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The Semi*Weekly Jonrnal.
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Editor and General Manager.
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DEAD AT HIS KEY.
It was General Robert E. Lee who
said that “duty is the sublimest
word in the English language,” and
the world, by a natural instinct,
joins tn tribute to the man who dies
at the post of duty.
There have been few instances of
the kind more tragic and more im
pressive than the death of Fabius
Larkin at the train dispatcher’s key.
It would be difficult to overestimate
the Importance of the position held
by the train dispatcher. It is he
who, in the last analysis, directs the
movements of the scores of trains
which speed along the network of
tracks in the suburbs, pass and re
pass one another when they get out
into the open country. To prevent
accidents he must have a clear, cool
head which will enable him to act
quickly and wisely in emergencies.
More than any other member of the
great railroad world, perhaps, he
must be eternally on the alert. The
movement and position of trains
must be well in his mind; his trained
ear must be ready for the various
signals which are the cryptic lan
guage of transportation.
And it was in this nerve center
of railroad control that the faithful
employe gave up his life. As he
reached for the key to give an order
his hand trembled and fell palsied
at his side. The vital spark had
gone. It was as If the heart of the
railroad system itself had ceased to
heat. The moving trains, shifting
like a weaver's shuttle, suddenly
found that the sensory nerve had
snapped, and they had to stand still
in wonder and expectation. The
great red eye of danger glowed on
the signal tower. Up to the last
moment of his life the faithful dis
patcher had executed the proper
movement to prevent fatalities.
When the mystified engineer
climbed the tower to explore the
mystery he discovered that the dis
patcher himself had received hurry
orders from the Supreme Controller
of the universe.
Since the final summons is inevi
table, how could it come more ap
propriately than in the very midst
of duty well done?
Fidelity which extends to the very
brink of the grave cannot fail to
challenge the admiration of the
world. -
Do it later.
It is more businesslike to receive than
to give.
Wherever practicable, honesty is the
beat policy.
Have you tried the latest drink, ben
zoate Os soda? ¥
Missouri is now threatened wltb prohi
bition. and may be "shown.”
CaUfomia apparently has the southern
viewpoint on white supremacy.
It is to be hoped the hat-makers' strike
will be settled in time for Easter.
’ Governor-elect Brown might visit Wash
ington for tips on an inauguration.
With yellow flour, our biscuits ought
to be as good as mother used to make.
South Dakota has a 2-cent rate. Harri
man will probably offer that state
I, - - - -
Os all glad words of tongue Or pen.
the gladdest are these, it might have
been worse.
New laws are needed to control corpo
ration*. says Herbert Knox Smith. He
might try lynch law.
The freight rate on breakfast foods has
lowered, and yet sawdust is a pret
ty heavy commodity.
Two prohibition measures were killed
in the Texas legislature. The cowboys
must have shot up the house.
There was one thing that Roosevelt
couldn't tackle, and had to shift, and that
was the old rock-ribbed Republican tariff.
There Is a vacancy on the governor's
staff of colonels, but applicants ar* ask.
ed to write and not call, as ths govern
or's office Is not very large.
Pittsburg and flan Franaiacc have taken
ths burden of rao* troubi** from the
eoutfi for a time at l**urt, Th* sdifops
of tho*s sectfotM may WW satrast the
beam* from thetr own eyas.
ARE GRAND JURIES OBSOLETE?
Hiram T. Gilbert, of Chicago, has appealed to the legislature of
Illinois to abolish the grand jury system in that state, and the subject
has been under discussion by the members of the bench and bar. The
result has naturally been to bring out a variety of opinions in which
expediency as opposed to a veneration for historic Institutions has
marked the main line of cleavage.
it would be interesting to know in what manner the opponents of
the grand jury system hope to evade the specific terms of the fifth
amendment to the constitution, which declares:
No person shall be held to answer for a capital or otherwise infamous
crime, unless on a presentment <*r Indictment of a grand jury, except
in cases arising in the land or naval forces, etc.
It may be taken for granted that the reformers do not propose
literally to "abolish'' the grand jury system, but to dispense with it
except in the case of those “infamous crimes” to which the constitutional
provision applies. •
There is much to be said in favor of the simpler method of
proceeding in the prosecution of lesser offenses simply on an Information
or affidavit, instead of the cumbersome method of an Inquest and
indictment by the grand jury. The complexities of our advancing
civilisation, particularly in the large cities, have not only made a
speedier administration of justice desirable, but they have made it
impossible for the grana jury to possess that special knowledge which
made them the voice of "public fame” or the common report of the
vicinage. A grand jury, chosen from the millions of Inhabitants of a
city like Chicago would have no greater fitness for the duties they are
called upon to discharge than if they had been taken from some other
city, and Indeed it is one of the present grounds of complaint that the
grand juries are "dominated” by the prosecuting attorney.
The origin of the jury system, and the gradual separation from it
of the jury of "the grand Inquest” have been the subject of interesting
speculation on the part of students of jurisprudence for many years.
The contention of Biackstone that trial by jury was "coeval with civil
government” in England appears to have been erroneous, If we consider
the functions of the jury In anything like our modern conception of
them. The institution, in a shadowy form, certainly existed in the
earliest times among the Scandinavians, the Teutons and the Saxons of
the continent, but in every case they appear to have been summoned as
witnesses with a special knowledge, rather than as an impartial tribunal,
and as their findings of fact were conclusive and the legal consequences
well known In tne simple state of society, they became judge, jury and
witnesses.
The jury system itself cannot, therefore, claim tnat venerable
antiquity which is some times ascribed to it, when we consider it in the
modern acceptation of the term and it certainly was not until the middle
of the fourteenth century, in. the reign of Edward 111, that we find the
first record of the jury of the grand inquest.
it would be trite to recall that the division of the counties of
England into tithings and hundreds, (of families), by which, In the
absence of a police system, every member of these sub-divisions was
bound to answer for the good conduct of every other member, was a
Saxon institution with which William the Conqueror did not wish or
dare to interfere. The community was bound to make known all
offenses, and as society developed four chosen knights of the hundred
were required to name what we may call a jury of twelve, whose special
knowledge was substituted for the common report of the community.
The assize of the hundred not only made presentments but tried
the causes and practically rendered judgment.
in the middle of the fourteenth century, as we have seen, mention
is first made of the jury of the grand inquest for the whole county,
which appears to have had supervision over the errors and derelictions
of the hundreds, and as the smaller assizes, burdened with the/louble
duty of presenting and trying causes, were glad to yield to the gradual
encroachment of the grand inquest, the latter finally took into its hands
the finding of indictments which were presented to the assizes for trial;
But even so we find the grand jury to be a venerable institution
which has been jealously guarded by the Amglo-Saxon race, and in
many respects the reasons for Its existence today are as strong as when
it was first established, it has uniformly been looked upon as a bulwark
of popular liberty. The foreman takes the ancient oath:
You shall present no one for envy, hatred or/malice; neither shall
you leave anyone unpresented for fear, favor or affection, or hope of
reward.
Erosecuttons on an information are supposed to be more open to
abuse, and it has always been pointed out that false accusations,
carrying with them an odium which is not altogether dissipated bj an
acquittal, are less easy and less frequent when they have to come
through an indictment after at least a prlma facie case has been made
against the accused.
The proposition to abolish the grand jury is not a new one.
More than fifty years ago William Forsyth, a distinguished English
barrister, said, in his admirable history of “Trial by Jury”:
Os late years an opinion has frequently been expressed that the pre
liminary proceeding by grand jury is useless and ought to be abolished.
And with respect to the district within the jurisdiction of the central
criminal court the Idea is perhaps well founded. The legal knowledge and
practical vigilance of the magistrates of the metropolis render it almost
superfluous to subject their commlials to the supervision of another
tribunal, before a prisoner is put upon his trial, and it is a great hard
ship that busy tradesmen should be taken from their avocations and
detained for several days at a time upon an inquiry which is followed
by no useful results so far as respects the jurymen themselves.
But the case Is very different in the counties which the judges visit
in their periodical circuits. The grand jury there consists principally of
the landed gentry and magistrates of the county, and it is of the highest
importance to secure their attendance on such occasions. They are thus
called upon to take their part in the great judicial drama and see justice
administered in its purest and most enlightened form. The committals
of each magistrate are exposed to the scrutiny of his neighbors and a
useful lesson is taught to each when bills are thrown out because the
evidence is too light and unsatisfactory to raise any presumption of guilt
in the accused. For it is no light matter to incarcerate a man on a
charge of felony for months previous to his trial, which in many cases
must lead to the ruin of his prospec ts, and then find that the case of
suspicion ts deemed so weak that w hen they assemble they pronounce him
entitled to an immediate discharge.
Here in Georgia, tor instance, particularly in tne rural counties,
the grand jury preserves its original functions, and exercises a general
supervision of tne affairs of the county.
They supervise tne county charities; they audit the books
of public officials; tn short, they exercise a wholesome moral
influence over the affairs of the entire county, and while standing as a
barrier between innocence and false accusation, they keep the vicious
in awe.
Most Important of all it may be said of the institutions of any
government, as the Declaration of independence said of governments
themselves, that those "long established should not be changed for light
and transient causes.”
GOOD ROADS CLUBS TO MEET.
The Good Roads Club of Georgia has requested that a meeting in
the interest of road improvement be held in every county in the state
on February 22, and that good roads clubs be organized in each county
where none exists at present.
The date referred to is George Washington's birthday and as such
is a legal holiday, it will, therefore, give the rural free delivery carriers
an opportunity to be present at these meetings, and their co-operation
is particularly desirable in this movement.
There are fifteen hundred rural mall carriers in Georgia, and it is
stated that they travel thirty-five thousand miles a day. Many of them
have equipped themselves with motorcycles in which they make their
dally routes much more quickly than with a horse and buggy. They
are even able to return to the central office with outgoing mall in time
to catch the midday trains.
For these men, and for the carriers In general, good roads are
especially necessary, it Is evident that they take a keen personal interest
in their work, aud they are entitled to the co-operation of the general
public in securing good roads.
A better road system is, of course, of the highest Importance to
the entire population. The present cost of transportation by private
conveyance in this country is twenty-five cents per ton mile, while the
average for the countries of the old world is less than half that amount
and in France only one-fourth of that amount.
it is also estimated that good roads will enhance the value of land
by an amount from five to ten dollars an acre, extending baek from one
to two miles from the road on either side.
it is evident that thia will mean a great increase in the taxable
value es real estate and will justify the counties in making substantial
expenditures on good roads.
TM first step la to secure a good reads club in evvy eeunty and to
enlist the eo-operatien of ail parties at interest. The approaching
holiday affords aa eacelleat opportunity for these meetings aud it is
Moped taef will be la»feiy attended.
THE ATLANTA SEMIWEEKLY JOURNAL, , ATLANTA, GEORGIA, TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 1909.
THE MENACE OF JAPAN.
The people of the south can sympathize with the people of
California In their present struggle with the Japanese problem, for it
presents many questions which our own people have had to meet in the
past.
The presence of thousands of Japanese—a race alien In blood, In
manners and habits —cannot fall to create a situation of great delicacy
and at times of exasperation. It is nothing like the problem with which
the south has had to contend, and yet we can perhaps understand the
point of view of those people better than any other section of the
country.
in California, as was the case In the south, the race question itself
is complicated with the broader question of the rights of the states.
More than forty years after the civil war, a state which at that time
was just emerging from the pioneer life of the gold-seekers, is
confronted with the same Issues which have been present here In their
most acute form.
The average American citizen has no patience with the jingo. The
sentiment is well-nigh universal that we should avoid anything that
could give oSense to Japan or any other country so long as that course
is consistent with honor and self-respect. It has perhaps been wise
that the California legislature has receded from the restrictive legislation
proposed in the general assembiy. Even the interference of the
president may be regarded as justifiable.
True, it must be humiliating to such a people as those of California
to have to conduct their domestic affairs in accordance with the wishes
or the interests of this alien race from the antipodes. They feel that
there is an industrial and racial menace at their very gates and that
they should act at once to protect themselves. They are certain that
they are well within their rights in saying what educational regulations
shall be adopted, and they may very properly challenge the dictation of
the federal government. On the whole It would seem that they have
been exceedingly patient, and have sacrificed their own Convictions and
inclinations very far in order not to involve the country in any
disagreeable misunderstanding with a foreign country. The right of
local self-government is as dear to them as it is to us, and It is easy to
understand that they should be disposed to defend it vigorously.
But with the exercise of the utmost tact and patience it is still
conceivable that serious complications may yet arise at any time. There
is a very general feeling that California particularly and the country
in general is standing over a powder magazine, which may explode at
any moment. Even from the most conservative point of view, it is
possible that the time may come when the authorities in Japan may not
be able to restrain the resentment of their own people, who can have
but a vague notion of the structure of our dual government.
War, in short, is by no means impossible or perhaps improbable.
The one thing that is supremely clear is that our own government
should be prepared for wnat the language of diplomacy calls
“eventualities.” There should be no niggard policy in the matter of
strengthening and multiplying our fortifications and increasing our
navy to a point where the Issue of hostilities would not be uncertain.
The two battleships for which the present congress has provided were a
step in the right direction, it would have been still better if the four
battleships for which the president asked had been granted. The
auxiliary cruisers and other armaments should be kept up to the highest
state of efficiency.
And what Is in many respects most important of all, we should
withdraw from the Philippines, as we have from Cuba, at the earliest
possible moment. The Filipinos, according to all available information,
nave made great progress in responsible government. Their new
general assembly is working well.
This colonial policy on which we have embarked, in direct
contravention of the corollary of the Monroe Doctrine, has given us an
exposed frontier on the other side of the world which is a constant
danger, it would be the first point of attack. We might be subject to
the moral effect of a temporary defeat in order to retain an outpost
for which we have no use and the retention of which is against all the
theory of our government.
The time to leave those islands is while we can do so gracefully.
Tho process of benevolent assimilation has gone about far enough. We
are Inviting attack sg long as we remain there, and when so many
reasons conspire to suggest that we evacuate, we should not waste
much more time in deliberating about the matter.
Within oui 1 , own legitimate boundaries we will remain impregnable.
We can enforce what laws we please, state or federal, and smile at the
consequences. ,
The nekt congress could not devote its attention to a more important
question than this evacuation of the Philippines and the strengthening
of our fleet and fortifications.
STANDARD GRADES OF COTTON.
The department of agriculture is entitled to the thanks of the
whole country for having taken steps to establish standards of
classification of cotton.
The special committee appointed for this purpose has made its
report; it has made nine different grades, furnishing samples which are
to be used as the standard, and these will be safely preserved, for
reference and comparison.
The European markets will be asked to accept these established
grades as the standard In order that there may be absolute uniformity
throughout the cotton markets of the world.
Great confusion would perhaps result by attempting to put the new
classifications into effect, so It Is probable that this will be deferred
until the beginning of the new cotton year, next September.
It is hoped that congress will promptly carry out the appropriate
legislation and will fix a heavy penalty for anyone who tampers with
the standards.
It is entirely proper that the government should take a hand in
this matter and establish a uniform standard. The maintenance of a
standard of weights and measures is one of the most important
functions of every government, and a standard of classification is for
tne cotton Industry one of the most important bases that could be
established. It will do away. with the dlsslmiliarity and confusion which
now prevail and give much-needed facilities for marketing the south's
great staple.
Secretary Wilson has rendered good service to the farmers of the
south and, indeed, of the cotton trade in general by the step he has
taken, and it 10 hoped that congress will lose no time in doing its part.
The American Working Girl
Harper’* Baaar.
During the year Harper * Baaar has been con
ducting a great *ympo*lum in which working
girl* in the large cities have told their indi
vidual experience*. In the January number, the
Baasr gi.-e* the following *ynop*l* of th* re
mit:
“A consenau* of opinion, appearing from con
ference* with two high-grade employment
vgenclca, four large commercial bonne* (not de
partment store*), three large professional of
fices. and a large number of mi*cellaneou* men
of experience in the business world of New
York city, is that:
‘■Taking education, family training, and in
fluence. and personal qualities and character
istics, into consideration in determining what
•g meant by ‘the best’—of the wages of ‘the
best' women employed in this city as clerks,
bookkeepers, cashiers, stenographers, filing
DIDN’T WANT IT OVERDONE.
jwggw F
Van Daubaire; I think yeu will find this a speaking likeness of your
wifo, sir ,
tp. Fakked: Heaven ferbidl
clerks, saleswomen, etc.—the following seems
to i>e tree:
“They (generally) begin at seven to eight dol-
Irrs per week.
“It (generally) takes about three years to
advance to ten cr twelve dollars per week.
“It (generally) takes five to six years more
to advance to fifteen dollars per week.
"Not more than ten per cent ever go beyond
fifteen dollar* per week.
“Advance in wages is very rare after ten
years' service, except with the ten per cent
who develop peculiarly strong characteristics
and are advanced to administrative poiilons.
“ft must be remembered that this covers only
employes who can properly be classed a* ‘the
best.’ Other* begin at three, four, and five
dollars a week, and rarely rise above seven or
eight dolars a week.
"It seems also true that the younger women
and the betttr-equlpped women crowd out the
older women, as appears from the fact that
essept among ‘the best’ few remain after thirty
or thirty-five years, and even among ‘the best’
few remain after forty or forty-five years.”
fag
T ROO KIzYK ERNAC IX u
In this issue we commence a series
of discourses under the caption, “Peo
ple’s Pulpit.” They are strictly un
sectarian, and not intended to build
up any one denomination at the ex
pense of another. As Beecher and
Talmage of the same “City of
Churches” were independent preach
ers who gave their time and strength
to the moulding of public thought,
“with charity toward all and malice
toward none,” so with Pastor Russell
of the Brooklyn Tabernacle.
Pastor Russell’s only fault (if fault
it be) is his extreme Orthodoxy—his
close adherence to the Bible as the
inspired Word of God. But after -all,
if the Bible be not man’s only chart
and compass as respects God and the
future, what have we? And if this
be so perhaps it is impossible to give
too earnest heed to its teachings. On
one point Pastor Russell is quite em
phatic, namely—he insists that it is
inconsistent with reason to believe
that all mankind, except the merest
handful of “saints,” were predesti
nated by God to eternal torment in
fire, because of ignorance or unbe
lief. Ninety-nine of us out of every
hundred reached that conclusion years ago; and it shook our faith in the Bible
considerably. Pastor Russell, however, holds to the Bible tenaciously and claims
to prove that on this point it has been misunderstood by many of its friends as
well as by its foes. He has shown a few faulty translations, and offered pref
erable interpretations for some parables, and altogether he has thrown a new
light on the Scriptures. His presentations of the Bible’s teachings have certain
ly rescued many from unbelief.
Mr. C. T. Smith, deceased, who was one of the editors of the Atlanta Con
stitution,. paid Pastor Russell, a most pronounced compliment along this line in
the following terms: “It is impossible to read his writings without loving the
writer and pondering his wonderful solution of the great mysteries that have
troubled us all our lives. There is hardly a family to be found that has not lost
sornp loved one who died outside the Church—outside the plan of salvation, and,
if Calvinism be true, outside of all hope and inside of eternal torment and de
spair. He makes no assertions that are not well sustained by the Scriptures. His
argument is built up stone by stone, and upon every stone is a text, and it be
comes a pyramid of God’s love and mdrey and wisdom. There is nothing in the
Bible that the author denies or doubts, but there are many texts upon v/hich he
throws a flood of light that seems to uncover its meaning.”
THE CHRISTIAN LIFE MORE THAN A
MIMICKRY OF WHAT JESUS WAS
BY’ BISHOP WARREN A. CANDLER.
The error that imitation of the historic
Christ is the true principle of Christian
living has been frequently fiiade in the
history of the Church. But whenever and
wherever this unscripturai view has been
accepted It has yielded uniformly mis
chievous results.
Some years ago a book was published
bj* a preacher out In Kansas which set
forth this idea under the taking title “In
His Steps”. It had a wide circulation and
produced for a season a considerable
stock of morbid, fantastical, and censo
rious religiosity. It was distinctly un
wholesome in its general effects whatever
may have been derived from It by a cer
tain class of minds who were aroused by
its appeal but who never carried its prin
ciple into practice. Written doubtless
with a pious purpose. It nevertheless pro
duced the same sort of fruits which its
central principle has always yielded in
all the Christian centuries.
The true method of Christian life is not
Imitation of the historic Christ but par
ticipation in the spirit of the Risen and
Living Saviour. This is the teaching of
St. Paul when he says to the Collosians,
“If ye then be risen with Christ, seek
those things which are above, where
Christ sltteth on the right hand of God.
• • * For ye are dead and your life is
hid with Christ in God.” To the same
purpose he speaks In another one of his
epistles in which he says, “Henceforth
know we no man after the flesh: yea
though we have known Christ after the
flesh, yet now henceforth know we him
no more. Therefore if any man be in
Christ, he is a new creature: old things
have passed away: behold all things have
become new". In these weighty words
the great Apostle is not to be understood
as undervaluing the life of Jesus in the
flesh. But he teaches us that whatever
may have been the beauty and power of
that life, it did not express the full ideal
to which Christians were to be raised
The Christian ideal he would have us un
derstand is to be found only in that glory
of the Risen Lord which Christians, like
a mirror, were to reflect, and into full
conformity with which they werq to be
changed from glory to glory, even as
from the Lord the Spirit.
Similarly St. John teaches when he
says, with reference to the Risen Lord,
“As he is. so are we In the world.” It
will be noted that the beloved disciple
does not say "as He WAS”, but as “Ho
IS”.’ •
Tn passages such as these,—and there
are many such in the New Testament
the Christian life Is set before us as life
in a Risen Saviour, as life deriving its
character, colour and whole tone not
merely from what Jesus was. but from
what He now is as He is enthroned In the
highest place of spiritual power and au
thority in the universe. The force of the
Christian life is as St. Paul tells the
Ephesians, "according to His mighty
power, which He wrought In Christ, when
He raised Him from the dead, and set
Him at His own right hand in the heav
enly places, far above all principality and
power, and might, and dominion, and
every name that Is named, not only In
this world, but also In that which Is to
come”.
When the principle of imitation of
Christ's earthly life is substituted for the
force of His ever-continuing life in the
believer, the stature of our exalted Lord
is distinctly reduced to the disciple’s con
sciousness, and Christian life is lowered
and impoverished in the same measure. |
The look of Christian experience is by
such a method turned backward, and it
becomes reminiscential and archaic,
rather than expectant, buoyant and tri
umphant. In such a posture of soul men
are no longer "saved by hope” which
they have "as an anchor of the soul both
sure and steadfast, and which entereth
Into that within the veil;” but. if saved
at all, they are rather saved by a mem
ory growing more dim with distance and
operating with varying degrees of power
according to the strength or weakness of
individual imagination. By such a pro
cess our Lord becomes an ever
vanishing quantity, and the vital cur
rents of Christian experience run with a
sluggish and diminished flow.
Moreover, this imitation theory of
Christianity shifts the center of gravity
of Christian character; it transfers Chris
tian experience from the conscience and
the affections to the imagination, and
makes personal piety dependent upon
one’s ability to reconstruct historic in
cidents of an ancient time and reproduce
some fanciful conception of them in
dally conduct. It sets up for Christian
living a sort of universal Ober-Ammer
gau Passion Play, and every man under
takes to play the part of Jesus. Os
course, each man’s imagination, work
ing on the materials found in the four
Gospels, constructs a Christ of his own.
and each yields submission not to the
living Lord, but to the image he has set
up in his own mind. Hereby a species of
subtle Idolatry Is brought to pass, only
the image worshiped by each idolater
has never been embodied in wood or
stone. Each worshiper frames a Christ
according to his own notion, and a* the
worshipers are multiplied a kind of dla-
MMfe *,-•/. .xßSikßksS
MT *'3
pastor Russell
OF TH* BROOKLYN TABBRNACLS
gulsed polytheism Is the result.
Furthermore, each one who thus sub
stitutes for the Living and Indwelling
Christ a creature of his own. imagination,
made in his own image and likeness, will
be disposed to make war on all compet
ing images. Re asks himself, what would
Jesus do? and watts not for the answer
from above, but takes as response to his
question the echo of his own voice re
bounding from the figure set up in his ’
own fancy. Thereupon he says, “My way
is the only right way; for it is the way
Jesus would walk.” In truth, such a per
son does not walk “in His steps” who
walked in Galilee and Judea in the first
century, but he makes a Jesus of his
own creation, who follows after his own
way in the twentieth century. He adores
his idol until by its worship he engen
ders in his devotions a lofty pride in
which he feels himself a kind of Christ
qualified to both save and judge all oth
ers about him. He becomes seif-centered, i
vain and censorious. The unspoken as
sumption of his whole manner of life is,
*T walk as Christ walked, but the rest
of the church walk some other way.” It
may be doubted if the walk of one who
assumes that most professing Christians
are un-ChristJ y is a godly gait.
The whole movement of such walking
proceeds on a misconception, and it is
likely to lead all astray who fall*under
its delusion. Christian living is not at
tained by a mechanical effort to njimick
the historic Christ. It is not a process
of mere imitation at all; it is not a copy
ing of the Christ of the humiliation, but
a heavenly communion with the Christ
of the exaltation. As the devout and
scholarly Dr. William Milligan of Aber
deen has said in his very able treatise
on the “Resurrection of Our Lord,” “it
is by no mere imitation of our Lord’s
example when He was on earth, by no
mere listening to the teaching that then
fell from His lips, by no mere trust In
any thing then accomplished by Him,
that we live; but it is by abiding in Him .
as the vine is In the branches and the
branches in the vine. We live in a
Risen Saviour; His life is in our life,
and in Him our life is a risen life." As
Christians we live a life whose whole
character and complexion is derived not
merely from what Jesus was, but from
what He is,—a life permeated by the
spirit of the supramundane world and
resonant with the tones of the heavenly
land.
No one will suppose for a moment
that this means that we are to under
value the earthly life of Jesus, or that
I we are to depreciate the inspired records
in which its story Is told. But what
ever power may have been present in
that wonderful life, or whatever beauty
may have adorned it, the standard of
Christian life was not found in it nor
did It supply the force bjT which Chris
tians are liftetd to the level of the di
vine ideal and enabled to sit with Him
in ..>e heavenlies. The life of the
Saviour in the days of His humiliation
revealed the depth to which His com
passion stooped to reach us rather than
the height to which by the might of
His riefcn and glorified humanity He de
signed to raise us.
Wherefore for all who would truly and
scripturally walk the Christly way we
| snould “bow our knees unto the Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the
whole family in heaven and earth is
named, that He would grant them ac
cording to the riches of His glory, to
oe strengthened with might by His
Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may
dwell in their hearts by faith, that they
Being rooted and grounded In love, may
be able to comprehend with all saints
wnat is the breadth and length and
depth and height; and to know the love
of Christ which passeth knowledge, that
they might be filled with all the fulness
of God.”
Conformity to this unearthly type of
life is the standard of Christian living,
and this pattern shown us In the mount
is a far nobler form than the transient
and tentative type advertised k, the prev<s
dispatches from Cleveland, Ohio. The
idea of puting on a Christly style of
life on a given day and wearing it for
a certain number of weeks is one quite
foreign to the Scriptures. It sounds like
a sort of picnic piety under the impulse
of which a certain number of those who
have wearied of other diversions go for
an outing to Paradise Park, the exact
hour of their departure and return being
duly determined beforehand. Life' in
Christ can not be so mechanically under
taken nor so summarily laid aside. It is
far too serious and sacred to be endeav
oured in such fashion.
What a pity that the spirit of fads and
novelty and advertising is finding its way
even into such solemn and holy things as
attempts to live the Christly life! What
next? May the Lord have mercy on our
sensation-loving generation! May we
learn speedily that the kingdom of God
cometh not with observation, but that it
is within us if if exists for us any where
In any worthy way.
