Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1898-07-03

rum biuBtes pure 0eyouL Acaft no may
manifest tho counterparts Indicating his
high birth. There Is nothing beautiful,
grand, sublime In nature that does not
find a sympathetic reflection and live re-
Spouse from the soul OF man. suggesting
the fatherhood OF God. the sonship OF
man. The world and all creation have
been put up on aesthetic principles for
beauty and glory and happiness. There
Is no speech nor language. no grammar
ncr dictionary: but everything appeals TO
joyful In the Lord! Serve the Lord with
gladness. and come before His presence
with song. That is natures appeal.
The strangest thing is how the prettiest
things are found in the ugiiest wrappngs;
how beauty and grace are seen in the
midst Of deformity, and the divinest Joy
will CLEAN from the depths of misery.
Sweet, indeed. are natures uses of adj
versity. A crumbling ruin Is soon over
spread and beautifed with moss or
graceful. gentle, creeping vine, or over
Swallowed by tree. And disasters and
sufferingc are made glorious by revela-
lions Of the divinest manhood and by
plain manifestations OF the presence of
God.
The agnostIc blinds his eyes and closes
his wits to the intelligence and love and
unity that control and pervade all the
work of nature and CLEAN in the Word
Of God His hypocritical confession is
an assertion that he is wisest. The realis-
tic philosopher sees nothing but what is
common and gross and rough, and what
he calls practical and useful, what minis
tiers TO the physical man and supplies his
appetites and cravings and wants. He
believes only in what he sees and hears
and touches and tastes and smells; and
to him life is confined to his experiences
with them. The heart, the mind, the life
OF the soul Is all a notion-ali mere senti-
ment and idealism. And the out-and-out
businessman, whether professional or
trading, submits himself absolutely TO
the unholy trinity Of ayarice. ambition,
and lust-the world, the fiesh and the
devil. Practical and real means material
and sensual. And under this regime, as
under the Grand Monarque, all beauty
ana grace are sensualized, and all physi-
cal and intellectual power are imbruted.
The business of the god of this world
Mammon or Beelzebub-is to dishonor and
degrade, as was said OF the Harpies:
"Contactu que omnia foedant immundo."
The mark Of the beast has q thousand
forms and a thousand repulsions to the
pure in heart. Ugliness and disgrace are
the trail OF the evil one. His best en-
Elements are ugly limitations and carica-
lures of nature. degrading what they
seem to commend.
All tnat comes from the divine hand
is beautiful and graceful and commends
beauty and grace, while It praises its Au-
thor. The rocks that are broken into soil,
the many coorcd soils, :he merchant
men, the clouds, that transport fertilizers
from one end to another, the rivers that
irrigate, the crops, the trees. the vines.
the commonest herbs and shrubs, all are
business, have purposes to accomplish;
but in the accomplishment OF their daily
rounds and common tasks they are full \
OF grace and beauty and grandeur and
sublimity. They are all pleasant and in
spring, as remarkable for their loneliness
as for their usefulness. The ways of
nature are ways OF pleasantness and
peace.
1t IS not necessary to take high school
and college courses OF natural history
and botany and physics to learn the les
ons Of creation. The great God who
wrote the Ten Commandments on tables
OF stone with His own finger has, with
His own hand. written all over the face
Of nature lessons for the heart and mind
OF man.
All His lessons are object lessons pic |
lures and Illustrations OF His wonderful |
wisdom and power. cleaning and fra |
grant with His loving kindness and tendep |
Our Saviour wrote no books. |
His life fell upon the soul of humanity, |
and impressed itself i'm living words TO |
last forever. His walk and conversation |
and blessed presence were His instrument |
talities and means Of grace.
We would be better ii we would take |
our lessons directly from the works OF |
God by simple and devout contemplation |
Of them, and look for their explanation |
In our own hearts and in His revealed |
Word-without note or commentary.
AS the rain comes down and the snow |
upon the earth and watereth 1t. that 1t |
may bring forth seed to the sower and |
bread TO the eater, so shall My Word be. |
It shall accomplish that whereto l sent |
IL. Anoint thine eyes with eye-saive. that |
thou mayst see.