The Hickman courier. [volume] (Hickman, Ky.) 1859-current, 1878-03-29

Bacon, Newton ana MliLOH set tue hdLhc
of Jesus Christ above every other. To
show that no other subject Of study can
claim an equal interest, Jean Paul Rich
ter tells us that the life of Christ con-
Germs Him who, being the holiest among
the mighty, the mightiest among the
holy, lifted with His pierced hand en-
pires off their hinges, and turned the
stream of centuries out of its channel,
and still governs the ages SpinOza
calls Christ the symbol Of Divine wis
dom Kant and jacob bold him up as
| the symbol,of ideal perfection, and Schel-
| ling and Hegel as that sof the union of
| the Divine and human. | esteem m the
/ gospels" says Goethe, "to be thoroughly
genuine, for there shines forth from the
reflected splendor of q sublimity, pro-
ceediug from the person of Jesus Christ,
of 80 divine kind as only the divine
could ever have manifested upon ear h."
{" How petty are the books of the phil
osophers, with all their pomr," says
Rousseau, compared with the gOs-
pelsi :" '' Can it be that the writings at
once so sublime aid 80 simple are the
work of men Can He whose life they
/ tell be Himself no more than a mere
man? Is there anything, in His charac-
I ter, of the enthusiast of the ambitious
/ sectaIy? What sweetness, what pur ty
/ in His ways, what touching grace in His
teachings What a loftiness in His
maxims, what profound wisdom in His
words What presence Of mind, what
/ delicacv and aptness in His replies
What an empire over His passions
/ Where is the man, where IS the sage,
who knows how to act, to suffer and die
without weakness and without display
/ Ny friends, men do not invent like this
and the facts respecting Socrates, which
/ no one doubts, are not so well attested
as those about Jesus Christ. These
| Jews could never have struck this tone,
or Thought of this morality, and the
/ gospel has characteristics of truthful
ness 50 grand, so striking, so perfectly
4 f4si.aasts.Isls, stsxlaeirs Inventors would
be even more wonderful than He whom
they portray" L" Yes, if the death of
Socrates be that of sage, the life and
death of Jesus are those of a God"
Thomas Carlyle repeatedly expresses
a similar reverence. Jesus of Naz- |
areth, " says he, "our divinest symbol. |
Higher has the human thought not yet |
reached" A symbol of quite peren-
nial, infinite character, whose significance |
will ever demand to be anew inquired /
into, and anew made manifest" DR.. |
Claiming says: The character of |
Jesus is wholly inexplicable on human
principles" Matthias Claudius, one of
the peoples poets of Germany, last CEN
tury, writes to friend " No one ever
thus loved (as Christ did), nor did any
thing SO truly great and good as the bible
tells us of Him ever enter into TIE heart
of man. 1t is a holy form, which rises
before the poor pilgrim like star in the
night, and satisfies his inDermost craving,
his most secret yearnings and hopes"
" Jesus Christ" says the exquisite gen
ius, Herder, is, in the noblest and most |
perfect sense, the realized idea OF hui 1,
manity."
No one will accuse the First Napoleon
of being either pietist or weak minded.
He strode the world, in his day, like a
Colossus, man of gigantic intellect,
however worthless and depraved in moral
sense. Conversing, one day, at st.
Helena as his custom was, about the
great men of antiquity, and comparing
himself with them, he suddenly turned
to one of his suit and asked him, g Can
you tell me who Jesus Christ was ?"
The officer owned that he had not yet |
taken much thought of such things.
Well, then" said Napoleon, 81 will
tell you" He then compared Christ /
with himself and with the heroes of an
tiquity, and showed how Jesus far sur
passed them. think l understand |
somewhat of human nature" he con-
tiDued, "and / tell you all these were |
men, and / am a man, but not one is |
| like Him; Jesus Christ was more than |
man. Alexander, Caesar, Charlemagne
and myself founded great empires; but
upon what did the creation OF our gen
ius depend? Upon force. Jesus alone
| founded his empire upon love, and to
this very day millions would die for
him /" "The gospel is no mere book"
said he at another time, but living
creature, with a vigor, a power, which
conqueTs all that oppose it. Here lies
| the book OF books upon the table touch
ing IT reverently1 do not tire of read
| ing it, and do so daily with equal pleas
ure. The soul, charmed with the beauty
of the gospel, is no longer its own Ged
possesses it entirely; He directs its
thoughts and faculties; it is His. What
/ proof of the divinity of Jesus Christ.
Yet in this absolute sovereignty He has
but one aim-the spiritual perfection of
the individual, the publication of his
conscience, his union with what is true,
the salvation of his soul. Men wonder
at the conqests of Alexander, but here
is a conqueror who draws men to'Him-
self for their highest good who unites
to Himself, incorporates into Himself,
not nation, but the whole human
race !"T-Geikie's Life and Words of
Christ.
Joy Bnngers
Some men move through life as band
of music moves down the street, finging
out pleasures on every side through the
air to every one, far and near that can
listen Some men fill the air with their