The Hickman courier., 1869-04-24
Common Sense About Religion.
From the Flymonth Pulpit.

From the Flymonth Pulpit.
People think that that is the Christian
who lies back in his chair and has glori
Gus visions and experiences. oh sue
a good time, such a joyful time as l hav
had !" man says. Well, let me see hin
a day or two afterward, and | can tel
better whether it is a genuine Christian
experience or not. Here is a man tha
has had quarrel.-s He never has los
a chance to say an ugly thing, or to hav,
an ugly thing said against him; and hi
wife and children have taken it up and
here is a set of families who have warn
time. They are spitelul as cats and dogs
and throw sparks like blacksmith Z
forge all the time. And yet this man i.
a roaring good Christian. He gees tc
meeting. There is a revival and hi.
religious feelings are all aglow. And it
is all right. He does feel just as he SAYS
he does. There is no hypocrisy about
his profession. He takes his hymn-book
anu The nfir4istOI iaapPStise De r.
and the hymn comes right home, and
circumstances concur, and the electric
influences are favorable, and the meeting
is joyous one, and he won't go home
until twelve o'clock. He has sung twen-
ty hymns, and he does feel as though he
could not keep himself on the ground
"a !, little t more, Lord he says, "and l
shall fly away"
Now, want to see if tomorrow he
will go to that neighbor and say, 'Look
here, my dear fellow, we are wrong-at
any rate [ am, whether you are or not.
have been ugly. Forgive me. I had
such good time last night, that I must
clean my heart. My pride must come
down, my vanity must come down, and l
must be reconciled TO you.
He did have a good time, and that is
the sign that the feeling which he expert
enced was genuine. That he roared his
hymns joyfully was no sign of it; that
he had an ecstacy of prayer was no sign
of 1T; but that, having that elevation, he
changed it to moral purpose that out
of that feeling he wrought garments of
duty; that out of that experience he came
back to his fellow men more sympathetic,
more gentle, more humble, more Chris
tian-like-ah | that was a sign that the
feeling was a genuine one. Otherwise
it would have been simply sign of self
indulgence.
A man that takes his excess of moral
social and religious excitement to raise
the tone of his moral and emotive feel
ings is just as dissipated as if he raised
the tone of his physical feelings -
PHYSICAL stimulants. | am not institut-
ing a comparison as to which is better
aud which is the worse. merely say
that one is intemperance just as much as
the other, though one is grosser than the
other, and is more disastrous in undoing
the \ery structure of the body itself
And men ought to be made to under
stand that there is such thing as moral
intoxication, and that man can take
religious feeling, and that he can-what
shall / ,sar2--- imbibe- aud inlhibs,s and
imblDe, Tor no other reason than because
it feels so good. 1t is a self-indulgence.
1t is luxury-a higher luxury, to be
sure. And he imbibes, and imbibes; and
is nl>re joyful. He is not better man:
but'he is much happier man. And he
imbibes, and imbibes, until by and by he
swigs, and swigs, and swigs, and the man
is besotted. l have seen men that were
literally debauched at the top of their
brain, and who had gone into systematic
self-indulgence. They never were hapRY
except under circumstances where the51
had this peculiar form of enjoying them
selves.
If l found that the wl,sss form of this
enjoyment was mighty spring that was
Il Il 81 6o
sake of their fellow men if found that
it was multiplying the avenues of their
usefulness if l found that they were
gentle and meek in following Christ, then
l should say there was no moral intem-
perance there. Feeling which, begin
ming with feeling, has transmitted itself
into life and conduct: and become whole
some, that is genuine piety that is true
christian character; but the mere feel
ing without the transmutation is nothing
of the kind, and it is not desirable. If
it is not going to be transmitted into any
thing but emotion, it is not only an un-
desirable thing, but it is dangerous
thing. Let US take instances that are
familiar to us in common life. A man
sits in his door and sees bully abusing
child that is weak, gentle, mild, and
meek; and the man is terrifcally indig-
nant; he fairly swears with rage to see
such an abominable bully abusing such
a helpless, nice boy. A very staid and
quiet apprentice in shop near by wit
nessess the occurrence. He does not
feel half so much indignation, but he
drops his tools, claps on his paper cap,
rushes out into the street, and knocks
that bully and sends him sprawling to
the ground; companions come out to help
him, the apprentice squares up4so them
and appals the whole of them and he res
cues that boy. l should like to know
which of these two men felt indigna ton
best and most salutary. One felt it in
his heart and the other felt it in his fist.
In one it took on the form of helpless
protest-the form of lazy indignation in
a law man. And so he sat and reeked
with Indignation The other transmitted
his indignation into fire, which carried
him out and made him the champion and
protector of the weak, and the punisher
of the oppressor. l say that the last
feeling was the hearty feeling that took
on the form of action instantly.
MEDICINAL PROPERTIES OF CELERY
A CORES pondent of the Practical Farmer
f,Po