The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1891-10-12

lofty torch. bearing figure which sends its
light al night inlnnd over tho Hudson ana
far ont over the harbor towards the Sea.
called Liberty Enlightening the World
ia no more q token Of our " faith than
the Judgment abroad concerning the tlhce
wi occupy among tho nations. The Pam
Republic congfess Ii to bold its first session
during the Columbian exhibition. There
after every three or five yaRrs " Will reaH-
semble In the great citiaa Of the republic
world. The recognition OF the principles
States Ia founded was 0 by q revolution.
For 100 years II has been al example. Now
1t Is sought TO propagate these principles,
and 40 help the country 70 accomplish the
propscy OF her birth, no longer by Wal, but
by psaceabis discussion, By. arbitration. by
lutions have suncesded2 The rule Ia, they
utterly fail. How was " in France? A
monster OF crnelty in place Of n weak king.
How in England? A tyrant Of unlimited
power In place OF q monarch suave and
worldly. Revolutions overturn thrones,
new found freedom? Evolution, not revo-
luton, 10 the true process, revealed in the
nature Of things. And a nobler thank Offer
ing could the people OF this land hardly
render at this coming fourth centennial
than the inauguration Of this human froe-
uQIu lGHRuts 10 GALtuu ny RuCi0O akGuCy ~
blessings of liberty over the face Of the
earth.
Has christianity no explicit message TO us
here? Christianity would be incomplete
had IL not. Always inspiring when sincerely
uttered there are crises when the artlcnla-
tion Of the word liberty Will fire a contln-
emit. Gould Christ have left the thought
without notice? Far otherwise. How Won
dsrful il his speech. '.You never say!s
Stanley, ssget to the end OF Christie words"
There Ia something in them always behind.
They pass into proverbs; they pass into
laws; they pass into doctrines; they pass
I pass ssnsn'.''G ana an after 'ne III n' 10
use that is made Of them they are still not
exhausted" SO comprehensively docs He
formulate the idea Of liberty. He puts it
upon tho highest, upon the only permanent
basis. "Ye shall know the truth, and the
the sum Of the whole matter? As Chris.
tians we believe that truth to the fullest
extent Of its most sweeping demands for
sovereignty shall at last prevail. When all
men know the truth, all men will be free.
The cause of freedom ia none other than
the cause Of Christ. But see how He
seems new to us. He asks individuals sim
ply to find out the truth, then to obey it.
whatever it dictates. We are often re-
minded of the cost of liberty--how the
siRnsrs of the Declaration of Independence,
putting their names to the document. saw
ment, even the gibbet, rs the possible PEN
atty Of the fateful deed. But that was for
political liberty. The price of freedom. in
Christ's use of the word, is at once more
easily computed and more difficult to Q n
der. 1t iB obedience.
august obedience, to the world denied,
ls Gods economy to make US free"
L -, ~ - AZ xkAr~ ~ &o1%hol Tho = frna1nrpN
you boast ia of necessity limited.
Take, for example. a country that has
thrown off q foreign yoke. May it
not still be in bondage to a domestic
tvrant. to internal factions, to a foolish Il
exaoting administration, to the masses
themselves, whose unbridled license is OF
itself a reign of terror and the witness OF
their own abiect servitude to passion?
What the states meant when they declared
themselves free and independent" was
that they intended to exercise their right Of
self government. Is not the theory of pop
ular government in its ultimate analysis
this-that the people are the masters: the
government, therefore. the servant. of the
people? Let the people,, the individuals.
the units DO self-governing, each master of
himself in the only way in which true self
mastery is possible, by a cheerful habit of
obedience to the universal laws, and have
you not the problem settled? You cannot
ASN~t pA~ @FA~'~
Of liberty, from the gospe! OF Christ. Ills
truth makes freemen, Picture that land
let your fancy extend to a government en-
braoing all mankind on the surface of the
globe, whose subjects have everyone been
led, first, into the glorious liberty Of the
IONS of God! "One might as WE'LL" ex--
claims a living statesman. "expect our land
to keep its climats, its fertility, it's salu-
brity and it's beauty were the globe loosened
from the law which holds it in ar orbit
where we feel the tempered radiance
Of the sun as to count upon
the preservation of the delights and glories
of liberty for a people cast loose from re-
ligion, whereby man is bound in harmony
with the moral government of the world"
Is not this the secret of 80 many failures in
the past? There il no other process for the
worlds advancement but that Of which
Christ is the interpreter. What thus far is
the moral of all human tales?
"'Iis but the same rehearsal of the past
First freedom and then g~Iory-when that fails
Wealth. VICE, Observation-Disclosures at last;
And history. in all her volumes vast
Hath but ono page I.5'
But there is to be an end to this sad repe-
tition. Nations as we'll as individuals learn
wisdom by experience. Men are recognize
ing the force Of the truth which is Christ's,
though they will not always honor it with
His name. In the aiscussionsof these COM
ing congresses in this country, in Paris, i'll
Rio Janeiro. in Berne, where they are mp
pointed to meet, let us believe that tho
form of truth which we are wont to rover
ence will sooner or later find emphatic as
~sertion. May they, too, announce to the
world, what the churches are commissioned
to proclaim, that
'He is a freeman whom the truth" (the truth as
it is in Jesusl makes free,
And all else are slaves beside" #.M-