The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1904-09-07

the rose, let Christ he your teacher. Seek
first the kingdom OF HIS righteousness and
all these things shall be added unto you"
knowledge is power. A man may hive
in a clod and dream OF paradise, or live
in paradise and dream of a elod-wisdom
is the principal thing. Many a slave un,
taught and unthinking has lived and died
in the sight of the Parthenon: knowledge
is greatness. knowledge always makes
the difference between Epictetus and his
lowly brother. knowledge is power.
What is knowledge? How do we gam
knowledge? There sits Thomas Carlyle,
the lonesomest man in England, and one
of the poorest, feeding his shaggy intellect
on French revolution, storm of modern
ages. When he speaks We call him our
greatest prophet and scholar. And hls
message is: 81 have found God reigning
among all peoples" He writes down for
US the laws of divine retribution which
run through the nation. Like the old
Scandinavian Titan that he is, he drinks
the liquid fire of divine wrath out Of the
skull Of persisted empire. And he smsoked
his Puritan lips as though it was savory
wine. knowledge is finding out divine
laws. There is Charles Dickens: He IS
not satisfied to meet people on the street
as we do and shake hands with them and
learn their names. But, looking into their
hearts and homes and haunts and SINS
with sympathy, with pathos and with rar-
est humor, he writes hls books. Isese
books become a sort OF Bible OF the SUD-
merged tenth of society, and in them we
find written down the great divine laws
which govern action and conduct and char
acter. He is the poor mans prophet, be-
cause he found on the heart of the poor
man the handwriting Of God. All kno"l-
edge is revelation.
Seeking the way God made the stars go,
Kepler became an astronomer. seeking lhe
way the world was made. Wallace became
4 scientist. Seeking the mysteries and Sc
crets of the human soul and GODS GONG
therein. Kant became 4 philosopher. Seek
ing to find out how God wrought upon nu'
man nature, Shakespeare penetrated INTO
the soul depths OF Iago, Hamlet, Desde,
mona, Richard. Henry and Lear. ana
transcribing into words what ne tonne
written there, he has given us hls great
dramas. 10! the dramas Of Shakespeare
are almost another book of God in when
we find written the divine law OF retrlbu'
ton and forgiveness and sacrifice ana re-
demption. Augustine comes and his one
word is law. but it is the law OF God.
Browning comes and his one word IS IN
spiration. but it is the inspiration OF GOD:
And Beecher and Phillips Brooks come and
their one word is love, but 1T IS the owe
of God. Save he bring us a word OF Goo,
the wisdom OF the scholar 10 toollshneSs..
Have you ever seen the shimmerlng or
a lake when the sun was playing IN ls
surface? Have YOU seen the CLEANS OF sun
light dancing like angels on the water
You know the glory was in the sun, not
in the water. The sun was the source; the
waters were clothed in q borrowed glory.
II YOU have ever stood in a great valley
surrounded by mountains, n heard the
echoes repeated from mount to mount
some loud. some soft, some distant, some
near at hand. you know the voice was not
in the mountains. The mountains only
carried the voice. So great scholars are
only waters a2d mountain peak 1t IS
God Almighty who speaks. 1t is his glory
that shines. There is a difference IN men
The difference between great men ana III.
tie men always consist in thlS-the great
man is always listening for the voice OF
God. The little man is taken up with tne
sound of his earthly on-going. The jews
heard A sound and said: 1T thundered."
Jesus standing with them knew 1T was an
angel that had spoken unto Him: WIS
dom is revelation. There is no other way
if YOU would be a scholar. if you woud
Near a scholars crown and have a schol.
airs power, YOU must seek and know face
to face and to find out His ways, which
are above our ways, and His words. which
are above our words. Here is the prescrip'
ton for all scholarship: Seek first the
Kingdom OF God and His righteousness
and all these things shall be: added unto
you"
In every age men believe that fame can
be bought for a price, ana SO Iney seai
down their warehouses and build larger
So thew multiply their fleets until their
white sails cover every sea; so they get for
themselves houses and lands and stocks
and bonds. When they die the market
drops down for a day or a week and then
the world goes on. You do not know the
names of any rich men IN Athens or Rome
OF Thebes or Babylon. You may know the
name of some orator or some scnolar VINO
had wealth. but YOU do do not know the
name Of any man who had nothing put
wealth. There was a man VINO lald ING
foundation OF his fortune IN the Gays OF
the Stuarts. He was a powder manu1ac,
turer. He drove ais coach and tour ana
lived in a palace. He built silken nests
for his children. He had been an ardent
Royalist, but when the Revolution came,
he said: '"There is a tide in the affairs OF
men. which. if taken in its flood, leads on
to fortune And he cut off his powdered
even SANG nsalms. lie turned Puritan. He
| turned his back on the cathedral and We4t
to worship in a Puritan conventlcle. ne
had his reward. Te got the contract LOT
making powder for Cromwells army ana
| became a multi-millionaire. And when the
restoration came he grew again his van
Dyke beard, he again wore his viewer douD'
let. he again went to church with prayer
book and crucifX. He even stood ny ano
applauded when Cromweils 6oqGs %eLe
hung up to dry Oh Tyburn Hlii. lie qnich'
lv became a cavalier and he had his re,
ward. For To-! Charles made him a Knight
Of The Garter and he still had the contract
for making powder for the English Army.
What was his name? You do not know
Nohodv knows. You cannot find 1t writ
ten down in any book. But IN that same
time there was 4 poor man VINO was d
puritan under the first Stuarts, who;was a
Puritan secretary Of commonwealth uh'
der Cromwell. and who was a FurlCap
blind and poor, an exile threatened WIZ
his life under the returned Stuarts. ne
had the pen OF a ready writer ana tue osu
arts offered him gold to make the W2lse
appear the better side. he saId: y, nay:
nav 7 will live in hunger and l VII! near
NV children cry for bread, but l Will not
ceil nv honor. l care not for parties; l
strive only for the truth of the Kingdom
of God" And everything he ever SAID IN
prose or in poetry is still remembered. HIS
name was John Milton, and every schGol
bow knows it by heart. Seek hrst the
Kingdom Of God and fame will n you
out. Always the pathway to greatness Is
along the line OF loyalty to the Kingdom
Seek the Kingdom of God, that is the
treat thing. .Any man who seeks wealth
for wealti's sake will always lie poor,
though he be clad in purple: Any man
who seeks first and always the Kingdom
of God will be rich, whether he live in a
garrett or a kings palace. It is the law Of
the universe. They who love truth ana
serve her, receive a true mans rewarsas