Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1894-10-02
OUR IMMORTAL SOUL.
Rev. Dr.. Fair breaches 4 Beautiful Ser.
mon on It's Endless Existence.
CONDITIONS OF THE PERFECT LIFE.
Hogc's Lcesons from Christ's Anoint-
ment--Tablet to Mr.. Sieight.

Rev. DR.. James Y. Fair, pastor OF the
Crace-Street Presbyterian church. preach
cd Sunday night 20 n large congregation
on the Immortality of the soul. His text
he took from Romans H.. z. In his intro
dccuon, Dr. Fair said that when asked
what no thought the most expressive word
IN the English language. Edgar Allan
Poe had replied, Immortality" In this
belief the speaker fully concurred. In
characterizing the word DR.. Fair said
II referred 10 the animated soul In
disembodied state, retaining its personal
identity. Although at death. he con-
tinued. mans body liz vastly changed
his being in another world remembers
its existence here and retains its per-
sonaIity. There is no limit 10 Immortality.
1t IS absolute dcathlessness, an inability
10 die. something breathed into US by
God. It is indestructible; tho soul lives
because 1t cannot die.
The angels, tho preacher said, charac-
tcr;ze death as the birth OF Immortality.
Death, he asserted, has no power over
us; we are exempt from its sway. The
existence OF the belief In the Immortality
OF the soul In every quarter OF the globe,
whether civilized or not, the minister
claimed. proved that 1t was an, incon-
trovertible fact: a belief innate in all
mankind; an instinct.
HIGHEST OF MONUMENTS.
In beautiful language he then pictpref
Immortality as monument towering
above all others. reared in different lands,
by different hands: inscribed with poly
glot and Ineligible characters and able
20 withstand fire and all other ravages.
That 1t stood on some basis of immutablc
fact was an argument which. he claimed,
could not be refuted. Its explanation. he
said Is that il Is truth OF God, whose
existence no sOphistry can deny. The i'm
mortality OF his soul is the only thing
that diferentiates man from the beast,
and dissemminates him with God.
Is II possible" DR. Fair asked that
the soul can play its part in the brief
space which we call life? We see IL
gradually drawing In grace. gradu-
ually increasing in knowledge. Can
we believe that at death its possibilities
terminate? Scientists may tell us that we
are only an advanced stage Of animal,
and that the missing link has been found.
Let them teach what they Will l know
that am no beast. ! know ! will not die.
l know l cannot die. Death may claim
the earthly body. but the soul claims
kinship with God"
The Bible. the minister said, was adj
dressed to man as an immortal being
whose home was not in this world.
NO END TO LIFE.
Continuing, ne said: Ten million years
hence. when this world Will have passed
away you and l will be in existence. and
will be sensible. moving creatures. know
inc our state and remembering our career
here. We will tc either In Heaven or He'll.
Those feet OF yours will some day tread
the stars. Then. what matters n little
physical pain? What is a little dsap
pointment? We are immortal. Don't you
know that you will not die. that you can
not die? so much depends on your actions
IN this world. In the twinkling of an eye
you may be transplanted elsewhere
in closing. the minister related n touch
ing tragedy which occurred IN New York
some days ago, when little boy. being
held from death only by his brothers
grasp. gradually slipped away, and was
dashed TO pieces on the stones below the
roof from which he hung This story he
made applicable to his auditors. YOU"
~ sad. ARE hanging by a slender grasp.
Eternity IS about you. You may make it
what you Will"
Essentials of the Perfect Life.
The Unitarian services at Belvidere
Hall Sunday morning were of more than
usual interest. At their conclusion Il
treasurer was elected to fill the unex-
pired term Of Mr. Wilson. who will IN
future reside in New York, and DR.. Will
liams was chosen TO fill the position.
The subject of Rev. Mr.. Seaton's ser
mon was "The Essential Conditions of
Perfect Life" and the text was John
y. 70; - am come that they might have
lie. and have il more abundanty."
The quest Of the physicist to find the
iource Of life has, up to the present day"
,aid the speaker. been a futile one. He
aas traced the beginning of all animal
and vegetable substance to the cell. but
lust how this life originates 1t is i'm
possible for him to say. Many theories
IF the origin of life have held possession
Of mans mind: the oldest Of these is
probably the one which regards life as
extra physcal-L e.. derived from
source outside of matter. And the Lord
God formed man out Of the dust Of the
earth and breathed into his nostrils the
breath OF life, and man became living
pul,' probably expresses pretty exactly
he primitive idea Of the origin of life.
Sublime as is this thought of the sudden
manifestation of NE through the power
Of an omnipOtent Jehovah. we have to
ask ourselves: is this true? Is life to-
lay. and was 1t in It's origin. without the
world, or within the w0rld| We are
coming more and more with each year
of Investigation to look for the origin of
ufe within the world. instead Of outside
of Il. We have to-day. as Lowell ex-
presses it, n world in which every clod
feels n stir of life
"A something within II which reaches
and towers.
And climbs to soul In grass and flow
erS'
LIFE IN THE UNIVERSE.
life Is IN the universe. Nothing can
come out of the cosmos that is not al
ready In the cosmos. The conditions or
perfect life are ever present with u.s.
not above us and beyond our reach. We
need not depend upon God millions OF
miles removed from us to miraculously,
manifest Himself TO US to give us this
gift; but. as Patrick Henry said of In
dependence we have but to reach forth
to il, and IL Is ours.
'If Jesus had mission on earth at all,
IL was TO bring this new light to man.
In him was life, and the life was the
light of men Nearly two thousand
years have passed away since the soil
tary voice Of Jesus was heard In the
Palestine country proclaiming this di-
viner life. and yet this call has not yet
died away. PealinS forth full and strong
ike the tone OF some old liberty-bell, the
sound OF that call has reached the ears
OF men. and the horizon Of their lives
has become as broad as the needs OF man.
II life be universal in its existence, TO at
tain to perfect life we must put ourselves
IN harmony with the laws OF the uni
verse If life manlfests itself more freely
under certain conditions than under
others, those favorable conditions
should be complied with. We have SAID
that life is in the universe This is.
however. no pantheistc universe. Life
in the universe is but realizing OF that
full and complete life of the Infinite.
That Infinite Christ called His Father
and our Father. This fulness Of life In
God is the source OF our moral and
spiritual power.
GOD THE SPIRITUAL UNIVERSE.
God IS the moral and spiritual life OF
the universe a mind filed and flooded
with this life, which comes from God,
can never be wholly commonplace
Such mind widens. and widens It's
definition of life until II embraces the
universe. The old hymn says;
"Theres Is a Wilderness in Gods mercy.
Like the Wilderness OF the sea-"