The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1876-04-22
Fast Day Services.

Fast Day services.
The Fast Day services. were we'll attended
and several fine discourses were preached. The
High street, State street, Plymouth, Willston,
Casco street and Free street churches united in
a union service at the latter church and listen
ed to sermon by Rev. Mr.. McWhinnie. DR..
Smaller delivered the sermon to the First Bap-
fist and Second Parish Societies, Rev. DIR. Hill
to the First Parish, and Rev. MI Wright to
the ST. Lawrence street. Bishop Nicely and
Rev. Mr.. Dalton held services at st. Luke's and
st. Stephens churches, but did not deliver SER
mons
THE FIRST PARISH.
DIR. Hill took his text from Proverbs xxx,
25: "The fear of man bringeth a snare, but
whose putteth his trust in the Lord shall be
safe." The foundation of the whole moral
nature of man he considered to be love, that
is reverence, awe, obedient gratitude to God,
and charity, kindness, good will to men. AS
the correlation of forces reduces all forces to
gravity, or all, through gravity. to light; so
an ultimate moral analysis reduces all moral
forces to sympathetic social attraction, or
through that to devout recognition of God.
Evil moral forces are the misdirected effects
of the same good qualities; the sin begins in
the misdirection, in regarding self instead of
being unselfsh. When reverence and obedi-
ence are Withheld from God, and bestowed on
men, the quality of the sentiments is ruined
The disposition to defer to the judgment of
men, and to forget the all seeing witness of
God, is full of danger, leading to sin and
ruin. But to put trust in the Lord, to refer
to His will as righteous altogether, and His
truth as the only thing to be desired, brings
safety, gives victory over the tempter and.
strength to bear every burden.
1t is, however, exceedingly rare to find men
of perfectly single aim; we seldom find words
and actions springing from unmixed love of
truth and of right; parents, and teachers,
men in public Office, men in private business,
how seldom do we find them acting from mo-
tives perfectly honorable, perfectly unsefsh,
perfectly independent. governed solely by re-
gard to the interests of mankind, and the in
terest of the Creator. Even in our secret
views, our judgment and feeling is apt to be
warped by the influence of those around US,
by the fear of offending or hope of pleasing
the public in which we move.
Thus the fear of man brings a snare. 1t
entraps man, makes him captive, letters his
feet. manacles his hands, cowes his courage,
dulls his spirit, sends him creeping on his
hands and knees through dark crooked pass
ages, leading to the broad road to destruc-
ton. There is no end to the inconsistencies
and paradoxes of vice to which it leads man.
The democratic form of government gives
peculiar power to some of the forms of this
temptation. One of the most mischievous
errors is that which refers to the ballot box
as the expression of the peoples will, instead
of the peoples judgment; this is a perversion
of the true doctrine that all power resides in
the nnOplp the fr,lfh 10 fhof fh;c 60
executive, and interpretative but the law of
the land should be the peoples Judgment of
what is right, and would be right independ-
emily of their will.
The preacher also spoke of the danger of
party fealty over riding our fealty to truth.
mans fidelity to truth ought to be so
strong that he could hold off from joining
with either of two parties when both were
going wrong, or when he did not see which
was right. Real, genuine, modest independ-
ence of opinion, and integrity of purpose, are
things greatly to be desired; would that they
could be found more frequently. A heart
right with God, a spirit strong in leaning on
the promised grace, aiming only for what is
right and true, and kind and neighborly, can
not fear the power of any evil; omnipotence
is on its side; neither can it anxiously long
for any applause of men, or gifts of earthly
favor, since it may already say, the Lord is
my God, Christ is my Redeemer, and my JOY
and peace is in the silent indwelling of the
Holy Spirit
FREE STREET CHURCH.
Mr.. McWhinnie's discourse was founded
on Psalms xviii, s.: softer the sacrifices of
righteousness and put your trust in the
Lord" 1t is supposed this psalm was writ
ten in time of national distress. King
David f11oifiua HE
to be crumbling and the usurping Absaom
occupied the throne. Uncertainty, despair
even pervaded the public mind. With the
apparent triumph of the evil came the denial
of the good. Unbelief in virtue, disbelief in
God, the abuse of lawful rulers and the
trampling under foot of law. Such was the
sea of troubles through which Israel was
passing. But while many were despairingly,
or cynically asking, "Who will show us any
goods" the broken hearted father and king
was saying, "Offer the sacrifices of right
eousness, and put your trust in the Lord
Though the circumstances of Davids time
and ours are not precisely parallel, yet it is
time of national anxiety. For several years
the business interests of the country have
been laboring under a burden that grows
daily heavier. The failures of the past six
months exceed those of any four years of our
history. If this were all, it might be en-
dured. Under common burden all might
stand shoulder to shoulder, and a common
sympathy would fuse all hearts, as when
confagration has swept away the homes and
fortunes of city. But unfortunately it is
felt that in many cases honest trade is op-
pressed by dishonest failures and the gen.
eral stress is used to cover the meanest
fraud. Hence distrust prevails of the in
tegrity as well as the business strength of
our neighbors. Then, too, just when the
public mind is least able to bear it, come the
tidings OF national corruption, filling us with
shame and indignation. Results follow like
those in the Psalmist's time. Many looking
upon the gross materialsm, the INSCRIPTIONS
selfshness, the sordid avarice in high places,
are ready to challenge the very existence of
virtue, and to avow that every man has his
price and only waits purchase. Others give
themselves up to Pharasaical fault finding,
thanking God that they are not like other
men, and asserting that their virtues and
their party alone can save the nation. Can
we do better than listen to the Psalmist's ad-
vice to the men of his timess Shall not the
precepts which so availed for him avail for u.s.
We are enjoined to offer the sacrifices of
righteousness. The first of these is the offer
ing of penitence. The sacrifices of God are
heart to-day in the contemplation of others
sins. If Absalom is on the throne, David
must mourn. If children are lawless, the
parent must weep yet not altogether over
their perversity, but over his own sins of ex-
ample, of negligence and weakness. His
case illustrates the principle that the individ-
ual is responsible for the evils of society,
that he should confess these and repent of
them as his own. For these evils, however
great, are the reduplication and development
Of the individual. Thus the parent is respon-
sible for the character of his children, the
Christian for that of the community, the citi-
zen for that of the nation. The evils of the
times afford us abundant material for peni-
tence, in whatever relation we stand to them.
Another offering required of US is to do the
work of righteousness. The very material
ism of the day is partly revolt against the
sentimentalism which puts vavid feeling in
the place of righteousness. calls sin misfor-
tune and crime lunacy, invents euphonious
names for stealing and lust and drunkenness,
and stands aghast at the execution of penalty
and the maintenance of law. To this spirit
the principle of righteousness is infexibly
opposed. 1t demands integrity in heart and
life, on pain of the penalty of divine law. 1t
is partly the work of Christianity to illus