The Coming Social Revolution.

Auckland Star, Volume XVII, Issue 209, 6 September 1886, Page 2

The Coming Social Revolution.

A powerful and pregnant discoureo was delivered in St. Paul's Church last night by Ivev, E. H. Gulliver, M.A., from I Kings, XVIII chapter, "Behold, there ariseth a cloud out of the sea aa email as a man's hand " (Revised version). The rov. gentleman, in the course of his sermon, said : —Tho phrase has become proverbial, and is used as a warning of changes threatened in our individual life in a church, or in the State. Let us use it with reforonce to a coming revolution, of which signs are not wanting. At the time of tho French Rovolution it was said by one of tho revolutionary writers that,there would be ono moro revolution, and that would bo the lust, viz , tho social revolution. The question ariseß What is the social revolution ? It does not refor to the natural development consequent on the progress of civilisation, the changes which naturally ariso as groater knowledge and greater power over tlie forces of nature arise ; but it refers to that drastic change which is threatened, by tho outcasts of civilisation, imperilling in its action almost all tho gains of that civilisation. There have been times of revolution before, such; for example, aa that which destroyed the great Roman Empire, or which overthrew the dominant Mediievai Church; but thoreisa difference bbtwoen such a revolution as that and the ono which is threatened. When Rotae fell, the powers whibh brought about her fall came from without. The Goth and Hun and Vandali who proved her ruin, were not of her owu raising. Tiieee came down upon her from distant countries, bringing with the unsophisticated nature of boys, rough, brutal, vigorous, and boneath their action the corrupt and efl'ote civilisation of Rome passed away. But in the revolution which threatens us the powers through which it is being worked out coma from within. They are the offspring of our very development —the men and women who are at once our curse and crime, whom our civilisation has brought into being, hopeless and joyless, knowing nothing of its gains, having no share in its joys. These are the agents of the coming revolution. Now, how will it affect us ? There are three things in regard to which civilisation manifests itself. They are mart relation towards the land, towards woman, and towards God. On each of these relations the coming revolution bears, and at the same time all true progress is involved in our proper appreciation and treatment of them. Interference with them, or any of them, will bring anarchy and ruin, and the loss of all the gains of our civilisation. In each of them thero may be traced a slow but sure development. Take, for instance, man's relation to the land. In.the earliest ages the pastoral life was universal. There was no idea of absolute ownership. Men with their flocks roamed over wide areas of country, seeking tbe needful support for their flocks and herds. Then by degiees the pastoral life became merged in the agricultural, and man settled down L to subduo and till one littlo corner of tho earth, which became "home." So the idea of ownership arose, tnd property in land, tho idea which now Eeema to us co natural and is so widely epread. Or again, take man's relation to women. In early ages we find polygamy probably universal; then by degrees polygamy becomes lost in tho idea of ono wife, who is regarded as the centre and queen of home. In all ages tbia has been at tho very bottom of a nation's prosperity and strength. It was this which gave force to the arms and vigour to the hearts of our Germanic ancestors, arousing the wonder of the corrupt and dissolute Roman society. It is on this that our very existence as a nation depends. Or lastly take man's relation to God; here there is the same development. In the early times men sought for come explanation of the wonders which they saw on every side of them, in the heavens above them and the earth under their feet, and they found it in the thought of many gods existing everywhere around them. Then, by degrees, this became purified and ennobled, and men learnt to believe in our God guarding, guiding, animating them. In all the experiences of life we find this development, even in the Bible itself. In the early books, grand and majestic as they are, the thought of God is comparatively simple and elementary. It is only when we reach the close of the Sacred Volume that wo find the idea de* veloped in its full magnificence and purity. Now, on oil these heads the coming social revolution will have an influence. It would be idle to attempt to exactly defino the extent of that influence, but no one who leads the writings of those who are the leaders in the social revolutionary movement can doubt that the influence will be of a drastic nature. Now comes the question, what are we to do in the face of this threatened Revolution ? What is to face or stem the movement? The answer of most will be Religion. The answer probably is a right one, but let there be no mistako as to what kind of religion it must be. It must be in one respoet kindred to the very movement which it hopes to que'l; that is to say, just as this coming revolution is the offspring of our modern times, 90 muet the religion which is to meet it be in harmony with our times. It is useleas going to the past, and quoting from that past's words and formulas, no matter how beautiful. We must tako religion and Christianity in its modern development, mastering the principles of Christ's teachinp,mastering as well as we may the facts of His matchless life, and seeking to carry out in our own lives those principles and that life. We see developments on all sides of us, in science, in social life, in a word everywhere. Let us fearlessly face that development, accepting without hesitation whatever is true, and seek to animato our religion with a kindred life. So, and co alone, can we hope to find in religion the power which shall, like Christ of old, spread calm over the surface of society in the coming storm, and guide the vessel of our later civilisation through the wild waves of revolution into" the haven where she would be.