WHAT OF THE NIGHT: by M. C. W.

Pacific Press Publishing Company · OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA · Nov 7, 1900

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 26, No. 45.

WHAT OF THE NIGHT:

By M. C. W.

WE are marching toward the unknown. Who knows what to-morrow has in store for us?—Signor Francisco Crispi, ex-prime minister of Italy.

The view ten years ago showed a placid, smiling river; now we see the boiling rapids of a torrent plunging toward what abyss no one knows. War has followed war with swift succession. . . . What the next stroke will be, who shall say?—Springfield Republican.

This is the most unsettled condition of the world since the crucifixion of Christ. The stability of government is no longer a fact. Change is in the atmosphere. It is just as true now as a thousand years ago, "Thou knowest not what a day will bring forth." . . . Statesmen are at their wits' end. Philosophers speculate in vain.—The late Bishop Newman.

The bonds of society are relaxed; traditional principles are losing their sacredness, and perils hitherto unknown are menacing the life of the social organism.—Archbishop Ireland.

"O watchman on the walls of State, What of the night?" The watchman said: "The hour seems late, There is no light, Save here and there camp-fires of war Blaze fiercely bright, And arméd hosts, both near and far, Prepare for fight.

"Or when the morning comes, or how, I do not know; The night is dark, seems darker now, The clouds hang low. Strong kingdoms reel and empires die, And Peace comes not; All nations in the darkness cry, For what, for what?"

"O watchman on the church's walls, What seest thou?" The watchman said: "The shadow falls As never now; Earth's governments no longer stand Stable and strong; Injustice bold reigns in the land, And sin and wrong.

"Philosophy knows not the way; Statecraft is blind; The omens of the coming day They do not find. Strange perils menace social life Not known of yore; The world is filled with doubt and strife As ne'er before."

"O watchman true, on Zion's walls, What of the night? We know the heavy shadow falls, The world's affright; But is there not one radiant gleam, One word of cheer? Is there no pause to earth's sad dream, No comfort here?"

The watchman said, with shining face, "The night's far gone, The day is coming on apace; A glorious dawn Awaits the children of the day; For earth's dark night, Where sin and death no more shall slay, Breaks with the light.

"God's cloudless day is soon to rise, Whose radiant glow Has painted on earth's saddest skies His covenant bow; The day whose sun shall never set, That knows no night; The morn that never brings regret, Forever bright."

M. C. W.