The Brotherhood of Men.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume XIV, Issue 2889, 3 February 1893, Page 2

The Brotherhood of Men.

Last Sunday week, in the Wesleyan Church, the Rev S. La wry began a series of sermons on 4: The Brotherhood of Men and the Fatherhood of God." On that occasion he dealt specially with the social aspect of the question, and began by pointing out thai this wts a subject/ on which social ecienoe and Christianity had much in common. But, notwithstanding this face, social reformers and Christian workers were often assumed to be antagonistic to one another. After briefly dea'ing with the causes of chis, the following propositions were set forth, bas*>d on the text, " Sirs, yd are brethren, why do ye wrong one to another V : - 1. The Bible teaches men to regard one another as brothers. •■ 2. Brotherhood does not require equal wealth, any more than equal physique or equal mentality; but it does require of all brotherly interest, kindly regard, and uniform goodwill, and therefore the promotion of one another s welfare. 3. Christianity, in spite of some appear' ances to the contrary, has been and still is working to bring about a true recognition of brotherhood in society by teaching all men to say " Our Father which art in Heaven." 4. There are great difficulties in the way of making this ideal actual, such as the rooted prejudices inherited from the past, the deeply ingrained selfishness of .all classes, economic considerations, including the craze for cheap purchase, which is a principal cause of " sweating." 5. All may at once enjoy the privilege of becoming God's spiritual children through faith in Christ, and this will bring rest to the soul, *nd the consciousness of Divine favor through all the conflicts and difficulties of life.

THE BROTHJEBHOOD OF THE NATIONS. This was the phase of the subject dealt with last Sunday evening. The preacher took his text from Acts xvn. 26—28, "He hath made of one all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth," I &c. He said the brotherhood of the nations was based on the common origin of all, and therefore implied the unity of the race. Evidences of this unity were not wanting. 1. There are essential points of physical resemblance/ Although there were great differences, these were no greater than could be accounted for by the well-known laws of variation and heredity. Even now variation was taking place, developing, distinct types of the British people both in America and Australia. Within the historic "period the Hungarians had lo*t all physical 1 'races of their Mongol origin, and were as | Europeans in their appearance as their Teutonic neighbors ; and while the Jewn maintained their well-known Semitic type, it had. varied d'ir: n,' the period of their disper.iiou, tiji j;J e of Malabar were as black as negroes, and in Germany they had been seen with red hair, and in England with blue eyes. Over and above all variations the physical nature of all races was essentially the name. 2 The essential laws of thought, and the power to express thought in language are common to all the known races. 3. The same emotions are comraoi to all mankind. 4. All nations possess the same social instincts, having the family as the unity of society. 5. There is an evident identity of moral nature—conscience, the instinct of worship, and a sense of the hereafter being found more or less developed ia all the peoples vi the world ; while some in whom it was least apparent had through tho teaching of the Goape', developed rapidly into most religijus paople. 6. The Scriptures teach this unity both directly and indirectly, and especially in Romans V. it is used as the) Las's of a great argument for the universality of Christ's redeeming work. v The duties arising from this relation* ship were then referred to. We must stop our cant about inferior racos, and the necessity for exterminating them to make way for our superior selves. Tho Mongolians at any rate show no. signs of bein>» raady to make room for us, and, ace >rding to statistics, if the present ratio of increase contiuun we are within measurI able distance of the time «hen, in the i Southern States of the American Union, the negro will be the dominant race in the | land. All civilised peoples should show , their superiority by combining to Rupprtfis ! slavery, and to establish international arbitration instead of war which denies 1 brotherhood by violating its most sacred | principles. Brotherhood also demands the cessition of the exclusive legislation which is based only on difference of race. Lf certain people are criminal or otherwise morally undesirable, well and good, 1 apply .the principle all round; but to prate about brotherhood and superiority of race while wo pus Chinas© Exclusion Acts, and at the same time intrude ourselves on their territory, and under the protection of British guns force on them our opium trade, is only saperior hypocrisy. Brotherhood ia opposed to all fiscal tariffs and labor lawsxwhich have their origin only In national or race jealousies. Apart from all commercial considerations, we have no right to carry on a retaliatory war by means of the tariff, or by the same means to try and ruin our neighbors' trade to advance our own. What right have we to talk about brotherhood while we refuse work to men because they belong to another nation ? Does brotherhood exclude the Chinese, the Lascars, the Kanakas, or the Maories? And when men of the British race deny the right of work to their fellows who may happen to cross a geographical boundary line, as was recently proposed in America concerning the Canadians, then surely tho BM>B6 of brotherhood is dead, or such despicable selfishness would be treated with scorn. Finally, the belief in universal brotherhood should piqmpt us to seek by mipsionary c;i? .'■isrse to bring to all peoples the ble^iug-, of the be?t civilisation, by proclaiming to them Je3us, i the Friend of universal huiuanit}, whose religion can uplift and save th^. whole race of man. Thus shall ye hasten the time when " all ragii's good shall be each man's rule, and universal peace lie like a shaft of light across the land, and like a lane of beams athwart the sea, through all the circle of the golden year/