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lying in his wake rather than by the ready stars.
Rather than trace out the painful pathway that has led to the present "slough of despond,"—rather than follow it on until we plunge into a gulf of fathomless night, we will retrace our journey under the guidance of a thought enunciated by the great Huxley: "Whether from the brutes or not, Man is assuredly not of them." We will hold that conception of Man to be truest which commends itself to the highest reason and utmost spirituality of the race. For the embodiment of that ideal we shall go to Him in whose praise all tongues unite and in whose royal presence the world in reverence stands. However much both heart and reason bid us adore Him as the Son of God, it is only necessary for our present purpose that we consent to crown Him King of Men. Let us regard Him, if you please, as the highest product of the evolutionary process—the finality toward which the species has ever striven. Must not we upon this view place upon His brow the "royal diadem" and bow before His Majesty?
What then has the ideal man to say touching those principles necessary to a synthesis of individual or social life? What are the maxims upon which His own life was lived? Came He to the world seeking His own glory or gain? Listen: "The Son of Man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister and to give His life as a ransom for many." What said he concerning greatness? "He that would be chief among you let him be your servant." Not a word smacking of the spirit of modern economics. No strife or competition as to who shall get most but as to who shall give most.
found to have issued from an insistence upon that which ought to be rather than upon that which is. Humanity heeds not those voices which say 'go,' but those which say 'come.' He that has been lifted up it is, that draws all men unto Him.
Does any one say that this philosophy though very fine and very heroic, is thoroughly impracticable and hence not to be seriously proposed as a remedy for the ills that beset us? Are we met by the objection that these considerations are ideal, while the conditions which confront us are real? Alas, when shall we ever learn that the secret of all true progress lies in the assertion of the ideal as opposed to that which is called the real. All reform will be
The philosophy of Christ so far from being impracticable is in harmony with the general constitution of things. In the light of His teaching turn we now to the contemplation of Nature. See the constant interchanges and interactions between the multitudinous factors and forces throughout her ample range. Nothing exists from itself yet evermore persists through sacrifice. The spring bursting forth from beneath the rock gives up its waters to the brook. The brook goes singing merrily among the reeds and over the pebbles to pour its liquid treasure into the river. The river with majestic flow bears its silver volume downward to the sea. But even here there is no hoarding. The sun sends down his golden buckets and draws the waters into the clouds. The cloud, driven by the wind, sails across the landscape and touched to compassion at sight of the parched earth dissolves in showers of sacrificial tears. And yet it has not perished. It shall live again in the gladder music of re-animated life and in the thanksgiving of the human heart.
To this idea of self-sacrifice the world must surely come. All other principles have been tried and found wanting. The fair ideal so securely thorned upon the reason and conscience of the race is gradually asserting its dominion. The streaming mists of sophistry and the darksome clouds of materialistic thought cannot much longer contend with the pure white light streaming from the Sun of Righteousness. "The night is far spent," and soon will come the dawn of a new cosmic day in whose splendor redeemed humanity will unfold a beauty and power of life realizing the encomium of Israel's sweet singer: "Thou hast made Man a little lower than the angels and hast crowned him with glory and honor."