The Middleburgh post. [volume] (Middleburgh, Snyder Co., Pa.) 1883-1916, 1897-11-18

sSoRano ~ Pttves0 o1loyos 40 uds uOt.,
On. his table. pictures on his wall ar
occasional outings. concerts, lectures
baseball tickets and the innumerab.e e
delights Of friendship. but he warts !
key to the place Of dissolute convoca-
tion. He wants association with some
member Of high family as reckless
as he Is afiiuent. He wants. instead Of
a quiet Sabbath, enc of carousal. He
wants the stimulus Of strong drinks.
He wants the permissions Of profit.
gate life. The one membership, the
one bad habit. the one carousal, robs
him Of all the possibilities and inno-
cent enjoyments and noble inspira-
tions Of a lifetime. BY one mouthful
Of forbidden fruit he loses whole or
chard Of fruit unforbidden.
You see what an expensive thing Is
sin. It costs a thousand times more
than It Is worth.
The story Of Eden is rejected by
some as an improbability, II not an i'm
possibility, but nothing on earth Is
easier for me to believe than the truth
Of this Edenic story, for l have seen
the same thing in this year OF our
Lord, 1897.
But turn from Adams orchard to
Solomon's orchard. With his own
hand, he writes, II made me gardens
and orchards" Not depending on the
natural fall Of rain, he irrigated those
orchards. Pieces Of the aqueduct that
watered those gardens have seen, and
the reservoirs are as perfec. as when
thousands Of years ago. the mason's
trowel smoothed the mortar over their
gray surfaces. No orchard OF olden or
modern time, probably, ever had its
thirst so well slaked. The largest OF
these reservoirs Is 5S2 feet long. 2O7
feet wide. and so feet deep.
After Solomon had taken his morn
ing ride In these luxuriant orchards,
he would sit down and write those
wonderful things in the Bible, drawing
his illustrations from the fruits he
had that very morning plucked or rid
den under, and wishing to praise the
coming Of Christ. he says, "As the ap-
pie tree among the trees Of the wood,
SO Is my beloved" And wishing to
describe the love of the church for the
Lord, he writes, Comfort me with
apples, for am sick OF love-" and de-
string to make reference to the white
hair Of the octogenarian, and just be-
fore having noticed that the blossoms
OF the almond tree were white. he says
OF the old man. "The almond tree
shall flourish" The walnuts and the
pomegranates and the mandrakes and
the figs make Solomon's writings a d.
vinely arranged fruit basket.
What mean Solomon's orchards and
Solomon's gardens. for they seem to
mingle, the two into one, flowers un-
derfoot and pomegranates overhead?
To me they suggest that religion is a
luxury. They mean that our religion
is the luscious, the aromatic, the pun
gent, the arborsescent, the efIlorescent,
the foliaged. the outrageous. They
mean what Edward Payson meant
when he declared. III my happiness
continues to increase, I cannot support
1t much longer" 1t means what Bapa
Padmanji, a Hindoo convert, meant
when he said. Il long for my bed, not
that I may sleep-I lie awake often
and long-but to hold communion with
my God"
1t means what the old colored man
said when he was accosted by the COL
porteur, Uncle Jack, how are you?"
II is very painful in my knee, but,
thank my heavenly Master. I'm cause
to be thankful. My good Master Just
glib me nuf to make me humble" And
do you enjoy religion as much now,
Uncle Jack, as when you could go to
church and class meetings." Yes, l
joys him more. Den l truss to de
people, to de meetings, to de sarment,
de pray I feels glad. But all dis amt
like de good Lord in de heart, Gods
love here" 1t means sunrise instead
OF shutdown. 1t means the Memnon
statue made to sing at the stroke OF
morning light. It means Christ at
the wedding In Cana. 1t means the
time Of the singing Of birds is come"
1t means Jeremiah's well watered gar
den." 1t means David's "oil Of glad
ness" 1t means Isaiah's bride and
bridegroom" It means Luke's bad boy
come home to his fathers house.
Worldly Joy killed Leo X when he
heard that Milan was captured. Talva
died Of Joy when the Roman senate
honored him. Diagora died Of Joy be-
cause his three sons were crowned at
the Olympian games. Sophocles died
Of Joy over his literary successes. And
religious Joy has been too much for
many Christian and his soul has
sped away on the wing Of hosannas.
You think religion is good thing
for funeral. Oh, yes! But Solomon's
orchard means more. Religion is a
good thing now when you are in health
and when hear de hymns sing and
and prosperity and the appetite is good
for citrons and apples and april