Norwich bulletin., 1918-01-19
Sunday Morning Talk
THE LAW OF LIBERTY.

sound. Law IS Just the LHlHS tHey
 particularly hate and plan to escape
 New England textile city, the crowd
 paraded, one Sunday, with a red
 banner bearing the legend: No God,
 no Master" There you have the
 very inner spirit of anarchism,
 which the International Encyclopedia
 defines as ''the abolition of all consti- tuted authority and the complete emancipation of the individual from every form of control political, social, or religious" And this ideal of lib- erty is cherished, unhappily, by others beside members of the T Don't Work organization. It is not to be wondered at that some who have never had experi- ence of wise government should think of law only and always as unjust re- straint. That is essentially the child l ish attitude carried over into age. The 1 boy looks for the time when he may
 escape the rule of parent or teacher and have a good time doing just
 what he pleases." An astonishing amount of the same sort of reason ling goes on in heads that have grown i gray, but not wise, with the> passage of years.
 l Where will you find lawless liberty
 in all this universe As matter ot 1 fact, there aint no such critter,' and there would be no happiness for any , one concerned if there were. Every thing and everybody is bound to l mind" It is true that one may make if he chooses, long experiments in dis
 obedience. No policeman with a clut
 is going to keep him in line if he de-
 cides not to stay in line. One may i run amuck in Gods universe, if he Twill and butt his silly head againsi
 lNa wall. But it is his head and not the wall that is damaged. It is ab-
 solutely certain that no mortal from
 the beginning until now ever defe(
 the laws of life and, as we say, 'go
 away with it." The cosmic founda.
 tions are bound to be too much fol
 him, just as the stars in their course:
 fought against Sisera.
 l Liberty results, not from defanc, : of law, but from intelligent ant l heartily cooperation axwith it. On simply accommodatesss himself to , wise and inflexible order. Righteou l living does not consist in obeying set of foolish and arbitrary require l ments, but merely in acting harmon 5 iousiy with facts wrought into tn l texture of the worlds life. The ire r man is privileged to take his stan. 5 on the side that means safety an l service and peace. He brings hi . life under law, but under law tha g allows him to reach his full statur g as a child of God.
 t | Limitation and loss result to thos 3 who break law, not to those wh I Iabide by it. A locomotive that stick e Ito the rails is considerably free : than one indulging a whim to jun t off and wander in the meadows be r side the track.
 n Never has liberty had a sweete e sound to the ears of right thinllin y men than today. It is a word t
 millions have pledged their fortune k and their lives. The free peoples $ the earth are engaged in a titan e struggle to preserve liberty fe d themselves and to bestow it on tE h oppressed everywhere. We fight, i = the memorable phrase of Presider Il Wilson to make the world safe fc e 1 democracy" This nation can pl y I no lower ideal on it's flag as it ask 0 the sacrifice of life on the battle |. field. ., ~.@
 IT But it is for no unchartered an g Irresponsible liberty that we figh u OCAiOCidCy we Scch lO pfOCS( e must itself be disciplined and ir if formed with moral '@ principle e would be doubtful expedient e sink all the Hohenzollerns and flaps d burgs and Romanoffs in the sea, d the world were still left in tf t hands of the mob. Most of us woul :" as soon take a chance under. a, czs t as under French revolution.
 I II There is something to be done ft
 democracy, even after Germany
 beaten to her knees. Self -gover1 e ment is only possible when men haN n first learned to govern self. IT tt problem of making a safe. and ai Is mirable democracy like almost ever i- other problem, becomes a person y one before we are through with ,f Freedom is a moral condition ar j. has it's residence in the soul of u y individual man. Never till the il e dividual knows what is right, 1ov, ,s what is good. and chooses to act IS accord with his knowledge and h " affection is he a free man.. What IS true of anyone of Us is true of evel st group of individuals, no matter ho ,e large. Nations and individuals alil to are free only when they : are fir - from their own beaStly impulses. IT SC Apostle is right iH his declaratit g. that where the spirit of the Lord l. there is liberty"
 lol THE PARSoN.
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