The Maryville times. (Maryville, Tenn.) 1884-1944, 1886-06-09
GRUM BlERS.
A Very Common and Highly Repre-
hensible Habit.

hensible Habit.
The Englishman ia said to be a born
grumbler, but in this regard he is not
peculiar. The disposition to grumble
is wide as the world. The Lord Him.
self, with all His wisdom, love and
might, can not please men. If there
is any thing that is absolutely and in
disputably under His control it is the
weather, and yet it is evermore too
hct or too cold, too wet or too dry, to
suit mems varied tastes, if not their
varied needs. Ibid you ever see such
weather. is the peevish and COM
planning question perpetually pro-
pounded.
If harvests are scant, then ''we shall
starve," and if harvests are abundant,
then ''the markets are glutted," and
the poor farmer complains of the unre-
munerative prices. For years we have
been weighted down with plethoric
wealth. and the world has fretted itself
into fever because it knew not where
to bestow its goods.
The poor complain of the slavery of
toll, and the rich of the slavery of care,
I and capital and labor, instead of join
ing hands in sympathetic effort of the
common veal, growl and threaten I'M
til the very existence of society is i'm
periled.
And in the sphere of religion the
Great Teacher represents the race as
like unto children in pet, to whom
their playmates say: 1--WE have piped
unto you and we have not danced; we
have mourned unto you and We have
not lamented. They would neither
play feast nor funeral. John the Bap-
fist came as an ascetic, and men said
that he had devil. Christ sat down at
innocent feasts, and they denounced
Him as glutton and wine-bibber, a
friend of publicans and sinners. So,
to-day, if Christ's followers are grave
and thoughtful, men complain of them
as moody misanthropic; if they are
genial and joyous, they are counted
frivolous. If they visit places of amuse-
ment, the finger of scorn is pointed
at them for seeking enjoyment from
worldly sources. II they avoid such
places they are stigmatzed as bigoted
and narrow-minded. If they do not
indulge in religious discourse, it is af-
tirmed that they surely can not believe
what they profess, or they would more
frequently speak of it; and if they speak
of it, they are accounted as Pharisees,
who will fill the world with offensive
cant.
And so they grumble at the churches
as being aristocratic and exclusive, and
| in the very next breath they grumble
at them for gathering in the riff-ratf,
and giving cOuntenance to men and
women that ought not to be tolerated
in respectable society. The music,
| the preacher, the ordinances
thing relating to the services of religion
is made, in succession, an occasion
Of complaint
The causes of this grumbling dis
position are not far to seek. Some
times it is due to unfortunate training,
as in the case of Charles l.. who, in
pleading for his life. begged the high
court that tried him to bear in mind that
he had bad bringing up. Sometimes
it is owing to an unfortunate temper
ament, which even the grace of God
can hardly cure; sometimes to disap-
pointments in life which have soured a
disposition originally generous and
genial; sometimes to consummate con.
| ceit, for the man who rates himself al
a hundred, while his proper valuation
is not above ten, is sure to suffer from
a want of appreciation. and will
grumble accordingly. But above al
things else, consciousness of not liv
ing right will turn the milk of human
kindness into gall, and will predispost
man to continually complain Of every
thing on earth and in Heaven.-P S
Henson, D. D., in Pulpit Treasury.