Vernon County censor. [volume] (Viroqua, Wis.) 1865-1955, 1901-05-29
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from under his thumb nail. l now enlist
In this army that is going TO take the
world for God, and | defy all the evil
powers, human and satanic. to discourage
me. Count me into the service cannot
play upon musical Instrument. but
can polish cornet or string II harp or
applaud the orchestra
A Cheerful Firth.
All through that mans experience there
runs a faith that win keep him cheerful
and busy and triumphant like the
watchwori OF CromweIl's Irousides. the
men who feared nothing and dared every
thing, going into battle with the shout:
The Lord of hosts is with us, the God
of Jacob is our refuge, Selah.' No bal
ance that human brain ever planned or
human hand ever constructed is worthy
Of weighing such a spirit. Gold and pre-
cious stones are measured by the carat,
which is four grains. The dealer puts
the diamond or the pearl ON one side of
the scales and the carat on the other side
and tells You the weight. But we need
something more delicately constructed 10
weigh that wonderful quality of faith
which | am glad TO know will be recog-
nized and rewarded for all time and all
eternity. The earthly weighman counter
poises on metallic balances the iron, the
coal, the articles of human food. the
solids of earthly merchandise. but he
cannot test or announce the amount OF
things spiritual. Here is something
which the Attic and Babylonian weigh
ing systems of the past and the metric
weighing system of the present cannot
manage. The Lord weigheth the spir-
IT'S"
Put also into those royal scales the am
bilious spirit Every healthy man and
woman has ambition. The lack OF it is Il
sue sign of idiocy or immortality. The
only question is, What shall be the style
of our ambition? To stack up stu
pendous fortune, TO acquire a resounding
name, 20 sweep everything We can reach
into the whirlpool of our own selfishness
that is debasing. ruinous and deathful.
If in such a spirit we get what we start
for, we only secure gigantic discomfort.
No man was ever made happy by what
he got. II all depends upon the spirit
with which we get it. and the spirit with
which We keep it, and the spirit with
which we distribute it.
Gods Discipline.
But look into the dream of that school
boy who. without saying anything about
it, is planning his lifetime career. From
an old book partly written in Hebrew
and p'rtly written in Greek, hut both
Hebrew and Greek translated into good
English, he reads OF a great farmer like
Amos, great mechanic like Aholiab, a
great lawyer like Moses, q great soldier
like Joshua, a great king like Hezekiah.
a great poet like David, a great cleaner
like Ruth, a great physician like Luke,
a great preacher like Paul. great Christ
like no one on earth or in heaven because
the superior of all beings terrestrial or
celestial. He has learned by heart the
Ten Commandments and the sermon on
the dHt and has splendid theories
abou. everything. Between that fair
haired boy and the achievement Of what
he wants and expects there are obstacles
and hindrances known only TO ths God
who is going TO discipline him for heroics
magnificent. have no power to prophe-
sy that different experiences of his en-
enlargement and disappointment, of his
struggle or his triumph, but as sure as
God lives to make his word come true
that boy who will sleep tonight nine
hours without waking will be final victor
| do not know the intermediate chapters
of the volume Of that young mans life
but know the first chapter and the last
chapter. The first chapter is made OF
high resolve in the strength Of God, and
the last CHAPTER is filed with the rewards
of noble ambition. AS his obsequies
pass out to the cemetery the poor will
weep because they will lose their best
friend. Many in whose temporal welfare
and eternal salvation he bore part will
hear Of it in various places and eulogze
his memory. and God will say to the as
cending spiris.&To him that overcometh
will give TO eat of the tree of life which
is In the midst of the paradise of God
In the hour of that soufs release and en-
thronement there will be heavenly accla-
nation, as in the royal balances 1.-The
Lord weigheth the spirits
Other balances may lack precision and
fail in counterpoiSe. Scales are affected
by conditions of atmosphere aud acid
vapors. After all that the nations have
done to establish an invariahle STANDARD,
perfection has never yet been reached,
and never will be rea thed. But the royal
balances of which | speak are the same
in heat and cold, in all weathers, in all
lands aad in all the heavens-just and
true to the last point of justice and truth.
To measure the time we have calen-
dars. To measure the lightning we have
the electrometers. To measure the heat
we have the thermometers. To measure
the atmospheric pressure we have the
barometers. To measure souls we have
the royal balances. The Lord weigheth
the spirits"
The Weighing of Nations.
In the same divine scales the spirit Of
nations and Civilizations is weighed
And so the spirit of our American ma
ton is put into the royal balan g, and il
will be weighed as certainly as all the
nations of the past were weighed and as
all the nations of the present are being
weighed. When we go to estimate the
wealth OF this nation, we weigh its gold
and silver and coal and iron and cope.
and lead. and all the sit wards and all
the balances are kept b, :, So many
tons of this aud so many tons Of that. a
mountalnfnl of this metal and another
lnountainfui of another metal. That is
well. We want to know our mining
wealth. our manufacturing wealth. our
agricultural wealth. and the bjishel meas
ure and the scales have an important
work Bnt know right well there is di-
vine Weighing in this country all the time
going on and | can tell you our coun-
trys destiny if you will tell me whether
it shall be a God IGNORING nation, reyer-
entail to the only book Of his authorship.