The West Virginia journal. [volume] (Charleston, W. Va.) 1864-1877, 1869-04-28

COMMON SENSE KBoUT RE
LIGION:;hIo 9.

COMMON SENSE XBoUr RE
,S LIGION:;fIo
Henry Ward BcecherAxuinst Re
llrlous 1"ebrietston. tet
= psouIo think that thasts tho Chris.
tian who lies back In hilnhair and has
1ior,ous % visions aud oxptt1Snees. "Oh
snch A GOOD time, such lAt Joyful timo
4, I have had!' o ma1f:AAys. Wcll,
Nal mo sco him dny Of txo:afterward,
s"a can tell better MkSther II Is q
nSn uine Christian expeti1Ace or not.
ffere is man that hashM . quarrel.
Hs Hever has lost q ohfEef 70 say on
ugiyaA aAhing, or to have .NTugly thing
said; linIt him; and 70 Wife and
fShiidfGiS ShsfS takeHsit 6H Sfand here
III set sf6f families that have warm
times. They are us spltefnl as cats and
dogs, audSthrow sparks like black
smiths forge oil tho time. And yet
this man iS,a roaring good Christian.
He goes to meeting. There Is reviv.
al and his religious fcelings are NIL
aglow. Anhft~Id all right. lie docs
feel Just az he saSs he doeS. There Is
no Hypocrisy In IBIS profession. He
takes his hymn book and the minister
happens to be fortunate! and tho hymn
comes right hume, and circumstances
concur, and tho electric influences arc
favorable, and tho meeting Is o joyous
one, as no won't 60 home until IL
O'Clock. He has sung twenty hymns !;
aud ho does feel as though he could
not kccp himself on tho ground. "A
little more, Lord,' he says, "aud lshall
fly away" \
will 20 to that ncighbor, and say,
Look here, my dear fellow, we arc
wroug-at any rate am, whether you
are or not. l have been ugly. For.
give me. I had such q good tlmo laat
night, that / must clean my heart. Ny
pride must come down, my vanity
must como down, and must be recon-
cilcd to you"
Hc did have n good time, and that is
tho sign that tho feeling which no eS-
pcrienced was genuine. That he
roarcd lIis hymns joyfully was no sign
oft; that he had an ecstacy Of prayer
was no sign Of it; but that, having that
elevation, he changed II TO moral
purpose; that ont Of that feeling he
wrought garments Of duty; that out
Of that experience ho came back to his
fcllow-mon more sympathetic, more
gentle, more humble, more Christ.like
-ah that was q sign that the feeling
was q genuine one. Otherwise Il
would have been simply sign Of self
indulgence.
A man that takes his excess Of NOR
nj, social and religious excitement to
raise the tone Of his moral and cmotivc
feelings, Is just as dissipated AK II he
raised the tone Of his physical feelings
by physical stimnlants. ] am not In
stituting IL comparison as to which ia
the better and which IL the worse. ( I
merely say that one is intcmperance
lust as much as the other, though one
Is grosscr than the other, aud iSeInore
disastrous in undoing the very struct.
ure Of the body itself. Aud men
ought 10 be made to understand that
there is such thing az moral in.oxi.
cation, and that man can take re.
ligious feeling, and that he csn--what
shall I say 2-imLibo and imbibe and
imbibe, for no other reason than be.
cause It feels 80 good. Iii q sclf-in-
diligence. II is luxury--a higher
luxury. to be sure. And he imbibes,
and imbibes, and is more joyful. lie
IL not q better man; but he Ia q much
happier man. And no imbibcs, and
imbibcs, until by and by he swiga, and
swigs, and swigs; and the man Is be.
sottcd. ] have seen men that were lit
erally dcbauchcd at the top Of their
brain, and who had gone into sys-
jtematic self-indulgencc. They mover
were happy except under circumstnn-
ces where they had this peculiar form
of enjoying themselves. s.,
If ! found that tho whole form OF
this enjoyment was mighty spring
that was pressing them toward self.dc'
NAL for the sake Of their fellow men ;
liz I found that it was securing their
morals white as snow; II found that
il was multiplying the avenues Of their
usefulness; II found that they were
gentle and meek in following Christ,
then I should eay that thero was 10
debnuch there, that therc was no moral
Iintempcranco there. Feeling which,
beginning rs feeling, has transnl utcd
itself into life and conduct, and be.
come wholesome - that is genuine
picty: that II true Christian character
but tho mere feeling without the trans.
mutation is nothing Of the kind, and
lit Is not desirable. X 1t Is not going
to be transmitted into anything but
ON notion, It is not only an undesirable
thing, It ia a dangerous thing.
Let us takc instances that are familiar
10 us in common life. A man sits In
his door and secs bully abusing Il
child that Is weak, gentle, mild aud
meek: and tho mau Is terrifically In.
lignant; he fairly swears with rage TO
sec sucb an abominable bully abuse
such o helpless, nicc boy. 4 very
staid and quiet apprentice in a shop
near by witnessed tho occurrence. lie
does not feel half so much Indignation,
but he drops Ills tools, and claps on his
paper cup, and rushcs out into the
street. and knocks that bully, and
sends him sprawlIng 70 the ground
and when three or four Of tho bully's
com mpauions como out 10 help him, the
apprentice squares up to them, and
appals tho whole Of them, and he res.
cues that boy. should like 10 know
which Of these two men felt lndigna.
tion best and most salutarr. One. felt