The Olneyville times. (Olneyville [Providence, R.I.]) 1887-1917, 1905-02-10
THE PULPIT.
A SCHOLARLY SUNDAY SERMON eY
The REV. HER6ERT X. MOTT.
Subject. Can a Man DO =. He Like.-

mon was contributed 20 The Christian
Register by the Rev. Herbert III. Mott.
IL is entitled Can q Man Do IS He
LikesT" and the text is: Choose you
this day who you Will serve."-Joshua
xiv, l5.
Can a man do as be likes;
: or course not! you say. AL sorts OF
barriers hedge him round. He would
like 10 hy as tie birds fly, but the
weight OF his flesh and bones keeps
plodding along the ground. He rs born
poor or stupid; consequently he can
neither buy a steam yacht nor set the
Thames on fire, though he would like
dearly 10 do both The force Of public
opinion compels him 10 don tall silk
hat and a frock coat when he would
much prefer 10 go about in a golf cape
and a shooting jacket The force OF
public law compels him 10 run his auto
at ten miles an hour when he very
much wishes 10 spin along joyously at
the rate OF thirty. Every man exists
under a set OF compulsiOns. He is
obliged 10 submit 10 many limitations.
natural and artificial. and he is CON-
PEELED, by pushes and pulls and press
ures he is unable Ia resist, 10 do many
things he doesn't want 10 do.
Nevertheless, in spite OF mans abb
ject slavery IN certain directions. is
there not some small space. some little
area. in which, instead Of being
slave he is actually and truly free?
department OF life and conduct in
which he can do as be likes?
The old doctrine-the doctrine be-
Iieved by our fathers. and by nearly
the whole OF humanity, civilized and
unciviliZed. in every part OF the world,
from the beginning OF recorded time
was that there is such a department OF
life and conduct that in all vital mat
ters. IN all matters that have TO do
with the moral quality OF life, man
can do as he likes Ouf fathers held
that, whenever we stand at point
where two roads diverge, we are able
90 choose, select. determine, which
road 10 pursue. In such a situation
the casting vote remains with us.
Whenever two or more governments.
leaders, employers. claim our allegiance,
we can choose whom we will serve"
This is true. said our fathers, no mat
ter how severe the pressure. The
temptation, urgency, force OF circum-
stances, may be so great as to resem-
bic compulsion. II appears as if we
were obliged TO take one road rather
than the other This, said our fathers,
Is appearance only. IN reality, when
ever two or more alternatives pre-
sent themselves, whenever two roads
open before US. the decision remains
with US. 1t is with us 10 say yes or
no to lift the latch or not TO lift il, 10
take the left or the right. No matter
how great the pressure brought 10
bear on us, in the last resort we can
always choose poverty instead OF
riches, captivity instead of freedom,
suffering instead of ease. and instead
Of life, rather than yield, if need be,
we can always choose death.
This is the old doctrine. and, al
though IL has stood both the test Of
time and the test Of experience, there
appears 10 be- in these days, widely
spread tendency 10 ignore il. No one
denies that circumstances exercise n
powerful influence over our lives, but
the tendency nowadays is 10 ascribe
everything 10 circumstances.
II is related that the eminent natur-
nlist, Professor Boulton, placed the
eggs of caterpillars in differently col
ored boxes. and left them there 10
hatch out. with the remarkable result
that the eggs In the blue box Matched
out into blue caterpillars. those in the
red box into red. and those in the yell
low box into yellow caterpillars. They
Were. you see. the product OF their
surroundings. they were what the tint
of their surroundings made them. And
so. il is declared. are you and l. we
nre what our surroundings and those
OF our ancestors make us. We are the
planes OF outside conditions, past and
present.
Here is man who is an enemy Of
society. He preys upon his kind. His
career is divided between debauchery
and other crimes He is the victim,
the helpless victim. OF outward circum-
stances, we are told. His mother was
drunkard. his father was a thief
He was reared in the slums. What
can YOU expect? True, he has been TO
reform school true, he has been
helped and aided 10y various phiian-
thropic people whom he has merciless-
ly deceived But he. poor fellow!
could not help himself. Like Profes-
for Boulton's calerpillars, be took on
the tint Of his environment. Born in
black box. he turns out black His
surroundings were evil, therefore he
Is evil.
Or. again. there is the hero who. like
Charles Lamb. gives up ali. in order 10
fuppOIl sOlue one utbeNutHI on INN.
or surrenders life Itself in order to
save the lives OF others. We are told
the same story about the hero a about
the thief He is not brave or self-de-
nying of his own accord. He is heroic
simply because the'cOnditionS in which
he was brought up were favorable TO
heroism, and so heroism grew out OF
his soul, just rs cabbages grow out Of
the soil when the soil contains the
seeds Of cabbages
Goodness and badness, heroism and
criminality, il is declared. do not re-
eide in us, but in our surroundings
We are mere passive Jumps OF clay. on
which our surroundings stamp what
ever is in them. We are the slaves and
victims Of the conditions in the midst
Of which we are When we fancy we
are doing as we like. going our own
way. following our own wills. we aye
in reality. merely obeying the pressure
~ circumstance We are under q rigid
law OF necessity all the time. Even
when we stand where two rsads d.
verge. and think that we ourselves
choose 10 take the left hand or the
right hand road. il is not really we our
selves who choose. but a number Of
circumstances and conditions, working
ON us and through Us.
This doctrine. that we are creatures
~ Circumstance and cannot help what
we do. IS a misleading one. IL tends 20
helf-decepuon. II makes Us imagine
affs..s t.F.HH HHs.W . Nrr. D.