Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1901-07-06

past. It's follies, crimes and blunders
may be turned into sublime stepping
stones, to lift our generation to high
er plane Of existence. Along the high
way, where we have passed, hate, Sec
tionalism and blind partisanship show
where the road has dropped off into
many an abyss. ragged and deep. The
torn garments and the whited bones
we see far down below should warn us
to turn and seek the better path, at
whose summit lie sweet prosperity, lib
erty, peace and justice. Step by step
the process Of education and advance
ment has proceeded. Each century has
shown some progress in certain direc-
ton in human thought, in human en-
deavor and in human improvement.
1T doubt not thro' the ages, one increas-
ing purpose runs,
And the thoughts of men are widened
with the process Of the SUNS"
1.-THE thought so beautifully express
ed in the parable of the sewers Is true
of nations as we'll as Of individuals"
Behold there went out sower to
SOW. and as he sowed, some fell by the
wayside and the fowls Of the air came
and devoured 1t up" This was true
right in Jerusalem. "And some fell on
stony ground where 1t had not much
earth and Immediately 1t sprang up,
because 1t had no depth OF earth. but
when the sun was up. it was scorched,
and because it had no root 1t Withered
away" This was true In Rome, where
Christians were put to death In the
Coliseum. "And some fell among
thorns and the thorns grew up and
choked it and 1t yield no fruit" This
was true in Persia, which at that time
led the civilization Of the world. We
get our common school system from
Prussia, who got it directly from Per-
sia.
"And others fell on good ground and
did yield fruit that sprang up and In
creased, some thirty and some Sixty
and some a hundred" It fell upon
good ground in Germany and brought
forth the Lutheran reformation. 1t fell
on good ground in England and brought
forth the full establishment Of Protest
anism. 1t fell upon good ground IN
New England and brought forth the
largest degree of religious and personal
liberty ever known. 1t might be said
that the good ground upon which 1t fell
all belonged to the Saxon races. The
human eye cannot look suddenly upon
a dazzling light without being blinded;
when the Son of God first preached the
doctrine Of the Kingdom Of Heaven In
which all who subjected themselves to
the dominion Of the divine Ruler should
be equal and all should be brothers, hu-
man eyes were dazzled at the prospect
and the first sight Of this splendid lib
erty was followed by period Of dark
ness so intense that it has always been
known in history as "the dark ages"
Then the light Of liberty f1ickered
through the clouds, and some men saw
it, and keeping their eyes upon 1t fol-
lowed its beckoning to the western
hemisphere, where the clouds were dis
PEELED and the full light broke forth.
destined to illuminate the world, never
again to be darkened. This was recog-
nized in a happy way by the people
of France, who had groped for the light
and fought for a glimpse Of 1t until the
streets of Paris ran in blood. I thought
Of this two weeks ago, as I sat on the
deck of a steamer and saw the magnifi-
cent statue of Liberty, which In her
gratitude France presented to the ma
ton which had hewn the way for lib
erty to become possible. That statue
now adorns the harbor Of New York,
holding a torch in its hand to light the
way across the seas, that those IN dis
tant climes may view the light which
shines from the shores Of America.
Upon this statue Is inscribed Liberty
enlightens the world" In its hand Is
the wreath Of peace. 1t enlightens the
world, not by the clash Of arms, or
the frowns Of despotism; but by the
light of liberty. which, when 1t shines
in the breasts Of men, causes them to
obey the only commandant ever given
by the Son of God, that ye love one
another"
Moral Advancement Gods Purpose.
No nation in the past has had such a
government as ours, and hence the re-
suits accomplished by us up to the 18th
century was nothing but a preparatory
work. The nations Of the present day
have utilized this preparatory work
and founded their governments upon
code which recognizes God and his
moral government of the universe. and
mans responsibility In carrying out the
designs Of this moral government In
the elevation Of the race. And OF all
the nations we have established gov
ernment combining all the excellencies
of all others that have ever existed.
It has for it's foundations the indestruc-
tible principles of true religion. human
freedom and general human progress.
The United States are for this reason
destined to play an important and con-
spicuous part in the future history or
the world. Isolated in the Occident,
as the earliest of the race were in the
Orient, she Is to become the center from
which light, knowledge and civiliza-
ton are to be diffused over the whole
earth.
The events of the last half century
have been pregnant with world wide
consequences. These have conspired to
make us as q nation of far more i'm
portance to the human race and its fu-
ture history than ever the chosen ma
ton of God was in the infancy of the
Mana .,rnnrona ha haan made