The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1895-08-17

may truly say that / have enjoyed the
service and found the spirit Of the meet
ing excellent and most helpful.
THE ORTHODOX SYSTEM.
The Orthodox theology as system is
fearfully and wonderfully made. and has
proved itself inadequate for the widest
human expression. 1t breaks down I'M
der pressure again and again. 1t makes
no allowances for the hereditary beliefs
and faiths of men for the variety of diff
ferent races and natures in mankind
for the various circumstances under
which people are born and educated
for the compelling forces which govern
individuals and nations-and it cannot
meet the fact that thousands upon
thousands, good men and women, die
making no sign either from lack of
knowledge or want of opportunity. Lay
it down on the scale of the totality Of
life and it comes short every time. HUI
man needs, human experiences and me-
cessity overlap it on all sides. 1t makes
too little of the combined efficacy Of di-
vine power and goodness and enlarges
beyond all bounds human freedom and
responsibility.
1t is an infexible iron ring and can
never enclose the whole of man and all
the facts Of his life. Many of the ideas
one hears in the orthodox churches are
narrow and utterly out of joint with
the truth. Some of them are old, an
tedated the flood and should have been
inundated by that great deluge; some
are more modern impositions, but they
are all fitted into the system and the
system is dwarfing to the intellect and
bad for the heart. 1t is constant mar
vel to me how strong, vigorous mind,
can endure the compress of this mental,
blood .arresting ligature even for day.
cannot conceive how one can hold fast
to the system of orthodoxy throughout
and grow at all; unless like the cucum-
bers we used to tie up with strings, he
grows like them deformed and bulges
out more radically in other directions.
But the preachers Of orthodox churches
are not all lovers of the system and
many of them, like those l have recently
listened to, have much good wholesome
bread which they break to their people.
The hungry man will always find some
thing to nourish him at the table of their
churches. And he is fortunate if he
possesses intellectual gifts, which en-
ables him like the fishes, to cast off the
vigorous elements of food and take in for
digestion and assimilation only true
nutriment.
BARBARIE FREICHTE.
In the fourth number of Mrs. Sher-
woods charming Summer Outing Pa
pers," notice she gets somewhat mixed
respecting the location of Whittier's
spirited ballad of Barbara Freichte.
Had she recalled the lines
"The clustered spires of Friedrich stand
Green walled by the hills of Maryland"
she would have undoubtedly avoided
this slight mistake. Let it be remem-
bered that it was at Friedrich, Md,
and not at Fredericksburg. Va. that
the old patriotic lady lived. or was sup
posed to live, who seized the flag and
shook it forth with a royal will" in the
face of Stonewall jackson and his men.
BUCHTEL COLLEGE AFFAIRS.
The friends of Buchtel College are by
no means discouraged at the present
outlook. Several changes have occurred,
some Of them only as last resort and
with much regret, but the college has
not been materially crippled and surely
not disabled. The hard financial storm
of the past few years has compelled the
taking in of some Of the light sails and
the reefing of some of the heavier ones.
but the ship is uninjured in spar and
hull and will sail on, more slowly per-
haps, but no less steadily in the line of
duty. The department of instruction
has been weakened by the resignation Of
Prof. Shipman, splendid man as we'll
as an efficient teacher; and by the with
OIdWdl VI DuttOAlOi0t WhO5O 10
moval from Akron is universally regret
ted. The transfer of Miss Bortle to an
other field of labor will also be noticed.
But Buchtel is still strong in its teach
ing force and is as we'll equipped in this
respect as the majority of colleges of its
size. The prospect for students for the
fall is quite hattering, and all in all we
feel that "the stars are still out"
VISIT TO THE PUTNAM's AT BELPRE.
While at the grove meetinn at Rock
land stopped at the home of Mr.. l. W.
Putnam, whose son graduated from the
college and one of whose daughters mar
ried Rev. Mr.. Druly. This hospitable
mansion, ninety five years old stands on
the banks of the Ohio river, and over
looks the celebrated island where Aaron
Burr concerted his little plot of treason
and made its owner. Blennerhassett, his
tool in the nefarious business. The sad
dest part of the story is the fate of the
poor lady, who lived there in the midst
opulence and comfort many happy years
and who. after Burr ruined the home,
died in New York in utter poverty and
neglect. Mr.. Putnam, my host, is
lineal descendent of Gen. Israel Putnam,