The Lesson of History 135 



It may be asked how, if this is so, the Church, which 

 was the means whereby the influence of the Christian 

 religion was perpetuated and handed down from one 

 generation to another, did not inculcate laws on such 

 lines as those which are now devised for the ameliora- 

 tion of the lot of humanity ? The answer is that the 

 Church considered its duty was to inculcate attention 

 to its rites and sacraments in order to secure for the 

 individual the reward of material present-day interests. 

 It never seemed to occur to it that it might exert its 

 great power and influence to improve the general con- 

 ditions of life and make the lot of humanity better. 

 Notwithstanding this attitude of the Church itself, in 

 the course of the ages the altruism of Christian ethics 

 pervaded the minds of ordinary men and distilled 

 its sweet influence there, ultimately inaugurating a 

 movement which has resulted in new methods of rule 

 unknown hitherto in the history of human affairs. 

 Gradually under this influence men by slow degrees 

 have come to feel that each has a duty towards his 

 fellow-man — that he is in truth " his brother's keeper." 

 Some great souls have felt it to such an extent as to be 

 able to overcome even the primeval instinct of self- 

 preservation, and actually give their own lives to save 

 others, or in order that their fellow-men might realise 

 the secret of the revelation of the life of the Saviour of 

 mankind, who gave His life in order that all men 

 through His death might realise the necessity for a life 

 of righteousness, of reverence for the Eternal, and love 

 of one's neighbour, whatever his race, caste, colour, 

 belief, or civilisation. The Church deserves credit for 

 keeping the lamp of Christian truth burning, but the 

 permanence of this faith can only be ascribed to its own 

 inherent merit and the responsiveness of the minds of 

 men to the teachings of love and self-sacrifice. This 

 would tend to show that there is implanted in man an 



