The enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 188?-1899, 1898-06-08

dent are shamefully disappointed;
while some, who this day are obscure
and poverty-stricken, will ride upon
the shoulders of the people, and take
their turn at admiration and the spoils
of Office. Oh, how quickly the wheels
turn! Ballot-boXes are the steps on
which men come down as often as
they go up. Of those who were long
ago successful in the accumulation OF
property, how few have not met with
reverses! while many Of those who
then were Strengthened IN circum-
stances now hold the bonds and the
bank keys of the nation. Of all tickle
things in the world, fortune is the
most tickle. Every day she changes
her mind, and woe to the man who
puts any confidence in what she prom
ises or proposes!
Again; this Haman's history shows
us that outward possessions and cir
cumstances cannot make man happy.
While yet fully vested in authority
and the chief adviser of the PersiaIt
monarch, and everything that equi-
page and pomp and splendor of resi-
dence could do were his, he is an OBJ
| ject lesson of wretchedness. There
are to-day more aching sorrows under
crowns of royalty than under the rag
ged caps of the houseless. Much of
the worlds affluence and gaiety is
only misery in colors. Many a woman
seated in the street at her apple stand
is happier than the great bankers. The
mountains of worldly honor are COW
cred with perpetual snow. Tamerlane
conquered half the world, but could
not subdue his own fears. Ahab goes
| to bed, sick, because Ncboth will not
sell him his vineyard Herod is in
agony because a little child is born in
Bethlehem. Great Felix trembles be-
cause poor minister will preach
righteousness, temperance, and judg-
ment to come. From the time of Louis
the Twelfth to Louis the Eighteenth
! was there straw-bottomed chair in
France that did not sit more solidly
than the great throne on which the
French kings reigned?
Were called to sketch misery in its
worst form, would not go up to the
! dark alley of the poor, but up to the
highway over which prancing Buceph-
ali strike the sparks with their hoofs
and between statuary and parks of
stalking deer Wretchedness is more
bitter when swallowed from gemmed
goblets than from earthen pitcher or
pewter mug. If there are young peo-
pie here who are looking for this po-
sition and that circumstance, thinking
that worldly success will bring peace
| Of no LOT n hn
lusion. 1t is not what we get, it is
what we are. Daniel among the lions
is happier than King Darius on his
throne. And Wien life is closing, bril-
liancy of worldly surroundings will be
no solace. Death is blind, and sees no
difference between king and his
clown, between the Nazarene and the
Athenian, between a bookless hut and
national library. The frivolities of life
cannot, with their giddy laugh, echo
ing from heart to heart, entirely drown
the voice of the tremendous conscience
which says II am immortal. The
stars shall die, but I am immortal.
One wave of eternity shall drown time
in its depths, but am immortal. The
earth shall have shroud of flame and
the heavens flee at the glance of the
Lord, but 1 am immortal. From all
the heights and depths of my nature
rings down, and rings up, and rings
out the word immortal A good con-
science, and assurance of life eternal
through the Lord Jesus Christ, are the
only securities"
The souls happiness is too large a
| 10 1,a ctr Of W
pleasure. AS ship carpenters say, it
draws too much water. This earth is
bubble, and it will burst. This life
is a vision, and it will soon pass away.
Time! 1t is only a ripple, and it
breaketh against the trone of judg-
ment. Our days! They fly swifter
than shuttle, weaving for rs a robe
of triumph or a garment of shame.
Begin your life with religion and 1or
it's greatest trial you will be ready.
Every day will be a triumph, and
death will be only kings servant
calling you to royal banquet.
In olden time the man who was to
receive the honors of knighthood was
required to spend the previous night
fully armed, and with shield and lance
to walk up and down among the tombs
of the dead. Through all the hours of
that night his steady step was heard,
and when morning dawned, amid
grand parade and the sound of cor
nets, the honors of knighthood were
bestowed. Thus it shall be with the
good mans soul in the night before
Hea-~en.
Fully armed with shield and sword
and helmet, he shall watch and wait
until the darkness fly and the morn
ing break, and amid the sound of ce-
lestial harpings the soul shall take the
honors of Heaven amid the innumer-
able throng with robes snowy white
streaming over seas of sapphire.
Mordecai will only have to wait for
his day of triumph. 1t took all the
preceding trials to make a proper
background for his after successes.
The scaffold built for him makes all
the more imposing and picturesque
the horse into whose long white name
he twisted his fingers at the mounting.
You want at least two misfortunes,
hard as flint, to strike fire. Heavy and
long-continued SHOWS in the winter
are signs of good crops next summer.
So, many have yielded heavy harvests
of benevolence and energy because
they were for long while showed
under. We must have good many hard
falls before we learn to walk straight.
1t is on the black anvil of trouble that
men hammer out their fortunes. Sor-
rows take up men on their shoulders
and enthrone them. Tonics are nearly
always bitter. Men, like fruit trees,
are barren, unless trimmed with sharp
kniues They are like whant-all the