Columbus chronicle., 1900-01-27


aud vet the light coming 95,-
OOO. 600 miles at the rate OF 20O,O 600 miles
second Is obliged to halt at the gate OF the
eve. waiting until the portcullis be lifted:
Something hurled 95 900 900 miles and
striking an instrument which has not the
agitation OF even winking under the power
OF the stroke.
There also is the merciful arrangement
df tina teAf gland b5 which the eye Is
washed end through which rolls the tlde
which brings the relief that comes In tears
when some bereavement or great loss
strikes us. The tear not an augmentation
of sorrow, but the breaking Up OF the arc
tic OF frozen grief In the warm gult stream
of consolation. Incapaclty to weep Is
madness or death. Thank God for the tear
glands and that the crystal gates are so
easily opened. 6h; tie wonderful hydr1u-
lie apparatus OF the human eye! Divlnely
constructed vision. Two lighthouses at the
harbor of the immortal soul under the
shining of which the world sails In ana
drops anchor.
What an anthem OF praise to God is the
human eyel The tongue is speechless ana
q clumsy instrument OF expression az COM
pared with 1t, Have you not seen the eye
hash with indl6latidn, or kindlG with en-
thhsiasn, Or expand with devotion; or melt
with sympathy, or stare with flight, or
leer with vllIalny, or dfoop with sadness.
or pale with envy, Or fire with revenge, or
twinkle With mirth, or beam with love? 1t
Is tragedy and comedy and pastoral and
lyric In turn. Have you not seen It's up.
lifted brow of surprise, or Its trown OF
wrath, or Its contraction OF pain? II the
eye say one thing and the lips said anoth-
or thing, YOU would believe the eye rather
than the lips. The eyes OF Archibald Alex
Hnder and Charles G.. Finney were the
nniahtlest part Of their sefrhons: George
Whiteneld enthfalled great assemblages
With his eyes; though they were crippled
with stfabismus. Many military chlef-
tain has with look hurled a regiment to
victory or to death. Martin Luther turned
his great eye on an assassin who came to
take his life, and the villain fed. Under
the glance of the human eye the tiger,
with Ave times a mans strength, snarls
back into the African jungle.
But those best appreciate the value OF
the eye who have lost 1t. The Emperor
Adrian by accident put out the eye OF his
servant, and he said to his servant: 'What
shall I pay you, in money or In lands-any-
thing you ask me2 1 am so sorry put
your eye OUT" But the servant refused TO
put any financial estimate on tie value OF
the eye, and when the emperor urged and
urged again the matter he said: sob, en-
peror, want nothing but my lost eye!'
Alas for those for whom a thick ard I'M
penetrable veil Is drawn across the face OF
the heavens and the face OF ones own
kindred.
That was a patti etlc scene when blind
man lighted torch at night and was
found passing along the highway and some
one said, 'Why do you carry that torch
when you can see2" "Ah," said he, 81
can see, but carry this torch that others
hal
not run me down" Samson, the giant,
with his eyes put out by the Philistines,
is more helpless than the smallest dwarf
with vision undamaged. All the SYM
pathies OF Christ were stirred when He
saw Rrtimeus with darkened retina, and
the only salve He ever made that we read
OF was mixture of dust and saliva and
prayer with which He cured the eyes OF a
blind man from His nativity. The value
| of the eye shows as much by its catas'
trophe as By its healthful action. Ask the
man who for twenty years has not seen the
sun rise. Ask the man who for half century
| has not seen the face of a friend. ASK in
the hospatal the victim of ophthalmts
| Ask the man whose eyesight perished In q
powder blast. Ask the Bartimeus who
never met Christ or the man born blind
who is to die blind. Ask him.
How it adds to John Millions sublimity
of character whom we find him at the cal
of duty sacrificing his eyesight. Through
studying at late hours and trying all kinds
OF medicament to preserve his sight ht
had for twelve years been coming toward
blindness, and after awhile one eye wal
entirely gone. His physician warned hin
| that If he continued reading and writing
he would lose the other eye. But he KEEP
on with his work and said after sitting IL
total darkness: "The choice lay before nj
between dereliction of a supreme duty an(
| loss of eyeslght. In such a case l could not
listen to the physicians, not II Esculapiu:
himself had spoken from his sanctuary.
could not but obey that inward monitor.
know not what spoke to me from heaven
Who of us would have grace enough to sac
rlflce our eyes at the call of duty?
But, thank God, some have been enabled
to SEQ without very good eyes. Genera
Havelock, the son Of the more famou:
General Havelock, told me this concern
ing his father; In India, while his fathe
and himself with the army were encampet
one evening time after a long march. Gen
eral Havelock called up his soldiers anC
addressed them, saying in words as neal
as can recollect: "SoldIers are their 200 ol
800 women, children and men at Cawnpu
at the mercy Of Mana Sahib, and hi
butchers. Those poor people may any hou
be sacrificed. How many OF you will g
|
children2 know you are all worn out
and so am I. But all those who will marcl
with me to save those women and children
hold up your hand" Then Havelocl
said: 1T Is almost dark, and my eyesigh
is very poor, and ! cannot see your raiseC
hands, but I know they are oil up
Forward to Cawnpurl" That hero's eyes
though almost extingulshed In the servic'
OF God and his country, could see acros
| nd hn m RIlt Ia
any body who has one good eye be thank
full and all who have two good eyes b
twice as thankful. Take care Of your eye
and thank God every morning when yo'
open them for capacity to see the light.
do not wonder at the behavior of a poo
man in France. He had been born blind
but was sklIlful groom in the stables.
The recoil of this question is tremen
dous. We stan at the centre OF vast cir
cumference of observation. No privacy
On us, eyes OF cherubim, eyes Of seraphinl
eyes Of archangel, eyes Of God. We ma
not be able to see the inhabitants of othe
worlds, but perhaps they may be able t
see US. We have not optical instrument
strong enough to jescry them; perhap
they have optical instruments stron
enough to descry us. The mole cannot Sc
the eagle Enidair, but the eagle midsky cal
see the mole midgrass. We are able to Sc
mountains and caverns Of another world
but perhaps the inhabitants OF other world
can see the towers Of our cities, the has
OF our seas, the marching of our process
sions, the white robes OF our weddings, th
black scarfs OF our obsequies. 1t passe
out from the guess into the positive whe
we are told in the Bible that the inhabit
ants of other worlds do come to thi:
Are they not ali ministering spirits sen
forth to minister to those who shall b