THE

RELIGION OF HUMANITY.

+

IT

I.

TENDENCIES.

T is admitted truth now, that the thought of a period represents the life of the period, and affects that life by its reaction on it; and therefore he who would move strongly straightforward must move with its providential current. It is not ours to remould the age, to recast it, to regenerate it, to cross it or struggle with it, but to penetrate its meaning, enter into its temper, sympathize with its hopes, blend with its endeavors, helping it by helping its development and saving it by fostering the best elements of its growth. The interior spirit of any age is the spirit of God; and no faith can be living that has that spirit against it; no Church can be strong except, in that alliance. The life of the time appoints the

creed of the time and modifies the establishment of the time.

Among those who are counted prophets in the new dispensation, none is greater than Chemistry. It is a Natural Science, taking Nature in its largest sense. For while in the lower material sphere it pulverizes the solid substances of the earth-reduces adamant to vapor, and behind the vapor touches the imponderable creative and regenerating forces-in the upper intellectual sphere it grinds to powder the mountainous institutions of man, resolves establishments into ideas, and behind the bodiless thought feels the movement of that Universal Mind whose action men call the Holy Spirit.

Our generation is distinguished above preceding generations by its instinctive faith in this discovery, and by its persistent efforts to avail itself of these fine vital forces. Not precisely Not precisely a return to Nature, for we never went to her, but an approach to Nature, is the general tendency of things. Faith in natural powers is the modern faith-often unconfessed, sometimes disavowed, not seldom indignantly rejected, but constant still the only constant faith. Medicine says, "Lend the physical system a helping hand, and if cure is possible it will cure itself. Open door and window; gratify the love for light and air; put Dr. Sangrado out of doors; get rid of

splint and bandage as soon as you can, that the joint may regain its own suppleness and the spiculæ of the bone may work themselves into their own places; water the physic and reduce drugs to a minimum; meddle not with the recuperative forces of the body."

In Education the new method consults the aptitudes of the mind, humors the natural bent of the genius, and tries to charm the faculties into exercise. The very word education-the mind's leading out, as into fresh fields and pas tures new-in place of the old word, instructionthe mind's walling in, as with brick and stone -tells the whole story of our progress in this direction.

In Social Science the popular theories favor the largest play of the social forces-the most unrestricted intercourse, the most cordial concurrence among men, free competition, free trade, free government, free action of the people in their own affairs-the voluntary system. The community, it is felt, has a self-regulating power, which must not be obstructed by toll-gates, or diminished by friction, or fretted away by the impertinent interference of officials. Ports must be open, custom-houses shut; over-legislation is the bane.

In the training of the young the doctrine comes into fair repute at last, that the disposi

tion must be a natural growth, not a manufactured article; that each character has its own proper style, which must be considered, its own law of development, which must be consulted. If you

have a lily in your garden you will not deal with it as you would with a sun-flower. The old system decreed uniformity, repression, the same treatment for every individual, and that a harsh one. Eradicate the special taste; shock the natural sensibilities; cross the working of the spontaneous being; break the disposition in. Now we consult our children's dispositions, favor them and work with them as much as possible, substitute encouragement for rebukes and love for law. If the child goes wrong we throw the blame not on its nature, but on something by which its nature is limited, fretted and hampered. We do not know what it needs, or knowing, cannot supply it. The child is to be pitied for the misfortunes of its parentage or its environment, not punished for its depravity. Solomon's rod is burned to ashes.

In the discipline of personal character, again, the great mark of our generation is a deep faith in the soul's power to take care of itself, and a desire that it may exercise that power to the utmost. The curer of souls learns a lesson from the physician of the body. Formerly, was one tormented by a doubt, he stopped thinking; now, he thinks harder. Formerly, was one saddened by a