The Lexington dispatch. [volume] (Lexington, South Carolina) 1870-1917, 1899-01-18
The Of God IN the
Government Ct Men.
CONTINUED EROM ElRsT PAGE

and recovered several, and about one
dozen of them showed the marks OF
damage by our vessels and some Ct
them we're stricken twice and yet
amazing as the statement may ap-
Dear, not one of them had the power
to injure an American vessel or SOL
der. Our feet was blowing through
a watery graveyard during all the en-
gagement, encountering all the time
with the s%mouldering volcanoes OF
death and yet unframed! What
hand Gained those savage bosoms?
What spirit quoted those monsters
of the bay? What power prevented
those engines of death from the
dreadful execution of their intention!
Is there any language understood to
those vindictive and revengeful I'm
plements of wal? Can those blood
thirsty minions of carnage and death
ever be made to speak forth a mes.
sage of peace or send up a proclama-
ton of good will? While these
mowers were constrained to do no
harm, the same navy was dealing out
death and destruction with an un-
restrained hand to the Spanish SOL
diers and Notifications on shore.
A great many of earth's greas st
men do not even concede that there
is a God or ever any power above or
beneath that rules the destinies Of
men. They give all credit to luck,
chance and opportunity-but the
biggest fool in all the world is the
man who is fooled by chance. A
man who explains everything by
natural causes thinks the man who
believes in Providence a madman or
a poor simple maniac; but the hum
blest citizen who gratefully adores
the guidance Of a superior intelli-
gence is a wiser, better and greater
man than any mind that denies it.
It seems to me that if anJ citizen
doubted the justice Of the war with
Spain at one time he by this time
should have his doubts removed, but
I can very we'll see that a man who
thinks that war is a brutal, revenge
of one nation against another and all
battles and revolutions finally end
with the side of brute force and su-
perior generalship could gainsay thu
wisdom of the wal with Spain.
The freedom of Cuba and "the
blowing upof the Maine" were notthe
causes of the war with Spain. That
war was with a greater power than
Spain, and America was only the
instrument. There is such a fault
as being too conservative and
there is such a sin as being too revo,
lutionary. The conflicting Of these
two will generally produce a result,
tant which is much nearer right. 1t
was not Napoleon that made the
French revolution, but the conditions
of Europe at the time were the causes
that made him possible and a neces
sity. It YVES not Napoleon who
made the revolution, but the revolu
ton was the parent of the opportu
nifty which made him or some other
great leader a logical consequence,
and the past in all cases has shown
that on such occasions God has pre-
pared the sacrifice for the altar. 10
many cases he has been a vain, am
bilious, ~ungrateful wretch, but he
has been given faculties and capaci-
ties commensurate with the opportu-
nifty and the demand but when the
day ended which called him forth,
his life has gone down with the set
ting sun.
The dawn of this Spanish war
brings another eventful issue in the
history Of nations and an occasion
which has been long in preparation
and the little military encounter with
Spain is only the skirmish before a
general engagement. The whole
scene has been. only a continued les
son of Gods handwriting in the civil
government Of men. II the tragic
events of the last few months do not
show the guidance of an Almighty
arm, they prove nothing. For our
navy to ~annihilate a navy recognized
by all authorities as far superior to