THE NEW SECULARISM 13 



as the Divine once occupied, so that human passion, 

 labour, sorrow and beauty shall now be elevated by art 

 and literature to the supremacy formerly held by gods, 

 spirits and the fictions of a remote Beyond ". 



It is all a vain delusion! The call for "reverence" 

 comes from a deep-rooted instinct for Some One, greater 

 than himself, whom man can look up to and revere. 

 Art, science, politics, literature, etc., will never fill the 

 void of an aching heart which cannot find a Person to 

 love, pray to and obey. 



Mr. Gould suggests as a stimulus, " We do need a 

 larger recognition of the call to municipal and national 

 service ". Why is it that we have not all felt this need 

 before ? Such is his substitute for religion ! But it will 

 never supersede the call of Jesus Christ to faith and 

 holiness, nor lead men to be religious, for faith is loyalty 

 to the Person. Jesus Christ, and He alone, has done 

 this for nearly 2000 years. 



One seems to be able to read pretty plainly between 

 the lines of Mr. Gould's remarkable paper. He is evi- 

 dently beginning to realise the weakness of, and a decided 

 want in, Freethought. After thirty or more years what 

 has it done ? He complains of a want o{ coherence, a want 

 of motive, aim. His remedy is a desperate one : External, 

 sensuous paraphernalia, symbols, ceremonies, music, etc. 

 Does he think that these things help to make men really 

 and truly honest, pure and good ? 



" Music and Morals " is a well-sounding alliteration, 

 but — there they begin and there they end ! 



It is a fatal error to try and make men moral, much 

 less religious, without an adequate motive. Let us hear 

 Aristotle's pathetic lament : " Is the end in practical 

 matters, not the contemplating and knowing all things, 

 but rather the practising them ? If so, it is not suf- 



