The Bamberg herald. [volume] (Bamberg, S.C.) 1891-1972, 1904-06-30

ceed in this enterprise. say my enemy. re-
turn in safety to my family and friends,
that we may rejoice together. Have pity
on me and protect my life.;' The negro
OH the gold coast prayed-"God give me
to-day rice and yams, give me slaves, rlciles
and wealth. Let me be brisk and swift.
| The karens of Burmah pray to the harvest
| goddess thus-"Grandmother. thou guard
est my field look out sharp for thieves:
| If they come bind them with this rope.
| Such are few forms used by the chlldiiEc
| races; the ethnic systems disclose higher
| and more enlightened conception OF lnvo-
| cation. The Nedic hymns are filed with
| adoring homage-Of which God now, OF
| which of the immortals, shall we invoke
! the amiable name? Let us invoke the ami
| able name Of Aditi. Agni, the god of fire,
is addressed as the Divine Monarch In
China the worship of ancestors is con-
stantly practiced On an Assyrian tablet
arc found these words: May never feel
I the anger and wrath of God? The ancient
Mexicans addressed God. The God by
! whoms we live, Thou omnipresent, Who
knoweth all out thoughts, and giveth all
gifts" They baptized children with this
! formula. Let these hoy drops wash away
| the sin that it received before the founda--
ton of the world, so that the child may be
new born" In the Catholic religions We,
discover an element less conspicuous than
in the others. 1t is pardon for past sins,
reconciliation with God and growth in
grace 1t would be interesting to trace
under this division the practice OF sacrifice,
hymnology and other forms that enter into
worship, but we pass on.
Inspiration implies that man must have
a capacity to be inspired, which makes it
human faculty and therefore common
to all. Inspiration in its largest sense is
the sight of inward truth, truth which IS
seen within the mind. A thought will
come while one is walking, con,verslng.
reading or meditating. 1t is kind of
inspiration. Poets have been inspired to
write poetry. Scientists have been in
spired to formulate the sciences, musicians
to compose music, Columbus to discover,
Newton and Edison to both discover and
invent. Inspiration differs in quantity
and quality, religious being tie highest.
The Vedas and Zend Avesta are considered
inspired by their cult. The Mohammedans
believe the Koran is inspired of God and
therefore infallible, and Christians make
the same contentious for the Scriptures.
There is low and crude form of lnspira.
tion among the, rndeveloped races, which
is not committed to writing. The Samo!eds
of Siberia have diviners who work them
selves into frenzy before delivering ora.
cles. The notion OF inspiration appeared
in the insanity of the Pythian priestess
and the Greek divirers who fell into
frances, In the religion of Greece it ap-
peared as an alien element. The wi.d
dances of the Bacchaates, the shrieko and
self-lacerations of the Corybtantes were
considered forms of inspiration: In the
Hindu religion it appears in the Yoga,
that is one who seeks God by withdrawing
from the things of sense. Painful posi-
4 eoSf fhn be
suppression OF breath and other incred-
ible notifications. The Greenlander has
his prophets, who abandon the converse OF
men and remain in fixed intensity OF
thought until they hear and see the spirits.
Balaam was compelled to utter an invol-
untary pro ..hecy, and the priests of Baal
cut themselves with lances. Sometimes in
our own country. at protracted meetings,
men have the Jerks" The Shakers dance,
the Mohammedans whirl. These seem abb
surd to us, but they disclose this, that all
mankind would ascertain the will of God.
From time immemorial the human race
has had some intimatio2 Of an endless
life. The most degraded savages and the
most enlightened philosophers share the
conviction that death does not end all.
The Hottentot and the FIJI Islander agree
with Plato and Aristotle. The Esquimaux
IN the Arctic circle, the native of Siberia,
the Australians, the Patagonians believe
that the grave is the cradle OF another
life. All the religions of antiquity believe
in Immortality, Egypt, China, India, Per-
sia, Greece, Rome, Mexico, Peru, the Tar
tar tribes of Central Asia, the negroes of
Central and Western Africa and the ISL
an6s of the Paciic, all contend that while
the body returns to dust. the spirit goes
to God, Who gave it. The North Amer
lean Indian believes in duplicate souls,
one remaining with the body, the other
departing during. s.eep: 1t has been
claimed BY some that Buddhism is an ex-
Buddhism is to annihilate by the destruc-
ton of desire. 1t is not claimed that this
is successful, but that the spirit becomes
incarnate in one form OR another until it
rests in Nirvana The TRANSPORTATION of
souls was taught by the religion OF Egypt,
hence they elnbalmed their dead. 1t is
found in Brahmanism, among the Greek
Observation-Disclosures, Empedocles and
Plato. By the Neo-Plato,.ists, Jewish
Csbbala, Arab philosophers. ty origin and
other church fathers. Also by the Gnos-
tics, Manicheans, Druids and in more re-
cent times by Fourier Christianity be.
came flesh, not only to disclose God, but
to bring life and immortality to light.
Man is moral being, because he has a
moral nature. He has moral sentiment,
moral ideas and y moral power. The
moral sentiment is the sense OF right and
wrong, which produces a feeling OF duty
and obligation. Moral ideas consist in the
| belief that certain acts are right, others
| wrong. Moral power is the ability to do
the right and not the wrong. Feeling,
thought and will cannot be elinin-
mated from any moral test. Even
the childlike races have some conception
of right and wrong, though often very
| much below the Christian standard;
| enough, however, to be ciassed among
those who are not without God. But
few, i: any, have been discovered without
| enough moral ability to say yes to the
right and no to the wrong. It is no; de-
| nicd that the moral standard is different
! in each system, ard that what may be
right in one may be wrong in another.
| The temples OF India and China encourage
| vices which are too low to mention. The
underlying principle Of Brahmanisln is to
crafty every desire. The test OF Chris
tianlty is the type of life it produces. Inc
liberia, consistent, devoted business nSa.
| father, brother, son. the position OF
mother sister daarhtcr. the Christian