The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1881-01-13
miscellaneous.
REV. 7. DEWITT TALMAGE.
LIFE--wHAT 1T IS AND HOW TO
ENJOY 1T.
Il Is MOI the Foam of the Ale Cup Nor the
Dregs of the Wine Glass'--MeaSnred Dy
Moral and Spiritual Development IL BE-
comes Season OF Happiness.
suRJECT-"YoUR AGE"

the dying year. Under the twelfth stroke
of the organ hammer of the city clock
the patriarch fell dead, and the stars of
the night were the funeral torches. 1t
is most fortunate that on this road of life
there are so many milestones, on which
we can read just how fast we are going
toward the journeys end. feel that it
is not an inappropriate question to ask
this evening, as Pharaoh asked of Ja,,
cob, the patriarch, "How old art thouT
People who are truthful on every other
subject, lie about their ages, so that do
not solicit from you literal response to
the question l have asked. l would put
no one under temptation; l simply want
this evening TO see by what route we are
measuring our earthly existence. There
is a right and wrong way Of measuring
a door, or a tower, or wall, or aa arch
and 80 there is a right and a wrong way
of measuring our earthly existence. 1t
is with reference to this higher meaning
I confront you with the stupendous ques'
ton of the text "How old art tEou?"
There are many who measure their life
by mere worldly qualification. When
Lord Dundas was wished "a Happy
New Year." he said; "It will have to be
happier than the past, for l hadn't one
happy moment in all the past year"
But that has not been the Experience oi
most of us. We have found tnat, though
the world is blighed with sin, it is very
bright and beautiful world to reside in,
We have had joys innumerable. There
is no hostility between the Gospel and
the merrimepts and festivities of life,
do not think we fully enough appreCi,
ate the worldly pleasures God has given
US. When you recount your epjoyments
you do not 60 far enough back. Were
you never a boy? Were you never a
girl2 Between those times and this how
many mercies, how many kindnes es the
Lord has bestowed upon youl If there
is any has right to the erjoyments Of
the world it is the Christian, for God
has given him lease to everything, in
the promise: "All are yours" But tell
you, when man measures his life on
earth by mere worldly qualification, he
is most unWise man. Our life is not to
to be game of chess; nor a dance in
lighted hall to quick music; nor the
froth of an ale pitcher; nor the sCttIings
of wine cup; nor banquet with intox-
iCation and registering, 1t is the fret
step on ladder that mounts into the
skies, or that plunges into a horrible pit,
So that in this world we are only keying
up the harp Of eternal rapture, or fOrg.
ing the chain of an eternal bondage.
Standing here tonight, with life on the
one side, and death on the othtI; song
on one side and groaniug on the other
/ put to you the question Of the text
"How old art thou?' Whittier tending?
Again. There are many who mea. ure
their life On earth by their sorrows and
misfortune Through a great many Of
your lives the plowshare has gone very
deep, turning up terrible furrow. You
have been betrayed and misrepresented
and abused by impertilence and mis-
fortune The brightest light must have
its shadows, and the smoothest path its
thorns. No escape from trouble ofsome
kind. Pope, applauded of all the world,
has stcop in his shoulders tnat annoy9
him 30 much he has tunnel dug, so he
may 60 unobserved from grotto to gar.
den. And yet it is unfair to measu e a
mans life by his misfortunes, because,
where there is one stalk of nightshade
there are fifty marigolds and harebells;
where there is one cloud thunder Cbarg
ed, there are hundreds that stray across
the heavens, the glory of land and sky
sleep in their bosom. Because death
came and took your child away did you
Immediately forget all The FIVE years in
which she came every night for kiss,
all the tones of your heart pealing forth
at the sound of her voice or the soft
touch of her handP Because in some
financial euroclydon your fortune went
into the breakers, did you forget all the
years the lu1uries and extraVagaLCes of
life showered on your pathway? Alas,
that is an unwise, ungrateful, unphil-
osophiC man, and most of all, an un.
christian man, who measures bis life on
earth by groans and tears and dyspeptic
fits and abuse and sCorn and terror and
neuralgia thrust. Once more, in view of
the past, and contemplating the future,
in the language of the text l ask you
"How old art thouP"
Again. l remark there are many peo.
pie who measure their life on earth by
the amount of money they have accu
mulated. They say "The year 1927 or
1887 or l847 was wasted" Why? Made
no money. Now, it is all cant and in.
sincerity to ak against money as though
it had no value. 1t is refinement and
education and ten thousand blessed sur.
roundings. 1t is the means of doing a
vast amount of good in this world. 1t
is simply hypocrisy, this TRADE in pulpit
and lecture room against money, as If it
had no uses. But while all this is true,
he who uses or thinks Of money as any.
thing but means to an end, will find out
his mistake when The glittering treae-
ures slip from his nervous grasp, and he
goes out of this world without shilling
of money or certificate of stock. He
might better have been the Christian
porter that opened his gate, or the be-
grimed workman who last night heaved
the coal into his cellar. Bonds and mort.
cages have their uses, but they make
poor yardstick with which to measure
life. aThey that boast themselves in
their wealth, and trust in the multitude
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