The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1902-10-06

Dy any lofty motive, and we class anG
catalogue him as a beast. yet in a
moment he becomes . noble being.
I'VE see. on the other hand men who
are lovers of the beautiful, souls whose
| lives are models of purity and beauty
We are startled almost into unbelef by
a sudden lapse into vulgarity or into
the practice of some gross vice which
breaks out like sudden ulcer. Victor
Hugo summed up the situation when he
said. L am the tadpole of an arch
angel meaning that within him were
the vastest and most illmtable possi-
bilfties. or one thing we are certain,
and that Is that there is higher and
a lower order though the divisions are
impossible of allotment.
MAY JUDGE OURSELVES.
"If we are unable to judge others by
single act, or are loath to judge
others at all, we may at least judge
ourselves and bring ourselves to a re-
alization that certain things we may do
cause our natures to trend downward
toward the animal, or upward toward
the godly.
Man is higher than the beasts and
lower than the angels, but there is one
| thing he cannot do and that is, MAIN
tain balance between the two. He is
| constantly making excursions into both
| the lower and the higher realms. Some
times he may let the fever of his pas
sions hold him tight and he may sati-
| ate his lower appetites. allowing cum
nlng, rather than conscience, to be his
guide You and know what it is to
nave the beast side get control.
"Or he may journey into the higher
realms after new aflinities, into those
realms where the moral law enchants,
where beauty enamours and where
truth fascinates. Then he comes back
and he pauses to mark the dividing
line, and he asks himself, Where shall
l cast my anchor-with the beasts be-
meath me or with the angels above?
" How much then, is a man better
than a Sheep? The application of this
question is much broader than it's ap-
pllcation to merely Il sheep. 1t really
means, How much is man better than
an animal? The answer depends on the
viewpoint. From the standpoint of the
zoolosist, man is not any better, COM
paratively speaking. than the sheep.
lie has the same manner of coming into
the world and going out of it, and there
is little difference in his structural
makeup. If the zoologist is the only
authority. we are superior not enough
to boast of.
IL we take an estimate in another
way. how different. We find that man
is not only higher than the animals,
but that he cannot be classed with
them at all. When we see the light of
love shining from a human face and
think of the loyal sacrifices that hu-
man beings have made for truth we
realize the difference. The gray mat
ter in a mans brain is only slightly
heavier than that in an animars. but
that gray matter has produced para
disc Lost" the "Divina Comedia "
'Hamlet,' Titians Taking Down from
the Cross and the sonatas, symph-
onies and masses of the master musi-
clans.
THERE IS NO PIETY.
We may consider the difference still
further In the animal world there is
no pity 1t is cruel world in spite
of the animal stories that are being so
extensively printed. Nature Is coldly |
cruel, relentessly and dlspassionately
cruel. As long as the young animal is |
growing and keeping vigorous and
healthy 1t is protected. but if it is |
weak it is spurned, trampled upon and |
oftimes killed by its own kind Nature
never cares for deformtes With hu-
man kind it is the weak, puny. little |
child that gets the dearest love and
the tenderest care.
All the functions of the animal world
are directed towards preserving life.
IN a ie, ba
In this class though. want to assert
all his time in thoughts of food, of
clothes to wear and of his house and
bodily pleasures, is an animal and
nothing more. His house may have
cost half million, but it Is no differ
ent than the birds nest or the lions
bed.
The refining influences of civilization
10 not make man one inch above
he beast. They may make him more
;killful and more cunning, but that is
Ill. What does then? You ask. A re-
'pect for the voice which tells him
What Is right and what Is wrong.
When is a man raised above the level
If the beasts? When he is moved by
iltruistic motives. when he searches
|
ice Truth, honor and charity are the
emper of his mind day by day.
Up to this time / have spoken things
which any polite pagan may stand by.
They are obvious truths which Marcus
Aurelius or Socrates might have ex-
pounded l will so higher.
Christ is conceded to be the best and
arrest type of man and He commands
'ur feelings of admiration, reverence,
owe and emulation. When we are con-
ronted with doubt as to our iden-
ity and we are asked who we are, we
hink of the best and the highest, and
lain Him as brother, who clothed in
he body OF man the simple glory of
he heart OF God.
Christ Is more. He is the Son OF God
rho revealed to man the Fatherhood