homeless
and houseless aristocrat, with no selfish interests in the material world,
view things without prejudice.

The method of Coleridge, from his youth, was to divide the whole into
parts. Then he begins to eliminate, and divides down, rejecting all things
that are not the thing, until he finds the thing. He begins all inquiries
by supposing that nothing is known on the subject. He will not grant you
that murder and robbery are bad--you must show why they are bad, and if
you can not explain, he will take the subject up and divide it into heads
for you.

First, the effect on the sufferer. Second, the evil to the doer. Third,
the danger of a bad example. Fourth, the injury to society through the
feeling of insecurity. Fifth, the pain given to the families of both doer
and sufferer. Next he will look for excuses for the crime and give all the
credit he can; and then finally strike a balance and give a conclusion.

One of Coleridge's best points was in calling attention to what
constitutes proof; he saw all fallacies and discovered at a glance
illusions in logic that had long been palmed off on the world as truth. He
saw the gulf that lies between coincidence and sequence, and hastened the
day when the old-time pedant with his mighty tomes and tiresome sermons
about nothing should be no more. And so today, in the Year of Grace
Nineteen Hundred, the man who writes must have something to say, and he
who speaks must have a message. "Coleridge," says Principal Shairp, "was
the originator and creator of the higher criticism." The race has gained
ground, made head upon the whole; and thanks to the thinkers gone, there
are thinkers now in every community who weigh, sift, try and decide. No
statement made by an interested party can go unchallenged. "How do you
know?" and "Why?" we ask.

That is good which serves--man is the important item, this earth is the
place, and the time is now. So all good men and women and all churches are
endeavoring to make earth heaven; and all agree that to live, now and
here, the best you can, is the fittest preparation for a life to come.

We no longer accept the doctrine that our natures are rooted in infamy,
and that the desires of the flesh are cunning traps set by Satan, with
God's permission, to undo us. We believe that no one can harm us but
ourselves, that sin is misdirected energy, that there is no devil but
fear, and that the universe is planned for good. On every side we find
beauty