The Lexington dispatch. [volume] (Lexington, South Carolina) 1870-1917, 1897-02-24

Nv friends, do YOU net see that pride
and ruin ride in the same saddle: See
Northumberland Gu the proudest throne
of ali the earth, and then sec him Craze
with the sheep and the cattle! Pld" Is
commander, well plumed and caparlson-
ed, but it leads forth :, dark and frown-
ing host The arrows flom the AL
mightys quiver alc apt 10 strike man
when on the wing. Goliath shakes his
great spear III defiance, but the smooth
stones from the brock make hlm stag
ger and fall like all OK under butch
er's bludgcon He who is down cannot
fall. Vessels scudding under bare poles
do not feel the force of the storm, While
those with all sails st ca!'siZe at the
sudden descent Of the tempest.
Remember that we can lie as proud OF
our humility as Of anything else An
tisthenes walked the streets OF Athens
with a ragged cloak to demonstrate his
humility, but Socrates declared he ccnld
see the hypocrisy through the holes III
his cloak. We would all see ourselves
smaller than we are if we were as p;nl-
osophic as Scverus, the emperor Of Rome,
who said at The close of his life, Il
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 was too little. y
Do you not also learn from the ms
| fortune of this king of Babylon what 4
| terrible thing is the loss Of reason:
| There is no calamity that can possibly
bcfall us in this world so great as dc
| ranccment of intellect; to have the
body of man and yet TO fall even Below
! the instinct of brute. In this world CT
horrible sights, the most horrible IS the
idiots stare. In this world Of horrible
sounds. the most horrible is the manlac's
laugh. A vessel driven Cn the rocks,
whom hundreds 60 down never to rise
and other hundreds drag their manSled
and shivering bodies upon the winters
beach, is nothing compared to the foun-
dering of intellccts full of vast hopes
and attainments 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 Cf our mind. We
are apt to take it for granted that the
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 CT
| circle and such swiftness Of motion, and
the least impediment might put it out
of gear, can only be kept in proper bal
ance by divine hand. No human hand
could engineer the train Of immortal
faculties How strange it is that Cur
memory. on whose shoulders all the
| misfortunes and successes and occur
rcnces of lifetime are placed, Should
not oftener break down, and that the
scales of Judgment, which have Eeen
weighing so much and SO long, should
| not lose their adjustment, and that fancy,
which holds dangerous wand, should
not sometimes maliciously wave 1t,
bringing into the heart foreECdinGs and
hallucinations the most appalling! Is it
not strange that this mind, which hopes
so much in its mighty leaps for the at
tainment of its objects, should rot Ee
dashed to pieces on its disappointments:
Though so delicately tuned, this lnstru-
ment of untold harmony plays Oh,
| though fear shakes it and vexations rack
it and sorrow and joy and less ard gain
| in quick succession beat out Of it their
dirge CT toss from it their anthem. AT
morning and at night, when i1 SelaI
PRAYER yen rehearse fhe causes y your
thanksgiving, next to the salvation by
Jesus Christ. praise the Lord for the
preservation of your reason.
He 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 as the illustration Of
some principle in the divine govern
ment NebuchadneZzar suhserved both
purposes. Even so I will go back with
you to the history Of every rCrrohate
that the world has ever seen, and will
show you how to a great extent his
wickedness was limited i'll its destructive
power and how God gloriticd himself
in the overthrow and disgrace of his en-
emy. Babylon is full Of aComlnatlon,
and wicked Cyrus destroys it. Persia
fills the cup of its iniquity, and vile AL
exandcr 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 arc Of
ten made to accomplish great and glori-
ous purposes. Jcseph's brethren were
guilty of superlative perfidy and mean
ness when they sold him into slavery
for about s., yet how they must have
been overwhelmed with the truth that
God never forsakCs the righteous when
they saw he had become the prime min
lister OF Egypt! Pharaoh opprcsses the
Israelites with the most diabolic tyran-
nv; yet stand still and see the salvation
of God. The plaques descend, the To-
Gusts, and the hail, and the destroying
angel, showing that there is a God who
will defend the cause of his people, and
finally, after the Israelites have passed
through the parted sea, behold, i'll the
wreck of the drowned army, that Gods
enemies are chaff in whirlwind! In
some financial panic the righteous suf-
fered with the wicked. Houses and
stores and shops in a night foundercd
on the rock of bankruptcy, and healthy
credit without warning dropped dead III
the street, and money ran up the long
ladder of 20 per cent to laugh down
upon those who could not climb after it.
Dealers with pockets full of securities
stood shouting in the deaf ears Of banks.
Men rushed down the streets with pro-
tested notes after them. Those who be-
fore found it hard 10 spend their money
were left without money to spend. La
borers went home for want of work, to
see hunger in their chair at the table
and upon the hearth. Winter blew his
breath Of frost through fingers Of lclcles,
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