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For the ixrtx,
Jesus Crucified—Lesson for June
14 —Luke 23:3 46.
BY S. G. HILLYER.
We have in this lesson an ac
count of the crucifixion. The ar
rest of the Savior, his arraign
ment before the High Priest and
the Sanhedrin; then his trial by
Pilate, his condemnation and the
scourging, the mockery and the
crown of thorns, which he endur
ed, are given in the preceding
verses. The incidents which fol
lowed his death are related in the
closing part of this chapter, and
in the next chapter, which er ds
Luke's gospel. We should keep
in mind the whole story if we
would correctly appreciate the
crucifixion itself.
The Roman cross was an in
strument of torture. In that
rough age rulers were not satis
fied with simply taking the life
of a criminal. They thought that
the execution of one condemned
to death should be made more or
less painful, in proportion to the
turpitude of his crime. This bar
barous custom was often abused
hy cruel and unjust rulers for the
3*lifloation of their revenge or
hatred against a personal enemy.
If the Jewnsh authorities had
executed Jesus according to
their own law, they would have
stoned him, and his sufferings
would have lasted only a few
minutes. But they were not per
mitted under the government of
Rome to inflict capital punish
ment at all. So, when they had
condemned Jesus to death for
blasphemy, their power was
ended. They must invoke the
aid and sanction of the Roman
governor to secure the execution
of the sentence. And it is wor
thy of notice that the Jews were
vociferous in demanding of Pilate
that Jesus should be crucified.
Why did they not ask him to have
Jesus stoned? This would have
been a mode of execution accord
ing to their own law; and, in all
probability, Pilate would have
yielded to their request, for he
was evidently inclined to deal
gently with his innocent pris
oner. But no, this would not
have satisfied his malignant pros
ecutors. So they cried out,
“Away with him, crucify him,
crucify him.”
How intense must have been
their hatred of Jesus!
Well, the awful deed w r as done
as they desired. He was cruci
fied.
In contemplating this awful
scene many thoughts press upon
the mind. Naturally, we would
think of the intense physical suf
ferings that tortured the body of
Jesus for six dreadful hours.
Then, we could not fail to dis
cover his spiritual anguish in his
plaintive cry: “My God,my God,
why hast thou forsaken me?”
Again, every reader must be
struck with his sublime magna
nimityin praying for his murder
ers —“Father, forgive them, for
they know not what they do,” (or
are doing). And last of all, we
must rejoice that he offered
words of comfort and benedic
tion to the penitent thief who
was suffering at his side.
But as we stand by the sufferer
do not let us be satisfied to look
only at its tragic features. Pass
ing by these let us come at once
to
THE DEATH OF JESUS.
There has been no such a death
as his anywhere on this globe.
It may be, there have been some
deaths as horrible in all their
natural features as was the death
of Jesus. But'there were some
things in his case that lifted it
entirely out of the category of all
other deaths.
Notice, first, the death of Je
sus was the death of one in whom
dwelt all the fulness of the God
head bodily. (Paul.) In sotfie
mysterious way, the divine and
THU CHRISTIAN INDEX.
the human nature were united in
the man Christ Jesus.
Notice in the next place, the
death of Jesus was a voluntary
death. It was indeed accom
plished by the agency of his en
emies, willfully and maliciously,
through the forms of a base ju
dicial murder, that has covered
them with everlasting shame and
condemnation. But still, Jesus
was not taken by surprise. He
knew that his death was a part
of his mission. He had told his
disciples that it would come, and
that one of themselves would be
the traitor w’ho would deliver him
into the hands of his murderers.
Moreover, he could, had he de
sired to do it, have summoned le
gions of angels to deliver himself
from the dreadful catastrophe.
He said on one occasion: “I lay
down my life for the sheep. *
* * No man taketh it from me,
I have power to lay it down, and
I have power to take it again.”
His death was therefore volun
tary.
The words just quoted show
us, in the third place, that the
death of Jesus was not only vol
untary; it was also a substitu
tion. “I lay down my life for the
sheep,” that is, in behalf of, or
in the place of the sheep. What
ever else the words may mean,
they surely include the idea of
substitution.
Another Scripture says: “Be -
hold the Lamb of God who tak
eth away (or cancels) the sin of
the world.” Here the “Lamb”
is used as the title of Jesus, be
cause its blood, as a sin offering
under the old ritual,was the type
of that for richer blood which, at
the right time, should be shed on
Calvary’s cross. In this we find,
that Jesus’ death was an expia
tion.
Again we read: ‘ Even as the
Son of Man came, not to be min
istered unto, but to minister, and
to give his life as a ransom for
many.” A ransom in its primary
sense means the price paid for
the deliverance of one from a
state of captivity. And all such
are said to be redeemed. Jesus
gave his life to ransom—to re
deem his people. And here we
find in the cross, redemption.
In the light of these facts,
should we not glory in the cross?
Behold the God Man stretched
upon it in agony and in blood!
Ail 1 ' nature was disturbed. The
sun was darkened, the hills of
Judea trembled, graves were
opened, and the veil of the tem
ple was rent in twain. No won
der the startled Centurion should
exclaim, “Surely this was the
Son of God!”
Reader, you and I, and all our
brethren, and all our loved ones,
were personally interested in the
meaning and in the promise of
that awful tragedy. I call it aw
ful because of the dignity and
the worth of the innocent suffer
er; but after all, that transac
tion, though conceived, by its
human agents, in hatred and ex
ecuted in wrath and cruelty, God
has made to be the highest
event in this world’s history.
The cross was made of wood. It
wo-s a thing of shame—an instru
ment of torture; but Jesus has
made it a thing of beauty,and the
symbol of eternal life. The ma
terial cross has indeed passed
away; but there is yet an ideal
cross enshrined, by faith, in the
heart of every believer. Upon
this we still may see Jesus, with
the eye of faith, weltering in his
blood, that he might redeem us
from all iniquity, and purify unto
himself a people of his own pos
session, zealous of good works.”
Looking with faith on Jesus cru
cified, we can,in the words of an
other, bid “earth roll, and mock
its idle whirl.”
563 S. Pryor st., Atlanta.
For the Index.
Giving: and Receiving'.
BY MISS ELLEN PITTS.
I will consider the heading of
my paper in a reverse order.
To live in this world one must
be a receiver. To live is to re
ceive, hence we are all receivers.
The first evidence of life is an
effort to take nourishment. As
the infant’s body grows we find
that more and more is required
to feed it. We also find that its
mind becomes a receptacle for
what it sees and hears. So as
the days come to this undevel
oped body and mind the capac
ity and demands for receiving
become greater. The child is a
partaker of home comforts—
clothing, shelter and food.
While he cries for more bread,
utterance is given to the mental
hunger in his numerous interro
gations. He enters the school
room, opens his eyes and ears to
obtain knowledge from text
books and teachers. He becomes
a man, and if in America finds
himself accorded glorious priv
ileges—possessions acquired by
loyal fathers and patriotic grand
sires. If he would be a Chris
tian he must receive from Christ
(SUBSCRIPTION, Fib z //. ..52.00. I
ITO MINISTERS, P. .. 1.00.1
the bread of life. Then he will
find that to live is to receive
from Christ through the Bible,
through those about him, through
those who expired amid Hames
and through those who enriched
the soil with their blood for the
Savior’s sake. Is it not true
that to live is to receive?
While nothing can live without
receiving, just as truly can noth
ing live without giving. “To
give is to live.” In every act of
respiration there goes out, in
obedience to a divine law, an ele
ment of life. The weed, the
grass, the flower, the insect, the
animal, the man or woman that
ceases to give certainly ceases to
live. Some may readily agree to
the impossibility of an existence
without contributing in the form
of gases to some other life, but
not to dying by withholding ma
terial gifts. Suppose a man says
he w’ill be a cynic and so live for
himself. Will he not become
dead to pleasure, happiness and
joy? The miser is dead to him
self as far as physical w’ants, mu
tual pleasures—except money
love—and heart joys are con
cerned. This is one death but
literal death unmistakably comes
when giving is at an end. When
a man stops eating will he not
die? Where does he get his
food? You said he paid for it.
Was that not giving? You say
he worked for his money. Was
that not giving labor? Every
thing is exchanged for something
considered its equivalent wheth
er called pay or giving either be
fore or after it is received. This
is physical living, but would to
God that every Christian real
ized that to truly live in Christ
means a life given to Christ. Can
a soul be brought from nature’s
darkness into the light and lib
erty of the gospel and then be
contented to enjoy it alone while
a world lies out in ignorance and
woe? Can a man read the pre
cious letters telling of a glorious
inheritance and then sit in ease
while his brothers are starving
and kno w not of the legacy ? God
forbid! To be a Christian one
must have the spirit of Christ.
Christ manifested his spiritwhen
he spent his life on earth in giv
ing sight to the blind, health to
the sick, comfort to the troubled
and then gave his life upon the
cross—“ara isom for many.”. If
ye have not the spirit of Christ
ye are none of his.
It is a glorious allotment to be
stationed here receiving the ben
efits of the grandest of all gov
ernments; to be in a land of Bi
bles and Christian privileges.
Indeed, there is joy in receiving,
but oh! receiver, make haste to
give, for therein lies the greater
joy.” It is more blessed to give
than to receive.” I have thought
that during the dreary days of
winter when mother earth ap
pears to be only receiving does
she not wear a melancholy face?
But as she gives to our eyes the
beautiful emerald of awakening
valleys and hills, the amber of
daffodil and buttercups, the pink,
w’hite and blue of hyacinth; to
our ears the hum of in
sect, the carols of returning
would-be-nest-builders; to our
olfactories the pleasant and de
licious fragrancies of flowers,
shrubberry and all vegetation; to
our palates the numerous veg
etables and later the luscious
fruits, she seems to laugh out in
her gladness as she freely gives,
having freely received. When a
soul receives Jesus as the fair
est among ten thousand and the
one altogether lovely, there is
great joy; but when the new con
vert brings others to know Je
sus the joy has been increased
many fold.
The little rivulet might grum
ble because it would be given to
the mighty waters or lost in the
great ocean, but whence the riv
ulet? Did it not come from the
ocean? And will it not be given
out again for another mission?
Should the coin or gift complain
at its being given toother hands?
Or should the giver grieve be
cause the gift was desired?
Verily no! Only a change for
the better that mere blessing may
come.
I heard a father say that it
gave him much pleasure to re
ceive gifts from his children even
though he knew the money used
came from his own purse. So
our Father in heaven is pleased
to have our gifts which are
parts of that which already be
longs to him.
What means the band of moth
erless children at 293 Courtland
avenue, Atlanta? “Pure religion
and undefiled before God and the
Father is this: To visit the
fatherless and widows in their
affliction and to keep himself un
spotted from the world.”
What means the presence of
worn out soldiers of the cross?
“Inasmuch as ye did it unto the
least of these my brethren, ye
have done it unto me.”
What means the liberated
brother in black at our doors?
The vast immigration of foreign-
ATLANTA, GA., THURSDAY, JUNE 11, 1896.
ers to our shores? The opening
of all nations to the heralds of
the Savior? “Go ye therefore
and teach all nations.”
Let us all give as we have re
ceived. “Truly ye have receiv
ed, truly give.”
Truly what we have can we
give. “Such as I have give I
unto thee.”
When the vital organs of these
bodies refuse to receive and as
similate nourishment, then we
will cease giving out elements of
life to other life and our giving
to God on earth will end.
There will be great joy in re
ceiving “Well done, good and
faithful servant,” but surely it
will be more of heaven te unite
in giving praises to the Lamb of
God.
For the Index.
A First Step Toward the Settled
System of Error by the Baptists’
Baptlzers. Obsta Princlplls.
BY REV. HUGH F. OLIVER.
That the cities are at the same
time the fountain and the ocean
of our highest civilization
and the storm centers which
threaten its destruction together
with the ruin of our liberties,
has long been a fixed point
to the eye of every expert “in
politics and economics." That
they are equally influential for
good and for evil in the realm of
the religious, it needs no argu
ment to establish to the satisfac
tion of even the most casual
thinker. But the hope had been
fondly cherished that, among all
the other many and great inci
dental benefits of the New Tes
tament Baptism, there would not
be lacking this as a constant
quantity, that the Baptist Chris
tians in our cities would be kept
true and faithful to that sim
plicity which is in Christ. Nor
can it be doubted that the influ
ence of this humbling rite has
been most salutary, in this trans
cendently important sphere, to
all concerned—administrators,
subjects and observers. There
fore, as needs not be sain, the
weakening or corrupt!>n in any
way of this influence mu&v ex
cite alarm and call for sound
ing of the trumpet in' no uncer
tain tones. 1 j ..ji
Can ii be believed Bap
tist preacher in the veiY per
formance of the ordinance of
Baptism, and by the manner of
that performance, would teach
the subject of the ordinance and
all the witnesses that there was
somewhat to be ashamed of in
obeying the commandment of
the Lord Jesus to be baptized?
When the people of His genera
tion testified of him, “Hedoeth
all things well!” must it be
thought that they made a men
tai exception of his ordinance of
baptism ? And shall we fall into
line behind the leadership of
Dean Stanley and blushingly
protest in the very act of baptiz
ing that our Lord lacked the
bright polish of nineteenth cen
tury culture and hence made ob
ligatory our performance of so
rude a rite ? These and a score
besides are the questions excited
in the mind of a “ country par
son,” on his way from the South
ern Baptist Convention, as he
sat in a great Baptist city church
and, after hearing a deliciously
juicy Gospel sermon and witness
ing a manifestation of “O'd-time
Religion ”in the cordial welcome
of many candidates to Baptism
was then compelled to witness
the entrance, in most subtle way
but none the less sure, of the
spirit of Disobedience to the Di
vine Master whose first com
mandment to believers was even
then, after a fashion, being
obeyed. In all godly simplicity
and Christlike earnestness the
administrator had just preached
the Gospel. In all simple Chris
tian hearted ness the church had
just received the happy believ
ers for Baptism. But oh ! what
did he that now witnesseth ( and
his testimony is true) then be
hold ? This old Baptist pen that
he has so often baptized in ink
shrinks from the degradation of
recording and must hear the
whispered words, “ For the
greater glory of Christ !” before
it will perform the required of
fice. And its possessor requires
the performance in deepest sor
row and without a trace of mal
ice.
O wonderful ! beautiful !! the
reproach of Baptism is taken
away!!! Surely the preacher is
Henry Clay, the Great Compro
miser, risen from the dead and
become what his father was, a
Baptist preacher ! But did the
ears deceive ? Was that indeed
the Baptismal Formula pre
scribed by the Lord Jesus, “ I
baptize thee, 0 Believer, into
the name of the Father and of
the Son and of the Holy Ghost,
amen,” which the preacher’s lips
were saying, or was it rather a
juggler’s hocus-pocus, a magi
cian’s “Presto !”—tell me, O
my reminiscent ears,and enlight
en my astonished and aching
eyes tnat cannot weep because
of “thoughts” that truly lie
“ too deep for tears ?”
Standing on the left of the can
didate, in the model baptistry,
the preacher seemed to bury him
in the water but, although the
writer had gone into the gallery
to see the better, the candidate’s
face he saw no more but saw the
back of his head only beyond the
broad black back of the preacher
as the two hurried away from
sight of all as if a something had
been done of which there was
pressing need to be ashamed. It
is fervently hoped that this ar
ticle will meet that preacher’s
eye. Does he really think that
the Lord Jesus made a mistake
in showing himself after His
Resurrection? Has he attained
not only to the ultra refinement
possible to the pastor of a great
city church, but also to that of
the Higher criticism and thus
discovered that the Resurrection
part of Baptism is a scholium
only and not part of the main
proposition ? Romans 6:4,5 is
undoubtedly against this pre-or
post-supposition,but the Apostle
Paul wrote Romans and the New
Woman has utterly abolished that
poor fellow and shown him to be
another of the Lord Jesus
Christ’s mistakes—if possible,
even a greater mistake than Be
liever’s Immersion
Down and back, with a “ right
oblique” movement a la Fran
caise, 11 en pirouette," went each of
the candidates, now a man, now
a woman, into and under the
water, guided by the ambi dex
trous preacher, then up and out
and away ! but the privilege of
seeing their faces bright with
“ the answer of a good con
science ” w r as utterly denied our
longing eyes and most unwar
rantably and unjustly. At the
Mercy-seat of the Lord Jesus
Christ, and in the presence of
the elect angels, I do .here and
now impeach the preacher of a
high crime and misdemeanor.
Women who can bathe for
hours at the Seaside Resort and
in the most public places, when
they are happily brought to
know and love the Savior, must
be brought to blush for the sup
posed shock to their delicacy of
heart occasioned by the first
public obedience to.lheir
blessed Lord. O woman ! thou
sweet, gentle, exquisite part of
the creation of God, that didst
provide a human nature for thy
atoning Lord ! let us see thy
face when thou hast emerged
from the liquid grave of obedi
ence, and see it serene and calm
and bright and beaming because
of the happiness of the loving
soul within thy lovely form, and
so do thou demand in our behalf
and in thine own and in thy
Lord's from the preacher whose
privilege it is to baptize thee. Be
not the means, active or pass
ive, of corrupting an ordir. ance
of Jesus Christ.
To one and all, be it said in
conclusion, that to strangle,
spit and sputter, when baptized,
is a sin against the Lord Christ,
and it is absolutely unnecessary
Keep the lips closed as when list
ening and breathe naturally, and
determine that you will to the
glory of your King. To the
preacher : Don’t be in a hurry.
Give the believer time to forget
the water and to recall the high
and holy and once-for a-life duty
about to be performed, and so
will the act of obedience be a joy
and a crown of exceeding honor.
Lake City, S. C
It is a matter of regret that
Savannah and Georgia are to lose
Rev. T. J. Shipman from Duffy
street church. He goes to
Roanoke, Va. We presume an
invitation back to “Ole Virginia'
is not to be despised, but Geor
gia offered a vast field. Brother
Shipman had greatly advanced
the work at Duffy street, and it is
fast becoming one of the popular
preaching places of Savannah,
and better still,one of its aggres
sive working churches. The
Duffy street chut ch has its eye
on one of our Atlanta pastors
who can ill be spared, even for
so great a work as would await
him in Savannah.
Happy is that child of Jesus
who is always listening for the
footfall this side of the golden
gate, and for the voice of invita
tion to hurry home. A true life
is just a tarrying in the tent for
Christ until we go into the man
sion with Christ. “1 hope your
master has gone to heaven,” said
some one to a slave when his mas
ter was dead. “Is’e afraid he
has not gone dare,” replied Ben,
“for I never heard him speak of
dat. When he go to de North,
or de Virginny Springs, he al
ways be gettin' ready many
■weeks. I never see him gettin’
ready for goin’ to heaven.” The
simple negro’s words are a test,
1 an admonition, for each one of
• Us.
“In Speaking of the Little Ones We
Love.”
HV RICHARD BURTON.
In spunking of the little oius we love
our Minis grow warm and tender: Young
of Years
No help.ess seems, yet valiant, trusting all
It sees, and putting faith In the Unseen;
Deeming the whole cold-hearted outer
world
A mother-embrace, a bosom for Its sleep.
We mi n are little ones before high God;
in pain, In sickness, and In moods that
yearn
For consolation, or when we Intrust
Our pigmy bodies to their nlght-stlll beds,
The spirit feelsits youth and feebleness
And turns like any weak, perplexed child
Toward Home, toward father, mother, and
the things
Indwelling, known of old and longed for
still
Midst in Unite barrenness and all unrest.
We men are little ones before high God;
The boastsof brain, the passionsof the mind
Are nothing, set aside the one brief hour
Os faith reborn,calm dreams and utter love,
Hartfoid, Conn
The One and the Many.
It is in the realm of property
rights and obligations that my
personality is largely shaped.
Until I have learned to use prop
erty conscientiously and benefi
cently, I have not equipped my
self for the highest service of
my fellow-men. In making it
the instrument of promoting hu
man welfare, more than in any
other possible way, I socialize
my own will, and prepare myself
to enter into helpful relations
with my fellow men, I cannot
learn this lesson, in the use of
property which I hold in com
mon with my ,fellows. It must
be my own; I must be free to ex
press my own will in dealing
with it; I cannot be unselfish in
the use of that which is not mine;
the most direct and effective dis
cipline in unselfishness is that
which is gained in using private
property beneficently.
The fundamental assumption
of socialism seems to be that if
men possess private property
they will use it selfishly; there
fore, the socialists say, we will
have no private property. The
remedy would not be effectual.
It is rather difficult to abolish all
vestiges of private property.
Hands and feet and eyes and
tongues are possessions and in
struments not easily alienated,
and those who wmuld use money
or machinery selfishly would be
quite sure to go on using all their
personal powers in the same way
after they were divested of money
and machinery; claws and fists
and elbows and teeth would still
be private property, and a very
unsocial use might be made of
them. Unless the will has been
usle. c men have k cjfL y
ed how to use all their powdrs
and possessions for the common
welfare, the, society in which
they live will bear very little re
semblance to heaven, no matter
how small their personal belong
ings may be.
We are told, indeed, bymodern
expositors of socialism, that
their scheme does not contem
plate the abolition of private
property in income, but only of
private property in the means of
production. All incomes would
be the remuneration of labor,
and would be paid by the State
in labor checks entitling the re
ceiver to specified amounts of
goods in the public stores. The
receiver might expend them as
he pl ad; he might also give
them away, or hoard them, he
could not openly lend them upon
interest, for the law would forbid
that; nor could he employ them
in any kind of profitable traffic.
In a certain limited sense, there
fore, the recent socialists provide
for private property. And a cer
tain narrow discipline would be
gained by frugality, conscien
tiousness, and benevolence in the
use of this private income. But
all that larger discipline to
which I have referred, which
comes through the socialization
of the will by the beneficent use
of property in productive enter
prises,—in making it the servant
of a broad-minded philanthropy,
—would be impossible under so
cialism. And -it seems to me
that the prohibition of private
enterprise—of the productive use
of property as capital, of the
free exercise by individuals of
the power which property con
fers—would greatly limit the
range of human development. It
if true that it would remove many
temptations, and that it would
take from cruel hands a great in
strument of oppression; but is -it
not, after all, better to let them
have power and teach them how
to use it? It must be remember
ed that the socialistic programme
rests upon a profound disbelief
in the possibility of socializing
the individual will, and in this I
find its condemnation.
A society composed of persons
who were the possessors of goods
which they called their own, but
which they had learned to use
freely in the promotion of the
common welfare, would be a good
society; while a society based
upon the assumption that all that
a man has will be used selfishly,
and that therefore the range of
individual possession must be
sharply iimited, is perfectly cer
tain to be a very bad society.
The chemical solution of indi
vidual rights which the socialists
propose is likely to form a highly
explosive mixture.
VOL. 76--NO. 24
Neither the sand-heap nor the
chemical compound furnishes us
a good analogy of the structure
of human society. Is it possible
for us to find a better analogy?
I believe that it is, and that we
shall find our most helpful sug-'
gestion in that figure of the liv
ing organism which Paul, in one
form or another, so frequently
uses. Doubtless the biological
analogies all fail at certain
points; our parables will not go
upon all-fours; and there are cer
tain important respects in which
the social organism differs essen
tially from that of the plant or
the animal. But this illustration
takes us nearer to the truth than
any other which the kingdoms of
nature furnish us. Paul gives us
the thought in that passage of
his in the Ephesians in which he
speaks of the work of the Holy
Spirit in the world as the build
ing up of “the body of Christ.”
By “speaking truth in love,” he
says, “we may grow up in all
things unto Him which is the
head, even Christ; from whom
the whole body, fitly framed and
knit together through that which
every joint supplieth, according
to the working in due measure of
each several part, maketh the in
crease of the body unto the build
ing up of itself in love.” Here
is the true account of the relation
of the one to the many. In the
highest sense the many are one,
—one body: but the union is not
chemical, it is organic; the parts
have an identity of their own;
each one of the many is one, but
it finds its life in the larger unity.
It is through that service which
every organ supplieth that the
organism lives; it is by the work
ing in due measure of each
several part that the body
grows; and yet it is one body, and
none of the members has any life
or meaning or value in itself
apart from the body. The rela
tion of the members to the body
is very different from the relation
of the grains of sand to the sand
heap on the one hand, and from
the relation of the several ingre
dients of the chemical compound
on the other: there is a real unity,
as there is not in the sand heap;
and there is the harmony of sep
arate parts and powers, as there
is not in the chemical solution
which destroys the identity of
the substances composing it. “An
I organism;’’ s*ys Professor Mac
kenzie, “is a reai whole in a
sense in which no other Kind of
unity is so It is in seipso tolas,
teres, atgue rotundas." All its
parts belong to it; theycannot be
altered, so to speak, without its
own consent; and the end which
it seeks is also its own. At the
same time it is a universe and
not a unit; it has parts; and it
does grow, and it has an end.
We may define it, therefore, as a
whole whose parts are intrinsi
cally related to it, which devel
ops from within, and has refer
ence to an end that is involved in
its o vn nature.”
We have had a good deal of
discussion, some of it not over
clear, upon this question of the
organic nature of human society.
But Mr. Mackenzie’s generali
zation which I have just quoted
does, I believe, accurately de
scribe human society. It is “a
whole whose parts are intrinsi
cally related to it.” The indi
vidual cannot be separated from
the society in which he lives and
retain his individuality. The
“organic filaments” which bind
him to his fellow men are vital
elements in his own life, and they
are constantly multiplying.
“Thus,” says Mr. Bosanquet, “if
the individual in ancient Greece
was like a center to which a
thousand threads of relation
were attached, the individual in
modern Europe might be com
pared to a centre on which there
hang many, many millions.” So
far it is from being true that so
ciety is constituted by the voli
tional action of persons, that it is
even true that the “person,” as
we know him to-day, is the pro
duct of social development. “The
unit of an ancient society was the
family, of a modern society the
individual.” So says Sir Henry
Maine. “Persons,” with definite
rights, are the fruit of social
progress. This is not to say that
the conscious moral force of the
individual himself has not helped
towards this emancipation, but
he never could have won it ex
cept through the medium of so
ciety. “The individual person,"
says Mr. Ritchie, “the citizen
with rights and duties, is a com
plex of ideas emotions, and aspi
rations which are altogether un
intelligible except as the product
of ceaseless action and reaction
in the spiritual (i. e. intellectual,
moral, etc.) environment, which
not merely surrounds but actually
constitutes, the individual, —i. e.
makes him what he is. The his
tory of the individual cannot be
understood apart from the his
tory of the race, though of course
in practice we have to limit our
selves to a small portion.” —
ing Ideas of the Present Age.—
Gladden.