Pf>"r-i.i.] SOCIOLOGY CXXXIII 



Here we i.iust note, as of profound signiticancc, tliat the iine 

 arts or arts of pleasure are all juu-sued in the interest of reli- 

 gion. Music, like all the other tine arts, may be made hv indi- 

 viduals for personal pleasure, but in tribal and monarchical 

 society the motive which secures excellence is demotic. This 

 demotic excellence inheres in religiotis ceremonies. In these 

 stages of society the evolution of the fine arts is tlierefore 

 wholly dependent upon religion. It is thus that religion is 

 practiced in intimate association with the pleasures of mankind, 

 from which it receives the glamor of superlative jov. 



Ethics and religion are still identical, for religion as a theory 

 of conduct is still the liighest ethics of mankind. 



We have yet to portray the evolution of etliics during the 

 social state of republickism. On tlie threshold of this phase of 

 the subject we mu.st considei- tlie role which is played by great 

 leaders in society. This we have already set forth in other 

 departments of sociology-, but in the department of etliics, moral 

 leaders are most conspicuous, and bv their disciples they are 

 often esteemed divine, and especially do they rank as prophets. 

 About their birth and about their personal history- wonderful 

 stories are told, and to their personal agency miracles are at- 

 tributed. Among the most con.spicuous of these great moral 

 leaders, Laotse of the Chinese, Buddha of the Hindus, and 

 Jesus of the Christians are perhaps most revered bv the nuilti- 

 tudes of mankind. Mohammed has a great body of disciples, 

 though he departed from the coni-se })ursued In- tli(! others in 

 attempting to propagate his doctrines by the agency of the 

 s-^vord. These personages were all moral leaders who revolted 

 against the ceremonial religion of their times, and as a sul)sti- 

 tute propounded doctrines of a higher ethical nature. He who 

 would understand the principles of divine etliics must seek 

 them in the teachings of Laotse, Buddha, and Jesus. < )ur 

 civilization is familiar with the teachings of him who taught 

 moral perfection in the Sermon on the Mount, which has been 

 reiterated, amplified, and illustrated ]>v the greatest thinkers, 

 the wisest men, and the purest characters that have lived in all 

 the history of the Christiaii nations. 



The disciples of these prophets have invitked the aid of the 



