The Caucasian., 1907-08-06

ism thrives may be that which will
not nouriSh your body. This provcrb
| is cmphatically true In reference tn
| the enjoyments Of the spiritual ana
| the worldly life The pleasures that
| fascinate the ungodly are generally
pleasures that are repugnant to the
| spiritual man. | was never more i'm
pressed with this fact than when Wis
| iting San Francisco some weeks ago
| have seen San Francisco under all
conditions. visited it twice in nv
| youth. | visited it in It's strength and
| power a year before the earthquake.
saw 1t burning and In ruins. a year
| later | also visited it when its walls
| were about half rebuilt. | never enter
this city of San Francisco but my
| mind runs back to the Old mining
camp of 1S49, which was established
when California gold was first dis
! covered. The mining camp had some
good people in It. But he adventures
| of the east. the libertines. the gam
| bers, the lost women and dlssoutc
| characters from all over the United
| States, flocked there by the thousands
| and the tens Of thousands. Now. what
| was the result? Just as the stature OF
| the Frcnchman has been shortened he
| cause the Napolconic wars killed off
| a large percentage of the strongest and
| bra awniest of the French youth, SO the
sins of the old mining camp of 1919
are today bringing forth their evil
harvest in sinful San Francisco. In
my time ! have been almost every
where | have Travelled around tn"
world. have been in nearly Hll the
cities of America and have been three
times to Europe and am stating what
ninety nine men out of Il hundred who
live on the Pacific coast are willing to
state namely. that San Francisco j.
the vilest and the most sinful city
upon the face of the earth. 1t always
was Il wicked place. and it's wickcdc'
now, after the fire. than ever before.
Worse Than Before.
Troubles either drive men closer to
God or farther away from God. The
troubles of San Francisco have made
It's good men better, but those trnH
bles. have made It's bad men worse.
There you find the most corrupt of n,
political intriguers. There you find
the places Of sin crowded to the door
and the churches of Jesus almost
empty. There you find the places Gt
infamy doubled and quadrupled ycar
by year and the churches going back
Presbyterianism in San Francisco Is
not as strong today as It was ten years
ago. There you find the people fd"
the most part living in rooms and din
ing in restaurants and turning th
Sabbath day into a gala day. DO you
believe that the majority of the people
living In San Francisco would find the
sweet influences of home life Il pleas
ure as you and look upon an even
ing spent in the society of our chill
dren as a pleasure? No. TO q great
extent their lives crave the unhealthy
and vitiating and blasting stimulant 81
sin.
1t Is an alarming symptom Of mans
spiritual condition If the wholesome
influences Of home life are repugnant
be a church member, your appetite for
pleasure is sinful craving if you can
not enjoy the pure clean, refreshing
joy of Christian associat ton. If that j.;
so, for Gods sake get down on your
knees and pray to your Heavenly Fa
ther that he will purify you 50 that
you may find your greatest enjoyments
hi nd Il i.. fty,a
consented followers.
But there Is another joy which comes
to the higher spiritual life, and that Is
the Joy Of Christian service; that is |
the JOY of the noble hearted men whI
always want to share their blessing
with every one else: that Is the joy |
Of the true man who. when he ha% |
plenty of bread. wants to share 1t with |
the hungry. When he has Il cure fo;'
the blinded eyes. he wants TO give 1t t, |
those cropping about in darkness. Whcn
he can unstopthe Gcaf ears. he wants
to make the deaf 10 hear aud the dunn |
to speak. No man is Il true man who
when he has an abundance, IS not
ready to share his plenty with those
WHO uFc Ill NdHt. 1 ut iDtl Ntil Wv
fined this thought when he wrote:
WHO seeks for heaven alone to save his
soul
May keep the path, but will not reach the
goal,
While he who walks in love may wander~l
far.
Yet God will bring him where the blessed
are.
A Picturesque Castle.
Many years ago Il noted painter.
Alexander Nasmyth, went to visit near
the towering cliffs in the vicinity of
picturesque Blair castle, In old Scot
land. While he was watching those
massive, overtopping crags he said. 'Is
1t not too bad yonder bare rocks are
not crowned with covering Of
green" Then he bethought himself Of
two huge cannon which were mounted
In the yard Of the old castle. "Ah," he
said, II know what l will do. will
have some canisters made to fit these
old cannon. Then l will fill those can
listers with all kinds Of grass seeds
Then l will shoot those canisters