Page:Life in the Old World - Vol. II.djvu/269

Rh forth by the influence of times and circumstances on the development of the inner eye. Above all, I see likewise, that this has enjoined upon mankind to look up to a higher being which decides upon their fate, which decides the fate of nations and individuals, a being to whom they must sacrifice and pray. The Altar is as old as the human dwelling on earth. But this being becomes different to the human eye according as the latter becomes more clear-seeing and as the former reveals himself. Amongst all Christian nations I find a great unity in the comprehension of the Supreme Being, so also in the direction taken by their social laws, their morals and their art. All have for their object the making mankind better and happier. All these peoples acknowledge one Lord and one duty, that of obeying His commands; all have the same purpose on earth and the same hope beyond the grave. They behold evidently the same truth, the same primal view (idea). Whence comes this accordance? The inner eye of the human race has become cleared with these nations, and it was prepared to receive the light, when the light ascended upon the earth.

But as in the bodily eye of man the whole body may be said to be represented, so does this inner eye contain the whole world of the human being; and as the bodily visual nerve proceeds from an