The Caucasian. (Clinton, N.C.) 188?-1913, 1892-02-18
COLONEL INogRsouL,s Taousls.


saw everything THAI be had made ard. behold.
II was very god d--Gsnc<is { q. 81
In Colonel Insersolls recent address
before the Unitarian club. be gavs utter
ance 70 at least one serious thought II
il not original For that reason ii is all
tho more worthy Of serious ccnsidsra-
tion- For = moment tho colonel leaves
The realms OF rhetoric and nonsense and
hero talh sense. We have hitherto been
considering mere rhetoric and fancy.
We wcre forced to do this, because the
most Of what the colonel says consists
Of this staple. When he uttsrs q serious
thought il b worthy Of serious attention.
In this address he says; '.But here is my
trouble. I find this world made on a
very cruel plan. Life feeds on life
Justice does not always triumph. Inno-
cence Is not o perfect shield. do not
understand k--a God that has life feed
on life; every Joy in the world born Of
some agony do not understand why
in this world. over the Niagara of cruel
ty, should run this flood of blood. IL
there be q God, he understood this. He
knew when hs withheld his rains from
Russia that the famine would come He
saw the dead mothers, he saw the empty
breasts Of love and he saw the helpless
babes There is my trouble"
THE OLD, OLD QUESTION.
Il Is the same old trouble that has pre-
sented itself to every human heart since
man began to think. Round about this
awful problem Of pain and suffering man
has walked with eager, agonizing ques-
tioning through all the years of the past.
| do not profess 10 have solved all the
mysteries connected with this great
problem 1t is problem as old as the
race is old, as profound as is the mystery
Of man. confess that when | look
upon the havoc wrought by suffering
and pain In the world, there are many
things that puzzle the heart. When l
shoulders rested the sole responsibility
Of the home. and starvation stalk
through the open door, confess there
are elements Of tragedy the depth of
whose meaning cannot fa.hom.
When SEQ young manhood stricken
In the pride and glory and strength
Of hfe's fullest hour, / cannot fully
. grave. Jesus wep.. As he locked
down the ages he saw this ever present
shadow. He saw that sorrow is sorrow,
that tears must fow. While acknowl-
edge the mystery which surrounds
much Of pain, l. do say emphatically
without fear Of contradiction that the
only light that has ever broken in upon
this dark problem has been the light that
has streamed through the rift in the
clouds that hung over Calvary. The
only salvation yet given to the human
soul in these extreme hours of darkness
has been the light, and the hope, and the
knowledge in Christ. II all / knew of
human life and human hope were limit
ed to the barren philosophy on which
the colonel builds his objections and
doubts and fears, would confess that
the good Of life were a question of doubt
ing. l would feel that the world was in
the last analysis failure.
l have no disposition to avoid this
issue. It is one that any honest mind
must confront. Let rs fairly meet it.
The question is. Could God have made
better world?
In spite Of many dark mysteries, il
seems to me that this ,corld Is the highest
possible product Of Infinite Wisdom and
Infinite Lous.
First-Because the climax of the cre-
ative process Is man-man tho wonder
full II God be infinitely good, he is
necessarily under obligations to make
the highest possible creation. Anything
short Of the highest possible effort OF
Infinite Wisdom and Love would be to
contradict his nature. What Is the
highest possible creation at the hands of
such Being? We say at once that if
he be infinitely wise and infinitely good,
the highest possible creation is for him
to reproduce himself. This is precisely
what he did
God made man In his own image.
The ages through which the creative
process stretched all pointed forward
toward this supreme end of the process.
Man was the magnificent product OF
these countless ages. Man with his ca
pacities and powers that reach up into
| the infinite and the eternal. Man with
tho power to survey the whole process
| by which he was created. As we look
upon man and reg lrd his magnificent
attaininents, his capacities and powers
we say that such creature is worthy
product of the groaning and travail oi
| the creative centuries. Now God ha:
revealed himself to man through man
An we know Of God we have learned
through his image. The more we know
| of man the more we see the divine.
A SELF MADE WORLD.
Second-Having made the highest pos
sible creature as king and ruler of this
material universe, Infinite Wisdom ant
Love should Of necessity make the high
est possible world in which this creatur'
shall move and grow into the perfec
likeness of his Creator. What is th'
highest possible world in which such ;
being can movee We say at once, FIRE.
moral world Any other world woult
be . world of mechanics. We vii
readily agree that the world of morals
b higher than the world Of mechanics
A tree moral world ID precisely tn
world God made as the arena in which
this creature, his image, should grow
The material universe itself Is a fret
world. II Is self made world 1t wa!
created by the free play of divine Law
upon matter. All law is divine law
Law is itself an attribute Of God.
The supreme decree under which th'
material universe has been evolved and
made what it is was the law of the sur
viyal Of the fttest. Under the full
operation of this law we have producet
self made world The highest creation
Is that which Is. thus made to create It
self. Il partakes then of character. Tn
only man that Is q real man is the sci
made man. The only man who Ia
character is such a man. This is IN
highest development OF manhood 3
the highest Development Of the materia
universe would be self made world
Such Is the world in which we live.
i DEATH 4 GAIN.