1 SEPTEMBER 1883, Page 15

pro THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR:1 Sin,—Your correspondent who

signs himself C. C. M." says, in speaking of man, that "his humanity is a deeper fact than his individuality." But how can they be viewed apart, in the light of Christian teaching ? The merging of individuality in humanity is the goal of aspiration in Eastern religions systems, —a goal most attractive to some minds, imbued with a sense of the unity that underlies the universe. But if there is any one note of Christian teaching that should be emphasized and never lost sight of, it is the note of individuality. On it hangs the true realisation of the personality of God, and through it we pass from abstract ideas to the reconciliation of the objective aud subjective sides of religion. It is as individuals that we possess free-will. It is as iudividuals we use that free-will to choose good and reject evil. The conception of" C. C. M." that "death to self" will make all "distinctive individuality become henceforward merely functional in the universal organism," is one that makes the Incarnation a mere phase in the history of humanity, instead of being an everlasting fact, that seals man's individuality for ever.—I am, Sir, &c., B. P. L.