St. Landry democrat. (Opelousas, La.) 1878-1894, 1886-12-18

not go with long rigmarole people cal
prayer, made up of "ohs'i and "ahs" anc
forever and forever amensn Go to Goo
and cry for help! help! help! and if you
can not cry for help, just look and live
remember in the late war I was at Ante
tam, and went into the hospitals after tbs
battle, and / said to man: "Where arc
you hurt?n He made no answer, but held
up his arm, swollen and splintered. l saw
where he was hurt.
The simple fact is, when man has 6
wounded soul, all he has to do is to hold it
| up before a sympathetic Lord and get it
| healed. Oh! it is no small thing, when a
man is nervous, and weak and exhausted,
coming from his evil ways, to feel that God
| puts two OmnipOtent arms around about
him, and says: Young man, will stand
by you. The mountains may depart and
| the hills be removed, but l will never fail
you" And then, as the soul thinks the
news is too good to be true, and can not be-
lieve it, and looks up in Gods face, God
lifts His right hand and takes an oath, an
affidavit saying: GAS live, saith the Lord
God, l have no pleasure in the death of him
that dieth.'
Blessed be God for such a Gospel as this !
"Cut the slices thin,n said the wife to the
husband, "fOr there will not be enough to
60 all around for the children; cut the
slices thin Blessed be God there is full
loaf for every one that wants it--bread
enough and to spare. No thin slices at the
Lords table. | remember when the
Master Street hospital in Philadelphia was
opened during the war a telegram came
saying: "There will be three hun
dred wounded men tonight, be ready
70 %aJ-@
my church there went some twenty or
thirty men and women to look after these
poor wounded fellows. AS they came, some
from one part of the land, some from an
other, no one asked whether this man was
from Oregon, or Massachusetts, or Mime
sofa, or from New York There was a
wounded soldier, and the only question was
how to take off the rags most gently, and
put on the bandage, and administer the cor
dial. And when soul comes to God, He
does not ask where you came from or what
your ancestry was. Healing for all your
wounds. Pardon for all your guilt. Com
fort for all your troubles.
Then, also, | counsel you, if you want to
get back, to quit all your bad associations
One unholy intimacy will fill your soul with
moral dlstemper. In all the ages of the
church there has not been an instance
where man kept one evil associate and
was reformed. Among the 1,40O,0O0,0O of
the race not one instance. Go home to-day, |
open your desk, take out letter paper, |
stamp and envelope, and then write let |
ter something like this:
MY old companions; I start this day for |
Heaven. Until l am persuaded you will Join |
me in this farewell"
Then sign your name, and send the letter
with the first post Give up your bad COM
or give up Heaven. 1t is not ten
Dad companions that destroy a man, nor
i've bad companions, nor three bad COM
oanlons, but one. What chance is there for
hat young man I saw along the street, four
'r five young men with him, hating In front
If grogshop, urging him to go in, he re-
'isting, violently resisting, until after
while they forced him to go in! 1t was a
ummer night, and the door was left open,
md saw the process. They held him fast,
md they put the cup to his lips, and they
orced down the strong drink. What
nance is there for such a young MANI
l counsel you, also, seek Christian advice.
Every Christian man is bound to help you.
t you find no other human ear willing to
lsten to your story Of struggle, come to
ne, and l will, by every sympathy of my
cart, and every prayer, and every toll of
ny hand, stand beside you in the struggle
or reformation; and, as I hope to have
~ own sins forgiven, and hope to be &C
ultted at the judgment seat of Christ, I
Tlll not betray you. First of all, seek
seek Christian counsel Gather
p all the energies of body, mind and soul, |
nd, appealing to God for success, declare
his day everlasting war against all drink
lg habits, all gaming practices, all houses ,
sin. Half-and-half work will amount to
othlng; it must be Waterloo. Shrink
ack now, and you are lost-push on, and ,
Oh are saved. A Spartan General fell at {
he very moment of victory, but he dipped {
IS finger in his own blood and wrote on a 3
'ck near which he was dying: "Sparta i
as conquered" Though your struggle to t
't rid of sin may seem almost a death i
ruggle, you can dip your finger in your d
Vn blood and write on the Rock Of Ages: 7
Victory through our Lord Jesus Christ" !
b, what glorious news it would be for r
me OF these young men to send home to g
cir parents in the country these holidays I
hich are coming. They go to the post v
ice every day or two to see if there are .
~ letters from you. How anxious they =
e to hear! You might send them for s
liday present this season book from one o
our best publishing houses, or complete
ardrobe from the Importers palace; it S
ould not please them half as much as the 6
WIS you might send home tomorrow that r.
u had given your heart to God know G
w it is IN the country. The night comes
The cattle stand under the rack,
rough which burst the trusses of hay.
70 horses. just having frisked up 81
I'm the meadow, stand knee deep g
the bright straw that invites them to ="
down and rest The perch of the howell Of
full of fowl, their feet warm under their II
'thers. In the farmhouse at night no d
1dle is lighted, for the flames clap their u
nds about the great black log, and shake Sc
shadow of the group up and down the n
III. Father and mother sit there for half "
hour, saying nothing. I wonder what IN
" are thinking of Altar arrhila fn4ha, in