The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1893-05-10
o1SUNDAY ThOUGHTSno
&ON<
MORRLS0p MANNERS
~ A CLERGYMAN

The second is improper. Self-lOye, in it's
permissible and laudablo form. leads US to
take proper care of ourselves. 1t means
the being well-ied, well-clothed, well
housed. wel-schooled. It looks to environ
ment and sanitation. 1t desires and seeks
the rewards of right living both here and
hereafter. Selfshness. on the contrary. is
the enthronement OF self rs an idol. the
promoting of our own comfort and happi-
ness in disregard or at the expense OF
others. and the locaizing OF all human in
terests under our own hat. Christianity,
with that practical wisdom which ~ It's
supreme characteristic, appeals TO and
sanctions selflove. IL reprobates selfih-
ness and denOunces It as the top root OF
all deprRvitY.
That latest and greatest of intellectual
fads, theOsophy, Is vitiated by its inability
10 discriminate seltsnsss IRON seli.love.
1t condemns both. L. eesketh utter ex-
tinctiOn of ''seiiism" IS the ideal good, and
prociams the absorption OF self in the
universe. as the supreme end OF life.
Then il arrays against It's propaganda the
strongest instincts OF the soul viz: those
OF indiyidualism and OF conscious immor-
tality.
Christ is wiser than Buddha. lie con-
prises ell that is worthy IN self, and bids
il lay off only its demeaninZ attributes.
In His scheme, individual, instead OF fad
ing acts. as in Buddhism, into universal
non-consciousness practical aunihilationl,
is led on an up BY publication through
spirals of ascension to final coronation and
beatitude among kindred spirits.
Ii were enough as showing the practical
difference between Christ and Buddha, to
point to the fact that the child OF the one
is Christendom, while the child Of the
other is Asia. carved IN stone" the
graveyard OF progress and the antithesis
of modern civilization.
The rapidly with which this country is
becoming urbanized is astonishing. In
1870, when the first census was taken only
3.15 per cent of the total population lived
inthe larger cities-which were themselves
but cities by D-evet. According 10 the
census of 1890 the proportion has risen
within the century to 81 per cent, while
our cities now rival those OF Europe IN eize
and, alas, IN sqUa.or.
The drift OF the country population into
the cities is vitality related to every politi-
cal and moral interest. We cal. attention
now TO the effect upon the nervous sys-
tenn. Our national disease, Americanitus,
increases constantly. Artificial habits, in
door life, vitiated cir. continuous excite
ment, life on the nerves must necessarily
disturb the mental equilibrium. Insanity
keeps pace with the growth and over
crowding of cities. In Massachusetts, for
example, out OF q total morality Of
205, 400, IN the four years from 1856
to 1890. there were q so deaths
from brain diseases. In the other
states OF the union the ratio is not essen
italy di erent. The figures are jumping
upward. Connected with the fTightlu IL
crease IN diseases OF the brain ia l8ts years
is the kindred increase IN the mum Der of
suicides. Mofsslh, the eminent Italian
authority. contends that there Is a close
relation between suicide ana the morbid
conditions of the brain TACT generally
recognized by writer's on the subject from
Quete.et 10 Morselli. 4 thoughtful writer
in the May numbsr OF the 1ieHa insists
that the study OF statistics OF suicide,
madness and crime Is one of the utmost
Importance 10 any society whore such eb-
normal conditions are on the increase.
That cannot be a healthy society, progress
sive and civilized, where there is a growing
disregard for life and its duties. IL ia the
health of the people that ought to come,
and in higher eiVi izaiion will come, be-
fore the wealth of the people. If the sta
tistics Of suicide and madness prove any
thing they prove that our social organiza-
ton is diseased, that something 10 wrong
with our boasted civilization which per-
mits TO exist, or direct causes TO exist,
conditions that annually drive thousands
of men and women to selt-murder or into
the mad house."
A religious contemporary makes sharp
point against Matthew Arnold and his
contention that the personality and intel
ligsnt moral governorship OF God must be
denied because they can never be veri-
fed" II, now, verifcation be a ground
for rejecting whatever cannot be thus
avOuched many other things must go be-
side religion. The whole vast structure
OF modern physics rests on a principle,
viz. the uniformity OF the laws of nature,
which can never be verified. No man
has ever esssysd to demonstrate that the
uniformity will be in the future as il has
been in the past IT'S obviously impos-
sible of demonstration. Mr.. Arnold.
therefore, upon the ground on which he
rejects all intelligent religion should also
nave rejected all the conclusions of
physical science. And vet he speaks of
believers as wanting In intellectual
seriousness" He praises "sweetness and
light" as the ideal of character. vet often
his own utterances contain neither the
one or the other.
Let Us cease teaching people TO believe
in a heaven whose employments consist
In singing psalms and playing on harp.
IT'S true saving OF Herschell that sta
tistics present themselves to us as the
basis of social and political dynamics, and
as the only solid ground on which the
truth or falsity Of historical or psychology
cal theories can De proved"
II civilization is "the humanization of
man in society,"" then. surely. man is yet
agood way this side of civilization.
christianity" says the late NJ. Taine,
'has given wings to 400.0O0,OO0 souls and
enabled them n soar above the horizons by
faith, by purity. and above all By sacri-
fee. Tis the greatest OF moral forces"
Apropos of 81. Taine a beautiful little
story IL told of him in Paris, and il illus
trstss his faculty Of observation. lie was