ask! But, why ? Is it not there? Is it not written in the book ?
Yes, it is there, but written on pages whose seals have never yet
been broken. Between those sealed pages lie concealed secrets,
whose value, whose beauty, whose utility no mortal mind can
conceive.
But, you say, how do we know ? How can we tell what to
expect from sealed pages ? Book! See what has been read from
unsealed pages and be answered! What can be more useful,
more valuable, or more beautiful than the various industrial pro
cesses which have been discovered; than the physical, chemical
and electrical theories which have been propounded by reason
and verified by experience; than the splendid civic, ethical and
philosophical theories which have been enumerated ? All these
and much more withdrawn from this great storehouse—this im
mense reservoir—of possible knowledge and converted into actual
knowledge, And all this done within a comparatively short period
of time.
What was the progress of the development and evolution of
knowledge up to the time of the Christian Era ? Men groped in
the twilight and darkness of uncertainty and doubt. Their ideas
concerning many things, which are to us most common, were
quaint, gruesome and grotesque. The great book of Nature’s
laws had scarce been looked upon, much less opened. What
wonder is it that John who saw the grandest, the most won
derful, the most sublimely magnificent visions which ever ap
peared to any being—and gave them to us in the book of Reve
lation —what wonder is it that he looked and beheld a book written
within and sealed with seals! What wonder is it that he saw the
strong angel proclaim in a loud voice, saying, ‘ 1 Who is able and
worthy to open the book and to unloose the seals thereof?”
What wonder is it that this John bowed his head and wept much
because no man could be found, either in the heavens, or on the
earth, or under the earth, who was able and worthy to open the
book neither to loose the seals thereof.
Christianity came. It taught the immortality of the soul, and
thereby elevated and dignified man above all other nature. It
said to him, “You are everlasting, all else changing. You are
eternal, all else fading. You shall be the king, the ruler, all else
your kingdom, your subjects. Make all things temporary subject
to things permanent.” And man did. From that time down
through all these nineteen centuries, down through the birth,
The Free Lance .
[February,