New Ulm review. (New Ulm, Brown County, Minn.) 1892-1961, 1897-10-13

to be sought after, or at least must pre-
cede all other, and this the least amen
able to demonstration or proof. But we
hnmbly think that all truth is divine,
that,all Intelligence is q spiritual illu-
mination, and that the divisions between
.ssecular" and sssacred" knowledge, and
the supposed superiority Of the latter
are purely artificial ard misleading. In
deed, It is questionable if priority should
be given to either, whether secular know
ledge should not stand first. A man,
without being fool, may not be able to
believe in the Trinity but he would be
distinctly foolish who should deny that
the earth goes round the sun. And the
value of every sort of knowledge must
be judged by its usefulness.
GAS it is caution given in religion,
that faith be shown by works, the same
is excel!ently transferred likewise to
philosophy, that 1t be judged by its
fruits, and the sterile be counted vain !;
and the more SO if, III place of fruits of
grape and olive, it produces but thistles
and thorns of disputations and strife''
| We have been led to these reflections
by considering the great oppo, tunities
of disseminating useful knowledge and
of promoting truth and morality which
are possessed by our religious teachers,
and which unfortunately are systemati-
cally neglected. The thousands of state
ly piles that have been erected in this
! country at immense cost by the liberali.
ty of pious benefactors are, as a rule.
closed to the public, except on Sundays.
Any day in the week we may pass hun
dred Protestant Churches and find them
empty, with locked doors. The devout
cannot even, as in Roman Catholic edi-
fees, walk in to>pass few minutes in
private devotion.
On the other hand, on every evening
in the week hundreds Of thousands of
young people of both sexes, after their
| work is over, do not know where to 20
| or what to do wlthselves. Their homes,
perhaps, offer no inducements for them
to pass their leisure time there. So they
get out into the streets, the lanes, and
parks, and are subject to great tempta-
tions. If the churches are closed to rec
| reation. there are other places which
specially provide it. The theatres, mu-
SIC halls, and low dancing and concert
rooms, have always an ample bill of fare,
too often coarse and sensual, and the
f1ashY glitter of their surroundings IS
calculated to captivate the young and
inexperienced. The public-houses and
billiard rooms are also in full swing
Everything that appeals to our lower
nature is placed before them without
stint. But the means of intelligent and
elevating recreation are comparatively
rare. 1t is true there are many public
libraries and reading-roo4ns, and
the usefulness of these can scarcely be
realized. but after all, young people do
not always want to read or to sit in a
room where they must be still as mice.
They like to gather together where they
can see and commune with each other.
And we ask, what places would be moe
fitting for this than our chapels and
churches?
There was a time when the Church
was the sole, or almost the sole, educator
of the people, and when her. edifces
were always open to all Corners. These
buildings were not then regarded as the
privileged property of a few, but as the
heritage, of all. Nor were they invested
with any extravagant notions of sancti-
ty. Public meetings were held in them,
the vestries sat there, schools were taught
there, and on rainy and cold days, the
children played at marbles in their aisles
and on their smooth flag -stones. In the
dawn of the drama, it was almost con-
fined to these consecrated buildings.
Passion-plays held the people in awe
and taught them scriptural incidents.
As these degenerated in character, they
we're succeeded by ''moralities" or moral
plays in which the passions of mankind,
good and evil, were personifed, and
played their parts upon the church stage.
All these taught the people to reason
for themselves, and prepared the way
for the Reformation, Civil Freedom, and
liberty of thought, for the writer's of
these dramas were frequently men of
great intellectual power and, as such,
were enemies OF superstition, and en-
ployed all the art they dared to enllglt.
en- the people.
It was not long ago that it was the
custom for the congregation to give aud
ible expressions of their approval or dis
approval of the preachers sentiments.
This, however, has been suppressed. A
false notion of sanctity has minlmized
the usefulness of these buildings, and
the efforts Of the clergy. The OILY re-
semblance to the pastis IN the matter If
Sunday schools, and even these are being
confined to secular places when possible.
In the meantime, the churches are either