, 1886-02-14

Foot
copyrighted by W. t. Lopez. is6l
Copyrighted. $50
NEW York, Feb. IN n man has n face
that can't smilc.n said Henry Ward Beecher
this morning, 'ho ought not to be blamed
for it any more than he ought TO DO blamed
for n club foot or any other deformity. The
mans face is very much against him that
can't smile, and smile very easily" Mr..
Beecher was preaching on the joyfulness OF
religion. His text was: Let us, who nre OF
the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate
OF faith and love, and for an helmet the hope
OF salvation Thessalonians. v, 8.
propose TO speak, he began, on tho sub
ject OF the lighter and higher qualities of the
mind, as characteristic OF religion. Those
qualities which hither. o have been most
suspected, and about which people most
have been cautious, are, in my Judgment,
far nearer to the true typo than those more
sombre, and, as they are supposed 10 10.
more solid, qualities that have been on
Joined. For | don't think that the Christian
church to this hour yet has struck tho true
chord OF Christianity. as it is strung in tho
New Testament The poison of asccticism
yet rankles in the blood OF religion, and We
shall never have it, generally, in its full
fragr ance and beauty until we have learned
10 cast out. by n divine oxorcism, the devil
Of ascoticism.
Let MS, who nre Of tho day That's rs-
diant at the start "Be sober, putting on
the breastplate OF faith, and for an helmet.
the hope OF salvation" The text shows
clearly what Is true generally OF tho New
Testament that ''sobrioty,' - or the oxhorta-
ton to mon TO "bo sober,n is not what we
ordinarily understand by sobriety-namely,
gravity; a kind of unsmiling docorum-
Z,Irt.tv IL meant fn the Naxv T.ufuv..nf
generally speaking, the absence Of drunken
ness. We arc TO be in n state OF exhilaration,
not 10y reason OF wine or strong drink, but
IN tho possession Of all our faculties.
The distinctively Christian states Of mind
are faith, hope, love. And these arc all of
them light hearted, gay, joysome. Faith
includes the whole scope OF Imagination In
every form OF elevation. That form OF i'm
ngination which wc call faith is a free and
Joyous mood. More absolute freedom Is in
II, perhaps, than in any other OF tho minds
faculties. We are not tied up 10 facts by
the Imagination. We can mako our facts.
We can form a nature OF our own schem-
ing. Imagination recreates the world for
the time being. 1t is the escape from the
bondage Of matter.
Anything may DO perverted, and so may
be faith. the highest and holiest form OF
imagination. Yet, essentially, 1t is lumin-
Gus; it relieves the soul from narrow limits
and gives it wings of ether. IL can plunge
into midnight, but its tendency is TO rise
with tho sun and carry perpetual daylight.
Then comes hope-'For an helmet, the
hope OF salvation" As n warrior protected
his head by his helmet, so hope, ms n part of
a Christians armor. wards off every blow.
and is, as It were, the antithesls OF disaster.
Hope is a joyous realization of things yet
10 be. 1t is tho prophet OF success, per
petually. You cannot conceive of any
dolorous tone In hope. 1t works both ways
to ward off Evil and to secure good. 1t is
that rose color OF the soul which bathes the
mountains before the sun rises, and casts
bnck its roseate hue when the sun has set
1t Is the life OF a struggling world We are
saved by hope
The prisoner sees release II he ave hope,
the patient health, the bankrupt recovery.
While the Imagination wings mon in every
direction, hope carries the cheer OF assured
success, and is joy itself.
Love Is that mood celebrated in the I'M
mortal thirteenth chapter OF l Corinthians,
IA hymn which some great composer will yet
sot TO undylng strains. Then, instead OF
death, Judgment. doom, fear, remorse, hor-
ror. tho atmosphere will be filed with a
glorious summer OF sound, with echoing joys,
as spring is full of singing birds
The great element of life ms laid down by
Christianity is love, and on the one side
faith is the wing, and on the other side hope
love, the body, Is tho greatest, and the threo
are typical OF the true Christian disposition,
and there is not n streak OF sadness in them
not n cloudlct in tho horizon of these quail
ties Thoy have not laid upon them tho bur
den that reason has; they are not oven con-
demnatory, ms the conscience is; they are an
tagonistic TO fear; they carry the soul up
into the highest realm OF gaiety md all
sportiveuess and happiness 1t is their
nature, and also their duty. according 10 tho
apostle.
The New Testament idea of piety is joy
BUSINESS, freedom; all those variable, evanes-
cent aud opalcsque qualities which spring
from the Imagination. There is nothing
further from the inner disposition OF Chris
tianity than mntter-ot- fact ism. Christian
ity is not pragmatical. IL is practical, but
not prngmatical
l don't moan merely that Christianity
permits a man to be joyful, hopeful and i'm
nginative. l declare that that is adulter-
ntsd Christianity that don't make those
qualities predominant. IL admits Of other
aud lower qualities as we'll, but these are the
characteristic elemeuts. A mnu c,ut live in
a mine, but sunlight and surface life are
AlHAuh ll tue iNft a lAAh fAA hull0N
undnr "A conscience. but the gnyer, lighter
and more joyous qualities ero the normal
Christian elements
Tho nscetic clement has sprung from a
misconception OF the language OF Christ,
aud, 10 a degrce, OF hin APOSTLE, though
they themselves were not misled by IT, We
have much said about repentance, self-
lcnial, selt-sacri1ce aud cross Bearing. \
misleading theology comes down o. ms from
the me1iHval schools whore the knowledge
Of human life was little, whore the philoso.
ply WINS corrupt There tho theory
which has underlaid theology took ~
origin. venomous theory, deadly theory.
No have received an impression from those
sources that TO be n Christian involved "A
vast amount OF suffering, and that to keep
him from running away he must wear
chains, and DO limited, and dony himself;
that il won't do 10 be too happy tho path Is
narrow anil straight, aud men must walk Ia
il exactly, or lac viii run tho risk OF d,strur.
ton
Now, when Christ pointed out such quail
tio4 He lid It rs medicine You might ms
VOL ~ 10 a cook shop and inquire for strych-
nine and quinine, because they arr necessary
T. the hospital You might "a well
Introduce surgery into your nurseries
AS n means Of training your children, as 70
give these qualities OF self-denial, pain
bearing aud burdonsomens,s tho essential
aud characteristic qualities of Christian ex.
lerionce
Every Christian experiences them, be
eau o now, rs then. tho gospel comes 10 msu
WHEN in a di-located condition, perverted
already by s~cln-hnoss; already in bondag,
10 The world in It's ignoninious quail
t4es and the first stop is a step OF
recovery. to- hiring the man into q
miraculous Escape.
WV. Reed, druggist, of Winchester.
| Inl writes. ,.lnn Of my nl1alnnnnra