Vermont telegraph. [volume] (Brandon [Vt.]) 1828-1843, 1843-08-09
. l.. XIV. NO.44

0ef00s business of dealing out liquid mis-.
on Now if brother Greenfield re r
thought it would be doing Gods ssru 1.s
to have that house destroyed bv fro 10
should not only have prayed, but as b.
Claims TO be one OF Gods min;s,e,, l
should. regardless Of consequences bavo
aPPilea a torch to it, and no doubt bpt h.
comoustlole matter thus ignited would br
Inc unalterable laws of nature, soon bovs
produced the effect which he So Ius,a,,
prayed for. He should show his faith H.,
his works. If he had done this he wop1
have been consistent in this affair. pr,
the man that dare not try 10 bring about
by works, that which he prays for, cauro,
consistently be called man ofmora coU,
age, or consistent man.
! In the midst ofthese animal excitemeD,s
which occasionally sweep over The land
like the slmoom of the desert, We often
hear prayers as inconsistent as the above,
if they are couched in more decent Ian,
guage. AT an Anti-Slavery meeting re.
Gently, We were amused by hearing a
clerical brother pray thus: 20 Lord, We
have me! here this day to consider the
cause fthe slave"!! Now this would
have been valuable piece of information
to man, who had "happened in and
did not know to what kind of meeting
he had come. But to an AIl-wise Crea.
tor of the universe, it was, to say the least
oflt useless, and the saying a mummery.
Again, the imputation of injustice is
very common practice, such as telling
God that if he had done US justice we
should long since have been doomed to ir-
retrievable woe. Thus saying that be-
cause we are still out of their chimerical
hell, God is unjust.
In these players, too, they tell horrible
stories about themselves. Let "man OF
the world say the same things of some Of
the priests or their followers, that they
say of themselves in their prayers, and
you would be in danger of being arraiSL-
ed in court of law for SANDER; and vet
in every or nearly every prayer this same
black catalogue Of abomination, is repeat.
ed. The hearers of such prayers can See
no advancement in these men, if,hero own
words are to be taken, although they
seem to be fully aware OF their own GRIM
inality. FL.
Much time and money is spent in car
ryIng on prayer meetings,to pray and teaze
the A mighty for all the various things
men imagine would conduce TO their hap.
riness. In these meetings, all cases are
laid before the great Father. There are
prayers for fair weather, and rain--fOr
some TO have the blessing of health, and
for others to be removed by sickness or
DEATH because they stand in the way Of a
revival" Here, too, prayers are oft;-
ed up for an abundant harvest-and in
times Of war for God to be with one army
and fight for them and desert the other.
Now it is evident that all these prayers
cannot be answered in tho way the actors
seem to expect, i. e., by some arbitrary
'oord or act, and noh by any fixed law Of
nature. Such askers are the greatest pro-
INDICATORS ofthe doctrine of chance the
greatest advocates OF O-government con.
fusion and disorder in the universe; not
knowing perhaps but it is no less so for
being done in ignorance.
For man to sit in his house during
the season of raising corn, and pr ay for a
good crop, while he never plants it, would
be thought by every one 10 be absurd in
the extreme. Yet this man may as SIN.
cerely desire crop of corn as any man.
But this is not acting in accordance with
natures laws, and will not produce the de-
sired effect, though he pray " without
ceasing" for whole year or lifetime.
On The other hand, if man never goes
through the performance called prayer,
but goes to work and plants. hoes and har'
vests his corn, he will have it. This is
very plain case, and it is readily seen that
the Only oraiLab!e, practical prayer is, tor
the man who wants corn to go 10 work ana
in the ordinary course of nature it VIII
be produced. This then is real prayer
No other prayer ever was or ever will be
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