Dodge City times., 1886-09-09
Survival Of the Fittest and the Tri-
umph Of Christianity.

Rev. C. LcwtEer, Suncay morning, III the N. T..
Church, delivered an able scrnon, OF which the
following il a synopsis:
.'But who may abide the day OF his coming and
who shall stand when ne appcare;h9 For lie is
ike refiner's fire and ike fuller's soap.
Malachi HIS
.sWhose fan is in his hand and he will thoroughly
purge his fco: ard gather tie wheat INTO the gar
her, bat burn Up tho cha1I with Unquenchable fire.
f:at. Ii; IL
The first Of these illustrations is that of 4 refIer
of silver, passing his metal through the fire, until
he can see hls OWE image reflected in it. Christ
LOOKS to see his image reflected in his people.
The second figure is enc of cleansing.
The third, that of separa ting the good from :he
bad
There is time coming when the heart Of soce
ty will reflect the image Cf Christ. When the
Judgment CT society sitting in the light OF his
truth viii re-ccho his justice and judgment.
When the world ideal OF manhood Will be ex
cellence in moral virtues.
When impurty in literature or in character viii
be famed oct fronl the pure ait! under the Law OF
''natural selection" and "tie survival OF the
fttest'' only the pure will become the heritage of
the race.
There were many poets in Greece, but only one
Many poets in Rome, bat Virgil only survives.
Dante was the only poet The world produced for
thousand years whose Writings enter larg ;ly into
the character OF the present generation. Shake
spcare and Milton viii survive: the former on &C
count of the many sided views he presents Of hu-
man character versatility of thought and language.
The latter Oh account of the majesty OF his
thought. style, and greatness OF his theme.
Bat the Judgment OF the future will place Rob
ert Browning above them all. He may not have
the classic grace Of expression found IL Homer
and Virgil he has not the viyidness and versatility
CT Shakespeare; he has not the majestic style Of
Milton But he is by 10 means poor in either Of
these requirements, and in purity of thought he
excels them all. He seems to bring God down so
near to man and life, man up near to God that
we seem 70 live and move in his presence and rest
in his arms of love. Perfect love is exalted as the
highest virtue, and a perfect humanity is the
natural result OF perfect love toward being OF alb
solute perfections.
As I read Homer and Virgil, drink in the spr-
il Of war and revenge. rs read Browning am
iinbued with the spirit of Christ. am determined
to help humanity more, and live purer life.
When men cease to slaughter each other as beasts
in the stall are slaughtered for the market; when
they ''5cat their swords into piows shares and their
spears into pruning hooks, and learn to war
more:" wher they conqrer with love instead of
the sword, Browning will be read with delight
while Homer :nd Virgil vii! be read as q task, Or
Eo read at all. 1t will be Z sitting and cleansing
process. It.win be the Judgment OF humanity re-
fectiog the Judgment of Christ, and consigning TO
destruction az, that is impure
What is true il poetry is true. in all classes Of
literature only the best will survive This becomes
the heritage of the race who drink in their spirit
absorb their thoughts, inspired by their hopes,
an6 are lifted to- higher plane than those before
them. When see the survival of the best books.
the best Systems of education the best systems Of
religion the best blood and tie purest characters
see the triumph Of Christianity and universal
reign OF love.