The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1895-12-24

In the early sermons on Christmas, 1t
was manifest that the ministers had no
conception of how to treat the suoJect.
one OF these early sermons discusses
Aoamss views of the Trinity, and de,
lafes that they were metaphysical ana
not historical.
The speaker declared that Christmas is
d modern thing in New England, that
mas Hitue ltS way against much oppOSlt-
ION. Inc pine and the fir are native here,
but the holly and the mistletoe had to
be transplanted.
In regard to the Pilgrims, he declared
that 1T was not till the 25th of December
that they really got to work and fairly
settled on the land. They were two weeks,
alter the landlng ON Plymouth Rock IN
reaiiy gettlng ashore and gettingsready to
settle. 1t was on the 25th of Decem Der
that they began to build their first house,
log structure, 20 feet square. That
was the beginning of the American home,
and that day is worthy day for ami
versary celebration. That home fsrt
stood for all the principles that are the
foundation of our American homes.
The speaker contrasted the home of the
Pilgrim and that of today, emphasizing
the tendency in modern times to drift
away from the home.
He also declared that that first log
house also stands for thu American
schoolhouse and church, for it was used
for both purposes.
He spoke of our great modern UNIVERSE
Ties that grew up in a night by the gifts
of millionaires and said that he some
times thought of the manufactures that
turn out men like machines, prepared
for certain work, and questioned II we
We're not forgetting that eduoati ON is a
means and not an end, and that we are
departing from the grand old Puritan
idea that education is to develop cha rae
ter rs well AS impart knowledge.
If cur schools today, in their results,
come anything short of that Puritan
| idea, they do not well.
Our Christian college is Oh trial for its
lie. We have seen oul academies crushed
out beneath the millstones of tho public
schools and the universities. We say that
the education of public schools Is the
key to the solving of all the great prob
lens, that of the negro, of the Indian, of
immigration, ETC.
This IS not SO il there is lack ing in our
public schools the great principle of the
Purltans that edu cation means to de-
yelop character as we'll as to impart
knowledge.
The first log house also stands for the
American. town house and church. Thus
four great relations of the Pilgrim, do
nestle, educational, political and relig-
ious, are represented by that first log
house
Mr.. Barton declared that he believed in
the principles of the Pilgrim church as
perpetuated in the Congregational
church. He believed that those principles
are to abide. He couldn't believe what
some men say that the principles of the
Episcopal church are to dominate i'll the
future and neither crowd out or over
shadow the Congregational principles.
He spoke of the Presbyterians, Baptists
and Methodjsts, and declared that in the
future they are all bound to unite togeth-
er with the Congregational lists, since, in
all important points, all four scots are
and always have been united.
In closing he referred to the Venezuela
question and said that he was sorry that
Great Britain had such habit of getting
into trouble with smaller nations and
that she-was always right in reverse ratio
to the size of the nation and that Away S
there was some valuable territory or priv
ilege involved that was verylimportant
that England should have. Yet he
would say that if these two great nations
with everything in common couldn' t
SETTLE such question without resorting
to war, their two flags will be disgr aced
as long as they shall float in the heavens.
At the suggestion of Mr.. VIM. NJ
Marks the thanks of the club were ex :
tend to the retiring president, Rev. Dr.
Jenkins