Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1896-12-03

ordinary capacity without work Is ex
traOrdinary failure. There is no hope
for that person who begins life re-
solved to live by his wits, for the proba
bility is that he has not any. 1t was
not safe for Adam, even in his unfall-
en- state, to have nothing to do, and,
therefore, God comm 1nded him to be
a farmer and horticulturist. lie was
to dress the garden and keep it, and
had he and his wife obeyed the divine
injunction and been at work, they
would not have been sauntering under
the trees and hankering after that
fruit which destroyed them and their
posterity; proof positive for all
ages to come that those who do not at
tend to their business are sure to get
into mischief.
do not know that the prodigal in
Scripture would ever have been re-
claimed had he not given mp his idle
habits and gone to feeding swine for a
living. The devil does not so often at
tack the man who is busy with the
pen, and the book. and the trowel, and
the saw and the hammer. He is afraid
of those weapons. But woe to the
man whom this roaring lion meets
with his hands in his pockets.
Do not demand that your toll always
be elegant and clearly and refined
There IS certain amount of drudgery
through which we must all pass, W hat
ever be our occupation. You know
how men are sentenced to d certain
number Of years to prison, and after
rhayr ho ID ~,
time, then they are allowed to go
free. So it is with all of US. God
passed on us the sentences; BY the
sweat of thy brow shalt thou eat
bread" We must endure our time OF
drudgery, and then, after awhile, we
will be allowed to go in to comparative
liberty. We must be willing to en-.
dure the sentence. We all know what
drudgery is connected with the begin
ming of any trade or professions; but
this does not continue all our lives, If
it be the students, or the merchants,
or the mechanics life. know you
have at the beginning many hard
time, but after awhile these things
will become easy. You will be your
own master. Gods sentence will be
satisfied. You will be discharged from
prison.
Bless God that you have a brain to
think, and hands to work, aud feet to
walk with, for in your constant activ-
ity, 0, young man, is one of your
strongest defenses. Put your trust in
God and do your best. That child had
it right wnen the horses ran away
with the load of wood and he sat on it.
When asked if he was frightened, he
saiG: No, l prayed to God and hung
on like a beaver"
Respect for the Sabbath will be TO
the young man another preservative
against evil. God has thrust into the
toll and atigne Of life a recreative
day, wien the soul is especially to be
fed. 1t is no new-fangled notion Of Il
wild-brained reformer, but an institu-
ton esta bliShed at the beginning. God
has made natural and moral laws so
harmonious that the body as wei as
the soul demands this institu zion.
Our bodies are seven-day clocks, that
must be wound up as often as that or
they will run down. Failure must
come sooner or later to the man W no
breaks the Sabbath. Inspirat ton has
called it the Lords day, and he who
devotes it to the world is guilty of rob-
berry. God will not let the SIN 90 un-
punished either in this world or the
world to come.
This is the statement of a man who
has broken his Divine enactment: 81
was engaged in manufacturing on the
Lehigh river. On tie Sabbath | used
to rest, but never regarded God in it.
One beautiful Sd bbat tn when the noise
was all hushed, and the day was ali
that lOveliness could make it, / sat
down on my piazza, and went to work
inventing a new shuttle. l neither
stopped to eat nor drink till the sun
went down. By that time l had tbs in
ventiOn completed. The next morning
l exhibited it, and boosted of my days
work, and was applauded. The shut
tie was tried, and worked well, but
that Sabbath days work cost me S3O-
coo. We branched out and enlarged,
and the curse of Heaven was upon me
from that day onward"
While the Divine frown must rest
upon him who tramples upon this
on that young man who scrupulously
observes it. This, day, properly OBJ
served, with throw hallowed infiu.
ence over all the week. The song and
sermon and sanctuary will hold back
from presumptuous sins. That young
man who begins the duties of life with
either secret or open disrespect to the
holy day, venture to prophecy, will
meet with no permanent successes.
Gods curse will fall upon his ship, his
store, his office, his studio, his body
and his soul. The way of the wicked
He turneth upside down. In one Of
the old fables 1t was said that won
derful child was born in Bagdad, and
a magician could hear his footsteps
5000 miles away. But l can hear in
the footstep of that young man on his
way to the house of worship to-day
the step not only of lifetime of use
fulness, but the oncoming step of
eternal ages of happiness yet millions
of years away.
A noble ideal and confident expecta-
ton of approximating 20 it are an in
fallible defense. The artist completes
IN his mind the great thought that he
wishes to transfer to the canvas or the
marble before he takes up the crayon
or the chisel. The architect plans out
the entire structure before he orders
the workmen to begin, and though
there may for a long while seem to be
nothing but laundering and rudeness,
he has in his mind every Corinthian
wreath and Gothic arch and Byzantine