The Lexington dispatch. [volume] (Lexington, South Carolina) 1870-1917, 1896-06-03

selling weeds Of grief. The stone cutters
send in proposals for monument. The
minister at the obsequies reads OF the
resurrection, which makes the hearers
fear that if the unscrupulous fnancier
does come up in the general rising, he
will try to get corner on tombstones
and graveyard fences. All good men are
glad that the moral nuisance has been
removed. The Wall street speculators
are glad because there is more room for
themselves. The heirs are glad because
they get possession Of the long delayed
inheritance. Dropping every feather of
all his plumes, every certificate OF all
his stock, every bond of all his invest
ments, every dollar Of all his fortune,
he departs, and all the rolling of Dead
March" in "Saul, :" and all the pageantry
of his interment, and all the exquisite
ness of sarcophagus, and all the extrav-
agance of epitaphology, cannot hide the
fact that my text has come again to tre-
mendous fulfillment, "Men shall clap
their hands at him and shall hiss him
out Of his place."
You see the clapping comes before
the hiss. The world cheers before it
damns. So it is said the deadly asp
tickles before it stings. Going up, is he:
Hurrah! Stand back and let his gallop-
ing horses dash by, a whirlwind of
plated harness and tinkling headgear
and arched neck. Drink deep of his
madeira and cognac. Boast Of how well
you know him. All hats off as he passes.
Bask for days and years in the sunlight
of his prosperity. Going down, is he?
Pretend to be nearsighted so that you
cannot see him as he walks past. When
men ask ycu if you know him, halt and
hesitate as though you were trying to
call up dim memory and say, "Well,
Yes, yes, 7 believe / once did know
him, but have not seen him for long
while" Cross different ferry from the
one where you used to meet him lest he
ask for financial help. When you started
life, he spoke good word for yeu.at the
bank. Talk down his credit now that
his fortunes are collapsing. He put his
name on two Of your notes. Tell him
that you have changed your mind about
such things, and that you never indorse.
After awhile his matters come to dead
halt, and an assignment or suspension
or sheriff's sale takes place. You say:
"Ee ought to have stopped sooner. Just
as expected. He made too big splash
in the world. Glad the balloon has
burst. Ha, har' Applause when he
went up, sibilant derision when he came
down. "Men shall clap their hands at
him and hiss him out Of his place." So,
high up amid the crags, the eagle fut-
ters dust into the eyes Of the roebuck,
which then, with eyes blinded, goes
tumbling over the precipice, the great
antlers crashing on the rocks.
Consecrated to God.
Now, compare some Of these goings
out Of life with the departure Of men
and women who in the drama Of life
take the part that God assigned them
and then went away honored Of men
and applauded Of the Lord Almighty.
1t is about 80 years ago that in COM
paratively small apartment Of the city
newly married pair set up home.
The first guest invited to that residence
was the Lord Jesus Christ, and the Bi-
BILE given the bride on the day Of her
espousal was the guide Of that house
hold. Days Of sunshine were followed
by days Of shadow. Did you ever know
home that for so years had no vicis-
situde? The young woman who left her
fathers house for her young husbands
home started out with parental bene-
diction and good advice she will never
forget Her mother said to her the day
before the marriage: "Now, my child,
you are going away from US. Of course,
as lon4as your father and I live you
will feel that you can come to Us at any
time. But your home will be elsewhere.
From long experience find it is best to
serve God. 1t is very bright with you
now, my child, and you may think you
can get along without religion, but the
day will come when you will want
God, and my advice is, establish fam
lily altar, and, if need be, conduct the
worship yourself" The counsel was
taken, and that young wife consecrated
every room in the house to God.
Years passed on and there were in
that home hilarities, but they were good
and healthful, and Sorrows but they
were comforted. Marriages as bright as
orange blossoms could make them, and
burials in which all hearts were riven.
They have family lot in the cemetery,
but all the place is illuminated with
stories Of resurrection and reunion. The
children Of the household that lived
have grown up, and they are all Chris
tians, the father and mother leading the
way and the children following. What
care the mother took of wardrobe and
education, character and manners! How
hard she sometimes worked! When the
head Of the household was unfortunate
in business, she sewed until her fingers
were numb and bleeding at the tips.
And what close calculation Of economies