The Wellington enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 1867-188?, 1884-10-29


world is full. We must bow 10 the fact
as we accept of darkness and light, calm
and storm, beauty and deformity, youth
and old ago, laughter and tears. In the |
midst of these twin forms stands God,
omnipotent but good, infinite but our
Father.
Dark as is this battle-scene 1t may be
cloud that shall hang over only part OF
human history, for 1t may be man has yet
long career to bo run. God reckons In
millions, not in tens. What seems to us
perpetual may prove to have been tran
sient, for in the long unwindlngs Of futur
ity Drag on and his army may dwindle in
to forlorn hope and leave the earth al
bright in m illennial glory.
The evil in humanity has suffered many
attacks and defeats. In the garden Of
temptation only part have fallen. Michael
and his angels have appeared in every
sky. Egypt, Persia, Arabia, India, Greece,
Italy have all sent great sons into the
field in all historic periods. Noble wom.
en- have appeared to check vices; philan-
thropists have come here and there like
palm trees in the desert. But the war
upon evil began to assume larger proper.
tions only with the coming of Christ.
Compared with the foes evil met in that
day oil other foes had been sympathetic
friends. Christianity differs from all 9th
or religions in the terrific quantity Of its
assaults upon sin. The Asiatic and Egypt
ian noralists were dreamers compared
with st. John and st. Paul, and Socrates
nI I1l..NA .nII oh ha1
against the life Of Jesus Christ. Up tc
the advent Of our Lord good men had
taught virtue and had practiced it, but they
hadlnot hurled the moral law at the world
as 1t was hurled by the hands that were
afterward nailed TO the cross. The He.
brew race began really the mighty battle,
lecause not long after Isaiah and Ezekiel
and Daniel had gone without homes,
clothing and food that they might traverse
all roads and paths with their denuncia.
tions of sin and eulogy Of virtue, along
came John of the Wildeiness with his raj
ment of cameps hair, to be followed soon
by Him of the seamless coat and Of resist
less power. Those were tho days when
essays upon virtue gave place to warnings
that sounded like thunder; days when
poets and artists stepped aside to make
room for heroes and martyrs. Not only
did Herod and PLATE fear and Felix
tremble, but the whole civilized world
feared and trembled as IL had not done for
many century. Among the many relig.
ions this Is the one which came saying:
"Blessed are the pure in henrp and the
-soul that sinneth shall die" To many
the final day Of reckoning seemed at hand,
for in the letters Of Paul which tell us the
end is near, and in the vision of John who
saw men begging the rocks and hills to
fall on them and hide them from Gods
wrath, we see an apprehension which must
have passed with its shadow over many
hearts. Society was stirred in all its
depths.
Never since that onset has the world 70.
| lapsed into all OF It's former sin and vice; (;
for in all tho darkest ages, amid much
vice and crime, there was always an army
OF virtue, whose sons Of hope rose above
the din Of battle. Look into the darkest
corner and in the darkest hour Of the
darkest ages, yet you will see an encamp
ment Of Christians full armed for their
over their snow.white tents.
We can imagine an earth In which things
pure, good, honest, beautiful will be in the
majority, and will then inaugurate the
Golden age. Two travellers passing into
London, one of them said: 1--WE are en-
| tering the great center of money and
sin;" the other said: "And OF humanity
l nj NhaN 81 ~
smoke there are one thousand institutions
| Of charity. Some Of them have been pour.
ing out love and money to the sick for I've
hundred years. Now they are spending
! $40, 100000 each year-S10, ,0C0, 900 to those
who need food and clothing, $3,0O0,0OO to
the sick, 100000 TO educate the poorest
! Of the c;.ldren. The ST. Thomas Hospital
has an income of 100000 year" Thus
London has within its confines part ol
that bright host which John saw fighting
against the dragon. And that blessed
picture is repeated In likeness IL not In
size in all the cities Of the Christian lands
I No movement of the enemy is unmarked; I;
when he steps forward there is counter.
step taken somewhere by the soldiers Of
the eternal right, and the advance Is
checked. Many smile in derision at the
reform efforts Of to-day. You can not
purify art, literature can not check intem.
perance, can not make the world better. II
was alwayss bal and will remain bad for
ever. These are the words ri faint hearts;
for out Of this perpetual battle there have
come untold blessings 10 the aggregate OF
men and untold good to the individuals
who have fought upon the Divine side. II
the sins Of tho hnman family are measure
less, so are its virtues. Could we call up
the souls Of those who have fought for the
true, the beautiful and the good, we
should have a multitude that would
amaze and transport with joy the fainting
heart. The war has been waging long,
and each generation has sent forth Its
willing re-enforcements. II In his dark
period John could sec such company Of
Divine troops, much moro may we SEQ, In
our history present and past, an army not
only Of observation but of'heroic action In
the field Farther than this we can not
penetrate, but aside from the prophecies
aud promises OF the holy book we may
well assume that all that Is good In the
human race is to be preserved and re-
doubled, and all that Is bad is to be win
moved out.
In the presence OF this good and bad