The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1882-10-09
A. B. G. F. M.
Closing Address of Rev. DR.. storrs.

any remarks which NAV make at the close
OF THESE most impressive and memorable SER
vices.
l nave been thinking this afternoon of
Waat would remain most clearly in my
thoughIS as fruitful impression and inspl-
ration derlVed from these meetings. re-
MEMBER that gentleman who was going to
Europe for a few months said to me some
years ago, Il wish you would tell me wnat
is Is, tne ilhest point of view among the Alps
Wen, IL was hard question to answer. /
ran over rapidly in my thoughts the differ
ent points of view which came up to me-
zurlch with its lovely lake and its dist-.rt
encrcllng sun-crowned hills; Lpcorre,
under the eshadow Of Pilatus and Righi, with
that wonderful lake of tie Folr Cantons be-
tore II; The views at Inte~la'zen and Thun,
ana from the terrace at Berre; the view OF
the Rhone glac' c'er from the Furca pass: the
marvellous views of the glaciers from Cor
rergrat behind Zermat; the views at Cha
mounlx, Brevent and Flegere. AT las /
said, "Well, see them all; but if you see as
ala one evening just at sunset from the
bridge at Soleure the awful white majesty
OF Mont Blanc, roseate and pIlsing in the
sunsetsplendor,you will say that thatis after
all me grandest view anyvaere in Switzer-
land. Inc massive majesty and infinite
loneliness OF that view will remain in your
memory as blessing and an inspiration for
ever
Sc as have been thinking of the various
trains OF thought which have been sugges-
ted and the various experiences through
wh'sh have passed in connection with this
meeting, have felt that it was delightful to
be here and to meet these fathers in the
ministry and these brethren beloved, and
grasp the hand of Christian fellowship in in
terchange with so many,-to be here where
Cortland and the Golden Gaze look each 9th
er in the face, where, from the most ancient
and distant lands of the earth, as well as
from the recently discovered islands, come
messengers to us. / have felt that it was
delightful to be here at point upon which
converge the thought and the prayer of so
many millions of hearts in different paris of
the world. Our hearts ought to be bright
and warm with so many rays concentrating
upon them from all the earth. l have felt
that it was blessed to be here, and to feel
tfat those who have passed into the heavens
hsve still an interest in our work and our
asserby. There is that friend and brother
and father beloved, venerated and trusted,
who Tor forty years was member of this
Board and never absent, unless by necessity
lrom its annual session, DR. Bacon.
Wherever his strenuous, energetic and fer
vent spirits is treading among the spheres,
his thoughts surely are of earth. And so
there are many others who have passed into
the skies. "The church on earth AID that
on high but one communion make"
have felt that it was blessed to stand here
where we touch the highest heroic point of
Chri stian character and action; where the
same force which, in the medieval time,
broke forth in the cathedral, in the uniyers-
ity, in the crusades, now breaks forth into
this great missionary enterprise for the
world. Out of the lowland tc the high sum-
nit we come, away from wnaS is monotonous
or commonplace in our Christian experience
up to that W lich is rich and illustrious l
have felt that it was more precious than any
thing else to touch the hand of the Savior
himself in the sacrament and look upon the
row on which were many thorns and on
which diadem has now taken the place of
every thorn.
But think that the impression which l
carry with me as go hence, which does not
supersede these but which comes in to blend
with them and to give certain consumma-
ton to the whole series of experiences, is
the thought of the power and the divine beau
ty,the infinite majesty ard the energizing
force of that grand old gospel of God which
our fathers loved, in the inspiration of
which they originated this missionary work,
and which has been the instrument of that
work in all the years of its continuance and
in all the fields of its operation. And it
seems to me that, from tt first line of the
first report-which l did not hear but have
read, ,-on through sermon and address and
succeeding reports, that one impression has
been continually deepening in my own mind
until 1t has become the paramount thought
OF this occasion. / wish that il
might remain with me forever, as |
trust it WILL | wish that it might be
re-echoed by the multitudes of voices which
are going out Of this great assembly into so
many communities, into SO many pulpits, as
/ trust it will be. 1t seems to me that in our
times of divergent speculation, Of varieties
OF opinion, of colliding and antagonizing
theories in religion and philosophy and soc-
ely, we pre-eminently need to keep this pri-
NAL and glorious truth continually before
our minds.
There are two schemes of religious
thought generically in he world, as there
has bsen-and are now to some eXtent-two
systems of astronomical speculation, one OBJ
tanning in uncivilized countries, and the
other in civilized. One system of astronom-
ical speculation takes the earth as the centre
around which the heavens revove That
seems according to our senses; that is the
architecture Of the feavens according to the
natural man. When the Rev. Mr.. Jasper
at Richmond insists that ''the sun do move,'
he seems to have the judgment and the
sense of every seeing man with him.
Laughter. And we know what comes of
it,-uninterpreted and unintelligible and
contradictory motions in all the sky; a baf-
fed heaven scribbled DER with cycle and ep-
icycle The other system of astronomical
speculation takes its start from the sun as
the centre and the governor of the planetary
system, and finds that sun himself, with all
his dependent orbs, marching onward
through the heavens. And we know what
comes Of that. There came book from Dr.
Hill years ago, which read with the intens-
est interest, concerning the relation of the
starsl Applause. There comes order
and harmony in all the system of the heav-
ems. We measure and weigh the planet in
its course. The astronomer catches the
comet in its far flight, measures it's motion
and predicts its course and its return. The
butterfly floating in the air is balanced
against the sun. Every shell on the beach,
every bud on the tree, is brought into rela-
tion with the farthest nebula whose lace
work stains the distant azure. It is the as
tronomy of science; it is the astronomy of
advanced and cultivated thought.
There are two systems of religious
speculation. The one takes man as
its centre and starting-point, regarding
him as a finished fact, practically
In its grosser forms it does not pro-
fess to know, as we have been told by the
brother who preceded me, whence he came !;
butt suspects that his nature is evolved out
of the brutal. 1t does not know whittier he
is going; but it treats the future as the scott
ing French sceptic treated it, as at best ga
grand Perhaps 1t does not know about
God, or whether there be any God other
than the sum of universal forces. 1t has no
moral law except general average of proc
able experiences. And so it comes to men
and tells them to go on and live as they list.
II tells them that there is no fear of retribu-
ton, nj need of atonement, and it has no
place in all its compass Tor any doct1ine of
regeneration and of the Holy Spirit of God.
do not mean, of course, that everybody
who holds this system will accept fully my
statement of it. In fact, it is sometimes hard
to find out exactly how they state it,or what
they mean by their statements themselves.
l am reminded occasionally of the man who
had clock which somebody criticized, say
ing, 'sYour clock, Mr.. Jones, doesn't keep
good time" "Why," said he, cit does keep
perfectly good time, only you don't under
stand it. The fact is that when the hands
on that clock point to twelve, then it strikes
three and what that means is that it wants
twentyrhintues to seven. Laughter and ap-
plause. Now if you will keep that in mind,
You will hit the right time in every instance"
Laughter Well, intend to speak very