The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1896-01-01
Abusing the Good Samaritan.

The Scriptures tell of certain man
that went down from Jerusalem to
Jericho and fell among thieves, who
stripped him of his raiment and other.
wise maltreated him, leaving him half
dead. The priest and the Levite came
that way, looked on the victim, and
"passed by on the other side." But a
certain Samaritan came and had com.
passion on him, bound up his wounds,
and by every means that humanity
could require "took care of him."
"was a neighbor to him that fell among
thieves" This Good Samaritan has
become the highest example of the true
neighbor and has been laden with the
eulogies of Christendom.
A sister republic on this hemisphere
has fallen among thieves. The thief
of the world" has stripped her of her
raiment and wounded her, but he has
not yet departed, and while there are in
her possession mines of gold and other
property worth stealing he will not de-
! part, if he is left unmolested. But now,
when Ga certain Samaritan" goes to
the rescue of this weak republic, be-
comes "a neighbor to her that has
fallen among thieves" Christendom is
in panic. Perchance there will be
war between " the two great English
speaking peoples" and blood will be
spilled. But instead of condemning
the thief and commanding him to let go
of his victims throat and keep the
peace, ministers of the Christian gos-
pei are emptying their walls of pious
wrath upon the head, not of the thief,
but of the Good Samaritan. Things have
changed since the days of the parallels.
Few of the preachers in the metro.
politan churches, as reported by the
press, have entered into discussion of
the business or unjustness of the ma
tional ADMINISTRATORS position in the
contention, but have confined them
selves to discoursing upon the common
ancestry, language, and religion of the
United States and Great Britain, and
upon the horrors and sinfulness of war
The speech of anarchism must pale
it's Intellectual fires " before the intern
perance of language, absence of patriot.
ism and exhibition of hysterical mental
conditions presented by some of these
peace. at-any-price divines. One is
shocked by "the wild and wbirling
shout for 6 war at any COST" 1.-TWO
great Christian nations, frothing at the
mouth and quarreling over a bone no,
worth the picking" is the mild and un-
impassioned language of another, who
calls the president ga high jingo" and
denounces congress as his accomplish.
Another roasts the South American re.
publics, " so-called," for their barbar.
ism, lauds England as the great evan
gelist of civilization and Christianity
and devoutly wishes that she might
take not only what she claims, but
also the whole of Venezuela and a num-
Der of others of those countries down
there"
1t was to be expected that the
pulpit would be for peace-peace with
honor. 1t might possibly have been
expected that English or Canadian
clergymen occupying American pulpits,
but whose native prepossessions DOM
mate their sense of duty as to their
adopted country, would stand by the
Anglican aggressor, but the most ordi-
nary worldly wisdom should have taught
these clerical tories that the surest way
to serve the cause of truth and justice
and peace, all cardinal Christian vir-
tues, was by an open, manly support OF
their own government, which proposes
first of all, to find the truth about this
boundary dispute; then, if the facts
show that England is the wilful aggres.
sor, and her aggressions menace the
national safety and the national inter,
ests, to resist her by every means in
the power of the government. In the
expression of this determination the
American people have been firm, dig
nified and deliberate. Their demeanol
has been gravity itself compared with
the frenzied and unpatriotic exhibitions
from certain pulpits.
DR.. Lyman Abbott's slurs on Vene
zuela sand others OF those countries