The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1900-08-31

the hydrogen, and then the Atlantic
and Pacific ceans would blaze like
heaps of shavings. You want me TO
take this world, for which you can
give no possible insurance.
Astronomers have swept their tele-
scopes through the sky and have found
out that there have been Is worlds in
the last two centuries that have dis
appeared. At first sthey looked just
like other worlds. Then they go; deep
~ red-they on fire. Then they
got ashen, showing they were burned
down. Then they disappeared, even
the ashes were scattered. And, II the
geologist be right in his prophecy, then
our world is to go in n same way.
And yet you want me to
my soul for it. An, no, IL is a world
that is burning now. ppo you
brought an insurance agent TO look
at your property for the purpose of
giving o a policy upon II and while
he stood in front of the house he should
say, That house is on fire now in the
basement" you could not get any in
surance upon it. Yet you talk about
this world as though il were a safe
investment, as though you could get
some insurance upon ii, when down
in the basement it is on fire.
/ remark, also, that this world is a
property with which everybody who
has taken it as a possession has had
OuDIc. -NoN, ti"tt H IOA0 OlliA
my church in Brooklyn there was a
reach of land which vas not built on.
l asked what was the matter, and
they replied that everybody who had
anything TO do with that property got
into trouble about it. 1t is just so with
this world-everybody that has had
anything to do with it as a possession
has been in p~erplexity. How was it
with Lord Byron? Did he not sell his
immorta soul for the purpose of get
ting the world? Was he satisfied with
the possession? Alas, alas, n poem
graphically describes his case when
1t says:
Drank every cup of joy,
Heard every trump of fame:
Drank early, deeply drank,
Drank drafts which common millions
might have quenched,
Then died of thirst, because there was
no more to drink.
GAINING THE WORLD.
Oh. yes he had trouble with it, and
so did Napoleon. After conquering ma
lions by force of the sword h victor
lies down to die. his entire possession
the military boots that he insisted on
having upon his feet while he was dy-
ing. So it has been with men who a
better ambition. Thackeray, one Of
the most genial and lovable souls, at
ter he had won the applause of all in
telligent lands through his wonderful
genius sits down in a restaurant in
Paris, looks to the other end of the
room and wonders whose is that for
lorn and wretched face. Rising up af-
ter a while, he finds that it is Thack-
cray in the mirror. Oh, yes, this world
Is a cheat. Talk about a man gaining
the world Who ever gained half or
the world? Who ever owned d hemis-
rhnrno Whn nunr Caina6 a nnnrlnQnf2
Who ever owned Asia? Who ever gain
ed a city? Talk about gaining the
world No man ever gained II, or the
thousandth part of it. You are de-
handing that I sell my soul, not for
the world, but for a fragment of it.
Here is a man who has had a large
estate for 40 or so years. He lies down
to die. You say, that man is worth
millions and millions of dollars" Is
he? You call up a surveyor, with his
compass and chains and you say,
There is a property extending three
miles in one direction INT three miles
in another direction" Is that the way
to measure that mans property? No!
You do not want any surveyor, with
compass and chains. That is not the
way to measure that mans property
now. 1t is an undertaken you need,
| who will come and put his finger in his
vest pocket and take out a tape line,
and he will measure 5 feet 9 inches one
way and 2R feet the other way. That
is the mans property. Oh, no; 7 for
got; not so much as that. for he does
not own even the place in which he
lies in the cemetery. The deed to hat
belongs to the executors and heirs. Oh.
what a property you to give me
for my soul! If you sell d bill Of
goods, you go into the counting room
and say to your partner:""Do you think
1 that man iC good for his hi12 Can he
| give proper security? Will he meet
his payment? Now. when you are Of
fered this world as a possession / want
you to test the matter. I do not want
o to go into this bargain blindly.
want % to ask about the title, about
the insurance. about whether men
have ever had any trouble with 1t,
whether you can get all or the ten
thouSandth or one hundred thOusandth
part Of it.
There Is the world now. I shall say
no more about it. Make I'D your mind
| for yourself. as I shall before God
have to make up my mind for myself
about the value Of this world. I can
soul, and you cannot afford to make
a mistake for our soul.
THE SOUL BEYOND VALUE,
Now let us look at the other property
the soul. We cannot make a bargain
without seeing the comparative value.
The SOUL How shall I estimate the
value of it? Well. by its exquisite or
ganization. It is the most wonderful
piece Of mechanism ever put together.
Machinery is Of value in proportion as
1t is mighty and silent at the same
time. You look at the engine and the
machinery in the Philadelphia mint,
and you see it performing its wonder
full work you will be surprised to find
how silently it goes. Machinery that
roars and tears soon destroys itself;
but silent machinery is often most
effective Now, so it is with the soul
Of man. with all it's tremendous fac
ulties; it moves in silence. Judgment,
without any racket. lifting Its scales;
memory, without any noise, bringing
down all its treasures: conscience TAX
ing its judgment seat without any ex-
element; the understanding and the
will all doing their work-velocity,
majesty, might. but silence, silence
You listen at the door of your heart.
You can hear no sound. The soul is