Connecticut western news., 1899-06-15

Are Good and Are Seeking the
 Same End-Angry sectarian Discus
 sisns DepIored.
 Copyright. Louis Klopsch. 1S9s.l
 WASHINGTON, June 11.-In this ser
 mon Dr. Talmage discusses topic which will interest domestic circles everywhere. The text is Genesis xiii, &: "Let there be no strife, I pray thee,
 between me and thee and between my herdmen and thy herdmen. Is not the whole land before theef"
 Uncle and nephew, Abram and Let, both pious, both millionaires, and with such large fiocks of bleating sheep and into fight, perhaps about the best pas ture or about the best water privilege or because the COW of one got hooked by the horns of the other. Not their poverty of opportunity, but their wealth, was the cause of controversy between these two men. To Abram, the glorious old Mesopotamian sheik. such contro
 versy seemed absurd. It was like two ships quarreling for sea room in the middle of the Atlantic ocean. There was vast reach of country. cornfields. vineyards. harvests and plenty of room in illimitable acreage. "Now," says Abram, ''let us agree to differ. Here are the mountain districts. swept by the tonic sea breeze and with wide reaching prospect, and there is the plain of the Jordan, with tropical luxuriance. You may have either. Lot, who was not as rich as Abram, and might have been expected to take the second choice, made the first selec- tion and with modesty that must have made Abram smile said to him.
 "You may have the rocks and the fine prospect will take the valley of the Jordan. with all its luxuriance of cornfelds and the river to water the Hocks and the genial climate and the wealth immeasurable. So the contro- ,verey was forever settled and great souled Abram carried out the sugges- tion of the text: "Let there be no strife. I pray thee, between me and thee. and between my herdmen and thy herdmen. Is not the whole land before theef"
  nineteenth century and in this beau tiful land, which was called America, after Americus Vespucius, but should have been called Columbia, after it's discoverer, Columbus, we have a wealth of. religious privilege and opportunity that is positively bewildering. Churches of all sorts of creeds and of all kinds of government and all forms of worship and all styles of architecture-what opulence of ecclesiastical opportunity Now, while in desolate regions there may be only one church. in the opulent districts of this country there is such a profusion that there ought to be no difficulty in making selection. No fight about vestments, or between litur- gical or nonliturgical adherents. or as to baptismal modes, or a handful of water as compared with a riverfuL If Abram prefers to dwell on the heights, where he can get only sprinkling from the clouds, let him consent that Lot have all the Jordan in which to i'm merse himself ''Let there be no strife, I pray thee, between me and thee and between my herdmen and thy herdmen. Is not the whole land before theef"
 Angry Discussion DepIored.
 Especially is it unfortunate when families allow angry discussion at the | breakfast or dining or tea table as to which is the best church or denomina- ton, one at one end of the table saying he could never endure the rigid doc tr;nes of Presbyterianism, one at the l other end responding that she never could stand the forms of Episcopacy, | and one at one side of the table saying I he did not understand how any body | could bear the noise in the Methodist l church. and another declaring all the | Baptists bigots There are hundreds of l families hopelessly split on ecclesiasti- l c1sm. and in the middle of every discus | sion on such subjects there ii. a kindling l of indignation. and it needs some old 1 father Abram to come and put his foot | on the loaded fuse before the explosion | takes place and say: "Let there be no l strife. pray thee, between me and thee | and between my herdmen and thy herd- men. Is not the whole land before theef''
 undertake a subject never under taken by any other pulpit, for it is an exceedingly delicate subject, and if not rightly handled might give serious offense, but approach it without the slightest trepidation, for am sure have the divine direction in the mat ters propose to present. It is tre- mendous question, asked all over Chris tendon, often asked with tears and sobs and heart breaks and involving the oh Ro ha of ness of many souls. In matters of church attendance should the wife go with the husband or the husband go with the wife-s
 First. remember that all the evan gelical churches have enough truth in them to save the soul and prepare us for happiness on earth and in heaven. I will go with you into any we'll se- lected theological library, and I will show you sermons from ministers in all denominations that set forth man as a sinner and Christ as deliverer from sin and sorrow. That is tho whole gos- pei Get that into your soul and you are fitted for the here and the here- after. There are differences, we admit, and some denominations we like better than others. But suppose. three or four of us make solemn agreement to meet each other a week from now in Chicago on important business. and one gees by the New York Central railroad, another by the Erie railroad, another by the Pennsylvania railroad, another by the Baltimore and Ohio railroad. One goes this, way because the mountains are grander another takes this because the cars are more luxurious; another that 1 because the speed is greater; another takes the other because he has long been accustomed to that route, and all | the employees are familiar So far as | our engagement 10 meet is concerned it | makes no difference if we only get l there. Now, any one of the innumer-