The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1906-08-15
Z He PULPIT.
A SCHOLARLY SUNDAY SERMON BY
THE REV. r. M'DONAL5, .
Subject: Beauty: How to Keep It,

tor of the Washington Avenue Bap-
tist Church, preached to young wo-
men. His subject was Beauty: How
to Keep It." His text was from Pro.
verbs iv, %. Keep thy heart with
all diligence, for out of 1t are the is-
sues of life" Mr.. Macdonald said:
What has such text to do with
beauty? Everything. The source is
the heart. Beauty of character de.
Ponds on quality of heart. Every
thought, desire, sentiment, ambition,
that enters the heart Is sooner or
later expressed in character and con.
duct. All the life issues radiate from
that center. And when the writer Of
The Proverbs tells us to keep the
heart with all diligence. he speaks
the foundation word Of all wisdom and
carries us back to the primary cause
of truth or error, righteousness or
sin. We have already seen in this
series that beauty of character is a
divine possession, existing only where
truth holds sway. And that we can
never satisfy the claims of Almighty
God until we give back to Him that
which is possible to us all-beauty
Of character, instead of Informed,
homeup, unsymmetrical lives. What
Michael Angelo said once to young
artist about his statue applies to US
all. do not trouble too much about
the light on your statue. The light
If the public square will test its val
1e." So the light of the public square
beyond, which Is the light OF Gods
countenance, the unerring light Of
Judgment, will be the test Of our char
acters. All modelling. all building,
should be with the light Of eternity's
public square in mind. We a.o all
under obligation, a contract based on
and rooted in our very constitution,
to build for eternity, inasmuch as the
Creator has marked out a celestial
destiny for us all, and it ought to be
our chief business to conform to that
gracious provision which will mean
realization along all infinite lines
throughout the eternal years. Be
careful, then, oh, be careful, what In.
fluences you bring to bear upon the
formation Of your characters. No out
ward embellishing, no exterior mold
Ing, will suffice. 1t depends upon
what you receive in your heart wheth-
er your character will be perverted
and deformed, or true, well proper
toned, beautiful.
You remember the precepts of last
sermon, those recommendation indis-
pensable to the attaining Of beauty, a
sense of infinity, fidelity to purpose,
repose, which Is the enemy Of rest
lessness and nervousness and discon-
tent, and that sympathy, balance, pro-
portion that stand ever opposed to
erratic movements. We mention these
In passing, inasmuch as beauty OF
character must be attained before it
can be retained, and until we are ia
miliar with the lines along which we
can attain unto it, the lines along
which it can be kept, will profit US
little.
Numberless are the precepts that
suggest themselves just here. All the
Christian virtues bound toward US to
offer their assistance to help us keep
that we have striyen so hard to &C.
quire. We gladly accept their help,
but instead of packing your memories
with these multitudinous aids to the
retaining of this high possession, let
us fasten our thought on a few founda-
tion principles.
The first I would suggest is self.
control. No beauty of character can
be where there is no selfcontrol.
Daniel Webster was once asked which
he thought the greatest virtue. 1t was
just after one of his most powerful
speeches, but in which, interrupted
and contradicted by the opposing
counsel, he lost his temper, and also
the case he was pleading. That even.
ing, in the course of conversation, he
was asked the question, and answer
difficult, too" 'Tis true, young wo-
men. 1t Is an underlying principle,
including a host of greater virtues.
Who has not felt sorely the need Of
greater self-control. Patience is rep
resented in the Scriptures as the very
fruitage of Christianity, but patience
is only a constituent part Of self-con.
trol-namely, self-control in pain, in
affliction. Very Chrlst-like it is. En-.
durance of wrong treatment. Misun-
derstanding. So easy to complain, and
be disagreeable when the sky is dull.
and the way drear. I refer mot to
that patience that springs from our
natural disposition, which is purely
temperamental. Constitutional hero
ism is good, but it does not stand the
strain. A patience that fails at the
hardest point, Is weak all through.
Nothing short Of the Christ type Of
patience will suffice.
But not only self-control in pain,
also in pleasure, another name For
which Is temperance. Young ladies'
need to be temperate as we'll as young
men. I am not referring to the liquor
question, although never more need
than to-day for temperance there, but
to the whole problem of living. To
be temperate in thought, in speech,
in desire, in act instead of extrava-
CANT. 1t is so easy to let pleasure
run away with US and cause US to
think life has no value beside. D1ssl'
patton is only extravaganza In pleas
ure. The curb has been thrown Off
our necks. Pleasure was given too
much license. We entertained 1t too
freely, endowed it with our own per-
sonality, and before we were aware OF
it, it took US up in its arms and Tan
away with us. We handed the con-
troll of the situation over to it. We
became dissipated We are lost. Self
control in pleasure as we'll as in pain
Is the demand. Temperance as we'll
as patience.
But a second requirement is self
command. This may be regarded as
intensified self-control. Self-control
is passive. Self command is active.
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