Daily evening star. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1852-1854, 1853-12-20
lREP0RTED FOR THE STAR.
SERMON BY THE REV. MR.. MILLBURE,


lREPORTED FOR THE STAR.
SERMON BY THE REV. Mr.. MILLBURE
On Sunday, the 18th inst, the follow.
ing sermon was delivered at the Capito
by the Chaplain of the House of Repre-
scntatives, the text being taken from tho
4th chapter of Proverbs, 18th verse:
Whoever has been student of nature
and life, must be well aware of the law
of restraint by which we are all sur.
rounded. Go wherever You may. the fiat
seems TO have gone forth, " thus far shalt
thou go, and no larther' The history
OF our country furnishes an instructive
lesson Of this law. 1t was ACCORDINGLY
not discovered by Europe, until in the
process OF time human nature had gone
through certain stages of it's dcvelope-
ment, until the dawning light of private
responsibility had crushed the nations OF
the Old World. And when the discovery
had Ell made, the difficulties that beset
the p. h Of cmigrantS were so great, that
only small numbers could come over.
Only those bold in heart, and strong in
hand, could be tempted to approach the
New World. They came, therefore, by
handStul. But it was needfu that the
foundations Of the New World should be
laid carefully with tears of sorrow and
pam, with blood and agony. 1t was
years before the American coast was
dotted here and there with the towns of
the settlers, while decades passed before
the valley Of the Mississippi was opened.
The law of restraint is not only true in
the natural history of mankind, but in
their individual history; the story of each
mans life eXemplifies this. Why is it,
that the boy of precocious attainments,
the genius Of the school or college, seldom
turns out to be man of high renown in
after life, while the one who seemed a
dullard, so cold i'll apprehension, turns
out to be the man who leaves the impress
OF his character upon the future as well
as MS contemporaries! 1t is TO fasten at
tentlon upon this fact, that it is not natural
endowments that make the man, or ma
ton, but it is the interest with which
principles are realized, the fervor with
winch they are acted upon, and the noble
devotion that inspires the whole nature.
Mark the peculiar structure of this text,
= Take fast hold of instruction." Let
that hold be tenacious, inyincibly tena-
cious-' keep her, for she is thy life. :"
1t is not instruction, nor enlightenment ::
not the recognition of an abstract truth.
that forms the peculiar subject of the
text, but the ardor and intensity with
which that truth is realized. The bear
ing of this preliminary remark, will be
better perceived in the following discus
sion.
| will now direct your attention to the
influences for instruction by which we
are surrounded. No man can fail to have
perceived the peculiar position that mind
occupies in the economy of the universe.
Thus, one Of the prophets, in speaking of
the total destruction of all things at a
future day, says: when the heavens
shall be passed away" &c. Yet there is
no complaint of this, no harp of heaven is
stopped on that account, but over the
sorrows and wickedness of man and the
corruption ofthe earth, the prophets pour
forth their tears and lamentations. Mind,
or mans spiritual nature, used in its
large scriptural meaning, is the image of
God, and the peculiar object of his love.
By it, we are brought into sympathy and
intercourse with the Creator; by it, we
read his works, and trace their operations
through all the arcana of nature, the de-
velopement of history, the revelation of
truth, and all the aspirations of the in
tellect. Through all these we are brought
into profound communion with him, and
everywhere h. is providing the world with
appeals to his mind. In all the final
operations of sacred scenes, the appeal is
direct-God is not a great dramatist, who
created the world as a theatre for his eX-
hibiton-he is not an exhibitor, seeking
glory as his object, but wise and benef-
cent Creator, kind father, wise Judge,
ali eternal sovereign. In the peculiar
structure of the universe, we may not be
able to trace the particular objects for
which it is ordained, but mans power of
interpreting his revelation has not restrict
ed its consummation. God is a wise.
beneficent being, but there is difference
between the Creator and the thing created.
The passion of the American people is
for eloquence, oratory; the power tosway
the minds of your constituents is one OF
the powers by which you have been
placed where you are-the power to con-
vince others and move their passions has
elevated most ofour legislators to their pre-.
eminence before the world. Both our
hool-boys and Senators are all fully in
tent upon the prosecution of this art; and
what does it consist in? What are its
charms Is it in finished style-in
unrutfied fuency-in command of the
vocabulary! say no; it is something
more than finished style, graceful ad.
dress, or an uninterrupted flow of words.
You have heard men with all these at
tributes, who yet could not cause one
heart to throb. Nor does eloquence con.
sist in logic or rhetoric, in the regular
arrangement and construction of sen.
tences for it's irresistible appeal. Flo.
quence does not consist in all these, for q
man may be as correct as possible, and
yet not possess this art. Nor is it in the
fancy or imagination-a man may be
capable of giving "to airy nothings a
local habitation and name;" he may be
an eloquent orator, rhetorician, and yet