Ashtabula weekly telegraph. (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1880-1886, 1880-06-04
He Knoweth. {"

dOer ln5tinc0Vely seek to hide all evil
dences Of his crimes? He would escape
detection, punishment; but even more,
he would, if possible, entOmb the men,
ory Of his deeds. II he could only for
get, that would be paradise: If he
could only erase the blOod-stained para
graph from the chapter Of life, that
would be blessedness. But no; Just as
soon as he has buried his iniquitv and
smoOthed the surface of the ground so
that suspicion itself would not suspect
and has drugged his memory, there
flashes on his mind the awful thought
that everything connected with his
crime has been seen; its inception, its
preparation, the cunning devices to
conceal, and the equally cunning pleas
to extenuate; everything seen, seen by
the sleepless, piercing, penetrating eye
Of the Almighty. To him that eye Of
sympathy is cold, pitiless, menacing
and malevOlent. Could he but quench
its luster, veil it forever with its infinite
lids, or tear it from its limitless socket,
that a blind God might be the only
ruler Of the universe, he would at least
feel some relief. But that is impossible:
and wherever he goes the eye follows
him, haunts him, and voices, growing
louder and harsher in his soul, cry,
He knoweth, He knOweth,n and drive
him to self-betrayal and despair.
That which is such a terror to guilt is
of inexpressible comfort to innocence.
When misiudged, miscOnstrued, mis-
apprehended, when DETAINED, slandered
and belied, how sweet the thought,
"He knOweth." When the cruel criti-
cisms and wilful misapprehensions of
heartless men have for the moment
shaken ones confidence in the power
of virtue, and in the desirableness of
surTendering life to virtue cause, how
stimulating and strengthening the con-
viction that "He knOweth." God
knows; then let men think and speak
as they please, let them deride and de-
tract as they may. He knows, what
they cannot, the purity of motive, the
grief over failures, the conflict against
evil and the agonizing longing Of the
soul to attain to His likeness. Take to
your hearts this comfort, all who suffer
innocently. Have the men you trusted
betrayed you, involving you in such
financial difficulties that your own Obli-
cations have been dishOnOred, and have
you in consequence been subjected to
censure and reproach? Well, remem-
Der that HE knoweth." Have YOU,
from a sense of duty, pursued a course
that has aroused antagOnism and oppO-
sitiOn, have you been constrained to adj
vocate some unpopular measure OF de-
fend some friendless cause, and have
your efforts exposed you to the charge
of being an agitatOr and disturber?
Let your consolation be, "He know
eth" Have your endeavors in behalf
of humanity, your anxiety to rescue
the fallen, to save the oppressed, and to
tighten the burdens of labor entailed
soothing and ridicule, and have they led
to insinuations touching your disere-
tion, if not your sanity? Well, so be
it, rest in the conviction that "He
knOweth." Has the sanctity of your
home been violated by malicious SLAM
derers, has the genuineness of your
friendship been illuminated by reck-
less chatterers, has the purity of your
name been sullied by conscienceless
villains, has the sincerity of your piety
been questioned by bloodless cynics,
and has the honesty of your motives
been derided by incredulous pessim-
lists? If so, then in your pain, anguish
and Indignation, let the assurance that
"He knOweth' beget calmness and
digniied indifference. "He know
eth," and "He will not suffer the
righteous to be moved;n "He knoweth, :"
and in time ''He will ayenge his own
elect"
The teaching of the text provides an
antidote for the spirit of foreboding. 1t
is very common TO take anxious thought
for the morrow. We are inclined to
look into the future, to draw aside the
curtain that we may discover what it
promises or threatens. Many people
worry over possible ills and evils, and
brooding over them come to regard
them as inevitable. They look for a
dreary morrow that never comes, or if
it comes. that brings with it its own
sustaining angel. Such provision, as
Rousseau declares, only multiplies the
miseries of our state on earth. We
rifle to-day of its sweets, and charge it
with the pOisons of tomorrow. The
strength that is needed to so conquer
the present that it may be made tribu-
tary to the happiness of the future is
wasted in futile meanings and fears.
| There is no greater curse than this, un-
less it is found in that over-sanguine
temperament that dreams of future
good while never working for its reali-
zation. could hardly give a reason
for preferring one of these evils to the
other. The former is perhaps the most
common, and on that account, perhaps,
the one most needing rebuke. Schiller
macher exposes its folly; when writing
to Jette, he says; lit is easy to see
through one pane of glass, but through
ten placed one upon another we cannot
see. Does this prove that each one is
not transparent or are we called to
look through more than one at a time
Double panes we only have recourse to
for warmth; and just so it is with life.
We have TO live but one moment at a
time. Keep each one isolated, and you
will easily see your way through them -
The German theologian in this passage
hints at great truth. God has inten-
tionally veiled the future from His crea-
lures. They cannot see into it, because
He wills that they shall not. And if we
viii but review our past we shall discern
the reason. Shakespeare writes:
so! If this were seen
The happiest-youth viewing his progress
| through,
| What perils past, what crosses to ensle--
| Would shut the book, and sit him down and
die"
Place yourself at the beginning Of
your life, knowing what you now know
| Of its yicissitudes, and the strongest
among you would hesitate to engage in
its progress. And were you to-day tC
] behold- all that remains Won yOuld