The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1902-07-01

he?" And this Is the lesson, the no.
BILE example, that / want this evening
to enforce. Let us own that there
are things calculated to shake our
faith in humanity-experien that
suggest the gloomy questions, "Can
any one be trusted, and has not every
man his price?" Still it must not be
forgotten that the occasions upon
which we have been betrayed, or in
which the unworthiness of men has
been revealed, are the exception and
not the rule. True, the infant church
had its Judas. But 1t had but one. In
the hearts of the remaining eleven his
crime was repudiated-to these the
very thought was torment. So long
as there are eleven who, mistrustful
of self, are ready to put the question,
Lord. is it II" instead of the other,
Lord, is it he?" we may be sure
that our brethren are still to be trust
ed.
Now in the spiritual temper out of
which this question comes, you have
the conditions and the only conditions
Of real brotherhood, for just in the
measure that this spirit possesses the
heart and prevades society is that
unity, out of which brotherhood fell
lOwship springs, made possible.
Observe first-the faith that these
men mad in each other. The crime of
which one was to be guilty was no
ordinary crime. 1t was one to which
none but the basest of men could give
their consent-it was an act of betray-
al. An act. which civilized nations
have named treason, and to the con-
viction of which they have affixed the
death penalty. An act from which the
very soul reyolts and that makes the
guilty one the justly hated of his fell
low. For who does not hate and de-
spise the traitor You recall that
when that master painter of human
nature in the tragedy of Julius Cae-
ser" aims to bring before our minds
the moral blackness of brutes, he
paints him as the betrayer of Caesar.
But, 1t is on the radiant back ground
of Caesars confidence, the trust that
he reposed In Brutus, that the dark
ness of the traitors heart Is made to
appear. Faith in another. has always
been regarded as something in the
presence of which men should stand in
reverence. as in the presence of a dy-
ing thing and there is that in the soul
that says, Here is something with
which no one dare tamper or treat as
an unholy thing. 1t is on this account
that an act of betrayal Is reckoned
as the basest crime against fellow and
the traitor the most despised of men,
Who does not despise Benedict Ar
mold? | am not speaking of Ameri-
cans alone, but Of all men who know
the history. But it is not that he
drove bargain with our enemy. 1t
Is because he was betrayer of conf
dehce. At time when fidelity was
the plainest duty-when the life of a
nation yet to be was of necessity COM
mitted to the keeping of those in
whom confidence was reposed. The
fact that he regarded confidence as a
linght thing. This was his guilt.
In urging this faith in others, the
beauty of which is shown in the hum
BILE question, Lord, Is it II" do |
overlook the fact that man Is a COM
posite being-that he partakes of two
natures, the animal and the spiritual.
or that he Is accordingly swayed by
two impulses. the evil and the good.
Still, the only inst estimate of men
Is the judgment that results from u
measure of him at his best and not at
his worst. That little band gathered
around the passover table must be
judged rather by the eleven whom no
price could corrupt or pain terrify
into betrayal, rather than by the siu-
gle Judas. In onr Judgment of men
we must apply the same rules that we
use in the making OF our estimate of
other things. Who judges tree for
instance by the single one that mars
the beauty of the old forest? 1t is
easy enough. II one searches for It,
to find a tree shriveled and hateful,
blighted, dead, rotten, covered with
clammy fungi. But 1t is easier to find
one that, following the laws of Its
nature. has shot up into the free air.
crowned with foliage. massive, a pill
lar in Gods first temples. These are
always in the majority. And no man
judges the forest by these misshapen
and abnormal specimens that may be
found here and there. Each, the de-
cayed and the one full of life, are in-
deed trees. But the one IL a tree In
the glory and majesty of Its true being
the other In the abnormal develop
ment of its real life.