The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1896-03-30
HINDMOST MAN.
DiSagreeable Work in the
World Avoided.
A Moral Stencil Has Arisen
Thence in Consequence.
Sermon by the Rev. Mr.. Nutting at
the Union Church.

was "The Hindmost MAN.: Matthew
XIV 1880 the last shall be first"
The subject is more interesting than
agreeable. The dissgreeable work in the
world has generally been avoided, and
moral stencil has arisen thence. II is
necessary that the best people should be
ready TO do the most disagr eeable work.
An intimate connection exists between
the hindmost and the foremost man. As
the miasma rises from the most hlthy
slough and poisons the system OF persons
living in cleanliness, SO also the best man
suffers from the immoral effluvia of the
worst man. In any library OF some scope
may be found here and there pages that
preserve records of vileness Perhaps the
purest soul In Providence has not failed
occasionally TO brush against base life,
a low suggestion.
We cannot ignore the hindmost man,
any more than we can ignore an open
sewer. The attention of the world has
mostly been concentrated upon Its Tore
most men; but these foremost men have
invariably focused their attention upon
tn hindmost men. The foremost OF us
all, Jesus of Nazareth, came not to call
the righteous, but sinners:
"From the highest throne OF glory
To the cross of deepest woe.
AS soon as there was more than one
man there was a hindmost man. His
will always be hindmost man.
There is no equality with God,
however much there may be in the
American constitution. Even among the
angels the hint which we have received
show that some one OF them is behind all
others; though all of them are glad to DO
the will of the Lord, one OF them is least
glad.
What is to become of the hiudmost
man? There has been general belief that
the devil would take him. In proportion
as you are good man such result Will
disturb.you. Humanity is so extensive, so
full of suffering so awful, so mysterious
with it's flashes of celestial lightning and
its black, deep chasms, that we heave an
unreconciIed sigh at the thought thgt
even its scattering mem bers should slip
back into night. 1t Is an unspeakably
dreary contemplation that human babe
should come into touch with the glories
of life, should see fields of flowers, sun
sets and auroras, should hear hymns to
God and the utterance OF the Golden
Rule, should. learn of the Incarnation, of
an immortality of peace, and after such
a beginning 'entangle himself in his own
evil imaginings, bind his own limbs,
choke his own voice, scar his own eyes,
blunt his apprehension OF beauty, loose
his grasp of the eternal and fall into a
state without q name, without memory
end without future. The prospect Is
one from which we recoil, as from the
precipice..where leaps stream. into mist
and the horror of deep darkness.
Nevertheless. we have become so far ac-
customed to the sight of wickedness that
we already think of men passing before
us as IL they were separated by unspeak-
able distances. successful broker
looks upon a petty thief imprisoned for
three months as upon being in differ
ent world from himself Yet the davel-
opmert in men varies only about seventy
years. II Is a question whether in the
eye of God there Is so great difference
in men as we are accustomed to think.
What Is the development OF seventy
years TO an eternity? What is Its ratio
to seven hundred yesrs--to 10000; to TO-
600, 600? Seventy years is only millionth
part OF what for purposes OF illustration
we may call an eternity. White headed
men. speak OF themselves as having passed
through much, and they look back with
pity orsssorrow upon the children who fol-
low them. Yet they have something be-
fore them. The child has seventy million
lives; the old man has seventy million
minus one. Suppose two men start to
walk from here to San Francisco. III one
gives the other start OF six yards he
gives him about the same advantage as
the man OF seventy years has over the
babe in an eternity OF 1000, ,0O0 The hind
most man Is not then very far behind.
Let him take heart.
"For humanity sweeps onward:
Where today the martyr stands;
On the morrow crouches Judas
With tho silver in his hands"
Suppose you move humanity forward
about one hundred degrees IN the scale
of character, perhaps the hindmost man
would reach the point where the foremost
man now is When we overtake Moses'
present position where will he be? His
soul. like John Browns, goes marching
on. though his body lies In an unknown
grave. There is an invinoible impetus in
the man whom God started. Like star
he continues his course. Like raindrop
he cannot be lost out OF the universe.
Like a mist he rises and becomes invis-
ible, but like il he is still in the atmos-
phere. He Is going on somewhere. IL is
the property of a man to keep going.
Eternity requires but little faith now
that creation is an accomplished fact.
v hen we look at ourselves and see that
we have come thus far into life and in
telligence evidently our continuance In
life Is not so strange a thing as that we
should have begun to live at all.
The hindmost man of us ell therefore
may have hope. There are several things
i'm his favor, and one is that he has every
thing TO gam. He has fallen; men have
risen. Ahead OF this hindmost man there
are many cheap and little souls. His first
competitions will be easy. lie is sur
rounded by others who have very little, II
any, noble ambitions. II will not require
much effort for him to go ahead some-
what for he is the hipdmost of the lag
ging men.
There is remarkable future for some
binder men. The last shall be first. II
is n serious question whether 1t would
not be preferable TO live farmer rather
than czar. Tho next revolution will
mean something for the hindmcst man.
Some kings like Charles V resigned their
crown while still in life, and were glad
TO become quiet monks.
Diocletlan, I'm giving up the sway OF
the Roman empire for the cultiyat on of
cabbages, surpassed other rulers ib the
courage of his convictions These not
able men perceived the shadow OF the
hand OF power moving behind the scenes
OF history and rapidly preparing to over
turn our little systems. They seem TO
desire a lower place than the foremost,
and 10 entlcIpatc what God proposed for