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served its time, and become stationary and useless. But it has been beneficial to mankind. It greatly improved the ferocious Arabs, who previous to Mahomet were but little above the brute creation. They were robbers and assassins without remorse of conscience. They considered women as property, and sold them for slaves, and even buried their daughters alive. These customs were abolished by the Prophet.

From these hints it is evident that modes of religious worship are continually and necessarily changing. Sometimes they linger behind the intelligence and morality of the people, and then like those of the Romish Church previous to the reformation, they become useless or injurious. At other times, especially in times of excitement on religious subjects, and in free, democratic countries, they become fanatical, and often licentious, and call for suppression. In all ages, therefore, reason, calm and enlightened, should guide us upon these subjects. Instead of submitting to the guidance of interested Popes or Priests, or to the unenlightened spirit generated in times of great religious fervor, respecting the best modes of worship, or the correct interpretation of the Gospel of Christ, we should seek that of reason aided by the lights of history and science. This appears conformable to the teachings of Christ. He imposed no forms of religious worship on men,-he gave no creed for all to embrace, he did not seek for unity of forms of worship, but he sought to establish uniform morality. On this subject I have seen nothing better than the following from a late writer.

"It is not a vain idea, the establishment of an universal religion; for religion is not a special form of worship, a particular dogma; it is the sincere love of God and

man. If all creeds become pure by the adoption of this principle, the world adopts Jesus; Jesus, who did not come to invite mankind in all points to one creed, but to make known to them one God. "I will have mercy and not sacrifice," says the Scripture. Whoever, therefore, loves God as a father, and his fellow-man as a brother; whoever can bring his heart to bless his persecutor, and to be reconciled to his enemy; be he a follower of Mohammed, may justly call himself the disciple of Jesus. It is in this way that the Gospel is called to civilize the world. It will soften the hearts of men, and demolish their temples of stone; it will build up new opinions among nations, not violently destroy their present creeds. No sooner does its morality enter into the hearts of the barbarians, than they abolish, of their own accord, polygamy, the mutilation of the body, the usage of castes, slavery, tyranny, which is the contempt of man: and fanaticism, which is the ignorance of God. These abominations once gone, what stands before the heathen idols in the individual? What but a Christian?"*

Hence we see that wherever the Christian Religion has been received, the sensual propensities have gradually yielded to the sovereignty of the moral and intellectual powers. This is evident by comparing society now, and at the time of Christ. It is evident from the constant denunciation of sensual vices by Christ and his Apostles vices that cannot now be deemed so general and conspicuous as they must have been then. It is evident from an examination of subsequent history, especially of ecclesiastical history, minutely pursued. The

*Aime Martin, De l'Education des Meres.

history of the churches in this country, the expulsion of members in former times for lasciviousness, shows us that the sensual propensities were then less under control than at present. Thus "Christianity has been upon the earth the most powerful promoter of moral progress, because it has detached the mind from the thraldom of the senses, and the heart from the bonds of the passions, without misconceiving the conditions and the exigences of our own nature, because it has made the essence of religion consist in progress itself."*

From these remarks we find the explanation of the failure of all creeds and rules to fix religious faith and worship, and hence the continued struggle between what may be called the sacerdotal power, and that of the people. The religious sentiment of an improving people requires for its continuance and developement, that forms of religious worship should vary. But those who are profiting by the present forms, seldom approve of change, and perhaps conscientiously believe that it would be injurious, even when it is absolutely necessary for the moral progress of mankind. If the opposition of the sacerdotal power is continued, then comes a revolution in the religious world, similar to those in the political, because religious teachers or rulers, have ceased to be in accordance in opinion with the mass of mankind, and the latter must eventually triumph, for the interests of the great mass is not to be sacrificed to that of the few.

But Christ, by establishing no ceremonies, adapted his system to the whole wide universe, to man in all ages and climates; and notwithstanding Christianity has not always been so taught; notwithstanding some

* Degerando on Self Education.

religious teachers are ever striving to fix the attention of mankind on puerile and insignificant ceremonies and projects that have no moral tendency, yet they can succeed only for a short time, for with such things an improving people will be disgusted, as were the people of France by the exhibition of relics on the return of the emigrant clergy.

The people will eventually be true to themselves and to the religious sentiment implanted in them by their Creator; and will improve in morality through succeeding, as they have in past ages, though their improvement may occasionally be checked.

Thus Christianity, co-operating as it naturally does, and as its Divine founder intended it should, with all other truth, will ever contribute to the improvement of man. And by properly developing and improving his physical powers; by strengthening and exercising his moral and intellectual faculties, will enable him to control his sensual and vicious propensities, and render him as perfect as his nature will permit.

CHAPTER I.

OF HUMAN SACRIFICES.

In commencing an inquiry respecting the influence which the Religious Sentiment has had upon the health and physical well-being of mankind, it seems proper, first, to consider the most deplorable of all its effects, the destruction of human beings, in accordance with the supposed requirements of the Deity. I do not, however, under this head, intend to include the immense number of mankind who have perished in religious wars, nor even those who have suffered death for their religious opinions, or by order of the Inquisition; but shall confine myself to a brief notice of some of the numerous instances in which men have been sacrificed to a deity, to appease his anger, or to obtain his aid and blessing.

The practice of sacrificing human beings, as atoning or propitiatory offerings, has been common in all savage nations, and among all people while in a very low state of civilization. It has, however, uniformly ceased as men became enlightened; and though it still prevails in a few countries, and among the most barbarous nations, yet it does so but to a slight extent in comparison with its former prevalence. We may, therefore, reasonably indulge the hope, that the time is not far distant when it will be entirely abandoned throughout the world.

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