Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1866-05-16
TIE OLD AND THE NEW.
a 8 Il r. NJ Q n

a SER RMON
Preac he'd I'm the Brick Church the Clos
ing Services, May 9, 1856.
BY ". Il. LORD.
sCor S: II. Old thing. are passed away behold
ali hings become new
Men have always been wont to erect build
Ines for religious uses, to be especially de-
voted TO the service and worship of God
Thrher they have resorted to pay their vows,
10 offer their prayers, and to make their sacri-
fees. The old Pagans, both cultivated and
barbarOus, were animated by the same sentl-
ment when they reared their temples in the
honor of their gods. The religious idea IN
man is stronger than any other, and the works
of art which have illustrated it, have been the
most wonderful and marvellous of all. The
temples Of rude and civilized, of heath en- aud
Christian nations, have always represen ted
their wealth and skill, and have been the in
dices of their progress In culture, IN religion,
and in art.
Even as nature, this material world around
US, with it's sky-piercing mountains and its
lnwly Wales its rich embroidery of forest, field,
lake and stream, and all its graceful adOrn-
nents Of foliage, Verdure and flowers, is Gods
archItecture and expresses the eternal power
and glory of the G01head to our minds and
hearts so the buildings that man has con-
structed for his religious life, unlike and bet
ter than all others, indicate the character of
his own mind, ard are the expression of bis
own Intelligence and 8 1irItual thought. He
seeks in fact, in the forms of his religious
architecture TO embody and evolve his reig-
ious IDEAS And even if he aims not to do it,
he will hnd that uncOneciously to himself his
architecture will represents his character and
his ideas. The stvle of his outward building
gives some glimpse of his internal character.
Ary external expression be may make of him
sell will be the sign of his internal state TIE
very figures which child draws on a slate, or
the sentences and characters one may write Oa
rhe walls of building, the pictures his
hand may trace inteiligently or automatically,
yiye clear insight into the heart and soul, and
tell the nature of the reigning ideas. just as
she things which God has made, declare hIs
eternal power and glory, so the things which
man makes tell his capacity, his resources. lis
intelligence, his culture, his taste, and reveal,
TOO. his mpertections, his weakness and his
folly.
The only trace we have of the religion or
the civilization of some races, We find lii
the remains of their architecture. The arch
itectural debrI5 of central America is the only
record we have of It's extinct races. and tells us
IN PLAIN language the character Of the people
that dweit in those tropical regions. In their
uncOuth sculpture, barbarous ornaments. and
rude forms of construction, We learn their
savage estate, their low, moral culture, their
wild religious ideas. their Pagan notion of
human sac ifces. The grotesque and caprIc-
ious blending Of strength and beauty OF deli
cacy and ugllness, of rudeness. grandeur and
demonisIn in the Hindoo architecture, es seen
an the strange, vast, monoIithIc temples OF IG-
dia declare race stepped in mysticism,
volving iu prescribed circle. of thought, and
devoted 20 the most hideOus mingling Of sen
sual aud intellectual life. The old Greek tenn
pies persOnIfy heroic mythology allied with
a sensuOus beauty, and portray race full OF
thOt ght OF harmony, OF beauty and passion,
but without one gleam of religious aspiration
4 race OF ratIOnalsts, whose gods were simply
heroic men, and whose religion was merely
passion for The beautiful, and who could tat
ur4lly esteem the wisdom Of Christ crucifed,
20 b. only heeting folly. the weakness or the
vanity of single generation
And iE later Christian ages, art has been
used 70 embodv Christian ideas. Another
style of architecture than the Pagan. than the
Grecian, than the Jewish, magnificent as they
all we're, has sprung forth to represent no
iier and i purer faith. The doctrine. the
ideas and the practical forces of Christian ~,
have found architectural expression of
their own. The faith which was 10 sound
out into all che world, which was TO De prop
ogated by the voice OF the living preacher,
winch was to gather men into large assemblies
and lIghs its fires in their hearts, by the means
OF lbs. ructIon and persuasion, could make no
headway IN the cold, cherries, sepulchral
tenn pies of Pagan worship, or III the diversified
apartments OF Jewish sanctuary. 1t first
gathered its audiences IN temples not made
with hands. The hills and mountains OF Ju-
dea were the resort of the mulsitudes 10 whom
Christ preached. His herald was the voice OF
one crying IN the wilderness. lie himself,
now In d quiet house, now in some upper
room. now in synagogue, now from the deck
Ut sh' ., nov a. the curb OF a well, now un-
der the arches of Oiivet's groves, now on the
sides of g si0piug Gaiiilean hill, taught the
crowds that gladly received his ministry and
mis- apostles went forth following his steps,
preaching Jesus and the resurrection ; In the
courts of the temple, from the steps of private
dwellings, on the banks of rivers, in the thor
Oughtares of cities, IN the market places and
IN the field, IN prisons and Ill ships, making
known the wonderful works of God.
The Christian faith demanded then = new
style OF aIchi ecture, one that should give ires
play to its peculiar forces, or work in harmony
with them. Hitherto art, working IN the
service of religion, had expressed only pure
materialism, base, slavlsh fear, sensu0us,
barbarpus passion, a wild aud groteeque faith.
Now it TO be the handmade of new class
OF IDEAS He who was in Christ Jesus. had
become new creature. With him old things
were passed away and all things were De
made new. Hence the ideas evolved
themselves in new forms. The new spiritual
forces of Chrsts kingdom at once began to
chrysta lze and to assume their appropriate
external shapes. Neither Grecian nor Roman
architecture, devoted 20 she mysteries of a
seusuods religion, harmu ~ Zed with the spirit
OF Christian tiscipleship. Christianity must
have q form of its own sll things must be-
come new. Old things must pass away for
ever The new wine must not be put in Old
bottles Ihe ChristIaa could never be at home
IN a GrecIan fame Hebrew synagogue.
lie must have house OF his own.
The prevailing style of Christian areh;ec-
tu7e has. in subordingtion 30 this general
principle been what is sechDIcslly called the
Gothic. This bas been she growth and pro-
dUction of the Christian nations exclusively
It has expressed, more largely than any other,
the mental, moral, and even spiritual tenden-
cIes and characters Of its builders. Its under
lying spirit is psriecs freedom of growth, as
of nature herself. IL borrows its forms from
nature, this great building of God. It's va
riety is almost as wide and ipfnite as that of
the material world. Its lofty ceilings repre-
sent the sep concave of she skies. It's point-
ed arches, piled one above another bear the
as pira, ,Ionsss ever heavenward. Its columns
iifE up their graceful shafts, like cedars of
Lebanon, and flow into curved architrAve and
waving arch, like she branches Of the trees of
a forest Il, buttreeses, like the ribs of the
bills, seem to Lift up the whole structure TO-
ward The heavens, and the tower proclsims
watch and ward over the whole building, and
with the lofty spire suggests the foundations
Oh our strength and the up~ard aspiration OF
l.