er. He
believes in progress eternal, and the possibility of final mergement
of his individual self into the All-Self is so remote as to give him
no concern. But the mental scientist, as near as we can express his
notion, rejects the idea of spiritual embodiment, regards his
personality as purely mortal and his soul one with indivisible God,
now and forever. Personality is not an attribute of his soul; spirit
or astral body he does not understand as ever existing to preserve
individuality after physical dissolution--in this differing as much
from the theosophist as from the Spiritualist.

When these modernized Buddhists, Spiritualists and Christians, and
liberal thinkers, generally, unite--as they easily may, for they have
now no irreconcilable disagreement--they will form a powerful body of
thinking and progressive religionists. And their religion will be a
better Buddhism than Buddha taught, a broader Christianity than Christ
revealed, a deeper Spiritual philosophy than Swedenborg or Davis
heralded. Of course we welcome the opening day and its new light and
promise, for the old theologies are wearisome emptiness and humbug,
and the new isms cold and repellant or insufficient in their
testimony. We do not expect that a new church will arise and a new
sectarianism follow. But a new conception of life, its origin, purpose
and destiny may come to lift the people of America out of the old
religious rut. And in consequence the old depressing question, "Is
life worth living?" answered once by Buddha's No, may be answered anew
by Humanity's Yes.

* * * * *

The observations of this writer refer more to certain progressive and
restless classes in this Northeastern region than to the United States
generally. The churches are not diminishing in the number of their
members, but steadily gaining in numbers and also in liberality. The
new religion and philosophy of the future will be luminous, scientific
and philanthropic--not a conglomeration of vague speculations. True,
reverential religion is not a dreamy or speculative impulse, but an
earnest love of mankind and of duty, which does not waste itself in
unprofitable speculations, but eagerly pursues the positive knowledge
of this life and the next, which gives practical wisdom and diffuses
happiness. All systems of religion talk about love and recommend it,
but their followers seldom realize it in their lives. The religion of
the future will _rea