The Bolivar bulletin. (Bolivar, Tenn.) 1888-1946, 1897-02-26

Remember 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 hiA 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: 81 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
whom 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 maniac's laugh. A
vessel driven on the rocks, when hun
dreds go 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 attainments and capacities.
Christ's aOart went out toward those
who were epileptic, falling into
lnn ira
themselves among the tombs.
grateful for physical health than for
the proper working of our mind. We
are apt to take it for granted that the
intellect which has served us so well
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 impeachment
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.
justment, a1d that fancy, which holds
a dangerous wand, should not some
times maliciously wave it, bringing
into the heart forebodings and hallu-
cinations the most aSpallingl Is it
not strange that thiI mind, which
hopes so much in it's mighty leaps for
the attainment of its objects, should
not be dashed to pieres on its disap-
Though so delicately
tuned, this instrument of untold har-
money plays on, though fear shakes it
and vexations 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
and 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 Htory of Nebuchad-
nezzar the use that God makes of bad
men. The actions of the wicked are
used as instruments for the punish
of some principle in the
Divine government. Nebuchadnezzar
Subserved both purposes. Even SO
will go back with you to the history
Of every reprobate that the world has
ever seen, and will show you how,
TO a great extent, his wickedness was
limited in its destructive power,
and how God glorified Himself
N the overthrow and disgrace of
His enemy. Babylon is full of abom-
and wicked Cyrus destroys it.
Persia fills 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-
con accomplishes it. Even SO selfish
and wicked mon are often made to
accomplish great and glorious pur-
poses. Joseph's brethren were guilty
IF superlative perfidy and meanness |
when they sold him into slavery |
Tor about seven dollars, yet how |
hey must have been overwhelmed |
when the truth that God never |
,orsakes the righteous when they saw |
lie had become the prime minister of |
Egypt! Pharaoh Expresses the Israel
ties with the most diabolic tyranny; |
yet stand still and see the salvation of |
Tod. The plaques descend, the To-
,ust, and the hail, and the destroying |
nigel, showing that there is a God |
who will defend the cause of His peo-
Die, and finally, after the IsraeIites |
nave passed through the parted sea,
behold, in the wreck of the drowned
lrmy, that Gods enemies are chaff in
/ whirlwindl In some financial panic
he righteous suffered with the
wicked. Houses and stores and shops
n a night foundered on the rock of
and healthy credit with
tut warning dropped dead in the street,
md money ran up the long ladder of
$ per cent. to laugh down upon those
Who could not climb after il. Dealers
With pockets full of securities stood
houting in the deaf ears of banks.
len rnshed down the streets with
protested notes after them. Those,
Who before found it hard to spend
heir money, were left without
money to spend, to see hunger in
heir chair at the table and upon the
learth. Winter blew his breath of
rost through fingers of icicles, and
heriffs with attachments dug among
he cinders of fallen storehouses, and
Whole cities Joined in the long funeral
marching to the grave of
cad fortunes and fallen commerce.
Ierily, the righteous suffered with the
wicked, but generally the wicked had
he worst of it. Splendid estates that
lad come together through schemes of
vickedness were dashed to pieces like
potter's vessel, and God wrote with
etters of fire, amid the ruin and de-
truction of regulations and estates
hat were thought impregnable, the