Rutland weekly herald. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1859-1877, 1866-05-24


end for which IL was builtand to which =,
was dedicated II was one of the evils ~
the early stage of society In this conn,
try, that no places were considered as
pecially sacred. The reaction from Re-
manism threw Professionalism To tbe
other extreme. Our New England Pr
ritanism partook of this extreme char.
acter. IL Is said that no forms No
externals were consecrated, that Chris,
ianity resided in spiritualisms. IN
the heart alone, in the strong viii
fixed on Christ, in the spirit constitutsJ
a temple of the Holy Ghost 1, di.
dained all art, all beauty, all rhythm in
the service and in the architecture q. -
ligion. 1t aimed 10 lherate the sni,i.
aud set it free from the trammei, ~
sense. 1t forgot that God had mad
certain laws of beauty and certain rpIss
OF sacred prOpriety, before ever the m
ganzation of any church, and that No,
only is it no sin, but the highest exec
lenCe, to conform To these essential prin.
ciples Of harmony and fitness, in ali onr
outward garh and structure; princlnle,
which even he has observed in paiptino
the leaves and petals Of a rose, in psint,
ing and garnishing the forests, in shan
ing the marvellous contour of the b0is
and in lifting the steep sides Of tbe
mountains, TO be strong and masS'v.
pillars Of the azure dome II losgo,
that Christ had once entered his Fathers
house and scourged out the prolape
hucksters who desecrated its sacred n,q.
ceS. 1t forgot that he who said .bq.
God was spirit, and was to he Won
shipped in spirit and in truth, was CON.
sumed with zeal and veneratiOn forth
sanctuary Of God In its haste to say
that attitude was not religion, it remem.
bered not that Christ himself knelt in
prayer, and so to avoid journalistic er.
rOr it rushed into spiritualstic absurd.
ty. 1t threw open the doors Of its
churches to all secular uses. Our "a.
theirs followed the common custom. and
from the beginning this church has been
occupied for any purpose that five Of lis
prOprietors might indicate. 1t has been
the assembly room of State political
conventions, of public lectures, and O..
the House of Representatives. The air
within it has sometimes been poisoned
with worldly communications and pro.
fame discourses and vehement debates.
Sometimes, as | have stood in this place
on Sunday, | have seen the mementoeS
OF the previous night and week Of no,
discussion lying beside me, and felt the
sad associations lowering around me
and have picked them up in my imagi.
nation, and almost "woven them into
sermon, psalm and prayer"
But | do not now complain of such
things, They are among the old things
that have passed away, and 10, all things
will become new. With all these draw.
backs l have thought we were well pro.
vlded for, and have given God thanks
for these old spacious walls. The early
Christians worshipped in caverns of the
ground. an the tombs OF dead men
did the only live religion find its habita.
ton in ancient Rome" The Star O.!
Christ "frst stood still over a stable,
These old walls will always be dear to
me. Even the weather stains on then
are more sacred than the pictures which
the genius of Angelo painted in the Sis
tine chapel, or those with which Rapha.
ell adorned the Vatican. To me they are
associated with the earliest labor OF nv
/ ministry, with all the halowed toll 0.
my life, with the hottest aspirations and
devOutest hours of my earthly being
and with the dear faces that have wei.
coined every Christian word I hay.
learned to speak.