The age-herald., 1901-03-18
ABLE SERMON BY
 DR. ], M'FERRIN Defines Mans Duty to Himself 7 and Others AT THE FIRST METHODIST  The Great Fact of Duty is Coordinate With Life-Unto Whom Much
 is Given Much Will be
 Required.
AT THE FIRST METHODIST

terday, Dr. J. P. McFerrin preached an eloquent sermon, his theme being mans sense of duty as related to himself and others. His text was from Matthew 2S:23 These ought ye to have done, and not ! to leave the other undone."
 Dr. McFerrin said in substances:
 That man as a moral being is free and under obligation with respect to right and wrong. He is so constituted that right and wrong affect him as other things do not He perceives the truths of physics, admires them it may be, and acts upon them as it suits his convenience. 1T the way to a desired object Is straight, ana therefore the nearest, he may take IL, or go by circuitous route. He IS under no more obligation to go one way than the other. But he is differently affected by the presentation of moral truths. Put right and wrong before him, and instantly he feels that he Is vitally related to them, and is under obligation to do the one and shun the other. It is through the conscience that he becomes aware of the significance of right and wrong and of the moral meaning of life.
 Conscience has been variously defined, as the moral sense," the 'internal mon- itor," "the vicegerent of God" "the ora- cle of God'; but whatever the technical definition, it is as it's etymology indicates, a knowledge along with some thing, or person. In this view of it. it has been properly called the Judgement applied to ones own conduct, as related to stand- ard, approving or condemning, in so far as one has attained to, or fallen short of the standard
 But judgment is a faculty of the intel lect, by which we ascertain the relation of terms and propositions by comparison of ideas, pronouncing that they agree or disagree as the case may be. By the same faculty we can discern and affirm right and wrong in acts and qualities, and the only peculiarity is that of the subject matter on which it acts. Judg- ment acting upon right and wrong affects one differently from the discernment of the relation of the terms of an abstract proposition, or even the moral conduct of others.
 The judgment upon ones self as re- gards the standard of right doing has a deeper moral signifcaace than :he judgment passed upon others. There IS a peculiar sense of joy and pleasure and satisfaction that comes from doing right and shame and dissatisfaction and re- morse from wrong-doing. We judge of the conductSof others, as right or wrong, and approve or condemn, but the approval or condemnation does not affect us like the judgment-we pass on our own con- duct So that conscience, knowledge along with the moral law of God, dis covering my relation to 1t and my con- formity or non-conformity to it's require- ments, is a moral power and has rightly been called moral judgment" moral elf-judgment."
 must judge himself by comparison with
 the moral -andard given him, for this moral sense does not create its standard
 but judges according to 1t when presented and accepted. This is a necessity and no form can prevent it. If conscience could be wholly set aside, or altogether sienced, the whole aspect of human life would be changed. It is this that makes life so serious a thing we must pass judgment upon ourselves, and our judg- ment anticipates another and higher. But whence this sense of obligation
 this feeling that we ought? It is inborn,
 natural. Every man finds it in himself
 as much part of him as memory, reason
 or any other faculty. Why man ought to do this or that particular thing may
 need explanation, but the sense of right lies far back of all explanation. Why do it at all?
 The great fact of duty is fundamental, and coordinate with life. We meet it as l soon as we know ourselves and sense of
 it never leaves us while life lasts. None Can Explain Duty. No one can explain this wonderful sense of right. After all our reasoning we can only say, we ought, because we ought. If we ought to do thing, we ought, andif | we ought not, we ought not, and there s | an end of 1t.
 Daniel Webster, in concluding great speech in celebrated murder trial. said: "A sense of duty pursues us eyer. It is omnipresent like the Deity. If we take to ourselves the wings of the morning and dwell In the uttermost parts of the sea, duty peTIOrnleu UT uuty NlOidteu tS Sthi with us, for our happiness or our misery. If we say the darkness shall cover us, in | the darkness or in the light our obliga- | tions are still with us. We cannot escape their power or fly from their presence. "They are with us in this life, and will be with us at its close; and in that scene of inconceivable solemnity which | lies vet further onward, the conscious