The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1897-06-25

ciety- Alas. for the reveiries. and
the worse that Belshazzar. feasts and
the more than Herudian dances. and
the scenes from which the Veil must
not De lifted You need, however, in
order TO appreciate the purity and
virtuous splendor OF Victoria's reign to
contrast il somewhat with the gehen- |
mas and the pandemoniums Of many
or the throne rooms of the past and
some of the thronerooms of the pres |
ent- 1 call the roll OF the queens OF the
earth, not that 1 would have them
come up or come back. but that / may |
make them the background OF a pic |
ture in which i can better present
the present septuagenarian. 50 soon to
De an oc~togenarian, now on the throne
or England, her exampl 50 thoroughly
on the right side that all the scandal
monger in all the nations in six de-
AIDES have not been able to manufac-
ture an evil suspicion in regard to her
that could be made to stick: Maria of
Portugal, Isabella and Eleanor and Jo-
anna OF Spain, Catherine of Russia,
Mary OF Scotland. Maria Theresa OF
Germany, Marie Antoinette of France
and all the queens OF England. as Miss
Strickland has put them before US in
her charming twelve volumes. and
While some queen may surpass our
modern queen in learning. and anoth-
er in attractiveness of feature. and an
other in g~racefulness of form, and an
ether in romance of history. Victoria
surpassess them all in nobility and
! grandeur and ~thoroughness of Chris
tan character. l hail her the Chris
tian daughter. the Christian wife. the
Christian mother, the Christian queen.
and let the church Of God and all be-
nign and gracious Institutions the
world over cry Out, as they come with
music and hammered host. and million
voiced huZZa, and the benedictions of
earth and heaven, What wilt thou.
Queen Esther"
A NOBLE LIFE.
Another thing l call to your atten-
ton in this illustriOus wOman's career
Is that she is a specimen of high life
interrupted. Would she had lived to
celebrate the siXtieth anniversary of
her coronation and the seventy-eighth
anniversary Of her birthday, had she
not been an example of good principles
and good habits? While there have
been bad men and women in exalted
station and humble station who have
carried their vices on into the seven
ties and eighties and even the nineties
OF their lifetime, such persons are very
rare. The majority of the vicious die
in their thirties and fewer reach the
f~orties, and they ars exceedingly
scarce in the fifties. Longevity has
not been the characteristic of the most
of those who have reached high places
in that or this country. In many cases
wealth leads them into indulgences, or
their opportunities of doing wrong are
multiplied into the overwhelming, and
it is as true now as when the Bible
first presented it, The wicked live not
out half their days" Longevity is not
a positive proof of goodness, but it is
prima facie evidence in that direction.
\ loose life has killed hundreds of en-
inent Americans and Europeans. The
doctors are very kind and the certifi-
cate given after the distinguished man
of dissipation is dead, says, Died of
congestion of the BRAIN" although it
was delirium tremens or Died of cir
rhOSiS of the liver" although it was a
round of libertinism, or Died of heart
failure" although it was the vengeance
of outraged law that slew him. Thanks,
doctor. for you are right in saving the
feelings of the bereft household by not
being more specific. Look, all We who
are in high places of the earth, and see
one who has been piled by all the
temptations which wealth and honor
and the secret place of palaces could
produce, and yet next Tuesday she will
ride along in the presence of 1000, 900
people, if they can get within sight of
her chariot. in a vigorous old age, no
more hurt by the SplendOrS that have
surrounded her for s~eventy-eight years
thar is the plain country woman come
down from her mountain home in an
OXcar to attend the Saturday market
ing.
The temptations of social life among
the successful classes have been SO
great that every winter is a holocaust
of human nerves, and the beaches of
this tossing sea of high life are con-
stantly strewn with physical and NOR
al shipwreck. Beware. all We success
full ones. Take a good look at the ven
cradle queen as she rides through Re-
gent street, and along the Strand, and
through Trafalgar square, and by the
Nelson What is the use of
your dying at forty when you may just
as we'll live to be eighty? If you are
doing nothing for God or for the race,
the sooner you quit the better, but If
you are worth anything for the worlds
betterment, in the strength of God and
through good habits. lay out a plan for
a life that will reach through most of a
century. How many people are practl-
cally suicides from the fact that their
go~rmandizing or their recklessness or
their defiance of dietetics and plain
sanitary laws cut short their days.
Indeen, so great is the temptation of
those who have bOuntiful tables and
full wine closets that Solomon suggests
that instead of putting the knife into
the meat on their plate they direct the
edge of it across their throat. Proverbs
xiii, 1, when thou sittest to eat
with a ruler, consider diligently what
is before thee and put a knife to thy
throat of thou be a man given to APP
petite" 1 believe more people die of
improper eating han die of strong
drink. The former causes no delirium
or violence and works more gradually,
but none the less fatally. Queen Vic
toria's habits, self denying and almost
a~scetic, under a good Providence, ac-
count for he magnificent longevity. 1t
may be a homely lesson for a sexagesi-
NAL anniversary in British palaces, but
it is worth all the millions of dollars
the celebration will cost, and the la
borious c~onvocation of representatives
. from all the zones of the planet, If the
nations will learn the sanitary lesson
of good hours, plain food, outdoor ex-