Connecticut western news., 1902-05-08

pastorate." After hearing me patient ly this life insurance agent answered: ''There would be no danger of that if you only had little money. When you become sixty or seventy years of age, you could go to life insurance company andspurchase an annuity. For very moderate sum you could at that age secure an annual income that would be sufficient to keep you from all want" But I answered.: Suppose 1 could not pass medical examina tion? What then?" "Ah," replied the life insurance agent, you do not have to pass medical examination. The older you are and the poorer your health the more anxious the company would be to get you to invest. AS soon as you die the company will pos sess your principal"
 Satan in a similar way comes to a man who in all probability will not live over five or ten or perhaps twenty years, and he says: My friend, you give me a mortgage on your eternal soul, to be foreclosed at your death, and I win give you a life interest in the world. I will give you more food than you can eat, more clothing than you can wear, more houses than you can live in. more money than you can spend, and at your earthly demise 1 will not care for your money or your stocks, but I will only demand and take your immortal soul" Come, now, let us reason together. Are you, an immortal man, with a soul which shall live on through the coming ages. with soul that shall stand by the cradle of unborn millenniums, with soul that shall yet witness this earth gasp and die of old age to enter into such con- tract? Read the simple statement of the proposed agreement. Ask yourself this momentous question: What shall it profit q man if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soulT' and exercise the common sense God has given you.
 Probabilities For HRppiness.
 Great worldly possessions do not nee essarily imply a life interest in happi- ness. Indeed we believe those in the ordinary walks of life have better pos abilities for happiness than those in the higher walks. The more influen- tial one becomes the greater his respon- abilities and anxieties.
 What was the bappiest time of your life? You are now a great merchant or lawyer or physician or governor or sen- ator. Is this your supremely happy moment? "No," you answer ''the hap piest time of my life is not found in the present, but in the past. Now I have riches, a city mansion and a country home. These results of finan- cial success do not bring to me peace of mind and contentment. The happiest time of my life was when a poor young man lived on a small salary. Though my wages were not large, yet had enough to marry on. l won a true, good, noble wife. We started out in two small rooms. The babies came one by one. The small salary was somehow able to stretch enough to furnish food and clothing for all. We always had enough to eat. Our garments could defy any cold. Never were a pair of birds happier hatching out their eggs in dovecot than my wife and l in our little nest. But now, instead of working as a mechanic ten hours per day, am planning most of the time. I am afraid the men will strike and the whole plant will stand idle. My poor brain, tired from overwork, will not let me sleep at night. I am worried because fear that if should die my children could not straighten out the estate. They might lose everything" Indeed, there is but little pleasure in being rich and owning more houses than you can live In.
 That the advantages of wealth are frequently overestimated Is peculiarly well illustrated in one of Dr.. bio Lewis lectures. He says: How much more does the capitalist get out of his millions than the man of hundreds gets out of his hundreds? The million aire cannot wear as he walks the streets a hundred coats, a hundred vests, a hundred hats or a hundred pairs of shoes. When he sits down at the table he cannot eat a whole roast OK, two or three barrels of potatoes, a couple of bushels of turnips-in fact, he very rarely, eats as much as his brother In poorer circumstances. When he dies, he requires no ten acre lot to bury him. The hole that his body will fill will be no larger than that required by the pauper who died in the poor house. His eyes can penetrate no far ther than mine, his ears can hear no better, his feet can run no faster, his life's enjoyment is no keener. Alex ander T. Stewart, the multimillionaire merchant, said In response to the sug- gestion that, being such a successful and wealthy man, he must be q very happy man, "All get out of the world Is my lodging, clothing and board, and. in view of the state of my health, the board Is very poor" Cornelius Wander bilt was out one day on a tour of in- spection of his great railroad accom- panied by Chauncey M. Depew. At about noontime the train was side tracked to give a through train the right of way. MT. Vanderbilt happened to look out of the window of his draw ing room car and saw one of his own track laborers sitting on the ground and keenly relishing a generous ham sandwich, washing it down with copi- ous drafts of coffee. Mir. Vanderbilt turned to Depew and said, "Chauncey, I would give all of my millions if I could enjoy my meals as that man does his" At that particular time Mir. Vanderbilt's diet was raw chopped beef and rice. Stephen Girard, the Philadelphia millionaire, once said: "I do not value money for the mere pleas. ure of possessing 1t. The only purpose I have since I made financial success is to work so hard during the day that when night comes I may be able to forget my existence in sleep" In the light of these testimonies I ask you, my hearers, does 1t pay to gain fnan- cial prosperity at the expense of your immortal soul?
 The Huhhle oP Fame