Litchfield enquirer., 1877-04-12

l Published by reQuestl.s
 |. A sERM0NFoRf;TME TlMEs," tPREAtHkb AT THE CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH
 IN LITcHFIELD. ON FAST DAY, MARCH
 BOTH, BY REV. ALLAN MCLEAN.
 low after rghteousnsss, godliness. faih love, pa- tenee, meekness. List TrMoTHY VI chap 11th verse. These words, 1t will be noticed, are an exhortation, following upon some plain. statements of the apostle Paul, as to dan gers attending the desire of riches. and the mischief it has .occasioned. Howgit surrounds men by temptations of unusual power; how it entangles them, as Tn net, and inficts the gravest injuries upon their highest interests; how it causes them-to forsake even the sacred princi- Iples of their christian faith, piercing kthemselves through at length with many Fsor"ows.
 There is thus found for me here, to-day, theme which is not inappropriate. and which has partial application, at least, to us, of this qu1et, cultured community. We, in common with every town and viii lage in the land, are feeling more or less the pressure of a financial depression, un. paralled since the dark days of the Rev olution. And It is not to be presumed that We have been wholly innocent in re- I gard to those courses of conduct. and 1 that spirit, which have been such fruit full lcauses of this widespread disaster While would not by. any means utter single word, tending to 'sharpenl the dis appointment of any. at the losses they may have sustained, the plans frustrated. the accumulations of years swept away, but the rather, offer with all heartiness some words of sympathy. still there are lessons from the times through which we are pas- sing, that we need to learn, with all teach ableness and humility.
 The great financial storm that came upon us so suddenly, and with such vio- lence, sweeping across the continent, seems to have spent it's force. The clouds are beginning to lift, and yet with the dawn of better day, we are enabled only the more wildly to see the ruin it has wrought, and with astonishment be- hold the gseat structures that it has car. ried down with it. Though the ferceness of its fury has subsided, the far-reaching results of it we are only beginning to re- alize. The lessons it has for us we are now to learn with all diligence. Lest, if they now go nnlearned, we shall be I left at the mercy of a similar calamity in the time to come. To the new duties to which the present calls us, we are now to give ourselves, and in them acquit us like men.
 From numberless pens in the public journals. many lessons have already been rsss hs sff4Rs sf Rsss @ have carefully and wisely studied the f. nancial aspect, in the hope of discover ing safer political economy. The rela- tions between labor and capital, the laws of demand and supply, the tariff. the cred it system. have each received the most careful scrutiny, by our wisest minds. Organized efforts have been established for the relief of human suffering, upon a grand scale, together with the furnishing of employment to thousands whose means of livlihood have been swept away. And yet any study we may make of the times which leaves out of view the nor. 1 al causes that have been at work to pro- duce them, will be only partial and su- perfcial. Men may lay the blame to the general upheayal which war engenders. And yet what was our great civil war, but the natural produ uct of great moral evil that was steadily underminingthe nations life; a conflict of right against wrong for the supremacy. Men may lay the blame to unsound and unsafe theories of politi- cal economy. Then, also, the moral as- pect becomes the gravest, and we are. brought at once to few immutable prin--. ciples of right and wrong. Thus I deem it not ont of place for the Christian pull pit to utter it's voice, turning the thoughts of men to those moral defects in our methods of living. and of conducting bus mess. which really lie at the foundation of all our difficulties. For there must never be a divorce of stradeAand- morals. never divorce of religion and ways of living. When that occurs, when men lose sight altogether of their accountabil- ity to God in these things, ip~ the rules that govern trade, in their. management of financial trusts. in even their expenditures upon themselves. then may, we look for a deep seated social corruption
 At the outset ofmy remarks, Therefore, wish to emphasize mans responsibility for the ''times" through which we are passing. Reseredtly- as we .recoanize a
 divine Providence Lover all events, we must not forget that 1t is aProvidence ex- ercised within the reign of Law, and that thus man becomes himself responsible for the innumerabIe evils into which he falls, that he is at liberty to act only within the realm of the divine Law that though he may break away from it, if he choses, he must not. lay the blame. of his
 conduct, in it's results upon God, but up. . on himself. TF
 We often hear the expression, .'Rhess Il are hard times" as indeed they are. ] prefer however to emphasize the hardness and perversity of men, than to seem te
 put the blame where it onght not to rest
 Hsmen will be selfish and avarjcious.
 and unscrupnloas, and in haste to bt
 rich, and thereby fall into an evil net, lei
 us not lay the blame to the ''times" ir
 which we live. but rather at the door oi $ those who are the real authors of the evil s Gods times are not ''hard times" bu 's times of mercy. and times for the perpet