Highland recorder. (Monterey, Highland County, Va.) 1877-1972, 1896-05-29

y
| lions laid now by the young men VINO are
| giving themselves to self Improvement. L
| went into store In New York and saw i've
! men, all Christians sitting roundi saying
| that they had nothing to do 1t is an OUT
| rage for a Christian nj an to have nothing to
| do. Let him 20 out and visit the poor, or
| distribute tracts; or go and tead the Bible to
| The sick, or take out his New Testament and
be making his eternal fortune Let him go
| into the back Office and pray x,
Shrink back from idleness in yHarsef and
In others IL YOU would maintain right posi-
ton. Good old Ashbel Green at more than
eighty years OF age was found busy writing,
and some young man said to him: "Why do
you keep busy2 1t is time for you to rest.
He answered, III keep busy to keep out OF
mischief" No man Is strong enough to be
idle.
Are you fond OF plctures7 II so, 1 will
show you one Of the works OF an old master.
Here It Is: III went by the field Of the soth-
full and by the vineyard Of the man void OF
understanding, and lol it was all grown over
with thorns and nettles had covered the face
thereof, and the stone wall was broken down.
Then saw and considered we'll. / looked
upon 1t and received instruction. Yet lit
tie sleep, a little slumber, little folding OF
the hands to sleep. So shall thy poverty
come as one that traveIeth and thy want as
an armed man." I don't know Of another
sentence In the Bible mere explosive than
that 1t first kisses softly, like the fuse of
cannon, and at last bursts like ffty-four
FOUNDER. The old proverb was right, "The
devil Temps most men, but idlers tempt the
devil"
A young man came to man Of ninety
years Of ags and said to him, "How nave
youImade out to 1.-Two 80 long and be so well?"
The old man took the youngster to an or
chard, and pointing to some large trees full
of apples, said, ~ planted these trees when
l was boy, and do you wonder that now l
am permitted to gather the fruit of them?"
We gather in old age what we plant In our
youth. Sow to the wind, and we reap tho
whirlwind. Plant In early life tho right
kind Of Christian character, and you will
eat luscious fruit in old age and gather these
harvest apples In eternity.
Iurge you to avoid the perpetual pleasure
seeker. believe in recreation and amuse-
ment. God woCld not have made us with
the capacity to laugh II He had not intended
us sometimes to indulge it. God hath hung
| In sky and set in wave and printed on grass
many a roundelay, but he who chooses pleas
ure seeking for his life work does not I'M
derstand for what God made him. Our
amusements are intended TO help us in some
earnest mission. The thundercloud hath an
edge exquisitely purpled, but with voice
that lars tho earth IL declares, II 90 to water
the green fields" The wild flowers under
the fence are gay, but they say, owe stand
here to make room for the wheataold and to
refresh the husbandn1en in their morning"
The stream sparkles and foams and froics
and says: 81 go to baptize the moss. lave
the spots on the trout. l slake the thirst OF
the bird. l turn the wheel Of the mill. l
rock in my crystal cradle muckshaw and
water lily" And 50, while the world plays,
1t works. Look out for tho MAJ who always
plays and never works.
You will do well to avoid those whose
regular business X Is to play 0all, skate or
go a-boatlng. All these sports are grand in
their places. never derived so much adj
vantage from any ministerial association as
from ministerial CLUB that went out to play
ball every Saturday afternoon in the out
skirts OF Philadelphia These rccreations
are grand to give us muscle and spirits for
our regular toll. l believe In muscular
Christianity. A man is often not so near God
with weak stomach as when he has
strong digestion. But shun those who
make it their life occupation to sport. There
are young men whose industry and useful
ness have fallen overheard from the yacht.
There are men whose business fell through
the ice of the skating pond and has never
since been heard Of. There is q beauty in
the gliding of boat In the song of skates,
in the soaring of we'll struck ball, and
never see one fly but 1 involuntarily throw
up my hands to catch it, and so far from lay
ing an injunction upon ball playing or any
other innocent sport l claim them all as
belonging Of right to those OF US who toll in
the grand industries OF Church and State.
TBut the life business Of pleasure seeking
always makes III the end a criminal or a sot
pr,tn M rud i0d " nj
England, and his life was given to pleasure.
He danced with the peeresses and swung
round of mirth and wealth and applause
until, exhausted OF purse and worn out OF
body, and bankrupt Of reputation, and
ruined OF SOUL he begged biscuit from
grocer and declared that he thought dogs
life was better than mans.
Such men will come into your office, or
crowd around your anvil, or seek to de-
coy you off. They will want you to break
out In the midst of your busy day to take
ride with thom. They will tell you Of some
people you must see, of some excursion that
YOU must take Of aOme Sabbath Gay that
YOU ought to dishonor They will tell you
OF exquisite wines that you must taste, OF
costly operas that you must hear, OF wonder
full dancers that you must see, but before
you accept their convoy or their companion
shin remember that while at the end OF
useful life you may be able TO look back 10
kindnesses done, to honorable work accom-
plished, to poverty helped, to a good name
earned, to Christian influence eXerted, to
Saviour's cause advanced-these pleasure
seekers on their deathbed have nothing bet
ter to review than torn Playful, ticket
for the races, an empty tankard, and the cast
out rinds of carousal, and, as In the de-
liIium of their awful death they clutch the
goblet and press it to their lips, the dregs OF
the cup falling upon their tongue will begin
to hiss and, uncoil with the adders OF an
eternal poison.
Again, avoid as you would avoid the death
of your body, mind and soul any one who
has In him the gambling spirit. Men who
want to gamble will find places just suited
to their capacity, not only in the under
ground oyster cellar or at the table back
Of the curtain covered with greasy cards, or
in the steamboat smoking cabin, where the
bloated wretch with rings in his ears deals
out his pack and wlnks at the unsuspecting
traveler-providing free drinks all around
but in gilded parlors and amid gorgeous
surroundings.
This sin works ruin, first, by unhealthful
stimulants. Excitement Is pleasurable
Under every sky and in every age men have
sought it. The Ohinaman gets it by smok-
ing his opium, the Persian by chewing has
heesh, the trapper in a buffalo hunt the
sailor In o squall, the inebriate in the bottle
and the avaricious at the gaming table we