The Carbon advocate. [volume] (Lehighton, Pa.) 1872-1924, 1879-03-22
Written for the CARBON ADvocATE.l
THE VOYAGE CT LIFE.
BY REV. ISAAC W. YEAKEL.

The course of human life, from the era
die to the grave, may be compared tc the
voyage of good ship that sails from port
to port, from shore to shore, returning again
laden with freight or like one that has
spaung leak, sunk in mid ocean or sailed
against a rock wrecked, never reaching its
destination, When the vessel leaves the
peaceful haven and sails upon the broad,
deep and restless sea, it has to encounter
adverse winds and tide, it has to force its
way through storm and threatening bill
lows. Such is the struggle ofthe young man
who starts out in life il he wishes to be
successful in his career he must 6ght his
way through difficulties aud many trials.
This is a principal that spans mans life
even from the early dawn of his existence
until he drops his mortal coil. Many a ship
that sails out from the harbor staunch and
strong with rich cargo and fair prospects,
never reaches its destination, but goes down
in storm and darkness to wreck and ruin.
Is this not applicable to the cases of hun
dreds, yea thousands of young men who be-
gin with bright prospects and strong deter
mination to succeed in life? They have the
endowments requisite for making life pros
porous voyage, but bad company, or strong
drink hauls them headlong into destruction.
They yield to the trials and temptations of
life, find their way to gambling houses and
drinking dens, become intemperate and dis
honorable, and viciously waste their talents,
and at last become disgrace to society.
All ,heir bright hopes and resolutions are
blasted, aud for some perhaps forever. Their
good character is gone beyond recovery.
Some aie shipwreckcd before they reach the
mid-ocean of life; Others have breasted man
/ fully and successfully the ever heaving and
1 swelling billows of life, until the promised
/ peaceful harbor was in sight. First, then,
an unanticipated wave rolled upon them,
and with a loud crash the ship struck the
rock, and sank with all the valuable
cargo.
Oh, how painful it must be for parents af
ter they have done every thing in their pow
er to elevate and save such brightaud prom
ising sons casting of all restraint ana sink
ing into crime and misery and ruin to sail
over the rough ocean of life none need TO
think that his ship is always carried ON the
bosom of the still water, but may expect
that his vessel must often plunge from the
crest Of tall wave into the deep, and from
thence to Le carried out and on by the pro-
vidential breeze every human being must
fight his way through difficulties and many
great trials. This is the ordination OF heaven,
"ln the sweat ofthe lace shalt thou eat bread
till thou return unto the ground" This is
not only true in spiritual but, alas, in
natural sense. Mans sphere for work is al
most unlimited cast your eyes heavenward
and in the starry region is work for man, yea
in the ocean, valleys, hills and in the noun
tans, man is created to work and only such
who have no respect for themselves nor for
society can be droncs. Man endowed with
such noble lucultiesl How vast are the
powers Of the mind, power of conception
the capacities of memory, the creation Of
imagination-the calculation and deductions
of reasons. How comprehensive its graspl
Man is capable to suDdue the mighty forces
| of nature and compel them to subserve his
purpose he is to boil the water, invent the
| engine, traverse continents, and cross the
ocean. He is IN stretch the wire and whis-
pen his secrets around the world. But to
accomplish this calls forth the active ener-
gies of man. No statesman, worrior, poet,
orator, or philosopher has ever written his
name high upon the columns of fame, with
out first measuring his arms in the conflict
with his disputants. Some of the greatest
men the world ever produced were compell-
| ed to battle with a number of opposilions
and difficulties, but by their indomitable
energy and Unsuitable aspiration they were
enabled To accomplish the work devoving
upon them, and which the age in which
they lived and their nation demanded.
Some have had to struggle with poverty
and misfortune; at the start have been era
died in want, but with maturing years found
that success lay in the fields Of toll. There
must be a development of the mental pow
ers in order to accomplish the design of
anybody. SIR Isaac Newton, tho English
philosopher, was compelled to learn the
multiplication table as any other schoolboy.
Mind, when brought into mortal existence,
lies with all its powers, in the man, in em-
bryo. The organism for lis future develop
ment is there; aud in order that man may
develop its power, the eternal God has sur
rounded him with thousands Of natural
objects to aid in maturing them. There is
no error more lallacious than that great
men are born great, or are made 50 by mere
chance, aud not by labor.
In conclusion, let US all, as voyagcrs, go
forth with true, brave hearts To do the work
for life, To day we may sail in peaceful
waters Tomorrow, it may be, that we
have to struggle with the storm and the
crashing bilows. Let us not sail without
the GRLAT CAPTAIN OF OUR SALyAuoS..