The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1893-12-03
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pleased with his special self and his owl
merits as he Is with the phenomenon tina
he thinks he IL presenting TO the world
what he believes he is passing for an'
the crowd IS taking him to be. IL is I
great pity; for by nature we are all ipor'
or less interesting; but as shams we hr'
not at all so.
God has given 10 all Of us general fami'
~ features and characteristics, but &c
each one OF us his own peculiariues that
mark Him as alone in the universe. Ana
IL Is a sin against nature and a dishonof
20 our Creator to distort, 70 clip. TO dwarf.
10 misrepregent. to dscredit the body and
soul that constitute our identity. 1t Is
a sacriIege. for we are divine
Self-respect and an honest and honora-
bic appreciation Of our special selves, as
we are. H. the beginning of life and char
actor And "the glorious privilege OF be-
! ing Independent" rests on the principle Of
being true to ourselves. The great poet
| pa, II handsomely:
Thou Of Independent mind,
Virtue alone who dost revere,
Thine own reproach alone dost fear,
Approach this shrine. and worship here.
But how large a portion OF us, whether
we take our talents as one or many. are
dissatisfied with them. will not let them
grow and mature in a natural reasonable
way as they want to, but tight-lace
them, crimp them cramp them, paint
them. teach them ridiculous and ungrace-
ful gaiis and motions. and habits, and
ways OF doing things.-indeed so utterly
alter and substitute the original man
that he becomes utterly unrecognizable.-
ca course this is equally applicable to
him and her. And it is applicable 10 the
moral, the intellectual. the spiritual the
physical man. is there any greater mon
strosity on earth than a thoroughbred
dude or mantua-made society woman Is
there "a spark Of nature 10 be found in
them except their native and original sin
and common appetites?
These are the worst cases. But crimes
and misdemaanor5 against nature and
freedom Of every degree are committed
wherever society exists. And the most
wonderful and the most beautiful being 70
be found is the man or woman that has
grown a natural growth, like the lilies.
and reached a maturity simply, and as
God made them to be-
If the only offence were in Disgusting
and substituting and disappearing our
selyes-in playing a part-and passing our
selves of for what we are not,-that
would be bad enough;-a made-up man
has hard time to cover his defects.
But the worst is when even in our food
we don't follow our instincts, or crafty
our natural cravings. The devil of sav-
cry knows how to vitiate our palates and
peryert our tastes, 50 that the flavor Of
purity, and health, and buoyancy, and the
delight of reireshment is lost or discredit-
ed, and the headquarters of our physical
being. our stomach, is abandoned TO the
enemy; we have no stomach of our own.
And what ghosts and substitutes and
apologies for manhood are the results!
And what a source Of woe and sorrow can
stomach become that is debauched with
condiments and stews and vile, though
costly, compounds! What spirits
rise from It to haunt the brain
and madden the heart These
vices Of appetite come of discredit-
Ing our honest instructive longings. and
following the fashion, running with the
rabble Of self-indulgent. Who will dare to
defend a simple diet? And yet that IS
the absolute condition of health and
strength. Nature has no pets but those
that obey her
our highest largest liberty is TO live as
God made us to live. The preservation of
our individuality. the restoration of the
normal ideal man. is the great business of
life. The parody Of independence is the
playing the independent the original, the
eccentric, the despiser Of the decencies
and prophecies Of life; precisely as anar-
chy is the horrible trayesty of freedom.
1t is, indeed the first principle of true
growth TO know ourselves, TO respect,
honor and cultivate our natural cravings
and adaptations, and not be ashamed of
them, but make the most Of them, be
what we are, and make an honorable
turnout Of our individualities. The ef-
fort to overdo or substitute our real ma
lures only makes fools and burlesques of
us. We viii very surely be only apologies
and limitations and veritable frauds, 80
long as we are unwilling TO take our
chances with what God has given us as
our own, and dscredit and dishonor His
app0intn ents. our highest perfection,
our greatest glory, and our best happl-
ness is IN the deve opment Of ourselves.
We are made after a divine model, and
Of that alone may v'e be images and imi-
tations. There is but one solution of the
great problem of human existence: This
is life eternal, to know Thee. the only
true God and Jesus Christ, whom Thou
hast chosen. out of this divine germ of
knowledge alone true manhood springs
and expands towards the infinite.
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WE CANNOT DODGE THE ISSUE.
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