THE HESPERIAN.
m
But hear the voice of those who arc wearied of the hopeless
task of urging weak humanity to a better life while leaving it
surrounded by temptations. They cry: "It is society, not man,
that needs regeneration. Society exists for the welfare of its
members. How can it best serve them?" Free public schools,
the ever widening postal service, public enterprises extensively
undertaken, the increasing claim of the law to control the
great natural monopolies, mark a radical change of public sen
timent as to the proper functions of government. That senti
ment looks to a wider and wider diffusion among the masses
of the benefits of society.
The individualist and the socialist! May not both be the
servants of progress? A higher society and a purer manhood
must go together. Time may condemn their methods but not
their motives. They are inspired by that spirit of brotherhood
which is pervading all society. That spirit is giving to the
man that labors happier thoughts and kindlier feelings. It is
forcing upon the rich a sense of their duty to their fellow men.
It has placed among the radical reformers of society some who
were born to wealth. It has made impossible in America a
social revolution by ranging with the elements of conservatism
the men who labor for their daily bread. Not revolution, but
evolution, must be the process of social change.
Who can turn history's page and find no hope? Suffer
ing and wrong have hung like darkness over the world, but
brighter has grown the spark divine within the hearts of men.
Self! self! self! It is the axiom of evolution, the postulate of
political economy, the rule we are told, of human action. Yet
the mother perishes, to save Iter child, some unsung pilot dies
daily at the helm of duty, a million men march amid blood
and flame to battle for a principle. He who sees in such
devotion but another form of selfishness, pays an unwilling
tribute to the wisdom which rewards with higher joys the
pangs of sacrifice. The present docs not, must not, lack for
noble souls like those who, in sclf-forgctfulness, wrought
every work of progress.
These are the moral forces which seem to a hopeful Amer
ican adequate to the work of our day. They promise victory
to labor; to capital, peace; to humanity, happiness. There is
cause in society for sorrow, but not for despair.
'Well roars the storm to those that hear
A deeper voice across the storm,
Proclaiming social truth shall
And justice."
spread,
The achievements of to-day tell us that not in vain have
been the labors of the past. Not in vain the alchemist butnt
his lamp, the wan inventor buildcd in his brain, the sailor
sought through many sorrows the continent that arose in his
imagination. Not in vain the oppressed, seizing the sword of
justice, have dared the unequal fight. Not in vain has philos
ophy quaffed the hemlock cup, and dying, lived immortal in
the thoughts of men. Not in 'vain have stretched upon the
rack the tortured limbs of those who dared be free. Not in
vain the flame-wrapped saint breathed a last prayer to heaven.
Glorious is the page they wrote in the story of man's struggle
to enslave the elements and free himself. It will not all be
written till what they have done takes on a meaning in the
life of every human being, till savagery no longer lingers in
the midst of civilization, till every child is born to true equality,
gained not by leveling down abilities but by leveling up con
ditions. What of the world's to-morrow? The power, of prophecy
dwells no more with men; still the straining eye strives to
pierce the secrets of the future. Look forward, and though
they be yet dreams, shapes of great events to be, rise before
the vision: banished earth's great armaments, a vine at every
door, rqwjs. on, chjd,hooPs c,hceksj a, jong on wornn' lips,
no heart without its home, no soul without its hope. The
bounties of nature, the thoughts. of sages, the martyrdoms of
saints, the hopes of the present, are all your heritage, O, uni
versal man, heir apparent of the ages.
LITERARY.
The religious views of Napoleon have never been thor
oughly understood. He has been considered in turn a fatal
ist, a Papist, an unbeliever. Anything, therefore, tending to
aflord an insight into his views on this subject is of general
interest. In the current number of the North American,
Tainc, the celebrated French historian, under the title,
"Napoleon's View? of Religion," analyzes his creed in a
way that serves to present his character in a new and striking
light.
The church is a mighty force, a distinct, permanent, social
influence of the highest order. The first thing, therefore, a
person who seeks to estimate the extent of its influence must
do, is to consider its nature. This is what Napoleon does.
He begins by examining himself. "To say whence I came,
or where I am going is above my comprehension. I am the
watch that runs but unconscious of itself." These questions
which we arc unable to answer, "drive us on to religion.
We rush forward to welcome her, for that is our natural ten
dency. But knowledge comes and we stop short. It is said
that I am a Papist. I am nothing. In Egypt I was a Mus
sulman. Here I shall be a Catholic for the good of the
people. I do not believe in religious. The idea of a God!"
"An established religion is a kind of vaccination which, in
satisfying our love of the marvelous guarantees us against
sorcerers; the priests arc far better than the Cogliostros Kants
and the rest of the German mystics. I do not want an estab
lished religion nor the establishment of new ones. The
Catholic, reformed, and Lutheran churches established by
the concordat, arc sufficient." He saw no boundary line
between that which belongs to civil and that which belongs
to religious authority. "As they arc apt to clash let us avoid
conflicts; let there be no defined frontier. Let us indicate
what our part is and not allow the church to encroach on
the state." France was not so disposed. Unable to accom
plish his purpose directly, he set about it indirectly. He
declared that it was not his aim to change the faith of his
people; he respected spiritual objects and wished "to rule
them without meddling with them." A strange view cer
tainly, but one we might well have expected from him. To
this end he secured the authority of the pope. The catholic
religion was declared the religion of a majority ol the
French people, aifil its services were regulated. The pope
was given a palace in Paris. Hut before decreeing the
organic articles of the concordat which he prepared himself,
he carefully studied the subject, and recasting and reshaping
the theories to suit himself, "arrived at an original individual
conception at once coherent, precise, and practical," a theory
which he applied to all churcher, Catholic, Lutheran, Cal
vanistic, and even Jewish. His conclusion was this. So
long as belief was silent and solitary the state had nothing to
do with it. But the moment it exceeded those limits and
found expression in meetings and addresses which arc tem
poral works, it was subject to control. In short, as Napoleon
said "The people want a religion and this religion should be
in the hands of the government.' Napoleon surrounded
himself with bishops selected with special reference to their
docility and attachment to his person and system. In truth
he judged them well, for "with hesitation and remorse"
sixty-two prelates, out of eighty were open k "tenipora,!,