The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1870-05-04

Is ever presenting to the mind OF DcllcFers
as the happiest consolation for all trials on
earth and for the brief and unsati sfactory
term of earthly existence.
Now, then, the distinction between natu-
ral laws and general providcnces food and
the special providence is clear and Definite
So much so that mistake is hardly posi-
BILE. Casualties reierable to natural causes
are of everyday occurrence, and all see
that they are so referable and they must
ever continue as long as men neglect the
teachings Of experience, and disregard OF
resist the laws Of nature. We see houses
fall on account of defective workmanship.
Steam-engines explode for the same reason,
and sometimes from ignorance, or neglect.
or avarice-bridges fall in, railroad
accidents of many kinds, fires, ships lost at
sea, &C., &C. These casualties are all ac-
counted for by philosophy that leaves no
room for speculation or mystery.
And yet with reference to all this class of
disasters there is proneness amongst men
to comment upon them in style that leads
ignorant and superstitious people to con-
cial providence that there is some NANTES
tation of Divine wrath in them; that the
"hand of God" is in them all; that the
Creator is not satisfied with His great work
Of the creation and the wonderful laws
which so wonderfully carry out His plans,
but must interrupt them every now and
then for special objects of punishment that
Ifa To nj pto fol In, 10 hn
ring and unfailing retribution provide. j. =
His general l ws, ~. nts quicken then
an extra special act of pun
ishment. Surely man need not long for sucl
extraordinary manifestations. The punish
mcnts under the general providence are, one
would think, sufficient to satisfy the most
exacting lover of wrath. Yet we see this
fondness for sensational wrath so great that
men of Intelligence declare in the very face
of vivid truth, showing how disaster has
come from contempt of the sublime natural
law, that it is special visitation of Proyi-
dence.
The danger of this line of defamation is
that the unlettered and supcrstitious will
take it as authority for their own wild
views of divine vengeance. They see God
specially everywhere; but always to their
own advantage. They bring Him to their
defence in person, politics, and religion,
and, under the impression that He will
readily commingle in their petty disputes
and favor their own fanaticism, they ap-
peal to Him necessarily to strike His blows
for them, and to bring confusion and Gu
lamity upon their enemies.
How shall intelligent men disentangle
themselves from the inconsistencies of de-
clarations which lead these poor people to
the double assurance that they are right:
To-day theatre burns, tomorrow a
church-men perish while indulging them
selves in vice, others while at prayer-one
day drunken man is thrown from his
horse and is killed another, q pious old
lady or an aged and beloved bishop, falls
and dies. Little children, the types of in
nocence, perish in flames. And the lost and
abandoned are eyer falling by disasters. Is
God thus continually by special agencies
manifesting his anger? If SO, what are his
purposes? This indiscriminate visitation
certainly leaves no room for any satisfac-
tory solution of them. No. These things
are wrought by the general Providence,
which is SO clearly distinct from the special
that they ought not to be COMPOUNDED. If
q railroad train falls through a bridge every
one understands that il is because the bridge
was not strong enough to hold it; but
were railroad train to come rapidly to
river the bridge over which was washed
away, and were nevertheless to 90 straight
on, unsupported by visible rails, through the
air safely to the opposite bank, everybody
would see that that was q miracle and SO
we may say of the recent heart-rending ca
lamity at the Capitol that had the floor sup
ported the people upon 1t after the girder
broke that would have been miracle. But
they went down, and the event took the
undoubted form Of casualty under the
natural laws, the general providence of AL
mighty God.
And where is the need of taking any
other view Of it Is there not enough of
mystery In those general laws? Are they
not altogether incomprehensble to us? Do
they not sufficiently manifest Almighty
power to invoke our highest devotion, our
adoration9 May we not use such an event
with all desirable efficacy in impressing the
human mind with sense Of our own
weakness, short-sightedness, and depend
encep Does it not sufficiently impress us
with our general community in danger,
disaster, and death? Are not these suth-
cient to arouse our moral sensibilities OF
obligation to God and to one another-and
OF the indispensable necessity of the prac-
tice Of the virtues Of forbearance, forgive
ness, bcnevolence, and charity? Surely the
examples we have witnessed in this city
during the past week should satisfy us that |
thew RFe. We have been all powerfully
Impressed with ss the sublime aud awful les |
son that we are destined toshe common fate |
OF death, and that that fate is hanging over
,,s, and may fall upon us in moment with
ont warning and without apprehension
and ont Of this there 10 enough for teachers,