The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1881-01-12

j
to that neEation aud despair besid
The portals of which
That immense solitary spectre waits.
I. has no shape it has nosouud, il has
No place j has no time, it is and was
And Will be il is never more or less
EosgIadu1-sad.it' its nameis No,l.agsers'
That there are higher aud subtlel
organs OF discernment than the dis
cursive intellect, and higher thing,
to be discerned than are dreampt o
in the gross philosophy Of to-day the
lOwiicst men and womenno less than
the most exalted in intellect and
I genius have throughout the whole
recorded history of the race borne
/ an incoutrcvcrtible testimony.
Look upon the awful suhlimity OF
all these cathedral Ornaments that
rise in the astral city of God and ex-
plain to me that mysterious power
which urges the successive and in
finite changes of the universe from
chaos to cosmos with such firm and
exquisite grace. How enchantiun
the rhythm IF its movement.asw with
the sweetest dignity and most uner-
ring Judgment it handles alike
atoms. planets. consultations, toss
inc the golden balls from centre to
circumference and making the en-
pvrean sparkle from bound to
bound with the lively play of the
flashing suns The frozen hearted
atheist and scoffer calls it chance.
the misguided philosopher, q thous-
and fold complexity of force, but
the natural sense of every honest.
scntient man exclaims with CARLYLE:
"Ah it is an unspeakablv GOd-like
thing toward which the best atti-
tudc for Us after never so much wis
dow is awe. devOut prostration and
humility Of soul, worship if not in
words then in silence ~ Sentiment
bids the soul kneel here, for she feels
the breath Of an Infinite Presence
upon the heart Here IS q problem
which no mortal thought or immor-
tai inquiry can evcrsound. The pro-
fame intellect is bafled when
we ask how and whence came this
recnaut force and whittier goes it .
Mystery Mystery And | have Of
ten thought man needs this mystery
Tor the health of his spirit rs he
needs for his phvsical well-being the
sweet iutercession Of overshadowing
night He needs the relief of shade
Tor his mental eve rs well as for his
bodily sight. Without this realmOf
sentiment life would degenerate into
q mere mechanical philosophy, into
an arithmetical calculation, into "a
.ucfui harc and burden.
Science is prolanely arrogant when
she attempts the soluti4 OF meta
physical things, and the man who
would conform life To the cold
neartless. mechanical laws of science.
Dr to the goddess greed of our grow
Ing utilitariaui>m Is an enemy toI
the happiness Of mankind for bel
teaches that which shortcns life and
ncraavcs the day of its light. Blu,
let me not for one moment be un-
.ierstood to dcprcciate Science and
her reql conquests. Far be it from
nae to uudervalue the importance OF
tie intellect in education, or to |
speak disparagingly OF the scientific
mind in its own legitimate province
and function. nor would | cast
OF contempt upon scientific |
pursuits, for this would be about as
rational as the Hibernian who. /
sweating at his work, Indignantly |
smashed the thermometer and then !
Joasted that he had killed the baste |
which made the weather so hot. |
Next to Christianity, science has |
Jecu man S greatest. best friend "a |
shining angel in the pathway of his |
Out of her love for the |
true she has repudiated the false
For untold centuries the earth was !
.addencd by infamous doctrines and |
Science demanded the |
ruth. the everlasting truth, and |
nothing bat the truth, and now the
reeds of fear and the dogmas Of /
Iatc are slowly moving their stiflen-
ny lips in death and man catches
ight from heaven instead OF a shad-
,w trow the pit and looks forward
with immeasurable hope to the
magnifccncc Of the com
ug time. She has swept away our
beliefs and nccessitatcd a
aith commensurate with the grand
IT orbits and universal laws which
,he disclosed. She has given US in
iuitely sublimcr conceptions of the
Universe and more awful views oI
Him who made and rules it. She
Ias forever cradicated the deep root
d prcjudiccs OF race and has
]eCn an efficient agent in bringing |
men into recognition Of 4 univer-
al brotherhood, making them feel
hat all must live for each and each
or all and that our highest interests
ire iudissolublv interlinkCd. She
makes therude forces Of nature the
willing servant of man, disarms the
surgeons lancet Of its teTors, and
ransmu.Cs the agonies of the flesh
uto tranquil dreams. Who can help
-eycre her power and triumph in her
But there are things which she can
lcvcr do and which she IS arrogant
ID attempting TO DO. She can never
inalyze and formulate the real life
IF things. She reveals the uuderly
ug laws of nature, but does not
ouch that subjective state OF feel
ng which beauties and vitalizls
his life and world OF ours. She
knows tie chemical substances oil
space. analyzes and measures
t with its heights and its deeps, its
,arths and Its suns, lis stuffs and its
shows, still the material universe Is
put a sprinkling Of dust upon the
spiritual All which incloses it and .
'0rever and forever beyond the /
'urthest sweep Of her materialism
md positivisIl there must remain
A glory veiled to her sight, /
A voice her ear hath never heard.
\ law 10 hand can write,