The herald., 1897-02-01
BISHOP NEWMAN.

speaker, 'in a twofold relation-spirit-
ual and temporal. In spiritual sense,
1t Is Just as binding a command as any
of the ten. AS / have loved you. so
shall you love one another says our
blessed Lord. There fs scarcely one sub
ject in the Scriptures insisted upon more
constantly than that of love of your
neighbor. Our divine Savior never in
sisted upon anything more forcibly than
the virtue of charity Our divine Saw
ior came to extend it to all mankind He
always turned to the spiritual though
he began with a corporal duty.
I'VE hear great deal of the brother
hood of man and the fatherhood of God
Men use 1t who do not understand It.
Greater love hath no man than this,
that he shall lay down his Life for his
friend That great bond Of union in so :
ciety 10 bond of faith. can perfectly
understand that man without clothing
and without food can almost say: How
can there be a God?'
These trials and difficulties are an
evidence of Gods love. Poverty, sick
ness and death are the result of mans
sinf-the sin committed by our first pa
rents. There are two explanations Of
these inequalities One is philosophy;
born into this world without our con-
sent. The Christian faith tells us that
this world Is not as God created 1t. God
gave to man intelligence and free will
Man abused that free will; henceforth
he had to earn his bread by the sweat of
his face. No matter what the cross may
be, these trials are not evil. The only
evil Is SIM Our divine Savior has a
great purpose In dealing thus with man.
Man sometimes thinks he owns the
earth. There Is only one absolute owner
of the earth, and that is God. He made
the earth for his children, and we are
his children. So far as society Is con-
cerned, as it is organized, man must
have a proprietorship in it, but the only.
absolute ownership is that Of God The
law OF charity had in the mind of the
Savior divine purpose. There will al
ways be inequalities in this world. Our
Savior oame down to right the wrongs
we have brought upon ourselves.
The law OF charity constitutes bond
among mankind. Almighty God, while
he permits some to grow wealthy and
some to be poor, lays upon us the COM
mand of charity. We can't eat gold:
we can't wear 1t. Our dependence upon
one another Is the bond of union among
US. If we were all independent we would
feel a sense Of isolation. The man who
has gold can not live upon 1t; he must
exchange It, He Is dependent on the
butcher, the baker, the milk man. We
are OuI StCW al uS VI wealth.. IHlS law
of charity is not only divine command,
but 1t Is bond of union between men.
1t is the wisest philosophy, that we must
share our wealth with those In want.
Legisla ton should reduce want to
minimum, and then help those in the
wisest way. Inasmuch as legislation Is
the only way in which we can regulate
affairs between man and man. 1t is un-
wise to legislate in such way as to
make man poor, then leglslate to help
him. The middle class and the poor
man feel that legislation is for the rich.
1t does not take a political economist to
see that there Is an element Of danger in
the spirit OF restlessness of the day
There are states in the union almost
wholly mortgaged. This engenders
spirit Of restlessness that drives men
from the farms to the cities. Almighty
God has made two means of distribu-
ttonr-the law Of charity and the law Of