Morning journal and courier., 1892-12-21

are made. They did. Hence their faith
was like root grown in q rifted rock; no
might in heaven, earth or hell could open
the hand that held that faith root and
snatch it away. In adversely, in prosper
ity, in sunshine, in storm, there it was, to
be the wonder and admiration of all the
ages. To alter slightly poetic words:
cit was the subtle chain
Which bound them to the Infinite
The voice Of q deep life within"
Hence,
Through the dark and stormy night
They saw a constant guiding light.
And,
knowing Gods own time was best,
They in patient hope did rest"
If they died before the day had ripened
into high noon. still they had learned the |
meaning of those words: "Thou wilt keep
him in perfect peace whose mind Is stayed
on thee; because he trusteth in thee"
so holy trust, o endless sense of rest
Like the beloved John,
To lay ones head upon the saviour's breast,
And thus to journey on"
And what precious thing is this deep
faith rest in Godl sWe shall be made
be made content; content, too, not only
with what We can understand, but content
with what we do not ENTHUSIASTICALLY
of mind which theologians call, and
rightly, faith in God" And when did this
habit ever take deeper root than in the
Pilgrim heart, and when did it ever work
| itself out in results more blessed than in
| the Pilgrim homesa
A third element of power was their I'M
| swerving obedience to the will of God
az they understood it. Should 1t be
said that the men of Plymouth and
their kin were narrow and intolerant,
1 IN k1air pE frao irrr
| others, it may be answered, as it has been,
that their age was not our age Nor would
1t be amiss to add, that of those vino lived
| in the morning of the seventeenth century,
they were the progressive, the new theolo
gy men, and ready to receive any fresh
light that God might have to send to them.
And must confess to little more liking
for the Pilgrim at Plymouth than for the
Puritan at Salem. It may be that what
Msoauley said of the Puritan would have
been equally true had he said 1t of the
Pilgrim; or possibly he meant it for truth,
and so made no discrimination. "He
was," says Maeauley, 'sknown from other
men by his gait, his garb, his lank hair,
the sour solemnity of his face, the up
turned white of his eyes, the nasal twang
with which he spake." Why not have said
that he was known from other men by
being of that number who, by way of
1
the lights of the world; who, had they
been born into our age, would have read
of Christian Thought" s'The Freedom Of
Faith" ''The Appeal to Life" "The Re-
public of God" ''Old Faiths in New
Light" christian Facts and Forces" etc.
In short, it would, we think, have been
their aim, now as them to find out the
will OF God.
Come then, thou dear old Pilgrim of
other days; we are not ashamed of your
gait, nor your garb, nor your lank hair,
nor the sour solemnity of your face, nor
the upturned white of your eyes, nor the
nasal twang with which you spake. Come,
take your place at our table, where--your
presence would be much more desirable
than that of those whose highest aim in
!; life is seemingly to mince, and shipper, and
) smirk, and put on airs, and strive to make
| an impression.
But coming back to our thought-to find
} out the will of God; and that to them was
law, a law to govern and law to guide.
And as rule each could say with Whit.
| tier:
"And in the maddening maze of things,
Though tossed by storm and flood,
Il To ono fixed state my spirit clings-
Il know that God is good.''
i But that goodness had in 1t something
awful, as well as something very gentle
and very tender. To the penitent it was
tempered with mercy, but to the persistent
| wrongdoer 1t was law, memorable law, and
sooner or later it reaches out its iron hand
and holds him over the fire that he himself
had kindled, and thus he learns that
Though the mills of God grind slowly,
Yet they grind exceeding SMALL
Though with patience he stands waiting,
With exactness grinds he ALL
All yesl the pilgrim believed and taught
what one has well expressed, and that il
that 'Law never loses q battle. The elm
l ner comes up to it boldly for one stroke OF
two, but his poor strength fails and his
courage trembles, and law is as mighty al
the end as at the beginning. When il
strikes it loses no force; it is as strong tc
,, | strike again as if it had never dealt one
! | blow for God. You cannot exhaust law.
l Oh, no. There is a law of penalty in thu
universe, and you can neither suspend IL
3 nor evade it. This is law and not caprice
a necessity of'goodness and not burst oi
7 passion. It is the very security of the uni
: verse; without it we could not pray, with
l out it we could not live. A mar
, cannot touch fire and not be burnt
The stars In their courses utter Gods test
mony; the winds as they fly are vocal with
his name; the lightning as it comes will be
harmless as blessing If you make high
way for it, but oppose and you oppose il
l Ouly OuCo. AAu Wu1Io VIC udl1 Gue
blessed light that comes down from the
l CROSS, we must not forget the terrible
, thunderings that were in the mount, MOI
! the words of him who said, "Behold the
3 goodness and severity of God" And
l believe with one who says, "God is more
8 than sentiment; God is justice" Yes
and there ia something to fear in God. Il
, is his attitude toward cruelty and wrong
! and nowhere do we find him a loose
and easy sovereign. He is kind, bu
Q it's within the limits OF in
D ing as to take any liberties with him sim
1 ply because he is goods Back of all Other
, attributes is his righteousness, and that ii
. exact, and that must be satisfied to the ut
termost farthing Deny this. or act al
! | though it had no place in the movings Of
+ the eternal verities, and then beware, TO,
: there is a wrath which burns with a con
< Stunning fire; there is hammer which
3 when it strikes, breaks the foe in pieces
, 1t is the fire of Almighty God. and thu
hammer of Almighty God. And these, ii
. all the earth, are ever executing the law
! of God.
This the Pilgrim believed, and this hi
l taught in his own home, by his own fire
side; in catechisms, If you please; in creeds
i If you please; but he found it in that word
of truth that abideth forever. And the
/ VI budt tcaCuluk has OOuo muCu u
: keep our civil and religious liberty on
: rock foundation. And when I think Of
4 their noble fortitude and hearty enduring,
: not Chatting jot of heart or hope" but
. still bearing up and steering right onward
I and then read the words of those who fine
fault with their stern sentiments and for
. bidding manners, it rouses in my heart
d kind of indignation; and though do no
), wish to call down fire out of heaven and
. burn such critics up, do wish they coulc
q see the folly of their own fastidiousness
% It may, know, be said of the Pilgrim
u that he was severe; but then, God helt
8 him to that, did he nota And better Q,
It than a severity that transmits no iron t.
n the children's blood; better so than that
liberty which tends to disintegrate ant
/ destroy the very foundations of liberty
o better so than too much sugar Goa
u where granite rock would have in 1t NOR
e to conserve and more to help, in the battl
V struggle between what is right and VIVA
. is wrong. Say what men may, they ant
!, their children did run we'll. The,
q wrought nobly in their day and genera
Y ton. As Bishop Huntington has some
. where said, "They would take no pric,
Q for right, and make no compromise witt
Q wrong" Rsverent they were, strong II
faith they were, and unswerving in theil
9 obedience to the will of God. As Car
o lyle said of Puritsnism, eve may censurt