THINGS AND THOUGHTS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2600, 13 January 1904, Page 70

THINGS AND THOUGHTS.

By John CrmisTiE. He ■who, being deliberately bitten by a dog, insulted by a boor, or Giving Eope wronged Toy a knave or a to tyrant, lets them go unthe Devil, puni&hed, really encourages these -uncouth creatures to go and do likewise to others of his kind. Besides, he is, in a "way, not apprehended by himself, and in a way utterly beyond the comprehension of the wrongdoer, repaying evil with evil. The defence of oneself as a member of a community which suffers all thiough when tvrong is done to any of its members is of much ethical importance in this connection ; but, apart from that aspect of the subject, to punish wrong-doing in the way most likely to improve the behaviour of the offender is, in reality, to return good for evil. Sentimentalists, who never Jook beneath the surface of a saying, or of anything else, opine that the only way to do this is meekly to let iniquity have its own way ; but, clearly, that is the woist thing that can be done with or for a depraved nature, for it is leaving it to its depravity, and with an unimpaired disposition to go on injuring others. The parable of turning the other cheek to the &niiter has suffered much from misinterpretation. In one sense it crystallists the history of an evil epoch, when it w-as wise to act in that way on account of the utter unlikelihood of the smitten slave being able to smite the insolent oppressor effectively ; but it i<s applicable to all time, too, in so far as ifc is a counsel to avoid vengeance, the most unspiritual and dehumanising thing in nature, and also mere passionate retaliation, which is not the strong and the sure way to redress wrong, and establish justice. As an unconditioned gospel, however, the parable is, philosophically, tainted with fatalism, and, carried out "literally, it would end in brutal and tyrannical men having more and more of their own way in the world. The Australian poet, Edward Dyson, has four lines which ring true in this connection : If tyranny refuse to spare, Or greed to crush you, foige a bolt: Pray never for the strength "to bear, But for the courage to ievo!t. To pardon the ignorantly errant, or the doer of an unintended wrong, is another story; but, generally, to show kindness to the deliberately unkind, or mercy to the purposely unmerciful, except at the last balancing of life's accounts, is to give rope to the devil. There is much sound philosophy in the Scotsman's pi.iy«?r: "And, NErixors 0 Lord, above all things IN onsen'se. give us a good conceit of ourselves." The thing thus prayed for is, as ballast to a character, of great service to man and woman, but it should be valued, sought, and used only as a ballast. Many worthy persons do not need to pray foi it at all;" with them, the ] wise thing would be to piav to be freed from well nigh all of it that they possess, so that there might be room in their characters for some other things of equal woith and value. Yet with some people the worship of conceit is a veritable religion, which has its apostles and preachers in divers parts of the planet. These woithies with a fine talent for nebulous nonssn=e, declare, firstly and lastly, that | human beings are divine, or, at least, that the human ego 01 self, of which it ;s; s assumed that the body is m-ereiy the organ or instrument, is divine ; and they also generally go on to affirm that, by woiklng j itself into sympathetic relations with j Christ's character and example, th.s inner ' self may make the body superioi to sickness and the whole life wholesome and happy, and above the accidents and failures which ordinarily characterise humanity. This is veiitable skimble-skamble, and its wordilcssness as a means of strengthening and consolidating the moiv.l elements in aveia^e hum in nature ha* often hven exemplified in the history of mankind. Once establish in the average mind the belief that it is divme or godlike a it exists, and the idea of becoming more so, byintimate relation with Christ or any other great fxamplar, v. ill *oon be neglected or puVn.pd aside, and people v,:ll tiavel along in Iha channels of their ova desires however despicable, d-estru^the, or devil^h these nny bo. A Maou thief once told a m't-ionii-y Bi&Iiop that Lp j.eed not hove come so far to spe-k to him ;<bcmt God, inasmuch as he, the chief himself, was God. At a later day, after th° Maori people had been converted to a so-cMled C'Lr's-tianity, one of their leaders, m his folly and fanaticism, assured h,s follcwu-s that he was tb-_ Father, the Son, ard the Holy Gho*t. I Ifc is always thus m some fnim or ether, that men disport tbem^elve* when they let nebulous ron«ense abrnt extra -human qualities take the place of tiuth and -obcrnes*_in their soiu's. Rmnan nattne has dignity and even divinity, ar.d men anJ women shouM cher^h a faith :r both and cultivate both, but neither can be re-Khed or r'^t n>cd except b^ constant strivm?. a>.d sfmeminir very differ ut from either wil -•ottle ioto th" life o1:o 1 : the man or the c.mmunuy tha< dec- not whoV^inelv bejr in mind the frble of tli2 f lucid and its two side*. A thoiough boor nevr think* it ricce'i arv to apolosrisp for pnytlnn'^ Boors he doo>> ; a tlmiou^h gentle^ Ov\ iT.i.">i:.\", man nev<=r c](,c- anything and OiiiLKb for v.hjch it is neec.-.-'arv to <npr,loji-c. i here are. howpver. persons w ho. wh.le f<<r Lidded fiom Lemg gentleman, r.ie }'t not out-a; d-ouc boo:*. Thefe ai^ the people w ho, in some form or other, wi'] n-I: Krve to da v hat scntiPinen would not think of doinc; i'i.r>r the circumstances or who trill apologise after thpy have done It. They ore so "deficient m polite ccnsic'cration" for jthers or in desire to approximate their conduct to an ideal standard, that they think their request or apology sufficient to justify their indulgence in w hatever they -w ish t.<" do or

have- done, in breach of civilised manners. The boor ■will smoke tobacco, or be otherwise socially offensive, in a public street, in a tram car, the precincts of a theatre, on a railway platform, or even in a private room or office without being aware of his unpardonable rudeness, or want of consideration for those who, having an equal right to be there, may be inconvenienced' or annoyed by his behaviour. While walking or talking with a girl or woman of his acquaintance, he will smoke without consulting her in any way ; and, married or single, will indulge his habit wherever he lives without the least regard for those who live with him — fellow lodgers, friends, children, or wife. Xo gentleman, however much he may like a pipe or cigar, ever smokes under any of tlrese circumrtances. It is different with the man who is not a gentleman, yet not altogether in every respect a boor. He may say to the person who walks, 01 sits, or stands beside him, "You don't object to smoking, do you?" or, after he has finished, "I should have a«kecl you: perhaps you dislike tobacco." He thinks he is polite, and ivuuld feel sorely aggrieved if, after his condescension, he were told that no gentleman ever places anyone under an obligation to approve or disapprove in such matters. Yet It is clear enough that the person who commits a vital social offence, and tries to make amends by a perfunctory apology, is raTner worse than the boor who does not apologise, because the apologiser is more or less aware that the act he asks to be excused ia one of inexcusable incivility. It is not quite true to say that man can never by the understanding Uxdekstaxd- alone find out God. for i\~g even in the study of it-elf axd Faith, the understanding will find proofs of divinity and providence. But apparently it is a, fact that it is only by the exercise of understanding and faith combined that man can to the full capacity of his nature comprehend himself and the world, and apprehend the workings of Providence. If God made the world, and G-od h allwise, all-perfect, all-loving, and all-power-ful, then the world, too, "must be perfect, as an all-powerful, all-wise, all-perfect, allloving Creator could not isroducs an imperfect work. That it may not appear so to p finite understanding is no proof that it is otheiwisc ; rather the contrary; for a finite understanding necessarily has an incomplete conception and perception of a work of infinitude. But nhy should the mmd — a thing that, being within, must necsssarily be a part of God's all-perfect world — be subject to question and perplexity in this connection? Perhaps, because the mind, being what ir is, theie is thus room for growth and expansion on its prut. This itself may lead to certitude and illumination, and to pleasure in the process of woiking towards these ; or, perhaps, after all, it may be in the very nature of things that rest and reconciliation should come through thp spirit tint inheres in the gospel of Christ; in the frith that can see and say, "I and the- Father aie One.'' This faith is at least for ever on tap in humanity, like water in the earth, and if the heart seeks it with the trusting s'mplicity of childhood, it seems that it always find's it. With this elemental fact to turn to, man has only to turn to it with supreme sincerity to see the world as perfect as God has made it, and to realise that, in that atmosphere, the soul's function is to see what the understanding can never attain, to, though it likewise sees that the understanding, being of God, also has its beauty and wcrth. Indeed, even by itself, understanding can do much in tHe discovery and applied tion of ameliorative agencies with respect to the advancement ar.d well-being of man. Within itself, as apart from faith, it may find substantial giounds for comfort and progress, and even an argument for that Providence, in which, under certain condition?, or in certain mood", it may have little faith, or even no ftfrth. This shows that faith it-elf is rot pll-<nifneing for humanity's welfare on the great scale. Hence it is as philosophically true that faith without v. orhs is dead, a' that understanding without faith can never give its supreme st length, ci owning corrj'ort, or consolation to the human mind. In fact. ' in «o far a* mankind are coTirerr.-d, and perhips ii respect to ev<T\lliing in the universe, no single thing that is native or kin to the spirit is in itself perfect or all-^rffieniL,, but only In iis harmonious re-lation'-liip^ with all 'eke thai appertains to ' the spirit"? being and welfare." Hcio we hive an sriument for rUvinitv j n al] tlii;i!r».t l ii;i!r». ard for the interdependence of everything in the universe. The fact that undei^nn'iing miv fail to see thrt tli2 argument i- comprehensive in. its application is ie..lly an ' prgumeiio in favour o" the argument* because it pro->-p s the necessity for faith. Th^n. Ps faith, wiMiout the nn.lert hireling ar.d it« v. oik*, might be little mrre th-n :> broo.lin^' bVs or exultant eceta°-v, U" no tine proves ths need for undcistanding as a fuctcr in the scheme of humanity.