The Lesson of History 133 



sation in contrast to those of ancient times. We survey 

 the face of history and can discover no reason why the 

 aspect of things should have changed, and why our 

 civilisation should not have fallen into decay like all 

 those which have preceded it, excepting the increased 

 respect paid to the liberty of the subject and the gradual 

 improvement of the lot of the people as a whole. It 

 would appear that a new era has dawned, characterised 

 by humanitarianism, and accompanying this the desire 

 to lift the burden from and increase the happiness of 

 our neighbour. We are now driven to an investigation 

 of the cause of this marvellous change in the history 

 of mankind, and it is not long before we discover that 

 coincidently we have the rise of the Christian religion. 

 It is now nearly two thousand years since the dawn of 

 Christianity, and even now it is not yet shining with 

 its full effulgence, but it is nearing the meridian, and it 

 will not be long ere its light-giving and fertilising power 

 regenerates the whole earth. The altruism of the 

 teachings of Jesus is the very essence of Christian 

 ethics, and has appealed directly to the heart of man, 

 and so permeated his mind that quite unconsciously in 

 the early stages it affected his conduct towards his 

 fellow-men and compelled him to adopt measures to 

 ease their burdens and improve their lot ; and thus it is 

 that the amelioration of society became the outstanding 

 mark of all countries where Christian ethics prevailed. 

 The social betterment which has arisen has enabled all 

 the individuals of the body politic to act in concert, and 

 has brought nearer to every one the accumulated 

 culture of the ages, and hence the enormous strides in 

 modern times in the region of mechanical science and 

 discovery. This rapid advance is often explained as 

 being due to increased intellectual vigour and power ; 

 no doubt the intellectual capacity of the average man 

 has been raised to a higher level, and will be extended 



