The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1896-04-16
And wherever Il went ~ sowed the seeds
Of future democracy.
-.


It is enough to note that these popular
movements inevitably grew out Of
Christianity. You cannot make men be-
lieve that they are sons Of God and keep
them in slavery. You cannot make them
believe that they are immortal and keep
them upon the ground with the feet OF
despotism on their neck. You cannot
open the eyes Of their mind Ahat they
may read and keep them in dungeons
The south was wise, IL 1t meant to
maintain slavery, in making IL penal
offense to teach the slave to read. An
intelligent slave does not long stay q
slave.
As result of Christianity, religion
itself has become democratio. It is no
longer the religion of hierarchy or a
priesthood. Its object Is no longer to
appease the wrath Of an angry God or
TO bribe the favors Of favorite God,
Its purpose is to set the face Of human
ity toward the future, and to teach, to
preach, to inspire a larger, nobler. di-
yiner human life In man. II Is true that
we ministers do not always understand
paganism in our blood. "Scratch Rus
sian," said Napoleon, land you will
find q Oossack. " Scratch a Christian, !
say, and you will nnd a pagan. We are
all half pagans, and the ministers are
still but imperfectly emancipated. But
the whole tendency Of religious life,
from the days of Christ down to the
present time, has been to revolutionize
religion from the old conception of q
sacrifice to appease the wrath Of an
angry God or win his favor, to the con-
ception of ministry of God, through
man, for the upbuilding, the elevation,
the redemption of humanity. Look at 1t !
The reformation was followed by po-
litical revolution. Wherever this Bible
was opened and men could read it, there
went along with it the overthrow Of the
aristocracy and the substitution Of the
reign Of the common people. The old
saying was that the majority of men
were born into the world saddled and
bridled to be ridden and the few were
born booted and spurred to ride. That
is no longer recognized as true in demo-
cratic America, or in democratic Eng
land, or in democratic France, or in
Germany, or even in Italy; only in Spain
and in Russia. With this broadening out
Of political power, the scepter passing
from the hands of the few to the hands
of the many, the divine right Of kings
abolished and the divine right Of the
people taking its place, there has come
a broader education. Are we wiser than
our fathers? You will not find In any
university today a profounder thinker
than Plato. 1t will not be claimed that
the modern playwright surpasses Shakes
peare, and the writers of our newspa-
per poetry are hardly equal to Milton or
Dante. But Plato had his little band Of
scholars around him in garden; today
the philosophy Of Plato is taught in a
hundred universities and colleges. There
were but a few that could understand
Shakespeare, and they but imperfectly;
today Shakespeare is to be found along
side the Bible in every family. There are
thousands today that enjoy him where
there was one that enjoyed him in his
lifetime. The public press has made
education universal; not profounder,
but broader. The reformation was also
a renaissance. The new learning and the
new theology went together; the new
education and the new religion. For
man is one, and you cannot stir the i'm
mortal spirit In him without evolving a
new learning and new science and
new liberty and new life in every part.
Diffusion Of Wealth.
And wealth also is more diffused. l
have read Progress and Poverty" but
I have also read the pictures of the oon-
dition Of the workingmen in the seven
teenth century, and have been In the
houses of the workingmen Of the nine
teeDth century. There never was time
in the history Of the world when wealth
was as widely diffused as it is today,
when there was as much opportunity, as
much largeness of life. know that Mr..
Vanderbilt is said to possess $3.50, 000,-
600. What does he do with itH He does
not dig hole and bury 1t in the ground.
He does not spend it in clothes which
moth and rust corrupt nor hide it where
thieves break through and steal. He
builds railroads, and he is not the only
man who rides on them. What does
$3.50, 900, 900 in the hands Of Cornelius
Vanderbilt meanf 1t means this-one
man administering the highways Of the
nation, Of which the nation takes the
benefit. He rides in his private car and
/ in common car, but we get to the
journeys end at the same time. The
fastest train ON the continent is one not
all OF Pullman cars-the train that runs
from New York to Buffalo. 1t is fair
question whether the nation should al.
low its highways to pass into the con-
troll Of private men at any price. 1t is
fair question whether the nation does
not pay too much to the men who ad-
minister its highways. These questions
pass by tonight What / want you to
see tonight is this--that railroad wealth
and mining wealth and manufacturing
wealth are diffused wealth. No man can
run cotton mill or woolen mill and
make money out of it without helping
q thousand men. Society has been revo-
lutionized In this respect, and there is no
honest way by which man can acquire
wealth for himself without comforting 1t
on his neighbor He may be grasping,
corrupt, avarioious, unjust. but he can.
not well acquire wealth for himself
without comforting ii ON his poorer
neighbor. He must whether he will or
pot. Some people serve God because they
like 10, and some people serve him be-
oauaa thav cannot haIn AZ