The Durham recorder. [volume] (Durham, N.C.) 1879-19??, 1890-08-13

the letter, or a noble uprising to th'
spirit. To acknowledge the Christ
endangered the relationship to Rome
Allegiance to Rome was not servic,
of principle, but q slavish obedience
to expediency. He chose adherence
to party; custom, routine shut BIZ
eye to a duty PLAIN to the eye of th,
common people, refused the voice O.
one whose tones entered into th,
heart of childhood.
| This blindness to duty has writer
the history ofits failure through al
ages.
10 deliver a bound I!b'e was thu
need of the age Of Luther; to accom-
plish the purpose God gave the print
Ing press, and made clear the call tC
q man. Electors, kings and scholar;
recognized the duty but shrank from
the task. One man heard the cal
who dared believe that God never
made duty plain and opened way
for its accomplishment without
standing by the man who dared enter
the way. Luther's was no dead faith
but q life Of action; an unclaimed
Bible was the result.
The divine right of kings arrested
human progress, enslaved the con-
science Of the Christian. obstructed
the worlds movement toward free.
dom. John Knox was born; stand.
ing in the very presence OF royalty be
declared that "kings ruled by the
consent Of the people," His words
fred the great Presbyterian heart,
God opened the way TO q passage
across the Atlantic. Constitutional
liberty 10 the child of John Knox.
Thousands OF Presby terian preachers
had lived before him; thousands have
come after him, who have tithed
mint. auise and cumin, VIII le gigsn-
tic needs Of the people rose before
them unheeded aud unsatlsfied.
In less than Que huadred years
from the establishment of constitu
tional liberty, the duty of the hogr
became recognition OF the right Of
freedom, not for one race alone, but
for all people. Slavery in the midst
Of Christianity challenged Gods peo.
pie y meet a duty higher than
church building. or Sabbath service,
higher Than the regular ministry OF
the pulpit, more significant than bap.
tism, prUtounder than communion.
10 touch ii is 10 break up the peace
Of the church. A second step wauld
disrupt the old party line, mske a
boiling csldrOu Of the church. q chaos
Of party allegiance aud would be to
move directly 10 the teeth of q con-
stituti)nal provision, backed by de.
cisions Of that august tribunal, the
Supreme Court OF the United States.
The Christian world had come to
SEQ what was the duty Ci the hour.
When her priests and preachers
stood dumb before the crisis, God
found other meabs 10 initiat1 thG
movement. which at first aroused
their fears, thee quickened their con.
science. and finally won them TO nc
tion. Disrupted churches, obliIerated
party lines, subyerted decisions Of
courts, years Of blood, not one nor all
OF these were an excuse in Gsd's eye
for failure 10 meet duties he had
made plain by the only methods
which his providence opened for q
consumation Of his purpose.
We stand to-day in the light Of q
duty made as plain 10 Us as we're
any Of these. Our higher civilization,
our more highly wrong nervous con.
ditiou, the terror which has come 10
cur homes. the birthmark on our
children, the hereditary appetites
which are born TO the heirs Of the
drunkard, our crowded insane asy.
lurs the legitimate offspring Of the
liquor Gend, onr prisons sutfJcating
with lie victims, honest labor taxed
beyond endurance 10 police its crimes.
political life poisoned at lie fountain
these are read and known OF oil.
Add TO these the ballot box bought
and scld, our political partie wear
ing the yoke Of the Liquors treasury.
The sight ofa great party refusing
on account Of adher, nee ~ its doc
trine Of States rights TO allow money
for educational purposes to come in.
to the States from the General Gov
ernment, and yet, In obedience 10 the
demands Of the Liquor Dealers As
sociAtiOn, trampling underfoot this
doctrine Of their greatest statesman
-such sights drive homo TO every
heart 0 realization OF the dangers
that encompass us.
| A comparison Of the drinks OF ths
present with those Of the past, the
greater dangers that come 70 oui
complex civilization, the increase oi
the traffic, the increased power Of the
Liquor Dealers Association, lie solid
organization, lie dlabOlical purposes,
peal out like midnight trumpets on
| The sleeping ssr Of our churches.