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

The sea is triumphihg over the land
and what is going on at Coney Islant
is going on all around the world, ant
the continents are crumbling into tho
waves And while this is transpirinf
on the outside Of the world the hot
chisel Of the internal fire is digging un
der the foundation of the earth ant
cutting It's way out toward the surface
1t surprises me to hear people say they
do not think the world will finally bt
burned up, when all scientists will tel
you that it has for ages been on fire
Why, there Is only crust between III
and tho furnaces inside raging TO gel
out Oblivionl The world itself will
roll into it as easily as a schoolboy's
india rubber ball rolls down hill, and
when our world goes, it is so inter
locked by the law of gravitation with
other worlds that they will go, too, and
so far from having our memory perpet
uated by a monument Of Aberdeen
granite in this world, there is no world
in sight Of our strongest telescope that
will be a sure pediment for any slab o1
| commemoration of the fact that we
ever lived or died at all. Our earth Is
struck with death. The axle-tree Of
the consultations will break and let
down the populations of other worlds.
Stellar, lunar, solar mortality. Obliv-
ionl 1t can swallow and will swallow
whole galaxies of worlds as easily as q
crocodile takes down frog.
Yet oblivion does not remove or swal-
low anything that had better not be
removed or swallowed. This old mon
ster is welcome to his meal. The world
would long ago have been ovcrcrowded
II not for the merciful removal of nG-
tions and generations What II all the
boolss had lived that were ever written
and printed and published? The libra
ries would by their immensely have OBJ
structed intelligence and made all re-
search impossible. The fatal epidemic
Of books was mcrciful epidemic.
Many Of the state and national libra
ries to-day are only morgues, in which
dead books are waiting for some one "a
come and recognize them. What II all
the people that had been born were
still alive? We would have been cl.
bowed by our ancestors Of ten centuries
ago, and people who ought to have
said their last word three thousand
r"ers ago, would snarl at us, saying:
"What are you doing here9" There
would have been no room to turn
around. Some OF the past generations
of mankind were not worth remember
ing. The first useful thing many
people did was to die; their crG-
die a misfortune and their grave a
boon. This world was hardly a COM
Portable place to live in before the mid.
die of the last century. SO many
things have come into the world that
were not ft to stay in, we ought to be
glad that they were put out. The
waters of Lethe, the fountain OF for
getfulness are healthful draught.
The history we have of the world in
ages past is always one-sided and can
not be depended on. History is fiction
illustrated by few struggling facts.
In all the Pantheon the weakest god
dess is Clio the goddess of history, and
instead Of being represented by sculp-
tors as holding scroll, might better
be represented as limping on crutches.
Faithful history is the saving OF few
things out of more things lost The
Immortality that comes from pomp of
obsequies, or granite shaft, or building
named after its founder, or page OF
recognition in some encyclopaedia Is an
Immortality unworthy Of ones nmbi-
tion, for II will cease, and is no immor-
tality at all. Oblivionl A hundred
years. But while recognize this uni
versal submergence OF things earthly,
who wants to be forgotten? Not one
OF us. Absent for n few weeks or
months from home, II cheers us TO
know that we are remembered
there. II Is phrase we have
all pronounced: ~ hope you missed
me-" Meeting some friends from whom
we have been parted many years, we
inquire: did you ever sec me beforep"
and they say "Yes," and call us by
name. and we feel n delightful sensa.
ton thrilling through their hand into
our hand, and running up from elbow
TO shoulder, and then parting, the one
current Of delight ascending 10 the
brow and the other descending 10 the
foot moving round and round in con-
centric circles until every nerve and
muscle and capacity of body and mind
and soul is pcrmeated with delight. A
few days ago, visiting the place OF my
boyhood, met one whom had not
seen since we played together at ten
years of ago, and | had peculiar pleas.
ure In puzzling him little as TO who
was, and ] can hardly describe the sen.
sation, as, after awhile, he stumbled
out: "Let me see. Yes, you are De.
Witt" We all like 10 be remembered
Now, have TO tell you that this obliv.
ion Of which l have spoken has It's
defeats, and that there is no more rea-
son why we should not be distinctly
and vividly and gloriously remembered
five hundred million billion quadrillon
quintillion years from now than that
we should be remembered six weeks !
am goiug TO tell you how the thing can
be done and will be done.
We may build this Everlasting re-
semblance," as my text styles II, into
the Supernal existence OF those 10
whom we do kindnesses in this world.
You must remember that this infirm
and treacherous faculty which we now
call memory is In the future state TO be
complete and perfect. Everlasting
remembrancep' Nothing will slip the