Le Louisianais. [volume] (Convent, La.) 1865-1883, 1868-05-30

clal circumstances must be subsidized, and
made 10 cooperate in this inevitable tendency,
]. is clear that every condition Of Society,
entirely limited to material gnod, or chiefly
depending on IL, is M impairment to such
cooperation. whose exigcncics are essentially
spiritual and. that even what men arc accus.
toned TO call "moraI virtue, it il help no, 10
The attainment Of the Supreme Good, is utter.
ly ohjeclless.
Our Social Fabric is now undergoing a kind
of reorganization. Which Of the architects
who have undertaken to rebuild it, refers his
actions or his motives to the Sovereign Arcli-
tect Of the Universe ? Which Of Them bases the
edifce OF reconstruction" on The fundamental
law we have IN licateJ, and without which no
healthy Society can possibly exist Who.
among them. ~cvinces any desire 10 look back
to 'lrst pr'nc'p'es; or any ability TO srapplr
with the abuses which, from a neglect Of those
principles. are rapidly being developed into
anarchy None No, a solitary one! And
herein lies the secret Of the deep despair into
which the best disposed and most rejecting Of
our people, are suffering themselves to lapse .
Our Social Edifice-bniaers are, almost 10 a
man, ma,etiali>,S, Sen>nal,sts, and brancarts
wiil'a'-men who openly Defy the works OF
the Observation-Disclosures, for tie most part. The
very personifrarions Of evil !: billiards in all
that relate 10 The highest interests Of man and
OF Society, yet philosophers" in pcrversi,y =
yea. perver;s and pctverters, alike, into whose
hearts the spin, If darkness seems ID have
emptied the very drcgs of diaboli-m ! VIVA,
hopes can W. have Of a country whose far
tunes have fallen into their hands =? We fear.
very li'lc indeed. Most people who have, a,
all, observed lie signs Of The times know and
feel this. Oar puhlic writer's aunonnce it, and
deplore il; bnt they describe, in TOO measured
terms, the Society ',inkers''. for whom ne can not
find words strong enough We like very mnch
10 give the DIS their due I, Ana as ".
are indlting Il Sermon, il, will be oni,e an.
proprlale to place before our readers, The urea,
Pr"phe, Isaiah denonncins The carnal Jews of
old, who, neg'ecting The higher duties Of man.
gave themselves up 10 banque,ing, and every
other kind of scnsnaiitv. 1t will he seen that
lsaiaIi'S dennnrinIion frs %exncily the material.
ISIS who in onr generation, pretend 10 rc6r.
game a Christian people, by excluding the
chief maxims of Christianity, and bv spinning
the very first law Of The Christian Gospel
'llarp and viol, and ,imbrrl, and shalm. and
wine in ycnr feast> and he work of The Lord
you regard not, nor consider the work Of His
han1s.-Thercfore hath hell dila,ed his soul,
and opened his month without any limit. and
The strong ones, and their people, and their
high and glorious ones shall! descend into it,.
Isaiah employs strong language He does
not play at words. He knows noilins OF expo.
diency; or if he does, when he has 10 an.
nonncc an immortal ruth, he is not %accomodat-
ing enough 10 soften ii down TO the tastes of
his hearers. We like Isaiah for his holiness
OF speech! He does not "fear 10 blame; and,
taking him for our model, neither do ue!
Thus, then, has our %"sermon" made i, mani.
fest enough that The end of all Society as well
as The end of the individual man. is a spiritual
d'rine end, in short : and as the individual
can not attain his end by the acquisition of
riches, or by carnal enjoymen,s, so, neither.
can Society. Moreover, since, as already in
llcated, even the practice Of "virtue". unless
It leads 10 the possession OF the SOVEREIGN
Good, fails to accomplish mans destiny, so.
social %virtnes, how much soever
multiplied. if they condnc, not the individual
of The social organization to the
everlasting enjoyment, fall utterly short
ot the conditions # social existence.
1t would he no very srea, stretcl, of crednli,y
to believe that The great minds that gave form
and lille 10 our Declaration of Iudependenceu,l
when speaking Of the importance of .life,
liberty, and the pursuit Of happiness, mean,
t" include eternal happiness. Bn,, even If they
did not, II is very well Known that there is no,
so much as a decent approximation to solid
here on earth, save in The pursuit. of
The eternal. Bnt now, how is Society 10 pursue
eternal happiness? or indeed temporal han.
piness, when Governments which were ins,i.
'n'ed "to secure these rights, do their wors,
10 destroy both
We do no, of course counsel what the
trainers of The "Declaratiunn saynnuhAle- be
done with sncl. Governments neither do we
'esire for The goddess destrnciives lha, MANAGE
them, any such fearful doom as that promised
by the Prophe, Isaiah 10 doors in general
though specially addressed 10 the Jews. No.
least our function as a 'sermono writer. u)|
us 10 hope (a',hongh there are q
chances 10 one, that is a vain hope)
for their conversion F.! And for Society. we have
another remedy-in the dogmas of Divine Re.
Without these neither the individual
nor orrt The family; nor social, nor political, nor
national sl.'99 "a organizations, can ever be possessed
OF that dignity Of existence which, as crea tons
of Omnipoteat Wisdom, they are entitled 10
Without these, they can neither effect their
preservation, attain their perfecsion, or fa,6t}
heir destiny. Religion (need we say i, ?)-{
Rnl;w;no mira oph n,lacJcJgE .....- tt |