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ciety’?” “Well, yes/ 5 says Mrs. Smith, “but I
had rather you would ask me no more.” Certain
ly, there is no need to ask any more. Mrs. Jones is
ruined in the community. Think of it —a character
is involved. That is all any of us have. When we
lose our character we are gone, and had better be
dead.
“Who steals my purse steals trash:
*******
But he that filches from me my good name
Robs me of that which not enriches him
And makes me poor indeed.”
How many characters have been ruined just this
way, God only knows. ‘ 1 Did you see Miss Brown
wink at Mr. King? I tell you, I am afraid of that
girl. She won’t do, in my judgment.” Ah, many
a girl has been ruined by such hellish insinuations I
It will ruin any man or institution.
1 ‘ The Bank of England could be closed by gossip, ’ ’
said Mr. Gladstone. Just start a little report and
see how it spreads. The devil himself could not do
dirtier work than that which is often done by gos
sipers among so-called good people. It should be
the rule of life when dealing with character t-o keep
the mouth absolutely closed unless there is positive
assurance with regard to matters in question.
“A whisper broke the air,
A soft, light tone, and low,
Yet barbed with shame and woe;
Now, might it only perish there,
Nor further go!
“Ah me! a quick and eager ear
Caught up the little-meaning sound;
Another voice has breathed it clear,
'And so it wandered round
From ear to lip, from lip to ear,
Until it reached a g’entle heart,
And that —it broke.”
Among many people “they say” is a most ordi
nary character. He is quoted more frequently than
any other. I have always been afraid of the man
or woman who associates very much with him.
“They say, so and so.” How many times is it
heard, and more than otherwise used as a cloak
beneath which cowardice is protected! When a man
comes to me with a report, and gives as his author,
“they say,” I immediately desire to ask, “Who is
‘they say’?” And if I cannot get an answer to
this question, I at once discredit the whole story.
I remember when I first entered the ministry hav
ing an experience that taught me a lesson. A man
came to me one day and said, “ ‘They say’ you quit
practicing medicine and went to preaching because
you could not make a living.” I shall never forget
how hard I tried to find this famous “they say.”
But the more I tried, the more I scattered the re
port and the less I learned. Be not disturbed at
any report which has for its author “they say.”
LYING TO GOD.
Eighth. But the worst phase of falsehood I know
of is that of lying to God. It is bad enough to lie
to our fellow men, but when we begin to treat God
this way, every other phase of this subject may as
well be dropped. The case of Ananias and Sapphira
is not such an exception as many think. Many peo
ple in one way or another are doing this same thing
all the time. A man is carried through some serious
affliction, and while the hand rests heavily upon
him he promises God to do this or that. It is a sa
cred, solemn promise, and yet, when he is out from
under his affliction, fails absolutely to keep any part
of the promise. What is that but lying to God?
And how can such an one rest easy, knowing that
he has thus wilfully lied to his Heavenly Father?
The same thing is seen ofttimes in the matter of
contributions. A man will make a pledge in all
sincerity to give a certain amount to some definite
object, but when the time comes around for him to
pay it he has seen fit to make some investment which
has called for all of his funds. He has set aside
his contract with God to look after his own interest.
The Golden Age for November 5, 1908.
Look among the unsaved. How many have prom
ised God in all seriousness, “I will be a Christian,”
and yet, think it nothing to go back on their prom
ise and continue in the service of the devil?
I shudder sometimes at the thought of God’s inti
mate acquaintance with all of our doings—that not
even a thought escapes Him. No wonder ofttimes
we have remorse of conscience and fail to sleep.
Oh, let us be careful about matters of this kind!
God is exceedingly jealous of the truth, and lying
lips are to Him intolerable. The “yea” and the
“nay” of Christ should be our motto. It is no lit
tle thing for the world to say, “His word is as good
as his bond.” With such a standard there would be
little need for courts, lawyers and judges. Let the
church especially, which is the light of the world,
insist more earnestly upon keeping this ninth com
mandment.
During our recent meeting in Tremont Temple,
Boston, I received a letter from a heartbroken wife.
It read like this:
“Dr. Broughton. I must tell you this. Last Sun
day night my husband was greatly impressed in your
meeting. He had promised to declare himself for
God and his Christ that night; but when the time
came he would only promise to do so the next night.
Oh, Dr. Broughton, the next night for him did not
come; for on Monday he was stricken with some
thing like apoplexy, and has been unconscious ever
since. I fear he will die. Do please pray for
him! ’ ’
This was a sad letter, but another one received
later was sadder. It simply said: “My husband
is dead.” He promised, but did not fulfil. God gets
tired trifling with unfulfilled promises.
From Georgia to Oklahoma,
Editor Golden Age:
You will find enclosed check for $1.50, as per your
recent offer, for which send THE GOLDEN AGE to
my address another year.
I don’t see how I could do without it.
Yours in the work,
A. V. FORD.
Mangum, Okla.
GOLDEN AGE PUBLISHING CO., Atlanta, Ga.
Gentlemen: Enclosed please find check for $1.50,
for subscription for Mrs. G. W. Ray, as per your
offer which has been appearing in your paper. Can’t
do without it. Yours truly,
J. L. RAY.
Adairsville, Ga.
* M
Life and Death.
Ihc State of Texas has taken steps to expurgate
from one of the schoolbooks a passage from John
Greenleaf WWhitier’s most popular poem, “Barbara
Frietchie. And that recalls how much more
powerful is the imagination than the memory.
In the first place, Barbara Frietchie did not wave
a flag at Fiederick. In the second place, her grand
son was one of Stonewall Jackson’s “ragged rebels”
that day. In the third place, she was in sympathy
with the South, and if she had waved a flag at all
that day it would have been the stars and bars and
not the Stars and Stripes.
Mrs. Southworth imagined the story and wrote a
letter to Whittier relating the circumstances. He
sat down, with the inspiration of genius, and pro
duced the poem that begins:
Up from the meadows, rich with corn;
Clear, in the cool September morn.
Hie first chapter of the Book of Job, translated
into our tongue, is the head of all English speech.
It is doubtful if there ever existed that man Job
in physical person, but the man who wrote of him
imagined him, and he will live forever and forever.
The same is true of Barbara Frietchie.
And thus the womb always exults over the grave,
and life prevails over death. Indeed, death is the
beginning of another life, and death is progress.—
The Washington Post.
A Great Nelv 'Railroad,
With genuine pleasure we lift our hat to the At
lanta, Birmingham and Atlantic Railway, a great
new line of the South, which has
Everybody recently opened a double daily ser
Likes vice between Atlanta and Bruns-
The A. B. & A. wick.. The growth and equipment
this new railroad have been re
markable. Beginning with one or two small lines in
South Georgia the promoters have consolidated short
roads and built new ones until now they have a su
perb route from Atlanta to Brunswick, and before
many months they will be running direct from the
seashore to the heart of the great iron district at
Birmingham.
Everybody who has enjoyed a ride on the A. B.
& A. knows that there is hardly a road in the South
so splendidly equipped, so far as car service, travel
and comfort may be counted.
Electric fans, electric lights and all other modern
conveniences show this new road to be thoroughly
up to date. Mr. H. M. Atkinson, the president of
the road, and Mr. Geo. Dole Wadley, general man
ager, have shown marvelous gifts of organization
and leadership and have done this section of the
South incalculable good by developing this great
new highway of travel. And somehow, the man
agement of this new road have made the impression
everywhere that they are determined to treat the
public in a generous, big-hearted way. Mr. W.
H. Leahy, the general passenger agent, would get
up at midnight to accommodate a customer, and go
the absolute limit of possibility in making every
man that calls on him feel that he is in the presence
of a friend.
We have rarely ever known a new railroad, or an
old one, as for that, so universally popular among
the people along its lines.
We salute the A. B. & A., and wish it “mighty
well” in the work of developing the great South
eastern South.
“Man Is as Old
As His Stomach.”
THIS PERSIAN EPIGRAM IS THE REAL GAUGE
OF A MAN’S LIFE.
The Persians were a very sagacious people, noted
among other things, for their deep thinking on life
and the things which make up life.
The above epigram shows the wisdom of their
thought.
When a man’s stomach is able to furnish new ma
terial to the system as fast or faster than the natural
decay of man requires, then such a man lives his
fullest and his best.
When, through wrong living or disease, a man's
stomach begins to tax the other organs and takes
from the blood strength which it cannot give back
in nourishment taken from food, then begins the
death of man and he decays fast. The stomach is
strong, splendidly strong, and can stand an untold
amount of abuse and neglect, but when it dies, man
dies.
The stomach gives tons upon tons of good rich
blood every year to the system and draws only 680
lbs. of nourishment for its own use. If, however,
the food which it receives cannot be turned into
blood which is capable of use by the body, then the
stomach receives no help ffrom the other organs.
Stuart’s Dyspepsia tablets contain the most per
fect digestive qualities known to science and at the
same time the most powerful. They will mix with
the poisonous juices of a sick stomach and digest
food in spite of this handicap.
They will stop gas making and bad breath. They
tone up the nerves of the whole digestive canal, in
cluding those of the stomach.
A single ingredient contains strength enough to
digest 3,000 times its weight in mixed food.
They have stood the test of time and today are
more sought after than all their imitators combined.
They are used and endorsed by 40,000 physicians.
Every druggist sells them, price 50c. It costs noth
ing to demonstrate their value. Send us your name
and address and we will send you a trial package
by mail free. Address F. A. Stuart Co., 150 Stuart
Bldg., Marshall, Mich.
