The L'Anse sentinel. (L'Anse, L.S., Mich.) 18??-current, 1895-05-18

huuOunt w notniuk uhiCSo ycuf hcoh v
life go into them. When the bronzed
slave took from the presence Of PLATE
that wash basin he carried away none
OF Pilates cruelty, or Pilates wicked
ness, or Pilates guilt.
Nothing against creeds; we all have
them, either written or implied. Moth.
ing ag 1inst ceremonies; they are OF i'm
finite Importance. Nothing against
sacraments; they nre divinely com
manded. Nothing against rosary, IL
there be as many heartfelt prayers as
beads counted. Nothing against in
cense floating up from censor amid
Gothic arches, II the prayers be as
genuine as the aroma is sweet. Moth
ing against Epiphany, or Lent or Ash
Wednesday, or Easter, or Good Friday,
or Whitsuntide, or Palm Sunday, II
these symbols have be hind them gen.
uine repentance, and holy remini-
scence. and Christian conservation.
But ceremony is only the sheath to the
sword, it is only the shell to the kerr
mel, it is only the lamp to the flame, it
is only the body to the spirit. The
outward must be sym5olical of the in
ward. Wash the hands by all means,
but, more than all, wash the heart.
Behold, also, as you see Gov. Pom
thus 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 per-
son, 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.
Oh, the powers of conscience when it
is fully aroused? With whip of scor-
pions over bed of spikes in pitch of
midnight it chases guilt. Are there
| ghosts? Ycs,not of the grave yard,
but of ones mind not at rest.
And thus, Brutus, amid his slumbering host,
Startled with Caesars stalwart ghost
Macbeth looked at his hand after
the midnight assassination, and he
says:
viii oil great Neptune's ocean wash this blood
Clean from my hand? 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, has
reproof more or less emphatic
Charles IN, responsible for ST. Bar
tholomew massacre, was chased by the
bitter memories, and in his dying mo-
ment said to his doctor, Ambrose Par
ry: doctor, / don't know what's the
matter with me; am in a fever of body
and mind, and have been for long
while. Oh, il l had only spared the
innocent, and the imbecile, and the
cripple!" Rousseau declared in his old
age that sin he committed in his
youth still gave him sleepless nights.
Charles ii. of Spain could not sleep
unless he had in his room confessor
and two friars. Catiline had such
bitter memories he was startled at the
least sound. Cardinal Beaufort, hav-
ing slain the duke of Gloucester, often
IN the night would say: Away! away!
why do you look at me?" Richard Ill,
having slain his two nephews, would
sometimes in the night shout from his
couch and clutch his sword, fighting
apparitions. Dr. Webster, having slain
Parkman in Boston, and while waiting
for his doom, complained to the jailer
that the prisoners on the other side of
the wall all night long kept charging
him with his crime, when there were
no prisoners on the other side of the
wall. 1t was the voice of his own con-
science.
H. l.
hide when they had all the world to
themselves? From their own con-
science. What made Gains punish
ment greater than he could bear? His
conscience. What made Ahab cry out
| to the prophet: Hast thou found me.
| o mine enemy?" What made the great
Felix tremble before the little mission
airy? Conscience. What made Belshaz-
Ears teeth chatter with chill when
he saw finger come out of the black
sleeve of the midnight and write on
the plastering? Conscience, con-
sciencc.
Why is 1t that that man in this audi
ence, with all the marks of worldly
prosperity upon him, is agitated while
/ speak, and is now flushed and is now
| Ddle, anu J0en inc DredJn Is uneven
and then beads of perspiration on
the forehead, and then the look of
unrest comes to look of horror and
despair? j know not But lie knows,
and God knows. 1t may be that he de-
spoiled fair young life and turned
! innocence into waif, and the smile
Of hope into the brazen laughter
Of despair. Or IT may be that hs
has in his possession the prop,
erty of others, and by some
strategem he keeps it accord.
ing TO law. yet he knows 1t is not his
own, and that II his heart should stop
beating this moment he would be in
hell forever. Or it may be he is re-
spoDsible for great mystery, the
disappearance OF some one who was
never heard of, and the detectives were
bafiied, and the tracks were all covered
up, and the swift horse or the rail train
took him out Of reach. and there are
only two persons in the universe who
know of it-God and himself. God
present at the time of the TRACE