, 1881-12-18

| came impossible, banking aud insurance
were interdicted by the spread Of false ideas
'collceriltlag Msury. The Jew alone could deal
| ia n1noncy. lie was forced to- become rlcll
which lie was condesnned. This was thu
! great error Of Christianity. Butter had it
said to the poor:s :: Enrich yourselves at the
! Gust OF the wealthy!''' thanS to proclaim the
! forbade tl,at most legitimate df tlings-i.l.
| tcrest-and. while appearing to guarantee the
wsIi-to-uo i'll their possessions, striped them
| Of tile fruits thereof. The product Of the
/ World's labor was considerably lcssrncd.
Countries like Syria, whore 3extra: comfort
| and slnvery Is q condition :pf material civil
zatioh, sank a step IN the GSocial scale. The
birds Of the air, the flowers Of the field, which
neither SOW nor spill, yet through their
hiernrcf1y Of crxated belngs-those were tie
|, types announced. Great is tho Joy: :6f the
poor when they are*proml4ed enjoyment
-wittlout1as'or,
The aim Of Christianity was by, no means
the pertectlng of hunlan society or the aug
d'viduals. Man tries to do away with all
possible Inconvenience when he regards AS
serious things the earth and the fow days lie
passes thereon: Bit wliei, he y told TINT the
insignificant prelude to al eternal ideal, why
SHOULD he strive to beautify 1t? This appears
most clearly in the relations Of Christianity
with slavery. 1t contributed notably to con-
did not labor directly for the suppression of
slavery. The great school Of An1onino juris~
consults was. possessed Of the idea that stav-
cry was Ri abuse which must be gradually
suppressed, but Christianity never says,
IS oil annss Hete sdefsi an
cations Of the time Which was not linked
with id0latry seemed to it worthy Of preser-
vation:; To protest against the established
Institution Of slavery would have been reyo-
sut4GsfK SSTsan da s fgis geqd o5 n m o ade N wor t m
the ancient Christian literature melting
esxGi IS f i'5S' to hs fSss
Or even agitating. ,the question Of
Save vse lid @ not touch them' as it touches US;
for the few hours that life lasts what matters
it? Submission and conscientious attach
ment on one side, gentleness and fraternity
on the other-to intoxicating thiS is confined
III effect the morality Of primitive Christiani-
ty. Slaves and freedmen were numerous III
the Church, but it never advised the Chris
tan Shareholder to free Ills brethren. Later,
St. John Chrysostom is almost alone among
the Fathers i'll advising acknowledgement as u
good action, aud still later. the Church held
slaves and treated them rs other owners did
-harshfy enough, their condition being reil-
dered more intolerable by the facts that the
property Of the Church could hot be 1itetIlteu
aud that the Church was 11lttSter that never
died and freed the slaves by will. The role
Of Christianity on the question ofsIayery was
that OF an enlightened Conservative " WE0
serves radicalism by his principles while he
holds I'LL ultra reacttonary Mnguage> ;Wflcn
it showed the slave capable OF virtue, heroic
in martyruom, tile equal OF his master, aud
possibly his superior, in the Kingdom of
Heaven. the new faith WAS making slavery
Impossible. 70 give moral value to the slave
is to abolish bondage, and the assemblies
of the Church alone would have suttlced to
run the cruel institution. Antiquity had only
preserved slavery by":excluulng the slave
FROM tho patriotic worship. What Christian
ity founded was equality before God; it did
not abolish slavery, but it Suppressed the Gus
toms Of slavery Those who have pretended
to see in it tile revolutionary doctrine Of the
rights Of mnn--t0 Bee in Jesus precursor OF
Toussaint ntLouverture-ilaveb been utterly mis-
taken. Christianity never inspired Snar-*
Etu5, but it. Was not by q Spartacns that
slavery" was ABOLISHED Indeed. ancient
slavery ieyery was abolished-lt fell, or
rather was transformed. The fnertness Of
East after the triumph Of Christianity ren-
dered slavery stlpertluouS. The oalbarl1R
lnvasi0ns produced all analogous effect Ill the
of u world Of luxury and leisure, and slavery
BECAME rural and implied bond between
man and the Soil, which was one day to be-
colno property, As for the philosophical
principle that man should only belong to
himself, it was to appear as = social dogma
long afterwards. Seneca and uiplan had pro.
claimed it In theory; Voltaire, Rousseau, and
the French Revolution made it the basis OF
the new creed OF humanity. /