The Morals of Suicide - PDF Free Download

THE MORALS OF SUICIDE CONTAINING Part REVIEWS AND FURTHER STATISTICS I. Part II. AN ESSAY ON PERSONALITY BY REV...

Author: James Gurnhill

61 downloads 1841 Views 5MB Size Report

This content was uploaded by our users and we assume good faith they have the permission to share this book. If you own the copyright to this book and it is wrongfully on our website, we offer a simple DMCA procedure to remove your content from our site. Start by pressing the button below!

Report copyright / DMCA form

DOWNLOAD PDF

THE MORALS OF SUICIDE CONTAINING

Part

REVIEWS AND FURTHER STATISTICS

I.

Part

II.

AN ESSAY ON PERSONALITY

BY

REV.

J

GURNHILL,

B.A.

SCHOLAR AND MORAL SCIE^B PRIZEMAN OF EMMANUEL COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE

AUTHOR OF "a COMPANION TO THE PSALTER," "MONOGRAPH ON THE GAINSBOROUGH PARISH REGISTERS," ETC.

" Dark For

is

is

the world to thee

He

not

all

:

thyself art the reason

but thou, that hast power to Tlie

why.

feel, I

am

I ?

Higher Pantheism (Tennyson).

VOLUME

II.

LONGMANS, GREEN, AND 39

PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON NEW YORK AND BOMBAY 1902 All rights reserved

T

"

CO-

PREFACE TO VOL. Whatever

else I

may have

cannot complain that the

first

to complain

volume of

on The Morals of Suicide has attention.

has

it

Not only

in

II.

failed

in

I

my book attract

to

England and Scotland

been extensively reviewed, but also

United States,

of,

India and Australia.

in the

Apart

altogether from the very diverse character of these reviews,

which

of

I

speak later

shall

on,

proves that the importance of the subject

So

recognized. say,

that had

I

far so good.

And

I

is

this

fully

hardly need

not been deeply and even painfully

impressed with

its

importance,

I

should

never

have essayed to write on a subject so naturally uninviting.

Perhaps there

is

none which brings

us into closer touch with the weaknesses, wants, the

sin,

I

may

this.

We

the misery, and,

misfortunes of mankind than considering and investigating

it

the

add, the

seem

in

to lay our finger

PREFACE.

vi

Upon the pulse of the great

We

social body.

it,

so to speak, throbbing beneath our touch

if,

like the physician of bodily ailments,

any powers of

we ought

diagnosis,

feel

and

;

we have

to be able to

gain some insight into the patient's condition, and

some knowledge suffering.

of the disease from which he

Truly there

malady of

scarcely a

is

body, mind, or soul which does not contribute

quotum

And

to the death-roll of suicide.

is

if

its

my

book has been the means of directing the attention of thoughtful philanthropic

men and

social

reformers to a subject so grave and important,

ought to be thankful, however

my own And

I

am

thankful

light

;

for I

come to the

what can be done causes and social

to

evils

it.

cannot but believe that

and more able than myself,

others, far wiser

to

fresh

may have thrown around

labours

be prompted

little

I

rescue,

will

and consider

mitigate or remove those

of which suicide

is

at once

the index and the outcome.

Reviewers on the staff of journals, which rank

amongst the highest science, ful

a

in

the land,

in

literature,

and philosophy, have given me a thought-

and dispassionate hearing.

moment they

are gentlemen

I

do not doubt for

fit

in

every sense

— PREFACE. for the lofty position they

and the arduous and

fill,

responsible duties which, as

And

perform.

I

they have to

critics,

desire before going a step further

tender them, one and

to

vii

all,

my

and

sincere

respectful thanks.

Whatever the nature of

their criticisms

would be absurd to expect they should I

do not doubt that those

criticisms

expression of genuine conviction. are

all in

though

all

—and agree

the

are

suppose

I

it

we

quest of truth, and honest criticism, even

severe,

is

not a thing to be deprecated,

because, like the winnowing blast,

separates the

it

corn from the chaff.

And,

truly, the critiques

which have appeared

have not only been numerous, but well-nigh as varied as

and censure

praise

Almost every degree of

numerous. is

to be found

amongst them.

Indeed, they would afford ample material for a

study of mental idiosyncrasy, did

them

to such a purpose

;

and

amused and astonished me work should have

I

confess

to find

By some

of

which seemed to

lie

has both the

same

and opinions

my

accused of opening the door to too issues,

it

how

called forth views

so widely divergent.

care to put

I

critics I

am

many

side

outside the legitimate

PREFACE.

viii

And

scope of inquiry.

me

viewer charges

the Church Quarterly re-

There

readers into deep waters.

some

is

would merely say at

extremely

I

this point, that the subject is

bound up with

so many-sided, and so intimately

it is

truth,

In reply,

perhaps, in both these accusations.

various aspects of

my

with bringing myself and

human

difficult to

life

and experience, that

say what side issues are

not more or less pertinent to the thorough investigation of bility

it.

For example, the sense of Responsi-

has a very close bearing on suicide.

But

Responsibility involves the consideration of Personality, without

which

The

into deep water.

present volume critics

I

it

we

Here, then, at once,

cannot be said to

exist.

are necessarily brought

worst of

it

cannot promise

is,

that in the

my

readers or

a return to the calmer waters and shallower

We

depths of ascertained truth. a voyage of discovery.

But

I

shall

still

be on

ask them not to for-

sake me, but keeping open " the weather eye " of a healthy and impartial criticism, assist in making

some addition to our stock of human knowledge and happiness.

I

have ventured,

handle great subjects and

doing

I

I

difficult ones,

know,

and

to

in so

have exposed myself to the criticism of

PREFACE. men who

more conversant with

probably

are

ix

them, and better able to deal with them than myI

self.

humbly apologize

whether

in

some points

beg them at

my

for

am

I

presumption, and

right or

least to believe that I

by one motive

only, to

my critics, I am actuated

promote the welfare of

humanity.

may

be called the

Argument

for a Personal Prius as

deduced from,

or implied

in,

The Essay on

And

will

it

Personality

Christian Theology and Metaphysic.

be seen from the footnotes to how

large an extent I have endeavoured to strengthen

my

position

by extracts from Professor Ward's

Naturalism and Agnosticism, the same subject

treated

is

different standpoint, but in

clusion

And

is

arrived

in

from a

which the same con-

it

will

be asked.

end and object to be gained by

to

What

is

the

this dissertation

.''

The importance

home

somewhat

at.

now, perhaps,

on Personality

which practically

me by

of

the subject was

brought

Schopenhauer's dictum of "the

unassailable right " of a

man

to destroy himself if

And

he chooses.

Cui non

certainly, if

there be no personality other and

libet

vivere

licet

mori.

PREFACE.

X

higher than his own,

this right

original object, then,

was

and deepen the sense of responsibility which

attaches to

life,

by a more

most probable

its

do not see how

My

can be denied him. to try

I

origin,

careful investigation of

and the obligations and

conditions which that origin implies. This, as

it

seemed

to me, could not

be done

without an effort to show the connection which

must ever

exist

on the one

between Metaphysic and Religion

hand,

and

and between Religion For Metaphysic

Morality on the other.

is

the

attempt to discover a theory of the Universe ac-

And

ceptable to reason and philosophy. is

the

same theory translated

and clothed

in

It is truth as

when ment. in

its

What the

it

the form and raiment of worship.

an object of reason and

becomes the subject of

And

Morality

practical effect

is

basis

Religion which expresses

true Morality

faith

and

senti-

on character and conduct.

the metaphysical

though many-sided.

intelligence,

the product of Religion

Religion, such the Morality.

the

Religion

into popular language,

And

is, it,

such will

be

and what the

But truth

is

one,

the true Religion and

must also be able to

justify

themselves when subjected to the metaphysical test.

PREFACE.

My

xi

aim has not been to prove the truth of

the Christian Religion, but to show that

upon, and

is

which presents an of the

facts

expression

the

and reasonable view

intelligible

and phenomena of the Universe,

whether material or moral.

rests

Metaphysic

a

of,

it

spiritual,

whether mental or

have endeavoured to show, however

I

imperfectly, that there

a Christian Metaphysic

is

and that there

as well as a Christian Religion, exists between the

two a harmony and consistency

which strengthens both, and affords a strong presumption that both

are

Lastly,

true.

sought to prove that Personality principle

is

I

have

the essential

which underlies them both, which renders

them both

intelligible,

and without which neither

could exist.

From bility.

and

Personality springs the sense of responsiIf

Metaphysic expresses

itself in religion,

religion begets its corresponding morality in

character and conduct sonality as propounded

;

so,

if

the theory of Per-

by the Christian system of

Metaphysic and Religion be

true,

then

my own

personality at once becomes conditioned relation to other personalities,

Supreme Personality from

and

Whom

by

its

chiefly to that it

springs.

I

PREFACE.

xii

am

not an isolated personal unit, coming

not whence, going

I

know

I

know

not whither, without

purpose, without end, the product of blind fortuity. I

am

not free to do what

I like

with myself.

I

am

not an irresponsible agent, and Schopenhauer's contention of man's "unassailable right" to destroy himself, if he be so minded,

becomes

degree immoral and untenable.

in the highest

—

CONTENTS OF PART

VOL.

II.

I.

CHAPTER

I.

REVIEW OF PRESS NOTICES AND CRITIQUES.

— Independent (N. York) —Church Review— Western Morning News — Literary World — Daily Chronicle James's Gazette — New York Times — Review of the Week—Saturday Review—Liverpool Daily Post—British Press — Indian Medical Journal — Lancet — Medical Church Quarterly Review — Critic (N. York) — Globe —Democrat—American Ecclesiastical Review —Church

— Christian

PAGE

Advocate London Quarterly Review

Spectator

St.

Quarterly Review

3

CHAPTER FURTHER I.

II.

IL

STATISTICS OF SUICIDE.

In England and Wales. In the United States

37

PART

II.

P ERSONALITV. SECTION

—

I.

—

Personality Definition The a priori and a posterion views In the Hegelian System The in Aristotle's Metaphysic

—

—

—

—

—

CONTENTS. higher Pantheism

—The

Formula

I

=

I

— The

Hegel contrasted with Christian Metaphysic

PAGE

Logic of

— Hegel's 6i

attempt to reconcile the two

SECTION PERSONALITY CONSIDERED ON

The a

II.

"A

POSTERIORI" GROUNDS.

—

—

view Mr. lUingworth on Personality Inferences from this view of the subject, and Summary. posteriori

.

SECTION

8i

III.

PERSONALITY IN THE CHRISTIAN SYSTEM OF METAPHYSIC AND RELIGION. Three propositions I.

The

Prius of all things

is

a Self-conscious personal

Unity. II.

Self-manifesting ((t)

HI.

Immanence,

by (rf)

(a) Generation,

(li)

Creation,

Incarnation.

Self-reconciling.

First Proposition.

—The Prius a Self-conscious Personal Unity.

—

Second Proposition. The Christian Prius Self-manifesting by (a) Generation, (b) Creation What is Life ? Mr. Spencer's definition tion of the Prius

—Manifestation Not The

by

—

—The birth of the («)

Immanence

Soul

Homo

— —Manifesta-

speculum Dei

of the Prius through (d) Incarnation considered improbable in non-Christian systems

Christian Incarnation

— —

—The argument

for

—

it.

Third Proposition. The Christian Prius a Self-reconciling Unity— Dualism Differences and their reconciliation The mystery of sin Hegel's triadic law illustrated in Christian Metaphysic Reconciliation of wills through the Incarnation

— —

87

——

CONTENTS. SECTION

IV.

PERSONALITY IN OTHER SYSTEMS

—SPENCER,

WUNDT,

TOLSTOY. FAG [a)

Schopenhauer's Thelology, impersonal and untenable (b) Comte's "Religion of Humanity" (c) Spencer's " Persistent Force " Logical inference ignored Correspondence between internal and external relations Deduction from the foregoing Professor Wundt on

—

—

—

— —Personality the expression and measure of psychical endowment — Comparative Psychology — Stages of growth — Count Leo Tolstoy Personality

SECTION

13

V.

MATERIALISTIC MONISM AND PERSONALITY. Personality— "Matter moving" —Vital Force? — Protoplasm — Professor Dolbear's definition — The problem to be solved — Subject and Object — Two observations — Professor Wundt and human progress^ Phenomena and Noumena — Paul — Professor Bain's

Monism and

St.

Hypothesis incompatible with Monism

SECTION

164

VI.

PERSONALITY AND THE MECHANICAL THEORY OF NATURALISM.

—

ConsePsycho-physical Parallelism and Epi-phenomena quences of the Mechanical Theory in regard to Personality,

Morality, and Religion

184

SECTION BEAUTY

What

is

beauty?

VII.

IN RELATION TO PERSONALITY.

— Quantitative

and

Origin of the ^Esthetic Faculty

qualitative

— The

analysis

evidential value

CONTENTS.

xvi

and witness of beauty

—The

of beauty

— The functions of

Cliristian Ideal

SECTION

beauty

— Ideals

—Beauty teleologic

.

.

PACE 191

VIII.

EERSONALITY AND RESPONSIBILITY.

—

—

Spencer, and Comte Altruism The Incarnation, and the Fatherhood of God as the source of human

Hegel,

responsibility

—The brotherhood of Man— Conclusion

.

207

PART

I.

REVIEWS AND FURTHER STATISTICS

—

CHAPTER

I.

REVIEW OF PRESS NOTICES AND CRITIQUES. (N. — London —Western Morning News —Literary World — Daily Chronicle — James's Gazette New York Times — Review of the Week— Saturday Review Liverpool Daily Post — Medical Journal — Lancet Medical Press — Indian Church Quarterly Review— (N. York) — Globe — Democrat — American Review

Spectator

—Christian

Quarterly

Advocate

— Independent

Yorli)

Review— Church Review

St.

British

Critic

Ecclesiastical

Church Quarterly Review.

I

WISH

am

it

not so

as in

to be understood that in this review I

much concerned about defending

myself,

examining the views and statements of

My

critics.

object will be rather to profit

criticism than to refute

notices pretty

much

them

;

may

little

more than a summary of

present

and, I

much The

in the order I

add, that

to call forth

Spectator,

The Reviewer must sincerely

VOL.

II.

for

his

by

shall consider the

I

it.

my

many

have received of them, being

do not

contents,

any remarks.

January allow

26, 1901.

me

appreciative

to thank

and

him

favourable

B 2

4

THE MORALS OF

critique.

I

but

if

my

only wish

prognosticates,

To be

paid.

my

book

were better deserved

it

bear

labours

;

the direction he

fruit in

shall feel to

I

SUICIDE.

be abundantly

re-

on so high an authority, that

told,

very valuable for the statistical and

is "

other information that

supplies as to the growth

it

of suicide and insanity in the world, and as to the relations

between them and certain

which the chief

is

of which I am, as I

intemperance,"

ought to

I

social evils, of

a compliment,

is

be, deeply sensible.

my

have been accused by one of

critics (the

Lancet) of want of sympathy for those

themselves " cornered is,

therefore,

in

an intense

the battle of

whose opinion

others,

worthy and

valuable, " the

book

it

cannot

It

fail

the

equally trust-

is

is

so

charity, of wise counsel

sympathy, that

find

relief to find that, in

judgment of

and hope and

who life."

full

of faith

and tender

to be of ethical as well

as of psychological and sociological importance."

The Christian Advocate and Independent,

New York The

City.

notices which appeared in these journals

lay

me

am

sure, is in

under a debt of gratitude.

many

admirable one."

My

book, I

respects far from being " an

On

the contrary,

I

am

fully

!

REVIEW OF NOTICES AND conscious indeed, tive,

that

of

it is

its

But

if,

imperfections.

and sugges-

and containing a great deal of information," is

enough

for

many who

before

it is

And

me.

"

too late."

could

under the eye

fall

God

help thee,

objects

to

my

brother

thine.

The London Quarterly Review, writer

re-echo

I

stand at the parting of the ways

sympathy and prayers are

The

do

heartily

my kindly critics, that my words

and advice

of warning

My

5

" stimulating

found to be

the wish of one of

of

many

CRITIQUES.

July, 1900.

term

the

"

Christian

Socialism," which he thinks would be better de-

scribed as " Christian Altruism."

reply that, though Altruism features

of

Christian

is

But

I

would

one of the leading

Socialism,

does

it

not

adequately express the objects or the work of the

the

Christian Social Union.

Even

Morselli and

Comtists, with Mr. Harrison as their chief

exponent

in this country, are Altruists.

Christian

Social

Union

has

its

origin

recognition of the Fatherhood of

God

the Brotherhood of man. And

object

its

But the in

the

as revealing is

to secure

the acknowledgment of -Christ as "the ultimate authority " in

all

activities of social

the manifold relationships and life.

I

notice with pleasure

my

— THE MORALS OF

6

critic's

SUICIDE.

admission, that "the remedy,

would undoubtedly be

if

The

efifective.

indirect,

universal

keeping of the golden rule would prevent most of the conditions out of which the crime of self-

murder grows."

This

aim of the Union department of principles

doing for

it

all

lowest.

is

social life

The

for.

and

and industry with the

By

and precepts of Christianity.

hopes to ameliorate the conditions of classes

of the

seems to do

conditions of increasing

life for

so life

community down to the

For, while education

renders

life

more

and opens out fresh avenues

of employment to those it, it

contend

to leaven every class

is

attractive to the kvi,

of

all I

who can

little

avail themselves

towards improving the In spite of our

the masses.

civilization,

the

struggle

perhaps keener than ever, as

is

for

life

is

shown by the

increasing death-rate through suicide,

Mr. there

W. W. Westcott, while fully admitting that are many proximate causes which result in

self-destruction, says " I should add that in modern times it is the high pressure at which we live, the difficulty of obtaining a livelihood, and the forced education of the young, which fills our asylums and swells our voluntary death-rate." ' '

Suicide, p. 143.

:

REVIEW OF NOTICES AND

CRITIQUES.

7

The Church Review.

The

writer refers to the subjects of Physiological

Psychology, and Betting and Gambling.

them

has,

suicide.

doubtless,

A

more

remarks on the

an important

be found

on

bearing

a few further

fitting place for

first will

Each of

in

the chapters

on Personality and Responsibility, but what have to add to

may

my

as well be said

The

now

as later on.

terrible increase in this habit is

one of the

most distressing features of our modern It is

to

it

I

note on Betting and Gambling

social

life.

some of our judges have alluded

thus that

:—

Mr.

Grantham says

justice

:

"

Gambling with

book-makers is the cause of more crime and misery than anything else in the land." Mr. Justice Wills : " When I first came upon the Bench I used to think drink was the most fruitful

cause of crime, but

whether the unlimited speculation

.

.

.

it

is

facilities

are not a

now a

question

illegitimate

for

more prevalent source

of mischief and crime even than drink."

Sir James Vaugltan (Bow Street magistrate) is sapping the vitals of the nation."

" It

In an appeal put forth by the National Anti-

Gambling League in

ment

authorities

1900, urging on Local Govern-

the

adoption

of

the

by-law

THE MORALS OF

8

forbidding

street-betting,

pernicious habit fifty suicides

is

SUICIDEthat this

stated

is

it

responsible for no

less

than

and embezzlements, and thirty bank-

months

ruptcies during the past six

in

England

alone.

At

the time

I

am

writing this, a Select

House

mittee of the

of Lords

Com-

sitting for the

is

purpose of taking evidence as to the growth of

Mr.

betting.

I.

Hawke, Secretary of the Anti-

Gambling League, when

made some sad and

evidence, as

to

to

the increasing prevalence of betting and

gambling

in

almost every class of the community, It

amongst postal telegraphists and public servants.

May,

"In the

1901, there

5J

was spreading

civil

and other

years from May, 1896,

had been clearly traceable to

betting, 80 suicides, 320 embezzlements,

bankruptcies."

every

give

startling disclosures

from the highest to the lowest.

to

upon

called

way

More

desirable.

drastic It

is

and 191

legislation

much

to

was

in

be wished

that, as a result of the present inquiry, a Bill will

be passed to repress the growth of evil,

which, as

we

this great social

see so frequently, leads

to self-destruction.

its

victims

——

—

REVIEW OF NOTICES AND

CRITIQUES.

9

The Western Morning News.

The

has

writer

very accurately gauged

my

purpose and scope of passages

book

the

the following

in

:

"The psychology of the materialistic scientist man to an automaton, the psychology of 'the greater hope' finds in human personality a reduces

corresponding, but infinitely greater, Personality

behind the

And

veil of the flesh."

again

" Indeed, the

main value of the

treatise lies in

this solid appreciation of the fact that religion

morality must progress,

work hand-in-hand

if evils

be stamped

with

and

social

of the nature of suicide are to

out."

The Literary World. There

is

ing remark.

great truth and value in the follow-

Would

generally exemplified

that

we might

see

it

more

!

There are, of course, many cases of suicide which cannot be remedied, for which, in fact, there but there are many more where a is no remedy "

;

little

kindness, a

crisis,

practical help, or a little

would have tided over what seemed and showed life again not at all hopeless

friendly counsel

a

little

or impossible."

—

—

THE MORALS OF

10

The Daily I

fear

there

following remark

Chronicle.

much

only too

is

SUICIDE.

truth

the

in

:

—

" The crime (of suicide) for such it is reckoned by our law is becoming more frequent, because a belief that there is no conscious life beyond is also becoming more common, though not perhaps

—

among

My " In

the most thoughtful people." critic finds

Memoriam

"

fault

on the

with

" Life

which

through

me

point

meaning.

The

Let

my

is

Only through the

and

mortification

Nature,

in

equally

department of man's moral

is

from

writ so large

is

death,"

animal passions

quotation

title-page.

out that he has failed to grasp principle,

my

true

the

in

spiritual

of

the

of

life.

lower

the soul set free to soar into

the higher and purer atmosphere of spiritual light

and a

liberty.

man

It

is

only by victory over self that

which degrade and enslave him of

its

and conditions

can escape those causes

zest

and

nobility,

the evils which encompass him destruction.

;

which rob

and lead him to

by the

flee

from

act of self-

Surely such a victory as this

well be described in Tennyson's beautiful lines

" That men may rise on stepping-stones Of their dead selves to higher things."

life

may

— REVIEW OF NOTICES AND my

Again says

CRITIQUES,

ii

critic

" There are quaint, but wholly irrelevant notes on Philology."

they are

If

more to

Words

And

But

say.

then

I

have

nothing

cannot admit that they

I

are like fossils

;

they have a tale to

just as the crust of the earth

record of light

irrelevant,

are. tell.

contains the

past history, so language throws

its

on the origin and progress of human thought.

Words

are

more than empty sounds, conventional

tokens useful for the transfer of ideas, but nothing more. their

If

we can

meaning,

radical

amply repay the primitive stand.

toil

of

ideas

And

read them aright, and get at

certain

:

things

the it is,

often they, too, will

full

for they will disclose the for

which

they

that a knowledge of the

names and terms we use

is

for accurate

apologize for alluding,

thought.

I

absolutely necessary

even in self-defence, to truths so obvious. St. James's Gazette.

Reference usually passed

is

by

made

to

the

form

of

verdict

coroners' juries.

" Mr. Gurnhill is right, we think, when he says some good might result, if attempts at suicide were more rigorously dealt with by magistrates."

THE MORALS OF

12

SUICIDE.

The testimony of Mr. W. W. Westcott, DeputyCoroner for Central

Middlesex, on

this

point

ought to carry weight.

"I cannot refrain from saying, that both law and custom with respect to suicide are in a very unsatisfactory and anomalous state. On the one hand, self-murder is ranked by the law as a felony, one of the worst of crimes on the other hand, hardly one suicide a year is called a felon. Suicide is not in law any proof of the existence of insanity, yet no sooner is the suicide quite dead, than almost every one cries out that he was insane. Again, an attempt at suicide is a misdemeanour punishable by imprisonment, yet a person caught in the act and taken before the magistrates is generally dismissed from custody, not because of insanity, certainly not, because if that were the plea he would be sent to an asylum, and not set free but let the culprit presently die from a cause dependent on the suicidal injury, and the verdict will be that he was insane. Surely such incongruities cannot be ;

;

allowed to exist

much

New The is

both

beg

to

critique

longer."

^

York Times.

which appeared

in

this journal

appreciative and discriminating, offer the '

Suicide,

writer by

W. W.

my

best thanks.

Westcott, p. 160.

and

I

With

— REVIEW OF NOTICES AND

CRITIQUES.

13

regard to the increase of suicide in the United States, I

am

appeared

in

987

in the

glad to say that the figures which

year 1885 to 5750 in 1895

be much exaggerated. tion I

— namely, from

Tribune

the Chicago

now refer my

For more

—appear to

reliable informa-

readers to Chap. IL, containing

further statistics in the United States.

Review of "

The

the

Week.

chapters in the book are of somewhat

unequal merit, and in some cases we should e.g. in the to have seen fuller treatment

But our verdict that the work cussion of Personality.

bution

to

the

literature

this in is

of

like dis-

no way impairs

a valuable contrisociology,

bearing

evidences of serious thought."

The

subject of Personality

is

one

'of great

im-

portance in relation to the moral aspect of suicide.

Moreover, as

it is

one of considerable complexity,

a fuller discussion of

it

will

be found

in

the Essay

on Personality, which forms the second part of this

volume.

The Saturday Review.

The

notice which appeared in this paper can

neither be called a critique nor a review.

Indeed,

we might almost suppose the writer had accepted

THE MORALS OF

H

SUICIDE.

He

a brief in defence of suicide.

my

regard

more than

little

on'

book

quote

to

is

and purposes

as to all intents "

;

a sermon

"

and he then goes

showing

evidence

pleased to

want

the

of

unanimity as to the lawfulness of suicide amongst nations

different

in

ancient and

modern

do not suppose any one doubted

I

this

times.

though

;

the statement that suicide was not 'proscribed

Greek and

Roman

philosophy

must,

by

think,

I

be accepted with reserve; seeing that Aristotle chap, xi.) calls

{Ethics, V.

it

a sin against the

and says that the memory of the suicide

State,

should be marked by infamy.

Under

the later

frequent,

excessively

and,

indeed,

But what was the cause?

able.

and

Roman Empire

sloth

suicide

became

quite

fashion-

The luxury

which predominated amongst the

cul-

tured classes, and the dictum of the Stoic School, "

Mori

licit

cui vivere non placet"

But are those examples

Zeno and Epicurus and

for us to follow

?

Are

the rest, " the followers

of Odin and the Brahmins of the East," to influence the conclusions to be

Ethics

?

"Suicide,"

by

Sir

drawn from Christian

the

writer

Thomas More

in

adds, his

"was permitted Utopia,

and

has

REVIEW OF NOTICES AND been

following,

presume,

I

Utopia to which

the

15

modern

in

1

The

my

that

it

by many thinkers

defended

times."

CRITIQUES.

reader

what circumstances

my

may and

Thomas More thought missible.

I

the passage in

is

refers.

critic

see to

for

I

himself

what

quote

under

extent

Sir

self-destruction to be per-

do not remember any other passage

which he alludes to the subject.

in

"

The

said) they see to with great nothing at all pass concerning either physic or good diet, whereby they may be restored again to their health. Such as be sick of incurable diseases they comfort with sitting by them, with talking with them, and, to be short, with all manner of helps that may be. But if the disease be not only incurable, but also full of continual pain and anguish, then the priests and the magistrates exhort the man, seeing he is not able to do any duty of life, and by overliving his own death is noisome and irksome to others, and grievous to himself, that he will determine with himself no longer to cherish that pestilent

sick (as

affection,

'

It is the

with them a

and

custom, stiletto,

suffer dishonour.

I

let

am

I

told, for ladies in

Japan

with which to take their

The Czarowitz, when he

to carry about

lives, rather

some years ago, was attacked by a native policeman. after, a young Japanese woman immolated herself on Both to atone, as she thought, for the national disgrace.

time

and Japan

life is

held very cheap.

than

visited that country

A

short

the spot, in

China

6

THE MORALS OF

1

SUICIDE.

and painful disease. And, seeing his life is to him but a torment, that he will not be unwilling to die, but rather take a good hope to him, and either despatch himself out of that painful

life,

as out of a prison or a rack of torment, or else

out of it by doing they tell him he shall do wisely, seeing by his death he shall lose no And because in commodity, but end his pain. that act he shall follow the counsel of the priests, that is to say, of the interpreters of God's will and pleasure, they show him that he shall do like a godly and a virtuous man. They that be thus persuaded, finish their lives willingly, either with hunger, or else die in their sleep without any But they cause none such to feeling of death. die against his will, nor they use no less diligence and attendance about him, believing this to be an honourable death. Else he that killeth himself before that the priests and the council have allowed the cause of his death, him, as unworthy either to be buried or with fire to be consumed, ^ tJiey cast unburied into some stinking marsh" himself willingly to be rid

suffer

And

others.

From judge

this

for

in so

passage

my

readers will be able to

how far, and under what Thomas More justified suicide.

themselves

circumstances. Sir

But who are the many thinkers times

and

?

Does

my

his followers '

critic

refer

to

of

modern

Schopenhauer

of the Pessimistic School

Utopia (The Camelot Series), p. 158.

?

If

REVIEW OF NOTICES AND so,

he

is

welcome

CRITIQUES.

to their patronage

17

and support.

Perhaps he had Dr. Donne in mind, who wrote

But

Biathanatos in defence of suicide.

was not published death.

till

the

work

author's

very plain to see that he was far

It is

from being proud of been consulted,

have

long after

this

And

it.

in all probability

beeii published at

he could have

if

it

would never

all.

Liverpool Daily Post. "

Even the title is challengeable, for it goes without saying that suicide has no morals."

The

however,

writer,

that the book

kind enough to say

is

eminently instructive on this

is

saddening subject.

As

to the

I

title,

"

difference between

confess I

Morals

"

fail

and

distinction, if distinction there

to

be,

much

see

" Ethics."

1

The

seems to

me

rather subtle and insignificant than practical and "

The Morals

real.

Of

mean

the moral aspect of suicide.

sense

course,

certainly

it

by

is

not true

"

of Suicide "

And

I

in this

that suicide has

no

morals." '

" Morals"

is

VOL.

II.

Mos = a manner, or custom which has the same meaning.

derived from Lat.

" Ethics" from Gr.

eflor,

C

;

THE MORALS OF SUICIDE.

i8

British Medical Journal, Lancet, and Medical Press. I

attach great importance to the reviews which

have appeared

an

in these three journals, and, as

expression of the opinion of the medical faculty,

The

they demand the utmost respect.

men should

of Christ and medical

themselves

as

humanity.

The

fellow-workers

ministers

surely regard

the

in

cause

mankind and the

welfare of

of

heal-

ing of their diseases are the objects which they

both have

in

common.

It

is

true that they are

not working in exactly the same department of

human

nature.

In

the

men

the other the souls of the

objects

of

one case the bodies, in

regard

;

broadly speaking,

are,

medicines

nor are the

But

or the methods in each case the same.

should never be forgotten

ments frequently overlap

spirit

;

that

;

combining two elements,

and

that the

and that the health

and

cannot long be maintained are

neglected.

two depart-

man

is

body and

that these are

The same

a unity

we

ministers

flesh

soul,

mutually dependent, welfare if

of

one

the

those of the other

conclusion

is

drawn from the example and teaching of

Whom

it

of religion

call

the

to

be

Him Great

— REVIEW OF NOTICES AND Physician.

19

was not only the diseases of the

It

men

of

souls

CRITIQUES.

every form of

excited

that

human

suffering.

the

devil-driven epileptic,

the

deaf and the

dumb

sympathy, but

his

the

The

foul leper,

lame,

the blind,

appealed to His com-

passion and received His gifts of healing.

For these reasons

know what

my

I

felt

deeply interested to

the medical journals would say about

book.

The British Medical Journal says "

We

should welcome any suggestions to abate But we do not think that

the evil of suicide.

Mr. Gurnhill's suggestions are of practical use."

Did

my

remedy that

me to discover a specific He knows, as well as I do,

expect

critic

for suicide

none such

?

exists.

But,

if

my

suggestions

are worthless, has he any others to offer ?

rently

They

What,

not.

are

then,

resolve themselves into

ascertained sistent

directly

:

we should

Thus, for example,

a doubt

this

suggestions that,

that

a

large

it

is

?

having

some of the more general and

causes of suicide,

causes.

my

Appa-

per-

attack those

proved beyond

percentage of cases

is

due to drink, another large percentage

to betting

and gambling, and so on.

Is,

then,

my

— THE MORALS OF SUICIDE.

20

we might reduce

suggestion that suicides

the

number of

by reducing the amount of drinking,

betting and gambling, and similar vices " of practical use "

Let

?

my

Magnus Huss,

Dr.

no

reader decide for himself.

in

his

standard work

on

Chronic Alcoholism, stated suicidal impulse is a more frequent accompaniment of the melancholia of drunkards

"that the than

from

melancholia

of

amongst

other

causes,

and,

uneducated classes suicide frequently follows on the disordered emotional tone, which sooner or later results from the abuse of alcoholic liquors." further,

that

Again, Dr. Officer of

on "

W.

H.M.

showing the

Sullivan,

Deputy Medical

Prison, Pentonville, in an article

The Relation

referring to the

C.

the

of Alcoholism to Suicide," after

Registrar-General's Returns,

close

rate of alcoholism

connection

as

between a high

and a corresponding frequency

of suicide, points out that the explanation

is

to

be found in the visceral and organic depression,

and consequent melancholic tendency

resulting

from alcoholism, which are powerless to overcome suicidal

impulses

arising

during

intoxication,

whereas in healthy subjects such impulses speedily vanish and

come

to nought.

;

REVIEW OF NOTICES AND

CRITIQUES.

21

The Lancet. This review

The

blame.

is

a curious mixture of praise and

reviewer asks

why

amenable to any arguments

should suicides be Especially as "

?

I

excuse myself from dealing with the arguments of Pliny, Seneca, and others,

who have expressed

approval of suicide under certain conditions." In reply, that

would venture to remind

I

stated

I

plainly

I

my

critic,

approached the subject

from the standpoint of the Christian Socialist and,

to set

am

never

I

not afraid to meet

He

ground.

and

that

by ancient Greek and Latin

forth I

undertook

and compare the views and arguments

consequently,

collate

whom

his

own

who have expressed approval

Virgil,

denied

demned

on

of

could quote Socrates, Plato, Aristotle,

I

^schines,

critic

quotes Pliny the Elder, and Seneca,

others,

suicide.

my

But

writers.

its

and Pliny the Younger, permissibility

all

of

and strongly con-

it.

Again,

I

am

accused of "a

great

want of

thoroughness," because " from cover to cover there is

not a word about that awful

problem

—the

duty that sometimes corners the true Christian and

good

citizen

tragedy,

the

—of

laying

problem,

down the

his

life."

unselfish

"The

dread

of

THE MORALS OF SUICIDE.

22

becoming burthensome, or of cankering a young with

life

an

infirmity of

the

do not exist

things

speak of suicide only with horror as

But

sin.' "

which

is

suggested in these words

would equally told prevails

justify the custom,

—these

who can deadly

this

for

suicide,

one which

is

which we are

amongst some of the Indian

—of tomahawking become

'

argument

the

surely

one

old

the author,

for

useless

their

and burthensome.

confess

I

dare not espouse such an argument, for

not I

know where

would lead me.

it

tribes

aged parents when they

should be truly sorry

my

if

critic

I

I

do

And

yet

were to

me wanting in sympathy for those unhappy who find themselves "cornered" in "the God forgive me, if I were for battle of life." I know full well how truly awful and tragic is think

beings

;

the dilemma in which they sometimes find themselves placed.

But,

if

the laying

and the good

down

of others

of our lives for the sake is

to

be called suicide,

then Jesus Himself was not only a suicide, but

He bade all His disciples He laid down His life for

"

lay

down own

for the

lives '

I

John

ii.

follow us,

His example.

and we ought

to

This

is

brethren." i6.

^

REVIEW OF NOTICES AND quite true

nevertheless,

;

that

my

me

but, seeing that

;

ideas.

would only

he has,

say, that

than he imagines

arguments

grieve

I

should have so far misunderstood

critic

I

do not wonder he For myself

concludes his critique as he does. I

23

we must not complicate

by the confusion of

the question

CRITIQUES.

for

;

my

motive has been more

more than

to provide dissuasive

those comparatively few

persons

who, contemplating self-destruction, are yet open to the voice of reason to save

and

religion

a few hundreds or thousands

Rather has

suicide's grave.

suicide as the

it

ing sores, moral and social, which

by no means

is

its

defects, of its

however,

book, in spite

which no one

for

is

more

more.

to " a functional relation existing

between every act of thinking,

on the one

my

author, " deserving of intelligent

do not ask

With regard

humanity,

It is gratifying,

eulogistic.

of

I

afflict

thoughtful and appreciative, but

find that the writer thinks

conscious than

those fester-

Press.

to

many

a

their healing.

The Medical This review

from

been to represent

symptom and index of

and that with a view to

perusal."

more than

;

side,

willing, or feeling

and some molecular change

in

THE MORALS OF

24

body

the

(the

" Personality."

me

on the other

brain)

This,

side,"

hope, he will also do

I

the honour to criticize.

" In this

work," he says,

in evidence."

It is

not

"

my

the preacher

is

do

hold,

and firmly hold, that

religious instincts of

man

be faced and treated, scientific

manner.

like

If

much

wish either to preach,

or sermonize, except in the proper place. I

my

in the essay

some further remarks

critic will find

on

SUICIDE.

religion

are facts which

any other

But

and the

facts,

must in

a

they must

they be real

justify their reality as part of the great

body of

philosophic and metaphysical truth.

The Indian Church Quarterly Review, I

beg

thank

to

commendation

of

my

the

reviewer

book.

April, 1901.

for

his

kind

His remarks about

the neglect of Moral Theology in the English

Church

are, I fear,

" If the

only too true.

English Church ever really took serious

notice of the evils which are preying lives of the

upon the

inhabitants of her great towns, and

perhaps even to a greater degree of the villages, she would insist on her candidates for Holy Orders acquiring some considerable knowledge of the principles of Moral Theology."

— REVIEW OF NOTICES AND TJie Critic

This notice

is

brief

yet, withal, there

writer's suggested

"

The

(New York

CRITIQUES.

25

City).

and almost amusing.

And

a spice of truth about the

is

remedy.

needs to be insisted upon than its possible sinfulness. In five cases out of six a good dinner will do more to ward off self-destruction than a barrel full of sermons and texts." folly of suicide

in these days, rather

Similarly Mr.

W. W.

on the prevention of

Westcott, in his chapter

suicide, says

patients require most watching early morning: a good lunch often dispels the tendency /<3r the day!' ^ " Suicidal

in the

There

is

no doubt that a great number of

persons are annually driven to suicide through

want

and

But

destitution.

how

is

the

good

lunch or dinner to be brought within their reach

Here

is

}

the great problem for Christian socialists

and philanthropists But the same

to solve.

writer,

whose

ance as a coroner with

practical acquaint-

the subject of

suicide

renders his testimony deserving of special respect,

though he does not prescribe '

Suicide, p. 170.

" a barrel full

of

— THE MORALS OF

26

SUICIDE.

sermons and texts," speaks out very clearly on the value of religion as a preventive.

His words

are worth quoting. "

The

cultivation of a

the sanctity of

life

more

death

is

(than

education).

a

religious

conviction

of

and the

sin of a self-inflicted

certain

hindrance to suicide who are unable to

Persons

obtain this mental conviction, are, I believe, more prone to take their lives in time of trouble and ;

beyond good advice, and the care of their I do not know that any means exist to them."

friends,

restrain

1

Globe Democrat (St. Louis, M.C.).

The

following extract

is

worth notice

:

" If ministers can help in the matter

prayers or treatises, very well

wholesome

in

is

morals promote

life

all

;

by sermons, but the main relief

and robust and so

this,

health.

Good

indirectly touch

the main question."

American

The

Ecclesiastical Review.

notice which appeared in this

Review

is

one of the most thoughtful and discriminating of

any

I

for

his

have seen candid,

and

;

even '

I

beg to thank the writer

though

Suicide, p. 172.

severe

criticism.

REVIEW OF There

He

CRITIQUES.

27

however, two or three points which

are,

cannot pass over in 1.

AND

NOl'ICES

considers

I

silence.

my

very inadequate, and

definition of personality as

is

of opinion that no more

adequate definition has ever been formulated than that of Boethius, " Persona est naturae rationalis

As, however,

individua substantia."

the subject of

find

will

some length

at

second

in

part of this volume,

framed

to

latent in the

denoting

first

who speaks 2.

Personality

discussed

I

will

the

only point

my

definition of Personality

express

the fundamental idea,

etymology of the word persona, as a mask,

and secondly the

actor

through, or behind, the mask.

But the next point of

more

readers

the essay which forms

out in this place that

was

my

careful

consideration.

criticism

demands a

The wastage

philanthropic effort through want of union

co-operation

amongst

Christians

led

me

of

and to

consider the causes of division leading to a loss of the

moral and

spiritual

power which ought

to be available for the amelioration of the social,

moral, and religious condition of mankind.

Amongst

these causes,

I

pointed out, was the

lack of obedience to the rules and precepts of Christ

Himself.

And

as

a striking instance of

— THE MORALS OF

28

disobedience

this

Roman Church

The

the people.

the

and

I

charge,

cannot wonder

mind of

question I

quoted the action of the

withholding the cup from the

in

and so delivering a mutilated sacrament to

laity,

one,

I

SUICIDE.

is,

am bound

My critic

my Roman can to

I it

admit,

Catholic

first

But the

t

For,

if not,

it.

first

principles of

and he then goes on

a very grave

critics.

be substantiated

it

withdraw

accuses me, in the

untrue to the

is

has seriously disturbed

place, of being

my own

position,

to say

"If Christ, the God-Man, commissioned His (and their lawful successors) to teach men all things whatsoever He had commanded them, and if He promised to be with them in their appointed official duty unto the end of time, so that the powers of hell should never prevail against the teaching organism He had constituted, either He, the God-Man, was unfaithful to His promise, or else the organism, which traces its origin historically back to Him, could not be permitted by Him to 'make void

apostles

the

Word of God,' and 'to proffer to men a mutilated sacrament' "

the thirsty

souls of

But the writer does not seem to see that this

passage he

away

completely.

is

in

giving himself and his case

What

did Christ commission

—

:

REVIEW OF NOTICES AND His apostles to do

?

things whatsoever

all

Has

the

To

men to observe He had commanded them.^

Roman Church done "

you from your obedience sufficient for

you

"Drink ye

this?

No," says the

"you must not do

Church,

29

teach

of this," said Christ.

all

CRITIQUES.

so.

I

will

Roman absolve

It is quite

to Christ.

Sacrament

to receive the

in

one

kind."

Doubtless Christ did promise His Presence with

His apostles and their successors. a condition to His promise to observe

and to

all

He had commanded them " the Roman Church has failed

things

this condition

fulfil,

—that

He attached of "teaching men But

not only by omission, but also by addition

not only by withholding the

Cup and

;

so proffering

a mutilated Sacrament to the people, but also

by

St.

As an

illustration

has gone and

p.

'

which

Article

I

Rome

quote the following extract from

on

'

Our

—

Irenicon,' republished in

the single consideration of what was fitting and 'conMother of our Lord, a whole system has grown up,

to the

and expanded its

for

of the length to which the Church of

prepared to go,

352 of his Occasional Papers

"From gruous

is

Dean Church's

the late i.

^

Matt, xxviii. 20.

'

'

vol.

up a system of mediation

setting

to proportions which, to those

influence, appear simply inconceivable

and

who were

not under

incredible.

Inference

has been piled upon inference, deduction has been drawn out from deduction, each grovfing more astounding than its predecessor. . .

The only way

of describing what

it

all results in is

what the general sense of Christians has considered

by

.

saying, that

for centuries to

THE MORALS OF

30

there

not a vestige of authority in the words,

is

commandments

the teaching, or the

Let us see what

command.

the Catholic Dictionary

Middle Ages the

to the

of Christ.

the history of this strange

is

infraction of Christ's express

In

SUICIDE.

we read

(Leo

Two

Popes

440, and Gelasius, 490) specially con-

I.,

demned

Down

faithful usually received

Eucharist under both kinds."

the

"

:

the Manichajans for withholding the Cup,

and commanded them

to.

The

fellowship of saints.

be expelled from the

practice

was condemned

by the Council of Clermont (1095) and by Pope Paschal II. (11 18) as "a human and novel institution,

departure from what

a

ordained and did."

Christ

the Master

Then came the Council of

^

Constance positively forbidding Communion

in

be the special and incommunicable prerogatives of the Saviour of mankind are now claimed, sometimes with something that marks

When she is proved in deliberate dogmatic language, duly guarded by appropriate distinctions, to be superiority, for his mother.

what she

is

.

.

.

frequently called, our 'co-redemptress,'

thought that the zeal of her devotees had reached they have advanced one step further, and laid

down

it

might be

its limit,

but

that she, too,

is present and is received in the Eucharist ; they have not only maintained her co-presence, but defined the manner of her presence "

(PP- 353. 354)'

Dearden's Modern

Pelliccia's

was not

Polity

until

receiving the fall

after

Cup

Romanism Examined,

of the Christian at

into disuse in the

the

the

thirteenth

Church,

p.

who

i68.

See also

admits that

it

century that the custom of

Holy Communion began gradually

Western Church,

p. 453.

to

!

REVIEW OF NOTICES AND both kinds to the

laity

of Trent confirming

and pronouncing

its

who would

souls

;

and

CRITIQUES.

31

the Council

lastly,

the decision of Constance

anathema against those poor

fain

keep the commandments

of Jesus.^

What

an extraordinary history

!

reverses the decrees of a former one.

what previous Popes had condemned

sanctions as

disloyalty to

And,

as

One Council One Pope

Christ.

Yet

all

are

infallible

though the cjimax of inconsistency had

not been reached, the

last

Pope

and

(Pius IV.)

the last Council (Trent) presume to revise the

very ordinance of the Founder Himself, and forbid obedience to one of

commands

His most

imperative

Only on one plea can such

!

action

be justified— the plea and claim of possessing a

wisdom and authority superior

to

Does

Founder of Christianity Himself

make If

this claim

he does,

he does

I

and

Roman

my

not, then

what escape

Roman

is

Church,

the

critic

Church

have not another word to

charge that the

"

on behalf of the

of

that

say.

.'

If

there from the in

adding

to,

subtracting from, the teaching of Christ, has

made

void the

the thirsty souls

Word of God," and proffered of men a mutilated Sacrament ?

Council of Trent, Art. XVII. and XVIII.

to

— THE MORALS OF

32

But even

sad as

this,

it

SUICIDE. is

is,

By

mitted to her errors.

perhaps not the

Rome

saddest feature in the case.

stands com-

the decree of Papal

Infallibility

she has crystallized and stereotyped

them upon

her.

accretional,

but organic.

profound

for

They have become not merely

regret,

And

because

this

a matter

is

renders the hope

it

of reunion remote indeed.

And

because

have pointed out

I

this instance

of disobedience to the teaching and precepts of Christ,

as

a

cause

of

followers, entailing a loss of force,

am no

I

amongst

disunion

Catholic.

His

moral and spiritual

Truly

do

I

and

call

consider myself a Catholic, in the sense of holding all

the Articles of the Catholic

same time

I

humbly hope

I

At

Faith.

the

never cease

shall

be a Protestant in the sense of protesting

to

against the unwarranted and unscriptural additions

which the Church of Faith.

my

I

confess

I

Rome

has

do not see how

My And lies

to

that

can withdraw

charge. critic

has coupled his review of

with that of another, The Bible and

"

made I

its

my

book

Interpreter ;

he adds

In the position established in the latter work the only hope for the unity of faith and

— REVIEW OF NOTICES AND

CRITIQUES.

33

loyalty of obedience for which Mr. Gurnhill pleads, and in which alone is there healing for the individual and the nations."

Now, work.

I

have been at the trouble

It is written

by the Rev.

to procure this

H. Casey,

P.

and appears with the imprimatur of the

College,

Archbishop of Philadelphia. of

it

is

the true interpreter of

Nay,

more than

this,

claim

infallibility

—and

or Churches dare claim

and

Catholic

so,

"

not

Scripture

;

outside

lie

Church which has not " into ;

one of our Lord's

which has invented

which not a shred of evidence

Holy

they

maintains a system of

still

cannot

that

^

it."

most imperative commands

and

Scripture.

are not a part of the

Church;

forsooth, the

scrupled to read

Holy

Churches

it ?

away from a "

object

Church, being

what Protestant Church

Apostolic

they are cut

And

The main

Roman

to prove that the

infallible, is

it ;

S.J.,

Woodstock

Professor of Dogmatic Theology in

is

mediation for to be found in

which presumes to declare

Churches which cannot claim

infallibility to

all

be

no part of the Catholic and Apostolic Church, to

lie

outside '

VOL.

II.

it,

and to be cut away from

The Bible audits

it

Interpreter, pp. 90, 91.

D

;

this

THE MORALS OF

34

Church

is

SUICIDE.

be for Christendom the

to

interpreter of the Bible

Comment

!

is

infallible

needless.

The Church Quarterly Review.

The

writer

because the

title

I

is

have

of

my

me

disposed to find fault with

attached " too expansive a sense " to

He

book.

has read

it

"

not exactly

why one chapter precedes another, doubting now and then whereunto this discursive

perceiving

treatment will grow, realizing with some alarm that the author has brought himself

deep water."

He

and us

into

has been unable to solve the

enigma of "the symbolical device on the cover."

He

does not see the least connection between " the

lines

from Tennyson" quoted on the title-page

and the subject

in hand.

I

am

truly sorry for

having so grievously perplexed him.

we cannot swim

in a

duck-pond, and

catch anything bigger than

be afraid sometimes

But to be

serious,

" to

my

if

But, then,

we wish

minnows we must not

launch out into the deep."

critic

say, with all respect, that

must pardon

me

if I

he appears unable to

take in that aspect of the subject which to

seems

its

to

most important and

significant

aspect as a

symptom and index

and various

evils

which

afflict

—

one

of those

me its

many

the social body,

REVIEW OF NOTICES AND and which are the

35

active causes leading to self-

.To deal with

destruction.

CRITIQUES.

a cursory manner, must,

I

these causes, even in

hardly need point out,

involve from time to time " frequent enlargements

of scope."

My

critic finds fault

have said

about

the

with

me

again for what

State with

action of the

reference to religious teaching in English

Schools,

myself

terms which

in

Board

regret that I should have expressed

I

literally

I

What

true.

not

are

and

formally

meant was

I

the

that

ministers of the various religious denominations

have no

locus standi,

no recognized

right to enter

a Board School and impart religious instruction.

Boards of managers, they like

in

I

know, can do almost what

the matter

but, as a general rule,

;

ministers of religion are not asked, and therefore

cannot teach.

my own

In saying

this, I

sincere

refrain

speaking from

experience.

Before taking leave of with

am

respect

my

and

critics,

which

gratitude,

I

I

do

cannot

from expressing a feeling of disappoint-

ment, that

so

few of them,

especially

those

representing the more distinctive Protestant forms

of Christianity, have examined

my

suggestions as

to the basis of the reunion of Christendom.

What

THE MORALS OF

36

SUICIDE.

worthier object, I ask, could Christians set before

them

for

attainment during the century on which

we have

so recently entered, than the reconcilia-

tion of their differences, that so with

and one mind they might co-operate of their evil

for

common Lord ?

in the

work

Great are the powers of

the destruction of

also are the

one heart

mankind

;

but great

powers of Christ's Church

they be concentrated and applied.

if

only

— —

CHAPTER

II.

FURTHER STATISTICS OF I.

II.

I.

From it

in

the

SUICIDE.

In England and Wales. In the United States.

England and Wales.

Registrar-General's

appears that the

Report

number of

for

1900

actual suicides

England and Wales during 1900 exceeded

those of females,

The

1899

by 52

— namely,

of

males,

45

;

7.

following table gives

of suicides,

male and female,

the

total

number

for the years

1890

and 1900, together with the approximate rate per 100,000 of the

whole population of Eng-

land and Wales, and

decade

:

the increase

during the

THE MORALS OF

38

TABLE I.

I.

SUICIDE.

— ENGLAND AND WALES. Mr.

W. D.

39

Morrison, in his article on the above

statistics/ " within the

and

last half-century,

persistent increase within the last few years,

its is

a

very sinister social phenomenon."

And "

he adds

Most writers who have devoted attention

this sad subject are of opinion that its

to

alarming

growth among modern communities is as much due to moral as to economic causes. The im-

mense increase of material wealth in the nineteenth century has been accompanied by a tragic increase of moral misery. This is no doubt to be attributed, in part at least, to the decay of faith, and the growth of pessimism. One thing, at least, is plain. Men are more than ever in need of the .

,

.

inspiring powers of hope and consolation. To supply this great need is the imperative mission of the Church."

Since the issue of carefully

collected

all

my

former volume

of suicide and

cases

tempted suicide that have met newspapers, in

order

that

my

These

determining cause.

analyzed and

classified,

and

remarks such as can hardly '

TAe Guardian, August

I

fail

at-

eye in the daily

might judge

I

myself as to their nature and, as their

have

I

for

far as possible,

cases

now

I

offer

have a few

to be suggested.

21, 1901, p.

1

131.

THE MORALS OF

40

SUICIDE.

Observations. 1.

In looking over

my

analysis

which stand out with a

features,

observe two

lurid significant

proportion of cases

First, the large

prominence.

I

which suicide treads on the heels of crime.

in

comes crime, very frequently the violent

First

assault ending in murder,

and then, to escape the

consequences of crime, self-destruction. 2.

all

The second

feature

is

the entire absence of

sense of responsibility in the great bulk of the

cases.

The

morality seems to be growing

what

is

faith "

the

Morrison

Mr.

and

penalties

" the

which

spirit

of

sin

in

and

less

"the

calls

in

" I

doctrine

this inflict

another

life,

the

life,

It

of is

the pains and

dread

punishment

but as for any other

;

or

any

to a higher tribunal than that of

know nor

This

less.

growth of pessimism." says,

which man's law can

punishment

and

restraining influence of religion

care anything about

responsibility

man,

I

neither

it."

But have we any right to be surprised

?

Are

not such sentiments as these the legitimate pro-

duct of the factors which are at work in our

modern

civilization

?

A scientific

ing to monopolize the whole

Monism

field

is

seek-

of philosophy;

ENGLAND AND WALES.

41

the worship of humanity to supplant the worship

of

God

;

and a secular socialism to represent the

What

highest aims and interests of mankind.

wonder, when annihilation, fear

;

and

men

are taught to regard death as

awaken

ceases to

it

when

that,

desperate, they

hope or

either

their circumstances

prefer to

slip

than try to ride out the storm

appear

the cable, rather

!

Causes connected with the Amatory Passion

—

Disappointment, Jealousy. 3.

The number

the miscarriage

passion

— to

affection,

in

of suicides which are due to

some form of the amatory

misplaced,

or

illicit,

disappointed

forms another significant feature

in

the

analysis of cases.

The only

preventive in

such cases as

these

would seem to be the exercise of greater care and deliberation on the part of

young men and women

before contracting engagements, and a truer per-

ception of the sanctity of the affections

have done

way

so.

But the practical

of applying such a

obvious.

remedy

when they

difficulty in the

as this

is

only too

THE MORALS OF

42

Methods of 4.

The extreme

SUICIDE.

Self-destruction.

variety of the

means or

instru-

ments employed

for self-destruction calls for

or two remarks.

The most extraordinary method

which

I

one

have come across was that adopted by an

inmate of the Connaught Hospital, who tried to

choke himself by swallowing a tablespoon. to say, although the diflSculty,

man

Strange

swallowed his food with

and was strange

his

in

manner, and

though the doctors suspected some obstruction, they only discovered the spoon wedged throat at

'Cos.

It

is

his

post-mortem examination.

Abuse of 5.

in

the Revolver.

impossible

to

study the

annals

of

suicide as recorded in the daily newspapers with-

out observing

how frequently the

And

as the instrument of death. arises

revolver

is

the question

whether some steps ought not to be taken

to stop the fatal facility with which these

of destruction are procurable.

by

chosen

suicide

is

weapons

Murder followed

becoming increasingly common.

And

one great reason,

for a

few shillings any

I feel

man

assured,

is

because

can provide himself

with the means for the swift execution of both.

ENGLAND AND WALES.

43

If the State interferes with the sale of poisonous

why

drugs,

should

not also interfere in the

it

matter of revolvers, which are equally dangerous

and deadly

In the Hampstead shooting case

?

{^Standard, January 19, 1902), the jury desired the

coroner to add a rider to their verdict, calling the attention

Home

of the

Secretary to the indis-

criminate sale of revolvers to those having no licence

carry

to

firearms.

that

revolvers

except to persons

law

a

prohibiting

murders and

To

suicides.

commission of a crime

commit

my

sale

of

who produce such a

afford facilities for the

next door to a temptation

is

it.

The Verdicts of Coroners^ 6.

the

would tend to lessen the number of both

licence

to

seems

certainly

It

probable

I

have already referred to

first

volume

the remarks verdict

still

I

given

is

that of

And

is

no doubt true so

it

means

the

this

"

subject in

need not repeat

I

The

then made.

porary insanity."

that

and

(p. 206),

Juries.

usual form of

Suicide during tem-

in

many

cases this verdict

far

—but

only

mental

balance

so

far

has

—as

been

disturbed, and the mind become unhinged, and in that sense

deranged.

But

this loss of balance

THE MORALS OF

44

and equanimity,

this

derangement, as in the case

of the bodily functions, It is

SUICIDE.

is

due to assignable causes.

due to the neglect of the rules of

Mental Hygiene. 7.

Unwholesome

diet,

insanitary

fore,

men

wise

are very careful

and

habits

dwellings, derange the bodily functions.

There-

to avoid them.

But because the mind and mental faculties are invisible

and intangible we are apt to

ignore

them, and neglect those precautions which are necessary to preserve them in health.

There

science of mental as well as bodily hygiene,

is

a

and

the importance of attending to both was fully

recognized by the ancient moralist, nobis ut sit

Our

mens sana in corpore

Orandmn

est

sano.

reserve of mental and nervous energy

limited,

and when the

strain

is

put upon

it,

is

either

through excess of work, or intemperance, or worry, or excitement, exceeds those limits,

it

stands to

reason that the mental equilibrium

is

disturbed.

The mind

gives way,

and that nervous collapse

ensues which so frequently ends in suicide.

But

it

may

a-day world

be asked,

— in

is it

this life

possible in this work-

which

for

many

is

one

of rough-and-tumble, where the weakest must go

ENGLAND AND WALES. to

the

wall

consequent

—to

exhaustion

nervous

many cases it is in many cases

mental

avoid this

not it

but

;

if

is,

doubt

in

equally true that

is

it

and

strain

No

?

45

proper precautions be

taken.

What

mean

I

this

is

:

if

through the inordinate

love of money, and the haste to

men it,

become

rich,

methods of obtaining

resort to illegitimate

such as betting, gambling, speculation, and

fraud

through the unbridled love of pleasure

if,

;

and excitement they give the illicit

affection

or

;

if,

to

rein

or

lust

through want of proper

care and observation, they overtax their mental

powers,

—

is it

to be

wondered

at,

that such courses

should end at last in nervous collapse, or a frenzied state of mind, which

insanity,"

and

may

be termed "temporary

which the unhappy

in

no longer wholly accountable Doubtless,

if all

men

sufferer is

for his actions

?

could be induced to

live

according to laws of mental hygiene, and avoid those habits and pursuits which are almost sure to

disturb

moral

the

mental balance and deaden the

we

sensibility,

suicide than

preventive

is

we

do.

very

should

hear

far

But, again, the difficult

remedy

of application

especially so in the cases of those

of

less

;

or

and

who need

it

THE MORALS OF

46

most

The work

one,

is

SUICIDE. which only

believe,

I

the teachers of the Christian religion and morality-

can attempt with any prospect of success. tion will not

the

do

Sociology,

evil.

Educa-

Civilization only intensifies

it.

like

the

gardener's

rake,

may remove some

of the rubbish and smooth some of the roughness which deface the surface of society,^ but to

impress

will

does not probe the mischief

it

To do

root.

its

men

bility of their lives,

time,

what

,i^ 8.

^

The

much

is

is

General's

we need something

and show them,

best worth living

^''' Child

i/"

be

Report

amongst children In

1899 we

67, or about three per cent.,

the

Registrar-

find that out

ten

and

fifteen,

But out of the

6

first

;

all

of

ages,

were under the age

of twenty, namely, between five ;

same

Suicide.

deplor^. for

at the

a total of 2 12 1 suicides of persons of

I

that

for.

of suicide

increase to

this

with the sanctity and responsi-

fifteen

and ten years,

and twenty,

hundred of

my

60.

collected

' For example, intemperance, betting, and gambling, overcrowded dwellings, poverty, and want of work, are amongst the chief causes of suicide ; and to effect reforms and remove defects

with regard

to

these

Christian Socialism,

things falls

within the proper

scope of

ENGLAND AND WALES. or attempted suicide

cases of suicide

47

no

find

I

than 6 were those of children between the

less

.

ages of eight and sixteen.

I

do not say

be safe to assume that these

it

would

correctly

figures

represent the average percentage of child suicide

show

the present day, but I do think they

in

that the percentage

on the increase.

is

be interesting,

It will

I

my

know, to some of

readers to learn the nature of the causes which

were operative

No. 2 ran

in these deplorable cases.

the case of a boy, aged seven,

is

away from

drowned No.

school, and, rather than

who

return,

himself.

29.

—

Girl,

This was clearly

age not stated.

a case of over-wrought religious emotion, amount-

ing to mania.

No. 31. a

aged

hanged

No.

53.

—

at

school,

who,

in

himself. Girl,

No. 90A. self in

some No.

a

— Boy

fit

Cause:

aged fourteen.

ment by step-mother

"

eight,

of passion at being punished and sent to

fit

bed,

—Boy,

;

ill-treat-

three previous attempts.

in service,

who

destroyed him-

of passion at being told to clean

boots. 80.

— Boy

Thoroughly

at

public

school,

tired of school-life."

aged

16.

THE MORALS OF

48 I

will not

point

comment on own

their

moral

SUICIDE.

these cases, for they

they

but

;

teaching one plain lesson, which greater care

those

who

concur

in

the need for

and consideration on the part of

are entrusted with the

the mind, as

of

faculties

may be

the body,

and

training

The opening

education of the young. of

is,

easily

over-taxed, with consequences which cannot be foreseen.

Gentleness coupled with firmness should

be the invariable

rule.

Extraordinary Cases.

There

g.

a few cases

are

in

my

collection

which, owing to their exceptional character, call for a few

words of comment.

Acute mental

distress

is

cursor and cause of suicide.

frequently the pre-

But

it

is

astonishing

from what comparatively insignificant causes the distress

No.

sometimes io8b

is

arises.

the case of a

overwhelmed with

man who was

so

pony

to

grief at the loss of a

which he had become greatly attached, that he

drowned live

for.

himself, saying he

had nothing

In another case, a young

left

to

man hanged

himself rather than submit to vaccination.

Such

——

a

ENGLAND AND WALES. examples show how is

disturbed in If there

is

some

mental equilibrium

easily the cases.

one word that

may

be said in extenu-

ation of the crime of self-destruction,

may sometimes by

suicide

and

49

call attention to

it is

his very act

some abuse or

that the

emphasize

festering sore

the social body, and so help to secure

in

moval or remedy. cases following

No.

64.

Such,

is

the case of a clergyman of

the Church of England,

who

had been the incumbent of a

for eighteen years

living with a princely

Finding himself unable to struggle

any longer against to be allowed to

his increasing poverty,

resign,

he asked

and had even gained

permission to enter a charitable institution

even him.

this

my

;

but

escape from his troubles was denied

In a letter sent to a friend shortly before

his death, "

two

:

—This

income of .^80.

its re-

think, are the

I

he wrote

The Bishop seems

not to be disposed to accept

resignation, as I should never be able to

the dilapidations {£i(X>). ...

I

shall

pay

have to make

myself a bankrupt, and afterwards apply to the guardians for admission to the Union-House

—

terrible

and shocking termination of

If his case excites our deepest

VOL.

11.

my

life."

sympathy and E

!

THE MORALS OF SUICIDE.

50

reproach

may

we

compassion,

at

hope

least

the

that

contains for the richest Church in

it

Christendom

You

not pass by unheeded.^

will

Churchmen and Churchwomen,

rolling in all the

luxury of untold wealth, think of that poor priest

and pastor of your own Church, sleepless couch

one

by poverty and

from his

rising

bitter winter morning, driven

end

to

distress

his

miserable

existence in a horse-pond

The next

a tragedy of old age ; a

numerous

A poor

may

case (No. i8i)

but, alas

!

truly be termed

only the type of

class.

old man, aged 80, bearing an excellent

character,

is

reduced to

a

state

bordering on

starvation because he cannot find work,

miserable dole of

is.

6d.

quite insufficient to enable

wife

and keep

utter despair

his

he

tries

table-knife.

It

is

course was

to

go

must

home

and the

from the guardians

him

is

to support his old

together, so in a

fit

of

to destroy himself with a

easy to say that his into

proper

the workhouse, but

we

at least admire the old man's love of free-

dom and

independence, and

wonder that

our

The number of benefices in the Church of England is about Of these, 4704 are worth between £100 and ;^200 per annum and about 1500 are less than ;^ioo. '

14,000.

;

— UNITED STATES.

51

boasted civilization should have no alternatives

and deserving poor

the industrious

to

offer

in

the evening of their days but starvation or

to

the workhouse.

The United

II.

The

truth of the statement

number

Tribune, that the in the 1

States.

made by

the Chicago

of suicides had increased

United States from 978

in

1885 to 5750 in

89s, at the rate of 500 a year, has been

canvassed. obtain

have,

results I

now

lay before

this information

I

am

much

endeavoured

therefore,

some trustworthy information on

and the For

I

my

to

this point,

readers.

indebted to the kind-

ness and courtesy of Mr. Commissioner Wright of

the Labour Department, Washington, and also to Dr.

I.

Director-in-Charge of the Con-

S. Billings,

solidated Libraries, I

New

York,

must premise, however, that

vital statistics are

not collected and recorded in the United States as

they are in England and Wales.

There

is,

in fact,

no publication answering to the Annual Reports of the Registrar-General in England.

Roughly speaking, the whole country into

two

parts, the Registration

registration

Area

;

and

it

is

is

divided

Area and the Nonvery important to

THE MORALS OF

53

bear this in mind or

in

seeking to

draw conclusions from the

The

Registration Area, as

stand,

is

make comparisons

statistics published.

we can

readily under-

being enlarged year by year.

1890 and 1900 cent.,

SUICIDE.

it

Between

has increased by almost 50 per

and now comprehends nearly 29,000,000 of

The Registration Area now appears

population.

comprise

all

the

more important

states,

to

with the

exception of Delaware, Maine, and Michigan, and 153

cities

of 8000 or

more population

in

other

states.^

In consequence of the insufficiency of data from the Non-registration Area, the death-rates and ratios for the census of

1900 are based only on the returns

from the Registration Area, and in endeavouring to ascertain the truth as to the annual increase of suicide

we

TABLE

II.— Showing the Increase in the Population of

shall follow the

same

rule.

THE United States.

UNITED STATES. TABLE

S3

III.— Showing Suicides recorded throughout the of the United States, with Proportion due TO this Cause in 100,000 Deaths from all Causes in

Whole 1890

AND

1900.

Year.

THE MORALS OF

54

SUICIDE.

Registration Area during the decade the above increase It

would seem,

1

890-1900,

the more significant.

is all

from the above

then,

that the figures quoted by the Chicago are

considerably exaggerated,

at

statistics

Tribune

least for

the

decade 1890- 1900.

During that decade the annual increase

number of

in

the

suicides recorded throughout the whole

of the United States appears to have been not 500,

but 156-6, and in the Registration Area during the

same

period, 130 or 0'i5 per 100,000 of population.

On comparing

the

statistics

Table IV. with those of Table sponding

statistics for

the same period,

it

I.,

in

the

above

giving the corre-

England and Wales during

appears that, though the rate

of suicides per 100,000 of population, male and female, in 1

was 26 greater

in the

United States than

England, yet the increase during the decade

890-1900 was identical

in

both countries.

UNITED STATES. 2

55

THE MORALS OF

56 •7,

SUICIDE.

UNITED STATES.

57

Statistics collected frogi the Registration States

show

that the

number of

among males among females.

suicides

nearly four times as great as

was highest of all

New Hampshire

in

Amongst males

districts,

ii"28.

of

the cities in

all in

in the district of

As

Columbia

regards age,

per 100,000

is

Vermont

(9'83)

It

rural

;

was highest

(22'i5),

and next

(i8'25).

appears that the rate of deaths

it

least

it

is

between the ages of

and 45,

15

namely, iO'43, ^nd greatest amongst those of 65 years and over, 27-32

and

least

among

between 45 and 65

among males

It is highest

24-54.

;

it

is

in cities (i9'39),

females in rural districts (3"34).

In the age group from 45 to 65 the rate was times

five

high

as

amongst females

amongst

(7"8o),

males (4r44) as

and much higher

in cities

of Registration States (23"o6) than in the rural districts (i6"9i). cities

It

was highest among males

of 100,000 and over (5646),

among

and

lowest

females in the metropolitan district (7"05).

In the age group of 65 years and over nearly seven times as high as

in

among

females

(7 '80),

among males

highest of

all

it

was

(49"I9)

among

males in cities of Non-registration States (76-00),

and lowest of

all

among

females in the

the Registration States (6-13).

cities

of

—

THE MORALS OF

58

SUICIDE.

TABLE

VII. Showing, for the Registration Area, the Death-rate from Suicide among the Whites during the Census Year 1890 per 100,000 of White Population, WITH Distinction of Birthplaces of Mothers AND A Comparison of the Same with Ethnological Differences of Suicide amongst European Nations as given by Morselli {page 84, International Series). ;

Rate per Million. Birthplaces of Mothers.

UNITED STATES. nations

among

;

and

in the

59

United States the rate

is

lowest

the offspring of Irish-born mothers.

On

the other hand, the Germanic races rank highest in

Europe, and the highest rate

States races,

'

is

in

the United

found amongst the descendants of those

with the exception of Bohemia and Hungary.'

Morselli does not give the annual

number

for

Hungary.

PART

II.

AN ESSAY ON PERSONALITY

PREFATORY NOTE Truth

must ever be the outcome and

in religion

expression of truth in metaphysic. truth

and science

metaphysic

in

And it

between

is

idle

to

suppose that any real discrepancy or antagonism can

dilemma physic of

Hence we

exist. :

are placed in the following

either there

— and

no such thing as meta-

science monopolizes the whole field

epistemology

metaphysic

is

—or

must

Thoughtful men,

the claims of science and

be capable I

of

reconciliation.

imagine, will hardly be pre-

pared to accept the former alternative, and the following essay as

a

latter.

humble

is

offered, with all

contribution

In other words,

it

in

due deference,

support

of

the

presents the outline of

a system which, in the opinion of the author at

least,

affords

a

reasonable

basis

on

which

64

THE MORALS OF

SUICIDE.

the claims of science, metaphysic, and religion

may be

harmonized, and which

dealing with the

facts

is

capable of

and phenomena of our

varied environment, whether material, moral, or spiritual.

PERSONALITY SECTION Definition

I.

—

—The

a priori and a posteriori views Personality in In the Hegelian System The higher The Formula I = I The Logic of Hegel con.

— — trasted with Christian Metaphysic — Hegel's attempt to reconcile Metaphysic

Aristotle's

Pantheism

—

—

the two.

Exception has been taken ferred

:

Persona

substantia"

my

—an

est naturce rationalis

individual,

complete

my

critic, this

much

savours too

individua substance,

But with

subsisting in a rational nature.^

respect to

definition of

and that of Boethius has been pre-

Personality, "

to

definition, to

my

all

mind,

of mediaeval scholasticism.

doubt, moreover, whether

it

due

I

would convey any

very clear and definite idea to ordinary readers. Personality interested,

virtue

is

all is

of us are

a person

by

of possessing an intelligent, self-conscious

soul, or spirit. '

VOL.

a subject in which

inasmuch as every man

II.

It will

American

be

well,

however, to avoid

Ecclesiastical Review.

F

—

AN ESSAY ON

66

as

far

as

pression

PERSONALITY.

terms and forms of ex-

possible all

expected to understand.

my

to

be

which the ordinary reader cannot I

shall, therefore, stick

guns, and be guided in forming the con-

cept and definition of Personality by the radical

word and

idea embodied in the

meaning. the

Self-consciousness, then, I hold to be

of

essential feature

person "

etymological

its

I

conceive

who

being,

self-conscious

and

of,

And "a

Personality.^

define, as a rational,

and

speaks,

thinks,

under the figurative semblance of a mask

acts

{persojia)?

method we adopt, there are two

But, whichever

things to be kept carefully in view, the terminus a

and the terminus ad quern.

quo,

Prius, or First Cause,

quo.

The human

the greatest experience,

Personality, being,

phenomenon is

our terminus a

this Prius is

ad

human personahty

is

quern.

other things as

objects

self

'

spirit as

we know

the

to

it

make

to regard

over against our subjective

Z>imne Immanence, Illingworth,

self."

p. 6.

By metonymy the persona, or mask, is used who wears the mask and acts from behind it.

actor

actual

These two

power and other things, and

self-consciousness,

mental distinction between all

on the whole,

we have

of which

our terminus

" Thus the fundamental characteristic of

'

in

adequate to the production of

And

phenomena.

all

Reason demands a

to

denote the

"A PRIORI" AND "A POSTERIORI" VIEWS. limits represent

gation.

Neither

the whole field

may be

67

of

our investi-

ignored,

and neither

separated from the other, seeing they must be, so to speak, organically connected.

Two

Points of View "a

Personality, again,

— The

"

a priori" and

posteriori" is

may

a subject which

be

regarded and discussed from two opposite points

The

of view.

first

we may

postulated Prius, whatever

endeavour to

between

trace

call

the a priori

We may

second the a posteriori.

start

we may

downwards

call

the

;

the

from the it,

and

connection

and the phenomenon of the human

it

Personality to which

we

are

bound

come.

to

Or,

on the other hand, reversing the operation, we

may

begin with the fact of

human

Personality,

and by reasoning backward consider the conclusions

it

will lead us to

form as to the nature

of the Prius.

Let us take the a priori view various

have

been

first.

the speculations

existence and nature of the Prius of

That a Prius of some kind does existed from

all eternity,

Many and as

to the

all

exist,

things.

and has

seems to be one of the

AN ESSAY ON

68

necessary laws of

PERSONALITY.

human

has been postulated in

thought. all

Its existence

the best accredited

systems of philosophy, that have ever appealed

judgment of mankind.

to the

Progress in the Study of Metaphysic, " If we look to completely elaborated theories," says Professor Baird,^ " and disregard all tentative and imperfect sketches, it may fairly be said that all that has as yet been done in the region of pure metaphysic is contained in two works, in the Metaphysic of Aristotle and the Logic of Hegel."

It

will

be

well, then, to consider, in

how and

place,

into these

to

the

first

what extent Personality enters

two systems.

Personality in the Metaphysic of Aristotle.

The

recognition of reason

Nature, the

and

intelligence in

employment of means

to

an end,

and the display of something which looks very like design, has not always led to the inference

that there must be, behind

all

natural phenomena,

a creative, intelligent, and personal mind. the contrary, the

tendency

invest Nature herself with Divine attributes '

On

has often been to

—that

Art. " Metaphysic" in Eticyc. Brit., p. 99, vol. xvi.

IN THE METAPHYSIC OF ARISTOTLE.

This was not the case,

towards Pantheism.

is,

however,

with

His

Aristotle.

theory

universe has long been exploded, and

only

vives

as

an

interesting

yet

it is

in outline, if

conception of

rightly his

correlate

was

it

of

the

now

sur-

of

relic

And

philosophical speculation.

we should know what

69

ancient desirable

we would

Personality,

whether human or Divine.

The

earth he held to be the stationary centre

of the universe, with the seven planets, including

number the sun and moon, moving

their

in

oblique courses from right to

left.

in

But the whole

outer heaven, or sphere of the stars, was composed,

not of matter, but of a divine ether, moving from to right,

and deriving

its

left

motion from the surround-

ing Godhead, the Essence, or Being, which moves all

things,

is

Himself unmoved.

as "the

Whatever

things."

He

is

His

life is

He

but

Him

speaks of

else

Aristotle

Unmoved Mover

He

is.

He

is

of

Personal.

not pure thought, like Hegel's Prius the thinking upon thought.

;

for

Nor can

think of anything inferior to Himself, for to

do so would imply change and degradation. is

all

a Personal Deity

creatures

;

;

but

and enters

material universe.

If

He

into

He

is

lives aloof

no its

He

from His

relations with the

Maker,

He

leaves

AN ESSAY ON

70 it

to take care of

PERSONALITY. Such was

itself.

conception of the Prius of it

all

Aristotle's

He

things.

held

no abstract impersonal thought, but a

to be

personal Deity.

How, sonality within,

man, and the human Per-

then, about

Man

>

he conceived of as being partly

and partly without the sphere of Nature.

Within, so far as

man

is

the highest product of

Nature, and, in a sense, the end, for which besides

the means.

is

man

something about

And

yet,

all

he held, there

which does not

fall

is

within

the sphere of Nature, and therefore transcends

And

Nature.

coming

in

from

without,

and the starry spheres are composed.

heavens,

And

and therefore belonging

essence of which the supernal

that ethereal

to

something he regarded as

this

thus the Personality of man, by virtue of his

reasonable

more or

was brought

soul,

of

relationship

with his personal Prius, the

less direct,

Unmoved Mover

into

all things.^

Personality in the Hegelian System.

"Pure thought," according to Hegel, Prius '

of

all

things.

See Sir Alex. Grant's

Britannica, to which

I

am

But article

it

is

not

is

the

easy to

on Aristotle in the Encyc,

partly indebted for the above digest.

—

—

IN THE HEGELIAN SYSTEM. ascertain with

what he conceived

certainty

pure thought to be, and what

one place we are told

"

that

it

this

In

contained.

it

must be conceived

a living principle, a principle which only in

as

self-manifestation can be conscious of

very

the

to

nature

manifestation

is

we

are told, "

At

the basis of

is

not consciousness with

which both mind and nature

made, neither

its

extended

primary form

transparent, trable life

is

before

free

fluid,

as

(? "

in

matter

")

natural

the

Thought

were, thoroughly

it

and mutually interpene-

part

—the

Creation

had

every

in

as

is,

its

It is rather the

world, nor self-centred as in the mind. in

self-

^

ego and non-ego.

distinction of

are

therefore,

and

But the thought thus regarded as the

thought.'

basis of all existence

stuff of

itself,

whether material or mental, there

reality,

all

which,

of

essential."

In another place

'

71

spirit

seraphic

in its

produced

a

natural

world, and thought had risen to an independent '

Encyc.

passages

Brit.,

from

Art.

" Metaphysic,"

the article on

p.

Britannica will be found helpful as laying basis from

100.

The following

Metaphysic in the Encyclopedia

down

the fundamental

which self-consciousness proceeds, according

to

Hegel

:

"In the Hegelian Logic self-consciousness is interpreted as a unity, which realizes itself through difference and the reconciliation of difference

— an

organic unity of elements, which exist only as

they pass into each other."

Ibid.

—

AN ESSAY ON

72

PERSONALITY.

existence in the social organism."

primary form,

what Hegel

is

the process of the world.

form of consciousness

ment of the mind. thought become origin

Thought,

calls

the

in this

" Idea,"

fundamental, becomes also

which, though in

'

in

It

final

only takes the

the crowning develop-

Only with philosophy does

fully conscious

of itself in

its

and development.

Now, whatever we may be able of the above paragraphs,

to

make out

and whether we can

them, or not, one thing at any rate

assent

to

seems

plain,

Hegel himself did not claim

that

for his Prius, his pure thought, his " Idea," either

self-consciousness

regard

We

personality.

are

to

as a living principle, indeed, and, as a

it

ever

for

principle,

universe, but

and of

in

or

at

itself,

manifesting

in

the

unconscious

and only reaching the summit of

personality in the

self-conscious

itself

the same time as

mind and

soul

of man.^ •

Encyc. Brit., Art. "Hegel,"

"

The

criticism

Naturalism,

is

of

Professor

though

directed

against

equally applicable to the Hegelian theory of a Prius

of pure thought, or "mind-stuff." in

vol. xi. p. 6i8.

Ward,

"The more

clearly

we succeed

mentally depicting such 'mind-stuff' or 'matter-stuff' in

—

—

its

which we call it the more hopeless and absurd will appear the emergence therefrom of a living feeling, Ego, and a known non-Ego." Naturalism and Agnosticism, vol. ii. nakedness

255-

it

is

indifferent

—

— THE HIGHER PANTHEISM. The there

the

and only legitimate conclusion

inevitable.,

to which

we

by Hegel's Logic

are led

And

Man.

Personality of

as

any

for

dis-

between a Divine and human Personality,

any relationship

or

that

is,

but one Personality in the Universe

is

tinction

73

the

of

responsibility

between

is

any

or

two,

the

The Divine

the

is

to

latter

cannot be maintained.

and the human

the

Former,

it

the human,

The human

Divine.

is

not an object to the Divine nor the Divine to the human.

Such a system,

it is

hardly necessary

to point out, can never, as regards

its

theological

aspect, rise higher than an intellectual Pantheism,

that

Higher

Tennyson's " Dark For

is

is

Pantheism

not

well

expressed

in

lines

the world to thee

He

so

all

:

thyself art the reason

but thou, that hast power to

feel

why '

I

;

am

I

'

?

"

The Higher Pantheism. It

has been said that Hegel, because he grasped

the concrete character of thought in

enabled

to

understand

the

itself,

was

necessary unity of

thought or self-consciousness with the world, and heal

the division

of

physics

from metaphysics

which Aristotle had admitted. But,

if this

be

true,

then

it is

evident that the

breach has only been healed by the triumph of

AN ESSAY ON

74

Pantheism, and Aristotle deity,

the

PERSONALITY. of

loss

allowed, the

of

existence

even

which

that

a

as

Jove

though somewhat too otiose and neglectful

of his duties.

know

I

be laying myself open to a

shall

I

charge of great presumption,

any

if I

make

venture to

observations on the reasoning and

critical

conclusions of the Hegelian Logic and Philosophy in

regard to the subject of Personality.

venture to do I

submit

my

wish

so, I

I.

It

that

of uncertainty as to what

is

we

we

think

by

nieant it

is "

we

" pure

have,

—the

left in

a state

;

"

but when

stuff of

by

Perhaps we have,

some notion of what

thought

mind-stuff "

are

to be understood

the Prius of " pure thought." or

utmost deference

and logicians than myself.

me

appears to

I

to be understood, that

it

criticisms with the

to far deeper thinkers

If

we

is

are told

which both mind

and nature are made, neither extended and embodied as

in the

as in mind, then,

Surely, if

there

is

natural world, nor self-centred I

confess, I find myself at sea.

here an inconsistency at

not a contradiction in terms.

least,

Surely "pure

thought" must be thought unmixed and uncombined with anything whatsoever beside especially with matter.

itself,

but

— KANT, FICHTE, SCHOPENHAUER.

75

2. Have we any experience of thought, or can we conceive of it, except as the product of the mind of a thinker ? As throwing some light

on

aspect of the

this

relation I

and

Hegelian system

its

the precurrent philosophy of Kant,

to

venture to quote the following extract from

the

on

article

Schopenhauer

the

in

Encyc.

Britannica.

According to Kant "

Behind thinking there is the thinker. But to from Flchte to Hegel this axiom of the plain man is set aside as antiquated. Thought,

his successors

or conception, without a subject-object appears as

the principle

—thought

or thinking in

its

univer-

without any individual substrata in which Thinking {to voeTv) or thought embodied.

sality, it

is

to be substituted for

(vot)(Tte) is

For

my

choose the

part, there

between the

" will "

seems "

mind

little

thought

"

Hegel and

of

are

impersonal and void of self-consciousness I

^

or nothing to

Both

Schopenhauer.

of

(vov?)."

alike ;

and

can no more conceive of "thought" without

a thinker, than

Perhaps

I

I

shall

ing such a view. 3.

can of "will " without a "wilier."

be called " antiquated Well, be

it

Encyc. Brit.,

hold-

so.

Is the self-manifestation '

" for

theory satisfactory

Art. " Schopenhauer,"

p.

457.

?

—

AN ESSAY ON

76

We

are

Prius of pure thought

that the

told

PERSONALITY.

and that

self-manifesting,

reaches

it

stage of self-conscious personality

Now, geology

assures

highest

its

first in

mankind.

man appeared on

us that

the earth late in the order of animated

nature.

Assuming, then, that "thought conscious of a higher form

is

unconscious

development),

(otherwise

which

natural

4.

Again

I

is

made

and personality

man, an

in

illogical concept,

and

?

does

the

Prius

Nature and the whole universe be the of

It is impossible,

mind by any

consciousness, or

Prius

the

then,

surely,

it

manifested, up to the

is

personality

self-conscious

Art.

source.^

self-conscious."

if

follows that whatsoever

'

its

self-consciousness

self-manifestation

in

self-manifestation

the

In other

itself.

at

really a contradiction in terms

But

no

to rise above

arriving

become

be

ask, is not Hegel's theory of a self-

manifesting Prius,

"Only

would

or spiritual, pro-

duces something greater than words, the stream

the

the root and source of

is

existence, whether

all

when

the only Prius, or

follows that

it

living principle,

it

itself"

in

of thought than

stage

is

of

man,

must be

a

beginning with the material world, to explain

process of distillation or development, unless

its

potentiality, has

"Hegel," Encyc.

Brit., p. 618.

been there from the

first."

THE FORMULA

1=1.

of the "self" of the

manifestation

must have been from the

therefore

77

and potentially inherent

in

it

to say, the

is

Prius must always have been self-conscious

and the theory of an impersonal

personal,

and

essentially

first

that

;

Prius,

and

Prius,

reaching self-consciousness through self-manifes-

man

tation in

is

an

illogical concept.

1=1.

The Formula

This in the Hegelian System the Universe.

with

It

the

that the Prius of

manifests itself in Nature, but that

Nature

that

;

Thought and Matter

aspects of

or

one with

is

it

Thought

two parts

are

one organic whole, which stand each other of subject and object,

in the relation to

and which

Formula of

denotes the Unity of Thought

Not merely

itself

is

have

no

except

existence

in

this

relationship.^

This

is

analogous to the doctrine of Divine

Immanence, which forms one aspect of Christian Metaphysic

—the doctrine of God

But the formula one which

is '

" Each

lends

=

itself into

equally

itself

the other

;

in Encyc. Brit,

is

is

it

connotes,

well

to

a

necessarily conceived as

the subject

relates itself to the object, the object

itself to the subject."

Nature.

and what

1,

factor in this unity, in fact,

passing beyond it

1

in

is

subject, only as

object, only as

it

relates

— Professor Caird, writer of Art. "Metaphysic "

AN

78

ESSA Y ON PERSONALITY. "God

Pantheistic interpretation.

Nature

is

And

God."

here, as

Nature, and

is it

seems to me,

Hegel and Christian Metaphysic

the Logic of

The

must part company.

Christian do'^trine of

may be

the Divine

Immanence

to

analogue in Hegel's self-manifesting

find

its

only one aspect of Christian Metaphysic

other

said

But Divine Immanence

Prius of pure thought. is

Nature

in

;

the

Not

that of the Divine Transcendence.

is

only does the Prius manifest Himself in Nature,

and so become one with this.

His self-conscious

it

while doing

but,

;

Personality,

as

from Nature and transcending Nature,

And

asserted.

it

is

just

is

distinct

distinctly

because Hegel failed Divine transcendence,

to safeguard this doctrine of

that his system can never be really brought into

harmony with

Christian

Metaphysic

and

the

Christian religion.

And

yet

it

conscious of

does not appear that

Hegel was

and

discrepancy

any

between the two.

real

On

radical

the contrary,

it

is

evident

from his Lectures on the Philosophy of Religion that

he

thought

metaphysical

explained

and

and

Christianity,

dogmatic

interpreted

the principles of his

own

regarded

aspect, in

system.

in

its

would

be

accordance with

HEGEL AND CHRISTIANITY.

79

In these Lectures, after reviewing the various

forms and gradations of religious to

what

is

tianity, in

he comes

belief,

called the absolute religion of Chris-

which the mystery of the reconciliation

between God and

man

openly taught

is

and

expressed in Christian dogma. a Trinity because He is a Spirit. The of this truth is the subject of the Christian Scriptures. The Son of God, in the "

God

is

revelation

immediate aspect, is the finite world of nature, and man, who is far from being at one with his Father, is originally in an attitude of estrange-

The

ment.

history of Christ

the visible recon-

is

man and

ciliation (Synthesis)

between

With the death of

Christ this union, ceasing to

the Eternal.

—

be a mere fact, becomes a vital idea the Spirit of God, which dwells in the Christian community."^ Doubtless, there

Nay,

this.

is

further,

a Christian ring about it

dox

naturally on

which grows Logic

?

Or

is

law of

statement

many

might endorse

Christian

triadic

a

is

Christian system, which in

it

of

all

the

points any ortho-

but

;

is

the tree of

it

fruit

Hegel's

only an attempt to apply his

thesis,

antithesis,

and synthesis to

a system of metaphysic and philosophy, which,

on one cardinal point '

Art,

at least,

is

opposed to that

" Hegel," Encyc. Brit.

—

AN ESSAY ON

8o

PERSONALITY.

The harmony he sought

Logic?

establish

to

seems forced and unnatural, and those who his death

opposed

very ground of

its

his system, attacked

pantheistic or

it

after

on the

atheistic

ten-

dency.'^

Indeed,

it

seems a self-evident proposition, that

the metaphysic which postulates nothing but an

impersonal thought, as the Prius of

never '

rise to

all things,

can

the higher level of personality.

Hegelianism, as a separate system of philosophy, did not long

maintain

its

ground even in Germany, hut

its

influence

on philosophic

thought has been deep and widespread both in Germany and outside.

" Fichte and

Hegel," says Dr. Bain, in his summary of the

"being overmastered with the idea of unity, and attaching themselves by preference to ; the dignified mental side, became Pantheists of an ideal school, resolving all existence into mind or ideas." Mind and Body, p. 194. theories of the soul,

had

to

make

a choice

"

SECTION

II.

PERSONALITY CONSIDERED ON

"

A POSTERIORI

GROUNDS. The a

posteriori

view

from

Let

us

tliis

—Mr. Illingworth view of the

—

on Personality Inferences and Summary.

subject,

now proceed

to

consider

Personality

from the a posteriori point of view.

We

assume and

To deny

Personality.

that

we

start

from the

this to

human

fact of

be a fact

to

is

deny

are self-conscious agents, and in so doing

we preclude

ourselves from the capability and the

possibility of proceeding

vestigation

;

for, if

we

any further with

this in-

are not certain of the fact

of our personal existence as self-conscious

then there of which

is

no other

we can be

the fact of

human

fact in the

certain.

spirits,

wide universe

The admission

of

Personality, then, forms the very

foundation, on which

all

subsequent reasoning and

conclusions must be based.

And

here

VOL.

I II.

would observe,

in passing, that the

G

— AN ESSAY ON

82

question

what

how

PERSONALITY.

human

this

Personality

matters not whether

It

into existence full-fledged, as

it

whether

of the Almighty, or

it

sprang

were, at the it

arrived

fiat

at

development by a slow

of

present stage

its

and

In either case,

gradual process of evolution.

it

the product of a power, and the outcome of

causes,

which must be adequate to the

force behind

the

name

But,

how

it,

can produce nothing.

for a process or

if it

the

total effect

But evolution, apart from the evolving

produced.

is,

to be

a matter of indifference in our present

it is, is

investigation.

is

came

It is

only

method of procedure.

be a matter of comparative indifference

human

came

Personality

the question, "

what

it is

?

" is

importance.

Are we agreed on

us hear what

some

to

be what

it

one of paramount this point

?

Let

of the best authorities say.

Mr. lUingworth has made the subject of Personality

a

in

special

extracts

following

Immanence

is

much

" Spirit, then, as

sense

from

his

book

his

to the point

we know

it

own, and

on

the

Divine

:

in

our

own

personal

experience, has two different relations to matter, that of

transcendence and that of immanence.

But though

logically distinct, these

are not actually separate

;

two

relations

they are two aspects

— IMMANENCE AND TRANSCENDENCE of one single

fact,

two points of view from which the

action

regarded.

83

our one

of

As

may

personaHty

self-conscious,

self-identical,

be self-

determined, we possess qualities which transcend, or rise above the laws of matter but we can only realize these qualities, and so become aware ;

of them, by acting in the material world ; while, our bodies and our works of art could never possibly be regarded

conversely, material objects

—

as expressions of

spirit, if spirit

same time recognized

And again Now we find,

our

were not at the

as distinct from

its

medium

^

of manifestation."

"

—

on

what we

reflection, that

spirit transcends, or

is,

in a sense,

call

independent

of the bodily organism on which otherwise

it

so

Metaphysically speaking, this

entirely depends.

is seen in our self-consciousness, or power of separating ourself as subject from ourself as object, a thing wholly inconceivable as the result of any

material process, and relating us at once to an

order of being which

we

are obliged to call im-

material."

Such, according to Mr. Illingworth, Personality. spirit

It

is

is

and matter, of subject and object

bination in which, though there action, there

is '

human

a wonderful combination of

no confusion, Divine Immanence,

in

—a

com-

mutual

inter-

which the

spirit,

is

p. 68.

— 84

while

AN ESSAY ON

PERSONALITY.

immanent

and

is

it

dependent upon

it,

in matter,

We

it.

have to remember, besides, that

this

human

part of the natural order of things,

is

some

the outcome of energetic in

measure

in a

yet able to rise above, and

is

to act independently of

Personality

—

the finished article

force or

power inherent and

and the highest product

nature,

—so

our experience goes,

far as

which that force or power has produced.

Inferences

and Summary.

What, then, are the inferences or conclusions to which this

fact of

They would seem 1.

On

human

Personality points

to be the following

:

the principle, Causa semper mqiiat effectum,

must be behind nature a Power,

there

what you results

?

will,

that

produced,

is

call

it

adequate to the highest

including

the

self-conscious

personal spirit of man. 2.

That, judging from analogy, this Power, not

being of a lower order than the highest of products, will be a Spirit similar to our kind, though infinitely superior in degree

which

is

both immanent

;

its

in

a Spirit

and

at the

a Person in

Whom,

in Nature,

same time transcends Nature

;

own

— SUMMARY.

85

as in our own, both subject and object are combined, but not confused.

To "

quote Mr. Illingworth once more

He must

be conceived as ever-present to susand animate the universe, which then becomes living manifestation of Himself no mere

tain

—

a machine, or book, or picture, but a perpetually ^

sounding voice."

Summary.

—The

consideration of

Personality,

then, from the a posteriori point of view, points clearly

and consistently to the existence of a Prius

spiritual in

and personal,

such sense that

" in

have our being," yet Nature, and

is

Who

is

immanent

Him we

at the

live,

the water-flood

:

"

Nature

and move, and

same time transcends

not to be confounded with

the view of the Psalmist

in

The Lord

it.

It is

sitteth

above

and the Lord remaineth a King

:

for ever."

Reader,

let

me

ask, did

Lily {Lilium longifloruvi)

you ever grow a Trumpet ?

If not, let

me

recom-

mend you to do so, for you do not know, until you try, how much pleasure it can give you. " Sermons in stones," says our great English Bard.

sider the

And

lilies,"

says the Prophet of Nazareth.

what a sermon does '

"Con-

this

Divine Immanence,

exquisite flower

p. 73.

AN ESSAY ON

86

preach me, with

PERSONALITY.

trumpet tongue,

its

its

sublime

I seem to see in it a striking immanence in Nature. As I feel bound as by a spell, in which

yet silent eloquence

!

instance of Divine

stand before

admiration

it I

is

mingled with reverential awe.

graceful form

and purity of

symmetry of

outline,

its

tint, its

boldness and

ravishing perfume and

dignified repose, bespeak the presence of a

before which

I

could

seems as though God

me

fall

Its

down and

Power

worship.

It

Himself were speaking to

through that flower, and revealing to

me

some-

thing of His ineffable beauty and loveliness.

To

entertain an impure thought, an unchaste desire, in the presence of that flower

would surely be an

act of sacrilege, a dishonour

done to

manifests Himself

see in

therein.

I

of the Divine Being, which, while soul,

Him Who a reflection

ravishes

me the desire to know Him Him in fuller measure.

begets in

and possess

it

it

my

better,

—

— —

SECTION

III.

PERSONALITY IN THE CHRISTIAN SYSTEM OF METAPHYSIC AND RELIGION. Three propositions

The

I.

Prius of

things

all

Self-manifesting

II.

manence, III.

by

is

a Self-conscious personal Unity.

Generation,

{a)

{i)

Creation,

{c)

Im-

{d) Incarnation,

Self-reconciling.

—The Prius a Self-conscious Personal Unity. — The Christian Prius Self-manifesting by Creation — What Life? — Mr. Spencer's Generation, definition —The birth of the Soul — Manifestation of the Prius

First Proposition.

Second Proposition. (a)

is

{!>)

by

(it)

Immanence

ITomi) speculum

Prius through (d) Incarnation

non-Christian systems

ment

for

Dei

— Manifestation

of the

considered improbable in

Christian Incarnation

— The argu-

it.

Third Proposition.

Dualism

—The

— Not

—The Christian

Prius a Self-reconciling Unity

—Differences and their reconciliation—The mystery of

— Hegel's

sin

triadic

law

illustrated in Christian

Metaphysic

Reconciliation of wills through the Incarnation.

In no

respect, perhaps,

is

the difference between

the various systems of secular and Christian Metaphysic more clearly defined and accentuated than in

their

respective treatment of the

Personality.

subject of

— AN ESSAY ON

88

We

PERSONALITY.

have already seen how Personality

is

dealt

with in some of the principal systems of secular

We

Metaphysic.

now come

to consider

how

it is

dealt with in Christian Metaphysic.

By

Christian Metaphysic, as distinguished from

understand that Metaphysic, which forms

secular, I

the philosophic basis of the Christian Religion, and of which Christianity

But what

is

is

the religious expression.

Christian Metaphysic

?

It is

almost

needless to say, that for any authoritative state-

ments

in

answer to

this question

we must have

recourse to the sacred Records of the Old and

New

And

Testaments. following

three

I

venture to submit the

propositions, as

embodying the

main doctrines and conclusions of Christian Metaphysic

:

Propositions of Christian Metaphysic. I.

The

Prius of

all

things

is

a self-conscious

personal Unity. II.

Self-manifesting.

III. Self-reconciling.

Of

course,

it

is

needless to say, that these pro-

positions do not admit of absolute proof.

But there

are two points, on which the reader has a right to

demand

the fullest satisfaction.

— CHRISTIAN METAPHYSIC. may

they such as

First, are

rightly be called

propositions of Christian Metaphysic in the second place, afford a rational

theory, on which to

my

be

they,

and probable

?

afford satisfaction on these will

Do

are conscious or sensible,

either within or without us

fore,

?

account for the facts and

phenomena of which we

To

89

first

two

endeavour.

points, there-

And we

will

take the propositions in the order in which they appear.

Proposition

The Christian Prius

I.

Self-conscious,

is

a

Personal Unity.

That the Christian Prius

is

consistently repre-

sented as a self-conscious Unity in the sacred Scriptures

Both

imagine, be generally admitted.

will, I

in the

Old and

New

Testaments the

fact is

both repeatedly and variously asserted, as every child in a

no need,

two

Sunday school would

tell us.

There

therefore, for a long string of texts,

is

and

will suffice.

Deut.

vi.

4

:

"

God (= Jehovah, (= Jehovah)." Col.

i.

by Him

17 all

:

"

Hear, O Israel, the Lord our our Elohim) is One Lord

And He

is

things consist."

before

all

things,

and

;

.

AN ESSAY ON

90

PERSONALITY.

Self-conscious

Neither can consciousness for

be necessary to show, that

it

is

self-

an attribute of the Christian Prius

passages without number could be quoted in

which

it

directly stated, or left to be

either

is,

inferred.

Creation,

"

and especially the creation of man,

spoken of as the result of self-conscious action

is

And again, St. Him as " working all things after His Own Will." (Eph. 1 1.)

Let us make man."

of of

:

Paul speaks the counsel

i.

Personality of the Prius.

Prius be self-conscious, then

If the Christian

Personality must also be attributed to self-consciousness

is

Him,

for

of the essence of Personality.

Personality be claimed as an attribute of

But,

if

the

Prius,

we must remember

different sense to that in

which

that it

is

it

is

in

a

claimed for

man.

Each man

is

individually a person.

Divine Prius

is

not an individual Person, but a

Trinity of Three distinct Persons.

But the

And He

is

One, only by virtue of the unity or union of these

Three Persons

in

One.

His Unity

is

not the

PERSONALITY OF THE PR /US.

91

unity of a single individual, as in the case of man,

but that of a community of Three Persons.

Each

Persons possesses the same attributes

of these

in equal measure,

common

and

it

is

of these attributes

the participation in in

which the Unity

of the Personal Prius consists.

If

I

may be

per-

mitted, without irreverence, to borrow an illustra-

from the world of commerce,

tion

to

it

company

a

would compare

I

or society of three men,

unite to form a business firm for trade or

who

manu-

facture, and in which they each place equal sums

The

of money.

The

three.

partners

and

yet,

firm

is.

firm

one, but the partners are

not a person, but each of the

is

The

is

firm possesses no personality,

by virtue of the personality of the

becomes invested with that

it

firm

is

said

to

do

things, as

attribute,

partners,

and the

representing

the

unanimous consent and intentions of the partners.

So the

Prius of Christian Metaphysic

is

a Unity,

not by virtue of being

One Person, but because each

of the Three Persons

is

Divine Substance which

•

" Each Person

an equal sharer is

common

to

in the

them

One

all.*

in the Blessed Trinity has the attributes of the

Others, so that the distinctions of Persons whereby They be, in some incomprehensible way, distinguished from Each Other, coalesce in the Unity of the

Godhead."

(St.

Aug.,

De

Trin.

lix.)

— AN ESSAY ON

92

That

this doctrine of the threefold Personality

Unity of the Prius

in the

admit.

and

therefore, as

St.

For

in

the

human

its

Maker,

of

difficulty.

Augustine points out, we

ought not to question about Him,

we have

until

learned the mystery in ourselves.

first

"

fully

no argument against

is

probability.

encounter the same, or a similar,

And,

we

mysterious

is

regarded as a type

Personality,

we

however,

This,

truth

its

PERSONALITY.

The mind

itself and its knowledge, and love as a sort of image of the Trinity and these three are one and one substance. Nor is the offspring less (than the parent), since the mind

the third,

knoweth less,

is

;

itself just as

since

it

much

as

it is ;

much (Aug., De

loveth itself as

and as much as 4&ff.)

it

is."

as

nor the love it knoweth,

Trin.,

I.

ix. c.

The Names of God.

The very names by which

Divine Prius

the

is

revealed indicate the nature and attributes which are

claimed for Him.

following

Elohim (Heb.). but first

is

Take, for example, the

:

—This

word

joined to verbs in

name

of

the Divine

is

a plural in form,

the singular. Prius,

it

As

the

asserts

His

He

the

Unity, and claims in His behalf, that

is

THE NAMES OF only Source of

all

GOD.

93

the forces and influences by

which the Universe was

first

created,

is

now

brings

into

and

governed, developed, and maintained.

Jehovah existence."

Prius

is

"

Yahveh),

(or

— This

He Who

name denotes

that the

Divine

the Self-Existent, the one and only source

of being

—the

Absolute, the Unconditioned, the

Eternal One.^

El-Shaddai (Heb.).

"God,"

lated

— El, which

denotes

is

usually trans-

primarily

"might,"

The second name,

" power," or " force."

indicates the nature of this power, which

is

Shaddai, not that

of violence, but All-bountifulness and Love.^

Almighty, but His

is

Almightiness

is

or

of

He the

"And God said unto Moses, ' I Am that I Exod. iii. 14 and He said. Thus shalt thou say unto the children of (Ehyeh) hath sent me unto you." And Is. xlv. 6, Israel, I Am "I Am, and there is none beside Me." See also Deut. vi. 4: " Hear, O Israel The Lord our God (Jehovah our Elohim) is one Lord (Jehovah)." This latter passage claims on behalf of Jehovah that He, and He alone, is the One Absolute Uncaused God. 2 "'Shaddai' primarily means 'breasted' or 'the breasted Shad = breast, and especially a 'woman's one,' from Heb. '

Am

Cf.

:

:

'

'

'

:

'

breast.'

"

'

— Rev. A. Jukes, Names of God,

" Shaddai" as one of the Divine

" Shedder-forth,"

i.e.

of blessings

titles,

and

p. 66.

denoted the " Power " or fruits.

The Sheddim,

referred to as objects of idolatrous worship (Deut. xxxii. 17 ; and were the many-breasted idols representing the genial Ps. cvi. 37),

powers of nature, the givers of rain, and pourers-forth of fruits and See '?sx\!aax%\.'i Hebrew Lexicon, s. v. "Shaddai" and increase.

" Sheddim."

;

AN ESSAY ON

94

breast

:

that

of self-sacrificing affection, giving

is,

and shedding

itself for

El Shaddai,

PERSONALITY.

the good of others.

then, reveals the Divine Prius under

He Who

the attribute of Love.

pure thought and intelligence

is

power and force

the Absolute, the

;

Unconditioned Self-Existent One,

He

operative

by Love.

All

rendered

Existence,

life

the self-realization

is

The Universe

One.

All-loving

the

of

Thought,

Power,

is

also Love.

is

the

is

Self-manifestation of the Uncreated, instinct with

His own attributes of power, love.

And

Love

as

so also,

this

name. El Shaddai, while

the animating

by

Him

all

But

claims

principle of the

Prius,

it

He

fatherhood

" will " also

is

is

reveals is

Him

in

His

the All-Father,

derived.^

the prerogative of a father

hence a further inference to be drawn from

name " El-Shaddai

and

it

direct inference,

Attribute of Paternity.

and from

intelligence,

" is

;

this

that the Divine Prius, beside

embracing under His Personality the attributes of Power, and Pure Thought, of Self- Existence, of

Love and Epli.

iii.

where

He

'

9,

"Jah"

is

Paternity,

15 is

also

;

also the source

'E^ ov iratra irarpta 6uofid^€Tat.

called

"A

"Doubtless Thou of us."

is

" the Father of

spirits

;

See also Heb.

" and Ps.

Father of the fatherless ;" and

art our Father,

and seat

Is.

Ixviii. Ixiii.

xii.

5 : 16:

though Abraham be ignorant

— TRINITY IN UNITY. of Sovereign Will. will

show

the

latter.

Who

95

Indeed, a moment's reflection

former necessarily involve

us, that the

It is impossible to

power and thought and love who

is

One

conceive of is

not

is

the

also possessed of will.^

The

following,

regard to

briefly,

its

Divine Prius

:

It involves Personality as its essential

and

ciple 2.

speak

assumed by Christian Metaphysic with

position

1.

to

then,

This Personality It is that

fold. 3.

that

not

is

simple, but

three-

of a Trinity of Persons.

These Three

united

prin-

characteristic.

Persons

are

they form but

One

so

intimately

Being,

Who

is

the Absolute, the Unconditioned, the Uncaused

Cause of

all things.

Bearing in mind, then, how, according to the teaching

of

Metaphysic,

Christian

Personality

forms an essential principle of the Prius, pass

on

to

the

consideration

of

our

let

us

second

proposition.

'

We

of all,"

see is

how Schopenhauer's

reconciled with reason physic.

contention, that " Will

is

Lord

the enunciation of a great truth, which only becomes

under

its

treatment

by Christian Meta-

— AN ESSAY ON

96

PERSONALITY.

Proposition II.— 7^^ Christian Prius

is

Self- man ifes ting.

We

are not left in

any doubt that Christianity

does claim this proposition to indeed,

moment's

a

be will

and the Universe be

unless Nature follows, as

reflection

a

Prius

of

illusions,

things

all

And,

show, that,

from the

necessary corollary

Proposition, that the

true.

it

first is

a

personal Unity.

In various ways has this Self-manifestation been

going forward most,

if

not

;

all

but we shall of them,

find,

may be

(«) {b)

Creation.

{c)

Immanence and

believe, that

arranged under

one or other of the following heads Generation.

I

:

Effusion.

{d) Incarnation.

Let us consider them bering, that true, which

my

object

in this order, still

is,

remem-

not to prove them to be

under the circumstances

is

impossible, but

only to show that they are concepts and doctrines of Christian Metaphysic, which are either explicitly, or implicitly contained in the Christian sacred writings.

SELF-MANIFESTATION BY GENERATION. Method of Self-manifestation of

{a) First

97

the

Prius: by Generation.

From

eternity the Prius adopted this

all

of Self-manifestation.

Threefold Personality involves

Person of a

represented as

is

Son

method

The very mystery it.

of the

For the second

occupying the relation

to the First Person.

St. Paul, the great

exponent of Christian Metaphysic, speaks of the

Second Person as

And "

" the first-born of all creation."

^

the First Person he calls the Father, because

Him

from

every family in heaven and earth

is

named.^

Then from the

First

and Second Persons, Co-

equal^ and Consubstantial, there proceeds the Spirit,

which

shared in

is

common by them

Third Person of the Trinity TIpwtotSkos

—the Holy Ghost.*

Kria-ews.

^

Col.

^

'E^ ov trao'^ Trarpia iv ovpavols KaX

i.

15

'

irdcTTis

both, the

cTri yrisovofj.
Lit. "all-

fatherhood." '

Col.

ig

i.

:

nSc

t!) irXiipuixa.

See for the further enunciation of these doctrines the Nicene From the Eternal generation of the and Athanasian Creeds. Second Person there follows the Eternal procession of the Third. The view held by the Bishops and Doctors who drew up these Creeds was " that the Father is the Head and Fountain of Deity (ni)7^ ©coT^TOs), from Whom the Son and Holy Spirit are from *

all eternity derived,

but so derived as not to be divided from the

but they are in the Father and the Father in Them by a Bp. Browne, Thirty-Nine certain irepix^pTiais or inhabitation."

Father

;

—

Ari.,p. 58.

VOL.

II.

H

— AN ESSAY ON

98

But

within the

rather

falls

domain of Theology, and therefore

not dwell upon

will its

of our subject

aspect

this

PERSONALITY.

it,

I

further than to point out

important bearing on those methods of Self-

manifestation which follow.

"through

Him "2

creates

is

it

;

that

by His

Him "

It is " in

the

as

Prius,

Spirit that

He

is

^

and

Father,

immanent

throughout the Universe. In his paper on

"The Evidences

Nature," the late Mr. G.

J.

of Design in

Romanes quoted with Aubrey

manifest approval extracts from the Rev.

Moore's Essay in the following

Lux Mundi.

Amongst them

is

:

" It seems as if, in the providence of God, the mission of modern science was to bring home to our unmetaphysical ways of thinking the great truth of the Divine immanence in creation."

{V)

Second Method of Self-manifestation of t/ie Prius: by Creation.

That many of the statements Records,

which

describe

in the Christian

Prius

the

as

Self-

manifesting in creation, are couched in anthropo-

morphic language need not surprise

remember they were intended '

Col.

i.

i6.

us,

when we

to convey abstract '

Heb.

i.

2.

SELF-MANIFESTATION BY CREATION. ideas

and

99

people in an early stage of civilization

to

intellectual

development.

no other way-

In

could those ideas have been rendered intelligible.

And we

same method adopted

find the

heathen

and

mythologies,

the

in

polytheism of ancient Greece and Rome. while less

need not surprise

it

important

us,

it

Moreover, as a matter of

dant warnings, even

in

fact,

we do

But

none the

is

make due allowance

to

the

in

especially

for

find

it.

abun-

the Jewish and Christian

Records themselves, against errors and misconceptions,

which might

arise

from anthropomorphic

language and modes of thought.

The very

prohibition of idolatry in the Second

Commandment of the Decalogue is a case in point. God is a Spirit nor must we conceive of Him as comparable to any earthly similitude. And this applies not only to outward form, but ;

to inward thought

and

intelligence.

heavens are higher than the

earth,

Paul,

are

My

thoughts

when reasoning with

the Epi-

than your thoughts." St.

so

My

ways higher than your ways, and

And

" For as the

^

curean and Stoic philosophers at Athens, warned

them against the misconception of supposing '

Isa. Iv. 9.

that

— AN ESSAY ON

100

the

Maker of

" is like

unto gold or silver or stone,

graven by art and device of man." If this

made

things " dwells in temples

all

with hands," or

PERSONALITY.

means anything,

^

means that

it

in

our

conception of the Christian Prius and His method of Self- manifestation by

we must

Creation,

rise

above, and free ourselves from anthropomorphism.

He

is

His

ink.

He

the Great Poet, and the Universe

is

He

poem.

But

carves

not with chisel and hammer.

writes not with pen

which

the canvas, on

Himself, but

He

is

Nature

is

ever depicting

for

human

with no

is

it

and

pencil that

He

paints.

The

following I venture

the true position

All

1.

of the

life

humbly

proceeds from and If there

Prius.

is

a manifestation

be a Prius,

no

axiomatic truth, for there

is

from which

If there

then

can spring.

life

to submit as

:

chance, or

necessity, are

this

other

is

be no

the

an

source Prius,

only alter-

natives.

what

But

2,

Spencer,

it

is

"

is

Life.''

According

'

Acts

Mr.

the continuous adjustment of in-

ternal relations to external relations."

adds, that

to

we may

xvii. 24, 29.

^

And

he

consider the internal relations '

Psychology, p. 374.

WHA T "

as

IS LIFE

loi

f

simultaneous and successive changes," and

the connection between them as "a correspondence."

means that

This

phenomena

internal

answer to external phenomena.

humbly submit,

I

of Life

is

no

that this

definition

so-called definition

at all

the question of what Life

because

;

it

leaves

untouched,

in itself

is

and gives us only a generalized expression of the forms in which Life

manifested to

is

a definition of Life possible

beyond saying

is,

it

what a thing

is

in

its

make

the product of his distinct

from

Life, then, "

power

it

to produce all

essence with what

A

produce, or become.

but pots don't

then,

Is,

But we must not confound

manifestations."

its

" the

is

us.

do not think

I

?

skill,

make

potter can

The

a potter.

it

can

pots

pots

are

but his wares are entirely

it.

submit,

I

is

"

not

adjustment

"

or

correspondence," but the power under suitable

them

conditions to produce as

I

to the Personal

Prius,

other source whence

But to

;

and

for this power,

have endeavoured to show, we must go back

life

is

assimilate

pressions,

it

seeing that

there

is

no

can be derived.

more than

for self-support

and respond

It

this.

to

;

to

is

the power

receive

stimulants

from

imits

AN ESSAY ON

102

environment

whether physical

or

And

spiritual.

the

ex-

production of

this is the

interior psychical relations,

corresponding to outer

and forming the psychical content of

relations,

each

phenomena,

external

to

result of all

periential

an internal image, or

to produce

;

answering

reflexion,

PERSONALITY.

stage

progress

the

in

of

develop-

vital

ment.

But Life

is

more even than

this

:

it is

the power,

not only to receive and respond to impressions

and impulses from without, and so

beget by

to

experience inner relations corresponding to outer relations

store up,

it is

;

the power to register, to collect, to

and then

lated experiences

to successors

laws of generation and heredity.

mole and a young born, keep

them

itself in

cage

loose.

till

by the

Take a young

soon as they are

they are fully grown,

The mole

will

quickly

the ground, and the squirrel will run

up the nearest It is

squirrel as

in a

and then turn them hide

accumu-

finally to transmit all

and relations

And we

tree.

really nothing

call

this

instinct.

but inherited physical and

psychical faculty. I

submit, then, that Life

Spencer

conceives

accounted

for

by

it

to

the

is

be,

what Mr.

not

all

an

efTect

experience

of

to

be

purely

;

SELF-MANIFESTATION THROUGH material and physical forces

;

To To

2.

103

a power

;

assimilate for self-support receive,

reflect

and respond

to impres-

and stimulants from the environment

sions 3.

LIFE.

but a power proceed-

ing from the Self-manifesting Prius 1.

—

;

;

To

deal with them, and translate

them

into

mental ideas and concepts, thus establishing a system of internal psychical relations corresponding to external relations 4. 5.

To To

register

and

of generation cal

and accumulate these

relations

;

transmit them to successors by the laws heredity,

whereby the psychi-

contept goes on continuously increasing paj'i

passu with each higher development of the vital organism. venture to think,

It is thus, I

rational account of the

lowest to

its

we may

phenomena of

Life from

highest stage of progress

man

amffiba to the

—and whether

give a its

— from the

regarded from

a physiological or psychical point of view.

Regarded will

in

show that

this all

light,

Life

manifestation of the Prius

source

;

is :

second, in respect to

Those who

further in

a double sense a

first,

its

consideration

in respect to its

development.

are acquainted with Mr. Spencer's

Psychology are aware, that

on no point does he

— —

—

AN ESSAY ON

104

with greater force and frequency than the

insist

fact

PERSONALITY.

that there

is

a

perfect

correspondence or

adjustment between our inner and outer relations. "

Every form of

he says,

intelligence,"

" is

in

essence an adjustment of inner to outer relations."^

This must mean one of two things, either our inner relations are adjusted

i.e.

to,

our whole psychical content

and so

in a great

measure an

produced by, our outer relations relations

The

supposition

latter

therefore the

is

must be

first

our

that

effect,

material

inner

development,

environment. is

which

is

are

the

really

is

it is

both

relations,

which

But what

absurd,

This means in

true.

outer

spiritual,

the world of Nature,

—are

relations.

form, disposition and

those

of

and

all its

spiritual

manifestly

relations

product, as regards their

material

or

and influenced by our inner

to,

effect

or our outer

our whole environment, with

i.e.

phenomena, whether adjusted

;

our

constitute

our environment

?

It

the boundless Universe,

again only the Self-manifestation of the

Prius.

And origin,

so

it

but

development,

appears, that Life, not only in in is

every

successive

stage

of

its its

the product and creation of the '

Psychology, p. 486.

THE BIRTH OF THE SOUL. Each

Self-manifesting Prius.

form of life,

life,

105

individual concrete

and each increment

in the

content of

whether physical or psychical, represents a

further adjustment

and correspondence of inner to

And

outer relations.

each manifestation received

and appropriated prepares the way

for

But the

manifestations in succeeding generations.

power internal

and

adjust

to

correspond,

answering

relations

accumulate experiences, and generation

and

heredity,

—

external,

transmit

to

them by must

these

all

establish

to

to

further

be

regarded as the product and creation, so to speak, of

the

One and only

efficient

Cause, the Self-

manifesting Prius.^

The Birth of the

The account

of the creation of the soul of

given us in Genesis

is

interpretation. inferior

'

to

Of course, every

And man

in

calls for

all

allowance and

the ranks of animal

the psychical development,

manifestation of the Prius must be a matter of

experience by the vital organism, for in no other received and appropriated.

In this sense there

Spencer's Experience Hypotliesis.

appears to regard of

it.

it,

man

evidently couched in anthro-

pomorphic language, which

life

Soul.

an

way can they be is

But experience

efficient cause,

truth in Mr. is

not, as

he

but only the application

AN ESSAY ON

io6

PERSONALITY.

through the manifestation of the Prius,

effected

only reaches the stage of consciousness

man

it

but

in

has advanced a step further, to the stage

of self-consciousness.

Ego becomes

the

;

Ego, when the

It

is

at

will

when

this point,

differentiated

from the non-

assumes the supremacy and

control over all the other elements of the psychical content, such

as

feeling,

thought, memory,

man becomes

that the spirit of

etc.,

a living soul, a

being endowed with individual personality, formed

through the Self-manifestation of the Prius in the

And

image and likeness of the Prius Himself this

final

to me,

of

is

As

well

expressed, as

seems

it

by Professor Wundt under the heading

The Ego and

"

"

result

Ego

the

Personality."

13

the will in

^

its

distinction from

the rest of conscious content, so Personality

Ego

is

the

reunited in the manifold of this content, and

thereby raised to the stage of self-consciousness."

May

it

not be thus that the claims of Science

and Revelation are to be reconciled? of Science only, but of Metaphysic also.

language

Metaphysic

of

Personality

is

'

we

say

the

And

not

In the

human

a Self-manifestation of the personal Principles of Morality, p. 21.

IMMANENCE OF THE Prius

made man

in

man's

into

became a

His own Image," the breath

nostrils

living soul."

can teach

107

language of Scripture we say,

in the

;

PRIUS.

us,

If

of

"

God

He

breathed

life,

and man

"

Metaphysic and Science

as doubtless they can, something

of the method adopted by the First Great Cause in

we not be

development

of

Life,

thankful for their help in our

quest after the truth

{c)

and

production

the

should

?

Third Elethod of Self-manifestation of the Pruis by Immanence

As

this

:

and Effusion.

branch of our subject has already been

dealt with at considerable length,

and

convincing manner by the Rev.

R. Illingworth

J.

in his book on Divine Immanence,

seem necessary in detail.

I

me

for

to

it

in a

very

does not

go over the same ground

would only point

out, that, while in

Christian Metaphysic the Self-manifestation of the Prius

by Creation

regarded as the work of the

is

Second Person of the

Trinity, Self-manifestation

by Effusion and Immanence Third Person

—the

is

the work of the

which proceeds

Spirit

from

the First and Second.

There are two main aspects under which the subject

may

be regarded

;

though some persons

—

—

AN ESSAY ON

io8

PERSONALITY.

might, perhaps, be disposed to regard

them

as

one {a)

Immanence

in

Nature

{b)

Immanence

in

Man.

The

influence of Nature

Universe

—

;

—that

of the material

is,

upon the mind and soul of man

universally acknowledged.

The

is

literature of all

nations, since the time they possessed a literature,

bears witness to

Even the lowest and most

it.

degraded forms of religion and mythology are but the expression of a consciousness of something in Nature which

is

yet above Nature.^

And

though men have put different interpretations on their

experience of

diff'erent

explain

this

influence,

and framed

systems of religion and philosophy to it,

remains

still "

all,

that experience

a sense, in the presence of Nature, of

;

something

with

contact

beneath them

affinity, or kinship, as

spiritual

;

a

sense

of

the Neo-platonists described

with the material world, implying spirituality

it,

within or behind

it."

^

"Sun-myths, star-myths, myths of the mountains and the rivers trees Ue at the root, as we now know so well, of all early We have long outgrown mythology, and are intolerant religion. '

and the

.

.

.

of doubtful logic, but the religious influence of external nature strong upon us as

it

ever was, possibly even stronger than in

bygone times." Divine Immanence, - Divine Immanence, p. 50.

p. 22.

is

as

some

;

IMMANENCE IN MAN. And what is

109

man

has been the result so far as

concerned

the birth of what, to use a single

?

term embracing sentiment and emotion, we

Of

the religious instinct.

man

life,

alone

capable of

is

differentiates

and

It is

one of

for

it

is

experience.

but

my

it,

and

possesses it

of

my

part of

my It

one of

is

other

religious

psychical equipment.

spiritual assets.

a matter of

which

all

This

creation.

He

it.

that,

is

him most completely from

lower orders

instinct forms

it,

who

the only one

is

forms of

created

all

call

I

cannot deny

daily and

my

universal

inner relations

inner relations, to use the language and

reasoning of Mr. Spencer, are only the counterpart of

the

my

outer relations, and without the latter

cannot

former

inference from this I

conclude that

both for in

its

exist.

And what

is

the

?

my

religious instinct

demands

existence and satisfaction the presence

Nature, and the whole

answering to

my

spirit,

Universe, of a

immanent

in

Spirit

matter yet

transcending matter, the effluence and Self-manifestation of the Prius.

AN ESSAY ON Immanence

in

Speculum Dei,

mind the unity of Nature and all

we

life,

perceive that

man

Therefore in him, too, we

part of Nature.

is

Homo

Man.

But, bearing in

the solidarity of

PERSONALITY.

should expect to find the immanence of the same

which indwells and animates Nature.

Spirit

Nor

shall

we be

The

disappointed.

instinct testifies to the presence in

only a part of

my

But

Influence.

spiritual

my

Nature of a

religious instinct

is

psychical content and equip-

There are other

ment.

religious

faculties

and functions

of an instinctive nature, of the reality of which I

am

as conscious

religious

it

justice

is

There

instinct.

beauty

apperception of

and

and

vain to

and assured

love.

tell

me

;

for

tion.

attributes of that I call

my

soul,

are

my

I

came by them,

do not possess them, or

they

entity,

my

co-efficients,

which

for

imaginafactors,

convenience

but they are indices of a something

behind them which

my

of

example, of truth

that they are the illusive fictions of

Not only

am

the perception and

is

However I

as I

is

real

and

spiritual.

And

if

religious instinct bears witness to the exist-

ence of the

Prius, manifesting

Himself through

HOMO SPECULUM immanence

in Nature,

do not these reveal

something of His character It is

in

DEI. to

me

?

Nature, or rather the Spirit which animates

Nature, which gives us our

and most

first

worthy lessons

in art,

tive perception

and love of the

and begets

trust-

in us the instincIt is the

beautiful.

study of the mathematical axioms and laws of matter and space, which reveal to us the founda-

on which the whole

tion stones

and

justice

is

erected.

edifice of truth

Nature which imparts

It is

to all things living their first lessons in love

the function of the the

human

soul

is

material impress into the spiritual

But

concept. Spirit

life itself is

man

He

mirror of God, SpeciUum Dei, in which the

;

plastic

sense of the beautiful bespeaks

My

source of beauty. tells

me

conscience, with that

love

He is

is

holy

that its ;

the

is

causes

wax which

received the impress of His Image.

justice

idea or

the immanation of the

of the Prius, and the soul of

Himself to be reflected

and

;

translate

to

Him

My

innate

to be the

consciousness of truth and

He

is

true

and

just

;

my

categorical imperative of duty,

my

sentiment of affection, that

His abiding and essential

attribute.

We must not suppose, however, that the influence of the

Self-manifesting

Prius

on man

is

only

AN ESSAY ON

113

experienced

indirectly

So soon

Nature.

PERSONALITY. through

immanence

as the spirit of

in

man, through

the attainment of self-consciousness, arrived at the

stage of personality, recipient of shall

more

we account

to time,

and

of the

earth,

it

became thenceforth a

How

direct manifestation. for

fitting

else

the appearance from time

in various lands, of those great

ones

such as Socrates, and Plato, and philosophers,

who have

risen like meteors in a midnight sky,

and aston-

Buddha

;

of poets and

ished and enlightened lives,

their

devout

the world by their holy

aspirations,

prophetic insight into truth inspired

men

;

?

their

"

in

and

and what could be the source of

their inspiration but the Spirit of the

manent both

deep

These, surely, were

Nature and

in

Prius im-

man ?

Thus God's immanence in Nature," says Mr. we may reasonably assert, reappears

Illingworth, "

as inspiration in man.

Meanwhile, our

spiritual

character reacts upon the material instrument of its realization, moulding the brain and nervous system, and thence the entire bodily organism, into gradual accordance with itself, till the expres-

sion of the eye, the lines of the face, the tones of

the voice, the touch of the hand, the movements, and manners, and gracious demeanour, all reveal

with increasing clearness the nature of the Spirit

— IMMANENCE IN MAN.

113

which has made them what they are. Thus the beauty of holiness comes by degrees to be a visible thing and through His action on

interior

;

our

God

spirit,

And

is

made

not only in

it is

manifest in our flesh." that

life

^

we have evidence

of the transforming influence of the Divine Spirit

immanent

the body.

in

at least of

my

doubt not that some

I

readers have been privileged to

behold that wonderful transfiguration which sometimes takes place at the face of the

a

moment

ere

now

of death.

The

humble servant of Jesus becomes

for

suffused with an unearthly glory, which

has wrung from the sorrowing bystanders

the exclamation, " is

moment

thy sting

}

How

It is

"

the kiss of Psyche

beautiful

so,

O

death,

where

the Christian Euthanasia

—with

which she bids adieu

for a while to her frail earthly

she does

!

whispers in the

comrade

ear, "

;

and, as

See what glory

awaits us in the far-off land."

But

religion

pre-eminently

The

is is

the people's this true in

Metaphysic, and

the case before us.

Christian Religion, including in the term the

Jewish Dispensation, which was preparatory to is

it,

the practical exemplification of the metaphysical

law of a Prius self-manifesting through effusion '

VOL.

II.

Divine Immanence, p. 76. I

AN ESSAY ON

114

And

and immanence.

PERSONALITY. is

it

whole Christian system

say, that the

is

the acknowledgment of this principle.

my

need remind

how

reader

immanence of the

the

much

hardly too

in the

based on

Old Testament

me

spirit

O

a clean heart, within me.

"

God, and renew a right

me not away from Thy Thy Holy Spirit from me."

Such was the prayer of the Psalmist Prophets claimed to speak not their

own

to give utterance, not to their to those of the Spirit

ever

the

is

while the

own

this

all.

the

words,

thoughts, but

upon me."

of

justification

Nor was

delivered.

;

which inspired them

God

Lord

of the

Spirit

is

Create

Cast

presence, and take not

is

man

in

claimed, or inferred, over and over again. in

scarcely

I

God

Spirit of

to

:

^

"

The

Such

message

they

These same holy

men, who "spake as they were moved by the

Holy Ghost,"

a fuller effluence of the

foretold

same

Spirit in the future

Spirit

upon

all flesh

:

"

^

will

be your God."

" I

will

pour out

My

and a more complete and

intimate immanence, " and

and

:

I will

walk among you,

^

All these promises and predictions the Christian

holds to have been '

Isa. Ixi. I. '

fulfilled, or, at

^

least,

Joel

ii.

Lev. xxvi. 12, and Jer. xxxi. 33.

the means

28.

INCARNATION. fulfilment

their

for

Religion, which

may

115

provided, in

the

Christian

truly be described as a Dis-

To

pensation of the Spirit. further in this direction

pursue the subject

would bring me into the

domain proper to Theology.

What

be

show the consistence

sufficient,

I

imagine, to

I

have said

will

and harmony between Christian Metaphysic and the Christian Religion in respect to immanence and effusion as

(^d)

We

modes of Self-manifestation of the

Third Method of Self-manifestation of Prius : through Incarnation.

tJie

have considered the Second Proposition of

Christian Metaphysic is

Prius.

— that the Prius of

a self-manifesting personal Unity

by Generation, by Immanence.

We

Creation,

come now

by

all

—as

things

realized

Effusion,

to the fourth

and

and last

method, that of Incarnation, where by Incarnation

we mean I

the Christian view and presentation of

would observe, then,

the subject of Incarnation Christianity.

The

tions.

religion

is

it.

place, that

not one peculiar to

ancient Mythologies and Reli-

gions of India, Greece, and other countries,

in the first

may

Rome, not

be said to abound

to

mention

in incarna-

For example, Hinduism, the most ancient of which

we have any

historic

records.

AN ESSAY ON

ii6

PERSONALITY.

claims no less than ten incarnations of Vishnu,

most important are those of

of which the two

Rama and modern

Krishna

;

^

while,

we read only god" of Urga, who

times,

the "living

to

come down

is

to the millions

what the

of Chinese and Mongolian Buddhists

Lama

Dalai

is

to

the other day of

to the Buddhists in that part of

the world.^

All these tion

many examples

at least

show

of so-called

that there

idea abhorrent to the

is

nothing in the

human mind, on

of being intrinsically improbable

incarna-

or

the score

impossible.

and Hinduism, by Bishop Caldwell. from a correspondent of the Standard,^\i\<^ appeared I give the following extracts from this interesting 1901.

'

Christianity

'^

See

letter

Nov.

15,

letter

:—

" In the flesh he is a young man under thirty, and was in a house which is an exact replica of the Russian Consulate-General. His personification of a deity

is chiefly

confined to religious occasions

and his public life. In private he is of the world, worldly. I was fortunate enough to see this extraordinary personage under Outside one of the beautiful Budconditions not easily forgotten. dhist temples, in a carefully guarded enclosure, was pitched a semiThe central one, resplendent with yellow silks and circle of tents. gold embroidery, with huge yellow silk umbrellas and cushions to .

match, contained the throne of the living god. and surrounding him, were crowds of Lamas,

On

.

.

either hand,

priests,

Mongol

Upon entering the ring, each pair of and Ambans. wrestlers prance up with curious movements of the arms and legs to living god,' before whom they the immediate presence of the kowtow, falling on their knees and striking the ground repeatedly princes,

.

.

.

'

with their foreheads."

AN INCARNATION NOT IMPROBABLE. On

the contrary,

there

is

we

are led

appears reasonable, possible, and probable.

it

Of

course, a belief in the probability

an

and

event,

neither,

and

possibility

the expectation that

happen, affords no proof that

But

where

to infer that,

a belief in the supernatural, an incarnation

of

of

117

it

will

it

has happened.

on the other hand, because many

incarnations are held to be spurious and untrue, are

or

we

justified in

any one

concluding that

in particular, are false

Neither are

to be rejected.

we

incarnations,

all

and therefore

justified

crediting incarnation on the ground of

and

miraculous

contrary

nothing to happen that experience

Is

}

it

is

to

dis-

being

its

experience.

Is

contrary to our limited

not true, that in the evolution

and development of any subject necessarily

in

contrary to experience

every step ?

is

If nothing

were to happen but what accords with our very limited

experience in the past, there would at

once be a stop put to

A

miracle,

if

all

progress in the future.

we analyze

something to be wondered

the at,

word, as

in the ordinary course of Nature.

merely

is

being unusual

And

certainly

no miracle can happen without an adequate cause.

But to argue from sible

is

this,

that a miracle

is

tantamount to saying that there

imposis

no

AN ESSAY ON

ii8

Supernatural, no

PERSONALlfV.

Power higher than Nature

herself.

Nature, indeed, cannot produce a miracle in the ordinary sense of the word, as something contrary

But

to Nature.

if

there be a Supernatural,

i.e.

a Power working according to some higher law

and

for a higher end, then

may

miraculous is

in

an event which appears not be

in reality

so,

because

it

accordance with the higher law, and brought

about for the attainment of the higher end.

And

appears to me,

this, as it

precisely the

is

position of the Incarnation in the Christian system

of Metaphysic and Religion.

but a further

It is

development of a

principle,

been

namely, the Self-manifestation

in operation,

of the

been

has

Prius

Creation

Immanence, impossible

make

a

is

then

in

anything

supposition,

and more

by Incarnation

rather expect

may

the

further

of Himself

There

there

is

in

and

"i

along had

true,

Himself

manifesting

(Nature),

all

principle be

If that

Prius.

which

if first

Effusion

improbable that

He

the in

and or

would

direct manifestation

Nay, should we not

it ?

another point on which a few words

not be out of place here.

Is the Incarnation

to be merely regarded as the climax of the Self-

manifestation

of

the

Personal Prius in matter

"

THE CHRISTIAN INCARNATION. through Immanence

and theologians

is true,

passages which seem tion.^

a certain

sense this

not be at a loss for

will

support such a conten-

to

on the whole,

Still,

to regard

as

In

? ^

119

seems more

it

fitting

Self-manifestation through Incarnation

differing,

not

Immanence and

only in degree, but

in

kind.

Effusion are the special function

and work of the Divine

But Manifestation

Spirit.

through Incarnation, though effected by the cooperation of the same Spirit,

Second Person of the

to the

and the Father

are

something more than a the Spirit

And,

is

immanent,

Trinity, the

He who

or Expression of the First. " I

specially attributed

is

One " must needs be human person in whom

in

however high a degree. Incarnation,

the Christian

therefore,

we may regard

it

as

Word

could say

a prolation

and

while further

development of the metaphysical law of a Selfmanifesting Prius, should not,

with Immanence '

"In

proportion as

manifestation of

God

I

and Effusion. we

think, be confused

That the Prius

are enabled to recognize this progressive

in matter,

we

are prepared to find

it

culminate

His actual Incarnation, the climax of His Incarnation in the world." lUingworth's Divine Immanence, p. 77. ^ As, for example, St. Luke i. 35, "The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee ; in

—

St.

Matt.

iii.

16, the descent of the

Baptism by John ; and St. John by measure unto Him."

iii.

Holy

34,

Spirit on Jesus at His " God giveth not the Spirit

AN ESSAY ON

I20

has manifested

PERSONALITY.

Himself

as part of Nature,

is

in

Metaphysic and Philosophy. festation

Nature, and in

man

the contention of Christian

That

this Self-mani-

was carried to a higher stage by Spiritual

Immanence both

and

indirect

direct has ever

been

both the belief and teaching of the Jewish and Christian

was

all

to satisfy

was

possible,

and

all

this

latter

stage,

that was required

the religious instincts and aspirations

of mankind, none,

Moreover,

But that

Religions.

that

is

it

a

imagine, would dare to assert.

I

fact of

some

significance that

the further and fuller manifestation of the Prius was, like Effusion and Immanence, the subject of

the clearest prediction. ceive

and bear a Son

"

Behold, a virgin shall con-

:" so

And

of years before.

advent of

"

spake Isaiah hundreds

Jeremiah, foretelling the

the Branch " which should grow out

of the stem of David, went so

Him And

a Name,

"The

far

to give

Lord, our Righteousness."

these predictions, apart altogether from the

question of their fulfilment, were, admit, of an astonishing in the history of ture.

as

They

fuller effusion

led

all

we must

all

character, unparalleled

previous or subsequent litera-

men

to

expect,

not merely a

of the Spirit, but a veritable Incar-

nation of God.

But each and every incarnation

—

;

INCARNATION FORETOLD. must stand or that

by

fall

according as

is,

it

own

its

be

Was

when, and

in the

merits

intrinsic

can satisfy the demands

And

of reason and congruity. settled is this, "

121

the question to

the Christian Incarnation,

manner

in

which

it

is

said to

have taken place, of such a nature as to satisfy those expectations which previous predictions had led

and

men

to entertain

Being,

Who

self in

Nature and

all

Whether, or

me

Was

?

it,

both

in its character

consequences, a true manifestation of that

its

along had been disclosing in

man

not, this

?

was the

to attempt even to prove.

out that they are thoughtful

himself

man

is

real

bound

Him-

I

case,

it

is

not for

would only point

questions, to face

which every

and answer

for

In the words of Bishop Caldwell,^ he has

to consider

"Whether the purpose for which God became man, namely, to furnish men with a pattern of moral excellence, and to reconcile sinful men to the holy and blessed God, was not a purpose Whether the worthy of a Divine Incarnation. life and doctrines and death of Christ, or the influence of them upon Christians, has not, as a matter of historical fact, been the origin of all that '

Christianity

mid Hinduism,

p. 47.

AN ESSAY ON

122

PERSONALITY.

most elevated in the moral and spiritual life of Christendom, and of all that has rendered Christendom the source of moral and spiritual life to the rest of the world. And, lastly, whether it would not be unreasonable and unscientific to attribute results so divine to anything less than a Divine is

Cause."

Proposition

III.

— The Christian Prius a

Self-reconciling Unity.

The Third

Proposition of Christian Metaphysic,

that the Personal Prius

Unity, sarily

For,

also a Self-reconciling

really a conclusion

which follows neces-

from the First and Second Propositions.

if it

Who and

is

is

be granted that there

is

a Personal Prius,

manifests Himself in nature, through variety

difference, then, in case that variety

ence issue in antagonism and

must

be

also

and

differ-

hostility, the Prius

Self-reconciling.

The

contrary

supposition would be inconsistent with our First Proposition, and would be tantamount to a practical denial

of the supremacy of the Prius.

In the dualistic creed of Zoroaster the existence of differences and antagonisms received a different

explanation.

From

two

Ormuzd, who represented the power

Principles,

of good, and

the beginning there existed

Ahriman

that of

evil.

Thus

evil is

—

THE PRIUS A SELF-RECONCILING UNITY. presupposed from

And

abandoned.

may

of

But a meta-

eternity.^

all

physical dualism

kind has

this

123

been

long

even the Parsees,

whom we

regard as the lineal descendants and repreof the Zoroastrian

sentatives

acknowledge

still

have abandoned

Zoroaster

faith,

as

his dualistic

though they

their

doctrine

Prophet,

pure

for

Monotheism.

Though

the powers of Nature sometimes seem

not only diverse, but hostile, sometimes benevolent,

and sometimes

and the same and cuts

all

its

believe that she

still

her energies proceed from one If a frost

source.

off all the

overflows

we

malefic,

one, and that

is

blossoms

if

;

comes

May

in

some mighty river

banks and spreads devastation and

death far and wide,

we do not

attribute

these

catastrophes to an evil principle in Nature wilfully

counteracting the principle of good, but rather to the infinite variety in the Self-manifestation of the

One Creative Prius. The existence of differences and tion

is,

indeed,

the

one

their reconcilia-

problem which

great

" Both Principles possess creative power, which manifests itself Ormuzd is light in the one positively, and in the other negatively. and life, and all that is pure and good in the ethical world, law, '

—

order, evil

and truth in

;

his antithesis

the world,

" Zoroaster."

is

darkness,

lawlessness and

filth,

lies,"

death, all that

Encyc. Brit,,

is

Art.

AN ESSAY ON

124

PERSONALITY.

Metaphysic and Philosophy has to ences exist on

and

all

Differ-

solve.

sides of us in the material, moral,

The whole Universe may be be made up of differences.^ But when we

spiritual worlds.

said to

speak of differences and their reconciliation, essential to

kinds,

and

remember that

arise

differences are of

it is

many

from several causes.

Differences.

Assuming a Prius creation,

it

is

evident that, unless only one kind

of thing be created, in which case

a true manifestation of an

must be endless variety things created.

But

—that

all

could not be

it

infinite Creator, there

difference in the

is,

differences

Sometimes the

antagonism.

Himself by

manifesting

do not imply

difference

one of contrast or degree';

as,

contrast between long and

short, thick

rough and smooth.

for

is

and

thing,

'

which

is

thin,

In such cases the difference

no more than the absence of a quality

is

only

example, the

in

one

present in another.

In the Hegelian Logic, Self-consciousness

is

regarded as " a

unity which realizes itself through difference and the reconciliation

—

an organic unity of elements, which exist I have already pointed out some of the flaws and inconsistencies, as they seem to me, at least, which mar the Hegelian system. of difference

as, in fact,

only as they pass into each other."

DIFFERENCES.

125

But we cannot close our eyes to the

fact that

beside differences of contrast and negation, there are others which are far more.

ences

which seem to

antagonism and

contain

The

acids

from beginning to end,

alike,

and physical

vital

triumph of the

force,

alkalis

Nature

is

a struggle

and death

is

the

latter over the former.

when we ascend

So, too,

moral and

and

forces of

Animal and vegetable

are frequently opposed.

between

differ-

element of

the

Thus

hostility.

are mutually destructive.

life

There are

spiritual

life,

to the higher range of

we meet with

imply a

which seem to

differences,

and

radical

essential

antagonism.

Such

differences as these present a far greater

difficulty,

even

they are not entirely beyond the

if

reach of solution by ourselves.

good and

evil

do

exist side

by

both energetic and mutually

Primd

daily experience.

impossible to reconcile a Prius are

we

is

they are

hostile, are facts of

facie,

it

would appear

them with the existence of

How

One, Supreme, and Good.

to explain this

problem

The

Who

That powers of

side, that

in despair

.'

Or must we

give

up the

?

opinion of some Moralists and Theologians

who have

given

much thought

to this subject,

and

— AN ESSAV ON

126

whose conclusions,

therefore, are entitled to our

respectful consideration,

solution in the action

The argument

God

a free

is

as follows

Agent

manifest Himself, to

man then

make man also

is

it

in

His

must possess a

Liddon. religious

Free-will

is,

If,

the

as

or,

late Dr.

the

Such,

:

—that

of His essential attributes.

it,

we must seek

effect of Free-will.

metaphysical and

in its

somewhat

is

that

is

and

was the opinion of the

I believe,

aspect

PERSONALITY.

then.

He

one

is

chose to

Scripture expresses

Own Image Free-will.

and

likeness,

If he does not,

evident that any service or worship he

might render would be a matter of compulsion, which

free will

have no

Such

part.

no moral

value.

service, therefore,

God

will not

but by love.

pulsion,

power to obey or impulses

may

refuse

arise

be served by com-

to

obey impulses, and

founded on ignorance and selfish

egoism.

these be listened to and obeyed, the

of opposing wills comes in sight.

man may oppose and

will of its evil

would have

But Free-will means the

appealing to a narrow and

of

in

and voluntary surrender would

If,

then,

phenomena

The

Free-will

rebel against the Free-

God, the result of which

is

sin,

with

all

consequences.

Similarly

Professor

Wundt,

in

discussing

the

— DIFFERENCES

THEIR RECONCILIATION.

:

question of immorality, which

makes

as

sin,

the

will,

"

The

And

it

is

really the

127

same

to consist in the perversion of

caused by a narrow and ignorant egoism

ultimate spring of immorality

is

:

egoism."

he adds

" The conflict of good and evil is just this strife between wills. Since the empirical social will is finite and liable to error, the ultimate solution of this conflict is to be found only in an idea of reason, which makes the infinite series of willforms terminate in a Supreme Will, phenomenally

manifest in the individual consciousness, as the

imperative of the moral idea, in the State and in society as the Spirit of History, and in the religious conception of the world as the Divine Idea." ^ I

quote these words of Professor Wundt, not

because

think

I

his

ethical

sound and convincing, but

system altogether they show

because

that in his opinion too, as an independent Moralist,

and not as a Christian Advocate, the essential nature of sin is to be sought and found in the antagonism between the will.

If this

The triumph

be

different

forms of Free-

then the conclusion

so,

of good over evil

secured by the reconciliation of

is

obvious.

is

only to be

all

antagonistic

Supreme Will which "in the

will-forms with the '

Ethics, p. 112.

AN ESSAY ON

128

PERSONALITY.

of the world

religious conception

is

the Divine

Idea."

That

sin

a perversion of the

is

leading to

will,

overt acts of rebellion and disobedience, seems to

admit of

little

doubt

perversion

brought

is

At any

question.

whether the above theory-

explanation of the manner in which

offers a true

that

;

rate, the

about

another

is

only other hypothesis

would seem to be that of the co-existence of a power, or principle, of evil together with that of

good, which contravenes the unity and supremacy of a personal Prius. If,

of

on the other hand,

the

" difference " of

We may

be the true solution

this

and existence of

origin

good and

regard

it

as

evil,

Nor Third

is

is

this

that

all

which

is

may

defines

;

Second

namely, that

be said of the

Prius

it.

as

The Self-

really a necessary consequent

or corollary from the First.

and

the

illustrating

self-manifesting through differences.

Proposition

reconciling,

the

becomes explicable.

evil

Proposition of Christian Metaphysic the Prius

then

permanent existence of

For the continued hostile differences

would be incompatible with the existence of a Prius

which

is

One and Supreme.

And

if

all

differences are to be reconciled (by the Prius), then.

—

—

RECONCILIA TION. above

all

good and

others, the evil,

hostile

by bringing

And

between

difference

antagonistic will-

all

forms into harmony with the of the Prius.

129

One Supreme Will

here Hegel's triadic law of

Thesis, Antithesis, and Synthesis finds a cardinal illustration.

The Divine Will of the

antagonistic will

the Thesis, the

is

creature

is

the

and the harmonizing of the two

thesis,

Antiis

the

Synthesis.^

Recalling, then, the

people's Metaphysic, and

be true which

is

the

no Religion can

that

not also the expression of a

is

true Metaphysic,

things

Religion

fact that

it

remains for

me

to

show two

:

First, that

the principle of a

Personal

Prius

manifesting Himself through differences and their reconciliation

a doctrine

is

of

the

Christian

Religion.

Second, that Christianity

is

a religious system

which provides for the exercise and application of this principle

:

that,

concretely, sin,

and the

"Three elements— a

notion, its opposite or contradictory, and which embraces or reconciles the two, or, in other words, a represent a complete thesis, an anthithesis, and the synthesis And on the type of act of logic, or one movement of dialectic. this environment Hegel undertook to explain the entire course and action of thought in its efforts to comprehend the Universe." '

that

—

Handbook

VOL.

oj Biography, Art. " Hegel." II.

K

— AN ESSAY ON

130

between

difference

good and

the antagonism of

man

from

arising

evil,

a perverted free-will

creature and person of

of the Creator,

PERSONALITY.

the

in

Supreme Will

to the

reconciled through the Incarna-

is

tion of the Son, or

Word

of God, in the Person

of Jesus Christ.^

Of I

will,

metaphysical

may

side

be

truly

have

recourse,

Christian

is

called

be called the

in

St. Paul, indeed,

the

great

exponent

of

To

these,

therefore,

let

Metaphysic.

Christian

us

it

aspect of Christianity as

or

those of St. Paul and St. John.

may

Testament,

think, be admitted that none display so

an insight into what

clear

New

the writings of the

all

order

doctrine on

this

to

what

ascertain

subject of

recon-

ciliation.

Paul,

St.

his

in

writes as follows "

For

it

Epistle

to

was the good pleasure

Him Him

the

Colossians,

:

(of the Father)

^ and to reconcile all things unto Himself, through having made peace through the blood of His

that in

'

To

should

will of the

human

the Personal Prius personality

the Incarnate AVord '

Or,

the fulness dwell

;

express the above in terms of the Hegelian Formula

Supreme Will of

Him."

all

is

is

margin.

— the

the Thesis, the perverted

the Antithesis,

and the Person of

the Divine Synthesis.

"for the whole fulness of

— R.V.,

is

God was

pleased to dwell in

—

—

RECONCILIATION. Cross the

;

through Him,

earth,

19, 20.)

or

I

things

say, in

131

whether things upon heavens." (Col.

the

i.

1

Writing to the Corinthians, he says

To

"

wit, that

God was

in Christ reconciling the

world (Cosmos) unto Himself."

And

again, in his

doctrine enunciated

first

(2 Cor. v. 19.)

Epistle

we

same

find the

:

" For He must reign until He hath put all His enemies under His feet. The last enemy that shall be abolished is death. And when all things have been subjected unto Him, then shall the Son also Himself be subjected to Him that did subject all things unto Him, that God may be all in all." (i Cor. xv. 25, 26, 28.)^ .

.

'

.

This passage, taken in connection with the previous context,

especially

verses

Paul's object

St.

Universe,

of

I5~I7>

was

all

is

to define

creation

and

the the

more

significant,

because

doctrine

of the

Christian

reconciliation, as

against

the

meta-

some of whom, where Persian influences predominated, held the doctrine of two separate and antagonistic Principles of Good and Evil, and others traced of

physical speculations

the

Gnostics,

the origin of evil to matter.

See also Ephes. ii. 16 "And that He might reconcile both God in one body through the Cross," where Bishop Ellicott has the following note " This brings out the profound idea, which -

:

unto

:

so especially characterizes these Epistles, of a primjeval unity of all

created beings in

Christ,

marred and

restored by His manifestation in

English Readers.

human

broken by

sin,

and

flesh."— Commentary for

;

:

AN ESSAY ON

132

In

his

PERSONALITY, Romans

Epistle to the

(viii.

19-22)

he speaks of the whole creation ^ groaning and travailing in pain together, because in pursuance

of the

us, is

It

and

hope

is

it

has

That purpose, however, he

not yet worked out.

which there

God

purpose of

sovereign

subject to vanity.

is

earnest

been tells

a purpose in

expectation

because Creation shall finally be delivered from that bondage of corruption under which for the

present

groans and travails "into the glory of

it

the liberty of the children of God."

The Apostle and

Evangelist St. John records a

prayer offered by Jesus Christ to God, called His

Heavenly Father,

in

ing significant petition occurs

be one, even as

We

Me, that they

in

John

(St,

are

may

One be

:

:

Whom He

which the follow"

I in

made

That they may them, and Thou perfect in One."

xvii. 22, 23.)

Now, the foregoing passages taken together clearly show, I think, I.

its

That the Christian Religion, regarded under

metaphysical aspect, involves the principle of

a Personal Prius differences

'

two things

V. 19

:

inanimate."

manifesting

Himself through

and the reconciliation of them.

^ Kt/o-is

—Bp.

=

" the whole world

Ellicott.

of Nature, animate

and

RECONCILIA TION. That

2.

reconciliation

this

133

claimed

is

be

to

effected through the Incarnation of Jesus Christ.

He is

the Divine Synthesis in

And He

Antithesis are reconciled. " in

Him

Whom

Thesis and

is so,

because

dwelleth

all

the fulness {pleroma) of the

Godhead

bodily,"

i.e.

the essential

prising

the attributes of God.

all

JMoreover,

it

com-

nature,

(Col.

ii.

9.)

appear on further investigation

will

that the reconciliation effected through the Incar-

nation consists mainly in the harmonizing of antagonistic

forms

supreme

of the Prius.

efficacy

will

of the

of

free will,

the

one

virtue

and

to

the

with

The very

Atonement

attributed

is

all

cheerful oblation of the perfect will of Christ, the

God-man, " I

to His Father, God.

came not

do mine own

will, but the will Wherefore, when He cometh Lo, I am come to do into the world He saith Thy will, O God. ... By which will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all." (Heb. x. 5, 7, 10.)

of

Him that

to

sent Me.

.

.

,

This willing oblation of His note and motto of His whole the works of

Him

that sent

will

life.

Me

was the key" I

must work

while

it is

day

:

the night cometh, when no man can work." And death, when it came, was only the anticipated

climax of His willing

self-sacrifice.

— AN ESSAY ON

134

PERSONALITY.

But the reconciliation of the Atonement through the oblation of a perfect will

Person of Christ.

on a lower His

Master.

will

counterpart

its

and experience of

must be

Christian

represented, not only as the

is

but the

Type

of the

New

Creation.

to be

—

is

be done on earth, as

Heaven."

give

life

is

it

in

is

"

Thy And

to be one constant endeavour expression,

practical

it

all

like his

daily prayer of the Christian

whole

his

to

The

Christ

New Man, The

to find

It is

scale in the life

followers.

not limited to the

is

the entire

until

man, even to the innermost recesses of thought and motive, are brought into cheerful and loving acquiescence to what

And

here

I

is

held to be the Divine

will.

should like to point out the con-

gruity between the end to be

means employed

for attaining

triumph of good over tion of divergent

evil

attained and the

it.

The end

is

the

through the reconcilia-

and opposing

wills.

The means

are 1.

The

exhibition

appealing by

of

its intrinsic

a

faultless

character

loveliness to the moral

perception of an intelligent and spiritual personality. 2.

The

action

and influence of a Divine

upon the cognate created '

Heb.

ii.

1 1

:

" For both

sanctified are all of

One."

He

spirit of

Spirit

man.^

that sanctifieth

and they that are

— RE CO NCILIA TION.

1

Such are the means to be employed, and

3S

ac-

cording as they have been employed has Christianity

world. tried,

proved

Has

a power for

Christianity,

where

it

good

followers,

them from the thraldom of

sin in all

and true

formation Religion

the

its

make Then the

countless forms, to

selfish,

in

has been fairly

tended to raise the character of

to liberate its

itself

?

to be found

is

in

their lives pure, un-

secret of the trans-

the power of that

bring about the reconciliation,

to

not

merely theoretic, but

practical, of

and antagonistic

to the supreme Will of the

Personal Prius. " is

Teach me

good"

lation,

—

to

is

wills

individual

And the prayer of the Psalmist do Thy Will, O God, for Thy Spirit

something more than a pious ejacu-

a devout aspiration.

recognition

all

It

is

the practical

and expression of a profound meta-

physical truth.

——

SECTION

IV.

PERSONALITY IN OTHER SYSTEMS— SPENCER,

WUNDT, TOLSTOY. Schopenhauer's

(fl)

Thelology,

and untenable

impersonal

{6)

— Spencer's "Persistent Force" — Logical inference ignored — Correspondence between internal and external relations — Deduction from the foregoing Professor Wundt on Personality — Personality the expression Comte's "Religion of Humanity"

(c)

and measure of psychical endowment— Comparative Psychology Stages of growth Count Leo Tolstoy.

—

—

Hegel's Prius of

"

pure thought "

has been

the only one which

is

by no means by

propounded

philosophers.

"Will," said

and

Schopenhauer, "is Lord of

unknown and

" persistent Force is

closes the door to

any further

neither

to

Will "

nor

personality attributed.

"

As

to Schopenhauer's " Will "

volume,

I

shall

inconceivable,"

the Prius which ruthlessly

says Mr. Spencer,

"

all,"

investigation.

Force

"

apparently

But is

have already referred

I

theory in

not devote

my

much space

former to

its

— SCHOPENHAUER'S

Is

is,

at the bottom, this

137

to be con-

:

"Will," apart from the person of a Wilier,

a philosophic concept in

WILL'' THEORY.

Tiie question

further consideration.

sidered

"

—

We

Does

?

chance or necessity

it

not land us either

?

are not justified in regarding Schopenhauer

as the original propounder of the " Will " theory.

On

the contrary, he appears to have imbibed his

views from the previous teaching of Fichte and

"The

Schelling.

will

reason," said Fichte. Schelling, " there

is

primal being.

is

"In the

resort," said

last

no other being but Will." Will

Where Schopenhauer

from his teachers was listic

the living principle of

is

differed

in his physical or natura-

views of Will, which, according to him,

is

the result of impulse given to the nerve-organs

by the itself,

Knowledge

objects of the external world.

and

its

instrument

—the

mind, or intellect

immediately dependent on, and, as

is

of,

action.

This knowledge

is

example of that intimate

only a type or special feeling, or will,

the underlying reality and

all

'

existence,^ the

essence of

"Analogy and experience make

omnipresent."

were, the

these nerve-organs thus brought into

product

is

it

—Art. " Schopenhauer "

the all

which

principle

of

manifestations

us assume this will to be in

Encyc, Brit.

AN ESSAY ON

138

inorganic and organic.

PERSONALITY. Thus, in Schopenhauer's

system Will, impersonal and without motive, takes the place of reason or thought, as the Prius or

primal principle of of

man

is

And

things.

all

the origin

not to be sought for us by Hegel in

any theory of self-manifestation of thought unity with itself

by Spencer,

nor, as

;

in the

at

theory

of evolution, but in " automatic action " and " ad-

justment

Both "

Force

"

which "

the "

everlasting

is

Will

of

"

of Spencer are alike the result of " auto-

matic action."

both

In

impersonal, and they reasonable

human

fail

of

solution

personality.

It

personal Prius

braces the

Spencer,

—a

Thought

of Schopenhauer, offers,

systems

the

Prius

is

equally in affording a that is

problem

great here,

of

where

again,

comes to the rescue with

Christian Metaphysic its

and ever-present.

Schopenhauer and the

Prius which, while

em-

it

of Hegel, the Sovereign Will

and the "persistent Force" of

at the

same

time, a reasonable

theory on which to explain the fact of

human

personality.

The philosophy

of Schopenhauer landed him

at length in a sort of pessimistic

soul

of man, unowned and

into

a world

of sin

The

Buddhism.

uncared

for,

is

born

and sorrow, the sport

for

RELIGION OF HUMANITY. a time of

an

through death oblivion.

purposeless Will, until

insensate

it

139

reaches the Nirvana of the eternal

No wonder

that Schopenhauer

was the

apologist of suicide.

Personality in Comte's System of the Religion

of Humanity.

The

Philosophical

System of Comte so

far

resembles that of Hegel and Schopenhauer, that the only form of Personality which can be recog-

nized

is

respect,

that of mankind. that

Personality.

it

it

individual

Comte even goes

the former

that

merges

But

differs in

in

this

collective

so far as to
only an abstract idea, which

is

has no existence save as part of the

Not only can the

individual not

latter.

be separated

from the social organism of which he forms a part

;

but that organism

to his very existence.

Thus the

has no separate existence. the spirit which pervades

men, and manifests of

life

something essential

is

He

individual person

exists only through

the whole family of

itself in

them

as a principle

and development.

This

is collective,

as distinguished from individual

And

as being in Comte's view the

Personality.

highest and only form of Personality of which

AN ESSAY ON

I40

PERSONALITY.

we have any knowledge

or experience,

it

not

unnaturally led him on to the religion and worship

The weakness and

of Humanity.

System

lies

mistaking a

in

example of being

for

defect in Comte's

and particular

finite

the infinite and universal.

His system of Humanity

is

nothing more than

a philosophical fragment, detached from surroundings,

consequent. all

collective

Personality of

all

man he propounds no

while for that Personality he supplies no

;

which becomes

highest and only proper object of

deified as the

If

without

Beyond the

being.

object, save the Personality itself

human

and

antecedent

proper

loses sight of the solidarity of

and the unity of

life,

Prius

without

He

its

worship.

mankind could be shut up

in

a box, or

transported to a desert island, and cut off from all

with the outer world until they

intercourse

imagined they were the only beings

in existence,

then Comtism as a philosophy, and the worship

Humanity

of it

cannot

be.

as

a religion,

Humanity

is

might

small part, in the equipment of

Doubtless life,

the

man

is

suffice.

the highest

the Universe.

example of terrestrial

most delicately constructed, the

richly endowed.

But

only a part, and a very

most

But to regard him as the hub

—

RELIGION OF HUMANITY.

141

of the Universe, to construct a philosophy limitfed to his

own microcosm, and

no forms of sentient

life

to imagine there are

but those he

is

aware

of in this small satellite of perhaps the smallest of the solar systems, scattered in endless profusion

through the boundless regions of space

man

a religion in which the only

God

is

;

to be worshipped

and to teach a morality

;

the welfare of humanity

and end

to preach

;

this

all

is

in

the highest

betokens, to

my

as

which motive

mind, such

short-sighted self-conceit and such a want of the

sense of integrity and proportion as

it

would be

impossible to surpass.^

The

Personality of

the

however,

recognition,

of

the

collective

mankind does import a sense of

responsibility

every

of

body of which he

is

a

man

member.

to

the

social

This

sense

expressed by the term

takes the form

and

of Altruism,

the absorption, or extinction, of

" But

i.e.

is

which has gone so far, must logically go humanity as an organism without extending the organic idea to the conditions under which the social i.e. to the whole world. And if the life of humanity is developed recognition of a universal principle manifested in humanity naturally '

the philosophy,

It is impossible to treat

further.

led

Comte

to the idea of the worship of humanity, the recognition

man and nature alike must lead to the worship of God." (£«
p. lOI.)

AN ESSAY ON

143

mere

self-love

PERSONALITY.

the nobler duty of promoting

in

community at large.^ When, moreover, we come to consider the effect of

the welfare of the

such a sense of responsibility as a deterrent from self-destruction,

theoretically

"I am

it

we

bound

are

should have this

effect.

not free to injure or destroy myself;

such injury or destruction

for

admit that

to

is

done, not

to

myself alone, but to that body whose welfare

ought to be to

will

me

But how

portance."

be practically

suicide

a matter of paramount imfar

such theoretical reasoning

effective as

a deterrent from

a matter of opinion.

is

At any

rate, it

the only and the strongest argument against

is

suicide on the score of responsibility which could

have any weight with a disciple of Comte.

Some man is

provision

the

for

by proposing Humanity

afforded

deserving the

than

name

of religion at

Ancestor-worship of

the

open to question.

The

last

set apart in the Positivist

memoration '

The same

of

the

tlie

Chinese,

day of the year

Calendar

dead, and

result is arrived at in

tlie

itself

any more

all,

the

in

for the

his

Christian system.

premises are of a different and higher order, as

we approach

of

Whether such worship

as an object of worship. is

religious instinct

subject of Christian Mctaphysic.

\\\\\

is is

com-

address But the

appear when

—

——

RESULTS OF COMTISM. members

delivered to the

of which he

Mr, F. Harrison

"The

of the Positivist Society,

the head, on

is

is

religion

\\l

December

1900,

31,

reported to have said

submission

of

the will of

to

humanity had no crude worship of heroes, no vain apotheosis of genius. The day was dedicated to all the dead to nameless, as to those of name,

—

to the lowly as to the great, to those

much

as

as

those

to

who

ruled.

.

.

who .

served

He

need

hardly remind them that the one name which he held to be destined to perpetual honour in the coming ages was that of the founder of the religion of humanity."

How belief

destructive such

utterly in

a system

any Personality higher than

is

of

that of

man is shown by the following instance Some few years ago a young man, who had :

embraced Comtism and the Religion of Humanity, emigrated to America and settled In a letter to his sister at

passage occurs "

home

San Francisco. the

following

:

You say you remember me

This,

in

so far as

it

is

a

mark

affection, I fully appreciate.

in

your prayers.

of your

sisterly

But, otherwise, you

might save yourself the trouble. Believe me, there no God. It is not that we have a God without In ears, but there is absolutely no God to hear. this country religion is a commodity for which is

AN ESSAY ON

144

there

A

We

no demand.

is

very well without

PERSONALITY. find

we can

who had been working

missionary,

same part of North America, once in

get on

it."

in the

me

told

that

the course of a conversation he had with an

old settler on the subject of religious education in

the State Schools,

we have so

we

abolished

"Oh,

the settler replied,

God on

this side of the

don't trouble ourselves

Rockies

much about

;

religion

or religious education."

Mr. Let

us

Spencer's Prius

now

turn

Spencer's Prius like

he

all

is

in

to

and

Personality.

consider

respect to Personality

other philosophers and

bound

Spencer's

for,

:

metaphysicians,

have a Prius of some kind.

to

Prius is " Persistent

he mean by

Mr.

briefly

this

Force."

expression?

What

Mr, does

Let him speak

for

himself.

"By

we really mean the some Power which transcends our knowledge and conception. The manifestations, the persistence of Force

persistence of

as recurring, either in ourselves

do not

persist

unknown cause '

ing

;

of these manifestations."

First Principles, p. 187. it

(persistent Force)

beginning or end."

or outside of us,

but that which persists

And

again, p. 192, he says,

we assert an Unconditioned

is

the

^

" In

assert-

Reality without

SPENCER'S PERSISTENT FORCE. Thus the prime system

145

factor of Mr. Spencer's

whole

a Power which transcends our know-

is

ledge and conception.

But, indeed, Mr. Spencer's

statements and postulates respecting his persistent

Force are inconsistent and mutually self-destructive.

For

first

he

calls it "

a Power which transcends our

knowledge and conception."

done

he proceeds to

this,

mode

antecedent

And

then, having

us

that " every

tell

Unknowable must have

of the

an invariable connection, quantitative and qualiwith that

tative,

we

mode

able connection,

How

of the Unknowable, which

consequent."

call its

Mark

and

quantitative,

comes Mr. Spencer

sistent

the words " invari-

to

know

And

?

if,

Per-

this, if his

Force be both " unknowable

ceivable "

qualitative."

"

" incon-

and

on the other hand,

be true

it

that this connection between the Absolute Force

and the phenomenal exist,

the "

then

for

Reality "

and inconceivable

consequent modes cal,

which we know, does

how can he say that

Unconditioned

known

forces

" are,

?

the Absolute Force,

which persists,

We

is

know what

both physical and psychi-

And

they are matters of experience.

since there

is

"an

invariable

connection

quantitative and qualitative between these

II.

both

and

antecedent modes of the Unknowable Force, VOL.

un-

" the

L

it

all is

AN ESSAY ON

146

PERSONALITY.

obviously untrue to say the Force

Such

inconceivable.

"

is

unknown and

an invariable connection

amounts to an analogy, and must lead to something far

logically

more than the postulation of a

Power transcending conception. able us,

"

It will surely en-

there be any truth in the analogy, to

if

form, not indeed a perfect and exhaustive idea,

but at least a general conception of the nature and characteristics of the Persistent Force, from which all

other

forces,

physical and

both

psychical,

proceed.

But the is that,

we have

fault

to find with Mr. Spencer

having assumed or postulated the existence

unknown and

of a great

inconceivable Power, he

forthwith proceeds to fabricate a philosophy and

psychology

in

which

it

is

practically ignored, in

which, as a factor of thought or mind, absent.

name

for

Mr. Spencer's Force

entirely

clearly

only a

something unknown and unknowable,

and which, shelved.

is

it is

therefore, he thinks

It

is

may be

practically

shorn of what, even to man,

is

the highest concept and attribute of being, namely, self-conscious personality

unconscious force,

vene nor act

in the

it

is

;

and,

save as a blind,

permitted neither to inter-

Universe.

All this

is

strikingly

exemplified in the " Psychology," which from

first

—

SPENCERS PSYCHOLOGY.

MR. to last

147

the product of materialistic evolution

is

pure and simple.

But

philosophy

this

is

?

^

Ought

not Mr. Spencer to have seen that, though his Prius transcends both our knowledge and concep-

by no means

tion, this

justifies

as a working factor in

it

of nature

is

must

in

may

be unknown

in its fulness, but,

inasmuch as

ex hypothesi the only source of

Force which persists

and therefore

many

all

it

which we

follow, that every form of force of

festation of that

'

power,

all

have any knowledge and experience

so

excluding

any hypothetical scheme

His Persistent Force

?

and inconceivable it

him

is

a mani-

in all things

;

these various manifestations are

indications of the nature of his Persistent

After reviewing Mr. Spencer's doctrine of Persistent Force and

his attempt " to bring organisms

and societies and all thereto permind, character, language, literature, and institutions of every kind under the cover of a single formula, " Professor Ward

taining

—

life,

—

writes as follows

:

"

We are,

therefore, not surprised to find

Mr.

Spencer treating of the transformation of physical forces into mental forces, and insisting on a quantitative equivalence between the two, just as

he

the value

and the

treats of transformation

in

foot-pounds of a

of mechanical work into heat and

British Constitution, nay, the

Religion, are

all,

The poetry of Milton human mind and the Christian

calorie.

according to him, equally with the tidal bore on the

Severn, or gales at the equinoxes, so

many secondary

results of the

nebular hypothesis, cases of integration of matter and dissipation of motion in obedience to the persistence of Force. It is to encompass all

these within one formula that he

physical generalization beyond

all

is

tempted to stretch a great

meaning and

to justify his ven-

ture by questionable metaphysics concerning Absolute Being."

Naturalism and Agnosticism,

vol.

i.

p. 221.

— AN ESSAY ON

148

Force

—the

Reality

"

unknown Power, "the Unconditional

which, though

and conception, has not

And

among

if

PERSONALITY.

it

transcends our knowledge

" left itself without witness."

the forces

we know, whether simple

or complex, there be one which

and

intelligent

may we

not

—that

safely

is,

the

self-conscious

is

human

postulate on

Spencer's Persistent Force, that

Personality

behalf of Mr.

this, too,

a self-conscious intelligent Personality

But Mr. Spencer's Psychology out by the hiatus

abyss

— between

is

must be

^ .'

vitiated through-

— the unbridged and unbridgeable his

Persistent

Force and those

material quantitative and mechanical forces which

alone he allows to have been operative in the

production of physical and psychical phenomena.

Where does

the Persistent Force intervene

?

Where

whole of his evolutionary system, embracing

in the

products and organisms from the protozoa to the personal soul of man, do

we

the Force and the forces?

do we

find

.'

A

'

But what

By the sweep magic wand, Mr, Spencer summons idealism

My

personality

is

ideal.

one of those " consequent modes," which modes of the unknowable

are "invariably connected with antecedent

Force."

nexus between

Nowhere.

marvellous capacity for trans-

muting the material into the of his

find a

—

CORRESPONDENCE.

149

from the vasty deep of his imagination to crown Sensations have only to

his materialistic edifice.

number of

recur a certain

and forthwith

times,

they blossom into ideas and memories of the past

There has but to be a complexity of impressions on the organism

from

;

and a struggle

of hesitation,

which

without,

produce direct automatic action

do

not

then after a period the

for

mastery,

reason, deliberation, and will spring forth like a

Deus ex machind

to settle the dispute

and take

the command.^ Correspondence between Internal

and External

Relations.

On no

point does Mr. Spencer lay greater stress

than that of the invariable correspondence between our internal and external relations. indeed, which '

The

following

Spencer's dialectic.

and

less frequent

actions effecting

lies

is

a

"

at the root

fair

of his

It is

this,

experience

may call Mr. when more complex

specimen of what we

We shall

find that as,

correspondences come to be effected, the internal

them become

less

automatic

:

as in ceasing to

be

automatic they necessitate a previous representation of the motions

about to be performed and the impressions about to be experienced, and in this involve at once both harmony and reason ; so in this

same previous representation they simultaneously involve the germ of what we call the feelings." Psychology, p. 585. And again, p. 590, " As the psychical changes become too complicated to be perfectly automatic, they become incipiently sensational. Memory, reason, and feeling take their rise at the same time."

— AN ESSAY ON

15°

hypothesis.

And

of his position 1. i.e.

PERSONALITY.

the following

is

a brief

summary

:

Corresponding to absolute external

relations,

around

developed

in the universe

in the nervous

us, there are

system absolute internal

developed before

birth,

antecedent

to,

relations,

and inde-

pendent of individual experiences, and that are automatically established along with the very

first

cognitions. 2.

These internal

relations, nevertheless, are not

independent of experiences

in general,

but have

been established by the accumulated experiences of preceding organisms, handed

down by

heredity

from parent to offspring. 3.

Hence the brain represents an

infinitude of

experiences received during the whole evolution of

in

life

The most uniform and

general.

racteristic of these experiences

bequeathed, principal

sively

father to son,

of the infant, life,

have been succes-

and

interest,

from

and have thus slowly amounted

that high intelligence which

after

cha-

which the

exercises

is

to

latent in the brain

infant, in the course of its

and usually strengthens

or

further complicates, and which, with minute additions,

it

again bequeaths to future generations.^ '

Psychology, p. 583.

DEDUCTION FROM

CORRESPONDENCE."

'^

should be sorry to deny there

I

in all this.

It

must,

is

much

151

truth

think, be admitted that

I

life

means the power of adaptation and correspondence to environment

;

that outer and objective relations

produce inner and subjective relations which answer

and that

to them,

this

correspondence has gone on

increasing from the lowest to the very highest form of

physical, intellectual,

life,

may

be

and

psychical.

quite true, and probably

all

must not forget

at the

is.

This

But we

same time what the very

theory necessitates, that without the real objective

And,

relations.

be

could

there

relations

if

it

no

inner subjective

be true that our external

relations are the cause of our internal, then, conversely,

it is

equally true that our internal are the

But what are

record and reflex of our external.

our internal relations in

our personality

and ultimate

?

?

Are they not summarized

Our

personality

is

the involute

collective expression of all previous

experiences.

The

brain

is

the

muniment room

wherein are treasured up the archives of our past history,

and the

title-deeds of the ever-increasing

heritage of mankind.

What, led

?

then,

is

the conclusion to which

This, namely, that

relations there

is

somewhere

in

we

are

our external

that which corresponds to our

AN ESSAY ON

152

own

PERSONALITY.

Or, to put

personality.

sonality of man implies

it

briefly, the Per-

and demands the Personality

of God.

My

whole psychical content,

my

duty,

perception of

power to distinguish between

and

wrong, between sin instinct,

my

my

holiness,

right

my

and

religious

sense of beauty, truth, and love,

these form part of

my

all

inner relations, and they

are mine simply and solely because the Personal Prius,

Who

is

in the world, has thus manifested

me

Himself to

through the experience of

outer relations, through Creation and

my

Immanence

and Incarnation. But does Mr. Spencer see has he ever pointed out

quence the

in establishing the

human

postulated an

unknown

of

known

other

antecedent

known

Or,

?

he does,

if

far-reaching conse-

bond of

between

affinity

Personality and the Divine?

not aware that he has.

all

this

its

mode

is

On

I

am

the contrary, having

persistent Force, the source

forces,

and of which every

invariably connected with

its

consequent, he proceeds to construct the

cosmos out interpret

of

purely material elements, and to

the phenomena of

Society in

terms of matter,

chanical force, without so

much

Life,

Mind,

motion,

and

and me-

as an allusion to

;

PROFESSOR WUNDT AND PERSONALITY. Force which

that postulated

of

is

153

the only cause

all.i

To sum

up, then,

in

few words,

this

the

is

conclusion to which the foregoing considerations

bring me.

The human product of built

up of

Personality

all

is

the latest and highest

past vital experiences, the fabric

internal subjective relations answering

to those external relations which form

ment.

It is like the lense

its

environ-

of the camera, which

gathers up and focuses into one consistent intelligible picture the

upon is

all

it

multitudinous rays which

from the world without.

this, it

And

fall

because

it

bears irrefragable testimony to the

unity in diversity of the Power which works in

Nature,

call it " persistent Force," or

to the solidarity of

all life,

what you will

and the supremacy of

a self-conscious, designing and, therefore, Personal Intelligence.

Professor

Wundt and Personality.

According to Professor Wund't, Individual Personality in

is

the unity of feeling, thought, and

which the

will

"

As

See Ward's Nat. and Ag.,

vol.

sustains the other elements. '

will,

appears as the active power that the i.

Ego

p. 256,

is

the

AN ESSAY ON

154

will in its distinction

PERSONALITY.

from the

content, so Personality

the

is

and thereby raised

content,

consciousness."

rest

of the conscious

Ego

reunited to this

to the stage of self-

^

Now, without entering

into the minute discussion

of this definition,

we may

tolerably correct.

What,

say, perhaps, that

then,

is

it

is

the presentment

it

gives us of Personality

is

the final outcome of our psychical development

—of

feeling, thought,

and

will.

And

perhaps we

be far wrong in regarding Personality as

shall not

the result of those otherwise,

But the

same

processes, evolutionary or

by which the

and

faculties

It is that Personality

?

activities

rest

of

our psychical

have come into being.^

effects of this admission, that Personality

the expression of the psychical content,

is

far-reaching than at

In the

first

place,

first it

is,

more

sight appears.

is

evident that

monopoly of what we may that

is

man

has no

call psychical content,

of those faculties and functions which are

usually supposed

to

fall

within the domain of

' Tlie PnHciples of Morality, by Willielm Wundt, professor of Philosophy in the University of Leipzig. English Translation,

p. 21. ^

In saying

this, I

wish once more to guard against the supposi-

tion that evolution of itself

is

a power capable of creating anything.

As my

I

hold that Evolution

readers are aware,

operandi,

is

only a modus

which demands the power and presence of the Operator.

PSYCHICAL PROGRESS. psychology.

memory,

Intelligence,

Man

is

thought, feeling,

but the

him

will,

common, with

these he shares, in

afifection,

creatures far below

155

in the scale of

animal

life.

great chain of

last link in the

evolutionary process, the heir of the accumulated

experiences of a thousand generations of genera

and species which have preceded him on the

And

all

earth.

along the line the Eternal Prius has been

manifesting Himself in ever-increasing forms of

beauty and

But there seems good

loveliness.

reason for thinking that physiology and psychology

have ever gone hand-in-hand, and form integral parts

and different aspects of the progressive move-

ment towards If there

perfection.

be any truth

Species regarded

view, then

it

from

must

a

Darwin's

Origin of

physiological point of

also be true, regarded from a

psychical point of view. in respect to its physical tiation, it will

in

advance

As

the species advances

organism and

differen-

also in point of psychical

faculty and development. If,

then, Personality be the expression of the

psychical content,

it

follows (i) that

the only being that can claim will

it

;

and

vary in each order of animal

accordance with

its

man

is

not

(2) that

life

psychical endowment.

in

it

exact

AN ESSAY ON

156

Just because

man

PERSONALITY.

more

is

richly

endowed with

psychical faculty than any other terrestrial order

of beings, his Personality

But the

the highest.

is

lower orders of animated nature also possess a Personality varying according to their psychical content.

I

have a dog which goes with

me

to

Matins every morning, but he patiently waits for

me

the

outside

church,

because

psychical

his

me in common

development does not enable him to join the service of prayer and praise to the

Maker and Father of us

both.

In the lowest organisms, whose functions are limited to the

common

object of preserving

life,

either by procuring food, or avoiding danger, the

Personality

is

only of the collective or social kind,

and individual Personality does not

But as

we mount the

as yet exist.

scale of animal

life,

when

the organism becomes more complex, and a variety of conturbing motives

content

is

increased,

come

into play, the psychical

and the personality tends to

assume an individual

character.

Examples of

both forms of Personality may be found far

below the rank of man.

Compare

starlings, or a shoal of herrings,

spider spinning

its

depths of the

a flock of

with the solitary

web with almost mathematical

accuracy, or the beetle burying in the

in creatures

forest.

its

loathsome prey

COMPARATIVE PSYCHOLOGY. In the social,

two we see plenty of

first

but very

little

collective or

of individual personality.

the latter two, the exact converse

The

157

is

In

the case.

spider and the beetle, without being actually

severed from the collective personality of their kind, appear to have acquired a sort of individual personality,

which enables them to

live

and

act for

themselves.

Much

Wundt

of what Professor

says on the

relation of the social to the individual will

is true,

mutatis mutandis, of the relation of the social, or

But we

collective, to the individual personality.

shall

do well to remember, that

their earliest origin in

mankind.

We

in neither case is

and manifestation to be found

must dig

far deeper, if

get to the root of the matter.

The

we would

we need

fact is

a comparative psychology just as

much

need a comparative anatomy or physiology investigation of either subject can

as ;

we

and no

be thorough,

which loses sight of the comparative aspect-r-that of the unity and solidarity of

is,

all

forms of

life.

The study

Anatomy

of Natural History and Comparative

reveals the fact that, physiologically

structurally,

and

man is allied to the lower orders of Kingdom that he differs from them,

the Vertebrate

;

AN ESSAY ON

158

not so

much

kind and form, as in degree and

in

organic development. learn that what psychically,

human

the

PERSONALITY.

is

But we seem to have yet to

true physiologically

is

also true

and that very much of the content of Personality

is

common

also

the

to

lower and less highly developed orders of animal life.

in

As each

successive genus or species increases

complexity of organization, so do the psychical

functions and

activities

and there

increase,

is

a

corresponding advance to more specialized and individualized forms of personality.

That the

earliest

and lowest form of personality

should be the collective or social It is a fact

should expect.

only what

is

which connotes

we

little

more than what we understand by gregariousness. But as we

rise

higher in the scale of animal

life

the psychical content increases, and the birth of self-consciousness synchronizes with

ance of individual personality

member that he is

of the

is

the appear-

and egoism.

community begins

Each

to see, not only

one of many, and with many, but that he

also a personal unit distinct from the rest, and

capable of separate and independent action.

Then

follows

individual

a

perceives

higher that

stage, this

independence does not cut him

in

which

distinction adrift

the

and

from the

— COUNT LEO TOLSTOY. family of which he individual

for the welfare

collective body.

a member, but that his

is

personality

159

something to be used

is

and advancement of the whole

And

last of all

comes that stage

of personal development in which the individual

awakes to the conscious perception of

his relation,

not merely to the society with which he closely

associated

interests

;

by

most

is

and community of

birth

not merely to the outward and material

world of nature of which he forms a part, but to that Being

Who,

as Self-conscious Thought,

Author of Nature, the Well of Being the whole Universe

is

Life,

the

is

and of Whose

only the glorious

Self-manifestation.

Count Leo Tolstoy on Divine Personality.

The

writings

much

being

of Count

Leo Tolstoy

are

now

In his booklet,

read in this country.

Thoughts on God, he touches on the subject of Divine

Personality.

irrelevant,

what

"

and may be

will

not

be

therefore

interesting,

to

ascertain

his views are.

The

am me

It

following

is

Tolstoy's definition of

God

:

God

is that All, that infinite All, of which I conscious of being a part, and, therefore, all in is

encompassed by God, and

everything

"

(pp. 7, 8),

I

feel

Him

in

A AT ESSAY ON PERSONALITY.

i6o

Again, he says, "

God "(pp. "

is

love,"

Love

me

—

God

that

is,

that All which

is

is

God,

to

But does not

this last

savour too

much

God

for

as,

it

became

indeed, in real Being,

and which

just touch,

I

experience in the form of Love

;

and " Love

9, II).

Somehow, while praying

clear to

I

God

"

(p. 8).

dictum, " Love

is

God,"

of other abstract conceptions of

example, the " Pure Thought

"

of

Hegel, the " Supreme Will " of Schopenhauer, the " Deified

Force

"

of Spencer

There partial

Humanity "

is

of Comte, the " Persistent

?

truth in

them

all.

and imperfect, and they

and complexion from

the

And

individual conceiver.

But they are all

take their hue

idiosyncrasy of

is it

all

the

possible to enter-

tain these concepts, save as attributes or qualities

of Personality

?

Can we

entertain

the idea

will

without a Wilier, and so on

conclude, that only in

and

force,

and

personal form

?

man do

love

assume

?

Are we

thought, and

a

If so, then, there

of

Of

thought without a Thinker of some kind?

to

will,

self-conscious is

really

no

God but man. I

believe

Count Tolstoy calls himself a

and, therefore,

it

is

the

Christian,

more surprising that he

—

;

COUNT LEO TOLSTOY. should deny the Personality of God.

he

and emphatically does, as

distinctly

from the following passages " It

God

said that

is

This

a personality.

is

i6i

Yet is

this

evident

:

should be conceived

as

a great misunderstanding

Man feels himself a because he is in contact with other personalities. If he were alone, he would not be a person.^ But how can we say of God that He is a person ? Herein lies the root of anthropomorphism." ^ personality

limitation.

is

personality only

.

And we

yet, while

.

.

denying the personality of God,

find Tolstoy over

God

terms which necessarily imply His per-

in

and which

sonality,

unintelligible,

Thus,

and over again speaking of

"

He

is

are,

my

to

mind

at

least,

except

on the supposition of

One."

He

is

" the living

God,"

it.

in

contrast to the pantheistic God. " He is One, in the sense that He exists as a Being who can be addressed that is, that there is a relation between me, a limited personality, and ^ God, unfathomable, but existing." ;

' This seems to me a gratuitous assumption, which is neither proved nor capable of proof. Take the imaginary case of Robinson Crusoe. Because he was cast on a desert island, and cut off from all intercourse with his fellow-man, did he cease to be a person, or

to think himself one ^

?

Thoughts on God,

VOL.

II.

p. 34.

"

Ibid.

M

AN ESSAY ON

i62

Tolstoy here struggling to reconcile ideas

Is not

concepts

or

of the

opposed

essentially

And

?

which

Being

Divine

emphasized

further

still

PERSONALITY.

this

is

on

statement

his

in

are

opposition

Prayer.

"Prayer

addressed to a personal God, not a person (I even know with certainty that He is not a person, because personality is limitation, and God is unlimited), but because I am a personal being." is

He

because

is

-^

God

Tolstoy has just admitted that

Who may

be addressed

a Person, seeing

in

prayer

we cannot

we

are told, that

we

that

God

therefore

address an abstract

quality or even a bundle of such,

because

a Being,

is

— and

—but

God

only address

are personal beings.

now we

as a person,

In other words,

has no objective personal existence, and

cannot be addressed as a person except by a

And what becomes

formal act of self-deception. of prayer after this chical illusion

But

;

Tolstoy

religious

against

is

instinct his

.'

What

is it

more than a psy-

a poor piece of spiritual idolatry better than raises

philosophy.

an

creed.

indignant

The yearning

personal God, realized in his '

his

own inmost

Thoughts on God, p. 33.

!

His

protest after

a

soul,

is

COUNT LEO TOLSTOY. too in

much

for

him

;

and we

find

163

him breaking out

impassioned utterance to the very Being whose

personality he had just denied.

"But, Lord, ceased.

My

I

named Thee, and my

despair

Thy

has

passed.

I

sufferings feel

Thy

walk in Thy ways, and Thy pardon, when I stray from them. Lord, pardon the errors of my youth, and help me to bear Thy yoke as joyfully as I accept it." nearness, feel

So "

My

help

when

I

said the Psalmist three thousand years ago.

soul

is

athirst for

God.

Yea, even for the

Living God." " Fecisti

nos ad Te, Domine, et inquietum est cor nostrum donee requiescat in Te." " O Lord, Thou hast made us for Thyself, and our heart is restless until it reposes in Thee." (St. Aug.)

—

SECTION

V.

MATERIALISTIC MONISM AND PERSONALITY. Personality — "Matter moving" —Vital Force? — Pro— Professor Dolbear's definition—The problem be solved — Subject and Object — Two observations — Professor Wundt and human progress — Phenomena and Noumena— Paul — Professor Bain's Hypothesis incompatible with Monism.

Monism and toplasm

to

St.

The is

contention

known,

well

matter moving." there

of the Materialistic Monist, as that "everything that

is

Which means,

is,

of course,

Such

no other or higher form of Being.

is

a theory, of

course,

Personal Prius.

examine

is

It will

this theory

to

fatal

be

the

is

that

idea of a

desirable, therefore, to

and the arguments adduced

in its support.

And,

in the first place,

it

is

to be noted that

our scientists have not yet arrived at any general consensus of opinion, ledge of what matter motion,

we

are told.

latest hypothesis

much is.

less

any certain know-

It consists of

atoms

But what are atoms

concerning them

is

?

in

The

that they are

:

VITAL FORCE.

165

vortex rings, "a particular form of motion of the ^

ether in the ether."

In the second place, ether

very necessary,

is

even to the Materialistic Monist.

But

am

I

not

aware that ether has yet been proved, or even claimed to be, matter, but only "the primal substance out of which matter

something, and,

is

is

formed."

^

Yet ether

be not matter, then what

if it

becomes of the Monist's contention that everything that

is, is

own

his

Has he not destroyed

matter moving ?

Prius,

and disproved

his first proposition

?

Vital Force