of Him had grossly degenerated, yet the deliverer would
come, he _must_!

"And he did. In the depths of their night--in the midst of the
heaviest darkness that ever lay over the world--there arose a great
light. Through the densest ignorance of the human mind filtered the
Christ-principle, and was set forth by the channel through which it
came, the man Jesus.

"What had happened? Had there been a conference among God, the Son,
and the Holy Ghost, to debate the sending of salvation to mankind, as
recorded by the poet Milton? Alas! what a crude, materialistic
conception. Had God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten
Son? But God _is_ Love, infinite, unchanging. And His unique Son, the
Christ-principle, available to all mankind, was 'before Abraham.' Had
a great, dimly perceived principle been demonstrated, namely, that,
if we yearn long and earnestly for the right, it comes? Had the Jewish
nation 'demonstrated' the Christ? Had their centuries of looking and
expecting resulted in a saviour being manifested to them? It was a
period in the unfolding of human thought when civilization had reached
its lowest depths. Morality had evaporated to the dregs. Rome was
become the world's harlot. A few years more, and Nero would drag his
vulpine immorality across the stage. Paganism was virtue in comparison
with the lust of men in that dark hour. And yet, in the very midst of
it, appeared the most venerated, the most beloved man in all history,
bearing the Christ-message like a flaming torch!

"'Always our being is descending into us,' said Emerson. But our true
being can be none other than infinite mind's idea of itself. Our true
individuality must be the way that mind regards us. And thus it was
that Israel's true being descended, filtering in through the thick
mists of error. That true being was the deliverer, _par excellence_,
for it was the message of truth that bade men deny themselves, their
carnal selves, and know but the one God, infinite mind. That was the
grace sufficient for them, that would have solved their problems, that
would have enabled them to lay off the 'old man' and his woes and
afflictions, and put on the 'new man,' divine mind's image. But the
carnal mind sought a material kingdom. It wanted, not spirit, but
matter. It cruelly rejected the message-bearer, and sought to kill his
message by slaying him on the cross. And thereby the Jewish nation
rent itself asunder, and sank into carnal oblivion. A