The River Falls journal. (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1857-1861, 1858-07-28
Christissnisy and our Institu-
fiORS.

TeoV. V. IL. MarSnellh L or some reason
we did not receive Chronicle, until after
our last weeks issue, but the thoughts
are as valuable and true now as when
uttered, and we give some extracts.
Mr.. Marshall took the following pas:
of Scripture for his text
FooL. 8: Ills.
There was little city. with few men in
it; and there came great king against it.
and besiegcd it, and built great bulwarks a.
gainst it
Now there was found in it poor wise man
and he by his wisdom, delivered the city,
yet no man remembered that same poor man.
The man who made the discovery by
which the city is saved, is unthought of
in the disposition so common to human
nature, to appreciate force more readily
than wisdom. The crowd pass by the
shop Of the patient, thoughtful inventor,
or the man in his quiet study, who is
penning thoughts that will move the
world, or the man in the labratory who
by careful experiment, is making dis
covery that will bless mankind to the end
of time; and burn incense to some pop
ular idol, whose breath will die upon the
wind. Fulton at his steam engine, has
the ridicule Of his generation. LutLer's
theses nailed upon the convent door,,
made no noise yet thousand cannons
would not do half the execution. The
world is full of illustrations of this kind.
The highest of all and thu one suited to
our present purpose is the quiet unob'
served and often unappreciated influence
Of the gospel upon the welfare of the
state.
In illustration of this truth we CD
serve
1st The christian religion is tho great
school for the teaching of self govern
ment.
With characteristic discrimination the
great Webster said ID know ofno safe
ty for the country, but in the dissemina
ton of religious knowledge among the
people,"
The sabbath with its institutions sup
plies this want. And who shall estimate
the value of the christian religion in its
teachings in the crowded cities, the villa
ges and the rural neighborhoods, in the
lessons which they give upon the right
use of that power, of which he is the no
be possessor. Let the religious senti-
ment relax its grasp upon the conscience,
in the gospel there proclaimed, and nc
other power will control man, but abso.
Lutte force. Who would dare trust man
with the power which our institutions
give him, were it not for the seventh day
of the week; the fifty two days in every
year when moral obligation is enforced
from ten thousand sanctuaries. Let the
writing which they are silently making
of a world Of retrbution upon thu mind,
be cffacod, and who would believe gov
ernment possible. Just before the reign
of terror, they wrote upon the gateway
of the cemeteries, "Death is an eterna
Sleep" and it is only the preached gospe
that keeps alive a sense of accountability
and saves us from such a scene.
End. The christian religion cxerts {
favorable influence, in unfolding the fun
damental doctrine of equal rights.
In the house of God, the rich and The
poor meet together-the Lord is maker
of them all-the titled and the untitled
the learned and the ignorant alike, t.
receive the same messages Of mercy, anc
to be reminded of their relations to th'
Ruler of the universe, In whose presence
none are great. There is that which rich
es cannot buy-which honor cannot claim
as its right, yet which the poorest ma.
haye-the salvation of the gospel
Whether men realize the fact or not, th'
impression which is thus made is wortl
something. A man naturally falls int
the true place, and the unhappy and per
ilous conflicts which would otherwise ex
list, are unknown. Such an arrangemen
is in harmony with the institutions IN
der which we live. It is the very life c
that principle, upon which our safet
depends. Let men cease TO gather IN tn
places where "God only appears great
and they will soon forget to respect th
rights Of others, and ptffed up with Ii
lie brief authority, will use their powe
against the dearest interests of humanit,
To be brought face to face into the pre-
ence of One who is no respecter Of pc
sons-whose eye reaches to the lowe:
abode as well as the ceiled palace-an
there made to look forward to anoth'
day when the rich and poor, the high an
J ow, the beggar and the prince, will