The Kanzas news., 1858-08-21
THE KANSAS ws:
r~+racts from Beecher's Life Thoughts.

The disputes which have niled the Churcn
tbe doctrine of perfection seem to me
y u have been pitiable. They reveal the mar
80. conception of human character
GaTs idea of perfection is not mere con-
t'.m;tv to rule and law, but, with this, de-
H"Ionnent into state far beyond anything
tooTn among men. Perfection is ripeness;
trt time is not summer long enough to
NON the soul. Heaven is the souls
The perfection of the schools is kind of
mandarin perfection. Suppose Chinese
mandarin, whose garden was filled with
dvarfed plants and trees. should show me
an oak tree two feet high growing in pot
of earth, and should say to me:
ga perfect tree must be sound at the
,oot-nust it not? And it must have all
ia branches complete and its leaves green
Look here. This root is sound: there is
M decay in the trunk; it has the full num-
her of branches; the leaves are bright and
Green. and little acorns are ripening all over
t.. II is perfect tree; why do you not
admire it ?"
A miserable two-foot oak turn from
it 10 think of Gods oak in the open pasture,
hundred feet high, wide-boughed and
braving the storm.
Now, when man comes to me talking
Of perfection and says: GA perfect man
must have such and such qualities
be not? He must control his passions and
sppetites and regulate his affections. He
must not sin in this thing OF that thing or
the other Such am I. lido not commit
this fault. or fall into that error. I have
rsined aud schooled myself. Behold me
lam perfect p can but exclaim, ''Mis-
,rable two-foot Christian I" I have no pa
tence with this low standard. these earthly
comparisons, this relative goodness. must
Outgrow this pot of earth. Gods eternity
is in my soul and shall need it all to grow
up to the measure of the stature of the full
ness of Christ.
Men in extensive and prosperous busi-
ness are often target for envy to shoot at;
and when they fail and 90 down there are
thousands who wickedly rejoice In their
utions. They do not stand like Pompey's
Pillar or Cleopatra Needle, towering to the
sky, detached and alone; they are like
Mountains which carry far up their sides.
and shelter ten thousand living things in
their shadow. Some one says: "Why do
you care that that water-wheel is broken
A black, numbering thing. half the time in
the water and half the time out. Why do
you not care for the nicer wheels and spin
dies within the buildings? ?''
do caro-, and therefore rUrry for
the breaking of the great wheel. Its axis
passes within, and by drum and bands its
power is communicated to the various
rooms, and every spindle is dependent on
its revolutions. When an earthquake comes,
By as much as house is elevated above the
others, by SO much is its ruin greater than
theirs; the third story crashing into the Sec
Ond, and the second into the first. Now,
men in extensive business are mountains of
shelter; ponderous wheels that turn the
nil; lofty houses, which cannot fall with
out causing wide spread disaster; and when
We hear of their failure, we must not think
Of them alone, but also of the ten thousand
dspendants who are affiliated with them
Ina not irreverent sense it may be said,
they are 'set for the fall and rising of ma
ny in Israeli
We should brave trouble as the New
England boy braves winter. The school
sa mile away over the snowy hill, yet he
hngers not by the fire, but with his books
sung over his shoulder and his cap tied
elosly under his chin, he sets out to face
ns storm. And when he reaches the top
most ridge, where the powdered snow lies
drifts and the north wind comes keen
ana biting, does he shrink or cover down
sneath the fences, or run into the nearest
Souse qouse to warm himself? No; he buttons
aR coat. and rejoiees to defy the blast, and
@sses the snow wreaths with his foot; and
y, erect and fearless, with strong heart and
Nady cheek, he goes on to his place at
>, Now, when the fierce winds of sdversity
o0E over you, and your LIES summer
res buried beneath frost and snow, do not
niger inactive, or sink cowardly down by
esEay. or turn aside from your course
u momentarJ warmth and shelter, but
'a stout heart and firm step 60 forward
aGodss strength to vanquish trouble and
NAd defiance to disaster. If there is ev-
eians to Be ambitious, il is not when
: SesItion is easy, but when It is hard
snt in darkness; fight when you are
T1n' die hard, and you wont die at ALL
.a gelatinous bodied man, whose fones
H Rot even muscles, and whose muscles
~pulp-that man is coward.
Npentance is neither base nor bitter. 1t
god rising up out OF evil. 1t is the res
:; s;'eeaOn of your thoughts out of graves
,,.I nst' Repentance is the turning of the
: !, nom the way of midnight to the point
4. coming sun. Darkness drops from
r. ace E and silver light dawns upon it. Do
al nse day by day trying to repent. but
a.. the struggle and the suffering. De-
repentance, in generous natures, is q
~ pain than would be the sorrow of
sr.. epeItance.. Manly regret for wrong
As "eakens. but strengthens the heart.
d. 9e ~Iie plants of the bitterest root have
n'est and sweetest blossoms, SO the
sHss wrong has the sweetest repentance;
bssE !. indeed, is only the soul blossoning
10 Its better nature.
ras man living at hotel is like grape