, 1862-04-08
:Gbe Grfhittte,


Unity, Rev. Mr. Coryer's, On Chicago Ave-
nue, BY the announcement thdt Wendell Phil
lips would speak from its desk. Not only the
usual congregation Of worshippers were pres:
ent, hut many drawn from all: :parts of the
city BY the reputation Of the speaker and the
present absorbing interest Of the topic he
nas made his owp. After the usual exercise.
Ferc concluded, Mr. Phillips rose, and after
reading several passages from Matthew, spoke
substantially Rs 1ollowss 49, :: e:
The end and object Of everything aboqt1us
l8.to educate mzn. The pulpit, the school.
the bible, the state, the laws, all human insti.
tnt1ons are of no value in themselves. They
are only valuable for their results: are onI7
valuable as they contribute to the gradual IN:
!o3dlng OF the human character. Democracy
Is; of no va1ue IN itseH, considered from the
PAID point Of right It is worth to Us only
the results it achieves In eleyating and deFei-
op1ng the human race. That is its measure.
That is Its standard Of value. All systems Of
government are simply part Of the scatfold-
1ng y means Of Thich The great ediiee Of
humanity is raised, which, when it has be-
come inadequate to the purpose, must be
thrown down and cast aside to1make room for
some other better suited to the stage Of pro-
grcss reached. Nov democracy is Gods last
method Of educating the human race, his lsst
ASaA1 VI G1cfaAlAE ALL def ft4oplng man,:
It seems to me that the chief foundations Of
the value of democracy are two. First, It in
poses on the masses sense Of responsibility:
Nov the masses, the great million, ara edu-
Gated by responsibility, to an extent that you
would hardly believe, unless yoq notice it
particularly. They have no books, No col
leges, nor distinguished pedigrecs, to remind
them continually that they have d destiny be-
Eond the mere getting Of bread and butter. It
Is only when something is nut PRACTICALLY upua
them that they know this. Take the most cor
Fupt and degraded man that evez lived, and let
him believe that his ighsor's welfare or hap
plness depends on him, and you arouse his
conscience, and give him an Indictment to ex-
ertion and consciousness Of importance. A
horse can traFel further with a bag Of meal on
his back than without anything. 4 ma1 can
90 more work, 4 community can effect more.
and develop more, the greater the task set
before the man or the community. Now de-
mocracy increases every man's response
bi1ity, BY imposing upon every man the
task, in addition to his other labors, Of govern
ing the nation, and OF deciding great Questions
Of Imminent importance bY considerations
OF right and wrong. Take a railroad car of
forty men, many Of whom could read the
news only with difficulty, and you will find
them discussing great moral questions. De
Toqueville said that not our ballot box hut
our jury system was the great wonder of our
nation, and the great educator Of our people.
Every "a an is liable to to be put on Jury,
where the keencst intellects discuss the
weightiest questions, or advocate large p1i-
fate Interests, and on the jury Is thrown the
responsibility Of deciding the right. The value,
not of the mental training, for that amounts
to but little, but of the increased dignity of
character, which our duties in the jury box
give US as people, is very great.
Another Valuc Of democracy is that it be-
comes the interest Of the wealthy to educate
md Par;a Ta Faa y,F
the wealthy towards the lower classes is one
OF indifference, OF, at least, pity. Pity is the
outside margin ofthe feeling they hare for the
poor But in New York and Boston, the tim
idity and seIfishness OF capitalists tells them
that on one side Of the poor mans path they
nus! must Place morality, and On the other educa-
tioR- The millionaire on Wall street OF State
street looks down into the cradle Of the poor
mans child and says, "my little one at home
twill be Safer, the inheritance I shall leave
him will be sater, If this babe is taught the
sditerence between right and wrong, aud ed
Nucated to make an honest living; and willie
u Lavish all that wealth can procure on my
stboy,-1 will also make small investment
shere- It is very little screw, but it might
"some time get loose"
These are two results Of democracy that
directly md indirectly the edncation- Of the
people is promoted; /; and it Is for these results
that Democracy is valuable; without them it
would be yalut1ess.
The pulpit is another institution which is
only valuable for its results in educating tic
people. Tie pulpit is the intellect Of the ti,nss
applied to the moral FIFE Of the people. It has
been 80 in all ages. Among the Jews the real
pulpit was the prophets, who did not deal in
state maxims or ancient forms, but agitated
great moral questions, took up the sins Of the
people and shook them In their faces; re-
preached them with their superstitfons, aud
taught them their duties in the public as we'll
as in private affairs Of actual, active life. So
1t was with Christ. He spoke to the Il zquzti-
tu<ie." When they asked him how they should
know he was the Christ, he told them because
"to the poor the gospel is pfeached.n H
mingled with the people-and, moreover, with
the most naroW, exclusive, bigotcd-the
very Chinese Of their age. He never went
to polite Athens, nor to imperial
Rome. He vas no Plato, discoursing meta
physics to chosen circle Of keen inFellectg
the poor despised Jews, agitating and de-
nouncing the established. order Of things,
speaking dibrespectfuly Of the clergy and
behaving in most improper manner gene
rally. He was fanatic, an tnceudiary, an
agitator, q tu1nero of things upside down, and
he was great source Of trouble to the respect
able people OF his day and generation. The
same las been the way ever since with people
who, Ike him, tried to restore the pulpit to its
proper functions, to make it the forum for the
largest discussion Of all moral questions in
whatever form they may present themselves,
whether in the State. the Church, or the family
The Catholic Church never preached. It merely
prayed and preserved forms. But Luther took
the pulpit He preached. Consequently he
was disorganizer and a fanatic, But he and
his thousands Of followers, vino discussed 80
earnestly the great question of right and
wrong. were the pulpit Of that age, and not
the old doll at Rome, with the cap and bells.
dow tn r
known judge and he is deacon too, who said
to minister who came into court to offer some
suggestions as to the punishment Of crini-
nal, =" 60 home, sir, and write your sermons !:
we will attend to the affairs Of this world With
out your help" The Judge expressed some
what insolent1y, though be did not mean to be
insolsnt, the prevailing idea Of the comnuni-
clergy, md certainly would not sbe1unjust,
hut presume no one will dispute the pfopo
sition, that the greater part Of the. clergy are
simply hired agenis---mere Btipendiaries-e
ployed to discuss, at stated times, certain ab-
stn:t propositions. They must not meddle in
scarcely with pleasure. They gre rlgidly cir
cumsc1ibed in their range Of duties by an i'm
passahlc barrier Of etiquette and respectabil:
ity. But they do not constitute the pulpit Of
NeK England The pulpit Of New England
Is the Temperance Reform. the Anti-slayery
criminals; in short, whenever two men come
together to discuss any question on a moral
basis. For one essential element Of the puI-
pit Is, as I have said, It's democracy,
Ihe genuine PREACHER is not q man
"ho, from his serene height Of spiritual and
intellectual Isolation dispenses certain crumbs
to such as are fortunate enough to sit under
the droppings Of the sanctuary; but "evers
word tiat proceedeth out Of tho mouth o1
God, everything that appeals to the moral
nature OF man, that il the preacher, and
wherever moral questions are discussed Is the
pulpit. Ae I said before, the pulpit Is the in.
tsileet OF the age applied to the moral life oi
saw in Virginia Eas an officer, under arrest
and deprived Of his sword, because he refused
to search the camp for black man and turn
him ont He was free thinker, and his su,
perior officer, who ordered the arrest, Was the
eon Of deacon. The di5graeed man little
thought that he was Christian, but he was
but the Lieutenant Colonel had not the rc
hottest idea that he Was IN inhde1, but he was
There are two methods Of reform. One IL
to get inside Of party lines, retain the agency
Of old machines, and cautiously, and il need
be ci1cuitously, work toward the desired end,
taking away from the people, and deciding 10.
them, 81 moral questions. Now there IS nc
moral question SO vast OF 50 complicated as to
require to be taken away ftom the peeple
The average eense of mankind can be trusted
to decide every point of moral8 that can-be
submitted to them. Talleyrsnd had q saYlpg
Everybody knows more than :anybodg.s
God has given the passions Of the masses {
grand, unmistakable gravitation towards tht
right. The: other method IS to accept tht
condition Of things that We find here-a.de
mocracy-atu tumultuous, 1eavi1g ocean, always
in motion. Dark clouds sweep over Il, tErrid,
storms str it up from its depths, but tn,
clouds pass away, and the storms clear the sir
I'M tn Ia L.