Evening capital. (Annapolis, Md.) 1884-1910, 1905-04-08

moving, acting creations, feathered,
sealed. horned or hoofed. From the
drop of water in which millions of
creatures swim, to the sod, upturned
by the plowshare, through which the
earthworms wriggle. on and up to
man the crowning work Of God, all
creation throbs and palpitates with
life. There is not an atom of water.
there is not an inch of soil. there is
not a breath Of air, that Is not inhabi-
ted. occupied. possessed by living
forms of some sort.
And yet this is world of death.
In one sense it is a cradle, in anoth-
or il is a hearse. Uncounted millions
Of living creatures run the whole
course of their existence from birth
to death within the circle of a day
OF all the mmltitudinous inhabitants OF
this earth only small fraction are
living. There are great cities on this
globe. teeming with life, but the great
cities OF the earth are underground.
General Death is the greatest com
manner of all ages.
And he has a mortgage on the life
of every mortal now living. He Dor
rows no trouble for he knows that
however great. however wise, how
eyer gifted. however defended, the
hair will frost and the eye will fade,
and the back will bend, and the
hands will tremble. and the limbs
VIII totter. and the breath will cease
and.the heart will stop.
Death rejoiees in his victory. He
loves to tear down the finest physi-
cal structure. He delights in every
new invention and discovery that will
assist in the deterioration of the race.
The groans of the~dying are music to
his ear. battlefield is a carnival OF
iov. If he could have his way he
would sweep the earth of every YES
tage of life with one move OF his
destructive wand.
There is but one being in the uni
verse Of whom Death is afraid, and
He is the life-giver of Galilee. The
Bozrah Conqueror is the only one who
has ever worsted death in a hand to
hand conflict. but He has done it,
and Is the acknowledged victor. He
stood one day in a Bethany cemetery
amid a group ofbroken-hearted peopie
nj the tomb Of young man stricken
down by the hand Of the tyrant, and
he shouted into the depths OF that
sepuIchre with the voice of command,
and Lazarus. though he had been four
DAYS dead. leaped out into the light
of day at that voice of authority,
rescued captive from the realm OF
spirits.
And wrestling the keys of every
grave on this planet from the old
enemy of man, He hung them to his
girdle. and the time is coming when
He will liberate every imprisoned cap
tive that the earth contains for "All
that are in their graves shall hear
His voice. and shall come forth.
Fortunately. the grave-breaker named
the one he wanted on that day, or
there may have been, at that time,
geenral resurrection.
Not only is that true but everything
that gavors of death is distasteful to
Him. Dead nations. dead customs.
dead laws. dead experiences, dead
churches, dead societles-He wants
nothing to do with them. Il am come
that they might have life" He says,
"and that they might have it more
abundantly" Why have the nations
Of the past risen. became mighty, and
then fallen into dust? History is
graveyard in which lies buried Egypt,
Assyria, Babylonia, Persia, Greece,
and Rome.
why did they perish? To make
way for the abundant life for which
the world was created. They were
but the embryo of the perfect devel-
opment that was TO come. and they
were cast aside when they had COM
pleted their mission The God Of
history could not be satisfied with
their attachments. They went as high
as they could. each wave of national
ity swept a little farther up the beach
of time, but it was impossible for the
race to reach-the fiood-tide of this
age in those old days. Doubtless the
world has not reached it's ultimate
yet. but the life-giver is at work as
never before, and is getting better re
suits.
The cry which is sounding out in
all the world today is that old-time,
commanding shout in the Bethany
graveyard, Come forth" That is
what Perry's gunboat Numbered IN
the harbor of Japan. and the Sunrise
Kingdom heard it. and sprang up out
of the dungeon of centuries That is
what Henry NJ Stanley cried as he
blazed his way from ocean to ocean
through the dark continent. and Afri-
ca is shaking off the letters of ages
Of superstition and moving out into
the light.
That is the meaning Of the guns of
vicksburg and Gettysburg and APP
pomatox. 1t is the reverberating
command to millions of bondmen to
come forth to liberty. China sits in
absolute unchangeableness for forty
centuries. But her wall is broken
down by iron missiles and China wakes
up. and shakes off the slumbers OF
100 generations. The booming guns
Of the Japanese and Russian soldiers