The St. Mary banner. (Franklin, Parish of St. Mary, La.) 1889-1931, 1900-09-15

bic uealing. what two facedness, Do all
the people who shake hands love each
othery Are all those anxious about your
health who inquire concerning it: Do all
want to see you who ask you to call? Does
ali the world know hall as puch rs it
pyetends to know? Is there not many q
wretched stock Of goods with Il brilliant
store window? Passing UP and down the
streets to your business and your work.
are you not impressed with the fact that
society is hollow, and that there are sub
terfuges and pretensions: Oh, llow many
there. are who swagger and strut, apd
how few people who are natural and walk !.
While fops smpcr and fools sncker and
tlnQIetvns gigYle. how few Ie,lio are uat'
ural and laugh! say these thing, not to
create in you incredibly or insanthropy,
nor do forget there are thousands Of
people q great deal better than they
seem, but / do not think any man is pre-
pared for the conflict Of this life until he
knows this particular peril.
the fact that there is great field for
Christian charity. There are hunger and
suffering and want and wretchedness in
the country. but these eviss chiefly con-
gregate In our great cities. On every street
crime prowls and drunkenness stageers,
and shame Ninks. and pauperism thrusts
| out its hand asking for aims. Here want
| A Christian man going along a street in
New York saw poor lad, and he stopped
and said: MY boy, 10 yoa know Row t9
read and writee' The boy made no an.
swer. The man asked the question twice
and thrice Can yon read and write"
and then the boy answered, with q tear
plashipg on the back of h's hand. He
nor write pettber. God, cir, don't want
ma to raad and <rvifo G1n't 1fe take
away my father SO long ago l never re-
mem Der to have seen him. And haven't
had to 60 along the streets to get some.
thing to fetch home to eat for the folks!
And didn't /, as soon as / could carry a
basket, have to 20 ont and pick up Gin.
ders, and never have no schooling, eir!
God don't want me to read, sir ! can't
read nor write neither
In all cities, east. west, north, south, l
notice great temptations to commercial
fraud. Here Is man who starts in bust.
ness He says, I'm going to be honest"
but Oil the same street, on the same
block, in the same business are Shyloeks.
Those men. to get the patronage OF my
one, will break all understandings with
other merchants and will sell at ruinons
cost, putting their ncighbors at great dis
advantage, expecting to make up the de-
Gcit in something else If an honest prin-
would die of sheer loneliness! The man
twists about, trying to escape the penalty
Of the law, and desp;ses God, while he is
t,st little anxious about the sheriff.
The honest man looks about him and
says: "Well, this rivalry is awful. Raf-
Eaps am more scrupulous than l need Be.
This little bargain | am about to enter is
little doubtful, but then | shal! only do
as the rest" And 40 had friend who
$oJ tv, nj nd II
merchant, with a high resolve. He said,
'In my store there shall be no books that
l would not have my family read Time
passed on, and one day | went into his
store and found some iniqnitous books on
the shelf, and | said to him, How is It
possible that yon can consent to sell such
books as these Oh" he replied, Il
A man cannot do business in this day
unless he does it in the way other peoIA
do it." 10 make a long story short, he
lost his hope of heaven, and in a little
while he lost his morality. and then he
went into madhouse. In other words.
when man casts off God, God casts him
Of.
Hundreds Of men going down in our
cities every YEAR through the pressure OF
That man in the fear and love Of God
goes into politics with that idea and with
the resolution that he will come out un.
contaminated and as good as when he
went in, but generally the case is, when >
man steps into politics, many of the news
papers try to blacken his character and to
little while has gone by, instead Of con.
sidering himself an honorable citizen, he
is lost in contemplation and in admiration
of the fact that he has so long been kept
out of Jail.
If man should 60 into politics to te-
form politics, and with the right spirit,
he can come out with the right spirit and
unhurt. That was Theodore Frelinghuy.
sen, Of New Jersey. That was George
Briggs, of Massachusetts. Ti1t was
Judge Mclean, of Ohio.
Then look around and see the allure.
ments to dissipated life. Bad books, un.
known to ther and mother, vile as the |
reptiles of Egypt. crawling into some OK
the best of families of the community, |
who may read them while the teacher is
looking the other way or at recess or On |
are gathered These books are read late !
at night Satan finds them n smooth |
plank on which be can slide down into |
peridition some OF your sons and daugh- !
ters.
Reading bad books, one never gets over
it. The books may be burned, but there
is not enough power in all the apothe'
cary's preparations to wash out the stain |
from the soul. Fathers hands, mothers
hands sisters hands will not wash it out.
None but the hand Of the Lord can wash
it out.
And what is more perous in regard to
some Of these temptations we may not
mention them. While God in Ills Bible
from chapter to chapter thundered His
denunciations against these crimes, people
expect the pulpit and the printing press
to be silent on the subject, and just IN
proportion as people are impure are they
fastidious on this theme. They are so
full OF decay and death they DO not want
their sepulchers opened. God will turn
into destruction all the unc.can, and no
splenIors Of surrounding can make de,
cent that which lie mas smitten. God
will not excuse sin merely because it has
costly array and beautiful tapestry aad
palatial residence any more than He Will
excuse that wh.cn ctaH'is, a no.ch OF
sores, through the lowest caiar Ever
and anon, through some laHslit. there
flashes upon the people Of onr great cities
what is transniring IN seemingly y lespecta-
be circles. Iol call il ''Eish life you