The intelligencer. [volume] (Lexington, Mo.) 1887-1891, 1890-09-06

Now you are being in some department
successful, your success chills some one.
Those men who used to sympathize with
you stand along the street, and they
scowl at you from under the rim of their
hats. You nave more money or more
influence than they have, and you ought
to be scowled at from under he rim of
their hats. You catch a word or two as
you pass by them. "Stuck up" says
one. "Got it dishonesty" say an
other. "Will burst soon,' says a third.
Every stone in your new house is laid
on their hearts. Your horses hoofs
went over their nerves.
Every item of your success has been
spair. Just as 20 as in any respect
you rise above your fellows, If you are
more virtuous, If you are more wise. II
you arc more influential, you cast a
shadow on the prospect Of others. The
road to honor and success Is within
reach of the enemy's guns. Jealousy
says: "Stay down OF I'll knock you
down" ~ do not like you" said the
snowflake to the snowbird. "Why don't
you like me?' said the snowbird. 80"
said the snowflake, you are going up
and ! am coming Town." Young mer-
chants, young lawyers, young doctors,
young mechanics, young artists, young
farmers, at certain times there we're
those to sympathize with you, but now
that you are becoming master of your
particular occupation or profession, how
is it now young lawyers, young doctors,
young artists. young armers-how is 1t
now? The greatest crime that you can
vommit Is the crime of success.
Again, my subject impresses me with
the value of decision Of character in any
department. Daniel knew hat II he
continued his adherence to the religion
of the Lord he would be hurled to the
lions, but having set his compass we'll
he sailed right on.
For the lack of that element Of de-
cision of character so eminent in Daniel
many men are ruined for this world and
ruined for the world so come. A great
many at forty years of < are not set
tied in any respect. because they have
not been able to make up their mind.
Perhaps they will go West. Perhaps
they will go East. Perhaps they will
not. Perhaps they will go North. Per-
haps they may go South. Perhaps they
will o Perhaps they may make that
investment in real estate or in railroads.
Perhaps they will not. They are like
n steamer that should go out OF New
York harbor. starting for Glasgow, and
the next day should change for Havre
de Grace, and the next for Charleston,
and the next for Boston, and the next
for Liverpool. These men on the sea
of life are everlastingly lacking ship
and making no Roadway. Or they are
like n man who starts to build a house
in the Corinthian style and changes it
to Doric, and then completes it in the
Ionic, and is cursed by all styles Of
architecture.
Young man, start right and keep on.
Have decision of character. Character
is like the goldfnch of Tonquin; it is
magnificent while standing firm, but
loses all its beauty in flight. How much
decision of character in order that these
young men may be Christians! Their
old associates make sarcastic filings at
them. They go on excursions and they
do not invite them. They prophecy
that he will give out. They wonder If
he is not getting wings. AS he passes
they grimace, and wink. and chuckle,
and say: There goes a saint"
young man! have decision Of char
acter. You can afford in this matter Of
religion to be laughed at. What do you
care for the SCOTS of these men, who are
affronted because you will not go to
ruin with them? When the grave
cracks open under their feet, and grim
messengers push them into 1t, and
eternity comes down hard upon their
spirit, and conscience stings, and hope
less ruin lifts them up to hurl them
down, will they laugh then?
1 learn also from my subject that men
may take religion into their worldly
business. Daniel had enough work to
do to occupy six men. All the affairs of
state were in his hands-questions OF
finance, questions of war, of peace, all
international questions were for his
settlement or adjustment. He must
have had a correspondence vast beyond
all computation. There was not a man
in all the earth who had more to do
than Daniel, the Secretary of State, and
yet we find him three times a day bow
ing before God in prayer. There are
men in our day who have not a hun
dredth part of Daniels engagements,
who say they are too busy. to be relig-
ious They have an idea somehow that
religion will spoil their worldly occupa-
ton, that it will trip the accountants
pen or dull the carpenters saw, or con-
f,an thn Ia ,o, Irtnf ~. Itano-o
the merchants store shelf. They think
religion is impertinent. They would
like to have it very we'll seated beside
them in church on the Sabbath, to find
the place in the psalm book, or to
nudge them awake when they get sleepy
under the didactic ~discourse; or they
would like to leave it in the pew on
Sabbath evening, as they go out closing
the door, saying: Good night, religion;
I'll be back next Sunday" But to have
religion go right along by them all
through life. to have religion looking
over their shoulder when they are max
q bag of dishonest gold and shake it,
and say: "Ha! ha! where did you get
that?" They think that Is an imperti-
nent religion. They would like to have
a religion to help them when they are
sick, and when the shadow of death
comes over them they would like to
have a religion as a sort of night-key
with which to open the door Of Heaven,
but religion under other circumstances
they take to be an impertinence. Now,
my friends. religion never robbed a man
of a dollar. Other things being equal,
a mason will build a better wall, a cab
plumber will make a better pipe, a law-
yer will make a better plea, a merchant
will sell a better bill Of goods.
l say other things being equal. OF
course when religion gives q man a new
heart, it does not propose to give him q
new head, or to ~intellectualize him or to
change Il mans condition when his Or
binary state is an overthrow of the
philosophical theory that total vacuum
Is impossible; out the more letters you
have to write, the more burdens you
have to carry, the more miles you have
to travel, the more burdens you have to
lift, the more engagements you have to
meet, the more disputes you have to
settle, the more opportunity you have
of being a Christian.
II you have n thousand irons in the
fire, you have a thousand more oppor-
tunities of serving God than IL you had
only one iron in the fire. Who so busy
as Christ? And yet who a millionth
part as holy? The busiest men the best
men. All tho persons converted in
Scripture were busy at the time Of their
being converted. Matthew attending
to the custom house duties; the Prod