Remonstrants

“ The plain, bare churches with white-washed walls, the long sermons and extempore prayers, speaking so much of the anger of God and the terrible punishments awaiting the sinner, the trials and sorrows that must come to all. I often think of a sermon I heard preached in one Protestant church, to the boys and girls who were making their first communion—all little things, the girls in their white frocks and long white veils, the boys with white waistcoats and white ribbons on their arms, making such a pretty group as they sat on the front benches listening hard to all the preacher said. ”

“ We have no old recruits, in one sense, but we are all new recruits, enlisted under the same banner, worshipping the same God, and united under the same brotherhood of Latter-day Saints which always pertains to the Priesthood of God. ”

“ Do you take care to owe no man anything? Do you know how to possess your bodies in sanctification and honor? Are no drunkenness and uncleanness found among you? Yea, are there not many of you who glory in your shame? Are there not a multitude of you that are forsworn? I fear, a swiftly increasing multitude. Be not surprised, brethren—before God and this congregation I own myself to have been of the number solemnly swearing to observe all those customs which I then knew nothing of, and all those statutes which I did not so much as read over, either then, or for a long time afterwards. ”

“ On one occasion the missionaries remark, "We no longer see bold, undaunted heathen sitting before us, with defiance or ridicule in their looks; but people expecting, a blessing, desirous to experience the power of the word of life, shedding tears of repentance, and their whole appearance evincing devotion and earnest inquiry." ”

“ We are sent to aid the clergy in the salvation of souls, and what is found lacking in them should be supplied by us. Know, brothers, that the gain of souls is most pleasing to God, and this we may win better by peace with the clergy, than by discord. If they hinder the salvation of the people, vengeance is God’s and He will repay in time. So be ye subject to the prelates and take heed on your part that no jealousy arise. If ye are sons of peace ye shall gain both clergy and people, and this will be more acceptable to God than to gain the people alone by scandalizing the clergy. ”

“ If the Warnings we have had are a Call on the People to Repentance, remember they are still stronger Calls on us, to preach Repentance, and to discharge the Duty we owe to God and his Church, and to the Flock of Christ, over whom we are placed. ”

“ Really, most Reverend Gentlemen, I think every one, will conclude, that this is a most extraordinary and presumptuous movement, of you and your reverend body, on your good, and kind mother the Church. May they not justly apply to you, the words of the old proverb, "Physicians, cure yourselves?" Most Reverend Gentlemen, to those clergymen, who have adopted the above inconsistent conduct, I can only say, I may applaud their intentions, but I must condemn their bigotry. They may indeed, be friends to their Church in their hearts, but their mouths, and pens, are her most dangerous enemies. ”

“ Here it is: ‘For I think that God has made a show of us Missionaries’—Missionaries, or Apostles, that is their name for their wandering Æsculapii—‘like condemned criminals in the arena. We have been made a theatre-show to the universe, to angels and men ...:—up to this very moment, hungering, thirsting, naked, buffeted, driven from place to place, toiling and labouring with our own hands. Reviled, we bless; persecuted, we endure. Men imprecate evil on us, we exhort them to their good. ”

“ If you do not honor the callings which have been delivered to you, as the Lord Almighty lives, you shall be severed from those callings. For me to speak in this congregation until I am worn out, and still know that drunkards, whoremongers, sorcerers, adulterers, gamblers, and every species of vile characters are rioting in our midst, I tell you that I will not endure it any longer. ”

“ Down there in the bleak desolation of mud and morass, with death hurtling through the grey sky, one is face to face with the Unknown, and the man who in his native town never sets foot in church, turns with gratitude to the chaplain to strengthen him with the comfort of God.... All Protestant creeds are one in the fighting line. If an Anglican minister is not at hand, a Presbyterian speaks a few words, and all of the Protestant denominations work hand and [47] glove.... ”

“ At the close of the sermon, officers and men knelt together at the same altar, their confessions and supplications ascending to a common Father, and, irrespective of distinctive creed or belief, partook of the Lord’s Supper, realizing as never before the truth that “God is no respecter of persons;” and to one at least of that company of reverent worshipers, the Master’s words, “This do in remembrance of Me,” had a deeper significance than ever before. ”

“ An impressive silence ensued, broken by the man of God uttering in hopeful intonation and animated manner, “She is not dead, but sleepeth,” and a sermon followed upon the resurrection of God’s people, never surpassed in interest and pathos. All felt the power of his theme, and the eloquence of his words. He also spoke of the humble modesty of his friend, who had counted herself least in the congregation of the righteous, and dispensed favors to others in an unobtrusive manner, and who practically illustrated the divine command: “Do unto others as ye would that others should do unto you.” ”

“ Only recently two or three cases have come to my attention of clergymen who had awakened hostility in their congregations by their zeal in social service. The loyal support of such men by their fellows seems to me far nobler than the pursuit of heretics. ”

“ On the one hand, he must preach the Cross in the context of the world's suffering. Your own congregation will be a microcosm of humanity; and for many of those to whom you minister, the dark mystery which has haunted the sons of men from the dawn of time will be no abstract, impersonal problem to be academically explained, but a grim reality to be faced and fought. ”

“ Remonstrance is met at home, perhaps with inattention, perhaps with blame. Remonstrance abroad is forbidden. Whither shall she turn? What is left but to bury her grief in her own heart, and live on as best she may? ”

“ It is their profession; their prayerful presence can ward off the spirits of darkness; weariness never sits on their eyes as it sits now on thine. Let them stay with thee; it is only fit.”
“Not for another ransom, priest! I will not brook their confederate tears—I will not wing this fair girl’s soul with their hireling prayers—out, good fellows, my mood is wondrous short, and I would not willing do that which to-morrow I might repent of.”
“But, brother——” said one monk, gently. ”

“ Never affirm or maintain those things that be uncertain and doubtful, lest your adversaries take hold upon you, who rejoice in depraving their brethren; whereby they may bring the ministers of God into contempt. Exhort men to the confession of their faith, and to the communion of both kinds, both of the body and blood of Christ, whereby such as do repent earnestly of their sins, may the more often come to the holy communion. ”

“ But although the form of worship was not affected by legislation, it is evident from contemporary writings that the spirit of the Protesters survived, and exerted itself in fostering, in many parts of the land, a sentiment even more hostile to everything that might savor of even the simplest ritual. ”

“ Can we wonder that the voice of remonstrance comes to us from those who have so much at stake in our prosperity and success? We have sent out our missionaries to all quarters of the globe; but how shall they tell their heathen converts the things that are done in Christianized America? How shall our missionaries in Mahometan countries hold up their heads, and proclaim the superiority of our religion, when we tolerate barbarities which they have repudiated! ”

“ Some compromise between the fear and the conscience of the new converts, at a time when the church no longer consisted exclusively of saints, martyrs, and confessors, the disciples of inspired Apostles, led them, and even their priestly guides, subject like themselves to human passions and errors, to resort as a charm, if not as an act of worship, to those sacrifices, words, and ritual, by which the heathen, whom they had succeeded, pretended to arrest evil or procure benefits. ”

“ The religious enthusiasm which had already performed so many prodigies was again to augment their ardour and confidence in victory. The clergy spread themselves through all the quarters of the army, exhorting the pilgrims to penitence and concord. Misery, which almost always engenders complaints and murmurs, had soured their hearts, and produced division among the leaders and the soldiers, who at other times had disputed for cities and treasures, but for whom then the most common things had become objects of jealousy and quarrels. ”

“ All these sects were bound together by their common aversion to the clergy—not only the wealthy, worldly, immoral, tyrannical, but the decent yet inert priesthood, who left the uninstructed souls of men to perish. ”

“ The remembrancer's priestly office belongs to every member of Christ's priestly kingdom, the lowest and least of whom has the privilege of unrestrained entry into God's presence-chamber, and the power of blessing the world by faithful prayer. What should we think of a citizen in a beleaguered city, who saw enemy mounting the very ramparts, and gave no alarm because that was the sentry's business? In such extremity every man is a soldier, and women and children can at least keep watch and raise shrill cries of warning. ”

“ Yet the priests of to-day are no worse than before, so far as their morals and faith are concerned; indeed, I believe they are more worthy of respect than formerly,—that their trials have purified them, and that they are capable, perhaps desirous, of wheeling to the right about, and joining the march of progress, leaving behind them the dead and corrupt superstitions that wrecked them and their hopes. ”

“ The first missionaries, good men imbued with the narrowness of their age, branded us as pagans and devil-worshipers, and demanded of us that we abjure our false gods before bowing the knee at their sacred altar. ”

“ Should not these priests, then, in the very interest of the Church, save themselves for quieter times, and escape the persecution by flight? Many sheltered themselves behind the words of Christ: "When they persecute you in this city, flee ye into another." ”

“ And for this their belief, the saints of the last days have been made to partake of the sufferings and afflictions of those of former days. Priests and drunkards, deacons and scoundrels, professors and thieves, have all shewn themselves to be of one spirit, and of one clan, and of one mind. ”

“ Men and women whose devotion to the Church had led them, up to this time, against their inclinations, to continue their attendance on its services, were unwilling to-day, after the events of the past week, to hear the prayers and lessons read, or a sermon preached, by a priest who had so forgotten the duty and the dignity of his sacred calling. ”

“ Who could describe the torments and agonies which all the saints have suffered for the divine truth under the old and new covenant, and especially those who have branded the iniquity of priests, and who have raised their voices against it? It would be a strange thing at present to remain unpunished when attacking the perversity of priests, who will not endure any blame. ”

“ In the thousand and one religions which exist, the cause of the priests and the sanctuary becomes the cause of the faithful. Our priests are not imbecile Trappists and Carthusians, to be reduced to inaction and silence. Since their tongues are tied, they are resolved to depart; and their departure becomes an exile which it is our duty to share. If you will entrust me with your portraits which have been commenced, with the exception of that of Heliogabalus, I will finish them in a hospitable land, and shall have the honour of sending them to you, already fired and in all their perfection. ”

“ When we have unveiled the sanctuary in which the priest shuts himself, we can hardly expect that he will press his followers to read us. We will be content with a happy revolution, and we will see that, for the honour of reason, it is so complete as to prevent the clergy from doing any further harm to mankind. ”

“ And all the ill-will, indignations, and rancours that have arisen between us and our subjects, of the clergy and laity, from the first breaking out of the dissensions between us, we do fully remit and forgive: moreover, all trespasses occasioned by the said dissensions, from Easter in the sixteenth year of our reign till the restoration of peace and tranquillity, we hereby entirely remit to all, both clergy and laity, and as far as in us lies do fully forgive. ”

“ Between twenty and thirty clergymen, old and young, were gathered in the church and listened to an exhortation delivered by an elderly dignitary, who spoke, not from the regular pulpit, but from the lectern. I felt myself an intruder, an eavesdropper, a spy upon the private devotions of worthy men. ”

“ They wear the habit of the order, and are employed in the most menial offices, unless, being able to act, or rather to bear the character of extraordinary sanctity, they are sent about town to collect alms for their employers. These idiot saints are seen daily with a vacillating step, and look of the deepest humility, bearing about an image of the child Jesus, to which a basket for alms is appended, and offering, not their hand, which is the privilege of priests, but the end of their right sleeve, to be kissed by the pious. ”