The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1894-02-04
o aellrhtful ratIsfactIon. no cOnsclOus

no delightful satisfaction, no Conscious
helplessness. no faith in God. o, what d
dreary waste is this An unproducuNe
and worthless desert OF neutral salts me
warm sun OF prosperity and glare OF pie"-
~ nips and henumbs and Grams, IN the
bud and opening. all appetites ana &c
sircs and cravings ere they come 10 hsnl
and life. All these germs Of manhood anu
womanhood are petted TO death In their
| babyhood. and who wonders that me-
under such circumstances. should become
| only disgust \ parched land and unin-
habited. Or else natural tastes ard appe-
| tites giving place TO only live vices, the
| cultivated garden becomes a jungle.
The taste for tragedies. either on or Off
the stage. is like that for highly seasoned
dishes we love 10 be excited, aroused,
stimulated: we love too to learn the les
sons of other peoples troubles as well
as to be comforted by contrast. We know
the uses Of adversely and we like to
enjoy them at the expense OF others. II
is a pleasant thing 10 read romances. and
Identify ourselves with the suffering he
roes; it is a good thing TO read the book
of martyrs and share their tortures In
imagination. All these things relieve the
dulnoss OF life and give it a SORT OF
seasoning. They help, maybe. and give
a sort of habit to our thoughts. But read
ings and imaginations don't make virtues.
Sentmentalizing does rot make devotion.
Thinking and dreaming can't make man
hood. Only real, actual efforts, works.
experiences, endurances, fierce dangers
faced, heavy burdens borne. ardent hopes
realized or disappointed, pains endured.
and actual faith in the unseen. overcorn-
ing all the discomforts Of the present.
makes real manhood.
All that is true, and yet the soldier
must be prepared before the actual battle
occurs, and the trials wilfully endured.
in peace, must come the nearest to the
actual hardships and dangers OF war. And
so he who aspires 10 manly, useful.
and honorable life must make seif-deniai
and severe honest toll thing Of habit,
that, as a good soldier, he may endure
hardness and know how to triumph. not
only over the trials of life, but habitually
to make virtue and loyalty to the Almigh-
~ his supreme and governing motives.
1t is thoughts like these that give dig
nifty 10 ecclesiastical seasons of fasting
and discipline. If they are mere rests
from dissipation they are that much gain.
That's all. il they are unwilling, hardly
borne abstinence, and hated tasks, they
may do more harm than good. They may
quicken the appetite, and strengthen the
desire 10 return 10 greater indul-
gence. But If they arc seasons
for tho special cultivation and ex-
ercise OF self-cCntrol. Of temper
ance patience devotion and high Christian
graces, and II fasts and notifications and
such discipline are p1cticed and endured
for the sake OF higher attainments of
virtue and greater loyalty 10 the
Almighty, then they are virtues season
indeed. And then they help not only to
solve the problem OF LIE and prepare us
lifes great business, whose end is our
publication and eXaltation. The Captain
of our salvation was made perfect through
suffering, and it is enough that the
disciple be as his master and the servant
as his Lord.