The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1899-08-14
A. H. H[NRY'S SERMON
Talked Last Night of Mans Intrin-
sic Value.
AN ELOQUENT DISCOURSE
DIFFERENT STANDARDS FOR
JUDGING MEN.
Elements of the Intrinsic Value of
Human Beings-Difference Be-
tween Mind and Body-One May
Be Present and the Other Far
Away-Striking Illustrations.

Rev. A. H. Henry preached at the
FIRST Methodist church last night to a
large congregation. He chose for his
text Isaiah xiii -: I will make man
more precious than fine gold; even a
man than the golden wedge of Ophir."
Mr.. Henry said:
BY mans intrinsic value l mean
MS value simply as fully equipped
man. Not as a rich man, as distin-
Sulshed from a poor man. Not as a
man or genius. as distinguished from a
man OF mere common sense. Not as
man OF executive ability, as distin-
Sulshed from a man of feeble will and
inactive purpose.
These elements enter into the con-
sideration CT Il mans value to society.
l want you to consider his value as
man, created in the image of God and
endowed with certain faculties and
powers that he possesses by right of his
humanity and in common with all other
men.
An Irresistible Conclusion.
Il believe that, when you set before
yourselves squarely what it means to
be man. the conclusion will be ire
sistible that he is worth too much to
prostitute his powers to a low and ig-
noble purpose. to live his life aimlessiy
or to sGuander his time and energy as
spendthrift sluanders his inherit
ance. l believe, also, that if we recog-
nized the true value of man. as God
has created him, wo would not be so
Indifferent to his welfare or so careless
Of those destructive agencies by which
he is surrounded.
The chinch bug, the army worm and
the graSShopper are objects OF study by
our most eminent entomologists. The
state has taken an interest in their
Investigations. Experiment stations
have been erected by public money.
The constitution and habit of life of
these minute creatures have been made
the objects of profound and close in
vestigation. Why?
In order that a means of eXtermin-
ating them may be discovered. They
have proven their destructive nature.
How terrible when the entire states Of
Nebraska and Kansas were ravaged by
locustS; when an entire wheat crop in
Dakota or corn crop in Illinois is eaten
up in a few days. There is crop sub
ject to blight. mildew, rust. and inroa3s
by thousand agents of destruction.
that is of infinitely greater intrinsic
value than all these, and yet the de-
struction of which does not attract one
half our attention.
Il refer to the children and young
people growing up in our cities and
villages-a crop for which all other
crops are grown. do not marvel at
the fiery zeal of the reformer who
recognizes mans intrinsic value and
sees that value being constantly and
terribly deprecated by agencies direct
ly under the control Of society.
Elements of Value.
Let US consider some of the elements
g - s,,r, 81, l.,
worth something. AS an automatic in
dustrial machine it has its value in the
marts of commerce. From the days
when the pyramids of Egypt and the
military roads and immense aQueducts
of ancient Rome We're constructed by
the hand labor CT millions of laborers,
to the days when the great southern
plantations swarmed with nimble cot
ton-pickers and the cities of the north
We're employing an army of unSkilled
factory hands, strength OF muscle and
suppleness have always been at pre-
MUM and assigned d certain value in
the world of industry.
Fer many centuries man was con-
sidered simply as a beast of burden, a
tool, slave. but his capacity for labor
was duly appreciated. We always ex-
perience q new sensation Of aStonish-
ment when we consider the marvels of
mans bodily dwelling What mag
nificent physical frame is his. Strong,
we'll knit. supple, elastic, beautifully
nodded Capable of enduring incredi-
BILE hardship and privation: yet deli
cately. sensitively responsive to the
lightest thought.
I'VE express our admiration at the
skill that has fashioned the wonderful
lenses of microscope and telescope, and
yet they are but imperfect limitations of
the perfect lens of the eye. Think of
the marvellous capabilities Of the organ
of the inner ear, attuned to all the
melodies OF nature-the signing wind.
the murmuring stream, the song of
bird. the hum Of bee, the sweet cadence
of the voices Of loved ones.
Think Of the brain-the wonderful
storehouse of registered Impressions.
the seat Of memory. with its grasp upon
the past; of reason. with its power to
analyZe the present; Of imagination.
with it's capacity to reach out into the
future. Shut away within its narrow
box, the skull. it deals continuously
with the doings Of the world outside
Brain Central Office.
THE brain is the central office to
receive, translate and transmit mes
sages that come from the outer world
along the multiplex network of wires
that constitute the nervous system.
The ear receives a message that be-
tokens sorrow or joy. 1t is transmitted
along a slender hidden wire. An i'm
preston is made upon the brain, which
translates it. Immediately the face is
flushed and the eyes fill with tears or
laughter.
Contemplate the hand, the most
wonderful mechanical tool in the uni
verse; strong, subtle. cunning, and
more delicate than the stroke OF
vagrant feather in its touch; used as a
sledge by the boxer. as cup by the
savage welding the ak of the wood
man. guiding the brush of the painter
ard the chisel of the sculptor: used in
stead OF eyes by the blind and in place
of lips by the dumb; strong to save a
man from death and tender To calm the
dreams of babe.
Think of the voice-articulate and
capable of infinite meditation. Have
YOU never maryeled as you have heard
some consummate orator or listened 10
some rarely sweet singer? What power
there is in the human voice to weave
spell over all the senses; TO hold the
attention. and even, at times, to COM
pel the reluctant consent of reason it
self
by its vibrations alone, even with
out the aid of spoken words. it is capa-
Bile of interpreting the subtlest emo
tons of the heart. Rising in ecstasy,
triumph and joy; discordant in passion,
hatred and jealousy; low and gracious
in love. gentleness and tender sorrow.
The voice of the nightingale and the
fierce snarl of the tiger cheated OF his
prev are both imprisoned in the human
throat.
Mans body has been called the
house beautiful and the temple or the