, 1879-03-31

On6 blROs 1ecauee no Say lms ~ "nat ocs
men to be EIdiculcd and nssnlled, anh only
those who shrk such responsibility TO be held
up a, pattern: md Rdnssl Brethren. I An, am
ns St @ Of dsperats sSe oct II
nnua' man WHO ' hss ,naie i!i'nssii famou.
in this line Of labor, md OF whom our
townsman who gracefully introduced htm said,
hsss T1 dGs' Ss s 81 syesy .asS
man II IA safe to say, ho knows that orgnntza.
ton IL essential to The welfare Of soelcty, andis
perfectly consistent with liberty OF thought
as we'll ns others; and Il is their right to es y
they havs anything to teach or dcfena A
Christian combination. nGnlnst Which some t,eo-
pie turl thc!r nuathetnas 4 simply tne group,
and purpose, The better to do th!s work which
thcy have III common. OF course there has been
In connection with soma Of these 1sno1nlna.
lions fearful amount Of birotsy.. When We
otry is no friend Of onrs: We owe him. no scrv-
Ice. The denomination which this church
represents l,as received from tho domi.
mint eccss about Us . pretty
for all that. We do not propose 10 follow The
lcc,urcr's example and call our brethren hard
names. aEnply becntsc tlley spnly such cptthets
to us. Tic difference between tho lecturer md
oursclf Is this VIC discriminate between scctart-
nntssn, which IA A ncccsstty,-be!ng simply the
principle uf Loyalty, whnther applied to tho sect,
tho nation, the corporation. or tho family,-nnd
bIRotry, which Is Al, aousa Q! IT. whl'o ne con.
contains cattnin doctrines which ha loathes.
anil which he loathcs no more heartily than
millions OF others. 1t Is our Joy, finding 70 It
no such replilAive doctrines. to accept the hlblo
the words Of our Lord with tenderness aud af-
fec,iot,, and With loyalty of Will. We have as
strong desire TINT the whola truth shon!u DO
told In regard to The Scriptures as he. md We
f.sN. les bat ia
the light but that they will have 1s,ner place
In tho confidence OF ali t9ht-n1lndcd people the
better they are truly undcrstood; but ms de.
sired result can be reached only through pn!tent
mid rcYercnt study, R,rl Ia always hlndcrcd by
bigotry on The one hand, and indtacrlmirate
condemnation on the other.
aiy fourth specification te, that he misrepre-
scnts tho writings OF Moses, md, as to lint, tho
entire Bible, by treating itB lnotaphorla lnngago
as literal statements.
Think Of a man. In this age OF llaht, spcaking
of the pictured representation Of tic Old rcsta-
mcnt In this way: 'Tlsey believed that an
out the desired quantity Of moisture. find out
IN tho Psalms that ho bowed tho hcnvens hf,tl
camo down." wonder II tho gentleman can
SEQ anything but nero liberalism IN this pasaages
the Lord is round nbout Ills pcoplo from hence.
forth even foreycr.n Like other nntions, tic
Hebrews have their patriotic, descriptive, didac-
tic, aud lyrical poems IN tile satno varieties na
t!ons wtarcvermay be the form Of their poctry, it
nlways posscsscs tho characteristic Of religion.
Even their patrfotic songs arg part ot their re-
llgIun. The Jews hare taught tlle world It's de-
| whcrc conceptions Of tho Deity nnl Of tho uni.
verse more remarkable for their Rubltmlty md
! grandeur than ure met with In tho sacred
books Of the Jews ,,s,y know ,,s, not where here
arc compared With the religious poems Of othur
| countries, most ncarly contempornucous, rs
| those Of Homer md tlcslod, they nro 20 VASTLY
superior to lead to the bclicf tlat IL tlu poets
human genius and learning, thosc Of Judca had
| q higher illumination.
My NTH specification il, that tho representa-
| tion given 10 the lecture OF tho Hebrews as n
people Is almost wholly Incorrect, both as to
tLe work undertaken BY them and the effect Of
that work upon mankind, -.
Wo llavo no disposition to shut our eyes to
the Ignorance, crnelty. MD superstition OF the
tory. There was but little in them tint gaye
the promise Of a great nation when Moses led
them out Of Egypt. They were low in tho scale
Of civilization. aiany Of the things done by them
50. But what arrests our attention Is, tllat a!.
most from ille trs. the, show q gradual iIl,.
that proud pre-ominenec whcn Jerusalem be.
polnts Of vlrn from Which to judge Of tiae
to comparo 1t with that Of contemporary
nations, md the other Is to conluaro II with our
ploper bnsIs ot Judgment. Consider, then, at
already anti1atcd, who tho ponple were thai
Moscs thus led out Of Egypt. Ru!oct that the,
were but children in tntelllgence, md tint tht
over them; aul tllnt II they were held to tst
Inv Of duty, nsli organized Into nntion, Il
must hu BIZ such tnAtcfial forms aud simple
customs as they could comprehend. Retlcc
bTuu9ht up Ia the m!dst Of idolatry, md tim
lu leaying Egypt they did not gut away from
Its intiucn:cs. but that, wherever they went
they wSrc aasaalcl by IL; TINT klosatry WIS nj
It was q mighty task to educate theso peop
iu the doctt.nt Of tue one only living anu tru
God, and hold them to. It. Reflect, further
more, that to secure this cnd much Nigh
would DO at least excusablo. that shoul,
not bo done now. Fairness requires TINT VI
consider whether the custom originated With III
jews tl'emsolvns. ind wlMt uas lis spirit an'
Jews md enc would infer from what llo Soy
that the custon Of plurality Of wivcs originate
With them, and that IL WIS custom peculiar t
woman hers who believes III tho institution c
polygnmy1 Is there man hero who believes I
lint infaiuy2 You say, No. we do not, Thu
you arc better thau YOUR God was w. iIIV1o yea.s
| ago. EuuT Lu0uaAllA fCAth uEO I49 pciltPCH III II
taught 1t, and upheld It," Tho lacs appear l
be theso: poIYgasny las c1lstcl from time lsr
nctnorlnE. Even In tho lloneric, age Of tn
t4rcaks 1t prevailed to so1io extent anl tlluuG
! not known III republican Nomc, II pract!cali
, prevailed under the Empire, owing to TIC prev.
: trnce Of divorce; but tn what we call TIC Eas
, crn natlous tie custom ilas been nlmost Ill
yUrsat, being sanctioned by all religions, inclut
ing Tint Of MohammeIanian. In thts regar
, the Hebrews, to q certain extent, followed Il
i prevalent custom, vz.: tho law OF Moses dl
i | not iUriu It, but did contain nnlY provision
J against Its worst ahnsas, and such as woro 1,
, tended to roatrlcs It within narrow limits; and,
, tho sp!rit Of tho Hebrew religion advanced Il
, civilization Of tho naion, tho practice moi
; ard moro fell into ulsuse, until 1t final
died out; mud In tho gllmpses Of Jewish III
, | whIrt tho New Testament gives us there aro Il
tracas Of 1t disccrnihlu. Since tho HabFew rat
tho world over, for sons a,00o yonrs, has
, much rs any other ppople dlscountenanrcl sIt
pFactIces, though still llrn,ly believing In Mos,
is tho prophet OF t'od, It is clear that they 1
/ not cols!ler p0lyEAtny any part nf the Jowls
6ystcnl, hut c,lttOln tierniIttaJ Tot acason b
cause 90 universally praetirad by the surroun