stitution any religious system, nay more, no
union of Church and State must be even
vaguely hinted at, yet we hear the cry, "It is a
Godless Constitution." They tell us that
Thomas Jefferson was an infidel. So be it,
but he was a statesman too, and since he
wrote the document, "the greatest ever written
by uninspired pen," could we expect to find in
it any recognition of a God? In a land where
the Jew and the Gentile, the Papist and the
Protestant, the Christian and the Atheist join
hands in fellowship; there is no need of any
such recognition, in any instrument designed
to be only the operating power of our govern
ment. The Constitution is not the source of
the principles upon which we are founded, but
the offspring of those principles, not the motive
power of, our government, but the machinery
through which that power is transmitted.
Therefore, though there is in our Constitution
no reference to a Supreme Being, yet we were
born a Christian Nation. Take all these facts
into consideration, mark you the sturdy Christ
ianity of our fore fathers, know the hardships
they endured for "conscience sake," know
what they suffered for religious principle, and
ask yourself whether we were born a Christian
Nation; look into the convention that framed
the Constitution, and behold there the men
illustrious in the religious history of America,
hear their daily prayers of thanksgiving, and
listen to their petitions for guidance, and then
ask yourself if our conception was wholly God
less.
Nay, but let us rejoice rather in that our
forefathers bound no man's conscience by any
religious belief expressed or implied in the
Constitution, but that they knew that there was
with the people that regard for morality and
religion that would preserve those institutions
destined to be the bulwarks of the nation.
And these are what? What are the institu
tions that were then existing and are to-day
active that make us a Christian Nation? The
Church of Christ; witness her activity from
THE FREE LANCE.
the earliest settlement, yea even discoveries in
America, behold how for a century she was
the main element in our civilization, witness
her labors as a missionary, witness how she
has kept pace with every other institution in
the march of progress. See how the Cross is
carried ever in the advance guard of the great
army of civilization marching from the Atlantic
to the Pacific, and see how it is reared high
above all other standards wherever the mighty
caravan makes a momentary halt. Behold the
missionary labor of the church of the United
States to-clay, and witness her herculean labors
among the unconverted of the nation. Why
does not the government provide religious
instruction? Is it because we are fearful of
establishing a State creed, fearful of the dread
union of Church and State, thus to violate our
fundamental principle ? Would it not be
better to wipe out that principle than to suffer
the lack of moral education? The answer is
not found here. Tis true, the sufficient reason
is that the people can take care of their own
morals and religion, and history has proven
that they are willing and able to undertake the
task without aid or even suggestion from the
government. Where then is this education to
be received, where is it to emanate? The pub
lic schools with the Bible, in part supply the
want. The agencies of the Church supply
what they are unable to satisfy. , Much has
been said about the Bible in our schools,
but clispite all opposition to its maintenance
there, despite any so-called violation of princi
ple that arises therefrom, it still remains as a
testimony to the christianity of the American
people. According to the fidelity with which
the great task of educating the rising genera
tion is carried oil, so may we expect our na
tion to be in the future. Witness the mighty
efforts of the Evangelical Churches to-clay,
mark the great wave of religious fervor sweep
ing throughout the land. See the endeavors
of the church in the colleges of the land, and
behold an army of Christian young men reared