News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1886-02-25
slowly and very heavily; and there are the &C.

slowly and very heavily; and there are the &C.
| commodaton trains going on toward destruc-
ton, and they stop very often and let a man get
out when he wants to. But geuteel idleness is
an express train. Satan is the stoker and
Death is the engineer, and though one may
come out in front of it and swing the red flag
of danger: or the lantern of Gods Word, it
makes just one shot into perdition, coming
| down the embankmcnt with shout and wall
and a striek crash crash There are two
cl4sses Of people sure Of destruction: first,
those who have nothing to do; secondly. those
who have something to do but are too lazy or
too proud to do 1t. When your behavior in
the domestic circle becomes a mere matter OF
calculation, when the caress you give is merely
the result of deliberate study of the position
you occupy happiness lies stark dead upon
the hearthstone. When the husbands posi-
! tton as lead of the household Is maintained
by loudness of voice, by strength of arm, by
fire of temper, the republic of domestic bliss
has become despotism that neither God nor
man will abide. Oh, ye who at the altar
promised to love each other, how dare You
commit perjury? Let no shadow of suspicion
come on your affection. 1t is easier to kill
that flower than to let it live again. The
blast from he'll that puts out that light leaves
you in the blackness of darkness forever.
Here are man and wife; they agree in moth
Ing else hut they agree they will have home.
lAcy VIII nave 2 splendid house, and they
think that if they have 3 house they wi have
q home. Architects make the plan and the
mechanics execute; the house to cost 800, 900.
1t is done. The carpets are spread, lights are
hoisted, curtains are hung, cards of invitation
sent out. The horses in gold plated harness
prance at the gate; guests come in and take
tn lr places; the flutes sound; the dancers go
up and down; and with one grand whrl the
wealth and the fashion and the mirth of the
great town wheel amidst the pictured walls
Ha this is happiness. Float it on the smok-
ing v1ands; sound it in the music; whirl it in
the dance; cast it on the snow Of sculpture;
sound it up the brilliant stairway; flash it in
chandeliers ! Happiness, indeed Let US
build on the centre of the parlor floor a
throne to Happiness; let all the guests,
when they come in, bring their flowers
and pearls and diamonds and throw them on
this pyramid, and let it be a throne; and then
let Happiness, the queen, mount the throne
and we will stand around, and all chalices
lifted, we will say, Drink! Oh, queen, live
forever But the guests depart, the flutes
are breathless, the last clash of the impatient
hoofs are heard in the distance, and the twain
of the household come back to see the Queen
OF Happiness on the throne amidst the parlor
floor. But alas as they come back the flow
ers have faded, the sweet odors have become
the smell of q chsrnel-house, and instead of
the Queen Of Happiness there sits there the
gaunt form of Anguish, with bitten lip and
sunken eye and ashes in her hair. The romp
of the dancers who have left seems Tumbling
yet like jarring thunders that quake the floor
and rattle the glasses of the feast rim to rim.
The spilled wine on the floor turns into blood.
The wreaths of plush have become wrangling
reptiles. Terrors catch tangled in the canopy
that overhangs the couch. A strong gust OF
wind comes through the hall and the drawing
room and the becdhamber, in which all the
lights go out. And from the lips Of the wine
beakers come the words, Happiness is not in
us!' and the arches respond, 1T is not in
usn Aud the silenced instruments of music,
thI1O1roa1 hy iTxyiS Ind Hon
piuess is not in u.s.! And the frozen lips of
Anguish break open, and, seated on the throne
of wil;ed flowers, she strikes her bony hands
together and groans, 1T is not in mel
That very night clerk with thousand dol
lars q year-only one thousand-goes to his
home, set up three months ago, just after the
marriage day. Love meets him at the door
love sits with him at the table love talks over
the work Of the days love takes down the
Bible, and reads Of Him who came our souls
to save and they kneel, and while they are
knceling--right in that plain room, on that
plain carpet-the angels of God build a
throne, not out of flowers that perish and
fade away, but of garlands of heaven, wreath
on top OF wreath, amaranth on amar-
anth until the throne is done. Then
the harps of God sounded, and suddenly
there appeared one who mounted the
throne, with eye so bright and brow so fair
that the twain knew it was Christian Love.
And they knelt at the throne, and putting one
hand on each head, she blessed them and said,
Happiness is with theel" And that throne OF
celestial bloom withered not with the passing
years and the queen left not the throne till
one day the married pair felt stricken in years
felt themselves called away, and they knew
not which way to go, and the queen bounded
from the throne and said: "FOllow me, and
will show you the way up to the realm of ever
lasting love-" And so they went up to sing
songs OF love and walk on pavements of love,
and to live together in mansions OF love, and
to rejoice forever in the truth that God is
love,