288 The Ideal State 



State by some other which had more than was necessary 

 for its own requirements, and desired to enable it to 

 secure the benefits of its own system without such 

 effete methods as taxation and the raising of money. 

 An act such as this could only be prompted by the in- 

 spiration of the ideal, and no doubt it would. The 

 desire of the ideal state would be to extend its blessings 

 over the whole earth, and would never rest until this 

 had been accomplished. Only then shall we attain to 

 the ideal man in the ideal world. In thinking over this 

 matter it has often appeared to me that the enthusiasm 

 of the missionary is intended not only to secure the 

 happiness of those converted to the Christian faith in a 

 future world, but consciously or unconsciously it is the 

 means by which the social betterment of mankind will 

 be attained, with the ultimate realisation of the ideal 

 state ; we see, in faith, the approach of the poet's 

 dream — " the Parliament of man, the federation of the 

 world." If this is ever to be attained, it is the duty of 

 every man professing Christianity to do all that in him 

 lies to bring about the glorious consummation of the 

 ascendancy of the altruism of the teachings of Jesus 

 among all nations and peoples and tongues. We have 

 been told in the colonies that Christianity demoralises 

 the negro and makes him less fit to be a servant to the 

 white man. After much study and reflection we have no 

 hesitation in classifying this as a prejudiced statement. 

 In many instances the methods of the missionary may 

 be wrong. For instance, in the present stage of their 

 civilisation it is a mistake to tell the negro that he is 

 the white man's equal in the sight of God, for this state- 

 ment conveys an entirely different meaning to his mind 

 from that which the missionary intends. He should 

 be told very little dogma, and that of the simplest, for 

 he cannot comprehend it. The doctrine of the Trinity — 

 the Three in One, and the One in Three — is not for him 



