The weekly Placer herald., 1854-04-22
For the Placer Herald.
SD KE M u VE @DN
By Deacon TrtsfaitEn Grimyisage.
lfshness.

or with speeches wherewith he can do no .good'
Hear now my reasoning and hearken to
the pleadings of my Ups
The wicked man travaileth with pain all
his days, and the number Of years is hidden
to the oppressor.
dreadful sound is in his ears, in prosper
ity the destroyer shall come upon him.
Trouble and anguish shall make him afraid;
they shall prevail against him, as king
ready to the battle.
Blessed is the man that walketh not in the
counsel of the ungodly, ncr standeth in the
way Of sinners nor stitch in the seat of the
scornful.
But his delight is in the law of the Lord,
and in his law doth he mediate day and night
And he shall be like tree planted by the
rivers of water. that bringeth forth his fruit
in season: his leaf also shall not wither, and
whatsoever he doeh shall prosper
BRETHREN: Many of you hear me, but
will not heed what | say Instead of rea-
soning upon the truth of my teachings,
you 30 about inquirine who this Deacon
is; yea some will offer whi>key as an in
dnrement to give You Information.
hamhooZ ed, it is not Grimvi~age, but
lawyer man; others say nay, and hawk it
about the street and in the Temple, ''it is
cousin Obadiah Scissors Oh We Of little
faith; why viii you leave the pearl, and
90 ge rymandering after shadows But
continue yonr Sear'h, you may yet trace
the fox to his hole, the promise is unto
those that hold out faithful to the end,
prradventure you may yet come the guy
guggIes over the Deacon. Selah
Brethren and Sisters, we are selfish,
every one Of US, and we can't hel p it, it
is the first law of our nature. We often
deceive ourselves in regard to our motives,
for W, sometimes fancy we DO n das1nter-
ested act Bnt if others fail to see it in
that light and give Us credit as we fancy
we deserve, how quick we take otfense!
Call the world ungrateful and mean,
thereby proving that self was in our hearts
when we did The act. 1t is unnatural for
us to net without Il sufficient motive; it Is
only idiots and insane persons that are not
held responsible for their acts and this
because they act without motive.
In order to induce persons TO act right,
we have denotninated certain acts, "hon-
nrablp.' "disinterested," :" "virtuous," SC
&c.. when in fact, rightly considered, it
was nothing but our duty under the cir
cunlStances to do those acts. Not to do
duty, when we feel that such is binding
upon us as a duty, is to inf1irt upon our
se!ver pain and remorSe, and on the other
hand the performance OF an act having
good as ITS result affords US great conSO a
ton and satisfaction; therefore,, are we
most truly selfish when we are true to
curse YES in doing our duty, for happiness
is the ultimate end and aim of every soul
of us. POlonius on parting with his son,
winds up his advice to him, with this
remark:
''This n bove all To thine 0,cn self be true;
And it must follow. as the night the day,
Thou canst not then be false to any man
I doubt not, you will all admit, that
sefishness is the leading law of our ma
ture, and having established this fact, it
only remains to say that all natural laws
are the offspring of supreme intelligence,
and therefore good
The foregoing being settled as a fixed
fact, the next inquiry rational mind will
make, is this, "w hat is self intereSt?' and
IF we can once establish in our minds be
yuuu Il u'u''t tt'dt ~ 10 ~ di' t"SCS ~ NV
upon the most enlightened view of Justice
and truth, we will then have proper con-
ception Of selfi>hness.
It's no use ia king about the Devil doing
This or that, for it is preposterous to sup
pose supreme power desrous OF effect
ing good, permitting an inferior power to
interfere and balk his most heartfelt de
sires. Moreover, the idea of a substantive,
corporate Devil, is decidedly fcgyish, no
common sense man in this age be ieves It
Sin is not thing in itself, or IA princi-
pie existing, it is the negative of good, or
rather j, might be described as the absence
of good, aS darkness is the absenre of
light, cold the absence of heat, and sick.
ness the absence Of health. know you
have not been accustomed to hear such
doctrines from the pulpit, but | don't in
tend to "hl your bellies with the east
wind" ,"-rhat would be quite uncomfnrt
able ! wish to s'rea>on with profitable
talk" and TO cutter speeches wherewith |
can do good" )" wherefore say, shear my
reasoning and hearken 10 the plea'ings of
my lips" 1t is not fnr your Deacon to
utter swain knoweledge" in hopes of yonr
presenting him pewter medal. don't
write these sermons with any such oh
iert-tny recompense is fixed upon firm
er basis than your appreciation, although
| certainly desire that. and ShaI feel fiat
tered with it.. But write because they
a..