The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1875-03-15
LYRIC HALL.

THE DIMENSIONS OF LIFE-THE NFINITUDE OF
MORTAL INSTRUMENTATION BY REV. o. B.
ROCKINGHAM.
The Rev. O. B. rockingham. at Lyric Hall,
preached yesterday morning on the Dimensions
OF Lie.n The following Is the substance OF his re-
marks:-
There are some people who are only interested
In the length Of li1e-in longevity. They who
speak OF the "tnread" OF life however must
necessarily think OF its strength for longevity de-
ponds upon certain conditions, such as knowledge
OF the laws OF health, &c. Social science teaches
longevity can be increased, and social science
knows full well that many conditions are neces-
sary to it. Lie, in order to be long. must be COM
Portable, must be spared the friction, the wear and
tear OF trouble, poverty or illness. This Is ono
view OF looking at lie. Another Is to regard IL
from the point oil breadth-suriace. People ask
you how many countries you have seen, how many
languages you speak. &c. But this IS only shine
and show. lor what does all this superficial ex.
perience amount TOT We finally come 10 the con.
clusion that lie Is not plane, but solid.
OUR SENSE OF PROPORTIONS
IL instructive. A character that Is all Will and
energy and void OF genler instincts is distressing
to US. 1t violates this sense We almost always see
people out OF proportion. One man is all length,
q hundred years old. What is the use +, tin
and awe and wonder aud that is unsatisfactory.
TO be perfect, to be rounded Character, you
must have all the attributes OF manhood. In the
first place you must have depth; without that
men all appear alike-they weaf their hair IN the
same manner, they wear the same boots, their
voices are attuned to the same key, they seem
precisely alike humanity from this super hcal
point OF view 10 simply o mush. But he who has
seen people only IN this way knows nothing OF the
nj q n n.
nous people Ill their friendly clrcle-are they then
ankle ? Make the circle still narrower-Ioilow
them to tner Offices, their shops, and you Will see
how their special qualrles come out still more
strongly. Go deeper stlll-to their fresldes-and
watch them as they rejoice and sorrow with tnelr
dear ones, and how conspicuous Will TINS truth
appear There Is yaster depth. ana tnat is Is
sounds the aDysses Oh his own neart
HEIGHTS BEYOND US.
There is still deeper revelation than even the
last, ana tnat Is the mmeasurable depth OF mans
Innermost CONSCIOUSNESS. And what Is this depth
beneath the roos o: conscious mdlvidualtyl sume
persons will tell you IL is all Stun, all mud. But
depth always instiDctivey suggests height; 10
TACT they are the same thing Height IS tae
deptn up ward ana uce Us1sd You cannot es-
cape the conclusion that there Is an abyss OF
thought which we can scarcely sound. whence
was IT that the great host OF astronomers got the
power that enabled them to travel from world to
weird and penetrate the outermost confines OF
the universe, rising so high tnat the venerable
empyrean only became a scano'ding ana tne star )
only stepping stones some invisible seat gory2
Whence DID tnis power conner Nnence OBTAINS
]
the universe into unity as with nne cham OF
RodY When anyb body repeats some old axiom OF
truth he rises TO noDer ano higher realm OF
moral Ideally. When any person Oh Denued
knees yearns Tor truth lie mas never realzed he
conlesses ~ that act that over his head there are
WORLDS and worlds oil power and glory. There are
no beings so humble tnat are prevented rom
ca;cning these glilnpses OF the hegnt ana depth
OF lie.
SPIRITUAL BREADTH OF LIFE.
And now as to DI neutrality-suspicious.. HOW narrow
the ordinary idea OF lie is. How lew OF US are
/ n m M n
the cit, live luy The mathematician tells US
and anotner so that the tlDiest wave docs not
pulsate untI It's Vibrations vlbr ate also Oh the
shore. 30 we are informed tnat spoken words re-
tain their consistency as they travel about, so
that the chambers oil the air are literally Whisper
ing galleries, thus verifying jesus prophecy that
every word we nave spoken VIII nave TO be jnStl-
NED before the judgment throne. II THIS IL true
10 SHOWS how limited our ordinary conceptions OF
lie are. Even plauces ana expressions OF
rIppes OF lie go on anu on TIL they beat upon
Invisible shores. MUsL OF US write letters, we all
mold daily communion with friends III distant
continents. and IN thoughts and lie lings they are
Just near TO us az though they were by our SIDE.
Every new BOOK usDers us iuto n new s'ate OF tue
mnd, every newspaper brings us nome the CON
Germs, the troubles the JOYS OF me entire WOrid.
The teleg apn has ITS terminus IN our hedtt
strings; we rejoice and lament with people whom
we never sa" before in our lives. and wnen we
see what are called common people vita their
newspapers In the street we are reminded OF me
mimi ude OF NE, when all snare as Dr0tners.
CONCLUSIONS or IMMORTALITY.
And now come TO the last ACKNOWLEDGMENT.
We were lost IN mts 1ery when we tried 10 SOUND
with the plummet or our thought the aOys,es be-
low us, and also when we attempted 70 measure
the heights above us. How are we then 10 grasp
le's duratlony Would II DO 10 LAY that lie Is
short unless II also be small, weary, narrow ana
shallow When tnlnk OF intelccts IKE uoethe
or Plato we leel that their being could not Ne
limited. Tney lived TO be old men, but they dlcd
boys. shakespeare died az the age Of nily'two'