Delaware State journal and statesman., 1862-03-04


"There were present at that season, some
a. that told him of the Galileans, whose blood
"pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. And
"Jesus answering said unto them Suppose
"ye that these Galieans were sinners above
"all the Galileans, because they suffered these
"things tell you, nay but except ye re-
"pent, ye shall all likewise perish. On those
" eighteen, upon whom the tower in Sloan
" fell, and slew them think ye that they were
sinners above all men that dwelt in Jeru-
"salem tell yOn. nay hut except ye re-
" pent, We shall all likewise perish. "-LuBR,
18th CHI, l, 2, 3, and y.
The ways of the Lord are equal, though
they may not always appear so to men
he has no fayorites, all men stand alike
in His presence, The microscope reveals
the perfect tree, shut up in the enclosure
Of the seed hut the eye Of Infinite Wis
dom sees deeper still to its sight, the
tree had grown, and IFS fruit had ripened i;
year by year its. appointed burdens had
been borne, its work had been flushed, its
time and place had disappeared and had
been forgotten by all minds but One and
its substance in myriad forms had traced
the circle of an Eternal Use before the
world on which it was to grow had been
| formed
So is it with man. The Lord, as saith
the Psalmist, "lashioncth all their hearts
alike, and He appoints one and the self
same way of salvation for them all; lie
secs our tend from the beginning and
looking through the diminished years by
which we aid onr feeble computations, He
scans the eternal circle of our being, and
whether we rise or fall, His Providence is
Mercy, Justice, Love holding all things
within the boundary Of Infinite Use. We
move in finite spheres and travel on from
beginning TO end, from beginning ia
end again, measuring off for ourselves
little arcs of the infinite round that
are "nothing, less than nothing, and
vanity" to Him who has planned for us
an endless chain of change, and growth
and usefulness. We reason without 6
glimmer of eternity in our thoughts, and
so we reason blindly. We place our end
here or there, at some point in the coming
years the period approaches, but the enc
is not reached, as we had dreamed it would
be. The field is wider than before; We
think, and work, and feel for time, and
the world, and self and led captive by
these loves, are unwilling to reflect thai
the Lord, in all His Providence, can see th'
selfish interests of no creature, though He
provides for the good of ALL There is nc
time in His calendar. When He says "be
ginning" He means from eternity" there
can be no other beginning with Him
When he says "end," He means "tt
eternity" when He says "times" anC
Seasons, and days" and "years," HI
is endeavoring to shadow forth through
and to the feeble sense of man, the though
of states of life that shall change forever
of growth that shall never end, of use
which means labors of love, that shal
cease no more. The river of life flows OIL
forever, its 'unreposing floods" have neve
! yet found the realms of silence, and neve
. will. Everywhere its murmurs, charged
with fathomless meaning, have led captiv
o and will lead, the listening sons of men
d urging them to explore its mysteries, t
!, follow its diviner currents, and to obey ii
7 laws, forgetful of self and the smalle
n compensations.
/ But how dear to the heart Of mau al
the delusions of the moment Some, fc
is the sensual pleasures of the passing hou
which like the Dead Sea apples turn
ashes on the tongue, will barter the hol
peace of years Some, the wiser /" chi
dren of this world" see further, aud graf
at Joys that do not end so soon; thoug
at no living moment would they dare
ds peep beyond the limit which they theI
ID selves can discern. They choose refine
", and apparently, exalted modes of esca
g; ing the inevitable trial between the man
W self and his Makers universal love-
isr Nothing to them the degrading pleasu
r, of an hours intoxicatioH and riot. Th
! pull down those barns and build create
lay the plans of years, which are to cor
laden with the wealth of honor peace, al
troops of friends, with small alloy Cup
the surface) Of human weakness, and fir
from mortal cares. But then come aft
rs all, the internal hunger and the appallii
ate sense of instability, even when human W
oa eat dom has exhausted its means of attainil
'pt to selfish security. Laws are powerf
sDt they multiply them government has fort
up they make il irresistible. But man is
mighty to mar as he is to make, and
revolution of a year demolishes the VIC
of centuries; and the Lord, who
yea. mightier than all, masters the revolutiC
all and makes the infinite purpose at last o
weigh the finite
l. But let us not con6ne the efforts of
man too much. Suppose him free to do
= utmost; one generation says he, is !
ing enough for man to toll for; there
others dear to me, who shall come afi
therefore work for perpetuity beyond