The united opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1881-1970, 1897-10-29

hollow scene the tortured guest retlres
at the close of the evening, assuring the
host that he has enjoyed himself. So
ciety is become SO contorted and deform
ed in this respect that mountain cabin
where the rustics gather at a quilting
or an apple pairing has in it more good
cheer than all the frescoed refrigerators
of the metropolis
The Church Lie.
l pass on to speak of ecclesiastical
lies, those which are told for the adj
vancement or retarding of church or
sect. 1t is hardly worth your while to
ask an extreme Calvinist what an Ar
minian believes He will tell you that
an Arminian believes that man can
save himself. An Arminian believes no
such thing 1t is hardly worth your
while to ask an extreme Arminian what
a Calvinist believes. He will tell you
that Calvinist believes that God made
some men just to damn them. A Cal
whist believes no such thing. 1t is hard
ly worth your while to ask Pedo- Bap-
fist what Baptist believes. He will
tell you Baptist believes that INNER
sion is necessary for salvation. A Bap-
fist does not believe any such thing 1t
is hardly worth your while to ask a man
who very much hates Presbyterians
what Presbyterian believes He will
tell you that a Presbyterian believes
that there are infants in hell a span
long, and that very phraseology has
come down from generation to genera
ton in the Christian church There
never was a Presbyterian who believed
that "Oh, you say, II heard some
Presbyterian minister 90 years ago say
SOL You did not There never was
man who believed that. there never
will be a man who will believe that,
and yet from boyhood have heard that
particular SANDER against Christian
church going down through the COM
munity.
Then how often it is that there are
misrepresentation on the part of indi-
vidual churches in regard to other
churches-especially if church comes
to great prosperity. AS long as church
is in poverty, and the singing is poor,
and all the surroundings are decrepit,
and the congregation are so hardly
bestead in life that their pastor goes with
elbows out, then there will always be
Christian people in churches who say,
What pity, what a pity!" But let
the day Of prosperity come to Chris
tian church, and let the music be tri-
umphant and let there be vast assem-
blages and then there will be even min
listers of the gospel critical and denun-
ciatory and full of Misrepresentation
and Justification, giving the impression
to the outside world that they do not
like the corn because it is not ground
in their mill Oh, my friends, let us in
all departments of life stand back from
deception.
But some one says, 1.-The deception
that practice is so small that it don't
amount to anything" All. my friends
it does amount to great dealt You |
say, when | deceive, it is only about I
a case of needles or box of buttons or
a row of pins" But the article may be
so small you can put it in your vest
pocket, but the sin is as big as the pyra-
mids, and the echo of your dishonor
will reverberate through the mountains
of eternity. There is no such thing as a
small sin. They are all vast and stu
pendous, because they will all have to
come under inspection in the day of
Judgment. You may boast yourself of
having made fine bargain, a sharp
bargain. You may carry out what the
Bible says in regard to that man who
went in to make purchase and depre-
ciated the value of the goods and then
after he had got away boosted of the
splendid bargain he had made 1T is
naught, it is naught saith the buyer,
but when he is gone his way, then he
boasteth. 1t may seem to the world
sharp bargain, but the recording angel
wrote down in the ponderous tones of
"Mr. So-and-so, doing business
On Pennsylvania avenue. or Broadway,
1r Chestnut street, or State street, told
1ne lie. "
The Masquerade.
May God extirpate from society all
he ecclesiastical lies and all the social
les and all the mechanical lies, and
III the commercial lies, and all the ag-
'icultural lies, and make every man to
Ipeak the truth of his neighbor Ny
let us make our life correspond
m xUhat xx-a ora or ne hauicb all do 4,