The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-12-22

Washington. Dec, 15.-This discourse as A most Inysuai presentation of things that take place in many lives. anu S' lion of human behavior. The text is Joshua i'll. {. ''Ye have not paseo 'HS way heretofore" ,,sr
 In December. issa wsdsd St ysS f was strong, was able to bear yp sga'hsS S but ir, the time of spring freshsI .s wnsn the snows on Mount Lebanon meiL ssr o,. ing but a miracle would enso,e . asns rerous springtime that Joshua and the officers of his army uttered the woras oi my text to the people wno were ihonf that crossing we say but little. because on d previous occasion we 'discoWseo con cerning that piling Hp el tne rssI ma o, e the crystal barricade- we 0hy Spsan p 0A Mo stranseF thing has ever occurred in all "'f Ths ark Of the covenant was brilliant chest of acacia wSod. oveTiaiq @ 9wo m''n w,Sssd Sd figures facing each other. It was five feet Iene ana three feet wide. Poles were thrust through the rings at the eioe' ano hv these poles. the ark was lhted. fnis sgplendid g box was te be carried three: onarters of a mile ahead of the hosts or Israel on the way to the crossing; Thss distance between the BOX ana tne Sa of reverence. There was sanctity m that divine symbol that they must ob- serve by keeping three-quarters or mile away. They must wadcn s.Ssrxiss sna' sh.y H would lose their way and not arrive aI the right place for crossing; They haa never been there before. and they must ,s tsrs the words of my text. "Ye have not passed this way heretofore. And the subordinate officers. at the & head Of the the regiments repeated .nt.rs ite z nave h0s What was truthfuily raid of the ancient Israelites may be truthfully said oi us We are making our first and last jour" ney through this world. It ,sp IS posstnh,s; ths, this world win be corrected and inprov- Cd and pnriaea and horaiized ana empaf- adised as to climate and soil and charac- ter, until it shail become tieayen for the ransom&d, but I do not think 1t. have sn, idea that heaven Is already built senaewhsre. Our departed friends could net walt until this world IS nxed yp TOT aaintIy and angelic residence. Having once zone cut of tho world, do not think we will come back, except aS 'minlsterlns spirits to help those who remain in the earthly struggle or pernaps to HOOK aI the wondreus spectacle of a burning plan
 Travelling New Paths. :. But. leaving that theory aside, we are very sure that we are for. the hrst pme walking the earthly piigrlmase;; u,, cry minute. every houi new hour, ev- cry century q new century Other tolKs have gone ever the same read we are travelling. but it Is our first trip. New eppearaRces, new temptations, new ser- many ioss their way. They meet some one on the read of Iits end ask sn fer a'rSSs %s have all been perplexed by misdrection after asking the way to some place we wished to visit, Some ope said to us 5SS the 11 e r'os tha S the asa Es take saS first reaa to the left, and yeu will soon reach your destinAtien." We took the ad- vice. but our informsr forget turn in ing ta the left. and we took the wrong road and were lost in the woods, and night came oRs and we were put to great irritation and trouble
 lifetime mistakes, l pity them instead or blaming them, There are so many WTens roads. but only one right one. You can. exseriences for wisdern for uidlife Is Sc entirely different from youth. You can not in old age draw upon midlife experi- ences. for the two stages of existence are SO diverse. What Is wisdom for one mar to do would be feIIy for another to un, Aertake. A man of nerve and pluck is not qualified to advise a man timid and shrnns An St ne anas THso fo ma Human advice Is ordinary of little value. Peoule review their own successes or failures and then tell us what IS bss' cumstanees are different, our tempeFa' ment ss different. eur physical and men tai and moral capacities different Most of the great mistakes that nave oeef made have been. made under human ad'
 So, also. 1t may be said to every nation ''Ye have not passed this way before experiences Could wisest statasmsE snt conditions? Every President every Congress. has new crises to meet ant made about conditions tn this country fifty years from now may turn out al far untrue as the prophecies made hfts statesmen when he declared on. yonde, Capitol hill that 1t was unwise to thlnl of civilization or prosperity the othei side of the Rocky mountains. and accord, ing to his belief the Pacific coast would be the perpetual abode of barbarians ane mountain Hons, and we must not thini of annexing those forbidding regions.
 A Road of Novelty.
 Many prophecies in regard to euR ma ton failed and many prophecies concern on that road is a novelty. The opinion of Monroe or 2 Jefferson in the far pas Is not of as much value as the opinion of our wisest men now. How could mel know in 1893 what 1t would be best fo this nation to do in 1901? It lS belittlinl as we'll as unwlsO for our statesmen. wh' are quite equal te the statesmen of tn past and who have. in addition to tn natural talents of their predecessors. at tainments in knowledge that were impos sible in any decade but our own, to de dead thFse-quarters of a century. In al other things the world has advanced Can it be that in statesmanship 1t ha gone back and that this opening of tn twentieth century must consult the open ing of the nineteenth century, ~ have not passed this way before"
 Yea, our entire world is on new path way. It may be swinging in the sam old orbit as when by the hand of tn Almighty iT'~' 7nsity was sprinklsd TEikl worlds, but it has been rocked wifi earthquakes and scorched with volcani fires and whelmed with tidal waves an wrought upon by climatic ehanges-cit ies sunk and islands lifted. and noun tains avalaRehed into valleys. So 1t. | another world than that which was frs started in the solar system. Yet it IS al .N