Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1885-08-21
TO EVIL.

"A boohASlA ~US1oAoA
to Do Right Implies the Power to DO
Wrong.
The more endowed a man is, the more
liable to evil he is. This is really the
answer to the foolish question some
times put: Could not God have made
evil impossible? Could He not have
made man incapable of sin? He could
have made evil impossible, but He could
not have made a mar incapable of evil.
A thing He might; evil is not possible
to a star or a vegetable. A brute He
might; sin is not possible to a horse Or
a dog. But a man! Why, the very
quality that makes him a mar is power
to sin-freedom of moral action, free
dom Of will. If l have freedom so as to
do good, l must have freedom to do
wrong. And God has SO greatly, SO
grapdly endowed me-given me some
thing like His own prerogative of free
dom, or independent will liberty to do
just what l please. A man is Gods
greatest and grandest creation, just be-
cause he is SO highly, so p%erilously en-
lowed; and the nobility of the endow-
mcnt is worth even the risk Of failure,
the risk of sin, the moral certainty that
some will abuse the great gift and
perish.
My own endowments, then, furnish
the possibility of temptation. What is
lust? Why it is the wrong desire OF a
good nature. You may find men whose
natures are phlegmatic, very torpid;
negative men, whom passion never
urges. There are timid, tepid people,
without much of soul or strength.
They never do wrong, but they never
do right in any great, heroic way. 1t
is a negative kind of goodness, very
harmless and very blameless. They
serve God without r%eproach, and feel
love to him as much as their little souls
can be kindlcd to-. But there is not
much virtue, much heroism in it. If a
man has no strong desires he can not
be tempted; but he can not therefore
claim any praise. He is pulseless, pas
sionless, safe, but ignoble. The ratio
OF passion in a man is the ratio of his
temptation: the heroic mar is the man
of strong desire, strong lust, who re-
sists and conquers it. A man who has
no desire for alcoholic liquor can not
be tempted to drunkenness; Il man Of
bold, fearless temperament can not be
tempted to cowardice; a man Of
mild OF cold nature is not tempted
to anger; a free, generous nature is
not tempted to avarice. No credit to
such for being free from those vices. 1t
may be even a debasement, an inferi-
GRITTY OF nature, not to have such pas
esions. The noble man is he who resists
when they are strong in him. The
measure OF temptation is the measure
OF passions; the more sensitive and
nervous and emotional a mans temper
amcnt-the higher, that is, the qualities
OF his manhood-the more he can be
tempted.
See, then, how temptation arises.
Desire springs up in a man, and occa-
sion for gratifying it presents itself.
The occasion may be perfectly innocent.
1t may be gold lying in the till of a
or a purse carried loosely in a
pocket, and the temptation is to steal
it. 1t may be drink at the wineseller's,
and the temptation is to drink to ex-
cess. Or the occasion may be p6r-
posely furnished; companions may So
licit and urge, the devil may suggest.
But it is within the man himself that
the desire springs up and becomes a
peril. Ii his conscience is sensitive, if
his religious feeling is strong, it will
keep the desire from becoming MASTER
ful, keep it from all unlawful indul-
gence.-Rev. Henry AAom, IN Quiver.