RATIONAL LIFE 333 



we find witness for the law itself, and testimony 

 accordingly for the contrast between physical and 

 rational life. We read this testimony in the cry for 

 vengeance, when violence has brought destruction into 

 the home : in the hatred of the tyrant whose power can 

 not be resisted ; in the profession, most hideous even 

 when honest, that the good of the soul is sought 

 through means of the destruction of the body ; most 

 clearly in our modern condemnation of all injury, 

 whatever the motives which have led on to deeds of 

 violence, save where defensive warfare has lifted a 

 strong hand for guard of human freedom, and for 

 safety against threats of destruction. Yet in viewing 

 wrongs such as those enumerated, chiefly the doing of 

 them in name of religion, and under religious sanctions, 

 we see reason for speaking of humanity as a weak 

 and degenerate race of beings. Counter testimony 

 can, however, be raised for rational progress, when it 

 is marked, that within all our modern civilisation there 

 is formal acknowledgment of the sacredness of human 

 life, and enforcement of its protection, under sanctions 

 of the State. 



When the depths of human thought and sentiment, 

 out of which such formal acknowledgments arise, are 

 sounded by us, it is found that with recognition 

 of personal obligation and responsibility, there exists a 

 belief that life s testing will be hereafter. We cannot, 

 indeed, interpret the common horror with which 

 murder is regarded, without reference to the cruel 

 sufferings inflicted, and the accumlated sorrows be 

 clouding the homes and the hearts of kindred; but 

 we cannot interpret our conceptions of the sacredness 

 of human life, without reference to belief in future 



