Newspaper Page Text
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THE ATLANTA GEORGIAN
SATURDAY, OCTOBER C, J3'C.
TOTTING AWAY CHILDISH THINGS'
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11 By REV. EVERETT DEAN ELLENWOOD, j
j } PASTOR UNIVERSAL1ST CHURCH j
O NE of tile first Indications of the
arrival of the mlml‘and con
science at manhood's cstato
•hiuld be the escape from the domlnn-
of Ini pulses nnd motives roadlly
rtcofnlsed as characteristically child-
U |'t |, ft proud day for the school bo/
, v h P n he dona his first pair of Iona
trousers. Tho long coveted goal of
manhood seems'almost attained. He
holds up his head and steps proudly
tdth a conscious assumption of'those
thinfs which proclaim the citizen. And
the voting girl who has been allowed
for the first time to lengthen her gowns
anti put UP her hair, already feels her
self the mistress of a model home, and
a recognized social leader.
Hut unfortunately, year* In Ihelr
certain night do not always bring a
centime maturity, and the hoary crown
does not always cover a head tilled
with seasoned wisdom. With far too
many men and ivomen It is only the
merely physical part of them that ae-
tuallv "grows up." Experience has
brought them certain things. It Is true,
these have only served to deepen
and Intensify In them the normal char
acteristics of childhood. They Buffer,
In fact, from the most lamentable sort
of arrested development. They can
not unite with St. Paul In his trium
phant declaration that having rejoiced,
In the proper time, In the motives, Im
pulses and experiences of childhood,
and, having reached manhood's proud
estate, they have willingly and per
sistently ''put away childish ’things,"
They are physical adults, but moral
and spiritual Infants.
The normal child is your natural and
unconscious egoist. The universe ex
ists for him. Altruism has vet no
place In his spiritual vocabulary. The
primal Instinct of self-preservation Is
predominant. The beloved Quaker
poet recognizes this natural character
istic of childhood when his "Barefoot
Boy” unhesitatingly appropriates as
personal property the universal boun
ties of ungrudging nature:
"Mine, the sand rimmed pickerel pond.
Mine, the walnut slopes, beyond:
Mine, on bending orchard trees,
Apples of Hesperldes:
For my use the blackberry cone
Purpled over hedge and stone."
Now, there Is nothing dangerous or
deplorable In all of this. It Is a part of
the natural development of the child,
and/ authorities agree that the parent
of the truly precocious child Is to be
commiserated rather than congratulat
ed. But we have a right to protest
against the extension of the period of
the domination of ehlkllBh motives be
yond the time limit set by nature and
by nature’s Ood. We have a right to
protest, most vigorously, against the
life-policy of far too many men and
woman who, having like Whittier 1 *
"Barefoot Boy," reached that time
when "these feet must hide In the
prison cells of prlde/’^and be “made to
tread the mills of toll, up and down
In ceaseless moll." yet refuse to sur
render their childish prerogative and
apparently conduct their entire com
mercial and social campaign on the
hypothesis that the earth and the ful
ness thereof belongs to the man who
can reach out and grab It.
We make much boa*t of our mar
velous enlightenment, our splendid civ
ilization; and, az a nation, we would
pose as the ethical leaders of our race,
when In reality we have not attained
an adult conception of civilized ethics
until we have taken hold of the fact
that we are not animals, hustling each
other for the best places at the trough.
But that ye are sons and daughters of
the moat high Ood, endowed iwlth di
vine capabilities and designed for per
fection.
As we acquire that adult mind and
conscience which enables us to put
away the Ideals and concepts of the
childish years, we become more and
snore Ailed with the knowledge that
the things of which we boast ourselves,
the things we gather unto ourselves
and put our brand upon and fondly
cal! ours, do not really belong to us
after all, but that they are only the
text books of life's great school, the
REV. E. D. ELLENWOOD.
aids by which we are able to learn
the priceless lessons of human expe
rience. We may use the books for
nwhllo hut they may not be taken out
of the library.
But, J think X can hear some one
say, "that philosophy may be all right
for the pulpit, but It won’t pass mus
ter on W hltehall street nr In the count
ing house or In the real estate market.
Mitn was put here upon tho earth to
aufidue It and to developed Its natural
resources, und, In order that he might
be faithful to this mighty task, he was
endpwed with the faculty of acqulsl
ttveneas. The physical Items of prop
erty which, by energy, industry and
frugality 1 am able to possess myself
of, are mine, nnd no amount of pulpit
sophistry can make it otherwise. Their
acquisition has not taken me outside
the pale of the law. I have not know
ingly defrauded any one. These lands
and houses and goods which stand In
my name represent the tireless effort
of the best years of my life. I Jiave
spared myself, In their gathering,
neither In brain nor brawn. They be
long to me."
Certainly they belong to you. No
one contests your right to them. We
rejoice In tho enterprise nnd energy
which has bent Itself to their gather
ing. But—you ere. going upon a long
Journey, before long, I am told. 1 sup
pose you will take these things with
you, these things whose possession
gives you so much pride nnd satis
faction. these things whose acquisi
tion has demanded the greater part of
ydur conscious years, these things,
which by long nnd close association
have come to seem Indeed a part of
you—of course you will take these
things with you, on your Journey? No?
Well, I am surprised! Shall you not
need them, In the place to which you
are going? They aro yours. They
have cost you so much of time and ef
fort and love and life. They belong to
you and to you alone, you say. Surely
you are not going to abandon them
when you Journey?
Well, then, I am sorry for you, truly
I am. Your friends know perhaps even
better than you are able to realize
yourself, Just how much these things
have coat you, and now you ore going
away pretty soon anil are not going
to take these things which, of course,
arc yours, along with you. I don't
wonder that you are grieving about
It, and that you are delaying your
lournoy Just as long os you possibly
tan.
But, friend, the Journey must be ta
ken, sooner perhaps than you have
any Idea about, and It seems to me
that I can hear again the vole# of one
who long ago gave forth priceless
words of wisdom and of counsel, re
peating for the childish minds of this
present age, his olden story of the man
who, perplexed to know where he
should bestow nil his rapidly increas
ing goods decided that he would tear
down his barns and build them again
with greater capacity, and then, se
cure nnd happy In Ills affluence, would
say unto his Boul, "Bottl, thou hast
much goods laid up for many years;
take thine ease; cat. drink and be mer
ry.” But God said: "Thou fool! This
night shall thy soul he required of
thee, thou whose shall these things he
which thou hast laid up?" And so,
friend, as you are soon starting upon
your Journey, and shall not take with
you any of the things for which you
have Bpent so prodigally your life, let
us hope that In their acquisition there
has also come to you something whir h
will be available on your journey and
In your new residence, something
which does not figure In your bal
ance at the bank nor upon the rolls of
tho tax collector. And, .If this Is so,
If the westering sun In a farewell Illu
mination of the old, familiar School
room, finds you without greedy re
luctance. but rather with Joy, putting
back upon the library shelves the books
you have used so long, and with a
heart Ailed with gratitude for the proAt
of their long assoclatlorf, faring for
ward with calm confidence toward the
untried Jnurne/ secure In the posses
sion of that of which neither thne nor
change may deprive you, then Indeed
shall you know that your years In life’s
school have been proAtable to you and
that through them you have been able
to “put away childish things."
HONEY FROM A FOUL HIVE
“.And he turned aside to see the car
cass of tho lion; and behold there was
a swarm of bees and honey in tho car
cass of the lion.—Judges xivt 8#
By REV. JOHN E. WHITE,
•PASTOR SECOND BAPTIST CHURCH
A T Arst an unsavory text, but
closer view yields relief. There
was honfcy In the carcass. It
chapter of strang things. A fast
iwl furious love affair, a desperate
light between a man and a beast, a
lion's carcass full of honey, a riddle and
woman's treachery, and moving In
Herculean fashion In tho center of It
all the strange strong man, Samson's
character is much more of a problem
than Ids riddle. The arresting thought
:s Is the fact Illustrative of a
principle thnt a foul carcass yielded
sweetness and strength to Samson and
his company. 1 doubt not as I have
read the story many of you have run
ahead of the sermon to Its widest ap
plication to our situation here In At-
ian:a. - ‘
The Giant and the'Lion.
In the Arst place to speak of At
lanta under such figure as Samson’s Is
no new or original conception of mine.
In the winter of 1889, Just seventeen
years ago. when the people of this city
were standing by the open grave of
Henry W. Grady, one of the spokesmen
of Atlanta's grief declared: “We are
disheartened, almost discouraged. At
lanta Is no young nnd Aery, almost
Aerte In her civic, energy, and pulls
10 hard, at tperelns. WJlo will drive
for us now?" That expression In the
newspaper of the time gave to a col
lege student In another state his Arst
Impression of Atlanta, Ga. It became
memorable to him of a city some
where In the south, possessed of young
but glnnt energies which, Samsonllkc,
was tugging Impatiently at the leash
of progress. The Agure has held good
through a closer touch nnd a nearer
view. This city Is a young giant, un
formed. undisciplined and far from
having formed Its Anal civic charac
ter. hike Samson, It Is Itself a greater
problem than any of Its problems.
So at.o has Atlanta her tragic hor-
mr. 8e has met the lion In the path.
Last Tuesday she put forth strength
ami strangled the beast. We are now
standing by the carcass, the foul carcass
of a murderous riot. "And behold
there Is a swarm of bees and honey
In the lion's carcass." He that hath
eyes to seo let him see. It Is a car
cass, a carcass so foul and loathsome
that ■ we would If we could put It from
memory forever. "If the work of that
Saturday nigh* could be blotted out
from the history of this city,” declar
ed one of the foremost and oldest
builders of Atlanta, “I would give my
right hand oft this light arm.” But
let us lift up our eyes* Behold the
bees are at work bringing honey from
the garden of God’s providence. We
will yet bear witness that good comes
out of evil, and that for this com
munity In the noblest moral and civic
Sense Ood has made the wrath of men
to praise Him." A great power has
moved upon the streets of this city. A
great principle Is being demonstrated.
Sweet Out of Bitten
No great tragic experience has ever
failed to leave behind Us permanent
mark. It Is In the records of men that
when Dante came out of his appalling
visions of "The Inferno" he was never
the same man after. Joy had departed
from his life forever and all smiles
from his face. He bore about him
darkness and shadow. As hts sombre
Centuries have been crowded Into
hours.
There are moments In man’s mortal
years when for an Instant that which
has long lain beyond our reach Is of
a sudden found In things of smallest
compass. W6 hold the unbounded shut
In one small minute's space. We hold
worlds within the hollow of our hand.
We hold a world of music In one word
of love, a world of love In one word
less look, a world of thought In one
translucent phrase, a world of mem
ory In one mournful chord, a world of
sorrow In one little song, a world of
power In the experience of an hour.
There are the great moments when a
man, a city or a nation Aings off Im
pediment and leaps forward; when a
human being has realized a tragedy
that shakes' Its soul to Its center, It is
never the same life after. A man who
has paled and shivered In a blast that
found him to his depths Is not again
what he was. Ho discovers that void
points of view have dissolved and that
new'forces have arrived within him.
Through tho Assures of moral earth
quake light from somewhere has
broken In on his soul. Through moral
explosion tht elements of his char
form moved through tho streets of a "®Il-r2 n Jh "/“wsurh
Florence, the awed Florentines whln» f? n do J T ,°T
pared to each other, "There Is the man I
who haa been to hell." Sometimes Chalmers, the great Scotch Preacher,
tragic experience leaves only blight
and wreck In Its wake.
But I have read also In the'records
of men that tragedy Is oftener the
birth throe of progress. When Wen
dell Phillips, the ease loving, cultured
and wealthy young patrician of Bos
ton. stood In the door of hls office and
saw the work of n mob In tho streets
of Boston, tho vision disturbed hls
contentment. That hour transformed
him. From a mere worldling he be
came at once a messenger of human
ity. Hq became the conscience nnd
the voice of hls city nnd hls section.
He Incarnated an era of American his
tory.
There are hours of life when human
nature, heated hot In burning fears,
becomes Auld and runs' quickly Into
nevV moulds. There are minutes when
elemental forces get at the heart of
humanity nnd 'shapes It anew. See It
as you will, there arc moments of life
which mean more than many years.
passed through an experience of trag
•dy, and when he returned to his pui-
plt It was seen that a new power sat on.
him. On the first Sabbath of hls re
turn he said: "You have a new min
ister. Not until thlq day have I ever
known how to preach, but now I be
lieve I do.” Jenny Lind could not con
quer the world with song till honey
from the carcass of sorrow had sweet
ened her voice. Charles Spurgeon spoke
ns nn archangel only after the terrible
dlaster of Surrey Hall, which cost the
lives of scores nnd nlmost hls own.
Dwight L. Moody was an earnest.
K loddlng worker In Chicago, but when
e came nut of the Aamlng horrors of
the great Are of 1*71 he found n new
pow-er, a power which gave hls seal a
resistless earnestness.
Atlanta Finds Hersslf.
It la not over-consciousness of the
terrible character of recent events that
causes me to say that Atlanta will
never be the same city again, but a
DR. JOHN E. WHITE.
nobler, better city, growing out of the
tragedies which hnve shaken this com
munity. Wo have turned- down the
blood-blotted page and opened up a
new chapter. September 22, 1906, will
remain a noted dato In the history of
Atlanta—the date of more than one de.
parture. Prophecy Is said to be half
wish nnd half environment, and, there
fore. subject to discount; but history
confirms tho prophecy. In cases whore
there has been a great and lasting
movement of progress there was some
great moral source of It In a sacrifice
and a sorrow of some kind. Scotland
dates her ethical and Intellectual glory
from the day when he heathers ran
with the blood of ths Covenanters.
France has built her Place de la Re-
n ue on the site of the center of
mrderous revolution. Wilming
ton, N. 0„ a sleepy old town, was
shocked Into a new c6nsclnusness and
a new progress by a terrible riot In
her streets.
Atlanta's time of lawlessness has
been a time of revelation and dis
covery.' A ship, the sailors say, must
have a storm before she finds herself.
A city Is like a ship. There Is today
In Atlanta what was not here before.
For a while, at least, the leprous things
of our life have withered In the public
R ze. For a while, at least, we have
en ruled by a high conscience. We
may see this city sink back Into Its
wonted submission to'the dictates of
commercialism, but Atlanta/enn never
any that she has not seen the light.
Somewhere In the archives of record
at the city hall some things which
have come to consciousness In a tri
umphant way during the month of
September ought to be chronicled for
future reference.
First. There has been nn unshack
ling of honest speech. Our old flatter-
ern and tho habit of sublimating every
thing with soft words has appeared a
mean and unworthy business.
Second. Wc have rcnllzed the peril to
the safety nnd honor of the city of
having In scats of authority men with-
out moral weight, whose characters
lack moral Imperative men who, neg
lecting to command themselves, have
no power over the lawless elements of
nur population. I say we have real
ized the terrific peril of that. Tens of
thousands have boldly borne witness
to that.
Third. We have realized the right
nnd tho duty to require In our situa
tion that thoso who have Infiuentlat
access to the public mind through
newspaper .power shall not idly and
recklessly sow firebrands Ip the dry
IreM of race antagonism; that the
teachers and the leaders of thought
shall support and strengthen the hands
of the law and not bring It Into con
tempt.
Fourth. We have realized that nur
machinery of justice has lacked both
power and spirit to protect the un
protected and bring criminals against
life nnd virtue to speedy account.'
Fifth. We have new light on the
liquor trnfflc. Acknowledged before a
curse without a single redeeming good,
we realize now that the liquor business
Is a menace to our safety In Atlanta,
ns It Is probably to no other city In the
world. The saloon breeds lust, lust
commits rape, rape excites beyond all
prudonce the newspapers, newspapers
InAame riot, the mob slaughters the
Innocent, and the savagery of murder
In the streets brings Atlanta Into the
contempt of the world.
Anarchy came down on us llks night
—Atlanta sprang as one man and
shouted, "Close the Saloons!"
At the angle of race contact between
the InAamtnablo elements of both while
and black stands the saloon. Georgia
with eleven hundred thousand negroes
nnd tens of thousands of negro haters
must sen the utter folly and madness
of courting conflagration by tolerating
yto liquor business, which does , Its
work three hundred days of the year
at the very point of peril to everything
that patriotism holds sacred.
Every good man will thank God that
a new 7 light has been shed on those
things In Atlanta. Every good man
knows hls duty better than he did be
fore. J am assured that a great multi
tude of citizens have sworn to do that
duty more faithfully.
Cut to tho Quick.
But the profounder revelation the
mob has uncovered goes deeper than
the ordinary externals of reform. The
veil has been lifted from our civilian
tlon. Our Ideals and the governing
principles of our life are exposed. The
question that disquiets and yet should
Inspire us, Is whether our city and Its
vigorous captains have been laying the
foundations of progress with emphasis
on some things without which Atlanta
can not be great In real and noble
sense. The mob showed us that we
wore not so secufe In our position of
pre-eminence as we thought. The
mob showed us that the municipal
stomach was full of undigested stuff
—that our process of progress was a
stuffing process, and that we have
been taking In a mass of material with
out really assimilating It.
Here are reflections which must oc
cur to cltltens who think about Atlan
ta when they go home at night. Wo
alt love our city; wo are proud to be
hailed Atlantans abroad. But are there
not some qualities of solidity, disci
pline, modesty and real strength ad
mirable as we agree In Individual char
acter, that would be not less desirable
In municipal character? Hnve we no
ground for misgiving If our coat-of-
arms Is a crowing cock rampant over
ever so many modest angels dormant?
Is a crowing cock civilization the
stablest civilization?
YVe call Atlanta "The New York of
the South.” In that the' Ideal for this
Southern capital? Mr. Jerome said
recently at Birmingham, Ala.: "I hear
some of your orators speak ef your
city ns 'The Pittsburg of the South.’
God grant that It Is not so, and that it
may never be so." Let us pause und
reflect at this point.
The mob lifted off the lid of another
situation. It Is one that proposes a
problem to the churches and tho Chris
tians of Atlanta. Have we 'received
Christianity halved to suit our nat
ural passions and prejudices or nro
we willing to havo a religion that con
trols our natural passions and preju
dices? The mob will always despise
our churches If the members of these
Church** are sympathetically support
ers of the mob. If religion does not mean
more then It has appeared to mean to
men who have put Its authority nsldc
to express the most Chrlstless senti
ments In the same week they havo par
taken of the communion bread and
wine, the very roots of righteousness
are rotten.
I do not believe In the policy of cov
ering facts up. We have sinned nnd
wo must suffer. W* should be profited
thereby. Our editors ought not toitusli
up the Holy Spirit that Is working In
this community. Few cities are loved
as our people love Atlanta, but weean
not go against eternal principles. I
challenge that the truest lovers of At
lanta are not those who would he wil
ling to ilstter us back Into complacen
cy, but those who would make of our
Borrow a stepping alone to higher
things.
>•*•••••••••••••<
• HIMItlHHMMIIIIMHIMtHHHMIl
SCIENTIFIC TREATMENT OF RELIGION
'••••••••••••••••••MM****!
By REV. JAMES W. LEE,
PASTOR TRINITY METHODIST CHURCH
T HE human mind deals with rela
tions of material, human and di
vine facts In three dlstlnft ways.
!'■ perceives them, conceives them and
reproduces them.' During the first
" aw Of mental activity things are
eeen singly, during the second they are
»een in classes, during the third they
are re-created. For instance myriads
or Impressions are made upon the eye
, y a huge object that stands before
u , 1* p,rc *Pt , °n. The mind uses
e Individual Impressions given In
Perception as ,so much raw material
“r a "Ingle generalisation which rep-
re»ms « mountain. This Is concep-
,ly ,he aid of Imagination the
U5f * thB da,a furnished by per-
eptlnn end conception to make a
" f own either smaller or
SSKf' h * n th « real one. This Is re-
f»cu U Vi. in i. •millions of material
Intuitu*® k ? 0 ,. wn as sense-perceptions,
s"lf.»-cl 'll human fact* we may call
vlneT.T. pt,ona ’ and Intuitions of dl-
TW a ” religious perception*,
dues. 'r h ® mlnd ooncelves and repro-
fa cls * / Perceptions of material
and Vr frrerepHomi of human facts
it ha. kL Paroertlon* of divine facts.
.y.tsm.Sr n , “ 2 ,hat ■<n»nce Is the
russification of the uniform
abou, !" wh 'rh energy acts. This Is
tnni ih.?° rr * ct .“ wnuld b * ,he * m, r-
sture i. h !i c «rtaln knowledge of llter-
the umr™ ■ y »»«mallc classification of
EnrraJ "" Wm ln whlch '•««« »«•
tnatifL.SS******* no power of auto-
acre ,fc. W , anc * * nd rontrol. It never
bv nmimTi ** ,m P*H*d and directed
never a n 'P° ttnt "'»• aa alphabet
Science Is
symbni. „# ;r.L.‘ mino uses me
th™«*t °*_' t , thr ough which to express
SSSL.W-y '• the systematic
*hlrh m 7 of ,h ® uniform ways In
PreMlon** mlnd ac,a ,n th ® ex *
throu.h „ thought and volition
spiritual n ? a ** rlBl ' mental, moral and
'eree U £l, m * nt * and ,orcM - Th * uni
ts™. u f „T *l‘h all that It con-
hut . Ih-JL by “* "W" motion,
direr,ibecause of the creative,
tni*h,v Tr mmanenl m,nd of ‘he Al-
■t''*t» ! with ,hl ■ c,eB “" c experiment
"'therse h in/Si. a i*. um » ,,,on ,hal ‘he
the d™c(iverv l rl!!5* b . e ' .**•«** I* but
K'"ti«ht emZ w f classification of the
h'-trmn m?„ ; lled th* cosmos. The
world if w ~ cou,d not explore the
Mln«! aRd not rational.
fy ihnwhufa romprehend and claasl-
"ustSw 1 *V„ t , Uk ” m,nd “* cre *‘ e
disputes that a t*"* man on earth
‘bat thought U everywhere
displayed In the nature and arrange
ment of the facts stored around us.
This thought was either put there by
the mind of the Creator, or else things
themselves aro thinkers nnd have ex
pressed It. it I* Impossible to accept
the proposition that atoms think, feel
and will and are, therefore, little per
sonalities. It Is easier to believe In
One Personality using things as the
vehicles of Hls mind, than to believe
In personality powdered Into billions of
Infinitesimal points. It Is easier to be
lieve that msn gets the thought out of
which he makes hls science from Ono
mind, than it Is to believe that ho gets
It from sextllllons of little minds,
crowded together arid perpetually
thinking In every tumbler of water, or
ln every ball of iron. The unending
field of facts reaching out inimitably
from us every whither arc crammed
full of Ideas. If this were not so man
could handle no light of science In hls
mind, no moro than he could turn on
an Incandescent light In his room. If
either the sun or else the cther-undula-
tlons were not sending out fire.
I.
The attempt has been made to limit
science to the material objects of cre
ation, to such as reach the mind
through the ssnsea. It Is contended
thnt the wondrous mental manufac
tory. which turns out knowledge gen
erally, can only produce the certain
high-grade sort called science from
then there can be no science except,
such as Is turned Into the mind
through the observation and classlfl-1
cation of the thought contained In ma
terial objects. But the elements of hu
man will and emotion nnd Intelligence
and spirit are expressions of divine
thought no less than are the elements
and forces of matter. If we can read
God's thoughts as pennec^ln the rocks
and out of It get science, why should
we not be able to read Hls thought ns
expressetl through the tacts of relig
ion and get science?
Believers In other things thnn such
as may be tasted or touched have per
mitted themselves to be brow-beatfn
and driven away from the quarries of I
seienre In their search for foundations .
to put under their convictions. The
workers engaged In taking up the walla
of physical science have attempted to:
prempt the hills In which good stone ,
under-pinning Is found, with the gen-1
. Ihol Ihritf ll'Prn lift. 1
raw material sent In from the outside
world. In so far ns the author of all
things has expressed thought through
mountain*, rlv«n», tree*, bear* ana
worms, the mind can And and make
science out of It. But In no far as he
h*s expressed thought through the
qualities and relations nnd aspiration*
of the soul, through the element* of
mind as felt In thinking, desiring and
willing, and through the elements or
religion a* felt In reverence, awe and
wonder, we can do no more than spec
ulate about It, we can build **» «$*"£
out of It. This Is to assume thM He
has constructed a myriad-toned organ,
without being able to play upon any
except the' bass notes. That he can
Utter Himself through matter, with Its
atoms, molecules and compound*, but
not through mind with Its reason, con
science and Imagination. ^J e ^“7
speak through thunder, and hall, and
storm, hut j>ot through k I miners, sscrl-
flcc and devotion. That He can show
Hls thought In the structure of the
lion, the tl»er and the hyena, but not
through the Ideals of Dnnte, the con
secration of Francis nnd the service or
Florence Nightingale. If God ex
presses Himself In tangible facts onl>.
oral understanding that they were lift
tng up the only structures bottomed on
hard blocks of fact. Religion In Ihelr t
esleem Is beautiful enough In Its way. i
often Riving zest and color to the live.* |
of the sorrowing and the storm-tossen, |
but about as Intangible as the rainbow, j
only appearing when tho cloud Is Bart j
enough to weep against the smile of |
the light. Those Inclined to give them-
selves up with enthusiasm to this harm
less sort of emotional luxury, have,
they are polite enough to say, a perfect
right to do SO, but they deceive them
selves the moment they suppose any
thing under their haluclnatlons, beyond
the han-yan tree kind of props which
grow downward out of their Imagina
tions. The clergy and others engaged
In building theological homes In which
to house transcendental hopes are tol
erated as mild forms of animated Inno-
cence whose presence lend an Kern of
variety to social existence. Religious
leaders themselves have gradually
reached the strange conclusion that the
scientists have a monoply of th# whole
realm of certain knowledge. whl|e they
have a monopoly of the whole realm
of faith. So It come* to be accepted as
a fair and equitable division to credit
up the chemists, geologists, etc., with
oil the science and the preachers and
professor* of .religion with all the faith.
But such a line of separation ls not eat-
Isfactory, because science Is Impossible
without faith, and faith Is Impoaslhle
without science, it tnkes ns much
faith to accept the scientific proposition
that a particle of hydrogen In water at
the freezing point suffer* 17,700.000,000
every second, and yet lu spite of all
these hindrances manages .to go a dis-
DR, J. W. LEE.
tancc of 17 miles every minute when no
one ever saw or tasted a hydrogen par
ticle and could not If hia life depended
upon It. as It does to accept the relig
ious pro)H>sltlon that God made all
things and controls them. The amount
of faith necessary to accept the state
ment that a cubic inch of air contains
three hundred qulntllllon* of molecules
—every one of w hich,' flying on Its wa>’,
changes Its direction 8,900,000,009 times
a second, and yet travels the distance
of ]8 miles a minute—Is simply enor-
ous. 1
* III.
Science la a body of certain demon
strable knowledge made by the combi
nation of mental activities with differ
ent phases of the universe which pre
sent themselves before the mind. Some
of these phase* arc material and ap
proach the mind through the fine
aenscs. seme are meqtal and approach
the mind through the Imagination.
Some are enthettc and approach the
mind through the sense of benuty;
some are moral and approach the mind
through the conscience, and some are
spiritual and approach the mind
through the religious sense.
Now, every grade of science has
tests peculiar to itself for the estab
lishment of Its claim to be certain and
demonstrable knowledge. There arc
things that knock for admission into
the mind at one or the other of the
five front doors of the senses. Borne
things tail—the nerves which are ar
ranged to ring when objects come be
fore the eye. Whatever seeks entrance
Into the Interior of the soul through
tho eye muBt find admittance at that
opening or It can not get Inside at all.
It might knock at the door of taste or
touch, nr smell or sound, but would not
he recognized. It would bo very ab
surd for the things which conform to
such conditions as enable them to en
ter the mind through the eye, to get In
and then put on ulra, and look with
self-complacent contempt on such as
managed to get In through the enr, or
the nose, or the tongue, or the hand.
The colors of Murillo would' have no
renaan to regard themselves as supe-
rior to the notes of Mozart. How the
general opinion ever came to prevail
that the mind can mgke science out of
none of the Impressions which come
Into It except such na the senses bring
In from tangible facta la a great tnya-
tery. Because of this It Is thought
that the only knowledge we have that
la certain nnd absolutely reliable Is
that the reason hts built out of sense-
fmpresslons. It is admitted that the
knowledge the reason forms by reac
tion on impressions from the material
world Is not to be demonstrated In the
same way In which we would test
the knowledge the reason makes out
of Impressions received from the Inte
rior world of self, or from the all-en-
eompnsslng world of the divine spirit.
But If It Iz the buelnees of reaenn to
manufacture science out of Impression*
nnd If It Is the only mill under heaven
In which Intuition can he turned Into
knowledge, its mechanism mint be
comprehensive and fine enough to work
up the perceptions of God and the per
ceptions of self to as finished a degree
of eerteinty as the perception* of the
material world.
IV.
bottom of man, and the spirit with Its
Man, through hls body. Is related to
the universe of matter; through hls
mind he Is related to the universe of
thought, nnd through hls spirit he Is
related to the Infinite Spirit. Between
the body, with Its five senses at the
e mind with Its powers of percep
tion, and reason which takes the In
dividual perceptions and generalizes
conceptions from them, and the memo
ry which retains permanently the con
ceptions. The function of the reason
Is to take up Impressions as so much
raw material out of which to manufac
ture science, which is knowledge with
the elements of uncertainty taken out
of It. Without reason there can be no
science, os there can bo no cloth with
out the loom. Upon the reason the
body and the mind and the spirit de
pend for science. We have seen that
science Is Impossible on the human
side of Infinitude, unless thought Is sent
through the elements which make It up
from the dlvlno aide. That thought Is
sent through the atoms and forces of
the material world Is proven by the
scleflce the reason makes out of the
Impressions the senses bring from It
That thought Is sent through the ele
ments of mind Is proven by the science
of psychology the reason forms from
tho Impressions sent from It. Thnt
thought Is sent from the spiritual world
to the religious sense Is proven by the
attempt the reason has been making in
all ages to convert It Into knowledge.
But the possibility of a science of re
ligion Is denied by men like Haeckel,
because they say that religious Impres
sions are hallucinations, and not from
any whither except the diseased Imag
ination. This, however, need not alarm
us. for the same position has been
assumed with regard to physical sci
ence. No less a student of matter than
Professor William K. Clifford declared
that he rook the outside world of ob
jects merely to mean a group of hls
feelings. "The object" Tor material
world), he said, ‘is a set of changes In
my consciousness, and not anything out
of It. . . . The Inferences of physi
cal science arc all Inferences of my
real or possible feelings. Inferences of
something actually or potentially In my
consciousness, not of anything outside
of It."
, Few serious-minded studenta how
ever. ever permit themselves to be vic
timized by their own conceits Into
such absurd statements. If science Is
that part of ths experience of the
Creator, man, by observation, experi
ment and action, has been able to
convert Into *hls own experience, then
we can no longer believe the only part
of God thought we can make science of
Is that confined to material crea
tion.
The author of all things expresses
Ills Intelligence through matter,
through mind and through the relig
ious nature. So from tho beginning
Impressions have come to man from
the natural world outside, from tho
mental world Inside, nnd from Hie snln-
Itual world about him. That hls first -
science should havo been made from "J
Impressions coming to him through .
tho bodily senses Is not strange. Ho
lived at the first mainly In hls body, 'j
He did not begin hls career with a col- -«
lege education. The world at first was ;
a kindergarten. The lessons to be .
learned were contained In the rivers, ■»
forests, bears, storms, stars, cold and i
hsat. Reason wns crude and clumsy .<
and reacted on the Impressions after 9
a fashion, but was not disciplined .
enough to create any but tho vaguest •*
sort of knowledge.
God lies spoken through the natural ’
world. Ills voice hss been heard, nnd I
Ills words Interpreted and classified. 1
God has spoken through the mental X
world. Hls voice has been heard and •!
while Hls words, being more subtle J
and charged with richer meaning have J
not so definitely been Interpreted and
classified, still students arc at work' )
by clay and night searching for their J
meaning, and they will never cease cz
until they know the word of.the Lord 1
expressed through the elements of „
mind, as completely ns they know Ills «
word expressed throOgh material crea- "
tlon. God has spoken through the spir
itual nature nnd man from the time
of Adam has heard Hls voice. A11 the
nations of the earth have been hearing
It from the beginning and many all ;;
down through the ages, here and there, ij
have Interpreted It and classified it and j!
acted upon It. But as yet the thought
of God expressed through the spiritual ;u
world has not been acted upon by uni- ,!)
versal reason, and converted Into a ■:
body science valid for all men. This .
Is to be the Work of the coming cen
turies. We see the direction the mind
Is to take In building It Up. We already
know the data out of which It Is to ho
formed. Wo can recognize the first
streaks of the dawning of the coming
day when the knowledge of the Lord
shall cover the earth as the waters cov- ’ v
cr the sea. individual saints from tho
time of Abraham have'come to a clear
knowledge of God and acted upon It..
The father of the faithful read the
thought addressed from above to him
through hls spiritual nature. Ur
of the Chaldees converted It Into
knowledge ns certain to him as ever
was gravitation to Kir I>aac Newton.
But the thought of God expressed
through the religious nature of hu
manity as a whole has not been ob
served and daasllltd with .* new to
converting It Into science.