The Rutland daily globe. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1873-1877, 1875-11-27

|
Howard, d. d., and the sermon was de-
livered by Rev. w. j. Harris, d. d. The
following is an abstract of
DIR. HARRIS SERMON:
Text-Genesls Ills. And the Lord God took
| the man and put him Into the garden OF Eden,
| to dress IL and keep IL.
In obedience to the church, as well as at
the appointment OF the civil authority, we
| have come together to render special thanks
| to Almighty God our heavenly father for all
| the blessings of His merciful providence,
and especially for the fruits of the earth,
blessing fundamental to all the rest, since
without it men must perish from off the
earth. In the fruits of the Garth, too, and
in the means of attaining them, are found
abundant types and illustrations of Gods
gracious working upon and with us for our
spiritual growth and privilege. In con-
sidering this fundamental and significant
| blessing of Gods providence, note first the
| fact, that without the labors of the hus-
| bandman, human existence would be next
to impossible. Labor is the grand con-
dition of physical life for man. Without it
very small portion of the earth's surface
would yield food for mans sustenance, and
even where nature seems most lavish of her
| spontaneous productions, the supply is
very precarious and the quality ill-adapted
to secure the highest physical nourishment.
For the most part, any portion of the
earth's surface, which is left without cult
walton is soon Overrun with thorns and
thistles or some other form of useless or
noxious vegetation, and this desolation is
apt to be all the more marked, where land
which has once been carefully titled, is
abandoned. The question recurs. is this
| rf m n moi t,ra ira1xy Tno IN
the curse pronounced upon the ground
after the fall of our first parents? The
popular notion that there was neither
decay nor death in the garden
of Eden is not warranted either nv science
or holy scripture. The principles, on
which both animal and vegetable life exist
ed were the same then as now. Geology
teaches us the prevalence of the death on
a gigantic scale long before man appeared
on the earth. If Adam had never seen
death, the threat, "In the day thou eatest
thereof, thou shalt surely die" would have
had no distinct meaning for him. Similarly,
if he had never seen thorns and thistles in
Eden, he would not have comprehended
the curse pronounced upon the ground.
The very fact, too, that he was put into
the garden, that he might dress It and keep
it, indicates the existence there of some
|
ly kept down. Furthermore, science
teaches US that long before Adam lived
thorns and thistles had their home here.
And Is all this consistent with the original
adaptation of the earth to mans condition
of holiness In the first place, man was
from the first on trial here, and there can
be nO'trial without the besetment of evil.
Man was tried through nature, and it was
fitting that nature should offer not only the
means of trial, but illustrations of the pen
atty which must follow failure to endure
the trial. Then again, although man was
created holy, God certainly foresaw that
he would fall from his holiness, and from
the beginning adapted all this working here
to this foreseen condition of the race. Still
again, thorns and thistles are not in them
selves evils. They furnish both food and
and protection to some lower orders of ami.
NAL life. They are evil only in their re-
lation to man. God did not say to Adam,
Cursed shall be, but cursed is the ground
for thy sake. 1t was already cursed for
Adams sake long before he lived. He had
not yet felt.the curse, but both he and his
descendants shout henceforth feel it. AS
yet he had met nature in her kindlier mood
and with his perfection of mind, body, and
spirit, had kept his dominion over her with
only just so much of labor as was neces-
sary to the retaining of that perfection.
Henceforth men should contend with ma
ture ia harsher moods, battling with en-
feebled bodies, erring judgment and sinful
passions. 1t seems, then, that labor was a
blessing even in paradise, and that the til
ling of the soil is the most ancient and hon.
orable of all occupations. The husband
man has vocation originally given to man
by God himse f. He is co.worker with
God for the regeneration of nature, for the
attainment of that perfection, which we
doubt not nature shall finally reach at the
manifestation of the sons of God. He
stands in certain sense nearer to God than
any other man does, is brought into close
contact with the grand and beautiful HERO
glyphcs, through which God speaks to us
in nature 1t is privilege to till the
ground, a privilege which we cannot all
enjoy. But we can be grateful for Gods
. blessing upon the labors of those who do
till the ground, and we can find many OPP
portunities of studying God in the works
of his hands. 1t is pity and shame that
so many young men especially will seek to
follow professional or mercantile pursuits
for which they are not adapted, and which
, yield them very precarious livelihood, or
should give themselves to genteel loafing
with its saddest of all narrOwmindedness
and its intelligence chiefly devoted to the
discovery of new methods of dissipation,
rather than pursue the noble, healthful, and
reasonably remunerative vocation of tilling
the ground.
With few more practical suggestions
the sermon closed.
Union Services.
The union services of the Baptist, Con-
gregstonal and Methodist churches, were
held at the Methodist church on Thanks
giving day. After the usual introductory
exercises, Rev. J. X. Richardson, pastor
of the Baptist church, delivered sermon
on "methods of revival"
The text was taken from cor. III. 9th. "FoI
we are laborers together with God"
The very words of this text seem to be