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Show THE CITIZEN FALSE COVENANTERS OERHAPS the most curious development of the League of Nations controversy, not only among the peo-,-, pie of our own state, but among an increasing number, led by President Wilson, is the disposition to regard the proposed covenant as of divine -' inspiration. Confronted by such an assumption common sense begins to reel. The field of logical argument is abandoned, or rather superceded by a higher argument an appeal to a supernatural power. Despite himself, the cold logician is placed at a disadvantage. He is at once put upon ' the. defensive . by an argument directed to the strongest influences in the life cf man the religious which has for its object the service and worship of the Supreme Being. The most natural and logical thing for the reasoner to do is to demand proof, but it is of the nature of such appeals that they soar above the realm of proofs like an eagle contemptuous of the ants and other crawling earth creatures. By what right do you claim that you are raised up of God, by what right do you claim that your covenants are divine and what proofs have you of your inspiration? These are the questions that flash into the mind of the disconcerted sceptic. Jr-stin- had confined itmight have been considered merely a phase of thought quite natural to a commonwealth founded on religion. But it is not a phenomenon limited to our own country or our own time. It is universal. It has appeared in all ages, whether among pagan or Christian peoples, and, at times, it has been confirmed by miracles. When Titus, in the year 70 B. C., the phenomenon IFself to Utah it attacked Jerusalem, the Christians, remembering the prophecies of the founder of their religion, Jesus Christ, withdrew beyond the Jordan. They believed that Titus was sent, not merely by his father, the Emperor Vespasian, but that in a peculiar sense he was sent of God to encompass the destruction of the Holy City. Titus himself, though a pagan, when he was congratulated upon his vicTo God and not to mytory, said: self belongs the victory, to God whose vengeance has been visited upon a the Most sinful people I have missed somewhat the High. words of the Homan commander, but they are sufficiently accurate to register his state of mind. Nor is his state of mind to be wondered at. No doubt he had heard, during the progress of a siege which : Jiad endured more than 140 days, Something of the prophecies of Christ and something of the prodigies which the Jews themselves claimed to have witnessed. The Jewish historian, Josephus, has recorded the prodigies which preceded the siege and destruc tion of the city and temple and he expresses wonder that the true interpretation of these events was lost upon his people until it was too late. Josephus declares that a star, shining in the form of a sword, appeared in the heavens, that a comet remained in the sky for a year, that a cow, led into the market place, gave birth to a lamb, and that a mystic light shone above the priests, on one occasion, while they were conducting services in the temple. During the progress of the siege Jesus, son of Ananus, cried out day after day, Woe, Woe, Jerusalem, and continued to reiterate that dreadful cry until, as he passed along the battlements uttering his prophecy, he was struck by a missle from a ballista and killed. Shortly thereafter the Romans took the city. More than 600,000 according to Josephus 1,000,000 Jews perished as the result of disease, starvation and the fighting. When Joan of Arc appeared in France, drove the invading English from Orleans, united the French people and paved the way for the ultimate expulsion of the enemy, her coming was accomplished by wonders and miracles. I have cited these events because they are not a part of scriptural history and can be used to show that, even after the time of Christ, certain figures were believed to have been raised up of God as instrumentalities of a special Providence. The miracles of the New Testatment are accepted by Christian peoples as confirming the revelations and as proof of the inspiration of the Biblical If I thought the direction of the disordered affairs of this world depended upon our finite endeavor I should not know how to reason my way to sanity. But I do not believe there is any body of men, however they concert their power or t. eir influence, that can defeat this go crazy. great enterprise. With the presidents declaration of a belief in Divine Providence few will find fault. The American people are a religious people and they like to hear their presidents, on suitable we have the president of the States, in a rather open manner, claiming that he is in the hands of a Divine Providence which will not permit his covenant to be defeated, and yet that covenant, from beginning to end, fails to mention the name of God. This is all the more singular from the fact that the covenant is derived in its main characteristics from the Projet de paix of the Abbe de St. Pierre, promulgated by him in 1713 and largely adopted by the excessively Sanctimonious Holy Alliance formed1 after the downfall of Napoleon. The preamble to the instrument that established the Holy Alliance is filled and running over with all the pretensions that are now voiced by President Wilson and those who may be described by the appela-tio- n of Covenanters, for has not the president called himself a Cove- HERE per-petuel- le BETWEEN the Providence which of the flight of a sparrow and that which inspires the apostles to write unerringly the Word of God, there is a wide gap for dispute. In a sense every human being is raised up of God for a part in the great Scheme of the Creator, but it is not in that sense that those who claim to be divine instruments believe themselves to be raised up. us would have believe, They Mad Mullahs be whether they and red Indians declaring that no bullet of the white man can kill them, or leaders of sects or of the people, that a special Divine Providence operates in and through them for the good of a tribe, a race, a nation or mankind. who defied is not my intention to reflect upon the religious belief of anyone; I am simply striving to throw a little light, by way of random suggestions, upon a phenomenon which is developing before our eyes. IT HE League of Nations cove-Jnant, President Wilson said in his luncheon address in San is the enterprise of cisco, mercy and peace and good Continuing, lie said: "I believe vine Providence. If I did not I oc- casions, voice belief in God. What a chord of Christian sympathy was stirred throughout the land, for example, when the martyred McKinley, dying, murmured these words: Thy will, not mine, be done. Far be it from me, therefore, to utter one sentence of disparagement for a religious sentiment and faith shared by virtually all of our people. It is just because we are a religious people that it is not inappropriate to call attention to singular omission in the covenant of the League of Nar tions. writers. jt' By F. P. Gallagher L Fran- divine will. in Di- would res nanter? CRITICS may well indulge a sneer covenant which does not even use the name of God in its pre- - s.'iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiuiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimiiiiiiiii OUR ROTISSERIE . Will operate daily from 6:30 to 9 p. m., get a nice roast chicken for your family dinner. amble. It is a queer covenant of the Most High that does not even mention the Most High. To emphasize the difference the preambles of the two holy alliances I will quote them. First, the preamble of the Holy Alliance of a be-tw- ee century ago: In the name of the Most Holy and Indivisible Trinity: Their Majesties, the Emperor of Austria, the King of Prussia, and the Emperor of Russia, having in consequences of the great events which have marked the course of the three last years in Europe, and especially of the blessings which it has pelased Divine Providence to shower down upon these states which rlar ther confidence and their hope in it alone, acquired the intimate conviction of the necessity of settling the steps to be served by the Powers, in their reciprocal relations, upon the sublime truths which the holy religion of Our Savior teaches; They solemnly declare that the present act has no other object than to publish, in the face of the whole world, the fixed resolution, both in the administration of their respective states, and in their political relations with every Government, to take for their sole guide the precepts of the Holy Religion, namely, the v ce ts r Justice, Christian Charity and Peace, which, far from being applicable only to private concerns must have an immediate influence upon the counsels of princes, and guide all their steps, as being the only means of consolidating human institutions and reme-- a dying their imperfections. In consequence Their Majesties have agreed on the following articles: Art. I. Conformably to the words of the Holy Scriptures which command all men to consider each other as brethren, the Three Contrasting Monarchs will remain united by the bonds of a true and indissolute fraternity, and, considering each other as they will, on all occasions and in all places, lend each other aid and assistance; and regarding themselves toward their subjects and armies as fathers of families, they will lead them, in tne same fellow-countryme- n, -- (Continued on Page 15.) iiiiiiitiiiiiiitiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiimiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiir LADIES! Get the habit of lunching and dining at ROTISSERIE INN Where tempting dishes can al- ways be had. We specialize on Soft Shell Crabs, Frog Legs, Soles, Mushrooms, Alligator Pears and all fresh vegetables obtainable on eastern and west- ern markets. C. RINETTI F. CAPITOLA 23 SOUTH MAIN STREET TtiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimiHiiiiiitiiiiiiiuiiiiiiiiiiiinitiiiiiiitiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimiiiiMiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitiiiiiiiiitiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiHiiiiiii? 1 ( |
