Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1890-11-08

In the Pantheon of Rome the gods OF al
the distinctive peoples were gathered, Will
|San indifferent honor was paid to all; and
was ct this time OF practical lnndelify anf
Of proud indifference to moral claims tina
one came teaching BY the wayslds and th'
seaside and upon the mountain slopes o
Galilss, and inspiring an enthusiasm tina
has made His air. blown words the flaming
swords of every after age. The current In
difference.of men to any interest but theil
own private and immediate one. is an in
difference which manifests itself more
particularly in their attitude towards the
church. II is the church, as representa-.
tive of the moral enthusiasm of Jesus
which proclaim; the church which sees
in every man the image of his Maker
which sees this image frequently deformed
and distorted from its fair original and SC
wants to set it right; the church which is
the mother Of so many charities, the pro-
tector OF the innocent, the feeble and de.
graded everywhere within the scope OF its
dominion. And if you tell me that many
of the benefciaries here are the wards oil
the State, it is of the State Christlanized
and rejecting the moral ardor and enthusi-
asm of the Christian church. 1t is the
sheerest folly for one to proclaim any in
difference to the things involved IN this
consideration. Can man think that by
any exercise of prudence and the rscog-
milton of obligations that are based on SIM
ole -expediency, his affairs will be
permanently safe when so much of our
social life needs readjustment, and men be.
fore high heaven are crying for their rights?
II is Christianity that alone has commits
sion TO defend these rights, as it recognizes
men as of one fstherhood and brother
hood, and proclaims principles which
ideally underlie perfected society.
II ia moral enthusiasm that has been the
potent ipspirer of every deed that has
made brilliant the history OF the race, that
urged the warriors upon every stored held
from Thermopyle to Appomattox, that
has given to the world its poetry, its pro-
phecy and its song, that covered Garrison
with an obloquy of which he was Justly
proud. that carried Florence Nightingale to
minister, with womsnly tenderness, on
battle.fields afar. and taught Clara Barton
TO bind the wounds of stricken men at
home, and that has enshrined Washing
ton and a Lincoln in the temple of ma.
tion's heart. Men point to some OF these
as examples of what Christian faith. as
expressed, can do, but scorn
their argument. see in these simply the
spirit of Jesus, the spirit through the gen.
eral manifestation of which the church He
established shall endure; and as l can dis
Germ no promise OF good to man, except as
these elements of enthusiasm for his fel-
lows, and reyerent service to Him who is
the father OF US all, is incorporated into the
practise Of our common lives, call upon
all to hail the church as the symbol of
Gods advancing majesty, and to say:
"City OF God. how broad and fair
Outspread thy walls sublime
The true thy chartered freemen are
OF every age and cline.
chow purely hast thy speech come down
From mans primeval youth;
How grandly hast thy empire grown
or Freedom, Love and Truth.
Gin vain the surge's angry shock;
In vain the drift ing sands;
Unframed upon the Eternal Rock
The Eternal City stands"