Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1897-02-20

NebuchadnCzzar on the proudest throne
of all the earth, and then see him graze
with the sheep and the cattleI Pride is
commander, we'll plumcd and caparison-
ed, but it leads forth dark and frown-
ing host. The arrows from the AL
mighty's culver are apt to strike man
when on the wing. Goliath shakes his
great spear in defiance, but the smooth
stones from the brook make him stag
ger and fall like III OK under u butch
er's bludgeon He who is down cannot
fall Vessels scudding under bare poles
do not feel the force Of the storm, while
those with MI sails set capsize at the
sudden descent of the tempest.
Remember that We can be rs proud Of
our humility as of anything else. An
tisthenes walked the streets Of Athons
with ragged cloak to demonstrate his
humility, but Socrates declared he could
see the hypocrisy through the holes III
his cloak. We would NIL see ourselves
smaller than we nre if we were as phil
osophic as Severus, the emperor of Rome,
who said at the close of his life, i
have been everything and everything is
nothing. And when the urn that was
to contain his ashes was at his COM
mand brought to him he said, Little
urn, thou shalt contain one for whom
the world WIS too little. "
Do you not also learn from the mis-
fortune of this king Of Babylon whit Il
terrible thing is tho loss Of reason?
There is no calamity that can possibly
befall us In this world so great as de-
rangement of intellect; to have tho
body of man and yet TO fnll even below
the instinct of brute. In this world OF
horrible sights, the most horrible is the
idiots stare. In this world Of horrible
sounds, the most horrible is the maniac 8
laugh. A vessel driven on the rocks
when hundreds go down never to rise
and other hundreds drag their mangled
and shivering bodies upon tho winters
beach, is nothing compared to the foun-
dering Of intcllects full of vast hopes
and attainments and capacities.
Christ's heart went out toward those
who were epiloptic, falling into the fire,
or maniacs cutting themselves among
the tombs We are accustomed to be
more grateful for physical health than
for the proper working of our mind. We
arc apt to tuke it for granted that tho
intellect which has served us so we'll
will always be faithful We forget that
an engine Of such tremendous power,
where the wheels have such vastness Of
circle and such swiftness Of motion, and
the least impediment might put it out
Of gear can only DO kept i'll proper bal
ance by divine hand. No human hand
could engineer the train of immortal
faculties How strange it is that our
memory, on whose shoulders all the
misfortunes and successes and occur
rences of lifetime are placed, should
not oftener break down, and that the
scales of Judgment, which have been
weighing SO much and 20 long, should
not lose their adjustment, and that fancy,
which holds dangerous wand, should
not sometimes maliciously wave it,
bringing into the heart forebodings and
hallucinations the most appallingl Is it
not strange that this mind, which hopes
SO much in its mighty leaps for the at
tainment of its objects, should not be
dashed to pieces OH its disappointmentsf
Though so delicately tuned, this instru-
ment Of untold harmony plays on,
though fear shakes it and vexations rack
it and sorrow and JOY and loss and gain
in quick succession beat out Of it their
dirge or toss from it their anthem. AT
morning and at night, when in your
prayer you rehearse the causes of your
thanksgiving, next to the salvation by
Jesus Christ, praise the Lord for the
preservation of your reason.
Ho Served Purpose.
See also In this story of Nebuchadnez-
zar the use that God makes Of bad men.
The actions Of the wicked are used as
instruments for the punishment of wick
edness in others or rs the illustration Of
some principle in the divine govern
ment- Nebuchadnezzar subseryed both
purposes- Even so will go back with
you to the history of every reprobate
that the world has ever seen, and l will
show you how to great extent his
wickedness was limited in its destructive
power and how God glOritied himself
in the overthrow and disgrace of his Gu
envy. Babylon is full of abomination,
and wicked Cyrus destroys it. Persia
fills the cup of its iniQuity, and vile AL
exander puts an end to it. Macedon
must be chastised, and bloody Emilius
does it. The Bastille is to be destroyed,
and corrupt Napoleon accomplishes it.
Even SO selfish and wicked men are Of
ten made to accomplish great and glori-
GUS purposes Joseph's brethren were
guilty Of superlative perfdy and mean-
ness when they sold him into slavery
for about 81, yet how they must have
been overwhelmed with the truth that
God never torsakes the righteous when
they saw he had become the prime min
lister of Egypt Pharaoh Expresses the
Israelites with the most diabolic tyran-
ny; yet stand still and gee the salvation
of God. The plaques descend. the To-
Gusts, and the hail. and the destroying
angel, showing that there is God who
will defend the cause Of his people, and
finally, after the 1sraelites have passed
through the parted sea, behold, in the
wreck Of the drowned army, that Gods
enemies are chaff in a whirlwind! In
some financial panic the righteous suf-
fered with the wicked. Houses and
stores and shops in night foundered
on the rock Of bankruptcy, and healthy
credit without warning dropped dead i'll
the street. and money ran up the long
ladder of 25 per cent to laugh down
upon those who could not climb after it.
Dealers with pockets full Of securities
stood shOntinn in the deaf eurs OF banks