The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1898-02-22
such a sense OF serenity when he reads

the blessed newspapers.
/ came into the possession of the
abusive cartons in the time Of Napo-
leon l, printed while he was yet alive.
The retreat Of the army from Moscow,
that army buried in the SHOWS Of Rus
STA, 4 Of the most awful tragedies OF
the centuries, represented under the
figure Of a monster called General
Frost shaving the French emperor with
a razor Of icicle. AS Satyr and Beel-
zebub he is represented, page after
pgae,p age after page. England ours
ing him, Spain cursing him, Germany
cursing him, Russia cursing him, Ger
many cursing him, Europe cursing
him, North and South America ours
ing him. The most remarkable man
Of his day and the most abused. All
those men in history who now have a
Galo around their name on earth wore
a crown Of thorns. Take the few ex-
traordinary railroad men of our time
and see what abuse upon them,
while thousands of stockholders es-
cape. New York Central railroad had
9,l05 stockholders. If anything in that
railroad affronted the people, all the
abuse came down on one man and the
1864 escaped. All the world took after
Thomas Scott, president Of the Penn
s%ylvania railroad, abused him until he
got under the ground. Over 1900
stockholders in that company. All the
blame on n man The Central Pa
cific railroad-two or three men get
all the blame if anything goes wrong.
There are 10000 in that mDa
PENALTIES OF PROMINENCE.
1 mention those things to prove it is
extraordinary people who get abused,
while the ordinary escape. The wealth
er Of life is not so severe on the plain
it is on the high peaks. The world
never fOrgives a man who knows or
gains or does more than it can know
or gain or do. Parents sometimes
give confectionery to their children as
an inducerlent to take bitter bedicine,
and the worlds sugar plum precedes
the worlds aqua FORTS. The mob cried
in regard to Christ, Cruelty him,
cruelty him." and they had to say it
twice to be understood, for they were
so hoarse, and they got their hoarse-
ness by crying a little time before at
the top Of their voice, "Hosanna." The
river Rhcne is foul when it enters
Lake Leman, but crystalline when it
comes out on the other side. But there
are men who have entered the bright
lake of worldly prosperity crystalline
and come out terribly riled. If, there
fore, you feel that you are a. ordinary,
thank God for the defenses and the
tranquility Of your position.
Then remember, if o have only
what is called an ordinary home, that
the great deliverers of the world have
all come from such a home. And there
may be seated, reading at your even
ing stand, a child who shall be potent
for the ages. Just unron the scroll of
men mighty in church and state, and
you will find they nearly all came from
log cabin or poor homes. Genius al
most always runs out in the third or
fourth generation. You cannot find in
all history an instance where the
fourth generation of extraordinary
people amount to anything. In this
country we had two great men, father
and son, both presidents of the United
States, but from present prospects
there never will be in that %genealogi-
cal line another president for a thou
sand years. Columbus from a weav-
er's hut, Demosthenes from a cutters
cellar, Bloomfield and Missionary
Cary from a shoemaker's bench. Ark
wright from a BARRIERS shop, and he
whose name is highe over al 1.-The earth
and air and sky from a manger.
BE CONTENT.
Let us all be content with such
things as we have. God is just as
good in what he keeps away from us as
in what he gives us. Even a knot may
be useful if it is at the end of a thread.
At an anniversary of a deaf and
dumb asylum one of the children wrote
the blackboard words as sublime
the "Iliad," the "Odyssey' and the
'Divina Commedia" all compressed in
one paragraph. The examiner, in the
signs of the mute language, asked her,
'Who made the world?" The deaf
and dumb girl wrote upon the black |
board, I'm the beginning God created
the heaven and the earth" The ex-
aminer asked her, For what purpose |
did Christ come into the world?" The !
deaf and dumb girl wrote upon the
This is a faithful saying |
and worthy of all acceptation, that
Christ Jesus came into the world to |
save sinners" The examiner said to |
her, why were you born deaf and |
dumb, while I hear and speak?" She |
wrote upon the blackboard, Even so, |
Father, for SO it seemeth good in thy |
sight" Oh, that we might be baptized
a contented spirit! The spider |
draws poison out Of a flower, the bee |
gets honey out of a thistle; but hap
1iness is heavenly elixir, and the o n
tented spirit extracts it not from the
-hododendron of the hills, but from
he lily Of the valley.