The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1899-11-06
THE LAW.
With Primer in One Hand and
FerruIe in the Other.

evening on Inc law WIFI primer III
one hand and ferrule in the other He
said in part:
Life is a school individuals have
been and ever will be in pupilage, un-
der such teachers and in the light of
such truths, precepts and laws as are
adapted to their state and necessity
We cannot doubt that the first lessons
given to the first of our race were very
rude and simple The first words were
scarcely more than vocal signs OF ma
lures expressions, and the first IAN
guage only a help to the pantomime
with which life began. The school OF
the past was the primary school in
which the world did not advance be-
yond the pictorial primer in either lit
erature, science or religion. A school
in which instruction had to be adapted
to the condition of the pupils. A school
the merits of which we in Christian
lands are apt to judge as harshly and
incorrectly as would the students of
our high schools of those institutions
where, in the youthful days of our ia
theirs and grandfathers the country
Ischoolmaster piled his vocation two
months in the year. The law was Sc
we're and not highly refined schoolmas-
ter, which, with the primer in one
hand and the ferrule in the other,
taught the world as long and as much
as it could. There was terror in its
voice. there was severity in it's pun
Iishment 1t dealt largely with material
nature of it's pupils, compelling obedi-
lence with the use of the rod and
awakening conscience by the
INFLICTION OF PHYSICAL PAIN.
Yet, so far as we can see by a study
of its rules of government. no punish
ment was inflicted which did not con-
| template the good of the offender. The
schoolmaster, severe as it was never
threatened endless punishment. 1t said
an eye for an eye and a tooth for
tooth. Yet the object of that law was
not to pluck out eyes, but to save them,
| not to rob men of their teeth, but to
prevent them from knocking out the
| teeth of their fellows. The language OF
| that law sounds harsh and rough to us,
but it was spoken to a rough and hard
people, and while it's spirit was that
of kindness and mercy, it's voice was
Just such as would arouse, startle and
restrain. Its form of worship was a
demand for numerous rites and many
sacrifices, and to US it seems gross
and burdensome, but 1t was prepared
for a people who were gross in thought,
feeling and sentiment, and who, with
Ilequisition, would not have worshipped
at all. The law was given amid thun-
behring's, lightenings, tempest blasts
that shook the mountain before which
the people were encamped end filled
them with terror, but such manifesto
lions were better understood by them
than the still small voice would have
been, and the terror ripened into a re-
|ligious awe and a mysterious conf
|dence which they felt at times for
years and centuries.
Men could not
LEARN TO LOVE GOD
and to obey him from the purest mo-
tives until they had first learned to
feel that there is God. That was a
lesson that the ages did not perfect in
the minds and hearts of the first peo-
pies and even now, in the school under
Christ, all do not comprehend it. There
is a vast amount of practical disbelief
in God in this age of Christian life,
and even among those who do believe
in God only a few obey him from the
purest of motives. From the man in
Eden with no culture no experience. no
hope, no memory, nothing but the I'M
developed germ of knowledge, to the
enlightened and pious loving and
|broad-minded Christian Of today, there
is such a stride of progress as we can
not comprehend. Witness the idea of
God as it grew into the idea of power.
as it took on the form of authority, as
it assumed fearful proportions and
filled the mind of it's possessor with
terror, as it was tinged with the first
line OF goodness and took on the color
ing of friendship as it grew into the
first poor conception of Creator, Ruler
Judge and Jehovah. See it as it is cher
lshed by Abraham and represented by
Moses, with the attributes of jealousy
and revenge still clinging to it and
giving it form and character. Examine
1t IN the prophetic age, improved. vet
needing the light and growth of a thou
sand years. See it all ready to burst
into the form and character of the de-
the - VI
GOSPEL SHOULD FLASH UPON 1T.
Did you ever try to conceive of the
dlstance-the intellectual distance
from Adams first thought of Cod to
mat which Isaiah obtained and better
sun, to that which the world waited for
IN the last days of the law? If Won have
you nave not called it a slow progress
Under the law, mans idea of duty went
no further, in the first place. than q
simple requisitfon to refrain from eating
certain fruit 1t was absolutely Mega
to single loving or generous thonebt
IL was restraint and that only.
Nearly all the commandments mada
OF man in the early ages were of a mop
atlVe character. OF the ten command |
ments, only three are positive caIIino
for certain things to be done. while sew
en- are negative, demanding abstinence
from other acts. The great idea of He
brew morality consisted in not doing
things called evil. From such a moral |
ity up to that which Jesus taught is
distance which words cannot measure |
Inc law brought the world forward to |
that point where it could understand
both parts of the command, Cease to |
do evil and learn to do we'll" The law
SAID, do not infiict injury upon your
nelghpor but Christ said, DO him
good, bless him, love him and pray for
him" The law said, Keep your lives
clean and pure from evil" but Christ |
SAID, Make them fragrant with all the
virtues"
THE WAY WAS A LONG ONE
from the beginning of the first reouisi- |
ton to the evening of the last. YET the |
first was school which led to the last
and so it was needful and helpful in its |
places and for its time
Never doubt the potential agency OF
the law; its fitness for a teacher to the
people to which it was given. Or The
wisdom of it's primary lessons to he
STUDIED by the world'sinfant class. such |
a view of the law. such convictions
touching Gods dealings with the peo- |
pie in the old dispensation are absolute |
ly necessary to correct idea of the
gospel dispensation and to that strons |
and lively faith which it is our privilege !
to cherish in him who is our school, !