, 1873-02-09
MERRY SAINTS.
BY PROFESSOR wnL1AA MATuEws, OF The usr-
vERS1IT OF CHICAGO.

Merry saints j! Yes, reader, and why not merry
saints, as well as joyial sinners Why, it relig-
ion be designed to make US happy, should it
come to us always in the shape Of DEATHS head
and cross-bones, or any other reme1to nori,
When will the old theological idea that mortala
aro sen. here as to place Of sore chastise-
ment and modification, be rooted from our
minds ? We are not living in the middle ages;
nor can TIE bo made to believe that the sect OF
Flagellants, who lashcd themselves dur
ing the d.y till the blood ran into
their shoes, and Who sang penitential
psalms all night in cold rooms in mid
vinter,-or any Of the other old saints the lon
git1le Of whose faces so far exceeded the 1ati-
tudo,-had the the tue secret Of piety. "Trua
godliness ia cheerful as the day. wrote Cowper.
himself lugubrious enough; and even the
founder Of our faith, by directing US when We
fast to anoint our countenauces, and not to
seem to fast, enjons certain Hyol'ness Of face.
It has been we'll said that all great, wholehearted
peoples have been lively and busting, noisy
almost, in their prosreas, pushing, energetic.
broad in shoulder, strong in lung, loud in voice,
OF free, brave color, bold look, and bright eyes
They are the cheerful people in the world
Active coeEs, noble lTers-s:rong to labor, sure to
|. couqutr,
aud soon outstrin in t5sir course tho gloomy
and tho deapondeut. An hilarious elas-
t,city OF nature Is surely one ct the
most invaluable qualities man can hare; why.
then, should not the faculty Of being merry,-of
finding an eascr ploasure in all eorts OF objects
and pursuits,-be trained and cncourased7
and rhy should the man who goes through the
world with sober, solemn jowl te thought to be
showing deeper sense of tho worth Of life, and
to be making more of his abilities than the elas-
tic man? We would not see the pious man with
perpetual broad grin On his face, for the
pious arc thoughtful, and thoughtfulnesa
| cannot endure to be long while yoked
with 'la1ghter holding both its sides;"
| get there is q harmless mirth, as old
| Fuller cells it,-in the middle zone between
frantic morriment End tho indigo blues,-which
the deyout man will find no hindrance to tha
cultivation OF his religious feelings, while it ID
tho best cordial for his spirits.
It WAS q maxim Of Bishop EIphinsto1o, An
eminent Scottish saint, that who1 any one sits
in company, and any merry thought comes into
his head, he ought to give uttcr=nce to it I'M
mod;.tely, 30 that all present may be benefited.
Sydney Smith, when poor, struggling cu1.te at
Foston-1e-Clay, a dreaEy, out-of-the-way place,
wrote: 'I am resolved to like it, and
to reconcile myself to it, which ia mo1e manly
than to fancy myself above it, and to
send up complaints by the post OF being thrown
away, or being desolato, md such like trash" :"
Acting in this spirit, he said his prayers, uaads
his Jokes, chee1ed and helped his neighbors, and
upon fino mornings used to draw up the blinds
of his little parlor, open the window, and glo-
rify the room," as he called the net, with sun-
shine. Yet this WIS nothing to the sunshina
that flooded hin heart and lighted up his faco;
and 10 buoyant was he in spirit when his phJHi-
cal strength Was nearly exhausted, tha:, just be-
| fore he died, he playfully described Lis condi-
ton by saying, ':Ifeel 60 weak. both in body
and mind that L verify believe il d knife vera
put into my hand, should not have strength OF
energy enough to stick it into dissenter."
4 more striking example was Robert Hal, who
| could indulge in merry jests aud pungent say
ings even when suffering from sharp pain. " 331r.
! Hau." esid some ono to him, I understand you
| are going to marty Miss ," II marry Hiss
y would IS soon marry Beelzebub's eldest
daughter, and 60 home and live with the old
folks" To solemn brother who rebuked him
for his vivacity, he replied: "You carry your
| nonsense into the pulpit; keep mine out"
Even when stricken with mental hAllucination,
| he did not lose his relish for q jest. When
stereotyped condoler called upon him at the asy.
lum. aud asked, in whining tone, "What
brought you here, Mr. Hall ?" he significantly
touched his head and replied, " What'u never
bring YOU, sir tco much brain, Sir! too much
brain!" Thomas PAine, writing against tbs
Bible. he characterized as Ia mouse nibb]iDE At
| the wing Of an a1changcl." Dr.. G1ps Commentary
was 10 continent Of mud = the writings ot
| Owen "a valley Of dry bones." When We think
| OF the drcadfu1 agonies that racked Mr. Halls
powerful frame, we cannot wondar that he
thought Of hea7en chiefly as place Of rest. nor
that his experience WAS sometimes clouded BY
storms and darkness, just al many OF his majes-
tic sermons are tinged By the ahadea and terrorn
that grcw upon his great soul; but it is q
I marvel to which we can find nothing moro
vondrous in the whole library OF brave anecdote,
/ that, sitter tossing and vrithing upon the rug
before the fire, the only place in which he could
get ease, he could start up lvid with exhaustion,
and with the sweat OF aogulah on his brow. to
proclaim without mu1mur from his pulpit tha
message of God to q lost world 81 suffered
much" the noble hero used to say after theea
pa1oxysm, shut did not cry out did I! did I
CITY out7"
| We do not deny TINT 1augher may be,-n.7,
too often is,-a scotfer and scornor. Some jest
ing there is that is like 1.-THE cracking Of tho1na
| under pot :" aud some testers there be, who
! aro fools of worse breed than those that used
| to wear tho cap and bells. But, as Archdeacou
Hare so Justly observes, though 4 Ger
| tain Kind Of wit, like other intellectual gifts
may coe1ist with moral depravity, there haa
often been pla5fulness in tho best and greatest
1nen,-in Phocion, in Socrates, in Luther, in 6il
Thomas More,-which, al it were, adds bloom
to the seyerer graces Of their character, shining
forth with arnarathino brightness when ato-1ns ~
aail them. and springing up in fresh blossoms IN
der tho axe OF theexecutioner. tits the strongest
and most thoughtful mind that perceives mos
keenly the manifold and perpetually occurring
contradictions, and incongruities, and inconsis
tencies Of life; and hence great writer 70
eards humor as often ''the natural associate
Of an intense love Of truth, it it be moi
rather q particular form and manifestation
Of that lore,"-leeding ono to strip OF
the artificial drapery and conventional formal