Holly Springs gazette., 1846-02-07
EXTRACT FROM A DISCOURSE
ON SELF DENIAL.

IL II ttue, Riidt Us w are now MADE, our
a2peti.es and ders;res often war against
reason conscience and religion But why
is this warfare appointed Not 10 exlin.
goish these high principles but to awaken
aud lnyigorae them. 1t is meant to give
them field for action, occasion for effort,
and means of victory. True. virtua il
thus opposed and endangered but virtue
owes lis yigor and hardihood 10 Obstacles.
and wins its crown by conflict. do no,
say, tha. God can find no school for char
acter but temptation. and trial and strong
desire; bu, lido say, that the present stata
IS a fit and noble school. You would have
the path of virtue from the very beginning
smooth and strewe1 with flowers; and
would :his train the soul 70 energy You
would have pleasure always coincide with
duty; and how, then. would YOU attest your
loyalty to duty You would have cons
science and desire always sneak the sama
language. and prescribe The same path
and how, then, would conscience assert its
supremacy God has implanted blind
desires, which often rise up against reason
and conscience. that he may give these
high faculties The dignity of dominion and
the JOY OF victory. He has surrounded
us with rivals TO himself that we may love
him freely. and by our own unfettered
| choice erect his throne in our souls. He
has gives us strong desires of inferior
| things, that the desire of excellence may
grow stronger than oil. Make such a
world as you wish. lei no appetite or pas
sion ever resist Gods will. no object of
desire ever come in competition with duty
and where would be The resoluto on and en-
ergy, and constancy. and effort, and purity,
| the trampliug under foot of low in,erestth
generous self surrender, the heroic devo.
lion, all the sublim,ies of virtue, which
now throw lustre over mnn's nature and
speak OF his immortality You would
blot the prccept of self denial from the
scriptures, and the need of it from human
life, and, in SO doing, you would blot out
almost every Interesting passage in mans
history. Let me ask you, when you read
that history, ,~ho, is 1t which InUSt interests
and absorbs you. which seizes on the im>
agination and memory. which agltates the
soul to its centre who is the man whom
you select from the records Of time as the
object of your special admiration II is
he. who lived to indulge himself whose
current of life flowed most equally aud
pleasurably2 Whose desires were crown
ed most literally with qualification? =
Whose table was most iuxurinntly spread
and whom fortune made the envy Of his
neig gh5orhood by the fulness Of her gifts
Were such the men 20 whom monuments
have been reared. and whose memories,
freshened with ;eers of joy and reverence.
grow and flourish and spread through evo-
ry age? o no he whom we love, whose
honor we most covet. is he who has denied
and subdued himself; who has made the
most entire sacrifice OF appeiiies and pas.
sions and private Interests. TO God, TO virtue
and mankind; who has walked in n rugged
path and clung to good ends in persecutIsn
and pain, n,wno, "A midst the solicitations Of am
bit.on. care. and private friendship, and the
menaces Of tyranny and malice. has listen
ed to the voice of conscience, and found a
reconpense for blighIed hopes and proIrac.
ted suffering, in conscious uprighlness and
the favor OF God. Who is il that is most
lovely in domestic life ? Ii is the martyr
: to domestic affection. the mother forgetting
herself and ready 10 toll suffer. and die Tor
the happiness and virtue OF her children.
Who is it that we honor in public liie Il
is the martyr to his country he who SER
yes her. not when she has honors for his
brow, and wealth for bis Golfers, but who
clings to her in danger and falling glories,
and thinks life cheap sacrifice TO her
safety and freedom. Whom docs the
church retain in the mast grateful remem.
brance. and pronounce holy and blessed ,
The seifdenying, self immolaiing apostle,
the fearless confessor. the devoted martyr.
men who have held fast the truth even IN
death. and beqseathed il to future ages a.
mids. blood.
Did any man ever mourn. .iha: be had inn
poyerished himselfby integrity, or worn
out his frame in the service Of mankind -
Are these the recolieciions which harrow
the soul. and darken and appsl the IasI
hour To whom is The last hour most
serene and full of hope Il is not to him
who amidst perIis and alluremenis, has de-
Lied himself. and taken up the cross with
r The holy resolution oil Jesus Christ
JOINING TBE CHuRcH-William Bloom
field. and old bachelor. got married in
lows, TO pretty young girl named Eliza
Church. Since his marriage be has sen
more happiness. he says Than he ever dill
before--alI of which he aHrlbutas ID 10 has-