The enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 188?-1899, 1895-05-08

OF HlldUe WlCk6uueSs, OF Illdbc y ullO.
Nothing against creeds; we all have
them, either written or implied. Moth.
ing against ceremonies; they are Of in
finite Importance. Nothing against
sacraments; they are all divinely com
manded. Nothing against a rosary, ii
there be as many heartfelt prayers as
beads counted. Nothing against incense
floating up from censer amid Gothic
arches, if the prayers be as genuine as
the aroma is sweet Nothing against
Epiphany, or Lent, or Ash Wednesday,
or Easter, or Good Friday, or Whitsun-
tide, or Palm Sunday, if these symbols
have behind them genuine repentance,
and holy "Reminiscences, and Christian
conservation. But ceremony is only
the sheath to the sword, it is only the
shell to the kernel, it is only the lamp
to the flame, it is only the body to the
spirit The outward must be symbol
cal of the inward. Wash the hands by
all means, but more than all, wash the
heart.
Behold, also, as you see Governor
Pontius PLATE thrust his hand into this
wash basin, the power of conscience.
He had an idea there was blood on his
hand-the blood of an innocent person,
whom he might have acquitted If he
only had the courage. Poor PLATE! his
conscience was after him, and he knew
the stain would never be washed from
the right hand or the left hand, and
until the day of his death, though he
might wash in all the LAYERS of the
Roman empire, there would be still
eight fingers and two thumbs red at
the tips.
o, the power of conscience when it is
fully aroused. With whip of scorpions
over bed of spikes in pitch of mid
night it chases guilt. Are there ghostsi
Yes, not of the graveyard but of ones
mind not at rest.
And thus, Brutus, os1id his slumbering host
Startled with Ceasar's stalwart ghost
Macbeth looked at his hand after the
midnight assassination, and he says:
VIII all great Neptune's ocean wash this blood
! Clean from my hand9 No; this my hand will
rather
| The multitudinouS seas incarnadine,
Making the green one red.
For every sin, great or small, con
science, which is the voice of God, ha'
reproof, more or less emphatic
! Charles X, responsible for st. Bar
tholomew massacre, was chased by the
bitter memories, and in his dying mo
ment said to his doctor, Ambrose Parr
Doctor, don't know what's the mat
ter with me; l am in fever of body
and mind, and have been for lont
while. o, if l had only spared tht
innocent, and the imbecile, and thu
cripple!" Rousseau declared in old ag'
thai sin he committed in his you'll
still gave him sleepless nights. Charles
H., of Spain, could not sleep unless HI
had in the room confessor and twc
friars. Cataline had such bitter mem
ories he was startled at the least sound
Cardinal Beaufort, having slain tn,
Duke of Gloucester, often in the nigh
would say: "Away! Away! why do yol
look at me?" Richard Ill, having
slain his two nephews, would some
times in the night shout from his coucl
and clutch his sword, fighting eappari
tions. Dr. Webster, having slain Park
man in Boston, and while waiting TO
his doom, complained to the jailer tina
the prisoners on the other side of tn
wall all night long kept charging hin
with his crime, when there were M
prisoners on the other side of the wall
From what did Adam and Eve try t.
hide when they had all the world t.
themselves? From their own con
science. What made Gains punish
ment greater than he could bear? Hi
conscience. What made Ahab cry GU
to the prophet: Hast thou found me
o mine enemy?" What made the grea
Felix tremble before the little mis-
sionary? Conscience. What made Bel
shazzar's teeth chatter with chill
when he saw finger come out of tn
black sleeve of the midnight and writ,
on the plastering? Conscience, con
science
Why is it that that man in this audi
ence, with all the marks of world,
prosperity upon him, is agitated Will
l speak, and is now flushed and is nov
pale, and then the breath is uneven
and then beads of perspiration on tn
forehead, and then the look of unres
comes to look of horror and despair
l know not. But he knows, and Go
knows. 1t may be that he despoiled
fair young life and turned innocenc
into waif, and the smile of hope int
the brazen laughter of despair. Or
may be that he has in his possession
the property of others, and by som
stratagem he keeps it according to law
and yet he knows it is not his own
and that if his heart should stop beat
ing this moment he would be in hel
forever. Or it may be he is responsible
for a great mystery, the disappear
ance of some one who was neve
heard of, and the detectives were bal
fed, and the tracks were all covere,
up, and the swift horse or the raj
train took him out of reach, AM
there are only two persons in the uni
verse who know of it-God and him
self. God present at the time of tn
tragedy and present at the retrospec
tion, and conscience-conscien wit
stings, conscience with pinchers, con
science with fails, conscience wit
furnaces, is upon him; and until
mans conscience rouses him he doe
not repent. What made that farme
converted to God go to his infide
neighbor and say: "Neighbor, hav
four of your sheep. They came owe
into my fold six years ago. They ha
1,o,,r ~, rlx ,,noY, fbap, and obopra