West Virginia argus. [volume] (Kingwood, W. Va.) 1877-1946, 1888-07-26
HAPPINESS.
SERMON BY REV. DIR. TALMAoE.
Christian Contentment VIII Mako
the Darkest Places Radiant.

H.. - S SS, ASK some one; wv here Is Brook
,yn to-dayf he would say, ''At Brighton
beSch or East Hampton, or Shelter Island. y
mere Is New York to-dayn ''At Long
branch" where Philadelphia sat Cane
Vineyard" where Is virginia. "At si the !
SulL hur Springs Where the great multIs
tude from all parts OF the IandPS cat sara
toga the modern Bethesda, where the angel
=, nsaisn Is ever stirring the waters. But,
my friends, the largest multitude are at home
aetained by business or circumstance
among them all newspaper men, the hardest
worked and the least Compensated; city rail-
,' on enipl9yes, ana Terry masters, and the
pohce and the tens OF thousands of clerks
ana merchants waiting for their turn of alb
Sence, and households with an invalid who
cannot be moved, and others hindered by
stringent circumstances, and the great null
Stude OF well 20 do people who stay AT home
because they like home better than any other
place, refusing 20 go away simply because IL
Is tne fashion to go. When the express
wagon, with its mountain of trunks directed
20 the Catskills or Niagara, goes through The
streets, wo stand at our window envious and
impatient, and wonder why we cannot 90 no
well as Others Fools that we are. as though
one could not be as happy at home as any
where else. Onr grandfathers and grand.
motners had as good time as we have long
before the first spring was bored at Sara
.ogs, or the first deer shot in the Adiron-
aacks- They made their wedding tour TO
the next farmhouse, or living I'm New Yor -
.se celebrated they event by an extra walk on
the Battery.
Now, the genuine American is not happy
until ne Is going somewhere, and the passion
IS SO great that there are Christian people
with their families detained in the CITY who
come not TO the house of God, trying To give
people the idea that they are out OF town;
leaNing the door plate unsecured for the
same reason, and for two months keeping the
'front.' shutters closed while they sit in the
pack part of the house, the Thermometer MT
ninety Ny friends, il it is better for us 10 20.
o n NJ nd hatA
TO stay at home, let us stay at home and be
happy. There is great deal OF good com
mon sense in PauPs advice to the Hebrews.
be content with such things as We have
10. 40 % content Is TO be In good humor with
our circumstances, not picking a Quarrel
with our obscurlty, or our poverty, or our
social position. There are four or five grand
reasons why we should be content with such
things as we have.
The first reason that mention as leading
70 TINS spirit devised in the text. is the con,
sderation that the poorest OF us have all that
Is indispensable in life. We make a great
s so1 ABOUT our hardships, but how little we
TAX OF our blessings. Health and BODY
which Is given in largest quantity to those
VINO have never been petted and fondled and
spoiled by fortune, we take as a matter of
SOurse. Rather have this luxury, and have
IL alone, than, without IT, look out OF a
palace window upon parks Of deer stalking
between fountains and statuary These peo.
pie sleep sounder on a straw mattress
n
OF ivory and eagles down The dinner
OF herbs tastes better TO the appetite sharp-
ened on woodlands ak or a reaper's scvthe
tnan wealthy indigestion experiences seated
az a taDie covered with partridge, and veni-
son, and pineapple The grandest luxury
Iod ever gave a man is health He who
Trades that OF for all the palaces OF the earth
IS infinitely cheated. We look back at The
slOry on tne last Napoleon, but who would
have taken his Versailles and his Tuileries IN
with them we had been obliged to take his
gouI IN, says some one sit isn't the
grosser pleasures covet, but it is the gratif-
S Trn Oh an artistic and intellectual taste.n
why, my brother, you have the original
WON which these pictures are copied
what Is a sunset ON wall compared with
sunset hung in loops OF fire on the heayensi
what IS cascade silent on a canvas com
pared with a cascade that makes the noun
tain tremble, its spray ascending like the
departed spirit of the water slain on the
rocksf Oh, there is great deal of hollow
anectation about a fondness for pictures on
the part Of those who never appreciates the
original from which the pictures are taken.
AS though parent should have no regard
Tor MS child, but go into ecstasies over its
photograph. Bless the Lord to-day oh, mani
oh, woman that though you NAV be shut
out from the works of a Church. a Bierstadt
hubens and Raphael, you still have free
access TO gallery grander than the Louvre
or the Luxembourg or the Vatican-the royal
gallery OF the MONDAY heavens the Kings
gallery OF the midnight sky
another consideration leading us to n
spirit or contentment is the fact that our hap
piness is not dependent upon outward cir
cuInStanceS GU see people happy and mis-
cradle amlc all circumstances. In a family
where the last loaf is on the table and the
last stick of wood on the fire. YOU sometimes
find cheerful confidence in God. while in A
very nne place you will see and hear discord
sounding her war whoop. and Hospitality
freezing 70 death in the cherries parIor /
stopped one day on Broadway at the head OF
Wall street, at the foot Of Trinity church. to
see VINO seemed the happiest people passing
judged from their looks the happiest peo-
pie were not those who went down into Wall
street, for they had on their brow the ankle
~ OF the dollar they expected 70 make. nor
the people who came out - Wall street for
they they had on their brow the anxiety
or the dollar they had lost; nor the people
who swept by in splendid equipage for they
met carriage that was finer than theirs
Inc happiest person in all that crowd, judg-
ing from the countenance was the woman
VINO sat at the apple stand knitting / be.
heye real happiness oftener looks out of the
window OF an humble home than through
the opera glass Of the gilded box OF a theatre
nnd Nero growing on the throne i find
raul singing In dungeon. I find King Ahab
gong 70 bed at noon through melancholy
while near by is Naboth contented i'm the nos
session OF vineyard Haman, Prime Minis
yer OF fersia, frsts himself almost TO death
because poor Jew will not tin his hat. and
anlthophel, one Of the greatest lawyers OF
Bible times, through fear Of dying. hangs
msef The wealthiest man. forty years
ago IN New York, when congratulated over
ms large estate, replied "Ahi you don't
know how much trouble / have in taking
care OF it. Byron declared in his Inst
nOurs that he had never seen more than twelve
happy days In all his life i do not believe
ne had seen twelve minutes OF thorough sat
lsiacu0n. Napoleon J. said. II turn with
disgust from the cowardice and ssl0shness OF
mem 4 hold life a horror; death is repose.
what have suffered the last twenty DAYS is
beyond human comprehension. While on
the other hand, 70 show how one may lie
happy amid the most disadvantageoug cir.
cumstances, just after the Ocean Monarch
bad been wrecked in the English channel. a
steamer was cruising along In the darkness.
when the captain heard a song, a sweet song,
coming over The water. and he bore down
toward that voice, and found 10 was n Chris
tian women on a plank Of the wrecked
steamer, singing % the tune Of "St. Mar.
Jesua, lover Of ny soul
~ noe 70 Thy bosom ~
While the biii0wa near me roll
While the Tempest stiii i8 high.
The heart right toward God and man. We
are happy. The heart wrong toward God
ana man. We are unhappy.
Another reason why we should oorno n
this spirit iuculcated In the text BE- the fact
that All The differences Of earthly condition