The Rutland daily globe. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1873-1877, 1874-11-19

isteI 10 ohe WIZ uOcs Tue Dest ana ndrucSt
work who keeps nearest to God and leads
most souls to Christ We have no hospital
theory of the church and our ministers are
not corps of spiritual doctors. Casuistry
and the confessional, the hospital theory of
the church and the medical theory of the
ministry, go together, and we have renounc-
ed them both. Our principle Is that the
soul is safest in Gods hands that no man,
whatever his office or sanctity, or knowl-
edge of human nature, or skill in
moral anatomy, has any right or any
competence to direct another mans spiritual
life. 1t Is the minister's business to preach
Christ and nothing else. II is the business
of the church to search the Scriptures and
see that he does it. The diseases of our
nature are too subtle, and the symptoms
too vague and indefinite for any man to
take its treatment on himself and admins
ter the proper remedies. The only sound
method to train men to purity, integrity
and honor, is to let them know the broad
outline of Gods law and then trust them
to the light OF conscience and the teaching
of the Holy Ghost. Most of the moral
evils under which men suffer will only be
aggravated by the spiritual direction of
casuisfs and confessors. 1t is not necessary
to keep an army of priestly experts to
answer questions of tie soul. Jeremy Tay-
lor says, THAT the confessional ties mems
religion and lusts together, the one entan-
g,es the other, aud the last are made more
dscernible. The good man understands
the things of God and knows them by
plaiu commonsense, and by refer
ence 10 the divine word" That
this tiilunal hcs been sufficient,
aud that most christians are able to deter
mine wisely their own personal, moral and
religious course has been abundantly de-
monstrated by the history of the churches
Of our communion. Our New England
moral and spiritual life, in spite of all
drawbacks of dogmatsm and bigotry, has
been MS free, as warm, rs pure, rs true a
product of heaven. as its own marvellous
and varied scenery If we have had no
| spiritual directors we have had excellent
! slr.tud direction. The sun does not
iiue un another land like this. The spr-
| itunl director theory has not prevailed
here, and so our people have not been rob-
bed of the knowledge that should be theirs /;
nor Christ robbed OF the homage that is
His due; nor the church robbed of its
Savior nor the Savior robbed of His faith
full witnesses, whose hearts have been the
channels of His blood, and whose lips
have been fragrant with His truth.
Another excellence of our policy is that
it makes its adhercnts only moderately de-
nomlnational. All branches of the Protes-
tant church grow less denominational Dis
they grow old and strong. We are the
oldest, most numerous and Independent
denomination in New England, rich in
numbers, position, influence, and history.
We are under no necessity of struggling
for dear life, and so our members are very
poor scouts, hunters and prosoyters. We
| have nOflInn rDmapttr pynprippntal or
sentimental in our faith, aud therefore fail
to charm the floating classes whose princi-
pie it Is to be where the varnish has the
newest smell the organ the hroadest regis
ter, or their own consequence is most
highly appreciated. Those eXhilerating
elements have largely evaporated out of
orr denomination during its three centuries
of labor and triumphs in New England.
We have always given our earnest protest
against soclarian exclusveness, and when
we sec some good brethren lof
other denominations put into the
strait-jackct of their creeds or rituals and
kept form hospitality which Christ re-
quires and their hearts desire, we rejoice
that we are under no sad necessity toprove
that the blood of the Son of God runs only
in the VEINS of our own denomination.
The interests which should be dearest to
| inc ntdIt VI EVERY tllTlStldn arc not tHOSe
which are involved in the triumph Or defeat
of any system of church government. Our
chief concern should be to strengthen the
the hearts OF all those who are loyal to a
common faith, under whatever banner they
may fight. Hooker and Cartwright, Jere.
my Taylor and John Robinson, Calvin.
Milton and Wesley are all ranged IN peace
on the shelves of our libraries. We love
and honor them all, and their descendants
shall be regarded by us with hearty affec-
ton, even if we sometimes smile at what in
them seems strange and odd to us.
| am free to say that | care nothing
about the nominal unifcation of Christen-
dom. 1t is a shallow philosophy of human
nature and singular Interpretation of
Scripture that demands this. No! we ac-
cept and love all the churches of Jesus
Christ There is something deeper than
mere names. In the deepest sense all
Christians are one. But we are not one
like the stones of building. We are one
as the rainbow is one. The white ray of
light which comes from the sun resolves
itself into all the rich colors of the prism,
and bye-and-bye each prismatic tint will
die away into the deep, burning glory
of the eternal heaven. And so we
care not for uniformity. 1t is not
Gods way with living things. We woik
for living souls. We love the liberty which
Christ gives us. We love the liberty he
gives to others. We will not be fettered.
We will not fetter others. 1t is Il poor
thing TO purchase uniformity at the ex-
pense of lite. Every church that has tried
it has been forsaken by morality, science
and religion. If we should try it, the hand
writing of doom would blaze on the walls
of our desecrated palaces.
Nor is our broad and catholic polity I'M
worthy of the helps and ministries OF
beauty.
Because we believe that neither in this OF
that mountain, nor yet IN the cleaning
temple of Jerusalem, is God wOrshippcd
exclusively, we do not therefore deny tina,
He may be worshipped both in Mt. Geri
zine and Mt. Zion in spirit and In truth
There is no pulpit where the true sacrifice
OF Christ is declared as the atonement fol
sin, of which it may not be said, SIN this
mount of the Lord it shall be SEEM" how
glorious is Gods provision of mercy foi
the salvation of Hisschildren. And why
should not an unsectaran church, the old
est, most LIBERAL most numerous in New
England: rich IN beneficence and chart
ties; respondent in the records OF
the living and the rolls of her
dead a church which has never swerved
from Apostolical Christianity as formu
atod in Their entabletured creed on my left
or ceased to pray for the kingdom of THU
universal prayer inscribed on my right
why should not such a church have suit
able dwellings, for its sanctuaries? Why
should rot the garments of such broad
and Catholic polity be of Tyrian dyes ant
its habitations be fashioned after the simil
ltude of a palace? 1t will help YOU
thoughts upward and the earthly architec
ture will be the symbol of the heavenly
house. 1t will be the mortal means to al
immortal end.
0. Call for presentation, Pastor, as fol
lows
This occasion is replete with interest. II
is so to this church and society, it is 80 to
this community; for we have all learned
to greet a new sanctuary as public bene
factor, a landmark of intellectual and moral
progress. The occasion, too, is one of high
and grateful 10y. II has been anyiously