The L'Anse sentinel. (L'Anse, L.S., Mich.) 18??-current, 1897-02-27
,lav,ng Of ali the learned men Of the


My friends, do you not see that prid
and ruin ride In the same saddle? SCI
observation-disclosures on the proudes
throne of all the earth, and then SEE
him Craze with the sheep and the
cattle! Pride is commander, well
plumed and caparisoned, but IT leads
forth a dark and frowning host. The
arrows from the Almighty's quiver are
apt to strike a man when on the wing.
Goliath shakes his great spear in de-
fiance, but the smooth stones from the
brook made him stagger and fall like
an OK under butchers bludgeon. He
who is down can not fall. Vessels
scudding under bare poles do not feel
the force of the storm, while those
with all sails set capsize at the sudden
descent of the tempest.
Rene mber that we can be as proud
of our humility as of anything else.
Antisthenes walked the streets of
Athens with a ragged cloak To demon
strate his humility, but Socrates de-
clared he could see the hypocrisy
through the holes in his cloak. We
would all see ourselves smaller than
we are il we were as philosophic as
Severus, the emperor of Rome, who
said at the close of his life: II 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: Lit
tie urn, thou shalt contain one for
VIII ON the world was too little"
DO you not also learn from the mis-
fortune of this king of Babylon what
a terrible thing is the loss of reason.
There is no calamity that can possibly
befall us in this world SO great as de.
rangement of intellect, to have the
body Of man and yet TO fall even be-
low 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 maniacs laugh. a
vessel driven ON the rocks, when hun
dreds 70 down never to rise and other
hundreds drag their mangled and
shivering bodies upon the winters
beach, is nothing compared to the
laundering of intellects full of vast
hopes and attachments and capacities.
Christ's heart went out toward those
who were epileptic, 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
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 be
kept in balance by a Divine hand. No
human hand could engineer the train
of Immortal faculties. How strange it
Is that our memory, ON whose Shout
ders all the misfortunes and successes
and occurrences of a lifetime are
placed, should not oftener bread down,
and that the scales of Judgment,
which have been weighing SO much
and SO long, should not lose their ad.
justnent. and that fancy, which holds
q dangerous wand, should not some
times maliciously wave it, bringing
into the heart forebodings and hallu-
cinations the most appalling Is it
not strange that this mind, which
hopes SO much in its mighty leaps for
the attainment of its objects, should
not be dashed to pieces on its disap-
pointments? Though so delicately
tuned, this instrument of untold har-
money plays on, though fear shakes it
and veXatious racks it and sorrow and
JOY and loss and gain in quick success
sion beat out Of it their dirge or toss
from it their anthem. AT morning
aud at night, when in your prayer you
rehearse the causes of your thanks
giving. next to the salvation of Jesus
Christ, praise the Lord for the pres
ervation of your reason.
See also in this story of Nebuchad-
nezzar the use that God makes of bad
men. The actions of the wicked are
used MS instruments for the punish
ment Of wickedness in others or as the
of some principle in the
Divine government. Nebuchadnezzar
will 60 back with you to the history
of every reprobate that the world has
ever seen, and l will show you how,
to "a great extent, his wickedness was
limited in its destructive power,
and how God glorited Himself
in the overthrow and disgrace of
His enemy. babylon is full of bonn
iDation. and wicked Cyrus destroys it.
Persia dis the cup of it's iniquity, and
vile Alexander puts an end to it,
Macedon must be chastised, and
bloody Emilius does it. The Bastile
is to be destroyed, and corrupt Napo-
leon accomplishes it. Even SO seltilh
and wicked men are often made to
accomplish great and glorious pur-
poses. Joseph's brethren were guilty
of superlative perfidy and meanness
when they sold him into slavery
for about seven dollars, yet how
they must have been overwhelmed
when the truth that God never
forsakes the righteous when they saw
he had become tho prime minister of
Egypt Pharaoh Expresses the Israel
ties with the most diabolic tyranny;
yet stand still and see the salvation of
God. The plaques descend, the To-
Gust and the hail. and the destrovinp