Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1888-05-18

Astronomers naNe Sweep 49,. -. tl,ot
through the sky. and have 1ouhG V ~. ,asr
two centuries, that have disappeared. nv
first they looked just like other WORLDS.
Then they 60, deeply red; then they were
on fire. Then they got ashen, showing
thew we're burned down. Then they as
anneared. showing that even the ashes were
scattered. And if the geologist be right IN
his prophesy, then our world is to go IN
the same way. And yet you want me 10
exchange my soul for it, All. no; u Is
world that is burning now. Suppose you
brought an insurance agent to look at your
nroperty 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 basement" you could
not get any insurance upon it. Yet you
talk about this world as II safe investment,
Us though you could get some insurance
upon it, when down in the basement 1t Is
on fire.
remark, also, that this world is prop
erty, with which everybody who has taken
it as possession has had trouble. Now
know larger reach of land that is not
thew reply that everybody who has had
anything TO do with that property got into
trouble about it. 1t is just 80 with this
world; everybody that has had anything to
do with it, as q 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:
Drunk every cup of Joy,
Heard every trump of fame;
Drank early, deeply drank.
Drank draushts 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 o
did Napoleon. After conquering 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 low
able souls, after he had won the applause
of all intelligent lands through his Won
Paris, looks to the other end of the room,
and wonders whose that forlorn and
wrecked face is; rising up after while,
he finds that it is Thackeray in the mirror.
Oh, yes, this world is cheat. Talk about
a man gaining the world! Who ever
owned hemisphere? Who ever gained q
continent? Who ever owned Asia? Who
ever gained city? Who ever owned
Brooklyn? Talk about gaining the world!
No man ever gained it, or the hundred
thousandth part of it. Ion are demand
ing that sell my soul, not for the world,
but for fragment of it. Here is q man
years. He lies down to die. You say:
sThat man is worth millions and millions
of dollars" Is he? You call up sur
veyor, with his compass and chain
and you say: There is property EXTEND
ing three miles in one direction, and three
miles in another direction" Is that the
way to measure that mans property? No!
You do not want any surveyor. with his
compass and chain. That is not the way
you want to measure that mans
property now. 1t is IN UNDER
taker that YOU need, who will
come and put his fingers in his vest pocket
ure five feet nine inches one way and two
feet and half the other way. That is
the mans property. Oh, no, not so much
as that, for he does not own even the
space in which he lies in the cemetery.
The deed to that belongs to the executors
and the heirs. Oh, what property you
propose to give me for my soul! If you
sell bill of goods, you go into the count
ing room and say to your partner: SDo
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
possession, want you to test the mat
ter. do not want you to go into this bar
gain blindly. Iwant 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 10, OU0th, or
1O0.OO0th part of it.
There is the world now. I shall soy 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 mistake for my soul, and you cam
not afford to make q mistake for your soul.
the soul. We cannot make bargain
without seeing the comparative value. The
soul! How shall I estimate the value of
it? Well, by its exquisite organization. It
is the most wonderful piece Of mechanism
ever put together. Machinery 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 would be surprised to
find how silently it goes. Machinery that
IOhI6 uuu todEb DUOu u06LrOyS 1I60ll, DuC
silent machinery 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 its scales; memory, without any
noise, bringing down all its treasures;
conscience taking its judgment seat with
out any excitement; 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. It
is 80 delicate an instrument that no human
hand can touch it. You break bone, and
with splinters and bnndages the surgeon
sets it; the eye becomes inaamed, the
apothecarys wash cools it; but soul off
the track, unbalanced, no human power
; can adjust it. With one sweep of its wing
it circles the universe and overvaults the
! throne of God. Why, in the hour of death
the soul is SO mighty it throws aside the
body as though it were a toy. 1t drives
back medical skill as impotent. 1t breaks
through the circle of loved ones who stand
/ around the dying couch. With one lean.
it springs beyond star and moon and sun,
and chasms of immensely. Oh, it is q soul
| superior to all material things! No fire
can consume it; no floods can drown it; no
rocks can crush it; no walls can impede it;
M iYvoa owl o,,stSt L.