The Washburn times. [volume] (Washburn, Wis.) 1896-1976, 1899-12-06

Copyright, Louis Klopsch, 1899
<NY a novel mode DIR. Talmage in
ISthis discourse shows how the
@world will look after it has been
revolutionized for good text, II. Peter
ill.,, IS, "a new earth, wherein dwelleth
Righteousness
Down in the struggle to make the
world better and happier we sometimes
get depressed with the obstacles to De
overcome and the work to be accomplish
ed. Will it not be tonic and an inspl-
ration to look at the world as it will be
when it has been brought back to para
disaical condition.? So let us for few
moments transport ourselves into the III
ture and put ourselves forward in the
centuries and see the world in its rescued
and perfected state, as we will see 1T If
in those times we are permitted to reVls-
it this planet, as I am sure we will. We
all want to see the world after it has
been thoroughly gospelized, and all
wrongs have been rghted. We will want
to come back, and we will come back to
lool. upon the refulgent contamination
toward which we have been OH larger or
smaller scale toilng. Having heard the
opening of the orchestra on whose strings
some discords travelled, we will want to
hear the last triumphant bar of the per-
fected oratorio. Having seen the picture
as the painter drew its first outlines up
on canvas, we will want to see it when it
is as complete as Reuben's Descent
From the Cross" or Michael Angeles
Last Judgment" Having seen the
world under the CLEAN of the star of
Bethlehem, we will want to see it when,
under the full shining of the sun Of right
eousness, the towers shall strike II at
noon.
lou know with what interest we look
upon ruins-ruins of Kenilworth castle,
ruins of Melrose abbey, ruins Of Rome.
ruins of Pompeii. So this world in ruins
is an enchantment to look at, out we
want to see it when rebuilt, repllared,
recovered, realtered, rededicated. The
exact date of the worlds moral restOra-
ton [ cannot foretell. 1t may be that
through mighty awakenings it will take
place in the middle of the nearby TWEEN
tieth century. 1t may be at the opening
of the twentyirst century, but it would
not be surprising if it took more than 100
years to correct the rayages of sin which
have ragged for 5000 years.
[ imagine that we are descending, at
that period of the worlds complete Cos
pelization. There will be no peril in such
a descent. Great heights and depths
have no alarm for gloritied spirits. We
can come down through chasms between
worlds without growing dizzy and across
the spaces of half the universe without
losing our way. Down and farther down
Ac
we breathe the perfume of illimitable
gardens.
Alighted on the redeemed earth, we
are first accosted by the spirit of the
twenty-frst century, who proposes to
guide and show us all that we desire to
see. Without his guidance we would lose
our way, for the world is SO much chang
ed from the time when we lived in it.
First of all, he points out to us group
of abandoned buildings. We ask this
spirit of the twenty-frst century, What
are those structures whose walls are fall
ing down and whose gates are rusted on
the hinges?" Our escort tells us: "Those
were once penitentiaries filled with Of
tenders, but the crime of the world has
died out. Theft and arson and fraud
and violence have quilted the earth.
People have all they want, and why
should they appropriate the property of
others even if they had the desire? The
marauders, the assassins, the buccaneers,
the Herods, the Mana Sahibs, the ruff
fans, the bandits, are dead or, trans
formed by the power of the Christian re-
ligion, are now upright and beneicent
and useful.
After passing ON amid columns and
statues erected in memory Of those who
have been mighty for goodness in the
worlds history, the highest and the most
exquisitely scuptured those in honor of
such as have been most effectual in saw
ing life or improving life rather than
those renowned for destroying life, we
come upon another group of buildings
that must have been transformed from
their original shape and adapted to other
uses. What is all this?' we ask our es
cort. He answers: ''Those were aims
houses and hospitals, but accuracy in
making and prudence in running machin-
cry of all sorts have almost abolished the
list of casualties, and sobriety and indus
try have nearly abolished pauperism, so
that those buildings which once were hos
pitfalls and almshouses have been turned
into beautiful homes for the less pros
pered, and if you will look in you will see
the poorest table has abundance, and the
smallest wardrobe luxury.
An Era of Better Health.
And we believe what our escort saws.
for as we pass on we find health glowing
in every cheek and beaming in every eye
and springing in every step and articu-
lating in every utterance, and you and L
whisper to each other as our escort has
his attention drawn to some new sunrise
upon the morning sky, and we say, each
to the other: ''Who would believe that
this is the world we lived in over 100
years ago? Look at those men and wom
EN- we pass on the road! How improved
the human race! Such beauty, such
strength. such gracefulness, such genial
ity! Faces without the mark of one sor
row! Cheeks that seem never to have
been wet by one tear! A race sublimat-
ed. A new world born!'
But / say to our escort: did all this
merely happen SO? Are all the good here
spontaneously good? How did you get
the old shipwrecked world afoat again,
out of the breakers into the smooth