The Daily times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1886-1889, 1889-12-22
TIE MYSTERY or HUMANfTY.
BYR. w.IowRlE, d. D.

rls- The supernatural IS a fact is an
.l.,..t universal admission. In a null
r.sle Of ways has man endeavored to
.,,r,.. his realization Of it. Roman
.,l Greek ancient and modern, sa-
,..l and profane, have struggled to
Mace she great fact attractively and in
.,rarigely before the eye, the heart
aud the conscience of mankind.
Don Juan. Faust and Hamlet. the
LAGOON. and nearly all the marbles OF
aonauity. and even the dramas aud
,,.. Of early eras are all more or less
successful presentations Of this relation
Of man 10 the unseen world to which,
p, l,ss than TO the seen, he belongs.
Even superstition is an unconscious re-
cayni,ion Of it, and fables, folk lore
and mythology are tributes 10 it.
Eness hero, is also type; aud Ulysses.
historic. is. at the same time, a study-in
man. az man is related to himself, a
tvpicai character. the effort Of Homer,
blind physically. but not spiritually,
% depict. DO his famous hero. the race
of man wrestling against mighty odds,
aatag1nizai but not baflled. the natural
and the supernatural engaged in life
long contest. human viii and The will
Of the gods. O.. of the Unconditional,
i'm continual clmbat-the interim doubt,
difficulty aud frequent failure; the flu
turs. fne end and the object Icing
peace and rest. success at the last. the
"superuatural' triumph over the
merely natural
10 is thus that understand the Eneid
and the Odyssey. This is the meaning,
too. which We must accord to Roman
and Greek mythology, or we make
these wlsest. most acute and most ele-
CANT nations mere nations of idiots I.
Eneas is the pious Roman which means
any good citizen, Ulysses. the valiant
Greek-anv heroic effort towards a
high end. Faust. the intellectual side
of humanity. Don Juan. the sensual
side Of general human character: Ham
le,. the race frantic almost to insanity
under the impulse Of superuaiural bid
ding and guidance; all. emboiiments
Of Divine truth, That above man is a
Power whose word is law. aud which,
willingly or unwillingly, we must
finally obey.
The effort Of the heather TO reconcile
the natural ard the super natural by
deifyiog aud enthroning human feeling
was pitilul. but it was struggle to-
wards tho light. Scierce gives the
effort up without undertaking IT, Ag-
Mysticism folds the hands in mute de-
spair Only is the Christian expiana-
ton the arch that bridges the chasm.
Mans will is cOntradic:ed by higher.
Imperfect humanity cannot accept the
contradiction; now comes One, a perfect
mau. aud diviueiy human, who fully
obeys The Jaw Of the higher world, the
Will Of the Father of Us all. and be-
comes example, sacrifice, and Savior
II all the struggling and suffering of
the race.
Al the same time. while Virgil, Ho-
mer. Goethe. Sophocles and Shakes
psare, uyhologist and sculptor fail,
they cannot b. said to wholly fail in
setting before us the relations Of time
aud eternity, Of man ard his Maker.
IL OR, sios and hamlet. IN Faust and
Palinuris even, are Eli itual ideas.
Painter. sculptor and poet have all had
their iicdl. and higher purpose than
merely to please the eye on hailer their
countIymen. Religion Is humanity
writ large-human needs in italics;
Christianity divine hand writing up
on the walls of lime; bat long before
the advent OF the Son Of Man, though
10 rude and coarse characters. might
be read m the Electra, on canvass and
IN stone, along the Nile and the Tber,
a scripture Of mans ircessant control
bv a euDerpal mower