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GAIN AND ABEL: %

n) "% l^riS lull's Clrostiiw ^ssssMm of i?00lilp,

AN ESSAY ON

HUMAN BROTHERHOOD

BY JACKSON DEERING.

DELIVERED BEFORE

AT THEIR REGULAR MONTHLY MEETING,

iVJTJlSTE 14, 1859,

IN THE LECTURE ROOM OF THE FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, HENRY STREET

PUBLISHED FOR GRATUITOUS DISTRIBUTION, AT THE REQUEST OP MANY OF THE AUTHOlt'd
FRIENDS, NOT MEMBERS OF THE ASSOCIATION.

CAIN AND ABEL;

AN ESSAY ON

HUMAN BROTHERHOOD,

BY JACKSON DEERING.
Hi

DELIVERED BEFORE

€\t gorcig Urn's &\mtwn &mtwtm si §wjrtlp/'

AT THEIR REGULAR MONTHLY MEETING,

JUNE 14, 1859,

IN THE LECTURE ROOM OF THE FIRST PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, HENRY STREET.

PUBLISHED FOR GRATUITOUS DISTRIBUTION, AT THE BEQUEST OF MANY OF THE AUTHOR'S
FRIENDS, NOT MEMBERS OP THE ASSOCIATION.

Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1859,
BY JACKSON DEERING,
In the OleA's office of the District Court, of the United States, for
the Southern District of New York.

CAIN AND ABEL;

AN ESSAY ON

HUMAN BROTHERHOOD.

Fourth Chapter of Genesis, 9th verse :
"And the Lord said unto Cain: Where is Abel, thy brother?
And he said, I know not: Am I my brother's keeper?"
I have selected this passage for comment, not of course
with the view of attempting an elaborate, or methodical
investigation of the questions involved, for that, in the
brief time allotted, would evidently be impossible ; but,
with the humbler, and I trust, not less useful aim, of
throwing in my mite towards the development in all our
minds of scriptural ideas' concerning our relations and
duties to God and man.
I do not look, however, for your enlightenment on these
points so much from any thoughts I shall advance, as
from the discussion of them, by the members of the asso-

ciation, after I shall have performed my part, of giving
an introductory sketch of the subject in its most general
bearings. And this result, of eliciting the full and manly
expression of your views, is the more desirable, as I shall
probably overlook, and may, perhaps, misunderstand the
most vital considerations, those which, most of all require
elucidation. I shall also be precluded, by lack of time,
from making more than a bare allusion to many import
ant phases of my theme, and shall be compelled to desist
from canvassing any branch of it thoroughly. I trust,
therefore, you will see the necessity of finishing a discus
sion which I shall merely have begun.
Ostensibly at least, I come here to speak as a Christian
to Christians ; not as a man. of the world ; and I shall try
to do so in reality, inspired by no prejudices, and no big
otry of party, sect, or section. I shall aim to speak the
truth, caring little if it bring upon me'the opposition and
anathemas ,of the evil and worldly minded, but earnestly
desiring to win the commendation of sincerely good, and
wisely brave men, and most of all, of God and my own
conscience. But should I utter a word, or manifest a
spirit tending to injure the cause of truth, I call upon all
present to expose and prove wherein I have done so, and
I shall rejoice if they, succeed, though I shoixld poign
antly regret having given them occasion. One thing
above all "others, I desire, and shallendeavor to abstain
from, that is — from saying aught that might tend to stir
. up vindictive disputations, here or elsewhere, on contro
verted points in theology. I deprecate the discussion of
, any theme, especially a religious one, in this spirit of
aggression, of thrusting and striking, which is one I think
peculiar to the zealous propagandists of error. It is one,
however, which we should sedulously guard ourselves
against confounding with that other, and always com
mendable spirit, which prompts a man to defend the
truth at all hazards, in, the face, of insult^ threats, and

maledictions of hooting crowds, and power-besotted
crowd-leaders, laying down his life, if need be, in its
cause, as did our Lord and Master, whom we are com
manded to follow, and enjoined to confess before the
world. But wc are not to confess, or assent to views
which we believe to be false, nor commend wrong actiops
for the sake of peace. "Won in this way, peace is like a
house built on the sand. God will open the flood-gates
of truth, and sweep it away, and us with it, if we do not
obey His voice by confessing the truth always.
Neither are we, out of superstitious reverence for the ¦
great and learned in the past, to take for granted that
certain principles must be true, because they are old and
hoary with age. For, the fact is, false doctrines are none
the less false because of their antiquity, or because pro
fessed even by so ancient a man as Cain, or so cunning
and wise a being as Satan ; and true ones are none the
less true because Abel, their first advocate, was slain for
avowing them. The antiquity, then, of given doctrines,
is not to be taken as prima facie, much less as conclusive
evidence of their truth ; but all things are to be weighed,
and jndged of on their own merits, in the light of revela
tion, of science,' of understanding, of experience, or of
either, as the case may be, giving the mere ipse dixit of
men like ourselves, their just due, which is often said to
be "silence, or contempt," but which I think should
rather be a thorough exposure, and a charitable castiga-
tion, not "with a whip of scorpions," but with the small
and. deeper cutting cords of God's infallible truth. This,
if anything, will effectually cure false oracles of their
pomposity and arrogance, and completely neutralize their
influence as teachers of error, as confessors, and profes
sors of evil, many of whom, even now, like blind guides,
lead the timid and simple into the ditch of falsities, where
they themselves lie wallowing in mire and filth, thinking
they are covered with habiliments of effulgent glory.

6

Yet, as there is no truth so low, or valueless as to be un
worthy the attention of the greatest minds ; so there is no
truth so high or important that the humblest men may
not of " right Divine" search out its hidden mysteries,
and authoritatively declare its revelations. Each man,
therefore, is at liberty to freely discuss, if he pleases, any
or all questions. But the paramount aim of all research,
and all discussion, should be the discovery of truth itself,
and this that it may be confessed by being obeyed, while
the proving of theories, the confirmation of dogmas, and
the building up of sects, should be regarded, to say the
least, as of minor importance. On all subjects that are
not vital, we should agree to differ. On all that are, we
should aim to set each other right, never presuming to
force even the truth upon othersj for this even God him
self never does.
And thus working in a common Cause, of building up in
beautiful proportions, "out of lively stones," the temple
of truth and of heavenly wisdo m, we may all enter and
worship together as brethren, not roam as domineering
tyrants and blind followers into desert places, with here
and there an oasis tree, under whose shade we may wor
ship. Polemical strifes, then, sectarian wranglings, and the
fratricidal war of creeds, let us avoid these, as the bleak
and barren rocks, upon which the Church has been bro
ken into a hundred discordant and conflicting fragments,
while we cling tenaciously to The Word of God, listen
ing to its Divine harmonies, guided in life's pilgrimage by
its holy light, warmed and vivified by its celestial love.

"And the Lord said unto Cain: Where is Abel, thy brother?
And he said, I know not: Am I my brother's keeper?"
"And the Lor^d said unto Gain:" — It is evident from
the context that Cain cared nothing for what the " Lord
said," for, had he regarded His promises, or feared His
warnings, he never would have imbrued his hands in his
brother's blood. Previous to the commission of, this cruel
deed, God thus addressed him : " If thou doest well, shalt
' thou not be accepted ? and if thouvdoest not well, sin lieth
at the door ; and his desire shall be unto thee, and thou
shalt rule over him."
This command to " do well," was the laying down of
an absolute rule of conduct, by obeying which, Cain too,
would have been accepted ; but disobeying which, he
became an outcast and vagabond, exclaiming in the an
guish of his sin stricken soul, "my punishment is greater
than I can bear." And no wonder, for he had slain his
brother whom he ought to have defended, loved and cher
ished. Abel had no doubt remonstrated with him to for
bear, and may fairly be supposed to have addressed him
in this wise : Brother, the command of God, our Father
is: " Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only
shalt thou serve. Doing this we may grow up from
day to day more into His image and likeness, dwell in
harmony together as brethren, and at death, our destiny
will have been fulfilled, for we shall go and dwell with
Him forever in heaven. Kef using to do it, we shall be
miserable in this life, and in the world to come; thus
frustrating the end of our existence. I will obey this
command, let the consequences be what they may.
Then did this haughty and carnal man, Cain, deal the
blow of death. Death to the body only, for Abel he
could not kill. He but sent him to his home in Heaven,
the first martyr in the cause of freedom of the inalienable

right of each human being to worship God and 'not
man.

Who triumphed in this first struggle, then? Abels
whose dead body lay upon the ground, or Cain, who, for
this foul crime, became an exile and a wanderer ?

Abel's brow was crowned with the laurel wreath of
the victor over sin and death. Cain's was branded with
the mark of the rebel, of the brutal assassin, of the igno
minious traitor to all that is innocent and good. The one
was free while living, and at death ushered forever into
a state of more perfect freedom. The other was still a
slave, chained in the galling bonds of sin, ever in the
horrible dread that all he met would slay him. Thus like
a thrall he lived, daily fearing a double death, for the
sword of justice hung trembling over his head, ready to
send him to the final doom of all who choose themselves
as the Gods, to be alone worshiped, of all who claim for
themselves the adoration due only to the living and true
God. Here, in the case of these two primitive men, was the
word of the Lord verified. " The wicked flee when no
man pursueth ; but the righteous are bold as a lion."
i
Here, also, are furnished two grand moral types.
Abel, the true and good ; Cain, the false and evil man ;
the first an emblem of God and Heaven, for these dwelt
in him ; the second an emblem of Hell and the world, for
these he had chosen for masters.
And so at the present time, men may be divided into .
two similar types, who, as to their inward state, and out
ward life, are essentially Cains, or Abels.
The Cains are merely sensual — natural men sinking

9
themselves into carnal and worldly lusts. The Abels are
rational, spiritual men, who by hearing, understanding
and obeying what the Lord says, become the willing sub
jects and happy children of Heaven.
The former are rebels, objective to God's commands,
the children of Satan, in hatred to God, in opposition to
man. The latter are in union with God, and whatever
of goodness and truth they find in man from God. They
are humble men, conscious, be they never so intelligent,
that what they already know, compared with what there
is before them to be learned, is as a drop to the ocean, the
finite to the infinite. They do not desire to rule any, but
rather to be the servants of all, wishing all to have one
Master, even Christ the Lord.
But in each class, or type, there are of course infinite
varieties, some more, and some less evil or good.
"Where is Abel, thy brother?" or, adapting the lan
guage to our own case : Where is your brother and mine?
Everywhere, I answer, scattered over the face of the
whole earth. Each human being is our brother, whether
Jew or Gentile, white or black, bond or free. But from
what authority is this conclusion drawn, do you ask?
From one, I reply, that is binding on all, from the Bible,
God's revealed interpreter of our relations and duties.
Therein it is shown that He is the Creator, Father and
Preserver of every human being ; consequently all are
His children, and each the other's brother. It does not
militate against this fact that recent ethnological research
should have proven, or sought to demonstrate a doctrine
opposed to the unity of man, and in favor of his having
been created in a variety of races, as different in color, in
intellectual and moral development, as at present existing
under the appellations of Caucasian, Mongolian, &c.
The great fact still stands unquestioned and unim
peachable, that God created all, and in virtue of this, the
2

10
Common brotherhood of man becomes established, proof
against all scientific cavils, or philosophical contradiction.
And in a less general sense, men, as divided into nations,
living near to, or remote from each other, under diverse
forms of government, speaking different languages and
dialects, professing various creeds and religions, are still
brethren, bound to perform, in virtue of their common
origin and common destiny, acts of international comity
and personal good offices in all their intercourse.
But in a less general sense, the inhabitants of the same
district, or country, living under the same general gov
ernment, or as is the case in our own favored land, owing
allegiance also to distinct State and Municipal authorities,
are still brethren, assuming towards each other the rela
tionship of fellow-citizens or neighbors ; a relationship
imposing the discharge of distinctive duties of friendship,
of personal and commutative forbearance ; else class in
terests, sectional schemes and individual ambitions will
be promoted at the expense, and to the detriment of the
common weal; a result but too frequent, not in our
country, states and cities alone, but under every form of
government, at all periods of the world's history, political
and social.
This result springs. from the possession by mankind, of
a common nature, ever, and in all places, essentially the
same, though modified by palpable or latent influences,
physical, educational and institutional. In a less exterior
and still more inward sense, the individuals of the same
family are brothers, forming a household, an economy, a
government, a community of interests, a conservation of
rights, an affectionate reciprocity of duties and obliga
tions. From this relation of the family and its sequences,
flow out all that is spuriously or genuinely wise, intrinsi
cally or correlatively evil or good in society, in its insti
tutions, laws, manners, customs and habits. These are as

11
streams, whose fountain head, or source, may only be
found issuing from the family circle.
For it is here, in the homes of our infancy, amid the
scenes of our childhood and youth, that we are almost
unchangeably imbued with good or evil principles.
It is here we drink in the teachings that in our subse
quent years, stamp us as pure, true and brave men, or
mark us as lacivious, false and craven counterfeits of men.
It is here that hirelings, quacks, charlatans and impos
tors, pseudo-philosophers, and sham philanthropists are
made, who, in riper years, adopting the principles taught
them, or under which they were allowed to grow lap by
their parents and by society, become foul vampyres on
the body politic, battening on its vices, pimping to its
prejudices, pandering to its passions, gnawing like vultu
rous birds of prey on its vitals !
It is here, in the homes of our boy and girlhood, those
priceless truths are imbibed, and that moral and mental
training is received, which gives to the world its genuine
philosophers, statesmen and philanthropists, its citizen
kings and loyal subjects, who, by their unselfish devotion
to the good of man, not only preserve society from decay,
but infuse health into its limbs, and vigor into its heart ;
thus impelling it forward on the track of a noble progress
and a heavenward destiny.
" /know not." That Cain should dare give this bra
zen lie for answer, and in the very face of Jehovah, ex
cites amazement at his temerity, and the enormity of his
wickedness. Yet, I see not why it should." It is a very
common, aye, and in the world's eyes, a very thrifty, poli
tic answer, going up to God daily from most, or all of us.
In this case, at least our " ignorance (real or assumed) is
surely bliss," saving us a great deal of time, trouble and
expense in finding out where and in what condition our
brother is, in helping him out of his troubles, in keeping

12
him to the best of our ability where God our Father de-.
sires him kept, from penury, and in plenty; from idleness
and in his own proper work, from ignorance, and in
knowledge, from slavery, and in freedom, from sin, and
in holiness. On all these points do not we also answer
the Lord evasively, or negatively, saying: "We know
not, nor do, we care. Those things don't concern us.
Our special and entire business is to look out for our
selves, putting our brother under our feet if necessary to
our own elevation, if it add an iota to our own power,
ease, wealth or convenience. This is the chief end of
man, To get rich and enjoy himself. We will not be held
accountable by God or man, by press, priest or parson,
for his welfare, for the promotion of his happiness or the
improvement of his condition."
If it was wrong and wicked in Cain to say " I know
not," is it not equally wrong in us to reply to God as we
are thus virtually doing? Let us see.
It is capable of demonstration that the normal relation
of man to man, is one of mutual giving and receiving, of
teaching and learning; each .being at the same time, the
pupil and the instructor, the ward and the guardian of
the other. That we do teach others, not orally alone,
but much more powerfully by the example of our life and
conduct, admits of no question. And we do this often
unconsciously, and involuntarily. Yet, whether done in
this way or deliberately, the effect on others is produced
for good or evil. So that, do as we may, neither individ
ually nor collectively, can we escape the direct or re
active influence of each on all, and all on each. Thus
are we bound and tied together as members of one com
mon humanity, none of whom being raised to his true
position, or sunk below it, can fail to help or hinder this
aggregative man— human society ; each of whose com
ponent parts contributes a certain quota towards purify
ing ' or vitiating the common atmosphere per force,

13
respired by all ; respiring which, all are quickened into
a newer and better life, or prostrated into a more abnor
mal action of the functions of soul and body.
Admiting the truth of these somewhat axiomatic prop
ositions ; assenting to the validity of the conclusions
above drawn, what, I ask, shall be the nature of our con
tribution? What shall be, in the future, the moral
quality of your quota and mine? As we have freely re
ceived should we not also freely give in return, ever
reflecting from our life the light of truth, which shines
so abundantly on us through the Word of Life, from the
" Sun of Bighteousness ? "
Shall your quota and mine be as dew dropping gently
from Heaven to refresh, gladden and purify our brother's
soul ; or shall it be as exhalations, rising from muddy pools,
or stagnant marshes, to corrupt and destroy his inner life?
If we are understandingly, and energetically seeking,
first, not the kingdoms of this world, and their glory, but
the "Kingdom of God and His righteousness," these ques
tions will be easy of solution. At least we can be at no
loss to determine whatshould be the governing principle of
our conduct, for we know it is laid down, not only in the
old testament, wherein, as we have seen, it is summed up
in the command to "Do well," but also in the new, where
it is given in these words :
" Whatsoever ye would that men should do unto you,
do ye even so unto them; for this is the law and the
prophets." We here see the identity in the spirit of the sacred
scriptures throughout, fully endorsed, and the grand truth
they embody, clearly expressed by God himself while
upon earth.
This " Golden Kule " then, is given by the Lord to be
observed by all. Those who subject themselves to this
rule, will find its yoke easy, and its burden light.

14
Day by day they will become more transformed by
the renewal of their spirit. The body and its pas
sions will cease to rule the man as truth shines luminous
ly into his mind, and the will, with its affections is placed
on doing what truth directs. Once a field of tares, he is
now a heavenly paradise, wherein grow up, in fragrant
beauty, fruits of cellestial origin, planted, watered and
given increase to, by the chief " Husbandman ;" fruits
that in scripture language are called meekness, patience,
love, faith, hope and charity. These fruits are the evi
dences to the man, and the witnesses to the world, that he
is born of God. Of these the world with all its principal
ities, and Satan with all his powers of darkness, cannot
rob him, for he is under the protection of the, " King of
Kings," out of Whose omnipotent hand none may pluck
him. The rack, the gibbet, the dungeon, the burning
fiery furnace, the lion's den, the world's scorn, the crack
ling pile of flaming faggots', have no terrors for such as he.
Over Death, hell and the grave he will rise triumphant
and victorious, when the Master calls him to his eternal
home in Heaven.
The body like a crushed, decayed or withered flower,
may fall to the dust whence it sprang, but the soul is
still and forever united as a branch to Christ, the parent
Vine, in that unseen garden above, where frost and mil
dew shall never more pale its verdure, or dim its immor
tal glories.
And if we are such branches, or profess to be such,
should we not be working while the day lasteth, not for
our own salvation alone, but for that of those around us,
within the circle of our influence ? For if those who pro
fess to be laborers in the vineyard do not thus labor, how
is " Our Father's" kingdom to come and " His will to be
done on earth as it is in Heaven ? "
Bad men like Cain are liars, rebels against God, com-

15
passing heaven and earth to make one proselyte for the
kingdom of Satan, devastating Christ's church, smearing
over, and not making plain and manifest in their speech
and conduct, the truth and. justice by which alone their
brother may be kept, saved from falsehood, and restrained
from evil. Eo ! Belshazzer-like, they too, are impious,
drinking the wine of idolatry in honor of the world's
gods, out of the Lord's vessels.
Like the wicked Jews, crying out against Christ,
" Away with him ; crucify him ;" so they cry daily :
" Away with truth, away with justice. We will not have
these to rule over us, nor shall we allow others to be
ruled by them." And well may they thus execrate these
Divine instruments of man's salvation ; for the rule of
such evil men, everywhere in society, is based on false
hood, fraud, cunrting jugglery, glozing hypocricies, inane
philosophies. is based on the conservation of ignorance,
vice and crime, the enslavement , of individuals, the
stolidity and degradation of the masses. But the fate of all
such rulers is sealed. The hand-writing is on the wall.
" Mene, Jfene, Tehel" is written with the finger of Jeho
vah where the Cains and Belshazzars, the Iscariots and
Jereboams of our day, may see and tremble. For none
who live contrary to this golden rule of the gospel of
Christ, can much longer remain in power, honor and glo
ry upon the earth. Less and less, will men bow down to
spurious, usurping God's of brass, iron and clay. The
days of all such are numbered, and in the Lord's good
time will come to an end.
And it may be said further, that this rule of " doing
unto others, as we would they should do unto us," is the
principle embodied in all righteous laws, and expounded
by all true prophets ; developed in all religious worships
and rituals in all church polities, in all sectarian theolo
gies, in all civil laws and constitutions, in all theories and
systems whatever, that are gifted with imperishable vital-

16
ity, and clothed in immortal vestures. All that is not in
conformity with it, between man and society, is evanes
cent, doomed to rapid decay and swift destruction.
Now what are we doing to hasten the down-fall of
these evil rulers and false systems ? How are we treat
ing our brother? As the world treats him; regarding
his as a thing, a chattel, to be ruthlessly trodden under
foot, ground into the dust, except he succumb to our
rule, or looking upon him as so much clay to be moulded
into whatever form, tilted, jeered or coaxed, into what
ever line of conduct will best serve our ends ? Shall we
avoid him as. so much carrion, except he quietly, and '
without murmur, submit to be kicked as a foot-ball, or
wheedled as a simpleton into helping all our schemes of
ambition? Shall we close our ears against his voice because it is
not tuned in the mellifluous notes of the cultured rhetor
ician, and muzzle him because he tells us disagreeable
truths ? Shall we, because he does not stand out in the
world as a Dives, a Caesar or a Chesterfield, sneeringly
exclaim : " Can any good come out of Nazareth ? "
Shall we " pass by on the other side," leaving him
wounded and bleeding by the way-side of life, faint with
travel, worn in body and mind from toiling over the
rugged hills and through the deep valleys of his journey?
I answer, No ! Fashion need not accept, nor cotteries
endorse, nor the world sing his praises ere we can treat him
as a man, whose soul is as precious in God's eyes as ours.
If he be a good man, we will help him to become bet
ter ; if a bad man, we will keep him from temptation, aid
him in flying from sin and the "wrath to come;" if a
brave man, we will help him to become braver ; putting
into his hands, if need be, the simple sling, and the
smooth stones from truth's crystal waters, with which he
may smite to the dust the braggart champions of error

It
and misrule, when they come out from Satan's camp, to
defy " the armies of the living God." JFo javelm shall
"pin him to the wall," if we can strike it even from the
Kvngh hand. His life, his courage,- his manliness are
precious in our sight for the good he may do with them.
We will love our brother because he is a man, liable as
we are to stumble into pitfalls of error, to be caught in
evil snares, out of which we are in duty bound to lead
him. We dare not, and we shall not, turn our backs upon
him, leaving him to go, groping through gloom and
misery, his weary and thorny path to the grave of a com
mon humanity, knowing that we top, ere long, must lay
down our proud bodies to be, like his, the food of worms,
and the prey of th.e dissolving elements.
It is true, in not a few places here in the North, that,
Poverty? irrespective of all other considerations, fixes the
status of the poor white man at the base of the social fab
ric. His position becomes low or high, vulgar or
respectable, powerless or influential, as it converges tow
ards poverty, or diverges towards wealth. So, through
out the South, having a black slcin, or negro blood in his
veins; causes a man to be placed on a level with the brute.
And shall we so stultify ourselves as to act in confo rmity
with the one view, while we howl vociferously against
Southerners for acting in conformity with the other,?
Can we do so, and act consistently with the central and
crowning doctrine of our religious and political faith —
Abolition ?
Shall we, dare we, continue to split our throats, bellow
ing, "free speech" for people thousands of miles off,
while here we daily gag men, equal under the constitu
tion and before the law to ourselves, for daring to exer
cise freedom of speech on home topics, that concern vital?
ly the conservation of freedom itself, with all its adjunc-
* The necessity of working at the ordinary avocations usual with those termed the
"laboring classes." 3

18
tive rights for the masses, as against freedom for the few
alone to rule all others? No! "Free speech, free men,
free press," shall never mean with us that these rights are
to be freely accorded to parvenues and pedagogues, slave
holders and demagogues alone, but to all men, white and
black, high and low, rich and poor, in society everywhere.
Does any evil-minded brother of ours grind down the
white man here at home, in -the North, pay him the low
est pittance of wages, force him to toil so hard and so
many hours per day, that he has no strength, no time,
and no zest for quiet home pleasures, mind-culture,
or rational enjoyment? Does he wring from the sweat
ing brows and quivering muscles of the lowly, the wealth
that turns his own head crazy, with bloated notions of his
own importance, immaculate wisdom and measureless
omnipotence? And while doing this, does he bring dis
grace and shame on the sacred cause of liberty by blatant
railings against the slavery of the poor and down-trodden
Negroes at the South ; does he thus act, proving himself
the ally of slave-holders, hypocrites and tyrants every
where? Then we must take from his hands the Satanic
telescope through which ho sees so palpably, far-off vic
tims of oppression, and put into his hands the gospel mi
croscope that will enable him to see the victims of
Northern White Slavery, the objects upon whose necks
he himself is daily treading ! ,
We must induce him to "pluck the beams out of his
own eye," and then he will see clearly the motes in the
eyes of others. He will then pray, not as now, like the
Pharisee, but as the Publican : " God be merciful to me
a sinner P
Is our brother working consistently and wisely against
any pernicious customs, any wicked laws, any evil insti
tutions ? Then we will help him " with might and main."
Cold, because immersed in evil, far down in 6in, through

19
whose impenetrable clouds no beam of heavenly warmth
may reach him, — Hungry, because feeding on husks of
sensualities, with no bread of life to nourish his starving
soul, — Naked, because clad in rags of error, without the
shining and beautiful garments of truth to cover him, —
in the Prison of a viscious life, barred from all contact
with good influences. Is our brother in one, or all of these
states ? Then will we go to him as Christ's servants.
We will not think ourselves too good and pure to visit
and speak with him, nor suspect we should thus be stoop
ing from the dignity of our station, or going unnecessari
ly beyond the pale of our duty. No ! We will go and
win him over to truth ; induce him to join us as an hum
ble follower of our common Lord.
We will draw him gently from this hell of cold, hun
ger and isolation ; carrying him in our arms as a lost lamb
of the flock, to the good Shepherd. And doing thus, we
shall wake the choral harmonies of the upper spheres, in
rejoicings over the fruit of our humble labors, causing a
thrill of joy to throb the hearts and raise anew the hosan-
nas of the heavenly hosts.
From battlement to battlement, with waving banners,
and sounding lyres, the glad tidings shall run, "A repen
tant brother is saved!" "A wanderer has returned!"
And down in our own hearts we shall hear "a still, small
voice," whispering in accents of love sweeter than a
mother's, and more potent than a father's : "Inasmuch
as ye have done it unto the least one of these, ye have done
it unto Me."
That echoing sound of joy, reverberating through heav
en's illimitable paradises, will cause the foundations of
hell to quake, the legions of Satan to stand appalled, be
fore the sublime and life-giving power of truth, spoken
and done in love, by man to his brother man ; spoken and
done that his brother may be kept from evil in this life,

20
and after death swell the chorus of the redeemed in
Heaven !
But we can do little towards "keeping" him from the
one, or helping him in attaining the other, except we
labor to suffuse his mind with right ideas of education,
wealth and power, with the uses for good to which each
should be turned. And unquestionably, in too many
cases, they are turned to evil uses. - It becomes our solemn
duty, therefore, to discuss these and kindred subjects
candidly and fully. <
To that end, let us look abroad and we shall see that,
an idea permeates some minds, and like a moral plague
infests some communities, that all education is extraneous,
except such quantum and quality of it as enables the re
cipient to become a successful, money-making machine.
This notion limits learning to the accomplishment of ma
terial ends, of strictly utilitarian purposes. It ignores the
man as a spiritual and immortal being ; recognizes him
merely as a physical and intellectual organism, and is
willing his mind should be opened and instructed only
so far as will conduce to his worldly prosperity and am
bitions, only so far as will make him a keen, smart, prac
tical or brilliant man in his trade, calling or profession,
turning all the powers of his mind into the service of the
body and its welfare, into the achievement of a purely
material success.
It ignores heaven, hell, God and the church, and vir
tually acknowledges this life as the beginning and end of
man. And doing this, I call it an infidel, atheistic idea,
but too dominant I fear in our era. It is a concomitant
of barbarism, and feudalism, coming down into our age
as a monster of infernal birth, to darken and destroy all
the elements of modern civilization, to conform the pres
ent to the past, to preserve among men now the relations
they once held towards each other ; the king, the priest

21
and the baron, holding all knowledge and wielding all
power ; while the people were kept in ignorance, vassal
age and poverty ; in superstition, sensuality and grovel
ing vice.
As far as it can, this idea of education neutralizes the
influence and frustrates the end which our civilization
professes to have mainly in view, which is, I conceive, to
make education a transforming power; conserving the
good, but rejecting the bad; taking power from the few.
and giving it to the many ; taking science and religion
from the cloister, and giving them to the people ; thus
seeking to render the whole mass of men wiser and bet
ter ; less animal, more human and genial, less liable to
indulge in sensual pleasures, more capable of rising above
the limits of the bodily senses, into the domain of reason,
and the province of a spiritual life for those intellectual
delights, and those spiritual felicities that shall compen
sate for all the ills, and reward all the sacrifices men are
subjected to in every stage of existence, and under every
variety of circumstance and condition.
Here, then, we have, confronting each other, two an
tagonistic principles — barbarism and civilization. The
one drawing its subtle forces, its dark powers from hell,
seeking continually to submerge our earth under a deluge
of phantasmal errors, to strangle it with dead sea apples
of discord, to turn it into one universal saturnalia of sen
suality, ignorance, debauchery, rapine and slavery. The
other, drawing its inspiration from heaven, seeking to
raise all men out of the darkness of ignorance, to make
them new creatures, to give them light, freedom, a God
like image and a Christ-like life ; seeking to infuse the
love of all pure and good things into every man, thus
emancipating all from the bondage of mental night, from
the thraldom of spiritual and physical slavery. The first,
with poisonous breath withers every aspiration in the
minds of youth, manhood or old age, for those aesthetic

22
pleasures, for those intellectual, moral and spiritual de
lights that flow from broad, high culture, from deep not
shallow learning. It casts its baleful shadow athwart
the pathway of every struggling soul that seeks to emerge
into the light of truth.
It paralizes every effort for the earning and storing up,
the using and the enjoying of that imperishable wealth
of wisdom, which is more to be prized than rubies, saph-
ires, thrones or diadems, to be prized as being those
celestial riches laid up within the soul, in the chambers
of its inner life, where God and heaven dwell with the
renewed spirit, stored up to be expended in a life of
charity, stored up where neither moth nor rust nor decay
may enter to tarnish its perennial radiance.
But if education be nothing, and talent nothing, except
they bring a man gold ; if success in money-making be
the only accepted evidence of smartness, the only title to
distinction, and the only passport to power ; who among
the mass of men will refuse to lay body, mind and soul
on the altar of Mammon, sacrificing health, life, all an
immortal should hold dear, that he too may perch on the
pinnacles of fame, fashion and wealth, there to sit in
easy luxury, exempt from toil, receiving the homage of
pets, parasites, pliant tools and cringing conformers?
Who will have the courage, the strength of resistance to
say to this golden tempter, " Get thee behind me, Satan ?"
Who will seek a transforming education, laying its found
ations deep and broad, its base upon the earth, its
middle in heaven and its apex touching the throne of
God, from whom cometh every good and perfect gift?
Who will secure it as the means of building up in himself
not a sham, but a real manhood ; in others, not a spuri
ous, but a genuine civilization ; becoming at once the
legitimate product, and the true type of a lasting civiliz
ation and vital Christianity ? Who will secure it as the
heaven-bestowed means of refining, cultivating and ele-

23
vating the dormant faculties of mind and heart; causing
them to become springs of internal joy and outward be
neficence in the life of the man ?
I answer, we will ! Shall we not, brethren ? We will
occupy every spare moment, night and day in the culture
and enlightenment of our rational and moral faculties,
walking through the pleasant fields of learning, selecting
the rarest gems of science, culling the brightest flowers
of literature, breathing the pure atmosphere, inhaling the
sweet odors, drinking in the life-giving waters, of truth.
We will bask in the clear sunshine of bible light, grow
strong and mighty on the heavenly food of the gospel.
Air, earth and sky, the past, the present, shall lay their
contributions at our feet. All who have lived, toiled and
wrote, all who have suffered, ¦'bled and died for the good
of man, shall awake us to heroic deeds, inspire us with a
noble emulation to surpass them in valorous work and
chivalrous action. We will toil with hands and brain,
toil with the gallant cohorts of man's true friends who
are struggling everywhere, in the white North and the
black South, within and beyond the limits of our country,
for the amelioration of his physical condition, for the
advancement of his mental and moral well-being.
Mock, "pole stars" shall no longer lure us into mael
stroms, nor Pharoah leaders conduct us into yawning
seas. No longer shall we remain in the ranks of rebels, trai
tors and outlaws, of conformers, trimmers and compromi
sers, but will enlist under the banner of the cross, fighting
like true members of the church militant, with Christ for
our Hero Captain, against all false and evil things in our
selves and others, in church and state, in high places and
low. We shall be "fervent in business" too, not shirks or
lazy idlers, cold and indifferent, but putting our strength to
the wheel, ever at the post of duty, we shall win our laurels

24
and our gold by honest toil of hands and brain. We will
seek to get and to give a transforming education. We
will seek wealth too, if that be our mission, and money,
power and position, not as ends but as means, not as in
struments of evil, self-gratification and the debasement
of others, but as gifts from God which we, as His stew
ards, are to use for good purposes, to wield as moral and
spiritual levers, to wield as dynamic forces given of
heaven, for the raising up of ourselves and others from
sloughs of corruption, and valleys of darkness, from sin,
death and slavery, into purity, life and freedom. We too
will toil, with wise and good men, against all centraliza
tion of powerd; wealth, and education in the hands of the
few, working for the spread of knowledge, the diffusion of
wealth and the distribution, of power ; thus pulling down
none, but elevating all to the position, dignity and use
fulness befiting man, to which man as man is entitled,
and of which no human being, be he white or black, high
or low, noble or ignoble in the world's esteem, may, or
can be bereft with impunity.
For there can be no safety, no peace, no immunity
from retribution, anywhere to individuals, communities,
sections or nations, until they do what is right and just,
until they establish and obey individually and collective
ly this Common-Bkotheehood-of-Man-Princtple, laid
down in the Old Testament, enjoined in the New, until
they cease shirking its obligations because of differences
of color, desparities of culture, condition and power among
men ; thus turning a deaf ear to its heavenly voice. God
is no respecter of persons, nor can we be brethren, and
lay valid claim to be called His disciples.
As for us, then, we will do our part towards establish
ing this principle here and everywhere. We too, will
stem the down rushing tide of barbaric ideas, and roll
back with stout hands and brave hearts the juggernaut
car of despotism, which seeks to crush out of man all

25
those germ-thoughts, all those incipientj-rational, moral
and spiritual formations, by the development of which he
might become like unto Godx become a new creature, a
power for good here upon earth, and an inhabitant of
heaven hereafter. Thus shall we struggle with false
ideas of education, of wealth, of power. Thus shall we
do our part towards the ushering in of morn on this be
clouded earth-home of ours. Thus shall we pray for and
help the coming upon the earth of that day-spring from
on high, when, from man to man, and nation to nation
shall flow as in rivers of joy, and glad streams of healing
waters, FRIENDSHIP, LOYE, BROTHERLY AF
FECTION, PEACE, LIGHT AND LIBERTY!
If then we would hasten this glorious result, let us take
up our cross daily, bear our trials in humility and gladly
wear our crown of thorns. Let us follow the example
and obey the teachings of the meek and lowly Redeemer,
who went about doing good. There are eyes closed with
ignorance, blinded with prejudice and covered with the
scales of error, which we may open.
There are stammering tongues we may unloose, and
withered hands stretched out that we may heal them.
There are galling chains we may strike off, and grievous
burdens too heavy to be borne, we may undo. There
are lonely hearts we may console and comfort, human
needs we may supply with ready help and kind counsel.
And shall we not thus try to "keep our brother ? "
One and all of us, in sincerity, and in child-like depend-
ance upon the Lord, say " Yes ! " And so doing, we
shall prove ourselves the loyal, dutiful children of one
common Father, who will accept our offerings as He did
Abel's. We shall prove ourselves the lovers of our breth
ren everywhere, the followers of Christ our Lord, the
trusty guardians, faithful doers, wise conservators and
zealous friends of Truth, Justice and the Right.
4

YALE UNIVERSITY L

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