The Globe-republican., 1892-01-21
About lS9S.


ing characteristic comments as he read,
and then preached from the ominous
words, Jeremiah x1Iviii, 16, This year
thou shalt die"
jeremiah, accustomed to saying bold
things addressed HAnaniah in these
words They proved true. In sixty
days Rananiah had departed this life
This is the first Sabbath of the year.
It Is q time for review and for an
ticipation. A man must be a genius at
stupidity who does not think now. 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. II is only
two days old, but l prophesy for it al
eyentfuI future Year Of mirth and
madnessl Year of pageant and confla
grafton! 1t will laugh; it will sing; it
will grosn: it will die.
Is it not time for earnest thought?
The congratulations have been given.
The Christmas trees have been taken
dows or have well nigh cast their fruit.
TIE friends who came for the holidays
are gone in the rail train. While We are
looking forward to another twelve
months Of intense activities the text
breaks upon Us like bursting thunder
head, This year thou shalt die!'
The text will probably prove true Of
some OF Us. The proba bility is aug
mented by the fact that all OF Us who
are over 35 years OF age have gone be-
yond the average Of human life. The
note Is more than due. 1t is only by
suffersnce that it is not collected. We
are like q debtor who is taking the
''three days grace of the banks Our
time. We read Of but one antediluviaA
youth whose early death disappointed
the hopes of his parents by his dying at
TT years OF age. The world then NAV
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, be makes great achieve
mentS; but what must the artists and
philosophers have done who mad 900
years before them? In the nearly two
thousand years before the food, conSid-
ering the longevity of the inhabitants,
there may have been nearly as many
people as there are now. The food was
not freshet, that washed a few people
of plank. but a disaster that may have
swept away thousand million. II the
Atlantic Ocean by lurch Of the earth
tonight should drown this hemisphere
and the Pacific Ocean by sudden lurch
Of the earth should drown the other
hemisphere, leaving about as many be-
ngs as could be got in one or two ocean
steamers, il would give you an idea Of
what the ancient food was
At that time God started the race with
. shorter allowance OF life. The 900
years were hewn down until, in the time
Df Hespastan, a census was taken and
onlS l24 persons were fouud 100 years
I'D and three or four persons 40 years
Did. Now man who has core TO 100
years OF age is curiosity, and we go
miles To see him. The vast majority of
the race passes off before twenty years.
To every apple there are five blossoms
that never get to be apUleS. In the
church the sexton rings the bell
rapidly until almost through and then
tolls t. For awhile the bell OF our life
rings right merrily; but with some of
you the bell has begun to toll, and the
adaptednesS 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 sap
ping of the brain and nerve foundations.
men in this country are driven
with whip and spur to their topmoSt
speed Not one brain worker out of q
hundred observes any moderation. There I
S something SO stimulating in our eli |
nate that if John Brown, the eSSayist OF |
Edinburg, had lived here, he would have !
broken down al 35 instead OF 55, and |
Charles Dickens would have dropped at
10. There is something in all our occu-
oations which prediSpoSes 10 disease. II /
We DE stout, to disorders ranging from !
everS TO apoplexy. If We be frail. to .
diseases ranging from consumption to 1
PARALYSIS. Printers rarely reach fifty /
-ears. Watchmakers, in marking the /
ime .or others, shorten their own.
)hemists breathe death in their labora-
ories, and potterS ABSORB paralysis. |
Painters fall under their own brush. |
take death in with the /.
liingS SnotW3hCIs pOuHu away lnelr
WA lives on the last. Overdriven mer-
hanss measure off their own lives with
ne yardstick. MillerS grind their own
ives with the grist- Ma>ons dig their
raves with the trowel. And in all our
and professions there are
he elements OF peril.
Rapid climatic changes threaten our
ives. By reason Of the violent fits of
he thermometer, within two DAYS We
i've both in the artic and the tropic. The
vsrm south wind finds US with our furs
n. The wintry blast cuts through our
hin apparel, The hoof, the wheel. the
rearm, the assassin. wait their chance
o put upon Us their quietuS l an
ounce it as an imposSibili.y that 365
ayS should pass and leave US all as We
ow are. In what direction to shoot
he arrow l know not, and so shoot it
{ . venture. This year thou shalt
ie"
In view of this. advise that you have
our temporal matters adjusted. Do not
ave your worldly affairs at the mercy
{ administrators. Have your receipts
roperly pasted, and your letters filed.
II u