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January 22, 1913 ] T H E 1
Lack of space forbids our saying more of
either Constantinople or of the wonderful city
he founded. One of Constantine's virtues was
the great honor he paid to his mother., On
succeeding to the throne he treated her with
the greatest respect, conferring upon her the
title of Augusta. She also was converted to
the Christian faith. After her conversion she
made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, where, with
almost miraculous success, if the legends are
to be believed, she succeeded in identifying
most of the remarkable objects and places connected
with our Saviour's life and death, more
especially the sepulchre and the real wood of
the cross upon which he suffered. It is said
to have been through her influence Constantine
built the Church of the Nativity at Bethlehem,
of which portions of the original structure
are believed to be included in the present
edifice.
Constantine died at Nicomedia, May 22,
337 A. D., having divided the empire between
his three sons, Constantine, Constantius and
Constans. There is no question that, though
with many faults, he was one of the greatest
of men and most beneficent of rulers, and that
his life and acts had much to do toward influencing
the course of history, both secular and
religious. As some one has said: "He was
more like Peter the Great than Napoleon I; yet
he was a better man than either, and bestowed
more benefits on the world than both together-,
and is to be classed among the greatest benefactors
that ever sat upon the throne."?The
Presbyterian Banner.
THE WORD OF JESUS.
If Christianity as a revelation be false, no
other system of faith can demand a moment's
atttention; for if so the Creator has not communicated
with his earthly children, and the
most spiritual and elevating precepts are without
divine sanction.
If Christianity be false, there is no unfailing
comiort in irourne; no neip; no nope; no nana
of divine sympathy; no example of suffering
for us; no divine declaration of the beneficent
effects of affliction; no divinely-imparted
strength in temptation; no certainty of future
life.
This struggling world will never let such
words as these slip out of remembrance; the
parables of the Prodigal Son, and the Good
Samaritan; the Sermon on the Mount; the
story of the penitent thief and the dying words
of Jesus: "Forgive them, for they know not
what they do." The world will never allow
the invitation of Christ to be forgotten: '' Come
unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden,
and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon
you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly
in heart; and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."
It is he who brought life and immortality to
light: "In my Father's house are many mansions
: if it were not so I would have told
you. I go to prepare a place for you." t"I
am the resurrection and the life." "Blessed
are the dead which die in the Lord." Oh,
trembling Christian!
Never will Christianity die out of the world;
but sad is the life which ignores or spurns it
and lives and dies without its comforts and
its hopes.?Ex.
Tho* ?J 1. A 'L. ?:?:?1
</uaiakkci mm ncai b arc unc principal
thing indicated by the fact that when a strong
man dies it is usually of his disposition, his
tender ways, his loyalty to truth, his consecration,
that we think and speak most, rather than
of his strength or intellectual force or great
deeds. f
PRESBYTERIAN OF THE 801
CIVIL AND SOCIAL ORDER. t
i
BY THF REV. E. P. MARVIN.
"For forms of government let fools contest,
That which is best administered is best.''
These words of Pope contain much wisdom and
weight. Is there any great and important choice
between the Monarchy of England and the Republic
of America? Many evils prevail in all
civil governments and social orders, and many
causes and cures are named. We must recognize
the fact that this is a hard world on account of
sin and ignorance. Men naturally desire to be
prosperous and happy, "but many fail. The captains
and slaves of industry are in almost constant
conflict, and the great inequality of fortunes
cause difficulties that are hard to remedy.
Statesmen, philanthropists and reformers propose
and advocate many remedies.
Cicero aescrnoes 'nis laeai itepmmc ana sir
ThomaR Moore hts model Utopia, but although
every form of government has been tried, these
ideals of civil and social order and blessing have
never been realized. Rome vainly tried many
and all with disappointment. France tried the
wildest liberty with "the Religion of Reason,"
returned to a monarchy, and is now trying a republic.
Owen and Fourier thought that Sociology
under favorable conditions of intelligence
would make men honest, moral, prosperous and
1,^ 1 X -11 A-!- J- -* * *
iiaji|?v, uui an auKir expenmenxs utterly raiieo.
-Anarchists would "down with everything that
if up," abolWh personal property, abolish kings
and presidents and enthrone confusion and ruin
Rome hope in universal education and tell us
that if we can destroy the cave, ignorance, we
shall destroy the mole, crime; but secular learning,
apart from the conscience and the heart,
has no tendency to make men good. It may
make more skilled knaves and dangerous neighbors.
The golden age of Grecian culture and,
civilization was fhe age of her foulest moral corruption.
"The shacrgy demonu of the wilderness"
who trampled out the splendid Roman
civilization were more moral than the cultured
Itomans. Education and civilization are a
powerful source of either good or of ill.
Man's wisdom fails in all his remedies for
civil and social ills. The difficulty is not inherent
mainly in any outward form of government
or organization of society, but in the depravity
and selfishness of the natural man. Ton
cannot blast out sin and folly by penal laws.
T/aw deals mainly with crime, and most of the
laws that man makes, man can dodsre.
It is mainly sin and selfishness rather than
ignorance and defective forms of government
that cause our civil and social ills. Social evils
do not come mainly from surroundings, but out
of the evil heart. Gain was not led to murder
by example, hut. by a wicked heart. The only
solid foundation for morality and righteousness
is a sound religious belief, and the only sovereign
remedy for evil is a new heart created by
supernatural power. Here is the internal, radical
difficulty. If human nature is not regenerated
it will morally degenerate.
Then, all that is true and good in Sociology is
taught in the ethics of Christianity. It teaches
a religion of duties as well as rights. It removes
the blindness and bias of selfishness and makes
men want to do what they ought to do, and this
moral character is more important than legislation.
The renewed heart and enlightened con
wiciivc ogrcc, mm nit- K?iut*n ruxe, guiaea Dy in telligence,
remedies all moral evils. The Christ
cure, administered by the Church, is the divine
cure.
We need no new political economy nor social
order. Let the pure and blessed principles of
the gospel prevail in rulers and subjects, and
no better form of government than ours is pos
DTK (53) 5
able until the promised Kingdom of Jesus Christ
shall come. He does most for God and man.
Church and State, who labors most earnestly for
this end.?Ex.
THE OLD TRUTHS.
Some religionists are saying that the old
views of the Bible are altogether out of date,
and therefore are not adapted to the needs of
the "modern man." God's plan of salvation
is forever unchangeable. Its terms have not
been subject to revision. Human sin is the
same to-day as it ever was. Human depravity
has had no alteration since the fall of the first
man and woman. It is permanently inhereut
in the constitution of every person and every
T+ will Tintrnt* Koaawia +**11 n Uin
AV ** AAA Atv ? VI U^VUlilC IX UC 1U 1/1119 n l/l xu
that one in his natural state needs no change
of heart, no change of nature. The old truths
of the old Bible declared that a sinful nature
needs to be superseded by a new and pure nature.
They declare that the atonement of
Christ is a necessary basis for the forgiveness
of one's sins, and for the impartation of the
divine life, by which one becomes a new creation
and a new personality. The sinner will
ever need a divine Saviour. Nothing can
change this truth. There can be no true sub
8inuie ior a personal laith in Christ, and in
him crucified. Nor is there any warranted
substitute for the preaching of the old truths
of Christ's cross, and the vital doctrines which
are related to it.?Ex.
DON'T RESIST.
A while ago a writer on happiness said that
we keep up too much struggle in life; that
much of it is a mental struggle. We maintain
an attitude of resistance when we do not need
to do so. The conclusion reached was not to
resist. If you hear a noise in the street, don't
resist. Save your mind the strain and yourself
the trouble.
Expand and apply this idea. If it rains
don't resist; it will rain anyhow. If it snows,
don't resist: the "beautiful" will come down
anyhow. If the wind is blowing the dust down
the street at a pace of sixty miles an hour, let
her drive; you can't do anything about it. If
Medicine Hat sends the mercury below zero,
don't fire up your mental system; put coal
in your furnace. If spring is late, what is the
good of remarking about it all the time? If
the summer is hot, don't fret yourself into a
fever over it?keep cool.
If your neighbor's daughter marries the
wrong man, don't have a brain storm, for girls
marry as they please. If your other neighbor's
wife spends too much money, don't spend too
much mental energy criticizing, for the majority
of women are susceptible to bargaincounter
attractions. If still another neighbor
i : t-- " ' -
mauagca his uusmfss uaniy, wnat is tne goon
of your thinking and thinking about it? If
the election goes wrong, let it go; you will
need all your mental calibre for the next election.
If the tax collector comes around, don't
resist; he is as sure as death and more coldblooded.
If women wear monstrous hats, don't resist.
You can no more stop a fashion than a
Niagara. If men put feathers in their hats
and go up and down the streets in big processions,
never mind. What's the harm? If the
porter on a Pullman car looks at you with a ?
wistful eye, don't resist; no, d^n't. If the
street car conductor pulls the bell and goes on
nrV>on Vi a ooAn J Al?
..>.vu u? otco ;uu ^iuiiiu^ UI'UUIIU U1L1 COrnfT,
don't have a mental flurry over it; the company
is sure of your nickel anyhow.
In a word, don't resist when it is needless
or useless, for it draws on life, and life is a
candle which burns out fast enough at best.
?Ex.