Milford chronicle., 1889-03-01

What heartaches they had! What tears they
have weptl What injustice they have suf-
feredl The mightiest influence for publication
and salvation is trouble. No diamond fit for
a crown until it is cut No wheat fit for
bread till it is ground. There are only three
things that can break of a chain-a hammer,
. file or fire; and trouble is all three Of
them. The greatest writors, orators and re-
formers get much Of their force from trouble.
What gave to Washington Irving that ex-
quisite tenderness and pathos which will make
his books favorites while the English language
continues to be written and spokenl An
early heartbreak that he never once mem
toned and when, thirty years after the death
Of Matilda Hoffman, who was to have been
his bride, her father picked up piece Of EN-
broidery and said; THAT is a piece of poor
Matilda's workmanship Washington Irving
sank from hilarity into silence and walked
away. Out Of that lifetime grief the great
author dipped his penis mightiest REINFORCE
ment. "Calvins Institutes or Religion, than
which a more wonderful book was never
written by human hand was begun by the
author at 25 years of age, because Of the
persecution by Francis, king of France.
Faraday toiled for all time on a salary Of ESQ
a year and candles. As every brick of the
wall Of Babylon was stamped with the letter
n, standing for Nebuchadnezzar, so every
part Of the temple of Christian achievement
Is stamped with the letter T, standing for
trouble.
When in olden time man was to be hon
ored with lxnighthood he was struck with the
fat Of the sword But those who have come
to the honor Of lznighthood in the kingdom
of God were first struck not with the fat Of
the sword but with the keen edge of the
cimeter. To build his magnifcence of char
acter Paul could not have spared one lash,
one prison, one stoning, one anathema, one
poisonous viper from the hand, one ship
wreck. What is true of individuals is true
Of nations. The horrors Of the American
revolution gave this country this side Of the
Mississippi river to Independence, and the
conflict between England and France gave
the most of this country west Of the Missis-
sippi to the United States France owned it,
but Napoleon, fearing that England would
take it, practically made a present to the
United States-for he received only fifteen
million dollars-of Louisiana, Missouri, Ar
kansas, Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, Minnesota,
Colorado, Dakota, Montana, Wyoming and
the Indian territory. Out of the fire Of the
American revolution came this country east
Of the Mississippi, out Of the European war
came that west of the Mississippi river, The
British empire rose to its present overtower-
ing grandeur through gunpowder plot and
Guy Fawkes conspiracy, and Northampton
insurrection and Walter Raleighs behead-
ing and Bacon's bribery and Cromwell's
dissolution Of parliament and the bat
ties of Edge Hill and Grantham and
Newberry and Marston Moor and Naseby
and Dunbar and Sedgemoor and execution
of Charles the First and London plague and
London fire and London insurrection and
Ryehouse plot and the vicissitudes of cen
turtles So the earth itself, before it could
become appropriate and beautiful residence
for the human family, had, according to
geology, to be washed by universal deluge
and scorched and made incandescent by uni
versal fires and pounded by sledge hammer
Of icebergs and wrenched by earthquakes
that split continents and shaken by vOlca-
noes that tossed mountains and passed
through tho catastrophes Of thousands of
years before Paradise became possible and
the groves could shake out their green BAN
ners and the first garden pour its carnage Of
color between the Gihon and the Hiddekel.
Trouble good thing for the rocks, good
thing for nations, es well as a good thing for
individuals So when you push against me
with a sharp interrogation point, Why do the
good suiPerl I open tho dark saying on a
harp, and though l can neither play an or
gan or cornet or hautboy Or bugle or clario-
net, have taken some lessons on the gospel
harp, and if you would like to hear me
will play you these: "All things work to-
gether for good to those who love God" "
"Now no chastening for the present seemoth
TO be joyous but grievous, neverthe-
less afterward it yieldeth all possible
fruits of Righteousness unto them which arc
exercised thereby" Weeping may endure
for night, but joy coneth in the morning"
What a sweet thing is a harp, and wonder
not that in Wales, the country of my ances-
tors, the harp has become the national instru-
ment and that they have festivals where
great prizes are offered in the competition
between harp and harp, or that weird Sc
bastian Erard YVES much of his time bent over
this chorded and vibrating triangle, and was
not satisfied until he had given it u compass
Of six octaves from E to E, with all the semi
tones or that when King Saul was den;entcd
the son of Jesse came before him and putting
his fingers among the charmed strings OF the
harp played the devil out OF the crazed mon
arch, or that in heaven there shall be harpers
harping with their harps. So you will not
blame mo for opening the dark saying on the
gospel harp.
Your harpS, ye trembling saints,
Down from the wis0ws take.
Loud 10 the praise of love divine
lid every string aWakel
THERE Is A REASON IN THIS OFT REPEATED
PROBLEM
Interrogation third; Why did good God
let sin and trouble come into the world when
he might have kept them outl Ny reply is,
he had good reason. He had reasons that
be has never given us. He had reasons which
be could no more make us understand in our
finite state than the father starting out on
some great and elaborate enterprise could
make the 2-year-old child in Its armed chair
comprehend it. One was to demonstrate what
grandeur of character may be achieved on
earth by conquoring evil Had there been
no evil to conquer and no trouble to console,
then this universe would never have Known
en- Abraham or a Moses or a Joshua or Gn
Ezekiel or Paul or u Christ or a Washing
ton or q John Milton or john Howard and
o million victories which have been gained by
the consecrated spirits Of all ages would
never have been gained. Had there been no
battle there would have been no victory.
Nine-tenths Of the anthems of heaven would
never have been sung. Heaven could never
have been a thousandth part Of the
heaven that it is viii not say that
lam glad that sin and sorrow did enter, but
I do say that l am glad that after Cod has
given all his reasons to on assembled univcrs5
no viii be more honored than if sin and sor-
row had never entered, and that the unfallen
celestials win he Outdone and win put down
their trumpets to listen, and it will be in
heaven when those who have conquered sin
and s1rrow shall enter, as it would be in a
small singing school ON earth il Thalberg and
Gottschalk and Wagner and Beethoven and
Rheinberger and Schumann should all at
once enter. The immortals that have been
chanting ten thousand years before the
throne win say as they close their librettos,
"Oh, if we could only sing like thati~ But
God win say to those who have never fallen.
and consequently have not heen redoenled