Civitas Der—By Hono is. Ve Tit, Macmillan; Londok In this final volume of his philosophical treatise Mr. Curtis endeavours to sum up his confession of faith. He paints a vivid picture of the confusion in modern life, the fear of unemployment and war, the manner in which the control of mbysigel forces has outrun control or human forces. He asks whether ihe moral sense is valid. He maintains thet that moral sense is a divine revelation to make human beings creative in the spiritual sphere, and thus differentiates human reason from animal instinct:
In the view I take, this sense of a difference of right from wrong, of freedom to choose the better or Worse, is of the nature of divine revelation. It was one implanted. little by little, by God in his creatures, with increasing strength in each generation. It was this sense Which turned his creatures from beasts into men "made in the likeness of God." To the mind of each normal child this revelation is given, and with it a power of reason which patiently used, suffices to tel enough of the world we live in to the path that our steps should read.
Back to the Middle Ages In examining the doctrine of authority, he sees that the world is still crowded with people who Grave for certainty. There are now other creeds than the Catholic Church and Islam which appeal to this craving and demand an absolute acceptance of some authority which may not be questioned, The kind of people who in past generations found the asylum they needed in the Roman Church and in Islam are now drawn in increasing numbers to the Communist party or that of the Nazis, which demand absolute acceptance of ihe doctrines propounded by Marx or Hitler, The Communists, Nazis and the Catholic Church are in mortal conflict one with another, and the claim to authority ends by dividing and not by uniting the world, Yet the authoritarian doctrine leads to similar methods and institutions. In a censorship and control of ihe press Which restricts even artistic criticism can be seen realized in the twentieth. Century the principle of the Index Expurgatorius, The Cheka and the Gestapo revive the methods of the Holy- Inquisition, The trials they stage and the executions which follow them are a modern counterpart of the cute-da-fe. That name in it-Self reminds us how the principle of authority has robbed the word "faith" of its true meaning and virtue.
Do men gather grapes of thorns, er figs of thistles? Even so every food tree bringeth forth good fruit; Put the corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fut... Therefore by their fruits ye shall know them.
So principles work themselves out to their practical issues with inexorable logic. "In the long run what Amy society is to become will depend On what it, believes, is believes, about the eternal thin One Family Of his own faith, he explicitly says that he sees final reality in God, end he comes to the conclusion The emphasis laid by the Catholic Chürch on worship as adoration is teaching of Jesus, God is conceived brethren one with another. The word "adore" can also be used of the mem-pers of a family who "worship' others society. The, essence of this member of a family to forget himself and think only of his parents amd brethren. Such feelings will highly dere De Quad. to express them.
Shose to whose minds abstract thought rather than sense appel may Prefer fo gather in bare Een to sermons, Men. view reality 1 Extempore prayer and to
they, Vigna the must be various mountain from Side. Ad ip to suit the different orders of mind. But in all genuine worship one element is supreme.
fora fs spirit: and they that worship him must worship li spirit and om {The Ultimate Allegiance ju examining the realization of this principle in practice and in its application to world policies, Mr. Curtis develops the thesis that the Gtentual emergence of the inter-Setioual idea is indicated by the various efforts which nations have made to control their relationships void e catastrophic breach ihey call war. Political thinkers of recognized authority father then statesmen or churches are charged by him with the task are Felping the world across the gulf:
or the purpose I have in view, lom. series of questions can, apis Jone, "Summarized im two. Can the progress of Civ vilization continue the Pa he level it has now reached, beyond ed maintain that level. uries INT the ultimate allegiance of all prune! beings Is rendered io one sovereignty?
The second is a more practical ques-tien though of equal importance.
mis Sui conceivable" unless "or Ts the realization of a world com-TRO two or more national common.
Uniiths have succeeded in merging Weir national sovereignties into one fhternational sovereignty?
I venture to submit these two qüestions to those thinkers who requestionjitical theory as a necessary dde to political practice.
Faith and the Mountain In this effort the British Commonwenlth's evolution of the idea Of Dominion status has its part to play, but above all there stands the need ior constructive religion:
The great difficulty Ues in moving from one stage to the next Tt eon-obstacles.
fis no longer in physical 9 site ug in human minds. The dit-put only so changing the minds ai fern even, in commonwealths most Advanced. is hara 10 exaggerate. It mountainous in size and as suc is monly be removea by faith. Be-Cause i feel that thes? mountains San only be moved by faith, I loo! Sith hope to repositories of faith. to Churches which ars based upon fa the real sense of that wor Mr, Curtis has completed a most walyable confession of faith the ap-Piieation of which to the current Tffairs of lite will assuredly stimulate ihe forces of goodwill snd constructive statesmanship in countries which still possess the faculty for personal investigation of communal The excessive pleasure we find in talking of ourselves ought to make us apprehensive that it gives but little to our auditors—De La Rochefoucauld.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.