Audubon Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Iowa) 1894-1925, 1900-10-11

fsul tHtre Camt ColupiiSdtiouSs SohV-
thing that you imagined impossible
happened. The best friends you had
proved traitor to your interests. A
sudden crash of national misfortune
FRUSTRATED your credit. You may feel
anxious about where you are standing
and fear that the next turn of the
commercial wheel will bring you pros
trate. You foresee what You consider
certain defalcation. You think of the
anguish of telling your friends that
you are not worth dollar. You know
not how you will ever bring your
children home from school, You won
der how you will stand the selling OF
your library or the moving into a
palmer house. The misfortunes OF life
have accumulated. You wonder what
makes the sky so dark. 1t is toward
evening.
Trouble is an apothecary that mixes
great many drafts, bitter and sour
and nauseous. and you must drink
some one of them. Trouble puts up a
great many packs, and you must car
ry some one of them. There is no
sandal so thick and we'll adjusted but
some thorn will strike through it..
There is no sound so sweet but the I'M
dertaker's screwdriver CRATES through
it, In this swift shuttle Of the heart
some of the threads must break. The
journey from Jerusalem to Emmaus
will soon be ended Our Bible, our
common sense, our observation, reiter-
ate in tones that we cannot mistake
and ought not to disregard, it is to-
ward evening.
Fighting Against Misfortune.
Listen to Paul's battle shout with
misfortune. Hark to the mounting
Latimer's fire song. Look at the glory
that hath reft the dungeon and filled
the earth and heavens with the crash
of the falling manacles of despotism.
And then look at those who have tried
to cure themselves by human pre-
scriptions, attempting to heal gangrene
with patch of court plaster and to stop
the plague of dying empires with the
quackery of earthly wisdom. Nothing
can speak peace to the soul, nothing
can unstrap our crushing burdens,
nothing can overcome our spiritual
foes, nothing can open our eyes to
see the surrounding horses and chari-
OTIS of salvation that fill all the noun
tains, but the voice and command of
him who stopped one night at EN-
maus.
The words of the text are pertinent
| to lis all from the fact that we are
nearing the evening of death. | have
though each moment were to be our
last. | do not believe that theory. As
| far as preparation is concerned, we
ought always to be ready. But We
cannot always be thinking of death,
for we have duties in life that demand
our attention. When man is selling
goods, it is his business to think of
the bargain he is making. When a
man is pleading in the courts 1t is his
duty to think of the interests of his
| clients When a clerk is adding up
accounts, it is his duty to keep his
mind upon the column of figures. He
who fills up his life with thoughts OF
| death is far from being the highest
| style of Christian. / knew man who
used often to say at night, Il wish
might die before morning." He is
now an infidel. But there are times
when we can and ought to give our
selves to the contemplation of that
| solemn moment when the soul time
ends and eternity begins. We must go
! through that one pass. There is
| no roundabout way, no bypath, no cir
! cuitous route. Die we must, and ii
will be to us shameful occurrence
or a time of admirable behavior. Our
| friends may stretch out their hands to
keep us back, but no imploration on
their part can hinder us. They might
| offer large retainers, but death would
not take the fee. The breath will fail,
and the eyes will close, and the heart
will stop. You may hang the couch
with gorgeous tapestry, but what does
death care for bed curtains?
The Eternal Resting Place.
~ =, xI,N h. II col ~.