The Sunday Oregonian., June 29, 1902, PART FOUR, Page 32, Image 32

32
THE SUNDAY OKEGONIAN, POETLAND, JUNE 29, 1902.
RELIGIOUS 7WND ETHICAL TALKS BU eLE-RGU .ANT) L.MTU
Is Christianity Declining? Decrease in Church Membership.
This article Js by Rev. "William Elliott Grif
fls. D. D.. pastor of ihe First Congregational
Church, of Ithaca, N. Y., and well-known his
torical and, religious -writer:
mmR. FREDERICK IIARRISON, the
y great Comtlst, declares that
A V Christianity In this 20th century
is "discredited." His remark Illustrates
the absence of that senso of humor so
often noted In earnest men, showing a
defeat -where we should look for balance
and complete sanity. In all ages Chris
tianity has been thoroughly "discredited"'
by those who did not accept it. A. Latin
ized word need not confuse, whena plain
Anglo-Saxon term makes the situation
plain.
Nevertheless, If all there Is of Chris
tianity be in churches, their adherents
have distinct cause for disquiet. If the
prosperity of the religion of Jesus rests
either upon the number of church
members or the rate of increase,
then the cause of the founder shows
signs of at least temporary weak
ness. In the Church of England,
though' the statistics of the year
book have a rosy hue, they are upon
analysis disappointing. In the decade
past the number of confirmations In a
year has fallon, with some fluctuations,
from 214,730 to 195.C73, and decrease during
the last Ave years has been continuous
and rapid. The same phenomena are seen
in the Sunday schools, in the number of
New York Herald.
Therefore all Vilngs -whatsoever ye would
that men should do to you, do ye cen so to
them; for this Is tho law and the prophets.
Matthew vil:12.
ANY Christian people are so con-
ticAfl 1iir nnnfUntlno Virlroli'e
and by denominational preton-
sions that they find refreshing relief from
their perplexities in the clear .and beauti
ful precept. It seems to them Christianity
reduced to lowest terms.
Outside the church there are men who
do not acknowledge a divine authority in
any religion, but nevertheless believe in
the Golden Rule as the essence of unself
ishness. Even a Roman emperor, the de
vout, brave and cultivated Alexander Sev
erus, had the Golden Rule carved on Ills
palace wall.
The Golden -Rule is very old. Confucius
was asked by the Chinese Emperor to
(Copyright. 1002, W. R. Hearst.)
This article is by the Rev. George Campbell
Morgan, the famous English preacher and evan
gelist, who has succeeded Dwight L. Moody In
the Northfleld extension work.
THE request that I should state my
Impressions regarding the Teliglous
condition and prospects of the
world, and of this country In particular.
Is a reasonable one, and one with which
I willingly comply.
One would suppose that I had enjoyed
unusual facilities for describing the state
of religion in America at first hand, from
the experience I have had In the last few
years, but that Is not so.
Since January I have traveled 7003 miles,
my journey extending from New York
to Denver, and from Duluth to Atlanta.
In everj city I have visited I have asso
. elated with religious people and with re
ligious leaders, and yet, strange to say, I
have had no opportunity to observe the
condition of the churches and the state of
religion. The reason is that wherever I
have gone the churches have united to
give me a warm reception, the congratula
tions have been overflowing, and I have
WHAT
THE great man I have in "view is a
conductor on the elevated rail
road. He is a little man about 45 years old,
intelligent, well-informed on current
events, but not educated in the tehnlcal
sense of the word.
He has been with the elevated railroad
almost from the start, and has never
had any difficulty with the company, with
his fellow-employes or with the passen
gers. Faithful to every trust, honorable
and considerate among his comrades and
always and everywhere a perfect gentle
man, his long service with the road has
been a harmonious one.
He Is a married man, and when he sits
down at table with his entire family,
ten chairs and ten plates are required.
Man's Struggle
E"VTIi has a thousand forms and en
velops us on all sides. Every hour
we have to defend ourselves from
it. In order to trace a complete plan
against it would make It necessary for us
to dictate for our private as well as public
conduct, for our Intellectual and moral
interests, and for our economic and ma
terial Interests.
I do not make a pretense of promulgat
ing this immense code and to formulate Its
innumerable articles. Tljere are, however,
certain essential points where useful hints
may be given of errors to avoid.
It Is with individual efforts that evil is
to be conquered. This is a truth most
profound which people are willing to rec
ognize In theory, but which they decry
in practice, as for example the voter who
doos not go to the polls because his voice
does not signify anything and will not
affect the result,
"What does it matter?" he says. "I am
only a drop in the ocean."
It matters much. The least acts of pri
vate life contribute to general morality.
The person who on a public fete day pre
fers exercise In the open air, the gay and
wholesome promenades or public lectures,
popular concerts or good dramatic pres
entations to the racecourses, to vulgar
resorts and ignoble entertainments that
man, according to the degree of his per
sonal activity, by his preferences and
aversions, gives a beneficent Impulse
which, multiplied by thousands of others
like him, can produce a social movement
fertile in happy results.
If any one -wishes to better the social
baptisms, and more strikingly In the field
of total abstinence. Compare these fig
ures, gloomy as they look, with the In
crease in population and the reason fpr
deep searchlngs of heart In England are
even more manifest.
American churches tell the same story.
Analyzing the material furnished by the
United States census, we find that though
the statistics of church membership look
very cheerful, the actual gain as compared
with the population Is very small not S
per cent. The rolls swell, but the rate de
creases. The number of names given In
individual church reports la never the
minimum, nor do these on the average
show close accuracy. If the names of
those dead, absent or non-attendant, or
of the myriads whose letters of dismission
still lie in their trunks, were erased, there
would be a veritable Black Friday In
shrinkage. If anything seems certain. It
is that net gain In church membership Is
small, while decrease in Its rato Is cer
tain. "Whether ritualistic or with plain
service, "orthodox" or "liberal," of Dives
with social prestige, or of Lazarus ever
in constant need of help, the churches
tell the same story.
What Is the reason for this state of af
fairs? Is Christianity declining? Are
there discernible causes of the lack of
growth in church membership; that Is, of
numerical Christianity? Do we listen to
the doctors and experts? We are
charmed or dismayed by their disagree
e-H-RIST'S GOLD EM "RULE
state the sum of all his teaching. In re
ply the sage formed a letter which in the
Chinese sentence-like -alphabet was our
Golden Rule. In the Vedas, too, we find
this old command revealed to the intro
spective races of Indja. Rabbi Hillel said
to his disciples. "What is hateftil to thy
self do not to thy neighbor. This is the
whole law; all the rest Is but comment and
fringe." Gibbon found In I&ocrates a pre
cept equivalent to the Golden Rule.
If the Golden Rule is the kernel of
Christianity and yet if Is found In all the
great religions before Jesus came, how is
Christianity different from these other re
ligions? The difference is found in the
standard of interpretation. No one can
suppose that the man who did as he would
be done by would do identically 'the same
thing in China, India. Palestine, Rome
and New York. Obedience to this rule
has produced widely different moral types
in different countries and centuries. A
IS -RELIGION -DECLINING?
been Incessantly at work, having delivered
In this time no less than 170 sermons. ,
The consequence is, I have not seen the
churches In their normal condition at all,
and can say nothing about them, in this
line, from actual observation.
I have, nevertheless, received In various
ways, including reading and conversation
with intelligent people, a profound Impres
sion concerning the condition and pros
pects of the Christian religion in this
country both positively And In compari
son with England.
It seems to be Incontrovertible that there
has been for many years a religious de
clension in the United States. This declen
sion has covered both faith and practice.
The leading doctrines of religion have
been assailed, and the religious life has
been relaxed. I used the word "religion"
because everything In the nature of reli
gion as well as Christianity has suffered
from this movement of the human mind.
This declension Is evidenced by the de
creased membership of the churches, by
the theological writings of tho day, by
the looseness of much of the preaching,
by the weakness of religious societies,
CONSTITUTES
The eight children ranging in age from
three to seventeen, .are all favorites with
the father, all of them being equally beau
tiful and precious in his sight.
This man may never have heard of Cor
nelia, but every day he exolalms with
the Roman matron: "These children are
my jewels."
He lives for them and for their mother.
Faithful as the North star to his daily
task, when that, task Is done he goes
home to be with his Jewels. They are his
life.
These children, with tho exception of
one or two, who are too young, are all
In school, where they appear clothed as
neatly and tastily as any of the other
scholars.
How one woman's hands can keep up
Against Evil .
state he must always do it by Individual
effort Individual personal effort 5jt first,
collective personal effort afterward. Is the-'
only talisman for good that may be de
pended upon. Each man must look first
to his work, and after his work to the
proper employment ot Its product, econ
omy, ondprovislon for the future.
Associated effort follows in an asso
ciation which Is voluntary, which does
not enfeeble the Individual, which, on the
contrary, fortifies' him, which compels his
self-respect.
It Is not thus, unhappily, that most of
our contemporary apostles of social re
generation labor. They usually operate
with systems which have as little respect
for human dignity as for Justice, and
whose realization, If they attain a mo
mentary success, by favoring some to the
detriment of others, only cause an arti
ficial return to Inequalities.
Everybody should be guaranteed the
free exercise of his faculties and the free
employment of his resources. The state
should .have Its place and should render
to the individual, isolated or associated,
everything to which, he has a right.
It Is Important for us to be 6crsuaded
of the facts that social power cannot be
efficacious and beneficent if individual in
itiative is repressed. Good deeds, on the
contrary, will have attained the maxi
mum power when individual effort has
reached Its highest degree of energy.
From the blood of an Inert mass habitu
ated to wait upon the power which domi
nates it, it is difficult to extract men
capable of legislating, of governing, of
ment. The decay of preaching, the de
cline of pulpit ability, a lowering of per
sonality In the clergy, the poor quality of
the music, the lack of artistic resources,
the hideous ugliness of the edifices, or the
stuffiness of the air in them; the villainy
of sextons, the stupidity of- church offl-i
cers, are causes assigned. The ordinary
Protestant church as to form and spirit is
alleged to be a survival, a village meeting
house In a great city. Furthermore, the
ideals of the preacher are non-strenuous;
they appeal to the feminine rather than
to the masculine mind and taste. Or, the
church is monopolized by tho rich. The
worklngman can find nonfood for his soul
here. The people are cold and proud;
there Is no social atmosphere nor win
some personality, etc., etc., and so on to
the end of the chapter.
No reasonable man can deny the force
of these and other criticisms. Preachers
are no longer eminent as scholars pyra
mids of learning amid vast levels of Ignor
ance. The brains are now In the pews.
The clergy are not the ideal, but only
the average of educated men. For ability
In pulpit and at altar, we must depend
upon what the fathers and mothers of
each generation can furnish. Yet even
now the people can make, the pareon far
more than they Imagine, and In general
the congregation can have very much the
sort of minister it wants. Undoubtedly
music and art have in many communions
a far larger part to play than In the past.
code of morals is to bo Judged by the
standard by 'which its maxims are inter
preted; not by the maxims alone. What
is the standard by which we judge the
Golden Rule?
The Golden Rule Is very commonly mis
interpreted. Most outrageous actions are
justified by the excuse: "Why, he would
have done the same to me. I have only
done as I would have been done by." In
this reading the Golden Rule becomes
merely shrewd advice to forestall your
adversary and to injure him before he can
injure you. Grammar and ethics alike are
outraged by such Interpretations.
Personal feeling cannot adequately in
terpret the Rule. "Whatsoever ye would"
makes you the Judge. You act as 'you
think you desire others to act. But your
feelings change. Sickness, sorrow, dis
aster, make a man ask a great deal of
tho world; strength, happiness, prosper
ity, too often make him believe he can
by the desuetude of powerful revivals,
by the paucity of conversions, and by the
reduced number of candidates for the
ministry.
It is somewhat alarming to read some
of the statements, for which, of course, I
cannot vouch, regarding the fewness of
conversions. If I am correctly Informed
there are in the Presbyterian, Congrega
tional and Baptist denominations thou
sands of churches every year which do
not report a single conversion, and as
many more, perhaps, which, report only
one or two conversions. This led Mr.
Moody on occasions to qilery whether
the Congregatlonallst really believed In
converslonat all or not.
In like manner the complaint comes
from nearly all the theological semina
ries that few young men are entering the
ministry, and thqse who cntor are of a
I lower grade of scholarship than formerly.
This Is, on the face of It, an alarming
symptom, but It is liable to this discount
that the lay preacher is rapidly displacing
the professional minister and for my part,
if the people find that the professional
minister no longer meets their spiritual
- "REAL GREATNESS?
with so many demands is a mystery, but
they do. These eight children not only
show no sign of neglect, but declare, by
their every appearance, that they are the
objects of an unwearied attention, an at
tention tlfat is both loving and tactful.
In all the city there Is no cleaner, hap
plor home than the one that belongs to
this conductor. On the boulevards and
avenues there are palaces, but In the cot
tage there Is the happiness which the
-millionaires, with their gold, cannot buy.
And this man's dally wage is $1 90!
$11 40 a week! $13 30 If he works on Sun
day! J593 50 if he works every day in the
year!
It will now begin to dawn upon the
reader why it was that I called this con
ductor a truly great roan.
. By Frederick
administrating and of controlling. It
breeds men who are apt in intrigue, in
invective, in threatening and in overturn
ing ministries as if they were card houses.
It does not bring forth serious-men men
of resolution, and action. You cannot
make a chain of gold with links of lead.
The religious sentiment, like other sen
timents of the human soul, has its errors
and shortcomings. Accordingly, it some
times can be one of the forms or one of
the causes of the evil against -which we
have to strive. It is necessary to recog
nize that religion only too frequently is
but the deification of evil. Man incar
nates his advices, his passions, his envies,
has hates, into a god which he imagines.
But this is not the true religious spirit.
To the true religious spirit we can and
must appeal In combating our tendencies
to evil and in establishing justice.
Against the religion of force, of discour
agement and of inertia tho religion of
right, founded upon a belief in something
higher and more durable than passing ac
cidents and ephemeral success, should re
act toward the realization of the eternal
ideal. The danger lies In fatalism, which
accepts evil as inevitable and submits
thereto.
Fatalism and the religious spirit should
not be confused. Nor should fatalism be
confused with resignation, which, as some
one has beautifully said. Is indomitable
hope and indomitable energy.
The future Is open before us. The hu
man being finds himself growing indefi
nitely. Pleasure gives him a field of ac
tion only for tho moment. Duty shows
him a law which commands him without
Without a doubt, also, theology Is too
much" the product of monastic, mediaeval
and scholastic ages. Instead of the real
message of the living Christ. Men of
today cannot live upon "cut straw five
hundred years old." They long for the
Juicy pasturage which blooms perennially,
with every new Springtide, In the gospel
records. There Is certainly a hiatus be
tween the life of Jesus, the outdoor teach
er, and his commandments, direct, force
ful, human, divine and the ecclesiastical
verbiage with which men are asked to
feed their soula. It cannot be denied that
most of our preaching satisfies women
moro than men. The church seems to be
a place for bonnets and fine dress, rather
than for thinkers and devout worshipers.
Often from, the pulpit there Is almost a
morbidly feminine outlook upon life. Re
vivalism, which roots its success.in emo
tion, has been the bane of popular re
ligion. The vast majority of converts
thus made are women and girls. The crop
of "burnt out" or hardened fathers, who
talk before their children In a way that
does not breed respect for the churches.
Is large. The clerical standard of conduct
seems negative rather than manly. Re
ligion is measured more by what a girl
will not, than what a boy may do. Hence
the male goes where he Is respected and
Invited to the lodges, saloons, clubs and
athletic games. The Sunday school works
hand in hand with the church, and the
Ideal of religious life Is rather a sweet
, . .,.-.;
despise human sympathy and help. Which
feeling Is to describe what you shall ask
of men? After all, what would you have
men do to you? Do you rate yourself
dear or cheap?
In 1SG3, when the Proclamation of
Emancipation was published, many slaves
refused to leave their old homes and em
brace the wider world of liberty? for them
freedom had no definition, they did not
appreciate It or want It. Many men grov
el and do not seem to know their rights,
as men. They ask their fellows not to re
strain their appetites or passions. They
besiege legislatures for the privilege of
bestiality. TheS desire free range given
them for sin. May they do to others what
they would be willing to have done to
them? Because they love evil may they
inflict evil? May the drinking man Intoxi
cate your son, may the sensualist entice
him, may the gambler lead him to ruin?
There Is too much of the sorry maxim
By "Rev. G. C Morgan,
needs and that the comparatively unedu
cated lay preacher feeds their souls, I
have no complaint to make of the change.
But the prevailing Indifference to the
claims of religion is not confined 'to the
Protestant denominations. The Catholic
church, If I mistake not, feels the pressure
of tho movement fully as much as wc do.
I think I read, not many months ago, a
statement that Archbishop Ireland, in a
sermon ho preached In New York, said
that there was then going on In the world.
Including the Catholic church, a rapidly
lncreaslng declension In religion.
Indeed, If wc may rely on what has been
told me in Chicago, the decline is not even
confined to the Christian religion. The
Rev. Dr. Hlrsch I am informed, said a
year or two ago that his was the only
Jewish Bociety In this country that was
holding its own. Here, then, we have a
movement which Is directed not agajnst
the Protestant religion, nor yet against
Christianity In general, but against all re
ligion in its broadest sense.
Within the Protestant denominations
the battle rages around the person of
Christ, and the heretical doctrine mostly
I did it advisedly. I did it because I
had the right to.
The man who In this city can support a
family of 10 on a salary ot $1 90 a day,
and support them in a way that is re
spectable, a way of which he need not be
ashamed, is beyond question a great man.
I am not by any means unmindful of
the credit that is due to this man's wife.
Were she not one of tho best of wives
and one of the most tactful of managers
the thing would be Impossible, no matter
what the hsuband's character and inten
tions might be.
But, on the other hand, were the hus
band other than the man he is sober,
steady, sensible, self-sacrificing for love's
sake the wife's virtue and good sense
would count for naught.
Passy, of Paris
constraining him. Religion goes farther.
It leads him Into eternity for his own
sake; for those who belong to him; for
the living, for the dead; for those who
have not yet been born.
Soliloquy From "Hamlet."
"William Shakespeare.
To be. or not to be; that Is tho question;
"Whether 'tis noble In the mind tb suffer
The sling!) and arrows of outrageous fortune.
Or to takf arms against a sea ot trouble.
And by opposing end them? To die; to sleep;
No more; and by a sleep to say we end
The heartache and the thousand natural shocks
That flesh Is heir to; 'tis a consummation
DevouUy to be wished. To die; to sleep:
To sleep; perchance to dream; ay, there's the
rub;
For In that sleep ot death what dreams may
come. ' v t
"When we have shuffled off this mortal coll.
Must give ua pause; there's the respect
That makes calamity of so long life;
For who would bear the whips and scorns of
time, V
The oppressor's wrong, the proud man's con
tumely, .
The pangs of despised love, the law's delay.
The Insolence of office, and the spurns
That patient merit of tho unworthy takes.
When he himself might his quietus make
With a bare bodkin? Who would fardels bear.
To grunt and sweat under a weary life.
But that the dread of something after death
The undiscovered country from whoso bourn
No traveler returns puzzles the will
And makes us rather bear those Ills we have
Than fly to others that we know not of?
Thus conscience does make coward of us all.
And thus the native huo of resolution
Is sicklied o'er with the pale cast ot thought.
And enterprises of great pith and moment
With this regard their currents turn awry
And lose the name of action.
young girl who will 'not do anything
rough. In general It is the mother and
not the father who is ever lovely and of
good report. We may not wonder that
where the German and Dutch are, spoken
In our American churches the men crowd
them, for here no such morbid idea pre
vails. That wealth and social ambition
dominate many churches, keeping out the
wage-earners, cannot be denied. The
worklngman has a notion that the chief
supporters of Protestant churches are
those prominent In the corporations,
which are soulless to a proverb-. Perhaps
all will agree that the rapid and almost
unprecedented multiplication of amuse
ments. . the multifarious attractions and
luxuries which come In the wake, of Na
tional prosperity, and the phenomenal re
vival of outdoor sports and recreations
have much to do with the decline of the
churches.
Yet, granting all the facts, thre is as
yet no sign of decay of the influence of
Jesu3, nor of any real lessening of the
inexhaustible fertility of Christianity.
What we see is merely the transit of
activities, a change of emphasis. Our
age makes It appeal to life. It Is none
the less therefore religious. Faith is not
credulity. It Is vision of the eternal
reality. Never was the power of tho
Founder more manifest than in our age.
We see this in the spread of popular edu.
cation and in the noble standards of pub
lic service set forth in our colleges and
By -Rev. Percy
In some quarters, "What 13 good enough
for me Is good enough for you." Not
unless your good be indeed good no, not
unless It is tho bost Is It good enough for
me or for anybody' else. If a man has de
praved his nature, has coarsened it, has
dulled the edge of his spiritual apprecia
tion, has come to think cynically of hu
man nature, let him take care that he
does not talk to others as he likes to have
them talk to him, for his foul meat to
them is poison.
What has a man a right to demand of
his fellows? "Life, liberty and the pursuit
of happiness"? Yes, but under such con
ditions as shall make them more than
names. A man cannot demand something,
however, ..for which others must' pay by
discomfort, privation or Inferior opportu
nities of self-development. An individual
liberty in business that raises the cost
of food, that quenches the tpoor man's
fire, that leaves crops rotting because they
Successor to
In evidence Is called RItschllanism. This
.baleful perversion of Christian doctrine Is
traceable to the learned German theolo
gian, Albrccht Rltschl, who has thorough
ly Inoculated Christian theology In Great
Britain and America. f
Rltschl claims, In the first place, that
there Is no Christian revelation except in
the words ot Jesus Christ himself. His
next claim is that the words of Christ,
even, are not reliable, except as given in
the Gospels, and that, though Christ has
spoken in the Epistles of Paul and in tho
Book of Revelation, those writings are to J
be disregarded. But as soon as he hps
limited revelation to the words of Jesus In
the Gospels, he proceeds to claim that
these words teach none of the cardinal
doctrines of the Christian religion as now
held by orthodox theologians. He finds In
the words of Christ no hint of fris pre
existence in heaven, at his miraculous
birth, at his deity or at his atonement
for sin. This, of course. Is a perfect nega
tion of Christianity, and the only wonder
is that such a circuitous method should
be taken to repudiate the whole Bible and
the entire Christian system.
By "Rev. T. D'.
The fact, then, that our friend the con
ductor is ablo to make his small wage do
so much proves him to be a great man
a very great man.
How would you go about it, reade if
you had to face the problem that this
man has been facing for years? What
-would you "do if you were suddenly
brought up against this proposition:
"'How, on a salary of $11 40 a week, shall
I contrive to take care of myself and wife
and In addition thereto feed, clothe and
educate my eight children?"
What would you do? Jump in the river,
likely.
But this man has been up against this
j proposition for years, and he never once
thought of jumping into the river.
And why? Ah, now, we arercoming to
Woman's View
THE day which we make our National
festival Is not a very happy one,
except In theory, to the greater
number of American women. In spite of
all their patriotism, they are obliged to
dread It befare It arrives, and to be glad
when It has become yesterday. As a gen
eral thing it brings them only work, anx
iety and crashing headaches. The prepa
ration of picnic baskets, ihe additions to
dinner If at home, the making ready of
the pretty clothes that are expected to be
worn en the day ot all that they seldom
complain. But what they do object to
Is the barbarous manner in which the
boys and men are allowed to make merry,
which would be disgraceful to a Fiji Is
lander, which destroys sleep and peace
and health, the neroetual shocks of the
explosions keeping Ihe nerves on the rack, j
Added to this is the fear that the house
will be reduced to ashes by the silly fire
crackers, or a child will be brought home
to have the gunpowder picked out of his
face, or with fewer fingers, earsr or eyes,
than those he had when ha left for his
raid.
Perhaps one day we shall abolish much
of this exciting cause ot trouble. People
may come to perceive that the symbols'
of battle and bloodshed give a poor and '
wrong expression to the love of that
country In whose existence is the hope of
humanity, and under whose fostering in
fluence the peace and well-being of the
world shall in time be assured. Then
other and finer ways of showing patriot
ism will be found, ways of expressing joy
that will be quite as satisfactory as the
universities, and their "settlements" and
"extensions," In the humanization of law,
In the increased sensitiveness to suffer
ing, in the multiplication of hospitals,
In the growth of an army of nurses, in
prison reform, in social amelioration and
In the clarification .of the ideas which
lie at the basis of humarprogress. Our
true advance has been not In mechanical
Inventions, or In methods of communica
tion and transit, but In the leavening at
a larger mass by the forces Inherent In
Christianity. Ours is the era of spiritual
expansion. Never was the army of faith
larger, or missionary activity both at
home or abroad, greater. Many who least
profess to be actuated by the command
ments of Jesus are really doing his work.
It is not for the Master's disciples to
rebuke those who imitate the Christ,
though they are not in the civile of the
twelve, or even in the corporation.
In reality this Is a religious age. Though
labels may be rewritten pr transferred,
the trend of things is nearness to the
divine Founder, and this 13 increasingly
manifest whether those to whom tradi
tion is hallowed like it or not by the
removal of many courses of Intermediaries
between the man of today and the Son of
Man. To those who see the reality of
things, there is transformation, Indeed,
but It is of the tree, not of the cloud, that
Is normal and beautiful evolution. Those
who realize that all true progress In
Christianity consists In a deeper Insight
Stickney Grant, "D: D.
cannot pay freight charges, we are com
ing to believe is tyranny. But your fel
low can demand other things besides ha
beas corpus and public schools. He can
demand your best gifts, graces, knowl
edge, virtue. The richness of your life
is not a pleasure palace where only a king
can walk; it is a cathedral where any one
can come to receive God's gift.
Jesus went even furtheY. The context,
especially in St. Luke's account, makes it
plain: "But I say unto you which hear,
Love your enemies, do good to them which
hate you. Bless them that curse you, and
pray for them which despltefully use you."
Is it not clear what Christ meant you
to ask and to give? What you would like
to receive from others love when you
have been hateful; prayers when you have
been r.busivc; kindness when you have
been cruel; gifts when you are needy but
undeserving.
Indeed, the Golden Rule cannot be Iso
Dwight L. Moody's Work
I should do the Christian church in
America the greatest injustice if I should
represent it as having embraced RItschl
lanism to any great extent. I have out
lined the heresy simply to Indicate the di
rection which the doctrinal defection in
this country, as in Great Britain, has
taken. Many preachers, however, show
the taint of RItschllanism In their preach
ing, who have imbibed it, they know not
how, and have never even heard of
Rltschl.
The very universality of this movement
shows that It Is the product of universal
conditions and that It is not specially a
rational rejection of Christianity. It is
very largely mere Indlfferentism and the
wandering of the heart from God, and that
convinces me that, although Christianity
has always, through the ages, progressed
by cycles and seen a dozen darker periods
of unbelief than this, Qie present Indiffer
ence is largely the result of the unexam
pled activity of the. human mind in other
directions, such as Invention, finance,
manufactures and commerce. The world
has been for years science-crazy and
money-crazy, and religion in any form
Gregory, of New LJork
the real secret of his greatness. Because
It was, and Is. a pleasure to him to work
for those he loves. The pleasure is born
of love. He loves his family, and, be
cause he loves It, It Is a joy to him to
make personal sacrifice, to clean forget
self and It promptings, and to find his one
supreme felicity in the consciousness that
he Is making his loved ones. happy.
Greatness? True greatness? Behold It
in this man!
It is not necessarily great to found an
empire libertine and scoundrels have
done that times without number. It is
not great to make an eloquent speech
such speeches have frequently been made
'by moral perverts and degenerates. It Is
not great to build up a monster business
in' dollars and cents that Is done every
of the Fourth . .
noisy and. savaga methods of the present
methods of the same nature as those of
the ghost dance of the Indian tribes, or
as the mad, rude way in which the Da
homey chiefs rejoice.
The Fourth of July, nevertheless, is a
day that has a peculiar Interest and sig
nificance for women; and -they are fain .to
Join in Its celebration, whether they like
the manner of it or not. For in no coun
try of Christendom do women receive the
recognition that they have In this one.
Whatever may still be lacking to them
In measure of Justice here, yet nowhere
else do they have the protection to their
persons and their possessions that Is given
to them under the American flag. In Eu
rope, where you see the women yoked with
the dog or the cow; In China, where their
feet are crippled; in polygamous countries,
where they are the slaves of the harem,
women are often merely an appanage, an
object of utility or pleasure. In the United
States they receive their measure of jus
tice and right, such as It Is, not for their
beauty or grace or charm or sex. but as
individuals with a stake in the country.
Men and women being, together, really
the unit of the race, the measure of right
that beneflts one cannot but benefit the
other: and in as far as men have risen
under the great sky of our liberty; wonren
have risen with them, and not anywhere
else on earth has there been such an
achievement lij the advancing of the whole
generation of women as under the .flag
that today, more than ever, seems beauti
ful as a great bountiful flower when wav
ing against tho sky, and beneath whose
and closer apprehension of the original
ideas of the Master will not be cast down,
but cheered. This much is certain, that
when the church lives more like her
Master and goes forth seeking to save,
when she more clearly apprehends the
truth which he lived before he taught it;
when she substitutes the simplicity of
his teaching for the vast accumulations
which have been deposited upon it, v,hen
she stands for righteousness and for
righteousness only, there will be nothing
to mourn over, either in the phenomenon
or the leavening. There are not two
gospels, but one. Between those who
seek worldly culture and selfish gain on
the one hand and those who are on fire
for God In self-denial there will alwajs
be contention. Yet although renunciation
and sacrifice will ever form part of true
religion, yet self-culture and the whole
ness of life are equal factors in the one
undivided scheme of eternal evolution.
The church that has the widest outlook,
and which most fully ministers to tho
needs and service of the human soul will
never lack for members. Only as the
good news of God Is made convincingly
clear and the church becomes more like
her eeeklng, healing and saving Founder,
can the decline In church membership,
both as to quality and quantity, be ar
rested. There Is no other patent medicine
or prescription of the faculty that 'can
heal her disease.
lated" and then put In the place of Chris
tianity Itselt. We are constantly attempt
ing the simplification of our religion. The
Sermon on the Mount, the Lord's Prayer,
the baptismal formula, each has friends
who see ih It the whol force and meaning
ot the Gospel. No utterance, however
n oral; no. prayer, however divine In its
sincere waiting upon God; no formula,
however much an evidence of faith, can bo
pat In place of him who in himself was
the way, tho truth and the life. Becausa
truth is personal.
There are two kinds of originality; 0110
creates a new form, the other gives a new
life to the old form. Many of Christ's
sayings were not new in form, but they
were radiant with new meaning. He d!d
not create a new man, but he revealed In
man J. new manhood, a new humanity.
He did not claim originality for the Gold
en Rule. "Whatsoever ye would that men
should do to you, do'ye even so to them;
for this Is the law and the prophets." But
to these words he gave reality;, he coined
them anew in the limit of his life.
PERCY STICKNEY GRANT.
has been temporarily crowded out of its1
mind.
It Is a far more agreeable thing for ma
to state what I regard as the certaain out
come of the depression of the last few
years. The tide has unquestionably
turned. In fact. It turned several years
ago In my country. But In America, also,
there fs certainly visible now the begin
ning of the Inevitable reaction. As for mo,
I have nothing to complain of. for wher
ever I have been the deep Interest mani
fest In the Word of God and In the doc
trines of the Gospel has been most ad
mirable and encouraging.
I am persuaded that the night Is far
spent and the day close at hand. I should
not be surprised if a world-wido religious
awakening, not a whit inferior to the
Moody revival, though, perhaps, on en
tirely different lines, should burst upon Us
somewhat suddenly within a year or two.
In the. fire of such a blessing the prevail
ing heretical system, will be consumed Hko
a house ot cardboard.
Under the Influence of the Holy Spirit
error will be in a moment detected and 1
Christ will bo all In all again.
G. C. MORGAN.
day by men who are a disgrace to this
planet. But 13 Is great to have a high
ideal, and to remain true to that ideal
In the face of continuous toil and priva
tion; to believe in duty and to be willing
to sacrifice upon the altar of that duty all
private predilections; to live, in a word,
not to make yourself happy, but to be the
means of happiness to others.
That is greatness! That is grandeur!
And beside this, there is no greatness
and no grandeur that are worth our at
tention.
And so I have told my story told It
simply told It just as it Is; and my re
ward shall be the hope that It may pos
sibly give some one a brighter view otj
human nature and a stronger veneration
for the heroism of common life.
T. B. GREGORY.
(Copyright, 1002, "W. R. Hearst.)
H. P. Spofford
starry folds women have a larger outlook.
a higher reach, a surer grasp, a greater I
sucerlty, a-nobler honor, a firmer future.
Here the genius of the country has taught
the boy to respect his mother as the boy
of old love her though he might with all
his heart never dreamed of doing; to re
gard his sister as on a plane of equality;
to despise no Ionian because she is a
woman. And she knows that she owes all
this to the independence of this country
from, the Old World influence and greed.
which has opened to every one all the
avenues of freedom, enlarging the borders
of thought and feeling and consequent ac
tion and all the possibilities of growth.
The flag, then, means more to Americar
women than the flag of any other country!
can mean to the woman beneath it. Anc
they endure for the sake of it all thf
horrors of the volleying Fourth, saying tc
tnemseives, ot tne nag, wnenever anc
wherever they see it: "It Is my safeguard 1
my glory and mi' shield; and feeling as
1 Browning did when he saw his own na
tional ensign off Cape St. Vincent. Tra
falgar, and Gibraltar: "Here, and here
did England help me how can I help Eng
land, say!' "
HARRIET PRESCOTT SPOFFORD.
Courage.
When the sky Is hlack and .lowering, when thl
path in life Is drear.
Upward lift thy steadfast glances, 'mid
maze of sorrow here.
From the beaming fount of gladness, shall d
scend a radiance bright;
And the grave shall be a garden, and the hoc
, of darkness light. Martin Luther. I