Democratic Northwest. [volume] (Napoleon, Ohio) 1869-1894, 1889-06-13

as 1 need bread, and go to my daily exercise
with as conscientious a purpose as / 20 to the
Lords Supper; and all persons Of sanguine
temperament must have amusement and re-
creation. God would not have made us
with the capacity 10 laugh II He had not in
hung In sky, and set in wave, and printed on
grass many roundelay; but he who chooses
pleasure seeking for his life work does not un-
derstand for what God made him. Our
amusements are intended to help
US in some earnest mission. The
thunder cloud hath an edge
exquisitely purpled, but, with voice that
the green fields" The wild flowers under the
fence are gay, but they say: 1--WE stand
here to make beautiful edge for the wheat
field, and to refresh the husbandmen in
their nooning." The stream sparkles
ana roams, and froHcs, and says: ~ go TO
baptize the moss. / lave the spots ON the
trout. / slacke the thirst of the bird. turn
the wheel Of the mill. / rock in my crystal
cradle muckshaw and water lily" And so,
while the world plays, it works. Look out for
the man who always plays and never works.
You will do well to avoid those whose Regu-
lar business it is to play ball, skate or go
a-boating. All these sports are grand in
their places. never derived so much adj
vantage from any ministerial association as
from q ministerial club that went out to play
ball every Saturday afternoon in the out
skirts of Philadelphia. These reactions
are grand to give us muscle and
spirits for our regular toll. be-
lieve in muscular Christianity. A man is
often not so near God with a weak stomach
as when he has a strong digestion. But shun
those who make it their life occupation to
sport. There are young men whose industy
and usefulness have fallen overheard from
the yacht on the Hudson or the Schuylkill.
There are men whose business fell through
the ice Of the skating pond, and has never
since been heard Of There is beauty in
the gliding of boat in the song of skates,
in the soaring Of a we'll struck ball, and
never see one fly but 1 involuntarily throw
up my hands to catch it; and, so far from
laying an injunction upon ball playing, or
any other innocent sport, / claim them all
as belonging of right to those of us who toll
In the grand industries of church and state.
But the life business of pleasure seeking ale
ways makes in the end criminal or a sot.
George Brummell was smiled upon by all
England, and his life was given to pleasure.
He danced with peeresses, and swung a
round Of mirth, and wealth and applause.
until exhausted Of purse, and worn out of
body, and bankrupt of reputation and ruined
Of soul, he begged a biscuit from a grocer
better than mans.
Such men will crowd around your desk or
counter or work bench or seek to decoy you
of. They will want you to break out in the
midst of your busy day to take ride with
them to Coney Island or to Central Park
They will tell you Of some people you must
see; of some excursion that you must take;
of some Sabbath day that you ought to dis
honor. They will tell you of exquisite wines
thof ~ kI,nAr
must hear; of wonderful dancers that you
mustsee; but before you accept their convoy
or their rcompanionship remember that while
at the end of useful life you may be able to
look back to hndnesses done, to honorable
work accomplished, to poverty helped, to a
good name earned, to Christian in
auence exerted, to a Saviour's cause
advanced-these pleasure seekers on
their death bed have nothing better to re-
view than torn playbill ticket for the
races, an empty tankard and the cast out
rinds of carousal; and as in the delirium of
their awful death they clutch the goblet and
press it to their lips the dregs Of the cup
falling upon their tongue will begin to hiss
and uncoii with the adders of an eternal
poison.
Rather than enter the companionshp of
such, accept the invitation to better feast.
The promises of God are the fruits. The
harps of heaven are the music. Clusters
from the vineyards of God have been
pressed into the tankards. The sons and
daughters of the Lord Almighty are
the guests. While, standing at the banquet,
to fill the cups and divide the clusters and
| command the harps and welcome the guests
| is a daughter of God on whose brow are the
blossoms of paradise, and in whose cheek is
the flush of celestial summer. Her name is
Religion.
| Her ways ways of 1leasantness,
And all her paths are peace.