powell] SOCIOLOGY, OR THE SCIENCE OF INSTITUTIONS 74*
his doctrines by the agency of the sword. These personages were all moral leaders who revolted against the ceremonial re- ligion of their times, and as a substitute propounded doctrines of a higher ethical nature. He who would understand the prin- ciples of divine ethics must seek them in the teachings of Laotse, Buddha, and Jesus. Our civilization is familiar with the teach- ings of the tribes who taught moral perfection in the Sermon on the Mount, which has been reiterated, amplified, and illustrated by the greatest thinkers, the wisest men, and the purest characters that have lived in all the history of the Christian nations.
The disciples of these prophets have invoked the aid of the fine arts, and thus the most exalted of the esthetic pleasures have become associated with their teaching. The sweetest music has still a religious theme. The most beautiful graphic has still a religious motive, that is, an ethical motive. The most thril- ling play has still an ethical purpose. The most absorbing story has still a higher moral. The most entrancing poem is still informed with the spirit of truth. Music has added sym- phony to its methods ; painting has added chiaroscuro ; drama has added histrionic representations; romance has added the delineation of consequences for moral conduct, and poetry has added trope.
Religion also has developed another stage which demands our consideration :
Moral concepts propagated by teaching and assimilated by acception are affiliated to the notions already entertained ; hence great prophetic teachers are not able to diffuse their doctrines in their purity, they can only propagate them in a modified form.
Concepts are propagated by cross fertilization from which new varieties spring. To propagate fruits with their essential characteristics we must resort to cuttings ; but concepts cannot be propagated as cuttings, but only by fertilization. Thus moral concepts in the process of diffusion are modified. It is impossible in society to start a new stock of concepts. Moral
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