W'ffY" V'lW
1$. ST"
NOVEMBER, 1914-
1 he Commoner
9G
dustrial system wo have that so unfairly dis
tributes the rewards of toil. If, on the con
trary, I find that it is not the fault of the sys
tem but the fault of the father; if I find that
instead of spending his income upon his family
he spends it upon himself in such a way as to
lessen his value as a husband and father, I ask
what equity thero is in our courts if they will
compel the return of a few dollars borrowed
from a' neighbor and will not require a man to
live up to the sacred obligations of husband and
father.
But suppose it is a widowed mother who is de
pendent upon a boy's wages, what then? Should
she suffer? No. Neither bhould the burden fall
upon the child. The time will come, if it has not
already arrived, when the able-bodied men of a
community will be willing to bear any burden
that may be necessary to supplement the income
of one so situated the time will come, if it has
not already arrived, when they will be ashamed
to throw such a burden upon a helpless child to
the' impairment of its own future and . of its
ability to meet the responsibilities of life.
There Is one other excuse, namely, that the
boy will not go to school. Before giving him up,
let us make one more effort. I would take him
to a wood pile, a large wood pile, and put him to
work with a dull ax. When he has labored long
enough to know how hard it is to accomplish
anything with such an ax, I would give him a
sharp ax, and then when he was thoroughly ac
quainted with the difference between the two, I
would tell him that the difference between meet
ing life's problem with a trained mind and an
untrained mind is even greater than the differ
ence between cutting with a sharp ax and a dull
one.
"But I apologize for dwelling so long upon the
mind. As I said in the beginning, this is not
aptf to be neglected. It only remains for me to
remind you before passing to the third branch
of my subject, that a body, however perfect, and
a mind, however thoroughly trained, will not
suffice. A man may be even more dangerous to
Bociety because of his education if the energies
ofbpdy and mind are not projperly directed, An
ighjorant scoundrel can do less harm than an
edujbated one-and- he can be caught more quick-ly-.When
,wei provide, therefore, for universal
education, It is with, the .expectation that the
heart as well as the head will be developed.
And now we come to the most important part
of the subject the development of moral char
acter. We measure men by moral standards; we
know them by their heart characteristics. If
moral character id the matter of supreme im
portance, upon what foundation shall wo build
it?- I know of no foundation for a moral code
except a religious foundation. I am aware that
in saying this I enter a field of controversy, but
-it has been so long since I .said anything that no
one objected to that a little opposition does not
embarrass me. I know of no moral standard de
serving of the name which was not built upon
religion. And even if it were possible to find a
moral standard whose foundations go down so
deep or extend back, so far that a religious basis
for .it could not be- found, no such system will be
possible in the future. Unless some great
catastrophe shall destroy all that man now
knows, there will never be found in the ages yet
to come a group of men anywhere capable of
formulating a moral code whose ideas on the
subject of morals will not have been colored by
the sermon on the Mount, so all-pervading is the
, thought of the Nazarene.
There are some who believe that materialism
furnishes a basis for morals; I cannot agree with
them. There are others who believe reason to
be a sufficient guide, but I call you to witness
that in most of us the foundations of character
are largely laid before our reasonb are mature.
The law fixes the age of twenty-one as the period
when the young man's reason can be trusted, but
who would dare to wait until his boy was twenty
one before impressing upon him the moral prin
ciples that guide one's life? Look back at your
own lives and see how little you have added in
the matter of moral principles since you were
grown. I confess that I cannot find much in my
own life for which I can claim credit I acknowl
edge my indebtedness to Christian parents, a
Christian home, a Christian church, and a
Christian environment.
That you may refresh your own memories I
venture to. refer to things that entered into my
life at an early age. My mother so impressed
upon my youthful mind and heart the objection
to swearing that when I entered school at the
age of ten I found myself unconsciously with
drawing from the crowd when boys began to
wear, and I have never overcome my aversion
to an oath. Whenever I hoar a man swear now,
the inclination returns to got out of the rangd of
his voice. I venture the assertion that thoso who
do not swear can in nine cases out of ton trace
the fact to the teachings of mother or father,
My father hated gambling no man more so.
With him it did not matter what the form of
gambling was, whether the stakes wore large or
small, or whether one won or lost. He believed
that gambling overthrow God's law of rewards,
and before I was fifteen years old I had become
imbued with his belief on the subject, and I have
nover abandoned it.
To my father and mother jointly I am indebt
ed for my belief In total abstinence. I "do not
know how young I was when 1 first signed the
pledge. If I wore compelled to guess I would
say that it was the day when I first learned to
write my name, although I may have signed with
my mark before that. All I know on the subject
is that I have never failed to sign the pledge
when I could induce others to sign it, and 1 stand
ready while I live to sign it again and again if,
by doing so, I can influenco any one to give up
the use of intoxicating liquor.
Here are three things which have exerted an
influence upon my life and all of them became
controlling influences when I was young. The
fourth thing to which I refer has been oven more
potent. I became a member of the church at
the age of fourteen, when I was only two-thirds
as old as one must be to sign a deed. Did I know
anything about creeds? No. I was not only too
young to have any knowledge of creeds but I
have been too busy since that time to give the
matter much study, and I see no prospect of
leisure at this time. In fact, I am almost afraid
to take a deep interest in creeds for fear it might
disturb my domestic relations. My fathor was a
Baptist. and, at the time of my birth, my mother
was a Methodist but she afterwards joined tho
Baptist church with my fathor. I joined tho
Presbyterian church, first tho Cumberland and
afterwards took my letter to the Presbyterian
church because there was no Cumberland church
where I attended college, My wife's father was
brought up a Presbyterian but became a Methoj
dist, and my wife entered tho Methodist church
before wo married but afterwards joined the
Presbyterian church with me. In Nebraska,
however, we usually attend the Methodist church
because it is more convenient to our homo. We
have three children; our oldest Is an Episco
palian, our second a Methodist, and our third a
Concregationalist. And we - have six grand
children, through whom we hope to connect our
selves with other branches of the Christian
church. You see how embarrassing it would be
for me to lav too much emphasis upon creeds,
but I have a firm hold upon tho principles which
underlie all the churches. I have defended
Christianity around the world, but I have never
made a-speech upon religion that could not be
made with equal propriety in any church calling
itself a Christian church.
When I say that morals rest upon religion, I
use the word "religion" in Its broadest sense;
I use It as Tolstoi used it when he defined re
ligion as tho relation that man fixes between
himself and his God, and he added that morality
is the outward manifestation of this inward re
lation. One cannot build moral character without a
plan of life, and he can only plan a life when he
understands that the world is built upon a plan.
The first fact that confronts a man is God.
We have given the atheist too much latitude.
We have allowed him to ask all the questions
while we have taken upon ourselves the burden
of answering. Why not take turn-about in ask
ing and answering? The Christian begins crea
tion with an all-wise, all-powerful and all-loving
Creator a sufficient cause for all that may come
after. Where does the atheist begin? Ask him,
and his trouble begins. Can he go farther back
than matter and force? Can he explain the
origin of either matter or force? Is it not more
satisfactory to begin with God and reason down
than to begin with inanimate clay and reason up?
If the atheist insists that ho cannot believe in
God until he can fully understand such a being,
I reply that his own logic will drive him to
suicide. Why does the atheist desire to live
when he does not understand tho mystery of his
own life? One need not understand the sun to
believe that there is a sun and to enjoy the bene
fits conferred by the sun's rays. He need not
understand electricity to enjoy the incandescent
light, to ride on the trolley car, or to be stricken
down by the lightning. Why not apply to re
ligion the same common sense- that wo apply to
other things? The atheist knows as little as the
Christian does of the mystery otlife, the mystery
of lo;o jandlho mystery of patriotism, and yet b
lives, ho loves and Is patriotic. He know as
llttlo of tho mysteries of tho food ho cats, the
water ho drinks and the air ho breathes; and yet
his ignorance does not prevent his making us
of all tho gifts of tho Hoavonly Fathor, whose
oxlstonco ho denies.
Lot tho young man who Is building character,
discard at onco tho absurd theory that it is a
sign of mental wcaknoss to admit tho limitation
of tho "human mind, or to confess his flnitonessln
tho presence of tho Infinite. Lot him recognize
his responsibility to his Creator for evory thought
and word and deed. Lot him make It his chief
purpose, as it should bo his highest pleasure, tcr
soek to know God's will concerning himself and
to do it. Lot him bring himself into harmony
with the divine plan and ho will not need the
"Thou shalt noty of tho law to restrain him.
Next to the belief In God I would place the
accoptanco of tho Biblo as tho word of God. I
need not prcsont arguments In its support; it
claims have boon established tho burden . of
proof is upon thoso who reject it. Thoso who re
gard it as a man-made book should be challenged
to put their theory to tho test. If man made the
Biblo, ho is, unless ho has degenerated, able to
make as good .a book today.
Judged by human standards, man is far better
prepared to write a Bible now then ho was when
our Biblo was written. Tho characters whose
words and deeds are recorded in the Bible were
members of a single race; they lived among the
hills of Palestino In a territory scarcely larger
than ono of our counties. They did not have
printing presses and they lacked tho learning of
tho schools; they had no great libraries to con
sult, no steamboats to carry them around the
world and make them acquainted with the va
rious centers of ancient civilization; thoy had no
telegraph wires to bring them the news from the
ends of tho earth and no newspapers to spread
before them each morning tho doings of the day
before. Science had not unlocked nature's dobr
and revealed tho secrets of rocks 1)elow and stars
above. From what a scantily supplied store
house of knowledge thoy had to draw, compared
with tho unlimited wealth of information at
man's command today! And yet these Bible
characters grappled with over' problem that
confronts mankind, from tho creation of the
world to eternal life beyond tho tomb. Thoy
have given us a diagram of man's existence
from tho cradle to the grave and thoy
htfve set up sign posts at every dangerous point
along tho path. We turn back to the Bible for
tho Ten Commandments which form the founda
tion for our sfatute law and for the Sermon ori
tho Mount, which lays down the rules for our
spiritual growth. Tho Biblo gives us tho story
of tho birlh, tho words, the works, the cruci
fixion, the resurrection and the ascension of Him
whoso coming was foretold in prophecy, whosef
arrival was announced by the Angel voices, sing
ing Peace and Good-will the story of Him who'
gave to the world a code of morality superior to
anything that the world had known before or hag
known since the story of Him who Is the grow
ing figure of all time, whom the world Is accept
ing as Saviour and as the perfect example.
Let the atheists and the materialists produce a
better Biblo than ours, if they can. Let them
collect the best of their school to be found among
tho graduates of universities as many as they
please and from every land. Let the members
of this selected group travel where they will,
consult such libraries as they please, and em
ploy every modern means of swift communica
tion. Lot them glean in the fields of geology
botany, astronomy, biology and zoology, and
then roam at will wherever science has opened
a way; let them take advantage of all the pro
gress in art and in literature, in oratory and ii
history let them use to the full every Instru
mentality that Is employed in modern civiliza
tion; and when they have exhausted every
source, let them embody the results of their best
intelligence in a book and offer it to the world
as a substitute for this Bible of ours. Have they
tho confidence that tho Prophets of Baal had in
their God? Will they try? If not, what excuse
will thoy give? Has man fallen from his high
estate, so that we cannot rightfully expect as
much of him now as nineteen centuries ago? Or
does the Bible come to us from x source that is
higher than man which? , .
But our case is even stronger, Tho opponents
of the Bible cannot take refuge in the plea tfcwt
man is retrograding. They loudly proclaim that
man has grown and that he is growing: still. They
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