St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1898-08-20
ONE LIFE is ENOUGH,
d.. Talmage Says It Is a Mistake
to Wish to Live It Over.

". Aaimage Says 1t Is q Mistake
to Wish to Live It Over.
Il Would BE . Lonely and Sad Pilgrimage
and He Who wosld MAKO Il
Domestic Nsiss,es-Aton-
Ing for the Fast.
II the following discourse Rev. T.
Dewitt Talmage extols our presen,
opportunities SO that more oppor
tunities than We enjoy in life do mol
seem desirable. The text is:
All that man hath VIII he give for his life
Job IL. 1
That is untrue. The Lord did moi
say it, but Satan said it to the Lord
when the evil one wanted Job still
more afflicted. The record is: '.Se
went Satan forth from the presence Of
the Lord. and smote Job with sore
boils." And Satan has been the autho,
of all eruptive disease since then, and
he hopes by poisoning the blood tc
poison the soul. But the result of the
diabolical experiment which left Jot
victor proved the falsity Of the Satanic
remark: "All that man hath will he
give for his life" Many captain who
has stood on the bridge of the steamer
till his passengers got off and he
drowned; many an engineer who has
kept his hand on the throttle valve OF
his foot on the brake, until the most
of the train was saved. while he went
down to death through the open draw
bridge; many q fireman who plunged
into blazing house to get sleeping
child out, the ii eman sacrificing bis
life in the ATTEMPT, and the 1Dg6 Hand
of martyrs who submitted to fiery
stake and knife of massacre and head
mans AK and guiiiotine rather than
surrender principle, proving that in
many a case my text was not true when
it says: "All that man hath will he
give for his life
But Satan's falsehood was built on q
truth. Life is very precious. and if we
would not give up all, there are many
things we would surrender rather than
surrender it. We sec how precious life
is from the fact that we do everything
to prolong it. Hence all sanitary regu-
lations, all study of hygiene, all fear of
draughts, all waterproofs, all doctors,
all medicines, all struggle in crisis or
accident. An admiral OF the British
navy was court martialed for turning
his ship around in time of danger, and
20 damaging the ship. 1t was proved
sginst him. But when his time came
to be heard he said: Gentleman, l
did turn the ship around, and admit
that it was damaged, but do you want
to know why turned it? There was
q man overheard, and wanted to save
him, and did save him, and l con-
slider the life of one sailor worth all
the vessels of the British navy" No
wonder he was INDICATED. Life is in
deed very precious. Yea, there are
those who deem life 50 precious they
would like to repeat it; they would
like to try it over again. They would
like to go back from 20 to 60, from 60
to so, from so to 40, from 40 to 80, from
20 to 90. propose for very practical
and useful purposes, as will appear be-
fore 1 get through, to discuss the ques-
ton we have all asked of others, and
others have again and again asked of
rs: Would you like to live your life
over again?
The fact is that no intelligent and
man is satisfied with his
past life. However successful your
life may have been, you are not salts
fed with it. What is success? Ask
that question of a hundred different
men, and they will give q hundred diff
ferent answers. One man will say:
Success is million dollars another
will say: Success is worldwide pub
icity;" another will say: Success is
gaining that which you started for.
But as it is free country, give my
own definition. and say: Success is
fulfilling the particular mission upon
which you were sent, whether to write
! constitution, or invent new style of
or take care of sick
child" Do what God calls you to do,
md you are a success, whether you
cave million dollars at death or are
buried at public expense. whether it
axes fifteen pages of an encyclopedia
o tell the wonderful things you have
lone, or your name is never printed
tut once, and that in the death column.
But whatever your success has been,
1ou ale not satisfied with your life.
We have all made SO many mistakes,
into SO many blunders, said
o many things that ought not to have
zen said, and done SO many things
hat ought not to have been done that |
&c can suggest ut least IS per cent of
Now, would it not be
rand If the good Lord would say to
on: "You can go back and try it |
yer again. l will, By word, turn
our hair to black, or brown, or
olden. and smooth all the wrinkles |
ut of your temple or cheek. and take
he bend ont of your shoulders, aud |
xtirpate the stiffness from the joint,
nd the rheumatic twinge from the |
DOT, and you shall be 81 years of age.
nd just what you were when you
cached that point before" If the
were made think many
thousands would accept it |
That feeling caused the ancient
.arch for what was called the Four
lin of Youth, the waters of which.
lkeu, would turn the hair OF the oc-
,genarian into the curly locks Of .
oy, and however old person who
rank at that fountain, he would be
oung again. The island was said to
elong to the group Of bahamas, but
" far out in the ocean. The great
panish explorer. Juan Ponce de Leon.
of Columbus, have no
oubt, felt that il he could discover
lat Fountain of Youth, he would do
much as his friend had done in dis
,vering America, So he put out in
;l2 from Porto Rico and cruised about
nong the bahamas in search Of that
,untain. 1 am glad he did not find
There is no such fountain. But if
lere were, and its waters were bot
ed up and sent abroad At . thousand
,llars bottle, the demand would be
.eater than the supply; and many =
m who has come through = life Of
,elessness, and perhaps sin. to old