St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1893-02-13
And the Cathedral Was
Packed to Its Limits to
Hear Him.
An Interesting Sermon by
Archbishop ireland Last
Night.
The viii Of God the Rule for
the Conduct Of the
World.
He Is Eternal Reason and His
Laws Are Natures De-
mands.

The cathedral was packed to its full
est capacity last evening on the occasion
| of the delivery of sermon by Arch
bishop Ireland. An excerpt Of the SER
mon is as follows:
1.-The rule and reason of all right con-
| duct is the will of Almighty God. The
| supremacy of God over us, our individ-
ual accountability to His tribunal are
the great truths which influence US to
do good and to avoid evil. The fatal
misfortune of the many is that they lose
sight of those vital principles. Hence
sin prevails.
| God is the creator. Know we that
the Lord is God? He made US. and not
we ourselves We are absolutely de-
pendent upon Him; receiving from Him
| life, thought and action. We entirely
belong to Him. He disposes of us as He
wills. and in justice we have naught to
say, but to obey. Will the clay say to
the potter: why hast thou made me
| thus?' Forming our beings according
to the eternal prototypes of His eternal
! essence. He marks out the laws under
| which we exist, and those laws remain
| for US the condition of existence. To
| strive for freedom from those laws is to
strive for freedom from His power and
authority, to call Him down from
! His throne of master and monarch. to
deny His wisdom. aud to make of our
| selves gods in His universe. The whole
universe received the impress of law
| when, at the bidding of His word, it
| tO ho c
| forms. Its unthinking parts, the fiery
suns of limitIeSs space. the fields and
forests of earth's surface, oceans bill
! lows and the WavingS OF the atmosphere,
| never depart from the commands which
| they received. One being amid all 9TH
ers rises to sublime grandeur by the
| possession of Intelligence and free will.
| 1t is man. InaSmuch as ne communi-
Gates with matter he is subject to phys
ical laws. which. under penalty of phys
| zeal death, he is constrained to obey.
! Will 1t be that in the high ranges of.
! action, in which his free soul operates.
| he is left by the Creator of ali things
| without rule or command. an erring,
aimleSS star in the heavens of supreme
| harmony? and if rule and command are
read out to him while physically free
to rebel, will it be that he is
without Moral Obligation
| to obey in absolute loyalty? Man in his
! creation received laws from the Creator;
/ else the Creator were a wisdomleSs
! builder. and men were the only element
| of chaos in Well-ordered world. Laws
| received, man. in the exercise OF his
! free will, must freely follow them. To
| dare send up his voice toward the Crea-
| tor in protesting tones, saying, i will
not serve were an evil, a wrong-doing
immensely more heinouS than the sud-
den stopping of the planets in their
| perennial revolutions, or their leaping
1 away from their prescribed orbits, and
the consequent breaking up of the
| armament into disorder and darkness.
| II have said thai the divine will is
| the supreme law of human morals. But
| we must not here imagin that there Is
| in this will aught of caprice or arbi-
| trarineSS. God is eternal reason, and
! all His works beSpeak reason, and show
| forth the order which proceeds from
reason. The laws which God imposes
! upon man are those which mans nature
f! demands that it may fulfill it's appointed
| destiny and live out its God-received
| life. The laws of the sun and the
! moon are the conditions making it pos
| sible for them to exist and to effect in
| the universe the work which the gen
| eral harmony of material beings eXacts
! from them. In like manner man re-
| ceives his laws, parts and compliments
| of his very nature. Obeying the d.
vine law, man serves himself and eXaltS
| himself. The submission to God is the
| connition of healthfulneSS of soul and
body, of the perfection of man in his
! several social relations, of his beattude
! along the whole course of his existence.
Here and there this submission seem
ingly works suffering, as rebellion
seemingly procureS happiness; but mo-
mentary results are to be considered not
| in themselves but in the general trend
of action, and right-doing ends always
| in peace and bliss. and wrong doing
| ends always in perdition and misery.
THE divine law is named at times
the natural and at times the positive
law. The natural law is that which
necessarily follows from the very con-
stitution of the human being and its ap-
pointed destiny. The human reason
itself reads it in the traeiEgs of the hui
| man being. 1t is seen and known, at
least in its chief precepts, outside OF
All Special Revelation.
Hence it's universally among all men,
of all nations, and of all times.
But because the human reason discov-
ers it, the inference is false which
would give it as the product of the hu-
man mind. As such it would be mere
tendency of our being, or mere con-
cept, or an ideal of the mind. The nat
ural law shows itself to our reason as
an element in the general ordering of
the universe by Gods infinite wisdom,
and, in consequence, comes to Us in
vested with His authority, indeed as
His own voice and His own will. The
positive law is the declaration of Gods
will in our regard made through special
revelation. This may be a law not alb
Solutely required as condition OF our
natural being, but yet it is always in
harmony with this being. and of kind
to elevate it and to aid it in the fulfill
ment of the natural law. Obedience to
positive law is a precept Of the natural
law, which demands from us, as Great
ureS. that we hearken to the words of
the Creator whenever and wherever
spoken.
'.Strong is tie soul that lives with and
for God. There is Haught on earth so
beautiful, so noble. Its sense of duty
rules all its conduct. and gives it the
power OF heroisIn. Nothing moves it
from the path of rectitude. Fierce pas
sions roll against it their impotent bill
lows. Worldly interests. temptations
of power and pelf, have no voice in its
counselings. 10 all seductiOns OF riches
and pleasures, to menaces OF persecu
ton and death, it answers: | cannot, L
will not. The soul. heroic in duty, may
be that of child or of weak woman; it
transcends thousand-fold the power
full conQueror leveling the walls of
strong cities. but weak before personal
temptation. 1t mag be that of an I'M
cultured peasant Or an obscure beggar;
it is immensely greater than the soul of
Wanted philosopher or enyied Cresus,
over whom sin owns mastership. The
infinite is the Judge OF true value, ana
TO the sanity disciple OF duty the III
finite bows in love; but He deSpises the
naughty and .honored who know Hin
not and love Him not. Would we be
disciples OF duty, let us cling closely TO
God. Would we multiply among men
disciples OF duty, the pride Of the race,
the guarantee OF IFS best hopes and
purest aspirations, let Us labor to eX-
tend around us the knowledge and the
love of Almighty God"