Daily Republican., 1882-02-18
A HItHE8 An rHETICISN,
Sermon ON tho Subj jeet by the Rev.
ae0. y. Ksanaer.


Sermon ON the Subject by the Re
Geo. y. Kramer.
i From the Brooklyn Times, Feb .,S.
l The cozy chapel of the Church
q Blessed Hope" on Cumberland stree
Brooklyn. was thronged last evenin,
The Rev. George Il. Kramer, pastor
the Household of Faith" Whining
ton, Del, occupied the pulpit, an
preached a sermon upon "'rhe Highe
4Estheticism," taking for his text th
following verses: ,.....
And thou shalt make holy garments "a
Aaron, thy brother, for glory ID for beauty
ExOdus xviii z.
Ard let the beauty the Lord God be upo
us Psalm xc: u,
Put on thy beautiful garment, y Jerusalem
Isaiah III Il.
That familiar sentiment, "a thing 0
beauty Is joy forever" the spsake
said, was from "keat's End y mion." Ii
human nature were found wonderful
faculties, but none of these without /
high utility. AS Emerson said, ther,
never had been an inventory taken o
mans faculties; but an they stood, every
one spoke tor God. The love of thu
beautiful, which was iu the highes
sense practical thing, was among tn
wheat the Christian gathered into tn,
garner. In primary sense, all rnel
had love for the beautiful. The naked
savage in his native wilds, az he loUket
into the eternal blue stretching beyOnL
the crimson banners, certainly f,lJ a
love for that beauty which, though he
poorly understood it., YET penetrated
his inner nature.
The highest form Of the intellect was
seen in the poet who was a creator. The
artist wa. poet in 50 far as he made
the canvass speak imagination gave
him the power to build and taste the
power to select but that which he
performed was not creation. The Apol.
10, standing in all its majesty, was a
combination of the materials Of nature
which artists hau at their command,
and which was all the creation of the
Almighty. The artist had seen that
brow somewhere; he had seen that
hand somewhere. No artist could have
that height OF ideality which the poet
had. the speaker believed that of all
A mericAn poets, Elgar Allen Poe was
first tor this quality OF 1eality.
THE LOVE OF BEAUTY.
was not to be neglected. In the Bible
it was encouraged. The Lo-d was spoken
of in IL charming metaphor as finding
the child and clothing it in beauty.
And in the text again was the admoni-
ton s33n. 1t was mistake to attrib.
ute the first aesthetic principles to the
Greeks. The Hebrews had manifested
the aesthetic taste, as their writings
showed. The Word of God must be ad.
mired for its poetry and beauty by every
man of taste. Shelley, though an un-
believer, yet found delight in reading
the prophecies and songs, for he found
in them charm and a grand beauty.
Where were the green fields and "still
waters" referred to? In the Bible. And
the beautiful stream of poetry ran
through the whole book. 1t was replett
in these poetical passages. Passing
from the material beauty to the spirit
ual beauty. by which was meant
the beauty of the Christian character,
the beauty Of the great promises requir.
ed indeed ashiGher nstheticism. Chrlst's
character was poem nitself. 1t was
life of poetry and symmetry, a lite of
beauty for which the higher msthetism
onl y could have the proper appreCia
ton. Why was it that the world had
not the proper appreciation of the
beauty of Christ's life?
God had spread material beauty
round men all tie beauty OF which
the poet spoke was only the a phabe,
which led to that symphony the spirit
was TO find beyou,l. There was a want
of taste in the rejection of the Son OF
God. Heroes were made beautiful to
but shadow forth Christ, before whose
perfect loveliness all other pictures
faded away. AS this spiritual taste
grew higher meu became more like Je-
sus just in proportion as men put on
the character Of Jesus they arose, but
by slow degrees, into the higher ;esthet'
icism. The beauty of holiness was the
highest beauty. Women loved the
beautiful in dress. God recognized the
taste and had provided in the wardrobe
OF grace the most gorgeous OF garments.
God was the great artist and was 1t not
necessary to dress SO as to please the
highest taste ?. In order to please God
it was not necessary to put on velvets
il was only necessary to put on the
Lold Jesus Christ Men should learn
That the appreciation OF lovely act
was in the highest sense appreciation.
The love Of beauty in material things
must he
| GOVERNED by COMMON SENSE.
Love thing of beauty in nature and
art, but love beyond that beautiful
act, IN hcJ of herOsm. God said "Dring
a lamb without sprt"; but the Jews
sought and found him not. John the
Baptist, however, came at last and said
"BOhOld the Lamb Of GOd.' A poCI
man, shining with jesus Christ in him
had love of beauty higher than that
Of the greatest artist. People sought
the 'pOlish" of culture, but how many
sought The polish OF which the Psalm.
ist spoke? In the Bible the love OF
the Chr:stian was presented as thing
of beauty never TO pass away. What
would be the glory Of the earth when
| at the new tOuGh OF Il III III SnOulu rise
out of the chaos a "new ea'th," gl0r
ious indeed ! There would be place
| in the future age where God would
manifest His glory and that place was
the earth. What u glorious place would
the earth be when Christ came to reign
when Christ came TO reign from sea tt
sea and nations should call Him blessed
and every voice in creation should
shout "halieluiab, the Lord God Omni
potent reigneth and the desert blooms
az the rose.'
A tangible existence Of beauty was
to be the Inheritance of the human
family, the loved God. Men would
sleep, but not forever. There would
be a glorious dawn when all men would
meet to part no more on the resurr'c'
ton morn. When the resurrection took
place would that which arose be beauti.