The gold leaf. [volume] (Henderson, N.C.) 1881-1911, 1895-10-17
CHURCH REFORMERS.
SEVERE REBUKE TO THOSE WHO As.
SAIL 1T.
A kentucky Paper has its Say OH the
Subject-Pays its Respects to Pres
ident Thompson anu Senator Butter
All Caused by the Recent Remark
of the Former and the Course OF
the l alter.
louisville Home and Farm

humor, CheS rfulness and common sense
in politics, and in everything else, bul
even into our columns creep little
bad temper apd verbal abuses.
Onlyfa little, though, for busy, hon
est, and aprigh, men, though eaTne>r,
often serious, are sill as rule, even
tempered and not inclined to resor; to
hard words.
But North Carolina is just now ex-
cited by the ut,crances of DR.. Cyrus
Thompson, who, unfortunately, hap
pens TO be President of the North
Carolina Farmers Allia &c.
In a recent public speech DR.,
Thompson, who has a great many
plans for reforming society which do
not commend themselves to the grea,
mass of his fellow Citizens, grew angry,
and turned on the church as the cen
ter ofoppostion.
"The church," says he, Islands on
the side of human slavery.
DR.. Thompson is fortunate enough
or unfortunate enough, to have IN his
conflict with the church 4 newspt per
owned by Marion Butler, who IA.t
year, slipped into ,h- Uunted S,a'cs
Senate. Butler say:
"Dr. Thompson DOES not make an
assertion unless he knows what he is
saying. He attacked the organized
church and not Christianity, and he
will whip if there is a contest. The
truth is on the side of what he said"
1t is not strange that infdels and
anarchists, from Insersoll to Bu,ler
and Thompson, attack the. church, but
they have, even when combined, no
power permanently to lnJure the
church.
In truth, the church, the organized
Christian Church, is the great deicn-
der of the poor, the helper OF the
needy, the sustainer of those cast down.
1t abolishes caste distinction, and
places man on his own feet as his own
master. The church. like charity,
suffereth long, and is kind. Ii takes
from the rich and the poor. 1t breaks
down the wall Of selfshness and makes
the whole world kin. 1t restrains the
power of the mob, and teaches patience
to the multitude and to those in
power.
1t is not possible to exagserate the
irHuan~oc nf III. cbrr~,
mankind. In just 50 far as the civil :
zation, OF this day is broader, NOR c
generous, more gentle, more kindly;
in word, more humane; just in SO
far as it reaches the masses rather than
the classes, modern civilization owes
its superiority to the civilization Of
ancient Greece and Rome and Egypt
to Christ, to Christianity and to the
Christian ChuICh.
While it is ture that many crimes
have at different stages Of history been
committed in the name of the church:
while it is true that savage brutality
has marked some of its pages, still, we
have but to compare the condition Of
the multitude today with its condition
two thousand years ago; with its con-
dition to-day in nations which know
not the church to see at once iha, the
church is the foe Of human slavery
and the friend OF human progress.
But for this very reason it stands a:
a very lion in the path of the passion
ate, unreasonable, ungoverned mcr
like the anarchists of Europe and
America; a foe alike to those who
| turned the French revolution into d
carnival of blood and to those who in
America to-day would overthrow al
established order that they may for 4
/ moment be eminent.
We know nothing of the Or. Thomp
son, but from this utterlncc he IS a type
I of men we hhow in the clty-profes
fsional reformers, or agItators, who, ig-
norant of the FIRST principle of govern
ment, self-con,rol, seek in the name
of liberty to Subject Others 10 then
| will. <%H+'
These men do The cause Of the peO.
pie Infinite harm. We mean they delay
the coming of the time when the ordl
nary comforts of liieFwll be within the
J reach of every sober and industriou:
man and woman.
That is what civilization Is bringing
US. Looking back we realize that much
| has been done in this direction, and
| more and better things await US, tht
multitude receiving an ever increasing
proportion OF an ever increasing pro
duct.
! That is male, ia. civilization, anC
material prosperity has tendency tC
deaden mems sympathies and To har
den their he 'rts. the church come:
reaching that all men are brothers
the children of common father, wht
| says: "inasmuch as ye do 1t unit
them, you do i, unto me.
So the church, with its teachings
and is institutions and It's customs
with sermons, songs and prayers. In
church at the bridal and at the grave
softens all the hard lines Of l:fe, put
csurage.into the hearts o: lhose VIII
are disturbed, and gives strength t
those who are weak, putting an ever
lasting arm, under these who hay
fought the good fight and kept tn
faith.
Men anL women, wherever yC
are, dis rust the man who in the nan
Of any Cause tries 10 advance il by a
tacking The church.