The Abbeville banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1847-1869, 1859-02-10
A SHORT PATENT SERMON.
BY DOW, JH.
My text for this morning is according to
the Rev. DR.. Watts:

Man alone is furnished with Il mind-alI
powerful; therefore every other creature
stands i'll fear of, and is subjected unto him,
How very strange it is that this power
should be instnctivcly recognized by the
brute creation? What is mind? Whv,
brethren it is merely the faculty Of rejecting
on the past and future, and drawing infer,
enccs from the present. a dog lives only
in the prescnt-and makes no use Of even
that; man inhabits the present, past and
future. ~ dog has an int,,itivc memory,
without reflection. The things of yestcr.
day appear to him rs the things to-day :;
and he recognizes them without any actu
III knowledge of ever having seen them be
fore. So, as Il dog has no mind ho never
broods over past misfortuncs, nor spccuatcs
upon what is to come: but contents himself
with whatever bone the present affords
meat or no meat.
Now, my brethren, man is the connect.
ing link between the material and imna-
tcrI'l world or of nature, from tho worm
up I" the grca, ln!imity. Standing rs lie docs,
upon the Very edge Of the divine and hu-
man-thc same us Il ficl; Of white corn
planted III close proximity 10 one Of yellow
will produce one of motllcd oats. In his
peculiar position, one side of him, NAV
say, is iiumined 10y the light Of immortal.
ity, while the other is dar lcncI by the dull
shadows of earth. Seeing, my brethren.
that he is situated upon the boundary line
that divides the moral from the angelic
srhere-and that he has mind curious to
explore the mysteries of the lattcr-it is
not to be wondered ut that he should
sometimes fancy himself holding direct in
tercoursc with those near ncisl,Lors of his
the Spirits. Not at all though I, for
one, believe that we can never have any
thing more than Il twilitish view of the
other world till the sun of Immortality
shall rise and make all rs clear as q Wills
tie.
My friends: while mind makes the man,
it also breeds myria,ls Of petty troubles and
cares to its everlasting annoyment. Moth
ing is ever molested by these ideal insects
but the mind but, rs flies gather around
meat that begins to purify, SO the mind
that tends to the taints Of dependency at
tracts swarms of troubles; but if kept well
picklcd in Il brine of fortitude, faith and
hope, it is perfectly free from their attacks.
Ii you consider cares rs obtruding visit
ors, the best way to get rid of them is to
give them the cold shouldcr-frccze them
out with congcaling Indifference. If you
nurse and pet them when they're small and
young, they will soon grow big, bold and
saucy, aud eventually become troublesome
customers to deal with. The mind makes
true man only when it makes one Ca
pablc of being its master. Put that
in your pipes aud smoke it, my worthy
friends.
A low, grovcling mind, dear brethren,
instead of making a man, turns out moth
ing but fellow and generally scabby
homJre at the best-a muck worm in So
cety. but the aspiring mind sometimes
manufactures man who, if the size of his
feet were only in proportion to that Of his
intellect, would leave behind him tracks in
the sand Of time as big as those made by a
giant travelling upon pair Of snow rack
cts.
1t grieves my letter portion, my brcth.
ren, to perceive that mere british strength
is so often admired, as constituting an i'm
portant clement in the making up of man
rs we'll rs of horse. Who was consid.
cred the greater man, little David or tho
powerful Sampsons You know that there
has lately been great fight at the East
not an intellectual contest between two
mighty minds, that might well interest
and benefit the whole enlightened world -
but sort Of dog fight between two unfin
'shed specimens of humanity, with more
eA"SS'S eh"h ihiuu-utOT0 SClCUCC tnAn
soul. Well, my brethren, you know, loo,
that all the editors Of newspapers, far and
wide, have been seemingly greatly inter
ested in this heathcnism battle. They have
given it publicity throughout Clristendom.
They have dished it up in every variety Of
style to suit the palates Of their patrons.
And where do you think these will 60 when
they diel Verify, they will be reuned off
in some dark corner of perdition, and left
to fight among themselves to, tleir hearts
content; and there, will be big whaling,
and greater guasbing Of teeth than when
General Wolf entered the. Pomfrets
den at Putnam, Couuecticut! I would
not, for the world, feed your carniyerous
propens'tiss by, telling you how, at the
greatfght, the comhasants stripped them.
selves half naked, shook hands. with each
nft,ar anf khon -