Connecticut western news., 1890-11-12

But we must hurry on, for the mule teens end baggage men have been or dered to pitch our tents for tonight at Bethel. It is already getting so dark that we have to give up all idea of guiding the horses and leave them to their own sagacity. We ride down amid mud cabins and into ravines, where the horses leap from depth to depth, rocks below rocks, rocks under rocks. Whoa! Whoa! We dismount in this place. memorable for many things in Bible history, the two more promi- nent, theological seminary, where of old they made ministers, and for Jacobs dream. The students of this Bethel Theological seminary were called ''sons of the prophets" Here the young men were fitted for the ministry, and those of us who ever had the advantage of such institutions will everlastingly be grateful, and in the calendar of saints, which read with especial affection, are the doctors of divinity who blessed me with their care
 thank God that from these theologi- cal seminaries there is now coming forth magnificent crop of young ministers who are taking the pulpits in all parts of the land. hail their coming, and tell these young brothers to shake off the somnolence of centuries, and get out from under the dusty shelves of theological discussions which have no practical bearing on this age, which needs to get rid of its sins and have its sorrows comforted. Many of our pull pits are dying of humdrr,m. People do not go to church because they can not endure the technicaities and pro- found explanations of nothing, and sermons about the eternal generation of the son, and the difference between sub-lapsa1ianism and supra-lapsarian- ism, and about who Melchisedeck wasn't. There ought to be as much difference between the modes of pre- senting truth now and in olden time as between q lightning express rail train and 8 canal boat.
 Years ago I went up to the door of factory in New England. On the out side door saw the words, No admit tance." I went in and came to an other door over which were the words, ''No admittance" Of course I went in, and came to the third door in scribed with the words, ''No admit tance." Having entered this found the people inside making pins, beauti- full pins, useful pins, and nothing but pins. So over the outside door of many of the churches has been prac- tically written the words, ''No admit tance." Some have entered and have come to the inside door, and found the words, ''No admittance. But, per sisting, they have come inside, and found us sounding out our little nice ties of belief, pointing out our little diff ferences of theological sentiment making pins!
 THR LADDER FROM EARTH TO HEAVEN. But most distinguished was Bethel for that famous dream which Jacob had, his head on a collection of stones. He had no trouble in this rocky region in finding rocky pillow. There is hardly anything else but stone. Yet the people of those lands have way of drawing their outer garment up over their head and face, and such a pillow suppose Jacob had under his head. Tho plural was used in the Bi- ble story, and you find it was not pil- low of stone, but of stones, suppose, SO that if one proved to be of uneven surface he would tarn over in the night and take another stone, for with such hard bolster he would often change in the night. We'll, that night God built in Jacobs dream long splendid ladder, the feet of it on either side of the tired pilgrims pillow, and tho top of it mortioed in the sky. And bright immortals came out from the castles of amber and gold and put their shining feet on the shining rungs of the ladder, and they kept coming down and going up, procession both ways.
 suppose they had wings, for the Bible almost always reports them as having wings, but this was 8 ladder on which they used hands and feet to en- courage all those of us who have no wings to climb, and encouraging us to believe that if we will use what we have God will provide way, and if we will employ the hand and the foot he will furnish the ladder. Young man, do not wait for wings. Those angels folded theirs to show you wings are not necessary Let all the people who have hard pillows, hard for sickness or hard for poverty or hard for persist ence, know that hard pillow is the landing place of angels. They seldom descend to pillows of cider down. They seldom build dreams in the brain of the one who sleeps easy.
 The greatest dream of all time was that of St. John, with his head on the rocks of Patmos, and in that vision he heard the seven trumpets sounded, and saw all thepomp of heaven in process sion cherubic, seraphic, archangalc. The next most memorablea and glorious dream was that of John Bunyan, his pillow the cold stone of the floor of Bedford jail, from which he saw the celestial city, and so many entering t he cried out in his dream, ''I wish my self among them"
 THE DREAMS OF GENIUS.
 The next most wonderful dream was that of Washington sleeping on the ground at Valley Forge, his head on a white pi1lowcase of snow, where he saw the vision of a nation enamel pated. Columbus,slept on weavers pillow, but rose on the ladder let down