Daily evening star. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1852-1854, 1853-12-20

oS uii'eu III Tic SdiIle lual, ana vet
may not be endowed with that wondrou
music power of persuasion. 1t is only
the man who knows how to forget him
self. who is completely absorbed in hi
subject. whatever that may be, like tn
old Methodists, whom [ have heard I
say, ''llelp me to get behind the cross,
making the hearers to forget the preacher
and the preacher to forget himself, lost t
everything in the universe except tha
| one cross. Such man may be unlearn
ed, without logic or imagination, unen
dowed with any flights of fancy. and
he has this one thing, he has the powe
of moving souls at his will. This is tn,
position of God, and these works of Goo
that surround us are called, in the in
splred language of one of the prophets
1.-The hiding places of his power" This
universe is filled with instructive prin
ciples, our life is replete with them,
and wherever we turn, we find all crea.
ton pervaded with this thought. Tc
proceed to analyse: If you seek to in
struct child, you commence with the
rudlmentS-you present to it a Single
image for each letter in the alphabet
giving to each peculiar representation.
When the child has learned to read. YOU
repeat the same process-you do not put
into its hands books of reason, but
amusing works of fiction-the Arabian
Nights Entertainments, Bunyan's Pill
grlms Progress, and those other hand
books Of the world. You, then. after
thus operating upon the senses, proceed
to the abstract, imrartlng to the child the
rules of grammar and language, leading
1t IN this manner to knowledge Of the
abstract principles Of the intellect. Car
rying on the training through their last
distractions, you complete the college
course, but this is only preparatory, the
abstract does not constitute the real ed
ucation.
The young man now enters upon the
duties of life and follows some avocation.
professional or mechanic One part of
his nature is brought into contact with
the stern elements of matter, the other
with the softening endearments of home.
Duty demands allegiance: wherever he
turns in business, his moral qualities are
brought into exercise, for no
intriguer or bad person can long with
stand the moral administration of the
wOrl1. On the other side, there are the
calls Of the domestic circle, the home
tire-2lde; A; these are the angels that pre-
vent Us from being dcmonized in the stern
realities Of life.
The record Of history is made clear by
these same principles, whether in profane
or sacred history. But there is no pro-
fame history, although there may be pro-
fame writing of history, for all history is
sacred, having heaven above it, the grave
beneath it, and eternity beyond it. The
type is seen on Mount Sinai where God
finds man in his infancy, his moral and
spiritual qualities must be raised and ap-
pealed to, step after step must be taken,
and thence that veied obscuritv, that
direct appeal to the eye and ear. Thus,
in the history Of the human family, we
must learn to look at it by epocts, and
then only, shall we read it Alright. Be-
hold tho jew istI people in Ca,,aor1, a
temple is erected with sacri-
fees and sacred instruments, and religious
services. For what is all this? to appeal
to the imagination Of the people, lifting
up their conceptions to the highest, bv
means of these earthly things. Thus, the
prophecies Of the ancient Seers were
clothed in the language of Eastern poetry
to appeal to the imagination of the peo-
pie. While the Imagination is being
trained to calm clear discrimination, the
thought must be trained, the intellect
must be developed. Higher than the or
dinations of the Mosaic economy, higher
than any principles of the ancient law,
YOU have those elements that are to train
the mind of the Jewish people You come
to Jesus Christ. Who is this that
cometh from Bozrah this, that is glori-
Gus in his apparel, travelling in the great
ness of his strength" Who is this 2!
q a Imam of sorrows and acquainted with
grief" Who is this ! hailed to-day with
hosannas, and taunted tomorrow with
denunciations of & Cruelty him, 90 Cru
city him." Why did he not come clothed
in the gorgeous splendor of the temple
Is Christianity fable, the drama of
visionary, the tribute ola new philosophy,
or the revelation of Gods highest voice to
man? If we looked upon history, with
a cold atheistical eye, we might conclude
that it was fable, having no claim upon
our allegiance, signaliZed by no scene to
make it obligatory upon us. As there
was development in the Jewish religion,
so has there been one in the world from
the time of Christ. In the Greek church,
so also in the Roman church, you have a
conception Of the law in the obligation of
duty, authority on the one hand, and obe-
dience on the other. Human religion
reasons on from the one to the ether, from
the Greek to the RomiSh, and from that
to the Protestant.
Look at the Old World, with the mag
nifcence of its church architecture. What
means the magnifcence of the mass, the
incense why swells those tones of music!
and why do the worshippers kneel in
PROSTATE devotion, apparently so intent
and absorbed! You will tell me that
Rome is a falsehood, an imposition. If
such was the case how could it have stood
the test of ages? Certainly not, there
is an absolute demand for religion of that
description. See how it has operated
upon the wilful nature of man; behold
the serf and the lord both kneeling togeth-
er at the same altar, equal in the sight of
God. 1t extended over Europe the great