nor St. Paul, neither Baruch Spinoza nor Herbert Spencer has succeeded in building up a philosophic system offering a satisfactory answer to the three riddles of man's existence: Whence, whither, why? "You can teach 'theology,' i. e., the history of the religious evolution of a certain section of mankind during a given period or, in a wider sense, the general history of religion; but you can't teach religion itself. Are our Catholic priests, Protestant pastors, and Jewish rabbis being trained for their vocation in schools of religion? No; their special colleges are justly called 'Theological Seminaries,' whose curricula contain dogmatics, church history, canonical law, Bible exegesis, Hebrew, and Syriac. I was unable to find, throughout the 1,332 pages of Minerva, the year-book of the universities and colleges of the entire civilized world, one single course of lectures on religion itself. Since our American children, native or foreign-born, are not trained in our public schools for the theological metier, the less we tell them of the contradictions between our numberless philosophic and theological systems, and of the millions of victims of religious intolerance in past and present, the better for the children now and the welfare of the American republic in the future. "He who dares, with a rough hand, to disturb the sanctuary of the public school, where millions of children, without distinction of race or nationality, indiscriminately of social standing or the fortuitous church associations of their parents, are not only prepared for their individual lifework, but are welded together into the great American commonwealth, destined to lead on humanity to the heights of civilization such a man is guilty of national lese majeste. Ye scholarly rabbis, priests, and persons whose brains are filled with confused notions about angelology, transubstantiation, redemption, the decision of rabbinical conferences, church councils and church synods, leave the little ones, whose intimate soullife most of you are unable to fathom, to the modern priests and priestesses of popular science the school-teachers. "These modest men and women not only impart useful knowledge to our children, but educate them also in the noblest sense of the word. You with your diluted moral philosophy confuse only the minds and disturb the hearts of these innocent boys and girls, who do not care a farthing's worth for our stupid, yea, criminal confessional divisions, which to eliminate from their and our own life should be, in this great and free republic of ours, the highest ambition of statesman, educator, philanthropist, and communal worker. For the teacher of our public schools there are no Catholics, no Baptists, no Episcopalians, no Jews, but God-given souls implanted in human bodies which they try to prepare for their high destinies."—Literary Digest. THE NAME OF GOD. The following list, comprising the name of God in forty-eight languages, was compiled by the French philologist, Louis Berger. As he was walking along the streets of Paris, he heard a voice beseeching him to buy some nuts. Upon looking back he discovered it was the voice of his old barber, gaining a scanty living by selling nuts. To aid him, M. Berger hastily made out this list, by the sale of which the old barber was enabled to make as good a living, or better, than M. Berger himself. Hebrew-Elohim, Eloah. Chaldaic-Eilah. Assyrian-Eleah. Syriac and Turkish-Alah. Arabic-Allah. Language of the Magi-Orsi. Modern Egyptian-Teun. Cretan-Thios. Aeolian and Doric-Ilos. Low Latin-Diex. Celtic and Gallic-Diu. French-Dieu. Spanish-Dios. Portuguese-Deos Provencal-Diou. Low Breton-Doue. Irish-Dia. Olalu Tongue-Deu. German and Swiss-Gott. Dutch-Godt. English and Old Saxon-God. Danish and Swedish-Gut. Slave-Buch. Polish-Bog. Polacca-Bung. Lapp-Jubinal. Finnish-Jumala. Runic-As. Zemblain-Fetizo. Pannonian-Istu. Hindostanee-Rain. Coromandel-Brama. Tartar-Magatal. Persian-Sire. Chinese-Prussa. Japanese-Goezur. Madagascar.-Zannar. Peruvian-Pachacamac. LAW AND LAWYERS. Blackstone says, "Law is the embodiment of the moral sense of the people." Gladstone says, "Good laws make it easier to do right and harder to do wrong." By referring law to the moral sense of the people, we imply that law, correctly administered, is just. "Be just and fear not," (Shakespeare), means that, except by perversion of law, he who is just hath no cause to fear. Massinger states it, **** "The good need fear no law, It is his safety, and the bad man's awe." The connection of law with justice is also implied in Hill's expression, "Law that shocks equity is reason's murder"; and Coke writes, "Reason is the life of law; nay, the common law itself is nothing else but reason." Passing from expressions of law in which justice is implied to those in which justice is expressed, we quote from Rufus Choate, "The absolute justice of the state enlightened by the perfect reason of the state, that is law." Socrates said, "What is in conformity with justice should also be in conformity with law." That justice precedes and is the foundation of law, although itself an independent principle, is set forth in these words by Voltaire, "The sentiment of justice is so natural, and so universally acquired by all mankind, that it seems to be independent of all law, all party, all religion." That it is natural to right-minded people, is indicated by Rousseau's remark, "An honest man nearly always thinks justly." But despite these best thoughts of best thinkers on what law ought to be, there is much on record in confirmation of the trite saying heard almost daily about every court-house, "Law is one thing and justice quite another." If this expression could be modified to say, Law is one thing but its admin |
