THE MORAL INFLUENCES OF PRIESTHOODS. 815 



being than it would otherwise be : the cases of Moses and of 

 tho later Hebrew prophets serving as examples. 



650. Multitudinous anomalies occur, however anomalies 

 which seem unaccountable till we recognize the truth that 

 in all cases the one thing which precedes in importance the 

 special injunctions of a cult, is the preservation of the cult 

 itself and the institutions embodying it. Hence the fact 

 that everywhere the duty which stands higher than duties 

 properly called moral, is the duty of obedience to an alleged 

 divine will, whatever it may be. Hence the fact that to 

 uphold the authority of a sacerdotal hierarchy, by which the 

 divine will is supposed to be uttered, is regarded by its 

 members and adherents as an end yielding in importance 

 only to recognition of the divine will itself. And hence the 

 fact that the histories of Ecclesiastical Institutions show us 

 how small is the regard paid to moral precepts when they 

 stand in the way of ecclesiastical supremacy. 



Of course the atrocities perpetrated in inquisitions and the 

 crimes committed by popes will come into all minds as illus 

 trations. But there are more remarkable illustrations even 

 than these. The bitterest animosity shown by established 

 churches against dissenting sects, has been shown against 

 those which were distinguished by endeavours to fulfil the 

 precepts of Christianity completely. The Waldenses, who 

 &quot; adopted, as the model of their moral discipline, the Sermon 

 of Christ on the Mount,&quot; but who at the same time rebelled 

 against ecclesiastical rule, suffered a bloody persecution 

 for three centuries. The Quakers, who alone among protes* 

 tants sought to obey the commands of the Christian creed 

 not in some ways only but in all, were so persecuted that 

 before the accession of James II. more than 1500 out of their 

 comparatively small number were in prison. Evidently, then, 

 the distinctive ethics of a creed, restrain but little its official 

 administrators when their authority is called in question. 



Not only in such cases, however, are we shown that the 



