The Manchester journal. [volume] (Manchester, Vt.) 1861-current, 1869-05-25
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visions aud experiences "0h such
good sime, such d Joyful tune. a. have
haal q man says Well, lei me see
him a day or two Afterwards, aud can
I tell better whether i IS a genuine Chris.
tian experiences or not
Here is a man that has bad quar-
rel He never has lost chance 10 say
I an ugly thing, or 10 have an ugly thing
said against him; and has wife and
children have taken il up; aud here is
q set Of families that have warm times,
They are us spiteful as cats and dogs,
and throw sparks Ike blacksmiths
forge all the time And vet this man
is a roaring good Christian. He
goes to meeting There is a revival;
aud bis religious feelings are all aglow
And il is all right. lie does feel just
as be says he does There is no hypoc-
risy in bis profession. He takes his
hymn book, and the minister happens
10 be fortunate. and the hymn comes
right home, and circumstances concur
and the electric influences are favorable,
aud the meeting is Joyous one, and
be don't 20 home until twelve o'clock.
lie Las sung twenty hymns; and he
does feel as though he could not keep
himself on the ground "a little more,
Lord, be says, sand ! shall fly away"
Now, / want to see if tomorrow he
will 60 TO that neighbor. and say, "Look
here, my dear fellow. we are wrong
at any rate | am, whether you nre or
not. / have been ugly Forgive me.
/ had sach good time last night, that
! | must clean my heart, Ny pride must
come down, my vanity must come down,
and ! must be reconeiled to yoa"
He did have a good time, ani that is
the sign that the feeling which he ex-
perienced was genui Q. That he roarod
bis hymns joyully was no sign Of il;
that BE had an erstacy q prayer was
no sign Of it; but that having that cle-
yaiion, ne changed it TO moral par
pose; that out of that feeling he
wrought garments of dnty; that ont Of
that experience be came back TO his fell
| low-men more sympathetic, more gem
tie, more humble, more Christ-liko
all that was sign that the feeling was
genuine one. Otherwise it would
have been simply sign Of self-indnl-
gence.
A man that takes bis excess Of moral,
social, and religious excitement, to raise
the tone Of his moral aud emotiye feel
ings, is just as dssipatod as if he raised
the tone Of his physical feelings by
physical stimulants am not institu-
ting u comparison as 10 which is the
better and which is the worse mere
ly say that one is enperance just as
much as the other, though one is gross
er than the other, and is more disas-
trous in undoing the very structure OF
the body itself And men ought to 1e
made to understand that there is such
thing as moral intoxication, and that
, man can take religious feeling, and
that he can-what shall say ?-imbibe
and imbibe, and imbibe, for no other
reason than because it feels SO good -
1t is selfindulgence It is luxury
"a higher luxury, to be sure. And be
imbibes and imbibes, and is more joy
9 full. He is not better man; but he il
a a much happier man. And he imbibes
| and imbibes, until BY aud by be swings
! and swings, and the mGn is berat ed. -
/ | have seen men that were literally de.
. bauched at the top Of their brains, and
had gone into systematic se,f-indul-
gence. They never were happy except
, under circumstances where they hat
I. this peculiar form Of enjoying them
selves.
\ If found that the whole form Of Thu
b enjoyment was mighty spring tha
was pressing them toward self denia
for the sake Of their fellow men; If
found that it was scoaring their NOR
V ais as white as snow; if fund that j
!, was multiplying the avenues OF then
!, usefulness; if | found that they wer,
D gentle and meek in following Christ
then should say that there was no de
bauch there, tha, there was no mora
4 intemperance there. Feeling which
beginning as feeling, has transmittel
itself into lite and conduct, and beeom
wholesome that is genuine pieiy, tha
is true Christian character; but th
i mere feeling without the transmutatioi
IS nothing Of the kind, and it IS not Dc
& sirable. hit is not going b be trans
q muted into anything but emotion, it j
!. not only au undesirable thing. It Is
= dangerous thing
s LIT rs take instances that are famiI
iar to as IN common life A man SIS
in bis door and see. bully abusing
child that IS weak, gentle, mild aar
. meek and .he man is terrifealiy iadig
y nant, BE fairly ssears with rage u Sc
such an abomiuable bully abuse a help
.e less. Hiee boy. A siAid and qaie. ap