The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1859-12-31

thank God for John Calvin. To be sure,
he burned Servetus but the puritans, or at
least, their immediate descendants, hung til o
witches; George Washington held slaves !;
and wherever you 60 up and down history,
you find men; not angels. OF course, You
find imperfect men; but you find great men;
men who have marked their own age, and
moulded the succeeding; men to whose might
OF ability and to whose disinterested suffer
ing for those about them, the succeeding gen.
erations owe the largest share of their bless.
ings; men. whose lips and lives God has made
the channel through which his choicest gifts
come to their fellow. beings. John Calvin
was one OF these perhaps the profoundest
intellect OF his day; certainly, one OF the
largest Statesmen Of his generation. His
was the stntesmanlike mind that organized
Puritanism, that put ideas into the shape OF
institutions, and in that way organized VIC
tory, when under Loyola, Catholicism, avail
ing itself of the shrewdest and keenest ma
chincry, made its reaction assault upon the
new idea Of the Protestant religion. liz in
that struggle Western Europe came out vic.
torious, we owe it more to the statesma nship
of Calvin than to the large German heart OF
Luther. We owe TO Calvin--at least, it 10
not unfair to claim, nor improbable in the
sequence OF events to suppose, that large
share of those most eminent and excellent
characteristics Of New England, which have
made her what she is, and saved her for the
future, came fHem the brain OF John Calvin.
Luther's biography ia to be read in books.
The plodding patience Of the German intel.
lect has gathered up every trait and every
trifie--the minutest--of his life, and YOU
may read it spread ont with loving ad.
miration on . thousand pages of biopra.
ply. Calyin's life is written In Scot.
land and New England, in the triumphs OF
tho people against priestcraft and power. To
him, more than to any other man, the Puri.
tans owed Republicansm--the Republican
ism OF the Church. The instinct OF his own
day recognized that clearly--distinguishing
this element Of Oalvinism. You see it in
the wit Of Charles the Second, when he said,
"Calvinism is q religion unfit for gentle
man." 1t was unfit for gentleman of that
day; for 1t was religion Of the people. 1t
recognzed--hrst since the earliest centuries
| OF Christianity that the heart Of God beats
through every human heart, and that when
you ,snass up the millions with their instinc.
| tive, fair play sense Of right, and their de-
votional impulses, you get nearer Gods
heart than from the secondhand scholarship
and conservative tendency Of what are called
the thoughtful and educated classes. We
owe this element, good, or bad, to Calvinsm.
Then We owe 20 it second element,
marking the Puritans most largely, and that
is--action. The Puritan was not man OF
speculation. He originated nothing. His
principles are TO be found broadcast 10 the
centuries behind. His speculations we're all
old. You might find them In the lectures Of
Abelard; you meet with them in the radical
ism OF Wat Tyler; you find them oil over the
| continent OF Europe. The distinction be-
tween his case and that OF others was,
simply that he practiced what he believed.
lie believed God. He actually believed him
just ne much as it he saw demonstrated
before his eyes the truth OF the principle
For it is a very easy thing to say: the diff
Guilty is to do. II You will tell q man the
absolute truth, at il no will plunge into
the ocean, and only keep his eyes fixed on
heaven he will never sink--you can demon
strate 1t 70 him--you can prove it to him by
weight aud measure-eaoh man of th ousand
Will peiieve you, as they say ; and then they
will plunge into the water, and nine hun.
| dred and ninety nine will throw up their
| arms 10 clasp some straw or neighbor, and
| sink the thousandth viii keep his hands by
his body, believing God, and Hoat--and he 10
| the Puritan. Every other man wants 10 get
bold OF something 20 stay himself; not on
faith in Gods eternal principle Of natural
| or religious law, but on his neighbor; he
| wants to lean on somebody; he wants to
| catch hold Of something. The Puritan puts
bis hands to his side and his eyes upon
heaven, and noats down the centuries Faith
personi6ed. -l Wendell Phillips.
CT The Washington Star gives the lie d.
| rect to the statement Of one Of the Brothers
Brooks that real estate has decreased 80 Der
cent. IN value In that city since the raid or
John Brown, and declares that the old mans
attack upon slavery has not diminish the
value Of real estate anywhere ia tho State.
The landowners Of the South know that the
disunion rant Of their politicians is the hoi.
lowest stage-play.