10 THE SABBATH. 



for peace and unity, and out of the embroilment was 

 slowly consolidated that great organisation the Church 

 of Rome. The Church of Rome had its precursor in the 

 Church at Rome. But Rome was then the capital of the 

 world; and, in the end, that famous city gave the Chris- 

 tian Church, established in her midst, such a decided pre- 

 ponderance that it eventually laid claim to the proud 

 title of " Mother and Matrix of all other Churches." 



With terrible jolts and oscillations the religious life 

 of the world has run down "the ringing grooves of 

 change." A smoother route may have been undiscover- 

 able. At all events it was undiscovered. Some years 

 ago I found myself in discussion with a friend who en- 

 tertained the notion that the general tendency of things 

 in this world is towards equilibrium, the result of which 

 would be peace and blessedness to the human race. My 

 notion was that equilibrium meant not peace and 

 blessedness, but death. No motive power is to be got 

 from heat, save during its fall from a higher to a lower 

 temperature, as no power is to be got from water save 

 during its descent from a higher to a lower level. Thus 

 also life consists, not in equilibrium, but in the passage 

 towards equilibrium. In man it is the leap from the po- 

 tential through the actual to repose. The passage often 

 involves a fight. Every natural growth is more or less of 

 a struggle with other growths, in which the fittest sur- 

 vive. In times of strife and commotion we may long for 

 peace; but knowledge and progress are the fruits of ac- 

 tion. Some are, and must be, wiser than the rest; and 

 the enunciation of a thought in advance of the moment 

 provokes dissent or evokes approval, and thus promotes 

 action. The thought may be unwise; but it is only by 

 discussion, checked by experience, that its value can be 

 determined. Discussion, therefore, is one of the motive 

 powers of life, and, as such, is not to be deprecated. 



