, 1879-02-02

Sit and sec the editor OF Liberal papcr roast
By slow fire. II the people OF New England
had not been possessed by terror they would
have laughed at Jonathan Edwards, and he would
have laughed, and they would have had a hight
OF it. And so there would hare bceu 10 West.
ley in England, no Whitcheld in this country,
no Moody and SanHcy in this city. 1t is not Ger.
tain WHO invented hell, but purgatory and the
Madonna were the inventions Of the priests. To
religion We owe the im1neasurable blessing oi
Sunday. It is the best thing 4 man has got,
ten years in lifetime Of seventy years snntchcd
from the grind Of daily toll; und the religion OF
the future must preserve it. Ralph Waldo En-
crson came from ancestors who were clergy
men, and there must be something good in a
thing that could produce such result. And
the Sisters OF Charity carry the Pope ,lltl the
Church. Whatever there has been OF good in
the Catholic and Protestant Churches will Sur
viye. Christmas and Easter are human wants.
TIC only question is, Who shall supply human
wants? The Church supplies them after a fash
ion, but it bears the load OF number of opso-
lete beliefs. The clergy themselves are IN
bondage. They cannot say to their pupils, The
Bible st1acklcs and limits YOU as it shaclsled and
limited the people OF the Middle Ages. IN evan
gcical schools or families you will find two
things,-a lack o{ understanding between the
old and the young, and certain morbid tend
ency to pcrnirious pleasures. Still it is terri
bic for children to rldlcule the things their pa
rents hold in reverence"
Mr.. Parton then gave graphic dcscription of
q chi'dren's meeting held by the Rev. Mr, Ham
Inoud, the rcvivalist, whom he described rs
- Western a1lctionecr wanting to make $50
night" The whole exhibition, he said, was
ldcous and horrible. Then lie described lis at
tendance at college meeting where twetltr-onc
verses OF Scripture were read to students, who
hnu the good sense not to listen to them; and he
said there are only Two or three colleges in the
country that can afford not to have Doctor OF
Divinity in the Presidential chair.
1.-THE coming religion" " he continued, "must
induce higher morality than the Christian re-:
ligion has iuculcatcl. Any man who leads q
clean life at home and abroadis better man
and more intelligent 1nan than any mcrc
Christian. The great triumph Is to produce val
liable tnen, to breed great mcn. The coming
mans religion will have no theology In It, All
questions us to tic origin Of things the comiug
lnau will pass over to Cornell or Harvard,
where q clergyman is not chief. 1t ID not
necessary either to assert Or deny deity. 1t is
a matter not important The coming ulan's re-
llgiou will have nothing but that which makes
the 1ortY-scyerth article OF Euclid binding unon
tie human race. The coming man will
be democrat. staying at the bottom OF the
social scale with al the great; will be an aristo-
crat, lord Of himself and Lie servant Of others.
The coming man will have religion, otherwise
he need not come. So long as life is life the
yirtuous portion, OF the race will need to act in
to cherish and warn each other Man
is limited creature, excepting in his capacity
to suffer. Hence the religion Of the future will
have i'll it many bells. We are now every hour
expiating sins committed by our ancestors, ulltf
we are committing sins that iu turn will BE- ex-
plated by our children. This is the only Hell.
The coming religion will hare its Heaven Also
to improve mankind In this life and in no other
The coming man must form an organization Of
rational preachers, not those who devote their
lives to q study OF the politics, geology, and
theology Of IN insignificant province in Asia
called Palestine. There must be glorious re-
giyal of mans love for 1nan. Pope Leo XIII. is
justified in lanntiEg the industrial certres and
saying, !" II that is all science and industry can
do for man, it. it a sorry triumph iudeeu.'' Re-
igion is now dsunited. The rich man goes to
s big cathedral. the poor man to another
place Of worship. But let us help ourselves and
one another. That is the whole OF the coming
mans religion. 1t is said that women are OBJ
;tacles i'll the way Of the new religion. They
must have something positiVe-a conecnia1 place
ot worship. Then let thetu see men rising above
heir low propensities, not uiscontentcd with
heir lot but with themselves. Then they will
Join you, and not till then, when the SECULAR aud
inal religion is established