The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-07-29


washed by a slow stream Of moisture
whether we sleep or wake. rolling imper-
cepubly over the pebble OF the eye and
emptying into a bone Of the nOstril- a
contrivance so wonderful that 81 can see
the sun, ninety-five millions miles away,
and the point Of a pin. Telescope and
microscope in the same cOntrivance. The
astronomer swings and moves this way
and that, and adjusts and readjusts the
telescope until he gets il 10 the right
locus. the microscopic moves this way
and that. and adjusts and readjusts the
magnifying glass until il is prepared TO
do its work; but the human eye. with
out touch, beholds the star and the
smallest insect The traveller among the
Alps. with one glance taking in Mont
Blanc and the face OF his watch 10 see
whether he has time 10 climb u.
OH this wonderful camera obscura
which you and ! carry about with US. so
to-day we can take In our friends, SO from
the top Of Mount Washington we can take
in New England, so at night we can sweep
into our vision the consultations from
horizon TO horizon So delicate. so semi
infinite. and yet the light coming ninety
1--WE millions OF miles al the rate OF two
hundred thousand miles n second is OBJ
hged 10 halt at the gate Of the eye. wait
ing for admission until the portcullis be
lifted. omething hurled ninety-five mil
lions of miles and striking an instrument
which has not the agitation OF even wink
ing under the power Of the stroke. There,
also, is the merciful arrangement of the
tear gland, by which the eye is washed,
and from which rolls the tide which
brings the relief that comes in tears when
some bereavement or great loss strikes
US. The tear not an augmentation Of sor-
row, but the breaking up of the arctic or
frozen grief I'm the warm gulf stream Of
consolation. Incapacity to weep is mad
ness or death. Thank God for the tear
glands, and that tho crystal gates are so
easily opened. Oh the wonderful hydrau-
lie apparatus of the human eye. Divinely
constructed vision! Two light houses at
the harbor Of the immortal soul, under the
shining Of which the world sails in and
drops anchor. What an anthem Of praise
to God is the human eye The tongue Is
speeches. and clumsy instrument of ex-
preston as compared with it. Have you
not seen 1t flash with Indignation or kin
die with enthusiasm. or expand with de-
voion, or melt with sympathy, or stare
with fright or leer with villainy, or
droop with sadness, or pale with
envy or fire with revenge or
twinkle with mirth, or beam with love?
II Is tragedy and comedy and pastoral and
lyric in turn. Have you not seen its up
lifted brow Of surprise or its frown OF
wrath, or it's contraction Of pain2 If the
eye say one thing and the lips say another
thing, you believe the eye rather than
tAlt ups J. ne eyes OF Archibald Alexander
and Charles G. Finney were the mightiest
part of their sermon. George Whitefeld
enthralled great assemblages with his
eyes, though they were crippled with
strabismus Many military chieftain
has with a look hurled regiment to vic
tory or to death. Martin Luther turned
his great eye on an assassin who came TO
take his life, and the villain fed. Under
the glance Of the human eye, the tiger
with five times a mans strength. snarls
back into the African jungle. But those
best appreciate the value of the eye who
have lost 1t. The Emperor Adrian, by ac-
cident, put out the eye Of his servant
and ne said to his servant: What shall
pay You in, money or In lands? Anything
you ask me; ! am so sorry l put out
your eye out" But the servant refused
TO put any financial estimate on the value
of the eye, and when the emperor urged
and urged again the matter, he said: "Oh,
emperor want nothing but my lost eye"
Alas for those for whom thick and i'm
penetrable vail is drawn across the face
of the heavens and the face of ones own
kindred. That was a pathetic scene when
a blind man lighted a torch at night
and was found passing along the high
way and some one said: why do
you carry that torch when you can't see?"
"Ah! said he. Il can't see but / carry
this torch that others may see me and
pity my helplessness and not run me
down" Samson, the giant, with his eyes
put out by the Philistines, is more help
less than the smallest dwarf with vision
unchanged. All the sympathies of Christ
were stirred when he saw Bartimeus with
darkened retina, and the only salve he
ever made that we read of was a mixture
of dust saliva and a prayer. with which
he cured the eyes of a man blind from
his nativity. The value of the eye is
shown as much by its catastrophe as by
its healthful action. Ask the man who
for twenty years has not seen the sun
rise. Ask the man who for half a century
has not seen the face of friend. Ask in
the hospital the victim of ophthalmia
Ask a man whose eyesight persisted in a
uowder blast. Ask Bartimeus who new
er met a Christ, or the man born blind
who is TO die blind. Ask him. This morn
ing, in my imperfect way, l have only
limited at the splendors, the glories, the
wonders, the divine revelations, the apo
calypses of the human eye. and l stagger
back from the awful portals of the phys
biological miracle which must have taxed
the ingenuity of a God, to cry out in your
ears the words of my text" He that
formed the eye shall he not see?" Shall
Herschel not know as much as his tele-
scope? Shall Fraunhofer not know as
much as his spectroscope? Shall Swami
merdam not know as much as his micro
scope? Shall DR.. Hooke not know as
much as his micrometer? Shall the thing
formed know more than its master? He
that formed the eye, shall he not see?'
The recoil Of this question is tremendous.
We stand at the center of a vast circum-
ference of observation. No privacy. On us,
eyes of cherubim, eyes of seraphim eyes
of archangel eyes of God. We may not be
able to see the inhabitants of other worlds,
but perhaps they may be able TO see us.
We have not optical instruments strong
enough to descry them; perhaps they
have optical instruments strong enough
to descry us. The mole cannot see the
eagle mid sky, but the eagle mid sky can
see the mole mid grass. We are able to
see mountains and caverns of another
world; but perhaps the inhabitants Of
other worlds can see the towers of our
cities, the flash of our seas, the marching
of our professions, the white robes of our
weddings, the black scarfs of our obse-
quies.
1t passes out from the guess into the
positive when we are told in the Bible
that the inhabitants of other worlds do
come as convoy to this. Are they not
all ministering spirits sent forth to minis
ter to those who shall be heirs of saliva
R1lt buu1aD inSpepfion aud apo,e1t,