John Habberton

“ I have a sad reputation in point of orthodoxy, but what Captain Maile admits in sarcasm, I declare in the most solemn earnest. Morality is the order of things, and to a sinner like me, it seems to be a matter of prime importance. The interest which some of the members display in the nature of the kingdom of heaven is quite natural and proper; but how they propose to get there without morality, or, if they please, righteousness, is a puzzle to any man who reads the Bible and notices the importance attached to right conduct. ”

“ Builder Stott sat next, and hastened to the rescue of faith from a freethinker like Mr. Whilcher.
"Suppose we do right always," said he, "what does it amount to? Our righteousness is as filthy rags in His sight, according to the inspired Word, and there's very little to hope for from anything so worthless. Nobody knows, even when he's doing his best, whether he is right or wrong. Even Satan sometimes appears as an angel of light. ”

“ Did any mere law-giver ever enjoin unselfishness? Is unselfishness natural? Does not its practice, and the spiritual influence which is felt in return for its practice, raise a man to a plane of wisdom, tenderness, and strength, such as has never been reached in any other way? Have not honest disbelievers in great numbers, when they have attempted a higher morality than that of the world in general, fallen back upon Christ as their only available teacher, and been led to him, either by desperation or sympathy, or both? ”

“ Men are always willing enough to be observers of a quarrel; but to take part in one generally passes for a sign of bad breeding, and the care that men have for the results of their bringing up is, under such circumstances, admirable beyond expression."
"Oh, you're not exactly fair, I think," said the Squire. "Every member of that class thinks the case of faith vs. works is his own; he must be interested in one side or the other, for he believes eternity depends upon it."
"I don't see why any one should have such an idea," said Mr. Alleman. ”

“ The churches are so rigid that a thinking man can scarcely gain admission to them without lying, actually or constructively: don't let us, in a class like that proposed, follow the example of the Pharisees, those very flowers of orthodoxy—and 'lay on men's shoulders burdens grievous to be borne.' If our religion is what we claim it is, let us open our gates wide enough to admit every one who is at all interested to study God's ways as made known through the scriptures. ”

“ Lottson trusted that among these he still retained his respect. But then came a more annoying thought. Business was business, and business men would take no man's word any the more implicitly because he was a church member. Could it be possible that among these he passed not only for a business man of ordinary morality, but as a hypocrite too? Was he not really honest in his beliefs? He certainly was; he could lay his hand on his heart and swear honestly that every religious belief he possessed he had acquired by the exercise of his best logical faculties. ”

“ What a tremendous responsibility rests upon us, my friends, in this our greatest relation to humanity, and how impossible it would be to endure it unless aided by a power greater than our own. I cannot, by any words, express my satisfaction at hearing so many men, and, in other religious matters, men of such differing views, testify to the unfailing promptness of the Great Sympathizer. And I should be glad to hear a wider expression of experiences, and assure myself that, in troubles outside the range purely personal, my fellow-beings enjoy the comfort that I do. ”

“ All are forgiven, our misdeeds committed in ignorance, when—mark the condition—when we are honest in intention and effort. 'The just'—the righteous, that is, those who do right to the best of their knowledge—'shall live by faith.' I would remind the gentleman that Christian theology, of every school, is based principally upon the principles laid down by that masterly jurist, the Apostle Paul, and that he makes of faith not the master but the subordinate of love. ”

“ As we cannot agree intellectually, why can we not do so morally, and establish for the class a higher motive than can be furnished by religious curiosity or tenacity of special theological opinions? Free speech has been the distinctive feature of the class, but all that freedom of expression can gain for us has already been gained. Why cannot we, therefore, form a [Pg 180] new and solemn compact that we will, each one according to his own special religious belief and light, strictly order our lives according to the moral ideas which we all admit are found in the Bible and are above criticism? ”

“ Alleman. "There is no difference between faith and works, providing both are rendered in sincerity, for neither of them can help leading to the other. And as you have seen the truth of this fact by personal experience, you are just the man who should support me in the effort which I hope to make next Sunday to impress this truth upon the class, not for the sake of presenting a new theory for discussion, but to join conflicting ideas for the good of man and the glory of God." ”

“ Radley, "I really don't see that meekness can be enjoined upon its inhabitants, unless we are all mistaken about the nature of the change that will take place after death. Our mental condition will be determined for us, and we can't do better on this earth than act according to what seems the highest order of goodness. I should really like to ask the gentleman if the next world is all that we are to think of while we remain in this one, and whether we are not to guide ourselves somewhat by the rights of other people as well as by our own desires?" ”

“ Alleman. "Captain Maile, you're certainly with us! You've always talked as if you were."
The captain made a wry face.
"I've talked against hypocrisy—that's what I've done," said he. "I've got no special religious belief myself, but I hate to see holes in those of other people."
"I," said Dr. Fahrenglotz, "would yield adherence to such a system, were it not that men disagree as to what morality is, and I do not wish to subject myself to any arbitrary rule or agreement. The soul of man should be free." ”

“ I've a suspicion that more of it comes from the heart of Squire Woodhouse than from the kingdom of heaven."
"Not a bit of it," said Mr. Hopper, finding at last a subject upon which he could speak from the abundance of his heart. "Aren't you working for the good of your family, and don't St. Paul say that the man who don't look out for his family is worse than an infidel?" ”

“ There was a general nod of assent, and President Lottson arose, went around to where the [Pg 98] Squire was sitting, and offered his hand to the loser of the barn. The Squire took it, rather gingerly at first, but finally gave it a squeeze so hearty that President Lottson winced and drew his hand away.
"There!" exclaimed Captain Maile; "everything is all right now, of course. Goodness don't consist in doing right, but only in feeling right. Not what you do, but what you believe is what saves a man."
"Such is the decree of God and the decision of the Church," remarked Mr. Prymm. ”

“ As for Captain Maile, he was thereafter the most shamefaced and silent man at Valley Rest. He was by no means the first man who had mistaken the critical faculty for character; but he was not a man of large information in the history of the world outside of Valley Rest, so he spent several years of his life in indignant yet humble self-questionings as to his peculiar mental organization. ”

“ And yet, I know not how better to explain the nature of righteousness according to the law, than to continue in use the illustration that I have been [Pg 176] using—the treatment, by each other, of men in their business affairs. For there are but few relations of men that cannot be classified under business heads. By implication, sins against self and nature belong in the same category, for the man who impairs in any way his own physical and mental capital, injures to a greater or less extent the whole community in which he resides. ”

“ This world is a place of preparation for another, and it is what we are to do and be in that blessed sphere that Christ came to teach us. The things of this world are really the unreal—only the things which are unseen are eternal. ”

“ Believe what you choose so long as you believe in a First Cause, be one of us, accept the promises that were made to provide for your condition as well as that of every other man that finds a constant disagreement between life and law. Then you'll at least have done what is the business duty of every man—you'll have provided against the dangers which you don't fear, and yet daren't defy for fear they may exist. ”

“ God Almighty's kingdom isn't any four-acre lot with a high stone wall and a whole string of warnings to trespassers; his kingdom takes in all out-doors; every man alive is his child, and got a right to come and go in his Father's house, even if he don't sit on the same style of chair or creep under the same kind of bedclothes that his brothers do. ”

“ I shall consider it my duty to take steps toward the organization of a class upon what I conceive to be a Christian basis, and in that class I shall always be ready to heartily welcome any of you. Salvation through the atonement of Christ is the central truth of the Bible; a body of students who examine the Word from any other standpoint may be perfectly sincere and in earnest, and they may constitute what may without unkind meaning be called a Scripture Club, but they can never claim to be regarded as a Bible class, in the proper acceptation of the term. ”

“ The world is lamentably full of wickedness and weakness, but it has now what it did not have when Moses gave his law—it has in every community one or more men who show by right living what a perfect control man may exert over his lower faculties, or, rather, over the lower developments of faculties which in the clearer light of to-day develop into noble virtues. ”

“ Alleman, "that a strong organization like the Church, with respectability, morality, tradition, and authority on its side, should teach such a doctrine; but your own sermons, which I have found to be models of logic, though based upon false premises, prove the truth of your condensation of my [Pg 140] statements. Men are urged, not to righteousness as taught by prophets, apostles, and the Master himself, but to take the best possible care of Number One—urged to something which the most miserable savage alive knows is dictated by the strongest instinct of his nature. ”

“ Alleman, "it seems to me that this class has by this time plainly indicated its religious measure. We have met together many times; we have expressed our own views, and listened to many others; we have individually indicated considerable ability and ingenuity; but I am unable to discover that even a respectable minority have changed their beliefs. Of the sincerity of belief of those who have spoken there can be no doubt; but something more than ability and sincerity is necessary to retain usefulness for a body of men, who are determined to approach intellectually no nearer to each other. ”

“ Receiving an income which to many of his acquaintances would have seemed insufficient to a man of good breeding and refined tastes, he found ways of devoting more than a tithe of it to charities either private or public. He was always ready to forego his own tastes and inclinations in order to visit the sick, counsel the troubled, or pray with the dying; his voice and vote were never lacking in affairs of public interest, and they were always used in the interest of the highest morality. ”

“ Those of us who believe would never have done so had we supposed that men would be allowed to set aside Christ's merciful words, and establish the commandments—the notions—of men in their place. I believe as thoroughly in righteousness as any man, but I don't care to sit here and listen to its meaning being changed by men who care more for their own opinions than they do for the commandments of God. And so I shall vote against the resolution, and [Pg 168] ask all others to do so, if they believe in the righteousness of God instead of that of man. ”

“ Meekness is not a virtue of such greatness as poverty of spirit, as may be inferred from the smaller reward promised to those who practice it, and——"
"I want to correct the gentleman right there," exclaimed Mr. Jodderel. "What earth are they to inherit? This earth? Why, everybody laughs at that notion. A man's got to fight awfully hard to get anything in this world, and harder yet to keep whatever he gets. The path of meekness leads but to the poor-house. The earth alluded to evidently means the new earth, which, in the Revelation, John beheld, in connection with the new heaven. ”

“ Every one looked at the Judge, and Deacon Bates remarked that he would assume that Mr. Buffle expressed the sentiments of every one.
"Righteousness," said the Judge, with his regulation court-room air, "has but one meaning. Philologically, legally, morally, and spiritually it means right doing. Legally, righteousness consists in obeying the law, and, by implication, refraining from offending the law. [Pg 119] Morally, it is the very highest attainment possible to man; in its fulfillment every ordinary duty of man toward man is accomplished. ”