Morning journal and courier., 1882-01-20
Lyman Beecher Lectures.
Continuation of the Series by President Robinson of Brown University-An In- teresting Discourse.

of the Series by President
 Robinson of Brown Untversity-An In-
 teresting Discourse
 President Robinson of the Brown Univer sity continued his course of lectures on preaching in the Marquand chapel yesterday afternoon at o'clock. The chapel was well filled and the lecture was listened to with deep interest. In his opening remarks the lecturer said:
 At the close of history the king and priest are seen standing together. Civil govern ment and religion make their appearance as leaning on each other for support Moses found it necessary to call upon Aaron for support. So in the Roman empire it was found that Church and State were insepara- bly, connected. All English history from Henry the VIII. on presents a union of Church and State. So on down, until to be
 an Englishman man must be 8 member of
 the English church. What was thus crude
 in England was transported to this country.
 In the Massachusetts colony man must be
 member of the church to be citizen Little
 did they dream of what we see in our days
 It seems proper that we should consider
 today the relation of the Church and State in this country or nominally the connection of the pulpit with the government of the Uni ted Stats. Let us consider this matter then Nothing is more clearly to the advantage of Christianity than pure and distinctive repub-
 licanism. It carries man forward to the l brotherhood of mankind. Christianity as
 supporter of the hierarchy has always been 1 the supporter of absolutism, but this was not | what Christianity was always aiming to do, 1 advance the welfare of men. Magma Charta ! no doubt did embody some of the few
 rights of men, but they only flung to the
 clergy bait for their support. So far as 1 they were retainers of the Barons were they 1 trodden under foot But to day England is
 virtually republic, made so by the clergy, l who carried religion into the novels and the 1 pulpit, and has done all this for England
 So the pulpit has done for what we some
 times call the ''great and glorious American l republic" The government in Virginia,
 which under John Smith began to be a re-
 public, embodied the principles of the Chris l tlan religion. So the pilgrims on the May 1 flower in thelr compact embodied the prin- l ciples of democracy. Yet there was 8 union l of Church and State which lasted from 1G33 1 to 175O, when John Mayo preached that eel
 ebrated sermon in New England on non-re-
 sistance to the civil power which charity
 enunciated, the principles of the Constitu- 1 tlon of the present government. So from I Bancroft's history we read that the clergy 1 were engaged in promulgating those princi- ] pies that culminated in the Declaration of I Independence. And when the colonies came | to strike the final blow, the colorists ! and clergy were all united But here it be- | comes apparent that the history of democ- l racy has always tended to disorder, over- oJ,1 E1,s l., l,o l Greece and Rome and finally despotism has resulted as a necessity. The natural re- ! suit has been to make every man feel that he i is the equal to every other man. Again l those who come from foreign shores no soon 1 CT become American citizens, especially the l Irish, than they want to be 'boss, " and they l feel that they are equal of every other man. | This is so everywhere in republics While l this Is so in politics 1t is not so in religion
 While religion does not teach equality, it teaches fraternity.
 1 What ought to be the attitude of the pull 1 pit toward the government which we find
 ours? It seems that we should teach obe~ l dience to all laws. This was the teaching of l Christ. It is not simply the abstaining from l evil that makes man Christian. What 1 the pulpit needs ill our day is the widening of it's horizon. Man citizen, man as Christian. This is the true religion of Jesus | Christ. We often hear it said that religion 1 brings freedom. It does if man is obedi
 ent to all law. This only is personal free l dom. If you will analyze the freedom of St.
 Paul you will find that he was a free man be- ] cause he obeyed the law. No greater free dom than that of New England century 1 ago, when every man, woman and child was l taught implicit obedience. No need then of bolts and bars, or jails and prisons.
 1 The Christian idea of liberty. then, is a
 strict obedience to law. In regard to the
 true ground of authority, think the popular
 mind is becoming mystifed. It is said that l we need strong government, but you may l remember that governments may sustain 1 themselves against unlawful authority. What l we want to ascertain is, what is true author 1 ity. Dr. Draper tells us that all republics 1 have failed because they have not built on morality. The truth is that you can per petuate on moral foundation only by build 1 ing upon the structure which you have reared I would build upon intelligence. We say that only can our republic continue l to exist unless it is founded not only on in- ] telligence but also on truth, and only on this l can obedience rest. No true citizenship can
 be maintained that is not founded on both . moral and religious truth
 Now it may be thought that I may have 1 wandered too much into political thought
 but believe the true aim of the Christian l minister is to lift his hearers into the highest ] plane of manhood while preaching the relig- ion of Christ in all it's fullness. I would say, l stand up in the pulpit in the fear of God dealing with all righteousness, ali law, and then will men rise to the true dignity of the Christian ministry. If our country is worth
 the blood and treasure that has been spilled for 1t, then is it worthy for the Christian l teacher to preach the gospel in all it's full aess, starting from the cross.
 The next lecture of the course will be de- livered this afternoon at o'clock, instead of 1 o'clock as heretofore.