, 1888-12-20
A CHRISTMAS SERMON.
by ROBERT STEVENSON.

BY the time this paper appears, shall
have been talking for twelve months; and
it is thought should take my leave in a
formal aud seasonable manner. Valedic.
tory eloquence Is rare. Even deathbed
savings have not often hit the mark of
the occasion; and perhaps there are but
three that may be pro6tably cited.
Charles il, wit and sceptic, IL man whose
life lad been one long lesson IN human in.
crednlity, an easy-going comrade, n
Hlanpuvring king-rememuered and EN-.
bodied all his wit and scepticism along
with more than his usual good humor in
the famous 81 am afraid, gentlemen, | am
an unconsciouable time a-dying." Mar.
Gus Aurelius in that last passage did not
forget that he was Caesar: "Vale vobis
dico, vos precedens." And there is yet
another passing-word: Father. forgive
them, for they know not what they do"
The attitude and the words of Charles II.
are what best became humanity. An un-
sonscionable time a.dying-there is the
picture (''l am afraid. gentlemen'O of
your life ana of mine. The sands run out,
puted," and the days go by and when the
last of these finds us. we have been a long
time dying, and what elseP The very
length is something. If we reach that hour
OF separation undishonored; and to have
lived ut all is doubtless lin the soldierly
expression) to have served. There is a
tale in Tacitus of how the veterans mutt
MED in the German wilderness; of how
they mobbed Germanicns, clamoring to go
home; and OF how. seizinR their generals
hand, these old, war-worn exiles passed
his finger along their toothless gums.
Stunt ldcrymp rerum: this was the most
eloquent of the songs of Simeon. And
when a man has nved to fair age. he
bears his marks of service. He may have
never been remarked upon the breach at
the head of the army; at least he shall
nave lost his teeth on the camp bread.
The idealism of serious people in this
age of ours Is of noble character. II
never seems to them that they have served
enough they have Al fine impatience OF
their virtues. 1t were perhaps more mod
est TO be singly thankful that we are no
worse. IL is not only our enemies, those
desperate characters--it is we ourselves
who know not what we do;--thence
springs the glimmering hope that
think: that to scramble through this ran
dom business with hands, reasonably clean,
to have played the part of man or woman
with some reasonable fullness, to have
often resisted the diabolic, and ut the end
to be still resisting 1t, is for the poor
human soldier to have done right we'll
To ask to see some print of our endeavor
is but n transcendental way of asking for
reward; and what we take to be contempt
of self is only greed of hire.
And again. if we require 30 much of
ourselves shall we not require much OF
others? If we do not genially judge our
own deficiencies, is it not to be feared we
shall be very stern to the trespasses of
others? Aud he who docking back upon
his own life) can see no more than that he
has been unconscionably long a.dying. will
he not be tempted to think his neighbor
Internationally long of getting hanged?
1t is probable that nearly all who think of
conduct at all think of it too much; it ia
certain we shall think too much of sin.
We are not damned for doing wrong,
but for not doing right; Christ would
never hear OF negative morality:
thou shalt was ever his word,
with which he superseded thou shalt
not. To make our idea OF morality
centre on forbidden acts is to defie the
Imagination and to introduce into our
judgments of our fello w-men secret ele-
ment of gusto. IL a thing is wrong for
us, we should not dwell upon the thought
OF it,: or we shall soon dwell upon il
with inverted pleasure. Ii We cannot
drive it from our minds--one thing of
two. Either our creed is in the wrong
and we must more indulgently remodel
IL; or else, IL our morality be in the the
TlRut, We hro crltnludl iunhJlCS anu suOulu
place our persons in restraint A mark
of such unwhoesomely divided minds is
the passion for interference with others
the Fox without the Tail was of this breed
but had lit his biographer is to be trusted }
certain antique civiity now out Of date
A man may have flaw, u weakness, that
units him for the duties OF life, that spoils
his temper, that threatens his integrity
or that betrays him into cruelty. 1t has
to be conquered; but it must never be suf-
fered TO engross his thoughts. The true du.
ties lie all upon the farther side, and must
be attended TO with whole mind so soon
~ this preliminary clearing Of the decks
has been effected. In order that he may
be kind and honest. it may be needful
he should become q total abstainer; let
him become 30 then. and the next dny
let him forget the circumstance. Try
ing to be kind and honest will require all
his thoughts; mortified appetite is never
wise companion; in so far as he has had
to mortify an appetite, he will still be the
worse man; and of such an one great
deal of chaerfulness will be required in
Judging life. and a great of humility in
judging others.
It may be argued again chat dis, atisfac.
tion with our life's endeavor springs in
some degree from dullness. We require
higher tasks, because we do not recognize
the height Of those we have. Trying "a
be kinc and honest seems an affair toe
simple and too inconsequential for gentle
men Of our heroic mould; we had rather