The Portland daily press., 1900-01-08
NINETEENTH CENTURY.
Sermon by Rev. DIR. Dalton Yesterday.
at So. stephens.

DIR. Dalton preached yesterday on the
Nineteenth Century. He took for his
text, Eccleslasess 7:l0. '.5ay not thou
what 10 The cause that the former days
were better than these, for thouo dost not
inquire wisely concerning this."-
DR.. Dalton said In part: IL the world
growing better or worssf The answer
depcnds upon our point Of view. and its
extent. Doubtless, there 70 improvement
on the whole, IL mos all along the line.
Wars were tbs rule when "meuntAins In
tsrposed, made enemies Of nations" Eu-
rope has had no great war since Nspoieoa
fell. Our civil. war WAS the srsateet OF
It's kind In history and was waged to
save us from future intermiuabls wars.
The present wars Of the United States
and Of England are the work Of minori-
~ allowed to lead better majority. All
wars are costly In blood and treasure.
both Of which the people must furnish.
Let MS hope We are to wage no aggres-
sive war In the future, least Of all for
the Spanish Americans. The evils OF
war and the blessings of peace have been
made more prominent In the 18th than
In any previous century.
A second note characteristic OF the
century. is the rapid progress OF science.
The inventions and discoveries Of the
century, surpAss all those Of former times
in their bearing ON human happiness and
progress. But let US not forget that the
most renowned cities of the world, suoh
as Athens, Jerusalem and Fiorenos. knew
nothing Of modern science, or OF those
inventions which are called the glory OF
our age Yet they had glories OF their
own which surpass ours when viewed BY
the highest human intelligence. Athens
leads the world today In art. orAtory,
history, poetry, philosophy and arohiteo-
turs, In search Of which the world is con-
tent to emulate and i'm itate hsr, follow
ing her afar OF.
Thirdly, our point Of superiority 10 seen
In the wide diffusion Of knowledge.
which Of old was the possession OF few
who used IL to acquire and perpetuate
their owa power. A republic rests on
intelligence. An ignorant, idle and de-
prayed populace Is As dangerous to build
on as the country around Vssuvius which
is ever liable to fiery eruptions.
This brings us to the fourth charac-
teristic OF the century. viz The feeling OF
human solidarity, Of human brotherhood.
In this important particular our cen :
tury surpassss all previous ones and IL
itself the fairest fruit Of the Gospel.
The fifth and last characteristic Of the
century to be noted ters, is the great and
happy progress made In the realm OF re-
lieion. Early In the oentpry the sectarian
spirit was rife In our land. az u had Desn
in oth.rs for ages. Each sect fought for
Its own hand and with the contention
that Its accommodation Of "Shibbolsth'
was the only correct one. the only one
q acceptable to God. happily We have
lived long enough to see this contention
greatly disorsdited. Nearly all mea Of
good will are now agreed that II IL the
things In which Christians agree. that
are essential, and not this things In which
they formerly differed. We can still
differ and agree to differ. without I'M
oLurehing those from whom we diner
provided We hold to the faith and live
the lives which are common to all who
see in Christ their Common Lord. ine
time and talent once spent in vain dis
putations, ara now mora generally cors'-
oratsd to tbs diffusion Of. Christ's cardi-
ma. doctrines OF human life and duty, viz:
| Ths love OF God and Of our fellow men.
True 1t is that the old lsavsn Of bit
| terness is still at work ana will be here.
after, though NTH less vigor. IL is true
all along tn, line. The cause OF peaoe 10
advancing, but never had more selfish.