Custer chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, Black Hills, D.T. [S.D.]) 1880-1890, 1888-07-21

# now only with great effort that you
keep away from irritability and sharp re
tort. Difficulties of respiration, Of di'
g%cs.ion, Of ~locomotion. make up the
great obstacle in your life. and YOU tug
and sweat along the pathway and wonder
when the exhaustion will end. My friends,
the
BRIGHTEST CROWNS
in heaven Viii not be given to those who,
in stirrups, dashed 10 the cavalry charge,
while the general applauccd and the
sound Of clashing sabrcs rang Though
the land. but the brightest crowns in
heaven, ! believe, will be given to those
who trudgcd on amid chronic ailments
which unnervcd their strength, yet all
the time maintaining their faith in God.
II IS comparatively easy TO fight in a regi-
ment of 4 thousand men, charging up the
parapets TO the sound of martial music,
but IT IS not SO easy to endure when no
one bat the nurse and the doctor are the
witnesses Of the Christian fortitudc. Be
sides that, you never had any pains worse
than Christs The ~sharpnesscs that stung
through His brain, through His hands,
through His feet, through Ills heart, were
as great as yours, certainly. He was as
sick and rs weary. Not II nerve, or mus
Gle. or ligament cscipcd. All the pangs
of all the nations Of az the ages com
pressed into one sour cup. He took III"
vinegar.
There is also the rnc Of poverty.
Your income does not meet your CrigC.
ingS, and that always gives an honestmar
anxiety. There is no sign OF dcsti'rt'cr
about you-pieasant appearance 1rd a
cheerful home for you; but Coo or '
knows what "A time you have had 10 n&h-
age your private finances. just AZ the
bills run up the wages seem 10 run down.
But YOU are not the only One VINO has
not been paid for hard work. The great
Wilkie sold his celebrated piece, The
Blind Fiddler, for fifty g%uincas, although
afterwards il brought lis thousands. The
world hangs in admiration over The sketch
Of GainsDorough, yet that very sketch
hung for years IN the shop window be
cause there was not any purchaser.
OLIVER GOLDSMITH
sold his Vicar of Wakefield" for a few
pounds, in order to keep The bailiti out of
the door, and the vast majority of men
in all occupations and professions are not
fully paid for their work. You may say
nothing, but life to you is a hard push,
and when YOU sit down with Your wife
and talk over the expenses, you both rise
up discouraged. You abridge here, and
you abridgesthere, and you gctthings snug
for smooth sailiugs, and 10! suddenly
there is "A large doctors bill to pay, or
YOU have lost your pocket book, or some
creditor has failed, and You are thrown
"a beam end. Well, brother, YOU are in
glorious company. Christ owned not
the house in which He STOPPED, or the
colt on which He rode. or the boat in
which he sailed. lie lived in a borrowed
house; He was buried in a borrowed
grave. Exposed 10 all kinds Of weather,
and He had only one suit Of clothes. he
brcakfasted IN the morning, and 40 n
could possibly tell whore He could get
anything to cat before night. He would
have been pronounced a financial failure.
He had to perform a miracle 20 get
money to pay tax bill. Not a dollar
did He own. PriyatiOn Of dOInesticity;
priyauon OF nutritious food; privation Of
"A comfortable couch on which to sleep;
privation OF all worldly resources. The
kings Of the earth had chased chalices
out Of w n TO drink; but Christ had
nothing tAt a plain cup set before Him,
and it was very sharp, and il was very
sour. He took the vinegar.
AFFLICTION EY DEATH.
There also is the sourncss of bcreayc-
ment. There were years that passed
along before your family circle was in
vadcd by death; but the moment the
charmed circle was broken. everything
seemed TO dissolve. Hardly have YOU put
the black apparel in tho wardrobe, before
YOU have again to take il out. Grcat and
rapid chages in your family record. You
rot the house and r~ejoiccd in il, but the
charm was gone as SOOn as the Grape
hung on the door bell. The one upon
whom you most depended was taken
away from Won. \ cold marble slab lies
on you heart today. once, IS the chill
dren romped through the house, you put
Your hand over your aching head,
and said; oh, f | could only have it
still" Oh, it is too still now. You lost
your patience when the toys, and the
strings, and the shells were left amid
floor: but, oh, YOU would bc willing to
have the trinkets scattered all over the
ioor again. if they were scattered by the
s2Ilc hands. With what a ruthless
pl3ughsharc bereavement rips up the
heart. But Jesus knows all about that.
You cannot tell Him anything new in re-
gard to bereavement. lie had only a
few friends, and when He lost one it
brought tears to His eyes. Lazarus had
often entertained Him at his house. Now
Lazarus is dead and buried, and Chris,
breaks down with emOtion-the convul-
sion Of grief shuddering through all the
agee of bereavement. Christ knows what
il is TO 90 through the house missing a
familiar inmate. Christ knows what it is
to see an unoccupied place at the table.
Were there no tour of thcm-Mary, and
Martha, and Christ, and Lazarus? Four
Of them. But where is Lazarus? Lonely
and afflicted Christ. His great loving eyes
flied with tears, which drop from eye to
cheek, and from cheek TO beard, and
from beard TO robe. and from robe 10
floor. Oh, yes, yes, He knows all about
the loneliness and the heartbreak. He
took the vinegar!
TElE ORThL AGONY.
Thcr there ie the sourness Of the death
hour. Whatever else We may escape.
that acid sponge will be pressed TO our
lips. sometimes have a curiosity TO
know how | wall behave when | come 10
die. Whether | will be calm orex Il
whether | will be :lleG with reminis
ccnce or with anticipation. | capnot say