Evening Republican, Volume 14, Number 177, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 27 July 1910 — RELIGIOUS [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

RELIGIOUS

Christianity a Social Necessity. Lord William Cecil, a son of that Robert Cecil, better known as the Mar•quis of Salisbury, and was thrice prime minister of Great Britain, has been in Chicago, an ardent attendant upon the Men’s National Missionary •Congress. Lord William ?!ecil plans for and predicts the conversion of China to ■Christianity. He argues that as the Battle of Mukden opened the eyes of the Chinese to the superiority of Western methods of warfare, and as the commercial invasion of China by Western capital and Western Industrial methods is persuading the Chinese of the superiority of Western science and •organization, so the day is near at hand when the Chinese will be convinced of the superiority-of Western religion. Lord William’s wish may tincture his hope. Like all the Cecils, he is profoundly devoted and is convinced that from the essential superiority of religion flow all the superior consequences of Western civilization. The late Lord Salisbury was intellectually convinced of the social necessity for Christianity if a people wished to maintain their virtue, their power, their wealth and their welfare. He himself was in another .manner as much a scholar as his political rival, Mr. Gladstone. But, whereas the latter was a student of letters and the humanities, Lord Salisbury was a student of modern science. He was no mean amateur in chemistry, and spent his leisure from politics in his private laboratory at Hatfield House. Lord Salisbury, too, was much of a cynic, not a bit of an idealist, commenced life with few illusions and had none left after a half century spent in political life. Nevertheless, his conviction as to the social necessity of religion was as profound as the similar conviction entertained by the Iron Chancellor of Germany. Dr. Dorsey, curator of the Field Columbian Museum, writing from Sicily, the ancient Magna Graecia, is struck by the defect in the classic Hellenic character and civilization, which preceeded from the lack of an ethical religion, and he is moved to quiote Cicero, the Roman, who, although imbued with the Hellenic culture, perceived the enormous moral lack in the Greek character. Cicero wrote: “The sacred obligation which lies upon the witness to speak the truth is what that nation has never regarded.” That obligation, if anything, is religious, and the history. of all mankind attests that without religion the oath becomes but the signet of perjury. Where lying and perjury are rife, justice is Impossible, and upon justice rests finally national welfare and power. Our indebtedness to Greek culture, our obligation to Greek philosophy, our admiration of Greek art, letters and eloquence, supreme as they tjre, should not blind us to the Greek •ethical want, which rendered Greek civilization so rotten at heart that when the push came, the whole fabr'c toppled to ruin. Is not Chinese helplessness to-day a moral ineptitu.de at bottom? The Chinaman, from masdarin to coolie, Is practical, all tot himself, without Ideals of country, or social obligation or virtue. There is no sanctity to his oath, no justice in his courts, no reward for merit, but venality, graft, enshrines the whole organization, from the Peacock Throne to the petty magistrate. Lord William Cecil is right. A moral religion, such as Christianity, would reinvigorate China. Moreover, in the light of what occurs in America, the question is pertinent whether a reenergization of our people in their Teligious concepts would not somewhat Aid our social salvation.—Mlnneapblis Journal. _ Trnat To-Morrow With God. “Take no thought for the morrow.’’ This is a clause in the secret of unAnxious living and as applied admon-

ishes against sapping worry and ceaseless fretting. Do not look forward to the changes and chances of this life in fear; rather look to them with full hope that as they arise, God, whose you are, will deliver you out of them. He has kept you hitherto, then hold fast to fills hand, and He will lead you safely through all things, and when you cannot stand He will bear you in His arms. Neither not look forward to what may happen tomorrow; the same everlasting Father who cares for you to-day will take care of you to-morrow and every day. God Known and Cares. That God knows and that He cares is solid comfert to His children in all their trials. Adversity is one of the modes of our spiritual education. We are subjected to it not as a punishment, but as a discipline. It develops the latent possibilities of our souls, It the laten possibilities of our souls. It brtmdena our sympathies, invigorates our will, illuminates and broadens our spiritual vision. “When my spirit was overwhelmed within me, then Thou knewest my path." As says the poet, “The soul upon his errand goes”— traveling the mysterious way of life—“the end we know not, but God knows.”