Wrongs ripened into desperation, and desperation into mistakes, to be followed by other wrongs. But that storm passed by, and the birds began to sing again. Then came a financial o'ercast. Men became panic-stricken because a few banks had broken. Reason almost deserted its throne. Conscience quite lost its bearings simply because the "times were hard," and things seemed to be going to the bad. Perhaps they seem so still to some; but let us take to heart that Sunday morning sermon of the cloud-storm and remember that the cloud, however borne along by the tempest, is but a cloud, and must abide the limitations of a cloud. It cannot permanently obscure the sun. The splitting of the moon and the blotting of the stars are only seeming. They remain; the clouds pass. Thus it is that over country and city one economy obtains. Spirit and matter are conditioned by kindred laws, and we can count with equal certainty upon the stability of the right and the transitory quality of the wrong. For life must "on and upward go." It is for us to construct a celestial superstructure on terrestrial foundations, making our earthly city so clean, wholesome, temperate, beautiful, that it will indeed be a "new Jerusalem, the city of God, the light of the nations." 66 Thy people shall build the ancient desolations, There is a Power whose care Teaches thy way along that pathless coast, The desert and illimitable air, Lone wandering, but not lost. Thou'rt gone, the abyss of heaven Hath swallowed up thy form; yet on my heart He who, from zone to zone, Guides through the boundless sky thy certain flight, In the long way that I must tread alone Will lead my steps aright. WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT. 210 |