Mr. Winthrop Gave Us His Pew, So We Were
Well Placed, And As He Is _Very_ Rapid And Not Very Loud, The
Strain To Hear His Discourse Would Have Been Very Great If We Had Not
Been Near.
"In such an hour as ye think not, the Son of Man cometh."
Christ comes to us in many
Ways, and through the long ages of the Old
Testament and Christian dispensations he has been continually
_shewing_ Himself, - all great events and promises have partial
fulfilments, - little _milleniums_ have taken pace, and heavenly
Jerusalems have been raised in many a church, in many a gathering of
God's people, - all foreshadowing the _Great Event_ which, will
bring God to man. Then he went on about a _King Idea_, the ruling
object in every profession, in every life; how the _best_ of
_that_ idea, - justice in a lawyer, holiness in a clergyman, and so
on, - was brought home and revealed at times with great power. The
reformations and revivals in the world are the _coming_ in this
sense. He spoke of _unconscious_ love and devotion: that many a
person thinks because they cannot always _feel_ Christ present and
cannot consciously recognize that they act for _Him_ in their daily
life, that they do not love or serve Him; they have given
_themselves_ to Him, but it seems as if He was forgotten while
their daily work and employments _press Him out_. All the time, as
with earthly love and care, the _heart_ is full of Him, and every
now and then strong religious exercises or unusual events excite the
mind; He _comes_ to it in full power, and then they recognize their
Lord. Some of the sermon struck me as too _abstract_, but it was
very suggestive; the music, too, was beautiful. He is a large stout man
with fine well-cut features and beautiful expression. Coming out we met
John and E - - and the Pickerings, who had been elsewhere. I think they
are both tired of America, at least E - - is, and John wants to get to
his work! I am not tired of Americans, but I could not _live_ in
this country; the system political is to me odious, much of the social
system ditto; and the society is so disunited, so patchy, so apparently
without bonds of union or common interests, the life they lead so dull
and without the charms of society at home, and yet there are many as
nice and clever and good as we can find anywhere. I dare say the
missionary and charitable organizations, and educational institutions,
&c., give some interest and occupation to the energetic and pious ones,
but there cannot be much of what _we_ call _parish_ work, or
care of the poor, though there are plenty of poor in the large cities,
and much distress as in older countries. Mrs. Bruen gave me Lowell's
discourse on "The Democracy," which he delivered lately in Birmingham,
and asked me for my candid opinion, without regard to _her_
politics.
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