San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1895-12-08

mandments" yet In obedient OBJ
servance Of this commandment In
its spirit and letter is there
guarantee that there will be no
infraction of the others. 1t is in
no sense an eptiome OF the rest,
but in its all inclusiveness OF
human relation in some sort
touches all the ground of human
action, and insures the allegiance
of the life to those other COM
mands which are supposed to owe
their binding force to the supreme
declarations Of the supreme ruler
of the universe. 1t borrows no.
thing of these other declarations,
but it is the essence OF them all,
or rather it is of 80 general appli-
cation that it covers the ground
work and framework Of them all
in a very practical manner.
The Eleventh Commandment is
sui generis. Unlike the others,
the old time ten which form the
BODY of Mosaic declaration, this
commandment is not directed at
any particular sin-as theft, or
covetousness, or idolatry, or
murder, or adultry. There is no
"thou shalt not" about it in any
shape, or way, or manner. 1t does
not aim at any high attainment OF
virtue, nor does it compass any
particular relation of life, yet it is
of universal application and one
of the most needed of all the COM
mandments that have been given
to men, whether orally, or by
divine fingers on stony tablets.
The Eleventh Commandment
is not a negative command. 1t is
not thou shalt not, but thou shalt
1t is imperative, in that it can
not be broken without visiting
upon the heads of hundreds of
innocent ones the guilt OF the he
or the she who disregards it.
Other commandments can be
fractured and yet the sun will go
on it's shining way up the
heavens, the world will revolve on
its axis, men and women will per.
form their daily labors and the
earth will maintain its old jog,
but not 80 with this commandment.
Break it, and at once the machin-
cry of the world is out of whack.
Break it, and human relation is
disorganized. Break it, and the
whole framework OF society is
Break, 1t, aud it is
moral night and chaos comes
again. Break 1t, and you break
every commandment in the dec
alogne. Break it, and the bal
ance wheel of humanity is un-
shipped and there is no harmony
or regularity in the world.
The Eleventh Commandment
has a grip on all ages. 1t is not
confined to any one CLINE, or to
any class, or race, or civilization,
or language, or tongue. 1t is as
much insisted on in the tent of
the savage as in the palace Of the
polite. 1t is as much the rule of
the aboriginal dweller in the shade
Of the primeval forests, as it is of
the pampered children of fin.de-
steele luxury. The hunter in the
wilds of Africa will insist as much
upon obedience to this command
ment there, as he will when he re-
turns to his own seat in the center
OF trade and civilization. 1t was
one Of the declarations Of Grecian
law, and was uniformly insisted
upon in the Roman code. Ancient
Egypt required compliance with
its spirit, and the early Britons
resented any infraction Of its
precepts. There has been no age
SO old that it outruns the period Of
it's enactment, none so modern
that outgrows its need.
All the strife and bloodshed
that has deluged the world since
man shed blood is directly owing
to disregard of this Eleventh
Commandment. The massacres
that affront the civilized world in
Turkey today, and those which
raised a cry Of horror at the In
dian atrocitiesl nearly a half GEN.