Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1893-01-12

| INTO Egypt seventy anu Cdlllo ouo o.
600, 900. That is falsehood on the
face OF it. Nations do not increase in
that ratio" But, my skeptical friend,
hold on a minute. The Bible says the
Jews were 43O years in Egypt, and
that explains the increase from sew
enty persons to 100000, for it is
no more, but rather less than the or
| binary increase of nations. The Pill
grim Fathers came to America in the
May-tlower, one small ship-load of
passengers less than 800 years ago,
and now we have nation of 60, OOO,-
900. Where, then, is the impossible
ity that the seventy Jews who went
into Egypt in 43O years become g.
900, coo: lnfiielity wrong and Bible
chronology right.
This chronological study affords,
among many practical thoughts,
especially two-the one encouraging
| to the last degree and the other startl-
ing. The encouraging thought is that
the main drift CT the centuries has
been toward betterment, with only
here and there a stout reversal.
Grecian civilization was a vast i'm
provement on Egyptian civilization,
and Roman civilization, a vast i'm
provement on Grecian civilization,
and Christian civilization is a vast
improvement on Roman civilization.
What was the boosted age OF Pericles
compared with the age OF Longfellow
and Tennyson? What was Queen Eliza
beth as q specimen OF moral woman
hood compared with Queen Victoria?
What were the cruel warriors OF Olden
times compared with the most dis
tinguished warriors OF the last half
century, all of them as much dis
tinguished for kindness and good
morals as for prowess; the two
military leaders OF our Civil War on
Northern and Southern sides COM
muuicant members OF Christian
churches, and their home life as
pure as their public life? Nothing
impresses me in this chronological re-
view more than the fact that the
regiments of years are better and bet
ter regiments as the troops move on.
l thank God that you and | were not
born any sooner than we were born.
How could we have endured the dis
aster OF being born in the eighteenth
or seventeenth or sixteenth century?
Glad am | that we are in the regiment
now passing the reviewing stand and
that our children will pass the stand
in still better regiment. God did
not build this world for "a slaughter
house or den OF infamy. A good
deal OF cleaning house will be necessary
before this world becomes as clean
and sweet as it ought to be, but the
brooms and the scrubbinG brushes
and the upholsterers and the plumbers
are already busy, and when the world
gets tixeG up as it will be, if Adam and
Eve ever visit it, as | expect they will,
| they will say to each other ''Well,
this beats Paradise when we lived
there, and the pears and the plums
| are better than we plucked from the
first trees, and the wardrobes are
more complete, and the climate is
better" Since | settled in my own
mind the fact that God was stronger
than the devil, l have never lost faith
in the emparac isation OF this planet.
With the exception OF a retrogression
in the Dark Ages, the movement OF
the world has been on and on, and up
and up, and | have two iubilant no.
sannas-one for the closing year and
the other for the new year.
But the other thought coming out of
this subject is that biblical chrono-
logy, and indeed all chronology, is urg-
ing the world to more punctuality and
immediateness. What an unsatis-
factory and indefinite thing it must
have been for two business men in the
time of Ahaz to make an appointment,
saying: 1--WE will settle that business
matter tomorrow when the shadow
on the dial OF Ahaz reaches the tenth
step from the top" or, 81 will meet
you in thestreet called Straiehtin Da-
mascus in the time OF the new moon,'
or, when asked in a court room, what
time an occurrence took place, should
answer: at was during the time OF
the latter rain" or, ut was at TIE
time OF the third Growing Of the barn
yard" You and | remember when
ministers of the gospel in the country,
giving out a notice of an evening SER
vice, instead of saying at 6 or or s
o'clock would say, "The service will
begin at early candle-ight. Thank
God for chronological achievements
which have ushered in calendars and
almanacs and clocks and watches,
and at SO cheap rate all my possess
them. Chronology, beginning by APP
preciating the value of years and the
value OF days, has kept on until it
cries out: "Man, immortal; woman,
immortal: look out for that minute;
look out for that second!'
We talk a great deal about the
value OF time, but will never full ap-
preciate its value until the last frag-
ment OF it has passed out of our pos
session forever. The greatest fraud a
man can commit is to rob another of
his time. Hear it, ye laggards, and
repent! All the fingers OF chronology
point to punctuaity as one Of the
graces. The minister or the lecturer
or business man who comes to his
place ten minutes after the appointed
time commits q crime, the enormity
of which can only be estimated by
multiplying the number OF persons
present by ten. If the engagement be
made with five persons, he has stolen
fifty minutes, for he is ten minutes