VIII
THE HIGHEST LAW.
(1886)
Morality is the essence of religion, the verification of our hope and faith, our ideals and aspirations. The hidden root, the secret spring of morality is religion. The two run so close into each other that, if separated, each by itself is useless or aimless. Without morality, religion is base hypocrisy or hollow superstition. Divorced from religion, morality is; at best, calculating selfishness or prudent abstinence. Morality vivifies religion; religion sanctifies morality. Two sides of the same grand human nature, the negligence of either is the degradation of the other.
But what is the sum of morality; the acknowledged golden rule? To "love thy neighbour as thyself," "to cherish all creatures as thine own person," has in all ages been applauded as the highest law. With
