The Norfolk weekly news-journal., 1905-12-08


claim evolved by slow process GOV.
oring millions of years, from an atom
noating listlcssly and lazily in the air;
ns II is sufficient, for the purpose, and
the occasion on which speak, to say
that II we would be logical. we must
accept absoutism In creation. for II
either the theory of the absolutist or
| the cvolutionIst be adopted we arc
brought face To face with the fact that
creation finds It's original seat In n su.
| prcmC power and this supreme power
we have been taught to call God
Man Is admittedly the highest typo
of earthly creation; he IL. "A little
lower than the angels" and to him has
bcCn given dominion, "ovcr the fish
of the sea, and over the fowls Of the
mir and over the cattle, and over all
the earth, and over every creeping
thing that crcopcth upon the earth
II would therefore be very dinlcult
to speak of him in any other light than
In his relation to the Author Of his
being and the duties imposed on him
by virtue of his high station in the
order OF created things.
We cannot consider this crownlng
through life by some occult law, like
the beast of the field and as born to
no higher destiny than to fight self.
ish battle for existence at the expense
of other forms of useful life; but we
must consider man as n responsible
being as endowed with reason and as
n free moral agent, who, more than
all other forms of existence, Is to he
responsible here and hereafter for
what he does or fails to do.
We must consider him as possess.
ing soul that has existed for all time
and will exist for eternity and that he
Is answCrable to his Creator for his
stewardship on earth.
Notwithstanding immortality is
plainly taught by Revelation, there
are those who affect to disbeiove it,
But no intelligent person can, in my
opinion, help seeing the evidence of
its existence plainly manifest in ma
turc. We may close the Bible; we
may never have read page of its in
spircd teaching. we may be profoundly
ignorant of the Mosaic account of Gre
alton, of the long and weary pilgrim.
age of the children of Israel through
the gloom of the wilderness and of
Gods repeated manifestations of mer-
cy to them; of their miraculous es-
cape across the Red sea and their hap
py advent into the promised land; of
their subsequent growth and develop
ment and conquest of alien races: we
may not have read the story of Christ's
birth, life, teachings, crucitiXion, bu-
rial, resurrection and ascension, and
yet | dare say we daily witness indis.
putablc proofs of the existence of n
God and of mans continued account
ability. If those who in their blind
ness declare there Is no God, will
close the Bible which has brought con
ISOLATION to millions that sleep beneath
the soil of every land and lie in des-
ort sands and water wastes, and to
the living millions of every cline and
race, and invade natures stiffness and
the forests gloom, or stand beside the
waterbrook or on the majestic rivers
bank; or look upon the mighty ocean
and its restless tides or the grandeur
of the mountain heights, and see the
lightning in the sky, and listen to the
thunders roll, and behold the grass
that springs living at their feet, or
the flowers that blossom and decay
forth again at springs return, they
will believe there is n God and that
man is born to live beyond the tomb.
II is not difficult for us to hold that
the lives of our dead were deeply in
tluenced by the high state of civilza-
tion in which they lived and that they
differed in some matters of faith; that
some of them may have possessed the
austerity of conviction of Calvin and
Edwards while others may have doubt.
ed the accuracy of creeds and pre-
scrbcd faith; but we have reason to
believe they agreed on the existence
of God and in immortality, the two
great essentials of a christian nation.
And If to this we add that no man can
rightfully be member of this order,
who doubts the existence of n supreme
being, we are warranted in asserting
that the faith of those whose lives we
honor and whose memories we com
memorate on this occasion, was well
founded.
Men have never agreed on what con-
stituteS life. We know of course, that
in its technical and narrow sense it
is:
The state of being which begins with
generation, birth, or termination, and
ends with death.
We know that all animals are gre
garious and that man is no exception
and that it is impossible for him to
live alone, except in story books. But
what constitutes life in its highest and
best sense, and what are it's duties,
are questions of grave Importance on
which men have radically and honest
ly differed in all ages.
Pope was so deeply impressed with
this fact that he exclaimed:
Know then thyself, presume not God
to scan;
The proper study of mankind is man.
Placed on this isthmus of a middle
state,
being darkly wise and rudely great.
Created half to rise, and half to fall:
Great lord of all things, yet a prey to
all;
Sole judge of truth, In endless error
hurled
The glory, jest, and riddle of the
world.