St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1900-11-17

my feverish eye, feverish with last
nights drinking and feverishly look
ing for to-night's repetition Of that
folly-could he but feel the body Of
the death out Of which cry hourly
with feeble outcry to be delivered,
it were enough to make him dash the
sparkling beverage to the earth in all
the pride of its mantling temptation"
Are you fond of pictures? Here il
one drawn by Solomon: "Who hath
woe? Who hath sorrow? Who hath
contentious? Who hath babbling?
Who hath wounds without cause?
They that tarry long at the wine;
they that 60 to seek mixed wine.
Look not thou upon the wine when
it is red, when it moveth itself Alright
in the cup. At the last it biteth like
a serpent xnd stingeth like an ad-
der"
do you know what you are do
ing?" said a mother who had broken
into q restaurant. the door locked
against her, her son inside. She came
up to the counter and saw the man
of the restaurant mingling the intox-
icating cup for her own son. She said
to the man behind the counter: do
you know what you are doing?"
NO." said he, 81 DON'T" Says she:
"You are fattening graveyards."
My subject also impresses me with
the beauty of youthful character re-
naming incorrupt away from home.
If Daniel had plunged into every wick
edness of the city of Babylon, the old
folks at home would never have
heard of it. If he had gone through
all the rounds of iniquity, it would
have cast no shadow on his early home.
There were no telegraphs; there were
no railroads. But Daniel knew that
Gods eye was on him. That was
! enough. There are young men not 20
good away from home as at home.
Frederick tending his fathers sheep
among the hills or thrashing rye in the
barn is different perhaps from Fred
erick on the stock exchange. Instead
OF the retiring disposition there is bold
ehrontery; instead of an obliging spirit
there is perhaps oppressive selfishness;
instead of open handed charity there 10
tight-fsted stinginess; instead of rea-
sonable hours there is midnight revel.
speak to many young men on this
natter-you who may have left your
fathers house and others who, though
still under the parental roof, are look
ing forward to the time when you will
go forth to conflict, alone in this world,
with its temptations and its sorrows,
and when you will build up your own
character. Oh, that the God of Daniel
might be with You in Babylon!
1 think the most thrilling passage
OF a young mans life is when he
leaves home to make his fortune. The
novelty and the romance of the thing
may keep him from any keen sorrow,
but the old people who have seen the
destruction of SO many who started
with high hope cannot help but be
anxious. As long as he was in his
fathers house his waywardness was
kindly chided, and although some
times he thought the restraint rather
bitter and rather severe in his calmer
moments he acknowledged it was SAL
utary and righteous. Through the in
fuence of metropolitan friends the |
father has obtained situation for |
his SON in the city. The comrades Of |
the young man come the night before |
his departure to bid farewell to the |
adventurer. The morning of his 60
ing away he walks around the place |
to take last look at things-perhaps |
comes upon some oDJect that starts |
. tear, some old familiar place, but |
no one sees the tear. The trunk is |
put upon the wagon, the young man |
is of for the city. He is set down |
amid excitements and amid associates
who are not overcareful about their
words and thoughts and actions.
Morning comes. No family altar.
Sabbath comes. No rural quiet. The
sanctuary comes, but all the faces are |
strange. and no one cares whether he
comes to church or does not come.
On his way home from the store he
sees placard announcing a rare and
vivacious amusement. He has no
greeting at the door of the boarding
house. He has no appetite for the
food. No one cares whether he eats
or does not eat-rather he would not
eat-it is cheaper! After the tea he
goes into the parlor. takes up book,
finds it dull, no sister to look over it
with him. Goes upstairs to his room
in the third story, finds it cold and
uninviting, and in despair he rushes
ont, caring for nothing but to get
to make him stop thinking.
He is caught in the first whirl of sin.
He has started out on the dark sea
where the CLEAN of the joy is the
flashing of the pit and the laughter
is the creaking of the gate of the lost.
Oh. how many graves there are in the
churchyard which. If they
could speak. would tell of young men
who went off with high hopes and
came back blasted and crushed to dis
grace the sepulcher of their fathers!
And yet this exodus must go on.
As from distant hills the rivers are
poured down through tunnels to slake
the thirst of our great cities, 30 from
distant country places the streams
of incorrupt population must pour
down to purify our great cities. To-
InOrrOW morning on ali tne tnOrOugn-
fares, in every steamboat and in every
rail car will be young men going forth
to seek their fortunes in our great
towns. O Lord God of Daniel, help
them to be as faithful in Babylon as
they were in Jerusalem! Forget not,
o my young friend, in the great sea-
ports the moral and religious prin-
ciples inculcated by parental solicit
tude, and il to-day seated in the house
of God you feel the advantage of early
Christian culture forget not those to
whom you are most indebted and
pray God that as old age comes upon
them and the shadow of death the
hope of Heaven may beam through
the darkness. God forbid that any
Of us through our misconduct should
bring disgrace upon a fathers name
Or prove recreant to the love of Q
mother. The dramatist made no ex-
aggeration when he exclaimed: "How
sharper than serpent's tooth it il
10 have a thankless child!" Oh, that