St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1898-04-30

| some men do not steal $500, 600 is be-
cause they do not get q chance! Have
righteous indignation you must about
that mans conduct, but temper it with
merc-.
But. You say: 81 am sorry that the
innocent should suffer- Yes, lam, too
sorry for the widows and orphans
who lost their all by that defalcation,
am sorry also for the business men.
the honest business men, who have had
their affairs all crippled by that defal-
cation. am sorry for the venerable
bank president to whom the credit Of
the bank was matter of pride. Yes,
am sorry also for that man who
brought all the distress; sorry that he
sacrificed body, mind, soul, reputation.
Heaven, and went into the blackness Of
darkness forever.
You defiantly say: 81 could not be
tempted in that way" Perhaps you
may be tested after awhile God has a
very good memory, and He sometimes
seems to say: This man feels so
strong in his innate power and good
ness he shall be tested; he is so full of
bitter invective against that unfortu-
nate, it shall be shown now whether
he has the power to stand" Fifteen
years go by. The wheel of fortune
turns several times, and you are in a
crisis that you never could have antici-
pated. Now, all the powers of dark
ness come around, and they chuckle
and they chatter and they say: Aha!
here is the old fellow who was so proud
of his integrity, and who Dragged he
couldn't be overthrown by temptation,
and was so uproarious in his demon
strations of indignation at the defalca-
lion Is years ago. Let us see!"
God let's the man 60. God, who had
kept that man under His protecting
care, let's the man go, and try for him.
self the majesty of his integrity. God
letting the man go. the powers of dark-
ness pounce upon him. see you some
day in your Office in great excitement.
One of two things you can do. Be hon.
est, and be pauperized, and have your
children brought home from school,
your family dethroncd- in social
influence. The other thing is. you
can step little aside from that
which is right, you can only just go
half an inch out of the proper path, you
can only take little risk, and then
you have all your finances fair and
right You will have large property.
You can leave fortune for your chill
dren, and endow a college, build .
public library in your native town.
You halt and wait, and halt and wait
until your lips get white. You decide
to risk it. Only q few strokes of the
pen now. But, oh, how your hand
trembles! The die is cast. By the strang-
est and most awful conjunction of cir
cumstances anyone could have imag-
ined, you are Frustrated. Bankruptcy,
commercial humiliation, exposure,
crime. Good men mourn and devils
hold carnival, and you see your own
name at the head of the newspaper
column in q whole congress of ex-
clamatiOn points; and while you are
reading the anathema in the reportorial
and editorial paragraph, it occurs to
you how much this story is like that of
the defalcation fifteen years ago, and
clap Of thunder shakes the window
sill. saying: with what measure We
mete, it shall be measured to you
again.
You look in another direction. There
is nothing like ebulitions of temper to
put man to disadvantage. You, a
man with calm pulses and fine diges-
tion and perfect health, can not UNDER
stand how anybody should be capsized
in temper by an infinitesimal annoy
ance. You say: Il couldn't be unbal-
anced in that way" Perhaps yo u smile
At a prOvocatiOn that makes another
man swear. You pride yourself on your
mperturbability. You say with your
though you have too much
good taste to say it with your words:
Il have great deal more sense than
that man has; have a great deal moro
e equipoise of temper than that man has;
| never could make such puerile ex-
of myself as that man has
made.
In the study of society have come
to this conclusion, that the most of the
people want to be good, but they do
not exactly know how to make it out.
They make enough good resolutions to
lift them into angelhood. The vast
of people who fall are the
victims of circumstances They are
captured by ambuscade. II their temp
'atiOns should come out in regiment
md fight them in fair field they
would go out in The strength and the
triumph of David against Goliath. But
hey do not see the giants and they do
lot see the regiment. Temptation
zones and says: take these bitters,
AXE this nervine, take this aid to di-
yestion, take this night cap The
'ast majority of men and women who
lre destroyed by opium and by rum
irst take them as medicines. In maxi
ng mp your dish of criticism in regard
o them, take from the caster and the
ruet of sweet oil and not the cruet of
ayenne pepper.
Do you know how that physician,
hat lawyer, that journalist became
he victim of dissipation? Why, the
MUSICIAN was kept up night by nigat
n professional duty. Life and death
lowered in the balance. His nervous sys-
em was exhausted. There came time
4 epidemic, and whole families were
and his nervous strength
vas gone. He was all worn out in the
ervice of the public. Now he must
race himself up. Now he stimulates
he life OF this mother, the life of this
hild, the life OF this father, the life of
his whole family must be saved. and
( all these families must be saved, and
e stimulates, and he does it again and
gain You may criticise his judg-
lent, but remember the process. It
Tas not q selfish process by which he
Tens down. 1t was magnificent gem
rosity through which he fell.
see the scribes of Heaven looxin4
p into the face of suei a ma, saying:
What. you plead for mercy. you. wac
q all your life never had anv mercy or
our fel lows? D1a't yol ren. n o.r now
ard you were in yoar opinions of tloss
rho were astray2 Dol yoa rea,a aoes
'hen You OIL snt to nave giyel a help.
1g hand yoa e;npsoJsl u nara heeis
lercy. You mis- ln.S.s,-ts yoarself
rnen you pied for nisrey here