The Saline County journal. [volume] (Salina, Kan.) 1871-1893, 1886-01-21

ing II IN the light OF these fAlr COM
nonsense principles, that IL Is OppOs
Ell to Woman SufIrage,I too, must Op-
pose Woman Suffrage. no matter
what benefits to society may think
see in allowing women 10 vote. were
il not interdicted by the word Of
God.
But II we find on such examine
ton that the Bible not only does not
oppose Woman Suffrage. but actually
| by its general spirit aud specific ex-
amples endorses il, / shall then Ger
tainly favor Il too. For IL my Bible
does not stand In the way, can see
many benefits resulting from Il. with
but very few possible evils which do
not begin 10 compare with the almost
certain benefits.
First. then. What IL the general
| trend Of Bible teachings that bear up
on the subject Of Woman suffrage?
! Our first proposition on this head,
| which we believe all intelligent
minds who have canva.sed the sub
/ ject carefully will uuitedly endorse il.
that the general drift Of Bible teach.
/ ing is toward the establishment Of the
common liberty-the inaliena4le
/ right of all mankind 90 life, liberty
and the pursuit OF happiness.
That this j. true Is seen by comparing
/ those nations who have known Moth
| ing of the Bible with those who have;
and also among those who have, Ia
/ the fact that the common liberty and
/ rights OF all have been established in
/ exact proportion 10 the degree in
which an intelligent understanding
of the Bible has borne sway among
them.
There never was any such thing a.
| true freedom among those nations
who were ignorant OF the word at
God. l repeat the statement, and
challenge the disprOOf OF Il from all
history There never was any such
thing as true freedom among those
nations who were Ignorant Of the
word of Cod The Bible j. the
only great charter of human liberty.
Il l. only where the common father
hood Of God and the common brother
hood Of man are known and recOg-
niZed as practical principles that civil
! liberty can exist.
But the great mass Of men from the
the earliest ages 10 the present time,
have been governed by arbitrary
power The selfish, tyrannizing con
| duet uf the gods Leiieyed in, was the
example followed by the rulers among
men. The common people were
trOdden down under the heel Of ALSO
| Lutte despotism. No inalienable rights
Of man a. man, were known and re-
eognized. The whole history Of the
| Assyrian empire Is a history Of ALSO
| lutte tyranny aud cruelty % the CON
n hat fnN Nfa
| BabylOnian empire. Egypt and Per-
sia were equally strangers 70 civil
/ liberty: aud with partial mOdifiea-
| tiOns. such was also the character OF
! imperial Greece and Rome, and the
| Republics Of Greece and Rome
| with all their civilization aud culture
In the fine arts OF painting, poetry,
/ oratory and law, though comparative
I ~ free l. e. compared with those
old desDOtisms, vet their freedom was
| far from being founded on 8 correct
understanding Of the rights Of man.
/ Individual rights Of man, because OF
a common manhood they never
/ dreamed of. The great mass Of the
people in both Greece and Rome were
/ always slaves. Only the few were
/ the free men aud among these. the
/ individual aud individual rights were
/ n0thing-the state everything. You
will hunt in vain in antiquity for a
/ single example OF a free state, IN
/ which the people have eXerted any
| due influence upon the government,
except the Jewish Republic 70 whom
were committed the oraeles Of God
/ Considering the age Of the world in
which the Jewish code was given.
and how little the doctrine OF person
81 rights was understood In the
world generally, il IL remarkable that
/ the laws Of MOses were so decidedly
the friend Of civil liberty. I know
not where 10 look among the writings
Of antiquity for 4 single work 50 full
Of the great principles Of political
wisdom az the laws Of Moses and the
history Of the Jewish nation.
So. too. do we find Il under the
the higher light Of the gospel dispen-
sation. THE cultured beatl en-, - says
ThoIuek, ''were offended az christiani-
Is precisely for this reason, that the
higher Glasses could no longer have
interchangeable II broke down the
system Of caste and taught the com
mon brotherhood Of men. Said one
Of onr own distinguished statesmen.
Christianity q in its essence. its doc
| trines and is forms, Republican. Il
teaches our descent from a common
pair: it fnculeated the natural
equality Of mankind and Il points
70 our origin aud end, 10 our nativity
and our graves, and 10 our immortal
destinies as illustrations OF this i'm
pressive truth"
Everywhere the men whose minds
have been imbued with the light
and spirit Of the holy scriptures, have
/ been devoted friends Of civil liberty.
Such were the Lnllards In England,
the adherents Of Luther in Germany /,
and OF John Knox IN Scotland. Such
WIS Holland when her Republican
virtues. aud her moral and literary
/ Institutions spread her fame through
out the world. Such were those
nObiemen. the HuguenOts OF France (:
and such aiso we're the Paritans. the
| two Glasses who formed the elemental
/ ~ basis Of our free institutions Ia
/ this land. Even the historian. Hume,
whose prepOssession lay at on the side
Of Monarchy. was constrained 10 con-
fess'' that the precious spark 81 liberty
| had been kindied and was preserved
/ by the Purifans alone. and that u
was 70 this sect alone the English
Owe the whole freedom % their con-
stitution
Again. no people can he free who
are not virtuous and moral. IL IL a
maxim that no intelligent person Will
dispute that man must governed By
either moral truth OF by despOtie
I power.
But what was and Il the state Of
morals IN nations ignorant % the
Bible? Man always becomes Ike
J the ideals he WOrships. The EgyP-