The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-07-16

age does nOl IaSnly court a"heN-'
 moral or physical, but rather avoids It. The text is Ecclesiastes vii, D. They shall be afraid of that which Is high.
 What is the Biblical picture of my text? Mere physical decadence and men, tal decrepitude? Do we find here, as a dear friend of mine some time ago tried to prove to me. simply a half blind deaf
 toothless, stiff -jointed, rheumatic, pal sled, helpless old man, being wheeled around in an invalid chair or hobblins about on a crutch or grunting and groan- ing on a bed of chronic invalidsm? Is he a nervous wreck, a whte-haired, tim orous old patriarch. afraid of his own shadow? Is he cowardly person. who realizing his own physical iniirmi ties with d diseased mind. is conjuring up a lot of imaginative dangers Is there are no real dangers at hand? I think not. ] believe that the writer is here plcturing old age. but it is the noble, brave and 1 self-reliant old age which your father and mine had when they drew near the end of their earthly career. It is not the pitiable old age of senile cowardli- ness. 1t is the farsighted, inspiring old age of care-taking cautousness which | generally comes from the litter experi- 1 ence of misfortunes. To be cautious is not necessarily to be cowarely. TO De l reckless is not necessarily to be prave' The reason some young folks are reck- less is because they do not re1Ilze she l dangers af hand, against which as sen- 1 sible nen~ and women they should care i fully protect themselves.
 r. Let me illustrate. You call me up on the l telephone; say: "I1elloi Is that you? W you take drive this afternoon? All right. will be up with the carriage in twenty minutes" When you drive up with the carriage I see that you have Deaut11ul' high stepping mettlesome thoroughbred l When U enter thes runabout l see you hold the reins tight You speak gently and l soothingly to your horse. By the tone or your voice and by the way you handle l the lines I know you are good driver and l feel perfectly safe. But supposing | I enter your carriage and see you jerk l the lines. Then you let them lie loose; then you hallo at the. horse or cut him with the whip. What do do? Why, l simply get out of that carriage and walk home, not l because am a coward, but because l l know that youido not know now to drive 1 a mettlesonle horse. I know what that means. once rode behind fractious colt. with just such an inexperienced driver as you are. and I was nearly killed. l have more respect for my neck and my l life than to trust them in such incompe- tent hands again. When was young 1 man did not care what kind of horse [ rode behind or what kind of driver l had hold of the lines. but from bitter eX- perience now I know about such dan gers and give them a very wide berth. Such, I think. is the distinction of my text. We see the old man not cowardly but cautious; we see him afraid of that | xul1 fc fp11 written over such places Beware" This 1 is a danger sign, Beware"
 Be Cautious.
 l But do we have to wait until old age | before we become wisely cautious? Not only is it the duty of all men to be care | full and run no needless risks. but 1t is l certainly the duty of young men to learn | from old men the lesson of Flowing eau l tiousness." There Is so much-aye, so very much-dependng on most of us | younger men. Many of us have families | of little children who are looking to us 1 for their daily bread We are also re-
 sponsible for our usefulness which can bless all mankind about us. Thus, in- stead of telling my hearers to be need | 1essly reckless. I would tell those in youth and those in the prime of strong, middle | life to be '1ovingly cautious" Be eau l tious for your own sakes. Especially be l cHut1OuS TOT your OedT OnPS anu TUT lut | good which you may do for Christ and for the great outside world. No man l has right to run any useless risks whereby his physical life might quickly 1 be ended. If duty calls you as a nurse | or a surgeon to enter the contagious ward | of a hospital, then there you should go. If duty bids you shoulder a rifle and charge the enemy upon a bloody battle | field for your eountry's preservation, I then there you should go and f1gnG. But | if duty does not command you to endan- ger your physical life then you have no right to run any reckless risks.
 Useless reckessness is not the sign of a sublime bravery, but of arrogant and I insipid stupidity. General William T. Sherman on his famous march from At lanta to the sea powerfully taught this 1 truth For days and weeks and weary months Joseph E. Johnston and he had been playing hide and seek behind their opposing breastworks. First would come the brilliant f1anking movement, then the
 brave charge. then the quick retreat and
 the readjustment of the Confederate lines
 and the building up of new breastworks
 One day the northern commander was standing in dangerous position on q certain fertilization. He was telling ms engineers how to the defense should pc laid out The bullets in regular hali- | storm were falling about him and plow-
 
 lain of one of the regiments climbed up and took his position by Sherman's side. ''What are you doing here?" asked Sher- man. in his blunt. gruff way. Have you l any message for me?" 'No. general, v answered the chaplain. "I merely came up to view the enemy's position. If you are willing to face danger here I should he willing to do so" 'I am here for duty's sake" answered Sherman. "I am not here for curiosity. You have no right to uselessly risk your life. Go be- l low at once You are doing no good here | whatever" What General William T.. Sherman said to that chaplain I say to you with your children depending upon | you. with your store depending upon you, with your church. in one sense. depending upon you. You have no right to run any useless physical risks.
 Foolish Risks.
 1 But. though this truth should be axi- onatic on every hand we find men try | ing to prove to the world that they are brave merely because they are foolishly reckless. Some time ago stood in Yose- mite park. looking upon the great Half l Dome rising nearly rt00 feet from the l valley below. There is a trail running 1 up to within three or four hundred feet i of the summit Then the rock ascends almost perpendicularly to the top. As I | stood looking at that height a gentleman | told me that in 1875 Scotchman made l LID his mind he would ascend to the top l of the Half Dome. To ascend it would do no one any good. It would only en- danger his own life. But ascend it he would So he went and got a lot of iron pegs. He would drill one hole into the