The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1877-05-04
SERMON.
The Brotherhood of Man.
" IRVING A. sEARLEs.

The brotherhood OF nation, caste, or sect,
had been long recognized, but Paul with wider
vision declares the Brotherhood Of Man. Let
us look at some OF the elements of this great
brotherhood:
1. We are brothers in that we all have
TROUBLES. Some one has remarked that there
is cry at the beginning Of life and grave at
the end" see an Alexander extending his
conquests until he yields the sc ptre OF uni
Alexander have, there comes the answer, he
weeps because there are no more worlds for
hun TO conquer. / see Webster commanding
the applause OF senates with his eloquence, and
asking what trouble can Webster have. there
comes the answer, an aspirant for the presi-
dency he is defeated. 1 see Vant erbilt
amassing wealth until millions glitter IN his
Golfers, and asking what trouble can Wander
blt have, there comes from the pale lips in the
hour OF death the answer, ''I am needy. am
poor" Trouble ia visitor who calls alike ut
the howell and the palace. He may come to
you in one form and to me in another, but
come he does to both. Man is born unto
trouble as the sparks fly upward"
2. We are brothers in our MUTUAL DEPEND
ENcE on one another. The capitalist could not
get along without the laboring class, and the
laboring class could not dispense with the cap
itallst. The one gives money for work, the
other gives work for money. The one party in
the exchange may be a. honorable as the other.
Rich or poor, one is IN great measure depend
emit on his fellows for the comforts OF life. The
gold-dgger returning from CAlfornia, no mat
ter how full his sack Of gold, may die unattended
and his bones unburied lie bleaching on the
plains.
An individual in society ia not like the soli-
tary oak in the pasture: that tree IN Its fall
would affect none others. better emblem
of our individual position in the world is found
in the forest, where tree in its fall uproots
and tears away the branches from others that
stand related TO it. The safety Of perhaps q
dozen trees depends on the standing OF that
one tree. A person can not go to ruin and take
only himself along like the tree IN the forest,
in his fall he takes companions with him. "No
one lveth to himself"
3. Another feature OF our brotherhood is
that DEATH comes to all. In the days Of the
Inqusition people racking their brains to devise
new and more cruel forms Of torture arranged
room whose walls could be made to gradually
come together. The victim is placed in the
centre Of that room. The apartment has an air
OF agreeableness paintings adorn the wallis !;
all looks WELL But while the individual Is ex-
amining the beauty Of the surroundings he
observes that the room Is growing, slowly,
noselessly, but surely. smaller, until the walls
come together and he is crushed to DEATH
Each person in life seems to occupy such an
apartment. The portion OF time allotted to US
is the walls that surround u.s. The pleasures
OF life are the paintings that adorn the walls.
While We are admIring those pictures and just
learning how 10 live. the walls of the apartment
come together and we are laid in the grave.
1T Is appointed unto all men once to die
4. Another element OF this brotherhood is
that we must all meet at the JUDGMENT. In
that day social caste will receive no attention.
at one time IN Europe crime was graded accord
ing to the social standing OF the criminal. The
nobleman would not be visited with 30 severe
punishment as the day-laborer. But IN our
country theoretically at least, all are alike
equal before the law. Murder is murder,
whether the hand welding the fata blade is
brawly with toll or flashes with diamonds. at
is appointed unto all men once to die, and after
death the Judgment"
There are some important lessons growing
out Of this truth of the Brotherhood of Man:
1. II We are all brothers. then our sympathies
should not DO restricted to a PARTICULARS CASTE
IN SOCIETY. We, of course, call a man brother
who belongs to the same church that we do, but
all others are scarcely worth recognizing. We
are too clannish. We are like the man who
prayed " Lord bless me and my wife, brother
John and his wife, US four and no more!" How
unlike are we to that nature that 80 loved tn e
aoorh as to give His only begotten son to die
the death OF the cross When meet man
on the street do not have to stop to think
whether he is member of this Church before
can shake hands WITH him and call him brother.
To be a brother in Christ is one thing, and to
belong to the great brotherhood Of humanity is
another thing. In this last sense every man is
my brother, from the burrowing Esquimaux OF
Of the north to Webster in the senate.
2. Ii we are DrOtueTr. tueu we sHOutu uOt
abuse one another because OF DIFFERENCE OF
OPINION. 1 apprehend that the day is far dis
tant when people will think alike regarding
many OF tho great religious questions. The
Constitution OF the United States contains no
parable, metaphor or allegory, but thought -
expressed in the plalnest possible terms. And
yet great political parties have grown up over
the disputed meaning of some clause or phrase
of that Constitution. The Bible abounds IN
parallels, allegories and all kinds of fgurative
expressions, and lie it any wonder that people
do not agree as to the Interpretation OF that
book? 1t used to be supposed that churches
we're forts. Here a Disciple fort, yonder a
Presbyterian fort, there Methodist fort, yon-
der Baptist fort and on Sabbath morning
and evening the congregations assembled in
their respective forts to witness the cannonad-
ing. The preacher who could send into the
neighborlng forts the most shot and shell,
grape and canister, was the hero of the COM
munity. That style Of presenting truth is be-
coming obsolete. Would you drive darkness
from room at midnight, do not strike hither
and thither in rage, but bring in light and
the darkness WIN quietly step away. Would
you drive error from the world, do not strike