The daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1873-1877, 1874-06-05
Beecher on Imaginary Troubles

MIR. Beecher had the usual large audi
ence to listen to his Friday evening talk
last week at the Plymouth lecture-room.
Contrary TO his usual custom on Friday
evenings he chose a text from Scripture as
the theme OF his discourse His text was
from First Samuel vii, II: Then Sam
uel took stone and set it between Miz-
pah and Shen and called the name of il
Eben-ezer, saying, Hitherto hath the Lord
helped US. After speaking of the condi-
ton OF the lsraeites at that time, having for
along time been under the oppression of the
Phlllstines, and having been gathered to-
gether by Samuel, they were attacked bv
the Phlllstlnes, who became panic stricken
by reason OF great storm which arose, and
dispersed In all directions, and then the
lsraehtes, bold as lions when they saw
them run, vent out after them. Then il
was that Samuel placed the stone and said :.
hitherto the Lord has helped us" 1t
was souvenir, memento, and whenever
they should look upon it, it should inspire
them with courage, and that was the dual-
lty they most needed From this simple
incident, Mr.. Beecher thought much wis
dom might be borrowed, and MANY mis-
takes might be avoided into which men
were all the time falling. Men were con
unually lighting the same battles over and
over agaln,and that battle was fought over
again whenever me1 lose confidence in
tne projecting presence Of God. Trouble
comes upon the household, and father and
nothSr counsel together, and it seems as
JSnousn 1'ils tlD' g they must 20 under, and
Soiyos anu .eks go by, and the cloud dis
o. and the darkness fees away, and a
Il I'd 81,
happy but they never put up anything
for remembrance and another trouble
comes and they are very happy but they
never put up anything for a remembrance
aud another trouble comes, and they are
just as brooding and apprehensive as be-
fore. So people go on magnifying trouble,
and when Gods deliverance comes they
are without gratitude or faith gathered from
continuous victories. Christian duty and
Christian wisdom should lead men
so to inventory and study their experiences
as that they may be able to do by their re-
hgious emotions that which they do in
their business, namely, gather stability
from their experiences. Say that men,
Der OF this congregation continued Mr..
beecher, was accustomed to step outside
OF his regular business and speculate in
HNANSb Ohat LhOhSAb ne MAD an
opportunity of doing good thing. A
great many men have gone into Wa street
and thought they had nice thing, but
when they walked out it was not SO nice
after all. Naughter) Now, suppose the
daughter is wiser than the father, and she
makes him promise before he leaves home
that he will not buy any stocks to-day and
so he gets little book, and when he sees
what he thinks is good thing he pnts IL
down In the little book-a hundred shares
OF this or that stock-just as if he had
bought 1t, just as some people chew camo-
mile flowers when they are irving 70 Leave
on chewing tobacco and at the end Of a a
month he foots up what he would have
won OF lost, and he find he would have
peen very much out of pocket if he had
rreally made the transaction entered in tbe
little book. Now suppose Won do tbat ~ - :ne
your troubles Hang up some little " oh
&C.,. .eSs ~ your chamber and inscribe ON Il
petning that troubles you, and then an ..