The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1893-11-01
MORAL AND RELIGIOUS.
The Worth OF the Mind.

The mind-how little is it known or
| considered! That all which man perme-
nently is-the inward being, the divine
energy, the immortal thought, the
boundess capacity, the infinite aspira.
tion-how few value this, this wonder
| full mind, for what it Is worth How
few see it--that brother mind--in
others; see it in all the forms of wretch
edness and splendor alike-though
fenced around with all the artificial dis
tinctions of society-see it through the
rags with which poverty has clothed it,
beneath the crushing burthens of life,
amid the close pressure of worldly
troubles, wants, and sorrows-see il,
and acknowledge and cheer it in that
humble lot, and feel that the nobility
of earth, that the commencing glory of
heaven, is there? Nor is this the
worst, nor the strongest view of the
case. Men do not feel the worth of
their own minds. They are very proud,
perhaps; they are proud of their pos
sessions; they are proud of their minds,
it may be, as distinguishing them; but
the intrinsic, the inward, the infinite
north of their own minds, they do not
perceive.
11OW IIldu1 u III al 10 lutIO WIN WOuIu
feel, if he were introduced into some
magnificent palace, and were led
through a succession of splendid apart
ments filed with gorgeous furniture
would feel, | say, as if he, lofty, i'm
mortal being as he is, were but an ordi-
nary thing amid the tinselled show
around him; or would feel as if be were
a more ordinary being, for the perish
ing glare of things amid which he
walked How many man, who, as he
passed along the wayside, saw the
chariot of wealth rolling by him, would
forget the intrinsic and eternal dignity
of his own mind, in a poor, degrading
envy of that vain pageant-would feel
himself TO be an humber creature, be-
cause, not in mind, but in mensuration,
he was not quite so high! And so long
as this is the case, do you believe that
men understand their own minds, that
they know what they possess within
them? How many, in fact, feel as if
that inward being, that mind, were re-
spectacle, chiefly, because their bodies
lean on silken couches, and are fed with
costly luxuries? How many respect
themselves, and look for respect from
others, in proportion as they grow more
rich, and live more splendidly, not more
wisely-and fare more sumptuously
every dayl
Surely it is not strange, while all
this is true, that men should be more
attracted by objects of sense and appe-
tite, than by miracles of wisdom and
love. And it is not strange that the
spiritual riches which man is exhorted
to seek, are represented in scripture as
"hidden treasures;" for they are
hidden in the depth of the soul-hidden,
covered up with worldly gains, and
pomps, aud vanilies. 1t is not strange
that the kingdom of heaven, that king
dom which is within, is represented as
treasure buried in field; the flow
ers bloom, and the long grass waves
there, and men pass by and say it is
beautiful; but this very beauty, this
very luXuriance, conceals the treasure.
And so it is in this life, that luxury and
show, fashion and outward beauty,
worldly pursuits and possessions, at.
tract the eyes of men, and they know
not the treasure that is hidden in every
human SOUL
Yes, the treasure-and the treasure
that is in every soul. The difference
that exists between men is not so much
in their nature, not 80 much in their
intrinsic power, as in the power Of
communication. To some it is given
to embosom and embody their thoughts.
The very glory of genius, the very rap
ture of piety, when rightly revealed, are
dffused and spread abroad, and shared
among unnnmbered minds. When
eloquence aud poetry speaks-when the
glorious arts, statuary, painting and
music-when patriotism, charity, vir-
tue-speak to us, with all their thrilling
power, do not the hearts of thousands
glow with a kindred ecstacy? Who's
here so humble, who 80 poor in thought
or in affection, as not to feel this?
Who's here SO low, so degraded, had
almost said, as not sometimes to b.
touched with the beauty of goodness?
Who's here with heart made of such
base materials as not sometimes to re-
spond, through every chord of it, to the
call of honor, patriotism, generosity,
virtue? What glorious capacity is
this! A power to commune with God
and angels! A IT election of the bright
ness of heaven-a mirror that collects
and concentrates within itself all he
moral splendors of the universal light
kindled from heaven, that is to shine
brighter and brighter foreverl
For what, then, my friends, shall we
care as we ought to care for this? What
can man bear about with him-what
office, what array, what apparel, that
shall beget such reverence as the soul
be bears with him? What circum-
stances of outward splendor can lend
such imposing dignity to any being, as
the throne of inward light and power,
where the spirit reigns forever? What
work of man shall be brought into COM
parison with this work of God? 1 will
speak of it in it's simplest character
l say thought, bare thousht-and
yet say, what is it-aud what is its
power and mystery? Breathed from the
spirit Of the Almighty; partaking of in
flute attributes; comprehending, an
alyzing, and with its own beauty cloth
ing all things; and bringing all things,
and all themes-earth, heaven, eternity