Connecticut western news., 1891-04-22
eye sa1ve cures our blindness then we find that religion is transparent.
 It is a transparent Bible. All the

of the Bible come out - Sinai, tho mountain of the law; Pisgah, the mountain of prospect; Olivet, the mountain of instruction; Calvary, the mountain of sacrifice. All the rivers of the Bible come out-Hidekel, or the river of paradisaical beauty; Jordan, or the river of holy chrism; Cherith, or the river of prophetic supply; Nile, or the river of palaces, and the pure river of life from under the throne, clear as crystal. While reading this Bible after our eyes have been touched by grace we find it all transparent and the earth rocks, now with crucifix- ion agony and now with judgment terror, and Christ appears in some of his two hundred and fifty-six tttttes, as far as l can count them-the bread, the rock, the captain, the commander, the conqueror, the star, and on and beyond any capacity of mine to re- hearse them. Transparent reigionl
 THE BEAUTY OF RELIGION.
 The providence that seemed dark be- fore becomes pellucid. Now you find God is not trying to put you down. Now you understand why you lost that child and why you lost your property; it was to prepare you for eternal treas u1es. And why sickness came, it be ing the precursor of immortal juvenes- cence. And now you understand why they lied about you and tried to drive you hither and thither. It was to put you in the glorious company of such men as Ignatius, who when he went out to be destroyed by the lions said, II am the wheat, and the teeth of the wild beasts must first grind me before can become pure bread for Jesus Christi" the company of such men as Polycarp, who when standing in the midst of the amphitheater wait ing for the lions to come out of their cave and destroy him, and the people in the galleries jeerng and shout ing, ''The lions for Polycarp," replied, Let them come on," and then stoop ing down toward the cave where the wild beasts were roaring to get out, Let them come on." An, yes, it is persecution to put you in glorious com pany; and while there are many things that you will have to postpone to the future world for explanation, tell you that it is the whole tendency of your religion to unravel and explain and in- terpret and illumine and irradiate. Job was right. It is a glorious transparency. '"The crystal cannot equal it"
 Iremark again that religion surpasses the crystal in it's beauty. That lump of crystal is put under the magnifying glass of the crystallographer, and he sees in it indescribable beauty-snow- drift and splinters of hoar frost and corals and wreaths and stars and crowns and castellations of conspicuous beauty. The fact is that crystal is so beautiful that can think of but one thing in all the universe that is so beautiful, and that is the religion of the Bible. No wonder this Bible rep resents that religion as the daybreak, as the apple blossoms, as the glitter of q kings banquet. It is the joy of the whole earth
 IALh mOfSH Of 1d6 ChO"N.
 People talk too much about their cross and not enough about their crown. Do you know the Bible mentions cross but twenty-seven times, while it mentions crown eighty times? Ask that old man what he thinks of relig- ion. He has been a close observer. He has been culturing an @sthetic taste. He has seen the sunrises of half cent ury. He has been an early riser. He has been an admirer of cameos and corals and all kinds of beautiful things. Ask him what he thinks of religion, and he will tell you, Ut is the most beauti- full thing I ever saw" tsThe crystal cannot equal it."
 Beautiful in it's symmetry. When it presents Gods character it does not present Him as having love like great protuberance on one side of his nat ure, but makes that love in harmony with his justice-a love that will accept all those who come to Him, and a jus tice that will by no means clear the guilty. Beautiful religion in the senti ment it implants! Beautiful religion in the hope it kindlesl Beautiful relig- ion in the fact that it proposes to gar land and enthrone and emparadise an immortal spirit Solomon says it is a lily. Paul says it is crown. The Apocalypse says it is 8 fountain kissed of the sun. Ezekiel says it is a foliaged cedar. Christ says it is a bridegroom come to fetch home a bride. While Job in the text takes up whole vase of precious stone-the topaz and the sapphire and the chrysoprasus-and he takes out of this beautiful vase just one crystal, and holds it up until it gleams in the warm light of the eastern sky, and he exclaims. "The crystal cannot equal it."
 Oh, it is not stale religion, it is not a stupid religion, it is not a toothless bag. as some seem to have represented it; it is not Meg Merilies, with shriv- eled arm, come to scare the world. It is the fairest daughter of God, heiress of all his wealth. Her cheek the morn ing sky; her voice the music of the south wind her step the dance of the sea. Come and woo her. The spirit and the bride say come, and whosoever will, let him come. Do you agree with Solomon and say it is 8 lily2 Then pluck it and wear it over your heart. Do you agree with Paul and. say it is a crown? Then let this hour be your coronation. Do you agree with the Apocalypse and say it is a springing fountain2 Then come and slake the thirst of your soul. Do you believe with Ezekiel and say it is foliaged cedar2 Then come under its shadow
 Do you believe with Christ and say it