Montgomery County sentinel., 1891-11-20
The Campaign. :"
l No q
From The WaUerley Progress, by j. l..
LODGE, ID. D., Editor.


tits always pleasanter to praise, but often
becomes Necessary to break silence with
righteous even il severe censure. The fol-
lowing lines afford conspicuously such an
occasion: AiE
Europe's loud cries, that Providence assaild,
And Anna's ardent vows, at length pre-
vailed;
The day was come when heaven designed
to show
His care and conduct of the world below.
The fault in poetry of writing line which
had no hope Of living beyond the period Of
single generation is overshadowed by the
graver crimes Of sycophancy and blasphemy.
Those who remember Anne's unfilial and
unjust treatment OF her old father will not
indulge in panegyrics on her piety. But
such servility not seldom carries with it the
certainty Of generous payment, and the
shrewd policy of Addison met an extraor-
dinary reward. The last two lines most
kindle our resentment. The Awful Dis
poser Of all events is represented as waiting
for the battle of Blenheim to show his In.
terest in and approval Of the victors. The
false and impious conclusion is drawn from
a number ofignorant and vicious assump-
tons. HEF#& hEHF
God is q sovereign. His power is not
QucotiOucu his WbuOLi, VI JuotiCCt OlCu TO-
Because OF the secrecy maintained as to
ultimate purposes. The attempt to pry into
his hidden thoughts occasions deductions
sacreligious. Forewarned that He takes
counsel with no man, presumption dares to
publish positive interpretations of his dis
position, based on the character OF visible
results. Not only the unthinking, but many
who imagine themselves theologians, fall
into this grievous heresy. Original kindli-
ness must be presupposed OF just and
righteous Sovereign. "He doth not will
ingly atfiict the children Of men," One such
statement OF thousand is enough. rightly
pronounce it blasphemy, then, when Addi.
son makes Heaven to ielicitate himself in
the elimination of plans with circumstances
such as the poet here depicts:
In vengeance rousd, the soldier fills his hand
With sword and fire, and ravages the land,
A thousand villages to ashes turns,
In cracking flames a thousand harvests
burns.
To the thick woods the woolly fiocks retreat,
And mkt with believing herds confus'dly
bleat; sr...
Their trembling LORDS the common shade
partake,
A nd cries OF infants sound in every break -.
The Divine DEGREES are twofold, absolute
and permssive. His will of purpose can no
more be broken than we can unmake God.
What he has determined upon shall be ac-
complished. Conspiracies of devils, machi
nations Of men, endeavors of modified lorces
OF satanic and human malevOlence, mortal
resistance, and human pleas or tears, pre-
vent not the inevitable. Conditions or com.
binations affect not the absolute. What
matters are compassed and contained in
these DEGREES await eternal disclosure, ex-
cept when subjects Of specific revelation.
The will OF precept may be, continually Is,
broken The error lies in regarding per.
mission as endorsement. Limited freedom
enters into the making of wars and the en-
ployment of armies. We must not dare TO
think that God is pleased with bloodshed
"rhou shalt not kill" He maketh wars to
cease unto the end Oi the earth He breaketh
the bow, and cutteth the spear In sunder;
He burneth the chariots in the fire." His
ideal of projection in government is de.
scrbed as the time when "spears shall be
beaten into pruninghooks and swords into
ploughshares," and peace regL with its
Prince, supreme. Seli-defence is right as
the ordination proved by intuit on universal
with man and beast.
The Sovereigns methods of showing favor
do not comprise those Determinations In
material benefits ascribed to them by such
rain which waters the fields of the Just man
fertilzes the burrows OF the unjust. 1t was
easy, and natural, with no better knowledge
ana no spirit OF justice, for the victorious
allies TO conclude that the tower fell that
fatal Blenhem day on Frenchmen worthy
OF the tate and that their blood was fit
only 10 be mingled with PLATE sacrifices.
Had the Ruler decided that hour between
the combatants, he might have spoken as
upon notable occasion out OF the whirl-
wind to rebuke conceited and self righteous
critics, declaring the vanquished in no de-
gree greater sinners than the conquerors of
a terribly costly field. 1t is evident that
Addison found IL neither TO his pleasure nor
interest TO take this view, or seem TO enter
tain doubt that the forces he lauJs in verse
were the express and chosen agents OF a
God who had long standing grudge against
the French. For, indeed, with the fearful
tempest of November 3, 1903, fresh in his
memory, and In the mind OF the whole ma
ton who witnessed its awful devastation,
he compares Marlborough to the angel OF
that destruction
So when an angel by divine command
With rising tempests shakes guilty land,
Such as OF late DER pale Britannia past,
Calm and serene he drives the furious blast
And, pleas'd tn Amighty's orders to per-
form,
Rides in the whirlwind, and directs the
storm.
The author and all who adopt his method
OF reasoning, or, rather, who fix conclusions
10 suit themselves without the trouble and
labor OF thinking, are tossed on the horns OF
horrible dilemma. Either God had laid
all his plans and directed bis operations 30
that his waiting for Blenheim day should
xrlz 10 han ho had
the latter, then the poem is Wing buncombe,
and 10 similar cases God has many SIAN
derers. II the former, then here is one time
when omnipotent energy was frustrated.
For, as testified to by even English histO-
riaDs, without exception, so Tar as known,
here never was war so utterly iutile, so
absolutely destitute Of results. 1t is our
duty to believe. and our judgment COMEDIES
with duty, that nothing undertaken or di-
| recled " certain end by the Almighty can
| ever fail OF accomplishment. Nothing in
wolves loss which goes forth from bis hand.
Human blindness confounds the decfetal
with the permssive. Defeat is no more or
dered than victory. II is not infideity, nor
! ten men, though ruffians, can overpower
one man, though gentleman. The age OF
miracles is past sB8Bss 6E#YseE
! Such is the hold fanaticism has upon the
/ minds Of vulgar men that it is easy ior them
To conceive themselves the special favortes
of heaven, an happily expressed in the en-
thymeme: Resolved, first, That the earth
belongs to the saints. Resolved, second, That
the earth belongs to u.s." The minor, 1--WE
are the saints" Is sometimes modestly sup
pressed. They do not reflect that In forcing
| their ideas, their customs, their tyrannous
rule upon tbe minds and persons Of their
fellow men, all the while claiming God as
the patron Of their violent projections, they
are coupling the name of the Holy One
| with associations vile and abhorrent TO the
best ut men. The great truth is lost sight
OF that the ehastening Of the purestis effected
through the agency Of the vilest. That II
was the uicked who was in great power, and
\ hourished like green bay tree, bpt who
presently was not Right understanding Of
the doctrine of Gods providence over sin
4 will restrain Us from making him the active
and responsible procureS Of either victory
I