The Penn's Grove record., 1904-04-22

great suners. what IS 1t mat v1t11lzes
pain, glorifes sorrow, and makes dead
mems bones walk the earth clothed with
tremendous influence? Let Moses answer
from the mount of Unreasonable glory:
II rejected a regal palace and the treas
ures of Egypt, choosing rather to suffer
affection with the people of God that l
might be a statesman for the oppressed,
hberate a nation of slaves, endure to be
vexed, tried and discouraged through forty
weary years that at last / might stand IL
lumined in the TRANSPORTATION of the Son
of God" Let David answer with his wall
of anguish: 20, my son Absalomi my
son. my son Absalom! would God l had
died for thee, o Absalom, my son, my
SOM" 1t was in the depth of his mourn
ing that he sung those poems which have
c0mforted the aching heart for ages. Let
Joseph and Daniel answer as from a pris-
On and a den tnev ascend the steps to
royalty and fame. Let S~avonarolo answer
loving the red hot iron Of martyrdom
more than the red hat of a cardinal. Let
Bruno answer, let Galhleo. let Newton.
Let Luther answer, and Wicklif and John
Huss, and Wesley, and Francis Asbury.
1t is a noble company. But there are some
whom reverses have ruined, whom af-
f~iictions have spoiled. who refuse to be
sublimated by suffering or ennobled BY
calamity. / see yonder a Napoleon, OF
surprising genius, the worlds autocrat.
He builds a throne of steel only to see il
rust and crumble e'er he dies. From his
pinnacle of power he falls and lies pros
trate in defeat. His failure is ig~nominious
because his spirit is ignoble. Upon the
barren rock Of st. Helena he wanders. a
lion at bay, a soul cowed. a phoenix life
in hopeless despair. By his side and tow
ering above him rises Washington. he
comes to the government when there is
nothing to govern. He bee, mes command
er of the American Army when it Is small
and defeated. Without navy. without
money, without munitions, with traitors
and Tories abundant, with generals con-
niying for position and grossly SANDER
ing his character, he meets and defeats
the most thoroughly equipped and an
pointed government of the world; and
then, notwithstanding the opportunities
of a people he has freed, he refuses a
royal crown and passes into history-an
embodiment Of unselish service.
Far in the past l see corrupt Nero loll-
ing in his chariot of regal magniieenee;
diving by inches a loathsome death, a VIC
tim of the verv luxury and extravaganza
in which he delights. Rolling over the Ap-
pian way on toward the city. he passes the
Roman guard leading a prisoner to exc
cution. Unto the prisoner the Emperor
gives but a contemDtuous glance That
is all-and yet not all. That captive com
mands the gaze of mankind. The name. of
Nero is a synonym for vice aud shameless
ness. while the name of Paul wields a
miehtier influence with each succeeding
century. Paul still livesl Die he cannot
Tt is true that for this purpose Nero led
him forth from prison. But sci does he
tremble? Does he lhrink from his last
enemy? Does this spiritual hero who
fought with beasts. struggled with waves,
was SCARED by the lash, incareerated.
smitten. stoned and left for dead, does he
who, when each stroke of the "tribulum"
fell upon him, shouted, None of these
things move" does he now hinchy
The block is there. The blade is ready
The headsman speaks, PREPARED Where
is the tremor in the aged form? With ra-
diant brow and stately mien immortal be
stands. With eve flashing in hope. with
voice strong and confident. hear him de-
clare. 81 am now ready to be offered; the
time of my departure is at hand. i have
fought a good fight. / have finished my
course. | lave kent the faith" Nero's
axe cleaves his head and Paul, the hero, is
crowned with the abundant hfe.
How has the ministry Of the Christ been
wrought out? In all the centuries of sor-
row whose grief compares with that OF
Him who is at once the Author and Sa-
viour of mortal man. With uncovered
head how we before the sublime sufferer.
Behold Out Of the ANGUISH of the garden.
out of the Gloom of the tomb He OF the
riven side, He of the thorn crowned head.
He of the broken heart walks down the
ages elevating sorrow until it grows with
a heavenly hallow, lifting the burden OF
woe from bruised and staggering human
itv. This is He who exalts the lowly ard
raises toll to nobility, declaring that pau
shall no longer be accursed, but that HE
shall he triumphant in adversely. Is this
our life? Not vacillating. meagre. indo-
lent, but sturdy. unfinching, endurme.
overcoming. decisive-a triumphant lfes
This only is life with deathless possible
ties and he only who lives for the future
catches the secret of the present, and Its
trials. Look we beyond diurnal revolu-
tions gauging the sweep Of the planet in
rs course around the sum-. Trials and
tests. SANDERS and betraya's. desertion
aud opposition are for to-day; character
for eternity. If man in the future ex-
meets to rest upon his knowledge of truth.
he must find some trial to test it now IL
character is to count forever, some sharp
and merciless criticism must prove Its
integrity now.
There is no more pathetic figure in the
world of to-day than the shily-shally
youth cuddling in the Lap OF wealth and
shrinking from life's combat. We are not
wooden dummies. but must be men or
granite. against whom the leaping waves
and mountainous surges shall beat only to
recoil in impotent fury. The need of this
hour is strong manhood. Perseverance, IS
the characteristic that wins. Expect not
to glide through easy seas: with silken
sails tense in the breeze of favor You
must steer through narrow straits; here
a whirlpool of doubt, there a hidden rock
of skepticism. where adverse currents
would strand the bark high on the barren
beach of despair. You must sail BY the
Siren Isle of insiuusting desire; must re-
sist entertainments which lull to the sleep
Of yoluptuous death: must feel the grip OF
eternal realities; must move on and out to
the embodiment Of the soul with an iron
determination to wrest victory out OF de-
feat, aud weave a garland of praise out OF
the failure of friends, the malice of enc
mics, the contempt of rivals and the haxS-
ship of life.