The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-01-04
Is FOUND 5TOdBE THE GROWTH OF
THE INDIVIDUAL
IDEA
Eloquent Sermon Delivered Xester-
day Morning tOathe Congrega-
tiOn at the Cathedral.

give most serious attention. And no
many tasks present themselves to the
mind. But while we have duties to
ourselves and to our families regard
ing this life, the first and the great
work to which we must address our
selves is this, to build up within our
selves a Christian conscience; and to
so strengthen it that whatever advers-
ity may befall US, whatever temptations
may confront us, conscience will rise
within US supreme and direct all our
thoughts and all our actions.
Conscience is this inner sentiment of
soul that righteousness is supreme
duty It is this inner sentiment of soul
which in a greater, or lesser. degree pro-
pels us upon the pathway of righteous
ness. The human soul does not exist
without a conscience, without the in
stinct of righteousness, without the
sentiment Of duty.
Righteousness Isl obedience to those
very laws whicha make us men and ra-
-tional beings. nAnii just as much as ev-
cry part of thesnaterial creation is sub
ject to laws and is propelled by it's very
Z
soul of man subject to those. moral laws
which constitute a rational creature
Conscience, the sentiment of righteous
ness, more than anything else in us dis
tlnguishes usffOm the animal creation
Man has what the animal has not, a
rational soul made to Gods own image
and likeness, a soul endowed with free
WILL which IS able at any moment to
subjugate passion, which is able at any
moment to lift itself above the whole
invisible world and placing itself be-
fore the face ofs-the. Eternal God to
say: Il will serve God whatever else
may come to me- SO
Conscience is the grandeur of man
1t lifts him up above the visible and
enlarges in him the image and the like
ness of God. Conscience makes us true
men individually and collectively. Con-
science constitutes among nations civ
ilization. Those who are completely
savage are men who think only Of the
immediate present, who seek only to
satisfy their physical wants, and who
are ready to sacrifice to those physical
wants all other considerations. Men
enter upon the road of civilization when
they begin to understand that they
must do what is right Whetheroit pleas
es sense or not. This is why civiliza-
ton dates from the birth of Christ, be-
cause Christ awakened in man the soul
the spiritual life, the conscience, and
made man understand that duty was
immensely above all passion or feeling
of immediate interest; that duty was
supreme, and that to duty the whole
life of man must bend. Conscience was
made visibly supreme in the world
when the Christian martyrs appeared
before the tribunal of the tyrant, and
listening to the sentence of death pro-
nounced against them unless they
obeyed the laws Of impiety, declared in
the presence of the tyrant that with
them duty was first ''Take from us this
life, the life of the body, but our con-
sciences you cannot command To-day.
as in past ages of the history of civiIi-
cation, what is needed by nations as
we'll as individuals is conscience. Con-
science gives peace and security and
social happiness. Conscience guards the
fam1ly; conscience makes of each one
rational creatures conscience, and
conscience only will open to us the
portals Of the, skies.
~ Agnostic philosophers tell US that the
basis OF conscience, the basis Of moral
laws, is what is really for the greater
good Of the human race. No doubt
Whatever Gods Will is for the great
er good of the human race, but if when
you define the basis of morals for
people you simply tell them to look
upon humanity, to notice the laws of
moral growth in 1t, you tell them that
for the sake of humanity at large thew
must follow out those laws, your words
are simply mOckery.
Nor will human laws suffice TO de-
velop and strengthen conscience HUI
man laws do good but to think that
human laws will make all good is only
a dream.
Nor will the mere philosophical dec
Iaration that virtue and righteousness
for each one of us is in the long meas
ure what is best for ourselves suffice
We are not going to look forward ten.
twenty or thirty years in our life We
say this is what 1 want now. And
then what is all life to me when 1 am
in deep sorrow, in fearful distress :?
Is not all life deception? Is it not
as it now comes to me an evil? Reso-
buttons of righteousness based on mere
philosophy, on mere human interests.
on mere appeals to abstract duty. NAV
do very we'll here and there when there
is no strong temptation They may
tunately constituted, but to think that
they will do for all Of u.s. to think that
they will do for us under all tempta-
tions and trials, is folly. We need. as a
basis Of morals, as the life of con-
science, a power that is everlasting: a
power capable of lifting us above all
physical and transient things. We need
God.
Moreover, God, who so generously
grades righteousness Is, readv at a,ray,xy
moment to pour His grace into your
soul, to make you absolutely invinci-
BILE, so that all helFland all earth can
not subiugate you. There is only one
thing absolutely ihVincible in this
world, true Christian conscience. The
most sublime spectacle in all creation
is a. true Christian conscience, defying
the powers Of darkness, the powers Of
evil, laughing to- scorn all passion. and
saying: II will serve my God and do
what is right nispite' of ALL"
If we would nurture civilization and
moral culture, If we would keep society
from anarchy and barbarism, if we
would stem the tide Of animal passion
which is constantly striving to flow
over the world we must make God
known to men. Society must be built
upon that one corner stone, the knowl-
edge and the fear Of God.
Our own duty is to ourselves and
before we strive to improve the world.
and to speak to it words Of peace and
virtue, We must first Of all speak 70
our own selves. Each one to himself
Each one will be Judged separately by
himself, and each one, when he will
appear before the bar of Judgment, will
not be allowed to plead in excuse what
others did, or what public opinion was,
or what nations did. God will say to