The Bolivar bulletin. (Bolivar, Tenn.) 1888-1946, 1892-03-25

1
never die Turner, the painter, in
whose praise John Rusl1in expended
the greatest genius of his life. was the
SON of barber who advertised "a
penny a shave" DIR. Prideaux, one of
the greatest scholars of all time, earn
ing his way through college by scour-
ing pots and pans The late Judge
| Bradley worked his own way up from
a charcoal burner to the bench of the
supreme court of the United States.
Yes, man can decide the size of his
own bedstead.
Notice. furthermore, that even
giants must rest Such enormous
physical endowment on the part of
King Og might suggest the capacity so
stride across all fatigue and omit slum-
Der. No. He required an iron bed
stead. Giants must rest Not appre-
ciating that fact, how many of the
giants yearly break down. Giants in
business. giants in art, giants in elo-
quence, giants i'm usefulness. They
live not out more than half their days.
They try to escape the consequences of
overworh by a voyage across the sea
or sail in a summer yacht, or call
on physicians for relief from in
somnia, or restoration of unstrung
nerves, or the arrest of apoplexies.
when all they need IS what this giant
of my text resorted to-an iron bed
stead. Let no one think. because he
has great strength of body or mind,
that he can afford to trifle with his I'M
usual gifts The commercial world,
the literary world, the artistic world,
the political world, the religious world,
are all the time aquake with the crash
of falling giants King Og, no doubt,
had a throne. King Og, no doubt, had
a crown, but the Bible never mentions
his crown. King Og, no doubt.
had scepter, but the Bible
does not mention his scepter. Yet
one of the largest verses of the
Bible is taken up in describing his bed
stead. SO God, all up and down the
Bible, hOnors asleep. Adam, with his
head on pillow of Edenic roses, has
his slumber blest by Divine gift of
beautiful companiopship. Jacob, with
his head on a pillow of rock. has his
sleep glorified with ladder filed with
descending and ascending angels
Christ, with pillow made out of the
folded-up coat of fisherman, honors
slumber in the back part of the storm
tossed boat.
The only case of accident to sleep
mentioned in the Bible was when
Eutychus fell from a window during
sermon of Paul, who had preached un-
til midnight, but that was not so much
a condemnation of sleep as n censnre
of long sermons More sleep is what
the world wants Economize in every
thing but sleep. William II. Seward,
the renowned secretrry of state, in the
midst of his overmastering tolls longed
for the capacity to rest, writing in his
memorandum book: 81 have never
found but one invaluable recipe for
having good nights rest, and that is
to have been restless and sleepless the
night before" When President John
Quincy Adams and the distinguished
Josiah Quincy went to hear Judge
Story lecture on law to his students,
and, when invited to sit beside the
Judge and both fell asleep, the Judge
appropriately pointed to them, and
said to his students: 'Behold the evil
effects of early rising" In Bible times,
when people arose at the voice of the
bird, they retired at the time the bird
puts his head under his wing. One of
our national sins is robbery of sleep.
Walter Scott was so urgent about this
duty of slumEer, that when arriving at
a hotel whsre there was no room to
sleep in except that in which there was
a corpse, inquired if the deceased had
died of contagious disease, and, when
assured he had not, took the other bed
in the room and fell asleep in the pro-
foundest slumber. Those of small en-
durance must certainly require rest if
even the giant needs an iron bedstead.
Notice, furthermore, that Gods peo-
pie on the way to Canaan need not be
surprised if they confront some sort of
giant. Had not the Israelitish host
had trouble enough already? No! Red
sea not enough. Water famine not
enough. Long marches not enough.
Opposition by enemies of ordinary
stature not enough. They must meet
Og, the giant of the iron bedstead.
Mine cubits was the length thereof
and four cubits the breadth of it."
Why not let these Israelites go
smoothly into Canaan without this
gigantic opposition. Oh, they needed
to have their courage and faith
further tested and developed And
blessed the man, who in our time,
in his march toward the promised land.
does not meet more than one giant. Do
not conclude that you are not on the
way to Canaan because of this cbsta-
Gle. As well might the lsraelites con-
clude they were not on the way to the
promised land because they met Og,
the giant Standing in your ws,y is
some evil propensity, some social perse-
cution, some business misfortune, some
physical Distress Not one of you but
meets giant who would like to hew
you in twain. Higher than eleven
feet this Og darkens the sky, and the
rattle of his bucl1ler stuns the ear
But, you are going to get the vic
tory, as did the Israelites. In the
name of the God of Moses and
David and Joshua and Paul, charge
on him. and you will leave his carcass
in the wilderness You want battle |
shout, lake that with which David,
the fve-footer, assaulted Goliath, the
nine-footer, when that giant cried. with
singing contempt both in manner and
intonation: Come to me, and l will
give thy flesh unto the fowls of the
air and to the beasts of the field" and
David looked up at the monster of
braggadocio, and defiantly replied: |
Thou contest to me with a sword
and with a spear and with a shield: |