The Holt County sentinel., 1899-08-04

AIRY, to institute comparison of nations
Us they at present exist.
Then further, to satisfy all and TO edu-
cate ourselves TO properly value our in
heritance, it may be well to notice what
those left who came over from the other
side of the sea" The most of those
who came from England, Holland,
I Wales, Scotland. Germany, Switzerland
and all the nations of the Old World to
the New or this continent came not be
cause they disliked the land of their
birth, the home of their nativity. The
old home, the town, the village, the city,
I the yard, the garden, the people, the
| fields. the woods, the hills, the noun
tains. the streams. the birds, the all that
was there, was dear to their hearts and
would remain so but there we're princi
plies dearer than these that were i'm
prisoned. They were willing to sacri-
flee the former by leaving them and
coming over to the other side of the sea
that the prison door might be broken
| open and freedom of Christian thought
speech and action be allowed.
| The Pilgrims were unconscious of the
resources, the vastness and the beauty
in the continent God was opening up to
them. Their coming was from loyalty
| to principle and conviction of conscience
: and from nothing else than this. 1t was
faith in God and loyalty TO great princi-
pies that brought the Puritans here
God used them as foundation men for
this republic for they were men resolute
and prayerful and worthy of such n
work. They built better than they knew
! for it was God who led them and filled
them with an ideal which they them
selves did not comprehend.
How plainly is the strong arm Of the
Lord revealed in the bringing about the
, circumstances which led to the existence
of this republic. The discovery and this
opening up of this continent was the
earthquake that shook the prison and
opened the door and let the prisoners
! free and since then liberty of Christian
| thought, speech and action has aston
I ished the world. Before this there we're
| Galileos of thought and Constantines of
I action and to every one of such the
world is debtor, but the great mass of
people were shut up in the house of
| ignorance and fastened in the closet Of
superstition. Still there has always been
a little light, a little thought, a little
{ activity, somewhere. God would not
allow it to die out He would preserve
| it in some way but up till shortly before
the discovery of America this imprison-
! ing, shutting up of the liberties and
| rights of the mass caused stagnation in
! the mental world with all its attending
/ consequences 1t prevented progress in
any commcndable direction. 1t is natur-
J al to expect one century to make ad-
J vance upon the proceeding one, but in
! the Old World many of the century per-
! iods made no advance or If they did, it
: was not perceptable. Some of them was
as black as the night of ignorance could
make them. To the eye Of reflection
/ they even become monotonous. For in
! the mental heavens of the period there
. is scarcely a star to guide much less a
sun to illuminate. The cause of this
was: unholy Priestcraft and Statecraft
were on the throne and to maintain it
they must sharRle thought and action
on the part. of the great body of people.