The Conservative.
Of all the vices
ASKKMONFOU
. * ie one that men
TLIK TIM 12.
universally agree
to detest is hypocrisy. It is used as a
last remnant of departed character , and
to show that this vice is still abhorred ,
when there may be nothing else to sug
gest in behalf of a man , his friends or
he himself , at last , may claim that he
is "no hypocrite. " As this stain most
deeply and most subtly defiles the
soul , if we can point out and aid to re
move a most pervading form of it , we
may be in the way of doing most good.
The world moves and it moves for
ward. We know , beyond any cavil or
peradventure ,
,
Onward. , . . . .
what strides we
have taken in material improvement ,
and it stands to reason that our minds
have advanced in like proportion , since
there must be always a relation between
the material , and the mental that im
pels the material. By general consent
and evidence , our sentiments have
refined and progressed from their earlier
shapes. Hence if there te an incongruity
between any prevailing sentiment ,
which is clearly the outgrowth or nat
ural expression of existing conditions ,
and one that merely remains as handed
down from the past , we may bo sure
that the former is the genuine , and the
latter the spurious , to be discarded if we
are true to ourselves.
Such an incongruity we find , of the
widest range and the most intense de-
, , gree. If there is
Far Reaching.
one sentiment
which now more loudly and universally
utters itself in the world than another ,
it is that of patriotic exuberance ;
Empire , Annexation , National Expan
sion all the earth over. This , under
present conditions , is necessarily accom
plished by force of arms ; and it is urged
on under guise of principles held high
est , as duty and honor especially. Di
rectly contrary to this is a system of
morals or religion , still professed quite
widely in various degrees of apparent
earnestness , called Christianity , which
teaches , or used to teach , such ideas as
Fatherhood of God , brotherhood of man ,
the duty of love and the love of duty ,
unselfishness , justice , and a deal more
of the like ; but all tending to one end ,
of the individuality , and that man must
live for something beyond himself and
the visible world. This teaching has
come down from a distant past esti
mated 2000 years but in a large part it
is more ancient than thirty centuries
ago. Honestly , are we to concern our
selves with it any more ? We can hardly
say , from general appearances , that it
offers much obstruction to the march of
the grand ideas now so prevalent ; yet it
may be better , on the whole , that we
discard even the semblance of hypocrisy.
Let it be admitted that there is a
beauty in some of these old phrases to
, _ , . _ _ , which we have
.
Old Phrases. , ,
BO long been ao
customed ; that when we hear such
words as Our Father , and Kingdom of
Heaven , and will give you rest , and lay
not up treasures for yourselves on earth ,
and Blessed are the peacemakers , there
is an effect in them like far-off music
which may win upon us strongly if we
do not reason for ourselves. Let us
grant that if such realities existed , no
more perfect expression of them could
be conceived ; that if a man did know
what he was speaking of , just so would
he speak. But what is there in these
vague associations and suggestions ?
What is there to show for them , in
actual existence ? Above all , how do
they meet the requirement of this pres
ent time , and its aspirations ? Do we
not hear the poets of the period , who
should be most alive to such picturesque
effects , hymning war and empire as
they hardly ever did before ? Do we
not see the preachers , the very cus
todians of those old traditions , joining
in the same chorus ? It is a curious fact
that this latter class have always ,
recently , tended in battlefield direction.
They have l\een \ the first to urge on war
and the last to counsel peace. When
the sense of England in our revolution
had grown tired of the hopeless struggle ,
it was the clergy who goaded up the
panting steeds of Mars to the end. That
effort indeed proved unsuccessful v but
commonly it was otherwise.
It behooves us plainly to consider ,
whether we shall go on professing
things we do not believe ; since if we
did believe them , they would affect our
conduct to very different purposes.
Who will lead the reform , and give us
live sermons for the time , since those for
Eternity seem out of date ? * * *
THE CIIUIST.
To THE EDITOR OF THE CONSERVATIVE :
The quotations from Elizabeth Evans
in the last three numbers of THE CON
SERVATIVE have startled me. I agree
generally with your politics , and did
not suppose that the subject of religion
was to be taken up in your columns.
But as it has been , permit one of your
old friends a few words in reply.
I always feel sorry when a woman
undertakes destructive work. A man
naturally looks to women for high ideals ,
and when one of them undertakes to
destroy his highest ideal and gives noth
ing in return , he pities her. This is
especially so at this time when so large
a portion of the world in one way or
another is celebrating the birth of Christ ,
and trying more or less rudely to bring
about the reign of good will among
men.
The criticisms that this lady makes
upon the Bible are familiar. They come
up in every generation. They have been
often answered If any of your readers
will get Whateley's "Historic Doubts as
to the existence of Napoleon Bonaparte , "
he will find that the arguments of Miss
Evans are just as cogent to show that
no such person as Napoleon ever
existed.
I have been a lawyer for forty years.
It has been part of my business to study
the law of evidence. To my mind the
existence of Christ as an historic fact is
just as clearly proved as that of any
other great historic personage , and the
documents which record the facts of his
life are as authentic.
I am well aware that many nations
have had beliefs that are not unlike
some of those that Christians hold. But
the best thinkers , it seems to me , con
clude from this ; not that there is no
truth in any of them , but that there is
some truth in all of them.
There was no doubt a time when
many Christians believed in the literal
inspiration of every word in the Bible.
A oritio who starts from this standpoint
will find many difficulties. But wiser
thought has led most Christians to the
conclusion that the Bible is a collection
of books , written at different times ,
containing lessons in the form of history ,
of poetry , of parable , and of proverb ,
which does indeed contain the highest
divine wisdom but which also contains
a human element , and should be studied
carefully with especial reference to the
circumstances under which each book
was written , and to the people for whom
it wotf "prihtarily intended. Studied
thus , it is full of spirit and life. Christ
himself said that "the letter killeth. "
But even if every reader were con
vinced intellectually of the historic
verity of the gospels , that would not
necessarily make him a good Christian.
The true Christian is such because he
knows from his own personal experience
that Christ now lives , and he loves
Christ and strives to follow his Com
mandments. My observation teaches
me that such men are loving , generous ,
unselfish , loyal to duty , good citizens ,
and good friends. Undoubtedly there
are many who go to church and are
called Christians to whom this descrip
tion does not apply. Christ said there
would be such. "Ye shall know them
by their fruits. " No doubt these men
whose Christianity is purely a matter of
outward form , have done great harm to
the cause of Christ. But I hope sincerely
that your readers , who get so much
good instruction in politics will recog
nize the difference , and will believe , not
because they have read in a book or
been told by others , but because they
know from their own experience , that
"this is indeed the Christ , the Savior of
the world. "
EVERETT P. WHEELER.
New York , Christmas Day , 1900.
As the crow flies.
KIDNAPER.
and the yellow-kid
journal lies , Mr. Pat Crowe since he
received $25,000 in gold from Mr.
Cadahy has visited every city in the
United States and sailed for Europe ,
traveling a thousand miles each ten
hours since he quit Omaha.
