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Show ' I COPYRIGHTED LIBERTY. ; The mnn who views the exercise of i individual liberty under tho law with apprehension is not sure of himself nor his creed. No thought is worthy to live that will not bear tho freost and most open discussion. No leader of a people peo-ple can afford to warn them against their independence of thought and character. char-acter. No preacher in this day has any-right any-right to call a halt on personal liberty, especially if he is inclined to make a license of it himself. Think of a minister of tho present day warning his congregation to beware be-ware of liberty excopt that which has the O. K. of ecclesiastical authority, as was done by the chief speaker in yesterday yes-terday morning's conference session. It was like a voico from the tomb of a forgotten for-gotten past;-llke an echo from tho dusty corridors of tho dark ages. "In tho realms of freedom and the oxercise of their-own judgment they may individually individ-ually come unto God in faith and prayor to find out what should guido their human hu-man judgment," said tho president of tho church, who hammered this admonition admon-ition home with a vengeance. ne expressed his fear of human rights and of freedom of conscience when he said: It has been In thin realm of freedom and the exercise of human judgment that most of the evils that havo occurred In the world have been done. The martyrdom martyr-dom of the saints, the crucifixion of tho son of God himself, and much of tho apostasy and departure from the works of righteousness and from tho laws of God have occurred In this realm of freedom free-dom and the exercise of human judgment. judg-ment. Thus spake tho reactionaries of tho ancient world when a now thought was born of tho brain of man. One can imagine Nebuchadnezzar warning his subjects against Daniel in tho same manner. Ono could havo heard tho same cry from tho Herods of old, from tho Neroes who hated Christianity, from stahd-pat pricHtB against tho manhood man-hood and independence of Christ. Ono can almost imagine a money changor in the ancient temple, his ppekots full of the bonds and trust certificates of that day, crying out that "in the exercise ex-ercise of such freedom most of the evils of the world havo como." And to such as ho it has always brought trouble. But tho time has come when independent inde-pendent manhood is at a premium in tho eyes of humanity and of God, when tho souls of men expand under the broad idea of "teaching correct principles prin-ciples and letting them govern themselves" them-selves" without ecclesiastical restraint and. guidance, or rebukes from political pulpits, or admonitions to beware of liberty unlesB it has a copyrighted brand. |