New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1897-05-08
NEW PUBLICATIONS.
A BRILLIANT STUDY OF SOCIOLOGf'

Professor Nash's volume fulhis the pro'"ise VI I've
title 1t does more, indeed. for the au'hoi 10 so'
thing more and better than mere epi'oii'.e' "
other mems thoughts. Not only Is ms ue".I
NJ tho Great thesis which ne has undertaken 10
discuss fresh and suggestive but he shows himset
N no n clear and original thinker TO say 'hs =
N saw a great deal: for sociology, using the worn
in Its broadcast sense. is In many resPee's 'o q
question Of this generation. and many Oh 'ne "o''
acute thinkers Of the day have become 1T oiio' ''
students and interpreters 1t is no small praise
.horotor. IN saw that Professor Nash need rear
with none who have preceded h'''''
In luminous and epigrammatic statement III cum
pactness of thought and In tnoroueN mo"
the whole subject he ranks among the pest "'@
IN sociology who have appeared during the ias'
,oars and We believe his book will come
10 he recognized as one or the most '"i"" ~
helpful treatises In the language.
He begins with short syllabus OF MS h'o "a
thought In the Mediterranean ciVilzauoh the III
dvidual man fo- the first time became conscious
that he had a soul Christianity forced that
thought through the lowest stratum OF society
until II reached the downmost man. lts moho'ne.
ism co-ordinated and unified the spiritual goods OK
tho rare brought out the moral unity OF all men ana
put the universe at the service OF GOO ohue' 's
spell OF this thought man came TO De cohce'heu
M, merely with the 'is." but with the may be-
and the fought to be-" The personality OF Ioo
made for the individuality and freedom OF man.
II banished fate, and with fate out OF the way
there was no longer any dead matter IN the UNI
verse The sense of sin soon came TO be a part
of the moral consciousness. and the sense Oh siii
Is the mortal foe OF arstocracy The luminous out
lines OF a Kingdom of God began TO be discerneo'
and with It the idea Of Humanity rose iuli ana
clear above the horizon. Duty was defined not as
an insurance Of present rights. but as an impulse
that srove 10 create new rights. This inVoiVeo
revolution IN human values The is no longer
satisfied the heart Of man: he pressed forward 10
obi N no
lifted the whole race up to a higher conception or
life and destiny. In word. the establishment OF
Christianity created the reformers conscience
made the world seem plastic to 1t. ana gave 10
sociology that elemental man 'of whom Rousseau
preached. Burns and Wordsworth sang, and TOT
whose sake Kant did his deepest thinking.
lndiv.duasm Is the last sociological word OF
Christian civilization. for 1t means moralization
man IS moral!zed when he is taken to heart by the
highest conscience TO be found and brought under
the influence OF the highest ideal Christianity
taught the downmost man that by virtue OF his in
dviduaIity he was an integral part of the great
plan OF things, and ultimately forced the universal
reason and conscience to take cognizance OF MINI
Thus the idea OF God became the embodied ana
TRANSPORTED desire Of the race Into 1t as su-
preme good the sanctifed wishes OF men nave
noured themselves The deeper Socialism OF
England and America Is looking toward, II IL mas
not already entered in.o religious phase. This IS
not haphazard or passing attitude. The sociai
and the religious consciousness are AKIN IL We
strip religion Of those features that make 1t a
form OF Insurance and then consider not its specu
LATHE explanations but its emotional forms, IL
v,a'ds two main elements for our examination:
first. a sense OF the whole Of things. and, secondly
f.ol;rp Of admiration The ethical root OF
the problem IS the necessity OF counting the com
monest man as one. The of individuality
must become coterminous with the area OF society
The reformer. working in the sums seeking 10
make citizens out OF things. is the type OF man oe
sired by the State that is truly democrauc-that ls
the State that is built belief In the equa right
Of every one to be an individual
The Tribe lies back Of all history Out OF II grew
the caste and patrarchal systems. 1t was the pro-
eenitor of polytheism and pantheism 1t was
mass OF humanity in which the individual was lost
For this reason It became the foe OF progress IL
deifed the as" and biotted out the dimy perceived
outline OF the Ought TO be- that Is imprinted on
every human heart. The fortune Of the downmoss
man-and the downmost man must always be the
Ultimate unit of human valne-depends upon So
ciety's success in capialzing the Future. The TO
be" must become at least as sacred as tho mas
been" and therefore II was that the tribal cohcep-
ton Of mar was antagonized by Christianity winch
IS and eve must be the religion Of the downmost
man. Doubtless 1t was helped In this by other IN
fuences Greek Roman and Jew built the highway
over whic. Christianity marched to conquest the
law of righteousness came from PaIesllhe Inc
conception of human history as the outworKng OF
rational plan came from Greece which showed
man the mirror in which he saw himself So 1t
became in a sense. the spiritual progenitor OF the
modern thought Of man. according to which hu-
mainly written large and taken largely. is the
trustee Of all things that are really worth while
Yet the Greeks had not the power TO drive their
definition home. Their eschatology wet the bow
string for 1t suggested. II 1t did not teach. that,
after all nothing Is worth while. Human lie is
bubble OF consciousness. floating down the stream
of tendency-beautiful. IL may be. with all the
r,descent coors of the rainbow, but yet certain 10
lose its individuality in the great spaces OF nature
This thought soon put out the fire OF enthusiasm
on the hearth of the universe. 1t made the re-
former impossible. For 1t killed endeavor ana
made the whole OF life series OF sensuous ex-
perlerces Romes contribution TO a higher social
ideal was not small. Her worldwide empire broke
down the old tribal idea. She made law, as en-
bodied In the State. a sacred and precious thlhg.
The size OF the State dwarfed. the aristocraf and
made his petty claims seem contemplate. Iheh
caue ,nto the popular consciousness the idea OF a
universal citizenship The individual ceased to be
a cog In the great machine and justice, IN the
noble words OF Justnian. came to be dehned AS
1.-The steady and abiding will to give to each man
what belongs to him..
Still Rome did not altogether outgrow the tribal
nrinciple II was powerless to carry out the pro-
gramme Of indivdualizng and moraliz'ng the
dcwnmost man; and Its last word concerning hu-
man life was the Stole idealizston OF suicide
the room Is smoky, let Us leave It, Spiendid as
was the civilization II wrought II had no potency
until Christianity arose and breathed into Its ira
Gitions and laws the thought Of the Fatherhood OF
God and the Brotherhood Of man. Then II was
that true democracy. with Its message OF nope
for the downmost man. arose Its foundanoh IS
on,i,nisn touching the masses and an abiding
faith IN the possibilities of the average man.
democracy must find itself and recognize Itself In
the lowest man. Therefore. IT does not rest con-
tent with the 'fs," but goes forth as missionary
force 10 create citizenhood in men who know not
the meaning OF the word. And democracy rests on
uonotheism The God Of the Bible is not a con-
templator: He does not lose His outlines In the
immensities Of time and space. The religion that
He inspires is married TO the working necessities
of mankind The master word is not philosophy
al Truth. but ReYolation. the