The Weekly Perrysburg journal. [volume] (Perrysburg, O. [Ohio]) 1861-1???, 1862-07-02


In the present war there is much to ex-
cuse this. Our cause is the cause of hui
manity, of Truth, of justice, of equal laws,
of good government, of pure religion and
il ever, in the history of human struggles,
there was cause for which it would be
sweet to die, that cause is ours The words
of the poet, almost the first time in human
history, have found their fulfllment in
thousands of loyal hearts:
"Come TO the bridal chamber, Death
Come to the mother when she feels
For the first time her first borns breath
And all we know, or dream, or fear,
OF agony is thine.
But TO the soldier, when his sword
Has won the battle for the free,
Thy voice sounds like prophets word,
And in its hollow tones are heard
The thanks Of millions yet to be-"
But greater than he who taketh city is
he who ruleth his own spirit. This is Gods
estimate of, and his testimony to, compare
tive values. Let lis see if there is anything
within the sphere of our observation that
confirms this tes timony. Itmay be proper to
premise here that when God speaks of man s
importance, worth, or greatness, mans i'm
mortality is implied.
The text assumes--1st. That man has the
power to rule his spirit that he can con-
troll his lusts and passions, and circumscribe
and keep withir due bounds his desires. -
2nd. That mans soul is in a state of anarchy,
that the several minor powers have REBEL
ed against the ruling authority, and are at
war with it. Sd. That personal religion
is selt-conxuest. The help obtained through
the redemption that is in Jesus enables man
TO rule himself. The force of grace coming
TO mans assistance in his weakness,
enables him to quell the mutiny in
his SOUL restore reason TO his
throne, and bid the passions serve. As
servants they minister to our comfort and
enjoyment, while as masters they impover-
ish and ruin us When reason and enlight-
ened conscience rule in man he is not only
priest that serves, but king that reigns.
His appetites and passions are his subjects.
He is not only conqueror. He is a COVER
nor and priest, and his subjects yield him
homage, and bring offerings to the altar OF
his happiness. But, in what consists the
superiority of him that ruleth his own spirit
over him that taketh city?
lst. The conquest of the heart is greater
than the conquest of a city because the en-
emy is more powerful.
To some of you this will appear q strange
statement. Is it easier" you are ready to
ask, =" for Gen. Mcclellan to take Richmond
than to rule himselfY" l believe it is.
believe if you were to ask that good man
himself, he would say it is. | believe il
you appeal to any one of your acquaintan.
tance who has made the effort for self-con-
quest he will say it is. To you the Difficult.
ty does not seem great because you have
never made the effort. You can not know
the fearful strength of habit until you strive
your master Your lusts control you. Your
passions govern - your appetites rule.
What power has ambition, avarice, pride
love of distinction, thirst for power and
fame, the desire for sensual Indulgence
anger, rivalry, revenge, to move you aside
from the dictates of reason, If reasons voice
may be heard at all amid the din of so many
contending passions? These impulses of our
nature God made to be servants, and they
ARE masters. Habits, it is said, are chronic
diseases of the mind. He that "spake as
never man spake" represents them as re-
quiring kind of moral amputation. The
right eye must be plucked out the right
hand cut off, do not question your cour
age. On the field of conflict, with youi
neighbors, sons and brothers, you would
stand fast. You would oppose your bodies
as a living wall to the onset of the enemy
But who Of us has the courage to face our
friends and enemies who are in error, anC
walk up to our convictions of right. Why
our early education pleads, paternal love
pleads, reason pleads, conscience reproach
es and condemns, our wasting lives war;
Eol'c and Ca1, ,botl, -, ~,
Jesus Christ from the cross - stained will
the blood of atonement - reaches out his
hand to help us, and yet our passions run
riot, and our appetites are indulged. Yes
1t is harder to rule the spirit than to take
city. Besides, in the conflict for self-con
quest, the superior intellect that would tax,
the city, is of no avail. Intellectual endow
ment OF the highest character may co-eXis
with "roting and drunkenness" and higl
poetic gifts with Chambering and wan
tonness. Byron's poetic soarings and in
tellectual power are no more astonishing
than the fact that his gross voluptuousnes
destroyed him in his youth. But the com
parative difficulty of ruling the spirit o
taking city may be further seen in the fac
that no city has been able TO hold out agains
continued siege. Jerusalem fell. Zara
gossa fell, Gibraltar fell, even the Bastil
tell But how many man or woman ha
gone through life a writlring, struggling
captive, hating their masters with the in
tensity of loathing ashamed of their chains
sometimes almost wishing that they nigh
die, because they feel that continued life onl
lengthens their captivity, and yet unable t
burst the bonds Of their thralldom. Oh.
is pitiful to see man with capabilities tina
place him above the earth, above the stars
who hears, in spirit, occasional echoes q
the pure song of pure people, who see
atar oH-as in dTGam--the cool shades G
the tree of life, who knows there is drn
for his thirst, and bread for his hunger, tha
through the legacy of the atonement he
above the angels in privilege, to see sue
an one struggling in the folds of the serpel
sin, degraded by his lusts and weighe
down to the grave by his appettes an
passions-TT 1T Is PITIFUL.
The magnitude of this work ofruling tn
spirit, the difficulty of il, its utter hopeles
ness without grace - in fact, caused I'll
experienced Paul TO cry out, "0h, wretche
man that | am. Who shall deliver me fro
the body of this DEATH
A further and last proof of the difficult
of self-conQuest TO which | shall cite yC
to-day is the fact that self is not conquere
We will not pretend to say that orr court
meets the approval of our own conscien'
and reason. We know that there is mo
excellent way than that way in which "
walk, and the bare fact that we do not wa
in that more excellent way is proof of Il
diific atty of such change in our life
selfconquest indicates But,
2nd. The victory is more noble on
: Those actions of men are not really gre
that are not good We ipscribe on o
banners and weave into our history Il
! namo of him " that taketh city" But v
do not stop to reflect that at and tolowil
the taking of city the worst passions
? human nature are called into active eXerci'
II Brutal rage, more brutal lust and revens
co too often govern the Viotors at the takll
nf ..tt,. IN elf ,nn,uoef oil il man