The Pulaski citizen. [volume] (Pulaski, Tenn.) 1866-current, 1889-02-28
sancttIed That t1ey were maue vprv

a child, and has always been popular.
and never had business struggle or
misfortune, who is distinguished for
goodness, pull your wire for a tele-
graph messenger boy and send me
word and [ viii drop everything and
go right away to look at him. There
never has been a man like that, and
never will be. Who are those arrogant.
self conceited creatures who move
about without sympathy for others and
who think more of st. Bernard dog,
or an Alderney cow, or q Southdown
sheep, or q Berkshire pig than of a.
man2 They never had any trouble, or
the trouble was never sanctified. Who
are those men who listen with moist
eye as you tell them of suffering and
who have pathos in their voice and
a kindness in their manner and an ex-
cuse or an alleviation for those gone
astray2 They are the men who have
graduated at the Royal Academy
of Trouble and they have the di-
ploma written in wrinkles on
their own countenances. Myls myl
What heartaches they hadl What
tears they have weptl What injustice
they have suffered The mightiest in
fuence for publication and salvation
is trouble. No diamond fit for
crown until it is cut. No wheat fit
for bread till it is ground There
are only three things that can break
Off chain-a hammer, file or fire;
and trouble is all three of them. The
greatest writers, orators and reforrners
get much Of their. force from trouble.
What gave to Washington Irving that
exquisite tenderness and pathos which
win make his books favorites while.
the English language continues to be
written and spoken3 An early heart
break that he never once mentioned;
and when, thirty years after the
death of Matilda Hoffman, who was
to have been his bride, her father
picked up piece of embroidery and
said: THAT is 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 pens
mightiest reinforcement. 'Calvin's
Institutes of Religion, than which
more wonderful book was never writ
ten by human hand, was begun by the
author at twenty-five years of age, be-
cause of the persecution by Francis,
king of France Faraday toiled for
all time on salary of so pounds
year and candles As every brick of
the wall of Babylon was stamped with
the letter N, standing for Nebuchad-
nezzar, SO every part of the temple of
Christian achievement is stamped with
the letter T, standing for trouble.
When in olden time aman was be to
honored with knighthood, he was
struck with the flat of the sword. But
those who have come to the honor Of
knighthood III the kingdom of God
were first struck not with the fiat of
the sword but with the keen edge of
the cimeter. To build his magnifi-
cence of character, Paul could not
have spared ono lash, one prison, one
stoning, one anathema, one poisonous
viper from the hand, one shipwreck.
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 independ-
ence, and the conflict between Eng
land and France gave the most of this
country west of the Mississippi to the
United States. France owned it, but
Napoleon, fearing that England would
take it, practically made present to
the United States-for he received
only $4,000, ,000-of Louisiana, Mis-
souri,, Arkansas, Kansas, Nebraska,
Iowa, Minnesota, Colorado, Dakota,
Montana, Wyoming and the Indian
territory Out of the fire of the
American revolution came this coun-
try east of the Mississippi, out of the
European war came that west of the
Mississippi river The British empire
rose to its present overtowering gran
deur through gunpowder plot, and Guy
Eawlles' conspiracy, and Northampton
insurrection, and Walter RaHegh's
beheading, and Bacon's bribery, and
Cromwell's dissolution of parliament,
and the battles of Edge Hill, and
Grantham, and Newberry, and Mars
ton Moor, and Naseby, and Dunbar,
and Sedgemoor, and execution Of
Charles the First, and London plague,
and London fire, and London insur-
rection, and Ryehouse plot, and the
vicissitudes of centuries. So the earth
itself, before it could become appropri-
ate ard beautiful residence for the hui
man family had, according to geology,
to be washed by universal deluge, and
scorched and made incandescent by
universal fires, and pounded by.sledge-
hammer of ieebergs, and wrenched by
earthquakes that split continents and
shaken by volcanoes that tossed noun
tains, and passed through the catas-
trophies of thousands Of years before
Paradise became possible and the
groves could shake out their green
banners and the first garden pour its
carnage of color between the Gihon
and the Hiddellel. Trouble a good
thing for the rocks, a good thing for
nations, as we'll as a good thing for
| individuals. So when you push
against me with a sharp interrogation
point, Why do the good suffer- | open
the dark saying on harp and, though
l can neither play an organ, or cornet,
or hautboy, or bugle, or clarionet |
have taken some lessons on the gospel
harp, and if you would like to hear
me / will play you these: "All things
work together for good to those who
| love God" Now no Christening for the
present seemeth to be joyous, but
grievous; nevertheless afterward ii
yieldeth all possible fruits of right
eousness unto them which are exer
cised thereby" weeping may en-
dure for a night, but joy cometh II
the morning. What sweet thing Is
q harp, and l wonder not that II
| Wales, the country of my ancestors
the harp has become the national IN
strument, and that they have festivals
where great prizes are offered IN th'
competition between harp and harp
or that weird Sebastian Erard wa
much of his time bent over this chordet
and vibrating triangle, and was no
satisfied until he had given it com
pass of six octaves from + to e witt
all the mi-tones, or that when kint
Saul was demented the son of Jess
came before him and putting hi
fingers among the charmed strings o
the harp played the devil out of tn
crazed monarch, or that in HEAVIER
there shall be harpers harping witt
their harps. So you will not blam
me for opening the dark saying on TIA
gospel harp. So
Your harps We trembling saints,
Down from the willows takei
Loud 10 the praise of love divine
Bid every string awakei
THERE Is A REASON N THIS OFT. RE
PEATED PROBLEM.
Interrogation third: Why did
rood God let sin and trouble come int
the world when he might have KEEP
them outg My reply is, he had a goo
reason. He had reasons that he ha
never given us. He had reason
which he could no more make us ur
derstind in our finite state than tn
father starting out on some great an
, elaborate enterprise could make th
2-year-old child in its armed chai
/ comprehend it. One was TO demon