The united opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1881-1970, 1894-05-11


pei of Jesus Christ. which has trans
formed them, and Samoa, and those
vast realms of New Zealand, and Aus
tralia and Ceylon and India. want to
see what Christianity has accomplished.
/ want to see how the missionaries have
been lied about as living in luxury and
idleness.
7 want to know whether the heather
religions are really as tolerable alSl as
cmmendable as they were represented
by their adherents in the parliament of
religions at Chicago. l want to see
whether Mohammedanism and Bud
dhism would be good things for trans
plantation in America, as it again and
again been argued. / want to hear the
Brahmans pray / want to test whether
the Pacific ocean treats its guesAs any
better than does the Atlantic. | want
to see the wondrous architecture of In
dia, and the Delhi and Cawnpore where
Christ was crucified in the massacre of
his modern disciples, and the disabled
Juggernaut unwheeled by Christianity,
and to see if the Tai which the Emperor
Sha Jehan built in honor of his empress
really means any more than the plain
slab we put above our dear departed. l
want to see the fields where Havelock
and Sir Colin Campbell won the day
against the sepoys. [ want to see the
world from all sides. How much of it
is in darkness, how much of it is in
light, what the Bible means by the
"ends of the earth," and get myself
ready to appreciate the extent of the
present to be made to Christ as spoken
of in the ssalms, ASK of me, and
shall give thee the hSathen for thine in
heritance and the uttermost parts Of
the earth for thy possession" and SO l
shall be ready to celebrate in heaven
the victories of Christ in more raptur-
GUS song than could have rendered had
l never seen the heather denominations
before they were conquered. And so |
hope to come back refreshed, re-enforced
and better equipped, and to do in 10
years moro effectual work than l have
done in the last 20.
A Garland and Palm.
And now, in this twenty-ffth ami
versary sermon, propose to do two
things-frst, to put a garland on the
grave of the generation that has just
passed off and then to put palm
branch in the hand of the generation
just nov coming ON the field of action,
for my text is true, Zone generation
passeth away and another generation
cometh." Oh, how many we revered
and honored and loved in the last gen.
Grafton that quit the earth! Tears fell
at the time of their going, and dirges
were sounded, and signals of mourning
were put on, but neither tears nor dirge
nor somber veil told the half we Felt.
Their going left vacancy in our souls
that has never been filled up. We never
get used to their absence. There are
times when the sight of something with
which they We're assOclated-a picture,
or book, or garment, or staff
breaks us down with emotion, but we
bear it simply because we have to bear
it. Oh, how snowy white their hair got,
and how the wrinkles multiplied, and
the sight grew more dim, and the hearing
less alert, and the step more frail, and
one day they were gone out of the chair
by the fireside, and from the plate at
the meal, and from the end of the
church pew, where they worshiped with
US. Oh, my soul, how we miss them
But let us console each other with the
thought that we shall meet them again
in the land of salutation and reunion.
And now twist a garland for that
departed generation. 1t need not be cost !
l. Ell 20 al
blossoms from the field through which |
they used to walk, or as many violets
as you could hold between the thumb |
and the forefnger, plucked out of the
garden where they used to walk in the
cool of the day. Put these old fashion
ed flowers right down over the heart |
that never again will ache, and the feet !
that will never again be weary, and the
arm that has forever ceased to toll. |
Peace, father Peace, mother! Everlast-
ing peace! All that for the generation
gone
The Moving Throng.
But what shall we do with the palm
branch? That we will put i'll the hand
of the generation coming on. Yours is
to be the generation for victories The
last and the present generation have
been perfecting the steam power, and
the electric light, and the electric forces.
To these will be added transportation.
1t will be your mission to use all these
forces. Everything is ready now for you
to march right up and take this world
for God and heaven. Get your heart
right by repentance and the pardoning
grace of the Lord Jesus, and your mind
right by elevating books and pictures,
and your body right by gymnasium and
field exercise, and plenty of ozone and
by looking as often as you can upon the
face of mountain and Of sea- Then start!
In Gods name, start! And here is the
palm branch. From conquest to con-
quest, move right ON and right up You
will soon have the whole field for your
self Before another 20 years have gone,
we will be out of the pulpits, and the
offices, and the stores, and the factories,
and the benevolent institutions, and You
will be at the front Forward into the .
battlel If God be for you, who can be {
L.