The penny press. [volume] (Cincinnati [Ohio]) 1859-1860, 1859-11-07
Rev. Thos. Starr Kings Sermon on Life
at the Church of the Redeemer.

i "a HlstH
The announcement Of the sermon of Rev.
Thos. Starr King, Of Boston, at the Church Of
the Redeemer, corner Of Fourth and Race.
streets, yesterday morning, drew large crowd,
every foot Of space being occupied. His text
was from the tenth verse of the teuth chapter
Of John: "That they might have life, and have
II more abundant" rRi if
The reverend gentleman opened by saying
that we might have life in the proportion We
wished 1t; its degree depended to q great
extent upon ourselves. Every one knew how
the muscles could be enlarged; the breast ex-
panded; the strength increased until q man Of
slight mould and less than ordinary power
could by exercise and cOrporeal development
become a modern Hercules. 81
This physical law was answered In the
mental and moral world. We had the same
capacity to improve and enlarge our intellect
and heart by study, and the practice of
charity, that we had to improve the frame by
temperance, diet and exercise.
Some men thought to augment the volume
of their life by intensity, by the more con-
slant pursuit of pleasure, the more complete
delight OF the senses. These persons were
usually called fast; and they were so, fast in
their career and fast 10 close it; but they did
and could not enjoy existence; their plane
was too low, their range of feeling too much
upon the earth's surface. We had daily ex-
amples Of how falsely fast men lived; how
CHASTITY were their revelries; how sombsr
their so-called happiness. lH
Another kind Of life might be termed the
broad, in which one sought to rivst his attention
to many objeots;to embrace various pursuits;
to widen his sphere Of usefulness and swell his
stock Of knowledge. For this man fathomed
science, made researches into occult lore, wor-
shipped art, roamed the earth and scanned the
sky. A higher form of life was this than the
other, and worthy Of those formed In the image
Of God. Tbis field furnished the highest and
noblest studies; digniHed and elevated IN an, but
often so absorbed him that he forgot the rela-
tions Of the heart, and neglected the affections.
The best, the true, the only worthy life was
the deep, which arose out Of the heart and
soul; which gave birth to aspirations and
generated love, enduring universal and eter-
nall which allied man to his fellows and the
Infinite. This liio was within the reach of
all; the poorest and the humblest could gather
the flowers growing out of this natural soil,
and could catch the perfume they exhaled.
In the deep life much was opened that 10 the
broad alone wa, concealed. Through and
~"Se' ~ pss"'hON WV oPiisOk HOVu huu lu0
essence of God. 1t taught the simplest but
highest lessons; 1t revealed the purposes Of
Nature aud the destiny of Man. u.
There was'no deceit, no cant In this. Creeds
might be false and Bibles mistaken /; but this
was true for all time. The deep life was q
perfect toacher, instruoting in all the forms of
Nature, better than reason or dogma. It was
not strange that he who failed to believe in
God in tho presence of flower, tree or hu-
man form, should be shepticsl after reading the
works Of Cuvier and the Prlncipiu Of Newton.
Better far was the poor widow, who, in the
grave Of her dead child, behsld the link
between herself and Heaven, than the proud
scholar about whose brow was the 10y crown
Of unbelievlng wisdom. Who does not feel the
pulse Of humanity in his breast throbbing for oil
his kind; who does not know tho touch oflove,
the relation Of Providence to each created
thing, was to be pitied, though be could calcu-
late the movements Of the planets, and solve
the problem Of human destiny. God was our
common Father and Teacher, and though he
existed in the Heaven of Heavens, he still
held his dearest place in the humblest heart.