The Fulton County news. [volume] (McConnellsburg, Pa.) 1899-current, 1906-07-19
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! SUNDAY SERMON


A Scholarly Discourse By
Rev. Robert Mae Donald.


ing the Rev. Robert Macdonald. pas.
tor OF the Washington Avenue Ban.
tist Church. preached to young wo.
men His subject was Beauty: How
to Keep IT, His text was from Pro.
verbs iv., 30. Keep thy heart with
all diligence for ont Of it 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.
pends 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
thar 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 ana
carries MS back TO the primary cause
OF truth or error, righteousness or
sin. We have already seen in this
series that beauty OF character is
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-beautv
OF character instead of Informed,
homeup, unsymmetrical lives. What
Michael Angelo said once to Young
artist about his statue applies to rs
all. Do not trouble too much about
the light on your statue. The light
Of the public square will test its val.
ue' 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 bliding
should be with the light Of eternity's
public square in mind. We a. 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. 40 out.
ward embe!lishing. no exterior mold
Ing viii 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
Numberless are the precepts that
suggest themselves just here. All the
Christian virtues bound toward us to
otfer their assistance to help us keen
that we have striven so hard to ac.
quire. We gladly accept their help
nut 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.
ton principles.
The first l would suggest is self.
control No beauty of character can
be where there is no self-control.
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. ne
was asked the question, and answer
ed, 'Self-control, and it is the most
difficult. too 'Tis true young wo-
men. 1t is an underlying principle. ]
including host of greater virtues.
VINO has not felt sorely the need Of I
greater self-cOntrOl. Patience is rep.
resented in the Scriptures as the very .
truitage of Christianity. but patience 1
IS only cons .ltuent part of self-con. |
trol-namely, self-control in pain, in .
ailiction. Very Christ-like it is. En- .
1urance Of wrong treatment. Misun. .
derstanding. So easy 10 complain. and .
De disasreeable when the sky is dull.
and the way drear. / refer not to .
that patience that springs from our
T sTf-r,1rftf,r,
tempecamental. Constitutional hero
sm 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 viii suffice.
But not only self-control I'm pain.
also in pleasure, another name for
which is temperance Young ladies'
need to be temperate as well as young
men. ] am not referring to the liquor
question. although never more need
Than to-day for temperance there. bus
to the whole problem Of living. To
be temperate IN thought, in speech,
IN desire, in act instead of extraya-
CANT II is so easy 10 let pleasure
run away with as and cause MS to
think life has no value beside Dissi.
patton Is only extravaganza In pleas.
ure. The curb has been thrown off
our necks Pleasure was given too
much license. We entertained 10 too
freely, endowed it with our OWN per.
sonality, and before We We're aware of
t. it took us up in Its arms and gan
away with us. We handed the CON
Tol Of the situation over TO IT, We
became dissipated We are lost. Self
control i'm pleasure as well as in pain
g the demand Temperance as well
as patience
But second requirement Is self
command This may be regarded as
intensified self-control Selfcontrol
Is passive Self command Is active.
The other is TO force yourself on.
Patience and temperance are good, in
iispensable to beauty Of character.
FOrbearance and forgiveness are hard
ar still We speak from experience
q saying so. Controlling your speech,
Withholding the adverse criticism
when Just dying to speak. to give
Your adverse opinion. We often think
we are not saying anything worth
while unless we crlticise Forbear.
ance Of the senseless gossip, and the
retailing of slender. Forbearance OF
he disagreeable person.
Then forgiveness Of that which II
S natural for you to resent We like
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