The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1881-09-17
What Christianity has Done.

What Christianity has Done. 2
Reflect what kind of 4 world this
! was when the disciples Of Christ nm
dertook to refofn.it. and compare u
with the condition in which theif
teachings have put it. In its mighty
metropolis, the centre OF its ihtellec-
tual and political power, the best men
wereaddicted to vices so debasing that
l could not even allude to then
without soiling the paper | wriia
upon. Ailamanner of unprincipiel
wickedness was prlcticed in the Iiri
vate life of the whole population
without conceaIment or shame, atHll
the magistrates were thoroughly ugi
universally corrupts Benevolencsll
any shape was altogether unkn0vA.
The helpless and the weak got neitlk
err Justice nor mercy. There svas m
reiieffor Che poor 70 sleeur fsx y
SICK, no refuge for the unfortunate.
In all .agandoIn there was nota hos
pital, asylum, almshouse, or organ
lied charity of any sort. The indif-
ference to human life wae literally
frightful. The order of a successful
leader to assassinate his opponents
was always obeyed by his followers
with the utmost alacriiy and pleas
ure. 1t was Il special amusement of
the populace to witness the shows at
which men were compelled to kill
one another, to he torn i'm pieces by
wild beasts, or otherwise "butchered
to make Roman holiday" In
every province paganism enacted the
same c0ld-blOoded cruelties; oppres
sion and robbery ruled supreme;
murder went rampaglng and red
ever all the earth. The church came,
and her light penetrated this moral
darkness like new sun. She cover
cred the globe with institutions of
mercy, and thousands upon thous.
ands of her disciples devoted them
selves exclusively to works of chari-
ty at the sacrifice of every earthly in
terest. Her earliest adherents were
killed without rem0rse-beheaded,
crucitied, sawn asunder, thrown to
the beasts, or covered with pitch.
piled up in great heaps, and slowly
burnt to death. But her faith was
made perfect through suffering, and
the law of love rose in triumph from
the ashes of her martyrs. This relig-
ion has come down to us through the
ages, attended all the way by right
eousness, Justice, temperance, mercy,
transparent truthfulness, exulting
hope and white winged charity.
Never was its influence for good more
plainly preceptible than now. II has
not converted, purified, and reformed
all men, for its first principle is the
freedom of the human will and there
are those who choose to reject it, but
to the mass of mankind. directly and
indirectly. it has brought uncounted
benefits and blessings. Abolish it
take away the restraints which 1t i'm
poses on evil passions -silence the
admonitions of its preachers-let all
Christians cease their labOrS of chari-
~ blot out from history the records
of its HI rOic beneVolence-repeal the
laws it has enacted and the institu.
lions it has built up-let its moral prin-
ciples he abandoned and all its mira
cie> of light be eXtinguished-w
would we come to? | need not an
swer this question: the experiment
has been partially tried. The French
nation fOl nIally renounced Christian
ity, denied the existence of the Sup
RENE Being. and SD satisfied the hun.
ger of the infidel heart for a time.
What followed? Universal depravi-
ty, garments rolled in blood, fantastic
crimes uninagined before, which
startled the earth with their sublime
atrocity. The American people have
and nughl to have no special desire
To- follow that terrible example of
guilt and misery. S. Black.