Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1898-06-17

Satan commanded the Holy One Of Naga-
reth 10 kneei before HIM. But ii l. not
now 50 much on the top OF churches "a
dowr in the aisle and the pew and the pub
pit that Satan tempts the espousers Of the
Christian faith to kneel before him. Ghy
was IL that the Platonic philosophers %
early times, a. well as Toland Spinoza aud
Boliughroke Of later DAVIS. were so ma,lly
opposed Ia Christianity Certainly not be-.
cause IL favored immoralities, or arrested
NAV foam and strut with the proud wrath
oG Haman, and attempt To compel tn.
homage OF the good, but in the presence. at
men and angels il shall be confoundeI.
God shall smite thee, thou whited wall.
When science began to make its brilliant
discoveries there We're great facts brought
to light that seemed to overthrow the
truth Of the Bible. Tie archHologiSt with
his rrowbar, and the geoiOgist with his
hammer. aud the chemist with his bat
teres, charged upon the Bible. Moses
account of the creation seemed denied by
the very structure of the earth. The
astronomer wheeled around his telescope
until the heavenly bodies seemed to mar
shall themselves against the Bible as the
stars in their courses fought against Sisrra
Obsrrvatories and universities reioiced at
what they considered the extinction OF
Christianity. They gathered new courage
ut what thew considered past victory, aud
lItSSt'l bll lllt'lT conquest INTO tue Kingdom
of nature until. alas for them! they dis
covered too much. Gods Word had only
been lying in ambush that, in some I'M
guarded moment, with n sudden bound, IL
might tear in1delity to pieces.
1t was as when Joshua attacked the city
of Al. He selected thirty thousand men,
and concealed most Of them; then with
few men he assaulted the city, which poured
out its numbers and strength upon
Joshua's little band. According to previ-
Gus plan, they fell back in seeming defeat
but, after all the proud Inhabitants of the
city had been brought out of their hoWes
and had joined In the pursuit of Joshua
suddenly that brave man halted in hi~
flight, and with his spear pointing toward
the city, thirty thousand men bounded
from the thickets as panthers spring to
their prey, and the pursucrs We're dasheI
to pieces, while the hosts of Joshua pressed
MP to the city, anu with their lighted
torches tossed it into flame. Thus it wa
that the discoveries OF science SCENE to
give temporary victory against God and
the Bible, and for Il while the church acted
rs II she were on retreat; but when AL
the oppoSer5 of God and truth had ioiuel
in the pursuit, and were sure Of the field,
Christ gave the signal to His church, ami
turning, they drove back their foes I'm
shame. There was foun to be no an
taSonism between nature and revelation.
The universe and the Bible were found to
he the work Of the same hand, two strokes
of the same pen, their authorship the same
Got.
Again: Learn the lesson that pride goeth
before fail. Was any man ever so far uu
rs HamHn, who tumbled so far down? Yes.
on Il smaller scale every day the world sees
the same thing. Against their very adj.
VantaGcs men trip into destruction. When
God humbles proud men,it is usually at tn"
moment Of their greatest arrogancy. II
there bc Il man in your community greatly
pulled up with worldly success, you have
but to stand little while and you will see
Him come down. You say, | wonder that
God allows that man to 20 on riding over
others heads and making great assump-
tiOns of power. There Is no wonder about
it. Hannah has not yet got to the top.
Pride is commander, well plumed and
caparisOnrd, but ii leads forth "a dark and
frowning host. We have the best of author
ity for saying that Pride goeth before de-
strncton and n naughty spirit before II
fall. The arrows from the Almighty's
quivrr are apt to strike man when on the
wing. Goliath shakes his great spear IN
defiance, but the small stones from the
brook Elah made him stagger and fall
like an OK under the butchers bludgrun.
He who is down cannot fall. Vessels scud-
ding under bare poles do not feel the force
of the storm, but those with all sails set
capsize ut the sudden descent of the temp
est.
Again: this Oriental tale reminds us of
the fact that wrongs We prepare for others
return upon ourselves. The GaLlows that
Hannah built for Mordecai became the
Prime Minister'S strangulatiOn. Robe
spierre who sent so many to the GuiilO-
tine, had his own head chopped of 10y the
horrid instrument. The evil you practice
on others will recoil upon your own pate.
ISLANDERS come home. Expressions coMc
home. Cruclties come home.
You will yet be II lackey walking beside
the very charger on which YOU expected to
ride others down. When Charles the First,
| who had destroyed STAFFORD, was about to
be beheaded he said. Il basrly ratified an
unjust sentence, and the similar injustice
| am now to undergo is a sensible retrlbu-
| ton for the punishment | Inflicted on an
| innocent man" Lord Jelfrics after in-
| carcerating many innocent and good pcO-
pie in London Tower, was himself impris-
| oned in the same place, where the shade,
| of those whom he had maltraated seemed
to haunt him, So that he kept crying To hi.
attendants; keep them Off, gentlemen,
for Gods sake, keep them off, The chick
| ems had come homo to roost. The body Of
| Bradshaw, the English judge, who had
! been ruthless and cruel in his decisions,
was taken from his splendid tomb in West
minister Abbey and at Tyhurn hung on n
! gallows from morning until night in the
presence Of jeerng multtudes. Humans
! gallows came Il little late, but it came.
! Opportunities fly in II straight line, and
| just touch us rs they pass from eternity to
eternity, but the wrongs we do others fly
| in circle, and however the circle may
widen out, they are sure to come back 20
| the point from which they started. There
are guns that kick
Furthermore, let the story OF Haman
teach US how quickly turns the wheel Of
| fortune, One day, excepting the king,
Hnman was the mightiest man in Persia;
but the next day. II lackey. so we go up,
! and so we come down. You seldom llnd
any man twenty years in the same clrcum-
stances. OF those who in political life
| twenty years ago We're most prominent
| how few remain in cOnSpicuity. Political
| parties make certain men do their hard
| work. aud then, after using them as hacks,
turn them out on the commons to die.
| Every four years there is a complete revO-
| luton, and about five thousand men who
ought certainly to be the next President
are shamefully disappointed; while some,
| who this day are obscure and poverty
stricken, will ride upon the shoulders OF
the people, and take their turn at admra-
ton and the spoils of office. Oh, how
quickly the wheels turn! Ballot boxes are
the steps on which men come down quite
us often rs they 20 up. OF these who were
long ago successful in the accumulation
of property, how few have not met with re-
verses! while many of those who then were
stratened in circumstances now hold the
| bonds and bank keys of the nation. OF MI
nckle things in the world, fortune is the
| most iiGkle
Again! this Humans history shows lie
that outward possessions and crcum-
stances cannot make man happy. While
yet fully vested in authority and the chief
adviser of the Persian monarch and every
thing that equipage and pomp and splen'
dor OF residence could do were his, he is
an object lesson Of wretohedness, There
are to-day mere aching sorrows under
crowns of royalty than under the ragged