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Text
as he was in earlier years one of ”
most civil engineers. The Read4__
"e®\’
■
Paris, he was able to assist a
nni’^ Frenchman who came to this country
tz
er an appointment from M. Thiers, then
minister of Public Works, to visit and study
minutely the public improvements, canals
and railroads, and the financial and bank
ing systems, both of the States and the Ge3 neral Government. Prom this period, 1833. 35, down to the day of his death, Michel
Chevalier was one of the warmest admirers I
of this country, and now his early friend,
Mr. Robinson, publishes this memoir, read
before the American Philosophical Society, J
in which he gives us a clear and in
structive account of the useful career
of M. Chevalier, and of the wide sphere
of his activity. His Letters on the
United "States were received with great ap
plause, and even now are well worth read
ing, and his thorough and exhaustive report
on our public works, although, oi course,
antiquated by the half century that has al
most passed, is a monument of the pains
taking diligence of the writer and of the
progress made by this young country in de
veloping its communications. What he
learned here and in subsequent visits of the
same kind to England led to his elaborate
Xvork on the Roads, Canals and Railroads of
France, and the adoption and execution of
many of his plans and suggestions may be
seen in the France of to-day, with its net
work of railroads, its thorough system of
high roads, and it§ chain of canals. Indeed,
the great schemes that are now being carried
out in France for supplying every part of
the country with local railroads connected
with the great through lines may be.deduced
from Chevalier’s lessons learned here.
So great Was the appreciation of his pre
eminent services and of the success of his
studies in finance as well as in engineering,
J that at thirty-five he was appointed Profes
sor of Political Economy at the College of
France, and that office he held down to his
death, although he was prominent in public
life, a Senator, and frequently occupied with
great public missions and commissions. His
sturdy independence in politics stayed by
him to the last, and he was the one man in
the Senate who, in 1870, voted against the
I German war, on which Napoleon the Third
entered with a high heart, only to lose his
: throne. The part taken by Chevalier in
; bringing about a commercial treaty with
’ England is fully described by Mr. Robinson,
■ who attributes to it and to the admirable
railroad system in France, devised by Che- j
valier, the rapid recovery of France from
the results of the Prussian war, and its ad
vance to a state of national prosperity
and individual welfare not equalled in
any other country of Europe. Free tra
der as he was in theory, he was,
>
•I
'
*
j
�
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Victorian Blogging
Description
An account of the resource
A collection of digitised nineteenth-century pamphlets from Conway Hall Library & Archives. This includes the Conway Tracts, Moncure Conway's personal pamphlet library; the Morris Tracts, donated to the library by Miss Morris in 1904; the National Secular Society's pamphlet library and others. The Conway Tracts were bound with additional ephemera, such as lecture programmes and handwritten notes.<br /><br />Please note that these digitised pamphlets have been edited to maximise the accuracy of the OCR, ensuring they are text searchable. If you would like to view un-edited, full-colour versions of any of our pamphlets, please email librarian@conwayhall.org.uk.<br /><br /><span><img src="http://www.heritagefund.org.uk/sites/default/files/media/attachments/TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" width="238" height="91" alt="TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" /></span>
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2018
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Conway Hall Ethical Society
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Title
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[Newscutting about] Michel Chevalier
Description
An account of the resource
Place of publication: [s.l.]
Collation: 1 leaf ; 19 cm.
Notes: From the library of Dr Moncure Conway.
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[Unknown]
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1870
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[s.n.]
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Engineering
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<img src="http://i.creativecommons.org/p/mark/1.0/88x31.png" alt="Public Domain Mark" /><br /><span>This work ([Newscutting about] Michel Chevalier), identified by </span><span><a href="https://conwayhallcollections.omeka.net/items/show/www.conwayhall.org.uk">Humanist Library and Archives</a></span><span>, is free of known copyright restrictions.</span>
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G5741
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application/pdf
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English
Conway Tracts
Michel Chevalier
-
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6f28effe3449a5db354365acd24b59f5
PDF Text
Text
THE UTILISATION
OF THE
CHURCH ESTABLISHMENT.
A
LETTER TO THOS. SCOTT, Esq.,
(OF RAMSGATE), BY THE
AUTHOR OF “THE PILGRIM AND THE SHRINE,”
“THE MEANING OF THE AGE,” &c.
“Now once again, by all concurrence of signs, and by the general
instinct of devout and holy men, as they daily and solemnly express
their thoughts, God is decreeing to begin some new and great period
in His Church, even to the reforming of reformation itself. What
does he, then, but reveal himself to his servants, and, as his manner
is, first to his Englishmen ? ”
Milton, "Plea for the Liberty of Unlicensed Printing."
PUBLISHED BY THOMAS SCOTT,
MOUNT PLEASANT, RAMSGATE.
1870.
Price Sixpence.
��THE UTILISATION
OF THE
CHURCH ESTABLISHMENT.
--------- 4.---------
Dear Sir,—
Knowing that you are in the habit of
putting before your readers some special subject for
thought at the season of Christmas, it has occurred
to me that you may like to extend the consideration
of a scheme which has long occupied my mind. I,
therefore, offer for your acceptance and that of your
readers, in case you approve, this letter on the im
portant question of redeeming the vast organisation
and resources of our National Church Establishment
from their present condition of uselessness, or worse,
and turning them to account in the promotion of
civilisation and practical religion.
I do not propose, in the remarks which I am about
to make, to bring any charge against the Church on
the score of its responsibility for the position which it
occupies. Suffice it to say on this head that if the
Church lags so far behind the age as to be no longer
capable of controlling or influencing it for good, it is
because the Church was modelled and constructed in
and by a previous age in such a way as to incapaci
tate it for the development and progress which were
necessary to enable it to hold its relative position,
�2
The Utilisation of the
should the age ever resolve to make a move. That
is, the secular Cosmos of which the Establishment
was a product denied to the Church the liberty which
it reserved to itself—that of motion.
Now, had our secular movement been a retrogres
sive one, that is, in the direction of less knowledge,
less morality, less religion, or towards a lower degree
or quality of civilisation, the Church, constituted as
it was, would doubtless have served an admirable
purpose: for it would have been both a drag upon
our downhill progress, and a fixed standpoint from
which we might be hauled back up to our previous
elevation. Again, had the age stood still, it would
have found the Church ever beside it, to cherish it in
sympathetic immobility. It so happened, however,
that the age neither went back, nor stood still, but,
as I endeavoured to show in a little tract to which
*
you gave circulation at this time last year, it went on
in all essentials of civilisation far beyond any pre
vious conception or anticipation. And so it happens
that the immovable Church, left behind solitary and
sad, not at its own incapacity for locomotion, but at
its desertion by its old co-ordinate and companion the
secular Cosmos, has ever since operated as a heavy
drag upon our uphill progress.
Thus our force is not merely wasted in overcoming
a superfluous resistance, but it is impaired through
its diffusion over the mass of a cumbrous appendage
which derives its vitality from our system. For we
must bear in mind the fact that the amount of vital
and other force possessed by any system is necessa
rily limited; and that if an undue proportion be
exerted in any one part of such system, the other
parts must suffer a corresponding deficiency, and
fail to perform their functions properly. There may
be, too, a morbid reaction upon the parts thus
* 1 The Meaning of the Age.’
�Church 'Establishment.
3
enfeebled, and of so serious a nature as to endanger
vitality altogether. Again, when any portion of the
system becomes congested, an excessive action is set
up in the region of the congested part, resulting, no
doubt, from the effort of nature to re-invigorate it,
but which develops into a dangerous inflammation if
continued so long as to reach a high pitch of inten
sity without having penetrated the seat of the morbid
inactivity.
Just such a congested mass in the midst of our
social and political system does our Church Esta
blishment present the appearance of having become.
We cannot cut it off, for it is part of ourselves,
deriving its nourishment from the sources of our own
vitality, in the same way as a deeply rooted cancer
from the unhappy victim of its growth. And we
suffer so much from the drain upon our system caused
by the constant direction of our vital forces towards
this morbid region, that we have not strength left to
allow us to do justice to our other and essential
functions. The returning currents, too, come back
vitiated to carry the evil into the rest of the system.
There is a theory among mesmerists that a healthy
circulation of the vital forces may be restored to
deranged organs by means of the magnetic traction
of the hand—that the passage of the fingers, espe
cially when accompanied by gentle pressure over
the inflamed and congested parts, will, by drawing
the vital currents along their proper channels of
communication, place the whole system once more in
a condition of harmonious sympathy with itself. I
desire to effect such a re-union between the Church
and the whole fabric of our body politic, and I pro
pose to follow the tactics of the mesmerist, and en
deavour, by the imposition of hands upon the
affected member, to reduce its arrested or disturbed
circulation to healthy harmony with that of the
system generally. A little judicious mechanical
�4
The Utilisation of the
pressure often facilitates the removal of an obstruc
tion upon which the whole interior force of the
system has been employing itself in vain. In fact,
Nature itself prompts the external application of the
hand to an affected part of the body in aid of those
internal forces which are striving to effect a cure.
In the case which I have proposed for present con
sideration, one fact must be specially kept in view.
The constitution of the patient has not merely
developed: it has undergone a change.
Figures
apart, the fundamental idea of the State is altogether
different from what it was when in earlier days it kept
company with the Church. It is necessary to infuse
that idea into the Church, if it is ever to be brought
forward and made available for the new uses of the
State.
The change to which I refer is this :—Under the
old regime, when knowledge was the monopoly of a
certain limited class, it was the custom to govern
men through their ignorance and superstitions. It
was not unusual to use the term “ Faith ” to express
the frame of mind which induced such submission. I
will not dwell upon terms, but allow that the qualifica
tion for submission was so universally possessed that
obedience was very general. The King and the priest
laid claim to a divine right to govern ; and the people
to a divine right to be governed; and so continued
together in tolerable harmony. But now the people
have woke up to the conviction that they are not
justified in thrusting the burden of their govern
ment from their own shoulders, and entrusting
their responsibilities to others.
The governors,
too, have failed to vindicate the divinity of their
claim to the satisfaction of the people. Thus, for
the Church as it was, the people know too much.
But they feel that they do not yet know enough
to be able to govern themselves as they desire to be
governed, and to realise the high conception of
�Church Establishment.
5
civilisation to which they aspire. They want all their
available force of knowledge to enable them to pro
ceed in the path of self-government; and the Church
absorbs and employs too much of their force in the
endeavour to keep them back in the old paths of
ignorance and submission. So that the nation is
really divided against itself, and that on a matter
which is vital to its continued prosperity and even
existence.
I am not going to show how or why we cannot be
expected to reverse the order of nature, and renounce
our development and its results. Rather shall I take
it for granted that if the Church is to continue to
endure at all as an Establishment, it must be re
modelled and re-constituted after the fashion of the
State. Neither shall I occupy my space and your
time with arguments to prove that inasmuch as it is
a creation and creature of the State, the latter has a
perfect right to deal with it, and either to abolish it
altogether, or to convert it into an useful engine of
civilisation.
There can be no doubt that if the Establishment
had no present existence, no attempt would be made
to create such an institution. But seeing that it
does exist, and is capable of being made a powerful
agent for good, it would surely involve vast waste
to throw it entirely away, and undertake the form
ation of another organisation in its place. I propose,
then, to convert our old fleet, instead of allowing it
to rot, and encountering the huge cost of building an
entirely new one. Many of the vessels maybe capable
of being made effective by the application of modern
armour; and, where a more radical change is re
quired, the timbers and other materials are yet sound
enough to be turned to account. But any scheme
for thoroughly reconstructing the Ecclesiastical Navy
must be so extensive that it is as much as one man
can do to suggest the idea, and make a few propo
�6
’The Utilisation of the
sitions by way of starting the work and enlisting the
support of others.
The principle of Church Establishments had its
origin in a time when the preservation of social order
was entrusted almost exclusively to two great classes
of public servants, the military and the clergy. It
was the function of the former to repress by physical
force all attacks on the lives and property of citizens
and all efforts to subvert the State, whether from
within or from without. And it was the function of
the latter to induce people by spiritual terror to
submit to the existing order of things. Gradually,
and under a process of natural development, the
function of the soldier came to have reference, ex
cept in very special emergencies, to external and
foreign dangers, the maintenance of domestic safety
and order being committed to a police composed of
civilians. Similarly, the function once exercised by
the clergy, of inducing people to be “ good ” by the
agency of spiritual terror, has gradually come to be
superseded in favour of a persuasion founded on the
early development of the rational faculties through
the agency of Schoolmasters. That is, for all pur
poses of domestic use, the Soldier and the Parson
have been superseded by the Policeman and the
Teacher. And one sufficient reason why it is im
possible to restore the authority of the clergy as
preservers of social order is, that under the influence
of the Teacher the general intelligence has so
advanced, that the ignorance which alone gave
efficacy to the system of spiritual terror, has almost
entirely disappeared. The change is recognised by
a large portion of the clergy, who, greatly to their
credit, have endeavoured to meet it in a becoming
spirit, and have set themselves with a will to assist
the diffusion of intelligence among their people. Too
many of them, however, are content to forego the
quiet fulfilment of their duties for the sake of the
�Church Establishment.
7
notoriety gained by their disputes among themselves.
Fighting was always easier than working, and not
only is there a greater pleasure of excitement in it,
but it is apt to gain recognition, honour, and pay,
while honest, useful industry passes unnoticed and
unrewarded.
Since the modern system of government rests upon
the general diffusion of intelligence, the first condi
tion essential to its efficiency consists necessarily in
the universality of a sound education; that is, an edu
cation which at once cultivates the intellect and instils
a knowledge of the principles of human association,
and of the mutual duties which grow out of a state of
society; and this, not merely in the narrow domain of
private life, but also in respect of public and political
relations. The more ignorant and incapable a people
are, the more arbitrary and despotic must be their
government in its conduct, and the more mysterious
in its sanctions. But now the people have so much
to do with their own government that it may be said
that they are the government. People and govern
ment are, therefore, alike interested in the question of
popular instruction, and the country is now happily
aroused to a sense of its deficiencies in respect
thereof. But with all the urging of the subject in
and out of Parliament, the particular scheme that I
am about to propose does not seem to have oc
curred to any of those who are putting themselves
forward as champions of National Instruction. Even
the newly formed “ National Education League,” with
its admirable aspirations and practical wisdom, has not
thought of utilising the gigantic Church Establish
ment by converting it into an engine of Education.
There is a reason for the League passing over an
already existing organisation, which must here be ad
verted to. The object of that body is to provide an
unsectarian educationfor every childin the country, and
it fears that it is vain to seek for such an education at
�8
The Utilisation of the
the hands of a clergy. That such a feeling should exist
at the present day is perhaps not to be wondered at.
The clergy have not striven to let the public know how
far they have become emancipated from the shackles
of ecclesiastical tradition. The disability under which
the clergy of the Establishment laboured has not been
confined to themselves. The Establishment was but
the largest of many religious sects, and the clergy of
all the sects shared the disability. Thus, as a body,
they are still credited with being under the influence
of those religious tenets which represent man as placed
on the earth, less to work out a desirable condition of
society than to dream of a future state of existence ;
and which regard a preparation for another and hypo
thetical world of which nothing can be known, as of
infinitely more consequence than an education for this
one. It was through acting under the influence of
the doctrinal bias of their particular sects that a past
generation of clergy gave occasion for the rebuke con
veyed in the following fable, the authorship of which
I have failed to ascertain, but which it may not be
without use to repeat even now :
“ One winter’s night a poor boy, worn out with cold and
hunger, lay senseless before a rich man’s door: and the rich
man seeing him, was moved with pity and carried him into his
house. In a little while the warmth of the fire, which was
blazing in the room where the boy was laid, restored
him to life, and, feebly opening his eyes and raising his
head from the ground, in a faint, low voice, he cried, ‘ I have
had nothing to eat these two days : give me food, or I shall
die.’ Bread and meat and wine were placed before him ; but
as he stretched forth his hands towards the food, the rich man
removed it from within his reach, saying, “ Stop : before you
eat you must say grace.’ And he repeated a form of grace
which he ordered the boy to say after him. But another man,
who was present, interrupted him, and cried, ‘Your words are
wicked, the boy shall not utter them: this is the grace which he
must pronounce ’----- and then he gave another form of words
which he would have the boy speak. And when he had finished
talking, a third man, more vehemently than the other two, ex
claimed, ‘ Both of you are wrong. I cannot suffer the boy to
�Church Establishment.
9
sin by doing as either of you would urge. This is what he
ought to say----- and he repeated in a loud voice a third form
of grace. And then all three spoke together, each one in
sisting that he alone was right. And they became angry, and
abused one another, and the altercation continued for more
than an hour, for they would come to no agreement. And as
they were still debating and quarrelling, they heard a groan.
Then suddenly they stopped talking, and turned towards the
boy and found that he was dead.”
Unfortunately, the Government of the country, by
its adoption of and alliance with one of the religious
sects, gave to the whole category of theological and
ecclesiastical questions an importance that was at
once factitious and injurious to the general welfare of
the community. What are in reality either mythologic fancies or metaphysical subtleties, and suitable,
perhaps, for intellectual exercises for wranglers in
schools of philosophy, thus came to be widely re
garded as matters of importance and essential to the
well-being of mankind.
Thus, even within the same sect, such vastly undue
preponderance has been given to differences of dog
matic opinion, that the attention of the whole
country has at times been diverted from matters
really essential to civilisation to watch with breath
less interest the progress of the contest and the
settlement of the points in dispute. The following
extract from a work recently published well illus
*
trates my meaning:—
“I remember being, as a boy, powerfully and painfully im
pressed by the circumstances of a police case which I read
in the newspapers. A ruffian, living in the back slums of
London, had, being mad with drink and jealousy, horribly
murdered his wife in a paroxysm of brutal fury. He was tried
for the crime and condemned to death on the clearest evidence.
Owing to various circumstances his execution was postponed.
In the short time which elapsed between the man’s condem
nation and his death, certain Bible-readers and other philan
thropic persons who had access to this condemned felon,
* ‘Orval, the Fool of Time.’ By Robert Lytton.
�IO
The Utilisation of the
succeeded in teaching him to read, and, in some degree, to
think. The man’s natural intelligence, when unobscured by
the fumes of alcohol, and withdrawn from the customary
savageries of a dissolute and desperate life, appears to have
been extraordinarily receptive. It was reported of him that,
under the care of these teachers, he learned to read so well
that, before he went to the scaffold, he could read the Bible
without assistance. His first page of that book was read, and
(so the public was informed) his first prayer was breathed,
almost within sound of the nails which were being driven into
the gibbet on which he was about to perish. Certain persons
were so strongly impressed by these facts that they forwarded
to Lord Palmerston, who was then Secretary for the Home
Department, a petition for mitigation of sentence. But the
crime was atrocious, clearly proved, and without ‘ extenuating
circumstances.’ The man was hanged. At that time, the
Church was vehement in her demand for exclusive jurisdiction
over the education of the people. Reading this horrible story,
one naturally asked, ‘In Heaven’s name, what is the Church
about ? ’ The question was answered at length by the ‘ Times’
newspaper,which contained the report of this man’s execution.
The greater portion of that paper—the space of several
columns at least—was occupied by an elaborate discussion
between the Rev. Mr. Gorham and the Bishop of Exeter as to
the vital Church question of the time—whether or not an
unbaptized infant is after death consigned by the Deity whom
Christians worship, to a place of eternal torment, in punish
ment of the omission by its parents of a prescribed ecclesias
tical ceremony.”
It is true that while I write are echoing in my ears
the cries of the combatants over the recent appointment
to the see of Exeter, with section denouncing section,
and each claiming for itself to be the real and only
Simon Pure in orthodoxy: until I am reminded of
Milton’s apothegm, that a prelatical Church “may
prove a nursing mother to sects, but it will be a step
dame to truth.” Nevertheless, the change that has
taken place in the last few years is of immense
extent and significance. Behind and beyond all the
blatant disputants who keep themselves ever before
the eyes of the public, lies a vast body of clergy
emancipated wholly or in part from the Egyptian
bondage of Article and Creed, endeavouring quietly
�Church Establishment.
11
to do their duty in the rational teaching of the
people committed to their charge, wondering why the
Church as a depository of dead dogmas is kept up,
and what the nation is afraid of that it hesitates to
pull it down, or to convert it to uses commensurate
with its means. The press is almost entirely emanci
pated, and even its most liberal utterances are largely
the work of the clergy, numbers of whom hesitate
not to confess the relief and satisfaction which their
intellects and their consciences derive from such
opportunity of exercising without stint the truthful
ness that is in them.
This with very many. Others, of less decided
temperament, are anxiously awaiting such action of
the country as may withdraw them from a position
which they are disposed to regard as untenable in
itself. Pray do not understand me as charging the
clergy with insincerity. Their position is a suffi
ciently painful one without reproach being added
thereto. The nation required of them in their youth
a subscription to tests which their mature judgment
disapproves. In the meantime, they have married
wives and got families, for whose maintenance they
are dependent upon their vocation. They find, too,
that, notwithstanding all drawbacks, their position
generally is one which enables them to do much
good socially, and they would be sorry to lose such
vantage ground of usefulness. The one thorn in
their career is the enforced repetition of dogmas
which no longer command their belief. Laymen,
probably, do not fully realise the pain and mortifica
tion it is to a clergyman to have to stand up in the
face of his congregation and repeat a declaration of
his belief in things which he knows scarce any in
telligent person present either believes, or credits him
with believing—propositions which are by their very
nature totally unverifiable, but which he has con
stantly to declare that he believes, and that “ sted-
�•12
The Utilisation of the
fastly.” When I say that he knows that scarce an
intelligent person in his congregation credits him
with believing such things, I mean, of course, among
the masculine and educated portion; for of the
female part he does not value the assent one jot,
because he knows that the end and aim of a woman’s
education with us is to accustom her to accept, and
not to judge, that which is put before her. I have
little doubt that one of the reasons why so few men
go to church, besides that of their objection to mis
lead the ignorant by the sanction of their presence,
is their compassion for the clergyman, and their
unwillingness to subject him to the mortification of
seeing them there as conscious witnesses of his
humiliation. With regard to the feeling of clergy
men in respect of each other, it is scarcely an ex
aggeration to say that, as of old no two soothsayers
could meet without laughing, so now no two clergy
men believe in each other’s sincerity.
Thus, the imposition of tests in the National
Church is at the basis of the artificiality and false
hood which is the bane of modern society. The
morals of our whole system receive at their very
fount an infusion which taints them throughout. In
the very religion which forms a principal part of our
earliest education, as well as of our perpetual ad
monition, profession is placed above truthfulness.
It cannot be otherwise, so long as dogmatic
articles of belief are imposed as a condition of
sharing in the material advantages of a religious
order. With the Nonconforming bodies I am not
here concerned. They are private to the members
who compose them. The Establishment is a national
institution, and citizens are entitled to partake of
its benefits. Eor the Establishment to impose tests
of faith, is for the country officially to make itself a
party to falsehood. It matters little, in this view,
whether the particular items professed be true or
�Church Establishment.
13
not. The mere fact that they are of the nature of
dogmas, and, therefore, incapable of verification,
places the subscriber to them in the position of one
who leaves it to chance to determine whether that
which he professes be truth or falsehood. He asserts
that which cannot be proved, and, therefore, asserts
that which may be untrue. Let the condition of
orders in the Establishment be a certain proficiency
in certain branches of knowledge, if you will; but do
not continue to exact a profession of belief in parti
cular conclusions, for by so doing you place the
accident of correctness above the noblest of human
faculties—the faculty of truthfulness.
In spite of all drawbacks, however, the national
conscience is growing with the national intelligence.
Mythology and dogma are fast following astrology and
witchcraft. Music and various sensuous attractions
are being resorted to, in the hope of refilling the
churches to which belief is no longer able to compel
congregations ; and, in the meantime, whole classes
of the people starve for lack of knowledge. Church
and country are alike ready to own the touch of a
hand that shall bring them together again in the
bond of a common need. The enchanter has already
waved the wand of eloquence and justice over a great
wrong in a sister land. The birds of night flew
screeching away, and the right triumphed with un
anticipated ease. The Irish Church has shown us
what can be done with the English. It is no disendowment, no disestablishment that is needed here,
only the incubus of tests to be removed from its
clergy, and themselves converted into unsectarian
teachers and schoolmasters. Is the task beyond the
energy or the will of our present magician ? I think
not, or not for long. He grows apace. He has but
to see that to “ feed the lambs ” is even more than
to “feed the sheep,” and that under the ripening
influence of his voice the country would soon be
B
�14
The Utilisation of the
eager for the change, and wonder how it could have
delayed it so long. The principle of such a trans
formation—from repugnant professors, or bickering
disputants, into hopeful, eager, free, and actual
teachers of the people—is no new one. The Act of
Edward the Sixth (1, c. 14), for regulating the
Acts of Mortmain, and “ Uses, superstitious and
charitable,” has already led to the conversion of
many a “ religious foundation ” to purposes of educa
tion. To the operation of this Act in past ages we
owe the existence of many an endowed grammar
school, in place of a nest of indolence or superstition.
What is to prevent it from operating in the future
on a yet larger scale, and turning the entire institu
tion—which now ranks belief above knowledge, and
assent above conviction, which ministers to a morbid
emotionalism in women, and to a passive indifferentism, or active scepticism, in men—into an agent
for imparting a sound practical education to the
multitudes of our children ? Under such extended
operation of this Act, in place of the gloomy and
periodically opened church and its unpractical teach
ing, of the listless, perfunctory, or superstitious
parson, and of the unintelligent or carping congre
gation ; in place, too, of whole parishes being pauper
ised under the vicious operation of “ Founders’
Wills,” we should everywhere have schools with
their airy halls, their model fields and gardens, their
exercising grounds, and their workshops for training
up the young to be intelligent, healthy, skilful, in
dustrious, and frugal citizens.
“ And what when Sunday comes ? ” I think I hear
you ask. “Is thereto be no gathering for the worship
to which we are accustomed, under the presidency of
the old familiar parson ? No seventh day of rest,
recreation, and devotion to higher things ?”
I will answer the query by asking you, “ What, in
a condition of intelligent, educated, and unsupersti-
�Church Establishment.
15
lions society, will be needed as an equivalent for the
* religious worship ’ of previous times ? ”
I take for granted the retention of the seventh day
as a holiday when it derives its sanction from the rea
sonable and natural, instead of the mythical and super
natural. Under the regime I am supposing, there will
be small likelihood of making the seventh-day holi
day less prized through the institution of a number
of competing “ saints’-days.” When men are en
couraged to turn an intelligent eye to the heavens,
they will see that the revolutions of the moon have
been ordained in such close conformity with their
convenience, that they cannot do better than con
tinue to make her quarters the measure of their weeks.
France rejected human convenience and astronomical
fact as well as priestly fiction when she exchanged the
seventh day for the tenth.
With regard to an equivalent for the present ser
vices of the Church, I should say that, under the
system which I am anticipating, inasmuch as truthful
ness will be esteemed above opinion, the demand for
positive dogmas will give place to a demand for “ posi
tive philosophy ”—that is, for evidence. Thus the
“ sermons ” of the future will consist of deductions
from verifiable facts in morals and science applied to
the nature and duty of man. There will be no diffi
culty in making such selection of prayers and hymns
from existing rituals as will enable all who desire such
mode of expression to combine in a common worship.
And there will be no lack of educated men to hold
formal discourse on all edifying topics when every
village will have its qualified schoolmaster, and every
town its staff of highly educated instructors. People,
lay or cleric, of ultra-metaphysical dispositions will
still be free to confound “ religion ” with profoundest
problems in metaphysics—that which is of the heart
with that which is of the head ; and to puzzle them
selves about the composition of the Uodhead, the in
�16
The Utilisation of the
carnation of Deity, and the doctrine of atonement.
They may even be gratified, too, by occasional ad
dresses on such abstruse and abstract subjects, de
livered, at their special request, by the head of the
local schools, or any other whom they desire to hear.
It would be thoroughly in accordance with the spirit
of the converted Establishment to devote a consider
able portion of its funds to the maintenance of a body
of men (and perhaps of women) specially qualified by
attainments and natural gifts to exercise the office of
preacher or lecturer, and whose function it would be
to itinerate the country in promotion of higher educa
tion in religion and morals. It is not easy to value
the relief that congregations and parsons alike would
instantaneously feel were only they required to preach
who had something to say, and could say it so as to
be worth the hearing.
It is clear that a national system of education
must, to preserve its character of being national,
recognise only such principles and doctrines as are
capable of general comprehension and application. It
must, so far as it goes, be such that all can use it
without violation to their consciences. It is not bound
to come up to the full need of every one’s private con
victions ; but it must have eliminated from it all that
is doubtful or controverted, and all that appertains to
the province either of the mystic or of the mountebank.
Of course there are to be found in every community
persons of narrow and deranged comprehension, who
raise objections to every scheme that is propounded
for the general good. It will be open to these to
follow their own isolated course, or to supplement the
teaching of the public instructor by a teaching more
in accordance with their own preferences. But those
who obstruct and denounce a comprehensive scheme
of national instruction simply because it is compre
hensive and tends to foster amity and union between
all classes and sections of the people in place of the
�Church Establishment.
17
prevailing bitter divisions, and who desire to build up
a distinct imperium in i/mperio, must be disregarded as
bad citizens who avow an interest in direct antago
nism to the welfare of the State. Even these, how
ever, will be free to bring up their own children as may
seem best to them. They will only not be suffered to
vitiate and cripple the State system by an infusion of
their own anti-patriotic idiosyncracies.
I had written thus far when I lit upon the following
passage in a tract of Milton’s, which I find singu
*
larly appropriate to the present question, advocating
the institution of movable and itinerant ministers as
a more effective method of promoting religion and
civilisation than that of fixed incumbents, and desiring
at any rate to abolish the system of paid clergy.
He says :
“ Be the expense less or more, if it be found burdensome
to the churches, they have in this land an easy remedy in
their recourse to the civil magistrate, who hath in his hands
the disposal of no small revenues, left perhaps anciently to
superstitious, but meant undoubtedly to good and best uses,
and, therefore, once made public, applicable by the present magis
trate to such uses as the Church, or solid reason from, whomsoever, shall
convince him to think best. And those uses may be, no doubt, much,
rather than as glebes and augmentations are now bestowed, to
grant such requests as these of the churches; or to erect
in greater number, all over the land, schools, and competent
libraries to those schools, where languages and arts may be
taught free together, without the needless, unprofitable, and
inconvenient moving to another place. So all the land would
be soon better civilised........................Those public foundations
may be so instituted, as the youth therein may be at once
brought up to a competence of learning and to an honest trade;
and the hours of teaching so ordered as their study may be no
hindrance to their labour or other calling.”
The schools, to the foundation of which Milton would
thus appropriate the Church funds, had for their
special object the education of ministers, rather than
that of the people at large. But his proposition
* ‘The Likeliest Way to remove Hirelings out of the Church.’
�18
The Utilisation of the
contains the germs of the plan which I have set
forth, and contemplates the employment of Church
property by the civil magistrate for purposes of
Education, or such uses as solid reason from whomsoever
shall convince him to think best.
Great as Milton was, there was one respect in
which he failed to transcend the notion which has
long prevailed in men’s minds, the notion that people
may have Education, but must have religion. We
are learning now-a-days to transpose the terms, and
say, “ People may have religion, but they must have
Education.” And the change implies no derogation
to religion, inasmuch as the cultivation of the in
telligence which God has given us is in itself the
first of religious duties. It is, moreover, impossible
to impart the smallest degree of Education without
in some measure developing the whole hierarchy of
faculties of which the religious faculty is a member.
The fact is, that the sense in which the denouncers
of what, in the current slang of the day, is called
“ Godless education ” employ the term “ religion,”
has no real reference to religion whatever. They do
not mean by it the cultivation of a sense of duty to
man and responsibility to the Creator; these come
with every accession of knowledge and intelligence
in the most Cl Godless ” course of secular instruction.
Every newspaper, every story-book, is in this sense
a religious teacher. No : the term “ religious educa
tion ” in their mouths really means a bias in favour'
of some particular ecclesiastical sect. It means a
strait-jacket of dogmas and tenets so early imposed
that the young and flexible mind can by no means
struggle out of it, but is bound to grow to its shape
and stop at its limits. Thus, the word religion,
which properly signifies that which binds one back
from an impious and wrongful course, is transformed
into an agency for binding one up in narrow, un
natural, unwholesome restriction. It is made to
�Church Establishment.
i
constitute a training which is a system of repression
and distortion for the whole intelligence of its subject,
instead of an Education which is really a drawing out
of the whole powers of the mind.
To the authority of Milton I will add the weighty
judgment of Bishop Butler. The charge of “ sacri
lege,” so readily brought against those who would
turn to useful account property which has once been
dedicated to “the Church,” had no terrors for him.
“ Every donation to the Christian Church,” he main
tains, “ is a human donation and no more, and there
fore cannot give a Divine right, but such right only
as must be subject, in common with all other pro
perty, to the regulation of human laws.” “ The
persons who gave lands to the Church had no right
of perpetuity in them, and consequently could convey
no such rights to the Church.”
And even if it were not so; even if property once
dedicated to “ the Church,” or “ religious use,” of
the nation, could not rightly be appropriated to any
other use, there would still be no real obstacle
to the principle I am maintaining. A people con
verted from one religion to another carries over, as a
matter of course, the endowments of the former
religion to the service of the latter. Were this not
so, the alternative would be that if the whole nation
were converted with the exception of one single
person, that person would become the proprietor of
the entire religious endowments of the nation. And,
farther, if there were no such exception, there would
be no claimant whatever to the property. Well, the
religious revenues, then, follow the religion of the
nation. Suppose the nation does not merely reform
its old relig’ion, nor merely exchange it for a new
one, but shifts its whole idea of the subject of religion,
and comes to deem its best use to be one which is
altogether secular and unreligious, the same reason
ing requires that the old religious revenues shall still
�20
The Utilisation of the
accompany the nation in its new phase, and be legi
timately applicable to its new uses.
I claim the new phase upon which England is
entering to be an educational rather than a
“ religious ” one, that is, in the old, and what I deem
bad, sense of the term. To my mind the very act of
bringing together children of various sects and
ranks from their isolation of creed or of caste, and
placing them on a footing of school-fellowship, to
learn the same lessons, experience the same discipline,
and compete in the same classes and same games,
and of so recognising all, not merely as citizens
of the same country, but as members of the same
universal family, and children of the same universal
Parent—this very act is to me in itself and without
reference to the nature, however “secular,” of the in
struction given, a religious act infinitely transcending,
in its high religious character, the most fervid ex
pression of sectarian piety. Its very fundamental
principle is the recognition of the Brotherhood of
Man, and the Fatherhood of God. Under its influ
ence children would insensibly and without tedious
verbal repetitions of incomprehensible dogmas and
catechisms, come to regard the Almighty as truly the
Maker and Sustainer of all, and no sectary or par
tisan. Thus the more distinctively religious any sys
tem of Education is, the more essentially irreligious it
must, at the same time, be ; for its object is to rear
children to be not good men and women, but firm adhe
rents of a particular communion; to build up parti
tion walls between man and man, rather than to instil
comprehensive views of life and duty. And, moreover,
as such denominationalism is irreligious in respect of
God, so it cannot fail to be unpatriotic in respect
of the State, and a huge impediment to the advance
ment of mankind generally in civilisation. Beside
the divisions bred in the country, and the weakening
of the bonds of sympathy between citizen and
�Church Establishment.
21
citizen, it necessitates an enormous waste of power
in every respect in which union is strength. It is
owing to the inveterate sectarianism which has
hitherto prevailed, that the peace and security of the
community is perpetually invaded by a multitude of
Lazzaroni, who, by the default of an united and deter
mined effort, have been suffered to grow up among
us. England now no longer finds in her colonies an
outlet for her criminal population. They remain in
her midst, allowed to continue in ignorance and
pauperism, and to propagate, unrestrained, their own
bad kind. The very efforts made, not to improve
their condition, but to support them cheaply, have
had a pernicious result. For bad feeding weakens
both body and mind, and so tends to disqualify the
individual for supporting himself. Pauper parents, in
their turn, rear a race inferior even to themselves, with
organisations so defective as scarcely to be morally
responsible. In this way the number of the popula
tion possessing defective brains and morbid tempera
ments has perpetually increased, until the country is
overrun with pauperism, crime, and disease. “ Lon
don, in this aspect,” wrote several years ago one of
our most popular writers, “is so horrible to me, that
when I go into such quarters of the town using my
eyes, I lose the belief of the possibility of the
progress, or even of the long existence, of an empire
with such a mighty crime and danger at its heart. I
do not believe that any one can be well acquainted
with the sights of ignorant and neglected childhood,
which are hidden in the metropolis alone, and enter
tain within himself the possibility of any wealth,or any
power, or any spirit in a people, sustaining for many
generations longer,a State on which that wicked blight
is resting.” And the evil is by no means confined to
the towns. The reports furnished to the Govern
ment by its medical officers of health, reveal such a
state of abject ignorance, misery, and hopelessness,
�22
The Utilisation of the
existing among our lower agricultural populations,
ofttimes, too, even on the very skirts of noble estates,
that we may well doubt the stability of our social
system.
To the waste of power caused by our divisions I
attribute, at least, a very large proportion of these
evils. Party spirit in religion, infinitely more than
in politics, is the canker which must devour our
national prosperity until England becomes the husk
only of' what she has been; the caricature and
opposite of what she has it in her to be. It is a poor
sort of love to God that thus manifests itself in
hatred to man : if not in the actual feeling of hatred,
yet certainly in all the results thereof.
You will observe that I do not contemplate intro
ducing into the system of instruction provided by
the State any teaching which is opposed to the
tenets of any religious body, except in so far as the
development of the scholar’s intelligence generally
may be held to be inconsistent with the holding of
such tenets. But it is scarcely to be expected that
any sect will have the hardihood openly to raise
such an objection on its own account, whatever may be
the private opinion of its individual members on the
point. Except also in so far as concerns the pro
bability that the children of parents professing
different creeds may, through being instructed to
gether in secular matters on a common system, come
to attach less importance to religious differences
than their parents may deem desirable.
Two points in answer to these exceptions should
be carefully noted. One is, that no children will
be compelled to attend the common schools whose
parents choose to send them elsewhere. To all the
State will merely say, “ You maybe instructed where
you please, but instructed you must be.” The other
point is, that ample opportunity will be afforded to
parents, and their chosen agents, to supplement the
�Church Establishment.
23
common secular system by special instruction in the
religions tenets of their sects. It is by the adop
tion of this method that the colony of New South
Wales has, after years of agitation, finally solved the
problem of National Education. The plan was first
mooted there by myself in 1857, in a pamphlet
which you have seen, entitled ‘ A Plea for Common
Schools.’ In 1867 it became law. Its principal
opponents were the Roman Catholic clergy. To
the credit of their people it may be said, that not
only did the congregations keep almost entirely
aloof from the opposition, but they very generally
accepted the system for their children. And the
clergy, finding that they only exposed themselves to
the liability of being disregarded and set at nought
as bad citizens, either sullenly acquiesced, or con
tented themselves with uttering feeble protests.
In the meantime, the colonists are not slow to
avail themselves of the permission given to use the
school-rooms at certain stated periods, for the purpose
of having their children instructed in the peculiar
views of their respective sects. The week-day
curriculum is also largely supplemented by voluntary
Sunday-school teaching. Thus, owing to the parents
having sufficient good sense to reject the extreme
views of their priestly dictators, the system works
harmoniously and satisfactorily to the people at
large. And there is no reason to doubt that under
its beneficent influence the old divisions engendered
by a rigid sectarianism will gradually give place to
a closer union between the various constituents of
the nation, and the whole power of both Government
and people vastly strengthened for all purposes' of
mutual aid and advancement.
I do not pretend to enter minutely into any details
of the broad scheme which it is the purpose of this
letter to propound. Let it be once clearly seen by the
people of England that some thoroughly radical and
�24
The Utilisation of the
comprehensive change is absolutely necessary to enable
us, not merely to maintain our place among the nations,
but even to continue to exist at all as a civilised
people; let it be shown that we are in danger of
losing the benefit of all recent advance in knowledge,
and all recent refinement in sentiment, and of sinking
down suddenly and at once from the height to which
we have attained, unless with a bold and resolute
hand we impose upon all sections and classes of our
nation that moral and industrial instruction by which
alone a free people can long stand;—in short, let the
serious and startling nature of the present emergency
once be clearly comprehended, and there can be no
reason to fear that we shall prove unequal to its de
mands. Too long have men sacrificed their public
duties as citizens to their private duties as members
of religious corporations. The necessities of our
State are far too many, and complicated, to be
adequately served by a knot of politicians, while
the bulk of the community busy themselves about
matters of private concern.
While the congrega
tions have been praying prayers and listening to
sermons on Sundays, and working assiduously at
their particular callings on week-days, the greatest
interests of the country have been so neglected
that they have got far beyond the reach of ordinary
appliance and remedy. The question is no longer
one of mere patching and repairs. To those who
know and lament the present condition and imme
diate prospects of the country, I commend the
earnest consideration of the plan herein proposed
for the utilisation of our gigantic and comparatively
useless Church Establishment and revenues.
Please remember that it is not destruction but re
construction which I am contemplating. The plan has
in it nothing that is incompatible with really useful
parochial work. So far from pulling down one single
bishop, I would largely increase the Episcopate in
�Church Establishment.
25
this my Secular Church of the Future. The hier
archy of school-controllers would occupy a yet nobler
position in the senate and heart of the nation than
any other sort of prelacy whatever. Their main
function would consist in seeing that none lack in
struction, or suffer from incompetent instructors.
The bishop of the future would differ from the
bishop of the period, inasmuch as his task would be
rigidly to banish all doubtful disputations from the
common-school room, in place of having to adjust
them in the church. No longer compelled to be a
partisan in fratricidal conflicts of opinion, his real
work would consist in securing the efficient instruc
tion of his flock in those essentials concerning which
opinions do not conflict. But while the duties of his
office would be confined to the secular, there would
be no restriction placed upon the exercise of his
preferences in his private capacity. Bound by no
test, and subscribing to no hypothetical conclusions,
the teacher in the schools of the State, whether
bishop or simple schoolmaster, will be free to hold
what views he may please, and to inculcate them as
he may please, when not on duty. It will be required
of him only that he be a well-educated and repu
table man, and able to teach thoroughly the rudi
ments of learning required in the common-schools.
His philosophy, his “ religion,” his partisanship, will
all be matters apart, and of concern only to himself.
A teacher of secular learning in school hours, he may
be a zealous inculcator of dogmas, or whatever he may
deem to appertain to “ religion,” at all other times.
Solely responsible for his peculiarities, their manifes
tation will commit no one but himself. In short,
while the bishop, acting on behalf of the State, shall
see that in the common-schools of his diocese nothing
is taught beyond what the State requires, he shall
countenance the freest expression on the part of his
subordinates in all other respects. The only and suffi-
�0.6
Utilisation of the Church Establishment.
cient guarantees for their moderation and trustiness
will consist in their education and character. Here,
the man will be more than the office; for his func
tions, out of school, will be voluntary. If, under
such voluntary regime of free expression, an educated
people come to exhibit social, intellectual, or religious
developments varying from those of a previous age,
there will surely be no dereliction of “ religion ” in
ascribing such changes to the continued and con
tinuous operation of that “ spirit of truth ” which was
promised to guide men into all truth.
It will be a noble climax and crown to the work to
which you have dedicated yourself,—the establish
ment of “ Free Inquiry and Free Expression,”—■
should your promulgation of the suggestion herein
crudely put forth, first lead men to set about rescuing
the Church from its traditional function of conserving
dead dogmas and shackling opinion, and to make it
the efficient agent of the intellectual and moral
redemption of the vast mass of our population.
Christmas, 1869.
�
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A collection of digitised nineteenth-century pamphlets from Conway Hall Library & Archives. This includes the Conway Tracts, Moncure Conway's personal pamphlet library; the Morris Tracts, donated to the library by Miss Morris in 1904; the National Secular Society's pamphlet library and others. The Conway Tracts were bound with additional ephemera, such as lecture programmes and handwritten notes.<br /><br />Please note that these digitised pamphlets have been edited to maximise the accuracy of the OCR, ensuring they are text searchable. If you would like to view un-edited, full-colour versions of any of our pamphlets, please email librarian@conwayhall.org.uk.<br /><br /><span><img src="http://www.heritagefund.org.uk/sites/default/files/media/attachments/TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" width="238" height="91" alt="TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" /></span>
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The utilisation of the church establishment : a letter to Thos. Scott, Esq., (of Ramsgate) by the author of "The pilgrim and the shrine", "The meaning of the age" &c.
Description
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Place of publication: Ramsgate
Collation: 26 p. ; 19 cm.
Notes: Author not noted on title page.
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Maitland, Edward
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1870
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Thomas Scott
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Church of England
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<img src="http://i.creativecommons.org/p/mark/1.0/88x31.png" alt="Public Domain Mark" /><br />This work (The utilisation of the church establishment : a letter to Thos. Scott, Esq., (of Ramsgate) by the author of "The pilgrim and the shrine", "The meaning of the age" &c.), identified by Humanist Library and Archives, is free of known copyright restrictions.
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RA1611
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REPORT
ON
A DEPARTMENT OF HYGIENE
AND
PHYSICAL CULTURE
IN
THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN,
BY A COMMITTEE OF THE UNIVERSITY SENATE.
ANN ARBOR:
PUBLISHED BY THE UNIVERSITY.
�monj
NOTE.
JV
At the meeting of the Board of Regents of the University of
Michigan, September 22d, 1869, the following resolution was adopted:
Resolved, That the University Senate be requested to examine and
report to the Board in regard to the propriety of establishing a Gym
nasium in connection with the University, as also in regard to the re
lation which it shall hold to the University Course, if so established ;
and to collect information and present their views respecting the entire
subject of introducing Gymnastic Exercises as a part of a course of
Education.
The following report, prepared by a committee of the University
Senate, in response to this request, is published by authority of the
Board of Regents.
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�REPORT.
A vast expansion of the scope of our American college
system is the characteristic educational fact of the last fifteen
years. One very important direction in which this recent
enlargement has shown itself, is towards systematic physical
culture, as a regular part of the work of a college course.
This latter movement was, indeed, to have been expected.
It would have been more than strange, if, while our colleges
were providing greater facilites for the study of the sciences,
of modern languages and literatures, of history, of the fine
arts, they had done nothing for the instruction of students
in hygiene and gymnastics. For it is impossible to advance
very far in the construction of a scheme of education without
confronting the fair claim of the body for orderly scientific
culture along with the culture of the mind. The mere state
ment of the great object of education as being the systematic
development of manhood and womanhood, really settles the
question; for there is no other spectacle of a want of sym
metry in the development of a human being so glaring and
so painful as that of a cultivated mind inhabiting a neglected,
feeble and incompetent body. And the declaration just made
is confirmed by the fact that the principal modern writers on
education—Roger Ascham, Bacon, Cowley, Milton, Locke,
Rousseau, Dr. Arnold, Horace Mann, and Herbert Spencer—
have insisted upon the equal rights and the equal needs of
the body and the mind, with reference to systematic training.
Yet, in America fifteen years ago, no contrast could have been
greater than that which was presented between theory and
practice upon the subject. All our educational authorities
sanctioned physical culture; and all our educational institu
tions neglected it.
Within the brief period which has been mentioned, how
ever, in consequence of a general awakening of American col
leges to a new and larger life, and especially in consequence of
a ripening of public opinion upon the necessity of attending to
�4
the education of the body, in several of the leading colleges a
department of physical culture has been established. Already,
gymnasiums have been erected at the following colleges:
Bowdoin, Dartmouth, Harvard, Amherst, Williams, Yale and
Princeton. Some of these gymnasiums, particularly those at
Dartmouth, Williams and Princeton, are large, imposing and
costly edifices. At all these colleges, with the exception of
Princeton, the experiment of physical culture has been tried
for a number of years. Ample time has elapsed for the results
of this experiment to appear. What these results are your
committee have sought to ascertain by corresponding with the
proper persons.
At four of the colleges just named, the experiment seems
to have been made with peculiar thoroughness; and for the
sake of simplifying the present report, the results obtained at
these four colleges will be particularly referred to. These
colleges are Yale, Dartmouth, Williams and Amherst.
It appeared to your committee that the experience of these
colleges was to be sought as to the effects of a Department of
Physical Culturt in three particulars :
1. Upon the physical condition of the students.
2. Upoijr the scholarship of the students.
3. Upon the morals and general behavior of the students.
Our informant" are Mr. F. G. Welch, Instructor in Gym
nastics at Yale, whom we have consulted chiefly as to methods
rather than results, Professor A. M. Wheeler of Yale, Presi
dent Smith of Dartmouth, President Hopkins of Williams,
and Professor Edward Hitchcock of Amherst. Professor
Hitchcock, also, very kindly! sent to us a pamphlet entitled
“ Physical Culture in Amherst College, by Nathan Allen,
M. D.,” one of the Trustees of the college. From this pamphlet
we have obtained most valuable information, a part of which
will be given in this report. Before proceeding to quote the
testimony which we have received from these gentlemen it
may be well to say that the Yale and Amherst gymnasiums
have been in use eight years, and those of Williams and Dart
mouth about half that time ; that at Williams and Yale the
attendance at the gymnasium has been voluntary, and conse
quently has been but partial; while at Dartmouth and Am
herst, physical education has been recognized as of equal im
portance with intellectual education, and has been put upon
the same basis with it; and that, consequently, at these two
colleges the influence of the gymnastic department being felt
by all the students, has been more fruitful of results.
1. Effects of the Department of Physical Culture upon
the bodily condition of the students.
Under this head the committee made three inquiries ; first
whether any serious accidents had occurred in the gymnasium ;
second, whether there had been any cases of injury from over
�5
practice; third, whether any improvement had taken place in
the physical development and in the general health of the
students.
To these inquiriegwe have received the following replies:
Yale. Mr Welch says : “ No serious accidents have ever
happened here. In all my experience I have not known a
dozen falls that amounted to anything. Undoubtedly there
are some who are injured more or less permanently by over
practice. Sometimes the results are manifest during the time
of practice ; at otherSlater in life. In my experience I have
known of but two instances. One, a delicate young man,
who seldom frequented the gymnasium, came in one day and
attempted a most difficult feat, rupturing a blood-vessel. His
accident was not of a serious nature] The other was myself,
at a time when I taught and studied too much.”
Dartmouth. President Smith says
Very few serious
accidents and none fatal. Fewer, I think, than in many of
the out-door sports. But few cases of injury from over-prac
tice. When classes enter they sometimes spend too much
time in the Gymnasium, particularly mt the bowling alleys.
But the matter soon regulates itself. As to the effects of
gymnastic practice on the physical development and health of
the students, I give below the testimony of Prof. A. B.
Crosby, now lecturing at Ann Arbor, aslpublished in our
Catalogues. ‘ Since the opening of the Gymnasium, I have
taken occasion to witness frequently the exercises, and the
results have more than equalled my expectations] There has
been no case of severe illness in the College during that time,
and there have been fewerKnstances of slight indisposition
than I have eve]known in the same length of time before.
Dyspepsia, debility, and similar affections incident to a seden
tary life, and which have hitherto been frequent in the change
of seasons from winter to spring, have, during the present
season, been unimown. There has been a manifest improve
ment in the general physical tone of the College, and the
increased muscular power and agility of the young men have
forced themselves on the attention even of unpracticed eyes.
I am fully satisfied, that these exercises have greatly subserved
the general health of the students.’ ”
Williams. Pres. Mark Hopkins says: “ We have had
no serious accidents. I am aware of no serious injury from
over-exertion. I have no statistics, and ca] only say that I
think well of the department of physical training, if the right
man can be in charge of it.”
Amherst. The testimony from Amhers]College, both
on this point and on every other connected with the practice
of physical culture, is very full. Prof. Hitchcock says : “We
have had but two serious accidents] one, that kept a student
from study three months, and one that compelled a young-fnan
�6
to drop behind one year. No cases of injury from over-prac
tice. As to the effects of gymnastics on the physical devel
opment and health of the students, see Dr. Allen’s pamphlet.”
Accordingly we turn to the pamphlet alluded to, and we find
a careful and deeply interesting sketch by a physician of the
history of the department of physical culture in the College.
Upon^the^points now under consideration Dr. Allen, p. 18-19
says:
“When the subject was first agitated in respect to intro
ducing into college gymnastic exercises, there were various
prejudices and objections to such a course. One of the orig
inal objections to the establishment of a gymnasium—and it
still exists to some extent—is the danger of some serious harm
or injury befalling those engaged in such exercises. But such
accidents very seldom occur in the regular practice of gym
nastics. It should be remembered, that the more one exer
cises in this way the better command of his limbs and body
he obtains, and therefore is less likely to meet with injuries.
During the eight years since the establishment of this depart
ment there have been quite a number of bruises and sprains,
one broken limb and one dislocated joint, but no really serious
or permanent injury. Considering the great number and
variety of exercises and the extraordinary exposures in the
performance of daring feats,—that over six hundred students
have taken a part in these exercises, and most of them, for a
time, entirely inexperienced, the accidents have certainly been
very few in number and slight in character. And those that
have taken place occurred generally out of the regular exer
cises, for the want of care, or on account of some physical
weakness of the individual injured. It is stated on good
authority, that the accidents arising in ball-playing,—practiced
only a few weeks each year,—are four times larger than those
from gymnastics.”
With regard to the effects of gymnastics upon the physi
cal development and health of the students, Dr. Allen, pp. 22
—26, says:
“ When the erection of a gymnasium was first agitated,
and even for some time after gymnastics were introduced, it
was said by some persons that the whole thing was an experi
ment ; that after the novelty was over the interest would soon
subside, and the enterprise would prove a failure. It is now
eight years since this department was established,—eight dif
ferent classes, numbering in all over six hundred students,
have taken part in its exercises, and four classes have enjoyed
its benefits throughout their whole collegiate course. What
then has been the effect of these upon the health of the
students, as well as upon the sanitary condition of the Insti
tution ? This may be exhibited in a variety of ways.
1st. There has been a decided improvement in the very
�7
countenances and general physique of students. Instead of
the pale, sickly and sallow complexion once very commonly
seen, with an occasional lean, care-worn and haggard look,
we now witness very generally, fresh, ruddy and healthy
countenances, indicative of a higher degree of vitality, and
that the vital currents, enriched by nutrition and oxygen,
have a free and equal circulation throughout the whole
system. This change is so marked as to attract the attention
of the casual observer, and has been commented upon by
those formerly attending Commencements or other public
occasions here, as exhibiting a striking difference between the
personal anpearance of students at those times, and, that at
the present day.
2d. In the use of the limbs and the body,—in the physi
cal movements and conduct of student® generally, there has
been, we think, decided improvement. Once the awkward
ness of manner and the ungraceful bearing of scholars were
matters of common remark, and such characteristics not unfrequently followed them through life. This resulted not so
much from the want of early training and instruction on this
subject, as from the formation of bad habits in study, and the
long continued neglect of proper exercise. It was frequently
exhibited in stiffness of the joints, a clumsy use of the limbs,
in round shoulders and a stooping postuia and sometimes by
a countenance set, stern and almost devoid of expression.
Now gymnastics, when properly practiced, are calculated to
produce in this respect, a surprising effect upon the use of all
parts of the body, as well as upon its development. They
give not only agility and strength to all the muscles, but a
quick and ready control of them, thereby begetting an easy
and graceful carriage of the person.
*
*
*
*
4th. We come now to consider what has been the effect
more directly upon the health of the students, and the sani
tary condition of the Institution. It is needless to state how
many students formerly impaired or broke down their consti
tutions for want of sufficient exercise, or from irregular or
excessive hours of study, or from some improper habits, or for
want of suitable attention to diet, sleep or some other physi
cal law. Perhaps the effects of violated law were not always
visible at the time, and did not apparently impede the college
course, but the seeds were here sown which afterwards brought
on disease and premature death, or crippled the energies and
limited the usefulness through after life. This may still hap
pen : but with such exercise and instruction as can now be
obtained it is not near so likely to occur. Besides, where the
vitality of the 'system is kept up by regular muscular exercise,
to an even healthy state, it is one of the strongest safeguards
against disease; and then when any organ or portion of the
body iq affected, nature is more powerful to throw off the
�8
attack. In a community thus trained and instructed the more
common complaints, such as colds, headaches, sore throats,
feverish attacks, will seldom occur, and the diseases to which
scholars are peculiarly liable, such as dyspepsia, neuralgia and
consumption stands a far less chance of finding victims. Any
skillful and experienced physician will testify at once, that
such a community is possessed of a wonderful power to pre
vent as well as throw off disease. The common proverbs,
‘ a stitch in time saves nine' and 1 an ounce of prevention
is worth a pound of cure,’ are not more truthful than the
statement here made of the remarkable exemption from dis
ease of a community trained and educated as above described.
5th. A comparison of the present health of students
with what it was ten or fifteen years ago, shows a surprising
improvement. It is rare wow for any student to break down
suddenly in his health, or to be compelled to leave college on
this account. In 1855-6-7 and 8 such cases were common,
as may be seen by referring to the statements of President
Stearns; and the truth of the statements is moreover con
firmed by others personally conversant here for twenty o?
thirty years. As no record was formerly kept of the amount
of sickness from year to year, or of the number of students
leaving college on account of illness, no exact comparison on
these points in figures can be instituted. But the experience
and observation of those who have been on the ground a long
time must bear decided testimony to a greatly improved state
of health among the students over that of former times ; and
as for those who once were members of the Institution, and
return here on public occasions, they cannot fail to see a
great improvement in this respect.
6th. But the evidence of improved health does not rest
wholly upon individual opinions or upon loose comparisons.
Since 1861, a register has been carefully kept of the kind and
amount of sickness in college, an analysis of which presents
some striking facts. No student is placed upon the sick list,
unless he is detained two consecutive days from the usual
exercises of the Institution. The number of students re
ported sick ranges in the course of the year from twenty-five
to sixty, showing a far greater amount of sickness in some
years than others, which depends very much on the fact,
whether some epidemic prevailed, or whether the year as a
whole, either on account of the weather or from some other
cause, was not generally unhealthy. If allowance is made for
this extra sickness in two of the years out of the eight, the
register shows that the actual amount of sickness in college
has diminished in these eight years more than one-third.
That is, in the year just closed, there were only two-thirds rs
much sickness as in 1861, the year when gymnastics were
introduced.
�9
Again, the average number of students sick each year of
these eight was thirty-eight, and the average number present
in college was two hundred and twenty-four, showing that
there were one hundred and eighty-six students on an average
each year who did not experience two days’ sickness at any
one time. The register reports forty-one different diseases or
complaints to account for this sickness, and a careful inspec
tion of the list shows a remarkable exemption from what
are considered generally the more violent and dangerous dis
eases.”
2. After seeking information as to the effects of gym
nastics upon the physical condition of the students, your com
mittee enquired concerning the effects of gymnastics upon
scholarship. The question had been raised among ourselves
whether the gymnasium might not prove a distraction from
study, and especially whether some young men might not
become so proud of their success as athletes as to disregard
the pursuits of the mind. Accordingly into the list of ques
tions sent to the different colleges, your committee intro
duced this: “ Are the great gymnasts apt to be satisfied
with that eminence, to the neglect of study?” The follow
ing replies have been received:
Yale. Professor Arthur M. Wheeler, of the chair of
History, in a letter dated Dec. 20, 1869, says : “ Our gymna
sium is much frequented by the students ; and the general
opinion here is—shared alike by the older and younger officers
—that the students are more vigorous and healthy in conse
quence of it, and that in this way it contributes toward higher
scholarship. Of course it would be difficult to say to what
extent it does this; but we all feel sure that we are much
better off for it, physically, mentally and morally.
There is no tendency among us to cultivate muscle at
the expense of brains, yet now and then a case of that kind
occurs. Nearly all the men who do this, however, are boat
ing men ; and the evil, so far as it exists, is to be attributed
to the boating fever; and boating, as you know, is not an
outgrowth of the gymnasium ; for it existed before we had a
gymnasium.”
Dartmouth. Pres. Smith says: “ The effect on scholar
ship has been good, in that health and physical vigor have
been promoted. We have had no trouble of the kind you
speak of to any extent worth mentioning.”
Williams. President Hopkins includes his answer to
this question in the general answer given to the preceding
one ; which answer is favorable.
Amherst. Professor Hitchcock says: “ Effects on
scholarship, good generally|| Since the first two years, have
known of no neglect to study by any student or set of stu
dents.” Upon the same subject Dr. Allen [p. 29,] says:
.
2
�10
“ There is still another very important consideration, viz: has
the standard of scholarship in college been raised by means
of gymnastics ? As the system of marking or mode of
exhibiting this standard was changed a few years since, an
exact comparison in figures cannot here be instituted; but it
is the decided opinion of the Registrar, (the College Officer
who has charge of these statistics,) that there ‘ has been an
elevation of rank.within the past few years.’ It may be that
some individuals in a class formerly reached as high scholar
ship as any now do ; but the aggregate scholarship of a whole
class, we are confident, is higher now than it once was, and,
to say the least, is much easier obtained, with fewer hours of
study, and less loss of health and life.”
3. The third general question proposed by your commit
tee had reference .to the effects of gymnastic training upon
the morals and manners of the students. To this question the
replies from Yale and Williams are in general terms that the
effects are good.
Dartmouth. Pres. Smith says : “ The effects on morals
are good, in that the sane body is conducive to entire sanity
of soul. A vent is opened also, for superfluous animal spirits,
which sometimes pass with young men into a ‘ superfluity of
naughtiness.’ ”
Amherst. Prof. Hitchcock says: “ Less rough and
rowdy students. Do not make so much noise on the street or
by night; as I oncourage noise and considerable rough play
during the regular exercises.”
In 1862, Professor Hitchcock, in his first report to the
trustees, made this remark ; “ During a portion of the exer
cises, I urge upon the captains the necessity of introducing
playful exercises, such as running in grotesque attitudes,
singing college songs, &c. Sometimes this may seem boister
ous and undignified, but it seems desirable to me that a por
tion of the animal spirits should be worked off inside the stone
walls of the gymnasium, under the eye of a college officer,
rather than out of doors, rendering night hideous ; and in no
instance has the captain found the slightest difficulty in bring
ing his men into line at the word of command.”
Dr. Allen [pp. 17-18] quotes upon this subject the testi
mony of the “ Congregational Journal,” of Concord, N. H.,
for Oct. 23, 1862, a correspondent of which paper writes from
Amherst College as follows:
“The gymnastic exercises greatly promote the good
order and morals of the students. Their animal spirits work
off.by the correct movements of the gymnasium. They are
indisposed to the unmauly and often mischievous doings of
students too frequent in our colleges. A citizen of the town
assures me, that the amount of injury done to the college and
other buildings in the village is almost, nothing since the open
�11
ing of the gymnasium, compared with what it was before.
No less advantageous, probably, is the gymnasium to the
mental progress of the students. They come from the gym
nastic exercises to their studies with healthful bodies, clear
minds and cheerful spirits. The 4 blues,’ those most formid
able enemies of successful study, assail thenf not. All is
bright and promising, all hopeful. Time will undoubtedly
show that no one adjunct, no one department of college, will
conduce more to the noble object for which the Institution
was founded, than the Gymnasium.”
Later in his pamphlet [pp. 31-33] Dr. Allen, refers again
to this subject
follows :
“ There is another advantage from these exercises worthy
of notice, that is in preventing vicious and irregular habits.
While no system of gymnastics alone can be expected to
break up settled habits of dissipation, such as intemperance,
licentiousness, and the excessive use of tobacco or any other
stimulant, still, combined with other good influences, they
have a direct tendency to forestall or arrest such practices by
giving a safe vent to the animal spirits, by regularity of phy
sical exercise, by improving the general health, and producing
a more normal condition of the brain. But there is a vice,
(nameless here,) more terrible in its effects, both physical and
mental, upon the student, than either of the above, and over
which gymnastic exercises have great influence. In fact, it is
the testimony of the highest medical authorities, that regular
and tolerably severe gymnastic exercise is not only the most
effective means of preventing or checking this vice, but is
really the best curative agent. And it is a gratifying fact that
we can add the testimony of the Professor of this department,
that gymnastics have been working to a like result in this in
stitution.
“ It is found that a regular system of gymnastics operates
in a variety of ways as a powerful auxiliary of discipline;
that it answers as a kind of safety-valve to let off in an indirect
way that excess of animal spirits which is characteristic of
some young men, and which not unfrequently leads them into
trouble or conflict with authority. Again it serves with others
as a kind of regulator to the system, exercising certain parts
of it to such an extent as to produce weariness and fatiSue, so
that the individual seeks repose; and with another class it
tends to remove any unnatural or innate weakness of the
frame, and by such improvements serves to equalize and regu
late all the forces of nature. Thus such a system of gymnas
tics sets up a standard of law for self-government ; for it is
based upon those great laws of life and health which are a
part of the will and government of God in this world, as much
as the ten commandments. No by-laws or code of ethics
established by any humen teacher or institution can compare
�12
in authority or final appeal to these great natural, primeval
laws engraved upon our constitntions by the Creator. It will
be seen at once what a power the instructor has over the con
science and reason of a student thus trained. Said President
Felton to the writer, shortly before his decease, referring to
the gymnastics at Amherst which he had just witnessed:
4 Such a system of physical exercises thoroughly understood
and applied by the members of Harvard University, would aid
me in the matter of discipline in P e Institution more than
a,nything else.’ We are here authorized to state, that the
Faculty of Amherst College have found great assistance in
government from this source ;—that since the introduction of
this department, the cases requiring discipline have been far
less numerous, and more easily managed, than formerly.”
Thus upon the three great questions which can be raised
respecting a department of Physical Culture in the University,
namely, as to the effects of such a department upon the bodily
condition, upon the scholarship, and upon the manners and
morals of the students, your committee have submitted—not
abstract theories of their own, but the authentic results of
actual experience, obtained in the four celebrated American
colleges which have tried the experiment of physical culture
the longest and most thoroughly. These results are communi
cated to us in the form of testimony from two college Presi
dents, from two college Professors, from one college Trustee
who is also a physician, and from one practical instructor in
gymnastics, who is very noted in his calling and of whom
President Smith has written to us in the highest praise.
This testimony can not fail to be regarded as decisive.
Your Committee are of the opinion that in the light of
such testimony, this University may proceed to the establish
ment of a department of Physical Culture, not as if it were
venturing upon an untried and a dubious experiment, but un
hesitatingly, boldly, with entire confidence in the complete
success of the measure, if it be but carried out with reasonable
care in its details. Moreover your Committee are of opinion
that in view’ of the great benefits which other colleges have
actually found to proceed from such a department, and in view
of the great needs of our own students with respect to physi
cal culture and healthful regulated exercise, when the
funds of the University shall permit, vigorous action should
be taken upon this subject—providing for the students a de
partment of Physical Culture with a building, with an instruc
tor, and with all the necessary appliances, commensurate with
the greatness of the institution, with the wants of the students,
and with the demands of enlightened public opinion. It has
not been usual for the University of Michigan to be either
timid or laggard in moving towards improved and generous
educational methods. Its true place is in the van of the great
�13
army of educators. At last, however, there is great danger of
its violating its own instincts and traditions. On this im
mense anxious and most urgent business of providing, in a
scientific and efficient manner, for the physical education of
its students, and through that for their highest intellectual and
moral development, the University has dropped*from its hon
ored place in the front; unless speedy action be taken, it will
lose even a middle position; it will drag hopelessly and un
worthily in the rear.
Should it be decided, then, to establish a department of
Physical Culture in the University, a number of very import
ant questions at once arise for determinaion, with reference—
1. To a Gymnastic Building;
2. To the qualifications and duties of the Professor at the
head of the new department;
3. To the relation which the department shall hold to the
various University courses already established, both profess
ional and collegiate.
Your committee are very clearly of opinion that with ref
erence to each of these questions mistakes are not only possi
ble, but are extremely liable to be made—mistakes, too, which
would be absolutely fatal to the utility and success of the
department.
Some of the colleges which have established gymnasiums
have made such mistakes upon these points as have rendered
their gymnasiums nearly useless, thus bringing distrust and
reproach upon the whole cause. These mistakes can be
avoided by us—by our being on our guard against them, by
our remembering that the opinions of experts alone are of
much worth upon this subject in matter a of detail, and by
studying still more minutely the methods pursued in the col
leges which have made this department a success.
We would particularly recommend further study of this
department in Amherst College. That noble institution un
doubtedly leads not only America, but the world, in the suc
cessful solution of the problem of uniting physical and mental
culture. We may safely take it as almost® perfect model in
the arrangement of a department of physical culture. Should
the Regents find themselves enabled to establish such a de
partment here, we would suggest to theifljBthat before finally
deciding as to the dimensions and the interior arrangements
of the gymnasium, upon the choice of an instructor, and upon
the relations of gymnastic instructiointo the other courses, it
would be prudent to send a suitable person to at least six of
the colleges which have been named—Princeton, Williams,
Yale, Amherst, Harvard and Dartmouth—authorized to find
out upon the spot, by actual observation, and by conversation
with officials of experience there, all that can be ascertained
�14
with reference to the mistakes to be avoided, and the right
conclusions'to be reached.
Your committee have already obtained nearly all the in
formation that could be got by correspondence, and they are
able to submit, if it were desirable, a great many facts and
opinions upon the several particulars now referred to. As to
some of these particulars, however, they feel the need of
more information than they have been able to obtain by let
ters, before coming to an absolute conclusion.
For example, if it be decided to have a gymnasium, the
very first question which arises is as to its dimensions. Here,
at the outset is a serious danger. At some of the colleges it
is found that the gymnasiums are too small, or that they are
unfortunately proportioned. One great practical authority
says that whatever may be the length of the building, it must
by all means be as broad as it is long. Yet at Yale the gym
nasium is 120 x 50 ; at Amherst 70 x 40; at Dartmouth
90 x 45 ; at Princeton 81 x 55; at Bowdoin 75 x 30. Now,
we need upon this single point alone, to have some one
enquire upon the spot the results of experience as to these
dimensions. None of these buildings are square. Is this
fact found to be an inconvenience ? It would be a pity to
ascertain, after our building was up, that its utility to us
would be impaired by a mistake that might have been so
easily avoided, as to its size and proportions. Professor
Hitchcock writes to us that he cannot introduce a very im
portant and attractive method of exercise, for want of room.
How unfortunate that that want was not foreseen. Dr. Pea
body of Harvard writes to us : “ If we were to build anew we
should make the gymnasium at least 25 per cent larger, and of
two stories,” instead of one. When we build, we want to
build it as it should be the first time, without having to tear
down and build anew. Too often gymnasiums are built with
out consulting gymnasts; they are built apparently on a
priori principles. Such a course is as foolish as it would be
to build a chemical laboratory without consulting a chemist,
or an astronomical observatory without getting any advice
from an astronomer. This, then, is but a specimen of the
practical questions which present themselves the moment we
set about carrying into effect the resolution to establish a
Department of Physical Culture; and your committee would
repeat their statement that in order to settle these questious
wisely more information must be obtained than can be pro
cured through the channel of letters. Yet as the Regents have
expressed a wish for such recommendations as we could make
upon these questions we will give concisely the conclusions
which we have drawn from our present knowledge upon the
whole subject, conscious that these conclusions may require
some modification under the pressure of further knowledge
that may yet be obtained.
�15
1. We recommed the establishment in this University
at such time as circumstances may permit, a Department of
Hygiene and Physical Culture, believing, as we do upon ample
evidence, that the establishment of such a department would
be attended with no such difficulties, or risks as may not be
overcome by cautious and intelligent foresight, and that if
successful it would result in incalculable good to all our stu
dents, and to an increase of the good reputation of the Uni
versity.
2. In dealing with the next topic, that of the gymnasium
building, the committee have had peculiar difficulty. The
discrepancy between the sort of building we ought to have,
and the sort of building we may be able to have, is so wide
as to make it nearly impossible to determine what to recom
mend. Formerly it was thought that any room, however
cheap, dark, cheerless, and inconvenient, if only large enough
to admit a few ropes and pulleys and bits of timber, was suita
ble for a gymnasium. But the opinions of enlightened edu
cators upon this subject are now changed. At" the principal
colleges the gymnasiums are made as spacious, attractive and
convenient as possible.
The following description of the new gymnasium at
Princeton, written by Professor Schank, and politely commu
nicated to us by President McCosh, may give some idea of
the sort of building which liberal men have provided at that
ancient seat of learning: “It is a two story stone build
ing, the main body of which is 81 x 55 feet, flanked by two
octagonal towers, each about twenty feet in diameter, the en
tire measure, including these, being 92 x 60 feet. On the first
floor, besides both rooms, &c., there are bowling alleys. The
second story, which is open to the roof and high, accommo
dates the ordinary gymnastic fixtures, with a gallery for spec
tators over the ball rooms. The towers are pointed spires
above the roof and terminate on rods with balls and vanes.
The cost when completed and equipped will be about $35,000.”
The gymnasium at Yale cost $14,000 before the war, ex
clusive of the apparatus; and at present prices Mr. Welch
thinks it would cost $30,000.
President Smith informs us that the Dartmouth gymna
sium cost $22,800, with about $1,500 for apparatus—total
cost $24,300.
We did not learn the cost of the Williams gymnasium,
but it could not have been less than $30,000. It is the most
beautiful building in Williamstown.
The gymnasium at Amherst cost $8,000 in 1859, with an
an additional cost of $2,000 for apparatus.
The committee began with the attempt to ascertain what
could be done for $5,000, the sum named in the resolu
tion of the Regents in March 1869 ; but we soon found that
�16
*
no building of the size required could be put up for any such
amount, unless it should be one that would be an eye-sore and
an offense to all beholders. A great ungainly shed would not
answer the purposes of the Department of Physical Culture;
and even if it would, the committ' e would hesitate long before
taking the responsibility of recommending any further dese
cration of our noble University grounds by architectural mon
strosities.
What is really needed by the University to meet the pres
ent demands of scientific physical culture is a building either
of brick or of stone (the latter being preferable) of dimensions
hereafter to be determined, to consist of two stories and a
large well lighted cellar; the cellar serving as a store room,
as a place for heating apparatus, and ultimately, when means
should permit, for ample bath rooms ; the first story to be used
for bowling alleys, superintendent’s and janitor’s rooms, dress
ing rooms and offices; while the second story would contain a
large hall of exercise in both heavy and light gymnastics, as
well as smaller rooms for sparring, fencing, etc., a room for
simple refreshments, like tea and coffee, and a suite of rooms
supplied with a piano, and with newspapers, to be used by all
the students as the University parlors and reading-rooms, and
to be kept open every day in the year, from sunrise until ten
o’clock at night. Such an edifice, especially in the absence
of the dormitory system, would be a most beneficent one to
all our students. It would be the University home. Besides
furnishing the students with a means of bodily health and
development, it would be a boon to them socially; and by its
joyous and hospitable privileges open to them, even when all
the other University buildings are closed, it would both afford
an unspeakable enjoyment to hundreds of young men, and
would save many from temptations now fatal both to health
and character. Such a building, properly furnished, at the
present rate of materials would require not less than $25,000.
3. We recommend the appointment of a Professor of
Hygiene and Physical Culture, to have the full salary of a
Professor in the collegiate department; and as to his qualifica
tions and duties we would adopt the admirable description
given by President Stearns in his Annual Report to the Trus
tees of Amherst College for the year 1 860:
“ What we need is a professorship extending over the
entire department of physical education. 1st—The officer
should be a skillful gymnast, capable of conducting his classes,
by example as well as precept, through all the exercises which
the best training would require them to perform. 2d—He
should have a good medical education, with sufficient know
ledge of disease, if not to manage severe cases, yet to know
whether a student is sick or well, obeying the laws of health
or breaking them, and, as a wise friend, to caution him, ad
�17
vise him and put him on the track towards physical vigor.
3d—That he should have such knowledge of elocution as
would enable him to teach those movements of the body,
lungs and vocal organs which are essential to graceful and
effective oratory. Elocution is properly a branch of gymnas
tics, and the highest degree of health, to say nothing of good
manners and good speaking, can hardly be secured without it
or a substitute for it. This officer, while having charge of
gymnastics, would naturally teach the laws of health and the
physical part of oratory; and as he would be much with the
students, and would be likely to have great influence over
them, he ought to be a man of cultivated tastes and man
ners—a man of honorable sentiments and correct principles,
having high aims and a Christian spirit. Such a man, with
such a work as I have now marked out successfully pursued,
would be an incalculable advantage to the college and to
mankind.”
4. In order to avoid over-crowding of the building, and
inconvenience to the students, we recommend that during the
Law and Medical terms, the several parts of the day and
evening, to be hereafter determined, be divided among the
students of the three departments, and that for at least one
hour each day the building be also appropriated to the use of
the University Faculties; that attendance at the gymnasium
be entirely optional with all the students; only that the stu
dents in the collegiate department be called upon, at the be
ginning of each year, to determine whether they will attend
the gymnasium, and that those who decide to do so shall
be required to exercise in light gymnastics with their respec
tive classes for at least one-half hour each day, for four
days in the week; all work in heavy gymnastics and in the
bowling alleys to be taken by them according to regulations
hereafter to be determined.
5. We recommend that in order to meet the current ex
penses of the Department of Physical Culture, a small fee,
(say $2 per semester, and $3 per professional term) be charged
to each student who avails himself of the privileges of the
department; it being understood that so soon as, either by
private munificence or by State endowment, the expenses of
the department shall be otherwise provided for, its privileges
shall be extended to all without any charge whatever.
In conclusion, the Committee would remark that the
foregoing plan for a Departm^it of Physical Culture involves
an expenditure which is probably quite beyond the present
resources of the University; and that without some special
gift of money for the purpose, either by the legislature or by
private individuals, the University will be unable to confer
upon its students certain very important advantages in the
process of a complete education. We would call particular
�18
attention to the fact that the beautiful and spacious gymnasi
ums at Princeton, Williams and Dartmouth were built by
private generosity. Is there no rich man in Michigan, or
even in the United States, (for our students represent all the
States) who would be willing, by a timely benefaction, to
connect his name forever with the destinies of this great
University, and to bestow an incalculable boon upon all the
multitudes of students who are to resort here for the pursuit
of knowledge ?
MOSES COIT TYLER,
Chairman.
EDWARD OLNEY,
C. L. FORD, M. D.
THOMAS M. COOLEY.
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Report of a department of hygiene and physical culture in the University of Michigan
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Conway Tracts
Hygiene
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Text
THE
Logic of Death,
Qi, fclju sfyonlb i^re
fear to
?
By G. J. Holyoake.
“Even in the 'last dread scene of all’ personal conviction Is sufficient to produce
calmness and confidence. There was one, who for three months suffered agonies
unutterable, who evAla-imod in his anguish, ‘ So much torture, O God, to trill a
poor worm! Yet if by one word I could shorten this misery, I would not say it.
And at lasi^ folded his arms, and calmly said, ‘ Now I die!’ Yet this man was
an avowed infidel, and worse, an apostate priest.”—Spoken by Father Nbwmah
yn the Oratory of St. Philip Neri) of Blanco White.
[EIGHTIETH THOUSAND—
ENLARGED AND REVISED EDITION.]
LONDON:
AUSTIN & Co., JOHNSON’S COURT, E.C.
1870.
PRICE
ONE
PENNY.
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Hi
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�THE LOGIC OF DEATH
When the cholera prevailed in London in 1848, many were carried
away without opportunity or power to testify to the stability of
those conclusions which had been arrived at when life was calm, and
the understanding healthy. The slightest summary of opinions,
concientiously prepared, would have been sufficient to prevent mis
representation after death, provided the person who had drawn up
such statements had strength to revert to them, and to make some sign
that a conviction of their correctness remained. Mr. Hetherington
and myself drew up brief statements of tenets which appeared to us
to be true. He, as we know, sealed his in death. In several lectures
delivered, at the time when no man could calculate on life an hour,
I recited the grounds on which the Atheist might repose, and it has
since appeared that their publication would be useful. The book, of
which a second volume has since appeared, entitled 4 The Closing
Scene,’ by the Rev. Erskine Neale (in which the old legends about
infidel death-beds are revived), lauded by the Times, and patronised
by the upper classes, is proof that there are some priests going up and
down like roaring lions, seeking consciences which they may devour,
and proof of the necessity of some protest on this subject.
Since my trial before Mr. Justice Erskine, in 1842,1 have in some
measure been identified with sceptics of theology, and many ask the
opinions of such on death. If the world ask in respect, or curiosity,
or scorn, I answer for myself alike respectfully and distinctly. I love
the world in spite of its frowning moods. For years I have felt
neither anger nor hatred of any living being, and I will not advisedly
resuscitate those distorting passions through which we see the errors
of each other as crimes.
In my youth I was in such rude contact with the orern realities of life,
that the visions with which theology surrounded my childhood were
eventually dispelled, and now (so far as I can penetrate to it) I look
at destiny face to face. Cradled in suffering and dependence, I was
emboldened to think, and I took out of the hands of the churches,
where I was taught to repose them, the great problems of Life, Time,
and Death, and attempted the solution for myself. It was not long
hidden from me that if I followed the monitions of the pulpit, the
�4
THE EOGJC OF DEATH.
Those who must answer for themselves, have the right to think for themselves.
responsibility was all my own : that at the ‘ bar of God,’ before which
I was instructed all men must one day stand, no preacher would take
my place if, through bowing to his authority, I adopted error. As I,
therefore, must be reponsible for myself, I resolved to think for
myself—and since no man would answer for me, I resolved that no
man should dictate to me the opinion I should hold: for he is impo
tent indeed, and deserves his fate, who has not the courage to act
where he is destined to suffer. My resolution was therefore taken,
and I can say with Burke, ‘ my errors, if any, are my own: I have
[and will have] no man’s proxy.’
In the shade of society my lot was cast, and there I struggled
for more light for myself and brethren. For years I toiled, with
thousands of others, who were never remunerated by the means of
paltriest comfort, and whose lives were never enlivened by real
pleasure. In turning from this I had nothing to hope, nor fear, nor lose.
Since then my days have been chequered and uncertain, but they have
never been criminal, nor servile, nor sad: for the luxury of woe, and the
superfluous refinement of despair, may be indulged in, if by any, by
those only who live in drawing-rooms—sorrow is too expensive an
article to be consumed by the cottager or garreteer. The rightminded in the lowest station may be rich, accepting the wise advice
of Carlyle:—‘ Sweep away utterly all frothiness and falsehood from
your heart: struggle unweariedly to acquire what is possible for every
man—a free, open, humble soul; speak not at all, in any wise, till
you have somewhat to speak; care not for the reward of your
speaking : but simply, and with undivided mind, for the truth of your
speaking: then be placed in what section of Space and of Time soever,
do but open your eyes, and they shall actually see, and bring you
real knowledge, wondrous, worthy of belief.’ Thus have I en
deavoured to see life; and it is from this point of view that I explain
my conceptions of death.
The gates of heaven are considered open to those only who believe
as the priest believes. The theological world acts as if we did not come
here to use our understandings, as if all religious truth was ascertained
2000 years ago, and we are counselled to accept the conclusions of the
Church, on pain of forfeiting the fraternity of men, and the favour of
God. I know the risks I am said to run, but ‘ I am in that place,’ to use
the expression of brave old Knox, ‘ in which it is demanded of me to
speak the truth; and the truth I will speak, impugn it whoso lists.'
And after all, the world is not so bad as antagonism has painted it.
It will forgive a man for speaking plainly, providing he takes care to
speak justly. To give any one pain causes me regret; but, while I
respect the feelings of others, I, as conscience and duty admonish me,
respect the truth more—and by this course I may be society’s friend,
for he who will never shock men may often deceive them.
It becomes me therefore to say that I am not a Christian. If I
could find a consistent and distinctive code of morality emanating
from Jesus I should accept it, and in that sense consent to be called
�THE LOGIC OF DEATH.
fl
The four tenets of the popular theology.
•
Christian. Butl cannot do it. Nor am I a believer in the Inspiration
of the Bible. That which so often falls below the language of men,
I cannot, without disrespect, suppose to be the language of God.
Whatever I find in the Bible below morality (and I find much), I
reject; what I find above it, I suspect; what I find coincident with
morality (whether in the Old Testament or the New), I retain. 1
make morality a standard. I am therefore the student of Moralism
rather than Christianity. It seems to me that there is nothing in
Christianity which will bear the test of discussion or the face of day,
nothing whereby it can lay hold of the world and move it, which is
not coincident with morality. Therefore morality has all the strength
of Christianity, without the mystery and bigotry of the Bible.
But I am not a Sceptic, if that is understood to imply general doubt;
for though I doubt many church dogmas, I do not doubt honour, or
truth, or humanity. I am not an Unbeliever, if that implies the
rejection of Christian truth—since all I reject is Christian error.
There are four principal dogmas of accredited Christianity which I
do not hold:—
1. The fall of man in Eden. 2. Atonement by proxy. 3. The siy
of unbelief in Christ. 4. Future punishment.
A disbeliever in all these doctrines, why should I fear to die ? I
will state the logic of death, as I conceive it, in relation to these
propositions.
1. If man fell in the Garden of Eden, who placed him there ? It is
said, God! Who placed the temptation there ? It is said, God!
Who gave him an imperfect nature—a nature of which it was fore
known that it would fall? It is said, God! To what does this amount?
If a parent placed his poor child near a fire at which he knew it
would be burnt to death, or near a well into which he knew it would
fall and be drowned, would any deference to creeds prevent our giving
speech to the indignation we should feel ? And can we pretend to
believe God has so acted, and at the same time be able to trust him ?
If God has so acted, he may so act again. This creed can afford
no consolation in death. If he who disbelieves this dogma fears to
die, he who believes it should fear death more.
2. Salvation, it is said, is offered to the fallen. But man is not
fallen, unless the tragedy of Eden really took place. And before
man can be accepted by God he must, according to Christians, own
himself a degraded sinner. But man is not degraded by the misfortune
of Adam. No man can be degraded by the act of another. Dis
honour can come only by his own hands. Man, therefore, needs not
this salvation. And if he needed it, he could not accept it. Debarred
from purchasing it himself, he must accept it as an act of grace. But
can it be required of us to go even to heaven on sufferance? We
despise the poet who is a sycophant before a patron, we despise the
citizen who crawls before a throne, and shall God be said to have
less love of self-respect than man ? He who deserves to be saved thus
hath most need to fear that he shall perish, for he seems to deserve it.
�6
THE LOGIC OF DEATH.
The offence of sin reaches not to Deity. Proof by Jonathan Edwards.
3. Then in what way can there be a sin of unbelief ? Is not the
understanding the subject of evidence ? A man, with evidence before
him, can no more help seeing it, or feeling its weight, than a man with
his eyes or ears open can help seeing the stars above him or trees
before him, or hearing the sounds made around him. If a man
disbelieve, it is because his conviction is true to his understanding.
If I.disbelieve a proposition, it is through lack of evidence; and the
act is as virtuous (so far as virtue can belong to that which is inevit
able) as the belief of it when the evidence is perfect. If it is meant
that a man is to believe, whether he see evidence or not, it means that
he is to believe certain things, whether true or false—in fine, that he
may qualify himself for heaven by intellectual deception. It is of no
use that the unbeliever is told that he will be damned if he does not
believe; what human frailty may do is another thing; but the judg
ment is clear, that a man ought not to believe, nor profess to believe,
what seems to him to be false, although he should be damned. The
believer who seeks.to propitiate Heaven by this deceit ought to fear
its wrath, not the unbeliever, who rather casts himself on its justice.
4. There is the vengeance of God. But is not the idea invalidated
as soon as you name it ? Can God have that which man ought not
to have—vengeance ? The jurisprudence of earth has reformed itself;
we no longer punish absolutely, we seek the reformation of the
offender. And shall we cherish in heaven an idea we have chased
from earth ? But what has to be punished ? Can the sins of man
disturb the peace of God? If so, as men exist in myriads, and action is
incessant, then is God, as Jonathan Edwards has shown, the most
miserable of beings and the victim of his meanest creatures. Surely
we must see, therefore, that sin against God is impossible. All sin is
finite and relative—all sin is sin against man. Will God punish
this which punishes itself ? If man errs, the bitter consequences are
ever with him. Why should he err ? Does he choose the ignorance,
incapacity, passion, and blindness through which he errs ? Why is
he precipitated, imperfectly natured, into a chaos of crime ? Is not
his destiny made for him ? and shall God punish eternally that sin
which is his misfortune rather than his fault ? Shall man be con
demned to misery in eternity because he has been made wretched,
and weak, and erring in time ? But if man has fallen at his
conscious peril—has thoughtlessly spurned salvation—has wilfully
offended God—will God therefore take vengeance ? Is God with
out magnanimity? If I do wrong to a man who does wrong to
me, I come down (has not the ancient sage warned me ?) to the
level of my enemy. Will God thus descend to the level of vindic
tive man? Who has not thrilled at the lofty question of Volumnia
to Coriolanus ?—
‘ Think’st thou it honourable for a noble man
Still to remember wrongs?’
Shall God be less honourable, and remember the wrong done against
�THE LOGIC OF DEATH.
|
Christ’s death the great testimony against eternal retribution.
him, not by his equals, but by his own frail creatures ? To be un
able to trust God is to degrade him. Those passages in the New
Testament which we feel to have most interest and dignity, are the
parables in which a servant is told to forgive a debt to one who had
forgiven him; in which a brother is to be forgiven until seventy
times seven (that is unlimitedly): and in the prayer of Christ,
where men claim forgiveness as they have themselves forgiven
others their trespasses.
What was this but erecting a high
moral argument against the relentlessness of future punishment of
erring man ? If, therefore, man is to forgive, shall God do less ?
Shall man be more just than God ? Is there anything so grand in
the life of Christ as his forgiving his enemies as he expired on the
cross ? Was it God the Sufferer behaving more nobly than will God
the Judge? Was this the magnificent teaching of fraternity to
vengeful man, or is it to be regarded as a sublime libel on the
hereafter judgments of heaven ? The infidel is infidel to falsehood, but
he believes in truth and humanity, and when he believes in God, he
will prefer to believe that which is noble of him. Holding by no
conscious error, doing no dishonour in thought, and offering his
homage to love and truth, why should the unbeliever fear to die ?
Seeing the matter in this light, of what can I recant ? The perspicuity
of truth may be dimned by the agonies of death, but no amount of
agony can alter the nature of moral evidence.
To say (which is all I do say) that theology has not sufficient
evidence to make known to us the existence of God, may startle those
who have not thought upon the matter, or who have thought through
others—but has not experience said the same thing to us all ? Where
the intellect fails to perceive the truth, it is said that the feelings
assure us of it by its relieving a sense of dependence natural to man.
How ? Man witnesses those near and dear to him perish before his
eyes, and despite his supplications. He walks through no rose-water
world, and no special Providence smoothes his path. Is not the sense
of dependence. outraged already ?
Man is weak, and a special
Providence gives him no strength—distracted, and no counsel—
ignorant, and no wisdom—in despair, and no consolation—in distress,
and no relief—in darkness, and no light. The existence of God,
therefore, whatever it may be in the hypotheses of philosophy,
seems not recognisable in daily life. It is in vain to say, ‘God
governs by general laws.’
General laws are inevitable fate.
General laws are atheistical. They say practically, ‘ We are without
God in the world—man, look to thyself: weak though thou mayest
be, Nature is thy hope.’ And even so it is. Would I escape the keen
wind’s blast, I seek shelter—from the yawning waves, I look up, not
to heaven, but to naval architecture. In the fire-damp, Davy is
more to me than the Deity of creeds. All nature cries with one voice,
‘ Science is the Providence of man.’ Help lies not in priests, nor in the
prayer : it lies in no theories, it is written in no book, it is contained
in no theological creed—it lies in science, art, courage, and industry.
�8
THE LOGIC OF DEATH.
Atheism suspensive worship.
Some who regard all profession of opinion as a mere matter of
policy, and not of the understanding, will tell me that I can believe as
I please, and that I may call the Deity of theology what name I please:
forgetful that names are founded on distinctions, and that he who does
not penetrate to them is unqualified to decide this matter. It is in
vain to say believe as I please, or entitle things as I please—philoso
phical evidence and classification leave no choice in the matter.
The existence of God is a problem to which the mathematics of
human intelligence seem to me to furnish no solution. On the
threshold of the theme we stagger under a weight of words. We
tread amid a dark quagmire bestrewed with slippery terms. Now
the clearest miss their w.Q,y, w the cautions stumble, now the
strongest fall.
If there be a Deity to whom I am indebted, anxious for my grati
tude or my service, I am as ready to render it as any one existent, so
soon as I comprehend the nature of my duty. I therefore protest
against being Cviisidered, as Christians commonly consider the
unbeliever, as one who hates God, or is without a reverential spirit.
Hatred implies knowledge of the objectionable thing, and cannot
exist where nothing is understood. I am not unwilling to believe in
God, but I am unwilling to use language which conveys no adequate
idea to my own understanding.
Deem me not blind to the magnificence of nature or the beauties of
art, because T Zflerjc’et their language differently from others. I
thrill in the presence^of the dawn of day, and exult in the glories of
the setting sun. Whether the world wears her ebon and jewelled
crown of night, or the day walks wonderingly forth over the face of
nature, to me—
‘ Not the lightest leaf but trembling teems
With golden visions and romantic dreams.’
It is not in a low, but in an exalted estimate of nature that my rejec
tion of the popular theology arises. The wondrous manifestations of
nature indispose me to degrade it to a secondary rank. I am driven
to the conclusion that the great aggregate of matter which we call
Nature is eternal, because we are unable to conceive a state of things
when nothing was. There must always have been something, or
there could be nothing now. This the dullest feel. Hence we arrive
at the idea of the eternity of matter. .And in the eternity of matter
we are assured of the self-existence of matter, and self-existence is the
most majestic of attributes, and includes all others. That which has
the power to exist independently of a God, has doubtless the power to
act without the delegation of one. It therefore seems to me that
Nature and God are one—in other words, that the God whom we
seek is the Nature which we know.
I will not encumber, obscure, or conceal my meaning with a cloud
of words. I recognise in Nature but the aggregation of matter. The
term God seems to me inapplicable to Nature. In the mouth of the
�THE LOGIC OS’ DEATH.
The distinction between the Pantheist and the Atheist.
Theist, God signifies an entity, spiritual and percipient, distinct from
matter. With Pantheists the term God signifies the aggregate of
Nature—but nature as a Being, intelligent and conscious. It is my
inability to subscribe to either of these views which prevents me
being ranked with Theists. I can conceive of nothing beyond
Nature, distinct from it, and above it. The language invented
by Pope, to the effect that ‘we look through Nature up to
Nature’s God,’ has no significance for me, as I know nothing be
sides Nature and can conceive of nothing greater. The majesty of
the universe so transcends my faculties of penetration, that I pause
in awe and silence before it. It seems not to belong to man to com
prehend its attributes and extent, and to affirm what lies beyond it.
The Theist, therefore, I leave; but while I go with the Pantheist so
far as to accept the fact of Nature in the plenitude of its diverse,
illimitable, and transcendent manifestations, I cannot go farther and
predicate with the Pantheist the unity of its intelligence and
consciousness. This is the inability, rather than any design of my
own, which has exposed me to the unacceptable designation of
Atheist.
One has said, I know not whether in the spirit of scorn or suffering,
but I repeat it in the spirit of truth—‘ What went before and what
will follow me, I regard as two black impenetrable curtains, which
hang down at the two extremities of human life, and which no living
man has yet drawn aside. Many hundreds of generations have
already stood before them with their torches, guessing anxiously what
lies behind.. On the curtain of futurity many see their own shadows,
the forms of their passions enlarged and put in motion; they shrink
in terror at this image of themselves.. Poets, philosophers,, and
founders of states, have painted this curtain with their dreams, more
smiling or more dark as the sky above them was cheerful or gloomy;
and their pictures deceive the eye when viewed from a distance.
Many jugglers, too, make profit of this our universal curiosity: by
their strange mummeries they have set the outstretched fancy in
amazement. A deep silence reigns behind this curtain ; no one once
within will answer those he has left without; all you can hear is a
hollow echo of your question, as if you shouted into a chasm.’*
Theology boasts that it has obtained an answer. What is it ? The
world will stand still to hear it. Worshipper of Jesus, of Jehovah,
of Allah, of Bramah—in conventicle, cathedral, mosque, temple, or in
unbounded nature—what is the secret of the universe, and the destiny
of man ? What knowest thou more than thy fellows, and what dost
thou adore? He has no secret to tell. You have still the old
dual answer of centuries, given in petulance or contempt—‘ All the
world have heard it, and so has youor, ‘ None can understand the
Infinite, and you must submit.’ The solution of the problem must
therefore be sought independently.
Separate individual man from the traditions of theology, and what
is his history? A few years ago he sprang into existence like 9
�It,
THE LOGIC OF DEATH.
The actuality of life apart from theology
*
bubble on the ocean, or a flower on the plain. He came from the
blank chaos of the past, where consciousness was never known, where
no gleam of the present ever pierces, no voice of the future is ever
heard. He exists—but in what age he appears, or among what people
or circumstances he is thrown, is to him a matter of accident; To him
no control, no choice is vouchsafed. His physical constitution, his
powers and susceptibilities, his proportion of health or disease, are
made for him: and fettered in nature and fixed in sphere, he goes
forth to struggle or to triumph, and encounter the war of elements
and strife of passion, and oppose himself to ignorance, error, and
interest, as best he may.
Three or four years pass away before sentient existence is lighted
with the spark of consciousness, which burns faintly, intensely, or
flickeringly till death. Gradually the phenomena of the universe
disclose themselves to man. The ocean in its majesty, or the earth in
its variety, engage him—spring is exhilarating, summer smiling,
autumn foreboding, winter stern. By day the sun, by night the moon
and stars, look down like the eyes of Time watching his movements.
Above him is inconceivable altitude—around him, unbounded dis
tance—below, unfathomable profundity; and he arrives at such idea
as man has of the infinite. What is, seems to exist of its own inherent
power. It always wvas, or it could not be. The idea of universal
non-entity is instinctively rejected. Utter annihilation never enters
into his most desultory conceptions. The sentiment of the Everlasting
seems the first fruit of meditation, as an impression of the Infinite was
the first lesson of comprehensive observation. Man stands connected
with the infinite by position, and is related to the eternal in his
origin, and an emotion of conscious dignity follows the first exercise
cf his reason—and his pride and his confidence are strengthened by
perceiving that this infinite is the infinite of phenomena, and the
eternal that of matter. He may be but the spray dashed carelessly
against the shore, or the meteor-flash that for a moment illumines a
speck of cloud—or a sand of the desert which the whirlwind sweeps
into a transient elevation with scarcely time for distinction: yet he is
sustained by conscious connection with the ever-existing,though ever
changing—his home is with the everlasting, and when he sinks, it is
into the bosom of nature, the magnificent womb and mausoleum of all
life.
As youth advances, and his experience increases, he finds his
knowledge amplified. With nothing intuitive but the aptitude to
learn, he feels that his wisdom is ever commensurate with his industry
or observation—and as even aptitude is but progressively manifested,
he perceives that to attempt the untried, is to develop his being more.
Prematurely wasted by sudden efforts to change the order of society
or influences of things, he sees that nature never hastens, and that in
measured continuity of action lies the rule of success. Neither the
* Thomas Garlyle.
�THE LOGIC Gif xmCATH.
11
The epitaph of a student of nature.
muscle of the gladiator, nor the brain of Newton, acquired at once
their volume or power—the leveling of the mountain or the raising
of the pyramid is not the result of a single hasty attempt, but of
repeated and patient efforts. Thus, while man learns that his degree
of intelligence depends upon his industry and observation, his con
quests depend on the strength of his perseverance—and he looks to
himself, to the exercise of his faculties, and the right direction of his
exertions, both for his knowledge and his power. His lot may be cast
in barbarian caves, where ignorance and wildness ever frown, or under
gilded pinnacle, where learning and refinement are lustrous : he may
have to tread the very rudimental steps of civilisation, or he may
have but to stretch forth his hand to appropriate its spoils—still what
he will be will depend on his aptitudes, and what he will acquire on
his discrimination, application, assiduity, and intrepidity.
As his improvement, so also his protection depends on his own pre
cautions. lie defends himself from the inclemency of the elements
by suitable clothing—for health he seeks the salubrious locality,
wholesome, nutritious food, exercise, recreation, and rest in due pro
portion, and observes temperance in all things. His security on land
is the well-built habitation—on the sea, the firmly-built vessel. His
relation to the external world, and the conditions of fraternity with
his fellows, are the physical and social problems he has to solve. He
sees the strength of passion and the educative force of circumstances,
and he studies them to control them. The affairs of men are a process
which he seeks to wisely regulate, not blindly and violently thwart.
The world has two ages—those of fear and love. The barbarian and
incipient past has been the epoch of fear. Even now its dark shadows
lower over us. Love has never yet emerged from poesy and passion,
has not yet put forth half its strength, nor kindness half its power.
These graceful forces of humanity, whose victory is that of peace,
have scarcely invaded the dominions of war—but Love will one day
step into the throne of Fear, the arts of peace become the business
of life, and fraternity the watch-word of joyous nations. Plainly, as
though written with the finger of Orion on the vault of night, does
man read this future in his heart. The impulse of affection that leaps
unbidden in his breast, though suppressed in competitive strife, or
withered by cankering cares, yet returns in the woodland walk and
the midnight musing, ever whispering of something better to be
realised than war, and dungeons, and isolated wealth have yet brought
us. The student of self and nature, thus impressed, goes forth in the
busy scene of life, to improve and to please. The attributes which
rationalism prescribes to man, are perennial discretion and kindness.
Thus I have believed. I accepted the order of things I found with
out complaint, and I attempted their improvement without despair—
and it might be written on my tomb,
‘ I was not troubled with the time which drova
O'er my content its strong necessities,
But let determined things to destiny
xlold unbewailed their way.’
�19
THE LOGIC OF DEATH.
The physical fear of death as groundless as the theological.
And looking out from the bed of death, over the dim sea of the
future, on which no voyager’s bark is seen returning, I can place no
dependence on priestly dogmas, which all life has belied. The paltry
visions of gilt trumpets and angels’ wings seem like the visions of
irony or levity. The reality it is more heroic to contemplate. The
darkness and mystery of the future create a longing for unravelment.
The enigma of life makes the poetry of death, and. invests with a
sublime interest the last venture on untried existence.
Many honest and intelligent persons, who do not feat the future,
fear the transit to it. Novelists and dramatists, in illustrating a false
theory of crime, adopted from the Churches, have drawn exaggerated
pictures of the aspects of death, through which the popular idea of
dying has become melodramatic, and as far from truth and nature, as
is the extravagance of melodrama from the pure tone of simple and
noble tragedy.
A little reflection will show us that the physical fear some have of
death is as groundless as the moral. Eminent physicians have shown
that death being always preceded by the depression of the nervous
system, life must always terminate without feeling While appre
hension is vivid, while a scream of terror or pain can be uttered, death
is still remote. Organic disease, or a mortal blow, may end existence
with a sudden pang, but in the majority of cases men pass out of life as
unconsciously as they came into it. To the well-informed, death, in
its gradualness and harmlessness, is, what Homer called it—the half
brother of sleep: and the wise expect it undisturbed; and if they
have no reason to welcome it, bear it like any other calamity.
Were we not from childhood the victims of superstitions, we should
always regard death thus; but priests make death the rod whereby
they whip the understanding into submission to untenable dogmas.
For men know no independence, and are at the mercy of every strong
imposition, while they fear to die. That ancient spoke a noble truth
who said nothing could harm that man—tyranny had no terrors with
which it could subdue him who had conquered the fear of the grave.
How often progress has been arrested—how often good men have
faltered in their course—how often philosophy has concealed its light,
and science denied its own demonstrations, only because the priest
has pointed to his distorted image of death!
Among people of cultivated intelligence the idea of a punishing
God is morally repulsive. It is rejected as a fact because demoralising
as an example. The Unitarian principle, which trusts God and never
fears him, is the instinct of civilisation: it gains ground every day
and in every quarter. The parent coerces his child in order to cor
rect him, because the parent wants patience, or time, or wisdom, or
humanity. But as God is assumed to want none of these qualities, he
can attain any end of government he wishes by instruction, for in
moral discipline ‘it is not conduct but character which has to be
changed.’ In Francis William Newman’s portraiture of Christian
attributes, he enumerates ‘love, compassion, patience, disinterested-
�THE LOGIC OF DEATH.
The Golden Rule considered as a maxim of the Last Judgment.
aess,’ qualities incompatible with the sentiment of eternal punishment
—and as was before observed, God cannot be supposed as falling short
of the virtues of cultivated Christians. If we accept the hypothesis of
God, we must agree with Mr. Newman that ‘ all possible perfectness
of man’s spirit must be a mere faint shadow of the divine perfection.’
‘ The thought that any should have endless woe,
Would cast a shadow on the throne of God,
And darken heaven.’
The greatest aphorism ascribed to Christ, called his Golden Rule,
tells us that we should do unto others as we would others should do
unto us. It is not moral audacity, but a logical and legitimate
application of this maxim, to say that if men shall eventually stand
before the bar of God, God will not pronounce upon any that appalling
sentence, ‘ Cast them into outer darkness : there shall be weeping and
gnashing of teeth;’ because this will not be doing to others as he, in
the same situation, would wish to be done unto himself. If frail man is
to ‘ do good to them that hate him,’ God, who is said to be also Love,
will surely not burn those who, in their misfortune and blindness,
have erred against him. He who is above us all in power, will be also
above us all in magnanimity.
Wonderful is the imbecility of the people! The rich man is con
ceded the holiest sepulchre in the Church, although his wealth be won
by extortion or chicane, or selfishly hoarded while thousands of his
brethren have perished, while children have grown up hideous for
want of food, while women have stooped consumptive over the needle,
and men have died prematurely of care and toil. The priest-soothed
conscience feels no terror on the pillow of plethoric affluence—then
why should the poor man be uneasy in death ? Kings and queens, who
cover their brows with diadems stained with human blood, and main
tain their regal splendour out of taxes extorted from struggling
industry, are, in their last hours, assured by the highest spiritual
authorities of their free admission to Heaven, and Poets-Laureat have
sung of their welcome there—then why should the obscure man be
tremulous as to acceptance at the hand of Him who is called the God
of the poor ? The aristocracy pass from time unmolested by death-bed
apprehensions, although they hold fast to privilege and splendour,
though their tenants expire on the fireless hearth, or on the friendless
mattrass of the Poor Law Union—then why should the people enter
tain dread ? While every tyrant who has fettered his country—and
every corrupt minister who has plotted for its oppression, or betrayed
its freedom to the ‘ Friends of Order ’—is committed to the grave ‘ in
the sure and certain hope of a glorious resurrection ’—why should the
indigent patriot fear to die ? While even the bishop, who federates
with the despots, and gives his vote almost uniformly against the people
—while the Priests, Catholic, Protestant, or Dissenting, work into the
hands of the government against the poor, and fulminate celestial
menaces against those whose free thoughts reject the fetters of
their creeds—while these can die in peace, what have the honest
�14
THE LOGIC OF DEATH.
It is only the slave soul that imagines a tyrant God.
and the independent to fear ?
If the insensate monarch, the
sordid millionaire, the rapacious noble, the false politician, and
the servile clergyman, meet death with assurance, surely humble
industry, patient merit, and enduring poverty, need not own a
tremor or heave a sigh ! If we choose to live as freemen, let us at
least have the dignity to die so, nor discredit the privilege of liberty
by an unmanly bearing. If we have the merit of integrity, we should
also have its peace—while we have the destiny of suffering we should
not have less than its courage !
The truth is, if we do not know how to die, it is because we do not
know how to live. If we know ourselves, we know that when we
can preserve the temper of love, and of service, by which love is
manifested, and of endurance, by which love is proved, we acquire
that healthy sense of duty done which casts out fear. They who
constantly mean well and do well, know not what it is to dread ill.
And the fearless are also the free, and the free have no foreboding.
‘It is only the slave soul which dreads a tyrant God.’* Therefore—
‘ So live, that when thy summons comes to join
The innumerable caravan, that moves
To that mysterious realm where each shall take
His chamber in the silent halls of death,
Thou go not, like the quarry slave at night
Scourged to his dungeon; but approach thy gravo
Like one who wraps the drapery of his couch
About him, and lies down to pleasant dreams.’f
�THE LOGIC OF DEATH*
13
The Queen’s Views.
Since this article was written in 1849, the religions doctrine o'
death in England has entirely changed. The highest minds in
the Church of England, the most cultivated preachers among the
Dissenters have, in some cases, since originated, and in others, now
accept views similar in spirit to those advocated in these pages.
Bishop Colenso found that when the honest and clear thinking
Kafir of Natal was told of the “dreadful judgment of God,” which
an ignorant orthodox Missionary carried to him, he replied with
great simplicity but with natural dignity and resolution—‘ If
that be so we would rather not hear about it;’ and the
Bishop has found the means of proving, even from St. Paul him
self, that the doctrine of eternal punishment is alien to the genius
of Christianity and must be given up. Professor Maurice, the
most influential name in the Church of England, now teaches
that the conception of punishment by physical pain is a gross idea,
and that the sense of having incurred God’s moral displeasure is the
deepest natural punishment to the spiritual man. Her Majesty
the Queen has authorised the publication, since the death of the
Prince, of ‘ Meditations on Death and Eternity, of which the
*
leading idea is that even ‘ sudden death is a sudden benefit ’ to
those who live well, and that those ‘ who endeavour to make
amends for every fault by noble actions’ ought no more ‘to
dread to appear before God ’ ‘ than a child ought to fear to ap
pear before its loving parent, even though it had not yet con
quered all its faults.’ This is nobler and more humane doctrine
than was ever taught by authority in this country before. But
incomparably the finest passage in the whole compass of litera
ture, which depicts the spirit in which all should conduct life so
as to meet death in a patient and noble way, is from the pen of
Mazzini. It occurred in a criticism upon George Sand, in an
article in the Monthly Chronicle in 1839. It contains the whole
of that philosophy which has given to Italy its heroes and its
freedom, .and taught the Italian patriots in so many forlorn
struggles how to die without sadness and without regret. The
sublime passage is this—‘ Schiller, the poet of grand thoughts,
Las said, I Those only love that love without hope.” There is in
these few words more than poetry ; they contain a whole religious
philosophy that we do not yet well understand, but that futurity
will. Life is a mission; its end is not the search after happiness,
but the knowledge andfulfilment of duty. Love is not enjoyment,
it is devotedness. If on the path of duty and devotedness God
sends us some beams of happiness, let us bless God, and bask our
limbs enfeebled by the fatigues of the journey ; but let us not
suspend it for long; let us not say—“We have found the secret
of existence, for the action of the law of our existence cannot be
concentrated in ourselves; its development must be pursued from
'Without. And if we meet only suffering, still march on ; suffer and
�THE LOGIC i'F DEATH.
Mazzini’s Views.
ad. God will measure our progress towards him not by what
we have suffered, but by how much we have desired to diminish the
sufferings of others, by how much our efforts have been directed to
the saving and the perfecting our brethren.''' Of those who believe
in God intelligently, this is the language they hold—and those
who are not Theists, this is the doctrine they trust. People who
say they could not be happy with the convictions of the Atheist,
the Sceptic, or the Heretic, speak merely for themselves; they do
not speak for us. With regard to us, they speak of that of which
they know nothing, and of that of which they have no experience.
With their views what they say may be true. But different views
and different principles bring with them their own consolations.
Conviction makes all the difference. It is not the formal creed
which gives mental support, but the consciousness of truth and
integrity and pure intent. Nothing can disturb the peace of mind
of those armed by a fortitude founded on love and justice, on rec
titude and reason.
�
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Victorian Blogging
Description
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A collection of digitised nineteenth-century pamphlets from Conway Hall Library & Archives. This includes the Conway Tracts, Moncure Conway's personal pamphlet library; the Morris Tracts, donated to the library by Miss Morris in 1904; the National Secular Society's pamphlet library and others. The Conway Tracts were bound with additional ephemera, such as lecture programmes and handwritten notes.<br /><br />Please note that these digitised pamphlets have been edited to maximise the accuracy of the OCR, ensuring they are text searchable. If you would like to view un-edited, full-colour versions of any of our pamphlets, please email librarian@conwayhall.org.uk.<br /><br /><span><img src="http://www.heritagefund.org.uk/sites/default/files/media/attachments/TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" width="238" height="91" alt="TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" /></span>
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Conway Hall Library & Archives
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2018
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Conway Hall Ethical Society
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The logic of death, or, why should the atheist fear to die?
Description
An account of the resource
Edition: Enlarged and rev. ed.
Place of publication: London
Collation: 16 p. ; 18 cm.
Notes: Eightieth thousand edition. From the library of Dr Moncure Conway and part of the NSS pamphlet collection.
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Holyoake, G.J.
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Austin & Co.
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1870
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G4958
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N310
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Death
Atheism
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Atheism
Conway Tracts
Death
Death-Religious aspects-Comparative studies
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Victorian Blogging
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A collection of digitised nineteenth-century pamphlets from Conway Hall Library & Archives. This includes the Conway Tracts, Moncure Conway's personal pamphlet library; the Morris Tracts, donated to the library by Miss Morris in 1904; the National Secular Society's pamphlet library and others. The Conway Tracts were bound with additional ephemera, such as lecture programmes and handwritten notes.<br /><br />Please note that these digitised pamphlets have been edited to maximise the accuracy of the OCR, ensuring they are text searchable. If you would like to view un-edited, full-colour versions of any of our pamphlets, please email librarian@conwayhall.org.uk.<br /><br /><span><img src="http://www.heritagefund.org.uk/sites/default/files/media/attachments/TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" width="238" height="91" alt="TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" /></span>
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Conway Hall Library & Archives
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2018
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Conway Hall Ethical Society
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An evening with Mr. Home fifteen years ago, and reflections thereon: a lecture at the Cavendish Rooms, London, on Sunday evening 17th July 1870
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White, William
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Place of publication: London
Collation: 14, [2], p. ; 22 cm.
Notes: Printed by Thomas Scott, Holborn, London. Extracts from reviews of the author's work 'Emanuel Swedenborg; his Life and Writings' on unnumbered pages at the end. From the library of Dr Moncure Conway.
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James Burns
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1870
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G5177
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Spiritualism
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Conway Tracts
Spiritualism
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THE
from th principle of ^rulljoug^t,
By
Gm
J. Holyoake.
Honour to him, who, self-complete, if lone,
Carves to the grave one pathway all his own;
And heeding nought that men may think or say,
Asks but his soul, if doubtful of the way.
Sib E. L. Bulweb.
[thirteenth thousand.]
LONDON:
AUSTIN & Co., JOHNSON’S COURT, E.C.
PRICE
ONE
PENNY.
�TO THE READER,
Br those who decry or depreciate Freethought, it is alleged that its principles
are either base and depraving, or loose, weak, poor, and mean; that they take
no hold upon the heart and furnish no guidance, no inspiration to those who
hold them. It is necessary to show that this impression is unfounded. It is
also said by ill-informed partisans of Freethought that when they are delivered
from the slavery of Superstition, and satisfied that the Bible is a human book;
that Theism is unproved and the Future of the Soul uncertain ; that they
have nothing more to learn and nothing more to do. If this were true, Freethought would result in a fruitless self-complacency—better certainly than a
state of terror-ridden superstition—but still rising no higher than a mere doc
*
trine of comfort, fulfilling no condition of a proud and heroic progress. To
some friends, therefore, as well as to all foes, I address these papers. I seek
to show that Secularistic Freethought, apart from all Theology, is self-acting,
self-sustaining, and necessitates the improvement of individual character.
Freethought, ever-fruitful, unfolds new aspects and applications to all who
study it. To some this brief treatise may be suggestive of overlooked duties
which the profession of Freethought implies. Such trust may be ill-founded.
Yet duty is not to be measured by result? alone—the duty which clear con
viction implies, Carlyle has expressed in his noble injunction—“ Cast forth thy
act, thy word, into the ever-living, ever-working universe; it is a seed of grain,
that cannot die; unnoticed to-day, it will be found flourishing as a banyan
grove, perhaps also as a hemlock forest, after a thousand years.”
G.J.H,
�THE
LOGIC
OF
LIFE.
The French have a saying which has always appeared to me
very instructive. It is s’orienter, which signifies “ to take one’s
bearings;” or, as the late Stanislas Worcell used to paraphrase it
for me, “We must find the East for ourselves.”* To understand
this is the first thing which can do any good to twenty-nine out
of the thirty millions of the inhabitants of Great Britain. About
one million of our population, those who inherit rank or riches,
are born with the East found for them. A great number of the
middle class know how to find that point of the compass very
well; but the great body of the nation, who, as Mr. Bright says,
“ in all countries dwell in cottages;” the workers in mine, factory,
and field; to whom sectarian disputes have denied education;
who have no well-placed connections to clear the way for them;
who must toil and endure penury—to these all ignorance is danger,
all delusion is pernicious, all hope which is not justified on a
survey of their situation, is traitorous. A working man who
intends to advance must see clearly what his own position is.
This knowledge is the first step in the logic of life to him—the
key to any extrication or improvement possible to him. He who
does not know what his social position is, is ignorant; he who
does not want to know it, is imbecile ; he who despairs on account
of it when he does know it, is a coward; he who is content with
it, if it be precarious, is a slave. Contentment with the ill which
is inevitable, is fortitude; contentment where improvement is
possible, is meanness. Therefore, in all cases of adverse destiny
“ it is,” to borrow a phrase of Fielding’s, “ of no use damning the
nature of things the sole question is their possible improvement.
Strive for this without sullenness and with a buoyant heart.
Of means which depend upon the individual, and of which every
person of sagacity, of resolution, and honesty may avail himself, I
name as first, Freethought and its consequents—Truth, Indepen
dence, and Courtesy.
These are familiar words, but the full acceptation they bear ip
* Il nous faut nous orienter nous memes.
�4
THE LOGIC OF LIFE.
Four Elements distinguished.
not at all familiar. They have hitherto been used in the world
as party words. Freethought has been understood chiefly as
opposed to slavery of mind; Truth as opposed to Falsehood;
Independence as opposed to Tyranny; Courtesy as opposed to
vulgarity of manner. In the stages through which society has
passed, these words, in these senses, were words of battle, and
very influential words too: but they have a more abiding and
fresher significance if we regard them, not as merely indicating
antagonisms, but as expressing sentiments inseparable from a
natural and manly character. In this sense they constitute the
elements of a Logic of Secular Life.
It is of little use that a poor man looks around him unless he
thinks when he looks. He will find that every inch of ground,
every flower of the field, every bird of the air, every spray of the
sea has an owner; but there is one thing at least left him—he
may be master of his own mind ; his intellect at least is in his
own keeping; and it is the first duty of man to maintain dominion
there. It is part of a wise self-defence in a man to own no master,
to brook no control, to obey no command, which contradicts his
own deliberate judgment of the right.
*
Be the interferer priest
or king, society or custom, let him bid them stand aside. Let a
man listen to those who advise ; reverence those who teach;
honour those who think, for they are donors; but let his opinions
he his own and not second-hand. Poverty of means may be caused
by others—poverty of thought is idleness or baseness of our own.
The world, except to the masters of armies, is no longer an oyster
to be opened with a sword—all conquests there by the people re
quire thought. The upward avenues of society are guarded by
the dragons of Privilege and Success. Industry may present
itself, but intellect is its passport. Self-thought, which is the
original name for Freethought, therefore, is the first means of
self-help. He who fails to exercise Freethought is defenceless—
he who relinquishes it is despised, even by those who encourage
his submission or coerce him to it. The destitute at a mine who
fear to gather the golden ore for which they have gone—the thirsty
at a well who fear to drink of the stream for which they are dying
—they who in danger see escape open to them and yet fear to flee
—are types of him who fears to use his own reason when he should.
Freethought is a primary condition of Truth: we can never
know much unless we are free to inquire into all. Freethought
is the instinct of enterprise—it proceeds, Columbus-like, upon an
f It is not intended to say that a man may disregard the alleged
“Will of God,” or a precept of high human authority, upon mere im
pulse, caprice, conceit, or antagonism. Our words are, “ his own de
liberate judgment (or conviction) of the right.” To act contrary to
this would not be to honour or worship God, but to act the hypocrite
knowingly.
�THE LOGIC OF LIFE.
5
Freethought not an agent of heresy, but of self-defence.
unknown sea to discover new lands. He who sets out knows not
that he may ever return to what he has left behind him, and
those who await his return know not what report of strange
countries he may bring back. The stationaries, the timid, or com
fortable, or component parts of vested interests, always look with
suspicion on the thinker. To-day, or to-morrow—there is no
telling when—he will raise the cry of “ Progress,” and the people
will be setting off, leaving the fixture party behind. The watch
word of the Freethinker is “ Excelsior!” “Higher!” “Forward!”
That of the fettered thinker is ‘ ‘ Lower!” “ Halt!” “ Retrograde!”
“Don’t go too far!” Cl Better to be safe!” The Freethinker is,
however, wiser. He hears the reverberations of Progress in every
footfall of the march of Nature. When the vibration of a social
earthquake is felt, apathy is fatuity. In every wreck of a human
being around us, we witness the falling of some edifice of religious,
social, or political superstition. It is in standing still when all
around is moving, or in going back when all the prudent are
escaping, which constitutes actual danger. If it be “ better to be
safe,” it is better to be a Free Inquirer, whether the object be
personal or public protection. Those who condemn Freethought
as heresy, do not understand that it is self-defence; those who
call it anarchy do not remember that order without progress is
tyranny. But in practising Freethought there may be passion
but not petulance, enthusiasm but not excitement. It must be
patient, persistent, and independent, obviously seeking two things
—truth and deliverance; and the sign of deliverance is indepen
dence, and the grace of independence is courtesy.
But if we claim to take Freethought as a fundamental and com
prehensive principle of action, we must justify the claim. Others
claim also now to act on the same principle, and to be freethinkers.
So much the better if it be so. We desire no exclusiveness here.
We will do injustice to none, but state our own case, and admit
the degree in which others approach to our own rule, and define
and explain what that rule is.
The Roman Catholic even seems to believe in Freethought,
though, as it appears, in a very limited degree, and he never
trusts it as we do. He so fears the independent use of Reason,
that lie only allows the inquirer to use it once, and that is to
light him to the Church; and when he arrives at the door thereof
the Priest meets him, takes the taper of Reason from his hand,
assures him that he will have no further need for that, and the
Priest keeps it henceforth in his possession. Once within the
Church, the Inquirer finds that his reason is never to be had even
on hire ever after. And the Roman Catholic Priest having been
obliged with your soul, soon finds occasion to trouble you for your
body. He cares for you spiritually and temporally, and woe to
that man or that nation whose liberty is in such keeping!
The Evangelical Protestant Priest will, we say it to his credit.
�0
THE LOGIC OF LIFE.
The Catholic, Protestant, and Secular conception of Freethinking.
..eave you considerable political liberty; but lie considers every
jnan utterly depraved by natu.re, and he has little more confidence
than his brother of Rome in the results of Freethought. He in«
deed places the Bible before you, and tells you to use your “ pri
*
vate judgment ” upon it; but he places the Devil on the top of it,
and Eternal Perdition at the bottom of it, and hangs up a Creed
before it, and warns you that if you do not go through the Bible
and come to that Creed, that the dark Gentleman at the top will
pay his respects to you, and conduct you to his subterranean
chambers at the bottom. And this is the Protestant idea of Freethought! This is not often said, it is not always seen to amount
to this by those who act so, and this representation of it will be
denied; but to this Protestant Freethought ever resolves itself in
the English Church, and among all the tribes of Evangelical Dis
senters.
Freethought, as the Secularist understands it, differs from the
Roman Catholic and Protestant conception of it. Freethought
from the Secular point of view, is not pride of reason (if that be
*
wrong), it is the use of reason. It is not caprice or wantonness,
or stiflf-neckedness, or wickedness, or rebellion, or enmity against
God. It is the duty of inquiry—it is rebellion against Ignorance—
it is enmity against Error. Freethinking is not “loose thinking,”
as the Rev. Charles Kingsley perversely puts it. It is the quiet,
resolute, and two-sided search for Truth without fear of the Bible,
the Priest, or the Devil—or what in these days is the same thing,
fear of that social intolerance, that tyranny of the majority, which
frightens many people as much. Freethought is sensible, not
sensual; it is fearless wherever error has to be attacked or truth
to be discovered. It proves all things, with Paul; or it proves
them in spite of Paul, if need be; it inquires if the Bible permits,
and it inquires if the Bible forbids. Its inspiration is self-develop
ment ; its object is truth; its reward self-protection; its hope
progress; its spirit is reverent and resolute.
Secular Freethought is the assertion of mental liberty. It is
the beginning of intellectual life and manhood. It is the first
step from mental slavery. It is the indication that a man is
setting up in the world of opinion on his own account. Freethought signifies free trade in intellect. It is the proof that a
man is not a toy or a tool, but that he has something in him. It
is a sign of self-respect and emulation. It implies a sense of res
ponsibility to God on the part of those who are Theists, and to
Conscience, to Truth, and to Society, on the part of him who is
not. And he who seeks to arrest Freethought by penalties, by
opprobrium, or disapproval, is the enemy of his kind, of their
liberty, growth, and development, whatever may be his motives^
base or honest.
___________________________________
* I never could see that the “ pride of reason ” is anything wrong.
To take pride in the noblest endowment of man is a good sign.
�THE LOGIC OF LIFE.
Truth the first consequent of Fireetliought.
Truth is the first issue of Freethought—certainly the first object
that the Freethinker sets before him. The miracles and wonders
of nature and life incite to thought, and to solve with requisite
advantage any mystery, thought must be free. Freethought is
but a means, truth the end. But if we lose sight of the means,
we may never reach the end. People who think for us, some
times do for us. Self-thought is policy as well as duty.
Why do we want Freethought? Plainly for self-protection
and power—and the power is the power of truth. Freethought
is labour and responsibility, irksome and onerous. It is a luxury
to lie down without ideas. One might bless the priest or politician
who would undertake the labour of thinking. The Church of
Rome, or the reign of Despotism and Toryism, is the paradise of
the lazy, the reckless, the sensual, and the supine. Freethought is
intrepidity and duty. It is the instinct of Secular and Political
safety. Freethought is the revolt of manhood, conscience, dili
gence, and the noble thirst for truth.
The definition of Truth given by Samuel Bailey is probably the
simplest and widest that can be found :—“ Truth is a term by
which is implied accuracy of knowledge and of inference.”* The
meaning here is obvious and practical. Let us inquire into the
nature of its legitimate significance. “ I am a lover, utterer, and
observer of the Truth.” How many make this boast! All in
some way think themselves entitled to make it; yet how few un
derstand what is meant by this high profession !
Let a man resolve that he will seek the truth, speak the truth,
and act the truth : what an education lies in that resolve! To
seek the truth implies the power of distinguishing it. It implies
calmness, observation, penetration, and impartiality. The ex
cited discern nothing distinctly; the unobservant miss half of
that which is to be seen; those who lack sagacity are imposed
upon by counterfeits; the partial see only half a truth, and never
know which half. The study of the truth is the study of the Real.
The real, for practical purposes, may be described as that which
we can verify by the senses and enable others to verify, or as that
of which we can furnish to others the conditions of its reproduc
tion ; which may be submitted to the most searching investigation
and experiment. Accuracy of observation is the beginning of
truth. Error is the misapprehension of nature—disaster is mis
taking the way to it. All thoughtful life is a search for the real;
all philosophy is the interpretation of it; all progress is the attain
ment of it; all art is the presentment of it; all science the mastery
of it. Here the question arises, What is the test of the real ?
How do we know that we know it ? For the purposes of ordi
nary certainty about it, we require to be able to identify the thing
we mean; to show it or demonstrate it to others; to challenge
Essay on the Pursuit of Truth, chap, i., p. L
�8
THE LOGIC OF LIFE.
The profession of Truth, and what it involves.
their resources to combat it; to dare their judgment upon it; to
give them the means of testing it; to conquer prejudice by its
force and scepticism by its proofs. In fine, in some way or other
to display or explain the immediate causation of phenomena.
Men are never satisfied—never feel beyond the chances of delusion
till then. If any one would see the influence of a simple prin
ciple like that of the search for truth over character, let him reflect
merely on the ordinary processes which common sense and com
mon power may adopt for the acquisition of truth. By observa
tion the materials of thought are collected. When we can identify
facts they become knowledge, which, as Whately was first to
teach, implies truth, proof, and conviction. When knowledge
becomes methodised, and assumes the form of science, it becomes
for the first time power. This, however, occurs late, because
science is the hardest step in attainments. It is popular to talk
of science, but science is not popular. Its strictness, its care, its
patience, its discipline, its caution, its experiments—various, la
borious, and incessant—imply qualities of which the populace,
generally speaking, are deficient. A high state of general culture
must be reached before science can be popular. Thus the pro
fession of “seeking” the truth involves the question of self
education.
Next, the resolution “ to speak” the truth tells advantageously
upon a man’s character—no undertaking is nobler. A man rises
in his own esteem the moment he enters upon it, and in that of
others as soon as he is seen acting up to his profession. Falsehood
is the mark of meanness, cowardice, and slavery the world over. A
lie is the brand of servitude. In every part of the world we in
stinctively despise the race that is weak enough to lie. The mob
are false before they are contemned. Truth is the child of courage
as •well as of honour. The high-spirited alone are habitually
frank. It is weakness to affect singularity, but it is worse than
weakness not to be singular, if the singularity lie in acting out a
conviction of the right. Better even be eccentric than false. It
is sometimes dangerous to dissent from the public, and painful to
dissent from your friends. It is often very expensive to have an
opinion of your own, and avow it; but the partizan of truth must
be content to brave many penalties; and he is badly educated in
his art if he be not apprised of this. He must leave to valetudi
narian moralists to utter timid, base, and comfort-seeking acquiescences, in the hypocrisies of sects and society.
One whose noble words have been an inspiration to the workman
of this age, and who, above all writers, has invested art and industry
with higher purposes than were felt before, tells us that “ there are
some faults slight in the sight of love, slight in the estimate of wis
dom ; but truth forgives no insult and endures no stain. We do not
enough consider this, nor enough dread the slight and continual oc
casions of offenceagainst her. We are too much in the habit oflook-
�THE LOGIC OF LIFE.
9
Mr. Ruskin’s delineation of the lies which harm.
ing at falsehood in its darkest associations and through the colour of
its worst purposes. That indignation which we profess to feel at
deceit absolute, is indeed only at deceit malicious. We resent
calumny, hypocrisy, and treachery because they harm us, not
because they are untrue. Take the detraction and the mischief
from the untruth, and we are little offended by it; turn it into
praise, and we may be pleased with it. And yet it is not calumny
nor treachery that does the largest sum of mischief in the world,
they are continually crushed and felt only in being conquered.
But it is the glistening and softly-spoken lie; the amiable fallacy ;
the patriotic lie of the historian, the provident lie of the politician,
the zealous lie of the partizan, the merciful lie of the friend, and
the careless lie of each man to himself, that cast that black mys
tery over humanity, through which any man who pierces, we
thank as we would thank one who dug a well in a desert; happy
in that the thirst for truth still remains with us even when we
have wilfully left the fountains of it.”*
The courage of Truth also implies purity; because the utter
ance of truth implies the power of publicity. Now a man who
undertakes “ to speak the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but
the truth ” on all occasions, must take care what he thinks and
what he knows. He must keep watch and ward over his thoughts
and his ears. There is sometimes tragedy in the resolution.
Lucius Junius Brutus had to condemn his own sons; the father
of Jeannie Deans to hang his own daughter. No virtue tries a
man’s soul like incorruptible and uncompromising veracity, nor
tries it so frequently.
Unless truth becomes the very essence of personal character, the
highest appeal of the moralist is without effect. The golden
injunction in Hamlet—
To thine own self be true;
And it must follow, as the night the day,
Thou canst not then be false to any man,
implies that man himself must be true, or the response of his
nature will be untrue. The true echo of a false nature will be
false. You can only trust the true.
There is however capacity as well as purity implied in the pur
suit and utterance of truth. He who succeeds must know how to
test a rumour, how to avoid being imposed upon by report. He
must be cautious and wary ; suspicious of the lurking prejudice
which unconsciously distorts; quick to detect omissions in state
ments, and able by preserving measure in his own thoughts, to
repel exaggerations by instinct. He requires to judge look, tone,
language, and logic. He who undertakes to utter only the truth
undertakes not to be imposed upon by the prepossessions, malice,
* John Buskin.
�16
THE LOGIC OF LIFE.
Exactness the only measure of strength.
incompetence, or sophistry of others; else he becomes a mere
retailer of falsehood second-hand. On his own part also there are
some requirements. The truth-speaker should be master of the
art of explicit statement. He should know the value of terms and
the force of speech. He requires to explain to others not only
what he means, so that they can understand it; but, as Cobbett
puts it, “ so that they cannot possibly misunderstand it,” other wise he misleads them in spite of himself. A truth speaker must
look all round his statements to be sure that there is nothing dis
coloured reflecting a false light; nothing redundant which over
states ; nothing deficient which obscures; nothing ambiguous
which cau leave a doubt. A piece of meaning, properly expressed,
is incapable of being abridged, else it is too long : it is incapable
of being amplified, else it is too brief: the very terms are un
changeable. else they were not well chosen. The perfect expression
of a thought is a work of art, and when perfect is a study and a
delight. We see in Beranger how a studious fitness of expression
was a part of his genius. A man who has judgment to cast, and,
if need be, recast his language, may attain excellence. This suc
cess costs no money; it costs only reflection; and it may be done
at the workshop as well as in the study. If it be worth while
speaking at all, it is worth while speaking to some purpose. He
who strives to do everything well may do little; but that little
will be worth mu eh. It is a great gain to guard against that
voluble feebleness which enervates your own mind, and wastes the
time of others.
Let a man be clear as to what he really knows, and confine
himself to that, and lock round and note the effect of what be is
saying on those who credit his words, and he will often find silence
a virtue and a mercy. We make tragedies every day by our
speech. Some words are like poisoned arrows, and affect fatally
the blood of those pierced by them.
But if the policy of truth has difficulties, it has also advantages,
which ambition itself might covet. A mau whose words are
measured and independent, and can be trusted, makes a place for
himself in the esteem and deference of his contemporaries which
no other qualities can win. All exactness (if I may repeat, for
the sake of illustration here, what I have said elsewhere) imposes
restriction; but exactness is strength. The rustic dancer, who is
the admiration of the village green, hesitates to take a step in the
presence of the dancing master ; the confident instructor of the
private class faulters before the professed grammarian; the singer
who is rapturously applauded at the evening party, cannot be
prevailed upon to utter a note at a concert; the provincial actor,
who nightly “ brought down the house ” in Richard the Third, is
timorous in a rehearsal before Macready, Phelps, or Fechter; the
orator who sets the country on fire, stammers in the House of
Commons, finding that, as Canning said, “the atmosphere in which
�THE LOGIC OF LIFE.
11
independence a second consequence of Frcethoaght.
the demagogue shrinks to his natural dimensions.” These per
sons, once placed in higher society than their own, are in that light
where their defects can be seen ; and, what is more to the purpose,
where they cannot be hidden. The single step which is right;
the single sentence wThich is correct; the single note which is
perfect; the single passage rendered by the actor with cultivated
success; the shortest speech which has the grace of close sense
and suitable delivery, is a source of more confidence to the indi
vidual, and gives him more power to eommand the applause of
all whose applause is worth having, than all gyrations, display,
screaming, gabble, gesticulation, and declamation, which make up
the bulky acquisitions of the novice, the pretender, or the quack.
The moment we step into the circle of those better informed than
ourselves, we feel our deficiencies, and are suddenly contracted
down to the little that we really know. A man may deceive those
who know less than himself, or the same as himself, but he can
never deceive those who know more. Knowledge once challenged,
pierces instantly through the thickest cloak ingenious ignorance
can put on. Our actual knowledge, whatever it is, is the measure
of our actual power; and to know what that knowledge is, is to
know upon what we can rely. Truth alone is strength. As
*
Shakspere makes Mark Anthony say—
Who tells me true,
Though in the tale lie death,
I hear him as he flattered.
*
Independence is one of the high attributes of character which
the passion for truth begets as the necessity of the enjoyment of
its conquests. Independence is self-direction, self-sustainment,
but not lawlessness. It is freedom from vice, from ignorance and
superstition, from the tyranny of all power and all opinion which
violate reason and nature. It is admitted that independence so
perfect is unattainable in existing society, yet the adequate con
ception of it will assist those who desire to approximate to it.
We must not, however, suppose that there is such a thing as ab
solute independence. Independence is relative only. Man is
dependent on Nature for existence and subsistence; on the ob
servance of the laws of nature and the laws of society, legal,
social, and moral, for they are necessary for his development,
culture, happiness, and security.
Independence, as it is possible to the emulative, is attainable in
two ways; one by abridging our wants to the minimum com-
* Elsewhere I have quoted these lines, to which I am attached; and
the preceding passage occurs in another work, and I have no excuse for
repeating it except its relevance to the argument. In this licence I
follow the example of Archbishop Whately; but what has not been
forgiven in him who has the right of genius to repetition, is infinitely
less likely to be pardoned in me.
�12
THE LOGIC OF LIFE.'
Independence is self-direction and self-sustainment.
patible with wealth, the other by acquiring ample means for the
gratification of the wants we elect to retain. Of course the shortest
way is by the simplification of wants, and most persons have
something to gain by this course.
Government is necessitated by the tendency of men to injustice,
disorder, and excess. A just man capable of self-direction and
self-control, is independent of government in his own case. Rulers
are necessitated by the blind, vicious, and violent. A weak man is
at the mercy of the strong, hence a lover of independence seeks
strength and skill as resources. Intelligent love of independence will
influence personal education in many ways. In point of knowledge
the independent man endeavours to put himself on a level with
those around him, that he may not be imposed upon by the
cunning, nor defeated by the subtle, nor borne down by superiors.
Ignorance is slavery, and he acquires knowledge that he may be
free. He practises economy in the use of hi3 means—he lives
within his income, that he may be above the necessity of extreme
labour, which is serfdom. Aman’s private habits are revised when
he is animated by a spirit of independence. He chooses truth be
cause it is simple and brave, rather than falsehood, which is per
plexing and cowardly. Temperance is not with him an arduous
virtue of self-denial; but is part of that policy by which he pre
serves health, means, liberty, and power. A true freeman will
not be the slave of dress, of stimulants, or of diet, or doctors, or
custom, or opinion, any more than the slave of priests or kings.
To cover a neglect of duty, a loss of time, a defect in work-—to
conceal a petty abstraction or an overcharge—what lies, prevari
cations, and deceptions, employers often detect in the working
class. For what petty and fleeting advantages the independence
of veracity is thoughtlessly sacrificed ! The employer may be
guilty of this as well as the employed. There is often meanness
in the counting-house as well as in the workshop. The tradesman
may overcharge as well as the customer higgle; but this conduct
bears the same mark in each class: it is the badge of the slave
spirit all round.
Again, independence implies self-possession as well as selfrespect. He who is excited is no longer master of himself. He can
neither see his way nor take it if he sees it. Events, real or imagi
nary, are driving him ; he has forfeited self-direction—his liberty
is lost.
Independence also exercises other influences. Independence
must fluctuate unless there be security around. But to attain
this there must be fairness and justice to others, or antagonisms
will arise; well founded, and therefore inveterate, which .will
occupy the passions imperiously, and such stimulated and coerced
occupation is a species of slavery. Independence, therefore, un
derstood as a consistent principle, is a check upon the lawlessness
or excesses of liberty. Liberty is no longer a capricious shout
�THE LOGIC OF LIFE.
13
The principle of courtesy is the consideration of others,
taken up in irritation and persisted in in antagonism; but is a
manly, positive, persistent, and rational principle, having inspiration
and purpose—influencing personal and public character.
Courtesy is that quality of Freethought which gives to truth
its agreeableness and to independence its grace.
Without
courtesy Freethought may be perverted into wanton aggression,
truth into outrage, independence into rudeness. Conviction of
every kind must be associated with the consideration due to others,
a desire of service and a feeling of kindness to others. Conviction,
service, and kindness to others must be regarded as inseparable.
Separate them and there is danger. “ Conviction” by itself, how
ever sincere, may be ferocity, as was the case with the Puritans;
“ service” alone may become selfishness; “kindness” alone may
become weakness. Free inquiry pursued on the principle of
self-protection is invincible; made an annoyance to others it is
endangered; truth made disagreeable is betrayed; independence
which is inconsiderate of others is insolence. Bluster, objuration,
rudeness, are the crimes which cowardice, ignorance, and selfish
ness commit. If justice and considerateness to others were
widely cultivated, there would be no need of charity in the world.
If a man hate the world, the world can acquit itself by multi
tudinous retaliation. If a man will profess indifference to the
world, he may perish amid the omnipresent apathy he invokes.
But if he would serve the world, or endeavour toserve it, mankind
may not reciprocate the disposition, but such a man alone has
established a claim upon their good offices.
There is one mode of success in the world in which ambition is
itself legitimate, a mode of success available to all, in which there
is little competition; it is the unselfish service of others. The
avenues to this kind of promotion are open always and open to all,
and the porches are never crowded. Thus courtesy is good sense
as well as good feeling. The indispensability of courtesy every one
upon reflection may see. By its own nature independence is un
social. It sets up for itself, acts for itself. It proposes to keep
other persons at a distance. Its principle is to owe nothing to
others, and is therefore under no obligation to oblige them. It is
self-reliant and defiant. Without courtesy independence is re
pulsive. But courtesy practised by the independent wears the air
of chivalry.
Courtesy implies fortitude and justness. Without fortitude to
bear much himself, a person will impose or obtrude on others a
consciousness of his sufferings, at times when it will extinguish
their enjoyment, and in no way relieve his own. It implies a
sense of justness in this way^—No man, unless he is always
judicially wary and inquiring, can determine the guilt of his
neighbour in suspicious cases, and a man always on the judg
ment-seat is a nuisance. A detective dogging you is not au
agreeable follower; a detective friend is a sort of private police
man. Courtesy is trusting and unsuspicious.
�14
THE LOGIC OF LIFE.
Courtesy is something distinct from etiquette and politeness.
It is to be understood that, by courtesy, I do not mean mere
etiquette, compliments, or conventional politeness, which may co
exist with hypocrisy and hateful selfishness. I do not mean a
ceremony, but a sentiment. By courtesy, I mean service—the
disinterested service of others in thought, speech, and act. I
mean that sentiment which, in the family circle, in company, in
society, in all human intercourse, pauses to ask, “ How can I pro
mote, or avoid impairing, the personal comfort or convenience of
others ?” Courtesy is often shown more by what it does,not dp,
than by what it does. The thoughtless word, the irritating tone,
the vexatious remark, anger, and impatience; observations upon
the appearance or manners of others, which do not affect us, nor
injure us, nor concern us, and which we are not called upon to
correct, and which are part of the proper personal liberty of
others—these are the wanton crimes of social tyrants, from whom
there is no escape. This is misery which all have the power to
inflict, and many inflict it all their lives without appearing to
know it. The simple and considerate omission of these things
would be true courtesy, though no acts of kindness or attention
were added. Courtesy may be known by this—it gives what
your neighbour or your friend cannot ask ; the grace of it con
sists in this—that it volunteers what cannot be exacted. The
poorest man who understands it may distribute around him the
riches of enjoyment. It needs no wealth but that of the,, mind,
and is the sign of a nobler character than wealth itself. Wealth
is but the emblem of refinement; courtesy is the possession of it.
Independence consults its own interests. Courtesy consults that
of others. The difference between etiquette and courtesy may
be seen in this—etiquette lies no deeper than the manners, cour
tesy has its seat in the judgment; one is the creature of the
accredited custom of the hour; the other is a dictate of moral
thoughtfulness. Etiquette is conventionality, courtesy is a con
viction. Mere etiquette begins in politeness and ends in proprie
ties ; it is fair spoken to your face, and may scoff at you, defame
you, and revile you behind your back; while true courtesy denotes,
the spirit; it is honesty as well as kindness; it is the same in
your absence as in your presence. It pays unseen compliments; if it
professes regard, it is a perpetual regard upon which you may count.
Such are some of the obvious significations involved in the fami
liar terms, Freethought, Truth, Independence, and Courtesy. In
pointing them out, I have no doubt laid myself open to the objection
of all who have something to excuse in themselves, and of others
who have not reflected upon the subject; that I set up a standard
so high that ordinary men, despairing of attaining excellence,
will be discouraged from attempting improvement. To such I
answer, that I do not exact perfection; I only give information,
and contend that every man should understand the nature and
purport of his own profession, for no one is likely ever to advance
unless he is made clearly conscious of what it is that he ought, in
�THE LOGIC O? LIFE.
15
The principles of a Secular Logic of Life.
consistency, to attempt. If he does mean what his words imply,
he will not object to be judged by them. If he does not mean
that, let him choose other terms which express what he does
mean, and no longer dilute high words with weak meanings.
The reason why great words grow pale in the memory of men,
and tame in their influence, is because their high significance is
not insisted upon. I hold that it may be no reproach that a man
does not excel ; but it is a reproach if he never strives after
excellence, and does not even know in what it consists. But
how can any one be expected to strive after it, unless it be shown
to him ? The majority of men do not do their duty, because they
have never been clearly shown what their duty is.
I sum up the Logic of Life in four inter-dependent things,
easy to remember, essential to practise, and which I endeavour
explicity to insist upon—namely, Freethought Truth, Indepen
dence, Courtesy.
Freethought is self-instruction and self-defence. Truth is
guidance, discipline, and mastery. Independence is self-direction
and security. Courtesy is tenderness and courage, and a perpetual
letter of recommendation, which each may provide for himself,
everybody respect. These are personal qualities that must under
lie all manly character: they are as inseparable from, and as
essential to, excellence, as temperance to health, as exercise to
growth, as air and food to life. These are qualities which ought
to exist in all conditions, and which are possible in the lowest.
The points which I have enumerated comprise a Logic of Life
which can be self-acquired, and is, therefore, as possible to him
who graduates in a workshop—to whom the priceless advantages
of learning are unknown—as to him who graduates in a college.
In the school of experience to which all the world go, every
scholar may be proficient, who has the sagacity to observe and
the patience to think. Of course a man may know with advantage
more than the four things I have enumerated, but he ought not to
know less ; and he will be able to conduct his life with intelligence
and dignity if he knows as much.
Of the connection of these views with the future little need be
said. He who lives a life of truth and service is always fitted to
die. If a religion of reason exists, it is one in which priests, have
no monopoly of interest, and God no sectarian partialities—it is
one in which work is worship, and good intent the .passport to sal
vation.
This is not an argument against Christianism. It is one inde
pendent of it. It dpes not question the pretensions of Christianity,
it advances others. Christianity may even indulge in an exagge
rated estimate of its powers and influences. Nothing is here said
to the contrary. Undoubtedly Christianity is a Logic of Life to
those who accept it. This argument is addressed to those who do
not, Christianity may claim to appeal to noble passions, and to
�1ft
THE LOGIC OF LIFE.
The relation of the whole argument to Christianity.
inspire lofty hopes, but it cannot deny that there are other prin
ciples, other appeals, other guidance independently of it.
An intrepid, two-sided Freethought is hardly the growth of
Christian soil. It is one thing to tolerate inquiry, it is quite a dif
ferent thing to inculcate inquiry as a duty. Secularism regards
the love of truth as native to the heart of man—as an instinct of
human nature—as deeper than Christianity—as the austere power
of character which bends all influences before it: which exists in
dependently, acts independently, and acts for ever. The simple
precept, seek the truth, respect the truth, speak the truth, and live
the truth, is one without which no character can be perfect; and
*
it is one which will make a character for a man though he never
read a line of theology, never listened to a single sermon, never
entered the portals of a church.
Mental independence can scarcely be said to be cultivated by
Christianity. All Evangelical religion is the wail of helplessness.
It teaches that self-reliance, that iron string to which all noble
pagan hearts have vibrated, in all ages of the world, is mere sinful
self-sufficiency. Yet an intelligent sentiment of Independence,
which trusts the right, works for the right, which guards and holds
it, is a lion precept, considerate, equitable, impassable.
It would be well wrere I wrong in maintaining that courtesy is an
independent Secular sentiment. Unfortunately popular Christianity
recognises no sincerity, no good intention in opponents. It keeps
no terms with unbelievers. An outrage upon them it regards as
faithfulness to Christ. It still denies them social recognition and
civil rights.
• >
It is necessary, therefore, to find other ground of inspiration
and guidance, and such Secular Freethought furnishes. There iff
reason to maintain that soon after a man makes the simple pro
fession of Freethought, and understands all that that implies, and
acts up to it, he becomes another person, that his whole character
changes, and his whole mind begins to grew, and never ends till
death.
' The Principle of Freethought, with its consequents of Truth,
of Independence, of Courtesy, is capable of influence for good
where Theology is detrimental or powerless. I do not say, nor
assume (my argument does not require it), that there is no light
or guidance elsewhere; but I do say what is sufficient for the
purpose, and what I maintain is—that there is light and guidance
here ; that the light of Nature is neither dim nor flickering, but
bright and steady: that those who accuse Secularism of being
merely negative; who allege that it pulls down and does not build
up; that its instinct is to destroy, and that it has no capacity for
construction ; that it points out what is wrong and never what is
right; that it finds fault, and never commits itself to the respond
sibility of indicating what should be or might be; accuse Secu
larism without knowledge or accuse it in suite of it.
�
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Victorian Blogging
Description
An account of the resource
A collection of digitised nineteenth-century pamphlets from Conway Hall Library & Archives. This includes the Conway Tracts, Moncure Conway's personal pamphlet library; the Morris Tracts, donated to the library by Miss Morris in 1904; the National Secular Society's pamphlet library and others. The Conway Tracts were bound with additional ephemera, such as lecture programmes and handwritten notes.<br /><br />Please note that these digitised pamphlets have been edited to maximise the accuracy of the OCR, ensuring they are text searchable. If you would like to view un-edited, full-colour versions of any of our pamphlets, please email librarian@conwayhall.org.uk.<br /><br /><span><img src="http://www.heritagefund.org.uk/sites/default/files/media/attachments/TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" width="238" height="91" alt="TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" /></span>
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Conway Hall Library & Archives
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2018
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Conway Hall Ethical Society
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Title
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The logic of life, reduced from the principle of freethought
Creator
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Holyoake, G.J.
Description
An account of the resource
Place of publication: London
Collation: 16 p. ; 18 cm.
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Austin & Co.
Date
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1870
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G4959
N311
N312
Subject
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Free thought
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<a href="http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/"><img src="http://i.creativecommons.org/p/mark/1.0/88x31.png" alt="Public Domain Mark" /></a><span> </span><br /><span>This work (The logic of life, reduced from the principle of freethought), identified by </span><a href="https://conwayhallcollections.omeka.net/items/show/www.conwayhall.org.uk"><span>Humanist Library and Archives</span></a><span>, is free of known copyright restrictions.</span>
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Text
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English
Free Thought
Life
NSS
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Title
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Victorian Blogging
Description
An account of the resource
A collection of digitised nineteenth-century pamphlets from Conway Hall Library & Archives. This includes the Conway Tracts, Moncure Conway's personal pamphlet library; the Morris Tracts, donated to the library by Miss Morris in 1904; the National Secular Society's pamphlet library and others. The Conway Tracts were bound with additional ephemera, such as lecture programmes and handwritten notes.<br /><br />Please note that these digitised pamphlets have been edited to maximise the accuracy of the OCR, ensuring they are text searchable. If you would like to view un-edited, full-colour versions of any of our pamphlets, please email librarian@conwayhall.org.uk.<br /><br /><span><img src="http://www.heritagefund.org.uk/sites/default/files/media/attachments/TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" width="238" height="91" alt="TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" /></span>
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Conway Hall Library & Archives
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2018
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Conway Hall Ethical Society
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Proceedings of the third annual meeting of the Free Religious Association, held in Boston May 26 and 27, 1870
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Free Religious Association
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Place of publication: Boston, Mass.
Collation: 121, [1] p. ; 23 cm.
Notes: From the library of Dr Moncure Conway.
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John Wilson and Son
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1870
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G5173
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Free thought
Religion
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Conway Tracts
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Free Thought
Freedom of Religion
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RELIGIONS
OF
CHINA:
ADDRESS
BEFORE THE
FREE RELIGIOUS ASSOCIATION,
Boston, May 27, 1870.
BY
REV. WILLIAM HENRY CHANNING.
•fòrprintrìf front t&e “ ^tomiiings.”
BOSTON:
PRESS OF JOHN WILSON AND SON.
1870.
��RELIGIONS OF CHINA.
Why was the nation and land, which we from tradition call
“ China,” named by its rulers, scholars, and people The Central
Empire, Chung-Kwoh ? Not merely because they believed their
sacred mountain to be the centre, whence blew the four great winds,
and flowed the four great rivers ; nor chiefly because they considered them
selves as being midmost among the nations. But they took this title of
Central because they claimed that their government, laws and social forms
were the product of the harmonious union of Heaven and Earth, — the
meeting point of all creative powers. Theirs was the Central Empire,
because it was organized from the Central Principle of Universal Order.
And where did they find the test, standard, and arbiter of this Central
and Universal principle ? They found it in the reason and yet more in
the heart of Man, — of each man, of all men. The Central, Universal
Principle of Chinese religion, ethics, laws, is found, in essence, in
Sincerity of Heart. This is a high claim. But here, beside me, are
the books, whence can be proved, at length, how earnestly these claims
have been asserted by the “Men of the Central Empire,” — as they
loftily name themselves, from the earliest ages to the present day.
All real scholars know this fact. And now briefly let me describe the
Religions of “ China,” which are Three in number.
I. The Tao-ists, or the followers of the “Eternal Reason” — the
“Tao,” — as the Way of life, shall here be mentioned first, — not
only because Lao-Tsze, their eminent teacher, born 604 before the Chris
tian era, preceded Confucius by some fifty years ; but because that pro
found sage perpetually refers to the “ skilful philosophers in olden time who
had mystic communication with the Abyss,” — the original principle of
“ Unity,” — to the “ ancient sages, deep, simple, circumspect, still,” who
were the “ associates of Heaven, which was the supreme aim of antiq
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uity.” It is through this wonderfully pure seer, indeed, as it appears
to me, that we ascend to the primitive revelation of truth given to this
ancient people. And how sublime in simplicity it is ! Hear his first
word : “ The reason which can be reasoned is not the Eternal Reason.
The name which can be named is not the Eternal Name.” And again:
“ Something existed before heaven and earth. It stood alone and was
not changed. It pervaded everywhere. It was still. It was void. In its
depth it seems the first Ancestor of all things. It appears to have been
before God. It may be regarded as the Mother of the Universe. I
know not its name, but give it the title of Reason. If I am forced to
make a name for it, I say it is Great. . . . Reason is great; Heaven is
great; Earth is great; a King is great. Man takes his law from the
Earth ; the Earth takes its law from Heaven ; Heaven takes its law from
Reason; Reason takes its law from what it is in itself.” Again:
“ Virtue in its grandest aspect is neither more nor less than following
Reason. Reason is indefinite, yet therein are forms; impalpable, yet
therein are things ; profound and dark, yet therein is essence. This
essence is most true; and from of old until now it has never lost its
name. It passes into all things that have a beginning. How know I
the manner of the beginning of all things ? I know it by this Reason.
. . . Would you go before it, you cannot see its face. Would you go
behind it, you cannot see its back. But to have such an apprehension of
the Reason which was of old as to regulate present things, and to know
their beginning in the past, this I call having the clew of Reason.”
Thus does this simple-hearted sage aspire “to go home to the origin,”
as he says. “ Great Reason is all pervading. It can be on the right
hand, and also at the same time on the left. All things wait upon it for
life, and it refuses none. When its meritorious work is done, it takes
not the name of merit. In love it nourishes all things, and it is ever
free from ambitious desires. It may be named with the smallest. All
things return home to it, but it does not lord it over them. It may be
named with the greatest. . . . Lay hold on the great form of Reason,
and the whole world will go to you. It will go to you and suffer no
injury ; and its rest and peace will be glorious. Reason in passing from
your mouth is tasteless. If you look at it, there is nothing to fill the
eye. If you listen to it, there is nothing to fill the ear. But if you use
it, it is inexhaustible.” — “ The Spirit, like the perennial spring of the
valley, never dies. This Spirit I call the Abyss-Mother.” — “ Going
home to the origin is said to be a reversion to destiny. This reversion
to destiny is called eternity. . . He who knows eternity is magnani
mous. Being magnanimous, he is catholic. Being catholic, he is a
king. Being a king, he is Heaven. Being Heaven, he is Reason.
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Being Reason, he is enduring. Though his body perish, he is in no
danger.”
Here, then, in oneness with Eternal Reason, Lao-Tsze found the Cen
tral Principle of Unity. Do we say that this doctrine is mystical ? But
it is no more mystical than the doctrine of Socrates and Plato, of Aris
totle and Zeno; of the Hebrew Psalms and Prophets; of the Ser
mon on the Mount, the Proem to the Gospel of John, and the Pauline
Epistles ; of the great Mediaeval Saints ; of Kant, Fichte, and Hegel; of
Henry More, Price, and Coleridge. And now let us see the practical
application of his principle ; and first to personal perfection. He says :
“ There is nothing like keeping the inner man. The Sage embraces
Unity, and so is a pattern for all the world. He puts himself last, and
yet is first; abandons himself, and yet is preserved. Is this not through
his having no selfishness ? Thereby he preserves self-interest intact.
He is not self-displaying, and therefore he shines. He is not self-approv
ing, and therefore he is distinguished. He is not self-praising, and there
fore he has merit. He is not self-exalting, and therefore he stands high ;
and inasmuch as he does not strive, no one in all the world strives with
him. That ancient saying, ‘He that humbles himself shjall be preserved
entire,’ — oh, it is no vain utterance ! Verily, he shall be returned home
entire to his origin.” And again : “ By undivided attention to the pas
sion nature and increasing tenderness, it is possible to be a little child.
By putting away impurity from the hidden eye of the heart, it is possible
to be without spot. By loving the people and so governing the nation, it
is possible to be unknown. There is a purity and quietude by which one
may rule the whole world.” Thus by tenderness and purity of heart
would the sage become like a little child. “To keep tenderness I pro
nounce strength,” he says. “Use the light to guide you home to its own
brightness. . . . This I call practising Eternal Reason.”
And thus seeking “ simple goodness like water,” the Sage should
strive in all social relations, to rule, not by force, but by influence. “ He
who knows the masculine nature, and at the same time keeps the feminine,
will be the whole world’s channel, the centre of universal attraction.
Being the whole world’s channel, eternal virtue will not depart from him ;
and he will return again to the state of an infant. He who knows the
light, and at the same time keeps the shade, will be the whole world’s
model. He who knows the glory, and at the same time keeps the
shame, will be the whole world’s valley. Being the whole world’s valley,
eternal virtue will fill him, and he will return home to simplicity.” — “Of
all the weak things in the world nothing exceeds water ; and yet of those
which attack hard and strong things I know not what is superior to it.
Don’t make light of this. The fact that the weak can conquer the
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strong, and the tender the hard, is known to all the world; yet none carry
it out in practice. Therefore the Sage says, ‘ He who bears the re
proach of his country shall be called the lord of the land. He who bears
the calamities of his country shall be called the king of the world.’”
And this spirit of self-sacrificing gentleness, blending masculine
strength with feminine sweetness, should flow abroad in abounding benevo
lence. “The Sage is ever the good saviour of men. He rejects none.
He is ever the good saviour of things. He rejects nothing. His I call
comprehensive intelligence. For the good men are the instructors of
other good men ; and the bad men are the material of the good men for
them to work upon.” — “ The Sage has no invariable mind of his own,
he makes the mind of the people his mind. The good I would meet
with goodness. The not-good I would meet with goodness also. Virtue
is good. The faithful I would meet with faith. The not-faithful I
would meet with faith also. Virtue is faithful. The Sage lives in the
world with a timid reserve ; but his mind blends in sympathy with all.
The people all turn their ears and eyes up to him; and the Sage thinks
of them all as his children.”
But thus living personally, and acting socially, according to the law of
Universal Reason, the “ Mother of the Universe,” the Sage would apply
the same principle to government. “ In governing men and in serving
Heaven there is nothing like moderation. This moderation is the first
thing to be obtained. When this is first attained, one may be said to
have laid in an abundant store of virtue. Such a one has the mother
of the kingdom and may endure long. This I call having the roots
deep and the fibres firm. This is the Reason by which one may live
long and see many "days.” — “ For what did the ancients so much prize
this Reason ? Was it not because it was found at once without search
ing ; and by it those who had sinned might escape ? Therefore it is the
most estimable thing in the world.” — “Recompense injury with kind
ness.”— “Begin to regulate before the disorder comes.” — “Reason, as
it is eternal, has no name. But though insignificant in its primordial
simplicity, the world dares not make a servant of it. If a prince or
king could keep this, every thing would spontaneously submit to him;
and the people without orders, would of themselves harmonize together.
. . . Would that I were possessed of sufficient knowledge to walk in the
great Way of Reason. The great Way is exceedingly plain, but the
people like the cross-paths. . . . The Sage, when he wishes to be above
the people so as to rule them, must keep below them. When he wishes
to be before the people, he must in person keep behind them. In this
way, while in position over the people, they do not feel his weight.
Therefore the world delights to exalt him, and no one is offended.” —
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“ The Reason of Heaven does not strive, yet conquers well; does not
call, yet things come of their own accord ; is slack, yet plans well. The
net of heaven is very wide in its meshes, yet misses nothing.” — “ When
the people do not fear death, to what purpose is the punishment of death
still used to overawe them ? There is always the Great Executioner.
Now, for any man to act the Executioner’s part, I say it is hewing out
the Great Architect’s work for him. And he who undertakes to hew
for the Great Architect rarely fails to cut his own hands.” — “I have
three precious things, which I hold fast and prize, — Compassion, Econo
my, Humility. Being compassionate, I can therefore be brave; Being
economical, I can therefore be liberal. Not daring to take precedence
of the world, I can therefore become chief among the perfect ones. But
in the present day men give up compassion, and cultivate only courage.
They give up economy, and aim only at liberality, They give up the last
place, and seek only the first. It is their death, Compassion is that
which is victorious in attack and secure in defence. When Heaven would
save a man it encircles him with compassion.”
And finally, although living in the midst of war and civil disturbance,
this great teacher of the Way of Reason was as earnest an apostle of
peace as any Christian Father, or modern Friend, or latest advocate of
Woman’s influence. Hear how broadly and magnanimously he preaches
the gospel of mercy and good-will. “ He who in the use of Reason renders
assistance to a human ruler does not use weapons to force the people.
His actions are such as he would wish rendered to himself again.
Where legions are quartered, briers and thorns grow. In the track of
great armies must follow bad years. The good soldier is brave only to
effect some good purpose. He ventures nothing for the sake of power.
He is brave in need, but never a bully. He is brave in need, but never
overbearing. He is brave in need, for he cannot be less, but not violent.”
And again : “ Ornamental weapons are not instruments of joy, but ob
jects of hatred to every creature. Therefore he who has Reason will
not stay where they are. The Superior Man in his home makes the
left hand — the weak side — the place of honor. But he who goes
forth to use weapons of war honors the right— the strong hand. Wea
pons are instruments of evil omen. They are not the tools of a Superior
Man. He uses them only when he cannot help it. Peace is his highest
aim. When he conquers he is not elated. To be elated is to rejoice at
the destruction of human life; and he who rejoices at the destruction of
human life is not fit to be intrusted with power in the world. He who
has been instrumental in killing many people should move on over them
with bitter tears. Therefore those who have been victorious in battle
are disposed after the order of a funeral.” And not only does the Sage
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thus hate war and love peace, but he teaches, with a profound and pene
trating wisdom never surpassed, that Pacific Policy is omnipotent. Hear
him. “ When a great kingdom takes a lowly position, it becomes the
place of concourse for the world: it is the wife of the world. The
wife by quietness invariably conquers the man ; and since quietness is
also lowliness, therefore a great kingdom, by lowliness toward a small
kingdom, may take that small kingdom ; and a small kingdom, by lowli
ness towards a great kingdom, may take that great kingdom. So that
either the one stoops to conquer, or the other is low and conquers. If
the great kingdom only desires to attach to itself and nourish — that is,
benefit — others, then the small kingdom will only wish to enter its ser
vice. But in order that both may have their wish, the great one should
be lowly.” — “ Those who of old were good practisers of Reason used
it not to make the people bright, but to make them simple. What makes
the people hard to govern is their having too much policy. He who en
courages this kind of policy in the government of a kingdom is the rob
ber of that kingdom; but he who governs a kingdom without it is a
blessing to that kingdom. To know these two things is the very ideal
of government; and a constant knowledge of this ideal I call sublime
virtue. Sublime virtue is profound, immense, and the reverse of every
thing else. It will bring about a state of Universal Freedom.”
The last words of Lao-Tsze in his truly sublime book of the “ TaoTeh-King,” or the “Book of Reason and Virtue,” “The Way of Truth
and Life,” are these : “ Faithful words are not fine. Fine words are not
faithful. The good do not debate. The debater is not good. The
knowing are not learned. The learned are not knowing.
“ The Sage does not lay up treasures. The more he does for others,
the more he has of his own. The more he gives to others, the more he
is increased. This is the Way of the Sage, who acts, but does not strive.
This is the Way of Heaven, which benefits, but does not injure.”
Such, in outline, is the Religion of Tao-ism as set forth by its chief
apostle. With the mere statement that under several dynasties this faith
has swayed for a season the Imperial Court; and regretting that time
will permit no reference to its later forms, as presented in the “ Book of
Recompenses and Penalties,” we will pass to the Second Religion, which
throughout the course of the Central Empire has been most widely prev
alent. This is the doctrine of the Scholar-Class, who among us are
popularly known as, —
II. The Confucians. This form of religion has been so amply ex
hibited by the Jesuit and Dominican Fathers, by Leibnitz and Du Halde,
and their German and French compeers, — and by many English writers,
from Collie and Morrison to the most trustworthy translator of all, Dr.
#
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James Legge, — that intelligent persons must be supposed to be more or
less acquainted with it. Leaving aside, therefore, what is familiar, let
me guide your thoughts to the central doctrine of the grand sage and
saint, K‘ung-Foo-Tsze, or Confucius, as the Jesuits first taught us to
call him.
This great philosopher and statesman is too often spoken of as a mere
expounder of ethical precepts and conventional proprieties; and would
that by a sketch of his life and his ideal aim, the injustice of this super
ficial estimate might be proved ! Yet even such brief extracts as time
will allow me to present, may serve to show, that although this admi
rable philanthropist was a teacher of morals, he was pre-eminently a
Religious and Social Reformer. His initial word is Reverence. And
Reverence for the Supreme Sovereign of Heaven is the corner and cap
stone of his temple of society, — underlying and crowning all modes of
Reverence.
K‘ung-FooJTsze never presented the form of religion that he incul
cated as his own, but always as an inheritance from the Ancestors of
the Empire, and especially from the poets, sages, and rulers of the
famous Chow dynasty, who lived fit>e hundred years before his time.
His first work was to republish the books of this Golden Age, — so
pure, high, large, so fitted to renovate all ages, appeared to him to be
the spirit, laws, and manners of that heroic generation. Let us listen to
a few passages from these books, that we may judge whether he revered
them too earnestly.
The most ancient of these books, to the study and explanation of
which K‘ung-Foo-Tsze devoted years of profound study, is the Yih-King,
or Book of Principles and Changes. But as the philosophy embodied in
this volume is too mystical for popular treatment, consisting, as it does,
of a system of analogies between the Natural and Spiritual worlds,
it will be better on this occasion to pass at once to the second of these
Sacred Books, the Shoo-King, or Book of History. Its tone may
be learned from two or three sentences, as follows : “ The Royal path is
right and straight, without perversity, without one-sidedness. Seeing
this Perfect Excellence, turn to it. This amplification of the Royal Per
fection contains the unchanging rule, and is the great lesson. Yea, it is
the lesson of Shang-Te ; ” that is, literally, of the “ Supreme Sovereign,”
or God. And it is well to pause here a moment to say, that throughout
the Shoo-King this Ruler over all, Shang-Te, — or the equivalent, Tien,
Heaven, — is everywhere declared to be the Supreme Being, whose justice,
mercy, and righteous providence direct the universe and govern human
ity, humbling the proud, exalting the lowly, comforting the sad, avenging
wrongs, loving and caring for people and rulers alike. The passage goes
2
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on : “ The multitudes instructed in this amplification of Perfect Excel
lence, and carrying it into practice, will approximate to the glory of the
Son of Heaven, and will say, ‘ The Son of Heaven is the parent of the
people, and so becomes the sovereign of the empire.’ ” Again : “ Your
management of the people will depend upon your reverently following
your father. Carry out his virtuous words, and clothe yourself with
them. . . . And seeking what is to be learned from the'wise kings of antiq
uity, employ it in the tranquillizing and protecting of the people.
Finally, enlarge your thoughts to the comprehension of all heavenly
principles, and virtue will be richly displayed in your person. . . . Heaven
in its awfulness yet helps the sincere. ... It is yours, O little one ! it is
your business to enlarge the regal influence, and harmoniously to protect
this people. Thus shall you assist the king, consolidating the appointment
of Heaven and renovating this people.” — “ Oh ! early and late, never be
but earnest. If you do not attend jealously to your small actions, the
result will be to affect your virtue in great matters, as when in raising a
mound the work is unfinished for want of one basket of earth. If you
follow this course, the people will preserve their possessions, and the
throne will descend from generation to generation.” Again: “The
king speaks .to this effect, ‘ Head of the princes, my younger brother,
my little one, it was your greatly distinguished father who was
able to illustrate his virtue and to be careful in the use of pun
ishments. He did not dare to show any contempt to the widower and
widows. He revered the reverend; he employed the employable ; he
was terrible to those who needed to be awed. It was thus he laid the
first beginnings of the sway of our small portion of the empire, and one
or two neighboring states were brought undei’ his improving influence;
until throughout our western regions all placed in him their reliance.
The fame of him ascended up to the High God, and God approved.
Heaven gave to him the great charge to exterminate the dynasty of Yin ”
(the ruling Emperor of which was a most atrociously cruel tyrant), “ and
to receive its great appointments, so that the various states and their
people were brought to the condition of order.’ ” After listening to such
extracts, how can any one deny that the fundamental principle of this
book is Religion ?
Yet more does this religious spirit of the early Central Empire appear
in the She-King, or Book of Hymns and Poems, some passages of which
astonish us by their close resemblance to the pure piety of the Hebrew
Psalms. Thus a young King prays: “ I know that one must watch
incessantly over himself, that Heaven has an intelligence which
nothing escapes, and that its decrees are without appeal. Let no one
say, then, c Heaven is so high and so far above us that it scarcely thinks
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of things below.’ I know that it regards all things ; that it enters into
all; that it is present incessantly to all. But, alas ! I ana so young, so
little enlightened, so inattentive to my duties I Nevertheless, with all
my energies I strive to lose no time, desiring with ardor this only, that I
may attain to perfection.” Again : “ He who alone is King and Supreme
Lord humbles his majesty even to take care of things here below.
Always attentive to the true happiness of the world, He extends his
regards over all the face of the earth. He sees people who have aban
doned his laws ; but the All-High does not abandon them. He watches
over them. He examines them. Everywhere He seeks for a man after
his own heart, and wills to extend his rule.” Again : “ The Supreme Sov
ereign regards the Sacred mountain. It is the home of peace. It is an
eternal kingdom, where are seen no trees whose leaves fade and fall. It
is the work of the Most High. There has he placed the youngest in room
of the eldest; for it is only Wan whose heart knows how to love his
brethren. He causes all their happiness, all their glory. The Lord has
heaped upon him all blessings, and given him the world for a recompense.
The Supreme Sovereign penetrates the heart of Wan, and there he finds a
secret and inexplicable virtue, whose sweetness diffuses itself abroad.
It is a marvellous combination of precious gifts, — intelligence to rule
all ; wisdom to enlighten all; counsel to govern all; reverence and gen
tleness to make itself beloved ; energy and majesty to make itself feared ;
a grace and charm which win all hearts; virtues always the same and
incapable of change. It is an inheritance which he has received from
the All-High ; a blessing which he has transmitted to posterity.” Once
more : il The Supreme Sovereign has said to Wan, ‘ When the heart is
not right, its desires are unregulated, and one is not fit to save the world.
But you are incapable of such defects. ... I love a virtue pure and
simple like yours ; it makes no noise ; it is without display ; it is never
extravagant; it is free from violence. It might be said that your sole
genius and wisdom are to obey my commandments.’” And finally:
a Heaven penetrates to the depth of all hearts, as daybreak illumines
tiie darkest room. We should strive to reflect its light, as two instru
ments in full accord respond to one another. We should unite ourselves
closely to it, as two tablets which seem to make but one. We should
receive what it gives in the very instant when it opens its hands to be
stow. Nothing is easier for Heaven than to enlighten us. But our
own unregulated passions close the entrance of our souls against its
influence.” Similar extracts might be multiplied without end; but
gurely these will suffice to prove the ignorance or unfairness of all
who scoff at the religion of the ancient Chinese. These sacred hymns
of the She-King breathe a devout Theism, — gratefully conscious of
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dependence on the All-Good; reverent in awe of the Holy Witness,
Judge, and King; earnestly aspiring after communion in life, thought,
deed, with the All-True.
Thus much for the Sacred Books, to the editing and expounding of
which K‘ung-Foo-Tsze consecrated the best years of his life. And
leaving aside the other Sacred Books, and the first and second of the
so-called Classics, “ The Discourses and Dialogues,” and “ The Great
Learning,” let us give a few moments to the third of these, for which
the world is indebted to the grandson of the Sage. This book deserves
patient study; for in it is embodied, as the best Chinese scholars de
clare, the very genius and spirit, not only of K‘ung-Foo-Tsze, but also of
their nation. Its name is “ Chung-Yung,” which literally means “ The
Central Immutable,” or “ Correct Fixed Principle.” The Catholic
Fathers called it “ Medium constans vel sempiternum.” Abel Kemusat
has named it “ L’invariable Milieu.” Morrison interprets it “ The
Constant Medium;” and Collie, “The Golden Medium;” while Dr.
Legge translates the title “ The Doctrine of the Mean.” But such
renderings do but partial justice to the profound and comprehensive
thought that inspires this book, which is this, “ How from a Central
Principle to evolve Universal Harmony, by a Method of Distribu
tive Order.” The first chapter, indeed, strikes the key-note of the
whole system, in a few all-significant sentences, thus : “ 1. What Heaven
has conferred is called the Nature ; an accordance with this nature is
called The Path of Duty ; the regulation of this path is called Instruc
tion. 2. The path may not be left an instant. If it could be left, it
would not be the path. On this account, the Superior Man does not
wait till he sees things, to be cautious ; nor till he hears things, to be
apprehensive. 3. There is nothing more visible than what is secret,
and nothing more manifest than what is minute. Therefore the Superior
Man is watchful over himself while he is alone. 4. While there are no
stirrings of pleasure, anger, sorrow, or joy, the mind may be said to be
in the state of Equilibrium. When the feelings have been stirred, and
they act in their due degree, there ensues what may be called the state
of Harmony. This Equilibrium is the great root, from which grow all
human actings in the world; and this Harmony is the universal path, which
they all should pursue. 5. Let the states of Equilibrium and Harmony
exist in perfection, and a happy order will prevail throughout heaven and
earth.” Thus, Equilibrium is the root, Growth is the trunk, Harmony
is the tree full grown. In these words — Equilibrium of Nature, the
Way of Order, and Harmony in Act — is given the Central Universal
method of K‘ung-Foo-Tsze, and of his compeers. “The Master said:
Perfect is the virtue which is according to the constant, invariable prin
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ciple. Rare have they long been among the people, who could practise
it. . . . Alas ! how is the Path untrodden,” referring, for illustration, to
the ancient sages. And again : “ When one cultivates to the utmost the
Principles of his Nature, and exercises them on the method of Recipro
city, he is not far from the Path. What you do not like when done to
yourself, do not do to others.” Once more: “ Earnest in practising
the ordinary virtues, and careful in speaking about them, the Superior
Man dares not but exert himself, if in his practice there is any thing
defective ; and if in his words he has any excess, he dares not allow
himself such license. Thus his words have respect to his actions, and
his actions have respect to his words. Is it not just an entire Sincerity,
which marks the Superior Man ? ”
Here we reach (as was said in the outset) the very centre of the
Central Principle, in Sincerity. Sincerity means “ Fidelity to the
Heaven-given Nature.” “ Sincerity is the way of Heaven. The attain
ment of sincerity is the way of men. He who possesses sincerity is he
who without an effort hits what is right, and apprehends without an
exercise of thought; he is the Sage, who naturally and easily embodies
the right way. He who attains to sincerity is he who chooses what is
good, and firmly holds it fast. To this attainment there are requisite
the extensive study of what is good, accurate inquiry about it, careful
reflection on it, the clear discrimination of it, and the earnest practice
of it. . . . When we have intelligence resulting from sincerity, this
condition is to be ascribed to nature. When we have sincerity resulting
from intelligence, this condition is to be ascribed to instruction. But
given the sincerity, and there shall be intelligence ; given the intelli
gence, and there shall be sincerity.” “ Sincerity is the end and the
beginning; without sincerity, there would be nothing. On this account,
the Superior Man regards the attainment of sincerity as the most excel
lent thing.”
And now having once attained — either by Nature, the way of Heaven,
or by Instruction, the way of Man — to Sincerity, from this centre we
may grow to the perfect life. “ Sincerity is that whereby self-com
pletion is effected, and its way is that whereby man must direct himself.
. . . It is only he who is possessed of the most complete sincerity that
can exist under heaven, who can give its full development to his nature.
Able to give its full development to his own nature, he can do the same
to the nature of other men. Able to give its full development to the
nature of other men, he can give their full development to the natures
of animals and things. Able to give their full development to the
natures of creatures and things, he can assist the transforming and
nourishing powers of Heaven and Earth. Able to assist the transform
�ing and nourishing powers of Heaven and Earth, he may become with
Heaven and Earth a Third.” Thus the perfectly Sincere Man grows to
be the Saint, and becomes endowed with transforming powers. “ It is
only he who is possessed of the most complete sincerity that can exist
under heaven, who can transform.” — “It is characteristic of the most
entire sincerity to be able to foreknow. . . . Therefore the individual
possessed of the most complete sincerity is like a Spirit.” — “ To entire
sincerity there belongs ceaselessness. Not ceasing, it continues long.
Continuing long, it evidences itself. Evidencing itself, it reaches far.
Reaching far, it becomes large and substantial. Large and substantial,
it becomes high and brilliant. Thus it contains, overspreads, perfects
all things. So large and substantial, the man possessing sincerity is
the co-equal of Earth. So high and brilliant, it makes him the co
equal of Heaven. So far-reaching and long-continuing, it makes him
Infinite. . . . The Way of Heaven and Earth may be completely de
clared in one sentence. They are without any Doubleness ; and so they
produce things in a manner that is unfathomable. It is said in the
She-King: ‘ The ordinances of Heaven, how profound are they and
unceasing ! ’ The meaning is, that it is thus that Heaven is Heaven.
And again it says : ‘ How illustrious was the Singleness of the virtue of
King Wan ! ’ indicating that it was thus that King Wan was what he
was. Singleness is likewise unceasing.” Thus Singleness — utter
freedom from Duplicity — is the essential life of the true Sage, or
Saint. “ It is only he possessed of all sagely qualities that can exist
under heaven, who shows himself quick in apprehension, clear in dis
cernment, of far-reaching intelligence and all-embracing knowledge, —
fitted to exercise rule ; magnanimous, generous, benign, and mild, —
fitted to exercise forbearance; impulsive, energetic, firm, and enduring,
— fitted to maintain a firm hold; self-adjusted, grave, never swerving
from the central invariable principle, — fitted to command reverence;
accomplished, distinctive, concentrative, and searching, — fitted to exer
cise discrimination. All-embracing and vast, he is like Heaven. Deep
and active as a fountain, he is like the Abyss. He is seen, and the
people all reverence him; he speaks, and the people all believe him ;
he acts, and the people are all pleased with him. . . . All who have
blood and breath unfeignedly honor and love him. Hence it is said:
‘ He is the equal of Heaven.’ . . . Call him Man in his Ideal, how
earnest is he ! Call him an Abyss, how deep is he ! Call him Heaven,
how vast is he ! ” — “ It is said in the She-King : £ Looked at in your
apartment, be there free from shame, where you are exposed to the
light of Heaven.’ Therefore the Superior Man, even when he is not
moving, has the feeling of Reverence; and while he speaks not, he has
�15
the feeling of Truthfulness. It is said in the She-King : ‘ In silence is
the offering presented and the Spirit approached to; there is not the
slightest contention.’ Therefore the Superior Man does not use rewards,
and the people are stimulated to virtue. He does not show anger, and
the people are awed more than by battle-axes. It is said in the SheKing : £ What needs no display is Virtue. All the princes imitate it.’
Therefore the Superior Man being sincere and reverential, the whole
world is conducted to a state of happy tranquillity.”
Such is the ideal of the Sage, developed from the centre of Singleness
or Sincerity, up to the- degree of the Saint. And in this beautiful
image K‘ung-Foo-Tsze was represented, as in life he had appeared to
his revering grandson. Is not, then, the assertion verified, that in char
acter and influence he was a Religious and Social Reformer ? Indeed,
was he not in himself the embodiment of Religion ?
That this conception of the Sage-Saint as the “ Ideal of Man ” was
not confined to K‘ung-Foo-Tsze and his immediate circle of disciples,
might be proved from the writings of his grand successor and expounder,
a century and a half later,—Mang-Tsze, or Mencius, whose sublime
doctrine of the essential goodness of human nature has never been sur
passed in any age or nation. But time will not allow even a passing
quotation. Let us close, then, this view of the Second Religion of the
Central Empire, by some final exhibitions of the Saint, as drawn from
later writings of this School. K‘ung-Foo-Tsze is reported as having
distributed men into Five Orders, briefly as follows : “1. The first and
most numerous order is made up of those who do to-day what they did
yesterday, for no other reason than because it has been done before ;
who never act spontaneously, but allow themselves to be passively led ;
who are incapable of embracing large views of human affairs ; and
whose understanding is governed by the organs of sense. They are
commonly called the People. 2. The second order includes those who
have been sufficiently trained in science, letters, and the liberal arts as to
propose to themselves ends and the means to attain them ; who, without
.having penetrated to the depth of things, can yet give a reason for what
they say or do, and can thus teach others. They may be called the
Lettered Class. 3. The third order consists of those who never depart
from the rules of right reason, and do good for its own sake; who
plunge into no excess, and are the same in prosperity and adversity;
who regard all mankind as equals, in having the seeds of the same
vices and virtues, not esteeming themselves above others ; who, not con
tent with ordinary science, pursue knowledge to its remote sources, so
as to obtain it in purity. They may be honored with the name of
Philosophers. 4. The fourth order consists of those who, under all
�16
circumstances, regard with reverence the central immutable principle,
and have fixed rules of moral action which they on no account trans
gress ; who fulfil their least obligations to the minutest detail with
scrupulous exactness and untiring perseverance; whose every deed is
intrinsically good and fitted for example ; who despise toil and anxiety,
when the object is to recall men to duty and to enlighten the ignorant;
who serve all without distinction of rank or fortune, and without regard
to interest, not even exacting the sentiment of gratitude. These are
the Sincere or Virtuous. 5. The fifth order, the highest to which
human merit can attain, is composed of the Superior Men, who combine
the rarest qualities of heart and mind with the habit of pleasurably
discharging all duties which nature or morality can impose upon a rea
sonable and social being; who do good to all, like the Heaven and
Earth, never intermitting their beneficence ; who are as imperturbable
in their mortal career as the sun and moon in their courses ; who see
without being seen, and act as it were insensibly, like spirits. The
very few who attain to this degree may be called the Perfect Men or
Saints.” This tradition certainly attests the perpetuity of the ideal of
the Saint. Again, in this School it is taught that “ the name of Saint
designates one who knows all, sees all, comprehends all. His thoughts
are all true, his acts all holy. All his words are lessons in wisdom ;
all his deeds are rules for conduct. He unites in himself the Three
Orders of Being. He possesses all good. He is altogether heavenly.”
Once more : “ The Saint is at once so elevated and so profound, that he
is incomprehensible. His wisdom is boundless. The future is unveiled
to his sight. His love embraces the Universe, and quickens all- around
him like the breath of spring. His words are inspiring and life-giving.
He is one with Heaven.” — “ The heart of Heaven is in the bosom of
the Saint, and its truth on his lips. The world .can know Heaven only
through the Saint.” — “ Heaven is invisible ; the Saint is Heaven be
come visible.” The Saint is named “ the Divine Man,” “ the Celestial
Man,” “ the Unique Man,” “ the most beautiful of men,” “ tHfe marvel
lous man,” &c. Finally, it is said : “ The Saints and Sages are called
the Sons of Heaven.” — “ The Saint has no father : he is conceived by
the operation of Heaven itself.”
Now critics may cavil at these sublime conceptions of the SageSaint— as the Third with Heaven and Earth, as able to transform
all things by the power of a good life, as inspired with heavenly wis
dom, as the image and incarnate form of Heaven, as the Heavenly
Man, as the Son of Heaven — for their mystic enthusiasm ; but cer
tainly no candid person will deny, that in these conceptions the disciples
of K‘ung-Foo-Tsze have exalted Ethics to the degree of Religion, and
�17
of a singularly pure and spiritual Religion. And before Christians per
mit themselves to condemn this Ideal as extravagant, it may be well to
compare it reverently and deliberately with the Saints of all communions
in the Christian Church, whether Apostolical, Catholic, or Reformed.
And now let us pass to a very rapid sketch of the Third Religion,
which has at various eras moulded the minds of Emperors, Ministers,
and People, and which still is received by multitudes in several states
of the Central Empire. This Religion is usually called,
III. Fo-ism, the “ Chinese ” rendering of Buddhism. And referring
all who wish to pursue the subject to the masterly works of Abel
Remusat, Klaproth, Stanislas Julien, &c., let me use the few moments
at command for an illustration of Fo-ism, by selecting from the rich
literature of this school one most remarkable book of worship. It
is called by its translator, the Rev. Samuel Beal, “The Confessional
Service of the Great, Compassionate Kwan-Yin.” This name has been
variously translated by Remusat, Klaproth, Julien, Sir John Davis,
and Chinese Scholars, as meaning “ the Being who contemplates with
love,” “the manifested Self-Existent One,” “the manifested Voice,”
“ She who hears the cries of men,” “ the Goddess of Mercy,” &c. But,
in view of a name frequently used in this Liturgy, and the spirit and
end of this form of worship, it might well be called “ The Confessional
Service of the Great, Compassionate Heart.” For its aim is an act of
consecration to the service of a beneficent and compassionate Being,
who is constantly manifested to all creatures throughout the universe
for their deliverance from the consequences of sin and error. Of this
Being, it is said: “ By her compassionate heart, she has pledged herself
by a great oath to enter into every one of the innumerable worlds, and
bring deliverance to all creatures which inhabit them. For this purpose
she has enunciated Divine Sentences, which, if properly recited, will
render all creatures exempt from the causes of sorrow ; and, by remov
ing these, will make them capable of attaining to Supreme Wisdom.”
After preliminary services, the worshippers offer this prayer of invoca
tion : “ Oh would that our teacher Sakya-Mouni, and our merciful
Father Amitabha, and the other Buddhas of all regions, — not passing
beyond their own limits of perfect Rest and Love, — would descend to
this sacred precinct, and be present with us, who now discharge these
religious duties ! Would that the great, perfect, illimitable, compas
sionate Heart, influenced by these invocations, would now attend ! ”
Next follow various prayers and chants, in order that “ the wor
shippers may be filled with holy joy and reverence, without confusion of
heart.” And then comes the central act of communion, which consists
of Vows and Confessions. It is thus opened: “Whatever worshipper
'
3
�18
desires to recite the Sentences of this Service, in order to excite in the
midst of all sentient creatures the operation of the Compassionate^
Merciful Heart, ought first to go through the following vows. . . .
Kwan-Yin, addressing Buddha, said: 4 World-honored one! whilst
the recitation of these Divine Sentences is ineffectual to deliver creatures
from the evil ways of birth, I vow never to arrive at the condition of
Buddha. So long as those who recite these Divine Sentences are not
born in the various lands of all the Buddhas, I vow never to arrive at
that condition myself. So long as those who recite these Divine Sen
tences are unable to attain to every degree of spiritual perception, I
vow never to arrive at the condition of Buddha. So long as those who
recite these Divine Sentences do not receive full answers to their
prayers, I vow to remain as I am.’ Then, in the midst of all the con
gregation, with closed palms, standing perfectly upright, her eyebrows
raised, a smile on her lips, exciting in all creatures the Great, Com
passionate Heart, Kwan-Yin began to deliver these comprehensive,
effectual, complete, Great-Compassionate-Heart, divine Sentences. . . .
Such then is the Vow : Never will I seek, nor receive, private, individual
salvation, — never enter into final peace alone ; but for ever and
everywhere will I live and strive for the universal redemption of every
creature, throughout all worlds. Until all are delivered, never will I
leave the world of sin, sorrow, and struggle, but will remain where I
am.” — In what church, of what age or nation, was ever offered a purer,
larger, gentler vow of utter consecration to Infinite Mercy ?
And next follows the Confession. The Liturgy continues thus : “The
worshippers, having finished the sentences, ought to consider that all the
obstacles which prevent spiritual progress spring from sins committed in
our condition as sentient creatures ; that from the first, till now, the sins
of all created beings have, been constantly going on, and that now the
web of guilt has become intricate and complicated. Every age has en
tertained its own peculiar crimes, which, descending from parent to child,
have caused the sorrows of our present state. Without repentance there
can be no remission. Our sins, therefore, ought to be well considered
and weighed, that so they may be forgiven and destroyed. Bowing low,
therefore, say thus : 4 We, and all men from the very first, by reason of
the grievous sins we have coinmitted in thought, word, and deed, have
lived in ignorance ... of every way of escape from the consequences of
our conduct. We have followed only the courses of this evil world ; nor
have we known aught of Supreme Wisdom. And even now, though
enlightened as to our duty, yet with others do we still commit heavy
sins, which prevent us from advancing in true knowledge. Therefore, in
the presence of Kwan-Yin and the Buddhas of the Ten Regions, we would
�humble ourselves and repent us of our sins. Oh that we may have
Strength to do so aright! and that may cause all obstacles to be removed.’ ”
Here with a loud voice add : “For the sake of all sentient creatures, in
whatever capacity they may be, — would that all obstacles might be re
moved 1 — we confess our sins and repent.” After a complete prostration,
the worshippers then continue: “We and all men from the first, from
too great love of outward things, and from inward affections towards
men, leading to sinful friendships, — having no wish to benefit others, or
to do. good in the least degree, — have only strengthened the power of the
three sources of sin, and added sin to sin; and even though our actual
©rimes have not been so great, yet a wicked heart has ruled us within.
. . . Now, therefore, believing from the bottom of our heart in the cer
tain result of sin, and filled with fear, shame, and great heart-chiding,
would we thus publicly repent us of our sins; . . . we would separate
ourselves from evil and pursue good; we would diligently recount all
our past offences and earnestly follow the path of virtue. . . . Hitherto
we have only gone astray ; but now we return. Oh would that the
Merciful would receive our vows of amendment! ” And then each one
giving the personal name, together the worshippers prostrate themselves
and say, “ With all our hearts do we repent; and here do we prostrate
ourselves before the Sacred Presence, and all the countless beings of the
infinite universe.” Then follow particular confessions.
But the service does not close here. Having thus by Vows and Con
fessions recognized the unity of the human race, and indeed of the whole
universe, spiritual and natural, in sin and sorrow, struggle and salvation,
and having thus consecrated themselves, individually and collectively,
to the service of the Great, Compassionate Heart, the worshippers then
unite in this act of Intercession. “ Having myself returned to my duty
to Buddha, I ought to pray for all men, that they may attain to perfec
tion of wisdom. Having myself returned to my duty to the Law, I ought
to pray that all men may be deeply versed in the wisdom of the Sacred
Books, and acquire perfect knowledge. Having myself returned to my
duty to the Assembly, would that all men may agree in the great prin
ciples of Reason, and maintain peace and worship in the Holy Assem
bly ! ” Thus from beginning to end this service is one of self-sacrificing
consecration to Infinite Mercy. And here must close, for this time, the
illustration of Fo-ism.
And now, after such an exposition of the Three Great Religions of
the Central Empire, it may well be asked, How has it come to pass that
a Nation inspired and illumined with such sublime ideals has been seem
ingly so false to its trusts and has fallen so short of its destiny ? The
answer to this question must be given in the briefest terms, although it
�20
would be instructive to tell the tragic story at length. To us citizens of
this Republic, just redeemed by an awful struggle from the death-in-life
of disunion, the terrible significance of the fact will come home, — that
from the earliest ages, China has been, century after century, the prey of
Civil Wars. The age of Lao-Tsze and K‘ung-Foo-Tsze and their com
peers was followed by that of an execrable usurper, who crushed the
nation down under a centralized despotism, from the transmitted forms
of which it never has been able to shake itself free. What would have
become of our Ideals, if the imperial Slave Oligarchy had triumphed in
our late war ? Again, we are strangely ignorant or forgetful of the fact
that China is a conquered nation. Twice has the Empire been swept
and subdued : first, by that resistless race, which all but overran Europe,
the Mongol-Tartars ; next, by that almost equally indomitable race, the
Mantchou-Tartars ; and twice has the immortal principle in the Religion
and Ethics of China manifested itself by spiritually conquering the con
querors. For first Kublai-Khan, the great emperor of the Mongols, and
afterward the still greater Kang-Hi, the establisher of the existing Mantchou Dynasty, reverently accepted the ancient Creeds, Customs, Laws,
and Books transmitted by the School of K‘ung-Foo.-Tsze. But notwith
standing the efforts of these two grand sovereigns to make the best
atonement in their power for the wrongs wrought by foreign invasion,
the free spirit of the people and their spontaneous genius were stifled by
oppressive formalism, of which their shorn heads and long queues are but
the outward type. The chief cause, however, of the apparent immo
bility of the Chinese Nation for many centuries, — and the one which it is
important for us and for all Christendom to study, — is the influence of
scientific scepticism over that very Scholar-Class which should have
kept clean and full the fountains of Religious Life. It is impossible
now to do more than barely to state the fact, that since the time of the
Sung Dynasty, — when the learned Choo-He, a greater Positivist than
Auguste Comte, indeed almost an Aristotle, first promulgated his vast
system of Universal Science, — speculative Atheism has choked and dried
up the streams of thought in the Central Empire. Choo-He himself,
indeed, was not an Atheist, but on the contrary asserted that Heaven had
a mind to perceive and a heart to sympathize with the efforts and strug
gles, the joys and woes, of humanity. But although the Sage admitted,
as he once said, that there was a “ Man up above,” yet he, on the whole,
discouraged the culture of devotional feelings and usages. And it cannot
be denied that the tendency of his system has been to substitute Phi
losophy for Religion. Among the Literati, for centuries, the glowingworship of “ Shang-Te” or the “ Supreme Sovereign,” and of “ Tien”
or “ Heaven,” has too often been eclipsed by the cold shadow of “ Tai-
/
rI
..
�21
Ke,” “ The Summit,” — the principle of Unity, — with its two manifes
tations, the Active element, “ Yang,” and the Passive element, “ Yin.”
In ethics, “ Le,” or Law, — an all-pervading Order, — has usurped the
■ throne of personal character and sovereign will. And as a natural con
sequence, external regularity and conventional propriety have been incul
cated, rather than the spontaneous and intuitive goodness that aspires
upwards to saintly perfection. While such has been the influence of sci
entific scepticism among the Scholar-Class, by a law of reaction, that,
under various modes, has operated in all ages and nations, the People,
meantime, have been impelled towards idolatrous ritualism, — exhibited
in the adoration of the Natural Elements ; in the worship of Ancestors
and Great Men; in necromancy, demonology, and communion with
k Spirits; in magic, incantations, and countless superstitious practices,
such as in all times and lands have invariably accompanied the decline
of spiritual religion. These frivolous and degrading rites may be found
described in many modern books, such as Williams’s “ Middle Kingdom,”
and the works of l’Abbe Hue, Davis, Meadows, Doolittle, &c. But it
would be about as fair to judge of the Christian Religion, by Catholics of
Naples crowding to watch the liquefaction of St. Januarius’ blood, and
circles of American spiritualists seeking ghostly counsel from- table-tip
pings and “ planchette,” as it is to judge of the Religions of China from
the childish antics of a mob in Shanghae and Canton. In estimating the
countrymen of Lao-Tsze, K‘ung-Foo-Tsze, and their grand compeers,
let us practise a little the Golden Rule we boast of, and take as our test
the Representative Men and Systems, and above all the Ideals of the
Central Empire.
This brings us to the point, which now forces itself upon us, as an im
mediate practical duty : “ How shall we do unto others as we would have
others do unto us,” in our treatment of the “ Chinese ? ” How shall we
“ love our neighbors as ourselves,” in our conduct towards those who are
already becoming at least our guests, and who soon are destined to become
our fellow-citizens ? Shall we try to put in force that policy of Exclusion
which Christendom has unanimously condemned for ages in the Central
Empire, and against which Great Britain and France have twice made
war ? Surely it would stultify all our past professions, and brand our
Republic with infamous inconsistency, to attempt to rear on the western
F coast of the Pacific those very walls, which the cannon of Christian
States have levelled with the dust upon its eastern shore. Never can
this mighty Nation be guilty of a deed so mean. Our doors are open.
Where is the ingrate miserly enough to bar them ? And if we admit the
“Men of the Central Empire” to free residence here, and if our own
citizens make homes foi' themselves in “ Chung-Kwoh,”—as assuredly
�22
will be done on both sides, in rapidly increasing ratio,—what shall be
the quality of our fellowship ? There can be but one reply. We must
meet one another in cordial and respectful friendliness. This passing
flurry on the “ labor question ” will be forgotten to-morrow. Let our
energetic and high-hearted working-men learn, that, centuries before this
continent was discovered, a system of “ Mutual Help” was taught and
practised in the communities of “ China,” which anticipated, and in
some respects, surpassed our modern plans of “ Co-operation.” Our land
and labor reformers might well take a page or two out of the famous
“ Chow-Le,” or Laws of the Chow Dynasty, and the noble chapters on
popular policy of “ Mencius.” Let our educators study the most ancient
system of “ Common Schools” ever instituted, and learn to imitate the
graduated method of training from Primary Schools to Academies, from
Academies to Colleges, from Colleges to Universities, — organized thou
sands of years ago in the “ Central Empire,” whereby the sons of
peasants might rise to the highest honors of the Imperial University, and
become the peers of princes. Let our moralists sit respectfully at the feet
of the most eloquent teachers whom our race has known, of Filial Rev
erence as the fountain-head of virtue, and of Urbanity, as the flowing
stream to keep the garden of social life freshly beautiful. Let our
statesmen also comprehend that from the earliest days, recorded in
“ Chinese ” history, it has been asserted that government rests as its
only sure foundation on the “ hearts of the People; ” that again and
again men have risen, and continually rise, from the lowest social condi
tions to highest offices of trust, and even to the Imperial Seat, by com
petitive examination, and by merit; that the principles of republicanism
really pervade the literature, laws, and institutions of “ China,” notwith
standing its usages of centralization; and that just what is needed to
revive, unfold, and perfect this wonderfully enduring people is the inspir
ing influence of our freedom and progressive energy. Finally let us, one
and all, with blended trust and hope, acknowledge that it was not chance
or destiny, but the Providence of the Living God, that clasped in union
the hands of the Oldest and the Youngest of the Great Nations of our
globe, across the Pacific, as a pledge that in the fulness of time Man
shall be One.
���
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A collection of digitised nineteenth-century pamphlets from Conway Hall Library & Archives. This includes the Conway Tracts, Moncure Conway's personal pamphlet library; the Morris Tracts, donated to the library by Miss Morris in 1904; the National Secular Society's pamphlet library and others. The Conway Tracts were bound with additional ephemera, such as lecture programmes and handwritten notes.<br /><br />Please note that these digitised pamphlets have been edited to maximise the accuracy of the OCR, ensuring they are text searchable. If you would like to view un-edited, full-colour versions of any of our pamphlets, please email librarian@conwayhall.org.uk.<br /><br /><span><img src="http://www.heritagefund.org.uk/sites/default/files/media/attachments/TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" width="238" height="91" alt="TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" /></span>
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2018
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Religions of China: address before the Free Religious Association, Boston, May 27 1870
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Channing, William Henry
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Place of publication: Boston, Mass.
Collation: 22 p. ; 23 cm.
Notes: From the library of Dr Moncure Conway. Reprinted from the "Proceedings".
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John Wilson and Son
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1870
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China
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Conway Tracts
Religion-China
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Text
THE
Principles of Secularism
Sllustratem
BY
GEORGE JACOB
HOLYOAKE.
“Do the duty nearest hand,”—Goethe.
[third
edition, revised.]
LONDON:
BOOK STORE, 282, STRAND ;
Austin
& co.,
17,
Johnson’s court, fleet street.
1870
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»
�“ If you think it right to differ from the times, and to make a stand for any
valuable point of morals, do it, however rustic, however antiquated, how
ever pedantic it may appear ; do it, not for insolence, but seriously—as a
man who wore a soul of his own in his bosom, and did not wait till it was
breathed into him by the breath of fashion.”—'The Rev. Sidney Smith,
Canon of St. Paul’s.
�CONTENTS.
•PAGE.
Chapter
I.—Introductory.
Chapter
II.—The Term Secularism.
5
8
Chapter
III.—Principles of Secularism Defined,
11
Chapter
IV.—Laws of Secular Controversy.
Chapter
V.—Maxims of Association.
•14
16
Chapter
VI.—The Secular Guild.
18
Chapter VII.—Organization Indicated.
2'1
Chapter VIII.—The Place of Secularism.
25
Chapter
IX.—Characteristics of Secularism,
2.7
��5
INTRODUCTORY.
CHAPTER I.
N a passage of characteristic sagacity, Dr. J. H. Newman
has depicted the partisan aimlessness more descriptive
of the period when this little book first appeared, sixteen years
ago, than it is now. But it will be long before its relevance and
instruction have passed away. I therefore take the liberty of
still quoting his words :—
“ When persons for the first time look upon the world of
politics or religion, all that they find there meets their mind’s
eye, as a landscape addresses itself for the first time to a
person who has just gained his bodily sight. One thing is as
far off as another; there is no perspective. The connection
of fact with fact, truth with truth, the bearing of fact
upon truth, and truth upon fact,. what leads to what,
what are points primary and what secondary, all this
they have yet to learn. It is all a new science to them,
and they do not even know their ignorance of it. Moreover,
the world of to-day has no connection in their minds with the
world of yesterday; time is not a stream, but stands before
them round and full, like the moon. They do not know what
happened ten years ago, much less the annals of a century:
the past does not live to them in the present; they do not
understand the worth of contested points; names have no
associations for them, and persons kindle no recollections.
They hear of men, and things, and projects, and struggles,
and principles; but everything comes and goes like the wind;
nothing makes an impression, nothing penetrates, nothing has
its place in their minds. They locate nothing : they have no
system. They hear and they forget ; or they just recollect
what they have once heard, they cannot tell where. Thus
they have no consistency in their arguments; that is, they
argue one way to-day, and not exactly the other way
to-morrow, but indirectly the other way at random. Their
�6
INTRODUCTORY.
lines of argument diverge ; nothing comes to a point; there
is no one centre in which their mind sits, on which their
judgment of men and things proceeds. This is the state of
many men all through life; and miserable politicians or Church
men they make, unless by good luck they are in safe hands,
and ruled by others, or are pledged to a course. Else they
are at the mercy of the wind and waves ; and without being
Radical, Whig, Tory, or Conservative, High Church or Low
Church, they do Whig acts, Tory acts, Catholic acts, and
Heretical acts, as the fit takes them, or as events or parties
drive them. And sometimes when their self importance is
hurt, they take refuge in the idea that all this is a proof that
they are unfettered, moderate, dispassionate, that they observe
the mean, that they are no ‘ party menwhen they are, in
fact, the most helpless of slaves; for our strength in this world
is, to be the subjects of the reason and our liberty, to be
captives of the truth.”*
How the organization of ideas has fared with higher class
societies others can tell: the working class have been left so
much in want of initiative direction that almost everything has
to be done among them, and an imperfect and brief attempt
to direct those interested in Freethought may meet with some
acceptance. To clamour for objects without being able to
connect them with principles; to smart under contumely with
out knowing how to protect themselves; to bear some lofty
name without understanding the manner in which character
should correspond to profession—this is the amount of the
popular attainment.
In this new Edition I find little to alter and less to add. In
a passage on page 27, the distinction between Secular instruc
tion and Secularism is explained, in these words :—“ Secular
education is by some confounded with Secularism, whereas the
distinction between them is very wide. Secular education
simply means imparting Secular knowledge separately—by
itself, without admixture of Theology with it. The advocate
of Secular education may be, and generally is, also an
advocate of religion; but he would teach religion at another
time and treat it as a distinct subject, too sacred for coercive
admixture into the hard and vexatious routine of a school. He
* “ Loss and Gain,” ascribed to the Rev. Father Newman.
�INTRODUCTORY.
7
would confine the inculcation of religion to fitting seasons and
chosen instruments. He holds also that one subject at a time
is mental economy in learning. Secular education is the policy
of a school—Secularism is the policy of life to those who do
not accept Theology.”
Very few persons admitted that these distinctions existed
when this passage was written in 1854. This year, 1870, they
have been substantially admitted by the Legislature in con
cession made in the National Education Bill. It only remains
to add that the whole text has been revised and re-arranged
in an order which seems more consecutive. The portion on
Secular Organizations has been abridged, in part re-written,
explaining particulars as to the Secular Guild.
A distinctive summary of Secular principles may be read
under the article “ Secularism,” in Chambers’s Cyclopaedia.
�8
THE TERM SECULARISM.
THE TERM SECULARISM.
CHAPTER II.
“ The adoption of the term Secularism is justified by its including a large
number of persons who are not Atheists, and uniting them for action which
has Secularism for its object, and not Atheism. On this ground, and because,
by the adoption of a new term, a vast amount of impediment from prejudice
is got rid of, the use of the name Secularism is found advantageous.”—
Harriet Martineau. Boston Liberator.—Letter to Lloyd Garrison,
November, 1853.
VERY one observant of public- controversy in England,
is aware of its improved tone of late years. This im
proved tone is part of a wider progress. Increase of wealth
has led to improvement of taste, and the diffusion of knowledge
to refinement of sentiment. The mass are better dressed,
better mannered, better spoken than formerly. A coffeeroom discussion, conducted by mechanics, is now a more
decorous exhibition than a debate in Parliament was in the
days of Canning * Boisterousness at the tables of the rich,
and insolence in the language of the poor, are fast disappear
ing. “ Good society ” is now that society in which people
practise the art of being genial, without being familiar, and in
which an evincible courtesey of speech is no longer regarded
as timidity or effeminacy, but rather as proof of a disciplined
spirit, which chooses to avoid all offence, the better to maintain
the right peremptorily punishing wanton insult. Theologians,
more inveterate in speech than politicians, now observe a
respectfulness to opponents before unknown. That diversity
of opinion once ascribed to “badness of heart” is now, with
more discrimination, referred to defect or diversity of under
standing—a change which, discarding invective, recognizes
instruction as the agent of uniformity.
Amid all this newness of conception it must be obvious that
* From whose lips the House of Commons cheered a reference to a
political adversary as “ the revered and ruptured Ogden.”
�THE TERM SECULARISM;
9
many old terms of theological controversy are obsolete. The
idea of an “ Atheist ” as one warring against moral restraints
—of an “Infidel” as one treacherous to the truth—of a
“ Freethinker ” as a “ loose thinker,”* arose in the darkness
of past times, when men fought by the flickering light of their
hatreds—times which tradition has peopled with monsters of
divinity as well as of nature. But the glaring colours in which
the party names invented by past priests were dyed, no
longer harmonize with the quieter taste of the present day.
The more sober spirit of modern controversy has, therefore,
need of new terms, and if the term “ Secularism ” was merely
a neutral substitute for “ Freethinking,” there would be
reason for its adoption. Dissenters might as well continue
the designation of “ Schismatics,” or Political Reformers that
of “ Anarchists,” as that the students of Positive Philosophy
should continue the designation “Atheism,” “Infidelism,” or
any similar term by which their opponents have contrived to
brand their opinions. It is as though a merchant vessel should
consent to carry a pirate flag. Freethinker is, however,
getting an acceptable term. Upon the platform, Christian
disputants frequently claim it, and resent the exclusive
assumption of it by others. These new claimants say, “We
are as much Freethinkers as yourselves,” so that it is neces
sary to define Freethinking. It is fearless thinking, based
upon impartial inquiry, searching on both sides, not regarding
doubt as a crime, or opposite conclusions as a species of moral
poison. Those who inquire with sinister pre-possessions will
never inquire fairly. The Freethinker fears not to follow a
conclusion to the utmost limits of truth, whether it coincides
with the Bible or contradicts it. If therefore any pronounce
the term “ Secularism ” “ a concealment or a disguise,” they
can do so legitimately only after detecting some false meaning
it is intended to convey, and not on the mere ground of its
being a change of name, since nothing can more completely
“ conceal and disguise ” the purposes of Freethought than the
old names imposed upon it by its adversaries, which associate
with guilt its conscientious conclusions and impute to it as out
rages, its acts of self-defence.
Besides the term Secularism, there was another term which
seemed to promise also distinctiveness of meaning—namely,
As the Reverend Canon Kingsley has perversely rendered it.
�IO
THE TERM SECULARISM.
Cosmism, under which adherents would have taken the designa
tion of Cosmists. But this name scientific men would have under
stood in a purely physical sense, after the great example of
Humboldt, and the public would not all have understood it—
besides, it was open to easy perversion in one of its declinations.
Next to this, as a name, stands that of Realism—intrinsically
good. A Society of Realists would have been intelligible,
but many would have supposed it to be some revival of the
old Realists. Moralism, a sound name in itself, is under
Evangelical condemnation as “ mere morality.” Naturalism
would seem an obvious name, were it not that we should
be confounded with Naturalists, to say no more. Some
name must be taken, as was the case with the Theophilanthropists of Paris. Many of them would rather not have
assumed any denomination, but they yielded to the reason
able argument, that if they did not choose one for them
selves, the public would bestow upon them one which
would be less to their liking. Those who took the name
of Philantropes found it exposed them to a pun, which
greatly damaged them: Philantropes was turned into filoux
en troupe.
Historical characteristics, however, seemed to point to a
term which expressed the Secular element in life; a term
deeply engrafted in literature; of irreproachable associations;
a term found and respected in the dictionaries of opponents,
and to which, therefore, they might dispute our right, but
which they could not damage. Instead, therefore, of finding
ourselves self-branded or caricatured by this designation, we
have found opponents claiming it, and disputing with us for
its possession.
�PRINCIPLES OF SECULARISM DEFINED.
II
PRINCIPLES OF SECULARISM DEFINED.
CHAPTER III.
I.
ECULARISM is the study of promoting- human welfare
by material means ; measuring human welfare by the
utilitarian rule, and making the service of others a duty of life.
Secularism relates to the present existence of man, and to action,
the issues of which can be tested by the experience of this life—
having for its objects the development of the physical, moral,
and intellectual nature of man to the highest perceivable
point, as the immediate duty of society: inculcating the
practical sufficiency of natural morality apart from Atheism,
Theism, or Christianity: engaging its adherents in the pro
motion of human improvement by material means, and making
these agreements the ground of common unity for all who
would regulate life by reason and ennoble it by service. The
Secular is sacred in its influence on life, for by purity of mate
rial conditions the loftiest natures are best sustained, and the
lower the most surely elevated. Secularism is a series of
principles intended for the guidance of those who find
Theology indefinite, or inadequate, or deem it unreliable.
It replaces theology, which mainly regards life as a sinful
necessity, as a scene of tribulation through which we pass to a
better world. Secularism rejoices in this life, and regards it as
the sphere of those duties which educate men to fitness for any
future and better life, should such transpire.
A Secularist guides himself by maxims of Positivism,
seeking to discern what is in Nature—what ought to be in
morals—selecting the affirmative in exposition, concerning him
self with the real, the right, and the constructive. Positive
principles are principles which are provable. “A positive
�12
PRINCIPLES OF SECULARISM DEFINED.
precept,” says Bishop Butler> “is a precept the reason of
which we see.” Positivism is policy of material progress.
III.
Science is the available Providence of life. The problem to
be solved by a science of Society, is to find that situation in
which it shall be impossible for a man to be depraved or poor.
Mankind are saved by being served. Spiritual sympathy is a
lesser mercy than that forethought which anticipates and ex
tirpates the causes of suffering. Deliverance from sorrow or
injustice is before consolation—doing well is higher than mean
ing well—work is worship to those who accept Theism, and
duty to those who do not.
IV.
Sincerity, though not errorless, involves the least chance of
error, and is without moral guilt. Sincerity is well-informed,
conscientious conviction, arrived at by intelligent examination,
animating those who possess that conviction to carry it into
practice from a sense of duty. Virtue in relation to opinion
consists neither in conformity nor non-conformity, but in sincere
beliefs, and in living up to them.
V.
Conscience is higher than *
Consequence.
VI.
All pursuit of good objects with pure intent is religiousness
in the best sense in which this term appears to be used. A
“ good object ” is an object consistent with truth, honour,
justice, love. A pure “ intent ” is the intent of serving
humanity. Immediate service of humanity is not intended
to mean instant gratification, but “ immediate ” in contradistinc
tion to the interest of another life. The distinctive peculiarity
of the Secularist is, that he seeks that good which is dictated
by Nature, which is attainable by material means, and which
is of immediate service to humanity—a religiousness to which
the idea of God is not essential, nor the denial of the idea
necessary.
Vide Mr. Holdreths’ Papers.
�PRINCIPLES OF SECULARISM DEFINED.
13
VII.
Nearly all inferior natures are susceptible of moral
and physical improvability; this improvability can be indefinitely secured by supplying- proper material conditions;
these conditions may one day be supplied by a system of wise
and fraternal co-operation, which primarily entrenches itself
in common prudence, which enacts service according1 to
industrial capacity, and distributes wealth according- to rational
needs. Secular principles involve for mankind a future,
where there shall exist unity of condition with infinite diversity
of intellect, where the subsistence of ignorance and selfishness
shall leave men equal, and universal purity enable all things
—noble society, the treasures of art, and the riches of
the world—to be had in common.
VIII.
Since it is not capable of demonstration whether the
i nequalties ofhuman condition will be compensated for in another
life—it is the business of intelligence to rectify them in this
world. The speculative worship of superior beings, who
cannot need it, seems a lesser duty than the patient service
•of known inferior natures, and the mitigation of harsh
destiny, so that the ignorant may be enlightened and the
low elevated.
,t
�LAWS OF SECULAR CONTROVERSY.
LAWS OF SECULAR CONTROVERSY.
CHAPTER IV.
I.
IGHTS of Reason. As a means of developing- and
establishing- Secular principles, and as security that the
principles of Nature and the habit of reason may prevail,
Secularism uses itself, and maintains for others, as rights of
reason:—
The Free Search for Truth, without which its full attainment
is impossible.
The Free Utterance of the result, without which the increase
of Truth is limited.
The Free Criticism of alleged Truth, without which its
identity must remain uncertain.
The Fair Action of Conviction thus attained, without which
conscience will be impotent on practice.
II.
Standard of Appeal. “Secularism accepts no authority
but that of Nature, adopts no methods but those of science
and philosophy, and respects in practice no rule but that of
the conscience, illustrated by the common sense of mankind.
It values the lessons of the past, and looks to tradition as
presenting a storehouse of raw materials to thought, and in
many cases results of high wisdom for our reverence; but it
utterly disowns tradition as a ground of belief, whether
miracles and supernaturalism be claimed or not claimed on its
side. No sacred scripture or ancient church can be made
a basis of belief, for the obvious reason that their claims always
need to be proved, and cannot without absurdity be assumed.
The association leaves to its individual members to yield
whatever respect their own good sense judges to be due to
the opinions of great men, living or dead, spoken or written,
�LAWS OF SECULAR CONTROVERSY.
15
as also to the practice of ancient communities, national or
ecclesiastical. But it disowns all appeal to such authorities as
final tests of truth.”*
III.
Sphere of Controversy. Since the principles of Secular
ism rest on grounds apart from Theism, Atheism, or Christianism, it is not logically necessary for Secularists to debate the
truth of these subjects. In controversy, Secularism concerns
itself with the assertion and maintenance of its own affirma
tive propositions, combating only views of Theology and
Christianity so far as they interfere with, discourage, or dispa
rage Secular action, which may be done without digressing
into the discussion of the truth of Theism or divine origin of
the Bible.
IV.
Personal Controversy.
A Secularist will avoid indis
criminate disparagement of bodies or antagonism of persons,
and will place before himself simply the instruction and service
of an opponent, whose sincerity he will not question, whose
motives he will not impugn, always holding that a m.an whom
it is not worth while confuting courteously, is not worth while
confuting at all. Such disparagements as are included in the
explicit condemnation of erroneous principles are, we believe,
all that the public defence of opinion requires, and are the only
kind of disparagement a Secularist proposes to employ.
V.
Justification of Controversy.
The universal fair and open
discussion of opinion is the highest guarantee of public
truth—only that theory which is submitted to that ordeal is to
be regarded, since only that which endures it can be trusted.
Secularism encourages men to trust reason throughout, and
to trust nothing that reason does not establish—to examine
all things hopeful, respect all things probable, but rely upon
nothing without precaution which does not come within the
range of science and experience.
* “Programme of Freethought
(Reasoner, No. 388.)
Societies,” by F. W.
Newman.
�16
MAXIMS OF ASSOCIATION,
MAXIMS
OF ASSOCIATION.
CHAPTER V,
I.
T is the duty of every man to regulate his personal
and family interests so as to admit of some exertions
for the improvement of society. It is only by serving
those beyond ourselves that we can secure for ourselves
protection, sympathy, or honour. The neglect of home for
public affairs endangers philanthropy, by making it the enemy
of the household. To suffer, on the other hand, the interests
of the family to degenerate into mere selfism, is a dangerous
example to rulers.
II.
“ No man or woman is accountable to others for an^
conduct by which others are not injured or damaged.”*
III.
Social freedom consists in being subject to just rule and
to none other.
IV.
Service and endurance are the chief personal duties
of man.
V.
Secularism holds it to be the duty of every man to reserve
a portion of his means and energies for the public service, and
so to cultivate and cherish his powers, mental and physical, as
* D. in the Leader, 1850, who, as a correspondent, first expressed
this aphorism thus.
�MAXIMS OF ASSOCIATION.
17
to have them ever ready to perform service, as efficient as
possible, to the well-being of humanity. No weakness, no
passion, no wavering, should be found among those who are
battling for the cause of human welfare, which such errors
may fatally injure. Self-control, self-culture, self-sacrifice, are
all essential to those who would serve that cause, and wouldnot bring discredit upon their comrades in that service.
*
VI.
To promote in good faith and good temper the immedi
ate and material welfare of humanity, in accordance with the
laws of Nature, is the study and duty of a Secularist,
and this is the unity of principle which prevails amid whatever
diversity of opinion may subsist in a Secular Society, the bond
of union being the common convictions of the duty of advancing
the Secular good of this life, of the authority of natural
morality, and of the utility of material effort in the work of
human improvement. In other words, Secularist union implies
the concerted action of all who believe it right to promote the
Secular good of this life, to teach morality, founded upon the
laws of Nature, and to seek human improvement by material
methods, irrespective of any other opinions held, and irre
spective of any diversity of reasons for holding these.
* Mr. L. H. Holdreth, Religion of Duty.
�i8
THE SECULAR GUILD.
THE SECULAR GUILD.
CHAPTER VI.
EVERAL expositors of Secular principles, able to act
together, have for many years endeavoured by counsel,
by aid and by publication to promote Secular organiza
tion. At one time they conducted a Secular Institute in Fleet
Street, London—in 1854. The object was to form Secular
Societies for teaching the positive results of Freethought. In
the first edition of this work it was held to be desirable that there
should be a centre of reference for all inquirers upon Secular
principles at home and abroad. Attention should be guar
anteed to distant correspondents and visitors, so that means of
communication and publication of all advanced opinions in soci
ology, theology, and politics might exist, and be able to com
mand publicity, when expressed dispassionately, impersonally,
and with ordinary good taste.
It has been generally admitted that the operations at that
time conducted, helped to impart a new character to Freethought advocacy, and many of its recommendations have
since been copied by associations subsequently formed. The
promoters of Secularism alluded to, have not ceased in the
Reasoner and other publications, by lectures, by statements, by
articles, by pamphlets to urge a definite and consistent repre
sentation of Secular and Freethought principles: as many
mistake merely mechanical association for the organization
of ideas.
The promoters in question have since adopted the form of
action of a Secular Guild, and continue the Reasoner (of which
there is now issued a “ Review Series ”) as their organ. The
objects of a Council of the Guild is to promote, as far as means
may permit, or counsel prevail, organization of ideas:—
I.—To train Advocates of Secular principles.
�THE SECULAR GUILD.
19
2. —To advise an impersonal policy of advocacy, which seeking to carry its
ends by force of exposition, rather than of denunciation, shall command the
attention and respect of those who influence public affairs.
3. —To promote solution of political, social, and educational questions on
Secular and unsectarian grounds.
*
4. —To point out new Books of Secular relevance, and where possible, to
accredit Advocates of Secularism that the public may have some guidance,
and the party be no longer liable to be judged by whoever may appeai
to write or speak on the subject.
5. —To assist in the protection and defence of those injured, or attempted to
be injured on account of Freethought or Secularist opinion.
6. —To provide for the administration of property bequeathed for Secular
purposes, of which so much has been lost through the injustice of the law,
and machinations of persons opposed to Liberal views.
7. —When a member has been honourably counted on the side of Secularism,
has been a Subscriber or a Worker for a term of years, the Guild, keeping
a record of such Service, proposes to give a Certificate of it which among
Friends of Freethought may be a passport to recognition and esteem. To
constitute some such Freemasonry in Freethought, may elevate associa
tion in England. A certificate of Illuminism or of Carbonarism in Italy
was once handed down from father to son as an heirloom of honour, while
in England you have to supplicate men to join a society of progression,
instead of membership being a distinction which men shall covet. At
present a man who has given the best years of his life to the public service
is liable (if from any necessity he ceases to act) to be counted a renegade
by men who have never rendered twelve months’ consecutive or costly
service themselves. There ought to be a fixed term of Service, which, if
honourably and effectively rendered, should entitle a man to be considered
free, as a soldier after leaving the army, and his certificate of having
belonged to the Order of Secularism should entitle him to distinction and
to authority when his opinion was sought, and to exemption from all but
voluntary service. At present the soldiers of Progress, w’hen no longer
able to serve, are dismissed from the public eye, like the race-horse to the
cab stand, to obscurity and neglect. This needs correction before men can
be counted upon in the battle of Truth. A man is to be estimated
according to the aims of the party to which he is allied. He is to be
esteemed in consequence of sacrifices of time, and discipline of conduct,
which he contributes to the service and reputation of his cause.
In foreign countries many persons reside interested in
Secularism; in Great Britain indeed many friends reside where
* This has been done to some extent in the discussion of the National
Education question. The Proposer of the Guild contributed what he could
to this end by reading the paper published in the proceedings of the Con
ference of the Birmingham Education League, by letters like that to the
Daily News, commented upon by the Bishop of Peterborough, at Leicester
[see official publications of the Manchester National Education Union,] by
discussions as those with the Revs. Pringle and Baldwin, at Norwich, and
with Mr. Chas. Bradlaugh, at the Old Street Hall of Science, London; and
by Lectures during the time the question of National Education has been
before Parliament.
�20
THE SECULAR GUILD.
no Secular Society is formed; and in these cases membership
of the Guild would be advantageous to them, affording means
of introduction to publicists of similar views: and even in
instances of towns where Secular Societies do exist, persons in
direct relation to the Secular Guild would be able to furnish
Secular direction where the tradition and usage of a Secular
Society are unknown, or unfamiliar.
�ORGANIZATION INDICATED.
21
ORGANIZATION INDICATED.
CHAPTER VII.
S the aim of the Guild is not to fetter independent thought,
but to concert practical action, it is mainly required
of each member that he undertakes to perform, in good
faith, the duties which he shall consent to have assigned to him;
and generally so to comport himself that his principles shall not
be likely to suffer, if judged by his conduct. He will be expected
to treat every colleague as equal with himself in veracity, in
honour, and in loyalty to his cause. And every form of speech
which casts a doubt upon the truth, or imputes, or assumes a
want of honour on the part of any member, will be deemed a
breach of order. If any member intends such an accusation
of another, it must be made the matter of a formal charge,
after leave obtained to prefer it.
What it is desirable to know about new members is this: —
Do they, in their conception of Secularism, see in it that which seeks not
the sensual but the good, and a good which the conscience can be engaged
in pursuing and promoting; a Moralism in accordance with the laws of
•Nature and capable of intrinsic proof: a Materialism which is definite
without dogmatism or grossness ; and a unity on the ground of these com
mon agreements, for convictions which imply no apostolate are neither
earnest nor generous. No one ought to be encouraged to take sides with
Secularism, unless his conscience is satisfied of the moral rightfulness of its
principles and duties both for life and death.
It is not desirable to accept persons of that class who decry
parties—who boast of being of no party—who preach up
isolation, and lament the want of unity—who think party the
madness of the many, for the gain of the few. Seek rather
the partisan who is wise enough to know that the disparage
ment of party is the madness of the few, leading to the utter im
potence of the many. A party, in an associative and defen
sible sense, is a class of persons taking sides upon some
�22
ORGANIZATION INDICATED.
definite question, and acting- together for necessary ends,
having principles, aims, policy, authority, and discipline.
*
With respect to proposed members, it may be well to
ascertain whether neglect, or rudeness, or insult, or unfairness
from colleagues, or overwork being imposed upon him, or
incapacity of others, would divert him from his duty. These
accidents or necessities might occur: but if a society is to be
strong it must be able to count upon its members, and to be
able to count upon them it must be known what they will
bear without insubordination; and what they will bear will
depend upon the frankness and completeness of information
they receive as to the social risks all run who unite to carry
out any course of duty or public service.
Always assuming that a candidate cares for the objects for
which he proposes to associate, and that it is worth while
knowing whom it is with whom you propose to work them
out; answers to such inquiries as the following would tend to
impart a working knowledge and quality to the society:—
Is he a person previously or recently acquainted with the principles he is
about to profess ?
Does he understand what is meant by “ taking sides ” with a public
party ? Would he be faithful to the special ideas of Secularism so long as he
felt them to be true ? Would he make sacrifices to spread them and vindicate
them, or enable others to do so ? Would he conceive of Secularism as a
cause to be served loyally, which he would support as well as he was able,
if unable to support it as well as he Could wish ?
Is he of decent, moral character, and tolerably reliable as to his future
conduct ?
In presenting his views to others, would he be likely to render them in
an attractive spirit, or to make them disagreeable to others ?
Is he of an impulsive nature, ardent for a time, and then apathetic or
reactionary—likely to antagonize to-morrow the persons he applauds
to-day ?
Is he a person who would commit the fault of provoking persecution ?
Would ridicule or persecution chill him if it occurred? Is he a man to
stand by an obscure and friendless cause—or are notoriety, success, applause,
and the company of others, indispensable to his fidelity ?
Is he a man of any mark of esteem among his friends—a man whose
promise is sure, whose word has weight ?
Is his idea of obedience, obedience simply to his own will? Would he
acquiesce in the authority of the laws of the Society, or the decision of the
Society where the laws were silent ? Would he acknowledge in democracy
the despotism of principles self-consented to—or as an arena for the
* In a school there is usually teaching, training, discipline, science, system,
authorities, tradition, and development.—Times, 1846.
�ORGANIZATION INDICATED.
23
assertion of Individualism before winning the consent of colleagues to the
discussion of special views ?
The membership sought may be granted, provided the
actual knowledge of Secular principles be satisfactory, and
evident earnestness to practise them be apparent. The purport
of the whole of the questions is to enable a clear opinion
to be formed as to what is to be expected of the new
member—how far he is likely to be reliable—how long he is
likely to remain with us—under what circumstances he is
likely to fail us—what work may be assigned him—what
confidences he may be entrusted with, and in what terms he
shculd be introduced to colleagues, and spoken of to others.
The Membership here described would and should be no
restricted and exclusive society, where only one pattern of
efficiency prevails; but a society where all diversities of
capacity, energy, and. worth, may be found, so far as it is
honest and trustworthy. A Society, like the State, requires the
existence of the people, as well as public officers—men who
can act, as well as men who can think and direct Many men
who lack refinement, and even discretion, possess courage and
energy, and will go out on the inevitable “ forlorn hopes ” of
progress; which the merely prudent avoid, arid from which
the cultivated too often shrink. Our work requires all orders
of men, but efficiency requires that we know which is which,
that none may be employed in the dark.
In every public organization there are- persons who promote
and aid unconnected with the Society.
Active members are those who engage to perform specific
duties; such as reporting lectures, sermons, and public meet
ings, so far as they refer to Secularism.
*
To give notice of meetings and sermons about to be held or
delivered for or against Secularism.
To note and report passages in books, newspapers, maga
zines, and reviews referring to Secularism.
Each active member should possess some working efficiency,
or be willing to acquire it. To be able to explain his views
by tongue or pen with simple directness, to observe carefully,
* In reporting, each member should be careful to understate rather than
overstate facts, distinguishing carefully what is matter of knowledge from
rumour, conjecture, or opinion.
�24
ORGANIZATION INDICATED.
to report judiciously, to reason dispassionately, to put the best
construction on every act that needs interpretation, are desir
able accomplishments in a Propagandist.
In all public proceeding’s of the Society, written speeches
should be preferred from the young-, because such speeches
admit of preconsidered brevity, consecutiveness, and purpose,
and exist for reference. In the deliberations and discussions
of any Society, it might usefully be deemed a qualification to
make a contribution to the subject in speeches brief and
direct.
Non-reliableness in discharge of duties, or moral disqualifi
cation, shall be a ground of annulling membership, which
may be done after the member objected to has had a fair
opportunity of defending himself from the specific disqualifi
cations alleged against him and communicated to him, and has
failed therein.
The duties assigned to each member should be such as are
within his means, as respects power and opportunity; such,
indeed, as interfere neither with his social nor civil obligations ;
the intention being that the membership of the Society shall
not as a rule be incompatible with the preservation of health,
and the primary service due to family and the State.
*
Any persons acquainted with the “Principles of Secularism ’’
here given, who shall generally agree therein, and associate
under any name to promote such objects, and to act in concert
with all who seek similar objects, and will receive and take
into official consideration the instructions of the Guild, and to
make one subscription yearly among its members and friends on
behalf of its Propagandist Funds, shall be recognized as a
Branch of it.
* As a general rule, it will be found that any one who sacrifices more
than one-fifth of his time and means will become before long reactionary,
and not only do nothing himself, but discourage others.
�THE PLACE OF SECULARISM.
25
THE PLACE OF SECULARISM.
CHAPTER VIII.
“ We do not, however, deny that, false as the whole theory [of Secularism]
appears to us, it is capable of attracting the belief of large numbers of
people, and of exercising considerable influence over their conduct; and we
should admit that the influence so exercised is considerably better than no
influence at all.”—Saturday Review, July 2, 1859-
HIS first step is to win, from public opinion, a standing place
for Secularism. So long as people believe Secularism
not to be wanted, indeed impossible to be wanted—that it is
error, wickedness, and unmitigated evil, it will receive no
attention, no respect, and make no way. But show that it
occupies a vacant place, supplies a want, is a direction
where no other party supplies any—and it at once appears
indispensable. It is proved to be a service to somebody,
and from that moment it is tolerated if not respected. It
may be like war, or medicine, or work, or law, disagreeable
or unpalatable, but when seen to be necessary, it will have
recognition and support. We are sure this case can be
made out for Secularism. It is not only true, but it is known;
it is not only known, but it is notorious, that there are thou
sands and tens of thousands of persons in every district of
this and most European countries, who are without the pale
of Christianity. They reject it, they disprove it, they dis
like it, or they do not understand it. Some have vices and
passions which Christianity, as preached around them, con
demns. As Devils are said to do, they “ believe and tremble,”
and so disown what they have not the virtue to practise.
Faith does not touch them, and reason is not tried—indeed
reason is decried by the evangelically religious, so that not
being converted in one way, no other way is open to them.
Others are absorbed or insensate; they are busy, or stupid,
or defiant, and regard Christianity as a waste of time, or as
monotonous or offensive. It bores them or threatens them.
They are already dull, therefore it does not attract them—
they have some rude sense of independence and some feeling
of courage, and they object either to be snubbed into con
formity or kicked into heaven. Another and a yearly
increasing portion of the people have, after patiently and
�26
THE PLACE OF SECULARISM.
painfully thinking over Christianity, come to believe it to be
untrue; unfounded historically; wrong morally, and a dis
creditable imputation upon God. It outrages their affections,
it baffles their understandings. It is double tongued. Its
expounders are always multiplying, and the more they increase
the less they agree, and hence sceptics the more abound.
Disbelievers therefore exist; they augment: they can neither
be convinced, converted, nor conciliated, because they will yield
no allegiance to a system which has no hold on their conscience.
It is, we repeat, more than known, it is notorious that these
persons live and die in scepticism. These facts are the cry of
the pulpit, the theme of the platform, the burden of the
religious tract. Now, is nothing to be done with these people ?
You cannot exterminate them, the Church cannot direct them.
The Bible is no authority to them—the “ will of God,” as the
clergy call it, in their eyes is mere arbitrary, capricious, dog
matical assumption; sometimes, indeed, wise precept, but
oftener a cloak for knavery or a pretext for despotism. To
open the eyes of such persons to the omnipresent teachings of
Nature, to make reason an authority with them, to inspire them
with precepts which experience can verify—to connect con
science with intelligence, right with interest, duty with selfrespect, and goodness with love, must surely be useful. If
Secularism accomplishes some such work, where Christianity
confessedly accomplishes nothing, it certainly has a place of
its own. It is no answer to it to claim that Christianity is higher,
more complete, better. The advocates of every old religion, say
the same. Christianity may be higher, more complete, better
—for somebody else. But nothing can be high, complete, or
good, for those who do not see it, accept it, want it, or act
upon it. That is first which is fit—that is supreme which is
most productive of practical virtue. No comparison (which
would be as irrelevant as offensive) between Secularism and
Christianity is set up here. The question is—is Secularism
useful, or may it be useful to anybody ? The question is not—
does it contain all truth ? but does it contain as much as may
be serviceable to many minds, otherwise uninfluenced for good ?
Arithmetic is useful though Algebra is more compendious.
Mensuration performs good offices in hands ignorant of Euclid.
There may be logic without Whately, and melody without
Beethoven; and there may be Secular ethics which shall be
useful without the pretension of Christianity.
�CHARACTERISTICS OF SECULARISM.
27
CHARACTERISTICS OF SECULARISM.
CHAPTER IX.
I.
ECULARISM means the moral duty of man in this life
deduced from considerations which pertain to this life
alone. Secular education is by some confounded with
Secularism, whereas the distinction between them is very wide.
Secular education simply means imparting Secular knowledge
separately—by itself, without admixture of Theology with it.
The advocate of Secular education may be, and generally is, also
an advocate of religion • but he would teach religion at another
time and treat it as a distinct subject, too sacred for coercive ad
mixture into the hard and vexatious routine of a school. He would
confine the inculcation of religion to fitting seasons and chosen
instruments. He holds also that one subject at a time is
mental economy in learning. Secular education is the policy
of a school—Secularism is a policy of life to those who do
not accept Theology. Secularity draws the line of separation
between the things of time and the things of eternity. That
is Secular which pertains to this world. The distinction may
be seen in the fact that the cardinal propositions of Theology
are provable only in the next life, and not in this. If I believe
in a given creed it may turn out to be the true one; but
one must die to find that out. On this side of the grave
all is doubt; the truth of Biblical creeds is an affair of
hope and anxiety, while the truth of things Secular becomes
apparent in time. The advantages arising from the practice
of veracity, justice, and temperance can be ascertained from
human experience. If we are told to “ fear God and keep
His commandments,” lest His judgments overtake us, the in
direct action of this doctrine on human character may make a
vicious timid man better in this life, supposing the interpretation
ofthe will of God,and the commandments selected to be enforced,
are moral; but such teaching is not Secular, because its main
�28
CHARACTERISTICS OF SECULARISM.
object is to fit men for eternity. Pure Secular principles have
for their object to fit men for time, making- the fulfilment of
human duty here the standard of fitness for any accruing
future. Secularism purposes to regulate human affairs by
considerations purely human.
Its principles are founded
upon Nature, and its object is to render man as perfect as
possible in this life. Its problem is this: Supposing- no other
life to be before us, what is the wisest use of this ? As the Rev.
Thomas Binney puts it, “ I believe * * that even * * if
there were really no God over him, no heaven above, or eternity
in prospect, thing-s are so constituted that man may turn the
materials of his little life poem, if not always into a grand
epic, mostly into something of interest and beauty; and it is
worth his while doing so, even if there should be no sequel
to the piece.’’* Chalmers, Archbishop Whately, and earlier
distinguished divines of the Church of England, the most con
spicuous of whom is Bishop Butler, have admitted the
independent existence of morality, but we here cite Mr.
Binney’s words because among Dissenters this truth is less
readily admitted. A true Secular life does not exclude any from
supplementary speculations. Not until we have fulfilled our
duty to man, as far as we can ascertain that duty, can we
consistently pretend to comprehend the more difficult relations
of man to God. Our duties to humanity, understood and dis
charged to the best of our ability, will in no way unfit us to
il reverently meditate on things far beyond us, on Power un
limited, on space unfathomed, on time uncounted, on
‘ whence ’ we came, and ‘ whither ’ we go.”f The leading
ideas of Secularism are humanism, moralism, materialism,
utilitarian unity: Humanism, the physical perfection of this
life—Moralism, founded on the laws of Nature, as the guid
ance of this life—Materialism, as the means of Nature for the
Secular improvement of this life—Unity of thought and action
upon these practical grounds. Secularism teaches that the
good of the present life is the immediate concern of man, and
that it should be his first endeavour to raise it. Secularism
inculcates a Morality founded independently upon the laws of
Nature. It seeks human improvement through purity and suit
ableness of material conditions as being a method at once
moral, practical, universal, and sure.
* “ How to make the best of both worlds,” p. 11.
t F. W. Newman.
�CHARACTERISTICS OF SECULARISM.
29
II.
The province of Positivism is not speculation upon the
origin, but study of the laws of Nature—its policy is to destroy
error by superseding it. Auguste Comte quotes, as a cardinal
maxim of scientific progress, the words “ nothing is destroyed
until it is replaced,” a proverbial form of a wise saying of
M. Necker that in political progress “ nothing is destroyed for
which we do not find a substitute.” Negations, useful in their
place, are iconoclastic—not constructive. Unless substitution
succeeds destruction—there can be no sustained progress.
The Secularist is known by setting up and maintaining affirm
ative propositions.. He replaces negations by affirmations,
and substitutes demonstration for denunciation. He asserts
truths of Nature and humanity, and reverses the position of
the priest who appears as the sceptic, the denier, the dis
believer in Nature and humanity. Statesmen, not otherwise
eager for improvement, will regard affirmative proposals.
Lord Palmerston could say—“ Show me a good and I will
realize it—not an abuse to correct.”
III.
“All science,” says M. Comte, “ has prevision for its end, an
axiom which separates science from erudition, which relates to
events of the past without any regard to the future. No accumula
tion of facts can effect prevision until the facts are made the basis
of reasonings. A knowledge of phenomena leads to pre
vision, and prevision to actionor, in other words, when we
can foresee what will happen under given circumstances, we
can provide against it. It by no means follows that every
Secularist will be scientific, but to discern the value of
science, to appreciate and promote it, may be possible to most.
Science requires high qualities of accurate observation, close
attention, careful experiment, caution, patience, labour. Its
value to mankind is inestimable. One physician will do more
to alleviate human suffering than ten priests. One physical
discovery will do more to advance civilization than a generation
of prayer-makers. “ To get acquaintance with the usual course
of Nature (which Science alone can teach us), is a kind of
knowledge which pays very good interest.”* The value of this
knowledge becomes more apparent the longer we live. There
* Athenaeum, No. 1,637, March 12, 1859.
�30
CHARACTERISTICS OF SECULARISM.
may be a general superintending Providence—there may be
a Special Providence, but the first does not interfere in human
affairs, and the interpositions of the second are no longer to
be counted upon. The age of Prayer for temporal deliver
ance has confessedly passed away. But without disputing
these points, it is clear that the only help available to man,
the sole dependence upon which he can calculate, is that of
Science. Nothing can be more impotent than the fate of that
man who seeks social elevation by mere Faith. All human
affairs are a process, and he alone who acts upon this know
ledge can hope to control results. Loyola foresaw the neces
sity of men acting for human purposes, as though there were
no God. “ Let us pray,” said he, “ as if we had no help in our
selves ; let us labour as if there was no help for us in heaven.”
Society is a blunder, not a science, until it ensures good sense
and competence for the many. Why this process is tardy,
is that creedists get credit for hoping and meaning well.
Creedists of good intent, who make no improvement and
attempt none, are very much in the way of human betterance.
The spiritualist regards the world theoretically as a gross
element, which he is rather to struggle against than to work
with. This makes human service a mortification instead of
pure passion. We would not deify the world, that is, set up
the sensualism of the body, as spiritualism is set up as the
sensualism of the soul. Secularism seeks the material purity
of the present life, which is at once the means and end of Secular
endeavour. The most reliable means of progress is the im
provement of material condition, and “purity” implies “improve
ment,” for there can be no improvement without it. The aim
of all improvement is higher purity. All power, art, civiliza
tion and progress are summed up in the result—purer life.
Strength, intellect, love are measured by it. Duty, study,
temperance, patience are but ministers to this. “ There is that,”
says Ruskin, “ to be seen in every street and lane of every city,
that to be found and felt in every human heart and countenance,
that to be loved in every road-side weed and moss-grown wall,
which, in the hands of faithful men, may convey emotions
of glory and sublimity continual and exalted.”
IV.
It is necessary to point out that Sincerity does not im
ply infallibility. “ There is a truth, which could it be stamped
�CHARACTERISTICS OF SECULARISM.
31
on every human mind, would exterminate all bigotry and
persecution. I mean the truth, that worth of character and true
integrity, and, consequently, God’s acceptance, are not neces
sarily connected with any particular set of opinions.”* If you
admit that Mark and Paul were honest, most Christians take
that to be an admission of the truth of all related under their
names. Yet if a man in defending his opinions, affirm his
own sincerity, Christians quickly see that is no proof of
their truth, and proceed to disprove them. Sincerity may
account for a man holding his opinions, but it does not account
for the opinions themselves. Nothing is more common than
uninformed, misinformed, mistaken, or self-deluded honesty.
But sincere error, though dangerous enough, has not the
attribute of crime about it—personal intention of mischief.
“ Because human nature is frail and fallible, the ground of
our acceptance with God, under the Gospel, is sincerity. A
sincere desire to know and do the will of God, is the only con
dition of obtaining the Christian salvation. Every honest man
will be saved.But Sincerity, if the reader recurs to our
definition of it, includes a short intellectual and moral
education with respect to it. Those worthy of the high
descriptive “ sincere,” are those who have thought, in
quired, examined, are in earnest, have a sense of duty with
regard to their conviction, which is only satisfied by acting
upon it. These processes may not bring a man to the truth,
but they bring him near to it. The chances of error are
reduced hereby as far as human care can reduce them. Secu
larism holds that the Protestant right of private judgment
includes the moral innocency of that judgment, when conscien
tiously formed, whether for or against received opinion; that
though all sincere opinion is not equally true, nor equally
useful, it is yet equally without sin; that it is not sameness of
belief but sincerity of belief which justifies conduct, whether
regard be had to the esteem of men or the approval of God.
Sincerity, we repeat, is not infallibility. The conscientious
are often as mischievous as the false, but he who acts ac
cording to the best of his belief is free from criminal
intention. The sincerity commended by the Secularist is an
active sentiment seeking the truth and acting upon it—not the
* Dr. Price.
t John Foster’s Tracts on Heresy.
�32
CHARACTERISTICS OF SECULARISM.
fortuitous, insipid, apathetic, inherited consent, which so often
passes for honesty, because too indolent or too cowardly to
inquire, and too stupid to doubt. The man who holds merely
ready-made opinions is not to be placed on the same level
with him whose convictions are derived from experience. True
sincerity is an educated and earnest sentiment.
V.
In the formation and judgment of opinions we must
take into account the consequences to mankind involved in
their adoption. But when an opinion seems true in itself
and beneficial to society, the consequences in the way of in
convenience to ourselves is not sufficient reason for refusing- to
act upon it. If a particular time of enforcing- it seem to be
one when it will be disregarded, or misunderstood, or put
back, and the sacrifice of ourselves on its behalf produce no
adequate advantage to society, it may be lawful to seek a
better opportunity. We must, however, take care that this
view of the matter is not made a pretext of cowardice or
evasion of duty. And in no case is it justifiable to belie con
science or profess a belief the contrary of that which we
believe to be true. There may in extreme cases be neutrality
with regard to truth, but in no case should there be com
plicity in falsehood. So much with respect to this life. With
respect to Deity or another life, we may in all cases rely upon
this, that in truth alone is safety. With God, conscience
can have no penal consequences. Conscience is the voice of
honesty, and honesty, with all its errors, a God of Truth will
regard. “We have,” says Blanco White, “no revealed rule
which will ascertain, with moral certainty, which doctrines are
right and which are wrong—that is, as they are known to
God.” * * “ Salvation, therefore, cannot depend on ortho
doxy ; it cannot consist in abstract doctrines, about which
men of equal abilities, virtue, and sincerity are, and always
have been, divided.” * * “ No error on abstract doctrines
can be heresy, in the sense of a wrong belief which endangers
the soul.” - “The Father of the Universe accommodates not
His judgments to the wretched wranglings of pedantic theolo
gians, but every one who seeks truth, whether he findeth it w not,
and worketh righteousness, will be accepted of Him.”* Thomas
Bishop Watson’s Theological Tracts.
Introductory.
�CHARACTERISTICS OF SECULARISM.
33
Carlyle was the first English writer, having the ear of the pub
lic, who declared in England that “ sincere doubt is as much
entitled to respect as sincere belief. ”
VI.
Going to a distant town to mitigate some calamity there, will
illustrate the principle of action prescribed by Secularism.
One man will go on this errand from pure sympathy with
the unfortunate ; this is goodness. Another goes because his
priest bids him ; this is obedience. Another goes because the
twenty-fifth chapter of Matthew tells him that all such per
sons will pass to the right hand of the Father ; this is calcula
tion. Another goes because he believes God commands him ;
this is piety. Another goes because he believes that the
neglect of suffering will not answer; this is utilitarianism.
But another goes on the errand of mercy, because it is an
errand of mercy, because it is an immediate service to human
ity ; and he goes to attempt material amelioration rather than
spiritual consolation; this is Secularism, which teaches that
goodness is sanctity, that Nature is guidance, that reason is
authority, that service is duty, and that Materialism is help.
VII.
The policy of S.ecular controversy is to distinguish and
assert its own affirmative propositions. It is the policy of Secu
larism not so much to say to error “ It is false,” as to say of
truth “ This is true.” Thus, instead of leaving to the popular
theology the prestige of exclusive affirmation accorded to it
by the world, although it is solely employed in the incessant
re-assertion of error, Secularism causes it to own and publish
its denial of positive principle; when the popular theology
proves itself to be but an organized negation of the moral
guidance of nature and its tendencies to progress. A Secu
larist sees clearly upon what he relies as a Secularist. To
him the teaching of Nature is as clear as the teaching of the
Bible: and since, if God exists, Nature is certainly His work,
while it is not so clear that the Bible is—the teaching of Nature
will be preferred and followed where the teaching of the Bible
appears to conflict with it. A Secular Society, contemplating
intellectual and moral progress, must provide for the freest
expression of opinion on all subjects which its members may
deem conducive to their common objects. Christianism, Theism,
I
�34
CHARACTERISTICS OE SECULARISM.
Materialism, and Atheism will be regarded as open questions,
subject to unreserved discussion. But these occasions will be
the opportunity of the members, not the business of the society.
All public proceedings accredited by the society should relate
to topics consistent with the common principles of Secularism.
“Innecessary things, unity: in doubtful things, liberty: in all
things, charity.”* The destruction of religious servitude may
be attempted in two ways. It may be denounced, which
will irritate it, or it may be superseded by the servitude of
humanity. Attacking it by denunciation, generally inflames and
precipitates the persecution of the many upon the few; when
the weak are liable to be scattered, the cowardly to recant,
and the brave to perish.
VIIL
The essential rule upon which personal association can
be permanent, or controversy be maintained in the spirit in which
truth can be evolved, is that of never imputing evil motives
nor putting the worst construction on any act. Free Inquiry
has no limits but truth, Free Speech no limits but exactness,
Policy (here the law of speech) no limits but usefulness. Un
fettered and uncompromising are they who pursue free inquiry
throughout—measured and impassable may those become,
who hold to a generous veracity. Far both from outrage
or servility—too proud to court and too strong to hate—are
those who learn to discard all arts but that of the austere
service of others, exacting no thanks and pausing at no
curse. Wise words of counsel to Theological controversialists
have been addressed in a powerful quarter of public opinion:
“ Religious controversy has already lost much of its bitterness.
Open abuse and exchange of foul names are exploded, and
even the indirect imputation of unworthy motives is falling
into disuse. Another step will be made when theologians
have learnt to extend their intellectual as well as their moral
sympathies, to feel that most truths are double edged, and not
to wage an unnecessary war against, opinion which, strange,
incongruous, and unlovely as they may at first appear, are
built, perhaps, on as firm a foundation, and are held with
equal sincerity and good faith, as their own.”f This is advice
which both sides should remember.
* Maxim (much unused) of the Roman Catholic Church,
t Times Leader of November 8, 1855.
�CHARACTERISTICS OF SECULARISM.
35
IX.
“ No society can be in a healthy state in which eccentricity
is a matter of reproach.” Conventionality is the tyranny
of the average man, and a despicable tyranny it is. The
tyranny of genius is hard to be borne—that of mediocrity
is humiliating. That idea of freedom which consists in the
absence of all government is either mere lawlessness, or refers
to the distant period when each man having attained perfec
tion will be a law unto himself. Just rule is indispensable rule,
and none other. The fewer laws consistent with the public
preservation the better—there is, then, as Mr. Mill has shown
in his “Liberty,” the more room for that ever-recurring
originality which keeps intellect alive in the world. Towards
law kept within the limits of reason, obedience is the first of
virtues. “ Order and Progress,” says Comte, which we
should express thus:—Order, without which Progress is im
possible ; Progress, without which Order, is Tyranny. The
, world is clogged with men of dead principles. Principles
that cannot be acted upon are probably either obsolete or false.
One certain way to improvement is to exact consistency between
profession and practice; and the way to bring this about is to
teach that the highest merit consists in having earnest views
and in endeavouring to realize them—and this whether the
convictions be contained within or without accredited creeds.
There will be no progress except within the stereotyped limits of
creeds, unless means are found to justify independent convic
tions to the conscience. To the philosopher you have merely
to show that a thing is true, to the statesman, that it is useful,
but to a Christian, that it is safe. The grace of service lies in
its patience. To promote the welfare of others, irrespective
of their gratitude or claims, is to reach the nature of the
Gods. It is a higher sentiment than is ascribed to the Deity
of the Bible. The abiding disposition to serve others is the
end of all philosophy. The vow of principle is always one of
poverty and obedience, - and few are they who take it—and
fewer who keep it. If hate obscure for a period the path of
duty, let us remember nothing should shake our attachment
to that supreme thought, which at once stills human anger and
educates human endeavour—the perception that “ the suffer
ings and errors of mankind arise out of want of knowledge
rather than defect of goodness.”
fl
�36
CHARACTERISTICS OF SECULARISM.
X.
A leading object of Secularism is the promotion of the
material purity of the present life—“ material purity,” which
includes personal as well as external condition. The question
of Spiritualism (without employing it and without disparaging
it) it regards as a distinct question, and hence the methods
by which Secularists attempt “improvement” will be “material”
as being the most reliable. The tacit or expressed aim of all
Freethinking, has ever been true thinking and pure thinking.
It has been a continued protest against the errors Theology
has introduced, and the vicious relations it has conserved and
sanctified. It is necessary to mark this, and it can be done by
insisting and keeping distinctly evident that the aim of Secular
ism is the purity of material influences. This precludes the
possibility of Secularism being charged either with conscious
grossness or intentional sin. Secularism concerns itself with
the work of to-day. “ It is always yesterday or to-morrow,
and never to-day,”* is a fair description of life according to
theologies. Secularism,' on the contrary, concerns itself with
the things of “ to-day.”
To know
That which before us lies in daily life
Is the prime wisdom.
The cardinal idea of the “ popular Theology ” is the neces
sity of Revelation. It believes that the light of Nature is
darkness, that Reason affords no guidance, that the Scriptures
are the true chart, the sole chart, and the sufficient chart of
man, and it regards all attempts to delineate a chart of
Nature as impious, as impracticable, and as a covert attack
upon the Biblical chart in possession of the churches. Know
ing no other guidance than that of the Bible, and disbelieving
the possibility of any other, theology denounces Doubt, which
inspires it with a sense of insecurity—it fears Inquiry, which
may invalidate its trust—and deprecates Criticism, which may
expose it, if deficient. Having nothing to gain, it is reluctant
to incur risk—having all to lose, it dreads to be disturbed—
having no strength but in Faith, it fears those who Reason—
and less from ill-will than from the tenderness of its position,
it persecutes in self-defence. Such are the restrictions and the
logic of Theology.
Story of Boots, by Dickens.
�CHARACTERISTICS OF SECULARISM.
37
XI.
On the other hand, Rationalism (which is the logic of Nature )
is in attitude and spirit quite the reverse. It observes that
numbers are unconvinced of the fact of Revelation, and feel
the insufficiency, for their guidance, of that offered to them.
To them the pages of Nature seem clearer than those of the
Apostles. Reason, which existed before all Religions and
decides upon all—else the false can never be distinguished
from the true—seems self-dependent and capable of furnishing
personal direction. Hence Rationalism instructed by facts,
winning secrets by experiments, establishing principles by
reflection, is assured of a morality founded upon the laws of
Nature. Without the advantage of inductive science to assist
discoveries, or the printing press to record corroborations of
them, the Pre-Christian world created ethics, and Socrates
and Epictetus, and Zoroaster and Confucius, delivered precepts,
to which this age accords a high place. Modern Rationalists
therefore sought, with their new advantages, to augment and
systematize these conquests. They tested the claims of the
Church by the truths of Nature. That Freethought which
had won these truths applied them to creeJs, and criticism
became its weapon of Propagandism. Its consciousness of
new truth stimulated its aggression on old error. The preten
sions of reason being denied as false, and rationalists them
selves persecuted as dangerous, they had no alternative but
to criticise in order to vindicate their own principles, and
weaken the credit and power of their opponents. To attack
the misleading dogmas of Theology was to the early Free
thinkers well understood self-defence. In some hands and
under the provocations of vindictive bigotry, this work, no
doubt, became wholly antagonistic, but the main aspiration
of the majority was the determination of teaching the people
t( to be a law unto themselves.” They found prevailing a
religion of unreasoning faith. They sought to create a
religion of intelligent conviction, whose uniformity consisted
in sincerity. Its believers did not all hold the same tenets,
but they all sought the same truth and pursued it with the
same earnestness. It was this inspiration which sustained
Vanini, Hamont, Lewes, K.ett, Legate, and Wightman at the
stake, and which armed Servetus to prefer the fires of Calvin
to the. creed of Calvin, which supported Annet in the pillory,
and Woolston and Carlile in their imprisonments. It was no
«
.* /it
�38
CHARACTERISTICS OF SECULARISM.
capricious taste for negations which dictated these deliberate
sacrifices, but a sentiment purer than interest and stronger
than self-love—it was the generous passion for unfriended truth.
XII.
The intellectual, no less than the heroic characteristics of
Freethought have presented features of obvious unity. Tindal,
Shaftesbury, Voltaire, Paine, and Bentham, all vindicated
principles of Natural Morality. Shelley struggled that a pure
and lofty ideal of life should prevail, and Byron had passionate
words of reverence for the human character of Christ.
*
The
distrust of Prayer for temporal help was accompanied by trust
in Science, and all saw in material effort an available deliver
ance from countless ills which the Church can merely deplore.
Those who held that a future life was “ unproven,” taught that
attention to this life was of primary importance, at least
highly serviceable to humanity, even if a future sphere be
certain. All strove for Free Inquiry—Rationalism owed its
existence to it; all required Free Speech—Rationalism was
diffused by it; all vindicated Free Criticism—Rationalism
established itself with it; all demanded to act out their
opinions—Rationalism was denuded of conscience without this
right. In all its mutations, and aberrations, and conquests,
Freethought has uniformly sought the truth, and shown the
courage to trust the truth. Freethought uses no persecution,
for it fears no opposition, for opposition is its opportunity. It
is the cause of Enterprise and Progress, of Reason and Duty
—and now seeking the definite and the practical, it selects for
its guidance the principle that “ human affairs should be regu* Thus we read, Canto xv. stanza xviii., of Don Juan
Was it not so, great Locke ? and greater Bacon ?
Great Socrates ? And thou Diviner still
Whose lot it is by man to be mistaken,
And thy pure creed made sanctions of all ill ?
Redeeming world to be by bigots shaken,
How was thy toil rewarded ?
To this stanza Lord Byron adds this note :—
“ As it is necessary in these times to avoid ambiguity, I say that I
mean by “ Diviner still ” Christ. If ever God was man—or man God—
he was both. I never arraigned his creed, but the use—or abuse—made
of it.”
t L. H. Holdreth.
�CHARACTERISTICS OF SECULARISM.
39
lated by considerations purely human.”f These—the
characteristics which the term Secularism was designed
• to express—are therefore not inventions, not assump
tions, but the general agreements of the Freethought party,
inherent, traditional, and historic. That which is new, and of
the nature of a development, is the perception that the positiv
ism of Freethought principles should be extended, should be
clearly distinguished and made the subject of energetic
assertion—that the Freethought party which has so loudly
demanded toleration for itself, should be able to exercise it
towards all earnest thinkers, and especially towards all co
workers—that those who have protested against the isolation
of human effort by sectarian exclusiveness, should themselves
set the example of offering, in good faith, practical conditions
of unity, not for the glory of sects, or coteries, or schools, but
for the immediate service of humanity.
XIII.
The Relation of Secularism to the future demands a few
words. To seek after the purity and perfection of the Present
Life neither disproves another Life beyond this, nor disqualifies
man for it. “ Nor is Secularism opposed to the Future so far
as that Future belongs to the present world—to determine
which we have definite science susceptible of trial and verifi
cation. The conditions of a future life being unknown, and
there being no imaginable means of benefiting ourselves and
others in it except by aiming after present goodness, we shall
confessedly gain less towards the happiness of a future life by
speculation than by simply devoting ourselves to the energetic
improvement of this life.”* Men have a right to look beyond
this world, but not to overlook it. Men, if they can, may
connect themselves with eternity, but they cannot disconnect
themselves from humanity without sacrificing duty. Secular
knowledge relates to this life. Religious knowledge to
another life. Secular instruction teaches the duties to man.
Religious instruction the duties to God apart from man. Reli
gious knowledge relates to celestial creeds. Secular know
ledge relates to human duties to be performed. The religious
teacher instructs us how to please God by creeds. The Secu
lar teacher how to serve man by sympathy and science.
* F. W. Newman
�40
CHARACTERISTICS OF SECULARISM.
Archbishop Whately tells the story of a lady at Bath, who,
being- afraid to cross a tottering bridge lest it should give way
under her, fortunately bethought herself of the expedient of «
calling for a sedan chair, and was carried over in that convey
ance. Some of our critics think that we shall resemble this
ingenious lady. But those who fear to trust themselves to the
ancient and tottering Biblical bridge, will hardly get into the
sedan chair of obsolete orthodoxy, and add the weight of that
to the danger. They prefer going round by the way of
reason and fearless private judgment.
XIV.
Secularism, we have said, concerns itself with four rights:—
1. The right to Think for one’s self, which most Christians
now admit, at least in theory.
2. The right to Differ, without which the right to think is
nothing worth.
3. The right to Assert difference of opinion, without which
the right to differ is of no practical use.
4. The right to Debate all vital opinion, without which
there is no intellectual equality—no defence against the errors
of the state or the pulpit.
It is of no use that the Protestant concedes the right to think
unless he concedes the right to differ. We may as well be
Catholic unless we are free to dissent. Rome will concede
our right to think for ourselves, provided we agree with the
Church when we have done; and when Protestantism affects
to award us the right of private judgment, and requires us to
agree with the thirty-nine Articles in the end—or when Evan
gelical Ministers tell us we are free to think for ourselves, but
must believe in the Bible nevertheless, both parties reason on the
Papist principle; both mock us with a show of freedom, and
impose the reality of mental slavery upon us. It is mere irony
to say “ Search the Scriptures,” when the meaning is—you
must accept the Scriptures whether they seem true or not.
Of the temper in which theological opinions ought to be
formed, we have the instruction of one as eminent as he was
capable. Jefferson remarks, “ In considering this subject,
divest yourself of all bias, shake off all fears and servile pre
judices, under which weak minds crouch: fix reason in her
�CHARACTERISTICS OF SECULARISM.
41
seat firmly; question with boldness, even the existence of God ;
because, if there be one, he must approve the homage of
reason more than that of blindfolded fear. Read the Bible as
you would Tacitus or Livy. Those facts in the Bible which
contradict the laws of Nature must be examined with care.
The New Testament is the history of a person called Jesus.
Keep in your eye what is related. They say he was begotten
by God, but born of a virgin (how reconcile this ?) ; that he
was crucified to death, and buried ; that he rose and ascended
bodily into heaven: thus reversing the laws of Nature. Do
not be frightened from this inquiry by any fear, and if it ends
in a belief that the story is not true, or that there is not a God,
you will find other incitements to virtue and goodness. In
fine, lay aside all prejudices on both sides, neither believe nor
reject anything because others have rejected or disbelieved it.
Your reason is the only oracle given you by heaven, and you
are answerable, not for the rightness, but for the uprightness
of your opinion ; and never mind evangelists, or pseudo-evan
gelists, who pretend to inspiration.”* It is in vain the Chris
tian quotes the Pauline injunction, “Prove all things; hold
fast that which is good,” if we are to hold fast to his good,
which may be evil to us. For a man to prove all things need
ful, and hold fast to that which he considers good, is the true
maxim of freedom and progress. Secularism, therefore, proclaims and justifies the right to Differ, and the right to assert
conscientious difference on the platform, through the press, in
civil institutions, in Parliament, in courts of law, where it
demands that the affirmation of those who reject Christi
anity shall be as valid as the oath of those who accept it.
XV.
Yet some opponents have professed that Secular cannot be
distinguished from Christian rights. Is this so ? The right to
think for ourselves has been emphatically and reiteratedly
declared to be a Christian right ;f it “ belongs essentially to
Christianity.” Now Christianity has no such right. It has the
right to think the Bible true, and nothing else. The Christian
* “Jefferson : Memoirs.” Vol. II. Quoted by Sir G. Cockbum, in his
“ Confessions of Faith, by a Philosopher,” pages 4 and 5.
f “ Six Chapters on Secularism,” by Dr. Parker, Cavendish Pulpit,
Manchester.
�42
CHARACTERISTICS OF SECULARISM.
has no right to think Christianity untrue, however untrue it
may appear. He dare not think it false. He dare no more
think it false than the Catholic dare differ from the dictum of
the Church, or the Mahomedan differ from the text of the
Koran, or the Hindoo differ from the precepts of the
■Brahmin. Therefore, the Christian’s right to think for himself
is simply a compulsion, to believe. A right implies relative
freedom of action; but the Christian has no freedom. He has no
choice but to believe, or perish everlastingly. The Christian
right to think for himself is, therefore, not the same as the
Secular right. We mean by the right to think, what the
term right always implies—freedom and independence, and
absence of all crime, or danger of penalty through the honest
exercise of thought and maintenance of honest conclusions,
whether in favour of or against Christianity. Our assertion is
that “Private judgment is free and guiltless.” The Christian
is good enough to say, we have “ a right to think, provided
we think rightly.” But what dofes he mean by “ rightly ?”
He means that we should think as he thinks. This is his
interpretation of “ rightly.” Whoever does not fall in with
his views, is generally, in his vocabulary, a dishonest perverter
of scripture. Now, if we really have the right to differ, we
have the right to differ from the Minister or from the Bible, if
we see good reason to do so, without being exposed to the
censure of our neighbours, or disapprobation of God. The
question is not—does man give us the right to think for our
selves ? but, does God give it to us ? If we must come to a
given opinion, our private judgment is unnecessary. Let us
know at once what we are to believe, that we may believe
it at once, and secure safety. If possible disbelief in Chris
tianity will lead to eternal perdition, the right of private
judgment is a snare. We had better be without that perilous
privilege, and we come to regard the Roman Catholic as
penetrative when he paints private judgment as the suggestion
of Satan, and the Roman Catholic no less merciful than con
sistent when he proscribes it altogether. We must feel
astonishment at him who declares the Secular right to be
essentially a Christian right, when it is quite a different
thing, is understood in an entirely different sense, and has
an application unknown and unadmitted by Christianity.
This is not merely loose thinking, it is reckless thinking.
�CHARACTERISTICS OF SECULARISM.
43
XVI.
It has been asserted that the second right, “ the right to
differ,” is also a Christian right. “ Christianity recognizes the
claim to difference of opinion. Christians are not careful to
maintain uniformity at the expense of private judgment.”
This is omitting a part of the truth. Christians often permit
difference of opinion upon details, but not upon essentials, and
this is the suppression made. The Christian may differ on
points of church discipline, but if he differ upon the essential
articles of his creed, the minister at once warns him that he
is in “danger of the judgment.” Let any minister try it him
self, and his congregation will soon warn him to depart, and
also warn him of that higher Power, who will bid him depart
“ into outer darkness, where there will be wailing and gnashing
of teeth.” With respect to the third right, “ the right of asserting
difference of opinion,” this is declared to be not peculiar to
Secularism ; that “ Christian churches, chapels, literature and
services, are so many confirmations of the statement that
Christians claim the right of speaking wliat they think,
whether it be affirmative or negative.” Yes, so long as what
they speak agrees with the Bible. This is the Christian limit;
yet this is the limit which Secularism expressly passes and
discards. It is the unfettered right which makes Secularism
to differ from Christianity, and to excel it.
XVII.
The right of private judgment, always in set terms conceded
to us, means nothing, unless it leads to a new understanding
as to the terms in which we are to be addressed. In the
“ Bible and the People,” it is described as “ an insolence to
ignore Christianity.”* We do not understand this language.
It would be insolence to Deity to ignore a message which we
can recognize as coming from Him, but it may rather imply
reverence for God to reject the reports of many who speak in
His name. Were we to require Christians to read our books
or think as we think, they would resent the requirement as an
impertinence; and we have yet to learn that it is less an
impertinence when Christians make these demands of us. If
Christians are under no obligation to hold our opinions,
neither are we under obligation to hold theirs. By our own
* No. I. Vol. I., p. 8. Edited by the Rev. Brewin Grant.
�44
CHARACTERISTICS OF SECULARISM.
act, or at their solicitation, we may study “ sacred ” writing’s,
but at dictation, never ! So long- as Secularists obey the laws
enacted for the common security, so long as they perform the
duties of good citizens, it is nothing to Christians what opinions
they hold. We neither seek their counsel nor desire their
sentiments—except they concede them on terms of equality.
The light by which we walk is sufficient for us; and as at
the last day, of which Christians speak, we shall there have,
according to their own showing, to answer for ourselves, we
prefer to think for ourselves; and since they do not propose
to take our responsibility, we decline to take their doctrines.
Where we are to be responsible, we will be free; and no man
shall dictate to us the opinions we shall hold. We shall
probably know as well as any Christian how to live with
freedom and to die without fear. It is in vain for Christians
to tell us that Newton and Locke differed from us. What is
that to us unless Newton and Locke will answer for us ? The
world may differ from a man, but what is the world to him,
unless it will take his place at the judgment-day ? Who is
Paul or Apollos, or Matthew or Mark, that we should venture
our eternal salvation on his word, any more than on that of a
Mahomedan prophet, or a Buddhist priest ? Where the dan
ger is our own, the faith shall be pur own. Secularism is not
an act conceived in the spirit of pride, or vanity, or self-will,
or eccentricity, or singularity, or stiff-neckedness. It is simply
well-understood self-defence. If men have the right of
private judgment, that right has set them free; and we own
no law but reason, no limits but the truth, and have no fear
but that of guilt. We may say we believe in honour, which
is respecting the truth—in morality, which is acting the truth
—in love, which is serving the truth—and in independence,
which is defending the truth.
XVIII.
Confucius declared that the foundation of all religion wa’s
reverence and obedience.
*
The Religious sentiment is the
intentional reverence of God. The Christian is ever persuaded
that there is only one way of doing this, and he arrogantly
assumes that he has that way. Whereas the ways are as
* Sir John Bowring.
�CHARACTERISTICS OF SECULARISM.
45
diverse as human genius. Let those who deny that Secular
Truth meets' the emotional part of their nature, settle what is
the nature of the emotions they desiderate. The miser wants
money—the sensualist wants the cook—the scholar wants
knowledge—and the mother desires the life, growth, and
happiness of her child. But what can man want in a rational
sense which Nature and humanity may not supply ? Do we not
meet the demand of the many when we show that Secularism
is sufficient for progress; that it is moral, and therefore suffi
cient for trust; that it builds only upon the known, and is
therefore reliable ? It is the highest and most unpresumptuous
form of unconscious worship. It is practical reverence without
the arrogance of theoretical homage. We at least feel con
fident of this, that the future, if it come, will not be miserable.
, There may be a future—this remains to awaken interest and
perennial curiosity. If Nature be conscious, it will still design
the happiness of man, which it now permits—this assurance
remains, stilling fear and teaching trust.
XIX.
In surveying the position of Christianism in Great Britain,
there is found to exist a large outlying class, daily increasing,
who for conscientious reasons reject its cardinal tenets. Hence
arises the question :—Are good citizenship and virtuous life on
Secular principles, possible to these persons ? Secularism
answers, Yes. To these, excluded by the letter of scripture,
by the narrowness of churches, by the intrinsic error and
moral repulsiveness of doctrine, Secularism addresses itself;
to these it is the word of Recognition, of Concert and Morality.
It points them to an educated conscience as a security of
morals, to the study of Nature as a source of help, and seeks
to win the indifferent by appeals to the inherent goodness of
human Nature and the authority of reason, which Christianism
cannot use and dare not trust. If, however, the Secularist
elects to walk by the light of Nature, will he be able to see ?
Is the light of Nature a fitful lamp, or a brief torch, which
accident may upset, or a gust extinguish ? On the contrary,
the light of Nature may burn steady, clear, and full, over the
entire field of human life. On this point we have the testi
mony of an adversary, who was understood to address us,
a testimony as remarkable for its quality as for its felicity of
*
expression:—“ There is the ethical mind, calm, level, and clear;
�46
CHARACTERISTICS OF SECULARISM.
chiefly'intent on the good ordering of this life; judging all things
by their tendency to this end, and impatient of every oscillation
of our nature that swings beyond it. There is nothing low or
unworthy in the attachment which keeps this spirit close to
the present world, and watchful for its affairs. It is not a
selfish feeling, but often one intensely social and humane, not
any mean fascination with mere material interests, but a
devotion to justice and right, and an assertion of the sacred
authority of human duties and affections. A man thus tempered
deals chiefly with this visible life and his comrades in it,
because, as nearest to him, they are better known. He plants
his standard on the present, as on a vantage ground, where
he can survey his field, and manoeuvre all his force, and com
pute the battle he is to fight. Whatever his bearings fervours
towards beyond his range, he has no insensibility to the claims
that fall within his acknowledged province, and that appeal to
him in the native speech of his humanity. He so reverences
veracity, honour, and good faith, as to expect them like the
daylight, and hears of their violation with a flush of scorn.
His word is a rock, and he expects that yours will not be a
quicksand. If you are lax, you cannot hope for his trust; but
if you are in trouble, you easily move his pity. And the sight
of a real oppression, though the sufferer be no ornamental
hero, but black, unsightly, and disreputable, suffices perhaps
to set him to work for life, that he may expunge the disgrace
from the records, of mankind. Such men as he constitute for
our world its moral centre of gravity; and whoever would
compute the path of improvement that has brought it thus far
on its way, or trace its sweep into a brighter future, must take
account of their steady mass. The effect of this style of thought
and taste on the religion of its possessor, is not difficult to
trace. It may, no doubt, stop short of avowed and conscious
religion altogether; its basis being simply moral, and its scene
temporal, its conditions may be imagined as complete, without
any acknowledgment of higher relations.”*
XX.
Nature is, That which is, is the primary subject of study.
The study of Nature reveals the laws of Nature. The laws of
* Professor Martineau, in Octagon Chapel, Norwich, 1856.
�CHARACTERISTICS OF SECULARISM.
47
Nature furnish safe guidance to humanity. Safe guidance is
to help available in daily life—to happiness, self-contained—
to service, which krjows how “to labour and to wait.” For
authority, Nature refers us to Experience and to Reason. For
help, to Science, the nearest available help of man. Science
implies disciplined powers on the part of the people, and con
cert in their use, to realize the security and sufficiency neces
sary to happiness. Happiness depends on moral, no less
than on physical conditions. The moral condition is the full
and fearless discharge of Duty. Duty is devotion to the
Right. Right is that which is morally expedient. That is
morally expedient which is conducive to the happiness of the
greatest numbers. The service of others is the practical form
of -duty; and endurance in the service of others, the highest,
form of happiness. It is pleasure, peace, security, and desert.
XXL
We believe there is sufficient soundness in Secular principles
to make way in the world. All that is wanted is that advocates
of them shall have clear notions of the value of method in their
work. To the novice in advocacy policy seems a crime—at
least, many so describe it. Unable himself to see his way, the
tyro fights at everything and everybody equally; and too
vain to own his failure, he declares that the right way. Not
knowing that progress is an art, and an art requiring the
union of many qualities, he denies all art, cries down policy,
and erects blundering into a virtue. Compare the way which
Havelock reached Lucknow, and the way in which Sir Colin
Campbell performed the same feat, and you see the difference
between courage without, and courage with' strategy. It
was because magnitudes existed, which were inaccessible
and incapable of direct measurement, that mathematics arose.
Finding direct measurement so often impossible, men were
compelled to find means of ascertaining magnitude and distance
indirectly. Hence mathematics became a scientific policy.
Mathematics is but policy of measurement—grammar but the
policy of speech—logic but the policy of reason—arithmetic
but the policy of calculation—temperance’ but the policy of
health-—trigonometry but the policy of navigation—roads but
the policy of transit—music but the policy of controlling
sound—art but the policy of beauty—law but the policy of
protection—discipline but the policy of strength—love but the
�48
CHARACTERISTICS OF SECULARISM.
policy of affection. An enemy may object to our having- a
policy, because it suits his purpose that we should be without
one; but that a friend should object to our having- a policy
is one of those incredible infatuations which converts partisans
into unconscious traitors. The policy adopted may be a bad
policy, and no policy at all is idiotcy. If a policy be bad,
criticise and amend it; but to denounce all policy is to com
mit your cause to the providence of Bedlam. If, therefore,
throughout all intelligent control of Nature and humanity,
policy is the one supreme mark of wisdom, why should it
be dishonourable to study the policy of opinion ? He who con
sistently objects to policy, would build railway engines without
safety valves, and dismiss them from stations without drivers;
he would abolish turnpike roads and streets, and leave us
to find our way at random; he would recommend that
vessels be made without helms, and sail without captains,
that armies fight without discipline, and artillery-men should
fire before loading, and when pointing their guns, should aim
at nothing. In fine, a man without policy, honestly and intelli
gently opposed to policy, would build his house with the roof
downwards, and plant his trees with their roots in the air; he
would kick his friend and hug his enemy; he would pay wages
to servants who would not work, govern without rule, speak
without thought, think without reason, act without purpose, be
a knave by accident, and a fool by design.
�INDEX.
PAGE.
Action, Secular and Theological
Affirmative Policy......................
Association, its Maxims..............
Atheists, angry origin of the term
Atheistic maxim of Loyola .......
33
33
16
9
30
PAGE.
Future, the, separated but not
prejudged ............... 39
Guides of the Secularist ........... 11
Guild, Secular.............................. 18
„ its uses in Foreign countries 20
Bond of Union .......................... 17
Heresy no sin, Blanco White,
Branch of the Secular Guild,
upon..................................
defined........................... 24
Byron Lord, his passionate
Imputation of motives ...............
Christianism ............... 3g Inferior natures, religious duty
towards them...............
Characteristics of Secularism ... 27
Christian rights.......................... 42 Infidel, an imputative term .......
„
distinguished
from Secular rights
Comte on prevision ,.................
Controversy, new tone of...........
Conscience higher than con
sequence..................
Controversy, sphere of ...............
„
personal..................
Construction of conduct...............
Conventionality..........................
Degrees of progress ..................
Distinction between Secular
Instruction and Secularism
Emotional nature, its variety ...
Ethical life, Professor Martineau’s
view..........................
Features of the Future ...............
Fleet Street Secular Institute ...
Freethinking, true-thinking .......
32
34
13
9
Jefferson, on boldness of inquiry 41
43 Justification of Controversy....... 15
29
8 Knowledge, a remunerative
investment............... 29
12 Laws of Secular Controversy ... 14
15 Legitimate topics of Secular
15
Societies .................. 34
34 Limits of Imputation................... 21
9
35 Loose-thinking .......
12
Maxims of association ............... 16
Martineau Harriet, on the term
5
Secularism ............... 8
45 Membership, diversities of ........ 23
Method, material and spiritual... 36
46 Mill, J. S. on originality ............ 35
45 Morality, its independence of
theology ........................ 28
18
36 Neckar’s maxim............................ 29
�50
INDEX.
PAGE.
Newman, Dr. J. IT. on organiz
ation.............................. 5
Objects of Secular Guild ...........
Open questions ..........................
Organization of ideas.................
„
indicated...............
Outlying classes..........................
19
33
18
21
45
Persistence in Opinion ............... 2
Personal duty.............................. 16
Place of Secularism ................... 25
Positivism, its subjects of study 29
Policy, its Secular necessity... 47-48
Private judgment absolute ... 43-44
Principles of Secularism defined 11
Public duty.................................. 16
Qualities of new members........... 21
„
of active members....... 23
Rationalism, its securities...........
Reason, its self-dependence .......
Religiousness, its moral meaning
Revelation, its absolute chart ...
Rights of Reason .....................
Ruskin, on the morality of
realism..........................
37
37
12
36
14
30
Science, its social problem ....... 12
Secularism, its relative influence 25
„
persons whom it
addresses.................. 25
„
compared with Chris
tianity ...................... 26
„
the sum of Freethought agreements 38
Secularity, its line of demarcation 27
Sincerity defined..... v.............. ... 12
„
distinguished from in
fallibility .................. 30
Sincerity distinguished from sin 31
Spiritualism, the sensualism of
the soul .................. 30
Standard of appeal...................... 14
Summary of Secularism.............. 47
Term Secularism, not a disguise 9
Trustworthiness of Candidates..- 22
Utilitarian action ...................... 33
Various terms of Freethought ... 10
Vow of principle, its nature..... 35
Written speeches ...................... 24
�THE
REASONER
(ESTABLISHED 1846.)
Advocates the Free Search., Free Utterance, Free Criticism, the
Free Action of Secular Principles.
REVIEW
SERIES.
[The following extracts are given as the only independent means of indicating to
strangers and Christian readers (who commonly have prepossessions that the advocacy
of Freethought must be outrage and sin) the spirit in which it has been the endeavour
of the Editor to conduct the heasoner—the title of which does not assume perfection in
reasoning, but is merely a sign that principles and criticisms will, by preference, be
urged upon grounds of reason. For as Professor Martineau observes, “ In every en
deavour to elevate ourselves above reason, we are seeking to rise beyond the atmosphere,
with wings which cannot soar but by beating the air.” Of the remarks which follow,
the chief, it will be seen, must apply to contributors.]
“The Reasoner . . . edited by G. J. Holyoake, is written with considerable
ability, and conducted with no small amount of tact. It addresses itself to that large
and constantly increasing class in English society—the class of artizans; men who de
mand to be dealt with logically. The Reasoner is calm, affectedly dispassionate, im
personal ; piques itself upon being scrupulously exact in its statement of facts, rigorous
in its inductions, and charitable and tolerant in its judgment. This air, which seems
partly real, is eminently calculated to prepossess its readers with the idea of its strength
and' firmness. Its conductors are by no means common-place men. There is evidently
a great deal of ability in them. Such men may not be dispised, nor their doings over
looked. The writers of the other works which we have classed with this have no object
beyond the miserable pittance which their labour brings them. These men have a
creed. They apparently have principles, too, at stake.”—Daily News, Nov. 2, 1848.
“The adoption of the term Secularism is justified by its including a large number
of persons who are not Atheists, and uniting them for action which has Secularism for
its object, and not Atheism. On this ground, and because, by the adoption of a new
term, a vast amount of impediment from prejudice is got rid of, the use of the name
Secularism is found advantageous; but it in no way interferes with Mr. Holyoake’s
profession of his own unaltered views on the subject of a First Cause. As I am writing
this letter, I may just say, for myself, that I constantly and eagerly read Mr.
Holyoake’s writings, though many of them are on subjects—or occupied with stages of
subjects—that would not otherwise detain me, because I find myself morally the better
for the influence of the noble spirit of the man; for the calm courage, the composed
temper, the genuine liberality, and unremitting justice with which he treats all manner
of persons, incidents, and topics. I certainly consider the conspicious example of Mr.
Holyoake’s kind of heroism to be one of our popular educational advantages at this
time.”— Harriet Martineau. Letter. to Uoyd Garrison, editor of the Liberator,
Boston, U.S., Nov. 1, 1853.
“ You inform me that the Reasoner is to be enlarged into a political magazine, and
you ask my permission to insert in it, as Political Fragments,various articles which have
already appeared from my pen in provincial newspapers or elsewhere. In giving you
full permission to make your own selection, and authorising you to tell the public that
you have that permission, I think it due to you to put on record why I most cordialy
accede to your request. It is because I think you so remarkably unite the two qualities
—uncompromising hostility to false or unjust systems, and a tender and just allowance
for the men who carry on those systems—that I rejoice in your becoming a political
spokesman for English operatives, who are too often carried away by violent invective
against persons—invective which always fails to effect reform. I know you to be a
reasonable man as well as a “ reasoner,” and though I do not entirely go along with
jtour politics any more than with your anti-theology, yet I have a deep belief in your
moral soundness; and the want of this is, after all, our greatest national weakness.—
Professor Newman, March 8, 1855. Reasoner, No. 459.
�“1. I do not know any other man who so consistently vindicates the right of every
opinion to its own free utterance. 2. I do not know any other man who is so un
swervingly firm in paying a candid, courteous, and painstaking attention to the state
ment of opinions opposed to his own.”—Thornton Leigh Hunt, Aug. 23, 1858.
“ You are welcome to any writing or fragment of mine, which you may wish to re
print for the Reasoner. Thought, according to me, is, as soon as publicly uttered, the
property of all, not an individual one. In this special case, it is with true pleasure
that I give the the consentment you ask for. The deep esteem I entertain for your
personal character, for your sincere love of truth, perseverance, and nobly tolerant
habits, makes me wish to do more; and time and events allowing, I shall. But,
whilst gladly granting your kind request, I feel bound in my turn to address one to you,
and it is to grant me the selection of the two first fragments. They will shield my own
individuality against all possible misinterpretations, and state at once the limits within
which we commune; these limits are political and moral, not philosophical. We pur
sue the same; progressive improvement, association, transformation of the corrupted
medium in which we are now living, overthrow of all idolatries, shams, lies and conventialities. We both want man to be, not the poor, passive, cowardly, phantasma
goric unreality of the actual time, thinking in one way and acting in another; bending
to power which he hates and despises; carrying empty popish, or thirty-nine article
formulas on his brow and none within ; but a fragment of the living truth, a real in
dividual being linked to collective humanity, the bold seeker of things to.come; the
gentle, mild, loving, yet firm, uncompromising, inexorable apostle of all that is just
and heroic, the Priest, the Poet, and the Prophet. We widely differ as to the how
and why.”—Joseph Mazzini, June 8, 1855. Reasoner, No. 472.
“ Here we have before us a weekly publication, written with an ability superior to
that displayed by the majority of English provincial journals, which has been regularly
issued for the last nine years, and yet the name of which is now for the first time men
tioned to the Indian reader. It is an unstamped journal, containing nothing that can
legally be taken as news, but enforcing with all the regularity and power of a wellconducted newspaper, a certain defined set of opinions. These opinions are, in regard
to politics, democratic to the extent of being socialistic; and in regard to religion (for
religion is discussed in the columns of this journal) rationalistic to the extent of being
atheistic. The conductors of this journal openly avow their objects to be—1. To test
religion by reason, to which in these days the most advanced churches appeal. 2. To
found public action on secular principles—which, being based on experience, all men
are enabled to judge them; and being unsectarian, all liberal men can unite about
them. 3. To train the working class to take part in public affairs, English and foreign;
developing the ability of self-government, personal, local, and national; cultivating
sentiments of inflexible truth, justice, and good-will; because a people in such respects
self-consistent may, by vigilantly contrasting the conduct of their rulers with the pre
cepts they deliver to the people, force them into integrity, or shame them into privacy.’ ’
— Hindoo Patriot, June 28, 1855.
“ I am not fond of substituting authorities for arguments, and there is only one other
witness I will call. There are many members of this house, and many more of the
working classes, who are familiar with the name of Mr. Holyoake. He is chiefly known
in connection with philosophical speculations of an unpopular character, and also as
warmly and earnestly sympathising with the cause of democratic institutions in Europe.
No one is a more fitting representative in that respect of the feelings of that section of
the working class which interests itself most strongly in politics. Mr. Holyoake may
fairly be taken to represent the feelings of persons of extreme political opinions, and it
is with his political opinions alone with which I have to do.”—Speech of Lord Stanley,
House of Commons, Miarch 21, 1859. Vide The Times, March 22.
“ Who can tell us anything about the working man ? Are they the mere dupes of
interested leaders, as men of Mr. Bright’s order invariably assure us <vhen they have
to contend with strikes and labour leagues? Are they anxious for nothing but
relief from taxation? Are they brimful of undeveloped energies, as Mr. Kingsley
seems to think; or running over with potential religious unction, as our High Church
lady novelists insinuate in multitudinous single volumes; Do they believe in Mr. Ernest
Jones as they believed in Mr. Feargus O’Conner ? Do they listen to such instructors as
Mr. Holyoake, as Lord Stanley hinted to the House of Commons, not without some
facts to back him ?—The Saturday Review, March 26, 1859.
�
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A collection of digitised nineteenth-century pamphlets from Conway Hall Library & Archives. This includes the Conway Tracts, Moncure Conway's personal pamphlet library; the Morris Tracts, donated to the library by Miss Morris in 1904; the National Secular Society's pamphlet library and others. The Conway Tracts were bound with additional ephemera, such as lecture programmes and handwritten notes.<br /><br />Please note that these digitised pamphlets have been edited to maximise the accuracy of the OCR, ensuring they are text searchable. If you would like to view un-edited, full-colour versions of any of our pamphlets, please email librarian@conwayhall.org.uk.<br /><br /><span><img src="http://www.heritagefund.org.uk/sites/default/files/media/attachments/TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" width="238" height="91" alt="TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" /></span>
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The principles of secularism illustrated
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Edition: 3rd rev. ed.
Place of publication: London
Collation: 50 p. ; 18 cm.
Notes: Contains bibliographical references and index. Illustrations at the head of chapter headings. Extracts of reviews of The Reasoner, from various sources, on unnumbered pages at the end.
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Holyoake, George Jacob
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Austin & Co.
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1870
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Secularism
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Secularism
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isro.j
The Fourth of September
way from the palace-gate at Peking to
the chief -yvharf at T’hoong Chow—
eighteen miles; and it has been made
“ for the nonce,” that the young Empe
ror may accompany to the boat the rec
ords of his father’s reign, which have
been transcribed into Manchoorian, and
are to be sent in state to Tartary._
Well, that seems to cap the climax 1
Such a road can be made for such a
purpose; but the highways of the na
tion, the people's roads and canals, can
not be kept in moderate repair 1 Let
us escape! “ Hire, dear friend, true
Caledonian master of the dialects, hire
for us the first boat you can secure, and
let us float away down this stream,
muddy in itself, but charming in our
eyes because it carries us away from a
place where we have been more perma
nently provoked, and less instructed
and entertained, than at any other spot
on earth, Aden, perhaps, excepted.”
in
Paris.
553
Easief said than done. A vociferous
negotiation with two boat-owners; a
persistent struggle of two hours’ con
tinuance, to get clear of the crust and
crowd of a hundred junks or more
jammed up in the narrow stream; a
final success and a joyful liberation, so
that we could seat ourselves quietly un
der our pent-house cabins, and feel that
we were quietly and constantly nearing
the outlet to our discomforts. And so
we went on, float, float, floating down
the stream, with two men lazily scull
ing, or two others slowly tracking our
boat round the countless bends of this
uninteresting water-course. It takes
four days to ascend the stream, but two
days and nights brought us to Tien
tsin, and on board an American steam
er again. Never enjoyed any thing
more, in all my life-time, than to re
embark on this symbol of a new order
of things.
*
THE FOURTH OF SEPTEMBER IN PARIS.
FAMILIAR LETTER FROM A YOUNG AMERICAN.
Paris, Sept. 4th, 1870.
Nous l’avons la RSpublique.” Like a
man who awakes from a long night
I write the date to my letter with mare, and, relieved from the weight that
precision, for it is a great day.
pressed him down and stifled him, gives
I have heard the Republic proclaimed himself up to the joy of living, of breath
in Paris!
ing, though but a moment. “ Enfin,
Proclaimed in the face of the news of j’ai bien un jour pleinement.” I hav§
the overwhelming defeat of the French, heard men say, “ je suis pret a; mourir
the destruction of MacMahon’s army, demain s’il le faut.”
the capture of the Emperor, the threat
“ Ich habe genossen das erdliche Gluck,
ened march of the Prussians upon Paris.
Ich habe geliebt et gelebt!”
France, humiliated by invasion, out
raged by Prussian barbarities, beaten,
But I will relate in detail what has
driven back, betrayed, almost ruined, passed. The French authorities, carry
France, or at least Paris, gives itself ing out their system of treating the
up, not to panic, but to a perfect out people like a set of babies, have shroud
burst of joy, to the jubilation of a fete- ed all military operations in mystery;
day. It crowns the statue of Strasbourg for at least two weeks there has been
with flowers, it promenades on the no official news from the front, and all
Place de la Concorde, the Rue de Rivoli, newspaper or private intelligence strictly
before the Hotel de Ville, as if to salute forbidden. They do not even publish
the return of a triumphant army. It lists of the killed and wounded! So for
forgets Prussia, it forgets even the Em some time we have only known that
peror, it is wild with delight, crying, the army of Bazaine was shut up in
“ Vive la Republique, a toi -citoyen. Metz, completely surrounded by a great
My Dear Father :
�554
Putnam’s Magazine.
ellipse of the Prussian armies, while
MacMahon, with 100,000 men, was
directed to the Ardennes, intending to
sweep round by the Belgian frontier, and
effect a junction with Bazaine. Stras
bourg resists one bombardment, Toul
another. Alsatia and Lorraine are pil
laged without resistance by the Prussian
soldiers and the Badois peasants,
Chalons evacuated, the Garde Mobile
withdrawn towards Paris, the National
Guards armed, but everywhere hindered
by the jealousy of the Government, who
forbids guns, organization, every thing,
any thing. Better a thousand times lose
France to the Prussians, than save it to
the Republicans; on the other hand the
people replied with the soldiers, “Chassons les Prussians d’abord, mais nous
regions nos comptes aprbs.”
Great confidence was felt in MacMahon’s army. Last Sunday, the 29th,
it was understood that fighting had be
gun in the Ardennes, it was impossible
to know with what result. Towards the
middle of the week we began to receive
the Prussian telegrams, announcing a
victory—in the absence of the slightest
information on their own side. (When
the Corps LSgislatif called on Palikao,
the Minister of "War, to explain how
matters stood, he replied curtly that he
did not mean to be bothered any more
with answering questions.)
The Paris journals interpreted these
telegrams as they best could. On Thurs
day the Gaulois published an elaborate
article to prove that the Prussians had
only defeated a small detachment of
MacMahon’s army, left on purpose to
amuse them, and cover the retreat of the
main body across the Meuse.
On Friday, MacMahon was wounded,
half his army put hors de combat, the
other half, forty thousand men, surren
dered with the town of Sedan, and the
valiant Emperor, hastening to salute his
destiny, had given himself up prisoner to
the King of Prussia. Having plunged
the country into the war, betrayed its
cause and its resources, defeated, it is
said, by his obstinate incapacity this very
campaign of MacMahon, the savior of
France, true to the traditions of the
[Nov.
Bonapartes, had no thought paramount
to the desire of saving himself, and sur
rendered to the Prussians, from whom he
expected more consideration than from
the enraged Frenchmen. So perishes a
harlequin, and all his paraphernalia of
Empire collapses as suddenly as a wind
bag pricked by a pin. One thinks of
Carlyle’s description of the death of
Louis XV, and all Du Barrydom packing
its trunks in the antechamber, ready to
whisk off to the infinite nothing whence
it had emerged, leaving a strong smell
of sulphur behind it.
The news was only transmitted to
Paris Saturday afternoon. At the ses
sion of the Corps LSgislatif, Palikao
announced reverses, but not the whole
truth : perhaps he did not know it. An
extraordinary session was convoked for
the night, and the House assembled at
twelve o’clock. There Palikao declared
the situation, and it was noticeable that
the captivity of the Emperor was passed
over as an unimportant incident in the
general disaster. He concluded his re
port, significantly enough, by admitting
that the council of ministers had no
suggestion to offer in the extreme gravity
of the situation. Upon that Jules Favre,
quite simply, as if taking up the reins of
power that the agonizing empire had
let fall, pronounced the famous res lution for the dechSance of Louis Napoleon
Bonaparte and his dynasty. “ His words
were received by a profound silence,”
said the Figaro, who, already prepared
to greet the rising sun, had turned its
back on the Empire, and forgotten to
criticize the “ mauvais esprit” of this
resolution emanating from the Left Wing.
Of all the Right, only one voice was
raised to defend the old regime. Pinard,
deputy from the North, observed, “We
have not the right to proclaim the dtichSance.”
Nobody paid any attention to this ob
servation. Jules Favre, “ out of pity
for the nakedness of the situation of the
Right,” says La Cloclie, proposed to ad
journ consideration of his proposition
till the next morning, and the session
closed. “ This scrupule alone,” continues
La Cloche, “ saved the Empire from
�1870.]
The Fourth
of
September isr Paris.
being condemned, like the royalty, in
the night.”
All night the wildest rumors circu
lated through Paris, which was over
whelmed with consternation at the dis
aster, coming after such confident pre
dictions of victory. I went to the
hospital in the morning, and M. Bernutz, the chief, came to the ward in
such a state of prostration as was really
pitiful to see. He seemed literally over
whelmed, and quite incapable of making
the visit, or examining the new patients.
Only one thing roused him, and showed
the ruling passion strong in death, or
despair. A patient remarked that she
had been formerly treated by M. Nouat,
an old rival of Bernutz in his own
specialty; at that he brightened up to
retort vivaciously, “Oh, if M. Nouat
has cured you it is a proof that you
were not very ill I ”—a remark which
greatly disgusted the patient.
Returned to the R----- s. I found al
ready another current of ideas upper
most. For them, the defeat of Mac
Mahon was a fact primed by that of the
captivity of the Emperor, and of the
proposition for the dechgance. Every
one was rushing to the Place de la Con
corde in front of the Corps Lggislatif;
my little American friends and myself
took a carriage and rushed also.
AVe arrived at half-past one; the af
fair had already been decided.
At
noon the crowd had begun to gather,
and found the bridge leading from the
Place to the Corps Lggislatif guarded by
sergeants de ville, supported by a double
line of municipal guards—the regular
army. The crowd grew more and more
dense, and, emboldened by the conscious
ness of the National Guard behind them,
(which had only just been armed), called
upon the policemen to surrender. At
this moment the crowd was unarmed,
the National Guard nowhere in sight;
but, on -the other hand, the policemen
felt the dissolution of all the powers
above them ; they had no word of com
mand, they knuckled under completely,
gave way, melted into invisibility. As
a proof of fraternization, they lighted
[Cigars, and patting the blouses friendlily
555
on the back, declared themselves their
best friends, “ honnStes gens, bons Rgpublicains.” “ Allez-vous-en, changez vos
habits, nous n’avons pas de casse-tgtes,
nous autres,” was the reply. The ad
vice was followed; by one o’clock not a
policeman was to be seen in Paris.
The soldiers of the Municipal were
even more easily vanquished. The crowd
put out feelers and talked with them.
An officer rode up on horseback. “ Vous
savez,” dit-il, “vous n’avez rien b
craindre de nous,” and with that the
second barrier melted away like the
first, the foot-soldiers mingled with the
crowd, the cavalry moved from in front
of the bridge, and the people rushed over.
The building itself was surrounded by
the National Guard. But they reversed
their guns, “ mettaient la crosse en air,”
as a signal that they intended no firing,
and the crowd ran up the steps, precipi
tated itself into the antechambers, and
awaited the arrival of the Deputies that
were to decide the fate of the nation—
fate already decided.
The President, Schneider, came out
and made a speech. His voice was
drowned in the tumult. “ Allez-vousen, allez-vous-en, nous n’avons pas
besoin de vous.” Deputies of the Right
tried to make a stand. “Allez-vousen,” was the pitiless cry. “ Vous avez
perdu la France,” cried E---- - R----- .
“ Laissons-nous la sauver,” and they de
camped one after another. One old
fellow tried the heroic style; opening
his coat, he placed his hands on his ex
panse of waistcoat, “ J’ofire mon corps
it vos coups,” he declaimed, “ vieille
charogne,” (old carcass.) “ Vous n’avons
pas besoin de vous.” And he made
tracks also.
Finally some members of the Left
tried to persuade the people to leave.
“ The House is about to deliberate on
the gravest questions; we wish to pro
claim the dgchgance, but in order.”
“ Ge n’est pas assez la dgchgance, il faut
proclamer la Rgpublique. Vive la Rgpublique! Vive la Rgpublique! ” and then
with solid fists they began to batter
against the solid oaken doors that shut
in the Chamber of Deputies. It was
�556
Putnam’s Magazine.
like the booming of distant cannon;
it sounded the death-knell of the old
regime. The majority felt that the
cause was hopeless, and took refuge in
the library under the protection of the
National Guard. The Republicans spent
some minutes in haranguing the crowd,
that now had begun to force its way
into the Chamber, and then withdrew
to the Hotel de Ville, where they pro
claimed the Republic to the expectant
masses assembled on the Place. It was
the repetition of the Jeu de Paume.
The antechamber remained full. No
one credited the report that the Repub
lican deputies had withdrawn—every
one was afraid of trickery. Finally,
they burst open all the doors, rushed en
masse into the chamber—it was com
pletely empty. The powers that were
had abdicated; the people ruled.
In leaving the buildings, M. R----observed to a member of the National
Guard, “ I recommended the deputies oi
the Right to claim your protection if they
had need of it in getting away.” “Il
y en a un pourtant, qui fefait bien de ne
pas se fier A moi, car je le fusillerais contre cette mur,—c’est Granier de Cassagnac.” Three weeks ago this famous
blackguard had threatened to shoot down
every member of the opposition. “I
should have been sorry,” said R----- to
me, “ had one of the people shot Cassagnac; but should a member of the
National Guard, a bourgeois, undertake
the affair, I had nothing to say.”
During this time the manifestation
had been lively on the Place de la Con
corde. On the central pillar of the
Corps Legislatif some one had written
in* red letters, “Rfjpublique Franqaise,”
and cries of “Vive la Republique!”
deafened the ears. There was the most
perfect order, united to the most joyful
enthusiasm. There was no occasion for
fighting any one, for every one was ani
mated by the same sentiment; and in
the general outburst of fraternity, each
individual seemed really enchanted to
grasp the hand of his neighbor, and cry
“Vive la R^publique!” A man in a
blouse came up to our carriage and ad
dressed the coachman: “Bon jour, ci-
[Nov.
toyen ; eh bien, nous l’aurons ce soil-, la
R6publique! ” He lighted his cigar,
and went off, repeating, “ Merci, citoyen,
merci, citoyen,” as if he could not too
often find a pretext for pronouncing the
dear word.
People climbed on ■ the statue of the
City of Strasbourg, and covered it with
flowers, writing inscriptions on the
pedestal, “ Vive la Republique! ” The
statue of Lyons also was decorated in
honor of the army that this city is sup
posed to send to the relief of the Alsatian
capital. Men, mounted on carriages,
harangued the people, and especially
warned them against the excesses of ’48.
Squads of the National Guard patrolled
the Place, with reversed bayonets, and
blouses of all descriptions mingled with
the handsome bourgeois uniform. “ Vive
la Garde Nationale,” cried the citizens.
“ Vive la R^publique, Vive la France! ”
replied the citizen-soldiers.
We stayed two or three hours at the
Place de la Concorde, but during this
time many events had transpired else
where. A detachment of the National
Guard had accompanied a mass of un
armed citizens to the prison of St.
Pelagie. “ 11 nous faut Rochefort,” they
thundered at the door. “Il est a Vin
cennes,” was the first reply. “ Ce
n’est pas vrai, avouaient quelques uns
de la garde tout has. 11 est ici.” With
that the crowd forced its way into the
prison, the guard only making a feint of
resistance. They demanded Rochefort
of the governor. “ Mais, messieurs,”
said the official, “ je n’ai pas d’ordres
avous le rendre.”
“Vos ordres.?
Les voici,” said one burly fellow, show
ing his fist. “ Oh, tres bien, messieurs,
devant la force, je n’airienadire,”—and
he gave up the keys.
He was logical. He had supported an
empire of force, which must necessarily
crumble before a force superior.
Rochefort was borne in triumph on
the shoulders of the people out of the
prison, as he had been carried in on the
shoulders of policemen nine months be
fore. He was carried to the Hotel de
Ville,—Jules Favre embraced him in
public.
�1870.]
The Fourth ok September in Paris.
When we drove up a little later, and
found the people still swaying under the
influence of some recent excitement, we
asked the explanation. “ C’est Jules
Favre qui embrasse Rochefort,” was the
answer. Rochefort is a symbol, and
possesses, in consequence, all the supe
rior significance possessed by a symbol
over the reality. Carrying out the rad
ical protest against the Empire made last
year by his election, the Deputies assem
bled at the HStel de Ville immediately
placed him on the list of the Provisional
Government. I 'will notice, in paren
thesis, they have also had the good
sense not to include Thiers.
*
But Rochefort was not the only sym
bol upon which the popular instinct fas
tened itself. All the signs and insignia
of the Empire and the Emperor were
attacked, the imperial eagles torn off
the Hotel de Ville, the multitudinous
busts of the imperial family shivered in
fragments, the very signs of the tailors
and other “ Fournisseurs brevetes de
l’Empereur,” broken in pieces. At one
establishment on the boulevard, where
the individual charged with the icono
clasm had demolished the first half of
the name, and there only remained-ereur,
the people, perceiving the pun, cried
out to leave it as it was.
The garden of the Tuileries was early
invaded, but no attempt made to enter
the palace. People contented them
selves with scrawling over the walls,
“Respect a; la propriStS, mort aux voleurs.” “Vive la Republique.” And
all along the Rue de Rivoli was written
on the palace, “ Logement ft Louer.”
In the sentry-box at the gate some one
had carried the joke still farther, and
written, “ Parlez au concierge; chambre
lien meublee ft louer.” Of course, the
“gracious sovereign” had put for Bel
gium some time before. Her fanfaro
nades of proclamations as ImpSratrice
Begente still decorate the dead walls of
Paris, and the recollection of her dec
larations, “Si les Prussiens viennent, ils
m’y trouveront,” remain to lend a pi
quant contrast to the reality. The im
perial family has decidedly come to the
grief it so well deserved—Monsieur at
557
Mayence under Prussian escort; Madame
at Brussels, with, it is said, the crown
jewels; the little prince, after his “bapt5me de feu,” scouring over the country
with two physicians; Plon-plon at Na
ples, whither he fled as soon as war was
declared.
Oh, dethroned princess! Oh, captive
monarch! Oh, wretched prince! The
day has gone by when the world will
weep tears over your hapless fate; when
poets will choose your woeful history as
theme for their tragedies ; when painters
will represent you, even on the back
staircase of the Tuileries, where the
brush of Gros has fixed Louis Philippe
forever! For the strange, extraordinary,
and, at first sight, almost inexplicable
circumstance in the affair, is the com
pleteness with which every trace and
vestige of imperial existence is swept
away. Since the beginning of the war,
the Emperor has indeed faded out of
sight, but that is hardly since six weeks
ago. But as late as May, the Empire
seemed in the full bloom of prosperity;
the plebiscite trick had succeeded be
yond expectation, and given the Bona
parte dynasty an indefinite lease of life.
The war, even, in concentrating all
thoughts upon foreign danger, had
hushed up for a moment the incessant
warfare of the Opposition, and such as
persisted were forcibly suppressed by
the government. People submitted to
every thing—the mobilization of the
Garde Mobile ; its incorporation in the
army; the loan of 750,000,000, covered
in a single day ; the establishment of an
Imperial cabinet; the dictature of Pali
kao ; the atrocious silence in which all
military operations were shrouded. In
deed, if the French had had only a mod
erate success—although the war was un
popular, although the majority regarded
it as senseless and unjust—still, with
success, the Empire might have been
consolidated, and the proposed reckoning
indefinitely adjourned. But, as La
Cloche remarks this morning, “the cap
tivity of the Emperor is the liberty of
the country.” L’Empire s’est donnS
sa demission. Not a blow has been
struck, hardly a protestation made or
�558
Putnam’s Magazine.
required, not an act of courage, or, alas!
I fear that it would nut have been forth
coming. But the whole gigantic hum
bug dissolved, melted away—eaten out
and out by its own rottenness. “ Je
n’ai aucune commande a l’arm^e,” said
the Emperor. “Vous n’avons aucune
proposition a; faire,” avow the minis
ters.
I am forcibly reminded of the famous
story of Edgar Poe, concerning a man
who was mesmerized at the point of
death, in such a manner that his soul
could not escape from his dead body.
The corpse, on the other hand, could
not decay as long as any soul remained
entangled in its meshes, and stayed,
therefore, in an intermediate condition
between life and death, for three years.
At the end of this time the mesmerizer
reversed his passes. The spell was brok
en ; with an immense sigh of relief, the
soul shook itself free of its charnelhouse, and at the same moment the body
tumbled into a liquid mass of putrefac
tion.
In the same way one might say that a
spell had been broken which bound
France to the Empire. The living soul
escapes—free—the Empire melts away
of itself. It is extremely important to
understand this, so as not to be the dupe
of the amiable sneers which will pres
ently circulate: ‘Oh yes, the French
never are satisfied with their government.
Four months ago they voted for it with
acclamation, and now they want a re
public again. They are not fit for a re
public.” This is most superficial non
sense, as is shown by the very simple
consideration that it is not the same
people who change, but two parties, who
have constantly been at war with each
other, and who have alternately obtained
the power. The seven and one half
millions who voted for the plebiscite will
certainly do nothing for the revolution,
but the million and a half who voted
against it are quite capable of the task,
and also of cowing into subjection the
great mass of inertia that is flung like
ballast from hand to hand. Any state
of society whose stability reposes on an
army is in a condition of unstable equi
[Nov.
librium that can always be upset in the
twinkling of an eye. It is like an in
verted pyramid, whose superhcial ex
panse only serves to conceal the narrow
base upon which it reposes. Indeed,
the main thing which excites uneasiness
after the joy of the 4th of September, is
its resemblance, in suddenness of transi
tion, to the 18 Brumaire, the 24 Fevrier, and the 2 Decembre.
But in no other respect does it resem
ble these famous days. Never was so
great a revolution accomplished in so
absolutely pacific a manner. I repeat,
it was less a revolution than a declara
tion of what really existed ; and as the
French boast, such a change of front,
made under fire of the enemy, is almost
as sublime in its boldness as in the elec
tric shock that it has given to the panicstricken people.
Panic! It is not dreamed of. The
Prussians are at Soissons — more inso
lent than ever. Already they dicrate
terms of peace from Berlin. Already are
anticipated cries of rage, both from Ger
many and England, at the proclamation
of a republic that will call into life the
republics of Spain and Italy, to form a
sanitary cordon of Latin democracy that
shall hem in the boasted Teutonic civil
ization—stronghold of feudalism.
But whatever the danger, men feel
that they live—that they are men. “ Un
til now I cared little for our disasters,”
said the interne this morning. “What
did it signify—a province more or less
to the Empire? But now that the hon
or of the Republic is concerned, I am
aroused to the gravity of our military
situation.” “ Until now,” said another
medical student, “ I have done my best
to evade being called to the army; but
to-day I have enrolled myself—for I
shall be a soldier of the Republic.”
The same feeling animated the boule
vards all night, where the Marseillaise
and cries of Vive la RSpublique certain
ly did not cease till two o’clock in the
morning. (We were on the boulevard
till midnight.) One man said: “Je
n’aime pas la Marseillaise, depuis qu’il a
6t6 souilli dans le service de l’Empire,
mieux vaut le chant de Depart:
�1870.]
The Fourth
of
September
“ La r6publique nous appelle,
Sachons nous battre au p6rir—
Un Frangais doit vivre pour elie,
Pour elie un Frangais doit mourir.”
When we returned home last evening,
the concierge and his wife stood at the
door to greet us.
“Sommes nous aussi des Republicains ? ” they cried, holding out their
hands to us as Americans.
The door was opened by an old Re
publican friend of the family. “Nous
l’avons, nous l’avons! ” he exclaimed.
At the same moment E. R. arrived; the
two men rushed into each other’s arms.
“ Ah quelle belle journee! Nous l’avons
la RSpublique ! ”—“ Oui, maintenant il
s’agii de la garder.”
It is this feeling of tenderness, of affec
tion, with which the Republic is wel
comed, that is most touching. A lost
ideal refound; no, it is more personal—
it is the exultation of a lover who finds
his long-lost mistress; and, absorbed in
delighted contemplation of her beauty,
forgets to think even of the future that
she brings back with her. It is this that
rendered the manifestation yesterday so
singularly joyful. No one seemed to
care much whether or no the Republic
could really repulse the invasion that
the Empire had called down on their
heads. A lady passed in a carriage on
the Place de la Concorde, and cried,
“A has la Prusse!” but nobody paid
any attention to her.
This appreciation of Beauty—this
perfectly developed self-consciousness
which enables each individual in mass
to seize the character of the ensemble—
(I heard several people say to-day, “ ah,
n’avons nous pas ete beaux hier! ”)—
gives a French crowd and a French
revolution a physiognomy entirely dif
ferent from that possible in our colder
northern races. It indicates their role
in the Etats-Unis of Europe for which the
present war—started in the interest of
a parvenu dynasty, and carried on in
the interests of a military feudalism—
seems really destined to pave the way.
This unanimity of the crowd is ex
plained in part by the' enthusiasm com
municated by the republicans to the
in
Paris.
559
neutrals, of all shades, from the ser
geants de ville to the National Guard and
the bourgeois, and in part by the utter
suppression of such solid sterling bour
geois as had supported the Empire, and
hated the Republic, but in the moment
of consternation do not dare to say any
thing. One could see their faces here
and there on the boulevards yesterday
—cold and sneering rather than sour or
provoked. Scepticism is always a
Frenchman’s refuge. I was furious this
morning, at the hospital, under charge of
P----- , to see the frigidity with which
he received the enthusiasm of the
interne who had helped to force the
Tuileries yesterday, of the externe who
enrolls as a “ soldier of the Republic ”
to-day. 41 This is the second Republic I
have seen,” he remarked, and busied
himself with some miserable details, af
fecting to ignore the whole matter.
I do not wonder that such men as
R----- are furious against the savants,
and corps medical, who as a body as
sume just this r61e—sneering; accepting,
fighting for all the solid crumbs of mate
rial comfort that the powers that be can
place at their disposition, but whenever
it is question of the people, treating
them as “insensgs,” “hair-brained,”
“ animus d’un mauvais esprit.”
No; fraternity cannot be universal. It
is the church militant that has to defend
truth ; and the life of every person who
cares about truth must be one of in
cessant warfare. He must learn to ren
der hate for hate, contempt for con
tempt ; to keep his back and knees stiff
and his head upright—proud, inflexible,
uncompromising. Then, perhaps, in the
course of his life-time may come to him
one such day of perfect, unalloyed tri
umph as yesterday.
Such days, in which a people lives, in
which individual lives are absorbed into
a Social Being that for a moment has be
come conscious of itself—such moments
realize the old conceptions of ecstacy
among the Neo-Platonists. It is the life
of Humanity that is the Infinite; it is
the mysterious progress of Ideas that we
understand by the “ workings of Provi
dence ; ” it is the unerring exactitude of
�560
Putnam’s Magazine.
moral retribution for good or for evil,
for true or for false, for sham or for
reality,—which represent the recom
pense of heaven and hell. The tremen
dous importance of ideas ! the only reali
ty behind the shifting phenomena of ex
istence—how is it possible to live thirty
years in the world and not have learned
it ? And yet how few there are who
trouble themselves about such “abstract
questions,” who do. not consider the
whole duty of man to consist in raising
his family in material comfort and lining
[Nov.
his pockets as comfortably as possible by
every windfall that luck or Providence
may throw in his way! Such crea
tures deserve to be cast out to wither,
severed from the deep, fruitful life of
Humanity like a branch cut off from a
vine.
I have written this long letter “ d’un
seul coup,” because I thought you would
like to hear from an eye-witness how the
Republic was proclaimed in Paris on
the 4th of September, 1870.
Your affectionate-------- .
EDITORIAL NOTES.
THE LESSON OF THE DAY.
There is a great lesson to be learned
from the present war—a lesson of the
day, and yet the lesson of six thousand
years. It is, that he who sows the wind
shall reap the whirlwind. The man or
the nation that worships wrong, shall
be by that same wrong overthrown.
Napoleon III won his throne by treach
ery and bloodshed ; he has lost it by a
tenfold treachery and a tenfold blood
shed. The French people allowed
themselves to be duped by his frauds
and cajoleries, and now they are pay
ing the penalty of their want of manli
ness and self-respect. They did not
have the courage to meet and cast off
the seducer, when he came with his
specious promises of order, prosperity,
and glory; and now, when he has
brought them before an earnest foreign
enemy, they must have courage, or die.
Louis Napoleon, as President of the
French Republic, might have lifted his
country to a pinnacle of moral prosper
ity and grandeur that the nation had
never before reached. He might have
trained his countrymen, weary of revo
lutions and suffering under the woes of
long civil wars, to a respect for law and
a love of peaceful industry which would
have given their fertile and elegant ge
nius an easy mastery of modern civili
zation. He would have retired, then,
in due time, from the seats of power,
blessed by the gratitude and love of a
happy and advancing people. But his
imagination was smitten by the dazzle
of dynastic glory. He wanted to be an
emperor, and to transmit the imperial
dignity to his descendants; and, with
that unhallowed purpose, he violated
his oaths, destroyed the constitution of
his country, butchered his fellow-citi
zens in the streets or sent them into
exile, and for eighteen years main
tained his ill-gotten power by corrupt
favoritism and the force of bayonets.
His crime was seemingly triumphant.
The nations cried out, “ Io Napoleon,
the great warrior and statesman! ”
when, suddenly, the hour of trial came
—a trial provoked by his own precipi
tate and arrogant ambition—and the
entire fabric he had so carefully reared
fell to pieces as the rottenest of struc
tures. The favorites whom he had nour
ished by corruption, were as treacherous
towards him as he had been treacher
ous towards his country. Those swords
in which he had trusted were swords of
lath, and those armies, armies of paste
board and shoddy. All his subordi
nates had but too well learned the les
son he had taught, but too well copied
the example he had set. A single ear
nest campaign snuffs out his preten
sions ; he falls without a regret, cov
ered by disgrace and contempt, and the
unmeasured ridicule of the world.
And the French people acquiesced in
his crimes; they approved, by their
�
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Victorian Blogging
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A collection of digitised nineteenth-century pamphlets from Conway Hall Library & Archives. This includes the Conway Tracts, Moncure Conway's personal pamphlet library; the Morris Tracts, donated to the library by Miss Morris in 1904; the National Secular Society's pamphlet library and others. The Conway Tracts were bound with additional ephemera, such as lecture programmes and handwritten notes.<br /><br />Please note that these digitised pamphlets have been edited to maximise the accuracy of the OCR, ensuring they are text searchable. If you would like to view un-edited, full-colour versions of any of our pamphlets, please email librarian@conwayhall.org.uk.<br /><br /><span><img src="http://www.heritagefund.org.uk/sites/default/files/media/attachments/TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" width="238" height="91" alt="TNLHLF_Colour_Logo_English_RGB_0_0.jpg" /></span>
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Conway Hall Library & Archives
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2018
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Conway Hall Ethical Society
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The fourth of September in Paris : Familiar letter from a young American
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Putnam, M. C.
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Place of publication: [New York]
Collation: 553-560 p. ; 26 cm.
Notes: From the library of Dr Moncure Conway. From Putnam's Magazine, Nov 1870.
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[G. P. Putnam's Sons]
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1870
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G5732
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France
Republicanism
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<img src="http://i.creativecommons.org/p/mark/1.0/88x31.png" alt="Public Domain Mark" /><br /><span>This work (The fourth of September in Paris : Familiar letter from a young American), identified by </span><span><a href="https://conwayhallcollections.omeka.net/items/show/www.conwayhall.org.uk">Humanist Library and Archives</a></span><span>, is free of known copyright restrictions.</span>
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Text
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English
Conway Tracts
Siege of Paris