The enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 188?-1899, 1897-06-09
QUE MUTUAL iFTER2TATIOSS.
II Ec,. NiiIinm L. Hartnn. D. u.

BY Rev. william Il. Barton, u. ID.
The friend who invited me to speak
here to-day on behalf Of my Congrega-
1iOnalist bfetheren used suggestive IL
Austraiiaf, Whatever good any one de-
nOniR&ti N gets, he affirmed, ii is dis
posed 8, lake of and bury as its own,
digging it mp from time to time, and
growing while it gnaws its own partic
ular i!0ae. lie suggested that, if any
of Us Do, by the grace Of God, possess
sems elements Of virtue unknown to our
frieg6s, it would be better for us now
and then to come together and share
t&e,n. SOwe are here, And whatever
Iaeat dlere is upon the Congregational
hORa Is at your disposal to-day, even as
we all in turn are privilege to share
your portion.
But the statement Of the topic sug-
gusts a yet dearer reason for our coming
together; namely, that no truth possess
ed by any one OF Us is his own exclusive
possession. We DO not, m0Te's The pity,
hold all truth in common: bu. no enc of
us can affirm that he OF his denomina-
tion alone holds any single truth eXclu-
siYelY. We are come, then, to shrae
what is already our COMMON heritage.
write in great uncertainty as to what
those who precede me shall have said be
fore am privileged to speak 10 you
these words. And ii would be very I'M
cOmfOl table il our mutual aliirmutions
as am to record them, shall already
have been denied by four preceding
speakers. Nevertheless, having spirit
Of faith like those Of old, and the same
spirit. believe and therefore speak.
First, | apprehend, we all agree con
eerning the serious nature Of life. II
be a man is thing involving tremen.
deus responsibilities. And we are in tn
midst Of large bodies of men and wOmeI
with needs Of body and mind and spirit
with hopes and fears, with loves ant
hates with joys and sOrrOWs. Heart
QGiyering with joy or swelling with love
or eankering with hate, or breaking will
serrOw, are about us OH every side. AM
to them in the providence Of God, We ar,
to kecOme teachers. We have come from
experiences of to-day, aud from memo
Kies OF our services yesterday, which pre-
serve fresh in our minds the reality 0
life as our people feel and know it. We
are agreed as to the Importance Of Oul
work. The man who can go about i
fippantly is condemned. The man whC
does not count it so important and ser
inus as to compel all his most honest EN-
deaVOr can find no place in this earnes
gathering. And we are agreed essential
IJ as to what are the most pressing need
uf men in view Of the demands of life
The message Of sympathy falls from
all orr lips alike. The words Of caution
&c reproOf or instruction, as We ute
them, depend upon the wisdom OF tn
man and his nearness TO God and the sc
cret Of human life, as he has learned Il
interpret it. They depend only remOtel
upon the questions which divide us int
denominations. This is our first, an
perhaps Onr most important. mutual af
frmatiOn. We stand together upon tn
hitLEr side Of all practical truth. Il
our reforms, in our systems Of educ .tiOI
in our crusades Tor good NOR . aai goo
governmelJ,in 0It i.:4J u M hoo,
and the meaning Of life, W. differ, in
deed; Dug our diff5reace5 are the differ
ences Of hoassG individuals, AMI not 0
cOntcnding sects.
Moreover, our differences that hay
created and that pJrpetuate our GenJmi
national lines are chiefly upon question
which, by common consent, we count
miner Importance; and therein lies OF
second positive and mutual affirmation
Church government, important as
may be, is Of less Importance than sOuu
doctrine, as SQUAD dOctrine, in turn,
less. important than right living Y
the differences between Methodist al
COngregatiOnalist are primarily dilfa
ences OF government. Few strange