subversion of the law," and that it was the judgment of the English people and their tribunals that "he who reviled, subverted and ridiculod Christianity did an act which struck at the foundation of civil society." The oath that is taken by the President of the United States before he assumes the duties of his office, and that is administered in our courts of justice, not only to the witnesses, but also to the judge, jury, lawyers, and officers of the court, in accordance with the Constitution, implies a belief in God and forms an act of religious worship. It is a national tribute of homage to the universal sovereignty of our Creator. By the act of taking an oath a man makes a profession of faith in God's unfailing truth, absolute knowledge, and infinite sanctity. He also acknowledges God as Supreme Judge, who, in the life to come, will reward righteousness and punish iniquity. The Bible, which is placed in the hands of the witness and is reverently kissed, involves a recognition of divine Revelation. The Christian Sabbath is revered as a day of rest and public prayer throughout the land. The halls of Congress and of our State legislatures are closed on that day. The proceedings of our courts of justice -Federal, State, and municipal-are suspended. The din of commerce is hushed; the looms in our factories are silent; the fires burn low in our foundries; and every city, town, and hamlet resounds with the peal of the joyous bell inviting men to prayer. This is a national homage to the Christian religion. Again, the Chief Magistrate of the nation and the Governors of the States issue their annual proclamations, inviting the people to offer their thanksgiving to "the Giver of all good gifts" for the blessings He has vouchsafed to the land. There is another national custom which proclaims God's sovereignty and superintending providence. I refer to the practice prevailing in this country of opening the proceedings of Congress and of State legislatures, of inaugurating other important measures with prayer, and of invoking the blessing of God on the work about to be commenced. I do not pretend to excuse or palliate the bad taste and irreverent familiarity which characterize some of those prayers. But the holiest practices may be perverted. And I cannot fail to express my admiration for a custom which, in principle, recognizes God's mercy and moral government, and which confides in Him as the Fountain of all light and wisdom. The original settlers of the American colonies, with very rare individual exceptions, were all professing Christians, who inaugurated and fostered that Christian legislation and those religious customs to which I have referred. The Puritans who founded New England, the Dutch who settled in New York, the Quakers and Irish who established themselves in Pennsylvania, the Swedes in Delaware, the English Catholics who colonized Maryland, the English Episcopalians who colonized Virginia, Georgia, and North Carolina, the Irish Presbyterians who also emigrated to the last-named State, the French Huguenots and the English colonists who planted themselves in South Carolina, the Spanish settlers of California and New Mexico, the French and Spaniards who took possession of Louisiana and Florida-all these colonists made an open profession of Christianity in one form or another, and recognized religion as the basis of society. The same remark applies with equal truth to that stream of population which, from the beginning of the present century, has been constantly flowing into this country from Ireland and Germany and extending itself over the entire land. In one century we have grown from three millions to sixty millions. We have grown up, not as distinct, independent and conflicting communities, but as one corporate body, breathing the same atmosphere of freedom, governed by the same laws, enjoying the same political rights. I see in all this a wonderful manifestation of the humanizing and elevating influence of Christian civilization. We receive from abroad people of various nations, races and tongues, habits and temperament, who speedily become assimilated to the human mass, and who form one homogeneous society. What is the secret of our social stability and order? It results from wise laws, based on Christian principles, and which are the echo of God's eternal law. What is the cohesive power that makes us one body politic out of so many heterogeneous elements ? It is the religion of Christ. We live as brothers because we recognize the brotherhood of humanity— one Father in heaven, one origin, one destiny. We shall appreciate our Christian civilization all the more by considering the aboriginal tribes of North America, with whom war was the rule and peace the exception; or by casting our eyes on the numerous tribes of Africa, who, though living side by side for ages, enjoy no friendly intercourse, but are habitually at war with one another. And had our country been colonized, developed and ruled by races hostile to religion, we should seek in vain for the social order and civic blessings that we possess to-day. CHAPTER XXXV. THE DANGERS THAT THREATEN OUR AMERICAN CIVILIZATION. If our government and legislation are permeated and fortified by divine Revelation and Christian traditions, we cannot ignore the fact that they are assailed by unbelief, impiety and socialism. We have our moral Hell-Gate, which threatens our ship of state, and which it requires more than the genius of a Newton to remove. If we have strong hopes for the future of our country, we are also not without fears. The dangers that threaten our civilization may be traced to the family. The root of the commonwealth is in the homes of the people. The social and civil life springs from the domestic life of mankind. The official life of a nation is ordinarily the reflex of the moral sense of the people. The morality of public administration is to be gauged by the moral standard of the family. The river does not rise above its source. We are confronted by five great evils-Mormonism and divorce, which strike at the root of the family and society; an imperfect and vicious |