The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1897-05-17

his text from Heb. 6-1. Let us go on
unto perfection. and spoke in substance
as follows:
Yesterday was the eighth anniversary
of the organization of the E3worth
league 1t is therefore a fitting time to
speak of the spirit. the ideals and the
activities of this splendid young people
society. 1t is not my intention 10 enter
uDon a eulogy of its past achievements,
but rather to call attention TO ITS noble
but to a great extent unreallzed Ideals.
An ideal is q standard of excellence
| that rears itself in the soul and demands
acceptance and realization. 1t IS the
perfect of its kind, and being sucn, !,
cannot of course. in very fact, be attained
! in this life. It's function is to lure us
onward; to make US dissatisfied with any
thing short of the highest; and to assure
where at last the base. the partial, ana
| the ignoble shall be touched with glory
and be wrought into the perfect web OF
being. Our worthiest ideals ever elude us
! in this life: as we pursue they go before;
as we grow they grow; when we reach
| the place where our ideal seemed 10 rest,
we find like the child that endeaYors 10
approach the rainbow, that II IS as 1ar
away as ever. The great and gifted OF
the earth in this regard snare the unrest
and the disappointment of the weak and
! the ignorant. What, TO us, seems the
most perfect work of genius, 10 its author
appears broken, inadequate or Indifferent.
! If | should offer a criticism upon the
work of the Epworth leSgue-and pre-
sumo no one could criticise it with better
grace than myself | have been an
active member of the organization almost
| from its beginning should say that II
| had laid too much stress upon enthu-
J siaSm, methods and visible results ana 100
| little upon the inner and hidden phases
of character building. Its watchword mas
! frequently seemed to me to be Noise
and Numbers In estimating any Fabric
or structure there are two things to be
considered-caliber and fiber, and usually
we Law more stress upon the latter than
upon the former. Size does not necessar-
| lily determine the worth of anything II
! is the curse of our thoroughly material
| istic age and country that dimensions are
looked upon as omnipotent A solder is
no better, but a lite the worse for being
large; his endurance Is not equal to that
| of his smaller cOmrade: he eats more,
and what is worse he exposes a larger
surface to the bullets of the enemy: II
we want the purest water we diSUl II;
if we want the most intense power OF the
sun, We focus the sunlight with tense;
| if we want the best metal we reduce and
refine it. 1t is evident that there is z
vast difference between quantity and
quality, and no place is this more APP
parent than in religious matters. The
| person that makes the most extraVagant
professions, is frequently the one whose
/ practice is very mild and intermittent
/ Emotion, noise and fervor are not In
/ fallible proofs of Diety. The report of a
| blank cartridge is as loud as that of one
d
tional element of religion is not to be
! despised; but ii is not an essential OF
/ piety. and must under no consideration
be insisted upon as test of one spirit
ual condition. Now il appears to me that
/ what the Epworth league desires is to
develope men of finer fiber. and women of
plish this the ideal element must enter
more largely into our plans and efforts
for the future. We should renounce the
materialistic standards of the world and
! ms raafr n of
us: we should exalt principle above rules.
and compel the letter to give place TO the
spirit. and above. all we should at all
times keep Christ before us as the perfect
model at the same time that he IS being
formed within us. as our hope of glory.
There are four ideals that would place
before the Epworth league today, to
guide them in the years to come.
l. Intellectually. 1t is one of the great
blessings of life that education is not a
requisite TO salvation. The simplest child
and the most unlearned man can COM
mune with God, and realize the joys of
saving grace. But Notwithstanding this
the fact still remains that intelligence is
mans browning glory. 1t must be re-
membered that we are now dealing with
the ideals that the Epworth league places
before its young people. We are not to
take into consideration now what we
are. or how little we may have and still
not forfeit our place among intelligent
beings. We are considering rather what
we ought to be, and what II is our duty
as Eoworthians to strive to be. For a
young person in our day to neglect the
training of his intellectual powers is a
misfortune if not a. disgrace This could
not be said of our fathers and mothers
Many of them had neither encouragement
nor opportunity to secure education. But
we live in a glorious era. Ii is possible
for ell of us to secure a good education,
and il is the privilege of many of us
to excel in intellectual training. The
day has passed forever when ignorance
might be considered a creditable condi-
ton. The unlettered man may be honored
for his life and character, but in our
day. illiteracy and ignorance are no
longer paraded as virtues.
1t IS a mistake to view intellectual
power as antagonistic to piety and spirit
ual perception. In fact there is no hard
and fast distinction between the various
functions of the soul The soul is unit
1t IS the same being that thinks feels.
and wills: and it is only as the intellectual
the emotional and the voiitional are ex-
ercised tremendously and brought to
symmetrical development that the highest
truth is attained-whether that truth
manifest itself in the moral, the religious
or the intellectual realm. II is a manifest
duty to cultivate our intellectual faculties
Shall we remain in doubt about truths
which we might render clear as day
by = little intellectual toll? Shall we
acknowledge that we are unable to give
intellectual account of ourselves? | would
not exalt reason at the expense of senti-
ment and yolition. 1t has in time past
been arrogant and unruly. and must never
again be allowed TO lord it over the other
activities OF the soul. But on the other
hand | certainly would not disregard its
claims or treat it with contempt As
Christians it should be our purpose to in
woke every power that we possess in or
der that We may impress the world with
the worth. the beauty, and the dignity CT
the life which we represent. AS members
of the EDworth league, then. we need a
more intense love of truth; we need
stronger intellectual grip upon the truth
which we possess. and we need a more
generous and tolerant view of the truth
that is held by other honest men.
2. Conduct. BY conduct / mean every
thing that is included in the words. man
ners and morals or the words etiquette
and ethics moments thought will
convince US that etiquette and ethics are
rooted in the same principle. Rude and
gross manners spring from a selfish. if
not an evil breast. 1t is true that EVIL
men can simulate the most gracious and
prompted by a kind heA. If l were
asked to point out the ideal gentleman of
history 1 should refer to Christ. The
reason that | so much admire the char
acters of John Halifax, Gentleman. and
Sir William Wallace. and James Pussell
Lowell and General Robert Lee and
President Garfield. and Mr.. Gladstone. and
President Mckinley and Mr.. Bryan. is be-
cause they reflect in greater or less de-
gree the gentility that was characteristic
of Christ At the very least Christians
must be genteel. I hold that no young
person has made very much progress in
religious growth until he has manifested
Il refined and genteel spirit in his rela-
tons TO those about him. | do not SIM
pose that young man of rude habit VIII
become perfect in his manner a week
after his conversion: but the fact of his
conversion ought TO make such differ
ence IN the spirit of his conduct that
no one would question his inherent gem
tility- ] am panied at the coarseness that
is manifested by many of the leaders in
the Christian church. / have rot so
learned Christ. ard | do not hesitate to
say that-whether ne be bishop or humble