Litchfield enquirer., 1866-10-04
s Religious.

1 SyAtA M0o ptSoVuCu " suC AsON s3sAoA S~~
 Dix which has much more ofinterest than is
 dommon in productions of the kind. He says much to which we heartily subscribe, and
 something from which we must dissent; but }itis all -said with the full force of an earnest
 convection.
 sWe can imagine nothing more true than the I following 'iliustration of the mission of the
 Christian church and we are glad to see the
 necessity that the church should move with
 the age, appreciated by clergymen. TOO t-.e Fbese.are strange days, days to make us
 thoughtful and hopeful, yet at times afraid
 We are advancing, as race, with, mighty
 strides. in knowledge and power, in dominion
 over the material creation, and in the posses sion of the means of doing good and evil Around us All is in motion and in process of change t".Man cannot utter it." he cannot rs- alize-he can scarcely describe the achieve ments And the Church feels the movement of the age; in faith and in her principles she stands fast but in her position she changes. Her symbol is not the lighthouse, fast on the
 shore. butthe ship, tossed and .storm-beaten put always making headwsy. The ship must alter in it's behring's from the shore the church in her altitude to ward the world. st' l. We do not object so seriously, as does Dr. Dix to the charge that, ''the cathedral was but an expression of the spirit of 8 proud and
 worldly ecclesiasticism." These wonderful
 monuments of architectural genius, we are far from thinking betoken any great amount of vital piety in their builders The plain,
 comfortable buildings wherein Methodism can accommodate over six millions of worshippers in this country, seem to us far worthier chris tiap work than the St Peters which Romanism has built at infinite ly greater expense
 Nor have we the confidence of Mir Dix int the power of 'rites and ceremonies to impress and awe the unbeliever.',',n Those and the
 grand edifices built for their use, seem ts be-
 long more properly to another era Ours is an eminently practical age and country. Still less can we agree with this gentlemau's esti : mate ofthe Reformation:-l -a. ... ''::But they who should have led that eform- ation set themselves against il, and the work was done, perforce, by others-not without terrible mistakes And since these mistakes occurred the troubles of Christendom were ag. gravated, and we were brought to these Hast 300 years, the real''Dark Ages'' of the church full of dissension and defiance; of f.hardening animosities and multiplying schisms and, con densing hatred one of another It was the 10 ss, of the old and simple which brocded over the dismembered church." ..,.,-.. We cannot but think that such views do the
 greatest harm to Christianity, and although they maybe colored by the Rev gentleman's
 high church hatred of schism, they are, never theless, very like the views we have heard of
 ten expressed by clergymen of all denomina- tions. They feel that their personal influence
 has declined, and they hastily assume that the
 influence of religion has declined also. They do
 not seem to take into account the fact that
 there is now no longer that great difference in l intelligence between the clergy an d the laity that there was then. Instead of dealing with
 children in intellect they have ow to do with
 men and they seem often disheartened rather
 than, encouraged by the change, forgetting that
 it iserror, not truth which has anything to fear
 from intelligence. They seem, also. as much
 too harsh with those who believe too little,
 as they certainly are too easy with those who
 believe too much and we fear there is a little
 natural human weakness at the bottom of the fdifereace. They find superstition slavishly
 obedient, imperfect belief often defantly re-
 bellieus, and they sometimes sigh for return of the eh ildlike trust and confidence which
 characterized an age of superstitious ignor-
 ance. ,.r - .,
 l Now what seems to us the only safe mode of
 estimating the comparative influence of
 christianity in different eras is to look at its
 fruits; and here we are willing to take the estimate of Lord Macaualy, a-man who under stood better than any other the difference be- l tween the Englishmen of the 17th and the
 Englishmen of the 18th centuries. After des-
 cribing the cruel customs, the, qUel amuse-
 ments and the cruel punishments of the former 1 age, he says: t-f 8@ -a@aIe f 1 "But on all this misery society looked with
 indifference. Nowhere could be found that
 sensitive, reckless compassion which has, in eur time, extended a powerful protection to
 the factory child, to the Hindoo widow, to th e l negro slave, which pries into the stores and l water casks of every emigrant ship, whic winced Ut every lash laid sn the back of a
 drunken soldier, which will not suffer the thief
 in the Aulks to be illfed or overworked, and I which has repeatedly endeavored to save the I life even of the murderer. The
 more we study the annals of the past, the more
 shall we rejoice that we live in Q merciful age,
 in an age in which cruelty is abhorred and in which pain. even when deserved, is inflicted treluctantly and from a sense of duty, Every
 class, doubtless has gained largely by this great moral change; but the class which has l gained most is the poorest, the most dependent 1 and the most defenceless." i@ i.,-3 ..s E'a r. We should be sorry to believe that the brig6>
 test eras of practical christianity were ''the
 real Dark Ages of the, church." sa lGltftit- .-.---.---. ..-.s...- ie7f ,S.s-.,y,>,,n,,n .s.l .'.'..'.; '... T &a ,.t..s,,s '-''l''s'Il-,' H 9...-,.- ....
 On Saturday light Sept. Both, the barn of