362 THE BIDDLE OF THE UNIVEKSE. 



curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for 

 them which despitefully use you and persecute you." 

 It is a very ideal precept, but as useless in practice 

 as it is unnatural. So it is with the counsel, "If 

 any man will take away thy coat, let him have thy 

 cloak also." Translated into the terms of modern 

 life, that means: " When some unscrupulous scoundrel 

 has defrauded thee of half thy goods, let him have 

 the other half also." Or, again, in the language of 

 modern politics : " When the pious English take from 

 you simple Germans one after another of your new 

 and valuable colonies in Africa, let them have all the 

 rest of your colonies also — or, best of all, give them 

 Germany itself." And, while we touch on the 

 marvellous world-politics of modern England, we 

 may note in passing its direct contradiction of every 

 precept of Christian charity, which is more frequently 

 on the lips of that great nation than of any other 

 nation in the world. However, the glaring contra- 

 diction between the theoretical, ideal, altruistic 

 morality of the human individual and the real, 

 purely selfish morality of the human community, 

 and especially of the civilized Christian state, is a 

 familiar fact. It would be interesting to determine 

 mathematically in what proportion among organized 

 men the altruistic ethical ideal of the individual 

 changes into its contrary, the purely egoistic "real 

 politics " of the state and the nation. 



II. — Since the Christian faith takes a wholly 

 dualistic view of the human organism and attributes 

 to the immortal soul only a temporary sojourn in the 

 mortal frame, it very naturally sets a much greater 

 value on the soul than on the body. Hence results 

 that neglect of the care of the body, of training, and 



