Virginia free press. (Charlestown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1832-1916, 1888-05-31

which promises the temporal as well as the
spiritual advancement of mankind. In the
turmoil and the hustle of every day life few
men are foolish enough to ignore the prac-
teal value to our people and our country of
the Church organizations established among
us and the advantage of Christian example
and teaching.
"The field is vast and the work sufficient
to engage the efforts of every sect and de-
nomination, but I am inclined to believe
that the Church which is most tolerant and
conservative without loss Of spiritual
strength will soonest ind the way to the
hearts and affections of the people. While
we may be pardoned for insisting that our
denomination is the best, we may, l think,
safely cOncede much that is good to all 9TH
er churches that seek to make men better
Il am here to greet the delegates of two
general assemblies of the Presbyterian
Church. One is called North and the
other South The subject is too deep and
intricate for me, but cannot help wonder
ing why this should be. These words, so
far as they denote separation and estrange-
ment, should be obsolete In the counsels
of the nation and in the business of the
country they no longer mean reproach and
antagonism. Even the soldiers who fought
for the North and for the South are restored
to fraternity and unity. This fraternity
and unity is taught and enjoined by our
Church. When shall she herself be united
with all the added strength and usefulness
that harmony and union insure ?"
On Thursday many fine addresses were
delivered by representative Northern and
Southern men, from which we can only
make brief extracts.
SPEECH OF HON. W. P. c. BRECKENRIDGE.
As an introduction to his discourse Mr..
Breckenridge pointed out that divine law Of
nature which keeps the sun, the moon, the
earth and the stars in their orbits, and
which directs and controls the smallest de-
| tails of the great mechanism of the uni
verse. eve believe" he continued, chat
there is a Masters hand which controls and
directs this law that the creation of the
universe is not the outgrowth of some acct
dental power, the effect of some hap-hazard
laws, but we believe it to be the work of
sovereign God and the belief in this is Cal
yinism. Great applause. We believe
that Christ was born freedman, and His
birth was the beginning of the epoch when
the shackles of the slave were to be severed
and all men, created equal, were to be rec.
ognized as equal His birth was the culmi-
nation of history
"The world needed Him and He was sent.
Just so were Luther, Calvin and Melanc-
thon needed, and they were born. If they
had never lived the human intellect in the
course of its slow but sure development
would have freed itself from the thraldom
of the middle ages. Applause. America
awaited a discoverer for centuries, and CO.
lumbus was born. Had he never lived,
some other discoverer would have found it.
But all the while God was working out His
will. There was never time when there
was no ladder which stretched from Heaven
to the soul of man, and down which the
angel of God descended and lighted up that
soul 1t would, indeed, be a great argu-
ment for inGdelity if in the history Of the
world there was a time when this light went
out; but no such moment is known.
Great applause.
81 have heard that Calyinism is dying
that we do not hold to that hard doctrine
to which our fathers so faithfully adhered,
and that we are tempering it to suit more
Modified civilization. Such is not so. He
who looks at the surface may think so. We
who know the intermost truth know that it
is not So We do not have to defend our
faith before kings and queens. We do not
have to suffer in dungeon cells for our be-
lief, but we still worship a sovereign God.
We believe that God is sovereign, and this
is Calvinsm, as it has always been. The
past has not changed it; the future cannot.
Great applause.
To-day we encounter a new and more
subtle force. A force which a great but
misled intellect keeps alive. refer to inf
deity; but the argument to hurl against it
is the argument of Calyinsm-the sover-
eighty of God"
Mr.. Breckenridge spoke for nearly three
quarters of an hour, and so tremendous was
the applause at times that he was unable to
proceed His audience would not let him
keep his seat, but again called him to his
feet, when he spoke few words, thanking
his hearers that his Presbyterian sen timents
had taken such deep root.
II.