The true northerner. [volume] (Paw Paw, Mich.) 1855-1920, 1905-02-10


him to have dominion over the works
OF thy hands. Thou hast put all things
under his feet"
No slight thing then. this sitting here
In silent contemplation OF one who bore
Gods image and wore the crown of his
dominion on earth.
The one thing that makes man soin-
superably great is the other world. He
cannot begreat without it. His thoughts,
hopes, ideals, reach all of them into the
invisible. They round out into some
perfect sphere beyond his sight. We
cannot know how vast are these thoughts
of ours in their farthest circuit. Infin-
ity alone can contain them.
"Peace?' said Olnithus the Christian
to Apaecides the priest of Isis, and then
he added There can DO no peace with
out virtue. 1t is like the rainbow. 1t rests
upon the earth, but its arch is lost in
heaven" at springs up amid tears and
clouds. 1t is a reflection of the eternal
sun" So says Buwer Lytton in his
Last Days OF Pompeii.
No real JOY or happiness or blessed
ness on earth unless the arch be lost in
heaven | believe that some of the old
primitive faith is coming back to US like
the simple trust of little child. 1t has
wandered far oil in its orbit, but now it
comes swinging back like some bright
sun to cheer us by its return. The con-
vction of another world. The belief in
the divinity that stirs within US, the as
surance of an immortal life, the belief
that the mortal was made in the divine
image and that it is "the chief end OF man
to glorify God aud enjoy him forever
beliefs like these rest upon the earth like
the rainbow. They are oftentimes swal-
lowed up in doubts and clouds and tears,
but their arch is lost in heaven. The
eternal sun shines upon them with un-
dimmed splendor.
One thought more, the resurrection
and the judgment
Last summer two strange men preached
on street corner of this village. They
wore long hair and were almost fantastic
in their appearance. One of them, lit
tie more than boy, had thin, hollow
face, sad eye and a manner solemn as
luc grave. pTcdCucu dOOuI VIC
resurrection and the judgment and what
body we should appear in, tried to solve
the dark mysteries, vexed and troubled
his young brain with bewildering ques-
tons There was no sound in his ears
but the blast of angels trumpets and the
roll of thunder and there was no vision
in his eye but the dread tribunal. He
! - hi 60, III
What of that resurrection and that
judgment? Some years ago | saw the
fresco of the Last Judgment painted by
Michael Angelo. One thing impressed
me. Not the opening graves, not the
rolling clouds, rot the angels, but pair
of scales in which the souls of those APP
pearing were placed one by one and
weighed.
ale shall Judge the world with equity.
That is beautiful and comforting as
surance. Nothing arbitrary; nothing
coniectural. No injustice Nothing to
blanch the face, nothing to make the
heart tremble; for he who weighed the
stars in the balance and placed the
mountains in scales shall give to every
human soul its intrinsic worth and its
intrinsic place. No wrong shall be done
to the weakest or the unworthiest. Up
on that single word equity, in which we
can see an infalhble balance and an
equation Of life worked out, we may rest
with supreme content.
But one thing more to give us conf
dence. 1t is a cherubim with wings
spread out above mercy seat. He
knoweth our frame. He remembereth
that we are dust
Infinite Justice; infinite mercy. Why
need we fear, why tremble? Why not
advance with 10y? 1t vision of beauty
that invites us. Let US enrapture our
selves with it rather than dread it.
One by one we bid these human friends
good bye We need not sorrow as we
see them go. for they precede US but @
little to that justice and that mercy that
is as boundless as the love of God him
self. Good bye, old friend, good bye
To that equity and that mercy we com
mend you.