Blue-grass blade., 1892-02-06

justice, and yet he can attack a
minister on the smallest provoca-
ton, before receiving one word of
explanation on his part, with a
mercilessness that is amazing.
One can easily see, I think, how
that almost all that is so very un-
just in his written words, are by
him not considered so, for it has
grown out of that effort on his
part to believe the church an in
stitution founded on superstition
and whose creeds are documents
unworthy of both the head and
heart of men.
The ministers of such an institu-
ton, must, in the nature of things
be shams, and it is the act ofman-
hood to expose them. Hence there
is no hesitancy, when an unworthy
one is found, to refer to him as a
member of a class of like nature;
or, when one is seen to do that
which does not seem right, to re-
fer his conduct to hypocrisy.
Mr.. Moore seems to judge each
individual preacher by that low
idea of the calling which he has
formed by a process of abstract
reasoning as to the nature of that
calling.
1t is not new method of judg-
ing.
Almost any Protestants treat
Catholic priests in the same way;
forgetting that no just judgment
of individual men can ever be had
while we refuse to look at them as
men, having within themselves
peculiarities in a hundred forms,
never before possessed by any NOR
tai, and persist in seeing simply
one ofcaste. Our idea of the caste
may be exactly correct, but of the
man, wholly erroneous.
This method of judging has
characterized and justified the
very worst forms of persecution
and when it enters the mind, what
ever ones creed, injustice is the in
evitable result; not the injustice
that comes from a cruel heart
prosecutors have seldom been of
such material, but that which
comes from men who honestly be-
lieve that they do Gods service.
Ministers who have met Mr..
Moore personally have been sur.
prised to find so perfect and such
an agreeable gentleman. tits his
pen and not his tongue that feels
the duty to cut. It is easily ex-
planned. While with them, the
character of the caste is forgotten
in the presence cf an agreeable per-
sonslity. But, when he takes the
pen, the individual is forgotten,
and that hypocritical character of
the caste is constantly before the
mind. His public utterances are
as honest as was his private con-
duct sincere.
Those two deep radical convic-
tions in him color the whole life.
And so he is the best example
l have ever seen of how utterly
impossible it is for an honest man
raised under the influences of
Christianity, to degrade the church
of Christ in his own mind; for,
despite all his intellectual efforts
and conclusions, the church and
the calling of Chrstss ministers ~
main in his mind as great realities;
demanding, by their high stand
ard, the noblest type Of citizen
ship.
There is also the deep, but may
be unconscious conviction that the
hope of the country lies in the
church, and not simply in the
beautiful spirit of Christianity. II
this is not so what means those
efforts to arouse the ministers to
duty?
And most certainly it follows
that the degradation of the church
would be the ruin of our land.
Now let me say again how for
eign it is to my purpose to reflect
in any way upon Mr.. Moore. ]
have noted what I think to be 9
contradiction in his convictions,
but because they are convictions
they are honest and the inconsis-
tency if it exists, has been out Of
sight, and can in no way affect his
sincerity, but can, as 1 believe
exist not only in one honest man
but actually does exist in us all to
some degree, and despite the most
beautiful sincerity, sends forth
light and darkness, good and evil
in the same life.
q. T. CODY,
i Georgetown, KY.
Barring some little inaccuracy
in the syntactical get up of tha1
letter, that would not be worthy
of a reference in the production D
a man in less cultured calling