Dodgeville chronicle. [volume] (Dodgeville, Wis.) 1862-current, 1864-04-28
The Christian Religion and it's
Founder.
BY RossEAU.

3 &
Iconfess that the majesty Of the scrip
lures astonishes me--that the sanctity
Of the gospel speaks to my heart. View
the books of the philosophers, with all
their pomp, what littleness have they
when compared with this Is it posi-
Bile book at once so sublime and sim,
pie, should be the work Of men ? Is
it possible that he whose history it re-
cords should be himself a mere man?
Is this the style of an enthusiast, or of
an ambitious sectary? What sweet
ness, what purity in his manner! What
elevation in lis maxims What pro-
found wisdom in his discourses What
presence Of mind, what delicacy, and
what justness in his replies !! What. is
the man, where is the philosopher, who
knows how to act, to suffer and die,
without weakness and without ostenta-
ton ? When Plato paints his imagin-
ary just man, covered with all the ig-
nominy Of guilt, and deserving all the
honors Of virtue, he paints Jesus Christ
in every stroke Of the pencil Their
semblance is SO strong that all the ia
theirs have perceived it, and it is impos-
sible to mistake it. What prejudices,
what blindness, must they have who
draw a comparison between the son of
Sophronicus and the son Of Mary ?
What distance between the one and the
other! AS Socrates died without pain
and disgrace, he found no difficulty in
supporting his character to the end ;
and if his easy death had not shed a
lustre on his life, we might have doubt
ed whether Socrates, with all his genius,
was anything but a sophist. They say
that he invented morality. Others be-
fore him had practiced the only said
what they had done; he only read les
sons on their examples Aristides had
been just before Socrates explained the
nature Of justice Leonides had died
for his country before Socrates had made
it the duty Of men to love their coun-
try. Sparta had been temperate before
Socrates praised temperance. Greece
had abounded in virtuous men before he
defined virtue. But where could Jesus
have taken among his countrymen that
elevated and pure morality, Of which
he alone furnished both the precepts
and example? The most lofty wis
dom was heard from the bosom Of
the most furious fanaticism; and the
most heroic virtues hono1ed the lives of
all people.
The death Of Socrates, serenely phil
osophising with his friends, is the most
gentle that one can desire; that Of one
expiring in torments- injured, derided,
reviled by whole people, is the most
horrible that one can fear. When Soc
rates takes the poisoned cup, he blesses
him who presents it, and who at the
same time weeps. Jesus, in the midst
Of a horrid punishment, prays for his
enraged executioners. Yes, if the life
and death Of Socrates are those Of a
philosopher, the life and death of Jesus
Christ are those Of God. Shall we
say that the history Of the gospel is in
vented at pleasure 2 My friend, it is
not thus that men invent; and the ac-
tions of Socrates, concerning which no
one doubts, are less attested than those
of Jesus Christ. After all this is shift
ing the difficulty, instead of solving it.
Jewish authors would never have de-
vised such manner and such morality;
and the gospel characters of truth are
so great, so perfectly inimitable, that
its inventor would be still more aston
ishing than its hero. aoa 4ha