Ceredo advance. [volume] (Ceredo, W. Va.) 1885-1939, 1894-01-10

shortened Lives; or, A Cheerful Good.
by TO lS9s.' The text selected wa,
: Isaiah lvii l., 1.-The righteous is taken
away from the evil to come"
We have written for the lsst TINA 4
the head of our letters and bushes,
documents the figures 1898. With this
day closes the year. In January last
we celebrated its birth Today we MT.
tend it's obsequies Another twelv.
months have been cut out of our earth
ly continuance, and IL is time for ab-
sorbing reflection. We all spend much
time in panegyric of longevity. We
consider 1t great thing to live to be
An octogenarian. IL any one dies in
youth. we say, what pityw DIR
Muhlenberg in old age said that the
hymn written in early life by his own
hand no more expressed his sentiment
when it said,
would not live Away.
IL one be pleasantly circumstanced
he never wants to 60. William Cullen
Bryant, the great poet, at 81 years of
age, standing in my house in a festal
group reading "rhanatopsis" without
spectacles, was just as anxious to live
as Wien at IS years of age he wrote
che Immortal threnody. Cato feared
at SO years OF age that he would not
live tolearn Greek. Monaldesco nj 115
years, writing the history of his time.
feared n collapse. Theophrastus writ
ing book at 90 years of age was anx-
lous to live to complete il. Thurlow
weed at SO years of age found life as
great desirability rs when he snuffed
out his first politician. Albert Barnes.
- well prepared for the next world. nj
30 said he would rather STAY here. So
1T is all the way down. suppose that
the last timeta NJ ethuselah was out of
doors in storm he was afraid of get
ting his feet wet lest il shorten his
days Indeed i some time ago preached
a sermon on the blessings of longevity.
but in this, the last day of 1898, and
when many are filed with sadness Mt
the thought that another chapter of
their life Is closing, and that they have
800 days less tolive, propose To preach
TO you about the advantages of an
abbreviated earthly existence.
al We're an agnostic, ! would say n
man Is blessed in proportion TO the
number OF years he can stay on terra
nrma, because after that he falls off
toeks. and If he is ever picked out
of the depths it is only to be set up
an some morgue of the universe to see
If any body will claim him. If | thought
God made man only to last forty or fif-
~ or one hundred years, and then he
was to go into annihilation, | would
say his chief business ought to be to
keep alive and even in good weather to
be very cautious, and 20 carry an UNI
brella and take overshoes and life pre-
servers and bronze armor and weapons
OF defense lest he fall off into nothing
ness and obliteration.
But, my friends, you are not agnos-
tics You believe in immortality and
the eternal residence of the righteous
IN Heaven, and therefore first remark
that an abbreviated earthly existence
isto be desired, and ~ n blessing be-
cause it makes ones life work very com
epact Some men go TO business az sew
en- clock in the morning and return
at seven in the evening. Others 90 at
eight o'clock and return at twelve.
others go at ten and return at four.
have friends who are ten hours n dav
pm business, others who are five hours,
<others who are one hour. They all do
Their work well-they do their entire
work, and then they return Which
position do you think the most desira-
Eole? You say, other things being
tequal, the man who is the shortest time
fdetained in business and who can re-
turn home the quickest is the most
blessed.
Now, my friends, why not carry that
good sense into the subject OF transfer
ence from this world? II a person die
IN childhood, he gets through his work
at nine o'clock in the morning II he
die at As years of age, he gets through
his work at twelve o'clock noon II he
die at 20 years of age, he gets through
his work at five o'clock in the after
noon. If he die at 90, he has to toll all
the way up to eleven o'clock at night
The sooner we get through our work
the better. The harvest all in barracls
or barn, the farmer does not sit down
in the stubble field, but, shouldering
his scythe and taking his pitcher from
under tree, he makes n straight line
for the old homestead All we want TO
be anxious about is 20 get our work
done and well done; the quicker the
better
Again. there is blessing in an alb
breviated earthly existence in the fact
that moral disaster might come upon
the man IL he tarricd longer man
Who had been prominent in churches,
and who had been admired for his gem
crosby and kindness everywhere, for
forgery was sent TO state prison for
fifteen years. Twenty years before
there was no more probability OF that
mans committing commercial dis
honesty than that you will The
number OF men who fall into
ruin between fifty and seventy
years OF age is simply appalling. Il;
they had died thirty years before. IL
wo1id ave been better for them and
better for their families. The shorter
-he voyage the less chance for cy-
clone.
There is a wrong theory abroad that
II ones youth be right, his old age will
be right. You might as we'll say there is
nothing wanting for a ships safety cN-
cept TO get IL fully launched on the At
lantic ocean. have sometimes asked
those who were schoolmatcs or college
mates OF some great defrauder: What
kind OF boy was he? What kind Of a
young man was hep" anl they have
said: why, he was "a splendid fellow.
] had no idea he could ever 20 into such
an outrage The fact is the great
temptation Of life sometimes comes
Gar on In midlife or in old age.
The first time ! crossed the At1a,Gc