News and citizen. [volume] (Morrisville, Vt. ;) 1881-current, 1892-02-11

of the king of Babylon what a ter
rible thing is the loss of reason.
There is no calamity that can possibly
befall us in this world SO great as the
arrangement of intellect-to have
the body of a man and yet to fall
even below the instinct of brute. In
this world of sad sights the saddest is
the idiots stare. In this world of
awful sounds the most awful is the
maniacs laugh. A vessel on the
rocks, when hundreds go down never
to rise, and other hundreds drag their
mangled and shivering bodies up
the wintry beach, is nothing COM
pared to the laundering of intellects
full of vast hopes and attachments
and capacities Christ's heart went
out to those who were epileptic, fall
inc into the fire, or maniacs cutting
themselves among the tombs.
We are accustomed to be more
grateful for physical health than for
the proper working of our mind.
We are apt to take it for granted
that the intellect which has served
us so well will always be faithful.
We forget that an engine with such
tremendous power, when the wheels
| have such vastness of circle and such
swiftness of motion and the least i'm
pediment might put it out of gear,
could only be kept in proper balance
by divine hand. No human power
could engineer this train of immor-
tai faculties.
How strange it is that our memo
ry, on whose shoulders all the sue
cesses and misfortuneS and occur
rences of a lifetime are placed, should
not oftener break down, and that the
scales of Judgment, which have been
weighing so much and SO long, should
not lose their adjustment, and that
fancy, which holds dangerous
wand, should not sometimes mali
ciously wave it, bringing into the
heart forebodings and Authorizations
the most appalling Is it not strange
that the expectations of this intellect
should not be dashed to pieces on its
disappointments?
Though so delicately attuned, this
instrument of untold harmonies plays
on, though fear shocks it, and veXa-
tons rack it, and sorrow and joy and
loss and gain in quick succession beat
put of it their dirge or draw from it
their anthem. At morning and at
Whit when in your prayer you re-
aearse the objects OF your thanks
giving, next to your salvation by
e.,
preservation of your reason.
THE DEGRADATION BY ANODYNES.
How many fine intellects are being
/ destroyed by anodynes and an@sthet-
les, which were given by providence
! for occasional use in alienation of
pain or insomnia, but by being en-
/ ployed continuously after awhile cap
ture and destroy Choral, cocaine,
bromide of potassium, opium and
whole shelves of seductive etceteras
that help turn ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS into
imbecility or madness. Do not tribe
with opiates that benumb the brain.
Ii you cannot live without the per-
petual and enslaving use of them,
you had better die. Better die a sane
man than live a fool What right
have you to kill your brain and put
in wild jangle your nervous system?
But rum is the cause of more insanity
than anything else. There is moth
ing like rum to put man, like Nebu-
chadnezzar, down on all tours.
Again, learn how quickly turns the
wheel of fortune, from how high up
to how far down went Nebuchadnez-
Ear. Those now in places of position
and power, even though they should
live, will in a few years be disre
garded, while some, who this day
are obscure and poverty stricken,
will ride up on the shoulders of the
people to take their turn at admira-
ton and the spoils of Office. Oh,
| how quickly the wheel turns! Ballot
boxes are the steps on which men
come down as often as they go up
Of those who were a few years ago
successful in the accumulation of
property how few have not met with
reverses of fortune, while many of
those who then were straitened in
circumstances now hold the bonds
and the bank keys of the nation and
win the most bows on the exchange. |
OF all tickle people in the world
Fortune is the most tickle. Every
day she changes her mind, and woe
to that man who puts any confidence
in what she promises or proposes.
She cheers when you go up and she
laughs when you come down. Oh, |
trust not moment your hearts af-
fections to this changeable world |
Anchor your soul in God. From |
Christ's love gather your joy Then |
come sorrow or gladness, success or |
defeat, riches or poverty, honor or
disgrace, health OF sickness, life or
death, time or eternity, all are yours
and we are Christ's and Christ is !
Gods.
Learn also from my subject the
comforting truth that Affections are
arrested as soon as they have accom-
plished their mission. For seven |
years did Nebuchadnezzar dwell |
among the beasts of the field, but at |
the expiration of that time his rea- |
son returned, and as soon as with |
proper humility he acknowledged the |
God of heaven he was brought back |
to his palace and reinstated in his
former affiuence and power. Now
it does seem that when heavy trials
come upon us it is as though they
had no limit We exclaim, "All thy
waves and thy pillows have gone
over me, " but forget that the depth
of that sea and the power of that
billow are definitely determined.
God sees how much our pride is
and he sends just enough adversely
to humble it. He sees just how
worldly minded we are and pulls us
just hard enough to detach us from
our fOllies. He sees how hard our
heart is and smites just hard enough
to break it. He sees how our eyes
have been blinded and he cuts only
just enough to remove the scales
from our spiritual vision. AS soon
as Abraham's faith is sufficiently
tried the lamb is provided. AS soon
as Pharaoh consents to let the chill
dren of Israel depart the plague
pauses. As soon as the Israelites
have been sufficiently disciplined by
their wanderings they find their way
into Canaan. But to some the limit
is not set in this life. Their whole
pilgrimage is through the wilderness