Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1878-09-27
Tho clsarness of Gods sigh. is shared by

James anthony Froude. in Universit
lecture, delivered some siX veal
ago, describes that style of rel
glous culture that bears the mans o
Calvin, as the attempt to make the will Q
God, as revealed in the Bible, an authorita
tive guide for social and personal direction
The Calvinists." he says, "abhorrcd, as u
body OF men ever since abhorred, all con
sciOus mendacity, all impunity. all mora
wrong of every kind, go far as they coul
recognize it. Whatever exists" be adds
"at this moment, in England and Scotland
OF Conscientious fear OF doing evil is th
remnant OF the convictions which wer
branded ty the Cslvinists into the people.
hearts. Those reformers salted the tarti
ior them, continuing with tha, principle o
loyalty to God ip personal and civil lie =
and the salt has not lost its savor.
Christian character is the best protection
man can have against error in his moral
judgments.
III. And. further, the man who is thor
oughly Christian, when he sees the right
does 1t. Not very long ago a man express
ed to me his growing grief. as he
came to the CONCLUSION that the number OF
true men IN this community was small. lie
had been disappointed in characters that be
had trusted: be had found cowsrdice and
I
Christian courage and truth. His lamen,
was over the lack of real Christian man
hood in the community. Now, il may be
shat some sense OF personal injury had
thrown more sombre hue over the charac.
ter OF the community in the judgment of
my friend. But do not all agree that true
Christian manhood is what the age needs
more than all things else ?-men that you
can trust anywhere, men that you do not
lear to put into places of new responsibility
and temptation, men tbat could 60 into a
railroad corporation or into Congress with
out being deluded into fraud. men of vhose
conduct YOU could be always as sure before
hand as you arc sure Of tho requirements of
rlghH Give US such men, every one cries,
and We are sale. Give one such man YOUR
sell give you each one such. let the exam
pie spread, as it will and We are safe.
A man said 10 me, once, of another. "If
bad . lawsuit with him l would refer it t.
him TO settle" You could hardly bes,ow
larger eommendati0n on a man, for do not
believe 1t possible for one truly to Judge
upon matter in dispute between himself
and another, unless he has God's help, and
has made eminent Christian attainment.
Virtue to that degree is generally one OF tho
last maturing fruits of the Christian life.
Give US men so filled with the lovo OF God
that they can seek nothing else so much as
pleasing Him; with mind and purpose 30
intentIy fixed on doing His will that they
cannot be deceived or luret or forced from
the right, and they arc the salt OF the
earth.
The man thoroughly Christian prizes the
knowledge of right above all other know
lege, and the doing of right above all other
actions. The arguments that appeal to
him with the most force must be addressed
to bis love of right.
Test such a man in political life, where
the rules of eIpediency are 81 apt t. bs su-
preme. The moral bearings OF proposed
measures will be the first for him to exam
Inc. and they may sometimes quite forbid
his Investigation of the second question.
The man of thorough Christian faith be-
lioves that when God command. the right,
God takes the full responsibility for the re-
suit. Such man cannot respect, certainly
he cannot share. that study OF expediency
which Is going behind and underneath the
eternal laws Of God to see whether il is sup
ported where 1t seems weak. He will not
try to support the SIN by scahJlding from
the earth, nor to buttress the arch Of the
heavens BY his calculations Of e1pediency.
A Christian conscience will give man
moral independence. 1t will also secure
him against that false independence which il
the weakest of all nflectations. The unsta-
BILE man is a worthless man. Society has no
need of HIM But the man whose stability
is only a dogged, unreasonable obstinacy,
an exaggerated selfshness, is an obstacle to
genuine moral progress.
Make your character such in appearance
and i'll f'ct that if q man who knows you is
sure that he can give you some new view of
the moral import of a practical question, he
will be sure of shaping your conduct by it.
Let your reputation in the community be
such that any man who shall undertake to |
direct you from a course on which you have |
II the name of conscience must, to |
use the only method that promises success,
resort to rensonings upon dutiful and godly |
living Whatever sinister motive he may |
have. compel him to approach you only with |
such appeals as an honorable man may listen
to (; study. adopt and then pablish. Do not
let men think they can corrupt you unless
they deceive first And by the clearne,s OF
moral sight that You prayerfully cultivate,
men that it will be hard to de-
,eive in what you value most.
The historian Froude, discussing the causes
IF weakness in Protestant churches, laws
much stress upon the neglect of the pulpit
% apply TIE principles of the gospel TO the
prevailing habits OF society.
onger able to boast OF any special or re-
narkable moral standard. Protestant indi-
iiduals who profess the soundest creed seem
n their conduct to have no creed ut all be-
'ond n conviction that pleasure is pleasant
md money will buy it. Political corruption
rows mp, sharp practice in trade grows up.
dishonest speculations. short weights aud
measures and sdulteration of food The whole
commercial and political Protestant world
N both sides of the Atlantic has blossomed
nut into transactions OF that kind And the |
leroy have for the most part sat by silent,
nd occupy themselves in carving and polish
ng into completeness their schemes of doc
riual salvation. They shrink from offend
ns the wealthy members of their eougrega-
ions. They withdraw into the affairs of the
ther world and leave the present world to
zen of business and the devil For the
'orking purposes OF life they have allowed
ne gospel to be suspended by the new for
lulas of political economy" And he con
rms his charge by the instance of a leading {
reacher in London. whose language in CON
rrsation with him he construed into an en-
orsement Of this charge. But | should be !
cry sorry to believe that this charge was .
list, as it is applied either to the ministry or :
lie laymen in our churches. We do not be- t,
eve IN schemes of salvation as distinct from
A
lie evil that is i'll the world still less do We
elieve in any scheme OF salvation that can q
g placed of i'll contrast with these saving Q
races that God is using here. 7
But the charge Is not made in n captions
1irit. and 1t Is not wholly false. The de- |
and of the age is that Christian men shall =
ut their piety into more practical form v
Rather, to speak more correctly. the de 4,
and OF pI,ty itself is that it shall take :
actical form. As you can give richer :
'lor to many flowers by the dressing you ap- =
y to the roots. 81 piety at the hidden roots u
character causes it TO blossom ont into l.
tive life with richer beauty. \ man who 81
every day adding new proof to the already 81
undhnt proof III the minds of those who 81
low him. that be- can be trusted, that he is II
genuine man. such man Is u power for n,
od, the influence OF such man reaches N
rough society with persuasive power like 4
lven, with saving power like salt.
such II man has power of his own his
dIviduality operates for good lie is Il man
til whom the good are in instructive sym.
thy. He is one OF whose ready help the
pentant are sure. lie is one whom the u
wicked iustinctiyely hate. lie is r.
man to be loved and to be feared. lie is u :,
IN that counts at least one full unit among f'
Q forces that are to save society
huh tulH hN lltlt i Nj
,an tine direct and immediate influence of -,
Christian character. Why do philoso- I'
ers and preachers call that kind of infu- ia
cc indirect Ii is the most direct power n,
At is operating to fashion social character.
il the impresslng Of ones own personality
one another. Ii is the asSmilatinS power 81.
high and pure character. the largest gin n:
Il the mightitst with which God has en- w
we'd man. The operation OF Christian CO
.racter IN Its influence upon surrounding tn
Iracter is rs direct as the power of gravi-
ion, and of those other natural forces du
Il make no effort, but hold the world sub
I TO the laws of its Maker.
'hristian character wherever found is the 'n'
serving power In society. The child at no
lool, the young man i'll college. the clerk G,l
lind the counter, the apprentice in the
W and the man of busiest and most re elt
'nsble life, all alike. if animated by the ty
ristian spirit, are doing their part to save
world from the evil that threatens it, VI
Zee this meaning in Christian character | th,