Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1888-05-26

ruin, are leaders in church and
society and ehristianity's most shin
ing lights. ae si9 ~
Yet gilded cathedral, 90 painted
chapel and gorgeously finished par
sonage IN oriental ease and splendol
designed, give ont only the soft
tread Of imperial ecclesiastical dig
nifty in velvet and gold and from
sculptured niche and caryed.wood
railing voices sweet and mild and
low, dwell in heavenly ecstacy and
vision must sublime upon virtues
grand and ennobling, upon charity
.beneficenr, upon poverty lovely and
enticing in the magnifcence Of its
distance within alliis bright, radi
ant with wealth and warmth and
comfort of soul and body: without
down in. the slums of slavery and
service, clouded in the smoke and
dust of the mine and factory, stifed
in the moral and physical atmos
phere of low.life, are thousands and
hundreds of thousands of. perishing
souls,-famishing for a ray of divine
light,-drifting. out into the; bound
less ocean of hardness OF heart for
want of a touch. OF human comfort
and kindness ;-dying while relig.
ious care and sympathy are .rioting
at the banquet of LIFE, each guest
well filled with grace and happiness.
- The history ofsages and the wreck
of Institutions prove life the uneven,
unbalanced work of man, as clearly
as the eyen-moying, harmonious.act.
ting forces of nature prove the hand
work of a Creator. 4. sAa gsi
. Genius. may erect its monuments
more durable than brass wealth and
power create its Institutions that
seem to defy all the influences Of
darkness and decay ;--faise your
dome over cathedral loft, stay your
pillas under Roman structure
spread out your halls in college o.
university the very powers you
seek to build up will encompass theil
own destruction in the fuilness Of
time. Bind tighter the bars OF an
iron-bound philosophy; double riyeI
the arches of a liberty,crushing the
iologyi; enforce without quarter the
edicts of your high social and religi
Gus. cultus; the few and the favor
ed and the privileged will lean easily
and securely against. the mighty col
umns under the protecting aegis Of
the church the unfortunate shoals
of humanity will be driven. as war
ring elements against civilization
your proud and overbearing super
structure will 60 down with theil
destruction. Upon the, ruin othel
people will build anew, but the end
it is not given even the angels t.
know The christian era dispelled
the shades of pa ganism and barbar
ISM. Power and wealth are the be
ginning of the end OF every institu
ton. Social and religious revolu
tons levelled the natural with the
unnatural growths from age to age
and if the good and innocent wen
down with the enormity of the evil
the masses of the people always
came out of the strife on more equa
grounds of life and liberty, until to
day man in his civil rights is more
universally free and independent
and governments more secure, than
ever before in the history of the
world. ~. .g..-.a sass4..t .,..l-...
The church alone (religion) strug
giles to bind the letters of ages and
calls liberty license and popular fran
chise an enormity in the face of faith
and morals. But her power Of
wealth and political influence is
broken; she can no longer lord 1t
over nations and make and break
kingdoms and empires, for they are
passing away under the franchise
ment of the popular will /; the hand
writing is on the wall, the church
the clergy and the ecclesiastical
holdings that would live and pros
per must apply themselves to the in.
terests of the people III mind and
soul. The foothold OF religion in
France and England before the rev,
olutions and considerations was her
landed and political rights. God
bless the day when they disappear.
ed. There will come time when
the same agencies will arouse rival
antagonism in this country and pro
vide plumber for political parties.
That will be the eve of revolution,
though centuries distant. - -
Yet those who lead souls as the
drover leads cattle with leash and
tether, demand homage, reverence.
respect and support from the mil.
lions of poor in spirit and slaves in
hand for the sake OF a Christus who
differed from them as the day diff.
fers from the night, for He was one of
the poor, one of the prosecuted, one
OF the suffering and afflicted who
felt the woes of mankind as it felt
them and sacrificed His life that
man might live and be free. He
was no dignity in royal favor in fine
clothes in the houses of Kings NOT