St. Landry democrat. (Opelousas, La.) 1878-1894, 1888-07-28
BE CONTENT.
sermon by Rev. r. De Witt Tai
mage, D. ..

mage, D. D.
Grue Happiness Consists in Having the
Heart Right Toward God and Man
-The Grand Influence of the Ke-
Mg,on OF Jesus Christ
In Good Humor with Our Circum-
stances" was the subject Of DR.. Talmage's
recent sermon. His text was taken from
the fifth verse of the thirteenth chapter
Of Hebrews: "Be content with SUCH
things as We have" He said:
If should ask some one "Where 10
Brooklyn to-daya" he would say: "At
Brighton Beach, or East Hampton, or
Shelter Island" "Where is New York to-
dayT' AT Long Branch" "Where Is
Philadelphiag' "At Cape May" "Where
is Bastona'' "At Martha's Vineyard"
Where Is virginial' "At the Sulphur
Springs" "Where the great multitrdes
from all parts of the land?" AT Sara
tcga,n the modern Bethesda, where the
angel Of health is ever stirring the wa
tiers. But, my friend, the largest multi
tude are at home, detained by business or
circumstances Among them all newspa-
per men, the hardest wosked and the least
compensated; city railroad employees and
the ferry masters and the police, and the
tens of thousands Of clerks and merchants
waiting for their turn OF absence, and
households with an invalid who can not be
moved, and others hindered by stringent
circumstances. and the great multitude OF
well TODD people who stay at home be
cause they like home better than any other
place, refusing to go away simply because
1t is the fashion to 60.
When the express wagon, with Its
mountain Of trunks directed to the Cats
kills or Niagara, goes through the streets,
we stand at our window envious and I'M
patient, and wonder why we can not go as
well as others. Fools that we are, as
though one could not be as happy at home
as any where else. Our grandfatherS and
grandmothers had as good time as we
have, long before the first spring was
bored at Saratoga or the first deer 'shot in
the Adirondacks. They made their wed
ding tour to the next farm house, or, hv-
ingin New York, they celebrated the event
by an extra walk on the battery.
Now, the genuine American is not happy
until he is going somewhere. and the pas
sion 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; leaving the door plate I'M
secured for the same reason, and for two
months keeping the front shutters closed
while they sit in the back part OF the
house, the thermometer at ninety! MY
friends, if it is best for US to CO. let US go
and be happy II it is best for us to stay
at home, let US stay at home and be happy.
There is great deal Of good common sense
In Pauls advice to the Hebrews: BE
content with such things as We have" 10
be content is to be in good humor with our
circumstances, not picking quarrel with
our obscurity. 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
to this spirit devised in the text, is the
consideration that the poorest of US have
all that Is indispen- .ble in life. We make
q great ado about or hardships, but how
little we talk Of our blessings. Health OF
body, which is given in ilargest quantity to
those who have never been petted, and
fondled and spoiled by fortune, we take
es matter Of course. Rather have this
luxury and have it alone, than, without it,
look out Of palace window upon parks OF
deer stalking between fountains and stat
straw mattress than fashionable invalids
on a-couch Of ivory and eagles down. The
dinner of herbs tastes better to the appe-
tite sharpened on q woodman's ak or q
reaper's scythe than wealthy Indigestion
experiences seated at table covered with
partridge, and venison, and pineapple.
The grandest luxury Ged ever gave q
man is health He who trades that OF for
all the palaces of the earth Is infinitely
cheated We LOOK back at the glory Of the
last Napoleon, but who would have taken
HE Versailles and his Tuilleries II with
them we had been obliged TO take his gouta
stOh," says some one, tit isn't the grosser
pleasures covet, but 1t is the qualification
81 an artistic and intellectual taste" Why,
my brother, you have the original from
which these pictures are copied.
What Ia O sunset on wall compared with
q sunset hung in loops Of fire in the heav-
ensa Wat is q cascade silent on canvas
compared with q cascade that makes the
mountain tremble, It's spray ascending like
the departed spirit Of the water slain on
che rooksa Oh, there is great deal Of
hollow aRectation about fondness for
pictures on the part of those who never
appreciate the original from which the
mixtures are taken As though parent
70 eostasies over its photograph. Bless the
Lord to-day, oh, mani oh, woman! that
though you may be shut out from the
works of q Church, Bierstadt, Rubens
and Raphael, you still have free access
to gallery grander than the Louvre or
the Luxembourg or the Vatican-the royal
gallery Of the noenday heavens, the Kings
gallery Of the midnight sky.
Another consideration leading us to q
suirit of contentment is the fact that our
Happiness is not dependent upon outward
circumstances You see people happy and
miserable amid all circumstances. In
family where the last loaf is on the table,
and the last stick Of wood on the Are. you
sometines find q cheerful confidence in
God. while in very fine place you will
zee and hear discord sounding the war
whocp. and hospitality freezing to death
In the cherries parior. stopped one day
an broadway at the head of Wall street, at
che foot Of Trinity Church, 20 see who
seemed the happiest people passing.
iuuged from their looks tho happiest peo-
ME were not those who went down into
wall street, for they had on their brow
the anxiety Of the dollar they expected to
make; nor tho people who came out Of
Wall street, for they had on their brow the
u ALL bod tnof