The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1877-06-01
sThe Ministry of Wenlth.u

Rev. Henry Ward Beecher delivered
his lecture, 1.-THE Ministry of Wealth."
to a large assembly, at Rutland, Mon
day evening. He was introduced to
his auditors by Rev. j. X. Richardson,
and for nearly two hours he held the
close attention of the audience that
profound, earnest attention which only
such a speaker as he can command.
Mr.. Beecher began by saving that
there was q sentiment of opposition to
the idea that the pursuit of wealth was,
in itself a good thing.
He then quoted and commented on
those words of our Lord, at Is easier
for a camel to 60 through the eve of a
needle than for a rich man to enter into
the kingdom of heaven" The Old Tes-
ament teachings had gone altogether
upon the idea Of the rewards and nun
ishments of this life. 1t had nothing to
say OF the life to come, that belonged to
the New. But Christ did not set Him.
self against the course of the old tesla
ment teaching, and though He was sur
rounded by a people Whose very iiNe
was ground out of them by the oppres.
of the Roman government. The rich
men were the oppressors; the true men,
the honorable men were poor, so poor
that his prayer, "Givc us this day our
daily bread" had a meaning it cannot
have to us, and speaking to such an au-
dience he could well say, Chow hardly
shall they that have riches enter into
the kingdom ofheaven." There is dam
ger in wealth and so there is in power
ty, and if anything the dangers Of pow
erty are apt to be the nor sordid of
the two. Bower is dangerous, every
thing desirable is dangerous, human ma
ture is dangerous.
All the progress of the world, how
ever, has had its beginning in the pur-
suit of wealth in some of its forms. Ii
began with the stomach, and followed
along the line of clothing and housing,
until it rose TO the higher forms of ar
tistic taste and the qualification of the
sense Of the beautiful. 1t was through
the attempt to procure wealth that the
three great fundamental virtues, truth,
honesty and fidelity were first brought
into exercise. Every man is liable to
be broken by pressure brought to bear
at just the right point and excrted TO
the proper degree, and yet mankind is
generally trustworthy, so far at least as
these three great cardinal virtues are
concerned in ordinary life. One of the
shrewdest diplomats of modern times
has observed as the result of his expe-
rience, that those who distrust men fall
oftenest in diplomacy, This is the re-
suit not of priestly teaching or of the
revelation of God in his word, but of
the necessities of the laws of our being,
as discerned in the pursuit of wealth.
The church can only teach, society must
train. Morality is the foundation and
religion is the perfected glory. The
two should not be separated-cannot be
separated. Morality without religion
Is like a grape vine that never produces
grapes, while a religion that does not
reveal itself In morality is like cut flow-
ers, beautiful for q night, but TO throw
away in the morning.
Mr.. Beecher justified the accumula-
ton Of wealth and its expenditure upon
the person aud SURROUNDINGS, and for
the general good. He advised all rich
men TO be their own executors. We
cannot better close this briefreport than
In the words of another. at was O rare
instance Of a master mind and a master
hand touching up a common subject till
II grew into a thing of surprising beau
~ before the eyes OF his lookers-on. The
"Ministry of Wealth" was Mr.. Beech
er's topic, but that was merely a naked
column, something like the trunk of his
illustrating magnolia tree, upon which
he hung garland after garland of the
richest blossoms of intellectual genius.
And this great pulpit orator must be
e and heard in order to secure the
fullest enjoyment Of his lectures, for his
poetic f%ancies, his inimitable action, his
flashes of mirth and his outbreaks of
%eloquence all lose their fragrance aud
indescribable effect by their transfer
nation into print, let the report be ever
! so faithfnl,n'