Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1894-09-10
A style of psalmody that may please

me may dlSplease you. Some would like
to have a minister in gown and bands
and surplice, and others prefer to have
a minister in plain citizens apparel.
Some are most impressed when little
child is presented at the altar and
sprinkled of the waters of holy bene-
dction lin the name of the Father, and
of the Son, and Of the Holy Ghost, !"
and others are more impressed when the
penitent comes up out of the river, his
garments dripping with the waters of
baptism which signifies the washing
away of sin. Let either have his own
way One man likes no noise in prayer,
not a word, not a whisper. Another
man. just as good, prefers by gesticula
ton and exclamation to express his de
votional aspirations One is just as good
as the other. Every man fully per-
suaded in his own mind
George Whitefeld was going over a
Quaker rather roughly for some of his
religious sentiments, and the Quaker
said: George, am as thou art. [ am
for bringing all men to the hope of the
gospel. Therefore, if thou will not
quarrel with me about my broad brim,
I will not quarrel with thee about thy
black gown. George, give me thy hand. %
A Cause of Bigotry.
In tracing out the religion of sectari-
anism or bigotry find that great
deal of it comes from wrong education
in the home circle. There are parents
who do not think it wrong to caricature
and jeer the peculiar forms Of religion
in the world and denounce other sects
and other denominations. 1t is very Of
ten the case that that kind of education
acts just opposite to what was expected,
and the children grow up, and after
awhile go and see for themselves, and
looking in those churches and find
ing that the people are good there
and they love God and keep his COM
mandments. by natural reaction they go
and join those very churches. I could
mention the names of prominent minis
tiers of the gospel who spent their whole
life bombarding other denominations,
and who lived to see their children
preach the gospel in those very denomi
nations. But it is often the case that
bigotry starts in household, and that
the subject of it never RECEIVERS. There
are tens of thousands Of bigots 10 years
old.
[ think sectarianism and bigotry also
rise from too great prominence of any
one denomination in a community. ALI
the other denominations are wrong. and
his denomination is right because his
denomination is the most wealthy, or
the most popular. or the most influen-
tial, and it is 'our'' church, and ''our"
religious organization, and ''our"
choir, and "our' minister, and the man
losses his head and wants other denomi
nations to know their places.
It is great deal better in any COM
munity when the great denominations
of Christians are about equal in power,
marching side by side for the worlds
conquest. Mere outside prosperity, mere
worldly power, is no evidence that the
church is acceptable to God. Better
barn with Christ in the manager than
cathedral with magnificent harmonies
rolling through the long drawn aisle
and an angel from heaven in the pulpit
if there be no Christ in the chancel and
no Christ i'll the robes.
Bigotry the Child of Ignorance.
Bigotry is often the child of ignorance.
You seldom find man with large in
tellect who is bigot 1t is the man
who thinks he knows great deal, but
does not. That man is almost always a
bigOt. The whole tendency of education
and civilization is to bring a man out
of that kind of state of mind and heart.
There was in the far east great obelisk,
and one side of the obelisk was white,
- Of l,a 0bo1 ic1-
another side Of the obelisk was blue,
and travellers went and looked at that
obelislz, but they did not walk around
it. One man looked at one side, an
other at another side, and they came
home each one looking at only one side,
and they happened to meet, the story
says, and they got into a rank quarrel
about the color of that obelisk. One
man said it was white, another man
said it was green, another man said it
was blue, and when they were in the
very heat Of the controversy more in
telligent traveller came and said: Gen
tlemen, 1 have seen that obelisk, and
you are all right, and you are all wrong.
Why didn't you walk all around the
obelisk?''
Look out for the man who sees only
one side of q religious truth. Look out
for the man who never walks around
about these great theories Of God and
eternity and the dead. He will be
bigot inevitably-the man who only sees
one side. There is no man more to be
pitied than he who has in his head just
one idea-no more, no less. More light,
less sectarianism. There is nothing that
will so soon kill bigotry as sunshine
Gods sunshine.
So I have set before you what con-
slider to be tine causes of bsgotry. Ihave
set before you the origin Of this great
evil What are some of the baleful eff
fects? First of all, it cripples investiga-