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

1
plating the nature of the cause presented
and its display il proportional, in il
force, to the character of the oppositio
| it is called to meet To sum up, In fel
/ words, our conception of Moral Courage
we assert it to consist in fearlessness i
the discharge Of duty-fortitude unde
trials, tempered by prudence-yet unal
loved by any tincture of worldly policy
and untrammeled by the bondage Of col
rupt public sentiment. He, who is thu
| disciplined, trained, armed, and furnish
ed, and who feels no hesitancy to go fort
to meet the trying conflicts of life, ma,
surely calculate on triumph over all an
tagonists, however formidable, and Oh
being sustained under all burdens which
! may press upon him. This man Is tn
! Christian Hero. Can we sustain this viey
of combined holiness, and prudent con
sideration, by Scnptural authority? On
questionably we can. That Great Being
who, Of all others, who ever trod the earth
in human form-the Incarnate Son O
God-was the sublimest impersonation o
true Moral Courage, not only instructed
his disciples to fear not them which
kill the body, and after that have no more
that they can do" but in the same dis
course enJoins upon them that "wheI
prosecuted in one city, they should fee
to another" and this, not through coward
ice, but from the dictates of wise discre
ton. Have We any authority on the other
hand, teaching US that when the occasion
should demand it, we must stand firmly,
fearing lest we compromise the cause VIC
advocate? We have, in the case of the
patriotic Nehemiah, an illustrious exam
pie, precisely in point When engaged
in rebuilding the walls and temple of Je-
rusalem, and pressed by the threatened
rage of his fierce enemies, he was advised,
by the false traitor, Shemaiah, to take re-
fuge in the temple, from those enemies,
he Indignantly rejected the counsel, pure
Iy because, in such conduct, there would
he involved a base retreat from the path
of duty, and a dishonoring distrust of
the protection Of God. So he exclaims,
in all the fervor of virtuous Indignation:
- Should such an mas fee? And who
is there, that being as | am, would 60 in
to the temple to save his life? l will not
60"
A consideration of the motives and ac-
tons Of men will serve more clearly to
exhibit the mode of the operation of this
principle of Moral Courage. And | re-
mark:
/. That the successful working of it,
is necessarily connected with deliberate
counting of the cost, and then the intelligent
resolving to discharge the duty Of the hour.
That lamentable shrinking and swerving
from plain duty which is observable so
among men, is traceable more
surely to the omissions Of this practice
than to any other cause. Many men
assume a position, or make a profession
which involves great responsibility, under
when the bright side of the
picture alone is presented, and the respon-
abilities are not in view, and, acting I'M
Ter impulse, and feeling, without allow
ne their calm, deliberate judgment to
.ui1e, and restrain them, they have pas
ed prosperously along, for time, until
he Period of test comes upon them, when
they find themselves confronted
With some towering mountain of difficult
V, or some fierce monster of opposition,
bout which they have never previously
ormed any conception, they are UMPIRE
jared, defenceless, and fall an easy prey
0 the first assault. The best defense
Igainst such disasters is the sober and
deliberate act of counting the cost before
ngaging in any enterprise. There is,
perhaps, no one Of those objects Ofpursuit
which engage the mind of man, ofwhich
his is so emphatically true, as the para
Mount duty of entering upon a religious
ife, or making profession of religion.
If this age it is Il characteristic that the
ype of piety is Of the most superficial
haracter L do not think it is an ex-
RENE opinion at all that the great reason
f this is to be found in the failure to de-
iberate calmly and prayerfully upon the
ubject. There is an overweening zeal In
nany churches which urges upon the
Dung an indecent haste in entering the 1
hurch without serious reflection, just
eoause it has become fashionable, not
boxing into the subject and ascertaining
5hether the difficulties inseparable from
christian life are surmountable by the |
qualifications inherent in them, ''fools |
ush in where angels fear to tread" and |
ne result is that when called to meet |
lese difficulties, they fail and bring
name and dishonor upon the religion of
hrist. These reflections need not be in
,rpreted as at all discouraging any from
Christ, and entering upon
.ligious life. The advantage of such
rayerful, deliberate counting of the cost
J here advocate, is simply this: Such
course will bring into view all the diff
Ilties and evils in connection with all the
lessings and privileges attendant upon a
Tristan profession the individual will |
Understand what he has to expect, what
e has to give up, and what he has to
ndure, and what he may receive, as the
ward graciously promised. Balancing
he one against the other, he will see that
sligion is worth all it costs he makes a
intelligently, and is nerved for
very danger and furnished abundantlv
n everv trial Such Moral Heroes see
afore them the tolls, hardships, and ene-
lies they must encounter, but they also
e beyond these 1.-THE crown of life,"
ward which they press ON, and trample
l earthly things under foot that would
r a moment oppose their progress.
ounting the cost, would diminish the
lumber of traitors in the camp of the
puludi 1SIdet, anu III up Cue IdilhS Oi
lie Army of the living God with true and
led Moral Heroes.
The value-the priceless value-of such
hristians may well entitle them to be call
| the ''iewels of the Church of God"
ife's daily annoyances and vexations,
I'VE not the power to induce them to re-
X theirefforts in the vigorous discharge
their duties, in the prosecution of their
3e-work. The temptations of Satan, the
lurements of the world, the suggestions
deceitful heart ply unitedly all their
tillery upon the strong fortress of re-
,ious principle in which such men have
themselves, but the position is