St. Landry democrat., 1886-05-29

l
upon it and had actually captured it, their
excitement was like that of a falconer who
has successfully fung his first hawk. In
the morning of their life, oh how they
devoured the prev!
| But there came better time to their
soul. They found out that an immortal
nature can not live on government bonds.
They took up Northern Pacific bond nd
there was hole in it through which they
could look into the uncertainty of all
earthly treasures. They saw some Ralston,
| living at the rate of $25, 900 a month, leap
| ing from San Francisco wharf because
he could not continue to live at the same
ratio. They saw the wien and paralytic
bankers who had changed their souls into
molten gold stamped with the image of
the earth, earthly. They saw some great
souls by avarice turned into homunculi,
and they said to themselves: II will seek
after higher treasure" From that time
they did not care whether they walked or
rode if Christ walked with them; nor
whether they lived in mansion or a hut
| il they dwelt under the shadow of the AL
mighty; nor whether they were robed in
French broadcloth or in homespun IF they
| had the robe of the Saviour's righteous
| ness; nor whether they were sandaled with
morocco or calfskin if they were washed
| with the preparation of the gospel. Now
| you see peace on their countenance. Now
| that man saws.
"What fool was to be enchanted with
| this world! Why, have more satisfac-
| tion in five minutes in the service of God
| than had in all the first years of my life
while was gain getting. like this even
| ing of my day a great deal better than I
did the morning. In the morning I
greedily devoured the prey; but now it is
evening, and am gloriously dividing the
| SPOIL"
My friends, this world Is poor thing 10
hunt. 1t is healthful to go out in the woods
and hunt. 1t rekindles the luster of the
eye. 1t strikes the brown of the autumnal
leaf into the cheek. 1t gives to the
rheumatic limbs a strength to leap like the
roe. Christopher North's pet gun, the
muckle -mouthed Meg, going off in the
summer in the forests, had its echo
in the winter time in the eloquence that
rang through the university hall of Edin-
burg. It is healthy to go hunting in the
field: but tell you that it is belittling and
bedwarfing and belaming for man to
hunt this world. The hammer comes down
| on the gun cap and the barrel explodes
and kills you instead of that which you
are pursuing. When you turn out to hunt
the world. the world turns out to hunt
you; and as many a sportsman aiming his
gun at a panther's heart has gone down
under the striped claws, so while you have
been attempting to devour this world, the
world has been devouring you. So it was
with Lord Byron. So it was with Cole
ridge So it was with Catherine of Rus
STA. Henry II. went out hunting for this
world and it's lances stuck through his
heart. Francis |. aimed at the world, but
the assassin's dagger put an end to his
ambition and his life with one stroke.
Mary, Queen of Scots, wrote on the win
dow of her caste:
From the top of all my trust
Mishap hath laid me in the dust.
The Queen dowager of Navarro was Of
fered for her wedding day a costly and
beautiful pair of gloves, and she put them
on, but they were poisoned gloves and they
took her life. Better bare hand of cold
of ruinous success.
son." says some young man in the au-
dience, II believe what you are preaching.
/ am going to do that very thing. In the
morning of my life 1 am going to devour
the prey, and in the evening shall divide
the spoil Of Christian character. I only
want little while to SOW my wild oats
and then will be good"
Young man, did you ever take the GEN.
sus of all the old people! How many old
people are there in your house? One, two
or none? How many in vast assemblage
like this? Only here and there bald
head, like the patches of snow here and
there in the fields on late April day.
The fact is that the tides Of the years are
so strong that men 60 down under them
before they get to be sixty, before they
get to be fifty. before they get to be forty,
before they get to be thirty; and it. you,
my young brother, resolve now that you
will spend the morning of your days in
devouring the prey, the probability is that
you will never divide the spoil in the eve
ming hour.
He who postpones until old age the reli-
gion of Jesus Christ, postpones it forever
Where are the men who, thirty years ago,
resolved to become Christians in old age,
putting it off certain number of years?
They never got to be old. The railroad
collision or the steamboat explosion or the
slip on the ice or the falling ladder or the
sudden cold put an end to their opportuni
ties. They have never had an opportunity
since and never will have an opportunity
in T1rovy ho Of
against their soul and they threw away
tbs key, and if they could now break jail
and come up shrieking to this audience I
not do think they would take two minutes
to persuade US all to repentance. They
chased the world and they died in the
chase. The wounded tiger turned on them.