· DEDI CATION To THE REV. WILLIAM BURT POPE, D. D., WESLEYAN MINISTER, AND THEOLOGICAL TUTOR OF THE DIDSBURY WESLEYAN THEOLOGICAL INSTITUTION. DEAR AND HONOURED SIR ...

T H E C H R I S T .

fi cb en immun e

ERNEST NAV ILL E

(CO R RESPONDING MEMBE R O F THE INSTITUTE or F RANCE,ETC AUTHO R o p

THE PROBLEM OF EWL,‘

THE HEAVENLY FATHER ,

’ mo

TR A N S L A T E D F R O JII T H E F R E N CH

BY TH E

REV. T. J. DESPRES.

I w ash to bring in to e vide n ce here on ly those founda t td'nfiof the Christ zan

Reh gion which are indu'u table , and which cann ot be called in questio n byan ybody .

’—PASCAL .

I

E D I N B U RG H ’

T. T. C L ARK,3 8 G E O R G E S TR E E T.

1 8 8 0.

DEDI CATION

To THE REV. WILLIAM BURT POPE,D.D. ,

WESLEYAN MINISTER,

AND THEOLOGICAL TUTOR OF THE DIDSBURY WESLEYANTHEOLOGICAL INSTITUTION .

DEAR AND HONOURED SIR,—Be pleased to do me th efavour of accepting the dedicat ion of this volume .

Though deprived, in the course of my ministerial

educat ion,of your theological learning and of your

various scholast ic at tainment s, your very valuablewrit ings have been to me a verit able boon. This is

especially t rue with respect to your mast erly work on

the Person of Christ.

When I undert ook the translat ion of the presen t

work,I determined to bring t ogether the n ames of

Dr. Pope and Ern est Nav ill e . I could not carry out

my int ention except by using these means. Kindly

accept th e dedication of this translation as a t oken of

my indebtedness and as a mark of my most profound

respect .

DEDICATION.

May God great ly prolong your life, that you may

cont inue t o proclaim,by your spoken and wri tt en

discourses, th e unsearchable riches of Christ !

I am,my dear Sir,

Yours very respectfully,

THOS. JN . DESPRES.

ALLENDALE TOWN ,

Oc t . l et,1 880.

PRE F A CE.

HE Lectures contain ed in this volume are the

sequel and the complemen t of those on E ternal

e e,on The H eaven ly Father, and on The Problem of

Evil . They w ere delivered at Gen eva,and aft erwards

at Lausanne,in the w int er of 1 8 7 7—7 8 .

At Geneva a supplemen t ary session was held for

th e purpose of replying t o quest ions which had been

put t o me. One of these replies led me t o discuss

at greater length th e relat ions of th e Romish Churchto freedom of worship. This I have published sepa

rat e ly, because it was only indirect ly related t o th e

main subject of my Lectures .

ERNEST NAVILLE .

GENEVA,September 20, 1 878 .

CONTENTS.

FIRST LECTURE .

Stat e of th e Que st ion ,

SECOND LECTURE.

Christ th e Te ach e r,

TH I RD LECTURE .

Christ th e Comfort e r,

FOURTH LECTURE .

Christ th e Rede emer,

F IFTH LECTURE .

Christ th e Legislat or,

SIX TH LECTURE .

Christ th e Lord,

SEVENTH LECTURE .

Con clusion ,

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS,

T H E C H R I S T.

F IRST LECTU RE.

Elbe State of the Q uestion.

ENTLEMEN ,—On a certain day, approximately

fixed by chronology at the thirt ieth year of our

e ra, Jesus, a young Israelit ish c arpent er, already famous

in His country,spake t o some of His fellow-country

men who had become His followers,and asked them

Whom say the people that I am (Luke ix. 1 8

They told H im of th e various rumours in circulat ion,

when Simon, a boatman of Galil ee, bet t er known aft er

wards by th e name of Peter, answered and said : Thou

art th e Christ of God (Luke ix. He meant t o

say : ‘ Thou art He that should come,an d whom we

expected.

’ The fact is,that at that t ime of which we

speak, th e Jews, relying on ancient writings which

they regarded as prophecies, expected a great personage,a liberat or

,a t eacher who should instruct them

,and

re -establish the glory of the people of Israel,then

subj ect to th e Roman yoke. This expected liberat or

was designated in Greek by the name of Christ , in

Hebrew by that of the Messiah.

What did th e carpent er of Nazareth say of Himself

We shall learn this from an incident selected fromA

2 THE CHRIST.

many others . In one of His journeys He s tayed two

days in a t own of Samaria called Sychar. During

that t ime He conversed w ith th e inhabit an ts, and at

th e end of His brief soj ourn they said of Him :‘We

have heard Him,and know that this is indeed th e

Christ,th e Saviour of th e world

’

(John iv. The

quest ion is no longer that of th e liberat ion of the

people of Israel alone, b ut of a work direct ed t o th e

whole world , and that work, a work of salvat ion .

Jesus stat ed that this work of salvat ion was the work

of God,whom He called His Father ; and those who

received His word, and became His disciples, made

profession of a faith which may be summed up thus‘ I n Jesus

,the carpen ter of Naz areth

,a work of God is

being accomp lished for the salvation of the world.

’

Such

is faith in Christ in it s living germ .

There is no need for me t o recount the sequel of

a hist ory which is the best known of all histories .

Mul t itudes follow Jesus with enthusiasm . The rulers

of the people and the chief priest s, menaced in their

power,league themselves against Him . An other crowd

than that which had received Him with acclamat ion

(alas ! it may have been th e same) , with great entreaty

demand His death at the hands of th e Roman governor.

Pride and envy accuse Him,avari ce betrays Him

,

cowardice surrenders Him ; He is n ailed t o a cross,a kind of punishment reserved to wret ches who were

n ot merely condemned t o death, but to ign ominy.

His dejected disciples are scat tered, but soon they re

assemble,full of courage. They announce that their

THE STATE OF THE QUESTION. 3

Master is risen from th e dead, and that He has com

manded them to t each all nat ions . They publish the

word Of salvat ion, affirming that‘ God was in Chris t

,

reconcilin g th e world unt o Himself’

(2 Cor. v.

Then this quest ion is asked in the Roman empire

What think ye of th e Christ ?’

On this subject two

currents of Opinion are formed. Those who admit th e

reality Of salvat ion by Christ , unit e t ogether and formth e assembly Of believers, —the Church,—which placesh er trust in t he Saviour, in whom she believes, for life,for death, and for immort ality. On th e other hand

,a

formidable opposit ion arises in the bosom of ancient

society,which feels it s bases threat ened. The priest s

,

the government s, the philosophers, join in a common

attack upon the n ew doctrin e. In that at t ack we

may discern two elements—hatred of dangerous innovat ore

,cont empt for th e disciples of the Cru c ified.

For some th e gospel (that was the name Of the n ew

doctrine) is especially a peril ; for others, it is alt o

gether a folly.

This was th e way in which the quest ion presented

it self in th e Roman world . I t present s it self in the

same way in our days, and Of all th e quest ions which

agitat e me n this is the most universal . The in

habitant s of the earth are visibly tending to organize

themselves int o un ity, and their views and int erest s

are becoming every day more general. In the fifteen th

century,the populat ions of America were engaged in

fright ful wars, of which Europe knew no more about

than if they had taken place on an o ther planet ; while

4 THE CHRIST.

our generation , with the most lively sympathi es,

associat ed it self with the war that abolished negro

slavery in the United Stat es. Let there be an earth

quake or a polit ical revolut ion at th e other extremity

Of the globe in th e morning, and in th e evenin g we

are informed Of it by t elegraph. The community Of

human minds has therefore made great progress.

Nevertheless the Chinese discuss many quest ions

which are unknown to us ; and Europeans excit e

themselves in social and polit ical conflict s, which are

absolut ely unknown t o th e t eeming populations of

Africa and Asia. But th e quest ion proposed eighteen

centuries ago,first in Palest ine

,then in the Roman

empire : ‘What must be thought Of Christ ? ’ this

question is n ow asked all over the world. I t is

eagerly discussed in the various countries Of Europe ;it is present ed t o the Brahmins Of India

,on the banks

Of the Ganges, and on th e slopes Of th e Himalayas ; it

reaches th e ears of those who inhabit the tropics, as

al so of th e dwellers by th e northern seas, and it is a

subject of much thought in th e most distant isles of

the ocean . It is no longer in th e narrow circle of

Palest ine only, or in the vast er circle Of th e Roman

empire,but in the whole world

, that Christ might ask

t o-day Whom say th e people that I am

In order t o right ly understand th e import of the

study that we are entering upon,let us weigh the

t erms Of the quest ion stated, and see what it supposes.

The quest ion is that Of a work Of God for th e salvation

of th e world. Awork of God supposes a God capable


of acting,a living Ccid, th e Master of His works, and

able to intervene in th e course of event s. The salva

tion of the world supposes a world which needs to be

saved ; the idea of salvat ion always answers t o that of

an evil to be repaired,or of a dan ger t o be prevented.

The problem which we are approaching is not pro

posed,therefore

,either for those who deny the exist

ence of a living God,or for those who deem that t he

world is in order,and that there is nothing in human

nature to be repaired.

1 have treat ed these preliminary questions in two

series Of lectures,— th e one on the Heavenly Father,

’

and the other on the Problem Of Evil.’ I t ake the

l iberty Of referring you t o these two volumes, wishing

you t o Observe that,in order t o approach th e study Of

the question of salvat ion, it is n ot necessary t o admit

the theoret ical solution that I have proposed for th e

problem of evil,a solut ion of th e difficult ies Of which

I am n ot unmindful ; it sufli c e s to admit that the

world, as we know it,is n ot in order, and that it needs

rest oration .

The assert ion of the divine mission Of Christ is

common to all Christendom . However opposed the

various Churches may be t o each other on other point s ,

they are agreed on this,if they are Churches at all,

that is to say,congregat ions Of believers . It is th is

common faith which geographically separat es Christ ian

from non-Christian lands ; and in countries that are

Christ ian outwardly,it is this common faith which

separat es the Churches from civil society,where, under

6 THE CHRIST.

the regime Of liberty, every man'

has the right Of ex

pressing his opinions . There exist s , then, amid all

t h e diversity of their opinions,an affirmation common

t o all Christ ians. This truth is as easy t o est ablish

as it is import an t. Speak t o a Roman Catholic who

has reflect ed on the basis Of his belief. Ask him why

he submit s t o the decisions of the Pope. He will rest

the authority of the Pope on that Of the Council ; th e

authority Of th e Council on that of th e Church, Of

which th e Council is th e voice ; th e auth ority of the

Church on that of th e apost les, who foun ded it ; th e

authority Of the apost les on that Of Jesus Christ,who

sen t them forth ; and, fin ally, th e authority Of Jesus

Christ on that Of God,who in Him was man ifest ed t o

th e world. Such will be th e necessary chain of his

arguments . Le t us n ow enter into that Orient al

building,which

,on the Plateau des Tran chees

,

1 causes

th e gilded domes which surmount it t o glit t er in

th e sunshine. There we will find Russians,Greeks

,

Roumanians,united for their common worship. These

Christ ian s do not recognise the supreme authority Of

th e Pope and th e val idity Of th e Western Councils,but they admit th e decisions Of th e Councils ant erior

t o th e schism which has separat ed the East from the

West . Why do they receive those decision s ? They

w ill answer you by passing from th e (Ecumenical

Councils to the Church,from the Church t o th e

apostles,from the apost les t o Christ, from Christ t o

God. And th e Prot estant, who draws his belief1 In Gen e va.

THE STATE OF THE QUESTION . 7

directly from th e Scriptures of the Old and New

Test ament ? To just ify the authority that he allows

to these books,he will be obliged to bring in the

Church which formed th e canon of Scripture, the

apost les who founded the Church, Jesus Christ who

chose the apostles,God who manifest ed Himself

in Jesus Christ . All ow me to use a comparison

borrowed from geomet ry. The various Christian com

mun it ie s are placed on divers point s of a circumference .

But these poin t s,even the most opposite

,are t he

extremit ies of rays which all t erminat e at the same

centre ; that centre is Christ,th e work of God in

Christ . All controversy,ecclesiast ical and c on fe s

sioual,turns on the legit imat e interpretation of the

word and work of Christ,and supposes faith in th e

divinity of that work . I t is true that,in the social

conflicts in which religion is engaged,one meet s with

fervent Catholics and zealous Prot est ant s,of whom one

might be somet imes allowed to ask whether either the

one or th e other believe even in God. We must be

very sparing of judgment s on th e con science of our

neighbour. But if there be men who place a heaven

in which they believe n ot at the service of earth ; if

there be men who,under the cloak of religion

,pursue

only the satisfact ion of their interest s and passions ; if

there be men who desecrat e that which ought to be

for ever sacred,by making of their religious belief

a mere everyday polit ical tool,—those men do an

injury t o society ; those me n are turn ing back th e

best of the currents of modern civil isation ; and, t o

THE CHRIST.

Speak out all my mind,they are guilty of a real

profanation.

Le t me be clearly understood. In takin g my stand

on ground so gen eral as that which I have chosen,I

do not mean t o propose that we shall found a new

religion on th e sole basis of faith in Christ. Neither

do I dream of forming the project of an ext ernal

reunion of the various Churches. Nothing coul d be

more conformable to my wishes than such a reunion ,b ut nothing, for th e moment, is further from my

hopes. Simple faith in Christ is a germ whose

development naturally produces a det ermination of

doctrine and a Church organizat ion. In the present

state of things, that development produces divisions

and conflict s. I do not disput e th e lawfulness of

t hese conflicts ; but my purpose is t o stop at th e unity

of th e common faith,without ent ering in to th e diver

sity of it s in t erpret at ions . The quest ion is of sufficient

importan ce t o be treated separat ely. I Shall not attack,then

,either the Pope of Rome

,or th e Patriarch of

Constant inople,or th e holy Synod of Russia

,or the

Anglican Bishops,or the Lutheran Consistories, or

in short , gent lemen, I Shall not ent er in t o any polemics,ecclesiast ical or confessional . Elsewhere you may

hear more than enough about that which div ides

Christians ; it will perhaps please you, if on ly for the

novelty of th e thing,t o li st en to nothing in this place

but about that which should unit e them .

The quest ion that I am approaching is n ot that of

deciding which among the Christian Churches is the


best,or the alone good but to inquire whether all the

Churches must perish in a common shipwreck, whi ch

would leave nothing floating on the destructive waves

of the ocean save the negat ion of all Christ ian belief.

The question that I am approaching is not that of

deciding which is the most faithful expression and the

most correct interpret ation of th e work of Jesus Christ

but to inquire if this name,which has wiped th e t ear

from so many eyes,and called forth so man y acts of

devotion,—th e name of Jcsus

,—must henceforth be

banished from the family as it is from the element ary

school,t o figure no longer except in the researches of

savan ts and of hist orians. From the social point of

view,th e question n ow before me is whether our

civilisat ion must cont inue t o develope th e germs which

gave it birth,and of which it is so far from having

seen the full expansion ; or whether the modern

nat ions,violently uprooted from the moral soil by

which they are borne up, must be whirled in t o an

unknown future,on the threshold of which one can

scarcely help foreseeing anything but clouds and

st orms .

The quest ion,disengaged from every confessional

element,shall also be cleared from all Special dogmat ics.

By special dogmatics,I mean not those doctrines that

relate to the presence of God in Jesus Christ , which is

the foundat ion of the faith,but those which relat e t o

the mode of that presence,—for example, th e syst ems

relating to the Incarnat ion and to the holy Trini ty.

Just as faith in Christ is the necessary basis of all con

1 0 THE CHRIST.

fe ssion al controversy,so is it the necessary basis of all

dogmatics in th e sense that I have just poin ted out .

The quest ion of the divin e nature of Christ can be

approached without ent ering int o th e examinat ion of

those doctrines which define it ; but the converse does

n ot hold good. I t is evident that one cannot study

the mode of the presence of God in Jesus,if one does

n ot admit th e reality of that presence.

Last ly,we shall keep out side of all scient ific re

searches relative to t extual crit icism. This deman ds

somewhat lengthy explanat ions,especially for those

Prot est ants who have been in th e habit of considering

th e divinity of the Scriptures as th e direct object of

their faith,and as th e first art icle of their creed. HOW

can we approach the study of the Christ ian religion,

even in the most general sense of th e word , whilst

elimin at ing that crit ical science which det ermines our

opin ion of th e value and nature of the first document s

of that religion

I will first ask you t o observe that my study will

n ot be limited t o fact s cont ained in the Books of th e

New Testament ; far from that , I intend t o use fact swhich have occurred in the course of eighteen c e n

turie s, and cont emporary fact s which every one can

t est without th e aid of th e researches of savan ts. For

a long t ime one has been in a complete uncert ainty as

t o the sources of the Nile. But that uncertain ty did

not preven t men from st at ing that the periodical over

flowing of it s wate rs produced th e fert ility of Egypt .

In the same way,one can studv the effect s of the

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

1 2 THE CHRIST.

admitted ? then the supernatural elements contained

in the t ext will occasion no difficulty. He who

believes in the divine mission of Christ will have nodifficulty in admit t ing that

,by the circumstances of

His nat ivity,He was screened from the corrupt ion

of ordinary gen erat ion s ; that , in th e course of His

life,He displayed a superhuman power ; and that He

came forth from the sepulchre th e conqueror of death.

Scien ce wil l retain all h e r right s for the study of th e

value of t ext s and document s ; but She will no longer

be governed by a spirit of negat ion . There is n ot ,then

,one crit icism

,b ut two. The one rest s upon a

basis of belief, th e other on a basis of negat ion ; and

these two bases are not the result of th e detailed

studies of th e text s, bu t of two contrary principles

which inspire those studies.

Do n ot imagine that I want to eulogize th e theology

of ignorant men ! Some t ime ago we had,in Gen eva

,

a translation of the Psalms,which in certain places

was very defect ive in a poet ical point of View,and

which had been several times revised by a company of

past ors. On th e occasion of one of these revisions,a

woman from th e coun try indignant ly exclaimed on e

day : Do these gent lemen really pret end to know

French bet t er than King David ? ’ I have select ed

an extreme example ; b ut it would be possible to cit e

many others. Christ ians of both sexes often com

promise their cause by wishing to decide,in th e name

of their faith, quest ions whi ch belong t o science.

Science has h er province. Le t us beware‘of entering

THE STATE or THE QUESTION. 1 3

upon it unless we are lawfully qualified ; but for the

fundamentals,for the essent ials, for the principles

which turn science into two opposit e direct ions,for the

faith properly so called,the Springs of life do n ot flow

from th e dust of libraries and the quibbles of th e

school. The Father of mankind has not permit ted in

His family a privilege so monstrous . The part to be

t aken with respect t o the nature of Christ ’s work,

cannot be decided by t extual crit icism or by erudit ion .

In this connect ion there are believers quit e as learn ed

as unbelievers,and unbelievers quite as learn ed as

believers . I am aware that both parties deny this but

t o deny it, on either side, seems to me t o be either the

result of a blind prejudice, or an act of haughty

insolence.

The volume of the Scriptures presents it self, then,under two different aspects . I t is Simply a historical

document,or it is a document which faith invests with

a special authority. This second point of view cannot

be ours. The divine mission of Christ bein g admit t ed,

what result will this admission have upon th e Book

This is a quest ion of special dogmatics,which some

men will resolve by their adherence to the t eachin g

of their Church,and some others by their personal

researches. We Shal l not approach it ; we cannot,since it t akes as solved th e question which is to be the

sole object of our research. We Shall therefore keep

out side of all quest ions of learned crit icism, as well as

of all confessional conflict s and dogmatic determinat ions. This will be the course of our study

1 4 THE CHRIST.

Christ is affirmed as a Saviour. Salvation is

deliverance from evil under all its forms. Without

separat ing what should remain unit ed, one may yet

dist inguish divers element s in the gen eral idea of a

deliverance . We Shall study th e work of Christ in

it s re lat iOn s with the researches of reason (Christ the

Teacher) , with the sufferings of the heart (Christ

the Comfort er) , with the t roubles of th e conscience

(Christ the Redeemer) , with the course of society

(Christ th e Legislat or) . After that we Shal l fix our

at ten t ion on the power which He has manifest ed in

all respect s (Christ the Lord) . After having collect ed

all th e data, we shall seek the best explanat ion of

them,or, t o speak more correct ly, I Shall submit to

your not ice th e solut ion which I am here t o defend,

that of Christ endom ,that is t o say

,that in Jesus of

Naz are th , become th e Christ , a work of God has been

accomplished for th e salvat ion of the world .

Before going any further,permit me on e remark

with respect t o th e nature of my exposit ion. Re ligious

speech assumes two differen t forms,—sometimes it isthe word of th e Church, and at other t imes it is what

I shall call th e word of th e public place. The Apostle

Paul,speakin g or writ in g t o th e religious communit ies

which had accept ed his preaching, addresses them with

authority. He reminds them of th e faith received,

explain s it, applies it , censures those who deviat e from

it . That is what I call the word of the Church ; it

presupposes a previous faith, common t o him who

Speaks and to those who hear. But here is this same


Paul on the public place at Athens. No common

faith unite s him to the cit izens of that town , to the

philosophers that accost him ,and t o the curious who

gather round him. He st ates his belief, and dis

cusses it without his hearers being able to at tach anyauthority to his discourses. Such is the word of the

public place ; and it is that which I intend you to

hear in this hall.

I presume that no one will dispute the importance of

the quest ion we are now approaching,whether for the

individual or for society. Firstly, for th e individual

Those who believe know well what they possess. Those

who do n ot believe, if they are men of serious minds,

know well what they might obtain by believing.

Those who doubt,do not deny the gravity of th e

problem that they raise, but cannot solve . And,last ly

,those who have ceased t o believe

,endeavour

to account,and often with sadness

,for what they

have lost . In th e present s t at e of men’s minds, the

separat ion of thought from Christ often involves the

destruct ion of every religious element . I do n ot say

that this is always the case I st at e a fact, and I saythat it is thus in a large number of cases. Here is

an example : A young man, nat ive of the Jura, and

who became an est eemed philosopher,—I allude t o

Joufl‘

roy,—had been brought up in a pious family.

He has made known the religious feelings of his

childhood in th e following words The present life

was clear to me,and beyond it I saw th e future

unfolding itself without a cloud. Clear as t o the

1 6 THE CHRIST.

course which I had to pursue in this world,perfect ly

at ease as to the end to which it would conduct me

in the other ; comprehen din g life in it s two aspect s,and death which unit es them ; comprehen ding myself,knowing God’s design s concern ing me

,and loving Him

for th e goodness of those design s,—I was happy with

that joy which result s from a living and unhesit at ing

faith in a doct rin e which solves all the great problems

which can int erest th e min d of man.

’

Sent t o Paris, Joutfroy en t ers th e Normal School.

Under th e influence of th e Spirit that reigned in that

school,he begins t o feel doubt s arisin g in his mind

concerning the divine worth of Christ ianity ; and —thisis the fact t o which I draw your at tent ion—doubt ast o his Christ ian faith disturbs and uproot s at on e stroke

all his religious beliefs. Le t us hear him : Never

shall I forget the December evening when the veilwhich hid my unbelief from mine own eyes was torn

away. I st ill hear my foot st eps in that narrow an d

empty room,where

,long aft er th e hour for sleep , I

was accustomed t o promen ade ; I st ill see that moon,half veiled by clouds

,whi ch at int ervals lit up the

cold pav ement . The hours of the night glided away,

and I perceived it n ot ; I anxiously followed my

thought , which descended st ep by st ep to th e bot t om

of my consciousness,an d

,dissipat ing one aft er another

all the illusions which t ill then had hid them from myview

,rendered its subt erfuges more and more visible

t o me. In vain I clung to my last beliefs,as a ship

wrecked sailor to the fragments of his ship in vain,


terrified by the unknown waste in which I was about

t o float,I threw myself back once more upon my

childhood,my family

,my country

,all that was dear

and sacred t o me ; th e inflexible current of my thought

was the stronger ; parents, family, memories, beliefs,it forced me to leave all. Thi s examination became

more obst inat e and more severe as it approached th e

end ; n or did it stop until the end was reached. I

knew then that at th e bottom of myself there was

nothing left st anding, that all I had be lieved about

myse lf, about God, and about my destiny in this‘ life and

in that to come,I n ow be lieved no more . Thi s moment

was frightful ; and when, towards morning, I threw

myself exhaust ed upon my bed,it seemed to me as if

I could feel my former life,so cheerful and so complete

,

die away, and before me there opened up another life,dark and dispeopled

,where henceforth I was t o live

alone, alone with my fatal thought which had just

exiled me thither,and which I was tempted t o

curse.’ 1

Such may be,for the individual, the importance of

the quest ion on th e n ature of Christ. Its import ance

is n ot less for society.

Whence comes our civilisat ion ? Without alluding

to our remote Asiat ic origin,where the human species

seem t o have been cradled,modern civilisation is like

unt o a river int o which Greece,Rome

,and Germany

Se e L es nouveaua: mélange s philosophique s of The odore Joufi'

roy,

published by Damiron,pp. 1 12-1 1 5 ; and th e j ournal L e Semeur for

De c . 1 842, which re st ored a passage om it t ed by M . Damiron .

B

1 8 THE CHRIST.

have poured their streams as t ributaries,which have

oft swollen and t roubled it s wat ers ; but the principal

source of th e river is in Judea. The most consider

able influence exercised upon our laws,our customs,

our morals, our ideas,is th e influence, direct or in

direct,of th e gospel. Do you wish t o accoun t for

this ? Do n ot consult apologists whom you may

suspect,but men who in their special studies have

foun d a truth which they were n ot seeking. For th e

law s,consult th e works of Mont esquieu

,or th e more

recent writ ings of Tr0plong.

1 ’Tis n ot only Chat eau

briand,in his Ge’n ie da Christian isme , bu t also TO

'

pffe r,

in his Refl exion s e t men us propos d’

un pein tre g en evois,2

who will t ell you, w ith many others, what has been

th e influence of Christ ian ity on th e art s. Rossi will

Show you that same influen ce act ing upon polit ical

economy.

3 I limit myself t o these rapid references,

which it would be easy t o exten d and mult iply. We

have all been train ed under th e influen ce of Christ ian

ideas,whence two delusion s running in an opposit e

direct ion. I t often happen s that we t ake for spe c ifi

cally Christ ian elemen t s human act ions which result

from th e natural developmen t of th e heart , of the

reason, and of t he con science. I t also happen s,and

perhaps more frequent ly st ill,that we t ake for n atural

and human things specifically Christ ian . In order t o

1 De l znflue n c e da Christ ian isme sur le droit pr ivé des Remain s ,1 842 ; De l

’

infl uen c e da Chris t ian isme sur te droit civil des Romains,1 843 se con de edit ion , 1 855 .

2 Vol . i . pp . 1 27- 1 30.

3 B ibliothéque un iverse lle of De c . 1 867, pp . 503- 505.


2 0 THE CHRIST.

They are publicly set forth ; they have at their service

books,newspapers

,and organized societ ies . The

sources of these negations are numerous I will rapidly

enumerate a few of them.

First ly,th e enemy of all religious culture

,the

ancient mat erialism. Fifty years ago it was thought

t o be pret ty nearly dead, or at th e least decaying ;but it has come to life again ; it has assumed a very

high t one,and seeks in th e physical and natural

sciences a prop which it thinks firm,though it is not.

Secondly,hist orical crit icism. The dist in ct ion that

I_have established between th e proper domain of this

science and the bases of faith is generally ignored . I t

is t oo oft en imagined that by t aking off th e moss and

th e mist letoe from the trunk and branches of th e tree

of religion, th e sources of it s l ife are affect ed.

Thirdly,the relat ively new science of comparat ive

rel igions. A child who has never left his father’s

home n aturally enough considers his village t o be the

world,the limits of his horizon as the boundaries of

th e un ivers e, th e customs of his family and of his

country as th e laws of mankind. When he becomes

aware of th e e xist e n c e of other peoples,other manners

,

other laws, he somet imes receives a violent mental

Shock. Just in this way we begin very naturally by

believing that our religion is the religion. Do we t ake

cognizan ce of other religions ? They abound in super

st it ion s, oft en in most monstrous pract ices ; but an

impart ial study will enable us t o discover in them

also a port ion of truth,greater than we thought of

THE STATE OF THE QUESTION. 2 1

finding at first. We thus discover that we do n ot

possess the absolut e monopoly of the true and th e

good. This brings one over to t he idea that each

people has its own religion,and that all religions may

be equally good in their t ime and place ; an idea

which would lead men to divest Jesus Christ of His

character of Saviour, in order to set Him up in a sort

of Pantheon with Confucius,Zoroaster, and Sakya

Mhui.

Fourthly, politics. Civil powers have imposed

religion by sheer force ; hence we have in hist ory a

lugubrious procession of persecut ions,massacres

,and

martyrdoms . This st at e Of things has produced a

react ion, which is legit imat e in it s principle, but which

is becoming blind in it s excess. From the just idea

that the temporal power ought n ot to be at the

command of th e clergy,men pass to th e absolut ely

different idea,that it is necessary t o suppress the social

influence of religion . The use is proscribed from fear

of th e abuse. This is t o reason as men would do ,who, in order t o preven t c onflagrat ion s, would propose

to deprive mankind of that fire which warms and

illumines it . This confusion of ideas arises from th e

double sense attached to the term laic . Men speak of

lay society,lay schools

,lay t eaching. What do they

mean ? Two things absolut ely different. Some mean

that in the present conditions of society, with it s

diversity of religions and it s l iberty of opinions, stat e

mat t ers should be distinct from those of th e Church .

I am of this opinion,and I am of this Opinion in th e

2 2 THE CHRIST.

int erests of religion just as much as in the interests of

th e stat e. In this sen se late is a t erm opposed to the

idea of th e temporal power of the clergy. But others

t ake th e word in a quit e differen t sen se. For them

laic signifies without religion. That is certain . Ge t

th e men who deman d in common th e lay stat e,th e

lay school,t o explain themselves

,and you w ill soon

see that,while agreeing as to th e word, they ut terly

disagree as t o th e thing. Some employ th e word in

its true and tradit ion al sense, others in a new sen se,born of present passions and conflict s . On this subject

I will make a Single observat ion. Gent lemen (I

address myself t o fathers of families), when you speak

t o your child about God,about th e Saviour

,about th e

home where we hope to find again those whom we

have lost , do you then cease t o be laymen ? Do you

admit that religion is th e monopoly of th e clergy ?

Fifthly,evil socialism. I say evil. If by socialism

be mean t effort s made,n ot only t o change th e hands

which hold power,th e proper business of the polit ician ,

but also t o ameliorat e the con dit ion of society,t o

dimin ish t h e sources of misery, t o obt ain a bet t er

distribut ion of th e product s of labour,this socialism is

good,it is Christ ian in it s spirit and in it s origin.

Evil socialism is that which despises liberty, which

would make men in t o mere machin es, which aspires t o

overturn inst itut ions by violence, and which seeks it s

ful crum in the passions and the lust s which it summons

t o th e pursuit (curee) of th e good things of this world .

This kind of socialism looks upon Christ as an obst acle,

THE STATE OF THE QUESTION. 2 3

and upon God as an adversary. This fact is point ed

out by Alfred de Musset. Alluding t o certain writers

who accuse th e gospel of havin g been a principl e of

dissolut ion for Roman society,he writes : Christ ianity

ruined the emperors,but it saved the people. I t

opened th e palace of Constant inople t o the barbarians,but it also opened the cot t age doors t o th e consoling

angels of Christ . That is what Christ ianity did ;and n ow,

aft er so many years,what have they don e

who tried t o destroy it ? They have seen that th e

poor allowed themselves t o be oppressed by th e rich,

th e feeble by the strong,for th e very reason that they

said t o themselves,The rich and the mighty may

oppress me on the earth , but when they would en t er

into Paradise,I Shall be standing at th e gat e

,and I

will accuse them at th e bar of God . Thus,alas !

they learned patience. The ant agon ists of Christ

have therefore said t o the poor, Thou art pat ient

t ill the day of judgment : there is no day of judgment ;thou wait e st for et ern al life t o claim thy revenge

there is no et ernal life ; thou treasurest up thy t ears

and th e t ears of thy family, the cries of thy children

and the sighs of t hy wife, in order t o carry them t o

th e feet of God at the hour of thy death : there is

no God. Then th e poor man has det ermin edly wiped

away his tears,he has bidden his wife be Silen t

,and

his children t o come along w ith him,and has stood his

ground with the force of a bull . He has said to th e

rich, Thou that hast oppressed me art b ut a man

and to th e priest,

“ Thou that hast con soled me hast

2 4 THE CHRIST.

lied . That was just what the antagonists of Christ

desired. It may be that they thought they were

promot ing th e happiness of men by sending forth the

poor t o the conquest of liberty. No doubt you

are philanthropist s, no doubt you are right as to th e

future,and the day will come when men will bless

you ; but n ot ye t , verily we cann ot ye t bless you .

Formerly,when the oppressor said

,

“ The earth for

me ! ! th e oppressed answered,

“Heaven for me ! !

What will he answer now 1

These st rong words point out a real fact : evil

socialism is one of the element s in th e present struggle

again st Christ,and swells th e ranks of the adversaries

of th e gospel.

Those are many host ile forces must erin g from

various quart ers . Christ ian ity is like a fortress again st

which armies are advan cing from all th e point s of th e

horizon . What are they doin g inside the fortress ?

Alas ! exact ly what the Jews did during th e siege of

Jerusal em. The Roman armies surrounded th e city,

and three rival fact ions added intest ine dissensions and

quarrels t o th e horrors of th e most fright ful of Sieges .

Such is th e too faithful image of Christ endom in our days .

At th e commen cement of th e present cent ury, aft er

the at tacks of the En cyclopaedist s upon th e foundat ion s

of all religious belief,aft er the days of the Terror

,

when th e members of all the Churches, without dist inct ion ,

were thrown int o prison,and led away t o the

guillot ine, a marked reconcil iat ion was effect ed between1 L a conf e ssion d

’

un enfan t da s iecle , chap. ii .

THE STATE OF THE QUESTION . 2 5

the two branches of Western Christ endom . The

common att ack and th e community of the persecution

had rendered Protestants and Catholics at tent ive t o

that which united them. To-day the at t acks are n ot

less violent,th e danger to the faith is not less great ,

and no reconcilement is effect ed . Never had Chris

t ians more need to be unit ed,and never were they

more divided ! One understands the triumphant shout s

of t he adversaries, the anxiety of many believers, and

all the actuality of th e subject of my lectures .

Such is the study that I propose t o you . It was

not without hesitation , and, to employ a t erm that

does n ot exceed the real fact of the case,it was n ot

without anxiety that I decided t o ent er upon it . I

know, I feel deeply what I lack, in many ways, to be

a workman worthy of the t ask I have undert aken. I

have seriously asked myself whether I do not run the

risk of compromising by my insufficiency th e cause I

wish to serve. You have n ot,then

,before you a

t eacher Speak ing with authority,but merely a student

bringing t o you,for your considerat ion, th e result of

his re searches. Independently of the conclusions t o

which I wish to lead you, however, it seems t o me

that I shall not have done a useless work if I succeed

momentarily in turning away your thought s from the

preoccupat ions of ordinary life,from the confl ict s, often

fruit less and painful,of politics

,and from the st ill more

painful ecclesiastical and confessional conflict s, in order

to place you face to face with the religious quest ion

approached in its largest and most serious sense.

SECOND L E CTU RE.

Christ the Greaeher.

ENTLEMEN,Christ opher Columbus left the

coast s of Spain on the 3d of August 1 49 2,and

on th e 4th of March 1 49 3,t empest -t ossed

,be cast

an chor at th e mouth of the Tagus. If th e t empest

had engulphed his vessel,and if Columbus had swum

alone t o the shores of Portugal,on hearing th e

stran ge things that he relat ed,there would n ot have

been want ing persons who would have applied to him

the proverb,They lie best who come from far.

’

But

before th e astonished gaze of those who visited his

ship , he exhibit ed the plan t s, th e animals, and last ly

th e inhabit an t s of th e n ew world that he had dis

covered . A t these sign s they regarded him as a

witn ess worthy of credence,and they accept ed his

word . In th e story which bears th e t itle of The

Gospel ac cording to St . John,we read that a Jew

named Nicodemus came t o Jesus, an d said unt o Him,

Rabbi,we know that Thou art a Teacher come from

God : for no man can do those miracles that Thou

doest,except God be with him ’

(John iii. 1 , In

the thought of this Jew,Jesus wrought works which2 6


2 8 THE CHRIST.

are summit s where th e thoughts of men are divided.

Among these summit s,th e highest is the quest ion

of th e origin of th e universe. According t o th e

answer given,all th e ideas t ake a different course .

At the t ime when Christ appeared, there exist ed four

principal doctrines relat ive t o this great problem

Polytheism,Dualism

,Pan theism

,and Materialism .

Polytheism ,that is to say

,th e doctrine which at tri

butes th e origin of the world t o mul tiple powers,a

doctrine under the influence of which men addressed

their homages and prayers t o different deit ies . In th e

Greek and Roman world this was th e doctrine of th e

people, and if n ot of th e rulers themselves,who oft

had no faith in it,at least of th e government s.

Dualism refers the origin of th e world t o two prin

c iple s. These two principles are that of good and that

of evil ; or, in another form of the same doctrine, an

eternal mind and an et ernal mat t er. This syst em

under its first form had it s centre in Persia. Under

it s second form it exist ed,more or less at t enuated and

veiled, but at the same t ime real,among th e great est

philosophers of Greece.

Mat erialism would explain all things -the thoughts

of th e mind as well as the combinat ions of mat t er, the

feelings of th e heart as well as th e movement s of the

body—by the alone conjunct ion of atoms. This doctrin eis me t with in all lands and in all ages. It is th e

natural product of reason in its infancy. Mat erialism

will never absolut ely disappear unt il th e general

intellectual level of mankind rises so high that no on e

CHRIST THE TEACHER. 2 9

will any longer confound the properties Of matter andth e attribute s of mind.

Last ly,Pantheism is the doctrine which affirms that

God is everything, or that everything is God (such is

th e meaning of th e word) , that is to say, that the

principle of the universe, dest itut e of consciousness and

of liberty,manifest s it self according t o a fat al law

,and

exhausts itself in the product ion of nature and of

humanity. This syst em appears to have originat ed in

India and in the Greek colonies of the south of

Italy.

Polytheism,Dualism , Pantheism,

Mat erialism : such

were the four principal conceptions (I say not unique)as to the origin of the universe current in th e ancient

world.

Wh at is th e doctrine of Jesus on this subject ? I t

is Monotheism,that is to say, the affirmat ion that the

universe was creat ed by a God unique,in whose work

,

power,wisdom, and goodness are indivisibly combined.

God is one ; and in thinking of His supreme unity we

ought never to isolat e th e three element s which const i

tut e it . God is powerful, He is wise, and He is good .

This doctrine was t aken for grant ed by Jesus,who

complet es rather than expounds it . In fact,He spoke

t o Israelites who had already received it . His great

work,from the point of view of the theory of the origin

of the world, is to have diffused all over the globe th e

t ruth of which th e people of Israel had the de’

pbt , t o

have made th e God of Abraham and of Moses th e

God of all mankind. Moses had given laws to a small

30 THE CHRIST.

nat ion ; Jesus sends His disciples forth to teach all

nat ions,and to communicate to them what is more than

laws,a new spirit .

The doctrine of the one God,powerful

,wise

,and

good,is th e fundamental basis of Christian t eaching.

When th e preachers of th e gospel went forth int o th e

world,they found in the chief cen tres of th e ancient

civilisat ion groups of Israelit es . They Spoke t o them

just as Jesus had spoken t o His hearers , because they

all alike admit t ed the exist en ce of th e God of Abraham

and of Moses ; but here is Paul at Athen s. He cannot

assume that Mon otheism is accept ed by th e inhabit ant s

of this city,and he is called upon by the curious

Athen ians t o expound th e groundwork of his preach

ing May we kn ow,

’ say they,what this n ew

doct rine whereof thou speakest is ? for thou bringest

certain strange things to our ears (Act s xvii. 1 9 ,The apostle sat isfies their desire . A numerous assembly

gathers round him. Where does he begin th e e xposi

t ion of his faith ? In this city, full of idols, he announces

th e unique and Almighty Creat or, He who has made all

things,‘ in Whom we live

,and move

,and have our

being ’

(Act s xvii. 2 2—2 These thought s were n ew

for th e Athen ian s. They are familiar t o us ; how were

they spread abroad in th e world ?

Here is th e principal affirmat ion of this evening’s

discourse. Carefully examin e whether it be possible

t o disprove it : Mon otheism in a pure state,an d as a

doc trin e gen erally taught, does n ot exist in the world save

under the influen ce of Christian preaching . Such is my

CHRIST THE TEACHER. 31

thesis . Here is the proof of it : Take a map of the world,and draw the chart of th e countries in which the

doctrine of the unity of God is generally t aught , t o th e

exclusion of all idolatry. Draw up a second chart ;that of th e countries under the influence of Christ ian

preachin g. Compare th e two chart s ; they will be

iden t ical. The chart of th e countries where the unity

of God is gen erally t aught, and th e map of t he countries

brought under th e influence of Christ ian preachin g,are

the same chart. In fact,th e unity of God is generally

and publicly taught only among Jews,Mahomet ans

,

and Christ ians . From our present point of view,what

are th e Jew s ? The ancestors of th e Christ ian s . I t

was them who,by Jesus Christ

,transmit ted t o us th e

doctrine which we are considering. What are th e

Mahometan s ? The struggles between th e Crescen t and

the Cross,which have been the cause of so much blood

shed,and which at this very momen t crimson s th e soil

of Europe and of Asia,may creat e an illusion and lead

t o th e belief that,from the first

,th e doctrine of

Mahomet was absolut ely opposed t o th e teaching of

Christ . This was n ot the case . Mahome tan ism dat es

from the seventh century of our e ra ; this dat e alone

proves that it s doctrine of th e unity of God was drawn

from Jewish and Christian t raditions . Independent ly

of this historical eviden ce,this fact is est ablished by

the most express declarat ions of Mahomet himself. I

open the Koran .

1 There I find that th e God which

1 Koran sign ifie s reading . Th e Mahome tan s call the ir sacred writ ing sd l Koran

, th e Reading, th e Reading par eacc e llen ce just as th e Christ ian s

3 2 THE CHRIST.

it proclaims is the God of Abraham,of whom Mahomet

considers himself t he most faithful cont inuat or.

1 I

read : I am not the only apost le that has ever lived.

Before the Koran,there existed the book of Moses

,

which was given to be the guide of men and the proof

of the goodness of God. The Koran confirms it in the

Arabic,in order that the wicked may be warned and

that th e virtuous learn good tidings.’ 2

Mahomet admit s the divine mission of the Hebrew

prophet s,the mission and even the supernatural con

c eption of Je sus.

3 F in ally, he rises t o this thought of

union : Say t o the Jews and to the Christian s, 0 ye

who have received the Scriptures,let

.us come to an

understanding. Le t us worship God alone,and let us

not -associat e other lords with Him.

! 1

Such are the words of th e prophet of Mecca. It is

thus that he est ablishes the genealogy of Monotheism,

the origin of which he attributes to Abraham ,to Moses

,

t o th e prophet s, and t o Jesus . I t is t rue that th e

doctrine of the Koran as a whole is strongly Opposed

t o that of the gospel ; but so far as th e subj ect of our

present study is concerned, Mahome tan ism is but a

detached branch of Jewish and Christ ian Monotheism.

I repeat it,therefore : th e chart of the countries in

which Monotheism is generally t aught,and the chart

of th e countries under the influence, direct or indirect ,

call th e Old and New Te stame n t s the Bible , i . e . the Book, th e Book parexce llen ce .

1 Cf. Sara , ii i. 58—60.

2 Ibid. xlvi. 8—1 1 .

3 I bid. iii . 40, 42, 1 79, 1 80.

4 I bid. i ii. 57.


of Christian preaching, exactly coincide. This is, for

my thesis, a geographical demonstration within the

reach of all.

But you will perhaps say,Did not the sages of

Greece often speak of the only God ? Do n ot first

class savants tell us that they find the idea of the

unity of God at the base of all the great religions of

the ancient world, and that idolatry is a corrupt ion of

primit ive dogmas ? Do not the savages of North

America invoke th e Great Spirit ? Yes, gentlemen ,all that is true, and I do n ot dispute it. But

,mark

,

I have not affirmed that Monotheism is, in an absolute

sense,th e monopoly of Jews, Christ ians, and Mahome

t ans. I said that it is only among them that this

doctrine is found in a pure state, and as a doctrine

generally taught. Elsewhere an attent ive study dis

cerns traces of Polytheism,of Dualism, or of Pantheism,

underneath Monotheist affirmations ; and so litt le is

Monotheism a doctrine generally t aught,that even

those sages of India and of Greece who had seen or

caught a glimpse of the unity of th e principle of the

world,t ook their place alongside of the people in the

t emples of idols. Outside of Christ ian influences,human

reason is n ot dead, and reason sets towards unity ; but

whenever Sh e has attempted to rise to the knowledge

of its principle,she has found herself arrest ed as by a

cloud. Assuredly the man Christ Jesus did not creat e

Reason but He has freed h er from h e r chains, and has

permit t ed he r to take her heavenward flight . In th e

order of int elligence also,His word has been for theC

34 THE CHRIST.

world the word of liberty. He has been historically

the great propagat or of the doctrine of the unity of

God,and to-day He is its great conserver.

I said in my first lecture that separat ion of thought

from Christ oft en involves, in our day, th e destruct ion

of all religious faith, and I cit ed th e example of

Jouffroy. In this respect things have much chan ged

during th e last hundred years . In the eight een th

century, many minds that had been drawn away from

th e Christian faith sought refuge in Deism,that is t o

say,in th e doctrin e which ackn owledges th e exi stence

of a God,Creat or and Organizer of th e universe

,b ut

of a God who,having est ablished cert ain gen eral laws

,

allows th e world to go on, as it were, by it self, and

whi ch excludes, in a general sense, th e idea of His

int ervent ion, and consequent ly of His manifestat ion in

Jesus Christ. This doctrine is con nected with many

celebrated names. The Deism of Volt aire was SO

frivolous,so devoid of moral element s

,that it c ould

not be of much import ance. To Speak of Voltaire’s

philosophy is much ; t o speak of his religion were too

much.

'

That Sparklin g pen, that irony which no

respect can check, th e scoffs and sneers of that ‘ape

of gen ius,

’ 1 had great destruct ive power, but were

incapable of founding anything serious.

The Deism of Rousseau is of another charact er. I t

is serious it connect s it self with th e ideas of the moral

1 Vict or Hugo has writ t e n in L es rayon s e t les ombresVoltaire re ign e d, that ape of ge n ius,Sent among men by commission of th e devil . ’


36 THE CHRIST.

The French nat ion acknowledges the existe nce of

God and the immortality of the soul.’ 1 The report

referring to this decree, presented in the name of th e

Committ ee of Public Safety, cont ains a pompous eulogy

of Rousseau,and the report it self is but an echo of th e

words t o be foun d in l ’Emile and in le Con trat Soc ial.

Thi s event clearly shows the extent and th e import

ance of th e influence exercised by Rousseau over the

religious thought of his contemporaries . The spiritual

family of this famous writer has been a very numerous

one ; in our day there are but the debris thereof

remaining. The present current of thought carries the

minds of those that break with th e gospel far from the

haven constructed by the cit izen of Geneva. What

is opposed to the faith of Christ ians is no longer

Deism ; it is an Atheism , somet imes nude, somet imes

covered with an almost transparent veil Like a tree

growing on th e side of a precipice, t o whose branches

it was possible t o cling, Deism seems t o have been

t orn by a violent st orm from the slope which leads

into th e abyss. Christ ian or Atheist ! I do not say

the alt ernative is in evitable ; I do not accept it myself ;but it expresses the most general disposit ion of minds

in our day. The famous Proudhon accepted it. He

wrote : Oh,Christianity is sublime ! If the

Church succeeds in overthrowing th e new thesis that I

opposed to it (a revised edition of Atheism) , I will

abjure my philosophy and die in he r arms.’ 2

1 De la justic e dans la revolution c l dans l ’eg lise , vol . i . p . 1 64.

2 I bid .


In a public lecture delivered in I pointed to

the renaissance of Atheism, and founded my statement

on a brief already considerable. Alas ! this brief hasbeen much enlarged since then. Se e what is taking

place in the world of science and in that of letters.

Numerous and brill iant attempt s are being made to

explain the creation while ignoring the Creator. The

two chief cen tres of these negations are in England

and in Germany,from whence they Spread over France,

Italy, the whole of Europe, and the United Stat es of

America. Some of the savant s of whom I am speak

ing adore the goddess Reason ; but most of them offer

t o us,under a modern badigeon, the ancient material

ism of Democritus and Epicurus. These doctrines are

n ot merely professed in public, wh ich is the natural

consequence of freedom of opinions ; but in certain

countries they are instal led in th e universit ies under

government protect ion.

That is what is t aking place on the summit of the

intellectual hierarchy. Let us look at the working

classes ; what shall we see there ? Atheism boldly

lift ing up its head It has its newspapers ; it figures

on the programmes of constituted societ ies ; it is pro

fessed in popul ar assemblies,and is often applauded

by the audience. This is taking place in Germany, in

Swit zerland,in England

,in Belgium

,in the Uni ted

States, in Italy. I advance nothing of which I do

not hold the proof in my hands. A marked contrast

was noticed with respect to the religious disposit ions1 L e Pére Celes te , third discourse .

3 8 THE CHRIST.

of the people of Paris between the Revolut ion of 1 848

and the Commune of 1 8 7 1 . I have not at present

to inquire into th e causes which might be assigned for

thi s change of opinion ; I st at e a fact . In 1 848, the

insurgent s showed themselves to be in some degree

animat ed by pious disposit ions ; in 1 8 7 1 , Atheism was

openly avowed.

Such is th e st at e of things in th e learned world and

among th e working classes . What may be observed

in th e middle classes ? Can th e product ion and or

ganiz at ion of serious deist ical manifestat ions be seen ?

No . When the middle classes depart from a posit ive

Christ ian faith,they frequent ly come under the in

flue n c e of Posit ivism, which says : Affirm nothing !

Deny nothing ! Do not occupy your mind with th e

things of another world ! Conduct your affairs in thi s

world as well as you can,and do not look beyond !

This way of thinking (a real pract ical Atheism) respon ds

too well t o the mediocre inclinat ions of the human

soul not t o make numerous recruit s. I t easily in sinu

at es it self into minds lit t le Cul tured, when savants

and members of Academies t ake the trouble to cover

it with a gloss of science,and with an appearance of

profundity. Mr. Disraeli, the present Premi er of

England,raised quit e a cry of alarm a few years ago,

saying that one might foresee in his country an

invasion of Atheism so formidable . that society would

be overthrown.

’ 1 I t is n ot my business t o est imate

th e value of these fears, n or t o defend the exaggerat ion1 In th e pre face t o a n ew edit ion of his n ove ls.

CHRIST THE TEACHER . 39

that they may contain ; it will suffice me to establish

the change that has taken place in the posit ion of the

religious quest ion. In the eighteenth century, Atheism

had relat ively few adherent s ; Deism often reaped the

herit age of the Christ ian faith. To-day this herit age

passes on to Atheism ; the mind which separates itself

from Christ recognises and declares itself separated

from God. This is n ot universal,but it is general .

There are individuals who admit the existence of God,and st op there ; but their doctrine has no power of

propagat ion . Whether for it s establishment or for its

maint enance,the presence in th e world of the idea of

God,as a doctrine pure and general

,is the work of

Christ . This great idea has numerous consequences.

I shall point out two,the one having reference to the

scourge of war, the other to th e development of science

and industry.

Hobbes,a famous Englishman

,affirms that men are

all by nature at war one with another. This is an

extreme theory ; but the hist ory of our past, and th e

informat ion furnished by travellers as to the stat e of

those nat ions that are strangers t o our civil isat ion,

give to it but t oo great a semblance of truth. In

order to get rid of war,and of securing peace, there are

two ways,connect ed with two names almost cont em

porary : Caesar and Jesus Christ . Caesar represent s

the est ablishing of peace by that force of arms which

repress th e passions ; Jesus Christ represents the

est ablishing of peace by that faith in God which

renews the heart.

40 THE CHRIST.

In order to appreciate the work of Jesus Christ in

this relation, it is necessary to account , in a generalway, for the mode in which religious ideas have inter

vened in the wars of th e nations. Transport your

selves in thought to th e plains of Troy. The Greeks

and the Romans,the indomitable Achilles and th e

valorous Hect or, are not alone on the field of batt le.

The gods take part in th e conflict s of men ; the

breath of discord and the fury of the combats do not

only rise from the heart of the warriors,but they

descend also from th e summits of Olympus. The real

fact symbolized by these poet ical concept ions is this

so long as it was admit t ed that there was a diversity

of gods, and that every people had their own, nat ionalwars were foment ed by religion. Ponder the effect, in

such a state of things,of these words : ‘ One is your

Father,which is in heaven ; and all ye are brethren ’

(Mat t. xxiii. 8,What is th e natural consequence of these exalted

ideas ? The unity of the human family is pro

claimed ; the source of nat ional wars is dried up .

Religion,which was a principle of discord, becomes

a principle of peace. Yes,peace is the consequence

of faith in a common Father, which must check

th e evil inst inct s of the heart and fortify the good .

How far has thi s work of pacific at ion gone ? Al as !

the wounds of Germany and France are st ill bleeding ;and here are hecat ombs of men commencin g once

more in th e east. At first sight,it seems as if this

was the only progress we have made : by the use of


scientifically constructe d weapons we succeed in kill

ing a greater number of men in less time. This is a

false appearance ; we are at a great distance from the

end to be at tained,but we have walked in the path

that leads thereunto. Next time you go by rail to

Lausanne,look a litt le t o the right towards Ouchy ;

you will not ice a litt le conical eminence covered with

trees. There,about th e year 9 80 A.D.,

was proclaimed

th e trace of God. Do you know what th e truce of

God was ? It was this : th e Church int erdicted

combat s during cert ain periods of the year,and each

week from Wednesday evening to Monday mornin g.

What a social st at e War was incessant they fought

from town to town,from cast le to cast le, and it was

with great difficulty that they cul tivated the earth and

reaped th e fruits of the soil. Then,seeing that She

was unable t o obtain peace in those t imes of barbarism ,

the Church claimed,in the name of God

,at least a

weekly truce. We have made some progress since

that t ime ! War is still too frequent ; but at th e

t ime of which I speak it was habitual . It was a

chronic malady ; it is now only an intermittent evil .

Such is the teaching of hist ory.

To th e teaching of hist ory may be added a cont em

porary fact well worthy of att ent ion . Here are t wo

armies before each other ; the Signal for bat t le is given.

Who are those men, those women, distinguished by a

red cross,the Sign of their neutrality, who lavish their

at tent ions impart ially upon the wounded of the two

hostile armies ? Doubtless there have always been

42 THE CHRIST.

good Samaritans who,under the influence of charity,

have been ready to bind up th e wounds of all , without

inquiring as t o their religion or country. But here there

is somethin g more. The ambulances were neutralized

by an official conven t ion ent ered int o by the Powers ,and Signed at Geneva a few years since. This is

somethin g absolutely n ew. I t is not a quest ion of

individual devot edness ; it is the act ion of public

powers,which Show themselves to be pen etrat ed by

t he idea of universal charity. Two spirit s,therefore

,

manifest themselves : war—that is th e an cient Spirit ,th e spirit of evil ; th e impart ial care of the wounded

that is th e modern spirit , the Spirit of Christ . What

is without preceden t in hist ory, an d what is a hopeful

augury for th e future, is the simul tan eous official

presen ce of the represent at ives of these two Spirit s

on the bat t le-fie ld. The contradict ion is glaring, and

becomes visibly so t o all. List en t o these child-words,

t aken from a small volume of poems. They are

French chil dren,who speak in the dark days of

foreign invasion. One of them is a fair-haired girl,unravellin g lint

,j oyously looking upon th e progress

of h e r work ; then sudden ly Sh e st ops, an d pen sively

exclaims : And ye t how singular it is ! Tell me,mother dear

,why do men woun d them sin ce after

wards they bind up their wounds ?’

Another of these

children,kneelin g on h e r bed, with h e r curly locks

hanging behind h e r head,lift s heavenward h e r bright

blue eyes . ‘ Mother dear,’ says she, when I say

,

Give us the victory ! our little enemies offer up the


44 THE CHRIST.

ut ilize its results. It may be hope d that, every allow

ance made for natural sympathies,there will be formed

a stron g current of opinion that will pronounce it self

n ot for France or for Germany,for Russians or for

Turks,but above al l for peace

,for Christ, and for

human ity. I t may be hoped that war-budget s will

n ot always swallow up the best part of th e produce of

the soil and of th e toil of nat ions. Imagine a general

convention of civilised peoples,which permit s the

reduct ion of s tanding armies to th e necessit ies of

social defence . What milliards would be economized

Reckon up all that could be done with those milliards

for th e welfare of mankind in ut ilizing all th e resources

which modern science places at the disposal of in dustry.

This brings me to my second point,the influence of

Monotheism upon science .

Modern science has it s own marked charact erist ics,and dat es from a fixed period ; it was born in the

dawn of the sevent eenth century. Science,

’ says

Herschell,received at that period an immense impul se .

It might have been thought that th e genius of man,long pent up

,had broken away from its trammels.

Each one began to search out, and soon there dawned

a n ew e ra,full of enthusiasm and of wonders, t o which

nothing else in the annals of mankind can be com

pared.

’ 1 Humboldt ,2Lieb igf reproduce the thought of

Herschell,and st ate it more precisely, in informing us

1 Discourses on the Study of N atural Philosophy, Part II . chap . iii.Cosmos, ii. pp. 364, 365 .

3 L ord Bacon,tran slat ed by Tchihat ch e f, pp. 3, 1 87, 21 7 , 234.


that that epoch was the epoch of founders,and that

whatever has since been produced is but the develop

ment of the fruitful germs then deposited in the soil

of the human mind. What were the causes of this

great movement of thought ? There were many : the

renaissan ce of let ters and of arts in Italy ; the dis

c ov e ry of America, which sent men in search of new

truths,as it sent them in search of n ew countries ;

printing,which put th e product s of the mind into

general circulat ion ; then, and especially, the struggle

against a defect ive method which, in some respects,

fet t ered the labour of th e human int ellect. They had

made of the Bible an encyclopaedia of the sciences a

Roman tribunal condemned Galil eo because he affirmed

the motion of the earth. They had made of Aristot le

an infallible t e acher ; the innovator Bruno had to quit

Geneva because the Genevese had decreed, once and

for ever, that neither in logic, n or in any other branch

of learning, would any one among them be allowed to

deviat e from the Opinions of Aristotle.1 Two yokes,

therefore, had to be broken in order t o put th e human

mind int o direct cont act with Nature the yoke of the

Bible out of it s domain, and the yoke of Aristotle.

The struggle was long and sometimes violent, but at

last science was set free, and it was underst ood that,in order to discover th e true laws of the universe, it

was necessary to study facts, and n ot the te xt s of the

ancients. The ground thus cleared,what came t o

pass ? Was science,as it is often said, simply the

1 Jordana Bruno, by Christ ian Bartholmess, vol. i . p. 63.

46 THE CHRIST.

result of observation ? N0 . Observation is the in

dispensable condit ion and the necessary check of all

theories,be cause facts must be est ablished before seek

ing th e explanat ion of them,and that these explana

t ions are valuable on ly as they are confirmed by

experience. But explanat ions of fact s are sought only

under th e in fluence of certain principles which direct

the mind in it s at t empts. NOW,th e thought of the

founders of modern science was essentially guided by

two principles : that of the harmony of the world, and

that of the Simplicity of its laws. It was th e idea of

the Simplicity of th e laws of the world whi ch,during

a conflict that lasted 1 44 years,sustained th e part isans

of Copernicus against th e at tacks of his adversaries.

It was th e search for the simplicity of laws which

inspired Newton (he says so in precise t erms) when he

discovered the great theory of universal gravitat ion .

In our days, it was the idea of th e Simplicity of laws

which led Fresnel (he says so in th e most expl icit

way) t o adopt that theory of luminous undulat ions

which has transformed physics and made his name

illustrious . All the founders and initiat ors up to our

day have repeat ed th e favourite maxim of Boerhaave

Simplicity is the Sign of truth and all have searched

carefully for th e relat ion and th e harmony of divers

classes of phenomena. When ce come these principles

Simple laws, general laws, harmony of th e element s of

the world, is not al l this natural t o the reason ? Yes.

But if you do not consul t history, you will never know

how much difficulty reason has had to recognise its


own nature. In order to discover the principles which

constitute it,reason

,in fact

,had t o strive against the

world of appearances, where everything is mult iple and

Opposite. When you will have seen that, you will

understand how much Polytheism c anre to the help of

appearances against reason When there was one god

t o guide the sun,another to lead the chorus of the

stars,another to rule the motions of the sea

,science

was arrested in its source . The soil of Sicily trembles—it is th e giant Enceladus who is shaking himself ;Etna. is in eruption— it is th e giant Enceladus who is

breathing,and who is vomit ing from his vast mouth

both smoke and fire . Certainly scientific genius was

not wanting in Pythagoras,and shone with great

brilliancy in Aristot le’s works ; but genius only brin gs

forth all it s fruit s when it meet s with a congenial soil .

The Greek world, saturat ed with Polytheism,did n ot

present t o it that congenial soil, n or does modern

Paganism .

I open th e Almanack of Chinese fest ivals for the

year and I read : 5 th day of the 8 th moon

(September fest ival of Loni-Ching,th e god of

thunder.

’ There you have the study of electricity

very much compromised. 2 7 th day of the l oth

moon (Nov. festival of the gods of th e five sacred

mountains.’ There you have th e theory of elevat ions

without a raison d’

etre . A recent traveller pays a visit

to a volcano in the island of Hava'

r‘

. He notices that

1 This Almanack was publish ed in Can t on by M . We lls-Will iams.Se e Modern China, ’ in L ’

unive rs pit toresque , p . 649 .

48 THE CHRIST.

his guides throw various objects int o the crater, whilecrying, Al oha Pélé,

’ that is to say,I salut e thee,

Pélé.

’

Pélé is the goddess of subt erranean fires.l

There you have offerings which cut off the researches

of our geologist s.

In order t o convert idolatrous nations to science,it

i s necessary to overthrow their idols and there is only

one way of doing this effectually,and that is, to erect

on their ruins the t emple of the unique and supremely

wise Creat or.

Such, from the standpoint of scre n c e , is the work of

Christ ian preachin g. Irenaeus,Bishop of Lyons in the

second century of our e ra, developed th e thought that ,

notwithstanding their number and their endless variety,all the object s in creat ion are found t o be in sympathy

and in harmony with one and the same whole.2 This

is no longer th e secret thought of a few sages, who

cont inued, nevertheless, t o take part in th e worship of

idols it is a public t eaching,dest in ed for all ages and

for all classes of society ; it is the faith of Israel

Shining forth on all the world. While feeding piety,

that faith offers a firm basis t o science.

What transpired in th e Middle Ages after that th e

invasion of the barbarian s had, for a moment , suspended

th e labour of th e human int ellect ? Observat ion was

almost null ; method was profoundly defect ive. I have

point ed out th e error and the abuse ; but look care

fully ; what do you find beneath th e error and the

1 Quatorz e ans aux iles Sandwich, by C. de Varigny, p . 107.

1 Contra hwrescs, book ii . chap . xxiv.

CHRIST THE TEACHER . 49

abuse ? The Bible diffuses the idea of the unity of

God the text s of Aristotle strengthen the logical

culture of the mind. The questions discussed were

often subtle,sometimes insoluble ; but they furnished

t o the intellect a powerful gymnast ic exercise. God

is recognised as the unique Cause of all things ; but

one knows that this Omnipotent Creat or has founded

th e earth by wisdom,and by understanding hath He

est ablished the heavens (Prov. iii . Men become

habituated t o unit e th e ideas of wisdom and of in

t e ll ige n c e . In order to explain the world,it will be

necessary, therefore, to seek the harmony and the

simplicity of its laws . When the human mind, formed

under such a discipline, shall bring it self freely t o the

study of nature,it will be armed with the principles

necessary t o it s comprehension . That is what has

come to pass. All the founders of science have

reasoned thus : the world is harmonious,for there is

but one God ; the laws of the world are simple,for

God is sovereign ly wise . Thus reasoned Copernicus,

Kepler,Newton, Galileo. Thus reason in our day

three physicists who, more than any others, deserve

th e t itle of inventors or initiat ors : Fresnel,Ampere

,

and Faraday. They have all repeated,I believe in

God th e Father Almighty,’ and this belief has fort ified

their reason. There are Atheistic savant s,I know ;

there are but too many such ; but they are n ot

init iators. Up to the pre sent (let us not involve the

future) , Providence has not permitted that any of th e

great secrets of nature be revealed to a man withoutD

5 0 THE CHRIST.

faith The founders of our sciences have n ot been

savants though believers, n or simply savant s and

believers. Their faith has directly act ed on th e

direction of their researches ; it has inspired their

genius ; it has been one of the causes of their dis

c ov erie s. Our science is therefore Christian in its

origin,not that there is a direct connection between

Christian dogma in its totality and th e systems of

physics and of astronomy ; but because Monotheism

has fortified and directed the reason,and because it

was by the preaching of the gospel that Monotheism

was established in th e world. There have oft en been

conflicts between theology and science, or, to speak

more correctly,between theologians and naturalist s ;

but between faith in God and science there is a

profound harmony. So thought Galileo,who justly

opposed to the decrees of an erroneous theology wh ich

condemned him the consequences of his faith in an

all-wise and omnipotent God. Now that the current

of research is flowing st eadily, a large number of

savant s follow it without knowing whence it took it s

rise ; they drink the wat ers of a river whose source

they ignore. Study, gentlemen, the imperfectly

known history of the origin of modern science,and

when you think that you are the farthest from th e

object of our study, you will meet with an applica

t ion, remote but real,of that word which Jesus spake

of Himself : I am the Light of the world ’

(John

viii .

From science let us pass on t o industry. The


5 2 THE CHRIST.

to us the other day that the first railway constructed

in that vast empire was threat ened with destruction

by national prejudices.1

Industry, the great industry, is, then, the monopoly

of Christ ian nat ions. The fact is incont estable, and

the explanat ion of it is Simple. Our power results

from our knowledge. The forces of nature can only

be utilized by obeying them ; and in order t o obey,we must kn ow them. You jump int o a railway

carriage,and you pre

-announce your arrival by a

message despatched at the moment of your departure.

These means of transport, of the body and of the mind,astonish men of my age who have witnessed their first

appearance. But they do not astonish the new genera

t ions,so great is the in fluence of habit . Ye t how

much meditat ion,and how many vigils

,were necessary

t o arrive at such result s If one wished t o chronicle

al l the labours which have been necessary for th e

establishment of t elegraphs and railways,one would

require not merely a volume,but a whole library.

Our industry, then, i s the daughter of our science.

What do we find at the foundat ions of our Science ?

The prin ciples of the harmony of the world,and of the

Simplicity of its laws, principles which have supported

themselves upon the idea of a unique and wise God.

Who has Spread abroad in the world the knowledge of

the unique God ? Who has developed and fertilized

the germs of reason ? Who has thus done more for

science and for industry than the sages of India,

1 Journal de Geneve , of 6th Nov . 1 877.


of Greece, and of Rome ? The Carpenter of

Naz areth.

You enjoy all the facilities of modern civilisation.

The improvement of machinery has so much reduc ed

the cost of manufactured products, that there resul ts

an ease unknown to our ancestors . You can easil ymake a j ourney in a few hours that would formerlyhave lasted many weary days . Facilities in travellingenable you to meet frequently in the interests of

business,of pleasure

,of science, of humanity. It is

easy for you,in a few hours, by an exchange of

t elegrams,to quiet anxious fear as to the fate of a

parent,of a friend

,of a child

,who perhaps is at the

other end of the world. If you are invited to give

thanks to those savants who by their laborious and oftdisinterested vigils have realized this surprising pro

gress ; if you are reminded that these men,though

they handle not the pickaxe, the saw,or the trowel

,

compose one of the most laborious and useful classes

of society, you will underst and. If it is added,Give

thanks to Jesus Christ ! ’ you will now understand,

unless, indeed, I have this evening wrought and Spokenin vain.

It woul d be e asy assuredly to caricature the ideas

I have just expounded. If,on leaving this ball

, you

should say to a friend whom you meet in the street,We have just been told that it was Jesus Christ that

invented machines,te legraphs

,and railways

,

’ you woul d

provoke a smile. But if you were to say,

‘We have

just had pointed out to us the influence which the

54 THE CHRIST.

doctrine of the only omnipotent and wise God hadupon the movement of thought that produced modern

science,and through science

,industry

,

’ the smile,if

it appeared,would be

,in my opinion

,but the smile of

ignorance or of determination (parti-pris) .

T H I R D L E C T U R E.

Christ the Comforter.

ENTLEMEN,—Truth i s the obj ect of reason

,and

I sought to Show you in my last lecture what

was the answer of Jesus Christ to the highest problem

that could be stated by the human intellect. If truth

be the obj ect of reason,j oy is the object of the heart.

AS plants turn towards the sun ,as animals seek their

food, so the human heart , under the empire of an

irresistible instinct,seeks after j oy, and finding it not ,

it suffers. The desire for happiness is indestructible ;if it exists no longer in th e form of hope, it manifests

itself in th e form of regret.

This is the fact that Pascal has expressed in th e

following words : ‘ Al l men are seeking to be happy.

However different the means they employ, they all tend

t o this end What makes some men go to war, and

others to abstain from fighting,is precisely the same

desire in both cases,but th e ir

'

poin t s of view are different .

The will never takes the least st ep but towards this

object. This is the motive of all the actions of al l

men, even of those who go and hang themselves.’ 1

1 Edit ion Fe ugere , vol . i i. p. 1 21 .

65

5 6 THE CHRIST.

Joy is the object of our desires, and it is easy to

see that it is our destination. An infant cries without

appreciable mot ive ; you may be sure that there is

some disorder in his health. IS he well ? His good

health will manifest it self by his smil e of contentment

or by his fits of mirth. Study yourselves in those

moment s,only too rare, when all is calm in your

senses,in your mind

,in your heart

,when life flows

down its course without an obstacle, and you will

acknowledge,as the leper in th e city of Aost a dis

covered in th e int erval s of his pain, that there is

happiness in the bare fact s of exist ing and of breath

ing. AS soon as order exist s,j oy opens up like it s

flower it is the Sign of‘

he al th of both body and soul ;it is the mark of our dest inat ion.

Man goes forth, then, to the bat t le of l ife under the

impulsion of th e desire for happiness. What does he

find ? Merely what Beranger sang :

Days made up of pain and pleasure ,Of sun shin e and of rain .

’ 1

But for those who see in life nothing more than that

exist ence which unfolds it self between th e cradle that

rocks a child and the cemetery where a corpse is

hidden,what predominates is not sunshine, but mist ,and rain, and somet imes st orm. From this sprin gs

sadness, and somet imes despair. When the miserable

are urged to sui cide, they do not rid themselves of life

as of a burden ; but, disappoint ed in their deepest

aspirat ions,they reject life as a lie. There exists, then,

1 Beranger, Mon habit.

CHRIST THE COMFORTER. 5 7

a bitter contrast between the destiny marked out for

us by nature,and the destiny marked out by facts .

We therefore need consolation. In writing at the

bottom of one of his paintings these words, Le Christ

con solateur,

’

Ary Scheffer pointed t o one of the most

powerful works of Christ. Among the words spoken

by the Son of Mary,few have re -echoed more deeply

in the human heart than these : Come unt o Me, all

ye that are weary and heavy laden,and I will give you

rest ’ (Matt. xi. Thi s power of consolation is so

manifest that it has attracted the at tention of some of

those men whom Musset calls the antagonist s of Christ .Here is what some German and French writers have

imagin ed, in order to lessen the bearing of th e fact .They

'

hav e said (can they believe it ?) that in Pagan

ism all was peace and light,that antiquity was j oyous

and serene in the worship of its gods. They have

affirmed that it is the Jews and the Christ ians that

have inoculated sadness int o the world, by painting

life in sombre colours,and by subst itut ing for the

graceful images of Apollo and of Venus the horrible

image of the Crucifie d. They have paraphrased some

verses which very quest ionable literary theories had

inspired in Boil eau . Speaking of the gospel,of the

good n ews,regardless of the meaning of the words he

used,he said :

To th e mind, th e gospe l, on e very side , offers n ought

But pe nan ce s t o b e made , and merit ed t orme n t s . ’ 1

Pagan humanity was then satisfied,and the Christ ian

1 Art poe’

tique , chan t i ii.

5 8 THE CHRIST.

religion only comforts the sadness it has caused I

am not acquainted with an assertion more trifling on

a subject so grave.

I will not speak of India ; my thesis would be tooeasily proved. In th e concert of human sorrows there

is no more lugubrious note than that which rises from

the banks of the Ganges and from the Slopes of the

Himalayas . Le t us speak of joyous Greece. Paul of

Tarsus wrote,The whole creat ion groaneth (Rom .

viii. But who wrote this,To live in pain

such is the lot appoint ed by the gods to miserable

mortals Homer,

1 of whom one may be permitt ed

to affirm,with every good reason

, t hat he had not read

th e let te rs of the Apostle Paul. The book of Job is

n ot a merry book. In it we read Man is born unto

t rouble as th e sparks fly upwards (chap. v. But

who wrote this, I t were to be desired for the good

of men that they had never been born, that their

eyes had never beheld the brightness of the sun

The ogn is of Megara, a Greek poet of the sixth century

BC , who, according to every appearance, had n ot read

th e book of Job. Who wrot e this, It is bet ter to

die than to live,for the heart has many sorrows

Mimn e rmus,a Greek poet of th e seventh century

B.C., who does n ot appear to have perused the Old

Testament. The book of Ecclesiaste s casts upon life

some sombre gleams : Vanity of vanities ; all is vanity.

What profit hath a man of all his labour which he

t aketh under the sun (chap. i. 2 , These are pro1 I I. xx iv.


60 THE CHRIST.

these physicians of the soul, who, like the physicians

of the body, sent in their bills to their pat ients. Con

solatory lit erature was very abundant. Special manuals

cont ained,under a certain number of rubrics

,the dis

courses to be used for each category of sorrow. The

need of consolat ion was then so deeply felt that it hadbecome the basis of a lucrat ive industry.

1

At the t ime when Christ ianity appeared the human

race needed consolation. And later on ? After affirm

ing,in th e words I have read t o you

,that all men

desire t o be happy,Pascal adds : Yet

,after so many

centuries,no one without faith has reached the mark

at which all continually aim. All men complain

princes and subj ect s, noble and plebeian, the aged and

th e young, the strong and th e feeble, the learned and

the ignorant,th e healthy and th e sick ; people of all

countries, of all t imes, of all ages, and of all conditions .’

These words,without faith

,

’ arrest ed the at t ention of

Volt aire,who, in his edit ion of the Pense

’

es of Pascal,

wrot e th e following not e I arrive in Paris from my

country residence ; I am introduced into a beautiful

hall, where 1 2 00 persons are list ening t o delicious

music. When it is over the assembly divides it self int o

small groups,who go to partake of a good supper

,and

aft er supper they are not al together dissat isfied with

the evening. In this city,everybody enjoy them

selves,or hope so to do

,or work to obtain joy.

1 Martha, L es consolations de l ’ant iquité, dans les Seanc es c l Travaua:dc l

’

A cadémie des sciences morales et polit iques, vol. C . pp. 331—358,and 645- 661 .


I say,then

,to Pascal

,My great man ,

are you

mad ?!

You understand. Mankind is not to be pitied

because there are in Paris a number of persons who go

t o hear charming music,make excellent suppers

,and

afterwards enjoy the facilit ies which only a great city

offers to the libertinage of rich men. The madness of

Pascal consists in n ot recognising this. In writing

these words,this great scoffer reminds me of another

scoffer mightier than he. This Parisian,who is satis

fied at the moment when France is full of misery,recalls th e Me’decin malgré lui of Moliere . Snagare lle

’

s

wife is on the straw,and his children have no bread ;

but when Snagare lle has well eaten and drunk,he

wants everybody else in his house t o be drunk also .

1

This is gaiety what is not gaiety is the response soon

made by events to Pascal’s annot at or. A few years

aft er he wrot e his almost cynical note,in that very

Paris where all were so cont ent ed with their lot b e

cause they had enj oyment or hoped to have it,the

guill otine was permanently se t up, and each morning

long pages of the Mon iteur appeared all red with

human blood.

’ One could then see what miseries,

what sufferings,what hatreds had festered beneath

that corrupt world whose pleasures Voltaire celebrated.

In th e midst of a society shaken to its very founda

t ions,crime, hideous and bloody, arose as the fearful

avenger of th e laws of morality, So outrageously

violat ed by frivolous and brill iant vice.1 Ac t i . se . 1 .

6 2 THE CHRIST.

Voltaire’s note is, after all, but a mere freak, provoke d by the want of attacking a religion which it

was his misfortune to hat e. This writer possessed an

amount of good sense,which was manifest when his

passions or his self-love were not in play. Let ushear him speak of the condit ion of men, when freed

from that polemi c int ent ion which led him t o contra

dict Pascal This world, this st age of pride and error,is full of unfortunat e beings

,who speak of happiness .

All things complain,all mourn while seeking comfort .

None want to die ; none would wish to be re -born .

Somet imes, in our days,consecrat ed to sorrow,

we wipe

away our tears with the hand of pleasure. But plea

sure fle e th away, and passeth as a shadow. Our griefs,our regrets, our losses are without number. The past

for us is but a sad recollection ; the present is fearful,if there be no future, if the night of the grave destroys

the being who thinks.’ 1

There is Pascal’s madness reproduced by the pen

of his contradict or. And he speaks,n ot merely as

Pascal, but also as Paul of Tarsus spake ; he translates

in good verse the apostle’s thought : The whole

creat ion groaneth ’ Volt aire wrote in the last cen

tury. The world since then has made great pro

gress. Public institut ions have improved. We possess

railways, t elegraphs, chl oroform . Facilities for

the transport of food prevent th e terrible famines so

frequent in the past ; epidemics, terrible.

as they st ill

are , are not so terrible as they once were, thanks to1 Poem on th e L isbon di sast er.

CHRIST THE COMFORTER. 63

the progress of hygiene. Reliefs have been multiplied ;the causes of pain have decreased. I am far from

undervaluing the progress made in our time in allthese matters ; but have we no more need of consola

tion ? Is our generation more contented than those

which have preceded it ? I do not know. The

human heart is so constituted, that its desires in crease

with the means of sat isfying them. The growing

equality in earthly conditions has multiplied envy,one of the bitt erest feelings of the heart of man. A

thrifty peasant in these days is bet ter housed,better

fed,better clothed than a well-to-do tradesman of a

few centuries ago. He has greater facilities for the

conveying of his person and of his goods. Is he more

content ed than his grandfather ? I do not know.

These comparisons are difficult to make ; let us leave

them. I ask you, on your conscience tell me, when

you consider life between the two extremities of the

cradle and of the grave, does it sat isfy the desires of

your heart ? Are you a disciple of Fourier ? I do

not slight the portion of truth cont ained in the theory

of association ; but do you think that nothing more is

required to convert our globe into a scene of unmixed

happiness than to replace our towns and villages by

phalansteries ? If you believe it , you must be very

young,young in years or in reflect ion. I shall

cont inue to speak for those among us who have

another experience of life, and who, though perhaps

the privileged of fortune, are oft en t empted to repeat

the words of the patriarch Jacob, and say with him ,

64 THE CHRIST.

Few and evil have the days of the years of my l ife

been ’

(Gen. xlvii.

There exist s a universal complaint about th e con

dit ion s of human existence. What are the sources of

this complaint ? We might ment ion three : pain, th e

insufficien cy of joys,death.

Pain ! The pains of the body are so obvious that

it were superfluous to Speak of them at any length.

I will n ot draw,in a pathetic style, any harrowing

paint ings. I will not speak of the unhappy inmat es

of our hospitals, n or of those more fortunat e persons

who,in their own homes, can obt ain advice from th e

physician,and remedies from th e pharmacy. Without

reckoning those whom we call inval ids,sickness in

various forms at t acks the great er port ion of all ages

and condit ions of mankind. There are cert ain stat es

of the organs of th e body whi ch, without apparent

injury, obstruct the play of the facult ies, and quench

the joys of life . How many poor wret ches are there

who, without experiencing violent pain, feel their

spirit miserably bound in the chains of mat t er,and

who could with reason cry,‘Who shall deliver me

from this body ? ’ (Rom . vii. These are miseries

all the more deserving of pity, inasmuch as they do

n ot comman d public commiserat ion,and are deprived

of the comforts which sympathy offers.

However great the number of the sick and of the

ailing, there are persons in good health,even in this

age of nervous affections ; but how many of these

sound and vigorous bodies there are which contain

CHRIST THE COMFORTER: 6 5

souls entirely free from pain ! How many shattered

affections, and, what is still sadder, deceived ! Look

at the resul t of even the most legitimate ambition.

Reckon the successes in commerce, in art,in letters

,

in industry. For on e who succeeds, how many are

there who complain of their bad fortune ! Farmers

are not the only men who sow without reaping,and

who often see a sudden storm destroy the products of

lengthened toil. Forget not hidden griefs ; t hey are

more cruel than those whi ch Show themselves. Con

sult the men who are admitted into the intimacy offamil ies ; they will tell you how many homes, appare ntly happy, are like those fruits, beaut iful to look at,but which when opened reveal gnawing worms and

decay.

Let us not consider merely on e aspect of humanaffairs. There are sorrows in life, but there are j oys

also. Assuredly ; but many of these j oys are of thischaracter. SO long as a man hopes for what he hasnot

,he says to himself, When I can get this or

that, I Shall be happy but possession deceives. At

the moment when one reaches a desired end, j oy is

keen,but use takes the edge off pleasure

,and gives

birth to satiety, the mother of ennui. Take an

example. How many men enslaved by toil say to

themselves,‘When I shall have made a sufficient

fortune,what j oy I shall find in rest ! ’ Doubtless

rest is an enjoyment,when it is an interval between

two acts of labour,a period in which the exhausted

powers are recreated for future work ; but there is no

6 6 THE CHRIST.

k ind of satisfaction which more than this brings on

at length a dull and heavy sadness. In exceptional

cases this fact may immediately occur. A Genevese

merchant,now retired from this world, one day

handed over his business to his old clerks. Next

morning he awoke early. His thoughts were plunged

in t o th e future of his days. What shoul d he hence ?

forth do ? Al armed at the void which opened up

before him,b e lit his lantern (it was winter), and went

to th e office of his successors, with whom h e engaged

h imself as a volunt ary helper.

But are there no st able and increasing joys ? Yes“,

gentlemen,there are such in pure affections

,in the

con sciousness of an act ivity crowned with success,in

th e pleasures which art,lit erature

,and science procure ;

but here comes in the third source of un iversal com

plaint— death. Death is the horrible consolat ion of

th e despairing. For happy worldlings,if they are but

serious,and are without the hope of a resurrect ion

,it

is the destruct ion of all j oy.

Each of us is inscribed in the civil st ate under th e

date of his birth. For each of us that date await s

another ; a blank line is reserved for the registration of

our decease. Have you ever reflected when looking

at a chick ? Do you somet imes follow the oscillat ions

of the pendulum,and say t o yourself : An unknown

number of these oscillat ions wil l measure out the

duration of earthly exist ence . A number for me,a

number for each of those I love ! D ionysius,the tyrant

of Syracuse, learnt that one of his courtiers considered


6 8 THE CHRIST.

One hour after th at I was a man . I was recapitulatingmy recent successes, and contemplating greater things

in the year in which I was then entering, and in that

which was to follow. I thought I saw these last

years pass away in labours vigorous and fruitful. I

saw growing, little by little, the powers of my mind ;I felt talent coming. I was leav ing college

,and

beginning—(always in my vision) other studies

preparatory to my supposed career. In those studies

and in that career I was h Oping to achieve the

greate st success. Fortu ne was coming by super

addit ion, solid, superabundant, honourable,’

the fruit o f

t oil and of fame.

Th en there opened out a picture of great beauty.I could see a splendid mansion in the midst of a rich

e state ; my much-beloved father and mother livingnear me. Then the central light of th e picture

, the

soul of the glory, of the estate, of the fortune, theideal being dreamt about from the first hour of youth,appeared in th e splendour of her beauty, in the supernatural power oi the purest, the strongest, and the

most religious love that ever was. And life wasadvancing

,always more beautiful and more filled

as my years were unrollin g and reckoning up. And,

in fact,I was reckoning my years. I was going from

youth to manh ood, then from manhood to maturity,

and these years of maturity were accumul ating.

Suddenly I perceived, with acute sadness, that atthe age at which I was arrivin g my father’s years were

exceeding the ordinary limits of life. Then my father


was dying, and I was at his death-bed. My mother,my almost adored mother

,was surviving up to the

most advanced age. But at length she also died.Fill ed with grief

,I was closing h er eyes . My sister

and my friends were one by’

one followin g in thecommon track

,and leavin g me. But, 10 ! in h er turn,

the noble and fair partner of my youth,the life of my

soul, was entering into her winter, and was gatheringup her rays, preparing to depart. Shall I survive herals o ? Yes ; she also was dying. There she lay,cold and stiff, before my eyes. At last my hour wasarriving, and I was on my death-bed. Ye s, the moment

will come when I shall be stretched on a bed,then I

shall struggle with death, and I shall die .

Such is life ! All men have been born and have

died thus from the beginning, and will to the end ofthe world. Generation succeeds generation ; they passon rapidly, and di sappear. And I saw

,in a light and

in forms whi ch nothing will e ver efface from my

memory,—I saw the innumerable multitudes from the

beginning to the end of the ages, passing

4passing as

flocks whi ch go unconsciously to the slaughter.

At this sight I was motionless,as if I had be en

transfixed by astonishment and terror.

’ 1

This terror was fruitful ; it led Alphonse Gratryto seek and to find the consolations of the Chris tianfaith . These consolations will presently form th e

subject of our study, but other subj ects claim our

attention for a few moments more.1 L es Sources, 2d part , pp . 14-22.

7 0 THE CHRIST.

In the presence of trouble, one may make an effort

to forget it. You know th e saying so often realized,and in so deplorable a manner

,He drowned his

cares in wine.’ The abuse of alcohol in our countries,the use of opium among th e Chinese

,are part ly the

result of a sensual at tract ion, but they are also largely

the result of sufferings of whi ch men wish to lose the

sense in the stupor of int oxicat ion. Trouble deprived

of true consolat ions enters to a large ext ent int o th e

genesis of vice. A similar phenomenon is manifest

among those .who,without falling into degrading

excesses,yield themselves up without res traint to the

dissipation of pleasure . Le t us leave these painful

subjects,and le t us look at the consolat ions offered by

th e sages of ant iquity, by the philosophers in whose

wri t ings the professional comforters of whom I have

spoken sought their recipes.

Three centuries before th e Christian e ra, there lived

at Athens a man of gent le disposition,generally beloved

,

who, in a garden beneath the lovely sky of Greece, t alked

peacefully with his friends . This man, now celebrat ed,was called Epicurus. A mat erialist ic philosopher

,he

had fixed his at tent ion on th e j oys which have their

origin in th e human body. He had observed that th e

functions of th e organs offer enjoyment s always within

th e reach of all ; but that , through our own fault,we

habitually lose those enjoyments,because every excess

involves evils -worse than t h e pleasure they produce.He therefore prescribed moderation to . his disciples

,

and even abstinence in , a_c ertain measure . The fact


is that he recommended an excellent hygiene.Debauchees

,libertines

,and even all men

,might learn

valuable lessons in his school ; but the groundwork of

his doctrine is hideous. His aim is to place man in

a state of quietude, where he may relish in peace the

joys of physical life . At what price does he promise

this happiness ? In order to escape the greatest

possible number of pains and cares,we must keep

c lear of almost all that interest s man. A father has

joys that he who is not a father has not ; but what

t orments also ! The pleasures of pate rnity are not

Worth what they cost. An ambitious man has doubt

less great pleasures ; but what disquietudes and dis

appointments ! It is infinit ely better for a man to

confine h imself to a medium condition,and to hide

himself in his obscure felicity. Let us be

Content to live simply like th e beasts, without care

about another life or about to-morrow.

’ 1

But how abOut sickness There are certain enjoy

ment s proper to that stat e. But what if pain should

become violent and life unbearable ? The wise man

does n ot then hesit ate to put himself to death.

’ 2But

after death ? After death there is nothing ; the

terrors of a judgment to come are superstitions from

which science delivers us. Nothing exist s but matter,

and when the at oms which form a human body are

disaggregat ed,there remains nothing of the man. To

1 Den is, H istoire des theories e t des idées morale s dans l ’an t iquité,'

vol . i . pp . 292,293.

1 Se e Den is,vol . i . p . 287.

7 2 THE CHRIST.

sum up,the wise man culls the flowers of life, and

if he is too much torn by the thorns, h e kills himself.’

Such is the wisdom of Epicurus.

At the same epoch,and in the same c ity, in Athens;

the luminous centre of ancient wisdom,lived another

man of austere mien , Zeno, the chief of the Stoics.

He observ ed that physical j oys are not always at our

disposal. Man is not master of his own body,but

,

thought he, man is master of his soul. Then,again

,

the pleasures of sense are animal pleasures. To place

one’s j oy in the sense of one’s power, in the victorythat one gains over one’s inclinat ions

,thi s is safer and

better. One must therefore rise above sensuality and

vanity,above all the desires which trouble ordinary

souls,and find one’s happiness in one’s self

,and in

those thin gs which depend solely upon one’s self.

Thus the wise man will be shielded from the blows of

fortune, and will find peace in his own power,and

happiness in the sense of his dignity.

’

Such is the

morality of the Stoics. It promises happiness,but at

what price ? Let us consult, in thi s matter, two men

placed at the opposite extremities of the social scale—3

th e Emperor Marcus Aurelius and Epictetus the Slave .

Trained in the same school,they held the same tenets.

Let us open the little manual of Epictetus : Consider

what in itself is all that serves or amuses thee, all

that thou likest. Is it a vase that pleases

thee ? It is fragile : if it should be broken,do not

trouble thyself. Is it thy son, thy wife, a friend that

thou cherishe st ? Nature made them mortal : if they

CHRIST THE COMFORTER. 73

die,be not thou disconsolate; Dost thou hear a raven

croaking out an evil augury ? Let this not disturb thee.

Reflect an in stant,and say, Thi s Sinister cry cannot

forebode any evil unto me ; it can only menace mybody, my goods, my reputation

,my wife

, or my

children ? In thi s passage the feelings of the heartare most fearfully implicated ; but here is another

quotation, in which a deeper wound is made to the

human conscience : If thou wouldst advance in th eway of wisdom, drive far from thee this thought : If I

do not chastise my slave, he will b e wicked. It is

better that thy slave shoul d b e wicked than that thoushouldst be unhappy.’ 1

To detach one’s self from e verything in order to

enjoy one’s power and dignity ; such is the doctrine .

But what if happiness is still wanting ? ‘ Does life

displease you ? You are free to leave it ? ! Such is

the maxim,and Seneca has devoted an entire letter to

the explanation of the di fferent ways of committing

sui cide. These facts inspired Pascal with the following forcible remark. He says : The supreme good,Ut sis con ten tas temetipso c t en te nascen tibus bon is (So

that thou must b e content with thyself and with the

good things that come to thee) . There is a con tradic

tion here, for they recommend suicide. What a happylife that must be from which on e delivers himself asfrom a plague ’ 3

The two doctrin es of which I have just Spoken

1 Se e th e lit t le manual of Epict e tus, Art icle s 8, 16, and 24.

1 Sene ca, Le t t er 70.3 Pensees, Edit ion Feugére , vol. 11. p . 96.

74 THE CHRIST.

must not be put upoh th e same level. Zeno is as

much higher than Epicurus as th e soul is higher than

th e body. He does not explain th e universe by a

concourse of at oms, but by the unfolding of a universal

Reason,with which the wise man assoc iat e s his thought s.

Having ent ered upon this course,he inspired his

disciples with noble and lofty sayings. At th e end of

the Roman Republic,while effeminat e souls h elped to

swell the flock of Epic urus, those high-spirit ed soul s

who,amid th e universal debasement, were wrapped up

in th e consciousness of their dignity, sought support

in th e philosophy of Zeno. But with respect t o that

doctrine of happiness which forms the Special obj ect

of our study,th e two doctrines arrive at th e same

result . Both of them demand the suicide of the heart .

They place happiness in se lfishn e ss,— th e egot ism of

the senses or the egot ism of th e mind, -and when,

conquered by evidence,they find themselves in

presence of the ills of life,they have nothing t o offer

the miserable save the consolation of death.

Antiquity has known ~ better thoughts. Pythagoras,

Plato,proscribed sui cide on th e ground that man has

been placed in life like a soldier at a .post , whi ch he

may not abandon without orders from his chief. But

these doctrines,th e best in antiquity, had been e n

feebled rather than developed at th e epoch of th e

Roman Empire. When Paul arrived at Athens,1it was

the Epicureans and th e Stoics that he found in the

public place,and history informs us that at that time

1 Act s xvii.


7 6 THE CHRIST.

The aim of the Being of Love in creation is the

happiness of his creatures. Notice that this doctrine

corresponds e xactly to the fundamental and indestruc t ible instinct which leads us to desire joy. This

instinct in the human soul is the mark of th e inten e

tion of the Creator. Our desire does not deceive us.

It may not be fully realiz ed in thi s present life,in a

world where the order will ed by God is profoundlydisturbed ; but the present is n ot the final life ; it isbut a prelude

,a time of preparation and of necessary

trials. Wh at we call death is only a . transition, a

crisis in our existence. For the consolations of

n on en ity, which are the last refuge of the wisdom of

Epicurus and of Zeno, Paul substitutes the consolations of life

,of eternal life.

Does it resul t from this that the disciple of Christ,satisfied with th e heavenly future which he expects,will concern himself no more about the e vils of thepresent life, that he will remain impassive

,though

from other motives,like the Stoic Shut up in his

pride ? This has sometimes been asserted ; religion

has been reproached of drying up, by its hope ofheaven, the Springs of earthly progress

,and of in spir

ing in devoted souls the humour of Lafontaine’s rat

The thin gs below I now regard no more ! ’ 1

IS it necessary to say to what degree such an inter

pre tation of Christian doctrine, whether it comes from

its friends or from its foes,is a monstrous e rror ? The

e ssential duty of every di sciple of Christ is to labour1 L e rat qui s

’

est ret ire dumonde , book vii. fable 3.


for the alleviation of all suffering, for the relief of alldis tress. He knows it ; but he also knows that, inthe conditions of the present life, there will always b ethe poor, the poor in the widest sense of the word

the poor of happiness. The work of Jesus Christ

with respect to human mi sery is twofold : to dimini sh,as far as possible, e vils of every kind ; to offer consolations under those ills whi ch will always exist.

All these consolations gather round the thought of

Eternal Love, which forms their common centre .

They c onc ern suffering, the insufficiency of j oys, death.

Let us begin with the Second.

Why are the joys of e arth insufficient ? Because

we ask from them what they cannot give ? They are

incapable of filling the void of our heart,because

nothing t emporal and transitory can satisfy desireswhich tend towards infinity

, d esires whi ch are the

pledge and the presentiment of loftier destinies. But

suppose a faith strong e nough to make the things to

c ome present, and things invisible to th e bodily eyev isible to the eye of the soul . Se e , unfolding beyonddeath

,the true life accomplished ; what will the result

of this be ? D istaste for the j oys of this life ? No,

Sirs, save in the case of a morbid disposition. On

the c on trhry, the j oys of earth, faded and withered,obj ects of di sgust for whoever has asked from them all

his happiness, revive and bloom, when they are onl y

asked for what they can supply. The glory of

heaven does not bedim,it brightens them. Let me

illustrate this by a comparison. Here is a young

78 THE CHRIST .

man far from his native land. He finds himself

one of the most beautiful places in the world ;finds himself

,for example,

On th e happy shore ,Wh ere Naple s mirrors in an az ure se aH er palace s, h er hills, h e r cloudle ss stars,Where th e orange tre e blooms ben eat h a sky for ever clear.

’1

But he is home ~ sick.

‘

Vesuvius 'has for him '

n o

beauty,the blue sea is without

‘

charm ; the orange

trees wave to the whisper of ‘

the zephyr, but’

do not

bring any sweet emotion to his heart ; nost algia fixes

a sombre veil between nature and his soul . He

receives permission t o depart ; the veil is raised !

The joy of returning home irradiates the country

where he is but a stranger.

‘

He feels anew th e

beaut ies of an earth which had b een for him,but

a short time since,a place of exile. So is it with

our life. A place of exile and of sorrow‘

for those

who ask from it complete happiness ; a ~ sojourn,full of tokens of the goodness of th e Creator, for.

whoever sees beyond the veil of death the everlast ing

home.

With respect to suffering, th e work of

‘ Christ has

two st ages. He makes us accept it—that is thelower st age. He makes us welcome it—that is thehigher stage of spiritual development. The accept

ance of suffering is an element common to all piety.

The doctrine of Mahomet bears the name of I slam,

and islam i s a word which signifies submission,

1 Tristesse,’

dan s les M editations poétiques de Lamart ine .

CHRIST' THE COMFORTER . 7 9

resignation ; but Christianity here brings in a Special

element,the example of its Founder. Speaking one

day to ’His disciples of the persecut ions'

which awaited

them,Jesus alluded: to those which awaited Him

,and

said unto them,“The disciple is not ‘ above his

Master. It is enough for the disciple that he

be as his ' Master ’

(Mat t. x. 24, How many

troubles have been borne in peace through the thought

of the agony of Gethsemane and the torture of

Golgotha ! A charitable lady of‘

Geneva,bending

over a“

sick-bed, spoke one day t o ~

a poor Savoyard

woman who was afflicted with acute pains . She

expressed to the invalid h er warm Sympathy, h er

deep compassion. The invalid replied, in h er own

peculiar language,

‘

Oh, ma’am

,but ; our Lord suffered

more than this.’ That thought soothed and consoled

he r.

- In the union of t he servant and his Master in

suffering,there is something more than the re srgnat ion

of Islam .

To make us accept suffering is the first stage in the

work of Christ ; the second is, as I have said, to make

us welcome it. To welcome suffering ! This is not

natural,and yet it is real . And do

'

n ot accuse me in

Speaking thus of contradict ing what I have said as to

the universal and indestructible desire of happiness.

Sufferings of a lower order may b e mastered by higher

grat ificat ion s. One may see in a tortured visage a

look of heavenly joy ; and in the anguish jof the heart

th e soul may rejoice in the approval of conscience.

Even sorrow may thus become the cause of j oy.

80 'THE CHRIST.

Have you suffered ever SO lit tle for a just cause ?Have you for this lost some of your goods, sustainedsome injuries ? If so, have you not learnt that on emay experience at th e same time two contrary

emotions, of which the on e not only masters buttransforms the other ? Know you not that one may

b e happy while suffering for a good cause ? Experi

e nce alone, enlightened by reflection, may make us

welcome suffering by bringing us to acknowledge thatit is often useful. Suffering tempers character, it

makes men of us. Even for the life of the body, asa French physician reminds us, pain has a salutary

fun c tion .

’ l Al l the elements of an apology for pain

are condensed, fortified, and completed in the Christiandoctrine. The Christian succeeds in welcoming

chastisement,as the invalid welcomes a painful but

salutary remedy. He knows that suffering is meted

out to him by a Father who only wil ls his welfare ;and here

,once more, the example of Christ comes to

the assistance of His teaching. Not onl y do men

deem it just that the disciple shoul d b e treated as his

Master ; it is on e of the great laws of the spiritualorder, that men desire to resemble those whom they

admire and love. How many faithful servants have

desired to suffer with their masters ! How many

chil dren have begged as a favour to Share the captivity

of their parents ! Well, men have been found sometimes who have welcomed suffering because Christ

suffered ; outrages, because He was outraged ; death,1 Dr. Riche t , in the Revue philosophique , of Nov . 1877, p. 481 .


because He died for them.

1 This brings me to my

third point,Christ the consoler of death .

Your thought has anticipat ed my speech. It was

He that brought life and immortality to light ’ (2 Tim.

i. With what firm and simple assurance He

speaks of the future ! One day He alludes to His

approach ing end. What says He to His disconsolate

di sciples ? ‘ Le t not your heart be t roubled. In my

Father’s house are many mansions. Where I am,

there ye shall be also ’

(John xiv. 1 Death is

but a transit ion,a momentary separat ion, which is the

prelude t o an et ernal reunion. Travellers who climb

the Al ps on an autumn day are often en veloped in a

damp cold mist,which han gs about the ground ; but

if they raise their eyes,they now and then cat ch

glimpses of the sunlit summits overhead. So the

glance of the Christian pierces through death,and

through th e Shadows of the sepul chre he sees th e

radiant heights above th e eternal azure.

To the pain of death,the gospel opposes a fact as

well as a doctrine— the resurrect ion of Christ. Paul

writes to the Thessalonians : I would not have you

to be ignorant,brethren

,concerning those which are

asleep,that ye sorrow not

,even as others which have

n o hope. For if ye believe that Jesus died and rose

again,even so them al so which Sleep in Him will God

bring with Him. Wherefore comfort one another with

these words (1 Thess . iv. 1 3 Here I must Open

out a parenthesis. It might be said, and perhaps some1 Se e , for example , th e Vie dc Lacordaire , by Father Chocarn e .

F

8 2 THE CHRIST.

of you are saying it now within yourselves, There

are savant s who dispute the reality of th e resurrect ion

of Jesus Christ. They compare texts ; they discuss

passages ; they raise object ions. The science of erit i

c ism is therefore necessary here. Before affirming th e

resurrection, you must reply to those who deny it .

You are going beyond your programme.’ I do n ot

int end,gen t lemen

,to go beyond my programme.

There are scholars, I am well aware, who do n ot

admit that Christ left the t omb ; but these scholars do

n ot deny that they have a problem t o solve : they

must explain how the di sciples came t o believe in the

resurrect ion of their Mast er ; for the fact of thi s belief

is beyond all doubt . The resurrect ion is cont est ed,the

announcement of the resurrect ion is incont estable .

That is the first fact which ought t o be th e basis of a

serious research. Now the solut ion of the problem,

as I have said,is out of the reach of textual criticism

,

because thi s crit icism is inevit ably dominat ed by a

principle of faith,or by a principle of negat ion .

1

The apost les believed in the resurrect ion of their

Mast er, and this belief was one of the forces of their

ministry. On this point all Christ endom shares in

the faith of the apost les. In our day the representa

t iv e s of th e various Christ ian Churches,who me t one

Easter Sunday in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre

in Jerusalem, bore witness, by th e fact of their meet

ing, t o the faith which unit ed them, at

'

the same t ime

that they bore witness, alas ! by their unhappy quarrels,1 Se e First Le cture .


84 THE CHRIST.

liberties of Rome, he sought the hOpe of a future life

in one of the dialogues of Plato. The belief in th e

exist ence of th e soul after death is so thoroughl y con

formed to the heart and t o the reason, that it is one of

the elements of universal religion. But this doctrin e

is often impaired, and somet imes grossly dist orted .

Among the Greeks and the Romans,the hope of im

mortal ity diminished rather than increased aft er the

time of the great disciples of Socrates .1 In our days,belief in a future life shares the fat e of faith in God ;it generally disappears from those minds which sepa

rat e themselves from Jesus of Nazareth and from His

influence. It seems as if all th e hopes of mankind

have ent ered,like rays of light

,in the aureola of Christ ,

and are ext inguished when He retires.

God forbid that I should ever disparage the efforts

of ancient or modern wisdom striving t o collect th e

gleams of hope which issue from the heart and the

reason of man ; but I disparage nothing in affirming

that Christ is t he great consolator of death. Ent er a

house of mourning. If all faith is therein extinct,you

will find either indifference,or despair, or a sullen

resignat ion ; then, the work of time, distract ion and

oblivion. Cross th e threshold of a Christ ian family

which also mourns it s dead . There pangs of sorrow

may be poignant, bit ter ; but there will be a smil e

beneath their t ears , for this is a gri ef consoled that is

t ransformed in hope. Se e what t akes place at the

1 Se e La vie e terne lle , by Navill e , 3d Le ct ure Th e Thought s ofMankind. ’


cemetery. They are burying a mere cit izen of earth .

You will hear his eulogy. Alas if he be a politician,

you will find perhaps that they take advantage of th e

dead to rouse the passions of the living. Not a single

thought about the future, not a Sin gle gleam of heaven

falls upon that grave ! Such a scene as that always

seemed to me as cold as the tombstone, doleful as the

ratt ling of th e earth upon a coffin. But here are some

believers c onfiding to th e earth the remains of their

beloved. They weep,but they can raise to heaven

the hymn of hope, N ot lost,but gone before.’

Truly Christ has triumphed over death. For those

that place their trust in Him,the tomb is but the shell

in which the Chrysalis will put forth the wings by

which it will ascend to heaven . How glorious are the

promises of Christ ! There is ful ness of joy in the

prospect of an abode where all the noble instinct s ofour hearts will be grat ified

,where there shall be no

more tears, no more mourning, no more separations,because death shall be no more. But this abode of

peace and joy is also the abode of holiness . Are we

worthy of it ? For him who seriously list ens to the

voice of conscien ce,for him who believes in j ustice

,it

is impossible not to feel the poignant bit terness of

these words , The sting of death is sin ( 1 Cor. xv.

Who shall deliver us from this bitt erness The

answer to this question will form the subject of my

next lecture.

F O U R T H L E C T U R E .

Christ the Ret remer.

ENTLEMEN ,-Out of the contrast existing between

the inst incts of the human heart which seeks

for j oy,and the sufferings which abound in life

,comes

forth the need of consolat ion. Moral culture produces

feelings of a different nature . The dictates of th e

conscience convey to th e mind the idea of that which

is good,and man feels himself obliged t o realize it .

This feeling is not so general as that whi ch formedthe subject of our preceding study. To desire happi

ness, it suffices t o live ; to desire that which is good ,necessitat es the culture of the conscience. There is

,

perhaps, no human creature whose conscience is

absolut ely annihilated,no soul in which there remains

n ot at least the smoking flax.

’ Nevertheless,the

history of humanity and that of our own heart t each

us, that if the conscience is not altogether dead, it is,at least in many cases

,weakened

,obscured

,dying.

Does it live ? Is it faith q y list ened to ? IS it

illumined by the true light ? We then succeed in

understanding that th e Creat or has wrought out a

plan for the happiness of human souls ; that each one86

CHRIST THE REDEEMER. 8 7

has his place marked out in the great work, and mustlabour to do his part towards effect ing the common

good.

He who has att ained unto these high ideas, feels

how far he is from being what he should be ; he has

a distinct consciousness of his imperfection . IS thi s

all ? No ! The moral phenomenon does not limit

it self to this sense of imperfect ion. Take the case of

an artist (a poet , paint er, or musician) . If he possesses

the genius of his art,and is n ot blinded by a stupid

pride,he admits that his productions are far from th e

ideal which he has pursued . If he has done his very

best,he may regret his inability

,but does not reproach

himself because of his imperfect ion. In the moral

order,things are quite different . Brought face to face

with the conscience,which has revealed the plan of

God, man does not merely feel himself imperfect , he

feels himself guilty. Thus is formed the sense of

moral evil,or, to call it by its proper name, th e

consciousness of Sin . Pascal says : ‘ The essence of

sin consists in the possession of a wil l opposed t o the

revealed will of God.

’ 1 The need of consolation

springs from suffering ; th e need of forgiveness arises

out of the consciousness of sin,and that is the com

men c eme n t of the Christian life . Jesus Christ did

not proclaim Himself to the world as coming to help

imperfect beings to fulfil their dest iny He announced

that He was the Saviour of the lost. When the people

came t o Him t o be healed of their bodily ailment s,1 Pen sées , Faugere ’s e dit ,

vol. i . p . 44.

88 THE CHRIST.

He avail ed Himself of that Opportunity t o call off

their thoughts from the wants of the body to those of

the soul, and to promise th e sick a pardon, of which

He said He was th e medium.

The ideas of Sin and of pardon are not the monopoly

of Christ ian doctrine . I open the Chinese Almanack

of which I have already Spoken, and read, opposit e the

3 0th day of the 5 th moon (5 th Sept ) , about a religious

fest ival,th e special purpose of which is to obtain the

remi ssion of Sins . I consult th e Vedas, and in that

volume of old In dian prayers,I read : O Varun na, I

invoke thee,desirous of knowing my sins. Wise

men have all t old me th e same thing, Varun na is

angry with thee . ! O Varun na, grant us absolut ion

for th e Sins of our fathers, and for the sins which we

ourselves have commit t ed 1

The consciousness of sin and of the need of an

at onement is one of th e originat ing causes of those

sacrifices of which we shall soon have to speak.

The re is to be found one of th e element s of universal

religion . But that which charact erizes Christ ianity

is the fact of its having emphasized ideas like these ,an d made them th e essent ial basis of religion. Open

th e prayer-books of the heathen (the number of those

document s brought t o light by modern knowledge

increases yearly) . You will discover that the pet it ions

relate to temporal prosperity,to victory over enemies

,

t o th e fecundity of th e earth, to the success of e n

t erprise s ; while all th e Christ ian may ask for the

1 Max Mulle r,La scien ce de la re lig ion ,

p . 1 50.


present life is ‘ daily bread ’

; and what besides ?

Forgive us our trespasses ; deliver us from evil ! ’

Those are the essentials of Christian prayer,as taught

by th e Master Himself. It is the appeal of th e guilty

soul begging for pardon and for help. As long as the

conscience is unawakened,as long as the consciousness

of moral misery is want ing, it may be possible to hear

a port ion of Jesus’ teaching, but t he gospel, in the

proper sense of th e t erm,remains a sealed let t er.

From this fact we may draw an important remark

relat ing to education. The educat ion of whom ? Of

all the world ; of youth and of mature age, of others

and of ourselves. We must remember that the law,

as the Apost le Paul saith,is the schoolmaster to

bring us unto Christ ’ (Gal. iii. That which it

behoves us to imprint upon the soul of children, and

to cultivate cont inually in the soul of adult s, is th e

consciousness of the holiness of that law. If it be

forgot ten,there exists the possibility of arrivin g at

fatal consequences. Take this example : I was but a

very young man, still a student , when asked to visit

an aged man dangerously ill. I spoke a few serious

words to him. Sir,

’ he replied,we are all great

sinners. As to oaths,well

, you know but as

t o a wicked action,I have never committed one.

’

This man had been taught according to orthodox

doctrin e. The avowal of a few oaths was the nearly

derisive homage which he accorded his cat echism ; th e

affirmat ion that he had never been guilty of a wicked

action was the serious homag e with which he grat ified

9 0 THE CHRIST.

his pride. I then learned,and I have never forgotten,

what may be the value of pious formulas learned by

heart,and repeated from memory

,when the conscience

has not been called into exercise.

When the soul is seriously awakened to a sense of

it s sin,Jesus brings it pardon. This work of forgive

ness is,by Himself

,connected especially with His

death . On a certain day,when addressing some

Greeks who had drawn near unto Him,He announced

His approaching end. For a moment that prospect

t roubled Him,but He said

,

‘ For this cause came I

unto this hour.

’ Foreseeing th e death of the cross,He then said

,And I

,if I be lift ed up from the earth,

will draw all men unto Me (John xii. 2 7 In

this manner He has point ed to His death as to the

most important event of His life,and the most

powerful means of His act ion upon the world. He

has indicat ed thi s not only in words,but also by an

act ion. When a man feels himself nearing his end,

if h e preserves his lucidity of mind,his last re c om

mendat ion s express either the dominant idea of his

life,or that which he considers in that solemn moment

as th e most important. Now,we have in th e life of

Jesus Christ an ac t like this. Knowing that He was

t aking his last repast with His disciples,He took

bread,and gave thanks

,and brake it

,and gave unt o

them, saying, Thi s is My body which is given for

you ’

; afterwards He took the cup, saying,‘ This cup

is the new t estament in My blood,which is Shed for

you ’

(Luke xxii. 1 9 , In this manner was


9 2 THE CHRIST.

His disciples was especially directed upon His death,

considered as an expiatory sacrifice, the result of

which was the redempt ion of the world.

Redempt ion means ransom . When Europeans were

th e Slaves of barbarians, devoted men consecrated them

selves t o the work of their redempt ion, and t o thi s end

they inst itut ed the Order of Redempt ion. Jesus Christ ,by His life and by His death

,ransomed men from the

slavery of sin ; He has paid the ransom of insolvent

debt ors. Hence the Church has given Him th e tit le

of Redeemer, though this t it le is never given Him, if I

mist ake n ot,in th e writings of th e N ew Testament .

This work of redempt ion has been called b y Jesus

a work of God. I t is God His Father who has sent

Him,that through Him th e world might be saved. I t

is GodWho so loved th e world that He gave His only

begotten Son (John iii . 1 6 , 1 Paul gives expression

t o this idea in the following words : God was in Christreconciling the world unto Himself

,n ot imput ing their

trespasses unt o them (2 Cor. v. And,I t pleased

th e Father and,having made peace through th e

blood of His cross,by Him t o reconcile all things

un t o Himself ’ (Col. i. Such is the formul a of

apostolical t eachin g.

How are we t o understand these things ? What is

the manner of this atonement ? What the n ature of

th e bond whi ch unit es the Heavenly Father to the Son

by Whom this redempt ive work is accomplished ? How

are the life and death of the Son of Mary the man ife s

tat ion of Eternal Love ? It is impossible to approach


these questions without entering into the very quick of

theological te aching on the Trinity and the Incarnation.

I could not do this without departing from my pro

gramme. Before all research in special dogmatics,we

must resolve the problem : What ought we to think ofChrist ? The only aim of our study is to gather proofs

for the solution of thi s problem . In collect ing these,

I point out a fact : the Christian Church has been

founded on the preaching of a Divine work for th e

redemption of th e world . In order to seek the how

of this work,it is necessary to admit it s reality ; to

proceed otherwise would con st itute a vice . of method.

I have pointed out a first fact : the nature of Christian

preaching. I am going to point out a second : the

influence of that preaching.

That influence has exercised itself in a manner little

thought of by the act ion of Christ ian preaching for the

abolition of human sacrifices . The cust om of human

sacrifices has, perhaps, been universal ; at al l event s,it

has been very general. Hist orians affirm this,and

subterranean explorat ions, from which we seek so much

informat ion concerning epochs prior to hi story,brin g

to light human bones, which seem to be the remains of

sacrific e s.

1

Is this horrible custom the monopoly of the most

remote times of primitive epochs ? Not at all. In

1 836 the English discovered that in one of the

provinces of India, certain people, call ed Khonds,

1 Joly, L’anthropophagie et les sac rifices humains ,

’Revue Scien ~

t ifique of 8th Sept . 1 877.

94 THE CHRIST.

offered a great many human sacrifices. The victims

were offered to Bera, goddess of the earth, in order to

obt ain the fert ility of the soil. These victims were

obtained by war, by robbery, or by purchase ; and

when the prisoners,the robbed

,or the bought were

wanting,the children of nat ives were sacrificed. On

part icularly solemn festival days, several villages wouldmeet for the ceremony, and as many as two hundred

human beings were sacrificed in one day. The English

authorit ies were horror-stricken at this discovery,and

with great activity wrought t o reform the morals of

this people. The administration accept ed the aid of

French missionaries in this work. M. Barthelemy

Saint Hilaire, who has related these fact s in the

Journal des Savan ts,1remarks that the union of French

Catholic priests and Protest ant English officers in a

good cause is a rare and noble example . We are all,

I hope,of his opinion. We all long for the day when

the members of different Christian communi t ies wil l

unite together more than they do now to work,in the

Spirit of their common Head, in the holy cause of

humanity. Happy the day when Churches will makea t ruce to all their cont est s of words

,of writin gs

,which

onl y work evil,and emulat e each other’s zeal in th e

exercise of good, and employ, in th e inevitable struggles

t o which they shall be called, no other arms than those

of persuas ion and devotedness !

When the English asked the chiefs of the Khonds

t o abolish their horrible cust om, they replied,We

1 July and August 1 874 Campbe ll and Macpherson .


9 6 THE CHRIST.

Caesar said that they thought it necessary to sacrifice

men in order to appease the gods ’ (n on posse aliter

deorum immortalium numen placari arbitran tur) .1

Fernando Cortes, in conversation with a native chief

of Tlascalus, learned from him that the Mexicans

could form no idea of a true sacrifice unless one man

died for the salvat ion of others.’ 2 The fright ful custom

originated by a religious sent iment has been favoured

by cannibalism . Cannibalism is somet imes the outcome

of famine,often perhaps, but n ot always. I t is prae

t ised in countries where nourishment abounds. I t has

it s origin in other causes than the want of food, and

human sacrifice is, perhaps, one of these causes.

Vict ims were eaten because they had been killed ; other

victims were killed to be eaten. Ceremonies which at

first may have had th e impress of superstit ion,became

nothing less than fright ful repasts after which me n ,

fallen below th e level of brutes,Wrangled t oge the r

Ove r ble eding fragmen t s and horrid limbs . ’

The religious idea had disappeared,smothered under

heaps of carcases,and drowned in a pool of blood .

Reflect,gent lemen

,and consider the profound myst ery

cont ained in the fact of man kil ling man for the

at onement of his own sins . We can understand the

sacrifice of offerings ; we can understand how creatures

macerate themselves,sacrifice themselves with the idea

of atoning for their Sins,and of appeasing th e wrath of

1 De B e llo Gallico, vi . 1 6.

1 An t on io Solis, H istoire de la conguéte da M er ique .


the gods ; but that the idea of atoning for one’s fault s

by sacrificing one’s fellow-creature has ever existed and

become one of th e causes of a general custom,is a thing

we cannot underst and. Truly the Christian doctrine of

redemption is myst erious ; but to my mind it is n ot

much more mysterious than the idea of atonement

involved in human sacrifices. The difficul ty is the

same for the inte lligence. Only,on the one hand

,it

is a myst ery of madness and of cruelty,and on the

other hand, it i s a myst ery of devotedness and of love.

The cust om of human sacrifices has therefore been

widely spread ; how has it disappeared ? Will any

civilisat ion account for this No. Hist orians discuss

as to the number of human vict ims sacrificed by the

Mexicans,victims which were obtained by maintaining

incessant wars. Their number is generally estimated

at twenty thousand yearly. All those victims wereeaten

,and formed a considerable port ion of the support

of the people of the capit al. Mexico,in many respect s

,

was nevertheless civilised. A curious document has

been preserved,containing the advice of a Mexican

mother to he r daughter. She speaks of th e duties of a

woman,of a wife, of a mother, with accents of serious

t endernes s, which the heart of a Christ ian would notdisavow ; and Sh e in termixes with serious lessons on

respect and chastity,advice on dress and on deportment

,

which implies a civil isat ion not only real,but nearly

refin ed.

1 Well,gentlemen, when this well - educated

1 H is tory of the Conques t of M exico,by Will iam Pre scot t , vol. iii.

App. i.

9 8 THE CHRIST.

young lady att ended a religious festival in the bosomof h er family, one of the important features of th e

festival was a banquet,and the principal dish of the

banquet was the body of a slave sacrificed for the

ceremony, and prepared with great care. The history of

the world cont ains few contrasts more striking and more

painful than that offered by an unrestrained cannibalismin th e bosom of the civil isation of a worthy people, in

many respects deserv ing of sympathy and regard.

Among the Greeks and th e Romans th e public

sacrifice of men belongs to a remote period ; but when

they were forbidden on th e public places, they found

a refuge in th e mysteries. One of Horace’s poems 1

leads t o th e belief that , even in his t ime, in secret,impure ceremonies, children were put t o death in a

most horrible manner. In th e works of Plin y the

Elder,who was nearly cont emporaneous with Jesus

Christ (he was born A.D. we discover the expres

sion of real joy on th e occasion of an imperial edict

for th e abolit ion of human sacrific e s.

2 That edict was

n ot always put in force, for th e Emperor Commodus,who ascended the thron e A.D. 1 80, sacrificed children

in the myst eries of M ithras,into whi ch he had been

init iat ed. The natural development of th e int elligence

and of th e heart has truly, nearly everywhere, with the

except ion of Mexico, diminished th e number of human

vict ims,and proscribed their public sacrifice ; but the

t otal ext inct ion of those sacrifices has been brought

about merely by two influences : in one part of Asia by1 Epode V.

2 Quot ed in Pre scot t ’s fil exico.


1 O0 THE CHRIST.

dying of hunger to the horrible uncert ainty of the fat e

which always hung over them. When a person

solicited th e priest for some heavenly, or rather

infernal,favour

,he was t old that the gods demanded

a human sacrifice, and, naming the vict im,the appli

cant received the power of death in th e form of a

sacred stone . He then carefully hid this stone upon

his own person, and, gathering t ogether a few of his

friends, he sought out th e appointed victim . Assisted

by his friends,he woul d succeed in discovering the

unfortunate one seated under some tree, or repairing

his canoe,and drawing near to him, conversed about

rain ,or fine weather, or fishing

,e t c . Then suddenly

he would open his hand and show th e fated man the

sacred stone. Terrified, the victim would attempt to

escape ; a short struggle would ensue, the vict im

thrown down, garot t ed, and carried t o the pitiless

priests. Oh how horrible th e scene must have been !

Somet imes these unfortunat e ones woul d succeed in

making their escape, woul d reach the mount ain,and

live and die there unknown and ignored. The weather

was too warm to bring on a fit of shivering,but the

shade of large trees,and th e calm beauty of th e scenery

around,made the hist ory of the site st ill more horrible

(British Review,August

This is n ot an account given by a missionary,n or

even by a serious man ; it is that of a young English

lord,who speaks very light ly of moral s , and somet imes

almost impiously of religion ; but in the presence of

the abolition of human sacrifices,the work of Christ ian

CHRIST THE REDEEMER. 1 0 1

missions,his smile disappears, and his lips, full of

emot ion, ut ter the words we have j ust quoted.

The death of Christ has been the most powerful

cause of His act ion in the world . He had not gone

beyond the narrow limi t s of Palestine ; it is from the

summit of His cross that His work has irradiated the

universe . What ever may be the dogmat ical meaningatt ached to His death, that death has been, and st ill

is,the temporal life of thousands of human beings.

The doctrine of the cross , I mean the doctrine of

redemption, is th e firme st prop of moral and religious

truth. I said, in my second lecture, that Monotheism

would not have been firmly established and maintained

but for th e influence of Christ ian preaching ; we mayn ow,

perhaps,discover the reason of this fact . The

doctrine of th e c roSs operates in two ways : for the

conversion of men,and to ret ain them in the domain

of th e faith.

And,first ly

,for the conversion of men. Behold

Paul,the great missionary, at Corinth, at Athens

,at

Rome He knows that the inhabit ant s of those great

cities have heard the words of the wise. He quot es a

verse from a Greek poet , and the works of Socrates

and of Plato are probably not unknown to him.

Nevertheless, aft er all the teaching of the wise, he

fin ds the idols still standing, and the corruption of

morals increased rather than diminished by the wor

ship given t o those fal se divinit ies. At his word th e

idols begin to shake upon their foundat ions . Is it not

natural that he should exclaim,For aft er that in the

1 02 THE CHRIST.

wisdom of God th e world by wisdom knewn ot God,

it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save

them that believe. The foolishness of God is wiser

than men,and th e weakness of God is stronger than

men ’

? (1 Cor. i. 2 1 ,Vinet has remarked that if Christ ianity is made to

appear more reasonable by suppressing th e doctrine of

redemption, it is robbed of it s virtue. This mayappear surprising

,but the statement is just ified by

fact s. Does it not seem natural,when speaking of

brutalized savages,t o say

,Before we make them

Christ ians,l e t us make men of them The at t empt

has been made. English philanthropist s, under the

auspices of Wilberforce,have undertaken th e civil isa

t ion of some of th e nat ives of West ern Africa without

th e assistan ce of a direct religious act ion . The at t empt

has failed. On e of the governors of Canada has

at t empt ed a Similar mode of procedure with th e

Indians, without obt aining any good resul t . Attempt s

at civil isat ion,where the religious element has been

want in g, have n ot succeeded.

Other men have used religion,but have commenced

by what is call ed natural religion,—God

,and th e im

mortality of the sou1,—withholding provision ally those

dogmas which are specially Christ ian . This work was

undert aken in America by some of Will iam Penn’s

disciples ; it has been prosecut ed for a century and a

half ; it has complet ely failed. A missionary relat es

that he had adopte d a similar plan. He had spoken

to a heathen about God and providence without


THE CHRIST.

any defect ions. Those at t empt s are of two kinds .

Some remain within the limit s of the fundamental

Christ ian doctrine. I have n ot here to speak of these ;that would be t o ent er int o those confessional con

t rov e rsie s which my programme excludes . The aim

of others is to preserve religion,by eliminat ing Chris

t ian ity, properly so called.

’

Tis of these I must

speak. Three principal at t empt s have been made in

modern t imes : in 1 7 9 6 , at Paris, the religion of th e

Theophilanthropist s,which reduced it s precept s to two

,

Honour God,

’ Love mankind,

’

an d which excluded

the marrow of the gospel ; in 1 83 0, th e French

Church foun ded by Abbé Chatel,which had for

device,The natural law

,nothing but the n atural law

,

all th e natural law,

’ and which was in full react ion

against Christ ianity ; in 1 844 arose the Church of

th e German Catholi cs, whose most pret ent ious apostle

was Jean Rouge, who might have been for a moment

regarded as a modern Luther,but who walked in a

path which led him rapidly int o Pantheism. Those

at t empts at th e format ion of new religions have had

three characterist ics in common. They despoiled

religion of th e idea of a special interven t ion and of

a redempt ive ac t of God. Their moment ary splendour

was followed by a rapid decay. They all compromi sed

themselves in polit ical movement s. Time fails me to

retrace th e history of these three at t empt s . I shall

simply sket ch the fat e of the oldest,that of the Theo

philanthropist s .

On the 2 6 th Nivose,year v. (December five


fathers of families met in Paris,in the Rue St . Denis,

No. 34, and at the close of their meeting published a

manifesto containing the following words : Several

fathers of famil ies,convinced that religious principles

are the onl y solid basis of a good educat ion,th e onl y

check to secret crimes,the best consolation in adv e r

sity, the most effectual encouragement to every duty,have me t to discover the means of saving their

ch ildren from the dangers of irreligion. They have

considered that myst erious religions have many adv e r

sarie s ; that the great er number of young men brought

up in these do n ot,when they go out into the world

,

resist the numerous argument s by which they are

at tacked ; and that,by renouncing th e mysteries,

they oft en,at the same time

,forget religion and

morals. Consequently,they have thought that the

surest way was to train their children in the prin

c ipl e s of natural religion,which no man can att ack,

unless he be foolish or altogether corrupt ; t hat, once

accustomed t o regulat e their lives upon the principles

of this religion,which every nation respect s

,and which

is the basis of all the religions of th e world, they

woul d in all probability never renounce it , and wouldthus be good men unto their life’s end.

’ 1

Such is the nature and aim of that attempt,exposed

in the clearest manner. The quest ion was to abide

by the credo of Robespierre,which was

,in Rousseau

’

s

opinion, th e pure product of reason admitted by all

th e nat ions of th e earth ! It was thus that me n1

THE CHRIST.

hoped to retain or t o bring back those whom the

myst eries had alienat ed from religion . The at t empt

was an honest one . The Theophil anthropist s reckoned

among their adherent s a few me n of mark, Dupont de

Nemours,and Bernardin de St . Pierre, th e amiable

author of Pau l c i Virgin ie . The sect was favoured

by th e governmen t. They were permit t ed to share

with th e Catholics in the use of several of th e Paris

churches,notably that of Notre Dame. But

, as man y

at te nded on ly through curiosity, and others with th e

sole aim of protest ing against Catholicism , th e crowd

soon thinn ed away. Curiosity soon t ires ; and, for

th e mere purpose of protest ing, men do n ot long

en dure th e t ediousness of a religion to which they do

not at tach faith . Con gregat ion s had been formed in

th e French provinces and in It aly ; but soon zeal

languished everywhere ; the churches were empty ;money was n ot forthcoming ; intest in e quarrels brokeout ; and Chemin, the principal founder of th e in st itution, declared, with grief, in a memoir which he

published,that theophilanthropy had been professed

by men who were not animat ed by th e love of the

t ruth or the zeal of virtue,and who had forsaken it

when they had been convin ced that there was no

money to he earned or places to be obt ained in it.’ 1

The two other similar at t empt s that I have men

t ion ed have me t with th e same fat e. Men hoped to

bring back to religion those who had been alienated

from it,by suppressing the mysterious elements of the1 Cachon , H is toire de la Theophilan thropie , p . 26.


1 08 THE CHRIST.

Tell them of a God that justifies sinners, and their

hearts will be soft ened. And we, gent lemen, who

have not upon our consciences cannibal repast s,do

we n ot need a word of pardon,which Shall remove

the heavy burden of our past, and become the st art ing

point of a new life

A vague and general idea of th e goodness of God

cannot replace that central doctrine of th e gospel .

To speak of th e goodness of God without paying due

regard to His justice,is to weaken th e conscience .

When me n ent er in t o this path, they soon say t o

themselves,Sin is not so black as it is represen t ed ;

God is a good Father, who kn ows our weakness,and

does n ot demand too much from it .

’ Then th e mind

ent ers int o a road that leads to ruin ; because th e

holiness of th e law being covered with a veil, the

moral order is at tacked in it s very source. Place

yourselves,on th e contrary, before th e cross, where

th e goodness of God, Who forgives, is manifested by a

sacrifice. That is assuredly a myst ery ; but you wil l

not be able t o meditat e upon that mystery without

seeing in it th e holiness of th e law,th e grav ity of sin

,

and the ext en t of supreme mercy indissolubly unit ed.

Then the two pillars of morals—just ice and love

will remain standing.

If thi s doct rine is necessary for the present l ife,

seeing that it supplies the springs of hope and of

courage, it is n ot less necessary,it is even more

needful, in order that we may die in peace . Draw

near to this dying man . His conscience speaks ; he

CHRIST THE REDEEMER. 1 O9

believes that there is something beyond the veil of

death . The thought of justice alarms him ; the vague

idea of the goodness of God does not satisfy hi s

anguished conscience. If you do not bring him the

message of pardon,what will you say to him ? He

is going to die . I am n ot ignorant of the fatal illu

sions which the prospect of conversion at th e last

hour can give rise to. Without any doubt,it will n ot

suffice,in order t o redeem a whole life of selfishness

,

of sensuality,and of lyin g, to recit e devoutly a few

verses of the Bible, t o make the sign of the cross, or

to kiss a crucifix. I know the stron g language that

Saurin,th e great Protestant preacher

,used to censure

the cowardly complaisance of cert ain ministers of the

gospel,forgetful of their Mast er’s interest s

,when at

the bedside of the dyin g.

1 But,as far as the human

eye can penetrate such secret s, there are real conver

sions at th e last hour ; there are criminals t ouched

with genuine repentance, to whom can be applied the

word of comfort that th e Cruc ified One addressed to

him who was crucified by His side : ‘ To-day shalt

thou be with Me in Paradise (Luke xxiii.

That is the secret of the power of the cross of our

Lord Jesus Christ ; that is t he reason why,if we do

away with it,the salt of th e gospel loses its savour ;

that is why,for the discouraged sinner, it is th e pledge

of pardon,the condit ion of recovery, of hope, of strength,

Habit al one prevents us seeing the strange con1 Se con d se rmon on Th e Postpon eme n t of Con version .

’

1 1 0 THE CHRIST.

jun ct ion of terms in the foll owing form of speech

the cross of honour. Monarchs confer crosses, as marks

of dist inct ion , upon the men whose merit they are

desirous of recognising, upon those court iers who enjoy

their favour, or upon those persist ent parasites whom

they wan t finally t o shake off. The cross figures on

th e crowns of kings, an d on the spires of churches .

Swit zerland and Italy have placed upon their st andards

a red cross on a whit e ground ; and a red cross on a

whit e ground is th e Sign of the neutrality of ambul

anoes. All this is not to us a matter of surprise ;and ye t , in the beginn in g, th e cross was the tree of

infamy,the instrument of t orture for slaves and for

th e most unprin cipled wretches. In order to place

you before the percept ion of reality, strip th e cross

of it s gold and of it s diamonds ; do n ot gaze upon

it as it is delineat ed on the blue sky at th e turning

of th e moun t ain path. Behold a tree of death,a man

nailed t o that t ree,in the last sufferings of a prolonged

agony,th e blood falling drop by drop ; and imagine

that in t akin g a walk through our city gat es you

could see such a spect acle . That was the case up to

the reign of the Emperor Constant in e. For three

centuries the cross was an obj ect of horror, a mark of

infamy. From thence th e sc oflings of the heathen.

In searchin g the sit e of the palace of th e Caesars at

Rome,a room was discovered which seems t o have

been devot ed t o the use of th e emperor’s pages.

There is on the wall a rough sket ch of a crucified

man,having the head of an ass ; under this drawing


THE CHRIST.

of this sign of horror and of ignominy must be drawn

from a still deeper source. It is upon the cross that

th e pledge of pardon is nailed. It is from thence

especially that it s power comes,because it responds

to all that is most serious and profound in the soul of

man,the conscience.

F IFTH LE C TURE .

abris t the Ergislatur.

ENTLEMEN,—In th e year 1 842 , M . Troplong,

a much est eemed cont emporary juri st, read a

memoir,before th e Inst itut de France

,on the civil

right of the Romans . He concluded it with these

words : Christ ian philosophy is th e basis of our

social exist ence ; it nourishes th e root of our laws ;and though all men seek n ot t o t ake account of this

,

we live far more by it than by the ideas that have

escaped out of the ru ins of the Greek and Roman

world.

’ 1

In ot her words, our civilisat ion springs from mani

fold sources ; it proceeds in part from th e Greeks and

from the Romans ; but of all th e influences which

have contributed to it s format ion, th e most consider

able is that of Christiani ty. Nevertheless Jesus Christ

had no polit ical power, n or did He desire any. There

were certain Jews who, longing t o be delivered from

th e Roman yoke, wanted t o make Him the leader of

an at t empt at emancipat ion,and proclaim Him king ;

1 Seanc es e t travaux de l’

A cadémie des scien ces morales c i polit ique s,vol . i . p . 31 6 (ye ar

1 1 4 THE CHRIST.

He escaped out of their midst (John vi. He

refused to exercise civil funct ions. One of His fol

lowers said to Him one day, Master, speak to my

brother, that he divide th e inherit ance with me.’

But

Jesus said unt o him,Man

,who made Me a judge or

a divider over you ? ’ He would n ot consent to t ake

th e place of t ribunals, but He seized the opportunity

t o t each a lesson on covet ousness (Luke xii. 1 3Finally

,He t old the Roman governor that He was a

King,but that His kin gdom was n ot of this world

(John xviii . 3 3 This absen ce of all social power

which was the condit ion of Christ,was also the con

dit ion of His Church for three centuries. Christ ians

were not admitted int o th e councils of the empire ;they organized themselves, pe r force, out side the stat e,and under persecut ion . Nevertheless

,this King

,Wh o

was n ot of this world, has exercised upon the world

an influence more con siderable than all the legislators

and all the polit ical bodies which have the right t o

make laws, and the power to put them in force. How

is this ?

In order to thoroughly underst an d this subject,we

must establish a dist inction between th e faith in virtue

of which men unit ed t o Jesus Christ form themselves

int o a society whose expectat ions go beyond this world,

and the principles, Sprung from that faith, which con

cern th e temporal life of societ ies, and which become

th e basis of civili sat ion . N ow,there is a Christ ian

civilisat ion. Apart from doctrine and worship there

are Christ ian peoples. This appellation appears almost


1 1 6 THE CHRIST.

by the vote of an assembly or of a people . Now,in

th e ancient world these two domain s were not distin ct .

The Roman Empire allowed every one to follow th e

religion that he preferred, but on condit ion that they

should t ake part in the official worship, and b ow down

before th e statue of th e emperor. A similar stat e of

things obtain s in modern China . The pract ice of all

religions is free ; but all public functionaries are boun d

t o t ake part in the ceremon ies of the official religion ;and it is the prohibit ion of at tending such ceremon ies

which exposes Christ ian s t o persecut ion. When the

t emporal and th e Spiritual are thus confounded,on e

n ever knows exact ly whether it is th e st at e that rules

religion, or th e priest s that are the mast ers of th e st at e.

Jesus Christ ut ters this word,Render un t o Caesar th e

things which are Caesar’s, and unt o God th e things

that are God’s.’ This is th e new principle. -What

pertains t o Caesar is things earthly. Caesar demandsespecially money : Christ ians will faithfully pay tribut e.

Caesar claims obedience : the disciples of Christ willobey him in all thin gs within his domain ; when

persecuted, however great their number, they will n ot

revolt . What pertains to God is the conscience ; and

when emperors will seek t o be worshipped,all their

power will be broken against the absolut e resistance,

n ot only of men in th e prime of life, but of old men,of women

,of maidens. The spiritual order and the

t emporal order are thus clearly dist inguished, whence

two consequences.

The first is the enfranchisement of the religious

CHRIST.THE LEGISLATOR. 1 1 7

conscience. Civil laws must be obeyed,that is th e

condit ion of the existence of society ; but there is a

law superior to the laws of men, as Sophocles well

knew,

1 a supreme law,which ought t o be obeyed before

every other. If Christ ianity has proscribed revolt,it

has also prescribed resist ance, energetic and inflexible,when conscien ce i s wronged. This distinct ion has

been too oft en disregarded. I fear that in monarchical

st at es there are st ill t o be found disciples of the philo

s0pher Hobbes, who want ed the monarch t o be the

absolut e mast er of men’s consciences ; and I hav e read

quit e recently on the walls of a democrat ic city,that

shall be nameless,a placard calculat ed t o inspire

serious reflect ions. This placard claimed,in the name

of a very powerful political party,

‘t he sovereignty of

th e people in matt ers of religion .

’

St ill,though t oo

oft en mi sunderst ood in it s legit imate consequences,th e

word of Christ abides as an imperishable s eed of

liberty. I t exercises it s influence even on those who

refuse to realize it , for one oft en sees that the adv e r

sarie s of religious libert y dare not attack it except by

usurpin g it s name,and covering themselves with it s

mant le .

The first Consequence of th e dist inct ion established

by Christ is th e liberation of consciences enslaved by

th e polit ical power ; th e second is th e en franchi sement

of civil society. Amon g Jesus’ disciples were two

young men , th e sons of Zebedee. The mother of these

youths, having h e ard.

t e ll of th e glorious dest inies of1 Epidus, King, th e Chorus.

1 1 8 THE CHRIST.

the Messiah, and foreseeing that He might probably

possess th e t emporal power which many of His con

t emporaries at tribut ed unt o Him,came t o Jesus and

said,Grant that these my two sons may sit

,the one

on Thy right hand,and th e other on th e left , in Thy

kingdom.

’ Jesus Christ answered : The princes of

the Gent iles exercise dominion over them,and they

that are great exercise authority upon them . But(it

shall n ot be so among you : but whosoever will be

great among you,l e t him be your minist er (Mat t .

xx. 2 0—2 He lays down this prin ciple,then

,that

in th e society He is in stitut ing, the greatness of men

will be measured by the serv ices rendered. When He

speaks of th e kingdom of heaven ,He speaks with

authority,as a witness of things divine ; but with

respect t o the things of earth,He declines all authority ;

He wishes only t o use an influence that is freely

accepted. He therefore repudiat es all mat erial com

pulsion used in the name of religion. Such is, on

this subject,what may be t ermed Christ ’s programme.

His influence upon society was to be purely moral.

In order t o understand th e nature of that influen ce it

will be necessary to t ake a glance at Christ ian morals .In the book of Deut eronomy we read : Thou shalt

love th e Lord thy God, with al l thy heart , with all thysoul

,and with all thy strength

’

(chap . vi. 5 ) and in

th e book of Le vit icus : Thou shalt love thy neighbour

as thyself ’ (chap. xix. The Jews, who were th e

most advanced in religious knowledge, had joined these

two passages together. One day Jesus Christ asked a


1 2 0 THE CHRIST.

th e fruitful and energet ic love of man which must

always subsist,commence here below, expand beyon d

the veil of death,and form the bond between earth

and heaven (1 Cor. xiii. 8 , Before he can ent er

upon this path of charity,he who is in clined t o se lfish

ness needs t o be con vert ed ; hence, the n ecessity of

conversion is th e corn er- st one of Christ ian morals .But man is n ot alone ; n othin g can t ake place in his

con science which does n ot exert an influence upon

society. The conversion of in dividuals is a focus

whose radiat ion s transform the laws , the inst itut ions,and th e morals of society.

The second affirmat ion of Jesus is,that all dut ies

are in cluded in th e twofold commandment of love t o

God and me n . Moralist s have proposed various

classificat ions of dut ies. The best is,I think

,that

which reduces them t o three : dign ity,just ice

,bene

v ol e n c e . Now these three are included In the law of

charity t aken in it s general sense. The will of th e

Creat or is that men should form on e socie ty of happy

Spirit s, in which every on e shall labour t o promot e the

w elfare of others. Such is th e st at emen t of th e

supreme law. We may deduce from it The

dut ies of dign ity : God wills that His children should

realize th e exigen cies of a spiritual nature in order

that they may form a society of spirit s and n ot of

an imal s ; The dut ies of justice : each one ought t o

respect in others a nature simil ar t o his own ; The

dut ies of ben evolen c e : we must n ot only recogn ise th e

rights of our neighbour, but , conformably t o the divin e

CHRIST THE LEGISLATOR. 1 2 1

will,we must volunt arily labour for his good. Dignity,

just ice,benevolence : such are th e three secondary rays

int o which the beam of charity divides it self. I wish

t o point out th e social act ion of Christ ianity in this

threefold relation,by showing what needed to be done

in th e world when the gospel appeared, and what has

been done . The subj ect is a vast on e . I shall limit

myself to three examples. For dign ity, I have chosen

the combat s of the gladiat ors, because it seems t o me

that t o find a source of amusement in the sufferin gs

and death of one’s fellow-creatures is t o strike th e

most fearful of all blows at the dign ity of human

nature . My second example shall be slavery, which

is th e most radical negat ion of j ust ice. With respect

t o benevolence,I shall point out th e relat ive indiffe r

ence of ant iquity to th e miserable. Le t us develope

these three examples,commencin g with the last .

Man has a heart naturally compassionate,and in

which pity is never absolut ely ext inct . J. J. Rous

seau, with that nuan ce of exaggeration habitual t o

him, called at t ent ion to a real fact when he wrote

The robber who strips th e passengers will yet clothe

th e poor ; and the most ferocious assassin will support

a. faint ing man .

’ 1 One meet s always and everywhere

with kind-heart ed people,with act s of b e n efic e n c e , and

charit able inst itut ion s ; but th e superiority of Christ ian

b e n efic e n c e over that of th e an cient world is in con t e st

able. Among many proofs that might be cit ed in

support of this assert ion,this one will suffice . I t is

1 Profe ssion de j oi da Vicaire Savoyard.

1 2 2 THE CHRIST.

t aken from th e works of the Emperor Julian, in which

these words occur : I t has come t o pass,as I believe

,

that the n egligence of our priest s with respect t o th e

poor has suggest ed to those impious Galileans th e idea

of applying themselves t o b e n efic e n c e . What has most

con tribut ed t o the progress of impiety is b e n efic e n c e

t owards strangers,th e care given t o th e sepulchres of

the dead, and a feigned holiness of life. We must,I

think,really pract ise each of these virtues . I t

would be surely shameful,when non e of th e Jews beg,

when these impious Galilean s feed n ot on ly their poor

but ours,that we should be foun d neglect ing our

necessit ous ones. In struct th e Hellenes t o con

t ribut e t o these works of b e n efic e n c e .

’ 1

Behold,then

,a declared adversary of th e gospel

bearin g witn ess to th e manifest superiori ty of evan

ge lical b e n efic e n c e ! Nothing could be more decisive.The spirit of Christ fort ifie s compassion, and combat s

th e evil inclin at ions that are opposed to it . In all

religion s,in all syst ems of morality

,one meet s with

precept s relat ive t o benevolence ; b ut in this respect

Christ ian ity possesses a special virtue,whose source is

easy t o recognise . The gospel—it is th e pity of God,it is th e mercy which absorbs just ice. He who came

t o accomplish that work,th e Redeemer, what does He

ask in return for His self-sacrific ing devot ion ? You

kn ow. Read over again that chapt er in which Jesus

depicts the judgment to come . The Master will say‘When you fed the hungry

,when you clothed the

1 Julian the Ap ostate , by H . An drie n N e ville,p . 1 63.


1 24 THE CHRIST.

gospel ; but you will easily discover that th e most

zealous,the most act ive, th e most persevering, are th e

disciples of Christ . Allow me t o cit e on this point a

circumst ance sufficient ly charact erist ic. In 1 83 5 I

was presen t at a religious service held in the French

Church foun ded by th e Abbe Chat el. The assist ant s

Sprinkled th e portrait of General Lafayet t e with holy

wat er,and the whole of th e ceremon ies bore th e st amp

of a violent react ion against th e tradit ional faith of

Christ ian s . Nevertheless, in th e number of images

recommen ded t o th e venerat ion of th e faithful figured

the portrait of Vincent de Paul. Vincent de Paul, a

wonderful man,who has so clearly left his t races in th e

paths of b e n e fic e n c e , that I kn ow n ot whether there be

a Single good work of which our cen tury boast s which

was n ot un dert aken,or at least conceived and desired,

by him . Now,from what source did Vin cen t draw

the zeal which devoured his life without diminishing

t he number of his years

The Christ ian faith is a seed whose fruit is charity.

If this fruit does n ot appear,th e seed is dead. The

declarat ions of Christ are very explicit on this point .

Faith produces b e n efic e n c e ; and, by a just return,the

serious pract ice of b e n efic e n c e may lead to faith. This

is what Father Gratry relat es : I know a great an d

well-known man who assures me that he became a

Christ ian by this experimen t al way. I at t ached myself

,

! said he,

“t o some poor families

,whom I have

followed for many years in all th e det ails of their life,

asking myself,How Shall I contribut e t o their well

CHRIST THE LEGISLATOR.

being ? I saw that a moral progress depends on a

religious progress. This was,in my eyes

,an expe ri

ment al science as cert ain as that of physical laws. I

did more. I recommended th e same task to some

young men undecided in their convict ions. I t old

them t o un dert ake,without any prejudice or foregone

conclusions,th e regular and det ailed st udy of a few

poor families,and seek th e cause and th e remedy.

Their conclusion was invariably th e same ; no progress

of prosperity without a moral progress ; no moral

progress without religious progress . ! 1

The charit able influence of Christ ianity has passed

int o th e morals,and, in a certain degree, int o laws . In

this last respect the dan ger is, perhaps, lest too much

he done. Works of benevolence ought to remain in

th e order of free actions . The law of charity is the

principle of all good ; but th e charity of the law is big

with inconveniences, because, save in except ional cases ,it is disastrous that the st at e quit it s proper domain

,

which is that of just ice.2 This word just ice leads me

to pass on to slavery,which is the second obj ect of

our study.

Injust ice is the negation of a right ; slavery is the

negation of all right s at on ce . The Slave,in ancient

society,was classed among things, and even amongst

animals. He was handed over,without protection

,t o

th e cruelty of his master, and if th e slave was a

1 L es sources, by A. Gratry, 2d part , c on c l .1 Con sult on this subje ct De la charité legale , by F. M . L . N e ville ,

2 vols. , Paris 1 836 .

1 2 6 THE CHRIST.

woman,t o his lewdness. What has the gospel done

in this mat ter ? I t has fortified th e good element s in

t h e reason and in the conscience , which had in vain

raised object ions to this enormous social iniquity.

How has it proceeded ? The Christians could n ot

frame civil laws for th e liberat ion of Slaves, seeing they

possessed n ot the power. D id they preach revolt ?

Their principles forbade them . Besides,less than a

century before our e ra,Spartacus

,at th e head of 00

Slaves who had revolt ed,covered Ital y with fire and

blood,and this vast insurrect ion

,quelled by Pompey

and Crassus,had probably embit tered the lot of the

wret ches that had t aken up arms. The gospel has

reminded th e world that th e slave is a man, and that

all men are brethren . Read the letter of the Apost le

Paul t o Philemon,on sen ding back to him a runaway

slave ; there you wil l find th e charter for th e abolition

of an t ique slavery. The principle is laid down,th e

Church deduces th e consequences . She cannot make

civil laws,but she can promul gate ecclesiast ical rules

,the

Spirit and th e bearing ofwhich are manifest . The master

is obliged t o marry th e slave he has seduced,an alli

ance altogether contrary t o th e morals and t o th e law s of

ant iquity. The master who has unjust ly ill -treat ed his

slave is excommunicat ed. I t is prescribed to the slave

t o refuse t o his master every ac t contrary t o th e law

of God . When th e Lord’s Supper is admin ist ered,the

Christ ian slave remain s ; the master, if he is only a

penit en t or a catechumen,must leave. The slave can

be invest ed with an ecclesiastical charact er, and thus


1 2 8 THE CHRIST.

of th e negro trade. This traffic afterwards assumed

en ormous proport ions, in order t o furnish negroes t o

th e American Colonies ; but it is incorrect to refer th e

origin of this abominable trade t o th e set t lement of

Europeans in th e N ew World . When the first negroes

w ere sold in Portugal, Christ opher Columbus was a

child. All the nat ion s of Europe have part icipated in

this iniquity. Portugal and Spain began ; th e English,th e French, the Dut ch, followed their example .l

Having been est ablished in th e Colonies,Slavery

,for a

moment,invades Europe. In the year 1 7 6 2 ,

barely

a century ago, negroes were sold in Paris . The thing

is put beyon d doubt by an order of th e‘ Duc de

Penthievre, Admiral of France ; an order that was

in t ended t o put a stop to this crime, and in which on e

reads : “ France, especially it s capit al, is become a

public mart where men have been sold by auction t o

th e highest bidder ; there is hardly a t radesman or a

workman who has n ot had his negro slave . We have

been informed of many purchases of this kind,and we

have had the pain of seeing many orders obtained and

sworn before th e lieut en ant of police,by means of

which several individuals have had their negroes

const itut ed prisoners .! 2

This evil was accidental and transient in Europe,

but it inst alled it self in the Unit ed St at es with a

fearful energy, and has lasted up to our time. At

1 Con sult on this subje ct , and on th e ge n eral que st ion of slavery,L

’

abolition dc l’

esc lavage , by A . Cochin , vol . ii . , Paris, 1 861 .

1 L a Crit ique Ph ilosozh ique , of May 28, 1 875, p . 252.


last th e human conscience spoke out. It prot ested

first against the traffic ; then, under our own eyes, the

emancipat ion of negroes in the United Stat es was

accomplished . Under our eyes, also,Russia has

abolished serfdom,Brazil has proclaimed a wisely

progressive law of liberation ; and, with a few nu

important except ions,it may be n ow said that th e

soil of the nat ions called Christian is clear of th e

scandals of Slavery.

Under what influences were the efforts produced

that brought about this result ? In order to reply,

it will n ot be needful t o make laborious researches

into ancient documen t s . The question is one of

recent event s,and everything is clear as daylight .

Who were the men who, in th e middle of last cen tury,claimed and pract ised th e emancipation of slaves ?

Some Quakers in America, who t aught that Slavery

was contrary t o th e gospel .1 Who pleaded the cause

of th e blacks in the Brit ish Parliament with th e

great est fervour and perseverance ? Pronounced

Christ ians—Wilberforce and Buxt on. What was the

spirit that an imat ed Un c le Tom’

s Cabin,that book which

so powerfully influenced opinion in favour of th e

negroes ? A thoroughly Christ ian Spirit . To what

feel ings did th e Czar of Russia appeal when he

liberated twenty millions of me n ? Read his man i

fest o of the 1 9 th of February 1 8 6 1 , which con

c lude s with these words : ‘ And now,Christian and

faithful people,make on thy forehead th e sacred Sign

1 En eyCZOpédie mode rne (Didot ) , art . Slavery.

’

1 30 THE CHRIST.

of the cross, and join your prayers to ours in invok

ing the blessing of t he Most High on your first free

toil. ’

But did n ot th e philosophy of th e 1 8th century

have a Share in this work ? Shall we ent er to th e

credit of Christ ianity th e decree of the Convent ion

which liberat ed th e Slaves ? Yes,gent lemen

,without

the least doubt . We have here an instruct ive example

of th e separat ion which may be effect ed between a

civilisat ion and th e faith that produced it . When

on e wishes to trace the sources of men’s act ions

,it is

much more needful t o con sider th e influences that

have moulded their spirit than the theories they pro

fess. The Christ ian tradit ion had formed th e 1 8 th

century ; and th e noble spirit s of that epoch, even

whil e breaking with the faith, professed their admira

t ion for the moral ity of th e gospel, under whose

influen ce they had been brought up. Will you deny

th e reality of that influence ? Will you t alk of pure

philosophy,of the simple culture of th e reason ?

Yes . Well then,pray t ell me why th e philosophy

of th e Indians, of th e Persians, of th e Arabs, want ing

neither in brillian cy n or in vigour,has n ot risen up

again st Slavery ? Is it a more chance that the only

phil osophy which has t aken part in this conflict was

th e phil osophy of Christ ian nat ions ? No,gent lemen

,

there is no chance here. The philosophers of the

1 8 th century, when they laboured for the eman c i

pat ion of the Slaves, were serving the cause of

Christ ianity. When the slaveholders of the Unit ed


1 3 2 THE CHRIST.

five die on th e road . Travellers in Africa have gone

through fert ile dist rict s, bearing traces of agricul ture ,

and of a cert ain degree of civilisat ion . A few years

lat er they have foun d th e same district s desert ed ; th e

slave-merchant s had captured and carried away th e

whole of th e inhabit ant s. In these desolat ed regions

there is a t rack that one may follow without losing

on e’

S way, because it is well defined by th e bleached

bones of slaves who have died en route .

1

A society has been recen t ly formed,under t he

auspices of th e Kin g of th e Belgians, t o put a st op

t o these horrors. I do n ot wish t o detract from th e

merit of th e Kin g of th e Belgians and of his honour

able c c -workers ; but who is th e principal init iat or of

this work ? Who, traversing Africa, amid a thousan d

peril s,saw sight s which pursued him like a fright ful

nightmare, and sen t up a c ry of horror and appeal

which resounded on both shores of the At lant ic ?

A Christ ian missionary—Livingst one. In his j ournal,

among his geographi cal not es, he wrot e sent ences such

as these : ‘ Jan . 1,1 8 7 1 .

—O Father,help me t o

finish my work t o Thine honour.

’ ‘

Jan . 1 , 1 87 2

May t h e Almighty grant me to finish my work this

year ! May He gran t it for th e sake of Christ !’

And

on the 1 4th of May 1 8 7 3 he died in the b ut of a

savage,after having for a long t ime braved the at t acks

of a cruel malady. The negroes whose affect ion s h e

had won found h im st iff and cold on th e edge of his

1 Emile Ban n ing, L ’

Afrique c i la conference geographique de Bruxe lle s,chap. iv.

CHRIST THE LEGISLATOR. 1 33

couch in the at t itude of prayer.

1 Livingstone was an

English missionary and a Protest ant. Allow me to

point out,with respect t o th e abolition of slavery,

the concord of th e two great branches of West ern

Christendom. On th e 1 st of August 1 838,by virtue

of a decree of the Brit ish Parliament, the sun in rising

upon the Ant illes shone on free men only ; and on

the 3d of November 1 839,a bull of Pope Gregory

XVI. recalled t o mind the efforts of his predecessors in

favour of slaves,confirmed and complet ed their deci

sions,and pronounced

,in a most solemn and peremptory

manner,the absolut e condemnat ion of Slavery in all

its forms.2 From slaves le t us pass to gladiat ors .

Travellers who visit Rome admire th e ruins of th e

Coliseum,the largest circus ever construct ed in the

world. This was a theatre where fet es of various

kinds were held ; but the most popul ar were combat s

in which me n wounded and kill ed each other for the

pleasure of the Spect at ors. The gladiat ors were most ly

prisoners and slaves,somet imes volunt eers who had

Chosen that profession, and somet imes women ! Many

really enj oyed these sanguinary exercises ; but th e

prisoners of war,the Gauls

,th e haughty Germans,

often had an invincible horror of the rdle they were

1 On L ivingst on e ’s t ombston e in We stmin st er Abbe y at t e n t ion iscall e d t o t h e fact that t h e gre at t rave l le r vowe d t o do al l in his powert o st op t h e slave -trade in C en tral Africa, t hat among his last writ t e nwords were the se May t h e ble ssing of heaven de sce n d on th e man ,

b e h e American ,English

, or Turk, who Shall he lp t o heal t his ble e dingsore ! ’

2 Th e t ext of t h is documen t i s found in Cochin ’s Abolit ion de

l’

esc lavage , Appe ndix xii.

1 34 THE CHRIST.

made to play . In a single one of his let t ers, Seneca

ment ions three suicides of gladiat ors .1 One pierces

his own bosom with th e sword they have just put

int o his hand,

‘thus showing,

’ says the philosopher,

‘that it is more laudable to die than to kill .’ The

second,a Gaul

,finds a rod and thrust s it down his

throat. The third put s his head between the spokes

of a wheel,and crushes it , so that

‘th e chariot which

dragged him to execut ion shielded him from it .’ The

combat s of t he . gladiat ors cost enormous sums of

money. They became,for th e wealthy Roman s

,a

means of electoral bribery. When a candidat e wished

t o gain th e suffrages of th e people, he paid for a grand

combat . The emperors were somet imes obliged to se t

limit s t o this means of influen ce, their polit ical int erest s

thus supplying th e defect of their humane feelings.

Individual rich men n ot only presen t ed these com

bat s t o the populace during their lifet ime ; they some

t imes inst i tut ed them by will in honour of their

memory. We know,for example

,the last arran ge

ment s of two Romans who bequeathed for th e combat s

of th e circus,th e one all the youn g men of his house

hold,and t he other his beaut iful Slaves.2 Nor have I

said all. There was, it appears, a very ancien t cust om

in the Campania of enlivening their repasts by the

spect acle of gladiatorial combat s ? This custom had

1 Le t t e r lxx.

2 Schmidt , Essa i h is torique sur la société civile dans te monde Romain ,p. 1 06.

3 L ivy, book ix. chap . 40.


1 3 6 THE CHRIST.

purple ; but Titus, the good Titus, the man who merited

th e surname of The de light of the human race,—Titus

handed over the Jews that had been t aken prisoners

at Jerusalem for th e combat s of the circus. An d

what about th e laws ? There was a law of Augustus

which forbade more than twenty men t o fight at once,

but even this was n ot observed . Such was the con

t empt of human life in th e social centre when th e

gospel was preached.

The struggle of the Church was a long one . To

oppose pleasures relished by th e public is a difficult

t ask and th e point here was to conquer a t ast e that

had reached the force of a passion. This passion

somet imes t ook possession of even good n atures . Thi s

is evidenced by th e hist ory of Alipius, as relat ed by

his friend St . August ine . Alipius had a horror of the

bloody sport s of th e circus . One day,however

,he was

t aken there‘

almost forcibly by some of his friends ;bu t in consenting t o accompany them he resolved t o

keep his eyes closed. For a t ime he was faithful to

this resolut ion ; but suddenly a tremendous clamour is

heard . What a shout was that which proceeded from

th e mouths of th e spectat ors which th e

Coliseum cont ained ! Al ipius open s his eyes ; the

blood was flowin g.

‘ As soon as he had seen this

blood he drank down deeply the ferocity of this

spectacle ; he did n ot turn away from it ; he became

in t oxicated by a san guin ary voluptuousness . He was

no longer the same man as when he came, despit e

himself ; he was one of the throng, a worthy com


panion of those who had brought him thither. He

beheld,he shoute d

,he kindled ; he carried with him

thence th e madness of returning.

’ 1

Constantine prohibited the combats of gladiat ors ,but the law was n ot carried into execution . The

Emperor Honorius consent ed t o celebrat e the an ni

v e rsary of his consulat e by th e sanguinary sports of

the circus,January 1 , 404. These are th e last men

t ion ed in hist ory,and here is the immediate cause of

the final abolit ion of these cruel spect acles . A religious

youth named Telemachus went t o the circus. When

t he signal was given for the fray, he rushed down int o

th e arena to separate the combat ant s. They massacred

this mar-sport ; but the blood of the martyr for

humanity did not flow in vain. It appears that th e

emperor’

s conscience was smit ten. Hon orius renewed

Constant ine’s edict, and put it int o execut ion.

2

The gladiators have not reappeared,as did the Slaves .

The Span iards have their bull-fight s ; the Middle Ages

had their t ournamen ts, t o which knight s went volun

tarily to try their bravery an d Skill ; b ut in no

Christian state have th e police tolerat ed fet es where

men kill ed each other for the pleasure of th e

Spect at ors.

I have only given you a few examples,gentlemen

,

t o remind you of the influence of Christ ianity in favour

of dignity, of just ice, and of benevolence . In t he

history of our civilisat ion,the lines of th e good con

August in e , Confession s , book vi . chap . vii i.1 More I i, L e grand dict ionnaire historique , word Te lemachus . ’

1 38 THE CHRIST.

verge on Christ,as do

,in the Tran sfiguration ,

th e lines

of light man ipulat ed by the genius of Raphael. At

bot t om we know this well ; our sent iments,

our

language prove that w e know it . Cert ain portrait s

of Louis XV. bear this inscrip t ion, Rex Christian

issimus (th e most Christ ian king) . Why does this

inscript ion call forth a bit t er smile Because of the

crying contrast between the t it le of Christ ian and th e

conduct of that scandalous debauchee . The more a

man makes profession of piety,th e more exact in g are

we in regard to his conduct . Admit that pride shocks

you more in a priest than in a cavalry officer, th e

abuse of drink in a minist er than in a peasant,avarice

or luxury in a bishop than in a man of th e world.

In this respect th e adversaries of th e gospel think and

Speak like it s disciples. Religion is somet imes at t acked

by enumerat ing th e vices of it s professors . One never

seems t o not ice that th e condemnat ion pronoun ced upon

th e man is an homage paid to th e doctrine which he

professes,and t o which he is reproached for being un

faithful,because it is well known that this doctrine

faithfully followed would be a source of virtue .

The gospel which has formed our civilisat ion is th e

principle which main t ain s it . Why,then

,is th e

Christ ian faith combat ed,n ot merely by men under

th e empire of evil passions,which will always be th e

case, but by generous min ds which live in it s Spirit

Here is one of the reasons of this deplorable fact . I t

is that these men forget the precept of Jesus ChristRender unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s, and


1 40 THE CHRIST.

constraint . Caesar bears th e sword, and if he adopt s

or makes religious laws,he is always t empt ed t o

execut e them by force . Hence persecution.

‘ Thi s,alas ! is what has happened in Christ endom. Notwithst anding the eloquent prot ests of the Fathers of the

Church, -aft er a fugit ive apparit ion of the regime of

liberty of worship,—the Church only ceased to be

persecuted t o become the inst igat or of persecut ors. I t

is true that the civil power held the keys of th e

prisons, and kindled th e bonfires, and killed with th e

sword ; but behind th e civil power one could see th e

Church inspiring it,point in g out he r vict ims, and

just ly held responsible for th e evil don e. This st at e

of things has provoked a natural react ion. Men have

demanded the en franchisement of conscience ; they

have demanded that society be no longer subject to th e

t emporal power of th e clergy,by th e transformat ion

of ecclesiast ical in t o civil laws ; they have demanded,in a word, th e regime of liberty. Hen ce a mighty

struggle. In this struggle the spirit of liberty has too

oft en transformed it self int o a spirit of revolt . Many

men,confounding what is perfect ly dist inct , imput e t o

religious faith the crimes of fan at icism,and stand aloof

from Christ because men have persecut ed in His name.That is why a certain n umber of souls

,naturally Chris

t ian, are wandering amongst the adversaries of the

gospel .

The confusion of ideas is en ormous . List en ! In

1 I have t reat ed this subj e ct of re ligious perse cut ion in a pamphle t ,en t it le d L ’

Eg lise romaine e t la liberté des cultes , Ge n e va 1878 .

CHRIST THE LEG ISLATOR. 1 41

the interests of religion men have used both sword

and fire . On th e employment of sword and fire , here

is the express t eaching of Christ. A Samarit an vill age

refuses t o receive Him ; th e disciples ask, Lord,wilt

Thou that we command fire to come down from heaven

and consume them ? ’ The Mast er rebukes them,and

says unt o them,Ye know n ot what manner of spirit

ye are of ’ (Luke ix. 5 5 , When you read the

history of religious persecut ions,when you st and with

horror face t o face with racks,t ortures

,and the st akes

of the in quisition,above those impious flames

,above

that criminal smoke,list en then t o th e Mast er’s words

,

Ye know n ot what manner of Spirit ye are of.’ And

higher st ill,in the calm serenity of th e sky

,above th e

word of condemnation,listen to th e word of infinit e

mercy,Father

,forgive them

,for they know n ot what

they do ’

(Luke xxiii .They knew not what they did

,but we know. We

know that they hindered for centuries the normal

development of Christ ian civilisat ion ; we know that

they forged the most pow erful weapons of which th e

enemies of religious liberty make use t o-day. That is

what Jesus thought of the employment of fire ; l e t us

see what He thought of th e sword .

A t the moment of His arrest,one of His dis

c ipl e s draws his sword to defend Him . Put up

again thy sword into his place ; for all they that take

the sword shall perish with the sword (Mat t .

xxvi . There you have th e repudiat ion of every

measure of violence. There are two things in this

1 42 THE CHRIST.

word,—a command : Put up again thy sword into his

place ;’ and a menace : They that t ake the sword

shall perish with th e sword.

’ The command has been

slight ed ; and what about the menace Le t us rapidly

t urn over the pages of th e hist ory of France.

Aug. 24,1 5 7 2 .

—Massacre of St . Bartholomew.

The counsellors of King Charles IX . persuade him t o

ext erminat e th e heret ics for th e benefit of religion .

Oc t . 2 2 , 1 6 8 5 .

—Revocat ion of th e edict of Nantes.The coun sellors of King Louis X IV. persuade him to

expel the Prot est an ts from his kingdom for the benefit

of religion .

Cont in ue ! 1 7 9 3 .—The priest s of all religions in

discriminat ely are persecut ed ; the simple members

suffer the same fat e . Whosoever calls himself aft er

th e name of Christ is thrown in t o prison , t o fall now

un der the axe of th e assassins, and n ow under the

official blade of the guill ot in e .

The sword had been drawn for the ben efi t of

religion. The ensanguined blade return ed and smot e

those who drew it from it s scabbard . The menace of

Christ was a prophecy.

These miseries,gen t lemen , will have an end. There

will always be strifes and conflict s in th e world ; bu t

if modern society does n ot overthrow w ith it s own

hands th e foundat ion s which support it , if the spirit

of Christ,t oo long disown ed, penetrat es our in st itu

t ion s,we Shall at length see disappear from th e soil

of Christ ian nat ions th e last vest iges of that most

odious of all things—religious persecut ion . In order


S I X T H L E C T U R E .

t rist the it em.

ENTLEMEN,—Christ did n ot announce Himself

merely as the Comfort er, the Saviour, th e

Redeemer. His disciples,in addressin g Him on e day,

called Him ‘Mast er ’ and ‘ Lord,

’ and He replied, Ye

call M e Mast er an d Lord , and ye do well, for so Iam ’

(John xiii. The Lordship He accept ed was

a universal Lordship. When He charges His disciples

t o diffuse His t eaching, He says t o them,

‘ Go and

t each all nat ions ;’ and just before He had said

,

‘ All

power is given un t o M e’

(Mat t . xxviii. 1 8 , The

Apost le Paul, full of faith in His Mast er’s declarat ions

,

affirms that Jesus has a name which is above every

name ’ (Phil. ii.

Realit ies which we are able t o establish by e xpe ri

ence do n ot seem t o accord with these stat ement s.

In the midst of nat ions outwardly Christian, there are

many me n, of all classes of society, who refuse to

acknowledge t he sov ereignty of Jesus Cht ist ; and

among those who accept Him there are many weak

nesses,inconsist encies

,and miseries of every kind .

Then,what are th e recognised Christ ian nat ions

1“

CHRIST THE LORD. 1 45

compared with the!

entire population of the globe ?

Stat istics are difficult to obt ain, and liable to numerouserrors in civili sed countries ; one cannot therefore place

much confidence in them when they refer to barbarous

and savage lands. But contemporary savants est imate

that our earth bears from thirt een to fourteen hundred

millions of human beings,and that Christ ians form

barely a third of that number.

’ The universal

dominion of Christ is therefore very far from being

realized. True ; but we must not forget that, in

speaking of His power,Jesus did not say that it

would be immediately,n or even rapidly est ablished.

One of the figures He employed to illustrate the

dest iny of His work was that of a little seed, which

onl y becomes a great tree by gradual development

(Mark iv. 30, He foresaw and predicted per

se cut ion s for the bearers of His word . He has not

said that all men would receive that word . On the

contrary Some,said He

,will hear it without under

standing it ; others will receive it with joy,but will

reject it at the first persecut ion ; and others wil l be

hindered in their fidelity to it by the cares of life

and th e deceit fulness of riches (Mat t . xiii. 3—8, 1 8

He announced that th e evil represent ed by the tares

would remain mixed with the good grain until the

end of t ime (Mat t . xiii. 24—3

When a man is seized by a great idea,his first

1 Max Muller, in his E ssays on the H is tory of Rel ig ions , p . 31 , give sth e following re ligious stat ist ics —Buddhist s, 31 '

2 pe r ce n t . Christ ian s, pe r ce n t . ; Mahome tan s, pe r ce n t . ; Brahmin s, 13 4per cen t . ; Pagan s (various), 8 ? pe r cen t . ; Jews, 0 3 pe r ce n t .

K

1 46 THE CHRIST.

movement of enthusiasm leads him usually to believe

in the immediate triumph of th e cause he has espoused ;then come decept ions and discouragement s. There is

nothing lik e th is in Christ’

s mind ; His aspect is full

of calm and of assurance ; He knows that His work

wil l be done but Slowly, and in the face of a thousand

difficult ies. For us who live but a few years,nineteen

centuries are a long time ; for a work which is t o

embrace the world and prepare eternity, nineteen

centuries are as nothing. The aspect of Jesus when He

beholds the issues of His power,part akes of the mode

of vision of Him who is pat ient because He is Eternal .

It is important t o remark that it is the power,more

than th e novelty of ideas and of sentiment s, which

forms the special charact erist ic of th e gospel. The

gospel is the rest orat ion and n ot the creat ion of human

n ature. The conscience,the heart

,th e reason are

realit ies obscured, b ut not destroyed, by the reign

of evil. There is hardly a moral truth or a virtue

the germ of which may n ot be met with in the

writ in gs of the ancients ; but these germs are st erile.

The sages had caught a glimpse of th e unity of God

but the idols were st ill st anding aft er th e t ime of

Socrat es and of Plat o . The Stoics had proclaimed the

principles of right,and had risen to the idea of

humanity ; but they had n ot mat erially changed either

laws or morals. Charity had foun d expression inth e Indian scriptures,

l and Cicero had given it it s

1 Rama, th e hero of th e poem e n t it le d Ramayana , is oft en praisedbe cause h e sought his happine ss in th e happin e ss of all creature s.


1 48 THE CHRIST.

Greeks. Stil l,as Bossuet said, he arrives in this

polished Greece,the mother of philosophers and of

orators,with a crude speech, with the accent of a

foreigner.

1 And what was his profession ? He was

a weaver ; he wrought with his hands the material of

which t ent s were made, and thus earned his livelihood.

And where in this superb Corinth did he t ake up his

abode ? With an art isan of the same trade as him

self,a Jew who had been banished from Rome

,with

all his compatriot s,by an edict of the emperor (Act s

xviii. 1 Such are the condit ions under which

Paul ent ers Corinth. And what does he propose to

th e inhabitant s of this city, celebrated for th e corrup

t ion of it s morals ? A morality which st irs up all

the evil passions of th e human heart . In presence of

th e idols, and of th e st atues of the emperor that they

were required t o worship, h e proclaims th e spiritual

sovereign ty of an unknown Jew. And what is the

n ew religion that he want s to subst itut e for the

beaut iful ceremonials of Greece ? Truly Christ ianity

has produced a splendid art . When one hears

execut ed un der th e arches of a Gothic cathedral the

gran d works of sacred music, one may ask whether

our arts are equal or superior t o those of ant iquity.

I t is a quest ion of t ast e. In a general way, art is one

of the element s of a civilisation that Christ ianity hasmodified

,without affirming that it has perfect ed it .

But when Paul went t o Corinth, Christ ian art had

n ot come int o existence ; it was t o meet in poor1 Panegyric of St . Paul.


chambers that men had then to forsake those temples

whose very ruins are so universally admired. Picture

this tentmaker entering into that city where me t the

Splendours of Grecian culture and the pomp of Roman

power,with th e int ent ion of conquering it for the

Cruc ified,whom he called his Mas t er. He stays there

eighteen months, and he there founds a numerous

Church,the first fruit of the conquest of that city and

of th e empire.

In order that it might establish itself, th e gospel

had t o triumph over difficult ies and opposit ion from

without ; but that was n ot all. Think of th e difficul

t ies which arose even in the midst of the Christian

communities. The corrupt ions of the human heart

had entered with the men into the infant Church .

Paul had to act very vigorously against an incestuous

person ( 1 Cor. v. he speaks of desecrat ions of the

Lord’s Supper (1 Cor. xi. 2 1 of divisions in the

assembly of the faithful ( 1 Cor. iii. 3 , In it s

beginnings,the Church was like a cit adel besieged by

enemies without,and betrayed by it s defenders .

Nevertheless,the gospel was established ; and if one

takes int o account th e strength of the obstacles it had

t o encount er, one marvels at the comparative quickness

of the work.

On e day the Emperor Nero had the fright ful fantasy

Of set ting fire to a certain quarter in Rome, either t o

give himself th e pleasure of a grand spect acle, or t o

make room for new buildings. A great irritation

manifesting itself among the people, he wished to

1 5 0 THE CHRIST.

divert suspicion,and

,profit ing by the general hatred

shown against the Christians , he accused them of

being the authors of the c onflagrat ion . He had some

crucified ; he had others thrown to the wil d beast s in

the amphitheatre ; some others he caused t o be covered

wi th pit ch, and used as living torches to light up his

gardens. The historian Tacitus,in relat ing these fact s ,

remarks that this execrable superst it ion 1

(it is thus

that he designat es the Christian religion) , restrained for

a t ime,broke out afresh

,

2n ot only in Judea, where it

arose,but in Rome

, the sewer of the universe. I t is

under Nero,at the period when Paul died a vict im

and a martyr to his faith, that a grave historian speaks

of the overflowing of the Christ ian doctrine. I t is

about the year 64 A.D., thirty years aft er th e death of

Jesus,that Tacitus

,in Speaking of th e disciples of

Christ,employs the t erm of ‘ great mul titude . ! At

the close of the second cen tury, Tertullian addressed

t o pagans these bold words : We are but of yest erday,and yet we fill all your cit ies

,your islands, your

c astles,your villages

,your coun cils, your camps, your

tribunals,the palace, th e senate, the market -place we

only leave you your temples. Without t aking up

arms, without revolt ing, we would be able to fight you

by simply separat ing from you for if such a mult i

tude were t o leave you, to ret ire int o some dist ant

country, th e loss of so many cit izens of every degree

1 Exe crabilis supe rst it io, Annals, bk . xv. ch . xliv.2 Rursus e rumpe bat .3 Mul t itudo fuge n s.


1 5 2 THE CHRIST.

Official religion of the empire. Such, in a few words,is what concerns the establishment of the evangelical

doctrine ; these are the circumstances in which it was

maint ained.

Constantine had placed the Christian religion upon

the imperial throne ; but the ancient world did n ot

hold it self as vanquished. The sceptre passed into

the hands of Julian,a disciple of the philosophers and

rhet oricians, an enthusiast for Greek literature, for

Hellenic civilisation, for the memories of the past , and

ful l Of a profound contempt for th e Galileans. He

appealed to all the in st inct s of resist ance that re

mained in society, threw int o the scales all the weight

of th e imperi al power, and waged a war again st

Chri st ianity, all th e more dangerous that it was artful

and mi t igated in its forms . Then came Mahomet,

and an apost olate of the sword,whose success was

prodigious . Mahomet died in th e year Of our Lord

6 32 ; onl y a century afterwards, in 7 3 2 , CharlesMartel had to fight

,at Poit iers

,the Mahomet ans, who,

mast ers of Spain and Portugal, had crossed the

Pyrenees, and were advancing int o the heart of

France.

To these attacks from without cont inued t o be joined

troubles from within . From th e beginning,as we have

seen, th e corrupt ions of mankind had been introduced

into th e Chris t ian communit ies. After Const antine,

when Christ ianity had become the Official religion, thi s

was st ill worse. Wh ole masses of unconverted persons

found it to their interest to enter the Church . They

CHRIST THE LORD. 1 5 3

took with them their habits , their passions, and theirvices. To the action of int erest was joined, al as that

of violence. Take up a lit tle manual Of chronology,

and consult it at the dat e 7 7 7 AD . you will th ere

find this line, Charlemagne compels the Saxons to

accept Christianity.

’ This was the fact. The Saxons

opposed to Charlemagne an energet ic and pe rsiste nt

resistance,which was only finally overcome by

numerous and bloody wars. The emperor commanded

them to be come Christians ; and t o the force of arms

h e added a force of another nature . The convert s

were served with COpious repasts . I do n ot take my

information from the writings of a pamphlete er host ile

to Christianity, but from those of a serious and b e

lieving historian—Caesar Cantu.

l The alternative put

be fore them was this : Die or eat ! A great number

of soldiers preferred to e at ; they rushed t o be bap

t iz ed, and afte r baptism they sat down at table ; The

haughty chiefs Offered a greater resistance. These

facts make you smile,gent lemen. As they are at the

same t ime odious and ridiculous,one has the choice of

weeping or of laughing. You have chosen the more

cheerful part ; but what is th e meaning of your smile ?

I t results from your sense of the contras t be tween the

end pursued—the conversion of souls—and the meansemployed . Your smile is a homage rendered to the

grand thought of Christ , that the things of God cannot

be imposed by the power of Caesar. What is sad,and

absolutely sad,is that these compuls ory conversions

1 H is to ire un iverse lle , vol . viii . ch . xv.

1 5 4 THE CHRIST.

drove into the Church populat ions which, having been

baptized with wat er,and not with the Spirit, took

with them the ir immoralit ies and their superst itions.

Nevertheless th e Christ ian faith has survived.

’

I t

carries in it s breast a double force—Of resistance t o

at tacks from without , and of reformof int ernal abuses.This is why it has founded a unique and universal

civilisat ion . Other civilisations,and there have been

Splendid ones, have had the fat e of the flowers of th e

field ; they have disappeared or are disappearing.

What remains of th e civilisat ions of Nineveh,Of

Babylon, or of th e Egypt ians ? Some curiosit ies for

our archaeologist s . What remains of Greece and

Rome ? Many things,no doubt

,but only those that

have ent ered int o the current of Christ ian thought,

and that have been developed with it . SO much for

those dead civili sations ; the others are dying. The

Emperor of China commands some millions of me n,

and considers ' himself as th e first sovereign in th e

world ; but one discerns everywhere in his empire

traces of a past superior to the prese nt. The Chinesecivilisat ion is n ot

,as it has been said to be

,a con

geal ed -or a crystallized civilisat ion ; it is a civili sat ion

in a stat e of decadence, which Offers th e spectat or no

sympt om Of spont an eous revival Ancient India has

raised architectural monument s which are the admira

t ion of travellers ; it has produced a very large number

of lit erary works, in which profound thoughts are often

clothed in all the e’

clat of beauty. The source of its

great inspirations seems to have run dry, and its


1 5 6 THE CHRIST.

I t is Christianity which gives to that civilisation the

unparalleled power which it has manifested for its

est ablishment , for its maintenance, and which it mani

fest s t od ay for its extension . It is this power of

cont emporary expansion which wil l now form th e

subject of our study.

All religious faith engenders proselyt ism . There

is no religion which has not had in some degree the

missionary spirit ; but in this respect th e differences

are notable. The religion of Buddha, after making

vast conquests,became st ationary. I read, indeed, in

a newspaper a few years ago that the Emperor of the

Birmans had made known t o Professor Max M'

ul ler,

of Oxford, that he was going to publish in English the

sacred books of Buddhism,

‘ in the hope of spreading,

in Europe and in America,the knowledge Of his

religion,which he regards as superior t o Christ ianity.

’ 1

More recent ly there has been some t alk of missionary

att empts made by pious Brahmins ; but until we

possess n ew fact s, nothing warrant s us in admitt ing

that the religions of In dia and of China are preparing

t o march t o the conquest of th e world. The Ma

home tan faith has more vit ality. The votaries of the

Koran have made with th e sword a terrible and

victorious propaganda ; but the days of their great

triumphs are no more. At t ention has been called to

a present work of propagandism in Africa ; but that

is,in every case

,a local phenomenon. Livingstone

declared that in the part of the continent which he1 Journal Evangelique clu Cant on de Vaud, Oc t . 29, 1871 .


had explored he had met with only too many Arabs

engaged in negro-hunt ing, but that he could n ot find

any trace of a religious influence exercised by them on

th e heathen .

’

The missionary spiri t is one of the salient features

in the character of the Christian faith, and manifests

it self in all the Churches. Rome,for some years

,has

t aken up with renewed ardour h er work of propa

gandism,so brilliant in the 1 7th century ; and he r

efforts seem to be principally direct ed towards India

and China. All the Prot est ant Churches have entered

int o the path so gloriously and so sacredly Opened up

by the Moravian Brethren, and are now emulating

each other’s zeal for th e conversion of th e heathen .

The Orthodox East ern Church, so lit t le known, and so

Oft en misknown among us, maintains missionaries in

th e Aleut ian Islands,2 in the Altaian Mountains

,and

doubt less elsewhere. I possess few part iculars on this

subj ect ; here is one, however. In 1 83 9 a wealthy

merchant of Moscow,of th e name Of Malkoff

,a

widower,lost his only child. He realized his fortun e

,

started for the valleys of the Al t ai, established himself

in the midst of idolatrous populat ions, and consecrated

his time,his fortune

,and his life t o the evangelizat ion

and civilisat ion of those poor people.3

1 For in format ion on Mussulman mission s se e th e art icle s publishedby M . Glardon in th e B ibliotheque Unive rse lle , Jan . ,

Feb .,and March

1 877 .

1 Se e Revue Chrétienne , Sept . and Oc t . 1 877.3 Al issions dans les A ltai , a pape r, wi thout dat e , prin t e d at Paris, by

A. Garéinoff. I kn ew th e wri t er of this too brie f accoun t .

1 5 8 THE CHRIST.

The work of contemporary missions encounters the

same difficult ies from without and from within as

those which opposed the establishment of th e gospel.

These are , in th e first place, the resistances which the

human heart opposes everywhere to the conversion

required by Christian morality ; then, the at t achment

t o the habit s and to the memories of ancestors last ly,the attract ion of religions which too often favour

'

evil

passions . Another difficulty of the first order is me t

with in the con duct of nominal Christians, whom

commerce,the searching aft er gold, and the desire of

conquest,have led in t o idolatrous nat ions. The history

of th e conquest of Mexico and of Peru is fright ful .

That which nearly equals, on a lesser scale, the horrors

of these abominable histories,is the record of the

events which marked the est ablishment of Europeans

at the Cape of Good Hope. On reading these melan

choly pages, one asks one’s self what idea the heathen

could form of the so-called Christ ian nat ions,and one

is obliged t o answer that for them a Christ ian must

have appeared in the light of a greedy and ferocious

Spoliat or. I leave this dark past,and come t o more

modern t imes.

The actual work of missions is hindered by sailors

who give themselves up t o nameless debaucheries in

heathen lands, and who, when these people desire a

moral reform,do their very best t o oppose it . I t is

h indered by merchant s who shamefully deceive th e

poor savages,and who

,as far as possible

,oppose them

selves to their en lightenment and civil isation, because


1 60 THE CHRIST.

mankind disappear by the effect of a fatal law. There

is some truth in this assert ion ; I shall refer to this in

my next lecture. But do you know how the working

of this formidable law is being accelerat ed ? Listen !

Last year, in 1 8 7 6 , there died a woman who was the

last representat ive of an ent ire race— th e Tasman ians

Of Van Dieme n ’

s Land . In 1 803 the English estab

lished a convict set t lement in that island. From 1 803

t o 1 8 1 0, a period of seven years, no penalty had been

fixed for th e murder of a nat ive. How was this

silence of the law turned to profit ? The European

set t lers made an agreement whereby they gave £5 for

th e head of each adult nat ive, and £2 for th e head

of each child. Some Of the men thus hunted like

wild beast s made war against the Engli sh. Could it

have been otherwise ? If I am n ot mistaken, they

were twice transported wholesale,and at length they

di sappeared from th e face of th e earth. The details

of these abominat ions are not found in the writ in gs of

men who might be suspected of part iality,but in a

scient ific monograph, writ t en by an author who quotes

witnesses for every fact that he advan c e s.

ISuch

,in

regard to th e nat ions that need to be convert ed to th e

gospel,are the act s and deeds Of people called Chris

t ians. And what have the Government s don e ?

When the scandal was very not orious,th e Governments

int erposed in favour of humanity. But , on the other

hand,th e cannons of France have imposed strong

drink upon the Polynesians,and England has com

1 Dr. Gerlan d, Ueber das Aussterben der N aturvollcer.

CHRIST THE LORD . 1 6 1

pe l led the Chinese to receive opium,that poison which

is stupefying and destroying them.

1

Aft er that, what the governments do is to appro

priat e the territories from which they have expelled

the primitive inhabitants. That is how Europe

presents it self in the eyes of th e heathen. Do you

now understand the mount ains of prej udice which

confront the bearers of th e gospel ? Do you under

stand why Williams,the missionary to the South Se a

Islands, when th e approach of a European ship was

announced,bet ook himself t o prayer

,as at th e approach

of the greatest of dangers ?

I have t old you what the heathen too oft en behold

when Europeans visit them . What do they see when

they visit Europe ? The relations between th e various

populat ions of the globe have been marvellously

mult iplied. There are found n ow in London large

numbers of Hindoos,of Chinese

,of Africans. Max

Muller has relat ed th e profound discouragement of a

converted Hindoo,who

,aft er reading the New Test a

ment,had pictured t o himself what a Christian land

shoul d be, and who, during a t our in Europe, found

everythin g very different from what he had imagined

1 M . Chrie st lieb , profe ssor of th e Un ive rsity of Berlin , has publish ed a study on t h e opium t raffic. H e calls at t e n tion t o th e

fe arful ext en sion of this t rade from ye ar t o ye ar, th e in calculable e vilsre sult ing from it , an d th e obstacle s which th e English Governme n t int his mat t er put s in th e way of m ission s . H e re lat e s th e followingsadly sign ifican t fact Some Prot e stan t mission arie swere expe l led fromon e of th e cit ie s Of th e empire by th e populace , who cried, ‘You

poison that you may de stroy us, and t hen you come to t each usvirtue .

’

1 6 2 THE CHRIST.

in his solitary medit at ions in Be nare s.

l His faith

came out of the trial vict orious, because he succeeded

in distinguishing t he Christ ian religion from it s

adult erat ions, and from the conduct of its unworthy

represen t at ives ; but th e trial was a very severe one.

Some Greenlan ders who have been converted t o Chris

t ian ity are at this moment in Paris . A short t ime

since they received a visit from some of the savant s of

th e capital. I remarked,alas ! among their visitors’

names that of a representat ive of the most complete

Mat erialism . The Shah of Persia t ravell ed over

Europe in 1 8 73. What idea was he able t o carry

away of our civilisat ion ? I know n ot what he may

have seen of its shameful and hidden sides,but he

would doubt less remark,at the sight of our arsenals

and of our armies, that th e art of kill ing men is one

of th e prin cipal preoccupat ions of Christ ians.

Permit me from these considerat ion s t o draw a

pract ical consequen ce. For th e great er part, gentle

men,we cannot go out as foreign missionaries ; many

among us are n ot able t o support th e work by their

gift s ; but we all have the means of helping on this

great en t erprise . We cann ot carry th e light afar,

but we can labour t o purify its cen t re. To reform

abuses in our own country,an d especial ly t o reform

ourselves, is t o labour for th e good of idolatrous

nat ions ; for all things are linked t ogether in this

world,and act upon each other. Le t us n ot forget

that th e lack of Christ ianity in Christians is one of1 Essays on the H istory of Re lig ions, p . 30.


1 64 THE CHRIST.

conflict s between the representat ives of the various

religions. Picture t o yourselves heathen who have

raised a lit t le the thick veil of their superst it ions,who are beginning t o form themselves int o Christ ian

communit ies, and who see arrive missionaries who t ell

them that they have been wrongly instructed, and who

try t o persuade them that they, the new-comers, bring

them th e only soun d doctrine. What perplexity in

th e minds of these poor people ! Their thought s

remain in suspense: and Christ is in danger of being

forgot ten. These conflicts do not exist only between

Catholics and Prot est ants ; unexceptionable witnessest ell us that somet imes the agent s of the Church Of

England enter rather as enemies than as allies int o the

labour-fie ld of Prot est ant communit ies .1

That port ion of th e world which st ill remain s t o be

convert ed is immense, and there is in it room for all

th e workers ; but it seems somet imes that the mis

sionarie s of the various Churches track each other, asit were

,t o mar each other’s work. One might com

pare them to hungry individuals ent ering int o an

1 This fact was poin t e d out in an art icle on Evange lical Mission s int h e 1 9 th cen t ury,

’

in a N euchat e l n ewspaper, Aug . 1 877 . Long be foret hat , on th e 9 th of April 1872 , Livingst on e was grieve d by thinkin g oft hose men wh o appropriat e

,so t o spe ak, th e labours of the ir pre de c e s

sors, whe n there are within the ir reach mi llion s of he athe n t o e vange liz e .

Missionarie s, and e spe cial ly missionary bishops,ought , n o mat t e r who

t hey b e , t o b e we ll -bre d me n . N ow, doe s it n ot se em a li t t le strange t ose e t he se dear bre thren e stablish themse lve s in th e midst of a flockwhich a n e ighbourhas gat he re d, at a cost of fifty years

’

t oil and devot ion ,and be come guilty Of conduct which looks very much like th e she epst ealin g for whi ch the y so much reproach t he se savage s ? -Revue

Scien tifique of April 25, 1874, p . 101 2 .


orchard, Where they all might find fruit in abundance,

b ut all rush to the same trees to wrangle over them.

In our age of internat ional congresses and convent ions,

would it not be possible to form a convention of the

missionary Churches and societ ies,which would engage

,

for a century or two,n ot t o ent er into th e labours of

others; and which would divide among themselves the

count ries int o which no minist er of Christ has ye t

penetrat ed ? At the end of the convent ion it would

be t ime enough to seek t o perfect,according t o the

views of each,the work accomplished . I t seems to

me that this idea ought to be agreeable to all,except

t o those Catholics who believe that it is bet ter to be

a heathen,and t o e at human flesh

,than to become a

Protestant ; and t o those Protestants who think that it

is bet t er to be an idolater,and to sacrifice human

vict ims, than to become Catholics .1

In the midst of such manifold opposit ion from

without,and of so many miseries within, the work of

evangeliz ing the heathen is progressing nevertheless ;it bears th e fruit s of conversion and civili sat ion. In

order to form a judgment on this point , it is essential

t o ge t at impartial sources of informat ion . The report s

of missionaries and Of missionary societies may be

1 August in e Cochin , having he ard, through J . L . Mich e lis, of t h ework of th e Prot e stan t mission arie s in Labrador, brough t it be foret h e n ot ice of th e A cademy of Moral and Poli t ical Scie n ce s (Sean c ese t travaux, Sept . H e did more . When h e me t with someCathol ic mi ssion ari e s of N orth Ameri ca, as h e some t ime s did, h ee xhort e d them t o accord t o th e Moravian missionarie s the ir e st e emand confide n ce . Me n an imat ed by such a spirit are unhappily rare inall th e Churche s.

1 6 6 THE CIIRIST.

challenged,or at least be thought to stand in need of

examinat ion, seein g that these are prepossessed in

favour of their work. In th e same way we ought to

challenge the account s of men not oriously host il e to

Christ ianity. And what shall we say of th e com

plaints Of those sailors who are discontent ed at the

opposit ion raised t o their debaucheries by convert ed

savages,or of those merchant s who are irritated at n ot

being able any more t o dupe so easily the populat ion s

which have become bet t er informed ? We will say

that these are valuable testimonies rendered t o a good

work,which these men glorify by calumniat in g it .

Happily there remains t o us sources truly impart ial

from which we may gather an opinion— accounts oft ravellers worthy of confidence, diplomat ic document s,t est imonies of savants who casually come across th e

work of missions. We have a double guarant ee of

impart iality,when

,as is somet imes the case, by a

stroke of good luck, we lay our hand on appreciat ions

of Catholic missions by Protestant s,and of Protestant

missions by Catholics. Apropos of this, allowme toexpress t o you a desire

,the realizat ion of which would

result in the enrichment of our libraries,which con

tain so many useless books,by a book of th e first

order. This book would cont ain th e t est imonies of

which I have spoken,on the great work of missions .

The author would collect these t est imonies, on the

work of all the Churches,with the utmost impart iality.

He would set them forth in an ordinary narrat ive

style,avoid ing th e oft frequent repet it ion of pious


1 6 8 THE CHRIST.

among the heathen . In order to receive the gospel

message,it is always necessary there to break with

tradit ions and habit s,oft en to brave persecut ion, and

sometimes t orture and death. The Christian martyr

does not belong solely to hist ory. In modern t imes

th e soil of Japan , of China, of Madagascar, has been

largely watered with th e blood of the confessors of th e

faith . In these condit ions,entrance and cont inuan ce

in th e Church proves something. Wh at proves st ill

more is the fact that these pagan convert s t ake an

ac t ive part in th e work of evangelizat ion . They add

their gift s t o those of th e European and American

societ ies,and many among themselves become mi s

sion arie s. The exist ence of these nat ive missionaries

is a fact of great importance,and

,in it s generality, it

is a novel fact. It is easy t o underst an d it s import

ance as a means of proselyt izing. Many precious

lives are saved, because th e work may be pursued

without danger by nat ives in those countries whose

climat e is fat al t o Europe an sl

Con versions properly so called are only a part of

th e work of missions . The preaching of th e gospel

act s on public morals,and has a direct influence

upon souls within the circle of it s social radiat ions.

Cannibalism,human sacrifices

, th e general pract ice of

infan t icide and polygamy, are seen rapidly t o dis

appear. The vices which ofi‘

e r th e most stubborn

resist ance are drunkenness and impurity. Are we in

1 Se e M. Garcin de Tassy’

s report on L a langue c i la lit te’

rature

H indoustan ies en 1870.


a favourable posit ion to cast stones at the savages

with respect to this But time presses ; I must limit

myself t o the gleanin g of a few fact s in the margin of

t he ideal book of whi ch I have spoken .

In 1 82 3,Capt ain (afterwards Admira l) Duperre pre

sent ed t o the French Minister of Marine a report on

the Archipelagoes of Polynesia,and especially on the

island Of Tahit i. He was well acquaint ed with th e

past history of that blood-st ained island, where the

ovens used for cooking human bodi es were never

ext in guished ; and he pointed out the wonderful change

effect ed by th e labours Of th e agents of the London

Missionary Society,who had succeeded in making out

of this ferocious horde a people mil d and civili sed .

The minister,M. Hyde de Neuville, had already been

informed by other naval officers of the marvellous

resul t s obtained in Oceania. He caused Captain

Dupe rré’

s report to be insert ed in the Mon iteur,adding

to it his own reflections on the civil ising power of th e

Christian religion . This number of the Moniteur fell

into the hands of the astronomer Laplace,who

,as is

well known,was devoid of all religious convict ions .

He was profoundly impressed aft er reading Dupe rré’

s

report. As he promenaded in th e garden of the

observat ory with one of his friends,he said to him

,

DO you know Christian ity is an excellent thing ?

Have you read in the Mon iteur Capt ain Dupe rré’

s

report on th e changes introduced in Tahit i by the

missionaries ? The Christ ian religion is t ruly th e

only one which is able to produce a real civilisat ion,

1 7 0 THE CHRIST.

and to render men capable Of walking in the paths of

good morals,Of light

,and of liberty.

’ 1

That is a first fact ; here is a second. You know

th e name of Darwin, th e author of a natural hist ory

hypothesis,from which endeavours are being made t o

draw irreligious consequences that it does n ot warrant .2

Darwin made a voyage round the world,of which he

published an account .’ He ment ions the labours of

the missionaries,especially in Tahit i and New Zealand .

He t est ifies (and he is a very impartial witness) that

under th e influence of th e Christ ian religion th e

populat ion s of these islands have reached a degree of

ality comparat ively sat isfact ory. He says that he

had been led astray by th e enemies of mission s,who

had affirmed that th e Christ ian religion makes these

savages morose and sad,whereas he found them gay

and happy. And,finally

,he shoot s a sufficient ly sharp

arrow at these calumniat ors by observ ing that , Should

they happen t o be shipwrecked on those shores,

formerly so inhospitable, they would be glad t o find

to-day people on whom th e gospel has exert ed it s

influence.

In 1 847 an English ship,th e Graham,

driven far

out of it s course,was brought by the hurrican e within

1 Th e frie n d t owhom Laplace thus spoke was Baron M I havese e n th e corre spon den ce , in which t he re is give n an accoun t of th ere lat ion s be twe e n him and t h e ce le brat e d ast ron omer, and which wasmen t ion ed by Poulain in L

’

oeuvre des mission s évangéliques , pp.

276- 278 .

11 On this subje ct may b e con sulte d The H eaven ly Father, Le ct . iv. ,

n ear th e e nd.

3 Voyage of a N aturalis t Round the World , 1 831 -1836.


1 7 2 THE CHRIST.

formerly presented all the characteristics of the most

degraded populations, except, perhaps, cannibalism.

Slavery,polygamy, human sacrifices, the most absolut e

despot ism,ince ssant wars

,superst it ions

,ferocious or

ridiculous,none of these were want ing. To-day the

Hawa’

ian archipelago forms a const itut ional monarchy.

Parliamentary government has been est ablished on a

solid basis. In the parliament at Honolulu speeches

are made which equal those of many European orators.

This litt le people maintains it s independence in face

of th e eager desires of th e Unit ed Stat es. Public

educat ion is flourishing ; there is perfect religious

liberty ; b e n efic e n c e is exercised even towards dist ant

foreigners. In 1 8 7 0 these ex—savages heard of th emisfort unes of France ; they opened a subscript ion in

behalf of those who suffered from th e war, and

although neither numerous n or wealthy, they collected

above £400 .

This unheard-of transformation was th e work of

fifty years. In 1 82 0 th e first missIOnarie s arrived in

th e Sandwich Islan ds ; in 1 8 7 0 the ent ire people

kept a solemn jubilee to celebrate th e semi-cent enary

of their civilisat ion. And ye t n one of the obstacles

which oppose themselves t o the action of th e gospel

were want ing. The evil passions of th e human heart,

long habituat ion t o vice,th e tradit ional at t achment t o

their ancestral idolatries, th e mist aken measures Of a

convert ed queen,who wished t o impose h e r faith upon

h er people, naval officers of th e Unit ed St at es and‘

of France employing threat s in order to maint ain


the practice of debauchery and the introduct ion of

spirituous liquors,th e conflict s of the representat ives

of three churches,Protestant s

,Catholics

,and Epis

c opalian s,—all this has been surmounted, and in fifty

years— a very short space in the life of a people

Christianity has manifested it s power of social trans

formation in so striking a way,that it would require a

Spirit very frivolous indeed n ot t o accord th e most

serious at t ention to a fact of this kind.

N0 one,I suppose

,will accuse me of concealing the

defects of the work Of missions. Yet,notwithstanding

these defect s,that work deserves the sympathies and

th e support of all th e frien ds of mankind. From th e

st andpoint of faith it imposes it self as a religious duty

upon all believers . Nor i s that all. The abomina

t ions commit ted by Europeans in their relat ions with

th e heathen'

call for reparat ion . The civilisat ion of

these nat ions (and the gospel alone civilises them)imposes it self as a duty of honour upon all th e in

habitant s of Europe and of th e Unit ed Stat es of

AmericaI t was about eighteen centuries ago that Jesus said

to His disciples,Go and teach all nat ions.’ Open

a map of th e world, mark on it all th e missionary

st ations,and you will see that Christ has now His

soldi ers on all the points of th e globe. No difli cul tystops them. They go t o the t ropics

,where the heat

smites them down ; they go to the ice-bound shores

of Greenland,where th e cold kills them. They die

,

and others replace them. In the work of explorat ion,

1 74 THE CHRIST.

the curiosity of geographers has done much , the love

of science more,the love of mon ey more st ill. The

command of Christ has done and is st ill doing mostof all. I t has done more than curiosity, more than

the love of kn owledge, more than th e thirst for gold,more than th e greedy passions of slave-hunt ers. Mis

sion arie s are reckoned by thousands . What an army !

I t braves all climates, it exposes it self to all kinds of

perils ; in th e war which it wages only it s own blood

is shed. And th e Comman der ? I II th e language of

men,He is dead ; in the language of truth, He is th e

ever-living. This idea appears t o have made a deep

impression on th e min d of Bonapart e. When he had

ceased t o shake th e world, when the tumult of his

bat t les and the rollin g of his drums had given place

t o medit at ion on th e rock of St . Helena, b e cast a

melancholy glan ce upon his career,and

,by a natural

associat ion of ideas, he thought of Caesar, Of Alexander,of Louis XIV.

,then of Christ , and a st riking contrast

presen ted it self t o his mind. To the glory courted

by th e great on es of the earth he saw succeed the

helplessness and dest itut ion of misfortune, then th e

silence of death . Such is th e approachin g dest iny

of Napoleon th e Great . What a gulf between my

deep misery an d th e reign Of Christ—preached, revere n c ed, beloved, adored—living throughou t the un iverse !I S that t o die ? Is it n ot rather t o live ? Christspeaks

,an d hen ceforth th e gen erat ions are His. ’ 1

1 Beaut e rn e , Se n t imen t de N apoleon sur lo Christ ian isme,6 th cd. ,

pp. 109-1 1 1 , Poissy 1 845 . I am aware t hat t h e hist orical value of t h e


1 7 6 THE CHRIST.

He had received a name which is above every name ’

(Phil. ii. Of whom spake he thus ? Of One that

had been crucified,of One Who was the obj ect of the

hatred Of th e Jews and of the raillery of th e Greeks. The

aflirmat ion was a bold one,and could only have pro

c e eded from a firm belief. Well,gent lemen

,what was

for Paul a mat t er of faith,has become for us a mat t er

of experience . When the Roman Empire was in all

the glory of its power,a young art isan

,of a despised

province,left his nat ive vill age to announce in the

neighbouring villages a doctrine which He called the

gospel . A few of the common people j oined Him ,

and aft er giving them His instruct ions,He said to

them , GO and t each all nations.’ Seein g men

scat t ered and divided,He announced Himself as th e

un iversal Shepherd. He founded a religion which

even those who do n ot believe in it , nevertheless,if they are serious, consider as the best of religions.

He foun ded a civilisat ion which is becoming that

of mankind. The Carpenter Of Naz areth,become the

Cruc ified of Golgotha, has done more than any of the

sons of men for th e progress of the world in unity

and harmony, in dignity, j ust ice, and b e n efic e n c e .

Whence did He obt ain this extraordinary power ?

what was He ? That is the quest ion I proposed at

th e commencement of these lectures,‘What must be

thought of Chri st ? ’ We have collect ed th e element s

of th e answer ; it remains for us to conclude.

SEVE NTH LE CTURE.

Qtont lusiun.

ENTLEMEN , I have broadly sketched,in a

picture of which it is not necessary for me to

point out the imperfections,the work that Christ has

accomplished in the world . I have done this in

keeping as much as possible outside Of everything that

scient ific criticism may di spute . I have equally left

on one Side all the researches of speculative thought

which constitute dogmatic theology. I have taken

for t ask to make you appreciate the tree by showing

you it s frui ts .

Having enumerated and st ated th e fact s, it remains,

for us to seek the best explanation of them ; but it is

of great importance that we understand each other as

to the bearing of that explanation. Will it have for

result a faith properly so called,that is to say

, th e

stat e of a soul which gives itself to Jesus Christ as to

its Master and Saviour ? No. A faith properly SO

called cannot be simply the conclusion of a process of

reasoning, because faith is an act of confidence which

results from the funct ion s of a soul in their whole,

and not solely from the exercise of thought . WhatM

1 7 8 THE CHRIST.

leads to Jesus as the Comforter is n ot so much lecturesas the experience of life, of it s sorrows, of it s de c eptions

,and of th e impotence of human aid. I t is for

a soul thus prepared that the invit ation,Come unt o

Me,all ye that are weary and heavy laden

,

’ possesses

all it s value. What leads t o Christ the Redeemer is

the serious awaking of the conscience,and the need of

pardon arising out of th e sense of our moral misery ;it is th e dist inct view of the law in its august purity

and of our own fault s. It is therefore the conscience

and the will which intervene more than the int ellect .

Jesus Himself gave a rul e for th e demonstrat ion ofHis doctrine, when He said, If any man will do His

wi ll, he shall know of My doctrine, whether it be of

God or of men (John vii. I t is to th e will that

He appeals in order to lead the intellect t o the truth.

Le t it then be well understood that , for the religious

development of th e soul, a passion subdued, an ac t of

devot ion, a sacrifice made to duty, is more important

than all argument s . I do not wish to depreciate a

work which to me has been sal utary, a fact which

leads me t o hope that it may be salutary to some Of

you also ; but it was expedient to clearly point out

the nature of my t eaching, and to indicat e th e limits

Of it s act ion .

And, now,what is the best explan at ion of the facts

that we have reviewed ? In order to un derst and th e

quest ion thoroughly, l e t us not forget that th e advent

of Christ ianity is not an isolat ed phenomenon. The

religion Of Jesus strikes its roots into the past, and


1 80 THE CHRIST.

istic solution affirm that Christ ianity is a simple

product of human nature,and that its appearance in

the world has been brought about by the ordinary

laws of history ascertained by experience. The par

t isan s of the Christ ian solution recognise in Christ and

in His work a special intervent ion on the part of God.

They admi t that the clemency which pardons has

intervened in the order of that just ice which will s that

all evil shall give rise t o suffering and death . Just

one word,in passing

,on an object ion which is oft en

made to this kind of thinking. I refer to th e assert ion

that an intervention of God in the world is n ot ad

missible,because the world is the work of an in finit ely

wise Creator,and that a good workman does n ot need

t o correct his work. I am always astonished when I

meet this Object ion coming from the pen of serious

writ ers. A good workman does not correct his work !

But , according to th e faith of Christ ians,God has

interposed t o arrest the natural effect s Of sin'

in the

order of justice. Now , sin is the work Of the creature,

not of the Creat or. The idea of divin e pardon corre

sponds to that of liberty which makes revolt possible.

Nor shoul d we ever forget this ; and this is just

what men do forget when they apply to the spiri tual

order a kind of reasoning which is only applicable

to the physical order, in which liberty does n ot

intervene.

With respect to the work Of John the Bapt ist,

Jesus asked, Was it from heaven or of men ? ’ (Mat t .

xxi. 2 3 It is also the question that we ask

CONCLUSION . 1 8 1

with respect to the work of Jesus Himself, and this is

the question of faith. The work of Christ has its

ant ecedents in the past, and it s consequences in the

future ; it is bound up with the entire hist ory of

humanity ; but is it in itself and in it s origin a special

work of God—yes or no ? If the an swer be yes,we

may inquire,in th e first place, What was the mode of

th e union Of God to humanity in the person of Christ ?

and then,What was the mode of this union in

Christ ’s action on the world ? This is the question ofdogmatics, a quest ion which, as I cannot too oft en

repeat it , cannot be usefully and seriously approached

unt il the question of faith has been aflirmat ive ly

answered. Now, it is the question of faith which has

been the sole obj ect of my study. Let us examine

the two solut ions of the problem stated.

The naturalist ic solution takes many forms. Among

these there are two that I exclude from the discussion—th e one because it outrages the conscience, the

other bec ause it does violence to history. This is the

form that outrages the conscience : If one thinks that

religion is an evil ; if one thinks that , for the good of

mankind,it is necessary to persuade it that everything

is ruled by a fatal dest iny, that just ice will never be

done,that the dead are lost without any hope of ever

seeing them again, —I can understand , then, that awork which is deemed evil Should be referred t o an

impure source. But such is n ot th e posit ion t aken by

a well-known writer in a Life of Jesus which made

such a stir a few years ago. He recognises in Jesus

1 82 THE CHRIST;

an unparalleled benefactor ; he attributes to Him‘ the

highest consciousness of God that had ever been

reached by mankind ;’

then, in order t o explain His

power,he assumes that He had recourse to lies and

t o charlatanry and, in order to just ify this conduct ,he start s th e theory that th e common people can only

be led by being deceived, and that those who deceive

them must n ot be blamed, because every great work is

thus wrought . 1 In that case I do not underst and ;or rather, I understand that what we are concerned

with is not the work of Christ , but conscience and

humanity ; so that h e who believes in conscience and

respect s humanity wil l be quit e ready to say with

Dant e,

‘ Men do not discuss such doctrines ; they

look at them and pass on .

’2 Let us pass on,gent le

men !

The second form of the n aturalist ic solut ion that I

eliminat e from th e discussion is that which Openly

violates hist ory. A writ er of th e last century,a

member of the I n stitu t de Fran ce , Dupuis, affirmed , in

a large book on The Origin of all the Religions, pub

lish ed in 1 7 9 5 , that Jesus Christ never exist ed, andthat the fict it ious personage t o whom this n ame was

given was only on e of th e numerous pe rson ific at ion s

Of the sun.

’ Not ions Of this kind st ill glide into the

shallows of lit erature,b ut no serious writ er would

venture to reproduce them. There are other explan a

t ions which,though n ot at first sight as absurd

, ye t

1 Re nan .

1 Non ragioniam di lor, ma g uarda e passa.

’ —Infern o, can t . iii.


1 84 THE CHRIST.

Fathers of the Church,who undertook this task, had

from th e outset come under th e influence of the

genius of the Greek philosophers, and afte rwards under

that of the Al exandrine school, into which ideas of

Oriental origin had penetrat ed. That took place aft er

the new faith, come from Judea, according to the

testimony of Tacitus and all the historians,had un

folded its power. But if th e primitive documents of

religion are not studied, if men only seek for Christi

an ity, not in the wri t ings of its first preachers, but in

those of its secondary int erpreters, they run th e risk

Of t akin g for the original source the afllue n t s which

come to swell and oft en to trouble it . It is thus that ,for example, Emile de Saisse t came to see in the

gospel nothing but a transformation of Plat oni sm,

because he had studied that gospel less in the

writ ings of the New Testament than in th e works of

St . Augustine .1 The dogmatics of St . Augustine were

very largely influenced by th e doctrine of Plato ; but

it was not from Plat o that this Father Of th e Church

borrowed the bases of a faith which on point s of the

highest importance flatly contradict s Plat onism.

I t ake it as an est ablished fact,that if th e elemen t s

of Greek thought and th e theories of Orient al thinkers

had their part,t oo large somet imes

,in the doctrines of

1 Se e th e Fre n ch tran slat ion of th e City of God, by E . Saisse t ,

In t rod. To M. Saisse t’

s the sis that St . August in e was a‘ Christ ian

iz ing Plat on ist ,’

I have oppose d t h e the sis t hat h e was a Plat on iz ingChrist ian .

’

Se e t h e B ibliothéque Un iverse lle , Nov . 1855 . In the samere view (July and August 1859) I studied th e re lat i on s of th e philosophy of Arist ot le with th e Christ ian doctrin e .

CONCLUSION. 1 85

the Fathers of the Church and of scholastics, the

essentials of Christianity came from Christ. Let us

n ow approach th e serious form of the naturalistic

solut ion . -This is how it presents it self. Religion is an

essential element of th e human soul. It is developed

and diversified under the influence of races and of

climates, and under that Of powerful personal it ies, such

as Buddha, Confucius, Zoroast er. Now the Semitic

race,some say by instinct

,others say by the effect of

a development that is capable of explanat ion, was

monotheistic,just as the Greeks were naturally poly

theists, and the Hindoos pantheist s. In this race

there appeared an init iator of the first order, a man of

elevat ed reason,of pure conscience

,and of great heart

,

superior to Buddha, to Confucius, to Zoroaster —Jesusof Naz areth ! He spread all over the world the mono

theism which was the product of His race. The

rat ional worth and moral puri ty of His doctrine

assured it s success. This doctrine at tracte d especially

the poor and the lit t le by the preaching of charity,whil e it conciliat ed thinkers by its conflict with

idolatry. Once the new religion established, there was

formed around it s founder a miraculous legend,’ as is

the case with all great men ; but in real ity everythinghappened naturally. Christianity is the bright est

flower borne by the tree of religion ; but its origin is

explained,lik e th e origin of all other religions

,by

th e ordinary laws of history. Such is the Opinion of

many of the savant s in our day. I t was already that

of some of the contemporaries Of St . August ine, wh o

1 8 6 THE CHRIST.

acknowledged the lofty wisdom of the man Jesus, but

refused to admit the divinity of Christ .1

We are now in presence of a serious affirmat ion,and one which is calculat ed at first Sight to seduce

intellect s fashioned by the current t eaching of philo

sophy and of the sciences ; but this affirmat ion raises

grave and numerous difficult ies . Was monotheism

natural to th e Hebrews ? It is just the contrary that

appears to be true. This people, as its own history

Shows us,waS

' always inclined to idolatry ; the voice

of it s legislators and of it s prophets had to be raised

incessan t ly to keep it from Sliding down this declivity.

Do the successes of Jesus’ doctrine explain themselves

by it s harmony with the reason,the heart , and th e

conscience I t sat isfies the reason,that is true but

it also has myste ries which confound it . It comfort s

the heart assuredl y ; but it al so breaks it, when it

demands that the affect ions,even the most natural and

le git imate , shall be sacrificed to the cause of God and

of duty. I t no doubt calms the conscience by the

assurance of pardon ; but how it disturbs it by it s

exact ions, when it te aches that, to the sacrifice of the

Maste r on the cross,must respond the spiritual sacrifice

of th e disciple by the destruction of selfishness in the

depths of his soul ! In the doctrin e of Jesus men do

n ot meet one of the causes which co'

uld favour it s

1 Pagan i qui Dominum ipsum Je sum Christum culpare aut blasph emare n on e nde n t

,e ique tribuun t exc e ll e n t issimam sapien t iam ,

sed

tan quam b omin i. Honorandum e n im tanquam sapien t issimum

virum putan t c ole ndum aut em t anquam Deum n egan t .—August in e ,

De consensu E vange lis tarum,bk. i . chap . vii. 1 1 .


1 88 THE CHRIST.

experience,His history would only be the more

incomprehensible.’ 1

The difficult ies of th e naturalistic solution naturally

throw back the mind upon the Christ ian solut ion.

But that is only an indirect and negat ive proof. In

order t o admit a special int ervent ion of God, some

thing more is needed ; men desire proofs posit ive and

direct. The ancient apologies of the faith speak of

miracles and prophecy. May I speak of them in the

1 9 th century in th e light of modern science ? Can

I speak of them without depart ing from my pro

gramme,which obliges . me to keep out side of all the

debates of crit icism ? Yes,gent lemen, I may speak of

miracles and of prophecy,and I shal l speak of them

without going beyond my programme . I begin with

prophecy.

For the sake of argument,I admit the doubts of the .

most negat ive crit icism,provided it remains serious.

These books are n ot authent ic ; these names of authors

are incorrect ; these dat es are false those prophe c Ie s

were writ t en aft er th e event s to which they poin t . I

suppose all this t o be admissible, and I ask : DO th e

Old Test ament Scripture s affirm,not only in a few

rare passages,but in a lon g series of t ext s

,that the

God of Israel will become the God of mankind, and

that all nations will come to Him ? 2 Do th e writings

1 The Bible . Syn opsis of th e first thre e Gospe ls, p. 109.

1 As example s, se e 1 K ing s vi ii . 43, 60 ; Ps . cii . 23 ; Isa. 1 1 . 2 ,

xi. 9 , 10, xlv . 22, xlix. 6, lvi. 7 , lxvi . 1 8, 23 ; Je r. i ii. 1 7 ; Mi cahiv. 1 , 2 ; Hab . i i. 1 4 ; Z eph . iii. 8, 9 ; Z ach . viii. 22, 23.

CONCLUSION. 1 89

of the New Testament put into the mouth of Jesus

words announcing that His doctrine will be preachedin the whole world

,that it will be Offered to all

,but

that all will n ot receive it ? that His work will beuniversal

,but that it will be accomplished under diffi

cul t ie s,hindrances

,and persecutions ? 1 Have things

come to pass,and are they still coming to pass, in this

way ? IS the religion of Christ marching onward t o

th e conquest of th e“

world,in the

'

condit ions indicated

by its Founder ? and,through the religion Of Christ

,is

the God of Israel,the God of Abraham and of Moses,

becoming the God of mankind ? The facts -are ‘

c on

formed to the text s of t he Old and'

New Testaments.

Can it be assumed that the Jews fabricated th e Old

Test ament to serve the cause of Christ ianity, or that

they allowed th e Christians to introduce unauthent ic

passages into the book of which they were th e

guardians ? The supposit ion will not bear discussion .

And th e declarations Of the New Testament relat ive

to th e propagat ion of th e gospel, were they inserted

aft er the event ? Discuss the dat es ; suppose al l the

alterat ions possible in the documents ; it is no less

certain that we have in our hands previsions cont ained

in very ancient texts, and that we can prove the actual

accomplishment of these previsions. SO much for .

prophecy pass we now to the miracles.

What is a miracle ? Experience shows us in the

phenomena of th e world a determinat e order, which

scien ce formul ates into what we call laws. These1 Se e Mat t . xiii .—xxviii . 1 8, 1 9 ; Mark xvi. 1 5 ; John x. 1 6, xii. 32 .

1 9 0 THE CHRIST.

laws established by science encounter exceptions. In

proport ion as study advances,these except ions are

referred t o laws bet t er known and better understood.

But it is possible t o meet exceptions such as the

mind admit s,in virtue of a possible supposit ion that

they are th e result of th e intervention of a superior

order t o the habitual order of experience,the mani

fe stat ion of an ac t of th e first cause other than that

which has regul ate d the ordinary course of events .

The supposit ion is permit t ed, unless Atheism be held

t o be a certain t ruth. If the supposit ion is admitted

t o be true,the exception is called, in our language, a

mirac le,because it is a Special Sign of the power of

God. The word sign , that we translate by the word

miracle, is th e term habitually employed by th e writers

of th e New Testament to designat e the superhuman

works attributed to Jesus of Nazareth. We thus

arrive at this defin it ion of a miracle,which is that of

the Dic tionary of the French Academy, an ac t of

Divine power contrary to the known laws of n ature.’

TheDic tionary says with reason,‘ contrary to th e kn own

laws of nature,

’ and not contrary to laws in the sense

of a capricious and arbitrary power. And for th e

Christian,as a mat t er of fact

,a miracle

,a Sign, is in

no wise an arbitrary ac t , but th e int ervent ion of the

order of mercy in th e order of justice .1

Le t us observe that what may be st at ed in the order

of experience is the exception to known laws , and n ot

1 For th e de ve lopmen t of this thought con sult L a Vie E ternd le , thirdle cture , at the beginn ing.


1 9 2 THE CHRIST.

the idea of the miraculous was eliminated, the destiniesof Christianity would only be th e more miraculous,

l

and I have al ready pointed out a similar remark of

Professor Reuss.

Let us approach th e study of this grave problem.

I am going t o point out to you three miracles, or, if

you prefer it (I do not hold t o the word) , three signs

which appear to me to justify the aflirmat ion that the

destinies of Chri st ianity form a posit ive,exception in

th e history of mankind .

The first of these signs is the mode of exist ence of

the Christ ian faith. A n ew study has been start ed

and is being developed in our days by the labours of

learned and numerous savant s— the study of compara

t ive religions, whi ch shall furnish the basis of a general

science of religion. This science is far from being

complet ed, so that it would be rash t o speak in its

name,and to affirm what its result s will be. But

every one indulges in natural previsions on this point,

previsions which remain legitimate if they are n ot

transformed int o defini t e judgment s. The adversaries

Of Christ ianity say that th e more the general fact of

religion becomes known, the more will the Christ ian

faith lose th e pre -eminent posit ion accorded to it by

it s vot aries. Such is n ot the Opinion of Professor

1 Se il mondo si rivolse al Christian e smo,

Diss’

io, se nz a miracoli, que st ’un oE t a! , ch e gli altri n on son o il ce n t e smo. ’

—Paradiso, can t . xxiv.

Dan t e on ly reproduce s he re t h e t hought of his mast e r, St . Thomas

Aquinas. Se e Somme con tre le s Gen tile , bk . i . chap. vi.

CONCLUSION. 1 93

Max Muller,who concluded a lecture on the Vedas

,

delivered at Leeds in March 1 8 6 5 , with these words

NO one can know what Christ ianity really is as well

as he who has examined with patience and impartiality

the other religions of the world ; no one can repeat

with so much truth and sincerity this sayin g of St .

Paul, I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ .! 1

I bel ieve, for my part, that the more the religions Of

th e world wil l become known,the more th e laws

which preside over their formation Shall be seriously

est ablished, the more wil l the exceptional charact er Of

Christ ianity become apparent , and t he more will it

become scient ifically established. Here are some of

the grounds of my prevision. There are three principalreligions which divide the inhabit ants of the world

between them—that of Mahomet,that of Buddha, and

that of Christ. Le t us rapidly establish a comparison

between them.

The religion of Mahomet has in it some good

elements. I t teaches the unity of God against all

idolatry,and prescribes a morality which contains

, in

many respects, precepts which are excellent. This is

why the preaching of Islamism has exercised a bene

fic en t influence upon th e populat ions of Northern

Africa,by inducing them t o cease from human sacri

fic e s, and by bringin g to these ferocious and degraded

people a civili sat ion relat ively good. Woe to him who

would not rejoice at this ! But —we have seen it , andit cannot be seriously contest ed—Mahome tan ism is a

1 E ssays on the H is tory of Re lig ions, p . 73.

1 94 THE CHRIST.

detached branch of Christianity ; hence its superiority

t o th e pagan religions. This branch,detached from

the trunk which had borne it, has become deeply

corrupt ed ; and the successes of the Mahometan faith

are explained by it s evil element s as much as by th e

part of good that it con t ain s. I t excit es th e pursuit

of voluptuousn ess, which it promises as a reward in

heaven,and from which it removes every barrier on

earth . To the attract ion of sensual delight s it j oins

the use of force. The religious use of the sword is

posit ively recommended in th e Koran. In it we read

these words : Kill th e idolaters wheresoever ye shall

find them ; t ake them prisoners besiege them,and lay

wait for them in every convenient place ; but if they

shall repent, and Observe the appointed t imes of prayer,and pay th e legal alms, then dismiss them in peace .

1

Fight again st them who believe not in God,n or in

th e last day, and forbid not that which God and'

His

apost le have forbidden, and profess n ot th e true reli

gion. Fight again st them unt il they pay tribute with

their own hands, and be reduced very low.

2 When

ye encount er unbelievers, strike off their heads, unt il

ye have made a great slaught er among them .

’ 3

Charlemagne converted the Saxon s by processes

which th e Koran praises ; but the proselyt ism of th e

sword did n ot make it s appearan ce with Christ ianityunt il th e gospel had won it s cause by preaching and

by martyrdom, while the proselyt ism of th e sword is

seen from the very out set in the work of Mahomet.1 Sara, ix. 5 .

1 I bid. ix. 29 .

3 I bid. xlv n. 4.


1 9 6 THE CHRIST.

quieu will b e able to explain,by the ordinary laws

of psychology and of history, the grandeur and the

decadence of the Moslems.

Le t us now pass on to the examinat ion of Buddhism,

an extraordinary religion, which is becomin g better

known, at least in it s essential traits, and which merit s

th e most serious at tention. Six centuries before our

e ra, a young Indian prince, a man of upright conscience

and of great heart , was so much struck by th e miseries

of life that he resolved t o leave all and devote himself

t o a work of religious propagandal He left his pro

perty, his hopes of power, his happy family-life, clothed

himself in an aust ere garb,and t aught a morality so

pure,that Of all moralit ies, that of the Greeks included,

it comes nearest to the morality of the gospel. His

work was immensely successful ; his religion was

rapidly est ablished in India ; lat er on,it suffered pe r

se cut ion ,and, quit t in g it s cradle, it established it self

in the other countries of th e East. If we may rely on

st atistics, this religion count s amon g it s adherent s

to-day more than a third of the inhabitant s of the

globe. These fact s are wonderful ; but they may, I

think, be explain ed by natural causes. Represent -to

yourselves the effect that would be produced by th e

det erminat ion of this young prince abandonin g, by a

volunt ary and absolut e devot ion,all th e advantages of

the most brill iant posit ion . The Buddha lived eighty

years . In the land of cast e he proclaimed the equality

1 De tai ls on this subj e ct wi ll b e found in L a vie e te rn e lle , thirdle ct ure .

CONCLUSION . 1 9 7

of all men,which gained for him the favour of th e

popul ace. At th e same time he had for supporters in

the higher classes of society princes to whom he was

equal by birth,and who quit e as promptly accepted

his doctrine . Last ly,a sovereign of genius, named

Acoka, who had conquered the greate r part of India,accept ed the new faith

,and imposed it on his people.

He was th e Const ant ine of Buddhism but as far as I

can form a judgment on a history imperfect ly known ,I believe that there exist s between two facts very

similar in appearance,the following radical difference :

The Christ ian faith imposed it self upon Constant ine,because it had made the conquest of his empire ; while

Acoka imposed Buddhism upon populations accustomed

passively to Obey the orders of their sovereigns. This

widespread religion has followed the laws of things

human . It bears the impress Of Eastern ideas,and

although it passed from India int o other countries, it

has never quit t ed th e part of th e globe where it t ook

its rise. It prompt ly burdened itself with superstit ions ,without manifest ing, as Christ ianity has always done ,a characte ristic power of reform . It is the science Of

our savants, and not that of Orient al teachers, which

is discovering,beneath a mass of Odd and somet imes

absurd legends, a bet t er basis and when our scholars

plun ge int o th e primary sources of Buddhism, they dis

cover, t o their astonishment , beside a morality often

admirable,a doctrin e which appears to be without God

and without a hope of immortality. Buddhi sm is

visibly de olin inm In the 7 th century of our e ra, it

1 9 8 THE CHRIST.

was more flourishing in all respect s than European

Christ ianity,which is not saying much ; from that

t ime its vit al force has diminished. Last ly, and this

proceeds from th e nature of its dogmas, it throws man

int o the ways of contemplat ion and ascet icism,and not

int o those of activity. This is why it has placed the

East in general, and China in part icular, outside Of

every general movement of progress.

To Mahomet,armed with th e sword and distributing

his bribes of voluptuousn ess,and t o Buddha

,a prince of

ill ustrious birth,prosecut ing his work to an extreme

old age,compare now this young Jew,

Sprun g from the

obscure classes of society,Who only exercised His

min istry during three years,Who had no other rela

t ions with th e powerful than that Of being accused by

the rulers of His people,and handed over to execut ion

by a Roman governor. To the destinies of th e Islam

and of Buddhi sm compare those of this religion, which

carries in it s bosom an et ernal principle of reform, and

which,arising in the East

,and aft erwards carried int o

the West,is visibly marching t o th e conquest of this

world. Let us dwell on this last trait : Christ ianity,by it s charact er of universality, escapes the common

law which rules th e mode of existence of religions .

The Christ ian religion ,like all the others, doubtless

feels th e influence of race,of climat e, and modifies

it self in it s ext erior manifest at ions. In th e systemat ic

development of it s doctrines it feels the influence of

powerful individual minds. St . August ine and St .

Thomas Aquinas,for example, have left a mark on


2 O0 THE CHRIST.

hear imperial majesty Speak in it s behalf. I t crosses

at it s will,seas

,rivers

,and mount ains ; it is not earthly

obst acles that can hinder it. Put repugnance int o

men’s minds, it will know how to conquer these ;establish customs, form usages, publish edict s, frame

laws,it will t riumph over climat e, over the laws

which result from climat e,and over the legislat ors

who made th e laws.’ 1

Montesquieu penned these lines before the revival

of the missionary spirit which charact erizes our age,

and which furnishes new and powerful arguments in

support of his thesis.

The mode of exist ence of the Christ ian faith escapes

all those natural explan at ion s which account for the

dest inies of th e other religions ; such is th e thought of

which you have just heard the development . In this

general fact I select a detail on which I specially call

your at t ent ion : the actual fact of th e expansive power

of Christ ian ity. This is th e second of the signs which

I want to point out t o you.

There exist s in mankind in ferior races,whom we

call savages,and who Show themselves incapable of

civilisin g themselves . Many savant s have affirmed

that these races are becoming ext inct through th e

action of a law which nothing can withst and. I have

told you what fright ful means Europeans have used t o

act ivate the effect of that law. But the law exist s ;these races do decay and disappear when they are left to

themselves . Not only has this law been proclaimed,1 Defen ce de l

’

espm’

t des lois, art icle Tolérance .

’

CONCLUSION. 2 O1

but the three following consequences have been drawn

from it. The first is the j ust ificat ion of the in troduc

t ion of spirituous liquors among tribes ignorant of the

use of them . In 1 8 2 0, Captain Ross, in giving an

account of his expedit ion to th e North Pole, expressed

an opinion,general enough, on the destruct ion of th e

Esquimaux. He said : ‘ Their fate appears to be that

of the Redskins—annihilat ion . But is n ot rum pre

ferab le to the Sword of th e Spaniards ? Rum is quite

as efficacious,and it at least gives them some pleasure.

Savages must make way for civilisation . This is th e

law Of the world,and al l the lamentat ions, and all th e

efforts of a whimpering philanthropy,will be of no

avail .’ 1

The second consequence that has been drawn from

this law consist s in justifying,in a general way

,the

ext erminat ion of savages. This time it is n ot an

English sailor who is going to speak,but one of th e

editors of a French review, La revue de l’

instruc tion

publiqu e. I quot e from the number for March 1 8 6 7

They complain of the brutalit ies of navigators t owards

the savages. Well,who could regret to see such

specimens of humanity disappear ? Le t us beware of

being th e dupes of a false pity and of a puerile fra

t ernity ! ’ A few years previously, the 1 5 th October

1 86 0, a well-known writ er had told the readers of

th e Revue des deua: mondes that one cannot but wish

an easy death t o the savage races,those sad sur

v ivors of a world in it s infancy ,

’ and that one must1 J. L . Miche li, Deux le t tres sur les missions , p . 1 9, Ge n e va 1 860.

2 O2 THE CHRIST.

‘ leave these last sons of nature to ext inguish them

selves on their mother’s bosom,

’ without int errupt ing‘ for an hour their moonlight dances and their sweet

int oxicat ion.

’

The third consequence drawn from that law is theaffirmat ion that t o civilise savages is an impossible

ent erprise,and that all efforts in that direct ion are

simply but trouble lost. This has been said especially

about the Papuans. This is what a resident in Mel

bourne wrot e : We who are accustomed to see them

crawling along our street s,barely covered with filthy

rags,more like apes than men

,and most oft en in a

st at e of complete int oxicat ion,we regard them as

creatures utt erly degraded,who have no longer any

thin g in common with ourselves,and of whose civilisa

t ion it is impossible to think.

’ 1

Well,gent lemen

,the impossible has been aecom

plishe d. Some of these miserable Papuans, more like

apes than men,now form villages where labour is

hon oured,the inhabitants properly clo thed, decent in

their morals,and where the children at t end good

schools ; moreover, th e populat ion, which was rapidlydecreasing

,is now in creasing very visibly. A few

years ago these extraordinary fact s were poin ted out

by the missionaries who had been instrumental in

producing them. All ill usion ! it was said at first .

But no ; the informat ion was correct, and has been

fully confirmed. At th e Vien na Exhibit ion the Papuans

1 Re iche l, l’Evang z le ci la Civ ilisat ion , p . 35, N e uchat e l 1 873. Se e

th e same pape r for th e de t ails which follow.


2 04 THE CHRIST.

possible has been, and is being, done. Le t us n ot

speak of miracles ; l e t us not speak of the supernatural ,if these words shock you

,but acknowledge at least

that these facts are th e striking signs of an except ional

power. I pass on to the third sign that I recommend

to your at tent ion .

You know that the King of Prussia,Frederick IL,

has been described,with reason, by the poet Andrieux

as ‘ a very bad Christian.

! He had a chaplain.

When kings have an official religion they keep a

chaplain,what ever may be their personal views. He

took pleasure in invit in g this chaplain t o his t able in

order to embarrass t he good man with capt ious ques

t ions. On e day he said to him,Mr. Parson, I should

very much like to have an unanswerable proof of the

divinity of th e Scriptures, but it must be plain and

short —on e Single word, if possible.’ The chaplain

reflecte d for a moment, then said t o the king that he

thought he could sat isfy him. But ,’

repeate d the

king,‘ l e t th e proof be short—one word.

’ ‘Well,

sire, that word is I srae l.’

I t is said that the king

became thoughtful,and did not reply.

He had indeed something to be thought ful about .Take a walk in the street s of Geneva, gen t lemen .

Cert ain ly there is no lack of places of worship. Pro

testant churches, official and free, Roman Catholic

chapels,and a cult call ed the Government Catholic

,

1 L e meun ier sans-souci.1 Ot t o St ockmaye r, Conferen c es sur la. prophetic , p .

'

41 , afte r Be t t ex,ls Siecle presen t e t ls Siecle a ven ir.

CONCLUSION. 2O5

a church of the Eastern Orthodox faith,Anglican

,

Lutheran, American Episcopal , and other chapels. New

ones are being constantly built . Churches spring

up in our t own like mushrooms in th e woods . The

format ion of these divers branches,sprung from the

common trunk of Christ ianity,may be explain ed by

t he ordin ary laws of th e history of religions ; but

st and in front of that Oriental building, around which

are gathered th e banks and exchanges of the t own.

Aristot le said that wonder is th e mother of science.’

If you can pass before a synagogue without being

astonished,you ut t erly lack the quality that the Greek

philosopher singled out as the root Of th e scient ific

Spirit . Who observes to-day the laws of Lycurgus

and of Solon Who knows them except law students

when they do their duty ? Who observes the precept s

of Roman law save in so far as they have passed int o

modern codes ? As t o the laws of Moses,they are

read every Saturday in th e whole world by assemblies

of men,who profess to follow them as far as circum

stances permit. Here is a people,dispersed centuries

ago over all the earth , hat ed, de spised,'

down -trodden,persecuted.

’

And ye t , as soon as it emerges from the

lowest condit ion in which wicked laws held it , it

shows it self so full of sap that it s sons figure in the

front rank,not only in finances

,where they excel, but

in literature, in art , in polit ics, so much so that their

preponderance is becoming for many a source of

anxiety . According to stat ist ics I have by me, th e

proport ion of Israelit ish youths who at tend the gym

2 06 THE CHRIST.

nasia in Pruss ia is six times greate r than that o f

Christian youths .l

Where will you find anything, I do not say like

this,but analogous to this Will you compare with

th e people of Israel the bands of Bohemians or of

Zingaris,formerly

,it is said

,escaped out of Hindustan ,

and n ow roving in the various countries of Europe ?

These are rac es without history, an d having no other

relat ions with civilisat ion than those they sustain with

th e police, whom they sadly trouble,and by whom

they are wat ched. Verily, th e analogy is feeble. A

people conquered and dispersed may for a time pre

serve its nat ion al ity (th e Poles are a livin g proof of

t his) , but at length it melt s in t o the civilisat ion which

absorbs it , and disappears. This is th e law of history.

The main t enance of Israel,with its at tachment to it s

cust oms, to its religion, to the tradi t ions of it s anc estors,is a manifest except ion t o this law . This is a pe r

manent prodigy,of which familiarity al one veils the

Splendour. NO one is astonished to meet Jews and to

see syn agogues, because they al ways have been seen .

Now,th e prodigy, th e Sign, the miracle, is precisely

t hat they have always been seen for eighteen centuries .

Do you n ot underst and how th e modern history of t his

strange nat ion point s to Jerusalem and to th e cross of

Calvary ? This guardian people of prophecy is in its

way a wi tness of Jesus Christ .

The Jews have n ot be come converted ! But to

1 These part icul ars we re prin t e d in a N e uchat e l re view les M issionsévange

’

lique s an 1 96 sisc le .


2 08 m s CHRIST.

attacks of crit icism. Learned crit icism easily raises

doubt s on ancient t exts and on events which belong

t o an ever-receding past ; but most of th e facts which

have ent ered into our study have a different charact er;they are growing under our eyes

,a nd belong to a

present which is visibly preparing the future. Every

reserve being made for th e rights of a serious science,

the best explanation of the incontestable fact s con

n e c t ed with the Christ ian faith is,for those who b e

lieve in God,the divinity of Christ and of His work.

Such is my conclusion, and this is all that can b e

expected from reasoning.1

I should have concluded here, did I n ot wish,in a

few words, to disperse a cloud which obscures, perhaps,th e thought of some here present .

The Christ ian faith is a thing of the past ; has it

n ot become old and incapable of respondin g to the

deman ds of th e modern spirit ? The law of progress

must be accomplished. The men of our time need

someth in g new. Yes,doubt less, we do n eed something

n ew ; for all life is a development , all development

brings with it n ew things, and mankind desires to

1 Balz ac, th e writ e r of th e 1 7th ce n tury , in his book e n t it le d leSocrate chrét ien , has put in a clear light th e except ional charact e r ofth e de st in ie s of Christ ian i ty, th e charact er which forms t he e sse n t ialbas is of my argumen t . H e wrot e I se e n othing in the rise and

progre ss of this doctrin e that doe s n ot se em t o me t o b e more thann atural . Th e ign oran t have pe rsuaded th e philosophe rs. Poor fish e rmen have be en raise d in t o t e ache rs of kings and of n at ion s, in t o profe ssors of th e scien ce of heaven . They have caught in the ir n e t s orat orsand poe t s, juris t s and mathemat ician s. ’ For t h e remainder of thispassage , se e th e Chrestomatie of Vin e t , pp . 35-38.

CONCLUSION. 2 09

live. But what do those innovators propose who

woul d fain break with the Christian tradit ion What

do they demand In what is called the modern spirit,

the new spirit , there are in reality two spirits, not only

different, but contrary, foll owed by two classes of men

perfect ly distinct. The one class demand the eman c i

pat iou of the flesh,of the passions

,of selfishness ; they

savagely cry out against society, and clamour against

God. We will not speak of them. The other class

are men Of good and noble spirit,full of generous

aspirations. Study what they propose. They demand

a more complete recognit ion of the rights of each,th e

increase of benevolence, the amelioration of suffering,the combating of ignorance

,the subst itut ion of right

for might, of love for selfishness. Now,of all these

things there is not one that is n ot contained in

germ in Christianity. These honest innovators pro

claim nothing,conceive nothing

,foresee nothing on the

horiz on which is not found in Jesus Christ,the in ex

haustibl e fountain where the human conscience renews

it s strength. They feed off the fruit s of the tree they

would cut down.

Here is the error, the condemnation of many Chris

tians,the excuse of many of their adversaries. The

obsolete element s of an incomplet e civilisation are

t aken for the truth for ever old and for ever new.

They bel ieve,they are left to believe, they are made

to believe that all Christ ian thought is contain ed in

th e now broken framework of Scholast icism,al l Chris

tian Civili sation in the débm'

s of the institut ions of the

O

2 1 0 THE CHRIST.

Middle Ages,all the Christian faith in the dross with

which the errors of men have covered it,all Christ ian

morality in the conduct of individuals and of peoples

who dishonour by their life the religion they profess .

No, no ! the source of the livin g waters does n ot

allow its streams to settle in stagnant marshes. The

work of th e gospel is not a building whose roof has

been put on,and which has been left to crumble and

t o perish under the influence of time ; it is a germ

incessantly developing. Look not merely at the dead

branches of the ever-living tree ; look at the young

shoots Spreading out their foliage beneath the sunshine

of eternal truth. Yes,we have need of something

new ; but what could you have more n ew than the

conversion of souls and the progressive transformation

of society by the word of Christ ? What could you

have more new than th e organizat ion of the human

family int o unity, harmony, love ? Great progress

has been made, b ut what progress there st ill remains

t o be realized ! We have no gladiat ors now,but we

have war and it s abominations. We have no more

slaves,but how many ameliorations there are ye t to

be in troduced int o the relat ions of the various Classes

of society ! Men make se t speeches about fraternity,but true frat ernity is oft enest so far from our

heart s !

You feel the need of progress ; take care you do not

st ifle it. To be cont ent with the world as it is, and

with yourselves as you are , it would be necessary for

you to destroy the noblest inst incts Of nature, and to


2 1 2 THE CHRIST.

raised statues to glory. By the hands of the Jews

humanity nailed Jesus t o th e tree ; then, at th e

of a few fishermen and of a tentmaker, it relents and

follows Him.

QU ESTIONS AND ANSWERS .

SECOND LECTURE.

Que stion 1 .

COULD you not furnish us with some supplementaryexplanations with respect to the relat ions of religion

and of science ? Some of your hearers do not seem

t o have understood your thought . Does n ot science

rise out of its own proper laws ? In at t empt ing t o

make the influence of religion intervene in it s develop

ment,do you n ot alter t he fact s, and run the risk of

injuring the cause which you desire to serve ? He

who would prove too much,proves nothing.

An swer.

I have stated a fact,and proposed an explanation

of it . The fact is thi s : Science and scient ific industry

are,in these days, th e monopoly of Christ ian nat ions .

The explanation which I consider th e best is that

which I have given.

Between religion and science there exist s a false

and a true relat ion. The false relat ion is that which

theologians est ablish when they en deavour to resolve2 13

2 1 4 THE CHRIST.

scientific questions by texts taken from the Holy

Scriptures,or by th e decisions of ecclesiastical authori

t ies. This false relat ion manifest ed itself very clearly

in Galileo’s trial . That famous trial is only one

example among many others of th e fett ers that

theologians have oft en wished to put upon th e

researches of the human mind. The true relation is

established by the following considerations — Men

often affirm that science proceeds from the alone

observat ion of phenomena ; this is an absolute error.

The observation of phenomena is the necessary basis

of every serious theory,and th e only legitimate control

of all hypotheses ; but observat ion st at es fact s and

does not explain them. In the search aft er explan a

t ions, the human mind is always placed under th e

influence of certain direct in g principles. This is a

thesis of logic whose development can be found in

th e Revue Philosophigue, published in Paris (Jul y and

Aug. 1 8 7 6 ; April, Aug ,and Sept. Al l the

founders of modern science,without one Single exc ep

t ion, and those of our contemporaries who merit the

t it le of init iators,have been direct ed by the unity of

the world,by th e simplicity and by th e harmony of

it s laws. Those are t endencies natural to the reason ,and which were manifest in the Greek world, as the

works of Pythagoras, of Plat o, an d of Arist ot le demon

strate but this t endency which is natural t o the

reason was arrested in its deve lopment by dualist icand polytheist ic conceptions. This is why th e

thoughts of the wise did not reach unto their full


2 1 6 THE CHRIST.

theism,and not by the other elements of the Chris tian

doctrine,whi ch have no relation, or at least no direct

relat ion,with the science of nature which has formed

the Object of my study.

If I were suspect ed of alte ring facts under theempire of an apologetical preoccupat ion

,I could give

you th e declaration of a savant that no such suspicion

coul d reach. M. Du Bois-Reymond, the professor of

Berlin,said not long ago in a meet ing of German

n aturalis ts,at Cologne : Though it may sound para

doxical,modern scien ce owes its origm to Christian ity?

Aft er opposing th e absolut e Theism which Christ ianity

has Spread abroad in the world t o the Polytheism of

the ancient world, the professor of Berlin cont inued

thus : Thi s idea of God, transmi t ted from generation

to generat ion during many centuries,has ended by

reacting upon science it self,and in accustomin g the

human mind t o th e conception of a unique reason of

things,has inflamed within it the desire of knowing

this reason.

’

These words are found in the Revue See'

en tiflgue of

Jan . 1 9 , 1 8 78 , p . 6 7 6 . You wil l underst and the

sat isfaction with which I found in these words of M.

Du Bois-Reymond the exact expression of the theses I

had sustained. The Slow penetrat ion of the human

mind by Monotheism is,as to science, the durable

work of the Middle Ages,an epoch oft en appreciat ed

by our modern thinkers with a strange triflingn e ss ,

This historical view permi t s us to underst and that

when the abuses of a false method ceased,when th e

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS. 2 1 7

laws of astronomy and of physics were sought for inthe rational explanat ion of facts, and not in the t exts

of Scripture or in th e works of Arist otle, modern

science took its ris e,without there being at that epoch

a solution of cont inuity in the progress of the human

min d. Beneath the abuses of Scholasticism the dire ct

ing principles of the great discoveries were being

prepared and fort ified.

Question 2 .

You attribute the development of modern scienceto the influence of Christ ian Monotheism

,which

aflirmed the unity and the harmony of the world .

Does not Pan theism contain the same affirmation,and

is'

it not therefore as favourable to the development of

science as the Christ ian doctrine ?

Answer.

Panthei sm is that doctrine which makes the universe

proceed from a principle without consciousness or

liberty, but of a unique principle,which is developed

accordin g t o the laws of reason. The unity and the

harmony of the world are affirmat ions common t o

Pantheism and to Christ ian Theism . For the physical

sciences,in the Obj ect of which the liberty of creatures

does not int ervene,it woul d seem as if the act ion of

both doctrines were similar,seeing that in on e case

as in the other the savant prosecutes his task under

2 1 8 THE CHRIST.

the influence of the ideas of unity and of harmony ;but here is th e difference. For th e Pantheist

,th e

product ion of th e world is the result of a necessary

development,which is accomplished according t o the

laws of reason. For th e Christ ian,the world is

int elligible by th e relat ions established between th e

laws of understanding and those of phenomena,but

th e world is the product of a free action. These two

doctrines have various consequences for the scient ific

method. Pantheism makes of th e human reason the

conscience of universal reason,from which follows

,not

only that phenomena are int elligible by their relations

with thought, but that the laws of phenomena exist inth e human mind, which is the necessary developmen t

of th e prin ciple of th e world. The human mind can

therefore find in it self, by the alone process of refle c

t ion,the raison d

’

e’tre of all that is. From thence, for

the sciences,th e method a priori, or of construction,

which has attained it s apogee in the system of Hegel.

This method has been th e source of grave and numerous

errors,which modern science has justly repudiated .

In th e point of view of Christian Theism, the produc

t ion of th e world being a free act, the laws of the

world are easily state d. The reason of man, which

has th e power of comprehending them , has not th e

power of construc ting them,t o dis cover them in itseif

by the alone process of reflection . I t foll ows from

this that experience is the basis and the con trole of all

theories. In this manner the experimental method is

justified,a method which must be carefully dis


2 2 0 THE CHRIST.

As to the in st itrit ion of Slavery,it is doubt less con

trary to the spirit of the gospel ; but, in a natural

point of view , has it n ot const ituted a progress ?

Serous (Slave) comes from servatus (preserved) such, at

least,is the opinion of etymologist s. Does n ot this

etymology recall to min d th e fact that the preservat ion

of prisoners reduced to servitude has been subst itut ed

to the massacre of prisoners, which was the primi tive

custom ? Is not this subst itut ion a progress ?

An swer.

I do not dispute any of th e facts mentioned by my

correspondent . I have not th e least int ent ion of

denying or of depreciat ing the real part of“

virtue

which has exist ed in the Greek and in th e Roman

world ; but my intent ion was not to appreciat e in a

general way ant ique Civilisat ion. I want ed merely to

point out the influence exercised by Christ ianity uponthat civilisat ion. That influence had for effect t o

fortify the good element s of human nature, and to

destroy or t o dimin ish the fright ful impurit ies which

th e hist ory of ant iquity reveals t o us. That th e

act ion of Christ ianity has had th e result s which I have

point ed out,is what an impart ial study of history wil l

n ot permit t o quest ion . Much light on this subj ect

can be found in numerous works,and particularly in

th e three following volumes, which were crowned a

few years ago by th e French Academy

Chast el : E tude historique sur l’

influen ee de la charite


duran t les premiers siecles chrétiens. A vol. in 8vo,

Paris 1 85 3.

Champagny : La charite’

chrétienn e dans les premiers

siecles do Z’E’glise . A vol . in 1 2mo

,Pari s 1 8 5 6 .

Schmidt : Essai historique sur la société civile dams lo

monde romain e t sur soc tran sformation par le chris

tian isme . A vol. in 8vo, Paris 1 8 5 3 .

As to the fate of the Roman Slaves,it is a fact

beyond all doubt that many of them were treat ed with

great kindness , and even as members of the family.

Those who belonged to good mast ers, and who were

born in the house, must have found themselves sur

rounded with affect ion. They were saved from th e

reach of misery more securely than the working class

of our day. But the revolutions Of Slaves which took

place,at very Short intervals, in the years 1 3 9 , 1 05 ,

and 7 3 before our era, witness clearly that those men

deprived of liberty were very impat ient under the

yoke that rest ed upon them . We must n ot forget

that if the slaves who were born in Roman families

became habituated to their condition, it was n ot the

case with the prisoners of war. I reminded you that

Seneca, in one of his lett ers cites three cases of

suicide of those wret ched men, who voluntarily put

themselves to death to prevent their becoming aspectacle to the people in the combats of the circus.

When the book Un c le Tom was published, one oft en

heard that th e condit ion of th e negroes of the South

was not as bad as it had been represent ed. I remember

a narrative which struck me all the more forcibly that it

2 2 2 THE CHRIST.

came from a man who took upon himself the role of

apologist of a servile inst itut ion. This is the fact : A

rich man had two pret ty daught ers,nearly perfect ly

whit e,from a slave whose blood was already very

much mixed. He had them brought up in England in

a dist in guished boarding-school. Those daughters were

t o be Slaves as well as their mother,by the sole fact

of their birth,but the father’s firm intent ion was to

enfranchise them. He, however, died suddenly before

having put this important business in order. The two

young ladies were exposed for sale,and knocked down

to th e last and highest bidder ! Does not a single fact

of this nature suffice to judge an inst itution ?

The preservat ion of prisoners subst ituted t o their

massacre was a thing which,Without any doubt , must

be con sidered as a progress. I would only remark,

that if the fact had had no other origin than the idea

of ut ilizing without profit the men which were kill ed,it would be the result of a calcul at ion more int erest ed

than interest ing. Without denying the reality of th eprogress point ed out , it must n ot be forgotten that in

a cert ain number of cases th e vanquished would have

preferred death t o slavery. That is true especially

with respect t o the women. At the t ime of th e warof

the independen ce of Greece,the at t ent ion of Europe was

rivet ed by th e recit al of t he death of cert ain Hellenic

young women who,in order to save themselves from

falling into the hands of the Turks, danced a funeral

round on the edge of a precipice, down which they,one aft er another, threw themselves.


2 24 THE CHRIST.

end.

’ This conception is a species of intoxication of

the mind. That the astronomical world Shoul d have

organized itself little by lit tle,st art ing from a stat e

where the agglomerat ions did not exist,that is a theory

the germ of which is found in the writ ings of Descarte s,which have been developed by Kan t

,then illustrated

by Laplace. But in admit tin g this hypothesis, can it be

aflirmed that there exists in the physical world a law

of cont inuous and indefin ite progress ? No. Laplace,

after having est abli shed against Newton the provisional

stability Of the system of th e world, makes us foresee

an epoch incommensurably distant,doubtless

,but which

science is call ed to foresee,when our world shall have

the destiny of a flower which,having terminated it s

normal period of existence,Shall wither away and die.1

Recent calcul ations, founded on the mechanical theory

of heat,and to which is specially at tached the name

'

of

the physicist Claudius,establish th e same scientific

prevision with respect to the disorganization of the

present universe. Whatever be the value attached t o

these ideas, they are enounced by esteemed savants, a

fact which does not allow us to affirm that a contin u

ous and endless progress is the law of the inorganic

world.

In admitt ing for the order of the animal and the

veget able Species the theories which bear th e name of

Darwin,does it follow that one may aflirm for the

future an endless progress of the fauna and of the

flora ? Not at all Nothing prevents our admitting1 Exposition du systeme du monde .


that a gradual development has brought living beings

into a stat e which is the result of the past , without

it s being for the future the germ of a superior st at e .

If we reflect on the relat ions which unit e the living

beings to the physical world, we shall understand that ,if the study of th e solar system allows us t o foresee

the disorganizat ion of the present world, it is impos

sible to aflirm the indefinit e progress of plant s and of

animals.

As to mankind,progress is manifest as a whole, if

one considers the great lines of history which converge

towards modern Civilisat ion. But this march of man

kind admit s of recoils and obscurat ions ; those who

deny it theoret ically,affirm it in certain part icular cases ,

when they are n ot on their guard. In many orders of

things,the st art is bet t er than the cont inuat ion. This

is in particular the affirmat ion of savant s of the first

order for th e hist ory of religions. There are popula

t ions in which progress is act ive, others in which it is

slow,o thers in which it seems null. Last ly

,in cert ain

cases civilisat ion follows a t rack which we do n ot

hesitat e t o qualify as retrograde. How could it be so

if progress is an absolut e law,similar to that of gravi

tat ion ? I have asked,and I repeat the quest ion : If

the ameliorat ion of human things was necessarily

accomplished under th e sole condit ion of t ime, how

could there st ill be barbarous peoples and’

savage races ?

Where progress is realized,it has assignable causes ;

and there are also in human affairs assignable causes

of decadence.

2 2 6 THE CHRIST.

Without any doubt, progress is a law Of mankind ;but it is not a physical law, which is always fulfill ed

by inert existences ; it is a moral law,it is a should be,

a rule proposed to free wills. This rul e is sometimes

followed,somet imes it is violat ed. The law of progress

is nevertheless realized in th e long run for th e whole

of mankind,and thus it manifests the exist ence of a

will superior to the will of men, a will which imposes

bounds t o their wanderings. What is essent ial is to

discern the sense of the current , in order to contribut e

t o progress inst ead of put t ing obstacles in it s way.

Now,from when ce proceeds th e current of the good

in the bosom of human societ ies ? It has mult iple

sources,as we have seen ; bu t what is it s principal

source ? Open your eyes : you will then clearly see

that , compared with the whole of the popul ations of

th e globe, th e Christian nat ions,despit e all their

miseries, and all their impurities, are delineated as th e

light upon the shadow . You will thus recogn ise that

th e work of Christ , by which all th e good element s ofth e heart , of th e conscience, and of the reason

,have

t aken a new life, is the principal factor of the progress

of man kind.

The influence of Christ ianity which is exercised

upon th e individual conscience,in the order especially

religious, radiat es in every sense,and modifies the

element s of society. With respect to this,I said l that

Rossi had pointed out this influence upon the domain

of polit ical economy. Here are the words which he

First Le cture .


2 2 8 THE CHRIST.

not. Well then,in proport ion as the principle of

Christ ianity was being developed, and laid hold uponsouls

,did it n ot drive away from souls the principle

of slavery

Christ ianity has n ot act ed as a revolution,but as

a reform. That is,I think

,the t ruth . I t has n ot

wished t o produce unexpect ed effect s ; it has gradually

prepared th e reform of thought, of sent iment , and by

that the reform of moral s, of institutions, of the world.

Such was it s mission, such was the“ end it sought t o

reach,and that is the meaning of these words

,My

kingdom is not of this world.

! That i s t o say, I do

n ot ac t direct ly as a civil legislator would I want t o

reform the world simply by the reform of individuals,by the reform of morals. ! I repeat it

,it has not there

fore act ed as a revolut ion,but as a reform.

Christ ianity has also been reproached with a

number of horrors . All these horrors are true ; only

it is n ot Christ ianity that Should be made t o bear

th e reproach, b ut men, precisely in the name of

Christ ianity. I ask you, do we make just ice bear the

reproach of court s of high commission, of court s of

commissioners,of cases heard in privat e

,of torture, and

of so many atrocit ies ? Certainly n ot ; we lay the

reproach on me n ,precisely in th e name of just ice.

Well,then, just in the same way, cupidity, the Simony

of th e clergy, the inquisit ion, an d so many other

pract ices t ending t o perpetuate ign orance,prejudice

,

and slavery, all these must be reproached to men, and

n ot t o Christ ianity.


Christianity predisposes to work and t o peace ; it

inspires order, decency, and respect for the right s of

others ; it admit s honest enj oyments, but proscribes

gross pleasures and foolish‘ expenditure ; it forbids

insolent pride in prosperity,and demands resignat ion

in misfortune ; in fine,it recommends provident care

and charity. Thus,once more

,if men desired t o

reduce this great subj ect to t he proport ions of polit ical

economy, th e gospel would fill all the condit ions that

science could exact for the development of social

wealth.

We think, then , that the conquests of Christ ianity

interest n ot only the religious man, th e philanthropist ,

th e stat esman,but ye t the economist ; and couse

quent ly,t o cit e an example, the economist also should

int erest himself in the success of th e various mis

sionary societ ies, of those societ ies whose ext ent , Whosesuccess

,whose progress is a fact at once religious

,

polit ical,and economical. In fact , by propagat ing

Christ ianity,these missions educat e and civilise. They

engender, therefore, th e strength of work, they creat e

new want s,and consequent ly s t imulat e consumpt ion

an d exchange, and by those very mean s,product ion ;

they throw down th e barriers of barbarism, barriers

which th e radical diversity of religions,which the

need of civilisat ion and of common want s had erect ed

between th e nations ; they tend to assimilat e th e

people amon g themselves,n ot by t aking from each his

nat ional Charact er, but by bringing them all under th e

law of a common, of a Christ ian brotherhood ; they

2 30 THE CHRIST.

enlarge existing markets,and creat e n ew ones ; they

have therefore, as I have already said, not only a

religious and political,but also an economical import

ance. The influence of missions is ext ending daily.

You know what proport ions English missions have

reached. The New World has not remained behind

from it s coast s also the principles of Christianity are

propagated in dist ant lands .

I t is a grand and lovely sight is this vast propaga

t ion of light , by th e means of persuasion and of peace .

How different to those works of conquest , of war, or

of slavish colonizat ion ! ’ 1

Pelegrino Rossi spake thus in his lectures on

polit ical economy, delivered in th e College of France .

I t would be easy t o expound with greater preciseness

the nature Of the social action of Christ ianity,and the

mann er in which it has become,in : all the orders, a

fact or of progress.

SEVENTH LECTURE.

Question 5 .

You have said that th e Christ ian religion is the

only one that has a future. Do you know this

scien tifically ? The religions which we see decl ining

to-day have also had their period of progress. Who‘ B ibliotheque Un iverse lle , De c . 1867 , pp . 503-505 .


2 3 2 THE CHRIST.

t ions inflicted upon Christ ians in China,in Japan

,in

Madagascar ? I know that in each part icular case

one can assign the reason to the phenomenon of

accident al and local causes,whic h practically explain

it ; but those explanat ions are always part ial and

insufficient . The fact in it s generality demonstrates

that at various epochs,in absolutely different circum

stances,among all the races

,and in every clime

,men

,

following th e natural impulse of their conscience and

of their heart,have given t o the Christ ian faith a

recept ion which governmen t s have at t empt ed t o

repress by force . This principle of th e universal

adapt at ion Of the Christ ian faith is a unique fact . N0other religion ' bears this charact er. Contemporarysavant s (I Speak of th e most serious) seek to

'

demon

strat e that th e various religions are the product of a

religious sent iment forming part of the const itut ion of

the human soul, a sent imen t whose manifestat ions are

modified under the influence of races, of climat e, of

circumst ances . In proport ion as this undert akin g

succeeds,one est ablishes a law in virtue of which th e

religions are local and t emporary. To establish that

law is to put in evidence th e except ional and unique

charact er of Christ ianity. By opposit ion to all other

beliefs,th e Christ ian faith possesses a un iversal nature ;

this is a fact of experience which is confirmed daily.

This universality of n ature is th e basis of the scient ific

prevision relative t o t he dest inies of the work of Jesus

Christ .

I N D E X .

PAG EABBE CHATEL, th e founderof a Fren ch Church, 1 04

Abuse of alcohol, 70

Acoka embrace s Buddhism, 1 97

A frica,Klun z in ger on t h e

me n hun t ers of, 1 31

Ban n in on th e de solat ioncause d %y th e slave -t radein , 1 32 ; slave -t rade in ,

Ahola Pélé, godde ss of subt erran ean fire s

,

A lcohol, abuse of,A leut ian Islands, mission

axl e s in th e ,A lexande r and Caesar

,how

the y prepare d th e work oft h e Gospe l ,A lfred de Musse t ,

2

re

plyt o

socialist s by, hisOpin ion of Christ ian ity

, 24

Alipius in t h e Coliseum ofRome , 1 36

A ltaian Moun t ain s, missionarie s in th e

,1 58

Ambulan ce s on t h e bat t lefie ld

,42

Ampere on th e harmony oft h e world , 49

An ce st ors of t he Christ ian s ,t h e Jews con side red as t h e , 31

An cie n t In dia, 1 54

Andrieux t h e poe t and Fred erick I I . , K ing of Prussia,an e cdot e of, 204

An n oun ceme n t of Christ ’sre surre ct ion in con t e stable , 82

An t iquity, con solat ion s Of

fe red by t h e sage s of, 70-74

PAG EApost le s, th e , the ir t eachingas t o th e death of Christ , 9 1 , 92Apost olic t ime s

,difficul t ie s

among Christ ian s in t h e , 1 49

Tab s,t he ir n e e d of slave s

,1 31

Archipe lago, Polyn e sian,

Captain Dupe rré’

s re porton t h e ,

Arist ot le , th e t eaching of,Art , Christ ian ,Aspe ct s un de r which th e

N ew Te stame n t pre se n t si t se lf

,

Aspe ct s unde r which th e

volume of t h e Script ure spre sen t s i t se l f,

Ass

f

oc iat ion , Fourie r's ideas0

Athe ism , durin g t he Fren chRe volut ion , 35 ; t h e greatOppon e n t of Chris t ian i ty,36 ; re n aissan ce of, 37 ;it s in flue n ce upon th e

working-classe s, 37 it s

influe n ce upon th e middleclasse s

,38 ; in Englan d

durin g th e 18th ce n t ury,Disrae li ’s Opin ion of, 39

At he ist ic savan t s, 49,5 0

A th e ist ic t e n de n cie s in

Fran ce , Robe spie rre re

act ing again st ,th e n s ,

o

Paul at,1 5 , 30, 74, 75 , 1 01

A t t emp t s at civilisat ionw ithout th e aid of Christ ian ity“August e Choisy on polygamy and slave ry, 1 95

August e Cochin on t he workof Prot e stan t missionarie sin Labrador,

BALZ AC on th e future ofChrist ian ity,

Bann ing on t h e de solat ioncause d by t h e slave t radein Africa,

Barthelemy St . Hilaire on

t h e combin e d e ffort s of t h eBrit ish Gove rnme n t and

some Fre n ch prie st s fort h e suppre ssion of humansacrifice s In India,

Be lgian s,K ing of th e , his

e flort s t o put downslavery,

Be n efic e n c e , e vange lical ,1 22 works of

,who origi

n at e d by, 1 23, 1 24 ; as a

con duct or t o faith, 1 24 ;Julian t h e Empe ror on

Christ ian,

Be ra, human sacrifice soffere d t o,

Berange r on th e de sIre for

happin e ss, 5 6 ; on human

disappoin tme n t s,Be rn ovrlle

’

s t e st imon y c on

ce rn ing th e Exhibit ion of1 851 ,

Bible , t h e , conve rt e d in t o ane n cyclopaedia of scie n ce s,

Birman s, t h e Empe ror oft h e , his le t t e r t o Max

Mull er,

Blan qui on th e social condit ion of Turkey in Europe ,

Body, pain s of t h e ,Boe rhaave ’sfavourit emaxim

,

Boile au’s ide a of t h e gospe l ,Bon apart e , his Impre ssion ofth e Christ ,

Bossue t , his pan egyric of St .Paul

,

Brahmin s, th e

’

missionaryscheme s of th e ,

Bribe ry, e le ct oral, amongt h e Roman s ,

Brun o dI ive n from Gen e va,

INDEX.

PAGE PAGEBuddha

, 1 96 , 1 97 , re ligionOf, .

Buddhism embraced and e nforce d by Acoka, 1 97 ;visible de clin e of, 1 97 , 1 98

Buxt on , his e ffort s t o putdown slave ry, 1 29

CE S

f

AR,what are t he claims

0

Cae sar and Alexande r,Cae sar and Je sus Christ ,Campan ia

,gladiat orial com

bat s at ,Can n ibalism some t ime s th eout come of fam in e“Carpen t er of Naz are th, th e ,H is act ion on scie n ce andin dust ry,Catholics, ferven t ,Cat o, his ide as of immort ality,Ceme te ry, two sce n e sat a,Charact e ri st ics of th e gospe l,spe cial

,

Charity, defin it ion of, 1 1 9as t aught in t he In dianscript ure s,Charity of t h e law

,in c on

v e n ie n c e s of t h e ,Charlemagn e compe ls theSaxon s t o accept Chri st ian ity, . 1 53

Charle s Mart e l at Poit iers, . 1 52

Chat eaubriand, his ide as oft h e influe n ce of t he gospe lupon art s,Che roke e s, t h e gospe l amongt h e ,Chin a, th e gre at indust ryand

,5 1 , 52 civilisat ion

in , 1 54 ideas of sin an d

pardon In ,

Choctaws, th e gospe l amongt h e ,Choisy

,August e

,on poly

gamy an d Slave ry,Chrie st lieb on th e opiumt raffic,Christ , as man , n ot th e

Creat or ofre ason , 33 ; His


2 3 6 INDEX.

PAGE PAGEin Chris t , 8 ; th e word ofth e ,Cicero, his t e aching,Civil powers

,how re ligion

has be e n impose d by,Civil right of t h e Roman s,Troplong on t h e ,Civilisat ion

,European , 1 7 ;

at t empt s at , wi thout th eaid of Christ ian it y, 1 01 ,1 02 ; supe riority of t h eChrist ian

, 1 56 modern ,1 7 , 1 8 ; whe n ce Springsour

,1 1 3 ; Mussulman ,

Civilisat ion s, comparison b etwe e n t h e Christ ian and

ot he r,Clergy

,t h e , Should n ot have

comman d of th e t emporalpowe r

,

Cochin,August e , on th e

work of Prot e s tan t missionarie s in Labrador

,

Coliseum of Rome ,Comfort e rs, human , amongth e an cie n t s,Commodus

,re -in st it ution of

human slaught e r by,98 °

in th e aren a, 1 35

Comparat ive re ligion s, 20 ;th e study of, 1 92

,1 93

Comparison be twe en Christ ian and other civilisat ion s,Compassion , the in flue n ceof Christ ian ity upon the

de ve lopme n t of, 1 23

Complain t un ive rsal, th e

source s of, 64

Compulsory con version s, th ee ffe ct of,Con cept ion , supe rn atural, ofJe sus

,admit t e d by Ma

bome t , 32

Con dit ion of man , Vol taireon t he , 62 ; Pascal on th e , 60

Conflict s be twe e n th e olo

gian s and scie n t ist s, 50

Con scie n ce , th e stat e of th e , 86

Con se que n ce s of th e de struct ion of Christ ian influen ce

,1 9

Con sequen ce s of th e suppre ssion of th e ospe l,Con solat ion , n e eg of, 57offered by t h e sage s ofan t iqui ty, 70 74 ° whe n cearise s t h e n e e d of, 86

Con stan t ine , prohibit ion ofgladiat orial combat s by, 1 37

Con t emporarymission s,diflicul t ie s of, 1 58, 1 59

Con ve n t ion , famous de cre eof th e Fren ch, 35

Con ve rsion s, t h e effe ct s ofcompuls ory,Cope rn icus, th e partisan s of,46 ; on t h e SImplic ity Of

t h e laws of th e world, 46

Corin th, Paul at , 101 , 1 48, 1 49

Cre e d of Robe spierre , Rousseau

’

s opin ion of t h e , 1 05

Cri t icism,hist orical, 20

what it re st s upon , 1 2

Cross, t h e , as a de corat ion,

1 1 0 ; as a Sign of n eu

t ral ity, 1 10 ; Lamart ineon t he , 1 1 1

Crucifix, Lamart in e on th e , 1 1 1

Culture , mat e rialism t h e

e n emy of all re ligious, 20

Cust oms, t h e influe n ce oft h e gospe l upon our, 1 8

Cz ar of Russia, serfdomabolishe d by t h e , 1 29

DAMOCLES and Dionysius 6 7

Dan t e on th e idea of th em iraculous, 1 89

,1 90

Dan t e A lighieri on th e truthof th e gospe l , 1 79

Darwin on t h e Christ ianmission s ofTahitian dN ew

Ze alan d,1 70 ; t ran slat or

of The Orig in of Spe cies , 223

De Varigny’s repOI t on th e

San dwich Islan ds. 1 7 1

De ath, prospe ct s of, 66 ,what is, th e

t e rrible , con solat ion of th ede spairing, 66 as viewedby Epicurus, 7 1 , 72 ; as

viewed by Epict e tus,

INDEX. 2 3 7

PAGE PAC E

De clin e of Buddhism , 1 97 , 1 98

De cre e of th e Fren ch Conv e n t ion , 36

De cre e of th e Ge n e ve se Conv e n t ion with re spe ct t o

t he t e aching of Arist ot le , 45

De ism n o longe r th e syst emoppose d t o t he faith ofChrist ian s, 36 ; in th e

1 8th ce n tury, 34 ; Volt aire

’

s, 34 Rousse au’s , 34, 35

Democrit us, revival of t h e

doct rin e s of, 37

De sire for happin e ss,inde

s truc t ib le , 55

Differe n t forms assumed byre ligious spe e ch , t h e , 1 4

Difficult ie s in t he apost olict ime s

, 1 49 ; of con t emporary mission s, 1 58, 1 59

Dionysius and Damocle s , 6 6

Disciple s of Christ,t he ir

duty with re spe ct t o suffering and dis tre ss, 76, 7 7

Disciple s of th e Ve das andof t he Buddhist s, the irideas of immortality,

Disrae li,his opin ion Of

A the ism in Englan d IIIt he 18th cen t ury , 38

Dissipat ion of pleasure , 70

DIst ross,

t he Christ ian ’sduty with re spe ct t o,

Divin e love , 75

Doct rin e s of Mahome t andof Christ ian ity, th e , 31

Dualism,28

DuBois Reymondon scien ceand Christ ian it y , 21 6

Dupe rre, Captain , his reporton Polyn e sia, 1 69

Dupuis,his opin ion of

Je sus . 1 82

Duty of Christ ian s t o fore ignmission s

,

EARTH,inhabitan t s of the ,

organ iz ing themse lve s in t oun ity,East e rn Church

,t h e Ortho

dox,mission s of,

E le ct oral bribe ry,gladia

t orial combat s among t heRoman s, a mean s of,

o

1 34

Emile de Saisse t , his Opin ion sof th e gospe l

! 184

En cyclopaedist s,

re ligiousbe lie f at tacke d by t h e , 24

Eng lan d and China, 1 6 1

Enjoyme n t , wh e n re st is an,

65

En vy, t h e growing equalityin e arthly condit ion s increase s

,

Epicte tus, morality of, 72,73 °

on de ath ,Epicurus, doc t I in e s of, 37 °

t hought s on life , sickn e ssde ath

,e t e rn ity, 70—72

Z e n o and, compared , 74re vival of th e doct rin e s of, 37Equality, growing, a sourceof e n vy, 63

Esquimaux, the ship Grahaman d th e

,

Esse n t ials of Christ ianpraye I , 88 , 89

EuTOpe , what the heathe nbehold In ,

1 61

European c ivil isat ion ,whe n ce

it c ome s,1 7 ; supe riority of, 1 56

Europe an se t t le rs, t he ir b ehav iourt o th e Tasman ian s , 1 60

Evange lical b e n efic e n c e , su

pe riority of, 1 22 ; worksof

,who origin at e d by, 1 23,

1 24 ; as a con duct or t o

faith , 1 24 ° Julian th e

Empe ror on , 1 22

Evil socialism,t h e nature of, 22

Exhibit ion of 1 85 1 , Be rn oville ’s re ort on t h e , 5 1

Exist en ce,happin e ss In , 5 6

Ext e I ior obstacle s t o the

work of Christ , 1 87

FAITH in Christ , on e of thenat uIal product s of, 8

posit ion of,Famin e , cann ibalism has

some t ime s orirrinat ed I n ,

Famous de cre e oft he Fre n chConve n t ion ,

2 38 INDEX.

PAGEFaraday on th e harmony oft he world , 49

Fathe r Grat i y, his thought son death , 67 , 69Fauna, progre ss of th e , 224

Ferve n t Cat holics, 7Fire

,th e t eaching of Christ

on t he employmen t of, 1 41 , 1 42Flora, progre ss of t he , 224

Force s of nature,how t o

u t iliz e t h e , 52

Forgive n e ss, whe n ce arise sth e n e e d of, 87

Foun de rs ofmode rn scien ce ,t h e be l ie f of th e , 49 , 50

Fouri e r, doct rin e s of, on

associat ion , 63

Fran ce , ge n e ral pe rse cut ionof th e Christ ian s in , 1 42

th e Mahome tan s at tack, 1 5 2

Fran ce and t h e Polyn e sian s , 1 60

Fre de rick I I . , King ofPrussia

,and Andrieux th e

poe t ,Fre n ch an d Ge rmanWrit erson Pagan ism .

Fren ch Re volut ion , Athe ismduring th e , 35 ; Thie rs ont h e , 35 Lame n nais on

t h e,

Fre sn e l, his the ory ofluminous undulat ion s, 46 ; ont h e harmon y of th e world , 49

Future , t h e , re se rve d t o

Christ ian ity, 2 31 t h e

t e aching of Christ as t o,

81 Socrat e s on ,

GAL ILE O, a Roman t ribunalcon demn s, 45

Garémoff on th e Altaianmission s, 1 57Gauls

,human sacrifice s

amon g t h e , 95

Ce n e ralo

perse cut ion of th eChrist ian s In Fran ce , 1 42

Gen e va, Brun o drive n from , 45

Ge rland , Dr. ,on t h e Tas

man ian s , 160

Ge rman an d Fre n ch writ e rson Pagan ism,

57

PAGE

Gladiat orial combat s amean sof e le ct oral brib e ry in

Rome,1 34 in st itut e d by

wil l an d t e stame n t , 1 34 ;in Campagna, 1 34 a

public in st itut ion , 1 35 ;prohibit ed by Con stant in e , 1 37 ; Livy on , 1 34

Schmidt on ,

Gladiat ors of Rome; 133suicide of t hre e , 1 34

main tain e d at th e cost ofth e stat e ,od, a work of, what it suppose s, 5 ; supreme un ityof, 29 ; sage s of Gre e cet aught th e un ity of

,33 ;

t ruce of, 41 claims of,

Good Samaritan s, D

Gospe l,th e

,it s in fluen ce

upon our laws, cust oms,scie n ce , and art s , 1 8

Boileau ’s ide a of, 57 t h e

re ligion of, 1 46 ; Dan t eA lighieri on t he t rut h of,1 79 ; Emile de Saisse t ’sOpin ion of

,1 84 ; influen ce

of,upon our ideas, 1 8 ;

con seque n ce s of t h e suppre ssion of, 1 9 th e n atureof, 1 22 ; it s e ffe ct s uponslave ry

, 1 26 ; spe cial charac t e rist ic s of

,1 46 ; among

th e Che roke e s and Choct aws ,

Graham,th e ship, th eEsqui

1 1 6

42

203

maux and,Gratry, Fathe r, on th e e ffe ct sof Christ ian b e n efic e n c e ,

his thought s ondeath,Gre e ce

,th e un ity of God

t au h t by th e sage s Of,Gre e n an ders in Paris,Gregory X VI . , Pope , abolit ion of slave ry by

,

Grie fs, hidde n ,

Growth of e n vy,HAPP INESS

,de sire for, inde

struc t ib le , 5 1 Pascal on,


240 INDEX .

PAGEHis t eaching as t o th e

origin of t he un iverse , 27 ,29 ; Mahome t admit s th esupernat ural con cept ionof

, 32 ; Renan’s opin ion

Of,1 1 1 , 1 1 2 ,

t h e work ofpardon an d t h e de at h of,9 0 ; Dupuis

’ opin ion of,1 82 ; various Opin ion s c once rn ing, 1 85

,1 86 ; at

Sychar, 2 ,opposit ion t o,

3 ; N icodemus and, 26 ,2 7 ; Mose s and, 29, 30

Je sus Christ , His work withre spe ct t o human mise ry,77 ann oun ce s H imse lf ast h e Saviour of t h e lost , 87t he Re de eme r, 92 ; had n opolit ical powe r, 1 1 3 ; h owH e has e xercise d His workOfl egislat orship, 1 5

° Cae sarand,Jews, un ity of God taughtby t h e

,31 ; in clin e d t o

idolat ry, 1 86 ; pre sen tposit ion of th e , 205 , 206 ;e xpe ct at ion of th e , 1

con side re d as th e an ce st orsOf t h e Christ ian s,Jouffroy, t h e de struct ion ofe very re ligious e lemen tin

,1 5—1 7

Joy,th e obje ct of th e he art

5 5 ; our de st in at ion , 56

th e Sign of h ealt h of bodyand soul , 56 ; c an b e produc e d by sorrow,

Joys,t hought s of Z en o on

physical, 72 ; in sufficie n cy

of eart hly joys, 77 ; t h en ature of t his l ife ’s, 65 ,66 in cre asing anddurable , 66

Julian th e Emperor, on

Christ ian b e n efic e n c e , 1 22 ;pe rse cut ion of Christ ian sby,

Julius Caesar on humansacrifice s,

KAJAKS, th e Ship Grahamand th e , 1 70, 1 7 1

P XGE

Keple r on the harmony oft h e world,Khon ds, human sacrifice samon g th e ,K ing Fre de rick I I . of Pruss ia an dAndIi oux th e poe t ,King of t h e Be lgian s

,his

e ffort s t Oput down slav ery ,Kingdom of Christ is farfrom be ing e stablishe d

,

lun z inger on t h e me nhun t e rs of A frica

,

LA IC,double se n se at tache d

t o t h e t e rm, 2 1 , 22

Lamart in e on th e c rucrfix,

1 1 1

Lamen nais on th e Fren chRe volut ion ,

Laplace on Christ ian ity,Law

, in con ven ien ce s of th echarit y of t h e ,

Laws, in flue n ce of th e gospe l upon our, 1 8 s implic ity of t h e world

’s,46

Fre sn e l, Ampere , an d

Faraday on t h e simplici tyof,

Lie big on mode rn scie n ce ,L ife

,Bérange r OII t h e dis

appoin tme n t s Of, 5 6 ; th ee st imat e suicide s put

upon , 5 6 ; t h e nature oft h e joys of

, 65 , vi ewsof Epicurus on , 70 , 7 1 ;views of Ze n o on , 72 ;views of Epict e tus on

, 72, 73L ivingst on e , his e ffort s t oput down slave ry, 1 31 ;his ideas of Mahome tanpropagan dism in A frica,1 57 crit ique of th e workof a supe rin t e nde n t ofmission s,

Livy on gladiat orial combat s , 133

ord ’s Suppe r, in st itut ionof th e , 90

,9 1

Lon i-Ching, th e god oft hunde r, 47

Louis X V . , his t it le , 1 38

Lumin ous un dulat ion s,Fre sn e l ’s the ory of, 46

INDEX .

P t GE

MAHOMET, 4 5 2 ; on th e

un it y of God , 31 ; proclaims t h e God of Abraham, 32 admit s th e divin emission of th e H e brewprophe t s, 32 ; and th e

supe rnat ural con cept ionof Je sus

,

Mah ome t an ism, 31 a de

t ach ed bran ch of Christ ian ity, 1 93

,1 94

Mahome t an s, 31 ; Fran ceat tacke d by t h e

,1 52 ;

Spain and Portugal c onque re d by th e ,

Malkoff,mission ary t o t h e

valleys of t h e A lta1, .

Man brought face t o facewit h his con scie n ce ,Mankind, progre ss of,Massacre of St . Bartholomew,

Mat e rialism , theory of, 0 11

th e origin of th e un ive rse ,28 th e e n emy of al l religious culture , 20 ; th en at ural product of reasonin it s in fan cy, 28 ; whe nit will disappe ar, 28

,29

Max Muller, le t t e r re ce ive dfrom th e Empe ror of th eBirman s by, 1 5 6 ; an cedot e of a conve rt e dH in doo by, 1 62 ; on

Christ ian ity, 1 93

Me n hun t ers in A frica,Klun z inge r on ,

131

M iddle classe s, th e influen ce

of Athe ism upon t h e , 38

Mimme rmus 0 11 th e de s

t in ie s of man , 58

M iracle , d efin it ion of a,Mission of Christ , al l Christ e ndom assert s th e divin e

,5 , 6

Mission work on t he A ltaianMoun tain s, 1 57

Missionary work,diflicul t ie s

of, arising from t h e missionarie s t hemse lve s, 1 63difficult ie s of, 1 58 sailorsand me rchan t s hinde r

,1 58, 1 59

Q

24 1

PAGEMode rn Civilisat ion

,n ature

of, 1 7 , 18Modern sc ren c e , th e influe n ce ofMon othe ism upon ,

44 ; dat e of, 44 ; th e b elie f of t h e founde rs and

in it iat ors of, 49, 50

Mon othe ism t h e t e achin gof Je sus, 29 ; n ot t he

mon opoly of Jews,Chris

t ian s,and Mahome tan s

,

33 it s in flue n ce uponwar

,41-43 it s in flue n ce

upon scien ce,44 ; it s influ

e n ce upon in dustry, 50, 5 1 ;n ot natural t o th e Jews , 1 86

Mon t e squie u on t h e influe n ce of the gospe l uponour laws, 1 8 ; on th e

Chri st ian re ligion, 1 99 , 200

Mose s an d Je sus, 29, 30

Mul ler, John de , on th e

appe aran ce of the gospe l , 1 87

Mussulman civilisat ion ,blot s upon th e , 1 95

NAN TES re vocat ion of th ee dict of, . 1 42

Nat ure , how t o ut iliz e th eforce s of, 52

Navrll e on th e renaissan ceof Athe ism, 37N e e d of con solat ion , whe n cearise s th e , 86

N e e d of forgive n e ss,whe n c e

arise s th e , 87N e e d of progre ss, 210, 21 1

N e gro trade , orig in of th e , 1 28

N egroe s sold in Paris, 1 28

N e ro,Rome burn t by

, 1 49

t h e accuse r an d pe rse cut orof th e Christ ian s,

N ew Te stame n t , t h e two

aspe ct s un de r which it

pre se n t s it se lf, 1 1 as a

hist orical docume n t ,N ewt on on t h e Simplicityof th e laws of th e world,N icodemus and Je sus,N ort h Ame rican Indianchie f, complain t of a,

INDEX.

OBSERVAT ION ,scien ce n ot

simply th e re sult of, 45 , 46

Obstacle s t o th e work ofChrist , th e e xt erior, 1 87

Offe rin sacrifice con tain sth e e eme n t of, 95

Olympus, summit s of, 40

Opin ion s con cern ing Je sus ,various,

Opium among the Chin e se ,70 ; how in t roduce d in

China,

1 61

Opium t i affic , Chrie st lieb on

O,t

he 1 61

p osit ion t o Je sus , 3pe r of Re dempt ion , inor

st itut ion of th e , 92

Organ iz at ion , faith in

Christ re sult s In a church, 8

Origin of human sacrifice s, 88, 95Origin of th e n egro t rade ,Origin of th e un ive rse , Je suson t h e , 27 , 28 Pan t heist ic ide a of t h e ,

Origin of Species, t ran slat or of Darwin ’s workon th e ,

Orthodox East ern Church ,mission s of th e , 1 57

Overthrow of idols, th e on lymean s of th e . 18

PAC IF ICATION , how far it s

work has gon e , 40,41

Pagan ism,ideas of some

Fre n ch and Germanmi t ers on , 5 7Pain ,

salutary fun ct ion s of, 80

Pain s, of th e body, 64 ; ofth e m in d, 65

Pan egyric of St . PaulBossue t

’

s, 148

Pan the ism ,on th e orrgin of

t h e un iverse , 29 whatis, 21 7 Christ ian The ism

and,Papuan s, th e ,Pardon ,

t h e doctrin e ande ffe ct s of,Paris, Gre e n lan ders

'

In , 1 62 ;n e groe s sold In ,

PAC EPascal on happin e ss, 55 ;on th e condit ion of man

,

60 his remarks on

Se n e ca’s ideas of suicide ,73 on th e e sse n ce of Sin , 87Paul at At he n s, 1 5 , 20, 75 ,1 01 at Corin th

,1 01

,1 48, 149

Paul Of Tarsus ,Bossue t ’s pan egyyIi c of, 1 48

Pe n thievre , Duke of, on t h esale of n egroe s in Paris, 1 28

Pe rsia, t heo

Shah of, in

Europe , 1 62

Philosophy, Troplong on

Christ ian . 1 1 3

Physical joys, thought s ofZe n o on , 72

Plat o on suicide , 74

Plat o and Socrat e s , how

t hey prepare d t h e workof t he gospe l“Ple asure , dissipat ion Of,Pliny t h e E lder on humansacrifice s,Pliny ’S le t t e r t o Trajah,Police force , how longn e ce ssary,Polit ical e con omy, ROSSi ont he influe n ce of Christ ian ity upon , 227 229Polit ics, 2 1

Polygamy,mortal couse

que n c e s of, 1 55 August ehoisy on ,

1 95

P01yn e sian s, Fran ce and th e , 1 60

Polyt he ism ,on th e origin

of t h e un iverse , 1 28 ; it se vil influe n ce upon reason , 47Portugal, t h e Mahome tan sconquer, 1 52

Posit ion of faith, th e , 27Posit ivism , t h e workingclasse s and, 38

Power, our,

re sult s fromour kn owledge , 52

Praye r, e sse n t ials of Christ ian ,

89

Praye rs of th e he athen, 89

Pre aching of t h e gospe l ,how it act s upon publicmorals, 1 68, 1 69


INDEX .

PAGEon th e , 83 ann oun cemen tof

,in con t e stable ,

Reuss on th e re surre ct ionof Christ , 83 on th e ac

t ion s of Je sus, 1 87, 1 88

Revival of th e doct rin e s ofDemocritus and Epicurus, 37Revocat ion of t he e dic t Of

Nan t e s,

1 42

Revolut ion of 1 848 an d th eCommun e of 1 87 1 , c on

trast be twe en th e ,Revolut ion s of slave s,Riche t , Dr.

,on pain ,

Robe spierre , his react ionagain st Athe ist ic t en de ncie s, 35 ; t h e Fren ch Conv e n t ion and, 35 , 36 Rousse au

’

s Opin ion of th e cre e dof,Roman t ribunal, Galil e ocon demn e d by a,Roman s, e le ct oral bribe ryamong th e ,

Rome , t h e Coliseum of, 1 33 ;gladiat ors of, 1 33 burn tby N e ro

,1 49, 1 50 ; t h e

m ission s of t h e Church of, 1 58

Rossi on th e in fluen ce oft h e gospe l upon polit icale con omy, 18 ; on t h e in

fluen c e of Chri st ian it yupon polit ical e con omy,

226, 227

Rousseau, de ism of, 34, 35his influen ce upon t h e

re ligious thought of h iscon t emporari e s, 36 0 11

t h e n at ural compassion oft h e human he art , 1 2 1 ; ont h e cre e d Of Robe spierre , 1 05

SACR IF ICE , t h e e lemen t s ofOfl

’

e ring an d at on eme n t in ,95

Sacrifice s, human , e ffe ct s ofChrist ian pre aching upon ,

93 t h e Khon ds and, 93 ;Offere d t o Bera, 94 ; orig inof

, 95 ; th e Gauls and, 95Julius Cae sar on , 96 ; ide asof th e Mexican s on , 96,

PAGE97 the Gre eks and

Roman s an d, 98 Horace ’spoems 0 11 , 98 Plin y t heE lde r 0 11

,98 t h e Socie t y

Islands an d, 9 9 ; disap

pe aran c e of th e cust omof offering

,9 7, 98

Sag e s of Gre e ce , unrty ofGod taught by th e , 33

Salvat ion of th e world, whatit suppose s, 5

amarit an s,the ir opin ion

of Je sus,2 good

,42

San dwich Islands, DeVarigny

’

s report on t h e ,1 71 ; arrival of first mission arie s in ,

Saurin on faithfuln e ss t o th edying, 1 09

Savan t s, athe ist ic, 49, 50

Saxon s, th e , compe lled byCharlemagn e t o acceptChrist ian ity, 1 53

Scen e s, two, at a ceme t ery, 85

Schmidt on gladiat orialcombat s, 1 35

Scien ce , influe n ce of mon ot he ism upon , 44 ; modern ,

44 H ersche ll, Humboldt ,and L ie big on

, 44 ; n ot

Simply t h e re sult of ob se rvat ion , 46 arre st ed in it scourse by Polythe ism, 47 ;founders and in it iat ors of,have al l be lieve d in God,49 ; th e Mah onre tan s and,1 5 5 ; provin ce of, 1 2

dat e of modern,44

Christ ian , 50 re lat ion sbe twe en re ligion and, 2 1 3, 2 1 4

Scien t ist s an d t he ologi an s,con flict s be twe e n ,

50

Script ure s, two differe n taspe ct s of t h e , 1 3

Sen e ca on suicide , 73

Separat ion of t he thoughtfrom Christ , re sult s of th e 1 5

Se rfdom,th e Cz ar of Russia

abolishe s , 1 29

Shah of Persia, his VIsrt tOEurope , 1 62

INDEX. 2 45

PAGE PAGESimplici ty of th e laws oft he world

,Cope rn icus,

N ewt on ,and Fre sn e l 0 11

t h e ,Sin , Pascal on t h e e ssen ceof

,.

Sin and pardon , th e ide a of,not t he mon opoly ofChr13t iari doct rin e ,

Slave -t rade in Africa,Slave -ship, arrival of firs t

,

in Europe ,Slave ry , 1 2 5 ; e ffe ct s of th egospe l upon , 1 26 Mahome tan coun t rie s and, 1 21 ;Liv in o st on e

’

s e ffort s t o

abolish,1 31 , 1 32 ,

Wilberforc e and

,1 29 ; Quake rs

and,Slave s, liberat ion of, byH e rme s and Chromac ius,1 27 ° Turks an d Arabsn e e d, 1 31 °

,posit ion of, in

an cie n t socie ty, 1 2 5 ; posit ion of th e Christ ian , in

t h e Primit ive Church,

1 26 , 1 2 7 re volut ion s of,221 ; an e cdot e of, 222

Social in flue n ce of re ligion,

2 1

Social ism, e vil , th e n at ure of, 22

Socie ty; importan ce of t h eque st ion of th e nat ure ofChrist upon , 1 7 , 1 8

Socie ty I slands, accoun t ofa visit t o th e , 99

,1 00

Socrat e s,his ideas of im

mortality , 83

Socrat e s an d Plato, 1 79

Sorrow,how it c an be come

t h e cause of joy, 7 9Soul , pain s of t h e , 65

South Se a Islands, an e cdot eof Williams

,t h e mis

sionary t o t h e , 1 61

Spain , t h e Mahome tan s c onque r, 1 5 2

Spartae us, re volt of, 1 26

pe c ial charact e rist ics of th egospe l , 1 46

pe e c re ligious, th e twodiffe ren t forms it assume s, 1 4

St . Bartholomew, th e mas

sacre of, 1 42

St at e and re ligion, 1 39

,1 40

Stat e mat t e rs and Churchmat t e rs , 1 22

Stat ist ics, re ligious , 1 45

St oics, t h e , 1 46, 1 79 : th e

morality of th e , 72 Christ ian s n ot ,

Succe ss of C hrist ian m ission s, 1 73 1 74 ; Darwinon t h e

Sufferin g, t he Christ ianaccept s, 78, 7 9 t he

Christ ian we lcome s, 79 ,

80 ; th e Christ ian ’s dut yw i th re spe ct t o , 76, 77 ;t he work of Christ wit hre spe ct to ,

Suicide , Pythagoras and

Plat o on, 74 , Se n e ca e rr

,

73 of thre e gladiat ors,

Summit of Olympus,Sun shin e , whe n it is n o t t hepredom in an t feature in

life,

.

Su e rnat ural con ce pt ion ofle sus admi t t e d by Mahome t ,

Suppe r of th e Lord, in st itut ion of th e ,

Suppre ssion of th e gospe l,con se que n ce s of t h e ,word, Christ

’s t e achin g ont h e employme n t of th e , 1 41 , 1 42

Sychar,Je sus at , 2

TAC ITUS on th e Christ ian s,1 50 ; his t e st imony corrce rn ing t h e origin ofChrist ian i ty,Tahit i, Darwi n on th e succe ss of Christ ian mission sin ,Tasman ian s , th e , behaviourof European s t owards,1 60 ; Dr. G e rlan d on ,

1 60

Te lemachus In t he Colis eumof Rome

,1 37

Temporal powe r, th e cle rgyshould n ot comman d the , 2 1

INDEX.

PAGETerror

,days of th e , 2 4

Te rt ullian ,his addre ss

,1 50, 1 51

Te stame n t , N ew,viewe d as

a hist orical docume n t , 1 1

The ism,Christ ian , and Pan

the ism, 21 7Th e ogn is of Megara on th e

de st in ie s of man , 58

The ologian s and scien t ist scon flict s be twe e n , 50

The ophilan thropist s, re ligion of t h e , 104

Thie rs on th e Fren chRevolut ion , 35

Tit us hands ove r capt iveJews for t he combat s oft h e Roman Coliseum,

Tomb, how th e Christ ianshould regard th e ,

Topffe r on th e influe n ce oft h e gospe l upon our

art s,Trajan

,Pliny’s le t t e r t o,

Tran se s, th e , at th e birth ofa chfld,

Troplong on th e Influe n ce oft h e gospe l upon our laws,18 ; on Christ ian philosophy,Truce of God, what is mean tby th e ,Truth th e Obje c t of re ason ,

Turkey in Europe , Blanquion th e social condit ionof

, . 1 55

Turks,the ir n e edof slave s, 1 31

UNCONVERTED pe rson s in

th e Church in t he days ofCon stan t in e , 1 52, 1 53

Undulat ion s, lumin ous Fre sn e l ’s the ory of, 46

Un it y, th e in habitan t s oft h e e arth t e nding t owards, 3

Un it y of God, 29 ; wh e ret aught , 31 °

as t aught byMahome t , 31

Un ive rsal complain t t h e

source s of,

64

Un iversality, Christ ran ityposse sse s a prin ciple of, 231

PAC EUn ive rse

,th e t e aching of

Je sus on th e orig in Of

th e, 27, 29

VAR IGNY, DE , his report ont h e San dwich Islan ds , 1 7 1

Ve das,t he ir doc trin e of sin

and pardon , 88

Vic t or Hugo,his opin ion of

Voltaire , 34

Vin ce n t de Paul , 1 24

Vin e t on th e doct rin e ofredempt ion

, 1 02

Visible de clin e of Buddhism ,

Vogt , M . , on th e ide as ofat on emen t involve d in

human sacrifice s,

Volcan o in th e Islan d ofHavai

,visit t o a

,

Voltaire , de ism of,34 ;

Vict or Hugo ’s opin ion of,34 ; his crit icism ofPascal, 60 on t h e condit ion of man

WAR,progre ss made in

,41 ,

42 th e influe n ce ofMOIIO

the ism upon ,We st e rn Christ e n dom , re

con ciliat ion be twe e n t h e

two bran che s of,Wilbe rforce and t h e abolit ion of slavery,Williams, missionary t o t heSouth Sea Islan ds, an e c

dot e of, 1 61

Wome n,de ath oftwo young

H e lle n ic, 222

Word of Christ , t h e influe n ce of th e , 1 1 7Word

,Of th e Church, 1 4 ;

of t h e public place , 1 5

Work of Christ , ext eriorobstacle s to t h e

,1 87

Work of God, a,what it

u pose s, 5

WOT of t h e m ission s, hindran ce s t o th e ,Working classe s

,Athe ism

among th e , 37


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· DEDI CATION To THE REV. WILLIAM BURT POPE, D. D., WESLEYAN MINISTER, AND THEOLOGICAL TUTOR OF THE DIDSBURY WESLEYAN THEOLOGICAL INSTITUTION. DEAR AND HONOURED SIR ...

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