News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1903-05-13

to become scared and perverted and,
as the Master would say, "the
light that is within us may become
darkness" How many deeds of dark
ness have been wrought by misguided
consciences Well meaning persons
have, by this means, been trans
formed into veritable fiends of hell
Men some times suppose they are fol-
lowing an angel OF light when all the
while it is an angel of darkness. And
so in view of the terrible moral blum
ders of well meaning men (for "hell is
paved with good intentions") We need
to keep the moral compass true to
the eternal principles of right by set
ting it by the Masters character,
spirit and life.
A strong character, with an en-
lightened conscience, what a power it
yields in the world Men every where
respect and admire the man of con-
science. 1t is such men that are the
pride OF the nation and the hope
of the world. In the dark be.
ginnings of civil service reform, two
young men sat in the Office of
the commission at Washington, and
as they real zed the powers that were
arrayed against the reform they rep
resented, they smiled grimly at the
assaults and victories of thespoilsman.
They had done their utmost to ad-
vance the movement, but there was
much to discourage them. Dreaming
of what they would do if they had the
power, one said to the other, what
grand thing it would be if you
could be Governor of New York;
To which the other replied, with the
same noble longing for more effective
work, "why not say the President of
the United States These young men
toiled on in their movement. To-
day, after the lapse of years, one of
them occupies an important legal po-
sition in the government, the other
has become President of the United
States. And the grand and beautiful
thing about it all is, that they have
both been true to their visions, that
the conscience, which was the secret of
Theodore Roosevelt's life then. has
guided him ever since, and, to-day
makes him the great moral power
that he is in our American life. All
the world knows to-day that here is
a man who can not be intimidated
or bought, man whose conscience is
his king, and who is AS true to it's
guidance as the needle to the pole
Such man, amid the corruption of
our social and political Life, is an un-
told blessing.
Still another part of a ships equip
ment is the chart, which gives map
of the sea. IL is this chart that To-
Gates all the perils of the sea. So,
too, the christian in his voy ige over
the sea of life has a great chart which
maps out the dangers of life, and in.
dictates the safe and wise course for
the ship of the soul. This chart is
the Bible. which sets its warning OF
danger over the evils of life, and pre-
pares us fora safe moral voyage. The
Bible is the great book of wisdom, the
great practical book Of life. which has
prevented countless multitudes from
shipwreck of life aud character. Here
is the one book the world could not
do without, the one book thatequals
in value all other books. 1t is worth
it's weight in gold to every one of US
1t is impossible to praise this booK
too highly. But let US not claim for
it what it does not claim for itself 1t
was never intended to be a book of
science or philosophy. 1t sets up no
special claim to infalibility on these
subjects, and when such infallibility
is asserted, it only embarasses
thoughtful men in their acceptance
of it as containing the word of God.
Il puts an unnecessary burden upon
it that it is unable to bear, and only
gives skeptics their point of vantage
in the argument. If we insist that
the Bible is an inerrant book, an in
fallible authority in astronomy, ge-
ology, biology, etc, then we are in
trouble right away and we have him
dered the success of the appeal.
AS has been said the bible was not
given us to teach us how the heavens
go, but how to go to heaven. 1t is
the one reliable guide ia matters of
character, conduct, and destiny. But
that there are defects and inaccuracies
in science, history or philosophy,
ought not to trouble us any more
than that there spots on the sun.
It's practical alueis in no way ffected
by these considerations. The one per-
feet standard and ultimate authority
is the life and ideas of the Master.
Every thing in and out of the book is
to be judged by that standard. The
christian religion is the worship of God
through his Son, and the Bible is
merely the guide board leading to
Him.
But. important as these helps are, we
need, most OF all, the presence of the
great Pilot himself, amid the perplex-
tiles, disappointment and mysteries
ofIife. Wefeel the need OF calling some
higher power to our aid. How comfort
ing then it is to feel that.we can have
with US in the ship, one who will per-
form all the gracious offices of great
Pilot! Those sacred scenes on the
Sea nj Galilaa whom tho Mastar So1ad