The Olneyville times. (Olneyville [Providence, R.I.]) 1887-1917, 1904-04-15
A SERMON FOR SUNDAY
AN ELOQUENT DISCOURSE By THE
REV. Or. HOWARD DuFrlslO.
Subject "Fooimen and Horses Livery
Man Hears at Times In His Soul u
Resounding Cry which Beekons Him
TO His Highest Destiny.

TO His Highest Destiny.
New YORK Cry. - DR.. Howard Dui
field. pastor of the Old First Presbyterian
Church, Fifth avenue and Twelfth street;
preached Sunday on "Footmen aud
Horses" He took his text from jeremiah
xii:5 DR. Duffe,d said:
IL Is healthful for us 10 test our hopes
to-day a. experience shall test them for us
tomorrow. Squarely, individually and nm
mediatey let Us face the challenge of Jer-
envy, the prophet: If thou runnest with
the footmen, and they have vearled thee:
then how canst thou contend with horses
Let Us first study the pursuit OF happi-
ness. The pursuit OF happiness Is intense
and universal and rlghttul. The pursuit
of happiness has enlisted ths unweaned
energy of the most Of men throughout all
time. Pleasure surely cannot be very
hard problem 20 solve. Certainly II can be
no difficult thing 70 win happiness. Brave
and bonny ) this pleasure house OF an
earth N which we live. Dazzling bright Is
this Vanity FAIR OF a world IN which the
lot of mortals Is cast. Its booths are most
alluring. It's wares are most seductive:
skillful are its traders. and eager faced It's
throngs Of buyers. Behold the simmer
ing flash OF its gems and the rich rustic OF
its soft silks! Hearken 10 the sweet notes
OF ITS music and the golden chink of its
of its dance and the gladsome rapture OF
its revel. Mark the gleam OF Its flashing
eyes! Heed the spell OF ITS silvery laugh
teri The idea that this world Is not a
minister of happiness Is hermit logic, ~
the grabbed fruit OF cloistered seclusion. is
the harsh inference OF Purtanlc prejudice.
The siren voices of the world are ever
summoning men 10 a wealth OF pleasures
pleasures OF the palate, pleasures Of the
n 10 Of ~
barring trumpets of the world are ever
heraldng the triumph of ITS votarles as
crowned with laurels and caspng the
brimmlng cup Of lts satisfaction, one and
another ascends the throne of its dominion.
Very well, point me out the happy ones.
Those smlle-wreathed lips repress a rising
sigh Those laughter-hghted eyes but mask
wearied heart The glitter IS tinsel The
trapplngs are fustian. The ornament is
stucco The mirth Is hollow hearted. Do
YOU not know that those men who have
filled all OF fortunes Golfers are the most
brain weared and heart hurdened OF the
children OF the earth, IN their effort 10 MI
one more! Have you never learned that
the man who has climbed the throne Is
smtten with heart sickness because there
Is some Naboth's vineyard unpossessed
Has 1t never been tolG you that man may
wear the Jewe,ed tokens of kings favor
and yet writhe under the pang OF dlsap.
polntment because some beggar Mordecai
stands IN the palace gate? Ii not, let me
put in evidence the testimony OF competent
witnesses. Listen 10 that pampered pet OF
fortune, bedecked with the insignia OF
English nobility, and standing upon the
pinnacle of earth-giyen happiness. In the
swiftest swing OF pleasures whirlpool, IN
the very heyday of life, upon his thirty
sixth birthday. Lord Byron wrote:
My days are in the ~elow leaf,
The flowers and fruits of love are gone,
The worm, the canker and the grief
Are mine alone
Recall the words OF Chesterfield, who
reduced the pursuit OF happiness to a fine
art, and had taken every degree IN the
freemasonry of human pleasure: Il have
been behind the scenes, j have seen all the
coarse pulleys and the dirty ropes which
move the gaudy machinery, and ] have
smelled the tallow candies which illumin
ate the hollow decorations TO the astonish
ment OF an ignorant audience" Listen tC
the peoyish wall of Helne, that richly
gifted poet, critic and master t.nnker who
wrote in his diary: What lists II % me
that at banquets my health j. drunk out OF
golden goblets and IN the best OF VINE, n
j, myself, separated from all the JOY OF the
world, can only moIsten my lips with tn,
physicians potiony What lists 1t 20 mt
crown my marble bust with laurels, wher
on my real head a blister is being clapped
by my old sick nurse What lists 1t 10 IN.
that the roses of Shlraz glow and smell
never so sweetlyy Alas, Shraz Is 600 miles
from Rue lAmsterdam, where ] get moth
ing TO smell in the melancholy solitude OF
my sick room but the aroma OF warm pou!
tces." Behold the trophies of the world
are wetted with ram of tears The re-
verberating plaudts which greet the
worlds successes only serve to waken tho
wailing echo, Vanity of vanity, It ali j
vanity"
The works Of earth are frail. It's jewels
lose their fire. The luster of lts gold will
tarnsh. It's garlands viii wIther and their
bloom and fragrance viii vanish away
What shall that man do who cannot taste
delight IN the midst OF ms pleasures, when
the lights of the revel begin 10 grow dim
and sorrow az with harpy's hand, sweeps
bare the banquet board, and amid the
gathering shadows the fingers of destiny
begin to write doom sentences upon the
wall; What d that man TO do who cannot
pack a single hour with unalloyed pleasure
when he crosses the threshold of a long
long eternity Do not blink tho question
Meet its thr,kt fairly. IF you cannot run
with footmen how will you contend with
horses"
Apply another test. There is a deeper
longing IN many minds than the thirst for
pleasure IL ~ the craving for truth
There rs genuine grandeur IN the achieve
ments OF the intellect The coronet of cul
ture Is brighter far than kings diadem
The robes OF mental royalty are more an
perIal than the mantle of Caesar.
1T would seem az though the mind mon
.archs Of the present age had realized that
dream of the Hebrew boy IN the oldcn
time, when sun and moon and stars bowed
down TO do obesianCe. 1t would seem an
though the prinCely thinkers of the pres
eut day wore the signet ring Of Solomon
IN obedience TO which all elemental powers
yield ready response. They say 10 the
genli OF the electric fluid, go and they
render a ready service. They beckon 20
the coal and 20 the iron, 10 the silver and
TO the gold. and from the secret Caverns Of
the earth they hasten 10 do their bidding
They say TO the Eerlest vapors, do this,
and they do IT.
But, after all, what is the sum total Of
human knowledge Behold We know not
anything" We have mapped few square
miles OF space, and Irnmensities he around
We have numbered few odd centuries Of
tune, and eternitIes lie beyond. We have
garnered stray stalk or two from the
mighty harvest felds Of fact. aud iImit-
able shcaves are noddIng IN the breeze un-
sickled. Within the horizon o. observed
fact We only know how things appear 20
be, not what things are. We knog not
where the light dweileth, but only how
certain light rays affect US We cannot
tell what atmosphere D.. We have only dis.
covered some Of the Offices which atnno@-
phere renders Us Our vaunted know edge
largely consists Of shrewd guesses concern
ing surface appearances The last result
OF Culture Is the coronation Of nescience.
It's proudest achievement u fixing The lin