Morning journal and courier., 1881-09-26

cno1ce DetWeen two ways or Jodg1ng the ol- vine government The judgment in the case is, after all the arguments are in, still largely 8 matter of choice. If the Lord be God serve him. This is the call which issues from the mys- terious recesses of the divine sanctuary when we stand upon it's threshold to inquire into the wisdom and justice of the Infinite. If there be no ruler who is, though so severe,
 still loving father; if there be no goal of
 transcendent interest toward which through
 the weary ages the world is speeding onward,
 then we may well hush our inquiries and
 drown our voices and complaint before
 heaven in the waters of oblivion and sorrow.
 But if there be God and he is speeding his
 universe toward it's goal, then we may well be
 comforted and triumphant through the as-
 surance of the final good which is promised
 to our faith. drop then the reasoning
 which is addressed to the intellect and offer
 you the exhortations which are addressed to
 faith. ''ShalI not the judge of all the
 earth do right ?'' Answer the question
 by being holy even he is holy.
 Whatever sorrows you may have gone
 through in this life they will be worth their
 cost if they help you upward in Christ-hke
 character. Do not estimate too highly what
 men are wont to call happiness and success,
 the good things of life. There is one God for you to be like-Christ Most of the perplexity and all the bitterness drops out of our questioning into the righteousness of COQ when we are cn16Qy bQOu&AI1u1 LO be righteous ourselves and to make others righteous is the great end of this present
 life. These great calamities, as we call them from our point of view, are but the slight bruises of life, of the life itself, the soul be saved Strive to be holy and help others into holiness. Then you will be surer that God can do no wrong and look to the end look to the end and sing:
 His purposes will ripen fast,
 The bud may have bitter taste,
 But sweet will be the nower."
 The weariness is forgotten in the resting. The wounds heal when they are brought to the balm of Paradise The heartache is cured when the heart that aches touches the sacred heart of Jesus. ''The way
 may be weary and thorny and the road,
 but the way and the road is into the bosom
 of our God. Not to anticipate those eulo- gIstic and memorial remarks which more fitly fall upon the morrow. the day appointed for
 the burial of our lamented President but
 we are recalled to certain great truths which
 concern our national and private life we are
 offered the fruit1on of great promises by
 this sad event. We are recalled to the thought:
 l. God is the Lord and dispenser of all events in the national life. No other nation is so grounded as our own in the deliberate, self-conscious recognition of this great truth. We receive inheritance far richer than that of ancient Israel. How much of this in
 heritance we were dissipating. God laid his hand on the nations heart, beating as 1t were with every wild and selfish passion and
 hushed 1t into a momentary rest God, our refuge, becomes known to us because we are forced to acknowledge God as our judge, and what an effect !, II. The doings of God as our judge are perfect in rectitude and truth. This perfect rectitude and truth have characterized all
 that God has done in our recent afaiction. It does not belong to me or any human speaker to attempt the complete justification of the rectitude of God. This great and
 consoling truth is to be accepted as integral part of our religious faith. Doubtless God will in the future make us see it more clear | ly. But we may never feel confident as to I the precise reasons which might justify the divine rectitude to our finite minds. The l speaker here alluded to the case of President Lincoln. He said certain suggestions 1 may perhaps be permitted if moder- ately offered. We have fallen into great evil, being second in our national life | to that of slavery itself. The evil of goddess and interruptions ambition which was just as | surely as slavery and much more rapidly than | slavery eating out the national honor, the na- l tional purity, the national life. Has God 1 struck decided blow at it? We hope so. | We were cultivating practical disrespect for l private virtues and especially for pure Christian faith in public men. What an ex-
 ample of the opposite, and how appreciated
 it would seem! We had ceased largely to pray for our rulers, a daily privilege and safe- guard for our national ife
 This God, the Judge, is our loving and gracious Father in Jesus Christ. This Abra- ham and Moses did not know The speaker | closing remarks were extemporaneous and
 heard with great attention and deep interest.
 The meeting closed with singing Jesus, 1 Lover of My Soul" United memorial ser l vices will be held at Center church this morn | ing at Il o'clock.