Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1875-04-22

telIigence--still 'the greatest study Of mankind
is man" We are equally vigilant in marking
out the steps OF our own advancement and in
watching the progress of others. We sometimes
tyyto elevate ourselves By dragging Others doacn
The man of letters reaches distinction only OF The
risk of being mathematical By hundreds Me-
teor-like, the modern statesman shoots through
the political armament, while thousands watch
his course and rejoice at his final fall. In
spite of all impending dangers, mans desire
for power and notoriety causes him to rush
hesdlong into the mighty current of worldly
affars-there to be borne triumphantly for a
lew short years upon the wave of popularity,
or to be Immediately dashed into the whiri--
pool of destruction. The whole world il one
grand arena where fortune and chance, genius
and energy, are struggling for pre-eminence.
1t is not my intention 70 comment upon the
rewards which await the happy throng who
work in the ways Of truth and Christianity,
nor to account for the degradation of that
class who are devoid Of all physical and spirit
Hal activity.
Man is viewed in progressive state and in
a worldly condition. The argument is that
the difficulties which embarrass modern faith
do not go down TO the very depths Of phioso-
phv, and can be penetrated without reaching
the ultimate roots of thought" The primary
difficulty seems TO be in too little study Of
Nature-too much regard for the applause of
men. We cannot understandingly examine
the tiniest flower, with its apparently unstuded
though remarkable regularity, without a
feeling OF piety. We cannot comprehend the
beauties of the winding brooklet. the grandeur
of the roaring cateract and the sublimity of the
skyward towering mountain, without an
inward desire to worship. The child
should be taught at the freside, at
the day school, and in the Sab
bath school to trace the works Of Divinity in
the objects by which it is surrounded Placed
as we are in universe of words" encom~
passed by objects vast and magnificent, we
should have an overwhelming idea of our
own insgnifcance and exclaim:-"W
is man, Oh Lord, that Thou art mindful
of him." Inspired by the comprehension
of the Divine power and wisdom as
displayed in Nature, we then,
and only then, prepared to grasp faith, or the
Identification of intellectual conviction with
religious belief as the "condition of regener>
alton and acceptance" 1t is next 10 impos-
sible to believe in the gener lsty Of man un
til we know that he has contributed to a right
eous cause, or assisted one of this worlds I'M
fortunates So it is hard to have faith in the
incapable of approaching the utility Of the
productive earth, or the beauty of glowing
sunset 1t is an old saying that the world was
not made in day, and the same is applicable
to the religious growth of the individual and
the moral perfection of the race The steady
growth of civilization and Christianity is in ac
cordance with the Divine plan. Our exposure
to evil is one of the enevitabe conditions of a
moral and free nature. And if the time comes
when the good and the right will always be
chosen, then mans mission on earth viii be
ended. There can be no further advancement,
for the learning and progress of to-day imply
the ignorance and defects of yesterday. In
order to compare the progressive movement
of the natural and moral worlds, and to reflect
upon that sublime power which converts chaos
into order, and superstition into Christianity,
| would have you travel in Imagination along
the line of centuries back to the dismal period
when the'earth was without form and void, and
darkness was upon the face of the deep" I'm
agine yourself upon some lofty pinnacle with
the spangled heavens above, and the surgng
pillows of the deep, and the featureless world
below. 1t is picture upon which none but
the Creator ever gazed, and one whose gloom
we can scarcely realize; yet we may have
some conception of the Earring elements con-
fusedly jumbed together in the Same heap,
the frequent tempests, the agitation of tides
and currents forming roaring cateracts whose
froth and mist were comminged with the
smoke AMI steam Of submerged volcanoes At
this dismal date, how strange, how mysterious,
was the aspect of our planet a vast heaving
deep, a boundless desolation, all wrapped in
dread and impenetrable glooml Mark the
change which has taken place We now see
the fresh green earth stretched out in all its
grandeur and magnificent verdure, with its fair
and enchanting scenes of hill and vale, groves,
and mcads and murmuring streams-the
happy abode of millions of animate creatures
No less strange or dismal than the condition
OF the earth during its chaotic period has been
the aspect of the moral world of mankind
Disorder and conflict, depravity and ignorance,
have marked our race through all the early
periods of its existence Previous to the adj
vent of the Son of Righteousness everything
was lying in moral darkness and gloom. The
precepts of Divine law had been submerged
beneath the turbid waters of ignorance and
The leading men diffused the
miseries which they themselves were doomed
to suffer and perpetrated crimes as black as
night. The Son of God Himself became the
beacon star to guide the wanderer amidst the
moral darkness which had invested the earth.
In spite of this illumination we still walk
blindly and are subject to disappointment,
toll and sorrow. Still, the fact of general pro-
gress is involved in the whole history of man,
and the human race will continue TO be borne
along by its resistless current until it reaches
the harbor of Elysium The time has not yet
arrived to look for perfection in the moral
world The past is what may be called its
chaotic period Untold centuries would roll
away before the completion of the Divine plan,
for thousands of human beings have not yet
heard the name of God. The light set forth by
Jesus Christ was net designed to effect the
complete and permanent illumination of the
globe all at once but was ordained to grow
brighter and brighter until the perfect day.
And the millennium will surely come Our
once fallen race will rise from the depths of
depravity and sin, TO belong to the same virtuous
and happy family, and our once distracted
earth will be the seat of one grand triumphant
assembly.
Everybody felt like applauding Mr..
Brindley's address, but content, how
ever, with displaying their apprecia-
ton in another manner. The hour
growing late, the evenings entertain
ment was brought to close by sing
ing Coronation SAIL hail the
power of jesus name," when the BEN
odiction was pronounced by Rev. S.
w Eaton.
In this connection, believing it will
be feature Of considerable interest,
the HERALD, through the kindness of
Mr. r. E. Murphey, gives the names
the officers, teachers and scholars of
THE CONGREGATIONAL SUNDAY SCHOOL:
OFFICERS.
Observation-Disclosures. Howe.
Assistant Superintendent E. Murphsy.
Librarian-R. K. Mccoy.
Assistant Librarian-Gso. Cox.
TEACHERS.
s. II. rnsworth Jennie Church,