THE SABBATH. 37 



In this, as in all other theological discussions, it is 

 interesting to note how character colours religious feel- 

 ing and conduct. The reception into Christ's kingdom 

 has been emphatically described as being born again. 

 A certain likeness of feature among Christians ought, 

 one would think, to result from a common spiritual 

 parentage. But the likeness is not observed. Men 

 professing to be born of the same spirit, prove to be as 

 diverse as those who claim no such origin. Christian 

 communities embrace some of the loftiest and many of 

 the lowest of mankind. It may be urged that the lofty 

 ones only are truly religious. To this it is to be re- 

 plied that the others are often as religious as their 

 natures permit them to be. Character is here the 

 overmastering force. That religion should influence 

 life in a high way implies the pre-existence of natural 

 dignity. This is the mordant which fixes the religious 

 dye. He who is capable of feeling the finer glow of 

 religion would possess a substratum available for all the 

 relations of life, even if his religion were taken away. 

 Eeligion, on the other hand, cannot charm away malice, 

 or make good defects of character. I have already 

 spoken of persecution in its meaner forms. On the 

 lower levels of theological warfare such are commonly 

 resorted to. If you reject a dogma on intellectual 

 grounds it is because there is a screw loose in your 

 morality. Some personal sin besets and blinds you. 

 The intellect is captive to a corrupt heart. Thus good 

 men have been often calumniated by others who were 

 not good ; thus frequently have the noble become a 

 target for the wicked and the mean. With the advance 



law of nature.' — See Cox, vol i. p. 389. The Catechism of the 

 Council of Trent expresses a similar view. There are, then, * data 

 of ethics ' over and above the revealed ones. 



