The future; or, The science of politics

Preface

The Art of Politics has its roots in Moral Science or Abstract Truth. Moral Science regulates Belief and Opinion, and these govern Human Action.

The Law which ought to regulate Belief and Opinion is Truth; that which ought to govern Actions is Wisdom, — the union of Truth and Liberty. Man is born free to act as he pleases, and yet he is responsible for his acts; and wise action comes from Truth a o

6 in connection with Freedom. Our Work on the Second Reformation treats of Principles; it therefore answers to the first division. It is a work on moral philosophy.

The present work treats of the result of these Principles on the Future, and is intended to supply the second division.

Politics may be stated thus :

I. Abstract Truth or moral philosophy. —

This Science has reference to Belief and Opinion, and the Law which governs it is Truth.

II. Wisdom. — This Art has reference to _ Human Action, and the Laws which

regulate it are Truth and Toleration. Such is Politics, or the art of governing Human Action. It treats of the actions of Individuals and Governments, and, generally, of the affairs of Life. It embraces all Science that bears on the Conduct.

The material of all Science is Facts — the

internal and external Facts of Experience. By

this means we are enabled to decipher the

past, understand the present, and foresee

THE FUTURE.

"Knowledge is Power," because it confers power over the Future. It is because Knowledge is only partially developed, that the Future is so little known. The Future is subject to contingencies which cannot be foreseen; but, with that difference, the Future is as legitimate a study as the Past.

For the first time Theology (not Religion) takes its place among the Sciences,- and, if the present attempt to trace the outline of a system of Politics carries Science into new and unexplored regions, and contributes to deliver Moral Philosophy from its present state^f impotency, such must be ascribed to the incorporation of Theology with other

8 Science. Unless it can be shown that Theology does not bear on Public Opinion, there was no alternative but to include it. To deprive the scientific inquirer of facts affecting Religious Belief, is to debar him from the study of Human Nature, which of course furnishes the primary data from which Moral Science is derived.

Without Self-knowledge Moral Philosophy is impossible, and Man remains a riddle to himself. The world will no longer tolerate so palpable a limitation of the Rights of Conscience, for to this cause the slow progress of Knowledge and Civilization is owing.

In consequence of the introduction of Theology for the first time, that department of Science occupies a large portion of our space. Many difficulties had to be overcome, which accounts for our lengthened discussion on that important subject.

It does not appear that the Greek and Roman philosophers possessed more of the Knowledge of Wisdom than is to be found in the Books of Job and Proverbs, although they were surrounded by a higher state of civilization. The Greeks unfortunately turned their attention to metaphysics, a much more captivating study, but one by no means favourable to the development of Knowledge.

With regard to the present state of Politic? we should say the preliminary requirements of the Science are in a high state of forwardness. But as every one arbitrarily takes up a creed of his own — and as all cannot be right — it is evident that the Science of Politics is yet in a chaotic state. This Confusion must be turned into Order, when intelligent men may be expected to think alike, and act from ascertained principles. Such is the destiny of the Science of Politics, and the march of

10 Intelligence. The means by which this progressive Civilization is to be effected are, I. Increased Knowledge.

II. Improved Action and improved Legislation consequent on improved Knowledge.

Our two works embrace an unusually large field of inquiry, and we are not without hope that they contain the elements of the whole Truth. To give part and withhold part is not Truth, and we have spared no pains to comply with all its requirements.

The Regeneration of the World depends on the acquisition and propagation of correct Knowledge ; and if the present work contributes in any degree to that regeneration, our object will be accomplished.

Cheltenham,

January, 1852.

CONTENTS,

CONCLUSION 234

A CONVERSATION ON BELIEF.

Chapter I, Preliminary Observations

It is strange that in these days of research the doctrines of Religion should be allowed to remain without any serious effort to inquire into their truth, or any endeavour to define their exact import, as if the well-being of the nation did not depend on its Religion. The unsatisfactory results of so called orthodox Christianity are apparent both in the small measure of good it confers, and the constant strife it keeps up; and these are prima facie evidence that orthodoxy either contains error, or is very imperfectly understood. »

Theological works are generally occupied with controversies which never discuss the question as to whether doctrines and practices are true or false. They treat doctrines relative to human standards, and not to abstract Truth as well as Scripture. The Almighty has given to man a Test by which we may know right from wrong, the true from the false; and yet we refuse to use this test, and upbraid those who do.

The misfortune of the World's position is, that the Laity know little or nothing of Theology, and the Clergy as little of Human Nature, arising from the peculiar direction given to their respective studies. To produce a combined knowledge which shall elicit Truth, is most desirable. Notwithstanding the progress made in knowledge and civilization, the attention of the Church is still directed to the Past, and not to the Present and the Future, It is not by looking backward upon an infant world that new light can arise, but by looking on the present and the future in the light of the past. Instead of poring over musty volumes which have been ransacked a thousand times without yielding profit, let the Church go forth on the world and teach the knowledge of Truth, and protest against sin and untruth in every shape ; then Ignorance will yield her sway, and sin and misery will cease to reign.

That errors in Belief should be discovered, is only what was to be expected, for Ignorance and Error precede Knowledge and Truth ; but if we look for light by discussing what this man thought and another said and did a thousand years ago, we only deceive ourselves and perpetuate error. If we compare Scripture with Nature, the Truth will soon appear; and Science and Religion will be reconciled. If we read the Bible without reference to Nature, we worship the Word of God to the exclusion of his Works, thereby ignoring and disregarding the major part of the Revelations of the Supreme. This b 2 sin will be entirely removed by the introduction of the test of Truth.

A Treatise on General Science like the present, to be worth anything, must have two requisites. 1. It must be comprehensive, and show the effect of its Doctrines on all the ramifications of Nature ; 2. It must be in harmony with itself, and contain no inconsistencies. It will be necessary to bear these self-evident requisites in mind, if an answer be attempted. Unless principles be universally applied, so as to elicit the whole Truth, there can be no answer, for anything short of that is not Truth. If our works contain any untruth, they will admit of being answered ; and this is the only manly course open to those whose interests may be supposed to be in danger.

In determining the Doctrines of our Faith, it is necessary to start from a fixed point; for without this the Intellect cannot act. We have opened the Scriptures with the belief that Regeneration is the object of Religion, and we have interpreted all Scripture with reference to that self-evident object. The facts of Nature and the general scope of Scripture both attest the truth of this the governing principle of Religious Belief. If this preliminary point be granted, disagreements as to details cannot long exist. We call special attention to this point, should an answer be attempted. Let the object we have named be either denied or accepted; and if the object of the writer be to elicit Truth, he cannot refuse to grant us this request. In that case much good may be expected from a reply. It has been urged, as an objection, that our system is too free; that perfect freedom of Conscience is incompatible with Civil and Religious Government. Our maxim is to leave the Conscience free, and at the same time to teach what is right. The first is the law of Nature, the last the law of Progress. As no Religion which is not voluntary can produce any effect on the soul, or on the general conduct and happiness of man, there is nothing to be gained by curbing his liberty. Good cannot come from anything opposed to Nature or to Truth ; and none will deny that Liberty is the birthright of every soul. It is not by inverting the order of Nature, or by introducing laws opposed to Nature, but by obeying Nature, and introducing laws by which Nature may be protected from the selfish acts of man, that Good can be produced.

Our system enlarges the sphere of the Conscience beyond what has hitherto been included under that term. Convictions of Truth, as well as those emotions which are known by the terms " a Good Conscience" and its opposite " Kemorse," are emotions of Conscience. For obedience to the laws of Truth, Justice, Wisdom, and Expediency, Man is responsible; hence the sphere of the conscience is extended instead of being contracted. Personal Knowledge and Conscience are either identical or correlative. Knowledge, Conscience, Truth, and Intellect will be found to be different aspects of the same thing.

We have often been taught from the Pulpit that the effects of Grace are non-miraculous, and all that we propose is to bring the doctrines of the Protestant Church into conformity with that Great Truth. As " Conversion" determines all the doctrines of Religion, our system is substantially orthodox, as that is preached from many Pulpits in and out of the Establishment. The changes proposed arise more from the undefined and undeveloped state of the Protestant creed than from actual error. This being the case, the reader will perceive that we have proposed no new Religion, but a new interpretation of the Scriptures. Our principles are not those of Destruction — but of Reformation (Improvement). If contending against unscriptural Miracles touches the essentials of Christianity, then our proposal is more than a Reformation ; but as we do not go beyond that limit, it is evident that " Reformation"

is the proper title of the Work. To say that the change proposed affects the existence of Christianity, or any of the Institutions of the State, is to misstate the fact.

We have said that the principles of the Second Reformation have been obtained by a new Interpretation of the Scriptures, by the use of Knowledge and the faculty of Reason. That we should dare to use Reason in reading the Scriptures seems to be a serious fault; we are said to exalt the Intellect above the Scriptures, and so forth. Let us consult Bishop Butler on the office of Knowledge and Reason, and the fallacy of such an objection will appear.

On Reason, which is called the " candle of the Lord," Butler says : —

" I express myself with caution, lest I should " be mistaken to vilify Reason, which is indeed " the only faculty we have wherewith to judge " concerning anything, even Revelation itself."

The Revelations of the Works of God are of equal authority with the Word of God. This is granted in the following words : —

" It is to be added, that Light and Know- " ledge, in what manner soever afforded us, is " equally from God."

Such is the use made of the Intellect by the author of " The Analogy of Nature and Revelation," and we venture to say there is no conclusion contained in our Works which these principles do not justify.

The Bible is the great bulwark of true Religion and Liberty. Without it the world would still be worshipping dumb Idols; and with all our boasted Knowledge and Liberty, we believe that modern Civilization would resort to Idol worship — under the auspices of Rome — should the Sacred Volume be lost.

If Christians wish to preserve their Bible in these days, when the press teems with sceptical productions, we must boldly open the Books of Nature and Revelation,— not with the view of keeping them asunder, — but with the object b5 of discovering the means of interpreting and reconciling them. This was evidently the view which filled Bishop Butler's mind, after having spent the greater part of his life in studying the analogy of Nature and Revelation; and when so great an authority in favour of the method we have pursued can be quoted, our conclusions ought to be seriously considered. God's word and works cannot be at variance; hence apparent inconsistencies must be ascribed to our imperfect knowledge of both.

It is only by making use of the test of Facts that an escape from the Idolatrous Doctrine of Transubstantiation is possible. Head the Scriptures without remembering facts, and that debasing Superstition must reign. " This is my " Body" must be taken in a literal sense ; and the consecrated wafer must be received as the actual Body of Christ.

Read the Scriptures literally as regards Evil, and Original Sin must likewise continue to stifle inquiry and retard the progress of the World ;

but take facts along with us, and both Errors are renounced. If we sin against Scripture in the one case, we do so in the other. The following quotation is our authority for such a course. " Who also hath made us able mi- " nisters of the New Testament ; not of the " letter, but of the spirit; for the letter killeth, " but the spirit giveth life." — 2 Cor. iii. 6. Dr. Clarke, in explaining how many passages of the Scriptures ought to be read figuratively — although at first sight they appear to forbid that interpretation— states, that in the Hebrew, Caldee, and Caldeo-Syriac languages there is no term to express " mean," " signify," " denote." In these circumstances we ought freely to act upon the principle of deciding disputed questions by the test of Facts. No reason can be given why we should not interpret Scripture figuratively as regards Evil as well as regards the Body of Christ ; and unless we apply the same rule to all Scripture, we read that Book without rule, and disregard the first principles of Truth.

We do not question the Miracles of the Bible, nor the possibility of Miracles even in our own day: all that we require is "evidence" for such ; and with regard to our Lord's divinity, and the truth of Revelation, there is no lack of well authenticated evidence, both as to the Miracles performed, and the divine Truth's taught. We see no greater difficulty in accepting the mystery of the Incarnation than any other Miracle of the Scriptures. We should like to know how the Almighty could have spoken to man face to face except by the intervention of a man. It seems like a contradiction to suppose that a Spirit could be visible and yet omnipresent. " No man hath seen God at any time — the only begotten of the Father, he hath declared him."

To suppose that the Almighty had no power to work Miracles, or to perform any act not implying an absolute contradiction, is to deny to God the prerogative of Creator, Preserver and Governor of the universe. To deny this power is atheism.

Until the Church adopts the Test of Truth as the ultimate appeal in all cases of controversy, it is evident she can have no definite or consistent Rule of Faith. . This we shall now demonstrate.

If in one sentence we are told one thing, and in the next something opposite, the inevitable fruits of pulpit ministrations must be Infidelity and Scepticism. It might not be difficult to show that three-fourths of the Scepticism in the World arises from this cause.

We only once listened to a discourse on the Deity, — a subject seldom touched. It will illustrate the tendency of existing Doctrines to teach Infidelity and Scepticism, if we describe it; and it will prove how necessary it is that Knowledge and Reason should be applied without reserve to the interpretation of Revelation. The Preacher began by stating that the doctrine of General Laws was the high road to atheism. A teacher of Divinity could not be ignorant of the fact that such Laws do exist, so this assertion (unless he intended to deny the fact) means that the Revelations of Nature do not proclaim the existence of God. We shall find, that, instead of the affirmative of that Truth having the effect of producing atheism, its denial has that effect.

The Preacher stated, that there were two errors to be especially guarded against in approaching the sublime subject to which his discourse wTas devoted. We were, on the one hand, to avoid supposing God to be a person, and, on the other, to be a principle. The Deity was neither of these, but something between the two. The doctrines of the Westminster Confession forced him to avoid either of these conclusions, — an inconsistency which he excused by stating that the Deity was incomprehensible. Here we learn the actual state of Orthodoxy in this great nation — God is neither a person nor a principle; and, of course, being neither, he is annihilated, for a Spirit devoid of personality is certainly not a God. We grant that the nature of God is, and ever will be, incomprehensible— - for the finite Intelligence cannot transcend its own nature, and comprehend the infinite Creator; but of course we deny that the existence of God is incomprehensible. We maintain that many of the doctrines of the Confession of Faith are inconsistent not only with the perfections of the Deity, but with his existence ; and the Sermon quoted confirms this opinion.

We should like to ask the reverend Doctor, if he, or any other man, understands the Westminster Confession or the Thirty-nine Articles. The former is a Book compiled by fallible men like ourselves, and literally filled with inconsistencies ; it is therefore a moral impossibility that it can be comprehended. The very existence of the Deity must be held in doubt in order to support a System of Doctrines which has been rendered well nigh obsolete by the increase of knowledge, and which ere long will be consigned to oblivion. Are we told that the Confession of Faith is the result of the concentrated wisdom of our Episcopal and Presbyterian forefathers ? True, but when a Book contains contradictions it condemns itself, whoever its authors may be. The Ecclesiastical Titles Act is likewise the result of the concentrated wisdom of England in the nineteenth century ; and, as regards authorship, it is entitled to as much respect as the Work of the Westminster Assembly; and who will undertake to say that the Titles Act is a perfect measure ?

Had the learned Professor remembered that there were such things as Facts, he could not have commenced with the statement that General Laws destroyed belief in the existence of God j and by taking along with him the facts that these Laws do actually exist, he would have established the Divine existence without any difficulty. Abjure Superstition, and its consequent Scepticism, and it is impossible to avoid assent to the three great poles of Belief, the existence of God, the responsibility of Man, and the immortality of the Soul. It is impossible that the prophecy, that all are to know the Lord, can ever be fulfilled while contradictory Doctrines are maintained, for such are found to obscure both the attributes and the existence of the Almighty.

Mr. Macaulay supposes that the world will never come to think alike on Religion* — we do not think so. He bases his opinion on the experience of the past ; but as man is a progressive being, that argument does not necessarily apply to the future. We know that a universal principle exists, which has only to be known, to produce a universal harmony as to the principles of belief and action. We do not doubt the difficulties which attend Education, but that the final

* Macaulay's Essay on Ranke's History of the Popes. Perhaps the best digest on the Catholic question in the English language. Longman & Co., price Is.

triumph of Truth is only a question of time is an unquestionable truth. The supremacy of Truth must be conquered from reluctant nature step by step; but let us only get a satisfactory commencement, and progress will go on with accelerated speed as its perihelion is approached.

The question which the present conflict has to decide is, not merely whether there shall be a Reformation, but whether another Dark Age is before us. We must either conquer Rome or Rome will conquer us — we must either advance or go backward ! The shattered condition of the Reformed Churches is owing to disunion; and as union is the certain fruits of Truth, we have only to arm ourselves with the shield of Truth, and our differences shall disappear, and, with a united and faithful testimony, the triumph of Protestantism is at hand.

By a moderate exercise of foresight any one will perceive that the change from an exclusive dependence on faith to obedience to the commandments of Christ — the essence of the proposed Reformation — is sufficient to turn a partially-cultivated waste into a fruitful garden. Let the test of Religion be practice, and " the wilderness and the solitaryplaces shall flourish and blossom as the rose." When reformed, Religion will be a reality. No Reformation which falls short of the change proposed can effect this, and nothing less can arrest the progress of Rome or rescue the World from the tyranny of Superstition.

' If the Christian will look at the question of Reformation more in the light of duty than of consulting his own feelings and wishes, and if he will estimate its worth more as a great public Good than as a matter of private feeling, we shall thank God, and take courage. There is a great want of moral courage ; but we believe that an occasion for its exercise only requires to arise, to call forth the better feelings of our nature. We live in extraordinary times, and if there ever was a time when the cause of civil and religious liberty demanded the exercise of self-denying patriotism, that time has now come, and to that feeling we make our appeal.

At a critical moment like the present, when the destinies of future generations hang on the issue of public opinion, and when very little may turn the scale for or against liberty, every man owes a duty to the body politic to exercise his judgment, and only " to hold to that which is good ;" and we write in the hope that men will at last be aroused to inquire into the state of Religion. We ask the reader to take a large and independent view of the whole question, not in the spirit of a narrow-minded sectarianism, but of Christian patriotism ; and if he is not able to agree with all the details of our scheme of Reform, we doubt not he will accept its leading features.

All great Reforms come from a pressure from without, and it only requires that men should know the evil which now threatens the nation, in order to secure a glorious Reformation, second in point of time, but not in importance, to the Great Reformation of Luther. It will be a boon well worth all it may cost, for we cannot doubt it will deliver Civilization from a precarious and unsatisfactory condition — a condition which arises from the undefined and undeveloped state of public opinion.

The distinguishing feature of our system is the introduction of the Test of Truth. This test is already partially in use by the Protestant Church, and it is only in consequence of such use that the Protestant Church differs from Rome. This we have already pointed out; and it seems as plain, as that two and two make four, that we have only to be consistent and apply the test of Truth universally, in order to place the Protestant Church upon an immovable basis of Peace, Unity and Prosperity.

In interpreting the Scriptures we shall use two tests. The first is the Scriptures, the second is the Test of Truth. The one is the light of Revelation, the other the light of Nature. The Scriptures are the groundwork, the Intellect (Knowledge and Reason) is the faculty by which to test its meaning. We shall not interpret the Scriptures upon the principle that every thing Protestant is good, or that every thing Catholic is bad, but we shall subject all Belief to a common standard.