The more we contemplate the character of Jesus Christ, the more will it rise in beauty and grandeur before our minds. Let us form of him the most noble and lofty conceptions, we shall still see him towering above and beyond them.
It does not require a great mind, but only a holy heart, to see Christ in his majesty and beauty. Thus it is that such a man as Bonaparte, having no just moral vision, no eye for goodness, sees in Christ only a strange being, whom he conceives to be bewildered with his own fancies; while a simple-minded, but still inspired apostle, calls him “my Lord and my God!” See John, 20th chap., 28th verse.
The difference between the worldly spirit of selfish man, and the spirit of Christianity, may be strikingly presented, by selecting two pictures, and placing them side by side. Let us take a picture of Bonaparte, representing him in one of the leading actions of his life—and what do we see? He is fighting a battle; around him are the engines of death; blood flows on every hand; the screams of the wounded, the agonies of the dying, fill the air; the earth is strewed with ghastly forms; the very heavens are black with the smoke of the deadly conflict. And this is human glory! This is human nature!
Christ healing the Sick.
Let us turn to another picture, that painted by West, of which we give an engraving; it is Christ healing the sick. Does not every child see the difference between human glory and Christianity; between the things to which human nature and human pride lead us, and the things to which Christ would lead us? Does not every child see the deformity of one picture when placed by the side of the other picture? How poor, paltry and mean is that spirit which sacrifices all to self! How lofty that god-like spirit, which embraces all mankind in its generous love of doing good! How contemptible is the worldling! How elevated the true Christian!
Going to School.
Why do children go to school—to benefit their parents, or themselves? I sometimes fancy that children make a mistake in this matter, and fancy that they go to school just because their parents will have it so, and not because it is important to their happiness to learn to read, and spell, and write and cipher.