The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1866-01-10
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III every luuguaSey anu sung Uyi SSNSLy
denomination in the world. Ithas car
ried7 the gospel to every land under the
heavens. Ii took an early and decided
stand against slaveholding and intem-
perance. it was the first religious body
TO pledge its uuswerviug loyalty to. the
Government after the attack on Fort
Sumter. IL WAS the 6fst- TO telegraph
conEratulutiuu to the Governments on
the surrender of Lee. In the cause Of
the nation 10 gave a hundred thousand
men to wnr Tor the Union. The nation
al flag has waved from its spires, and
draped its pulpits, and the national
struggle has kindled to the highest fer-
Sor the Characteristic enthusiasm of the
sect" FEElg
Let us look at some OF our surround
ings as a people OF this Church. What
a Union God has given us. What an
inheritance we have as a people, we
thank God for he return of peace. We
thank God for The unity ofour Govern
ment The mountains and the hills and
the valleys and the oceans held eonI
vention lust abont the time when God
stretched out the earth over the empty
SPACE and hung the word upon nothing.
In That convention the Rocky. Noun
tainA presided, the Atlantic and Pacific
Oceans were the Vice Presidents, and,
if you will, the Mississippi was Score
tary, Then'wus il said, I've are one
among us must be One.' That was the
decree that God made when he created
things terrestrial. Then the seas said
'sYou cannot run ailine betweenus and
hayeIhostile nations upon eaeh sideS
Thank His holy name.j The sentiment
ofthe race is undergoing change. just
as Christianity advances men are drawn
together. Sin separates Sin divides
Once God drowned the world by reason
of sin. Once he broke the race into
fragments and scattered it by the con-
fusion OF tongues. And this He did in
order to save humanity. The result IS
that nationalities are increasing. re-
iofce TO look over the land. have tray
eHed sometimes from ocean to ocean,
and I declare to you that God never
gave to any peoplesnch an inheritance,
such n patrimony as we have. Wohave
nboveB, $50, ,0DO square miles OF territory,
nearly as much as all Europe. Nearly
one half OF this vast space ms peen it.'s &C
uufred since lTT6. Stretching along the
Pacific slope, is territory enough TO
make, think, more than one hundred
such States as Massachusetts. We have
not begun to touch our resources. we
have about 90, 900, 600 of inhabitants,
and L doubt NOT, in 86 yenrs from to-
day, we shall have attained nearly n
hundred millions. Think, indeed, that
child may be in this congregation,
whowill. live to see tho United States
composed of 25O,OOO,OOO of human be-
what is orr duty as GhurehP Inthe
first place, there is no Church 80 uniYer-
sally diffused over our country as OURS
is The next to il is the Baptist. All
the others are far behind. Ispeak now
of Methodism, not of our own Church
pafticulurly, bat of every division OF
Methodism. In this celebration several
of its branches are proposing to Join us.
1 trust yet TO hear kindly voices COM
ing up from the South. In one respect
we are one family. We have not guar
relied about faith. Differences have oc-
CURED on discipline and other points,
but we hold the same faith. That is the
great bond of union. 4H sila liE 80
You see how Europe is sending her
millions to our shores. i think God
lAlmighty shows how BE trusts this
nation in sending them here for educa-
tion. I think if we are true to ourselves.
by Gods blessing we are equal TO the
task before MS. We must remember
| the claims humanity has upon us. We
must remember that the first great duty
/ is to spread tho love of true piety, and
| infuse the religion of the Holy Ghost
| into the hearts and consciences of all
this people. We were born in prayer
| meeting. DIR. Taylor gives valuable
| testimony on this point. he says that
both Wesley and Whitfield got that
power which made them such flaming
4 heralds. of the Gospel of God in the
! a revival of religion raised by preach
| ing on church government, or by preach
| ing simply morals, or by intoxicating
| the necessity OF intellectual culture.
| God has always revived his religion
under the preaching of the doctrine
| ofthe witness of the spirit. No other
| doctrine has He ever blessed in the past
ages. 1t was the doctrine of Christ, oi
| Wesley, of Luther, and all the re-
| formers. -ssg L.l-st
Now, in connection with the thank of
fering of two millions that viii be rails
ed this year, part of it is to be reserv-
| ed asa fund, for use through the COM
4 ing ages. Money is the essence OF earth.
\ ly things. In the creation of this fund
| we shall want n good report from old
| Baltimore. Let it be manifest that her
| men and women take "a permanent1n-
terest in Gods government, and are
willing to make money for him as well
! as to pray for the progress of His
| Church. sE
y In conclusion should like 20 read to
| YOU the reply of our. martyred Presl-
| dent to committee appointed toiwait
t7upon him and speak theentire devotion
| of Methodism to the preservation of the
integrity of the Government. His re-
ply received: ~ srgI..s..
'sNobly sustained as the Government
has been. by all the churches, / would
iiutter nothing which might in the least
appear mYidious against any, yet with
out this it may fairly be said that the
| Methodist Episcopal Church. not less
devoted than the best. is, by its greater
| numbers, the most important of all 1t
is no fault in others that the Methodist
| Church sends more soldiers to the field,
more nurses to the hospitals, and more
prayers to Heaven than any. God bless