The Lancaster ledger. [volume] (Lancaster, S.C.) 1852-1905, 1885-09-09

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derstaud what we understand by light
We know what it is. tho we capt de-
! fine its properties, and we know God
created it, FOR he SO says in His holy
word
anterior TO its creation, Night, etez.
nal, slept within the sombre folds,
broad Oh the .couches of Eternity or
DER the gloomy rea'm ofErybus walk
ed unattended through tbs pathless
void. Chaos, wi,h babel robes, ,impau-
eled 10 confusion, held universal juris-
diction. 1t was universal gloom be.
yond our power to describe, dark be.
yond the suhterranean dungeon;--it
wGs the universal concentrated black
Eess of darkness.
No twilight of gold qrepuscula. had
eyer anpg a wondering kiss, rencled
al aureola, or painted a mirage op the
inky air, prognostic Of Light and Or.
der long delayed. Aurora, morning
g"dd,2s, hGd meyer crimsoned the
cheek Of Orient, with her rosy fingers,
to herald the approach Of day.
No star had ever rose and lent its
snttening scinttllati"ns on the murky
pail; where cycles, numberless as the
years # God, lay uuentombed: No
bow had ever bent it's painted arc of
curv,n. bIushos across the zone of uu.
created gloom: M spIintcred ray of
reirnC;inu, reflection, infection or cor
ruscn'ion, pale ~ Il moon beam lost on
th" fields of night, had ever wondered
, through eternity. No life stirred
among the cumnlatcd continents of
a1nic npgarion, For the earth was
without fojw Gn1 VOID, and darkness
was upon the face of the deep" God
alone, in his "pavil,on of darkness"
dwelt from eternity, holding the keys
of being and The reiaa Of uhiGuiiy.
a, length toe omitc fat went for,h;
Om"ipot"nce raised al".t tie sword of
lis power, Gnd doTnward, with a sin.
g'o stroke, he clavc a.under Gar the
thick darkness that circled his throne
Irom eternity, and rolling hack ia aim.
merinc edges and unveiling His face
| To- the terrified Legions of Darkness,
,a.ha-" -'-z:seri"v 1'v"a f'"gnn. ursurn.
| mnnei. to retreat. said, with voice
"mnipotenf, Let there ho light |" No
sooner hal III" uttered words gone
forth, than did the dimcy Night King
cast his royal sccp,rc OF the rictnr's
feet, and, screaming, l-d away and
! sough, shelter behind the frrIliny
sphere, conquered King Soon all
the firmament was ab!aze as dancing
suns leaped from the debris of rpineG
thropes and shattered realms, shere,
lately Night and Chaos reigned su.
preme. Still creation grew, culmina-
ting in beauty and perfection, till God
placed the last grand cap gem on the
! magnificent Tower of creation and
/ prorOunced it Good"
But, this was material Light. it's
creation aud development. The para.
phrastic style engaged for this occasion
will be relative 10 the Light and dark
ness Of the mind. BY the mind,ve mean
that intelligent power in man which
conceives, judges, compares, roasong,
desires, determines aud c!assifics ideas.
II is that Godlike faculty which lifts
man far above the fow! and the brute,
yea, above bimself, to heights of such
sublimity, that :uTgctling things cor.
pnreni, h" fain would boast a kinsbip
with the Gods. L. is the light which
leads us along the shores Of Science,
gathering here and there pebbles or
Rrettier she|is,whilH the great ocean Of
Truth lies oil pndisGoYeged before us.
al the monumental mYsteries Of 60.
MUS, all the artistic achievements of
time, aad all the colossal roiigies of
inequality point with the wsud of Sa.
pience to nan, the wonderful micro.
cosm, the mysterious trichotomy, the
miniature facsimile Of Deity, msreh>
ing forth upon the fields Of Invention,
"conqueriug and to conquer" and with
voice. no. nndivine, crying LET
there be light" For perspieuity. We
will resolve our theme into the four
following divisions: the sa,pe Of men.
tai and moral darkness the extent Of
that darkness; the means of illunipa.
ton the eatent of that illumination.
First The prime cause of mental