St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1900-12-08

with the value Oh decision OI CndE~
acter in any department. Daniel
knew that if he continued his adher-
ence to the religion Of the Lord he
would be hurled to the lions; but,
having set his compass well, he. sailed
right on. FOR the lack of that ele-
ment of decision of character SO emf
nent in Daniel many men are ruined
for this world and ruined for the
world to come. 4 great many at 40
years of age are not settled in any
respect, because they have not been
able to make up their minds. Per
haps they will go west; perhaps they
will go east; perhaps they will not;
perhaps they will SO north; perhaps
they may 60 south; perhaps they will
not; perhaps they may make that in
vestment in real estate or in rail-
roads; perhaps they will not. They
are like a steamer that should 60
out of New York haIbor, starting for
Glasgow, and the next day should
change for Havre de Grace, and the
next for Charleston, and tie next for
Boston, and the next for Liverpool.
These men on the sea of life ever
lastingly tacking ship and making no
headway! Or they are like a man
who starts to build a house in the
Corinthian style and changes it to
Doric and then completes it in the
Ionic, the curse of all styles of archi-
lecture. Young man, start right and
keep on. Have decision of character.
Character is like the goldfinch of Ton
quin. It Is magnificent while stand
ing firm, but loses all its beauty in
flight. How much decision of char
acter in order that thes, young men
may be .Christians! Their old asso-
ciates make sarcastic fimgs at them.
They 60 on excursions, and they do
not invite them. They prophesy that
he will give out. They wonder il he
is not getting wings. AS he passes
they grimace and wink and chuckle
and say: "There goes a SAINT" O
young man, have decision OF charac-
ter! You can afford in this matter
of religion to be laughed at. What do
you care for the SCOTS of these men.
who are affronted because you will
not go to ruin with them? When the
grave cracks open under their feet,
and grim messengers push them into
it, and eternity comes down hard
upon their spirit, and conscience
stings. and hopeless ruin lifts them
up to hurl them down, will they
laugh then?
I learn also from my subject that
men may take religion into their world
ly business. This is most appropriate
thought at this season of the year,
when so many men are starting out in
new enterprises. Daniel had enough
work to do to occupy six men. All the
affairs Of state were in his hands; ques-
tions of finance, questions of war, OF
peace; all international questions were
for his settlement or adjustment. He
must have had q correspondence vast
beyond all computation. There was
not q man in all the earth who had
more to do, than Daniel. the secretary
of state, and yet we find him three
times a~iay bowling before God in
prayer. There are men in our day who
have not a hundredth part Of Daniels
engagements who say they are toe
busy to be religious. They have an
idea somehow that religion will spoil
their worldly occupation, that it will
trip the accountants pen or dull the
carpenters saw or confuse the lawyer
brief or disarrange the merchants
store shelf. They think religion is i'm,
pertinent. They would like to have il
very well seated beside them in church
on the Sabbath, to find the place in the
psalmbook or to nudge them awake
when they get sleepy under the didac'
tic discourse, or they would like to
leave it in the pew on Sabbath evening
as they go out. closing the door, say
ing: 'Good night. religion; TIL be back
next Sunday!" But to have religion
go right along by them all through life
to have religion looking over Their
shoulder when they are making bar
gain, to have religion take up bag
of dishonest gold and shake it and say:
"Where did you get that?" They think
that is an impertinent religion. They
i would like to have a religion to help
them when they are sick, and when
the shadow of death comes over them
they would like to have religion as 8
sort of nightkev with which to open
the door of Heaven, but religion under
other circumstances they take to bs
impertinence.
Now, my friends, religion never
robbed a man of dollar. Other thing:
being equal. mason will build a bet
ter wall, a cabinet maker will make ,
better chair, plumber will make 4
better pipe. lawyer will make bet
ter plea, a merchant will sell better
bill of goods. say, other things be
ing equal OF course when religion
riyes a man a new heart, it does no,
propose to give him a new head or tt
| intellectualize him or to change 8
mans condition when his ordinary
state is an overthrow of the philoso
phical theory that total vacuum j.
| impossible. but the more letters yor
have to write, the more burdens yo,
have to carry. the more miles YOU hav,
| to travel, the more burdens you have Il
lift, the more engagements you have tt
meet, the more disputes You have Il
settle. the more opportunity you have ol
being Christian. If you have thou
sand irons in the fire, you have thou
sand more opportunities of serving
God than il you only had one iron il
the fire. Who SO busy as Christ? AEt
l.yet who millionth part as holy? The
hnsiest men the best men. All the per
sons converted in Scripture busy Al
the time of their being converted. Mat
thew attending to his custom hous'
duties; the prodigal SON feeding swine
Lydia selling purple; Simon Petel
hauling in the net from the sea; Sau
spurring his horse toward Damascus
going down on his law business: Busy
busy. Daniel with al the affairs O.
state weighing down upon his soul, ant
vet three times g day worshiping th'
God of Hea-en.
Again 1 learn from this subject
that a man may take religion into hi:
politics. Daniel led all the affairs o.