Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1860-01-27
NEW SERIES, VOL. 10, NO. 50.


an,Asonism to them. Whenever any one Of
the bodies that ar, opposite to them has
come % harm. it Is 20 them a cause Of gcnu.
inc >rratula,ion and internal chucklibg.
And - they speak against the way Of truth.
5. Moreover, there are men who will III
brook the superiority asserted for Christians
and the church and who seem TO resent the
existence o., the religious class, as Il It were
an order Of nobility, privileged class. pe-
culiarly odious; because proud men, Of
JEALOUS nature cannot endure to have any
oysr.archius influence Of tbs Kind towering
above them, aud putting them under Ter.
p,tual r,buk,, BY word and contras, Of life.
And when, as Is oftsntime- the case. toe pul.
pit Is foolish, aud the newspaper is more -,
and there 0, kind Of empty boastius about
the church and Christians. and about the
power Of this and that aud the other inlu.
encc. thcs- men arc a. vc1ed and madienei
by this N assertion of a kind Of superiority,
that when man who makes il trips anl
falls. IL doe. them good 20 the inmost core
Of their dark hearts. They rejoice because
their adversary &. down. They like TO pick
up such a man. and hold him out, and .ay
TO Christians, " There !, your man, aui he
q, a specimen of the whole Of you go And
-, when ono man tails. the way of truth
iiscli j. evil spoken Of BY reason of him.
g. There aro also Esn who endcAvor 70
oycr-rils their own con,cisncos which con.
jsmu their worldly lie. They s'iIo upon
every isrelic,i5n on the par, Of others as ev.
,icucc that they ary no uorsc than tho'o
who pretend 70 10 a grcs, deal better than
they are. There arc thousands Of men that
are not quiet "a their own couscieuccs that
ID not approve their own thoughts, or fc'l-
iuss, or lave, that are not easy morning,
nor nom. nor night, on account cf these
things, who when they meet a man Of un-
doubted goodness, admire aud pine for bis
goodness, if be Is very gentle and svoss-
minded, bl, al, into a self defcns5ry state
% mind, II t. his s5oIns., there is jJlncd
some aspsrity, or II he stand. up with some
degree Of authority. I, a man who has been
a standard bsarsr--a minister, or a di'tIn.
Eui,hcl oaecr-iu the church, and wlo
IA, exhibited trait. di.tastcIul to these
men, fli, into so and i. hambl,j, they
,rroad the instance a' hahn aud plaster
90 their own coasci5ncos, and feel. &" We
are not - much worse than men IN the
church, after al n such men have
chance or heaven, why, We shall 1--we
chance 0r heaven Sapr1s' sash bad
men have No chance for heaven, and YOU
aro only no worse ,ban iho,, who will 80
TO he'll wha, good will tia, DO you2
:. Thea there are thoss who have inter.
ct, that are cbalsd and yszrI by religious
men IN the community. There are many
ealhns' that are under the perpetual rebukc
Of religion. There are many tang, in which
msn gain their livelihood, that ure coo-
t.mnsd both ly conscience and the teach
ing, 90 tie church and it j.. not strange
that Ia ten thousand haunt, ofucs, in ten
thousand den. ol iuilui,y, ia ten thousand
drinking places whore M4mm1n holds high
authority, and Christ none, there should D.
c,ss auI s'aIns.s when rcbukins men are
pat 10 shame by the fall Of some one prom.
iagnt among thsm. Those who rejoice at
such times, Do -. mo-; because they are IN
themselves cruel men, but because lhcir IN.
tsrss,, are a, antagonist with the Gospel
because whatever strengthens the power Of
tbs moral element wclksns them, and what.
over weaken, the power Of the moral element
strengthens them. IL Is "a part Of their
business to be glad when the market socs
down in the church. that It may 90 up
among them aud in their places.
5. Furthermore, there is large class Of
worldly men who have no aim in life bat
sell-asrauiizsment. who are glad to have
any excuse ior taking away tie dividing line
tatweeu the world and the church. They
are sood.naturcl, they swing gaily through
life; they DO not do much harm but their
supreme principle ofoe,on is .clfindulgenco
and enjoyment. They delight in the fall Of
good men because it makes them feel that
one man is about as good as another, that
all are sinful, and that there are none worse
than those who ihiuk they are tiekStod Tor
heaven. 1t affords ihomyreas relisL
o. Again. there are men who feel that
ray Of lisht falls upon them when those who
hay, long condemned then hll to their level.
alluis to men that are essentially wicked
nen that 10 wrong on purpo'e; men that
deliberately refuse to Do right, men that
psrtap, are not corrupted in morals, but
that are thoroughly corrupted in moral sense.
such msn - love sin that the lishs from
their face T., Ike that which Issues from tie
do5rs og bell lt.elf; end the lurid JOY which
they manifest when an evil deed is commit
tsi by men in high places, Is 80 terrific as
to reveal the power Of Inalisn passions in the
world 90 come, IN = way to make men irsm-
be. We are n0s surprised that such men
arc inlcru1Ily glad at the flll o; good men.
TO- Finally. there are muititudes Of men
that absolutely love evil. DO no, mean
that they love it in the commission OF it
though they do mean that they have an
insane relish for il. The same terrible in
stinst ,ha, IS in many birds Of prey, by which
they have a palate Tor kind, and sccntii aiar
oil, seems to be in the bOsOus Of u great ma
.., in the world. Tho frst hint Of