The Pascagoula democrat-star. (Pascagoula, Miss.) 1878-1920, 1897-08-27
THE GREATEST CURSE.
Gov. Robert l.. TaylOr's Beautiful Concep-
tiOn Of the Dream Of God.
THE RE Is A GOD.

~ 10 UuC ucsCIUOi cNII WucIC SiTLucS
tremble to tread, where hope faltcrs,
and where faith Is cruci1ed, that the
in8del dreams. To him, all there is
Of heaven IL bounded by this little
span Of life; all there is Of pleasure
and love is circumscrbed by a few
feeting years; all there Is Of intelli.
gencc and wisdom il on the human
brain; all there is Of mystery and In
finity is fatlOmable by human reason,
and all there Is of virtue is measured
by the relations OF man to man. TO
him all must end in the tOnguelcss
silence OF the drcamless Dust" and all
that lies beyond the grave Is a voice
less shore and starless sky. TO him
there Is no prints Of deatllless feet on
its echolcss sands, no thrill OF immor-
tai music in Its Joy less air.
He has lost his God, and like some
fallen seraph flying in rayless light,
he groDes his way ON tagging pinions,
searching for light where darkness
reigns, for life where Death Is King.
l have wondered a Thousand times
II an infldel ever looked through a
telescope. The universe is the dream
Of God, and the heavens declare His
Glory. There is our mighty Sun,
robed in the brightness Of his eternal
fires, and with his planets forever
wheeling around him. Yonder is
Mercury and Venus and there Is Mars,
the ruddy globe whose poles are white
with snow, and whose other zones
seem dotted with seas and continents.
Who knows but that his rOseate color
is only the blush of his flowers? Who
knows but that Mars may be a para.
disc inhabited by a blessed race, un-
sullied by sin, untouched by death?
There is the giant orb Of Jupiter, the
champion Of the skies, belted and
sashcd with vapor and clouds, and
Saturn, hallowcd with bands of light
and jeweled with eight ruddy moons
and there is Uranus, another stupend.
Gus world, speeding on in the prodig-
ious circle Of his tireless journey
around the Sun. And yet another
orbit cuts the outer rim Of our sys.
tem and on Its gloomy pathway, the
lonely Neptune walks the solitude Of
space. In immeasurable depths be-
yond appear millions Of suns, so dis
tant that their light could not reach
us in a thousand years. There, span
Cling the curtains OF the black pro-
found, shine the consultations that
sparkle like cr0wR jewels Of God.
There are double, and triple, and
Quadruple suns OF different cOlors,
commlngling their gorgeous hues and
flaming like archangles on the frontier
of steller space. II we look beyond
the most distant star, the black walls
are flecked with innumerable patches
Of flmy light like the dewy grossa-
mease OF the spiders loom that dot
our field at morn. What beautiful
forms we trace among the phantoms
Of light circles, and eclipses, and
crowns, and shields, and spiral
wreathes Of the palest silver. And
what are they? Did I say phantoms
Of light? The telescope rev0lves them
into millions of suns, standing out
from The oceans Of white hot matter
which contains the germs OF count
less systems yet to be. And so fur re-
moved from US are these suns, that
the light which comes to US from
them tonight has been speeding on
Its way for more thanl two million
years. What Is that white belt we
call the milky way, which spans the
heavens and sparkles like q Sahara OF
diamonds? 1t Is u river OF stars; II
is q gulf stream Of suns; and II each
Of these suns holds In its grasp q
mighty system Of planets, as ours
does, how many multiplied millions
Of worlds like our own are now cir.
cling In that inpumcrable concourse!
Oh, where are the bounds ofthIs di.
vine conception! Where ends this
dream Of God? And 10 there no life
and Intelligence 10 oil thls throng oil
spheres? Are there 40 sails on tlloss
far away seas, 40 wings 70 cleave