The Morris County chronicle. [volume] (Morristown, N.J.) 1877-1915, 1899-08-25


may we be sure that we apprehend it
aright? Is it a momentary impulse to-
ward us? or an abiding relation? The
goodwill of this divine tenant is a perm
anent and invincible force 1t is more
than the caprice Of moment, more than
the general beneicence of the Almighty
toward all His creatures. 1t is not the
favor shown to the dumb creatures, not
yet the opportunity afforded to such a
man as Balaam. 1t is steady and holy
force, making for righteousness in the
lives of the devout. 1t is personal, and
can never be explained except as we be-
lleve the direct statements Of the scrip
ture. How much it means to the church,
is felt rather than seen by the disciple
himself. But the changes wrought by
this power in human society may be es-
timated by noting the difference between
man and man, between period and per-
iod, and between one country and anoth-
err. Our Puritan forefathers were ridi-
culed as psalm singers, but it was surely
better to sing psalms than to be profane
persons, whose mouths were filed with
ribaldry and cursing. What made the
Puritan different from the profane? It
was that same divine goodwill that sep
arated st. Paul from the Rabbinic cir
cles in Jerusalem. Those Puritans left
their homes in England, abandoned all
the privileges and opportunities of civil
lization, to cross the seas ''for Jesus
sake" They exercised a self denial that
was sublime in turning their backs on
the Colleges and the parsonages of Eng
land, green with the ivy of eight hun
dred years" to begin life over again on a
barren shore in foreign land. They
came to this continent, dug deep and
laid very firm foundations on the bed
rock of final truth. They began in weak
ness and privation, under circumstances
that must provoke the derision of their
foes. But His goodwill was with them,
and see what change that goodwill has
brought to pass, not only in the material
aspects of this continent, but in the es-
TEEN in which the Puritans themselves
are held. Men of literary rank vie with
each other in doing them honor. Yet
that instance was only one of a thousand.
This divine favor and blessing has not
been fitfuI or capricious, as some imag-
inc. Since the day of Pentecost, when
the church began its systematic course,
there has not been century but some
entire nation has been annexed to the
body of Christendom. Years have rolled
on, and the ranks of Christ's followers
have been steadily increased in number.
Not SO fast as we might wish, the church
has never been so noble or so pure as it
might have been, but her record is one
grand long roll call of saints who pos
sessed the divine goodwill" Century
after century has like record, only that
one victory seems to us more splendid
than another. The apostles themselves
toiled in Palestine, Syria and the coast
cities of the Aegean sea. That first cen
fury saw many noble victories for Jesus,
In the second century it was Asia Minor
and Greece proper, in the days of Poly
carp and Justin Martyr In the third
century it was the Armenian nation, in
the days of st. Gregory the illumination.
In the fourth century it was the Roman
Empire itself, with the famous leaders,
Athanasius and the Emperor Constan-
tine the Great. In the fifth century Ire
land was converted in the days of ST.
Patrick, who turned race of semi-sav-
age barbarians of the forest from their
wild life to sober and Christian mode
of subsistence, In the sixth century it
was Scotland in the days of st. COLUMBIA,
and in the seventh it was England, in
the days of st. Augustine, and in the
eighth it was Germany in the days of ST.
Winifred. In the ninth century Metho-
dius and Cyril traversed the entire val
ley of the Danube, preaching the gospel,
and the Bulgarians were evangelical
through their efforts. In the tenth cen
fury Adelbert did a like service for Rus
STA, and in the eleventh st. Stephen tri-
umphed in Hungary. The twelfth CEN
fury saw all Europe convulsed with the
wild excitement of the Crusades, and the
effort was made along lines of military
force which we cannot approve, yet it is
true nevertheless that they did recover
Jerusalem and large part of the Holy
Land for the cross, and many souls were
stimulated in their faith and love, But
the method was changed once more and
the preaching of later years was by the
lips rather than by the sword. In the
thirteenth century Prussia was evange-
liked in the days of st. Gothofred, and in
the fourteenth the Netherlands, under the
influence of the 'Fratres communis
vitae.' Brethren of the common life) :.
And then in the fifteenth century came
the wonderful awakening Of Bohemia in
the days of John Huss and Jerome of
Prague. After that came the great Re-
formation, and all Europe was ablaze
with zeal that made the throne Of the
despot to tremble, and worked revolu-
ton in every quarter. From the time of
that noble uprising the progress has been
go steady and so rich in blessing that
time would fail me to recount the vic
tories won. What is our fair inference
from all this? To what do these tri-
umphs point? 1t is the goodwill of HIM
who has always chosen to dwell in the
bush. How much that goodwill means
to the church may be seen in the expli-
cit declaration that Christendom now
comprises all that is best and ripest in
civilization.
1t is the supreme example of force that
is not destructive, but constructive. 1t
shows us the inestimable value of deep
spiritual convictions, of that devotion to
truth which must win, because it is born
of God. Men talk of the persistency of
genius, of the innate powers possessed by
this and that gifted individual. On a
wider field, and in the service of anobler
ideal we call that same endowment the
gift of God that persistency we call de-
votion, and those powers we recognize
as talents loaned us from above.
Some debts sadden but some gladden..
If you owe money to a hard, grasping,
cruel man, it is distress and a terror.
But who will mourn over the debt he
owes to a good mother or brave and
patient father? No one can deplore his
debt to the university, or to his friends
who gather round him in daily compan-
ionship. But, high above all else there
towers up this supreme debt of all, this