*IJ One of our famous philosophers tells of an Italian who was placed upon the rack to secure a confession, and who bore the agony with courage by crying out continually : " I see it, I see it." What did he see ? The victim explained afterwards that he had conjured up the direr punishment that awaited him if he revealed his secret. He used the thought and vision of the scaffold to turn his mind away from the consciousness of present pain. So by looking at things which are not seen, men and women have borne the greatest hardships, and triumphed over the fiercest foes. And if it be the case that fear can in a measure expel the sense of pain and make torture tolerable, what will the passion of a great and thrilling love not do ? Faith is the link that brings our love into contact with the Eternal Love, that puts us alongside the infinite resources of God. It is
The desire of the moth for the star Of the night for the morrow, The devotion to something afar From the sphere of our sorrow.
(1) Faith has been conquering the world of ignorance and error by the promulgation of truth, which is the law of the intellectual life. There is now a lessening tendency to acquiesce in what is false, a growing tendency to find out what is true. Men are beginning to regard facts rather than opinions, the things that are rather than the things that are imagined. New tracks are being opened up, and every step of the old tracks is being resurveyed. This spirit of investigation is the spirit of Christi- anity. There are, no doubt, unbelievers in the manifoldness of the works and ways of God, who take every discovery as a fresh rebuff, who would put chains upon the feet of every traveller into the domain of science or of history, lest his report of what is to be found there should be different from their own or other men's dreams. But the number of such timorous doubters is lessening ; the number of believers in truth is increasing.
^ A. Maclaren. JAS.-JUDE — 26
402 VICTORY OVER THE WORLD
^ When Dr. Lazeer, in Cuba, made up his mind by experiment that yellow fever was propagated solely through the bite of a mosquito, and gave his life in supreme testimony to this truth, the world not only added one more undying name to her roll of heroes, but began forthwith to act upon the new knowledge sanctified by this sacred test.^
What thou of God and of thyself dost know, So know that none can force thee to forego ; For oh ! his knowledge is a worthless art, Which, forming of himself no vital part, The foremost man he meets with readier skill In sleight of words, can rob him of at will. Faith feels not for her lore more sure nor less, If all the world deny it or confess : Did the whole world exclaim, "Like Solomon, Thou sittest high on Wisdom's noblest throne," She would not, than before, be surer then. Nor draw more courage from the assent of men. Or did the whole world cry, " 0 fond and vain ! What idle dream is this which haunts thy brain ? " To the whole world Faith boldly would reply, " The whole world can, but I can never, lie." ^
(2) Faith has been conquering the world of selfishness, by erecting the republic of unselfishness, by spreading the spirit of love, which is the law of social life. There is a greater desire now to relieve the burdens of the afflicted and the poor, an increasing effort to reform the criminal, a growing admission of the possible variety of human beliefs, a lessening disposition to settle all international disputes by the terrible decision of war, a growth of the mutual respect which is the parent of liberty — for the mutual respect of each for each means the common liberty of all. The growth of this is a growth of Christian influence, and of the Christian temper : it is a victory of " our faith," for it is the victory of Christian love.
^ Alexander the Great, when he was master of the whole world, was the greatest slave within it, for he was discontented even with his victories ; the pride of conquest held him in captivity by its iron chain. No ; he who aims at the highest greatness in this world may only be more greatly selfish than the rest of mankind, and what is that but to be really little ? He is ^ p. Scudder, The Passion for Reality, 45. ^ j^_ q_ Trench, Poems, 315,
I JOHN V. 4 403
truly great who is the most unselfish, and he is the least of all who lives for himself alone.^
^ In the Patriarchate of Antioch there is a marvellous memorial to the victory of Christianity. In the centre of it, in a mountain region not far from Antioch, are to be found the ruins of one hundred and fifty cities within a space of thirty or forty leagues. In the most glorious days of Christianity, when it ruled the Koman world, these Christian cities were invaded by either the Persians or the Saracens, and, as the story goes, forsaken by their inhabitants in a single night. Twelve hundred years have passed away since then, and, in spite of time and earthquake and the burning Syrian sun, the traveller who visits them scarce dares to call them ruins. Not as thoroughly preserved, indeed, as Pompeii or Herculaneum, they still tell the story of Christian civilization in the days when the Church had recently won its victory over persecution and tyranny. The signs of comfort and of peace appear on all sides. Bath-houses and stables, balconies and shaded porticoes, winepresses, and even jars for preserving wine, yet remain. Still are to be seen magnificent churches, supported by columns, flanked by towers, surrounded by splendid tombs. Crosses and monograms of Christ are sculptured on most of the doors, and numerous inscriptions may be read upon the monuments. He who has visited Pompeii, with its sad record of the refinement and corruption of Eome, cannot fail to notice the difference, as he reads written over the door of a house, " The Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth for evermore " ; and on another, " Lord, succour this house and them that dwell therein " ; or on a tomb where the dead are sleeping, " Thou hast made the Most High thy refuge ; no evil shall approach thee, no plague come nigh thy dwelling."