The Farmville herald. [volume] (Farmville, Va.) 1890-1934, 1903-09-04

SUICIDAL eNlNfNlltt l'N you M'i''t
that look 10 the gospel OF Jesus Christ
10 stay the hand OF self immolatont
VIII you not. 10y buckiing on the gospel
armOr prepare 90 wage inccs~ant war
against the insidious demons who
blight the lives Of your fellow men 10y
robhing them of peace. joy and faith
| and leaving them So dcspoilcd aud im-
hittcrcd That they prefer death to lifet
False standards for happiness can
be catalogucd among the frequent pro-
f lihc causes of the suicidal sin. They
are the dccoyiug mimges which tempt
/ the weary life's traveller to lose himself
/ 600 the midst of "a Sahara of sand. They
are the dcccitful stars. twinkl.ng their
/ bcucdictions over affairs of silver and
Of gold and Of fame. which suddenly
go ont and leave the dcvotccs worship
/ ing in total darkness. They are the
musical voices of the sirens singing
their sweetest songs when Turing their
victims ON TO fatal shipwrcck
In the false standards of happiness
can Dee found the origin of thc disap-
poiuimcnts which So often end ln sui
eide. Men do not first seek wealth or
/ fame 20 possess those treasures. as "a
miscr might hoard up his gold. They de-
sire the merchant princes palace ANA
the kings throne because they foolish
Is think that happiness is % coy maiden
who loves to robe herself in silks and
To have her throat and fingers a-gliiicr
with precious jewels. and therefore
they cam the more readily find her 300
the rich mans mansion than boo The
poor mans hut. II they cannot have
wealth or fame or worldly honor is
about 10 Doc taken away from them
then they feel they cannot have happl
ness. Then. with one pull of the pi~
toTs trigger they fling away thcii
blieht,d lives. MS did the late cotton
king" OF Louisiana, who lost Dis for
tune in Wall street or as did the Tate
I Sir Hector Macdonald of the British
army. who killed himself 90 avoid f1r
ing the publicity OF q court martial
Now. my friends. the human being
who commits suicide merely because
the golden breasted oriole Of wcan
has plumcd her wings and disappeared
from sight or because the iconoclasi of
trouble has shattered ;he idol Of fame
is doing a fools business. Happiness
true happiness. the happiness fol
which we an long and foi which some
Of MS are seeking. is not dependent up
ON outside surroundings but upon iir
condition OF the heart. Some of Ole
most unhappy human beings have
been the so called worldly successful
men. Did an the unlimited tinancH
wealth of Nathan Roth>cm.d mak'
him happy? For many years be- wa'
the universally recognized iiuaucia
king of Europe. In single day h
made over S9OO0WO At the mtti'
Of Waterloo be was am anxious spocia
tor. As soon ms that battle wd~ dr
cidcd De put spurs 10 his horse am
-,le like the wind toward London
fo,. h""r ro'ov of horses awaiun'
IN lie had Wss.N Potts, m~.fred ID
10 him and a special boat ci.0 make
r. take him across the channel The
% next morning. he appeared upon O
. London Exchange and circulated %
n report that Wellington was dcfcatc
4 Securities tumbIcd. His brokers bougl
= them up by the millions Of dollar
. worth Tie following day dispatch,
from Wellington announced that y.
2 poleon's army was annihilatcd s.
@. curities at once jumped upward y.
than Rothschild pockcted his million
. Of profit But though Nathan Roth.
: child was the wealthiest fnancicr +
an Europe. he was one Of the mo-.
, unhappy Of men. When q friend ST.
tied him one day and said, "You oueh
10 be happy man with 400 thi
wealth. Nathan turned and. with
look Of scorn, answered. Happy
Happy. ] happy. Bosh Let %
change the subject"
II wealth does not in itself produce
happiness neither does worldly fam,
nor honor. Men strive for place am,
power as IL with them they were sure %.
happiness. They plot and couspirc 400,
murder that they may mount thc step
Of throne. and when they succeed
they find that they have gained moth
ing but anxiety and worry.
Moral application: DO not try "a
build the temple Of happiness ont of
yellow bricks. Think not that tm
broad highway which leads 10 the
throne room Of joy is always lined with
applauding aud voHfcmtug multi
tudrs The ground mole may tunnel
his WAY into a gold mine. but Doc still
| remains "a ground mole. The hat. fy-
/ ing about IN the darkness may Toe able
to push his claws into trembling mems
pockets. but he is still nothing bat a
hateful bat
Envy and coyetousncss also lead TO
suicide. The unwillingness TO love our
ncighbors as ourselves is one " the
Indirect causes of this dreadful sin
Two ways Of looking az this old world
the one is through the green glasses
OF envy. the result unhapplncss. the
other way is through the sanctiicd
crystals Of a tender a holy love. the
result gospel joy The one way is 10
bitterly bemoan because some people
are supposed TO be better or than we
are. The other way is 20 try TO find
out how many people are worse on
than we are and then With a Christian
desire try TO help them as we would
like 10 Doe helped If we were in their
places. Through what kind Of lenses
have you been scrutinizing the human
race: Through the green glasses OF
envy, Which make all the world look
dark, or through the clear. transparent
crystals Of gospel love. which always
make an the world look bright3 No hap
py man ever wanted 10 commit suicide.
No man can be truly unhappy who Is
trying 10 help his fellow man. When
he finds that he is making others hap
py, their joys become part Of his joys
The suicidal knife is blunted upon .