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enemies;〃 these are saintly maxims of which men of this world



find it hard to speak without impatience。 Are the men of this



world right; or are the saints in possession of the deeper range



of truth?







No simple answer is possible。  Here; if anywhere; one feels the



complexity of the moral life; and the mysteriousness of the way



in which facts and ideals are interwoven。







Perfect conduct is a relation between three terms:  the actor;



the objects for which he acts; and the recipients of the action。 



In order that conduct should be abstractly perfect; all three



terms; intention; execution; and reception; should be suited to



one another。  The best intention will fail if it either work by



false means or address itself to the wrong recipient。  Thus no



critic or estimator of the value of conduct can confine himself



to the actor's animus alone; apart from the other elements of the



performance。  As there is no worse lie than a truth misunderstood



by those who hear it; so reasonable arguments; challenges to



magnanimity; and appeals to sympathy or justice; are folly when



we are dealing with human crocodiles and boa…constrictors。  The



saint may simply give the universe into the hands of the enemy by



his trustfulness。  He may by non…resistance cut off his own



survival。







Herbert Spencer tells us that the perfect man's conduct will



appear perfect only when the environment is perfect:  to no



inferior environment is it suitably adapted。  We may paraphrase



this by cordially admitting that saintly conduct would be the



most perfect conduct conceivable in an environment where all were



saints already; but by adding that in an environment where few



are saints; and many the exact reverse of saints; it must be ill



adapted。  We must frankly confess; then; using our empirical



common sense and ordinary practical prejudices; that in the world



that actually is; the virtues of sympathy; charity; and



non…resistance may be; and often have been; manifested in excess。







The powers of darkness have systematically taken advantage of



them。  The whole modern scientific organization of charity is a



consequence of the failure of simply giving alms。  The whole



history of constitutional government is a commentary on the



excellence of resisting evil; and when one cheek is smitten; of



smiting back and not turning the other cheek also。







You will agree to this in general; for in spite of the Gospel; in



spite of Quakerism; in spite of Tolstoi; you believe in fighting



fire with fire; in shooting down usurpers; locking up thieves;



and freezing out vagabonds and swindlers。







And yet you are sure; as I am sure; that were the world confined



to these hard…headed; hard…hearted; and hard…fisted methods



exclusively; were there no one prompt to help a brother first;



and find out afterwards whether he were worthy; no one willing to



drown his private wrongs in pity for the wronger's person; no one



ready to be duped many a time rather than live always on



suspicion; no one glad to treat individuals passionately and



impulsively rather than by general rules of prudence; the world



would be an infinitely worse place than it is now to live in。 



The tender grace; not of a day that is dead; but of a day yet to



be born somehow; with the golden rule grown natural; would be cut



out from the perspective of our imaginations。







The saints; existing in this way; may; with their extravagances



of human tenderness; be prophetic。  Nay; innumerable times they



have proved themselves prophetic。  Treating those whom they met;



in spite of the past; in spite of all appearances; as worthy;



they have stimulated them to BE worthy; miraculously transformed



them by their radiant example and by the challenge of their



expectation。







From this point of view we may admit the human charity which we



find in all saints; and the great excess of it which we find in



some saints; to be a genuinely creative social force; tending to



make real a degree of virtue which it alone is ready to assume as



possible。  The saints are authors; auctores; increasers; of



goodness。  The potentialities of development in human souls are



unfathomable。  So many who seemed irretrievably hardened have in



point of fact been softened; converted; regenerated; in ways that



amazed the subjects even more than they surprised the spectators;



that we never can be sure in advance of any man that his



salvation by the way of love is hopeless。  We have no right to



speak of human crocodiles and boa…constrictors as of fixedly



incurable beings。  We know not the complexities of personality;



the smouldering emotional fires; the other facets of the



character…polyhedron; the resources of the subliminal region。 



St。 Paul long ago made our ancestors familiar with the idea that



every soul is virtually sacred。  Since Christ died for us all



without exception; St。 Paul said; we must despair of no one。 



This belief in the essential sacredness of every one expresses



itself to…day in all sorts of humane customs and reformatory



institutions; and in a growing aversion to the death penalty and



to brutality in punishment。  The saints; with their extravagance



of human tenderness; are the great torch…bearers of this belief;



the tip of the wedge; the clearers of the darkness。  Like the



single drops which sparkle in the sun as they are flung far ahead



of the advancing edge of a wave…crest or of a flood; they show



the way and are forerunners。  The world is not yet with them; so



they often seem in the midst of the world's affairs to be



preposterous。  Yet they are impregnators of the world; vivifiers



and animaters of potentialities of goodness which but for them



would lie forever dormant。  It is not possible to be quite as



mean as we naturally are; when they have passed before us。  One



fire kindles another; and without that over…trust in human worth



which they show; the rest of us would lie in spiritual stagnancy。







Momentarily considered; then; the saint may waste his tenderness



and be the dupe and victim of his charitable fever; but the



general function of his charity in social evolution is vital and



essential。  If things are ever to move upward; some one must be



ready to take the first step; and assume the risk of it。  No one



who is not willing to try charity; to try non…resistance as the



saint is always willing; can tell whether these methods will or



will not succeed。  When they do succeed; they are far more



powerfully successful than force or worldly prudence。  Force



destroys enemies; and the best that can be said of prudence is



that it keeps what we already have in safety。  But



non…resistance; when successful; turns enemies into friends; and



charity regenerates its objects。  These saintly methods are; as I



said; creative energies; and genuine saints find in the elevated



excitement with which their faith endows them an authority and



impressiveness which makes them irresistible in situations where



men of shallower nature cannot get on at all without the use of



worldly prudence。  This practical proof that worldly wisdom may



be safely transcended is the saint's magic gift to mankind。'215'



Not only does his vision of a better world console us for the



generally prevailing prose and barrenness; but even when on the



whole we have to confess him ill adapted; he makes some converts;



and the environment gets better for his ministry。  He is an



effective ferment of goodness; a slow transmuter of the earthly



into a more heavenly order。







'215'  The best missionary lives abound in the victorious



combination of non…resistance with personal authority。  John G。 



Paton; for example; in the New Hebrides; among brutish Melanesian



cannibals; preserves a charmed life by dint of it。  When it comes



to the point; no one ever dares actually to strike him。  Native



converts; inspired by him; showed analogous virtue。  〃One of our



chiefs; full of the Christ…kindled desire to seek and to save;



sent a message to an inland chief; that he and four attendants



would come on Sabbath and tell them the gospel of Jehovah God。 



The reply came back sternly forbidding their visit; and



threatening with death any Christian that approached their



village。  Our chief sent in response a loving message; telling



them that Jehovah had taught the Christians to return good for



evil; and that they would come unarmed to tell them the story of



how the Son of G

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