Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1897-01-22
The Mountain Of war.

NeSuYlus OF lJaly, Win WnelmlnB TWO
cities, Herculaneum and Pompeii, has
covered with its fiery scoria thousands
Of cities and would like to whelm all
the cities Of both hemispheres. Give
this mountain full utterance, and it
would cover up Washington and New
York and London as easily as a. house.
holder, with his shovel at 10 o'clock at
night, banks CRATE fire with ashes.
This mountain is a pile Of fortresses,
barricades and armories, the worlds
artillery heaped, wheels above wheels,
columbiads above columbiads, "A pound
| ers above "a Founders, wrecked nations
above wrecked nations.
This mountain Of war is not only
loaded to cannonade the earth, but it is
also cemetery holding the cOrpses OF
80, 900, 900 slain in the wars Of Alexan-
der and Cyrus, 60, 000 600 slain in Ro-
man wars, 10000, 900 slain in war
with Turks and Saracens, and holding
about 80, 900, 900, 600 corpses, not mil
lion, but billion, which was the estimate
made by Edmund Burke more than
$50 years ago Of those who had been
destroyed by war, so that you would
have to add many more millions now.
Twenty years ago a careful author
estimated that about IA times the then
population Of the world had gone down
in battle or in hospital after battle. All,
this mountain of war is not like an or
dinary mountain. 1t is like Kilauea,
one Of the Sandwich Islands, which
holds the greatest volcano in all the
earth and concerning which wrote
from the Sandwich Islands few years
ago:
"What a kissing, believing, .um.
bling, soaring force is Kilaueal Lake OF
unquenchable fire, cenyolutions and
paroxysms Of fame. elements of nature
in torture, torridity and luridity, con-
gregation of breads, molten horrors,
sulphurous abysms, swirling mystery OF
all time, infinite turbulence, chimney
Of perdition, wallowing terrors, 10 acres
Of threats, glooms insufferable and Dam
tesque, caldron stirred by the cham
pion witch Of pandemonium, campfire
of the armies Of Diabolus, wrath OF the
mountains IN full bloom, shimmering
incandescence, pyrotechnics Of the plan
ct, furnace blast Of the ages, KilaueaV'
But, my friends, mightier, higher, vast.
er, hotter, more raging is the volcanic
mountain Of war. 1t has been blazing
for hundreds Of years, and will keep on
blazing until, until-but | dare not
hazard a prophecy. Can it be that It's
fires will ever be put out? Can 1t oe
that its roar will ever be silencedl Can
it be that before our Zerubbabel that
blazing mountain will ever become a
plain5
Argus Eyed AbOmination.
There is also the long range Of noun
tsins, longer than Appalachian range,
longer than Caucasian range. longer
than Sierra Nevada range-the piled up
opposition Of bad literature, bad homes,
bad institutions, bad amusemeDts, bad
centuries, bad religions-Paganism,
Hindooism, Buddhism, Mohammedan-
ism and buttressed and enthroned god
lessness, devoted TO ambition and lust
and hydra headed, Argus eyed abomina-
tion, as il stands with lifted hst and
mocking lips, challenging Jehovah upon
the throne Of the universe 10 strike II
he dare. Oh, it is a great mountain, as
nv text declares. There is no use IN de-
nying it. The most authentic statistics
declare it, The signs Of the times prove
| il. All Christian workers realize 1t. lt
il mountain. 1.-THE mountain can
never be brought down." says worldly
speculation. "The mountain can never
be made plain, says small faith in the
churches. Well, let US see. Let US look
about for the implements we can lay
our hands On. Let US count the number
on our side who are willing TO dig with
a shovel or bore a tunnel or blast a rock.
Let US see if there is any foreign help
| that will come in TO re-enforce as. DO
not want to make myself absurd BY at
tempting an impossibility. If 1t is only
one spade at the foot Of Mont Blanc,
il it is only one arm, capable Of lifting
but few pounds, against a mountain
that weighs 100, 900, 600 tons. let Us
| ouit before we make ourselves the tray-
| esty and caricature Of the universe. III
we are TO undertake this job, first Of all
we must have a competent engineer,
one VINO knows all about excavations,
about entertainments, about tunnels,
about mountains. know engineers who
have carved up mountains, cut down
mountains, removed mountains. VIII
do nothing unless know who is TO be
our engineer. Zerubbabel led at the re-
building Of the ancient temple, and
Matthew Henry, the greatest OF com
Imeutators, declares that our Zerubbabel
is the Lord Jesus Christ. The Zeruboa'
bel of my text was only type OF the
glorious and omnipotent Jesus, and as
Hook up into the face OF this divine en-
gineer and see it glow with all the
splendors Of the godhead, and see that
lin his arm is the almightiness that hung
out all the worlds that glitter III the
midnight heavens, and that to lift the
Himalayas would cost him no more
effort than for me 10 llrt an OUNCE, ny
courage begins to rally, and my faith be-
Qius to mount, and my enthusiasm is
all afiame, and the words Of my text
this moment just fit my lips and ex-
press the triumph Of my soul, and l cry
out: "who art thou, o great mountainF
Before Zerubbabel thou shalt become q
lplain."
The Mountain OF Sin.
| Ny experiences with the shovel are
that you cannot do much by one push
| of that implement. and that after you
| have been digging with it an hour what
you have accomplished seems very lit
tie, but Just go along by the place where
they are building a railroad through a
| mountain and see what a great work
900 shovels can % and know that
while there are 1000 shovels at work
ON this side Of the mountain there
are 1000 shoyels busy on the other
side. and all have to do is to manage
} nv own particular shovel. 1t cheers me
to think that against this old mountain
of sin there are hundreds Of thousands
, .1f.... - cbovalq this moment