Apr. 23.
A sHORT time ago an essay on "A Beloved Heretic' was read at one of our Shanghai literary societies. The heretic was an ancient Chinese philosopher who ventured ta differ from some of the teachings of Confucius, but with so much urbanity that he is loved by those who admire his writings. This is surprising, for heretics in every age and country are seldom even tolerated, much less,'.ved. Either we must suppose that the heresy is of no importance, or ".!se the Chinese, in this as in so much else, are different from the rest of the world. Probably the first is the truer supposition, for certainly in social and business affairs the Chinese who departs seriously from social customs and traditions suffers a hard fate.
Speaking generally, it may seem strange that religious heretics are not more loved. In the geographical world when an adventurous traveller explores "unknown regions, either he brings back news that he has found land which is good, or, as when he goes to the North or South Pole, he gives warning that it is dreary and uninhabitable. In either case he is a benefactor. But in. the religious world he who departs from the beaten track often incurs general dislike and distrust. The reason is simple and may be found in the custom of primitive warring tribes, who exterminate those who will not fall into line because such men weaken the fighting strength of the tribe. Even in England the paci-lists were not loved very much by the great majority of their fellow citizens during the recent war. So in_ religion; heresies may lead to weakness, at least for a time.
Of course everyone's faith, whatever its nature, should be unshakeable. And there are a few who are not perturbed by heresies; they have won a faith or have gained a spiritual insight, which makes them almost invulnorable to doubt and fear. In Joseph Vance," it is told that one of the principal characters, when almost broken-hearted over the death of his wife, happened to overhear a great musician playing one of Beethoven's sonatas. Each note seemed to insist pitilessly that the end of all was Death. There is no life
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.