OCTOBER 1, 1905.
- THE NEBRASKA INDEPENDENT
15
Courting Martyrdom
Cincinnati, O., Sept 27, 1903. "The
Folly of Courting Martyrdom." This
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this morning by the pastor of the
Vine Street Congregational church,
Herbert S. Bigelow.
- Text: "Be not righteous over
much." These words, said Mr. Bigelow, are
found in the seventh chapter of Ec
clesiastes. They have been a puzzle
to students of the Bible. How can a
man be too .righteous? Jesus said,
"Be ye therefore perfect." - We have
been accustomed to regard with great
est reverence the men who have sacri
ficed most for the right as they saw
it. Hence it is rather astonishing to
find this advi cec 1 'Be,u not righteous
. overmuch."
Not many . sermons , are preached
" from this text Who is there that
needs such a warning? Reflecting up
on the lives of men and 'women about
us can we find any, who seem to need
to be urged to relax their efforts for
the right? Jesu3 said: "Blessed are
they that hunger and thirst after
"righteousness." Our text seems to be
in conflict with the lofty idealism of
Jesus. On& critic explains away this
seeming conflict by regarding the ut
terance as ironical. Another critic
thinks that the passage teaches that
. good sometimes comes out' of evil and
that a man ought not to be v too
squeamish to do a little wrong on oc
casion for the Lord's sake.
To me these words suggest a whole
some truth and one which is not in
frequently disregarded. This text is a
plea for moral equipoise. It is a word
to those who have "zeal without
knowledge.'' It deprecates that un
thinking devotion which suffers sacri
fice to no purpose. It deplores that
lack of sanity which harms the cause
it seeks to aid.
For us this is timely advise. Noble
minded people, in greater numbers
than ever before, feel a sense of re-
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sponsibility for the degradation and
the poverty of their fellow-men. In
their confusion of thought, they are
more than, likely to feel that only
through surrendering -some of their
privileges and suffering a personal
sacrifice, can they escape their share
of the social guilt. There is a noble
soul in St Louis who has inherited
land made valuable by the develop-
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city. He reasons with faultless logic
that, if he accepts rent for this land,
he Is accepting . the fruits of other
men's laboran is really the ben
eficiary of a special privilege. As all
law-made privileges . are methods of
legalized stealing he refuses to touch
this income, but asks that the city
shall take it and use it for a public
purpose. I honor that, man, though
. seme call him insane. Such-unselfish
devotion always strengthens our faith
in man and God. Yetr notwithstanding
his lofty spirit, I think, speaking in
the language of- our text, that he Is
righteous overmuch.
This man makes the mistake of try
ing to remedy a social wrong by a
personal sacrifice. . He does not appre
ciate the fact' that social wrongs can
be righted only by increasing the in
telligence and morality of public acts.
Golden Rule Jones rightly says: "I
cannot practice the Golden Rule
alone." .
""Miis man may ease "his conscience
by refusing to take unearned land val
ios. This would be a virtuous act if
sacrifice were in itself meritorious.
Bur. the paramount duty of every man
is not to make his conscience easy,
but to contribute as best he can to so
cial progress. It Is not enough that
ho thould be clean. It is necessary
thnt his brothers should be free. In
deed, if his conscience were educated,
It would not be quieted by any such
sacrifice. He ought not to be satisfied ;
Announcement of a
Fur Opening.
On Monday and Tuesday, October Fifth
and Sixth, Will Occur Our
Annual Fur Opening.
1
A representative of one of the largest Fur houses in the United
States will be present at that time with the finest collection of Furs
ever shown by this house and what is expected to be the largest
and choicest display ever made in Lincoln. All the latest styles
in furs will be shown, among them many imported garments.
- Patrons caneither select the skins and have the garments made
to order or buy them already made. A complete line of Ladies',
Misses and Children's Furs will be exhibited. ,
A discount will be given on all Furs purchased on 'Monday
and Tuesday of next week, a fact which will make it worth while
to inspect the Furs on those days. v
Lincoln, Nebraska.
to do less than his utmost to hasten
the progress of the race. It may be of
some service for the landlord to give
th3 world an example of self-sacrifice.
But it would be far better for him to
devote himself to the work of showing
people how to free themselves with
out waiting for the whole tribe of
monopolists to become martyrs. .
The editor of the Cincinnati Times
Srar seems not to have duly considered
this principle.. In a recent editorial he
83 s:
"Of course, when Rev. Mr. Bigelow
subscribed unequivocally to the part of
the democratic platform denouncing
special privileges, he included the ex
emption from taxation of the Vine
Street Congregational church. By a
special privilege, the church, valued
for taxation purposes at $100,000, pays
no taxes, which at two and cne-half
per cent would mean $2,500 a year.
Here would be an elegant oportunity
for Mr. Bigelow to place his ideas in
execution by taking this sum up to
the county treasurer's office and hand
ing it in and thus sincerely proving
that he is opposed to special privil
eges' If this church were to act on the
suggestion of the editor, it would be
giving the world an example of "over
much righteousness." It is quite true
tl-at the $2,500 which we do not pay is
collected by overcharging others. We
believe in Just taxation. We will speak
and vote for a law that will put all
churches on the same basis and make
them all pay. We want that principle
applied to street and steam railroads
and lighting and telephone franchises
as well as church property. If we are
injured by the application of a just
principle, It will prove that, we have
been the beneficiaries of injustice. We
are willing to suffer the injury result
ing from the application of a just
principle as a blessing in disguise. But
HEADACHE
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Al all tfrug
25.
TR ESTER SUPPLY COMPANY,
BEE SUPPLIES.
CATALOGUE FREE. 103 So. 11th St. Lincoln, Neb.
1309 O St., LINCOLN, NEBRASKA.
We have excellent opportunities to offer young people who desire a bus
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the many opportunities offered on every hand. For a very small outlay of
money and time you can equip yourself for a good position.
Our work is practical and thorough. ' "
Writ for free catalogue.
J. L. STEPHENS,' President.
we are not willing to put ourselves at
a disadvantage with other churches
by volunteering what the law does not
require of them. We will dedicate our
money to the work of remoulding pub
lic opinion and thus in time changing
the law.
The great thing to be desired is not
that the county treasurer should have
this money. The great thing to be de
sired is that the people should learn
how to take it Then they will not
have to wait for churcLes and steam
railroads to volunteer to pay their
taxes.
I am constrained to mention the
name of Tom L. Johnson as the one
man who, more prominently than any
other in this country, exemplifies this
principle or ideal of social service. If
he were to spend a goodly portion of
hi3 fortune in charity, the same pa
pers would praise him which now
condemn him for devoting his fortune
to the overthrow of monopoly.
He . would have been, as it seems to
me, overmuch righteous if he had
declined to make money because so
cial conditions were not just; , or if,
having made money, he had given it
away because he had come to see that
much of this wealth was due to the
unwise and unjust laws of the land.
He acted as any honest man might,
when he took advantage of the unjust
tariff laws which, as congressman, he
had voted against.
Now he Is acting as any high-minded
patriot should, when, instead of squan
dering that wealth in useless charity,
he uses it to help bring about a juster
social order in which there shall be
less need of charitv.
Almost a century ago Shelley wrote
a stanza setting rortn this ideal. Those
who know the Cleveland mayor, know
that he is a perfect embodiment of
Shelley's thought
"Or turn their wealth to arms, and
make -
War for thy beloved sake
On wealth and war and fraud, whence
they
Drew the power which is their prey."
The Independent acknowledges re
ceipt, at the hands of W. H. Jennings,
this city, of a copy of the semi-centennial
edition of the New Hampshire
Fatriot (Concord).