Gospel Herald, 1859-10-08

              GOSPEL HERALD.
Devoted to GKristianity, Morality, the Interests of Salabtttli Schools, Socia,! Improvement, Temperance, Ednoation, and General Ne-ws.
"BEHOLD,   I   BEING   YOU   GOOD   TIDINGS   OP   GREAT   JOY
ON   EAB.TH   PEACE,   GOOD   WILL   TOWARD   MEN."
VOL. 16.
DAYTON, 0., SATURDAY, OCTOBER 8, 1869.
NO. 22.
ORIGINAL POETRY.
iri-i^^eii for the Gos})el Herald^
Spare Me My Good Name.
J. h. SCOTT.
Tlicro is a gem of priceless worth, 111 every grade of life the same;
It'is tlic brightest gem of etirtih,
j\-iul ihfit, my friends, is a good name.
0 let me that bright j'cwcZ vrear, For it, I -would a Thi-one disdain;
Fov it, the lieeiiest ii,ngiu,sh bear: Then t^pare, 0 spare me my good nutne.
Oppress mo by wli.tt means you ^vill, 111 every form my person maim,
From every nerTO my life distill, But take notfrorn me my good name.
jfn pain and want, 0, make me toil. Depress my heart with menial shame;
All my attempts for comfort foil; £itt spare, I pray thee, mg good name.
Or, clothe my sliivering form so poor, That savages would scorn the same;
Or m.ako me guard a beggar's door, But spare, 0, .iparc me, my good name.
In stocks of steel confine me fast, My limbs beyoud redontption mnim;
Scourge 1110 till sense and pain are past, But spare ihat treasiire, mg good name.
Desiioil my features, change my hue. Or ou the rack distend my frame
Till every muscle yields to you,
.But spare that "-gem," my sacred name.
Crush out my blood at every pore, Transfix my very soul with pain;
Torture, till I can foel no more,
Bui spare me, will you? my good name.
Yes, let me suffer eoery loss
That has been known, since sorrow" cam Nail me head downwards to the cross.
But spare that "priceless gem" mt namk. Cliu'uinati, 0.
ORIGINALITIES,
WriUenfor the Gospel Herald.
Divine Origin ol Christianity, No- 3.
BY  JA-UES 5IAPLE.
1. The light of nature cannot give us a perfect code of morals hy wliich to regiilato om- aetiona. It leaves the mind in doiiht, in regard to the true distinction of vice and virtue, and in donhts as to what virtue i.s. We have a fearful illustration of this solemn truth in the hhstory ofthe most pol¬ ished lieathen nations of the earth. Their code of morals and good man¬ ners was vovy imperfect, and counte¬ nanced the worst passions ofthe hu¬ man heart. They accounted revenge not only to he lawful, hut eonimenda- hle. There wero but two or three philosophers,ill allthe heathen world, that incvdeatcd tho duty of loving our enemies.
2. Suicide was regarded as the stro»ge.st work of heroism, and the su- icide,"iiistead of being branded with infamy, was commended aa the most celebrated and distinguished of men. Hence, we find that some ofthe most celebrated men of antiquity died hy their own hands.    Hannibal,  Biuitis,
own hands, and suicide became aa fre¬ quent among tlie ladies of Eome, that the government had to interfere to arrest thc'torrent that deluged the im¬ perial city in blood.
3. Philosophers countenanced by their arguments the most flagitious crimes. Theft was permitted in Egypt and Sparta. Plato taught the neces¬ sity and expediency of exposing chil¬ dren in p)articuhar cases. At Eome in¬ fanticide was regulated by the laws of Eomulus, and this horrid practice was approved by Plutarch and Seneca. The infamous trafic in human blood was permitted, and in Eome the mas¬ ter iiad absolute power oyer their slaves whom they scourged and put to death at pleasure. Customary swear¬ ing was recommended, if not by pre¬ cept, by example of the most distin¬ guished moralist of antiquity. Inthe works of Socrates, Plato, Seneca, and the Emperor Julian, we find numerous examples of oaths by Jupiter, Hercu¬ les, the ,Snn, and many other deities. Aristippiis taught that it was right for a wise man to steal, commit adul- try, and sacrilege, when opportunity offered, for none of tliese things was naturally evil.
4. The evil jjassions ofthe soul were left untouched by their system of mor¬ als. The interior acts ofthe soul wero left untoucued, tlie murder ofthe heart, the adultry of the eye, were little re¬ garded.
5. Women were treated ancl dis- jiosed of as slaves, even in Athens the seat of pliilosophy and polite liter- ture. Man was everything, and woman was nothing. Women were literally the serf's of the family inheritance. Whether that inheritance consisted in land or money; they were made with property, the subject of testiimentary bequest; and, whatever delights heir¬ ship might convey to an Athenian la¬ dy, freedom of person and inclination was not among the number, single or wedded, she became, by mere acquisi¬ tion of property, at the mercy of the nearest male relative in succession: she could be brought from the dull soli¬ tude of the gymnasiiim, to become an unwilling bride; or slie could be torn from tho object of her wedded af¬ fection, to form now ties, with perhaps tho most disagreeable of mankind. And if under any of these circumstances, nature became more powerful than vir- ture, life was the penalty paid for the tran.sgression. Such was the degraded state into which the heathen code of morals sank the fairest-portion of the human race.
G. Tlio 11 ational sjiirittliat was cher¬ ished hy the diiferent nations ofthe earth was of tho most exceptionable character. Take tho most polished, philosophical, and enlightened nations oftbo heathen world,, the Greeks, for an illustration of this sentiment. Thoy cherished a spirit ofwar, naurder and conquest. It was enacted by the le¬ gislative authority at .Athens, that "the Athenians might lawfully invade and enslave any people, who, in their opin¬ ion, were fit to be made slaves," and the celebrated laws of Lycurgus were designed, and calculated in their very nature, to make the Spartans a nation of warriors. Their highest concep¬ tions of national glory,, excellency, and
Cato, and many others  fell by "their I honor was the glory ofwar and eon
quest. Though the Grecian States cherished a love of freedom, and a gen¬ erous order for noble action,?; yet they seldom manifested a resjiect for justice in their contests with other nations What is true of the Greeks is true of all tlio nations of antiquity. While the Eomans professed to love freedom; and spare tho subjects of their power, their great centralizing object was uni¬ versal dominion. The spirit of war and universal conquest was the na¬ tional spirit oftheEonian]5eople. Thoy wero supremely devoted to and brought then-richest gifts to the altars of M"ars and Terminus.
7. They had not sufficient author¬ ity to enforce the observance oftheir moral code. It was not sanctioned and enforced by authority and motives piowerful enough to hind it on the hearts and consciences of men. The fact that it was tanghtby distinguished philosophers and moralists, and that it appears to be reasonable in tlie na¬ ture of things, is not sufficient author¬ ity to enforce the observance of moral precepts. These precepts may scoin too bright, but thero maybe .sufficient motives on the other hand to keep the mind suspended, so as to render a high¬ er power necessary to turn the scale. The most distinguished philosojDhera and legislators of antiquity felt the necessity of a higher power than earth¬ ly authority, and stronger motives thfui i temporal good or evil, to enforce tlie ohsoiwance of moral ]n'ecepts aud lai- man legislation. Hence, we find that they enforced the observance of their laws by divine authority. Zoraster, Hostanes, tho Magi, Alvinas, Numa, Pj-tliageras, aud all thoso who fraiiKiii laws and religion for commonwealth passed for men divinely inspired and commissioned bj^ the Gods. This gave their precepts and laws an authority with the people which thoy could not otherwise have had; but notwithstand¬ ing this was tho case, their claims to divine authority were so fiillj defend¬ ed that thepeoplo violated their laws to such an extent as to give rise to groat complaint among the pliiloso- phers. Oiscoro, after paying the high¬ est compliments to philosophy as the best guide in morals, add.s, that "it is so fiir from being esteoind and praised, according to what it merits of human life, that it is by the most of mankind neglected, and bymany were reproach¬ ed.'' Hero we seo the necessity of ;i revelation from heaven to give saiio tion, and furnish adequate motives to enforce the ohsorvance of moral ]n'G- cepts, and bind them ou the hearts and consciences of men. The fiict that the light of nature can not give ns clear, consistent, and perfcctvicws of the Divine Being—a rational and plii losophical account of the origin ofthe universe, the fountain of moral evil,— can open to us no fountain of forgive ness and makes no ju'ovision for tho salvation of man from sin—cannot af¬ ford lis siitfleient strength to enable us to build up tho kingdom of righteous ness, love and truth in our hearts; can not point out the su7imum hoinrm of hu¬ man happiness; can givous no clcarand consistent ideas of tho nature and im- moi;tality of the soul—cannot dispel the darkness and gloom that shrouds th&fiituro in ttu'tariaii darkness, and point out with an unerring hand the true destiny of man—cannot give us a
perfect and consistent code of morals, ind sanction its precepts by sufficient authority and adequate motives as to secure their observance, clearly de¬ monstrates the groat necessity of a di¬ vine relation from the Author of the universe.
4. The possible means of communica¬ ting a divine revelation to man.
Having now considered the possibil¬ ity, the ]3robability, and the necessity of a divino revelation from heaven, I shall now consider the means of com¬ municating such a revelation to man. So far as we are able to seo there are but two ways in which God can make such a revelation to man as his nature and situation requires.
1st. By an immediate revelation, by inspiration to every man. It is evident from the following considerations that he would not choose such a medium of communicating his will to man. 1. It would he insufficient unless God would powerfully influence the mind of man as to take away his choice and freedom of action, which would be of¬ fering violence to his nature ; and um- loss this was done he worald, at -least most would, have continued in sin.— Men could have pers-xtaded themselves that it was no real revelation from hea- en, but only the effect of natural caus¬ es, or of a diseased imagination. 2. It would introduce universal confusion in tlie intellectuiil world. "It would unhinge our minds, it would break tlie mainspring of the mental world, and throw it back into a state of moral cha¬ os. Jt would render uncei'tain every criterion of right and wrong, of truth aud error. It would set aside all those rules b)^ which mon reason, and judge. It would destroy the freedom, as well as the regularity of our minds, and compel an involuntary assent to every thing that God might be supposed to dictate." We could then have no in¬ fallible rule by which to distinguish truth from erroi'. .Every man would claim fbr his peculiar theory the an¬ tliority of heaven, and we would have an endless variety of theories and sys¬ tems without any means of determin¬ ing wliich was true, or distinguishing between I'ight and wrong. 3. It would give occasion fbr more impostors and fklse prophets than are now in the world. It would fill the world with im¬ postures and all manner of delusions. Every one might pretend to just what ho ])lea,sed, and contend that he had recoivod it from heaven. Thus you see that this ni edi um of communicating a revelation to man would throw the door wide o]ien, and jiavc tho way for the succes,sf\il introduction of false pro¬ phets, and all manner of delusions.
2d. Thoro remain.ibut one other wajl- in wliich God can make known his will to man ; and that is by commissioning certain persons to publish his will to the world; furnishing them with infal¬ lible signs to demonstrate to the world that they aro eommissioncd by heaven and speak by divine authority. This medium of communicating tho divine will to man is- entirely free from tho objections that may 'fie urged against the immodiate inspiration of evory in¬ dividual member of tho human familj. This is the only .safe and coasis-tent me¬ dium of communicating thc'dlvine will to the family of'nian.
(To bs continued.)