The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1900-09-30
: 81 a@0 ~ -.
4 . ] > q c 1 !

and there is no mysticism about 1t
The real world, the natural facts OF
life, must not be ignored, and i'm
portance attributed to an artificial
tissue of laws woven 6bout the real. One
of the greatest puzzles and perplexities OF
modern life comes from the half-percep-
ton that the conventions established by
fear and greed. throughout the ages, are
not in accordance with the laws of the
soul as perceived by Jesus of Nazareth.
Here is the situation as pictured Ly this
new philosopher, and 1t ought to be plac-
ed, just so, before every college class in
ethics and every earnest seeker after
truth:
OF these two worlds it is the latter-the world
of compromises-that is nearest at hand and most
in evidence. 1t surrounds you and en1neshes you
II you start to do anything in straightforward,
natural way, it constrsins and embarrasses you
You are made to feel that your deepest instincts
are not be trusted. thst senility is wiser than
youth that the roundabout way is shortest TO your
aim and that as between right and wrong. the
truth and lie middle course IL always best.
The business of living becomes delicate art oil
balancing everything is at last a question OF ex'
pert testimony and statistics; there is no .ure
good or evil until after all the committees have
reported; meanwhile your affair is TO be as COM
Portable as you can. This is the world that en-
virons you and holds you close in its intricate
tissue OF expediencies Over beyond is the world
devotions, the world where the artists work free
and daring and youth is and swift TO its aim.
And between your world of prudent hypocrisies
and that passionate, real world, there is valley
Of shadows and dreadful doubts.
Do you not that there is need OF but just
thing, and that that thing is-fdith?
Have faith. then. Come, take the risks. 1t is
time TO go through the valley and try what is be-
yond.
The world has been slow to recognize
l., liz.
laws of gravitation. Mr.. Ferguson be-
lieves that they are, and he makes that
mooted fact so plain that when he gets
through with what he has to say on the
subject the average reader will feel like
a fool for ever having doubted it. Here is
another word on the problem of compro-
mise:
Shall one suppose that God regards a subject
from all sides and in every possible light before
he decides what TO do, that he attends speci-
hcally and separately TO every motion that GENES
Is it not plain that the universe is governed by
vital impulses; that millions and millions Of con-
sequences flow from the whir of the fy's wing,
and that its football shakes the firmamentY Most
like God does not attend 10 the consequences; he
attends TO the life of the fly.
In other words. the mass of consequences
which flow from every human act is so
infinitely complicated that it is foolish to
try to see them all; therefore the wise man
will do what he thinks in his imnost soul
is right, and let the consequences take care
of themselves. Some OF them may be pain
full to him and to others, but the problem
of the universe will work itself out more
quickly in that way than by tiTnid irresolu-
ton OF inaction.
This then, is the foundation of the new
the penetration which separates
the real from the unreal and the essential
from the non essential, and the courage
to declare ones self in favor Of the rean-
ties. Emerson laid that foundation nearly
half century ago. Thus Tar Mr.. Fergu-
son only emphasizes and reaffirms the
teaching of the Concord philosopher and of
Carlyle. But there is more in the book
than this. There are chapters which be-
long distinctly to the present. One Of these
is the third, which bears the title. The
Revolution Absolute" 1t begins with the
statements that religion is essentially
democratic. and that democracy implies re-
ligion. These two hypothesis are practi-
cally new. The idea which many people
have of religion Is that it is a sort of con-
servation Of a spiritual aristocracy, that
the Church does for the soul what caste
assumes to do for society-separates the
sheep from the goats, the noble from the
mean, the cultivated from the illiterate.
racy implies irreligious materialisu. and
that the ideal man or a republic is the
man who reverences nobody but
himself. Both these notions the author
utterly repudiates in the opening paragraph
Of this chapter, in sentences as ciear-cut
as a crystal and as positive as the multi
plication table:
democracy implies infnity. Men arc declared
to be equal because it is discovered that all men,
the least as well as the greatest, have or may
have access TO the infinite. The obvious dispari
ties become insignificant, in view of this great
lHfnity plus a million is seen to be
no than infnity plus one. II il were not for
religion democracy would be uncomfortable; If
mans soul is measurable and transient, democ-
raey is ridiculous.
Many thinkers of the present day are
more or less dimly recognizing the fact
that we are on the brink of a great
renaissance. an uplifting of
human thought from the material to the
spiritual from the unreal TO the real,
from superstition to science. For this
step in evolution. countless ages have
prepared the way. Philosophers have
foreseen it. dreamers have longed for ii,
scientists have worked for it. 1t is a
step which involves the absolute knowl-
edge of the Immortality of the soul, and
the study of Its laws from scientific,
will not depend on what is call
ed revelation, or on belief in miracles, or
on any material thing whatever. 1t will
rest on the recognition Of spiritual facts,
and on true comprehension of human
character. The effort of multitudes of
educated in a false school, has
been to train men and women into some
thing as contrary to the laws of evolu-
ton as a winged man would be. 1t has
been urged that all human affections
were sinful and must be killed or sub
dued. There can be no true theory of
religion built on such a basis any more
than there could be a true system of
based on the hypothesis that
the sun moves round the earth. After /
the new faith has gained ground there |
will be no more such false teaching. 1t
will impel men, not to turn away from
the world, and hope for life to come,
but TO bring heaven to earth. 1t will be |
because part of the great |
process of evolution; and evolution never
goes backward. The author of.-..7Tfe I
Religion Of Democracy" puts forth this !
theory with the impetuosity which char |
acterizes half his work, but which does
lot result in obscure wording or careless |
The desire and passion Of God is to bcget souls !
II through the long-birth processes and the !
.0Hs Of nature souls that shall be Separate from
li3 own SOUL and that snail stand over against /
hin, that he can look upon them and have /
with them and be not alone. And in |
,rder that the souls Of shall become thus |
eparate and distinct from tire soul Of God IL is |
necessary that God should hide himself, and that /
men should learn to trust their thoughts and |
heir own eyes. In this withdrawal Of Cod is the |
,eril and crisis Of CREATION the inevitable oppor-
unity Of sin, the. tragedy and pathos Of our life |
lpon this earth.
Do You not understand the taciturnity Of God? |
10 you not see why it is that he does not |
azon in the sky, or accost you with words /
shy he bosoms Won in his arms. ana turns his 1
ace away, and waits and is pafien. and silent? /
lave you had dreams Of Nirvans sckly visions
nd rautIresf Hive Won IMAGINED that tho end l