Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1910-01-29
BROTHERHOOD OF
MAN; RACE HOPE
It's Full Recognition Greatest
Achievement of World, Says
DR.. J. A. Udden.
THE FREEDOM OF WORSHIP
Address Before Joint Reception of
Societies at Augustana Col
lege Last Evening.

AuRuStana college last night proved
a very enjoyable event. The old
gymnasium had been beautifully dec
grated and the many guests who at
tended were made to feel the spirit in
the word welcome" which adorned
the front wall of the gym" The
union of the two societies in the So
cial affair also produced an air OF
cordially which always marks the
joint receptions.
DR.. j. A. Udden was the speaker
Of the evening, giving an address of
unusual merit and rich in thought.
The address was along the lines of
1.-The Advantages of the Present
Age" He said in part:
eff I were asked what is the great
est good among all things in this
temporal world, l believe / would
say: brotherly love among men. And
if I were to answer the question, what
is the greatest achievement that the
human race can accomplish, 1 be-
lieve 1 would say: a full recognition
of the universal brotherhood of man.
This is nothing new. We have heard
1t before. Love they neighbor as
myself Love one another Love
L
by precept and by example, has re-
generated the world and it has usher
ed in a new era in history. In our
age the command has begun to re-
sound around the entire world, and
all nations can hear it. We have the
privilege of living in a country where
the beneficent influence of this in
junction is everywhere apparent, tam
gible and powerful. This is not an
empty boast
Sentiment of Tolerance.
Some of the beneficent character
istics of the age in which we live
are the modern sentiment of tolerance,
the institution of liberty, the recog-
milton of certain freedom for the hu-
man intellect. We are so accuStom
ed to enjoy these privileges that it is
difficult for us to conceive of how the
world could ever have been any diff
ferent in this respect than it is at
The present time. We have a right
to worship according to the dictates
of our own conscience. We are not
responsible to any one except to our
selves for our conception Of the
structure of the universe, or of the
nature of the motions of the nom
bers of the solar system, or of the
shape of the earth we inhabit. And
yet we need not go very far back in
history to find that people have suf-
fered persecution for entertaining
and expressing honest convictions on
such matters; convictions which were
different from those of their fellow
men, ana even for possessing and
offering to the world correct inter-
pretatiOHs of things which have prov
ed useful in bringing blessings to all
mankind.
Emancipation of Human Intellect.
What an enormous change has
followed the efforts of the heroes of
reformation who, we may say, eman-
cipated the human intellect. We I've
now in an 6t;e CT rapidly increasing
enlightenment. The sum of human
knowledge is already almost auraii-
ing. 1t extends to the remotesc re-
giCn Of the universe and it includes
incOneeivably small details CT ;he
physical world that is near us. And
more than this, i: includes informa-
ton on the laws and the properties
of the human mind itself. 1t is
scarcely any wonder that men should
sometimes have been so impressed
with the greatness of mans intellect
ual achievement that they have lost
sight of the limitations of his men,
tai equipment. While knowledge had
been greatly increased during the
last century, the human mind itself
remains the same, or practically the
as ic Il
finite.
The psychologist of today is max
ing cumulative investigations of nor
NAL imperfections in mental opera
tons. We are endeavoring to correct
ly discount our own mistakes. We are
learning to submit to criticism. This,
more than anything else, has promoted
the acquisition of real knowledge and
it has given birth to a tolerant spirit
among all educated people. 1t is only
the ignorant man who can always be
sure that he is right He sees none of
the many uncertain factors that affect
an intricate problem and that make the
well informed man hesitate to express
an opinion.
New Realm of Thought.
But, Whlle 1t is true that human
knowledge is assuming enormous pro-
portions, so that each one Of us in tho
brief span of our life can encompass
only an insignificant fraction OF the
whole, still every new advance brings
into dim and distant view new realms
of thought, limi1ess in extent and
wholly unexplored, If the sum Of
knowledge "a prreaf the suTn Of human
Ignorance is Infinitely greater, The
more We learn, the more keenly we
appreciate our limitations. Our ears
cannot hear. and our eyes cannot see,
The music of the universe Is a dream
which We cannot interpret, and the
vision of the sage is on a mirage
that deceives. Before tie inscrutable
presence Of another ami a higher ex.
istence which we cannpt comprehend,
we are prompted, as others before us,