The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1885-12-24
THE DIVINE ORIGIN OF CHRIS
TIANITY.
Rev. Mr.. slanchard's Sixth Lecture.

The Rev. Henry Blanchard delivered the
sixth lecture of his course on The Divine
Origin of Christianity, indicated by It's Ills
torical effects on Tuesday evening, IN the
vestry of the Congress square church. The
subject announced was "The New Concep-
ton. introduced by Christianity, of the Du-
ties of Nations toward each other.
The lecturer began by referring to Gen.
Grants great hope that all the nations OF
the world, some day, would be united IN
confederation, before whose tribunal all
questions in dispute would be brought for
arbitration, so that there would no longer be
need of the cannon or the sword.
Henry of Navarro, afterwards Henry the
Fourth of France, longed to see Christian
commonwealth in which all nations should
be united. The great soldier and the valiant
king owed their desire to their allegiance to
Jesus Christ. The speaker believed that
confederation of the world would be seen
some day. He believed that Christ would
become the acknowledged leader of the whole
world. Then should the dream of Henry
and of Grant be fulfilled Mr.. Blanchard
then dwelt on Christ's teachings, which dis
regarded the nation in order to reach the in
dividual He did not condemn slavery. He
did not upbraid Caesar But he aimed to
plant certain great ideas in the mind of each
man. The individuals ennobled would make
the nation noble His plea was wise.
He had to wait long for results, but these
history shows us. A contrast was then
drawn between Caesar and BajaZet, the Mo-
hammedan, on the one hand, and the battles
of France and Germany and OF our own civil
strife Caesar deliberately ordered the mas
sacre of enemies. The Sultan BajaZet, in
1859, watched the slaughter of nearly 10000
Frenehmen The pagan Caesar had no con-
ception that, as a Roman. he owed
any kindness to German foes. The
Mohammedan was taught by his .Ko--
ran" that it was his duty to .behead
or enslave his captives. Germany in 1871
carefully tended her wounded French pris-
oners. She returned them safely to their
homes. The North watched tenderly over
her Southern prisoners. Germany and the
came from Christ's teachings of the broth
erhood of man. The contrast is impressive.
History shows that the new ideas OF, Christ,
nurtured in the early Christian churches,
produced the change from the cruelty OF
Cesar to the clemency Of Grant.
Entering into Details. Mr.. Blanchard
spoke of the disregard of all outsiders on the
part of Greece and Rome. Aristotle. great
as he was, taught that Greeks might make
war on other peoples as hunters chased wild
beasts. Rome held that the stranger was
naturally an enemy There was, therefore,
no feeling of international obligation. This
could come only as the doctrine of uni
versal brotherhood Of man made way It's
not till the seventh century that the So
called laws of nations were formulated and
began to have power. EThat power came
from Christ's idea of God and man. Very
slowly, indeed, did the changes come. but
we can mark progress as we look at widely
separated eras. Once treaties were gener-
ally broken as soon as opportunity came.
Now all Christian nations solemnly regard
their treaty obligations. Once ambassadors
were sent abroad to lie. Now they are sent
to represent the honor of their nations.
Once, heralds were cruelty put to death.
Now they are considered sacred. lllustra-
lions of all these facts were given. We see
the change also in the treatment Of emil
grants and exiles, in unions OF nations to
suppress piracy and slavery.
Emigrants are no longer received as enc
mics, but as brothers. Why? Because
Christ has made men see that all men are
brothers. The exile receives protection in
the strange land because he is man. Ma
tions recognize pirates as enemies OF all man
kind. International law will not legitimize
slavery. So, too, we see the tremendous
changes wrought by Christianity in the con-
duct of war. 1t has always recognized the
need OF government. But there can be no
government unless there is the final resort to
force, in case of disobedience. War, there
fore, may be approved when waged in de-
fence of liberty and justice. When we con-
trast the deeds of Caesar and BaJaZet with
those of modern soldiers, we see the great
results of Christ's idea of man. Reprisals
are forbidden by the laws of nations the
wounded and physician are made sacred
the sack of captured cities is forbidden. The
Sanitary Commission, the Christian Com
mission, the Society of the Red Cross, with
their vast benefcence, are all the products
of Chrst's teachings.
We may well believe, therefore, that Chris
tianity will one day create the confederation
of the world hoped for by Henry of France
and by our hero Grant. Its ideas, so simple,
so universal, adequate to do so much in the
past and more in the future, are the ideas of
God Himself.
The next lecture will be delivered January
10Th