Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1899-12-21

scCrated and Christian NE, ana they will
soon run against snccriug opposition.
For n compromise Christian character
an easy time now. but for consccrntcd be-
havior grimacc and caricature. For the
body, thanks to the God of free America,
there are now no swords or fiery stakes.
but for the souls of thousands of the
good in Ggurativc sense, rack and glib
bet and Torqucmada. The symbol of the
domestic and social and private and pub
lie suffering Of n great multitude of Gods
dear children, pillars of smoke What an
exciting scene in India when during the
scpoy rebellion Il regiment of highlandcrs
came up and found the dead body of one
Of General Whcclcr's daughters. who had
been insultcd and maulcd and slain by
the sepoys. So great was the wrath
against these murdcrcrs that the Scotch
regiment sat down, and, cutting off the
hair of this dead daughter OF General
Wheeler, they divided it among them,
and each one counted the number of hairs
given him, and each took an oath, which
was executed, that for each hair OF the
murdered daughter they would dash out
the life Of bcstal scpoy But ms we
look over the story of those who in all
agcs have suffered for the truth. while
band together in one solemn vow, one ire
mcndous oath, after having counted the
host of the martyrs. that for each one of
those glorious mon and women who died
for the truth an immortal shall Twelve
with God and live forever.
But as already limited in the first SEN
tCncc Of this sermon, nothing can be more
beautiful than the figures of smoke on n
4 y Va bot IL,
the contour of this volatile vapor. now
enchanted castles, now troops Of horse
men, now hammered procession. now
winged couricrs, now Il black angel OF
wrath under spear of the sunshine
turned to ah angel of light, and now
from horizon to horizon the air is pic
ture gallery filled with masterpieces Of
which God is the artist, morning clouds
Of smoke horn in the sunrise and evening
clouds Of smoke laid in the FURNISHED
sepulchcrs of the sunset.
Divine symbol.
The beauty Of the TRANSPORTED smoke
is n divine symbol Of the beauty of the
church. The faireSt of all the fair is she.
DO not call those prosecutors of whom |
spoke the church. They are the parasites
of the church, not the church itself Her
mission is to cover the earth with 2 SUI
pernatural SladuesS, to open all the pris-
on doors, to balsam all the wounds, to
moss all the graves, to burn mp the night
in the fireplace OF great morning. to
change iron handouts into diamonded
wristlcts, to turn the whole race around,
md whereas it faced death commanding
it, Right about face for heaven" Ac-
cording to the number OF the spires OF the
churches in all our cities, towns and
nciGhborhoods. are the good homes, the
worldly prospcrties, and the pure morals,
and the happy souls.
Meet me at any depot the world over,
and with my eyes closed take me by the
hand and lend me so that my feet will not
stumble, and without my once looking
down or looking on the level take me to
some high roof or tower and let me see
the tops Of the churches and | will tell
ybu the proportion of suicides, Of arsons,
of murders, of thefts. According as the
churches are numerous are the crimes
few. According as the churches are few
the crimes are numerous. The most beau
tiful organization the world ever saw or
ever will see is the much maligncd
church, the friend Of all good. the foe of
all evil, fair ms the moon and clear as
the sun" Beautiful in her Author, beau
tiful in her mission, the heroine of the
centuries. the bride of Christ, the queen
of the nations,
Men may desecrate it, as Cromwell
when he stabbed his cavalry horses in ST.
Paurs cathedral; or break off the image
of Christ. as did the iconoclasts in York
minister; or hurl against it august liter
airy antipathes. MS did Gibbon; or plot its
l., L
ty whose pride and hate and dehauchc.y
are reprovod by the Ten Commandments
which it thundcrs and the sermon on the
mount which it breathcs. But it will
stand ms long ms the earth stands. the
same unique and wonder working and
boatiic and miraculous thing for which
God decrced it. Small wits tax their
brain to say things that will put her at
disadvantage, but many of them will send
for its confidence when dying and their
children will be gathered up under its
benedctions after the parental curse has
been removed. Through her gates will
march all the influences for good that
shall ever reach our world. Take her
membership as n mass, not speaking of
the acknovS dyed exceptions, they are
the noblcst, grandcst kindcst. best men
anu NpHpn ol lHf ages. nut LOT lHcul
the earth would long ago have been a
burned ont volcano. They have been the
salt that has kept the human race from
putrefaction insufferable either to human
or angelic olfactories.
TIE Best Institution.
You lying and hypocritica world. shut
up those ISLANDERS about the church of
Christ. an institution which, far from be-
ing what it ought to be- and never pre-
tending to be perfect is 800 times bet
ter than any other institution that the
world ever saw or over dreamed Of. The
highest honor | ever had, and the highest
honor | shall ever receive, and the high
Est honor | ever want is to have my name
on her records as a member. At her al
tars I repented At her sacraments |
believed. In her service let me die.
From her doors let me be buried q
church of God. Thou home of the right
eous, Thou harbor from tempest, Thou
refuge for the weary! Thou lighthouse
of many nations, Thou type Of heaven,
] could kiss thy very dust with ecstasy of
affection.
For her my tears shall fall,
For her my prayers ascend.
To her my tolls and cares be given
Til tolls and cares shall end,
"Perfumod smoke" says Solomon in
the words following my text. Not like
the fumes coughed mp from the throat Of
steam pipe or poisoned with the gases
of chemical factories or floating in black
wrath from the conflagration of home
StCadS or euluhurouS from blozino ha I.