The record-union., 1899-06-05

the conscience of our boy was attacked
everywhere, and every day did duty
| call ON him to resist. But his piety was
! lie the rock-ribbed mountains. He
| purpcsed in his heart" Once there fell
| from the lips of the original liar: Doth
Job serve God for naught?' Ever since
| it has been the scott of a sneerins
| world that Christians are Christians
| only for the pay there is in 1t; that
| policy is on the side of their religion.
| So some Chaldean scoffer would hurl
into the face of our boy prisoner: "Oh,
| there will come change soon. He
| has breathed Hebrew atmosphere and
| been bound by Hebrew habits. His
soul is but the crystals, just emerging
and dull devotion. Wait until he is
| fiedged. Wait until he has prened his
wings amid the sunshine and flowers
/ of Babylon. The Jordan is but
sluggish stream; the Euphrates rolls
| grandly in it's rushing silver. Translate
| him from the slopes of Olivet to the
| plains of Shinar. Let him taste the
! luxury Of Chaldean living once, and
join in the pomp of Babylonish wor-
ship; you will soon hear Of his leaving
old friends, and he will plunge as
eagerly as any into the gaieties of this
| the gayest capital in the world"
! But this scoffer, like most scoffers,
was fooled. Did the piety of our boy
| prisoner fail him? Was he entangled
| by pleasures snare or frightened by
| the captor's frown? Did he not go down
on his knees as fervently in the palace
| Of Shushan as in the temple at Jerusa-
| lem?
Oh, what are circumstances, at any
| rate, when a true man has purposed
in his heart to do the right thing? Let
a man be firmly principled in his relig-
ion, and he may travel from the trop-
| les to the poles it will never catch
| cold on the way. Put him down
| yonder in the desert, and just as the
| palm tree thrusts its roots beneath the
| envious sands in search of substance,
| he will find somehow to get living
! water there. Danish him to the
farthest, dreariest patmos you can
! find he will get an Apocalypse among
| it's barren crags. Thrust him into an
inner prison and fasten his feet in the
| stocks, the doxology will reverberat e
| through the dungeon, making such
| melody within it's walls of stone that
the jailer shall lapse into a man, and
the prisoners, hearing it, shall dream of
| freedom and home" .as
4 Daniel purposed in his heart Young
men have you any piety? OF what sort
is it? Is it dollhouse plant that must
be kept in lest the March winds shake
the life out of it-or is it a hardy shrub
that rejoices when the winds come
bowling down from the crest of Shasta?
We need brave men and brave women
to bear witness for the Master now.
A manhood of insolence and error OPP
poses US. The plague breath is carried
on the wings of the wind to all young
men and women. 1t needs a robust
piety now-one that will not get sick
soon in the tainted air. The forces of
| evil are well marshaled-all along are
liers-in-wait to surprise and betray.
Ours must be a piety that will not be
frightened by the noise of the captains
and the shouting. It must be ours to
press boldly on. saying to all who diff
fer from us: Hinder me not; I mean
to wear the crown
1t is fear that makes men deserters.
Still, eff any man draw back, my soul
shall have no pleasure in him." Favor
the price Of religious principle. Never
compromise in religion.
Protogenes lived on lupins wild
beans) seven years, while on a famous
picture of his that his judgment might
not be clouded by luxurious dirt"
He who would receive and interpret
divine revelations must not feed on the
dainties nor drink from the intoxicat-
ing cup of this world.
So thought our boy prisoner, and he
chose rather to suffer affilction for a
season. He anticipated the master.
eff any man will be my disciple, let
him follow me-" Endure hardness. -
And be purposed in his heart" Reso-
luton as a habit is most important
part of character 1t gives moral
strength, energy, backbone. 1t forms
the hero. scholar, statesman, artist, the
successful merchant the man of
science, benefactor. The turning point
Of Nelson's history was when he said
ST will be hero" Reynolds studied
the masters at Rome till he understood
their excellence and became himself a
master. Paley at college resolved not
to be lazy and rose at o'clock to- be-
gin study and produce works that could
never die. This direct resolution Of
Daniel strengthened his character and
fitted him for greatness. Each resolu-
ton carried out in the face of diff
Guilty makes a man strong. Irresolution
is another name for weakness. It is
weakness to make no resolution or to
make one and fail to keep it. Resolves
and re-resolves and dies a fool" One
4 resolution kept puts solid granite rock
into the wall and makes ready for
growing beauty.
So Daniel purposed in his heart. He
made the stand. at once. He would not
defile himself with the kings meat. nd
with the portion of wine which he
drank. These things We're ceremonially
uncean and were forbidden to Daniel
and his duty was to refuse. Does this
deed Of our prisoner boy cause the curl
to come to some ones lips? "Pshaw! A
small thing, indeed What worse
would he have been if he had not been
SO extensively singular? He was not
obliged to know that there was any
connection with idolatry about it, Why
obtrude this old world sanetimonious-
ness about trifle like this? A trihe.
you say? Well, trifies are the greae
forces of life. We are lifted aloft or
cast into the depths by trifies. They
make or they break US. A falling apple
a drifting log of wood, the putting of a
tea kettle, trifes-but follow up these
trifies. From the falling apple, the law
of gravitation. From the drifting log,
the discovery of America. From the
curling steam, smoke and song of the
tea Kettle, the hundred-fold uses of