The Bolivar bulletin. (Bolivar, Tenn.) 1888-1946, 1893-06-16

nave linn speak 70 them; yet, although
he is SO high up in worldly position, he
Is not beyond the reach of Ehud's dag
ger. see great many people trying
to climb up in social position, having
an idea that there il safe place some
where far above, not knowing that the
mountain OF fame has top like Mont
Blanc, covered with perpetual snow.
We laugh at the children Of Shinar
for trying to build a tower that could
reach to the heavens; but think, if
our eyesight were only good enough,
we could see a Babel In many a door
yard. Obi the struggle is fierce. IT is
store against store, house against
house, street against street, nation
against nation The goal for which
men are running is chairs, and chande-
Tiers, and mirrors, and houses, and
presidential equipments. If they get
what they anticipate, what have they
got? Men are not safe from calumny
while they live, worse than that, they
are not safe after they are dead; for 4
have seen swine root up graveyards.
One day man goes up into publicity,
and the world does him honor, and
people climb up into sycamore trees to
watch him as he passes, and, as he
goes along on the shoulders of the peo-
pie, there is waving of hats and wild
huzza. Tomorrow the same man is
caught between the jaws of printing
press and mangled and bruised, and
the very same persons who applauded
him before cry: Down with the trait
or! Down with himr''
Belshazzar sits at the feast, the
mighty men of Babylon sitting all
around him. Wit sparkles like the
wine, and the wine like the wit. Music
rolls up among the chandeliers, the
chandeliers flash down on the de-
eanters. The breath of hanging gar
dens float in on the night air, the voice
of revelry floats out. Amidst wreaths
and tapestry, and folded banners, a
finger writes. The march of a host
is heard on the stairs. Laughter
catches in the throat. A thousand
hearts stop beating. The blow is
struck. The blood on the floor is
richer-hued than the wine on the ta-
BILE. The kingdom has departed. Bel
shazzar was no worse, perhaps, than
hundreds of others in Babylon, but his
position slew him. Oh, be content with
just such a position as God has placed
you in. 1t may not be said of US: ''He
was great general" or ''He was an
honored chieftain,r or ''He was mighty
in worldly attachments" but this thing
may be said of you and me: ''He was a
good citizen, faithful Christian, a
friend of Jesus" And that in the last
day will be the hig hest of all eulo-
gums.
/ learn further from this subject that
death comes to the summer house.
Eglon did not expect to die in that fine
place. Amidst all the flower leaves
that drifted like summer snow into the
window; in the tinkle and dash of the
fountains; in the sound of thousand
leaves futtering on one tree branch; in
the cool breeze the came to up shake
feverish trouble out of the kings locks
there was nothing that spake of
death, but there he diedl In the win
ter when the snow is a shroud, and
when the wind is dirge, it is easy to
think of our mortality, but when the
weather is pleasant, and, all our
surroundings are agreeable, how diff
fcult it is for us to appreciate
the truth that we are mortal And
yet my text teaches that death does
sometimes come to the summer house.
He is blind and can not see the leaves.
He is deaf and can not hear the foun-
tains. Oh, if death would ask us for
victims, we could point him to hun
dreds of people who would rejoice to
have him come. Push back the door of
haf ~ 1,o o1,i1 II
sick, and hungry. 1t has never heard
the name of God but in blasphemy.
Parents intoxicated, staggering around
its straw bed. Oh, death, there is a
mark for thee! Up with it into the
light! Before these little feet stumble
on life's pathway, give them rest.
Here is an aged man. He had done
his word. He has done it gloriously.
The companions of his youth are all
gone, his children dead, he longs to be
at rest, and wearily the days and the
nights pass. He says: Come, Lord
Jesus-come quickly" Oh, death, there
is mark for Thee! Take from him the
staff and give him the scepter! Up
with him into the light, where eyes
never grow dim and the hair whitens
not through the long years of eternity.
All, death will not do that. Death
turns back from the straw bed, and
from the aged man ready for the
skies, and comes to the sum-
mer house. What doest thou
here, thou bony, CHASTITY m ,nster,
amidst this waving grass, and under
this sunlight sitting through the tree
branches? Children are at play. How
quickly their feet go. and their locks
stand at the side of the room looking
on, enjoying their glee. 1t does not
seem possible that the wolf should
ever break into that fold and carry off
lamb. Meanwhile an old archer
stands looking through thiclzet. He
points his arrow at the brightest of the
group-He is a sure understandable
bow bends, the arrow speeds! Hush
nowl The quick feet have stopped,
and the locks toss no more in the wind.
Laughter has gone out of the hall.
Death in the summer house!
Here is father in mid-life; his com
ing home at night is the signal for
mirth. The children rush to the door,
and there are books on the evening
stand, and the hours PISS away on glad
feet. There is nothing wanting in that
home. Religion is there, and sacrifices
on the altar morning and night. You
look in that household and say: II can
not think of anything happier. dc
not really believe the world is SO sad a
place as some people describe it to be- y