Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1909-07-06


is a plain fac'of history that Calvin
ism and ignora.e never dwelt stogeth-
er in unity" \. whenever they
have met, one orhe other has had to
quit the field"
(2) Courage. 1ts comes ont of
intelligence. Darknt and ignorance
stand for fear with en-. Light and
knowledge bring course when we
see we are bold. Rac'b,storv win
bear out all this. Bancy, soy.. GA
coward and Puritan ne,- yvent To-
gether." Gi
(s) A high regard for n, rhsv
see the rough stone with til r,,.,,,
eye. They see the possibility IN
man. They know what is the .ho,.
trouble with him, and they now
what divine grace can do for u
grace and truth. uf ~
Intelligence. courage and high req
for man, what have these been wor
to liberty In; all the courseoof be-
struggle? And these are the offspring
OF Calvinism. 500 T-ts.s
Nv. Out of this system Of thought
grew the principle Of Sticking 70
Principles Rather Than to Men"
l.. Under. the C.old. system, Il loyalty
to the man, right or wrong, true or
false, was the rule. The king can
do. no wrong is. what 1t amounted TO.
Not theirs to, question why. thsirs TO
do or, die. Any system which could
assert such thing as Papal ,Infaili-
bility. shut out at once all Idea. OF, ad-
herence to any fixed principles and
bound man to the. chariot wheels OF
ever changing personalities. In all
the dark ages is 1t recorded that pen
were accustomed to stand. up and de-
fy. the face of established authority?
They did it In Apostolic days and for
two or three centuries later, and then
It ceased until Calvinism breaking out
in Tyndale, and Luther, and Huss,
and Knox and Calvin and hundreds OF
others like them, again inspired, the
heart OF man. with an unconquerable
courage, and led him to defy the lace
Of man, and to stand or fan with his
principles. No. threat Of power. and no
charm Of person could win these men
from. their precious principles. In
stance, Luther at the Diet Of Worms,
and Knox with Mary Of Scotland.
Q. You will note that this puts intel
lect above sentiment, a profoundly
important thing In human government.
Neither law-maker, Judge, nor execu-
tive can afford to let their hearts get
the better of their heads. Certain
things are right on principle, and
ought to be done regardless OF conse-
quences to the Individual man. Strict
adherence to principle whatever, pc
the Individual suffering is the only
safeguard to society at large When
a man conflicts with the. principle 30
much the worse for the man, and the
principle ought to be indicated al
though the man has to suffer. This
gives certain vigorous sternness to
life, but It Is thoroughly wholesome
element for life to have. Speaking OF
a prominent trial this state some
time ago to a. cttISen % another state
i deplored thes yl1ent fpot thst3he
personal element s1)aA Ioqp1 = y
in the trial that justice bee1f lost
sight of, and q criminal aSE6sta11z hipss
ped of the law. "Ah!" said he, you
should have tried him In Laurinburg,
county, N. c., where they believe In
CaIvinism, hell and hanging" Friends,
he put his finger upon the weak spot.
8. And right here, lies one Of the
dangers Of human liberty today.
a. I call to your attention the
growing maudlin sentimentality
against capital punishment and ask
you for its meaning.
b. Look again at the success OF
the personal appeal to jury, 30 prev
alent, and interpret that for me.
C. Note again that In present day
legislation, the person to be favored
or injured by the proposed act, about
covers the field Of discussion; princi-
pies being alarmingly absent there
from. Place by that the growth OF the
lobbying practice. Watch the tariff
discussions now going on at Washing
ton. Tell me the meaning Of this, II
you please
I assert that the cure for this Is to
20 back to the reformation and learn
from Calvinism that principles which
are known to be correct are the only
safe ground Of legislation that sinful
men can adopt and that the personal
element is full of perilous pitfalls.
These principles may be trampled un-
der foot awhile, but be assured they
will rise up again, II 1t takes a revo-
luton to bring them up. We would
better stick to them while we have
them. It takes lot Of trouble to bring
them back, once they are gone.
4. This is the principle that brought
about the political and the ecclesiasti-
cal divisions of the reformation period.
The church and state this divisive
spirit very soon developed. For that
Rome has always reproached and an
athematized the reformers, and still
casts the divided body Of our Lord in
to our faces, crying out in would-be
heart broken voice, "Now see what
you have done" We accept the res
possibility and rejoice in the accom-
plishment. Calvinism recognizes the
abnormal condition of man. Sin is
divisive element in his fallen nature
and 1t has to be reckoned with. All
will not see either political or religious
truth exactly alike. and yet no man has
right to compel another to accept
his view. If he has different view
he has a different principle, and he
ought to stand by his principle even
If he has to separate from me to do
so. And that should make no personal
animosity between him and me. There
Is the principle, and you can see how
very early began to form different
states and different branches Of the
church.
Rome's mistake, as were those Of
Alexander and Napoleon, was in the
failure to recognize the divisive nature
NJ sin Theirs WAS an attempt to re-