Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1901-07-15

GOuISe III. SHOWS the CduSCS
OF the great financial disturbances
which take place every few years and
arrafgns the people who live beyond
their means; text, jeremiah xvii, IL,
A'As the partridge stitch on eggs and
hatcheth them not, so he that getteth
riches and not by right shall leave
them in the midst of his days and at
mis- end shall be q fool"
Allusion is here made to a well
known fact in natural history. If a
partridge or quail or q robin brA)d
the eggs of another species. the young
will not stay with the one that happen
ed to brood them, but at the first OPP
portunity will assert with their own
species. Those of us who have been
brought up in the country have seen
the diSmay of the farmyard hen, hav-
ing brOOded aquatic fowls. when after
awhile they tumble into their natural
element. the water. So my text sug-
gests that man may gather under his
wings the property of others, but it will
after awhile escape; it will leave the
man in a sorry predicament and make
him feel very silly.
What has caused all the black days
OF financial disasters for the last 60
years? Some say it is the credit sys-
ITEM. Something back of that. Some
say it is the spirit of gambling ever
and anon becoming epidemic. Some
thing back of that. Some say it is the
sudden shrinkage in the value of secur-
tiles, which even the most honest and
intelligent men could not have fore
seen. Something back of that. I will
give you the primal cause Of all these
disturbances. 1t is the extravaganza
of modern society which impels a man
to spend more money than he can hon
estly make, and he goes into wild spec
ulatiOn in order to get the means for
inordinate display, and sometimes the
man is to blame and sometimes his
wife and Oftener both. Five thousand
dollars income. $4,000, $4,000 income,
Is not enough for q man to keep up
the style of living he proposes. and
therefore he steers his bark toward the
maelstrOnl. Other men have suddenly
snatched up $4,000 or S1OO.O0O-why
not he? The present income of the man
not being large enough, he must move
earth and hell to catch Up with his
neighbOrs. Others have 4 country seat
so must he; others have an eXtrava-
CANT caterer-so must he; others have
palatial residence-so must he.
Extravaganza.
EXtravag ance is the cause Of all the
defalcations of the last 60 years. and if
you will go through the history of all
the great panics and the great financial
disturbances no sooner have you found
the story than right back Of it you will
find the story Of how many horses the
man had, how many carriages the man
had, how many residences in the coun-
try the man had. how many banquets
the man gave-always. and not one eX-
ceptiOn for the last 60 years, either di-
rectly or indirectly extravaganza the
cause.
Now, for the elegances and the re-
fnements and the decorations of life
cast my vote. While l am consider
ering this subject a basket of flowers
Is handed in-fiOwers paradisaicai in
their beauty-white Gala, with green
background of begonia; cluster of he
Iiotropes Nesting in some geraniums;
sepal and perianth bearing on them the
marks of Gods finger When | see
that basket of flowers, they persuade
IuG ludJ NTOu loves D6dutN anu duOEu-
ment and decoration. God might have
made the earth so as to supply the
gross demands of sense, but left it
without adOrnment or attraction In
stead of the variegated cOlOrs of the
seasons, the earth might have worn an
unchanging dull brown. The tree
might have put forth its fruit without
the prophecy of leaf or blossom. Mag
ara might have come down in gradual
descent without thunder and winged
spray.
Look out Of your window any morn
ing after there has been a dew and see
whether God loves jewels. Put a crys-
tai of snow under q microscope and see
what God thinks of architecture. God
commanded the priest of olden time to
have his robe adorned with a wreath
Of gold and the hem of his garment to
be embroidered in pomegranates. The
earth sleeps, and God blankets it with
the brilliants of the night Sky. The
world wakes, and God washes it from
the FURNISHED laver of the sunrise. SO
/ have not much patience with a man
who talks as though decoration and
Rdornment and the elegances of life
are q sin when they are divinely rec
commended. But there is a line to be
drawn between adornment and decora-
tons that we can afford and those we
cannot afford, and when a man crosses
that line he becomes culpable. can
not tell you what is extravagant for
you. You cannot tell me what is eX-
travagant for me. What is right for
queen may be squandering for a Ouch
ess- What may be economical for you.
man with larger income, will be wick
ed waste for me, with smaller income.