ritas, Vita_, p. 227.

[30] Matt. viii. 25 f., x. 26; Luke viii. 23 f.

[31] Matt. xxv. 1 f.; Mark xxiv. 42; Luke xii. 36 f.

[32] _Chr. Ethics_ (trans.), vol. ii. p. 221.

[33] _Hist. of Europ. Morals_, vol. i. p. 36.

[34] _Human Personality_, vol. ii. p. 313.

[35] Browning, _Christmas Eve_.

[36] _Proleg._, p. 198.

[37] Cf. Jones, _Browning as Philosophical and Religious Teacher_, p.
367.

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CHAPTER XIII

SOCIAL INSTITUTIONS

In last chapter we dealt with the rights and duties of the individual
as they are conditioned by his relation to himself, others, and to God.
In this chapter it remains to speak more particularly of the organised
institutions of society in which the moral life is manifested, and by
means of which character is moulded. These are the Family, the State,
and the Church. These three types of society, though distinguishable,
are closely allied. At first, indeed, they were identical. Human
society had its origin, most probably, in a primitive condition in
which domestic, political, and religious ends were one. Even in modern
life Family, State, and Church do not stand for separate interests. So
far from their aims colliding they are mutually helpful. An individual
may be a member of all three at one time. From a Christian point of
view each is a divine institution invested with a sacred worth and a
holy function, and ordained of God for the advancement of His kingdom.

I

_The Family_ is the fountain-head of all the other social groups, 'the
cell of the social organism.' Man enters the world not as an isolated
being, but by descent and generation. In the family each is cradled
and nurtured, and by the domestic environment character is developed.
The family has a profound value for the nation. Citizenship rests on
the sanctity of the home. When the fire on the hearth is quenched, the
vigour of a people dies.

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1. Investigations of great interest and value have been pursued in
recent years regarding the origin and evolution of the family. However
far back the natural history of the race is carried, it seems scarcely
possible to resist the conclusion that some form of family relationship
is coeval with human life. Widely as social arrangements differ in
detail among savage peoples, arbitrary promiscuity can nowhere be
detected. Certain laws of domestication have been invariably found to
exist, based upon definite social and moral restrictions univ