hood owes much
more to the great Stoic conception of humanity, as Mr. Barker reminded
us in his lecture on the Middle Ages. Perhaps even more significant is
the feeling for humanity engendered by regarding all men as the objects
of a common redemption. The poorest of men have been protected from
their fellows where they have been recognized as brothers for whom
Christ died. It would be worth while, if one had the time and the
knowledge, to follow the growth of this sentiment in modern times, to
trace the influence of the doctrine of Natural Rights, of the French
Revolution, of the philosophy of Comte, and of the Evangelical Revival,
upon its development. But whatever the sources and phases of its growth,
the existence and strength of this faith in humanity are undeniable. It
is this faith which compels us to refuse to think of Western
civilization as merely Western. For we believe that the West holds in
trust for mankind, not only a right knowledge of nature, not only a
correct scientific method, but also an essential conception of the worth
and unity of human life. Whatever we are to gain from the East, this is
one of the gifts we bring to the other half of the world.

In speaking of this faith in human solidarity as Western, I am aware
that I am making broad statements which badly need qualification. I am
far from wishing to suggest that there is no such sentiment of humanity
in the great structures of Asiatic civilization, particularly in the
ethical systems of China. But I am persuaded that there is a broad
contrast between West and East in this respect, and that in particular
there is a significant gulf between the West and Hinduism. In the West,
this often inarticulate faith in humanity has acted as a spring of
progress. It inspires our faith in democracy, it acts as a perpetual
challenge to privilege and oppression, as a constant denial of
permanence to divisions of class, nationality, and race. The very
difficulty which the orthodox Hindu experiences in appreciating the
spiritual meaning of democracy--his feeling that the democratic movement
is an irrational blindly selfish confusing of a divine appointed social
order--discloses the existence of this gulf. It is not for nothing that
the religious traditions of Hinduism trace the four castes back to
divine appointment and regard them as coeval with the race. Nor is it
without significance that India rejected Buddhism--a movement which
challenged caste and whose m