Necessity ov Development.
103
capable of doing much good in the cause
of Immunity. Then if we possess these
qualifies, may wr let them shine out be
fore the world, that our hands may not be
stained with the blood of a fallen race.
Look in yonder orchard. Just admire
that beautiful tree loaded with delicious
fruit. Here is the large, plump and fair
apple which you long to taste as soon as
the eye falls upon it. There is another,
which presents u far different aspect. It
is small, knotty and badly formed. Once
tins bid as fair to be large and fine as the
other. The bud and blossom were there,
but from some unforsecn cause it was, as
it were, nipped in the bud, and bihold the
re-ult; one beautiful and longed for, the
other withered and despised.
Again, pick up an ear of corn. It pre
sents a tine appearance, yet it is somewhat
defective. Here you find a grain missing;
thera, one partly developed, and so on.
But as the grain of corn stands related to
the car; as the apple to the tree; so we
stand related to the world. Yet, while
the apple, or grain of corn, which corres
ponds to the mortal body, may not be iul
ly developed, and for which nature must
answer, yet, for the developing of the no
bler part of man, the great elevating prin
ciple, we, standing as we do amidst the
intelligence of the univcrsc,are, to a great
extent, individually responsible. This is
a duty which we owe to our Maker, lias
not he who holds the waters in His con
trol a perfect right to expect fruit from
the nlantinu of His own hands? And arc
wc not under the most solemn obligation
to requite the care of an indulgent parent ?
For a moment, let 3our attentiou becen.
tcred upon the little cloud as it ascends
from the peaceful bosom of yonder ocean.
See it as it nears its destination, larger,
larger, still larger, it grows, carrying the
visible effects of a guiding hand, and soon
the voice of (he Almighty is heard to
speak out in thunder tones, giving the sig
nal of an approachiug storm. Shortly,
this messenger of the heavens is seen to
begin its work. It sweeps along, giving
drink to the parched earth, in obedience
to the Providence that guides it. Being
developed, and its' mission accomplished,
it passes by, leaving the world and its in
habitants rejoicing on account of its re
cent visit. Ought we not, then, to be wil
ling to go where the unseen Hand shall
lead us. Wc see the stars, those gems of
evening, sparkling in the ethereal vault of
heaven's own blue, each keeping its ap
pointed place in the gorgeous ante-cham
her of the Almighty, speaking in unmis
takable terms of the harmony of his hand
iwork. Each star, according to its size
and brilliancy, throws light on all sides.
Just so with men. And as the only way
our true and intrinsic value can be known
is by the development of our ni'-iitnl as
well as physical powers, then it l.ccomes
our duty to develop, so far as possible,
in orber that our mission may be accom
plished, and that we may, to some extent,
liquidate this debt which wc owe to our
selves, to our fellow men, and to our God.
As the inlluence of a faithful mother
lingers with the child long after her last
sun has set, as the water is carried far
from the fountain head, so that which
shall emanate from this central spark of
intelligence shall not only shed its efful
gent and beauty-beaming rays to-day, but
shall hover over the future as a lamp to
the feet and a light to the pth of poster
ity. But it is a law of gravitation that
the river cwn never rise higher than its
srurcc. This is a principle that always
holds good, and it comes to us here with
more than usual interest as being particu
larly applicable to our theme. Of what
can you conceive which has a higher
source than the mind, which has been
plunged down, as it were, from its high
and lofty estate, and given this mortal
clay for its habitation, only to be fitted for
a glorious beyond. Then, if this is the
case, it is capable of rising to a very high
degree of perfection, and the higher the
order, and the more cultivated the intel
lect, the more nearly it confonns to the
demands of its giver.
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