Spiritual Evolution of Society 163 



Master : " What shall it profit a man if he gain the 

 whole world and lose his own soul ? " 



If it were not for the traditions and influences of the 

 past we would soon realise the truth of this. We all 

 know it to be true, but we cannot act upon it. The 

 animal within us, the " original sin " of the theologians, 

 chains us to earthly things. How difficult it seems for 

 mankind to understand the truth of the most profound 

 of the teachings of the New Testament : " The things 

 which are seen are temporal, but the things which are 

 unseen are eternal." The master poet of all time had 

 an inkling of this great conception ; at least he realised 

 the futility of all earthly things when he wrote : 



" The cloud-capped towers, the gorgeous palaces, 

 The solemn temples, the great globe itself, 

 Yea, all which it inherit, shall dissolve, 

 And like this unsubstantial pageant faded, 

 Leave not a wrack behind." 



One other passage proves his knowledge of the thought 

 that the things which are unseen are eternal : 



" There's not a single orb which thou beholdest 

 But, in his motion, like an angel sings, 

 Still quiring to the young-eyed cherubim. 

 Such music is in immortal souls, 

 But that the muddy vesture of decay 

 Doth rudely close it in we may not hear it." 



Does not this convey to us that the greatest intellect 

 of this world recognised the God in man — the im- 

 manence of the Divine — that eternal element which is 

 unseen, too much concealed hitherto by the covering 

 of the flesh, the " carnal mesh " of Browning, " the 

 muddy vesture of decay," and which only awaits the 

 discarding of the " cloak of self " to manifest itself 

 and, in the beautiful words of Scripture, allow " the 

 spirit to return unto God who gave it," when it becomes 

 capable of enjoying the music of immortal souls? 



