The Manchester journal. [volume] (Manchester, Vt.) 1861-current, 1861-08-20

telling stories, they always stopped UNI
be went ont Nobody ever graspcd his
hand cordially. or spoke q him rs good
fellow lie SEEMED a> dry aei hard and
tough as a piece q jeiked beef There
was no soiiness Of character no juciness
no loyliaess Ia him.
Now It Is Of no use 10 undertake % rca.
lie 10 myself that God admircs such a
character as this, ! do not doubt that hc
loves the man, as he loycs all men, bat 10
admire bis style Of manhood and il Is i'm
Pc sibIe for any intelligent being. j lacks
tie rounducss and tullaess, aud ebfess
aud sweetness, that belong TO d trdly adj
miraLle character. Such man carica-
ures Christianity, and scares other men
away from it. Such man ostentatioasly
presents himself as one in whose liie re-
ligion Is dominant. Ii Is religion that is
supposed 10 have rubJed down that long
face, and inspire that stiff demeaHor and
TO make him in all points an nnaltractiye
and unloyable man, OF conrse il is not
religion that does a1ything Of the kind, but
il has the credit Of il in the world, and the
world does not like il. 1t looks around
and secs great many men who do not
pretend to religion Al all, and yet who are
very loyable men. Ifrelgion can trans
form a pleasant man into a most unpleas.
ant one, and change free, bright and hap.
py home into a dismal place OF slavery
and blot out a mans esthetie and social ma
ture, the world naturally thinks that get
ting religion would be almost as much Of
n misfortune rs getting some melancholy
chronic disease, and do not blame il. II
Is not to be wondered AZ that the world
should mistake, very much, the true ma
ture Of Christianity, when Christians them
selves entertain such greyious errors about
It.
suppose God is attracted to very much
the same style OF character that men are
Christ loved young man at first sight
who lacked the very thing essential to his
highest manhood. But he liked the kind
Of man he saw before him. lie was up
right, frauk. hearted d openminded and
bright, and $ Jesus heholding him. loved
him." There are men one cannot helT
loving and admiring, though they lack q
great many thiugs--thiugs very need
ful to make them peri Ct men. Now
put il TO good conscientious, Christian mpi
and women, whether they do not TAXI
more pleasure in the society Of warm
hearted, generous, c!,iyalrous, well-let
men of the world, than in the sobriety 0
that class Of Christians of whom The dea
con ! have mentioned is type. know
they do, and they cannot help it. There
is more Of that which belongs to iirst-cas
Christian character in the former than tht
latter, and if were called upon TO tes
the two men by commanding them re
spectiyely to sell what they had and giy'
to the poor, should be disappointed wer'
the deacon to behave the best. A char
acter which religion does not fructify-
does not soften, enlarge, purify and cnricl
it's not benefited by religion-or rah
er, has moi possessed itself of religion
God loves that which is beautiful aud at
tractive in character, just as much as W
do. and il makes no difference where h
sees it. lie does not dislike the amiabl
traits Of sinner because he is sinner
nor does He admire those traits ola Chris
tian all Of which we feel TO be contempt
bic, simply because they belong to a Chris
tan. A Christian sucked dry Of his hu
mainly is juiceless and fayorless as
sucked orange, and ] believe that God re
CARDS him in the same light that We do
1, lie will save such ! doubt not, Tor thei
faith; aud, in the coming world, they wi
learn what they do not know here bo
the question whether they are rs we
worth saving as some Of their neighbour
may, think, be leeitimately entertained
In saying this, mean TO be neither ligI
or irreyerent ] mean simply to indicat
that some men arc worth a great dei
more, to themselves and TO their fellow
than others.
So, when look abroad upon the work
and see men shaving their heads, an
wearing nasty hair-shirts, and shuttin
themselves up in cells, and living lives
celibacy, and when ] see women retirin
from the world which they were sent
adorn, populate and bless, and Shaker