Telegram-herald., 1890-12-15


Al caEt1zs1s hAu.
Is fhe E1isef - tne ss.xsKAN Hsk4LR
I 2avs been waiting sasa suoa aea1
of Interest ~ bear g4o1s AAoos ghe pro
posed rshEoas mass nsstng ~ Hart
Gsns Hal. A0aT faFner editorial
gave us - understand that ne nsSttge
~As q ths baRSs Of some Of eur leading
c.gssens. ana se2t i sss dee gned ~ *
. popular opf slsk ~ to sps&k, ~ she
masses tor their oen relsk kiQas edueA-
tl0a, ana ~&s not & be aaaef she wlIE
81 any saetsr4n 81 priesily iniiueDoe.
Ia tiis moTning's Issue ~ youf paper,
however, you give us - understand
silat tne pastors u the city a. their
meeting tomorrow. are ~ determine
whether tnls mass nesting Is held ~
not.
! greatly doubt the wsd0m q the
clergy having any onc.al csinnectlon
MIA tiias n4otement, Tor feel cure that
i 4 - gwen out that Il is their MISSION
afy enterprise. 80 10 speak. al
effort 80 save the souls Of the Amer
csn heatbens, IA vii eDd la a dlsas-
tTOus failure. ] GO not doubt that our
clergy Are retualsd by iaud4bls motives
IA thus assuming the care ard control
Of this proposed undertaking, but il
viii be hard 10 make the masses, whom
Il Is proposed 70 reach, regard their
connection WITH i without suspicion
and even fear. We should remember
that our clergy, Catholic and Protes-
tant, are the present representatives of
A church which has made the most
wretched history known 20 man, and
covering a period OF 1900 years. Ii
makes the blood OF sn intelligent, ten
der-As1rled man. boil with indigna.
ton, as he reads the record OF this so
called Christian Church during the
dark ages. No doubt the church today
hates this record fully as much as It's
enemies do, but there still remains
| lurking suspicion IN the minds OF
| thousands upon thousands OF the most
| intelligent and respected citizens ia this
country that II the church of today
had the power, history would repeat
itself, and they keep aloh from the
church.
1t IL bat a short time since the at
/ tempt OF the clergy TO rel
egate the observance of the
Sabbath, reused many hundreds OF
our citizens 20 almost an open rebel
lion. Had the proposed arrests been
made, the result would have been DIS
astrous in the extreme. know ths I
the church of today earnestly desires
TO advance the cause of truth and VIZ
tue in the world; yet, nevertheless, IN
the minds OF the great mass OF our peo-
pie the church of today is identical with
the church of the past, and they hate
| II as heartily as did their forefathers,
who were the hcretics of the past. This
condition Of affairs is greatly TO be de-
| plored, but II should be wisely faced.
| hold that morality and religion
should be taught the people at the pub
lie expense, by men elected by the peo.
| pie, for hold that morality and reli-
Sion are but part of our education,
and very important part, more i'm
portant than the education furnished
by any of our pubic institutions oi
| learning. Religion and morality be.
I, long to the region of science and phil
osophy, and We ought TO have in every
community public teachers carefully
the masses in these departments o.
human learning, as means oi
| public protection, and as a means OF
|
virtue, thus supplementing the utterly
inadequate work of the church. Ii j.
a notorious fact that IN the most refined
and cultivated cities of TINS country not
one-sixth Of the population attend tho
churches. | am confident that not one
sixth of our people 60 TO church Sun
day evening, be the weather ever 81
pleasant, and there is very little valid
excuse for their non-attendance at this
time Of day; and II is doubtless true
that not one-sisth of our people evel
have any careful instruction IN moral
ity and religion. Can we wonder, then
that wee, immortality and irreliglon arr
rampant IN our midst? The churches
are utterly powerless 10 meet the sltua-
ton, because so many of our people
will not enter their doors. We have
reached the point of compulsory secu
lar education; will we not at last adop
compulsory moral and religious educa
ton?
! respectfully submit that the clerg,
be not permitted to have any oficia
control OF this proposed movement
lest 1t prove failure. 1t would
be an excellent idea for the churche
which are, as rule, only one-tentl
full Sunday evenings especially, not 4
have meetings at that hour IN nine o
them, thus saving a vast expense, ant
TO unite ina mass meeting of their owl
for the promotion of comfy and ~
destruction of sectarlan barriers: bu
let this meeting | am now discussing b
presided over by the mayor of the city
or by some one appointed bv him. anS
the Board Of Trade ought 20 have tn
supervision Of its management and re
gard II as their most sacred trust ans
receive their most anxious care. | an
confident that, under such an arrange
ment, hacked by such an influence
Hartman's Hall can be flied D. over
flowing every Sunday evening, for a
least nine months IN the year. O
course, none but intellectual giant
should be engaged 90 instruct such q,
audience in true religion and ethics
but there are plenty Of them 10 be bad
If they are generously paid.
/ believe that Il would be easy Z
, sustain such . meeting; and I do no
believe there ls any enterprise con
ceivable that would yield richer n
turns. OF course, these are IDEAS Of
, crank, but sometimes we can lear
valuable lessons even from fool: an.
so the foregoing - respectfully sul
mitied. CBABrTs X. GIBSON.
Grand parsas Dec II 1900