The Jackson standard. [volume] (Jackson C.H., Ohio) 1847-1888, 1877-03-01


wARPING EFFECT or sIx.
When l hung my hammock up last
summer on the shoes of Lake George.
noticed that the trees nearest the light
at the edge Of the forest had larger
branches than those in the interior oi
the wood; and the same tree would
throw out long branch toward the light
and a short one toward -obscurity in the
interior of the forest just so man
grows toward the light to which he turns.
According to the direction in which be
turns with his supreme affection he
grows; and, as he grows, he balances; and
under the irreversible natural law Of mo
raj gravitation-as fixed, as scientific a
certainty in the universe as the law OF
physical gravitation-as he balances so
he falls; and. according TO science. after
tree has fallen under that law, the pros
trate trunk continues TO be under the
law. and. therefore. as il falls so IL lies.
Under moral gravitation no less surely
than under physical. every free object
that falls out OF the sky strikes on its
heavier side
They showed me at Amherst, the other
day, a meteorite that dropped out OF the
azure. and il struck on which side3 OF
| course on its heavier As the stream
channel, so il runs.
All the mythologies Of the globe recog
nize this fearful law OF judicial blind
! ness.
! Go yonder into Greenland with DR.
| Ranke. and you will find story among
the men Of the lonely North 10 the effect
that il a sorcerer will make a stirrup out
Of a strip Of seal skin, and wind IL around
/ his limbs. three times about his heart.
and thrice about his neck, and seven
times about his forehead. and then knot
il before his eyes. that sorcerer, when
the lamps are put out at night. may rise
into space aud fly whitheTsoever his
leading passion dictates. So we put our
selves into the stirrup OF predominant
love OF what God hates, and predominant
hate OF what God loves, and we coil the
strands about our souls They are thrice
wound about our heart. three times
around the neck, seven times around our
foreheads, and knotted before our eyes
IL the poor savages' yondeT. where the
stars look down four months Of the year
without interruption. are right in their
sublime theory as to the solemnity of the
universe we. too. when the lamps are
out. shall rise into the unseen Holy and
iv whithersoever our leading passion die
tates. Sensation
Greenland says mat hunters once went
out AID found revolving mountain. and
that, attempting to cross the chasm BE-
tween il aud the firm land. some Of these
men were crushed as the mountain 70
volvrd But they finally noticed that
the gnsrled, wheeling mass had red
side and a white side. They waited till
the white side came opposite them, and
then ascending the mountain. found that
a king lived on its summit; made them
selves loyal to him; surrendered them
selves to him. afiectionately and irrcver
-ibly; and afterwards found themselves
able to 90 and come safely. But the
mountain had a red side. and il turned
tfety on IL, except on the
white side end in loyalty to the
King at the summit in the clodds. That
mythology Of the North. lately read for
us by scholars, has in IL eternal verify
and kind OF solemnity like that OF thu
lo..g shining Of the Arctic staIs, and the
tUilbli1g ieebe =, and the pe-ceabls
surgle OF the s'ow.herving Polar Ocean.
lar cleaning rader the Boreal Lig,Its or
the midnight Arctic sun. Stunted. you
might think the meI Of ia Z zone
Why. on the banks Of the Charles yon
le., your Longfellow, taking up n Ger
man poet, finds the same idea in far les
sublime and subtle image-v. and trans
lateS it for its majesty aud truth;
"The mills Of God grind slowly,
But they grind exceeding small"
To me there is in Macbeth" nothing |
20 terrible as Lady Macbeth's invocation |
Of the spirits which produce moral cal |
lousness in the soul There is no passagr |
in that sublime treatise on conscience |
which we call Macbeth so sublime 10 |
me as this on the law Of judicial blind |
ness:
The raven himself Is hoarxe
That eroaks the fatal entrance OF Duncan
Under my battlements. Come, you spirits,
And M me from the crown 10 the toe top-full
Ofdirest cruelty Make thick my blood
stop up the access and passage 10 rcmorse.
..............-..C Come, thick Night, |
That my keen knife see not the wound II
Nor Leayen peep through the blanket Of the |
To cry aHoldi Hold!"
lady Macbeth, act l., scene 5)
The invocation is likely to be uttered |
by every soul which has said Il will not" |
10 the divine II ought" IL is rs sure 10 /
be answered as natural law il to be ire. /
versible Macbeth himself, in a similar |
mood, says:
Come seeling night,
Scarf up the tender eye OF pififul day,
aneel and tear to pieces that great bond
Which keeps me pale. Light thickens, and the
Makes wing to the rocky wood.
(Macbvth, act H., scene ~
Have you EVER offered in the rocky /
wood Of sorcerous temptation a prayer 1
or blindness2 In the nature of thing |
very sin against light draws blood on 1
the spiritual retina.
You say that after death you are to I
have more illumination. and that there .
."re you will reform beyond the grave i
How do you know that you will see
reater illumination. even if you are in
the presence OF it7 How do you know
hat you will love il even il you do see it2 /
lS-nsatinn. There can be no blessed \
ness without holiness; there can be- NO .
holiness without a tree. Hff-ctiOnate ack.
nowled cement OF God as King, or a su
prrme love OF what be loves aud bate OF .
what he hates. Are you likely to obtain
tIesc soon under the law OF Judicial
b idness? You will have what you
like; but do you like the light2 You
have more and more illumination now a.
the years pass2 Do you see III Do you
love itP There are two questions about
this greater light beyond the grave; fret.
wall you see it2 second. will you like il .
Unless you have authority in the name /
OF science for answering both these ques.
tions in the affirmative, you have no .
right ia the name OF science TO rely on a .
mere possibility, on n guess, and take 1
your leap into the Unseen. depending on /
a ripple. !, Tor one. will not do tnis for /
myself and / will not teach others to do /
%. [Great applause, and voice !
Amen
Shakespeare has not LEFT Us in doubt al |