The representative. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1893-1901, 1895-01-16
There were no luxuries

When he preached it was to the
poor, the wretched, the oppressed, the
unhappy, the sinful. There was not,
perhaps, single pair Of shoes among
all his followers up to the date of his
cruclfixion. He preached the lifting
up to heaven of the poor and humble;
and he doomed the rich to the bot
tomless pit; for he declared they could
no more enter Paradise than camel
| could pass through the eye of
| needle. He did not belong to "the
business mans era;' for he scourged
the mOney-changers, (the bankers,)
and the sellers of doves, (the mer-
chants out of Gods temple, as an Of
| fence and PROCLAMATION. His heart
was pitiful to Mary Magdalene, the
repentant prostitute, but he has left
no recorded words of eulogium for the
queens of the earth.
The Roman Empire prosecuted the
new creed for generations because
they regarded it as Democratic
movement,-and an insurrection of
the co,'oile. Gibbon sneeringly says:
1.-The new sect of the Christians was
almost entirely composed of the dregs
OF the populace, Of peasants and me-
chanics, of boys and women, of beg
gars and slaves. the last Of whom
might sometimes introduce them into
the rich and noble families to which
they belonged"
Now, we do not 60 to the extreme
Of Interpreting Christ's words to mean
that his gospel was only meant for
paupers: or that man cannot deserve
heaven because he has been industri-
Gus and economical and has gathered
around him the good things of this
life. Such a creed would be incom-
patible with the requirements OF
civilized society. Religion should Ia
Dor not to make all men paupers,
but to give even to the paupers an
opportunity to rise to affluence. But
Christ did not come to the rich,-be-
cause they were able to take care Of
themselves. He came to the poor, the
afflicted, the unfortunate. the sinful,
the unhappy, because they could hope
for no sympathy which did not arise
from G0d-born charity, and a sense
of that brotherhood, which is the
foundation of the Christians hope.
The clergymen, therefore, should not
lose sight of the fundamental purpos e
Of the NaZarene's mission under the
merely human frailty of Mammo wor-
ship. The robes and the lace and the
rn1l nj hn NJ cl, ,of
tervene between the ministry of
Christs church and that picture
which history calls up, Of the Gal
lilean moving among the ragged,
swarming multitudes, who were SC
poor and poverty-stricken that he had
to resort to miracles to feed his audi
ences.
And how, since the age of miracles
is past, can the vast hordes of the
wretched to-day be helped and fed?
Cathedral splendors will not do it,
fretted vault.
The pealing anthem swells its note OF
praise"
The evils Of the world spring from
misgOvernment in the interest of in
ordinate greed and cruelty. These
are demons which bell, book and can
die will not exyrcise. disagreement
can only be corrected by good govern
ment. The power of the many. con
centrated in what we cal. CLAW fol
the good Of all; must take
the place of the power Of
the few, in the shape of "law," tt
benefit the few at the expense Of the
many. Injustice must be encountered
by justice: cunning by wisdom; ego
tism by altruism; brutal wealth by
universal, benevolent prosperity
', The men who are fighting
this battle Of Reform to-day
own no palaces nor cathedrals
no incense salutes their nostrils: n,
robes. stiff with gold and jewels, cove
,. their limbs, but they are truly of til,
priesthood of Him who was murdered
!, by the arstocracy because he brough
: light and hope to the poor; and the,
will be remembered in the ages t.
come, even the humblest of them, 70
the good they have attempted or &C
: cOmplished for the common family o
= man. I. D.