Press and daily Dakotaian. (Yankton, Dakota Territory [S.D.]) 1880-1889, 1888-01-24
A SERMON.

Rev. Dan f. Bradley Dis
courses Upon the Late
Blizz ard.
A Sabbath Day Argument DeIiverse
ct the Congregational Church
by its PASTOR.
The following sermon was delivered
Sunday evening at the Congregations
church in this city by the pastar, Rev
Dan F. Bradley.
ii Samuel XXIV-14-And David
said unit God: II am In q great strait;
let us fall now into the hand of the Lord,
for his mercies are great; and let me not
fall into the hand of man.
1t wae a very wise determination that
David came to when he was given the
choice OF suffering a pestilence or q
famine or devastation of his country
by g foreign army. He concluded that
it was better to fall into the hands of
God than into the hands Of men. he
could trust God. he could not trust men.
He knew that God would be as merci-
full as consistent with the needs OF his
universe. he knew that men would
not be merclfui at all. He had commit
ted q great SIN himself. His people we're
full OF sin. 1t was necessary that q ca
lamlty OF some kind overtake the nation,
in order to bring it back to the fear OF
God; in order to make men feel that
God still ruled in heaven, and men were
his creatures. David asked that God
punish them directly. and that men
foreign enenies-should have no hand
in it. The request was granted, and a
pestilsnoe ragged for three days, sweep
ing away hundreds of people.
We are impressed with the wisdom of
Davld-we are convinced that it is bet.
ter to fall into the hands OF God rather
than into the hands of men, when we
consider the recent event which has Sent
#
sorrow and encouragement and gloom
into every part OF this northwest. l
refer to the recent tempest. There are
those who, during the past week, have
tried to reason out the purpose of such
a storm. Some have found it difficult to
justify the ways OF God. A peaceful,
dlligent community is suddenly over.
whelmed by a tempest, before which
fury and destructive energy men are as
autumn leaves. Strong men are blinded
and buried beneath the snow, the stall
wart hearts are made to faint and fall,
the dearest heads are bswildered by the
on rushing tempest. The farmer and
bis strong hired man, the merchant and
the trader, the school teacher n the
tender babes, good men and bad men
eye surprised By sc s:ssec enemy They
struggle msnfully for hours, and at last
yield to the cold blast. Death comes,
alone ON the prairie, away from friend
and comforter. 1t comes In q form more
terrible. because it gives an opportunity
for struggle, for hope, all to be in vain
at last. Only those who passed through
that night of terror, battling with heroic
courage and endurance almost until
death, can know the mingled horror and
the hope, the courage, now wagering,
now rouslng again, as with staggering
step and blinded eyes, and frozen limbs,
and garments rigid with ice, they madly
go, now crawling upon hands and knees,
now making q rush for a supposed shell
ter, the elements bowling and hooking [,
while again and again hope is aroused
only to be shattered again. Only these
q tell how hideous death looked upon
that awful night, as it Game to many o
man and m upon the lonely prairie.
And yet I am disposed to feel that
after ell it is better to meet death in
that way, at the hands of God, than to
fall into the hands Of man. Cruel as
that sort of death may seem. CHASTITY as
the forms may be that are carried in
from the drifts of snow, still it ia better
to fall into the hands of God than into
the hands OF man.. I shall not try this
evening to justify the ways of God. Far
be it from me or any other short sighted
msn to think that God needs justitica-
tion for any to his works. But l propose
this evening to compare Gods dealings
in respeet of these appalling cAlamities,
and mans dealings with his fellow man.
First, ga to the magnitude Of this
calamity. Probsbly this storm has over
taken and either destroyed or crippled
400 people. 1t seems appalling to us.
And yet such g storm has not been
known in 10 years. God has sent this
calamity and we deem it a great one, as
il Is.
Place parallel with this the steady eel.
antilles that have allen upon the Ameri-
a people from tho carelessness of the
people who manage railways. Since 1873,
4 800 people have been crushed or burned
to death, with horrible suffering and
10000 have been permanently injured,
crippled and MANNED by the carelessness
of railroad men. 1900 people every year
killed and MANNED. Take all the storms
that have oome to us from the hand of
God and these accidents that have come
to us from the hand of man and compare
them and it will be found thst in this
one comparison alone Gods icalamities