Orange County observer. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1880-1918, 1897-08-05

P'eNsioh; Cheerful Con sercation and
behavior, Proper Christian Invent
'"ent, and "A Great Spiritual Awakening.
TEXT; Wherefore doth living man
Complaint Lam" ntations iii. SO
cheerful interros at ory in the most mel
anchoIy book Of tie Bibic' Jeremiah wrote
80 many sad thing that we have word
named after him and when ANYTHING Is
surcharged with ..rief and comp aint we
can II u Jeremiad. But in my text Jere-
tn1ah, as by a suddo n jolt, wakens us 10 q
thankful spirit. Our blessings are go much
more AHtcerocs .1aa our deserts THAI ne is
surprised that anybody should ever find
fault. Having life and with 1t a thou
sand blessings 1t ought to hush into perpet-
ual silence everything like criticism Of the
dealings Of God. "Whcrefore doth n living
man complaint"
While everything in our national finances
IS Frightening, for the last few years the
ihnd has been set to the tune Of Naomi"
There has been here and there q cheerful
s!I"lst. bnt the grand chorus has been one
~ Hifh"htall"h, accompanied by dirges over
Ifostratrd commerce, silent manuiactC Cries
uhemlloy III :.haIism and all those dis-
Orders described by the two short words
nara times Ihe fact il that we have
bc"n pasIhg for the bloody luxury Of war
more than thirty years ago. There were
great national differences and we had not
enough CHRISTIAN character to settle them
by admiration and treaty. and so we went
INTO battle, eXP"nding life and treasure and
"eil nigh swaHIing the national finances.
ana north and south, east and west have
ever sine" been paying for those four wears
indulgence In barharisfn
Bat the tiuc has come when this aeDros-
SION 'aGht 10 end yea. when it will end IL
the people are willing to do two or three
lungs f'N way 81 financial medicamcnt, for
the i''3p!r a. well as Congress must jOin in
III" W'rk ~ regeneration. The best politt-
cal economists tel " 3hat there is no good
reason Tor continued prostration. Plenty
or money awaiting iAycstment The na-
uonai health with new tr SO strong an arm
or 80 clear ~ brain. Ytk We go on yroarino,
grooming, GrOaElnK ~ though God had
pnt TINS nation upon Aruel and allowed us
Dut one 6ecrnt breakfast In six months
| ne ia't =, I'll" habit Of complaining has
become chronic il this country and after
All theor wears of whimp"r and wailing and
onJurgdtlon We are under snch a momentum
of Snvcl that We cannot stop
There are are three prescriptions ly which
believe That cur individual and National
finance ahy cured Of their present de-
preston m first Is cheerful convcrsa-
tipn and behavior. have noticed that the
pcopl" who ar" most vOciferous against the
day In which we live are those who are In
comfortable circumstances. / have made
inquiry o' those persons who violent in
thelr Jtreniads against these times, and
have sked them, Now after all are Won
"a
ton aud coughing and clearing their throat
three or four times they say stammeringly,
-e-S. SO that with a great multitude Of
people II IL not Il question OF getting a
livelihood but they are dissatisfied bee ause
they can't make "a much money as they
would Xix" to make. They have only
$1,000 in the bank, where they would like
to have : 1000. They can clear in a wear
only @309h when they would ike to clear
Slo GOO. or things come out just even. Or
tti,EtT Ia a
wish they could make Il or S5 "Oh .
says some on, ''arr YOU not aware of the
Tact that there Is a great population out OF
employment, aud there are hundreds of
the good families of this country who are
mt their wits end, not knowing which way
To turn Yes, | know it better than any
man III privat" lif" chn know that sad fact
for 1t comes constantly to my eye and ear
but Who i responsible for this state OF
things
Much II that responsibility | put upon
men in 1omfortahlr circumstances who by
an everlasting growing keep public conf
denr" depressed aud new enterprises from
starting out and new houses from being
built. lou know very well that one de-
spondent man can talk fifty men into de-
spond"ucy, whiin oNe cheerful phvs clan
can wake W, into cxhiIaration a whole asv-
lum II hNP"chondriac~. 1t il no Kindness
to the poor "r tn" unemployed for you to
Join IN tins d"ploration, II you have not
the Wit anl the common sense to think OF
something cheerful to say then kcepsilent
Now | Will make II contract. II the peo-
pie of the nltod states for one week will
talk cheerfuilN. | will open all the manu-
factories will EiYr employment to all the
unoccupiri men and women. ! will make n
lively marhct for Your real estate that Is
eating you UP with taxes. | will stop the
long protcesio ns on the way TO the poor
house and th" prnltcntiary and will 81 read
n plentiful tabi" from Maine to California
ami from oregon 10 SANDY Hook, and the
whole land SHALL carol and thunder with
national jubilee. But says some one Il
will take that contract, but we cant afect
the whole nation Ny hearers and read
ers, rcPre-rnting.aS you DO all profess ons
all trades and all occupations. II
YOU should resolve never again to utter
n doorous wo-d about the money
markets but 10y manner and by voice
and hy wiz and Caricature and. above
all hy faith in God II try TO scatter this
national gloom. do YOU not believe the in
fuence would bc instantaneous and wide
spread7 The effect would be felt around
the world. For tiod : sake and for the sake
OF the poor and for the sake OF the en-
ployed quit growing. Depend upon II, II
YOU men in comfortable circumstances do
not stop complaining. God will blast your
harve-ts and Sc" how you will set along
without Il corn crop, and lie will SWEEP You
with foods and He will devour you with
grasshoplrrs and He will burn your city.
II you rpn in comfortable circumstances
keep on complaining, God will give you
something 10 complain about. Marx that
Inc second prescription for the allevia-
tion OF financial distress i proper Chris
tian investment. God demands OF every
individual state ami nation IL certain pro-
portion of their income. We are par-iruo-
nious. We keep back from God that whicf
belongs u him, and when We keep back
anything from God he takes what we secI
back and he takes more. He takes II h,
storm by sickness. by bankruptcy. by an,
one OF tt, ~ 600 ways which he can EN-
ploy The reason many Of YOU ara cranpe'
in business i because YOU have 1eve
learned The lesson OF Christian generosity
You employ AN agent. You give him
reasonable salary and. 10. you hnd ou
that he is nppropriatinc your funds, be
sides the salary What DO you do? Dis
charge him Well. we God agents
He puts in our hands certain mon
eys Part is 10 be ours, part Is TO b.
His. suppose we take all. what then
He will discharge US. He WI turn us Owe
TO financial disasters and take the trus
awav from US The reason that great mutt.
tudes are not prospered in business is sim
4.