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 Religion still the Key to History 239 of the twentieth century. The modern pulpit and council are con- tent to say with St. Paul that " the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead." The churches of every faith, in some degree — of all in proportion to their share in the time-spirit of their generation — are pointing to Man as the only real revelation of the nature of God, and to the opportunities of the present life as what chiefly concerns him, in his highest as well as his lowest desires and activities. One hears little in churches led by an educated clergy of a future heaven, and less of a future hell. It is this pressing, immediate world about us, that is their theme. " One world at a time " is more and more be- coming the practical doctrine of the modern pulpit. Do your duty to-day, and be not anxious about tomorrow, whether it be the mor- row of the next sunrise or of a million ages. What has been, what is to be the effect of this change in the attitude of the church on the course of human history? It will not remove the power of theistic appeal. If it should spread over all nations, and all faiths, it will leave unim{)aircd the motives of duty to God and countr-. A war to maintain the honor of fatherland and of the fathers from whom it was inherited will always enlist the sympathies of the people with double force, if they are quickened by religious convictions. Recent events have shown that soldiers who believe they are fighting God's battles may yield before those not superior in numbers or arms who believe that in fighting they are honoring the first an- cestors of the sovereign, whose spirit in an ancestor world holds sway over those of their own ancestors. The double character of the Mikado of Japan as spiritual leader and earthly sovereign, im- pressed by the institution of ancestor-worship upon every Japanese from infancy, moves him far more deeply than the Russian muzhik is afifected by his reverence for the Czar as head of his country's church. Admiral Togo's message to the Mikado last year, attribut- ing to his superhuman influence the annihilation of the Russian fleet, spoke the real conviction of a great man and a great people. We must never forget that not only were the founders of all the great religions of Asiatic origin, but that religion is now a more vital force in Asia than on any other continent. The deep, if dreamy, spiritual insight, the brooding intellectual habit, the strength of antecedents, that belong to the East, put religion there in a position as lofty as it is unique. Hegel observed that there are two natural steps in human life.