The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1886-08-11
ambuscade. II their temptation should

I
come out in regiment and fight them in
fair field they would 60 out in the strength,
and the triumph Of David against Goliah.
| But they do not see the giants and they do
not seq the regiment. Suppose temptation
should come up to man and say: Here is
alcohol: take three tablespoonfllls OF it day,
until you get dependent upon it; then after
that take half glass three times day, until
you get dependent upon that nmount then
go on increasing the amount until yol are
| saturated from morning until ght and from
night until morning" Do yorl suppose any
man would become drunkard in that wayl
| Oh, MOI Temptation comes and says: Take
these bitters, take this nervlne, take thls AID
| to digestion, take this night-cap." The vast
| majority Of men and women who are de-
stroyed by opium aud by rum first take them
| as medicines. In making up your dish OF
criticism in regard to them, take from tha
caster the cruet of sweet oil and not the cruet
of cayenne pepper. Be easy ON them. DO
you know how that physician, that lawyer,
that journalist became.the victim OF dissipa-
tiona Why. the physician was KEEP, up
and death hovered in the balance. His nerv-
GUS system was exhausted. There came
time Of epidemic and whole families were
prostrLsed, and his nervous strength was
gone. He was all worn out In the service OF
the public. Now he must brace himself up.
Now he stimulates. The life OF this mother,
the life Of this child, the life Of this father,
the life of this whole family must b, saved,
and the lives Of all these families must be
saved, and he stimulates, and he does it again
and again. You may criticise his Judgment,
but remember the process. It was uot sell
fish process by which he went down. 1t was
magnificent generosity through which he
fell That attorney at the bar for weeks has
been standing in q poorly ventilated court
room. lstanno tn the testimony and contest.
Ing in tine dry technicalities Of tho law, and
now the time has come for him to wind IN,
and he must plead for the life Of his client:
and his nervous system is all gone. II
he fails in that speech then his client
perishes. If he can have elo4ue1ee
enough in that hour his client is saved. He
stimulates. He must keep up. He says" II
must keep up" Having large practice you
see how he is inthralled. You may criticise
his Judgment but remember the process. DO
not be hard. That journalist has had e1-
hausting midnight work. He has had to
report speeches and orations that keep
him up till very late hour. : He has
Some case Of crime in company with
detective. He sits down at midnight
TO write out his notes from memorandum
scrawled on a pad un1er unfayorable circum-
stances. His strength is gone. Fidelity to
the public intelligence, fidelity to his own
livelihood, demands that he keep up. He
must keep up. He stimu ates. Again and
again he does that, and he goes down. You
may criticise his judgment in the matter, but
have mercy. Remember the process. DO
not be hard.
NV friends, this text will come to fulfill
ment in some cases in this world. The
huntsman in Farmsteen was shot by some
son Of the huntsman was in the same forest,
and he accidentally shot man, and the mar!
in diving said: "God is just I shot your
father just here twenty years ago" A bishop
said to Louis III. Of France: mako an iron
cage for all those who do not think as we
do-an iron cage in which the captive can
neither lie down nor stand straight rp." 1t
was fashioned-the awful Instrument OF pun
ishment After awhile the Bishop offended,
Louis XI., and for fourteen years he was in
that same cage, and could neither lie down
nor stand up. 1t is poor rule that will not
work both ways "With what measure Ye
mete, it shall be measured to you again"
"Oh, my friends, let us be resolved tosc, Did
less and pray morel That which in the Bible
is used as the symbol Of all gracious infu-
ences is the dove, not the orcupine. We may
so unskillfully manage the life-boat that we
shall run down those whom we want to res
cue. The first preparation for Christian use
fuln ess is warm hearted common sense, prac-
tical sympathy for those whom We want to
save. What headway will we make in the
Judgment if In this world we have been hard
on those who have gone astrays What head
way will you and I make in the last Gr.at
Judgment, when we must have mercy or per-
ish' The Bible says; "They shall have jude:.
ment without mercy that showeth no mercy"
see the scribes Of Heaven looking up into
the face Of such a. man, saying: "What!
you plead for mercy, you, who IN oil your
life never had any mercy en- your fellows!
Don't you remember how hard you were in
your opinions Of those who were astray! Don't
you remember when you ought to have given
helping hand you employed a hard heel!
Mercy! You must misspeak yourself
when You plead for mercy here
Mercy for others but no merry for you.
Look" says the scribes Of heaven, "look at
that inscription over the Throne OF Juig-
ment the Throne Of Gods Judgment" See
it coming out letter by letter, word by word,
sentence by sentence, until vour startled WIS.,
ion reads it and your remorseful spirit ap-
propriates it, "With what measure ye mete,
it shall be measured to you again. Depart,
ye cursedw