The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1884-06-19

e'ssSt"Noo VI BhCat
did not stretch forward with the hope OF
the life beyond; did not strengthen and
ground itself in the confident Belief that
the death Of the body Ia but the emanci.
patton of the soul did not feel the as.
surance that there is power in the uni.
verse which will lead safely through "the
wreck OF matter aud the crush Of worlds"
In the full blaze OF the Nineteenth Centu.
ry, when every child in our common
schools knows things such as the Egyp.
tian In his wisdom never dreamed of, il
IS natural for us to look back upon the
wisdom of 5000 yearsago as man looks
back upon the accomplishments of the
child. Aud yet for oil this wonderful
increase OF knowledge, this enormous
gain OF productive power. where is there
q community in the civilized world where
there is not want and suffering? Here,
with vaster knowledge and wider expert.
ence, we ere building up nation greater
than any other, thero are yet thousands
among US who find it difficult to assert
the first of all national rights-the right
TO earn an honest living.
We boast of equality before :he law ;
and, notoriously, justice is deaf to the
call Of him who hath not gold, and to tho
sin of him who hath. Under the shai.
ow of our colleges, children are growing
up in vice and crime, because from their
homes poverty has driven all refining
influences. We pin our faith to univer.
sal suffrage; yet the control of public
affairs is passing into the hands of a
class of professional politicians, and our
Government is becoming the instrument
OF men who are robbing the people. Wo
have forbidden ti,,es OF nobility, vet
there is growing up among us an arstoc-
racy OF wealth rs remorseless as any that
ever existed. We girdle the land with
iron roads and cover it with telegraph
wires each day brings some new advance
In science and art; yet the complaints of
hard times come oftener and arc louder {;
everywhere are men harassed by care and
haunted by the fear of want pauperism
10 increasing; insanity Is increasing {;
there are more and more men who do not
get wife; more and more women who
wait in vain for husband. The causes
that are thus producing want in the
midst of plenty, ignorance in the midst of
knowledge, aristocracy in democracy,
weakness in the midst Of strength, you
will find they are something which this
Hebrew statesman thres thousand years
ago perceived and guarded against.
Moses saw that the real cause of the
enslavement of tho masses of Egypt was
what was everywhere produced In slave.
~; that in permitting the same unqual-
iied ownership in land as in other &C.
quisitions it would ultimately raise up
the very rich aud cast down the very
poor, and make the few the masters OF
the many. Inevitably 1t would bring
vice and degradation, and he sought to
guard against this error. Everywhere In
the Mosaic institutions 10 tho land treat
ed as the gift Of the Creator to His com.
mon creatures, which no one has the
right to mouopolize. 1t is not "your
estate" or "the land which you bought
or conquered" but "the land which the
Lord, thy God, giveth thee" And by
practical regulations He tried to guard
against the cause that converted Egypt's
ancient civilization into despotism
cause that is to-day crowding our fami.
lies into tenement rooms In our cities.
He provided for the distribution of the
land among the people, and made it fol-
low every seventh year, and for redis.
tribution every fiftieth year. He msdo
impossible.
/ do not aak this nation to follow the
iorms Of s:iat .in.G; ask 3 recognition
of the spirit. Yet how common It IL to
honor the form and deny the spirit.
There are many who believe that the
Mosaic institutions were dictated by the
Almighty and who yet denounce the ap.
plication of their spirit to the life of TO.
day. And yet how much we of to. day
owe to these institutions This very day
the only thing that stands between our
working classes and ceaseless toll Is one
of those Mosaic institutions. Our work.
ing classes would get no more wages for
seven days labor than for six, and would
find it just as difficult to reduce their
working as now. That there is one day
in the week when the hammer ia silent
and tho loom stands idle is due to these
Mosaic institutions. That exaltation of
thought strengthened the Scotch coven.
anter in the hour of peril, and the Puri-
tan In the strange land It stood behind
the low redoubt of Bunker Hill. The
life OF MOSES is i protest against the
blasphemous doctrine current to. day, as
it was three thousand year 60, that the
want and suffering of the nlaa, es of man.
kind flow from mysterious t,ispensation
of Providence that we may lament, but
cannot alter. For him who will look,
yet burns the bush for him who will
hear, yet comes tho voice as strong as
ever. The forgetfulness of self manifes.
ted in the smiting of the Egyptians
shines through Moses's whole life. In
institutions that make life easier for the
toiling masses We may read the same
purpose. The unselfish desire to make
life happier, better, nobler. He discard.
ed the claims of blood. and disdained to
found dynasty Of his own, which he
might have readily done. He conquered
the souls natural yearning to depart
among friends, and withdrew from the
eight OF en- to die glone lest in his
death he should be deified and accorded
the full measure &C :cpe.s.itinua rever.
ence which he knew was ready 10 break
forth. But the name Of the Hebrew
who strove for the elevation of bis fel.
bowman ia yet a beacon.light to the
whole world With whom among the
founders Of empire shall we compare
him? To dispute about the inspiration
Of such man is to dispute about mere
words. From the depths Of the unsees
such characters must draw their strength.
Cf something In0T5 real than mater, oi
something higher than the stars, Of a
light that will endure when suns are dead
end dark, of a purpose of which the
physical universe Is but passing phase,
such lives tell.