Recollections and Impressions, 1822-1890

by Octavius Brooks Frothingham

To make their position clear let me quote the words of the founder of these societies, contained in an article entitled "The Freedom of Ethical Fellowship," in the first number of the International Journal of Ethics:

It is the aim of the Ethical Societies to extend the area of moral co-operation so as to include a part, at least, of the inner moral life; to unite men of divers opinions and beliefs in the common endeavor to explore the field of duty; to gain clearer perceptions of right and wrong; to study with thoroughgoing zeal the practical problems of social, political, and individual ethics, and to embody the new insight in manners and institutions....

It would be a wrong and a hindrance to the further extension of truth to raise above our opinions the superstructure of a social institution. For institutions in their nature are conservative; they dare not, without imperilling their stability, permit a too frequent inspection or alteration of their foundations.... The subject part of mankind, in most places, might, with Egyptian bondage expect Egyptian darkness, were not the candle of the Lord set up by himself in men's minds, which it is impossible for the breath or power of man wholly to extinguish. It is to this "candle of the Lord set up in men's minds" that we look for illumination. It is in the light which it sheds that we would read the problems of conduct and teach others to read them. We appeal directly to the conscience of the present age, and of the civilized portion of mankind. There remains as a residue a common deposit of moral truth, a common stock of moral judgments, which we may call the common conscience. It is upon this common conscience that we build.... The contents of the common conscience we would clarify and classify, to the end that they may become the conscious possession of all classes; and in order to enrich and enlarge the conscience, the method we would follow is to begin with cases in which the moral judgment is already clear, the moral rule already accepted; and to show that the same rule, the same judgment, applies to other cases, which, because of their greater complexity, are less transparent to the mental eye....

And here it may be appropriate to introduce a few reflections on the relations of moral practice to ethical theory in religious belief. To many it will appear that the logic of our position must lead us to underestimate the value of philosophical and religious doctrines in connection with morality, and that, having excluded this from our basis of fellowship, we shall inevitably drift into a crude empiricism. I may be permitted to say that precisely the opposite is at least our aim, and that among the objects we propose to ourselves, none are dearer than the advancement of ethical theory and the upbuilding of religious conviction. The Ethical Society is a society of persons who are bent on being taught clearer perceptions of right and wrong, and being shown how to improve conduct. At least, let us hasten to add, the ideal of the society is that of a body of men who shall have this bent. Is it vain to hope that there will in time arise those who will render them the service they require....

It is safe to say that every step forward in religion was due to a quickening of the moral impulses; that moral progress is the condition of religious progress; that the good life is the soil out of which the religious life grows. The truths of religion are chiefly two,—that there is a reality other than that of the senses, and that the ultimate reality in things is, in a sense transcending our comprehension, akin to the moral nature of men. But how shall we acquaint ourselves with this super-sensible? The ladder of science does not reach so far. And the utmost stretch of the speculative reason cannot attain to more than the abstract postulate of an infinite, which, however, is void of the essential attributes of divinity. Only the testimony of the moral life can support a vital conviction of this sort....

The Ethical Society is friendly to genuine religion anywhere and everywhere, because it vitalizes religious doctrines by pouring into them the contents of spiritual meaning.... A new moral earnestness must precede the rise of larger religious ideals; for the new religious synthesis which many long for, will not be a fabrication, but a growth. It will not steal upon us as a thief in the night, or burst upon us as lightning from the sky, but will come in time as a result of the gradual, moral evolution of modern society, as the expression of higher moral aspirations, and a response to deeper moral needs.

In his famous essay on "Worship," Emerson says:

There will be a new church founded on moral science, at first cold and naked, a babe in a manger again, the algebra and mathematics of ethical law, the church of men to come, without shawm or psaltery or sackbut; but it will have heaven and earth for its beams and rafters; science for symbol and illustration; it will fast enough gather beauty, music, picture, poetry.

Is this the church that Emerson predicted? It looks like it. Already we seem to hear the shawms and sackbuts. Already there are desires after a more rich and melodious administration.

The last number of the International Journal of Ethics contains two articles: one on "The Inner Life in Relation to Morality," the other on "The Ethics of Doubt," which suggest a transcendental ground for moral beliefs; and they who dissent from this position surround action with an ideal solemnity. At all events it is something to see, even at a distance, a city that hath foundations.