The Bottineau pioneer. (Bottineau, N.D.) 1885-1895, 1888-10-18

out from the sepulchres of kings and lords
and mighty men. O, the chagrin Of those
men if they had ever known that in the after
ages of the world they would have been called
Egyptian guano.
Ofhow much worth now is the crown Of
Cesar? Who bids it7 Who cares now any.
thing about the Amphictyonic council or the
laws of Lycurgus? Who trembles now be-
cause Xerxes crossed the Hellespont on a
bridge of boats? Who fears because Nebu-
chadnezzar thundered at the gates of Jeru-
salem2 Who cares now whether or not Gle
opatra marries Antony? Who crouches be-
fore Ferdinand, or Boniface, or Alaric? Can
Cromwell dissolve the English parliament
now? Is William, Prince Of Orange, king OF
the Netherlands? No; mol However much
Elizabeth may love the Russian crown she
must pass it to Peter, and Peter to Cathe-
rine, and Catherine to Paul, and Paul to
Alexander, and Alexander to Nicholas.
Leopold puts the German sceptre into the
hand of Joseph, and Philip comes down of
the Spanish throne to let Ferdinand go on.
House of Aragon, house of H%apsburg. house
of Stuart, house Of Bourbon, quarrelling
about everything else, but agreeing in this:
THE fashion of this world passeth away"
But have all these dignitaries gone? Can
they not be called back? l have been in as-
semblages where I have heard the roll called,
and many distinguished men nave answered.
i'll should call the roll today of some of
those mighty ones who have gone, l wonder
If they would not answer, l will call the roll
Of the kings first: Alfred the Greatl William
the Conquererl Frederick Ill Louis XVI! No
answer. l will coll the roll of the poets:
Robert Southey! Thomas Campbell John
Keatsl George Crabbe! Robert Burnsl No an
swer. Icall the roll ofartists: Michael Angelol
Paul Veronesel William Turnerl Christopher
Wrenl No answer Eyes closed. Ears deaf.
Lips silent Hands pulsed. Sceptre, pencil,
non au,0rd oil 1nun fOroyor WIN cho,,1I
we struggle for such baubles?
Another reason why we should culture this
spirit Of cheerfulness is the fact that God
knows what is best for His creatures. You
know what is good for you child. Hethinks
you are not so liberal as you ought to be.
over the whole field, and you, loving that
child, do what in your deliberate Judgment is
best for him. Now, Godis the best offathers.
Sometimes His children think that he is hard
on them and that He is not as liberal with
them as He might be-. But children do not
know as much as a father I can tell you why
you ore not a~ffiuent, and why you have not
cannotstand the temptation. Ifyour path had
been smooth, you would have depended upon
your W surefOotedness; but God roughened
that path, SO you have to take hold of His
hand. If the weather had been mild you
would nave loitered along the water courses:
u uU bHe HTbC HOWL Vi UNe 6UOFm
you quickened your pace ~heavenward,
and wrapped around you the
warm robe of a Saviour's right
eousness. What nave 1 done?" says
the wheatsheaf to the farmer, "what have l
done that you beat me SO hard with your
fail?" The farmer makes no answer, but the
rake takes off the straw, and the mill blows
the chaff to the wind, and the golden grain
falls down at the foot of the windmill. After
a while, the straw looking down from NOW
the golden grain banked up Oh either
side of the floor understands why the farmer
beat the wheatsheaf with the fail.
Who are those before the throne? The On
great tribulation, had their robes washed and
made white in the blood of the Lamb"
Would God that we could understand that
our trial are the very best thing for us. If
we had an appreciation of that truth, then we
should know why it was that John Noyra,
the martyr, in the very midst of the flame,
reached down and picked up one of the fag-
and said: blessed be God for the time when
I was born for this preferment." They who
suffer with Him on earth shall be glorifed
with Him in heaven. Be content, then, with
such things as you have.
Another consideration leading us to the
spirit of the text is the assurance that the
Lord will provide somehow. Will He who
holds the water in the hollow of His hand,
allow His children to die of thirst? Will He
who owns the cattle on a thousand hills, and
all the earth's luxuriance of grain and fruit,
His children to starve? GO out to-
morrow morning at 5 o'clock, into the woods
and hear the birds chant. They have had
no breakfast, they know not where they will
dine, they have nc idea where they will sup,
but hear the birds chant at 5 o'clock in the
morning. "Behold the fowls of the air, for
they SOW not, neither do they reap, nor
gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father
feedeth them. Are you not much better than
they?" Seven thousand people, in Christ's
time, went into the desert. They were the
most improvident people I ever heard of.
They deserved to starve. They might
taken food enough to last them
until they got back. Nothing did
they take. A lad who had more wit
than all of them put together asked
his mother that morning for some loaves of
his satchel. He went out into the desert.
From this provision the 1000 were fed, and
the M ore they atethe larger the caves grew,
until the provisions that the boy brought in
one satchel was multiplied SO that he could not
have carried the fragments homein six satch-
the day of miracles has gone" 1 reply that
what God did then by miracle he does now
by natural laws. 81 have been young" said
David, "but O ] om old; yet lave I never
seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed beg
ging bread" 1t is high time that you peo-
pie who are fretting about worldly circum-
stances, and who are fearing you are coming
to want, understand that the oath of the
Eternal God is involved in the fact that you
are to have enough to eat n wear.
Again, I remark that the religion of
Jesus Christ is the grandest influence to make
q man contented. Indemnity against all
financial and spiritual harml 1t ealms the
spirit, dwindles the earth INTO insignificance,
and swallows up the soul with the thought OF
o We who have been going about
from placeto place expectingto find q change
of circumstances, something to give sOlace
to the spirit, l commend q this morning,
to the warm hearted earnest, practical, COM
mon sense religion of the Lord Jesus Christ.
"There is no peace, saith my God, for the
wicked, " and as long as you continue in sin
you will be miserable. Come to Christ. Make
Him your portion, and start for heaven, and
you will be @ happy man-you will be q
happy woman.
Yet, my friends, notwithstanding all these
inducements to a spirit of contentment, l
have to tell you this morning the human race
is divided into two classes-those who scold
and those who get scolded. The carpenter
wants to be anything but a carpenter, and
the mason anything but q mason, and the
banker anything but q banker, and the law
yer anything but q lawyer, and the minister
anything but a minister, and everybody
would be happy if he were only somebody else.
The m wants to be a sunflower, and
the apple orchards throw down their bios
SONS because they ore not tall cedars, and
the scow wants to be a schooner, and the
sloop wants to be a ~74-pounder, and parents
nave the worst'children that ever were, and
everybody has the greatest misfortune, and
everything is upside down, or going to be.
All, my friends, you never make any advance
throrlOh- a1Iph a SnirIf al fhaf . Ynr- cannot
fret yourself up; you may fret yourself down.
Amid all this grating of tone strike this
string of the gospel harp: Goodness with
contentment is great gain. We brought