The New York herald., 1869-02-14

Tho Approach sf the Real Dlillenuiun.
Railroads. telegraphs, the press, the steam
ship and oil the wonderful inventions of this
century are making changes in the physical,
moral and political world which force us to
the belief that these are the true missionaries
Of Christ, and that they can but result in
shaping mankind to better appreciation of
the great code of moral law-the Sermon on
the Mount. This great inspiration was clear
statement of all that was beautiful. Strange
and crude religious theories had crept slowly
from Hindostan, across Persia, Arabia and
through Syria, into Egypt; had crossed the
Mediterranean into Greece, and had agitated
the whole then known world with doubts,
until the great Christ came, cleared away the
dross and let the light of heaven shine upon
code which is so pure that, after eighteen
hundred years, mankind stands only upon the
threshold of its beauties.
The coming Of Christ and the great law
which He set for human aims found the world
but poorly tuned for such harmony. Petty
nationalities, local prejudices, utter ignorance,
non-communication among States and bar
baric civilization, which made the word
stranger a death warrant, could not and did
not receive such teachings. Nor did Christ
expect they would. Could the human mind
at that date have reached and practised such
morality it would have been already perfect,
and the race would have had no need of a
long and magnificent upward struggle of
redemption such as it has labored through
in the preface of the past. Mankind,
however, started on its mission, but with
the idea that it was already fitted to appre-
ciate the highest morals taught by Christ
So dull was the human brain in that epoch,
and so little had the intellect been unrolled,
that the teachers Of the masses were obliged
termed faith, instead Of reason. The great
problem Of morals never was the simple enun-
citation of doctrines and Bible explanations.
1t was and is rather the fitting of humanity to
the appreciation and partial application Of a
code which we may always approach but never
reach
In the worlds history we have seen the
religion of Christ made political weapon by
the men who have ridden into temporal power
by assuming that the spiritual should control
all. Christ, however, was the first statesman
who clearly saw the evils of such union,Y
and said, ''Render to Caesar the things that are
Caesars, and to God the things that are Gods. I
The ambitious saw the splendid field open
to them, and commenced the task of
making grand spiritual and political mo-
nopoly. The Roman empire fell into their
hands and became unit of religious force,
which, through faith in the spiritual took
the form of force in the temporal, and
circled around the Mediterranean, form
ing great nationality whose particles
were held together by the central power
which infused itself through the mass
it tried to animate. But the world, despite
this, moved onward. The Roman built his
vast system of military roads, the soldier of
Iberia met the Syrian, the pillars Of Hercules
no longer marked the boundary Of the West,
the Gaul accompanied Caesar to Britain, man
looked at man, conversed with him, exchanged
ideas and grew civilized. There was improve
ment. Mankind had gained step, Christ was
was more appreciated. Now comes the inva-
sion Of Italy by that magnificent barbaric blood
of Northern and Eastern Europe. The hold
ers Of the spiritual power cling hard to their
position, and compact between vigorous
Goths and Vandals on the one side and the
tottering clergy on the other gives the latter
second lease Of life for dogmas, bishops and
Popedom. Out Of the ruins Of the Roman
empire nations are finally carved, and long,
black night called the middle ages follows as the
result of the attempt to force man in the wrong
direction. The Crusades come, and again the
world catches sight of the true Christ. Europe
awakes from her torpor, her armies cross the
country, man again meets man, and Palestine
becomes the touchstone of the modern march
to civilization.
Truly did the old Crusaders do q Christian
work, and the Sermon on the Mount was again
placed in the foreground. Again the world
began to progress the human brain expanded,
The wooden type was cut, and in that one in
vention the race saw more OF Christ than
Rome had been able to teach in the whole
fourteen centuries that preceded it. Reason
came to the rescue of man and the brain took
better and more moral poise. The man
IN all things began to live beyond
MS own frontier, grew intellectual and
moral. Then came those
magnificent discoveries of Columbus Vasco
Ii Cana and Magellan. The awakening
brain of Europe leaped forward with all its
vigor to seize the prizes offered to those who
ire foremost in progress and its consequent
civilization. The discoveries demanded finer
md more accurate astronomy-demanded
arger ships, better roads for trade, greater
ecurity for international intercourse, more
Of each other and more inventions.
Europe gave all this, and dogmas grew less, y