The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1888-05-07

| house he should say: THAT house is on fro
now in tho basement" YOU could not get
any insurance upon it. Yet you talk about
this world as though it We're safe invest
ment, as though you could get some insur-
ance upon it, when down in the basement
1t is on fire.
remark, also that this world is a prop
erty, with which everybody who has taken
| 1t as possession has had trouble. Now,
know large reach OF land that is not built
ON. | 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
every body that has had anything to do
| with IL, as possession, has been in perplex-
| lty How was it with Lord Byrona Did
he not sell his immortal soul for the purpose
| OF getting the world2 Was he satisfied
with the poSseSsioul Alas alas the poem
graphically describes his ca when it says:
Drank every cup OF Joy,
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 conuuering nations
by the force of the sword, he lies down to
die, his entire possession the military boots
that he insisted on having upon 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 applause of all intel
| llgent lands through his wonderful genius,
| sits down in restaurant in Paris, looks to
! the other end Of the room, and wonders
whose that forlorn and wretched face is :
| rising up after a while, he finds that it is
Ihackeray in the mirror. Oh, yes, this
world Is cheat. Talk about a man gain
| ing the world Who ever gained half of
the worldl Who ever owned a hcmispheres
| Who ever gained continenta Who ever
owned Asial Who ever gained a cityl
Who ever owned Brookyna Talk about
gaining the world No man ever gained
it, or the red-thousandth part of it.
You are demanding that | sell my soul,
not for the world, but for a fragment of it.
Here is man who has had 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 call up sur
veyor, with his compass and chains. and
| you say: There is a property extending
three miles i'll one direction and three miles
in another direction" Is that the way to
measure that mans propertys Mol You
do not want any surveyor with his compass
and chains. That is not the way you want
| W IlCuSulC blhU ludil property now. III Is
an undertaken that you need, who will
come and put his finger in his vest pocket
and take out tape line, and he will meas
| ure five feet nine inches one way and two
feet and a half the other way That is
the mans property. Oh, no. | forgot
not so much as that, for he does not own
even the place in which he lies in the celne-
terry The deed to that belongs to the
executors and the heirs. Oh, what prop
| nII To erfxv f1.,
Ii you sell bill Of goods, you go 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 paymentW Now, when you
| are offered this world as possession, Iwant
you to test the matter do not want you
to go into this bargain blindly | want
you to ask about tine title, about the insur-
| ance, 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 thou
sandth part OF it.
There Is the world now. I shall say no
| more about it, Make up you 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
the soul. We cannot make bargain with
out seeing the comparative value. The
soul! How shall | estimate the value of it
Well, by its exquisite organization. 1t is
the most wonderful piece of mechanism
ever put together. Machihery 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 destroys itself but silent machin-
cry is often most effective. Now SO it is
with the soul of man. with all
its tremendous faculties-it moves in
silence. Judgment, without any racket.
lifting It's scales; memory, without any
noise, bringing down all its treasures; con
science taxing its iudgment-seat without
any excitement; the understan ling and the
will all doing their work. Velocity, ma
jesty, might; but silence--silence. You
listen at he 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 it. You break a bone, and
with splinters and bandages the surgeon
sets it; the eye becomes infamed, the apoth-
ecary's wash cools it; but n sole off the
track, unbalanced, no human power can re
adjust 1t. With one sweep of its wing it
circles the universe, and oveIvaults the
throne of God Why, in the hour of death
the soul is SO mighty, it throws aside the
body as though it were toy. 1t driv
back medical skill as impotent. 1t breaks
through the circle Of loved ones who stand
around the dying couch. With one leap, it
springs beyond star and moon and sun, and
chasus of immensity. Oh, 1t is a soul
superior 10 all material thiugs No fire can
consume it, no floods can drown it no rocks
can crush it; no walls can impede it, no
time can exhaust it. IL wants no bridge on
which to cross u chasm. II wants no plum
met with which 10 sound "A depth. A soul
so mighty, so swift, so silent, must be a
priceless soul.
/ calculate the value Of the soul, also, by
its capacity for happiness. How much joy
it eau get in this world out of friendships,
out Of books, out Of clouds, out of the sea,
out Of flowers, out of ten thousand things;
and yet all the Joy it has here does not test
its capacity You are IN "a concert before
the curtain HOSTS, and you hear tho iastru-
ments preparing-the sharp snap of the
broken strigg, the scraping Of the bow
across the viol. There is no music in that"
you say. 1t is only getting ready for the
music. And all the enjoyment OF the soul
in this world, the enjoyment we think is
real enjoyment, is only preparatiye; it Is
only anticipatiye; ii Is only the first stages
of the thing; 1t is only the entrance, the be-
ginning Of that which shall be the orchestral
harmonies and splendors OF tho redeemed 4.
You cannot test the full power Of the soul
for happiness in this world. How mucn