Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1875-09-17

weeks ago. denounced Sharply the running
of excursion trains to the Twin Mountain
House. to hear Mr.. Bsecher, as desecra-
ton of the Sabbath. For this, it held three
parties responsible. first, the keepers oil the
Twin Mountain House and second, the
railroad managers The motive aetaating
these two. the Chronicle considered to be
simp,y pccuniary gain. OF the third party,
ii said:
The third party To this Dissertation OF the
sabbath i Mr.. Beecher If it were not IN
accordance with his wishes 70 increase the
bnsine-S OF the hotels on the Sabbath TO have
the railroads run excursion trains on that
dav To hiS boarding place 10 open scores OF
depots usually shut on Gods sacred day ana
n break the solemn stiffness OF the Sabbath
along hundreds OF miles of railroad by the
screechins Of engines and laundering OF
trains. none Of these things would be done.
The B ,ston C0ngregatiOnahst endorsed the
views Of the Chronicle, and Mr.. Beecher
deemed the matter of consequence enough to
demand notice at his names. He preiaced
hi. sermon. on Sunday week, with reply to
the CHRONICLE lie said, at the outset, that
he welded to none in regard lJr the Sabbath
=. We can spare. So said he, " a great many
things but we cannot spare the Christian
Sabbath. No Christian man ought n hesl-
tate for moment TO condemn Whatever de-
--o5es the Sabbath or weakens its power.
Of the particular case in hand, he said
The running of trains on the Lords Day
70 camp meetings or TO places OF preaching
Is TO me so comparatively new that am not
urepared 10 express approval or disapproval
! Of II. Fit shall be found, on the whole, TO
weaken the moral affections with which
people hold the Sabbath, ! shall not hesitate
1 70 ioin those who would dissuade my fellow
citizens from such practice. But Il It be
found, not only that it Is harmless, but that
| II conduces TO the great end Tor which the
/ Sabbath itself was created, then | shall de-
fend the custom. shall not ask what Is the
best thing tor men who are well of and have
/ their own wagons and carriages and proper
I ". and live above want and trouble, and are
masters Of their own time through .he week
shall ask what Is best fOr needy men, Tor
workinrmeu. for men who are under the
bondage Of employers during week days and
who have no free command OF their time
What Is hes; for them on the Sabbath day
Will COMFORT with the spirit Of our Lord and
Master. who said that the sabbath was made
for man and not man for the Sabbath.
Mr. Beecher also defended the hotel keep
err. saving that they made no profit out OF
the meetings. that they closed their bar, and
that fewer people remained TO dine than be
fore the special trains began running. OF
the suggestion that the hotel men profted
bv the advertising these meetings gave their
house. Mr. Beecher said
Inc fling l. simply mean. 1t Is q fling
which D. gentleman making once II your
rarlor would be found IL your parlor again
II lake lyon cannot have pietY IL Chris
tiau men you ought al least 70 have ordln-
ary deceucy and courtesy. fit does advertise
their house / AM glad of it. II d hotel
keeper Is willing, tor the sake Of advcrtls-
ins bis house 10 help five thousand people 70
hear the Gospel preached, and 50 promote
the good of humanity. then ] say let him
have all the advantage which he can de
rive from such course.
Beai.ns passage from the CaroHsat.
M7 Beccher said
No; one effort % IND . good motive not
one single statement O! any advantage q
low toned imputatiou Of sinister motive /, not
only L. the railroads. but 10 YOU. saying
that Won cover Your desire ior o Sunday ex-
cursl0u by ureience of PRAYER and praise
IL this tabernacle Now. do not suppose
that railrlad corporations would run their
trains purely and merely for the sake OF pro
noting the public welfare. even IN preach
ing Bat ] believe that the gentlemen who
control the great railroad corporations are
men who, while running their trains some
what with AZ eve 10 profit. are glad that
their profits come IL the way O.! bringing
men o. meeting ! believe that they have
a. We al have. mingled motives. and that
among their motives is the real belief that
good Is done hv the running o.. their extra
Train.
OF the editor OF the Chr9uias the reverend
orator added III the man who wrote that.
dies in ;ac spirit III which be now Is, ] shall
never meet him but if be changes and goes
70 Heaven. the first thing he viii say to ne
viii be. 4 an sorry fo- that mean article l
wrote.
In the last number of the Chr0ulele, the
editor devotes two columns to q reply. the
shsruest thing IN which l. the remark. that
he does not remember to have met fo- many
years. o statement coming from Nj Beecher
Affirming SO unequiyocally his belief IN end
les future punishment. As the sentence above
quoted He reasserts his position that the
running Of these excursion trains i a desc
Grafton OF the Sabbath. lie tell Mr. Beecher
that he can kick the editor out Of his parlor
and our Of Heaven bat he cannot thrust
the fourth commandment out Of the deca-
Iocuc. and be insists that Nh. Beecher, IL his
course. j. lending the weight Of his dimin-
ishing influence to the worldly spirit which
i. ia,: dl->o.ving the sanctity OF the Lords
dav
The taroA4eit prints. also, note from
President smith, of Dartmouth College,
thanking the Csioni-is for its stand, and
speaking of the Sunday trains to the Twin
Mountain House as "an outrage upon the
Christian sentiment Of orr people, enconr-
aged and defended by one who ought 10 be
the champion of better things Doubtless
majority of the Christian ministers Of New
England would concur IL the opinion that
more harm than good Is likely to result to
the cause Of morality and religion from the
running Of Sunday excursion trains. to hear
M. Bceoher. or anyone else Such, at any
rate, is pretty plainly the feeling in Prank
lin county, Mas The superintendent Of
the Fitchbur- road engaged Mr. Beecher to
preach a week from next sunday, at Lake
Pleasant, 80 popular resort IN western Massa-
and announced excursion trains for
the occasion. Seventeen Congregational
Of tina; county thereupon Joined
in protest against the proceeding The
result was prompt withdrawal by Mr..
Beecher from the arrangement. expressed in
the following espatch
TwS aou STAIS HDrsE, Sept; E. l-75
{. L. Eeywood, supL FtchburE L. f.. Boston !
must " tncraw the Lake Pieasa rt app lutment i'll
ormation received from Christian brethren and
'lersymen IN that whole region has determined my
course. HENRY WARD BEECHER.
This shows very plainly that whatever
may be Mr. Beecher's views Of the proprie-
lies and moralities of the case-and he has
'aid they are not settled-he does not intend
70 array himself against the prevailing sent
nentof Christian ministers and Christian
people in this matter, and in this. of course.
ie Is wise. We presume that when he
,ives his calm and deliberate Judgment to
he question, be Will himself reach the con-
fusion that the sanetity and good influence