The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1867-12-22

from the purses Of the rich that the sale will
realize over the price fixed for his tickets.
His letter of donation with that money will be
the best of his Christmas Carols.
Representative Chnrncter-A Hint 10 the
Clergy.
Since the dawn Of civilization in the West
every age has had its ideal of the Representa-
tive character, and men have been dei6ed,
canonized or set up as models for general
imitation according as In their lives and in
their deaths they approached their ideal stand
ard. This standard has not In every age been
the same. II has been pagan; it has been
Christian it has been utilitarian. In ancient
Greece aud Rome virtue, which was supposed
to be expressive Of the sum of human excel
lence, was sadly wanting in some Of those
higher clemens which . later and, as we be-
lieve, nobler teaching has led us to consider
essential 10 constitute genuine goodness. We
do not mean to say that the ideal standard in
Greece and Rome was precisely the same; for
while it was ethereally, almost divinely beau
tifnl in the one case. it was coarsely and rug
gedly grand in the other but in both cases
the standard was Enthusiastically defective in
the element Of personal purity. Greatness in
the Greek and Roman character was not In
compatible with vices which, judged by
higher standard, we hesitate NOT to pronounce
degrading and imbruting in the last degree.
To the Christian Church It was reserved,
while retaining whatever was excellent Id che
Old PHILOSOPHERS, to add to the sum of human
virtue the element Of personal purity. This
revolutiou in morals Vas not crowned with
success till aftcr long and vigorous strug-
gle. Manicheism-which drew nice distinctions
between matter and mind, declaring that as
the spirit belonged to God, and as the body
was eternally and incurably evil, so no purity
Of conduct could mako the body clean and no
bodily indulgence could shed faint upon the
to be combated and overcome. The triumph
Of Christianity, however, was complete, and In
tho Hastings and scourgings which sent st.
Anthony to the tombs and set . Simeon on bis
pillar, we see the means by which the victory
was won. It has become the fashion in modern
tines, and especially among Protestants, to
ridicuie the "Lives OF the Saints !" and 1t may
fairly be questioned whether those lives can
ever again b. popular, even among
Catholics themselves !; but II ought not to be
forgotten that the world Is now and must over
remain deeply indebted 80 those holy men
whose lives were scattered ever the entire
medieval period, and who, each In his turn,
fought o noble fight and left nobSa example
behind him. During many centuries, centuries
usually ami not without reason called ozark"
tho Church, If she was not built up BY exit
nently Intellectual teaching, was at least sus>
tanned and solidiied by the exemplary lives
Of eminently holy men. Tho representative
character during that period was. Il not the
highest possible, at least greatly higher than
anything previously attained. The standard
of human excellence was raised and made to
conform to lofter, noblcr, purcr ideal.
In course Of time, however, the world was
found TO have marched on 20 new conditions
and to have come under new and more impe-
rious influences. The fate, therefore, which at
former period bef,ll tho heroes Of Greece
and Rome, now be'ell the heroes Of the
Church. They were sct inside. The my
tbology Of paganism had been supplanied
by the hagiology Of Christianity, and now the
hagiology OF Christianity Is dismissed In turn,
retiring, like Its predecessor, into the dim and
doubtful past and leaving Its place to be filed
by something moro worthy Of rs we'll as better
adapted to the times Here, however, begins
our difficulty. What ID tho representative
character nowf What IL the ideal standard Of
human excellencei We have abandoned the
pagan heroes as base and brutal; we have
set aside the Christian saints a. weak and
childish What have we got In their stead
Who can tell Human excellence, after all
the training Of two thousand years, and cspe-
cially sfler experiencing the influences Of
Christianity for eighteen centuries, ought At
this late age TO have some definite meaning.
What does II now mean > Docs II mean moro
or does 1t mean less than II did during tho
medieval periodf II Il means ~ much a.
1t did under the reign OF Catholicisn--if Il
means % much - II did even In the days
of pagan Greece and Rome, Il at least
implies Mat II ID not separablo from
certain kind Of goodness. The true
representative character, IL NO have not fallen
below tas standard Of the past, ought to be
good - veil - great But where In the
Church. In any section Of it--where out OF tho
Church, whore, among olsrgymsn or laywen,
do We ind true nobility Of soul allied 10 posi-