The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1901-04-20
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THE churches which have not Il
bishop miss a great deal. Being
a Methodist, although a mere wO-
man, the writer of this is competent
to authorize such statement. A
bishop is a great institution, and
whether or not the early founders of
the Christian religion We're right in all
their ideas they made no mistake in
setting up a bishop the very first thing.
Now a bishop has u certain halo
about him impossible to define and
equally impossible to classify. 1t sets
him apart, makes him distinctive
among men and in all denominations,
whether he wears vestments and mil
lnery in protusion or whether he looks
simply clerical in the doleful black
coat and white neck-clOth of the fra
ternity. His office somehow draws
about him an invisible guard of dig
nifty and men instinctively doff their
hats ut his approach and defer to his
opinions when he speaks.
| When he has almost the power Of
life and death in his hands. the clergy
men under his temporary rule. self
effacing as they must seem from the
voluntary vows they have taken, nat
nrally yield every appearance of def
erence and obedience to his wisdom
and DEGREES. We who are not thus
bound and others who by no force
Of religious government or precedent
acknowledge any superiority, may
smile little at this apparent humil-
iatoin and perhaps may even criticise
it sarcastically. but after all there is
a glamor iE acknowledging the author-
ity of superior in the religious world
Just as in social political or military
life.
The private in the ranks often looks
up to the leader of the hosts with a
sentiment verging on idolatry. The
other officers. when not Influenced by
jealousy. are apt to entertain the same
sort of feeling. 1t is the natural inner
yielding to recognized power. the god
like quality in man that separates him
from his fellows.
1t was this supreme control of mind
as we'll as matter that made Napoleon's
grenadiers weep for love of him. 1t
was the greatness of his rank. as we'll
as the magnetism of the man. that
caused Lees soldiers to go mad with
pride and joy ut the sight of his SUI
perbly carried head.
| Here in democratic America we are
not supposed to look the second time
at royalty or to envy rank. Yet we
run enthusiastically after our own
rulers, set them up in shrines and kow-
tow to them for 4 little time and then
pitch them down and erect new idols
When we 20 abroad we are as eager
to chase efter the nobility as are the
natives, and at home we display a deal
more energy in that direction. The su-
perior has charm.
| In the political life, a great leader
compels similar adulatiOn by the sheer
force of his superior ability. We may
turn again and rend him when another
popular man comes along, but we
| always have some guidon to follow
which is held high in some strong
| hand, benath whose sway We bow.
| In society it is the same. We fol-
low the popular fad. which is to wor-
ship in somebody train, perhaps not
the monarch of wealth, of talent, OF
beauty, of brilliance alone, but surely
the monarch representing power and
influence.
conscious bending to authority when
vested in some great dignitary is only
a repetition of the infinite longing to
reach upward and grasp something
beyond what we now know. Perhaps
to a degree the thought that in him
is snadowed the Master Himself en-
ters somewhat into the feeling, but |
even more is the purely worldly de- |
sire to bask in the light near the throne |
to catch some faint reflection, or else |
in some occult fashion to absorb into |
the fibre of being the richness of some
other life which has mounted tn a |
higher altitude.
The bishop seems To be a more per-
manent institution than most other
church officials. Being thus per-
manent as he Is, The mutations
of men and things seem to
effect him less and to eNalt his Office
the more. Hence it happens that when
he is the presiding officer of Il meet
ing, the proceedings are rather cer-
tain to be characterized by great dig
nifty. the trivial element being elimi-
mated ana useless discussion cut short.
We may criticise Il mountain: we
may say 1t is too rugged at the base,
too difficult of ascent at that covered
citadel the summit. too massive to be
available for tunneling, too lofty for
the valleys to appear commensurably
eNtensivc--but our criticisms do not
affect the mountain. 1t is all these
qualities which go to make ii great
chat show ii to be the Tountain ii is
We do not pause to criticise and grum-
BILE about mere hill--we, who must al
ways be in the little valleys and never
on the mighty mountain tops. II the
mountain We're not great and mighty
and stupendous above all other things
We should not complain about it's en-
tent, and it would not have made
erochs i'm history and marked the diff
ference i'm races and the fall of ma ations
Thus the fact that we criticise. some
times vaguely, often in jealousy, the
le aders OF great churches, Is an evil
dence that these leaders are wondrous-
ly colossal among men for ITO be great
is to be misunderstood, said Emer-
son, and he knew,
Down deep i'm our being. whether
we are rich or poor. bond or free.
be lever or agnostic. our hearts make
silent obeisance 10 these men, who
may wear no visible mitre, but who
still in their own personality embody
the possibilities which lie in man. and
the inner light which inspires great
thought and purpose. Saucy Bess.