Fayetteville observer. [volume] (Fayetteville, Tenn.) 1850-1966, 1872-08-22
From Petersburg.
For the Faretterille Observer.

luS WIZ vi AObC uor tiuiic PAiSo
in this locality; therefore, | take
up my subject where l lett of last
week. To begin, my brethren,
we have here an instance, an IL
lustration of a fact-a fact which
is sometimes disputed, but which
| believe nevertheless, is a fact,
that tn re is no kind of trial
and suffering which human nature
cannot better endure, than the
trial and suffering of perpetual
solitude. You may clothe your
victim in fine linen and purple and
gold, you may pamper his appe-
his appetite with any kind of deli
cacy and luxury of food, you may
defend him from heat and from
cold, and from the violence of enc.
mics, but If at the same time you
utterly exclude him from the hu-
man face and voice, from the sym
pathy and the presence of any
kindred being like himself, then
all your other kindnesses are but
the hooking of his wo. And
you have invented a mode of tor
ture which can only be described
as the anguish of an unquencha.
BILE inward fire, ever burning but
never extinguished. Now, my
brethren, what is true of an en-
tire exclusion from human SYM
pathy, is true of that exclusion in
part. Our divine Creator has
made us to help each other, to
love each other, to encourage and
sustain each other, to enjoy the
society of friends and kindred
spirits, to be animated by their
sympathies, to be strengthened by
their cooperation and support !;
and in proportion as we are de-
privei Of this kindred sympathy
and love, in the same proportion
do we faint and languish and die.
You may tell the lonely man that
God is his friend, that he is not
excluded from the sympathy OF
angels and glori6ed saints, that
the heart of the invisible world
beats in union with his own, and
if he be a good man, and a chris
tan man, he will feel the sustaining
and strengthening influence OF
such reflections but nevertheless
he will also feel that they do not
come up to the wants Of his pres
ent nature; that he needs the
smiles of the visible eye, the
grasp of the visible hand
and when deprived of these, be
can but sink under the pres
sure Of loneliness and solitude
These remarks apply with ten
fold force to the young man as he
leaves the parental roof, buoyant
with hope, fresh with the dews OF
Heaven upon his brow, just burst
ing and expanding with the open
ing prospect of life and useful.
ness before him, With heart full
of confidence in his fellows, and
rejoicing as gian. to run his
course" In this situation, he
needs, and must have the sympa
thy and cooperation of his fellows
to animate and encourage him in
good; aud if, instead of this he
meets with nothing but GOODNESS
and repulsion, and if he seeks in
vain to awake in the hearts of
others the same emotions which
vibrates in his own, 0 then it is
that he begins to despair of life
and its noble purposes, and the
warm current of his soul is frozen
at the fountain. Here then, my
brethren, is unfolded one of the
greatest duties, and one of the
most important Offices of the
hristian church-the building up
Of co'upanionship-s brotherhood
and surrounding every individu-
al with all the comforts and res
trants and Injuries of christian
nome; and SO it ought to be that
every member of the church, no
matter where he may travel or re-
tide. instead of feeling or imagin- |
ng himself a stranger. friendless,
solated and alone should realize the
act that in the church he has a faith
ul band Of fathers, and brothers,
mothers, and sisters. Such ia the
church and brotberhood-God's
brotherhood. Gods family-God's
household. And our young, our
I'D, our poor, our rich, all, no mat
.er what may be their outward
'ondition-sll, should be thought
#, cared for and sympathised
With, as "membersone of another"
md not until the church manifest's
Ter real character as a brother
lood, can it be expected that men
viii love her and feel it a privilege
nd a blessing to become her
members. SERENUs.
10 be oontt,a,1ed.)