The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1902-11-24
THE INDIVIDUAL MAN.
DIR. SMITH ON PRESENT SOCIAL
AND INDUSTRIAL CONDITIONS.

ASrrons Discourse on Vital Questions
of the Day-IndividuaI Rights of Men
Earnest Words.
At Center. church yesterday forenoon
Rev. Dr. Smyth delivered the second
in his valuable series of discourses on
present social and industrial conditions
the special subject of this sermon be-
ing THE Individual Man. An alb
stract of the sermon is as follows:
The text was Lamentations ill.,, So:
1.-The right of man before the face of
the Most High"
I have not chosen this text as an aid
to indulgence in prophetic lamenta-
ton; it is good text for the hour be
cause it strikes a clear note which
needs to be set ringing again in the
public conscience. 1t is the note of in
diyiduality. A great truth needing to
get itself preached again with prophet
lie power is the doctrine of the individ-
uaI man before the Most High. Moses
saw the individual man before God
when he came down from Sinai, and
gave the commandments, not in the in
definite plural to the people, but in the
singular number, each one of them
thou shalt, and thou shalt not. Paul
stood forth grandly for the freedom Of
the individual man when he declared,
'I thank God whom l serve from my
forefathers in a good conscience"
Luther appealed to the right of man
before the Most High in his clarion call
to the mobiles of the nation. Our fore
fathers followed that right across the
sea, and founded upon it a new civili-
cation. Are we thoroughly loyal to it
noW2
DR.. Smyth said that he did not for
get the other Complementary truths
which we expand in our social ethics;
but he quoted the saying of the en-
peror Marcus Aurelus that the wise
man notices the side of the boat that
is tipping up, and throws his weight on
that side. The side now apparently
tipping up is the side of the individual
Dr. Smyth proceeded to illustrate and
to emphasize the following points:
Ffrst-The individual man is the Gull
mination of the creation. For the birth
of the human child all the ages have
been a preparation; the end of evolution
is the individual; the highest conceiv-
able end of evolution would be the liv-
ing soul in a personal immortality.
Secondly-The individual-the man in
his right before the Most High-stands
at the center of the Bible, in the focus
of the whole light of revelation. The
progress of the Old Testament, it is
rightly said, was from the social to the
individual, from the people of God to
the person; while the movement Of the
New Testament is from the person to
society, from the person of the Christ
through His personal followers to the
church and the redeemed society. In
the fullness of time the whole light of
revelation is focused upon the Son of
man. ..: 4I+..
Thirdly-The individual man in his
right represents the greatest achieve
ment Of modern political history. DR..
Smyth quoted Mr.. Gladstone's remark:
81 observe that in the sphere of the
state the business of the last half CEN
fury has been in the main a process Of
setting free the Individual man, that
he may work out his vocation without
wanton hindrance, as his Maker will
have him do. If, instead of this, gov
eminent is to work out his vocation for
him. for one am not sanguine of the
result"
For these, reasons, DR.. Smyth said,
the gospel method of reforming society
begins with the individuals; religion
touches men personally. The anecdote
is related of Lord Melbourne that once
by chance he heard a rousing sermon
about Christian life and duty. Burning
with Indignation at the insistence of
the preacher, he said: mo one has
more respect for the church than I
have; but 1 think things have come to
a pretty pass when religion is allowed
to invade the sphere of private life -
There are persons now who have a
similar respect for the church; but real
religion should invade mans private
life.
DIR. smyth then passed to prevalent
denials of the individual man in his
right before the face of the Most High,
The worst denials of truth are some
times it's false affirmations. The worst
atheism is the affirmation concerning
God of conceptions which would render
him unworthy of our worship. So the
truth of the Individual man may be
denied by false assertions of individual
right. John Mitchell, when fencing
with the lawyers the other day, gave a
definition of anarchy which is true. He
said that for man to do just as he
pleases is anarchism pure and simple.
We may repudiate his application of it
to the pleasure of a man in holding on
to his job; but there is a truth in the
remark for us to apply to ourselves. A
false assertion of our individual pleas
ure may be anarchic. The man who
lives just as he pleases, in his luxuries,