Loading...
Larger font
Smaller font
Copy
Print
Contents
  • Results
  • Related
  • Featured
No results found for: "".
  • Weighted Relevancy
  • Content Sequence
  • Relevancy
  • Earliest First
  • Latest First
    Larger font
    Smaller font
    Copy
    Print
    Contents

    June 9, 1898

    “Notes” American Sentinel 13, 23, p. 353.

    ATJ

    IN the Decalogue, God addresses individuals only.AMS June 9, 1898, page 353.1

    THE law is all right as a fence, but it is of no use as a walking-stick.AMS June 9, 1898, page 353.2

    WHEN a nation tries to make itself Christian, it always makes itself anti-Christian.AMS June 9, 1898, page 353.3

    NOT the Spaniards in Cuba, but the saloons in America, are the real curse of the Western hemisphere.AMS June 9, 1898, page 353.4

    THERE is no person so dextrous that he can wield both the sword of steel and the “sword of the Spirit” at the same time.AMS June 9, 1898, page 353.5

    IF professors of Christianity had never gone into politics, the professedly Christian Church would never have been responsible fore religious persecution.AMS June 9, 1898, page 353.6

    “REVERENCE for law” does not go to the foundation of good government. Without reverence for right, there would be few laws in the land that were worthy of reverence.AMS June 9, 1898, page 353.7

    TO say that the government is superior to the individuals who have formed it, is to say that the creator is inferior to the thing which he creates. But even God cannot create a thing superior to himself.AMS June 9, 1898, page 353.8

    PUBLIC sentiment should not be confounded with Christian sentiment. Public sentiment may be manufactured by various expedients known to politicians and others; but Christian sentiment comes altogether from the Word of God.AMS June 9, 1898, page 353.9

    THE question of how much rest a person needs, and when it should be taken, is one to be settled by the physicians and not by the preachers, if it is to be settled outside of individual preferences.AMS June 9, 1898, page 353.10

    “CIVIC righteousness,” as defined by its advocates, is something altogether inferior to the righteousness which will count with God. It is, in fact, a counterfeit, and goes hand in hand with the counterfeit sabbath.AMS June 9, 1898, page 353.11

    “EXCEPT your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees,” said Jesus Christ, “ye shall in no wise enter into the kingdom of heaven.”AMS June 9, 1898, page 353.12

    What was the matter with the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees? Oh, it was all on the outside. It was all a matter of forms and ceremonies and respectable appearance. It was not a matter of the heart.AMS June 9, 1898, page 353.13

    And this must be the case with all righteousness—so called—which is the product of civil law. The law cannot change the heart; it can affect only the outward deportment.AMS June 9, 1898, page 353.14

    Reform by law can go no deeper than the outward deportment. But—to paraphrase the Saviour’s words—Except your righteousness shall exceed that of a pious and respectable outward deportment, ye shall in no wise enter into the kingdom of heaven. Or, in other words, Except your righteousness shall be greater than “civic righteousness” ye shall not enter the kingdom of heaven.AMS June 9, 1898, page 353.15

    Civic righteousness-the righteousness of outward forms, of scrupulous regard for the letter of the law, and of pious look and demeanor—did not stand very high in the estimation of Jesus of Nazareth. And it does not stand any higher in his sight now than it did when he rebuked the Pharisees and Scribes. The only righteousness we want is that which bears the genuine stamp.AMS June 9, 1898, page 353.16

    “Reverence for Law” American Sentinel 13, 23, p. 354.

    ATJ

    “REVERENCE for law” is a very essential thing in good government, but it is not the foundation stone.AMS June 9, 1898, page 354.1

    REVERENCE for law is not in itself an energizing, purifying force in government. Its value in government is not intrinsic, but is conferred by something else.AMS June 9, 1898, page 354.2

    REVERENCE for law never shook the throne of a despot, or broke the shackles from a slave.AMS June 9, 1898, page 354.3

    REVERENCE for law did not inspire the writing of the Declaration of Independence.AMS June 9, 1898, page 354.4

    If our forefathers had always adhered to the doctrine of reverence for law, the world would never have heard of that Declaration, nor of Magna Charta.AMS June 9, 1898, page 354.5

    The pathway from despotism to liberty in government has been along the line of revolution, and often squarely across that of reverence for law.AMS June 9, 1898, page 354.6

    Law, in itself, is not entitled to reverence. If it were, then the worst law ever enacted would be entitled to it equally with the best, and the “three worthies” in Babylon of old did wrong in not worshiping the golden image.AMS June 9, 1898, page 354.7

    In the Declaration of Independence, our forefathers took a step from the standpoint of reverence for law, to that of reverence for right. And it was a very long step; it meant revolution.AMS June 9, 1898, page 354.8

    The law of Great Britain said one thing; but right, as they asserted it, said another thing. Right said that human governments were instituted to preserve the unalienable rights with which all men are endowed by the Creator. From the standpoint of reverence for law this was treason; but in the conflict, right prevailed.AMS June 9, 1898, page 354.9

    Reverence for right is the pole star of good government. It cannot be lost sight of without a resulting deviation from the course which leads to national prosperity.AMS June 9, 1898, page 354.10

    A person who has no reverence for right, can have no true reverence for anything.AMS June 9, 1898, page 354.11

    All Christian institutions are founded in right, and hence are entitled to reverence, irrespective of any law in their behalf; nor can any such law contribute at all to the reverence felt for them by human beings.AMS June 9, 1898, page 354.12

    But there are religious institutions which have no foundation in right; and it is now sought to secure reverence for these from the people by pointing to them as being part of the law of the land. Prominent among these is the institution of Sunday rest.AMS June 9, 1898, page 354.13

    In behalf of this institution very much is said about the necessity of reverence for law; but nothing at all about the necessity of reverence for right. All the right in the case has to be assumed; it does not rest upon evidence.AMS June 9, 1898, page 354.14

    Reverence for right is reverence for the higher law of God,—that law which says nothing about the first day as a day of rest, but commands the observance of the seventh day. As against that law, and against the requisites of good government, the doctrine of reverence for human law can be of no force at all.AMS June 9, 1898, page 354.15

    “Which Is the Safest Course?” American Sentinel 13, 23, pp. 354, 355.

    ATJ

    HAVING had Washington’s advice against the United States ever forming any entangling alliance with European or any other foreign power, it will not be amiss to set down, for comparison, the arguments now offered in favor of such alliance and indeed directly against Washington’s advice. Then the reader can estimate the relative weight of argument, and wisdom, of the two courses advised.AMS June 9, 1898, page 354.1

    Hon. Richard Olney, who was attorney general and secretary of state in President Cleveland’s cabinet, writes in the Atlantic Monthly, thus:—AMS June 9, 1898, page 354.2

    “The rule of international isolation for America was formulated by Washington, was embalmed in the earnest and solemn periods of the Farewell Address, and has come down to succeeding generations with all the immense prestige attaching to the injunctions of the Father of his country and of the statesmen and soldiers who, having first aided him to free the people of thirteen independent communities, then joined him in the even greater task of welding the incoherent mass into one united nation. The Washington rule, in the sense in which it has been commonly understood and actually applied, could hardly have been adhered to more faithfully if it had formed part of the text of the Constitution....AMS June 9, 1898, page 354.3

    “What is it that these utterances enjoin us not to do? What rule of abstinence do they lay down for this country? The rule is stated with entire explicitness. It is that this country shall not participate in the ordinary vicissitudes of European politics, and shall not make a permanent alliance with any foreign power. It is coupled with the express declaration that extraordinary emergencies may arise to which the rule does not apply, and that when they do arise temporary alliances with foreign powers may be properly resorted to. Further, not only are proper exceptions to the rule explicitly recognized, but its author, with characteristic caution and wisdom, carefully limits the field which it covers by bounds which in practice are either accidentally or intentionally disregarded.AMS June 9, 1898, page 354.4

    “If the Government can do its duty with an ally, where it must fail without, and even if it can more securely and efficiently do that duty with an ally than it can without, it would be not mere folly, but recreancy as well, not to make the alliance.AMS June 9, 1898, page 354.5

    “If we shall sooner or later—and we certainly shall—shake off the spell of the Washington legend and cease to act the rôle of a sort of international recluse, it will not follow that former alliances with other nations for permanent or even temporary purposes will soon or often be found expedient. On the other hand, with which of them we shall as a rule practically coöperate cannot be doubtful. From the point of view of our material interests alone, our best friend as well as most formidable foe is that world-wide empire whose navies rule the seas and which on our northern frontier controls a dominion itself imperial in extent and capabilities. There is the same result if we consider the present crying need of our commercial interests....AMS June 9, 1898, page 354.6

    “But our material interests only point in the same direction as considerations of a higher and less selfish character. There is a patriotism of race as well as of country, and the Anglo-American is as little likely to be indifferent to the one as to the other. Family quarrels there have been heretofore and doubtless will be again; and the two peoples, at the safe distance which the broad Atlantic interposes, take with each other liberties of speech which only the fondest and dearest relatives indulge in. Nevertheless, that they would be found standing together against any alien foe by whom either was menaced with destruction or irreparable calamity, it is not permissible to doubt. Nothing less could be expected of the close community between them in origin, speech, thought, literature, institutions, ideals.”AMS June 9, 1898, page 354.7

    Lyman Abbott, editor of The Outlook, published in the North American Review, an article on “The Basis of an Anglo American Alliance,” in which he says:—AMS June 9, 1898, page 355.1

    “The time has therefore passed when the United States can say, ‘We are sufficient unto ourselves, we will go our way; the rest of the world may go its way.’ The question is not, ‘Shall we avoid entangling alliances?’ We are entangled with all the nations of the globe: by commerce, by manufactures, by race and religious affiliations, by popular and political sympathies. The question for us to determine is not whether we shall live and work in fellowship with European nations, but whether we shall choose our fellowship with wise judgment and definite purpose or whether we shall allow ourselves to drift into such fellowships as political accident or the changing incidents of human history may direct....AMS June 9, 1898, page 355.2

    “It is for this reason I urge the establishment of a good understanding between the United States and England, in the hope that in time it will grow to a more formal alliance—civic, commercial, and industrial, rather than naval and military—and yet an alliance that will make us, for the purposes of our international life, one people, though not politically one nation....AMS June 9, 1898, page 355.3

    “It is true that in a sense the United States is neither a Christian nor an Anglo-Saxon nation. It is not officially Christian, if thereby is meant a nation which gives political or financial advantage to one religion over another. It is not Anglo-Saxon, if thereby is meant a nation which sets itself to confer political power upon one race over another. But though it is officially neither Christian nor Anglo-Saxon, it is practically both. Its ethical standards are not those of Mohammedanism or Confucianism, but those of Christianity. Its ruling force in the country, educational, political, and on the whole commercial, is not Celtic, nor Slavic, nor Semitic, nor African, nor Mongolian, but Anglo-Saxon. Thus in its religious spirit, though not altogether in its religious institutions, in its practical leadership, though not in the constituent elements of its population, and in its national history and the genesis of its political institutions, the United States is of kin to Great Britain. The two represent the same essential political ideals—they are both democratic; they both represent the same ethical ideals—they are Christian; and they both represent the same race leadership—they are Anglo-Saxon....AMS June 9, 1898, page 355.4

    “It [an Anglo-American Alliance] would create a new confederation based on principles and ideas, not on tradition, and bounded by the possibilities of human development, not by geographical lines. It would give a new significance to the motto E Pluribus Unum, and would create a new United States of the World, of which the United States of America would be a component part. Who can measure the advantage to liberty, to democracy, to popular rights and popular intelligence, to human progress, to a free and practical Christianity, which such an alliance would bring with it? Invincible against enemies, illimitable in influence, at once inspiring and restraining each other, these two nations, embodying the energy, the enterprise, and the conscience of the Anglo-Saxon race, would by the mere fact of their coöperation produce a result in human history which would surpass all that present imagination can conceive or present hope anticipate.”AMS June 9, 1898, page 355.5

    In an interview a member of President McKinley’s cabinet is reported as follows:—AMS June 9, 1898, page 355.6

    “Under a broad and liberal territorial government established by the United States the people of the Philippine Islands will eventually be raised up to a condition of enlightenment and civilization that will make them able to establish a firm government.AMS June 9, 1898, page 355.7

    “It is time that the people of this American Republic began to realize the greatness of their mission among the nations of the world. They must broaden their horizon, enlarge their views. Some people in their shortsightedness say that we cannot hold the Philippines without interfering with our established Monroe doctrine. So much the worse for the Monroe doctrine. Others say that we cannot hold outlying territory under the Constitution. We amended the Constitution at the close of the last war this country was engaged in. Why cannot we amend it again?AMS June 9, 1898, page 355.8

    “An amendment to the effect that the United States may extend a protectorate over the islands of the sea (without assuring them a state government) for the purpose of affording the inhabitants thereof a good government, security to life and property, freedom of religion, etc., till they are able to set up a stable government of their own, would be agreed to by the people of this country if it were ever submitted to them.AMS June 9, 1898, page 355.9

    “At the close of this war with Spain the United States will hold a very different position among the nations from that which it occupied previously. Our destiny is to extend the sphere of Republican government. Our Government will have an opportunity to show whether or not it appreciates the importance of that mission.AMS June 9, 1898, page 355.10

    “These great questions have been brought to the front very suddenly. But I have no doubt that the American people will use their opportunity wisely and well.”AMS June 9, 1898, page 355.11

    In individual life when a person has great influence, he always lessens it by trying to exert it. It is admirable to have great influence for right principles. But it is possible for a person to become proud of his influence and be ambitious to make it felt. Such pride and ambition, however, is just as subtle and dangerous as is any other sort. And all this is true of nations, which are but collections of individuals.AMS June 9, 1898, page 355.12

    Right influence is most powerfully exerted, whether by individuals or nations, always in quietness and humility.AMS June 9, 1898, page 355.13

    “Cromwell, I charge thee, Put away ambition.AMS June 9, 1898, page 355.14

    By that sin fell the angels.”

    A. T. J.

    “Back Page” American Sentinel 13, 23, p. 368.

    ATJ

    “THE kingdom of God is within you,” said Jesus Christ. Is it so? Is the kingdom of God within you? If it is, then you are not affected by the commotion and strife that are in the world. Commotion and strife are filling the world, and if the world is in you, its commotion and strife are there with it. But the kingdom of God is pervaded by peace and love. No matter how bad things get in this world, it is your privilege to live in the enjoyment of peace. “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on Thee.”AMS June 9, 1898, page 368.1

    Larger font
    Smaller font
    Copy
    Print
    Contents