Orleans County monitor. [volume] (Barton, Vt.) 1872-1953, 1903-11-02


Ing with the regularity of pumping
automaton: it should he made as strong
as possible becaus-' all temporal and
spiritual happiness depends TO great
extent upon the physical body being in
a healthy condition
When the soul laughs the body
laughs; when the body weeps the soul
is very apt TO weep. Thomas Jeffer-
son. the sage of Monticello taught this
when he wrote this very suggestive
letter TO his young kinsman, L. NJ. Ran
dolph. Jr.: Without health there is no
happiness. Our attention to health.
then. should take precedence of every
other object. The time necessary TO
secure this by active exercise should be
devoted to it in preference to every
other pursuit. | know the difficulty
with which a busy man tears himself
away from his work at any given mo-
ment Of the day, but his happiness and
that of his family depend upon it. The
most uniformed mind. with a healthy
body. is happier than the wisest vale
tudinarian." Good advice for Thomas
jefferson to give 100 years ago; just as
good advice to give to the young people
Of the present day.
Value of Health.
Not only happiness, but also most of
temporal and spiritual usefulness, is
dependent upon physical health. We
read with amazement what Alexander
III. Stephens was able to accomplish
when he, as an invalid. confessed TO
Senator Vest that for over forty years
he had never seen a day without suf-
fering physical pain. We study with
wonderment the gigantic work of the
invalid Robert Hall. of the invalid
Frederick W. Robertson, of the invalid
Robert Louis Stevenson, of the invalid
j. X. Green and of the invalid Henry
kirke White, who continued to work,
although he was fighting death step
by step. Yet for the most part you
will find that the great leaders of the
world have had strong bodies. Go
and sit today in the gallery of the Unit
ed States senate, and you cannot gain
say this fact. Some of the United
States senator's are now very aged
men, yet even in the decay of their
physical organisms. as among the ruins
of Melrose abbey, you can still trace
the strength and the power of bygOne
days. But. though the necessity of
| physical health should be an axiom,
| yet the strange fact remains that most
people by countless follies are fragrant
| ly undermining the physical walls of
IL, 81, LII
are overworking the body. as you
I sometimes see a tired horse compelled
to pull too big a load. They are abus-
! ing the body with the idea that God
will forgive them because they are try
| ing to do his work. No, no. my friends.
| This abuse of the body must not be.
/ The temple of the Holy Ghost should
be physically a strong temple. The
| broader a l,.an's shoulders the heavier
is the load he can lift for Christ. The
louder his voice the farther. all things
being equal. he can sound forth the
message of a Saviour's sacrifice.
Moral Cleanliness.
The temple of the Holy Spirit. in the
| next place, should be clean body.
There are some men whose bodies are
given over to moral filthiness. They
are like some of the ancient heather
temples which were avOwedly dedicat-
ed to the deitieS of lust. drunkenness
and debauchery, the existence of which
was u national dishonor. The worship
performed in those temples was so vile
that you could not describe it in public
without bringing a blush of shame to
every modest cheek and a demand for
silence from every modest lip. The pic
lures found on the walls of the eX-
humed city of Pompeii show that those
temples were veritable charnel houses.
where bats and owls and carriOn birds
gorged themselves on the decaying
corpses of truth, purity and love. Let
the temple of your body be clean, as
Christ wanted the Jerusalem temple
to be clean when he drove the traders
out of that temple, crying, rs it not
written my house shall be called of al
nations the house of prayer, but We
have made it a den of thievesT clean
as David wanted his physical altar tc
be clean when he uttered the agoniz
ing prayer. Wash me thoroughly from
my iniquity and cleanse me from my
sim" or that other pleading beseech
ment. Cleanse thou me from secret
faults" or clean as Paul meant us t.
be clean when in this same letter tC
the Corinthan church he wrote these
warning words: IF any man defile the
temple of God. him shall God destroy
for the temple of God is holy. which
temple We are" Oh. the terrible con
demnatiOn which is to be visited upor
those whose bodies are defiled by tlit
indulgence of degrading vices. Oh, thu
awful doom awaiting the spiritual des
ecration of the temple of the Holy
| Ghost,
A Consuming Fire.
Have you ever seen a sanctuary o
brick and stone which has been dedi
Gated TO God destroyed by earthquake
| hx- -n1I 4