The Iola register. [volume] (Iola, Allen County, Kansas) 1875-1902, 1894-10-05

/ eartn is a peacock when 1t has lost It's
feathers. would not give one lock of
i my old mothers gray hair for $4,000
such caricatures of humanity And if
the life of wording, if the life of a
disciple given to the world is sad. the
close of such a life is simply tragedy.
Let me tell you that the designations
of social life are despoiling the useful
ness of a vast multitude of people.
What do those people care about the
| fact that there are whole nations in
sorrow and suffering and agony, when
they have for consideration the more
important question about the size of
a glove or the tie of cravat? Which
of them ever bound up the wounds of
the hospital? Which one of them ever
went out to care for the poor? Which
of them do you find in the haunts of
sin distributing tracts? They live on
themselves, and it is very poor pasture.
Sybaris was great city, and it once
sent 300 horsemen in battle. They
had a minstrel who had taught the
horses of the army great trick, and
when the old minstrel played certain
tune the horses would rear, and with
| Their front feet seem to beat time to
the music. Well. the old minstrel was
offended with his country. and he went
over to the enemy, and he said to the
enemy: You give me the mastership
of the army and / will destroy their
troops when those horsemen come from
Sybaris." So they gave the old minstrel
| the management, and he taught all
| the other minstrels a certain tune.
! Then when the cavalry troop came up
the old minstrel and all the other
minstrels played n certain tune, and at
the most critical moment in the battle,
when the horsemen wanted to rush to
the conflict, the horses reared and beat
time to the music with their forefeet,
and in disgrace and rout the enemy
| fed. All! my friends, l have seen it
| again and again-the minstrels of
pleasure, the minstrels of dissipation,
the minstrels of goddess association
| have defeated people in the hardest
| fight of life. Frivolity has lost the
battle for ten thousand folk.
You know as well as | do that the
| designations of social life are destroy
| ing thousands and tens of thousands Of
people, and it is time that the pulpits
lifted their voices against them, for I
now prophesy the eternal misfortune
of all those who enter the rivalry.
In my parish of Philadelphia there
was a young woman brilliant as a
spring morning. She gave her life to
the world. She would come to relig
| ious meetings and under conviction
would for little while begin to pray,
and then would rush Of again into the
disciplcship of the world. She had all
the world could offer of brilliant
| social position. One day a flushed
and excited messenger asked
me to hasten to her house, for
she was dying. l entered the room.
There were the physicians, there was
the mother, there lay this disciple of
the world. / asked her some questions
in regard to the soul. She made no
answer. knelt down to pray. arose
again, and desiring to get some express
sion in re gard to her eternal interests,
1 said: Have you any hope?' and then
for the first time her lips moved in
whisper as she said: mo hope" Then
she died. The world. she served it,
and the world helped her not in the
last. And | tell the hundreds and thou
sands of young people who may read
this sermon, the world will laugh with
you when you laugh, and romp with
you when you romp, but they will not
weep with you when you die.
wish from my heart that | could
marshal all the young people in this
land to an appreciation of the fact that
you have an earnest work in life, and
your amusements and recreations are
only to help you along in that work.
At the time of a religious awakening a
Christian young woman spoke to man
in regard to his souls salvation. He
fioated out into the world. After
awhile she became worldly in her Chris
tan profession. The man said one day:
'Well, am as safe as she is. j was
Christian, she said she was a Christian.
She talked with me about my soul; if
she is safe l am safe" Then a sudden
accident took him off without an oppor-
tunity to utter one word of prayer.
Do you not realize, have you not no
ticed, young men and old-have you
not noticed that the designations of So
cial life are blasting and destroying
vast multitude? With many life is
masquerade ball, and as at such enter
tainments gentlemen and ladies put on
the garb of kings and queens or
mountebanks or clowns, and at the
close put off the disguise, so great
=
taking off the mask of death. While
the masquerade ball of life goes on,
they trip merrily over the floor,
gemmed hand is stretched to
gemmed hand. and cleaning brow
bends to cleaning brow. On with the
dance, Flush and rustic and laugh
ter of unreasonable merry-making.
But after awhile the languor of
death comes on the limbs and blurs the
with sepulchral echo. Music saddened
into a wall. Lights lower. Now the
maskers are only seen in the dim light.
Now the fragrance of the flowers are
like the sickening odor that comes
from garlands that have lain long in
the vaults of cemeteries. Lights lower.
M:sts gather in the room. Glasses !
shake as though quaked by sullen |
thunder. Sigh caught in the curtain. |
Scarf drops from the shoulder
of beauty, a shroud. Lights lower.
Over the slippery boards in
dance of death glide jealousies, envies
revenges. lust, despair and death.
Stencil the lamp-wicks almost extin-
guished. Torn garlands will not half
cover the liberated feet. Choking |
damps. Chilliness- Feet still. Hands |