St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1897-10-16

But what you see in the matter oi
high political preferment You see in
every community in the struggle for
what is called social position. Tens oi
thousands Of people trying to get into
that realm, and they are under terrific
tension. What il social position? II ID
. difficult thing to define, but we all
know what it is Good morals and in
telligence are not necessary, but
wealth, or . show of wealth, is abso-
lutely indispensable. There are men
to-day - notorious for their libertin-
ism ~ the night 10 famous for its dark
ness who move in what il called high
social position. There are hundreds
Of out-and-out rakes in American so.
ciety whose names are mentioned
among the distinguished guests Of the
great leveea They have annexed all
the known vices. and are longing for
other worlds of diabolism to conquer.
Good morals are not necessary in many
of the exalted circles of society.
A life Of sin. . life of pride, . life OF
indulgence, . life of worldliness, . life
devoted to the world, the flesh and the
devil il . failure, . dead failure, IN in
definite failure. care not how many
presents you send to that cradle, or how
many garlands you send to that grave,
you need to put right under the name
on the tombstone this inscription: .Bet-
ter for that man il he had never been
born"
But shall show you life that il
worth living. A young man says: II
am here. am not responsible for my
ancestry; others decided that 1 am
not responsible for my temperament;
God gave me that But here am, in
the evening Of the nineteenth GEN.
tury, st 20 years of age. lam hero,
aud must take an account of stock.
Here l have = body which is = di-
vinely y-constructed engine. must
put it to the very best uses, aud I
must allow nothing to damage this
rarest of machinery. Two feet. and
they mean locomoti0n. Two eyes, and
they mean capacity to pick out my own
way. Two ears and they are tele-
phones Of communication with the out
side world. and they mean capacity to
catch sweetest music and the voices of
friendship-the very best music. A
tongue. with almost infinity Of srticu-
lation. Yes, hands with which to vel
come or resist. or lift or smite, or
wave. or bless-hands to help myself
and help others-
Here il . world which after 5000
years Of battling with tempest and nc
cident Il still grander than any archi-
tect, human or angelic. could have
drafted. have two lamps to light me
- golden lamp and = silver lamp-a
golden lamp set on the sapphire man.
tel Of the day. . silver lamp set on the
jet mantel of the night Yea, have
that 1t 20 years Of age which defies all
inventory of valuables-s soul. with
capacity to choose or reject. to re-
ioice or to suffer. to love or to hate.
Plato says it il immortal. Seneca
says IL isimmortsl. Confucius says it il
immortal. An old book among the
family relies Book with leathern
cover almost worn out and pages
slmost obliterated by oft perusal, joins
the other books in saying l am inn
mortal. Ihave eighty years for . life
time, sixty years yet to live. l may
not live IN hour. but then must lay
out my plans intelligently and for .
long life. Sixty years added to twenty
I have already lived, that will bring
me 70 eighty. l must remember
that these eighty years are only
. brief preface TO the five hundred
thousand millions Of quintillions Of
years which will Be my chief residence
and existence. Now, l understand my
opportunities and my responsibilities
II there i any Being in the universe I'll
wise and al bene6cent who can help :
man in such = juncture, l want Him.
The old Book found among the family
relics tell me there Is . God, and that
for the sake OF His Son. one Jesus.
He will give help to = man. To
Him appeal. God help me! Here.
have 90 years vet to do for myself
and to do for others. must develop
this body by al industries, by al gym
nastica, BY all sunshine, by al fresh
air, BY al good habitA And this soul
must have swept and garnished. and
illumined. and glorified BY al that
can do for il and all that can get God
to do for It It shall be . Luxembourg
of fine pictureA Il shall be IN orches-
trs of grand harmonies. It shall be q
palace for God aud righteousness to
reign in. wonder how many kind
words can utter in the next 90
yearsf l will try. wonder how many
rood deeds / can do in the next 90
yeazsP l will try. God help me.
That young man enters life. He i
buifeted, he il tried, he is perplexed.
A grave opens ON this side and : grave
opens on that side. He falls, but he
rises again. Hc gets into hard bat
tie, but he gets the victory. The main
course Of his life ID in the right direc-
ton. He blesses everybody he comes
in contact with. God forgives his mis-
takes, and makes everlasting record oi
his holy endeavors, and at the close Of
it. God says to him: "Well done.
good and faithful servant; enter
into the Joy Of thy Lord" Ny broth
er. my sister. do not caro- whether
that man dies ct -, -. 50 90. 20 or q
yeazs Of age. you can chisel right nm
der his name on the tombstone theoe
words: '.His life was worth living.
Amid the hills Of New Hampehire. n
olden times, there aits . mother. There
Are six children In the hoa9ehold-fouI
boys and ~ ogirls. Small farm Very
rough, hard work 70 coax . living out
q Il Mighty tag 70 make the two
ends Of the year meet The boys 60 q
school IN winter and work the fArm n
sumnsf. Nothsr = tie eeaief presiding
spirit. with her hands ahe kntts Ill the
stockin9s for the little feet and she 4
the mantaanalker for the boyA. and she