world-wide society capable of embracing and transforming all other societies; and that, while it presents a deeper and fuller righteousness than Judaism, it still aims, like Judaism, at the righteousness of the nation as well as the individual, and, going beyond Judaism, at the blending of all nations into one grand organized brotherhood.

The fourth, fifth, and sixth Lectures will show how attempts have been made at three different epochs for the realization of this great organized brotherhood or universal Church; namely, first, in the conversion of the Roman Empire; secondly, in the mediaeval system from Charlemagne to Innocent III; thirdly, at the era of the Reformation. Of these, the fourth Lecture will describe the Imperial and Mediaeval efforts; the fifth, those of the Reformation and its adjacent periods, including the work of Savonarola at Florence, of Calvin at Geneva, and of the Jesuits in the revival of Catholicism, the system of Wolfgang and Erastus, and the attempts of Knox in Scotland, and of the Puritan colonists in America to found Christian communities. The sixth will show the same attempts made in a different form in England at the Reformation, with its results in our subsequent history.

The seventh Lecture will proceed on a different method. It will be an attempt to present the idea of a Christianized society, taking the various associations into which men naturally enter, and showing how each of these demands for its full development the spirit of Christ, and when thus developed becomes a branch of the Church universal.

The last Lecture will take a review of the present condition of mankind, in view of the hope of such a development, and will attempt to show by what changes each of the circles or associations into which society is divided may become branches of the Church, and society itself be changed into the kingdom of God.

I ask not merely for a candid hearing but for earnest and prayerful co-operation of thought. What is to be said in these Lectures is not a mere theory. It is an attempt also at practical guidance. In all investigations theory, and even hypothesis, are necessary1; for we must present a general statement of the facts and show the bond which connects them; but it must also be such as will shed a light on the pathway which we have to tread. It must do more in an investigation like the present; for Christianity is essentially progressive, and no theory or general statement of its purposes can be valid which does not teach us to look steadily into the future with burning and enthusiastic hope. It may safely be said that no such theory has as yet appeared as to the facts of Christian history, and consequently the Churches are to a certain extent working in the dark. But if by attending to the intimations of Scripture and reviewing God's dealings in the past, we can evolve a theory which adequately explains the facts, it will also serve as a means of quickening our hopes and our energies; and we may see Christians once more, with the primitive fearlessness and confidence, advancing to the spiritual conquest of the world.

1 See Note XV. J. S. Mill on the use of hypothesis in scientific investigation.

LECTURE II.

THE JEWISH CHURCH.

PSALM CXXII. 3-9. Jerusalem is builded as a city that is compact together: whither the tribes go up, the tribes of the Lord, unto the testimony of Israel, to give thanks unto the name of the Lord. For there are set thrones of judgment, the thrones of the house of David. Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: they shall prosper that love thee. Peace be within thy walls, and prosperity within thy palaces. For my brethren and companions' sakes, I will now say, Peace be within thee. Because of the house of the Lord our God I will seek thy good.

RELIGION Consists in the relations of spiritual beings, their establishment, their maintenance, their exercise. Whether the word be derived from Religere, and signify pondering, or from Religare, and signify a binding together, the spiritual relation is that to which it necessarily leads. In the barest form, as a meditation upon God, or the world, or man, upon life or eternity, it constitutes a relation between him who meditates and that on which he meditates. But as the central unity before which all separate interests must bow grows upon his view, the demand for the establishment of relations between him and the organized and centred universe grows stronger and clearer. When he comes

to know the central unity as the Father, as Love, then the relation between him and that unity becomes personal, spiritual. And this extends to all parts of the world, and especially to the relations of men to one another. They are all ultimately held fast by love.

Human history is necessarily the history of religion, because it is the history of human relations. The fault of history, as it has commonly been written, is, that it has dwelt too much on events, too little on human relations. Great events may pass and leave human relations much as they were. In any case, the human relations which cause or are caused by the event are of more importance than the event itself1. The more modern historians attempt to show us the real life of the people. It is a difficult task; but the man who has a genuine historical faculty will be exercised in it continually. We ask not merely, What happened? But, Why did it happen? And, What did the actors think or feel? And, What were the moral and social results? We are often tempted to cry in despair in the course of historical study, Who will lift the veil of mere events? Who will disclose to us the growth of spiritual principles ?

In the preliminary Lecture of this course it was maintained that the destination towards which the Christian Church should direct its hopes and its efforts is an all-embracing community held together in all its relations by the Divine justice and love. The present

1 See the remarks on this subject in the Preface to Green's 'Short History of the English People.'

E

Lecture will point out that just such a community, though in a limited and rudimentary form, is that which is presented in the Old Testament, as designed by the great teachers of Irsael, and partly realized in its history.

If we regard the Hebrew history as a revelation, that is, a disclosure of spiritual truth, it is because in it the spiritual principles are made distinctly to appear ; and because the spiritual principles assumed or aimed at are true or growing towards truth. But the method of this revelation is not primarily by abstract statements, but through the life of the nation. It is not a system of theology, but religion realised in a social state which discloses the true principles of life and faith. Israel is not a sect but a Church.

Where, then, are we to find the life of the people? Chiefly in their laws. These form the centre round ✓ which the history turns. It is through the constitution of the Jewish state or Church, and the laws concerning just relations between man and man, concerning the family, concerning the righteous bearing of classes and individuals to one another, and concerning the administration of justice, that the central revelation is made. It is true that law is apt to be regarded as a mechanical form imposed upon men, and we contrast men's laws with their life, or their sentiments, or their songs. But if we regard law more philosophically in its close connexion with life, we may distinguish between that which is fictitious or merely imposed and that which is of genuine growth, springing out of, or accepted by, the better conscience of the people. We may also trace