Vermont telegraph. [volume] (Brandon [Vt.]) 1828-1843, 1836-01-14
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.
.l,..... .sl...ss. LUTIONARY.a

.#Far. .r sgt..a LIZ lION(1AS L
These are now the watchwords Of certain
class of religious teachers and writers Of Pc
ENTHUSIASTICALLY presidents OF colleges,
professors in theological semlnarles, and city
clergymen. One Of them has published a
whole volume Of sermons against Anti-ism !;
two have published sermons and another a
letter against Ultraism; another labored
series of articles in a quarterly against Rad
icalism, and we know not how many have
expressed their horror of such ReVolutiona-
ry movements as the abolition of slavery OF
dissolving the union of church and state, and
especially the hereditary peerage of Great
Britain. We might smile at these anile
fears, and at the ludicrous position in which
Americans, and especially followers of the
Puritans, Of Roger Williams, and of John
Knox, present themselves while striving to
shield ancient abuses from the searching OPP
erations of truth and a reforming age: but
we are more disposed to weep when we con-
slider that these well-disposed but timid per-
sons are unwittingly sharpening arrows a.
gainst Christianity itself, the great exemplar
of all these dreaded principles.
!. ANTI-IsM. Jesus Christ came into the
world 10 establish universal Anti-ism a
gainst sin and the father of it. The Church
itself is an Anti-sin Society, called upon to
maintain a continued warfare, to pull down
strong holds, to fight good fight, to be bold,
to endure hardness as good soldiers, to de-
stroy the works of the devil, &c. When An
ti-ism is put down, the church will be bro't
back to that state, so delectable in the view
of incidence and worldliness, when it main
tanned no warfare & attempted no encroach-
ments upon Satan's dominions, and was at
peace. All! that treacherous peace! The
Son Of Man came not to send peace but a
sword---tO kindle fire on the earth-"and
what will if it be already kindledF'
2. ULTRAIsM. Jesus Christ was so far from
indulging this continual fretfulness and fear
about carrying religious principles too far,
that he himself drove them at once to the
NE PLUS ULTRA-so far that there is nothing
beyond. His rules of forgiveness, of liberal,
ity, of self-denial, of brotherly love, of holi
ness in all its branches, are of the extremes
character, and do not admit of being carried
any farther. And when Ultraism shall be
put down, Christianity will be despoiled Of
! the moral power which she has from the in
junction, Be We PERFECT.
3. RADICALIsM. When the forerunner Of
the Saviour made his appearance, one of the
most impressive Of. his announcements was
Now, also, the axe is laid to the ROOT
of the tree" And Jesus Christ, in all hi:
instructions, maintained the same radiea
character. He aimed at the root of the evi
in the world. He undertook to make a rad
ical change in the affairs of men, by effectins
a radical renovation in their character. The
true spirit in his church is like that of he
Master. And when her ministers busy them
selves with pulling at the twigs or loppin!
off the branches Of evil-in other words
,, when they abandon the ground Of CHRIS
TIAN RADICALISM, they may gain tn
i love Of the world and be called of men Raj
6t. but sin laughs at their feeble efforts
What progress was made in the removal {
J. intemperance, until the blow was aimed &
,, the root-moderate drinking How long di
O British slavery stand, yea, and strengthe
n itself, until Christian heroism went 10 wor
- radically, by proclaiming the glorious doc
y trine of Immediate Emancipation?
4. REvoLUTIoNIsM. Our thoughts wei
n specially directed to this by seeing in our r,
e ligious quarterlies so great solicitude to prt
d serve the British church-and-state unio
=, from revolution, and by reading other recer
IS clerical lamentations over the revolutionar
Is spirit of the times. We cannot enlarge O
= this point but only suggest that the Chri
Il tan religion is the grand engine of revolt
tons in the world, and will continue to /
st so to the millennium; and we shall see who's
IL word will stand, that of the Doctors depr
- eating revolutions, or that Of the Almight
a decreeing them: II will overturn, overtur
\ overturn it: and it shall be no more, unit
y he come whose right it is; and will civ
II it him. "-Ne,o- York Evangelist.