Arizona republican., 1892-11-20

Columbus that we have forgotten to anathematize the prominent men of the present. No man in this country is fully honored until he is dead. Whatever be the reason, this nation has escaped many of the horrors that ordinarily accompany the presidential contest. But let us not pause too long in hilarity about the pres ent and forget the fact that there are not only temporal possibilities far great CT than those attained, but higher moral and religious possibilities. The God of our fathers is the God of their children, and his finger points us to higher na- tional career than many have yet sus- pected. For our churches, our schools, our colleges our institutions of mercy, the best days are yet to come.
 ONWARD THE wATCHwoRD.
 But notice that this finger of God al- most always and in almost everything points forward and not backward All the way through the Bible the lamb and l pigeon on the altar, the pillar of fire poised above the wilderness, peace offer ing, sin offering, trespass offering, fin gers of Joseph and Isaac and Joshua and David and Isaiah and Micah and Ezekiel, all together made the one finger of God pointing to the human, the divine, the gracious, the glorious, the omnipotent, the gentle, the pardoning and suffering and atoning Christ. And now the same finger of God is pointing the world up ward to the same Redeemer and for ward to the time of his universal domi- nation. My hearers, get out of the habit of looking back and looking down, and look up and look forward. It is useful once in awhile to look back, but you had better for the most part of your time stop reminiscence and begin anticipa- tion. We have none of us hardly be- gun yet. If we love the Lord and trust him-and you may all love him and trust him from this moment on-we no more understand the good things ahead of us than child at school studying his A B c can understand what that has to do with his reading John Ruskin's Seven Lamps of Architecture" or Dante's "Di- vina Commedia." The satisfactions and joys we have as yet had are like the music boy makes with his first lesson on the violin compared with what was evoked from his great orchestra by my dear and illustrious and transcendent but now departed friend, Patrick Gil more, when he lifted his baton and all the strings vibrated, and all the trum- pets pealed forth, and all the flutes car oled, and all the drums rolled, and all the hoofs of the cavalry charge which he initiated were in full beat Look ahead! The finger of God points for ward.
 "Oh. but says some one, "1 am get. ting old, and have touch of rheuma- tism in that foot, aud believe something is the matter with my heart, and ca. . not stand as much as used to-" Well, l congratulate you, for that shows you are getting nearer to the time when you are going to enter immortal youth and be strong enough to hurl off the battle meuts of heaven aIny bandit who by uu heard of burglary might break into the Golden City. But" says some one, "1 feel so lonely. The most of my friends are gone, and the bereavements of life have multiplied until this world that was once so bright to me has lost its charm" l congratulate you, for when you go there will be fewer here to hold you back and more there to pull you in Look ahead! The finger of God is point ing forward We sit here in church, and by hymn and prayer and sermon and Christian association we try to get into frame of mind that will be accept able to God and pleasant to ourselves But what a stupid thing it all is com pared with what it will be when we have gone beyond psalmbook and sermon and Bible, and we stand, our last imperfec- ton gone, in the presence of that charm of the uniyerse-the blessed Christ-and have him look in our face and say: a have been watching you and sympathiz- ing with you and helping you all these years, and now you are here. Go where you please and never know a sorrow and never shed tear. There is your mother now-she is coming to greet you--and there is your father, and there are your children. Sit down under this tree of life, and on the banks of this river tall it all over" tell you there will be more joy in one minute of that than in fifty years of earthly esultation. Look ahead! Look at the finest house on earth and know that you will have finer one in heaven. Look up the healthiest pel son you can find and know you will yet be healthier Look mp the one who has the best eyesight of any one you have ever heard of, and know you will have better vision. Listen to the sweetest prima donna that ever trod the platform, and know that in heaven you will lift more enrapturing song than ever enchanted earthly auditorium.
 A VISION OF sPLENDOR.
 My friends, do not know how we are going to stand it-I mean the full thrush of that splendor. Last summer I saw Moscow, in some respects the most splendid city under the sun. The em- peror afterward asked me if had seen it, for Moscow is the pride of Russia. told him yes, and that l had seen Mos. COW burn. l will tell you what l meant.