The weekly register. [volume] (Point Pleasant, Va. [W. Va.]) 1862-1909, 1875-02-11
ere starlIlhig TON
most astounding SO

ing of the hcadbands, and the exhi-
bitions of universal swagger attract
the attention of the prophet Isaiah,
and he brings his camera to bear up
on the scene, and takes picture for
all the ages. But where is that
scene? Vanished. Where are those
gay streets? Vermin-covered popu-
lation pass through them. Where
are the hands, and the. necks, and
the foreheads, and the shoulders, and
the feet that sported allthat magnif-
cence9 Ashes! Ashes!
Taking my text as starting-point,
this morning 1 come out to talk to
YOU about the God-defying extrava-
gance of modern society. For the
refnements and the elegancies and
adornments of life, cast my vote.
While 1 was thinking over this sub
ject, there was handed into my house
a basket of flowers, paradisiacal in
their beauty. White-calla with a
green background of begonia; hello
tropcs nesting among gcraniums;
sepal, corolla, and perianth showed
the touch of Gods fingers. In the
snow of the camclliaiin the fre-dye
of the rose, in the sky-bluc Of the
English violet, learned that God
loves adornment. He might have
made this earth 50 as to satisfy the
.ggrass,demands of sense.%but left. It
without adornmcnts or attraction.
Instead of the variegated colors of
the seasons, the earth might have
worn a dress of .unchanging dull
brown. The trees might have put
forth their fruit without the prophcsy
of leaf or blossom Niagara might
let down its waters in gradual de-
scent without thunder and winged
spray. But no. Look out, on some
summer morning, after 4 heavy
night-dew, and see whether or not
God loves jewels. Put a snowflake
under a microscope, and see whether
God docs not love exquisite archi-
lecture. He decrced that the breast
plate of the priest in olden time
should have wreath of gold, and
the hem of his garment should be
worked into figures of pomegranate.
WHEN THE WORLD SLEEPS
God blankets 1t with the brilllants
of the night sky, and when it wakes
he washes it in the FURNISHED larer
of the sunrise.
But it is absolutely necessary that
we draw a line between that which
is the lawful use of beautiful adorn-
mcnt and that extravaganza which
is the source of so much crime,
wrctchedness, and abomination in
our day. That is sinful extrava-
gance when YOU go into anything
beyond your means. That which is
right for one may be wrong for an
other. That whichislawful expense
for a queen may be sinful outlay for
a duchess. That which may be &C.
onomy for You with larger income
may be squandering for me with
smaller income. But when men and
women cross over the line which hsep-
arates between what they can pay
for, and still keep a sutliciency to
meet moral obligation on the one
hand, and, on the other hand, that
extravaganza which one'smeans can
not compass, they have passed from
the innocent into the culpable.-
Across that line have gone "a multi
tude that no man can number"
We judge of what We ought to have
by what other people have. II they
have a sumptuous table, and fine
residence, and gay turnout, and ex-
quisite apparel, and brilliant sur
rounding, we must have them, irres-
pective of our capacity to stand the
expense. We throw ourselves down
in despair because other people have
a seal-skin coat, and We have an or
dinary one; because others have dia-
monds, and we have garnets; because
others have Administer, and We have
Brussels; because Others have lambre-
quins, and We have plain curtains
What others have We mean to have
anyhow.
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