Los Angeles herald., 1905-01-16

to have her throat and fingers a-eiitter
with precious Jewels, and therefore they
can the more readily find her in the
rich mans mansion than in the poor
mans hut.
The human being who commits sui
eide merely because the golden breast
ed oriole of wealth has plumed her
wings and disappeared from sight or
because the iconoclast of trouble has
shattered the idol of fame Is doing a
fools business. Happiness. true hap
piness, the happiness for which we all
long and fo1s which some Of us are
seeking, is not dependent upon outside
surroundings, but upon the condition
Of the heart.
"If wealth does not in itself produce
happiness neither does worldly fame or
honor. Men strive for place and power
as IL with them they were sure of hap
piness They plot and conspire and
murder that they may mount the steps
of a throne, and when they succeed
they find that they have gained moth
ing but anxiety and worry. And yet
for financial wealth and worldly honor
thousands of men will surrender their
all. They will follow these will-o'-the-
wisps though the shining lights may
lead them over miasmatic swamps and
quakng bogs and into the fatal quick
sand. They will seek and struggle and
continue to struggle to possess these
they believe that in them the great
heart of happiness, rich-blooded and
lfe-giving, can be found Then when
they have been defeated in the strug-
giles of life they sometimes drive the
destroying dagger into their own
arteries, as a tantalized serpent buries
his poisonous fangs in his own flesh.
envy and covetousness also lead to
suicide. The unwillingness to love our
neighbors as ourselves Is one of the
indirect causes of this drea dful sin. Two
ways of looking at this old world: The
one is through the green glasses of
envy; the result, unhappiness. The
other way is through the sanctified
crystals of a tender, holy love; the
result, gospel Joy. The one way is to
bitterly bemoan, because some people
are supposed to be better off than we.
The other way is to try to find out how
many people are worse off than we are
and then, with Christian desire, try
to help them as we would like to be
helped if we were in their place.
mo power on earth can make q
human being more contented than that
which comes from being brought into
sympathetic touch with other peoples
trials, for all people have them.
"a coward's heart is direct cause
for the suicidal sin. 'Oh, no. says
some one, that cannot be. A suicide
may be this or that or the other thing,
but he is not coward. No man Is
coward who dares to commit self
murder. No man is coward who
will calmly look death in the face and
defy the grinning skeleton of the tomb
"Ah, my friend, you are wrong. The
direct cause of the suicidal sin is in
variably the result Of a towards heart.
1t is the act of man who runs away
from trouble, instead of courageously
graphing with it. The bravest of deeds
is to die, if necessary, to save Others.
But 1t would not be heroic for men to
die merely because they are too cow
ardly to fight. Neither is it heroic or
brave for any man to commit suicide
merely because he is too craven heart
ed to meet the responsibilities of life as
they arise. The noblest word in some
respects in all the English language is
duty That word will sometimes COM
pei it's followers to plunge into and en-
dure the bayonet thrusts of thorny
hedge, as it will sometimes give the
pleasanter command of following that
stern word through an embowered
pathway. .
"The bravest act in all, the world for
some men is to publicly confess Christ.
Oh, my friends. will you not realize that
one of the chief reasons of the coward
ly tendency to suicide is the unwilling
ness to publicly confess and work and
live for Christ? AS all roads were once
supposed to lead to Rome, every act
and deed and thought of your life
should lead you to the foot of the cross.
Then, oh then, if you are true to
Christ you will never be false to your
self. Then, oh then, your life, instead
of having a suicidal tendency, will be
an eternal life of triumphant joy"