The weekly clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1863-1882, 1869-06-03

foes, be II known are not material anC
tangible; they are spiritual and ideal, We
Just rs real as though they were fiesh anc
lblood. So, too, the weapons ofyour war
fare are otcarnal, not the bright Damas
Gus blade of steel, the ordnance that thun
ders in the field of blood; not the minnie
ball. or the shot and shell of material war
/ fare. Mol no! it were easier far to NEE
such foes, and to WELD such weapons, and
to WAGE such warfare. Physical Couragt
il far more common than Moral Heroism.
But your warfare is Moral and Spiritual.
Your foes are g Principalities and Powers,
and Spiritual wickedness In high places.
Your most formidable enemies are the
offspring of a corrupt nature, and embody
themselves In all forms of corrupt maxims,
and principles, having the sanction of an
tiouity, and sustained by corrupt public
sentiment. These beset your path. They
beekon You aside from the onward path
of virtue. The. school of Honor with Its
false system of morals, the school of fash
ionable folly with its false glare of bril-
liancy, the school of modern politics with
It's Questionable abyss of degradation, all
are competing for your advocacy and sup
port. You will find that to every one of
these the Religion of Christ is in deadly
antagonisn, and no man can touch, taste,
or handle these unclean things without
imperiIing his soul, and all the great in
terests of his Immortality. You may yield
to their seductions and attractions, but wO
be to the man who turns his back on
Christ for duellist's reputation, or for the
sake of the brilliancy of name among
the circles of the fashionable world; or
for the lofty positions which loom up amid
the rank and pestiferous atmosphere of
modern politics The waters of the ocean
can never cleanse his soul of the guilt of
blood; the smiles of the giddy world of
fashion will never give joy and peace to
guilty sinners heart in the day of death
the honors of this world will not compen-
safe the loss of ''the crown of glory that
fadeth not awayl"
What you need, then, is this Moral
Courage, the offspring of Christian faith,
to qualify yeu to resist the onset of these
false yet formidable systems. 1t, and
nothing else but this, will qualify you to
bid defiance to the storm, and frown of
the world, when you venture to be singu-
lar; when with Moses, the heir ofEgypfs
throne, YOU choose rather to suffer atfiic-
ton with the people of God, than to enjoy
the pleasures of sin for a season. When
you turn your back upon the reckoning
courtship of sinful world, | warn you
that you will need something more than
the courage known among men. This may
do in a summer day; but when the wintry
frown of an ungodly world settles down
upon YOU, there is need of the courage
based upon faith in God. This will save
you: this will cause you to triumph; this |
will enable you to smile in heroic tran |
guilty at all their puny assaults.
| have done Feebly, | confess, have |
discharged my duty to you. With many |
of YOU | have been associated for four |
years of mutual toll in the work of pre-
At this solemn moment of our
separation, | cannot but feel that my re-
fections would be far more pleasant were
[ sure that you had all treasured up among
your acquisitions the attainment of that
faith in Christ which alone can give you
success here, and glory hereafter. 1t is
nv pleasing hope that the majority of you
have been divinely wise in securing the
pearl of great price. Oh, seek it, every
one! You cannot do without it, | assure
you. And when | recall the solemn fact
20 memory, that since the beginning of
your career as class, Partee, Harris,
Mcdowell, and Montgomery, who trod
once the pleasant paths of Science and
Literature in company with you, have been
called away from the scenes of earth to
the changeless realities of the Eternal
world, cannot repress a feeling of self
when | reflect that more of
he teachings they received here were
directed to the acquisition of secular learn
ing than to the attainment of the wisdom
that cometh from above.
God grant that you may all remember
to ''get wisdom, and with all your getting
to get understanding" of the way of saliva
ton. L repeat, it is topic of sincere
qualification and praise to God that so
large proportion of you have made your
peace with God, and begin your career
furnished with this richest Of all endow-
ments-the grace of God, and the hope
Of Heaven
May God the Father, God the Son,
and God the Holy Spirit, bless you all
every onel There is not man among
you, for whom this prayer does not ascend
from my heart. May you all achieve that
hat honorable success in life which is
with eminent usefulness to the
world. May you by the aid of this
principle of Moral Courage in
separately connected with Christian faith,
triumph over all earthly opposition,
achieve victory over death, and the
grave, and finally receive a crown of life
from the Lord of Glory. Amen, and
Amen.