The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1898-11-02


bc!:rve, q; scrlcel business. aad ;Lera
hds becE .,:any w!:c 8;io has made
the mistake o. not being satisfied until
the husband has given np the tanning
of the hides. or the turning Of the
aanisters or the building Of tho walls
and put himself in circles wher1 he has
nothing 10 do but smoke cigars and
drink vine and get himself into habits
that upset him, going down in the
macls,rom. taking his wife and children
with him. There are good many
trains running from earth to destruction
They start all hours OF the day and all
hours of the night. There arc the
freight trains they go very slowly and
very heavily, and there are the accom-
modation trains going on toward des;ru-
c1ion they stop Very often and let
4 man get out and on when ne
wants to. But gentecl idlcncss is an
express train. Satan is the stoker and
death is the engineer. and, though one
may come out in front of it and swing
the red flag of danger or the lantern
of God word, it makes just one shot
into perdition. coming down the EN-,
bankment with shout and wall and
shrick-crash. crash. There are two
classes Of people sure Of destruction
first. those who have nothing to 90:
secondly. those who have something to
do. but who are too lazy or too proud to
DO it. | have one more word OF advice to
give to those who would have happy
home. and that is, let love preside IN 1t.
When your behavior in the domestic
circle becomes mere matter OF calcu-
lation, when the caress you give Is
merely the result Of deliberate study Of
the position you occupy. happiness lies
stark dead on the hearthstone. When
the husbands position as head OF the
household is maintained by loudness Of
ncice, By strength of arm, by fire OF
temper. the republic of domestic bliss
has become despotism that neither
| God nor man will abide. Oh, ye who
promised to love each other at the altar
| how dare you commit perjury: Let no
shadow of suspicion come on your at
| lection. 1t is easier to kill that flower
than it is to make it live again. The
blast from hell that puts out that light
leaves you in the blackness or darkness
forever.
Here are man and wife. They
.oraa I'm nothing else. but they agree
they will have "a home. They will have
splendid house, and they think that
if they have house they will have a
home. Architects make the plan, and
the mechanics execute it, the house to
cost 500, 900. 1t is done. The car
pets are spread, lights are hoisted,
curtains are hung, cards of invitation
sent out. The horses in gold plated
harness prance at the gate, guests come
in and take their places, the flute sound
the dancers 90 up and down, and with
one grand whirl the wealth and the
fashion and the mirth Of the great town
wheel amid the pictured walls. Ha,
this is happiness. Float it on the
smoking viands. sound it in the music,
whirl it in the dance, cast it in the
snow Of sculpture, sound it up the bril-
liant stairway, flash it in chandeliers.
Happiness indeed.
Let us build on the center Of the par
lor floor throne to happiness, let all
the guests, when come in, bring their
flowers and pearls and diamonds, and
throw them on this pyramid, and let it
be throne and let happiness, the
queen, mount the throne, and we will
stand around, and all chalices lifted, we
will say, Drink, 0 queen, live for
ever" But the guests depart, the flutes
are breathless, the last clash Of the I'M
patient hoofs is heard in the distance,
and the twain of the household come
back to see the queen of happiness on
the throne amid the parlor floor. But,
alas, as they come back, the flowers
have faded, the sweet odors have be-
come the smell of charnel house, md
instead of the queen Of happiness there
sits there the gaunt form of anguish,
with bitten lip and sunken eye and
ashes in her hair. The romp OF the
dancers who have left seems rumbling
yet, like jarring thunders that quake the
floor and rattle the glasses Of the feast
rim to rim. The spilled wine on the
floor turns into blood. The wreaths of
plush have become wriggling reptiles.
Terrors catch tangled in the canopy
that overhangs the couch. a strong
gust of wind comes through the hall and
the drawing room and the bedchamber,
in which all the lights go out. And
from the lips Of the wine beakers come
the words, Happiness is not in u.s.
And the arches respond, 1T is not in
u.s. And the silenced instruments Of
music, thrummed on by invisible fingers
answer, Happiness is not nus" AnI
the frozen lips Of anguish break open:
and seated on the throne Of wilted flow
ers, she strikes her bony hands together
and groans, 1T is not in me-.
That very night clerk with salary
Of 81, ,00C yAar-ouly 81, ,000-goes to
his home, set up three months ago just
after the marriage day. Love meets
him at the door. love sits with him at
the table, love talks over the work Of
the day, love takes down the Bible and
reads of him who came our souls to
save and they kneel, and while they
are kneeling. right in that plain room.
on the plain carpet, the angels of God
build throne not out of flowers that
perish and fade away, but out of gar
lands of heaven, wreath on top Of
wreath, amaranth on amaranth, until
the throne is done. Then the harps Of
God sounded, and suddenly there ap-
pcared one who mounted the throne
with eye so bright and brow so fair that
the twain knew it was Christian love.
And they knelt at the foot of the throne
and. putting one hand on each head,
che hIoesod tbam and Soid ..HaDni-