The Canton times. (Canton, Miss.) 1893-1906, 1896-05-29

lures, destroy your respect for that re
ligion which was the strength Of YOU
a father in his declining years and thu
pillow of your old mother when shs
lay a-dying.
Again, urge you to shun the com
partnership of oilers. There are mer
hanging around every store, and office
and shop, who have nothing to do, OF
act as if they had not They are ap,
to come in when the firm are away,
and wish to engage you in conversa'
ton while you are engaged in your
regular employment. Politely suggest
to such persons that you have no time
to give them during business hours.
: Nothing would please them so well as
to have you renounce your occupation
and associate with them. Much OF the
time they lounge around the doors OF
engine houses, or after the dining
hour stand upon the steps OF a fash
ionable hotel or an elegant restau-
rant, wishing to give you the idea
that that is the place where they dine.
But they do not dine there. They are
sinking down lower and lower, day by
day. Neither by day or night have
anything to do with idlers. Before you
admit man into your acqu aintance
ask him politely: what do you do
for a living?" If he says, Nothing, l
am a gentleman" look out for him.
He may have a very soft hand, and
very faultless apparel, and have a
high-souhding family name, but his
touch is death. Before you know it,
you will in his presence be ashamed of
your work dress. Business will be-
come to you drugery, and after awhile
you will lose your place, and after
ward your responsibility, and last of
all your soul. Idleness is next to viii
lainy. Thieves, gamblers, burglars,
shoplifters and assassins are made
from the class who have nothing to do
When the police go to hunt up and ar
rest culprit, they seldom go to look
in at the busy carriage factory, or be-
hind the counter where diligent clerks
are employed, but they go among the
groups of idlers. The play is going
on at the theater, when suddenly
there is a scuffle in the top gallery.
What is it? A policeman has come
in, and, leaning over, has tapped
on the shoulder of young man,
saying: 81 want you, SIR" He has not
worked during the day, but somehow
has raked together shilling or two to
get into the top gallery. He is an
idler The man on his right hand is
an idler, and the man on his left hand |
is an idler.
young man came to m an of 80 |
years of age and said to him. How |
have you made out to live so long and |
be so well?" The old man took the
ing to some large trees full of apples,
said: II planted these trees when l
was a boy, and do you wonder that
now l am permitted to gather the fruit
off them?" We gather in old age
what we plant in youth. Sow to the
wind and we reap the whirlwind.
Plant in early life the right kind of
Christian character, and you will eat
luscious fruit in old age, and gather
these harvest apples in eternity.
urge you to avoid the perpetual
pleasure-seeker. l believe in recrea-
ton and amusement God would not
have made us with the capacity to
laugh if He had not intended us some
times to indulge it. God hath hung in
sky, and set in wave, and printed on
grass many roundelay; and he who
choose pleasure seeking for his life
work does not understand for what
God made him. Our amusements are
intended to help us in some earn
est mission. The thunder cloud
hath an edge exquisitely purpled,
but with voice that jars the earth
it declares: 81 go to water the green
fields" The wild flowers under the
fence are gay, but they say: "We stand
here to make room for the wheat field,
and to refresh the husbandmen in their
nooning." The stream sparkles and
foams and frolics and says: II go to
baptize the moss. leave the spots on
the trout. l Stake the thirst of the
bird. l turn the wheel of the mill. l
rock in my crystal cradle muckshaw
and water lily" And so, while the
world plays, it works. Look out for
the man who always plays and never
works.
Again, avoid as you would avoid the
death of your body, mind and soul
anyone who has in him the gambling
spirit. Men who want to gamble will
find places just suited to their capaci-
ty, not anly in the underground oyster
cellar, or at the table back of the cur
tain, covered with greasy cards, or in
the steam boat smoking cabin, where
the bloated wretch with rings in his
ears deals out his pack and winks at
the unsuspecting traveler-providing
free drinks all around-but in gilded
parlors and amid gorgeous surround