The advocate., 1894-04-11

lnau&ur3Ueu. AS PROOF OI JnlS, permit
me to read from an article published
some time ago in the Contemporary
Review, and written by Elisee RecluS,
the eminent French geographer, who is
a pronounced Anarchist. Please keep
your seats, my friends. l assure you
that the article is harmless. Here is
the passage: 1--WE, frightful Anarch-
lists as We are. know only one way of
establishing peace and good will among
men-the suppression of privilege and
the recognition of right. Our ideal, as
we have said, is that of the fraternal
equity for which all yearn, but almost
always as dream; with us it takes
form and becomes a concrete reality.
1t pleaSes us not to live if the enjoy
ments of life are to be for us alone; we
protest against our good fortune if we
may not share it with others; it is
SWeeter for us to wander with the
wretched and the outcast than to sit
crowned with roses at the banquetS of
the rich. We are weary of these in
equalitieS which make us the enemies
of each other; we would put an end to
the furies which are ever bringing us
into hostile collision, and all Of which
arise from the bondage of the weak to
the strong under the form of slavery,
serfage and service. After so much
hatred we long to love each other, and
for this reason are we enemies Of pri-
vate property and despisers of the law. "
What was it but this dream become "a
concrete reality" which gave Looking
Backward" so remarkable hold upon
the imagination of the people and en-
abled it to arouse such enthusiasm
everywhere?
have said that Christ's object was
to inaugurate a great movement for
the realization of this dream Of the
ages. See whether this statement is
not true. He called his doctrine "the
gospel of the kingdom" Gospel means
"good neWs"-a happy message; hence
He preached some happy message or
doctrine concerning the millennium.
What was itY "The kingdom of heaven
is at hand" That is precisely what
He told His disciples to preach-pre-
cisely what He preached Himself. He
did not mean that the millennium had
already come, for He foretold the course
of its future coming. He did not mean
it was coming speedily; for He ex-
pressly stated that this good news
must first "be preached in all the
world" What then did He mean by
sat hand?" What could He have meant
but within reach" - "attainable ?"
The millennium is no foolish dream, but
state of things that can be brought
about; this was the good news He
preached, andHe taught the people how
this ravishing hope could actually be
realized. His gospel consisted in taking
this state of society out Of the realm OF
poetic dreams and making its realiza-
tion the practical object of human en-
deavOr. His followers were to live as
He urged for the purpose of aiding in
the cOnsummation of this sublime
achievement; He aimed to have this
gospel preached in all the world in
order to get such followers everywhere
on earth, and the one object to be
sought by all his followers was the
realization Of the millennium through
out the world. Is it not clear that the
object of all his vigorous campaigning
there in Judea eighteen hundred years
ago was the Inauguration of the iden
tical movement of which modern So
cialism is the reyivalP His program
his plan of campaign-was not the same
in all particulars as that of socialism,
but the movement itself was the very
same. Not only SO, but this modern
agitation was substantially predicted
by Him, and is the very result He ex-
pected to follow sooner or later His
preaching in Judea. How can any
Chlstian read the gospel and stand
aloof from this great movement of to-
day?
fhird-Christ relied upon the enthu-
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