THE ESSAYIST.

South Canterbury Times, Issue 2868, 3 June 1882, Page 2

THE ESSAYIST.

THE THREE GRACES—FAITH, HOPE, AND CHARITY. Faith. The ‘‘three graces,” of well-formed character, aro ? hero placed in the order of their actual succession. Neither deposes the other, but if we examine carefully the stages of mental progress, we find that each succeeding one in its turn holds a higher sway. Faith stands by the cradle, and takes possession of the

dawning intelligence. It is the first phase of the human mind, and it stands in the place which experience occupies in the man. It is the groundwork on which we set about the acquisition of knowledge; on which we cultivate every faculty. A mind void of faith, in its inceptive stages, can never lay up the necessary store of knowledge. In youth one is unformed. The immature mind has no control of its powers, and therefore in laying the foundation of its future progress it must not be troubled with doubts; it must trust implicitly, and believe unquestioningly, what it hears from the experienced. Thus believing it surmounts the first difficulties. Faith is a shelter in which the mind’s powers are cultivated ; and it is prepared for the struggle and vicissitudes of mature life. As the faculties develop and the powers of the intellect begin to operate, the mind passes on to other stages ; but the rudimentary one is and ever will be, faith. The analytic faculty succeeds in due course ; the first business is acquirement, and in this, faith is the one thing needful.