Preble County Democrat. [volume] (Eaton, Ohio) 1857-1859, 1858-10-21
A short Patent sermon.
BY DOW, JR.

ID DOh, OIs'
The words of my text are as follows:
For years upon a mountain brow,
A hermit livedLthe Lord knows how
Plain was his dress, and spare his fare;
He got his food-the Lord knows where
His prayers were short, his rants were
few,
He had a friend-the Lord knows who.
No care nor trouble vexedsni lot;
He had a wish-the Lord knows what
At lengh this aged man did die:
He left the orld-the Lord knows why
He's buried in gloomy den,
And he shall rise-the Lord knows
when.
My HEARERS: Our text informs
us that for many years a hermit once
lived upon a mountains brow or foIe-
head. 1t does not say how long he
lived; but the probability is that his
life was much longer than it was broad.
because recluses don't eternally live SO
hluC SAlCHI bAS yum III VI
city folks. but make up in length what
they lack in breadth. There is anoth-
er reason, my brethren, why the cid
man Of the mountains, in likelihood.
stretched life to beyond its ordinary
limits; besides, his location being
healthy one, he would be compelled to
live some where within the bounds
chalked out by nature. He could mt
get hold of pastries, condiments, doctor
stuff, rum and tobacco, however much
he might crave them. His health took
care of itself; and he could lie down at
night, thankful that he had enjoyed no
more than enough, and without the
fear of being noctrinally d sturbed by
the equine female which so frequently
stables itself in the rich mans palace
But how he lived the Lord only knows
how. You grub along somehow or
other, apparently well satisfied with
the present and everlasting big hopes
of the future Verify, you are so many
anchoritcs in ':peopled desert"
The dress of our hermit, my friends,
was very plain. He wore no broad
cloth upon his back, no gold studs in
his bosom and no paste blackening
upon his boots, but he looLsd a2on t
the lazy lilies of the field, so beauti- |
fully arrayed, and fancied hi insclf as
we'll dressed as the stiffest of them
His dress was rather course, as you
may well suppose-perhaps woven of
bears wool, grape vines and brier
bushes; and he got his food-the Lord
knows where. When Elisha of old
turned hermit for few days, he put
his trust in the crows; and our subject,
relying on the bounties of a charitable
Providence, sometimes found bone to
pick where he least expected it. But
as for you, o, ye "bummers !''-inhab-
iting fruitful island in an ocean of
gravy, and surrounded by all the good
things that appetite could ask for-you
rely neither upon Heaven nor daily la
Dor, but place an abundant faith in
''frce lunches The philanthropist in
the linen jacket. who ladies out the soup
to the devils poor devils, knows that
''man wants but little here below" and
are we'll enough satisfied, so long as you
have free run at rumps of beef, hard
crackers and radishes, and can @cut and |
come again" Ad drquitri,n ct al tinem.
Behold the turkey buzards Of the air.
they scent their food from afar, and
knew where to pick; and so do you, ye
featherless buzzards of Montgomery
street, But our hermit had not even
your narrow privilege; he never even
smelt of anything about which hung
the orders of kitchen.
Of cooking apartment he knew just
as much as he did of Latin, and cared
the same. Tell him that kitchen is ii
''camera obscura, pro ukas cum carrie,
sruspanis, stewpanis coalo, stoyo smoke
jac, pro roastendum. boilandum fryan-
dunn, at plum pudding maxindum, pro
turtle, soupus calvos head hashibus, cum
callipe ct calliphashibus' he would
tell you, That may be all very nice,
but my kitchen is well enough without
the embelishment of SO many "hifalntin
flubdubs."
His prayers were short, his wants
were few" He was not one of your
sort, my brethren, who make long pray
ers for pretense, and to be heard ofwiid
cattle. His wants being few, he could
crowd them into brief Invocation:
which l. believe are just the kind to
command immediate attention: for it Is
my solid opinion that Heaven is as
much in favor with short prayers as Is
congress with short petitions, congrega-
tions with short sermons, and editors
with short contributions. And she had
a friend-the Lord knows who" That
friend, my brethren, was Conscience
: one in whom he could place implicit
confidence, and without fear of ever be-
| ing betrayed. With no other friend in
the wide world, not fearing foe, he could
lay his hands upon his breast and say ::
"What conscience dictates to be done,
or warns me not to do, this teaches me
more than hell to shun, that more than
heaven pursue"
'No care nor trouble vcxed his lot "
What cares, my friends, could our her
init possibly have? He had no wife to
burthen him with kisses and cares; no
neighbor, picking up dollars and dimes,
aroused the demon of envy in his bo-
som; and consequently he had nothing
to trouble him, except it might have
! bpnn an occasiOna1 mOSnuito Ynrv