We are living in an age of the world of unprecedented solemnity. No previous age has in any degree equaled it, as in no case have the events immediately impending, been equally momentous. The fate of our race is about to be decided. The decisions of eternity are upon us. It is in view of these things that the Prophet calls upon us in the following impressive language: "Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in my holy mountain; let all the inhabitants of the land tremble; for the day of the Lord cometh, for it is nigh at hand!" Joel ii, 1. Again, verses 15, 17: "Blow a trumpet in Zion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly, Let the priests, the ministers of the Lord weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say, Spare thy people O Lord!"
Again, in James iv, 8-10, we find directions touching our deportment during that time when the "Judge standeth at the door." "Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands ye sinners, and purify your hearts ye double-minded. Be afflicted and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord!" &c.
We cannot forbear contrasting with the above the report of the Annual Collation of "The American Congregational Union," which we find in the "Independent" of the 19, inst. It was professedly a religious assemblage; the speeches that were made were professedly of a religious nature; but, as a whole, what was its character? The introductory description styles it "the most brilliant assemblage which was gathered for any occasion during anniversary week." Henry Ward Beecher was chairman, and there were over seventeen hundred ladies and gentlemen present. The exercises, as reported, were, with little exception, one continued round of jokes and criticisms. The words "laughter," "great laughter," "convulsive laughter," are noted forty-seven times in the report. For want of space we can give only two specimens of the proceedings. A distribution of flowers was made to the ladies, sometime during the evening. In introducing this exercise, Mr. Beecher said,
"An effort has been made to provide every lady in the congregation; but whether there is enough for every one, will appear better when they have been distributed. Very likely there will not be quite enough. So you may understand that all those who receive bouquets receive them as special testimonies of our universal regard to each one; and that if there are any who receive none, it is because we consider their merits beyond all expression! [Great laughter.]"
"Dr. Thompson.—Lest any should covet these two particular bouquets on the desk, I claim the privilege of presenting one, at the close of the exercises, to Mrs. Henry Ward Beecher; and whatever other lady can so far win the favor of the Chairman as to induce him to present to her the other bouquet, is welcome to it. [Laughter.]"
"Mr. Beecher.—I will occupy the rest of the evening in meditation. [Laughter.]"
Dr. Anderson having concluded a speech calling forth a due amount of "laughter" and "applause," Mr. Beecher said,
"I am satisfied that I called out the right man, [Laughter.] . . . And now, since Dr. Anderson has alluded to the service rendered to religious liberty by the Dutch, we have a brother here of the Dutch Reformed Church, and I believe of Dutch blood too. I shall ask him to speak to this sentiment;"
"'The work of propagating the Gospel.—A pledge of the Unity of Christians.'"
"I introduce to you the Rev. Henry M. Scudder—a name which I need only mention, and you all recognize it at once. [Applause.]"
"Mr. Scudder, on stepping forward, said he feared the audience were doomed to be disappointed, for the idea of a Dutchman was generally associated with a notion not inaptly illustrated by the story of the Irishman who, having built his home, surrounded it with a wall four feet high and five feet broad, and being asked by a neighbor his reason for it, declared, 'Sure if the wall falls it will be higher than ever.' [Laughter.] Such was the general opinion as to the architectural build of a Dutchman. [Laughter.] He was supposed to have more horizontal, than vertical. He (the speaker) proceeded to say that he accepted the sentiment with all his heart, and coincided fully with the gentleman who had preceded him as to the folly of making Church distinctions among Christians, when Christian work was to be done. The only difference, he said, turning to the Chairman, is that mine is a little better, for if it wasn't I would go over to yours at once. [Laughter.] A Hindoo proverb says, 'If you mollify a dog's tail with oil, and put it into splints, yet you cannot get the crook out of it.' Now, this denominationalism is the crook, and every man is expected triumphantly to wag his own peculiarity. [Convulsive laughter.] But don't you see that we have a ground for gratitude? The crook is not in the head, it is not in the legs, it is not in the heart; it is in the tail. [Renewed laughter.] Our denominationalism is the tail end of us, and if you cut it clean off, we would be just as well off as before; and the fact is, there are many breeds that are supposed to be improved by chopping off their tails when they are young. [The laughter became almost convulsive, and was actually painful.]"
"Mr. Beecher.—This, Sir, is downright murder. If carried on further, I must stop such cruelty of mirth!" [Laughter.]
Mr. Scudder closed his remarks "amid great applause," when Mr. Beecher said, "What a delightful thing it must be to be a heathen, and have such a missionary! [Great laughter.]"
These exercises were introduced by prayer. The chairman said, "I ask Rev. Dr. Dwight, of Portland, Me., to lead our devotions!" (?) At an early part of the evening, also, a hymn was sung, introduced by the chairman as follows:
"We will now sing a hymn which has been sung in different languages for a thousand years, and which has so often found its way up to heaven that it knows how to go now!"
"The congregation then united in singing in a most spirited style, led by the brass band, the hymn,
'O holy, holy, holy, Lord!'"
"Mr. Beecher, after the singing was over said:"
"Now is it not good to sing together when you put your whole life into a hymn?"
Will any of those throughout the country, who regarded the recent revival as a special work of grace, read with any surprise the report of the chaffy frivolity of these doctors of divinity? Is this what might be expected as the fruit of those revivals? Is this the result to which they tended? The reader may be assured, we take no pleasure in chronicling the fact that the popular though confused christianity of the present day is morally in a fallen state. But they force the melancholy evidence upon us; and we can do no other than hold it up before honest seekers for truth, and warn the unwary to come out from among them, lest, being partakers of Babylon's sins, they share also in her plagues.
In a little book entitled, "What is to become of the Churches?" a book, by the way, which we wish might be placed in the hands of everybody, we find the following truthful representation: "The tendency of the age is to a 'liberalized christianity,' an 'accommodating spirit,' a point where the professed friends and the real enemies of God can meet and join 'congratulations,' and cordially interchange a 'liberal christian greeting.' Ecclesiastical 'collations,' where grave Doctors of Divinity are expected to appear with 'nothing to say' that they may catch the spirit of the occasion and be 'witty' and 'bring down the house,' and 'bear off the palm of wit,' are resorted to, in order to promote the cause of godliness. The followers of Him who did not laugh but often wept, show their zeal in His cause by imitating groveling political scenes where 'fun and frolick' are more sought than advancement of principle." A more striking confirmation of this extract could not be found than in the Congregational Union Collation under consideration.
Then, says one, you believe in a religion of the doleful, melancholy kind? By no means. We believe in sunshine, not shade; in cheerfulness, not gloom; and if any body has a right to be cheerful, happy and joyful in the Lord, it is the humble christian who lives in possession of a good hope through Christ. But it is to be borne in mind that there is a vast difference between true christian cheerfulness springing from the blessed hope, and the trifling nonsensical hilarity of the world, such as characterized the Congregational Collation. We do not believe that the apostles were a class of men, given to morbid melancholy; yet we do not find any chaff or nonsense in anything they said, or in anything recorded of them. We do not believe that our Saviour either was a person of this stamp; and yet, had he stepped in upon that gay assembly of his professed followers in New York city, as they were engaged in their "fun and frolick," would not the first utterance of his lips have been, "Wo unto you that laugh now, for ye shall mourn and weep?"
Christian cheerfulness is in no way opposed to the solemn assemblies we are exhorted to keep. Amid all these, the christian heart may and will calmly, cheerfully, and trustingly repose upon the arm of its Redeemer. But the friendship of the world is enmity with God; in whatever heart its love is found, the love of the Father does not dwell. If we have not the Spirit of Christ we are none of his.