Page:The Granite Monthly Volume 1.djvu/367

 THE PULPIT IN N. H. DURING THE PRESENT CENTURY.

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��dated action will soon pass away and be succeeded by other human instrumentali- ties, apart from the church. An Orien- tal Sultan once commanded his Vizier to furnish a motto for his signet ring which should always be appropriate. He gave him the following: "This, too, shall pass away." In the moral world, as in the physical, " all things are in a state of flux," and events are always '•'becom-

��ing," as the Germans ally " being.' 1 ''

��say, and never re-

��" The present is a weary scene, And always wished away ;

We live on to be and has been, But never on to-day."

��I propose now to say something of the- ological warfare fifty years ago. Old Gilmanton was the " foughten field." The soldiers of the cross, or rather of creeds, were styled '■ Predestinarians " and " Free-Willers," or, in technical lan- guage, " Calvinists " and " Arminians." For the last three centuries, two generic creeds have prevailed among evangelical Christians. Good men, holding either of these opinions, have often persecuted their opponents as heretics. The found- ers of these creeds were Calvin and Ar- minius. Calvin was born A. D. 1500; Arrainius in 1560. The former made in- finite justice the basis of his doctrines ; the latter chose infinite mercy to build upon. Being men of different tempera- ments, they reached different conclu- sions. Calvin made dogmas prominent ; Arminius enjoined duties. Calvin placed human salvation wholly in the hands of God. He elects, calls and justifies whom he will. His opponent made the individ-. ual responsible for his eternal destiny. By God's grace, he was able to work out his own salvation. The sinner has the ability to repent, love and work ; and God will hear, approve and save the con- trite soul. Or, in other words, " what- soever a man soweth, that shall he also reap." The sinner sows and reaps ; God waters and gives the increase. Minis- ters of the "standing order" preached much on dogmatic theology. My mem- ory recalls sermons which I heard at the age of twelve years. They were impressed upon me by the discus- sions they evoked at home. After hear- ing a sermon on "effectual calling,"

��with an earnest appeal at the close for sinners to repent, the neighbors, on the way home, dropped in to discuss the sub- ject. It was then and there decided " that the minister bound the sinner han d and foot, and then bade him run for his life." He demonstrated his inability to act, and solemnly assured him that he would be eternally lost if he did not act. This seemed unreasonable. After hearing a sermon on a "limited atone- ment," showing that all but the elect were vessels of wrath, fitted for the fire, the audience were told that if it were cer- tain that only one sinner would be saved, " each should strive to be that one." The majority said there is no hope with such a creed. We are doomed whether we strive or sit still. After hearing a sermon on. divine sovereignty, from the text " Is there evil in the city, and the Lord hath not done it?" making, as Dr. Emmons does, God the only efficient actor in the universe, the Arminians said : " He makes God the author of sin. I do not believe the doctrine." On another Sab- bath Rev. Mr. Curtis of Pittsfield preached at Gilmanton on " predestina- tion," as the people called it. He went so far as to include the " reprobation " of the non-elect. The rigid Calvinists were delighted, and printed the sermon for circulation. The " Free-Willers," so called, took up the gauntlet and made it the subject of their daily and weekly ministrations. They could then gain ad- mission to no one of the meeting houses in town, hence they met almost every evening at private houses and in school- houses, "at early candle-lighting," and on the Sabbath in barns. Multitudes thronged to hear their most gifted ex- horters. They took occasion to preach and sing free salvation to all that would repent and bring forth works meet for repentance. They had some spirited lit- tle hymns, fitted to inspire zeal and devo- tion, compiled for their use. Some little snatches of them still linger in my mem- ory. One stanza ran thns :

"Shout! shout! we're gaining ground,

Sing, glory hallelujah! Satan's kingdom's tumbling down,

Sing glory hallelujah ! "'

��Many of those preaching of the '

��who had, under the 1 standing order," be-

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