The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1879-06-22

Of this passion are what the moralst calls abom-
Unable. and that love regarded as test OF con-
duct, an aim Of life or an object OF heroic devo-
ton. Ia a very specialized form. and that in or
der to fulnl such functions 1t must not only be
selected from the rest. but also removed from
them, and set above them at an incalculnble
distance. But It is impossible to hold that one
thing is intellectually better than others without
concedinR that others are intellectually worse
than IT, II we affirm that vlrtuous love consti-
tutes ite own heaven. we must also maintain
that vicious love makes its own hell. But the
positive school. In Mr.. Mnllock's judgment. can
scarcely do this. According to their teaching
the results Of love are in both cases bounded
by our present consciousness, which. divorced
from all future expectation. has no room In 1t
for the vast interval which Christian morals
postulate between the right love and tho wrong
And our author cites some pertinent lines from
Gauthiers Mile. Maupin." to show what n
singular ideal might be fashioned by the ami
NAL instincts. uncontrolled by tho faith in an
after life. Love as positive pleasure
II IL be ever reduced to such. and is
totally Invested Of tho halo borrowed
from religion, will doubtless be. as Saint
Beuve prophesied. a different thing from
what we now see 1t. 1t will scarcely supply to
men. as 1t has supplied. any special pinnacle on
which human life may raise itself. and the one
type OF 1t at present on an eminence will drop
nearer to the level OF the others. We cannot by
any means acknowledge however. that the cpl
thets by which these varieties arc now so
sharply distinguished would. In Comte's sys-
tenn. for example. lose all significance and vir-
tue. or that morality in this application would
be word without meaning.
We do not agree with Mr.. Mallock that the
problem by which the present age is confronted
Is unanswerable, though we began by con-
ceding that It is, rs yet. unanswered We
admit. too. that the seeming parallels to our
own case among other times and races have
some striking features OF contrast rs well ne
analogy. Greek and Roman thought was posi-
tive. In one sense OF the word. only to a limited
extent. Even on the horizon Of Lucretius. the
supernatural lowered. and the Gods. though
careless OF the world. still lay beside their nee
tar. The oldest civilization OF which any rec
ord ia left to lis. that Of Egypt. was based on
theism which. OF all others. most nearly APP
proaches ours. The system Of Confucius il.
in practice. confined to the official hierarchy.
and the mass OF the Chinese population has nc.
cepted corrupt type OF Buddhism. Indeed
the appeal OF positivists to the Buddhist religion
in Its purest form is scarcely felicitous. 1t is
the appeal OF optimsts to inveterate pessi-
mists and OF exact thinkers TO inveterate mys-
tics. The vitality OF Buddhism. however.
rs we have intimated. is due rather
to its accretons Of superstition and its facility
OF amalGamation with popular creeds than to
its esoteric doctrines. In word. we acknowl-
edge that the question as to the positive worth
OF life is substantially new because It has never
yet been asked so perempt orily and markedly.
As Mr.. Mallock strikingly says. " the path OF
hnn haat aL m t,r An
tain. and our bewildered eyes are staring at m
undreamed OF prospect" Thus far the pioneers
OF progress have greeted the sight with acclama-
ton. and confidently declare that we are look
ing on the promised land. But to the moro
thoughtful and the less impulsive. 1t ia plain
that mist hangs over It, and men like Mr.. Nal
lock see grave reason for making close scutiny
and for asking H. when the mstl lifts. what we see
will be not splendor. but desolation.