The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1907-03-10

that the race affords glorious opportunity
fog the cultivation or The religious sense.
Rarely does one find the cyHjc or the
scofTer among them. nor even the indif-
fereu.ist. The men as well as the wO-
men glory iu church-goias, and one Of
the great joys If life is camp-meetins,
But the pity Of it is that the kind of
religion that they have known has had
such weak restraining authority over
their lives il has been largely emotionaiism.
A childltke race needs strouS hand 20
curb strong passions. Its religious bar
rieTs must be of such Il character that
the priRpiple of restraint may be always
felt. SO that it viii be a check TO the
vrongdoiug and training in the paths
Of righteousness. One may readily see
what different race such "a people would
be il the confessional were a Tiourishing
institution among them. If from child
hood they were taught the habit of intro
spect.on, whereby they Investigated the
motives Of their acts; if they had the
powerful check on irreEdlated passions
that the hUmiIiatiug confession Of sin i'm
parts. if the obligation OF justice that the
sacrament Of penance enforces-that of
restitution of iu-gOtto1 gains-wcre ii
matter of practical ethics among them.
il the development of conscience that
comes from the habit Of telling ones
sins uEdCT the C0nseC.ated auspices Of
the confessional were enjoyed by them;
it the authoritative voice Of the cOnfessor
demanding be,termeut Of life had sounded
In their ears constantly-wha a difference
race they would be With such splendid
religious material as is afforded by the
negro character the Catholic Church would
have turned out race that would have
commanded the admiration OF their Op-
pOnentS. and would have taken from
their enemies the only vital causes Of the
present autagOnism Instead Of this form
lnS hand OF mother church, what has
been their religious life? Their leaders
IN their church life have been men with
scant educational opportunities. who have
stumbled and Numbered along in preach
ing gospel truths, who have gathered
their people in small conventicles sub
ject TO no close supervision, where they
have done as they pleased practically;
who have allowed the religious life 10 de-
velop along the lines OF least resistance,
aud that is the emotional side: so that a
negro religious meeting is generally a
mixture of mrUhrical conduct from the
chancel and "Amens' and ''Hallelujahs"
from the pews.
Some one who knows the religious life
Of the ColOrcd man in the South compares
1t 10 the lUXUriant growth of an uncared-
for yet highly fortified garden. Every
kind OF shrub and tree grows in luxuriant
profuSiOn, with vines entvined. and flow
ers unpigcked. and plants unpruned. Gre
atinS painless thiCl5et with an inpene-
trablc underground. There may be some
eXaggerat0n in this. but there is also "a
great deal of truth. Moreover. the lines
of race pTedjudices entered carly into the
religious life OF the people. The Protest
ant churches were rent asunder i'm the po-
liucal questions that divided the North
and the South. The uegrc was the bone
of contention. He consequently could not
escape the embarrdssmentS. If he had
been within the bosom of the Catholic
Church he would not have suffered the
stings that come from race inferiority.
He wou!d have felt the influence of the
mother church, who looks on all nations
speCtor Of persons. and who treats all
men. no matter of what race, color, or
previous conditions Of servitude alike be-
fore her altar where God dwclls.
While social inequalities between white
and black may have been tolerated, as
they do naturally exhibit themselves be-
tween white and white in the churches,
yet the broad principles of common broth
eTho0d and the presence Of our Lord on
the altar would have prevented these so