The Manitowoc tribune. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1866-1878, 1873-02-13
Henry Ward Beecher ReIis ion, Not
Bondage, but Liberty Vanity.

MIR. Beecher preached from the text
"Henceforth call you not servants, 1880
but L have called -ou friends In the
course of very eloquent sermon, Mr
| Beecher dIspelied some of the popular
delusions concerning religion-he did not
like the werd, which meant originalI, TO
bind-Chrlstianity, he said, is not bou-
dage, it Is liberty in the largest sense !;
1t Is not setting aside of law, but an
obedience to the law. There is an i'm
preston that members of Christian
churches are brought into condition of
seryitude, and that they joined church as
men become soldiers, only wien very
hard pressed: or as kind of spiritual
life insurance. There is even an i'm
preston that religion is necessary evil
that taking up the cross means becom
ing sort of slave; that glorious good
fellow is spoiled by joining the church,
and made severe and long visaged and
liberty must be enjoyed by stealth, with
| penance afterward; that men when
they become old reluctantly join the
church to save their souls, as they would
remove into a miserable hut after living
all their lives in a palace. The Bible,
he said, is really the portal of the TEN.
pie of liberty; obeying Its precepts is
not bondage. but the brightest, fullest
liberty. Liberty is that condition in
which men are when they understand and
obey the laws which God has laid down,
and he is most free who knows God S
law best, just as he is larger and nobler
To illustrate, MIR. Beecher referred to
physical laws at length. The workman
frets and worries and IS awkward when
the tools are first put into his hands, and
1t is constraint to him 10 work but af
ter he has mastered toe laws of his art
they become his servants The awk-
ward fencer strains and sweats to balance
himself and to ward off blow, but the
graceful master. by an easy turn of his
hand, sends his weapon flying from his
grasp. This perfection Is accomplished
only by thorough obedience, on his
part, by first subduing himself complete, !
ly ard wholly to the rules of his art. |
This law runs through man ) whole ma
ture, just as the whole universe IS gov
erned by the same laws. The moment q |
man learns to do, it is easy. Liberty is
obedience to to law, and we can learn to
love obedience to the laws of God as we
of the Lord is there Is liberty; but liber-
ty is not the expression of waywardness
aud caprice not license to be wicked.
but the love Of Gods law as expressed
by the psalmiss.
Mr.. Beecher preached in the evening,
on the subject of the corruption which
springs from a desire to be praised
Vanity, MIR. Bcccher says, is a prominent
characteristic of the people of this coun
try. The first question We ask distin
guished foreigner who may visit US is,
Nv hat do you think OF the American
their institutions ?'' A love
OK admiration has entered into literature
aud art, and always with enteebling re-
snIts. 1t was seen in the architecture
eff the long rows of buildings in New
Y ork, ana especially in our homes, which
both inside and out, seemed to be moth
ing but an exclamation point-admira-
ton. Its influence was seen in the de-
sire young couples felt to make show
when they get married. They could not
afford to keep house and do it, SO they
went to board. Why did they not be
gin at the bottom, seem to be what they
were. and work their way up? Mr..
Beet;her referred to the first two years of
his own married life in Indiana, which
he began by hiring two rooms, and put
ting in them secondhand furniture
when even the coat he wore was second
hand He urged his hea rers to bo man
y, honeSt, sincere to be under all cir
just what they seemed to be.
Scattered through his discourse were
other illustrations from everyday expe-
renee, which repeatedly provoked the
audience to irrcpressible laughter.