Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1878-11-30
rHANas.IvING SERVICES.
S..m"" az tn. Union Ms.si"g by Rev
Nr Tiden.


Mr Ti'den.
Thursday was "a dull mild dav in the outward
world, hut this did not seem to dAppcn the iehg-
ious aidor Of the people, who gathered IN unusual
|, large numbers at the Union Thanksgiving SER
Vi es, held a the FIst Baptist church. Nesiy
sl the religious societies in the city repre-
seuted in the congreg ,tiOn.
Services began by a grand voluntary on the
gan, rendered by Miss Flora &. Cocbiane, which
was followed nv an anthem by 1.-The choir. The
=, ice- then progressed according to the follow
iug programme: Invocation and reading Of
h,mn, by Rev. Mir Penney; singing; reading OF
scripture selections by Rev. DIR. Cady; prayer by
Rev. Mr.. Sterling; reading OF hymn ard Govern
or's proclamation by Rev. Mr. Sargent; singing;
sermon by Rev. II. w. Tilden prayer and read
ing of hymn by Rev. DIR. Kicker; singing Of
"America" by the choir and congregation; bene-
diction by Rev. DIR. Cady.
The serm % was az exceedingly thoughtful and
scholarly production, aud required nearly an hour
/ n its delivery. The interest manifested by the
congregation was the best possible token of its
merit We give our readers an outline of the dis
couse:
be one" These words directly refer to those
who were the disciples of our Savior, and to all
who should become such but there Is a sense in
which they may be taken n r breathing OF the
divine wish that dI 'aankind might become one.
These words suggest the uniting Of the great
scattered, Observed family of man in Christ.
This large meaning TALES with the largeness of
the Gospel invitation, as also with the providen-
tial preparations for bringing mao to accept it.
These few words OF our Lords last prayer seem
IN mt M A IL % he blpsSluVs
from the four corners of the sky of Gods good
ness; they sect 10 be very key to the Gospel;
they open the heart of our l,oru and tell the rea-
son of his advent.
There is no fact in the realm of morals more OBJ
vious than this, that sin tends TO separate man
from God and man from man. When one trans
crosses against God, he finds himself sent out
away from him upon sumo radius of the circle Of
which God is the centre. The more men sin
the more they will start away from the
centre. Moral wrong is fatal to all true
companionship. 1t breaks up, ii divides,
it scstters The first transgressors went
out of the Eden of their purity, and from
the presence of God, the disobedient children
from the tower Of Babel the violators of Jerusa-
lem from the Holy Land. 80 in some sense SIM
ners have gone forth in different direc-
tons from every scene Of trangression on earth.
Nor is this strlkingly true than the converse
Let men begin to turn flom sin and they be.
gin to love each other. Personal righteousness
prepares us for union with God and man.
Nearer to God IS nearer to man, and nearer TO
man is nearer to God. The light of purity is al
ways warm with the thought of coDpanionship.
The better instincts of our nature always crave
friendships. both human and divine. The march
OF events, although sublimeiy slow, and msIred
by many reflections here and there, Is yet surely
coward toward the goal Of union among men in
righteousness. There is golden thread of Prov
Hence running through commerce, mechanics.
politics and religion; even the wrath of man
has been forced to praise God What if now and
4. haAE IL -. H.
TOW is onward still. Men look about themselves,
behold, like Peter, bosterous seas, and like him
become alarmed; we forget to look dbOUe. We
have become worried over some of the smaller
signs of the times, and neglected to note the
grand signibcauce OF the larger Signs OF the times.
lie had mind to speak TO day OF OF the
tsrger signs Of The times. These he expected to
find in the more striking features Of our civiliza
ton which u nd to produce union among men.
First, notice the remaI kabe progress re-
Gently made in promoting the intercourse of men.
The most important inventions of modern times
have had for their object TO overcome distance be-
tween man and man. and to convey intelligence
Rpidly. Tue very ghtnings of heaven have
been COMM ssioned distance Language. AL
ready men can talk across word wide spaces, and
BY means of press and railway set before their
fellows the leading events OF the world the
very day they occur. But there has also been
wond, Iful progress in the means of transmitting
the pei son also. Men not only learn of the di
ferent parts of their own country aud other coun-
tires, but they 20 10 see them. The prophecy that
there will be no more sea, IN the sense OF bar
rier between one country aud another, is already
fulfilled. Europe and America are receiving and
returning calls. Modern civilization is tending to
bring the widely scattered family of man into the
compass of one hresde circle; and If progress
stfh continues in the same direction, II the wires
come TO supersede the mails, the ariel the slow
err modes of conveyance, not many centuries will
elapse before the word "toreguer' viii be marked
"obsoete" in our dictionaries. The mutual &C.
quaintance of the natto rs fact facing the dis
tinguishing characteristic of their inhabitants.
The customs, the costumes, the modes Of travel,
the habits OF living, the usages of society, the
general opinions OF man, are fast blending into
harmony. There has sprung up a vast system of
interchs nge tbrOuehouttbe civiliz,d world, not
onls Of the vai ious commodities of trade, but of
language of social practices of schools of thought
in politics, philosophy and religion. A wave of
thought starts IN Germany or England or Prussia,
and shortly It flows over the whole world. SO al
so flies the news of discovery in any line of hu
man thought activity. A Il these reveal the
purpose of God, as expressed in the prayer Of the
Redeemer, ''that they a Il may be one"
Secondly, asother hopeful sign is the predellc-
ton to scientific study. Many good men have
been accustomed TO deplorethe increasing interest
which men are coming to take in tue works of
God. They have trembled at the very name of
science. Because irreyerent and scientific men
have endesvored to overturn the christian faith
with what they have professed to discover in ma
ture portion of the chr istisn world has shudder-
ed at what future discoveries might do. But a
careful study of nature and its forces has been an
important agency IN bringing about this close con-
tact between go large portion of our race.
Science has formed q nucleus of thought around
which multitudes OF our kind have gathered. But
this only lies on the way to more important fact
that nature is revealer of the Divine charac-
ter, and leads men who study it Alright into the
presence not Of their fellows, merely, but of their
Creator. As men have male researches into the
region of nature, the hostile land has become a
very holy land. peopled with eloquent testimonies
for revealed TRUTH and Astounding 10 lights that
cast their brightness upon the inspired page. Rev
erent men have forgotten their fears, and betaken
themselves to communion with nature, aud all
who will listen shall hear divine harmonies arts.
ing day by day between creation aud revelation
Gods works are counterpart of his word ard
we understand both in order to understand either
The so-caled discrepancies between nature and
the Bible arise from the blunders of those who in +.
terpret each. In the constitution of the material
world may be discovered some Of the sublimist
proofs of the personality of God, of his wisdom
power and love. All through nature are there
traces of living, thinking and planning Being
The beginner at the keyboard is occupied wholly
with the keys; he can devote no thought to the
music, as such so when the study of science first
sppang up, its students gave themselves solely to
learning the facts to picking ont the keys. But
now, as the rudments Of science are mastered,