Dodge City times. [volume] (Dodge City, Kan.) 1876-1892, 1888-05-17
it as possession has had trouble. Now, J

thing to do with tina. property got into
trouble about it. It is just so with this
world; everybody that has had any thing
to do with it. as a possession. has been III
perplexity. How was 1t with Lord Byron
Did he not sell his immortal soul for the
purpose OF getting the world! Was he sat
isfied with the possession! Alas! alas
the poem graphically describes his case
| 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
o. yes, he had trouble with it, and so 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. Thack-
cray, one OF the most genial and lovable
souls, after he had won the applause OF all
intelligent lands through his wonderful
genius, sits down in a restaurant in Paris,
looks at the other end Of the room and
wonders whose that forlorn and wretched
l1CC 10 Using UP oItCi q" no AhA' eAA.~e
1t is Thackeray in a mirror. 0, yes, this
world is cheat. Talk about man gain
ing the world. Who ever gained half
or the world9 Who ever owned a
hemis phere! Who ever gained continent?
Who ever owned Asia! Who ever gained
a citys Who ever owned BROOKLYN! Talk
about gaining the world! No man ever
gained 1t or the hund red thousandth part OF
Won do that T sell SOll.
not for the world. but for 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 surveyor, with his compass and
chains. and you say: There is property
extending three miles in one direction and
three miles in another dl rectlon."
Is that the way to measure that mans
property: No; you do not want any sur
veyor with his compass and chains. That
is not the way you want t. measure that
mans property now. 1t is an undertaken
you need, who will come and put his finger
in his vest pocket and take out 4 tape line,
and he will measure five feet nine inches
one way and two feet and a ha the other.
That is the mans property. o. no; l for.
own even the place in which he lies in the
cemetery. The deed to that belongs to the
executors and heirs. o, what property
you propose to give me for my soul! If
you sell bill Of goods you go into your
counting room and say to your partner:
do you think that man is good for this
bill! Can he give proper securty2 Will
he meet this payments" Now, when you
I
want you to test the matter. l do not want
you to go into this bargain blindly. Iwant
you to ask about the 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 decentralization
sandth part of it.
There is the world now. l shall say no
more about it. Make up your mind for
yourself, as l shall, before God, have to
make up my mind for myself about the
value Of this world. l can not afford to
make mistake for your soul.
Now, let US look at the other property
the soul We can not 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. 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 will be surprised how
silently it goes. Machinery that roars and
tears soon destroys itself; but silent ma
chinery is often most effective. Now, so it
is with the soul of man, with ali his tre-
mendous facultles-it moves In silence.
Judgment, without any racket, lifting its
scales; memory, without any noise, bring
lug down all its treasures; conscience talk
ing its judgment-seat without any excite
ment, 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. 1t is 50 deli
cate an instrument that no human hand
can touch it. You break bone, and with
splinters and bandages the surgeon sets 1t
the eye becomes infamed, the apothecary's
wash cools it; bat soul off the track I'M
balanced, no human power can readjust it.
With one sweep of its wing it. circles the
universe and overvauts 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. It 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 chasms of
immensely. o, it is a 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; no time can
exhaust it. 1t wants no bridge To cross a
chasm. 1t wants no plummet with which
to 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
1t can get IN this world out OF friend hips,
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 Il concert bel for
the curtain hoists, and you hear the instru-
meuts preparing--the sharp snap Of the
broken string, the scraplng 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 prepare
tive; it is only auticipative; it is only the
first stages of the thing; it is only the en-
trance. the beginning of that which shall
be the orchestral harmonies and splendors
of the redeemed.
You can not test the full power OF the
soul for happiness in this world. How
much power the soul has here to find enjoy
ment in friendships! but o, the grander
friendships for the soul in the skies. How
sweet the flowers here! but how much
sweeter they will be there! do not think
that when flowers die on earth they die
forever. l think that the fragrance Of the
flowers is the spirit being waited away
into glory. God says there are palm trees