The commonwealth. (Greenwood, Miss.) 1896-1923, 1909-07-30

to come as long as there is an
Interchangeable, moral Governor of
human destiny. Yes, sooner or la
ter. it shall blossom in the full con-
summation Of its respondent beauty
and everlasting loneliness.
The ideal of Reaso. as an unGe-
veloped truth uses the external
agency for its development. 1t is
not an abstract something, but sub
stance-an all-pervading spirit that
enters the Utmost depth of the hui
man soul; and that determines his
aim, purpose, needs, passion, joy,
suffering, virtues and character. He
who is persuaded by this spirit, is
not an individual secluded with
himself bound by his selfish SEN
suous existence, and destined for
eternal doom, but he is a world
historical person. destined for no
BILE action on the wide and bound
less stage of human history. In the
sweep of the universal spirit, he
may fall into arrears, and may be-
come a tragic character; but through
such persons, Rational Freedom
moves steadily toward its final tri-
umpb; and such persons were Mar
tin Luther, Cromwell, Bonaparte,
Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln and
Grant. These are agencies for the
development of the ideal of Reason.
Rational freedom is not without
foundation in its progress. It's ba-
sal truth is justice. Justice is ''the
first link in the golden chain" by
which man is held to the Supreme
Judge, to the church and state, and
to his fellow men. It is the very
essence of human relations. 1t is
the solid rock, and eternal basis of
the ideal of Reason. When it is vi
olated by the State or individual,
the hope of rational freedom is in
vain. It cannot be built upon
sinking sands of arbitrary power,
sectional hate, and human devices,
but only upon the basal truth of
justice. Hence, whenever Justice
is violated, Rational Freedom calls
upon the world historical persons
for a reform or revolution. When
Justice was violated by the arbitra-
ry taxation of Charles l., it called
upon Cromwell and Hampden for
the despotic power of the English
government; it called upon Wash
and others for the American
Revolution to stand for the right,
life and liberty of the colonies, and
to declare the glorious American In
dependence. When justice was
violated by the sectional hate of the
and the cursed system of hui
man bondage, it called upon Lin
coin, Grant and others for the Civil
War and for the 14th and 18th
amendment of the Constitution.
Thus no nation can enjoy the steady
of Rational Freedom or
can live in its benign power when
the basal truth of Justice is violated
and disobeyed.
The development of human Rea-
son that came to a universal con-
sciousness of the ideal, low in an
cient history, simply because there
was not the revelation of it's funda-
source or origin-the truth
Of the harmony between God and
man. Egyptians had the problem
Of symbolic architecture which is
the obscure harmony of spirit and
matter. Although a little glimpse
Of the ideal was seen by the Gree
ians and Romans, yet the Greeks
had the problem of Classic art, par
excellence, which is the representa-
lion of Individual Spirit and form;
and the Romans had the problem
Of law and sovereign power. But
be to God, who by his grace,
revealed the truth in Jesus Christ.
in Him and in His spiritual
alone, man can enjoy "a
tional freedom.
This grand doctrine was darkened
by heather idolatry, superstition
and tradition; by the papal power
Of the Roman Church; and by the
war of the states in the
dark ages. Martin Luther, "the
world historical person." broke the
o<%or. clolo&-- looAo-oJ 4A@1