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A LAY SERMON 
 
 m 
 
 JOHN RUSSELL, 
 
 THE EXCOMMUNICATED. 
 
 " 'tis you that say it, not I. YOU DO THE DEEDS, AND 
 YOUR UNGODLY DEEDS, FIND ME IN WO H DS. "— 8o/>// OC/f 5, 
 
 Tram/ated by Milton. 
 
Entered according to Aot of the Parliament of Canada, in the year 1890, 
 hy .loHN RiJSSKM,, at the Department of Agriculture. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 The i'ollo-.ving pages is most respectfully tlictated to R. 
 S. Chilton. Esq., U. S. Consul in Goderich, as the represen- 
 tative here of the first great nation born from Great 
 Britain. The writer now claims the influence of both 
 crreat nations, to send this story over a many nationed 
 world, for the purpose of showing the dignity and degreda- 
 tion of man, and for eomuianding veneration to religion, 
 home, marriage, woman, petition, truth, an«l the interest of 
 
 the author. » 
 
 Goderich, Ont., 
 Oct., 1890. 
 
JOHN RUSSELL. 
 
 THE EXCOMMUNICATED. 
 
 'A lii' is couraire to God, cowardice to Man." 'Tis you tl.at 
 say I't ; not L You did the dee.ls, an.l your ungodly 
 deeds knd me the words. 
 
 
J 
 
 A LAY SERMON 
 
 Mr. Chuirinan, ladies and gentlemen, the subject of my 
 lecture will be "Providence, our Monitor and Electric 
 Power," or a lav sermon from Gen., 1st. chapter, and «th 
 and l'04th Psufms, by me as excommunicated from the 
 Presbyterian Church. It will, no doubt, appear to all of 
 you a piece of daring effrontery and presumption for a 
 person of my position to address you; but I am here to 
 trace the cause of my excommunication, its injustice, its 
 falsehood, and my defence, its effects upon society, and 
 especially upon our sweet religion; and show you that 
 churchianity is not Christianity, that in my case it is un- 
 feeling inhumanity, yea, orutality, because it revives the 
 wolf's paw of the 16th century by lacerating the most 
 solemn and most sacred rite of marriage and falsifies the 
 statutes of God. I am here to defend and vindicate the 
 ways of God to man, and man to God, who. when He 
 finished His work in Eden, and away down, down through 
 the Holy Land, over whose acres walked the blessed feet 
 ■ which eighteen hundred year.-* ago were nailed for our 
 advantage to the cursed tree; yes, for our advantage, tor 
 within the wide range of sacred and profane literature 
 there is naught written that invests man with more im- 
 portance and grandeur than that which is in Genesis, to 
 have the great and adorable Creator describe the creation 
 of man and give him dominion over the earth. For there 
 
e 
 
 A LAY SERMON. 
 
 is somethiiiii awful in this the first ussojiation of tlnii 
 Creator witl> the to be creatiMl iii;m; that the Creator of 
 man, the animal, veij:etal»le and mineral parts of this world 
 of ours shouM have <K'lef]fatt'il us to he His co-workers is 
 astounding, l»iit such is the fact. Look from nature up to 
 nature's God, look to star-eyed science and wander there, for 
 she will not waft you l»ack tlio tidin<]fs of despair. Oh! 
 no. Study the Gospel of tlie stars, great nature's holy 
 writ; the heavens are as a hook before the set ; read the 
 star lessons in their midnight grandeur from the deck of 
 an ocean .sieamship when there is naught around you but 
 darkness visible, except the gleaming lights and signal 
 rockets of your own and other ships athwart your path; 
 look into the bowels of your ship, watch the marvelous 
 pulselike movements of the powerful engine as it sends 
 your ship through the two immensities in all their rage 
 and fury. HoM on there, you ai*e triumphing over the 
 multitudinous laughter of ocean billows. The .sea is 
 raging around you likt; a liell for Divine and human prey. 
 Hold fast to your ship, its Captain and Him who said 
 " When thou passest through the waters they will not 
 overwhehn thee;" fear not the paralytic heart beat, the 
 gurgling sensation of your breath as if your life wa.s to be 
 tornfrom you like u ieaf from a twig in a storm-swaj'ed 
 forest. Fear not, but rejoice; you are standing upon the 
 sublimest and Divinesfc .spot on our globe, to show you 
 the progressive and upward workings cf the creature man 
 to the Creator. The great Leader will .soon make the 
 troubled waters calm, like a crystalline sea of glory, and 
 bring you to your tlesirer/ liaven, renewed, regenerated and 
 disenthralled from merelj- human power. Or 1 look again, 
 when there is no stir in the air, no .stir in the sea, when 
 the moon holds her unclouded swa}"" through skies where I 
 could count each little .star, your ship is creating air to send 
 you onward to land. VVliat an analogy, a .similarity here of 
 Divine and human power. Or look at thestars asthe Catholic 
 girl did when she said the stars were holes in the sky to 
 look through to the glory of God, Take the wings of the 
 morning and fly to the uttermost parts of the earth; you 
 will see sermons in stones ami coals, and good in every- 
 thing from God to man, proving design, and if design there 
 
 i \ 
 
A LAY SERMON. 
 
 must be a (lesigncr. And who is my J)(si{j;ii('r — C'rciitor, — 
 Monitor ? And 1 am and you are His co-workers on 
 eartli. How grandly tlie works of man prove revelation. 
 Look at tlie surface of our jiflolio, its form defined by 
 Colundjus, who <j;ot power to do this from a woman, 
 crowned a Queen by tlie cond)injd powers of heaven and 
 earth ; its aspect changed, its climate modified. Look at 
 the long delayed, but grnntl discovery that our earth is not 
 Hat, but a great and glorious globe, a gorgeous footstool for 
 its great and adorable Creator, revolving in space, bringing 
 day and niglit, summer and winter, heat and cold. What 
 a mechanism, wliat a prolific abundance of material for 
 man's u.se. Look at the widely asundercd necessaries of life, 
 our teas, sugars, cofiee and wine that maketh the heart of 
 man glad and strong. Look at the Mediterranean, that sea 
 which still holds such a spell over the spirit — t\u\ many 
 nationed sea. Its shores were empires, Assyrian, flreece, 
 Rome, Carthage ; their grandeur was greatly derived from 
 the 'sea. All our religions, almost all our laws, almost all 
 that sets us above .savages has come to us from the shores 
 of the Mediterranean. If all that we have gained from the 
 .shores of the Mediterranean were era.sed from the memory 
 of man we should be .savages. It has been the mightiest 
 instrument in the civilization of mankind. Here the be- 
 nevolent sway of a Divine Providence a.s.serts itself. Look 
 at the surface of our continent since the days of Columbus; 
 its northern part a den.se forfst then ; now it is like a 
 .spider's web woven with steel and wire, flashing thought 
 and matter like the glance of the mind. Look at the 
 valleys of the Nile, the Tiber, the Seine, the Thames, the 
 Hudson, the St. Lawrence, studded with magnificent cities, 
 with their gorgeous palaces, their cloud-capped towers, their 
 solemn temples, their glowing canvas, their durable marble, 
 their charms of poetry and song, the hum of comfortable 
 industry from thousands of looms, forges and factories. 
 Look on old ocean steamships triumphing over Atlantic 
 hurricanes and Indian cyclone.s. Look at the telegraph 
 joining continents in the bands of progress — these are thy 
 triumphs, thy exploits, O man. Man, young and old, keep 
 this, the grandest thought you are called upon to grapple 
 steadily with, and the oft-repeated morbid-minded 
 
6 
 
 A LAY SEHMoN. 
 
 prattle alK)ut iimii's ori<,'iiiiil sin will affect your mission as 
 tlu! transit of Venus afVect'^ the sun. Look upon the works 
 of God and man and adore their matchless maj(!sty, 
 Look at the revelation of the telescope, makin<,'the star-dust 
 of the milky way countless worlds. Look at tlu; revelation 
 of the microscopes workini; in the same Wiw of artistic atoujs 
 as God. Look at the wonders of th»! ceramic art, with its 
 beautiful colors, form and delicate blendinjj, vyinjij with 
 the hly and the rose, but dcfyinjj; the most ])otent powers 
 of the universe — decay and time. Here man rises above his 
 Creator; the freckle, streak and strain of his unrivalled 
 pencil decay, but man's does not Look at the fjorjcjeous 
 public and private conservatories of our northern and tem- 
 perate /5one, enriched with the fruits, the Howers, the 
 fjraceful pahns and the Victoria Re^^jina lily from the 
 tropical Amazon. Look at the abundant and varied 
 creations of God to man stored in the bowels of the earth 
 for man's u.se, and mark their worthle.ssne.ss until man 
 brinpfs his creative powers to brinrr forth their beauty a. id 
 utility. Plenty of iron ore, but it takes man to form it 
 into a needle, a pen, a steel rail, and steamship, and wire 
 girdlinji^ our j;lobe with the marvel of almost in.stant 
 thoufrht and action. Plenty of gold, but it is a nugget, or 
 dust, until man creates a crown of glory for a world- 
 renowned Queen, who staraps her image on it, making coin 
 a passport over the world. Look at the abundance of our 
 woods, how Useless they are until man fa.shions them into 
 houses, and ships that carry aloft the canvas and flag that 
 waft His praises to the four (]uarters of our globe. 
 
 Tliro' eartli'.s fairest scenes of beauty and grandeur, 
 The co-workers, God and man, woo you to wander. 
 
 But, Mr. Chairman, ladies and gentlemen, I can be told with 
 truth that the human artistic creations of the Orient, where 
 creation ?ieems no more the works of nature, but her 
 dreams, are equal to our own. and will command the ad- 
 miration of mankind until the wreck of elements and spoil 
 of matter. But, sir, why the sudden stoppage of those 
 creative powers ? For centuries the Chinese have been at 
 a stand -still, and have made no progres.s. For centuries 
 
 
A LAY SERMON. 
 
 \) 
 
 tlu) Cliiticsi* liail the coinpasM und di'l not ^'ivc u-» its 
 iM'Mctits. Wliy. Ui'oausc tilt- C'liiiivs.' lia«l ii<»t tlif toiicliiii;,' 
 oi tliti lloyiir INiiliiiist iiii'l lu'iivciily iiispirt'd p'o-,'rii|)lu'r 
 Duvitl, who first culls mir t'lirth nmml. Ncitlirr \\;v\ tin- 
 Chiib^su tlu) (iUictric! power of that HtU[M'nil()iis luiracU' 
 oil tlie shore of the Red Sea, when heaven and earth j()ined 
 forces, and tohl mankind for all aj^'es to ^'o forward, in all 
 times and places, to duty; heedless of ra<rin_L,' liillows, 
 Greenland's icy mountains or Imlia's coral strand, or to 
 trace crime. 60 f(,rward is our duty, pro«,'ress and <litfusion 
 of power is our watchword. It is in our nature by the 
 power of our Cnsator and inspiration of Holy Writ. Look 
 at our homes, sweet, sweet homes, when tiiey are not 
 corrupted by vi^^^f' and Neroic monsters; at our biff ha' 
 Bible, the voice of • ncr an.l praise, the Sabbath bell i)ealin<j 
 the marriage of earth to heaven. But hark to that music 
 pealins^ from Miat soiemm ^luple; the sun hii.i.self seems 
 to linger o.;f that id. .ious scene, and those grand, 
 melodious .sacred so'^nds going from earth to heaven 
 
 All i'«!Oj)lo tliiit oil earth do dwell 
 Sin;: ^o the Lonl with cheerful voire. 
 
 Him serve with luirtli, His praise forth tell. 
 Come ye, l)efore Him, and rejuiee. 
 
 Glory to God in the highe.st, i)eace on earth and good will 
 to man. This is Milton's .sevenfold chorus of liallelujah and 
 harping symphonies. There are thy triumphs.thy exploits, 
 O man ; you .show yourself worthy the majesty of your 
 mission a.s a co-worker with the groat T AM. Nature and 
 the human art is a working model of the spiritual, the 
 earth is crammed with heaven and every common bush a 
 fire with God for man's use. 
 
 How excellent in all the earth, 
 
 Lord, our Lord, is Thy name ; 
 Who hast Thy f,dory far advanced 
 
 AV)ove the starry frame. 
 When I look up into the heavens. 
 
 Which Thine own fingers framed, 
 Unto the moon, and to the stars, 
 
 Which were by Thee ordained, 
 
^•'^mmmmimmmmBm 
 
 wmtmrn 
 
 W ^ A LAY SERMON. 
 
 Then say I, what is man, tliat he 
 
 Remembered is by Tliee ; 
 Or what the son of man, that Thou 
 
 So kind to him shouldst be ? 
 
 For TIiou a little lower hast him than the angels made, 
 With glory and with dignity Thou crowned hast his head. 
 
 Hear man's reply to this heavenly and earthly grandeur : 
 
 When all Thy mercies, O, my Gotl, ray rising soul surveys, 
 
 Transportetl with the view, I am lost in wonder, love and 
 praise, 
 
 Oh ! how sliall words with equal warmth the gratitude de- 
 clare 
 
 That glows within my ravished lieart, but Tliou canst read 
 it there. 
 
 But, Mr. Chairman, ladies and gentlemen, blot from the 
 surface of our earth man's works, let ruin's ploughshare 
 go over them, and the surface of our earth would soon bo- 
 come a waste, howling wilderness, the abode of sarage 
 beasts, and men still more savage; or blot from the heart, 
 the soul, the mind, the conscience, the motives, the actions 
 of men and churches, the tremendous power of those ten 
 words given us by the combined powers of heaven and 
 earth, when it was thundered from Sinai: "Thou shalt not 
 steal," "Thou shalt not bear false witness," and you bring a 
 deluge of wickedness on the earth. But, Sir, I will defend 
 the holy, the grand, the true, the upright works of God 
 and man, and if man, individually or collectively, dare 
 pollute the works of God and man I will, as I do now, in- 
 voke the spirit of ray Creator, and the delirium of 
 patriotism, to defend the teachings of the Holy Land and 
 man's good works on earth, while ray thought and flesh 
 cling together. But, Sir, to ray story, which will prove to 
 you that Providence is our Monitor in matter and mind, 
 when I enfold to you the history of my excommunication 
 by a twelve-year-old church, which plays such fantastic 
 tricks before high heavens as make angels weej) and men 
 blush with shame that our patriotism to the Holy Land, our 
 religion, our civilization, should be so desecrated in this the 
 
A LAY SERMON. 
 
 11 
 
 19th century of the Christian era. I heartily welcome this 
 boy-aged cliurch Irom the 19th century old church to 
 tight a three-score-and-ten veteran like me, with their ex- 
 communication t'al.sehood.s, and galling persecution, and 
 public insults, from such specks of humanity as Malcom- 
 son, Master of Chancery in Goderich, who publicaly called 
 me a crank, on the authority of Dr. Ure, which I repaid 
 v/ith compound interest. I welcome all these, because it 
 brings me out in defence of home, wife, business, country, 
 religion, God and Hi.s Godlike humanity. But what is 
 excommunication ^ 1 fancy many of you are asking. Here 
 it is from tlie Britannia Encyclopedia, the standard au- 
 thority of the world: "Excommunication, an ecclesiastical 
 penalty or censure,whereby such persons as are guilty of any 
 notorious crime or offence are .separated from the communion 
 of the church,and deprived of all spiritual advantages. Ex- 
 communication is founded on a natural right which all 
 societies have of excluding out of their body such as violate 
 the laws thereof, and it was originally intended for preserv- 
 ing the dignity of the church, but ambitious ecclesiastic 
 secured to it by degrees into an engine for promoting their 
 own power,and inflicted it on the most frivoloas occasions." 
 Diti'erent churches have different degrees of punishment, 
 some even lorbidding burial in consecrated ground, and 
 denying intercourse with the church otRcers with the 
 party excommunicated, with loss of business, as was done 
 with me. To this.I forbid the minister or church officers my 
 house. My notorious crime that brought my excommuni- 
 cation was my successful tracing out the conspirators 
 against my purse and per.son, as the evidence I will lay 
 before you will prove, and that Providence is our Monitor 
 and Electric Power in crime. Like St. Paul, I now appeal 
 to the public judgment, for to the church and society 1 
 have done no wrong.but good. The common meaning of the 
 word "Providence" is timely care, preparation, provision; 
 ni theology the superintendence of God over His creatures, 
 or, more fully, the spirit of God, our Creator and Guide, 
 schooling and training us for work of His in coming years. 
 This power is revered and honored by all iheologians. 
 By Paley it is called the court of conscience, to whose com- 
 mands we must obey, if not, it is the unpardonable sin 
 
^■■■■m 
 
 12 
 
 A LAY SEKMON. 
 
 against the might and majesty of His .spirit in u,s. It's 
 part and parcel of our nature, we can not rid ourselves ot" 
 it and have peace of mind, it is continually saying to us in 
 the secret recesses of our heart, God expects, this da}*, you 
 will do your duty. If duty, then, is to be done by you, do 
 it, and 1 will give you peace, joy and comfort in My Spirit, 
 working in your conscience. In you Providence or My 
 lS{)irit is to mind what gravitation is to matter" This i.s 
 the singular ; but I clauu for that word a more extended 
 and comprehensive nieaning. As Providence justly claims 
 oversight over us it is clearly shown from this that no man, 
 woman or boy that Providence maiks with peculiar care, 
 but receives from that power the impress of the inspiration 
 of his power, guiding, controlling and directing that object 
 of solicitude and providential care to perform certain acts. 
 Those acts, words and works, I claim to be the electric 
 power or force, which tlovvs from the (object of, and under 
 the Providence of God, ami this so inliueiices his as.sociates 
 that he electrifies them with this power, and thereby 
 commands their influence and support to enable him to 
 carry out the providential inspiration which this subtle 
 power has given him, either for weal or woe to his fellow- 
 beings, it may be in the discovery of new continents, the 
 progress of the arts and sciences, or the tracing out of 
 crime, confirming Holy Writ when it says, "Be sure your 
 sins will find you out.' Providence, then, is but another 
 name for that Divinity which shapes our ends, rough hew 
 them how we will. Or, in the sublime, consoling and com- 
 forting language of Holy Writ, "Fear not, for I am with 
 thee be not dismayed, for I am thy God, I will strengthen 
 thee, yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my 
 righteousness ; when thou passest through the waters, they 
 will not overwhelm thee" — I will su.stain thee in the 
 majesty of the mission I have given you to do. I have 
 especially chosen you and honored you as my agent and 
 co-worker, to work out my mysterious ways and plans 
 Go forward, then, and be my delegated agent in the moral 
 and physical world. I do not work by miracles now, but 
 by human agent; syou are one now called upon to influence, 
 to electrify your fellow -citizens to my honor and glory. 
 Such, Mr. Chairman, ladies and gentlemen, is my meaning 
 
\ 
 
 A LAY SERMON. 
 
 i;j 
 
 ot' the word Providence, and its power as a subtle agent in 
 the world, and as such 1 treat it, and give you as an 
 example the most illustrious proof on the page of history 
 of Providence being our "Monitor and Electric Power. " 
 Look at Columbus ni his early days — a bold aaventurer, a 
 patriot and a man of humanity. His niimJ, too, was 
 kindled by religious enthusiasm, by the allusion in the 
 Bible to the universal ditiusion of the Gospel, and in his 
 dreams of nautical discovery, the belief that he was des- 
 tined to be an apostle sent to extend the dominion of the 
 Cross predominated over more worldly aspirations. For 
 years, while struggling with disappointment and hara.ssed 
 by poverty, he pursued this idea with the pertinacity of a 
 monomaniac. His proposal to the Senate of Genoa and 
 Council of Venice was rejected. He cast his eyes on other 
 European powers, but was rejected. But at last a provi- 
 dential guidance had brought him into the presence of 
 the man the best calculated to comprehend his purpose, in 
 a country where he was totally without friends, and with 
 whose language he was completely unacquainted. A 
 common sympathy and providtntal guidance drew them 
 together, and Columbus accepted for a period the hospital- 
 ity of Marchenas, and made him the contidant of his views. 
 Marchenas wrote an eloquent letter to Queen Isabella, 
 who summoned Marchenas and Columbus into her presence. 
 That Isabella should, at such a moment, when engaged in 
 war, and liarassed by financial embarrassment, listen to a 
 proposition which had been twice condemntd by a body of 
 learned men is a circumstance which entitles her in the 
 highest degree to a share in the glory which her protege 
 Columbus, through her was destined to obtain. King 
 Ferdinand remained a stranger to the expedition. He 
 applied his signature to the stipulations, but caused it to be 
 distinctly set down that the whole affair was undertaken 
 bv the "Queen of Castile, at her own risk and peril, thus 
 excluding him.self from every form, lot or parcel in this 
 transcendent enterprise. As the treasury was depleted by 
 the drains of war, Queen Isabella of Spain sold even her 
 jewels to tit out the enterprise. At last all was ready, and 
 Columbus, standing upon the quarter-deck, gave the order 
 to spread the sails, in the name of Jesus Christ. When 
 
t'l | i I II ssamaaaea 
 
 wmmmmmm 
 
 14 
 
 A LAY SERMON. 
 
 Columbus, with his fleet of three ships, was spreaJing their 
 sails in tne name of Jesus, to go on their grand voyage, 1 
 say: 
 
 Go in thy glory o'er the mighty, unknown, unfathomed, untried, 
 
 unnamed, unseen deep, 
 Take with thee gentle gales, thy sails to keep ; 
 Sunshine and glory on thy streamers dwell, 
 Fare thee well, barks, farewell, farewell. 
 
 Mr. Chairman, ladies and gentlemen, Pope, in his 
 Temple of Fame, says : 
 
 "High o'er the rest the mighty Homer shone, 
 Eternal adamant composed his throne." 
 
 In other wor<ls, the exalted position I have given Homer 
 cannot and ought not to be removed or assailed. I do 
 both, Sir. I yield to no man in my admiration of Homer 
 as a poet, who has charrned and dazzJeil humanity for all 
 time with his Iliad, which was the first perfect model for 
 epic poetry, and which Milton copied for his far-reaching 
 Paradise Lost. But, Sir, the true position to give the 
 works of man, and to place them amongst his fellows, is to 
 be measured by the volume of inspiration he got from his 
 Creator, for no man can be truly great without this 
 mysterious electric power given him at once to show the 
 sympathetic unity of thought and action between God and 
 man, and man's duty to illustrate God's words and works 
 as his co-worker. Homer chose for his subject the siege of 
 Troy; Milton, Paradise Lost — both grand subjects. But for 
 a higher and higher, deeper and deeper, closer and closer 
 joining, welding, grafting of the creature to the Creator, 1 
 put Columbus in the place of Homer in the Temple of 
 Fame, that adorns our earth with the heayenly inspired 
 genius of our Godlike humanity. Columbus, his mind 
 and works prove that he was carried onward and onward 
 by a heavenly Monitor. His ideal was to prove the mar- 
 velous grandeur of the structure of our earth for man's use 
 and then spread Chrisfianity, and to show that minds are 
 of celestial birth and to make a heaven of earth. Poverty, 
 the severest trial that ambitious genius is called upon to 
 
A LAV SEIIMON. 
 
 15 
 
 his 
 
 suffer, could not discourage him. Neither could the crush- 
 ing weiglit of kiarned societies, for Columbus drew his in- 
 spiration and strength from the word "round, "'first used by the 
 heavenly taught geographer, David, and Ins steadfast faith 
 and reliance on the Providence of God as his Monitor. Col- 
 umbus,too,wasfamiliarwithand aclose observer of the move- 
 ment of water. No flat surface could, for one moment, or 
 tide, keep water on a Hat. A tiat must have an edge. No 
 power could keep water in its place, subject to winds, tides 
 and storms. What a })Osition this puts learned societies in, 
 that, despite their influence, Columbus triumphed. Colum- 
 bus appears to liave been drawn, as it were, by Providence as 
 his Monitor away back to the tiuie when the earth was with- 
 out form, and voitl ; when the Great Architect was 
 designing and planning the forms of our planetary syston\ ; 
 when the granite and njarbles of Trov were soft, and the 
 isles of the Grecian Archipelago were submerged. What a 
 majesty, a sublimity, a divinity is here in our humanity in 
 the genius of Columbus;our humanity shows nothing like it. 
 I claim that the poverty-stricken, adventurous man Col- 
 umbus, who, unacquainted with the language of the country 
 which befriended hinj, and who gained power to fit out 
 such an expedition in the teeth of national poverty and the 
 opposition of learned societies, and who took that expe- 
 dition so far that the crews mutinied and threatened his 
 life — the quenching of the mutiny was one of the most 
 signal interpositions of God — these acts prove that there 
 was more of that divinity that shapes our ends in Colum- 
 bus than any other man that ever trod our earth, for his 
 work and genius justly commands the incense of a world's 
 applause. Channing, on Napoleon, in his analysis of 
 greatne.ss, carries this grandly forward when he defines 
 moral and intellectual greatness and the greatness of 
 action. In Columbus, we see this trio crown him the 
 greatest man that ever trod our earth, at once to glorify 
 its Maker and benefit His co-worker, man. Or let us 
 simplify the gorgeous micro-telescopic language of Chan- 
 ning and ask who is the greatest man 1 I answer the 
 be.sib. Who is the best ? He that deserves most of his 
 country, the world and its great and adorable Creator. 
 Such was Columbus. What Columbus was to the learned 
 

 16 
 
 A LAY SERMON. 
 
 societies in the science of geojjfraphy.in the Providence of God, 
 I claim, as the excoiniiuuiicated.to be under tlie same teash- 
 inff a monitor tothe learned societies, the Presbyterian church, 
 in the science of God and man, of Ethics or Moral Phuoso- 
 
 Mr. Chairman, ladies and gentlemen, I feel largely 
 indebted to Colunilnis for the lesson and example he has 
 given me and men for all time, not to be discouraged at 
 the treatment of learned societies who once called our 
 earth flat, and in my case calls a petition an application, 
 letters and papers. Truth must and will prevail and tri- 
 umph. Young gentlemen, ever remain true to your con- 
 .science, truth and God. 
 
 My brethren in arms and kindred in the renown of 
 the United States, in the heaven-born monitorsliip of 
 progress and diffusion of power as the genius of our race, 
 will pardon me when I say that their colo.ssus ought to 
 have been named Columbus Enlightening the World, for I 
 repeat, Columbus did more to enlighten the world as a 
 footstool for its great and adorable Creator and his crown- 
 ing creation, his co-worker man, than any other man that 
 ever trod its surface. "His action spread a golden and 
 glorious world around him and our earth, and tinged every- 
 thing with its own gorgeous colors." What we want is 
 men of muscle, brawn, pluck, courage and strength ; men 
 who are ready to grapple with difficulties, dangers and 
 hindrances, to take hold of what comes and do what is 
 needed, meet enemies and overcome them, and do work 
 which will tell in time and eternity. There is something 
 very manlj-, attractive and inspiring in the man who, in 
 the face of general opposition, stands up bravely and bat- 
 tles alone for a principle. For in the realms of Christian 
 love and service everybody has a place of his own. It 
 has been ordained for him especially. In it he can do for 
 God and his fellow-men what no one else can do. Such 
 was Columbus ; such I am, and want to be more yet, there- 
 fore, I say : 
 
 High o'er the rest the mighty Colon shone, 
 Eternal adamant n.akes his throne. 
 
 Or let me slightly alter the glcrious epitaph which his tomb 
 
 I 
 
A LAY SERMON. 
 
 17 
 
 bears, and say: Columbus gave to the olil world a new 
 world by the powerful iuHueiice of Castile atul Leon. 
 
 "Triitli cTUsliod to onrtli will riso iV!?aiii, 
 The etiiriiJil years of (rod are hers ; 
 
 But Error, wounded, writhes in pain 
 And (lies amid his worshippers." 
 
 i 
 
 I 
 
 Thus coniujenced the most memorable venture upon tlie 
 oceaniliat man had then made orhas madesince. At last land 
 wasdiscovered. Ooluiiibus lands, kissed the earth, uttered tlie 
 famous prayer, ilraws his sword and names the land in 
 howor of our Saviour. This, then, is the most illustrious 
 example of Providence being our Monitor and Electric 
 Powerthat history gives us. And what has Howed from it ? A 
 continent given to the East. And what has the western 
 world given to the East ? Gratitude, progress and diffusion 
 of power for the blessings of religion and civilization. 
 This is what Catholic Spain gave to the West in 14!)2. 
 1 will soon show you what Presbyterian Canada ijave to the 
 world in 18(SfJ-7. There was something of the sublime and 
 providential in Columbus, gathering faith, hope, comfort and 
 encourageiiient in the scraps of the vegetable kingdom which 
 he saw floating around him on the great immensitv of old 
 ocean — the grandest element on our planet,over which man 
 has no power. Man does dwarf and pierce earth's gigantic 
 mountains to his own use, but over the beauty, strength 
 and majesty of the ocean he has no power but to use it as 
 an agent of civilization, to show that man is a co-worker 
 with God to create progress and diffusion of power. 
 
 "Roll on, thou deep and dark blue ocean, roll," — 
 
 Queen Isabella summoned Marchenas and Columbus into 
 her presence. What a gatliering of a trio of the great souls 
 and providential masterpieces of our race — the especially 
 favored of God and man. What brought them together 
 there .' Columbus, a bold adventurer, a poverty-stricken 
 enthusiast; Marchenas, his friend, and Queen Isabella. 
 Look at the trio I They represent Faith, Hope and Charity 
 on earth, overshadowed by and welded into on mind b}' 
 
18 
 
 A LAY SERMON. 
 
 the Spirit and power of the Providence of God. Th.is 
 electric power and li^fht shed a iialo of glory \n the council 
 chamber of a gorgeous palace. What a scene, what a 
 picture, fit for the genius of ;v Milton or a Michael Angi'lo. 
 Preserve this picture, preserve it in the charms of song, 
 the minstrelsy of music, on the glowing canvas, on the 
 durable marble, in imperishable bronze. Treasure this in 
 your heart, while 3'our thought and flesh cling together. It 
 is worthy of eternal adainant, it does and will continue 
 treasured as one of, if not the grandest earthly l)ond that 
 links our humanity to Divinity, This is Providence, our 
 Monitor and Electric Power, from a physical, nautical, and 
 national standpoint — the grand outflow of the teachin'j of 
 our sweet religion to which Columbus devoutly belic^vod. 
 What the scraps of the vegetable kingdom were to Columl)us 
 on the world of waters a hand-writing, a look, a word 
 was to me on the ocean of crime — sure and certain evidence 
 of guilt. Scraps of circumstantial evidence speak truth, 
 circumstances cannot lia. It has been said "that little 
 things are God's levers," and it is utterly true. No power 
 on earth can affect the flowing or ebbing of the tide, neither 
 can it affect or stop the providential march of truth against 
 falsehood. As I will now proceed to show you that flows 
 from my Petition to the General Assemblies, and which 
 was called in the Globe an application, and in the Acts of 
 the Assembly letters and papers, at Hamilton, in 1886, and 
 Winnipeg, 1887. Here man degrades, but Providence ex- 
 alts us,as his agents, to purify his cause,and our humanity to 
 send the arrow of guilt and crime home to the modern 
 Jehu. It is a signal honor to be an arrow in the Almighty's 
 quiver. For being a successful agent in the Providence of 
 God I was censured, suspended and e.xcommunicated by 
 the Presbyterian church. The providential, gorgeous.glorious 
 scenic curtain has now fallen and hidden from view Colum- 
 bus, whose business with God seems now well and triumphant- 
 ly done. The curtain again rises and shows you the poor old 
 censured, suspended, excommunicated Russell, as it were, on 
 the shores of the Red Sea, with its angry, yawning water ; 
 with storm-clouds, shadows and darkness on it before him. 
 An electric gleam rifts the clouds and shows the heavenly 
 words, "Go forward; vou too, like Columbus, are on busi- 
 
 
 
 ■Mii 
 
A LAY SERMON. 
 
 19 
 
 ness with Goil. 'Be bold as a leopard, swift as an eagle, 
 bounding as a stag, brave as a lion to do the will of thy 
 Father who is in Heaven.' Go forward with dignified 
 deliberation and you will soon see 'Light in the darkness.' " 
 Mr. Chairman, ladies and gentlemen, there is no man 
 who has felt the stings and arrows of outrageous wrath, 
 whose thought and Hesh cling together, but must find great 
 comfort in reading that unrivalled supplicatory liymn : 
 
 Lead, kindly light, auiid the encircling gloom, — 
 
 And saying, " Go<l,nierciful Father, that despisest not the 
 .sighing of a contrite heart, nor the desire of such as be 
 .sorrowful, mercifully assist our prayers that we make be- 
 fore Thee in all our troubles and adversities, whereinsoever 
 they oppress us; and graciously hear us.that thoseevils which 
 the craft or subtlety of the devil or man worketh against 
 us be brought to naught, and by the Providence 
 of Thy goodness they may be dispersed. Re- 
 move from us, we entreat Thee, all frightful appre- 
 hensions, all perplexing doubts and scruples about 
 our duty, that we, thy servants, being hurt by no perse- 
 cutions or afflictions, may evermore give thanks^ unto Thee 
 in Thy Holy Church and world through Jesus Chri.st our 
 Lord." The comforting majesty of this language when you 
 confidently and prayerfully rely on it lifts you out of 
 yourself to Providence, our Guide. The excommunicated 
 As.syrian-Canadian Russell is now down like the wolf in 
 the fold of the Presbyterian false shepherds, with his logic 
 gleaming with word levers in stern logic and gold. For I 
 said, "Oh, my God, take me not away in the midst of my 
 old age ; forsake me not when my strength faileth me ; 
 wherefore in Thee, Lord, have I put mj^ trust, let me 
 never be put to confusion." 
 
 Now, Mr. Chairman, ladies and gentlemen, look at the 
 crime which I now unfold to you as a proof of Providence 
 being our Monitor and Electric Power, as my Petition to 
 the church court will show you soon. I received a letter 
 signed, "J. N. Sheerwood,Box 1176, Toronto." I cannot read 
 this letter to you because it is in the possession of the 
 government inspector of legal offices, Osgoode Hall, Toron- 
 
A LAV SEnMOy. 
 
 to, alontj with my two answers, but tlio letter was nearly 
 us follows ; 
 
 Toronto, Dec. i:Jth, l.s.s.S. 
 Mu. John Kissell. Gotlericli. 
 
 Dear .Sir, — When pussinjj; throu^'h Goderich I was 
 much pieaseW with it as a place to extend ami erect a 
 branch oi our siiitiltinj^' works at Toronto and Port Hope. 
 Owiny to the close proximity of your town in the coal and 
 iron ore of the U. S., we propose ereetinff works at Goderich 
 and employing' SO men at once, and increase as busines.s 
 prt)L,M-esses. J>y n)akin;^ this known to your leatling citizens, 
 it would greatly assist us in our undertaking. A friend of 
 mine in Toronto gave me your name as a likely person to 
 .show tins to your leading citizens, which, I trust, you will 
 do. 
 
 I remain, dear sir, yours respectfully and truly, 
 
 J. N. SHEER WOOD,' 
 
 l:!ox 1 170, Toronto. 
 
 This is the purport of tlie letter, which was written in a 
 bold, business-like hand on foolscap paper, and enclosed in 
 a largo envelo])e. The moment 1 read this 1 thought the 
 writorhad got my namti from the jJai'l otiice, becau.se I was 
 a contributor to that paper about the Goderich harbor, and 
 it was 80 years since I was much in Toronto. Before 
 answering this I consulted Mr. Imrie, who .said he thought 
 it was genuine, but to show it to our Mayor, who also 
 thought it right to answer it at once, and work it up well. 
 I therefore answered it on a card by return mail, thus : 
 
 Goderich, Dee. 14th, 1«8.S. 
 J. N. Sheerwood. Esq., 
 
 Box 1176, Toronto. 
 Dear Sir, — I beg to acknowledge yours of the 13th 
 in.st. In reply, accept thanks. I will attend to your re- 
 quest with the lea.st possible delay, or anything that you 
 think will improve business here, and show that "progress 
 and diffusion of power is the genius of our race." 
 I remain, dear sir. yours truly, 
 
 JOHN RUSSELL. 
 
 ■9. 
 
 1 
 
A LAY SEUMON. 
 
 21 
 
 fuly 
 
 al.so 
 
 I afterwjird sliowed the li'ttcr tu our Icfidiii}:,' ciLi/ens, wlio 
 warn clii'iTt'd ]>y tlic prospfct held out in the Sheerwood 
 letter. I also jfot repn'seiitative cards from a i^reat many. 
 When 1 showed this letter to Dr. Ure, his witV; was prc^scMit. 
 8he aski'd nw with (|ueenly grace, fervor and power to j^ive 
 her my reason for me ^ettin<^ sucli an important letter, and 
 not the Mayor or some of the t(nvn oHicials. 1 said that 
 my helief was that the writer had fjfot my name from tin 
 Mail otHce, for if ihe smelting works was to he carried out. 
 as indicated, it would re(|uire tlie united efforts of the gov- 
 errnnent, town and company. At mention of this Dr. Ure 
 gave me sucli a look that it haunts me still ; he seemed to 
 shrink from my presence and left the room al)ruptly. Mrs. 
 Ure congratulated me as a puhlic writer, encoura'je<l com- 
 forted and refreshed me. I answered this letter in K-tai! 
 by representative cards from our leading citizens with u.y 
 dictation, but written t)y one A. McD. Allan, in his otHce, 
 at my side, on common note })aper, which he returned me, 
 and took his own crest-mounted })apt'r. Shortly after this 
 I was told the Sheerwood letter was a fraud. Several were 
 blamed here for writing the letter, including myself, as a 
 step to municipal or school l)oard honors. No answer came 
 to me from the dead letter office. I then applied to the 
 P. O. Department, Toronto and Ottawa, for them to tell me 
 who used box 1176, Toronto, but was refused information, 
 as my letter from Ottawa will prove. This shows a confeder- 
 ateandconspiracyagainst my person andpurse. Mr.Hays call- 
 ed me into his office and told me in the presence of Messrs. 
 Kay and Ward that Allan was the writer of the Sheerwood 
 letter. One of Dr. Ure's elders urged me to show the letter to 
 Dr. Ure.which I did.when Dr. Ure examined mine and com- 
 pared it with his own, when he told me he believed Allan was 
 the writer of the letter signed "J. N. Sheerwood." I urged 
 Dr. Ure to bring us together, as we were both members of 
 his church. He refused. By this means the ca.se came before 
 the Session, when my chief witnes.ses, viz.: Mes.srs. Hay.s, 
 Kay and Ward, were not examined. At a Session meeting 
 Dr. Ure wanted my papers burned to conceal a fraud, and 
 his part in this disgraceful transaction. Some one then 
 from his Session told my wife to take (.steal) the Sheerwood 
 papers. I refused to accept the investigation of the Session in 
 
•>•) 
 
 A LAY SERMON. 
 
 this mutter; I waspunlidy eiiiiisureu intlio (lodt'ricli ruw.spH- 
 ptr.s by tlu- Sossion of Knox cliurcli.to vvliicli 1 rt'plicti in tli»! 
 (iiodoricli papers luaintainin^'the above. /\i'e\v more meetiiij^^s 
 were lield in Ses.sion, witii the re.suit of my eenniire, sus- 
 |)en.sion anU exeonimunication. I then appealed to t)io 
 Presbytery by Petition, ami on July 1 5th, 1.SJS.J, received 
 answer tliat njy Petition was unsupported, and my char^'c 
 false, vexatious and va;;ue ( 'n March 2nd 1 enlar«,'ed tho 
 Pi'titiun to its presejit foru), as you will now hear : 
 
 THE PETITION. 
 
 To THE Rev. the (iEnehal A.ssEMiti-Y of the Pkesbyteiu- 
 AN CiiriuH OF Canada : 
 
 Your petitioner humbly .sheweth that ho receiv ' o- 
 letter, sij^ned "J. N. Sheervvood, Box 1 170, Toronto," dted 
 Dec. l.Sth, l»SiS:i, which I showed to our Mayor, who told mu 
 to answer it, and look it up well. When 1 sliowed thi.s 
 letter to Dr. Tire, as one of our leading citizenw, Mrs. Ure 
 was present, and asked me with (jueenly rjrace and fervor 
 for my reason in me getting such an important letter, and 
 not the Mayor or some of the town officials. I replied that 
 1 believe the writer had got tny name from the Mail 
 office ; for if the smelting works was to be carried out, as 
 indicated, it would require the united eitbrts of the govern- 
 ment, town and company. At mention of this Dr. lire gave 
 me such a look that it liaunts me still ; he seemed to shrink 
 from my presence, and left the room abruptly. Mrs, Ure 
 congratulated me as a public writer, encouraged, comforted 
 and refreshed me. I answered this letter in detail by repre- 
 sentative card.s from our leading citizen.s, with my dictation, 
 but wrote by one A. McD. Allan, in his office, at my side. 
 Shortly after this answer I was told the letter was a fraud. 
 Several were blamed here for writing it, including the 
 writer, who was taunted on the streets as writing tho 
 letter as a step to municipal or school board honors. No 
 answer came to ine from the dead letter office, which proves 
 a confederate and conspiracy against niy purse and person. 
 Mr. Hays, lawyer, called me into his office and asked me if 
 I would show him my Sheerwood letter. I did, which put 
 
 I 
 
 I 
 
 \ i 
 
A LAY SEHMOX. 
 
 23 
 
 WSpH- 
 
 in tlic 
 
 1 
 
 nil' on the track of fclic uliovnn-ainc"! All in. His unsw-r 
 Hn<l It'ttcr WtTci closely cxiiinincil here uinl in N.-w Vork 
 Ono of J)r. Urt.'M cldiM's, Mr. McDonaM, urLfi'il nif to show 
 tlu'iM to Dr. firt', whidi \ >\u\ on May 2n<l, |SS|. When he 
 cxfiiiiintMl hitters nmrkctl \o. I, 2 ami .'{ hi' told iiic he lie 
 lieveil Allan was tlic writ'T This so slirjckcd nie tliac 
 tears came to me, when Dr. (Fre put his hand oi\ my 
 sh()ul(l(!r and said I had the hest of it. I ur<fed Dr. I 're to 
 brinj; us throe to<,'ether, whi(!h he would not do, hut j^'ot ^ 
 time from me, as Allan was a hy[)ochojidriac. On May 
 0th I c.'illed aijain on Dr. IJre and swept away his hypo- 
 cliondria ar'.;ument, 1 Khowinjr that Allan had a ('()nfederate 
 who took mv two hitters from the Toronto P O. I a<oiin 
 urfTed Dr. I 're to lirinj^ us toj^ethcir, as wo were both mem- 
 bers of his church, which lie would not do. I said I would 
 put it throuf^h, and showed him my char<,'e to Allan, wiien 
 he told me to goto Dr. Taylor and learn from him if he could 
 .stand the chari'e. In Session Dr. LFre said he told me to »jo 
 to Dr. Taylor, but (U'liied saviuLj to mo that .Allan was the 
 writer, and said 1 was in a hallucination and was pt'sterin;> 
 him. This, then, is the ])articular tiling with re^'ard to 
 which he witnes.sed falsely ; also the tiiiu; and place. The 
 Session books, Elders Mitchell, >icDonald and McMath will 
 confirm this if truth is spoken or sworn to in the public de- 
 nial of my private examination of said papers. Elder 
 McMath told me to burn the papers, and he never saw 
 them. Elder Miller came to my house on or about the 1st 
 July, 1885, and asked me if Mrs. Ru.ssell was in. I replied 
 she was. When she came Mr. Miller said he had come for 
 the papers. He got them (by pre-arrangement), and kept 
 them from me against my will and right, as telegrams to 
 to the Clerk of Presbytery, and cards to Dr. IJre ami Elder 
 Miller will prove. At a meeting of Session Dr. lire said to 
 burn the papers for the purpose of concealing a fraud. I 
 was told by two of Dr. lire's Elders of Session he did not say 
 so.but I compelled him to admit in Presbytery that he said, 
 burn the papers. In the above I was censured, suspended 
 and excommunicated from church, and a good deal of news- 
 paper eontrover.sy has gone on here with no truth on the 
 side of the church — especially from the Presbytery in the 
 News-Record of Dec 2nd, 1885. 
 
A LAY SERMON. 
 
 I tlierefore appeal to you for counsel. 
 
 On March 2n(l, LSHO, I sent the t'ollowia;^ as to the 
 oriofin of the above to the Clerk of Presbyterv. Owino- to 
 the death of my brother-in-law, I was brought frequently 
 into the company of the Rev. Mr. Thomson, then of Bruce- 
 iiekl, now of British Columbia. When I asked Mr. Thom- 
 son why he had not yet preached in Goderich, after being 
 nearly three years in Brucetield, and getting on so well 
 amongst my old friends, he replied he had not been asked. 
 I asked Dr. Ure. He said he would do so to me and an- 
 other gentleman. Six months elapsed and he was nt-there, 
 when a small, select party, including Mr. Caux-ron, M. P., 
 who.se guest Mr. Thomson was when here, Mr. Allan, 
 Editors tSt<r//«/ and Star, and the writer arranged to go and 
 hear Mr. Thomson preach, say next Sunday we^-k. The 
 Synod was then in Kingston, when Mr. Tliomson came 
 from there and preached in Dr. Ure's church ; therefore we 
 did not go. 
 
 Now, Rev. Gentlemen of the .Assembly, I believe Mr. 
 Allan telegraphed our intention to go to Brucetield, and 
 that the Sheerwood letter was the joint product of Mr. 
 Allan and Dr. Ure, to punish me for my interference (with 
 the best of n)otives) in the pulpit arrangement, for 1st, Mr. 
 Thomson coming on that Sabbath ; 2nd, Dr. Ure's look 
 and manner to me on the tirst interview ; 8rd, his refusal 
 to effect a reconciliation on the second meeting : 4th, his 
 refusal again, and sending me to a medical doctor ; 5th, his 
 denial in public what he told me in private ; 6th, Elder 
 McMath lelling me to burn the papers and he never saw 
 them ; 7th. Dr. Ure's interference with the Session Clerk at 
 its tirst meeting ; 8th, someone in Session telling my wife 
 to Lake (steal) the Sheerwood papers and give them to 
 Session Clerk Miller by pre-arrangement ; 9th, their refusal 
 to give me the papers ; lOfch, the newspaper controversy, 
 especially in News- ciecord of Dec. 2nd, 188.5. 
 
 Under the circumstances I appeal to your Assembly, 
 claiming your investigation into tlie case, becau.sc I fail t ) 
 see that I have done anything worthy the bans of excom- 
 munication in my endeavor to track out such a cowardly 
 scourge of crin)e as the above. I venture the assertion that 
 in your august and venerable Assembly, or in the wide 
 
A LAY .sERMOX. 
 
 2;^ 
 
 range of Christian clcrofymen, there would not have been 
 one'wlio wouM have aeted such a part iu tiie abovf us I.)i. 
 Ure did, and why ^ Because of their innocence and his 
 
 gnilt. 
 
 The heavenly grandeur of the teaching that has tiowetl 
 into njy heart from Sinai and Zion inspires nie with con- 
 fidence to <iefend uiy religion, my chuicli. my wife, my 
 liome, my character, from such a scourge as the above. 
 I remain, Rev. Gentlemen of the Assembly, 
 Your petitioner in dutv bound, 
 
 JOHN RUSSELL. 
 
 Goderich, April 19th, 1886. 
 
 The refusal of tlie Presbytery to allow me to be heard 
 only at the Uth hour, after a one sided discussion from 
 about 4 p. m. and renewed at 7 p. m., and carried over long 
 after midnight, when I was allowed only to speak after re- 
 peatedly saving I would leave the Court with a body and 
 mind exhausted bv the whole Court, and my witnesses 
 turning then f roni what they told me in private, and the 
 Court refusing me a solicitor or one of -ts members to act 
 for me as Queen's Counsel. I especially asked Rev. Mr, 
 Stewart by letter to assist me, but he treated my written 
 request with .silent.contemptuous indiiference.although at a 
 former meeting of Presbytery, when I was leaving, he rose, 
 shook hands with me, sympathised with me, an.i said the 
 case was shocking. I afterwards applied to the (Jlerk ot 
 Presbytery for instructions to go to the Synod, with tlus 
 
 ^^"^^ ' Blyth, March 13th, 1886. 
 
 Mr John Russell, 
 
 Dear Sir,— 1 consulted with the brethren about your 
 letter and was advised to have nothing more to do with the 
 matter or giving you advice. 
 
 I am, dear .sir, yours truly, 
 
 A. MrLEAN. 
 
 This is again.st the fundamental laws of the Presby- 
 terian church" they check my right of appeal. As the 
 Presbytery refused to send my Petition to the Synod (to 
 Dr. Cochrane I replied it was no fault of mine, as the above 
 
26 
 
 A LAY SERMON. 
 
 will sliow.) I tbfm sent it to Rev. VV. Roirl. 1), D , Clerk of 
 Assembly, who says : 
 
 Toronto, lOth July, 1886. 
 My Dear Sir, — I am in receipt of yours of I7th, in 
 reference to your Petition to the General Assembly. I 
 have to state that I laid the Petition before the Committee 
 on Bills, &c., an(3 it was by them transmitted to the Assem- 
 bly. After hearing part of the Petition the Assembly de- 
 clined to take up the case. Yours truly, 
 
 VVM. REID. 
 Mr. John Russell, Goderich. 
 
 (The Petition is enclosed.) 
 
 The following is an extract from "The Acts and Pro- 
 ceedings of the Twelfth General Assembly of the Presby- 
 terian Church in Canada :" — "Dr. Reid presented and read, 
 in part, a number of letters bearing the signature 'John 
 Russell,' and an official stamp 'John Russell, Agent, Gode- 
 rich, Ont.,' containing extended statements of grievances for 
 which he sought redress. On motion of Mr. A. D. McDon- 
 ald, duly seconded, the Assembly agreed as follows : — After 
 reading papers from Mr. John Russell, of Goderich, decline 
 to receive them." 
 
 And this from the Globe : 
 
 "The Assembly declined to take up the application of 
 Mr. John Russell, of Goderich."— Extract from report of 
 Presbyterian Assembly in Toronto Globe, Friday, June 18th, 
 
 1886. 
 
 Here, now, is this remarkable excommunication docu- 
 ment from Knox church. The church calls it contumacy,but 
 the modern star chamber fails to give us the cause of this ; 
 that august tribunal cannot or will not grasp cause and 
 effect. I beg your closest attention to Dr. Ure's letters, 
 especially the words "contumacy," "offensive," "groundless" 
 and "made clearly manifest," in connection with my Peti- 
 tion, and my answer to Dr. Ure's letter. 
 
A LAY SERMON. 
 
 27 
 
 GoDERiCH, Oct. 8th, 1885. 
 Mr. John Russell, 
 
 My Dear Sir, — In accordance with my promise I laid 
 before the Session at its meeting, on Wednesday eveninjj; 
 last, your letter, in which you ask for a certificate .which 
 shall state the time down to which you were a member in 
 full communion of Knox church, also the date at which 
 your name was removed from the communion roll of the 
 church, with a statement of the reason for the action taken 
 in your case. As you have already the information asked 
 for the Sessioncould not see why you should ask for itagain. 
 They agreed, however, to grant the request, and drew up a 
 minute in reference to it, of which the certificate herewith 
 sent is a copy. In transmitting the document the Session 
 instructed me to inform you that, as soon as you are pre- 
 pared to submit to the decision of the Session and Presby- 
 tery, and show a proper spirit towards those against whom 
 you have brought groundless and vexatious charges, they 
 will be happy to hear from you again and to take the 
 necessary steps for j^our restoration to membership in the 
 church, but that until then they will hold no further 
 correspondence with you in regard to your oase. 
 
 I remain, my dear sir, yours very sincerely, 
 
 ROBERT URE. 
 
 As specially requested by Mr. Russell the Session of 
 Knox church furnishes him with the following form of 
 certificate : It is hereby certified that Mr. John Russell was 
 a member in full communion of Knox church, Goderich, 
 from June 2nd, 1874, until Jan. 21sc, 1885, at which latter 
 date he was placed under suspension ; that he remained 
 under suspension until April 1st, 1885, at which date his 
 name was removed from the communion roll of the church. 
 The minutes of Session recording the acts of suspension, a 
 copy of which was duly transmitted to Mr. Russell.specifies 
 contumacy as the reason of this act. The minutes of Ses- 
 sion recording the erasure of his name from the communion 
 roll of the church, a copy of which was duly transmitted to 
 him, is in the following terms: That the Session, having re- 
 ported the fact of Mr. John Russell's contumacy to the Pres- 
 bytery of Huron, and having been directed by the Presby- 
 
m 
 
 A LAY SERMON. 
 
 tery to proccet! in the case ar-cording to the laws of the 
 cburcli, the Session.taking into consideration all the circum- 
 stances of the case, agree to strike his name from the com- 
 munion roll, which was accordingly done. The reasons of 
 the Session's procedure as shown by the minutes are these: 
 1st, contumacy; this was shown by Mr. Russell in his ex- 
 plicit rejection of the authority of the Session, and in his 
 openly expressed contempt for the same, in connection with 
 a <lecision in regard to charges preferred by him against 
 McD. Allan, charges on investigation which had been de- 
 manded both by Mr. Allan ami himself ; 2nd, a considera- 
 tion of all the circumstances of the case, where the refeie*\:e 
 is to the spirit shown by Mr. Russell ; (1), In the natu of 
 the charges made by him, their being both offensive and 
 groundless ; (2), the persistency with which he has clung to 
 his charges after their groundlessness had been made clearly 
 manifest, and (3) in the vindictiveness that appears m 
 letters addressed by him to Mr. Allan, to the Session and the 
 Presbytery of Huron. As Mr. Russell appeared by Petition 
 before the Presbytery, and obtained a judgment in his case, 
 and, as the judgment ot the Presbytery in regard to the 
 second point now forms part of the Sessional record of the 
 case, said judgment must be here appended to render this 
 statement complete. It is as follows : The Presbytery 
 declined to answer the prayer of his (Mr. Russell's) Petition 
 respecting his reponement as a member of the church ; 1st, 
 because he has persistently continued to make charges 
 false and vexatious ; 2nd, because he has manifested a spirit 
 so vindictive and bitter as is unb( coming a member of 
 
 church. 
 
 Goderich, Oct. <Sth, 1885. 
 
 (Signed) ROBT. URE. 
 
 Moderator of Session. 
 
 Mr. Cliairman, ladies and gentlemen, before I read you 
 my answer to this I remind you of Milton's translation from 
 Sophocles : "'Tis you that say it, not 1. You do the deeds, 
 and your ungodly deeds lind me in words." 
 
 Godert(;h, Oct 10th, 1885. 
 
 Rev. Robert Ure, D.D., Moderator Session of Knox Church, 
 Dear Sir. — Yours of the 8th inst. and certiticate of 
 
 i \ 
 
A LAY SERMON. 
 
 29 
 
 church membership with cause of suspension ami excom- 
 munication to hand. In reply, I refuse to accept the.se as 
 .sufficient cau.se for the above. Because, 1st, you .say con- 
 tumacy but do not state in and for what clearly; 2nd, you 
 say my charges against Allan were offensive atVr their 
 groundlessness had been made clearly manifest; this is a 
 false statement — a gross untruth — which you well know, 
 sir. Good God have mercy on you ami your Session. 
 Groundless, aye, groundless ! Let us see, ground- 
 less ! Why did Llder McMath tell me to burn the papers 
 and he never .saw them ? — is this groundless '. What dil 
 Elder Mitchell say to me and I to him.and why was he not 
 examined in Presbytery ?— is this groundless .'' What did 
 Elder McDonald say to me, and why did he send me to 
 you ? — is this groundless l Why was he not examined in 
 Presbytery ? — is this groundless.' And what, sir, did you 
 say to me, and send me to Dr. Taylor to learn from him if 
 he thought that Allan could stand the charge, which he <lid 
 for about an hour, when he was a .self-condemned, guilty, 
 conscience stricken coward, but for timely aid would m all 
 likelihood have been in a suicide's grave 1 — is this ground- 
 less ? Nay. Who taught my wife to be a sneak-thief and 
 tale-bearer to me now of the Session's business contrary to 
 my instructions given to Miller on Sept. IGth i Who got 
 the stolen papers and kept them again.st my will and right? 
 Your sneak Miller, your Clerk of Ses.sion. Shame : Shame: 
 Is this groundless l Who .said in Ses.sion (you, sir) to burn 
 my papers ? Who was comjielled to admit in Presbytery 
 that you said to burn the papers I Shame 1 Shame : Shame : 
 Gracious God ! burn my papers : what a word \ it is worthy 
 the devils in hell. Burn my papers 1 why, sir, if you had 
 got your hellish plans complete the ashes of burnt papers 
 could have told no .stories, as they now can. Is this ground- 
 less? No, sir, firm as adamant, thank God, tiie papers are 
 safe. Why was Mr. Strang, that officious weathercock, not 
 examined in Presbytery ? He carried himself more like a 
 braying ass than" a B. A. who was taught to search for 
 truth in academic groves ; is this groundless :* Nay, nay, 
 poor creations of men. 1 pity you. So much for your Pres- 
 byterian evidence, you call this groundless. Nay. Mr. 
 Havs told me in pre'sence of Messrs. Kay and Ward that 
 
•SO 
 
 A LAY SERMON. 
 
 Allan was the writer. Why were they not exaujined in 
 Pre.sl)ytery on oath ? — is this groundless ? Nay, you must 
 completely overturn the above and other evidence I hold 
 before I accept any such instrument from you as a just, 
 true and honorable clearance fron. your church membership. 
 I therefore refuse to accept it, an<l will, as I forn)erly ad- 
 vised you, apply for a toktn of admission unles.s you give 
 me more satisfactory reasons for your censure, suspension 
 and excommunication of me from your church. You 
 further say that your Session instructed you to inform me 
 that as soon as I am prepared to submit to the decision of 
 Session and Presbytery, and to show a proper spirit asjainst 
 whom I have brought groundless and vexatious charges 
 the}' will be happy, etc., etc. ; if not they will hold no 
 further intercourse with me. 1st, I will not accept yours 
 as groundless; 2nd, your Session might well wish to be 
 clear of me and mine. 1 care not a snow-Hake for your 
 company in Church and State; your Session and Presbj'tery 
 to me is unworthy what has been done on our planet. 
 Clarence's dream for 3'ou. But I thank you for yours, it 
 gives me more power. 
 
 I remain. Rev. Moderator, yours truly, 
 
 JOHN RUSSELL. 
 
 This closes the history of my remarkable excommuni- 
 cation and Petition through the Presbyterian church courts 
 for the year 188C. Shocked at this, I reviewed the case 
 thus and s-ent it to Rev. W. Reid, Clerk of Assembly : 
 
 GoDERiCH, June 1st, 1887. 
 Rev. \V. Reid, D. D., Clerk of General Assembly. 
 
 Dear Sir,— Yours of July 29th, 1886, informing me 
 you have to state that I laid the Petition before the Com- 
 mittee on Bills, etc., and it was by them transmitted to the 
 General Assembly ; after hearing part of the Petition the 
 Assembly declined to take up the case ;" you also enclosed 
 the Petition. For these accept tiianks. In this communica- 
 tion the instrument is privately and correctly named "Pe- 
 tition" four times. The Gbbe of June 18th, 1886, says the 
 Assembly declined to take up the application of Mr. John 
 Rusye!!, of Goderich, and in the "Acts and Proceedings of 
 
A LAY SEKMOX. 
 
 31 
 
 the Twt'lftli General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church 
 of Canada" it says: "Dr. Reid presented and reaii in part 
 a number of letters bearinj^ the signature of John Russe'l 
 and an official stamp "John Russell, Coderich, Ont ," con 
 taining extentiod statement of grievances for which he 
 sought redress. On motion of Mr. A. D. McDonald, duly 
 seconded, thf-. .Assembly agreed as follows : .After reading 
 papers from Mr. John Russell decline to receive them.'" 
 Now, rev.^rend doctor .permit me to request you to inform me 
 why my Petition is publicly called in the Globe an appli- 
 cation, ^and in the reports of the Assembly letters and 
 papers. I enclose the Petition to be again presentei to the 
 A.sisenibly, and I claim from that A.s.sembly the sacred trut'i 
 relative to the instrument I laid before them through you, 
 because it was and is a Petition. Why was the Petition 
 talsely called in the Globe an application and in the 'Acts 
 and Proceedings of the Assembly" letters and papers / Why 
 was the v\ord"Petitit)n,"showing thaimportanceof theinstni- 
 ment.suppre.ssed publicly.andyou.reverend doctor.,in return- 
 ing me my Petition in about three-.score words.mention tlie 
 word "Petition" four times. 01 sacred truth, hasthy triumph 
 ceas:id awhile, when the highest church courts in the Pres- 
 byterian church in Canada falsely name an important in- 
 strument an application, letters and papers, when it is and 
 has been indorsed by these church courts "Petition ? " What 
 leagued, oppressive cowardice 1 'Tis a pity for religion, 
 truth and justice ^at the church that falsely calls a Pe- 
 tition an application and letters, and treats with worse than 
 atheistical and stoical indifference the prayers of a Petition, 
 was not linked to the State ; the Petition would have been 
 at the throne of our Empire. The inference drawn from 
 the words "application, letters and papers," thus publicly 
 given, is this : That I was an applicant by letter to your 
 court for a menial office in the Holy of Holies of your church. 
 But on motion of Mr A. D. McDonald, duly seconded, etc. — 
 To those of us who are familiar with the lay part of your 
 Assembly we might justly conclude from the want of the 
 prefix reverend to this name that the Air. A D. McDonald 
 was the Rev. Dr. Ure's butcher or baker, tinker or tailor ; 
 but it is not so with me ; this is the Rev. A. D. McDonald 
 who, in my official capacity as trustee in his first church in 
 
32 
 
 A LAY SERMON'. 
 
 Huron, T measured lances wich Ions ajyo, and he took a 
 prominent part in the fraud ami false witness, burn the 
 papers; and some one in the church tauLjht my wife to be 
 a tiiief. So much for Mr. A. D. McDonald and t.h(< suppres- 
 sion of my Petition. The ".-Vets" further says, "bearini; the 
 sijjfnature of John Russell and an official stain p. I 
 acknowlege both; the official stamp was for my use to aid 
 me in mj' business contract with the New York Life Co., 
 which officially stamps me able to use correct language 
 in writing to the Co. and the General Assembh' of Canada, 
 who will please accept my thanks for especially noticing the 
 official stamp ; but my business was ruined by the public 
 censure, suspension and excommunication by me of Knox 
 church. The official stamp was microscopically noted, but 
 not the heavy, clumsy, clinging, gnawing, grinding chain of 
 circumstantial evidence,titfora standard, philosophic Pale3',in 
 my Petition against Dr. Ure, oh,no!who has resigned going to 
 Winnipeg with this load.poor man. What a spectacle your 
 Assembly pres'^nts; and here in the streets and Square I 
 publicly flaunt papers in Dr. Ure's face and ask him in 
 a loud clear voice if he would like to burn them. Shades 
 and memories of the mighty dead of the Cromwell and Mil- 
 ton era,and of the manl3'KnoxespecialIy,whosenamesglitter 
 and shine wuth electric power on the long roll of sacred and 
 profane history for our grateful use now ! Reverence for 
 your worth and immortality ended with the Twelfth Gen- 
 eral Assembly, when, witliout truth, without justice, with- 
 out manliness, a Petition is falsely called and its prayer not 
 heard. For loss of business with my stamp and in being 
 held up to the public as an applicant and letter writer, in- 
 stead of, and correctly. Petitioner, I claim $10,000 damages 
 from the Assembly or my Petition heard and thoroughly 
 examined. So much for the public aspect of the case. 
 Reverend doctor this takesmebackto the daysof'.Auld Lang 
 Syne," when ray mother taught me the ten commandments 
 and put especial force upon the commands "Thou shalt not 
 steal," "Thou shalt not bear false witness," with reasons an- 
 nexed thereto in our shorter catechism. O ! what a reven- 
 tial gratitude I owe to that mother, who thus early taught 
 me and engraved as none but a mother can upon the hearts 
 and conduct of her boys respect for truth. Never, O ! 
 
A LAY SEllMoX. 33 
 
 never, will I forj^et tlie last task she iin[)'-)se(l u[r)n iiie 
 when in my early minhooil 1 left her home — sweet, s\veet 
 lu)ine. From the "Bii,' ha' Bible" I read to her "Watch ye, 
 I stand fast in the faith, (juit ye like men, be stronLj" — b.:? 
 
 worthy what has been done for 3'^on. I repeat the ten com- 
 mandments and recite the [)araphrase : 
 
 I am not asliauied to o\vi\ my I^ird 
 
 Or to defend His cause, 
 Maintain tlie ,i,'lory of tlie Cross 
 
 And honor all His laws. 
 
 The earthly inHufnce of tny mother's teaching is now trans- 
 t'ortnod into one of the glorious cloud of witnesses who are 
 encircling me with this heavenly power, and which clearly 
 nnirks me as an agent in the Providence of God to defeml 
 the teaching of Sinai, tlie Bible, the Cross, the home, and 
 that cloud of wif.nesses who have in all ages so manfully 
 uphelil sacred trutli, which I will do while my thought and 
 flesh cling together. 
 
 From scenes Uke these Old Scotia's grandeur springs, 
 To scenes Uke the.se Old Scotia's future glory clings. 
 
 To scenes like the.se Ohl Scotia's gratitude is chained to 
 Sinai and its teaching ; to .scenes like these Old Scotia's 
 sons who are ilutiful now will keep her good name unsullieil 
 from auglit that will create a want of respect for sacreil 
 truth. I, as one of her sons, will do anything in my power, 
 delegated as I am by the omnipotent P)ovidence of God, to 
 dispel the death shade,the hurricane eclipse, the tumultuous, 
 horrible cowardice raging round the church. The Son of 
 Righteousness and Truth must dispel all falsehood from 
 her. On private grounds of relationship we care naught 
 for your use of the words "application" ami "letters" instead 
 of, and correctly, "Petition" when we see such falsehood and 
 cowardice in the A.ssembly. On public, religious and pri- 
 vate grounds, I return you mj' Petition to have it correctly 
 named. I may call your attention to the third sentence in 
 my Petition. To Mrs. Dr. lire I first announced the fact 
 that owing to my careful u.se of words 1 was a Mail con- 
 
;u 
 
 A T-AV SEUMOX. 
 
 tributor, aildrossinf,' a power nw\ nn nndienee that shrinks 
 vour court into insiifiutifance. 1 therefore expect the Gen- 
 
 • ••11* 
 
 eral A.ssenibly will call coininunicotions trom me by their 
 rii,^ht name. And if I have libelled in my vvritinijfs in the 
 press, or in pamphlets which I have printcMl and sent yon 
 and a great many others, the law is open to you and court- 
 ed by me. My soul, secure in its exultant and <j;rowin<^ 
 truth, smiles at your drawn deceit and falsehood an<l defies 
 its point. Be pleased, therefore, reverend doctor of the As- 
 sembly, to present my Petition to be rightly named by tin- 
 Assembly and return it to yours, dutifully bound by the 
 laws of God and man to maintain the gfan<leur of my 
 sweet religion and its Christian civilization so long as my 
 thought and flesh cling together. 
 
 I remain, reverend doctov, in the Providence of God, 
 
 Yours truly, 
 
 JOHN RfTSSELL- 
 
 At the same time I sent the following : 
 
 Riiv. W. Reid, D. D., Clerk of General Assembly. 
 
 Dear Sir, — I have kept the above from you until now 
 because of a correspondence going on between the Toronto, 
 Montreal and New York offices of the New York Life In- 
 surance Co., relative to the breach of contract between us, 
 which was done, I believe, through the influence of some 
 one in connection with Knox church here. The officers to 
 date are shrinking the question — I sympathzie with them, 
 but duty must be done ; gravitation in physics and Provi- 
 dence in crime is all powerful. I will telegraph you result 
 of above to Winnipeg. With this I mail you, the Moderator 
 and Rev. A. D. McDonald again my pamphlets. 
 
 I remain, reverend doctor, 
 
 Yours, most respectfully and truly, 
 
 Goderich, June l.st, 1887. JOHN RUSSELL. 
 
 Dr. Reid's answer from Winnipeg to the above : 
 
 1 
 
A LAV SERMOX. r^", 
 
 Ofi'ke of Pheshytehian Church of Canada, 
 50 Cluirch Street, Toronto, 
 
 21.st July, 1.S87. 
 To Mr. John Russell, 
 
 Agent, Goderich. ' 
 
 Dear Sir, — I beg to acknowled^'c j-ours of the 20tli. 
 
 Tlie General Asseniuly declined to take up your Petition, 
 
 which 1 now return ulon^' with this. Yours trul}-, 
 
 W. REID. 
 
 And in the "Acts and Proceeihngs of the Thirteenth Gener- 
 al Assembly" it says : "Dr. Reid presented a Petit' n from 
 John Russell, iigent, Goderich. Dr. Reid indicated gener- 
 ally the character of the document. On motion of Mr. 
 Peter Musgrove, seconded by Mr. Justice Taylor, the As- 
 sembly declined to receive the Petition." 
 
 Mr. Chairman, ladie.s and gentlemen, mark this well- 
 now is the history of my Petition through the church 
 courts unheeded and falsified. A Petition is an application 
 made by an inferior to a superior, and especially to one 
 having jurisdiction; a Petition is on land what a signal of 
 distress is on the ocean— a cry for help. Who can look upon 
 either with stoical indifference i But mark again, I charge 
 the church with being the agent of breaking the contract 
 between the New York Life Co. and me, from earning my 
 bread and butter from that source. But I thank the church 
 from the very bottom of my heart for lifting me into a 
 more profitable sphere of usefulness— to lecture or show 
 Providence our Monitor and Ebctric Power. The man 
 who claimed to love his God, while he did not love his 
 neighbor, is a liar. The best of all duties is to be fighting 
 for one's country and God. 
 
 Mr. Chairman, ladies and gentlemen, I have now shown 
 you that man is a co-worker with God in matter and mind, 
 as shown by Columbus in matter and my Petition in mind 
 
 and crime. What the scraps of the vegetable kingdom 
 
 light in the darkne.ss— and a piece of wood marked by an 
 iron instrument were to Columbus the following .scraps of 
 circumstantial evidence were sure proof to me of the con- 
 spirators against my purse, person and truth. Carry this, 
 then, the grand lesson of my lecture with you, through life; 
 
" 
 
 m 
 
 A I,AY SEKMON. 
 
 and now I call upon yon to '«liun tlu- vn y cont'i'ptioTi ot 
 \\T()n<r-<l(»iii<' to x'oiir («o<l. vour (.'onscit'nci! and your fellow- 
 nion. Livccvcr as in your <.'rtat 'raskina.stt'r s rye ; Ui't-p 
 your iiiiiid continually fixed on an Aliiiii,dity Judj:,^', wlio 
 nays, with tvtim'ndous conscience-scarclnn;; jjower : "Bo 
 sure your sins \vill find \ou out." 1 will now tjlance at the 
 proof my Petition nivt-.s : Ist, Rev. Mr. Thomson's condnj^ 
 for the tirst time after heini;' thre*; years in Hrucefield, a 
 distance of onlj' Mevcnteen ndles, the *")unday l)eforesuch an 
 inHutntialconi])any was to^oand hear him pr>'ach at Hrucefield ; 
 lind, i)r. Ire's look and maimer to me;*}rd, his refusal toetfect 
 a reconciliation ; 4tli, his refusal aijain and seiidinir me to 
 a medical doctor; ')th, Ins denial in puhlic wliat lie told mo 
 in j)rivate ; (ith. Elder McAlatli's telling' mo to burn the 
 papers and he never saw them ; 7th, Dr. Ure's interference 
 with the Session clerk ; Sth, some one in Session tellint» 
 my wife to take (steal) the Sheerwood papers ; 9th, the 
 newspaper controvers\', which is false. It would have 
 ;fiven me, as it would yon, a vast amount of the clearest 
 circumstantial evidence to have erdare'ed upon these points, 
 because circumstances cannot lie; but time will not allow 
 me. I can only add, for successfully ])nttin(T that evidence 
 together and thereby trap{)ing; the human \volves, I was 
 susnended, cen.sured and excommunicated. As the punish- 
 ment of excommuincation carries with it such degrading, 
 galling ]uiblicity I feel ashanied to enter a church now 
 until I publicly defend myself ; and througli what I fear- 
 lessly and confidently charge my opponer.ts with I was 
 deprived of the agency of the Tsew York Life Co, to pre- 
 vent mo from earningmy bread and butter from that.sonrce,as 
 the Preshyteritu/ Rfrietr calls our food. I appealed twice by 
 Petition to the General Assembly ; they refused to hear me 
 and called a Petition an ai)plication, thereby bearing false 
 witness ugainsc .no and the ten commands. Thisclo.ses my 
 case with the 'liurch courts. What a story — my home, my 
 business ra> aged and ruineil, my wife taught to steal my 
 pa|)ers, and church courts reft of fellow-feeling, sympathy, 
 compassion, manliness, mercy, religion, truth — what a story 1 
 Break, torture, worry the ohl contuniacious.excommunicated 
 sinner's spirit; deprive him ofhisieason; make him fit 
 for an asylum ; put his old exconnnunicated body under 
 
 \ \ 
 
A LAV SKinioN. 
 
 .M7 
 
 the vvheel.s of our wouM-Ik' iiiipt'riiil .Jii;,'<:,'crn)Ujt ; i^'riiul and 
 scatter tlio (lust of his oxconmiuMicatcd hodilv dust so that it 
 luiii^di's and i)()Mut('s th.- (hi-t <.|" Mr.tlicr KaVth. He is ex 
 eoinmunicatfd lioiu the Preshytcciaii Holy of Iloli..s ; he 
 carries with him our would-be soverei^jfii brand. Away, 
 away with hini, among the bestial herds to roam. He lias 
 got the rankling, poi.soTious wound from our Presbyterian 
 paw. This is the spirit of the Presbyterian church* to m.«, 
 the contumacious, the excommunic^ated. Thanks : Thaidvs.' 
 This is the low-murnmring, subt'Tranean sound of the 
 church courts culminating by calling a IV.'tition an applica- 
 tion. What le,igued, oppressive cowardice! "A lie is 
 courage to Ood, cowardice toman." Bub, again, thanks to 
 Providence, who all along and is now my Monitor! 
 
 Mr. Chairman, ladies and gentlemen, home is the 
 boundary of our emi)ire ; God has fenced it in from all tii(« 
 worM ; it is a realm by itself. It is the most sacred spot 
 to us; nothing so .soon kindles a man into a conflagration of 
 wrath or hurls him intc such a thunderbolt of indigna- 
 tion as the invasion of his home. Ladies and gentlemen, 
 I can now confidently appeal to you not to allow the Pres- 
 byterian church 10 put ruin's ploughshare over my head and 
 home. You must not allow this, the 19th century of our 
 sweet religion and its glorious civilization, to be ravage<l by 
 the Presbyterian wolf's paw of the Milton era; this must 
 and will be crushed if you aid me. Gentlemen, which of 
 you will be to me what Marchenas was to Columbus ^ 
 Ladies, which of you will be to me what Queen Isabella 
 was to Columbus { I claim your united support, for while 
 I defend my own case 1 defend yours. Remember a crime 
 that defiles the sacred springs of married domestic confi- 
 dence is a crime of unspeakable atrocity, and that whoso- 
 ever does anything to depreciate Christianity is guilty of 
 high treason against the civilization of mankind. Conceal- 
 ment docs nothing to lessen the burden of guilt, and I am 
 fighting that sinister conspiracy which wears the forms of 
 religion to destroy human liberty and the prosperity of 
 states. Clericalism i.s no less dangerous in Canada ; in 
 tact, there is no spot on earth where, relativeh* to the 
 forces arrayed against it, it is so formiable Truth wears 
 no mask, bows at no human shrine. She seeks neither 
 
88 
 
 A LAY 3ERM0N. 
 
 place nor applause ; she only asks a liearinnf. Hear what 
 the Glohe of .lune 2!)th, 1S85, says: "The degeneracy of 
 the Presbyterian church into a close ecclesiastical corpora 
 tion that is fast destroyino- its fundamental principles.so far 
 as the rights and the liberties of the people are concerned. " 
 Brave, t^rue and noble words from the G/ohe. Who, I re- 
 peat, made the Globe, in the above case, call a Petition an 
 application ? A church that would under the above cir- 
 cumstances call a Petition an application is surely out of 
 place in Christendom, and especially in young Canada. If 
 not, it needs a providential Monitor and electric lightening 
 Power to remind it of its duty to God and man, "and that 
 whom the goels want to destroy they first make mad," for 
 surely it is'the cowardly, imb cile nifatuation of madness 
 for such a court to call a Petition an 'application, letters 
 and papers." Where is this thirteen year old church going ( 
 Whither is it drifting ( Where is it taking its bearings 
 fron. ^ Not from heaven, but from the human dregs of 
 earth. Where is it leading its tlock by such an example as 
 the above ^ This church makes truth shriek with uplifted 
 hands to God an.l man for help, for as the American poet 
 .says: 
 
 Tn vain we call old notions fudge 
 
 And bend our conscience to our dealing ; 
 
 The ten coumiandnients will not budge 
 And stealing will continue stealing. 
 
 Young Canada, abhor, resent with all the majesty of your 
 young and vigorous manhood, backed as you are by the 
 sublime teaching of God and worthy manhood, whether 
 imlividual or collective. Those who have helped to make 
 your Christianity, your civilization, your einpire, so that 
 this combination of powvr commands, and justly, the in- 
 cense of a world's applause, young Canada, treasure them. 
 Say from the bottom of your heart : "I dare do all becomes 
 a man to do ; who dares do more is none." We read and 
 admire a book called "The Tactics of Intidcls," but look at 
 the tactics of the Presbyterian church to me, the press and 
 truth. Religion* suffers naught from the tactics of infidels 
 in comparison with what she does from her own courts. 
 Duty prompts me to hold this up as a beacon-tire to warn 
 
A L.W sEHMOX. 30 
 
 the churches of Christeinloin to respect truth, hiyui :n an' I 
 the press; for tliese will Houris'^ wlien cowardly churches, 
 with their falsehoofls and 'star chamber conclaves," will 
 dwindle into insiujniticanee and be swept from the face of 
 the earth. If I was called upon to concentrate tlie genesis 
 and jjenius of our reliixion and civi'ization into one word, 
 that word would be " manliness. " Be m udy, be worthy of 
 what has been done for you, and hand it along. You are 
 bound by a thousand ties to hand along the stream of time 
 a good e.Kample, a worthy influence, a noble record. See 
 how you are backed. Grip, of Oct. I5th, LS87, says: "Grij) 
 has no sympathy with religious intolerance of any kin I and 
 will continue in the future, as he has in the past, to 
 stand up firmly for evjn-handed justice to all churches and 
 creeds." The Presbyterian church, having jurisdiction over 
 Dr. lire, leaves him in his ignouiiny, that lias brouglit dis- 
 grace on his parentage, his name, our church, our religion, 
 our Christianity, our country, our ])umanit3-;and the cliurch 
 says to the Creator of our conscience — that vicegerent of 
 Almighty Power in jur bodies — it is useless; that the feel- 
 ing of resentment in our souls is useless; thatvi^e are robbed of 
 the majestic power given us as co-workers of Cod to track 
 out crime is useless; that Jehu is to put his arrow in its quiv- 
 er and Jesus His sword in its scabbard; that the teaching of 
 St. Paul, the apostle of progress, is usele.s.s. The church 
 here refuses to look into a crime so black and hideous by 
 one of its ministers that the Crown has and will defend me 
 again ; and the Crown now guards the proof of it, in papers 
 marked No. 1, 2, H, in Osgoode Hall. Let crime like this 
 go unpunished and there is an end to all law, human and 
 divine. I will now give you a few names of distinguislie<l 
 t lucators, as Bacon, Montaigne, Wayland, Beattie, Nott, 
 <./,..chrane, Dumoulin, Jeff'ery, Grant, of Wmnipeg, Newman 
 and Principal Grant, relative to the importance of truth 
 and veneration for the statutes of God, for your study ; but 
 Principal Grant, with matchless truth and power, says : 
 "Some men and all catr • . reft of patriotism to our three 
 in one dear Motherland," which I heartily endorse, and add: 
 Sonje men and all cattle are reft of patriotism to the Holy 
 Land. Oh, sacred truth ! has thj' triumph ceased awhile ? 
 Oh, patriotism for the Holy Land ! Oh, patriotism for the 
 
40 
 
 A LAY SERMOy. 
 
 lierocs and martyrs of uviny lauil-i '. 0!i, pvtriotism for 
 the debt of gratitude we owe our Mutherlaad, or the hand 
 of our adoption or birth! Bow your liead in sorrow an(l 
 shame, clothe yourself in sackcloth and ashes, that the N0\\ 
 of our religion, our duty, should be so desecrated. To this 
 Presbyterian cliurch I say, dutifully and fearlessly: Crush 
 this serpent, excommunicate it from Christendom, yea, our 
 globe, for its place is amongst the bestial herds to roam ; 
 it is suicidal to its conscience ; it is milk-livere ' ; it bitetli 
 like an adder and stingeth like a serpent, or, in the terrible 
 hmguageof the Psilmist," what shall be given thee,or what_ 
 shall be done to thee, false tongue ? E'en burning coals of 
 Juniper, sharp arrows of the strong." 
 
 But, Mr. Chairman, ladies and gentlemen, this must 
 not be. Furnish me with the sinews of war an you -will 
 soon see and hear tlie most needful and gr.'.i- ' sf '^rial that 
 at once exalted and degraded the High Couii; ^f Ju tice i:^ 
 Cana<ia. Ennobled by the record of St. Pan! who.-e exam- 
 ple atlorns our humanity, I glory in the tribulaticjn of ex- 
 communication, because (and in the words o^' Knox) I speak 
 the truth, impugn it whoso list. Remember I O, remember '. 
 youngCanada,tliereisnothingsostrongorsafe,in any emergen 
 cy,as the simple truth. The most important thought I evf r 
 had was my personal responsibility to God. Conscitiic ;« 
 an avttnger. It stands at its post ready to vindicate the 
 majesty of broken law. It rebukes sin with a stern voice 
 and passes its sentence on the transgressor. It is man's 
 best friend or liis dreadful enemy. It haunts man every- 
 where. It is a Hame kindled \vithin his soul which in- 
 wardly torments ami consumes him. It is an eternal fait 
 that he cannot reject the guardian care of conscience ' r 
 escape the pain of" its avenging lash. It is a gnawing \^''rv\ 
 which secretly preys on his vitals. It says : Oh, God i put 
 back Thy universe and give me yesterday. But ; m will 
 not allow chill penury to repress my noble rage and freeze 
 the genial current of niy soul, when my object is to defend 
 and purify your honies, your wives, your allars, your 
 couHtry, your'humanity. I need §100, yea, 81,000, to go to 
 law Avich such an ins^titution as the Presbyterian chuvch 
 and the New York Life Co. ; but I will get it, because 
 Canatla is loyal to her homes, her God, country and en pire. 
 
 
A LAY SERMON. 
 
 41 
 
 There are two public points here thit give m-^ the most 
 poignant grief — 1st, tlie refusal of tlie church courts to lit'ar 
 me and calls a Petititon an application, ami, 2nd, the (ilohe. 
 miscalls my Petition an application. We have proof that 
 the Petition was read and named a Petition in the several 
 church courts, and by the Assembly Clerk styled a Petition, 
 in his letter to me of about sixty words mentions the M'ord 
 Petition four ti»nes. Now, by what influence did the Globe 
 designate my Petition an application ? Not one in the 
 august Assembly of the gallant four hundred had the cour- 
 age to check this falsehood ; no one here with courage to 
 vStop the highest court in the Presbyterian church from 
 being a witness against itself, a suicide to its conscience ; 
 no Daniel here to smite the lie to this ground ; no one here 
 to stop truth and the press from degraclation. Where is the 
 vile power that linked the Globe to this codusion .'' I will 
 now read the folio .ving letter to the Globe : 
 
 To THE Editor of the "Globe." 
 
 Sir, — In the Globe of June .I8th, you say the Presby- 
 terian Assembly "declined to take up the application of Mr. 
 John Russell, of Goderich." Permit me to correct this. It was 
 not an application, but a Petition, which the Presbytery re- 
 fused to send to Synod Clerk. Rev. A, McLean, Clerk of 
 Presbytery, says : "I had no instructions to forward your 
 Petition to Synod." Why did not Dr. Cochrane himself 
 forward it — Dr. Cochrane, who, in his csrd to i> j, dated 
 March 81st, says:"Nothing can come before the Synod un- 
 less it comes through the Presbytery. You have, however, 
 the right of Petition if they refuse to send on to the Synod 
 your case." I therefore sent the Petition, and on April IGth 
 Dr. Cochrane says: "I received your Petition, and .showe i 
 it to the Presbyterian Clerk at the Synod, but he said that 
 it had not come through the Presbytery ; therefore I could 
 not present it to the Synod." It was no fault of mine the 
 Synod did not get the Petition. Dr. Cochrane returned me 
 the Petition. On April 27th,Isent the Petition toRev.W.Reid, 
 D. D., Clerk of Assembly, who, on the 10th May, says : "If 
 you wibh to withdraw your Petition, Just say so." On May 
 24th I replied to this, refusing to take back my Petition, 
 and aakinf; if they wanted my presence or my wife at the 
 
 
42 
 
 A LAY SERMON. 
 
 Assembly, &c., iScc. On June 15th I wrote the Mo'Iorator, 
 8ayin<j : "I beg to call your attention to a Pntition of miua 
 to Assembly, and a letter to Rev. W. Reid, Clerk jf Assem- 
 bly." The Petition is now in the hands of the Rev. VV. Reid, 
 Clerk of Assembly, and the only notice I have ^ot of it to 
 date is in the Globe of June LSth. The above extracts from 
 the Clerk of Presbytery, Synod and Assembly clearly 
 show that the instrument was a Petition and not an appli- 
 cation. Why, then, whs it not named correctly in the Globe'': 
 Why was the Globe made to insert the word "application" 
 instead of "Petition ? " and why was I made to approach 
 the Assembly by application instead of, and correctly, by 
 "^etition, but to conceal the truth and importance of the 
 ". '••■ »n? The Globe has been inforu.ed that my Petition 
 vf ■ ju application, and I am deprived of the right of Pe- 
 tition. What next ? My Petition was an appeal to the 
 Assembly to investigate my censure, suspension, and ex- 
 communication from Knox church, Goderich, because I re- 
 ceived a letter signed J. N. Sheerwood, box 1176, Toronto, 
 which was a fraud, and traced it to one A. McD. Alhvn, and 
 Rev. Dr. Ure, of this place. A member of Dr. (Jre's Ses- 
 sion told me to burn the papers, and he never saw them. 
 Failing in this the JSession, imitating the devil in Paradise, 
 taught my wife to take (steal) the papers, and gave them 
 (by pre-arrangement) to the Session Clerk, when Dr. Ure 
 waid to burn them to conceal a fraud, and for the purpose of 
 hiding the first proof of guilt against my person and purse. 
 Such is the importance of the Petition which the Assemblv 
 gives to the Globe as an application, and which has not 
 been heard on my behalf and prayer. But the Petition 
 wants to be read in detail to bring out the contemptible, 
 inexpresrible atrocity of the case. It is a 19th century 
 curiosity in literature ; a subject to save us from the Pres- 
 byterian wolf ; fit for a Milton, a Taylor, or a Alacaulay. 
 The publicity which the above has assumed in the local 
 papers here, in the Post Office Department, Toronto and 
 Ottawa, in the Hon. the Attorney General's office, where 
 copies are lodged, and in the Inspector of Legal Offices, Os- 
 goode Hall, where the originals are, makes the giving of the 
 word "application" instead of "Petition" to the Globe most 
 unjust, untruthful, and degrading to the influence of the 
 
A LAY SERMON. 
 
 43 
 
 Globe, and wliicli it is my duty to correct at once for the 
 teaching of the Ulobe, and my interests. Your insertion of 
 the above to correct a misstatement maintain the dignity of 
 the press, case presented by the Globe, and the righl of" Pe- 
 tition. I remain, sir, Yours truly, 
 
 ^ , . , , JUJIN RUSSELL. 
 
 Godench, June 2i}th, 188G. 
 
 The Mail kept clear of this collusion. Help me to bring 
 thi.s to light Why slumbered the power that made the 
 halls of Babylonian revelry tremble that it did not write 
 on the walls of the church in Hamilton " thou art found 
 wanting; " for it ie the function of the church in organized 
 communities to ceal with sin as it is of the State to deal 
 with crime. Praise was wafted to me by my fellow-citi- 
 zen.s of all denominations and no denomination for clear- 
 ing them and bringing the crime true upon the foul M^retch- 
 es who dishonored the name their parents gave them and 
 ratified by the sublime sacrament of baptism. But from 
 the Presbyterian church I received censure, suspension and 
 excommunication, and my Petition called an application. 
 And now I hold this church's courts up to the garish light 
 of Providence through my agency, and challenge the truth 
 of my Petition, a.ssuring these courts that this is not the 
 age, nor I the man, to be ravaged by the Presbyterian 
 wolf 's paw now. A lie that \s half a truth is the worst of 
 lies. The barbarous, cowardly treatment which our ao-e 
 has received from this church in this matter justifies, 
 prompts, yea, compels me to appeal to the public for their 
 verdict and support. The breath of my body ought to be 
 blown from my dead .soul if I did not resent my excom- 
 munication for what I hav e done, and what the church has 
 done to the press in this matter. The church here rushes 
 against the thick bo.sses of God Almighty's powder to search 
 out the sinner. The church, if true to itself, ought to have 
 given praise instead of condemnation. The power of all the 
 churches in Christendom cannot stop the providential 
 march to check crime ; but, sir, if the Presbyterian church 
 wants a job I say: Let it try to satisfy the ocean with a drop 
 or marry immortality to death. But the press is by the 
 church corrupted and degraded through my instrumentality; 
 
u~ 
 
 A LAY SERMON. 
 
 that palladium of our rights and liborties, that argiw-eyed 
 and electric pt)\ver, almost omnipotent anil omnipresent as 
 an aixent in the hands of God and man to detect crime and 
 reward virture, is here corrupted to reduce che most im- 
 ])ortant apoeal that man can make to God or man — a hum- 
 ble, prayerful Petition made to appear a mere application. 
 I hurl this back to its authors, red with ujicommon wrath 
 to blast the power that will dare to pollute the press — the 
 press, the human light of the world. Were the world 
 a ring of gold the press would be its diamond. The 
 press is to earth what the stars are to heaven. The 
 alphabet is the grandest outcome of our God-like creative 
 powers — moulded by a skillful and gorgeous dome of 
 thought and palace of the soul. High o'er the rest the 
 mighty press .shines, eternal a<lamant is its throne. It 
 thunders from the Times or the Vatican, and electrifies our 
 civilization. Marshalled into words like "God Savt? the 
 Queen," "Rule Britannia," "Scots wha hae," the "Marselais" 
 I.-: John Brown," it is an overwhelming army with banners; 
 it creates martial thunder and the delirium of patriotism ; 
 it is the ceramic art of our civilization ; it is ancient Sinai 
 thundering in the NOW; or into words again it falls like 
 the dew from heaven from the lips of a fond mother, 
 bending with love over her first-born, when she chants 
 "Hush, my babe, lie still and slumber, holy angels guard 
 thy couch," in our dear Canadian homes — sweet, sweet, 
 homes. O, my dear babe, (), if wretched, cowardly, wolfish- 
 minded, monstrous creations in the form ot men come to 
 our home and want me to steal my husband's papers, I 
 would take the form and spirit of a Tiragol Shriek to God and 
 man for help to tear the eyes from the vile body of the human 
 monster who did insult my wife and degrade the holy bonds 
 of marriage ! The Session Clerk, Miller, of Knox church, 
 did this to my wife ; he did encourage my wife to be re- 
 creant to her marriage vows. This work of the church 
 sends a thrill of horror into every heart that can say or 
 has a near prospect of saying, "Hail, wedded bliss I " To 
 this "star chamber picture" add the refusal of my appeal 
 and calling a Petition an application. The church courts 
 dare not deny this, but wink at it, and check the funda- 
 mental outflow of my nppeal. But I force<l it there, and 
 
 
A LAV SERMON. 
 
 45 
 
 when there what a result 1 "Ye stars, hide your iires, let 
 not light see the bhick and deep desires 1" The church court 
 woos woman whose name is Frailty with their deep and 
 black desires, makes her recreant to her marriaf,'e v'ows. A 
 church guilty, as it is, of such work is a disgrace to our 
 age ; it is a picture for Milton's pandemonium ; it is history 
 repeating itself. Ladi<^s, remember and imitate what Milton 
 saysof Eve: Thatgrace was in all her steps, Heaven in her eye, 
 in every gesture dignity and love ; then, and then only, will 
 you be able to check the assaults of Neroic human monsters 
 upon your person and position. God gives peace to the 
 dead, pas.-sion to the living. No nation or church can live 
 where the home is not all but the sweetest shrine ; where 
 the person, the rights, the posiibilitii s of women are not a 
 willing and sacred charge upon the horor of men. But th(> 
 press — the press — 1 love it, I adore it, I have from my earlj- 
 manhood contributed to it and v/ill do so v,hile iny flesh 
 and thought cling together ! The press gave me the tirst 
 link in the chain of circumstantial evidence against the 
 foul wretches who conspired against my purse, person,home 
 and wife, as in\' Petition shows. There are mon.sters 
 which blacken the depth of old ocean to elude their 
 foes ; there are human monsters on land. Young Canada, 
 1 call upon you to keep the air and influence of tlje press 
 unsullied; the press will teach you to know yourself and 
 to be known of men ; it will invigorate and strengthen 
 your ideas of right, justice and truth ; make you if you 
 woo her worthily. Engrave on your heart : I dare do all 
 becomes a man to do, who dares do more is none. I repeat, 
 the pre.ss gave me the flrst link in the chain of circumstan- 
 tial evidence. I now glance at the other press we got from 
 8inai. Says Beecher : "Earthquakes and lightning put 
 their forces together to rack a mountain in Arabia Petrea, 
 and the travelers of to-day find a heap of broken and 
 granitic rocks and boulders against boulders from which was 
 taken the first law library written by the finger of God 
 Almighty Himself. What are they, the ten commandments ? 
 The corner stone of all morality, all wise law. They are 
 the pillars upon which society rests." See how the Presby- 
 terian church deals with them through me. "Thou shalt not 
 steal," "thou shalt not bear false witness," wasset at naught, 
 
T- 
 
 46 
 
 A LAY SERMON. 
 
 us my Petition sliow.s. This church says to Moses in the 
 hmnruage of Grip : "Go bflck, Moi-ies, <,'() buck ! " Here thero 
 is ample clear and convincing proof that the press, the 
 mightiest engine in the intellectual wcjrhl, to be to us a 
 providential monitor and electric powpr for the present and 
 eternal well-being of our sublime and God-like humanity, 
 was so tampered with in the cause of sacred truth and 
 justice ajrainst clerical falsehood and suicidal cowardice. 
 What a spectacle that church presents to Sinai.Calvary find 
 the long roll of martyrs who have shed their blood in de- 
 fence of truth. Look at this picture and aid me in my de- 
 fence of the press. The thoughts of the press resenibie those 
 celestial fruits and tlowers which the martvr Massinger sent 
 down from the garden of Paradise to the earth, distinguished 
 from the productions of other soils, not only by tl. ir su- 
 perior bloom and sweetness, out by their mirjiculous efficacy 
 to invigorate and heal. They are powerful, not only to de- 
 light, but to invigorate and purify. I call upon the press 
 of all shf des of politics, religion and language throughout 
 civilization to aid me to resent with the majesty of law thi.s 
 debasing, degrading, daring insult to the press. "Necessity 
 is the argument of tyrants, it is the creed of slaves." As 
 Columbus, aided by Catholic Spain, forced the European 
 powers to acknowledge his right, so will I, if you aid me, 
 force Ihe Presbyterian church to hear me and acknowledge 
 my right. To encourage young Canada to woo the press I 
 notice specially for you one of my latest contributions, 
 called "Goderich Harbor." In gathering my word levers I 
 omitted the word "lath ; " the Empire gracefully added this 
 in its issue with mine of Jan. 9th, 1888. In this communi- 
 cation I had two special objects in view and carried them 
 both triumphantly — 1st, for the U. S. government to reward 
 Capt. Green for heroically saving a crew, which they grate- 
 fully did bj' giving the Capt. a magnificent gold watch and 
 chain ; and, 2nd, to stop our government from opening a 
 sluice, the contract of which was entered into at a cost of 
 S16,000. This was stopped. These are thy triumphs, thy 
 exploits, Press ! In writing for the press get a grand, a 
 noble object, and then let brevity, purity and truth be your 
 aim. Never, 0, never, but give to words their right mean- 
 ing ! What false, cowardly, suicidal corruption to call a 
 
 BMi 
 
I 
 
 A LAY SERMON. 47 
 
 Potiiion an applicfvtion and letters and papers, as the Pres- 
 byterian Asseiublv did with inv Petition. We feel very 
 
 111" " • 
 
 strongly tliattliere nt;ver was an occasion when it was nujre 
 
 the duty of all who look into public affairs to call on Vice 
 to pause, and Folly to think, and Party to be silent. Look 
 out how you try to corner or trample on a man who is 
 backed up by the hand of God Alini<fhty. Lookout how 
 you trample on him. Young Canada, if you are trampled 
 upf)n and refused a hearing by any church, as I have b ?en, 
 remember your duty to your Creator, yaurself and country ; 
 remember your feelings, your passions are in morals what 
 motion is in physics. They create, preserve, and animate 
 and without tliem all would be silence and death. So may 
 we when the blaze of passionate resentment is Hung upon 
 man's nature. Mark in him the sign of a celestial oriirin 
 and tremble at the invisibb agents of God. For conscienct; 
 is that undefinab'e element within a man which is part of 
 the Almighty, the link which binds the creature to the 
 Creator,the connecting link between the human and divine. 
 The soul that has not the capacity for anger at evil wants 
 something of its due capacity. Young Canada, there is 
 work for you in church and State, looming up as the (iark 
 mists of time rolling off will discover. Look on church 
 timorous effeminacy, on state jealousy. Prepare yourself 
 for duty. A greater than grand old England is continually 
 saying to you awaydownandupin the unfathomable depths 
 and heights of conscience : Do your duty. To tit you for 
 this remember you have the teaching example and influence 
 of the great souls and masterpieces of our race — our im- 
 mortal Shakespeare and Milton — and above all remember 
 your Bible ; from the first page to the last is God's Provi- 
 dence. Let these be your Pharaohs, your lighthouse. "They 
 that do know their God shall be strong and do exploits," 
 "And to watch ye stand fast in the faith ; quit ye like men, 
 be strong." You will then look on fraud, rebellion, guilt 
 and excommunication in the calm light of mild philosophy, 
 and religion will bathe your drooping spirits in delight be- 
 yond the bliss of dream.s. Remember, young Canada, it is 
 an awful condemnation for a man to be brought by God'.s 
 Providence face to face with a great possibility of service 
 and of blessing, and then to show himself such that God 
 
' 
 
 48 
 
 A LAY SERM()N. 
 
 bus put him aside for other instruments. Heaver, earth 
 and your conscience unite like the three Graces — Faith, 
 Hope and Charity — to adorn your brow with the ^arhind 
 of the victor only when you are worthy of it; strive for it, 
 young Canada. 
 
 "Count that day lost whose low descendintif sun 
 Views from thy liund no worthy fiction done,' 
 
 Young Canada, I earnestly trust that you will never forget 
 the lesson now given you that Providence i.s out- Monitor 
 and Guide. It now rests with me to counsel church courts 
 who may be called upon to measure lances with married 
 men to let their wive.s alone — severely alone — and to re- 
 member : Be sure your sins will find you out. There are 
 hidden laws that control and shape our lives. An infinite 
 God could give as much attention to you as to the solar 
 system, and without evil there would be no trial, no 
 struggle, no sympathy, no active benevolence, but all would 
 rest satisHed in their solitary bliss. Actions and motives, 
 in fact, are all that are our concern, for results, whether 
 good or evil, are in the hands of the Almighty and His co- 
 worker, man ; therefore exert your talents and distinguish 
 yourself, and don't think of retiring from the world until 
 the world will be sorry you retire. I hate a fellow whom 
 pride, or cowardice, or laziness drives into a corner, and 
 who does nothing when he is there but sit and growl. Let 
 him come out as I do and bark. 
 
 Mr. Chairman, ladies and gentlemen, in conclusion, I 
 have been charged with hypercriticism relative to the words 
 "Petition" and "application." I deny the charge, for if you 
 look at the meaning of the words in the Britannia Encyclo- 
 pedia, a dictionary or Queen's Counsel, as I have done, the 
 collusion between the Assembly and Globe becomes more 
 visible that the As.sembly fathered a lie. What a proof 
 that a lie is courage to God and cowardice to man ! The 
 man who coolly, delil)erately, intelligent!}' lies has reached 
 the lowest depths of human degradation. " 'Tis you thac 
 say it, not I ; you do the deeds and your ungodly deeds find 
 me in words." 
 

 A (wVV .SFllMOX. 
 
 4» 
 
 "Man, proud irifin, dressed in ii little brief ;uitlioriiy, 
 Plays sucli fiiiitastic tricks bofoi'e liit,di JMNiveii as inakt^ tlie an ;i^els 
 wet'i>."' 
 
 Weep at the almvc; work of tlie tw«'lve year old Pn^sbyter- 
 ian church. Tritles are God's levers; "trifles an; (jod 
 and man's levers." I have shown you what they were; to 
 Colunihus on the dark, dreary ocean. Lo(dv at this contin- 
 ent now. Trifles removed from the base of the Ilocky 
 Mountains or were made to level and bridges this continent, 
 give you a road of steel and electricity to show you the 
 grandeur of an empire on which the sun never sets, that no 
 external or internal jealous and gold-bought traitor dare to 
 shatter. Hoard like a miser tlie heaven-sent treasures of 
 the Holy Lsind, and with the de'irium of patriotism, tlu; 
 grandeur of your Motherland, your greater Britain — that 
 globe-encircling coronet which cojnmands the incensi; of a 
 world's applause. The tritie of a guilty look enables nu^ 
 to stand before you now challenging the august power of 
 the Presbyterian church. Young Canada, woo like a fon<l 
 lover admiration for tritles, whetlier in matter microscopic 
 or mind, and then you will say : 
 
 "Higher, higher will Ave clinil) 
 
 Up the mount of Glory, 
 That our names may live through time 
 
 In our country's story." 
 
 Mr. Chairman, ladies and gentlemen, I now appeal to 
 the public in lecture form to aid me with contributions to 
 enable me to carry my case forward to the High Court 
 of Justice, if this twelve year old church will not do so 
 against me ; because the gratitude we ought to cherish to 
 antiquity demands from us, as agents in the Providence of 
 God, that we "plant the great hereafter in this NOW." 
 
 Ladies and gentlemen, I confidently appeal to you — to 
 you, whose souls are lit wif^ "isdom from on liigh, from 
 Sinai, Calvary and the long rcll of martyrs ; to you who 
 are grateful for the blessing of our sweet religion and its 
 glorious civilization — that j'ou will liberally aid me to stop 
 this intolerant religious persecution, this cunning, stealth}'- 
 spirit of malignity towards me by the Presb^^tenan infantile 
 
oO 
 
 A LAY SEHMON. 
 
 church. By doinuf ho you will show your gratitude to tlie 
 past, your fluty ill tlif pr '.sent, aiui slinvv to futurity that 
 you ar«' worthy tlio trust iuipostMl upon you to dofoud tho 
 lu'averdy grandeur of tho teaching that has flowed into 
 your hearts and inspires nie with contidence to elefend your 
 religion, your chureli, your wives, your homes, your busi- 
 ness, your country fr in such a scourgf; as iii " tition and 
 lecture show you has been done to nie by th sbyterian 
 
 church. For 1 will defend my religion, my noble inheri- 
 tance of civil and religious liberty and the right of petition 
 and purity of tho press while my thought and tlcsh cling 
 together. Then, and then only, will the prayer of my Pe- 
 tition bo acceptable to the (lod of Providence who has 
 lionored me as His agent. Then and then only will I be 
 able to .say: "'See vvitli what composure a Christian candle." 
 Here in the bosom of tho church that tenderly, like a nurs- 
 ing mother, offered me her consolation in tho above trouble 
 will I repose ami .say : The hour of my departure is come. 
 Here will I lay me down and rest, that my refreshed .soul, 
 renewed in its full strength, may take its flight, an offering 
 tit for heaven. So be it with all of you. Goi save truth. 
 Finally and sciontiflcally, I thank the Presbv ian church 
 for teaching me to bring my atoms of indiv 'sm to the 
 
 Jibrary, that laboratory for the diseases of Ui^ ooul, at Ot- 
 tawa, the capital of my country. My basket was not 
 filled, like Masaneloe's, with oranges and lemons, but with 
 the poisonous henbane, the offerings of degraded liumanity, 
 with its ungodly deeds, its atrocious, murderous assault 
 upon religion, home, marriage, woman, conscience, petition, 
 truth and the interest of the author. 
 
 JOHN RUSSELL. 
 
I