Iff
 
 FAITH AND EXPERIENCE,
 
 I I/
 
 FAITH AND EXPERIENCE. 
 
 A SELECTION OF 
 
 ESSAYS AND ADDRESSES 
 
 BY 
 
 OSWALD JOHN SIMON, 
 
 (LATE OF BALLIOL COLLEGE, OXFORD), 
 AUTHOR OP " THE WORLD AND THE CLOISTER," ETC., ETC. 
 
 LONDON: 
 WERTHEIMER, LEA & CO., 
 
 CIRCUS PLACE, LONDON WALL. 
 I8 95 .
 
 LONDON : 
 
 PRINTED BY WBRTHEIMBR, LEA AND 
 CIRCUS PLACE, LONDON WALL.
 
 D ED I CAT I O N. 
 
 IN EVER FOND MEMORY OF 
 
 THREE BROTHERS. 
 
 J. D. S., DIED 29TH MAY, 1873, AGED 26, 
 A. O. S., DIED 2IST OCTOBER, 1882, AGED 28, 
 W. G. S., DIED 6TH JULY, 1894, AGED 43. 
 
 2093623
 
 " First of all there is the thought of rest- and freedom from pain ; 
 they have gone home, as the common saying is, and the cares of this 
 world touch them no more. Secondly, we may imagine them as 
 they were at their best and brightest, humbly fulfilling their daily 
 round of duties selfless, childlike, unaffected by the world ; when 
 the eye was single and the whole body seemed to be full of light ; 
 when the mind was clear and saw into the purposes of God. Thirdly, 
 we may think of them as possessed by a great love of God and man, 
 working out His will at a further stage in the heavenly pilgrimage. 
 And yet we acknowledge that these are the things which eye hath 
 not seen nor ear heard, and therefore it hath not entered into the 
 heart of man in any sensible manner to conceive them. Fourthly, 
 there may have been some moments in our own lives when we have 
 risen above ourselves, or been conscious of our truer selves, in which 
 the will of God has superseded our wills, and we have entered into 
 communion with Him, and been partakers for a brief season of the 
 Divine truth and love, in which like Christ we have been inspired 
 to utter the prayer, ' I in them, and thou in me, that we may be all 
 made perfect in one.' These precious moments, if we have ever 
 known them, are the nearest approach which we can make to the 
 idea of immortality." 
 
 JOWETT.
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 1. Divine and Human .................. I 
 
 2. To be Alone ..................... 15 
 
 3. Experience ... ... .......... ...... 27 
 
 4. An Essay on Tact ...... ...... ...... 39 
 
 5. The Pulpit : its Defects, its Possibilities ...... 53 
 
 6. Missionary Judaism ...... ............ 69 
 
 (From the "Jewish Quarterly Review") 
 
 7. Reformed Judaism .................. 90 
 
 (From the " Jewish Quarterly Review.") 
 
 8. The Universal Element in Judaism ......... in 
 
 (Published in Philadelphia, U.S.A.) 
 
 9. The Day of Memorial ............... 126 
 
 (From the "Jewish Chronicle") 
 
 10. Denominational Schools ............... 139 
 
 (From the "Jewish Chronicle.") 
 
 11. Man's Relation to God ............... 152 
 
 (Sermon at Hackney Synagogue, 1 886.) 
 
 12. The Mission of Israel ............... 166 
 
 (Discourse in Manchester, 1887.) 
 
 13. The Divine Presence ............... 181 
 
 (Discourse delivered at West Hamfstead, April 26, 1870.) 
 
 14. Higher Judaism ...... ... ...... ... 195 
 
 (Discourse delivered at Kilburn Town Hall, 
 March 19, 1892.) 
 
 15. Religious Calm .................. 206 
 
 (A Sermon preached at the Reform Synagogue in 
 Manchester, July 2, 1892.) 
 
 16. The Liberty of the Soul ............... 216 
 
 (Printed in 1885.) * 
 
 17. Introspection ............ ...... 224 
 
 (Printed in 1885.) 
 
 18. The Master of Balliol. In Memoriam ......... 238
 
 FAITH AND EXPERIENCE. 
 
 DIVINE AND HUMAN. 
 
 MEN and women are capable of acquiring know- 
 ledge and of gathering experience in regard to the 
 relation between what is Divine and what is human. 
 There is, however, a common impression that in 
 this world we can only learn about our humanity ; 
 there is not much, it is said, that we can attain 
 in the knowledge of the Divine nature. This 
 is the supposition among people of a certain 
 order of mind. There are others who believe that 
 there is a definite revelation of the Divine nature 
 in the Scriptures, but that this revelation is to be 
 found nowhere else. Such a view may be said 
 to represent particular types of religionists not 
 uncommon among Jews and Christians. The 
 ordinary phrase, "to believe in God," does not 
 convey all that is meant by a revelation of the 
 Divine nature. What is human, what is Divine, 
 are questions which can be answered in the pages 
 of the Bible, but also in the record of general 
 human experience. There is not, indeed, any 
 
 B
 
 2 FAITH AND EXPERIENCE. 
 
 sharp line drawn between the spheres of the 
 Divine and human. The two join one another, 
 and are only quite distinct at their extremities. 
 
 The doctrine of the union between the Divine 
 and human is not new. It has indeed given rise to 
 many assumptions in regard to the manifestation 
 of the Divine nature in human form. To those 
 who are not Christians, and to many who are, there 
 is something unsatisfactory in the proposition that 
 the union of these two natures was manifested only 
 at a particular time and in one individual. The 
 Divinity of Jesus, even to those who believe that 
 he was the incarnation of the Deity, does not 
 express all that I would venture to submit as to 
 the representation of the union of God and man. 
 To say that God once took upon Himself our 
 nature, and that He ascended from the grave into 
 heaven with our nature still upon Him, is but 
 a partial and isolated instance of that union of 
 which I speak. Whether historically true or un- 
 true, the idea as an abstract conception does not 
 carry with it very much more than the notion 
 of a single supernatural transaction. The union 
 of the human character with the Divine nature 
 still would remain an open question. Even with 
 the admission, which one cannot logically withhold, 
 that a single instance of Divine embodiment under 
 any circumstances whatever does postulate the 
 idea of intimate relations between the Divine and 
 the human, the relation in such a case as that is 
 not the same as the more general and permanent
 
 DIVINE AND HUMAN. 3 
 
 assimilation in human character of the Divine 
 element. Moreover, in the story of the Gospels 
 the incarnation is not merely an individual instance 
 of two natures in one person, but it is expressly 
 conditioned by exceptional circumstances. And 
 beyond this special limitation the whole episode 
 is founded upon the hypothesis that there is 
 not an inherent affinity between the two, but 
 rather that such affinity had to be acquired by 
 supernatural intervention. The order of things 
 upon the Christian view of God's condescension 
 is one which presupposes a gulf between the Divine 
 and human, only capable of being bridged by a 
 stupendous miracle. 
 
 Now what is proposed to be here considered 
 is the general and permanent assimilation in 
 human character of something which is Divine. 
 Starting from the point of view which takes 
 cognisance of human nature in all its frailty, 
 subject to many temptations, some of which belong 
 almost to the physical circumstance of human life, 
 and recognising the fact of sin as one of the risks 
 and dangers incidental to the human pilgrimage, 
 is there yet within the forces of human character 
 some power stronger and more subtle than any 
 which is merely human ? Is there at least a possi- 
 bility that the higher culture of the moral faculties 
 in man may rise to a height of development in 
 which the will itself becomes invested with some 
 attribute that might be regarded as the counterpart 
 of a Divine quality ? We all know that steadfast 
 B 2
 
 4 FAITH AND EXPERIENCE. 
 
 resistance of evil does in due course emancipate the 
 human soul from the slavery of the grosser passions. 
 Worldly temptations as well as the snares of the 
 flesh, are things which do sometimes become 
 actually plucked out from the roots of human sus- 
 ceptibility. It is an experience with some gifted 
 natures, that certain evils which present terrific 
 temptations to ordinary persons, have absolutely no 
 power of attraction whatsoever. There is no more 
 even the consciousness of a struggle, for the 
 struggle is over and the moral victory complete. 
 The desire to do and to think that which is incom- 
 patible with the highest moral culture ceases to 
 invade itself upon the individual thus purified and 
 elevated. Qualities such as jealousy, envy, and 
 lust are removed at so great a distance that they 
 stand in relation to a soul of this type in a like 
 position in which obnoxious food would appear to 
 a healthy digestion. The conquest of sin in its 
 ordinary forms is not an occurrence so rare as to be 
 counted a miracle. In addition to those cases of 
 conquest after long and fierce inward encounter with 
 temptation, there are other natures in which there 
 was never any need for such encounter in regard 
 to the lower temptations. Some persons are born 
 with moral endowments which render them free 
 from many of those temptations with which through- 
 out life others are beset. Yet for all inequalities 
 in the moral attributes of different men and 
 women there is still a race to run even for those 
 who are best endowed. In the finest natures,
 
 DIVINE AND HUMAN. 5 
 
 largely liberated from the trammels of palpable 
 temptation and mortal sin, there are qualities which 
 have to be acquired. It is certain that there are 
 degrees higher and lower in which certain virtues 
 may be cultivated. Beyond a certain point, 
 within which we are in the habit of describing 
 qualities as simply human, there are possibilities 
 of development to higher points in the moral 
 compass that may be said to be divine. A striking 
 illustration is the virtue of charity. From the 
 ordinary point of view, charity is a virtue with 
 varying standards. That which satisfies the 
 claims of society is somewhat bald, and does not rise 
 beyond very simple human requirements. A person 
 is said to be charitable if he is willing to devote 
 some portion of his surplus means to the benefit 
 of others. Giving alms is a common interpretation 
 of charity. Giving service is just a little above it. 
 But there are higher regions, such as forgiveness 
 of injury, which may be said to partake of the 
 Divine attribute of pardon. There are moreover 
 particular attitudes of the intellect, induced and 
 regulated by the spiritual faculties, which seem 
 to bring the human \vill into a kind of co-operation 
 with the purposes of God. There is the estimate 
 which we form of our fellow mortal, which may 
 approach in resemblance the view that we could 
 suppose to be entertained by God himself. Intense 
 commiseration for others, because of the temp- 
 tations to which they are subject, and an inex- 
 haustible pity on account of their sins is perhaps
 
 6 FAITH AND EXPERIENCE. 
 
 the nearest approach we can make to the likeness 
 of God. 
 
 To estimate others by a standard different 
 from that by which we measure our own ac- 
 tions, is a soaring upwards toward the Divine 
 manner of thought. Hence it is that there is no 
 more conspicuous instance of the Divine element 
 in human character, than that which prompts men 
 and women to rescue people from sin. In our own 
 generation there has been a powerful development 
 of this tendency manifested in the various works 
 that are being accomplished in the rescue of fallen 
 women, the creation of fresh opportunities for dis- 
 charged convicts, and in the foundation of homes 
 for homeless children. The attempt to cope with 
 evils arising from sin or the hereditary conse- 
 quences of sin is something which in a marked de- 
 gree manifests the Divine nature in human character. 
 " Inasmuch as ye do to the least of these, ye do 
 unto me" is a principle which, one is thankful to 
 recognise, is exercising considerable sway over the 
 minds of many men and women. So too that 
 thought in the Hebrew Scriptures, that the holiness 
 of the Divine Being is a reason for the holiness of 
 mankind, intertwines the Divine and human with 
 wonderful force. How far ideas such as these 
 have entered into the general conception of the 
 moral life is a question which cannot easily be 
 answered. 
 
 There is a popular notion that the moral attri- 
 butes of God, and those of man are different in
 
 DIVINE AND HUMAN. 7 
 
 kind as well as in degree. True that some 
 attributes of the Supreme Being must necessarily 
 differ from those of humanity, but are they such as 
 belong to the domain of morals ? In the case of 
 power and of will there are of course in the Divine 
 personality the attributes of immensity and of 
 eternity. God is infinite not only in the sense in 
 which we speak of space. For in the case of space, 
 indefiniteness is rather what is meant when we say 
 it is infinite. Infinity in respect to the Almighty 
 God on the other hand is not indefiniteness 
 but a definite attribute. In relation to such 
 matters as these, there is difference between the 
 human and divine which cannot be measured by 
 degrees. We are altogether, and of necessity, upon 
 a distinct plane from that in which we are bound to 
 conceive the Supreme Being. But when we come 
 to the consideration of moral attributes, love, 
 charity, and goodwill, are we not dealing with ideas 
 which are specially revealed to us as the manifesta- 
 tions of a Divine nature? In the case of some 
 moral attributes which are distinctively human, 
 such as obedience, resignation, and humility, we 
 are again placed upon a different plane from that 
 of our Divine Creator. These are attributes 
 which cannot logically be applied to Him. They 
 are essentially human virtues qualities imposed 
 upon the moral nature of our own species as things 
 pertaining to us and to us alone. But they do 
 not exhaust the category of qualities which are 
 essential to the highest moral development of
 
 8 FAITH AND EXPERIENCE. 
 
 human character. Other virtues are indispensable, 
 namely, charity, with compassion, patience, and 
 forgiveness. These, on the other hand, do repre- 
 sent to us the counterparts at least of distinctive 
 attributes of God himself. Now the power of love, 
 when it is distinguished from that which is subject 
 to the relations of sex, ceases to be merely a 
 human quality. When it is of such a character 
 that it is no longer dependent upon physical 
 conditions, such as the love of kindred or of 
 romance, it becomes transfigured, and may be 
 regarded as the revelation of the Divine nature in 
 human character. The ideal of Christ, which 
 whether historical or fictional, carries the most 
 profound impression upon our moral susceptibili- 
 ties, consists first of his purity, then of the 
 tenderness and the depth of his affections. The 
 singular attractiveness which belongs to that 
 personality is probably something which is missed 
 in the ordinary view, namely, the profound 
 capacity to love his species. Just as the Creator 
 is represented as regarding human beings in the 
 light of His own children and loving them with a 
 parental love, so in this ideal we have the notion 
 of intense fraternal love spreading its wing of 
 unselfish devotion over the whole span of the 
 human race. There is nothing in human expe- 
 riences which so strikingly reveals the Divine 
 nature as the aptitude on the part of some rare 
 and gifted individuals to love a great many people. 
 Love in the limited human sense is something
 
 DIVINE AND HUMAN. 9 
 
 which is scarcely comparable with the Divine 
 attribute of love. When we contemplate the 
 faculty of affection in the average man and 
 woman, and then contemplate it as it is in the 
 Supreme Being, we perceive two distinct condi- 
 tions. The one is an image of the other, but so 
 infinitesimal that they can scarcely be measured 
 by degrees. On the other hand, human character 
 is capable of so great a development under spiritual 
 influence that it is possible to acquire a very much 
 larger capacity of affection than that which is 
 sufficient for one's family and one's friends. All 
 human affection in its common types proceeds 
 actually from the love of self. Whereas the 
 higher love of which I speak is nothing but the 
 expression of the love of God. We love our 
 children or our parents and other blood relations 
 because our personal well-being is bound up with 
 theirs. Husband and wife, or persons of opposite 
 sex who are contemplating marriage, love one an- 
 other, too, because the personal happiness of the 
 one is bound up with that of the other. It is not on 
 this account an ignoble passion any more than in 
 the other cases. The love of self is not a sin, be- 
 cause it is a natural instinct, and therefore a Divine 
 decree. But the love to those who neither belong 
 to us by kinship nor by personal friendship, and in 
 whom none of our personal interests are bound, is 
 a Divine love. It might be questioned whether 
 the term is applicable to the case. It might be 
 urged that some other word was needed to express
 
 10 FAITH AND EXPERIENCE. 
 
 any sentiment of good feeling which might be 
 entertained in these circumstances. But we mean 
 nothing less than love, we mean an unselfish sacri- 
 fice for their good, a caring for, a deep, pitying, 
 long-suffering sympathy, which will prompt us to 
 take pains to promote their welfare even at the 
 risk of our own. Such was the ideal in the 
 character of Christ. It was nothing less than that. 
 The Divine attribute of love may too be manifested 
 in the ordinary domestic relations. Even between 
 those of close kinship there can be a difference 
 between the commonplace or merely human affec- 
 tion, and something higher which is touched by 
 the Divine impress. It does sometimes occur that 
 very great unselfishness is required to give force 
 to the true love between parents and children, 
 brothers and sisters, and even other relations. 
 One may so love the memory of the dead as to 
 make great sacrifices in order to act towards some 
 one who was dearest to them. This is a kind of 
 guardianship which springs from the Divine attri- 
 bute of love. In all human relationships there are 
 the two ways of seeing things. There is self- 
 interest on the one hand, on the other there is the 
 possibility of viewing a matter as seen in the light 
 of God. To see anything as He sees it is certainly 
 an indication that human character may assimilate 
 to itself something which is divine. What is 
 commonly called disinterestedness is perhaps a 
 mode of expressing that idea. 
 
 In the matter of judgment the Divine element
 
 DIVINE AND HUMAN. II 
 
 may enter into human speculation. What is 
 called the worldly man is a type of character 
 which does not partake of Divine qualities. He 
 sees things differently. His judgment is tarnished 
 by worldly considerations. He does not look with 
 the eye of faith. He cannot imagine how things 
 are estimated by the Divine judgment. Seeing 
 with unerring eyes is not the gift of the worldly 
 vision. On the other hand the spiritual insight 
 of those who habitually live in the presence of 
 God gives a force and a wisdom to their judgment 
 which is altogether lacking in the ungodly. Some 
 of us must have observed in some fine natures a 
 keen penetration into the conditions of those with 
 whose habit of life they are not so familiar as the 
 worldly man. Yet they see more clearly and are 
 possessed of a wonderful perception by no means 
 common among ordinary people. This is the 
 reason why it is better in difficult and contro- 
 versial subjects to seek the advice of one whose 
 life is spiritual than of one who lives only for the 
 world. First of all it is a calmer judgment. 
 Secondly, it is a judgment which is lifted above 
 those influences which are likely to render it 
 prejudiced and one-sided. The spiritual character 
 has imagination about it. The mind of such a 
 one "is stayed " on God, and is therefore possessed 
 of an inward peace which the worldly one cannot 
 experience. There is then a judicial impartiality; 
 and a person of this description will not merely 
 observe all the facts of the case, but will measure
 
 12 FAITH AND EXPERIENCE. 
 
 them by other standards than those which are 
 suggested only by the limited experience of one's 
 personal surroundings. He will look at motives, 
 he will estimate temptations, and take into 
 account many subtle and inward forces which 
 generally escape the attention of the man of the 
 world. In these ways we get a glimpse of the 
 meaning of divine judgment. In other words we 
 come into contact with the Divine element in 
 human character. The story of the prodigal son 
 is a remarkable instance of the application of a 
 Divine judgment on the part of men. From the 
 common point of view, not Divine, there would be 
 no concern for the restoration of those who are 
 spiritually lost. It is the Divine quality in human 
 character, and that alone, which suggests the idea 
 of joy in connection with reclaiming people from 
 sin, and indeed which prompts efforts on their 
 behalf. 
 
 The Divine element in human character is 
 manifested again in a variety of ways which create 
 and stir up sacred confidences between persons 
 who might be supposed to have very little in 
 common. There is a religious sympathy between 
 tv/o individuals who hold different views about 
 religion. The explanation is probably that the 
 Divine element in the character of both is so 
 strong that it supersedes the human elements 
 which form the source of their different opinions. 
 Among persons with whom the Divine element is 
 weak or uncultivated, all that is apparent between
 
 DIVINE AND HUMAN. 13 
 
 them is their difference of conviction. They can- 
 not agree because they do not think alike upon 
 the same subject. All that engages them is the 
 sense of difference. The power of the Divine 
 element in human character is so strong and so 
 forcible that it entirely overlaps the merely human 
 view of things. The moment we come into touch 
 with the Divine nature we are filled with the sense 
 of unity. The person who regards God as being 
 known only to one particular Communion has 
 failed to apprehend the nature of God. This is 
 the reason why throughout history religion has 
 invariably been represented as a badge of separa- 
 tion rather than as a bond of union. In other 
 words, men have been preoccupied with their own 
 views, which were only human, and have not let in 
 to the mind the flood light which flows from 
 the Divine source alone. In order to appropriate 
 in our own characters something of the Divine 
 nature we must give ourselves to a more purified 
 worship of the Divine Being. We must yield 
 what is merely human in order to gain something 
 which is Divine. Hence it is that there is no 
 prayer which is so blessed as the prayer that asks 
 for nothing. The silent kneeling supplicant, alone 
 in darkness, will be the first to receive Divine light. 
 The secret of the love of God is its Divine element. 
 It is unlike other kinds of love. Its confiding 
 power is so great that it is unbaffled even by the 
 mystery of suffering. The covenant between an 
 individual soul and the Supreme Being whom it
 
 14 FAITH AND EXPERIENCE. 
 
 loves is of such a nature as to awaken wonder in 
 the ordinary mind. Nothing shakes the faith 
 when once that Divine love is established. It can 
 face all things, it can bear all burdens. Perhaps 
 the most striking instance within recent observa- 
 tion of such love between a man and his God was 
 that of the late General Gordon. There are 
 doubtless many more of whom the world knows 
 nothing. The kind of devotion here manifested is 
 something different from the usual attachment 
 between one person and another. Human 
 qualities without a spark of the Divine nature 
 would be unequal to the enormous strains which 
 humanly speaking that love requires. The sen- 
 tence in the Book of Job, " Though he slay me yet 
 will I trust in him," expresses this peculiar kind of 
 love a kind not to be found among ordinary 
 mortals.
 
 TO BE ALONE. 15 
 
 TO BE ALONE. 
 
 " In the multitude of my thoughts within me Thy comforts 
 delight my soul." Psalm xciv. 19. 
 
 THERE is a vast difference between being alone 
 and being lonely. It is essential that we should 
 sometimes be alone, but it is never desirable to be 
 lonely. Again, we must carefully distinguish be- 
 tween being alone and eschewing intercourse with 
 our fellow-men. The subtle and complex character 
 of human nature requires for its proper develop- 
 ment conditions which seem opposed to one 
 another. Human intercourse is a vital condition 
 in every life, but retirement into " the inner 
 chamber" is also indispensable. There are times 
 in every thoughtful life when isolation is quite as 
 needful as society. And in saying this it is not 
 forgotten that social intercourse has a value which 
 is not always fully estimated. The mingling of 
 acquaintances, quite apart from the association of 
 intimate friends with the unspeakable happiness 
 which it is able to afford, has a good in itself 
 that may properly be regarded as constituting a 
 distinct element in the building up of character. 
 There is, too, an incipient mischief in the tendency 
 of those who habitually prefer to be without com-
 
 16 FAITH AND EXPERIENCE. 
 
 panions. But here we propose to consider the 
 special advantages of regular intervals of isolation, 
 and to say what it is which constitutes both the 
 need and the purpose of being thus alone. 
 
 This question has many bearings, but spiritually 
 the boon of occasional seclusion is greater than 
 some are apt to imagine. We do not here refer 
 to the benefit of quiet so obviously demanded for 
 ordinary purposes of work and duty. We are 
 alluding to the spiritual aspect of human nature, 
 that one whose very nourishment depends 
 primarily upon rest, repose, and at times even 
 introspection. I refer to introspection with some 
 hesitation, because it is a subject which requires 
 great care in contemplating it. A good deal that 
 passes for introspection is very often nothing but 
 the impetus to a dangerous self-consciousness. 
 The retirement and isolation which is needful at 
 times for every human soul admits, however, of 
 different kinds of introspection. A tranquil con- 
 science is, above all things, the one essential 
 guarantee for that higher happiness to which even 
 in this sphere of care and difficulty every mortal is 
 entitled. The conditions for securing and pre- 
 serving such tranquillity depend among other 
 gifts upon the administration, so to speak, of a 
 certain solitude. There are inward processes of 
 purification to which periodical and systematic 
 isolation is necessary. Some people are seldom or 
 never really alone. They live in an unbroken 
 atmosphere of confusion and social excitement ;
 
 TO BE ALONE. I/ 
 
 they do not often allow themselves to commune 
 with their own hearts and be still. There is an 
 unceasing disquietude ; or, in others again, that 
 which is superficial seems to hold sway, and they 
 rarely think or pray. 
 
 Prayer is a condition of human effort requiring, 
 above all things, a well-ordered isolation. There 
 is all the difference between that reflection which 
 awakens prayer and another kind that sets one 
 brooding. The element of ordinary loneliness, 
 which distinguishes that state from the one which 
 I have described as being alone, does not enter at 
 all into the condition which we are here consider- 
 ing. The element of loneliness having about it 
 sometimes gloom, too frequently an unhealthy self- 
 consciousness, is absent in the higher condition of 
 being alone, just because at such times we are not 
 spiritually alone. One might almost describe the 
 two kinds of loneliness thus . One brings merely 
 the consciousness of self, the other the conscious- 
 ness of God. And it is just this higher con- 
 sciousness that completely alters the tones of 
 human susceptibility when our isolation is the 
 means of bringing us into contact with God rather 
 than that of merely separating us from other 
 mortals. This distinction is of the utmost con- 
 sequence. There can be cultivated a certain habit 
 of isolating oneself not for the purpose of shun- 
 ning our own species, but in order to draw 
 ourselves consciously into the Divine presence. 
 The Omnipresence of God is probably the most 
 
 C
 
 1 8 FAITH AND EXPERIENCE. 
 
 stupendous truth which religion has to teach. It 
 is also a familiar phrase, so familiar, indeed, that 
 it is apt to lose its weighty significance in relation 
 to our personal affairs. God is everywhere, men 
 say ; but do we frequently take cognisance of His 
 immediate presence ? The nearness of God is not 
 always easy to realise. Life is too full of such 
 influences that seem to act upon us in a way to 
 veil our inward vision of God, and take us far away 
 from Him. It is not a common thing to live 
 always as though God were actually with us. And 
 yet a person who believed He was not there might 
 consider himself an agnostic or an atheist. To be 
 alone is one of the most helpful ways of finding 
 ourselves with God, though it would be far from 
 the truth to assert that the mere fact of shutting 
 ourselves off from others was in itself sufficient to 
 enable us to realise God ; but by being alone in 
 the sense which I would endeavour to make plain, 
 very much more is implied than what is commonly 
 understood by isolation. 
 
 To believe in God is not quite the same thing 
 as to live with God. The difference is equal to the 
 difference between the passive and the active 
 moods. Companionship with a human friend is 
 surely something unlike the condition in which 
 we say we have a friend far away from us. The 
 intimacies of frequent intercourse are scarcely 
 possible, and certainly only rarely maintained, 
 when the friend is constantly absent. When we 
 speak of keeping friendship in repair, we mean
 
 TO BE ALONE. 19 
 
 that the long silence of distance and separation 
 should be occasionally broken. It may be by a 
 visit, or a letter, or only an inquiry. But imagine 
 a permanent removal from an old friend with 
 whom no sort of communication takes place for a 
 number of years. That friendship may survive the 
 strain in rare instances. It may linger in memory 
 on one side or the other fortified at times by the 
 recurrence of tender thoughts. But in the majority 
 of cases do not the springs of friendship and of 
 mutual interest dry up in such circumstances ? We 
 may, after a lapse of time, meet again the old 
 familiar friend, and our affections are perhaps 
 renewed. It happens with old schoolfellows or 
 college friends whom we had once cared for, and in 
 whose society we found happiness, that a long 
 separation occurs through no particular fault on 
 either side, and the chance meeting in later years 
 revives everything in a moment. In ten minutes it 
 may seem as though we had never been parted. So 
 with a long absent brother with whom the sacred 
 domestic tie had never actually been loosened ; but 
 then it is because, despite distance and changed 
 circumstances, the two hearts remained faithful. 
 Nothing had occurred during the interval to chill 
 the one or to estrange the other. Likewise the 
 memory of our beloved dead can be retained 
 through a long survivorship, continuing, perhaps, 
 from the vigour of manhood when the companion 
 of our life, near in age, and close in intimacy, had 
 been suddenly wrenched from the very foundations 
 C 2
 
 20 FAITH AND EXPERIENCE. 
 
 of that structure which composed our world, 
 leaving a void that is never filled, until old age is 
 upon us and the memory of the lost one is still 
 sweet and precious and tender ; or those we have 
 lost in earlier life, a contemporary in the household, 
 or even an older person who, in the course of nature, 
 could not have run out with us the sand-glass of 
 time, whom indeed, we must have survived if we 
 ourselves had not died in youth. There, too, the 
 image may remain ever bright and glowing. But 
 in all these cases the sustaining power of our love is 
 the secret of this preservation in remembrance of a 
 devoted one long since gone. We have visited the 
 grave, we have had their pictures about us. We 
 have treasured their written words and other relics 
 of a devoted past. Moreover, we have been con- 
 scious by our very union with God that we were 
 still in union with them, He being the one eternal 
 Father in whose keeping they repose. But in all 
 this there has been an active principle at work, 
 namely, the secret life. We have been alone, we 
 have had interests apart from, and independent of 
 those which belong only to the world and to 
 society and to ordinary affairs. So, in like manner, 
 the relation with God, as with human objects of 
 affection whom we cannot grasp with the mortal 
 hand, depends upon our being sometimes alone 
 not always within the gaze of a tumultuous world 
 or conventional social surroundings. 
 
 The worship of God, which is indeed the 
 highest privilege of human nature, is only
 
 TO BE ALONE. 21 
 
 truly conducted when there is a sense of no 
 other presence but His own. The approach 
 which we make to God, whether in our private 
 room or at public worship, begins with the 
 casting off all else. It may be on the sea-shore 
 or in the midst of country life, but we must be 
 alone. Even in a vast congregation the soul which 
 finds God is that one which is alone, not hindered 
 by the surrounding impressions of other people, or 
 of discordant note, or an unsympathetic voice. It 
 was God we went to seek. It was He only, whom 
 we looked for in that place, and no other came 
 between us. The very nature of prayer requires a 
 certain secrecy as between the individual and Him 
 who is approached. It is no prayer at all where 
 the ordinary reserve, proper in other conditions, 
 lies like a curtain over the heart, stinting the free 
 expression of itself, and dictating words which 
 have only a general and not a personal meaning. 
 No published formula can at all times express 
 exactly what a single soul has to say to God. The 
 fact that it is the language of public worship often 
 renders it unfitting for private use. This, however, 
 is not always the case. There are prayers in every 
 liturgy, and, above all, phrases in the Psalter, which 
 to those who are familiar with them seem on some 
 occasions to rise to the lips as the precise words that 
 are needed if we would articulate the prayer which 
 is within. In the matter of prayer the soul seeks 
 to realise its individual relation with God. And 
 for this purpose it must be alone with Him.
 
 22 FAITH AND EXPERIENCE. 
 
 But apart from the office of prayer, there are 
 other incidents of life, partly spiritual, partly 
 intellectual, which demand that we must exercise 
 our reflective powers in a way that would be 
 hindered if we were in the presence of others. 
 Prayer is the great instrument by which we 
 preserve through life our conscious relations with 
 the Deity,- just as others that I have mentioned 
 are the instruments by which we preserve our 
 relations with those who are nat visible to the 
 mortal eye. but for whom we still entertain love 
 and devotion. But in all busy lives there are 
 perpetually arising problems which call for careful 
 solution. It must be within the experience of 
 many persons that there is a difference between the 
 judgment we form of a question when we are sur- 
 rounded by people and that which we decide upon 
 when we are alone. In deliberative assembly 
 it is likely to happen that some idea is sprung 
 upon us which we had not previously thought 
 about. It is not a safe plan in that case to 
 determine at once the course we should take in 
 regard to it. Probably the matter will be 
 presented there and then from different points of 
 view, and we may hear from various speakers 
 much that can be said in favour of it and against it. 
 We may be induced to form our own opinions 
 about it and be willing to pronounce upon it ere 
 we depart. And yet when we have left our 
 colleagues and are alone, some fresh light may 
 dawn upon us in respect to that particular
 
 TO BE ALONE. 23 
 
 question. We may wonder that we had not seen 
 the subject in that light before. With some 
 persons the tendency to think in different ways 
 when they are alone, and when they are not alone, 
 is greater than with others. But with all people 
 there are matters affecting the springs of human 
 conduct and of feeling which are far better 
 considered away from other people. When you 
 are on a visit you receive a letter about affairs 
 which you would not mention to anybody in the 
 house. You may read the letter in a room where 
 there are people, but you will prefer to think the 
 matter over by yourself. What a sense of relief 
 there is when you find yourself in your private 
 room or out of doors alone. Then again there are 
 moods and conditions in ordinary human expe- 
 rience when the mere presence of a second person 
 is a hindrance to the process of making up your 
 mind about a certain duty. Our powers of 
 judgment rarely strong, often weak are greatly 
 marred when we are not by ourselves. One of 
 the most subtle drawbacks in a defective eyesight 
 is our dependence upon other people either for 
 being read to or for writing at our dictation. 
 Those who hUve never been thus afflicted cannot 
 easily imagine the strain upon the mental and the 
 spiritual faculties which were necessary before we 
 could in any degree overcome the obstacle. To 
 be alone with an author, and to be alone with your 
 own pen, seem to be the natural requirements alike 
 for the reader and for the writer. Some thoughts
 
 24 FAITH AND EXPERIENCE. 
 
 do not enter our minds if anybody is with us. 
 There is a certain influence, not always consciously 
 felt, when there is any other person near. A 
 student will discover when he has left his study 
 and enters the presence of other people a sense of 
 amazement that but a few minutes ago his state of 
 mind was so unlike what it is now. The whole 
 nature would seem to be transformed. On the 
 other hand it is desirable that we should not shut 
 our eyes to the opposite side of this truth. The 
 presence of some one individual near and dear 
 to us may exercise a stimulating effect upon 
 our work. It is conceivable that some eminent 
 thinkers may have felt themselves under a 
 powerful impetus when there was in their study 
 the one person to whom they were most endeared 
 The presence of a child does, with certain tempera- 
 ments, carry with it a sweetening influence upon 
 their thoughts and their work. But instances of 
 this kind only tend to support the proposition that 
 there is a special value in removing oneself at 
 times from ordinary people, for those cases are 
 rare indeed in which in moments of deep reflection 
 any second presence can be of value. 
 
 One of the greatest facts in human life is the 
 unfitness of man to be always alone. The need of 
 companionship is obviously greater with some 
 natures than with others ; but there is no properly 
 constituted human being who will be improved by 
 having no companions. Isolation should be 
 temporary rather than the permanent condition of
 
 TO BE ALONE. 25 
 
 life. In other words, it should never be regarded 
 except as a means to an end. Human fellowship, 
 above all things, is the main condition for which 
 individuals ought to train themselves. Arid such 
 intervals of separating ourselves are only good so 
 far as they afford us the opportunity of rendering 
 us more fit for the society of others. Undoubtedly 
 a large part of the education in after life, the 
 cultivation of the intellect, the purification of the 
 spirit and the formation of convictions must be 
 accomplished chiefly in solitude. Those who 
 never permit themselves to be alone in this 
 sense are apt to miss the kind of training here 
 mentioned. But society in its fuller sense, that is, 
 the communion of mind with mind and the 
 quickening of human sympathy, are, after all, the 
 essential characteristics of the earthly pilgrimage. 
 Whether the surroundings be those of a domestic 
 life, or whether the family relationship is restricted, 
 whether we are married or unmarried, or indeed 
 if even we are without kindred, intercourse with 
 others must for ever be- regarded as the purpose 
 and not the mere accident of our being. Nor is it 
 good in a state of domestic happiness to confine 
 one's interest entirely to the family. For a centre, 
 for hallowing influences, this is beyond doubt the 
 truly ideal, but the capacity of the human intellect 
 and of the emotions is wider than we are apt to 
 think. A love of our species is the best expression 
 we can make of the love of God. The greatest 
 souls who have ever lived were those whose love
 
 26 FAITH AND EXPERIENCE. 
 
 spread far beyond the limits of the family and of 
 the home. The late revered master of Balliol, 
 Professor Jowett, wisely wrote that there may be 
 indeed " some rare nature who will feel his duty 
 to another generation, or to another century, 
 almost as strongly as to his own."
 
 EXPERIENCE. 
 
 EXPERIENCE. 
 
 EXPERIENCE and conviction act and react upon 
 one another in a striking degree. Many of the 
 convictions that constitute the opinions or the 
 creed of an individual are the result of other forces 
 than that of experience, or, at least, other than 
 the force of personal experience. The experi- 
 ences of history, seen under different aspects, will 
 naturally be the basis, alleged or assumed, of a 
 man's political doctrine, still more of the political 
 doctrine of a party. In religion and philosophy, 
 however, personal experience, as distinct from the 
 experience of others, ought to be a much more 
 potent influence in forming settled views. A 
 mind which is given up to criticism, or in which 
 the critical faculty has been developed to the 
 neglect of other faculties, does not find it 
 easy to form definite convictions. It has never 
 allowed itself to experience anything beyond the 
 doubts and uncertainties surrounding the proposi- 
 tions of different schools of thought. To have felt 
 something to be true, that is, to have experienced 
 it, is naturally a more weighty matter than to have 
 been induced to believe it by the evidences of 
 others. It is admitted that there is a large domain 
 of human thought and feeling which lies outside
 
 28 FAITH AND EXPERIENCE. 
 
 the sphere of mathematical demonstration. To 
 what extent religion and philosophy are found to 
 travel in that outer region no one would pretend to 
 say. True it is that within the limits of demon- 
 stration there resides much that may lead us to 
 determine how and in what manner we shall think. 
 But as to what we shall believe and why we believe 
 it, there arise forces independent of everything like 
 mathematical demonstration. The truth is there 
 is just this difference between facts and ideas. 
 There are not the same kind of rules relating 
 to ideas and abstract things which there are 
 pertaining to facts. The consciousness of the 
 Supreme Being, which is sometimes called a belief, 
 sometimes a realisation, is believed or realised 
 according to the mental attitude. It may be a 
 matter which appears to have been demonstrated 
 by the testimony of others, or it may be one of 
 personal experience. A person who knows himself 
 to have passed through, we will say, the experience 
 of prayer, that is, to have felt that he was once in 
 communion with the Deity, may reasonably regard 
 the evidence of a Divine Presence as a matter of 
 experience, and therefore independent of the testi- 
 mony of others. The Psalmist who wrote, "When I 
 cried unto Thee, Thou answeredst me, and strength- 
 enedst me with strength in my soul," was clearly 
 recording what, to his mind, appeared as an expe- 
 rience. He was not supplying the logical inference 
 of any proposition, nor the result of the testimony 
 of another. He was just stating what he had seen,
 
 EXPERIENCE. 29 
 
 as it were, in the same way as a man might 
 announce that he had witnessed a particular scene, 
 or had felt a certain physical sensation. This was 
 an experience. To the person who wrote those 
 words the evidence of the Divine Being was 
 essentially a matter within his own personal 
 experience. He had felt the strength with which 
 he had been strengthened in his soul. That person 
 might have been quite indifferent to any argument, 
 however sound, which could establish the proposi- 
 tion that there was a God. He knew there was 
 a God of his own knowledge, because he had 
 experienced something which he had received by 
 reason of a communion with chat Being. 
 
 The dangers of this argument of experiences will 
 be manifest to any critical mind. For different 
 people testify that they have had opposite expe- 
 riences on the same subject, and one person has 
 experienced a different kind of Deity from another. 
 A Christian will declare that he has experienced 
 the in-dwelling of Christ, and a Mohammedan 
 would not have had such an experience. Yet in 
 face of this obvious danger we are not at liberty to 
 deny that religious impressions are matters of 
 experience. On the contrary, so certain is it that 
 the strongest convictions are matters of experience 
 and not merely of ordinary evidence, that we must 
 accept the fact with all its risks and with all its 
 dangers. 
 
 For purposes of argument there is certainly 
 a distinction between true or imaginary expe-
 
 3O FAITH AND EXPERIENCE. 
 
 rience, but for the purpose of human feeling and 
 conduct the result is much the same. Moreover 
 these two experiences the Psalmist speaking of 
 God and the Christian of Christ may after all 
 be but a difference of language rather than a 
 difference of sense. The doctrines of different 
 religions beyond the one touching the existence of 
 God are such that the various people who believe 
 them do so by reason of other influences than 
 the one great force of experience. For example, 
 particular dogmas respecting the authority of the 
 Scriptures are certainly questions not of experience 
 but of argument. And again, a belief in the 
 immortality of the soul, from the nature of the 
 case, is a subject about which there cannot be 
 any human experience. The Jewish doctrine of 
 the election of Israel, or the Christian doctrine of 
 the Atonement, are of necessity matters which 
 cannot come within the compass of individual 
 experiences. They are essentially ideas which 
 may be believed or not in consequence of other 
 forces than that of experience historical evidence 
 in the one case, or metaphysical reasoning in the 
 other ; but nobody ever believed in either of them 
 because he had experienced them. Perhaps there 
 are very few points in religious thought which do 
 come within that area of personal experience. In 
 ethics there are several matters which may be 
 experienced. Such, for instance, as remorse for 
 sin, a tranquil conscience following worthy acts. 
 And again, the emotions of love and hate, passion
 
 EXPERIENCE. 31 
 
 and calm, anger and reconciliation these are 
 distinctly facts within the horizon of personal 
 experience. 
 
 Experience changes conviction. We do not 
 reason upon subjects in which experience can play 
 any part without reference to the part which it 
 plays. Ill-cultivated minds form opinions without 
 adequate regard to human experience either per- 
 sonal or historical. The average fireside politician, 
 or church and chapel goer, regard their opinions 
 very much in the way that they regard their style 
 of dress. Habit formed them, habit retains them. 
 New facts which come to light in the world of 
 thought do not amend or modify the habitual 
 believer in regard to politics or religion. They 
 are not cognisant of these new facts. 
 
 Experience, regarded as a powerful element in 
 the formation of opinions and beliefs, is the clue 
 to the changes which take place in the views of 
 thoughtful persons. It is an error to regard 
 change of opinions as indications either of a weak 
 intellect or of a wavering judgment. People of 
 that kind either have no convictions, or if they 
 possess them, they never change them. All people 
 are not affected by experience in a like degree. 
 Persons are often ill- prepared to take up into their 
 lives the philosophical results of a new experience. 
 
 In practical affairs, experience is so conspicu- 
 ously ignored as a teacher, that it is not surprising 
 it should have so little effect in the abstract views 
 of ordinary persons. It is amazing to observe
 
 32 FAITH AND EXPERIENCE. 
 
 how little impression is made upon the average 
 man and woman by the ordinary experiences even 
 in physical matters. The causes of a cold or a 
 headache are known from personal experience to 
 be generally preventible, yet colds and headaches 
 recur again and again when they might be avoided, 
 often from the selfsame cause. In the very elemen- 
 tary matter of the preparation of food, a cook with- 
 out any scientific training in that department must 
 by experience acquire the knowledge of such facts as 
 the time needed to roast a joint of a certain weight, 
 or to boil a potato. No doubt thousands of cooks, 
 unmindful of this experience, repeatedly exceed or 
 diminish the time which they might have observed 
 to be indispensable. 
 
 The loss of knowledge to be obtained from 
 experiences may be accounted for by the want of 
 cultivating the powers of observation. People 
 allow themselves to go through life mentally blind- 
 fold. Facts pass before them unseen, unperceived, 
 just like the succession of wonderful scenes in the 
 firmament pass day by day and year by year unap- 
 preciated, because unnoticed by the optical vision of 
 the Goth. Many persons are indifferent to the 
 changes of the weather, and have never made a 
 mental note of the experience that a south-westerly 
 wind brings rain, and that a northerly one carries 
 cold. If due note had been made of these ex- 
 periences one might have learnt from them 
 something of weather changes. 
 
 "The burnt child dreads the fire," is a very
 
 EXPERIENCE. 33 
 
 simple illustration of experience working upon the 
 mind. The property of heat has in that case been 
 ascertained entirely by personal experience. 
 There are large fields of knowledge attainable 
 by experience, if only one were to employ the 
 faculty of observation. Absent-mindedness, or not 
 noticing facts which surround us, is probably the 
 reason why so much knowledge is missed and 
 experience lost. Observation may be quickened 
 by practice. The current events of ordinary lives 
 can be interpreted through the light which ex- 
 perience will shed upon them. Some most 
 difficult cases of what are called exceptional cir- 
 cumstances are rendered intensely confusing for 
 want of the knowledge of some similiar case. One 
 man of experience will come to the solution of a 
 highly controverted and complex problem by 
 reason of having watched in a past experience the 
 working of a like issue. All known theories may 
 fail to account for these strange incidents, and 
 unless some one in the crowd of onlookers has 
 once witnessed such a scene before, and tested the 
 effects of particular action, hopeless chaos is likely 
 to prevail. 
 
 It is highly probable that experience is the 
 principal factor in the efficiency of medical 
 practice. The same truth applies to other pro- 
 fessions. The homely saying that " practice makes 
 perfect " is a way of expressing the power of 
 experience. Practice means repeated experiences. 
 Some of the best organists are persons with 
 
 D
 
 34 FAITH AND EXPERIENCE. 
 
 eyesight so defective that they cannot read the 
 names of the stops, which are generally inscribed 
 in dazzling old English. Experience enables 
 them to know which stops to use and which 
 to avoid. 
 
 Experience is closely connected with the faculty 
 of memory. Persons of weak memory naturally 
 forget what they have seen and known. There 
 are certain experiences, however, which impress 
 themselves in a physical way, leaving their 
 influence apart from the recollected or forgotten 
 incidents which gave rise to them. Such for 
 example are the experiences of heat and cold, 
 hunger and sleep, pleasure and pain, sickness and 
 health. Knowledge of those sensations is stamped 
 upon every individual by the sheer force of ex- 
 perience. The experience of them is so vivid, and 
 the knowledge of them so complete, that the 
 events with which they were connected may 
 fade from the memory and yet the experience 
 remains. In such cases the fact of frequent 
 recurrence in some instances, like the sensations 
 of hunger and sleep, regularly and systemati- 
 cally, is enough to render effects impressionable 
 apart from their causes. The effects remain 
 while the cause is lost. Yet all this belongs to 
 the subject of experience. What is known or 
 ascertainable even by men of science with regard 
 to the sensations mentioned is quite insignificant 
 in comparison with the knowledge of them derived 
 from experience.
 
 EXPERIENCE. 35 
 
 When we say that some things are so ob- 
 vious that they do not need reasoning about, 
 we are describing the all-powerful attribute of 
 experience. What are called platitudes and 
 truisms are things which lie positively within 
 the experience of everyone, unless they be fal- 
 lacies. Oft repeated utterances which are not 
 true do bear the semblance of reality until they 
 are discovered to be false. A great deal of 
 experience is lost for practical purposes in 
 consequence of false reasoning about facts 
 Wrongheadedness and perverted judgment 
 obscure the lesson which experience would teach 
 in regard to a given group of facts. John Stuart 
 Mill has plainly shown that plurality of causes 
 may bewilder the human mind in searching for 
 the particular cause in a given case. Theory and 
 fact appear often to be in opposition to one 
 another. But it is only an appearance if the 
 theory be true. For in that case the fact would 
 be misapprehended. Far more likely, however, 
 that a theory has been set up against a fact with 
 which it is irreconcileable. Here people would be 
 arguing on a false premise. They may have had 
 an experience out of which the theory was 
 conceived, but it happened not to be the ex- 
 perience exactly similar to the case in dispute. 
 If life were long enough to admit the possibility 
 of reading the details of every law suit that has 
 taken place within a generation, and it were 
 possible to retain a recollection of them, the 
 
 D 2
 
 36 FAITH AND EXPERIENCE. 
 
 average man would discover a mine of experience 
 that could not otherwise have come within the 
 range of his personal career. Many theories 
 would fly to the winds, theories that had hitherto 
 been regarded as unquestionably true. This is 
 why the services of experts and specialists are 
 valuable for the elucidation of various difficulties. 
 When we speak of some one having a special 
 knowledge of a particular matter, what we mean 
 is, that in reference to the subject he has had 
 opportunities of experience which have not fallen 
 to others. The reason why it is more difficult to 
 treat internal diseases is just the want of expe- 
 rience owing to the hidden source of complaint 
 and consequent difficulty of observation. 
 
 Experience cannot be dissociated from obser- 
 vation. It would be like fishing without bait or 
 tackle. The reason, therefore, why experience 
 has a greater effect upon one person than upon 
 another is that he possesses a stronger power of 
 observation. Everybody has experience, but all 
 are not equally equipped with the faculty to 
 observe. It may safely be contended that obser- 
 vation is the most considerable factor in the 
 acquisition of knowledge and of proficiency in 
 science, in painting, in music, and in almost every 
 department of study. For what is study of any 
 given subject if it be not a placing of the student 
 in such relations with his subject that he has the 
 fullest opportunity of accumulating experiences in 
 regard to it? Every candidate for the Oxford
 
 EXPERIENCE. 37 
 
 School of Literae Humaniores and for the 
 Cambridge Mathematical tripos has the same 
 material before him in each case. That is to say 
 whether it be in mathematics or in classics and 
 philosophy, there are certain books which must be 
 read. In other words, certain specific experiences 
 are by the reading of these books placed before 
 the mental vision like so many lenses of a magic 
 lantern. The man who comes out at the head of 
 the list and the man who comes out last have 
 each passed through the same experiences, or 
 rather the same experiences have passed before 
 them. The difference in the result is due, there- 
 fore, not to varied experiences but to unequal 
 observation. All has been observed in the one 
 case, only a part has been observed in the other. 
 It may be urged here that some other quality 
 besides observation plays a part in the ac- 
 quisition of knowledge, namely a retentive 
 memory. But a retentive memory without obser- 
 vation would be unavailable. One might almost 
 define the essence of genius to be an extraordinary 
 endowment of the power of observation. In other 
 words, what is done by observation precedes and 
 underlies what is accomplished by the memory. 
 And both these mental processes operate upon the 
 field of experience. 
 
 And, coming to memory, what is known as learn- 
 ing by heart is surely an achievement effected by 
 an intellectual contract between the two attributes 
 of experience and observation. Memory, indeed,
 
 38 FAITH AND EXPERIENCE. 
 
 is that attribute of the human mind which is the 
 storehouse of a manufacture woven together by 
 the two previous intellectual looms. There would 
 be nothing to remember, however great was the 
 gift of memory, except for what had taken place 
 between experience and observation.
 
 TACT. 39 
 
 TACT. 
 
 THE definition of extremes is simpler than the 
 definition of qualities which are more or less co- 
 relative. Everybody comprehends in a moment 
 what is meant by the North and South Pole as a 
 figure of speech. The truth is that throughout 
 the domain of human character there are very 
 few, if any, sharp lines of cleavage between one 
 set of attributes and another. There is, however, 
 the most marked and striking contrast between 
 those qualities which lie at the extreme points. 
 Thus it is easier to describe a genius and a fool, 
 than it is to delineate two persons of moderate 
 but varied intelligence. It may also be found that 
 there is no line drawn in nature which divides 
 good from evil, strong from weak, sane from 
 insane, &c. There is no doubt as to the extreme 
 cases at either end of the column. There are, 
 then, a large number scattered at various points 
 between the two ends. 
 
 So in the consideration of any matter touching 
 character, it is best to form a clear conception of 
 the opposite extremes. This question of tact is a 
 far weightier and more subtle element in social 
 relations than may be supposed. Tact, in its 
 highest form, can only be exhibited by a person
 
 40 FAITH AND EXPERIENCE. 
 
 of the highest intelligence, while the total ab- 
 sence of the quality is to be experienced in 
 intercourse with people of very meagre under- 
 standing. Tact is dependent upon a high 
 development of the powers of imagination, and 
 these powers vary in the same proportion as the 
 general mental capacity of mankind. 
 
 Tact, in its lower forms, is sometimes nothing 
 above the art of deception springing from mean 
 and selfish devices. On the other hand, in its 
 higher manifestations, it is one of the noblest 
 virtues. Tact can represent selfishness and un- 
 selfishness, sympathy and antipathy, love and 
 hatred. But for no purpose and in no case can 
 it be exercised without some degree of mental 
 ability. Tact is primarily an intellectual quality, 
 though its exercise is dependent upon the moral 
 attributes. No element, perhaps, in human 
 character, presents a more interesting proof of 
 the close connection between the moral and the 
 intellectual qualities, and also their distinct 
 separateness, than tact. 
 
 Yes, it is a great subject which lies behind 
 that little word of four letters. There opens up 
 to us the whole avenue through which we might 
 stroll if we attempt to enter the fields of mental 
 and moral philosophy. 
 
 The majority of persons are superficial. They 
 are superficial in education and in thought. This 
 accounts for the vague and loose notions to be 
 met with in human intercourse. Ordinary people,
 
 TACT. 41 
 
 who compose the bulk of every population, might 
 regard tact, like manners, as something of very 
 little significance, and altogether external, having 
 no connection with the real springs of human 
 character. It is doubtful whether there is one 
 trainer of young persons in a thousand to whom 
 it would appear essential to give instructions 
 about tact or about manners. 
 
 Tact is essentially a subordination of self in 
 an unselfish consideration of others. No rules 
 could be laid down to teach a person how 
 to exercise it. Like many of the most precious 
 graces and talents, it is mainly an attribute 
 of the temperament, and is exercised uncon- 
 sciously ; still it may, in a useful measure, be 
 acquired and cultivated by people of moderate 
 intelligence. Imagination, quick and subtle, is 
 the strong power which is found to underlie every 
 character that has any charm about it. A person 
 not gifted with imagination, or endowed only in 
 a very sparing degree, cannot wield tact. It is 
 no fault of his. The best he can do is to hold 
 his tongue when he would propose to advise or 
 to console his neighbours. Say nothing, unless 
 you are perfectly sure that you can say the right 
 thing. In no way is tact more strongly demanded 
 than in forming a correct judgment at a moment's 
 notice on the question of your competence, then 
 and there, to advise or to console. Flow of words, 
 either in connection with consolation or advice, is 
 generally a dangerous exploit. Yet there are
 
 42 FAITH AND EXPERIENCE. 
 
 cases in which it is a success ; and there are 
 many instances in which a prolonged silence 
 indicates the want of tact Silence, though not 
 always silvern, is not always golden. It is very 
 often no better than leaden. Persons who flatter 
 themselves on their power of keeping silent, 
 are of very mixed multitude. Silence is a 
 way of escaping a great many things, both 
 good as well as evil. Timely speech, accurate 
 speech, tender speech, are, on the other hand, 
 useful, generous, and human. The first shock 
 of pain which we experience in the presence 
 of our beloved dead is their speechlessness. 
 Speech is in reality the only vital medium 
 of sympathy and happiness. And that kind of 
 silence, which is sometimes a comfort, is only the 
 silence of a sort which partakes of messages under- 
 stood as though they were expressed. A bright 
 smile, a certain look from one to another, which is 
 of any use, is the smile and the look which actually 
 represents ideas, or emotions that are capable of 
 being uttered. The abstinence from utterance in 
 such a case is due, probably, not to the want of 
 speech, but to the desire to impart the idea in some 
 less usual way. There is a difference between 
 what is commonly known as " talking " and 
 speech. 
 
 A silent companion is to most properly consti- 
 tuted people an insufferable bore after the first 
 day. Even that day was a long one when I took 
 a journey with X., who never said anything from
 
 TACT. 43 
 
 Calais to Geneva, except "All right," and to tell me 
 the time. The whole value of silence, that ex- 
 aggerated commodity of such doubtful value, is 
 that it should be available only when required. 
 But silence, at times when it is not needed, is more 
 tiresome than speech, because you cannot say to 
 the silent man " Leave off." He never leaves off. 
 And there can be no variety in his entertainment. 
 Oh, that silent man ! He is one of three things : 
 a cynic, a villain, or an imbecile. And what 
 difference can there be to his companion which of 
 those three things he happens to be ? In outward 
 aspect they are the same. Silence means some- 
 thing more besides abstaining from speech. It 
 means an awkward occasional " No." 
 
 So much for silence. Tactlessness in speech is 
 more frequent. And perhaps there is more often 
 a conscious difficulty in saying the right thing at 
 the proper time than in maintaining a silence. 
 Many persons foolishly imagine that it is necessary 
 to say something no matter what. It is a good 
 plan to take breathing time, and consider duly 
 what should be said. This seems a mere common- 
 place, yet how few there are who think of pausing 
 for such a purpose. Clumsy speech, silly remarks, 
 unasked advice, are often manifestations of want of 
 tact. A particular observation which is perfectly 
 innocent from the point of view of the speaker 
 perhaps only a vague proposition applicable to 
 many cases ought to be considered, before it 
 is uttered, in reference to its probable effect
 
 44 FAITH AND EXPERIENCE. 
 
 upon the person addressed. Here much thought 
 is required for the exercise of tact. Then again 
 there are methods of conveying ideas less ob- 
 jectionable than others. Speaking in an abstract 
 sense may be sometimes found a valuable way of 
 imparting an opinion ; on the other hand, speak- 
 ing at a person is to be avoided. That is invariably 
 irritating. Some persons prefer direct personal 
 appeals to innuendoes. 
 
 In the matter of making jokes, great tact may 
 be exercised, or tact may be conspicuous by its 
 absence. It is not because a joke is a good one 
 per se, that it is a desirable joke on a given 
 occasion, or that it is suitable for the hearing of 
 certain individuals. A man of tact who is 
 given to making jokes is a very different person 
 from a tactless individual who is also given to 
 joking. A true insight into character is necessary 
 before the man of humour can exercise his wit 
 with advantage. Such a person can see in a 
 moment whether his favourite joke is likely to fall 
 flat, or to have an enlivening effect. As the effect of 
 a joke indeed, the very apprehension of a joke 
 depends entirely upon the character of the audience 
 and of their present mood, it requires quick in- 
 telligence and perception to find what those moods 
 are. It may often be observed that the same joke 
 produces opposite impressions upon different 
 people. One will enjoy a hearty laugh over it, 
 another will gape, and a third will scowl, or they 
 will laugh, gape, or scowl on different occasions.
 
 TACT. 45 
 
 It is an error on the part of a witty man to suppose 
 that because a joke is excellent, or a story is worth 
 telling, it is excellent for all people, and worth 
 telling on all occasions. 
 
 In no circumstance is tact more difficult than 
 in visiting the sick or bereaved. Careful avoidance 
 of the cause of pain or sorrow is in some cases an 
 exercise of tact ; in others it is quite tactless. 
 Here again the character, and the mood of the per- 
 son visited, have to be considered. Hence to make 
 a rule for all cases implies a want of wisdom and 
 an absence of tact. Some people are comforted 
 by allusions to their trouble or even conversation 
 about it ; others prefer that the matter should not 
 be broached. The practice of conducting one's 
 conversation by means of asking questions is a 
 singularly untactful one. It does not always imply 
 what it professes, that the questioner feels a true in- 
 terest in the affairs of the questioned victim. Quite 
 the reverse ; idle curiosity is often at the bottom of 
 these interrogatory conversations. On occasions 
 of sickness or sorrow questions are more than 
 usually trying and unpleasant. The invalid or 
 bereaved may not have the bodily strength or the 
 mental vigour to evade the questions as he could 
 do at ordinary times. Some of these questions 
 may have the effect of extracting from him some- 
 thing which ought not to be imparted to another. 
 Even the compulsion of uttering a simple yes or 
 no may give the clue to a matter which ought 
 to have been kept secret. The conventional query,
 
 46 FAITH AND EXPERIENCE. 
 
 " Do you feel better to-day ? " is harmless enough 
 and perfectly natural, but when it is followed 
 with minute inquiries, it is sometimes injurious for 
 the very person whom it is sought to console. It 
 is usually a mistake to ask an invalid what kind 
 of nourishment he is taking, except by the medical 
 attendant, and then it is best to put the question 
 to some one else. " How did you sleep last night?" 
 or " have you had a good night ? " is a very 
 common way of beginning a conversation with 
 elderly people, but an indiscreet one. It is equally 
 foolish in the case of invalids. Sleeplessness 
 is increased by contemplating it. Most of us have 
 experienced at some time the horror of insufficient 
 sleep, and we know therefore that the more 
 we think of it the worse it generally becomes. A 
 curious story is told of a distinguished physician 
 who has passed away. He was singularly gifted 
 with tact. His practice was one of the largest 
 of his time. He possessed the faculty of making 
 a patient feel that he was never in a hurry, and 
 that the particular case before him was all in all 
 for the time being. He was called in consultation 
 to an hysterical lady who had no specific complaint, 
 The family doctor informed him that she had some 
 sixteen questions to ask about her condition, that 
 she had written them down in order. Whilst the 
 lady was going through the questions the physician 
 was quietly taking her temperature and pulse, and 
 by the time she arrived at No. 3, the visit ended 
 without the lady having the slightest notion that
 
 TACT. 47 
 
 the physician had not listened to the entire sixteen. 
 She was, moreover, charmed by the physician's 
 courteous bearing and general attention to her 
 case. 
 
 Visits to people who are labouring under the 
 stress of exceptional events such as those already 
 indicated, and many others, may elicit a degree 
 of tact carefully prepared for the special occasion, 
 which are not at all times available. Hence it is 
 desirable to consider the exercise of tact in ordi- 
 nary circumstances. George Eliot has pointed out 
 in another connection that some people are par- 
 ticularly kind when you break your leg, but then 
 you do not break your leg every day, and at 
 ordinary times these persons are rather unpleasant. 
 Now there are what may be termed eccentricities 
 in human intercourse in which tact is quite out 
 of sight. We have all met with individuals who 
 pride themselves on being what they term " very 
 outspoken," and who flatter themselves that they 
 are exceptionally honest and straightforward, be- 
 cause they always say what they think. To be 
 outspoken and to say always what one thinks 
 is a proceeding which entails a great deal that 
 renders the society of these honest folk truly ob- 
 noxious. There is a fallacy in the reasoning of 
 such persons with regard to the claims of truth. 
 As a matter of fact most of the things which they 
 say of the " outspoken " category are invariably 
 such things as have no relation whatever to 
 abstract truth, but merely to their own personal
 
 48 FAITH AND EXPERIENCE. 
 
 idiosyncrasies. Egotism and conceit are more 
 frequently the cause of this outspokenness than 
 any genuine love of truth. People have an un- 
 doubted right to think what they like about 
 others, but there is no inherent right in human 
 nature to communicate those thoughts. A and B 
 meet one another. B is outspoken. A is reticent 
 B informs A that someone else whom B does not 
 personally know, but who is an intimate friend of A, 
 is a villain or a fool. That is outspoken, but not 
 necessarily true. It is after all only the impression 
 of B formed on probably insufficient evidence. 
 Perhaps A will vindicate his friend, and tell B he 
 thinks So-and-so is bad because he does not know 
 him, and assure B that the individual is anything 
 but a fool or a villain. Then B replies that A is 
 only speaking from the prejudices of a friend, and 
 cannot form a judgment. Some outspoken people 
 can become positively insulting in the mere 
 exercise of ordinary conversation. And not only 
 in speaking of persons can the outspoken individual 
 be objectionable. Whether conversation turns on 
 books, on politics, on art, or any imaginable topic, 
 if he insists upon saying always what he thinks 
 without reference to the thoughts of others, he is 
 bound to display the characteristics of an insuffer- 
 able bore. The supposed merit of that outspoken- 
 ness is a popular fallacy. The charm of human 
 intercourse cannot exist where people give 
 annoyance to one another. Of course there is the 
 widest possible difference between saying what you
 
 TACT. 49 
 
 think and saying what you do not think. The one 
 is obviously not the only alternative of the other. 
 It is a good rule not to vouchsafe what you think 
 on ordinary topics unless your thoughts are 
 solicited, and then they can be conveyed in a 
 manner that is not at all unpleasant. The out- 
 spoken creature is invariably unpleasant. Another 
 excellent principle of social intercourse is to 
 minimise differences of opinion as far as possible, 
 and in no case to exaggerate them. 
 
 True tact, far from being a mere outward 
 mannerism, proceeds from a genuine love of our 
 species. It is connected with the finest feelings, and 
 is the outcome of unselfishness. To save people 
 from embarrassment of all kinds, to relieve them 
 from anything like pressure in their communica- 
 tions, and to render them quite at their ease, are 
 indications of a high cultivation of this quality. 
 The private circumstances of intimate friends vary 
 enormously, and it is between persons who associate 
 on a footing of sincere friendship, in which tact is 
 most urgently required, and sometimes difficult to 
 attain. The popular idea that you can say any- 
 thing to a person with whom you are on intimate 
 terms is an error of judgment. However intimate 
 you may be, a certain reserve is desirable, at least 
 in relation to matters which concern himself and 
 not yourself. With regard to your own concerns, 
 you are at liberty to seek his confidence, and to 
 tell him what you please about yourself, but not 
 about his affairs. It is a great mistake to suppose 
 
 E
 
 50 FAITH AND EXPERIENCE. 
 
 that tact can be dispensed with in the intercourse 
 between intimate friends and near relatives. This 
 supposition is the cause of many a breach and of 
 much domestic unhappiness. Neither the closest 
 ties of friendship or of blood should properly 
 absolve people from a thorough and careful regard 
 to the natural independence of each human being. 
 Some persons are by nature more communicative 
 than others, and some families live on terms of 
 greater confidence than others. We occasionally 
 hear of people living together who have no secrets 
 from one another. This is somewhat rare, if we 
 come to think about it. And even where such 
 relations exist, tact should still remain a vital 
 element in their intercourse. 
 
 There is much difference of opinion with 
 regard to what are termed confidences. Yet it 
 is apparent that the confidence which one in- 
 dividual reposes in another carries with it high 
 obligations. The knowledge thus acquired must 
 be put away in the confided heart as though it 
 were not there. The notion that husbands and 
 wives may convey to one another what they 
 have learnt in that manner is utterly unsound 
 and unwarranted. Marriage is a condition in 
 which the exercise of tact is of paramount 
 consequence. If it were possible to investigate 
 the causes of marriage failures, it might be dis- 
 covered that tactlessness plays a conspicuous part. 
 The tie of marriage carries with it not only no 
 absolution from the necessity for tact, but makes
 
 TACT. 5 1 
 
 very special claims upon it. Those couples who 
 are most devoted to each other, yet need the 
 habitual display of tact, if they mean to preserve 
 a continuous state of happiness. Many pairs who 
 are said to be happily married, and who, on the 
 whole, live peacefully together, are at times 
 subject to a certain tension. And those times 
 are by no means infrequent. Probably they 
 occur several times in one week. A great many 
 men and women are really unfit for married life 
 just because they have no tact. Marriage being 
 the condition which places two persons on terms 
 of greatest confidence is probably the one that 
 calls for the greatest exercise of tact. In other 
 words, this quality is of so much significance in 
 its effect upon human intercourse, that the 
 urgency of its claim increases rather than 
 diminishes according to the degrees of intimacy 
 between one human soul and another. People 
 are likely to imagine that tact is chiefly required 
 in the intercourse between persons of slight 
 acquaintance. That is a shallow view of the 
 matter. Self-interest in the worldly affairs will 
 be some inducement to be tactful in business 
 intercourse among men and women of the world. 
 To gee on in life, tact is indispensable ; but to 
 insure perfect happiness in the domestic circle 
 and in private friendship, this quality becomes 
 elevated to the level of an endearing virtue. 
 There is generally one member of the family 
 who is more endowed with tact than the rest of 
 E2
 
 52 FAITH AND EXPERIENCE. 
 
 them. He or she will, therefore, be the peace- 
 maker and the wise counsellor. In conclusion, 
 it will be found that those persons who are most 
 lovable and most gifted in their personal qualities, 
 possess, in a high degree, the virtue of tact.
 
 THE PULPIT, ITS DEFECTS, ITS POSSIBILITIES. 53 
 
 THE PULPIT, ITS DEFECTS, ITS 
 POSSIBILITIES. 
 
 THE failure of preachers to produce the effect 
 upon society which their exceptional opportunities 
 might enable them to do, is a problem worthy of 
 consideration. This failure might be attributed to 
 many causes, but it is proposed here to consider 
 only two. It will be seen that these two are 
 dependent one on the other. It may be well to 
 lay some claim to a proof of the proposition that 
 on the whole there is that failure. 
 
 In the first place, it will be admitted that 
 throughout Great Britain the clergy in all de- 
 nominations are a body of speakers and writers, 
 who have a more regular and larger public to 
 address than any other class of spokesmen or 
 authors. With the single exception of members 
 of Parliament of Cabinet rank, no public man, and 
 certainly very few men of letters, can at all times 
 command the large sympathetic audiences, and the 
 frequent opportunities of public utterance which 
 are at the disposal of preachers. It could not be 
 contended that the opportunities even of states- 
 men for instructing and edifying their fellow- 
 countrymen are so numerous and diverse as those 
 of the clergymen. For the politician is confined
 
 54 FAITH AND EXPERIENCE. 
 
 to one range of topic, and he is not at liberty to 
 travel out of the sphere of practical politics. He is 
 expected to speak on some specific question which 
 at the time is interesting, if not agitating, the public 
 mind. Selection of a subject is hardly given to 
 him, because it is determined by the exigencies of 
 the political situation. His audiences do not in- 
 clude in any large proportion either women or 
 children ; moreover, the men who compose the 
 bulk of his audiences already share his convictions, 
 or are present to oppose them. However able the 
 addresses of a statesman may be, they are im- 
 mediately subject to the negative influences of 
 party debate and journalistic criticism. It rarely 
 happens that either the Prime Minister or the 
 leader of the Opposition has anything to say which 
 is not at once contradicted and undermined by 
 another speaker of equal prominence. Not so with 
 a minister of religion ; he is seldom contradicted 
 or criticised ; his audiences are generally friendly 
 and include people of both sexes, all ages, and 
 varied capacity, ever ready to believe what he says, 
 and to appreciate the smallest display of talent. 
 Leaders of men, both statesmen and men of letters, 
 go to hear him if he is at all above the average. 
 It must therefore be admitted that his opportunities 
 are very remarkable. In face of these opportu- 
 nities nobody can deny that the general result is 
 insignificantly disproportionate. 
 
 The two reasons referred to are difficult to place 
 in their correct order; one is that the average
 
 THE PULPIT, ITS DEFECTS, ITS POSSIBILITIES. 55 
 
 preacher is intellectually below the average 
 literary man or statesman ; the other that he 
 invariably addresses himself to subjects which 
 do not palpably concern the interests of society. 
 In other words, he wastes his opportunities. He 
 discourses upon topics of which it may be said 
 that they have more interest for another world 
 than for this one. Here it is necessary to meet a 
 logical difficulty which will at once be raised by 
 any number of divines who might read these words. 
 They would say in a loud chorus that it is just 
 those matters which relate to another sphere that 
 have the most direct concern for people in this one. 
 That is of course an hypothesis which, if true, 
 would dispose of the proposition that preaching 
 does not accomplish the most that might fairly be 
 expected of it. 
 
 Human nature, however, whether the preachers 
 see it or not, is actually more concerned with the 
 affairs of its transitory life than it is with those of 
 the future state. 
 
 Any one who has heard a great many sermons 
 must have experienced that very few of them 
 attempt to deal with the problems which affect the 
 ordinary human relations of every-day life. 
 
 It would be unfair to put out of sight what may 
 be called the trammels of the preacher, or to deny 
 the causes which put a limit on the range of subjects 
 with which it is customary for him to deal. Still 
 it is just such fetters which it is well to criticise, 
 not by -any means holding the preachers as a
 
 56 FAITH AND EXPERIENCE. 
 
 class entirely responsible for the drawbacks of 
 their office. Conventionality is perhaps more 
 answerable for those restrictions than anything 
 else, and it is this conventionality which has to be 
 resisted. People go to church to hear a sermon 
 about a text or in justification of a doctrine ; they 
 are amazed and open-mouthed when by chance 
 they hear anything else. The preacher and his 
 congregation seem to co-operate in maintaining 
 the hindrances of the pulpit to the detriment of 
 both. 
 
 The occasion of a sermon or an address in a 
 place of worship, attended as it is by every 
 circumstance of seriousness and reflection, affords 
 a most fitting opportunity to say to the people 
 that which cannot well be conveyed on any other 
 occasion, yet how much there is which is never 
 said at all. Hundreds and thousands of sermons 
 are wasted upon the consideration of matters 
 which do not touch the improvement of society, 
 the spread of culture, or the cultivation of better 
 human relations. Take, for example, what is 
 known as a fashionable congregation in the West 
 of London at the height of the season. Here is 
 a concourse of prosperous persons, assembled to 
 do what ? First, of course, to worship God, then 
 to listen and to be morally improved the utmost 
 that they are likely to receive in the way of 
 elevation, will be in connection with an occasional 
 appeal from the pulpit on behalf of a charity. 
 Then, at least, they are called upon to exercise
 
 THE PULPIT, ITS DEFECTS, ITS POSSIBILITIES. 57 
 
 in some degree that " very bond of peace and of 
 all virtues." The preacher, if he be a man of the 
 world, possessing any knowledge of the ways 
 of society, must be aware that his audience is 
 composed, to a large extent, of men and women 
 whose habits of life include much of the sham, 
 the insincerities and the grotesque vanities which 
 pervade the world of fashion. 
 
 There is not one sermon in a hundred which 
 alludes to such subjects. They are all on passages 
 in the Epistles or about the central doctrines of 
 the popular creed, which is supposed to be com- 
 patible with the existing order of social life. It 
 is rarely that we hear sermons on genuineness or 
 friendship. The divorce of politics from religion 
 is not often deplored in the pulpit. The develop- 
 ment of the intellect, and the value of art, are 
 seldom extolled from that edifice. The absorbing 
 questions of social reform, the equalisation of 
 human opportunities, and the removal of artificial 
 inequalities questions deeply touching the very 
 springs of moral action and the well-being of our 
 species where is the preacher who would venture 
 to touch upon them ? " The pulpit is not the 
 place to discuss politics," is a conventional remark 
 which these observations might elicit. This is one 
 of the fundamental popular errors in respect to 
 sermons and the ends they ought to have in view. 
 If, as is admitted, the object of preaching is the 
 improvement of society, it is difficult to under- 
 stand why so many limitations should be placed
 
 58 FAITH AND EXPERIENCE. 
 
 around the pulpit. If, on the other hand, the pur- 
 pose was nothing but to set forth certain ecclesi- 
 astical dogmas, the present system is at least 
 intelligible. So also are its results. But it seems 
 worth while to refute this conception of the office 
 of the pulpit. Teach what you like in your cate- 
 chism, but do not waste the golden opportunity of 
 the preacher. 
 
 Whilst it must be admitted that the average 
 talent, both literary and rhetorical, of preachers 
 in general is of moderate degree, the exceptions 
 are more numerous than are commonly supposed. 
 The majority of candidates for the House of 
 Commons and of those who go there, are decidedly 
 worse speakers than the majority of clergymen. 
 Their total culture is considerably less. Public 
 men who are really good speakers both in and 
 out of Parliament do not muster a heavy roll. 
 And those who excel above that standard, and 
 might be described as orators, are so few that 
 they may be counted on the fingers. In point of 
 composition, the average clergyman of the Church 
 of England is by no means inferior. 
 
 Among the various Nonconformist bodies, the 
 minister of the Gospel has attained a degree of 
 excellence in extempore speaking, which will 
 compare favourably with the rhetorical accomplish- 
 ments of Members of Parliament. In the House 
 of Lords fewer members take part in the de- 
 bate than in the House of Commons, and a 
 higher degree of merit is attained in the Upper
 
 THE PULPIT, ITS DEFECTS, ITS POSSIBILITIES. 59 
 
 Chamber. This is easy to account for. Few 
 people feel under any compulsion to make a 
 speech in the House of Peers. Those who do so 
 honestly believe that they have something to say, 
 and they are obviously less under the demoralising 
 influence of popular judgment. 
 
 Among the clergy of all denominations there 
 are a considerable number of men who speak 
 particularly well ; there are not a few who 
 display rare gifts of eloquence and occasional 
 flights of oratory. Nonconformist ministers, even 
 of the rugged and itinerant type, sometimes ex- 
 hibit striking powers of speech. It might be 
 observed not infrequently that the most effective 
 speaker at a Parliamentary election meeting was 
 the man who had been an habitual preacher of the 
 Gospel. Since the removal of University tests, and 
 the general progress of national education, 
 Dissenting ministers have made a more marked 
 stride in the art of public speaking than is notice- 
 able among the clergy of the Established Church, 
 or the Roman Catholic Church, within the same 
 period. This superiority is largely due to the fact 
 that conventionality in the structural form of a 
 sermon is much less observed among Dissenting 
 bodies than in the two older Churches. The 
 reason for this difference as to method and treat- 
 ment is in a measure owing to the freedom of 
 Dissenters from ecclesiastical supervision. It is 
 probable that the triumph of Puritanism during 
 the Commonwealth and the progress of Dissenting
 
 6O FAITH AND EXPERIENCE. 
 
 sects in our own time, have been considerably 
 aided by the greater freedom of speech which 
 has obtained in the chapel. Few people can 
 deny, if they have considered the subject, that 
 the average sermon in the Church of England, 
 in spite of the correctness of composition, is a 
 thoroughly stereotyped production. Neither in 
 its subject nor in its arrangement is there any 
 play of the imagination ; moreover, the dulness 
 of bad delivery, answering to prescribed ritual 
 regulation, varying between a monotone and a 
 drawl, is calculated to mar even the reading of a 
 well-written essay. 
 
 Here are some of the types of ordinary 
 sermons. There is the elucidation of a particular 
 text delivered by a man who has persistently 
 abstained throughout his career from making 
 himself acquainted with the work and the results of 
 historical criticism. He is quite uninformed as to 
 anything of consequence which scholars may have 
 had to say upon the text itself or upon the book 
 or chapter from which it is probably but a dis- 
 jointed phrase. The first thing this clergyman sets 
 about, after repeating the quotation two or three 
 times to enable him to accent different words, is to 
 refer to some other passages in different parts 
 of the Scriptures which present to his uncritical 
 mind points of similarity. If he is a very high 
 churchman he will next proceed to tell the con- 
 gregation what St. Augustine and Thomas Aquinas 
 thought about the passage.
 
 THE PULPIT, ITS DEFECTS, ITS POSSIBILITIES. 6 1 
 
 He may mention some other commentators, but 
 they are sure to be those only who lived and 
 thought in an age when scientific criticism was 
 unknown. His third process is to read into the 
 words some meaning, which from the nature of the 
 case was never in the mind of the original author, 
 insisting of course on the peculiar subtlety of the 
 sacred writings, by which it is to be understood 
 that you can make a sentence mean anything you 
 please. His particular meaning will depend upon 
 the exact order of his churchmanship, whether 
 high, low, or broad, in their different degrees. 
 The words " Verily, verily " have been discussed in 
 this fashion. So also " Render unto Caesar that 
 which is Caesar's," and a vast number of others. 
 
 In the Roman Catholic Church, a part of a 
 sentence from the Psalms, such as, " Thou art the 
 queen " ( " of Ophir," being carefully omitted) has 
 formed the basis of a discourse upon the feast 
 of the Assumption. "And Jesus said unto His 
 disciples " is a favourite groundwork of a sermon 
 in churches of various denominations. Then 
 there is the Evangelical sermon quite different 
 from any other except in its tendency to play 
 upon words and to fix the attention upon matters 
 distinctly removed from the ordinary affairs 
 of life. 
 
 There is the sermon about a Biblical personage 
 of whom nothing is known except a fragmentary 
 description in the sacred text. Of course there 
 are countless sermons upon themes suggested by
 
 62 FAITH AND EXPERIENCE. 
 
 the great celebrations of the Church, such as 
 Christmas, Easter, and Whitsuntide. The dogmas 
 which these commemorations emphasise are sepa- 
 rately treated on most of the Sundays in the year. 
 In Evangelical churches the Atonement, the 
 Resurrection and the Ascension, and the doctrine 
 of hell, as well as the verbal inspiration in the entire 
 body of Scriptures, form the main topics for sermons. 
 In High churches, the subjects are varied by such 
 points as the Eucharist, the Real Presence, and 
 the rest of the Church ordinances. In Broad 
 churches these matters are but lightly touched 
 upon, and of course, quite differently. 
 
 There are sermons without number which treat 
 of various incidents mentioned in the Books of 
 the Old and New Testaments, having little or no 
 connection whatever with the problems of our 
 own times. The attempt to whitewash the con- 
 duct of Jacob in that revolting act of deception 
 practised upon his aged father has been heard 
 often enough in every place of worship. The 
 early chapters of Genesis abound in favourite 
 topics for all kinds of preachers. The Books of 
 Psalms and Proverbs, perhaps the most suggestive 
 for spiritual and ethical treatment, are much less 
 frequently used. The Epistles of Paul are more 
 commonly taken for texts than any passage in the 
 Sermon on the Mount. 
 
 There are, undoubtedly, in this body of writings, 
 very precious materials for homily. But it is 
 curious to note there are fewer sermons preached
 
 THE PULPIT, ITS DEFECTS, ITS POSSIBILITIES. 63 
 
 from such a text as " Husbands love your wives, 
 and be not bitter against them," than others like 
 the famous passage in the Epistle to the Romans : 
 " Know ye not that so many of us as were 
 baptised into Jesus Christ were baptised into His 
 death." The disposition to select mystical passages 
 rather than those which are palpably intelligible is 
 very remarkable indeed. The Books of Daniel 
 and Ezekiel, and the Acts of the Apostles and 
 Revelations are more often chosen to discourse 
 upon than any of the simpler utterances of the 
 Hebrew Prophets or of the Apostles. 
 
 The extraordinary wealth of language and of 
 ideas belonging to the Bible certainly renders that 
 vast collection a sufficient storehouse from which 
 to gather priceless teaching, but the best of them 
 are seldom used. There are never sermons de- 
 livered without a text, and yet how rarely is it 
 well chosen. Some of the better class of preachers 
 employ a quotation merely as a peg on which to 
 hang the discourse ; it serves the twofold purpose 
 of paying homage to the authority of Scripture 
 and of diffusing ideas upon all questions touching 
 the deeper truths of ethics and religion. 
 
 Most of that which is spoken from the pulpit falls 
 immeasurably short of what might be said. No one 
 is at liberty, like the preacher, to be so outspoken 
 in public. He is privileged to address his fellow- 
 countrymen upon the most sacred questions about 
 which he can think. He may tell multitudes the 
 secret ways of spiritual happiness. He may speak
 
 64 FAITH AND EXPERIENCE. 
 
 also of the hindrances to those ways, of the moral 
 blemishes in common life ; and he can tell about 
 the means by which better paths may be trodden, 
 and a nobler career secured. He may advise, too, 
 on some of those subtle relations in human affairs 
 which touch deeply the domestic happiness of men 
 and women. If the preacher be a man of originality, 
 and is capable of true discernment, he would see 
 at a glance how closely the intellectual and the 
 spiritual life are interwoven, and how the two re- 
 act upon one another. 
 
 The sacred right to education, and the value of 
 general culture, are questions which did not find 
 their way into the pulpit in a previous generation. 
 It cannot be said that the pulpit lent its powerful 
 aid to the awakening of public opinion about the 
 cause of national elementary education, nor, indeed 
 in any of those great measures enacted within the 
 present century for the amelioration of unjust 
 suffering and for the redress of undeserved 
 grievances. Was William Wilberforce largely 
 supported by the Anglican pulpit in his crusade 
 against slavery ? The pulpit was not at the 
 service of those who, within the last twenty-five 
 years, have obtained from Parliament legislative 
 amendment in the conditions of the factory and 
 the work-shop. Much loss of power on the part 
 of the pulpit is due, no doubt, to the lack of con- 
 certed effort. 
 
 In the several struggles for the improvement of 
 the condition of the working classes, by no means
 
 THE PULPIT, ITS DEFECTS, ITS POSSIBILITIES. 65 
 
 ended yet, it is obvious that, were anything like 
 united effort on the part of preachers of all de- 
 nominations seriously undertaken, they could 
 muster a far stronger agency for directing aright 
 the action of the modern democracy than anything 
 that can be expected from the efforts of mere 
 party agitators. 
 
 But no ! there is the preposterous conventional 
 dogma that the preacher must only talk about a 
 text and theology, and never about politics or 
 social problems. Unhappily, the clergy are too 
 much of a profession, and, therefore, not sufficiently 
 an independent moral force. This, again, is owing 
 to a mistaken popular view in regard to them. 
 
 The first sign of an improved state of things, 
 showing what the pulpit is capable of effecting, 
 may be seen by the results of the recent institution 
 of " Hospital Sunday." This, no doubt, is the 
 single example of it, and that it works ad- 
 mirably, no one would deny. If public meetings 
 were called on behalf of the hospitals it is 
 doubtful whether they would produce such satis- 
 factory results as the pulpit movement. Those 
 effects are not only excellent from the point of 
 view of -the hospital treasurer, but they contri- 
 bute in a high degree to the moral culture of the 
 public. If this system were extended to other 
 questions of public utility a large amount of good 
 would accrue both socially and morally. Some of 
 the Dissenting bodies have already given con- 
 spicuous proof of the power which the pulpit can 
 
 F
 
 66 FAITH AND EXPERIENCE. 
 
 wield in that vital working-man's question of 
 temperance. 
 
 There are many crises in the affairs of a nation 
 when alternative policies are submitted by 
 politicians, but never by the clergy. The sug- 
 gestion that they should participate in party strife 
 is far from the intention of this article. Rather 
 should their position be above and beyond the 
 influences of party organisation, for the very reason 
 that they should be in a position to declare, as 
 from a height, the true moral significance attaching 
 to the support of one political programme or 
 another. When questions of peace or war arise 
 out of the errors sometimes incidental to diplomatic 
 transactions, or in consequence of wild journalistic 
 venture, then it is that the pulpit could raise its 
 voice to stay popular clamour, to allay public 
 anxiety, and even to claim a fair hearing for the 
 rights of the case. Likewise, with serious fluctua- 
 tions of commerce and the consequent disquiet 
 in the labour markets, the pulpit might exercise a 
 more direct influence because it is above parties 
 and the personal interests immediately in strife. 
 It might have been well to have heard what the 
 pulpit had to say on many of the recent strikes, in 
 which the abstract cause of right and wrong were 
 directly involved. There is, moreover, the problem 
 of the relation between the Christian Socialism of 
 the Gospels, and some ill-considered theories of our 
 own times, about which the pulpit is silent. 
 
 In short, if we could get rid of conventionalities
 
 THE PULPIT, ITS DEFECTS, ITS POSSIBILITIES. 67 
 
 in respect to the office of the pulpit, and there were 
 a wider interpretation of the object of sermons, the 
 advantages of preaching might be immeasurably 
 increased. With less sacerdotalism than is 
 apparent in the present system, and freer exercise 
 of the intellectual faculties, the public might derive 
 much more good than they do now. It should be 
 remembered that for large numbers of people, 
 sermons are all that they hear in the way of 
 public speaking. This is the case not only in 
 country districts but among many sections of the 
 population in London and other large cities. 
 
 The present method of church preaching is 
 subject to certain defects that it is worth while to 
 mention. First, the excessive frequency with 
 which a clergyman is required to preach is de- 
 trimental to his own power of doing so. It. dries 
 up the resources of his intellect, which his other 
 duties leave little time to replenish. 
 
 A man would be an intellectual Hercules indeed 
 who could regularly compose a sermon even once 
 a week worth hearing. And yet there are 
 thousands of clergymen who actually produce two 
 or three. It is worthy of note that the most 
 eminent preachers of our time deliver com- 
 paratively few sermons. It is questionable 
 whether so great a master of pulpit homily as the 
 ever-lamented Dr. Liddon would have produced 
 fifty-two sermons in the year equal in merit to the 
 twelve which were the limit of his discourses in 
 St. Paul's. 
 
 F 2
 
 68 FAITH AND EXPERIENCE. 
 
 Secondly, it may be urged that joining together 
 the two functions of a sermon and a long service 
 is undesirable both for the preacher and for those 
 who listen to him. The sermon might with 
 advantage be detached from the public worship, or 
 annexed only to those services which are very 
 short. The University Sermons at Oxford and 
 Cambridge gain by the fact that people go for the 
 sole purpose of hearing them, and that there is little 
 else to listen to. Although their duration is 
 longer than an ordinary sermon they produce 
 much less dreariness for that reason. Such 
 alterations in the conditions of a sermon are small 
 in themselves, and perhaps they are scarcely worth 
 the experiment so long as the present method of 
 preaching is maintained. If, however, a new era 
 of preaching and a new standard of sermons 
 should come to pass, these details of change will 
 be important. 
 
 If preaching is to approach to anything like a 
 resemblance of the orations of the Hebrew 
 prophets, the example which they set of speaking 
 on the question of the day, and upon the pressing 
 social and moral problem, must be widely followed. 
 The result would be that the highest spiritual 
 aims will be no more obscured than they were by 
 the prophets of old.
 
 MISSIONARY JUDAISM. 69 
 
 MISSIONARY JUDAISM. 
 
 ["Jewish Quarterly Review," July, 1893.] 
 
 Is Judaism a missionary religion ? Has it a 
 propaganda ? Are there possibilities that, beyond 
 the confines of the Hebrew race, Judaism is 
 capable of making itself felt as a religious system 
 worthy of attracting people who are not of the 
 " seed of Abraham " ? These are questions which 
 have been put again and again by Jews and non- 
 Jews alike. The answers to them vary according 
 to the precise meaning attached to the questions. 
 One obvious, but superficial reply, is to say that for 
 centuries it was as much as their lives were worth 
 for the Jews in any part of the world to attempt 
 a propaganda of their faith. That answer, 
 although still the inevitable one so far as the 
 Jews of such countries as Russia and Roumania 
 are concerned, does not seem adequately to meet 
 the question in respect to the Jews of England and 
 America. Nor does it relate to the inquiry as to 
 the missionary nature of Judaism. And it there- 
 fore becomes us to consider the question apart 
 from circumstances of restraint, and apart also 
 from the idea that Judaism is the religion of a 
 single race. Placing out of sight the restrictions 
 of circumcision and family heritage, we want 
 to know whether the religion of Israel is one which
 
 7O FAITH AND EXPERIENCE. 
 
 embodies spiritual truths and ethical conceptions 
 of a kind which are adaptable to the spiritual and 
 ethical needs of men who are not of the race of 
 Israel. In the following pages I desire to answer 
 this question in the affirmative, and to endeavour 
 to set forth grounds for the belief that there are 
 aspects of the Jewish religion which may com- 
 mend themselves to a vast number of Englishmen 
 and Americans, and that it behoves English and 
 American Jews who recognise these aspects to set 
 them forth, and show them accordingly. 
 
 The present generation of English Christians 
 (I use the word to signify non-Jews) has reached 
 a stage of religious transition. There is distinct 
 evidence of the fact that a large number of persons 
 in this country, who have been christened in their 
 infancy, do not hold fast to the doctrine of the 
 Incarnation, or that of the Trinity. In other 
 words, they do not any longer believe the funda- 
 mental dogmas of any of the organised forms of 
 Christianity. Some of these people are Agnostics, 
 many are Theists. It does not follow that dissent 
 from orthodox Christianity is necessarily a separa- 
 tion from religion. The popular notion that there 
 is no alternative between the religious beliefs of 
 Christianity and no religion at all, is so palpably 
 erroneous that it scarcely requires to be refuted. 
 Judaism has undergone transitions too, in some 
 respects similar to those through which Christianity 
 is now passing. The difference, however, between 
 the two cases of transition is of vital consequence,
 
 MISSIONARY JUDAISM. 7 1 
 
 touching the subject upon which the change of view 
 takes place. In Judaism, there is an undeniable 
 modification of opinion in respect to matters of 
 ritual, to rabbinical authority, and in reference to 
 the restrictions required to maintain the identity of 
 the Jewish people. But with regard to the nature 
 of God, as to His oneness, His immutability, and 
 incorporeality, there has been no change whatever. 
 And as to the spiritual relations of the human and 
 Divine, the religion of the Psalmists is still the 
 religion of the modern Israelite, whether he be 
 orthodox or reformer. In Christianity, on the 
 other hand, the alteration of belief touches the 
 nature of the Godhead and the theory of the 
 relation between the Divine and the human. 
 Fundamental dogma is here affected, whereas in 
 Judaism the fundamental dogma remains undis- 
 turbed. 
 
 The Christian theory of atonement and " original 
 sin " is the one which, probably, more than any 
 other, differentiates Christianity from Judaism. It 
 is necessary to notice this particular divergence 
 between the two religions in order to consider 
 whether Judaism presents a happier solution of the 
 problem of sin than is offered by Apostolic teach- 
 ing. The Christian dogmas on this subject 
 postulate a kind of relationship between God and 
 man which is not the same as that which is held in 
 Judaism. The basis of any system of religion 
 is undoubtedly something that belongs to the 
 sphere of belief. And those persons who argue
 
 72 FAITH AND EXPERIENCE. 
 
 that Judaism is a system of observance only, and 
 not of belief, are ignoring an elementary principle 
 of human reason, namely, that practices must 
 ultimately rest upon a belief. Now it is this funda- 
 mental belief, or basis, lying at the root of conduct 
 and of faith, with regard to which Judaism and 
 Christianity, in any of their respective forms, offer 
 two distinct alternatives. Christianity is structur- 
 ally built upon the hypothesis that, since the 
 beginning of human history, mankind has been 
 placed in a normal state of perdition. The event 
 narrated in the legend of the Garden of Eden was 
 that which brought sin and death into the world, 
 and no human effort is capable of rescuing man- 
 kind, either individually or collectively, from the 
 penalty of that great fall which is said to be 
 historic. Then follows the superstructure in the 
 vicarious atonement and the redeeming efficacy 
 of blood by the sacrifice of " the Son of God." 
 This, broadly speaking, is the essential dogma of 
 every type of Christianity. There are, of course, 
 the endless varieties, such as the different notions 
 of the Greek and Latin Churches upon the subjects 
 of the Trinity and the government of the Church ; 
 and then again the revolt of Protestantism against 
 the Church of Rome upon the celebration of the 
 great sacrifice, and the headship of the Church. 
 But there is no body of Christians who are not 
 parties to the teaching of the fall of man and sal- 
 vation through Christ. To this teaching there has 
 been no rival in any of the Christian communities
 
 MISSIONARY JUDAISM. 73 
 
 of Europe and America upon any scale of 
 numerical consequence. Christian Unitarianism 
 is certainly a modification of the teaching, but 
 it still adheres to the idea of a glorified Son of 
 God in the person of Jesus. Within the present 
 generation there has appeared a single clergyman, 
 formerly of the Church of England, who has 
 founded in London a Theistic Church, which 
 definitely repudiates the theory of the Fall, and its 
 consequent theory of redemption. Then there 
 have appeared, from time to time, individuals, such 
 as Bethune Inglish, and corporate bodies, who have 
 repudiated Christianity and (some of them) Theism 
 at once. And we have in London, Societies of 
 Agnostics and the " Church of Humanity," founded 
 on the principles of Auguste Comte, as well as a 
 Society of Ethical Culture. But it cannot be said 
 that there has been any missionary effort for teach- 
 ing religion, that is, the worship of God and moral 
 responsibility, upon the great historic foundation, 
 such as that which Judaism embodies within her 
 history and traditions. 
 
 The fact that there is among the educated classes 
 of Englishmen and Americans, as well as among 
 many who are not highly educated, a distinct and 
 widespread repudiation of those fundamental 
 Christian theories, suggests the question with which 
 this article commenced : Is it possible that Judaism 
 is capable of offering a solution to those who are 
 not of the race of Israel ? Such a question 
 immediately suggests another: What aspect of
 
 74 FAITH AND EXPERIENCE. 
 
 Judaism is it which is applicable to the religious 
 needs of those who are not Jews ? The difficulty 
 at this point of the subject is, perhaps, less com- 
 plicated than it appears to be. Judaism is a great 
 historic testimony to the fact that men have 
 worshipped God, have cherished faith, and acknow- 
 ledged the claims of righteousness without believ- 
 ing in the Fall, and, therefore, without experiencing 
 the necessity for miraculous redemption from that 
 normal state of perdition. The testimony of this 
 ancient and historic Theism has, without doubt, 
 fallen to an hereditary group of people known as 
 the People of Israel. The identity of this people 
 has been preserved through thousands of years 
 against incalculable difficulties. And the task of 
 that preservation has imposed upon them obliga- 
 tions of a special and a peculiar kind. Special and 
 peculiar, because their only purpose has been to 
 preserve the group, and they lie quite apart from 
 the great religious message which the Israelites 
 have been treasuring. In proposing, therefore, that 
 Israelites should teach what they know, it does not 
 follow that they should teach those things which 
 are only intended to preserve their communal 
 identity. In such a propaganda of the Jewish faith 
 we have only to consider those elements which are 
 perfectly universalist in their character and their 
 application. Distinctive rites, such as circumcision, 
 eating of unleavened bread, dietary laws, and the 
 particularity of the day for Sabbath observance 
 are, from the nature of the case, institutions which
 
 MISSIONARY JUDAISM. 75 
 
 do not possess any important significance for 
 persons who are not hereditary members of the 
 House of Israel. Sacred as many observances of 
 this character appear to Jewish people, their 
 sanctity is of a kind which owes its inspiration to 
 the sense of family tradition rather than to any 
 intrinsic solemnity, such as that which attaches to 
 the practices of giving alms and of worshipping 
 the Deity. The sanctity of such observances as 
 those to which I refer are, of course, greatly 
 enhanced in the minds of those members of the Jew- 
 ish race who regard them as being not only family 
 traditions, but also as the revealed will of God. 
 The reason why I mention this is that those who 
 believe them to have been divinely enjoined do 
 not believe them to have been enjoined upon any 
 except the people of Israel. 
 
 A propaganda of the Jewish Faith at this time 
 of day would, historically speaking, resemble in 
 some respects the propaganda which the Jew of 
 Tarsus undertook in the first century of the 
 Christian era. In saying this, however, I desire to 
 be perfectly explicit. St. Paul in conducting his 
 propaganda of the faith which was in him did not 
 confine himself to the teaching of the Jewish 
 religion. The age in which he lived, unlike our 
 own, presented Judaism on the one hand, Paganism 
 on the other. In his judgment, Theism, as he had 
 learned it from his fathers, appeared to be incom- 
 prehensible to Greeks and Romans. He therefore 
 taught a religious conception which differed con-
 
 76 ' FAITH AND EXPERIENCE. 
 
 siderably from that which he had inherited. And 
 he himself is described as having been converted 
 before he taught others. The only point of like- 
 ness, therefore, between the work of St. Paul and 
 the other Jewish apostles, and that which might be 
 done by Jews of the present generation is that the 
 teaching of religion was then, and may again be, 
 the work of persons who have fellowship by race 
 with those whom the Hebrew prophets have des- 
 cribed as the " Kingdom of Priests," the "Witness" 
 and the " Servant." It is therefore rather in the 
 sense of continuity in the historic mission of the 
 people of Israel that I mention the apostles here, 
 than for the purpose of imitating them in teaching 
 what is subversive of the Jewish religion. 
 
 The strength of the Jewish religious position at 
 the present time is this : It is popularly supposed 
 that there is no other way of leading men to God 
 than by accepting the theory of the Fall and the 
 redemption through the death of Christ. It is 
 imagined that, in the absence of this teaching, there 
 is no other which is at once spiritually religious, 
 and at the same time possessing the power and 
 authority of long historic experience. The answer 
 to this statement of course is the Jewish Religion. 
 But the world knows nothing of the Jewish religion. 
 Even in countries where emancipation has bee^ 
 accomplished for the Jews, and where society has 
 been made acquainted with Jewish individuality or 
 with Jewish talent in art, in jurisprudence and 
 politics, or in finance, the faith of the Israelite,
 
 MISSIONARY JUDAISM. 77 
 
 his inner life, his life with God, the moral springs 
 of conduct with the best of Israelites are all sealed 
 and dead letters to the popular religious mind. The 
 widest misapprehensions prevail as to what con- 
 stitutes the actual religious faith of the best Jews 
 and Jewesses, both in England and in America. 
 A visit to the synagogue, which few people 
 have made, does not throw much light on the 
 subject, because the service and the ritual being 
 mainly oriental in character, and not conducted 
 in the vernacular, are scarcely intelligible to 
 strangers. Moreover, if the service were under- 
 stood, it would be found, like the Jewish pulpit 
 utterances which are in English, to be largely 
 constructed on the supposition, enforced by ages 
 of repression, that this is a special service for a 
 special people. The constant references to the 
 sorrows of scattered Israel, and the number of 
 prayers for peace to be granted " unto all Israel," 
 deeply pathetic and obviously appropriate though 
 they be, would not encourage the idea that 
 Judaism is a religion for people who are not Jews. 
 A student might with indomitable patience study 
 for himself the history and the philosophy of the 
 great men of Israel, and discover, after long and 
 laborious inquiry, how much it contains which is 
 truly universalist, and how little after all there 
 is in it which has a merely local application. 
 Wandering in those mines of learning in spiritual 
 philosophy, he might be amazed, even when 
 examining disquisitions on purely racial ordi-
 
 78 FAITH AND EXPERIENCE. 
 
 nances, how intensely human they were. He 
 might be struck with the fact that some ritual 
 detail symbolises a living spiritual truth of the 
 deepest significance, with an appropriateness to 
 the spiritual needs of men who are not Jews. In 
 such a matter as the extraordinary minutiae of 
 rabbinical laws relating to the burial of the dead 
 and the consolation of the bereaved, he might, if 
 possessed of the necessary temperament, be as- 
 tounded at the wisdom and the humanity of the 
 intentions of the Jewish sages. Even in the cleans- 
 ing of the house for Passover, he may discover a 
 sound general proposition that in the poorest homes 
 dust and dirt should not be permitted to accumu- 
 late beyond a definite period. In the sanitary 
 arrangements he would doubtless be astonished 
 at the sense and prudence, scientific as well as 
 ethical, which are displayed in them. And in all 
 these things he might consider that the application 
 of such laws to masses of the Christian poor 
 would be a godsend. 
 
 But such migrations into regions of unknown 
 study are few and far between. My contention is 
 this, that at the present time, amid the multitude 
 of different movements for the promotion of the 
 moral and intellectual progress of our species, 
 conducted as they may be in England and 
 America with perfect freedom, a place of worship 
 might be opened in London by Jews with the 
 avowed object of setting forth to those who might 
 desire to come of their own free will, the concep-
 
 MISSIONARY JUDAISM. 79 
 
 tion of God, of worship, and of moral responsibility 
 which the people of Israel have maintained during 
 a period of three thousand years. Is it nothing 
 to tell men what has been the faith even of a 
 single group of their fellows during so vast a 
 period ? A faith which has sustained itself 
 through the deepest human experiences of 
 adversity, of sorrow, and of persecution has 
 not that faith something to testify? Is experi- 
 ence nothing ? And what shall we say of the 
 long, tragic, human story of love, of death, and 
 of tribulation ? Are these not the common 
 property of mankind ? What problem more 
 catholic in its human interest than these ? 
 
 And what have we to tell as the tried experi- 
 ence of our race as to the conception of the Deity 
 and of the relation between God and man? How- 
 soever restricted may have been the earliest 
 notions of the ancient Hebrews on this subject, 
 owing to. their inception into the first scenes of 
 the drama of history, has not a career developed 
 of growth, of maturity, and indeed of ripe age, 
 from which to draw lessons of life and the story 
 of our faith ? Have we not demonstrated to the 
 world that our religion has something about it 
 which can survive the very conditions from which 
 the conventional theologian would suppose it was 
 inseparable ? Passing through the successive 
 stages of a wandering tribe, a militant theocracy, 
 a self-governing subject race of the Roman 
 Empire, to a spiritual communion of scattered
 
 8O FAITH AND EXPERIENCE. 
 
 groups of families in every quarter of the globe, 
 and finally at this day a religious denomination 
 in the midst of latter-day democracies, holding 
 fast to the same aspirations, clinging to the same 
 moral precepts, and breathing the same confession 
 of faith in the one unseen God whom now all the 
 Western World acknowledge through a Jewish 
 incarnation. No people can speak of God and 
 of faith, of prayer and of the Divine love, with 
 greater authority and with deeper knowledge 
 than the people of Israel. After all it must be 
 admitted that the religious experiences of the 
 Jewish people are, above everything, human 
 experiences. The optimism of the Jews, without 
 which they would long since have perished in 
 despair, is an optimism of an intensely religious 
 kind. Their vitality is positively the product of 
 their religiousness. The deep-rooted belief which 
 they have inherited consists of the idea that there 
 is a close affinity between the human soul and 
 the Divine Being. There is an intimacy in this 
 relationship far closer than that existing in the 
 mind of the ordinary Christian between himself 
 and the Omnipresent. Less of fear and more of 
 love forms the Jewish conception of the position 
 of man to God. Merciful, kind, and gracious, are 
 the Divine attributes which seem to have fastened 
 upon the Jewish thought of God. In the second 
 commandment, where it is said that " He visiteth 
 the sins of the fathers upon the children,'' there 
 is an overwhelming balance on the side of mercy,
 
 MISSIONARY JUDAISM. 8 1 
 
 because that visitation is restricted to the " third 
 and fourth generations of them that hate " God, 
 whereas He shows "mercy to thousands of them 
 that love Him." This is one of those ideas 
 touching the relations of God and man which has 
 taken hold on the Jewish mind. I refer to it only 
 in this sense, not as any authoritative revelation, 
 though I do not deny that it may have such 
 signification also. The way in which Jews have 
 to teach their message to the world is not the 
 same as that in which the Catholic Church 
 claims to teach. That is to say, we do not 
 approach our neighbours with a declaration that 
 we alone possess by mystical powers the keys of 
 the gates of heaven ; but we have a faith which 
 is an experience, and we have to tell of our ex- 
 perience ; in other words, we bear witness of God, 
 The time appears to be ripe for a definite Theistic 
 movement, and the Jews cannot be said to be the 
 wrong people to conduct it. If there is anything 
 in what is called revelation, the element of ex- 
 perience is an extraordinary corroboration. If we 
 regard revelation, not in the miraculous sense of the 
 Day of Pentecost, but still the discovery of essential 
 spiritual truths, experience again is a tremendous 
 power. If there is a revelation of God in history, 
 in literature, and in human experience, what people 
 can testify as a people with such force as the people 
 of Israel ? Any strong Theistic and definitely 
 religious movement which may take place hereafter 
 must assuredly rest its work upon foundations 
 
 G
 
 82 FAITH AND EXPERIENCE. 
 
 which cannot be shaken by the contemporaneous 
 proceedings in the field of biblical criticism. What- 
 ever has been shown, or remains to be proven, as to 
 the authorship and date of the books of the Penta- 
 teuch and of the New Testament, the spiritual 
 experience of the Jewish people stands out as 
 something entirely independent and unmolested. 
 What we have to testify is not of the evidence of 
 an alleged miracle like that of the Easter morn, or, 
 indeed, of the passage of the Red Sea ; nor even of 
 the trumpet-blowing and thick darkness on the 
 Hill of Sinai. We speak only of a record of a vast 
 human experience in the necessity and the efficacy 
 of a life with God. The Israelite of to-day has as 
 much to teach on this subject as the Jew of eighteen 
 centuries ago. He has indeed a wider field of direct 
 religious influence if only he has the courage and 
 the personal gift of grace to exercise it. And here 
 I would endeavour to indicate briefly of what kind 
 of religion the modern Israelite may become again 
 an apostle to the Gentiles. 
 
 Apart from the orthodox Jew's belief that he is 
 the custodian of a written revelation intended for 
 mankind, and already to a large extent accepted, 
 there is the Reformed Jew, who, without fear of 
 examining the researches of biblical critics, has his 
 own personal faith. It is a conviction as firm and 
 as potent at least as that of his wandering ances- 
 tors who journeyed in a wilderness. God to him 
 is the greatest reality in human experience. The 
 bond of human brotherhood is greater far than that
 
 MISSIONARY JUDAISM. 83 
 
 of race. It is true he has no formulated creed or 
 catechism, but herein perhaps lies his chief strength. 
 Doctrines he certainly does hold, and theories as to 
 the problems of sin and death he cannot shirk. 
 There is, however, this difference between his doc- 
 trine and that of most formulated ones. He 
 believes absolutely in the harmony in the indisso- 
 lubility of religion and reason. At the same time 
 he does not attempt to deny that the element of 
 mystery is an over-mastering condition of life here 
 and of life hereafter. The New Testament injunc- 
 tion that the Kingdom of Heaven opens its gates to 
 those who become as little children is not new to 
 him. Self-surrender and perfect humility are the 
 conditions in which the highest spiritual truths are 
 apprehended. Vanity and pride veil the sight from 
 what is best. Sin is the gulf which separates the 
 human from the divine. Sin is conquerable not by 
 miraculous transactions, but by resolute human 
 effort in accord with a divinely-implanted power to 
 conquer evil. Prayer is the special privilege of 
 human nature, by which the consciousness of 
 the Divine Presence can be realised. It must 
 be strictly personal, and cannot be delegated to 
 another. 
 
 Neither is there any barrier in prayer between 
 an individual human conscience and him who is 
 the Father of spirits. Mediation is unknown to 
 any Jewish conception of worship. The supreme 
 truth about the Israelite's religion is that it is a 
 natural religion. Individualism has a real spiritual 
 G 2
 
 84 FAITH AND EXPERIENCE. 
 
 meaning. God is revealed to each separately and 
 distinctly, and no external or general revelation, 
 either by miracle or otherwise, is so precious as 
 that which may be personally felt by an effort of 
 complete resignation in sorrow, and a strong deter- 
 mination in prosperity to resist the temptations of 
 selfishness. God, who is the sovereign of perfect 
 righteousness and of awful purity, is unutterably 
 near to each individual soul, as if it alone existed. 
 The relation between the Divine and human is not 
 merely general, but is essentially personal. We 
 become nearer, or more distant, in our relation with 
 the Divine Being in the exact proportion of our 
 own personal morality. Living without God and 
 living with God are the two courses which are 
 possible to every man and woman. And the 
 standard of ethics or morality, however dis- 
 paraging, must have reference to the ideal perfec- 
 tion of the infinitely righteous God. The fact that 
 we have kinship with Him renders it possible to 
 live a very noble life. And though we are by the 
 finite conditions of our existence infinitesimal 
 atoms as compared with Him, there is practically 
 no limit to the moral possibilities for the develop- 
 ment of human character. Whilst the mind seems 
 abashed at the contemplation of a perfect ethical 
 ideal in the Divine Personality, there is nothing in 
 it to terrify or deaden human aspiration. This may 
 perhaps be termed a mystery, but it appears to be 
 one of the manifestations of the Divine goodness 
 which is known by the attribute of love. There is,
 
 MISSIONARY JUDAISM. 85 
 
 above all things, an unspeakable love on the part 
 of the Infinite Creator towards His creatures. And 
 we might, with some fitness, refer to the Hebrew 
 Psalmist's idea that righteousness and mercy have 
 met one another. Probably this is the most 
 wonderful solution ever conceived of the problem 
 of Divine perfection and human imperfection. In 
 human experience we have the counterpart of this 
 idea, for it is admitted that the more sinless a man 
 is the more commiseration he has for other people. 
 The doctrine of the love of God is no doubt the 
 most potent of all truths which may be said to 
 have been revealed to mankind. Of course, the 
 human counterpart (which, generally speaking, is 
 the parental and the filial affection) enables us to 
 form some conception of what Divine love really 
 means. Human affection, in its purest manifesta- 
 tions, sometimes between persons not united by 
 blood, is an obvious illustration, or rather effect, of 
 the Divine love which regulates the relations 
 between God and humanity. A very earnest 
 Christian has recently written a book to show that 
 love is the greatest thing on earth. That is a truth 
 which must be ever present in the propagation of 
 a Theistic religion. 
 
 Such, in brief, is the character of the religious 
 teaching which members of the House of Israel 
 who have not separated themselves from their people 
 might promulgate. Congregations could assemble in 
 London and New York, composed of persons of 
 Christian birth who are unattached to any one of
 
 86 FAITH AND EXPERIENCE. 
 
 the Christian communions. The time seems to have 
 arrived when there might be an independent 
 Theistic movement independent in the sense that 
 it would be neither bound by the ritual of Judaism 
 nor be identical with Christian Unitarianism. It 
 certainly would have sympathy with such a move- 
 ment as the Theistic Church in London, founded 
 by that able, single-minded man, the Rev. Charles 
 Voysey ; but its relations with the Old Testament 
 and with an historic past would have the effect of 
 bringing its adherents into a fellowship at least 
 with the most ancient religious organisation. 
 There are indeed important details of Jewish 
 ritual closely knit with its deepest religious beliefs 
 that might be recommended to and adopted by 
 persons who are not Israelites. Even the most 
 racial observance, the Feast of Passover, could be 
 celebrated as the commemoration of the principle 
 of human liberty. And those Hebrew Festivals 
 which have their origin in the summer and autumn 
 changes would serve as valuable landmarks in a 
 natural religion. But with greater force could we 
 recommend the annual day of repentance. The 
 Day of Atonement is, above all things, connected 
 with that alternative already mentioned in regard 
 to the problem of sin. Without the doctrine of 
 the Fall and miraculous redemption, sin and 
 remission, or forgiveness of sin, must for ever 
 confront the religious conscience. Repentance, 
 renunciation and a reconciliation with God can 
 never lose their claim upon the intellect as well as
 
 MISSIONARY JUDAISM. 87 
 
 upon the heart of those who believe that they have 
 relations with the one Perfect Being. The modern 
 conception of the Day of Atonement is singularly 
 universal in its appropriateness and in its tendency. 
 
 It is scarcely necessary to speak of that great 
 Hebrew institution which, from its inception, was 
 essentially applicable to the physical and moral 
 needs of all nations, and which has been generally 
 accepted, namely, the weekly Day of Rest and 
 Devotion. A liturgy could be compiled on the 
 basis of those already in use in the synagogue 
 translated and revised in a manner to exhibit all 
 those elements of Judaism which are truly uni- 
 versal. It is scarcely necessary to add that 
 practices which are distinctively Oriental, and not 
 identical with the Jewish faith, would not be 
 adopted in the plan of worship here proposed. 
 Such matters as the covering of heads and the 
 separation of the sexes, and the abstention from 
 kneeling in prayer, are mere accidents of a national 
 history, and the commonplace badges of enforced 
 separateness. They would have no meaning for 
 any ordinary assembly of English or American 
 worshippers. 
 
 Such a movement as I have endeavoured most 
 feebly and imperfectly to indicate may appear to 
 some minds, Jewish and Christian alike, as a vague, 
 empty dream. The question which underlies such 
 dreams or aspirations is the question of faith and of 
 conviction. Those who are persuaded that they 
 are right in their conception of religion must at
 
 88 FAITH AND EXPERIENCE. 
 
 least desire the propagation of their view-, unless 
 it be that the conception is such as to exclude the 
 idea that they themselves are types of other 
 mortals. Belief and conviction, whether in science 
 or in politics, or religion, logically involve, how- 
 ever, the thought of a mission. The tendency of 
 modern and of Western civilisation is against the 
 ancient partitioning of the human family. Where- 
 as in former times, men seized upon what was 
 different, and upon what could raise barriers, now 
 we look for the means of union, of assimilation, 
 and of broad human bonds. The separateness of 
 the Jewish people is to the mind of the Reformed 
 Jew not an end in itself, but a means. The long, 
 historic isolation of Israel is to be compared with 
 the isolation of the student or of the philosopher 
 who is separating himself in order to equip himself 
 for a career which is to affect others. And even 
 the most orthodox Jew holds this doctrine, though 
 he holds it in a manner more mystical and unde- 
 fined than that in which the Reformed Jew might 
 conceive it. The great majority of Israelites even 
 in England would not participate in the active 
 propagation of their faith. But such a work has 
 always been the work of the few, not of the many. 
 It would not, therefore, involve any serious rupture 
 within the Jewish fold. The individuals who 
 would engage in it should be persons who are 
 absolutely identified with the religious communion 
 of their fathers, and they would lose much of their 
 spiritual influence if their preaching to the general
 
 MISSIONARY JUDAISM. 89 
 
 community were to be the means of removing 
 them from the synagogue. It may be that there 
 are few in number among Jewish congregations 
 who are so constituted as to render them qualified 
 to undertake this mission. One of the most 
 essential conditions of such a Jewish reformer 
 must be a very high development of human sym- 
 pathy. Such a qualification would stand only next 
 to that of intense and all-absorbing faith in the 
 religion he has to teach. In the first instance such 
 a movement would depend primarily on the 
 personality of those who initiated it. It sometimes 
 happens that men are the creatures of circum- 
 stances, at other times that men appear to have 
 been born for the age. Nothing less than the fire 
 and the spiritual genius of a Wesley, a Baxter, or a 
 Mendelssohn would assure the success of the first 
 steps to the foundation of a Jewish, English, 
 Theistic Church. On the other hand, men of less 
 scholarship than any of these might lay the 
 seeds of such a movement, but they must be men 
 of no less strength of conviction and purity of 
 purpose. Whilst the mention of such a movement 
 may awaken the sneers of a pessimist, it is not im- 
 possible that it may be more practicable in the 
 near future than any far-reaching reform within the 
 Jewish body itself. And if Jewish reform were to 
 take this direction during the present generation, 
 it may after all be the strongest act possible to 
 justify the claims of Higher Judaism.
 
 FAITH AND EXPERIENCE 
 
 REFORMED JUDAISM. 
 
 ["Jewish Quarterly Review? January, 1894.] 
 
 IN the fifth volume of this REVIEW I ventured to 
 submit some suggestions upon the missionary 
 character of Judaism in relation to those who do 
 not belong to the Jewish race. In that essay I 
 endeavoured to point out that the Jewish religion 
 was one which embodied spiritual conceptions and 
 religious beliefs of a character suitable to the 
 religious needs of men and women beyond the 
 confines of the race of Israel. There may be, and 
 undoubtedly there is, some difference among Jews 
 themselves as to the elements of Judaism which 
 are entitled to command the first place in their 
 own judgment, and which are of universal applica- 
 tion. I propose, therefore, to indicate here that 
 there is a certain mission which the House of 
 Israel owes to itself. It is possible that the kind 
 of Judaism which I consider capable of acceptance 
 by non-Jews is not altogether that same Judaism 
 which the mass of the Jewish people recognise as 
 constituting their religion. For example, the mass 
 of Israelites hold to a conception of worship that 
 differs very essentially from that which alone is 
 capable of commending itself to the Western mind, 
 as indeed it is the only one that appeals to those 
 who believe in the diffusion of Israel's faith.
 
 REFORMED JUDAISM. pi 
 
 The divergence between Jews of the present 
 generation is a matter which cannot be ignored. 
 For although the fundamental dogma known as 
 the unity of God is accepted by every section of 
 Israelites, there are distinct differences in religious 
 conception between those who may be described 
 as Rabbinical and as Reform Jews. Now, in using 
 these designations, it must be understood that, 
 however reluctant one is to do so, the necessities 
 of language are such that it is scarcely possible to 
 refer to different schools of thought without the 
 use of some generic terms. The word usually 
 employed as the antithesis of reform is " orthodox." 
 In my view, that expression is logically objection- 
 able in the sense in which it is used by the Jewish 
 Community. What they actually mean by it is riot 
 simply conventionality, the sense in which the term 
 is employed in the Anglican Church. They mean 
 that kind of Judaism which rests entirely and ex- 
 clusively upon Rabbinical authority. That is to say 
 the Jewish religion in their view is that, and that 
 alone, which has been defined to them by a long, 
 series of traditions upheld and transmitted upon the 
 authority of the Rabbis. This is nominally at least 
 the Judaism of the vast majority of Jews in England, 
 counting them in their corporate numbers as so 
 many congregations. The other Judaism for which 
 I would desire vigorous missionary efforts, and 
 which is the only one that can be fully embraced 
 by the modern European or American, is based 
 upon another kind of tradition from that of
 
 92 FAITH AND EXPERIEN3E. 
 
 Rabbinical authority. It is the tradition of the 
 Jewish people testifying to the experience of 
 natural religion, and is interpreted independently 
 of those prescriptions which constitute Rabbinical 
 Judaism. The genius of Judaism is that it is a 
 story of natural religion, of spiritual aspiration 
 among individuals and families through a long 
 series of ages. The revelation of which Rabbinism 
 makes so much is only the tested and recorded 
 result of spiritual experiences. But it is revelation 
 in the supernatural and miraculous sense which 
 stands supreme in the minds of Jews who live 
 under the sway of Talmudical prescription. 
 Traditional Judaism, therefore, has two distinct 
 meanings : (a) The traditions of Rabbinical 
 authority ; ($) The spiritual experience of the 
 Jewish race. Now, this experience is seen under 
 different aspects, and here again we have the two 
 distinct schools of thought which, for linguistic 
 convenience, I have ventured to designate by the 
 two separate terms of "Rabbinism" and " Reform." 
 One word here as to Rabbinism. I wish it to be 
 understood that I use that expression in no sense 
 of disrespect. On the contrary, it represents much 
 of the loftiest and purest features of the Jewish 
 religion. The Rabbis as a body have been the 
 true conservators of that very spiritual Judaism in 
 regard to which we modern Jews have still a 
 mission to our own race as well as a mission to the 
 world. Tradition, and, indeed, Rabbinical tradi- 
 tion, has played a triumphant part in the work of
 
 REFORMED JUDAISM. p3 
 
 transmitting to us of this age the deepest truths of 
 ages that are passed. Rabbinism, therefore, is 
 simply a term used here to denote that concep- 
 tion of Judaism which is commonly, but, I think, 
 inaccurately termed " Orthodox." Now, the 
 characteristic of that Judaism, which distinguishes 
 it from the other Judaism which I desire to 
 indicate is that it places bounds and limits to the 
 expression of the religious idea. Another and 
 highly important feature is that it identifies 
 spiritual religion with ritual. The ritual of 
 Judaism, at once historic, traditional, and possess- 
 ing the majesty of fixedness, is part, and an 
 inalienable part, of the Judaism of the Rabbinic 
 school. The authority of the Rabbis refuses to 
 entertain the proposition that ritualism may be 
 severed from religion. Judaism in their view has 
 a double aspect, both spiritual and ceremonial at 
 the same time. A transgression against the Ritual 
 Law is equal to a transgression against the Moral 
 one. In fact the two are so interwoven that the 
 ethical element is made as applicable to the one as 
 to the other. From their standpoint they are 
 logical in this attitude. For they maintain not 
 merely that the Ritual Ordinances and the Moral 
 Law proceed from the same Divine authority, but 
 that the one is co-ordinate in importance with the 
 other. To disobey the law of circumcision, or to 
 eat forbidden food, or to neglect the observance of 
 the Sabbath is, for a Jew of this type, just as 
 sinful as it would be for an ordinary person to
 
 94 FAITH AND EXPERIENCE 
 
 disregard the laws of charity, the rights of property, 
 or the laws of chastity. This assumption of identity 
 between two things which appear radically different 
 to the Western mind is a tremendous demand 
 upon the conscience a demand so great that it is 
 becoming more and more difficult to recognise it 
 in the present generation. Reformed Judaism, on 
 the other hand, recognises an inherent distinction 
 between ritualism and spirituality. The two may 
 be blended. They may work in harmony, and it 
 is therefore possible for a reformer to observe all 
 the minutiae of traditional Judaism, but in his 
 innermost conscience he will preserve a clear line 
 of separation between the two. Hence Reform, in 
 the sense in which I would fain advocate it, does 
 not necessarily involve a violation of those ritual 
 observances which to the old-fashioned Israelite 
 are all important, but it does involve a mental 
 attitude that is distinctly different from that' of his 
 so-called " orthodox " co-religionists. 
 
 Admitting, as every student of Jewish history 
 must admit, the disciplinary value which ritualism 
 possessed in the middle ages, one cannot be blind 
 to the fact that it has had other consequences as 
 well. The extraordinary detail with which ritualism 
 pursued the life of the Israelite, and its extreme 
 rigour, had the effect of deadening, to some extent 
 at least, the natural impulses of the spiritual life. 
 The office of prayer, which is the very rock of the 
 personal religious life, has in itself sustained some 
 injury by the excessive amount of prescription with
 
 REFORMED JUDAISM. 95 
 
 which it was laden. A child whose earliest con- 
 ception of prayer is associated with the repetition of 
 lengthy formularies, is apt to become stunted in its 
 spiritual growth. There is little freedom left to 
 the human soul to cultivate its own desire to speak 
 for itself in the Divine Presence. Multitudinous 
 words are set down for its use in a book, and there 
 are not many of those words which can ever 
 become its own natural language. The essence of 
 the religious idea is free communion with God. 
 The shortness of life, the swiftness of time are 
 alone sufficient to prevent the habit of free and 
 spontaneous prayer when the set formularies are so 
 numerous and often so incomprehensible. The 
 habit of prayer is thus checked at the very period 
 of life when it could best be cultivated. A very 
 simple illustration of this spiritual drawback is the 
 case of grace after meals. A Jewish child brought 
 up under the old system is taught to say by rote 
 after every meal a number of pages which it has 
 committed to memory, instead of uttering some 
 simple and natural expression of its gratitude to 
 God. This illustration can be indefinitely 
 multiplied, covering the entire range of the 
 religious life. Any one who fully carries out the 
 Rabbinical prescriptions as to prayer can find little 
 opportunity for personal communion with God. 
 This is a matter of transcendent importance, for it 
 really covers the whole area of the spiritual life, 
 and lies at the root of that conduct which is 
 founded upon a religious basis. It is notorious
 
 Q6 FAITH AND EXPERIENCE. 
 
 that, whilst there are no people who say so many 
 prayers as the " orthodox " Jews, there are none 
 who so rarely pray. The natural prayer is not 
 obligatory, whereas the artificial or prescribed 
 prayer is. To the old-fashioned Israelite, worship 
 means the reading of a book, or the recital from 
 memory of that which he once read. He has 
 never acquired the faculty of speaking in the 
 Divine ear exactly what is in his heart. 
 
 There can be but little doubt that there are two 
 distinct conceptions of the Jewish religion enter- 
 tained by persons who are equally attached in 
 loyalty and affection to their race, and who both 
 regard Judaism as a divine message. Moreover, 
 they both believe in the Jewish mission. They 
 differ as to the manner of giving it effect. Between 
 these two kinds of men there are in regard to 
 outward observances very marked differences 
 indeed. And such differences do in truth arise 
 from the contrasts in their actual conceptions of 
 the religious life. Upon the vital subject of divine 
 worship the difference is particularly significant. 
 That which is impressive to the one is repellent to 
 the other. Upon the subject of the manner in 
 which worship should be conducted, the difference 
 of opinion and of feeling between one Jew and 
 another is probably as wide as anything which 
 distinguishes the Buddhist worship from that of 
 the Greek and Latin Churches. There is scarcely, 
 indeed, a common ground upon this particular 
 subject. The persistent effort on the part of the
 
 REFORMED JUDAISM. 97 
 
 Rabbinical Jew to preserve every element of 
 Orientalism, in utter disregard of the trans- 
 formation in his own temperament, and its 
 complete unfitness for Oriental methods, is a point 
 upon which no compromise is possible. This 
 Orientalism in the system of worship, however 
 picturesque as viewed from a distance and observed 
 by an outsider, is to a religious-minded Jew who is 
 not of that school of thought an absolute deterrent. 
 It is an obstacle in his path. Either it alienates 
 him from religious communion with his brethren, or 
 it completely destroys his faculty for worship. No 
 one who is not a Jew can well estimate the 
 appalling effect of the popular Jewish manner of 
 worship upon that Jew who is not in sympathy 
 with it. There are two distinct objects in the 
 Rabbinical form of worship. One is, of course, the 
 spiritual object, that of drawing men's hearts near 
 to their Maker ; and the other is to preserve intact 
 the symbols of a remote Oriental ancestry. The 
 combination of these two purposes seems to be a 
 philosophical impossibility, and therefore one of 
 them must be sacrificed to the other. Human 
 nature is constituted in a way which renders the 
 forms that properly belong to one age unsuitable 
 for another. The manner in which people live and 
 express their thoughts must necessarily vary 
 according to the circumstances of time, place, 
 and education. The costume, metaphorically 
 speaking, of ancient Judaea or of the early 
 Roman Empire is not consonant with the 
 
 H
 
 98 FAITH AND EXPERIENCE. 
 
 idiosyncrasies of later ages and of different 
 countries. The fundamental religious beliefs may 
 be the same, but it is humanly impossible that 
 they can be expressed exactly in the same way. 
 But there are still further differences besides 
 those of mere climate and period. There are the 
 actual contrasts arising from political and intel- 
 lectual conditions. The temperament of a human 
 being must necessarily vary when he is living as a 
 pariah in a foreign land, afflicted by persecution, 
 and when he is a free citizen of a State where 
 there is no persecution. There is an unspeakable 
 difference between the conditions of enforced 
 separateness and those of political assimilation. 
 The habit of life is transformed, the individual 
 temperament is changed. To allege that the 
 religious symbols suited to one condition are 
 equally appropriate for another that is totally 
 different is to attempt to do in words what cannot 
 be done in reason. The experiment is doomed to 
 failure. And the experience of the present cen- 
 tury in England the only period when the matter 
 can be said to have been fairly tested proves that 
 the loss to the cause of spiritual religion is 
 greater than the gain to that of external racial 
 continuity. 
 
 The alteration in the manner of public worship 
 which has been effected among the English Jews 
 in the present century is almost infinitesimal. 
 Substantially they worship in the same manner as 
 their ancestors did a thousand years ago, and as
 
 REFORMED JUDAISM. 99 
 
 their brethren do in the present day throughout 
 Russia and Poland. There is no correspondence 
 whatever in the change of their ritual observances 
 with the other changes that have come over every 
 other department of their lives. Neither is there 
 any prospect that within the lines of Rabbinical 
 Judaism an organic change will take place. A 
 change not less than that which distinguishes the 
 Oriental from the Occidental is the aim of that re- 
 form which I would advocate ; and such a change 
 would not be regarded as permissible by any Rab- 
 binical authority as at present constituted. What, 
 then, is the future of Judaism ? Historical con- 
 tinuity, no doubt, is assured ; identity of forms and 
 ceremonies is guaranteed ; but what of spiritual 
 expansion within these restrictions ? What of 
 the real message of religion so carefully treasured 
 by countless generations ? Can English and 
 American Jews be sure that their descendants will 
 be able to receive that message through a medium 
 which is growing less and less serviceable to each 
 successive generation? This is the problem for 
 the present generation of English-speaking Jews 
 and Jewesses. Can we pretend that the outward 
 forms of religion have the same attribute of eternity 
 which belong to those divine truths which they are 
 said to represent ? Is not the idea of eternity, or 
 at least of unalterableness, the special and ex- 
 clusive attribute of what is abstract ? In dealing 
 with this question it seems necessary to refer 
 briefly to the common opinion that outward forms 
 H 2
 
 100 FAITH AND EXPERIENCE. 
 
 are of little or no consequence. By a strange 
 paradox, this is the answer put forth by Rabbinical 
 Jews to those who now desire organic changes in 
 the ritual. But in reality, these very people hold 
 forms to be of so much consequence that they will 
 not yield even to the bitter cry that such ob- 
 servances fail to appeal to the present generation. 
 It is, however, a broad truth of singular import, 
 that outward forms are not casual and trifling 
 things. They profoundly affect the inner springs 
 of religion, both on its spiritual and its moral 
 sides. 
 
 In ordinary affairs, outside the sphere of religion, 
 external forms are of so much consequence that 
 many are unable to digest food which is perfectly 
 healthy unless it is prepared and served in a 
 particular way. There is no greater popular 
 fallacy than the cry that external manners and 
 outward things are of little consequence. Numerous 
 illustrations could be cited to show that, in 
 various stages of civilisation which represent 
 different conditions of men and women, such 
 matters are in reality quite vital. In religion, 
 more than in most things, outward forms constitute 
 all the difference which distinguishes the natural 
 temperaments of one group of people from an- 
 other. This accounts for the fact that Christianity, 
 which is fundamentally the same, so far as the 
 central doctrine of the resurrection of Christ is 
 concerned, to every Christian in Europe, yet pre- 
 sents the extraordinary varieties which may be
 
 REFORMED JUDAISM. IOI 
 
 instanced by the mention of the Roman Catholic 
 Church and of the Salvation Army. As to 
 doctrine, the differences are as nothing compared 
 with their concurrence upon the questions of the 
 Incarnation, the Atonement, and the Resurrection. 
 They differ largely as to externals and to discipline. 
 And yet, if it were not possible to be a Christian 
 except upon the terms of the Salvation Army, or 
 upon those of the Church of Rome, Christendom 
 would be enormously diminished. The same truth 
 is even more applicable to the Jewish religion. 
 Even if such a Reform Judaism as I desire were in 
 existence, its differences from Rabbinic or tra- 
 ditional Judaism would be mainly in the sphere of 
 outward forms, and only slightly in that of Dogma. 
 There would inevitably be a striking contrast 
 between a Rabbinic synagogue and a Reformed 
 one ; but the faith would be practically identical. 
 The position of Rabbinic Judaism, on the other 
 hand, is this : You can only belong to the Jewish 
 religion on certain terms. Here comes the need 
 for that revolution which the present generation of 
 emancipated Jews is called upon to institute. We 
 claim to profess the same faith as the author of the 
 I43rd Psalm. We desire that same free communion 
 with the Eternal Spirit which the Israelite who com- 
 posed that Psalm enjoyed. We claim to hold that 
 communion in our own way, and not according to 
 prescription. I know I shall be told that such a 
 claim will be the forerunner of many sects within 
 Judaism. And here it is necessary to speak of sects.
 
 102 FAITH AND EXPERIENCE. 
 
 There was a time in every country when there 
 was an intolerance of sect, and when uniformity was 
 the watchword. The word uniformity has lost its 
 charm and the word sect has lost its sting. The 
 fundamental dogmas of Judaism are of such in- 
 comparable breadth, and the racial tie of Israel is so 
 incalculably strong, that even the multiplication of 
 religious sects within Israel's fold presents no cause 
 for disruption or alarm. We have reached a stage 
 in the history of Judaism, and in the history of our 
 race, when there is room, ample and abundant, for 
 varied expressions of those Hebrew truths which 
 are eternal. But this fear of sects becoming 
 numerous is misplaced. For from the very nature 
 of the case they could not number more than they 
 do at present. We already possess the two dis- 
 tinct rituals or Minhagim of the Sephardim and 
 the Ashkenazim, with their different Hebrew 
 pronunciations, and their separate organisation 
 and government in the same town. Then come 
 the Reform synagogues, already established in 
 England, America, and Germany, of which scarcely 
 two are exactly alike. These reforms, so far as 
 England is concerned, have been what I would 
 respectfully describe as timid and tinkering. Not 
 one of them has effected that organic change in 
 the externals of public worship which is so urgently 
 required. There should be a definite change in 
 our attitude towards those forms which have no 
 justification in the present age, except that they 
 are traditional. I freely admit the powerful claim
 
 REFORMED JUDAISM. IO3 
 
 which that word tradition has upon the intellectual 
 judgment of every thoughtful person. But what I 
 contend is that the tradition of the spiritual 
 religion of Judaism is being sacrificed for the 
 tradition of its mediaeval customs. The shell of 
 Judaism is being studiously preserved, while the 
 religion of the Hebrew prophets and psalmists is 
 becoming obscured. The revision of the Prayer 
 Book is of vital consequence. The prayers require 
 to be reset and recast, in order to express at once 
 the historical continuity of Israel and the religious 
 thoughts of people of our own time. It is surely 
 incongruous that the prayer which is offered in a 
 London synagogue for the Queen and her Govern- 
 ment should be expressed in precisely the same 
 words that are used in Russia for the Czar and his 
 rule. If they are appropriate in the one case, they 
 must be inappropriate in the other. 
 
 It would appear that the reason for the strong 
 opposition to reform is due to the obscuration of 
 the supreme elements of the Jewish religion. And 
 what are these elements ? Do they begin and end 
 with the unity of God ? Surely not ! The people 
 of Israel have transmitted a religion which I 
 believe is adaptable to persons of every race and 
 clime. It certainly includes faith in the Universal 
 Father of the spirits of all flesh. And that faith is 
 free from the terrors of a God of wrath, of an 
 angry Deity, of a God who has accursed His own 
 children, and made it necessary to ransom them 
 afresh. The Hebrew conception of God, knowing
 
 IO4 FAITH AND EXPERIENCE. 
 
 no need of mediation, holding forth free access for 
 the human conscience to its Creator, is this not a 
 message of inestimable bounty to the world at 
 large? The question arises, Do Jews themselves 
 comprehend what it is which the religious genius 
 of their race has revealed to mankind? Judaism 
 freed from its racial padlocks, becomes transformed 
 into a religion at once limitless in its application 
 and divine in its essence. Christianity in its 
 earlier history did but faintly translate to a pagan 
 world the inspiration of its Hebrew founders. 
 Christianity is itself an earnest of a world-wide 
 Theism, and of a kingdom of heaven which is 
 within. Judaism in its ultimate expansion not in 
 the Churches founded at Calvary, but in the wider 
 and more Catholic Church founded out of .a fresh 
 reform within the Synagogue itself is nothing 
 short of a message to mankind betokening the 
 love of a universal God and the brotherhood of the 
 human race. Bursting the bounds of locality and 
 the limits of a family tradition, it is destined to 
 become the religion of a larger humanity than any 
 which is at present embraced either within the 
 Western or the Eastern Churches of Christendom. 
 Judaism, with its independence of the crushing 
 dogma of the Fall and of the normal perdition 
 of the human soul ; Judaism, with its glowing 
 optimism of free salvation to all human beings, 
 with its consecrated fire of passionate devotion to 
 a Being without form or shape, and with its fervid 
 love of a tender Deity who is merciful and long-
 
 REFORMED JUDAISM. IO5 
 
 suffering, has without doubt a future of statelier 
 and of more soul-stirring magnitude than any 
 religion which the history of the world has 
 produced. The justification of long ages of sepa- 
 ration, sometimes enforced from without, not in- 
 frequently established from within, will become 
 manifest in the sight of those very people who have 
 wailed and prayed over a so-called Christ-rejecting 
 people. Continuity will be established between 
 one era in the history of this world-famed ancestral 
 faith and another. The work of the Apostles in 
 the first century of the Christian era will come to 
 be regarded as an instalment of the Hebrew 
 message to the world. Christianity, in its later 
 and broader developments will carry with it so 
 many tokens, one by one, of the simpler and 
 sublimer Theism of which it is only the 
 preparation. 
 
 All this progress and advance depends upon the 
 Jews themselves, upon those who are emancipated. 
 It rests with us to elect between archaeology and 
 religion. The problem forces itself upon modern 
 Jews here in England whether they will be content 
 to keep their treasure locked up in dusty safes, and 
 hidden from the view of mankind, or make it 
 known and spread it broadcast. 
 
 The whole of this problem resolves itself into the 
 question of reform. Do -the Jews themselves rightly 
 understand what it is they have suffered for through 
 the ages ? Have they themselves a right concep- 
 tion of the faith which is in them ? Are the
 
 106 FAITH AND EXPERIENCE. 
 
 Jewish people, as a body, conscious of the fact that 
 their religion is essentially a universal religion, and 
 that it is one which is specially capable of satisfying 
 the natural cravings of the human soul? It is 
 doubtful whether these facts have been realised. 
 It is more than probable that under the dominion 
 of Rabbinical prescription, the ordinary view 
 entertained by Jews and Jewesses of their religion 
 is that it is entirely a family religion, and one not 
 designed for the spiritual requirements of other 
 people. It is not brought home to the conscience 
 of the Jewish community that their fondest prayers 
 are those in which every religious nature in 
 Christendom delights. The very fact that every 
 nation of Christendom has unreservedly taken into 
 its own language the prayers and hymns of the 
 Jewish psalmists is a conclusive proof that Judaism, 
 as expounded in those Psalms, is the religion of 
 a much larger world than the people of Israel. 
 Such a Psalm as the I43rd, to which I have already 
 alluded, and a number of others, show that the 
 religious genius of Israel has touched the keynote 
 of the universal religious consciousness. The 5ist 
 Psalm is one more among many illustrations. 
 Again, the iO3rd, the i39th, and the goth Psalms 
 all reveal spiritual experiences which are neither 
 national nor communal, because they are un- 
 speakably human. It has never been suggested 
 that compositions of this character have not 
 proceeded cut of the inmost sanctuary of the 
 Jewish religion. Nor are we aware that either
 
 REFORMED JUDAISM. IO/ 
 
 Greek or Roman has bequeathed to the Western 
 World anything precisely of this nature. The real 
 verities of Judaism are just those thoughts and 
 aspirations to which Psalms like these give 
 utterance, not its ritual or its Rabbinical observances. 
 The soul to which that wonderful verse in the 
 I43rd Psalm is a reality, namely, " Teach me to do 
 
 thy will ; thy spirit is good ; lead me into 
 
 the land of uprightness " that soul has grasped 
 the substance of spiritual religion which can never 
 be bettered either by the most elaborate ritual or 
 the most complex metaphysical creed. No reli- 
 gious voice in Europe could ever venture to 
 dispute this proposition. Many have sought to fit 
 into those words, and into others like them, some 
 creed which was not in the mind of the person 
 who first conceived them. But what we may claim 
 for Judaism is that the thoughts, the strivings 
 of every devout soul, are just those thoughts 
 and those strivings which constitute the sub- 
 stance of the Hebrew Faith. A God, who is the 
 perfection of love as well as the perfection of 
 knowledge, is the highest Being who has ever 
 been conceived. No race and no Church have 
 contemplated a Deity with attributes more 
 universal than these. It was a retrogression on 
 the part of Paul when he stooped to represent 
 God with human passions, requiring a compromise 
 between the demands of His justice and the 
 demands of His mercy. Paul, I would venture to 
 submit, had not fully grasped the highest ideal of
 
 108 FAITH AND EXPERIENCE. 
 
 Deity as we find it in such Psalms as those I have 
 mentioned, and in the Jewish Liturgy of a later 
 date. We have in the New Testament and the 
 Apocrypha other instances of the intensity with 
 which individual Israelites had apprehended the 
 Divine Being. " In my Father's house are many 
 mansions," and " Inasmuch as ye do it to the least 
 of these ye do it unto me," and " Pray to thy 
 Father which is in secret," are all so many frag- 
 ments of religious genius, which abundantly testify 
 to the universality of the religious idea as conceived 
 by the spokesmen of the Jewish race. With his 
 usual picturesque exaggeration the late Lord 
 Beaconsfield observed in his life of Lord George 
 Bentick that " No one ever wrote under the 
 inspiration of the holy spirit except a Jew." 
 There was development, however, in those writings, 
 and one Jew excelled another time after time in 
 his wider conception of a Universal God. More 
 than one Rabbi of the Middle Ages has excelled 
 some of the Apostles in his conception of God. 
 But none of them have surpassed, if any have 
 reached, the spiritual heights which were attained 
 by the unknown Hebrew who composed the I39th 
 Psalm. Here we have the story of the individual 
 soul, stripped of nationality and caste, in its 
 personal and secret relations with the Divine 
 Being. Here is likeness to God. Here is affinity 
 between the created and immortal soul on the one 
 hand, and the eternal Divine Fountain of Love on 
 the other. In connection with such language
 
 REFORMED JUDAISM. IOg 
 
 terms like those of " Jew " and " Gentile " shrink 
 into nothingness, and we have before us the 
 abstract human and the abstract Divine singularly 
 blended into a harmony, which can only be 
 likened to that of mother and child. The tender- 
 ness and catholicity of this Psalm unmask the 
 false theory that, up till the Christian era, Judaism 
 conceived a God of vengeance and a tribal God. 
 If, in the age of Christ, reform within the Jewish 
 community had been possible, a very different 
 religious history would have followed from that 
 which has disfigured the face of Europe for a 
 thousand years and more. Still, in spite of the 
 compromise of the first of those centuries, the 
 spiritual genius of the House of Israel has slowly 
 penetrated the Western mind. In every translation 
 of the Hebrew Scriptures, as well as in their use 
 in the New Testament, we perceive the message of 
 Judaism to mankind. At the present time we find 
 in England a true religious bond between the 
 educated Christian and the educated Jew. There 
 is scarcely any difference at all between the 
 Christian Theist and the Reformed Jew. If Jews 
 and Christians would each in their turn recognise 
 this bond, and seek to cultivate it, a new era would 
 be initiated in the religious history of mankind. 
 
 The special object of this essay is to place before 
 my own brethren in race and creed the paramount 
 claims of that kind of reform which seems 
 essential to the furtherance of Israel's mission. 
 We stand in need at the present moment of a
 
 1 10 FAITH AND EXPERIENCE. 
 
 loosening of the tie which has so long bound the 
 ritual of one particular age to the changing 
 religious sentiments of all subsequent ages, a tie 
 which tends to suffocate those religious sentiments 
 with the strings of an antique but outworn ritual. 
 We require to adapt our eternal faith to the 
 changed temperament and the altered education of 
 new generations. The future triumph of Judaism 
 can never be thwarted, but it may be delayed by 
 a want of proportion in our estimate of the relation 
 in which an historic ritual stands to permanent 
 truths. So long as we permit our youth to 
 discover that the first kindling of the religious 
 flame within them takes place in a Christian place 
 of worship and not in a Jewish one, we are 
 retarding the progress of our Mission. There is 
 every reason why this grave difficulty, so loosely 
 and lightly estimated by the general community 
 of Jews, should speedily be obviated. When we 
 have removed this one obstacle, then, indeed, will 
 Jews and Christians be able to unite in the 
 utterances of those striking words : " Mine eyes 
 have seen thy salvation, which shall be a light to 
 lighten the Gentiles, and to be the glory of thy 
 people Israel."
 
 THE UNIVERSAL ELEMENT IN JUDAISM. Ill 
 
 THE UNIVERSAL ELEMENT IN 
 JUDAISM* 
 
 IN complying with the request of the Editor of 
 this publication to write an article for its anni- 
 versary number upon the "Universal element in 
 Judaism," I ask myself the question What is that 
 element in any religious system which can be said 
 to be universal ? It is something which is free 
 from the tints of separateness, independent of any 
 mark that would be distinctive of nationality, race, 
 or tribe. In other words, it must be that which is 
 specially human, an idea or a belief or a group of 
 thoughts which appeal straightway to human 
 nature, irrespective of such idiosyncrasies or moods 
 as betoken the limits of locality. What is that 
 in Judaism which answers to this description ? 
 Some persons would deny, blindly I think, that 
 Judaism incorporates anything which is not of the 
 nature of a caste religion. The misconception and 
 ignorance about the Jewish religion is one of the 
 astounding facts of modern times. The supposition 
 that because the Jewish race has been separate and 
 
 * This essay appeared in the anniversary number of the 
 Lyceum Weekly of Keneseth Israel, Philadelphia, U.S.A., 
 1894.
 
 112 FAITH AND EXPERIENCE. 
 
 distinct for three thousand years, there is nothing 
 which is universal in its religion, represents the 
 low-water mark of ignorance and misconception 
 in regard to the subject. 
 
 The separateness or the distinctiveness of the 
 Jewish people and the universality of the religion 
 which they are preserving are two facts that are 
 supposed to be incongruous. The incongruity, 
 however, is only apparent, and by no means real. 
 In truth, there is nothing incongruous in the case ; 
 on the contrary, viewed in a broad philosophic 
 light, the separateness of the Jewish people is 
 nothing but a means to an end, the end being 
 the ultimate propagation of something which they 
 have preserved by keeping themselves apart, 
 namely their religion. 
 
 Most religious systems of the world hang upon 
 the name of some special individual, either historic 
 or fictional, who is identified with a particular soil. 
 This, probably, is the case with the religions of 
 India, China, and those of the ruder populations 
 of Africa. Even Mohammedanism, despite its 
 inherent doctrine of monotheism, is fastened to a 
 name. Christianity itself is identified with a cer- 
 tain personality who is almost incomprehensible 
 to those races who have not derived their civili- 
 sation either from Greece or Palestine. The Jewish 
 religion, however, is not fastened to any name, in 
 the same sense, beyond the fact that its sacred 
 books are the products of particular authors, and 
 that one author would take precedence of another
 
 THE UNIVERSAL ELEMENT IN JUDAISM. 113 
 
 in the degree of the importance of his writings, or, 
 if you will, of his inspiration. The religion itself, 
 that which these authors expounded or revealed, 
 touches the universal conscience of mankind, 
 inasmuch as it postulates the relation of the human 
 soul with the universal and incorporeal Deity. It 
 is the conception of God first and foremost which 
 invests Judaism with the characteristics of a 
 Universal Religion. The God of the Hebrew 
 Bible and of the later Jewish writings, the God of 
 the New Testament, and the God of the Koran is 
 the same Being, the difference relating only to 
 the manner of His manifestation to mankind and 
 not in regard to His essence. 
 
 The development of the religious idea within the 
 fold of Israel traced in the successive parts of Scrip- 
 ture, in mediaeval Rabbinism, and in latter-day 
 reform movements, testifies to the truth that the 
 apprehension of the Divine Being among the Jews 
 rises and broadens ever in the same direction, 
 namely, that of a God who is the Father of the 
 spirits of all flesh. The Jewish conception of 
 prayer, and indeed the historic Jewish prayers 
 themselves, bear witness that this people seem to 
 hold the key which can unlock the universal 
 religion of mankind. 
 
 Even the ritual of Judaism, with all its character- 
 istics of local colour and family tradition, bears 
 the impress of catholicity, for it lifts into the 
 service of its rites sentiments which are not merely 
 common to all men and to every part of the world, 
 
 I
 
 114 FAITH AND EXPERIENCE. 
 
 but which are specially indicative of those wants 
 and those aspirations which cannot be said to be 
 peculiar to only one group of human beings. The 
 two cardinal details of Jewish Ritual are without 
 doubt the observance of the Sabbnth and that of 
 the Passover. In both cases the keynotes are two 
 human needs of universal application, namely, 
 rest, and liberty. In neither case is the celebration 
 commemorative of any personage either historical 
 or fictional, but mainly of an abstract principle, 
 and the principle in each case is essentially human 
 and therefore universal. 
 
 The first difficulty which presents itself in the 
 discussion of a great question, and especially of a 
 religious one, is the different senses in which the 
 same words are used. And here it must be ob- 
 served that people are not agreed as to the defini- 
 tion of such terms as Judaism religion and uni- 
 versal. In writing about them, therefore, it seems 
 desirable that I should briefly state my own defi- 
 nitions of them. 
 
 By Judaism, I mean the apprehension of the 
 religious idea which the Jewish people has 
 possessed and developed from its earliest history 
 to the present time. 
 
 By religion I mean that embodiment of ideas 
 which lies at the root and which fulfils the 
 aspirations of human character. 
 
 The term universal denotes that kind of embodi- 
 ment which seems appropriate for mankind at 
 large, as distinguished from other embodiments
 
 THE UNIVERSAL ELEMENT IN JUDAISM. 1 15 
 
 which are confined to the peculiarities of particular 
 groups of men and women. 
 
 Where, then, it may be asked, can we find any 
 authoritative statement of what does constitute the 
 religious idea which the Jewish people has pos- 
 sessed and developed from its earliest history to 
 the present time ? The answer seems far to seek. 
 I, for one, would submit, however, that we gather 
 the religious ideas of a people from their writings 
 and from the example of their chief exponents 
 first ; and secondly, we gather it from the character- 
 istics which have distinguished them from other 
 peoples. 
 
 In regard to the religious idea, the chief 
 characteristic of the Jewish people in all ages has 
 been its abiding trust in an unseen God. The 
 writings of its greatest exponents reveal the nature 
 of that trust and the nature of that God whom it 
 conceives. 
 
 The apprehension of a Supreme Being behind 
 nature, through nature, and above nature is a 
 thought to which every race in the history of 
 mankind has laid some claim. There is no people 
 of antiquity, whatever their degree of civilisation, 
 who have not had some share in the impulse to 
 worship something outside of themselves. The 
 faculty of worship is, therefore, a human faculty 
 common to all peoples, just as much as those 
 physical faculties without which no human being 
 over existed. It may be said that it is impossible 
 to find any one religious system which is suitable 
 
 I 2
 
 Il6 FAITH AND EXPERIENCE. 
 
 to every people and to all individuals. And here 
 we are not far from the truth. Inasmuch as human 
 character is so variable, and that no two persons 
 are exactly alike, no one system, in the sense of 
 an organised method, can be universally appro- 
 priate. Hence it is that the use of the term 
 universal has its limits, its qualifications. And we 
 are driven, when referring to a subject which in- 
 volves social conditions, to use such a word as 
 universal in a restricted philosophical sense. It 
 would be true to say that water satisfies a 
 universal need, that it has a use for every type 
 of human being, and that no people can exist 
 without it In the realm of abstract thought, 
 however, there is possibly nothing of which it can 
 be said, " No human being can exist without this." 
 On the other hand, there are moods and impulses 
 common to the whole human species, that is to 
 say, there are certain attributes which may be 
 found in every type of humanity. The word 
 universal applied to such attributes, or to the ideas 
 which seem to fit into them, is, therefore, a philo- 
 sophical rather than a physical term. It represents 
 something which is human in the widest possible 
 sense. Is there any kind of religion which we can 
 conceive as being fitting to the moods and 
 impulses of all mankind ? " No, certainly not," is 
 the inevitable reply. An Aboriginal cannibat 
 cannot possibly share the same spiritual or intel- 
 lectual experiences with a high-bred European or 
 Asiatic. He has neither the capacity nor the
 
 THE UNIVERSAL ELEMENT IN JUDAISM. I I/ 
 
 need. Consequently it would be inaccurate to say 
 of any religious idea that it is universal in the 
 same sense in which we can say that water and air 
 are universal. It must be remembered that philo- 
 sophy borrows the use of terms which properly 
 only belong to the physical world, and this is one 
 of them. A universal idea in religion is something 
 which is capable of fitting with the religious 
 capacities of persons of different race and climate. 
 It is on this account that Christianity in some of 
 its aspects has established its claim to be a 
 universal religion. The existence of an Armenian 
 Church and of an English one are evidences that 
 under varied conditions the doctrines which they 
 hold in common are applicable to very different 
 peoples. Judaism has not yet had the opportunity 
 or the means of proving that it is capable of 
 becoming the religion of different races. And here 
 is the crux of the question. My contention is that 
 the only reason why Judaism has not so demon- 
 strated its claim to universality is because it has 
 been artificially compressed and enclosed within 
 the limits of a single race. But so tremendous is 
 its inherent quality of catholicity that, in spite of 
 the artificial padlocks which have enclosed it, it 
 has, by the natural law of survival of the fittest, 
 burst the padlock, and its ideas some of its 
 loftiest conceptions have poured themselves out 
 in all directions, and filled to overflowing the 
 vessels of so-called alien creeds. All that is 
 spiritual in the religion of Islam is the Monotheism
 
 Il8 FAITH AND EXPERIENCE. 
 
 of the Hebrew race. And when we come to 
 consider Christianity, it is enough to say that its 
 strange conception of a Deity manifesting Himself 
 in the flesh, and presenting to mankind the ideal 
 human character, is an incarnation which took the 
 form of a typical Hebrew, who from first to last 
 identified himself with the idealisation of the 
 Jewish Religion. The fact that such a representa- 
 tion has appealed to so many millions of persons of 
 different race and locality is in itself an over- 
 whelming primob facie evidence that Judaism must 
 have contained within itself religious conceptions 
 which are universal. Buddhism has not spread in 
 the West, in anything like the volume with which 
 this other Eastern religion has done. Large as its 
 following is, it is essentially confined to particular 
 regions of the earth, and to certain types of Oriental 
 people. The circumstance on the other hand that 
 the life and character of a particular Asiatic Jew 
 could spread a magnetic influence, reaching, after 
 a lapse of centuries, to the Western Hemisphere, 
 having already covered the face of Europe, is one 
 the significance of which is of immense consequence 
 to this argument. So far then has the universal 
 element of Judaism manifested itself from out of a 
 casket which has been artificially enclosed and 
 even enveloped. There is yet another fact about 
 Judaism akin to this one, which proves that it has 
 universality, namely, the marvellous adaptability of 
 the Jewish race itself. Whilst Judaism has not been 
 proclaimed as the national religion of England,
 
 THE UNIVERSAL ELEMENT IN JUDAISM. 1 19 
 
 France, America, Jews have become Englishmen, 
 Frenchmen, Americans Their religion has not 
 only not disqualified them for practical assimila- 
 tion with every nationality in the world, but it has 
 in my view been the cause and the reason why 
 they have been more capable than any other race 
 of such assimilation. Because their Religion had 
 universal elements, because it was so human and 
 so free from taints of caste and tribalism, have they 
 been trained and educated to form part of every 
 other nation. Their religion has been the source 
 of whatever was great about them ; and the religion 
 of their ancestors has been the qualification by 
 which through the law of heredity they have been 
 able to fulfil the unparalleled achievement of uniting 
 their racial religion with the life and duties of diverse 
 citizenship. This could not have been accomplished 
 if the Jewish religion had not contained within 
 itself the elements of a universal religion. And 
 it is just because it has so contained them that 
 we have this remarkable result. 
 
 What then is this element of Judaism that is 
 universal ? 
 
 Writing from the inner circle of Jewish ideas, I 
 feel rather disposed to ask myself the question, 
 What after all is that element in Judaism which is 
 not universal ? For to my own mind and in a 
 matter of this nature a Jew can best record his 
 personal conviction the elements of Judaism 
 which are not universal, that is to say, which are 
 purely racial, are those only that serve the purpose
 
 120 FAITH AND EXPERIENCE. 
 
 of identifying us as the one people on earth who 
 have apprehended the religion of mankind. The 
 ceremonial of Judaism, and only here in part, 
 contains elements of a distinctive character par- 
 taking of family tradition. Such, for instance as 
 the obligation upon an Israelite to preserve the 
 knowledge of the Hebrew language. A further 
 duty of the Israelite is to maintain an unbroken 
 record of his religious past and to commemorate it. 
 These things certainly are elements of a non- 
 universal kind. They apply only to the Jews, and 
 would lose their import if they were converted 
 into any other use. But these, I contend, are but 
 the sign manual, the badges of stewardship they 
 do not constitute the religion of Israel ; they do 
 not compose that spiritual life which it has been 
 the mission of the Israelite to make known to the 
 world. Therefore to appreciate what it is in Judaism 
 which is universal, one must pass through the curtain 
 of Orientalism, remove the veil of family life, 
 and enter into the inner sanctuary of Jewish Faith. 
 The conception of God as the Creator and King of 
 the Universe, combining the parental relation to 
 every human being, is the most complete univer- 
 salism which a religious idea can embody. Then 
 comes the fact that the salvation of the human soul 
 is not dependent either upon belief or selection. 
 Its perdition, indeed, has never been suggested by 
 Judaism, and is altogether an imagination foreign 
 to, and absolutely at variance with, the teachings 
 of Judaism. What religion is so universal as this }
 
 THE UNIVERSAL ELEMENT IN JUDAISM. 121 
 
 Salvation by faith which necessarily means a 
 particular faith is unquestionably a less universal 
 conception than one which raises no theological 
 difficulty whatever to the question of peace 
 after death. Salvation by faith is, on the other 
 hand, a less universal religion for the very reason 
 that it involves a particular faith. The subject of 
 Catholicity in regard to a Religion is approached 
 by many religions with totally different conceptions 
 of universalism. The Cross and the Crescent claim 
 a universality because they demand that by them 
 alone each for each is the salvation of the human 
 soul possible; whereas Judaism makes no such 
 claim just because its conception of God is so 
 transcendentally catholic that it believes Him to 
 be infinitely near to every human soul as if it alone 
 existed, and that He imposes no such conditions 
 of salvation as are taught by other conceptions. 
 From the Jewish point of view the love of God is 
 universal, and is not coloured by any such conflict 
 between His justice and His mercy as, for example, 
 the dominant Christian creed presumes. 
 
 Again, the absence of the doctrine of the Fall 
 is in itself an assurance that Judaism is more fit 
 for a universal religion than if it contained that 
 dogma; for the fall of man is based upon the 
 record of an individual act, the individual, if he 
 ever existed, having been one of whom there could 
 be no cognisance on the part of races who never 
 heard of him or of any fiction relating to him. 
 For this reason, Christianity is much less a
 
 122 FAITH AND EXPERIENCE. 
 
 universal religion than Judaism. Its fundamental 
 conception of Adam's sin is incomprehensible to 
 persons who could have no acquaintance with the 
 literature in which the name of Adam appears. 
 The Hindus, the Chinese, and the races of Africa, 
 who are not Mohammedans, cannot possess any 
 consciousness or suspicion of having been 
 descended from Adam. The spread of Christi- 
 anity amongst such people is, therefore, confronted 
 at the outset with the palpable injustice of being 
 held to bear the hereditary guilt of one from 
 whom they cannot even imagine themselves to 
 have sprung. The enormous importance, both 
 logically and structurally, which this idea of 
 Adam and his sin holds in the Christian 
 hypothesis of God's relation to mankind, is apt 
 to be overlooked. If there was no first man, 
 and if there was no hereditary guilt attaching to 
 his sin, the ransom, and the atonement, and the 
 resurrection of Christianity must find some other 
 basis. Judaism, it is true, has its folk-lore and 
 its legends about a first man and even a first 
 man's sin this identical Adam all of which some 
 Jews accept literally and some do not. But in 
 either case the story has not been used by Judaism 
 to found a dogma upon which its entire religion 
 is built up, as is the case in Christianity. Judaism 
 merely reveals the conception of an Infinite 
 Deity, who, though selecting the people of Israel 
 for a special purpose, is essentially the God and 
 the Father of all peoples. The most important
 
 THE UNIVERSAL ELEMENT IN JUDAISM. 123 
 
 documents of the Jewish religion deal mainly with 
 this conception of God ; and of His special dealings 
 with Israel, the references are secondary to those 
 of His dealings with mankind. In almost every 
 case Israel is spoken of as a means to an end, a 
 " servant," a " messenger," or a " Kingdom of 
 Priests " ; but God and humanity form the real 
 subject of the theme, the ultimate aim of the 
 writing. 
 
 It must be admitted that the Psalms and the 
 writings of the Hebrew prophets are the most 
 authoritative expressions of Hebrew faith. Who 
 that has ever heard of them can do without them 
 if he needs a religious inspiration ? If they were 
 entirely racial and particularist in character and 
 scope, they could not possibly serve the use which 
 they already fulfil in so many religions outside 
 Judaism. Is there any other religion whose 
 sacred literature is thus employed among the 
 followers of different creeds ? What stronger 
 evidence could be adduced that Judaism contains 
 that which is universal ? Christianity, with all 
 its differences from Judaism in regard to the 
 theory of sin and redemption, and even touching 
 the definition of the word Unity, has found itself 
 forced not only to use the most authoritative 
 literature of the Jewish race in the sense in which 
 a cultivated European uses Greek literature, but 
 it positively claims for it that it embodies the 
 word of God revealed through Judaism and 
 Christianity at once to mankind. This is a
 
 124 FAITH AND EXPERIENCE. 
 
 tremendous testimony to the universalism inherent 
 in the Jewish religion. The Hebrew Bible, written 
 in the East by a special people, amid every 
 circumstance of an antique Orientalism, is yet 
 found after the lapse of ages to contain thoughts 
 and ideas and experiences which are fundamentally 
 applicable to the requirements of Western civilisa- 
 tion, and to the advanced political ideas of the 
 United States of America. Anybody who could 
 say, in the face of this fact, that Judaism has not 
 an element of universality, must be blindly 
 ignorant. And yet, amid all the changes of ages. 
 these same writings hold the same vital place in 
 Judaism, which they did before the knowledge of 
 them was extended. 
 
 It might be supposed that no two religions 
 could be more diverse than Judaism and Christi- 
 anity. And in regard to some vital problems 
 this is true. I. The possibility of God taking 
 upon himself human nature is contrary to the 
 Jewish idea of a Deity who is essentially in- 
 corporeal. 2. The assumption that any conflict 
 could arise in the mind of God between His 
 different moral attributes, such as His justice and 
 His mercy, is opposed to the Jewish view of God's 
 infinite and incomprehensible perfection. 3. And 
 last, but not least, the logical difficulty of a 
 Triunity in Unity has no trace whatever in the 
 documents of Judaism, and does not appeal to 
 the Jewish understanding. With these differences, 
 which cannot be minimised, Judaism has yet been
 
 THE UNIVERSAL ELEMENT IN JUDAISM. 125 
 
 able to be of incalculable service to Christianity, 
 both in its origin and subsequent development. 
 The New Testament is not merely impregnated 
 with the Old, but Christians of every type assure 
 us that it would have been inconceivable without 
 it. Such, then, is the almost miraculous part 
 which Judaism has played in religions which so 
 widely differ from it, that it might have been 
 imagined that the one could not have entered 
 into the other. If, then, Judaism can do so much 
 for races who have adopted Christianity, why shall 
 it not be of equal and of greater service 'to other 
 races who have hitherto adopted no distinctive 
 theology ? Nothing but a pure human element, 
 mystical by reason of its intensity, and, therefore, 
 divine, could account for the spiritual and widely 
 diffused power already manifested by Judaism. 
 So much has been done in spite of enclosing, 
 suppressing, and restricting. What if Judaism be 
 boldly proclaimed to the world without let or 
 hindrance ?
 
 126 FAITH AND EXPERIENCE. 
 
 THE DAY OF MEMORIAL. 
 
 [Reprinted from the "Jewish Chronicle" 
 September 2jth, 1889.] 
 
 ONE of the most striking features in Judaism is its 
 singular power of adaptability. By adaptability 
 we mean appropriateness something which meets 
 the needs of all men. It is not surprising that 
 Judaism possesses this feature, for if it did not it is 
 inconceivable how it could have lasted over such 
 a vast span of time ; how so many generations of 
 the race, differently situated and under so many 
 varying conditions, could have adhered to it, and 
 do adhere to it still. Judaism contains within its 
 system and organisation, a grasp of moral percep- 
 tions and a conception of life generally which must 
 sooner or later attract the most diverse people, 
 embracing as they do the moral and spiritual 
 conditions of human character. This is our title 
 to be considered a race endowed with the gift of 
 Universality. Strange enough just the people who 
 are popularly but ignorantly supposed to be the 
 most separate and exclusive are they who possess 
 in the most marked degree a Religion suited to all 
 mankind. Indeed, the fact may be stated with
 
 THE DAY OF MEMORIAL. 127 
 
 greater emphasis. That one people which is so 
 distinct is so, just because it is the one people 
 charged with the preservation of a religion that is 
 capable of becoming Universal. The present 
 season suggests a powerful illustration of this 
 argument. There is probably no man, woman or 
 child in England, Christian or otherwise, who would 
 not be the better for observing the Day of 
 Memorial ; that is to say, the general conception 
 of that institution which gathers round it the entire 
 circle of thought, taking account of the moral 
 imperfections as well as the moral possibilities of 
 human nature, is one that might be taught with 
 the most excellent consequences to all kinds of 
 people beyond the limits of the Jewish Race. The 
 Day of Memorial, like the Day of Atonement, is 
 not the anniversary of any historical occurrence of 
 specially racial interest, such as the Passover or 
 even the Pentecost. It is simply an historic 
 record in the Hebrew Calendar that Judaism has, 
 from its commencement, appropriated the chief 
 season of the year for the purpose of making a 
 special effort annually to consider a question of 
 vital issue to all men, namely the question of 
 personal moral and spiritual regeneration. 
 
 There is no doubt that, even with Jews themselves, 
 the Day of Memorial and the Day of Atonement 
 mean very different things, more or less associated 
 with family tradition and with ritual. But to state 
 the case in anything like a comprehensive manner, 
 it is necessary to insist that the recurrence of these
 
 128 FAITH AND EXPERIENCE. 
 
 days in the Jewish Calendar means nothing less 
 than the recurrence of the problem, " What shall we 
 do to make ourselves better before God and our 
 own consciences." It is this endeavour, repeated 
 every year, which in an individual and in the history 
 of a people is calculated to produce very important 
 results in the moral aspect of human life. The 
 Day of Memorial means the day of calling to 
 remembrance, the day on which a probing of the 
 heart and conscience is to take place preparatory 
 to the day on which, having discovered the actual 
 failings in personal conduct, repentance takes place, 
 accompanied with renewed hopes. The calling to 
 remembrance or the probing of one's persona! 
 moral condition is a proceeding which Judaism 
 recommends to or enforces upon every individual, 
 however divergent one may be from another in his 
 moral and spiritual condition at the time. Some 
 meet this day literally laden with sin ; others meet 
 it if not so laden, yet conscious of much imperfec- 
 tion. And the exact measure of the particular con- 
 dition is, according to Judaism, referred not to any 
 human or popular standard of right and wrong, but 
 solely to the claims of perfect righteousness. We 
 gather this from the emphasis with which all Hebrew 
 religious teaching impresses on us the essential 
 affinity between man and God, and of the close 
 and constant tie which connects the human and 
 divine. A people chosen of God, just that one 
 nation of antiquity who thought about righteous- 
 ness, may very properly be regarded as the correct
 
 THE DAY OF MEMORIAL. 129 
 
 type or illustration of the sort of bond which should 
 be consciously recognised between every human 
 soul and its Creator. The Supreme Being, whose 
 main attributes are those of perfect righteousness, 
 is then the Ideal as well as the Judge of human 
 conduct. This, no doubt, is a very severe test, far 
 more overwhelming indeed than any which could 
 be supplied from what is known as the require- 
 ments of public opinion or the customs of a 
 particular society. But whilst it is overwhelming 
 in the magnitude of its claim it is also more com- 
 passionate by far than any judgment instituted 
 by social custom. Almighty God is the Father 
 and Friend, as well as the Judge of Mankind. By 
 reason of His own perfect righteousness are we 
 better able to approach Him even when laden 
 with sin than we should be able to meet a human 
 friend who is only partially righteous. 
 
 One naturally reflects on the balance of attri- 
 butes even in the Divine Being, and the first thing 
 which strikes the observation amid such reflections 
 is that idea which Judaism pronounces with 
 incomparable force, namely, the infinite love 
 of God. God loves His creatures, we are told ; 
 He takes pleasure in their righteousness as well 
 as commanding it. If we may so speak, after the 
 manner of the Hebrew prophets, God takes 
 a delight in our desire to become righteous. " He 
 takes no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but 
 rather that he may turn from his wicked ways and 
 live." Just as the standard of right and wrong 
 
 K
 
 130 FAITH AND EXPERIENCE. 
 
 is a higher one in the light of man's relation to 
 God, so the means of turning towards righteous- 
 ness or seeking a perfect ideal is infinitely more 
 attractive and therefore easier than seeking merely 
 to satisfy a popular notion of right Popular 
 notions are always variable. The Divine standard 
 does not vary. Then again popular notions and 
 public opinion take account only of acts or of 
 thoughts which present an immediate external 
 expression, and they care not at all about motives. 
 Whereas with the Divine Judgment the reverse 
 is the case. It is possible that in the sight of God 
 many men and women whom society counts 
 among the worthy are just where others are whom 
 society condemns. People whom the world 
 regards with favour may be in the sight of God 
 and in reality quite corrupt. The genius of Judaism 
 is nowhere better displayed than in this matter 
 of repentance and regeneration. The whole pro- 
 ceeding is an afifair between the individual and 
 God himself. What the Jewish preacher or homi- 
 list has to do on a day like the Day of Memorial 
 is, simply to remind his hearers that this is the 
 occasion on which Judaism prompts a man to 
 probe his conscience and to analyse the actions 
 of his past life. But nobody wants to know the 
 result, and no good can come of one person 
 venturing to form a judgment on the conduct 
 of another. 
 
 At this season all Israel halts, not to take 
 counsel with one another, but each with his God.
 
 THE DAY OF MEMORIAL. 131 
 
 Nothing is proposed of the nature of sacerdotalism 
 or confession one to another. No reparation for 
 sin can be accomplished by any ritual transaction 
 whatever. It is an act of introspection, solemnised 
 by being conducted in connection with the worship 
 of God. No institution is better calculated to stimu- 
 late the virtue of charity. The Day of Memorial 
 and the Day of Atonement are probably times of 
 all others when the average Israelite would be 
 least disposed to say anything harsh about his 
 neighbour. For whatever be the degrees of virtue 
 or sin in each person, greater prominence is 
 given to one's own imperfections than to any 
 other consideration. In fact, it is with that 
 matter, and that alone, with which the Israelite 
 is concerned on these days. Anybody who is more 
 or less satisfied with his personal moral state 
 on any particular Day of Atonement is likely 
 to be either appalled at the discovery of much sin 
 in himself, or if he finds that he is a person whose 
 temptations have been few and whose general 
 preference has been to pursue a right course rather 
 than a wrong one, he must be all the more absorbed 
 with the sense of being still so far from the great 
 Ideal, that he has been able to keep more fre- 
 quently present than other persons. Again, a self- 
 examination if it be a true one must be found 
 to depend largely upon taking account of facts 
 which are really known only to oneself, and 
 the very process illustrates how vain it is to judge 
 correctly about other people, of whom the most 
 K 2
 
 132 FAITH AND EXPERIENCE. 
 
 important details can be known only by themselves. 
 So that either way the common vice of uncharitably 
 judging one's neighbour receives a positive check 
 and is practically suppressed on these occasions. 
 What is proposed to be done on those days 
 is something which excludes for the time the 
 ordinary forces of public opinion. It is a time 
 when public opinion is not referred to, but rather 
 put out of sight ; and we are brought face to face 
 with that kind of tribunal in which the obvious 
 course is to be absolutely confidential. Nobody 
 is really present at what goes on between a human 
 conscience and God, save the individual concerned. 
 There is no inducement to be evasive or to attempt 
 to hide any fact from the One Omniscient. Com- 
 plete frankness is what would naturally prompt 
 anybody in such circumstances, alike in his intro- 
 spection and in his communion with God. 
 
 Thus the universality of Judaism has been 
 shown by its peculiar consideration of those 
 conditions in the moral sphere which are common 
 to all mankind. But the institution of the Day of 
 Memorial, and the manner of its observance, 
 further indicate in another direction the idea of 
 universality. Any one who examines the Jewish 
 Liturgy appointed for the Day of Memorial must 
 be struck with the special prominence there given 
 to those attributes of, the Supreme Being which 
 suggest His common Fatherhood and the common 
 brotherhood of His creatures. Throughout those 
 pages we read much less of the "Guardian of
 
 THE DAY OF MEMORIAL. 133 
 
 Israel " than we do of the " Creator of all worlds," 
 and the " Father of all men." That distinctness 
 of race which naturally finds expression in Jewish 
 public worship on many occasions seems to be put 
 aside by the influence of the Day of Memorial. 
 The " New Year's Day " as it is called (whatever 
 may be thought of it as an historical pretension), 
 lays claim to celebrate the stupendous fact that 
 " In the beginning God created the heavens and 
 the earth," and that " He created man in His own 
 image." This notion is quite independent of any 
 assumption about the manner or the date of 
 creation. No student of Biblical criticism will 
 suffer his critical faculty to be disturbed by 
 recognising that this particular Day of Memorial 
 is celebrated for the 565Oth time. The religious 
 and philosophical import of such a celebration 
 neither loses nor gains by importing into it or 
 rejecting from it assertions to the effect that the 
 world is so many years old. That is a matter 
 apart from what is here considered. The reckon- 
 ing of time in Christendom and in Mohammedanism 
 is arranged with reference to events which signify 
 the birth of the founder of the particular religion. 
 It might have been so with Judaism. The birth of 
 Moses or the Exodus from Egypt, or the building 
 of the first Temple, could conceivably have served 
 the purpose of dating the Hebrew year. It has 
 been quite otherwise. And in this respect Judaism 
 has manifested a genius of its own in sanctifying 
 its method of reckoning time by keeping the
 
 134 FAITH AND EXPERIENCE. 
 
 subject entirely free from merely local or national 
 associations. There is a loftiness in this matter 
 and an intrinsic spirituality which of itself places 
 the Jewish religion on the pedestal of universalism. 
 It is not so much the anniversary of a particular 
 day on which God performed a mighty deed, with 
 which our devotions are awakened on the Day of 
 Memorial, as the broad religious proposition that 
 the God whom we worship is He who created all 
 things. 
 
 No religion and no people are so misappre- 
 hended, even by persons who in other respects are 
 well-informed, than Judaism and the Jewish 
 people. Indeed the constant repetition of mis- 
 statements about Judaism have even led (it is to 
 be feared) many born Israelites to misconceive 
 their great inheritance and therefore to desert it. 
 The root of these misapprehensions may be traced 
 to the primary question as to what kind of God it 
 is whom Israel worships. We are sometimes told 
 it is a " tribal God," and some people foolishly 
 imagine that He is not quite the same Being to 
 whom other people render homage. The liturgy 
 for the Day of Memorial abounds with descriptions 
 of the Supreme Being which could not fail to 
 arouse in a non-Jewish mind the consciousness 
 that that Being is indeed the Common Father. It 
 is worth while here to quote the language repeated 
 in a form of confession used on that day, as also 
 on the Day of Atonement : " Most merciful and 
 gracious God, we have sinned against Thee, O
 
 THE DAY OF MEMORIAL. 135 
 
 have compassion upon us." And then those 
 attributes which appeal to every human being are 
 enumerated thus : " Lord of pardon, who surveyest 
 the future, who ridest upon the heavens, who 
 callest generations into being, who art the 
 perfection of knowledge and who art attentive to 
 prayer, we have sinned against Thee, O have 
 compassion upon us." Nothing can be more 
 catholic than this conception of our Divine 
 Creator, and there is nothing more distinctly 
 Jewish than that particular supplication. It is 
 well that Jews and Jewesses should at this 
 season see clearly that the religious system which 
 claims their allegiance is one which is singularly 
 illumined by its thorough comprehension of this 
 great truth, namely, that the Creator, and the 
 Father of the Spirits of all Flesh is the only 
 proper object of Divine worship. That is a 
 truth the full significance of which has yet to 
 be appreciated by vast multitudes of people who 
 claim to be in advance of Israel in the spiritual 
 march. It is a truth which is tampered with, and 
 although appearing to be so elementary among the 
 lessons of childhood, it is just that one truth of all 
 others which civilised nations have been most tardy 
 in acquiring. Classic Greece and gifted Rome 
 came and went without any large proportion of 
 their sons ever having recognised it. Christendom 
 with all its advance has not yet assimilated as 
 completely as that prayer expresses that simple 
 Hebrew conception. It is by no means certain
 
 136 FAITH AND EXPERIENCE. 
 
 that the idea represented in Mohammedanism and 
 in regions of Northern and Southern Asia is quite 
 so catholic, broad and simple as this Jewish idea 
 of God. In China undoubtedly it is not. 
 
 What appears to me to be the one main fact to 
 submit to my co-religionists on these great occa- 
 sions is that fact which seems to stare us in the 
 face whenever we contemplate such solemn con- 
 vocations as the Day of Memorial. It is briefly 
 this and would that it could be audible in every 
 Jewish soul ! Israelite ! you are in fellowship with 
 a Divine Commission ; you are an Israelite in order 
 to spread the knowledge of a true and reasonable 
 worship of the only One perfect Being whom it is 
 possible to conceive. Your Jewish distinctness is a 
 means to an end. It is only a badge of your 
 mission. Jews must be spiritual persons or their 
 very name is meaningless. The Day of Memorial 
 and the Day of Atonement afford special oppor- 
 tunities for the Jew to recuperate himself spiritually, 
 and to become more fit for his exalted Mission. 
 We are the hereditary guardians of a truth that is 
 more precious than life itself. There is no single 
 group of people who are so mysteriously and so 
 divinely charged as the Jews throughout the world. 
 The spread of monotheism, as Jews understand it, 
 among civilized nations, appears to be the goal 
 after which independent schools of philosophy are 
 now striving. The ultimate success of their efforts 
 largely depends upon the steadfastness of the 
 Jewish people. Jews cannot too forcibly remind
 
 THE DAY OF MEMORIAL. 137 
 
 one another that they stand out in history as the 
 one consecrated band pledged to this truth. 
 
 Is Monotheism really making way in our own 
 time ? Will the general wreck of mediaeval theology 
 leave the most cultured nations of Europe in a state 
 of religious anarchy, or will it rather prepare them 
 to take hold of that one Divine truth for which our 
 race has lived and suffered through so many cen- 
 turies? It is important that Jewish communities 
 should recognise how intimately their religious 
 position is bound up with this problem. If the 
 Jewish religion were dissolved to-morrow and the 
 Hebrew race were merged into other communi- 
 ties, there can be no doubt that the cause of 
 monotheism among civilised men would receive 
 a tremendous blow, and civilisation in its highest 
 sense would be immeasurably retarded. 
 
 The Day of Memorial may be spoken of as 
 the Great Feast of Monotheism and of Natural 
 Religion. The story of Abraham's faith, and 
 the recital of those parts of Scripture which 
 specially emphasize Israel's teaching about God 
 and His relation to the world, ought to im- 
 press every one of us with two great thoughts : 
 What God is to us, and what we ought to be to 
 mankind. Judaism is a missionary religion or it is 
 nothing. It is a message to mankind, not a hidden 
 treasure for a single people. On this point the 
 wildest errors prevail, even among our own people. 
 Proselytism, as popularly understood and com- 
 monly illustrated in other religious organisations,
 
 138 FAITH AND EXPERIENCE. 
 
 is not necessarily the way for Israel to uplift their 
 torch ; but we are none the less missionaries. Our 
 religion must spread as soon as the conditions for 
 spreading it are assured. The liberty of the soul, 
 of which social and political liberty are the fore- 
 runners, is a purpose which Judaism is able to 
 guarantee and which the Jewish people, sooner or 
 later, are bound to teach in a direct way. A 
 thousand years in the Divine sight are but as 
 yesterday when it is passed. The future of Judaism 
 is as assured as were all the political and intel- 
 lectual consequences of the first Reform Act in 
 England. This is not difficult to discern. The 
 active propaganda by Israelites of the sacred truths 
 they have laid up in store for thousands of years is 
 something to be expected in the natural course of 
 events, just as the actions of a newly enfranchised 
 Democracy must gradually follow their enfranchise- 
 ment. When the educated portion of European 
 citizens are emancipated from the terrorism of a 
 creed which rests upon miracle, they will be the 
 first to seek for knowledge upon spiritual matters 
 from the one .and only historically spiritual people. 
 This may appear a digression, but it is just one of 
 those reflections which the recurrence of a Jewish 
 New Year and Day of Calling to Remembrance 
 naturally forces upon English Jews living in this 
 advanced age. Judaism is destined to be the 
 religion of mankind.
 
 DENOMINATIONAL V. BOARD SCHOOLS. 139 
 
 DENOMINATIONAL SCHOOLS VERSUS 
 BOARD SCHOOLS. 
 
 \Reprinted from the "Jewish Chronicle" 
 May 6th, 1887.] 
 
 THE Education Act of 1870, introduced by the 
 late Mr. Forster, seems to have produced impres- 
 sions upon some minds which were never contem- 
 plated by the lamented statesman, nor intended 
 by the Act of Parliament. The institution of 
 Board Schools was designed to meet certain 
 requirements which were not met by the educational 
 fabric that existed before the year 1870. Up to 
 that time there were throughout the country 
 most efficient schools for the children of some 
 sections of the working classes, owing to the 
 activity of the principal religious bodies. The 
 Church of England (National) Schools were ad- 
 mirably managed, they provided for the training 
 of a vast section of the general community. On 
 the other hand, the Roman Catholic Church, and 
 the various Nonconformist bodies had their 
 schools, which were splendidly conducted, and 
 contributed individually and collectively to the 
 good of the community. Among the numerous
 
 140 FAITH AND EXPERIENCE. 
 
 denominations, the schools which the Jews provided 
 for their own poor were in every respect among 
 the best in the country. The sound moral training 
 was a striking characteristic of these schools, and 
 the secular teaching was not second in excellence 
 to that of any school in the kingdom. There was 
 no feature in the Jewish communal life more 
 creditable than the excellence of their educational 
 system. This is not difficult to account for, because 
 history shows that education has always been one 
 of the first efforts of the Synagogue, and it is known 
 to be a cardinal point of the Jewish religion. 
 Without troubling my readers with statistics that 
 might easily be supplied, it is enough to remind 
 them that the Church of England, the Roman 
 Catholic Church, the Synagogue, and the various 
 Nonconformist bodies did not numerically embrace 
 more than some large sections of the working 
 classes and the poor. The Catholics, the Jews, 
 and the Methodists, certainly included in their re- 
 spective folds some of the poorest strata of society. 
 It was indeed a striking fact that the poorest and 
 the humblest of these particular denominations 
 were always actively conforming members of their 
 communions. Such however, was never the case 
 in the Church of England. Moreover there were 
 sects, such as the Quakers and the Unitarians, who 
 never numbered among their worshippers any con- 
 siderable section of the working classes. They are 
 both denominations of somewhat recent growth, 
 and were the result of movements among the
 
 DENOMINATIONAL V. BOARD SCHOOLS. 14! 
 
 intellectual classes. Moreover, it has to be re- 
 membered that when we have added together all 
 the different religious bodies we get a numerical 
 total which falls far short of any figure that would 
 represent the entire population of Great Britain. 
 Indeed, there are a very large number of our fellow- 
 subjects who have never belonged to any com- 
 munion, and were therefore not within the groups 
 of those for whom these different schools were 
 established. It thus came about that while com- 
 munities of different creeds were providing an 
 excellent schooling for their poor, there yet remained 
 a considerable portion of the working classes and 
 the poor throughout the country who were not 
 supplied with the means of education. 
 
 Those enormous numbers of untaught citizens 
 were further increased by the fact that even among 
 some of the religious bodies themselves it was often 
 found that their resources were inadequate, and 
 that in country districts and towns it was not 
 always easy to raise enough funds to build a school 
 in connection with a place of worship, or that the 
 school was perhaps not large enough for the needs 
 of the locality. This last difficulty can scarcely be 
 said to have existed among all sects. It is 
 tolerably certain that the Catholics and the Jews 
 made every sacrifice to provide the number of 
 schools that were necessary in proportion to their 
 congregations. Whoever remembers the state of 
 public opinion before 1870 on the subject of 
 national education, will be able to recall the fears
 
 142 FAITH AND EXPERIENCE. 
 
 that were entertained, lest the proposed Board 
 Schools should interfere with or supersede the 
 existing denominational schools. After all, in a 
 Constitutional Government like ours, the State is 
 the servant, not the master. Politicians and 
 thoughtful men have occasion to deprecate a 
 tendency among some people to make the State 
 the guide and censor over all public affairs. The 
 soundest principle in politics is that the State 
 should be the instrument in the hand of the people, 
 and not the people in the hands of the State. The 
 great contention in favour of the Education Bill 
 (1870) was that it was the duty of the State to 
 protect society from the evil consequences of having 
 a totally illiterate mass permeating the life of the 
 country. In the light of subsequent events, it was 
 obviously the bounden duty of the State to see 
 that those on whom political power was to be 
 conferred should be able to read and write and 
 cipher, and to acquire some degree of mental train- 
 ing. Some politicians regret (not without reason) 
 that the provision did not precede that extension 
 of political rights by at least a generation. The 
 State was justified in levying rates for the purpose 
 of its Board Schools in the interest of society, just 
 as it is warranted in thus providing for police and 
 other protection. The attitude of the Liberal Party, 
 whose forces at that time carried Mr. Forster's 
 Bill, was certainly that the measure was required as 
 a matter of police regulation. 
 
 Now I venture to contrast the origin of the
 
 DENOMINATIONAL V. BOARD SCHOOLS. 143 
 
 Board Schools, to which " A True Conservative " 
 was so loud in his homage, with the origin of the 
 Jewish denominational schools which he is so eager 
 to sacrifice. Our schools, to put it in simple 
 language, are the outcome of our religion. They 
 are as strongly and as distinctively the expression 
 of our divine Law as the institution of the Sabbath 
 or any other detail revealed in the Decalogue. It 
 is as incumbent upon the Synagogue to provide for 
 the education of the poor as it is to find a resting 
 place for the Ark of the Covenant. I may be told 
 that I am using strong language. The answer is 
 that it becomes necessary to assert and re-assert 
 truths which are apt to become enveloped by the 
 superficial views of economists and the apostles of 
 that poor charter " expediency." The instances 
 in our history which illustrate the need for " strong 
 language," crowd around the memory of those who 
 are deeply conscious that Judaism would long since 
 have perished if " expediency " had been permitted 
 to usurp the claims of devotion. 
 
 The lax views which have been gaining ground 
 in the last few years as to our denominational 
 schools must be regarded as a symptom of 
 slackening attachment to the Covenant of our 
 fathers. This weakening of sacred convictions 
 was manifested in a pronounced way for the first 
 time in our community by the closing of one of 
 our oldest schools a few years ago. It was very 
 instructive to observe how the loss of the chief 
 guiding spirit of the Sephardic Congregation was
 
 144 FAITH AND EXPERIENCE. 
 
 quickly followed by the abolition of their school. 
 The arguments used by the " True Conservative " 
 gained ground on that occasion, and found 
 practical expression, ever to be lamented. But 
 in that particular case the Board School which 
 received the outcast pupils was to all intents and 
 purposes a Jewish school. No head master of 
 any Jewish school is more efficient as a teacher, 
 nor more fervent as an Israelite than Mr. Levy 
 of the Old Castle Street School. For this reason, 
 and for this alone, the sixty or seventy boys were 
 in a large measure compensated for the dissolution 
 of their school. But such would not be the case 
 in other instances. If, for example, the few 
 hundreds of pupils at the Hanway Place School 
 were dispersed among the Board Schools of 
 London, it is tolerably certain that their disper- 
 sion would be attended by no such alleviating 
 circumstances. On the contrary, it is evident 
 even from the " True Conservative's " own ad- 
 mission that those children would be driven 
 broadcast upon the chances and accidents in- 
 evitable at Board Schools. Even their religious 
 instruction would depend upon the whim of 
 individuals, and upon the haphazard teaching 
 which an inadequately supported Association 
 could offer. The fact that there are in the 
 community men of substance able to subscribe 
 5 a year to one institution, but unwilling to 
 support our own schools, is of itself a source of 
 anxiety that ought to be considered. I observed
 
 DENOMINATIONAL V. BOARD SCHOOLS. 145 
 
 that there was nothing in the letter for the case 
 against denominational schools. The points raised 
 were quite superficial, though, no doubt, calculated 
 to mislead. For instance, it was contended that it 
 would be a positive advantage for our poor chil- 
 dren to go to Board Schools on the ground that 
 the intercourse with children of other creeds would 
 enlarge their views. No consideration, however, 
 was given to the facts, which are stated at the 
 outset of this article, that the children, for the most 
 part, who attend Board Schools have no creed 
 at all. 
 
 All Board School children leave the schools to 
 earn their bread at what is, after all, but a tender 
 age. Mostly at twelve years they have done with 
 their schooling. Now, any enlargement of ideas 
 and knowledge of the world that can be imparted 
 from one set of children to another under the age of 
 twelve, especially of the kind of children who attend 
 Board Schools, may be described as a species of 
 knowledge which it would be to the distinct advan- 
 tage of the children to be without, and from which 
 it is our duty to protect them. Unhappily, the 
 poor little things go into the world rather too soon 
 as it is, and, for my own part, I would gladly see 
 them sheltered from that knowledge of the world 
 which the "True Conservative" thinks so desir- 
 able. His illustration of the argument was some- 
 what grotesque when he compared the case of 
 these children with those who are sent to public 
 schools and Universities. In the first place, boys 
 L
 
 146 FAITH AND EXPERIENCE. 
 
 are not admitted at Eton, Harrow, Rugby, and 
 the other public schools, till they have passed 
 twelve years, prior to which they have been 
 carefully and studiously guarded from the very 
 kind of intercourse referred to. Meanwhile, in 
 cultivated homes they acquire with much greater 
 facility all the religious instruction which our 
 denominational schools provide for our poor, 
 where homes cannot supply it. In some of the 
 instances to which the " True Conservative " 
 alludes, the " children " did not go to school at 
 all. They were educated by private tuition, and 
 there was invariably one experienced Jewish 
 teacher to teach them Hebrew. As to the Uni- 
 versities, the " children " cannot enter before they 
 are seventeen or eighteen, and the sort of " know- 
 ledge " which they get is not of the " world " in 
 the sense of which the correspondent speaks, but 
 a knowledge quite of one side of the world the 
 intellectual, the literary, and the sporting world. 
 It is only necessary to disprove one of the 
 analogies which a " True Conservative " seeks to 
 draw in order to awaken a distrust as to the 
 soundness in his process of reasoning. 
 
 The letter of a " True Conservative " repeats 
 the threadbare, empty fallacy about first an 
 Englishman, then a Jew. It is surprising how 
 much nonsense can be spoken on this subject. 
 The real facts are these : Whoever believes in 
 religion must inevitably hold that the claims of 
 religion are paramount. Neither the national
 
 DENOMINATIONAL V. BOARD SCHOOLS. 147 
 
 nor any other sentiment can exert an influence 
 so remarkable. In fact, from the very nature of 
 the religious idea, it must supersede every other. 
 A Christian is first a Christian and then an 
 Englishman. Even a churchman or a Catholic or 
 a Wesleyan gives his first allegiance to his religious 
 communion. As to Judaism, the whole character 
 of our religion places God and the service of God 
 before and above all other objects. Perhaps it is 
 more exact to say that in the Jewish religion God 
 and the service of God include or embrace all 
 other objects. Hence, it is absurd to single out 
 one of the objects of life, however important, and 
 say this is greater than the one which includes it 
 and gives it what is best about it. Those Jews 
 who proceed with making their children first 
 Englishmen or Frenchmen, as the case may be, 
 and afterwards Jews, have failed to grasp the 
 intention of religion generally, and the office of 
 Judaism in particular. Of all religions there is 
 none which so completely controls all the impulses 
 and affections of human life as the religion of the 
 Bible. That is its genius its far reaching and 
 transcendent prerogative. Again, patriotism, 
 political morality, love of one's country, and good 
 citizenship, are virtues which, to every man, except 
 an Atheist, derive their culture from the religious 
 idea which underlies them. Some religions are 
 better suited to the development of these virtues 
 than others. But it has been the contention of 
 our race, in all ages, that the Jewish religion is 
 L 2
 
 148 FAITH AND EXPERIENCE. 
 
 singularly fertile with the growth of these very 
 virtues, so we are justified in stating that to make 
 a child a good Israelite is to insure his becoming 
 a good citizen. 
 
 This talk about " an Englishman first and a Jew 
 afterwards " is just as shallow as such a doctrine 
 as this : First make a man a faithful husband, and 
 then make him a good man afterwards. The 
 whole value of any religion depends upon its 
 power of promoting in man all the virtues that 
 are necessary to a well-ordered life. Those to 
 whom the chief pride of life consists in their 
 nationality are of two kinds, either those on whom 
 religion has very little hold, or religious people who 
 do not reflect in a logical manner, but are accustomed 
 to think in a slipshod fashion. It will be an evil 
 day for Israel, and consequently for the interests 
 of human progress, when this notion of setting the 
 two sentiments of religion and patriotism in rivalry 
 becomes general. It is quite easy, of course, to 
 comprehend the attitude of those who know little 
 and believe less in the sacred mission to which our 
 race is permanently dedicated ; but it is quite im- 
 possible to account for this contention in the 
 minds of Israelites who know their history and 
 believe in their mission. As a matter of fact there 
 is no more sense in placing in competition the two 
 sentiments of patriotism and religious allegiance 
 than there is in comparing any other two interests 
 which have no reason to clash one with the other. 
 A true patriotic Englishman is as capable of
 
 DENOMINATIONAL v. BOARD SCHOOLS. 149 
 
 devotion to the Synagogue as he is to the Church ; 
 and yet he is justified in regarding the privilege 
 of being born an Israelite with a different set of 
 emotions from those which surround his ideas 
 of patriotism. It is an historical fact, by far the 
 most precious that our ancestors have bequeathed 
 to us, that whenever the extraordinary choice was 
 thrust upon them between patriotism and religious 
 allegiance, the best of them selected the latter 
 whilst the ignoble ones chose the former. We are 
 much more proud of those Spanish Jews who 
 preferred Judaism to Spain than the other Spanish 
 Jews who sacrificed their religion for their country. 
 So in this very century, in Great Britain, there 
 is no comparison between the characters of the 
 men who got baptised in order to gain citizen- 
 ship and the disposition of the others who con- 
 tinued aliens in order to preserve their religion. 
 These encounters, of course, were never of our own 
 choosing, nor need they be calculated upon in the 
 ordinary reckoning of human probabilities, but 
 they have occurred, and they may recur in other 
 countries. The true test of this question is the 
 conduct of men under such extreme conditions. 
 And, judged by the light of past events and future 
 contingencies, it is obvious that Jews who say that 
 they are first Englishmen and then Jews are either 
 false to their mission or else they are talking 
 nonsense. 
 
 The preservation of our religion is the supreme 
 duty of all Jews who believe in Judaism. The first
 
 150 FAITH AND EXPERIENCE. 
 
 act incumbent on us is to teach the Mosaic Law 
 to our children. Hence it is not merely that we 
 have to provide education for the poor of our race, 
 but we have to provide a particular kind of edu- 
 cation. For this purpose it is indispensable that 
 we should have our own schools, conducted in our 
 own way, and not according to any Act of an 
 English, French, or German Parliament. The 
 moment we give up these schools, and suffer our 
 poor to attend the Parliamentary institutions of the 
 day, we become guilty of the greatest act of neglect 
 and wilful disobedience to our divine Law of 
 which, in the circumstances of the present day, 
 we are capable. It would not be worth while 
 to remain a Jew for one week if there was not in 
 Judaism a vitality and a purpose worthy of 
 sacrifice. There is no more ignoble tendency in 
 a people who have fought and won religious 
 liberty than voluntarily to surrender that for 
 which their fathers have struggled. I venture 
 to suggest that it would be quite reasonable 
 that every member of a congregation should 
 be assessed in order to provide the means for 
 maintaining as many Jewish schools as are 
 necessary to include the entire number of our 
 poor. But in the absence of such assessment 
 it is right to expect that every Jew and Jewess 
 who has the means will not shrink from the most 
 sacred obligation to maintain the Jewish education 
 of their poor. 
 
 It will be apparent that the foregoing observa-
 
 DENOMINATIONAL v. BOARD SCHOOLS. 151 
 
 tions were called forth by a controversy in regard 
 to the maintenance of a particular denominational 
 school. The reason why I have thought it fitting 
 to reprint the article in this volume, is that the 
 subject is one of growing importance to the 
 present and the rising generations. Since the 
 year 1887, when this article appeared in the 
 Jewish Chronicle, the whole question of Board 
 Schools versus Denominational Schools has be- 
 come more prominent The abolition of school 
 fees, by which the principle of free education 
 has been established, has naturally increased the 
 burdens of the ratepayer. The existence of 
 Denominational voluntary schools is in some 
 measure threatened, owing to compulsory com- 
 petition with Board Schools.
 
 152 FAITH AND EXPERIENCE. 
 
 MAN'S RELATION TO GOD. 
 
 A Sermon preached on rPtt7H~n roitf (Saturday, 
 
 October yd, 1885), at the South Hackney 
 
 Synagogue. 
 
 i iV? Dnrrn D'r 
 
 So God created man in His own image." Genesis i. 27. 
 
 IF we were asked to quote one sentence from the 
 Bible which presents an essential basis of our 
 religion, and sets forth in a single phrase the genius 
 of our inherited Faith, we should cite this remark- 
 able statement from the first section of our Law, 
 which gives the name to the present Sabbath. All 
 that follows in our sacred literature is a super- 
 structure upon this basis of the relation between 
 man and his Creator. Quite true, my brethren, 
 that the unity of God is the keynote of Judaism ; 
 but, if it were not for our affinity with the Supreme 
 Being, His oneness would not have that attraction 
 and significance which are so striking to the 
 Israelite. It is said of the Jewish religion that it 
 makes very little demand upon the faculty of 
 belief; that whereas other religious systems are 
 distinguished by their creeds and theology, ours is
 
 MAN'S RELATION TO GOD. 1 53 
 
 one of statutes and laws, and requires us to believe 
 nothing except that God is one. This proposition 
 lets in a flood of ideas, involving a philosophical 
 inquiry with which I do not mean to trouble you. 
 The question of belief, as distinct from faith, is a 
 matter which has interested many thoughtful men. 
 The comparison and the analysis of the two ideas 
 would form a larger subject for consideration than 
 is possible or desirable within the limits of a 
 sermon. This much, however, we should bear in 
 mind, when we are considering our relation to God: 
 Faith, by which we perceive it, is so far different 
 from belief, that it is to the Israelite an inborn 
 capacity for recognising his spiritual tie with God, 
 and does not, like belief, depend upon the proof 
 which is needed in the case of one of those 
 abstract and historic statements which is not 
 within the easy apprehension of the soul. To a 
 Jew, the idea of the fatherhood of God is as natural 
 as a mother's love is to a child. A child has not 
 to pass through any process of reasoning to be- 
 come convinced of its mother's love it feels, it 
 knows. So to us, the idea of man's being created 
 in the image of God comes without effort either of 
 argument or imagination. In addressing a Jewish 
 congregation, therefore, upon the relation of man 
 to God, I am justified in taking for granted that 
 you agree with me that God is really our Father, 
 and that we are bound to Him by spiritual ties. 
 That being so, you may ask what, then, is there 
 to be said ? My answer is we may take counsel
 
 154 FAITH AND EXPERIENCE. 
 
 together as to the mode of thinking and the 
 manner of conduct which that faith implies and 
 claims. We will trace the course of life which we 
 should desire to live if the consciousness of our tie 
 with God is to produce upon our lives, and through 
 us upon society generally, the results which ought 
 to follow. Let us take some instances of lives so 
 ordered that they afford illustrations of likeness to 
 God. There are lives in history, and within our 
 personal experiences which seem to be inspired and 
 guided by a motive so high and so great that we 
 are able to discern in them the Divine Image. 
 What we may term " the Spirit of God " is visible 
 in some characters in a manner so striking that 
 their example demonstrates the way to live in 
 accordance with the high origin of our humanity. 
 Those who have a knowledge of the poor in this 
 vast metropolis, and of agricultural labourers, will 
 have come in contact with lives so darkened by 
 the conditions in which they subsist, so excluded 
 from the ordinary means of worldly pleasure, that 
 a wonder is aroused at the brightness and content- 
 ment which seem sometimes to lighten their gloomy 
 pilgrimage. What is the reason of this brightness 
 and contentment ? There is certainly nothing in 
 the external circumstances to produce a happy 
 countenance severe toil, physical strain, long 
 hours, and, in London, depressing atmosphere, 
 scant wages, homes without comfort deficient 
 even in necessaries ; all this accompanied with 
 domestic responsibilities, and not always with
 
 MAN'S RELATION TO GOD. 155 
 
 domestic solace ! Yet the victims of such a lot 
 toil on and persevere with brave hearts, though 
 the future may be darker than the present, for 
 in the case of thousands of well-spent lives, there 
 is little prospect of rest, and no better destination 
 in this world than the work-house. In drawing 
 this picture of life as it is, it must be observed that 
 the burdens of the poor are not to be defended ; 
 for, indeed, they are, to a large extent, the failure 
 of a social and political system which is amenable 
 to treatment. But the courage with which the 
 burden is borne the heroism that deals with it 
 and masters it these indicate the dignity of 
 human nature pointing to our divine kinship. 
 Those lives have within them a vision which sees 
 beyond and above the awful surroundings ; they 
 appear to know that they belong to God and 
 not to the world that their battle is temporary 
 but their peace is everlasting. To come nearer 
 home, regard the case of one of the poorest of 
 our own brothers an exile from Russia or Poland, 
 coming from a persecuting land to one which he 
 has heard is free. He brings no substance, he is 
 ignorant of the language, " as a man dumb with 
 silence." He finds that he adds one more to an 
 already overstocked labour market. Just consider 
 his moral condition, and what has brought him to 
 this pitiful state! First, in his native land, true 
 to his race, he resigned opportunities, and surren- 
 dered possibilities for his God. That man had 
 only to play a part and all would have been well
 
 156 FAITH AND EXPERIENCE. 
 
 with him in this world. But no ! with the strong 
 heart of a martyr he resisted the foe, and adhered 
 to his standard regardless of consequences, and in 
 the face of dangers which are enough to terrify 
 the brave. When he arrives in the free country 
 a new warfare begins, he has to find bread for his 
 family, and only God knows his difficulty. 
 Restricted by conscience, many fields of industry are 
 fenced to him ; combined circumstances reduce to 
 a minimum the resources of labour. And yet, 
 after a comparatively short time, this man and a 
 handful of others like him will form themselves into 
 a " holy congregation," what we call in the East- 
 end of London a " Chevrah." Their chief aim 
 throughout is to be true to their hereditary charge 
 according to the light that is in them. I am only 
 stating the case when I attribute all that courage, 
 all that devotion, the unselfishness and purity of 
 motive to the fact that the Image of God is a 
 conscious reality. In the life of our down-trodden, 
 exiled brother we perceive an example of some of 
 those great qualities which go to build up a 
 powerful state. There is self-denial, public spirit, 
 loyalty, courage and endurance. All these things 
 in his case do most certainly proceed from his 
 relation to God. He is in covenant with his 
 Creator ; he believes that he is charged by Him 
 with a great mission to his fellow-men, and with 
 that faith he endures though, perhaps, he has 
 never articulated to himself his motives and 
 principles.
 
 MAN'S RELATION TO GOD. 157 
 
 My brothers and sisters ! this place reminds me 
 that there is close at hand an illustration of the 
 action upon human conduct of the Image of God. 
 Here is a society of faithful men who have worked 
 and sacrificed for a holy cause. Few in number, 
 and not enriched in the things of the world, an 
 ambition took root among you to contribute your 
 share of service to the ancient army of Israel, and 
 you have done it loyally. You have provided 
 schools for the rearing of your children in the 
 grand Faith which you inherit, and which you 
 rightly conceive it is your duty and your privilege to 
 transmit. You have organised one more congre- 
 gation to the honour of our community, and have 
 provided many individuals in this populous district 
 with a centre of " holy convocation." To accom- 
 plish such a work against all impediments required 
 a tone of mind and a condition of heart which 
 were not of this world. There is an inner con- 
 sciousness which has aroused you, and that is the 
 likeness of God within you. 
 
 Upon most subjects there are differences of 
 opinion. Religion, being nearest the heart of man, 
 has excited a wide diversion. There are some 
 matters, however, even in the sphere of religion, 
 in regard to which there is rather a different aspect 
 than a difference of opinion. There can be no 
 difference of opinion among our own people as to 
 the Shemang Yisrael and the constitution of our 
 Faith, but there may be a difference of views. 
 That is to say, Jews, like other men, vary in the
 
 158 FAITH AND EXPERIENCE. 
 
 degree of their appreciation of their ancestral 
 Faith, and they also vary in the estimate they 
 make of the duties which their religion demands. 
 To speak with perfect frankness as a man to his 
 kinsmen, it is very questionable whether we all 
 rise to the height of our position as God's " King- 
 dom of Priests," His " Witnesses," and whether 
 many of us do not substitute for our exalted Faith 
 the mere observance of forms and ceremonies. 
 Are we not disposed to judge the proficiency of 
 a Jewish life by the extent to which outward 
 observances are seen ? Does a good Jew mean a 
 man who rigidly adheres to all the ceremonial of 
 Judaism, or one who carries through life as an 
 active principle the consciousness that God created 
 him in His own Image? I do not for a moment 
 mean to imply that the Jew who is rigidly 
 observant need on that account be less spir.iual, 
 for it is quite certain that some of the most 
 observant rabbins have literally lived with God on 
 earth ; but what ought to be made clear is that 
 the evidence of true Judaism does not rest with 
 outward observances. It is possible to be scru- 
 pulous in regard to all the ordinances of the 
 Synagogue, and yet to have failed utterly in the 
 spiritual grasp of the Jewish religion never to 
 have risen to the sublimity of our hereditary Faith, 
 and at the same time, from habit or association, 
 or even from superstition, to have fulfilled every 
 detail in the ritual observances. We cannot be 
 too cautious to keep the standard of a Jewish life
 
 MAN'S RELATION TO GOD. 159 
 
 as high as possible, and to be vigilant in our fear 
 of the danger of suffering that standard to fall from 
 the height at which Almighty God placed it. In 
 the sentence before us we find that the greatest 
 spiritual truth known to mankind was laid down as 
 the basis of Judaism namely, affinity with the 
 Supreme Being ! Consequently a moral idea for 
 human conduct in harmony with the Divine nature. 
 This constitutes the standard of a Jewish life, and 
 nothing short of it is the goal for each Israelite, if 
 he will fulfil his mission and be true to his calling. 
 We are all " priests " in the sight of God, and in 
 the expectation of the world. No wonder if God 
 is wroth, and the world is surprised, when we fall 
 short. Human weaknesses are to be taken into 
 account for Jews as well as for other men ; but a 
 just fear lies also in another cause. Our history, 
 unlike the history of other religions, is not laden 
 with creeds, and therefore we are not threatened 
 with the danger of too much belief; but we are 
 subjected to another kind of error : circumstances 
 have added to the Jewish religion a great many 
 observances, and the standard of Judaism is some- 
 times missed by mistaking those observances for 
 the religion itself. In making these remarks, I am 
 not advocating any specific change in our ritual. 
 Change has been too often mistaken for progress ; 
 and to relax observance does not necessarily mean 
 spiritual advance, indeed it has nothing to do 
 with it. It is the attitude of mind towards these 
 things that should be considered. Give things
 
 160 FAITH AND EXPERIENCE. 
 
 their true proportion, and their proper place, and 
 they will fulfil their purpose. It cannot be too 
 emphatically declared from the Jewish pulpit that 
 the first requirements of Judaism are those which 
 shall conform with the faith that lies at the root of 
 it all, namely, that " God created man in His own 
 I mage," and man is required, therefore, to live after 
 the likeness of God, in other words, his object in 
 life must be to develop a moral character by 
 cultivating qualities which are God-like. You are 
 familiar with the expression a " God-like " man, or 
 a " God-like " woman. It is said of some of the 
 heroes of our race " he walked with God." We 
 might all of us cast our lives in a God-like manner. 
 The whole burden of moral teaching in our 
 Scriptures is this exhortation to Godliness. 
 Throughout the Levitical Law, Almighty God is 
 represented as the Crown, as it were, of the Moral 
 Empire : " Be ye holy : for I the Lord your God 
 am holy " (Leviticus xix. 2) ; and " Fear thy God : 
 I am the Lord " (Leviticus xix. 14, 32). " For I, 
 the Lord your God which sanctify you, am holy " 
 (Leviticus xxi. 8). Against many moral injunctions 
 respecting our duties in this world, we have the 
 divine motive before us in the words, m<T >DS 
 D^nbw, " I am the Lord your God." This constant 
 reference to God is the very " Holy of Holies " in 
 the Jewish religion D^ttHpn JPIlp. Our prophets, 
 from the great Isaiah down to Malachi, agree in 
 making God the motive for human conduct, thus 
 showing our affinity with Him and His nearness
 
 MAN'S RELATION TO GOD. l6l 
 
 to us. " Can a woman forget her sucking child ? 
 Yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee " 
 (Isaiah xliv. 5). Then we have that typical prayer 
 which connects the mind of man with the Spirit 
 of God : " Thou will keep him in perfect peace 
 whose mind is stayed on Thee, because he trusteth 
 in Thee" (Isaiah xxvi. 3). Again, the Prophet 
 Malachi saw the precious tie which binds human 
 souls to their Maker : " Then they that feared the 
 Lord spake often one to another and the Lord 
 hearkened and heard it, and a book of remembrance 
 was written before Him for them that feared the 
 Lord, and that thought upon His name ; and they 
 shall be mine, saith the Lord, in that day when I 
 make up my jewels ; and I will spare him as a 
 man spareth his own son" (Malachi iii. 16). So 
 in our daily life may we not put the question to 
 ourselves concerning our actions and our motives : 
 Is this like God? Is that God-like? Such a 
 course of spiritual training, if widely extended, 
 would remove from society those evils with which 
 it is afflicted. Deceit, selfishness, avarice, and all 
 uncharitableness would become annihilated. On 
 the other hand, honesty of purpose, human sym- 
 pathy, and a keen sense of justice would prevail. 
 Purity of heart and freedom from corruption would 
 be the characteristics of any society or of any 
 single life which sought always God as the motive 
 and the inspiration. We must all be preachers 
 and ministers of God one to another ; and here, 
 I should like to say how much there is to be 
 
 M
 
 1 62 FAITH AND EXPERIENCE. 
 
 accomplished in our own community to keep the 
 public conscience rightly sensitive. There must 
 not be found in Israel a dishonest man nor a bad 
 woman ! This can be prevented, I feel sure, by a 
 steadfast care for the young and for the poor of 
 our race. 
 
 There is one more view of this subject, my 
 brethren, that I cannot withhold from you, and 
 which I would ask you to consider. If all men are 
 created in the Image of God, then it must occur to 
 you that there is an extraordinary bond between 
 m in and man. In my judgment, that bond is so 
 strong that it far outweighs any other considera- 
 tions which cause social and human differences, 
 such as those arising from distinct nationalities, 
 separate races, and different creeds or parties. 
 Human brotherhood is part of that very essential 
 basis of religion, for it springs from the fatherhood 
 of God. It is difficult to understand the state of 
 mind which bends in homage before the Almighty 
 Father, and yet stands up in hostility towards a 
 fellow-creature, because some chance partition 
 happens to be between them. Class distinction, 
 marked by artificial lines, such as those which 
 make a difference between the rich and the poor 
 are utterly wrong in the light of this teaching. 
 Social and personal prejudices amount to a denial 
 of human brotherhood, and we shall not properly 
 appreciate our relations to God, till we all live in 
 more perfect union with one another. The rich have 
 much to learn from the poor, and the poor have a
 
 MAN'S RELATION TO GOD. 163 
 
 right to expect a great deal from the rich. Some 
 men see a realisation of human brotherhood in all 
 kinds of political schemes ; but of one thing we 
 may be certain, if we cling to the faith that we all 
 are created in the image of God, and that true 
 godliness of life is the goal for every man, there 
 need be no fear as to the future of society and the 
 human race. 
 
 The moral enthusiasm of the Israelite cannot 
 be quenched, when he has for his inspiration the 
 powerful reflection that " God created man in His 
 own Image." The Hebrew Liturgy lifts our 
 thoughts to a contemplation of the Divine attributes, 
 so that at our devotions we may call to mind 
 those characteristics of the Divine nature which 
 it is possible for us to imitate. In the morning 
 service you remember the inStt? TTQ, " Blessed 
 be He who sayeth and performeth. Blessed 
 be He who hath compassion upon all creatures. 
 Blessed be He in whom there is neither respect 
 of persons nor taking of bribes. He is righteous 
 in all His ways, and merciful in all His works." 
 This is said of God, but it may surely be said 
 of men too ! A human being who is made 
 after the likeness of God, whether he be Jew 
 or Gentile, may pursue an earthly career which 
 these words would describe ; he too can be faithful ; 
 he also may have compassion " upon all creatures," 
 without " respect of persons," or " taking of bribes " ; 
 and he may be " righteous in all his ways," and 
 " benevolent in all his works." Within the last 
 
 M 2
 
 164 FAITH AND EXPERIENCE. 
 
 forty-eight hours, a life such as this has passed to 
 eternal rest. Such was the character of our 
 illustrious fellow-countryman one of the greatest 
 figures of this century. Lord Shaftesbury was 
 distinguished by those very points which indicate 
 that "God created man in His own Image." How 
 widely soever we may differ from any opinion of 
 his, this is the true description of his life, from 
 which no right-thinking person can dissent. Our 
 own venerable champion, too, Sir Moses Montefiore, 
 who passed away with the fall of summer, was 
 indeed such a man who lived with God, and 
 cultivated, in a high degree, those attributes which 
 in the Deity are worshipped. 
 
 Whoever wishes to know how, in practical life, 
 he can live after the likeness of God, he will find 
 the exact description of such a life in one of our 
 Kippur Psalms (xv.) " He that walketh uprightly, 
 and worketh righteousness, and speaketh the truth 
 in his heart : he that backbiteth not with his 
 tongue, nor doeth evil to his neighbour ; in whose 
 eye a vile person is contemned, but he honoureth 
 them that fear the Lord ; he that sweareth to his 
 own hurt, and changeth not ; he that putteth not 
 out his money to usury, nor taketh a bribe against 
 the innocent ; he that doeth these things shall 
 never be moved." In other words, he is God-like. 
 
 O my brethren ! it is for us to make this 
 perfect Judaism the universal religion of mankind, 
 by setting forth in our lives the example of such 
 Godliness. If we ourselves so live, we can make
 
 MAN'S RELATION TO GOD. 165 
 
 others live likewise. How different would be the 
 tone of society if this were the universal code. A 
 purity would obtain in public life ; politics would 
 not be divorced from religion ; every man who 
 seeks a public career would have the image of God 
 before him to guide his conduct. In private life 
 there would be a constant probing of actions and 
 motives. We act from various motives, but are 
 they always the highest ? Transparency in every 
 dealing and business transaction is required by the 
 Jewish religion. We see, then, that the words 
 " God created man in his own Image " are the real 
 source of moral action, the true guide to personal 
 holiness, the vital basis of religion.
 
 1 66 FAITH AND EXPERIENCE. 
 
 THE MISSION OF ISRAEL. 
 
 Sermon delivered at the Spanish and Portuguese 
 Synagogue in Manchester, on Saturday, 1st January, 
 1887. 
 
 " And the nations shall know that I the Lord do sanctify 
 Israel, when my sanctuary shall be in the midst of them 
 for evermore." Ezekiel xxxvii. 28. 
 
 WHEN an Israelite attains his religious majority at 
 the age fixed by ancient Hebrew usage, he is 
 received into the full fellowship of Israel as a 
 responsible member of the congregation. The 
 sacred army of Israel is thus recruited from genera- 
 tion to generation by the sons and heirs of the 
 holy Covenant. The divine inheritance and the 
 noble traditions of the race are handed down from 
 father to son, thereby securing permanence in the 
 world of that " Kingdom of Priests and Holy 
 Nation " which was called and sanctified in early 
 days of human history. Those of the house of 
 Israel who have already reached the age of
 
 THE MISSION OF ISRAEL. 167 
 
 maturity, and who have had the time and the 
 opportunity to understand the full significance of 
 their racial position in the world, must be stirred 
 with anxious hopes as to those who are to come 
 after them. Those of us who have estimated the 
 influence of our race upon mankind, and who have 
 formed solemn convictions as to the will of God 
 concerning us, must look into .the future with a 
 longing desire that the generations to come may 
 be worthy of our illustrious ancestry, who took the 
 lead in the structure of that universal edifice which is 
 called civilisation. We must indeed be eager to see 
 some assurance in our own time that the links 
 in the chain of our sacred history may pass on one 
 by one, not only unimpaired, but replenished in 
 strength and brightness, so that the refining furnace 
 through which so many of them have emerged 
 may tell their tale on the future of our people. 
 
 There are many events in life which, from their 
 frequent recurrence, are apt to lose their influence. 
 In the course of the year a Jewish congregation is 
 accustomed to see so many of their younger 
 brethren go through the ceremony of Bar Mitzva, 
 or Confirmation, that they, as well as the youths, 
 are likely to regard such incidents as mere 
 formalities. If it could be conceived that the whole 
 destiny of our race depended upon the Bar Mitzva 
 of each single youth, the ceremonial would naturally 
 excite the same interest and enthusiasm which have 
 been manifested at times when the life of the 
 Synagogue seemed to be threatened. But I submit
 
 168 FAITH AND EXPERIENCE. 
 
 that although an isolated event like that which we 
 have witnessed to-day is not of itself associated 
 with apprehensions of that kind, it is one of those 
 circumstances which, in combination, does seriously 
 relate both to the past and to the future of Judaism. 
 Whilst the individual case of Bar Mitzva is full of 
 significance and tender association to more than 
 one person, the act as an institution is of vital issue 
 to all Israel. It is the symbol of the commission 
 which God has placed in the hands of every Israelite- 
 It is the recognition and the assumption of the 
 duties, which by reason of our birth, all Israelites 
 are summoned to perform in obedience to that early 
 command in Exodus, " ye shall be unto me a king- 
 dom of priests and a holy nation." 
 
 A child who is born a king does not, before a 
 certain age, assume the functions of the crown. 
 When the time comes that he is to take upon him- 
 self the kingly office, the occasion is full of 
 importance to his dynasty, and to the state over 
 which he is to reign. Meanwhile, he is carefully 
 protected and trained to discharge the obligations 
 of his high calling. In a kingdom of another kind, 
 and of a holy character, each Israelite is born a 
 priest of the kingdom of priests, with definite 
 functions, to discharge, not only in relation to his 
 own communion, but, in a wider sense, to mankind. 
 In his childhood he has been guarded, and sheltered, 
 and instructed by the unsurpassed love of a Jewish 
 mother. Everything has been done to guarantee his 
 fitness for the duties that await him. The Mosaic
 
 THE MISSION OF ISRAEL. 169 
 
 code, as well as the love of devoted parents, provide 
 that care, physical as well as moral, which are to 
 effect such salutary results on the life of a Jew. Fully 
 equipped with the education required at his age, 
 and able to read the Law, he is presented to the 
 congregation, and for the first time takes his part 
 in the public service. He becomes a soldier of the 
 covenant of Israel. On such an occasion he is 
 bidden to go and be one of the " kingdom of 
 priests," one of the " holy nation." We, who tell 
 him this, are reminded of the sanctity of Israel, and 
 the effect of that sanctity upon the world. This is 
 why I have chosen these remarkable words of the 
 prophet, which declare that the nations shall know 
 that it was the Eternal who sanctified us, and that 
 that knowledge should be complete when His 
 sanctuary is seen to be in the midst of us for ever- 
 more. According to the prophetic utterance the 
 condition of our work in the world is clearly that we 
 ourselves shall be sanctified. What is meant by our 
 being sanctified ? Is it not the same idea that we 
 find again and again expressed in our Book of 
 Books ? " Thou art an holy people unto me." " Be 
 ye holy, for I the Lord your God am holy." " I have 
 called thee in righteousness." "Thou art a peculiar 
 treasure unto me." " Ye are my witnesses, 
 saith the Lord." " Ye shall be my people, and I 
 will be your God." 
 
 My brethren ! the true meaning of God's 
 sanctuary being in the midst of Israel is this, and 
 I ask you to follow the argument. We were
 
 FAITH AND EXPERIENCE. 
 
 chosen, as I have said, to take the lead in the 
 civilisation of mankind. Other people have had 
 their share, too, in the work of progress and 
 culture. The Egyptians, the Greeks, and the 
 Romans have each, in their turn, laid on stone after 
 stone in that colossal work. No man would be 
 true to history, and to the instincts of culture, if he 
 denied the place which is due to the genius of the 
 ancient Greeks in the hierarchy of universal 
 teaching. What they have taught can only be 
 justly appreciated by those whose minds have 
 been steeped in the refinements of literature and 
 art. Philosophy, logic, and geometry, as well as 
 poetry and sculpture, owe their origin almost, but 
 certainly their growth, to the masters of ancient 
 Greece. The science of politics, the art of govern- 
 ment and jurisprudence, come from the memorable 
 institutions of ancient Rome. But, brethren, the 
 work that was allotted to Israel was even of larger 
 scope and of deeper consequences, for it was 
 nothing less than the unfolding to man of that 
 which was best within him. It was the awakening 
 of the human conscience to its hitherto unknown 
 power, its God-like capacity. Our share in 
 the work of civilisation covered the entire range 
 of moral responsibility and human conduct ; 
 and human conduct, remember, has been pro- 
 nounced by the most competent critics of the age 
 to be three-fourths of life. Our sphere was pre- 
 eminently a holy one, for it was the teaching, and 
 the development of the holiest elements in human
 
 THE MISSION OF ISRAEL. I/ 1 
 
 nature. We, by the will of Heaven, have taught 
 mankind the exalted truth that man was created 
 in the Image of God. We have, moreover, been 
 permitted to illustrate the ways by which the ladder 
 is raised from earth to heaven. It was the heroes 
 of our race whose fame excelled the classic 
 luminaries of Greece and Rome. It is our literature, 
 my brethren, which has become, throughout Europe 
 at least, the acknowledged " Word of God." The 
 compositions of the Hebrew psalmists have become 
 the vehicles of worship in the temples of a thousand 
 sects. Behind all forms of religious belief in 
 Europe, in America, and in parts of Asia, 
 and even in Africa, the race of Israel stands 
 as the permanent prop, and the inspiration, 
 the everflowing spring, whence is drawn as from 
 a mighty well in countless different streams, the 
 waters of faith, hope, and charity, the sources of 
 history, tradition, and authority. There is no 
 essentially religious idea in Christendom or in 
 Mohammedanism which does not owe its birth to 
 the Jewish Religion. These are facts, the import of 
 which concerns all civilised men. They have their 
 bearing upon many nations and various creeds. 
 But for ourselves they have the most sacred 
 meaning. I will venture to describe, in the 
 presence of one who has this moment accepted the 
 obligations of the manhood of Israel, what that 
 meaning is, what indeed, should be the aim of 
 every one who bears the Jewish name. We men 
 and women of Israel, the " chosen " of God, His
 
 1/2 FAITH AND EXPERIENCE. 
 
 missionaries to the world, must not rest till our 
 name becomes synonymous with the highest virtues, 
 the fullest example of righteousness. People not 
 of our covenant are warranted in looking to us to 
 find moral rectitude and high spiritual life, and 
 they may be reasonably surprised if they fail to 
 discover that in the life of an Israelite perfect 
 righteousness has the first claim. When it is per- 
 ceived that every Jew and Jewess, or certainly the 
 vast majority of our number, are setting an example 
 which all the world can follow, there will be distinct 
 evidence that the Divine Sanctuary abides amongst 
 us. No nation will venture to doubt that it was 
 Almighty God who thus sanctified us from the 
 first, because we shall bear the testimony in our- 
 selves. What is to be understood by the inspired 
 words is nothing short of this high ideal. It needs 
 a great effort, no doubt, to grasp it. A young 
 Israelite, with all the advantages of a pure up- 
 bringing, in the freshness of his youth, is quite able 
 to rise high enough in his aspirations, I maintain, 
 to take hold of this ideal and make it his own. It 
 is the supreme lesson which he has to learn at this 
 eventful juncture in his career. It is the armour of 
 truth with which he is to set out on the mission ? 
 which, by his profession of faith, he has under- 
 taken. Whoever ventures to speak to a younger 
 brother on his reception into the congregation of 
 his people is bound to tell him the truth, the whole 
 truth, and nothing but the truth, concerning the 
 office of his race and the duties it demands of him.
 
 THE MISSION OF ISRAEL. 1/3 
 
 Well, brethren, if I were content to say to him : 
 From to-day forward you are expected to observe 
 all the customs and ceremonials of Judaism, and 
 there end, I should be giving him quite an imperfect 
 idea, and a very misleading one, of what it is to be an 
 Israelite. For we can quite conceive (can we not ?) 
 that a man may rigorously observe every ordinance 
 which our traditions supply and yet exhibit a type 
 of character as unlike the ideal presented by the 
 prophet, as if he were no Jew at all. Mere 
 observance of outward forms may be practised 
 by a person who is selfish, sensual, narrow, 
 and sectarian. In fact, ritual observance of itself, 
 unsupported by high spiritual motives and noble 
 conduct, does in reality often become a fetishism; 
 and the garb of a life utterly unworthy of a 
 dignified noble race. The Hebrew prophets have 
 over and over again denounced Jews of this sort, 
 and boldly told them that their practices were " an 
 abomination unto the Lord." It is quite within 
 human experience to find people magnifying the 
 efficacy of outward forms to the extent that the 
 true morality of life and the spiritual life itself are 
 ignored. Now, I should be the last one to deprecate 
 the use of external rites. They are thoroughly 
 necessary, and, with a great historic religion like 
 ours, they are indispensable ; but remember that, 
 important as they are, they are but the outer shell 
 of what really constitutes religion itself. As the 
 outer courts of the temple were to the " Holy 
 place " and the " Holy of Holies," so are these
 
 174 FAITH AND EXPERIENCE. 
 
 observances and rites to the higher Judaism which 
 is binding upon us. If you read the teaching of 
 Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and the other prophets, 
 not to mention the message of the Scribes, Ezra 
 and Nehemiah, you will find that in what they had 
 to say of Judaism, they were all agreed, differing 
 only in language, in treatment, and in the occasion 
 of their speech. Their description of the Jewish 
 religion is spiritual and moral absolutely. I use 
 the word absolutely because there is no passage in 
 tne writings attributed to them which could 
 authorise the assumption that the religion which 
 they taught was any other but the purest con- 
 ception of ethics and the highest spirituality 
 which has ever been taught. If I were not born a 
 Jew and I turned to the Hebrew prophets to 
 inquire what Judaism was, the one impression 
 would be that it was pre-eminently a system of 
 spiritual life and of practical morality. Well, 
 brethren, a spiritual life and practical morality are 
 what I have already described to be leading 
 features in civilisation. They are conditions 
 without which no state is wholly civilised. One 
 state is more civilised than another in proportion 
 to its measure of spiritual life and practical 
 morality. Well, these highest gifts of civilisation, 
 destined for all mankind, have been deposited in 
 the keeping of a small group of people, " the fewest 
 of all peoples " ; deposited not to stay there alone, 
 but to be disseminated among all men and nations. 
 We are that people, and it is our mission to
 
 THE MISSION OF ISRAEL. 175 
 
 present and to extend the light of eternal truth. 
 To preserve intact the divine truths committed to 
 us, and to spread them far and wide, is the mission 
 of our race. Whoever is concerned in this 
 dissemination of divine truths must himself be 
 first a reasonable illustration of them. That is a 
 proposition strictly within the lines of what is 
 intelligent, just and reasonable. For a Jew to fail 
 in illustrating, by his own character and conduct, 
 the spiritual life and practical morality, is to be 
 false to his mission. The greatest enemy of our 
 race is the born Israelite whose life is immoral. 
 He is a distortion of what God meant him to be ; 
 and if with his ignoble life he adheres to the 
 outward forms of our religion he makes the matter 
 ten-fold worse, for then he becomes a traitor in the 
 camp. 
 
 It cannot be necessary to explain in detail what 
 is meant by practical morality. The Mosaic law is 
 so explicit on this matter that there is no condition 
 of human affairs where the right road is not 
 indicated and clearly distinguished from the wrong 
 one. But there is a point of elevation in practical 
 morality which enters into that other department 
 of religion which I have called the spiritual life. 
 Morality, as you are aware, has two aspects, the 
 one is action, and the other is motive. Now, the 
 motive for action varies in different systems of 
 life. The motive for action in Judaism is this high 
 spirituality which I have mentioned. To illustrate 
 my meaning I would say, that to be truthful and
 
 176 FAITH AND EXPERIENCE. 
 
 to bear honest witness is a moral act, but the 
 motive for such conduct may be of different value. 
 It may be in obedience to the law of the land to 
 avoid the penalty of perjury. It may be the law 
 of society which is conventional, and only causes a 
 shrinking from the odium of social unpopularity. 
 Neither of these two motives is spiritual. But 
 there is the third motive which is spiritual. It is 
 of deepest root and most profound in its influence, 
 namely that source of action which springs from 
 the attributes of God Himself, that is to say, to 
 act as God would act, believing that you are 
 created in His Image, and therefore must resemble 
 in your mortal way His Divine nature. It is His 
 nature to be true, hence you must be truthful. 
 This motive is independent of all selfish or social 
 reasons, and has reference only to your relation to 
 God. If a man were in a state of isolation, 
 screened from the eye, and freed from the fetters of 
 social judgment, with this spiritual motive he will 
 harbour nothing in his mind that would be in- 
 consistent with his relation to God. This is the 
 spiritual side of religion, and it is the transcendent 
 part of it. It rests upon the faith which we inherit 
 in the Eternal God of perfect righteousness. We 
 can consciously cultivate the fruits of this faith by 
 referring every action and thought to the tribunal 
 of His infinite goodness. The great value of the 
 worship of God, which is such a prominent feature 
 in the Jewish religion, is this very cultivation of 
 our kinship with God the lifting up of the mind
 
 THE MISSION OF ISRAEL. 177 
 
 and heart into the presence of His everlasting 
 light, thus recuperating that heart and mind with 
 the knowledge and strength of Divine Wisdom. 
 This is the very pinnacle of the faith of an 
 Israelite. It is part of the inmost sanctuary or 
 the " Holy of Holies " of the Jewish religion. 
 
 People who are not Jews often endeavour and 
 succeed in acquiring that practical morality 
 founded on this high spiritual life, but they will 
 invariably tell you that they have derived all their 
 knowledge of these highways from the direct 
 teaching of the Hebrew prophets, and from the 
 living examples of the heroes of our race ; and 
 even where they claim for the founders of their 
 religion some names which are not included in the 
 list of those whom the Synagogue counts its 
 prophets, they never seek to deny, but always 
 strenuously insist, that the Hebrew prophets, and 
 they alone, were the teachers of their teachers. 
 Indeed, their great effort has ever been to establish 
 an identity of teaching between their teachers and 
 ours. Upon the hypothesis that the two agree, do 
 they rely for the actual authority of their own? 
 The finest philanthropy of the present age, the 
 noblest instances of pure unselfish life are 
 admittedly the offspring of some religious faith 
 which claims its descent from the Faith of Israel. 
 Here again you see, my brethren, the tremendous 
 influence of our race upon the world, aye, and upon 
 the best portion of human society. With this in- 
 fluence, I contend, comes its obligations, obligations 
 
 N
 
 1/8 FAITH AND EXPERIENCE. 
 
 binding in every age upon every Jew and Jewess. 
 Does not this thought rebound upon us with the 
 awful sense of what we owe to God, to ourselves, 
 and to the world ? Though the vicissitudes of our 
 peculiar history have thrown us back in the full 
 exercise of our work as active missionaries of God, 
 and encased us for a time in a forced separateness 
 which has excluded our sages from going forth 
 unreservedly to preach religion to the Gentiles, 
 so inscrutable was the decree of Providence in 
 first calling us His " Kingdom of Priests," His 
 " Witnesses," that our teaching has perceptibly 
 gone forth from age to age, and has brought about 
 results which the student of history cannot 
 exaggerate, results deeply affecting the highest 
 department in the civilisation of nations, and 
 forcing upon peoples and upon churches words 
 which I might be justified in quoting from their 
 own writings, declaring that the kinsmen of our 
 race brought Divine Light to them. 
 
 With this statement of the actual position of 
 the Synagogue in the world, accompanied by 
 definitions of Judaism in its highest aspect, I 
 submit that to take upon oneself the full fellow- 
 ship of Israel is to enter into the most solemn 
 covenant of fidelity to God, loyalty to his race, 
 and to take upon himself the spirit of a missionary 
 towards the world. Races and communities are 
 but the combined forces of individual life. Some 
 people erroneously consider that, as by a kind of 
 miracle, the conduct of a whole people is different
 
 THE MISSION OF ISRAEL. 179 
 
 in kind from the action of an individual ; and that 
 the character and repute of a public body has 
 nothing to do with the personal character and 
 repute of a single member of it. But in truth the 
 only practical way by which we can raise the tone 
 and heighten the reputation of an entire people is 
 by the individual struggle to improve ourselves. The 
 only true guide for a community gifted with the 
 lofty ideals of our race is by each one of us setting 
 about the work of life as if upon him alone 
 depended the fame and honour of Israel. Thus 
 there is a value in this old custom of ours of taking 
 our younger brethren singly through this act of 
 Bar Mitzva or Confirmation. It individualises the 
 teaching we have to convey. It emphasises the 
 individuality of Jewish obligations. 
 
 Upon you, my young brother, rests, as upon the 
 whole House of Israel, the personal obligation 
 to do your utmost to maintain the justice of the 
 Jewish cause by pursuing a course of life in strict 
 obedience to our Divine commands. Into your 
 keeping is confided from to-day the fair name ot 
 the Synagogue. Remember that God has declared, 
 and has never annulled the declaration, that we 
 are His " Witnesses." We knew Him before any 
 other people had a knowledge of Divine Revelation. 
 You belong to the oldest of God's standard-bearers 
 and are one of them. Your future life, which we 
 pray may be long spared in health and vigour, 
 will be a distinct factor in the life of Israel. Let 
 us, my brethren, all unite in one combined effort 
 
 N 2
 
 180 FAITH AND EXPERIENCE. 
 
 to discharge worthily the glorious mission of our 
 race to keep intact our wonderful inheritance 
 and our great traditions, and set forth by the 
 highest example the " beauty of holiness." Then 
 shall we have for ever His sanctuary in the midst 
 of us, and all the nations shall know that it was 
 the eternal God who sanctified Israel for the good 
 of mankind.
 
 THE DIVINE PRESENCE. l8l 
 
 THE DIVINE PRESENCE. 
 
 [Sermon delivered at West Hampstead, April 26th, 
 1890.] 
 
 " And he said, My presence shall go with thee, and I will 
 
 give thee rest." Exodus xxxiii. 14. 
 " Cast me not away from thy presence ; and take not thy 
 
 holy spirit from me." Psalm li. II. 
 
 THESE two passages, taken from different parts of 
 the Bible, and presenting the devout aspiration of 
 two of the foremost figures in religious history, 
 seem to open before us the inmost sanctuary of the 
 Jewish religion. The assurance to Moses and the 
 prayer of David two men singularly unlike one 
 another, who probably had nothing in common 
 except their religious faith, convey to us a sense of 
 something like concurrent testimony to the deepest 
 truths, and testimony of the highest possible value. 
 For who can speak about the Presence of God, and 
 those deeper thoughts belonging to the realm of 
 faith with greater authority than the founder of 
 Judaism, on the one hand, and the illustrious 
 Hebrew poet king on the other ? Their views 
 about God and about the human relationship with
 
 1 82 FAITH AND EXPERIENCE. 
 
 the Divine Being must necessarily carry a weight 
 which would not attach to any other figure in Hebrew 
 history if we except the prophet Isaiah. Whereas 
 there has been some divergence between the views 
 of the founders of other religions, and those of their 
 immediate followers upon what is generally called 
 theology, it is a matter of much significance that 
 there is an absolute unity of thought between 
 Moses and his followers who were separated from 
 him by an enormous gulf of time and circumstance. 
 Although the book of Psalms contains far more 
 numerous utterances of prayer and fervid spiritual 
 aspiration than is found in any other part of the 
 Bible, and though some of us may be disposed to 
 see a development of the religious idea from one 
 stage of Jewish history to another, it is plain to any 
 reader of common sense that the ideas about the 
 deepest truths of religion were practically the same 
 in the language of Moses as they were in that of 
 David and the other psalmists. It is also true that 
 the greatest sages of our history, who have taught 
 many things about ritual and other matters which 
 do not appear to everybody to coincide in all their 
 details with biblical teaching, have yet expressed 
 about the Presence of God precisely the same 
 teaching and the same aspirations upon which the 
 earliest Judaism took its stand. Popular notions 
 of spiritual life may vary, and popular conceptions 
 both within and without the fold of Israel do vary. 
 
 But when we want to inquire what the Jewish 
 teaching is upon those subjects, which after all con-
 
 THE DIVINE PRESENCE. 183 
 
 stitute its inmost sanctuary, and we go to consult 
 the records of Israel's masters and luminaries, we 
 find absolute harmony. I believe that even in our 
 own day, widely different as the outward religious 
 practices of Jews undoubtedly are, you will find 
 that all really religious Israelites feel exactly the 
 same kind of hunger and thirst after the Presence 
 of God, and the same assurance of rest in the 
 attainment of that object They may differ ever so 
 much about their traditions on most subjects, and 
 on the interpretation of Scripture, or even on the 
 comparative authority of different parts of the 
 Bible, but if they are in their heart of hearts true to 
 the mission of their race, they will each and all 
 recognize in such words as I have quoted the very 
 soul of their ancestral faith. Of course, one might 
 be told that many people have never become aware 
 of the fact that their religion means anything at 
 all except ritual and sanitary arrangements and 
 racial ties, but such persons one is justified in 
 describing, not necessarily reproachfully, but very 
 certainly, as being misinformed about the true 
 genius of Judaism. The human mind often finds 
 it difficult to grasp at one and the same time a 
 great many aspects of the same subject, and there 
 can be little doubt that the elaborate network of 
 ritual detail which has gathered around our historic 
 Religion has in many cases induced a tendency, by 
 no means anticipated by those who helped to erect 
 it, to divert the thoughts from the deepest truths 
 themselves and to fix them upon the fence which
 
 1 84 FAITH AND EXPERIENCE. 
 
 was intended to safeguard those truths. This 
 consideration, however, is one which opens up a 
 wide field of reflection to which I do not propose 
 to invite your attention in this place. That intense 
 desire on the part of Moses to enjoy the assurance 
 of having with him the Presence of God ; and that 
 equally earnest passionate prayer of David en- 
 treating that he might not be cast away from the 
 same Divine presence, exhibit a frame of mind, a 
 condition of heart from which, I would submit, you 
 and I of this ipth century ought to learn a very 
 great truth. Either we have faith in God, or we 
 have not. Is that faith, that Jewish faith, in which 
 we often pride ourselves, a reality or only a dream ? 
 Is it possible really to have the Presence of God 
 with us each personally, individually, or are we in 
 uttering the words only expressing a wild ima- 
 gination ? People say they believe in God, they 
 are sure that His righteousness exceeds anything 
 it is possible to imagine ; but they fail to appreciate 
 or even to take account of that wondrous privilege 
 inherent in human nature by which we are able in 
 this busy world to live with Him. Men and 
 women of the world, who seem to have their 
 portion in this life, would make believe that they 
 are quite independent of spiritual culture, but they 
 are very weak mortals, indeed, who fight shy of 
 preserving through life, the consciousness of the 
 infinitely righteous Being. The mere contact with 
 such a Presence must of necessity light up all the 
 dark corners of our secret lives, and render glaring
 
 THE DIVINE PRESENCE. 185 
 
 to our own perception some of those evils which 
 perhaps we would rather had remained hidden. 
 In the long run there is no complete assurance of 
 rest without the tranquil conscience. For those 
 even who imagine that they can find some substitute 
 for God there is no unrest so disturbing as that by 
 which they are out of harmony with their own 
 natures. Of all kinds of unrest, there is none so 
 exhausting as an inward turmoil of any sort, and 
 of all inward turmoils what can be so disturbing as 
 self discontent. The discontent which does not 
 arise from the consciousness of actual sin, but 
 rather from the disquieting moods of an unhappy 
 disposition, must itself be trying to bear. And it is 
 easy to understand how it is that people of this 
 description shrink from admitting into their inner 
 lives a condition which is liable to make manifest, 
 though it does not create, actual causes of dis- 
 content. Faith of this high order, that is an 
 intense desire for the abiding Presence of God, is 
 surely the very substance of that message with 
 which our race has been so singularly gifted, and 
 which it is our peculiar mission to propagate. 
 
 Do we at all estimate what that faith 
 actually means ? It is one of those things which 
 cannot be and which never was intended to be 
 demonstrated in the nature of a mathematical 
 proposition. Almighty God, who is surely our 
 Father, or else we are not concerned with Him, 
 has mystically determined that He shall become 
 manifest to us through the feelings, through the
 
 1 86 FAITH AND EXPERIENCE. 
 
 affections, through a divine untold love. That is 
 why the head corner-stone of Judaism is the 
 command to love God with all the powers of our 
 being. Love is the channel which He seems to 
 have selected, and experience plainly declares that 
 it is the only channel through which human life 
 can be in living conscious touch with the divine. 
 Without the incomparable power of love God can- 
 not be realised in this world. No purely intel- 
 lectual method of reasoning can translate for us 
 the idea of the Presence of God from an abstract 
 proposition into a vital virtue-propelling, conscious 
 force. And this is just what we want to do with 
 it. However industriously men of learning may 
 pursue the study of Biblical literature and criticism, 
 they will never quite experience that frame of 
 mind which Moses enjoyed, and for which David 
 petitioned, until they put forth the whole and 
 undivided ardour of their affections. 
 
 Everybody knows what love means in some form 
 or other. And human nature, by its special con- 
 stitution, has ample faculty for exercising and 
 receiving it. Human happiness, in the most 
 ordinary sense, may be measured in every case by 
 the quality and the degree of the special power to 
 love and to be loved. That is the first condition 
 of true happiness, and it is the only condition of 
 the highest kind of happiness. No human being 
 can for a single day enjoy happiness unless he 
 loves and is loved. We all have various ex- 
 periences of the human aspect of this divine gift of
 
 THE DIVINE PRESENCE. 187 
 
 love. And we must know from observation, if 
 happily not from experience, that the very essence 
 of human misery is to be seen under the shadow 
 of hate, enmity, and discord of all kinds. Civiliza- 
 tion, that great word about which one hears and 
 reads so much nowadays, is a condition which will 
 grow only with the fading away of hostilities, and 
 the rising of human love. Heaven on earth is well 
 known to be found in a true domestic life. The love 
 of kinsmen and of friends, whether in social inter- 
 course, or only in silent memory, is the one strong 
 foundation of human happiness, which the world 
 and death itself cannot hinder. What then of 
 that spiritual love which links us with the undying, 
 the eternal, the perfectly righteous God ? Shall 
 not that be possible, when the very shadow of it in 
 human affection is quite apparent ? Such a love, 
 and such a union are doubtless what these two 
 great heroes of our race meant by asking that 
 God's Presence should go with them. Why shall 
 not we pray that prayer every day of our lives ? If 
 not for such an immediate purpose as that which 
 caused the great legislator to seek it on the 
 special occasion referred to in the text, at least 
 may we not ask as much as the psalmist sought, 
 by imploring that we may not be cast away from 
 His presence, that He may not take from us His 
 holy spirit ? The greatest reform that we could 
 effect in this generation would be to revive the 
 spirit of those Israelites who were the authors of 
 the Psalms and of the Books of the Prophets.
 
 1 88 FAITH AND EXPERIENCE. 
 
 Indeed, revival must come in this age. People 
 speak vaguely about the efficacy of prayer, as 
 though it were a mere selfish, worldly method of 
 getting material things, and it is invariably notice- 
 able that these discussions miss the main issue of 
 the question. Prayer that is, conscious communion 
 with our Eternal Father is efficacious by reason 
 of its potency to bring us into that true realised 
 relation with Him, of which we are too long apt 
 to remain practically unconscious. And think 
 what it signifies in the very act of prayer, to take 
 ourselves away from the crowded, busy, often 
 unkind world, into that peaceful, tender, loving 
 Presence of the Supreme Being, who does not 
 weary. But by never being cast away from God's 
 Presence, and having always His spirit with us, a 
 vast deal more is meant than anything which is 
 understood by a single act of worship. It is a life 
 of worship, it is a life of peace, a life of rest, a life 
 of steady adherence to fixed principles, and 
 devotion to that kind of duty, and that estimate 
 of duty which the common social standard does 
 not of itself present. We heard two weeks ago in 
 this place something about an ideal life, and how 
 it was possible for everybody in any situation of 
 life to live an ideal one. Just think of that secret 
 power, the abiding Divine Presence, as the means 
 to that end, if it be not in itself the end. A man 
 who has always God before him, not in the sense 
 of being unknown to himself, watched, scrutinised, 
 and judged by an unseen eye, but living and act-
 
 THE DIVINE PRESENCE. 189 
 
 ing in harmony, in conscious co-operation with that 
 Divine Will, never revolting, always seeking to 
 obey is not that an ideal life ? Some of you will 
 say, that is an almost impossible picture, hardly an 
 attainable goal. Tell us something easier to do, 
 more within the reach of ordinary persons ! The 
 answer is that life is made up of such an innumer- 
 able quantity of details, and of little things, that 
 there is only one way of equipping the human 
 character, so that it can adapt itself to details of 
 conduct in a way which would approach to an 
 ideal life. That is by the application of one 
 simple and uncomplicated habit of thought, a 
 temper of mind, an attitude of the soul, one whole 
 and complete spiritual equipment, and this is 
 expressed by the desire to live with God. Then 
 you will say that persons who profess to live with 
 God, and who do so live are liable to error David 
 himself sinned. Quite true ! But with this con- 
 fession of the frailty and the weakness of human 
 nature for you would never declare that the man 
 without God was really better off is it not trans- 
 parently plain that by not denying from oneself 
 the presence of God, sin will be more easily 
 detected and more speedily diminished if you 
 would not admit that it was indeed more easily 
 avoided. A man who lives with God is not con- 
 stantly battling with sin. Human nature is just as 
 capable of becoming averse to sin, as it is of 
 acquiring an aptitude for sin. With the progress 
 of spiritual culture vice in its grosser manifesta-
 
 190 FAITH AND EXPERIENCE. 
 
 tion does not even appear in the form of tempta- 
 tions. Dishonesty, uncharity, impurity, become 
 not merely conquered, but there is no effort at 
 avoiding them. They present no kind of attrac- 
 tion. It is extremely difficult to depict the man 
 whose life is distinguished by the realisation of 
 the Divine Presence, but there are such persons. 
 And if human history had presented no more 
 than a single example of the kind, we should be 
 logically justified in asserting that such a life is 
 possible. But, happily, history abounds with 
 types of men and women who have lived with 
 God, and who have not encountered any sharp 
 temptation to sin Every generation, almost 
 every family, has its record of the saintly mother, 
 the angel sister, the sweet God-like child. And, 
 thank God, we of the race of Israel have no 
 cause to deplore the absence of such bright stars 
 of human excellence. It is a degraded, an un- 
 natural view of human destiny, which regards 
 the main course of life as one dreary road to 
 wickedness. It is a diseased condition of mind, 
 a heathen conception, which has so grievously 
 impressed upon multitudes the grim teaching 
 that man is essentially vile. Judaism is a 
 powerful protest through the ages against this 
 unhealthy, morbid dictum. Men and women 
 often make the mistake of forming their estimate 
 of human character from what they read in the 
 newspapers. The detection of crime and the 
 revelation of vice do come to the surface, and
 
 THE DIVINE PRESENCE. 191 
 
 modern journalism seems to delight in purveying 
 with needless elaboration the worst that can be 
 known of human nature. But against the 
 sickening roll of sin laid before us day by day 
 by the printing press, is there no balancing- 
 sheet with its statement of human virtue ? The 
 exercise of a little imagination will discover, if 
 we have not the opportunity of seeing through a 
 wide experience of our fellows, a vast army of 
 high-souled men and women of all ages and 
 conditions spread broadcast through our great 
 cities, among thousands of villages and in millions 
 of homes, literally living with God and for God, 
 carrying along with them the very touch of His 
 holy spirit which acts possibly as the central 
 light illuminating these unknown numbers of 
 human circles. We can see it in the sturdy, 
 manly nature of the perfect husband, the devoted 
 father, who really goes through life with the single 
 purpose to do his best for his family, possibly, 
 against severe difficulties and acute anxieties, 
 maintaining the freshness of youth through a long 
 life, by reason of his own inward glow of the 
 Divine presence. We can discover it in the gentle 
 mother whose efforts in life amount to one long 
 stride of self-negation. Outside the domestic 
 sphere we find self-sacrifice, humility of spirit, 
 tender care for others in every walk of life, from 
 the high-minded statesman and the plodding 
 scientist, to cheerful, kind-hearted hospital nurse, 
 whose whole career means unselfishness. These
 
 192 FAITH AND EXPERIENCE. 
 
 are the public-spirited leaders and followers in a 
 variety of movements designed for the alleviation 
 of human suffering, or for the promotion of human 
 welfare in a thousand different directions. Then 
 there is that most luminous of all virtues, the 
 widespread effort among hosts of men and women 
 to save and to rescue from danger and temptation 
 those who are deprived of their natural guardian- 
 ship, or who, from personal infirmity of some 
 kind, are constitutionally unable to protect their 
 own lives. If it be true, and it is a fact, that 
 London presents a vast spectacle of appalling 
 wickedness, it is equally true that there is a pre- 
 ponderating balance of persons whose lives shine 
 radiantly with the light of the Divine Spirit. Just 
 consider the one trait in human character becom- 
 ing, we rejoice to think, signally developed in the 
 present generation, that of large-hearted charity. 
 Perhaps its minor expression is in the giving of 
 alms ; but by far its weightier and more character- 
 istic effect is seen in the power of withholding 
 unkind judgment, of helping those who have fallen, 
 in strengthening the weak, in countless tokens of 
 intellectual and spiritual sympathy. The category 
 of virtues is too long to enumerate, is too abund- 
 ant in its manifestations to be detailed. It 
 means not so much a number of excellent qualities 
 as it does one whole condition of the heart and 
 of the intellect. That condition, my friends, is 
 secured in a life which seeks God for its main- 
 stay.
 
 THE DIVINE PRESENCE. 193 
 
 The poet, Browning, has sung of such a life in 
 these lines 
 
 This, throws himself on God the unperplexed, 
 Seeking shall find him. 
 
 Which of us is not capable of making the effort 
 to seek, of wending our way towards God ? I 
 would never believe that there is a Jewish man 
 or woman or child who has not, deep, deep dow 
 in his or her nature, the resources with which 
 to commence, at least, the true spiritual culture. 
 
 After all there is an inalienable right of the 
 human soul to have God with it in conscious 
 relationship. Our race has taught this truth ; and 
 shall we, the teachers, forget what we have im- 
 parted ? If there were not this inalienable right, 
 there would be no meaning for us in all those 
 attributes of our Divine Creator, which are so 
 familiar in our prayers and in our praises which 
 we offer to Him. The worship of God is the 
 declaration on our part of that inalienable right. 
 But what David asked, and what, I would submit, 
 it is urgent that we should ask, is that that 
 relationship with Him should hold good at all 
 times and in all conditions of life. Otherwise, 
 He, whom we describe in our liturgy as the great, 
 mighty and tremendous God, would be away 
 from ourselves, and His greatness, His might, and 
 His power would only remotely interest us as 
 though they were no more than the attributes 
 of a powerful distant despot, far off and out of 
 reach from all that is human. It is just this 
 
 O
 
 194 FAITH AND EXPERIENCE. 
 
 relation, this kinship, this tie, between the frail 
 and sorrow-bearing mortal, and the Divine, unseen 
 majesty which invests our species with its lofty 
 nature, and endows us with an exalted yet possible 
 aspiration. Such an aspiration is only natural 
 to everyone who is created in the image of God. 
 Let us, then, in no wise suppress the rising of 
 this hope, but rather endeavour to nurture it 
 that it may grow and strengthen. And let us 
 consider that in every conscious effort towards the 
 ideal life we are raising ourselves into the Divine 
 Presence ; that by each act of self-control, and by 
 every attempt to subject the animal nature to 
 nobler claims, we are clinging again and again to 
 the Spirit of God, so that it shall not forsake us. 
 There is no situation in ordinary life which may 
 not be turned to such a use. Indeed, the methods 
 are simple enough. What is primarily wanted 
 is the will, the desire to let the Divine Presence 
 go with us. Let us do nothing, and think nothing 
 which we would screen from the Infinite eye. In 
 every movement and turn of life be the course 
 ever so rugged or full of care let us be quite 
 sure that we are glad He is present to guide 
 or to admonish. And, then, may we not hope 
 that every step and that each act will be illumined 
 by the light of the Divine Spirit.
 
 HIGHER JUDAISM. 195 
 
 HIGHER JUDAISM. 
 [Kilburn, March igth, 1892.] 
 
 " Thy Kingdom is an everlasting Kingdom, and thy do- 
 minion endureth throughout all generations." Psalm 
 cxlv. 
 
 THIS is a very familiar psalm. So familiar indeed 
 that, like other beautiful things that are constantly 
 repeated, and frequently gabbled, it has almost 
 lost its meaning to modern Jews. We may have 
 noticed it among a host of other psalms that are 
 included in the Liturgy of the synagogue, and 
 there is none more commonly used than this 
 one. These psalms are so crowded together, and 
 so rapidly recited in the sacred language, that 
 perhaps there are not a great many Jews or 
 Jewesses on whom they make a very profound 
 impression. " Familiarity breeds contempt " is a 
 saying true enough in regard to a number of 
 things, but it is nowhere more true than in con- 
 nection with the lofty faith that is expressed again 
 and again in the wonderful literature of our race. 
 I never take up the Psalms, or indeed any 
 edition of the Jewish Prayer Book, without 
 a sense of the immense distance between the 
 O 2
 
 196 FAITH AND EXPERIENCE. 
 
 spiritual conception in the Jewish religion and 
 the actual present day tone of our own people. The 
 greatest reform of which we could conceive would 
 be to raise the spiritual character of the present 
 generation to the high level of the ancient psalm- 
 ists of Israel. There is no greater anomaly than 
 the fact that kinsmen of a race that is gifted above 
 all other races in spiritual genius appear to be the 
 least spiritual, and in many instances positively 
 materialistic. Nor do we find that the spiritual 
 life in the Jewish community is at all to be 
 measured by the degrees of religious observance. 
 Those who may be considered high authorities of 
 what is called " orthodoxy " tell us that if we 
 touch the ritualism of the most observant Jews we 
 shall destroy their faith, for, say they, apart from 
 those observances they have no faith at all. 
 What greater proof can we have that so called 
 religious observance and religion are two distinct 
 things, which may or may not be combined ? We 
 in this place would be the last to deny that some 
 of the most ardently spiritual natures, both in the 
 present generation and in those that are gone, are 
 to be found among some of the most observant 
 Israelites. At the same time we also know that 
 by far the larger proportion of those who are most 
 particular as to ritual practices have no conception 
 whatever of the spiritual hunger and thirst after 
 God and righteousness. On the other hand it is most 
 important that we here should not be unmindful 
 of another consideration. There have arisen two
 
 HIGHER JUDAISM. 197 
 
 unfortunate terms, known as " Orthodox " and 
 " Reform," neither of which conveys any true 
 representation of the spiritual character of the 
 individual, or of the groups who are thus designated. 
 And we may take it that in both cases the words 
 are worth little more than signifying different 
 standards or degrees of ceremonial practice. 
 Many so-called " Reformers " understand by the 
 expression nothing higher or nothing deeper than 
 a change in the arrangements of public worship 
 and in congregational management. Is it too bold 
 to express the opinion that these terms as generally 
 accepted are entirely conventional, and rather of 
 a secular than of a sacred import ? It may be, and 
 it undoubtedly is the case that certain spiritual 
 temperaments do crave after a system of public 
 worship which must involve considerable change 
 in the methods now in use ; but let it be clearly 
 observed that those changes, and changes there 
 must be, are merely the external consequences and 
 not the primary motive of a truly religious reform. 
 If, for example, we discover from experience that 
 our capacity for entering into communion with 
 God at public worship is marred, and sometimes 
 actually destroyed by forms that seem repugnant 
 to us, we cannot and ought not to force ourselves 
 to abide by those practices, and thus retard our 
 spiritual progress. We must demand in such 
 circumstances a different mode of public worship 
 that shall be in accord with the necessities of our 
 case. After all what is the aim of public worship
 
 198 FAITH AND EXPERIENCE. 
 
 if it be not to enable a number of persons congre- 
 gated together to draw near unto God, and to 
 acquire by means of that worship the blessings of 
 an increased spiritual insight ? Of course different 
 people attend public worship for different reasons. 
 Some do not go there for purposes of personal 
 comfort and worship at all, but solely as an act of 
 conformity to the custom of the community to 
 which they belong, to testify by their presence a 
 certain good fellowship, and an intention to 
 co-operate with that community in the special 
 works of charity that fall upon it. With such 
 persons attendance at public worship is a kind of 
 roll-call, by which their mere presence answers 
 to their names in a registered list. To people 
 of this description alterations in the manner 
 of service are of no interest, and that being 
 so, the avoidance of any fresh undertaking would 
 be sufficient motive to make them resist rather 
 than support any proposal for change. But with 
 them I contend we have upon this particular 
 subject no common ground, no logical basis of 
 argument whatever, until we have succeeded in 
 first altering their conception of the objects of 
 synagogue attendance. With another class, how- 
 ever, I trust more numerous, of persons who 
 do profess the same view of public worship that 
 we do ourselves, we have a very exact and vital 
 contention. Theoretically they confess with our- 
 selves that the objects of public worship are 
 entirely religious and personal, but many of them
 
 HIGHER JUDAISM. 199 
 
 refuse to admit that existing methods do in reality 
 frustrate those objects. Now, my friends, the 
 realisation of a Divine Presence, and the acknow- 
 ledgment of kinship between the individual soul 
 and the Spirit of God, are unquestionably the aim 
 of Divine worship. In other words, faith of the 
 purest and of the highest character is what 
 justifies us in making the efforts we do to purify 
 the ritual, and to improve the method of teaching 
 Judaism. The struggle which is now going on in 
 our community, not in one district but every- 
 where, is the most encouraging symptom of a true 
 religious revival. The discontent at things as they 
 are, a discontent which can no longer be disguised, 
 is a guarantee that Israel is not asleep in the 
 presence of the everlasting kingdom of which she 
 is the witness. These words that I have quoted 
 are constantly at every service, I believe, in the 
 mouth of the Israelite, and yet that kingdom 
 which we are so frequently and, alas! so mechani- 
 cally mentioning, is not to the present generation 
 the reality that it ought to be. Is this fact due to 
 a want of faith, or is it due to any defects in the 
 prevailing methods of our religious teaching and 
 of our worship ? The answer comes that it is due 
 to both these causes, the one reacting on the other. 
 Increase of faith, and an improvement in the 
 spiritual life of our community, are without doubt 
 the most urgent needs at the present time. Upon 
 that all the guides of our community are agreed, 
 however widely they differ as to the means.
 
 2OO FAITH AND EXPERIENCE. 
 
 Stolid resistance to a genuine claim for alterations 
 in our forms and observances does not seem to us 
 to be the best solution of the difficulty. Expe- 
 rience is the greatest of all teachers, and we have 
 the experience of many generations to support our 
 contention that the religious apathy around us has 
 not been averted by the maintenance of things as 
 they were. If experience is to be the test of what 
 is best calculated to promote a high spiritual life, 
 then we may safely assert that so far experience is 
 practically all on one side. Can any honest mind 
 deny that the form of worship in ninety-nine 
 synagogues out of a hundred is such as to repel 
 rather than to arouse the devotional instinct? I 
 was told the other day by a conscientious Israelite 
 of the old school that the main purpose of public 
 worship on the Sabbath morning was to listen to 
 the reading of the Law, and that that function 
 ought properly to occupy the major portion of 
 time. Do we find then that the reading of the 
 Law, as it is carried out in the vast majority of 
 synagogues, has the effect of awakening a devout 
 spirit, a spirit of drawing nigh unto God, one 
 which arouses in the average Jewish soul feelings 
 of sacred love and of holy resolve? The experience 
 of most of us, even of those who express that view 
 of Sabbath worship just mentioned, is the direct 
 contrary. Ought we to blink this fact ? Is it 
 honest to do so ? Are we by such a contention 
 contributing one jot to the increase of faith and 
 the improvement in our spiritual tone ? Again, as
 
 HIGHER JUDAISM. 2OI 
 
 to the manner of uttering the prayers, such prayers 
 as the time left after the lengthy reading of the 
 Law permits, are they offered in a way that seems 
 to bring God's presence closer to us ? How often 
 have we experienced that the religious emotions 
 which were aroused on entering a Jewish sanctuary 
 before the service commenced and while it was 
 empty, were almost magically suppressed as soon 
 as the people assembled and the sacred office was 
 begun. This question of remodelling the public 
 worship of the synagogue has been too long 
 delayed, and it is now the immediate question 
 that must be presented to our community. It 
 does not brook delay. No considerations of expe- 
 diency can justify us in shelving that question for 
 another generation, for, alas ! one generation more 
 maybe too late. In all directions we must perceive, 
 if we are candid, that a new generation of English 
 Jews and Jewesses are growing up strangers to our 
 ancient sanctuary, drifting slowly and in large num- 
 bers, perhaps irrevocably, from the fold of Israel. 
 To defer this question means to acquiesce in this 
 loss which is daily becoming more imminent to the 
 Synagogue and to Judaism itself. If we could 
 arise in a future generation and look back on the 
 fallen sanctuary, would we do so with a tranquil 
 conscience unless we had done our very utmost 
 to save the Synagogue in the only way which our 
 conscience had dictated ? The duty of pressing 
 upon our brethren at this present time the urgent 
 claims of religious progress and that involves
 
 2O2 FAITH AND EXPERIENCE. 
 
 ritual reconstruction is so great, that we must 
 not be terrified by any fears that are held out as 
 to mere party divisions. If party divisions do arise 
 in consequence of the determination of some of us 
 to prosecute the work of religious progress, those 
 divisions, harmful as they might be to Israel's 
 cause, would be immeasurably less dangerous than 
 the other course of preparing for a new generation 
 in whom the blood of Israel alone can be traced, 
 the faith gone, departed. But is it possible that 
 we can be taunted with threatening divisions when 
 our action is the sole outcome of our faith whic 
 all Jews profess ? Believing that God's kingdom 
 is everlasting, that His dominion endureth from 
 generation to generation, can we suppose that any 
 effort to make this truth live in the hearts of our 
 own generation, can destroy the very faith which 
 we would thus resuscitate ? Let there be parties 
 by all means. Let one congregation vie with 
 another in the proclamation of the deepest truths 
 of our religion ; better far than that they should 
 be rivals in presenting a spectacle of spiritual 
 destitution. Faith is what we proclaim. Religious 
 faith alone can secure the permanence of Judaism. 
 Faith is what is threatened by those who have 
 lifted custom out of its place, and who would stem 
 the tide of progress by raising precedent into a 
 rank to which it has no claim. The movement of 
 which these services are the embodiment fills a 
 vacant gap, and is the first sign of religious revival 
 for fifty years. It was never conceived in the
 
 HIGHER JUDAISM. 2O3 
 
 spirit of party or of division. On the contrary, 
 you have helped forward the religious aspirations 
 of your neighbours whose methods differed from 
 your own. May not one who can claim no share 
 in your efforts express the hope that Almighty 
 God may bless and help forward the work which 
 you have begun, and that this work may spread in 
 all directions where English Jews are found. This 
 model Jewish service might be held in different 
 districts of London, and thus present a lesson of 
 what is meant by a solemn and reverent worship. 
 There is one more consideration which I would 
 urge for the extension of religious services such as 
 these. Religion is a gift, faith is the faculty by 
 which it is apprehended. That gift is locked up 
 in the average Jewish soul, sometimes never un- 
 locked. The consciousness of our kinship with 
 the Creator of unknown worlds, and the hereditary 
 trust to Jews of being His kingdom of priests and 
 a holy nation, are truths of so spiritual a nature 
 that they cannot be left to the influences of race 
 merely. The best possibilities of human achieve- 
 ment, both in science and in moral excellence, 
 confirm the testimony of the Divine Presence 
 within us. But it is the personal and secret 
 conviction treasured up in one soul after another, 
 receiving constant renewal by prayer, that makes 
 up the sum of human witness to our affinity with 
 the living God. If this is a natural human faith, 
 what must be its intensity in the mind of an 
 Israelite ? Some natures seem to be more en-
 
 204 FAITH AND EXPERIENCE. 
 
 dowed than others with the conviction of God's 
 abiding presence, and less dependent, therefore, on 
 external influences. Faith, love and sorrow are 
 three elements that mysteriously blend in human 
 experience, each having its own tale to tell of the 
 relation which we bear to the Supreme Being. 
 The faculty of faith, which brings God so close to 
 us, and which helps us to understand our relation 
 with that everlasting kingdom, is one of develop- 
 ment. It is something to be nurtured in the 
 child's soul when it is fresh and unsophisticated. 
 It should always be associated in early life with 
 what is tender, with what is sweet and happy, and 
 never with what is bitter or gloomy. It cannot be 
 well that it should fall under the weight of 
 wearisome and unsesthetic ceremonial, or of long 
 prayers that no child can understand. During the 
 period of youth that mystical gift of faith, 
 generally understood as the religious instinct, 
 should be impressed by what is solemn and 
 reverent, and for this reason it appears to be of 
 primary consequence at the present time that all 
 the religious influences of the Synagogue, such as 
 public worship, should be of a kind to confirm and 
 deepen those impressions, and not to nullify 
 them. Throughout our personal career, especially 
 after we have gained maturity, religion and faith 
 will be essentially matters of experience and 
 inward culture. The Divine Presence will be 
 found in the imperishable sanctuary of our own 
 higher natures, revealed to us in our own bitter
 
 HIGHER JUDAISM. 2O5 
 
 moments of conscientious struggle and self- 
 sacrifice, when we are fighting the battle against 
 sin and selfishness, when we are wrestling with the 
 temptations of the world in order to preserve the 
 empire of truth and genuineness. The Divine 
 revelation is found somewhere else as well as on 
 the shelves of a library or in the ark of the Syna- 
 gogue. We seem to meet God face to face even 
 as the first teacher of Israel had met Him at times 
 of conflict with our own natures, when we are 
 striving to give the victory to the truth and the 
 purity of which we are not wholly unpossessed, and 
 when we are called upon in a moment to choose 
 between good and evil. Sometimes the choice 
 appears in the form of personal integrity against 
 the possession of wealth, or even the surrender of 
 some favourite pursuit or acquaintance as the 
 alternative of doing violence to our conscience. 
 These struggles are much more frequent than we 
 are apt to suppose. When they come we are not 
 always ready to let in the blazing light of the 
 Divine kingdom. For the teaching of this higher 
 Judaism much change is required in the methods 
 which now prevail.
 
 2O6 FAITH AND EXPERIENCE. 
 
 RELIGIOUS CALM. 
 
 [Manchester Reform Synagogue, July 2nd, 1892.] 
 
 " For thus saith the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel : In 
 returning and rest shall ye be saved ; in quietness and 
 confidence shall be your strength." Isaiah xxx. 15. 
 
 THE present generation, which is remarkable for 
 a splendid development in many directions, is 
 yet hindered by certain evils. Previous generations 
 have had their evils too, some of them of a grosser 
 kind than those which specially belong to our own 
 time. It is well that each generation should be 
 aware of its weaknesses, in order that danger may 
 be arrested by the exercise of restraint. We do 
 not live in an age of sloth. If it be true that 
 luxury and self-indulgence prevail very much, they 
 are of a kind quite different from what they were 
 in that generation which preceded the French 
 Revolution. The luxury and indulgence of the 
 present day, like most other things, is attended by 
 an enormous expenditure of energy and labour. 
 It is not perhaps on that account less mischievous 
 than when it assumed the form of lassitude and 
 sloth. People who are bent on a life of selfish 
 enjoyment have certainly nowadays to exert them-
 
 RELIGIOUS CALM. 2O/ 
 
 selves in pursuit of it. Distances must be traversed, 
 sleepless nights must be endured, and a good deal 
 of personal discomfort has to be encountered, in 
 order to enjoy to any large extent what are called 
 the worldly pleasures of this age. With such 
 activity there may be as much moral indolence as 
 in the days of lounging and feasting, but from the 
 different circumstances of this generation there can 
 scarcely be the same mental or physical inertia. 
 
 If we consider the condition ol our own time, 
 excluding from view the self-indulgent portion of 
 our fellows, we fail to discover in any walk of life 
 the idleness and inactivity which have marked cer- 
 tain periods of history. On the contrary, there is 
 probably no feature of this age more striking than 
 its extraordinary activity and general movement. 
 Indeed the experience which is presented to us 
 who reside in a vast and overgrown metropolis 
 must be anything but that of quietness and rest. 
 In every department of industry there appears to 
 be a hurry and a rush. The intense competition 
 in the professions and in commerce, leaves no 
 chance for the innumerable band of bread-seekers 
 to take things easily. To the vast majority of 
 Londoners, the difficulty of earning a livelihood 
 appears to have increased to an almost alarming 
 degree. When we consider that for every vacant 
 situation, no matter of what kind, there is a crowd 
 of applicants, most of them probably equally 
 competent, and if we realise that the most ordi- 
 nary situation makes a claim upon its aspirant,
 
 2O8 FAITH AND EXPERIENCE. 
 
 which signifies that he must produce a very full, 
 a very careful measure of work indeed for the 
 wage he desires to earn, we come to perceive the 
 high pressure of City daily life. No doubt the 
 spread of national education within the last twenty 
 years has very much tended to increase the 
 expectations and the demands of all sorts of em- 
 ployers of labour. 
 
 The fierceness of the struggle, and the keenness 
 of the competition, even for daily bread, not to 
 mention more ambitious aims, do at times appear 
 to convert our population into something like 
 a warfaring multitude, fighting for their very 
 existence. In these circumstances, the present 
 generation is characterised by a serious tendency 
 to unrest. Many years ago, one of the greatest 
 men of the nineteenth century, described the lives 
 of the poorest sections of English society as " one 
 ghastly procession of hungry millions, from the 
 cradle to the grave." It is impossible to resist the 
 reflection that so much over-work, over-crowding 
 together, with the physical consequences of such 
 conditions, must in time affect, if they have not 
 already affected, the moral and the spiritual 
 constitution of our generation. Those of us who 
 are not directly affected by the undue competition 
 for subsistence, or the overstrain of too much work 
 must in the long run be touched, more or less, by 
 the tendency of the age. 
 
 Let us see how this tendency of unrest and 
 disquietude enters into the sphere of religion, and
 
 RELIGIOUS CALM. 209 
 
 indeed, let us reflect how religion may come 
 to our rescue, and mitigate the evils arising from 
 such circumstances. First we stand in great need 
 in the present generation of saving religion itself 
 from the consequences of permitting it to be drawn 
 into the circle of those many subjects in respect 
 to which turmoil rather than peace prevails. The 
 general movement of our time in its intellectual 
 aspect has so far brought about more good than 
 harm. Scientific research has received a valuable 
 impetus in the present generation. Literature 
 and art have both been visibly affected by the 
 general intellectual progress. And if in either of 
 those fields there is not quite the same proportion 
 of genius which have adorned other generations, 
 yet they are both more systematically taught and 
 more methodically pursued. This is the natural 
 result of an improved method of education. Religion, 
 the rock of ages, is called upon to answer in this 
 generation to the special cry which we make to it. 
 The discussion of religious subjects is an inevitable 
 part of the general exercise of our inquiring faculties, 
 to which by the conditions of our time we are 
 singularly impelled. But let not our lives be too 
 much absorbed in the mere discussion of something 
 which after all is to be our actual mainstay. It is 
 no more possible to make all men and women 
 think exactly alike about the various matters with 
 which religion is connected than it is with any other 
 matters with which some other vital interest is 
 bound. Do not let us be so much absorbed with
 
 2IO FAITH AND EXPERIENCE. 
 
 questions which after all only touch the fringe of 
 the religious idea, while our days and our years are 
 consumed and the deepest truths themselves 
 remain obscured. It is much to be feared that 
 Jews and Jewesses, like other people, loiter about a 
 good deal around the outer Courts of their temple, 
 where they conduct their unceasing disputations, 
 while they never permit themselves to look at the 
 inmost sanctuary itself. Now in these days of 
 hurry and scurry, when the value of time and the 
 brevity of life seem more formidable than they 
 ever did before, there is an urgent necessity to 
 treasure up what is precious in our own inmost 
 sanctuary. The peace of God is no empty phrase, 
 and such expressions as those with which our 
 psalmists and our prophets have made us familiar 
 have for us of this particular generation a significance 
 which we cannot too highly prize. 
 
 " Thou will keep him in perfect peace whose 
 mind is stayed on thee, because he trusteth in thee,' 
 are words which have an inestimable value for 
 everybody now just as they had for the author of 
 the 26th chapter of Isaiah, who was evidently 
 recording his personal experience when he wrote 
 them. 
 
 Again, " Lead me to the rock which is higher 
 than I." " For with thee is the fountain of life, in 
 thy light shall we see light." Such expressions as 
 these convey to us something of the personal expe- 
 rience and feeling of Israelites who knew a great 
 deal more about the inmost sanctuary of Judaism
 
 RELIGIOUS CALM. 211 
 
 than many of our partisans and controversialists. 
 For people constituted like ourselves, active and 
 energetic in the ordinary affairs of life, people who 
 are liable to become constantly weary and care- 
 worn, the ancient Hebrew faith in God must be of 
 inestimable value. It is exceedingly probable that 
 the great luminaries of our faith, such persons as 
 those who were the authors of the book of Psalms and 
 the wonderful body of literature known as the books 
 of the prophets, troubled their minds very much less 
 than we do about such details as the hour for 
 commencing public worship, the particular mode of 
 conducting it, whether this paragraph or that should 
 be recited. The greatest reform that we could 
 effect in this generation would be to revive the 
 spirit of some of these men. The conscious 
 communion with the living God resorted to 
 habitually would help us to assimilate that true 
 Religious life.. It would be a wonderful rest for 
 our exhausted souls. It would be a refreshing 
 change to rush away for a moment from the busy 
 unkind world to that peaceful, tender, loving 
 presence of the Supreme Being who is never weary. 
 Oh that we could keep alive in this generation 
 that ancient faith ! Do we at all estimate what it 
 really means. It is one of those things which 
 cannot be and which never was intended to be 
 demonstrated in the nature of a mathematical 
 proposition. Almighty God, who is surely our 
 Father, or else we are not concerned with Him, 
 has mystically determined that He shall become 
 P 2
 
 212 FAITH AND EXPERIENCE. 
 
 manifest to us through the affections, through the 
 feelings, through a divine untold love. 
 
 Rest and quiet are two things about which 
 people hold very different views. What is rest to one 
 man might be considered monotony to another. 
 So too with regard to recreation generally. 
 Recreation really means a revivifying influence of 
 some sort; some people's recreation would be 
 actual work to others. But we all need it in 
 some form. 
 
 " There is a danger in many cases of this need 
 being overlooked. Let us understand the exact 
 kind of rest which is particularly needful, and 
 which is not always included in the popular 
 notions. Everybody is aware of that kind of 
 rest which is called physical ; cessation of work, 
 and sleep itself are universally admitted to be 
 indispensable. But there is another kind of rest 
 which may be enjoyed simultaneously with the 
 daily exercise of our working faculties. This is 
 an inward composure, a calm self-possession, a 
 steady adherence to fixed principles. The busy 
 man of the world might acquire it, and is certainly 
 more in need of it than the hermit or recluse. It 
 is a sort of composure which is quite compatible 
 with outward activity and mental activity too. 
 The increase of work rather suggests the desir- 
 ability of such inward composure. Some people 
 suffer from a constitutional state of excitability. 
 They endure an amount of inward irritation and 
 internal worry which is almost destructive of other
 
 RELIGIOUS CALM. 213 
 
 noble qualities. We have all come in contact with 
 persons who never seem to enjoy much presence 
 of mind. They are impetuous, always hasty, 
 seldom quiet, and when called upon to make a 
 sudden decision in some moment of emergency, 
 they seem to lose the ordinary sense with which 
 every intelligent human being is really endowed. 
 This condition entails a constant wear and 
 tear of the spirit, and in time works a delete- 
 rious impression on the bodily health. How many 
 people suffer from sleepless nights, mainly in 
 consequence of an ill-regulated habit of thought ? 
 How much more easily we could get through the 
 vicissitudes of this earthly career so full of care 
 and anxieties to many of us, in some respect or 
 another a battle for everybody if only we could 
 preserve the calm inward self. One of the 
 peculiar functions of religion is surely that it 
 shall lead the human soul to a more serene and, 
 indeed, to a healthier daily life than most other 
 agencies can do. It is perfectly natural that we 
 should look to religion to do for us what no other 
 power is capable of achieving. People sometimes 
 discuss what they call the efficacy of prayer, and 
 it is invariably noticeable that somehow or other 
 such discussion misses rather the main issue of 
 the question. Prayer, that is, conscious com- 
 munion with our eternal Father, is mainly 
 efficacious by reason of its power of bringing us 
 into that actual realised relation with Him of 
 which we are too long apt to remain practically
 
 214 FAITH AND EXPERIENCE. 
 
 unconscious. People say they believe in God, 
 they are sure that He is the most perfect being 
 it is possible to imagine ; but they fail somewhat 
 to appreciate or even to take account of that 
 wondrous privilege inherent in human nature, 
 namely, that it is possible for us, even in the busy 
 world, to live with Him. In this generation there 
 is especial need of making the Supreme Being a 
 greater reality for us. We stand rather more in 
 need of strengthening our spiritual aspirations 
 than we do of conforming to outward obser- 
 vances. We need not abandon outward obser- 
 vances, for with some temperaments they are 
 calculated to induce a high spiritual culture. 
 But what we want is God himself, with all the 
 inward rest and peace which His vivifying presence 
 can alone secure. Men and women of the world, 
 who seem to have their portion in this life, would 
 make believe that they are quite independent of 
 spiritual culture ; but they are very weak mortals 
 indeed who fight shy of preserving through life 
 the consciousness of the infinitely righteous God. 
 The mere contact with such a presence is likely 
 to light up all the dark corners of our secret lives, 
 and to render glaring to our own perception some 
 of those evils to which we would rather have re- 
 mained blindfold. In the long run there is no 
 complete assurance of quietness and confidence 
 without the tranquil conscience. 
 
 Even for those who imagine they can find some 
 substitute for God, there is no unrest so disturbing as
 
 RELIGIOUS CALM. 215 
 
 that by which they are out of harmony with their 
 own natures. Of all kinds of unrest there is none 
 so exhausting as an inward turmoil of any kind ; 
 and of all inward turmoils, what can be so disturb- 
 ing as self-condemnation ? Even that discontent 
 which does not arise from the consciousness of 
 actual sin, but rather from the disquieting mood 
 of a discontented disposition, must be in itself 
 trying to bear ; but what is known as a dis- 
 contented disposition is not possible with a person 
 who is really conscious of the abiding presence of 
 God. The fact that there are so many persons of 
 discontented disposition who are not disbelievers 
 in the Supreme Being, shows how inadequately 
 religion has presented itself to their minds, and 
 how much of the vital issues in religion have been 
 really missed. The construction of character is, 
 after all, the avowed object of all religious 
 organisations. We, Jews and Jewesses, think 
 that there is not one more capable of effecting that 
 object than our own. We are entitled to think 
 so, and if we thought otherwise it would be 
 hypocrisy to remain Jews and Jewesses. The 
 luminaries of our faith, our prophets, and, no 
 doubt, the greatest of our sages, too, laid enormous 
 stress on this particular function of Judaism. Do 
 not let us of this generation relax and emphasise 
 some other object less transcendent in import. 
 
 In returning and rest shall we be saved, 
 
 In quietness and confidence will be our strength.
 
 216 FAITH AND EXPERIENCE. 
 
 THE LIBERTY OF THE SOUL. 
 
 AN UNSPOKEN SERMON FOR THE FEAST 
 OF PASSOVER. 
 
 rrnn f^bb -pa^s r^ Trot 1 ? 1 ] -fT-b27 msb 
 
 : -pen * mm 
 
 "And it shall be for a sign unto thee upon thine hand, and 
 for a memorial between thine eyes, that the Lord's law 
 may be in thy mouth." Exodus xiii. 9. 
 
 THIS quotation from the sacred records of the 
 Exodus from Egypt fitly describes the object of 
 the celebration of the Passover. The festival of 
 emancipation has for us who commemorate it at 
 this distance of time, a significance beyond the 
 considerations of family and race. We are pre- 
 serving the memory of an event which has a deep 
 ethical meaning. We will endeavour to examine 
 it and turn it to a practical and personal use. 
 
 The liberty of the soul is the best type of all 
 freedom. The deliverance from the bondage 
 which enslaves many a soul is a thought that 
 should enter our hearts now. Looking back into 
 the past, we see what that Passover did for Israel, 
 and what it has done for mankind. If it had been
 
 THE LIBERTY OF THE SOUL. 2 1/ 
 
 no more than the liberation of a band of serfs, we 
 should recognise a victory for the cause of freedom ; 
 and we might indeed wonder why that particular 
 liberation should be so marked in its anniversaries 
 thousands of years afterwards. It was a liberation, 
 under Divine Providence, for a great purpose, 
 far-reaching in influence, and wide-spreading in 
 relation to the vast masses of people outside the 
 small emancipated group. It is natural, indeed, 
 my brethren, that at each annual commemoration 
 we should be disposed to look back and to look 
 forward. The past has its great lessons and its 
 hallowing inspiration for those who are bound to 
 it by ties of kinship and self-sacrifice. But the 
 subject of our reflections does not end here. We 
 cannot help looking into the future, and dwelling 
 with something like enthusiasm upon the part we 
 have to play in it, the responsibilities which 
 devolve on us as the " Kingdom of Priests," the 
 " witnesses." 
 
 The Exodus from Egypt was but a preparatory 
 movement. It was a trial of strength, a test of 
 endurance, but, what is of greater moment, it was 
 a consolidation of forces. The ultimate object was 
 neither military nor political. It was a moral 
 expedition. Our ancestors were sent into the 
 world to proclaim the law of righteousness, and to 
 teach men God. The leaders were gifted with a 
 spiritual insight which was unknown at the time, 
 and were charged with the mission of infusing it 
 into their kinsmen, thus preparing them to become
 
 2l8 FAITH AND EXPERIENCE. 
 
 the missionaries to the world. The genius of 
 moral perception and of religious thought was 
 theirs, their distinctive characteristic. Other 
 groups of people had their special missions allotted 
 to them. Was there any more sacred or so 
 necessary to the happiness of mankind ? The 
 charms of literature and art are less essential to 
 the happiness of the human soul than the tranquil 
 conscience, the calm inward self which religion 
 can prepare. How far we have executed our 
 work up to the present time is not easy to estimate 
 with accuracy, because we all have to admit that 
 there was at various periods of our history, a 
 falling-off from duty ; and we have not in all the 
 ages risen to the grandeur of our charge ; we have 
 constantly been rebuked for our sluggishness. 
 This was only to be expected, because we were 
 human, and we had a mighty task to emancipate 
 our souls from the temptations of the world and of 
 sin. Yet for all this there has been a vast spreading 
 of Divine Truth through the instrumentality of our 
 Race. After the Exodus from Egypt we were 
 permitted to produce a literature, which has be- 
 come the Bible of vast portions of the civilized 
 world. Our prophets, our wise men, our warriors 
 have spread their spiritual life in all directions. 
 They are looked up to, their words are treasured, 
 their examples are held sacred by millions of men 
 who have never personally seen a single Jew. So 
 tremendous has been the moral victory of our 
 race, that multitudes of people are at this time
 
 THE LIBERTY OF THE SOUL. 2 19 
 
 worshipping the God whom we taught them, while 
 they are scarcely conscious of the name of their 
 teachers. The most devout lives in Europe, the 
 most loving disciples of the law of God, have 
 gained what they enjoy of those blessings, directly 
 or indirectly, from the voice and teaching of Israel. 
 Some recognise it; some are ignorant of it; the 
 majority are in the position of those who are, as 
 helpless infants, unable to realise who it is that is 
 administering to their wants. Let it be so. For 
 the spiritual benefactor requires no human recogni- 
 tion ; his work is of God. 
 
 The vicissitudes of our people, so sore and full 
 of sorrow, were, in a deep sense, a powerful training 
 for those whose mission was moral. They were of 
 the nature of that "refining" of which the Psalmist 
 wrote. " As silver is tried in a furnace," so have 
 been the great men of Israel sanctified by suffering. 
 And they have presented to the world a model of 
 those virtues which are only developed in suffering 
 endurance and courage, resolution and hope. 
 There have been times in our history when to 
 remain in the covenant required the heart of a 
 saint and the patience of a martyr. And even in 
 epochs in which the stake and the flames were no 
 longer to be feared, there was yet the endurance 
 under religious, social and political oppression. In 
 the first part of this century in our own beloved 
 England, it required a great spirit to remain faith- 
 ful under the disabilities, and in spite of the 
 temptation to desert our post. This is shown
 
 220 FAITH AND EXPERIENCE. 
 
 clearly by the fact that those who had not sufficient 
 heroism to face the struggle did desert it, and 
 yielded to the allurements of free citizenship. 
 Those who remained happily the great majority, 
 proved that they were not wanting in that 
 heroic character which has so constantly been 
 demanded from Israelites. 
 
 There are times of ease and luxury which have 
 followed periods of privation and misery. It is 
 remarkable, however, that in examining the state 
 of Israel throughout the world, we can never cite 
 a period since the dispersion when ease and luxury 
 were universal. They have been, so far, invariably 
 partial. At the present time we are experiencing 
 the illustration of this assertion. We are free and 
 at ease in England, in France, America, and else- 
 where ; but we are heavily laden in Russia, in 
 Roumania, and Morocco. But, trusting as we are 
 bound to do in the Divine law of progress, we 
 believe that all will in the end come right. 
 Those of us who are at ease have the active 
 work, imperative upon us, of hasting to the 
 rescue of others, as well as of seeing to 
 our own development. We have no plea 
 against the duty of ordering our efforts with 
 a view to a greater future in the spreading of 
 religious truth. This Passover is no time of 
 wailing in England or in France, but of pure 
 rejoicing. " Rejoice with trembling ! " We must 
 tremble with the sense of the heavy responsibilities 
 which are upon us, for ourselves, for our brethren,
 
 THE LIBERTY OF THE SOUL. 221 
 
 for our Divine Cause. We are called upon to 
 succour the unfortunate, to heighten our own 
 spiritual condition, and to exhibit to the world in 
 brighter lustre than ever the lights which we have. 
 In this age of materialism and anarchy, a people 
 whose sole mission is moral enlightenment have 
 a great part to perform, an example to set of the 
 reverse of those evils which beset society. We 
 have the pure worship of a Perfect God ; we 
 possess a code of unassailable morals. Charity in 
 its highest form is the watchword of Judaism. 
 The love of God is the basis of action in Jewish 
 life ; the love of our neighbour is the reflection of 
 the love of God. Here at once is the great banner 
 of civilisation, the very ideal of the most earnest 
 philanthropist. That cosmopolitanism which is 
 expressed in the phrase, Common Fatherhood of 
 God and Universal Brotherhood of men, is ours. 
 It was revealed to our ancestors. We have 
 suffered for centuries upon centuries to preserve it, 
 and to keep it unaltered by the complication of 
 more recent creeds. It is ours to make the best 
 use of it for the benefit of our fellow-men beyond 
 and outside the synagogue. What has anarchy 
 to say to this? Rebellion is dumbfounded, order 
 is sanctified. Brother Israelites ! do not let us 
 mistake our calling ; do not let us suppose for a 
 moment that we are banded together for any 
 purpose except to be the teachers and exemplars 
 of that Divine and civilising truth. No one shall 
 say of us, " These people are exclusive, they keep
 
 222 FAITH AND EXPERIENCE. 
 
 themselves apart." We keep ourselves distinct, 
 but not apart. To be apart implies a social 
 separateness, but to be distinct means to live for a 
 distinct purpose ; and our distinct purpose is to 
 teach men union, to break down barriers by moral 
 exertion, and to show all men of every sect and 
 place this common object. What is implied by 
 the love of neighbour, as the reflex of the love of 
 God, is a truth which sinks deeply into personal 
 and practical use, as we observed at the outset, for 
 where there is this love there is perfect freedom. The 
 human soul is elevated from the snares of the world 
 arid the flesh, which so much burden it and impede 
 its culture. The human soul, to fulfil its immortal 
 destiny, requires very great room, it needs breadth 
 of action, it is ever sighing for more and more 
 liberty. Its destiny being eternal, and godlike in 
 its object, it cannot have too much liberty. Again, 
 human souls are so different one from another. 
 Let it be understood that in speaking of human 
 souls we mean the higher self, that part of us 
 which is distinct from the animal life. It embraces 
 the intellect, or rather the intellect is one of its 
 expressions. We have said that human souls are 
 so different : that is, that the variety of tempera- 
 ments and dispositions is so great in human nature 
 that it is impossible to lay down in detail a system 
 of life and thought which will suit every one. The 
 attempt to do it, so often tried, is opposed to this 
 divine principle of liberty which we are com- 
 memorating. Thanks be to God that in our
 
 THE LIBERTY OF THE SOUL. 223 
 
 grand religion this necessary freedom is so well 
 recognised. The Mosaic legislation, when it goes 
 into details, is providing mainly for the externals 
 of society. When it touches upon purely spiritual 
 themes, there is at once free scope. All we can do 
 with one another is to recommend, in fraternal 
 love, what we honestly conceive to be the best 
 guarantee for happiness a happiness which the 
 world cannot assail, because it founds itself not on 
 the things of this world, or upon any transient 
 condition. It is founded upon an inward personal 
 construction of character. There can be this con- 
 struction within a Kingdom of Heaven planted 
 there a state of mind constituted, which has for 
 its goal the establishment of useful ideas, wide 
 culture, large imagination, that can take into its 
 grasp conditions differing from it. These are 
 objects which no mundane circumstance can stop ; 
 the pursuit of them must be a perpetual source of 
 happiness, ever increasing with refreshing vigour, 
 and ultimately gaining the victory over all ill, and 
 even conquering death. This is the true liberty of 
 the soul. These are the reflections which this 
 greatest festival of liberty suggests. The voice of 
 our prophet speaks to us : " Break forth into joy, 
 for the Lord hath comforted His people, and all 
 the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our 
 God."
 
 224 FAITH AND EXPERIENCE. 
 
 INTROSPECTION. 
 
 A n Unspoken Sermon. 
 
 " O let me not wander from Thy Commandments." Psalm 
 cxix. 10. 
 
 THERE is a touch of deep pathos in this prayer 
 so human and so descriptive, that it seems to 
 present a picture of the suppliant. Considering the 
 words in connection with those immediately before 
 them "With my whole heart have I sought 
 Thee " they show the character of a man who is 
 fully serious and right-minded in his intentions, 
 and who is conscious of his weakness ; of one who 
 is convinced that a life of righteousness is the life 
 worth living, but realises from experience the 
 enormous difficulties in attaining it. He appreciates 
 the fact that there is a distance between right 
 views of life and the actual living rightly. The 
 consideration of such a character is our present 
 object. 
 
 It must be within the observation of any one 
 who has studied human life, that a well intentioned 
 person is often anxious to dissociate himself from 
 religious beliefs, because people who profess them 
 do not appear in his judgment the better for them.
 
 INTROSPECTION. 22$ 
 
 The seeming force of this objection disappears 
 upon examination. They who make it do not 
 justly measure the proportions between human 
 feeling and human conduct. They assume that 
 there must be an immediate outward verification 
 of a man's views, which would be wonderful when 
 the facts of progress and struggle are taken into 
 account They do not recognise that he who has 
 a great ideal and exalted views is yet like them- 
 selves, feeble in will, and exposed to more or less 
 the same temptations : moreover, that the very 
 presence of his ideal and his exalted views gives 
 him a longer race to run, and greater heights to 
 ascend ; and that the frequent sense to him of his 
 distance from his destination, brings with it an 
 amount of inward depression, which often retards 
 him. Temperament is so strange, that when a 
 man is disheartened enough to give up the moral 
 race which he has set himself, his mind still clings 
 to the ideas that started the race, and then we 
 have what is called, or seems to be, a hypocrite. 
 Of course it must be admitted that hypocrisy as 
 understood by the world is dangerous to the 
 cause of religious teaching, and in bringing odium 
 upon the name of religion, the guilty one is 
 thoroughly mischievous. It is, therefore, of trans- 
 cendent importance that there should be some 
 safeguard against this danger, not only to protect 
 the man from the sin or appearance of hypocrisy, 
 but, also, to save to religious teaching its power 
 for good. With these views we can understand 
 
 Q
 
 226 FAITH AND EXPERIENCE. 
 
 the apprehension and tenor of the writer of the 
 Psalms, who has, in his own confession, " sought 
 with his whole heart," which made him say, " O let 
 me not wander from Thy Commandments." Here 
 was a great spiritual character, keen, ardent, and 
 longing after righteousness, a man, whose views of 
 life and conduct were part of his own temperament, 
 who was anxious to make others share his con- 
 victions, a man whose earnestness could not be 
 doubted. He knew and understood human nature 
 probably better than any one of his time, and there 
 was no one who came more in contact with men 
 he was thoroughly human. His life was by no 
 means a perfect example, and he had the dreadful 
 fear that he might possibly "wander." He 
 evidently could see all the consequences of 
 wandering, to himself, and to his great cause. As 
 it is, there is a vulgar criticism of that life, which 
 Is willing to rob it of all its exalted teaching, 
 because it fell short in itself. 
 
 It is quite clear that with or without religion 
 there is an awful wandering away from perfect law ; 
 but let us consider here the wandering of those 
 who have, at some time or other, known intimately 
 the perfect law. 
 
 It ought to be impossible, one might think, for 
 a person who has once known what perfect law is 
 and recognised its binding claim, to wander from 
 it. This may seem reasonable and natural ; but it 
 is not true, for such men do " wander." Well, how 
 do they come to wander ? If human nature were
 
 INTROSPECTION. 227 
 
 quite consistent, and every part of the man's being 
 worked harmoniously, there would be no wander- 
 ing. But this is not the case. We are bound to 
 recognise that there are many opposing forces in 
 human nature, and call them by any names we 
 will, they exist, and they must be dealt with. 
 There is the ill-balance of a mind which was even 
 gifted, and there is overgrowth of one particular 
 failing, which has been let almost unconsciously to 
 make its strides, and in the end, wreck the whole 
 man. With regard to the will, that is absolutely 
 a matter of discipline, and only slow, regular, and 
 constant effort can train it to become the servant 
 of the manhood. This of itself is almost a life- 
 long work. If the will is anything except the 
 actual servant of the man, we discover in it 
 sufficient cause for all kinds of wandering in all 
 manner of directions. 
 
 Then there is the reasoning with oneself, some- 
 times going wrong. A compromise takes place 
 within between right and wrong, and the soul 
 begins to "wander." We reason with ourselves 
 unfairly, partially, favouring a particular impulse, 
 without direct reference to the perfect law. If it 
 were possible to obtain an experience of what goes 
 on in the private thoughts of men and women, we 
 might hear such sentences as these : " I might do 
 worse," " This is not so bad as that," and there are 
 apologies made to the conscience for a temporary 
 breach of faith with it. All this is wandering, and, 
 whilst at the time the guilt is scarcely discernible, 
 
 Q2
 
 228 FAITH AND EXPERIENCE. 
 
 when it is examined afterwards, under the micro- 
 scope of that perfect law, it is conspicuous. Then 
 there is the idea so plausible and so misleading, " I 
 can't always be under that great microscope." 
 This process of thought causes us to look at our 
 conduct with other eyes than those of the perfect 
 law. It would be a truism to mention the force of 
 habit, and yet it is amazing to discover how a 
 habit is contracted ; from a slight circumstance 
 that is easily forgotten, a habit of mind is gained 
 which causes moral failure. A person who had 
 always thought it wrong to condemn anybody, to 
 judge his neighbour, after a lapse of time, is found 
 to be in the constant habit of speaking against 
 people, one of the most deadly forms of uncharity. 
 That habit grew so gradually and imperceptibly, 
 that he had not realised that he was wandering 
 from perfect law. It is needless to illustrate what 
 are known as the grosser habits, because they are 
 glaring. It is enough, here, to consider the habits 
 which society presents in a form that is thought 
 quite respectable. They are called social failings, 
 sometimes they are regarded as quite justifiable, 
 but as a matter of fact they prove that there is 
 wandering from perfect law. To judge an 
 acquaintance with a rigour which it could not be 
 supposed Divine mercy would entertain, is a dis- 
 tinct evil. To fail to recognise that claim for 
 consideration, which is the first element in the 
 mercy of God, is obviously ungodlike, and, there- 
 fore, wandering from perfect law. The indulgence
 
 INTROSPECTION. 22Q 
 
 of any propensity which is a source of discomfort 
 to another is an act of selfishness. And, yet, 
 persons who bear excellent characters keep those 
 about them in constant turmoil, by a propensity 
 which shows itself in cynicism or unpleasant 
 temper ; these are departing from perfect law. 
 To the period of life called youth, it is clear, that 
 the greatest danger is uncontrolled passion. This 
 is an old story, as old as the hills but not less real. 
 The idea is that in youth passion is more difficult 
 to combat than in later life. This is a popular 
 mistake ; it can be conceived that in all cases of 
 wandering, the time when it is most easy to arrest 
 the wanderer is in the first stage. Then comes 
 the difficulty, that experience, being the only means 
 likely to convince a person of an evil, is naturally 
 absent in youth. We must recognise this difficulty, 
 and believe that to be the reason why youth is so 
 little protected against sin. Not necessarily because 
 its passion is stronger, but because experience is 
 wanting. Now to supply the place of experience 
 there must be principle, if for no other reason. In 
 the presence of perfect law we cannot consent to 
 any principle inferior and less potent. Well, 
 where there has been that safeguard, the perfect 
 law, there comes, if not always, very frequently, 
 the wandering from it. The presence of the 
 perfect law does not remove those opposing 
 forces, nor does it alter the nature of the will. All 
 this has still to be accomplished, the discipline 
 must take place in its own course, which we have
 
 230 FAITH AND EXPERIENCE. 
 
 seen is slow, and the opposing forces have to be 
 reconciled and regulated. All this is a tremendous 
 work which no man can find easy. It is, however, 
 infinitely more possible in the presence of perfect 
 law than it would be without it. Then comes the 
 necessity of retracing steps for him who has 
 wandered. There is the going back to the point 
 where the perfect law was left ; this is possible, 
 but difficult. Resolution is feeble because it is too 
 often emotional, and as emotion is of a temporary 
 nature, the poor resolution drops with it. There 
 must be the principle of work in a human soul. 
 The soul has to say to itself, " I have a given work 
 to do, my will is out of training, I am not master 
 of it " ; and then there must take place a conscious 
 exercise of the will, just as much as one consciously 
 exercises a limb. That will, by steady working at 
 it, must be made to do positive service. It has to 
 acquire the power of resistance, the capability of 
 saying to the impulses and passions, " you shall do 
 this," or " you shall not do that." Such a course 
 of effort may be considered a difficult ethical 
 problem ; the difficulty is not in the reasoning 
 but in the doing it. Then, again, those opposing 
 forces in human nature must harmonise. 
 
 That line between the spiritual life and the 
 animal life has to be marked clearly enough, so 
 that there shall be no confusion between spiritual 
 intention and animal passion. Affections require 
 careful training. Men and women have to analyse 
 what they call "love" in order to see that they
 
 INTROSPECTION. 231 
 
 have in it the right proportion of unselfish purpose. 
 With this training of the will, and harmonising 
 of the different forces of our nature, we are 
 building up a well-developed character. To accom- 
 plish that is surely a life's work, and the life that 
 works at it is the life worth living. It is an 
 ambition for the most ardent nature, an.d in 
 labouring for it the work is unselfish and 
 wide-spreading ; and, therefore, in the ideal sense, 
 it is benefiting humanity. With such a goal before 
 an earnest spirit, how fearful and appalling must 
 be the sense with which he must dread slipping 
 away, wandering from the path ; especially when 
 he has sought it out with all his heart, how 
 constantly he must pray the prayer, " O let me not 
 wander from Thy commandments." 
 
 We have so far considered the difficulties in 
 human nature itself ; but what shall we say of the 
 difficulties which lie outside of self, both in the 
 temptations and the circumstances, which are often 
 adverse, or seem adverse, to a high development ? 
 One discovers around him the very set of condi- 
 tions which he would not have selected, and which 
 appear calculated to produce just the opposite 
 results from those which he desires. Imagine a 
 nature so constituted that its condition seems to 
 require a visible object of complete confidence and 
 devotion ; and either it finds itself alone, or, what 
 is worse, in life-long companionship with an 
 opposing character ; a person with fixed tastes 
 doomed to live a life that gives them no scope, or
 
 232 FAITH AND EXPERIENCE. 
 
 is forced into pursuits exactly opposed to them. 
 There are, as all people know who have arrived at 
 maturity, what may be mildly called unpleasant 
 things, which invade one's being. It really comes 
 to this that we have to construct our views of life 
 from a stand-point which takes into account all its 
 struggles and its sorrows, for experience teaches 
 that these things are so common and regular that 
 they are incidental to our career, and any view of 
 life which ignores them, or treats them as merely 
 accidental, is a childish conception, and unreal. 
 Hence, all these contingencies have to be added on 
 to the other conditions described from the internal 
 nature of the man himself. Then come the tempta- 
 tions of life. The facility with which sin can 
 be pursued, the promptings of the opinion and 
 influence of the world. Selfishness is more at 
 hand than unselfishness. Invariably there is the 
 immediate reason for the selfish act, where the 
 ground of an unselfish one seems hidden. Now 
 this is not a pessimist picture. It is true to life, 
 but it shows how easy it is to " wander " without 
 being what is commonly called a base person, easy 
 too for him who is in heart good and noble. 
 
 It has been said that education teaches a man 
 his ignorance. It appears equally true that reli- 
 gious culture teaches a man his weakness. When 
 we learn the true value of knowledge we discover 
 the feebleness of ignorance. So, too, when we 
 study the ideal of moral excellence, we become 
 impressed with our imperfection. In surveying
 
 INTROSPECTION. 233 
 
 the stature of a moral giant, we begin to estimate 
 our humble figure. Now, this must be taken in its 
 right sense. It must not disparage, it must not 
 paralyse effort. In the struggle after righteousness 
 there comes humility, but along with it its com- 
 panion strength. Hence the soul need not be 
 baffled. "When I said, My foot slippeth, Thy 
 mercy, O Lord, held me up" (Psalm xciv. 18). 
 This is the strength of the humble man. And, 
 indeed, after each fall may he not rise stronger? 
 For while an additional experience of sin must 
 inevitably plunge the soul into deeper waters of 
 humiliation, making it more dissatisfied with itself, 
 there is surely in this very process a purification 
 going on, and a refining, till sin gradually becomes 
 less and less possible. If, on the other hand, the 
 sense of having sinned had the effect of drowning 
 the soul by making the effort of regeneration 
 appear hopeless, there would be an end to moral 
 progress. This evidently is not the design of 
 religion, it cannot be the Divine Will. Here we 
 may observe the difference between the Divine 
 and the human judgment. When we see revenge 
 in man there is compassion in God. Human con- 
 demnation appears where Divine pity is bestowed. 
 Let it not be supposed that sin is justified, or that 
 by any means we may pardon ourselves by making 
 a wrong act right in our personal opinion. This is 
 not meant by Divine mercy, nor is it in accordance 
 with the strict justice which morality requires. 
 The meaning of Divine mercy is not to shelter
 
 234 FAITH AND EXPERIENCE. 
 
 evil, but to deliver from evil, and so in our human 
 speculations we have not to seek a refuge for sin, 
 or even an excuse for it, but a way out of it, and 
 this is true contrition ; that there always is a way 
 out of sin is a fact of infinite mercy. It must not 
 be pretended that a wandering from righteousness 
 can be condoned because contrition may come 
 afterwards to bring back the wanderer. All we 
 can contend is this : that the possibility of re- 
 turning to God is never lost, though the terrors of 
 falling away, however slightly, are still real, and, 
 therefore, must be dreaded. 
 
 Against those terrors a pure soul will strive and 
 labour. For some temperaments the strife is 
 greater and the labour more laborious according 
 to the measure of the temptation, and in propor- 
 tion to the stability of character. But even where 
 a character is considered stable and temptations 
 seem far away, there may be one particular kind 
 of error to which one is mysteriously subjected. 
 Perhaps this is so with the best. There is some 
 matter which jars on our inclination. There 
 may be one single condition of life which, either 
 from its absence or its presence, acts as a frequent 
 hindrance, and in one detail it may occur that 
 every now and then there comes an inward battle 
 to be fought. Those who know much about human 
 nature must perceive that in some beautiful lives 
 there are clouds and discontent ; there is turmoil 
 which the eye of the world cannot see, and the 
 source of which is hidden from all but the eye of
 
 INTROSPECTION. 235 
 
 God and the poor lonely self who feels it, but who 
 may perhaps not detect its source, and that poor 
 lonely self is baffled and waylaid and wanders. It 
 may arise from the disposition, sometimes from a 
 state of health, a secret disappointment, a termina- 
 tion of a career, or a part of a career, which was 
 not anticipated ; occasionally there is the appalling 
 hardship of being called upon suddenly to accom- 
 modate oneself to a new state of things for which 
 there was no preparation. When we come into 
 close contact with death it is necessary to shape 
 our life anew, because up to the moment of the 
 event the life was constituted, as it were, with the 
 lost human object as a part of it. It happens 
 sometimes that circumstances arise which place 
 one fact of ordinary life and of natural desire quite 
 beyond the state of possibility, and that poor self 
 has to re-adjust itself to the altered things, the 
 changed prospects. 
 
 All these contingencies are among the ills 
 " which flesh is heir to," and they must be con- 
 sidered in any plan we lay down for a high moral 
 culture. To wait till they arrive, or to consider 
 that they are only problematical and may never 
 occur, is to attempt to build up ethics and 
 religion on a false basis. They are inevitable 
 in the lives of good people, and no one is 
 able to estimate the extraordinary variety in 
 which they appear. The fact is, we know very 
 little of each other, and the real secrets of life are 
 known only to Him who sees in secret. It is this
 
 236 FAITH AND EXPERIENCE. 
 
 confidence in the Almighty God, which we gain 
 from the conviction that only He knows all about 
 us, that attracts the spirit to Him. Our con- 
 sciousness of this perfect knowledge of us by God, 
 together with the certainty that He is in Him- 
 self Absolute Righteousness, gives the hope to 
 the words under consideration. In asking God 
 to let us not wander from His commandments, 
 especially in the same breath with the con- 
 fession, "With my whole heart have I sought 
 Thee," we are in reality taking the surest means 
 against wandering, for we recognise in Him what 
 it is that we fear wandering from, and we confess 
 also the means by which we can be protected. To 
 consider what that is from which we would not 
 wander is to take a glimpse at the Divine Image, 
 for it is His own Perfect Righteousness, the very 
 thought of which fills the reverent mind with awe 
 and worship. The worshipping of it is the lifting 
 of ourselves, for a time at least, into fellowship 
 with it. By its rules we hope to be governed. 
 And what are those rules ? The application in all 
 cases of strict justice is one of them. The training 
 of the will by its rigour, the consecration of every 
 secret motive by the Divine love, which knows no 
 selfishness, which bears all burdens ; and the 
 cleansing of every hidden thought by the purity of 
 His Divine Omniscience. To take a course like 
 this is a great effort. It is not easy to realise. It 
 takes time, it uses circumstances, it avails itself 
 of suffering, it employs sorrow. It is a course of
 
 INTROSPECTION. 237 
 
 rigour, but it is also a course of mercy. Its slow 
 work with the possible, nay probable, many halts, 
 gradually destroys pride and egotism; but as surely 
 it prepares a sanctified soil for human tilling. Its 
 fruits may be seen on this earth, and often are, 
 but its end is not here. No ! perhaps only its 
 probation, for that word " end " is lost in Eternity ! 
 
 "O LET ME NOT WANDER FROM THY 
 COMMANDMENTS."
 
 238 FAITH AND EXPERIENCE. 
 
 THE MASTER OF BALLIOL 
 
 (PROFESSOR JOWETT). 
 
 IN MEMORIAM. 
 
 [Reprinted from the "Jewish Chronicle" October 
 6t/t, 1893] 
 
 THOSE words which he took for the text of his 
 sermon at Westminster Abbey the summer before 
 last (1892) seem to drop out of one's pen in 
 writing about the Master. " I have been young, 
 and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous 
 forsaken " (Psalm xxxvii.). His excessive accuracy 
 of thought probably prevented his quoting the 
 entire verse. The sermon on that occasion was 
 about John Wesley, that is to say, Wesley was the 
 name he brought forward as the illustration of the 
 virtues he was speaking upon, just as this year at 
 his annual discourse in the Abbey he took for his 
 examples John Bunyan and Spinoza. But the 
 real subject of the sermon in 1892 was the ex- 
 perience in old age that the righteous are never 
 really forsaken. Righteousness, and indeed the 
 mere contemplation of goodness, were most power- 
 ful ideals in Jowett's character. Anyone who has 
 read his introduction to the Republic will perceive
 
 THE MASTER OF BALUOL. 239 
 
 that the Master of Balliol was a man of ideals. 
 This is not always understood in regard to him 
 because he was very practical. And the ideal 
 which was most prominent was the ideal of good- 
 ness. It seems almost a paradox to say of a man 
 who is pre-eminently identified with great intellec- 
 tual achievement that he was above all things a 
 man of goodness. Yes ! that he was in the real 
 homely tender sense a person to whom the claims 
 of righteousness came first. It is quite certain that 
 among the numerous people, including scholars 
 and statesmen, who revere him, the people who 
 loved him most were just those who, it might be 
 supposed, were separated from him by immeasure- 
 able gulfs, belonging to an intellectual level so far 
 beneath his own. Such persons, including his 
 servants, did not care about him on account 
 of his having produced in perfect English the 
 thoughts and works of Plato, Thucydides, and 
 Aristotle; nor because of the wonderful part he 
 has taken in the reconstruction of the religious 
 beliefs of educated men ; they were devoted to 
 him through the attraction which his singular 
 goodness had for them. They found him so just, 
 so exceptionally unselfish. He awakened in all 
 kinds of different people a truly filial sense of 
 devotion. Jowett was great by reason of the 
 simplicity of his character, quite independently 
 of the other reason of his greatness. It is not 
 every genius who can make himself loved. Be- 
 fore these words are in print, memoirs without
 
 240 FAITH AND EXPERIENCE. 
 
 number will have appeared. But there yet 
 remain the individual tributes of different per- 
 sons to whom he was inexpressibly dear. And 
 each will speak and write as he found him. 
 
 When I first knew the Master he was physically 
 in the zenith of his vigour. He was about 59 
 years of age, and was probably the most active 
 head of a college certainly without precedent 
 either at Oxford or Cambridge. Adorned with 
 the maturity of advanced life, he had not yet any 
 of the physical infirmities of old age. Up to the 
 last he had none of the ordinary infirmities of age, 
 except physical ones. Intellectually there was no 
 perceptible or real difference this year from the 
 year 1876. At that time he was one of the 
 hardest worked men in England. He was in 
 the midst of his translation of Thucydides, and 
 he was at the same time delivering his lectures 
 on the Politics of Aristotle. He knew every 
 undergraduate in Balliol more or less. Every 
 Saturday morning he presided before 9 a.m. in 
 the College hall at the function of distributing 
 the weekly accounts called " Battells " to each 
 undergraduate. The Master always cast his eye 
 over each paper, and invariably commented to any 
 individual who he considered was either living 
 beyond his means or indulging in extravagance. 
 So minute was his supervision over the details of 
 the College life that once a week it was the duty 
 of the Dinner Committee to have an interview 
 with him on the subject of the dinner arrange-
 
 THE MASTER OF BALLIOL. 241 
 
 merits. There were two undergraduates elected 
 by the College from term to term for this purpose. 
 I happened to occupy the post one year with a 
 colleague, who sometimes made me go alone to 
 this weekly conference. The reports concerning 
 the dinners in the Hall generally seemed so trivial 
 that one hesitated to tell the Master anything 
 about them, but he always insisted upon knowing 
 and sometimes would remark, " Life is made up 
 of little things, and men's capacity for work is 
 hindered if the potatoes are not properly cooked." 
 Although these interviews were intensely comic 
 from the undergraduate's point of view, and en- 
 gendered a special shyness which seemed to be 
 created for the occasion, the Master went about 
 the business in quite a serious tone, and would 
 send for the butler or the housekeeper afterwards 
 if necessary. In those days the Master would 
 allow an undergraduate to consult him about such 
 matters as the situation of his rooms and similar 
 domestic details. Nothing which affected the con- 
 ditions of work, whether they were intellectual or 
 merely physical, appeared indifferent to him. 
 
 It is needless to say that religious equality was 
 one of the ideals of his life, and that he was the 
 first " don " of Oxford who made religious intoler- 
 ance there an impossibility. For two or three 
 terms I was the only Jew in Balliol, though I 
 found two others there when I first went up. 
 They were both people to whom in different ways 
 the Master was personally attached. One was 
 
 R
 
 242 FAITH AND EXPERIENCE. 
 
 Solomon, who had the University Mathematical 
 Scholarship, and possessed striking classical attain- 
 ments ; the other was the ever-lamented Leonard 
 Montefiore, one of the most brilliant men in or out 
 of Balliol. His brother, Claude, came up in my 
 second year. Gradually other members of the 
 Jewish community appeared at Balliol; the more 
 notable that I remember (in my third year) 
 were Kalisch, Sidney Lee (the present Editor 
 of the Dictionary of National Biography), and 
 Alexander, Fellow of Lincoln. There have been 
 a host of others since that time, including sons 
 of the late Professor Waley, the late Sir George 
 Jessel, and of Mr. Arthur Cohen, Q.C. The 
 Master, who was of all men singularly exempt 
 from prejudice of every species, had a preference 
 for those Jews who were staunch to their faith, 
 and rather regarded with contempt the renegade 
 type. He was most desirous that we should 
 organise religious worship for Jews at Oxford, 
 and revive the dilapidated congregation of that 
 ancient city. It was largely owing to his en- 
 couragement that one or two of us ventured to 
 undertake this in the year 1878. We succeeded 
 for our time, then our efforts lapsed in their 
 results ; and it has been reserved for a later 
 generation of undergraduates to succeed with 
 something like permanent effect in the last two 
 years. 
 
 Professor Jowett signed the two requisitions to 
 the Lord Mayor on the persecution of the Jews
 
 THE MASTER OF BALLIOL. 243 
 
 in Russia both in 1882 and 1890. On the 
 former occasion he wrote these words, which 
 were read at the Mansion House Meeting : 
 " The cruelties which have been inflicted on the 
 Jews in Russia, as narrated by the correspond- 
 ent of the Times, are detestable, and should be 
 denounced by the unanimous opinion of civilised 
 nations." He, of course, signed the Oxford 
 requisition from resident dons and Masters of 
 Arts addressed to the Chief Rabbi at that time. 
 These are, however, matters which in relation to 
 Jowett are of the merest detail. What he has 
 done for the cause of religion, for the emancipa- 
 tion of the higher life from the thraldom of 
 dogmatism, is the subject in which modern 
 Judaism, or the religion of modern Jews, is 
 profoundly concerned. Biblical criticism is a 
 modern science, of which Professor Jowett may 
 be said to have started investigation at Oxford 
 in the year 1861 by the publication of his memor- 
 able essay on the " Interpretation of Scripture." 
 Two years earlier the appearance of his " Notes 
 and Dissertations," on the chief Epistles of St. 
 Paul, indicated a great movement towards a 
 rational understanding of vital questions in the 
 Christian Bible. The Master was not eager in 
 later life to revive the controversies which that 
 work had evoked. He did not love controversy, 
 and would regard with a kindly and yet piteous 
 scorn those contentions in which many orthodox 
 Christians rejoiced. The religion of Jowett was
 
 244 FAITH AND EXPERIENCE. 
 
 in some respects widely different from that of 
 ordinary Christians. Only the year before last he 
 denounced in Westminster Abbey the pernicious 
 doctrine of eternal punishment, not indeed for the 
 first time. He did not believe that a particular 
 creed was necessary to salvation. In other words 
 Jowett may be regarded as the apostle of the 
 doctrine of development in religion. People of 
 different epochs and of changed standards of in- 
 tellectual training cannot regard even an inherited 
 faith from quite the same stand-point. He was 
 indeed a Reformer of Reformers, and viewed the 
 religious life as something wholly independent of 
 the conditions from which it was once thought to 
 be inseparable. The characteristic of Jowett's 
 sermons, which marked them off from all other 
 sermons, was just the absence of everything and 
 anything which could seem to label them. They 
 were not High Church, Low Church, or Agnostic. 
 They were full of piety, overflowing with wisdom, 
 and were usually applicable as much to the 
 followers of one creed as to those of another. 
 Often they might as well have been spoken in 
 a synagogue as in a church or a chapel. He 
 spoke about virtue, and about God, but never 
 about an "Article." We have heard him preach 
 on Friendship, on Sympathy, on the Love of 
 God, but not upon the " Incarnation " or the 
 " Resurrection." He illustrated his points by 
 reference to Christian saints, to Jewish sages, 
 and to Greek philosophers. But he did not
 
 THE MASTER OF BALLIOL. 245 
 
 seem to consider that we could learn only from 
 the one not from the other. Perhaps it will be 
 remarked hereafter that Jowett believed in the 
 unity of religion. Religion with him was a great 
 force in human character not the representation 
 of a sect or a church. Nine sermons out of ten 
 were prefixed with this collect : " O Lord, Who 
 hast taught us that all our doings without charity 
 are nothing worth," and the tenth would be pre- 
 ceded by the well-known prayer : " Prevent us, 
 O God, in all our doings, by Thy most gracious 
 favour, and further us with Thy continual help, 
 that in all our works, begun, continued and ended 
 in Thee, we may worthily magnify Thy holy name 
 and finally by Thy mercy obtain everlasting life." 
 These were his two leading ideas in religion 
 human charity and faith in the guiding power of 
 God. Yet there are those who would regard 
 Jowett as an unbeliever and a destroyer of faith. 
 He was with few exceptions the most religious 
 man it was possible to know. And those who 
 knew him best, when listening to his exhortations, 
 could recall incidents in his own life in which he 
 proved that his high standard of goodness and 
 of purity was not unattainable. In respect to 
 soundness of judgment upon the ordinary, or 
 even the exceptional affairs of life, he was the 
 safest counsellor. He possessed the most won- 
 derful imagination. He could always understand 
 a situation in a moment. No person ever had a 
 deeper insight into the characters of others or a
 
 246 FAITH AND EXPERIENCE. 
 
 wider knowledge of human nature. His capacity 
 for forming and. for maintaining friendships was 
 quite extraordinary. It is probably correct to 
 say that there is no man in England who had 
 so many friends, or who was the friend, I mean 
 the true and trusted confidant, of so many persons. 
 True as steel, one could always rely upon him 
 that he would give the best possible advice. He 
 seemed to possess a boundless human sympathy, 
 and whether the question to be decided was the 
 choice of a profession, the course of study, or the 
 management of worldly affairs, the Master was 
 the person of all others whom it was desirable 
 to consult. His kindness of heart was truly 
 remarkable. He would often write a letter to 
 an undergraduate, who was ill, and advise him 
 what to read by way of recreation. Like all 
 truly interesting characters he was endowed with 
 a keen sense of humour. He used to make a 
 practice of offering rewards to young men who 
 could tell the best story at a breakfast, or make 
 the best original joke. In the afternoon walks 
 he would always give a light turn to the con- 
 versation because he thought that during physical 
 exercise the mind ought not to be exerted too 
 much. He was very generous about people's 
 defects of character unless they happened to be 
 vanity and conceit. Those were failings that he 
 could not brook. If he was dealing with an 
 egotistical individual in middle life he would 
 pour upon him the most scathing criticism or
 
 THE MASTER OF BALLIOL. 247 
 
 the bitterest sarcasm. If the offender were a 
 younger person and an undergraduate he would 
 simply observe, " You are a very conceited young 
 man do not be so foolish." Idleness was another 
 vice to which he was not at all lenient. When he 
 encountered these evils his speech was very direct 
 and explicit. The effect of his words was almost 
 mystical in their working upon the undergraduate's 
 conscience. It is tolerably sure that many a man 
 now in the prime of life owes the eradication of 
 some such fault as those above named to the 
 electrical words he heard from the Master. He was 
 often severe but never hard. He could use satire 
 when occasion justified it, but he was not a cynic. 
 He took pains with men to bring out what was 
 best in them. To those who were away from him, 
 and rarely saw him for many years, the thought 
 of his regard for them was like resting on a rock. 
 He was there, ever ready and willing to be con- 
 sulted, always able to help in some extraordinary 
 way in which no other could be of service. And 
 now it is only a memory all that strength, all 
 that moral courage, that great intellectual force, 
 that remarkable personality, vanished into another 
 world. Those of us who are familiar with . the 
 experience of the valley of the shadow of death 
 see in this change a revelation of a life beyond 
 the grave. Such a mind, such a character, such 
 a spirit, cannot be perishable. And the thought 
 of him as transferred to another life recalls his 
 own dear words in that incomparable essay on
 
 248 FAITH AND EXPERIENCE. 
 
 the Immortality of the Soul : " First of all there 
 is the thought of rest and freedom from pain ; 
 they have gone home, as the common saying is, 
 and the cares of this world touch them no more. 
 Secondly, we may imagine them as they were 
 at their best and brightest, humbly fulfilling their 
 daily round of duties selfless, childlike, unaffected 
 by the world ; when the eye was single and the 
 whole body seemed to be full of light ; when 
 the mind was clear and saw into the purposes 
 of God. Thirdly, we may think of them as 
 possessed by a great love of God and man, 
 working out His will at a further stage in the 
 heavenly pilgrimage." And to-day his body will 
 be laid to rest in the soil of his beloved Oxford, 
 surrounded by no kinsmen, but amid the affec- 
 tionate tribute of a host of loving disciples.
 
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