Lexington gazette. [volume] (Lexington, Va.) 1871-1962, 1906-09-12

| bullet, dagger and dynamite. TIL
3 philosophic anarchist, on the otht
hand, insists that the laws shall be Ell
, forced so long as it is necessary to ha,
any laws at all; but he hopes that IL
day will come when every man will d
what is right without compulsion. u
! has noticed that laws are futile unles
sustained by a largely preponderan
public sentiment. Why, then, ma
we not trust entirely to public opinio
without tho aid of the statute-bool
and the constable q? 1t has never bee
necessary, in any civilized country, t
enact q prohibition Of cannibalism
Why, then, must we legislats agains
crime in any shape When the publ
conscience has been thoroughly en-
lightened and aroused, so that it viii
condemn all wrong-doing as much as 1
now abhors cannibalism, we may clos
our court-houses and our jails. ant
every man will live at peace with nj
neighbor under his own vine and fig
tree with none to modest or make hin
afraid.
Moreover, say the teachers Of philo
sophie anarchism, it is only by tn
publication of human motives and the
elevation of human character that thu
ends contemplated by reformatory
legislation can be effectively reached
This was the lesson inculcated by
President Butler in his address to the
last graduating class OF Columbia
University. at is our own individual
characters that are at fault, and not
our institutions. Moral regeneration,
and not political and economic recon
struction, is what we chiefly need. "
This is the doctrine that is preached
from every pulpit In the land.
The reverend gentlemen would be
very much shocked IL charged with
propagating "anarchism. Yet, in the
philosophic sense Of the word, this is
precisely what they are doing. Every
eloquent appeal that stirs mans better
nature and makes successful assault
upon the citadels OF selfishness, hastens
the advent of the. the usand years Of
peace when 1.-The common love OF
good" shall "ring out che feud OF rich
and poor, ring in redress for all man
kind, ring in the valiant man and free,
the larger heart, the kindlier hand,
ring out the darkness of the land. ring
in the Christ that is to be-" This is the
blissful state, longed for by proph ct,
poet and philanthropist, when govern
ment may fold its idle hands, and an
archism will not be anarchy.
In an editorial on 1.-THE Spirit OF IN
rest" which is so ominous a character
istic Of the times in which we live, the
Christian Herald, of New York, has
said that men must be converted to "a
fear Of God, spirit Of righte BUSINESS,
and love and practice Of justice, be-
fore we can hope for readjustment
that will avert calamity" Unfortu-
nately the Church-partlcularly the
Protestant part of it-has but little In
huence in forming the opinions and
the lives Of those who are
most actuated by ''the spirit OF unrest"
the toilers in mine and factory-upon |
whom religion has lost its hold because |
hey have so often seen the Church do
by the wealthy classes who
oppose industrial reform.
The Church must understand that it |
8 not its business to save sinners.n
Sod. not the Church, does this. But |
he purpose for which the Church ex-
SITS as an organized institution is the
destruction of sin, so that this world
hall be happier abode for "all sorts
md conditions Of men," irrespective OF
What their fate may be in a future
world, In other words, the teachers
II religion must quit the speculative
nd take up the practical side OF life.
The Church must awaken to the crying
iced of the age-the necessity that man
hall be reconciled with man before he
an be reconciled to his Maker. The
obstruction Of sin and misery is to be
ccomplished, not merely by eradicat-
ng selhshness from the individual
leart, but by diffusing through various
hannels abealthful and vigorous NOR
i sentiment that will affect the out
Yard conduct, the civic life, even Of
hose who reject the doctrinal state
nents OF the Church, and whom ortho-
oxy will regard as still "unregenerate."
he times will not wait for the slow
'rocess of amelioratlng society by the
moral regeneration of individuals.
In the Middle Ages the Church was
n essentially democratic institution,
nd ruled the State with the authority
a conscience. 1t must recover It's lost ,
ositlon. Otherwise, the increasing I
Indifference OF the times will become
vowed atheism, and the Church will
q relegaied to the dim background as
n effete institution, reverenced by wo- 6
len and children. but powerless TO in
uence the thoughts and actions Of
5urdy manhood.
In the manufacturing States the &
Iage-earners are increasing In numbers t
luch more rapidly than any other :
lass of citizens. They will soon be '
laSters Of the situation. And what t
ill be the condition Of that commune c
7 In which a goddess democracy grasps !,
le government and Yields it's powers I
ithout reference to any rights but t