The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1882-07-06
ALL is VANITY.
Things Not a Permanent
Joy.
When the Desired Object is Attained and
the Cup Running Over, the Soul is
Still Dissatisfied.
IT. Dewitt Talmage.l
SUBJECT: "THE vANITIEs." {"


the preacher; all is vanity" Fec. xii, 8.
| When book is placed in your hands
the first question you ask is "WhO wrote
| it?" Not ali political astuteness and
| classic grace and unparalleled satire of
| JuniuS' letters can satisfy you because
you do not know who Junius was
whether SOhn Horne, TOOke or Bishop
Butler, or Edmund Burke. Mightier
| than a book always is the man who
wrote the book. Now. who is the author
of this text? King Solomon. 1t seemed
as If the world exhausted itself on that
man. 1t wOve its brightest flowers into
| his garland. 1t set its richest gems in
his cOrOnet. 1t pressed the rarest wine
to his lip. 1t rObed him in the purest
purple and embroidery. 1t cheeTed him
with the sweetest music in that land
| of haTps. 1t greeted him with the
| gladdest laughter that ever leaped from
mirth's lip. 1t sprinkled his cheek
with spray from the brightest fountains.
| Royalty had no dominion, wealth no
| luxury, gold no glitter, flowers no
| sweetness, sound no melody, light no
radiance, upholstery no gOrgeOusness,
waters no CLEAN, birds no plumage,
| prancing cOursers no mettle, architect
ure grandeur, but it was all his. Across
the thick grass of the lawn, fragrant
with tufts of campfire from En-gedi,
| fell the long shadows of trees brought
| from Eastern forests. Fish-pOOls fed
| from artificial channels that brought
| the stream from hills far away, were
| perpetually ruffled with fins and golden
| scales shot from water-caVe to water
| cave, with endless dive and swirl, at
tracting the gaze of foreign pOtentates.
| Birds that had been brought from for
eign ayiary glanced and fluttered among
the foliage, and called to their mates
| far beyond the sea. From the royal
stables there came up the neighing of
| twelve thousand horses standing in
| blankets of Tyrian purple, chewing
their bits over trOughs of gold, waiting
for the Kings order to be brought out
in front of the palace, when the official
| dignitaries would leap into the saddle
| for some grand parade, or harnessed to
some of the fourteen hundred chariOts
of the King. The fiery chargers. with
| flaming name and throbbing nOstrils,
would make the earth jar with the
tramp of ,hOOfs and the thunder of
wheels, while within or without the pal
ace you could not think of single lux
ury that could be added, or of single
| SplendOT that could be kindled. Down
on the banks of the sea the dry-dncks of
| EZerOn-geber rang with the hammers
of the shipwrights, who were construct
| ing larger vessels for a still wider COM
meTce, for all lands and climt s
| were to be robbed to make up SOlOmOn's
| glory. No rest till his keels shall have
| cut every sea, his aXmen hew every for
| est, his archers strike every rare wing,
his fishermen whip every stream, his
| merchants trade in every bazaar, his
name be hOnOred by every tribe, and
royalty shall have no dominion, wealth
no luxury, gold no glitter, song no mel
| Ody, light no radiance, waters no gleam,
birds no plumage, prancing cOurseTs no
mettle, upholstery no gOrgeOusness,
architecture no grandeur, but it was all
his. Well you say, "if there is any
man happy, he ought to be-" But hear
him coming out through the palace,
| and sea his robes actually incrusted
with jewels as he stands in the front
and looks out upon the vast domain.
What does he sayP King Solomon,
great is your dominion, great is your
honor, great is your jOyP No. While
standing there amid all that splendOr
the tears start, and his heart breaks and
| he eXclaimS: "Vanities of Yanities; all
is vanity" What Solomon not happy
yet? No, not happy.
learn from this subject in the first
place, that official position will never
| give solace to a mans soul. l know
there shave been very happy men in
| high positions, such as WilberfOrce, as
/ Theodore Freylinghaueen, as Governor
Briggs, as Prince Albert. But the joy
came not from their elevated positions;
| it came from the Lord God whom they
| tried to serve. This man Solomon was
King Thirty-fiYe years. All the pleasure
| that comes from palatial residences,
| from the fattery of foreign diplomat
| lists, from universal sycOphanCy gath
| cred around him. For long while his
throne stood firm and the people were
loyal, and yet hear his awful sigh of
disheartenment in the words of the text!
How many people in all ages have made
the same experiment with the same
| failurel How often you see people who
think, 'if could only get into this or
that pOsitiOn-if l could be a Mayor, or
a Governor, or Senator, or a Presi
dent-1 should be perfectly happyP
And they have gone on climbing from
one position to another, never finding
the solace they anticipated. Ask the
men who have gone through tie pOliti-
cal life of the last forty years, in their
old days, what they think of the hOnOrs
of this world, and sshey will tell you:
Ashesl ashes! An old man told me some
time time ago that he called at the
White House just before the expiration
of the second term of President Jack
son. He sent message in. The Presi-
dent came not. He sent a second time
and third time. After a while the
PRESIDENT came out IN great lndlgna-
tion and said: Gentlemen, people en-
Wy me in this White House, and they
long to get here; but tell you, at the
end of the second term am glad to get
out Of it, for it is perfect hell" The
hOnOrs and emOluments of this world
bring so many cares with them that
they bring also torture and disquietude.
Pharaoh sat on one of the highest earth
ly eminences, yet he is miserable be-
cause there are some people in his
realm that do not want any longer to
make bricks. The head Of Edward /.
aches under his crown because the peo-
pie will not pay the taxes, and Llewel-
lyn, Prince of Wales, will not do him
homage, and Wallace will be a hero.
Frederick William ILL.,, of Prussia, is
miserable because France wants to take
the Prussian Provinces. The world is
not large enough for Louis XIV. and
William III. The ghastliest suffering,
| the most shrivelling fear, the most