Mower County transcript. [volume] (Lansing, Minn.) 1868-1915, 1878-12-12

versity is the first path to truth" Long
fellow says: "How sublime thing it Is
to suffer and be strong" Thus you
might read all day from the books
Of the great. You will find that over
adversely they all grow eloquent.
And we cannot read their utteran.
ces without feeling that trials are
wings, by which man flies from the mire
to the cloud. And trials are as great a
benefit to the nation as they are to indl
v,duals. A writer standing as Tar back
as Julius Caesar, said: that no nation
could endure long continued prosperity,
and that when the immortal Gods desire
to punish people, they permit that peo-
pie first to enjoy unbounded success" "
Neither art. nor philosophy, nor chivalry
have ever t1ourished in easy times. Gre.
clan art, Latin chivalry and Saxon CIV
ilization have all resulted from sharp
conflicts, as the N;ghtengale's lay is born
Of the darkness, and the Eagles flight
IS the inspiration Of storms. tits one ofthe
great compensations OF such hard times
as those through which we are passing,
that they bring to our attention, with
powerful emphasis, the great truths
which underlie the welfare of society, and
upon which all true prosperity rests. In
times of attluence, an easy habit Of life,
mastered by no strong convictio ns, seems
to answer the end of living. But when up
lleavals come, and society is shaken; when
principles that have been trusted, fail
when the foundations are shaken, and only
those things which cannot be shaken, re-
main: then we awake to the realization
Of need, which the soft summer time
did not reveal, the need Of convictions,
of loyalty to conscience, Of conformity to
eternal principles, Of a morality and q
reli gion that will not fail in the final dav
that tries every mans work, of what sort 1t
u.s. Such revealing time has come to US
pow, and we shall yet praise God for 1t.
| What we call "hard times," are really,
from this point Of view, the best tor US.
They are certainly good times which do
US the most good, which develops the
best character in man, and the lghtest
| civilization in the nation. Looking back
over our history, we cannot but be thank.
| full now tina, a "wild" shore welcomed
our forefathers Of New England, and that
the nights otteu resounded with the yell
of the savage. Had tropical land, full:
of perennial fruits, received them, they
| bo,
nation would have been here. A few
semi-barbarous whites would now have
been eating bread-fru,t, where we see the
pageant of liberty, and the fifty millions
of stalwart men. So the next age, look
ing back, will be glad that our nineteenth
century dragged its way along through
MANY a struggle, anG was from year to
year, plunged into difficulties so deep,
that 1t was saved from that deadly stupor
which comes from luxury and repose.
The tribulations of the present time will
work patience, and patience will work
experience. They will tend to produce
frugality, and temperance, and self con-
| troll A higher type Of politics IS likely to
result from the hard times. By politics
mean a true scienceof government. The
world has never vet realized the true DEM
ocratic idea Of government where the
supreme power Is in the hands OF the
people. Nor has America realized as
vet the true republican idea Of d common
wealth., where, by the spontaneous sutfra-
yes of nation, the fittest citizens are
called to represent and maintain the pop
ular rights. Indeed, our pr esent machine
polltics,is is only the worst species Of oligar-
cly. Practically, the government is not the
people, but the demagogues. But hard
times like these are teaching the people
to think. They will yet rise above party
dictation, and prove to the world, that
there is an American people, and gen.
uine republic. A higher type OF religion
will result from the present times, or
rather the reproduction OF the older and
better type. God has ever developed the
higher christian life in times of trial.
We have reason to be thankful, then,
| in the amidst of the hard times, when we
think of the divine purpose 10 be accom-.
plished by them.
II. We have reason to be thankful IN
our bard times, because hard as they are,
| they might be worse. While adversely
has its 'uses," as we have said, yet there
NAV be point beyond which its useful
| ness ceases. When the conflict IS so
severe, and so prolonged, that "hope" is
crushed, then we are defeated, instead of
blessed, by adversely. We have reason
to thank God that we have not come to
that point, and that in all probability we
shall not. While the times are hard, yet
we cannot but bless God, for the measure
of life and prosperity visible to-day, and
for the fair prospect that spreads out be-
fore us. Tr,bulation, if we wait long
enough, will work patience, aad this
patience will bring experience, and this
experience bring "hope." We enter the
door Of tribulation and come out through
the door of hope, and the circle is com.
plete-the miracle of grace is accomplished
The fact generally is that while some great
evil is being combatted in front, an un-
expected good is moving up in the rear
While our land is now bending under
monetary depression, It is receiving grand
re-enforcements, not in the shape of silver
or gold. Its mind is awake and bright
1t never enjoyed better literature, or 4
better agriculture, or art, or religion. In
all our magazines, and reviews, and more
lpretentious volumes and religious papers,
there flows as pure, and rich, and broad
thought, as has honored any century Of
the world. Our age emitting nothing.
Not question in mathematics or astron-
omy, or agriculture, or education, or gov.
ernment, or religion, is passed by; but
all are reviewed, and under the light of q
learning and personal liberty, which
for the first time, met IN our favored era.
There Is controversy, it is true, but that
only proves that there is life.
Let none of US indulge the suspicion
that the depression and stagnation Of the
last few years, is to be the condition for
the future. The tribulatiOn has been
longer than that which has attended other
periods of depression IN our history.
But the causes which produced it, were
much deeper than any we have ever
known before. It was not speculation
simply, or q wanton extravaganza on the
part Of many who had not the means
honestly to indulge, such tastes and ap.
petitos. These have contributed to our