The Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1837-1867, 1861-04-19


over-estimated as he would carry cup o
wine-careful that none be spilled, and care
fu that no impurity fall into it. 1t is a grea
blessing to be loved and respected-nay t,
be admired for admirable qualities-and whel
men are generous enough to pay in adyanc,
for excellence, they should never be cheated
in the amount and quality of the article.
There is such thing is honor among men
there is such thing as modesty, truth ant
integrity. They are qualities that belong tt
humanity, irrespective of religion and o
Christian culture. There are men SO true te
their higher natures that | would trust them
with my name, my gold, my children, my all
without doubt. am proud to claim kin.
ship with such men. They confer dignity
upon the race of which am member.
am glad to take their hands in mine. Sup.
pose one of these-for such things have been
should deceive me, and | should discove,
that my name had been abused, my gold
wasted Or stolen, and my children ruined by
this man a.: could ever trust again Should
| not be Inundated Shcu.u cot ieei dis
graced : Should ever be willing to let an
other man into my heart b? Should not
doubt whether there are, indeed, such things
as honor OF modesty and truth and integrity
III the world. and thus doubling, would not
the strongest defences Of my own virtue be
thrown down The truth is that no man
car do an unmanly thing without intlictins
an injury on the whole human race. No man
can say 4 will do as | choose, and it will be
nobody's business Every mans sin is every
bcdy's business, literally. Every sin shakes
mems confidence in men, and becomes, what
ever its origin, the enemy of mankind; and
all mankind have right to make common
cause in its determination.
! once heard careless fellow say that he
'protessed nothing and lived up to it, but
'protesslng nothing does not cxonerate a
man at all, SO far as relates to the personal
maintenance of honor, purity and truth. The
man who would excuse a lapse from virtue,
or any obllqulty Of conduct on the ground
that he did not profess anything, simply an
nounces to me the execrable proposition that
every man has kind or degree of right TO
be rascal until he pledges himself to be
something better. There are altogether too
many men in the world who are keeping
themselves easy with the thought that if they
are not very good they never pretended or
protessed to be,-as ii this failure publicly TO
pronounce themselves on the side of,he highest
morality were sufficient apology for minor
de!!nquenc!eS . 1t seems to be a pouitice Of
peoples TO some sen>tiyely iniian.ed con-
SCIENCES that, whatever they may have done.
'hey nave never broken promises voluntarily
made to DO rght-as if there were release
from the obligation to DO right in falling to
make the promise, lfit will help man to DO
rlgh., publicly to profess to DO right, and DO
good 10 other men 10y placing his influence
on The right side, then the tirst duty a man
owes to his race is to make tbs declarations
But | Will not llnger here, because my words
have led me TO this discussion of the oblisa-
tons of those who have maze 4 profession Of
Christianity and taken npon themselves the
vows Of Christian church mb,rship.
When a man Joins Christian church. he
becomes related to that church IN the same
way that nature makes him related to hu-
maaity. The reputation OF the church is
placed in his keeping. He cannot do an un-
christian thing without inlur, TO the church.
or without depreciating in the ewes of the
world every other member Think wha, a
blow is inflicted upon the church Of Jesus
Christ by such scandaious immoralitics as
some OF It's most prominent members have
been guilty of-5y torSeries and adulteries
and drunkenness These cases are not COM
mon. but When they occur they arc blows un-
der which the churchrccls. The outside world
looks on, and SCOTS Aha That's your
Christianity, is il =
| declare that do not know of position
that more strong y appeals to mans pcr>o-
nal honor than that Of membership in a
Christian church. Even if man in such Il
position should say within himself: This
costs more than ii comes to. love my vices
mare than love the master whcse name
profess. Either openly or secretly Twill give
rem to ny appctltes and passions he should
be arrested by the consideration that he pro-
poses to do Ithat which will wound the feel
lngs and degrade the position, and inlurc
the Influence OF thousands Of the best men
and women in the world that he proposes
to inct an irreparable injury upon cause
which has never injured him, and whose Of
fee It is to save him and all mankind. Per-
haps he is so weak, and temptation is strong,
that he feels, IN the stress OF his trial, that he
can afford to perjure his soul but if he does,
he has no right TO wound others. Better
fight the devil until the animal within US
b.eeds at every veln-until it dies, if that
must be-than 'offend one Of these little
ones A man who will ion church, and
then lead an unchrStian life. not only dem
onstrates before the world his Hypocrisy but
he voluntarily undertakes to prove that he
has no personal honor. An honorable man
Will sacrifice himself always before he will
Vol Intariy inhct injury upon a cause he has
pledged himself to Sustain, and upon men
ard women whose good name is in his hands.
When member OF church has become So
hardened in 4 course of bad living that no
pang comes to him when he thinks of the in
jury he is inhicting upon the Christian church
he is bad enough for prison. would not
trust him the length of my arm.
We have had, within the last ten Years too
many notable instances of falls from virtue
among the clergy; and every fall has been
like an avalanche. They come from a point
SO near to heaven, and fail so far, that noun
tain-sides are SCARED ard whole communities
vhelmed by the calamity. 1t takes, often,
many years for the villages that lie at Their
feet to smile again. All ChristenGom feels
the shock, and mourns with down-cast ewes
the consequences. l freely gran: that, as a
class, the American clergy of all denomina-
tons, are the purest ana best men whom
know but | cannot resist the conviction
that there are many of them who forget " hat
the responsibility is that rests upon them.-
1t was the remark Of an aged clergyman, re-
tired from pulpit duties, that if he were a
layman he should watch with more anxiety
and caretulness than laymen do the relations
that exist between pastors and the women Of
!, th.;r Hack "a uri.rStapi ~