The Camden chronicle. (Camden, Tenn.) 1890-current, 1904-05-13

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victs and martyrs, For libraries, there
were desolnte rocks, caverns. mountain
sides, sea shores and prison walls Out Of
! such harsh and unfavorable conditions
came the volumn which through all the
| years has been coveted by She beleaved,
sought by the lonely. loved by the trou-
| bed Excellence of thought comes by way
of toll. endurance, denial
Mind, capable of Infinite thoughts, has
it's Gardens of Gethsemane. Mind wears
the crown Of thorns in the very hour Of
lofty achievement.
It is said that Ole Bull assembled the
rough mountains of Norway, there he saw
the majestic storm, heard the weird wall
of the pines. listened to the roar of the
cascades, and from these he caught those
rapturous tones with which he charmed
the heart Of the world Thus it is be-
| cause men have climbed some craggy Mat
terhorn of chilling adversely descended in
| to some vale OF shadows, lr f,ered by some
wave battered cliff; because they have
braved opposition and hardship; because
they have had passages in their lives where
| they have experienced the eXtremities of
anguish and dsolation that they have be-
come heralds of truth, have marked the
advance of civilization, have been high
priests of science refiners Of society, re-
formers of faith.
Wnat IS III UndC places tnls PREMIUM ~
| grief? WHY are the great doors also the
great suffers? What is it that vitGizes
! pain. gorifes sorrow, and makes dead
mems bones walk the earth clothed with
tremendous influence? Let Moses answer
from the mount of immeasurab!o glory;
~ rejected regal palace and the treas
ures of Egvnt, choosing rather to suffer
affection with the people of God that |
might be a statesman for the oppressed,
10 IF eli
vexed, tried and discouraged through forty
weary wears that at last / might stand IL
lumined in the TRANSPORTATION OF the Son
of God" Let David answer with his wall
Of anguish: 30, my son Absalom! my
son. my son Absalom! would God had
died for thee, Absalom, my son, my
SOM" It was in the depth OF hls mourn
ing that he sung those poems which have
comforted the aching heart for ages. Let
,Tosenb and Daniel answer as from pris-
on and a den they ascend the steps to
ROYALTY and fame Let Savonaroio answer
loving the red hot iron of ma1tyrdom
more than the red hat of a cardinal Let
Bruno answer, let Galileo. let Newton.
let Luther answer, and WicIliff and John
Huss, and Wesley, and Francis Asbury.
It is a noble company. But there are some
whom reverses have ruined, whom at
hintions have spoiled, who refuse to be
sublimated by suffering or .ennobled by
calamity. I see yonder a Napoleon, OF
surprising genius. the worlds autoerat.
He builds a throne of steel only to see it
rust and crumble e'er he. dies, From his
pinnacle of power he falls and lies pros
trate in defeat His failure is ignominlous
because his spirit is ignoble. Upon the
barren rock of st, Helena he wanders;, a
lion at bay, a soul cowed. nhoen,x lie
in hopeless despair. BY his side and tow
|, nc Noc
comes to the government when there IS
nothing to govern He bect mes command
err of the American Army when it is small
and defeated. Without navy. without
money. without munitions, with traitors
and Tories abundant, with generals con-
niving for position and grossly SANDER
ing his character, he meets and defeats
the most thoroughly equipped and ap,
pointed government of the world and
then, notwithstanding the opportunities
of a people he has freed, he refuses a
roval crown and passes into HISTORIAN
/ embodiment of unselhsh service.
Far in the past ] see corrupt Nero loI-
ing in his chariot Of regal magnihcence;
diving bv inches a loathsome death, VIC
tim of the very luxury and extravaganza
in which he delights. Rolling over the Ap-
plan way on toward the city, he passes the
Roman guard leading prisoner to exc
H..
gives but a contemptuous glance. mat
is all-and yet not all. That captive com.
mands the gaze of mankind. The name OF
Nero is a synonym for vice and shameless
ness. while the name of Paul welds
mightier influence with each succeeding
century. Paul still lives! Die he cannot,
1t is true that for this purpose Nero led
him forth from prison. But sc! Does ne
tremble? Does he shrink from his last
nOoo 4his CDiritual hero who
fought with beasts. struggled with waves,
was Scared by the LASH incarcerated'
smtten. 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 finch?
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 he
stands, With eve flashing in hope, with
voice strong and confident; hear HIM de-
clare, "I am now ready to be offered: the
time of my departure is at hand: [ have
fought a GOOD fight ] have finished nv
course. I heva kept the faith. Nero,,s
axe cleaves his head and Paul the hero, is
crowned with the abundant life.
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 30:
viour of mortal man? With uncovered
head how we before the sublime sufferer
BEHOLD! Out of the anguish of the garden.
ont OF the Gloom of the tomb He Of TIE
,iven side, He Of the thofh crowned head.
He of the broken heart walks down the
ages eevating 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 and
raises toll to nobility, declaring that pain
shall no longer be accursed, but that life
shall be triumphant in adversely. Is this
our life? Not vacllatng. meagre,. indo-
lent, but sturdy. unfinching, enduring: