Year: 1861

| rigluly pam, aud his wife was not iudnlqed


IN the vanities Of millinery and mantua


making. lie never joked. He did mol


know What joke was, any further than tc


know 'hat II was sin. lie carried n Sun


day face through the week. He did not


mingle in the happy social parties of hi,


neghborhood. lie was deacon, He


starved his social nature because he was a


deacon. lie refraned from all the partici


patIoh IN free and generous life because he


was deacon. He made his children hate
| sunday because he was deacon. He SC


brought them up that they learned to con.
slder themselves unfortunate in being the


children OF deacon. They were piticd by


other children because they were the chill


dren OF deacon. His wife was pitied by


other women because she was the wife of a


deacon Nobody loved him. If he came


into circle where men were laughing or


'eIIIlg STORES, they always stopped till be


went out. Nobody ever grasped his hand


cordially, or slapped him on the shoulder


or spoke OF him as good fellow. He seem.


ed as ury and hard as a piece Of jerked
| Oeet. 1here was no softness of character


no JuicneSs--nO lovelincsS in him.


Now it is of no usg,for me to undertake


to realize to myself that God admires such


character as this. | do not doubt that


he loves the man, as lie loves all men, but


to admire bis style Of manhood and piety is


Impossible for any intelligent being. 1t


lacks the roundneSs and fullness, and rich


ness ana sweetness, that belong to truly
| admirable character. Such "a man carica-


lures Christianity, and scares other men


away from it. Such a man ostentatiously


presents himself as one in whose life religion


is dominant. 1t is religion that is Supppos.
ed to run down that long face, and inspire


that still demeanOr, aud to make him at all
points an unatractive and unIovable man


Or course it is not religion that does any.
thing OF the kind, but it has the credit of it


with the world, and the world does not like
it. 1t looks around, and sees a great many
men who do not pretend to religion at all
and yet who are very loyeube men. If re-
ligion can transform a pleasant man into a
most unpleasant one, and change free,
bright and happy home into dismal place
of slavery and blot out a mans eSthetiC
and social nature, the world naturally thinks
that getting religion would he almost as
much OF misfortune as getting some mel
ancholy chronic disease, and | do not blame
it. 1t is not to be wondered at that the
world should mistake, very much, the true
nature of Christianity, when Christians
themselves entertain such grievous errors
about it.


suppose God is attracted to very much
the same style Of character that men are


Christ loved young man at first sight,
who lacked the very thing essential to bis
highest manhood. But lie liked the kind
of man He saw before Him. lie was up
right, fraak.heaTted, open-minded, and "Je-
sus behodng him, loved him" There are
men whom one cannot help loving and ad-
miring though they lack great many things
things very 'needfuP to make them per.
feet men. Now put it to good, conscien-
tious Christian men and women whether
they do not take more pleasure in the So
ciety of the world, than in the society
of any of that class of Christians of
whom the deacon | have mentioned is a
type. | know they do, and they cannot
help it, There is more of that which be-


longs to a first class christian character
in the former than in the latter, aud if |
were called upon to test the two men by
commanding them respectively to sell what
they have and give to the poor, | should be
disappointed were the deacon to behave the
best A character which religion does not
fruclify-doeS not soften, enlarge, beautity
and eurch-iS not benefited by religion
or, rather has not possessed itself Of re-
gion. God loves that which is beautiful
aud attractive in character, just as much rs
we do and it makes no difference where he
sees it, He does not dislike the ami
able traits Of sinner because he is
sinner, nor does he admire those traits or Il
christian which we feel to be contemplate,
simply because they belong to Il christian.
A christian sucked dry OF his humanity, is
US uiceeSS and as aavorleSS as sucked
orange, aud | believe that God regards
him IN the same light that we do. He will
save such doubt not, for their faith; aud,
in the coming world they will learn what
they do not know here but the question
whether they are as well worth saving as
some of their neighbors may, think be
ltSltludlGiJ SHtVi ildluIu' 4u oN lhB NhioI
mean to he neither light nor irreVerent.
mean simply to indicate that some men are
worth great deal more TO themselves and
TO their fellows than others.


So, when look abroad upon the world,
and see men shaving their heads, and wear
ing nasty hair shirts, and shutting them
selves up in cells, and living lives of celiba-
cy, aud when | see women retiring from
the world which they were sent to adorn,
populate and bless, aud Shakers driving
around in square wagons and studiously
ugly movements, and christians who should
know better abandoning all the bright and
cheerful things Of life, aud feeling that there
is merit in modification, cannot but feel
that God looks down upon it all with sad.
ness and pity. After doing everything in
HIS power to make His children happy
after filling the world with good things for
their use, and giving them abundant facnl-
ties for enjoying them-atter eudowlng
them with beauty, and sense OF that
which Is beautiful-it must be sad to Him
to see them wandering about in strange dis
guises, hugging to their half rebelious
hearts the awful mistake that, however
much they may suffer, they arc gaining fa-
vor thereby in the sight of their Maker.
Ofcourse, believe in sef-denial, and in the
nobility of selfdenal for the good Of others
but | helievo that all selfdeuial that par