Page 75 - HSLChristmasAnthology

HSL Christmas Anthology page 75

196 SAINT BERNARD AND OTHER PAPERS
felt sure that somebody would come. At length the
expectation of a Messiah became quite common ; it
was a fixed fact in the public opinion. But some
thought the deliverer, the redeemer, the second David,
would be one thing, some another; just as men now
call their favorite candidate for the Presidency a sec
ond Washington ; but some think he will be a Whig,
and support the Fugitive Slave Bill ; some a Democrat,
and favor the enslavement of Kansas ; while others are
sure he will be a Republican, and prohibit the exten
sion of slavery ; while yet others look for some anointed
politician to abolish that wicked institution clear out
from the land.When the nation was in great peril the people said,

'* The Messiah will soon come and restore all things ; "
but probably they had no very definite notion about
the deliverer or the work he was to do.When Jesus was about thirty years old he began,

to speak in public. He sometimes preached in the
meeting-houses, which were called synagogues; but
often out of doors, wherever he could gather the people
about him. He broke away from the old-established
doctrines and forms. He was a come-outer from the
Hebrew Church. He told men that religion did not
consist in opinions or ceremonies, but in right feelings
and right actions ; that goodness shown to men was
worth more than sacrifice offered to God. In short,
he made religion consist in piety, which is love to God,
and benevolence, which is love to men. He utterly
forbade all vengeance, and told his followers, " Love
your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to
them that hate you, and pray for them which despite-
fully use you and persecute you." He taught that
the soul was immortal — a common opinion at that time