Athens, Egypt,

Babylon, or Rome, the city of the ungodly--refusing obedience to the

commandment of God that no sacrifice should be offered but to Him

alone--is without true justice.

For though there may be an apparent mastery of the soul over the body,

and of reason over vices, yet if soul and reason do not serve God as He

has commanded, they can have no true dominion over the body and its

passions. How can the mind which is ignorant of the true God, and

instead of obeying Him is prostituted to impure demons, be true mistress

of the body and the vices? Nay, the very virtues which it appears to

itself to possess, by which it rules the body and the vices in order

that it may obtain and guard the objects which it desires, being

undirected to God, are rather vices than virtues. For as that which

makes flesh to live is not flesh but above it, so that which enables man

to live in blessedness is not of man, but above him.

_III.--THE DESTINY OF THE JUST_

Who is able to tell of the creation, with its beauty and utility, which

God has set before the eyes of man, though here condemned to labour and

sorrow? The innumerable loveliness of sky, earth and sea, the abundance

and wonder of light, the sun, moon and stars, the shade of trees, the

colours and fragrance of flowers, the multitude of birds of varied hue

and song, the many forms of animals, of which the smallest are more

wonderful than the greatest, the works of bees more amazing than the

vast bodies of whales--who shall describe them?

What shall those rewards, then, be? What will God give them whom He has

predestined to life, having given such great things to those whom He has

predestined to death? What in that blessed life will He lavish upon

those for whom He gave His Son to death? What will the state of man's

spirit be when it has become wholly free from vice; yielding to none,

enslaved by none, warring against none, but perfectly and wholly at

peace with itself?

Who can say, or even imagine, what degrees of glory shall there be given

to the degrees of merit? Yet we cannot doubt that there will be degrees;

and that in that blessed city no one in lower place shall envy his

superior; for no one will wish to be that which he has not received,

though bound in closest concord with him who has received. Together with

his reward, each shall have the gift of contentment, so as to desire no

more than he has. There we shall rest and see, we shall see and love, we

shall love and praise. For what other end have we, but to reach the

kingdom of which there is no end?

* * * * *

RICHARD BAXTER

THE SAINTS' EVERLASTING REST

Richard Baxter, the Puritan author of one hundred and

sixty-eight volumes, of which "The Saints Everlasting Rest"

was, and is, the most popular, was born in 1615 during the

reign of James I., and died in 1691, soon after the accession

of William III. His lifetime, therefore, was coincident with

the troubles of the Stuart House. For fifty years Baxter was

one of the best known divines in England. Throughout, his was

a moderating influence in politics, the Church, and theology.

His best known pastorate, one of extraordinary success, was at

Kidderminster, between his twenty-sixth and forty-fifth years,

and there, in an interlude of ill-health of more than

customary severity--for all his life he was ailing--he wrote,

anticipatory of death, "The Saints Everlasting Rest." The

book, which was dedicated to his "dearly beloved friends the

inhabitants of the Borrough and Forreign of Kederminster," was

published in 1650 and had an immediate and almost

unparallelled success. Twenty thousand copies were sold in the

year after publication, and various editions are now in

circulation. The saintliness of this broad-minded divine's

character emerges unsullied from an age of contentious

bigotry.

_I.--THE NATURE OF REST_

"There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God."

--Heb. iv, 9.

It was not only our interest in God and actual fruition of Him which was

lost in Adam's covenant-breaking fall, but all spiritual knowledge of

Him, and true disposition towards such a felicity. Man hath now a heart

too suitable to his low estate--a low state, and a low spirit. And when

the Son of God comes with tenders of a spiritual and eternal happiness

and glory, He finds not faith in man to believe it; but, as the poor man

would not believe that any one man had such a sum as a hundred

pounds--it was so far above what he possessed--so no man will hardly now

believe that there is such a happiness as once he had, much less as

Christ hath now procured.

The Apostle bestows most of his epistle against this distemper, and

clearly and largely proves that the rest of Sabbaths and Canaan should

teach men to look for further rest, which indeed is their happiness.

What more welcome to men under personal afflictions, tiring duty,

successions of sufferings, than rest? What more welcome news to men

under public calamities, unpleasing employment, plundering losses, sad

tidings, than this of rest?

Now let us see what this rest is. Though the sense of the text includes

in the word "rest" all that ease and safety which a soul hath with

Christ in _this life_--the rest of grace--yet because it chiefly intends

the rest of eternal glory I shall confine my discourse to this last.

Rest is the end and perfection of motion. The saints' rest, here in

question, is _the most happy estate of a Christian having obtained the

end of his course_.

May we show what this rest containeth. Alas! how little know I of that

whereof I am about to speak. Shall I speak before I know? If I stay till

I clearly know I shall not come again to speak. Therefore will I speak

that little which I do know of it rather than be wholly silent.

There is contained in this rest a cessation from motion or action. When

we have obtained the haven we have done with sailing; when we are at our

journey's end we have done with the way. There shall be no more prayer

because no more necessity, but the full enjoyment of what we prayed for.

Neither shall we need to fast and weep and watch any more, being out of

the reach of sin and temptations. Nor will there be use for instructions

and exhortations; preaching is done; the ministry of man ceaseth;

sacraments useless; the labourer called in because the harvest is

gathered, the tares burned, the work done.

This rest containeth a perfect freedom from all the evils that accompany

us through our course, and which necessarily follow our absence from the

chief good. Doubtless there is not such a thing as grief and sorrow

known there; nor is there such a thing as a pale face, a languid body,

feeble joints, unable infancy, decrepit age, peccant humours, dolorous

sickness, griping fears, consuming care, nor whatsoever deserveth the

name of evil. Indeed, a gale of groans and sighs, a stream of tears

accompanied us to the very gates, and there bid us farewell for ever.

This rest containeth the highest degree of the saints' personal

perfection, both of soul and body. This necessarily qualifies them to

enjoy the glory and thoroughly to partake the sweetness of it. This is

one thing that makes the saints' joy there so great. Here eye hath not

seen, nor ear heard, nor heart conceived what God hath laid up for them

that wait for Him; but there the eye and ear and heart are made capable,

else how do they enjoy it? The more perfect the appetite the sweeter the

food; the more musical the ear the more pleasant the melody; the more

perfect the soul the more joyous those joys, and the more glorious to us

is that glory.

This rest containeth, as the principal part, our nearest fruition of

God, the chiefest good. And here, wonder not if I be at a loss. When I

know so little of God, I cannot know how much it is to enjoy Him. When

it is so little I know of mine own soul--either its quiddity or quality,

while it is here in this tabernacle--how little must I needs know of the

infinite majesty, or the state of this soul when it is advanced to that

enjoyment. Nay, if I never saw that creature which contains not

something unsearchable, nor the worm so small which afforded not matter

for questions to puzzle the greatest philosopher that ever I met with,

no wonder if mine eye fail when I look at God, my tongue fail me in

speaking of Him, and my heart in conceiving. What strange conceivings

hath a man born blind of the sun of its light; or a man born deaf of the

nature of music; so do we want that sense by which God must be clearly

known. But this we know, the chief good is for us to be near to God.

_II.--HOW THE SAINTS WILL BE EMPLOYED_

This rest containeth a sweet and constant action of all the powers of

the soul and body in this fruition of God. It is not the rest of a stone

which ceaseth from motion when it attains the centre. Whether the

external senses, such as now we have, shall be continued and employed in

this work is a great doubt. For some of them, it is usually

acknowledged, they shall cease, because their being importeth their use,

and their use implieth our state of imperfection--as there is no use for

eating and drinking, so neither for taste. But do not all senses imply

our imperfection? As the ore is cast into the fire a stone, but comes

forth so pure a metal that it deserves another name, so far greater will

the change of our body and senses be--even so great as now we cannot

conceive. And, doubtless, as God advanceth our sense and enlargeth our

capacity, so will He advance the happiness of those senses, and fill up

with Himself all that capacity.

And if the body shall be thus employed, oh, how shall the soul be taken

up! As the bodily senses have their proper aptitude and action, so doth

the soul in its own action enjoy its own object--by knowing, by

thinking, by remembering, by loving. This is the soul's enjoying.

Knowledge of itself is very desirable, even the knowledge of some evil,

though not the evil itself. As far as a rational soul exceeds the

sensitive, so far the delights of a philosopher in discovering the

secrets of Nature, and knowing the mysteries of science, exceed the

delights of the glutton, the drunkard, the unclean, and of all

voluptuous sensualists whatsoever--so excellent is all truth. What,

then, is their delight who know the God of truth! What would I not give

so that all the uncertain, questionable principles in logic, natural

philosophy, metaphysics, and medicine were but certain in themselves and

to me, that my dull, obscure notions of them were but quick and clear.

Oh, what then should I not either perform or part with to enjoy a clear

and true apprehension of the most true God!

How noble a faculty of the soul is this understanding! It can compass

the earth; it can measure the sun, moon, stars, and heaven; it can

foreknow each eclipse to a minute many years before; yea, but the top of

all its excellency is that it can know God, who is infinite, who made

all these--a little here, and more, much more, hereafter. Oh, the wisdom

and goodness of our blessed Lord! He hath created the understanding with

a natural bias and inclination to truth as its object, and to the prime

truth as its prime object; and lest we should turn aside to any

creature, He hath kept this as His own divine prerogative, not

communicable to any creature, namely, to _be_ the prime truth.

And, doubtless, memory will not be idle or useless in this blessed work,

if it be but by looking back to help the soul to value its enjoyment.

Our knowledge will be enlarged, not diminished; therefore the knowledge

of things past shall not be taken away. And what is that knowledge but a

remembrance? Doubtless, from that height the saint can look behind him

and before him; and to compare past with present things must needs raise

in the blessed soul an unconceivable esteem and sense of its condition.

To stand on that mount whence we can see the wilderness and Canaan both

at once; to stand in heaven and look back on earth, and weigh them

together in the balance of a comparing sense and judgment, how must it

needs transport the soul and make it cry out: Have the gales of grace

blown me into such a harbour! O, blessed way, and thrice blessed end!

And now if there be such a thing as indignation left how will it here

let fly: O vile nature that resisted so much and so long such a

blessing! Unworthy soul, is this the place thou camest so unwillingly

towards? Was duty wearisome? Was the world too good to lose? Didst thou

stick at leaving all, denying all, and suffering anything for this? Wast

thou loth to die to come to this? O false heart, that had almost

betrayed me and lost me this glory!

But oh, the full, the near, the sweet enjoyment is that of the

affections--love and joy! It is near, for love is of the essence of the

soul; love is the essence of God, for God is love. Oh, the high delights

of this love! The content that the heart findeth in it! Surely love is

both work and wages.

But, alas! my fearful heart scarce dares proceed. Methinks I hear the

Almighty's voice saying to me, as to Job, "Who is this that darkeneth

counsel by words without knowledge?" But pardon, O Lord, Thy servant's

sin. I have not pried into unrevealed things, nor with audacious wits

curiously searched into Thy counsels; but, indeed, I have dishonoured

Thy Holiness, wronged Thine Excellency, disgraced Thy saints' glory by

my own exceeding disproportionate pourtraying. I bewail that my

conceivings fall so short, my apprehensions are so dull, my thoughts so

mean, my affections so stupid, expressions so low, and unbeseeming such

a glory. But I have only heard by the hearing of the ear. Oh, let Thy

servant see Thee and possess these joys, and then I shall have more

suitable conceivings, and shall give Thee fuller glory!

_III.--HOW THE ETERNAL REST IS REACHED_

Having thus opened to you a window towards the temple, and showed you a

small glimpse of the back parts of that resemblance of the saints' rest

which I had seen in the Gospel-glass, it follows that we proceed to view

a little the adjuncts and blessed properties of this rest, and first

consider the eminent antecedents, the great preparations, the notable

introduction to this rest; for the porch of this temple is exceeding

glorious, and the gate of it is called beautiful. And here offer

themselves to our observation as the four corners of this porch the most

glorious coming and appearing of the Son of God; His wonderful raising

of our bodies from the dust, and uniting them again with the soul; His

public and solemn proceedings in their judgment; His solemn celebration

of their coronation, and His enthronising of them in their glory.

Well may the coming of Christ be reckoned into His people's glory and

enumerated with those ingredients that compound this precious antidote

of rest, for to this end it is intended, and to this end it is of

apparent necessity. Alas, fellow Christians, what should we do if our

Lord should not return? What a case are we here left in! It cannot be;

never fear it, it cannot be. And O, fellow-Christians, what a day will

that be when we, who have been kept prisoners by sin and the grave,

shall be fetched out by the Lord Himself! It will not be such a coming

as His first was--in meanness and poverty and contempt. He will not

come, O careless world, to be slighted and neglected by you any more. To

think and speak of that day with horror doth well beseem the impenitent

sinner, but ill the believing saint. How full of joy was that blessed

martyr Mr. Glover, with the discovery of Christ to his soul, after long

doubting and waiting in sorrow, so that he cries out: "He is come! He is

come!" If thou have but a dear friend returned, that hath been far and

long absent, how do all run out to meet him with joy! "Oh," said the

child, "My father is come!" Saith the wife, "My husband is come!" And

shall not we, when we behold our Lord in His majesty returning, cry out:

"He is come! He is come!"

The second stream that leadeth to Paradise is that great work of Jesus

Christ in raising our bodies from the dust and uniting them again unto

the soul. A wonderful effect of infinite power and love. "Yea, wonderful

indeed," saith unbelief, "if it be true." "What," saith the Atheist and

Sadducee, "shall all these scattered bones and dust become a man? A man

drowned in the sea is eaten by fishes, and they by men again, and these

men by worms. What is to become of the body of that first man? Shall it

rise again?" Thou fool--for so Paul calls thee--dost thou dispute

against the power of the Almighty? Wilt thou pose him with thy

sophistry? Dost thou object difficulties to infinite strength? Thou

blind mole, thou silly worm; thou little piece of creeping, breathing

clay; thou dust, thou nothing, knowest thou who it is whose power thou

dost question? If thou shouldst see Him, thou wouldst presently die. If

He should come and dispute His cause with thee, couldst thou bear it? If

thou shouldst hear His voice, couldst thou endure?

Come then, fellow-Christians, let us contentedly commit these carcasses

to the dust, knowing that prison shall not long contain them. Let us lie

down in peace and take our rest; it will not be an everlasting night or

endless sleep. As sure as we awake in the morning when we have slept out

the night, so sure shall we then awake. What if our carcasses become as

vile as those of the beasts that perish, what if our bones are digged up

and scattered about the pit brink, and worms consume our flesh, yet we

know that our Redeemer liveth, and shall stand at the last on earth, and

we shall see Him with these eyes.

The third part of this prologue to the saints' rest is the public and

solemn process at their judgment. O terrible, O joyful day! Then shall

the world behold the goodness and the severity of the Lord--on them who

perish, severity; but to His chosen, goodness. Then, fellow-Christians,

let the terror of that day be never so great, surely our Lord can mean

no ill to us.

The fourth antecedent and highest step to the saints' advancement is

their solemn coronation, enthronising and receiving into the kingdom.

They that have been faithful unto death shall receive the crown of life,

and according to the improvement of their talents here so shall their

rule and dignity be enlarged.

_IV.--EXCELLENCES OF THE ETERNAL REST_

A comfortable adjunct of this rest is the fellowship of the blessed

saints and angels of God. Oh, when I look in the faces of the precious

people of God, and believing, think of this day, what a refreshing

thought is it! Shall we not there remember, think you, the pikes which

we passed through here; our fellowship in duty and in sufferings; how

oft our groans made as it were one sound, our conjunct tears but one

stream, and our conjunct desires but one prayer. And now all our praises

shall make up one melody, and all our churches one church; and all

ourselves but one body; for we shall be one in Christ, even as He and

the Father are one.

It is a question with some whether we shall know each other in heaven or

no. Surely there shall no knowledge cease which we now have, but only

that which implieth imperfection! And what imperfection can this imply?

Nay, our present knowledge shall be increased beyond belief. It shall be

done away, but as the light of candles and stars is done away by the

rising of the sun, which is more properly a doing away of our ignorance

than of our knowledge. Indeed, we shall not know each other after the

flesh; nor by stature, voice, colour, complexion, visage, or outward

shape, but by the image of Christ and spiritual relation, and former

faithfulness in improving our talents we shall know and be known.

Again, a further excellence is this--it will be unto us a _seasonable_

rest. When we have passed a long and tedious journey, and that through

no small dangers, is not home then seasonable? When we have had a long

and perilous war, and have lived in the midst of furious enemies, and

have been forced to stand on a perpetual watch, and received from them

many a wound, would not a peace with victory be now seasonable? Some are

complaining under the pressure of the times--weary of their taxes, weary

of their quarterings, weary of plunderings, weary of their fears and

dangers, weary of their poverty and wants, and is not rest yet

seasonable? Some of us languish under continual weakness, and groan

under most grievous pains, weary of going, weary of sitting, weary of

standing, weary of lying, weary of eating, weary of speaking, weary of

waking, weary of our very friends, weary of ourselves. Oh, how oft hath

this been mine own case--and is not rest yet seasonable?

A further excellence is that this is a _suitable_ rest. Gold and earthly

glory, temporal crowns and kingdoms could not make rest for saints. Such

as their nature and desire such will be their rest.

It will, too, be absolutely _perfect and complete_--as there is no

mixture of our corruption with our graces, so there will be no mixture

of our sufferings with our solace. We shall know which was the right

side and which the wrong. Then shall our understandings receive their

light from the face of God, as the full moon from the open sun when

there is no earth to interpose betwixt them. It is a perfect rest from

perplexing doubts and fear, from all sense of God's displeasure, from

all the temptations of Satan, the world, and the flesh. And it is an

_eternal_ rest. This is the crown of our crown. Mortality is the

disgrace of all sublunary delights. But, O blessed eternity, where our

lives are perplexed by no such thoughts, nor our joys interrupted by any

such fears! Our first paradise in Eden had a way out, but none in again;

but this eternal paradise hath a way in, but no way out again. The Lord

heal our carnal hearts lest we enter not into His eternal rest because

of our unbelief.

* * * * *

BOOK OF THE DEAD

This is probably the oldest religious book in the world.

Properly speaking, indeed, it is no book at all, but rather a

collection of hymns and litanies which have no more connection

with each other than the Psalms. Like the Psalter, too, this

so-called book has grown by degrees to the magnitude which it

now usually assumes in European and other libraries--175

chapters of varying sizes. Its Egyptian name is "The Book of

the Coming Forth by Day" (Renouf), or "The Coming Out of the

Day" (Naville); the latter being probably more correct, "day"

in this connection denoting man's life with its morning and

evening. The hymns in this collection are supposed to be

recited by the deceased person with whose body they were

commonly buried, and by the recital of these and other sacred

texts the departed was believed to be protected against injury

in his journey to the underworld, and also to have secured for

him a safe return in the form of a resurrection. It was

Lepsius, the great German Egyptologist, who gave this

compilation the name "Book of the Dead." Even this name,

however, though more correct than any other, gives by no means

an adequate account of that for which it stands. This, and

other summaries of the sacred books of the East appearing in

THE WORLD'S GREATEST BOOKS present in quite original ways the

systems and philosophies of the great non-Christian religions.

_INTRODUCTORY_

The Book of the Dead may be described as the soul's _vade mecum_ in the

journey from this world. It prescribes the forms the soul must have at

command in order to ward off the dangers on the way to the underworld,

during residence in the world, and on the journey back.

The ancient Egyptians considered this book as inspired by the gods, who

caused their scribe, Thoth, to write it down. Every chapter is supposed

to exist for the sake of persons who have died. Sometimes chapters had

to be recited before the body was put down out of sight. Often a

chapter, or more than one, was inscribed on the coffin, or sarcophagus,

or mummy wrappings, this being thought a sure protection against foes of

every kind.

This collection has been chiefly found written on papyrus in

hieroglyphic or hieratic characters on coffins, mummies, sepulchral

wrappings, statues, and on the walls of tombs. Complete copies have been

found written on tombs of the time of the 26th Dynasty (about 800 B.C.).

There are many recensions, or editions, in the various libraries of

Europe and also in the East, and no two of them are identical in the

text. Lepsius translated from the Turin papyrus; Budge bases his

translations on what is called the Theban recension. But in all the text

is exceedingly corrupt, and translation is often no more than a guess.

Owing to the number of proper names and technical terms which we have no

means of understanding, it is often quite impossible to know the drift

of large paragraphs, and even of whole chapters. Since many of the

chapters were treated merely as having a magical efficacy either when

recited or when inscribed on something buried with the body, it was of

small consequence whether or not the words were understood. The bare

recital or writing of names of gods, etc., had a magical efficacy

according to the people who counted the Book of the Dead their sacred

scriptures.

As regards date, the greater number of the hymns and prayers were

recited by the people of Egypt on behalf of their deceased friends

before the first dynasty had begun to reign. Birch says before 3000 B.C.

The hymns and prayers were first of all preserved in the memory only,

and their number was at an early time but small. They were written down

when the priests had doubts with regard to the meaning of certain terms,

and wished to hand them on unimpaired to posterity, being influenced by

the belief that the words of this sacred book were, as such, magically

potent. The oldest extant papyrus containing the Book of the Dead

belongs to the 18th Dynasty, _i.e._, about 1500 B.C.; but we do not come

across a complete copy, with the chapters collected and set in order

much as they are to-day, until the 26th Dynasty (about the 7th century

B.C.). Previous to this the chapters seem to have been put together with

no regard to order; probably they existed on different papyri, which

were used as occasion required. Commonly they would be sold, and for

that purpose stored up.

The translations which can be recommended to students are those by

Renouf, with text and notes; Budge, with text and notes; and that by

C.H.S. Davis, U.S.A. (based on Pièrre). All these editions include the

vignettes, which are very helpful in understanding the text.

_I.--THE SCRIBE ANI PLEADS WITH OSIRIS THROUGH THOTH FOR ADMISSION TO

THE UNDERWORLD AND FOR A SAFE EVIT (RESURRECTION)_

(Osiris)[1] Ani the Scribe says: Praise be to thee, Osiris Bull [so he

was often represented]. O Amentet [the lower world] the eternal king is

here to put words into my mouth. I am Thoth, the great god in the sacred

book, who fought for thee. I am one of the great gods that fought on

behalf of Osiris. Ra, the sun-God, commanded me--Thoth--to do battle on

the earth for the wronged Osiris, and I obeyed. I am among them moreover

who wait over Osiris, now king of the underworld.

I am with Horus, son of Osiris, on the day when the great feast of

Osiris is kept. I am the priest pouring forth libations at Tattu, I am

the prophet in Abydos. I am here, O ye that bring perfected souls into

the abode of Osiris, bring ye the perfected soul of (Osiris) the Scribe

Ani, into the blissful home of Osiris. Let him see, hear, stand, and sit

as ye do in the home of Osiris.

O ye who give cakes and ale to perfected souls, give ye at morn and at

eve cakes and ale to the soul of Ani the Scribe.

O ye who open the way and prepare the paths to the abode of Osiris, open

the way and prepare the path that the soul of (Osiris) Ani the Scribe

may enter in confidence and come forth [on the resurrection]

victoriously. May he not be turned back, may he enter and come forth;

for he has been weighed in the scale and is "not lacking."[2]

_II.--THE PRAYER OF ANI THE SCRIBE_

_The chapter about coming forth by day and living after death._

Says (Osiris) Ani: O thou, only shining one of the moon; let me,

departing from the crowd on earth, find entrance into the abode of

shades. Open then for me the door to the underworld, and at length let

me come back to earth and perform my part among men.

_A chapter whereby the funeral statuettes (Shabti) may be made to work

for a man in the underworld._[3]

O thou statuette there! If in the underworld I shall be called upon to

perform any tasks, be thou my representative and act for me--planting

and sowing fields, watering the soil and carrying the sands of East and

West.

_A chapter concerning the piercing of the back of Apepi._[4]

Tur, the overseer of the houses, says through his god Tmu: O thou wax

one[5] who takest thy victims captive and destroyest them, who preyest

upon the weak and helpless, may I never be thy victim; may I never

suffer collapse before thee. May the venom never enter my limbs, which

are as those of the god Tmu. O let not the pains of death, which have

reached thee; come upon me. I am the god Tmu, living in the foremost

part of Tur [the sky]. I am the only one in the primordial water. I have

many mysterious names, and provide myself a dwelling to endure millions

of years. I was born of Tmu, and I am safe and sound.

_About contending against fever with the shield of truth and good

conduct._

Says (Osiris) Ani: I go forth against my foes endowed with the defence

of truth and good conduct. I cross the heavens, and traverse the earth.

Though a denizen of the underworld, I tread the earth like one alive,

following in the footsteps of the blessed spirits. I have the gift of

living a million years. I eat with my mouth and chew with my jaw,

because I worship him who is master of the lower world.

_III.--NU PRAISES RA (THE SUN-GOD) FOR HIS ABILITY TO GO DOWN INTO THE

GRAVE AND RETURN TO EARTH THROUGH THE MAGIC USE OF THE SACRED TEXTS_

_About entering the underworld and coming forth therefrom._

Nu says: I cry aloud to thee, O Ra, thou guardian of the secret portals

of Seb [the grave], which leads to where Ra in the underworld holds the

balance which weighs every man's righteousness every day. I have burst

the earth [returned to earth]; grant that I may remain on to a good old

age.

_IV.--THE SPIRIT OF THE SCRIBE MESEMNETER PRAYS THAT SOME OFFENDED GOD

MAY BE CONCILIATED_

_About removing the anger of the god towards the departed one._

The scribe Mesemneter, chief deputy of Amon, says: Praise be to thee, O

God, who makest the moments to glide by, who guardest the secrets of the

life beyond that of the earth, and guidest me when I utter words. The

god is angered against me. But let my faults be wasted away, and let the

god of Right and Truth bear them upon me. Remove them wholly from me, O

god of Right and Truth. Let the offended one be at peace with me. Remove

the wall of separation from before us.

_A hymn to Ra at his rising and setting_.

(Osiris) the scribe says: Praise to thee, O Ra, when thou risest. Shine

thou upon my face. Let me arise with thee into the heavens, and travel

with thee in the boat wherein thou sailest on the clouds.

Thou passest in peace across the heavens, and art victorious over all

thy foes.

Praise to thee who art Ra when thou risest, and Tmu when in beauty thou

settest. The dwellers in the land of night come forth to see thee ascend

the sky. I, too, would join the throng; O let me not be held back.

_Hymn of praise to Osiris._

Praise be unto thee, Osiris, lord of eternity, who appearest in many

guises, and whose attributes are glorious.

Thou lookest towards the underworld and causest the earth to shine as

with gold.

The dead rise up to gaze on thy face; their hearts are at peace if they

but look on thee.

_V.--LITANY TO OSIRIS_

_Prayer_. Praise to thee, O lord of the starry gods of Annu, more

glorious than the gods hidden in Annu.

_Answer (repeated after each prayer)._ Grant thou me a peaceful life,

for I am truthful and just. I have uttered no falsehoods nor acted

deceitfully.

_Prayer_. Praise to thee, O Ani; with thy long strides movest thou

across the heavens.

_Prayer_. Praise to thee, O thou who art mighty in thy hour, great and

mighty prince, lord and creator of eternity.

_Prayer_. Praise to those whose throne is Right and Truth, who hatest

fraud and deceit.

_Prayer_. Praise to thee who bringest Hapi [the Nile]; in thy boat from

his source.

_Prayer_. Praise to thee, O creator of the gods, thou king of the North

and the South. O Osiris, the all-conquering one, ruler of the world,

lord of the heavens.

_VI.--HYMN OF PRAISE TO THE SETTING SUN_

_About the mystery of the underworld and about travelling through the

underworld._

When he sets on the underworld the gods adore him. The great god Ra

rises with two eyes [sun and moon]; all the seven gods (Kuas) welcome

him in the evening into the underworld. They sing his praises, calling

him Tmu. The deceased one says, "Praise be to thee, O Ra, praise be to

thee, O Tmu. Thou hast risen and put on strength, and thou settest in

glorious splendour into the underworld. Thou sailest in thy boat across

the heavens, and thou establisheth the earth. East and West adore thee,

bowing and doing homage to thee day and night."

_VII.--ABOUT THE RESURRECTION, OR THE COMING BACK TO LIFE (DAY), OF

DEPARTED SHADES._

[This is one of the oldest (cir. B.C. 2700) and most remarkable

chapters, though also one of the hardest to follow in its details. The

vignettes reproduced in the editions of Davis, Renouf, and Budge help

considerably in following the line of thought. An exact copy of this

chapter has been found on the tomb of Horhotep.

The soul of the deceased encounters all manner of obstacles and

opponents in the attempt to pass to the upper air, and he seeks

constantly the help of Ra, etc., that he may be victorious].

_Of the praises of entering the lower world and of coming out_.

(Osiris) the scribe Ani says it is a good and profitable thing on earth

for a man to recite this text, since all the words written herein shall

come to pass.

I am Ra, who at my rising rule all things. I am the great self-made god.

I am yesterday and to-morrow. I gave the command, and a scene of strife

among the gods arose [_i.e.,_ the sun awakened all the forces of Nature

into action]. What is this? It is Amentet, the underworld.

What is this? The horizon of my father Tmu [the setting sun]. All of my

failings are now supplied, my sins cleansed as I pass through the two

lakes which purify the offences which men offer the gods.

I advance on the path, descending to the realm of Osiris, passing

through the gate Teser. O all ye who have passed this way in safety, let

me grasp your hands and be brought to your abode.

O ye divine powers of Maert, the sworn foes of falsehood, may I come to

you.

I am the great Cat [_i.e.,_ Ra] himself, and therefore in his name which

I bear, I can tread on all my enemies. O great Ra, who climbest the

heavenly vaults and who sailest in thy boat across the firmament with

undisputed authority, do thou save me from that austere god whose

eyebrows are as menacing as the balance that weighs the deeds of men.

Save me, I pray thee, from these guardians of the passages who will, if

they-may, impede my progress. O Tmu, who livest in the august abode, god

of gods, who thrivest upon damned souls, thou dog-faced, human-skinned

one, devourer of shades, digester of human hearts, O fearful one, save

me from the great soul-foe who gnaws and destroys shades of men.

O Chepera in thy bark, save me from the testing guardians into whose

charge the glorious inviolate god has committed his foes; deliver thou

me. May these never undo me, may I never fall helpless into the chambers

of torture. O ye gods, in the presence of Osiris, reach, forth your

arms, for I am one of the gods in your midst.

The (Osiris) Ani flies away like a hawk, he clucks like a goose, he is

safe from destruction as the serpent Nehebkau. Avaunt, ye lions that

obstruct my path. O Ra, thou ascending one, let me rise with thee, and

have a triumphant arrival to my old earthly abode.

_VIII.--A LITANY ADDRESSED TO THOTH_

_The speech of Ammautef, the priest_:

I have come to you, ye gods of heaven, earth, and the underworld,

bringing with me Ani, the scribe, who has done no wrong against any

gods, so that ye may protect him and give him good-speed to the

underworld.

_The speech of Ani himself_:

Praise be to thee, O thou ruler of Amenta, Unneferu, who presides in

Abydos. I have come to thee with a pure heart, free from sin. I have

told no falsehoods nor acted deceitfully. Give thou me in the tomb the

food I need for the journey, so let me have a safe entrance to the

underworld and a sure exit.

_The speech of the priest Samerif:_

I come to the gods residing at Restau. I have brought you (Osiris) Ani;

grant him bread, water, and air, and also an abode in the Sechithotepu

[Field of Peace].

_The speech of Ani himself:_

Praise be to Osiris, everlasting lord, and to the gods of Restau. I come

to thee knowing thy goodwill and having learned those rites which thou

requirest for entrance into the lower world. May I have a safe arrival,

and find food in thy presence.

_Litany to Thoth:_

O thou who makest Osiris triumphant over his foes, make thou this scribe

Nebenseri victorious over his foes.

O Thoth, make Ani triumphant over his enemies, etc., etc.

[If this chapter is recited over the deceased he shall come forth into

the day and pass through the transformations which the departed one

desires.]

_IX.--A MAGICAL CHAPTER_

_Chapter of the Crown of Triumph_.

Thy father Tmu has made thee this beautiful crown as a magical charm so

that thou mayest live for ever. Thy father Seb gives thee his

inheritance. Osiris, the prince of Amenta, makes thee victorious over

thy foes. Go thou as Horus, son of Isis and Osiris, and triumph ever on

thy way to the underworld.

Yea (Osiris) Aufankh shall, through this recited text, live and triumph

for ever and ever. Horus repeated these words four times, and his

enemies fell headlong. And (Osiris) Aufankh has repeated these words

four times, so let him be victorious.

This chapter is to be recited over a consecrated crown placed over the

face of the deceased, and thou shalt cast incense into the flame on

behalf of (Osiris) Aufankh, so securing triumph over all his foes. And

food and drink shall in the underworld be reached him in the presence of

Osiris its king.

_Chapter about making the deceased remember his name in the underworld_.

Nu triumphant, son of Amen-hotep, says: Let me remember my name in the

great House below on the night when years are counted and months are

reckoned up. If any god come to me, let me at once be able to utter his

name[6] and thus disarm him.

_A chapter about not letting the heart of the deceased act against him

in the underworld_.

My heart, received from my mother, my heart, without which life on earth

was not possible, rise then not up against me in the presence of the

gods in the great day of judgment when human thoughts, words, and acts

shall all be weighed in a balance.

These words are to be inscribed on a hard green, gold-coated scarab,

which is to be inserted through the mouth into the bosom of the

deceased.

_Chapter about repelling the ass-eater_[7].

Avaunt! serpent Hai, impure one, hater of Osiris. Get thee back, for

Thoth has cut off thy head. Let alone the ass, that I may have clear

skies when I cross to the underworld in the Neshmet boat. I am guiltless

before the gods, and have wronged none. So avaunt! thou sun-beclouding

one, and let me have a prosperous voyage.

_Chapter about reserving for the deceased his seat in the underworld_.

Nu says: My seat, my throne, come ye to me, surround me, divine ones. I

am a mummy-shaped person. O grant that I may become like the great god,

successful, having seat and throne.

_A chapter about coming forth by day from the underworld_ (i.e., _the

resurrection_).

[One of the very oldest chapters in the Book of the Dead, as old at

least as the first dynasty, say 4500 B.C. No chapter was regarded with

greater reverence, or recited or copied with more confidence in its

efficacy, probably because it is a summing up of the important chapters

on the coming forth by day from the underworld. He who knows this

chapter by heart is safe against danger in this world and in all other

abodes.]

Nebseni, lord of reverence, says: I am yesterday and know to-morrow. I

am able to be born again. Here is the invisible force which creates gods

and gives food to denizens of the underworld. I go as a messenger to

Osiris.

O goddess Aucherit, grant that I may come forth from the underworld to

see Ra's blazing orb. O thou conductor of shades, let me have a fair

path to the underworld and a sure arrival. May I be defended against all

opposing powers. May the cycle of gods listen to me and grant my request

* * * * *

BOOKS OF BRAHMANISM

_INTRODUCTORY_

The religion of the ancient Persians and of the ancient Aryan

Indians was at one time the same, and it is easy now to see

the common basis of the beliefs and practices embodied in the

Hindu Vedas and the Zend Avesta (see ZOROASTRIANISM), and

their general resemblance. The religion of the ancient Aryan

Indians has passed through three outstanding phases,

designated by modern scholars: Vedism, or that taught by the

Vedas; Brahmanism, based on the Brahmans, or ritual additions

to the Vedas; and Hinduism (_q.v._), the form which revived

Brahmanism took after the expulsion of Buddhism. Though the

latter is strictly an Indian religion, judged by its origin

and characteristic features, it has for centuries almost

ceased to exist in India proper. It will be found generally

true that in Brahmanism there is, as compared with Vedism, an

increase of the ritual, and a corresponding decrease of the

moral element. The gods become more material, and the means of

conciliating them ceremonial and magical. So also there is a

growth in the power of the priesthood. One may compare this

with the course of development among the Hebrews--the ritual

and ceremonial bulking more and more, and the ethical

receding, according to most modern scholars. It has to be

remembered carefully, however, that the distinction between

Vedism, Brahmanism, and Hinduism is more logical than actual.

The seeds of Hinduism, even the doctrine of caste, may be

traced in the Rig Veda, and a modern orthodox. Hindu will tell

you that his principal scriptures are the Vedas, and that his

creed and practice have their source in these scriptures.

Brahmanism may be represented as a system of law and custom in

the Laws of Manu; as a philosophy in the Upanishads; and as a

mythology in the Ramayana and Mahabharata.

MAHABHARATA

The word "Mahabharata" means "The Great Bharata," the name of a

well-known people in ancient India. The epic so called is a very long

one, containing at least 220,000 lengthy lines. It is really an

encyclopaedia of Hindu history, legend, mythology, and philosophy.

Four-fifths of the poem consist of episodes, some of them very

beautiful, as the tale of Nala and his wife Damayanti. These have no

primary connection with the original, though they are worked in so

deftly as to make the whole appear a splendid unity. For pathos,

sublimity, and matchless language, no poem in the world exceeds this

one.

It is arranged in eighteen books, all of which claim to have been

composed by Vyasa--another name for the god Krishna--who is said also in

the course of the epic to have composed the Vedas and the Puranas. This

is, of course, mythology, and not literary history.

The historical nucleus underlying this poem is the conflict which raged

in ancient India between two neighbouring tribes, the Kurus (or

Kauravas) and the Pandavas. But this is worked up into another long tale

into which and around which Brahman teachers and philosophers have woven

a very network of religious, theosophic, and philosophic speculation.

The tale is, in fact, made a vehicle for teaching Brahman ism as it

existed in India in the first five centuries of our era, though much of

the Mahabharata goes back to a thousand years or so B.C.

_OUTLINE OF THE EPIC_

The descendants of Bharata, the king of Hastinapura, about sixty miles

north of Delhi, were divided into two branches, the Kauravas and the

Pandavas, each of which occupied the territory which had come down to it

by inheritance. They lived together in peace and prosperity, worshipping

the gods, studying the Vedas, and spending much time in meditation about

higher things. But there came a change for the worse. The Kauravas, not

content with their own territory, looked with jealous eyes upon that of

their kinsmen, the Pandavas. Soon their covetousness realised itself in

action, for gathering their armed men together, they sprang suddenly

upon the land of their neighbours, whom they disarmed previously by

professions of friendship and goodwill The Pandavas were conquered and

driven into a far country, where they wandered homelessly and yet filled

with undying love for the old home of their fathers and with a resolve

to regain at the first opportunity their ancestral territory.

With the help of as many princes and generals as they could win to their

side they marched towards the land which they had lost, taking back by

force what had been wrested from them by force. The two armies met face

to face on the field of Kurukshetra (land of the Kurus), and the battle,

which lasted eighteen days, was about to begin. The father and king of

the Kauravas, called Dhritarashtra, aged and blind, felt that he could

not stand to witness the bloody affray. He accordingly accepted the

offer of Vyasa (Krishna), a relative of both the contending parties, to

have the entire course of events described to him when all was over, one

Sangara, being deputed to perform the task. The battle began and

proceeded for ten long days when Bhrisma, the chief general of the

Kauravas, fell.

At this point Sangara advanced to the old King Dhritarashtra to acquaint

him with the course things had taken, and among the rest to recite to

him a conversation which had taken place between Krishna and Arguna, the

Pandavan prince and general. It is this dialogue which constitutes the

Holy Song, known as the Bhagavad-Gita, or Krishna Song, the Krishna of

this philosophic poem being, of course, the eighth avatara; or

incarnation, of Vishnu.

The remaining books of the Mahabharata recount the subsequent incidents

of the war, which, in all, lasted for eighteen days. The Kauravas were

destroyed, the only survivors being the Pandavas and Krishna with his

charioteer. The many dead that were left on the field were buried with

the rites of religion, and amid many signs of touching affection and

grief.

Bhrisma, leader of the Kauravas, instructs Yudhishthira on the duties of

kings and other topics. The poem then ends.

THE BHAGAVAD-GITA, OR HOLY SONG OF BRAHMANISM

This poem forms one of the finest episodes in the great Iliad of India,

and, in fact, is hardly surpassed for profound thought, deep feeling,

and exquisite phrasing, in the whole literature of India. Telang holds

that the song is at least as old as the 4th century, and is inclined to

regard it as an original part of the epic. According to most scholars,

however, the "Divine Song" was added at a later period, and, in fact, in

its present form it is scarcely older than 500 A.D. It is so thoroughly

Brahmanic in its teaching that there can be little doubt but that this

song was introduced in order to convey the teaching of Brahmanism

prevalent at the time. The German scholar, Dr. Lorinser, has tried to

prove that the author of this song had a knowledge of the New Testament

and used it. The following passages are pointed out by him as dependent

on New Testament passages.

BHAGAVAD-GITA

I am exceedingly dear to the

wise man; he also is dear

to me.

I am the way, supporter,

lord, witness, abode, refuge,

friend.

I never depart from him (the

true Yogis); he never departs

from me.

They who worship me with

true devotion, are in me

and I in them.

Be assured that he who worships

me perishes not.

I am the beginning and the

middle and the end of existent

things.

I will deliver thee from all

sin; do not grieve.

He who knows me as unborn

and without beginning, the

mighty Lord of the World,

he among mortals is undeluded,

he is delivered from

all sins.

What sacrifice, almsgiving, or

austerity is done without

faith is evil.

That man obtains the perfect

state who honours by his

proper work him from

whom all things have issued,

and by whom this All

was spread out.

NEW TESTAMENT

He that loveth Me shall be

loved of My Father, and I

will love him (John xiv.

21).

I am the way, the truth, and

the life (John xiv. 6) I am

the first and the last (Rev.

i. 17).

He that dwelleth in Me and I

in Him (John vi. 56).

I in them and thou in Me,

that they may be made perfect

in one (John xvii. 23).

Whosoever believeth in Him

shall not perish, but have

everlasting life (John iii.

16).

I am Alpha and Omega, the

beginning and ending (Rev.

i. 8).

Son, be of good cheer; thy

sins be forgiven thee (Matt.

ix. 2).

This is life eternal, that they

might know Thee, the only

true God, and Jesus Christ,

Whom Thou hast sent (John

xvii, 3).

Whatsover is not of faith is

sin (Rom. xiv. 23).

Whether therefore ye eat or

drink, or whatsoever ye do,

do all to the glory of God

(1 Cor. x. 31).

_OUTLINE OF THE BHAGAVAD-GITA_

The blind old father of the Kauravas asked Sangara to tell him how the

battle had gone. He replied that, just as the fighting began, Krishna,

the Heaven-Born One, stationed his glorious chariot between the armies

and entered into a long conversation, with Arguna, the prince-general of

the Pandavas. Said Arguna, "My grief at seeing these kindred peoples at

war is beyond bearing, and the omens are unfavourable. I long not for

victory, but for peace and for the prosperity of all. Behold, in battle

array grandfathers, fathers, sons, friends, and allies. We have resolved

to commit a great sin, to slay our kindred and associates, and all for

lust of wealth and power."

The Holy One (Krishna) said in reply, "Thou grievest for those who need

no grief of thine; yet are thy words words of wisdom. The wise have no

grief for dead or living; know thou, O Arguna, that the man who has

knowledge of the Eternal and Absolute One will never more be born, nor

will he know death. As one puts away an old used garment, putting on a

new one, so the self in a man puts away the old body and assumes one

that is new. He, the Everlasting One, is unchanging and inconceivable.

Be not thou grieved and have no fear. If slain in the battle, thou shalt

reach endless bliss in heaven. If victorious, thou shalt have happiness

on the earth; get thee, therefore, honoured one, to the fight and have

no care for pleasure or pain.

"Some obtain comfort from what the Vedas promise with reference to

eternal bliss. But these very Vedas teach that a man should strive at

self-mortification and advancement in virtue with no regard to any

reward. The final good after which men are chiefly to aim is a state of

supreme indifference and contempt."

"But," asked Arguna, "what, pray, is that state of equipoise of spirit

which thou urgest?"

Said the Holy One, "There is a twofold law: that of Sankhyas, or

intellectual devotion, and that of Yogis, or practical devotion. Men

must strive after the highest knowledge, that of Brahma, and also seek

after right conduct." "What," asked Arguna, "is the cause of sin?" To

which the Holy One replied, "Love and hatred, for hatred is begotten of

love, and ignorance of moral distinctions and of anger; from all this

comes unreasonableness and resulting ruin. A man's knowledge carries

always with it desire, as the fire smoke. The senses are great, the mind

is greater, and the intellect still greater, but the greatest of all is

the Eternal Essence, Brahma.

"Many," said the Holy One, "are my births, and I know them; many too,

are thine, but thou knowest them not. I am born from age to age for the

defence of the virtuous and the undoing of the wicked. He who believes

in my divine birth and work has no second birth, but enters me and

abides with me for ever. Know me as the creator of the cates, know me

also as the Eternal one that creates nothing. Faith brings with it

knowledge, and knowledge contentment. Without knowledge and faith the

soul is lost."

Arguna asked, "How fares it with the man who is not able to suppress his

lower instincts and to undergo the discipline of Yogis? Is he for this,

to be undone for ever?"

"No," replied the Holy One, "neither in this world nor in the next is he

lost. The virtuous man does not enter an evil state. He reaches that

heaven provided for all the good, and is born thereafter with higher

moral capacities, with which, and by means of the knowledge gained in

his previous existence, he rises to greater perfection; so that after

many births he reaches absolute perfection and is united for ever with

Brahma. But learn thou my higher nature; what thou seest is my lower,

for I am divine and human. All the world came forth from me, and I will

at the last destroy it. Higher than I does not exist. I am taste, light,

moon, sun; I am the mystic OM; I am the mystic seed from which all

things grow. He that offers sacrifice to inferior gods goes after death

to those gods, but they that worship me come to me."

"What," asked Arguna, "is Brahma, the supreme spirit, the supreme

sacrifice?"

The Holy One answered, "He is the Supreme, the Indestructible One; I am

the Supreme Sacrifice in my present body.

"Hear now, Son of Pritha," said the Holy One. "If thy heart be fixed on

me, and thou seekest refuge in me, thou shalt know me fully, and I shall

reveal to thee the perfect knowledge of God and man. There are countless

myriads of men in this world, but few there are who seek after

perfection, and fewer still there are who obtain it."

_OTHER PARTS OF THE MAHABHARATA_

Though the husband die unhappy on account of his wife's ill-treatment

and disobedience, yet if she consign herself to the flames after his

death she is deserving of great praise. How much more should a woman be

venerated who flings herself of her own accord into the flames after the

death of a husband whom she has treated with affection and submission!

Let gifts be avoided; for receiving them is a sin. The silkworm dies of

its riches.

It is not proper to rebuke or even blame wrong acts of gods or priests

or seers; though no one is justified in following them in these acts.

Virtue is better than everlasting life; kingdom, sons, renown, and

wealth all put together do not make up one-sixteenth part of the value

of virtue.

The greatest sin that a king can commit is atoned for by sacrifices

accompanied with large gifts [cows, etc.] to the priests.

* * * * *

SIR THOMAS BROWNE

RELIGIO MEDICI

Sir Thomas Browne, English essayist, came of a Cheshire

family, but was born in London on October 19, 1605. Educated

at Oxford, where he graduated in 1626, he next studied

medicine at the great universities of Montpelier, Padua, and

Leyden, and in 1637 went to live at Norwich, where he remained

until his death on October 19, 1682. He was happily married in

1641, and was knighted by Charles II. in 1671. Sir Thomas

Browne is one of the greatest figures in English literary

history. He had extraordinary learning, a magnificent style, a

certain dry humour, and, above all, great power and nobility

of mind. In his two most valued works, "Religio Medici," or

"Religion of a Physician," published in 1643, and "Urn

Burial," in 1658, he deals with the greatest of all themes,

the mysteries of faith and of human destiny. The "Religio

Medici," written about 1635, was not at first intended for

publication; but the manuscript had been handed about and

copied, and the appearance, in 1642, of private editions,

forced the author to issue it himself.

_I.--THE BROAD-MINDED CHRISTIAN_

For my religion I dare, without usurpation, assume the honourable style

of a Christian. Not that I merely owe this title to the font, my

education, or the clime wherein I was born; but that having, in my riper

years and confirmed judgment, seen and examined all, I find myself

obliged, by the principles of grace and the law of mine own reason, to

embrace no other name but this.

But, because the name of a Christian is become too general to express

our faith--there being a geography of religion as well as lands--I am of

that reformed new-cast religion, wherein I dislike nothing but the name:

of the same belief our Saviour taught, the apostles disseminated, the

fathers authorised, and the martyrs confirmed; but, by the sinister ends

of princes, the ambition and avarice of prelates, and the fatal

corruption of the times, so decayed, impaired, and fallen from its

native beauty, that it required the careful and charitable hands of

these times to restore it to its primitive integrity.

Yet do I not stand at sword's point with those who had rather

promiscuously retain all than abridge any, and obstinately be what they

are than what they have been. We have reformed from them, not against

them, for there is between us one common name and appellation, one faith

and necessary body of principles common to us both; and therefore I am

not scrupulous to converse and live with them, to enter their churches

in defect of ours, and either pray with them or for them.

I am naturally inclined to that which misguided zeal terms superstition;

at my devotion I love to use the civility of my knee, my hat, my hand,

with all those outward and sensible motions which may express or promote

my invisible devotion. At the sight of a crucifix I can dispense with my

hat, but scarce with the thought or memory of my Saviour. I could never

hear the Ave-Mary bell without an oraison, or think it a sufficient

warrant, because they erred in one circumstance, for me to err in

all--that is, in silence and dumb contempt.

I could never divide myself from any man upon the difference of an

opinion; I have no genius to disputes in religion. A man may be in as

just possession of truth as of a city, and yet be forced to surrender;

'tis therefore far better to enjoy her with peace than to hazard her

upon a battle. If, therefore, there rise any doubts in my way, I do

forget them, or at least defer them, till my better settled judgment be

able to resolve them. In philosophy, where truth seems double-faced,

there is no man more paradoxical than myself; but in divinity I love to

keep the road, and, though not in an implicit, yet an humble, faith

follow the great wheel of the Church.

Heads that are disposed unto schism, and complexionally propense to

innovation, are naturally indisposed for a community, nor will be ever

confined unto the order or economy of one body; and, therefore, when

they separate from others, they knit but loosely among themselves; nor

contented with a general breach or dichotomy with their church, do

subdivide and mince themselves almost into atoms.

As for those wingy mysteries in divinity and airy subtleties in religion

which have unhinged the brains of better heads, they have never

stretched the membranes of mine. Methinks there be not impossibilities

enough in religion for an active faith; I love to lose myself in a

mystery, to pursue my reason to an _O altitudo!_ I can answer all the

objections of Satan and my rebellious reason with that odd resolution of

Tertullian: "It is certain because it is impossible."

_II.--THE DIVINE WISDOM_

In my solitary and retired imagination I remember I am not alone; and

therefore forget not to contemplate Him and His attributes who is ever

with me, especially those two mighty ones, His wisdom and eternity. With

the one I recreate, with the other I confound, my understanding; for who

can speak of eternity without a solecism, or think thereof without an

ecstasy?

In this mass of Nature there is a set of things that carry in their

front, though not in capital letters, yet in stenography and short

characters, something of divinity; which, to wiser reasons, serve as

luminaries in the abyss of knowledge, and to judicious beliefs as scales

to mount the pinnacles of divinity.

That other attribute wherewith I recreate my devotion is His wisdom, in

which I am happy; and for the contemplation of this only, do not repent

me that I was bred in the way of study. The advantage I have of the

vulgar, with the content and happiness I conceive therein, is an ample

recompense for all my endeavours in what part of knowledge soever.

Wisdom is His most beauteous attribute; no man can attain unto it; yet

Solomon pleased God when he desired it. He is wise because He knows all

things; and He knows all things because He made them all; but His

greatest knowledge is in comprehending that He made not--that is,

Himself. The wisdom of God receives small honour from those heads that

rudely stare about, and with a gross rusticity admire His works. Those

highly magnify Him whose judicious inquiry into His acts, and a

deliberate research into His creatures, return the duty of a devout and

learned admiration. Every essence, created or uncreated, hath its final

cause and some positive end both of its essence and operation. This is

the cause I grope after in the works of Nature; on this hangs the

providence of God.

That Nature does nothing in vain is the only indisputable axiom in

philosophy. There are no grotesques in Nature, nor anything framed to

fill up unnecessary spaces. I could never content my contemplation with

those general pieces of wonder, the flux and reflux of the sea, the

increase of the Nile, the conversion of the needle to the north; but

have studied to match and parallel those in the more obvious and

neglected pieces of Nature which, without further travel, I find in the

cosmography of myself. We carry with us the wonders we seek without us;

there is all Africa and her prodigies in us.

Thus there are two books from whence I collect my divinity: besides that

written one of God, another of His servant, Nature, that universal and

public manuscript, that lies expansed unto the eyes of all. Surely the

heathens knew better how to join and read these mystical letters than we

Christians, who cast a more careless eye on these common hieroglyphics,

and disdain to suck divinity from the flowers of Nature. Now, Nature is

not at variance with art, nor art with Nature, they being both the

servants of His providence. Art is the perfection of Nature. Nature hath

made one world, and art another. In brief, all things are artificial,

for Nature is the art of God.

This is the ordinary and open way of His providence, which art and

industry have in good part discovered, whose effects we may foretell

without an oracle. But there is another way, full of meanders and

labyrinths, and that is a more particular and obscure method of His

providence, directing the operations of individual and single essences.

This we call fortune, that serpentine and crooked line whereby He draws

those actions His wisdom intends in a more unknown and secret way.

This cryptic and involved method of His providence have I ever admired;

nor can I relate the history of my life, the occurrences of my days, the

escapes, or dangers, and hits of chance, with a bare grammercy to my

good stars. Surely there are in every man's life certain rubs,

doublings, and wrenches, which pass a while under the effects of chance;

but at the last, well examined, prove the mere hand of God. 'Twas not

dumb chance that, to discover the fougade, or powder plot, contrived a

miscarriage in the letter. I like the victory of '88 the better for that

one occurrence which our enemies imputed to our dishonour and the

partiality of fortune: to wit, the tempests and contrariety of winds.

There is no liberty for causes to operate in a loose and straggling way,

nor any effect whatever but hath its warrant from some universal or

superior cause. 'Tis not a ridiculous devotion to say a prayer before a

game at tables; for even in sortileges and matters of greatest

uncertainty there is a settled and pre-ordered course of effects. It is

we that are blind, not fortune. Because our eye is too dim to discover

the mystery of her effects, we foolishly paint her blind, and hoodwink

the providence of the Almighty.

'Tis, I confess, the common fate of men of singular gifts of mind to be

destitute of those of fortune; which doth not any way deject the spirit

of wiser judgments, who thoroughly understand the justice of this

proceeding; and, being enriched with higher donatives, cast a more

careless eye on these vulgar parts of felicity. It is a most unjust

ambition to desire to engross the mercies of the Almighty.

I have heard some with deep sighs lament the lost lines of Cicero;

others with as many groans deplore the combustion of the library of

Alexandria; for my own part, I think there be too many in the world, and

could with patience behold the urn and ashes of the Vatican, could I,

with a few others, recover the perished leaves of Solomon. Some men have

written more than others have spoken. Of those three great inventions in

Germany, there are two which are not without their incommodities. Tis

not a melancholy wish of my own, but the desires of better heads, that

there were a general synod--not to unite the incompatible difference of

religion, but for the benefit of learning, to reduce it, as it lay at

first, in a few and solid authors; and to condemn to the fire those

swarms and millions of rhapsodies, begotten only to distract and abuse

the weaker judgments of scholars and to maintain the trade and mystery

of typographers.

As all that die in the war are not termed soldiers, so neither can I

properly term all those that suffer in matters of religion, martyrs.

There are many, questionless, canonised on earth that shall never be

saints in heaven, and have their names in histories and martyrologies

who, in the eyes of God, are not so perfect martyrs as was that wise

heathen Socrates, that suffered on a fundamental point of religion--the

unity of God. The leaven and ferment of all, not only civil but

religious actions, is wisdom; without which to commit ourselves to the

flames is homicide, and, I fear, but to pass through one fire into

another.

_III.--THE HOPE OF IMMORTALITY_

I thank God I have not those strait ligaments or narrow obligations to

the world as to dote on life or tremble at the name of death. Not that I

am insensible of the horror thereof, or, by raking into the bowels of

the deceased and continual sight of anatomies, I have forgot the

apprehension of mortality; but that, marshalling all the horrors, I find

not anything therein able to daunt the courage of a man, much less a

well-resolved Christian. Were there not another life that I hope for,

all the vanities of this world should not entreat a moment's breath from

me. Those strange and mystical transmigrations that I have observed in

silkworms turned my philosophy into divinity. There is in these works of

Nature which seem to puzzle reason, something divine, that hath more in

it than the eye of a common spectator doth discover.

Some, upon the courage of a fruitful issue, wherein, as in the truest

chronicle, they seem to outlive themselves, can with greater patience

away with death. This seems to me a mere fallacy, unworthy the desires

of a man that can but conceive a thought of the next world; who, in a

nobler ambition, should desire to live in his substance in heaven rather

than his name and shadow in the earth. Were there any hopes to outlive

vice, or a point to be superannuated from sin, it were worthy our knees

to implore the days of Methuselah. But age doth not rectify but brings

on incurable vices, and the number of our days doth but make our sins

innumerable. There is but one comfort left, that though it be in the

power of the weakest arm to take away life, it is not in the strongest

to deprive us of death.

There is no happiness within this circle of flesh, nor is it in the

optics of these eyes to behold felicity. But besides this literal and

positive kind of death, there are others whereof divines make mention,

as mortification, dying unto sin and the world. In these moral

acceptations, the way to be immortal is to die daily; and I have

enlarged that common "Remember death" into a more Christian

memorandum--"Remember the four last things"--death, judgment, heaven,

and hell. I believe that the world grows near its end; but that general

opinion, that the world grows near its end, hath possessed all ages past

as nearly as ours.

There is no road or ready way to virtue; it is not an easy point of art

to disentangle ourselves from this riddle or web of sin. To perfect

virtue, as to religion, there is required a panoplia, or complete

armour; that whilst we lie at close ward against one vice, we lie not

open to the assault of another. There go so many circumstances to piece

up one good action that it is a lesson to be good, and we are forced to

be virtuous by the book.

Insolent zeals that do decry good works, and rely only upon faith, take

not away merit; for, depending upon the efficacy of their faith, they

enforce the condition of God, and in a more sophistical way do seem to

challenge heaven. I do not deny but that true faith is not only a mark

or token, but also a means, of our salvation; but, where to find this is

as obscure to me as my last end. If a faith to the quantity of a grain

of mustard seed is able to remove mountains, surely that which we boast

of is not anything, or, at the most, but a remove from nothing.

For that other virtue of charity, without which faith is a mere notion

and of no existence, I have ever endeavoured to nourish the merciful

disposition and humane inclination I borrowed from my parents, and

regulate it to the written and prescribed laws of charity. I give no

alms to satisfy the hunger of my brother, but to fulfil the command of

my God; I draw not my purse for his sake that demands it, but His that

enjoined it. Again, it is no greater charity to clothe his body than to

apparel the nakedness of his soul; and to this, as calling myself a

scholar, I am obliged by the duty of my condition.

Bless me in this life with but the peace of my conscience; command of my

affections the love of Thyself and my dearest friends; and I shall be

happy enough to pity Caesar! These are, O Lord, the humble desires of my

most reasonable ambition, and all I dare call happiness on earth:

wherein I set no limit to Thy hand or providence; dispose of me

according to the wisdom of Thy pleasure. Thy will be done, though in my

own undoing.

* * * * *

JOHN CALVIN

INSTITUTION OF THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION

John Calvin was born on July 10, 1509, at Noyon, in Picardy,

Northern France. Although the Calvins, his ancestors, had been

bargemen on the Oise, his father was notary apostolic,

procurator-fiscal of the county, clerk of the church court,

and diocesan secretary. Young Jean Calvin was eight years old

when Luther nailed his theses to the door of the castle church

in Wittenburg. The new religion gaining very quickly a footing

in France, the youth became influenced by it when studying in

Paris at the College de la Marche. He held meetings with

Protestants in a cave at Poitiers. His precocity was

remarkable. At the age of twenty-three he wrote his first

book, a commentary on Seneca's "Treatise on Clemency." At

twenty-five he revised a translation of the French Bible. At

twenty-seven he published the first edition of his mighty

work, "The Institution of the Christian Religion," a treatise

which has been styled "one of the landmarks of the history of

Christian doctrine." At twenty-eight Calvin was the foremost

man in Geneva, and was already one of the most remarkable

reformers in the world. His career has rarely been paralleled.

Calvin died on May 27, 1564.

_I.--THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD THE CREATOR_

Our wisdom consists almost exclusively of two parts: the knowledge of

God, and of ourselves. But, as these are connected together by many

ties, it is not easy to determine which of the two precedes, and which

gives birth to the others. Our weakness, ignorance, and depravity remind

us that in the Lord, and in none but Him only, dwell the two lights of

wisdom, of virtue, and of piety. It is evident that man never attains to

a true self-knowledge until after he has contemplated the face of God,

and come down after such contemplation to look into himself.

It is beyond dispute that there exists in the human mind, and indeed by

natural instinct, some sense of deity. As Cicero, though a pagan, tells

us, there is no nation so brutish as not to be imbued with the

conviction that there is a God. Even idolatry is an evidence of this

fact. But, though experience teaches that a seed of religion is divinely

sown in all, few cherish it in the heart. Some lose themselves in

superstitious observances; others, of set purpose, wickedly revolt from

God; and many think of God against their will, never approaching Him

without being dragged into His presence.

But since the perfection of blessedness consists in the knowledge of

God, He has been pleased not only to deposit in our minds the seed of

religion, of which we have already spoken, but so to manifest His

perfections in the whole structure of the universe, and daily place

Himself in our view, that we cannot open our eyes without being

compelled to behold Him. His essence is, indeed, transcendent and

incomparable, but on each of His works His glory is engraven in

characters so bright that none, however dull and illiterate, can plead

ignorance as an excuse.

Herein appears the shameful ingratitude of men, that, though they have

in their own persons a factory where countless operations of God are

carried on, instead of praising Him, they are the more inflated with

pride. How few are there among us who, in lifting our eyes to the

heavens, or looking abroad on the earth, ever think of the Creator! In

vain, because of our dulness, does creation exhibit so many bright lamps

lit up to show forth the glory of its Author. Therefore, another and

better help must be given to guide us properly to God as our Creator,

and He has added the light of His Word in order to make known His

salvation.

Here it seems proper to make some observations on the authority of

Scripture. Nothing can be more absurd than the fiction that the power of

judging Scripture is in the Church. When the Church gives it the stamp

of her authority, she does not thus make it authentic, but shows her

reverence for it as the truth of God by her unhesitating assent.

Scripture bears, on the face of it, as clear evidence of its truth as

black and white do of their colour, sweet and bitter of their taste. It

is preposterous to attempt, by discussion, to rear up a full faith in

Scripture. Those who are inwardly taught by the Holy Spirit acquiesce in

it implicitly, for it carries with it its own testimony.

It is foolish to attempt to prove to infidels that the Scripture is the

Word of God. For it cannot be known to be, except by faith. Justly does

Augustine remind us that every man who would have any understanding in

such high matters must previously possess piety and mental peace. In

order to direct us to the true God, the Scripture excludes all the gods

of the heathen. This exclusiveness annihilates every deity which men

frame for themselves, of their own accord. Whence had idols their

origin, but from the will of man?

There was thus ground for the sarcasm of the heathen poet (Horace,

Satires, I.8). "I was once the trunk of a fig-tree, a useless log, when

the tradesman, uncertain whether he should make me a stool, etc., chose

rather that I should be a god." In regard to the origin of idols, the

statement of the Book of Wisdom has been received with almost universal

consent, that they originated with those who bestowed this honour on the

dead, from a superstitious regard to their memory.

_II.--THE GRACE OF CHRIST THE REDEEMER_

Through the fall of Adam arose the need of a Redeemer, the whole human

race having by that event been made accursed and degenerate. Man thereby

became deprived of freedom of will and miserably enslaved. The dominion

of sin, ever since the first man was brought under it, not only extends

to the whole race, but has complete possession of every soul. Free will

does not enable any man to perform good works unless he is assisted by

grace. Yet, since man is by nature a social being, he is disposed, from

natural instinct, to cherish and preserve society; and, accordingly, we

see that the minds of all men have impressions of order and civil

honesty. So that, in regard to the constitution of the present life, no

man is devoid of the light of reason. And this gift ought justly to be

ascribed to the divine indulgence. Had God not so spared us, our revolt

would have carried with it the entire destruction of nature. But to the

great truth, what God is in Himself, and what He is in relation to us,

human reason makes not the least approach. The natural man has no

capacity for such sublime wisdom as to apprehend God, unless illumined

by His Spirit, and none can enter the kingdom of God save those whose

minds have been renewed by the power of the spirit.

It is certain that after the fall of our first parent, no knowledge of

God without a Mediator was effectual to salvation. Hence it is that God

never showed Himself propitious to His ancient people, nor gave them any

hope of grace without a Mediator. The prosperous and happy state of the

Church was always founded in the person of Christ. The primary adoption

of the chosen people depended on the grace of the Mediator, and Christ

was always held forth to the holy fathers under the law as the object of

their faith.

It deeply concerns us that He who was to become our Mediator should be

very God and very man. The work to be by Him performed was of no common

description, being to restore us to the divine favour so as to make us

sons of God and heirs of the heavenly kingdom. In Him the divinity was

so conjoined with the humanity that the entire properties of each nature

remained entire, and yet the two natures constitute only one Christ.

Everything needful for us exists in Christ.

When we see that the whole sum of our salvation, and every single part

of it, are comprehended in Christ, we must beware of deriving even the

minutest part of it from any other quarter. If we seek salvation, we are

taught by the very name of Jesus that He possesses it; if we seek any

other gifts of the Spirit, we shall find them in His unction; strength

in His permanent government; purity in His conception; indulgence in His

nativity, in which He was made like us in all respects, in order that He

might learn to sympathise with us; if we seek redemption we shall find

it in His passion; acquittal in His condemnation; remission of the curse

in His cross; satisfaction in His sacrifice; purification in His blood;

reconciliation in His descent into hell; mortification of the flesh in

His sepulchre; newness of life in His resurrection; immortality also in

His resurrection; the inheritance of a celestial kingdom in His entrance

into heaven; protection, security, and the abundant supply of all

blessings, in His kingdom; secure anticipation of judgment in the power

of judging committed to Him. In fine, since in Him blessings are

treasured up, let us draw a full supply from Him, and none from another

quarter.

_III.--THE MERIT OF CHRIST AS OUR SAVIOUR_

It may be proved both from reason and from Scripture that the grace of

God and the merit of Christ (the Prince and Author of our salvation) are

perfectly compatible. Christ is not only the minister, but also the

cause of our salvation, and divine grace is not obscured by this

expression. Christ, by His obedience, truly merited this divine grace

for us, which was obtained by the shedding of His blood, and His

obedience even unto death, whereby He paid our ransom.

It is by the secret operation of the Holy Spirit that we enjoy Christ

and all His benefits. In Christ the Mediator the gifts of the Holy

Spirit are to be seen in all their fulness. As salvation is perfected in

the person of Christ, so, in order to make us partakers of it, He

"baptizes us with the Holy Spirit and with fire," enlightening us into

the faith of His Gospel, and so regenerating us to be new creatures.

Thus cleansed from all pollution, He dedicates us as holy temples to the

Lord.

But here it is proper to consider the nature of faith. The true

knowledge of Christ consists in receiving Him as He is offered by the

Father, namely, as invested with His Gospel. There is an inseparable

relation between faith and the Word, and these can no more be

disconnected from each other than rays of light from the sun. John

points to this fountain of faith thus: "To-day, if ye will hear His

voice," to "hear" being uniformly taken for to "believe." Take away the

Word and no faith will remain. Hence Paul designates faith as the

obedience which is given to the Gospel.

The mere assent of the intellect to the Word is, according to some, the

faith insisted on in Scripture, but this is a mere fiction. Such as thus

define faith do not duly ponder the saying of Paul, "With the heart man

believeth unto righteousness." Assent itself is more a matter of the

heart than the head, of the affection than the intellect.

_IV.--OF REPENTANCE_

Repentance follows faith and is produced by it. In the conversion of the

life to God we require a transformation not only in external works, but

in the soul itself, which is able only after it has put off its old

habits to bring forth fruits conformable to its renovation. Repentance

proceeds from a sincere fear of God, and it consists of two parts, the

mortification of the flesh and the quickening of the spirit. Both of

these we obtain by union with Christ. If we are partakers in His

resurrection we are raised up by means of it to newness of life, which

conforms us to the righteousness of God. In one word, then, by

repentance I understand regeneration, the only aim of which is to form

us anew in the image of God, which was sullied and all but effaced by

the transgression of Adam.

The apostle, in his description of repentance (2 Corinthians vii. 2),

enumerates seven causes, effects, or parts belonging to it. These are

carefulness, excuse, indignation, fear, desire, zeal, revenge. I stop

not to consider whether these are causes or effects; both views may be

maintained. The penitent will be careful not in future to offend God; in

his excuses he will trust, not to his own apologies, but to Christ's

intercession; his indignation will be directed against his own

iniquities; his fear will be lest he cause God displeasure; his desire

is equivalent to alacrity in duty; zeal will follow; and revenge will be

practised in the censure passed on his own sins.

_V.--OF JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH_

A man is said to be justified in the sight of God when, in the judgment

of God, he is deemed righteous, and is accepted on account of his

righteousness. So we interpret justification as the acceptance with

which God receives us into His favour as if we were righteous; and we

say that this justification consists in the forgiveness of sins and the

imputation of the righteousness to Christ. Since many imagine a

righteousness compounded of faith and works, let it be noted that there

is so wide a difference between justification by faith and by works that

one necessarily overthrows the other. If we destroy the righteousness by

faith by establishing our own righteousness, then, in order to obtain

His righteousness, our own must be entirely abandoned. The Gospel

differs from the law in this, that it entirely places justification in

the mercy of God and does not confine it to works. It is entirely by the

intervention of Christ's righteousness that we obtain justification

before God.

The doctrine of Christian liberty is founded on this justification by

faith. This liberty consists of three parts. First, believers renouncing

the righteousness of the law look only to Christ. Secondly, the

conscience, freed from the yoke of the law, voluntarily obeys the will

of God. This cannot be done under the dominion of the law. Thirdly,

under the Gospel we are free to use things indifferent. The consciences

of believers, while seeking the assurance of their justification before

God, must rise above the law, and think no more of obtaining

justification by it. Our consciences being free from the yoke of the law

itself, voluntarily obey the will of God.

_VI.--ON THE DOCTRINE OF ELECTION_

Ignorance of the doctrine of election and predestination impairs the

glory of God and fosters pride. The covenant of life is not preached

equally to all, and among those to whom it is preached does not always

meet with the same reception. The reason of this discrimination belongs

to the secret thing of God. This doctrine is cavilled at; yet when we

see one nation preferred to another, shall we plead against God for

having chosen to give such a manifestation of His mercy? God has

displayed His grace in special forms. Thus of the family of Abraham He

rejected some, and kept others within His Church, showing that He

retained them among His sons.

Although the election of God is secret, it is made manifest by effectual

calling. Both election and effectual calling are founded on the free

mercy of God Calling is proved to be according to the free grace of God

by the declarations of Scripture, by the mode in which it is dispensed,

by the instance of Abraham's vocation, by the testimony of John, and by

the example of all those who have been called. There are two species of

calling. There is a universal call by which God, through the preaching

of His Word, invites all men alike. Besides this, there is a special

call, which, for the most part, God bestows on believers only, when by

the internal illumination of His Spirit he causes the Gospel to take

deep root in their hearts.

* * * * *

SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE

AIDS TO REFLECTION

This famous book, of which the full title is "Aids to

Reflection in the Formation of a Manly Character on the

several Grounds of Prudence, Morality, and Religion," was

published in 1825, nine years before the author's death. Its

influence on thoughtful minds was very great, and many of the

first divines of that period owed to it their profoundest

religious ideas. It has been said that the fame of Coleridge

(see LIVES AND LETTERS) as a philosophic thinker is not so

great as it was during the twenty years immediately after his

death; but one imagines that this statement merely means that

not so many people now read Coleridge as did fifty years ago.

The book, at any rate, has not yet been written which exposes

a fallacy in his argument or demolishes his system. It should

be remembered that this poet and searching thinker, to whom

men like Wordsworth and Haslitt listened with reverence, was

for some time in his life a Unitarian, and won to faith in the

divinity of Christ by the use of his reason.

_I.--INTRODUCTORY APHORISMS_

It is the most useful prerogative of genius to rescue truths from the

neglect caused by the very circumstance of their universal admission.

Truths, of all others the most awful and interesting, are too often

considered as so true that they lose the power of truth, and lie

bedridden in the dormitory of the soul.

There is one sure way of giving freshness and importance to the most

commonplace maxims--that of _reflecting_ on them in direct reference to

our own state and conduct, to our own past and future being. A

reflecting mind, says an ancient writer, is the spring and source of

every good thing. As a man without forethought scarce deserves the name

of man, so forethought without reflection is but a metaphorical phrase

for the instinct of a beast.

In order to learn, we must attend; in order to profit by what we have

learnt, we must think; he only thinks who reflects.

To assign a feeling and a determination of their will as a satisfactory

reason for embracing or rejecting an opinion is the habit of many

educated people; to me, this seems little less irrational than to apply

the nose to a picture, and to decide on its genuineness by the sense of

smell.

In attention we keep the mind passive; in thought we rouse it into

activity.

An hour of solitude passed in sincere and earnest prayer, or the

conflict with and conquest over a single passion or "subtle bosom sin,"

will teach us more of thought, will more effectually awaken the faculty,

and form the habit of reflection, than will a year's study in the

schools without them.

Never yet did there exist a full faith in the Divine Word which did not

expand the intellect, while it purified the heart; which did not

multiply the aims and objects of the understanding, while it fixed and

simplified those of the desires and passions. "Give me understanding,"

says David, "and I shall observe Thy laws with my whole heart."

It is worthy of especial observation that the Scriptures are

distinguished from all other writings pretending to inspiration, by the

strong and frequent recommendations of knowledge and a spirit of

inquiry. The word "rational" has been strongly abused of late times.

This must not, however, disincline us to the weighty consideration that

thoughtfulness and a desire to rest all our convictions on grounds of

right reasoning, are inseparable from the character of a Christian. He

who begins by loving Christianity better than truth will proceed by

loving his own sect and church better than Christianity, and end in

loving himself best of all.

_II.--REFLECTIONS RESPECTING MORALITY_

Sensibility, that is a constitutional quickness, of sympathy with pain

and pleasure, is not to be confounded with the moral principle.

Sensibility is not even a sure pledge of a good heart. How many are

prompted to remove those evils alone, which by hideous spectacle or

clamorous outcry are present to their senses and disturb their selfish

enjoyments? Provided the dunghill is not before their parlour window,

they are well contented to know that it exists, and perhaps is the

hotbed on which their own luxuries are reared. Sensibility is not

necessarily benevolence.

All the evil of the materialists is inconsiderable besides the mischief

effected and occasioned by the sentimental philosophy of Sterne and his

numerous imitators. The vilest appetites and the most remorseless

inconstancy towards their objects, acquired the titles of the "heart,"

"the irresistible feelings," "the too-tender sensibility"; and if the

frosts of prudence, the icy chain of human law, thawed and vanished at

the genial warmth of human nature, who could help it? It was an amiable

weakness! At this time the profanation of the word "love" rose to its

height; the muse of science condescended to seek admission at the

saloons of fashion and frivolity, rouged like a harlot and with the

harlot's wanton leer. I know not how the annals of guilt could be better

forced into the service of virtue than by such a comment on the present

paragraph as would be afforded by sentimental correspondence produced in

courts of justice, fairly translated into the true meaning of the words,

and the actual object and purpose of the infamous writers.

Do you in good earnest aim at dignity of character? I conjure you, turn

away from those who live in the twilight between vice and virtue. Are

not reason, discrimination, law, and deliberate choice the

distinguishing characters of humanity? Can anything manly proceed from

those who for law and light would substitute shapeless feelings,

sentiments, impulses, which, as far as they differ from the vital

workings in the brute animals, owe the difference to their former

connection with the proper virtues of humanity? Remember that love

itself, in its highest earthly bearing, as the ground of the marriage

union, becomes love by an inward fiat of the will, by a completing and

sealing act of moral election, and lays claim to permanence only under

the form of duty.

All things strive to ascend, and ascend in the striving. While you

labour for anything below your proper humanity, you seek a happy life in

the region of death.

Unless above himself he can

Erect himself, how mean a thing is man!

_III.--PRUDENTIAL APHORISMS_

With respect to any final aim or end, the greater part of mankind live

at hazard. They have no certain harbour in view, nor direct their course

by any fixed star. But to him that knoweth not the port to which he is

bound, no wind can be favourable; neither can he who has not yet

determined at what mark he is to shoot, direct his arrow aright.

It is not, however, the less true that there is a proper object to aim

at; and if this object be meant by the term happiness, the perfection of

which consists in the exclusion of all hap [_i.e.,_ chance], I assert

that there is such a thing as _summum bonum_, or ultimate good. What

this is, the Bible alone shows certainly, and points out the way. "In

Cicero and Plato," says Augustine, "I meet with many things acutely

said, and things that excite a certain warmth of emotion, but in none of

them do I find these words, 'Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are

heavy laden, and I will give you rest!'"

In the works of Christian and pagan moralists, it is declared that

virtue is the only happiness of this life. You cannot become better, but

you will become happier; you cannot become worse without an increase of

misery. Few men are so reprobate as not to have some lucid moments, and

in such moments few can stand up unshaken against the appeal of their

own experience. What have been the wages of sin? What has the devil done

for you?

Though prudence in itself is neither virtue nor holiness, yet without

prudence neither virtue nor holiness can exist.

Art thou under the tyranny of sin, a slave to vicious habits, at enmity

with God, a fugitive from thy own conscience? Oh, how idle the disputes

whether the listening to the dictates of prudence from self-interested

motives be virtue, when the _not_ listening is guilt, misery, madness,

and despair! The most Christian-like pity thou canst show is to take

pity on thy own soul. The best service thou canst render is to show

mercy to thyself.

_IV.--APHORISMS ON SPIRITUAL RELIGION_

If there be aught spiritual in man, the will must be such. If there be a

will, there must be spirituality in man.

There is more in man than can be rationally referred to the life of

Nature and the mechanism of organisation. He has a will not included in

his mechanism; the will is, in an especial sense, the spiritual part of

our humanity.

I assume a something, the proof of which no man can _give_ to another,

yet every man may find for himself. If any man say that he cannot find

it, I am bound to disbelieve him. I cannot do otherwise without

unsettling the foundations of my own moral nature. If he will not find

it, he excommunicates himself, forfeits his personal rights, and becomes

a thing--_i.e.,_ one who may be used against his will and without regard

to his interest. If the materialist use the words "right" and

"obligation," he does it deceptively, and means only compulsion and

power. To overthrow faith in aught higher than nature and physical

necessity is the very purpose of his argument. But he cannot be ignorant

that the best and greatest of men have devoted their lives to enforce

the contrary; and there is not a language in which he could argue for

ten minutes in support of his scheme without sliding into phrases that

imply the contrary.

The Christian grounds his philosophy on assertions which have nothing in

them of theory or hypothesis; they are in immediate reference to three

ultimate facts--namely, the reality of the law of conscience; the

existence of a responsible will as the subject of the law; and lastly,

the existence of evil--of evil essentially such, not by accident of

circumstances, not derived from physical consequences, nor from any

cause out of itself. The first is a fact of consciousness, the second a

fact of reason necessarily concluded from the first, and the third a

fact of history interpreted by both.

I maintain that a will conceived separately from intelligence is a

non-entity, and that a will the state of which does in no sense

originate in its own act is a contradiction. It might be an instinct, an

impulse, and, if accompanied with consciousness, a desire; but a will it

could not be. And this every human being knows with equal clearness,

though different minds may reflect on it with different degrees of

distinctness; for who would not smile at the notion of a rose willing to

put forth its buds and expand them into flowers?

I deem it impious and absurd to hold that the Creator would have given

us the faculty of reason, or that the Redeemer would in so many varied

forms of argument and persuasion have appealed to it, if it had been

useless or impotent. I believe that the imperfect human understanding

can be effectually exerted only in subordination to, and in a dependent

alliance with, the means and aidances supplied by the supreme reason.

Christianity is not a theory, or a speculation, but a life. Not a

philosophy of life, but life, and a living process. It has been eighteen

hundred years in existence.

The practical inquirer has his foot on the rock when he knows that

whoever needs not a Redeemer is more than human. Remove from him the

difficulties that perplex his belief in a crucified Saviour, convince

him of the reality of sin, and then satisfy him as to the fact

historically, and as to the truth spiritually, of a redemption therefrom

by Christ. Do this for him, and there is little fear that he will let

either logical quirks or metaphysical puzzles contravene the plain

dictate of his commonsense, that the Sinless One that redeemed mankind

from sin must have been more than man, and that He who brought light and

immortality into the world could not in His own nature have been an

inheritor of death and darkness.

A moral evil is an evil that has its origin in a will. An evil common to

all must have a ground common to all. Now, this evil ground cannot

originate in the Divine will; it must, therefore, be referred to the

will of man. And this evil ground we call original sin. It is a

mystery--that is, a fact which we see, but cannot explain; and the

doctrine a truth which we apprehend, but can neither comprehend nor

communicate.

The article on original sin is binding on the Christian only as showing

the antecedent ground and occasion of Christianity, which is the edifice

raised on this ground. The two great moments of the Christian religion

are, original sin and redemption; _that_ the ground, _this_ the

superstructure of our faith. Christianity and redemption are equivalent

terms.

The agent and personal cause of the redemption of mankind is--the

co-eternal word and only begotten Son of the living God. The causation

act is--a spiritual and transcendent mystery, "that passeth all

understanding." The effect caused is--the being born anew, as before in

the flesh to the world, so now born in the spirit to Christ.

Now, albeit the causative act is a transcendent mystery, the fact, or

actual truth, of it having been assured to us by revelation, it is not

impossible, by steadfast meditation on the idea and supernatural

character of a personal will, for a mind spiritually disciplined to

satisfy itself that the redemptive act supposes an agent who can at once

act on the will as an exciting cause, and in the will, as the condition

of its potential, and the ground of its actual, being.

The frequent, not to say ordinary, disproportion between moral worth and

worldly prosperity has at all times led the observant and reflecting few

to a nicer consideration of the current belief, whether instinctive or

traditional. By forcing the soul in upon herself, this enigma of saint

and sage, from Job, David, and Solomon to Claudian and Boëtius, this

perplexing disparity of success and desert, has been the occasion of a

steadier and more distinct consciousness of a something in man,

different in kind, which distinguishes and contra-distinguishes him from

animals--at the same time that it has brought into closer view an enigma

of yet harder solution--the fact, I mean, of a contradiction in the

human being, of which no traces are observable elsewhere, in animated or

inanimate nature.

A struggle of jarring impulses; a mysterious division between the

injunctions of the mind and the elections of the will; and the utter

incommensurateness and the unsatisfying qualities of the things around

us, that yet are the only objects which our senses discover or our

appetites require us to pursue; these facts suggest that the riddle of

fortune and circumstance is but a form of the riddle of man, and that

the solution of both problems lies in the acknowledgement that the soul

of man, as the subject of mind and will, possesses a principle of

permanence and is destined to endure.

Evidences of Christianity! I am weary of the word. Make a man feel the

want of it; rouse him, if you can, to the self-knowledge of his need of

it; and you may safely trust it to its own evidence--remembering only

the express declaration of Christ himself, "No man cometh to Me, unless

the Father leadeth him."

Christ's awful recalling of the drowsed soul from the dreams and phantom

world of sensuality to actual reality--how has it been evaded! His word,

that was spirit! His mysteries, which even the apostles must wait for

the parable in order to comprehend! These spiritual things, which can

only be spiritually discerned, were--say some--mere metaphors! Figures

of speech! Oriental hyperboles! "All this means only morality!" Ah! how

far nearer the truth to say that morality means all this!

* * * * *

CONFUCIANISM

THE LUN YU, OR SAYINGS OF CONFUCIUS

The so-called "Four Books" of Chinese literature are held in

less esteem than the "Five Kings," or "Primary Classics," but

they are still studied first by every Chinaman as a

preparation for what is regarded as the higher and more

important literature. It should be borne in mind that the four

"Shus," as these books are called, tell us much more about the

actual teaching and history of Confucius. The four books are:

(i) The "Lun Yu," or the "Analects of Confucius," which

contain chiefly the sayings and conversations of Confucius,

and give, ostensibly in his own words, his teaching, and, in a

subordinate degree, that of his principal disciples; (2) the

"Ta-Hsio," or "Teaching for Adults," rendered also the "Great

Learning," a treatise dealing with ethical and especially with

political matters, forming Book 39 of the "Li-Ki," or "Book of

Rites," the "Fourth Classic," (3) the "Chung Yung," or

"Doctrine of the Mean," more correctly the State of

Equilibrium or harmony, forming Book 28 of the "Li-Ki"; and

(4) "Meng-tse," Latinised "Mencius," that is, the

conversations and opinions of Mencius. The first, the "Lun

Yu," or "Analects," is the most important of these, the next

in importance being the teaching of Mencius. The book to which

we are most indebted in the preparation of the following

epitomes is "The Chinese Classics," edited by Dr. J. Legge.

Other books are "The Sayings of Confucius," translated by S.A.

Lyall; "Chinese Literature," by H.A. Giles; and "The Wisdom of

Confucius," by G. Dimsdale Stacker.

_INTRODUCTORY_

The original of the Chinese title of the "Lun Yu" is literally

"Discourses and Dialogues." By Legge and most British Chinese scholars

this work is called "The Confucian Analects," the word "analect"

denoting things chosen, in the present case from the utterances of the

master.

The "Lun Yu" is arranged in twenty chapters or books, and gives,

ostensibly in his own words, the teaching of Confucius and that of his

leading disciples. It is here that we learn nearly all that we know

about Confucius. Since the work was composed, as we have it, within a

century of the master's death, there seems good reason for believing

that we have here a _bona-fide_ record of what he thought and said. We

may compare with the "Lun Yu" the Christian Gospels which profess to

give the doctrines and sayings of Jesus, and also the traditional

utterances of Mohammed edited by Al-Bokhari, who died in 870 A.D. The

utterances which follow are by the master (Confucius) himself, unless it

is otherwise stated. Other speakers are generally disciples of

Confucius.

_GENERAL MAXIMS_

I care little who makes a nation's laws if I have the making of its

ballads.

The young child ought to be obedient at home, modest from home,

attentive, faithful, full of benevolence, spending spare time mostly

upon poetry, music, and deportment.

A son ought to study his father's wishes as long as the father lives;

and after the father is dead he should study his life, and respect his

memory.

A man who is fond of learning is not a glutton, nor is he indolent; he

is earnest and sincere in what he says and does, seeks the company of

the good, and profits by it.

At fifteen my whole mind was on study. At thirty I was able to stand

alone. At forty my speculative doubts came to an end. At fifty I

understood Heaven's laws. At sixty my passions responded to higher

instincts. At seventy my better nature ruled me altogether.

Mere study without thought is useless, but thought without study is

dangerous.

Fine words and attractive appearances are seldom associated with true

goodness.

If a man keeps cultivating his old knowledge and be ever adding to it

new, that man is fit to be a teacher of others.

The superior man is broad-minded, and no partisan. The mean man is

biased and narrow.

Tze-chang studied with a view to official promotion. The master said,

"This is wrong," adding, "Thou shouldest listen much, keep silent when

there is doubt, and guard thy tongue. See much, beware of dangers, and

walk warily. Then shalt thou have little cause for repentance."

I do not know how a man can get on without truth. It is easier for a

waggon to go without a cross-pole, or a carriage to be drawn without

harness.

Neither courtesy nor music avail a man if he has not virtue and love.

Worship the dead as though they stood alive before you. Sacrifice to the

spirits as if they were in your immediate presence.

If I am not personally present when the sacrifice is being made, then I

do not sacrifice. There can be no proxy in this matter.

Tze-kung wanted to do away with the offering of a sheep at the new moon.

The master said, "Thou lovest the sheep, but I love the ceremony."

These things are not to be tolerated: Rank without generosity, ritual

without reverence, and mourning without genuine sorrow.

It is better to have virtue with want and ignominy, than wealth and

honour without virtue.

If a man in the morning learns the right way of life he may die at night

without regret.

A scholar's mind should be set on the search for truth, and he should

not be ashamed of poor clothes or of plain or even of insufficient food.

The superior man loves the good and pursues it; besides this, he has no

likes or dislikes.

The good man considers what is right; the bad man what will pay.

As long as thy parents live thou must not go far from them. But if

through necessity thou leavest them, let them know where thou art, and

be ready to come to them when needed.

The man who governs himself, restraining his passions, seldom goes

wrong.

The good man desires to be slow of speech, but active in conduct.

Virtue stands never alone. It will always make neighbours.

In my first dealings with men I listened to their words, and gave them

credit for good conduct. Experience has taught me not to listen to their

words but to watch their conduct. It was from Yu that I learned this

lesson.

I have met no man of strong and unbending will; even Chang is

passionate.

On being asked why Kung-wan was said to be cultured, the master replied,

"Because he was quick to learn, fond of learning, and especially because

he was not ashamed to ask questions of those below him." Of Tze-chang

the master said that he had four characteristics of the gentleman: he

was humble in his own life, respectful towards seniors, generous in

supplying the needs of the people, and just in all his demands of them.

Yen Yuan and Chi Lu were once sitting by the master, who turned to them

and said, "Come, I want each of you to tell me his wishes." Chi Lu said,

"I should like to have carriages and horses and light fur robes to share

with my friends that they, and I, may carelessly wear them out." Yen

Yuan said, "My wish is to make no boast of moral or intellectual

excellence." The master said, "My wish is this: to make the aged happy,

to show sincerity towards friends, and to treat young people with

tenderness and sympathy."

Nature preponderating over art begets coarseness; art preponderating

over nature begets pedantry; art and nature united make a proper

gentleman.

To men whose talents are above mediocrity we speak of superior things.

To men whose talents are below the common we must speak things suited to

their culture.

On being asked, "What is wisdom," the master replied, "To promote right

thoughts and feelings among men; to honour the spirits of the dead." In

reply to the question, "What is love?" the master answered, "Making most

of self-sacrificing efforts but of success only in a subordinate

degree."

Perfect virtue consists in keeping to the Golden Mean. He who has

offended against Heaven has no one to whom he can pray.

Men should not murmur against Heaven, for all that Heaven does is good.

The master paid great attention to three things--piety, peace, and

health.

If I have coarse rice to eat and pure water to drink, and my bent arm

for a pillow, I am content and happy. But ill-gotten riches and honour

are to me as a floating cloud.

If my life could be lengthened out by a few years, I would devote at

least fifty years to the study of the "Yi King" [Book of Changes], then

might I be purified from my sin.

_ON POETRY, HISTORY, AND PROPRIETY_

The master constantly talked about poetry, history, and the rules of

propriety.

Tze-lu, on being asked about Confucius, gave no answer. The master asked

about being present, said, "Why didst thou not say to him, 'Confucius is

a man so eager in the pursuit of knowledge that he forgets his food, so

jubilant in its attainment that he forgets his grief and grows old

without knowing it'?"

I was not born in the possession of knowledge, but I am fond of the past

and study it closely, and hence knowledge is coming to me.

My pupils, do not think that I hide anything from you. Whatever I think

and do I tell you frankly and truly. I keep no secrets from my

disciples.

The master used to teach four things: culture, morals, and manners,

piety, and faithfulness.

In knowledge and in culture I am perhaps the equal of other men. I have

not yet attained to perfection, nor are my knowledge and living

consistent.

The master once being very ill, Tze-lu asked permission to pray for him.

The master asked, "Is that customary?" "It is," replied the disciple,

"for the memorials have it, 'Pray to the spirits in heaven above and on

earth below.'" The master replied, "I have for long prayed for myself,

and that is best."

The master was dignified, yet gentle. He was majestic, but inspired no

fear. He was gentlemanly, but always at ease.

Poetry rouses the mind, the rules of propriety establish the character,

music crowns a man's education.

It would be hard to meet a man who has studied for three years without

learning something good.

Learn as though you felt you could never learn enough, and as though you

feared you could not learn in your short life what is needful for

conduct.

A man from a certain village once said, "Confucius is, no doubt, a very

learned man, but he has not made himself a name in any special thing."

When the master heard this, he said to his disciples, "What shall I

undertake: charioteering, archery, or what? I think I shall become a

charioteer, and thus get me a name."

A high officer asked Tze-kung, "May we not say that the master is a sage

because he can do so many things?" To which Tze-kung replied, "Heaven

has indeed highly endowed him, and he is almost a sage; and he is very

many-sided."

On hearing this the master said, "Does the officer know me? Being of

lowly birth when I was young, I learnt many a trade, but there was

nothing great in that. The superior man may excel in one thing only, and

not in many things."

Wishing to go and live among the nine wild tribes of the East, one of

his friends remonstrated with the master and said, "They are low. How

can you go and live among them?" To which he gave for answer, "Nothing

that is low can survive where the virtuous and the good-mannered man

is."

After I returned from Wei to Lu I found the music had been reformed, and

that each song was given its proper place.

The master said, "To serve ministers and nobles when abroad, fathers and

elder brothers when at home, to avoid neglect in offerings of the dead,

and to be no slave to wine: to which of these have I attained?"

_CONFUCIUS AT HOME AND AT COURT_

In his own village Confucius looked homely and sincere, as if he had no

word to say; but in the ancestral temple and in the court he was full of

words, though careful in using them.

When waiting at court he talked with the lower officers frankly, but to

the higher officers more blandly and precisely. When the sovereign was

present he used to be respectful but easy, solemn yet self-possessed.

When the sovereign bade him receive visitors his countenance changed,

and his legs appeared to bend. Bowing to those beside him, he

straightened his robes in front and behind, hastening forward with his

elbows extended like a bird's wings. When the guest had retired he used

to report to the prince, saying, "The guest does not any more look

back." When he entered the palace gate he seemed to stoop as though it

were not high enough for him. Ascending the dais, lifting up his robes

with both hands, he held his breath as if he would cease breathing. As

he came down his face relaxed after the first step, and looked more at

ease. At the bottom of the steps he would hurry on, spreading out his

elbows like wings, and on gaining his seat he would sit intent as

previously.

He was never arrayed in deep purple or in puce-coloured garments. Even

at home he wore nothing of a red or reddish colour. In hot weather he

used to wear a single garment of fine texture, but always over an inner

garment. Over lambs' fur he wore a garment of black, over fawns' fur one

of white, and over foxes' fur one of yellow. His sleeping-dress was half

as long again as his body. On the first day of the month he always went

to court in court robes. On fast days he wore pale-hued garments,

changed his food, and made a change in his apartment.

He liked to have his rice carefully cleaned and his minced meat chopped

small. He did not eat rice that had been injured by heat or damp or that

had turned sour, nor could he eat fish or meat which had gone. He did

not eat anything that was discoloured or that had a bad flavour, or that

was not in season. He would not eat meat badly cut, or that was served

with the wrong sauce. No choice of meats could induce him to eat more

than he thought right.

After sacrificing at the ancestral temple he would never keep the meat

there overnight, nor would he keep it more than three days at home. If

by any mishap it were kept longer, it was not eaten.

He never talked at meals, nor would he speak a word in bed. Though there

were on the table nothing but coarse rice and vegetable soup, he would

always reverently offer some of it to his ancestors. If his mat was not

straight he would not sit on it.

_ON LEARNING AND VIRTUE_

Chung-kung asked about virtue. The master said: "It consists in these

things: To treat those outside thine own home as if thou wert welcoming

a great guest; to treat the people as if thou wert assisting at a high

sacrifice; not to do to others what thou wouldest not have them do to

thee; to encourage no wrongs in the state nor any in the home."

The master being once asked "Who is the virtuous man?" answered, "One

that has neither anxiety nor fear, for he finds no evil in his heart.

What, then, is there to cause anxiety or fear?"

The master, on being once asked by one of his disciples "On what does

the art of government depend?" answered, "Sufficient food, troops, and a

loyal people." "If, however," the same disciple asked, "one of them had

to be dispensed with, which of the three could we best spare?" "Troops,"

said the master. "And which," the disciple then asked, "of the other two

could be better spared?" "Food," said the master.

Tze-chang asked the master, "When may a scholar or an officer be called

eminent?" The master asked, "What dost thou mean by being eminent?" To

which the other answered, "To be famous throughout the state and

throughout his clan." "But that," said the master, "is fame, not

eminence. The truly eminent man is genuine and straightforward; he loves

righteousness, weighs people's words, and looks at their countenances.

He humbles himself to others, and is sincerely desirous of helping all.

That is the, eminent man, though he may not be a famous one."

If a ruler can govern himself, he is likely to be able to govern his

people. But how can a man who has not control of himself keep his people

in subjection?

Tze-kung asked, "Is it proper that a man should be liked by all his

neighbours?" "Certainly not," said the master. "Is it then proper,"

asked the same, "that a man should be hated by all his neighbours?"

"Decidedly not," said the master. "The good man is loved by his good

neighbours, and hated by his bad ones."

The virtuous man is hard to satisfy, but easy to serve. Nothing that

thou doest to please him satisfies him unless it is strictly according

to right. But in all his demands upon his servants he expects according

to capacity, and is satisfied if the servant does his best, though it be

little. The bad man is easy to satisfy, but hard to serve. He is

satisfied with whatever pleases him, though it be not right; and he

demands of his servants whatever he requires, making no allowance for

capacity.

A scholar whose mind is set upon comfort is not worthy of the name.

"Where there's a will," said the master, "there's a way."

To refrain from speaking to a man who is disposed to hear is to wrong

the man; to speak to a man not disposed to listen is to waste words.

"How can one in brief express man's whole duty?"

"Is not reciprocity such a word?" said the master; "that is, what thou

dost not want others to do to thee, do thou not to others."

There are three things which the virtuous man has to guard against. In

youth, lust; in full manhood, strife; and in old age, covetousness.

The highest class of men are those who are born wise; the next those who

become wise by study; next and third, those who learn much, without

having much natural ability. The lowest class of people are those who

have neither natural ability nor perseverance. Men are very similar at

birth; it is afterwards the great differences arise.

It is only the wisest and the silliest of men who never alter their

opinions.

"My children," said the master once to his disciples, "Why do you not

study the Book of Poetry [the Shih King]? It would stimulate your mind,

encourage introspection, teach you to love your fellows, and to forbear

with all. It would show you your duty to your fathers and your king; and

you would also learn from it the names of many birds and beasts and

plants and trees."

TA-HSIO, OR TEACHING FOR ADULTS

_INTRODUCTORY_

The "Ta-Hsio," or "Teaching for Adults," rendered also "The Great

Learning," is really a treatise dealing with ethical, and especially

with political, matters, the duties of rulers, ministers, etc. It is

usually ascribed in part to "the master" himself, and in part to Tseng

Tsan, one of the most illustrious of his disciples. This forms Book 39

of the "Li Ki," or "Book of Rites," and it is admitted by the best

scholars to be a genuine specimen of the teaching of Confucius, though

no one believes that "the master" is the author of the book as it now

stands. The likeliest suggestion as to authorship is that which ascribes

the present treatise, and also the "Chung Yung" (No. 28 of the "Li Ki")

to Khung Chi, the grandson of Confucius.

The great Chinese philosopher Chang said of this book: "'The teaching

for Adults' is a book belonging to the Confucian school, forming the

gate through which youthful students enter the great temple of virtue.

We should not have been able to ascertain the methods of learning

pursued by the ancients if this book and the works of Mencius had not

been preserved. Beginners ought to start their studies with this book,

and then pass on to the harder books, after which the Five Classics

should be read and pondered over."

The object of the "Ta-Hsio" is to illustrate outstanding virtue, to

promote love of the people and their improvement in morals and manners.

In order that these results may be obtained, this treatise must be

patiently calmly, and thoughtfully studied.

_HOW THE EMPIRE IS TO BE IMPROVED_

The ancients, wishing to make their empire perfect, first endeavoured to

make their states perfect. For this last purpose they exerted themselves

to improve their famines, and to this end they took great pains to

improve their personal character. In order to improve their personal

character, they endeavoured to purify their hearts and to make their

thoughts sincere.

From the Son of Heaven [the Emperor] to the masses of the people, the

cultivation of personal character was regarded as the root of all

amelioration. To know this has been called knowing the "root," which is

the perfection of knowledge.

On Thang's bathing-tub these words were inscribed:

"Renovate thyself day by day, yea, every day renovate thyself." At the

opening of his reign, Thang was exhorted to renovate his people.

In the Book of Poetry it is said that although Kau was an ancient state,

yet it regarded Heaven's commands as ever new. In the same book we read

that the thoughts of the Emperor Wan were deep, and his conduct firm. In

all his relationships he was reverent and true. As a sovereign he was

benevolent; as a minister respectful; as a son he exhibited filial

piety; as a father he was kind and considerate; towards his subjects he

was steadfastly faithful. This virtuous and accomplished sovereign, Wan,

took great pains to sharpen his intellect and to make his heart more

sensitive to all obligations. How majestic, how glorious was he; he

shall ever be remembered by his grateful people at the ancestral shrine.

"The cultivation of personal character depends upon the regulation of

the mind." What does this mean? If a man's passions are not kept under

control, he will form wrong judgments about actions and never have a

well-balanced mind. Therefore must man regulate his mind in order to

cultivate himself. "The government of the family depends upon the

cultivation of personal character." What does this mean? Where there is

affection, judgment is distorted. We see the good qualities of those we

love, but are blind to the bad ones. We see the bad qualities of those

we hate, but are blind to the good ones. In order to be able to govern a

family rightly, we must train our minds to judge fairly and impartially

of those nearest to us--_i.e.,_ it requires careful self-training to be

able to train a family.

"We must be able to govern the family before we can rule a state." What

means this? If a man fails to teach the members of his own family to be

obedient and loyal to their head, how can he train a nation to be

united, obedient, and loyal?

Yas and Shun ruled with love, and the people became loving. Kieh and Kau

ruled with violence, and the people became violent. The sovereign must

have and exhibit the same qualities that he wishes his subjects to

cultivate. Nor has he the right to expect his people to be free from bad

qualities which are in himself. The ruler must himself be what he wants

his people to be. Thus it is that the government of the state rests upon

the proper government of the family.

"That the empire should have peace and prosperity depends upon the

government of the constituting states." What does this mean?

When ruler and ministers treat their aged ones as they ought to, the

inhabitants in general become filial. Similarly, the inhabitants learn

to show respect towards their seniors and sympathy towards the young

when their superiors set them the right example in these matters. No man

should treat his inferiors as he would not like his superiors to treat

him. What he disapproves of in his inferiors, let him not exhibit in his

dealings towards his superiors.

In the Book of Poetry it is written, "The parents of the people are much

to be congratulated. A sovereign whose loves and hates correspond with

those of his people is his people's father." To gain the people is to

gain the state; therefore a ruler's primary concern should be his own

integrity, for thereby he wins his people's loyalty, and through that

loyalty he obtains the state, and therewith the wealth of the whole

country.

Virtue is the root, wealth but the branches. See first, therefore, to

the root.

In the Records of Khu one reads, "The State of Khu values men, not gems

nor robes."

A country is wealthy if it consumes less than it produces, and that man

is rich whose income exceeds his expenditure.

The virtuous ruler gathers wealth on account of the reputation it can

bring him. The wicked ruler seeks wealth for its own sake, sacrificing

even virtue to obtain it.

A benevolent sovereign makes a just people. When the people are just the

affairs of the sovereign prosper. The state's prosperity consists in

righteousness, not in riches.

CHUNG YUNG, OR DOCTRINE OF THE MEAN

_INTRODUCTORY_

The "Chung Yung" is more correctly rendered "The state of equilibrium

and harmony" (Legge, etc.) than by "The Doctrine of the Mean," its usual

appellation. Other titles suggested have been "The Just Mean," "The True

Mean," "The Golden Mean," and "The Constant Mean." The word "chung"

means "middle," "yung" denoting "course" or "way." Hence, "Chung Yung"

means literally, "The middle way." Compare Aristotle's doctrine of The

Mean ("Ethics" Book II.).

This treatise occurs as Book 28 of the "Li-Ki" and by Chinese scholars

has been declared to be the most valuable part of the Book of Rites. We

have here the fullest account existing of the philosophy and ethics of

the master. Apart from its value as such, the "Chung Yung" is

exceedingly interesting as a monument of the teaching of the ancient

Chinese. In its existing form the "Chung Yung" is arranged in five

divisions, containing, in all, thirty-three chapters. No attempt is made

in the epitomes that follow to retain these divisions and chapters. For

the authorship and date of this third book see what is said in the

introduction to the "Ta-Hsio."

_THE GOOD MAN'S PATH_

The sense of obligation has been implanted in man by Heaven. The path of

duty is a life in accordance with this heaven-implanted intuition. Every

man ought always to tread this path; the true doctrine teaches how this

is to be accomplished. The good man will ever be on his guard lest he

depart a hair's breadth from the right way.

The mental state of equilibrium is reached when a man is free from the

distracting influences of anger and goodwill, joy and sorrow. When these

emotions exist in due proportion and extent the state of harmony is

attained. From the first proceed all great human enterprises. The state

of harmony is the path along which all good men will go. When the states

of equilibrium and harmony exist in their fulness gods and men receive

their dues, and there is prosperity and happiness.

Kung-ni[8] said, "The virtuous man embodies in himself the states of

equilibrium and harmony, but the low man knows neither of these states."

This perfect condition of human character in which there is complete

equilibrium and harmony is reached but by few. Why is this so? It is

because those who are wise consider these ideal states too commonplace,

and they aim at things which the world values more highly. The low man,

on the other hand, grovels in the dust and never rises to higher

thoughts or nobler aims. Men could, if they would, distinguish the

worthy from the unworthy, just as with a healthy palate they can tell

good food from bad. But men's moral discernment has been blunted by a

life of sensuality and sin, just as the physical palate loses its power

of tasting when in a diseased condition.

In order to find out the Mean, our Father Shun, of blessed memory, used

to question the people[9] and study their answers, even the shallow

ones. He used to encourage them to speak out by seeming to value the

poorest answers. He would take the extremest sayings he heard, and from

them deduce the Mean.

It is hard to keep in the middle way: men rule kingdoms and accept

honours and emoluments who have yet signally failed to govern themselves

by the rules of the Mean.

The good man's ambition is not to perform feats which startle the world

and give him fame, but rather to live the life of the moderate and

harmonious one; yet how often for lack of true discernment he fails!

This middle path is not, however, hidden from the sincere and pure; even

common men and women may know it, though in its highest reaches it

baffles the wisest. The greatest and the wisest and the best find lodged

within them unrealised ideals. Whoever strenuously aims at realising

these ideals, though he fails, is near the right path.

"The good man has four difficulties," said the master, "and I have not

myself been able to overcome them. (1) To serve my father as I should

like my son to serve me. (2) To serve my ruler as I should like him to

serve me were I his ruler. (3) To serve an elder brother as I should

like him to serve me were he my younger brother. (4) To act towards a

friend as I should like him to act towards me were our relations

reversed."[10]

The good man suits his conduct to his station in life. If he has wealth

and high office he acts becomingly, never treating his inferiors with

harshness or contempt. If he be poor and unrecognised, he never murmurs

against heaven, or pines over his lot, or cringes before superiors, or

does anything immoral for applause or gain. The virtuous man accepts

heaven's allotments thankfully and uncomplainingly.

In order to attain to the middle path we must carefully perform the

duties which lie nearest to us, not waiting to do great things. In the

Book of Poetry we read of the love of wife, of children, and brothers.

Cultivate this love on the home hearth, and thy charity will expand and

take in mankind. [Note how charity, though beginning at home, travels

far afield.]

Shun displayed his filial piety on a huge scale, and brought great

honour to his parents and to himself. No wonder that such filial piety

as his was rewarded with dominion, wealth, and fame. It is well said in

the Book of Poetry, "The good man receives Heaven's benediction."

The Emperor Wan was the only man with no cause for grief, his father

being the admirable Ki, and his son the equally admirable Wu. The father

laid the foundation of all this excellence, the son transmitting it to

his own son. The Emperor Wu retained the honour and distinction of his

forebears Thai, Kai, and Wan. He had the dignity of the true Son of

Heaven, and owned all within the Four Seas.[11] He sacrificed regularly

in the ancestral temple, and after death his successors sacrificed to

him. The Duke of Kau continued the glorious traditions handed on by Wu.

Both these great rulers realised the aspirations and wishes of their

forefathers, restoring and improving the ancestral temple, renovating

the sacred vessels and offering sacrifices suited to each year. In other

ways also they perpetuated the good deeds of their ancestors, observed

their religious rites, encouraged the study of music and poetry,

honoured the honourable, and loved the lovable. They showed due respect

to their departed ones, and thus discharged their duty to the living and

the dead.

THE WORKS OF MENCIUS

_INTRODUCTORY_

Mencius is the Latinised form of "Mengtse," which means "the philosopher

Meng," Meng (or Meng-sun) being the name of one of the three great

Houses of Lu, whose usurpations gave so much offence to Confucius. His

personal name was Ko, though this does not occur in his own works. He

was born in B.C. 372, and died in B.C. 289 at the age of 83, in the

twenty-sixth year of the Emperor Nan, with whom ended the long

sovereignty of Kau (Chow) dynasty. He was thus a contemporary of Plato

(whose last twenty-three years synchronised with his first

twenty-three), Aristotle, Zeno, Epicurus, and Demosthenes, and he is

well worthy of being ranked with these illustrious men.

Mencius was reared by his widowed mother, whose virtue and wisdom are

still proverbial in China. The first forty years of his life are

virtually a blank to us, so that we know very little of his early

education. He is said, however, to have studied under Khung Chi, the

grandson of Confucius.

In the hundred and six years between the death of Confucius (B.C. 478)

and the birth of Mencius (B.C. 372), the political and moral state of

China had altered greatly for the worse. The smaller feudal states had

been swallowed up by larger ones, the princes were constantly at war

with one another, and there was but little loyalty to the occupant of

the imperial throne; moreover, the moral standard of things had lowered

very much. At about the age of forty-five Mencius became Minister under

Prince Hsuan, of the Chi state. But as his master refused to carry out

the reforms he urged, he resigned his post and travelled through many

lands, advising rulers and ministers with whom he came in contact. In

the year B.C. 319 he resumed his former position in the state of Chi,

resigning once more eight years later. He now gave himself up to a life

of study and teaching, preparing the works presently to be noticed. His

main purpose was to expound and enforce the teaching of Confucius. But

his own doctrine stands on a lower level than that of the master, for he

views man's well-being rather from the point of view of political

economy. He was justly named by Chao Chi "The Second Holy One or

Prophet"--the name by which China still knows him.

The treatise called "The Works of Mencius" is a compilation of the

conversation and opinions of Mencius, having a similar relation to that

great philosopher that the Analects (or "Lun Yu") have to Confucius. It

is arranged in seven books. According to tradition the work, in its

existing form, is as it came from the philosopher himself.

_VIRTUE, NOT PROFIT, TO BE THE CHIEF QUEST_

When Mencius visited King Hui, of Liang, the latter asked him what

counsel he could give to profit his kingdom. The philosopher replied,

"Why does your majesty use the word profit? The only things which I have

to counsel are righteousness and goodwill. If the king seeks mainly the

_profit_ of his kingdom, the great officers will seek the profit of

their families and the common people that of theirs. The chief things to

be aimed at by king and people are virtue and benevolence. All else is

as nothing. No benevolent man has neglected his parents, nor has any

virtuous man slighted his sovereign."

"How comes it," asked the king, "that my state Tsin has deteriorated

since I became its ruler, and that calamities many and great have fallen

on it?" Mencius answered, "With so great an extent of territory as thine

prosperity ought to be within easy reach; but in order to procure it

your majesty must govern thy subjects justly and kindly, moderating

penalties, lightening taxes, promoting thus and otherwise their

industries, increasing their comforts as well as lessening their

burdens, deepening the faithfulness of the people to one another and to

the throne. Then will thy people be loyal to thee and formidable towards

thy foes. Thou shalt make thy subjects loyal friends, for the benevolent

one has no enemy."

_A PROSPEROUS RULER THE FRIEND AND FATHER OF HIS PEOPLE_

On one occasion the Emperor Hsuan of Chi visited Mencius in the Snow

Palace, and asked him, "Do the people find enjoyment in music and in the

chase?" "Certainly," answered Mencius; "it is when ruler and people

share each other's joys and sorrows that the sovereign attains to his

highest dignity. Moreover, a ruler, when moving amongst his people ought

to copy the ancient sovereigns. In the good old days, when the ruler

made a tour of inspection among his people he was received with great

acclamation everywhere, for joy and gladness came in his train. In the

spring he inspected the ploughing and supplied all that was lacking in

the way of seed. In the autumn he examined the reaping and made up for

any deficiency in the yield. It was a common saying during the Hsia

dynasty, 'If the Emperor visiteth not, what will become of us?' But now,

may your majesty permit me to say, matters are very different, for, when

in these days a ruler visits his people he is accompanied by a huge

army, who with himself and suite have to be maintained by the people

visited. And so it comes to be that the hungry are robbed of their food,

and the toilers are wearied with the extra tasks imposed upon them. If a

ruler wishes to have the hearts of his people, and to' be regarded as

their father, he must consider their needs and endeavour to supply

them."

_MENCIUS USES STRATAGEM TO BRING HOME TO THE EMPEROR HIS GUILT_

Mencius said on one occasion to Hsuan, King of Chi, "Suppose one of thy

ministers were to entrust his family during his absence to a

subordinate, and that the latter neglected his duty so that the wife and

children were exposed to great suffering and danger. What should that

minister do?"

"Dismiss him at once," was the royal reply.

"But," continued the philosopher, "suppose that the government of your

own kingdom were bad, the people suffering and disunited and disloyal on

account of their king's bad rule. What then should be done?" The king,

looking this way and that, turned the conversation to other themes.

_IT MAY BE RIGHT TO KILL A SOVEREIGN_

King Hsuan asked Mencius, "Is it true that Thang banished his own

sovereign, Kieh [the last king of the Hsia dynasty], and that Wu

attacked the tyrant Emperor Kau-hsin and slew him?" "It is true," said

Mencius, "for it is so written in the 'Shu King.' But if a sovereign

acts as Kieh did he is no longer a sovereign but a robber, and to be

dealt with as such. And if a ruler is, like Kau-hsin, the enemy of his

people, he is no longer their ruler, and therefore to be put out of the

way, and how better than by death?"

_THE GIFTS THAT MAY AND THOSE THAT MAY NOT BE ACCEPTED_

Chan Tsin spoke to Mencius as follows:

"The King of Chi once offered thee a present and thou declinedst it, but

didst accept gifts offered at Sung and at Hsieh. Why this inconsistency?

If it were right to refuse in the first case it was equally right to

refuse in the other two. If it were right to accept in the latter two

cases, it was equally right to accept in the first case." The

philosopher answered, "I acted rightly and consistently. The gifts at

Sung were to provide me with what was needed for a long journey which I

was about to undertake. Why should I refuse such gifts when needed? At

Hsieh I was in some personal danger and needed help to procure the means

of self-defence. The gifts were to enable me to procure arms. Why should

I have refused such needed help? But at Chi I needed no money, and

therefore refused it when offered, for to accept money when it is not

needed is to accept a bribe. Why should I take such money?"

_WRONG CONDUCT SHOULD BE ENDED AT ONCE_

A distinguished officer of Sung, called Tai Ying-chib, called upon

Mencius and said, "I am unable as yet to dispense with the tax on goods

and the duties charged at the frontier passes and in the markets, though

this is a right and proper thing to do. But it is my intention, until

the next year, to lighten the tax and the duties, and then next year I

shall remove them altogether." The philosopher replied, "Here is a man

who daily steals a score of his neighbour's fowls. Someone remonstrates,

and, feeling that he is guilty of acting dishonestly, he says, 'I know

that this stealing is wrong, but in the future I shall be content with

stealing one fowl a month. But next year I will stop stealing fowls

altogether.' If," continued Mencius, "this task and these duties are, as

you admit, wrong, end them at once. Why should you wait a year?"

_THE INHERENT GOODNESS OF HUMAN NATURE_

Kao Tzu said to Mencius, "Human nature resembles running water, which

flows east or west according as it can find an outlet. So human nature

is inclined equally to what is good and to what is bad." "It is true,"

answered Mencius, "that water will flow indifferently to the east or to

the west. But it will not flow indifferently up or down; it can only

flow down. The tendency of human nature is towards what is good, as that

of water is to flow downwards. One may, indeed, by splashing water, make

it spurt upwards, but that is forcing it against its true character.

Even so, when a man becomes prone to what is evil it is because his

Heaven-implanted nature has been diverted from its true bent."

_PEOPLE FIRST, KINGS LAST_

"The people," said Mencius, "are first in importance; next come the

gods. The kings are last and least."

_EVERY MAN SHOULD ACCEPT HIS LOT_

Mencius said, "Every man's lot is fixed for him, and it is a proof of

wisdom to accept it uncomplainingly. He who does this faces misfortune

and even death unmoved."

_WHAT THE GOOD KING DELIGHTS IN MOST_

"The virtuous king," said Mencius, "is glad to have a large extent of

territory and a numerous people to rule over; but his heart is not on

these things. To be at the head of a great kingdom and to see his people

loyal, united, and flourishing, gives the good king joy; but his heart

is not on these things. It is on benevolence, justice, propriety, and

knowledge that the good king's heart is set."

_THE INFLUENCE OF EXAMPLE_

Mencius said, "In the good days of old, men of virtue and talent

abounded in the land, and their influence for good was great upon their

fellows. But now, alas, the masses of the people are ignorant, and

depraved, and their dominant influence is bad."

_COUNSELLORS SHOULD LOVE RIGHTEOUSNESS RATHER THAN RICHES_

Mencius said, "Those who counsel men in high places should feel contempt

for their pomp and display. I have no wish for huge and gorgeous halls,

for luxurious food with hundreds of attendants, or for sparkling wine or

bewitching women. These things I esteem not; what I esteem are the rules

of propriety handed down by the ancients."

* * * * *

FÉNELON

THE EXISTENCE OF GOD

François de Salignac de la Mothe Fénelon was born at the

château of Fénelon, in the ancient territorial division of

Périgord, France, August 6, 1651. At twenty-four he became a

priest. He was for many years a friend of his celebrated

contemporary Bossuet, but later Bossuet attacked a spiritual

and unworldly work of Fénelon, who was condemned by the Pope.

He died on January 17, 1715, leaving behind him many books, of

which the "Treatise on the Existence of God," first published

in 1713, is the masterpiece. This noble and profound work,

though it accepts the "argument from design," which the

discovery of universal evolution necessarily modifies, does so

with such rare philosophical insight as to stand for ever far

above any other works of the kind. Fénelon can scarcely be

called a mystic, for his reason was of the finest, and never

surrendered its claims; but, though a strictly rational

thinker, he had the insight of the mystic or the idealist who

sees in external nature, and in the mind of man alike, what

Goethe called "the living garment of God."

_I.--THE HAND THAT MAKES EVERYTHING_

I cannot open my eyes without admiring the art that shines throughout

all nature; the least cast suffices to make me perceive the Hand that

makes everything.

Men the least exercised in reasoning, and the most tenacious of the

prejudices of the senses, may yet with one look discover Him who has

drawn Himself in all His works. The wisdom and power He has stamped upon

everything He has made are seen, as it were, in a glass by those that

cannot contemplate Him in His own idea. This is a sensible and popular

philosophy, of which any man free from passion and prejudice is capable.

If a great number of men of subtle and penetrating wit have not

discovered God with one cast of the eye upon nature, it is not matter of

wonder, for either the passions they have been tossed by have still

rendered them incapable of any fixed reflection, or the false prejudices

that result from passions have, like a thick cloud, interposed between

their eyes and that noble spectacle.

A man deeply concerned in an affair of great importance, that should

take up all the attention of his mind, might pass several days in a room

treating about his concerns without taking notice of the proportions of

the chamber, the ornaments of the chimney, and the pictures about him,

all of which objects would continually be before his eyes, and yet none

of them make any impression upon him. In this manner it is that men

spend their lives. Everything offers God to their sight, and yet they

see Him nowhere.

They pass away their lives without perceiving that sensible

representation of the Deity. Such is the fascination of worldly trifles

that obscure their eyes. Nay, oftentimes they will not so much as open

them, but rather affect to keep them shut, lest they should find Him

they do not look for. In short, what ought to help most to open their

eyes serves only to close them faster. I mean the constant duration and

regularity of the motions which the Supreme Wisdom has put in the

universe.

But, after all, whole nature shows the infinite art of its Maker. When I

speak of an art, I mean a collection of proper means chosen on purpose

to arrive at a certain end; or, if you please, it is an order, a method,

an industry, or a set design. Chance, on the contrary, is a blind and

necessary cause, which neither sets in order nor chooses anything, and

has neither will nor understanding. Now, I maintain that the universe

bears the character and stamp of a cause infinitely powerful and

industrious; and, at the same time, that chance--that is, the fortuitous

concourse of causes void of reason--cannot have formed this universe.

Who will believe that so perfect a poem as Homer's "Iliad" was not the

product of the genius of a great poet, but that the letters of the

alphabet, being confusedly jumbled and mixed, were by chance, as it were

by the cast of a pair of dice, brought together in such an order as is

necessary to describe, in verses full of harmony and variety, so many

great events; to place and connect them so well together; to paint every

object with all its most graceful, most noble, and most affecting

attendants; in short, to make every person speak according to his

character in so natural and so forcible a manner? Let people subtilise

upon the matter as much as they please, yet they never will persuade a

man of sense that the "Iliad" was the mere result of chance. How, then,

can a man of sense be induced to believe, with respect to the universe,

what his reason will never suffer him to believe in relation to the

"Iliad"?

_II.--EARTH, THE MOTHER OF ALL LIVING_

After these comparisons, about which I only desire the reader to consult

himself, without any argumentation, I think it is high time to enter

into a detail of nature. I do not pretend to penetrate through the

whole. Who is able to do it? Neither do I pretend to enter into any

physical discussion. Such way of reasoning requires a certain deep

knowledge, which abundance of men of wit and sense never acquire; and

therefore I will offer nothing to them but the simple prospect of the

face of nature. I will entertain them with nothing but what everybody

knows, which requires only a little calm and serious attention.

Let us, in the first place, stop at the great object that first strikes

our sight--I mean the general structure of the universe. Let us cast our

eyes on this earth that bears us.

Who is it that hung and poised this motionless globe of the earth? Who

laid its foundation? Nothing seems more vile and contemptible, for the

meanest wretches tread it under foot; but yet it is in order to possess

it that we part with the greatest treasures. If it were harder than it

is, men could not open its bosom to cultivate it; and if it were less

hard it could not bear them, and they would sink everywhere as they do

in sand, or in a bog. It is from the inexhaustible bosom of the earth we

draw what is most precious. That shapeless, vile, and rude mass assumes

the most various forms, and yields alone, by turns, all the goods we can

desire. That dirty soil transforms itself into a thousand fine objects

that charm the eye. In the compass of one year it turns into branches,

twigs, buds, leaves, blossoms, fruits, and seeds, in order, by those

various shapes, to multiply its liberalities to mankind.

Nothing exhausts the earth; the more we tear her bowels the more she is

liberal. After so many ages, during which she has produced everything,

she is not yet worn out. She feels no decay from old age, and her

entrails still contain the same treasures. A thousand generations have

passed away, and returned into her bosom.

Everything grows old, she alone excepted; for she grows young again

every year in the spring. She is never wanting to men; but foolish men

are wanting to themselves in neglecting to cultivate her. It is through

their laziness and extravagance they suffer brambles and briars to grow

instead of grapes and corn. They contend for a good they let perish. The

conquerors leave uncultivated the ground for the possession of which

they have sacrificed the lives of so many thousand men, and have spent

their own in hurry and trouble. Men have before them vast tracts of land

uninhabited and uncultivated, and they turn mankind topsy-turvy for one

nook of that neglected ground in dispute. The earth, if well cultivated,

would feed a hundred times more men than she does now. Even the

unevenness of ground, which at first seems to be a defect, turns either

into ornament or profit. The mountains arose and the valleys descended

to the place the Lord had appointed for them. Those different grounds

have their particular advantages, according to the divers aspects of the

sun. In those deep valleys grow fresh and tender grass to feed cattle.

Next to them opens a vast champaign covered with a rich harvest. Here,

hills rise like an amphitheatre, and are crowned with vineyards and

fruit-trees. There, high mountains carry aloft their frozen brows to the

very clouds, and the torrents that run down from them become the springs

of rivers. The rocks that show their craggy tops bear up the earth of

mountains just as the bones bear up the flesh in human bodies.

There is scarce any spot of ground absolutely barren if a man do not

grow weary of digging, and turning it to the enlivening sun, and if he

require no more from it than it is proper to bear. Amidst stone and

rocks there is sometimes excellent pasture, and their cavities have

veins which, being penetrated by the piercing rays of the sun, furnish

plants with most savoury juices for the feeding of herds and flocks.

Even sea-coasts that seem to be the most sterile and wild yield

sometimes either delicious fruits or most wholesome medicines that are

wanting in the most fertile countries. Besides, it is the effect of a

wise over-ruling Providence that no land yields all that is useful to

human life. For want invites men to commerce, in order to supply one

another's necessities. It is therefore that want which is the natural

tie of society between nations; otherwise, all the people of the earth

would be reduced to one sort of food and clothing, and nothing would

invite them to know and visit one another.

All that the earth produces, being corrupted, returns into her bosom,

and becomes the source of a new production. Thus she resumes all she has

given in order to give again. Thus the corruption of plants, and of the

animals she feeds, feed her, and improve her fertility. Thus, the more

she gives the more she resumes; and she is never exhausted, provided

they who cultivate her restore to her what she has given. Everything

comes from her bosom, everything returns to it, and nothing is lost in

it. Nay, all seeds multiply there.

Admire the plants that spring from the earth; they yield food for the

healthy, and remedies for the sick. Their species and virtues are

innumerable. They deck the earth, yield verdure, fragrant flowers, and

delicious fruits. Do you see those vast forests that seem as old as the

world? Those trees sink into the earth by their roots, as deep as their

branches shoot up to the sky. Their roots defend them against the winds,

and fetch up, as it were by subterranean pipes, all the juices destined

to feed the trunk. The trunk itself is covered with a tough bark that

shelters the tender wood from the injuries of the air. The branches

distribute, by several pipes, the sap which the roots had gathered up in

the trunk. In summer the boughs protect us with their shadow against the

scorching rays of the sun.

The farther we seek through the universe the more sure is her teaching.

That which we learnt from the earth and from plants is taught us again

by water, by the air, and by fire. It is the lesson of the skies, and of

the sun and the stars. The whole animal world teaches us the same. If we

turn from things that are large, we shall find wonders no less in the

infinitely little; if we turn from the bodies of animals to the study of

their instincts, their sleep, their food, the persistence of their races

from age to age--though all individuals are mortal--again we find

evidence of the skill and power of the Author of all things.

Still more wonderful is the body of man, his skin and veins, his bones

and joints, his senses, tongue and teeth, the proportions of his body,

and, above all things, his soul, which alone among all creatures thinks

and knows and is sovereign master over the body.

It is this reason that is in man which, above all, demonstrates the

residence of God in us.

_III.--GOD IN THE MIND OF MAN_

It cannot be said that man gives himself the thoughts he had not before;

much less can it be said that he receives them from other men, since it

is certain he neither does nor can admit anything from without, unless

he finds it in his own foundation, by consulting within him the

principles of reason, in order to examine whether what he is told is

agreeable or repugnant to them. Therefore, there is an inward school

wherein man receives what he neither can give himself, nor expect from

other men who live upon trust as well as himself.

Here, then, are two reasons I find within me, one of which is myself,

the other is above me. That which is myself is very imperfect,

prejudiced, liable to error, changeable, headstrong, ignorant, and

limited; in short, it possesses nothing but what is borrowed. The other

is common to all men, and superior to them. It is perfect, eternal,

immutable, ever ready to communicate itself in all places, and to

rectify all minds that err and mistake; in short, incapable of ever

being either exhausted or divided, although it communicates itself to

all who desire it.

Where is that perfect reason which is so near me, and yet so different

from me? Surely it must be something real, for nothing cannot either be

perfect or make perfect imperfect natures. Where is that supreme reason?

Is it not the very God I look for?

We have seen the prints of the Deity, or, to speak more properly, the

seal and stamp of God Himself, in all that is called the works of

nature. When a man does not enter into philosophical subtleties, he

observes with the first cast of the eye a hand, that was the first

mover, in all the parts of the universe, and set all the wheels of the

great machine agoing. Everything shows and proclaims an order, an exact

measure, an art, a wisdom, a mind superior to us, which is, as it were,

the soul of the whole world, and which leads and directs everything to

His ends, with a gentle and insensible, though ever an omnipotent force.

We have seen, as it were, the architecture and frame of the universe;

the just proportion of all its parts; and the bare cast of the eye has

sufficed us to find and discover even in an ant, more than in the sun, a

wisdom and power that delights to exert itself in polishing and adorning

its vilest works.

This is obvious, without any speculative discussion, to the most

ignorant of men; but what a world of other wonders should we discover

should we penetrate into the secrets of physics, and dissect the inward

parts of animals, which are framed according to the most perfect

mechanics.

Let a man study the world as much as he pleases; let him descend into

the minutest details; dissect the vilest of animals; narrowly consider

the least grain of corn sown in the ground, and the manner in which it

germinates and multiplies; attentively observe with what precautions a

rose-bud blows and opens in the sun, and closes again at night; and he

will find in all these more design, conduct, and industry than in all

the works of art. Nay, what is called the art of men is but a faint

imitation of the great art called the laws of nature, which the impious

did not blush to call blind chance. Is it, therefore, a wonder that

poets animated the whole universe, bestowed wings upon the winds, and

arrows on the sun, and described great rivers impetuously running to

precipitate themselves into the sea and trees shooting up to heaven to

repel the rays of the sun by their thick shades? These images and

figures have also been received in the language of the vulgar, so

natural it is for men to be sensible of the wonderful art that fills all

nature.

Poetry did only ascribe to inanimate creatures the art and design of the

Creator, who does everything in them. From the figurative language of

the poets those notions passed into the theology of the heathens, whose

divines were the poets. They supposed an art, a power, or a wisdom,

which they called _numen_ [divinity], in creatures the most destitute of

understanding. With them great rivers were gods, and spring naiads.

Woods and mountains had their particular deities; flowers had their

Flora; and fruits, Pomona. After all, the more a man contemplates

nature, the more he discovers in it an inexhaustible stock of wisdom,

which is, as it were, the soul of the universe.

What must we infer from thence? The consequence flows of itself. "If so

much wisdom and penetration," says Minutius Felix, "are required to

observe the wonderful order and design of the structure of the world,

how much more were necessary to form it!"

If men so much admire philosophers because they discover a small part of

the wisdom that made all things, they must be stark blind not to admire

that wisdom itself.

_IV.--A PRAYER TO GOD_

O my God, if so many men do not discover Thee in this great spectacle

Thou givest them of all nature, it is not because Thou art far from any

of us. Every one of us feels Thee, as it were, with his hand; but the

senses, and the passions they raise, take up all the attention of our

minds. Thus, O Lord, Thy light shines in darkness; but darkness is so

thick and gloomy that it does not admit the beams of Thy light.

Thou appearest everywhere; and everywhere inattentive mortals neglect to

perceive Thee. All nature speaks of Thee, and resounds with Thy holy

name; but she speaks to deaf men, whose deafness proceeds from the noise

and clatter they make to stun themselves. Thou art near and within them;

but they are fugitive, and wandering, as it were, out of themselves.

They would find Thee, O Sweet Light, O Eternal Beauty, ever old and ever

young, O Fountain of Chaste Delights, O Pure and Happy Life of all who

live truly, should they look for Thee within themselves. But the impious

lose Thee only by losing themselves. Alas! Thy very gifts, which should

show them the hand from whence they flow, amuse them to such a degree as

to hinder them from perceiving it. They live by Thee, and yet they live

without thinking on Thee or, rather, they die by the Fountain of Life

for want of quenching their drought in that vivifying stream; for what

greater death can there be than not to know Thee, O Lord? They fall

asleep in Thy soft and paternal bosom, and, full of the deceitful dreams

by which they are tossed in their sleep, they are insensible of the

powerful hand that supports them.

If Thou wert a barren, impotent, and inanimate body, like a flower that

fades away, a river that runs, a house that decays and falls to ruin, a

picture that is but a collection of colours to strike the imagination,

or a useless metal that glistens, they would perceive Thee, and fondly

ascribe to Thee the power of giving them some pleasure, although in

reality pleasure cannot proceed from inanimate beings, which are

themselves void and incapable of it, but from Thee alone, the true

spring of all joy. If, therefore, Thou wert but a lumpish, frail, and

inanimate being, a mass without any virtue or power, a shadow of a

being, Thy vain fantastic nature would busy their vanity, and be a

proper object to entertain their mean and brutish thoughts. But because

Thou art too intimately within them, and they never at home, Thou art to

them an unknown God; for while they rise and wander abroad, the intimate

part of themselves is most remote from their sight. The order and beauty

Thou scatterest over the face of Thy creatures are like a glaring light

that hides Thee from them and dazzles their sore eyes. In fine, because

Thou art too elevated and too pure a truth to affect gross senses, men

who are become like beasts cannot conceive Thee, though man has daily

convincing instances of wisdom and virtue without the testimony of any

of his senses; for those virtues have not sound, colour, odour, taste,

figure, nor any sensible quality.

Why, then, O my God, do men call Thy existence, wisdom, and power more

in question than they do those other things most real and manifest, the

truth of which they suppose as certain, in all the serious affairs of

life, and which, nevertheless, as well as Thou, escape our feeble

senses? O misery! O dismal night that surrounds the children of Adam! O

monstrous stupidity! O confusion of the whole man! Man has eyes only to

see shadows, and truth appears a phantom to him. What is nothing is all;

and what is all is nothing to him. What do I behold in all nature? God.

God everywhere, and still God alone.

When I think, O Lord, that all being is in Thee, Thou exhaustest and

swallowest up, O Abyss of Truth, all my thoughts. I know not what

becomes of me. Whatever is not Thou disappears; and scarce so much of

myself remains wherewithal to find myself again. Who sees Thee not never

saw anything; and who is not sensible of Thee, never was sensible of

anything. He is as if he were not. His whole life is but a dream. Arise,

O Lord, arise, Let Thy enemies melt like wax and vanish like smoke

before Thy face. How unhappy is the impious soul who, far from Thee, is

without God, without hope, without eternal comfort! How happy he who

searches, sighs, and thirsts after Thee. But fully happy he on whom are

reflected the beams of Thy countenance, whose tears Thy hand has wiped

off, and whose desires Thy love has already completed.

When will that time be, O Lord? O fair day, without either cloud or end,

of which Thyself shalt be the sun, and wherein Thou shalt run through my

soul like a torrent of delight! Upon this pleasing hope I cry out: "Who

is like Thee, O Lord? My heart melts and my flesh faints, O God of my

soul, and my eternal wealth."

* * * * *

GALILEO

THE AUTHORITY OF SCRIPTURE

Galileo's treatise on "The Authority of Scripture in

Philosophical Controversies" was written at a time when the

Copernican theory of the constitution of the universe was

engaging the attention of the world. A Benedictine monk,

Benedetto Castelli, called upon to defend the theory at the

grand-ducal table of Tuscany, asked Galileo's assistance in

reconciling it with orthodoxy. His answer was an exposition of

a formal theory as to the relations of physical science to

Holy Writ. This answer was further amplified in the "Authority

of the Scripture," addressed in 1614 to Christina of Lorraine,

Dowager Grand-Duchess of Tuscany, an able and acute defence of

his position. A year later another monk laid Galileo's letter

to Castelli before the Inquisition, whereupon the philosopher

was summoned by Pope Paul V. to the palace of Cardinal

Bellarmine, and there warned against henceforth holding,

teaching, or defending the condemned doctrine. Nevertheless,

in a few years Galileo (see SCIENCE, vol. XV) had to suffer

trial and condemnation by the Inquisition for publishing his

"Dialogues on the System of the World," which gave the

Ptolemaic theory its death-blow.

_I.--THE DEFENDERS OF FALLACY_

Some years ago I discovered many astronomical facts till then unknown.

Their novelty and their antagonism to some physical propositions

commonly received by the schools did stir up against me many who

professed the vulgar philosophy, as if, forsooth, I had with my own hand

placed these things in the heavens to obscure and disturb nature and

science. These opponents, more affectionate to their own opinion than to

truth, tried to deny and disprove my discoveries, which they might have

discerned with their own eyes; and they published vain discourses,

interwoven with irrelevant passages, not rightly understood, of the

sacred Scriptures. From this folly they might have been saved had they

remembered the advice of St. Augustine, who, dealing with celestial

bodies, writes: "We ought to believe nothing unadvisedly in a doubtful

point, lest in favour of our error we conceive a prejudice against that

which truth hereafter may discover to be nowise contrary to the sacred

books."

Time has proved every one of my statements, and proving them has also

proved that my opponents were of two kinds. Those who had doubted simply

because the discoveries were new and strange have been gradually

converted, while those whose incredulity was based on personal ill-will

to me have shut their eyes to the facts and have endeavoured to asperse

my moral character and to ruin me.

Knowing that I have confuted the Ptolemaic and Aristotelian arguments,

and distrusting their defence in the field of philosophy, they have

tried to shield their fallacies under the mantle of a feigned religion

and of scriptural authority, and have endeavoured to spread the opinion

that my propositions are contrary to the Scriptures, and therefore

heretical. To this end they have found accomplices in the pulpits, and

have scattered rumours that my theory of the world-system would ere long

be condemned by supreme authority.

Further, they have endeavoured to make the theory peculiar to myself,

ignoring the fact that the author, or rather restorer, of the doctrine

was Nicholas Copernicus, a Catholic, and a much-esteemed priest, who was

summoned to Rome to correct the ecclesiastic calendar, and in the course

of his inquiries reached this view of the universe.

The calendar has since been regulated by his doctrine, and on his

principles the motions of the planets have been calculated. Having

reduced his doctrine to six books, he published them under the title of

"De Revolutionibus Coelestibus," at the instance of the Cardinal of

Capua, and of the Bishop of Culma; and, since he undertook the task at

the order of Pope Leo X., he dedicated the work to his successor Paul

III., and it was received by the Holy Church and studied by all the

world.

In the end of his dedicatory epistle Copernicus writes: "If there should

chance to be any mateologists who, ignorant in mathematics yet

pretending to skill in that science, should dare, upon the authority of

some passage of Scripture wrested to their purpose, to condemn and

censure my hypothesis, I value them not, and scorn their inconsiderate

judgment. For it is not unknown that Lactantius (a famous author though

poor mathematician) writes very childishly concerning the form of the

earth when he scoffs at those who affirm the earth to be in form of a

globe. So that it ought not to seem strange to the intelligent if any

such should likewise now deride us. The mathematics are written for

mathematicians, to whom (if I deceive not myself) these labours of mine

shall seem to add something, as also to the commonweal of the Church

whose government is now in the hands of Your Holiness."

It is such as Lactantius who would now condemn Copernicus unread, and

produce authorities of the Scripture, of divines, and of councils in

support of their condemnation. I hold these authorities in reverence,

but I hold that in this instance they are used for personal ends in a

manner very different from the most sacred intention of the Holy Church.

I am ready to renounce any religious errors into which I may run in this

discourse, and if my book be not beneficial to the Holy Church may it be

torn and burnt; but I hold that I have a right to defend myself against

the attacks of ignorant opponents.

The doctrine of the movement of the earth and the fixity of the sun is

condemned on the ground that the Scriptures speak in many places of the

sun moving and the earth standing still. The Scriptures not being

capable of lying or erring, it followeth that the position of those is

erroneous and heretical who maintain that the sun is fixed and the earth

in motion.

It is piously spoken that the Scriptures cannot lie. But none will deny

that they are frequently abstruse and their true meaning difficult to

discover, and more than the bare words signify. One taking the sense too

literally might pervert the truth and conceive blasphemies, and give God

feet, and hands, and eyes, and human affections, such as anger,

repentance, forgetfulness, ignorance, whereas these expressions are

employed merely to accommodate the truth to the mental capacity of the

unlearned.

This being granted, I think that in the discussion of natural problems

we ought to begin not with the Scriptures, but with experiments and

demonstrations. Nor does God less admirably discover Himself to us in

nature than in Scripture, and having found the truth in nature we may

use it as an aid to the true exposition of the Scriptures. The

Scriptures were intended to teach men those things which cannot be

learned otherwise than by the mouth of the Holy Spirit; but we are meant

to use our senses and reason in discovering for ourselves things within

their scope and capacity, and hence certain sciences are neglected in

the Holy Writ.

Astronomy, for instance, is hardly mentioned, and only the sun, and the

moon, and Lucifer are named. Surely, if the holy writers had intended us

to derive our astronomical knowledge from the Sacred Books, they would

not have left us so uninformed. That they intentionally forbore to speak

of the movements and constitution of the stars is the opinion of the

most holy and most learned fathers. And if the Holy Spirit has omitted

to teach us those matters as not pertinent to our salvation, how can it

be said that one view is _de Fide_ and the other heretical? I might here

insert the opinion of an ecclesiastic raised to the degree of

Eminentissimo: That the intention of the Holy Ghost is to teach us how

we shall go to Heaven, and not how the heavens go.

_II.--SCRIPTURAL AND EXPERIMENTAL TRUTH_

Since the Holy Writ is true, and all truth agrees with truth, the truth

of Holy Writ cannot be contrary to the truth obtained by reason and

experiment. This being true, it is the business of the judicious

expositor to find the true meaning of scriptural passages which must

accord with the conclusions of observation and experiment, and care must

be taken that the work of exposition do not fall into foolish and

ignorant hands. It must be remembered that there are very few men

capable of understanding both the sacred Scriptures and science, and

that there are many with a superficial knowledge of the Scriptures and

with no knowledge of science who would fain arrogate to themselves the

power of decreeing upon all questions of nature. As St. Jerome writes:

"The talking old woman, the dotard, the garrulous sophist, all venture

upon, lacerate, teach, before they have learnt. Others, induced by

pride, dive into hard words, and philosophate among women touching the

Holy Scriptures. Others (oh, shameful!) learn of women what they teach

to men."

I will not rank among these same secular writers any theologists whom I

repute to be men of profound learning and sober manners, and therefore

hold in great esteem and veneration; yet it vexes me when they would

constrain science by the authority of the Scriptures, and yet do not

consider themselves bound to answer reason and experiment. It is true

that theology is the queen of all the sciences, but queen only in the

sense that she deals with high matters revealed in noble ways, and if

she condescends not to study the more humble matters of the inferior

sciences she ought not to arrogate to herself the right to judge them;

for this would be as if an autocratic prince, being neither physician

nor architect, should undertake to administer medicines and erect

buildings to the danger of the lives of his subjects.

Again, to command the professors of astronomy to confute their own

observations is to enjoin an impossibility, for it is to command them

not to see what they do see, and not to understand what they do

understand, and to find what they do not discover. I would entreat the

wise and prudent fathers to consider the difference between matters of

opinion and matters of demonstration, for demonstrated conclusions

touching the things of nature and of the heavens cannot be changed with

the same facility as opinions touching what is lawful in a contract,

bargain, or bill of exchange. Your highness knows what happened to the

late professor of mathematics in the University of Pisa--how, believing

that the Copernican doctrine was false, he started to confute it, but in

his study became convinced of its truth.

In order to suppress the Copernican doctrine, it would be necessary not

only to prohibit the book of Copernicus and the writings of authors who

agree with him, but to interdict the whole science of astronomy, and

even to forbid men to look at the sky lest they might see Mars and Venus

at very varying distances from the earth, and discover Venus at one time

crescent, at another time round, or make other observations

irreconcilable with the Ptolemaic system.

It is surely harmful to souls to make it a heresy to believe what is

proved. The prohibition of astronomy would be an open contempt of a

hundred texts of the Holy Scriptures, which teach us that the glory and

the greatness of Almighty God are admirably discerned in all His works,

and divinely read in the open book of the heavens.

_III.--FACT AND FAITH_

It may be said that the doctrine of the movement of the sun and the

fixity of the earth must _de Fide_ be held for true since the Scriptures

affirm it, and all the fathers unanimously accept the scriptural words

in their naked and literal sense. But it was necessary to assign motion

to the sun and rest to the earth lest the shallow minds of the vulgar

should be confounded, amused, and rendered obstinate and contumacious

with regard to doctrines of faith. St. Jerome writes: "It is the custom

for the pen-men of Scripture to deliver their judgments in many things

according to the common received opinion that their times had of them."

Even Copernicus himself, knowing the power of custom, and unwilling to

create confusion in our comprehension, continues to talk of the rising

and setting of the sun and stars and of variations in the obliquity of

the zodiac. Whence it is to be noted how necessary it is to accommodate

our discourse to our accustomed manner of understanding.

In the next place, the common consent of the fathers to a natural

proposition should authorise it only if it have been discussed and

debated with all possible diligence, and this question was in those

times totally buried.

Besides, it is not enough to say that the fathers accept the Ptolemaic

doctrine; it is necessary to prove that they condemned the Copernican.

Was the Copernican doctrine ever formally condemned as contrary to the

Scriptures? And Didacus, discoursing on the Copernican hypothesis,

concludes that the motion of the earth is not contrary to the

Scriptures.

Let my opponents, therefore, apply themselves to examine the arguments

of Copernicus and others; and let them not hope to find such rash and

impetuous decisions in the wary and holy fathers, or in the absolute

wisdom of him that cannot err, as those into which they have suffered

themselves to be hurried by prejudice or personal feeling. His holiness

has certainly an absolute power of admitting or condemning propositions

not directly _de Fide_, but it is not in the power of any creature to

make them true or false otherwise than of their own nature and _de

facto_ they are.

In my judgment it would be well first to examine the truth of the fact

(over which none hath power) before invoking supreme authority; for if

it be not possible that a conclusion should be declared heretical while

we are not certain but that it may be true, their pains are vain who

pretend to condemn the doctrine of the mobility of the earth and the

fixity of the sun, unless they have first demonstrated the doctrine to

be impossible and false.

Let us now consider how we may interpret the command of Joshua that the

sun should stand still.

According to the Ptolemaic system, the sun moves from east to west

through the ecliptic, and therefore the standing still of the sun would

shorten and not lengthen the day. Indeed, in order to lengthen the day

on this system it would be necessary not to hold the sun, but to

accelerate its pace about three hundred and sixty times. Possibly Joshua

used the words to suit the comprehension of the ignorant people;

possibly--as St. Augustine says--he commanded the whole system of the

celestial spheres to stand still, and his command to the moon rather

confirms this conjecture.

On the Copernican system interpretation is simplified; for if we

consider the mobility of the sun and how it is in a certain sense the

soul and heart of the universe, it is not illogical to say that it gives

not only light, but also motion to the bodies round it. In this manner,

by the standing still of the sun at Joshua's command, the day might be

lengthened without disturbing the order of the universe or the mutual

positions of the stars. This interpretation also explains the statement

that the sun stood still _in medio coeli_. Had the sun been in the

middle of the heavens in the sense of rising and setting, it had hardly

been necessary to check its course; but _in medio coeli_ probably

signifies in the middle or centre of the universe where it resides.

I have no doubt that other passages of the Scriptures could be likewise

interpreted in accordance with the Copernican system by divines with

knowledge of astronomy. They might say that the word "firmament" very

well agrees, _ad literam_, with the starry sphere. _Ad literam_, if they

admit the rotation of the earth, they might understand its poles, when

it is said _Nec dum terram fecerat, et flumina, et cardines orbis

terrae_. [Nor yet had He created the earth, or the rivers, or the hinges

for the globe of the earth.] Surely _cardines_, or "hinges," are

ascribed to the earth in vain if it be not to turn upon them.

* * * * *

GEORG WILHELM FRIEDRICH HEGEL

THE PHILOSOPHY OF RELIGION

Hegel's "Philosophy of Religion" was published the year

following the philosopher's death, at Berlin, in 1832; and the

rugged shape and uneven construction of some of it may fairly

be attributed to the fact that, as it stands, it is largely an

editorial compilation. Such faults, however, as Dr. Edward

Caird has remarked, "if they take from the lectures as

expressions of their author's mind, and from their value as

scientific treatises, have some compensating advantages if we

regard them as a means of education in philosophy; for in this

point of view their very artlessness gives them something of

the same stimulating, suggestive power which is attained by

the consummate art of the Platonic dialogues." The importance

of the work is evidenced by the influence it has exercised

over the mind of a later generation; and many readers, to whom

Hegel (see Vol. XIV) is little more than a name, will

certainly find here the sources of much that has become

familiar as an essential part of the religious atmosphere of a

later day, and of the apologies of modern speculative

theology.

_I. THE RELATION OF PHILOSOPHY TO RELIGION_

The object of religion is the same as that of philosophy; it is the

external verity itself in its objective existence; it is God--nothing

but God and the unfolding of God. Philosophy is not the wisdom of the

world, but the knowledge of things which are not of this world. It is

not the knowledge of external mass, of empirical life and existence, but

of the eternal, of the nature of God, and of all which flows from His

nature. For this nature ought to manifest and develop itself.

Consequently, philosophy in unfolding religion merely unfolds itself,

and in unfolding itself it unfolds religion. In so far as philosophy is

occupied with the eternal truth, the truth which is in and for itself;

in so far as it is occupied with this as thinking spirit, rather than in

an arbitrary fashion and in view of a particular interest, philosophy

has the same sphere of activity as has religion. And if the religious

consciousness aspires to abolish all that is peculiar to itself and to

be absorbed in its object, the philosophic spirit likewise plunges with

the same energy into its object and renounces all particularity.

Religion and philosophy are thus at one in having one and the same

object. Philosophy, in fact, also is the adoration of God, it is

religion; for, seeing that God is its object, it involves the same

renunciation of every opinion and every thought that is arbitrary and

subjective. Philosophy is, in consequence, identical with religion. Only

it is religion in a peculiar manner, and this it is which distinguishes

it from religion commonly so called. So philosophy and religion are both

religion, and that which distinguishes one from the other is no more

than the characteristic mode in which respectively they consider their

object, God.

Here is the difficulty of understanding how philosophy can make but one

with religion, a difficulty which has even been mistaken for

impossibility. Thence also arise the fears which philosophy inspires in

theology and the hostile attitudes which they assume towards each other.

What brings about this attitude is, on the side of theology, that for

her philosophy does nothing but corrupt, pull down, and profane the

content of religion, and that she understands God in a totally different

manner from that after which religion understands Him. It is the same

opposition which long ago among the Greeks caused a free and democratic

people like the Athenians to burn books and to condemn Socrates. In our

own day, however, this opposition is considered a thing which it is

natural to admit--more natural indeed than the other opinion concerning

the unity of religion and philosophy.

Diverse religions offer us, it is true, only too often the most bizarre

and monstrous representations of the divine essence. But we must not

confine ourselves to a superficial consideration and consequent

rejection of these representations and the religious practices which

follow upon them as being engendered by superstition, by error, or by

imposture, or even by a simple piety, and so neglect their essential

value. There is need to discover in these representations and in these

practices their relation with truth.

_II.--GOD THE UNIVERSAL_

For us, who have religion, God is a familiar being, a substantial truth

existing in our subjective consciousness. But, scientifically

considered, God is a general and abstract term. The philosophy of

religion it is which develops and grasps the divine nature and which

teaches us what God is. God is a familiar idea, but an idea which has

still to be scientifically developed.

The result of philosophic examination is that God is the absolute truth,

the universal in and for itself, embracing all things and in which all

things subsist. And in regard to this assertion, we may appeal in the

first place to the religious consciousness, and to its conviction that

God is the absolute truth whence all things proceed, whither they all

return, upon which all things depend, and in respect of which nothing

can possess a true and absolute independence.

The heart may very well be full of this representation of God, but

science is not built up of what is in the heart. The object of science

is that which has arisen to the level of consciousness, and of thinking

consciousness that is, in other words, that which has attained to the

form of thought.

In so much as He is the universal, God is, for us, in relation to

development, Being enclosed in itself, Being at unity with itself. When

we say God is Being enclosed in itself, we enunciate a proposition which

is bound to a development which we await. But this envelopment of God in

Himself which we have called His universality we must not conceive,

relatively to God Himself and His content, as an abstract universality,

outside of which, and as opposed to which, the particular has an

independent existence.

So we must consider this universal as an absolutely concrete universal.

This sense of fulness is the sense in which God is one, and there is but

one God--that is to say, God is not one merely by contrast with other

gods, but because it is He that is the One, that is, God.

The things which are, the developments of the worlds of nature and of

mind, show a multiplicity of forms and an infinite variety of

existences. But whatever may be their difference of degree, of force, of

content, these things have no true independence; their being is

consequent, and, so to speak, contingent. When we predicate being of

particular things, it is not of Being which is absolute that we

speak--Being of and from itself; that is, God--but a borrowed being, a

semblance of being.

God in His universality--that is, this universal Being which has no

limit, no bounds, no particularity--is a Being which subsists

absolutely, and which subsists alone; all else which subsists has its

root in this unity, and by this alone subsists. In thus representing to

ourselves this first content we may say that God is absolute substance,

the only veritable reality. For not everything which has a reality has a

reality of its own, or subsists by itself. God is the only absolute

reality, and thereby the absolute substance.

If we stop at this abstract thought we have Spinozism, for in Spinozism

subjectivity is not yet differentiated from substantiality, from

substance as such. But in the presupposition just made there is also

this thought--God is spirit, absolute and eternal; spirit which comes

not forth from itself in differentiation. This ideality, this

subjectivity of spirit, which is transparency, ideality excluding all

particular determination, is precisely the universal, pure relation to

self, Being which remains absolutely within itself.

If we halt at substance, we fail to grasp this universal under its

concrete form. In its concrete determination spirit always preserves its

unity, this unity of its reality which we call substance. But one should

add that this substantiality, the unity of the absolute reality with

itself, is but the foundation, but a moment in the determination of God

as spirit. Hence, principally, arises the reproach which is directed

against philosophy--to wit, that philosophy, to be consistent with

itself, is necessarily Spinozism, and consequently atheism and fatalism.

But at the beginning we have not yet determinations distinguished one

from another as aye and nay. We have the one but not the other.

Consequently, what we have here is, to start with, content under the

form of substance. Even when we say, "God," "spirit," we have only

words, indeterminate representations. The essential point is to know

what has been produced in the consciousness. And that is, first, the

simple, the abstract. Here, in this first simple determination, we have

God only under the form of universality. Only we do not halt at this

moment.

Nevertheless, this content remains the foundation of all further

developments, for in these developments God comes not forth from His

unity. When God creates the world--to use the expression of every

day--there comes not into existence an evil, a contrary, existing in

itself independently of God.

_III.--GOD EXISTS FOR THOUGHT_

This Beginning is an object for us or a content in us. We possess this

object. Immediately the question arises, Who are we? We, I, spirit--here

also is a complex being, a multiplied being. I have perceptions; I see,

I hear, etc. Seeing, hearing; all this is I. Consequently, the precise

sense of this question is, Which among these determinations is it in

accordance with which this content exists for our minds? Idea, will,

imagination, feeling--which is the seat, the proper domain of this

content, of this object?

If we accept the common answers to this question, God will abide in us

as the object of faith, of feeling, of representation, of knowledge.

We shall have to examine more closely later on in a special fashion with

respect to this point, these forms, faculties, aspects of ourselves. In

this place we shall not seek a reply to this question; nor shall we say,

basing our answer on experience and observation, that God is in our

feeling, etc. But, to begin with, we will confine ourselves to what we

have actually before us, to this One, to this universal, to this

concrete Being.

If we take this One, and ask for what power, for what activity of our

mind does this One, this absolutely universal Being, exist, we cannot

but name the one activity of mind which corresponds to it as

constituting its proper natural domain. This activity, which corresponds

to the universal, is thought.

Thought is the field in which this content moves; it is the energising

of the universal, or the universal in the reality of its activity. Or,

if we say that thought embraces the universal, that for which the

universal is will still be thought.

This universal which can be produced by thought, and which is for

thought, may be a quite abstract universal. In this sense it is the

unlimited, the infinite, the being without bounds, without particular

determination. This universal, negative to begin with, has its seat not

elsewhere than in thought.

To think of God is to rise above the things of sense, exterior and

individual, above simple feeling into the region of pure being; being at

unity with itself--that is to say, into the pure region of the

universal. And this region is thought.

Such is the substratum for this content considered on the subjective

side. Here the content is that Being in which is no difference, no

schism; Being which abides in itself, the universal; and thought is the

form for which this universal is.

Thus we have a difference between thought and the universal which we

have called God. It is a difference which in the first place belongs

only to our reflection, and is by no means to be found in the content on

its own account. There is the result to which philosophy comes--a result

already comprised in religion as under the form of faith--to wit, that

God is the sole veritable reality, the Being without which no other

reality would exist.

In the unity of this reality, in this cloudless shining, the reality and

the distinction which we call thinking-being have as yet no place.

What we have before us is this absolute unity. This content, this

determination we cannot yet call religion because to religion belongs

subjective spirit consciousness. Thought is the seat of this universal,

but this seat is, to begin with, absorbed in this being which is one,

eternal, in and for itself.

This universal constitutes the beginning and the point of departure, but

only as unity which so abides. It is not a mere substratum whence

differences are born; rather, all differences are included in this

universal. No more is it an abstract and inert universal, but the

absolute principle of all activity, the matrix, the infinite source

whence all things proceed, whither all things return, and in which they

are eternally preserved.

Thus the universal is never separated from this ethereal element, from

this Unity with itself, this concentration within itself.

_IV.--WHAT IS EVIL?_

As the universal, God could not find Himself faced by a contrary whereof

the reality should pretend to rise above the phantasmal level. For this

pure unity and this perfect transparency matter is nothing impenetrable,

and spirit, the ego, is not so independent as to possess a true,

individual, substantiality of its own.

There has been a tendency to label this idea pantheism. It would be more

exact to call it the conception of substantiality. God is first

determined as substance only. The absolute subject spirit is also

substance; but it is determined rather as subject. This is the

difference generally ignored by those who assert that speculative

philosophy is pantheism. As usual, they miss the essential point and

disparage philosophy by falsifying it.

Pantheism is commonly taken to mean that God is all things--the whole,

the universe, the collection of all existences, of things infinite and

infinitely diverse. From which notion the charge is brought against

philosophy that it teaches that all things are God; that is to say, that

God is, not the universal which is in and for itself, but the infinite

multiplicity of individual things in their empirical and immediate

existence.

If you say God is all that is here, this paper, etc., you have indeed

committed yourself to the pantheism with which philosophy is reproached;

that is, the whole is understood as equivalent to all individual things.

But there is also the genus, which is equally the universal, yet is

wholly different from this totality in which the universal is but the

collection of individual things, and the basis, the content, is

constituted by these things themselves. To say that there has ever been

a religion which has taught this pantheism is to say what is absolutely

untrue. It has never entered any man's mind that everything is God; that

is to say, that God is things in their individual and contingent

existence. Far less has philosophy ever taught this doctrine.

Spinozism itself, as such, as well as Oriental pantheism, contains this

doctrine: that the divine in all things is no more than that which is

universal in their content, their essence; and in such sense that this

essence is conceived of as a determinate essence.

When Brahma says, "In the metal I am the brightness of its shining;

among the rivers I am the Ganges; I am the life of all that lives," he

thereby suppresses the individual. He says not, "I am the metal, the

rivers, the individual things of various kinds as such, nor in the

fashion of their immediate existence."

Here, at this stage, what is expressed is no longer pantheism; but

rather that of the essence in individual things.

In the living being are time and space. But in this individual being it

is only the changeless element that is made to stand out. "The life of

being that lives" is in this latter sphere of life the unlimited, the

universal. But if it be said "God is all things," here we understand

individuality with all its limitations, its finity, its passing

existence. This notion of pantheism arises out of the conception of

unity, not as spiritual unity but abstract unity; and then, when the

idea takes its religious form, where only the substance, the One, is

possessed of true reality, there is a tendency to forget that it is

precisely in presence of this unity that individual and finite things

are effaced, and to continue to place these in a material fashion side

by side with this unity. They will not admit the teaching of the

Eleatics, who, when they say "There is only One," add expressly that

non-entity is not. All that is finite would be limitation, a negation of

the One, but non-entity, the boundary, term, limit, and that which is

limited, exist not at all.

Spinozism has been accused of atheism. But Spinozism does not teach that

God is the world, that He is _all things_. Things have indeed a

phenomenal existence--that is, an existence as appearances. We speak of

our existence, and our life is indeed comprised in this existence, but

to speak philosophically the world has no reality, it has no existence.

Individual things are finite things to which no reality can be

attributed; it may be said of them that they have no existence.

Spinozism--this is the accusation directed against it--involves by way

of consequence that, if all things make but one, good and evil make but

one; there is no difference between them; and thereby all religion is

destroyed. In themselves, it is said there is no difference between good

and evil; consequently it is a matter of indifference whether one be

righteous or wicked. It may be granted that in themselves--that is, in

God, who is the sole veritable reality--the difference between good and

evil disappears. In God there is no evil. But the difference between

good and evil can exist only on condition that God is the evil. But it

cannot be allowed that evil is an affirmative thing, and that this

affirmation is in God. God is good, and nothing else than good; the

distinction between good and evil is not present in this unity, in this

substance, and comes into existence only with differentiation.

God is unity abiding absolutely in itself. In the substance there is no

differentiation. The distinction of good and evil begins with the

distinction of God from the world, and particularly from man. It is the

fundamental principle of Spinozism with regard to this distinction of

God and the world that man must have no other end than God. The love of

God, therefore, it is that Spinozism marks out for man as the law to be

followed in order to bring about the healing of this breach.

And it is the loftiest morality that teaches that evil has no existence

and that man is not bound to permit the substantial existence of this

distinction, this negation. Yet it is possible for him to desire to

maintain the difference and even to push it to the point of sheer

opposition to God, who is the universal, self-contained and

self-sufficing. In this case man is evil. But, alternatively, he may

annul this distinction and place his true existence in God alone and in

his aspiration towards Him; and in this case he is good.

In Spinozism there is indeed the difference between good and evil,

opposition between God and man; but side by side with it we have also

the principle that evil is to be deemed a non-entity. In God as God, in

God as substance, there is no distinction. It is for man that the

distinction exists, as also for him exists the distinction of good and

evil.

_V.--THE DETERMINATION OF UNITY_

The superficial method of appraising philosophy is exemplified also in

those who assert that it is a "system of identity." It is perfectly true

that substance is this unity at one with itself, but spirit no less is

this self-identity. Ultimately, all is identity, unity with itself. But

when they speak of the philosophy of identity they have in view abstract

identity or unity in general; and they neglect the essential point, to

wit, the determination of this unity in itself; in other words, they

omit to consider whether this unity is determined as substance or as

spirit. Philosophy from beginning to end is nothing else than the study

of determinations of unity.

In the sphere of the Notion many unities are comprised. The combination

of water and earth is a unity, but this unity is mixture. If we bring

together a base and an acid, we have as the result a crystal; also

water; but water which cannot be discerned and which gives no trace of

humidity. Here the unity of the water and of this matter is a unity

different from the mixture of water and earth. The essential point is

the difference of these determinations. The unity of God is always

unity, but what is of primary importance is to know the modes and forms

of the determination of this unity.

Manifestation, development, determination do not go on to infinity, nor

yet do they stop accidentally. But in the course of its true development

the Notion completes its course by a return upon itself, whereby it has

attained the reality adequate to it. So it is that the manifestation is

infinite in nature, that the content is adequate to the Notion of

spirit, and that the phenomenal world exists, like spirit, in and for

itself. In religion, the Notion of religion has become its own object.

Spirit which is in and for itself has now no longer in its development

individual forms and determinations, it knows itself no longer as spirit

in such determinability or such a limited moment; but it has triumphed

over these limitations and this finiteness, and is for itself that which

also it is in itself. This cognisance in which spirit is for itself what

it is in itself constitutes the in-and-for of spirit which is in

possession of knowledge, the perfect and absolute religion, in which is

revealed what spirit is, what God is. That is the Christian religion.

* * * * *

THE BOOKS OF HINDUISM

THE VEDANTA SUTRAS

Hinduism, though usually understood to include Brahmanism

(q.v.), is, in fact, a later development of it. Its central

doctrine is the trinity, or Trimurti, which embraces the

three-fold manifestation of the god-head as Brahma, the one

supreme being, the Creator; Vishnu the Preserver; and Siva the

Destroyer. The three principal books of Hinduism are the

"Vedanta Sutras," the "Puranas," and the "Tantras," of which

only the first is epitomised here. The "Sutras" are the

earliest. The "Vedanta" (literally "goal" or "issue of the

Veda") is a purely pantheistic and monastic philosophical

system, and by far the most prevalent in Modern India. It is

ascribed to Badarayana, sometimes called Vyasa, though this

last is really a generic name denoting "a collector." The word

"sutra" denotes literally "threads," and is used by Brahmanic

writers for short, dry sentences, brief expositions. "Vedanta

Sutras" means literally "compendious expressions of the

Vedantic (not Vedic) doctrine." The second great division of

Hindu sacred literature is the "Puranas," the last and most

modern of the books of Hinduism. The word "Purana" means

"old," and in ancient Sanscrit writings it has the same

meaning as our "cosmology." The "Puranas," however, are

ill-arranged collections of theological and philosophical

reflections, myths and legends, ritual, and ascetic rules.

They depend very much on the two great epics, especially the

Mahabharata. The Sanscrit writings called "Tantras" are really

manuals of religion, of magic, and of counter-charms, with

songs in praise of Sakti, the female side of Siva.

_INTRODUCTORY_

The Vedanta is sometimes called the Mimamsa (= philosophical

reflections). The aphorisms of which the Vedanta Sutras consist are in

themselves almost as unintelligible as the Confucian "Book of Changes,"

the compiler having been only too successful in aiding the memory of the

Hindu student by a system of _multum in parvo_.

It is usual to accept the interpretation put on the Sutras by the

Sanscrit commentator Sankara, commonly called Sankara Karya, who

flourished about A.D. 700. There are, however, many other commentaries,

notably that of Ramanuga. George Thibaut, in the "Sacred Books of the

East" (vols. 34, 38, and 48), gives the interpretation of Sankara, and

also that of Ramanuga when it differs essentially. On the whole it may

be said that Sankara is a thorough-going Vedantist and pantheist.

Ramanuga, on the other hand, has leanings towards the dualism of the

Sankhya philosophy, and endeavours to make the Vedanta Sutras support

his opinions.

The Vedanta Sutras embrace five hundred and fifty-five aphorisms, or

Sutras, arranged in four books (_Adhyay_), each having four-chapters

(_Pada_), the chapters being severally divided into sections

(_Adhikarana_). These Sutras are of the utmost importance, as nearly all

Hindu sects base their belief and practices on them. It should be

remembered that these Sutras form a collection, and that they are the

work of many hands, and belong to different periods.

_BOOK I.--BRAHMAN, THE SUM AND SUBSTANCE OF EVERYTHING_

The ego and the non-ego differ in themselves and in their attributes. It

will be found, however, that the non-ego depends on the ego, and is its

product. Individual souls, on the other hand, representing so many egos,

are themselves but manifestations of the supreme universal

soul--Brahman; that is, Brahman and the Atman [the individual soul] are

identical, the latter being the product of the self-revealing of the

former. [With this one may compare the "ontological ideas" of Plato, the

"absolute substance" of Spinoza, and the "absolute idea" of Hegel; all

of them standing for the One only existing Being which manifests itself

to thought and to sense in various forms.]

"What, then," asks the Vedantist, "is Brahman"?

The word comes from _brih_, "to be great." Hence Brahman is something,

or someone, transcendently great. The word may be defined as connoting

that whence all things proceed. This implies absolute, unoriginated

origin, absolute subsistence, and also reabsorption, for as all things

go forth from Brahman, so shall all things return to that whence they

started forth.

The Scriptures [Vedas] lay most stress on Brahman as the source and

origin of all things. What qualities there are in the world inhere in

Brahman, or they could not be in the world which has sprung from him.

There could be no intelligent souls without a previously existing

intelligent Brahman. That Brahman, the Supreme Being, is all-knowing is

proved from the fact that the Veda itself, the source and centre of what

is knowable, proceeds from Him as its one, only author.

This Brahman, as set forth in the Vedanta texts as the cause of the

world, is therefore intelligent, and by no means to be identified with

the non-intelligent Pradhâna (_Prakriti_) which the Sankhya [atheistic]

philosophy makes to be the world's cause. What looks like a separate,

conscious, individual soul or mind is really but the outworking of

Brahman, the highest and first of beings.

The difference is apparent, but not real. So teaches Sankara; but his

rival commentator, Ramanuga, endeavours to show that Brahman, the

supreme self of the universe, is absolutely free from the effects of

conduct. But the individual selves, which we call souls, are not, for it

is the effect of conduct in a previous state of existence [Karma] that

decides the character and form of the new life to be lived, or whether

there is to be a new life lived at all, since conduct sufficiently good

entitles to absorption in the one all--Brahman.

It may be objected that Brahman cannot be the creator of this actual

world, for there is in it suffering, injustice, and cruelty. He could

not be the author of these. To which the commentator Sankara answers:

"Brahman is himself, with all his greatness, subject to the operation of

the great moral laws according to which virtue is rewarded and vice

punished. All men are free, and it is their self-chosen conduct that

determines their destiny. This is a law that pervades all existence,

conditions existence, and without which there could be no existence."

It may be again asked: "How can a being with perfect life produce a

world that is lifeless?" In other words, "How can the effect differ from

its cause?" The same commentator replies: "Just as lifeless hair can

grow out of a living man."

Again, it is said, "In the universe Brahman is at once he who enjoys and

he who is enjoyed. How can he be both one and the other--agent and

object?" To which Sankara replies: "It is as possible for these two to

go together as for the ocean to be itself and to be at the same time

foam, waves, billows, and bubbles. The same earth produces diamonds,

rock crystal, and vermilion. Do they differ from the earth?

"The same sun causes plants of various kinds to grow, and the very same

nourishment taken into the body is changed to flesh, hair, nails, etc.

The spider spins its web from its own substance, and spirits assume many

forms when they appear on the earth. All these are but images of the

eternal world-process by which Brahman reveals Himself in souls and in

material objects."

THE HIGHEST KNOWLEDGE INACCESSIBLE TO LOW

CASTE MEN

No Sudra [or lowest caste man] is capable of such knowledge as leads to

Brahmanhood [the state of being absorbed in Brahman]. Only the

twice-born[12] are allowed to study the Vedic Scriptures, a knowledge of

which is essential to salvation. The twice-born are likewise alone

permitted to offer sacrifice, for how can a man sacrifice aright who is

ignorant of the sacred scriptures, which are alone adequate for a man's

guidance? If the Sudras, or fourth-caste men, are excluded from the

_summum bonum_ of humanity--absorption in the one great all--how much

more are Pariahs, or non-caste men, deprived of this great boon! Brahman

is the material, as well as the efficient, cause of the world, which

springs from him by way of modification, but is his manifested self and

nothing more.

_BOOK II.--OBJECTIONS TO VEDANTIC DOCTRINES STATED AND REFUTED_

The Vedanta texts, the Vedas and the Upanishads, teach that Brahman is

the one only source of whatever exists outside himself; that his nature

is not only mighty, but also intelligent. The evidence for this supplied

in Book I. is, for the most part, the authority of the above texts; that

which they say must be accepted as "gospel," whatever human reason may

see or say to the contrary.

Book II. begins by stating and answering speculative objections on the

part of Sankhyaists. Though himself intelligence (not merely

intelligent) Brahman may give birth to a non-intelligent world, seeing

that like does not always spring from like [see above].

Atomists hold that there is apparent difference and separateness in

things. "Where, then," they ask, "is the oneness, the monism, for which

the Vedantists argue?" It is replied that it is only superficial thought

that fixes itself upon the manifoldness of things, losing sight of their

oneness. Deeper thought sees underneath the many a oneness which binds

them, and of which they are only the outward expressions. The great

ocean is one, but its waves and ripples are many. All at bottom is but

one: the Universal Being.

A non-intelligent first cause (_Prakriti_), such as the Sankhyaists

postulate, could never call into being an orderly world, for how could

unreason produce reason? Nor could atoms set in motion produce a planned

or intelligent universe, as the Atomists falsely say. There must be an

intelligent power controlling the atoms and contemplating the result to

be attained.

The view put forth by the Sankhya philosophers, that an external and

internal world exists in mutual independence, is contrary to thought and

experience--is, in fact, unthinkable. We know no external world: we have

never had any experience outside the region of our own consciousness;

yet what is regarded as external to the individual consciousness is not

_Maya_, as is taught in some of the Upanishads, and maintained by later

philosophers. This external world as a fact of consciousness is as real

as that consciousness and as the individual mind which makes mental

experience possible, and is the great All, of which the individual mind

is the working and manifestation.

THE RELATION OF BRAHMAN TO ELEMENTS AND THE

SOUL

Are the elementary substances (ether, air, etc) co-eternal, with

Brahman, or do they issue from him? It can be shown, and is shown, that

one elementary substance proceeds from another (_e.g._, air from ether),

and that in the last resort all such substances have come forth from

Brahman, who has not only produced them, but also guided and effected

their evolution.

The individual soul is, according to the scriptures [Vedas and

Upanishads], eternal and permanent, and has not been produced by

Brahman; who is, however, as noted, the producer of the elementary

substances. Like Brahman himself, the individual soul is uncreated and

eternal. What is in time and belongs to time is the connection of the

soul with the conditions of space and time. This is the interpretation

given by Sankara. Ramanuga, however, holds that the soul is a creature

of Brahman, though an eternal one, it having existed ever as a mode of

the great All [compare the doctrine of the eternal procession of the

Son].

WHAT IS SOUL?

What is soul? It is _gna_, or knowledge. [The etymology of both these

latter words is identical--compare Greek _gnosco_, etc.] This means,

according to Sankara, that knowledge is of the very essence of soul, and

not a mere attribute of it. The soul is not merely a knower (_gnatri_),

but it is knowledge. Ramanuga, on the other hand, explains that the

knowledge spoken of in this Sutra means "the knower"; that the soul is

not knowledge, but that which can and does know.

Is the soul limited in size, and capable, therefore, of occupying but a

restricted space? Or is it, on the contrary, omnipresent?

Sankara maintains that the Sutra in question teaches the latter; the

soul is everywhere. Ramanuga makes the same Sutra teach the very

contrary. As a matter of fact, the Sutra in question seems to teach both

these contradictory doctrines, perhaps because it registers different

traditions. Sankara, however, explains further on that as long as the

soul is passing through the changes involved in Samsara [=

transmigration] it is limited and local, but on reaching Brahmanhood it

becomes omnipresent. In this way the great commentator seeks to

reconcile teaching apparently contradictory in this Sutra.

Is this soul an agent? Some of the Sutras say it is, others say it is

not. How are the conflicting statements to be reconciled? Sankara does

this in the following way. As long as the soul is tied down to material

conditions--that is, is passing through the processes of Samsara--it is

an agent. But as soon as it has escaped from this bondage of

transmigration it dwells in a state of perfect repose, inactive and

restful. In all its activities the soul is prompted by Brahman, without

whose inspiration and guidance the soul could perform nothing, and could

never, therefore, reach the true goal of all souls, absorption in the

one All, which can be obtained in no other way than by the performance

of good deeds, which means action.

_BOOK III.--OF THE SOUL AND ITS SUMMUM BONUM_

When at death the soul passes from the body its subtle material elements

still cling to it. Good souls pass on to the moon, whence they

afterwards descend in a form and state determined by their former

actions [Karma]. If the previous life has been a moral failure, the new

life now entered upon will belong to a lower level of being, _i.e._, the

man may become an animal, the higher, animal may become a lower one. On

the other hand, there may be an ascent in the scale of being.

When the soul is a-dreaming, what it thinks it sees and hears, etc., is

all illusion, for it does not see or hear, etc., what it thinks it does.

In a state of profound dreaminess the soul leaves the body and lives in

close fellowship with Brahman.

How is the soul to obtain final release from the thraldom of material

conditions? By meditating on Brahman as he is set forth in the sacred

scriptures. Brahman must be thought about and meditated on in all his

attributes, and this produces identity with the one great self of

existence.

Though Sankara makes this to be the teaching of the Sutras, in another

place he insists that Brahman is without attributes. He is not,

therefore, consistent. The meditation on Brahman which leads to

soul-freedom must have regard also to Brahman's negative qualities,

_i.e._, his not being gross, nor subtle, wise nor foolish, etc.

THE RELATION OF KNOWLEDGE AND CONDUCT

The knowledge of Brahman is independent of action, and not subordinate

to it. It is _vidya_ [compare _vision_, which has the same etymology],

or knowledge, that is alone prescribed in the holy writings, not

conduct. Where, however, there is right knowledge, there will be

rightness of life. But mere rightness of life is nothing; it is that

which leads to it and is the cause that is alone commanded and commended

[compare the controversy among Christian theologians about faith and

works]. The knowledge which saves and enfranchises may be reached by a

man in this present life, and will be, if the appropriate means are

employed.

OF BRAHMANHOOD

Meditation is a duty to be observed to the very close of life, and the

amount and intensity of it are the measure of a man's virtue and piety.

When he has reached the full knowledge of Brahman, a man is freed from

the consequences [karma] of all his evil deeds, past, present, and

future. [One would think that the state of Brahmanhood excluded the

possibility of sin, but this Sutra seems to imply the contrary. The

Sutras, however, make a distinction between a lower state of Brahmanhood

and a higher. See below.]

What happens to the knowing one (_vidvan_) at death? The soul of him who

has at death the lower Brahman knowledge merges into the subtler

elements. But when the highest knowledge is attained there is complete

absorption in Brahman. Whoever dies in possession of this highest

knowledge is at once merged in Brahman, and rests eternally and

perfectly in him.

The Upanishads describe the stations on the way which leads up to

Brahman. These stations are to be understood not merely as terminuses of

the various stages of the journey, but they denote also the divine

beings who direct the soul in its progress and enable it to move forward

and upward. According to some Sutras in this book the guardians of the

path conducting to the gods lead the departed soul, not to the highest

Brahman, but to the effected (_karya_), or qualified (_saguna_),

Brahman. But in other Sutras in this book the opposite view is stated

and defended, according to which the _vidvan_, or knower, goes direct to

the highest Brahman without halting anywhere short of that god.

The Sutras teach, on the whole, the doctrine that the enfranchised soul,

being identical with Brahman, is inseparable from him just as a mode of

substance is incapable of existing apart from the substance of which it

is a mode. Ramanuga points out, however, that some of the Sutras in this

book give it clearly to be understood that the freed soul can exist in

isolation and in separation from the great All.

The released soul can enter several bodies at the same time, since it is

not subject to space relations as other souls are.

* * * * *

THOMAS À KEMPIS

THE IMITATION OF CHRIST

Thomas à Kempis, whose family name was Haemmerlein, received

the name of Kempis from Kempen, in Holland, the place of his

birth. Either Thomas Haemmerlein or Thomas Kempensis would be

a more correct name than the form "à Kempis," by which he is

generally known; and "Musica Ecclesiastica" is the more

correct title of the "Imitatio Christi." It is not even

certain that Thomas was the author of it, for the names of

other authors have been put forward with more or less

probability; but he was certainly its copyist, and the balance

of evidence is in favour of his authorship. Thomas was born in

1379, the son of a shoemaker; entered in 1400 a monastery at

Agnetenberg, near Zwolle, and died in the monastery on August

8, 1471, with a great reputation for learning and for

sanctity. The "Imitation" was completed about 1420. Editions

and translations in all principal languages are innumerable;

but the definitive edition is the Latin text by Dr. Carl

Hirsche, of Hamburg (1874), from which the following epitome

has been made. The "Imitation" consists of four books of

meditations, which are among the most priceless treasures of

Christian literature.

_I.--ADMONITIONS USEFUL TO THE SPIRITUAL LIFE_

"Whoever follows Me does not walk in darkness," says the Lord. These are

the words of Christ by which we are admonished how far we should imitate

His life and manners if we wish to be truly illumined and liberated from

all blindness of heart. Let it, therefore, be our supreme study to

meditate on the life of Jesus Christ.

Vanity of vanities, all things are vanity, except to love God and to

serve Him only. The highest wisdom is to strive towards celestial

kingdoms, through contempt of the world. It is, therefore, vanity to

seek the riches that are about to perish, and to hope in them. It is

vanity also to solicit honours, and to exalt oneself to high place. It

is vanity to follow after the desires of the flesh, and to seek that for

which we must soon be heavily punished. It is vanity to wish a long

life, and to care little about a good life. It is vanity to attend only

to the present life, and not to provide for things which are to come. It

is vanity to love that which passes away so speedily, and not to hasten

thither where eternal joy remains.

Remember often that proverb--"The eye is not satisfied with seeing nor

the ear with hearing." Study, therefore, to withdraw your heart from the

love of visible things, and turn yourself to the invisible. For those

who follow their sensuality stain their conscience, and lose the grace

of God.

Every man naturally desires to know, but what does knowledge signify

without the fear of God? The humble peasant who serves God is far better

than the proud philosopher who neglects himself and considers the

courses of the stars. Whoever knows himself well contemns himself, and

takes no delight in human praise. If I should know all things in the

world, and yet not be in charity, what would it advantage me in the

presence of God, Who is about to judge me for my deeds?

Desist from too much desire of knowing, because great distraction and

deception are found in it. Those who know, desire to seem and to be

called wise. There are many things of which the knowledge is of little

or no value to the soul, and the man is very foolish who turns to other

things than those which subserve his health. Many words do not satisfy

the soul; but a good life cools down the mind, and a good conscience

affords great confidence towards God.

We might have great peace if we did not occupy ourselves with the words

and deeds which are no concern of ours. How can he remain long in peace

who meddles with cares which are foreign to him, who seeks opportunities

without, and recollects himself little or rarely? Blessed are the

simple, for they shall have much peace.

Without charity, an outward work is of value; but whatever is done from

charity, however small and trivial it may be, becomes wholly fruitful.

For God weighs more the source from which an action comes than the work

which it does. He does much who loves much. He does much who does the

deed well. He does well who serves the community rather than his own

will.

That often seems to be charity which is rather carnality; for natural

inclination, one's own will, the hope of reward, and the liking for

comfort are rarely absent. But whoever has true and perfect charity

seeks himself in nothing, but desires only the glory of God. He envies

no one, because he loves no joy of his own, nor cares to rejoice in

himself; but wishes, above all good things, to find felicity in God.

Whoever has a spark of true charity feels at once that all earthly

things are full Of vanity.

_II.--ADMONITIONS LEADING TO INWARD LIFE_

"The kingdom of God is within you," says the Lord. Turn yourself with

your whole heart to the Lord, and leave this miserable world, and your

soul shall find rest. Learn to despise outward things, and to give

yourself to inward things, and you shall see the kingdom of God rise

within you. For the kingdom of God is peace and joy in the Holy Spirit,

and is not given to the impious. Christ shall come to you showing you

His consolation, if you prepare within you a home fit for Him. All His

glory and beauty are from within, and it is there that He delights

Himself. He often visits the man of inward mind, with sweet colloquy,

pleasant consolation, great peace, and most astounding familiarity.

If you know not how to contemplate high and celestial things, rest in

the passion of Christ, and willingly dwell in His holy wounds. For if

you devoutly have recourse to the wounds of Jesus you will feel great

comfort in trouble, care little for human contempt, and easily bear

detracting words. For Christ, in the world, was despised by men, and in

His greatest need was deserted, among insults, by His friends. Christ

willed to suffer and to be despised, and shall you dare to complain of

anything? Christ had enemies and detractors, and do you wish to have all

friends and benefactors? Whence shall your patience be crowned if you

have suffered no adversity? If you desire to suffer nothing contrary to

you, how shall you be the friend of Christ?

He to whom all things taste as they really are, and not as they are

spoken of or esteemed, is the truly wise man, taught by God rather than

by men. Whoever knows how to walk from within, and to put little value

on things without, needs not to find a place nor wait a time for his

devout prayers. The man of inward mind quickly recollects himself,

because he never spends himself wholly upon outward things.

First hold yourself in peace, and then you will be able to pacify

others. The pacific man is of more service than the learned. But the

passionate man turns even good to evil, easily believing evil. The

peaceful man is good, and turns all things to good. The man who is well

at peace is suspicious of nothing, but the discontented and turbulent is

agitated by divers suspicions. He can neither himself be quiet, nor

leave others in quiet. He often says what he ought not to say, and

leaves undone what he ought to do. He thinks about what others ought to

do, and neglects his own duty.

Man is raised from earthly matters by two wings--namely, simplicity and

purity. Simplicity should be in his intention, and purity in his

affection. Simplicity tends towards God, purity takes hold of Him.

Always to do well, and to hold oneself in small esteem, is the mark of a

humble soul. To desire no consolation from any created thing is the sign

of great purity and inward confidence. The man who seeks no witness for

himself from without has plainly committed himself altogether to God.

For "not he who commends himself is approved," says blessed Paul, "but

he whom God commends." To walk with God within, and to be held by no

affection without, is the state of the inwardly-minded man.

Jesus has now many lovers of His celestial kingdom, but few bearers of

His Cross. He has many who desire consolation, but few who desire

tribulation. He finds many companions of His table, but few of His

abstinence. All wish to rejoice with Him; few are willing to bear

anything for Him.

In the Cross is safety; in the Cross is life; in the Cross is protection

from enemies; in the Cross is the sweetness of heaven; in the Cross is

strength of mind; in the Cross is the perfection of sanctity. There is

no health for the soul nor hope of eternal life except in the Cross.

Take up your cross, therefore, and follow Jesus.

If anything were better and more useful for the welfare of men than to

suffer, Christ would have shown it both in His words and in His example.

For He calls to the disciples who follow Him, and to all who desire to

follow Him, and says: "If any will come after Me, let him deny himself,

and lift up his cross and follow Me." When all has been read and

studied, let this be our conclusion--"That through many tribulations we

must enter into the kingdom of God."

_III.--OF INWARD CONSOLATION_

I will hear what the Lord God may say in me. It is a blessed soul which

hears the Lord speaking in it, and receives the word of consolation from

His lips. Speak, Lord, for your servant hears.

"I have taught the prophets from the beginning," says the Lord, "and

until now I have not ceased to speak at all; but many are deaf and hard

to My voice. Many listen more willingly to the world than to God, and

more easily follow the appetite of the flesh than God's good pleasure.

The world promises small and temporary things, and is served with great

eagerness; I promise supreme and eternal things, but the hearts of

mortals are torpid. Who serves and obeys Me in everything with so great

care as the world and its lords are served? Men run a long way for a

trifling reward, but for eternal life many scarcely lift a foot once

from earth."

Lord God, you are all my good. And who am I that I should dare to speak

to you? I am the poorest and least of your servants, a wretched little

worm, far more miserable and contemptible than I know or dare to say,

Yet remember me, Lord, because I am nothing, I have nothing, and am

worth nothing. Do not turn your face from me; do not defer your coming;

do not withdraw your consolation, lest my soul become like a waterless

land before you. Lord, teach me to do your will; teach me to walk

worthily and humbly in your presence; because you are my wisdom, who

truly know me, and knew me before the world was made and before I was

born in the world.

"Son, walk in My presence in truth, and seek Me always in the simplicity

of your heart. Whoever walks in My presence in truth will be kept safe

from the assaults of evil, and truth will liberate him from those who

lead astray and from the detractions of unjust men. If truth shall have

liberated you, then you will be truly free, and you will not care for

the vain words of men."

It is true, Lord, I pray that it may be done with me as you say. Let

your truth teach me and guard me, and keep me to a salutary end. Let it

liberate me from every evil affection and inordinate love, and I shall

walk with you in great liberty of heart.

"I will teach you," says Truth, "what things are right and pleasing in

my Bight. Think on your sins with great displeasure and sorrow, and

never imagine yourself to be anything because of your good works. You

are really a sinner, liable to many passions and entangled in them. Of

yourself, you are always tending to nothingness; you quickly slip, you

are quickly overcome, you are quickly disturbed, you quickly pass away.

You have nothing in which you can glory, but much for which you ought to

hold yourself cheap; you are far more infirm than you are able to

understand.

"Some do not sincerely walk before me, but, led by a certain curiosity

and arrogance, wish to know my secrets, and to understand the high

things of God, neglecting themselves and their welfare. These often fall

into great temptations and sins, when I resist them on account of their

pride and curiosity. Fear the judgments of God; be exceedingly afraid of

the anger of the Omnipotent. Do not discuss the works of the Highest,

but scrutinise your iniquities, and see how gravely you have offended

and how many good deeds you have neglected.

"There are others, enlightened in their minds and purged in their

affections, who are always panting after eternal things and listen

unwillingly to earthly things; these perceive what the spirit of truth

says within them.

"Love is a great thing, altogether a great good, which alone makes light

everything that is heavy, and carries evenly all that is uneven. For it

bears the burden without being burdened, and makes sweet and tasteful

everything that is bitter. The noble love of Jesus drives on to great

deeds, and always excites to the desire of more perfect things. Love

wills to rise upwards, and not to be held back by the lowest things.

Nothing is sweeter than love, nothing is stronger, nothing higher or

broader; nothing is more delightful or fuller in heaven or in earth; for

love is born of God, and cannot rest except in God, above all created

things."

_IV.--DEVOUT EXHORTATION TO HOLY COMMUNION_

The voice of Christ, "Come to Me all who labour and are burdened, and I

will refresh you," says the Lord. "The bread which I will give you is My

flesh for the life of the world. Receive and consume it; this is My body

which will be delivered for you; do this in commemoration of Me. Whoever

eats My flesh and drinks My blood remains in Me, and I in him. The words

which I have spoken to you are spirit and life."

These are your words, Christ, Eternal Truth, although not given at one

time nor written in one place. Because they are yours, and true, they

are all to be received gratefully by me. They are yours, and you

pronounced them; and they are mine also because you uttered them for my

welfare. I gladly accept them from your lips, that they may be more

closely buried in my heart. Words of such kindness, full of sweetness

and love, arouse me. But my own sins frighten me, and my impure

conscience repels me from taking hold of such great mysteries.

You bid me come to you trustfully if I would have part with you; and to

receive the food of immortality if I wish to obtain eternal life and

glory. "Come to Me," you say, "all who labour and are burdened, and I

will refresh you." O sweet and friendly word in the ear of a sinner,

that you, my Lord God, invite the destitute and poor to the communion of

your most holy Body.

Lord, all things in heaven and in earth are yours. I desire to offer

myself as a willing oblation, and to remain yours in perpetuity. Lord,

in the simplicity of my heart I offer myself to you to-day to be for

ever your servant--offer myself for obedience and for a sacrifice of

eternal praise. Receive me with this holy offering of your precious

Body, which I offer to you to-day in the presence of angels, assisting

though unseen, that it may be for my welfare and for the welfare of all

your people.

The voice of the beloved: "God does not deceive you; he is deceived who

trusts too much to himself. God walks with the simple, reveals Himself

to the humble, gives understanding to the feeble, opens His meaning to

pure minds, and hides His grace from the inquisitive and proud. Human

reason is weak and may be deceived, but true faith cannot be deceived.

"All reason and natural investigation ought to follow faith, and not

precede it nor impair it. For faith and love excel here most of all, and

work in hidden ways in, this most holy and transcendent sacrament. The

eternal and immeasurable God of infinite power does great and

inscrutable things in heaven and in earth, and there is no finding out

of His wonderful works. If the works of God were such that they could

easily be seized by human reason, they would not deserve to be called

wonderful or ineffable."

* * * * *

THE KORAN

The Koran, the sacred book of Islam, and of more than a

hundred millions of men, is the least original of all existing

sacred books. Muslims agree in believing that it is from

beginning to end, and word for word, inspired; and that it

existed before the Creation on what is called the "Preserved

Tablet." This tablet was brought by the Archangel Gabriel from

the highest to the lowest heaven, whence it was dictated sura

[chapter] by sura, verse by verse, and word by word, to the

Prophet Muhammad. Its matter is, however, taken for the most

part from the Old Testament, especially the narrative portions

of the Pentateuch; from the New Testament; from the traditions

of the ancient Arabs; and also from Zoroastrian and other

scriptures or traditions. It is not likely that Muhammad used

literary sources, except in a small measure. But there were

Jews, Christians, Zoroastrians, and others in and around

Arabia, and he must have learned from their lips the principal

doctrines of their respective religions. Nevertheless,

planless and fragmentary compilation though it be, the Koran,

particularly in the earlier suras written at Mekka, has much

of the grandeur and poetry of style and the passionate

exaltation of a true prophet, the sincerity of whose zeal is

unquestioned.

_INTRODUCTORY_

The word "Koran," or "Quran,"[13] from a root _qara_ = to read, means

literally "what is to be read," _i.e._, the written authority on all

matters, religions, etc. It is the exact equivalent of the Rabbinical

Hebrew word "Miqra" (from the Hebrew _qara_ = to read). The idea

involved in both the Arabic and Hebrew words is that what is so

designated is the ultimate authority deciding all questions. The Rabbis

of post-Biblical times (compare the Jewish Qabbalah) regarded the Old

Testament as an encyclopaedia of universal knowledge. In the best-known

Muslim universities of modern times philosophy, science, and everything

else are taught from the Koran, which is made in some way to contain

implicitly the latest words of modern thought, invention, and discovery.

The Koran did not exist as a whole until after the Prophet

Muhammad's[14] death. It was then compiled by the order of Abu Bekr, the

first Sunnite Caliph. Its contents were found written on palm leaves

white stones, and other articles capable of being written on. The

compilers depended, to a large extent, upon the memory of the prophet's

first followers, but the Koran, as we now have it, existed without any

appreciable divergence by the end of the first year, after Muhammad's

death (A.D. 632).

This Muslim Bible has no scheme or plan because it is an almost

haphazard compilation of unconnected discourses, uttered on various

unexplained occasions, and dealing with many incidents and themes. There

is practically no editing, and no attempt is made to explain when, or

how, or why the various speeches were delivered.

The earliest native writers and commentators on the Koran arranged its

suras in two main classes: (1) Those uttered at Mekka before the flight

in A.D. 622; (2) those written at Medinah during the next ten years.

Most recent scholars follow the chronological arrangement proposed by

the great Orientalist Nöldeke in 1860. Friedrich Schwally in his newly

revised edition of Nöldeke's great work on the Koran follows his master

in almost every detail. Rodwell's translation of the Koran, recently

issued in "Everyman's Library," arranges the suras chronologically

according to Nöldeke's scheme. In the summaries that follow, it is this

chronological order that is adopted. In the Arabic editions followed by

the well-known and valuable translations of Sale, E.H. Palmer (Clarendon

Press, "Sacred Books of the East," vols. 6 and 9), and others, the

principle adopted is to put the longest suras first and the shortest

last.

The Mekkan suras are much more original than the Medinah ones,

especially those of the first period--_i.e._, those belonging to the

first four years of Muhammad's prophetic mission, _e.g._, suras 96, 74,

etc. In these suras the style is grander, more passionate, and fuller of

poetry. The prophet appears in a state of great mental exaltation, full

of a zeal which no words can adequately express, and of a sincerity

which few scholars have questioned.

The suras of the second period, the following two years of the prophet's

mission (_e.g._, suras 54, 37, etc.), have the same general character,

but are less vehement. Still less vehement and more restrained are the

suras of the third Mekkan period--_i.e._, from the seventh year of the

prophet's mission to his flight in A.D. 622 (_e.g._, suras 32, 41,

etc.). The style of the Medinah suras resembles that of the Mekkan

revelations of the third period, only they are still more matter of fact

and restrained, and are largely made up of appeals to Jews, Christians,

and others to abandon their "unbelief," and to accept the prophet who

had come to them with the true religion, a religion as old as Abraham,

though forgotten for many ages.

The Koran differs from the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments,

including the Apocrypha, in that these latter are much-more varied, as

emanating from many minds, and belonging to very different occasions.

The Koran is, from beginning to end, the effusions (often very wild) of

one man.

The present editor has kept before him the Arabic text of Maracci,

Fluegel, and Redslob, and also several Oriental editions (Cairo,

Constantinople, Calcutta, etc.). But, of course, the best known

translations, and also the native commentaries (Baidhawi, etc.), have

been consulted.

In the summaries which follow, numerals following the paragraphs

indicate the number of the sura or suras in the Arabic text as well as

in Sale's translation.

MEKKAN SURAS

I.--FIRST PERIOD (A.D. 613-617)

_MUHAMMAD'S FIRST CALL TO READ THE KORAN_

In the name of the gracious and compassionate God.[15]

Recite in the name of thy Lord, who created man and taught men to write,

recite what God has revealed to thee His Prophet, and be not afraid.

Consider not the opposition of Abu Gahl, who has threatened to put his

foot on thy neck if thou dost worship Allah. (96.)

_DENUNCIATION OF ABU LAHAB_[16]

Abu Lahab's two hands shall perish, and he himself shall perish. His

wealth shall not avail him, nor all that he has gained. He shall be

burnt in the fiery flames[17] of Hell, his wife carrying wood for fuel,

with a cord of palm-tree fibres twisted round her neck. (III.)

_MUHAMMAD COMMANDED TO OFFER SACRIFICES_

We have given to thee, O Prophet, great wealth and abounding riches.

Pray thou to Allah, and offer Him suitable sacrifices out of what He has

bestowed upon thee. (108.)

[Compare with this paragraph the following, from sura 22 of the Medinah

group:

We have ordained that ye offer sacrifices unto Allah, and that ye

receive much benefit therefrom. When, therefore, ye slay your camels let

the name of Allah be pronounced over them. Then eat of them and give to

those who ask humbly, giving also to the poor and needy who ask not.

Flesh and blood can never reach unto Allah (God), but your obedience and

piety will reach unto Him.]

_BELIEVERS AND UNBELIEVERS_

We will make the path to happiness easy and safe to all such as fear

Allah, and give alms, and believe the truth proclaimed by Allah's

messenger. But we will make easy the path to distress and misery for all

such as are niggardly, are bent on making riches, and deny the truth

when it is proclaimed to them. When these last fall headlong into Hell,

their wealth will avail them nothing. In the burning furnace they shall

burn and broil. (92.)

_THE DUTY OF EXERCISING CHARITY_

Verily, We (God) have created some men in such poverty and distress as

to need the help of others. What does that braggart man mean when he

says, "None shall prevail over me; I have and have scattered riches

boundless"? Does he not know that there is a Divine eye that sees him?

Have not We created him with a capacity of distinguishing between the

two highways, that which descends towards evil, and that which ascends

towards the good? This niggardly man, however, makes no attempt to scale

the heights. What is it to ascend the upward road? It is to free the

prisoner, to feed the hungry, to defend the orphan who is akin, and the

down-trodden poor. Besides this, it is enjoined that men believe in

Allah and His Prophet; that they encourage each other to be steadfast in

the faith, exercising mutual consideration and sympathy. All such as do

these things shall be the people of the right hand. But all those who

disbelieve Our signs shall be the companions of the left hand, over whom

shall be a vault of fire. (90.)

_MUHAMMAD COMMANDED TO ARISE AND PREACH_

O thou mantle-wrapped one, arise and warn the people, and magnify the

Lord. The Day of Judgment will be a sad day for unbelievers. Leave thou

thine enemy in Mine hands, and let Me visit upon him his well deserved

punishment. For he has ridiculed the Koran; he has said: "This is

nothing else than magic, they are the words of a man." I [God] will cast

him into Hell, where he shall burn in torment. The fires of this Hell

leave nothing unconsumed. It scorches men's flesh. We have appointed

nineteen angels as guardians over Hell fire. But why nineteen? That

believers may be sure of the veracity of this Book, and that unbelievers

may have occasion for denying the divinity of the Koran, saying: "What

means this number?" (74.)

_THE KORAN GIVEN TO MUHAMMAD_

Verily, We have brought down to Muhammad the Koran on the Night of

Power.[18] This one Night of Power is better than a thousand months. On

that night did Gabriel and the angels descend and reveal to Our Prophet

all the words of the Koran. (97.)

_MUHAMMAD NOT MAD NOR AN IMPOSTOR_

Believe thou not, O Messenger of Mine, when they say, "Thou art bereft

of thy senses," when they charge thee with imposture. Thy Lord knoweth

who are bereft of their senses, and who are the impostors. Warn thou

those maligners of the awful judgment which awaits them. (68.)

_GOD'S PROMISE TO HELP MUHAMMAD TO RECITE THE KORAN_

We [Allah] shall enable thee to remember all the parts of the Koran, so

that thou mayest recite them for the encouragement of those who believe

and as a warning to all unbelievers. Nor shalt thou forget aught of this

Revelation except what We please.[19] All those who fear God will

receive the prophet's warning, but all those who disbelieve shall be

cast into terrible fire where they will neither live nor die. This

doctrine which We command thee to preach is that taught in the ancient

Books, the Books of Abraham and of Moses, who were faithful Muslims.

(87.)

_THE KORAN INSPIRED_

By the falling star, your comrade Muhammad does not err, nor does he

speak his own mind. What he utters has been revealed to him. The Koran

is from God through Gabriel; it is not the work of man. Why worship ye

goddesses like Allat and Al'Uzza and Manah? There are no goddesses.[20]

(53.)

_THE TREATMENT OF WOMEN BELIEVERS_

When believing women come to you as fugitives, leaving behind them

unbelieving husbands, send them not back to the infidels, but test their

faith, and if they are found true Muslims, pay back to their husbands

the dowries which they have expended. Then may ye marry them, provided

ye give them the accustomed dowries. (60.)

_GOD'S UNITY_[21]

Say "He is but one God, the everlasting God who begets not,[22] nor is

begotten, and there is none like unto Him." (10.)

_FORMULæ OF EXORCISM_

I flee for refuge to the Lord, that He may protect me against the evil

things which He has created. Against night goblins when the night comes

on, and from witches who bind by their magic knots, and from such as

injure by the evil eye; I seek refuge with the Lord from charmers, from

jinns [demons], and from evil men. (113.)

_THE HEAVEN OF THE MUSLIMS_

All who believe in Allah and His Prophet shall be admitted hereafter

into delightful gardens [Paradise]. They shall repose for ever on

couches decked with gold and precious stones, being supplied with

abundance of luscious wine, fruits of the choicest variety, and the

flesh of birds. They shall be accompanied by damsels of unsurpassed

beauty, with large black, pearl-like eyes. (56.)

II.--SECOND PERIOD (A.D. 617-619)

_WINDS AND DEMONS SUBJECT TO SOLOMON_

And We made a strong wind subject to Solomon, so that it conveyed him

whither he would. We also gave him the power of commanding demons, so

that they dived into the sea to bring him pearls, and did everything

else that he wished.[23] (21.)

_THE MIRACULOUS BIRTH OF JESUS_

Remember Mary, who preserved her virginity, and into whom We breathed

Our own spirit, so that when her son Isa [Jesus] was born, mother and

son became a sign unto all mankind. (21.)

_THE VIRGIN MARY_

After Mary, the Virgin, had begotten her son Isa [Jesus] she was found

one day carrying the child in her arms when some pious men met her and

rebuked her, saying: "O Mary, thou sister of Aaron,[24] what is this

strange thing thou hast done? Thy father Amram was an upright man, and

thy mother was no harlot, as thou seemest to be." In answer to all this

the infant child, not having previously lisped a syllable, said,

"Verily, I am the servant of Allah, who has given me the Book of the

Gospel, and appointed me to be His Prophet. He has made me blessed, and

to be a blessing. Happy the day wherein I was born, and the day wherein

I shall die, and the day whereon I shall be raised again." (19.)

_DEVILS SENT BY GOD TO MAKE MEN SIN_

De ye not know that We [God] send devils against the unbelievers to move

them, by their suggestions, to the sin of which these unbelievers become

guilty? (19.)

_SOLOMON'S ARMY OF MEN, BIRDS, AND JINNS (DEMONS)_

Solomon was able to understand the speech of birds and to make them

understand his speech.[25] There gathered to him on a certain day his

entire army of men, birds, and jinns in the Valley of Ants. The crowd

was so great that one of the ants said to his fellows, "Get you at once

into your ant-homes, or you will be trampled to death by one of these

myriad feet."

_THE QUEEN OF SHEBA'S VISIT TO SOLOMON_

Solomon, one day reviewing his varied troops, missed among the birds the

hoopoe, and asked whither this bird had gone, threatening all manner of

punishments for his absence. Soon the missing bird came flying to the

king, uttering the words, "I have just come from Sheba, where I have

looked upon the most wonderful queen, sitting upon the most magnificent

throne that I have ever set eyes on. But this queen and her subjects,

unfortunately, worshipped not Allah, the true God, but the sun."

"I will test the truth of thy words!" replied the angry monarch. "Take

thou this note of mine to the queen thou laudest so highly, bidding her

come to my kingdom to acknowledge my authority."

Almost in a twinkling the hoopoe was back with the queen's answer

consenting to visit Solomon and his dominions. Solomon, having received

this answer, asked the nobles of his kingdom, "Which of you will bring

me at once the Queen of Sheba's throne, to be here before she arrives?"

"I will!" said one of the wickedest of the jinns.

"And so will I, in a whiff!" answered a jinn that was well acquainted

with the Scriptures.

In a very short time the throne was in Solomon's palace. "Alter ye it,"

said the king, "as much as ye may, to see whether she has any

supernatural knowledge to identify it."

When the queen arrived, she was asked, "What throne is this?"

She replied, "It is mine--strangely mine." After she had witnessed the

glory and wisdom of Solomon, she gave up her idols, and became the

worshipper of Allah, the true God. (27.)

III.--THIRD PERIOD (A.D. 619-622)

_PUNISHMENT FOR VIOLATING THE SABBATH_

Ye know how We tested and proved those wicked people who dwelt in Elath

on the Red Sea. On the Sabbath day We made the fish come right up to

them, as if asking to be caught; but not so on other days. Those who

yielded to the temptation, and thus violated the sanctity of the sacred

day, We turned into apes as a punishment for their wrong-doing. (7.)

_MOUNT SINAI SHAKEN ABOVE THE ISRAELITES_

When the Israelites doubted the authority of the Law which We had given

them through Moses, Our servant, We caused Mount Sinai to rear itself

above them as a covering, so that the people feared it was going to fall

upon them. And We said to them, "Receive ye with reverence that Law

which We have given you, and remember what is contained therein, taking

heed thereto."[26] (7.)

MEDINAH SURAS

_SALVATION FOR OTHERS THAN MUSLIMS_

All such as believe in Allah and in the last day, and who do that which

is right, whether they are Jews, Christians, Sabeans, or Muslims, shall

have their reward from Allah, who will take away from them all fear and

grief. (3.)

_Muslims Only to be Saved_

No one that follows any other religion than Islam will be accepted by

God or saved from perishing in the life that is to come. (2.)

_ABRAHAM, ISHMAEL, ISAAC, JACOB, AND THE TRIBES OF ISRAEL ALL MUSLIMS_

Do ye Jews say that Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob, and the tribes of

Israel were Jews, or do ye Christians say that they were Christians? But

God knows better, and has revealed to you the truth that all these were

Muslims, followers of the religion of Islam. But God is cognisant of

your unbelief, and will bring you to account. (2.)

_THE QIBLAH CHANGED FROM JERUSALEM TO MEKKA_

Foolish men will say, "Why have they changed the Qiblah[27] from

Jerusalem to the Kaabah[28] in Mekka?" Say to them, "God's is the east

and the west, and He has commanded us to turn our face, when we pray, to

the sacred mosque at Mekka." (2.)

_AGAINST JEWS AND CHRISTIANS, WHO CAPRICIOUSLY CHOOSE AND REJECT WHAT

DIVINE REVELATIONS THEY PLEASE_

Why, then, do ye believe part only of the Book, and deny that part which

authenticates the mission of the Prophet of Allah? All those who are

guilty of this sin shall have shame in this life, and on the

Resurrection Day shall be driven into the most excrutiating torments.

(2.)

_THE MEKKA TEMPLE FOUNDED BY ABRAHAM_

It was Abraham, our father, who first entered the Kaabah sanctuary at

Mekka, and it is our bounden duty, if at all able, to visit this sacred

house. (3.)

_JESUS PREDICTS THE COMING OF MUHAMMAD_

Jesus, Mary's Son, said, "O Israelites, I am Allah's Apostle, sent to

confirm the Law of the Old Testament, and to bring you good tidings of a

great Apostle to come after me, whose name is Ahmad."[29] (61.)

_MUHAMMAD THE LAST AND GREATEST OF GOD'S MESSENGERS_

In the former times We sent Our apostles with convincing arguments and

all decisive miracles, and We gave them the Scriptures. We sent to men

Noah, Abraham, and the prophets, but many believed not. Then We sent Our

apostles, after whom came Jesus, Son of Mary. Then, last of all, came

Our great apostle, Muhammad. O all ye believers, fear God and obey the

words of Allah's messenger. (57.)

_THE KORAN CONSISTENT THROUGHOUT_

Why do they not carefully and impartially consider the Koran? If it had

not been wholly of God, unbelievers would have been able to find out

contradictions. (4.)

_MUHAMMAD CONTRADICTS THE FACT OF THE CRUCIFIXION OF CHRIST_

Christians say that Christ Jesus, Son of Mary, was slain. But He was not

slain, nor crucified, but another was taken for Him. The true Isa

[Jesus] was taken up by God unto Himself, not seeing death. (4.)

_MUHAMMAD ADMITS THE FACT OF THE CRUCIFIXION OF CHRIST_

And God said, "O Isa [Jesus], I will cause Thee to die, but I will take

Thee up to Myself and deliver Thee from unbelievers!" (4.)

_ONE GOD, NOT THREE GODS, ACCORDING TO THE SCRIPTURE_

O ye who have received the Scriptures, do not believe more than these

sacred writings teach! Jesus, Son of Mary, was God's Apostle, His Word,

a spirit proceeding from God. Do not say there are three gods--Allah,

Isa, and Mary.[30] There is but one God, and He can have no son. (4.)

_FORBIDDEN FOOD_

Ye are forbidden to eat that which dies of itself, blood, swine's flesh,

and that on which the name of any other god than Allah has been

invoked;[31] that which has been strangled, or killed by a blow, or by a

fall, or what has been gored to death, and whatever has been sacrificed

to idols. (5.)

_DIVINATION BY ARROWS CONDEMNED_

It is not allowed you to make division by casting lots with arrows.

_DENIAL OF THE DIVINITY OF CHRIST AND THE TRINITY_

Those are unbelievers who say that God is the Christ [lit., Messiah],

Son of Mary. Nay, this Christ Himself said, "O Israelites, worship God,

My Lord and yours!" He who associates with God any companion His equal

shall be excluded from Paradise, and have his place in Hell fire. (5.)

_Jesus Denies that He and His Mother were Gods_

At the last day God will say unto Isa, "O Isa, Son of Mary, didst Thou

say unto men, 'Take Me and My Mother for two Gods in addition to

Allah'?" And He shall answer, "Praise be unto Thee. Thou knowest all

things, and Thou knowest that I commanded men to worship Allah alone."

* * * * *

CARDINAL NEWMAN

APOLOGIA PRO VITâ SUA

That most remarkable ecclesiastic of the nineteenth century,

John Henry Newman, born in London on February 21, 1801, was of

Dutch extraction, but the name itself, at one time spelt

"Newmann," suggests Hebrew origin. His mother came of a

Huguenot family, long established in England as engravers and

paper manufacturers. His early education he obtained at a

school at Ealing, where he distinguished himself by diligence

and good conduct, as also by a certain aloofness and shyness.

The only important incident Newman connects with this period

is his "conversion," an incident more certain to him "than

that he had hands and feet." In 1820 he graduated at Trinity

College, Oxford. The various phases of his religious career

are amply set forth in his famous "Apologia pro Vitâ Sua"

("Apology for His Life"), afterwards called "A History of my

Religious Opinions." The work was called out by an attack, in

January, 1864, by Charles Kingsley, in a review of Froude's

"History of England." Kingsley wrote: "Truth, for its own

sake, had never been a virtue with the Roman clergy. Father

Newman informs us that it need not, and, on the whole, ought

not to be." Challenged to withdraw or substantiate this

charge, Kingsley did neither, whereupon Newman, after much

correspondence, wrote his "Apologia," which was published in

bi-monthly parts. Newman died on August 11, 1890.

_I.--HISTORY OF MY RELIGIOUS OPINIONS TO 1833_

I was brought up to delight in the Bible, but I had no formed religious

convictions till I was fifteen. Of course, Ï had a perfect knowledge of

my Catechism. But when I was fifteen I fell under the influence of a

definite creed, and believed that the inward conversion of which I was

conscious, and of which I am still more certain than that I have hands

and feet, would last into the next life, and that I was elected to

eternal glory. This belief faded away at the age of twenty-one; but it

had had some influence on my opinions, in isolating me from the objects

which surrounded me, in confirming my mistrust of the reality of

material phenomena, and in making me rest in the thought of two, and two

only, absolute and luminously self-evident beings, myself and my

Creator. At the age of fifteen also I was deeply impressed by the works

of Thomas Scott, by Law's "Serious Call," by Joseph Milner's "Church

History," and by Newton, "On the Prophecies." Newton's book stained my

imagination, till 1843, with the doctrine that the Pope was Antichrist.

At this same time, the autumn of 1816, I realised that it would be the

will of God that I should lead a single life, and this anticipation

strengthened my feeling of separation from the visible world.

In 1822, at Oxford, I came under new influences. Dr. Hawkins, then vicar

of St. Mary's, a man of most exact mind, led me to the doctrine of

tradition, and taught me to anticipate that before many years there

would be an attack made upon the books and the canon of Scripture. He

gave me Summer's "Treatise on Apostolic Preaching," by which I was led

to give up my remaining Calvinism, and to receive the doctrine of

baptismal regeneration. I now read Butler's "Analogy," from which I

learned two principles which underlie much of my teaching: first, that

the idea of an analogy between the separate works of God leads to the

conclusion that the less important system is sacramentally connected

with the more momentous system; and secondly, Butler's doctrine that

probability is the guide of life led me to the question of the logical

cogency of faith.

I owe much to Dr. Whately, who taught me the existence of the Church as

a substantive corporation, and fixed in me those anti-Erastian views of

Church polity which characterized the Tractarian movement. That

movement, unknown to ourselves, was taking form. Its true author, John

Keble, had left Oxford for a country parish, but his "Christian Year"

had waked a new music in the hearts of thousands. His creative mind

repeated, in a new form, Butler's two principles: that material

phenomena are the types and instruments of real things unseen; and that,

in religious certitude, faith and love give to probability a force which

it has not in itself.

Hurrell Froude, one of his pupils and a man of high genius, taught me to

venerate the Church of Rome and to dislike the Reformation. About 1830 I

set to work on "The Arians of the Fourth Century," and the broad

philosophy of Clement and Origen, based on the mystical or sacramental

principle, came like music to my inward ear.

Great events were now happening at home and abroad. There had been a

revolution in France, and the reform agitation was going on around me as

I wrote. The vital question was, how were we to keep the Church from

being liberalised? I saw that reformation principles were powerless to

rescue her. I ever kept before me that there was something greater than

the Establishd Church, and that was the Church Catholic and Apostolic,

of which she was but the local presence and the organ. She was nothing,

unless she was this. I was now disengaged from college duties; my health

had suffered from work; and in December, 1832, I joined Hurrell Froude

and his father, who were going to the south of Europe. I went to various

coasts of the Mediterranean. I saw nothing but what was external; of the

hidden life of Catholics I knew nothing. England was in my thoughts

solely, and the success of the liberal cause fretted me. The thought

came upon me that deliverance is wrought not by the many but by the few,

not by bodies but by persons.

I began to think that I had a mission. I reached England on July 9, and

on July 14 Mr. Keble preached in the university pulpit on "National

Apostasy." This day was the start of the religious movement of 1833.

_II.--WITH THE TRACTARIANS_

A movement had begun in opposition to the danger of liberalism which was

threatening the religion of the nation. Mr. Keble, Hurrell Froude, Mr.

William Palmer, Mr. Arthur Purceval, Mr. Hugh Rose, and other zealous,

and able men had united their counsels. I had the exultation of health

restored, a joyous energy which I never had before or since. And I had a

supreme confidence in our cause; we were upholding that primitive

Christianity which was delivered for all time by the early teachers of

the Church. Owing to this supreme confidence, my behaviour had a mixture

in it both of fierceness, and of sport, and on this account it gave

offence to many.

The three propositions about which I was so confident were as follow:

First was the principle of dogma; my battle was with liberalism--and by

liberalism I mean the anti-dogmatic principle and its developments. I

have changed in many things, but not in this; religion, as a mere

sentiment, has been to me from childhood a dream and a mockery.

Secondly, I was confident that there was a visible Church, with

sacraments and rites which are the channels of invisible grace. Here,

again, I have not changed. But, thirdly, I held a view of the Church of

Rome which I have utterly renounced since.

The attack of liberalism upon the university and upon the old orthodoxy

of England began in 1834. Thus, in a pamphlet by Dr. Hampden it was

maintained that religion is distinct from theological opinion, that it

is but a common prejudice to identify theological propositions with the

simple religion of Christ; and so on. The tracts were widely read and

discussed, but the counter-attack against liberalism was not a power

until Dr. Pusey joined us. His great learning, his immense diligence,

his simple devotion to the cause of religion, no less than his great

influence in the university, at once gave us a position and a name. He

taught us that there ought to be more sense of responsibility in the

tracts and in the whole movement. Under his influence I wrote a work

defining our relation to the Church of Rome, namely, "The Prophetical

Office of the Church viewed relatively to Romanism and to Popular

Protestantism." The subject of this volume, published in 1837, is the

"Via Media." This was followed by my "Essay on Justification," and other

works; and so I went on for years up to 1841. It was, in a human point

of view, the happiest time of my life. We prospered and spread.

But the movement was to come into collision with the nation, and with

the Church of the nation. In 1838 my bishop made some light

animadversions on the tracts. But my tract on the Thirty-nine Articles,

designed to show that the Articles do not oppose Catholic teaching, and

but partially oppose Roman dogma, while they do oppose the dominant

errors of Rome, brought down, in 1839, a storm of indignation throughout

the country. I saw that my place in the movement was lost.

_III.--A THEOLOGICAL DEATH-BED_

In the long vacation of 1839 I began to study the history of the

Monophysites, and was-absorbed in the doctrinal question. It was during

this course of reading that for the first time a doubt came upon me of

the tenableness of Anglicism, and by the end of August I was seriously

alarmed. My stronghold was antiquity; yet here, in the fifth century, I

found Christendom of the sixteenth and nineteenth centuries reflected.

The drama of religion and the combat of truth and error were ever one

and the same; the principles of the Roman Church now were those of the

Church then; the principles of heretics then were those of Protestants

now; there was an awful similitude. Be my soul with the saints! In the

same month the words of St. Augustine were pointed out to me, _"Securus

judicat orbis terrarum";_ they struck me with a power which I had never

felt from any words before; the theory of the "Via Media" was absolutely

pulverised.

In the summer of 1841, in retirement at Littlemore, I received three

blows which broke me. First, in the history of the Arians I found the

same phenomena which I had found in the Monophysites: the pure Arians

were the Protestants, the semi-Arians were the Anglicans, and Rome now

was what it was then. Secondly, the bishops, one after another, began to

charge against me in a formal, determinate movement. Third, it was

proposed by Anglican authorities to establish an Anglican bishopric in

Jerusalem--a step which amounted to a formal denial that the Anglican

Church was a branch of the Catholic Church, and to a formal assertion

that the Anglican was a Protestant Church. The Jerusalem bishopric

brought me to the beginning of the end.

From the end of 1841 I was on my death-bed, as regards my membership of

the Anglican Church, though at the time I became aware of it only by

degrees. A death-bed has scarcely a history; it is a tedious decline,

with seasons of rallying and seasons of falling back. My position at

first was this: I had given up my place in the movement in the spring of

1841, but I could not give up my duties towards the many and various

minds who had been brought into it by me; I expected gradually to fall

back into lay communion; I never contemplated leaving the Church of

England; I could not hold office in its service if I were not allowed to

hold the Catholic sense of the Articles; I could not go to Rome while

she suffered honours to be paid to the Blessed Virgin and the saints

which I thought in my conscience to be incompatible with the supreme

glory of the One, Infinite and Eternal; I desired a union with Rome

under conditions, Church with Church; I called Littlemore my Torres

Vedras, and thought that some day we might advance again within the

Anglican Church; I kept back all persons who were disposed to go to Rome

with all my might.

The "Via Media" was now an impossible idea; I abandoned that old ground,

and took another. I said, "Much as Roman Catholics may denounce us at

present as schismatical, they could not resist us if the Anglican

communion had but that one note of the Church upon it--sanctity." I was

pleased with my new view, but my friends were naturally offended at a

novel line of argument which substituted a sort of methodistic

self-contemplation for the plain and honest tokens of a divine mission

in the Anglican Church.

In spite of my ingrained fears of Rome, in spite of my affection for

Oxford and Oriel, yet I had a secret longing love of Rome, the Mother of

English Christianity. It was the consciousness of this bias in myself

which made me preach so earnestly against the danger of being swayed in

religious inquiry by our sympathy rather than by our reason. I was in

great perplexity, and hardly knew where I stood; I incurred the charge

of weakness from some men, and of mysteriousness and underhand dealing

from the majority. But I have never had any suspicion of my own honesty.

In July, 1844, I wrote to a friend: "I am far more certain, according to

the fathers, that we _are_ in a state of culpable separation than that

developments do _not_ exist under the Gospel, and that the Roman

developments are not the true ones." I then saw that the principle of

development was discernible from the first years of the Catholic

teaching up to the present day. I came to the conclusion that there was

no medium, in true philosophy, between atheism and Catholicity, and that

a perfectly consistent mind must embrace either the one or the other. I

saw that no valid reasons could be assigned for continuing in the

Anglican Church, and that no Valid objections could be taken to joining

the Roman.

In February, 1843, I had made a formal retraction of all the hard things

which I had said against the Church of Rome, and in September I had

resigned the living of St. Mary's, Littlemore included. I began my

"Essay on the Development of Doctrine" in the beginning of 1845, and was

hard at it till October. Before I got to the end, I resolved to be

received into the Catholic Church. Father Dominic came to Littlemore on

October 8, and did for me this charitable service. I left Oxford for

good on February 23, 1846.

_IV.--THE FAITH OF A CATHOLIC_

From the time that I became a Catholic of course I have no further

history of my religious opinions to narrate. I do not mean that I have

given up thinking on theological subjects, but that I have had no

variations to record, and have had no anxiety of heart whatever. I have

been in perfect peace; I never have had one doubt.

Nor had I any trouble about receiving those additional articles which

are not found in the Anglican creed. I am far from denying that every

article of the Christian creed is beset with difficulties, and it is

simple fact that I cannot answer those difficulties. But ten thousand

difficulties do not make one doubt. Of all points of faith, the being of

a God is encompassed with most difficulty, and yet borne in upon our

minds with most power.

Starting, then, with the being of a God, which is as certain to me as my

own existence, I look out of myself into the world of men, and there I

see a sight which fills me with unspeakable distress. The world seems

simply to give the lie to that great truth, of which my whole being is

so full; I look into this living, busy world, and see no reflection of

its Creator. To consider the world in its length and breadth, its

various history; the progress of things, as if from unreasoning

elements, not towards final causes; the greatness and littleness of man,

his far-reaching aims, his short duration, the curtain hung over his

futurity, the defeat of good, the prevalence and intensity of sin, the

dreary, hopeless irreligion--all this is a vision to dizzy and appal,

and inflicts upon the mind the sense of a profound mystery which is

absolutely beyond human solution. What shall be said to this

heart-piercing, reason-bewildering fact? I can only answer, that either

there is no Creator, or this living society of men is in a true sense

discarded from His presence.

And now, supposing it were the blessed will of the Creator to interfere

in this anarchical condition of things, what would be the methods which

might be necessarily or naturally involved in His purpose of mercy? What

must be the face-to-face antagonist, by which to withstand and baffle

the fierce energy and passion and the all-corroding, all-dissolving

scepticism of the intellect in religious inquiries? There is nothing to

surprise the mind, if He should think fit to introduce a power into the

world, invested with the prerogative of infallibility in religious

matters. Such a provision would be a direct, immediate, active, and

prompt means of withstanding the difficulty; and when I find that this

is the very claim of the Catholic Church, not only do I feel no

difficulty in admitting the idea, but there is a fitness in it which

recommends it to my mind.

I am defending myself from the charge that I, as a Catholic, not only

make profession to hold doctrines which I cannot possibly believe in my

heart, but that I also believe in a power on earth, which at its own

will imposes upon men any new set of _credenda_, when it pleases, by a

claim to infallibility; and that the necessary effect of such a

condition of mind must be a degrading bondage, or a bitter inward

rebellion relieving itself in secret infidelity, or the necessity of

ignoring the whole subject of religion in a sort of disgust, and of

mechanically saying everything that the Church says. But this is far

from the result; it is far from borne out by the history of the conflict

between infallibility and reason in the past, and the prospect in the

future.

The energy of the human intellect thrives and is joyous, with a tough,

elastic strength, under the terrible blows of the divinely fashioned

weapon. Protestant writers consider that they have all the private

judgment to themselves, and that we have the superincumbent oppression

of authority. But this is not so; it is the vast Catholic body itself,

and it only, which affords an arena for both combatants in that awful,

never-dying duel. St. Paul says that his apostolical power is given him

to edification, and not to destruction. There can be no better account

of the infallibility of the Church. Its object is, and its effect also,

not to enfeeble the freedom or vigour of human thought in religious

speculation, but resist and control its extravagance.

I will go on in fairness to say what I think _is_ the great trial to the

reason when confronted with that august prerogative of the Catholic

Church. The Church claims, not only to judge infallibly on religious

questions, but to animadvert on opinions in secular matters which bear

upon religion, on matters of philosophy, of science, of literature, of

history, and it demands our submission to her claim. In this province,

taken as a whole, it does not so much speak doctrinally, as enforce

measures of discipline.

I will go on to say further, that, in spite of all the most hostile

critics may urge about these verities of high ecclesiastics in time

past, in the use of their power, I think that the event has shown, after

all, that they were mainly in the right, and that those whom they were

hard upon were mainly in the wrong. There is a time for everything, and

many a man desires a reformation of an abuse, or the fuller development

of a doctrine, or the adoption of a particular policy, but forgets to

ask himself whether the right time for it is come.

There is only one other subject which I think it necessary to introduce

here, as bearing upon the vague suspicions which are attached in this

country to the Catholic priesthood. It is one of which my accusers have

before now said much--the charge of reserve and economy. I come to the

direct question of truth, and of the truthfulness of Catholic priests

generally in their dealings with the world, as bearing on the general

question of their honesty, and of their internal belief in their

religious professions. First, I will say that when I became a Catholic,

nothing struck me more at once than the English outspoken manner of the

priests. There was nothing of that smoothness or mannerism which is

commonly imputed to them. Next, I was struck, when I had more

opportunity of judging of the priests, by the simple faith in the

Catholic creed and system, of which they always give evidence, and which

they never seemed to feel in any sense at all to be a burden.

Vague charges against us are drawn from our books of moral theology. St.

Alfonso Liguori, for instance, lays down that an equivocation is

allowable in an extraordinary case. I avow at once that in this

department of morality, I like the English rule of conduct better. Yet,

great English authors, Jeremy Taylor, Milton, Paley, Johnson, distinctly

say that under extraordinary circumstances it is allowable to tell a

lie. Would anyone give ever so little weight to these statements, in

forming an estimate of the veracity of the writers? And, in fact, it is

notorious from St. Alfonso's life that he had one of the most scrupulous

and anxious of consciences; and, further, he was originally in the law,

and was betrayed on one occasion by accident into what seemed like a

deceit, and this was the very occasion of his leaving the profession.

If Protestants wish to know what our real teaching is, let them look at

the Catechism of the Council of Trent. Let me appeal also to the life of

St. Philip Neri, founder of the Oratory: "As for liars, he could not

endure them, and he was continually reminding his spiritual children to

avoid them as they would a pestilence."

These are the principles on which I have acted before I was a Catholic,

these are the principles which, I trust, will be my stay and guidance to

the end.

* * * * *

THOMAS PAINE

THE AGE OF REASON

In 1774, Thomas Paine, thirty-seven years of age, landed

unknown and penniless in the American colonies. Born at

Thetford, Norfolk, England, Jan. 29, 1737, of poor Quaker

parents, he had tried many occupations, and had succeeded in

none. Within two years he had become an intellectual leader of

the American Revolution. Beginning his literary career with an

attack on slavery, he continued it in 1776 by publishing his

pamphlet "Common Sense," which gave an electric inspiration to

the cause of separation and republicanism among the colonists.

After serving the new commonwealth in office and with his pen,

he went to France on an official mission in 1781; then

returned to his native England, intent on furthering his

views. In 1793 Paine wrote the first part of "The Age of

Reason," which aroused a storm of indignation, but undaunted,

he added a second and a third part to the work, consisting

mostly of amplifications of some of the contentions advanced

in the first part, in the writing of which Paine had no Bible

to consult. The book, the first part of which was published in

1794, the second part in 1795, and the third in 1801, is an

exposition of Deism on a purely scientific basis; the visible

creation was everything to Paine in his reasonings, the

religious hopes, fears and aspirations of men were nothing at

all--this universal human phenomenon was curtly dismissed by

him as a universal human delusion. Many of his comments on the

Bible were rather crude anticipations of the modern Higher

Criticism. But in dealing with the Bible, Paine showed the

animus of a prosecuting counsel rather than the impartiality

of a judge. His stormy life ended on July 8, 1809. (See also

ECONOMICS, Vol. XIV.)

_I.--REVEALED RELIGION_

It has been my intention, for several years past, to publish my thoughts

upon religion. As several of my colleagues, and others of my fellow

citizens of France, have given me the example of making their voluntary

and individual profession of faith, I also will make mine; and I do this

with all that sincerity and frankness with which the mind of man

communicates with itself.

I believe in one God, and no more; and I hope for happiness beyond this

life.

I believe in the equality of man, and I believe that religious duties

consist in doing justice, loving mercy, and endeavouring to make our

fellow-creatures happy.

I do not believe in the creed professed by the Jewish Church, by the

Roman Church, by the Greek Church, by the Turkish Church, by the

Protestant Church, nor by any church that I know of. My own mind is my

own church.

All national institutions of churches appear to me no other than human

inventions set up to terrify and enslave mankind, and monopolise power

and profit.

Each of those churches show certain books which they call "revelation,"

or the word of God. The Jews say that the word of God was given by God

to Moses face to face; the Christians say that their word of God came by

divine inspiration; and the Turks say their word of God (the Koran) was

brought by an angel from heaven. Each of these churches accuses the

other of unbelief; and, for my own part, I disbelieve them all.

As it is necessary to affix right ideas to words, I will, before I

proceed further into the subject, offer some observations on the word

revelation. Revelation, when applied to religion, means something

communicated immediately from God to man.

No one will deny or dispute the power of the Almighty to make such a

communication if he pleases. But admitting, for the sake of a case, that

something has been revealed to a certain person, and not revealed to any

other person, it is revelation to that person only.

When he tells it to a second person, a second to a third, a third to a

fourth, and so on, it ceases to be a revelation to all those persons. It

is a revelation to the first person only, and hearsay to every other;

consequently they are not obliged to believe it, for they have only the

word of the first person that it was made to him.

The world has been amused with the terms "revealed religion," and the

generality of priests apply this term to the books called the Old and

New Testament. There is no man that believes in revealed religion

stronger than I do; but it is not the reveries of the Old and New

Testament that I dignify with that sacred title. That which is a

revelation to me exists in something which no human mind can invent, no

human hand can counterfeit or alter.

The word of God is the Creation we behold; and this word of God

revealeth to man all that is necessary for him to know of his Creator.

Do we want to contemplate his power? We see it in the immensity of his

creation.

Do we want to contemplate his wisdom? We see it in the unchangeable

order by which the incomprehensible whole is governed.

Do we want to contemplate his munificence? We see it in the abundance

with which he fills the earth.

Do we want to contemplate his mercy? We see it in his not withholding

that abundance even from the unthankful.

Do we want to contemplate his will, so far as it respects man? The

goodness he shows to all is a lesson for our conduct to each other.

In fine, do we want to know what God is? Search not the book called the

Scripture, which any human hand might make, but the Scripture called the

Creation.

_II.--THEOLOGY AND RELIGION_

As to the Christian system of faith, it appears to me as a compound made

up chiefly of manism with but little Deism, and is near to Atheism as

twilight is to darkness.

That which is now called natural philosophy, embracing the whole circle

of science, of which astronomy occupies the chief place, is the study of

the works of God, and of the power and wisdom of God in his works, and

is the true theology.

As to the theology that is now studied in its place, it is the study of

human opinions and of human fancies concerning God. It is not the study

of God Himself in the works that He has made, but in the works or

writings that man has made; and it is not among the least of the

mischiefs that the Christian system has done to the world that it has

abandoned the original and beautiful system of theology, like a

beautiful innocent, to distress and reproach, to make room for the bag

of superstition.

It is an inconsistency, scarcely possible to be credited, that anything

should exist under the name of a religion that held it to be irreligious

to study and contemplate the structure of the universe that God had

made. But the fact is too well established to be denied. The event that

served more than any other to break the first link in the long chain of

despotic ignorance is that known by the name of the Reformation by

Luther. From that time, though it does not appear to have made part of

the intention of Luther, or of these who are called Reformers, the

sciences began to revive, and liberality, their natural associate, began

to appear. This was the only public good the Reformation did; for with

respect to religious good it might as well not have taken place. The

mythology still continued the same; and the multiplicity of national

popes grew out of the downfall of the Pope of Christendom.

The prejudice of unfounded belief often degenerates into the prejudice

of custom, and becomes at last rank hypocrisy. When men from custom or

fashion, or any worldly motive profess or pretend to believe what they

do not believe, nor can give any reason for believing, they unship the

helm of their morality, and, being no longer honest in their own minds,

they feel no moral difficulty in being unjust to others. It is from the

influence of this vice, hypocrisy, that we see so many church and

meeting-going professors and pretenders to religion so full of tricks

and deceit in their dealings, and so loose in the performance of their

engagements that they are not to be trusted further than the laws of the

country will bind them. Morality has no hold on their minds, no

restraint on their actions.

One set of preachers make salvation to consist in believing. They tell

their congregations that if they believe in Christ their sins shall be

forgiven. This, in the first place, is an encouragement to sin; in the

next place, the doctrine these men preach cannot be true.

Another set of preachers tell their congregations that God predestined

and selected from all eternity a certain number to be saved, and a

certain number to be damned eternally. If this were true, the day of

judgment is past; their preaching is in vain, and they had better work

at some useful calling for their livelihood.

Nothing that is here said can apply, even with the most distant

disrespect, to the real character of Jesus Christ. He was a virtuous and

an amiable man. The morality that he preached and practised was of the

most benevolent kind, and, though similar systems of morality had been

preached by Confucius and by some of the Greek philosophers many years

before, by the Quakers since, and by many good men in all ages, it has

not been exceeded by any.

_III.--THE BIBLE_

If we permit ourselves to conceive right ideas of things, we must

necessarily affix the idea, not only of unchangeableness, but of the

utter impossibility of any change taking place, by any means or accident

whatever, in that which we would honour with the name of God; and

therefore the word of God cannot exist in any written or human language.

The continually progressive change to which the meaning of words is

subject, the want of an universal language which renders translation

necessary, the errors to which translations are again subject, the

mistakes of copyists and printers, together with the possibility of

wilful alteration, are of themselves evidences that human language,

whether in speech or in print, cannot be the vehicle of the word of God.

The word of God exists in something else.

It has been the practice of all Christian commentators on the Bible, and

of all Christian priests and preachers, to impose the Bible on the world

as a mass of truth, and as the word of God; they have disputed and

wrangled, and have anathematised each other about the supposable meaning

of particular parts and passages therein; one has said and insisted that

such a passage meant such a thing; another, that it meant directly the

contrary; and a third, that it meant neither the one nor the other, but

something different from both; and this they have called understanding

the Bible.

Now, instead of wasting their time, and heating themselves in fractious

disputations about doctrinal points drawn from the Bible, these men

ought to know, and if they do not it is civility to inform them, that

the first thing to be understood is, whether there is sufficient

authority for believing the Bible to be the word of God, or whether

there is not.

I therefore pass on to an examination of the Books called the Old and

the New Testament. The case historically appears to be as follows:

When the Church mythologists established their system, they collected

all the writings they could find and managed them as they pleased. It is

a matter altogether of uncertainty to us whether such of the writings as

now appear under the name of the Old and the New Testament are in the

same state in which these collectors say they found them; or whether

they added, altered, abridged, or dressed them up.

Be this as it may, they decided by _vote_ which of the books out of the

collection they had made should be the word of God, and which should

not. They rejected several; they voted others to be doubtful, such as

the books called the Apocrypha; and those books which had a majority of

votes they voted to be the word of God. Had they voted otherwise, all

the people since calling themselves Christians, had believed otherwise;

for the belief of the one comes from the vote of the other. Who the

people were that did all this we know nothing of; they call themselves

by the general name of the Church; and this is all we know of the

matter.

There are matters in the Bible, said to be done by the express command

of God, that are as shocking to humanity and to every idea we have of

moral justice as anything done by Robespierre, by Carrier, by Joseph le

Ben, in France; by the English Government in the East Indies; or by any

other assassin in modern times. Are we sure that the Creator of man

commissioned these things to be done? Are we sure that the books that

tell us so were written by His authority? To read the Bible without

horror, we must undo everything that is tender, sympathising, and

benevolent in the heart of man. Speaking for myself, if I had no other

evidence that the Bible is fabulous than the sacrifice I must make to

believe it to be true, that alone would be sufficient to determine my

choice.

But it can be shown by internal evidence that the Bible is not entitled

to credit as the word of God. It can readily be proved that the first

five books of the Bible, attributed to Moses, were not written by him

nor in his time, but several hundred years afterwards. Moses could not

have described his own death, nor mentioned that he was buried in a

valley in the land of Moab. Similarly, the book of Joshua was not

written by Joshua; it is manifest that Joshua could not write that

Israel served the Lord not only in his days, but in the days of the

elders that over-lived him. The book of Judges is anonymous on the face

of it. The books of Samuel were not written by Samuel, for they relate

many things that did not happen till after his death.

The history in the two books of Kings, which is little more than a

history of assassinations, treachery, and war, sometimes contradicts

itself; and several of the most extraordinary matters related in Kings

are not mentioned in the companion books of Chronicles. The book of Job

has no internal evidence of being a Hebrew book; it appears to have been

translated from another language into Hebrew; and it is the only book in

the Bible that can be read without indignation or disgust. It is an

error to call the Psalms the Psalms of David because historical evidence

shows that some of them were not written until long after the time of

David. The books of the prophets are wild, disorderly, and obscure

compositions, the so-called prophecies in which do not refer to Jesus

Christ, but to circumstances the Jewish nation was in at the time they

were written or spoken.

I now go on to the book called the New Testament. Had it been the object

of Jesus Christ to establish a new religion, he would undoubtedly have

written the system himself, or procured it to be written in His

lifetime. But there is no publication extant authenticated with his

name. All the books called the New Testament were written after his

death. He was a Jew by birth and profession, and he was the Son of God

in like manner that every other person is; for the Creator is the Father

of All.

The first four books--Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John--are altogether

anecdotal. They relate events after they had taken place. They tell what

Jesus Christ did and said, and what others did and said to him; and in

several instances they relate the same event differently. Revelation,

therefore, is out of the question with respect to these books. The

presumption, moreover, is that they are written by other persons than

these whose name they bear.

The book of Acts of the Apostles belongs also to the anecdotal part. All

the rest of the New Testament, except the book of enigmas called the

Revelation, are a collection of letters under the name of epistles, and

the forgery of letters under the name of epistles. One thing, however,

is certain, which is that out of the matters contained in these books,

together with the assistance of some old stories, the Church has set up

a system of religion very contradictory to the character of the person

whose name it bears. It has set up a religion of pomp and reverence in

pretended imitation of a person whose life was humility and poverty.

_IV.--MYSTERY, MIRACLE, AND PROPHECY_

I proceed to speak of the three principal means that have been employed

in all ages and perhaps in all countries to impose upon mankind.

These three means are mystery, miracle, and prophecy. The two first are

incompatible with true religion, and the third ought always to be

suspected. With respect to mystery, everything we behold is, in one

sense, a mystery to us. Our own existence is a mystery, the whole

vegetable world is a mystery. We know not how it is that the seed we sow

unfolds and multiplies itself.

The fact, however, as distinct from the operating cause, is not a

mystery, because we see it; and we know also the means we are to use,

which is no other than putting the seed in the ground. We know,

therefore, as much as is necessary for us to know; and that part of the

operation that we do not know, and which if we did we could not perform,

the Creator takes upon Himself and performs it for us.

But though every created thing is in this sense a mystery, the word

mystery cannot be applied to moral truth, any more than obscurity can be

applied to light. The God in whom we believe is a God of moral truth,

and not of mystery. Mystery is the antagonist of truth. It is a fog of

human invention that obscures truth, and represents it in distortion.

Religion, therefore, being the belief of a God, and the practice of

moral truth, cannot have connection with mystery. The belief of a God,

so far from having anything of mystery in it, is of all beliefs the most

easy, becauses it arises to us out of necessity. And the practice of

moral truth, or, in other words, a practical imitation of the goodness

of God, is no other than our acting towards each other as he acts

benignly towards all.

When men, whether from policy or pious fraud, set up systems of religion

incompatible with the word or works of God in the creation, they were

under the necessity of inventing or adopting a word that should serve as

a bar to all inquiries and speculations. The word "mystery" answered

this purpose, and thus it has happened that religion, which in itself is

without mystery, has been corrupted into a fog of mysteries.

As mystery answered all general purposes, "miracle" followed as an

occasional auxiliary. Of all the modes of evidence that ever were

invented to obtain belief to any system or opinion to which the name of

religion has been given, that of miracle is the most inconsistent. For,

in the first place, whenever recourse is had to show, for the purpose of

procuring that belief, it implies a lameness or weakness in the doctrine

that is preached. And, in the second place, it is degrading the Almighty

into the character of a showman, playing tricks to amuse and make the

people stare and wonder. It is also the most equivocal sort of evidence

that can be set up; for the belief is not to depend upon the thing

called a miracle, but upon the credit of the reporter who says that he

saw it; and therefore the thing, were it true, would have no better

chance of being believed than if it were a lie.

As mystery and miracle took charge of the past and the present, prophecy

took charge of the future, and rounded the tenses of faith. The original

meaning of the words "prophet" and "prophesying" has been changed, the

Old Testament prophets were simply poets and musicians. It is owing to

this change in the meaning of the words that the flights and metaphors

of the Jewish poets, and phrases and expressions now rendered obscure by

our not being acquainted with the local circumstances to which they

applied at the time they were used, have been erected into prophecies,

and made to bend explanations at the will and whimsical conceits of

sectaries, expounders, and commentators. Everything unintelligible was

prophetical.

_V.--DEISM_

Fom the time I was capable of conceiving an idea, and acting upon it by

reflection, I either doubted the truth of the Christian system or

thought it to be a strange affair. It seems as if parents of the

Christian profession were ashamed to tell their children anything about

the principles of their religion. They sometimes instruct them in

morals, and talk to them of the goodness of what they call Providence.

But the Christian story of what they call God the Father putting his son

to death, or employing people to do it--for that is the plain language

of the story--cannot be told by a parent to a child; and to tell him it

was done to make mankind happier and better is making the story still

worse; and to tell him that all this is a mystery is only making an

excuse for the incredibility of it.

How different is this from the pure and simple profession of deism! The

true deist has but one Deity, and his religion consists in contemplating

the power, wisdom, and benignity of the Deity in his works, and in

endeavouring to imitate him in everything moral, scientific, and

mechanical.

The religion that approaches the nearest of all others to true deism, in

the moral and benign part thereof, is that professed by the Quakers; but

they have contracted themselves too much by leaving the works of God out

of their system. Though I reverence their philanthropy, I cannot help

smiling at the conceit, that if the taste of the Quaker could have been

consulted at the creation what a silent and drab-coloured creation it

would have been! Not a flower would have blossomed its gaieties, not a

bird been permitted to sing.

Quitting these reflections, I proceed to other matters. Our ideas, not

only of the almightiness of the Creator, but of His wisdom and His

beneficence, become enlarged as we contemplate the extent and structure

of the universe. The solitary idea of a solitary world rolling or at

rest in the immense ocean of space gives place to the cheerful idea of a

society of worlds, so happily contrived as to administer, even by their

motion, instruction to man. We see our own earth filled with abundance,

but we forget to consider how much of that abundance is owing to the

scientific knowledge the vast machinery of the universe has unfolded.

But what are we to think of the Christian system of faith that forms

itself upon the idea of only one world? Alas! what is this to the mighty

ocean of space and the almighty power of the Creator? From whence, then,

could arise the solitary and strange conceit that the Almighty, who had

millions of worlds equally dependent on His protection, should quit the

care of all the rest and come to die in our world, because they say one

man and one woman had eaten an apple?

It has been by rejecting the evidence that the word or works of God in

the creation affords to our senses, and the action of our reason upon

that evidence, that so many wild and whimsical systems of faith, and of

religion, have been fabricated and set up. There may be many systems of

religion that so far from being morally bad are in many respects morally

good; but there can be but one that is true, and that one necessarily

must, as it ever will, be in all things consistent with the

ever-existing word of God that we behold in His works.

I shall close by giving a summary of the deistic belief:

First, that the creation we behold is the real word of God, in which we

cannot be deceived. It proclaims His power, it demonstrates His wisdom,

it manifests His goodness and beneficence.

Secondly, that the moral duty of man consists in imitating the moral

goodness and beneficence of God manifested in the creation towards all

His creatures. That seeing, as we daily do, the goodness of God to all

men, it is an example calling upon all men to practise the same towards

each other, and consequently that everything of persecution and revenge

between man and man, and everything of cruelty to animals, is a

violation of moral duty.

It is certain that, in one point, all nations of the earth and all

religions agree. All believe in a God. The things in which they disagree

are the redundancies annexed to that belief; and, therefore, if ever an

universal religion should prevail, it will not be in believing anything

new, but in getting rid of redundancies, and believing as man believed

at first. But in the meantime let every man follow, as he has a right to

do, the religion and the worship he prefers.

* * * * *

BLAISE PASCAL

LETTERS TO A PROVINCIAL

Blaise Pascal, mathematician, theologian, and one of the

greatest writers of French prose, was born on June 19, 1623,

at Clermont-Ferrand, and died on August 19, 1662. His mother

died in his fourth year, and the father, an eminent lawyer,

took the boy with his two sisters to Paris. Pascal showed the

most astonishing mathematical genius; he produced at the age

of seventeen a profound work on conic sections, and devoted

the following years to physical researches and to

investigations in the higher mathematics. In 1654, Pascal,

having experienced a remarkable vision, which he recorded on a

parchment known as his "amulet," renounced the world and

entered on the ascetic life, in close relations with the

Jansenist community. Hence, in the interests of Arnauld, the

Jansenist leader, Pascal issued the famous "Letters Written to

a Provincial" ("Lettres Écrites par Louis de Montalte à un

Provincial de ses Amis"), a series of eighteen tracts directed

with the keenest and bitterest irony against the casuistry of

the Jesuits. The "Letters" appeared during a period of

fourteen months, the first being dated January 23, 1656, and

the last March 24, 1657. They took the form of little

pamphlets, each of eight or twelve quarto pages; they had a

very large circulation, and created an immense impression

throughout Catholic countries. They are open letters, intended

really for the public and not for any individual.

_I.--LAX CASUISTS_

SIR,--I send you, as I promised, the chief outlines of the moral

teaching of these good Jesuit fathers, these "men so eminent in doctrine

and in wisdom, who are led by that divine wisdom which is more

trustworthy than all philosophy." Possibly you think that I speak in

jest. I speak seriously, or, rather, it is they who have spoken thus of

themselves. I only copy their words where they write, "It is a society

of men, or, rather, of angels, foretold by the prophet Isaiah." They

claim to have changed the face of Christianity. We must believe it,

since they have told us so; and, indeed, you will see how far they have

done so, when you have mastered their maxims.

I took care to be instructed by themselves and trusted to nothing which

my friend had told me. I had been told such strange things that I could

hardly believe them, until I was shown them in their own books; and then

I could say nothing in their defence, except that these must be the

principles of certain isolated Jesuits, and not those of the whole

society. Indeed, I was able to say that I knew Jesuits who were as

severe as these were lax.

It was on that occasion that the spirit of the society was explained to

me, for it is not by any means known to every one. I was told as

follows:

"You imagine that you are speaking in their favour when you say that

there are among them fathers who are as obedient to the principles of

the Gospel as others are distant from those principles, and you conclude

therefore that these loose opinions do not characterise the whole

society. That is true. But since the society admits of so licentious a

doctrine within it, you must conclude that its spirit is not one of

Christian severity."

"But what then," said I, "is the purpose of the whole institution? Is it

that everyone should be free to say whatever he may happen to think?"

"That is not so," was the reply. "So great a society could not exist

without discipline, and without one spirit governing and ruling all its

movements."

The objects of the Jesuits is not to corrupt morals, but, on the other

hand, they have not in view as their single object the reformation of

morals, because they would find this a political disadvantage. Their

principle is this: they have so high an opinion of themselves as to

believe that it is advantageous, and even necessary, to the good of

religion that their credit should extend everywhere and that they should

govern all consciences. And as the severe maxims of the Gospel are

suitable for governing certain temperaments, they make use of these

whenever they serve their purpose. But since these same maxims do not at

all suit the wishes of the generality of mankind, they usually put them

aside so as to be able to please everyone.

Therefore, having to do with people of all sorts and conditions, and of

diverse nationalities, they need casuists suited to all this diversity.

From this principle you will easily see that if they had none but lax

casuists they would defeat their chief purpose, which is to include the

whole world. Truly pious people seek a more severe direction, but as

there are not many who are truly pious the Jesuits do not need many

strict directors to guide them. They have a few for the few who need

them. On the other hand, the vast number of their lax casuists are at

the service of the innumerable multitude who seek the broad and easy

way.

It is by this obliging and accommodating conduct that they open their

arms to all the world. Thus, if someone comes to them already determined

to make restitution of goods which he has wrongly acquired, you need not

fear that they will dissuade him. On the contrary, they will praise and

confirm his holy resolution. But if another should come wishing to have

absolution without making restitution, their position would be a

difficult one, if they had not the means of giving him his desire. It is

thus that they keep all their friends and defend themselves against

their enemies. And if anyone accuses them of extreme laxity, they

immediately bring forward their most austere directors, and certain

books which they have written on the severity of the Christian law; and

simple and uninquiring people are contented with these proofs.

They have proofs for all sorts of people, and make such ingenious

replies to every question that when they find themselves in countries

where a crucified God seems like madness, they suppress the scandal of

the Cross and preach only Christ in glory. This they have done in India

and China, where they even condone idolatry by a subtle device; they

allow their people to carry with them hidden images of Christ, to which

they should address the public worship ostensibly paid to their idols.

This conduct led to their being forbidden under pain of excommunication

to permit the adoration of idols, under any pretext, or to hide the

mystery of the Cross from those whom they instruct in religion, and they

have been forbidden to receive anyone in baptism until he has this

knowledge, and are enjoined to erect in their churches the image of the

crucifix.

Thus they have spread over the whole earth in the strength of their

doctrine of "probable opinions," which is the fount and origin of all

these irregularities. You may learn of this from themselves, for they

take no pains to hide it, except that they cover their human and

political prudence with the pretence of a divine and Christian prudence.

They act as if the faith and the tradition which maintains it were not

for ever invariable at all times and in all places, and as if nothing

more were required, in order to remove the stains of guilt, than to

corrupt the law of the Lord, instead of regarding that stainless and

holy law as itself the instrument of conversion, and conforming human

souls to its salutary precepts.

_II.--THE DOCTRINE OF INTENTION_

Sir,--I must now let you know what the good Jesuit father told me about

the maxims of their casuists, with regard to the "point of honour" among

gentlemen. "You know," said he, "that this point of honour is the

dominating passion of men in that rank of life, and is constantly

leading them into acts of violence which appear quite contrary to

Christian piety. Indeed, we should have to exclude all of them from our

confessionals, if our fathers had not in some degree relaxed the

severity of religion and accommodated it to the weakness of men. But

since they wished to remain attached to the Gospel by their duty towards

God, and to men of the world by their charity towards their neighbour,

they had to seek expedients by which they might make it possible for a

man to maintain his honour in the ordinary way of the world without

wounding his conscience. They had to preserve, at the same time, two

things which are apparently so opposed to one another as piety and

honour. But, however valuable their purpose might be, its execution was

exceedingly difficult."

"I am surprised," I said, "that you find it difficult."

"Are you?" he replied. "Do you not know that on the one hand the law of

the Gospel commands us never to render evil for evil, and to leave

vengeance to God; and that on the other hand the laws of the world

forbid that we should suffer injury without executing justice, even by

the death of our enemies? Is it possible that two precepts should be

more contrary to one another?"

"What I meant to say was, that after what I have seen of your fathers, I

know that they can easily do things which are impossible to other men. I

am quite ready to believe that they have discovered some means of

reconciling these two precepts, and I beg of you to inform me what it

is."

"You must know, then," he replied, "that this wonderful principle is our

grand method of _directing the intention,_ a principle of great

importance in our moral system. You have already seen certain examples

of it. Thus, when I explained to you how servants could carry with a

clear conscience certain harmful messages, you must have seen that it

was by diverting their intention from the evil of which they are the

bearers and by turning it to the gain which they receive for their

service. This is what we call 'directing the intention.' In the same way

you have seen that those who give money in return for benefices would be

guilty of simony unless they diverted their intention from the

transaction. But I am going to show you this grand method in all its

beauty in relation to homicide, which it justifies under a thousand

circumstances."

"I am ready to believe," I said, "that your principle will permit

everything, and that nothing will escape it."

"Not at all," he replied; "you are always running from one extreme to

the other. We by no means permit everything. For instance, we never

permit the formal intention of sin, for the mere sake of sinning, and we

will have nothing to do with anyone who persists in seeking evil as an

end in itself, for that is a devilish intention, in whatever age, sex,

or rank it may be found. But so long as there is no such unhappy

disposition as that, we try to put in practice our method of directing

intention, which consists in proposing a lawful object as the end of

one's actions. In so far as it is in our power, we turn away from

forbidden things; but when we are unable to prevent the action, we at

least try to purify the intention, and so correct the vice of the means

by the purity of the end.

"That is how our fathers have been able to permit the acts of violence

which are committed in the defence of honour. It is only necessary to

turn away one's intention from the desire of vengeance, which is

criminal, and to restrict it to the desire of defending one's honour,

which is a lawful desire. It is thus that our fathers are able to fulfil

their duties towards God and towards men alike. They please the world by

permitting the actions, and they satisfy the Gospel by purifying the

intentions. It is a method which was unknown to the ancients, and is

entirely due to our fathers. Do you understand it now?"

"I understand it very well," I said. "You allow to men the external and

material effect of the action, and you give to God the internal and

spiritual movement of intention, and thus reconcile the human with the

divine law. But though I understand your principle well enough, I should

like to know what are its consequences.--I should like to know, for

instance, all the cases in which your method permits one to kill. You

have told me that whoever receives a blow may repay it with a

sword-thrust without the guilt of vengeance, but you have not yet told

me how far one may go."

"You can hardly make a mistake," said the father. "You may go as far as

to kill the man. One of our authorities speaks: 'It is permitted to kill

a man who has given a blow, even though he runs away, on the condition

that it is not done through hatred or through vengeance, and that one's

actions do not lead to murders which are excessive and harmful to the

state.' The reason is, that one may thus run after one's honour as if

after a stolen object. For though your honour is not exactly in the

hands of your enemy as if it were something which he had picked up, you

can yet recover it in the same way by giving a proof of greatness and of

authority, and by thus acquiring human esteem. Indeed, he continues: 'Is

it not true that he who has received a blow is considered disgraced

until he has slain his enemy?'"

This appeared to me so horrible that I had difficulty in restraining

myself. I felt that I had heard enough.

_III.--THE CHARGE OF RAILLERY_

Reverend Fathers,--I have read the letters which you have published in

answer to some of mine on the subject of your moral principles; and I

find that one of the principal points in your defence is that I have not

spoken seriously enough of your maxims. You repeat this charge in all

your writings, and you go so far as to say that I have turned holy

things into ridicule.

This is a surprising and very unjust reproach; for where is a passage to

be found in which I have treated holy things with raillery? It is true

that I have spoken with little respect of the teachings of certain among

you, but do you suppose that the imaginations of your authors are to be

taken as the verities of the faith? Is it impossible to laugh at

passages of Escobar, and at the very fantastic and unchristian

conclusions of others of your authors without being accused of

ridiculing religion? Are you not afraid lest your reproaches should give

me a new subject for ridicule, or lest it should be seen that when I

make sport of your moral principles I am as far from laughing at holy

things as the doctrine of your casuists is far from the holy teaching of

the Evangel!

Truly, fathers, there is a great difference between laughing at

religion, and laughing at those whose extravagant opinions are its

profanation. It would be impious to be wanting in respect for the truths

which the Spirit of God has revealed, but it would hardly be less

impious that we should not show our contempt for the falsities which the

human spirit has opposed to them.

I pray you to consider that just as Christian truth is worthy of love

and of respect, the errors that are contrary to it deserve our contempt

and hatred. For there are two qualities in the truths of our religion, a

divine beauty which compels our love, and a holy majesty that demands

our veneration; and there are two qualities in error, the impiety which

makes it horrible, and the impertinence which renders it absurd.

Do not hope, therefore, to persuade the world that it is unworthy of

Christians to deal with errors as absurdities, since this method has

been common to the early fathers of the church, and is authorised by

Holy Scriptures, by the example of the greatest saints, and even by that

of God himself. For do we not see that God at the same time hates and

despises sinners in such a degree that at the hour of their death, when

their condition is at its saddest and most deplorable, the divine wisdom

is said to unite mockery and laughter with the vengeance and fury which

condemns them to perpetual torments.

Nay, it is worthy of our notice that in the first words which God spake

to man after the fall the fathers of the church have discovered a tone

of mockery, a stinging irony. After Adam had disobeyed, in the hope that

the devil had given that he would then be made like a God, it appears

from Scripture that God's punishment made him subject to death, and that

after having reduced Adam to the miserable condition which his sin had

deserved, God mocked him with words of piercing irony, saying: "There is

the man who has become as one of us."

You see, therefore, that mockery is sometimes designed to turn men from

their follies, and is then an act of righteousness. Thus Jeremiah says

that the deeds of the foolish are worthy of laughter because of their

vanity. And, again, St. Augustine says that the wise laugh at the

foolish because they are wise, but in virtue not of their own wisdom,

but of the divine wisdom which will mock at the death of the wicked.

What? Must we call in Scripture and tradition to prove that cutting down

one's enemy from behind, and in an ambush is a treacherous murder? Or

that giving a present of money to secure an ecclesiastical benefice is

to purchase it? Of course, there are teachings which deserve our

contempt, and can only be dealt with by mockery. Are you, fathers, to be

permitted to teach that it is lawful to slay in order to avoid a blow

and an affront, yet are we to be forbidden to refute publicly so grave

an error? Are you to be at liberty to say that a judge may

conscientiously retain a bribe given him to purchase injustice, yet may

we never contradict you? Are you formally to pronounce that a man may be

saved without ever having loved God, and yet close the mouths of those

who would defend the truth of the faith, on the ground that their

defence must wound fraternal charity by attacking you, and must grieve

Christian modesty by laughing at your maxims?

_IV.--THE SIN OF SIMONY_

Reverend Fathers,--I was about to write to you concerning the

accusations which you have so long brought against me, wherein you call

me impious, buffoon, rogue, impostor, calumniator, swindler, heretic,

disguised Calvinist, one possessed of a legion of devils. I wish the

world to know why you speak thus, for I should be sorry that anyone

should think thus of me; and I had already made up my mind to complain

publicly of your calumnies and impostures when I saw your replies,

wherein you bring the same charges against me. You have thus forced me

to change my purpose. Yet I shall still carry it out in some degree,

inasmuch as I hope that my defence will convict you of more real

impostures which you have imputed to me. Truly, fathers, your position

is more open to suspicion than mine, for it is very unlikely that I,

being alone as I am, and without strength or human support against so

powerful a society as yours, and being sustained only by truth and

sincerity, should have exposed myself to the risk of losing all, by

exposing myself to a conviction of imposture. But your position,

fathers, is different; you can say of me what you please, and I can find

no one to whom I may complain. Well, you have chosen your ground, and

the war shall be made in your country and at your expense. Do not fear

that I shall be tedious; there is something so diverting about your

maxims that they never fail to rejoice the world.

Let me closely explain, for instance, your doctrine with regard to

simony. Finding yourself in a dilemma between the canons of the church,

which forbid with the severest penalties any trade in ecclesiastical

benefices, and the avarice of so many people who promote this infamous

traffic, you have followed your ordinary method, which is to give to men

what they desire, and to offer to God nothing but words and appearances.

For what do simonfacal persons demand, if not that they shall receive

money in return for their benefices?

But that is precisely the transaction which you have cleared from the

guilt of simony. Yet, since you cannot do away with the name of simony,

and there must be some matter to which the name attaches, you have

devised for that purpose an imaginary idea, which never enters the minds

of simoniacs at all, and indeed would be quite useless to them. This is,

that simony consists in valuing the money, considered in itself, as

highly as the spiritual privilege, considered in itself. Who would ever

dream of comparing things which are so disproportionate and of such

different kinds? Yet, according to your authors, so long as a man does

not entertain this metaphysical comparison, he may give his benefice to

another, and may receive money in return, without incurring the guilt of

simony. It is thus that you make game of religion in order to pander to

human passions.

The abusive language which you utter against me will never clear up our

differences, nor shall any of your threats restrain me from defending

myself. You trust in your strength and impunity, but I believe that I

possess truth and innocence. The war by which violence attempts to

oppress the truth is a strange and a long one, for all the efforts of

violence are unable to weaken truth, and serve only to make it more

evident. On the other hand, all the light of truth can do nothing to

arrest violence, but rather inflames it. When force combats force, the

stronger destroys the weaker; when argument is opposed to argument, true

and convincing reasoning confounds that which is based on vanity and

lies; but violence and truth have, no power one over the other. That is

not to say that these two things are equal. There is this extreme

difference between them: the career of violence is limited by the divine

order, which determines its effects to the glory of the truth which it

attacks; but truth, on the other hand, exists externally, and triumphs

at last over its enemies, because it is eternal and powerful as God

Himself.

_V.--HOMICIDE_

Let us now see, fathers, how you value that life of man, which is so

jealously safeguarded by human justice. It appears from your novel laws

that there is only one judge in a case of affront or injury, and that

this judge is to be he who has received the offence. He is to be at the

same time judge, plaintiff, and executioner. He demands the death of the

offender, sentences him to death, and immediately executes the sentence;

and so, without respect either for the body or for the soul of his

brother, slays and imperils the salvation of him for whom Christ died.

And all this is to be done to avoid a blow, a slander, an insulting

word, or some other offence for which neither the law nor any authorised

judge could assign the penalty of death.

Not only so, but even a priest is held to have contracted neither sin

nor irregularity in this infliction of death without authority and

against law. Can these be religious men and priests who speak in this

way? Are they Christians or Turks--men or demons? Spread over the whole

earth, according to St. Augustine, there are two peoples and two

worlds--the world of the children of God, who form one body, of which

Jesus Christ is king, and the world of the enemies of God, of whom the

devil is king.

Now, Christ has founded honour on suffering; the devil has founded it on

the refusal to suffer. Christ has taught those who receive a blow to

offer the other cheek; but the devil has taught those who are in danger

of a blow to kill the enemy who threatens them.

Consider, therefore, fathers, to which of these two kingdoms you belong.

You have heard the language of the city of peace, which is called the

mystical Jerusalem, and you have heard the language of the city of

turmoil, which is called in the Scriptures the spiritual Sodom. Which of

these two languages do you understand? According to St. Paul, those who

belong to Christ act and speak on his principles; and, according to the

words of Christ, those who are the children of the devil, who has been a

murderer from the beginning of the world, follow his maxims. We listen,

therefore, to the language of your teachers, and ask of them whether

when a blow is threatened, we ought to suffer it rather than slay the

offender, or whether we may kill him in order to escape the affront?

Lessius, Molina, Escobar, and other Jesuits say that it is lawful to

kill the man who threatens a blow. Is that the language of Jesus Christ?

* * * * *

WILLIAM PENN

SOME FRUITS OF SOLITUDE

William Penn was born in London on October 14, 1644. In early

life he joined the Quakers, and while still a young man

underwent imprisonment for the expression of his religious

views. For "A Sandy Foundation Shaken," an attack on the

Athanasian Creed, he was in 1668 sent to the Tower, where he

wrote, "No Cross, No Crown." Under James II., however, he was

high in the favour of the court, and received a grant of the

region afterwards known as Pennsylvania, whither he went with

a number of his co-religionists in 1682. After his return to

England, he suffered by the fall of James II., but under

William III. was acquitted of treason, and spent his later

years in retirement. He died at Ruscombe, in Berkshire, on

July 30, 1718. "Some Fruits of Solitude, or the Maxims of

William Penn," evidently the result of one of his sojourns in

prison, was licensed in 1693. It was followed by "More Fruits

of Solitude." The whole forms a collection of maxims which are

shrewd, wise, and charitable, informed with a good courage for

life, and a contempt for mean ends, if in their variety they

do not always escape the touch of the commonplace. The book

has become known as a favourite of R.L. Stevenson, who said of

it that "there is not the man living--no, nor recently

dead--that could put, with so lovely a spirit, so much honest,

kind wisdom into words."

_TO THE READER_

Reader, this Enchiridion I present thee which is the fruit of solitude;

a school few care to learn in, though none instructs us better. Some

parts of it are the result of serious reflection; others the flashings

of lucid intervals. Writ for private satisfaction, and now published for

an help to human conduct.

The author blesseth God for his retirement, and kisses that Gentle Hand

which led him into it; for though it should prove barren to the world,

it can never do so to him.

He has now had some time he could call his own; a property he was never

so much master of before; in which he has taken a view of himself and

the world; and observed wherein he hath hit and mist the mark; what

might have been done, what mended, and what avoided in his human

conduct; together with the omissions and excesses of others, as well

societies and governments, as private families and persons. And he

verily thinks, were he to live over his life again, he could not only,

with God's grace, serve Him, but his neighbour and himself, better than

he hath done, and have seven years of his time to spare. And yet perhaps

he hath not been the worst or the idlest man in the world, nor is he the

oldest. And this is the rather said, that it might quicken thee, reader,

to lose none of the time that is yet thine.

There is nothing of which we are apt to be so lavish as of time, and

about which we ought to be more solicitous; since without it we can do

nothing in this world. Time is what we want most, but what, alas! we use

worst; and for which God will certainly most strictly reckon with us,

when time shall be no more.

The author does not pretend to deliver thee an exact piece; his business

not being ostentation, but charity. 'Tis miscellaneous in the matter of

it, and by no means artificial in the composure. But it contains hints

that may serve thee for texts to preach to thyself upon, and which

comprehend much of the course of human life. Since whatever be thy

inclination or aversion, practice or duty, thou wilt find something not

unsuitably said for thy direction and advantage. Accept and improve what

deserves thy notice; the rest excuse, and place to account of good will

to thee and the whole creation of God.

_IGNORANCE_

It is admirable to consider how many millions of people come into and go

out of the world ignorant of themselves and of the world they have lived

in. If one went to see Windsor Castle or Hampton Court it would be

strange not to observe and remember the situation, the building, the

gardens, fountains, etc., that make up the beauty and pleasure of such a

seat. And yet few people know themselves; no, not their own bodies, the

houses of their minds, the most curious structure of the world, a living

walking tabernacle: nor the world of which it was made, and out of which

it is fed; which would be so much our benefit as well as our pleasure to

know. We cannot doubt of this when we are told the Invisible things of

God are brought to light by the things that are seen; and consequently

we read our duty in them as often as we look upon them, to Him that is

the Great and Wise Author of them, if we look as we should do.

The world is certainly a great and stately volume of natural things; and

may not be improperly styled the hieroglyphics of a better. But, alas!

how very few leaves of it do we really turn over! This ought to be the

subject of the education of our youth, who at twenty, when they should

be fit for business, know little or nothing of it.

_EDUCATION_

We are in pain to make them scholars, but not men; to talk rather than

to know, which is true canting. The first thing obvious to children is

what is sensible; and that we make no part of their rudiments.

We press their memory too soon, and puzzle, strain, and load them with

words and rules; to know grammar and rhetoric, and a strange tongue or

two, that it is ten to one may never be useful to them; leaving their

natural genius to mechanical and physical, or natural knowledge

uncultivated and neglected; which would be of exceeding use and pleasure

to them through the whole course of their life.

To be sure, languages are not to be despised or neglected; but things

are still to be preferred.

Children had rather be making of tools and instruments of play; shaping,

drawing, framing, and building, etc., than getting some rules of

propriety of speech by heart; and those also would follow with more

judgment and less trouble and time.

It were happy if we studied nature more in natural things, and acted

according to nature; whose rules are few, plain, and most reasonable.

Let us begin where she begins, go her pace, and close always where she

ends, and we cannot miss of being good naturalists.

The creation would not be longer a riddle to us: the heavens, earth, and

waters, with their respective, various, and numerous inhabitants: their

productions, natures, seasons, sympathies, and antipathies; their use,

benefit, and pleasure would be better understood by us: and an eternal

wisdom, power, majesty, and goodness very conspicuous to us through

those sensible and passing forms: the world wearing the mark of its

Maker, whose stamp is everywhere visible, and the characters very

legible to the children of wisdom.

And it would go a great way to caution and direct people in their use of

the world that they were better studied and known in the creation of it.

For how could man find the confidence to abuse it, while they should

find the Great Creator stare them in the face, in all and every part

thereof?

Their ignorance makes them insensible and that insensibility hardy in

misusing this noble creation, that has the stamp and voice of a Deity

everywhere, and in everything to the observing.

It is pity, therefore, that books have not been composed for youth, by

some curious and careful naturalists, and also mechanics, in the Latin

tongue, to be used in schools, that they might learn things with words:

things obvious and familiar to them, and which would make the tongue

easier to be obtained by them.

Many able gardeners and husbandmen are yet ignorant of the reason of

their calling; as most artificers are of the reason of their own rules

that govern their excellent workmanship. But a naturalist and mechanick

of this sort is master of the reason of both, and might be of the

practice, too, if his industry kept pace with his speculation; which

were very commendable, and without which he cannot be said to be a

complete naturalist or mechanic.

Finally, if man be the index or epitome of the world, as philosophers

tell us, we have only to read ourselves well to be learned in it. But

because there is nothing we less regard than the characters of the Power

that made us, which are so clearly written upon us and the world He has

given us, and can best tell us what we are and should be, we are even

strangers to our own genius; the glass in which we should see that true

instructing and agreeable variety, which is to be observed in nature, to

the admiration of that wisdom and adoration of that Power which made us

all.

_FRUGALITY OR BOUNTY_

Frugality is good, if liberality be joined with it. The first is leaving

off superfluous expenses; the last bestowing them to the benefit of

others that need. The first without the last begins covetousness; the

last without the first begins prodigality. Both together make an

excellent temper. Happy the place wherever that is found.

Were it universal, we should be cured of two extremes, want and excess:

and the one would supply the other, and so bring both nearer to a mean;

the just degree of earthly happiness.

It is a reproach to religion and government to suffer so much poverty

and excess.

Were the superfluities of a nation valued, and made a perpetual tax on

benevolence, there were be more alms-houses than poor, schools than

scholars; and enough to spare for government besides.

_INDUSTRY_

Love labour; for if thou dost not want it for food thou mayest for

physick. It is wholesome for thy body, and good for thy mind. It

prevents the fruits of idleness, which many times come of having nothing

to do, and lead too many to do what is worse than nothing.

A garden, an elaboratory, a work-house, improvements and breeding, are

pleasant and profitable diversions to the idle and ingenious; for here

they miss ill company, and converse with nature and art; whose variety

are equally grateful and instructing; and preserve a good constitution

of body and mind.

_KNOWLEDGE_

Knowledge is the treature, but judgment the treasurer of a wise man.

He that has more knowledge than judgment is made for another man's use

more than his own.

It cannot be a good constitution, where the appetite is great and the

digestion is weak.

There are some men like dictionaries; to be looked into upon occasions,

but have no connection, and are little entertaining.

Less knowledge than judgment will always have the advantage over the

injudicious knowing man.

A wise man makes what he learns his own, t'other shows he's but a copy,

or a collection at most.

_ON THE GOVERNMENT OF THOUGHTS_

Man being made a reasonable, and so a thinking creature, there is

nothing more worthy of his being than the right direction and employment

of his thoughts; since upon this depends both his usefulness to the

publick and his own present and future benefit in all respects.

The consideration of this has often obliged me to lament the unhappiness

of mankind, that through too great a mixture and confusion of thoughts

have been hardly able to make a right or mature judgment of things.

Clear, therefore, thy head, and rally, and manage thy thoughts rightly,

and thou wilt save time, and see and do thy business well; for thy

judgment will be distinct, thy mind free, and the faculties strong and

regular.

Always remember to bound thy thoughts to the present occasion.

Make not more business necessary than is so; and rather lessen than

augment work for thyself.

Upon the whole matter employ thy thoughts as thy business requires, and

let that have place according to merit and urgency, giving everything a

review and due digestion, and thou wilt prevent many errors and

vexations, as well as save much time to thyself in the course of thy

life.

_FRIENDSHIP_

Friendship is an union of spirits, a marriage of hearts, and the bond

thereof virtue.

There can be no friendship where there is no freedom. Friendship loves a

free air, and will not be penned up in strait and narrow enclosures. It

will speak freely, and act so too; and take nothing ill where no ill is

meant; nay, where it is 'twill easily forgive, and forget, too, upon

small acknowledgements.

Friends are true twins in soul; they sympathise in everything, and have

the same love and aversion.

One is not happy without the other, nor can either be miserable alone.

As if they could change bodies, they take their turns in pain as well as

in pleasure; relieving one another in their most adverse conditions.

What one enjoys the other cannot want. Like the primitive Christians,

they have all things in common, and no property but in one another.

They that love beyond the world cannot be separated by it.

Death cannot kill what never dies.

Nor can spirits ever be divided that love and live in the same divine

principle, the root and record of their friendship.

If absence be not death, neither is theirs.

Death is but crossing the world, as friends do the seas; they live in

one another still.

For they must needs be present that love and live in that which is

omnipresent. In this divine glass they see face to face; and their

converse is free, as well as pure.

This is the comfort of friends, that though they may be said to die yet

their friendship and society are in the best sense ever present, because

immortal.

_OF CHARITY_

Charity has various senses, but is excellent in all of them.

It imports, first, the commiseration of the poor and unhappy of mankind,

and extends an helping hand to mend their condition.

Next, charity makes the best construction of things and persons; it

makes the best of everything, forgives everybody, serves all, and hopes

to the end.

It is an universal remedy against discord, an holy cement for mankind.

And, lastly, 'tis love to God and the brethren which raises the soul

above all earthly considerations; and as it gives a taste of heaven upon

earth, so 'tis heaven in the fulness of it hereafter to the truly

charitable here.

This is the noblest sense charity has, after which all should press as

being the more excellent way.

Would God this divine virtue were more implanted and diffused among

mankind, the pretenders to Christianity especially; and then we should

certainly mind piety more than controversy, and exercise love and

compassion instead of censuring and persecuting one another in any

manner whatsoever.

* * * * *

ERNEST RENAN

LIFE OF JESUS

Ernest Renan, the most widely read writer of religious history

in his day, was forty years old when the "Vie de Jésus," his

most popular book, appeared as the first volume of a "History

of the Origins of Christianity." He was born at Tréguier in

Brittany, France, Feb. 27, 1823, a Breton through his father

and a Gascon through his mother. Educated for the Church,

under priestly tutelage, he specialised in the study of

Oriental languages, with the result that he found it

impossible to accept the traditional view of Christian and

Jewish history. After holding an appointment in the Department

of Manuscripts in the Bibliothèque Nationale, he became

Professor of Hebrew in the Collège de France. At the age of 55

he was elected a member of the French Academy. His works

include "A History of Semitic Languages," a "History of the

Origins of Christianity," and a "History of the People of

Israel," besides many volumes of essays and criticism, and

several autobiographical books of great charm. Everybody read

Renan, and disagreed with him. The orthodox rejected his

opinions, and the unorthodox his sentiment. But his books

marked an epoch in religious criticism. "The Life of Jesus"

was the outcome of a visit to Palestine in pursuance of

research studies of Phoenician civilisation. A feature is the

importance given to scenic surroundings which he could so

happily describe. Renan died on October 2, 1892, widely

admired, honoured, and also condemned, and was buried in the

Pantheon.

_THE HOUR AND THE MAN_

The principal event in the history of the world is the revolution by

which the noblest portions of humanity have forsaken the ancient

religions of Paganism for a religion founded on the Divine Unity, the

Trinity, and the Incarnation of the Son of God. Nearly a thousand years

were required to achieve this conversion. The new religion itself took

at least three hundred years in its formation. But the origin of the

revolution is a historical event which happened in the reigns of

Augustus and Tiberius. At that time there lived a man of supreme

personality, who, by his bold originality, and by the love which he was

able to inspire, became the object, and settled the direction, of the

future faith of mankind.

The great empires which succeeded each other in Western Asia annihilated

all the hopes of the Jewish race for a terrestial kingdom, and cast it

back on religious dreams, which it cherished with a kind of sombre

passion. The establishment of the Roman empire exalted men's

imaginations, and the great era of peace on which the world was entering

gave birth to illimitable hopes. This confused medley of dreams found at

length an interpretation in the peerless man to whom the universal

conscience has decreed the title of the Son of God, and that with

justice, since he gave religion an impetus greater than that which any

other man has been capable of giving--an impetus with which, in all

probability, no further advance will be comparable.

_YOUTH AND EDUCATION_

Jesus was born at Nazareth, a small town in Galilee, which before his

time was not known to fame. The precise date of his birth is unknown. It

took place in the reign of Augustus, probably some years before the year

one of the era which all civilised peoples date from the day of his

birth. Jesus came from the ranks of the common folk. His father, Joseph,

and his mother, Mary, were people in humble circumstances, artisans

living by their handiwork in the state, so usual in the East, which is

neither ease nor poverty. The family was somewhat large. Jesus had

brothers and sisters who seem to have been younger than he. They all

remained obscure. The four men who were called his brothers, and among

whom one at least, James, became of great importance in the early years

of the development of Christianity, were his cousins-german. The sisters

of Jesus were married at Nazareth, and there he spent the early years of

his youth.

The town must have presented the poverty-stricken aspect still

characteristic of villages in the East. We see to-day the streets where

Jesus played as a child in the stony paths or little lanes which

separate the dwellings from each other. No doubt the house of Joseph

much resembled these poor domiciles, lighted only by the doorway,

serving at once as workshop, kitchen, and bedroom, and having for

furniture a mat, some cushions on the ground, one or two clay pots, and

a painted chest. But the surroundings are charming, and no place in the

world could be so well adapted for dreams of perfect happiness. If we

ascend to the plateau, swept by a perpetual breeze, above the highest

houses, the landscape is magnificent. An enchanted circle, cradle of the

Kingdom of God, was for years the horizon of Jesus, and indeed during

his whole life he went but little beyond these, the familiar bounds of

his childhood.

No doubt he learnt to read and write according to the Eastern method;

but it is doubtful if he understood the Hebrew writings in their

original tongue. His biographers make him cite translations in the

Aramean language. Nevertheless, it would be a great error to imagine

that Jesus was what we should call an ignorant man. Refinement of

manners and acuteness of intellect have, in the East, nothing in common

with what we call education. In all probability Jesus did not know

Greek. His mother tongue was the Syrian dialect, mingled with Hebrew. No

element of secular teaching reached him. He was ignorant of all beyond

Judaism; his mind kept that free innocence which an extended and varied

culture always weakens. Happily, he was also ignorant of the grotesque

scholasticism which was taught at Jerusalem, and which was soon to

constitute the Talmud. The reading of the books of the Old Testament

made a deep impression on him, especially the book of Daniel, and the

religious poetry of the Psalms was in marvellous accordance with his

lyrical soul, and all his life was his sustenance and support. That he

had no knowledge of the general state of the world is evident from every

feature of his most authentic discourses, and he never conceived of

aristocratic society, save as a young villager who sees the world

through the prism of his simplicity. Although born at a time when the

principles of positive science had already been proclaimed, he lived in

entirely supernatural ideas. To him the marvellous was not the

exceptional but the normal statf of things, since to him the whole

course of things was the result of the free-will of the Deity. This led

to a profound conception of the close relations of man with God.

_IDYLLIC SURROUNDINGS_

A mighty dream haunted the Jewish people for centuries, constantly

renewing its youth. Judaea believed that she possessed divine promises

of a boundless future. In combination with the belief in the Messiah and

the doctrine of an approaching renewal of all things, the dogma of the

resurrection had emerged and produced a great fermentation from one end

of the Jewish world to the other. Jesus, as soon as he had any thought

of his own, entered into the burning atmosphere created in Palestine by

these ideas, and his soul was soon filled with them. A beautiful natural

environment imprinted a charming and idyllic character on all the dreams

of Galilee. During the months of March and April that green, shady,

smiling land is a carpet of flowers of an incomparable variety of

colours. The animals are small and extremely gentle--delicate and

playful turtle-doves, blackbirds so light that they rest on a blade of

grass without bending it, tufted larks which almost venture under the

feet of the traveller, little river-tortoises with mild bright eyes,

storks of gravely modest mien, which, casting aside all timidity, allow

men to come quite near them, and indeed seem to invite his approach. In

no country in the world do the mountains extend with more harmonious

outlines, or inspire higher thought. Jesus seems to have had an especial

love for them. The most important events of his divine career took place

upon the mountains. This beautiful country in his time was filled with

prosperity and gaiety. There Jesus lived and grew up. True, every year

he knew the sweet solemnity of the pilgrimage to Jerusalem, and it is

believed that early in life the wilderness had some influence on his

development, but it was when he returned into his beloved Galilee that

he once more found his Heavenly Father in the midst of green hills and

clear fountains, and women and children who with joyous soul awaited the

salvation of Israel.

_A CHARACTER TO LOVE_

Jesus followed the trade of his father, which was that of a carpenter.

In this there was nothing irksome or humiliating. The Jewish custom

required that a man devoted to intellectual work should learn a

handicraft. Jesus never married. His whole capacity for love was

concentrated upon that which he felt was his heavenly vocation. He was

no doubt more beloved than loving. Thus, as often happens in very lofty

natures, tenderness of heart was in him transformed into an infinite

sweetness, a vague poetry, a universal charm.

Through what stages did the ideas of Jesus progress during this obscure

early period of his life? A high conception of the Divinity, the

creation of his own great mind, was the guiding principle to which his

power was due. God did not speak to him as to one outside of himself;

God was in him; he felt himself with God, and from his own heart drew

all he said of his Father. The highest consciousness of God which ever

existed in the heart of man was that of Jesus; but he never once gave

utterance to the sacrilegious idea that he was God. From the first he

looked upon his relationship with God as that of a son with his father.

Herein was his great originality; in this he had nothing in common with

his race. Neither Jew nor Musselman has understood this sweet theology

of love. The God of Jesus is our Father. He is the God of humanity. The

Jesus who founded the true Kingdom of God, the kingdom of the humble and

meek, was the Jesus of early life--of those chaste and simple days when

the voice of his Father re-echoed within him in clearer tones. It was

then, for some months, perhaps a year, that God truly dwelt on earth.

_A STIMULATING ACQUAINTANCE_

An extraordinary man, whose position remains to some extent enigmatical,

appeared about this time and unquestionably had some intercourse with

Jesus. About the year 28 of our era there spread through the whole of

Palestine the reputation of a certain John, a young ascetic, full of

fervour and passion. The fundamental practice which characterised his

sect was baptism; but baptism with John was only a sign to impress the

minds of the people and to prepare them for some great movement. There

can be no doubt he was possessed in the highest degree with hope for the

coming of the Messiah. He was of the same age as Jesus, and the two

young enthusiasts, full of the same hopes and the same hatreds, were

able to lend each other mutual support, Jesus recognizing John as his

superior, and timidly developing his own individual genius. John was

soon cut short in his prophetic career, and cast into prison, from

which, however, he still exercised a wide influence.

Jesus returned from the neighbourhood of the Dead Sea and the Jordan to

Galilee, his true home, ripened by intercourse with a great man of very

different nature, and having acquired full consciousness of his own

originality. From that time he preached with greater power and made the

multitude feel his authority. The persuasion that he was to make God

reign upon earth took absolute possession of his spirit. He looked upon

himself as the universal reformer. He aimed at founding the Kingdom of

God, or, in other words, the Kingdom of the Soul. Jesus was, in some

respects, an anarchist, for he had no idea of civil government. He never

showed any desire to put himself in the place of the rich and mighty.

The idea of being all-powerful by suffering and resignation, and of

triumphing over force by purity of heart was his peculiar idea. The

founders of the Kingdom of God are the simple--not the rich, not the

learned, not the priests; but women, common folk, the humble, and the

young. He now boldly announced "the good tidings of the Kingdom of God,"

and himself as that "Son of Man," whom Daniel in his vision had beheld

as the divine herald of the last and supreme revelation.

_EARLY SUCCESSES_

The success of the new prophet's teaching was decisive. A group of men

and women, all characterised by the same spirit of childish frankness

and simple innocence, adhered to him, and said, "Thou art the Messiah."

The centre of his operations was the little town of Capernaum, on the

shore of the Lake of Genesareth. Jesus was much attached to the town and

made it a second home. He had attempted to begin the work at Nazareth,

but without success. The fact that his family, which was of humble rank,

was known in the district lessened his authority too much; and it is

moreover remarkable that his family were strongly opposed to him, and

flatly declined to believe in his mission. In Capernaum he was much more

favourably received, and it became "his own city." These good Galileans

had never heard preaching so well adapted to their cheerful

imaginations. They admired him, they encouraged him, they found that he

spoke well, and that his reasons were convincing. The almost poetical

harmony of his discourses won their affections. The authority of the

young master increased day by day, and naturally the more that people

believed in him the more he believed in himself. Four or five large

villages, lying at half an hour's journey from one another, formed the

little world of Jesus at this time. Sometimes, however, he wandered

beyond his favourite region, once in the direction of Tyre and Sidon, a

country which must have been marvellously prosperous at that time. But

he returned always to his well-beloved shore of Genesareth. The

motherland of his thoughts was there; there he found faith and love.

In this earthly paradise lived a population in perfect harmony with the

land itself, active, honest, joyous, and tender of heart, and here Jesus

became the centre of a little circle which adored him. In this friendly

group he evidently had his favourites. Peter, for whom his affection was

very deep, James, son of Zebedee, and John, his brother, formed a sort

of privy council. Jesus owed his conquests to the infinite charm of his

personality and speech. Everyone thought that he lived in a sphere

higher than that of humanity. The aristocracy of the group was

represented by a customs-officer, and by the wife of one of Herod's

stewards. The rest were fishermen and common folk. Jesus lived with his

disciples almost always in the open air, the faithful band leading a

joyous wandering life, and gathering the inspirations of the Master in

their first bloom. His preaching was soft and gentle, inspired with a

feeling for nature and the perfume of the fields. It was above all in

parable that the Master excelled. There was nothing in Judaism to give

him a model for this delightful feature. He created it. In freeing man

from what he called "the cares of this world" Jesus might go to excess

and injure the essential conditions of human society; but he founded

that spiritual exaltation which for centuries has filled souls with joy

in the midst of this vale of tears. In our busy civilisation the memory

of the free life of Galilee has been like perfume from another world,

like the "dew of Hermon," which has kept drought and grossness from

entirely invading the fields of God.

_A GOSPEL FOR THE POOR_

Jesus very soon understood that the official world of his time would by

no means lend its support to his kingdom. He took his resolution with

extreme daring. Leaving the world, with its hard heart and narrow

prejudices, on one side, he turned towards the simple. A vast

rearrangement of classes was to take place. The Kingdom of God was made

for children, and those like them; for the world's outcasts, victims of

that social arrogance which repulses the good but humble man; for

heretics and schismatics, publicans, Samaritans, and the pagans of Tyre

and Sidon. That the reign of the poor is at hand was the doctrine of

Jesus. This exaggerated taste for poverty could not last very long, but

although it quickly passed, poverty remained an ideal from which true

descendants of Jesus were never afterwards separated.

Like all great men, Jesus was fond of common folk, and felt at his ease

with them. He particularly esteemed all those whom orthodox Judaism

disdained. Love of the people, pity for their powerlessness, the feeling

of the democratic leader who has the spirit of the multitude quick

within him, reveal themselves at every instant in his acts and sayings.

He had no external affection, and made no display of austerity. He did

not shun pleasure; but went willingly to marriage feasts. His gentle

gaiety found constant expression in amiable pleasantries. Thus he

journeyed through Galilee in the midst of continual festivities. When he

entered a house, it was considered a joy and a blessing. Children and

women adored him. The children, indeed, were like a young guard about

him, for the inauguration of his innocent kingship, and gave him little

ovations. It was childhood, in fact, in its divine spontaneity, in its

simple bewilderment of joy, that took possession of the earth.

How long did this intoxication last? We cannot tell. But whether it

filled years or months, the dream was so beautiful that humanity has

lived upon it ever since. Happy he to whom it has been granted to behold

with his own eyes this divine blossoming, and to share, if but for a

day, the incomparable illusion! But yet more happy, Jesus would tell us,

shall he be who, by the uprightness of his will, and the poetry of his

soul, shall be able to create anew in his own heart the true Kingdom of

God!

_THE PRIEST IN THE PATH_

Nearly every year Jesus went to Jerusalem for the feast of the Passover.

It was, it appears, in the year 31 that the most important of these

visits took place. Jesus felt that to play a leading part he must leave

Galilee and attack Judaism in its stronghold, Jerusalem. There the

little Galilean community was far from feeling at home. Jerusalem was a

city of pedantry, acrimony, disputation, hatreds, and pettiness of mind.

Its fanaticism was extreme. All the religious discussions of the Jewish

schools, all the canonical instruction, even the legal business and

civil actions--in a word, all form of national activity, were

concentrated in the temple. The Romans refrained from entering the

sactuary; the surveillance of the Temple was in the hands of the Jews.

It was in the Temple that Jesus spent his days during his sojourn at

Jerusalem, and all that he saw aroused his aversion. These old Jewish

institutions displeased him, and the necessity of conforming to them

gave him pain. He who gave forgiveness to all men, provided they loved

him, could find nothing congenial in vain disputations and obsolete

sacrifices, and apparently he brought from Jerusalem one idea

thenceforth rooted in his mind--that there was no understanding possible

between him and the ancient Jewish religion. He no longer took his stand

as a Jewish reformer, but as a destroyer of Judaism. In other words,

Jesus is no longer a Jew. He is, in the highest degree, a revolutionary;

he calls all men to a worship founded solely on the ground of their

being children of God. Love of God, charity, and mutual forgiveness--in

these consisted his whole law. Nothing could be less sacerdotal. It was

on his return from Jerusalem, as he passed near Shechem, and when

talking with a Samaritan woman, that Jesus gave utterance to the saying

upon which will rest the edifice of eternal religion--Believe me, the

hour cometh when neither in this mountain nor in Jerusalem shall ye

worship the Father ... but the hour cometh, and now is, when the true

worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth. On the day

when he said these words he was truly Son of God.

Jesus returned to Galilee full of revolutionary ardour. His innocent

aphorisms and beautiful moral precepts now culminated in a decided

policy. The law is to be abolished, and it is he that will abolish it.

The Messiah is come, and it is he that is the Messiah. The Kingdom of

God is about to be revealed, and it is he that will reveal it. He knew

well that he would be the victim of his own audacity, but it was by

cries and the rending of hearts that the kingdom had to be established.

The proposition "Jesus is the Messiah" was followed by the proposition

"Jesus is the Son of David," and, by an entirely spontaneous conspiracy,

fictitious genealogies arose in the imaginations of his partisans, while

he was still alive, to prove his royal descent. We cannot tell whether

he knew anything of these legends. He never designated himself Son of

David. That he ever dreamed of making himself pass for an incarnation of

God is a matter about which no doubt can exist. Such an idea was

entirely foreign to the Jewish mind. He believed himself to be more than

an ordinary man, but separated by an infinite distance from God. He was

the Son of God, but all men are, or may become so in divers degrees.

Jesus apparently remained a stranger to the theological subtleties which

were soon to fill the world with sterile disputations.

_TIME-WORM PROOFS_

Two means of proof--miracles and the accomplishment of prophecies--could

alone establish a supernatural mission in the opinion of the

contemporaries of Jesus. He himself, but more especially his disciples,

employed these two methods of demonstration in perfect good faith. For a

long time Jesus had recognised himself in the sacred oracles of the

prophets. As to miracles, they were considered at this epoch the

indispensable mark of the divine, and the sign of the prophetic

vocation. Jesus, therefore, was compelled either to renounce his mission

or become a thaumaturgist. It must be remembered that not only did he

believe in miracles, but he had not the least idea of an order of nature

under the reign of law. On that point, his knowledge was in no way

superior to that of his contemporaries. Indeed, one of his most

deeply-rooted opinions was that by faith and prayer man had entire power

over nature. Almost all the miracles Jesus believed he performed seem to

have been miracles of healing. The kind of healing which he most often

practised was exorcism, or the expulsion of demons. There can be no

doubt that he had in his lifetime the reputation of possessing the

greatest secrets of the art. There were many lunatics in Judaea

wandering at large, and no doubt Jesus had great influence over these

unhappy beings. Circumstances seem to indicate that he became a

thaumaturgist late in life and against his own inclinations. He accepted

miracles exacted by public opinion rather than performed them.

_THE NEW KINGDOM OF GOD_

During the eighteen months between the return from the Passover of the

year 31 and his journey to the feast of tabernacles in the year 32, all

that was within Jesus developed with an ever-increasing degree of power

and audacity. The fundamental idea of Jesus from his earliest days was

the establishment of the Kingdom of God. This kingdom he appears to have

understood in divers senses. At times it is the literal consummation of

apocalyptic visions relating to the Messiah. At other times it is the

spiritual kingdom, and the deliverance at hand is the deliverance of the

soul. The revolution desired by Jesus in this last sense is the one

which has really taken place. That the coming of the end of the world

and the appearance of the Messiah in judgment was taken literally by the

disciples, and at certain moments by the Master himself, appears

absolutely clear. These formal declarations absorbed the minds of the

Christian family for nearly seventy years. The world has not ended, as

Jesus announced, and as his disciples believed it would end. But it has

been renewed and in one sense renewed as Jesus desired. By the side of

the false, cold, impossible idea of an ostentatious advent, he conceived

the real City of God, the raising up of the weak, the love of the

people, esteem for the poor, and the restoration of all that is humble

and true and simple. This restoration he has depicted, as an

incomparable artist, in touches which will last for eternity. His

Kingdom of God was doubtless the apocalypse which was soon to be

unfolded in the heavens. But besides this, and probably above all, was

the soul's kingdom, founded on freedom, and on the feeling of sonship

which the good man knows in his rest on the bosom of his Father. This is

what was destined to live. This is what has lived.

_THE CLASH OF OLD AND NEW_

Throughout the first epoch of his career, it seems as though Jesus met

with no serious opposition; but when he entered upon a path brilliant

with public successes the first mutterings of the storm began to make

themselves heard. He recognised only the religion of the heart, while

the religion of the Pharisees almost exclusively consisted of

observances. As his mission proceeded, his conflicts with official

hypocrisy became incessant. His goal was in the future, not in the past.

He was more than the reformer of an obsolete religion; he was the

creator of the eternal religion of humanity. A hatred which death alone

could satisfy was the consequence of these controversies. The war was to

the death. Judaea drew him as by a charm; he wished to attempt one last

effort to win the rebellious city, and seemed anxious to fulfil the

proverb that a prophet ought not to die outside Jerusalem.

At the feast of tabernacles in the year 32, his relatives, always

malevolent and sceptical, pressed him to go there. He set out on the

journey unknown to every one and almost alone, and never again saw his

beloved northern land.

In Jerusalem, Jesus was a stranger. There he felt a wall of resistance

he could not penetrate. At every step he met with obstinate scepticism.

The arrogance of the priests made the courts of the Temple disagreeable

to him, and his criticisms naturally exasperated the sacerdotal caste.

Imagine a reformer going, in our own time, to preach the overthrow of

Islamism round the Mosque of Omar! His teaching in this new world was

greatly modified; he had to become controversialist, jurist, theologian,

though when alone with his disciples his gentle and irresistible genius

inspired him with accents full of tenderness.

_APPROACHING THE CRISIS_

Jesus spent the autumn and part of the winter in Jerusalem. In the new

year he undertook a journey to the banks of the Jordan, the district he

had visited when he followed the school of John. After this pilgrimage

he returned to Bethany, a place he especially loved, and where he knew a

family whose friendship had a great charm for him. In impure and

depressing Jerusalem, Jesus was no longer himself. His mission weighed

him down, and he let himself be carried away by the torrent. The

contrast between his ever-increasing exaltation and the indifference of

the Jews became wider day by day. At the same time the public

authorities began to be bitter against him. In February, or early in

March, the council of the chief priests asked clearly the question "Can

Jesus and Judaism exist together?" The High Priest was Joseph Kaiapha,

but beside and behind him we always see another man, Hanan, his

father-in-law. He had been High Priest, and in reality kept all the

authority of the office. During fifty years the pontificate remained in

his family almost without interruption. The family spirit was haughty,

bold, and cruel. It was Hanan, his family, and the party he represented,

who really put Jesus to death. After the death of Jesus was decided, he

escaped for a short time by withdrawing to an obscure town, Ephron, and

letting the storm pass over; but when the feast of the Passover drew

nigh, he set out to see for the last time the unbelieving city. His

followers all believed that the Kingdom of God was about to be realised

there. As to Jesus, he grew confirmed in the conviction that he was

about to die, but that his death would save the world.

During these last days a deep sadness appears to have filled the soul of

Jesus, which was generally so joyous and serene. The enormous weight of

the mission he had accepted bore cruelly upon him. All these inward

troubles were evidently a sealed chapter to his disciples. His divine

nature, however, soon gained the supremacy, and henceforth we behold him

entirely himself and with his character unclouded. Each moment of this

period is solemn, and counts more than whole ages in the history of

humanity. A lofty feeling of love, of concord, of charity, and of mutual

deference, animated the memories cherished of these last hours.

_VICTORY THROUGH DEFEAT_

It was in the garden of Gethsemane that the guards of the Temple,

supported by a detachment of Roman soldiers, executed the warrant of

arrest. The course which the priests had determined to take against

Jesus was in perfect conformity with the established law. The warrant of

arrest probably came from Hanan, and before this powerful man Jesus was

first brought for examination as to his doctrine. Jesus, with just

pride, declined to enter into long explanations--he asked the ex-high

priest to question those who had listened to him. Hanan then sent him to

his son-in-law, Kaiapha, at whose house the Sanhedrim was assembled. It

is probable that here, too, he kept silence. The sentence was already

decided, and they only sought for pretexts. With one voice the assembly

declared him guilty of a capital crime. The point now was to get Pilate

to ratify the sentence. On being informed of the accusation, Pilate

showed his annoyance at being mixed up in the matter, and called upon to

play a cruel part for the sake of a law he detested. Perhaps the

dignified and calm attitude of the accused made an impression upon him.

To excite the suspicion of the Roman authorities, the charges now made

were those of sedition and treason against the government. Nothing could

be more unjust, for Jesus had always recognised the Roman government as

the established power. Asked by Pilate if he really were the king of the

Jews, Jesus, according to the fourth gospel, avowed his kingship, but

uttered at the same time the profound saying, "My kingdom is not of this

world." Of this lofty idealism Pilate understood nothing. No doubt Jesus

impressed him as being a harmless dreamer. When, however, the people

began to denounce Pilate's lack of zeal, in protecting an enemy of

Caesar, he surrendered, throwing on the Jews the responsibility for what

was about to take place. It was not Pilate who condemned Jesus. It was

the old Jewish party; it was the Mosaic law. Intolerance is a Jewish

characteristic. The Pentateuch has been the first code of religious

terrorism in the world. It was, however, the chimerical "King of the

Jews," not the heteradox dogmatist, who was punished, and the execution

took the Roman form of crucifixion, carried out by Roman soldiers.

The horrors of that ignominious death were suffered by Jesus in all

their atrocity. For a moment, according to certain narratives, his heart

failed him; a cloud hid from him the face of his Father; he endured an

agony of despair more acute a thousand times than all his torments. But

his divine instinct again sustained him. In measure as the life of the

body flickered out, his soul grew serene, and by degrees returned to its

heavenly source. He regained the idea of his mission, in his death he

saw the salvation of the world; the hideous spectacle spread at his feet

melted from his sight, and profoundly united to his Father, he began

upon the gibbet the divine life which he was to live in the heart of

humanity through infinite years.

Rest now in thy glory, noble pioneer! Thy work is achieved, thy divinity

established. At the price of a few hours of suffering, which have not

even touched thy mighty soul, thou hast purchased the fullest

immortality. For thousands of years the world will depend upon thee! A

thousand times more alive, a thousand times more loved since thy death

than during the days of thy pilgrimage here below, thou shalt become so

truly the cornerstone of humanity that to tear thy name from this world

were to shake it to its foundations.

Whatever the unexpected phenomena of the future, Jesus will never be

surpassed. His worship will constantly renew its youth; the legend of

his life will bring ceaseless tears; his sufferings will soften the best

hearts; all the ages will proclaim that amongst the sons of men none has

been born who is greater than Jesus.

* * * * *

EMANUEL SWEDENBORG

HEAVEN AND HELL

Emanuel Swedenborg, author of a strange system of mystical

theology, was of Swedish nationality and was born at Stockholm

on January 29, 1688. He was educated at Upsala, and after

travelling for several years in Western Europe was appointed

to a post in the Swedish College of Mines. Thenceforth, until

he was 55 years of age, Swedenborg pursued, with equal

industry and ingenuity, the career of a man of science, doing

valuable work in mathematics, astronomy, navigation,

engineering, chemistry, and especially in mining and

metallurgy. These inquiries were followed by studies in

philosophy and anatomy and physiology. But about the year 1744

certain visions and other mystical experiences began to take

hold of his mind, and three years later Swedenborg had come to

regard himself as the medium of a new revelation of divine

truth. His message, or theory, or vision, was first

promulgated in the eight quarto volumes of the "Heavenly

Arcana," published in London from 1749 to 1756, and this was

followed by "Heaven and Hell," 1758, the work now before us,

the full title of which is "Heaven and Its Wonders, the World

of Spirits, and Hell: described by one who had heard and seen

what he relates," and several other apocalyptic books, all of

which were written in Latin. The main features of Swedenborg's

theology were a strong emphasis on the divinity of Christ, the

proclamation of the immediate advent of the "New Jerusalem,"

foretold by the seer of Patmos, and the conception of

correspondences between the natural, spiritual, and mental

worlds. His followers, known as Swedenborgians, or more

properly as "The New Church signified by the New Jerusalem in

the Revelation," are widely spread but not very numerous, in

England and in the United States. Swedenborg died in London on

March 29, 1772.

_I.--OF HEAVEN_

The first thing necessary to be known is, who is the God of heaven; for

everything else depends on this. In the universal heaven, no other is

acknowledged for its God, but the Lord Alone; they say there, as He

Himself taught, that He is One with the Father; that the Father is in

Him, and He in the Father; that whosoever seeth Him, seeth the Father;

and that everything holy proceeds from Him. I have often conversed with

the angels on this subject, and they constantly declared that they are

unable to divide the Divine Being into three, because they know and

perceive that the Divine Being is one, and that He is One in the Lord.

The angels, taken collectively, are called heaven, because they compose

it: but still it is the Divine Sphere proceeding from the Lord, which

enters the angels by influx, and is by them received, which essentially

constitutes it, both in general and in particular. The Divine Sphere

proceeding from the Lord is the good of love and the truth of faith: in

proportion, therefore, as the angels receive good and truth from the

Lord, so far they are angels, and so far they are heaven.

As in heaven there are infinite varieties, and no society is exactly

like another, nor indeed any angel, therefore heaven is divided in a

general, in a specific, and in a particular manner. It is divided, in

general, into two kingdoms, specifically, into three heavens, and in

particular, into innumerable societies.

There are angels who receive the Divine Sphere proceeding from the Lord

more and less interiorly. They who receive it more interiorly are called

celestial angels; but they who receive it less interiorly are called

spiritual angels. Hence, heaven is divided into two kingdoms, one of

which is called the Celestial Kingdom, and the other, the Spiritual

Kingdom.

The angels of each heaven do not dwell all together in one place, but

are divided into larger and smaller societies, according to the

difference of the good of love and faith in which they are grounded;

those who are grounded in similar good forming one society. There is an

infinite variety of kinds of good in the heavens; and every angel is

such in quality as is the good belonging to him.

That heaven, viewed collectively, is in form as one man, is a mystery

which is not yet known to the world: but it is well known in the

heavens; for the knowledge of this mystery, with the particular and most

particular circumstances relating to it, is the chief article of the

intelligence of the angels; since many other things depend upon it,

which, without a knowledge of this as their common centre, could not

possibly enter distinctly and clearly into their ideas. As they know

that all the heavens together with their societies are in form as one

man, they also call heaven THE GRAND AND DIVINE MAN; divine, because the

Divine Sphere of the Lord constitutes heaven.

From my experience, which I have enjoyed for many years, I can affirm

that angels are in every respect men; that they have faces, eyes, ears,

a body, arms, hands, and that they see, hear, and converse with each

other; in short they are deficient in nothing that belongs to a man

except that they are not super-invested with a material body.

Their habitations are exactly like our houses on earth, but more

beautiful. They contain chambers, with-drawing-rooms, and bed-chambers,

in great numbers, and are encompassed with gardens and flower-beds.

Where the angels live together in societies the habitations are

contiguous, and arranged in the form of a city, with streets, squares,

and churches. It has also been granted to me to walk through them, and

to look about on all sides, and occasionally to enter the houses. This

occurred to me when wide awake, my interior sight being open at the

time.

That it is by derelation from the Lord's Divine Humanity that heaven,

both in whole and in parts, is in form as a man, follows as a conclusion

from all that has been advanced.

There is a correspondence between all things belonging to heaven and all

things belonging to man. It is unknown at this day what correspondence

is. This ignorance is owing to various causes; the chief of which is,

that man has removed himself from heaven, through cherishing the love of

self and of the world. For he that supremely loves himself and the world

cares only for worldly things, because they soothe the external senses

and are agreeable to his natural disposition; but has no concern about

spiritual things, because these only soothe the internal senses and are

agreeable to the internal or rational mind. These, therefore, they cast

aside, saying that they are too high for man's comprehension. Not so did

the ancients. With them the science of correspondences was the chief of

all sciences: by means of its discoveries, also, they imbibed

intelligence and wisdom, and such of them as belonged to the church had

by it communication with heaven; for the science of correspondences is

the science of angels.

It shall first be stated what correspondence is. The whole natural world

corresponds to the spiritual world; and not only the natural world

collectively, but also in its individual parts: wherefore every object

in the natural world, existing from something in the spiritual world, is

called its correspondent. The natural world exists and subsists from the

spiritual world, just as the effect exists from the efficient cause.

Since man is both a heaven and a world in miniature, he has belonging to

him both a spiritual world and a natural world. The interiors, which

belong to his mind, and have relation to his understanding and will,

constitute his spiritual world; but his exteriors, which belong to his

body, and have reference to its senses and actions, constitute his

natural world.

The nature of correspondence may be seen from the face of man. In a

countenance which has not been taught to dissemble, all the affections

of the mind display themselves vividly, in a natural form, as in their

type; whence the face is called the index of the mind. Thus man's

spiritual world shows itself in its natural world. All things,

therefore, which take effect in the body, whether in the countenance,

the speech, or the gestures, are called correspondences.

The angels rejoice that it has pleased the Lord to reveal many

particulars to mankind. They desire me to state from their lips, that

there does not exist, in the universal heaven, a single angel who was

created such from the first, nor any devil in hell who was created an

angel of light and afterwards cast down thither; but that all the

inhabitants, both of heaven and of hell, are derived from the human

race; the inhabitants of heaven being those who had lived in heavenly

love and faith, and those of hell who had lived in infernal love and

faith.

_II--OF THE WORLD OF SPIRITS_

The world of spirits is not heaven nor yet hell, but is a place or state

intermediate between the two. Thither man goes after death; and having

completed the period of his stay there, according to his life in the

world he is either elevated into heaven or cast into hell.

The world of spirits contains a great number of inhabitants, because it

is the region in which all first assemble, and where all are examined

and are prepared for their final abode. Their stay there is not limited

to any fixed period: some do but just enter it, and are presently either

taken up to heaven or cast down to hell: some remain there only a few

weeks; and some for several years, but never more than thirty. The

varieties in the length of their stay depend upon the correspondence, or

noncorrespondence between their interiors and their exteriors.

As men enter the world of spirits, they are distinguished by the Lord

into classes. The wicked are immediately connected by invisible bonds

with the society of hell, and the good, in a similar way, with the

society of heaven, but notwithstanding these bonds, they meet and

converse together. I saw a father conversing with his six sons, all of

whom he recognised; but as they were different in disposition, resulting

from their course of life in the world, after a short time they were

parted.

The spirit of a man, when first he enters the world of spirits, is

similar in countenance and in the tone of his voice to what he was in

the world. The reason is, because he is then in the state of his

exteriors and his interiors are not yet laid open. This is the first

state of man after death. But afterwards his countenance is changed;

being rendered similar to his governing affection or love, which is that

in which the interiors belonging to his mind had been grounded while in

the world, and which had reigned in his spirit while this was in the

body. For the face of a man's spirit differs exceedingly from that of

his body; the face of his body being derived from his parents, but that

of his spirit from his affection, of which it is the image.

That his own life remains with everyone after death is known to every

Christian from the Word. Everyone, also, who thinks under the influence

of good and of real truth, has no other idea than that he who has lived

well will go to heaven, and he who has lived ill will go to hell.

But by deeds and works are not merely meant deeds and works as they

appear in their external form, but as they appear internally. Everyone

knows, that every deed or work proceeds from the will and thought of the

doer; for otherwise they would be mere motions, such as are performed by

automatons and images. The deed or work, then, viewed in itself, is

nothing but an effect, which derives its soul and life from the will and

thought from which it is performed; and so completely is this the case

that the deed or work is the will and thought in their effect, and is,

consequently, the will and thought in their external form. It hence

follows, that such as are, in quality, the will and thought which

produce the deed or work, such, also, is the deed or work itself; and

that if the thought and will are good the deeds or works are good; and

if the thought and will are evil the deeds and works are evil,

notwithstanding in their external form they appear like the former.

To sum up the truths concerning man's state after death, I will say,

first: that man, after death, is his own love, or his own will;

secondly: that, in quality, man remains to eternity, such as he is with

respect to his will or governing love; thirdly: that the man whose love

is celestial and spiritual goes to heaven, but that the man whose love

is corporeal and worldly, destitute of such as is celestial and

spiritual, goes to hell; fourthly: that faith does not remain with man,

if not grounded in heavenly love; fifthly: that what remains with man is

love in act, consequently his life.

_III.--OF HELL_

When treating above respecting heaven, it has everywhere been shown,

that the Lord is the God of heaven, and thus that the whole government

of the heavens is that of the Lord. Now as the relation which heaven

bears to hell, and that which hell bears to heaven, is such as exists

between two opposites, which mutually act against each other, and the

result of whose action and reaction is a state of equilibrium, in which

all things may subsist, therefore, in order that all and everything

should be maintained in equilibrium, it is necessary that he who governs

the one should also govern the other. For unless the same ruler were to

restrain the assaults made by the hells, and to keep down the insanities

which rage in them, the equilibrium would be destroyed, and with it the

whole universe.

It is this spiritual equilibrium that causes man to enjoy freedom in

thinking and willing. For whatever a man thinks and wills has reference

either to evil and the falsity proceeding from it, or to good and the

truth which comes from that source: consequently, when he is placed in

that equilibrium he enjoys the liberty of either, admitting and

receiving evil and its falsity from hell, or good in its truth from

heaven. Every man is maintained in this equilibrium by the Lord, because

he governs both--heaven as well as hell.

Hell, like heaven, is divided into societies; and every society in

heaven has a society opposite to it in hell; which is provided for the

preservation of the equilibrium.

It is by influence from hell that man does evil, and by influence from

the Lord that he does good. But as man believes that whatever he does,

he does from himself, the consequence is that the evil which he does

adheres to him as his own. It hence follows that the cause of his own

evil lies with man, and not at all with the Lord. Evil as existing with

man is hell, as existing with him: for whether you say evil or hell,

amounts to the same thing. Now since the cause of his own evil lies with

man himself, it follows that it is he who casts himself into hell, and

not the Lord; and so far is the Lord from leading man into hell, that he

delivers from hell, so far as the man does not will and loves to abide

in his own evil. But the whole of man's will and love remains with him

after death: whoever wills and loves evil in the world, wills and loves

the same evil in the other life; and he then no longer suffers himself

to be withdrawn from it. It hence results, that the man who is immersed

in evil is connected by invisible bonds with hell: he is also actually

there as to his spirit; and, after death, he desires nothing more

earnestly than to be where his evil is.

From an inspection of the monstrous forms belonging to the spirits in

the hells, it was made evident to me that they all, in general, are

forms of self-love and the love of the world, and that the evils, of

which in particular they are the forms, derive their origin from those

two loves. It has also been told me from heaven, and proved to me by

much experimental evidence, that those two loves--self-love and the love

of the world--reign in the hells and also constitute them; whereas love

to the Lord and love towards the neighbour reign in the heavens and also

constitute them: and that the two former loves, which are the loves of

hell, and the two latter, which are the loves of heaven, are

diametrically opposite to each other.

As by the fire of hell is to be understood all the lust of doing evil

flowing from self-love, by the same is also meant torment, such as

exists in the hells. For the lust flowing from that love is, in those

who are inflamed by it, the lust of doing injury to all who do not

honour, respect, and pay court to them; and in proportion to the anger

which they thence conceive against such individuals, and to the hatred

and revenge inspired by such anger, is their lust of committing outrages

against them. Now when such a lust rages in everyone in a society, and

they have no external bond to keep them under restraint, such as the

fear of the law, and of the loss of character, of honour, of gain, and

of the like, everyone under the influence of his own evil attracts

another and, so far as he is strong enough, subjugates him, subjects the

rest to his own authority, and exercises ferocious outrages with delight

upon all who do not submit to him. All the hells are societies of this

description: on which account, every spirit, and every society,

cherishes hatred in his heart against every other, and, under the

influence of such hatred, breaks out into savage outrages against him,

as far as he is able to inflict them. These outrages, and the torments

so occasioned, are also meant by hell fire; for they are the effects of

the lusts which there prevail.

In order that man may be in a state of liberty, as necessary to his

being reformed, he is connected, as to his spirit, with heaven and with

hell: for spirits from hell, and angels from heaven, are attendant on

every man. By the spirits from hell, man is held in his evil; but by the

Angels from heaven, he is held in good by the Lord.

Thus he is preserved in spiritual equilibrium, that is, in freedom or

liberty.

The particulars which have been delivered in this work respecting

heaven, the world of spirits, and hell, will appear obscure to those who

take no pleasure in acquiring a knowledge of spiritual truths; but they

will appear clear to those who take pleasure in that acquirement; and

especially those who cherish an affection of truth for its own

sake,--that is, who love truth because it is truth. For everything that

is loved enters with light into the ideas of the mind: and this is

eminently the case, when that which is loved is truth: for all truth

dwells in light.

* * * * *

THE TALMUD

The word "Talmud," from the Hebrew verb _lamad_, equalling "to

learn," denotes literally "what-is-learning." Then it comes to

mean "instruction," "teaching," "doctrine." What is usually

called the Talmud consists of two parts: 1. The Mishnah

(literally, "tradition" and then "traditional doctrine") a

code of Jewish laws, civil, criminal, religious, and so forth;

based ostensibly on the Pentateuch, expounding, applying, and

developing the laws contained in the so-called five books of

Moses. 2. The Gemara, a word which means literally

"completion," or "supplement," _i.e._, in reference to the

Mishnah. Some, however, explain the word as meaning

"teaching." The word is used technically to denote the

expansion, exposition, and illustration of the Mishnah which

is found in the Talmud. Strictly speaking, the word "Talmud"

denotes the Gemara only, but in its ordinary sense the word

denotes the Mishnah together with its completion in the

Gemara. In the Talmud itself, as usually printed, the section

of the Mishnah to be commented on and illustrated is followed

by the Gemara in which the opinions of the great Rabbi are

stated and discussed.

As in the case of the Mishnah, so, also, the Talmud has six

principal divisions: these will be followed in the subsequent

epitomes and need not, therefore, be given here. There are two

versions or forms of the Talmud: 1. The Babylonian, or that

due to the studies and discussions of the Jewish doctors in

the various Hebrew colleges of Babylon (Sura, Pumbaditha, and

so forth): in this the Gemara is some ten times as large as

the Mishnah. When we speak of the Talmud it is that of Babylon

which is always meant. Its language is Eastern Aramaic. 2. The

Palestinian Talmud, compiled and edited by the heads of the

Hebrew schools in Palestine, Tiberius, Sepphoris, and so

forth. Its language is Western Aramaic, and its final editor

is said to be Rabbi Ashe, who died A.D. 427. This is often

erroneously called the Jerusalem Talmud. In its present form

it is only about one-fourth as large as the Babylonian Talmud.

The latter discusses nearly every section of the Mishnah,

whereas the Palestine Talmud passes by a large proportion of

the Mishnah without note or comment. That is, however, because

much of this latter Talmud has been lost, for, in the time of

Maimonides (died at Cairo A.D. 1204) the Gemara of the

Jerusalem Talmud discussed nearly every part of the Mishnah.

The Mishnah is usually said to have been completed by Rabbi

Jehudah Hannasi, or the Prince (Hannasi), called simply

"Rabbi" by way of preeminence, who died in A.D. 210 in his

sixtieth year. But there are parts of the Mishnah which are

older, and parts also at least a century later than the death

of that great scholar. There is no absolute proof that the

Mishnah was committed to writing until some time after the

completion of the Palestinian (about A.D. 400) or even of the

Babylonian (about A.D. 500) Talmud, for, in neither Gemara is

there any reference to a written Mishnah, nor is a written

form of the Mishnah implied anywhere. The preservation of this

wonderful code of Jewish laws was due to memory alone, men

being appointed in the various synagogues to learn the

Mishnaic sections and to recite them whenever it was

necessary. Extracts will be given below from the Mishnah and

also from the Gemara, the letters M and G preceding paragraphs

indicating which of the two is summarised.

_DIVISION I.--CALLED SEEDS_

[This part deals first of all with prayer, and then most of all with the

various tithes and donations which are due to the priests, Levites, and

the poor, from the products of the land.]

SECTION I. TREATISE ON BLESSINGS _(Berakot)_. The time for reading or

reciting the Shemang.[32]

_M_. At what time in the evening may shemang be read? From the time when

the priests, having cleansed themselves, enter the sanctuary to partake

of the offering (2) (_i.e._, when the stars come out) until the end of

the first watch (about 10 p.m.). So says Rabbi Eliezar, but otherwise

men extend the time until midnight. Rabbi Gameliel makes the time reach

even to the dawn of the following day. It happened once that his sons

returned home at midnight without having read the shemang. On asking

their father if it was too late he replied that the obligation to

perform the duties of each day is valid until the first light of morning

shows itself.

The morning Shemang.

_M_. From what time may the morning shemang be read? From the moment

when there is light enough to distinguish between purple-blue and white.

Rabbi Eliezar says "between purple-blue and leek-green" (which are

harder to distinguish) (3). Up to when may the morning shemang be read?

Until the sun has risen. Rabbi Jose says "until the end of the third

hour after sunrise, for it is the custom of kings' sons to rise in the

third hour of the day. Yet a good act, such as shemang is, never loses

its virtue whenever it is performed."

The attitude in which the shemang should be read.

_M_. The (strict) School of Shammai say men ought to bow in reading the

evening shemang, but to stand upright when saying shemang in the

morning, their scripture warrant being Deut. vi, 7, "when thou liest

down and when thou risest up." But according to (the more liberal)

School of Hillel, people must be allowed to read the shemang in whatever

attitude they choose, referring to the words in the same passage: "When

thou sittest in thy house and when thou walkest in the way." Why then

the words "when thou liest down and when thou risest up?" Because these

are the acts that men perform when the shemang would be usually read.

Rabbi Tarphon said that once when journeying of an evening, he stooped

in order to read the shemang, with the result that his goods were almost

taken from him by unsuspected robbers. He was told that he would have

deserved it, had he been actually robbed, for not having followed the

decision of the Hillel School. The Gemara on the above Mishnahs gives

the opinions of a large number of Rabbis, reporting also discussions in

which they took part.

The benedictions before and after the Shemang.

_M_. Two benedictions (4) are to be said before the morning shemang, and

one after it.

When the Shemang is rightly read.

_M_. He who reads the shemang without hearing his own voice has yet

discharged his duty if only his heart has gone with the reading.

Persons not to read the Shemang:

Women, slaves, and minors are not commanded to read the Shemang, or to

wear phylacteries. They are, however, expected to recite the eighteen

benedictions, the grace after meat, and also to see that the Mezuza is

attached to the doorpost.[33].

_G_. Where are we taught that the Shechinah rests upon _one_ who studies

the law? In Exodus xx, 24, where it is written: "In all places where I

record my name I will come unto _thee_, and I will bless _thee_." The

Palestine Talmud paraphrases thus: "In every place in which ye shall

memorialise My holy name, My word shall be revealed unto _you_, and

shall bless _you_." Hear, O Israel, Jehovah our God, even Jehovah is

one. Deut. vi, 4. Whoever prolongs the utterance of the word _one_ (Heb.

_ekhad_), his days and years shall be prolonged.

Once, the Rabbis say, the Roman government decreed that no Israelite

should be allowed to study the Law. Immediately after, Rabbi Agiba was

found teaching the Law to crowds of people who had gathered around him.

Some one passing by asked him "Fearest thou not the Roman government?"

To which he said, "I will answer by a parable: A fox was once walking by

a river side when he saw the fish rushing distractedly hither and

thither. On asking them the cause of all their perturbation, they

replied: 'We are afraid of the nets which wicked men are ever setting to

catch us.' 'Why, then,' said the fox, 'do you not leave that dangerous

element and try the dry land with me?' 'Surely,' replied the fish, 'thou

art in this most foolish and unfoxlike, for if it is dangerous for us to

dwell in this, our native element, how much more would it be if we left

it for the dry land?' So," continued Agiba, "all those who study the Law

have the Divine Promise," Deut. xxx, 20: "He is thy life and the length

of thy days."

_DIVISION II--FEASTS_ (MONGëD)

[contains directions for observing the festivals, including the Sabbath.

The aim in all is professedly to make explicit what is implicit in the

Pentateuch. But many late ideas and customs are brought into this

division, of which the Pentateuch knows nothing. Even the feast of Purim

mentioned here it quite unmencioned in the Pentateuch.]

1. TREATISE ON THE SABBATH. Law regarding transfer of goods on the

Sabbath.

_M_. It is commanded in Exodus xvi, 29, that no man go out of his place

on the Sabbath day. This implies that no one is to take goods from his

own premises to those of another.(6). What, however, constitutes one's

own premises? _(Reshut)._ There are many cases to be considered. Suppose

a beggar stand outside and the master of the house inside. If the first

reaches his hand through a window or door to the second, or takes

something out of the hand of the latter, the beggar is guilty, but the

master is absolved. If, on the other hand, the master puts his hand

outside the house, and places something in the beggar's hands, he is

guilty, but the beggar is absolved.

[There are in all four cases treating of the man inside and four of the

man outside.]

_G_. Rabbi Mathra said to Abazi, "There are eight or even ten cases of

transfer." Rab questioned Rabbi, "Suppose one from the outside were

laden in the house with food, fruit, etc. How stands the law? Is the

removal of his body tantamount to the removal of a thing from its

place?" "Yes," said Rabbi; "this is not like the case of removing the

hand, because the latter was not at rest, while in the former, the body,

before and after removal, was entirely at rest." "Suppose," said one

Rabbi to another, "that a person has put bread into an oven and it is

not done by the time the Sabbath begins. May he take it out before it is

spoiled?" "He may lawfully do so if he put it there, believing it would

be fully baked before the Sabbath arrived."

Acts forbidden on Sabbath eve.

_M_. Just before the time of Sabbath evening prayer (7), a man is not

allowed to sit to a barber, to enter a bath, a tanyard, to sit to a

meal, or to begin to act as judge in a Law Court. He must first of all

perform his devotions. But supposing that one has commenced any one of

these acts, then let them be finished.

_G_. A man begins the act of haircutting when the barber's cloth is

spread over him. Bathing has begun if the outer coat has been pulled

off. A man has commenced to tan if his working apron has been tied

around him. A meal begins when the hands are washed or (as some say)

when the girdle has been removed. The process of judging has begun when

the judges have donned their professional robes, or (as some have it)

directly the litigants begin pleading.

The Jew and a non-Jew.

_M_. The school of Shammai forbids a Jew to sell anything to a non-Jew

on the Sabbath eve, or to help him with a load unless the Jew can reach

some neighbouring village before the Sabbath fully sets in. The School

of Hillel, however, allows it.

Miscellaneous prohibitions.

_M_. A tailor must not go out on the Sabbath eve with his needle, lest

he forget it and carry it during the Sabbath. Nor must the professional

writer (scribe) go out with his writing reed on the Sabbath eve.

According to the School of Shammai it is unlawful on the Sabbath eve to

deliver skins to a heathen tanner, or clothes to be washed to a

non-Jewish laundress, unless there be time enough for them to be got

quite ready before the Sabbath begins. But the School of Hillel allowed

perfect freedom in the matter. Rabbi Simeon ben Gemaliel says, "it was

the custom in my parental home to hand over to the non-Jewish laundress

things to be washed, three days before the Sabbath." It is forbidden to

fry meat, onions, or eggs, on the Sabbath eve, unless they can be

completely cooked before the Sabbath begins. Bread must not be put into

the oven, nor cakes on the coal, unless there is time before the Sabbath

comes in for the surface to become encrusted.

Concerning the Sabbath lamp.[34].

_M_. Wherewith may one light the Sabbath lamp? Not with wicks made with

cedar moss, or raw flax, or silk fibre, or weeds growing in water, or

ship moss. Nor shall pitch, wax, cottonseed oil, or oil of rejected

offerings, or oil from sheeptail fat, be used for these lamps.

_G_. The Rabbis allowed the aforementioned ingredients to be used for

the Sabbath fires, though not for the Sabbath lamps. Why are wicks made

of the above materials prohibited? Because they give but a flickering

light. The oily substances mentioned are forbidden because they do not

adhere to the wick.

About extinguishing the Sabbath lamp.

_M_. He who extinguishes the Sabbath lamp for fear of non-Jews or

robbers or of evil spirits, or in order that the sick may sleep, is free

from guilt. But if the object is merely to save expense the lamp

extinguisher stands condemned.

Three things to say on the Sabbath eve.

_M_. I. Have ye tithed the food to be eaten on the

Sabbath? 2. Have ye made the _erub?_ 3. Light ye the Sabbath lamp.

Man's two Sabbath angels.

_G_. As he returns home from the Synagogue on the Sabbath eve, every man

is accompanied by two angels, one good, the other evil. If, on coming

home, the man finds the lamp lit, the tables spread, and everything in

order, the good angel says, "May the coming Sabbath be as this present

one." To which the evil angel is compelled reluctantly to respond

"Amen." But if everything be in disorder the bad angel says, "May the

coming Sabbath be as the present one." To which the good angel is

obliged reluctantly to respond, "Amen."

The overturning of Mount Sinai. (9).

_G_. When the Israelites refused to believe the words of Moses after he

had returned from the mountain, the Holy One, blessed be He, inverted

the mountain above them like a top, and said unto them, "If ye receive

the Law, well, but if not, your graves shall be here."

Lucky and unlucky birthdays.

_G_. Rabbi Simon ben Levi said that whoever is born on the first day of

the week (Sunday) will be either thoroughly good or thoroughly bad,

because on that day light and darkness were created. If on the second

day of the week, he will be stingy, because the waters were divided on

that day. If on the third day, he will be rich and prosperous, because

on that day abundant vegetation was created. If on the fourth day, he

will be wise and happy, because on that day the luminaries were fixed.

If on the fifth day, he will be good-natured, because fishes and fowls

were then created, and these are fed by God alone. If on the sixth day,

he will be likely to give himself to good works, because that is the

Sabbath preparation day. If, however, he be born on the Sabbath, he will

also die on the Sabbath, as a punishment for his desecration of that

sacred day by his birth.

2. TREATISE ON THE PASSOVER (_Pesakhin_). No. 3 in order.

_M._ On the eve of the fourteenth Nisan, search must be made for leaven

by the light of a lamp (10).

_G._ What means the Hebrew word _or_? (Translated above "on the eve

of"). Rabbi Huna says it means, "when the day begins to dawn": but

according to Rabbi Jehuda it means "at night," but in Genesis xliv, 3,

and 2nd Sam. xxiii, 4, the verb means "to get day, to dawn," so that

Rabbi Huna is right. Abazi said that no student should enter upon his

studies just before the dawn of the fourteenth Nizan, lest he forget to

search for leaven.

_G._ To Amorain (11) propose the following question: "Suppose a man let

a house to another, telling him that he had removed all leaven but

subsequently it was found that some leaven had been left. Is the

agreement to take the house binding?" Abazi said, "Yes, it is, for it is

better that each householder sees for himself that all leaven has been

removed. Before beginning the search for leaven a blessing must be said,

as, indeed, before any religious act is performed."

By the light of the lamp.

_G._ The light of the sun or of the moon or of a flame of fire may not

be used in searching for leaven, as the Rabbis say is taught in

Zephaniah i, 12 (I will search Jerusalem with lights), and Prov. xx, 27

(Man's soul is Jehovah's lamp searching the inner chambers of the body.)

3. TREATISE ON NEW YEAR'S DAY (_Rosh Hashshanah_). No. 8 in order.

_G._ The generation before the flood was punished with boiling water.

(12).

4. TREATISE ON THE ROLL (13) _(Megillah)._ No. 10 in order.

_M_. The Megillah _(i.e._, Esther) is sometimes read on the 11th, 12th,

13th, 14th, or 15th of the month Adar, not earlier nor later (for

details see the Mishnah and Gemara).

_G_. Rabbi Jehuda says on the authority of Samuel, that the book of

Esther does not defile the hands (14), _i.e._, that this book was not

given by the inspiration of God. Samuel, however, explained that Esther

was dictated by the Spirit of God, but only to be orally repeated, and

not to be written.

_G_. When a scroll of the Law has become through age unfit for use it is

to be buried in an earthen vessel, as is said in Jeremiah xxii, 14, "And

put them in an earthen vessel, that they may continue many days." A

scroll of the Law ought never to be sold unless the object be to enable

the seller to study the Law better, or to take himself a wife. Rabbi

Simon ben Gemaliel said "whoever sells a scroll of the Law, or a

daughter, though he does it because he has nothing to eat, will have no

good from the purchase money."

5. TREATISE DEALING WITH THE LAWS ABOUT FESTIVAL OFFERINGS. _(Khagiga)._

No. 12 in order.

Those under an obligation to offer the burnt offerings during the three

_great_ annual Feasts.

_M_. Everyone is under an obligation to offer the burnt offering except

the following: A deaf man, a fool, a child, one of doubtful sex, one of

double sex, a woman, a slave, a lame man, a blind man, a sick man.

What is meant by a child? One not able to ride upon his father's

shoulders in order to go up from Jerusalem to the Temple. So say the

School of Shammai, but the Hillel School define child, "One unable to

take hold of his father's hand to go from Jerusalem to the Temple."

_G_. What does the expression "everyone" include?

Him who is half a slave and half free and also him who is lame on the

first day and well on the second day, as well as the man who is blind in

one eye, except the deaf man, a fool, and à child, and so forth. A deaf

man is like a fool and a child, for he is not responsible for his

actions any more than they are.

THE WORD TOHU RIGHTLY TRANSLATED "VOID" IN GENESIS i. 2.

_G_. Tohu is a green line (Heb. Qav or Qaw) which surrounds the entire

world, and from which darkness proceeds. (15).

THE SEVEN HEAVENS (16).

_G_. Resh Lagish used to say, "There are seven heavens, named as

follows: 1. Vilon (equals Velum, a curtain). 2. Ragiang. 3. Sheklagim.

4. Zebul. 5. Mangon. 6. Makon. 7. Ngarabot."

SATAN AND HIS COMPANIONS ENDEAVOURING TO STEAL A HEARING OF GOD'S WORDS.

_G_. Satan and his fellow-fallen angels are in the habit of listening

from behind a curtain to the words which God speaks to the angels in

heaven (17).

_III.--WOMEN (NASHIM)_

[This division deals with betrothals, marriage, divorce, and the like.

One treatise discusses vows.]

1. TREATISE ON WIDOWS UNDER AN OBLIGATION TO UNDERGO THE LEVIRITE

MARRIAGE _(Yebamot)._ No. I in order (18).

_M_. A childless widow is under an obligation to marry the eldest

unmarried brother of her deceased husband. If that brother-in-law

refuses to marry her, she is allowed in the presence of the nation's

leaders to loose his shoe from his foot, to spit in his face, and to say

to him, "Thus shall be done to the man who will not build up his

brother's house." (see Deut. xxii, 9).

The following classes of women are released from the necessity of

marrying any brother-in-law: 1. The illegitimate daughter of the

brother. 2. Her daughter. 3. The daughter of his illegitimate son. 4.

His wife's daughter. 5. Her son's daughter. 6. Her daughter's daughter.

7. His mother-in-law. 8. The mother of his mother-in-law. 9. The mother

of his father-in-law, and so forth.

2. TREATISE ON VOWS (_Nedarim_). No. 3 in order.

The Scriptures Given as a Punishment for Men's Sin.

_G._ If the Israelites had not been guilty of sin they would never have

required more Scripture than the Pentateuch and the Book of Joshua. The

last is indispensable as it records the way in which the land was

divided among the Israelites. The other Scriptures (the Prophets and the

Writing) because in much wisdom there is grief. (Eccles. i, 18).

3. TREATISE ON BETROTHALS (_Qidushin_). No. 7 in order.

The Families Who went up from Babylon to Jerusalem.

_M._ Ten kinds of families left Babylon for Palestine after the edict of

Cyrus went forth in B.C. 538 permitting the nation to return. These were

as follows: 1. Priests. 2. Levites. 3. Israelites. 4. Degraded Priests

(lit. profaned ones). 5. Proselytes (19). 6. Freedmen. 7. Bastards. 8.

Netinim. 9. Those of unknown lineage. 10. Foundlings. The three first

are allowed to intermarry: the last six may also intermarry. All those

whose mother is known but not their father are said to be of unknown

lineage. A foundling is one picked up in the streets whose parents are

both unknown.

The Evil of Idolatry.

_G_. The worship of idols is so grave a sin that he who renounces or

disavows it does as much as if he confessed his belief in the whole law.

Sons More Desirable than Daughters.

_G_. The world cannot exist without males and females, yet blessed is he

whose children are boys, and unlucky he whose children are girls. Cf.

Baba Bathra, p. 113, col. I:--"Whoever does not leave a son to be heir,

God will heap wrath upon him."

_IV.--CONCERNING PENALTIES_ (NEZIKIN)

[In this division the principal part of the civil and criminal court of

the Hebrews is included. See especially the treatise "Sanhedrin."]

1. TREATISE CALLED LIT. Chap. I, or THE FIRST GATE. (20)(Heb. _Baba

Qama_.)

Damages to be made good by those responsible for them.

_M_. There are four principal causes of damage to life and property. I.

The Ox. 2. The Uncovered Pit. 3. The Man who sets fire to anything. 4.

The Fire which starts of its own accord through neglect.

Whenever damage is done in any of these four ways the one that is

responsible for it must make the loss good.

_G_. The Rabbis teach that there are many specific forms of the above

four kinds of injuries, _i.e._, the ox can do an injury with his horns,

his teeth, or his feet.

Accident through falling over a jug or barrel.

_M_. If anyone places a jug on a public road and another person stumbles

over it and breaks it, the latter is not liable for the breakage. But if

he is injured by the fall, the owner of the barrel is liable for the

damage.

_G_. The Mishnah uses "jug" in the first clause and "barrel" in the

second. Rabbi Papa said that the same thing is meant in both cases.

On breaking a jug full of water on a public road.

_M_. If a jug full of water breaks on a public road and its contents

cause a person to slip, or if in any way one is injured by the pieces,

he who carries the jug is liable for any injury. Rabbi Jehuda, however,

says he is only liable if he breaks it intentionally.

2. TREATISE CALLED THE MIDDLE CHAPTER (Heb. _Baba Metsia_). 2nd in

order.

_G_. It was Elijah's custom to frequent the Rabbi's council chamber. On

one occasion, being later than usual, Rabbi asked him to explain his

delay. Elijah answered as follows: "It is my business to wake up

Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob one after the other, to wash each one's hand,

and to wait until each one has said his prayers and returned to rest."

"But," said Rabbi, "why don't they all rise at the same time?"

"Because," was Elijah's reply, "if they all three prayed at once, their

united prayers would precipitate the advent of the Messiah before its

appointed time." "Then," said Rabbi, "have we amongst us such praying

people?" Elijah said there were, mentioning Rabbi Khizah and his sons.

Rabbi then proclaimed a fast, which Rabbi Khizah and his sons came to

observe. When repeating the 18 benedictions (21) they were about to say

"Thou restorest life to the dead" when the world was convulsed and it

was asked in Heaven who revealed to them the secret. Elijah was then

beaten sixty times with a rod of fire. He afterwards came down like a

fiery bear and scattered the congregation.

3. TREATISE CALLED THE LAST CHAPTER _(Baba Bathra_). No. 3 in order.

_G_. The members of the Great Synagogue who wrote the Book of Ezekiel,

the Books of the twelve minor prophets, the Book of Daniel, and the Book

of Ezra (22).

4. TREATISE CALLED SANHEDRIN. NO. 4 in order. [It treats at length of

the institution of the municipal and provincial courts called Sanhedrin

from a Greek word, and also of the great Sanhedrin, or _Bethdin_, at

Jerusalem.]

Jewish Courts and their Constitution.

_G_. [The Sanhedrin was composed of 71 members. If an Israelite had a

point of law to decide, he first proposed it to the Court which met in

his own city. If they failed to decide the matter, it was submitted to

the judgment of the Court of the next city. If the Justices of the

immediate district failed to come to a decision, the case was laid

before the Court which met at the entrance of the Temple area. In the

event of their failing to decide, they appealed to the Court which met

at the entrance to the ante-court. Failure in this Court was followed by

an appeal to the Supreme Court of 71, where the matter was finally

disposed of by a majority of votes.

The Sanhedrin sat in a semicircle in order that the members might be

able to see one another. There were two notaries, one on the right and

the other on the left, to count the "Ayes" and "Noes" in all cases of

voting.]

The authorship of the BOOK OF EZRA.

_G_. [The Book of Ezra was written by Nehemiah. He does not attach his

name to it because he gave too much attention to his own merits, as it

is written (Neh. v, 19) "Think upon me, my God, for good, according to

all that I have done for my people."

5. TREATISE ON IDOLATRY _(Aboda Zara_). No. 8 in order.

_M_. It is forbidden to have any dealings with non-Jews for three days

before they hold their unholy festivals (23). One must not lend them any

money, for that could be useful to them in preparing for the festival.

Nor must one borrow from them, for they would gain thereby and be more

able, out of the interest, to meet the expenses of their coming feasts.

Similarly, one must not pay them any money, even though due, nor in

return must payment be received.

Rabbi Jehuda, however, maintains that payment should be allowed because

that is a displeasure and a disadvantage to those who pay.

_M_. When there is an idol in the city one may go to that city,

providing that the road does not lead to the idol alone. Jews are not

allowed to sell to non-Jews any of the following things, because they

can be used for purposes of heathen worship:--Fir cones, white figs, or

their stems, frankincense, and a white cock. A white cock may, however,

be sold if one of its claws has been cut off, since non-Jews do not

sacrifice an animal when an organ is lacking.

THE BOOK OF YASHAR (see 2nd Sam. i, 18).

_G_. What is meant by the Book of Yashar? Rabbi Khyiah bar Abba on the

authority of Rabbi Jokhanan says "It is the book of Abraham, Isaac and

Jacob, they being called righteous _(yesharim),_ and concerning whom it

is written, Numb, xxiii, 10, 'Let me die the death of the righteous'"

_(yesharim)._

6. TREATISE CALLED "SENTENCES OF THE FATHERS" (Heb. _Pirga Abot_). No. 9

in order.

[This treatise, on which no Gemara has been handed down, contains moral

precepts, aphorisms, and so forth, of the elder Tannain. It has been

often translated, an excellent rendering by the late Dr. Charles Taylor

having been published by the Cambridge Press.]

The Two Tables of the Law.

_M_. The two Tables of the Law, handed to Moses on Mount Sinai, were

created, along with nine other things, at the time when the world was

made, and at sunset, before the first Sabbath began.

_V.--SACRED THINGS, SACRIFICES, MEASUREMENTS OF THE TEMPLE, ETC._

1. TREATISE ON THE MEASUREMENTS OF THE TEMPLE _(Middot)._ 10th in order.

Extent of the Temple Area.

_M_. The Temple Mount was 500 cubits square. The space was largest on

the south, next largest on the east, the third largest being on the

north, and the least, westward. All who entered this area did so on the

south side, going round and passing on to the left.

_VI.--LEGAL PURIFICATIONS, LAWS OF CLEAN AND UNCLEAN, ETC._ (TEHAROT)

1. TREATISE ON PRESERVING THE HANDS FROM CEREMONIAL UNCLEANNESS.

_(Jadaim)._

The Aramaic passages in Ezra and Daniel make the hands unclean (25). But

Aramaic written in Hebrew characters and Hebrew written in Aramaic

(Syriac) characters, or in the primitive Hebrew characters (much like

the Phoenician) do not make the hands unclean. Scriptures, though the

matter is the same, never make the hands unclean unless the characters

or letters, in which they are written, are the square Assyrian letters

introduced by Ezra, the second Moses.

* * * * *

ZOROASTRIANISM

ZEND AVESTA

Zoroastrianism, or, more correctly, Zarathustraism, is derived

from Zoroaster, or, more strictly, Zarathustra, the founder of

the religion. Modern scholarship inclines to the belief that

this great religious leader was born in West Media about B.C.

600, and carried on his great work in Bactria. The religion

with which his name is connected is really a reformed and

spiritualised kind of that Magism which prevailed in Media and

contiguous countries. The priests, who are called "Atharvans,"

fire-priests, in the Avesta (compare the same name in

Hinduism, the Atharvan Veda, etc.) are identical with the

Magi, priests of the religion which Zarathustra (Zoroaster)

found in his original and adopted home. According to some, the

founder of Zarathustrianism lived at a very much earlier time,

and there are great scholars (Tiele, Darmesteter, Edouard

Meyer) who wholly deny the historicity of such a character. No

doubt, in later years, there gathered around Zarathustra an

immense number of fictitious and silly legends, as was the

case with Buddha, Jesus, and even Muhammad; but that each one

of these religious teachers lived and wrought is beyond the

reach of reasonable doubt.

_INTRODUCTORY_

This is the Bible of the Zarathustrians and of their modern

representatives, the Parsees, who flourish for the most part in Bombay.

The title "Zend Avesta" is an anomaly, for "Zend" is not the name of a

language at all, but means "commentary," the word "Avesta" connoting the

original text on which the commentary is written. The original title

denotes Avesta and Zend, which is a correct description, for what is now

known as the Zend Avesta is really a combination of text (Avesta) and

commentary (Zend), just as the Jewish Talmud is a combination of Mishnah

(text) and Gemara (commentary, or, literally, completion). The word

"Avesta" denotes (perhaps literally) knowledge, being cognate with the

Sanscrit word "Veda." But A.V.W. Jackson derives it from a form

_Upasta_, denoting "the original text." Darmesteter makes the word Old

Persian, denoting "law."

The existing Avesta is more like a prayer book than a Bible, for it is

as a liturgical work that it took on its present form, and as such that

it is now generally used, though the part called "Vendidad" includes a

large number of laws for religious ceremonies and the like.

What is known to modern scholars as the Avesta is, however, only a

portion of the original work, the latter having been largely lost

through the conquests over Persia of Alexander the Great, and especially

owing to the more thorough subjugation of the Sassanid Persians by the

Muslims in A.D. 632. The latter were much more bigoted and

uncompromising in their treatment of other religions and their

literatures than were Alexander the Great and his successors. The

original Avesta, as described in Pahlavi text which have come down to

us, contain twenty-one Nasks or books. These existed, in a more or less

incomplete state, down to the ninth century of our era, to which century

the Pahlavi work "Dindard" belongs.

The Avesta which exists to-day may be divided thus:--

I. The strictly canonical parts, including the following, which will be

more fully described in connection with the summaries.

1. Yasnas, including the Gathas.

2. Vispereds.

3. Vendidads.

II. The Apocryphal Avesta usually called the Khorda Avesta, or the short

Avesta. This is much less esteemed than the Avesta proper. It comprises,

1. Yashts (invocation).

2. Minor Prayers.

The language of the Avesta can be correctly described only as Avestan,

for no other literature in the same language exists. It resembles the

Pahlavi, or Ancient Persian, but it is identical with no language. The

Zend, or commentary, is written in the Pahlavi language.

The present writer wishes to express his obligation to the translation

of the Avesta by Spiegel (in German); Hang in his "Essays on Sacred

Language, Writing, and Religion of the Parsees "; and also to those by

Darmesteter and L.H. Mills in the "Sacred Books of the East," volumes

iv, xxiii, xxxiii. On the question whether or not the Achaemenian kings

of Persia, Cyrus I., and so forth, were Zarathustrians, see "Century

Bible,"--Ezra--Nehemiah--Esther.

_I.--YASNAS, OR SACRIFICIAL PRAYERS AND SONGS_

[This section of the Avesta constitutes the principal liturgical

text-book of the great Yasna ceremony, which is made up chiefly of the

preparation and offering of the Parahoma (the juice of the homa or soma

plant mixed with milk and aromatic ingredients). There are seventy-two

chapters in the Yasnas, though they contain a good number of

repetitions. It is in this main part of the Avesta that the five

metrical Gathas are to be found, these being the oldest and by far the

most important of the Avesta.]

CHAPTER I. THE PROCLAMATION OF SALVATION. I (Zarathustra) make known to

Ahura-Mazda the Great God, that I am about to offer him my prayers and

sacrifices. (Yasnas.) He is the greatest and best, the most powerful and

wise. I pay homage, also, to the bountiful immortals (the

Amensha-Spentas), the guardians of the world. And to the body of the

sacred cow and its soul; (i) to Ahura (Jupiter), Mithra the sun, to the

star Sirius; and to the Fravashis (guardian angels of the saints). If I

have offended thee, oh thou greatest one, Ahura-Mazda, or if I have

diminished ought of the sacrifices (Yasnas) due to thee, forgive me, O

forgive me, thou unerring one. I declare myself to be a Mazdaist, a

Zarathustrian, a sworn foe to the Daevas (2) and a worshipper of

Ahura-Mazda.