The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1899-06-21


makes all differences of creed infnitesi-
NAL. And the daughter, who had been
very worldly and gay and thoughtless,
puts her life on the altar of consecra
ton, and as the sunlight Of that Sab
bath streams through the church win
dow and falls upon her brow and cheek
she looks like their other daughter,
whose face was illuminated with the
brightness of another world on the day
when the Lord took her into his heav-
enly keeping years ago.
should not wonder if, after all, these
parents pass the evening Of their life in
the same church, all differences Of
church preference overcome by the JOY
of being in the house Of God where
their children we're prepared for useful
ness aud heaven. But l can give you
a recipe for running your children. An
grily contend in the household that
your church is right and the church
Of your companion is wrong. Bring
sneer and caricature to empha
size your opinions, and your chill
dren will makeup their minds that reli-
gion is 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 baptism, fight about the bishopric,
fight about gown and surplice, and the
religious prospects of your children
will be left dead on the field lcu will
be as unfortunate as Charles, duke Of
Burgundy, who in battle lost a dia-
mond 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
forcib!e argument, bring all telling IL
lustration, array all demonstrative
facts. but let there be no acerbity, no
singing retort, no mean insinuation,
no superciliousness, as though all 9th
ers were wrong and you infallibly right.
Take hint from astronomy. The
Ptolemaic system made the earth the
center of the solar system, and every
thing was thought to turn round the
earth. But the Copernican system
came aud made the sun the center
around which the planets revolved.
The bigot makes his little belief the
center of everything, but the large
souled Christian makes the sun Of
righteousness the center and all demo
limitations without any clashing al
each in its own sphere revolving arol Is.
it. Over the tomb of Dean Stanley 'u
Westminster abbey is the passage Of
Scripture, Thy commandments are 'z-
ceeding broad. Let no man CROWD us
on to path like the bridge Al Sirat,
which the Mohalnmedan thinks leads
from this world over the abyss of hell
into paradise, the breadth of the bridge
less than the web of starved spider or
the edge of sword or razor, off the
edges Of which many fall. No. While
the way is not vide enough to take with
US any Of our sins, it is wide enough
for all Christian believers to pass with
out peril into everlasting safety. But
do not any Of you depend upon what
you call sound Greco" for salvation.
a man may owe all the statutes Of the
state of New York and yet not be a
lawyer, and a man may own all the best
medical treatise and not bea physician,
and man may own all the bes. works
on painting and architecture and not be
either painter or architect, and man
may own all the sound creeds In the
world and yet not be Christian. Not
what you have in your head and on your
tongue, but in your heart and in your
life, will decide everything.
In olden times in England before the
modern street lamps were invented every
householder was expected to havea Ian
tern suspended in front Of his house,
and the cry of the watchmen in London
as they went along at eventide was,
Hang out your lights" Instead Of
disputing IN your home about the diff
ferent kinds Of lanters, as watchman
on the walls Of Zion cry, "Let your
light so shine before men that they,
seeing your good works, may glorify
your Father which is in heaven" Hang
out your lights! You may have thou
sand ideas about religion and yet not
the great idea Of pardoning mercy. 1t
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 gov
ernment put together are not worth the
ore idea of getting to heaven yourself
and taking your family with you.
But do not reject Christianity, as
many do, because there are so many
sects. Standing in Westminster hotel,
London, looked out of the window and
saw three clocks, as near as [ can re-
member--one on the parliament house,
another on St. Margaret's chapel, an
other on Westminster abbey-ard they
were all different. Ooe said II o'clock
at noon, another said FIVE minutes be-
fore y, another said FIVE minutes after
y. l might as well have concluded
that there is no such thing as time be-
cause the three timepieces were differ
ent as for you to conclude thai ;hcre is
no such thing as pure Christianitv be-
cause the churches differ in their State
ment of it.
But let US all rejoice that, although
part of our family may worship ON
earth in one church and part in another
church or bowed at the same altar in a
compromise Of preferences, We are, if
redeemed, on the way to a perfect
church, where all our preferences will
be fully gratiied Great cathedral Of
eternity, with arches of amethysts and
pillars of sapphire, floors of emerald
,Dd rinSouc oo1ou With tho sunriSa of