Starting from such a high ideal of man's nature,--that he is created in the "image of God," and as found in the first chapter of Genesis, I think, and in Psalms viii.: "Thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with honor and glory,"--we feel him capable of so much, that our ministers are too busy talking concerning _being_ and _doing_ good to have any time left for denunciation of sin. Our great concern is to raise man in _every_ way. Teach him to be cheerful, looking _forward_ all the time, moving onward and upward, and to find no opportunity to spend in vain regrets,--only looking at his sins long enough to learn lessons from the past, that he may avoid them in the future. Our sins leave a deep stain that will affect us during our lifetime, but the only way to overcome them is to be so engaged in right doing that we rise above them. Now, do you not think this a far higher way of converting men than by dwelling on their weaknesses? Give the world something higher to do all the time, and they will naturally rise to that level. We start from a higher standpoint than the Orthodox, therefore our methods are very different. We denounce sin by avoiding it whenever we come in contact with it, or evil of any kind, and there is no more effectual way of overcoming it. Do you not see why it is we have ceased to speak of it in sermons? We are too busy with the good, the true, the beautiful, to pay attention to the wickedness. Dr. Dewey wrote some stirring sermons, on "Human Nature." The topic of one is, "On the Wrong which Sin does to Human Nature;"--text from Prov. viii. 36: "He that sinneth against me, wrongeth his own soul." That was the former way of dealing with and denouncing sin; but the later way is, to take care always to place the better in people's way, and the sins will fall behind. Think you not so? * * * * * JANUARY 6, 1883. ... We sometimes strain at _words_ when in reality we agree with others. If we would only remember to strive to discover wherein we agree, and not always be looking for divergence of opinion, there would be more of practical piety in the world. Let us open our eyes to the fact that _all_ denominations endeavor to make men better, though they differ in methods; and see to it that we ourselves are true to the highest and best as far as we know it, and the kingdom of God will be hastened in everywhere. Do right for its own sake, and not from fear or hope of punishment or reward. Let me give you a hymn we sang after the sermon last Sunday. The subject was, "This life: why we are in it, and what we have a right to expect of it." The hymn is one of Rev. Samuel Longfellow's, "Life's Mission:"--