The Pulaski citizen. [volume] (Pulaski, Tenn.) 1866-current, 1878-10-10

0lSQ TO QeaLQ, ana SLlll LH0y WOult
be hard and cold, and seem TO say
II have enough, l am IN a gooC
shell, and | care not for those tina
suffer; let them suffer" You may
even tell them about Jesus and His
love, and how He suffered and wep
and bled and died, and they viii
still seem cold and careless. They
are oysters and you might almost
swallow them and they would no
know it.
Then here is an eel. How slip
perry he isl You can scarcely tel
whether he is a fish or snake
Very much like some children i;
this eel. You can hardly tell wheth
er they are good or bad. One time
you will take them to be fish, anC
then you are sure they are snakes
and they are so slippery, so hard &c
catch, and after they are caught, il
is so difficult to hold them. 1t Is
hard to get them to the Sunday
school, and still harder to keep
them there. They play truant
They slip away from home and &C
with bad boys. They neglect
school. They slip away from the
lesson and the class. Then when
you think they are caught at some
trick, they will tell fibs and deceive
their parents, and thus often escape
the punishment they deserve; then
they will go out and tell their com
rades of their smartnese, and seem
to rejoice over their own naughti
ness, and especially if they have
told some cunning lie, and thereby
seemed to get out of trouble by get
ting deeper into sin. / hope we
have no ellis, no oysters in this Sun
day school.
But just look here, we have what
is called mud cat. He lives al
the bottom of the river. He is
among fish what the turkey buzzard
is among fowls. He feeds on car.
rion and filth. He never comes to
the top. He is low dirty fellow
Have you never seen boys of that
kind2 They loved the low, the
vile, the mean. They used bad Ian
guage. They were guilty of lying
and tattling. They loved to heal
and tell ugly things on good people
Just as the mud cat would kee[
away from the clear water, from the
beautiful pebbly bottom, from where
the sun shed its light, and the glad
happy fishes were playing in the
river or dashing with the speed OF
an arrow through the pool, and
would seek the darkest den, the
filthiest mud, the lowest, meanest
place, so this low, mean boy would
60 away from the lovely and limo
cent, from the cheerful songs and
innocent sports Of childhood, to see
deprayity, enjoy vileness, and sink
deep into the mire of sin. In cities
we sometimes get some from the
muddy bottom of the social stream
and if anything can save such, il
will be the Sunday school Yes,
my good children. if your bright
faces, your sweet songs, your hum,
BILE prayers, your own loving, pre-
cious Savior do not bring these
children up from the mud and filth
ana dirt of sin, and make them beau
tiful and good, then they are lost
forever lostl 1t is worth q trial.
You brave boys, you gentle girls,
help, oh, help to save those poor
unfortunates who were born among
the lowest, and some have lived all
their lives among the yilest. May
Jesus. help you to bring them to
Him.
And now we have q craw fish.
See how brave he looks. He
stretches out his horns. He moves
like a soldier. Yes, you see he will
fight. But look! he is backing out.
He moves backwards; he is a cow
ard; he does not go forward. He
backslides. Now, l do not teach
children to fight each other. They
must fight against sin. They must
be firm to the right. They must
not look bold and promise much,
and then craw-tish. You have seen
such. They will promise to come
to Sunday school, to learn all the
lessons, to JOIN in all the songs, to
hear all the talks and to be active
aud good. They start well. But
some fellow laughs at them or sneers
at them or tries to scare them out
of their good resolution, and all at
onee they back out. They quit the
Sunday school, Rhey are craw- fish,
back -sliders, false to themselves,
ialse to their parents, false to their
God. May the good Lord have
mercy on them.
Then we have here in our drag
net little shark. See his sharp
,eeth, and how fierce he looks. He
s the terror of the sea. He scat
,ers, tears and Stays. He devours
without stint and without remorse
III that he can catch. He repre- !
ents the worst boys. They 1--we by |
eading others to ruin. They are
he destroyers of Sabbath schools.
They try to devour all that is good |
n children or Aoyely in youth.
They are the terror OF the neighbor-
lood. A mother would rather see
Ter child die than give him TO the
ender mercies of one of these
harks. They viii lead them To
owest places, and have them revel
With the vilesl. They will teach
hem to curse and swear and fight
nd lie and steal. They ruin virtue
nd blast happiness. They are sent
" the devil TO do his worst work.
am thankful there are not many
harks in any of our Sabbath
chools, ! hope We may not allow
ny to come and scatter run among
%.
But we have many beautiful fishes
D tins our drag net I hey come
$ though our Father had sent them
: He does vast numbers OF fishes