Butinallthesemattersofsentimentonemusthave“beenthere“
one’sselfinordertounderstandthem。NoAmericancaneverattaintounderstandingtheloyaltyofaBritontowardshisking，ofaGermantowardshisemperor；norcanaBritonorGermaneverunderstandthepeaceofheartofanAmericaninhavingnoking，noKaiser，nospuriousnonsense，betweenhimandthecommonGodofall。Ifsentimentsassimpleasthesearemysterieswhichonemustreceiveasgiftsofbirth，howmuchmoreisthisthecasewiththosesubtlerreligioussentimentswhichwehavebeenconsidering！Onecanneverfathomanemotionordivineitsdictatesbystandingoutsideofit。Intheglowinghourofexcitement，however，allincomprehensibilitiesaresolved，andwhatwassoenigmaticalfromwithoutbecomestransparentlyobvious。Eachemotionobeysalogicofitsown，andmakesdeductionswhichnootherlogiccandraw。Pietyandcharityliveinadifferentuniversefromworldlylustsandfears，andformanothercentreofenergyaltogether。Asinasupremesorrowlesservexationsmaybecomeaconsolation；asasupremelovemayturnminorsacrificesintogain；soasupremetrustmayrendercommonsafeguardsodious，andincertainglowsofgenerousexcitementitmayappearunspeakablymeantoretainone’sholdofpersonalpossessions。Theonlysoundplan，ifweareourselvesoutsidethepaleofsuchemotions，istoobserveaswellasweareablethosewhofeelthem，andtorecordfaithfullywhatweobserve；andthis，Ineedhardlysay，iswhatIhavestriventodointheselasttwodescriptivelectures，whichInowhopewillhavecoveredthegroundsufficientlyforourpresentneeds。
Wehavenowpassedinreviewthemoreimportantofthephenomenawhichareregardedasfruitsofgenuinereligionandcharacteristicsofmenwhoaredevout。Todaywehavetochangeourattitudefromthatofdescriptiontothatofappreciation；wehavetoaskwhetherthefruitsinquestioncanhelpustojudgetheabsolutevalueofwhatreligionaddstohumanlife。WereI
toparodyKant，Ishouldsaythata“CritiqueofpureSaintliness“mustbeourtheme。
If，inturningtothistheme，wecoulddescenduponoursubjectfromabovelikeCatholictheologians，withourfixeddefinitionsofmanandman’sperfectionandourpositivedogmasaboutGod，weshouldhaveaneasytimeofit。Man’sperfectionwouldbethefulfillmentofhisend；andhisendwouldbeunionwithhisMaker。Thatunioncouldbepursuedbyhimalongthreepaths，active，purgative，andcontemplative，respectively；andprogressalongeitherpathwouldbeasimplemattertomeasurebytheapplicationofalimitednumberoftheologicalandmoralconceptionsanddefinitions。Theabsolutesignificanceandvalueofanybitofreligiousexperiencewemighthearofwouldthusbegivenalmostmathematicallyintoourhands。