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THE ATLANTA GEORGIAN AND NEWS.
UTT7KDAY, JU1CB M. Uff.
i
the day of the palms
I s PLOCKHORST'B beautiful plc-
' lure the eye l« faaeted upon the
description given us In the gospel
affording to Keiths*, of Christ’s entry
Jerusalem.. An eager multitude.
m*operative with eontaglous enthusl,
lam with emotions frensled by sentl-
“ tn 't and by traditions are giving a
demonitrstlve welcome to one sudden*
J7 proclaimed as a popular leader.
J|Jj, the hillside road leading Into the
Sr rides the peasant prophet of Max-
Srtt, seated upon the humble' beast*
Snowed by the disciple* tor tlip <»n.
■ , road Is one ot the main
thoroughfares Into the- city, and Is
tfiWed *!•■» th0 * •*“ »0*»htP the
Bod of Abraham, going up to the city
nV_ to be present for one of the great
ssBuel religious MSWU of the choeen
ooople. Someone to all this vast mul-
nmde rccngnlses tbs face and the tom
If the calm yet Impassioned teacher,
.ho for many months has been going
from place to place throughout the
nmitry aide endeavoring to persuade
*,tn of tho neameee of the kingdom of
Lavrn. Suddenly the' morning air
{mblse to the eznitaat about. "Ho-
-.on to the eon of David 1" The name
hrpherd king la at all times
oes sufficient to awake enthusiastic
(motion In tha Jewish heart and now.
is the deep rollgloua seal and fervor
Mgendered hr contemplation of the
spprosrhlng feast voices hero and
there along the way. began to take up
isd re-echo the triumphant acclaim,
tod soon “Uia multitudes that went
before, end that followed, cried, saying.
-Hosanna to the eon of David! Blessed
la he that comath In the name of the
Lord! Hosanna In the highest!"
The enthusiasm Increased. The ex*
rltement became momentarily more In
tense. The people vied one with
Isnother In demonstrations of love and
devotion. Branchee were hastily tom
h3£. tt Hi![* ,, !? e P® 1 ™ »*»•• “<1 cast
ggg* who. eagerly hailed as a
conqueror, waa soon to be slain be-
causo He proclaimed peace among all
the nations of men. The extremists
the feet of the
“h?" which rode this new-found
°. u .i ,r ««™«irta. regard-
feL?* *£• ooo'lhmes or frailty of the
fabric. The Uttle children, ever Mger
J“ f mu '*IJ on . strewed In the roadway
from M,°££ 0W ‘ r ’ fr " h
The shoutlnf, ■lacing, Yejolctajr nuV
* l * h ‘he Mu In the midst swept
on Into the city of the great king. And
•‘was no wonder that “when Its uii
come Into Jerusalem, all the city was
moved. laying, -Who Is tblsf " Wo
may well question In our hearts4Hrath-
•‘■.‘hose who gave understood any more
Intelligently then those who received
the aanrer of the frenxled mulUtude,
“Thta la Jesus, the prophet of Nasareth
of aalllM.”
Through all the ages of IU history
the Christian Church has celebrated
this occurrence as Christ's triumphal
entry into Jerusalem. One of the Im
portant days In the Church calendar
lakes Its name from the trees which
freely yielded their branches to a mul
titude eager to pay homage to one, but
recently a stronger to their knowledge
and their love. •
Into whet marvellous contradictions
of philosophy and of expression are we
led by the extremes of religious seal
and emotion, blindly followed. In that
multitude which noisily besieged the
rates of Jerusalem on the moraine of
the world's drat Palm Sunday then
was one heart which felt keenly the
bitter Irony of the repeated shouts ot
trlumphut acclaim which heralded ap
parently the coming of a conqueror.
Though the Church which claims to
have chosen Him as her chief corner-
w?
By REV. EVERETT DEAN ELLENWOOD,
PASTOR UbhVERSALlST CHURCH
stone may never be able to recognise
the briUtant mockery of her celsbratlon
°£ *£>• Triumphal entry,” yet the heart
Of Him who wu beforeih# Church and
who shall ho after It, was undeceived
by tho many surface Indications of a
temporary triumph. Full well did he
know the evanescent quality of popu
lar-affection. For Him the sweetness
of the voices which eagerly shouted
hosanna was not Increased by the fore
shadowing knowledge that but a few
days should slapse until vary many of
these same voices should as eagerly
lend themselves to the vindictive and
taalstantdemand. Crucify Hlrat Cruel-
nr MtoJ To refer to fills incident! as
one unliisnt theologian does, as Hfesui'
rnnkPlnng - hmtr n# Mnmi.h " la e A •».
conscious hour .of triumph." Is to at
trlbuts the perspicacity of a child to
Him who "spake as never man spake
before,"
For He welt knew that even while
they shouted hoeanna, the fickle mul
titude hailed Him as one who should
fulfill thb long desire of the race and
His repeated declarations that the
kingdom whloh He had come to estab-
llsh was not of this world bad fallsn
upon unheeding ears and uncompre
hending hearts, and He knew that even
now He was being thus enthusiastically
welcomed Into the city because the re
port had gone abroad that here In this
unassuming vlllsge artisan Bved the
mind and the will which should lead
the nation on .to freedom from the
domination of tn# hated alien. It waa
literally as "tbs son of David" that He
had found a welcome among Hie peo
ple. And ao determined were thiy to
And In Him the new "King of the
Jews” that already the gathering storm
of their keen disappointment hastened
forward the day of His death. Soon,
He knew, they would forget all that He
kail triad Pew da dar Ikem Mil > ad Ike
had tried to do for them, all - of the
REV. E. D. ELLENWOOD.
proclaimed feeder and deliverer la what
the great Christian church has for con.
turtes. celebrated as "Christ’s trium
phant entry Into Jerusalem!"
Nor do those latter days find us fra#
from the mockery of It alL The mod
ern Christian may not claim Immunity
from that fahatlelam which made ot
his religious ancestors the slayer* of
the Man ot Nasareth.
Even as In that olden day Hla coun
• seal attempted tq make of JUaus
which by ths very essential nature of
HU mission to ths world He could not
booome, so also today those «lu> bear
HIS name and cgll themselves His fol
lowers demand by their theologies that
He shall assume In the spiritual world
a position, which, by tho very nature
of the laws of the God whom He al
ways worshiped. He must And Himself
unable to occupy. Still do men refuse
to take Him et Hla word end still do
they continue to demand that He shall
occupy the position provided In the
plan and formula of a mechanical the
ology. He who emphatically declared
that He had come not to destroy the
law but to fulfill H Is made by His
vary advent upon the earth to do vio
lence to one of God’s moat fundamantal
laws. Haraeatly entreating men te al
low Him to show them the way 'to
find salvation from the spiritual death
of continued sin, lot He Is eagerly
heralded by the noisy multitudes as
the one who shall enable men to con
tinually break God's laws with impu
nity nor fear for any personal const-
quencea of their evil living. He poured
precious pracspU they had heard from
His lips, all of the deeds of love and
mercy which flowed unceasingly from
His spirit, all of His patient effort in
show to them the Father, and would
be able to remember only that He had
failed to maintain the position that
tboy had beforehand deternMned that out Hla very life In a faithful effort to
Ho should occupy. teach men the truth of the atonement.
And yet this demonstrative welcome that It U the reconciling of men to God,
’ an unthinking, undlscrlmlnattng the harmonising of the-Individual aout
mob, always ready to shout Itself I to the soul of the universe, and with
hoarse In acclamation of any newly vociferous applause He Is received by
the crowd as tbs most stupendous vica
rious sacrifice the worjd has ever
kitown, at once the author and tha vic
tim of * scheme whereby every offender
E m unwhlpt of Justice, every sinner
denied the punishment essential for
i compute recovery,tand God's Im
mutable lawn are made a mockery In
the minds of man who are not thsolo-
Elans, but are only logicians.
So la ths actual work of Christ to
day. sorely hampered by the misunder
standing and misconception of HU
friends, and the members rather than
the enemies of the church militate
Hls Mithly life tells us how <he
Nasareth was onee received by the
multitude with a noisy wslrome, only
to meet the death of a malefactor ere
a week had passed.
Today Christ comes to you and to
ms. evtn as once He came to those of
HU own physical nationality, offering
to show us how to recognise the "more
abundant life" which U already our
splendid possession. He offers to "show
us the Father.'' He would reveal to us
the Intrinsic worth and bMuty of life's
Immutable laws. He would teach us, in
a way that we may never forget that
nil men are Indeed brethren, that hu
manity Is bound and corded together
In an Indissoluble fraternity In which.
If one member suffer, every member Is
Incomplete. He would put us In the
way of securing consolation for our
bereavements, strength for our disci
ples. and fortitude for the punuhmenu
which our transgressions demand of
nature. He. going before, so beare HU
cross as to be forever an Inspiration
and ah example to all of Hls younger
brothers, each one of whom must, like
the Master, bear his own - cross, it
matters not what men may have
cUlmed tor Him, through all the ogee
of the logical Juggling and creed tamr
i;feature, It atm remains that by the
very nature of HU commission trout
Oqd, Jesus must continue to present
Himself to men as tho ruler of that
kingdom which every man carries about
In hU own soul. It U for avecy mas
to decide how he shall recelvt the
King who would coma Into HU own.
Shall we accord Him the noisy wel
come of the unthinking mob, and the*
ore many day* have passed In the heart
unprepared for Hls coming, allow HIM
to suffer denial, crucifixion and deathf
Shall we demand that He declare Kim.
self, after the fashion of the hMtheg
gods, by the performance of miracles
and by manifestation of temporal
power!
Shall we not esk. rather, that out
welcome be that of those who find is
Him the manifestation and the fulfill
ment of Uw, and God's revelation te
men of the life entirely possible td
every eon of HU love. ThU la the only
really triumphant entry of tha spirit
of Jesus of Nasareth Into the quisle
ened consciences of men and wi
of the twentieth century. It U
lulek.
r oases
never
It come with the shoutlngof bosons
or ths tumult of many voices. 1st*,
the secret pUce or the heart’s quiet'
Ihour comes unannounced the spiritual
K sense of the greatest Prophet ot ad
■ agM, and the merciful Father al
lows us, momentarily, to forgot tho
baffling myvtsriea and psychological
Impossibilities of the historical Christ,
and thus to be cheered and strength-.
ansrt nn<! arlmnnlaharV hv ths llnlss
ened and admonUhad by the llrtag
spirit of the one perfect man. And
then, forever, the heart sings, "Hosan
na To the Son of David!"*
THE SILENT SOUTHERNERS
By REV. JOHN E. WHITE,
PASTOR SECOND BAPTIST CHURCH
SEE ONE head changing Into
thirteen. Where! Where, are
our men of ehlUtlu! Why do
they not romo forthr—George Wash-
Incton. /
A while ego the editor of a trading
American msgaxlne came South for the
purpose of going thoroughly Into an
unprejudiced study at first hand of our
race problem, and In due time estab-
llihed hie headquarter* In Atlanta, da.
It Vie a short time after the riot And
he found everything solemnly quiet on
the surface. But going an Inch or so
below the surface, he waa greatly Im
pressed by what wa who live In the
South know to be. there. • not only the
is It
tact of a serious Issue, hut most per
pltxingly the existence among us and
among the negroes of the greatest con
fusion of Individual opinions and a
into of general Irresolution and un
certainty.
e was Invited to attend Inoognlto
— ot the meeting* ot Christian cltl-
lena who had met to pray over ths
eltuatlon. As we cams away I asked
the gentleman for hls Impressions. Hls
careful reply waa to the effect that the
meeting seriously Impressed him and
that It was very, hopeful to see "two
or three screed as touching one thing”
ibout the situation in the Bouth.
Now, It Is very much easier to make
icrurate and specific observations ot
the injury the Bouth Is sustaining on
ycount of tha presence of eight mil-
Ion negroes under prevailing oondl-
lon, than It la to suggest remedies for
heet* Injuries.
There is. however, one decidedly se-
loux fact of the situation, and we are
aking white men to consider It, which
uggests Its own remedy. It Is some-
hing entirely asperate from the final
otuMeratlon of the negro problem. It
1 something that concerns the white
mpie primarily on their own pert and
la aomethlng that will have to have
Mention before the larger problem ot
icceaaful dealing with the negroes Is
Meriaken at all. I refer to what we
U*t recognise as a'foot In the Bouth—
ir confusion of thought about the ne-
«». «ur lack ot agreement among
ourselves, the absence ot co-operative
Intelligence directed upon the study of
our true welfare. Yet the matter Is
constantly up before us. the subject
ever In the arena of discussion and re-
There ts no failure of attention, no
lack of Individual Judgment. Almost
every Southern man thinks he Is
thoroughly Informed on the subject and
nearly every one of us regards him
self as something of an authority.
Probably along main lines our Individ
ual convictions readily run parallel. In
any ordinary company of Southern men
engaged In discussion one would hear
an Impressive amount of Intelligent
opinion expressed, but when this man
was through and that man waa finished
the truth would have to be confessed
that there was nothing tangible, no
piering of the matter* Info wholeness
so that ona could ascertain the exist
ence of a social Judgment. That seema
to me to be a representative statement
of the general condition of public sen
timent In the South. We have never
tried for more than discussion. The
parallels ot individual conviction which
we fral do exist are not-bent toward
a definite point. In our attack upon
the grave dimcuUlea of our situation
our spears are not In line. We lack a
calm and sober resolve to get the
concentration ot our abilities. Feelings,
convictions, conclusion, twenty-five
million of them, and at the bottom vi
tally harmonious, hut nothing, whether
for a slate or for the South as a whole,
absolutely nothing outside the suffrage
question, that can be called authorita
tive In the form of an Anglo-Saxon
policy or of which we can aay, These
arc the things civilisation in the Bouth
la pronounced upon." '
It Is this that keep.1 public senti
ment in a state of llux. It ts thla con-
dltlon that sequesters the pre> °f‘h®
demagogue. This Is the situation that
Invites the appeals to prejudice and
paaalon and makes easy the control of
P *Y<m hear "remises .that this or that
thing will make It poislble for the
white people to divide on the great
economic question of government. Even
politicians lament that we are without
the civic stimulation of independent po.
Iltlcal thinking. But we are going to
see finally that the only way In which
It will be possible for white people to
separate on economic Issues will be to
| h <« a aatllaA nmwMM, 'eteddh
get them Into a settled program'with
regard to our relations with the ne
groes. There will be no rest, no ease
ment of distraction, no escape from the
resultant social Inefficiency and no cur
rent out of the eddies of confusion
until the race problem Is undertaken
as a social Instead of a purely political
question.
Let us see some of the results now
In sight from the leek of a united In
telligence directed definitely upon the
negro question.
In the first place Hie absence of con
certed attention and the loose sense of
responsibility among our best min
directly promotes the great confusion
of the rank and file of the people. Es
pecially the leu responsible elements
of our population being without the
pronounced restraint and guidance of
those from whom they should receive tt
think blindly without regard to any
general patriotic Interest, feel blindly
with little regard to the Injury they
may do themselves, and os we have
seen It break out they now and again
act blindly with the effect of greatly.
Increasing their own and the South's
troubles.
When we are forced by necessity
to fix the fault of some Indefensible
violence against taw and order, m we
sometimes have, to do In the South, we
may find a guilty victim for condemna
tion'clou at hand, and- may punish
somt newspaper or rioter, but we Jo
not explain the habitual neglect of the
leadership higher up to have done what
bv the provision of Intelligent counsel
might have been done to provide
against such popular blindness. Ths
Chinees have a way of punishing the
generals Instead of the soldiers for re
verses In wer. That peculiar species of
barbarism has recognition at least ot a
great principle. The attitude and con
duct of leaders filters down to the rank
and file. So here In the South the re
grettable Inflammability of the maaees
of the people over the negro question
has lie morel basis. If not Its Justifica
tion. In the Inaction and disagreement
they see In the ranks above them
REV. JOHN E. WHITE.
among the educated and Influential.
The negroes also are In great con
fusion. The very best of them are
preyed upon by alarms and rumors.
Their leaders have a task of tremen
dous difficulty. It la not at nil stsenge
that they are seen so often to be work
ing at cross purposes.
If we desire as the white people of
all communities ms desire that the
negroes should be peaceful and quiet
among themselves we should reckon
upon the effect our lack of agreement
with regprd to them has upon their
minds. We can not gaslit the negro
leaders In adjusting their people ffi the
limitations of their environment be
cause we haVe not defined dearly for
ourselves what their environment end
the conditions of their progress shall
be. A very prominent negro leader In
the South recently raid that the ne
groes needed nothing so much os con-
hls distractions to aubal
negroes need now In a sense more then
they need schools. Is ths mold of a
masterful Anglo-Saxon stability, the
security end repose of responsible pow
er. .There Is one debt ot the strong to
the weak. It la the duty of tha strong
to be strong. That debt ot strength to
weakness, of twenty-five millions to
eight, will receive Its first Installments
toward a real payment when the South
ern white man gets hls own brat
thought clean and Into clear utterance
about the settled resolution of the
Bouth upon the relations which shall
exist between the Anglo-Baxon and the
The machinery of parties, the Inter-
rats of candidates for ofilce exclude the
possibility of hope from them. Hu
man nature being as It Is ths campaign
for ofilce hot with the thirst for vlo
tory will obey the ready Impulse to ap
peal to the readiest prejudice of the
people. The result In every Instance
Is a deterioration of the moral fiber of
the people and an Increase of confu
sion. ’
There have been occasions when ths
political Issues of the negro question
were unavoidable and these III effects
had to go along with certain great
gains to public welfare. But are we
not In the Bouth about finished with
such necessity? Henceforth may we not
come Into a calmer consideration of
ourselves and the negro? The answer
to that question lies with what may be
called "The Solid South." It Is a fact
that the best man, tho best minds, the
kindest hearts pow engaged In the
leadership of Industry, education, re
ligion and professional and business In
terests are silent and Inactive with re
gard to the South and the negro ques
tion. How many such men there are
and what their wolght would be If their
force were elicited combined end di
rected In a patriotic effort, will appear
to any one who will take up a single
community and count the cltlxens who
are controlled by the highest consider
ation but are silent. A demonstration
of capital force Is afforded by the re
cent history of public opinion In Atlan
ts, Georgia. The civic league made
an appeal for this sort of men to come
together. A thousand white men re
sponded. Whet was the result? The
thousand Influential cliltena drew to
the Hate the signatures of two thousand
other white men and about the same
number of negroes, and the community
of Atlanta could not now be swept Into
lawlessness for an hour as It was but
a little while ego for two whole day*.
The silent multitude of sober, broad
minded men In the South Is the re
source of our civilisation on the race
problem.
The plea for the discontinuance of
discussion honestly made by many, dis
honestly made by some. Is a mistaken
plea, and certainly a useless one. Our
need Is not for sn end to discussion but
the beginning or a public attention to
the matter calling to the front the
best Intelligence and the worthiest In
fluence of our life. It Is the unmatched
discussions of ths worse tempered
among us that Injures ths South.- Be
fore me lies a recent contribution to
one of our papers. Ths writer Is
known to m* as a man of slight stand,
ing In Georgia. Hs strikes In frequent
•hart letters upon the low growling
keys of passion. On the other hand, I
have In mtnd a strong etttran of Geor
gia who thinks that we ought to have
a stop to all agitation. NflW If that
man who represents clear and wise per
sonal convictions as to the right rela
tion of the white people to the negroes
would bravely eubmlt them to the pub
lic. as by hls unselfish service to the
South he bee the right to do, he would
kill every III effect of that other min's
distempered but bold appeals. Or If
what would he atlll more effective he
and the thousands like him would pool
their wisdom pnd combine their con
science In public pronouncement the
front of the,South would become less
ragged Immediately. The men In the
Bouth who represent Ite best and are
the natural leader*, on all moral Issue*
are not In evidence beTore the people
In making up public opinion as they
ought to be and as they must be before
constructive movement Is possible. If
they only were so and the sense ot their
responsibility were realised by them .
man explaining a libel upon t .
tlanlty of our state anil the clvlltraltea
of the entire Bouth for the mercenary
benefit of himself and a Chicago tec.
ture bureau would not be suffered te
malign us before the world unrebuUd.
Public opinion In the Bouth would te,
steadied and the work of civic Improve
ment be given a fairer opportunity. It
would soon cease to be a common oo. I
currence that one man In a community
ur n few nu n In n mate could gat to
gether and plan to get through private
or factional ends'at ths ballet box, by
stampeding public or whet seems tor!
the time to be quite contrary to the
Judgment and personal conviction ot
twice their number ot really stronger
cltlxens who mike no opposition sad
than lament results. fitBm
If It be true as a great writer say*
that "Nothing false, nothing qrtlScMl.
can endure,” we may trust that the fu
ture of the white men’s supremacy la
the South will be controlled by a new
sort of leadership—a leadership basing
Its prims consideration on the moral
fitness of the people and putting set da
as unpatriotic whatever reacts upon Hi*.
dividual and popular character. Gov
ernor Montague, of Virginia. In a note*
ble speech has Just sounded a prophecy
of a braver day In the Bouth. ,
We are getting toward the South'*
mastery by every movement of the beat
men toward each other. Blood and riot
and sorrow and shams may be the fin*
that must burn up the partltiona'lhe*
divide them, harsh exigencies may bo.
necessary to draw their heart* and J
hands Into fellowship, but the ptanlftat;
direction of tendency Is prophetic ot •[
grippler hour for the South on the loo** I
end unconstrained agencies ot confu
sion.
THE FIRST CHRISTIAN HYMN
By REV. JAMES W. LEE,
PASTOR TRINITY METHODIST CHURCH
hhmwmmmhow
H I! WAS revealed la our nature,
Ho was proved righteous In
-pint,
*» beheld by angels, .
"x proclaimed among the heathen,
- an believed on In the world,
”* *»» taken up Into glory.”
Thl« I. supposed by many to be the
,flirtitlan hymn. It la found at
"W conclusion of the third chapter of
ft Paul', first letter to Ttmothy. It
m rhythm tho eeoentlal tacts
!I ' hristlan religion. The eum of
«*- farts, the apostle declares, snake
•sent mystery. They form what lie
milt the fundamental tteme of godll-
■**> Thia is ths mystery which,
nit tho ages, has been hidden.
? b-m 1. made manifest to tho salute.
I “ * mystery srtth Christ a* the cen-
’/ "• ‘be hope ef glory. Thiel* the
■yitdry incidental to the Chrtitlan
2**rti m Of tb* world and life,and
"Stiny it Is great, but It Is » terming.
II IS great, nut It IB a sonmna,
UJPIfltur. llfo-renewlng mystery. itTe
J2 *'"no. as a world conception. In be-
"? ‘mystery.
1-The conception of Herbert Ipsajor
Sj greater mystery that! that of St.
15“, The naturalistic view of the
•“fl! and life and mind and gplrtt Is a
Jrrf'libm that overwhelms and par-
JJ’*' It envelops matter and force
5“and time and space and man
("Ids of black. Impenetrable, un-
‘•Waniabi* mystery. The mystery of
•odlin-Rn is clear and whlto a*
J*® 1 "I noon hi comparison with tho
gj'w ?f the naturalistic Idea of th#
depths of the one. and then late te*
raylesa night of the oth*r, he wm b«
reedy to ••yJhfL""« w| , ‘ h b, t “' n f nn m n 1 ,^
day as contrasted
night of the other.
Gass for a time at the mystery of
naturalism. Remember that, descrip
tion Is not egjfanatlon.
non » n,., —v NOW. the
students of srto*re hav« anlsy»d f the
contents of nature
contents o, n.,—- Theyhave.lftsd
out \hlnga and processesstiSs
^dK^ h *«h. c, ^s:r.ry d of , ‘s;
^“H....rict,yd,fln^une..nd
lion in thing* and occurrences, end
they have formulated three Info taw*
Thgtf have discovered ft networe oi
.•nifnrmitv throughout *11 natural phe-
sm.. — imagines that the mystery of
fj™ne»r. „ nnJr )(| th „ flrst Christian
E™, I" greater than he oan accept,
bim look steadily for a while at
my stery of naturalism. If be sup-
SJJ*' ,ho (sets of the Christian rellg-
SLVT (°o wonderful, too outrageous.
Utt*rlv tmm hs.io.j (k. nAUfgra rtf hll
> comprehend. Just let him face
2* "nnoeit* quarter and attempt to
by hls reason and embrace
*f hi* belief the fundamental pflncl-
rr* | m<lerlrtag naturalism. When tie
•t"«d seriously for a time, with all
’'■“trs of hls mind, between these
n-yitrrles, peering first late the
e.
uniformity throughout — -
nomena. In tho movements of the hesv-
•nly bodies as well as In the
nf all living calls of animated bodlee.
By'patient^ teralsteM
■•arch they have acqalnted thetnselves
sufficiently' with the tact, and tawi of
nature to describe them.
But they have not explained nor
, UB ttu reasons why they act one
Sei rathir foi another There w*.
Jo more mystery about IIhe Pt'»»»■*«
system of astronomy than about mat or
SST ThHtera "tedium
more a^ratstV described, but
are no better understood-the *hy or
&n°^.W n ^hta teMd
SS™ * hol «
‘®"Sra^h7?riore ». ta
o^wlisncra the objects o> the universe
S5 te. taw. wwch K v.™.;^ n
must b* remsmtered » They d o
do not sspteta norm"*; . u .
what wi »snt to know la.
to objects, wnai w and
how they are mr
why tte? m aa they «*. «??_ «*!
Jsrsnt Todescribethem does not ex-
KfejaSSntiaggg
T&h SSn - explanation, of
why furthtr and further beck. Natu
ralism has succeeded In pushing back
the riddle of things to th* forces at re
pulsion and attraction, with which the
smallest particles of realtor ire
equipped. Out of th* endlessly varied
correlations of these, come all higher
forms of energy and all the combina
tions which maks up more complex
phenomena, out of thea* ultimate par
ticles have not only com* the masses
of the universe, but all special forms
of nuttier nnd of plant and annual and
human life. These senseless lltt *
atoms with their attractions and repul
sions. according to th* theory of natu
ralism. have made everything. They
have advanced far enough to finally
dance from th® brtln of Homer Into
the finest poetry' ever written.
They have moved out from the
thought of Phldlaa Into the Parthenon.
thA finest temple aver built. They have
uttered themselves from the heart of
Demosthenes In th* finest orations
ever delivered. The* to crown thefr
marvelous powers, they have given
themselves up to death on the cross
of t’slvary. Bom* who hold th* nat
uralistic view will rise up to soy that
they are not ready to gp lhot far-
They hold, they say. to a God. back of
all things. They mar vainly think
they do. but If they accept the natu
ralistic conception ofcthlngs they must
taka It with nil lie presuppositions
end fundamental principle* They
must he os thoroughgoing as Haeckel
and take £*&
back of — —
force. They must be as sweeping and
downright as Bpencer end reduce the
whole eum of things to Inscrutable
energy, end then, while standing In the
I Infinite expression of heat and matter,
I and man Is merely one of th* momen
' • Mirer fluinna that flaihnu mil front Itl
tary flames thnt flashes out from Its
I depths to tall beck In darkness when
i Ills little day In over. Thought Is only
so much light secreted by brain parti
cles, as blit Is only ao much btarknrai
secreted by liver particles. Ths only
difference between thought and bile
being that one Is white and the other
Is blnck. Both ere but chance prod
ucts turned out In th* endless, wheace-
lesa whlthqrleas whirl of seething
force. There ere no more morar oanc-
tlonn for virtue than for vice. Moral
ity I* a fiction created by moon-struck
fanatics. Vice Is only bad by the stat
utes of deluded, duped, evanescent
mortals, who manege to feed their con
ceit by the vain Illusion thnt they are
superior to the hyenas who are sane
enough to see no difference between
virtue end vice. The church Is a mail
house In which n vast multitude nf the
stupid, self-lnfiaied human race sea
proper to Immure themselves. The
comprehension, but there are paths
REV. JAMES W. LEE.
tie one, were but different form* of
face of It, welching It shoot lit boll- senselta* best. Think of a man ratting
Ing streams, like tn Infinite geyser to music end singing till he 1a shoui-
Into the Immensity of a phenomenal
universe, call It all a great,mystery•
The naturalistic conception ef tee
universe puts a tar greater • tr * t £ up 5!S
the reason than tb* Christian. No one
could ever ring with any heart or hop*
the fact* of naturalism. Think of a
mother bending above the bed of her
sick child, hot with fever, singing,
while eh* called te mind the facta that
the fiver In her baby ami the
her heart tor tee poor pain-racked I
truthful
Think of one ringing an he reduced th*
self-sacrificing love of hi* mother to
equal lerma with poison In the fangs
ot snake* It would be as reasonable
to set the Itames of h*U to music, as
th* tacts of naturalism. In ths last 1
analysis naturalist* means that th#
universe is sufficient unto ttarif. That
It needed no God to malm II. and needs
no God to direct It. That it Is a huge.
style of the aaturallstlc universe were
the Neroe, the Calltgulas, th* Tamer
lane*. The actions of tho Roman em
peror who swathed Christian* In tar
to light hls garden debouch were *s-
actly in tune with the sweltering,
burning sum of things, sent spinning
through space without purpose, with,
out God and without mind. Ruch n
universe Is wild nnd mail, hence th*
madder and wilder people become the
more thoroughly do they correspond
with Its thoughtless delirium.
Let us turn from Insanity to sanity,
from despair to hope, from night tn
day. Let us turn from the nnturails-
tic conception of the universe to the
Christian. Let u* turn from n mad
house to a school house, lo-t us turn
from a universe without God to an
order Initiated, directed end to be
rompleted by God, who, while Creator,
la at the same time the God and Fath
er of Our Lord Jraua Christ, and
through Him mediates snnehlp to ev
ery child of man! We have not es
caped being encompassed by mystery,
but w* have com* Into mystery with
a clew tn It. There are forks to doors
and gateways still, but there are key*
to them. Wi bare com* tato a realm
through It. IU facts do not baffle us.
Its laws do not-fMsale us. Its shadows
do not blind us. Its trials do not mock
us. Its burdens do not crush us.
labors do -not enslave us. Thera
myatary here, hut It Is on the way to
clearing up. There are dark nights
here, hut they are prophecies of com
ing day. Cloud* float above our heoda,
but they are lined with silver. Mourn
era go nbutit tha etreat, but not aj
thoee who hava no hope. Tears alg
streaming from mothers' eyes, but they
are shot through with the colors ot the
bow nf hope. There nr* graves here,
hut they are the portals of endlsra day.
It Is all a great myatery, but ths con
tents of It are the Items of Godliness
and they can be aung. They can b# re
duced to melody. They can he chanted.
They ran be translated Info hallelu
iahs. They ran be turned Intu light
to color ami enhance and make radiant
the booms of the poor. They ran be turn-
*d Info strength for the will fighting
against temptation. They can be con
verted Into elixir to cheer th* heart.
They can be transmuted Into Inspira
tion to poise th* wings of the Imagina
tion. They can be sent flowing In the
enngs of children eweeten the live* of
Innocence. They can thrill th# tongue
of the dying with Bongs of prate*.
the Incarnation to the level of ordinary
human lire! And do you propose te
do thl* In order to make the facta mate
natural! But have you not seen at*
ready what a bottomless abyss of my**
lory naturalism force* you to acoeptf
I Perhaps you would like a sort of com
posite mystery, formed by mlxlag te*
Christian with the naturalistic coswp.:
tlon. Take. say. about on* part ot
sutxrrnturallsm and about two. parte
of naturalism and thoroughly mix them,
and then bake In a moderately bet
oven, until you get a good, rm ssbta
rake you can eat without taxiag your
menial powers ot digestion too Severn'
ly. That I* the sort of spiritual food
makes the world glad,
harness Into a garden. It peoples the
solitudes with the homes of prayer. It
causes the desert to break forth In
praise ns II blooms In the rose. It Alls
to make It fit what
etretrblng far beyond our power* of call your reason!
■
ihe vast outlying fields of space with
light and breadth
and room for faith
and merry nnd goodness to bloom In.
It nils the year* with gladness and
peace. It obliterate* age and puls tb*
flush of young hope on the face of th*
oldest saint*. Let u* gnriiver In our
heart* serin th* tact* of [he myatery:
souls- on today. But thl* I* not
dial ef th*. early Chrlttlana. When a
company were to have a combat with
lions In the arena of the colooaeam In
the afternoon It Js not likely that they
would be satisfied to face death for the
entertainment of the heathen on A mild
rationalistic luncheon. Nothing lea*
than every Item In the first Christian
hymn would meet the demands ot n
eltuatlon like that. '
It 1* becoming clear today that **•
rlety will be forced to tarn with fad
purpose of heart completely ta all tha
Tacts of the Christian religion to am*
Itself from chan* end from hell. Th#
current* of the fieth are bearing down
In their awful sweep thousands at i
people today. To resist (hls tide It !
necessary to make terms with aad i
on the eld* of godliness with ell
It Involve* Not only must w*
It ** a creed, we must accept It
our life. We must let Christ live
us, so that the Uvea w* live shell
by the frith of the Bon of God.
"Ho waa revealed In our nature.
He was proved righteous In spirit.
He waa beheld by angels.
He was proclaimed among th* heathen.
He wes believed on In the world.
He was inktn up Into glory."
Would you cut out some of the points