The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1888-05-16

OF the world is one great living coal; that
II is just like a ship on fire at sea, the
flames not bursting out because the matches
are kept down. And vet you propose to
palm of on me, in return for my soul, q
world for which, in the first place, you
give no title, and in the second place, for
which you can give no insurance. "Ohw
you say, ''the water of the oceans will wash
over all the land and put out the fire"
Oh, no. There are infammable elements
IN the water, hydrogen and oxygen. Call
off the hydrogen, and then the Atlantic
and Pacific oceans would blaze like heaps
of shavings. You want me to take this
world, for which you can give no possible
insurance.
Astronomers have swept their telescopes
through the sky and have found out that
there have been thirteen worlds in the
last two centuries that have disappeared.
At first they looked just like other worlds.
Then they got deeply red-they were on
fire. Then they got ashen, showing they
were burned down. Then they disap-
peared, showing that even the ashes were
scattered. And if the geologist be right
in his prophecy, then our world is to go
in the same way. And yet you want me
to exchange my soul for it. All, no; it is
a world that is burning now. Suppose
you brought an insurance agent to look
at your property for the purpose OF giving
you policy upon it, and while he stood
in front of the house he should say:
THAT house is on fire now in the base
ment," you could not get any insurance
upon it. Yet you talk about this world as
though it were a safe investment, as though
you could get some insurance upon 1t,
when down in the basement it is on fire.
remark, also, that this world is prop
erty with which everybody who has taken
it as possession has had trouble. Now,
L know large reach of land that is not
built on. i ask what is the matter, and
they reply that everybody who has had
anything to do with that property got into
trouble about it. 1t is just so with this
world; everybody that has had anything
to do with it as a possession has been in
perplexity. How was it with Lord Byron?
Did he not sell his immortal soul for the
purpose OF getting the world? Was he
satisfied with the possession? Alas alas
the poem graphically describes his case
when it says:
Drank every cup ofjoy,
Heard every trump OF fame;
Drank early, deeply drank,
Drank draughts which common millions might have
quenched
Then died Of thirst because there was no more to
drink.
Oh yes, he had trouble with it; and so
did Napoleon. After conquering nations
bv the force of the sword, he lies down to
die, his entire possession the military
boots that he insisted on having on his
feet while he was dying. So it has been
with men who had better ambition.
Thackeray, one of the most genial and
lovable souls, after he had won the APP
plause of all intelligent lands through his
wonderful genius, sits down in a restau-
-. l., l. a 81 -
room, and wonders whose that forlorn and
wretched face is; rising up after awhile he
finds that it is Thackeray in the mirror.
Oh, yes, this world is a cheat Talk about
a man gaining the world! Who ever
gained half of the world? Who ever
owned a hemisphere? Who ever gained
continent? Who ever owned Brooklyn?
Talk about gaining the world! No man
ever gained it. or the hundred-thousandth
part of it. You are demanding that / sell
my soul, not for the world, but for frag-
ment of it. Here is a man who has had a
large estate for forty or fifty years. He
lies down to die You say: THAT man
is worth millions and millions of dollars"
Is he? You Gallup surveyor with his COM
pass and chains. and YOU saw: There is a
property extended three miles in one di-
rection and three miles in another direc-
mans property? No! You do not want
any surveyor with his compass and chains.
That is not the way you want TO measure
that man : property now. ii is an under
taker that YOU need, who will come and
put his finger in his vest pocket and take
out tape-line, and he will measure five
feet nine inches one way and two feet
and half the other way. That is the
man ) property. Oh, no; forgot; not so
much as that, for he does not own even
the place in which he lies in the cemetery.
The deed to that belongs to the executors
and the heirs. Oh, what is property
you propose to give me for my soul! III
you sell bill OF goods, you 20 into the
cOunting-roOm and say to your partner:
''Do you think that man is good for this
bill? Can he give proper security? Will
he meet this payment" Now, when YOU
are offered this world as a possession /
want you to test the matter. L do not
want you to 90 into this bargain blindly.
| want you TO ask about the title, about
the insurance, about whether men have
ever had any trouble with it, about
whether you can keep it, about whether
you'can get all, or the ten thousandth, or
one hundred thousandth part OF it.
There is the world now. 1 shall say no
more about it. Make up your mind for
yourself, as / shall, before God, have to
make up my mind for myself, about the
value OF this world | cannot afford to
make a mistake for my soul, and you can
not afford TO make a mistake for your soul.
Now, let us look at the other property
the soul. We cannot make a bargain
without seeing the comparative value.
The soul How shall / estimate the value
OF it? Well, by its exquisite organiza-
ton. 1t is the most wonderful piece of
mechanism ever put together. Machin-
cry is of value in proportion as it is
mighty and silent at the same time. You
look at the engine and the machinery in
the Philadelphia mint, and as you see it
performing its wonderful work, you will
be surprised to find how silently it goes.
Machinery that roars and tears soon des-
troys itself, but silent machinery is often
most effective. Now, so it is with the
soul of man, with all its tremendous facul-
test moves in silence. Judgment,
without any racket, lifting its valves;
memory, without any noise, bringing
down all its treasures; conscience
taking its judgment seat without any ex-
element; the understanding and the will
all doing their work Velocity, majesty,
might; but silence-silence. You listen
at the door of your heart You can hear
no sound. The soul is all quiet. 1t is so
delicate an instrument that no human
hand can touch IL. You break n hone