The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1895-03-13

The best work for God and humanity mas
been done on the snowy day. At gloomy
Marine Terrace, island of Jersey, the exile.
Victor Hugo, wrought the mightiest
achievements Of his pen. Ezekiel, ban1shed
! and bereft and an invalid at Corn.
hill, on the banks of Chebar, had his
momentous vision OF the cherubim and
| wheels within wheels. By the dim light of
dungeon window ut Bedford, John Bunyan
sketches the "Delectable Mountains" Mil
ton writes the greatest poem Of all time
without eyes. Michael Angelo carved q
statue out of snow, and all Florence gazed In
raptures at its exquisiteness, and many of
Gods servants have out of the cold cut their
Immortality. Prosecutions were tho dark
background that made more impressive the
courage and conservation OF Sayonarola,
who, when threatened with denial of burial,
said, "Throw me into the Arno If you choose;
the resurrection day will And me, and that Is
enough. Benaiah on cold damp. cutting,
snowy day gained leonine triumph. Hard
ship and trouble have again and again ex-
alted and inspired and gloriled their sub
jects.
The bush itself has mounted higher
And fourished unconsumed in fire.
Well, we have had many snowy days within
the past month, and added to the chill Of the
weather was the chilling dismay at the
nonarrival OF tho ocean steamer Gascogne.
Overdue for eight days, many had given her
up as lost, and the most hopeful were
very anxious. The cyclones, whose play
is shipwrecks. had been reported being In
widest romp all up and down the At
lantic. The ocean few days before had
swallowed the Elbe. and with unap-
pessed appetite seemed saying, "Give
us more of the best shipping The Norman
die came in on the same track the Gascogne
was to travel, and it had not seen her. The
Teutonic, saved almost by the superhuman
efforts Of captain and crew, came in and had
heard no gun of distress from that missing
steamer There were pale faces and wiring
ing hands on both continents, and tears
rolled down cold cheeks on those snowy
days. We all feared that the worst had
happened and talked of the City Of
Boston as never heard of after sailing, and
the steamship President, on which the brill
liant Goodman sailed, never reported and
never to be heard Of again until the time
when the sea gives up its dead. But at last,
under most powerful glass at Fire Island, q
ship was seen limping this way over the
waters. Then we all began to hope that it
might be the missing French liner. Three
hours oftedious and agonizing waiting and
two continents in suspense. When will the
eyeglasses at Fire Island make revelation Of
this awful mystery of the sea? There 1t is!
Ha, ha! The Gascogne! Quick! Wire the
news to the city! Swing the flags out on the
towers. Ring the bells! Sound the whistles
of the shipping all the way up from Sandy
Hook to New York Battery! "She's safe!
She's safe!' are the words caught up and
passed on from street to street. "It is
the Gascogne!'' is the cry sounding
through all our delighted homes and thrill
ing all the telegraphic wires of the continent
and all the cables under the SEQ, and the
huzza on the wharf as the gangplanks we're
swung out for Decentralization was q small
part of the huZza that lifted both hemt-
spheres into exultation. The flakes Of snow
fell on the "extra" as we opened 1t on the
street to get the latest particulars.
Well. it will be better than that when some
of You are seen entering the harbor of
heaven. You have had q rough voyage. No
mistake about that. Snowy day after sno wy
day. Again and again the machinery OF
health and courage broke down, and the
waves Of temptation have swept clear overthe
hurricane deck, SO that you were: often COM
PEELED to say, "AllThy waves and Thy billows
have cove over me" and you were down in
the trough of that sea and down in the trough
Of the other sea. and many despaired of your
safe arrival. But the great Pilot, not one
who must come off from some other craft.
but the one who walked storm swept Galilee
and now walks the wintry Atlantic, comes
on board and heads you for the haven,
when no sooner have you passed the
narrows of death than you find all the banks
lined with immortals celebrating your arrival,
and while some break off palm branches
from tho banks and wave them those stand
ing on one side will chant, "There shall be
no more sea-" and those standing on the
other side will chant, "These are they which
came out bf great tribulation and had their
robes washed and made white in the
blood of the Lamb OF of the stormy
seq into the smooth harbor. Out of leonine
struggle In the pit to guidance by the Lamb,
who shall lead you to living fountains Of
water Out of the sno wy day of earthly
seventies into the gardens of everlasting
fora and into orchards of eternal fruitage,
the fall of their white blossoms the only
snow in heaven.