Birmingham state herald., 1895-12-08
ast from which it came, a relic of which

past 1TOI1 WHICH IL Cdflti lCiiO Ol HAiSh
 it is.
 Eighteen centuries have passed since
 the tragedy of Calvary blazed the light
 of revelation to a darkened world. still in some things we are more Hebraic than Christian. All civilized governments of the present day recognize the old Jewish
 constitution as the foundation of their
 judicial codes-a life for a life" is the Mosaic law. Yet how taught the Divine
 Master? "Ye have heard that it hath
 been said an eye for an eye, and tooth
 for tooth; but I say unto you resist not
 evil" Is not the new dispensation of Christ of higher authority than the old one of Moses?
 It is in this view we hold 1t to be car
 dinal maxim of our political faith that that government is the best which gov erns the least. That the sentiment of mutual trust, forbearance and benefit is far nobler than suspicion and fear. That
 you must govern man not altogether
 through the terrorS of the law, but inn plant the law of love in his heart. Edu-
 cate his moral as well as his physical faculties; teach him to see clearly his re- responsibilities and to estimate his actions
 by the consequences that are to result therefrom. But as the Jew who had lived so long under the old dispensation, and become welded to its stern requirements,
 could not recognize in all its depth and grandeur and beauty the light of the new,
 so we in this age when moral and edu-
 cational influences are rising so far su- perior to physical power. It is hard for man to realize this mighty change and to
 give to it's advancement even the faith that is in him.
 The energy of mind, struggling up through the chaos of the past, sweeping away in It's march the prejudices of ages, is bright exemplification of the nobler
 purposes of mans creation. The law of sympathy and of correspondence runs
 throughout the whole range of created matter, for the great architect himself has stamped 1t upon every feature of his
 universe. Without it night of darkness and gloom would settle upon uS-l1fe would be blank and heaven itself the offspring of distempered thought. If this be a true principle of physical
 science it is equally true in Its applica- tion to our moral and mental condition.
 We have constitutions declaring our
 rights, and laws made in obedience for
 the purpose of enforcing those rights; at the same time there must be con- current public sentiment to sustain them, otherwise they remain as blanks upon the statute books: as, for instance, the laws prohibiting lynchings-while main- taining costly judiciary system we submit to the government of the mob. In all the relations of life, wherever man is to be found, whether amid the ice bound regions of the north or the tropi- cal breezeS of the sunny south, wherever the magic wand of civilization has touched him a community of interest of feeling and of sympathy are the land
 marks to guide his destiny and to shield him from the surges of those mighty passions which have too often engulfed his brightest hopes and buried in faith less sea his noblest energies.
 There have been men who really have, or pretended to. doubt whether civiliza- tion has, after all, conferred any great benefits upon the human race. To a refiecting mind such theory must cap the very climax of absurdity, for the reason that the very causes which have induced that civilization will, if properly applied. appreciated and understood, place man in a position so high, so pure and so elevated that no, groveling pas sions could dwell there; all would be an Eden home-that brighter day refulgent of d brighter dawn-for what is the light of civilization but moral as well as intellectual advancement?
 He has read the history of mankind to little advantage who can say other wise Can arbitrary regulations enforce If? He has read that history to less pur- pose who can say so. M. M. II. Birmingham, Ala. Dec. 5, 1895.