San Marcos free press. [volume] (San Marcos, Tex.) 1877-1892, 1882-04-13
THE sCOURGED SOUTH.
Rev. W. n. BLACK Says Il Has been Visited BY
War, Pestllence and Flood that the unios
~. Az. IL
From the Globe Democrat

quent sermon In the cumberland fres-
byterian Church, y ,terday morning, up
on the flood which is Mt present devas'
tating the South, taking as his text:
"But as the days of Noah were, 80
shall also the coming of the Son OF
man be."-Math. xiv, 81.
After taking up u collection for the
benefit Of the sufferers by the flood, the
pastor said:
Although unparalleled in the history
of this country, the present flood is but
the merest suggestion OF the greatest
flood of history, the one that inundated
Western Asia in the time Of Noah. The
cry Of distress coming to us from the
desolated region by every channel of
communication appeals strongly for
aid. Our sympathies are aroused by
stories of whole families living upon
knobs and RATS, exposed to the inclem-
ency ofthe rudest Gather, and harassed
by multitudes of pestilential insects.
Again, the food runs low, and when
bu. pittance is left, father and hus-
band, courageous and manly say:
Children, wife, take eat; We are. the
strongest, and can do without food for
a few days. when, perchance, sucsor
will arrive"
The mother, choking with emotion
accepts the situation; but does she eat
the food? No! she divides her share
among the crying little ones, and waits
with the men. Will woman eat when
man is starving? Never so long as
she is woman. The appeals are strong
also from the eyes and abject appear
ance of every dumb brute which stands
hungry and emaciated upon every ele-
waited spot.
Is there no rest for the South? A
few years since devastated by war, anon
the scourge of fever, and now the more
desolating flood. Perchance the end is
not yet. A malarial pestilence, it is
predicted, will follow the subsistence of
the waters. The chasm of difference
plowed by the engines of war are being
fast filed with the tears of sympathy
for subsequent sufferings. Fraternal
feeling began in the panic of terror
caused by the devastating fever. The
sad end of our late President still fur
Their developed the spirit of amity, but
seemingly the Union was not yet COM
plete. God said:
II will make the Union perfect
through suffering and sacrifice" and
He has sent the food. Perfect through
suffering, there seems to be no other
mode of reconciliation. Bitterness and
malevolence can only be washed away
with tears. Christ was the first to teach
us to sweep with those that weep" and
to develop within us the golden thread
of sympathy.
The lesson, then, to be learned from
the suffering of the South, is, first, the
influence of Christianity in the cultiva-
ton of sympathy. Second, such things
are necessary in order to remind men
of the fraternity of the human family.
It is the boast and pride of this coun-
try that here all mankind are recog-
nized as brotherhood. An opportu-
n .ty like the present serves as means
of showing whether the boast is an idle
sentiment or portion of our character.
It says, Here are men sick, hungry,
homeless. If they are your brothers,
give unto them that of which they stand
in such sore need. Again, such calam-
tiles are necessary in order to remind
many that God is, and that He is the
ruler and governor of all. Men are
ever SO full of themselves and their
earthly plans that they neglect the claims
OF God. Then trials and sufferings
come and call halt, and out of the
food and the pestilence men cry:
"Help, Lord, or we perish Deliver
us, and we will evermore praise Thee!"
At times nothing but storms and
hardships and trials will loosen the
scales from the eyes of the recreant
sinner, and it is indeed blessing that
God has in his laboratory the necessa,
ry engines for the accomplishment of
his purposes of mercy and grace. Fin
ally, man may learn from these floods
that it is useless to talk sbout building
the levees after the overflow has COM
menced. You must prepare for war in
the time of peace, and for flood in the
time of drouth.
Some day each one will be terribly
anxious about his soul; will feel that
the waters of death are about to over
flow; will feel the chilly waves of eter-
nifty lashing against the shores of time
and the waters rise higher and higher.
Then they will want the levees built up.
Then they will say:
"Oh 1 am in danger. The waters OF
eternity are swelling about me, and l
have made no preparation for the over
how."
Then comes the cry:
"Help-up with the leveesl'
But il will be too late. All will be
washed away as the waters rise; the
crumbling levees and frail RATS. OF
good works will not avail against the
\ waters of death. and you will be lost
lost foreverl Now is the time for prep
aration. While the heavens are clear