208 THE LIGHT OF DAT 



man is not tte spiritual man, — for the natuial man 

 is often the most spiritual, — but the artificial 

 man, the man upon whose mind has been foisted an 

 artificial system of belief, a view of things, a view not 

 encouraged by nature, but in opposition to nature. 



An artificial man, a man to whom all promptings 

 of nature and suggestions of reason were looked upon 

 as the whisperings of the evil one, — such was and 

 still is the good old orthodox believer. He cherished 

 an artificial system of belief, a system which attrib- 

 uted curious plans and devices to God outside of 

 nature, to save fallen man — a system of belief the 

 most perfect expression of which is found in the 

 creed and elaborate ritual of the Catholic church. 

 All the other churches are more or less compromises 

 with nature, with the natural man. They concede 

 some rights to him, the right of private judgment, 

 the most precious of all. But the Eomish church 

 concedes nothing ; it is the expression of absolute 

 outward authority ; it is as arbitrary and unnatural 

 as anything can well be ; it is the complete expres- 

 sion of a church, of a religious organization, of a 

 system of things which takes a man's salvation out 

 of his own hands and puts it into the hands of an 

 ecclesiastical hierarchy. At one extreme stands 

 naturalism or science, at the other stands the Catho- 

 lic church, while the other churches occupy inter- 

 mediate grounds. Indeed, there is a regular gradation 

 from Rome down or up to nature, the Anglican 

 church probably standing nearest Rome, and the 

 Unitarian nearest nature. 



