The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1905-03-16

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thought which Victor Hugo some
where weaves into one of his fictions
is this-the normal condition of our
world is one of darkness only reliey-
ed by the intrusion upon it of
| illuminating orb. What may be
/ mere conceit as regards the material
world, is a fact in the moral sphere.
| The utter obstinate darkness of
mems minds to the things of God is
only relieved bv Him who said, Il am
the Light of the world" Pro-
fessor Tyndall can trace the subtle
metamorphoses of sunlight in its
manifestations in organic and iinor-
ganic, vital and physical power. In
every fire that burhs and every flame
| that glows, he sees a dispensing of
| light and heat which originally be-
longed to the sun. Yet, when it
| comes to believing that the moral
/ darkness of the human soul can be
/ irradiated, and its weakness stored
with higher potencies, he hesitates.
/ he denies. The miracles of sunlight
/ to one so competent to define and
/ see them, ought to make belief in the
miracles of moral illumination COM
paratiyelY easy. Johns glow
| ing narrative gives us a dissolving
view, fascinating and impressive. The
| pitiful mendicant fades away, and
in his stead appears a glorious con-
fessor, witty, dauntless, meet to be
enrolled in the noble army of
! the faithful, if we but knew his
name. Converts shouldn't
be coddied. The healed man was left
to his own resources to fight it out
with the august assembly to suffer
extreme ecclesiastical penalty, all
with no word of comfort. Thus he
endured hardness. And it was good
! for him. EXcommunication
put the mark of moral leprosy on the
Jew. If he died, there was no mourn
| ing for him. If he lived no one could
come nearer to him than four cubits.
His social and religious privations
as dust of balance compared with
denying the reality of his cure, or the
worth of the Prophet who had effect
ed it. Converts of to-day may well
initiate such an example. :.
The glad acceptance of Jesus by the
beggar, his stubborn rejection by the
chiefs of the nation, has its modern
analogue. Jesus is set for the fall or
rising of many. He is still sayor of
life unto life, or of death unto dealt
HoSaic from Commentaries.
A man blind: Blindness is common
in Palestine to degree which we in
| Western lands can scarcely realize.
There is probably no country in the
world, except Egypt, where this af-
Fiction is so prevalent. At GAIA, for
instance, it is said that onethird of
the population in that city, | should
unhesitatlngly say that the statement
is not ated.-Tristram Who
did sin: The connection between sin
and suffering was an elementary
principle with the Jews. Its applica-
ton to the lives of individuals with
out evidence OF special sin is con-
demned by our Lord. In this instance
the question was complicated by the
fact that the man had been born
blind, forming an ethical OF theologi-
cal puzzle such as the rabbis were
fond of discussing. Two alternative
solutions presented themselves
! either that the calamity was due to
the sin of the mans parents on prin-
ciple of transmission or that it was
sin committed by the man himself.
In the latter case it might be either
punishment bv anticipation or for
sin committed in previous state of
existence. But probably the disciples
were speaking generally, and had no
precise conception of the various pos
sibilities inyolved in the first part of
their question.-New Century Bible.
Go wash in Sloan which is
sent AS the prescribed action was
purely symbolcal in its design, so in
connection with it the evangelical
notices the symbolical name of the
pool, as in this case bearing testimony
to Him who was sent to do what it
only symboized-J. F. B.
Big Coal Washer
W Iiller of Kevser w Va has