The Butte inter mountain., 1901-12-02

! flaming cloud from heaven, but amous
| the lowly. the people to whom the teach.
est blessing and final redemption.
. -
The advent of the Savior on earth
marks distinct epoch In the history of
the progress and development Of man
kind. and the star that shone above the
stable in Bethlehem upon that bleak De-
| cember night threw ray Of light around
|. the world that to this day has illumin-
ated the darkness of ignorance and dis
PEELED the bondage Of the mind.
Starting from the lonely shore of Cali
lee. the seed there implanted was des-
tined to grow among mankind and prove
their greatest solace and the greatest
panacea in this life. =
Let the materialist rail against it's sa-
cred teachings and the agnostic tear
with merciless logic at the seeming in
consistencies of it's doctrines; but who is
tnere. or can there be. who can say that
the world Is not better and happier and
more blessed this day for it's existence.
Revered and Respected.
The cross. the symbol of ignominy and
shame, has come to be the most revered
and respected insignia Of mankind. The
implement of torture for the punishment
o1 crime. 1t stands today the symbol OF
the teachings of him who walked among
the lowly and taught the divine precept
or peace on earth to men of good will.
The emblem of the crucifxion of slnnrs.
1t is today the sacred ensign of divinity.
The badge Of dishonor today in eyerv
cline on earth where civilized man has
penetrated and formed a hamlet IT
raises heavenward from church spire.
the one monument that proclaims that
all men are brothers and the one object
before which the poor and rich alike. the
noble and the lowly born, the brave and
the weakly, bow in reverence that evil
dence the humility of man when in the
presence of the divine king. Under it's
sacred banner the world has leapt for
ward with bounds of progress unheard
OF and undreamed of before
Carven on the bowsprit, it has cut the
roaming wave, and opened up to civilixa-
ton and the benefit of mankind conti-
nents unknown before. Symbolic Of
it's import. it inspired the explorer on the
wave and carried forward; it has led the
way into the wilderness Of peril, bearing
ITS divine message to the darkened
MINDS OF the most abject of mankind.
Waged Relentless War.
Painted on the banner anu held aloft
against the hosts of ignorance and super
stition and planted DER the sepulcher Of
Christ by the heroic hands OF the cru
saderS, 1t stood the bounding plain of
Oriental depravity.
Back on their desert wastes its defend.
ers hurled the horde that Threatened tn
overrun the world, engulfing in thsir
mad advance all the enlightenment and
clVlllzatlon OF mankind, and sheltered in
the peaceful monasteries that arosa in
Its defense was kept the priceless herit
age of the records of the learning and
wisdom and the teachings of other
times.
Aye, during that darkened time that
came upon the world when the republics
CT the East, after having arisen to the
1uH height of their imperial gandeur. tot
tered and fell to the earth a crumblin-
mass of ruins.
Were it not for the light that shore
from the Christian sanctuary were -
not for the zeal that kept alight the
spark of learning and the eternal faith
1" "od' well may we wonder at the depth
10 winch humankind might have sunk.
wen may we wonder whether the
name might not have been totally ax-
tngulshed, and well may we ponder on
"hat the result would have been and
what the condition Of the world 1you,d
have been today.
Lest We Forget.
Let not him who seeks with cynical
smile and assumed and self-satisfied wis
oom forget that the faith at which he
ralis, and the church at which he scoffs
preserved for i'm and all mankind tne
wealth of the learning of other davs
that the philosophy of the Greek. the
science OF the Egyptian. and the insti
tues ANA lrerature of the Romans
"ouio nave been dispelled in the clouds
OF burning smoke were it not for tho
sheltering abode they have found he-
meath the cross Of the Redeemar.