Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1899-06-15

en-. But I can give you recipe for ruin
ing your children. Angrly contend in
the household that your church is right
and the church Of your companion is
wrong Bring sncer and caricature to
emphasize your opinions, and your chill
dren will make up their minds that reli-
gion is a sham. and they will have none
of it. In the northeast storm of domes-
tic controversy the rose of Sharon and
the lily of the valley will not grow. Fight
about apostolic succession, fight about
election and free agency. fight about bap-
tism, fight about the bishopric, fight
about gown and surplicc, and the reli-
gious prospects of your children will be
left dead on the field. You will be as I'M
fortunate as Charles, duke of Burgundy,
who in battle lost a diamond the value OF
kingdom, for in your fight you will lose
the jewel of salvation for your entire
household This is nothing against the
advocacy of your own religious theories.
Use all forcible argument, bring all tell
ing illustration, array all demonstrative
facts, but let there be no acerbity, no
singing rctort, no mean insinuation. no
supercliousness, as though all others
Talks hint from astronomy. The
Ptolemaic system made the earth the CEN
ter OF tie solat system. and everything
was thought to turn round the earth.
But the Copernican system came and
made the sun the center around which
the planets revolved The higot makes
his little belief the center of everything,
but the large souled Christian makes the
sun Of righteousness the center and all
denominations without any clashing and
| each in its own sphere revolving around
it. Over the tomb of Dean Stanley in
Westminster abbey is the passage of
Scripture, "Thy commandments are ex-
ceeding broad" Lot no man crowd us
on to a path like the bridge AL Sirat,
which the Mohammedan thinks leads
from this world over the abyss of he'll
into paradise the breadth of the bridge
less than the web of a starved spider or
the edge Of sword or razor, off the
edges of which many fall. No. While
the way is not wide enough to take with
us any of our sins, it is wide enough for
all Christian believers to pass without
peril into everlasting safety. But do not
any Of you depend upon what You call
"a sound creed" for salvation. A man
may own all the statutes of the state of
MON NAV own oil +ho ho.t ,nodinoI
trooti.o and NOT ho n nbvs;cion and !,
WON ,no,, own oil Tho hast ,rori,s on
nnin+i,n ,a ornhi,ont,ro ava not hn
nithnr n.in,nr az ornh;taot ond NOV
r,n,. ,,.,, al tho so,,d orooJ, l., thn
| world and yet not be Christian. Not
| what YOU hav" in your head and on your
| tongue. but in your heart and in your
| life will decide everything
""hE o"' Tour H'"h''
| In olden times IN Englann peiore the
modern street lamps were invented every
honseholoer was expected 10 nave IAN
! t'rr suspended IN front or ms mouse, ana
the cry OF the watchmen IN London ms
they went along at eventlde was, Hang
OUT your nights Instead or dlsputing III
your home about the different kinds OF
lantern, rs Waterman on the walls OF
Ilon cry, Let your hght so shine De
fore men that they, seeing your good
works, may glorlfy your Father which is
in heaven" Hang out your lights. You
may have thousand ideas about re-
ligior and yet not the great idea OF par
| doning mercy. II is not the number OF
ideas, but the greatness of them. A
mouse hath ten offspring in her nest
while the lioness hath one in her lair
All ideas about forms and ceremonies
and church government put together are
not worth the one idea of getting tc
heaven yourself and taking your family
with you.
But do not reject Christianity, rs
many do, because there are so many
scots. Standing in Westminster hotel
London, looked out of the window and
saw three clocks, ms near as / can re
member-one on the parliament house
another on st. Margaret's chapel, anoth
er on Westminster abbey-and they were
all different. One said ~ o'clock at noon
another said five minutes before II, an
other said five minutes after II. might
as well have concluded that there is M
such thihg rs time because the three
timepieces were different as for you Il
conclude TINT there is no such thing n,
- Ct;.;;. Ls.,,r - - ~
pure cnlist!hhi.E because ,he churehe'