The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1885-03-22

his studies. and soma free will as to attendance
on prayers and sermons. think it will work
well. Ii the boys do not like to attend church
OF the minister preach so that they will
| am glad to know that Denver has nothing to
learn from any old city as to the building Of
school house. or as to the use OF it when built
Why in new country and new city should
there be search for precedentsl In the very
nature of the thing in an evil, imperfect world
which we are trying to make good and perfect
there no precedents for us to copy; prece-
dents for everything that is wished. There Is
no new wicked thing. There is no evil thing
that men have omitted to do and say. But the
country of the good is largely unexplored.
mere are new methods of making men, women
ana children happier, and there you can invent
boldly Prophets and apostles and the Son Of
man nave little to do with precedents Alawyer
in Indiana made himself famous for his search in
books OF decisions for hog case that should be
exactly similar to the one he had on hand A
decision settling the principle would not do. He
wanted case that involved the 'prin:iple
and hog of the same age and color as the one
he was interested in, and then he would
know what he was about. There arc
sucn mon, and many of them 1t is an infdel
world that Columbus has to deal with. Nobody
believes in him except one woman. In finding
the new world, and in building a new earth,
there is nothing old to copy We are left to Get
rid of the old. The old deluge drowned world
of precedents, and now, it seems, we need an
other. What was it that the old prophets de-
claredl Something they saw in the pasta Oh,
mol They saw the sand of the desert creeping
over the old cities of cruelty and greed; bats aud
spiders In old palaces of oppressors. They re-
cord no duty of the day from the lips of dead
kings and judges. They saw the New Jerusalem
coming down from God out of heaven, and tho
law and custom of that city of good will they
declared. If the world has been perfect. the
precedents would be of value AS it is, undef
We look upward for direction, and not
down-forward, and not backward. We
read history to sec what to avoid
The code of Athens, Carthage, or Rome could
not have been good l know it was not by it's
fruits The cities did notliye. I judge Confucius
and his teachings by tho people he made. the
kind of folks One China is enough. "The
Light OF Asia" must be so judged. That cannot
have been the light of the world, for people
without that light have more food and freedom.
They come by and hold Asia as an investment
judge the quality of the light by the quality Of
the crop. That religion is the best which makes
Strong with the strength that protects the weak.
The claim of Christ exactly meets new
needs. he claims not to be dead. The wisdom
He has to give us is not stored away in cistern.
1t is living spring. He teaches us day by day.
living guide is better than any guidebook.
'The letter fails and systems fall.
And every system wanes;
The spirit overbrooding ALL
Eternal love, remains.
.'No fable old or mythic lore
Nor dream of bards and seers
No dead fact stranded on the shore
Of the obvious years.
"a warm, sweet, tender, even yet
present help is He
And faith has still its Olivet
And love its Galilee."
In new conditions we need to read it is true.
but we need inspiration. New bread for a new
day and duty.
What is the code of the New Jerusalem, Of the
coming city, the one that has soundaton and
will lastl We have that code from the King of
the city 1t is not as yet universally Adopted
there are sc-,e excepted States and parishes.
What was it in the time of Jesus Christ that OPP
posed hint Precedent, tradition, usage habit,
CUSTOM the current thought of the time flowing
in the deep channels of use. What opposes him
now2 The same things 1t is not true that every
old thing is a bad thing but it is quite true that
a bad thing is an old thing. and the old things
that are true things were exceptional in their
time-as Elijah, John the Baptist, ST Paul
and Columbus The men who have taught
the world were not taught by the world.
Tho teaching that helps the world comes not by
tradition but by inspiration. The thought has
not been labored for and dug out of some old
library. The thought has been borne in on the
mind by the spirit Of God Well did the old
prophets call their message "a burden" They
made such haste to deliver it as q man does to
lay down mis- pack Therefore, we see tho value
of the words Of the prophets, and the singular
value Of the words of Christ to all those who are
building their own lives, the life of society, Of
the nation, of the world. There is no mere
mans work in the past that is worth copying9
We need the words and present help Of one who
spoke as never man spoke. He speaks, not from
memory of what he was taught by some
Greek or Roman He speaks as from
sight of the reality. the living, immortal
thing There is no precedent for the nation
that we are working on now. 1t is a new kind,
absolutely and the building of the nation must
proceed by new, original methods. and so become.
not according to the dream Of the seventeenth
century, new England new France. but
an America, the first nation on earth that even
dared to do justice and love mercy Let us as
sist in this experiment, and perfect it. without
exceptions. Let US see if living according to a
principle is not long life. Righteousness is life,
and in the pathway thereof there is no death.
Christ says of his works: HE that heareth
these sayings of mine, and doeth them, will
liken him unto man who built his house upoE
a rock" The time will come when all the people
will say amen. 1t is our individual privilege now
to say amen.