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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/21981.txt b/21981.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..2d6e1d9 --- /dev/null +++ b/21981.txt @@ -0,0 +1,2031 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Essentials of Spirituality, by Felix Adler + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Essentials of Spirituality + +Author: Felix Adler + +Release Date: June 30, 2007 [EBook #21981] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ESSENTIALS OF SPIRITUALITY *** + + + + +Produced by David B. Alexander + + + + +THE ESSENTIALS OF SPIRITUALITY + +by Felix Adler + +The Essentials of Spirituality + +The first essential is an awakening, a sense of the absence of +spirituality, the realized need of giving to our lives a new and +higher quality; first there must be the hunger before there can be +the satisfaction. + +Similar effects are often produced by widely differing processes. In +the psychical world that quality which we call spirituality may be +associated with and evoked by Theism, or the belief in a Divine +Father; by Pantheism, as in the case of Spinoza, whose face at the +very first glance impresses you with its spiritual cast; or even by +the Buddhist belief in Nirvana. It may also be attained by following +the precepts and striving after the ideals of Ethical Culture. For +spirituality is not indissolubly associated with any one type of +religion or philosophy; it is a quality of soul manifesting itself in a +variety of activities and beliefs. + +Before we proceed further, however, we must hazard a definition +of the word. In the region of mental activity which is called the +spiritual life vagueness is apt to prevail, the outlines of thought are +apt to be blurred, the feelings aroused are apt to be indistinct and +transitory. The word 'spiritual' becomes a synonym of muddy +thought and misty emotionalism. If there were another word in the +language to take its place, it would be well to use it. But there is +not. We must use the word 'spiritual,' despite its associations and +its abuse. We shall endeavor, however, to attach a distinct and +definite meaning to the word. Mere definition, however, is too +abstract and nakedly intellectual. Perhaps a description of some +types of character, combined with definition, will be the better +way. + +Savonarola is surely one of the commanding figures in history. His +fiery earnestness, his passion for righteousness, the boldness with +which he censured the corruptions of the Roman Court, the +personal qualities by which he--a foreigner and a mere monk--made +himself for a short period the lawgiver, the prophet, and virtually +the dictator of Florence--that Florence which was at the time the +very gemmary of the Renaissance--his sudden fall and tragic death; +all combine to attract toward him our admiration, pity, and love, +and to leave upon our minds the impression of his extraordinary +moral genius. And yet, though a spiritual side was not wanting in +Savonarola, we should not quote him as an outstanding exemplar +of spirituality. The spiritual life is unperturbed and serene. His +nature was too passionate, he was too vehement in his philippics, +too deeply engrossed in the attainment of immediate results, +too stormy a soul to deserve the name of spiritual. + +Again, our own Washington is one of the commanding figures in +history. He achieved the great task which he set himself; he +secured the political independence of America. He became the +master builder of a nation; he laid securely the foundations on +which succeeding generations have built. He was calm, too, with +rare exceptions; an expert in self-control. But there was mingled +with his calmness a certain coldness. He was lofty and pure, but +we should hardly go to him for instruction in the interior secrets of +the spiritual life. His achievements were in another field. His claim +to our gratitude rests on other grounds. The spiritual life is calm, +but serenely calm; irradiated by a fervor and a depth of feeling that +were to some extent lacking in our first president. Lincoln, +perhaps, came nearer to possessing them. + +Again, we have such types of men as John Howard, the prison +reformer, and George Peabody, who devoted his great fortune to +bettering the housing of the poor and to multiplying and improving +schools. These men--especially the latter--were practical and sane, +and were prompted in their endeavors by an active and tender +benevolence. Yet we should scarcely think of them as conspicuous +examples of the spiritual quality in human life and conduct. +Benevolence, be it never so tender and practical, does not reach +the high mark of spirituality. Spirituality is more than benevolence +in the ordinary sense of the term. The spiritual man is benevolent +to a signal degree, but his benevolence is of a peculiar kind. It is +characterized by a certain serene fervor which we may almost call +saintliness. + +But perhaps some one may object that a standard by which +personalities like Savonarola, Washington, Howard and Peabody +fall short is probably set too high, and that in any case the erection +of such a standard cannot be very helpful to the common run of +human beings. Where these heroic natures fall short, can you and I +hope to attain? To such an objection the reply is that we cannot be +too fastidious or exacting in respect to our standard, however poor +our performance may be. Nothing less than a kind of divine +completeness should ever content us. Furthermore, there have +been some men who approached nearer to the spiritual ideal than +the patriots and the philanthropists just mentioned--some few men +among the Greeks, the Hindus, and the Hebrews. And for the +guidance of conduct, these more excellent spirits avail us more +than the examples of a Savonarola, a Washington or a Howard. To +be a prophet or the lawgiver of a nation is not within your +province and mine. For such a task hardly one among millions has +the opportunity or the gifts. To be liberators of their country has +been accorded in all the ages thus far covered by human history to +so small a number of men that one might count them on the fingers +of a single hand. Even to be philanthropists on a large scale is the +restricted privilege of a very few. But to lead the spiritual life is +possible to you and me if we choose to do so. The best is within +the reach of all, or it would not be the best. Every one is permitted +to share life's highest good. + +The spiritual life, then, may be described by its characteristic +marks of serenity, a certain inwardness, a measure of saintliness. +By the latter we are not to understand merely the aspiration after +virtue or after a lofty ideal, still pursued and still eluding, but to a +certain extent the embodiment of this ideal in the life--virtue +become a normal experience like the inhalation and exhalation of +breath! Moreover, the spiritually-minded seem always to be +possessed of a great secret. This air of interior knowledge, of the +perception of that which is hidden from the uninitiated, is a +common mark of all refinement, aesthetic as well as moral. In +studying the face of Leonardo da Vinci's 'Mona Lisa,' for instance, +one will find that it is this interior insight that explains the so-called +"cryptic smile." In the case of aesthetic refinement, the secret +discloses itself as at bottom delicacy, the delicacy which prevents +intrusion on the personality of others; which abhors a prying +curiosity; which finds subtle ways of conveying esteem and +delicate modes of rendering service. But the secret of moral +refinement is of a far higher order, transcending aesthetic +refinement by as much as goodness is superior to mere charm. The +secret in this case consists in the insight vouchsafed to the +spiritually-minded of the true end of human existence. + +Constituted as we are, there exist for us lower and higher ends. +This distinction is fundamental for ethics. Food is necessary; +without it we cannot live. But the getting of food--however +necessary--is a lower end. Knowledge is a necessary end, and a +higher one. The practical moral ends, such as the reformation of +prisons, the improvement of the dwellings of the poor, are yet +higher ends. But above all these is the highest end, that of moral +completeness, of perfection, not in one particular but in every +particular. Spirituality consists in always keeping in view this +supreme end. The spiritually-minded person is one who regards +whatever he undertakes from the point of view of its hindering or +furthering his attainment of the supreme end. If a river had a +consciousness like the human consciousness, we might imagine +that it hears the murmur of the distant sea from the very moment +when it leaves its source, and that the murmur grows clearer and +clearer as the river flows on its way, welcoming every tributary it +receives as adding to the volume which it will contribute to the +sea, rejoicing at every turn and bend in its long course that brings +it nearer to its goal. Such is the consciousness of a spiritually-minded +human being. Or to take a simile from human experience. There +are times when we go abroad to travel just for change of scenery +and the refreshment which change brings with it. When we go in +this mood we are likely to be intent on wayside pleasures, and +at every stage of the journey, at every town where we halt, we +shall suffer ourselves to be engrossed in the points of interest +which that temporary abiding-place has to offer us, careless of +what may await us farther on. But there are other times when +we go abroad on serious business. Some congress of scientists or +fellow-workers is to meet in which we are to take our part; or there +is a conflict being waged in which we are to bear our share of +wounds or death, as in the case of the Japanese, who are now +setting out from their homes toward the battlefields of Manchuria; +or there is some loved one at a distance who needs us, calls us, +expects us. Then the stations on the way are unable to captivate +our attention; we are impatient to pass them by; we welcome each +one as we approach it as bringing us one step nearer to the desired +goal. + +Some such analogy will help us understand the inner state of a +spiritually-minded person. He thinks always of the ultimate end. +In whatever he does or omits to do he asks himself, Will it advance +me or divert me from the ultimate goal? Since spirituality consists +in keeping in mind the ultimate goal, it follows, in accordance with +what was said in the beginning, that there must be various types of +spirituality, corresponding to the various ways in which the +ultimate goal is conceived. For those to whom the final end of +human life is union with God, the Divine Father, the thought of +this Divine Father gives color and complexion to their spiritual life. +They think of Him when they lie down at night and when they rise +up in the morning; his praise is ever on their lips; the desire to win +his approbation is with them in all their undertakings. To those +who regard the attainment of Nirvana as the supreme end, like the +Buddhists, the thought of Nirvana is a perpetual admonition. To +those who view the supreme end of life as moral perfection, the +thought of that perfection is the constant inner companion. The +moral man, commonly so-called; the man who is honest, pays his +debts, performs his duties to his family; the man who works for +specific objects, such as political reform; this man, worthy of all +respect though he be, is still intent on the stages of his journey. +The spiritual man, as we must now define him from the point of +view of Ethical Culture, is the man who always thinks of the +ultimate goal of his journey, i. e., a moral character complete in +every particular, and who is influenced by that thought at all times +and in all things. Spirituality, in this conception of it, is nothing but +morality raised to its highest power. + +And now, let us ask what are some of the conditions on which the +attainment of such a life depends. The prime condition is to +acquire the habit of ever and anon detaching one's self from one's +accustomed interests and pursuits, becoming, as it were, a +spectator of one's self and one's doings, escaping from the +sweeping current and standing on the shore. For this purpose it is +advisable to consecrate certain times, preferably a certain time +each day, to self-recollection; to dedicate an hour--or a half-hour, +if no more can be spared--to seeing one's life in all its relations; +that is, as the poet has put it, to seeing life "steadily and seeing it +whole." The sane view is to see things in their relation to other +things; the non-sane view is to see them isolated, in such a way +that they exercise a kind of hypnotic spell over us. And it makes no +difference what a man's habitual interests may be, whether they be +sordid or lofty, he needs ever and anon to get away from them. In +reality, nothing wherewith a man occupies himself need be sordid. +The spiritual attitude does not consist in turning one's back on +things mundane and fixing one's gaze on some supernal blaze of +glory, but rather in seeing things mundane in their relation to +things ultimate, perfect. + +The eating of bread is surely a sufficiently commonplace +operation. Yet Jesus brake bread with his disciples in such way +that that simple act has become the symbol of sublimely spiritual +relations, the centre of the most august rite of the Christian +Church. In like manner the act of sitting down to an ordinary meal +with the members of our family may, if seen in its relations, be for +us a spiritual consecration. The common meal may become for us +the type of the common life we share, the common love we bear. + +On the other hand, seemingly much more lofty pursuits may have a +narrowing and deadening effect on us if we do not see them in +their ultimate relations, and so divest them of reference to life's +highest end. For instance, the pursuit of science may have this +effect, if the sole object of the scientist be to perform some +astonishing piece of work for the purpose of attracting attention or +to secure a well-salaried position, or even if he be so wedded to +his specialty as to fail to be sensitive to the relations of it to the +body of truth in general. And the same holds good of the +narrow-minded reformer, of whom Emerson has said that his +virtue so painfully resembles vice; the man who puts a moral idol +in the place of the moral ideal, who erects into the object toward +which all his enthusiasm goes some particular reform, such as the +single tax, or socialism, or public parks, or a model school; the +man, in short, who strives for a good instead of striving for +goodness. Whatever our pursuits may be, we should often +mentally detach ourselves from them, and, standing aloof as +impartial spectators, consider the direction in which they are taking +us. + +This counsel is frequently urged on grounds of health, since the +wear and tear of too intense absorption in any pursuit is apt to +wreck the nervous system. I urge it on the ground of mental sanity, +since a man cannot maintain his mental poise if he follows the +object of his devotion singly, without seeing it in relation to other +objects. And I urge it also on the ground of spirituality, for a +salient characteristic of spirituality is calmness, and without the +mental repose which comes of detachment we cannot import +calmness into our lives. There are some persons, notably among +those engaged in philanthropic activities, who glory in being +completely engrossed in their tasks, and who hug a secret sense of +martyrdom, when late at night, perhaps worn out in mind and +body, they throw themselves upon their couch to snatch a few +hours of insufficient sleep. Great occasions, of course, do occur +when every thought of self should be effaced in service; but as a +rule, complete absorption in philanthropic activity is as little sane +and as little moral as complete absorption in the race for gain. The +tired and worn-out worker cannot do justice to others, nor can he +do justice to that inner self whose demands are not satisfied even +by philanthropic activity. If, then, self-recollection is essential, let +us make daily provision for it. Some interest we should have--even +worldly prudence counsels this much--as far remote as possible +from our leading interest; and beyond that, some book belonging +to the world's great spiritual literature on which we may daily feed. +The Bible used to be in the old days all-sufficient for this purpose, +and it is still, in part at least, an admirable aid to those who know +how to use it. But there are other books, such as the legacy of the +great Stoics, the writings of our latter-day prophets, the essays of +Arnold and Carlyle and Emerson, the wisdom of Goethe. These +noble works, even if they do not wholly satisfy us, serve to set +our thoughts in motion about high concerns, and give to the mind +a spiritual direction. + +A second condition of the spiritual life has been expressed in +the precept, reiterated in many religions, by many experts in things +relating to the life of the soul: "Live as if this hour were thy last." +You will recall, as I pronounce these words, the _memento mori_ +of the Ancients, their custom of exhibiting a skeleton at the feast, +in order to remind the banqueters of the fate that awaited them. +You will remember the other-worldliness of Christian monks and +ascetics who decried this pleasant earth as a vale of tears, and +endeavored to fix the attention of their followers upon the pale +joys of the Christian heaven, and you will wonder, perhaps, that I +should be harking back to these conceptions of the past. I have, +however, no such intention. + +The prevailing attitude toward the thought of death is that of +studied neglect. Men wish to face it as little as possible. We know, +of course, what the fate is that awaits us. We know what are the +terms of the compact. Now and again we are momentarily struck +by the pathos of it all; for instance, when we walk through some +crowded thoroughfare on a bright day and reflect that before +many years this entire multitude will have disappeared. The +rosy-cheeked girl who has just passed; the gay young fellow at her +side, full of his hopes, confident of his achievements, acting and +speaking as if the lease of eternity were his; that "grave and +reverend seigneur," clad with dignity and authority--all will have +gone, and others will have taken their places. Yet, as a rule, we are +not much affected by such reflections. When one of our friends has +met with a painless death we are apt to solace ourselves with the +hope that perhaps we shall be as lucky as he; at all events, we +know that when our time comes we must take our turn. Even +those who look forward with apprehension to the last moment, +and who when it approaches, cling desperately to life, are prudent +enough to hold their peace. There is a general understanding that +those who go shall not mar the composure of those who stay, and +that public decorum shall not be disturbed by outcries. + +This is the baldly secular view of the matter, and this view, though +based on low considerations, in some respects is sound enough. +And yet I reiterate the opinion that to live as if this hour were our +last--in other words, to frankly face the idea of death--is most +conducive to the spiritual life. It is for the sake of the reflex action +upon life that the practice of coming to a right understanding with +death is so valuable. Take the case of a man who calls on his +physician, and there unexpectedly discovers that he is afflicted with +a fatal malady, and is told that he may have only a few months +longer to live. This visit to the physician has changed the whole +complexion of life for him. What will be the effect upon him? If he +be a sane, strong, morally high-bred man, the effect will be +ennobling; it will certainly not darken the face of nature for him. +Matthew Arnold wished that when he died he might be placed at +the open window, that he might see the sun shining on the +landscape, and catch at evening the gleam of the rising star. +Everything that is beautiful in the world will still be beautiful; he +will thankfully accept the last draught of the joy which nature has +poured into his goblet. Everything that is really uplifting in human +life will have a more exquisite and tender message for him. The +gayety of children will thrill him as never before, interpreted as a +sign of the invincible buoyancy of the human race, of that race +which will go on battling its way after he has ceased to live. If he +be a man of large business connections, he will still, and more than +ever, be interested in planning how what he has begun may be +safely continued. If he be the father of a family, he will provide +with a wise solicitude, as far as possible, for every contingency. He +will dispose of matters now, as if he could see what will happen +after his departure. On the other hand, all that is vain or frivolous, +every vile pleasure, gambling, cruelty, harsh language to wife or +child, trickery in business, social snobbishness, all the base traits +that disfigure human conduct, he will now recoil from with horror, +as being incongruous with the solemn realization of his condition. +The frank facing of death, therefore, has the effect of sifting out +the true values of life from the false, the things that are worth +while from the things that are not worth while, the things that +are related to the highest end from those related to the lower +partial ends. The precept, "Live as if this hour were thy last," is +enjoined as a touchstone; not for the purpose of dampening the +healthy relish of life, but as a means of enhancing the relish for +real living, the kind of living that is devoted to things really worth +while. As such a test it is invaluable. The question, "Should I care +to be surprised by death in what I am doing now?"--put it to the +dissipated young man in his cups, put it to the respectable +rogue--nay, put it to each one of us, and it will often bring the +blush of shame to our cheeks. When, therefore, I commend the +thought of death, I think of death not as a grim, grisly skeleton, a +King of Terrors, but rather as a mighty angel, holding with averted +face a wondrous lamp. By that lamp--hold it still nearer, O +Death--I would read the scripture of my life, and what I read in +that searching light, that would I take to heart. + +Finally, there is a third condition of the spiritual life which I would +mention, and which comes nearer to the heart of the matter than +anything that has yet been said. Learn to look upon any pains and +injuries which you may have to endure as you would upon the +same pains and injuries endured by someone else. If sick and +suffering, remember what you would say to someone else who is +sick and suffering, remember how you would admonish him that +he is not the first or the only one that has been in like case, how +you would expect of him fortitude in bearing pain as an evidence +of human dignity. Exhort yourself in like manner; expect the same +fortitude of yourself. If any one has done you a wrong, remember +what you would adduce in palliation of the offence if another were +in the same situation; remember how you would suggest that +perhaps the one injured had given some provocation to the +wrongdoer, how you would perhaps have quoted the saying: +_"Tout comprendre est tout pardonner"_--"to understand is to +pardon," how you would in any case have condemned vindictive +resentment. In the moral world each one counts for one and not +more than one. The judgment that you pass on others, pass on +yourself, and the fact that you are able to do so, that you have the +power to rise above your subjective self and take the public +universal point of view with respect to yourself, will give you a +wonderful sense of enfranchisement and poise and spiritual dignity. +And, on the other hand (and this is but the obverse of the same +rule), look upon everyone else as being from the moral point of +view just as important as you are; nay, realize that every human +being is but another self, a part of the same spiritual being that is in +you, a complement of yourself, a part of your essential being. +Realize the unity that subsists between you and your fellow-men, +and then your life will be spiritual indeed. For the highest end with +which we must be ever in touch, toward which we must be ever +looking, is to make actual that unity between ourselves and others +of which our moral nature is the prophecy. The realization of that +unity is the goal toward which humanity tends. + +Spirituality depends upon our tutoring ourselves to regard the +welfare of others--moral as well as external--as much our concern +as our own. What this practically means the following illustration +will indicate. A certain bank official, a man of excellent education +and of high social standing, committed a crime. He allowed himself +in a moment of lamentable weakness to use certain trust funds +which had been committed to him to cover losses which he had +sustained. He intended to replace what he had taken, of course, +but he could not do so, for he became more and more deeply +involved. One night as he was alone in his office it became plain to +him that the day of reckoning could no longer be put off. He was +at the end of his resources. The morrow would bring exposure and +ruin. Then the temptation seized him to make away with himself. +He had a charming wife and two lovely daughters. He was the +revered head of the household; in the eyes of his family the +paragon of honor. He was universally esteemed by his friends, who +knew not his temptation and his fall. On that night in the lonely +office he could not bear to think of meeting the future, of being +exposed as a criminal in the eyes of his friends, of bringing upon +his family the infamy and the agony of his disgrace. Should a man +in his situation be permitted to commit suicide? If we were at his +elbow should we allow him to do so? This question was submitted +to one of my Ethics classes. The students at first impulsively +decided in the affirmative, for they argued, as many do, that right +conduct consists in bestowing happiness on others, and wrong +conduct in inflicting suffering on others; and now that the man had +committed the crime, they maintained he could at least relieve +those whom he loved of his presence by taking himself out of their +way. True, someone said, the exposure was inevitable in any case, +and the shock of discovery could not be averted; but we were +forced to concede that from the point of view of suffering, the pain +involved in the sudden shock could not be compared to the +long-drawn-out anguish which would result if he continued to live. +For presently he would forfeit his liberty; he would sit as a prisoner +in the dock. His wife and daughters, loyal to their duties even +toward an unworthy husband and father, would be found at his +side. They would hear the whispers, they would see the significant +nods, they would endure all the shame. Later on, when the trial +was at an end, the prisoner would stand up to hear the verdict. +They would still be near him. Still later there would be the +pilgrimage to the prison on the Hudson. They would see their +beloved husband and father in striped garb among the scum and +refuse of society, and these weary journeys would be repeated +during long years until his term was over and he returned a broken +and outcast man to what was once a home. Could not this +lamentable issue at least be forestalled? But then there came a +new light into our discussion. One of the students suggested that +he must face the consequences of his wrongdoing, and that one of +the consequences is the very suffering which he inflicts upon the +innocent. He must see that day by day. That would be a part of his +expiation, the purifying fire that may consume the dross of his +nature. And, on the other hand, it would be right for the innocent +to bear, not the guilt, but the consequences of the guilt of the +wrongdoer whom they have loved, whom they still love. For this is +the holy law: that the other whom we love shall be taken into our +self as a part of our very self, that in his joy we shall rejoice as if +his joy were ours, that in his achievements we shall triumph, that in +his humiliations we shall be humbled, and that we shall work out +his redemption by traveling with him the hard road that leads out +of the dark depths upward again to the levels of peace and +reconciliation. + +The spiritual life depends on self-recollection and detachment from +the rush of life; it depends on facing frankly the thought of death; it +is signalized, especially, by the identification of self with others, +even of the guiltless with the guilty. Spirituality is sometimes +spoken of as if it were a kind of moral luxury, a work of +supererogation, a token of fastidiousness and over-refinement. It is +nothing of the sort. Spirituality is simply morality carried to its +farthest bounds; it is not an airy bauble of the fancy, it is of "the +tough fibre of the human heart." + + +II. THE SPIRITUAL ATTITUDE TOWARD ONE'S +NEIGHBOR. + +Sunday, Nov. 27, 1904. + +Those whom we call our neighbors, our fellow-men, may stand to +us in a threefold relation. Some possess gifts far greater than our +own, and in point of development are our superiors; some are on +the same level; and some are much inferior to us. The spiritual +attitude toward our neighbor--though always governed by the +same principle, expresses itself in different ways, according as +our neighbor is related to us in one or another of these three ways. + +I recently read a biography of Matthew Arnold, the author of +which constantly speaks of himself as Arnold's disciple. It is not +often nowadays that we hear men proclaim themselves disciples +and glory in their discipleship. At the present day the tendency is +for every one to assert an equality with others; and most persons +would resent the imputation of subordination implied in such a +word as disciple. And yet the writer in question is a self-respecting +man, he is thoroughly alive to his dignity, and he has keen and +unsparing words for certain of the faults of the master whom he +reveres. He is not blind, he is not wax in the hands of the master, +he does not look upon him with undiscerning admiration, and yet +he takes toward him the reverent attitude--what I should call the +spiritual attitude--for he recognizes that this master of his is a +casket in which nature has deposited a treasure of extraordinary +value, that he possesses a genius much superior to that of others. +The loyal disciple is concerned that this genius should appear in its +full potency and in undiminished radiance. To this end is the +upward look, the appreciation and reverence, and to this end also +the misgiving and the remonstrance when the great man deviates +from the course which he ought to follow. The same attitude of +loyalty we sometimes find among the disciples of great artists, and +the followers of great religious teachers. Loyalty is a virtue which +is somewhat underrated at the present day. Loyalty is not +debasing, not unworthy of a self-respecting man; it is but another +name for the spiritual attitude toward those who have a superior +genius, to whose height we are lifted by our appreciation of them. + +Furthermore, in our spiritual relation toward those who occupy +about the same plane of development with ourselves, the same +principle of sympathy with the best possible attainment should be +the rule. To rejoice in the failure of others, to accentuate in our +thinking and in our conversation the faults of others, to triumph at +their expense, is the utterly unspiritual attitude. To desire that +others may manifest the excellence that is latent in them--be it like +to or different from our own, to desire that they shall have credit +for every excellence they possess, and to sedulously aid them in +developing such excellence as they can attain to, that is the +spiritual attitude. + +I have spoken of superiors and equals, of our attitude toward +those who are more developed than we are, and toward those who +are about equally developed; but my address to-day will be mainly +occupied with our duty toward those who are or seem to be +wholly undeveloped. The fundamental principle of Ethics is that +every human being possesses indefeasible worth. It is comparatively +easy to apply the principle of anticipating our neighbor's latent +talents to the highly gifted, to the great authors, scientists, +statesmen, artists, and even to the moderately gifted, for +their worth is, in part, already manifested in their lives. But it is not +so easy to apply or justify the principle in the case of the obscure +masses, whose lives are uneventful, unilluminated by talent, charm, +or conspicuous service, and who, as individuals at least, it might +appear, could well be spared without impairing the progress of the +human race. And yet this doctrine of the worth of all is the +cornerstone of our democracy. Upon it rests the principle of the +equal rights of even the humblest before the law, the equal right of +all to participate in the government. It is also the cornerstone of all +private morality; for unless we accept it, we cannot take the +spiritual attitude toward those who are undeveloped. + +The doctrine, then, that every man possesses indefeasible worth is +the basis of public morality, and at the same time the moral +principle by which our private relations to our fellow-men are +regulated. What does it mean to ascribe indefeasible worth to +every man? It means, for instance, that human beings may not be +hunted and killed in sport as hunters kill birds or other game; that +human beings may not be devoured for food as they have been by +cannibals or sometimes by men in starvation camps when hard +pressed by hunger; that human beings may not be forced to work +without pay, or in any way treated as mere tools or instruments for +the satisfaction of the desires of others. This, and more to the same +purpose, is implied in the ascription of indefeasible worth to every +man. Moreover, on the same principle, it follows that it is morally +wrong to deprive another of the property which he needs for his +livelihood or for the expression of his personality, and to blast the +reputation of another--thereby destroying what may be called his +social existence. And it also follows that a society is morally most +imperfect, the conditions of which are such that many lives are +indirectly sacrificed because of the lack of sufficient food, and that +many persons are deprived of their property through cunning and +fraud. The life of animals we do take, and whatever secret +compunction we may have in the matter, the most confirmed +vegetarian will not regard himself in the light of a cannibal when he +partakes of animal food. The liberty of animals we do abridge +without scruple; we harness horses to our carriages, regardless of +what may be their inclinations, and we do not regard ourselves as +slaveholders when we thus use them. Why is there this enormous +distinction between animals and men? Are the Hottentots so +greatly elevated above the animal level; are the lowest classes of +negroes so much superior in intelligence to animals? Have the +black race and the brown race any claim to be treated as the equals +of the white? Among white men themselves is there not a similar +difference between inferiors and superiors? Such questions +naturally suggest themselves; and they have been asked at all +times. It seems obvious that value should be ascribed to those who +possess genius or even talent, or at least average intelligence; but +why should value be ascribed to every human being just because +he wears the human form? + +The positive belief in human worth on which is based the belief in +human equality, so far as it has rooted itself in the world at all, we +owe to religion, and more particularly to the Hebrew and Christian +religions. The Hebrew Bible says: "In the image of God did He +create man"--it is this God-likeness that to the Hebrew mind +attests the worth of man. As some of the great masters on +completing a painting have placed a miniature portrait of +themselves by way of signature below their work, so the great +World-Artist when He had created the human soul stamped it with +the likeness of Himself to attest its divine origin. And the greatest +of the Hebrew thinkers conceived of this dignity as belonging to all +human beings alike, irrespective of race or creed. In practice, +however, the idea of equal human worth was more or less limited +to the Chosen People. At least, to keep within the bounds of the +artistic simile, the members of the Hebrew people were regarded +as first-proof copies, and other men as somewhat dim and less +perfect duplicates. + +In the Christian religion a new idea was introduced. The belief in +the worth of man was founded on the doctrine of redemption. The +sacrifice of atonement had been offered up for the benefit of all +persons who chose to avail themselves of it. Christ had come to +save the Gentile as well as the Jew, the bond as well as the free, +men, women and children of every race, living under every sky, of +every color of skin and degree of intelligence. The sacred respect +which we owe to every human being is due from this point of view +to the circumstance that every human being is a possible +beneficiary of the Atonement. For him too--as the theological +phrase is--Christ died upon the cross. But in Christianity too we +find that the idea of brotherhood, of equal worth, universal as +it is in theory, in practice came to be considerably restricted. It did +not really extend to all human beings as such; it did not extend to +those who refused to be the beneficiaries of the act of atonement. +In reality, it applied only to Christians or to those who were not +averse to receiving the Christian faith. The theological formulation +of the fundamental idea which we are discussing, therefore, is +beset by two difficulties: it is limited in application, and it is based +on theological conceptions. As soon as these theological +conceptions are relinquished, the doctrine of equality is in danger +of being abandoned. + +In 1776, the founders of the American Republic undertook to +supply a new and a secular foundation for this doctrine. In the +Declaration of Independence, Jefferson wrote: "We hold these +truths to be self-evident, that all men are created free and equal." +In other words, he put forth the astonishing proposition that +human equality is self-evident. Many of us would incline to the +opinion that the opposite is self-evident, that the inequalities which +subsist between men are so palpable that we cannot overlook +them. If, however, we inquire what led Jefferson to this statement, +we shall find that, at the time when the Declaration of +Independence was written, there existed a basis of fact that gave +color to his assumption. The population of the United Colonies +was small--only about three millions--and on the whole +homogeneous. The great majority of the people were +agriculturists, pursuing the same occupations and on the whole +exhibiting the same traits. They were all, or almost all, of vigorous +stock, capable of self-government, jealous of their rights, +independent in spirit. At that particular time, the points of +similarity and equality among the members of the American +Colonies far outweighed the points of dissimilarity. It was, then, to +a certain extent on facts of experience, and not entirely on the +hypothesis of the eighteenth century philosophy, that Jefferson's +famous proclamation rested. + +Since Jefferson's day the facts have markedly changed. We have +passed beyond the agricultural stage, and have entered the stage of +industrial development. The occupations of our citizens have +become greatly diversified. Large bodies of foreign immigrants +have come to us. If we survey the conditions of American life at +present, we are strongly impressed with the differences that exist +between the various strata of our population: differences in mental +ability, differences in vital energy, differences in the point of +culture attained, differences in capacity to rise. As a consequence, +the Declaration of Independence is treated by many as an obsolete +document, and its assertions as mere bombast and rhetoric; +unjustly so, because the truth which it attempts to convey is valid, +though the form in which the truth is expressed and the grounds on +which it is put are no longer adequate. + +We have arrived, then, at this pass: the theological foundation +for the doctrine of human equality has failed or is failing us; the +facts to which the Declaration of Independence appealed have +altered. Are we, then, to give up the belief in human equality--that +priceless postulate of the moral law, the basis alike of democracy +and of private morality? At times it seems to us that the world is +almost ready to do so. Nietzsche in Germany puts it forth as a +philosophic principle that humanity exists not for the democratic +purpose of securing the highest development of all, but for the +aristocratic purpose of producing a race of supermen, an elite of +strong, forceful, "leonine" beings. And in his doctrine that the +many exist as a kind of pedestal for the grandeur of the few, he +finds support the world over. Men are but too ready in this age, +when the energies of the strong have been unfettered and moral +restraints have become weakened, to put Nietzche's doctrine into +practice too. From the Congo we hear appalling accounts of the +cruelty of civilized men in their dealings with the uncivilized. +Rubber and ivory, it appears, must be obtained in large quantities +to secure a handsome profit on investments that have been made in +those regions. Railroads must be built to make the supply of +rubber and of ivory accessible. In consequence, a system of forced +labor, of virtual slavery, has been imposed on the miserable natives +in order to make the building of these railroads possible. Human +life has not been spared, for human life in the Congo is as dust in +the balance when weighed against the profits from rubber. Punitive +expeditions have been organized (in other words, wholesale +slaughter has been resorted to), in order to coerce the reluctant +natives to bring in their supplies more punctually. The wives and +daughters of the natives have been seized, brutally chained, and +detained as hostages in order to influence their husbands and +fathers to a more ready obedience. The story of the Congo reads +like an incredible nightmare; the civilized world is aghast at the +partial revelations of it which have been published. From Armenia +we hear similar stories of ruthless contempt for human life and +merciless outrage. With Kishineff and Siberia in mind, we need not +comment on the conditions that exist in Russia. In the United +States, the heartrending circumstances that accompany negro +lynchings, the conditions in the sweated industries, and the +widespread evil of child labor show us clearly enough how little +the doctrine of the intrinsic and indefeasible worth of man has +as yet become the property of even the most advanced nations. In +the face of all these odds on the other side, in the face of these +confederate forces working the world over for the abasement of +man, how urgent is the appeal to rescue and fortify the doctrine, to +make it effectual, first in our own conduct and then in that of +others! And on what tenable foundations can we rest it, that it may +become operative? + +First, as to its meaning. It does not mean equality of gifts, or +equality of mental energy, or equality in any of the traits that lead +to successful careers. It means equality in the sense that each is the +vehicle of some talent, however small, the bearer of some gift, +however seemingly inconsiderable, which in the sum total of +humanity's development is needed; that each one in his place and +with his gift, however insignificant in appearance, is in fact +indispensable. + +And what is the reason for ascribing such worth to human beings? +The sole reason is, that the moral law enjoins us to do so. Before +ever we have discovered whether a man has worth in him or not, +the moral law enjoins us to ascribe it to him, to treat him as if he +had it, to see in him the light of the possibilities which he has never +made good and which he never wholly will make good: and thus, +and thus only, shall we bring to light, in part at least, the precious +things in his nature, the existence of which we can only divine. The +moral law is wholly misunderstood if it be founded on the actual +worth or value of men, for none of us has great worth or value. +The moral law is a law for the eliciting of possibilities. Briefly put, +it enjoins that we shall invest others with a garment of light, that +we shall ascribe worth to others and to ourselves, in order that +they and we may become worthy. This is the spiritual basis of the +doctrine of equality; this is the spiritual conception which should +regulate our attitude toward our neighbors. + +And yet if there were no evidence at all to support our faith in +human goodness, our faith, however vigorous at first, would soon +decline, and hope and courage might utterly desert us. If men on +nearer acquaintance turned out to be, as some pessimists have +represented them to be, hard egotists, ingrates, slanderers, +backbiters, envious, incapable of generous admirations, sodden in +sensuality, knaves devoid of scruple; if experience indeed bore out +this sweeping impeachment, if especially the so-called masses of +mankind were hopelessly delivered over to the sway of brutal +instincts, of superstition and folly; the faith of which I speak might +justly be termed mere fatuousness, and the rule of acting on the +assumption that men are better than they appear would turn out a +blind delusion. But the striking fact is, that as soon as we act on +the principle of looking for the latent good in others, we are +rewarded by finding far more than we had any reason to expect. + +Take as an instance the masses of the poor and ignorant, upon +whom we are so apt to pass sweeping judgments, as Carlyle did +when he said that the population of England was forty millions-- +mostly fools. The experience of those who have had to do with +popular education does not corroborate this rash condemnation. +There is hardly a child in our public schools that is not found to +possess mental power of some sort, if only we possess the right +method of calling it out. The new education is new and significant +just because it has succeeded in devising methods for gaining +access to the latent mental power, and thus reaching what had +been supposed to be non-existent. Every so-called educational +campaign in the field of politics brings out the same truth. The +capacity for hard thinking and sound judgment which resides in the +working class is surprising to us, only because in our preposterous +pride we had supposed them to be baked of different clay than we +are. In the matter of artistic endowment, too, what wonderful +discoveries do we constantly make among poor children, even +among children that come from the lowest dregs of society! What +fine fancy, what prompt response to the appeal of the beautiful, in +spite of all the debasing inheritance! + +But it is, in the last analysis, the moral qualities upon which +our respect for human nature rests, and in this respect how often +are we astonished, yes and abashed, when we observe the extent to +which the moral virtues express themselves in the life of those +who, in point of so-called culture, are infinitely our inferiors! What +power of self-sacrifice is displayed by these poor people, whom +sometimes in our wicked moods we are disposed to despise; what +readiness to share the last crust with those who are, I will not say +hungry, but hungrier! Who of us would take into his own house, +his own bedchamber, a dying consumptive, a mere acquaintance, in +order that the last days of the sufferer might be soothed by friendly +nursing? Who of us would make provision in our will to share our +grave with a worthy stranger, in order to avert from him the +dreaded fate of being buried in the Potter's Field? Which of our +young men would be willing to refuse the proffered opportunity of +an education in one of the foremost colleges in the land, in order +to stay with the old folks at home and work at a menial occupation +for their support? Who of us would give up the joys of youth to +devote his whole life to the care of a bed-ridden, half-demented +parent? Yet all of these things and many others like them I have +known to be done by people who live in the tenement houses of +this great city. It sometimes seems as if the angelic aspect of +human nature displayed itself by preference in the house of +poverty, as if those who possessed no other treasure, no other +jewels with which to adorn themselves, were compensated for +their penury in other ways by these priceless gems of the most +unselfish virtue. Such conduct, of course, is not universal. There +are abundant instances of the opposite. But the truth remains that +it is the worth which those who seem to lead the least desirable +lives display toward others that assures us of their own worth. +This, too, is the lesson of the oft-quoted and oft-misunderstood +parable of the Good Samaritan, upon which here, for the moment, +I should like to dwell. + +The Jewish State in the time of Jesus was substantially an +ecclesiastical aristocracy. The highest rank was occupied by the +priests and their assessors, the Levites; after them, sometimes +disputing the first place, came the doctors learned in the sacred +law; below them the commonalty; and still lower in the social scale +were the people of Samaria, who accepted the current Jewish +religion only in part, and who were regarded by the blue-blood +ecclesiastical aristocrats with contempt, indeed almost as outcasts. +This fact it is necessary to remember in order to understand the +parable. The designation Good Samaritan has become so associated +with the idea of mercifulness, that I doubt not there are +many persons who have the impression that Samaritans in the +ancient Hebrew days were people specially noted for their +benevolent disposition. Nothing of the kind, of course, is true. The +Samaritans were a despised lower stratum of the population of +Palestine. Read the parable in this light, and you will perceive that +the moral of it is not as commonly stated--every one who has need +of me is my neighbor; but that there is a far deeper meaning in it. + +There came to Jesus one day a man versed in the sacred law, and +asked him what he must do to inherit eternal life. And Jesus +replied: The substance of right conduct is plain enough. Why do +you ask as if it were a thing very recondite and difficult? Love thy +God and thy neighbor. But the doctor of the sacred law, wishing +to justify himself (wishing to show that the way of the upright life +is not so plain, that it may be difficult to decide whom one should +regard as one's equal, to whom one should ascribe worth), asked: +Who is my neighbor? And Jesus replied in the words of the +well-known parable concerning a certain man who had fallen among +thieves, and these stripped him of his raiment and left him for dead +on the public road that runs between Jerusalem and Jericho. +Presently a member of the high aristocracy, a priest, passed by, but +paid no attention to the sufferer; then another, a Levite, came that +way, looked at the man who was lying there helpless, and turned +and went on his journey. Then there came one of those low-caste +despised Samaritans; and he acted like a tender human brother, +bound up the man's wounds, poured oil and wine into them, etc. +And Jesus said: Which one of these three showed himself to be a +neighbor to the man that had fallen among thieves? In which of the +social classes did there appear to be the truest understanding of the +conduct which moral duty requires of us toward our fellow-men--in +the upper classes or in the lowest? And the answer evidently is--in +the lowest. The point of the parable is that the Samaritan himself, +whom priest and Levite and doctor of the law refused to regard +as a neighbor, was worthy to be treated as a neighbor, because +he understood, as they did not, how to treat others as neighbors. +The lesson of the parable is a twofold one: not only that the +wounded man lying untended on the road was a neighbor because +of his need, but more especially that the Samaritan was a neighbor +because he responded to the need, and set an example of truly +human behavior to those who had doubted whether, because of +his extreme social degradation, he was himself to be regarded as human. + +The moral qualities in men, then, constitute their most universal +title to respect, and these qualities we find in all social grades and +among all races and nationalities. We find them among the +Chinese, as their devoted family life, the honesty of their +merchants, and the ethics of Confucius indicate. We find them +among the negroes, not only in the case of exceptional persons +like Booker Washington or Dubois or Atkinson, but also in the +undistinguished life of many an obscure man and woman, whom to +know more intimately is to learn to respect as a neighbor and a +moral equal. What we need to build up our faith in human +goodness is the clairvoyance that discerns the hidden treasures of +character in others. And one other quality is indispensable for the +moral appreciation of our neighbors, namely, the quality of +humility. Strange as it may seem, the less we plume ourselves on +our own goodness, the more we shall be ready to believe in the +goodness of other people; the more we realize the infinite nature +of the moral ideal and our own distance from it, the more we shall +esteem as of relatively small importance the distance that separates +us from others, the slight extent to which we may morally surpass +them. The more we are aware of our own frequent and serious +shortcomings, the more, when we perceive the moral delinquencies +of others, shall we recognize in their nature the same recuperative +agency which we believe to be in ourselves, namely, the power of +divine regeneration that can make all things new. If we regard +ourselves as morally little and yet as never lost, we shall regard no +one else as lost, however morally little he may seem to be. + +Respect, then, for the indefeasible worth of every human being +must be based not on theological systems which are fast decaying, +nor on the fancied self-evidence of Jefferson's Declaration, but +solely on the moral law which commands us to ascribe such worth +to others whether we perceive it or not, nay, to create it in others +by ascribing it to them. + +Such is the spiritual attitude toward our fellow-men. And though +our confidence may not always be demonstrably justified by the +result, though we not always succeed in uplifting others, yet by +pursuing this line of conduct we ourselves at all events shall be +uplifted, our own life will be touched to finer issues. + + +III. THE SPIRITUAL ATTITUDE TOWARD OPPRESSORS. + +Sunday, Dec. 4, 1904. + +The problem of our spiritual attitude toward positive badness, +social and individual wrongdoing, cruelty and oppression, is far +more difficult of solution than the problem of our attitude toward +worth really existent but concealed. The thorny question, how we +are to deal with wicked persons, whether we are to observe the +spiritual attitude toward them, and in what that attitude consists, +requires the most sincere and straightforward treatment. + +Should we cultivate an attitude of indifference in such cases? A +ruffian cruelly beats his horse, the poor beast that has rendered him +faithful service for many a day, but is feeble now and sinks beneath +its load. With curses and the sharp persuasion of the lash, the +merciless driver seeks to force the animal to efforts of which it is +plainly incapable. Can we stand by and witness such a scene in +philosophic calm? Shall we say that the wretch is the product of +circumstances, and cannot be expected to act otherwise than he +does? Shall we liken evildoers generally, as at present is customary +in certain quarters, to the sick? Shall we say that such men are the +outcome of their heredity, their education, their environment? I +have known of a husband who in a state of intoxication brutally +struck and injured his wife, while she was holding in her arms a +babe not eight days old. Shall we say that that man was morally +sick, that he could not help becoming intoxicated, and therefore +was not responsible for the havoc he wrought when the demon of +drink had gained possession of him? Shall we say of the syndicate +of traders who hunt the natives on the Congo like rabbits, +massacre and mutilate them, that they are sick? A bad deed done +with intention argues badness in the doer. We impute to the man +the act and its consequences. We cannot separate the sin from the +sinner, and merely condemn sin in the abstract. There is no such +thing as sin in the abstract. Sin is sin only when it is incorporated +in the will of a human individual. We condemn the sinner because +he has wedded himself to the sin. If this were not the case, we +might as well close our courts of justice. We hold men accountable, +then, for their misdeeds, whatever speculative philosophy may urge +to the contrary. How could we revere virtue if we did not stigmatize its +opposite; how could we believe in human worth if we did not condemn +unworth where it appears? + +But the ordinary judgment stops short right here. It recognizes +the particular badness of a particular act, and desires that the agent +be made to suffer for it. It says, this act is the expression of an evil +disposition, and it identifies the whole man with the particular act +of which he was guilty. The spiritual attitude is characterized by +discriminating between the particular act and the whole of the +man's nature. It recognizes that there is an evil strand; but it also +sees or divines the good that exists along with the evil, even in the +most seemingly hopeless cases. It trusts to the good, and builds +upon it with a view to making it paramount over evil. Upon the +basis of this spiritual attitude, what should be our mode of dealing +with the bad? There are a number of steps to be taken in order, +and much depends on our following the right order. + +The first step is to arrest the course of evil, to prevent its channel +from being deepened, its area from being enlarged. Pluck the whip +from the hand of the ruffian who is lashing his beast; stay the arm +that is uplifted to strike the cowardly murderous blow. Much has +been said of the need of considering the good of society, of +protecting the community at large from the depredations of the +violent and fraudulent; and of subjecting the latter to exemplary +punishment, in order to deter others from following their example. +But the welfare of society and the welfare of the criminal are +always identical. Nothing should be done to the worst criminal, not +a hair of his head should be touched merely for the sake of +securing the public good, if the thing done be not also for his +private good. And on the other hand, nothing can be done to the +criminal which is for his own lasting good that will not also +profoundly react for the good of society, assuring its security, and +deterring others from a like career of crime. The very first claim +which the criminal has upon the services of his fellow-men is that +they stop him in his headlong course of wickedness. Arrest, +whether by the agents of the law or in some other way, is the first +step. The most spiritual concern for a degraded and demoralized +fellow-being does not exclude the sharp intervention implied in +arrest, for the spiritual attitude is not mawkish or incompatible +with the infliction of pain. + +This, I think, will be readily granted. But the second step, a step +far more important than the arrest of the evildoer in order to arrest +the evildoing, is more likely to be contested and misunderstood. +The second step consists in fixing the mark of shame upon the +offender and publicly humiliating him by means of the solemn +sentence of the judge. It may be asked, What human being is fit to +exercise this awful office of acting as judge of another? Remember +the words of Shakespeare in King Lear: ". . . .See how yond +justice rails upon yond simple thief. Hark in thine ear: change +places; and . . . . which is the justice, which the thief?" Or recall +what the Puritan preacher said when he saw from his window a +culprit being led to the gallows: "There, but for the grace of God, +go I." In other words, had I been born as this man was, had I been +played upon by the influences to which he was subject, had I been +tempted as he was, how dare I say that I should not have fallen as +he did? Had it not been for some grace extended to me through no +desert of mine, I might be traveling the road on which he travels +now. + +Furthermore, can we say that the sentence of the judge is +proportioned to the heinousness of the deed? Is the murderer who +in a fit of uncontrolled passion has taken a human life--it may have +been his first and only crime--necessarily more depraved than the +thief; or is the thief in jail who has indeed broken the law, +necessarily more depraved than numbers of others who have +dexterously circumvented the law, violating the spirit though +keeping within the letter of it? Is even the abject creature who +strikes his wife more abandoned than a man of the type of +Grandcourt in _Daniel Deronda_, whose insults are dealt with a +marble politeness, and who crushes his wife's sensibilities, not with +a vulgar blow but with the cold and calculating cruelty of a cynic? +When it comes to passing moral judgments and fixing blame, and +especially to measuring the degree of another's guilt, who of us is +good enough, who of us is pure enough, who of us is himself free +enough from wrong to exercise so terrible an office? Is not Lear +right, after all: ". . . .change places; and. . . .which is the justice, +which is the thief?" + +It may be said in reply to these objections: First, that the judge +does not speak in his private capacity, but that he delivers the +judgment of mankind on the doer and the deed, serving as the +mouthpiece of the moral law, so far as it is incorporated in the +human law. We should select the highest characters available for +so exalted a duty, but freedom from even great human infirmity we +cannot expect to find. Again, it is not the judge's business to fix the +degree of moral guilt; that not even the best and wisest of men can +do. The inscrutable fact of the degree of moral guilt eludes all +human insight. Only omniscience could decide who is more guilty +relatively to opportunities, advantages, circumstances; who has +made the braver effort to escape wrongdoing; whether the admired +preacher, or the culprit on his way to the gallows; whether the +President in the White House or the wretch behind the bars. The +office of the judge is to pronounce that crime has been committed, +irrespective of the subtle question of the degree of guilt. Murder +has been done, property has been stolen, the sin and the sinner +wedded together. The office of the judge is to declare the fact of +that infelicitous union, and to pronounce the penalty according to +the law. And this, in particular. The object of the punishment +which the law pronounces is not vindictive chastisement of the +culprit. The object of punishment is purely reformatory. Only it +must not be forgotten that there can be no reformation without +penitence, and no penitence without self-abasement. And this +consists in confessing one's self guilty, admitting that the guilt has +become a part of one's being, and humbling one's pride to the +ground. The public sentence pronounced by the judge, the shame +which he fixes upon the culprit, has, then, for its object to pave the +way toward reformation, to break down the defenses which the +sophistry of wickedness sets up, to compel the man to see himself +as others see him, to force him to realize to the full the evil of his +present state. Not to blast him utterly, not to exclude him forever +from the kindly society of men, but to lead him into the way along +which--if he travel it--he may eventually return, though perhaps +only after many years, to human fellowship. If the verdict is +pronounced in any other spirit, it is false and inhuman. The +methods to be employed to bring about reformation must often be +severe and painful, and one of these methods is shock, shock sharp +and sudden enough to loosen the incrustations of evil habit, +and to shake a wicked nature down to its foundations. The +purpose of the trial of a criminal in a court of justice, and of the +verdict in which the trial culminates, is to supply such a shock, a +searching and terrible experience, yet salutary and indispensable in +order that better things may ensue. + +From what has been said, it follows that the death penalty as a +punishment even for the worst crimes is morally untenable; for +either the culprit is really irredeemable, that is to say, he is an +irresponsible moral idiot, in which case an asylum for the insane is +the proper place for him; or he is not irredeemable, in +which case the chance of reformation should not be taken from +him by cutting off his life. The death penalty is the last lingering +vestige of the _Lex Talionis_, of the law which attempts to +equalize the penalty with the crime, a conception of justice which +in all other respects we have happily outgrown. It does not +necessarily follow that the immediate abolition of capital +punishment is expedient. It is not expedient in fact, because of the +condition of our prisons, and because of the abuses to which the +pardoning power of the State is subjected; because security is +lacking that the worst offenders, before ever they can be +reclaimed, may not be returned unrepentant into the bosom of +society, to prey upon it anew with impunity. But, then, we must +not defend the death penalty as such, but rather deplore and do our +utmost to change our political conditions, which make it still +unwise to abolish a form of punishment so barbarous and so +repugnant to the moral sense. + +The step which follows the arrest and condemnation of the +evildoer is isolation, with a view to the formation of new habits. A +change of heart is the necessary pre-requisite of any permanent +change in conduct; but the change of heart, and the resolution to +turn over a new leaf to which it gives birth, must be gradually and +slowly worked out into a corresponding practice. The old body of +sin cannot be stripped off in a moment; the old encumbrance of +bad habits cannot be sloughed off like a serpent's coil. The new +spirit must incorporate itself slowly in new habits; and to this end +the delinquent must be aided in his efforts by a more or less +prolonged absence from the scene of his former temptations. +He must be placed in an entirely new and suitable environment, +and encouraging pressure must be exerted upon him to acquire +new habits of order, diligent application to work, obedience, +self-control. It is upon this idea that the moral propriety of +imprisonment and of prison discipline is based, whether the actual +treatment of prisoners be in accord with it or not. + +And so we may pass on at once to the last and chief element in +the process of the reclamation of the evildoer, namely, forgiveness. +An angel's tongue, the wisdom and insight of the loftiest of the +sages, would be required to describe all the wealth of meaning +contained in the sublime spiritual process which we designate by +the word pardon. It is a process which affects equally both parties +to the act, the one who forgives and the one who is forgiven. It +exalts both, transfigures both, indeed establishes a new tie of +wonderful tenderness and sublimity between them. The person +who forgives is a benefactor. + +Is it a little thing, when a man is sunk in the slough of poverty, +denuded of all the decencies of life, harassed day and night by +grinding cares, knows not whither to turn to find shelter and food, +for some fellow human being, moved by pure human kindness, or +let us rather say moved by respect for the worth which he sees in +his perishing fellow-man, to come to the aid of the latter, to lift +him out of his distress, to place him on sun-lit levels, to put him on +his feet and give him a new chance, to open for him a new career +in which effort may meet with its reward? Such an act of human +helpfulness is not a little thing; the man who does it is rightly +esteemed a great benefactor. Or is it a little thing to save the +imperiled sick, to bring back from the brink of the grave a precious +life, already despaired of? This, too, surely is not a little thing, +and the good physician who accomplishes such a miracle is rightly +esteemed a benefactor to whom lifelong gratitude is due. + +But there is a yet greater thing, a benefit, by the side of which even +these--great as they are--appear almost insignificant. To take a +man who is sinking in the moral slough and has no courage left to +rise out of it; to give him back his lost self-esteem, that jewel +without which health and wealth are of little avail; to put him in a +position once more to look his fellow-men straight in the eye; to +place him morally on the sun-lit levels; to put him morally on his +feet--this assuredly is the supreme benefit, and the man who +accomplishes this for another is the supreme benefactor. And a +note of exquisite moral beauty is added if the benefactor be the +same person whom the guilty man had injured. This is what is +meant by forgiveness. This is why forgiveness is so divine a thing. +This is the reason why, when an act of genuine forgiveness occurs, +"the music of the spheres" seems to become audible in our nether +world. And this is also the reason why we often see such a strange +kind of tie springing up between a person who has been chastised +and the one who has chastised him in the right spirit and then +forgiven him--a tie into which there enters shame for the wrong +done, gratitude for the unmerited good received, and a reverence +akin to idolatry toward the one upon whose faith in him the sinner +rebuilt his faith in himself. + +There should be some organ of the State to exercise this office of +forgiveness toward criminals, this pardoning power in the finer +sense of the term. The prison warden, if he be a man of the right +stamp, sometimes exercises it. The Society for the Befriending of +Released Prisoners has here an appropriate function open to it; +also the employer who after due inquiry has the courage to dismiss +suspicion and to give work to the released prisoner. + +The methods and principles which I have described in the case of +the criminal are used for illustration, not that I am interested today +in discussing the special problem of the criminal, but because +principles can best be exemplified in extreme cases. The same +methods, the same maxims should control punishment in general; +our dealings, for instance, with the misdeeds of which our own +children are guilty. Here, too, there should be by no means +unvarying gentleness and pleading, but when need arises the sharp +check, that evil may be instantaneously stopped. Here, too, there +should be the temporary disgrace, the clear presentation of the +magnitude of the fault, if it have magnitude, the humiliation that +calls forth penitence and good resolutions. Here, too, there should +be sedulous care, to work out the better habits. And all these steps +should be taken with a view to ultimate reconciliation, forgiveness, +and the holier bond between parent and child. + +But now can we take one step further? Can we dispose our minds +and our hearts in the same fashion toward oppressors? I have in +mind, for instance, the hard proprietors of houses who pitilessly +wring the last penny from their tenants; the cruel taskmasters who +drive the workers, sometimes only children not yet full-grown, +twelve and fifteen hours a day; the unscrupulous exploiters on a +large scale, who raise the price of the people's food, and in their +eagerness for fabulous gain conspire by every corrupt means to +crush their less crafty or less shameless competitors. As we hate +wrong, must we not hate them? Shall we assail greed and +exploitation merely in the abstract? What effect will that have? +Which one of the oppressors will not hypocritically assent to such +abstract denunciation? If we seek to produce a change, must we +not proceed to more specific allegations and point the finger of +scorn at the offenders, saying as the Prophet Nathan said to King +David: "Thou art the man"? Is it not necessary to arouse the +popular anger against the oppressors and to encourage hatred +against the hateful? + +Clearly the case is not the same as that of the criminal in the dock. +He stands there dishonored; the evil he has done has been brought +home to him; he is covered with the garment of shame. But those +others are invested--despite the evil they have done and are still +doing--with every outward symbol of success; they triumph +defiantly over the better moral sense of the community; they +inhabit, as it were, impregnable citadels; they have harvested +unholy gains which no one seems strong enough to take from +them; and the influence they wield in consequence of their power +to benefit or harm is immense. Is it a wonder, then, that such +oppressors are branded as monsters, and that the hoarse note of +some of the Hebrew psalms is sometimes to be heard re-echoing in +the cry of the social radicals of our time--Let vengeance be visited +upon the wicked; let the oppressors be destroyed from the face of +the earth! + +But the logical and inevitable conclusion of the thought I have +developed to-day is, that we are bound to recognize the +indefeasible worth latent even in the cruel exploiter and the +merciless expropriator. I have already sufficiently indicated that the +spiritual view is consistent with severe and stringent treatment. +Checks there should be by the heavy hand of legislation laid upon +the arrogant evildoers. They should be stopped if possible in +mid-career. The oppressed, also, should oppose those who oppress +them. No one is worth his salt who is not willing to defend his +rights against those who would trample on them. So far from +ruling out conflict, I regard conflict as a weapon of progress--an +ethical weapon, if it be waged with the right intentions. +Furthermore, when speaking of oppression, I have in mind not +merely the cupidity of the few as it operates mercilessly upon the +many, but also the banded arrogance of the many as it sometimes +displays itself in contempt for the rights of the few. From +whichever side oppression proceeds, there should be resistance to +it; the check imposed by resistance is one of the means of +educating to new habits those who find themselves checked. +Individuals, and social classes, too, as history proves, learn to +respect the rights which they find in practice they cannot traverse. +First come the limits set to the aggression, and then the opening of +the eyes to perceive the justice of the limitation. But conflict is an +ethical weapon only if it is wielded like the knife in the surgeon's +hands. The knife wounds and hurts; the method is apparently cruel; +but the purpose is benevolent. So should the battle of social reform +be animated by concern not only for the oppressed, but also for the +oppressor. And such a motive does not exceed the capacity of +human nature, but, on the contrary, is the only motive which will +permanently satisfy human nature. Certain of the Socialists have +made it their deliberate policy for years to stir up hatred between +the poor and the rich, on the ground that hatred alone can +overcome the lethargy of the masses and arouse in them the +intensity of feeling necessary for conflict. On the contrary, hatred +engenders hatred on the opposite side, action provokes reaction. +As the individual can be uplifted in his life only by accepting the +spiritual motive, by trying to act always so as to recognize in +others and to make manifest the indefeasible worth of the human +soul, so the social classes can be uplifted only by acting on the +same spiritual motive. Despite the efforts of a hundred years, the +real progress that has been achieved in ameliorating the relations +between the social classes at the present day is slight, and +sometimes one is impelled to doubt whether there has been any +progress at all. The egotism of one side is met by the egotism of +the other side. But appeals to mass egotism will no more elevate +mankind, than appeals to individual egotism. Appeals to +sympathy also will not permanently help. Only the highest motive +of all can furnish the power needed to accomplish the miracle of +social transformation; only that conflict which is waged for the +purpose not of striking down the oppressor and rescuing his +victim, but for the rescue of both the victim and the oppressor, will +attain its end. + +The oppressor may be regarded as a man who has consented so to +degrade himself as to become for the time being a heartless +automaton, ruthlessly working for gain, a being like one of those +terrible ogres of the popular mythology who feed on human flesh. +But he is not a mere automaton or ogre. There is a better side to +his nature, as we often discover, to our amazement, when we learn +about the facts of his private life. These private virtues do not +indeed condone his social sins--far from it--but they indicate that +there exists a better side. If that side could be made victorious, if +conditions could be shaped so as to starve out the worse nature +and bring to the fore the better nature in the oppressor as well as in +the oppressed, the problem would be advanced toward a solution. + +There is a story told of two brothers, sons of the same father, who +grew up in the same home and were deeply attached to each other. +It happened that the older wandered away and fell into the power +of an evil magician, who changed him into a ravening wolf. The +younger mourned his loss, and treasured in his heart the image of +the brother as he had been in the days before the wicked spell fell +upon him. Impelled by his longing, he at last went out into the +world to find his brother, and if possible to redeem him. One day +as he passed through a lonely forest, a hungry wolf set upon him. +The horrid, brutal face was near to his, the hot breath breathed +upon him, and the fierce eyes flamed into his own. But by the +might of his love, the younger brother was able to detect beneath +the wolfish disguise the faint outlines of the brother whom he had +long ago lost, and by the strength of his gaze, which saw only the +brother and refused to see the wolf, he was able to give shape and +substance to that faint outline. The outer frame of brutishness +gradually melted away, and the human brother was restored to his +senses and to his home. This is a parable of the spiritual attitude +toward oppressors, toward those who oppress the people in +public, as well as toward those who oppress us in our private lives. +We must liberate them from the brutal frame in which they are +inclosed; we must give them back their human shape! + + +IV. THE TWO SOULS IN THE HUMAN BREAST. + +Sunday, Dec. 11, 1904. + +Painful and revolting associations are called up by the +phrase--"leading the double life." To the aversion provoked by the +evil itself, is added in such cases the disgust excited by the hypocrisy +with which it is cloaked. He who leads a double life offends not +only by the wrong he does, but by borrowing the plumes of virtue. +He lives a perpetual lie; he is "a whited sepulchre, clean on the +outside, full of filth and corruption within." The Beecher trial at +the time so profoundly agitated the whole country, because the +accusations brought forward associated the name of one of the +most prominent characters of the nation, a man of brilliant talent +and meritorious service, with secret impurity. The more +meritorious such a man's services, the more damning the charges if +they be established. Nor do we admit in such cases the sophistical +argument, that the interests of public morality require the facts to +be hushed up in order to avoid a scandal. Nothing is so imperative +where guilt really exists as that it be confessed and expiated. The +public conscience requires the truth. Let the sinner make a clean +breast of it; let the atmosphere be cleared by an act of public +humiliation. No injury to the cause of public morality is so great as +the lurking suspicion that men who stand forth as exponents of +morality are themselves corrupt. Lurking suspicion, distrust of all +the moral values, is worse than recognition of human weakness, +however deplorable. + +There are other examples of the double life, with which all who +have knowledge of the world's ways are familiar. That of the +merchant, for instance, who, though he has long been virtually a +bankrupt, conceals his position behind a screen of opulence, +emulating the sumptuous expenditure of the rich, living a life of +glittering show; tortured inwardly by the fear of exposure, yet not +courageous enough to be honest; sinking deeper himself and, what +is worse, dragging others down with him. A young man at college +sometimes leads a double life, his letters home being filled with +accounts of his legitimate employments, while at the same time he +is leading the life of the prodigal, the spendthrift, the dissipated +sot. + +The dual life has been depicted in powerful colors by poets and +writers of fiction; as, for instance, by Hawthorne in his "Scarlet +Letter," by Robert Louis Stevenson in his "Doctor Jekyll and Mr. +Hyde." I suppose if there be such a thing as hell on earth, the +double life is another name for it. Yet I know of no writer of +fiction whose plummet has sounded the depths of this hell. In +Stevenson's story one gets the impression of a too mechanical +separation between the two sides. The man is at one moment the +benevolent doctor, and at another the malignant fiend. The device +of the drug is introduced to explain the transition; but the +transformation is too sudden, too abrupt. Jekyll and Hyde dwell +side by side in the same body, and the relations between them have +not been wrought out with sufficient subtlety. It is rather a broad +moral parable than a subtle study of man's dual nature. + +The initial point I desire to make is, that in certain cases the inner +torture and anguish of the dual life can only be ended by publishing +the secret, so long and jealously hidden. Just as the criminal must +stand judgment in a court of law, so must the double-minded man +stand judgment in the court of public opinion. It is not possible to +determine by a hard and fast line, when such exposure is +obligatory; but in general it may be said that it is required in those +cases where publicity is necessary to set things right and to repair +the wrong that has been done to others. + +There are, however, cases in which others are not affected, or only +indirectly so; in which the evil relates to the personal life and its +consequences are private to the man himself. The situation is such +as is described by Goethe, when he speaks of the two souls +dwelling within the human breast; the soul itself in its own sphere +being divided against itself. The man is conscious of rectitude in +one part of his conduct, of magnanimous impulses, of high and +noble aspirations. He feels himself allied on one side to what is +best and purest, and at the same time is aware of another side +which in his saner moments fills him with loathing, and poisons for +him life's cup of satisfaction. It is of this class of cases that I +propose to speak. And here the terrible fact stares us in the face, +that if the dual life be interpreted in this sense, there is hardly a +man who is not leading it. Even the best of men have been aware +of an abhorrent side of their nature. What else can St. Paul mean +when he speaks of the continual warfare between the two +laws--"the law of the flesh that is in his members, and the law +of God that is in his spirit"? What else do the confessions of St. +Augustine reveal but the continual oscillations of a finely poised +nature between the two extremes? What else can we gather from +certain passages in Tennyson's writings, but hints of a miserable +and grievous struggle of the same sort? And what an intolerable +burden to any person of integrity, to any one who would at least +be honest, to think that he passes for better than he is, to think that +if men only could see his heart as he sees it, they would pass him +by with scorn instead of admiration! Yet as a rule, in such cases +self-revelation is not only not demanded, but not even allowable. +The opening of the secret chambers of one's life to the public, +confessions like those of Rousseau, are, if anything, indecent and +nauseating. The case of a man in such situations is bad enough, but +the remedy for it is perforce committed to his own hands. Let him +put his hand to the plough and not turn back, let him grapple with +the evil in his nature and subdue and transform it, let him +accomplish his inner redemption, let him make himself what he +ought to be--what others perhaps think he is. What aid can the +spiritual view of life extend to him in this stupendous business? + +The cardinal thought I have in mind, which I believe will provide +an escape from such intolerable moral dilemmas, can best be set +forth by contrasting it with its diametrical opposite. This opposite +is contained in the Buddhistic doctrine of the Karma. The doctrine +of Karma implies that we are what we are to-day, good or bad, or +good and bad, in consequence of good or bad deeds which we +performed in previous states of existence. Our present life, +according to this view, is but a link added to the chain of the +innumerable lives which we have left behind us. It is true, we do +not remember those past existences; but all the same, they have left +their indelible mark upon us. Our fortunes, too, in this present +existence, are determined by our meritorious or unmeritorious +behavior in the past. If, for example, a man acts as your enemy +to-day, it is because in a previous state you wantonly injured him +or some one like him. Bear your disappointments, then, and the +harm you receive from others without complaint; you are but +suffering the penalty you deserve. Not only our fortune but our +character, as has been said, is thus predetermined; we are what +we are, in virtue of what we have been. If a man is a mean miser, it +is because in a previous existence he was already unduly covetous +of wealth. 'Tis but the seed he sowed in the past, that blossoms out +in the present. If a man commit murder, it is because he was +already guilty of unchecked violence in previous lives. The +beginnings which he made in the past culminate in the awful +present. + +This is indeed a plausible theory, and it would help us to read some +dark riddles if it were true, but there is not the slightest reason for +supposing that it is. If ever there was a theory in the air, this is +one. We not only have no recollections of any past incarnations, +but we have no ground for inferring that there were any. I have +mentioned the theory merely in order to exhibit its opposite. And +the opposite is this: that a man is not responsible for the attractive +or repulsive qualities with which he is born; that these are not to be +accounted as his, in the sense that he is accountable for them. The +son of the dipsomaniac, for instance, is not responsible for the +morbid craving that stirs in him. He begins life, so far as +responsibility is concerned, so far as merit or demerit is concerned, +with a fresh start. He is not responsible for the craving; he is +responsible only for assenting to it. True, the pull in his case is +incomparably stronger than in others; still he can resist. He is +responsible, not for the hideous thing itself, but for the degree in +which he yields to it. He is meritorious to the extent of the effort +he puts forth not to yield to it. The reason why this point is often +obscured is that from the first awakening of consciousness, from +the time when first we have been capable of deliberate choice, we +have more or less often assented to these evil propulsions and have +thus made them our own. It has therefore become impossible to +separate clearly between that element in our acts which is imposed +upon us from without, and that deliberate element in the act which +is our own. Nevertheless, no fair-minded person will dispute that +there are qualities or predispositions, for which--hideous as they +may be--we are no more responsible than we are for being born +with an unprepossessing face. Men are born with certain attractive +qualities and certain atrocious qualities, but moral goodness and +badness consists not in having these predispositions, but rather in +consenting to them and adopting them into our will. + +Now this, it seems to me, throws an entirely new light upon the +duality of our inner life. The fact that we discover that there is +baseness within us from which we recoil as we should from a +venomous snake, need not shake our throne of reason or overthrow +our balance. These base things are not we; our true self +does not reside in them, until, indeed, we unite with them by +assenting to them. A man's natural propensities are motley, but his +soul is white. One hears much nowadays of the "white man's +burden." There is such a thing as the white soul's burden. These +dipsomaniac cravings with which some men are handicapped, +these explosive irascibilities with which some are accursed, these +tendencies to impurity with which others are defiled--these are the +white soul's burden. Some men are more heavily burdened than +others. But it is not the nature of the burden that makes men good +or bad; it is the way they bear it, or rather it is the extent to which +they transform this initial nature of theirs into a better nature. +There is a distinction between the natural character and the moral +character; the moral character results from the changes produced +in the natural character, by the power of the moral will, or by the +energy of the soul striving to imprint its nobler pattern on this +difficult, oft intractable material. + + +But if we are not blameworthy for the repellant propensities, +neither are we praiseworthy on account of the attractive and +gracious qualities we may possess. The state of mind of one who is +conscious of a divided inner life is torture. Nothing but an heroic +treatment, nothing but a radical cure will free him from that +torture; the cure is to realize that our seeming virtues are often not +virtues at all. We must sacrifice our fancied virtues, if we would +escape from the horrid sense of utter depravity that arises from our +vices. A man puts to himself the question: How is it possible that +at one moment I should be sympathetic and kind, should strive to +compass the happiness of my fellow-beings, should take a +generous interest in public causes, and try to act justly; and that at +another moment I am so selfish and base? How can there be this +oscillation from one pole to the other of human character? It is the +contradiction that makes the tragedy. Am I, too, not "truly one but +truly two"; am I, too, a Jekyll and a Hyde, both dwelling under the +same skin? The answer is: You are neither the Hyde nor the Jekyll +unless you elect to be. The true self is a principle in you superior +to both these natural characters, a kind of oversoul, as Emerson +puts it. + +Sympathy and kindness lend themselves to the building up of a +virtuous character, they are the psychological bases of virtue, but +they must not be confounded with virtue itself. Taken by +themselves, they represent merely a felicitous mixture of the +elements of which we are compounded, no more praiseworthy +than their opposites are blameworthy. Sympathy and kindness +must be governed and regulated by principle, if they are to be rated +as moral qualities. Left uncultivated, they often produce positively +immoral results. Likewise, what is called justice is often no more +than a hard adherence to rules, a love of order in our relations to +others, which must be tempered and softened by the quality of +mercy, before it can be accounted a moral virtue. Again, a +willingness to advance the interests of a class or of a people is +often no more than an enlarged egotism, with most of the defects +of the narrower egotism, and must be regulated by a moral +principle, if it is to attain to the dignity of a moral attribute. It is +only by the conformity of our thoughts, our feelings, and our acts +to principle, that morality is achieved. It is only by such means that +the genial and attractive tendencies of our nature are converted +into genuine virtues, and the way of escape from the double life is +along the line of the moral transformation of our seeming virtues. +_Mend your virtues, and your vices will take care of themselves._ + +But if the illusion is dispelled that the goodness or badness of +an action as it appears to the eye is the measure of the virtuousness +or viciousness of the agent; if the principle that governs the act and +the effort put forth to conform to the principle be recognized as +the true standard by which we are to judge, then two consequences +will follow with respect to the conduct of life. The first +is that the seemingly petty occasions of life are to be treated +as grand occasions in so far as a moral principle is involved. For +instance, a petty falsehood spoken for the purpose of securing +business advantage or of avoiding business loss may seem to the +average man a trivial affair; and it is so, so far as the results are +concerned. And yet a morally high-bred man could no more +condescend to such a falsehood than a man of cleanly habits would +willingly steep himself in the mire. It is not the consequences, one +way or the other, that matter. It is the eternal issue between the +moral realities, truth and untruth, that is at stake. And in the light +of this issue, in the light of the principle involved, petty as the +circumstances may be, the occasion is not to be considered trivial. +The eternal forces that have been at war since mankind first +existed are at war on this occasion also; he must cast in his lot on +the side of the good. + +Another instance of action seemingly trivial is that of simulating a +personal interest in others, of pretending agreement in the foibles +of others or of affecting a personal homage which one does not +feel, in order to use others as instruments for the achievement of +one's ends, whether those ends be selfish pecuniary advantage or +political preferment, or even financial aid and support for some +important philanthropic enterprise. As if philanthropy--which +is based on respect for the worth of man--did not defeat its own +ends, the moment it seeks to accomplish them by methods which +degrade both him who gives and him who receives. The occasion +is small, but the principle involved as to the choice of means is +great. Another instance relates to the degree to which we may +trench upon the personality of others, or seek to enter into that +part of their life which they keep secret from us. We may suspect, +for instance, that a friend is oppressed by some secret trouble, and +we may believe that we could help him if only he would consent to +reveal himself; but the act of self-revelation must come from his +side, and the permission to help him must first be granted. We may +give him the opportunity to declare himself, but we may not invade +the sanctuary of his silence. The principle involved is great; it is +that of respect for the precincts within which every soul has the +right to live its own life. + +And there are other illustrations in abundance that might be +quoted. For instance, custom prescribes rules of behavior in +respect to many things which are really indifferent; in regard to the +cut of the clothes we wear, in regard to the accepted form of +salutation, in regard to the language of polite speech, and much +more of the same sort. Now, the ethically-minded man is not a +pedantic micrologist who wastes his time on the minutiae of +conduct. But where custom relates to things not indifferent, where +a principle is involved, there is no detail of conduct so minute as +not to challenge the most vigorous protest, the utmost assertion of +independence. The ethically-minded man is one who endeavors to +shake off the yoke of custom, wherever it interferes with the +affirmation of the great principles of life; who disdains to follow +the multitude in doing not only what is palpably wrong, but what is +morally unfine. He seeks to be a free man, an independent being, +and to assert without acrimony or invidious criticism of others, yet +firmly and unflinchingly, a strong and self-poised manhood. This, +then, is one consequence that flows from our point of view: +namely, that in the moral sphere the small occasions are to be +treated as if they were grand occasions. As the poet puts it, +"Rightly to be great is not to stir without great argument, but +greatly to find quarrel in a straw when honor is at stake," or, as we +should put it, greatly to find quarrel in the straws of life when +principle is at stake. + +And the second consequence is the obverse of this: To treat what +seem to be great occasions because of their outward results, as if +they were small. Is it a fortune that smiles upon you, that you can +win by suppressing a moral scruple, by transgressing the eternal +law? Put it aside as a thing not worth a second glance, if the price +exacted be the loss of self-respect, if the bargain to which you +must subscribe be the betrayal of principle. Is it life itself that is at +stake; the dear life to which we cling so fondly? Yes, life is +precious in its nobler uses; but life itself shall not be esteemed as +great in the hour in which we must choose between it and fidelity +to principle. And that it is really possible to take this high attitude +the example of the world's great martyrs shows. + +******************************** + +The leading thoughts I have endeavored to state in these addresses +are the following: Spirituality is morality carried out to the finish. +It depends on always keeping the ultimate end of existence in +view, and on not resting in the partial ends. Intervals set aside for +self-recollection and the facing of the thought of death are useful +aids. The ultimate end itself is to elicit worth in others, and, by +so doing, in one's self. The indispensable condition of this attitude +is to ascribe worth to every human being before even we observe +it, to cast as it were a mantle of glory over him, to take toward +every fellow human being the expectant attitude, to seek the worth +in him until we find it. Even toward oppressors we should take the +same attitude. Furthermore, our true self resides neither in our +poorer nor in our better natural endowments, but in the will that +suppresses the one and alone gives moral significance to the other. +Finally, we must testify to our respect for principle by treating the +small occasions of life as great if they involve a moral issue, and +the great prizes of life as small if they are offered at the price of +moral integrity. These are thoughts which I have found helpful in +my own experience; I submit them to you, in the hope that they +may be of use to you also. + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Essentials of Spirituality, by Felix Adler + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ESSENTIALS OF SPIRITUALITY *** + +***** This file should be named 21981.txt or 21981.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/1/9/8/21981/ + +Produced by David B. Alexander + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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