The age-herald., 1898-01-06
EARNEST AND ELOQUENT Father Powers to the Bronson
 Literary Society," THEIR WORK WAS PRAISED Took For His Subject "The Soul of Man, Gods Greatest Creation" "A Banquet and
 Speeches By Prominent Citizens.

church the Bronson Literary society of that church gave its first public entertain ment Very Reverend William Powers president of the Spring Hill college near Mobile and provincial general of the So- ciety of Jesuits was the lecturer of the occasion.
 Father Powers is one of the most en- thusiastic and forceful lecturers that has been heard in Birmingham for a long time. He chose for his subject. ''The Soul of Man, Gods Greatest Creation"
 In opening his address Father Powers spoke in very high terms of the Bronson Literary society, and of the spirit which prompted such an organization. "An or ganization. which has its object the ad- vancement of literary pursuits can in no wise prove an antagonist of the organ ized church," said Father Powers. He spoke in part as follows:
 '"The most interesting subject I can choose for this lecture Is one's own self" said the speaker. "The study of mankind is, man, and all other knowledge is of no avail if one does not know himself. It is not the hands nor feet, nor the body, but the spirit of man that makes up the man. l therefore propose to talk to you, my dear hearers, of your own immortal soul
 First of all the history of the soul On the first page of the holy writ you will find the account of the creation of the universe. A royal palace 1t was wrought in natures handiwork. Complete as it was, however, it was not perfect. It needed @ master and man was made the lord of creation
 ssThe ScIlDfOr who works m his ma Star- piece for years and years, throwing his whole soul into his work, becomes so wrapt in 1t that when it is completed he almost clasps the figure and cries to it, Speak, speak!, So with God. He knew no higher model for his masterpiece than himself and in His own image created He him. both in body and in spirit He saw His own self, His own immortality and good ness, reflected in the soul of the creature He had made. He did not create the soul from matter as He did in the body, but He breathed mans soul into him. The body is taken from the slime of the earth, but his soul from the God Himself. What ever is low in man comes from the body whatever is good comes from God
 ''In his body man is in many respects the inferior of the beasts. In the mind, man masters all the beasts and asserts himself the lord of creation. Man through his mind sails through air, dives into the depths of the sea, tunnels mountains, and flashes his thoughts by means of electric ity from pole to pole.
 What a glorious thing is the will with which God has endowed our minds. All the devils in hell cannot change a mans txiJ Dnan ic Gator ma be tempted and persuaded, but his will is never broken.
 "The aspirations of man, like flame, always looks upward toward its creator. There is a void which cannot be filled ex- cept in God. All the riches of earth will not give the soul that perfect peace that it desires. Restless is soul which does not rest in God. The needle of the compass never rests until 1t points toward the pole. So with the soul toward it's Creator.
 Solomon, with all his riches; Alexander, the master of the world, who wept because there were no more worlds to conquer, were both unhappy and discontented.
 "The birds are satisfied with the free dom of the air, the beasts are happy in the forest, and the fish in the sea, but man is content only in God.
 "I have spoken so far of the natural in- stincts of the soul, and not of the soul re- generated in God. God, through His Son, became a man that men might become God-like. The Father is King of Kings, the Son is a Prince, and we all partake of the heavenly royalty. Christ recognizes the regenerated soul as a brother. The Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost stamp their identity on a mans soul, and he is then a little less than the angels themselves.
 Man thinks too much of the body and exposes the soul to the worst influences. Seek first the salvation of the soul,' said Christ. What profiteth it if man obtain the whole world and lose his own soul? |? One soul is infinitely more precious in the sight of God than this whole univeSS.
 "The heroes of the Christian religion, as history teaches us, were those who att tached the highest value to the soul. The hermits of the early church were more eager to gratify their spirits than the most eager voluptuary to gratify the body These men once valued only riches and pleasure, but a ray of heaven entered their souls and their souls welfare was therefore their only object in life. They cared not for the intrgues, battles, or tumult of the world, but sacrificed everything for their souls.
 b''Millions and millions of martyrs have poured out their life-blood for the cause of the soul The caldron, the fagot, the glib bet the lions and other tortures daunted them not, but they leaped even into the jaws of death with readiness and with pleasure. They would suffer even hum dred deaths, provided only their immortal souls might be saved. The voices of Ste- phen Ignatius and millions of other mar tyrs come sweeping down the centuries in a grand chorus teaching the value of the immortal human soul.
 "In the words of St. Paul, the apostles died deaths every day all for the cause of the soul of man. They were beaten, i'm prisoned, stoned, thrown into the sea and endured hardships on every side. St. Francis Xavier was the St. Paul of later days Once in dream before his mission to the Indies God showed him all his suffer ings and finally his death in that distant country. Even at this horrible sight he cried out in his sleep, More, more, so great was his eagerness to make the sacri- flee. His daily cry to God was for more