The Houston daily post. [volume] (Houston, Tex.) 1886-1903, 1899-04-10
LETTERS FROM THE PEOPLE.


Inc ideal Is preserved, and through which
unfolded, under conditions that promote
It's perfect expression"
Let us presume. for our possible In
strnctlon, that the record in Genesis Civ
ing an account OF animal life at creation,
and the gentle dispositions given the lion
kind and others we now know to be most
savage OF all the brute species, as being
purely vision of the inspired writer; or,
In other words. revelation of the time
and conditions Of existence on this planet
when the ferocious and the gentle shall
dwell In harmony together and not that
they. with all things were first made
perfect. and have fallen nway from the
II is contrary to all reason. or knowledge
above reason, and outside the range of all
conceivable law that an infinite power
capable only OF good, could set into opera
ton a principle through which degenera-
ton and retrogression should overtake His
creatures preventing, from any cause for
an Indefinite period, all their aspirations
toward an ideal that would lead them back
10 the plane from which they had descend
cd since being hurled forth without rer-
sonal volition, and compelled TO trust to
chance or opportunity for ever finding i
way to evolve from the darkened state
into which they had thus been thrown.
In Ill great institutions of learning,
students find held up before them i1oLls
toward which they aspire, and pictures vi
lies exceeding worth when great attain
rnents shall have been reached; but they
must struggle through all the preparator.
courses necessary TO reach this point of
greatness and possession. None arc inn
rNra co1 hat ANa hnU ~ lao MI a
wisdom, and good with goodness, but fell
away from. and must strive back TO it, IL
they would again become perfect men and
women And, moreover, suppose they
were made to understand that the cause OF
their original failure lay in some defect
or mistake of the very man who was then
at the head Of the institution, and that It
vas through him they were subjected to
this struggle they were now enduring
after better things; would they be in
clined 10 trust his wisdom and guidance
with the full confidence that he would
not commit similar error, involving them
into another abyss of defeat?
Is not life great school, humanity its
pupils and infinite wisdom its mighty in
structor2 Is 1t unreasonable to believe
that the great teacher might give at the
beginning q sublime view of what the end
to be reached would be and that in such
picture we should see the tinal perfection
ing might be understood to have been at
the beginning instead of the end? Also,
that at any various stages along the cen
turtles this allwise principal has sent to
his school great teachers who not only
taught his philosophy to the utmost eX
tent Of which they were capable, but who
served as bright personal examples be-
sides?
Here we reach a point where necessity
demands we use not one text book alone,
but search diligently through all the broad
domain of truth as 1t Is written in ma
lures wondrous book, and found in the in
spired records of every people under the
sun. Christian preacher, who few
years ago observed in my library works
Herodotus, Homer, Dante, Plato, Spencer,
etc, turned away remarking that he had
no time to study those authors" My con-
clusion was easy to arrive at; he was ig
norant OF all truth except as he found 1t
in a single book; and that book one that
such men as Dr. Lyman Abbot and many
of tho worlds most prominent scholars
are pronouncing fallible.
Like all subjects verging upon considera-
ton of the purposes OF the Creator, vol
umes could be filled with instructive
thoughts of high order along this line;
but look for a moment at the principle OF
evolution and It's effects as we see them
on the human family during the short
space OF few years, or Of a single life
time.
From the many Inspired writer's of the
present century, we will notice but two.
the Rev. Charles Kingsley, whose earthly
life expired In 1875, and Rider Haggard,
still among the living. Consider the pic
ture of Hypatia drawn by the former, and
his highest ideal-which Is the only
real-portrays his heroine as an
example of bodily as well as spiritual pei
fection. No one could associate the
lNeNf erhN - rrlsKN H.
any fleshly appetite with such character
as hers is shown to be- On the contrary
absterlio tisness in diet purity of mind aud
ne to- ,ther with steady aspiration
toward knowledge OF the higher laws
OF being, constitute her entire individual
ny; ami as such, are made to show forth
IN her personal appearance.
In the picture of She" by Rider Hag-
gard. we are given another inspired vision
OF an ideal set forth by a man In whose
being somewhere must have existed its
counterpart, together with a knowledge
" the laws operating to its production In
the human form. However weird, far
fetched and imaginary may have been the
authors methods of presenting this strlk-
ing personality to our conception. he has
not only succeeded we'll In the execution
OF his picture, but has laid down some
OF the rules to be observed in really at
tanning this same degree OF perfection. for
pN'itNS AAdl uol oHly ptfitCl DuNbICll
beauty but immortality OF the body is
promised OF God to humanity here aud
now, If we live in harmony with His law;
that as a noted writer expresses IT, We
ought to live into higher life, instead
OF dying into il, Hence the inspiration
OF the author becomes more apparent
when he makes his heroine say that fruit
and water are the only proper food aud
drink for mankind.
How many people do we meet rs we
pass up aud down the thoroughfares OF
daily life whose appearance indie ab-
stemious and intelligent living. eating and |
drinking in harmony with the laws of
higher and not lower being? How many
hloated, coarsened. materialiged and dis
eased bodies prove their wide departure
from every standard OF personal purity /
IN life and regard for spiritual rather than
heshly dominance lut every III, draws |
its own picture. and what we sss proves (
what men and women really arg.
One other point. All of the animal I
kingdom excepting man have their bodies
clothed with fur OF a greater or less de. I
gree OF fneness: hut ALL aside from the
vicious species, live temper /
ately. The horse. next to man. might be (
regarded as highest In the grade ~ animal 4
life and what do we seq hereg Ciyiliza- (
tion, or whatever we please 10 term the
upward tendency IN existence. is clipping
hie Inn, 10 nd glo