Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1889-02-03
SUNDAY THOUGHTS
MORALS Apb MANNERS,
BY A CLERGYMAN.

BY A CLERGYMAN.
During a recent symposium OF unbeliei
some wise men of the East climbed into the
belfry and rang the changes on the follow
ing assertions: '"The Universe is simply q
rushing together of atoms, and there Is nc
Creator" Immortality is absurd-man is
dust" "What idealists call the soul is
nothing but the vital principle, composed OF
Heat and air, which escapes from the BODY
at death, and mingles again with its native
element" So the world is accounted for,
and life and death are finally explained.
Well, the Christian borrowing the So
cratic method, modestly begs leave to ask
a few questions: How came those atoms to
rush together in such q way as to form the
world, and be pervaded with marks Of in
telligent design? Who ever heard of the diff
ferent parts of a watch rushing together to
form a watch? Or of the different parts of a
locomotive rushing together to form an en-
gineF Or of the different parts of a house rush.
ing together to form a dwelling?
If there is no God. what does your moral ma
ture mean? If immortality is a fable. why is
the belief in it UNIVERSAL? If the Bible is the
work Of imposters, how were a huddle of ig-
Horant fishermen able to produce a religion
which, by common consent, surpasses all others?
Come, you who are so gifted in explanation,
account for the difference between Christen-
dom and h~eathendom, between Europe and
Asia, between America and Africa. Race does
not explain 1.-THE climate of Europe and
| America can be matched in Asia and Africa.
Before Christianity took them IN hand, Europe
and America were as degraded and unprogress-
i've as Afghanistan or Dahomy. A shrewd old
Quaker once said to a savant who boosted that
he would never believe in what he could not
see: Friend, did thee ever see thy brains?''
WHY no." replied he, stof course not" well"
continued the Quaker, docs thee think thee
has any?"
A prominent physician of the city saws
that he was called in, the other day, to *
tract a fish bone from a patients throat. He
worked faithfully for half an hour, but in
vain. "Oh, Doctor" gasped the sufferer,
don't give up, I will give you $40, 900 if
you will get that bone out" Again the ply
slcian went to work. Another half hour
passed. Again he shook his head in despair:
keep on, keep on" cried the patient, II will
give you SIC, OOOif you will pull it out" Once more
the physician fell to-: and after many efforts he
Scottr' exclaimed the man, relieved at last, 81
would rather have given $40 than had you fail
to get that thing out"
It illustrates the different ways we have of
viewing things in different circumstances.
When one is in desperate peril he is lavish in
his promises. A that a man hath will he
give for his life" But when the danger is
passed, gratitude for deliverance suddenly
evaporates. The exorbitant promises made in
old coup1et:
would be.
When the devil got well, the devil a monk
With such folks even the C. o. D. system
will not avail. In dealing with them the rule
should be, payment in advance.
In fishing the hook is baited with care,
according to the kind of fish you mean to
~catch-unless you are fishing for the
gudgeon, which you take with the naked
hook. So the devil when he angles for souls,
bats his hook with consummate skill. He
puts on pleasure to catch the lover of amuse-
ment; power, to decoy the ambitious: riches,
to snare the avaricious; but when he comes to
the profane swearer, he catches him with the
naked hook; because. among the tempted, like
the gudgeon among fishes, the profane swearer
is a fool!
A little girl in Baltimore was asked by
her teacher what use the interior of Africa
is to the world? With a wisdom beyond her
years, she answered: sit is mostly used for
purposes of exploration"
Keep a watchful eye upon current litera-
ture in order to know what had best be
avoided. Keep some books out of the
house. 1t is related in q recent Review,
that q gentleman connected with the English
Government in India, went into his library
(he lived in Calcutta) to get a book. AS he
took it from the shelf he felt a sharp prick on
the end of his finger. He thought some care
less reader had placed a pin within the leaves
for a mark. Presently, however, his finger
began to swell, then his arm, then his body, and
not long afterward he died in agony. 1t was
not a pin. but q small and deadly snake pecu-
liar to the country, that lay within those pages.
There are serpents, too, in the books that many
are reading nowadays. They lie coiled away
and out of sight. But as the pages are fingered
the sting will be felt. Let certain books alone.
The naked indecencies of lola, with their
brutal and repulsive realism, are not half so
dangerous as are the draped nastiness, the
some more reputable writer's. If you would
not be morally poisoned look out for the SER
pents among the books.
Appended is alist of particular Patrons
in the Roman Catholic Communion:
st. Joseph, spouse of the Blessed Virgin
Mary. is the patron of the universal church.
st. Pancras is the patron of childhood.
st. Aloysius is the patron of youth, purity
and students.
ST. Agnes is the patron of maidens.
st. Monica is the patron of matrons.
st. Maxima is the patron of virgins and
wives.
st. Vincent de PAUL. is the patron of charities.
81: Camillus OF Lellis is the patron Of hos
pitfalls.
St. Sabine is invoked against govt and rheu-
matism.
st. Apollonia is invoked against toothache.
st. Benedict Joseph Labre is invoked against
lightning.
st. Roch is invoked against contagious dis
eases.
st. Barbara is invoked for the last
ST, BlaSe prevents and cures sore thrOats-