3 14 HISTORICAL AND POLITICAL. 



people is its object. To form and perpetuate a good system of govern- 

 ment, the people must be just and good. 



This brings us to the question : What is religion? The true meaning 

 of religion is, a high sense of moral obligation, and a spirit of reverence 

 or worship toward God, with the desire that all mankind may be happy 

 in this life, as well as in the life to come. No one can truly honor God, 

 who does not desire the happiness of all. God, our common Father, 

 makes no distinction between his children. Why, then, should human 

 governments make such shameful distinctions among men? Jesus 

 Christ fed the hungry thousands, that he might more deeply impress 

 upon the minds of those who gathered to hear him, his great doctrine : 

 " Whatsoever ye would that men should do unto you, do ye even so 

 unto them." Any one may know whether he is a Christian by this great 

 rule. Whenever any individual reaches the point where he is willing for 

 others to do to him as he does to others, he can be sure that he has 

 passed from death unto life. One of the main reasons why we have so 

 many empty seats in our churches is the abundance of empty stomachs 

 and unclad limbs. How to reach the people is the question that is 

 being discussed by our ministry all over our country. There is only 

 one solution. See to it that the people who produce the wealth of the 

 nation get a fair share of the profits of their labor. You cannot reach a 

 man's higher sentiments as long as he has an empty stomach, or is in 

 need of decent clothing. Let our pastors and priests study the physical 

 needs of their people more, and give them less theology, if they desire 

 to Christianize the world. Religion is a principle that grows in a man. 

 It remains with him seven days in the week. The true Christian is just 

 as good on Monday as he is on Sunday. 



Theologians boast of the Christian government of the United States ; 

 but where is the spirit of Christ in our national and State governments? 

 Is that government Christian whjch creates millionnaires and palaces on 

 the one hand, and paupers and miserable homes on the other? Is that 

 government Christian which licenses the liquor traffic? *It is the- duty 

 of all governments to eradicate the evils of extreme poverty and vice, 

 restrain the strong and vicious, and strengthen the weak and helpless. 

 What are we doing, as a nation, on the line of equal rights for all, and 

 special privileges for none ? Name a government that permits the masses 

 to be robbed more systematically than ours does. 



Among the reasons we have given, in the past, for the superiority of 

 our form of government, none had more weight with the public than the 

 claim that here the few could not prey upon the many ; yet, for the 

 last twenty-five years, no people on earth have been more successfully 



