Year: 1875

lungs are the essentials Of healthy, active


religion.


As there are, undoubtedly, some lean, dys-
peptc, sharp-faced, and specialized Chris
tians whose views Of the world are not rose-
colored, and who square their lives by dog


ma and creed, and who will look with holy
horror upon these thirty-six Plymouth Church
players who have fought upon the ungodly
diamond, THE CHICAGO TRIBUNE, as the de-
fender Of muscular Christianity and the foe
OF cant and dogma, assumes to defend them
upon the broad, general ground that
healthy, strong body is more conducive to
vital. practical, humanizing, charitable relig-
ion than an unhealthy one, In Illustration Of
this fact, it points with some degree Of pleas
ure and pride to Brother MooDY, whom it
upheld and defended when he was only the
Superintendent Of a little miszion-school in
an obscure. degraded quarter Of the city,
and probably in his widest dreams never
foresaw that he was to become the worlds
evangelist, and shake the United Kingdom
Of Great Britain from one end to the other
Now, Brother MoopY is none Of your lean,
lanl, cadaverous, scowing saints, who grow
bilious and dyspeptic at the very sight OF
fuit-stands, meat-markets, and green groce-
ries filed with the substantial good things Of
this world, which Divine Providence certainly
could not have provided for the children Of
darkness alone. He is sound, strong man
solid and compact in build big-boned and
oad~shqnldered; capable Of work and I'M
mense endurance man who knows how to
eat, who can eat great deal, who enjoys his
eating, and one whom eating does not hurt
a man built for walking, running, and hit
ting out from the shoulder; aud
man who by virtue of his Drawn
and muscle is not afraid of the world, the
flesh, or the devil The application Of all
this lies in the fact that Brother MOODY has
been doing andis now doing more good in the
world than all the dognatists and theologians
combined, these latter classes being always
lean and 1ank, with limp muscles and poor
sto1nachs II all this be true in the case Of
Brother MooD7, it is true in the case Of any
one else, and it is the duty of the church
people to make the physical man as perfect
as possible in order that the spiritual man
may accomplish the largest possible degree
of work. It is utterly impossible that man
with bad blood, weak back, q poor stom-
ach, slimpsy legs, and faccid muscles, can
think clearly, or work hard, or abound in
spirituality Of wholesome sort, Poor cir
culation and weak digestion affect the head,
becloud the brain, enervate the arms, and sou1
the disposition. Hence we look upon base
ball as an aid to grace, because grace abounds
where the heart is fresh and good, aud the
heart is all right where the disposition is
sunny, and the head bright and clear, and the
arms strong, and these ara conditions which
grow outof physical exercise; and of this na-
ture is baseball As matter Of mere physi-
cal importance, why should the worlds peo-
pie monopolize ell the muscle7 Sinners as
rule are inordinate1y healthy. But why
should they have all the healthiness? Have
we not outgrown that silly belief that whom
the gods love die young? Is it not time to
quit seeking to impress upon children the
saintliness Of the little Sunday school scho1-
ars who die young, not because they were
good, but because they have no stomachs
and lungs, and therefore die off like any
other unvNholesome creatures7 For all these
reasons We ca1nmend the action Of Plymouth
Church to the other churches, and suggest to
them that while they are cultivating the
Christian graces they also cultivate their
musc1es, and thus better prepare themselves
for wrestling with Satan, who is handishly
haa1fhv