The daily morning journal and courier., 1900-11-12

come and mas SnOWn He eNClS iAiN W
 attention-but I realize that thls treat
 ment has been more due to It's conn dence in your judgment than to any thing exceptional in me or my Work'
 I wish also to express my apprecla-
 tion and gratitude for the delightful
 relations I have enjoyed with the city
 clergy of all denominations; these rela-
 tions have been marked by brotherly extension of confidence, lenient Judg-
 ment and words of cordial approval | The same grateful acknowledgement | should be made of the uniformly couf-
 teous and generous treatment Of the
 press, which has without exception
 been considerate and kind. The editors
 have come to be my personal friends,
 the reporters have been always respect
 ful and gentlemanly l recognize the
 value of these friendships to public
 man. These men have the ear of the
 whole community every day; the minis
 ter has the ear of only fraction or It
 once a week; they can help or hinder
 as they please. I am glad to record my
 judgment that the press of this city is
 unusually clean, with high ideals,
 friendly to the churches, ready to help | every good cause.
 What have we done? shall not bur
 den you with statistics-the number of funerals attended, marriages solemniz-
 ed, calls made, sermons and addresses
 delivered; these duties are simply part
 of the regular professional service of every pastor My one regret is that l | have not seen more of you in your | homes; but I was forced to choose be- | tween lines of service both of which are important, and l was assured at the outset that you did not wish me to neg | lect my public ministry that l might sit the more often at your tiresides. The | inquiry of first importance concerns the character of the message that has been delivered here and it's rsults ill motive and life. One may make no claim of
 originality or superiority for his mes sage, one may be dissatisfied with it in many ways and yet be sure that, so far as it has gone, it has been an hon. est word and true word. As God has given me to see the truth and to express the truth, I have brought to you my message. My first desire and constant purpose has been to utter words that NOulu UGdE LuG lESl oI lllt Eolllll D searching and of your intelligent scruti- ny; words that would be comforting and helpful in the daily struggle; words that would make spiritual things clear and duty plain; words that would strengthen the weak, confirm the doubt ing, fortifying the tempted, and inspire all to better living and larger services I have not felt myself called to defend the old because 1t is old or to attack the new because it is new, but I have well comed the light from whatever quarter it has shone and sought to find and declare the assured results of modern investigation; and so to ultra-conserva- tives on the one hand and to Philistines and Athenians on the other, the mes sage has not always been welcome. One is permitted to rejoice, in an hour like this, that he has not declared a gospel in the terms of mans wisdom, a gospel of questionings or negations, a gospel modulated to catch the popular ear and to salve the popular conscience but, up to the measure of the divine inwork- ing, has endeavored to be a true prophet of the Lord. When one stands studying any period of his active life, as in the more solemn hour when the course is finishing and the mists are gathering, the utterapces that give him joy are those that had in them the words of truth and soberness" first spoken in his own soul by the voice of God.
 When Mir Eustis preached his sermon this was the largest Congregational church in Connecticut. Others have outstripped us in point of numbers, but we still have the courage and faith of our fathers and, it is confidently be- lieved, some of their power. This much, however, should be said, not by way of excuse, but as a word of explanation During these ten years there has been a constant tide flowing through this church. We have received 301 persons Ill on confession of faith, 1S4 by certi- | ficate-a record, all things considered for which we need not blush. But 29S have gone out from us, 180 by certificate 9S by death, and 20 dropped from the vote of the church. There has thus been a change of 600, in the actual personal of the church. But true church of | Jesus IHfISl IS nOI uepenQent Tor it's | position or it's power upon numbers, or wealth. CT even upon organizatin &C., cording to modern theories. One may | believe in organization, but he may also | clearly perceive that church can | easily be organized into such infleyi- | bility and unwieldiness as to sacrifice all spontaneity and waste much bower through the elimination of the personal element.
 A church is strong and rich in it's faith, it's traditions, it's spirit as de- clared by it's record, it's breadth of view, it's intelligence, it's attitude toward the great questions and causes that inter- est humanity, its intelligent enthusiasm for truth and righteousness, it's help fulness in society; above all in its genu- inc spirituality All of which means faith in spiritual verities and the experience of them; the reali- zation of God in His world, revealing Himself through His works and His message, and in the incarnation, dwell ing by His Spirit in the hearts of men, permeating literature, art, society, gov ernments, directing the affairs of na- tions and the sequence of events thie is what gives a church it's power and