St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1892-01-11
Rev. w. S. Vail Interests the
UniverSaliStS With q Strik-
ing Address,
Showing the Unrest Which
Possesses the Average
Mortal.
j. w. Jaynes, Of the Christian
Scientists, Gives a Talk
on Liberty.
Sermons Which Will Repay
and Instruct the Cen
eral Reader.

IUeT6 was large aQQlenc0 at Lne
Grand opera house yesterday morning
at the usual service of the First Uni
versalist society. The service was
especially interesting from the fact that
the musical parts were rendered by
Miss Marie Stone and Eugene Cowles.
"lmperfection With Promise" was the
subject of Rev. W. S. Wallis sermon.
| Mr.. Vail began his sermon with the
words "What is man, that Thou art
mindful of him?" He said that after
| all the changes that came to this gener-
alton by the change of ideas one
! fact, the imperfection of man, re-
manned. We might explain away the
| story of Israel which accounted for HUI
man imperfection by the entrance of
| demon into the garden and the cOnse-
| Quent wreck of the world. We might
| say these were legends of an early and
| primitive age, but there are still the
| facts that the beaver makes no mistakes; :
that the swallow never improves on her
| first nest: that the hooking bird never
takes music lessons, that the harvester
| performs its work with success; but
| that man, who can count the stars and
| call them by name. who has measured
| the physical world and tells its history,
| who aspires TO immortality and perfec-
| tiOn-that this man is the one creation
! less perfect than the animal which fol-
! lows instinct, and less perfect than the
| machine that acts according to the blind
! laws of mechanism.
| Passing to our social system, we find
| the fact of human imperfection playing
! a most important part in the common
| life Of man. That innate and undying
| tendency to look for better things is ever
| present i'll the young generation, and
| ever VIII be; with it is the tendency to
! expect the perfection that comes with
a life that is able to fulfill its hopes; and
! these two facts lie at the base of all that
restless complaint Of which the world is
| full. The whole progress OF the world
| is based on the fact that man cannot be
satisfied with his achievement. You
might as we'll ask the river to run up
! hill, the summer TO freeze ice. the mock
| ing bird to be silent when the glory of
| a summer dawn in his native South
| wakes him, as TO look for satisfied man.
| Ii men could be satisfied with halt,
! then the world must Stagnate. AS we
| grow older we often feel this; but the
| coming generation is ever on the look
| out for something better. and "Excelsi-
or is the motto of the youth.
The tendency to expect perfection is
! the
FAINT OF All "a n.
| We are unreasonable as to what others
can do. We fail to realize that man is
nearly all promise. And ont Of these
two facts comes the habit OF fault-find-
ing, the common disposition 10 look for
| imperfecti0ns and the unhappy result
| OF a restless, dissatisfied condition. Nor
| can we fully appreciate what this is UNI
til we realize what habit becomes in
! life | have seen many a captain who
! sailed the deep seas to the eastward, and
! who tried to retire TO some less ardueuS
| task. But such men are seldom at home
| save on the deck of ship. A soldier
rustS without the inspiration of battle.
Men and women who speak or sing be-
fore the public are seldom satisfied.
The story of the dying hunter that
| Charlotte CuShman used to tell-the
| hunter who leaped from his bed, called
! the pack. mounted his waiting horse,
which caught the spirit OF the hour,
and rode out into the wild night-SeemS
to me to be true.
These tendencies make human life
bitter and disagreeable. We carp, we
dwell on fanits. we look for the spots,
we sour our own life, we embitter the
life around us. The habit becomes oul
| second nature. And certainly the world
is no brighter FOX our having lived III il
| If we
Reach an Extreme.
So much for general view. When
we come to the particular view Of social
| relation it is not less truth Take the
relation of friendship. There is no en-
| joyment more deeply Impressive Its
memories are like the memories OF
happy June days on bright waters; like
the memories Of loved songs, now silent
| with the singer; like noble aspirations
when the lifted soul walked
Oh the mountains. And yet
how often we are obliged to
sc the bonds we have woven sew
cred. How often friendships chain
| partSi How sad are the recollections
of pure enjoyment and the regrets we
are obliged to feel. We expected toe
much! We made an idol where we
found ali imperfect man. The idol
shattered and fell we could not be sat
isfed with the man. And when [ hear
the wedding bells. and listen to the
music of the march, and see the tri-
umphant look of the groom and the ra-
dance of the bride. how many times
am obliged to see that each has chosen
an idol and received very imperfect
human being: and | know that the
future will depend on a thousand wise
adjustments, based on the fact of
Human ImperfeetiOn.
But as we pass along our theme
widenS. Coming to the religious aupli
cation of the subject, we see in the
mind of man these tendencies l have
already limited. An ambition to per
feet things, realization of his imper
lection. and with these feeling thai
the responsibility of this condition must
fn hQ 1alo ON
the instructive beliefs of the human
mind. The ambition for the perfect
leads him ever to strive. or if not tC
feel in his heart that those who are
striving are in the right way. He con
structS theories in the childhood of the
world to explain the condition OF man
and yet preserve the goodness of the
Creator. He introduces devil, anC
makes underground pits where this
demon will carry his victims. AL
the movements of religious con
tr0verSy center around these facts
The tendency 10 seek for something
more than we have moves men to study
sift and anaiyZe. The belief in the
eternal goodness leads them to the feel
| ing of pity for an imperfect. race. Ano
the fact of progress already made, anl
Of pity combined with hope, conStantly
leads to more liberal view of religion
That is the reason we are having dis,
cussiOns today in the higher circles OF
thought. That is the reason why
People Are Saying:
'Do not lay too much stress on the mere
ism of your creed, but give us some
thing humane; make the world a little
better if you can; lift the burden OF
doubt and fear from some poor mortal
and we will bless your church." AND
the real value of a modern church, as il
seems to me, is not its ritual. not in the
magniicence of its appointments, but
in the inspiration individuals receive
that makes them little stronger to
morrow to bear the burdens or to make
| the FIGHT necessary In this hnSv world