It seems that the right way lies between the old vindictiveness and the view now somewhat prevalent that crime should be regarded without resentment， quite like a disease of the flesh.The resentment of society， if just and moderate， is a moral force， and definite forms of punishment are required to impress it upon the general mind.If crime is a disease it is a moral disease and calls for moral remedies， among which is effective resentment.
It is right that one who harms the state should go to prison in the sight of all； but it is right also that all should understand that this is done for the defence of society， and not because the offender is imagined to be another kind of man from the rest of us.
The democratic movement， insomuch as it feels a common spirit in all men， is of the same nature as Christianity； and it is said with truth that while the world was never so careless as now of the mechanism of religion， it was never so Christian in feeling.A deeper sense of a common life， both as incarnated in the men about us and as inferred in some larger whole behind and above them？in God梑elongs to the higher spirit of democracy as it does to the teaching of Jesus.
He calls the mind out of the narrow and transient self of sensual appetites and visible appurtenances， which all of us in our awakened moments feel to be inferior， and fills it with the incorrupt good of higher sentiment.
We are to love men as brothers， to fix our attention upon the best that is in them， and to make their good our own ambition.
Such ideals are perennial in the human heart and as sound in psychology as in religion.The mind， in its best moments， is naturally Christian；because when we are most fully alive to the life about us the sympathetic becomes the rational； what is good for you is good for me because I share your life； and I need no urging to do by you as I would have you do by me.Justice and kindness are matters of course， and also humility， which comes from being aware of something superior to your ordinary self.To one in whom human nature is fully awake " Love your enemies and do good to them that despitefully use you" is natural and easy， because despiteful people are seen to be in a state of unhappy aberration from the higher life of kindness and there is an impulse to help them to get back.The awakened mind identifies itself with other persons， living the sympathetic life and following the golden rule by impulse.
To put it otherwise， Christ and modern democracy alike represent a protest against whatever is dead in institutions， and an attempt to bring life closer to the higher impulses of human nature.There is a common aspiration to effectuate homely ideals of justice and kindness.The modern democrat is a plain man and Jesus was another.It is no wonder， then， that the characteristic thought of the day is preponderantly Christian， in the sense of sharing the ideals of Christ， and that in so far as it distrusts the Church it is on the ground that the Church is not Christian enough.
But how far， after all， is this brotherly and peaceful sentiment， ancient or modern， applicable to life as we know it？ Is it feasible， is it really right， is it not a sentiment of submission in a world that grows by strife ？ After what has already been said on this， it is perhaps enough to add here that neither in the life of Christ nor in modern democracy do we find sanction for submission to essential， moral wrong.Christ brought a sword which the good man of our day can by no means sheathe： his counsels of submission seem to refer to merely personal injuries， which it may be better to overlook in order to keep the conflict on a higher plane.If we mean by Christianity an understanding and brotherly spirit toward all men and a reverence for the higher Life behind them， expressed in an infinite variety of conduct according to conditions， it would seem to be always right， and always feasible， so far as we have strength to rise to it.
The most notable reaction of democracy upon religious sentiment is no doubt a tendency to secularize it， to fix it upon human life rather than upon a vague other world.So soon as men come to feel that society is not a machine controlled chiefly by the powers of darkness， but an expression of human nature， capable of reflecting whatever good human nature can rise to； so soon， that is， as there comes to be a public will， the religious spirit is drawn into social idealism.Why dream of a world to come when there is hopeful activity in this ？ God， it seems， is to be found in human life as well as beyond it， and social service is a method of his worship.
" If ye love not your brother whom ye have seen， how can ye love God whom ye have not seen ？"An ideal democracy is in its nature religious， and its true sovereign may be said to be the higher nature， or God， which it aspires to incarnate in human institutions.
Endnotes Page 55.Jane Addams， Democracy and Social Ethics， 275.Quoted in The Commons， October， 1903.Dante， Purgatorio， 15， 55-57.He is speaking of Paradise.Longfellow's Translation.Jane Addams， Democracy and Social Ethics， 272.Leaves of Grass (1884)， page 9.Idem， 59.Idem， 48.Idem， 48.Idem， 110.Arthur H.Smith， Chinese Characteristics， 181.