Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1896-12-18


an1 Lebanon selar.
Again. / remark that those Of our de-
parted Christian friends who Ia TINS worid
had very strong military spirit are nov ~
armies celestial aui cut iu hloodiess hattie'
There are hundreds Of people born s0l1ters.
They cannot help IT, They belong 10 resi-
menis In time Of peace. They cannot near
a drum or NE without trying 10 keep step 20
the music. They are Christians, and when
they fight they light on the right side. Now,
when these our Christian friends who had
natural aud powerful military spirit entered
heaven they entered the celestial army, me
door OF heaven scarcely opens but you near
a military demonstration. David cried out,
''The chariots OF God are 20,0O0r' Elisha
saw the mountains dllei with celestial cav
airy. st. John said. "The armies which are
in heaven followed Him on white horses
Now. when those who had the military spirit
on earth sanctitei entered glory, suppose
they right away enlisted on some heavenly
campaign; they volunteered right away.
There must needs ba in heaven soldiers with
a sJldierly spirit. There are grand parade
days. when the King reviews the troops There
must be an armed escort sent out to bring up
from earth to heaven those who we're more
than conquerors. There must be crusades
ever being fitted out for some part OF Gods
dominion-battles, bloodless, groanless.
paiuless-1ngels Of evil to be fought down
and fought out, other rebellious worlds to
be conquered, worlds to be put to the torch,
worlds to be saved, worlds TO be demolished,
worlds to be sunk, worlds TO bs hoisted. Be-
sides that, in our own world there are bat
ties for the right and against the wrong
where we must have the heavenly military.
That is what keeps US Christian reformers so
buoyant, SO few good men against so many
bad men: so few churches against so many
.I,Tr,
against so many polluted printing presses,
and vet we ara buoyant and courageous,
because, while we know that the armies Of
evil in the world are larger in numbers
than the army OF truth, there are celestial CO.
horts in the air fighting on our side. l have
not so much faith in the army on the ground
as l havs in the army IN the air. God,
open our eyes that we may see them-the
military spirits that went up from earth to
Join the military spirits before the throne
Joshua and Caleb and Gideon and David and
Samson and the hundreds of Christian war
riors who on earth fought with fieshly arm,
and now, having gone up on high, are COM
ing down the hills OF heaven ready TO fight
among the invisibles.
But what are our mathematical friends to
do in the next world2 They found their joy
and delight in mathematics. There was
more poetry to them in Euclid than in John
mathematics as Plato, who wrote over his
door, "Let no one enter here who is not ac-
quaiuted with geometry" What are they
doing now? They are busy with figures yet
No place in all the universe like heaven for
figures. Numbers inGl tie, distances infinite,
calculations infinite. Ii they want them
arithmetics and algebras and geometries and
trigonometries for all eternity. What fields
Of space to be surveyed! What magnitudes
to measure! What diameters, what circum-
ferences, what trlangles, what quaterntons,
what epicycoids, what parallelogrlms, what
comic sectionsi
What are our departed Christian friends
who are explorers doing now2 Exploring
vet but with lightning locOmotion, with
vision microscopic and telescope at the same
time. A continent az glance, a world in
second, n planetary system in day. Chris
tian John Franklin, no more in disabled
Erebus pushing toward the North Pole;
Christian De Long, no more trying to free
blockaded Jeanette from the ice Christian
Livingstone, no more amid African malarias,
trying to make revelation of dark con-
tinent, but all of them in the twinkllng of an
eye taking in that which was once unap-
proachable. Mont Blanc scaled without
alpenstock, the coral depths of the ocean ex-
plored with out diving bell the mountains
unbarred and opened without Sir Humphrey
Days safety lamp.
What are our departed friends who found
their chief Joy in study doing now2 Study
ing yet, but, instead of few thousand vol
umes on few shelves, all the volumes of the
universe open before them geologic, orni-
thologic, concnolosic. botanic. astronomic,
pnilosophic. No more need of Leyden lars
or voltaic piles or electric batteries, standing
as they do face TO face with the facts of the
universe.
What are the historians doing now?
Studying history yet, but not the history of
II few centuries OF our planet only, but the
history of the eternities-whole miilen-
NUNS, before Xenophen or Herodotus or
Moses or Adam was born. History of one
world, history of all worlds. What are cur
departed astronomers doing? Studying
astronomy yet, but not through the dull
lens Of earthly observatory, but with one
stroke of wing going right out to Jupi-
ter and Mars and Mercury and Saturn
and Orion and the Pleiades, overtaking
and passing the swiftest comet in their
flight. Herschel died Christian. Have
YOU any doubt about what Herschel is doing2
Isaac Newton died a Christian. Have you
any doubt about what Isaac Newton is doing?
Joseph Henry died Christian. Have you
any doubt about what Joseph Henry is do
ing? They were in discussion, all these as
tronomers OF earth, about what the aurora
borealis was. and none of them could guess.
They know now; they have been out there
to see for themselves.
What are our departed Christian chemists
doing? Following out their own science fol-
lowing out and following out forever. Since
they died they have solved 10, 900 questions
which puzzled the earthly laboratory. They
stand on the other side of the thin wall of
electricity-the thin wall that seems to di.
vide the physical from the spiritual world;
the thin wall of electricity, so thin the wall
that ever and anon it seems to be almost
broken through-broken through from one
side by telephone and telegraphic APP
paratus. broken through from the other
side by strange influences which
men in their ignorance call spirit
uaIlstic manifestations. Al! that matter
cleared Gp. They laughing at us as older
brothers will laugh at inexperienced broth
ers as they see us with contracted brows ex-
perimenting and experimenting, only wish
ing they could show us the way to open all
the mysteries. Agassz standing amid his
student explorers down in Brazil. coming
across some great novelty in the rocks, TAX
ing off his hat and saying: Gentlemen, let
us pray. We must have divine illumination.
We want wisdom from the Creator to study
these rocks. He made them. Let us pray.'
Agassiz going right on with his studies for
ever and forever.
But what are the men of the law, who in
this world found their chief Joy in the legal
professionally are they doing now? Study
ing law in a universe where everything is
controlled by law from the flight of hum
ming birds to flight of world-law not dry
and hard and drudging, but righteous and
magnificent law, before which man and
cherub and seraph and archangel and God
Himself bow; the chain Of law long enough
to wind around the immensities and infinity
and eternity. Chain of law. What place
to study law, where all the links of the chain
are in the hand!
What are our departed Christian friends
who in this world had their Joy in the heal
ing art doing now2 Busy at their old bust.
ness. No sickness in heaven, but plenty of
sickness on earth, plenty of wounds in the
different nartS of Gods dominion to ha