Daily press and Dakotaian. [volume] (Yankton, Dakota Territory [S.D.]) 1875-1880, 1877-12-12


before q successful incarnation, as he passes
from the investigation of matter into
mood Of lofty and strong feeling, Then
the eclipse rolls away and the belief in a
God stands out bold and clear. The heart
is touched by some mystic and awakening |
influence and is swept into ecstacy. The
heart feels God just as the artist is con-
scious of the fine presence of beauty. Ten
uyson sings in his "Iu Memoriam" and his
/. hopeful and trusting song:
.'If e'cr when faith had fallen asleop.
heard a voice Relieve nomore.'
And heard an ever breaking shore
That tumbled in the goddess deep.
"a warmth within the breast would melt
The freezing reasons colder part
And like man in wrath the heart
Stood up and answered i have felt.
mentioned to you in previous sermon
the condition of religion in England cen
tury ago. Let me return to the subject once
more. The skeptical hosts under the lead
ership of Hobbies and Hume were making
fearful inroads into religion. The church
itself had moved away from those. princi.
Piles that had cemented her in her primitive
DAYS. Christianity was emptied of all idea.
of love- 1t had grown into Journalism.
Its words, doctrines and principles were
braced up by rules Of logic and facts Of his
tory. 1t taught a God unfeeling and met
aphysical, heaven gloomy, cold and sad;
a hell dismal and cruel; a Judgment that
was but another word for vengeance. There
was no father reaching out his hands from
the skies in holy henedic,ion over his suf-
whispering on the night winds his words
of love and cheer, urging his children to
walk in the paths of pleasautness and peace
There was no Divine love rolling out like
great waves OF light engultiug all. Chris
tianitv in tine hands Of the church men was
cold and Indifferent. Its chief strength lay
in its metaphysical theories. 1t furnished
some food for the learned, but the multi
tude could only humble their mechanical
prayers in silence. The common people
did not want the existence Of God proved
to them. They took no interest in the de-
bates of great scholars. Their hearts clam
ored for something better. 1t was at this
critical moment TINT a new knight marched
into the arena of contest carrying the old
banner of religion. John Wesley came and
saw the great defect in religion and he
struck the blow that destroyed at once the
formalisms of the church and checked the
growing power of the skeptics. He en-
grated in the mission of his life the work
of withdrawing religion from the influence
of the great and learned and letting it shine
in its pristine loveliness in the houses of
the poor He lifted religion from the
realms of the intellect and placed it in the
heart. Need we wonder why that pure
soul was received with shouts Of joy and
eladness by the millions who lived in sin,
sorrow, misery and ignorance? Need we
wonder that they came in crowds of thou
sands, as ANXIOUS and eager to hear what he
had to say as did the throngs that once
f1ocked together to hear that rapt soul OF
Nazareth? The rude and un.
cultured colliers carried home with them
the words that that generous and large
souled man had proclaimed. Newspaper
writerr, actors, poets, satirists and preacher.
denounced the man and sought by foul
means to stem the reform. Yet it rolled
onward like great sea wave through the
English speaking nations. 1t was ar
awakening-a new reformation-a refor
nation from the cold and dry reasoning o
philosophical preachers to the warm wordl
of love that Christ had taught. 1t was Johr
Wesley that kindled by his own wonderful
elovuence the fires of love on the affairs o
over q million human hearts. Methodist
that he was, Liberal that am, l cannot hell
placing him, in the midst Of that noble ant
illustrious band of sanity names that orna
ment and illuminate the pages of Christian
history.
He done more to save Christianity from
going down before the assaults of the skep
tics than the fine and powerful reasoning Q
Bishop Butler and his entire school. Hi
was clear conquest of the heart over tn
intellect. His was the message that rouset
men out of their long sleep once more int
activity. He found new love, hope an
energy into Christianity.
The men who write and speak from tn
heart are always the favorites of the peopl,
Luther may not have been the intellectua
peer Of Bacon or Descartes, but all of hi
; words and deeds received their first colorin
from his heart Hamilton and jefferson
} may have helped along our land with thei
fine reasoning, their brilliant and phile
sophical i.'eas on functions of the stat
e yet we ALL. hold dear the memory Of
Lincoln and a Sumner because hey wei
! more human and because their deeds passe
L through the channels ofthcir hearts. 1t
: so always. Whittier is more beloved tia