The county record. [volume] (Kingstree, S.C.) 1885-1975, 1897-11-04
9FT. Il!FlGf'S S[R2i.OX.
~ .::NGEDN HiIlSE's
- >iti ESk

Duties OF Men Toward Their Suffering
Brethren of the Present Generation
Clothing q; the Soul Should Keep Pace
With That oftae Physical Wants OF Man
TEXT: David, after he had served his
own generation by the will OF God, fell on
Sleep" Acts KILL. &c.
"That is text which has for long time
been running through my mind. Sermons
have time to be born, as we'll as time to
die: cradle "a we'll as a grave. David.
cowboy and stone-slinger and fighter and
czar, and dramatist and blank verse writer.
and prophet. did his best for the people OF
his time. and then went and lay down on
the southern hill o; Jerusalem in that sound
slumber which nothing but an archangelic
blast can startle. There are about four
generations TO century, now: but In olden-
time life WAS longer, and there was, per-
haps, only one generation to century.
Taking these facts into the calculation, l
make rough guess and say that there
have been at least $50 generations OF the
human family. With reference to them We
have no responsibility. We cannot teach
them, we cannot correct their mistakes, we
cannot soothe their sorrows, we cannot heal
their wounds.
Il admit that am in sym pathy witA the
child whose father had suddenly died, and
who, in her little evening prayer, wanted
10 continue to pray for her father, although
he had gone into heaven and no more
nceAel her prayers, and looking up into
her IGotner's face, said: 'Oh, mother, l
can1o: la1vs hin all ont. Let me say,
"Tiaak God that had o good father once,
so can keep him in my prayers" But
the 1S1 generations have passed of. Passed
Then
there are generations to come after our
earthly exist snce has ceased; we shall not
see them: va shall not hear any OF their
woes: we will take no part in their conyo-
cations, their elections. their revolutions,
their catastropies, their triu.1phs. We
will in nowise affect the $50 generations
gone or the $50 generations to come. But
ou- business is, like David, to serve our
own generation; the people now living,
those whose lungs now breathe and whose
hearts now beat. And, mark you, 1t is not
silent procession, but moving. 1t Is
'for ed marcl,' at twentyfour miles day,
each hour being mile. Going with that
celebrity. i has got to be quick service on
our part or no service at all.
"Well now let US look around earnest
ly, prayerfully, in common-senss way,
and see what we can do for our generation.
First Of all, let US see to it that, as far as
we can, they have enough to eat. The
human body Is so constituted that three
times day a body needs food as much as
a lamp needs oil, as much as locomotive
needs fuel. To meet this want God has
giriled the earth with apple orchards,
orange groves, wheat fields, and oceans full
OF fish, and prairies full Of cattle. And
notwithstanding this. will undertake to
say that the vast majority Of the human
family are suffering either for lack OF food
or the right kind OF food. Our civiliza-
tion is all askew, and God only can set 1t
right. Many OF the greatest estates OF to-
day have been built out Of the blood and
bones Of uniequited toll.
Don't sit down ut your table with five or
six courses OF abundant supply and think
nothing OF that family in the next street
who would take any one OF these five
courses between soup and almond nuts and
feel they were In heaven. The lack OF the
right kind of food is the cause OF much OF
the drunkenness. After drinking what
many OF our grocers call coffee, sweetened
with what many call sugar, and eating
what many OF our butchers eau meat, and
chewing what many OF our bakers call
bread, many Of the laboring classes feel so
miserable they are tempted to put into their
nasty pipes what the tobaccontst calls to-
bacco. or so into the drinking saloons for
what the rumsellers call beer. Good coffee
would do much in driving out rum.
"How can We serve our generation with
enough to eat?" By sitting down in en-
broidered slippers aud lounging back IN All
arm chair, our mouth puckered up around
n Havana OF the best brand, and through
clouds OF luSuriant smoke reading about
political economy and the philosophy Of
strikes? No! No! By finding out who In
this city bas been living on gristle, and
sending them n tenderloin beefsteak.' Seek
out some family who, through sickness or
conjunction Of misfortune, have not enough
to eat, and do for them what Christ did Tor
the hungry multitudeS Of Asia Minor, null
tiplying the loayes and tie fishes. Let US
quit the surfeiting Of ourselves until we
cannot choke down another crumb OF cake,
and begin the supply Of others necessi-
ties
ait is an awful thing to be hungry" said
the preacher. "It is an easy thing for US
to be in good humor with all the world
when we have no lack. But let hunger
take full possession OF US, and We would all
turn into barbarians and cannibals and
flends. Suppose that some OF the energy
we are expending in useless and unavailing
talk about the bread question should be ex-
pended in merciful alleviations. l have
read that the battlefield on which more
troops met than on any other In the
worlds history was the battlefield OF Leip-
sic-160, 900 men under Napoleon; $50, 900
men under Schwarzeberg. No! No! The
greatest and most terrific battle Is now be-
ing fought all the world over. 1t Is the
struggle for food. The ground tone OF the
finest passage In one Of the great musical
masterpieces, the artist says, was suggest
ed to him by the cry Of the hungry popu-
lace of Vienna, as the King rode through
and they shouted: Bread! Give Us bread!
And oil through the great harmonies OF
musical academy and cathedral hear the
the pathos, the ground tone, the tragedy
of uncounted multitudes, who, with stream
ing eyes and wan cheeks and broken hearts,
In behalf OF themselves and their families,
are pleading for bread.
ssLet us take another look around to see
how we may serve our generation. Let US
see, rs far as possible, that they have
enough to wear"
The preacher dilated upon the curse OF
drunkenness and idleness, causing the
maelstrom that has swallowed down the
livelihood OF those who are In rage. But
things will change, and by generosity on
the part of the crowded wardrobes, and In
dustry and sobriety on the party OF the
empty wardrobes, there will be enough for
all to wear.
"God has done His part toward the dress
ing OF the human race. He grows sur
plus OF wool on the sleeps back, and focks
roam the mountains and valleys with