News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1891-04-23

| it WIS to prepare you for eternal treas
u2es. 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. 1t 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,
81 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
IS Polycarp, who when standing in
the midst of the amphitheateE wait
ing for the lions to come out of
their cave and destroy him, and the
people in the galleries jeering and shout
ing, 1.-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" All, 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, I 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. 1t is a glorious transparency.
1.-The crystal cannot equal it.
remark again that religion surpasses
the crystal in its 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 boar frost and
corals and wreaths and stars and
crowns and oscillations of conspicuous
beauty. The fact is that crystal is SO
beautiful that l 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
kings banquet. 1t is the joy of the
whole earth.
TALK MORE OF THE CROWN.
People talk too much about their
cross and not enough about their crown.
Do you know the Bible mentions a
cross but twenty-seveD times, while it
mentions a crown eighty times? Ask
that old man what he thinks of relig-
ion. He has been close observer.
He has been culturing an aesthetic taste.
He has seen the sunrises of a half cent
ury. He has been an early riser. He
oIr of
corals and all kinds of beautiful things.
Ask him what he thinks of religion, and |
he will tell you, cit is the most beauti-
full thing l ever saw" 1.-THE crystal
cannot equal it.
Beautiful in its symmetry. When it
Gods character it does not
present Him as having love like a great
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 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
and and enthrone and emparadise an
immortal spirit. Solomon says it is
lily. Paul says it is a crown. The
Apocalypse says it is fountain kissed
Of the sun. Ezekiel says it is a foliaged
cedar. Christ says it is bridegroom
come to fetch home a bride. While
Job in the text takes up a whole vase
af he |
sapphire and the chrysoprasus- and he
5akes out of this beautiful vase just one
crystal, and holds it up until it CLEANS
N the warm light of the eastern sky,
and he exclaims, 1.-THE crystal cannot
equal it.
Oh, it is not stale religion, it is not
stupid religion, it is not a toothIoss
nag as some seem to have represented
+; it is not Il Meg Merriies, with shriv-
led arm, come to scare the world. 1t
Il, fairest daughter of God. heiress
all his wealth. Her cheek the morn {
lg sky; her voice the music of the {
outh wind; her step the dance of the {
"a. Come and WOO her. The spirit
nd the bride say come, and whatsoever {
III, let him come. Do you agree with
0lomon and say it is a lily? Then
uck it and wear it over your heart
o you agree with Paul and say it is
crown2 Then let this hour be your
'ronation. Do you agree with the
pocalypse and say it is a springing
Then come and slake the
lirst of your soul. Do you believe
18th Ezekiel and say it is a foliaged
,dar? Then come under its shadow.
o you believe with Christ and say it
bridegroom come to fetch home a
ride? Then strike hands with your
ord the King while l pronounce you
7erlastingly one. Or if you think ,
18th Job that it is jewel, then put it
4 your hand like ring, on your neck
ke a bead, on your forehead like :
ar, while looking into the mirror of
DDS word you acknowledge ''the
.ystal cannot equal it." ;
RELIGIONS TRANSFORMATION.
Again, religion is superior to the