The Farmville herald. [volume] (Farmville, Va.) 1890-1934, 1899-02-10

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undertake until you are so positive you
can in earnestness smite your hand on
your plow handle or your carpenters
bench. or your Blackstone's Com
mentarics." or your medical diction-
ary. or your Dr Dicks "Didactic The
ology." saying: For this end was l
born" There are children who early
develop natural annties for certain
STYLES of work When the father Of the
Astronomer Forbes was going 10 Lon
don he asked his children what present
he should bring each one OF them. The
boy who was to be AN astronomer cried
out: "Bring me a telescopc!'
But my subject now mounts into the
momentous. Let me say that you are
made for usefulness and Heaven. l
Judge this from the way You are built.
You go into a shop where there is
only one wheel turning and that by a
wcrkman's foot ON a trcadle, and you
say to yourself: "IIcre is something
good being done. yet ON a small scale,
Lut if YOU go into q factory covering
many acres and You find thousands of
Lands pulling on thousands of wheels
uud shuttles flying and the whole
scene bcwildering with activities,
driven 10y water OF steam or electric
power. YOU conclude that the factory
was put up to DO great work and ON a
vast scale. Now, ! look at you, and if
] should find that you had only one
faculty of body. only one muscle only
one nerve, If you could see but not
Lear. or could hear and not see. if you
had the use of only one foot or one
hand. and as 10 your higher nature. II
YOU had only one mental faculty and
YOU had memory but no Judgment or
Judgment but no will, and if You had
soul with only one capacity, should
say not much is expected of you. But
stand up. oh. man. and let me look you
squarcly in the face. Eyes capable of
seeing everything. Ears capable OF
bearing everything. Hands capable Of
grasping everything. Minds with more
wheels than any factory ever turned,
more power than any Coriss engine
ever moved. \ soul that viii outiive
all the universe except heaven, and
would outHvc an heaven If the life of
the other immortals were O moment
short Of the eternal. Now, what has
the world a right 10 expect Of you?
What has God a right TO demand Of
YOU? God is the greatest of ocono-
mists I'm the universe. and lie makes
nothing uselcssly and for what pur-
rose did lie build your body, mind and
soul as they are bIiit? There are only
two beings IN tie universe who can
answer that question. The angels do
not know. The schools do not know.
Your kindred cannot certainly know.
God knows. and you ought TO know
4 factory running az an expense oi
$500 900 o year and turning out goods
worth 20 cents a year would not be
such an incongruity as you. o man,
with such semi-infnite equipment do
ing nothing, or next 20 nothing IN the
way of usefulness. "Nhat shall do?'
YOU ask. My brethren, my sisters, do
not ask me. Ask God. There's some
path Of Christian usefulness open. 1t
may be a rough path OF it may be
smooth path, a long path or a short
path. 1t may be on the mount Of con-
spicuity or in the valley unobserycd,
but it is a path on which you can start
with such faith and such satisfaction
and such certainty that you can cry
out in the face of earth and he'll and
heaven: ITO this end was ] born
Do not wait for extraordinary quail
fcations. Philip. the conqueror' gained
his greatest victories seated on a mule,
and if YOU wait for some caparisoned
Buccphalus TO ride into the conflict You
will never get into the worldwide fight
at all. Samson slew the Lords en-
emies with the jawbone of the stupid
est beast created. Shamgar slew GOD
Of the Lords enemies with an OK goac.
Under God spittIe cured the blind
mans eyes in the New Testament story
Take ell the faculty you have and say:
go Lord. here is what l have! Show
me the field. and back me Up by omnipo-
tent power. Anywhere, anyhow, any
time for God"
1t may be helpful if ! recite my own
experience in this regaid. l started
for the law without asking any divine
direction. ! consulted my own tastes.
/ liked lawyers and courtrooms and
judges and juries. andreveled in hearing
the Frelinghuysens and the Bradleys
of the New Jersey bar, and as assistant
OF the county clerk. at l6 years of age,
/ searched titles. naturalized foreign
ers. recorded deeds, received the con-
fcssion of judgments. swore witnesses
and jurics and grand juries. but after
awhile l felt a call 10 the gospel minis
try and entered il. and felt some salts
faction in the work; but one summer,
when I was resting at Sharon Springs
and while seated in the park of that vii
lage l said TO myself: "lf ! have an es-
pecial work TO do I'm the world, ! ought
70 find il out now" and with that de-
termination prayed as had never be-
fore prayed. and got the divine direc-
tion. and wrote ii down in my memoran-
dunn book. and saw my life work then
as plainly as ] see il now. Oh. do not
be satisfied with general directionsl
Get specific directions. DO not shoot
at random. Take aim and fire.
And now I came TO the climacteric
consideration As near as I can tell.
yop were built for happy eternity. all
the disasters which have happened TO
your nature 10 be overcome by the
blood of the Lamb II you viii heartily
accept that Christly arrangement. We
nre an re iniced AZ the increase I'm hui