Democratic standard. [volume] (Georgetown, Brown County, Ohio) 1837-1850, 1843-03-28
From tle N. Y. Sunday Mercury,
SHORT PATENT SERMON. \

IhaVe selected the following lines ss
Q text 10 my present discourse' oaaerf
o life /! than Nothing's younger brother;
So like that Oas might take one for. the other,
WITHOUT blsst liberty, life were burden.
NV hearers--call life what We may, it
is so near akin to Nothing that, as my
text says, one might easily be taken for
the other. tits no more related to Some
thing than camel TO King Richard the
Third and the false glories reflected from
q rainbow are as solid as iron when COM
pared TO it. II is a mysterious magnetic
operation, that is continually being car.
Tied on between mind and matter and
% for trying to comprehend it, one
might as well think Of producing butter by
ehurning chalk and water. How he
came by il is more than we can tell
We know just about as much concern
ing the matter, and how we happened TO
be washed on the shore of being, ready
made, as do the hoptoads that are rained
down in showers. II is thrust upon us
unasked for, and taken from US without
our permission being first obtained We
can get rid of il as soon as we like, but
cannot enjoy it as long as we pIaase. 1t
IL an icebuilt islhmus between two
teThities, which after a time. dissolves
and disappears, and then one endless o.
cean embraces all. Not all the gold Of
AppOllO's Pythian treasures can purchase
it, nor bribe it TO remain for single
hour. When the vital spirit has once
burst frOm its prison Of clay, it is off
like fugitive from juslce--and there is
no more turn-about to il than there is 10
q train Of cars on railrood.
My friends-when we come to serious>
ly to consider upon life, we find it Q
cheat or, more vulgarly speaking, de
cided suckin. 1t deudes us from houl
to hOur-empIoys that sycophant, Hope
to hatter our expectations with promis
es as false as they are fair, and as brit,
tie as they are bright. II tells US that lap
piness is boarded in the treasury o
to'mOrrow-that golden heaps of Joys are
wTOpped in the thick fold of the future
--and that one year TO come is worth
moro than dozen oflhose already de-
vourea by Time; So We loan out near
~ all our cash Of present comfort for the
ftimsy paper of Hope, which is always
made payable at some indefinite period
hereafter; and ere we can get il redeem
ed, the bank has either suspended, o
burst up forever. Hope tells US that a
lovely flowers may be found upon tn,
mountain Of manhood as in the veIve
meadows Of youth--that the lowly val,
ofSges is as blooming as eilher-anc
that the latter end of lfe's journey is a
pleasant as the hegining :but we shall find
when we arrive there that il's all a lie, al
Che Indian Chief (whO is now at brother
Barnum's nuseum) said when he scalped
the man with wig on. .o~ahlai
My hearers-as the play.writGr says,
live il but walking shadow that vanish
Ss Stthe setting OF mortality's suns poor
player, that struts his hour upon stage,
and then Il is heard no more tale told
BY an idiot, as full of sound and fury as
e tin whistle, and signifying as liule.--
The life Of man is the same in princi.
pie as that of dog or monkey, and is no
more precious TO him than theirs to
them. Beasts have instinct, and they
find enjoyment unmarried by care: man,
proud Ofbeing rational, BOASTS Of the lit,
Gle knowledge he possesses, and is msera.
BILE. Life is given TO tho brute creation,
and they know how 10 use il; but man
commences abusing ii almost as soon
as be receives it. Let him have his
own wsy,give him chance 10 crafty eve
~ deSire---let him pick his own path to
heaven--and he will be sure TO find him.
self eventually loafiDg about the borders
Of damnation, minus happiness, comfort
and cash, and prechance his panlaIoons
pretty we'll patched 10 poces. Birds
feed, on birds and beasts on each other
prey, but ofdiTe necess ty--for hunger
bids them do il; but man wantonly un.
does his brother man, when he knows he
can do himselfno good by it: even as
boys throw stones al frogs--lor fun. Oh,
my friends! tits a grand thing to under.
stand the moral chemistry of life: to
know how to analyze every Ingredient,
90 that its wholesome pleasures may be
separated from its poisons; and its sweets
from its bitters; but you week and in.
cOnsiderate insects ofa summers day! :
like foolish flies you dive headlong into !
the molasses Of gross and sensual indul. a
gencO; and then, when you attempt TO
rise into puFer atmosphere, ,youfnd your +
feet clOgged, and the wings Of your spir> a
Its too snteebled to raise even a respect
able AutIer So you keep padding, as
nigh the surface os possible, till evonlu. :
ally you give mighty struggle--a des,
Perale klck-and then sink to rise no :
more. Then, at the moment when death I.
comes and not till then you make up = =
your mind that you have just learned how e
10 livel =
My dear ElieNds--evsry thing posses> il
od OF life and bainu muut -. Isl - | Z