Burlington hawk-eye. [volume] (Burlington, Iowa) 1845-185?, 1849-08-02
THE BETTER CHOICE.
BY REV. Oh CUMMING, LONDON.
CA AlA Il nan roA -,

;ure if you succeed. Nay, for one that
succeeds, who does not know that nine
fail? But if you set out to seek the world,
and let the world absorb your heart, and
concentrate upon that world the best, your
hottest affections, the certainty is that
while you may lose the world you will
lose your SOUL Yet man, when he thus
loses God and feels miserable, goes and
joins himself TO anything and everything
that will promise to remove his misery and
restore his lost happiness. The prodigaI
joined himself to citizen Of the strange
country so does the natural man join him
self to trade, devoting TO it every energy,
or to pleasure, or ambition, or political du-
ties, or he joins himself to gayety, to bril-
liant circles, shining fetes, great parties,
if peradventure amid this worlds splen-
dor, he may extinguish every beam ofthat
light that leads to solemn inquiry. He
joins himself to the strange citizen Of a
strange country. When man loses God
he does not cease TO have God. The
prodigal had no sooner left his father, than
his growing sense of separation made him
join himself 10 the citizen of strange
country. Manno sooner leaves God, than
! he takes something else in his ROOM
| There is no such animal as an atheist !;
even the brutes are not so; for in their
ministry, and their instincts, they indicate
recognition Of one superior to them
selves. There are plenty Of antitheists-
men opposed to the true God-but there
/ ,oh III
if they leave the true God, they take the
strange Godin His stead. Mans soul was
made to be temple, and when it is not
the temple of the living God, it becomes
the temple of an idol. Mans heart was
made to be an altar, and incense will rise
from it, either to Jehovah or Jupiter
whatsoever it be that absorbs all your
thoughts, whatsoever it be that draws forth
your first morning and last evening refec-
tions !; whatever it be, TO gain which you
bend every energy, mould every influence,
subordinate everything you have-you
may call it trade, or pleasure, or politics,
or law, or physic, that is your God, that
is the cistern out of which you are drinking,
that is the being from whom you arc seek
ing the safety Of your souls, the happiness
of world to come. Are we living in or
without the living God ? are we still drink
ing at some strange cisteln, and joined 10
some citizen ofthis world? 1fany areso,
andthus hoping for happiness as the prize,
they ought to know, that they are not the
J frs: persons that have made the expert
ment, but the repeaters merely of an ex-
pertinent that has been made ten thousand
times, and ten thousand times failed. |
will give you the result of the experiment
as tried by one who had the greatest pow
err Of bis age great skill, great resources
and the fullest opportunity for the expert
ment, that ever mortal had, and under the
most favorable circumstances. He thus
describes the process l sought in mine
heart to give myself unto wine.'-that was
one of his experimental sought to lay
hold Of folly'-bals, plays, &c.-'that |
might see what was good for the sons OF
men, that they should do under heaven all
the days of their life.
4 made me great works'-when l had
nothing to do but pull down the old walls
and build new ones-'I builded me houses
Il thought that the cause Of my disquiet
was The smalIness or the Inconvenience of
the rooms, the smokiness Of the chimnies;
the want of color here, and gliding there:
Or thought, If built large and spa
cious house, should be happy; forget
ting, that it is not the house that makes
the inhabitant happy, but the inhabitant
delightful; and that changing the bed of a
sick man is not to heal his disease; what
we want is not change Of circumstances
around us, but a change Of heart within
ds--'I planted me vineyards, in order TO
get the choicest wines, wines Of the rich
est fragrance il made me gardens and
orchards, and planted trees Of all kinds
of fruits: 1 made me pools Of water that
there might be abundance Of fish supplied
to my table, and Of the choicest kinds.--'1
got me servants and maidcns, and had SER
wants born in my house also had great
possessions of great and small cattle,
above all that were in Jerusalem before
me. gathered me also silver and gold,
and the peculiar treasure Of Kings, and Of
the provinces diamonds, gems, and all
precious things and in order still more to
increase my happiness,-'l got me men
singers and women singers. very
choicest imports from abroad ;taking care
that they shall have special pay and pat
ronage in order TO be the first their pro-
fession ;--'and the delights Of the sons Of
| men, as musical instruments and that of all
sorts. So Twas great and increased above
| all that were in Jerusalem before me all
so nv wisdom'--int ellectual wisdom
remained with me- was botani>t, a
mincralrgist, an astronomer ); | studied the
harmonies and relationships of all things !;
and, in short, TO crown the experiment,
there was not an element that might con-
tribute to my happiness, wanting 4
! withheld not my heart from any joy did
pot stop because Gods commandment said
Thou shalt not do i, l flung all fear away.
in order that might make the experiment
fully and freely and my heart rejoiced
in all my labors this was my portion of
all my labor. resolved to look on all
this magnificent pile Of sp!enaor and
glory, as elements OF happiness, and look
ed on all the works that my hands had
wrought; and behold, was happy
man ?-I needed nothing to make me more
so--sbehold all was vanity and vexatIon
of spirit ..
Now, can we have better opportunities