, 1874-04-27


tho !tlilant praiBo Of God, TINT alo conatahtty
broaking forth, arc eloquent with truo devotion.
holsov" Mr.. J. Stuart Mill IL, popularly boiev-
cd to nv boan m Atheist and i dlsbol1escr III
ot hin conduct during the last four .1nontls OF
hls lfo? Whom told by, hla 1,hyntcian That llo
must noon tllcif lie continued t, live In bis houHo
at Ayisnon hocauso tho malarin Of Tho region
bis dwelling, would causo ha chronic tl!noaso to
bccomo ppeollly fatal, Mr. Mill refused to 1oayo'
IL; for ho could not forGoRr Tho plaasuro Of
,ys!tiug each dsy at evening tic tomb Of his
days, and tito completion, Of ,hia lifo,vork, was
tho Hwoot communion he then held with hor
WHO, though dcaa, "aa yot living to him. Wns
II tho nlomory, simply, Of rst A.; sho bad boon,
timentaiism on tic ;part oi the worlds gresteat
philosopher and netanhyaotan Was 1t not,
rather conviction Tint death Is but tranhitio,,
aud that souls shall meet again, my, do meet
in blessed communion within a8 vol Is With
out. and IN Bplto Of the losh? -
1 remsrk in tho accond place. my friends.
TINT tho reasons for believing in tho existence
and value of,spirituAl things aro as substantial
and ~ nunorortst to Say tho 'oass, az the res!
SONS for hel"vlng in tho existence and value Of
about "nattos?" Horo is o pioco Of rock: A
pretty substantial thing VIC HaY,-oBpociai1y II
i bo golden roek. But what do NO know about
T.? Simply ti'at It. ia hard and. and heavy;
kAekk IL NAn 6HkllO huN E0loAJ h!1Nt
possibly, sumo olor,-that Ia all. We
arc acquainted with it's qualities and uHcs.
only, and not at ail with its easenco or :suhatra
tnm Of oxiutonce, III which, Or around which.
anco we have agreed 10 call "matter."
Of its esponco7 As in tha case of rocks, nothing.
We aro acquainted only with its qualition. We
know tho fact simply that thore ia something in
ua which we call our true aelvos, and which is :
thinking, fooltng, acting substance, or entity Of
life. Tile nature Of that substance Is hid from
our knowledge and probably will continue to be
hid'ao long as we are; in tho body, bnt tho eyi-
fact that tor we ratl,or-tlfnk, viii fool, ;And
reason, aud rotnombor, and hope, and 'fear, and
joy, aud sorrow; nnroIy no ono Of r,A can for
mornont suppose thnt, knowing thoae q.laIitoH
Of soul, wo therefore know the soul itself-that
subBtrntum Of rcal exlstenco in which theae at
tributes all lie aud from which thoy spring. : .
And yet the sonl has tl,s advantage over mattors
l.n exiasonce is testified to directly BY our own
conaciousnosa, and Is not an lnduonco based on
constantly expanding entity, whom no ono has
ever soen, or can 900. with tito eyo Of 1ush, and
whoac roal Aelf has takon on, only for thd tlmo,
those outward habiliu1ents Of the flesh, which
only VIC do behold, Ia o aolf-evdent truth to tho
inner consciousness Of my nature, and one
which no argument can strengthen and no doubt
Destroy THE faith, however,, In tile existence Of
other things, not myaelf ia indirect, and the re-
suit Of tho action q q, ny n faculties upon them,
is more rcasonnblc, II anything, than faith in
tho existence of mnttor. >. 49, "
And, If we choose to carry this line Of thought
a step farthor. we shall perceive TINT faithin
tho e2istonce Of. God ot sufficient power,
~dp's and asudail all Of shis - wholo @ @ unigerso. %
Is also tho most reasonable conclusion
that our intoleots can come to. "An honest
9od," says ono, /" IL tho noblcst work;of man, "
S $NS1f1 $an1- rfH--
onee be to tho conception Of God on our pert,
and not to his actual creation: For, studying
ourselves wo study God, in whose image we
wore made, whose children wo are, and With
Spirit can bo known to spirit bottor than matter
to matter, or mattor to spirit. Tho univorse IL
tho house in which God dwolla, just as the body
| IL tho house for tho: indwolltng OF ourselves
far know God, in whose iu,age wo: woro made
! aud from whom wo differ only In the linlta.
! tlona and moral rectitude Of our .being.
| And now wo are prepared, my friends, In the
itual things. notwithstanding all tho Tendencies
] often may DO increased, mud made moro Of
Acient, oil the time, to roal and praotica. ends
| And, first, it may DO done by the uso OF tho
faith we have. We believe that God iR,-
| do wo not, in ..somo sense ?-aud :. tia!
Ho the warder Of all those that diligently aeol
Him. Worry we'll it any man will do His willie shal
know Of the doctrine still further, for Unto hin
that hath shall be given, aud he shall have more
abnndantly." The knowledge OF earthly thing
ii obtained by investigation, experiment, nus
reason, and you shall know, is the soiontif
method. But obelioncc, on tho other hand
ia tho organ OF spiritual knowledge. TIL
pure IN hoast," said ,Josus, "ahall soc God,,"-sc
It uatters not. therefore, how poor or how .ricl
a, man may be J. how learned or how ignorant
how FREQ or how enslavod. as to h,s outward life
he still, in the degree Of htR capacity and tn
Iii S1,1t Ind
blessed conviction that he shall triumph at las
over owl that, through fidelity to duty now, an
| pntiont waiting on this ut!seon power, he shal
be kept from all harm, aud made sylaer and bet
tor continually as tho ycars roll on.
:. But, Us tue result Of this increase Of life, an
Tho new vino Of Spiritual trni
muHt be put into now bottlos-tho better knowl
edge which We posaeBs must ho clothed in bot
| ter dress. What jesus aud His disciples though
to do By miraola no must ever .6trivo to accom-
pliHh BY sceueo tile mountains they would ro
move BY prayer, md even tho 1natorial worl
itself, we must reduce by work. For to ou
possible to suppose, !as they doubtless supposed
that the spirit can dominate nlattor directly 0
at NIL, saYe through obedience, into Its ,spoaia
laws. Prayer can operate directly upon spirit
must presoribe. the method. The Way to maxi
our oity healthy ia: to cloan the streets, unpaol
the tonoment housoB, and! force Its inhsbitant
to observe all sanitary laws. We pray, therefore
that We may Induce mon to do this; ana ou
prayer il anawered whom they have been pro
vailed upon to exert themselves.
| lnasmuch, however, as spiritual things hay
tho supremacy over material things, aud the ni's
vorao ID at bottom,-mrral, and not 1nAterial, !
tho victory alull at last be with tie true, th
beautiful, and the goud, and the miracles Of th!
spirit operating through law upon matter shall
in the FUTURE be greater aud more glorlona thai
those OF, tho past. Aud this is our confidence
whilo we conso not both to work md pray.
And one thtng mora il necessary, 1t We wonl
increase our fa.ti,, viz: we must hayot tho lib
erty and use 1t, OF netting out cur own hest con
yictious.. Thoro must be absolutely no restrain
laid upon the individual soul. -, We ml1Atbold +
the convictions wo haYo, until VIC can obtai
others that are better. 1t is mover wiae to abal
don tho old house until the new one L. ready 70
us. But lot ua nevor ratuAe to move into it Jus
AZ soon al it Is really finished. Whataooyor
not Of fifth is ein; ignorance y better tha
licouso, and zeal TINT IL narrow than al indit
ferenco tint Is learned. Let every msn ba full
porsuaaad in l,la own mind, and 1onember o.
ways. that lovo Is the fulfilling OF the law. All
| than H1nil there ba faith oil tie Garth who