, 1879-05-19

/
may l not fling away that may find some potr
common with the majority OF good men2 Wba
! intellectual sacrifice may makel For example
the friends OF the Puritan SUNDAY cannot hop
that the public will eyer come anywhere nea
accepting of such Sabbath as they once en-
forced and still love to defend. There is n
| probability that TINT will ever, become the Sun
/ day Of America, and, therefore, it would seen
that it were the first duty Of Puritanic thinke
to inquiry how much OF his owp favorite form 0
Sunday he can afford. to waive that the actua
SUNDAY OF the people may enjoy some market
and immediate Improvement Wheaton breat
may be the ideal food for man, but whel
| the Nv or the rust killed off the wheat VI
used to eat corn-bread in the olden time. Tht
soealled orthodox Sunday may be the wheater
otead Tor the soul, but that wheat crop has
failed. Smitten By rust, or sin, or some blight
Of Heaven, that field has failed to yield bar:
vest, and the people must be permitted to seek
other shape OF food. Having no white loaf for
the young men and Tor the children, what shall
L. as one who feeds the hungry, offer the stary-
ing throDg3
1t was one OF the grandest meetings our local
clergy ever held when they met recently to
inquire bow the SUNDAYS might be better OBJ
served. It was really beautiful moral picture
byterian, and Methodist, aud Baptist and
Episcopalian, and Unitarian, and Universalist,
to inquire what kind Of Sunday could
be, found for the real. immediate welfare
OF the young and old. Some Of the 1eltg-
ious papers have derided the convention as
barren Of good results, But if the papers which
thus laughed at the medley OF opinion were
Judged BIZ the law Of good results they would
perish in day. II there be medley OF thought
which is perfectly useless 50 there is unity Of
thought which can rival this useless1ess all the
year around. An indefinite kind Of Sunday may
be defective, but rigid Puritanic Sunday is
equally 1aughabIe, because there is no man left
to observe It, not even the Que who promu1ges
the idea. That convention Of the many secta-
rian clerggmen was goodly scene, because the
fact that they met indicates that philanthropic
men are attempting to find what they may pos
sess in common for the immediate use OF the
public. It tells US that there are signs in the
air that VIC must no longer hope for a harmony
Of opinion: but must find some Qua detail Of
harmonious action.
That conference disclosed this TACT, that the
s0-called orthodox party confesses itself unable
to meet the worlds need without the assistance
Of the so-named liberal clergy. It has held
itself apart for generations, almost for centu-
ries, from all affiliation with Unitarians and
Universalists, as though it we're able, single
but it has lived to see the Sunday, and temper
ance, aud many shapes Of morals go backward
IN the very cities where this most exact theol-
ogv has most asserted itself and most love1 its
isolation. At last its selfconfldence partly fails,
and it coufesscs the moral power Of more lib
eral Christianity, and asks its assistance In seek
ing a. Sunday that shall close the 1ram-silop,
and shall open some gate to some new and bet
ter attraction.
If, rs think, it Is true that orthodoxy is bend
ing that 1t may find some unity In the var1etY Of
religious opinion, equally should liberal Chris
tianity bend and ask itself how far It may
modify its personal views that it mas not lose the
assistance Of SO powerful an ally as the whole
Evangelical Churchf Group together these
es,-Presbyterian Methodist. Baptist,
Episcopal, aud Catholic-and
they make mp powerful group Of Generals and
soldiers. They can throw great armies into the
field. Whoever should hope to lift up suffer-
ing humanity without asking the aid OF all these
heroes Of old battleIelds would simply show
how feeble he is In the search OF great means to
great end 1t is evident that we have come to :
days when all good men must ask the aid of /
each other, and that by as much as they do this !
BY SO much will the car OF reform be dragged !
forward.
Unity OF belief terminated when man ceased !
o be one and became many. The armies OF
Alexander and then of Caesar could not keep
pack the variety of empire; nor could the |
Greeks hold back the variety Of art;
LOT could Popes aud martyrdoms hold in check !
he variety Of thought AS many roses issued |
rom one origin. so thoughts and doctrines have
hot up from the earliest roots of mind. We |
an never gather them again. We must daily |
eyiew our opinions, and find how far we Gun |
gree with our brothers upon all sides; how !
nucn' We can afford to cast away that We may |
un useful race; must daily reach out our !
land to all good minds and good hearts, say
ng, Let us help each other, and let God help |
IL the hands thus joined.