The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1867-08-01

moral renchInr. for the sIasses.

Lord Brougham, in his discourse on
Natural Theology, considers that the
power of mind displayed in the effect
of eloquence upon an audience the
most perfect proof, by induction, of the
existence of a Supreme Being; and the
highest proof which Jesus ever offered
of his Divine mission was that by 1t
"ths poor have the gospel preached to
them" This thought was well illus
trated in a recent address by Prof.
Park. Plato and Aristotle never re-
commended addresses to the common
people. They hoped much, and changed
much the whole course of thinking, by
writing, But there Is something more
divine, subtle, life-like, in speech, and
in speech addressed to the eye and ear
and heart of the great multitude, uni
ting them into one body, and carrying
them along by one purpose and thought,
that best of all things illustrates and
proves the divinity of Christianity.
The thoughts, the address, the style that
are Ineligible to the poor are always
so to the rich, yet the same cannot at all
be said of that addressed only to the
rich and educated.
Rendering the highest knowledge
plain, clear, Ineligible, and every way
accessible to all, is a divine and peculiar
feature of true Christianity. And
whether it be costly pews, or the tine
dresses and exclusiveness OF the audi
ence, or the style of the address itself,
it needs and must be reformed, or 1t
soon ceases to be Christian. In this
sense, Religion is, and ever must be,
Democratic, popular, binding heart to
heart, and family to family, neighbor-
hood to neighborhood, high and low,
rich and poor, bond and free, in com
mon brotherhood of worship to God,
and humanity. and aim OF life. The eff
forts TO bring out those great princi-
pies OF religion that can touch with
new and living power, the great heart
of the multitude, both in England and
In this country, whether IL be by thea
tire or by tent preaching, or by daily
prayer meeting, not only prove now
deeply God has placed religious i'm
pulses and instincts in every human
heart, but in proportion as they assist
the development and culture of those
feelings, they also prove the presence
of Divine power, which God has in
tended to prevail, and guide the masses
of ut Il increasingly.
as shown in DR.. Parks recent address
to theological students. Influence
works uDtUurdS. If we would enrich
the flavor and lusciousness of the vine,
it must be by first enrichinR the soil
that nourishes the roots. If we want
warm house, we must commence heat
ing in the basement, not the garret.
And If we want an intelligent, Vir-
tuous or prosperous community, we
must commence with the poorest, not
the richest, because they form the most
numerous class. The civilization OF
every nation will have in future espe-
cialIy 10 be estimated by that OF the
social scale. Truth ascends upwards
through the cottage into the palace.
Who form the bulk of our richest
merchants to day but those who began
life poor? And the greatest number OF
the most remarkable of our men OF
science, great discoveries, poets, phil-
osophers, lawyers. preachers and politi-
clans, have sprung from the poor. Elihu
Burritt began from the anvil, as VIII
liam Carey, the founder of East Indian
scholarship, was from the last of the
shoemaker.
Now is it less proof of the divinity
of the Christian teaching on this point,
that its superior method of preaching
to the poor operates through the channel
of natural law and means, though men
often fail TO see this? Could we only
see the water changed into wine, they
think, they would believe in Divine
power. The water is changed into wine
as the summer rains are con-
verted into the ripened cluster. And,
to thoughtful mind, these daily mira
cles in nature are revelations to us,
through science, of Divine power, at
work in nature, just as other miracles
more sudden and striking,
1t has been said that now, as people
become more educated, and refined and
rich, there must be one kind of preach
ing for the rich and another for the
poor. But this would rob Christianity
of its best evidence, and morality OF its
only safeguard and protection. The
poor will and must have the Gospel
preached to them. There it will find its
best friends, and exhibit its best preach
ers and evidences of truth.