Yes, and your soul is the source of your beauty, too. In what consists the beauty of a man? Is it a mere regularity of form and feature? Do you judge of a man as you do of a horse or a dog? {412} No; the most exquisitely chiselled features do not interest you, until you see intelligence light up the eye, and charity irradiate the countenance--then you are captivated. A man may be a perfect model of grace in his movements without exciting you, but when he becomes warm with inspirations of wisdom and virtue, when his words flow, his eye sparkles, his breast heaves, his whole frame becomes alive with the emotions of his soul, then it is you are carried away, you are ready almost to fall down and worship. What is the reason that Christian art has so far surpassed heathen art? that the Madonna is so far more beautiful than the Venus de Medicis? It is because the heathens portrayed mere natural beauty; the Christians portrayed the beauty of the soul. And if the soul is so beautiful in the little rays that escape from the body, what must it be in itself? God has divided his universe into several orders, and we find the lowest in a superior order higher than the highest in the inferior order. The soul, then, is more beautiful than any thing material. "_She is more beautiful than the sun, and above all the order of the stars: being compared with the light she is found before it_." [Footnote 161] [Footnote 161: Wisdom vii. 29.] O my brethren, do not admire men for their form, or their dress, or their grace, but admire then for the soul that is in them, for that is the true source of their beauty. It is also the secret of their destiny. God did not give you this great gift to be idle. He gave it for a worthy end. He gave understanding that you might know Him, and free will that you might love Him; and this is the true destiny of man. You were not made to toil here for a few days, and then to perish. You were made to know God, to be the friend of God, the companion of God, to think of God, to converse with God, to be united to God here, and then to enjoy God hereafter forever. Once more, then, I say, do not admire a man for his wealth, or his appearance, or his learning. Do not ask whether he is poor or rich, ignorant or learned, from what nation he springs, whether he lives in a cabin or palace. {413} Let it be enough that he is a man, possessed of understanding and free will, spiritual and immortal, with a soul and an eternal destiny. That is enough. Bow down before him with respect. Yes, respect yourselves--not for your birth, or your station, or your wealth, but for your manhood. "_Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, and let not the strong man glory in his strength, and let not the rich man glory in his riches. But let him that glorieth glory in this, that_ HE UNDERSTANDETH AND KNOWETH ME." [Footnote 162] Yes, my brethren, this is your true dignity, the soul that is in you--the soul, that makes you capable of knowing and loving God.