Before the lease could be obtained, it was necessary to pay down two hundred and fifty pounds; which sum was furnished by the Committee, assisted by a few other friends, who now look with confidence to the admirers of Religious Freethought to supply the funds still required in order to render the Hall immediately serviceable. There are many of our readers who can afford to subscribe towards the fund, and by doing so at once they will greatly facilitate the progress of the works. Others who are not able to give may still be in a position to lend money, for six or twelve months, in sums of five, ten, or twenty pounds. Whoever can and will do the latter, will not only be conferring a favour upon the Committee, but will also be greatly assisting the cause of Religious Progress. They are hereby invited to pay over whatever sum they may be disposed to lend, either to the Secretary, on any Sunday evening, or to P. W. Perfitt, 20, Hemingford Terrace, Barnsbury, from whom they will receive an acknowledgment of the debt.

We cannot doubt that, in an age like this, when it is the boast that Churches and Chapels are being far more rapidly subscribed for than at any former period, the opening of a Church for the expression of Religious Freethought will be hailed with satisfaction, and well supported by all who are desirous of promoting the progress of mankind. If the agents of intolerance can collect their thousands, surely the friends of liberty should be able to manage the units. We want only three hundred pounds, and must obtain that sum without invoking the aid of burning brimstone to frighten the cash out of men's pockets. Who, for the pure love of a good cause, will rally to our side? There is room for help, there is need for it, and if given, it will be for the diffusion of those religious and general ideas which have been promulgated in THE PATHFINDER.

Will our friends favour us with their subscriptions at an early date, so that the bills for various contracts entered into may be honourably met? It is proposed to open the Hall in the month of July.

SOUTH PLACE CHAPEL SUNDAY EVENING LECTURES. BY P. W. PERFITT, PH. D.

THE BOOK OF ECCLESIASTES.

(Continued from page 384.)

THIS is the present doctrine of the Churches. The pastors say, Come ye to the house of God, and attend to the safety of your own souls; but do not go out to fight the battles of the world. God will look to all that in his own good time; it is not for us to meddle when we cannot mend. Some noble-souled priests there are who, like Kingsley, Maurice, McNaught, Wilson, and others, repudiate the miserable do-nothing creed, and teach that we should ever be doing and everywhere while wrong is in the ascendant, and evil is daily done. Neither would I confine my exception to men in the present times, or exclude all of the Hebrew world. When we come to the writings of the bards of Israel, the prophets, we shall hear as noble utterances as ever escaped the lips of men-utterances which neither inculcated selfishness, nor applauded cowardice. They taught that it is for man to work as well as wait, and from them we may draw the noblest assertions of principles, the reverse of those here laid down. They, too, could recognize the fact, that God saw all, but, with the other fact, that it is for us to bring in the good. There are passages in Isaiah and Jeremiah, as well also in the minor prophets, in which the doctrine is wisely insisted upon, that it is by the employment of human means the wrongs of life are to be blotted out. And, as Englishmen, we can solemnly endorse that teaching. There has been a deal of praying in this land, as much, perhaps, as in any of its size; but, until work has been done, the answer has not

reached those who asked it. There can be no longer a doubt about the fact, that it is he who loveth the more truly, and who worketh the most nobly, who is the best man at prayer. Men prayed to have the Pope shaken in his seat of authority; Exeter Hall has resounded with prayers of that stamp; but, somehow, the sending the French army into Italy has done more to effect that object than all the prayers. Still I have no doubt, so clever are men when dealing with these subjects, that the time is not far distant when it will be elaborately demonstrated, that it was in answer to the Exeter Hall prayers God raised up the French army to effect the object there prayed for; when, of course, it will be equally clearly shewn, that, although the men who went were sent of God, still, being wicked men, "used by "the Divine Power to work out his own mysterious purposes," they had evil aims of their own, and so of course are not deserving of our praise. But even that is better than the wretched doctrine of this Preacher, for if his theory were to prevail honesty and manhood, liberty and security, trust and truth, would soon be banished from the earth to perish without hope of redemption

Then he teaches that men should not labour for riches, and his teaching is made the burthen of many sermons, which, however, with all their weakness, are generally much nobler than their foundation text. The Preacher says:-" "There is a

sore evil which I have seen under the sun, namely, riches kept for the owners "thereof." Thus riches are an evil, and in other styles the same thought is repeated, but, unfortunately, in a low form, and the whole is placed upon a rotten foundation. For wherever the idea is brought forward, we have it forced upon us that the evil to be complained of is quite other than what it really is. In the passage just quoted, the evil is that the riches cannot be carried away by him who has acquired them. "He shall take nothing of his labour which he may carry away in his hand." If he could carry them beyond the grave, then there would no longer be any objection to their accumulation; but, as this wealth must be left to be enjoyed by some one who has not toiled for it, behold! it is evil. I can hardly conceive anything more grossly selfish than this, and were it reduced to practice as a principle, it would annihilate all good and progress. For if we may not work for riches because we cannot carry them away with us, why should we toil for anything else, when upon all the same bar is laid? This, indeed, is the result arrived at by the Preacher, who says we should not, in truth, trouble about anything; and so far he is logical enough, and very fairly carries out his reasoning to its ultimate result. We, however, deny that it is a fair ground against gaining riches. It is purely selfish, and all selfish reasonings are immoral. Still I do not say, therefore his cry against striving for riches is wrong; reasonable objection to this struggle is that the man who makes riches his being's end and aim, is not only unjust unto himself, but to society also. Such a pursuit is impossible, unless there is more or less hardening of the heart and destruction of the finer chords of human sympathy. And hence I say to men, do not spend so much of life in the search after riches, because they cost too much, they involve too great sacrifices, and they cannot furnish any adequate compensation for the labour bestowed upon their acquirement.

tr

The

Wisdom is also repudiated as worthless. We have many and great lamentations made about wisdom, how it is sought out, through serious difficulties, and then proves valueless to its possessors. In some of the passages it seems as though wisdom is really worth possessing, but when we come to the summing up, then, behold! like all else, it is vanity: "This wisdom have I seen also under the sun, and it seemed great unto me. There was a little city, and few men within it; and there came a great king against it, and besieged it, and built great bul"warks against it: Now there was found in it a poor wise man, and he by his "wisdom delivered the city: yet no man remembered that same poor man. "Then said I, Wisdom is better than strength: nevertheless the poor man's "wisdom is despised, and his words are not heard."* So that wisdom is better than folly, is in itself a little more to be loved, and yet what good doth it unto men? That wise man was unheeded, and his words were not

* Eccles. ix, 13-16.

heard; therefore, his wisdom was all vanity! It is to be observed here, that this passage has led many critics to the conclusion that they who endeavour to induce mankind to gather wisdom are acting as their enemies, because, in obtaining it, they only obtain a new source of trouble. Teach them to obey the laws, to be content with their station, and that will do; such is the favourite cry. But surely it is not in this passage that its justification can be found. They who seek it here do not seem to have learned the great law of life, which shines out in selfsacrifice. They point to this poor man as one of the unrewarded wise—as one who did well for men but received nothing in return. Is it true, however, that he received no reward? Is there none but a pudding reward? Had he been paid in fine gold, had a collar been put about his neck, so that he should have gone forth among men as the third in the kingdom, then I presume all had been well, and he would have been hailed as the rewarded one, but because he received no gold these mere hucksters and petty traffickers in "wisdom" conclude that it were better to have no wisdom at all, and then men would not be disappointed. They overlook the fact that the man succeeded in saving the city, they omit to notice that he was a victor when all other men believed victory to be impossible, and are unmindful of the truth that to tread the streets of a city, bearing within your heart the knowledge that you have saved its streets, its homes, its wives, its children, from ruin rudeness and slavery, is to possess a reward which transcends all that humanity can bestow. Of course, however, the man must have a heart, or he will be insensible to all this, and will be discontent if a money payment be not made, Such are they who dwell upon the "sadness" of this man's lot. They preach and pray, and make money. The "House of God" is their market-place, where they cry aloud, and are not ashamed to say, that if you have wisdom, and can save a city, but do not obtain any reward from men in relation to it, you had better have no wisdom at all. And, in teaching thus, they are but reproducing the language of the Preacher, for that is the theory he proceeds upon. Had he been fortunate enough to have lived at a later date, and in England, instead of Palestine, I am inclined to believe we could have taught him a better lesson, and shown him men whose lives illustrate the noble truth, that to possess wisdom and to do good is its own exceeding great reward.

66

It is only natural that a preacher who had adopted such widely mistaken views of men and things, should fall into errors in relation to many other and equally important points. And what we philosophically expect is realised in the writing. The author is alarmed at everything at all broad and comprehensive, or what we now call universal undertakings, so he advises that the rule of moderation in speech and action should always be observed. He writes like an oracle in connection with "much wisdom," and even much righteousness," and "much wickedness," be sure not to go to extremes with either of these. "Be not righteous over "much: neither make thyself over wise; why shouldst thou destroy thyself? "Be not over much wicked, neither be thou foolish: why should thou die before thy time?"* Be moderate in all, in righteousness, and in wickedness! Curious passage that, and one which critical men should attend to, seeing that it nullifies the common teaching, that we should abstain from wickedness altogether. But the line, "Be not righteous over much," is one of those lines to which the clergy are deeply attached, and the laity are ready enough to quote it. Some time ago, when in company with a great brewer, who was very warm in his advocacy of all truly pious plans for ameliorating the condition of the poor, and who made his religion a perfect bore, I inquired why, being so very "orthodoxly religious," he continued the profession of a malster brewer, seeing that to carry it on he was compelled to employ men to work on Sunday-a day he had been saying should be kept religiously sacred. I could not understand the consistency of objecting to employ men in one capacity, such as attending to a museum, if it were right and religious to employ them in the other, as malsters. Now, when I say that he had no reasonable defence, I am judging his answer from my own point of view, and in that may be considered as somewhat prejudiced, because, as an abstainer, I repu

*Eccles. vii. 16.

diate the assumption that these drinks are necessary, or even advantageous: but this was his answer, that it was a work of necessity, and, consequently, that he was perfectly justified. Still, as I urged, there are millions who never had anything of the kind, millions who never heard of anything of the kind, and hence it is only a necessity of our own creation, and not universal. It can be dispensed with, and the proof is daily before us, and, as I pressed upon him, himself could do without them. Then came the passage from Ecclesiastes about being righteous over much, and all the empty phraseology, which is so frequently poured into our ears when we insist upon the religious duty of aiding the educational and other movements of the day which aim at emancipating men from evil.

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But then, as some of these men inquire, if we work in these ways will it not prove a great labour and vexation of the spirit without adequate results? The Preacher deliberately teaches inaction, and were we guided by his views of life and duty we should sit still and fold our inactive hands in peace, leaving the mad world to work and weave its own misery and blessedness. In another place he says: "Again, I considered all travail, and every right work, that for this a man is envied of his neighbour. This also is vanity and vexation of spirit. The fool foldeth his hands together and eateth his own flesh. Better is an handful "with quietness than both the hands full with travail and vexation of spirit." Or, in plainer English, Men who find out what it is right to do and do it, are 'envied by their neighbours; this envy is a source of pain from which fools and 'inactive men are free-they pass through life without enduring any suffering from a cause of this nature, and therefore it is better to take their small handful with 'quietness than it is to win a larger measure, when accompanied with the envy our neighbours.' However any man with a soul in him, with any religious feeling in him, can talk about a book or essay which contains such teaching being a religious God-inspired book, I am wholly at a loss to conceive. It is the worldly-wisdom of a selfish man. The idea of good for its own sake, of good because of its intrinsic value, he had never realised. When so-called practical business men use such language, we know exactly how to appreciate it, and we can answer them easily enough; but when such a philosophy is elevated to the rank of religion, we stand amazed, both at its own unsoundness, and the folly of its admirers. That it is largely believed in the present day, I do not doubt, for we find it largely acted upon, but it has received its death-blow. Men are growing daily into the perception of the truth, that the goodwill of our neighbours must not be purchased at the cost of neglecting our perceived duties. And above this they are rising to the height at which they clearly perceive the shallowness of the old theories of happiness. If I go on doing my work, and enjoying the goodwill of my neighbour, it is well and pleasant enough, for probably, through this, aid will be won over for the right; but if my neighbour should look scornfully upon what I do, and make mock at it, or sit down and gnaw his nails through envy, why should I trouble, or turn aside, or falter on my path? Is there no sunshine where his approving smile is unseen? Is there no gladness where his frown darkens? Then, indeed, my neighbour has become my God, and has power to render me happy or miserable at his pleasure. What a Divinity! Alas! for us, if such be our case.

(To be continued.)

Eccles. iv. 4, 5.

LONDON: PUBLISHED BY M. PATTIE, 31, PATERNOSTER ROW, AND GEORGE GLAISHER, 470, NEW OXFORD STREET.

Printed by W. Ostell, Hart-street, Bloomsbury.

THE PATHFINDER,

A JOURNAL OF

PURE THEISM AND RELIGIOUS FREETHOUGHT,

THE ORGAN OF INDEPENDENT RELIGIOUS REFORM.

OR, AN ENGLISH RECTOR IN SEARCH OF A CREED.
A TALE; BY P. W. P.

CHAPTER VI.

THE DREAM AND THE REALITY OF LOVE.

GEORGE LESTER felt that the preceding conversation had furnished him with a new insight into his sister's character, and he truly promised to think over what she had been saying. That morning, sitting in his study, surrounded by a collection of recently purchased books of divinity, and not knowing which to open first, his thoughts reverted to her remarks, and, in fact, he could think of nothing else. Of course, although his gallantry was a little bit chafed, he confessed that, upon the whole, she was right. He had his own suspicions of the Poinders, but they were neither so harsh nor so definite as hers. Still, whether she were right or wrong, as he asked himself, what could their character or aims matter to him? These surely were of little consequence. So far, too, as his prospects were concerned, they were so fair that there could be no cause to fear the future. None! and yet he did fear it. There was a sadness hanging about him, a sort of preternatural melancholy, and he was particularly vexed that accident had cast impediments in the way to prevent his marriage with Mary. It had been arranged after he took orders, that immediately the living of Crosswood became vacant, the marriage should take place; but now that the looked-for event had occurred, other causes had arisen to postpone their union; much against his will, and yet with his consent, it had been deferred. The reason was a painful one. An aunt of Mary's, living in Devonshire, had recently sustained the loss of her husband and two daughters, who were drowned while out upon a pleasure excursion, near to the mouth of the beautiful Tavey. In her affliction, she had requested Mary to visit, and, indeed, to live with her, for at least a few months; of course, the request was responded to. The shock had been great, even for those who were strangers to the family; but to her who had been thus suddenly bereaved, it was so terrible that she had become a confirmed invalid, and both 2 D

VOL. V. NEW SERIES. VOL, I.