Sharp County record., 1888-08-02
DE CONTENT.
z,mon by Rev. T. De Witt TAI
mage, D. D.
True Happiness Consists in Hay ns inc
,1oort I,ight Toward God and Man
The Grand influence of the Ne-
IgIon of Jesus Christ

In Good duIuOI WIN -, -.-,,,
stances" was the subject Of Dr' laliiiS5o go,
recent sermon. His text was taken -
the fifth verse of the thirteen.h ch'P'ot
NJ Hebrews: "Be content with SUCH
things as We have" lie said; -,,. =
If I sbonld ask some one -" mere 10
Brooklyn today" he would say; au au
BRIGHTON Beach, or East Hampton,
Shelter Island" "Where is New orA w. ":
davY AT Long Branch" "Where Is
PhiIodeInhialn @At Cape May" " where
is Boston!" "At Martha's VmeSaru.
"Where Is VirginiaW "At the oulpnul
Springs.n "Where the great multlCuuo'
from all parts of the land !" Al 0al"
toga,n the modern Bethesda, Where Oilo
ANGEL of health is ever stirring the wa wa
ters. But, my friend, the largest llulvi,
tude are at home, detained by DuSlhee' u
circumstances. Among them all neWSpa.
nor men the hardest worked and the leaSU
compensated; city railroad employees, aho aa
the ferry masters, and the ponce, anu 'i.o
tens of thousands Of clerks ana llel0n"N's
waiting for their turn OF apSehce' eilc,
Nhouseholds with an invalid who can not 10
moved and others hindered by strlh8en.
circumstances. and the great multltuae u
well-to-do people who stay at nome 10
cause they like home better than any oVleI
place, refusing to go away simply Decau9o
it is the fashion to go. -, -.
When the express wagon, Win l.'
mountain of trunks directed TO the Oav0-
kills or Niagara, goes through the StreeCS'
we stand at our window enylouS anu LII
natient and wonder why we can not go aS
well as others. Fools that we are, as
though one could not be as happy at nome
as any where else Our grandfatherS anu
grandmothers had as good time aS We
have, long before the first spring was
bored at Saratoga or the first deer shoI n
the Adirondacks. They made their wed
ding tour to the next farmhouse, o. NV
ing in New York, they celebrated the e'eHO
by an extra walk on the battery.
Now, the genuine American is not happV
until he is going somewhere, and the pas
sion is so great that there are Chrl9Ilah
neople with their families detained IN the
CITY who come not to the house OF Goa,
trying to give people the idea that they
are out of town; leaving the door plate un-
secured for the same reason, and Tor TWO
months keeping the front shutters closed
while they sit in the back part Oh .ne
house, the thermometer at ninety MY
friends, if it is best for us to go, let US go
and be happy If it is best for US TO stay
at home, let US stay at home and be happy
There is a great deal Of good common sense
in Pauls advice to the Hebrews: be
content with such things as ye have" 10
be content is to be in good humor with our
circumstances, not picking quarrel WIN
our obscurity, or our poverty, or our social
position. There are four or five grand
reasons why we should be content WIN
such things as we have
The first reason that | mention as Leading
10 this spirit devised in the text, is the
consideration that the poorest OF us nave
all that is indispensable in life. We make
a great ado about our hardships, but how
little we talk of our blessings. Health OF
body, which is given in largest quantity TO
these who have never been petted, and
fondled, and spoiled by fortune we take
as 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
uary. These people sleep sounder on
straw mattress than fashionable invalids
on couch of ivory and eagles down. The
dinner of herbs tastes better to the appe-
tite sharpened on a woodman's ak or a
reapers scythe than wealthy indigestion
experiences seated at a table covered with
partridge, and venison, and pineapple.
The grandest luxury God ever gave a
man is health He who trades that off 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
his Versailles and his Tuilleries if with
them we had been obliged to take his gout:
"Oh," says some one, 'it isn't the grosser
pleasures l covet, but it is the qualification
of an artistic and intellectual taste" Why
my brother, you have the original from
which these pictures are copied
What is a sunset on wall compared with
a sunset hung in loops of fire in the heay-
ens2 What Is cascade silent on a canvas
compared with a cascade that makes the
mountain tremble, its spray ascending like
the departed spirit Of the water slain on
the rocks9 Oh, there is great deal Of
hollow affectatiOn about a fondncss for
pictures on the part Of those who never
appreciate the original from which the
pictures are taken. As though a parent
should have no regard for a child, but go in
to ecstasies over its photograph. Bless the
Lord to-day, oh, man! oh, wOman that
though you may be shut out from the
works of Church, a Bierstadt, a 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 monday heavens, the Kings
gallery of the midnight sky.
Another consideration leading US to
spirit of contentment is the fact that our
happiness is not dependent upon outward
circumstances. You see people happy and
miserable amid 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 very fine place you will
sec and hear discord sounding the war
whoop, and hospitality freezing to death
in the cherries parlor. l stopped one day
on Broadway at the head of Wall street, at
the foot Of Trinity Church, to see who
seemed the happicst people passing. l
Judged from their looks tho happiest peo-
pie 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 the people who came out of
Wall street, for they had on their brow the
anxiety of the dollar they had lost; nor
the people who swept by in splendid equi-