Orange County observer. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1880-1918, 1894-01-20

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Dase-sa sratntt RoId. detgnse against heat, |!
.tafense 4Set-.t sifg-a5a daIrSe againsf the
wnrlts ah..se. defense all sIie Tar DOWN fe |
the grave. AMI even thetornhstoEe sofhesifhS
il not 4 a 81 He.ent harrica6e-
II a soldier xho has BEEN on guard sDiFe.
| i'm AMI SUM With the cold. pacing Up and
| down he uarap4t with shouklered muskes. /.
] .t.t WHEN SOMEONE cones 20 re3aeF@ -aaEH
| am ~ IAN - Inside the fortress. o1cht not
| ina, fr.an 70 shout <cr 10y who can pun ic@p
| ~ veapoa q eartni> defense and go INTO the
| kings castlec Who ie the mere fortunate
| the soldier who has 70 staEd guard twelve
| hours. Or the man who has 20 stand guard
six hours, We have common sense ahoU,
everything but religion. Common sense aoout
everything bu. transfereuce from this world
Again. there Is a blessing IL an aohrevi-
a.et earthly existence in the fact that one e-
capes 50 many bereavements. The longer
we live the more attachments and the more
klndre4. the more chords 70 be WOUNDED or
raspai or suniere5. II a man live on &c
seventy or eighty years Of age. how many
graves are cleft d, his feet? In that long
reach Of tirae father and mother go. brothers
ani sis,er- 70. children go, grandchildren
20. per.nnai friends outside the family circle
whom they hal loved with a live like that OF
DAVID an Jonathan
BESIDES that some men have a natural
trepidation about dissolution. and ever and
anon during forty or fifty or sixty years thb
horror Of their dissolution shudders through
SOU and body. Now. suppose the. lad goea
Il. sixteen years OF age. He escapes fifty
funerals. ffty baskets. fifty obseqnies, fifty
awful wrenchings Of the heart. II is hard
-no1lvh for US to bear their departure. but is
if not easier for US to bear their departure
than FOR them TO stay and bear fifty de-
partures? Shall we not. by the grace OF God.
rouse ourselves into a generosity OF bereave-
nent which Will practically say. 1T is hard
eDouph for me IA 90 thYouDh this hpraaya-
nent. but how glad / am that he will never
have to 90 through it y
So l reason with myself. and go you will
md ii helpful TO reason with yourselves.
David lost his son. Though David was king,
be lay on the earth mourning and inconso-
liable for some time. At this distance of time,
whichdo you really think was the one to be
congratulated. the short lived child or the
long lived father? Had Daviedhied as early
as that child. he would in the first place have
that particular bereavement. then he would
have escaped the worst bereavement OF Alb
SALON.. his recreant son and the pursuit Of
the Phiiistines. and the fatigues OF his mill
tary campaign. and the jealousy Of Saul and
the 3erfidy Of Ahithophel, and the curse Of
Shinei. and the destruction OF his family at
Ziklae. and. above all. he would have IS
capped the two great calamities of life. the
great sins of uncleannees and murder. David
lived to be of vast use to the church and the
world. but so far as his own happiness was
concerned. does it not seem to you that il
would have been better for him to have gone
early?
Now, this, my friends, explains some
things that to you have been inexplicabie.
This shows you why when God takes little
take the brightest, the most genial. the most
sympathetic. the most talented. Why? 1t is
because that kind OF nature suffers the most
whenit does suffer and Is most liable to
temptation. God saw the tempest sweepin1
up from the Caribbean. and He put the ueli-
cate craft into the first harbor. "Taken AVA
from the evil to come
Again. my friends. there Is a blessing in al
abbreviated earthly existence in the fact that
1t puts one sooner in The centre OF thing.
All astronomers. infdel as we'll as Christian.
agree in believing that the universe swincs
around some great centre. Any one wno has
studied the earth and studied the heavens
knows that Gods favorite figure In yeom-
etry is a circle. When God put forth His
hand to create the universe. He did no,
strike that nand at right angles. but HI
waved 1t in a circle. and kept on waving il
in a circle until systems and consultations
and g9alaxies and all worlds took that NO
> tion. Our planet swinging around the sun,
other planets swinging around other suns
bet somewhere a great hub around which
the great wheel of the universe turns. Now
that centre is heaven. That is the capital Of
the universe. That is the great metropoli.
I, of immensely.
Now. does not our COMMON sense teach VI
, that in matters of study it is better for us tc
!, move out from the centre toward the circum
l ference. where our world is? We are lik.
those who study the American continent
while standing on the Atlantic beach. Th,
: way to study the continent is to cross it Oh
! go 70 the heart of 1t. Our standpoint in this
world Is defective. We are at the wrong enc
; of the telescope. The best way to study
. nlQcA or mQnhInQrv ia not ~ cfon6 on III.
doorstep and try to look in. but to goin witt
= the engineer and take our place right amid
l the saws and cylinders. We wear our eyes
= out and our brain out from the fact that VS.
are studying under such great disadvantage
s Millions of dollars for observatories tc
1 study things about the moon. about the sun
r about the rings Of Saturn. about transits and
9 occultations and eclpses, simply because oul
studio, our observatory. is poorly situated
We are down in the cellar trying to study tn,
I palace Of the universe, while our departed
9 Christian friends have gone up stairs annie
: the skylights to study.
t Now, when one can sooner get to tbs
| centre of things. is he not to be congratu.
lated? Who wants to be always in the fresh
man class? We study God In this world b,
the Biblical photograph of Him, but we al
q Know we can In five minutes Of interview
. with a friend get moro accurate idea OF hin
o than we can by studying him fifty year
through pictures of words. The little child
n that died last night to-day knows more 0
God than all Andover. and all Princeton. an
all New Brunswick. and all Edinburgh, an,
: all the theological institutions in Christen
!, dom. Is it not better TO go up to the yer,
= headquarters of knowledge?
. Does not our common sense teach US tha'
: 1t is better TO be at the centre than to b.
y clear out on the rim Of the wheel. holding
= nervously fast TO the tire lest we be sud
denly hurled into light and eternal felicity
> Through all kinds Of optical instrument.
:, trying to peer In through the cracks and ths
. keyhoies OF heaven-afraid that both door
: OF the celestial mansion will be swung wild.
, open before our entrancei ~vision-rushin.
about the apothecary shops OF this world
wondering If this Is good for rheumatism
auI chat is good Tor neuralgia and some.
ling else is coof for a bad cough. les, VI.
be suddenly ushered into a land OF eve-last
:, ING health. where the innahitant never saws
Il am sick
,e VIVA. ools we al are ~ prefer the cir
cnn4cf"h> . 70 Tie erntrr' What a dreadful
sh1nc 1t woG!I d, Il We should be SUDDEN
a