Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1879-04-16


Good Friday and not Easter the queen of our
days, the star OF our hope the fainter reflection Of
that day which is to Gomez
Yet so II is, unless from the grave of Christ we
rise with him into the newness oflife, in that
quest over the penalty and the power Of sin which
he attained by his perfect obedience We must
judge, with the apostle, that II one died for all,
then ,cere al dedd and that he died for ALL that
they Which live should henceforM live not unto
themselves, bit unto him oho died for them and
rose again. Living unto him then indeed is he
raised for our justification, and we live with him
In his glorious life. o. II this is our hope, as 1t
is the proper hope and the legitimate association
of this day, well may this earthly Easter be to us
day Of joy and gladnessl For it is the sure
pledge Of the heavenly day, and Of an arising
hereafter when our glorifed bodies shall be even
as our risen Lords. In 1t we may find the sure
warrant OF our hope that ours shall be
1.-THE light that hath evening,
The health that hath no sore,
The life that hath no ending
But lasteth eyermore."
On this glad day ours may be the voice of con-
fdent triumph,
" Exat, o dust and ashesi
The Lord shall be thy part;
His only, his forever,
Thou shalt be and thou art
Exalt, o dust and ashes
The Lord shall he thy part,
Ills only. his forever;
Thou shalt be and thou art 4"
In the evening union praise service was held
the Methodist and Congregational churches
uniting. The church was well filled and the SER
vice was most inspiring one. The music for the
occasion was well selected, and admirably rem
dered by the large and efficient choir OF Bethany,
under the direction of Mr.. A. j. Phillips, with W.
A. Briggs at the organ. The exercises consisted
of Scripture readings, music by the choir and
congregation, and an address by the pastor
which, by the way, was an excellent one. Rev.
Mr.. Parkhurst, of Trinity, assisted in the exer-
cises. The music rendered by the choir was as
follows, aside from the organ voluntaries by Mr.
Briggs: "Christ the Lord is risen to-day" by
Wilson; go for the wings of dove" by Men
delssohn, in which Mrs. Briggs rendered solo
with her usual excellence; :" waited for the
Lord" by Mendelssohn, with a Duet by Mrs
Briggs and Miss Roleau; "My song shall be al
ways of thy mercy" by Mendelssohn, with
duett by Mrs Briggs and Mr.. Phillips; " Christ
our Passover" by Thomas, in which Messrs.
Phillips and Kemp sang respectively tenor and
bass solo, and Mrs. Briggs and Miss Bailey a
Duet. The entire choir performed their part OF
the programme in a manner worthy OF praise,
and the service throughout was "A most appropri-
ate closing OF the joyful Easter day, and was
thoroughly enjoyed by all present.
AT TRINITY CHURCH
there was handsome display Of flowers. The
people Of this church have not done very much
hos Ia IT. b,,,
this year the flowers were numerous there. On
each end of the altar rail was a handsome Gala
lily, and on tables back of the pulpit and within
the altar were many varieties of plants Hastily ar
ranged, and not overcrowded.
Rev Mr.. Parkhurst, the pastor, spoke from the
text found in Mark vi: 9-ll-that passage relat-
ing to the appearance of Christ to Mary Magda-
lene, after his death and burial. The speaker
said It is fitting that the resurrection should be
our subject to-day 1t is well that we make it the
special thought of one Sabbath in the year Let
the fact that this is Easter morning. and that we
share to-day with so many the words and songs
of rejoicing in a risen Saviour quicken our SYM
pathy and deepen our devotion Mary
Magdalene is to me the most interesting charac-
ter in gospel history, because the most signally a
redeemed character. We should admire virtue
and we do, think; but | will cast my garlands
down at the feet of those who Glove much
because much has been forgiven.
Those are grand moments in the souls life when
it stands up in Christ Jesus in great hope, and
feels not simply its own imperfectons, but its
glorious opportunities and possibilities. That mo.
ment of recognition on that Easter morning was
such a moment to Mary. An almost buried hope
l fiji
of life and vigor. This Easter morn ought to be
so used that it shall do something of this nvigor
| ating work for each of us. 1t might be the be
| ginning OF a new and brighter life in Christ thai
| should give sweetness and depth to the res
of our stay here, and help to brighten othe
| lives. This Christ is the same tender
| charitable, soul.seeking, soul-redeeming Saviour
that he was when upon earth. | know
whereof speak, aud repeat that this risen Chris
waits to speak pardon, peace and fresh spiritual
strength to your soul this Easter morning 7,
be like him i To be patient submissive sef-sacrifc
ing, offering our life for others he offered hi
| life for the world Shall not Jesus ap
pear to u.s. and may we notify faith hear him say
| Z" am the resurrection and the life, and he tina
| beieveth in me, though he were dead, yet shall
| he lve?" We should exercise our souls TO grasl
the all-important truth that through Christ AM
his resurrection there is certain assurance o
the resurrection OF our beloved who have gon
before. There Is the deepest lesson 70
us all in the assurance OF a glorious immortalit,
| through Christ. Were 1t not for the certainty o
this fact this life would be entirely inexplic
able But this Easter morn sheds di
rect light upon our fragmentary existence. Thu
-.
of life. As Christ lives beyond the grave, so w
are to live. This sublime fact should enter int,
all our planning and our endeayors. 1t ought u
sober us and restrain us in our unreasonable
grasping here for the material. We ought to plal
not only for this life, but for that interminab'
| and Joined life beyond. Christ above /
able to lead us safely through the dark passage
way and into light beyond. Phillip
Brooks closes one of his Faster sermons with thes
practical words A living Christ, dear friends
the old, ever new ever blessed Easter truth! h
liveth he was dead, he is alive for evermore
Oh, that everything dead and formal might z
out of creed, out OF our life, ont Of our hear
to-day. lie is alive, Do you believe it? VIVA
are you dreary for, o mourner2 What are yo
hestating for, U worker2 What are you fearin
death for, o mani o, II we could only lift u
our hearts and live with him; live new lives, hg
lives lives OF hope aud love and holiness, to whic
death should be nothing but the breaking ava
Of the last cloud, and the letting Of the life out
lis completion"
| AT CHRIST CHURCH
the attendance was large, and the Easter service
particularly interesting The floral decoration
were profuse and beautiful In fact, they Away
are at this church ON such occasions The chan
eel was finely decorated in front by handsom
stand of cut flowers in the center and on eac
side an abundance of pot plants, including gera
NUNS fuchsias, Gala lilies, ives aud many othe
varieties. Within the chance were banks of Gu
flowers, pot plants hanging baskets, etc, TASTE
fully arranged The baustrade in front of tn
choir was covered with white cloth, over whic
three handsome iyies were trained, giving yer
pretty effect. These floral offerings were arrange
, by Mrs. Dr. Hull and other ladies', and Shove
plainly the good taste which they possess.
The music on this occasion "a full programm
OF which we gave last week. was very good indeeS