ssence of their being, just
as I express the essence of mine."

* * * * *

Spinoza taught that the love of God is the supreme good; that virtue is
its own reward, and folly its own punishment; and that every one ought
to love his neighbor and obey the civil powers.

He made no enemies except by his opinions. He was infinitely patient,
sweet in temper--had respect for all religions, and never offended by
parading his heresies in the faces of others.

Nothing but the kicks of scorn and the contumely that came to Spinoza
could possibly have freed him to the extent he was free from Judaistic
bonds.

He had disciples who called him "Master," and who taught him nothing but
patience in answering their difficulties.

One is amazed at the hunger of the mind at the time of Spinoza. Men
seemed to think, and dare to grasp for "New Thought" to a marvelous
extent.

Spinoza says that "evil" and "good" have no objective reality, but are
merely relative to our feelings, and that "evil" in particular is
nothing positive, but a privation only, or non-existence.

Spinoza says that love consecrates every indifferent particular
connected with the object of affection. Good is that which we certainly
know to be useful to us. Evil is that which we certainly know stands in
the way of our command of good.

Good is that which helps. Bad is that which hinders our
self-maintenance and active powers.

A passage from Spinoza which well reveals his habit of thought and which
placed the censors on his track runs as follows:

The ultimate design of the State is not to dominate men, to
restrain them by fear, to make them subject to the will of others,
but, on the contrary, to permit every one, as far as possible, to
live in security. That is to say, to preserve intact the natural
right which is his, to live without being harmed himself or doing
harm to others. No, I say, the design of the State is not to
transform men into animals or automata from reasonable beings; its
design is to arrange matters that citizens may develop their minds
and bodies in security, and to make free use of their reason. The
true design of the State, then, is liberty. Whoever would respect
the rights of the sovereign ought never to act in opposition to his
decrees; but each has a right to think as he pleases and to say
what he thinks, provided that he limits himself to sp