The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1894-07-16

tered is the laugh of the skeptic.
The next laughter mentioned in the
Bible is David's laughter, or the express
sion of spiritual exultatiOn. Then was
our mouth filed with laughter He got
very much down sometimes; but there
are other chapters where for four or five
times he calls upon the people to praise
and eXult. II was not a mere twitch of
the lips; it was a demonstration that
took hold of his whose physicalnature.
Then was our mouth filed with laugh
ter My friends this world will never
be converted to God until Christians cry
less and laugh and sing more. The bOr-
rors are poor bait. If people are to be
persuaded 10 adopt our holy religion, il
will be because they have made up their
minds it is q happy religion. They don't
like a morbid Christianity. I know
there are morbid people who enjoy a
funeral. They come early TO see the
friends take leave of the corpse; and they
steal a ride 10 the cemetery; but all
than they do a burial. Now, you make
the religion of Christ sepulchral and
hearselike and you make it repulsive. l
say, plant the rose of Sharon along the
church walks. and columbine to Chamber
over the church wall and have a smile
on the lip, and have the mouth filled with
holy laughter. There is no man in the
d
right 10 feel an untrammeled glee. He is
promised everything is TO be for the best
here, and be is on the way to a delight
which will take all the professions with
palm branches, and all the orchestras
harped and cymbaled, and trumpeted TO
express. Co." you say, II have so much
trouble. Have you more trouble than Paul
had! What does he say7 "Sorrowful,
yet always rejoicing Poor, vet making
NJ VIC of OF
ing all things" The merriest laugh l
think / ever heard has been in the sick
room of Gods dear children. When Thee
dosius was put upon the rack he suffered
very great torture at the first. Somebody
asked him how he endured all that pain
on the rack. He replied: When l was
first put on the rack | suffered a great
DEAL but very soon a young man in white
stood by my side. and with soft and COM
Portable handkerchief he wiped the sweat
from my brow and my pains were re-
lieved IL was punishment for me to get
from the rack, because when the pain was
all gone, the angel was gone. - O rejoice
evermore. You know how it is in the
army-an army in encampment If to-
day news comes that our side has had
defeat, and tomorrow another portion of
the tidings come, saying we have had an
other defeat, it demoralizes all the host.
But il the news comes of victory to-day
and victory tomorrow the whole army
10 impassioned for the contest. Now, in
the kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ,
report fewer defeats, tell US the victories
victory over sin, and death, and hell.
Rejoice evermore, and again | say rejoice.
believe there is more religion in a laugh
than in a groan. Anybody can groan but
to laugh in the midst of Punishment, and
persecution, and Undesirable trial, that
required a David, a Daniel, a Paul, a
modern heroine.
The next laughter mentioned in the
Bible that l shall speak of is the FOOLS
laughter, or the expression of sinful mer-
riment Solomon was very quick at
smile when he makes comparison we
all catch it, What is the laughter of a
fool like3 He says: 1t is the cracking
of thOrns under a pot The kettle is
swung, a bunch of brambles is put under
it, and the torch is applied TO it, and there
is great noise, and a big blaze, and
sputter, and a quick extinguishment.
Then it is darker than it was before.
Fools laughter. The most misera BILE
thing on earth is bad man fun. There
they are-ten men in a barroom; they
have at home wives, mothers daughters.
The impure jest starts at one corner of
the barroom, and crackle, crackle,
crackle, it goes all around. In five
one item of happiness. They all
feel bemeaned, if they have any con-
science left Have nothing to do with
men or women who tell immoral stories.
have no confidence either in their
Christian character or their morality.
So, all merriment that springs out of the
defects of others-caricature of a lame
foot, or a curved spine, or a blind eye, or
deaf ear-will be met with the iudg-
ments of God either upon you. or upon
your children. Twenty years ago | knew
a man who was particularly skillful in
initiating the lameneSS of a neighbor.
Not long ago, a son of the skillful mimic
had his leg amputated for the very defect
which his father had mimicked years be-
fore. do not say it was Judgment of God
/ leave you to make your own inference
So, all merriment born ofdissipation, that
which starts at the counter of the drink
ing restaurant, or from the wineglass
in the home circle, the maudlin shipper,
the meaningless joke, the saturnalian glib
berish, the paroXysm of mirth about
nothing, which you sometimes see at the
fashionable club room or the exquisite
parlor at II o'clock at night are the
cracklingof thorns under a pot. Such
laughter and such sin end in death
When l was lad, a book came out en-
titled, 'Dow Juniors Patent Sermons"
1t made great stir-a very wide laugh
all over the country, that book did. 1t
was a caricature of the Christian minis
try, and the word of God, and of the day
of judgment O! we had a great laugh
The commentary on the whole thing is,
that the author of that book died in pow
erty, shame, debauchery; kicked out of
society, and cursed of Almighty God The
laughter of such men is the echo of their
own damnation.
The next laughter that shall mention
as being in the Bible, is the laugh of God S
condemnation: He that stitch in the
heavens shall laugh" Again: The Lord
will laugh at him" Again: Il will laugh
at his calamity" With such denoustra-
ton will God greet every kind of great sin
and wickedness. But men build up villa
MES higher and higher. Good men almost
pity God, because he is so schemed against
by men. Suddenly a pin drops out of
the machinery of wickedness. or a secret
is revealed, and the foundation begins TO
rock; finally, the whole thing is demol-
ished. What is the natter / will tell
you what the matter is. That crash of
ruin is only the reverberation Of Cod
laughter. In the money market there
are great many good men, and a great
many fraudulent men. A fraudulent
man there says II mean to have nv
million He goes to work reckless Of
honesty, and he gets his first l0O,0 600 dol
lars. He gets after awhile his 200, 900
dollars. After awhile he gets his 100000
dollars. Now he says, Il have only
mora mOvp tn mako and I sbaO !, 10