Show THE BASIS OF LIBERTY A recent number of the now new york mail and express contains oon taina a well written article the be purpose of which Is ie to emphasize the truth that christianity li Is the basis of liberty betty Ji a fact that claims the consideration of all who directly or indirectly are responsible for the maintenance and development ot of a country s institutions to lose of it in the various ease in b lies where the affairs of nations are decided to an aa perilous perl loua as ai to steer along a danger ous oa coast without the guiding rays raye of the lighthouses babylon was waa once a mighty power the glory of kine dome sl the praise of the whole earth ap with swift strides it rose from insignificancy to a position or of supremacy in civilization in wealth and influence yet it fell as ae it if scattered by the hands of supernatural agents the capital capita once renowned renow ced for its wonders in architecture and other evidences of human genius became literally a lair of wild beasts and a place of stagnant nant water in which condi bondi tion it practically remains up to the present time in ID the same game way the pyramids of egypt are crumbling to dust duet mingling w with iab the sand and of the desert and the civilization of which they are monuments to la wiped out bouc from the pages of history greece is no more except in the ruins aad monuments that still testify to her former glory and rome borne that once ruled the world be baa been scattered to the be four winds lilethe like the fragments of the image the babylonian ruler saw in bis big dream the same game fate met the nations on this continent of whose existence and ous achievements achievement science to is just bat be to the important questions question why has all this glory been trampled tram oled in the dust the writer in the mail and express rep replies liek simply because all those these splendid and macht less political powers depended upon the supremacy of mental and material greatness divorced from pure religion for their strength and success this tells the whole secret they ara gradually dually abandoned the path that was illuminated by the light of revelation from god and consequently drifted away until lost in the darkness of error and unbelief iron was mixed with olay clay divine truth with frail human wisdom and the result was destructive there Is ie a twofold reason why the progress of a nation necessarily depends on its preservation of a pure religion it la Is only by revelation that an knows anything about his bis orli origin elD the reason for his existence on earth and his big destiny the very grouping together of individuals individual into families and nations to la for the purpose of educating man into a higher life what else clue to la the ong anft to be obtained by social affiliations low law authorities and governments that link individuals to gorbei it follows follow that from the moment a people disregards disregard ii reli religious flous truth and endeavors to deny man maira a re and obligations to his bis god if dissolution to is ginev table suppose a sch of 0 no matter how excellent would undertake to into the minds of its students that filial relationship to la a delusion a conception only of infancy and that the alma aims and purposive pur pois of education are confined within the he halls balls of the seat of learning to in fact that existence itself ceases beyond the school term how bow long could that establishment if nations in an equally absurd manner ariit into imo a condit condition iOD of forgetful forgetfulness nees of their very purposes surely uey must be overthrown and give room for others besides it Is 10 only by the adherence religious truth that morality can be preter preserved ved france ban baa taught the world what libe ibe substitution of the 41 godess of reason for forged god can lad ad to the results of the doctrines of voltaire and B R abeau a lesson j rt t which toe the student of history baill shudders bud ders 1 without true religion the maintenance of pure morals Is ie impossible and without the latter individual liberty national independence must per lob because sio sin carries with it the germs of dissolution the ancient long ago burled buried in oblivion were not deficient in pa tri in genlue genius in wealth stilly stills they went down and aad the warning they send to us i to that the perpetuity of civilization anti and the blessings we enjoy depends upon a recognition of those truths trueba that god has haa revealed for or the guidance of his hie children |