be the ultimate of matter, and carried the philosophic theory of matter as a mental phenomenon, and so an unreality, to the point of insistence that the vooμevov, or mind, that produced it, was itself nothing at all but the personified lie of the Gospels, and as such a mere counterfeit of divine Mind, Principle, or God. When this is once grasped it is easy to understand that the ills of the world do not present to the Christian Scientist at all the same problem they do to the rest of humanity. The sensuality, the dishonesty, the sorrow, the sickness, all these, in their myriad phases, are there, demanding relief and destruction. But instead of their being something beyond his power, he knows that they are, on the contrary, within the range of that power, in the proportion that he lives up to his profession. This does not in the least leave him in an academic frame of mind unable to participate in the ordinary schemes of humanity for the betterment of the world. He can and should play the full part of a citizen of his country. But it does give him a clearer perception of the claims of citizenship, and so enable him the more effectively to meet those claims.

This, it will be seen, frees a man entirely from the reproach of "Black-coated Sabbatarianism", and carries his religion into every thought, and so every hour and every action of his life. "This spiritual idea, or Christ, entered into the minutiae of the life of the personal Jesus. It made him an honest man, a good carpenter and a good man, before it could make him the glorified.": Now every Christian Scientist should know enough of Truth, and live near enough to Truth, to be his own physician. And if he were really his own physician, he would carry his understanding of Principle out into the world with him, wherever he might go, whether as a carpenter or as a publican, a fisherman or a scholar, whether into Wall Street or the stockyards, whether in the building of bridges or the writing of books, remembering that there is nothing so large or so small but that it is an idea in infinite Mind, and that he

Who sweeps a room, as for thy laws,
Makes that and th' action fine,

1 Miscellaneous Writings, p. 166.

no whit less than the president of a republic or a great poet. The vastness of the power of Christian Science to aid a world turned upside down must become more and more apparent, and the responsibility of every member of the movement more and more unavoidable.

For what does it mean to be your own physician? It means to have ever before you the ideal of making yourself every whit whole, and learning every day how to translate this from a pious desire into an increasing manifestation of Truth. Only in the proportion in which the Christian Scientist achieves this end can he escape the reproach of the world, "Physician, heal thyself." For it is in doing this that the student learns in the words of the great Hebrew philosopher, written to the Philippians, to let his conversation be in heaven. Now the word translated conversation means more precisely citizenship, and thus it is obvious that, in the intent of the New Testament, the good citizen is the man who knows, and so is able to demonstrate, the truth of Principle. It was Christ Jesus himself who said, "If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." What is continuing, in the words of the Christ, but having your conversation, that is your citizenship, in heaven? And does any human being know a better way to help humanity than by doing this? But in Christian Science this is not done by assuming the name of a Christian Scientist. It is done solely by living the life of one, an effort which depends upon a scientific knowledge of Truth. But a knowledge which is scientific is always a knowledge which is demonstrated. Therefore was it that Mrs. Eddy wrote, on page 55 of Science and Health, "My weary hope tries to realize that happy day, when man shall recognize the Science of Christ and love his neighbor as himself, when he shall realize God's omnipotence and the healing power of the divine Love in what it has done and is doing for mankind."

This is the part which has to be played by the Church of Christ, Scientist, if it is to fulfil its mission to mankind. What is this Church? It is not a building, not an organization. It is "The structure of Truth and Love; whatever rests upon and proceeds from divine Principle" (page 583 Science and Health).

Clearly the individual is a member of such a Church in the exact degree in which he puts off the old man and puts on the new; in the proportion in which he knows the truth so as to be freed by the truth; in the ratio in which his citizenship is in heaven. Therefore was it that Christ Jesus, on the road to Calvary, pointed out to every one of his followers for all time his own Calvary, the crucifixion of the lusts of the flesh, "And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth."

Obviously, then, the Christian Science movement is doing its predestined work in the exact degree in which its members are putting off the old man with his works and putting on the new. In a general way this is true of all churches, but it is essentially true of the Christian Science movement in that it has undertaken to be obedient to the entire demand to preach the gospel and to heal the sick-spiritually and not materially. That it is doing this, not so fully as it would wish but none the less abundantly, is clear from the steady way in which it is increasing, from its testimonies of healing, and from its innumerable charities. If it should ever fail in these, the seeds of its own failure would appear. At present it is the only church in the world which has set itself a standard by which it may be measured in the world. Lived up to, this standard would re-create the whole thinking of the world, and prevent it from being turned upside down.

FREDERICK DIXON.

THE VITALITY OF CONFUCIANISM

BY CHANG HSIN-HAI

ONE of the most significant movements in the intellectual life of China to-day is the attempt to submit accepted ideas to a new and fresh criticism. Whether that criticism in its present stage of development is sound is perhaps a doubtful question; but the movement, as a whole, towards what we may call intellectual autonomy is certainly salutary from all points of view. I say that the criticism itself has still doubtful value, because it is not inspired by the highest ideals of the critical art. Critics do not as yet seem to have a correct conception of what criticism is, nor how it arouses the intellect from the stupor into which it has fallen, and discovers the permanent truths of the great thinkers of the past. This second function of the disinterested search for truth is undoubtedly the most important function of the critical art, that which gives criticism its abiding value in all aspects of intellectual endeavor. As it is, the Chinese critics to-day are paying an undue amount of attention to the controversial side of criticism. One gets the impression, after reading the large amount of critical material that is being put forward especially in the periodical literature, that the predominant spirit is not the spirit of the inquirer for the truth, but the spirit of Mephistopheles. Ich bin der Geist der stets verneint. And so is the Chinese critic. He prides himself on the frequency with which he is able to demolish his opponent's ideas.

It is therefore particularly significant that in the midst of this intellectual rowdyism, of this critical amateurishness, there is a small group of men who, instead of saying that Confucianism is a thing of the past, as many people are doing who think that intellectual originality consists in irresponsible denunciations, are steadily and patiently endeavoring to reveal its essential value and to preserve it as the foundation for the new society that is rapidly coming into existence.

It is a remarkable phenomenon which seems to be common to all religious faiths that as soon as they become established and are accepted by the majority of men as being worthy of whole-hearted devotion, the process of petrifaction begins to set in. To arrive at the original spirit in which a man like Confucius or Christ taught is perhaps impossible. What may reasonably be expected is that the central points of their teachings should be thoroughly understood. To do this, it is necessary of course that there should be a sufficient amount of intellectual strength and an inquiring mind which is constantly engaged in examining the extent of the validity of these central truths and in seeing how far they are borne out by actual experience. Such is what I may call a living contact. The contact is a living one, because although in a general way we are agreed that these great truths have permanent value for us, we do not merely accept them but are concerned primarily with having an intimate knowledge of them, and adapting their essential phases to our own existence. Under these circumstances, there is little that is formal. It is in the spirit of these great truths that we live and have our being.

Now a living contact is exactly what we have not had for a long time in Confucianism. We have suffered from Confucian formalism as the people in the West have suffered from Christian formalism. No honest person will deny that traditional theology, which survives in varying degrees of severity in the different sects of Christianity with its numerous metaphysical fantasticalities, does not represent the true spirit of the Christian religion. In the same way Confucianism, which at bottom so deeply and so fully satisfies the desires of the human heart, has been encrusted with a rich layer of unessential material which people have taken to represent the genuine spirit of Confucian teaching. But this. is an unfortunate confusion; and the important thing to do at present is to see what is involved in this confusion so as to bring to light once more the eternal truths which have given real happiness to generations of men in Eastern Asia.

This is why it is so very significant that a movement has been started to see what there really is in Confucianism, how far and in what respects it has value for the human soul, and the degree