The Evening Star THURSDAY, MAY 6, 1875.

Evening Star, Issue 3806, 6 May 1875, Page 2

The Evening Star THURSDAY, MAY 6, 1875.

It is gratifying to find that the Protestant denominations of Dunedin can agree about some one thing at all events. If the Chinese missions should produce no other good result, they will form a kind of basis of union, a means by which all the ministers in Dunedin will be brought into contact with one another for the advancement of a work in which they can all take part. If they should find it possible to co-operate in •arrying on these missions, there can be little doubt that they will be induced to extend the principle of co-operation still further. We are not among those who expect that a complete fusion of ssets will ever take place, nor do we think it desirable that it should. In the world of science the tendency undoubtedly is towards the establishment of complete unity of belief ; indeed, it would seem that, strictly speaking, nothing is worthy of the name of science until it has been so far established that all men who are capable of forming a sound judgment with regard to it, are thoroughly agreed as to its claim to be admitted as a scientific truth. There are no educated men of sound mind who entertain the slightest doubt as to the truth of the gravitation, of the undulatory theory of light, or the doctrine of the conservation of energy. With matters of opinion and (and religion, evldently, is one of f»ese) She case is altogether different. Here, undoubtedly, the tendency is towards disintegration. Day by day individualism is coming more and more into play ; indeed, it is probable that even now two men could hardly be found who hold exactly the same views with regard to any religious dogma whatever. The reason of tins is plain : in the case of science, mathematically exact knowledge is attainable, and while men are in sound mental health the laws which regulate human thought compel them to accept such knowledge, even though they should be extremely reluctant to do so. it is only necessary to adduce as a proof of this statement the fact that numberless scientifio systems, facts, and principles, beginning, perhaps, with the Copernican system of the world, which have been on their first publication stigmatised as rank blasphemy, utter atheism, &c., &c., are now implicitly beheved in Joy all sorts and conditions of men. In the case of politics, morals, and religion, however, it is very different, Here tfie “ personal equation,” whidi is, for the most-part, a thing of comparatlvely small moment when scientifio doctrines are being dealt with, and which has. moreover, as we have seen, a tendency to become altogether evanescent this “personal equation ” we say, becomes a very important element when ethical questions are hemg dealt with. There oan be no question that men are prone to fashion their beliefs on such questions, unconsciously, of course, but strictly m accordance with their own temperMaents, and with what they conceive to be their own interests. When the Corn H a V*; tat i on , waa going on, the farmers ot England, almost to a man, were in °i f i S® laws bein g continued, while all those whose function was rather to eat bread than to produce it were as firmly convinced that they ought to be abolished. It is impossible for anyone who remembers this agitation to doubt the thorough sincerity of both the parties engaged in it; both believed most firmly that justice was on their side. It is plain enough to us, of course, that it was just selfinterest that was the most important agent in making these parties adopt opposite dootrines; to them it undoubtedly appeared that the only thing which influenced them was tfieir sense of right and wrong, and their desire that justice should be done. In the same way it might be pointed out, as it often fias been, that in countries where the climate is relaxing and enervating, the inhabitants, as a rule, are toe lazy to attend to their own religious affairs, to think about and manage them for themselves, but that they commit tfiem to a caste or priesthood, whose duty it is supposed to be to manage these matters for them. Nations, however, who have the advantage, or disadvantage shall we say, of hying in a cold, bracing, and invigorating climate, do their own thinking, and endeavor to work out their own salvation with fear and trembling, or without them, as the case may be. That is to say, the people of warm countries are lazy, and more readily accept a religion which allows them scope for the exercise of the lazy faculty if there is one, while the inhabitants of cold climates are active mentally and physically, and will not accept a relig : on which does not bring their mental activities into play. But w bat is true of nations as compared with one another, is also true of individuals. Tho sensuous man must have a religion that pleases his senses, tho benevolent man mnst have a broad and liberal creed which affords full scope for his theoretical and practical benevolence to come into operation, and the man of powerful intellect must have a logical religion. As we have said, the “ personal equation is a most important element iu« determining the character of a man’s religion. It would thus appear that till all men can be brought to have the same sort of mental and moral temperaments, or till religion can be brought under the same law as that which prevmls m the case of science, a thing not likely to happen for some time to come, all attempts to fuse the sects must be useless and probably hurtful. But while this is undoubtedly the case, it , mean ® follows that the various sc ct* ought to maintain a hostile attitude towards one another. Because one man finds comtort in a shovel hat and knee breeches while another thinks that these articles of dress are unnecessary, that is no reason why they should not unite for tho purpose of helping u ii. r , ~o w men te knowledge whieh they both believe will be eminently serviceable to them m this world and the next. As Swim? puts it, one man thinks he ought to Has a certain kind of post, another that he ought

to throw that same post into the fire • one believes that a “box of whistles” is a’hindrance to devotion, another is edified by its use. Both, however, think that Christianity is a good thing, each admits that the religi<*a of the other is better than that of the Chinese. Both then may well agree to sink minor differences and to do the best they can for their common cause, so far as they can see their way to make it a common capse.

t here is one error that requires to be carefully guarded against in any attempt to evangelise the Chinese. It must be remembered that the Chinese are an educated nation : their intellectual status is not that of one of the junior classes of a Sunday school. It is therefore of the greatest importance that no one should be selected for the work amongst them who is not a man of considerable mental power and thoroughly conversant with the Chinese religion and with Chinese literature. Let us suppose for a moment that one of the religions ©f China, say the faith of Kong-fou-tseou, is of a higher character than our own. Suppose, too, that persons of this faith in China are by some means made aware of our spiritual darkness, become imbued with the missionary spirit. They send amongst us a Chinese clergymen of a low type, speaking broken English, utterly ignorant of Christianity, possessing no qualification but a firm belief m himself and in his religion. If by some strange chance such a missionary should succeed in converting one or two uneducated EngUsh people, and these in turn should be set to proselytise the people of Dunedin, what kind of success would such a mission meet with ? It is extremely improbable that a single convert worth having would be made. The clergymen of Otago will do well to avoid falling into the converse error. Unless they do so their efforts will assuredly prove worse than useless.