The Northern News. — 1896-01-25 (Carlisle, Cumbria, England)

THE ORIGIN OF ESTABLISHED CHURCHES. Very early in the world's history the kings and rulers of men discovered the marvellous power of a religious motive.  Let a man be ever so ignorant, and brutal, and deprived, the supernatural al ways appeals to his imagination, and calls forth his best efforts.  When our British ancestors were but naked, painted savages, they had an established religion of their own, with altars, and temples, and sacrifices, and priests. You say it was idolatry. Cali it what you like. It impressed on those ignorant, painted savages ideas that no other teachers in the world could give. They believed their gods cared for them and loved them, and would defend them in their efforts to drive out their Roman invaders. And this ignorant superstitious Druidism transformed those poor savages into heroes. They fought for their altars and hearths and homes with such fury and determination that it took the mighty Roman legions more than a hundred years to subdue them. And the Romans never would have subdued them if they had not in treachery and cold blood murdered the priests first, and then destroyed their temples and altars. And when they had taken the religious motives out of the contest they were able to annihilate those helpless savages at their leisure. . . _ .  You see in the history of your own country the strength of a national religion. It may be only an ignorant and debasing idolatry, but it is enough to kindle the lire of patriotism, and nerve men to deeds of daring and devotion for their gods and their native land.  What happened in Britain nearly twenty centuries ago is but a sample of what happened in Egypt and Babylon and all the great empires of antiquity. The same causes were at work building up some form of national religion, and giving us in every country the genises of the Established Church of modern times. In the dim distant ages of the past, long before history was written, conquerors and tyrants and kings set up deities and established religions of their own to consolidate their victories and secure their own authority over mankind. In many instances these kings and conquerors claimed to be divine, and exacted homage, and sacrifice, and worship from their ignorant and helpless subjects. Each nation had a duty of its own. The Phcenicians worshipped Baal and Ashtoreth. The Syrians worshipped Rimmon. The Philistines worshipped Dragon. The.Moabites and Amorites worshipped Molech.  The most curious thing to us abut idolatry is that even their own worshippers never expected their gods to hear them or help them outside the limits of their own country. They were part and parcel ot the nation's life and strength according to their ideas, and were regarded with as much superstitious awe as the modern Orangeman regards his Protestant Church of England. It is his national fetish and his political idol. Thus when Naaman was healed of his leprosy, and desired to worship the God of Israel, he thought Jehovah could not be worshipped outside the land of Israel. He was going to live in Syria within the territories of his father's god, Rimmon, so he begged that he might take part of the land of Israel with him home again. He asks for two mules, burden of earth, to take home that he may build an altar to Jehovah. and keep Rimmon from trespassing on the small estate.  You see now that all the old established religions of the world were idolatrous. And if you scratch the veneer and paint off the Greek Church to-day, you will find it is essentially idolatrous at the bottom. You try the same experiment on the Church of Rome, or the dear old Church of England, and you will soon come to traces of their pagan and heathen traditions. Now let us turn to the story of my text, and look at