The national Republican. [volume] (Washington City [D.C.]) 1866-1870, 1869-09-04

Through the world unspotisd 20.
l Let me now ny white robes wear,
Thea I need no more prepare,
All spparslied for ny home
Thus spparsilsd, l shsil DO
| ASS sisnai set Tor Thee,
That the wfstohed and the weak
May the same fair garmsnh seek.
| "Buy OF Me- hear rhss says
Ihavs naught vkesswith TO pay,
But give myself to Thee,
Clothed, adoptsd shall Be.
PAUL ON MARs' HILI.--Ths Athenians were
| emiuently religious. They were theological
and Devotional. They were the wise OF their
time, and tho worshipful. They lntcrmed-
died with all knowledge and mystery. Gifted
With aesthetic genius, they cousecrated II 10
the embodiment Of religious Ideas In forms
Of matchless beauty and grandeur, in tenn
ples, statues, affairs, pillars. These splendid
vorks Of art crowned Mars Hill with q
sarred glory, making that emInence, like
OLYMPUS, the home and haunt Of the gods.
| Amid those sublime symbols Of divinity sat
| tho Areopagus, the high court Of the State.
4 There, In full view OF altar and images,
stood Paul, the. ambassador Of Christ, the
| apostle Of the true and only living God, hav-
| Ing somewhat to say 70 those grave and
| reverend seniors. II has been remarked that
this man Of God gave no heed, apparently,
to these masterpieces Of Athenlan art, which
were the admiration OF the world; that he
had no word OF commcndatlon 10 bestow on
the finest productions Of pagan culture. Some
have Inferred that he, Who was 90 richly
endowed with reason and trained In phiioeo-
ply, had little taste for the beautiful. Others
have argued that such was his devotion 10
his one business Of proclaiming God In Christ,
that he cruclned bis liner tastes along with
his carnal appetltes, that he sacrificed these
"iusts OF the eye" a. well as "the lusts OF
the fFesh and the pride Of life," and that at
that moment he may have calculated with
the Psalmlst, "from vanity turn OF mine
eyes" Il IL mot more probable that he was
90 impressed BY tho dark deformlty Of that
one altar bearing the inscription "To the
unknown God" which shroudod that sum
init and its sculptured forms with dismal OBJ
security, that he could only call attention 10
thaeT We may suppose high priest OF art
10 enter gallery OF choice old productions,
and, seeing them deeply shaded for want OF
light, TO express no delight, but rather to er-
claim, "Why this gloom Let me rear q
crystal dome over these creations OF the pen
eli and tho chisel, that the light OF heaven
may reveal their charms and make II good
10 be here"
To the apostles illumlned mind the utter
sbssncc on Mars Hill OF the light Of the true
God shroudsd all Its giories and rendered
the scene distasteful and disagreeablc. To
his eye, which had looked on Divine beauty,
which had seen objects In a transfgura-
ton Of glory, the utmost achievements Of
pagan art, beclouded BY pagan Ignorance Of
God, could present little attraction. Had he
not boon caught up into the third heavensl
What was II TO stand on Mars Hun He
had even % restrain his dissatisfaction at
the pail Of darkness. But he could not long
refrain from pointing to that gloomy altar,
elaborate and srqulsitA no doubt, as . piece
OF sculpture, yet dishgurcd with the black
letters that betrayed Athenian Ignorance Of
God. II no could but burn out that tracery
with the blaze Of truth, II he could but open
heaven above Mars Hill and let down upon
IL celestial light, he would add supcrnal
beauty TO the handiwork Of art and glorify
Athenian genius.
-, Let US gather from this rational view Of
the case, whether In art or In science, the
knowledge Of God Ia the browning attain
ment, that II sends . light and life into all
achievements, that 1t beauties all accom-
plishments. Whatever may DO the material
s.~.Y.,s.y er . PsoYio, y, she enhancement
Susinted themseiyes With God as he i re-
vealed In Christ, and enjoy the light Of his
word and spirit, they arc In gross darkness,
sud need the missionary In all their high
places.
Since Paul preached on Mars Hill there
has been much OF the like missionary work
done, yet We need not 60 beyond Christen.
dom, beyond our enlightened cities, to find
men eminent In worldly state, who igro-
.aaily ssr.A.e God: Pa,tta, knowledge is
preacher TO declare HIM. To the devout
laden with ritualistlc forms, that
he may worship Him, spirit, In spirit and
In truth. To the doubter, who gropes his
blind way, feeling AFTER God, II peradven-
lure he may fnd Him, that he may know he
d not very far from Him. To the humble
believer, who trembles at the threshold Of
the holy place, struck through with sense
Of his unwoIthiress, that he may knoe In
In the light as He 10 In the light. To the
willing servant Of tho Lord, who waits In the
shadow and serves In the night watches that
his path may DO - the shiuing sun, shining
more and more. To the broken In spirit and
contrita In heart, who tremble At HIS word
aud pant for His smile, 70 assure them that
He whom the heavens cannot contain dwells
In the bosom OF the lowly that He may re-
vive the spirit Of the contrite ones.
To declare God Is more than TO pronounce
His name, TO sound His glorious titles, to In
ventory His attributes. It Is by no means
consistent with oracular sayings which
clothe Him In mystery, and with intlmations
of His being unknownable, as II 1t were
necessity, after all, to worship an uHknorn
God.
The Christian has this advantage over the
pagan Greek He knows the God he wor-
ships. II he knows Him not, he Is pagan
still, sever learning, but never able to come
to q knowledge Of the truth"
"Gop's MEN" WANTED IN CHNA.-A Mr..
Cooper, an English gentleman Of culture
and enterprise, undertook In 1868, 10 go from
Shanghai westward through China to India.
But he found the people Of Thibet so hostile
that he turned southwark TO tho headquar-
ters Of the Irrawady, hoping to reach Prone,
village to which he came on the Irrawady he
was brought to the chief, Q noble, athletic,
and almost gigantic specimen Of the noun
talneers Of that region. The chief at once
said: "You are white man. Are you one
Of Gods men ." Mr.. Cooper, astonished to
hear such q question asked In such q place,
replied, . little eyasively, he was not, he
acknowledged, In any evangelical sense, q
Christian. The chief went on to say, ar
you are one OF Gods men, want you to tell
me and my people about God. Some Of my
people have heard from white men down the
river about the great God, and want to
know about him myself, that may become
one Of Gods men," Mr.. Cooper told him,
as well as he could, the general truths OF
Christianity, though he was painfully con-
scious that he was not himself familiar with
them; but the chief did not seem fully salts
fed, and finding that the traveller was deslr-
Gus Of descending the river, he sent him In q
boat with delegation Of his own people,
literally supplying his needs, to Prone, and
forwarded an urgent request, both by Mr..
Cooper and his own people, to our mission.
aries there, to send him q teacher who could
tell both him and his tribe how they might
become Gods men,"
FRUITs OF UNITED CHRISTIAN EPPoRT.-
At Kokomo, Indiana, a place Of 5000 In
habitants, which had grown up suddenly in
consequence OF a railroad crossing, vice and
violence prevailed greatly TIL last spring.
One Sunday evening, says the Toledo Blade,
"Rey. A. 8. Walsh, pastor OF the Congre-