SYNOPSIS OF LECTURE II The extent of this lecture renders any attempt to summarize it impracticable, but the following syllabus indicates the order in which the social evils of the non-Christian world have been treated. I. THE INDIVIDUAL GROUP. (Evils affecting primarily the individual, and secondarily society through the individual.) (1) Intemperance; (2) The Opium Habit; (3) The Gambling Habit; (4) Immoral Vices; (5) Self-torture; (6) Suicide; (7) Idleness and Improvidence; (8) Excessive Pride and Self-exaltation; (9) Moral Delinquencies. II. THE FAMILY GROUP. (Evils affecting primarily the family, and secondarily society through the family.) (1) The Degradation of Woman; (2) Polygamy and Concubinage; (3) Adultery and Divorce; (4) Child Marriage and Widowhood; (5) Defective Family Training; (6) Infanticide. III.-THE TRIBAL GROUP. (Evils which pertain to intertribal relationships, and find their origin in the cruel passions of savage life.) (1) The Traffic in Human Flesh; (2) Slavery; (3) Cannibalism; (4) Human Sacrifices; (5) Cruel Ordeals; (6) Cruel Punishments and Torture; (7) Brutality in War; (8) Blood Feuds; (9) Lawlessness. IV. THE SOCIAL GROUP. (Evils which are incidental to the social relationships of uncivilized communities, and are due to lack of intelligence or the force of depraved habit.) (1) Ignorance; (2) Quackery; (3) Witchcraft; (4) Neglect of the Poor and Sick; (5) Uncivilized and Cruel Customs; (6) Insanitary Conditions; (7) Lack of Public Spirit; (8) Mutual Suspicion; (9) Poverty; (10) The Tyranny of Custom; (11) Caste. V. THE NATIONAL GROUP. (Evils which afflict society through the misuse of the governing power.) (1) Civil Tyranny; (2) Oppressive Taxation; (3) The Subversion of Legal Rights; (4) Corruption and Bribery; (5) Massacre and Pillage. VI. THE COMMERCIAL GROUP. (Evils incidental to low commercial standards or defective industrial methods.) (1) Lack of Business Confidence; (2) Commercial Deceit and Fraud; (3) Financial Irregularities; (4) Primitive Industrial Appliances. VII. THE RELIGIOUS GROUP. (Evils which deprive society of the moral benefits of a pure religious faith and practice.) (1) Degrading Conceptions of the Nature and Requirements of Religion; (2) Idolatry; (3) Superstition; (4) Religious Tyranny and Persecution; (5) Scandalous Lives of Religious Leaders. "In estimating the adaptations of Christianity to be a world-wide faith in the ages to come, one fact should have decisive weight-that it is the only system of faith of which the world has made trial which combines dogmatic religious beliefs with corresponding principles of morality. It builds ethics on religion. The ancient religions, excepting that of the Hebrews, which was Christianity in embryo, had no systems of ethics. They did not profess to have any. Ante-Christian ethics, so far as they existed outside of Hebrew literature, were independent of religion. Neither had any radical relation to the other. A Greek or Roman devotee might be guilty of all the crimes and vices known to the criminal code of ancient jurisprudence, and it made no difference to his character as a religionist. He might be the most execrable of mankind in the courts of law, yet he could cross the street into a temple of religion and there be a saint. In the temple of Bacchus or of Venus his very vices were virtues. The identity of morals and religion is a Christian discovery." AUSTIN PHELPS, D.D., LL.D. "Undoubtedly Indian literature contains a large amount of moral teaching, some of which is of a very high order; but it is a remarkable circumstance, and one which European Christians find it difficult to believe or even to comprehend, that this moral teaching is totally unconnected with religious worship. Morality is supposed to consist merely in the discharge of the duties of our caste and station towards our fellow-men. . . . Religion, on the other hand, is supposed to rise far above such petty considerations as the social duties, and to consist solely in the worship of the gods by means of the appointed praises, prayers, and observances, in the hope of obtaining thereby union with the Supreme Spirit and final emancipation. The duties of life are never inculcated in any Hindu temple. The discharge of those duties is never represented as enjoined by the gods, nor are any prayers ever offered in any temple for help to enable the worshippers to discharge those duties aright. It would be hard indeed even to conceive the possibility of prayers for purity ever being offered in a Hindu temple to a divinity surrounded by a bevy of dancing-girls. . . . There is no such teaching of morality as this by any Brahman or priest in any temple in all India. Hence we often see religion going in one direction and morality in another. We meet with a moral Hindu who has broken altogether away from religion, and, what is still more common, yet still more extraordinary, we meet with a devout Hindu who lives a flagrantly immoral life. In the latter case no person sees any inconsistency between the immorality and the devoutChristianity, on the other hand, unites morality to religion by an indissoluble bond. It teaches that the right discharge of our duties to our fellow-men is an essential portion of the duty we owe to God, and that the very purpose for which Christ came into the world was that He might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto Himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works."" ness. BISHOP CALDWELL, D.D., LL.D. LECTURE II THE SOCIAL EVILS OF THE NON-CHRISTIAN WORLD THE subject before us in this lecture is so vast and complicated that one may well approach it with diffidence and even with dismay. Its range is so immense, and its details involve such a mass of facts, that first-hand treatment of the theme is entirely beyond the grasp of even the most learned student or the most observant traveller. We might well shrink from the responsibility involved were it not for the abundant testimony at our command in current literature, and especially as the result of an extensive private correspondence entered upon with the special purpose of securing reliable data from those whose observation and personal experience qualify them to speak with authority. The proper spirit of such an inquiry. It is a theme which should be approached with all humility and sobriety, and treated not with a view to impressionism or with any attempt to exploit the evils of non-Christian society. The aim should be rather to present a faithful and at the same time unflinching portraiture of the true state of human society in the less favored nations of the earth. We shall not aim at a highly wrought picture, but rather at a judicial presentation. Whatever of realism may characterize it will be fully justified by the facts of the case, and to those who can read between the lines there will be no difficulty in tracing the presence of a darker coloring and a more ghastly background to the picture than the proprieties of the printed page will allow. One thing we shall seek especially to guard against, and that is any attempt either to magnify the evils of the non-Christian world or to minimize those of Christendom. Our object will not be to make out a case by special pleading, or even to institute a comparison, but rather to unfold realities. Excellencies not to be ignored or minimized. Our purpose requires that we note what is objectionable and discreditable; yet, on the other hand, we wish neither to hide nor ignore the existence of many virtues, both individual and social, which lend a peculiar interest and charm to the personal and national character of Eastern peoples, especially the more advanced among them. There is much that is beautiful and dignified in their social life. The great nations of the Orient, when once thoroughly purified and possessed by the spiritual culture of Christianity, will be as refined, as gracious, as gentle, as noble, and as true as any other people which the world contains. They have inherited and preserved, in many instances with singular fidelity, the best products and many of the most commendable customs of the ancient civilizations, and to refuse to recognize this would indicate a complacency on our part, at once invidious, ungenerous, and unjustifiable. The Chinese, for example, could teach a considerable portion of the Occidental world profitable lessons in filial piety, respect for law, reverence for superiors, economy, industry, patience, perseverance, contentment, cheerfulness, kindliness, politeness, skill in the use of opportunities, and energy in the conquering of an adverse environment. The merchants of China, in contradistinction to the officials and small traders, are held in high esteem as men of probity and business honor. The capabilities of the Chinese people, under favorable auspices, will surely secure to them an unexpectedly high and honorable place in the world's future. There is a staying power in their natural qualities and a possibility of development under helpful conditions which deserve more recognition than the world seems ready at present to accord. With proper discrimination as to specifications, and some necessary modification and readjustment of the precise emphasis of the characterization, similar statements might be made concerning the Japanese, Hindus, and other Asiatic peoples. We must bear in mind also that these nations have been obliged to struggle with crushing disabilities, and are weighted with ponderous burdens, which have handicapped them for ages in the race of progress. Considerations such as these, and others which will occur to the student, but to which we have not time here to refer, will suggest that a spirit of charitable and calm discrimination should mark the treatment of the theme of our present lecture. It is not to be denied, moreover, that some of the gravest counts in |