Capital journal. (Salem, Or.) 1893-1895, 1894-02-28

| "Dio' Cul SlulutSS u6pen0S so muCl
upon 1t that l consider it important an,
Christian for every man and woman t,
be as agreeable as possible. The slouch
the sloven, the man who does not car
how he looks, all such people Iacl
equipment for usefulness. A minister
who has to throw quid of tobacco ou
of his mouth before he begins to preacl
or Christians with beard untrimmed
making them to look like wild beast.
come odt of the lair-yea, unkempt,
hncombed, unwashed, disagreeable mer
or women-are hindrance to religion
more than recommendation
A sCATHING REJoINDER.
Now, my text suggests how we may,
independent of features, make ourselves
agreeable, "A mans wisdom maketh
his face to shine, and the sourness of his
face shall be sweetened. " What l say
may come too late for many. Their
countenance may by long years of hard
ness have been frozen into stolidity, OF
by long years of cruel behavior they
may have Herodized all the machinery
of expression, or by long years of avarice
they may have been Shylocked until
their face is as hard as the precious
metal they are boarding, but l am in
time to help multitudes if the Lord
will. That it is possible to overcome
disadvantages of physiognomy was in
this country nightly illustrated by one
whose life recently closed after having
served in the presidential cabinet at
Washington. By accident of fire in
childhood his face had been more pite-
ously SCARED than any human visage
that | ever saw. By hard study he
arose from being poor boy to the very
height Of the legal profession, and when
an attorney general for the United
States was needed he entered the presi-
dental cabinet. What a triumph over
destroyed human countenancel
L do not wonder that when an oppos-
ing attorney in a Philadelphia court
room cruelty referred to this personal
Benjamin f. Brewster re-
piled in these words: "When l was a
babe, was a beautiful blue eyed child.
| know this because my dear dead moth
er told me SO, but | was one day play
ing with ny sister when her clothes
took fire, and | ran to her relief and
saved her, but in doing so my clothes
took fire, and the fire was not put out
until my face was as blaCi: as the heart
Of the scoundrel who has just now re-
ferred to my Disagreement" Heroism
conquering physical disabIlities That
scholarly regular features are not neces-
sary for making powerful impression
witness Paul, who photographs himself
as in bodily presence weak" " and
George Whiteield, whose eyes were
struck with strabismus, and Alexander
Fl. Stephens, who sat with pale and sick
face in invalids chair while he thrilled
the American congress with his elo-
luence, and thousands Of invalid preach
7rs and Sabbath school teachers and
Christian workers. Aye, the most glori-
ous being the world ever saw was fore
seen by Isaiah, who described his face
bruised and gashed and scarified and
said of him, His visage was so marred,
more than any man. So you see that
the loveliest face in the universe was
Scared face.
THE BRIGHT SIDE AND THE DARK.
And now l am going to tell you of
some of the chisels that work for the
or irradiation of the hu-
man countenance. One of the sharpest
and most destructive of those chisels of
he countenance is cynicism. That
3ours the disposition and then sours the
face. 1t gives contemptuous curl to
he lip. 1t draws down the corners of
he mouth and initiates the ,nostril as
With a malodor. What David said in
taste they say in their deliberation, All
men are liars, everything is going to
ruin. All men and women are bad or
going to be. Society and the church
are on the down grade. Tell them of an
lct of benevolence, and they say he gave
hat to advertise himself. They do not
ike the present fashion Of hats for wo-
nen or of coats for men. They are OPP
losed to the administration, municipal
md state and national Somehow food
loes not taste as it used to, and they
wonder why there are no poets or ora
ors or preachers as when they were
)oys. Even Solomon, one Of the wisest
md at one time one of the worst Of
men, falls into the pessimistic mood
md cries out in the twenty-frst chapter
If Proverbs, "Who can find YirtuOus
If he had behaved himself
letter and kept in good associations, he
would not have written that interroga-
ion point implying the scarcity of good
yomanhood. Cynicism, If habit, as
is with tens of thousands of people.
writes itself all over the featuresi bence.
o many sour visages all up and down
he street, all-up and down the church
nd the world. One good way to make
he world worse is to say it is worse.
.et a depressed and foIeboding opinion
f everything take possession of you for
0 years, and you will be a sight 70 be-
old. 1t is the chastisement of God that
lhen a man allows his heart to be
ursed with cynicism his face becomes
loomed and scowled and lachrymosed
nd blasted with the same midnight.
ANGELo's RUsR,
But let Christian cheerfulness try Its
hisel upon a mans countenance. Feel