, 1876-06-17

Gus creature, and justice is the atmos
phcrc he must breathe in the midst oi
these political and social and religion,
things 1t is the temperance at the great
feast, keeping him from dying of famine
or dying Of gluttony. The moment jus
ticc is Forgotten the doors Of home and
state and church may be closed, for the
great occupant has ceased to 90 in and
ont, the dOOr.sill remains to bc cNwlcd
over 10y moral h2zarOni or imbecilcs,
Right and wrong may indeed be great
mysteries in their deepest analysis, and
that God should have made man capa.
bic OF falling into the wrong may he a
greater mystery still; but the fact re.
mains that in the midst of this great
discrimination between good and bad,
right and wrong, the character Of man is
formed, and even the beauty of G"d
Himself seems to spring up from the
fact that His throne is founded upon
Righteousness. He is called cultured who
percciycs the delicate beauty in the airs
or in nature or literature; who can al.
most weep tor joy amid the unfolding
beauties of spring, but the world always
reserves its highest words Of praise for
al o,,I.ur.1 g,n1 that nnrr,iv1c tI,o i'm
port and whole beauty Of justice. From
the sudden ruins that have oNcrtaken all
men and all nations that have dcticd it,
and from the glory Of God that springs
out Of it, we may well conclude that
there is moral splendor in this quality
Of mind which our poor eyes have not
yet seen in the dark atmosphere of this
world. AS we are SO far away from the
planets that they only twinkle as little
lamps, and are called by the poets
drops of light" and as, could we ap,
proach them, we should see worlds more
beautiful than our own, so by practice
and by nature and by insensibility we
stand so far away from justice or right
eousncss that in our heavens it twinkles
only in cold sky but could we 80
nearer what stupendoUs world OF
beauty would lie before our fearful eyes
In presence of that world which would
seem a great white throne one sorrow
would fill the heart that we had known
our duty and had done it not.
II, my friends, you will follow further
this line OF thought you will feel what
utter ruin will come to religion when
any use shall rob it Of the idea that pun
ishment, both here and hereafter, must
follow sin. There are minds which have
come to such condition, or have been
born into such condition, that they
need say little or even think little Of the
punishnr>nt' that will follow sin. They
have ceased to sin willingly. The great
quantity Of their thought, flows along
the channel of hope and peace and hap
pincss. But the vast majority of US aIl
still need the impulse found in the idcn
that punishment will follow sin. For
the most part you are all allured by the
beauty Of the good, but there are hours
when the ruins that sin brings should he
before the mind in all their solcmnity.
Not only should we look to the reward
of virtue, but it will bc no cowardicc or
weakness in us if We confess that we are
unwilling to risk the sorrow of trans.
gression. The hcrOism that can face tho
guns in the field of honorable war is
commendablc; and all bravery along
true paths is beautiful feature in the
soul, but when it comes to facing the re-
suits of sin, facing God whose benef.
cent laws one has wilfully broker, there
is no herOism in tho act. Such courage
Is deformlty compared with tho kncel-
ing heart, saying, Lord DO merciful to
mGa sinner" Around oil, however much
they may wish to DO allurcd by heaven
rather than driven by hell, there may be
heard the voice of punishment saying
" Come not here About two years ago
a venerable clergyman wrote to me let
Ter Of religion, and among other things
said "The grea, doctrine to be held
firmly is hat OF reward and punish
NO trucr or more useful words
can sink into the hearts of any who
carry or preach the Christian religion
That religion must help or compel So
ciety to walk in that great discrimina.
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