The Brookhaven leader., 1888-02-09

ioned ottoman, and groaning with aches
innumerabe. will be the votarY OF luxuri-
Gus living, not half so happy as his gr oom
or coal-heaver. Wrong fashion is the
worlds undertaken, and drives thousands
OF hearses to Greenwood, and Laurel Hill,
and Mount Auburn.
But, worse than that, this folly Is an in
teIIe ctual depletion. This endless study
Of proprietes and etiquette, patterns and
styles, Is bedwar1ng to the intellect.
never knew a woman or . man Of extreme
fashion that knew much. How belittling
the study Of the cut of a coat or the tie Of
q cravat, OF the wrinkle in q sleeve, or the
color Of ribbon! How they are worried
if something gets united or hangs awry.
or is not nicely adjustedl With a mind
canable Of measuring the height and depth
4 great subjects; able to unravel mys-
teries, to walk through the universe, to
soar up in the infnity OF Gods
sttributes-hovering perpetually over
new style Of cloakl l have
known men reckless as to their
character and regarde ess Of interests mo-
mentous and eternal, exasperated by the
shane Of a vest button. What is the mat
ter with that woman wrought mp in to the
agony of desparS Oh, her muR is out of
fashion!
Worse than all, this folly is not salts
fed until it has extirpated every moral
sentiment and blasted the soul. A ward
robe is the rock upon which many soul
has been riven. The excitement OF
luxurious life has been the vortex that has
swallowed up more souls thaA the mSei-
storm of Norway ever destroyed ships.
What room for elevating themes in a
| heart filed with the trivial and unreal?
In the wild tumult of the last day-the
mountains falling, the Heavens flying, tina
thrones uprising, the universe assem-
bling: amid the boom of the last great
| thunder-pea, and under the cracking of
! burning world-what will become Of
the disciple of unholy fashion?
! But watch the career of one thoroughS
artificial. Through Inheritance, or per-
haps his own skill having obtained enough
for purposes of display, he feels himself
/ thoroughly established. He sits aloof
| from the common herd, and looks out Of
| his window upon the Poor man and says:
| "Put that dirty wretch Off nv steps i'm
| mediatelv ~ On Sabbath davs he finds the
! church, but mourns the fact that he must
| worship with so many OF the ineleganti
! and saws: "They are perfectly awfu p
! "That man that you put in nv pew had a
! coat on his back that did not cost five dol
lars"
! He struts through life unsvmpatheti
W tn trouble and says: ~ can not ue
] bothered" Is de lighted with some doubt
! full story of Partisan life, but thinks that
there are some very indecent things In
! the Bible. Walks arm and arm with the
successful man of the word, but does not
know his own brother. Loves to be p aised
for his splendid house. and when told
that he looks younger than ten years age
SAYS: "Well, really, do YOU think SOP"
. But the brief strut of his life is about
over Upstairs, he dies. No angel wing
! lowering about him. No Gospel promises
kind ling up the darkness; bu5 exquisite
| embroidery, elegant pict res and bust
! of Shakespeare on the mantle. The pulses
stop. The minister comes in 70 read the
! Resurre ction, that day when the dead
! shall come Up-both he that died on the
! floor and he that expired under princeIy
| upholstery. He is carried out to burial.
| Only a few mourLers, but great array
| of carriages. Not one common man at
the funeral. No befriended orphan tc
weep a tear on his grave. No Child OF
want pressing through the ranks of the
weeping, saying: HE is the last friend
| l have and | must see him."
| What now? He was a great man. Shall
not chariots of salvation come down to
!
| him up to the palace? Shall not the
angels exclaim: "Turn out! A prince is
coming?" Will the bells chime? vii
there be harpers with their harps and
| trumpeters with their trumrets?
Mol mol no! There will be a shuddel,
as though a calamity lad hap eneo,
| Standing on Heavens battlements,
watchman will see something shoot past,
with frey downfall and shrek: swan
dering star-for VIII m is reserved tbs
blackness OF darkness fOreverP'
But sadder yet is the closing of a wora
ans life that has been worshlpfui OF
world iness, all the wealth of lfe-tims's
opportunity wasted. What a tragedy. A
woman on her dying pillow, thinking Of
what she might have done for God and
| humanity. and yet having done nothing.
| Compare Iec demise with thai of a [ar-
ret Newell, going down to peacefully di4
| in the Isle If France reviewing her life
time sacrifices for the redemption of India;
or the last hours of Elizabeth Hervey,
| having exchanged her bright New En-
| gland home for life at Bombay amid
| stolid heathenism, that she m Eht illumns
| il, saving, in her last moments: "If this
| is the dark valley, it has not a dark spot
in it; all is light, lightw or the exit of
Mrs. Lennox, falling under sudden dis
ease at SMYRNA, breath ng out her soul
with the last words: ''Oh, how happyw
or the departure of Mrs. Sarah D. Com
| stock, spending her life for the salvation
| Of Burmah, giving up her children that
they might come home to America to be
educated, and saying as she kissed
| them good bye, never to see them
| again: 40, Jesus, l do this for
Theew or the going of ten thousand
good women, who in less reSounding
spheres have lived not for themselves but
| for God and the alleviatiOn of human suf-
| fering. That was brilliant scene when,
in 1885, in the campaign for the capture Of
Ronda, Queen Elizabeth of Ca tile, on
horseback, side by side with King Ferdi-
nand, rode out to review the troops. As
| she, in bright armor, rode along the lines
! of the Spanish host, and waved her jew
eled hand to the warriors, and ever and
anon uttered words OF cheer to the worn
veterans who, far away from their
homes, were risklng their lives for
the kingdom, it was spectacle
that illumines history. But more glorious
| will be the scene when that consecrated
Christian woman, crowned in Heaven,
shall review the souls that on earth she
clothed, and fed, and medicined, and
evangelical, and then introduced into the
ranks celestial. As on the white horse of
victory, side by side with the King, this
queen unto God forever shall ride past
the lines of those in whose salvation she
bore a part, the scene will surpass any
| thing ever witnessed on earth in the life
| IakI - A De- al orY,fa