The Globe-republican., 1893-01-13

have been more novel ard startling tc
the heavens than the crucitxiOn on Cal
vary. II was expected that Christ would
be maltreated. The world always haG
maltreated its good and great friends
Joseph hurled into the pit, Shadrach pu,
into the fire, jeremiah lowered into q
dungeon. David bounded from the throne,
Elijah compelled to starve or take his
food from the beak of filthy raven, and
Socrates condemned to death, so that the
Calvarian massacre was in the same old
line OF maltreatment But the novelty
of all the ages was the conjunction OF di.
vinity and humanity. Invisible deity,
muscled and Rerved and fleshed in mas.
culine physique, A child and yet God
| Why, II the meteor had not pointed down
that night, some angel would have rushed
down and pointed with his 9littering
scepter. Isaiah and David and Ezekile,
who foretold the coming, would have de.
scended from their thrones and stood on
| the roof OF the barn or in some way des-
| ignated the honored locality. As the
| finger of light that Dec. IS pointed to
| the straw cradle, now all the fingers of
Christendom this moment, fingers of
| childhood and old age. fingers of sermon
and song and decoration and festivity,
! point to the great straw cradle. Am l
not right in saying that the first Of the
| three chapters of the holidays should be
! devoted to the illustrious birthday? BY
song and prayer and solemn reflection
| and charities to-day, and by gifts and
trees that bear fruit in an hour after they
are planted, and family gathering and
hilarities sounding from cellar to garrett
Tomorrow, keep Christmas.
As far as possible gather the children
and the grandchildren, but put no es-
toppel on racket, whether of laughter
or swift feet or toys in shape of rail
trains or trumpets or infant effigy. Let
the old folks for one day at least say
nothing about rheumatism, or prospect
Of early demise. or the degeneracy of
modern times. or the poison in the con-
fectiOnery. If you cannot stand the
noise, retire from it for little while into
some other room and stop your ears.
Christmas for children without plenty of
noise is no Christmas at all. If children
and grandchildren cannot have full
swing during the holidays. when will
they have it? They will be still soon
enough, and their feet will slacken their
pace, and the burdens of life will bear
them down. Houses get awfully still
when the children are gone. While they
stay let them fill the room with such re-
sounding mirth that you can hear the
echoes twenty years after they are dead.
BY religious celebration to-day and by
domestic celebration tomorrow keep
Christmas. AS for our beloved church,
we tomorrow night mean to set the chill
dren OF our Sabbath school wild with de-
light. and in The Christian Herald, with
which am connected, we are celebrat-
ing the holidays by sending out from
1000 to 1000 Bibles a day, and they will
continue to go out by express, by mes
sengers and by mails until we have dis
tributed at Leaf 10000 copies of the
good old Book on which Christmas is
built, and which give the only healthful
Interpretation of these swift flying years.
The second chapter of the holidays
must speak Of annual decadence. This
is the last Sabbath of the year. The
steps of the year are getting short for
it is old now. When it waved the spring.
time blossoms the year was young. and
when it swung the scythe and cradle
through the summer harvest fields the
year was strong, but it is getting out of
breath now, and after six more thrObS of
the pulse will be dead. We cannot stop
this annual decadence. Set all the
clocks back. set all the watches back,
set all the chrOnometers back, but you
cannot set time back. For the old family
clock you might suppose that time would
have especial respect, and that if you
took hold Of those old hands on the face
of that centenarian of a timepiece and
pushed them back you might expect that
time would stop or retreat for at least
few minutes. mo. nor says the old
family clock. 81 must go on. saw
your father and mother on their we'd
ding day. l struck the hour Of your
nativity. I counted the festaI hours of
the day in which you brought home a
bride. l sounded the knell at your
fathers death. tolled at your mothers
departure. Yea, l must sound your own
going out Of life. l must 20 on. 1 must
60 on. Tick, took! Tick. tock!'
But there is great city clock high up
in the tower. There are so many
wrongs in all our cities to be righted, so
many evils to be extirpated, so many
prisons to be sanitaried-stop the city
clock until all these things are done
Let common council and the people Of
the great town decree that the city hall
sins of 1892 to be handed over to 1893.
We do not want the young year to in
herit the miSfOrtunes of the old year.
by ladders lifted to the tower and by
strong hands take hold and halt the
city clock. mo, no!' says the city
clock. II cannot wait until you correct
all evils or soOthe all sorrow or drive out
all sin. have been counting the steps
of your progress as city. l have seen
your opportunities. l have deplored
your neglects, but time wasted is
wasted forever. must 60 on. l must
go on. Tick, took. Tick, tock"' But in
the tower of the capitols at Washington
and London and Berlin and Vienna and
all the great national capitals there are
clocks.
Suppose that by Presidential proclama-
tion and resolution Of Senate and House !
of Representatives our national clock in |
the Capitol turret be ordered to stop. |
stop, U clock, until sectional animos- |
tiles are cooled off, until our Sabbaths |
are better kept, and drunkenness turns |
to sobriety. and bribery. fraud and dis |
sipation quit the land. Stop, o clock. |
in the tower Of the great United States |
Capitol" mo. no.. says the clock. II /
have hoen pOipn IN en- Ionp cannot af- 4