REV. PREBENDARY WACE, D.D., ON ETHICS AND RELIGION. 125 
the. influence of the best Greek and Roman Philosophy, 
particularly under Stoicism. But neither in a Jewish prophet, 
nor in a Stoic philosopher, will you find that specific ideal 
which is presented by the Christian life. The reason is a 
simple one. The Christian family did not exist, and it is 
from the Christian family life that the specific Christian ideal 
arises. It is Christian family life which has made the 
position of women in our civilization; it is the position of 
women, in its action and reaction upon the other elements of 
social life, which in great measure involves the specific 
characteristic of our ethical ideal. It is the Christian family 
life, and the position held by women which, in great measure, 
maintains among us the principle of charity in all our 
relations, and thus softens the action of every other motive. 
Now to what is the Christian family life due? Can there 
be a doubt that it is entirely dependent on the Christian 
marriage law, as laid down by Christ and by the Apostles, 
and rigidly enforced in the. early Church? It is true, our 
Lord expressly says that that law is involved in the primary 
constitution of mankind, and no doubt so far as it is adopted 
and acted on, its harmony with that constitution is more 
and more deeply felt. Men and women who have lived up 
to that law appreciate its unison with their best instincts, 
and its tendency to develop all the higher capacities of their 
nature. They realize that it is essential to the “ good life” 
and to the “righteousness,” which the Ethical Societies 
recognize as their aim and as the source of their inspiration. 
But how could its excellence in this respect be realized until 
it was put in practice, and how, as a matter of fact, did it 
come to be put in practice but under the authoritative 
revelation and command of our Lord? It is evident in St. 
Paul’s Epistles that this Christian law of the relation between 
the sexes had to be enforced by the severest exertion of 
Apostolic authority, and similar authority had to be exerted 
in order to maintain it in subsequent ages. It might be 
thought that the relation of the sexes in the ancient Germans, 
as described by Tacitus, affords evidence that the law has 
a strong hold on uncorrupted human nature. But, a few 
centuries after Tacitus, it was among some of those Teutonic 
races that the Church had the most difficult struggle in 
maintaining that law, and it is difficult to see how it could 
at any time since then have been effectively upheld without 
the authoritative sanction of the Christian revelation. 
Is there not too much ground for apprehension with 
