National Republican., 1886-08-30


comes to you, and says: "Good morning.n
You look at him, and say; "Why, you have
the advantage OF me; l cannot place you.n
lie says: "Don't you remember, thirty
years ago, giving letter Of introduction
to young mana letter Of introduce
tlon to, a prominent merchant, ayes,
yes, / do" He says: 81 am the man,
That was my first step toward fortune;
but have retired from business now, and
am giving my time to philanthropies and
public interests. Come up to my country
place and see mep' Or a man comes TO YOU
and says; ~ want to introduce myself TO
you. went into a prayer meeting some
years ago. ! sat back by the door You
arose to make an exhortatlon. That talk
changed the course of my life, and II get
to heaven, under God, viii owe my saliva
ton to you.n In only ten, twenty, or
thirty years, the circle swept out and swept
back again to your own grateful heart.
But sometimes II is a wider circle and
does not return for a great while. l saw
2 bill Of expenses for burning Latlmer and
load 81 ar fSgots, @ ss. S iG cartage S'y Of four four
loads Of wood, 2s.; item, a post Is. Id;
item, two chains, 3s. 4d.; item, two staples,
3d.; item, four laborers, 2s. Sd.
That was cheap fire, considering all the
circumstances; but It kindled light which
shone all around the world, aud around
Iub bplTlJ, anu OuJ lIOm JnOJ nurn-
ing OF Latimer and Ridley rolled the circle,
wider and wider, starting other circles, con.
voluting, oyerrunning, circumscriblng,
overarching all heaven--a circle.
But what is true Of the good is Just as
true OF the bad. You uttera slander against
your nelghbor. II has gone forth from
your teeth. IL will never come back, you
think. You have done the man all the
mischief you can. You rejoice TO sec him
vince. You say "Dldn't give IL TO hlmYn
That word has gone out, that slanderous
word, ON Its poisonous and blasted way.
You think II will never do you anv harm.
But / am watching that word, and / see IL
beginning to curve, and II curves around,
and 1t Is aiming at your heart. You had
better. dodge It,. You cannot dodge It. 1t
rolls into your BOSOM, and after II rolls In
word OF an old book which says: "With
what measure ye mete, 1t shall be meas
ured to you again"
You maltreat an aged parent; you be-
grudge him the room In your house; you
are Impatient Of his whimslcalitles and
garruity; IL makes you mad TO hear him tell
the same story twice; you give him food he
cannot masticate; you wish he was away;
you wonder II he is going TO live forever.
He Will be gone very soon; his steps are
shorter and shorter; he Is going to stop.
But God has au account TO settle with you
on that subject, After awhile your eve will
be dim, and your gait will halt, and the
sound Of the grinding will be low, and you
will tell the same story twice, and your
children will wonder II you are going to live
forever, and wonder II you Will never be
taken away. They called you "father"
once; now they call you "the old man." II
you live few years longer they will call
you "the old chap" What are those rough
words with which your children are accost-
Ing your They are the echo of the very
words you used in the ear Of your old
father forty years ago. What is that which
you are trying to chew, but find 1t unmas-
ticable, and your jaws ache as you sur
be the gristle which you gave to
your father for his breakfast forty years
ago. A gentleman passing along the street
saw son dragging his father into the street
by the hair Of his head. This gentleman,
outraged at this brutal conduct, was about
to punish this offender when the old man
arose and said: "Don't hurt him; it's all
right; forty years ago this morning drag
ged my father out by the hair of his head.n
1t is a circle. My father lived into the
eighties, and he had very wide experience,
and he said that maltreatment of parents
was always punished in this world. Other
sins may be adjourned to the next world,
but maltreatment of parents is punished In
this world.
The circle turns quickly, very quickly.
oh, what a stupendous thought that the
good and the evil we start come back to us.
Do you know that the Judgment day will
be only the points at which the circles join,
the good and the bad we have done coming
back to us, unless divine intervention him
light or curse Of condemnation
oh, would like to see Paul, the invalid
missionary, at the moment when his inAu-
ence comes TO full orb-his influence rolling
out through Antioch, through Cyprus,
through Lystra, through Corinth, through
Athens, through Asia, through Europe,
through America, through the first century,
through five centuries, through twenty
centuries, through all the succeeding CEN
turies, through earth, through heaven, and,
at last, the wave Of influence having made
full circuit, strikes his great soul Oh,
then i would like to see himl No one can
tell the wide sweep OF the circle Of his In
huence save the One who Is seated on the
circle OF the earth. / should not want to
see the countenance OF Voltaire when his
influence comes to full orb. When the fatal
hemorrhage seized him at S3 years Of age,
his influence did not cease. The most brit
liant man OF his century, he had used all
faculties for assaulting Christianity. His
bad influence widening through France,
widening out through Germany, widening
through all Europe, widening through
and one years that have gone by since he
died, widening through earth, widening
through hell, until at last the accumulated
influence Of his bad life In fiery surge OF
omnipotent wrath will beat against his de-
stroyed spirit, and that moment II will be
enough to make the black hair Of eternal
darkness turn white with the horror. No
one can tell how that bad mans influence
girdled the earth, save the One who is
seated on the circle Of the earth-the Lord
Almighty.
"Weil, now," say people In this audience,
"this In some respects is very glad theory,
and In Others a very sad one; we would like
to have all the good we have ever done
back to us, but the thought that all the sins
we have ever committed will come back to
us fills us with alright" My brother, 1
have to tell you God can break that circle,
and will do so at your call. can bring
twenty passages Of Scripture to prove that
when God for Christ's sake forglves a man,
the sins Of his past life never come back.
The wheel may roll on and roll on, but you
take your position behind the cross, and
the wheel strikes the cross and It is shatter-
ed forever. The sins fly off from the circle
into the perpendicular, falling at right
angles with complete oblivion. Forgiven
forgiven The meanest thing man can do
is, after some difficulty has been settled, to
bring II up again; and God will not be so
mean as that. Gods memory is IN lightly
enough TO hold all the events OF the ages,
but there is one thing that is sure to slip
His memory, one thing He is sure to forget,
and that is pardoned transgIesslon. How
do know itp Twill prove It. "Their sins
and their iniquities will l remember no
more" Come into that state this morning,
my dear brother my dear sister. "Blessed
Is the one whose transgresslons are for
given"
But do not make the mistake Of thinking
that this doctrine Of the circle stops with
this life; 1t rolls on through heaven. You
might quote In opposition to me what st.
John says about the city OF heaven. He
says II "lieth four square.n That does not
seem to initiate against this idea; but you
know there is many square house that has
EnIIallAl nlrnln fnnlnnL nnnh nLLnr 4,