St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1896-01-19

citation, Boston, Mass Right of duplication
granted to all If credit be given this paper }
He that doeth good is of Gods John, H.
Newspaper preaching illustrates the
progress of man. John Baptist or Bar-
nard could only reach men within
voice range. For a hearing they must
rely on anteeedert sympathy Nova
days the prophet pours his burden
straight into the ears of nations, and
for audience depends on his skill to
catch the curious eye of the journal
reader. There is no visible solidarity
in his congregation. He is as one that
commits a message to the winds or
floods. One knows not what shores
may entertain his thoughts, nor what
influence may bear them on. Such a
vocation is indeed spiritual. 1t in
wolves unlimited faith in the potency
of truth.
Consider the diversity of conditions
and motives among those that read
these words. Some of You have faith
in God, others hold the opinions of Col.
Ingersoll. Many are loyal servants of
the church, very many regard her with
Indifference CT dislike. Multitudes rest
in the orthodox view of Christ, myriads
behold him through the medium of
Remains philosophy. One of you reads
in the luxurious environment Of a pal
ace, turning to his paper out of the
ennui of over-satisfed desire. Another
may sit like a fetteTed galley slave
amidst the sQualor of slums or sweat
shops. We could hardly reach a COM
mon mind on any question of politics,
religion or social order Nevertheless,
friends, there is an absolute ground of
sympathy. 1t is the conception of the
good man. Here is an ideal that pos
sesses the race. 1 hold it up before the
polished examples of civilization, they
savages, they do 1t reverence. Living
stone was a hero in the African jungle,
only more hero in London drawing
rooms.
This IS no new idea; rather, one old
as Abraham or the myth Of Prone
theus. Yet it has undergone deVel-
opement Once the light of the good
life was local and meteoric, now it is
solar and constant. Formerly men
looked backward for it far down the
vistas Of the golden age, or onward
to the millennium. Now it has ceased
to be a miracle, and has become the
souls atmosphere. 1t has ever been
a necessity of thought to people the
scenes of earth with spirits But the
"reminiscences of the good have dis
placed the old mythologies. Now we
look everywhere, not for haunting
nymph or fairy, but for the traces of
earth's benefactors
Note again that the formative process
is inductive. Just as the artist makes
up a physical type from a thousand
10
life for composite portrait of good
ness. The splendid image rises before
us. We know 1t as we know our moth
ers. There is the luminousnesS of New
ton, the harmony of Beethoven, the
grandeur of Milton, the beauty of Ra-
phael. 1t has the uprightness Of Wash
ington, the humanity of Lincoln, the
elevation of Alfred, the compassion of
Florence Nightingale. The magnificent
frleze of the worthy passes endlessly.
Like the tabled spirit lost in space,
we cry, rs there no end?" We know
that the dynamics of recorded virtue
cannot be measured by any temporal
standard. We reflect that here in all
reason the flights of just imagination
servation. The historian bewails his
leanness. The ages are full of the
anonymous good manifested as birds
in the heart of a forest by their melo-
dy. Mightier are the mythical inf1u-
ences Of the unknown good than all
the biographies of the famous.
Recall further the conditions under
which this ideal of goodness has been
developed. Truly it has suffered a
Spartan discipline. No fiat Of the AL
mighty has sustained it, no miracle
has sanctioned it. Poverty, limitation
and martyrdom have been It's element.
It's law has been the law of the sur
vival of physical traits. In the outset
we find three rival principles; namely,
that man is made to kill and be kill
ed; that he survives who absorbs most
from life for self; and, finally, that
well doing is we'll being. The first is
dead, the second is discredited, the
third is in the ascendant.
We are now prepared for the ques-
ton: What is the origin of goodness
Our text says, HE that doeth good is
of God" How momentous the conse-
quence! The child shares the fortunes
of the parent, the career of the good is
the future of God. Say, If You win
He that doeth good is of the primor
dial vacuum the background of the
firemist." IT'S no matter of argument.
rather of simple choice Remember
that the stern judgment of fitness will
be passed here as everywhere For
ourselves, we have no doubt. We hold
the divine genealogy. The ages will
declare whether our principle is like
blind horse in bark mill, or wheth-
er. taking it's flight from the faith of