JiitHdint,
work, :i sensitive, conscious substance, is
to st tuid eternally? If tlie unconscious
vegetable life selects ethereal nliinent out
ot" licnps of rubbish, willi which to grow
into such exquisite fashions; on what
sh MiM 1 feed, lint may grow into tin
likeness of the ab-olu'e perfections of
G al? i mint have spiritual food.
A i inspired writer munis the different
elements out of whicli spiritual tiianhoMd
is t i h j eo istruoic I, when he says, Wind'
soever things are true a id pure and lovely
or beautiful, ami of g iod report, if there
be any virtue, think on these tiling's."
Fir.st and preeniinunt is Truih. It is
not only to be the foundation upon whicli
to build a perfect manhood, hut it must
permeate every muscle and sinew, every
vein and nerve. Absolute truth is that
perfect fitness of things which constitutes
the fundamental law of the Universe,
For an individual to bj true is to be con.
formed to that Illness of tilings, and to be
in perfec accord with it. Kxaet conform.
Hy to our relations, physical, social and
spiritual, and to have all our powers at
tuned to perfect harmony, is the ideal. It
is cay to stti'u what Irii'h is in general
terms; it is diilieult to trace it in its minii.
tia.
What is truth? Within the tango in
which we are acting is a question of mo
loent nii import. To solve it is the main
hu tines' id' life The saying floating
about in our litei afire ami conversation,
" It in iltui-s little what we believe, if only
sincere," is a pernicious falsehood. What
ever of error wu m iy gather about our
.structures inut be consumed as hay
wood and stubble. However sincere wu
may have been in lining xitch materials
we shall stiller loss. All accumulations
of error, however spacious and imposing,
arc to be burned up, and the time and en'
ergy devoted to gathering and piling them
are wasted.
We may make a distinction between
error and fal uhootl. Drror may be uti.
consciously gathcied, falsehood cannot
be. Perfect sincerity i required of us,
vus:l, !&wjrfc&ke'
...!
perfect knowledge is not. Falsehood en
lers into a character and viciates it ; err rs
are rubbish gathered about it, and may bn
destroyed without necessitating its do
.structiou. The noct element which enters into this
gr.i id building is Purity. Pu.tily of heart
is lli.it quick and sensitive delicacy to
which even I lie very conception of sin is
oU'eiisive. It is that disposition whicli
turns instinctively from the very appear,
mice of evil. We may beautify it by
thinking on whatsoever is lovely.
The home of beauty is in the nature of
fSod. Ills care of the beautiful is ex
hibited in all His works. IJenuly adorns
everything He has made The grandest,
most awful revelations of His Ompipo
tencc are fringed and studded with beauty.
As we shudder on Hit! verge of the nv.
fill chasm into which Niagara with thun
dering roar plunges its waters, we see the
inellable iris and Hashing foam combining
to crown this gulf witli radiant beauty
Emotions of awe and dread thrill us'
while sweet emotions of loveliness bless us,'
Loveliness is the robe and crown of a
holy character. Things of good report
an unstained reputation, is the fragrance
of .t beautiful life. Truth, obiUtif,Jntirit
and puriii, make up the substance of a
character we all may build. Loveliues.s
is the outward adornment, a good icpori
is its savor. Character is summed up in
tht strong term, ct'rtw. Its adornment
and fragrance are expressed in the term
praise.
" As a man th'nketh, so is he." Never
was a truer saying than this, which has be
come a proverb. It is by thinking that, the
spirit feeds. Every person is what their
thoughts have made them. Genius is
power to think closely and persistently
Thought has made all the difference of
intellectual growth, and achievements so
marked in human history. The dispar
ity of moral character and conduct ex
hibited by mankind can all he traced to
the same source, how, ignoble things
attract thought, as the deceitful cup at-
