ter has dispossessed the priest of the dark ages. Other Protestant sects, however, particularly the Anglican and Lutheran sections, have retained much of the traditional belief in the power, sanctity, and state of the clergy. The sect of the Darbyites, who is faithful to the letter, to the principle of universal priesthood, is too insignificant in numbers to be of much weight in the international council of the church; but between them and the Presbyterians there are many usages among the smaller sects of Protestantism which more or less closely approach the ideal conception of Jesus.

It would be a too lengthy work, following up the history of priesthood in the non-Christian religions. Enough has been said to explain the priest's position. Having had conferred on him powers, dignities, and claims, that were beyond the range of humanity, it is not surprising that they should have turned his head, and that he learnt to imagine himself really something superior to the common herd. But as he was really only supported by his clientèle, and in order to keep himself in the position, partly imposed on him, partly usurped, it became his task to preserve his constituency in the grossest state of ignorance and superstition; for, from the moment the pupil knows as much as his master, the latter's position is untenable; and from the moment the laity is initiated in the hollowness of the priest's claim, he becomes superfluous.

History upholds the opinions pronounced here; for, as already pointed out in another place, where priesthood reigns, there also spiritual darkness prevails; and on the amount of power conceded to the priest, depends the relative state of civilisation or barbarism. of any nation or age.

What has been said here, applies equally to the Dalai Lama of Tibet, the Dairi of Japan, the Pope of Rome, the Sheik-ul-Islam at Constantinople, the Rahan, the Joghee, the Gooroo, the Mufti, the Friar. They are representatives of a caste of jailors, whose object it is to lay spiritual fetters on the masses confided to their charge; they are Jesuits at heart, and members of an anti-enlightenment society, of an anti-freedom association; and however roughly they may sometimes be handled personally by the temporal power, they can always reckon being backed up and supported by it, in the great object of preventing light from shining into dark places and of crushing original and rational thought. Wherever there is a spark of divine light observable, wherever the fire is kindled in man towards emancipation, it is ignited, not by encouragement on the part of the priest or by concessions on the part of the ruler, but by spontaneous action on the part of the oppressed; and then the result is after all only a nominal one; for whether it be, that man has taken a liking to his yoke, or whether he be unfit to manage his own affairs, or whether he cannot withstand the insinuating influence of the priests of sentimentalism,-hardly has he freed himself from the incubus under one name, than he succumbs to it under another. You call this tyrant High Priest, you call him Pope, you call him Pastor or Presbyter, but the tyranny has undergone no change. There is the same intolerance, the same spiritual pre

sumption and pride, the same hatred of rational development, and the same uncharity.

Here in India we have a caste of priests whose office, like that of the Levites, is hereditary. But this is not a distinguishing feature. What is the Christian priesthood, but a caste? As soon as the student has exchanged his habit for the cassock, as soon as he is initiated among the saintly fraternity, old things have passed away; lo! everything has become new. His whole individuality is now lost in the interests of the caste he has been adopted by. Caviling thoughts, sceptic murmurings, rebelling against authority-all these feelings are mersed in the conviction suddenly come to him of the sacredness of vested interests. He is enrolled among the soldiers of the "ecclesia militans," and he would charge at his father or brother, if commanded by his spiritual superior. He belonged to the laity, now he is one of the clerus; he was led, now he is a leader; he was an enemy, now he has suddenly become a champion. And all this has been brought about, by the laying on of hands, or by the changing the dress, or by the knowledge that he has to make a living by hypocrisy. We have seen in Protestant countries whole families from father to son and grandson, following the same holy profession and succeeding to the same living. They knew when they possessed a good thing, and they stuck to it. The saintly grandson buries whom the saintly sire christened. But is it likely that with a change of dress, a new spirit can have entered the ordained priest? We are surprised that parson's wives, knowing their husband,s tempers, their foibles, their ignorance and worldliness, don't laugh in their faces, when they see them dressed in full canonicals on the pulpit, surrounded by an odour of sanctity!

Considering the priestly caste from whatever point of view, we are compelled to condemn and hate it, even as Jesus hated the Scribes and Pharisees; we must regard them as the uncompromising and bitter enemies to human progress, and by that means, of God. The gentle Jesus himself, so loving, so kind, so indulgent, was overcome by a holy rage when he had to address, or refer to them. We may hate the priest, though loving the man under the priestly mask. Thank God, the clergy themselves are commencing to see the invidious and equivocal position they occupy; thank God, there are many honest and courageous men among them, who do not esteem comfort and power above a good conscience; and their example attracts more and more warriors to the standard of Jesus their Commander-in-Chief, the champion of truth and light and the friend of spiritual progress, as against the false wizard priestcraft, who has held reason in bonds by means of the intoxicating hellbroth of sensualism, superstition, and indifference.

We have seen to what extravagancies sentimentalism tends, but we cannot help loving her, though we know she is a dangerous playmate. She is the source of all earthly happiness but also of all earthly misery. She has a priesthood attending her, who would be rather harmless, if it did not go by a wrong name. Ministering to the soul, they pretend ministering to the spirit; serving the world,

the flesh and the devil, they pretend being servants of God. The mysterious shudder that runs down our backs, the quivering of every nerve, the fantastical fervour of our souls, brought on by the stockin-trade of the priest, is not a step forward in our spiritual career, but a tickling of sentimentalism that may pass without any further effect than producing laughter, but that also may result in convulsions, and mayhap culminate in mental and sentimental derangement.

Sentimentalism is a gem of great price; but "beware, throwing pearl before swine lest, etc.' A dangerous explosive it is, when brought into contact with the divine spark; on ignis fatuus, likely to lead us astray unless we have a safe guide (reason) to lead us across the dangerous swamp of our existence; a knife is the hand of a child; a loaded gun in that of a maniac. Sentimentalism is a toy to be played with, a delicacy to be tasted, a perfume to be enjoyed, a symphony to delight the ear, a dream to be dreamt-but not a thing to be abused, not a thing to be stripped of its charm by overindulgence in it. The feast is so exhilarating, because it is of rare occurrence; and we most appreciate the warm sunshine after a season of storms and clouds. Sentimentalism is an indispensable component of our constitution, but the proportion which it bears to reason must be most carefully guarded. The breathing of pure oxygen would have the same noxious effect on us as the breathing of pure nitrogen ; to support our frame in health and comfort, we require a certain proportion of each, the atmospheric air; and this applies also to the relative influence we should permit reason and sentimentalism to exercise over us. Be thou then ever with us, staid and useful, though less attractive reason, but descend sweet sentimentalism at our call, to cheer our leisure hour, and our day of rest.

CONCLUSION.

AT the close of this the first portion of Aristos' posthumous writings, it may be appropriate to lay down in as few words as possible his religious views. To some extent they have been already ventilated in the preceding pages, but as men demand a symbolum in preference to an exposition, Agathos takes this opportunity to add two papers, which he found among others of Aristos' relics.

Was Aristos a Christian? If this question were proposed to any of the priests of Christianity, or to any of their bigoted supporters, an indignant negative would be the unhesitating reply. But we do not ask them. We ask Aristos himself, who answers through these pages. He says: He says: "Yes, I am a Christian; for it has been always my sincere and earnest desire to follow in the footsteps of Jesus. And if I differed from the mass of Christianity, in so many points of dogma, this is merely owing to the fact that I never regarded Jesus as a builder of dogmas, but as a teacher of divine wisdom; besides, if the characteristic points of all the sects (495) of acknowledged Christianity were made up in one symbolum, it would doubtlessly diverge further from dogmatic Christianity than even my views do. It has been my great object, to be consistent, well knowing that inconsistencies and contradictions can only make more difficult a practical exercise of religious convictions. I have understood the character of the man "Jesus" and the object of his mission, differently from the majority of Christians, and if blame attaches to me for this, I shall have to answer for it before my Father and my God. "Judge not, that ye be not judged. "

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THE UNIVERSAL CREED.

1. I believe in God, the One and Indivisible, Infinite, and Eternal the Cause of all potential forces, the Creator and Lawgiver of the world, the All-merciful Father of the whole human race, the Ideal of all perfections, the source and index of all happiness; containing, but not contained by, the universe; the essence of love, but void of passion, a person, but not a substance; approachable, but not attainable; omnipresent, but immiscible; omnipotent, but not arbitrary.

2. I believe in the law of God, namely the expression of His perfect will in the human heart; the subject of revelation to God-inspired individuals (prophets.) I believe that it is the object of this law to teach man obedience to God, to bring the free will of man into subjection to, and mould it into conformity with, the will of God, and to make man God-like. I believe that this law is the judge of man, rewarding his obedience by bringing him nearer to God (happiness), and punishing him by taking him further away from God (unhappiness); and that no power in heaven or on earth can prevent such a consequence. I believe that Jesus the son of Joseph and Mary was the greatest of prophets, as having been the most complete exponent among men, of the law of God; and as having conformed to it in such a manner as to have become an example for all generations.

3. I believe that the law of God is love.

4. I believe in the conscious continuance of man's personal spirit (and in the absorption by nature of his impersonal body) after death; in a progressive development of the human spirit through numberless existences, and endless ages, evermore improveing in all perfection and knowledge, evermore advancing towards God throughout all eternity. I believe in the decree of God, that all men should be saved, that not one shall be lost; that the boundless dominions of God are peopled by an infinite number and variety of intelligent beings whom God, the Father of all, educates towards likeness to Himself. There is no desert in the realms of the universe; there is no rebel in God's kingdom. I believe that everywhere there is life, and that all life tends God-ward.

5. I believe in the unity of the whole human race; the obligation of concord notwithstanding diverging opinions of whatever nature; and in the necessity of individual freedom. I believe that the enforcement of peculiar creeds, the establishment of ecclesiastical institutions, and the rule of a caste of priests, are injurious to humanity, because they hinder the spontaneous development of the individual, and must lead to spiritual sloth and indifference.

6. I believe in prayer; consisting in praise of God for all we receive, in the expression of our perfect trust in His providence, in the contemplation of His perfections, which we shall apprehend according to the degree of the perseverance with which we exercise ourselves in prayer; and in studying the good and perfect will of God. I believe that prayer is obligatory and necessary for our spiritual welfare and progress; and that, without it we shall become animalized and withdraw from God, whose presence is joy and pleasure and happiness to all His creatures.-So mote it be!