The Worthington advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1874-1908, 1880-04-29
THE CLERICAL LOCOMOTIVE.

! Some of the writer's in behalf Of Spirit
ulism are scoring the Rev. Joseph Cook
for not coming out more boldly and ad-
hitting more Of Spiritualism than he
has admitted in his seven lectures on
the SUBJECT. Now, we wonder that he
has admitted so much. We are sure
that he is working out the salvation,
that is the enlightenment, Of his ortho-
dox-darkened followers. OF course,
some of these will lie alarmed. One of
them, writing to the Boston Transcript,
says, lit is melancholy and startling e.
nough" to hear SUCH admissions from
Mr.. Cook, ''when one reflects that half
our New England sermons get their
tone from MI. Cooks Monday lectures. I"
The fact is. Mr.. Cook is a locomotive
drawing long train of clerical cars on
the Boston 4 Orthodox Railroad.
Thousands aud tens of thousands of
passengers buy tickets over this road
every week, going from New England
to Heaven. They believe it is the old
reliable road and about the only one
which is sure to get them through safe
ly.
Now, suppose Rev. Joseph Cook had
boldly switched off at the junction and
undertaken to draw the whole clerical
train on to the other road known rs the
Spiritual & Liberal railroad; leading to
heaven through the valley of Truth and
the country OF Pure Character. The
result would have been a shock and a
bump which would have snapped the
coupling and left the heavy, numbering,
old-tashioned clerical coaches standing
on the old Orthodox track waiting for
some other locomotive to lead them in
their blind and sorrowful night run to
the other world. The Rev. Joseph don't
do that. He maintains the coupling in
tact. He virtually says:
''That road over there, the Liberal &
Spiritual railroad, has Il solid bottom to
it and it is worth your while to take
run over it some day. We clergymen
must get ny excursions over that road
and explore the country. There are
some dangerous bridges. trestle works,
and curves on it, and how and then
dark tunnel, but the scenery is grand
and awful, and the country along the
line is exceedingly rich and fertile and
produces the most beautiful flowers and
the most tropical vegetation. If that
Old Serpent, that monstr0us Dragon,
called Satan and the Devil, turks in the
forests along this route, as he is said to
do, we must not fear to meet him and
attack him, we, bold soldier boys" of
the Lord. 1t will not do for Christian
soldiers to be turned aside 10y stories of
great Bugaboo in the woods. Oh, no.
We are the saints of the Lord, and shall
eue fear to meet the Devil on any track
in the world. Not we. Come on We
fearful saints, and will lead you over
this tabood railroad and beard the Dev-
il in his den. If, us in the old story of
the Dragon, he should turn into a beau
tiful and angelic maiden, Whenever we
are bold enough to embrace him, we
shall be the better Christians for our
soldering, and if we lind him to be re-
ally Devil, we shall still be better SOL
diers for having fought him and drag
ged him to the light. am going to
Europe by this railroad Don and l shall
return and report to you the result Of
my explorations. Meanwhile, don't
fear to get up excursions and let US find
out ali we can about the wonderland
through which this road runs.'
And we predict that hundreds will
follow the Rev. Joseph's lead and come
back wiser and better men.