which it has by sanguinary rebellion so ruthlessly upset? Concede some heroism to the Protestant leaders at its barricades, and then all that can be said is said, for the gross selfism of this democratic mobocracy is as great an outrage upon logical and philosophical sense as can be conceived. The selfishness of its scheme of solitary individual salvation is so far from contributing to health of mind, that it is constantly breaking out in some measly eruption of insane performances, called for euphemy sake religious revivals! Protestantism has prevented the establishment of a second gigantic usurpation to take the place of the first, which it has upset; but it has not succeeded in supplying the want of that philosophic type of religion which is the need of the age. Protestantism is little better than a jargon like that which was heard at the ancient theological tower of Babblement. Listen to its vague, vapid, verbose, and windy platitudes about salvation or personal safety from hell fire, that one thing needful, about sacraments, ordinances, or signs and pledges of divine grace, and then contrast all this vigorous theological "talking" with the miserable fact, stamped upon every phase of its civilization, that it knows absolutely nothing of true faith.

Mr. Holyoake, in his "Trial of Theism," page 166, hits this blot in the proud escutcheon of evangelicalism very cleverly, showing how completely its professors contrive to repeat the old pharisaic feat of straining at a gnat while they manage to bolt a whole camel.

This essayist says:

"The religiousness of Christ consisted in a dependence "which civilization has discarded, and which all modern "churches treat as fanatical in men. No one sooner than "Christ would repudiate the cold and relative dependence "which Unitarianism recognises. The trustfulness of Christ "held nature and life in imperial subordination. His royal "words were, 'take no thought for the morrow; consider "the lilies of the field, how they grow, yet they toil not, "neither do they spin.' These are the words of a conjuror, "and the inspiration of a devotee. After two thousand years "there would be a power in them to stir the souls of men,

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THE HEROISM OF SELF SACRIFICE.

303

were not all civilization in a conspiracy to disprove their "truth. What Christian now takes Christ at his word? Are they not all anxious in spite of it? Do not all strive in "face of the promise? What sect presents the grace of per"fect trust ?"

What sect does? Mr. Holyoake may well put these questions, but, alas! they are unanswerable. Jesus Christ himself has warned these latter day saints of the insecurity of their too much profession. He asked "When the Son of Man "cometh shall he find faith upon earth?"

The conventional meaning attached to the word faith is a very fair illustration of the truth of Mr. Isaac Taylor's remark in his "Physical Theory of Another Life," that the constant presence of words in the mind, slackens its curiosity by leading it to believe that in fact it knows what it does not know.

When Jesus of Nazareth said to his wondering disciples, "have faith in God," he used a term that stands for "have "in yourselves the power of God." Now Baron Bunsen's definition of Deity, in his "Signs of the Times," formulates an expression that stands for abnegation of self-interest, and self-consciousness. He says "the whole (that means the "absolute and infinite existence) subsists by free surrender "of the individual (self) for the common good." Thus the power or faith of Deity, which Jesus recommended his disciples to have in themselves, to remove mountains of difficulty and doubt is that of self-sacrifice; and thus every man who freely surrenders self, and sacrifices himself for the common good, has in himself the mustard seed of faith which will expand for ever and ever.

"It is more blessed to give than to receive" said Jesus. Deity gives, and gives irrespective of the devil's catechism of good and evil. But this action of giving, as predicated of the absolute, can only be conceived in relation to him who receives to give again; that is, the relative or son; and thus giving is properly defined to be a relative action, requiring a correlative to answer it. Inability to give, therefore involves inability to receive, that is, in respect of giving and receiving

in a definite and relative, and not in the indefinite, absolute, and unconditioned sense. The instant that the receiver misappropriates by keeping and refusing to give, that instant he becomes incapable of any further receiving. Self has dammed up the flux of life, and if the stream is not kept open, self will keep the atom revolving inwards till it stops and perishes. Deity therefore, as the lord and giver of life, is the great paternal self-giver or sacrificer, and the Son in his office of kingly priesthood, is equally the self-sacrificer of his own life. If Deity be the infinite self-giver or self-sacrificer, then his great antagonist must be whoever is the worshipper of self and self-interest. Thus, if man asks who Satan is, the answer is; the echo of self-conscious regard. Whoever loves his own life shall lose it; but sacrifice your self-love and life, and you shall find it as it fluxes from the great selfsacrificer in the universe. Throughout the Bible the grand attribute of Deity is self-sacrifice, and from Abraham's offer to give up what was dearer to him than all else in the world to Jesus' surrender of his own life, the same course of action is manifested in the children, as revelations of the universal Father's will. The part assigned to the Messiah in the Psalms is pre-eminently that of self-sacrifice. He is there reported to say of Deity, "sacrifice and burnt offering thou "desirest not," but this applies to the vulgar idea of the blood shed of an offering. The work of the Messiah is not that of abolishing sacrifice. It is simply crowning the work by sacrificing himself. "do thy will, O God." If the will surrender of his infinite existence for the common good, equally must the will of the Son be surrender or sacrifice of individual life for the same end. "The good shepherd," said Jesus "is he who lays down his own life for the "flock." His personal salvation is a secondary consideration.

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Lo, I come to of God is free

True heroic action consists in abnegation of self. It is duty done without the vulgar idea of reward, or fear of punishment. Heroic action is self-sacrifice upon the altar of duty, and the duty that is thus done is that which is per

WORSHIP OF OBEDIENCE TO ETERNAL LAW. 305

formed in obedience to the ideal worship of the infinite unseen self-sacrificer, the Lord and Giver of life.

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But let anyone study the prevailing notion of religion, and it is wholly selfish salvation. Pre-eminently is this the type of protestantism? Take for instance that great light of puritanic zeal, John Bunyan. Here the great idea pourtrayed in the character of Christian, in his allegory, "The Pilgrim's Progress," is from first to last salvation of SELF. How true is Baron Bunsen's remark, that it is the intolerance of theologians which has made Christianity exclusive, and that this principle of intolerance is latent in every existing religion, by virtue of the self-seeking principle in the natural man which desires to make its egomet, or its own specific salvation, the centre of everything.

The best refutation of the illogical absurdities expressed and implied in the conventional caricature of vital faith, is to point to those cases selected by Jesus himself for the instruction of his disciples.

There was that of the centurion, whose concept of faith was illustrated by reference to the discipline of his soldiers, whose obedience was due to him as a commissioned officer, and therefore under and not over authority. Thus the centurion believed that Jesus' commission, like his own, was under and not above natural processes.

Then there was the instance of the poor widow who cast all her living into the treasury. This poor woman, by her sacrifice of every available means of subsistence, showed her faith, which was the antithesis of theological and financial economy, which recommends prudent people to save something for a "rainy day" and for a "sore foot," as if Deity made it a rule never to attend to the wants of sore-footed folks during rainy weather.

Well, this poor widow showed that she had more faith in one little finger than may be found in whole religious bodies numbering hundreds of thousands of people in the year Anno Domini 1861. Her prayer must literally have been "Father, give me daily bread." Such prayer as this necessitates the minimum amount of vocalization and the maximum

of heroio action, for it implies self-sacrifice, discipline, and endurance. This widow probably knew nothing about theology, and still less of political economy; but even admitting that she was not ignorant of political economy, it is hardly likely that she would have ignored it in its place, or gone out of her way to abuse it. It is probable that its truth would have been admitted, since it is only those who have nothing to set up in its place that cry it down; but if a man's active faith is pledged to political economy, in the name of fortune let him stand by his religion, and not mock Deity by idle vocalization, and quotations from Nicholas Brady, and Nahum Tate. If the poor widow, in her ignorance of the profundities of metaphysical theologies, gravely erred, and outraged the prudent maxims of political economy or free trade, she knew more of the true science of life, and what to live for; and thus her dependence upon Deity was of that character which Mr. Holyoake has truly said is one "which civilization has discarded, and all "modern churches treat as fanatical in men."

The rest of the subscribers who cast into the treasury with the poor widow, were as much more prudent as they were more respectable. Poverty is treated in civilization as a crime, and respectable folks naturally avoid the imputation of criminal poverty with as lively a horror as they would the soft impeachment of being afflicted with the itch. So the

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quality folk" gave a conventionally proper proportion of what they had to give, and it amounted to a very respectable sum, many score shekels in fact. Nobody can blame them, for they did what society requires pious people to do, and in society's fashion they kotoued to society's God. Who this Deity is let the citizens in the gigantic metropolis of the city of the dead answer, if Mr. Home can be adequately paid to make them speak.

It is a

The faith of the present age is a caricature. vocative case that is wanting in vitality, for it is stereotyped both in expression and action. It is as fixed as a floating buoy that is purposely chained to one spot to shew where a fine ship has sunk, and to warn mariners off the foundered wreck.