The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1879-04-24

q spiritual eVideaes; canal hops, mo
e1fual Srldeoea. Tha value q bon,
tharolole, dsFsndS up0n to ehafaGisF q
Ioandatioa. An msn cherish hopa-ol
and yo11g rich and poor, learned AID q
! learned, saint aud sinner. Il Ft0Uu !
brightly, almost. 10 the eabin q he poo
; e N The paVllion Of royalty "a the bal {
the A8Vags - IN The palace Of the eiViiirs
ard learned. Il liySs amid the wreck !
~ earthly thlngl, AID hngsfs With u
siek and dying long IilsE physicians hav
veg them, and departs Oaly with The lAr
quiVeEas L passes IRON the lips; and hoI
wonderful lll creations; bow Astonishinl
~ tahciell Il paints the most beautiiu
pictures and WOlVes the most gOFRe0u
images. With The aid Of The Imagination
u invests the lntufo with taiFess delights
and holds them up - living realities 10 a
lure % on IN the journey Of life. AnC
there u nothing which Il cannot do. II
bow spans the darkest clouds: ia "a
relieves the dAFkest night An anRe
Whooe sweet ministries We never miss
and whose kind offices never iuil; n,
never hope for pain, or misery, or defeat
wreck, OF disappointment. We hope fol
victory, success, gain, and for 10y and
peace. Hopes office Il never 70 paint
shadows or clouds with gloom, nor to
dIaPe with sorrow or despair. i Is 4
lower with no ihOTns, cup with no Bit.
ternesi ever blooming, ever sparkling aud
overtloWing
All men, too, have the hope Of a better
lie and 3 glorious inheritance beyond this
world. You hear II in the prayers and
zee Il In the flowers which the Chinese
offer 10 the names OF their dead and de-
parted ancestors. II shOne in the lamps
whose brightness lighted up the sepulchers
OF Greece aud Rome, You see evidence
oil Us existence in the iadeless Wrealhes
which they hung upon their tombs. IL IA
more manifest in the burial rites Of the
the savage Indians, q the plumed aud
painted and grim cid warriors in silence
deposit the bow and arrow with the body
OF their liieless companion ~ they lay il
away In It's grave, that he may engage in
the Chase In the land OF spirits. And there
is no sinner, no matter how wicked and
vicious and debauched his life, that does
not Indulge hope, even in his widest
reyeHes, Of happy existence In the in.
visible world beyond. What magic power
has hope! 1t Is to this life like the air
heated by tho sun that draws up into liz
bosom vast quantities OF wafer IRON the
ocean, leaving all the salt behind; and not
OnlyaraWB from the salt sea, but dlstills
for Us own use the pure liquid from a
stagnant pool which men permit TO tester
around their dwellings, leaving all the
filth behind. Hope draws from this mol.
luied world and from the most wicked lie.
the puTest expectations and the most
alluring prospects, leaving below all bit
terneas and sin. Holiness has not made
Us walls Of adamant 30 high that they have
no hope Of climbing over Eternal Justice
has not forged chains strong enough to
bind their souls In hopeless torment. The
eternal decree Of God, though change
less rs His infinite, immutahle nature can
make It, has not made It's iron gates 30 70.
cure against all unCleanneRs that they do
not expect in some way to force their way
through. They weave their expectations
from the tiimaiest material, and although
they know these iancies to be creatures OF
their own conceit, still thew cheer and
comfort, at times Of least, the same as il
they were real and certain.
imaginings and gossamer dreams? He
says that they are properly no hopes at
all. Without God and without hope in
the world is the picture he draws OF the
unconVerted, and certainly their expecla.
tons have no substantial basis, and conse.
quently can never be realized; and, there
fore, in no sense are they hopes at all. I
call that no light-no true light-that be.
guiles and allures my feet into boys and
quaRmires, increasing my wanderings and
bewilderment, and multiplying my dan.
ger and exposure. ! call that man no
friend at all, who cleaves TO me in sun.
shine when all goes well, like bees to the
flower when It is full OF life and sweetness,
when 1t opens It's treasures Of nectar 10
their hungry lips, and leaves me when
my back Is TO the wall and enemies are
closing in and around me. cali that no
refuge at all, that the bird sometimes finds,
flying in widest confusion to escape the
violence Of the sweeping storm, and hides
itself in the fiSsure Of the rock, escaping
the wind, but overtaken with the flood.
So 1t is that call that no hope at all that
throws around me It's glittering charms
while life lasts, bat departs with the sigh
which the body yields up its soul unto the
hands Of God. There are no hopes OF iu.
ture aud eternal good. that are worth the
cherishing. which do not rest on the
pledge aud promise Of Jesus Christ. ALI
other hopes are without foundation, who
wants, therefore, 10 play with dreams,
like Damocles at his banquet, when dread
and danger hangs over US as the sword
was suspended over him, hanging from
the roof by a single hair!
On what does the sinner rest his hope,
as another has said, God, they say, is
merciiul: We have been guilty, no doubt,
OF many bad actions, but We are not SO
bad as wo might have been, or as some
others are. II God did not mean US to in
dulge our appetites why did he give them?
He does not, cannot expect perfection
from those in whom He has planted pas
sions more powerful than reason, and
whom He has placed in circumstances Of
all but irresistible temptation; youth must
SOW its wild oats; We will grow better as
we grow older, and find leisure TO repent
before we die. Or, 1t may be on the ex.
peCtation that he may be able to practice
deception, or perhaps he thinks there may
be some mistake about the teaching OF Gods
word; or perhaps God may gloss over the
hard paris Of the requirement Of His
law, or change His mind, and the end will
be we'll. Or, after all, the Bible may not
be inspired at all, as 1t Is claimed to be.
Others have more rational grounds Of
expectations. II they are not trusting
Immediately and personally for salvation,
they have at least general trust, They
have some OF the forms Of religion, and
live, morally, an unexceptionable life.
They say their motives are pure, their
their dispositions charitable, and that thOy
do many generous acts. They sanction
order, patronize the church, encourage
education, frown upon vice, and disap-
prove OF immortality. Or they may found
their hope upon a change ofieeling long
since experienced, which they supposed
was religion, or some vision Of the cross
and Christ which they had; or on the
mere subsiding Of an alarm that an awak.
ened sinner experiences, and the compar-
alive peace consequent upon that, The
mere cessation Of fear produces kind Of
Al. ...... l., ..,ls,, n,,I kanFt0sf,,1