Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1902-02-08


to thank him for the night. World:
on worlds IN sight OF the naked eye
but mere worlds revealed By telescope
At least one night in his lifetime every
man ought to 20 into Astronomical OBJ
servatory and see what has been done
by the great World Builder. Thank
God, for lunar and stellar illumina'
toni
Further. on the instrument OF ten
strings celebrate the possession Of our
reason. 4 severe stroke upon the head
or a sudden calamity or any one OF
fifty kinds OF accident might dethrone
our reason and leave us worse off than
the brute. for the brute has a substi-
tute for reason in what is called in
stinct. but mans brain shattered
and he has neither mind nor instinct
The asylums for the insane, though
all the time multiplying. are not enough
to shelter the demented. Through the
cramming system employed in many of
the schools of this country there arc
tens of thousands Of children having
their brain depleted. Philosophers at
ten years Of age. astronomers at elev-
en- years of age. geologists at twelve
years of age They will be first on ex-
animation day. but last in all matters
of useful and successful life. 1t would
be amusing to see how much children
are expected to learn and know If II
were not connected with the tragedies
Of damaged intellects which follow.
Amid the increasing dementia Of the
world let us appreciate the goodness of
God to us If our mental faculties are in
equipoise. Voyaging from New Zea-
land to Australia. a storm swooped
upon us, and we saw all around us
fragments of ships that had been
caught in the same tempest. And how
thankful we were. sailing into Sydney
harbor, that we had escaped. SO that
man and that woman whose intellect
goes safely through the storms Of this
life, in which so many have foundered.
ought every day and every night EN-
ploy one Of the ten strings in gratitude
for that particular mercy.
The Blessing of Friendship.
Another string # this instrument !
now touch friendships. deep and abid.
ing. by which | refer to ta0sr people
who. when good or Lad motive may be
ascribed to You. ascrbe the good: those
concerning whom y i do not wonder
which side they will take when you are
under discussions: those who would
more gladly serve you than serve them
selves; those to whom you can tell ey-
erything without reserve; these who
are first in your home by person or by
telegram when you have trouble. On.
what a blessing to have plenty o.
friends! Aye. If you have only one
good friend. you are blessed in that
glad possession. Ni,h one such friend
you can defy the world. But he must
be a tried friend. You cannot tel who
are your real friends till disasters come.
AS long as you collect vast dividends
and have health jocund and popularity
unbounded you will have crowds Of
seeming friends. bet let bankruptcy
and invalidism and defamation come,
and the number Of your friends will
be 95 per cent off. If you have been
through some great crisis ard yon have
one friend left, thank God and cele-
brate It on the sweetest harpstring.
"Whie all this Is SO" says some one
"there are so many things that others
have which have not" reply, it is
not what we get. but what we are. that
decides our happiness. With the bare
necessities of life many are unspeaka-
bly, happy. while others with all the
luxuries are impersonations Of misery.
In the Roman empire there was no
man more wretched than the Nero who
ruled it. The porticoes Of his palace
were a mile long. \ statue Of him in
silver and gold 100 feet high stood in
the vestibule. The walls of his palace
were mother Of pearl and ivory. The
ceiling was arranged to shower flowers
and pour perfumes upon the guests.
His wardrobe was so large that he nev-
er wore a garment twice. His mules
were shod in silver. He flsbed with
hooks Of gold. 4 thousand carriages
accompanied him when he Travelled.
His crown was worth S590.000 He had
everything but happiness. That never
came. Your heart right. all Is right:
your heart wrong. all Is wrong.
The Gospel Of Good Morals.
But we must tighten the cords Of our
harp and retune 1t while we celebrate
gospel advantages. The highest style
of civilization the world has ever seen
is American civilization. and it is bult
out of the gospel Of pardon and good
morals. That gospel rocked our cradle.
and it will epitaph our grave. II sOOthes
our sorrows. brightens our hopes. In
spires our courage. forgives our sins
and saves our souls. 1t takes a man
who is all wrong and makes him all
right. What that gospel has done for
you and me Is d story that we can
never fully tell What it has done for
The world and will yet do for the ma
tions 1t will take the thousand years OF
the millennium to celebrate. The grand
est churches are yet to be built. The
mightiest anthems are yet to be hoist
ed. The greatest victories are yet TO
be gained The most beautiful Ma
donnas are yet to be painted. The
most triumphant professions are yet to
march. Oh, what world this will be
when it rotates in its orbit a redeemed
planet, girdled with spontaneous har-
vests and enriched by orchards whose
fruits are speckless and redundant, and
the last pain will have been banished
and the last tear wept and the last
groan uttered, and there shall be moth
ing to hurt or destroy in all Gods holy
mountainl All that and more will come
to pass, for "the mouth Of the LORD
hath spoken it"
So far | have mentioned nine Of the