ages. And when he had done this he had said all for which there was any need.

In all the matters here discussed the teachings of Jesus are steadily making headway against all opposition. One of the most hopeful signs of the times is in the fact that men are so eagerly discussing these great themes. The final word has probably not been spoken on any of them. But in the discussion it is becoming increasingly plain, that Jesus did not separate any one great theme and treat it by itself as unrelated to others, but when he spoke of society, of the family, of wealth, of the state, he treated them, each and all, in their proper inter-relations, and, above all, in their bearings upon the in-bringing of that perfect kingdom which he came to establish.

Western civilization, broadly speaking, is immeasurably indebted to the Man of Nazareth. His message from the first was a proclamation of the universal brotherhood of man. It made men love one another. It broke down social distinctions, even those between master and slave. It created "an extraordinary sensitiveness" to wrong or suffering of any kind. Because of it there has occurred a remarkable change in the feeling and conduct of the power-holding classes as respects the weaker classes everywhere. Mr. Kidd affirms that here is the secret of the success of the French Revolution. It was not that the people were so mighty, for without leaders they were but a mob. It was not that the nobility of France was so enfeebled, for with them and at their command were the sinews of While the decay of principle and the disorganization of the ruling classes must be recognized as in a measure determinative of results, they do not tell the whole story. "The calm verdict of history must be, that it was in the hearts of the ruling classes, and not in the streets, that the cause of the people was won. The great body of humanitarian feeling which had been slowly accumulating so long

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had done its work; it had sapped the foundations of the old system." 1 And the same forces, it may be added, are at work in all Christian lands, and are bringing to pass noticeable and significant changes. But whence comes this great fund of humanitarian and altruistic feeling? It did not exist in any such measure, and as a public sentiment scarcely at all, prior to the introduction of Christianity into the world. It does not exist as a public sentiment in unenlightened and heathen nations to-day. As a factor in the world's history it is altogether unique. How shall we account for it except through the influence of Jesus of Nazareth? The principles of his life and teaching are sinking down deeper and ever more deeply into the hearts of the great nations. Like leaven, they are permeating the mass. Like salt, they are purifying it. Like light, they are scattering the darkness. These characteristics are marking every advance toward the equalization of the conditions and burdens of life. They have marked every step of elevation and progress in English political and social life in the last century. They were behind the movement for the education of the people, behind the movement for the enfranchisement of the people, as they have been also the urging force on behalf of Ireland, and of labor reforms throughout the kingdom. They set in motion the forces. that overthrew American slavery; they are beneath the increasing sentiment against the liquor traffic; they are the forces that are ultimately to guide and bring to a right issue the labor agitations of the time. In a word the principles of the life and teachings of Jesus, in a more or less clearly recognized form, are in and about every agitation and movement which looks to the uplifting and betterment of humanity.

1 Social Evolution, p. 172.

ARTICLE VI.

A MISPLACED HALO.

BY CEPHAS BRAINERD, JR., ESQ.

[Additional and pathetic interest is given to the practical views herein expressed, by the death of the talented author on the 24th of July. (See biographical notice.) The corrections, emendations, or additions that authors usually make are therefore necessarily lacking.—EDITORS.]

THERE seems to be an unusual interest at present in the question, why men form so small a portion of church attendants.

In my judgment, there is a radical, philosophical error in the estimate of church and clergy and their relation to affairs falsely called secular which prevents, and, so long as it continues, will prevent, hearty sympathy between relig ious and business circles.

The church is looked upon as a divine and sacred institution, and the clergy as men called of God for a unique service of preeminent and sui generis holiness. Business men-and by this I mean also laboring and professional men-resent this claim of church and clergy, on grounds which they do not formulate, but which can be so stated as to command respectful consideration. Three of them may be expressed as follows:

1. The supreme necessity is food, clothing, and shelter. That forces the race into labor as its main purpose in life. So far as the church fails to recognize the severity of the struggle for bread, both in its simple form and as it expands into the struggle for the necessaries of civilized life, and so far as the clergy, as a body or as individuals, fail to recognize that this demand has the right of way in human

activity, and that it substantially exhausts the energies, they are out of sympathy with men at their most sensitive point. This proposition needs no discussion.

2. Business stands beside the family, supreme in sacredness. The saying, so often spoken by professors to theological students, "The pulpit is your throne," is diametrically wrong. The word "throne" is out of place, but, so far as it is in order, the truth is that secular industry is on the throne, and the clergyman is an attendant; and one great reason for the failure of the church to influence business men, is, that the clergy, backed by a large portion of church members, is claiming to occupy the throne instead of helping it.

The initial command of God to the human race when he started it on its career after the fall, was, "Multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it." The transcendent spiritual import of this command seems to have been greatly overlooked. All God's intercourse with his creatures, including the Incarnation, has been to secure its fulfilment. The family and the conquest of nature form the double object and care of the race. The church has appreciated the sacredness of the family and labored for its improvement. I have never heard of a clergyman who considered his office more sacred than motherhood.

The attitude towards business has been very different. Human progress broadens the meaning of the command "subdue the earth." The thorns, briers, and wild beasts are but the A B C. All the forces that interfere with happiness, all the obstacles to the full development and play of human faculties, are to be met and conquered in obedience to this prime command; every other command of God is secondary, and auxiliary to this. This conquest of earth involves labor, invention, planning, organization, the preservation of results; it calls for laws, constitutions, established government. Anything that re

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duces time and distance, or promotes intercourse, or makes the comforts of one clime common to all by transplanting or by transportation, or cheapens products and renders life more enjoyable, or diffuses education and refinement, or checks or cures disease is a part of the conquest of the earth.

The production of the necessaries of life is the first step in this conquest. Therefore the halo of obedience to God belongs primarily to the farmer, the manufacturer, and the miner, and those who are nearest to them share most in its radiance.

Jesus said, "I came not to be ministered unto, but to minister." He came not to make civilization subservient unto him, but to be subservient to civilization.

Few realize how simple, how single, was Christ's mission here. He gave us no new idea in ethics, no maxims of government, made no addition to scientific knowledge, taught no new mechanical art, no new method of business. He came that we might know the Father, and become acquainted with him who placed us here and gave us our mission; that we might learn that we are workers together with him, and are to live with him in eternal fellowship hereafter. It seems to me, that the saying, that he came to save, is of more limited meaning than we usually give it. There are few who do not look beyond the physical death on the cross for the means and manner of our redemption. The agony in Gethsemane supports the deduction of reason, that spiritual results must be attained by spiritual experiences, and that the execution of the Messiah, with all its horrid reality, is but a symbol, an enacted parable, to give us the fullest conception which our earthbound spirits can have, of the spiritual penalty which he vicariously bore for us; that the knowledge of it might touch us, and draw us to him and the Father; that by that knowledge of him he might give us a motive for that up