The enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 188?-1899, 1893-11-15

the boulevards Of the great city who
shall say: "You helped me once. You
encouraged me when was In earthly
struggle. do not know that / would
have reached this shining place had 1t
not been for you," and we will laugh
with heavenly glee, and say, "Hai hal
Do you really remember that talkP Do
you remember that warning2 Do you
remember that Christian invitationP
What memory you havel Why, that
must have been down there In Brook
lyn or New Orleans at least ten million
years ago." And the answer will be:
"Yes, 1t was as long as that, but re-
member as well as though II were yes
terday." o, this character building!
The structure lasting independent OF
passing centuries, independent Of crum-
bling mansions, Independent Of the
whole planetary system. Aye, II the
material universe, which seems all
bound together like one piece OF ma
chinery, should some day meet with an
accident that should send worlds
crashing into each other like tele-
scoped railway trains, and all the
wheels of considerations and galaxies
should stop, and down into one chasm
of immensity all the suns, and moons,
and stars should tumble like the mid
night express at Ashtabula, that would
not tonch us, and would not hurt God,
for God Is q spirit, and character and
memory are immortal and over that
grave Of wrecked material universe
might truthfully be written; 'The
righteous shall be held in everlasting
remembrance" o, Time, we defy
thee! o, Death, we stamp thee In the
dust Of thine own sepulchersl o, Eter-
ternity, roll on till the last star has
stopped rotating and the last sun Is
extinguished on the sapphire path
way, and the last moon has illumi-
mated the last night, and as many
years have passed as all the scribes
that ever took pen could describe by
as many figures as they could writo in
all the centuries of all time, but thou
shalt have no power to efface from any
soul in glory the memory Of anything
we have done TO bring 1t TO God and
Heaven.
There is another and more complete
defeat for oblivion, and that Is In the
heart Of God himself You have seen
a sailor roll up his sleeve and show his
arm tattooed with the figure Of IA
vorite ship, perhaps the first ono in
which he ever sailed. You have seen a
soldier roll up his sleeve and show you
his arm tattooed with the figure Of a
fortress where he was garrisoned, or
the face of a great general under whom
he fought. You have seen many a
hand tattooed with the face Of loved
one before or after marriage. This tat
tooing is almost as old as the world. II
is some colored liquid punctured into
the flesh so indelibly that nothing can
wash IL out. 1t may have been there
fifty years, but when the man goes into
his coffin that picture will go with him
on hand or arm. Now, God says that
he has tattooed us upon His hands.
There can be no other meaning in the
forty-ninth chapter of Isaiah, where
God says: "Behold, have craven thee
on the palms of my hands" II was
as much as TO sayt 81 cannot open
my hand to help, but l think OF
you. cannot spread abroad my hand
TO bless, but think Of you. Wherever
90 up and down the heavens take
these two pictures Of Won with me.
They are so inwrought into my being
that / cannot lose them. As long as
my hands last, the memory of You will
last Not on the back OF my hands, as
though TO announce you 10 others, but
on the palms Of my hands for myself
TO look at and study and love. Not on
the palm of one hand alone, but on the
palms of both hands, for while / am
looking upon one hand and thinking
of you, / must have the other hand free
TO protect you, free TO strike back your
enemy, free to lift II you fall. Palms
Of my hands indelibly tattooed. And
though hold the winds in my fist, no
cyclone shall uproot the inscription of
your name and your face, and though
l hold the ocean in the hollow OF my
hand, its billowing shall not wash out
the record Of my remembrance. Be
hold have craven thee on the palms
of my hands," What Joy, what honor
can there be comparable to that OF
being remembered by the mightiest
and kindest and loveliest aud tenderest
and most affectionate being in the
universe. Think of II, to hold an ever
lasting place in the heart Of God. The
heart of Godl The most beautiful pal
ace in the universe. Let the archangel
build some palace as grand as that II
he can. Let him crumble up all the
stars Of yesternight and tomorrow
night, and put them together as mosaics
for such n palace floor. Let him take
all the sunrises and sunsets Of all the
DAYS, and the auroras OF all the nights,
and hang them up as upholstery at
its windows. Let him take all the
rivers and all the lakes and all
the oceans and toss them into the
fountains Of this palace court. Let
him take all the gold Of all the hills
and hang IL in its chandeliers, and
all the pearls Of all the seas, and
all the diamonds Of all the fields and
with them arch the doorways Of that
palace; and then invite into IL all the
glories that Esther ever saw at Per-
sian banquet, or Daniel ever walked
amongst in Babylonian castles, or Jo-
seph ever witnessed in Pharaoh's
throne room, and then yourself enter
this castle OF archangelic construction,
and SEQ how poor q palace II is com.