The Montgomery advertiser., 1904-09-20

ing and those who have forgotten ev- erything. Coming out into the strug- gle of life, there is a general falling away from ideals. The lawyer tends | to become an advocate, the physician sensational practitioner, the man or | letters loses depth and earnestness. and
 the teacher whose business 1t Is to
 rouse and illumine souls shrivels ur- | til he becomes merely a repeater of l facts and doctrines in which there is no life, no power to exalt the imagina- | ton or to give tone 10 the intellect. " Tt is due to the spirit of the age. In our heart of hearts we all prefer to have the riches of Carnegie than the | mind of Plato or the imagination of l Shakespeare. We believe that the best | Is outside of us; we love the display and noise of life: we are. fond of the | word swell suspicious of the word | 1earned;' VIC are eager to mingle in
 crowds. to live in great cities, and lis. ten to exaggerated and doclamatory | speech. The soberness of wisdom, the | humility of religion, the plainness ot | worth, are unattractive and unrecognisT ed We rush after material things Ike hunters after game and in the excite
 ment of the chase our pulse grows quick and our vision confused
 "The second demon mother of the text
 Is Mama or False Pleasure. She 1t Is
 who imposes upon human souls the dread slavery of appetite and who
 makes countless multitudes of the fal- | len her instruments of destruction. It
 is the glory of a man to have clean lips and a pure heart It Is the glory
 Of a woman not to know evil even In l her thoughts.
 Evil influences solicit us on every l side. The jovial friend with the doubt
 ful story, the obscene jest stands at
 every corner. How many have the power to say No. to close the ear and pass him by? The theatres Haunt the
 social evil in every face. Players set a
 premium on acts that are risque and
 decollete. And the illustrated news papers-they are absolutely pernicious
 and a libel on God
 We live in youth as though we were the favorites of a prodigal. to find In
 manhood that we have been the pen 1 sioners of e miser. We grasp the Inn
 mediate pleasure not knowing and not | caring to know, that in the end 1t bit-
 eth like a serpent and stingeth like an adder
 And. lastly, Mahalath--Superstitio
 She is the mortal foe of pure religion | and undecided. remember hearing once the pathetic story of poor wo-
 man, into whose arms Providence brought a babe that was permitted tp nestle there long enough for the heart
 to throw so many tendrils about 1t that | when the babe was taken away 1t un' | settled the life and wrenched the req | son. Months after the grave had
 claimed It's own. the poor mother might
 be seen rocking the cradle, singing the | old lullaby all unniindful of the fact
 that the living spirit had flown there | from forever More pathetic than this | Is the sight of living men and women | still capable of thought and feeling
 rocking the old cradles Of Form. though
 the Spirit thrrefrom has long since winged Its flight.
 What says the end of our allegory? | "It is but legend I know.
 A fable. a phantom, a show, l Of ancient rabbinical lore.
 | Yet the old mcdiaeval tradition, l The beautiful strange superstition. But haunts and holds me the more'' 'Lilith, Mama. Mahalath-the de-
 mon mothers it Is true, live in dark aud | gloomy mountains of the North. But | King Solomon-that Is, Reason-can subdue them and make them serve his 1 will.
 | "In other words, 1t is possible to | grapple with these forces of evil and | conquer them. The curse of Lilith can
 be expelled by a large and loving edu- cation. Mama or False Pleasure. can
 be made the hand maid not of pollution. but of innocence and self control Ma l halath or Superstition. can be purged
 of hoilowness and formaiism and be made to bring forth the fruits of the ] spirit which grow on thestre of life.