St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1891-09-14
Wallis WORD WORK.
One of the Univepsalist Min
ister's Fine Language
Pictures.
Phases OF Truth Illustrated
by Experiences Imag-
mary.
We Are Ali as Children
Grasping at Great Mys-
teries.
One Generation After An
other Takes Up the Prob
lem.

Grand opera mouse. He took his text
from Timothy: Hath brought life and
Immortality to light through the gospel y
1t has been maintained by men who
have studied human nature in its essen
tial particulars that there are certain
/ broad lines of character universal in
civilized man. On the basis of this
theory | propose to draw an outline of
the experience Of an imaginary man
that | may illustrate certain phases of
truth, and also that may test as far as
possible the truth of the theory of which
| have spoken. And if | seem remote
from the text quoted in the beginning,
let me hope that your interest will fol-
low me through, and when we reach the
end we may be like those WeaVerS who
do their work out of sight, but turning
the pattern at the end OF the task show
how each stitch had a significance. My
imaginary person is young man, say
five and twenty, who has had the advan-
tage Of good home in childhood. has
been brOughtu up to believe IN the theory
of substitutional religion, and the the
DRY of direct interference in the AL
mighty in answer to prayer. He be-
lieyeS IN truth and righteous life. Sur
rounded by home influences of the best
kind, he comes to the city with a we'll
grounded respect for women. He
hopes, when the proper conditions are
fulfilled, to be married and establish a
home. His reading has not been very
broad nor very deep, but in poetry he
has learned all those tender sentiments
that give rOSeate hue to life.
And if you will allow me to do lit
tie morallZing here will say that there
is reason that this should be just as we
find it in life. Like the green earth,
which at the touch of spring puts
on a new vigor, and with the
development OF the summer give
us the richness of the golden
rod, the pink of the great clover for
fields, the red flame of the waving In
dian pink, the nesting daisy and but
tercup, all embedded in green. and
growing to the very edge OF green
groves, so does the world renew Itself
in the coming generation. And as we
see the autumn landscape, its grasses
brown, its leaves seer, its flowers ragged,
the last rose falling, the last leaf hang
ing, so do we find a generation of men
who are through with the work of the
world 1t is strangely true that each
generation has its mission, and the
world gets through with us at about the
same time we get through with it. And
youth has its common advantages and
It's icommon disadvantages. 1t has the
same venturesome spirit to-day that it
had when the early world saw
A Young Alexander
gathering an army to cross the HelIes-
p0nJ and conquer the East, or a Corsi-
can boy planning to lead the greatest
army of his time, and hold the balance
of power i'll Europe. And then as we
grow older we learn much, but grow
cautious. Our enthusiasm is apt to
wane with increase in knowledge. 1t
is the mature man who stands back with
q cynical smile and says [ have been
behind the curtain on this stage of life:
it is all pretense and sham. 1t was
mature man who wrote that life was all
vanity and vexation of spirit. And just
as you finish teaching your boy this, he
gets up and concludes that there are no
th0rns In the pathway of youth now, so
he lives over your experience. your dis
appointment, and his boy follows him
TO DO the same; and so will it ever be
while man lives.
Is it strange that this particular young
man should have felt the keenest thrill
of pleasure when reading one of Moore's
descriptions of the happiness of kindred
hearts in the humblest places without
ever dreaming of that pain, that sacri-
flce, that constant anxiety that ever goes
with responsibility? Is it wonder that
he expected to see the whole machinery
OF life move just as it did on thar. his
happest day? Bnt as the soldier is dis
turbed in his dream-the dream that
carried him over the mountains to his
distant home, and just at the moment
he is stealing through the gate to sur
prise his waiting baby playing beneath
the trees and the wife singing Just with
III the door, is suddenly awakened by
the terrible call of the bugle with
A Summons 10 Battle
so be was awakened by the stroke of
sickness in his family to the realization
that from that time his life would be
different from all his anticipations. He
had dreamed, as we all do, of happiness
that came from bodily ease; of large re-
turns from small investments: of en-
joyment given By the service of willing
hands; OF enjoyment removed, indeed.
from all the lowness of baser pleasure:
but still all coming from the ministra-
tons of other people to himself. From
this point he well knew that his happi-
ness, il he had any, must be in serving
other people; that his ambition would
never be fulfilled; that separation from
those who were TO him as dear as the
apple OF his eye, must certainly come,
and soon; that he had new pathway
In the world. What he now needed
was philosophy that made service
happiness, religion of comfort and not
of terror, and a belief in Immortality
that would sustain him in troubled and
tumultuOuS waters. When he began to
examine his spiritual condition he found
that he did not have this as a sure
possession.
And this brings US to consideration
of the influences that worked havoc
with the earlier opinions. His teacher
showed him the power of the water and
Ice as influences in shaping the future
OF the physical landscapes; saw the
river and falls OF Niagara, the rich val
ley OF the Nile, and its iGnndation, the
sweeping waves cutting away the
beach. the mountains themselves lifted
by natural causes, and all these influ-
enceS working as causes. The word
law became more and more familiar,
and before he was aware of the fact his
foundations had been IooSened. Like
the barque that drags her anchor and
goes out to sea before the gale, he had
been pulled from his moorings and was
blown hither and thither by
The Winds of Doubt.
And, when one prop was gone. all the
others were loosened. From the time
he lost certainty doubt touched the
whole texture of his life. You may
watch the face grow pale with sick
ness, if you only feel that beyond a
doubt there viii be meeting where
love will clasp the hand of love in a
world beyond this. You can bear to
see the dear hopes of FOND ambition
shattered, if you only feel that. after all,
the greatest achievement in this world
Is character, and the greatest gain is in
a service that makes some suffering life
a little easier to beaI. You can bear all
things with resignation and cheerful
face if you feel that this life is the yes
Thule Of larger life. But. if you feel
that death leads us to wall, that the
heart we loved is stiiled forever, and no
communion OF sympathy will ever be
felt, then | am sure we shall be less
happy with our lot. unless we have
more fortunate surroundings. The av-
erage man under such conditions finds
- - haaa l,.aA