Connecticut western news., 1898-08-04

6 cents of tax to Caesar. From the 1eathless country to a tomb built to hide human dissolution. The uplifted wave of Galilee was high, but he had to come down before with his feet he could touch 1t, and the whirlwind that arose above the pillow was higher yps. but he had to come down before with his lip he could kiss it into quiet. Beth lehem a stepping down. Nazareth down. Death between two burglars a stepping down. Yes, it was in consonance with humiliations that went before and self abnegations that came after when on that memorable day in Herod's temple he stopped down and wrote on the ground.
 His Finger on the Ground
 Whether the words he was writing were in Greek or Latin or Hebrew I cannot say, for he knew all those lam guages. But he is still stepping down, and with his finger writing on the In the winter ill letters of crys- tals, in the spring in letters of flowers, in summer in golden letters of harvest, III III lcGbClS Ol Ilkc Ol leaves. How it would sweeten up and enrich and emblazon this world could we see Christ's caligraphy all over it 1! This world was not flung out into space thousands of years ago and then left to look out for itself. It is still under the divine care. Christ never for a half sec ond takes his hand off it, or it would soon be shipwrecked world, defunct world, an obsolete world, an abandoned world, dead world. 'Let there be light" was said at the beginning. And Christ stands under the wintry skies and says let there be snowfakes to en- rich the earth, and under the clouds of spring and says come, ye blossoms, and make redolent the orchards, and in Sep tember dips the branches In the vat ot beautiful colors and swings them into the hazy air. No whim of mine is this. Without him was not anything made that was made" Christ writing on the ground.
 If you could see his hand in all thu passing seasons, how it would illuminc the world All verdure and foliage would be allegoric, and again we would hear him say as of old, Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow" and we would not hear in the whistle of a quail or the cawing of raven or the roundelay of a brown thrasher without saying, Behold the fowls of the air, heavenly Father feedeth them," and a Dominic hen of the barnyard could not cluck for her brood but we would hear Christ saying as of old, How often would I have gathered thy children to- gether, even as hen gathereth her chickens under her wings. :" and through the redolent hedges we would hear Christ saying, 1T am the rose of Sha- ron." We could not dip the seasoning from the saltcellar without thinking of the divine suggestion, "Ye are tho salt of the earth, but if the salt hath lost its savor it is fit for nothing but to be cast out and trodden under foot of men"
 Awake From Stupidity.
 Let us wake from our stupidity and take the whole world as a parable. Then, if with gun and pack of hounds we start off before dawn, and see tho coming down off the hills to meet us, we would cry out with the evangelist, "The dayspring from on high hath visited us, ;" or, caught in a while struggling home. eye brows and beard and apparel all covered with the whirling flakes, we would cry out with David, "Wash me, and shall be winter than snow" In pic ture gallery of Europe there is on the ceiling an exquisite fresco. but the peo pie having to look straight up it wearied and dizzied them and bent their necks almost beyond endurance. So great looking glass was put near the floor, and now visitors only need to look easily down into this mirror and they see the fresco at their feet, and so, much of the high heaven of Gods truth is reflected in this world as in a mirror, and things that are above are copied by things around us
 What right have we to throw away one of Gods Bibles-aye, the first Bible he ever gave the race? We talk about the Old Testament and the New Testament, but the oldest Testament contains the lessons of the natural world. Some peo- pie like the New Testament so we'll they discard the Old Testament. Shall we like the New Testament and the Old Testament so well as to depreciate the oldest-nan2ely, that which was written before Moses was put afioat on the boat of leaves which was calked with as- written centuries before Adam lost rib and gained wife? No, mol When Deity stoops down and writes on the ground, let us read it.
 I would have no less appreciation of the Bible on paper that comes out of the paper mill, but would urge appre- citation of the Bible in the grass, the geranium, the Bible in the asphodel, the Bible in the dust. Some one asked an ancient king whether he had seen the eclipse of the sum- "No," said he. "I have so much to study on earth I have no time to look at heaven. !" And if our faculties were all awake in the study of God we would not have time to go much further than the first grass blade 1 have no fear that natural religion will ever contradict what we call revealed religion. have no sympathy with the followers of Aristotle, who after the telescope was invented would not look through it lest it contradict some of the theories of their great master. I shall be glad to put against one lid of the Bible the microscope and against the other lid of the Bible ths telescope.
 Graphic Words
 But when Christ stopped down and wrote on the ground what did he write? The Pharisees did not stop to examine. The towards, whipped of their own con- sciences, fled pellmell. Nothing will fay a man like an aroused conscience. Dr. Stevens, in his History of Metho- dism," says that when Rev. Benjamin Abbott, of olden times, was preaching he exclaimed, "For aught know there may be murderer in this house." And a man rose from the assemblage and