The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1896-03-25

Rome! Let ner greatest ueSS4PiCS an
swer.
Cicero. one Of the most religious men |
of his day, denied Providence and de-
SPARED Of certainty.
Caesar, who is said to have been the
highest religious authority in the Roman
state at that time, declared in the SEN
ate. on the occasion of Cateline's con-
spiracy, that death ends all"
We are told that the elder Pliny de-
clared mans nature to be a like, and
that the best gift OF God is the power 10
commit suicide.
But the threnody of Rome's despair
falls from the lips Of Lucretius. He de-
MES Providence. He denies the moral
purpose of the universe. He calls faith
a curse and immortality a silly delusion!
Brahmanisn undertook the task OF
saving the Hindoos. 1t not only failed
to teach others the way OF truth, but
| became, itself utterly lost in mental
confusion WEAKNESS was too real 10
dream even into rest; sin was too real
to dream men into purity, and death
was too real to dream into life. And,
because men could not be saved by
splendid dream Brahmanism failed.
| Buddhism-Is there salvation in this
wonderful religion It is a system
without love- 1t is a system without
tIOu. DdnSS Ids Vic IhANAAAOs
Buddhism has one thousand, 1t shows
! US man feeling after God, but no God
/ feeling after man. It's central doctrine
! is that "Ail existence is evil" The only
escape it offers is that of annihilaSIon.
It's remedy for blurred vision is blind
ness; it's remedy for dull hearing IS
| deafness; Its remedy for hunger Is fam
| inc Buddhism's remedy for discourage
ment is despair. Its cure for weakness
is paralysis; its cure for the souFs
! disease is death! Its cure for every
| thing is nothing.
Neither is there salvation in the chief
philosophers of the world. The central
question of Hindoo philosophy $500
years ago was, How shall human nat
ure be saved from evil-where shall
rest be found?" What must l do to
be saved?" That same old question
| asked by the Philiphian jailor has been
/ rIIng from the human heart in some
form in every age Of the world The
! form of the question has varied, but
the essence Of the souls cry has ever
been the same. The three systems OF
Hindoo philosophy were utterly help
less in its presence.
The old Greek philosophers struggled
heroically with the greatest questions
of the human soul.
=
fore Greece, everything in human lit
| erature and art was a rude and imper-
feet attempt; since Greece everything
has been rude and imperfect imitation
Certainly then, they ought TO give us
some clue TO the question, What must
/ do to be saved?"
Civilization, law, Providence, man,
conscience and destiny-these were their
problems. Are they not also the ques-
tions Of this hour?
Even the splendid philosophy of Plato
Offered to the vile, no regeneration, he
offers the lost no savior. he offers the
dead no Resurrection. Neither is there
salvation in the Greek philosophy.
Neither is there salvation in secular
ism. The panacea it offers is, Teach
men to understand and obey the laws
of nature" 1t ignores the future life.
Its prominent advocate in this country
teaches that when the human heart is
weary unto death, self-destruction is
admissible. It tells the paralytic that
he needs strength. but it has none TO
impart. 1t tells the sick man that he
needs restoration, but it walks away 10
let him die. Bradlaugh and Ingersoll
| opponents
Neither can the Agnostic tell US how
to be saved. 1t is an interesting point
/ in philosophy. The only thing it is GER
| tain about is that it Is uncertain. The
only thing it knows is that nothing can
be known. Amid the heart-ache and
sin of this world il lifts its desDairing
cry, saying, salvation unknOwable.
life unlknowable, God unknowable." 1t
even dares 10 stand at my mother S
grave and tell me that 'a trench doth
mark at last the end of each and all!''
A very touching scene occurred in a
7 10
An affectionate mother died. She had
asked hat her son, a bright, young law
yer, conduct the funeral service. He
was deeply touched, but he said he
would for her sake, if it took his life. He
was an Agnostic and had been chairman
of their club. The hour arrived and a
messenger was sent TO the Methodist
church to borrow some Methodist
hymn books for the service. They sang
at that funeral, Nearer My God, to
Thee" Rock of Ages, Cleft for Me, y
and Jesus Lover Of My Soule, Let Me
TO Thy Bosom Fly
Neither is there salvation in Unitar-
ianiSm. Its central doctrine is that
Pleasure is the chief God and pleasure
. is the standard of right" The heart
anguish of every weary prodigal in your
city tonight declares this philosophy of
Aristippus and Ericurus TO be false.
Jenny Bentham said that pain and
pleasure are our sovereign masters"
, An illustrious advocate of this philos-
ophy, Thomas Hobbies, cried as he merg-
ed into the deepening gloom of death.
81 am taking a leap into the dark.
Now is there salvation in Material
ism? 1t resolves all being into matter
and forces. You ask it TO define life
and it mocks your query by saying that
life is a particular combination of
matter taking place under favorable cir
cumStances."
You ask what ia my soul?" It an
swers, the soul is function of mater
. ial organization" That is 10 say. the
soul is not an entity at all, but only the
. function Of an entity 1t shuts God out
of the universe and brushes the sweet
, hope of Immortality. 1t does not sat
, isfy its own admirers For DIR. Tyndall
himself declares that THE circle Of hui
man nature is not complete without the
. are OF feeling and emotion" He says
1.-The lilies of the field have a value for
: us beyond their botanical ones-a GER
? tain tightening of the heart accompan-
les the declaration that solomon in al
his glory was not arrayed like one OF
, these. The sound of the village bell
which comes mellowed from the valley
, to the traveller upon the hill has a value
beyond its sccoustical one. The setting
? sun, when il mantles with the bloom OF
, roses the Alpine SHOWS, has a value
beyond its optical one. Round about the
, intellect sweeps the horizon Of emotions
, from which all our nOblest impulses are
> derived
And so the soul of this great scien-
= fist feels as you and / feel-that
Behind the dim unknown.
Stande<h God with the shadow