The New York herald., 1874-10-05
LYRIC HALL.

LYRIC HALL.
The Wisdom of Wishing n Long Life on
Earth-Quality and Quantity Of Liv-
ing.
large and attentive audience assembled In
Lyric Hall Yesterday morning. The platform was
very prettuy decorated with flowers and brill
liant hued autumn leaves. Mr.. rockingham
read selections from Coniucius and from the Chi
nese Scriptures. He then said, in the Hebrew
book OF Proverbs is passage describing the
beauty Of wisdom. 1t Is written, sIn her right
hand is length OF days. By wisdom. in these old
books, IS not meant what we mean by learning,
knowledge-it means goodness the highest at
tanment OF intelligence and moral manhood; !;
and the teaching is simply tnls that good
lie and long life correspond. Quality and guam
tity go hand in hand and balance each other.
All ancient people delighted in representing their
Just men as enjoying what was virtually an I'M
mortality on earth. Thus In mythology the saints
were represented as leading fabulous long lives,
and to the Hebrew patriarch the same longevity
is ascrbed. In accounting for this longevity some
say they are merely fables; others say these ages
were meant not to describe individual men, but
their families and tribes; others say the years
were not our solar years, but shorter. But literal
believers in the Bible accept the TACT as it stands
turles; now they were able to live we are unable
to understand. Perhaps none OF these eXplana-
tons are correct. 1t Is possible that these
numbers were symDolical. There is one point upon
which l wish to fasten your mind, that IS
that IN these stories the relations between the
quality ana quantity OF life is sustained ana as
sumed. They mean that il man Will justify his
manhood Providence VIII JUSTLY his old age. At
all events, among the Hebrews tins was cardinal
idea. You find this one idea-nameIy, that those
VINO were oDedlent to Jehovah
ENJOYED LONG LIFE.
This was promised from the beginning. The an
world He believed 1t was good to 1--we. He dld
not desplse food and shelter. He priced them at
were true TO himself and his manhood he would
nave virtually an Immortality, and this idea was
entertained until the captivity and later than
that. Later along, say 500 years u. G., this tone
OF feeling altered. Open the Book OF Wisdom OF
Solomon, and there IS an entire change. The
away, and the good men are represented not
as the ones who enjoy lie most, but as
IN this time God IS supposed 10 favor those VINO
die soonest. Wisdom, he says, is equivalent to
gray hair and goodness Is old age. You see this
spirit ol visionary ascetlcism coming in. You all
Know now IL Is IN Christianity; the Church adopts
this tone. this world becomes good for nothing
the other world all in all. good man gave as
evidence OF his goodness that he did not stay in
tins world All Christian literature Is saddened
by this thought. Christian writer reports as
rom an old Greek poet, "Whom the gods love die
young" My suspicion is, the reporter OF these
words twisted their meaning. Christian poet
says, "Ihe less OF this cod world the more OF
heaven" Wordsworth makes his rustic sage say,
ION, SIR, the good die first and they whose hearts
are dry as sawdust burn to the socket.n In the
present time TINS spirit OF asce,icism IS on the
decrease and the old
WHOLESOME PAGAN LOVE OF LIFE
is coming into vogue again. We now believe in
length OF days; we try to live long. Is that sent-
ment bind one 1t seems to me purely natural
1t is good world; perfect power made it, q per-
iect love orders 1t, the Divine love makes 1t the
urn into which 1T pours ITSELF We. therefore,
come back TO the good old conception that quality
may be. TAKE the question on physical plane.
That Is long lie which conforms TO the material
conditions OF lie. the popular idea is that men
live and die according to some special providence.
Now, this is superstition. Ii an infant dies there
when the Hebrews were about to pass out OF
Egypt an angel passed over the land ana slew the
rst born 9, Egypt spaarng 5ne first born Of the
HE DID WITHOUT ORDERS.
1t should be remembered that the people of Egypt
had, by their mode OF lie. lald themselves open to
pestllence, while the Hebrews, by their simple
mode OF life, were unassailable. There must have
been some such reason as that. The angel OF death
is absolutely impartial; there Is no exception; the
long lie Is the healthy one. 1t used TO be thought
that in state OF barbarism people lived longer
under civilization. WhyY Because civilization
improves quality, and that .insures quantity. This
IS not yet lully understood; but when this is un-
derstood we shall see men and women growing
up strong and vigorous, praising God, not that
there is heaven beyond, but that the earth
Is here again. The length OF lie depends in some
considerable degree OH the healthy activity OF the
brain. The BRAIN Is the organ OF immortal power.
and according TO its condition is the quality OF
the man. Ignorance is foe to longevity. We
TAX OF Immortality, that isa continuance OF life
beyond the grave. Does that word immortality
suggest quality or quantity, which? IL suggests
quality. The early Christians said none are I'M
mortal but the believers. The Old pagans said all
but heroes and sages go into a land II shadows,
land OF vacancy. The Christian, improving on
TINS, says that those who are not believers. instead
OF going down lnto this lnonensive place. will go
to hell and be burned. think the pagan idea is
the most cheerful and may be more true.