Year: 1873

nreonant vonme is ethical rather than theological
founded on the spiritual instincts of our nature
rather than on the subtletes of speculative doctrine
and growing out of the intimate essence Of the soul
rather than the prescriptions of external authority
The thought of any historical period represents
the life of that period The essential spirit of an age
is the spirit of God; every living faith is in ace
corance with that spirit; every true church derives
its strength from that influence. At the present
day the tendency of enlightened thought is toward
the recognition of natural laws Every science au-
yances by a nearer approach the methods Oh
nature In medicine, the sanative effectS Oh hgn|
and air. and water are deemed OF more Naiue 'han
the old artificial agencies. Education cohsults 'he
aptitudes of the mind, favors the hS'uI'h oo"'
of the genius and charms the faculties INTO eA-
ercse. The popular theories OF social science aloW
the freest play of the social forces III the
training of the young, 1t is assumed tnat
the disnosition must be natural growth, not
manufactured product that every character has ITS
own Law of development; that you cannot deal with
the lily as you would with the sun-hower. we con-
.nl, the temperament of the child work in harmony
with il as far as possible substituting encourage
ent for rebuke and love for law. II the child goes
wrong we blame not its nature, but the
limitations Of its nature. Instead of punish
ing il for its deprayty pity 1t for the infehcty
of its parentage or its environment The lash is



burnt 10 ashes.


The sphere Of religion is not exempt from the ten
denotes of the age. The divine authority of custom
and precedent is shaken Many of the most pro-
found thinkers have learned 10 trust the lntutons
of the soul. deep and subtle conviction Is begin
ming to be spread that the divine spirit has its work
ngs in human nature. The inspiration of the moral
sentiments finds place among the axioms OF reli-
gion. Revelation is viewed as the disclosure OF
truth to the active and simple reason inspiration
rs the drawing of deep breath in the atmosphere
of serene ideas; regeneration as the bursting Of
the moral consciousness into flower; salvation as
spiritual health and sanity Miracle is not a sus-
pension or violation of law but the fulhllment of
nm untraced law the doctrine establishes the won
der; the humanity of Christ proves his divinity
the child of human nature is the true son of God
the guarantee of immortality the feeling Of I'M
mortal desires the pledge of the kingdom Is the un-
dying hope of the kingdom; all the souls books are
sacred scriptures:


ont from Nature rolled


The burdens of the Bible old


The creeds are man believing; the churches are man
organizing his beliefs for work the liturgies are
man praying; the holy books are man recording hls
experiences the psalms are mans utterance in
words Of his pious feelings the rites and ceremo-
mics are man expressing his feelings in symbols"


The results of these tendencies which so many
dread and many WelCOlue cannOl dl pIoSeub NC
predicted They have not yet transpred IN history,
and thus far points of mere conjecture But al
though Mr. rockingham does not undertake to cast
their horoscope he looks with hope upon the pros
pect


The powers Of Nature DO their work well and do 1t best
the more they are emanepaled how sun IesD I
and self-sustaning, the elemental forces Win what
order Of the world in the heavens Sb9ye the earth be-
meath, the waters under the eaIthlN How enchantmg
grace they urge the successive and infinite changes
rom the chaos 70 the cosmosl Unaided ny forces out
kIde OF themselves unassisted by the mechanism OF
rope, wheel pulley, lever, they wear away prlmeyai
rock. lift mountains from their eternal base, convert
forests into cOa-beds. change gas into granite and
granite back again into take the cason shells OF
infusora and metamorpnose them INTO chalk and nnt
shift the ocean margins cut new channels lQt MYERS
and spread helds over tue gloomy dpyssi pf iepla9fe
pOxioUs plants poisonous insects destructive animals
me P asehes SS a Se sweetest % dignity and the
most unerrIBg Judgment they handle comets, planets,
conste tossing the golden balls from center TO
circumference and makns the elnpyIean sparkle rom
bound to bound with the lively play OF the hashhs



But il is wise to believe that the same peryading
force which works such wonders in the material
world viii act with an energy equally benign in the
spiritual world. The conception of law cannot be
limited TO only portion of the universe.


Must we not suspect at eas. that the perturhed will
the eccentric desires the wandering wishes that whir
and flame along the moral empyrean may also be held
in It's fine leashes Creating such beauty IN the realm
Of material nature viii create in human nature
Will the irresistible grace which makes the orbs OF the
solar system dance their spheral music cause
40 lyric among the members OF the human
family Can the ouuin-sprt set the springs among the
h flowing toward the sea- and can not sci tue springs
of the heart flowing toward their Infinite Ocean
the Atmosphere and can il not modify commin Cling
social elementst Can the pity ing WOrldsplrlt
drape ivy and stones with uiOss, and
cannot the quick spirit in man grow over wasted life
or adOrn with loneliness hard naturei Can the decOm
posing puyerze Alpine peaks and yet fdl III the
attempt convert OF iniquity into vapOr that
shall vanish awayi Can the hght touch OF the solar
Vcause q flowers
and glitter with the hues of the diamond as they
gaze, and viii not the inner light IN the breast induce
men TO seek the a-gOodi Can the sunbeam call the
whole animal world into being and create the very civ
IizatiOns men, shall the Sun OF Righteousness be
Poweress the moral world and call into being
Kingdom of God within us Can the plastic powers OF
Nature the leaves with mathenaeal precision
the stem OF plant, change leaf into Hover and
nower into rui ana s there no P4%ef % 10 Ine very
human Development aud from the raw material OF pa
and impulse create the perfect results OF goodness
A singular Inconsistency were u true! Ihat There
should he living God in stocks and stones and none in
hearts and soulsa living God in the solar system and
none IN the social systea living God IN the stardust
and the dust out OF which God made man!


The phrase " religion of humanitE perhaps
frst introduced by Comte, although he deserves no
credit for the main ideas il stands for. If he in
vented the name, he did not create the thug. His
conceptions of the solidarity OF mankind and of the
immortality of the race were suggested several years
before him. He reduced these conceptions TO a GER
tain form and system. but according 10 Mr.. FrOthng
ham, they not improved by the process. COmtes
elaboration was artificial, consisting of a mechanical
arrangement Of outward apparatus, not of devel-
opment Of spiritual capacities. His sentimentality
was gratifed by the construction of ambitious
Inausoleum which 10 take the place Of the
church Of Rome, but it was the church against
the old church. His hereditary Catholic tendencies
which repressed during the maturity of his
intellect, revived in his declining years and
embodied in his scheme of new religion. The