The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1899-03-23

bic experience-he had wretched
home; no man can be happy with two
wives. much less with 700. and out of
his wretched experience he wrote:
Better is dinner of herbs where love
IS than stalled OK and hatred there
with Oh, the sponsibilities OF
housekeepers! Kings by their indiges-
ton have lost empires, and generals
through indigestion have lost battles.
One of the great statisticians says that
out of 1000 unmarried men 30 were
criminals, and out of 200 married men
only is were criminals. showing the
power of home. And. oh, the respon-
sibility resting upon housekeepers! By
the. food they provide, by the couch
they spread, by the books they intro.
duce, by the influence they bring
around the home, they are helping to
decide the physical, the intellectual,
the moral, the eternal, welfare of the
human race. Oh, the responsibility.
That woman sits in the house of God
to-day perhaps entirely unappreciated.
She is the banker of her home, the presi-
dent. the cashier, the teller, the dis
count clerk. and ever and anon there is
panic. God knows the anxieties and
the care, and He knows that this is not
a useless sermon but that there are
multitudes of hearts waiting for the
distillation of the Divine mercy and
solace in their hour of trials and their
home duties and their own fatigues.:
The world hears nothing about them
They never speak about them. You
could not with the agonies of an iil-'
QUESTION bring the truth out of them.
They keep it still. They say nothing.
They endure and will until God and the
Judgment right their wrongs. oh
says some sister, 'are you not trying 10
show that all a woman's s life at homei is
one of self-sacrifice?" Yes, my sister,
and that is the only kind of life worth
living. That has been the life of Flor
ence Nightingale; that was the life of
Edward Payson; that vas the life of
the Lord Jesus Christ; that is the life
of every maa or woman that is happy
a life of self-sacrifice. Those people
living for themselves-are they happy"'
Find me one. will give you all the ma
tons of the earth to find me one. Not
happy-no, not happy. 1t is the self
sacrificing people that are happy, for
God pays SO largely, SO gloriously, SC
| agnificiently in the deep and eternal
satisfactions of the soul. Self-sacrifce!
We all admire it in others. How little
we exercise Of it! How much would we
endure-how much would we risk-fol
others?
\ very rough schoolmaster had a
poor lad that had offended the laws OF
the school, and he ordered him to come
up. Now" he said, you take off your
coat instantly and receive this whip!'
The boy declined, and more vehemently
the teacher said:~ Il tell you. now, take
off your coat-take it off instantly"
The boy again declined. 1t was not be-
cause he was afraid of the lash-he was
used to that in his cruel home-but il
| was for shame. He had no undergar-
| ments, and when at last he removed
his coat there went UP a sob of emotion
| all through the school as they saw why
he did not wish to remove his coat and
/ uS tAS saw tuC
cutting through the skin. AS the
schoolmaster lifted his whip to strike
a resolute, healthy boy leaped up and
said: stop, schooImaster; whip me!
He is only poor chap: he can't stand
it; whip mel oh" said the teacher,
Its going to be very severe scourg-
ing! But if you want to take the posi-
ton of a substitute you can do it." The
boy said: Il don't care. Whip me.
Ill take it. He's only poor chap.
Don't you see the bones almost come
through the flesh? Whip me- And
when the blows came down on the boys
shoulders this healthy, robust lad made
no outcry. He endured it all uncom-
plainingly. We all say "BravoS' for
that lad. Bravo! That is the spirit OF
Christ! Splendid! How much scourg-
ing, how much chastisement, how much
anguish, will you and take for Others?
Oh, that we might have something Of
that boys spirit! Aye, that we might
have something Of the spirit of Jesus
Christ, for in all our occupations and
trades and businesses, and all our life,
home life. foreign life, we are to re.
member that the sacrifice for Others
| will soon be over. s