The Atlanta universalist. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1881-????, April 06, 1881, Image 2

Below is the OCR text representation for this newspapers page.

ATLNTA IIVERSALIST. APRIL 6, 1881. 1 F.RMS: Two Hollars Per Annum. Editor. D- B. Clay ton. K. E. Keeld, Jnulor Editor, CorrespoiMlinfC EUltors. KKV. Wm. Hale, Free Hill, Tenu. T. C. Whstall, Esq., Asheville, N. C. Correspond**** 8 ' Edward F. Temple, Beaton, Maas. Rev. J. E. Davesport, Providence. Specimen Copies. We shall from time to time send out specimen copies to our friends mvarious parts of the country, in the hope that they will subscribe themselves, anu hand them around among their ac quaintances, in order to induce them also to subscribe. terms of subscription One copy one year, $ “’fm “ “ six months, ii <i three months, f-v. —one year. Five copies “ “ Ten copies “ “ 50 5,00 8,00 15,00 blood! Parents whipped their chil dren with raw-hide, and now threaten to “skin them alive” by this same rude method of vivisection. Nothing was more natural than for gentlemen and ladies to hate each oth er as hell-deserving, because this was the outbirth of an idea—the overt ex. essiou of a principle which went out into the objective world, like the smoke of a tar-kiln! If there was anything bright in the panoramic view of human existence, it was the lurid light of hell shining full upon the pic ture, and the painter did not fail thereby to heighten the dramatic ef fect of oil painting on canvas. The greatest poet was he who could ex plore the caverned darkness of the pit in all its labyrinths, in all its se cret passages to deep, and still deeper woe, and show millions of damned ghosts sheeted in flames, treading the red billows of an ocean of fire ! All beauty went out of life; all that was hopeful and cheery faded sad- As friends frequently ask us for our club rates, we have arranged the fore going for their information. To re sponsible parties we will send the pa per at two dollars a year and let them pay for it any time during the year; but at the club rates the money must accompany the order. Send by Post Office order, or regis tered letter at our risk. Shooting Stars. BY R. E. N. A tiling is not true simply because it is in the Bible; but it is in the Bi ble because it is true. Truth is not a geographical fixture, nor is it confined to metes and bounds. No fallible church can monopolize the whole truth and nothing but the truth, because of the all-pervading sediment of human imperfection. Truth is diffusive like the atmos phere we breathe,—nay, it is omni present, for “God is Truth,” whose es sence cannot be bottled up by any church. To grow and expand, the mind must use its wings. One hampered by a creed, is a bird in a cage. — you are fenced in. by convention al agreement to believe and teach cer tain things forever, you are an ass in a stable-lot where the grass is scant, while outside is boundless herbage. Freedom, with its muniments iu aid of' mind and heart culture, is a sort of wealth beside which a cataract of gems, poured out like Niagara, is but poverty! A slavish churchmau, of a broad brow, is an eagle with clipped wings. Where all agree, there is no discus sion—nay, nor vigorous thinking ; the result is stagnation! Music is the in- terblending of discord with concord, God never intended men to be as a box of soda crackers, square-cnt and precisely alike. Freedom is of more consequence than all the dogmas that have been strung on a thread like paste diamonds for people to wear as bracelets—but they are really—or least sugget the idea—of hanndcuffs! Pretty labels, to classify men like bottles of ginger- pop, severely corked, and kept perpetu ally on a narrow shelf/ How degrading that is! Truth vs Superstition. BY R. E. ». A principle embodied in the great lump of degenerate humanity, and working outwardly into material re sults, gives its complexion to society and government far more than super ficial thinkers apprehend. The idea of endless torture, inflicted by an infinitely good and merciful God, was a seed planted in the dark ages, which has turned loose more mis chief among mankind than Pandoras box. Like a universal fog, it dark ened the destinies of all who had to accept life inside of the little horizon where the smoke of hell was so dense and the smell of brimstone so intoller- able that no breath of satisfaction wag drawn except by priests, who of course fattened on the miseries of mankind. A cruel God makes a cruel people, by the reflex power of an idea. Ac cordingly we see the horrors of tyran ny, in government, in society, and in families. Criminals were stretched upon the rack until the eyeballs bursted out of their sockets! Men hated and killed each other by the wholesale. The crowning glory was to go to war and wade knee-deep in Iy as the eyes we love when quenched 1 *n death. Children, catching the in fection, became listless and unplayftd, and finally died of a disease for which physicians have no name. Tender, sensitive maidens faded out of exist ence as bright exotic flowers visited by killing frost It was thought harmful to laugh, to sing jolly songs, to play the fiddle and dance, or to do any thing whasoever towards mitigating the sadness of life—as if there would not be suffering enough when all got to hell! The anchrorites tortured themselves with iron girdles, and with peas in their shoes. The spiritually dyspeptic, by a habit of pepetual in trospection, grew to be hypocondriacol looking every minute for the devil to fly sway with him. We have seen several good persons in our day who beleived themselves reprobates guilty of “the unpardonable sin.” One said he knew the day and the hour when the “Spirit of God”—whatever that may mean —took wing and flew away —which way it went we can t say ! Thus this poor planet of ours, this little atom in God’s infinitude of space —has hung pendent in the blackest clouds, for centuries, the most misera ble in the grand processiou of worlds, because the most priest-ridden. ’ "It'Is no marvel that this giuftETWitir its circumference of 25000 miles, has been belted by misery ; for who, with human feeling, could be happy with this incubus of hell resting, with the weight of a mountain, upon the great loving heart of humanity? Fragments of families were on this and that side of the dark river which the dead must cross; and parents with children in hell, could not be cheerful —nay, the peril of being “Hair-hung and breez-shaken” over a seething gulf of fire had : n it a shadow of unrest which no stoicism could dispel. This obtrusive ghost from the under world was at every feast, pointing to the terrific judgment bar when the eternal seperation of loved ones is to transpire, when the joy of living is to be supplemented with the pain of dying—‘‘(tying a death that never dies! ” At this banquet all eyes see that spectre! The strong man’s counte nance shows but the sullen calmness of dispair; Mobile the cheek of female beauty, white as the marble slab in the cemetery, has the inscription ot unending sorrow, chiselled there by pillow of toil worn lalwirers. The little children, who believed Satan was a roaring lion turned loose in the earth by the Good Father, feared to^ncoun- ter him on the highway. The servant boy, fearing to pamper the fCih, re. fused his cake and ale, and did pen ance with his bare feet on the cold pavement through the long, long night when daylight seemed never eoming. Saint Cathrerine had seen tie Devil who left a stench behind lira like unto asefetida, with a couple 91 pole cats thrown in! Luther also saw Santan, aid threw his inkstand at him!—though the hymn-book says pointedly— “Old Satan trembles when he sees The weakest saint upon hi< knees.” 1 here was a vast amount of igno rance in those days ; but as. “Igno rance is tho mother of superstition,” the priesthood were far from pushing the matter of education with anything like intemperate zeal! Hie poor ones, in the chipo-gaug ot this vassalage, went to their, masters for absolution, just as when Love, the night shall turn to day. When’Dr. Chapin and compeers threw themselves rgainst the dark doors of gloom, they did not obliterate the suf fering beyond, but with their hands they wiped from the door those terri ble : “All hope abandon, ye who en ter here.” In the latter part of his eloquent sermon he says: “The Universalist controversy has made necessary a res statement of the doctrine of restitu tion throughout the Church. The case has been brought into court and re-tried. As a rosult of Dr. Chapin and his friend’s work, we see the movement spread in churches of all denominations, honest and intelligent members of which have so far modi fied their belief that they now profess the doctrine of limited punishment, or mortality. “I do not personally believe that the Universalist dogma of restoration will replace the doctrine of hell. The truth that “God is Love,” must not be construed into “God is weakness.” bodily ailments they went toHlil Bias Dr. Sangrady to be blooded copiously and so successful was this practice that keen.eyed, avaricious hearse-drivers never failed to whip up their horse: unmercifully in following the doctors, who spared neither lash nor spur when sent for by their patients. It was hard tell which did 'the most good, the doctors or the priests; tho’ perhaps the former, since death was preferable to life in such an age—even though some sort of hell awaited the dying they at least escaped from the clutches of the priests! The human mind spins a great deal of yarn, and sometimes gets entangled in it; so that it is hard to unwind it, or otherwise dispose of it. Iu the human fountain of truth there is a sediment, of mud at the bot tom, and when that is stirred up, the stream of thought is far from being limpid. It is the business of priests as to keep men’s minds stirred up, so to obscure the truth. Men are taught that Reason is a child of ^e. Devil that Common Senee is a V^'help of Sin —that thinking in a natural way saorilege! Men in the mud of superstition are Jike-tadpotes ia-puddLs tr water poljiwogs that must be jumping frogs on dry land ere their tails are worn off smoothly; so some men must be evolved by time and cultuie until they can tell a pikestaff from a hand-saw, and then they need not believe Jeho vah can be crowded inte a wafer, or that He was once a little boy in this miserable world. To be continued. 4th- -Looking at, sin--he re-am inhere.--we see the pittiless hand that might have wiped the tears from off all faces! The youDg mother looked at her sweet babe that slept on its pillow of stainless white, an animated snowflake which had drifted down to her thro’ the blue aisles of the sky, a precious gift from God ; and as she gazed long and wistfully at the unspoken word of “mother” on the rosebud lips, she be thought her of the perils that awaited it, and her eyes became luminous with some dread thought which she named not to herself nor would trust to an- self, nor would entrust to another! Meantime the priests, who were the bondholders of the Government, were cutting it fat in the sale of indulgen ces, for there was much redundent pi ety for sale, and to luxuriate in sin* one only had to pay by the schedule of prices offixed thereto. The whole business of life was re duced to the single thing of escaping hell. At home or abroad this om nipresent vulture that fed on the hu man heart. It was Poe’s raven which sat in the cottages of the poor—the dark ominous bird that banished joy from all human habitations! Even sleep was banished from the A Tribute to l>r. Chapin. Extracts from Rev. R. Heber Xeiv* ton’s Tribute- to the memory atul charac ter of Rex. E. H. Chapin, P. p. Mr. Newton is rector of the Authon Memorial Ptot. Episcopal church, pity of New York. “Dr. Chapin's place belongs in a special branch of Christianity, which years ago was in bad repute among Christians in general. To be under the ban of society was not a light thing for a man of his feelings ; yet nothing could could induce him to de ny his honest convictions. He was a true representative ot that church whose doctrine is, “God is Love.” All the power of his eloquence was de voted to making this a greal truth and to letting man see that, through the gate of death, the sublime light of hope is shining. It is hard for us to realize the state of things before suoh brave men as Dr. Chapin began their work. Chris tianity had been dominated by Calvin ism, a system which preached that God had chosen a part of mankind for salvation, and infallibly secured their redemption, leaving the other portion to their unhappy fate.” Then, after speaking of the protest against Catholocism as having come in the shape of Unitarianism, and of the extremes, indefensible in hjs opinion, but nevertheless a natural reaction to which both were led as over and against the doctrine of eternal retri bution.” Dr. Newton goes on to say; “But men saw that in thisgreat movement there was a new gospel, and of those who cast themselves into it, none ex ercised a better influence than Dr. Chapin. Universalism has since been steadily rising. It affirms that all pun ishment is educational and disciplin ary. It believes that because God is how it blinds the soul and perpetuates itself; so I cannot believe that the dogma of Universalism will ultimately prevail. But I nevertheless honor these men because, like the Unitari ans, they will not make a new “ism,” but will only leaven the old.” And these are Dr. Newton’s closing words: “To the memory of that brave and ncble man, Dr. Chapin, let me pay my simple and heart-lelt trib ute of admiration and gratitude. You and I owe it to him, that the terrible anguish is lifted from us when a dear one departs this life. We are indebt ed to him, that to-day, when seduced by the temptations of the world, when urged to disbelieve in a revengeful God, our faith remains strong, be cause we know that “God is Love!” By request of a good brother, we re mind the reader of the patent (act that three fourtha of Christendom are (Spirit ualists or Universalists.—r, e. n. 'UUW—iwjulbi 1,1.. — Doctrine at Work. fExiract Boston Leader.] No doctrine can long hold its posi tion as au object of general inlerest, if it has no other claim to sympathy than a purely argumentative basis.— Proofs that a particular doctine is true -may-be unamwersbjf; ami they -om- pel assent; but if no further reason can be produced why people should manifest a devotion to such doctrine, its hold on tb,e human heart will not be such as to evoke enthusiasm. The 5th of Romans, and the 15th of of 1st Cor., and the sequences of the Divine Fatherhood, will ever hold firm the essentials of Universalist (ioc- taind, But if very different matter should fail to supplement those proofs, Universalism could not have its plate in the religions of the world. Though spoken by God arid revealed by angels, doctrine must show itself in life, else its charm will dissolve while it takes its place nmoqg things de fault, God is our loving Father ; therefore we are to love and adore Him. All men are brethren ; ‘therefore we are to love and do good to them. The church that fails in this “there fore” has no right to a place among men. If any of us are so favored that it is in our power to lift up our hum bier brethren, the doctrine that distin guishes us must prove its fitness for that work. The beauty of Universalism is not exclusively in 1st. Cor., but in the truth that it reveals a God whom it is a joy to worship, and a relationship among men that impels us to recog nise and to honor and to bless the humblest of our fellows. J. Hyatt Smith. This revereued gentleman, recently elected to Congress, gave a lecture at his church, entitled, “M life as a Con gressman and Clergyman; a Sermon of Explanation, before my departure for Washington.” He said : “The Church will have a much broader faith than is now held by what is called “ The Orthodox Church.” I do believe that in the purpose of the God who sem, his Son to save sinners by the efficiency of the sacrifice of that Son, every soul God ever made will ultimately come to a knowledge of the truth. I can no longer reconcile myself to the belief that God sent His Son as a sacrifice for the race and made s fail ure. I believe in restitution ; though I know not wliat process there will be be in the other world ; but that only 1 out of every 1800 souls can he saved, and the other 1700 damned to all eternity, is something I cannot be lieve. I believe that, ultimately, ev ery soul will find salvation, and there fore I won httffrawsEFH" eh ti ruhims on that belief. It would not necessa rily be a Universalist church. Gall it a Christ Church - a church as broad as the love of God, and one that would receive into its fold all true workers for Jesus Christ. I have now outlined my new life as Congressman and as a clergyman. I desire to serve my country aud my as far as my God will allow me.” God, Btgk The following paragraph is in serted at request of an esteemed friend who is, we think, a free-thinker : “1 doubt very much whether men of science are not more truly on their knees than men of superstition in our days. Never did such candor, such confessions of baffled insight, such a sense of inscrutable wisdom and pow er, such a feeling of awe aud depend ence, seem to prevail in science as now, when so many theologians are raising their eyebrows and seeking to alarm the world at what they call the Atheism of the most truth-loving, ear nest and noble men. I would sooner have the skepticism—reverent and fearless of these solemn aud awful inquisitors in the inner shrines of na ture, than the faith of self-bandaged priests whoja^thiukijig to %ht the way to heaven with caudles on the mid-day altar, or to keep faith in God alive only by preessions in vestments of purple and gold.”—Bellows, thus Science bellows when gored bv the Burnish hull turned loose from the aitar of candles! FINEST of POETRY My Darling Boy. L. C. MARVIN. How could I tread the hallowed plain Where God and Christ and angels are • Or how coul heaven to me be gun. Unitss the lad were with me there? If not, in death I would have staid Within the shroud which dead men wear, Or living, seek the willow’s shade, And hang my harp forever there. Or what avails the victor's crown, Or bright robes which angels wear Unless the lad be all my own ’ Willi me the bliss of heaven to ’share ? How could 1 join that wondrous throng Ul,l .hro“ ed Cr °* n6 »“ d And know his voice shall but prolong Hell’s dolorous, deep and c readful groans? As Gog and Magog warred of old, Aud from the place ia wrath we’re driven So would I storm its mighti est hold Aud war’s loud cla I’d join some rebel angel throng, * And power Omnipotent defy! — The shout of war should be my son- To s.und rebellion thio’ the air. ' . I d te " r t the l T l,e * ip every fold. ~ Aud wortnless cfay, ’**•' I d scorn the brightest crown of gold. Aud throw the paltry thing awav. I’ardown thro’ space where Satan fell, Oa strong immortal wiugs I’d fly, And share the deepes, darkest hell, Or bring the lad with me on high. Yes, dearest boy, thy every woe, On earth ’tis given me to share ; May God no other world bestow Unless that boon be granted there. Such my request. Let Wen record, And angels this bright record keep And God to me naught el-e all ird Save worms and shroud and death’s long supern- Your Payer. Coirespondent Gospd Banner. The daily newspaper is one of the seven wonders of the world of modern times. The daily paper, however, deals only with the surlace occurren ces of the world. In can be depend ed on, in the main, for only cial knowledge. The partisan dailies are one-sided, and their exclusive readers are sure to be misled. I have a better opinion of the week ly paper, and especially of the relig ious weekly. Whatever its sectarian bias, it must needs discuss subjects which cannot lie comprehended in a short paragraph. There is scarcely any reading, save that of the Bible itself, which J, can more heartily commend, as both inteL lectuually and religiously helpful, than he newspaper of your own church. Cotton Exposition. I he World’s convocation in the citv of Atlanta, on the 15th day of Octo ber next, will lie a grand affair, and as teaching our local interests, ot tre mendous importance. More than a mil ion of strangers, hailing lrom ev ery point of the the compass and ren- resenting every civilized nationally under the sun, will be here. For the moment Atlanta will be the local point to which all eyes will be turned from the ends ot the earth. Then will come the impetus which is to make this city, ultimately, the largest and most splen did metropolis iu the South. I lie Exposition will be of huge pro portions. It is said that there will be, on exhibition, two miles of machinery when arranged tor sight seers. Letters are coming here daily from England, France, Germany, Italy,— even from Australia. Machinery for the manufacture ot all sorts of fabrics, from the gossamer lace to the osuaburgs, will be on exhi bition. I wenty acres of ground are to be divided into half-acre lots and let to such parties, in the cultivation of cot ton, as are willing to contend for pre miums. The best fertilizers, with the best methods of raising the staple, will be employed. Cotton—which clothes the world—will now come to the front as king, and be crowded ( his throne in Atlanta! The essence of true nobility is neg lect of self. Let the thought of self taint an ac tion, and its beauty will be gone like the bioom of a soiled flower. Any effort at display is a conscious confession of weakness. orni Dates and Facts. Children should memorize this : The first Inciter mafojh was made The first horse raiload was built 1826—7. Gold was discovered in Califi in 1848. Ihe first locomotive in this count was 111 1829. 1 he first printing press in the Ui ted States was introduced in 1629. i he first Almanac was printed Geo. Von Furbaeh in 1460. ihe first steam engine on this con nent wus, bVmght from. IWlanH 17t>3. * Measure 209 feet on either side, ai you will have a square acre within 1 inch. An acre contains 4,840 S qua yards. A sqare mile contains 640 acres. 5,280 feet, or 1,760 yar< hi length. A lathom is six feet. , A league is 3 miles. There are moments when—whatever the attitude of the body—the soul is on its knees. Yes, but that is very different from strutttiug about on rhetorical stilts. S& The Atlanta Republican h the nail with a good claw-hammer li< in tiie following crisp style : Men who cheat the publisher 1 stopping the paper ofter it has run few months over their subseriptio and then decline to pay for those k months, because they know the su due is too trifling to go to law- are frauds of the worst kind.” abo The Brief Story of a Kansas Horse [Atchison Champion.] Dr. Challis was relating the other day a singular story about what we are ac customed to call “instinct”—but for which reason ” would seem more de scriptive—in a horse. Dr. Challis some line ago purchased a horse from his neighbor, in Cnpioma township, Nemaha county—Mr. Benedict. From the time of Ins arrival at the Challis place the horse manifested every symptom of home-sickness, and although the horse is ordinarily a social animal, this one proved an exception. He would leave the other horses in the large corral and go apart by himself into a small corral, where he would stand for hours looking over the fence toward his former home. He maintained his position at the fence till he wore the hair off his breast. Whenever any member of the Benedict household came near the horse betrayed lively signs of recognition. One dav Mr. Benedict himself passed and the horse became almost violent in his dem onstrations, and shortly after was; missed, and, what was more singular;, the gate of the inclosure was discovered to be missing also. The horse was soon discovered walking up the lane to Mr. Benedict’s house, and after some search the gate was found hanging on the limb of a tree in the woods, at a considerable height above the ground. The only reasonable theory is that the horse, in his determination to follow his former master, had broken through the gate and carried it away with him, and had afterward ingeniously relieved himself of the incumbrance. This is a true; story. “ Mi friend, flow far is it to the next town?” asked the. pedestrian. “Only slioost a little ways,” was the evasive re ply. “ Well, is it four, six, eight, or ten miles?” “ Yaas, I think it is,” was the answer.