The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1879-12-25

he can not get ont OF town duflnR lle
week. He stays in town one SuDl
goes into some church to get ChrtSc
consolasion when, what is his amaze
ment to find that the very man who pas
ses the poor box in the church is the one
who relieved him of his money! But
never mind, the deacon bss his black
coat on now. He looks solemn, and
goes home talking about the "blesse d
sermon" If the wheat in the churches
should be put into hopper, the first
turn of the crank would make the chatf
fly, tell you. Some of these men are
great sticklers for gospel preaching; aud,
they say, you must stand there in band
and surplice and gowns, and preach
preach like an angel-and we will stand
out here and attend to business. Don't
mix things, don't get religion and bust
ness in the same bucket. You attend to
your business and we will attend to our
business" They do not know that God
has seen every cheat they have practic
ed in the last six years; that He can see
through the iron walls OF their fire proof
safes; that He has counted every hishon-
est greenback they have in their pock'
cts, and that a day of judgment will
come. These inconsistent Christian
men will sit on the Sabbath, right in the
house of God, singing at the close of the
service, "Rock of ages cleft for me, )" and
then, when the benediction is pronounc-
ed, shut the pew door and say, as they
20 out, "Good-by, religion, I'll be back
next Sunday"
think that the church of God and
the Sabbath day are only an armory
where we are to get weapons. When
war comes, If man wants to fight for
his country, he does not go to Troy or to
Springfield to do battling, but he goes
there for swords and muskets. | look
upon the church of Christ and the Sab.
bath day as oply the place and time
where and when we are to get armed
for Christian conflict; but the battle field
is in the world, on Monday, Tuesday,
Wednesday, Thursday Friday and Sat
urday. "St. Martin's," and "Lennox," /"
and "0ld Hundred" do not amount to
anything, unless they sing all the week.
A sermon is useless unless we can take
it with us behind the plow, and the
counter. The Sabbath day is worthless
if it lasts only twenty-four hours.
There are many Christians who say:
eve are willing to serve God, but we do
not want to do it in these spheres about
which we are talking; it seems 50 insip'
id and monotonous. If we had some
great Ioccason; if we had lived in the
time 6f Luther; if we had been PauPs
travelling com panion; if we could serve
God on great scale, we would do it, but
We can't do it in this every day life" l
admit that great deal Of the romance
and knight-errantry of life has disap-
peared before the advance of this prac-
tical age. The ancient temples of Rou-
en- have been changed into storehouses
and smithies; the residences of princes
and poets have been turned into brokers
shops the classic mansion of Ashland
has been cut up into walking sticks; the
groves where the poets said the gods liv.
ed have been carted out for fre'wood;
the names that we used to read about
have disappeared before the emigranFs
ak and the trappers gun, and Vernon
ter can go over the Allegheny and Rocky
mountains, and never see an aread or a
sylph, and that man who is waiting for
a life bewitched of wonders will never
find it. There is, however, a field for
endurance and great achievement, but it
is in every day there are Alps to scale,
there are Tablespoons to swim, there are
fires to brave; but they are all around us
now. This is the hardest kind of mar
tyrdom to bear. 1t took grace to lead
Latimer and Ridley through the fire tri
umphantly, when their armed enemies
and their friends were looking on; but it
requires more grace now to bring men
through persecution when nobody is
looking on. could show you in this
city woman who has had rheumatism
for twenty years, who has endured more
suffering, and exhausted more grace
than would have made twenty martyrs
pass triumphantly through the fire, II
you are not faithful in an Insignificant
position in life, you would not be faith.
full in a grand mission. If you can not
stand the bite of midge, how could you
endure the breath of basilisk7
Do not think that any work that God
gives you to do in the world is on too
small a scale for you to do. The whole
universe is not ashamed to take care Of
one little daisy. / say, "What are you
doing down here in the grass, you poor
little daisy2 Are you not afraid nightsP
You will be neglected. You will die OF
thirst" "No," says a star, "I'll watch
over it tonight" mo" says the cloud,
"Ill give it drink" Then see the pul.
leys going, and the clouds are drawing
water, and say, "What are you doing
down there in the clouds2" and they re-
ply, ave are giving drink to that daisy"
Then the wind rises and comes bending
down the wheat, and sounding its song
through the forest, and 1 cry, "Whither
away on such swift wing, ., wind2" and
it replies, "We are going to cool the cheek
of that daisy" And then bow down
and say, "Will God take care of the
grass of the feld2" and the flower at my
foot responds, eyes, He clothes the lilies
of the field, and never has forgotten me,
poor, little daisy" Oh, when see the
great heavens bending themselves to
what seems irsignifcant ministration;
when / find out that God does not forget
any blossom Of the spring, or any snow
fake of the winter, l come to the con.
clusion that we can afford to attend to
the minute things in life, and that what
we do we ought to do we'll, since there
is as much perfection in the construction
OF spiders eye, as in the conformation
of flaming galaxies. Plato had fable
which have now nearly forgotten, bul
it ran something like this: He said that
spirits Of the other world came back to
this world to find body and sphere "a
work in. One spirit came back and took
the body Of King, and did his work
Another spirit came and took the body
ofa poet, and did his work. After while
Ulysses came, and he said, "Why, all
the fine bodies are taken, and all the
fine work is taken; there is nothing left
for me-" and some one replied: "Ah
the best one has been left for you
Ulysses said. whats that?" and the re