The times., 1901-05-13
VALUE OF MORAL CAPITAL.
DIR. Pullman Speaks Mt the Churcl,
of Our EnfhPr.

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DIR. Pullman Speaks Mt the Church
| of Our Father.
| The Rev. Dr. James NJ. Pullman, pastor
| Of the First Universalist Church of Lynn.
Mass, who is in Washington attending
the Charities ard Corrections Convention,
occupied the pulpit at the Church of Our
| Father yesterday morning. He is a broth
| er of the late George NJ. Pullman, the
sleeping-car magnate. Announcement
was made that the physical condition of
the Rev. John Van Schaick. tr, pastor of
| the church, was such that his physician
| had forbidden his leaving the house.
| DR. Pullman announced as his subject
| THE Moral Capital of the World" and
| drew his text from Mark, xiii-36 What
| shall it profit a man If he gain the whole
world and lose his own soul" I'VE
| come into this life out of darkness he
| began, we play our little parts and we
| pass out again into the darkness. Our
welfare here depends upon our obedience
TO certain laws. The enterprises of the
| world are carried on upon three kinds of
capital; material capital intellectual cap
| ital, and moral capital.
Moral capital is the result of the ac-
emulation and Transmission of the ex-
perience of mankind in the moods of pro-
| SIeSS. 1t is SuCn capital oI WHICH Hieu
and women are built. This capital is the
| result of the requirement of correct
| habits. 1t is amassed by that eff
| fort which has been the chief business
of man on this globe after providing for
| his immediate wants-social desire. 1t is
| the chief product OF mans activity. Moral
| capital is invested first in external insti-
| tutions, and secondly in internal structure.
| 1t is laid UP in laws, customs manners,
and halits. The habit Of respecting law is
| moral capital. Inc great race catastrophe
| was founded on a series of facts. Since then
| the first attempts at progress were fail
| ures owing to the lack of moral capital.
| Ancient nations had no such capital, no
| habits of foresight and of self-control.
Earth was fillsd with violence.
THE greatest difference between the
savage and the civilized man is the ability
| of the latter to look ahead first for that
| which is natural and then for that which
is spiritual. Originally all the forces Of ma
ture controlled man, but with the accumu-
lation of moral capital the perponderance
of brutism has given way to a prepond-
! erance of humauism.
'All material wealth springs from the
| power to multiply Moral wealth is ac-
| quired by the power of reflex action pos
sessed by the nerves. First, the exertion
| of the will is necessary for progressive
| thought or action. but eventually it be-
| comes a matter of habit This habit is
| moral capital, and is a legacy to be trans
mitted TO our descendants.
The power of habit is exemplified in
| the development of the soldier. The re-
| cruit finds difficulty in executing the sim
| pliest drill, but after constant practice
| he executes the order given without
| thought and almost involuntarily. / have
| been told of the old soldier, who had
not been in the ranks for years, but, who,
| on being saluted by former officer, with
| the command, Attention" dropped into
| the gutter the packages which he was
carrying and d~instinctively obeyed the or
der
! '.The progress of mankind is evidenced
| in the improved moral structure of the
| modern man, and on its right develop
! ment depends the future of our descend
ants. Ii You were to go upon the roof
| of the New York Stock Exchange, you
| would find countless wires radiating in
| every direction, the nerve centres of mod
| ern life. This plexus of iron nerves is all
| the development of the past fifteen years,
| and has been demanded by man pro-
| gress 1t is the outward and visible evil
| dence Of the difference between the an
| cient and the modern man. Each genera
| tion becomes more sensitive and this
| sensitiveness is CnIy preliminary to future
| great knowledge.
The existence of God was formerly a
| matter of faith; it is now a matter of
| Knowledge Only about one-fifth of the
| human race is in the line of progress.
| The highest and most progressive teach
| ers have been objects of persecution, as
| is evidenced in the Cross or Calvary. The
| church of the Middle Ages killed off and
| eAiled the best thought of the time and
| encouraged celibacy, thus making the
| brute element the parents of the time.
| The high development of the nervous sys-
/ TEN tends to prolong life. The average
| length of life has nearly doubled in the
past 200 years. Life has also been in
tensified to a greater variety of sensa-
| tions in one year than were formerly eX-
| perienced in a lifetime. The brain and
spinal cord are finer and more delicate.
The modern man is the real Methu-
| selah He can live a thousand years in a
| thousand hours. You have often heard of
| the contagio of example. 1t is more prop
| eriy called moral induction. Induction is
! greater than heredity: it is often strong
| enough to overcome bad and create good
Religion is based upon moral induction,
and the strong are responsible for their
| influence upon the weak II you are not
| well born you can be born again. as re-
generation is a possibility. 1t is the pro-
| cess of education and inspiration.
"I-pon visiting pump house which
| siIpDiied the waterWorks of a city in New
! YORK state, the first thing that attracted
| my attention was big dial, around
| which q large hand revolVed. AS | asked
| what il was | heard the fire bells ring
| ing in the town below, and gradually the
| hand the Qial TGNoINeu u4ill IL TtaCNeu
| nearly zero. The moment it began to
| move the stokers jumped to their feet
| closed the furnace DOORS and stirred the
| fires The big engines began to pump
| and throb until the necessary water was
| forced into the mains and the dial again
| showed that the supply was sufficient. l
| asked the engineer how sensitive the in
| Gicator was. He replied that he believed
| that every time anyone opened spigot
! i'm the city to wash his hands IL was
| shown on the Indicator.
.'Do you believe that this mere mechan-
| ism is more sensitive than the ties that
| hind MS 10 God? As the little child kneels
at its mothers knee and offers up its
| evening PRAYER so certainly will the AL
mightys means of conveying ! knowledge
| mon II This planet of ours is but n
suburb Of hegreat City of God, and each
| fbrce millions of minds to that city. In
| ai,senting ourselves from church We cut
| nfs the cords of induction from higher
| organism and eVentuaily we are sent
| back to the melting pot to be nodded
| over. With the strength of moral capital
| to support us the man will do what is
] riaht whether he feels like 1t or not.