The Dickinson press. (Dickinson, Stark County, D.T. [i.e. N.D.]) 1883-1927, 1892-01-16
THE NEW YEAR.
The Outlook for Eighteen Hundred
and Ninety-'lwo.

During the Coming Twelve Months
"Th0u Shalt Die.
BROOKLYN, N. Y.,-Ispecial. DIR.
Talmage' read several passages
relating to antediluvian longevity,
making characteristic comment as he
read, and then preached from the
ominous words, jeremiah xviii, l6;
"Tbis year thou shalt die"
jeremiah, accustomed to saying
bold things, addresses Hannaniah in
these words. They prove true. In 60
days Hannaniah had departed this
life.
This is the first Sabbath ofthe year.
1t is Il time for review and tor antici-
patton. a man must be genius at
stupidity who does not think so. The
old year died in giving birth to the
new, as the life OF Jane Seymour, the
English queen, departed when that OF
her son, Edward vi, dawned. The
old year was a queen. The new shall
be king. The grave OF the one and
the cradle OF the other are side by
side. We can hardly guess what the
child will be. 1t is only two days old,
but prophesy for it an eventful
future. Year OF mirth and madness!
Year of pageant and conhagration?
1t will laugh; it will sing; 1T will groan;
it will die.
Is it not a time for earnest thought?
The congratulations have been given.
The Christmas trees have been taken
down, or have well-n;gh cast their
fruit. The friends who came for the
holidays are gone on the rail train.
While we are looking forward to
! another l2 months OF intense activi-
ties, the text breaks upon us like a
bursting tlunderbolt: ".rhis year thou
shalt die"
The text will probably prove true
OF some OF us. The probability is
augmented by the fact that all OF us
who are over 35 years OF age have
gone beyond the average of human
life. The note is more than due. 1t
is only by sutferance that it is not
collected. We are like a debtor who
is taking the "three days grace" of
the banks. Our r,,cc started with
900 years for Il lifetime. We read of
but
ONE ANTEDlLIJNIAN YOUTH
whose early death disappointed the
hopes OF his parents by dying at TIT
years OF age. The world then may
have been ahead OF what it is now,
for men had SO long time in which
to study, and invent and plan. Ii an
artist or philosopher has forty years
for work he makes great achieve
ments; but what must the artists and
philosophers have done who had 900
years before them? In the nearly
1000 years before the flood, consid-
eling longevity of the inhabitants,
there may have been nearly as many
people as there are now. The flood
was not q freshet, that washed few
people Off q plank, but disuster
that may have swept away one thou
sand million. Ii the Atlantic ocean,
by u sudden lurch OF the earth this
night should drown this hemisphere,
and the Pacific ocean, by IL sudden
lurch OF the earth, should drown the
other hemisphere leaving about as
many beings as could be got in one or
two ocean steamers, it would give
you an idea OF what the ancient flood
| was.
At that time God started the race
with a shorter allowance of life. The
900 years were hewn down until, in
the time OF Nespasian, u census was
taken and only 124 persons were
found 100 years old, and three or
four persons 40 years old. Now q
man who has come to 100 years Of
age is curiosity. and we 90 miles to
see him. The vast majority of the
race pass off before 20 years. To
every apple there are five blossoms
that never get to be apples. In the
country church the sexton rings the
bell rapidly until almost through,
and then tolls it. For while the
bell OF our life rings right merrily; but
with some OF you the bt-llhas begun o
toll, and the adaptcdncss of the text
to you is more and more probable:
"This year thou shalt die"
The character OF our occupations
adds to the probability. Those who
are in the professions are undergoing
A sAPPING OF THE BRAIN
and nerve foundations. Literary
men in his country are driven with
whip and spur TO their topmost speed.
Not one brainworker out of u hun
dred observes any moderation. There
is something so stimulating in our
climate, that ii John Brown, the
essayist of Edinburgh, had lived here,
he would have broken down ut 35
instead OF 50, and Charles Dickens
would have dropped at 40. There is
something in all our occupations which
predisposes to disease. five he stout,
to disorders ranging from fevers to
apoplexy. Ii we he frall, to diseases
ranging from consumption to paral-
ysis. Printers rarely reach so years.
Watchmakers, in making time for
others, shorten their own. Chemists
breathe death IN their Laboratories
and potters absorb paralysis. Paint
ers fall under their own brush. Foun-
irymen take their death IN with the
filings. Shoemakers pound away
their own lives on the last. Over
driven merchants measure off their
own lives with theyard- stick. A1illers
grind their own lives with the grist.
Masons dig their own graves with the
trowel. And i'll all our occupations and
professions there are the elements OF
peril.
Rapid climatic changes threaten our
lives. BY reason OF the violent fits OF
the thermometer. within two days we
live both in the artic and the tropic.
The warm south winds finds us with
our furs on. The wintry blast cuts
thin apparel. Thehoof, the wheel, the
firearms, the assassin, wait their
chances to put upon us their quietus.
announceit as an impossibility that
365 days should pass ana leave us all
as we now are In what direction to
shoot the arrow know not, and so |
shoot it at the venture: "This year