The daily Cairo bulletin. (Cairo, Ill.) 1878-1???, 1882-05-28
For the Cairo Bulletin.
"a MODERN SYMPOSIUM"


For the Cairo Bulletin.
"a MODERN SYMPOSIUM"
In this Modem Symposium" Mr.. Fred
erlck Harrison's words stands forth in bold
relief, like evil little isles of Hesperides,
whose glittering fruit tempts the beholder
to touch and to taste, leaving, oft-times, his
heart strewn with dead hopes and shattered
idols of love. He remarks, "How many
whose own faith is too evanescent to be
put into words, profess sovereign pity for
the practical philosophy wherein there is
no place for their particular yearning for q
heaven to come They imagine them
selves to be, by virtue of this very yearning,
superior beings"
And are they not "by virtue of this very
yearning, superior beingsl"
One may imagine the little birds con.
versing, as they probably do, in their own
language, but who can imagine them as
bordering upon the prospect of having
heaven wherein to immortalize their
melody2
Why should God give to man the yearn-
ing for future life if He meant not to
crafty it if the divine Hand bestows,
with such delicate discrimination and
kindly judgment, the instructive
knowledge on animals, with how much
greater care would He have limited or ex-
tended the power of mans reasoning fac.
ultes.
The kangaroo twists together the
branches of trees to form his dwelling.
The cunning little mason, the beaver, con-
structs home, the wild bird nest land
each wild creature seeks or forms its own
peculiar habitation; but as they model
their homes, 30 will they, doubtless, con-
tinue to model them for years 70 come
unlike man, who improves and remoiels
the architecture of his brain and hand with
the flight of each succeeding year What
is it that causes this successive and ever
flowing wave of progression OF human
thought and skill, but the superiority of
man over all of the animal creation; and it
ia this combination of intellect and feeling
that longs for-yes, that trusts even while
it doubts--another life. The idea of God
and eternity exists throughout the world
gittering brightly where intellectual pro-
gression is greatest-yet family shines the
derverted beauty Of its light even in the
heart of the kneeling idolator, the fire.
worshipper and the savage.
But one may not ignore the brilliant in
tollect and bewildering eloquence of such
men as Mr.. Harrison and Ingersoll, whose
lips heap with resisting strength the weight
OF irony, ridicule and argument, upon the
pleading face Of the ideal God, which hides
its loneliness in every heart; but pause not
to taste of tho golden apples toward which
their cynical hands are pointing-the
beautiful fruit whose intoxicating power
brings the silence of death to life's best i'm
pulse--better, like Lord Bachford, say
81 believe because am told" although
all the grandeur, beauty and glory of the
world surrounding u, speak undeniably of
| the existence of the unseen Creator.
If the Maker Of tho universe had fash
toned it merely to amuse Himself-a stage,
whose ever-changing and multiplying d.
versity Of actors and scenery contributes a
continual source Of interest unto His mas
ter-mind, as ran would rear toy city and
people it with the intellectual and auto
matte statues of Heptsestos would he not
have wearied Of II all--all the pillows of
human emotion that roll their blended bit.
terness aud sweetness each moment at His
feet.
If the o'erruing spirit Of mechanical
art could so mould tho perfect symmetry
of physical existence, 1t could as per-
fectly and easily create that mysterious
entity which Mr.. Harrison, with his logical,
and Prof. Huxley with his great biological
knowledge, so scorns.
Of what benefit does Mr.. Harrison think
that his fine mind, knowledge of art and
versatility as writer can be (evon though
lis influence were to be felt throughout all
future generations), il tho whole human
race must, eventually, become as tho dust
beneath our feet. Oh, men of mentul
strength and high worldly aspirations, is
this all the future you may anticipate, or
promise those who forsake the belief Of
Christianity for the frail hypothesis that
treats of nothing-oblivion that folds i'm.
penotrable darkness over not only the
physical but the mental beauty Of life.
Each mind capable Of serious reflection