The enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 188?-1899, 1891-02-11

that some OF them were on earth, great
poets and great orators and great mer
chants and great warriors, and when
express my surprise about their going
afoot, the dragoman says, I'm this coun.
try people are rewarded not according
TO the number Of their earthly talents,
but according TO the use they made OF
what they had" And then thought
to myself; why, that theory would
make a snowflake that falls cheerfully
and in the right place, and does
all the work assigned to- 1t, as
honorable as whole Mount Blanc
Of snowhakes" Eyes, yes" says the
celestial dragoman, ''many Of these
pearls that you find on the foreheads Of
the righteous, and many of the gems in
the jewel-case Of prince and princess
are only the petrifed snowhakes of
earthly tempest, for God does not for
get the promise made in regard to them;
They shall be mine, said the Lord of
hosts, in the day when make up my
jewels" Accumulated power! All
the prayers and charities and kind
nesses and talents Of all the good con-
centered and compacted will be the
worlds evangelization. This thought
of the aggregation of the many smalls
into that one mighty is another treas
ure of the snow.
Another treasure of the snow is the
suggestion Of the usefulness OF sorrow.
Absence Of snow last winter made all
nations sick. That snowless winter has
not yet ended its disasters. Within q
few weeks IL put tens of thousands into
the grave and left others in homes and
hospitals gradually to go down. Called
by trivial name, the Russian grip"
it was an international plague. Plenty
OF snow means public health. There is
no medicine that so soon cures the
worlds malarias as these white pellets
that the clouds administer. Pellets small
enough to be homeopathic, and melting
soon enough to be hydropathic. Like a
sponge every fake absorbs unhealthy
gases. The tables of mortality in New
York and Brooklyn Immediately less
thSu "hCh OiiC buOWb VI ldoJ DtCCluUCT
began to fall. The snow is one Of the
grandest and best of the worlds doc
tors.
Yes, It is necessary for the lands
productlveness. Great SHOWS in winter
are generally followed by great har-
vests next summer. Scientific analysis
has shown that snow contains a larger
percentage of ammonia than the rain,
and hence its greater power of enrich
ment. And, besides that, it is q warm
blanket to keep the earth warm. An
examination Of snow in Siberia showed
that II was hundred degrees warmer
under the snow than above the snow.
Alpine plants perished in the mild
weather Of England for lack OF enough
snow TO keep them warm. Snow
strikes back the rich gases which other
wise would escape in the air and
be lost. Thank God for the SHOWS,
and may those Of February be
as plentiful as those of December
and January have been, high and deep
and wide and enriching; then the har-
vests next July will embroider with
gold this entire American continent.
But who with any analogical faculty
can notice that out of such chill as the
snow comes the wheat, without realiz-
ing that chilling sorr 'ws produce har-
vests OF gracel The strongest Chris
tians, without any exception, are those
who were by bereavements or sickness
or poverty or persecution, or all of them
together, showed under, and again and
again showed under. These snow-storms
Of troubled They xii the malarias Of
the soul. They drive us out of worldly
dependence to God. Call the roll Of all
the eminently pious of all the ages and
you will find them the sons and
daughters OF sorrow. The Maron-
ties say that one characteristic
of the cedar tree is that when
the air is full OF snow, and It be-
gins TO descend, the tree lifts It's
branches in a way better TO receive the
snow and bear up under it, and l know
by much observation that the grandest
cedars OF Christian character lift higher
their branches toward God when the
SHOWS Of trouble IRE coming. Lord
Nelson's coffin was made out of the
masts Of the ship L'orient in which he
had fought so bravely, and your throne
in heaven, o, suffering child of God,
will be built ont Of conquered earthly
disasters What gave John Bunyan
such wondrous dream of the celestial
city? The Bedford penitentiary. What
gave Richard Baxter such power to tell
of the Saints Everlasting Rest" and
give his immortal "Call TO the Uncon-
verted?' Physical disease which racked
every nerve of his body. What made
George Whitefield so mighty in saving
souls, bringing ten thousand to God
when others brought hundred2
Persecution that caricatured and as
sailed him all up and down
England, and dead vermin thrown
in his face when he was preaching.
What mellowed and glorified Wilber-
forces Christian cheracterp A fnan-
cial misfortune that led him TO write:
81 knew not why my life is spared so
long except II be 10 show that o man
can be as happy without fortune as
with one" What gave John Milton
such keen spiritual eyesight that he
could see the battle of the angels? Ex-
tinguishment of physical eyesight
What is the highest observatory for
studying the stars Of hope and faith
and spiritual promise? The believers
sick-bed. What proclaims the richest
and most golden harvests that wave on
all the hills Of heavenly rapture2 The
SHOWS, the deep SHOWS, the awful SHOWS
OF enrthlY calamity. And that comfort