Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1886-12-20

the one anu eSCutN llG OtucI. nave
kindled great light in his soul. With a
whip of scorpions l have scourged
his wickedness, and have tried
| to cheer him when doing right;
and yet / am compelled TO testify on the
stand to-day that he has sometimes re-
iected my mission. Oh, how many cups
of life have pressed to his lips that he
dashed down, and how often has he stood
with his hard heel on the bleeding heart
of the Son of God! 1t pains me very much
that l have to testify against this Chris
tian man, and yet must, in behalf of him
who will in no wise clear the guilty, say
that this Christian man has done wrong.
He has been worldly. He has been ne
glectful He has done thousand things
he ought not to have done and left undone
thousand things he ought to have
done" That will do, conscience. You
can sit down.
The third witness call in the case, is
AN ANGEL OF GOD.
Bright aud shining one. what doest thou
here? What hast thou to say against this
man on trial? ''0h?" says the angel, 81
have been a messenger to him. l have
guarded him. have watched him. With
this wingI have defended him, and often
times when he knew il not led him into
the green pastures and beside the still wa
tiers. fgnasched from him the poisoned
chalices. When bad spirits came upon
him to destroy him l fought them back
with infinite fierceness; and yet have to
testify to-day that he has rejected my mis-
sion. He has not done as he ought to have
done. Though came from the sky he
drove me back. Though with this wing
defended him, and though with this voice
wOoed him, | have TO announce his null
tiplied imperfections. l dare not keep
back the testimony, for then | should not
dare to appear again amongst the sinless
ones before the great white throne"
There is only one more witness to be
called on behalf OF the prosecution, and
that is the great, the holy, the august, the
Omnipotent Spirit of God. We bow down
before him. Holy Spirit, knowest thou
this man? ooh, yes" says the Holy
One, 81 know him. l have striven with
him ten thousand times, and though some
times he did seem to repent, he fell back
again as often from his first estate. Ten
thousand times ten thousand has he grieyed
Me, although the Bible warned him say
ing 'Grieve not the Holy Ghost. Quench
not the Spirit Yes, he has driven Me
back. Though am the Third Person of
the Trinity he has trampled ON my mis-
sion, and the blood Of the AtOnement that
l brought with which 10 cleanse his soul,
he sometimes despised. came from the
throne of God to convert, and comfort, and
sanctify, and yet look ut that man, and
see what he is compared with what, unre-
sisted, would have made him"
The evidence on the part of the prOsecu-
ton has closed. Now let
THE DEFENSE
bring on the rebuttal testimony. What
have you, o Christian soul, to bring in re-
ply to this evidence of the world, of the
conscience, of the angel, and of the Holy
Ghost? Noevidence? Are all these things
true? "Yes, uncean, unclean," says
every Christian soul. What? Do you not
begin TO trcmble ut the thought of con-
demnatiOn3
We have come now to the most interest
ing part of this great trial. The evidence
all in, the advocates speak. The profession
of an advocate is full of responsibility. In
England and the UnitedStates there have
arisen men who in this calling have been
h0nored by their lace and thrown con-
tempt upon those who in the profession
have heen guilty of a great many mean
neSSes. That profession will be honorable
as long rs it has attached to it such names
rs Mansfield, and Marshall, and Story,
and Kent, and Southland, and William
Writ. The court room has sometimes been
the scene Of very marvellous and thrilling
things Some of you remember the fam
Gus Girard will case, where one of our adj
vocates pleaded the cause OF the Bible and
Christianity in mastery AnglO-SaXon,
every paragraph thunderbolt.
Some of you have read of the famous
trial in Westminster Hall, of
WARREN HASTINGS,
the despOiler of India. That great man
had conquered India by splendid talents,
by courage, by bribes, by gigantic dishon-
esty. The whole world had rung with ap-
plauSe or condemnation. Gathered in
Westminster Hall was one of the most
famous audiences ever gathered. Foreign
ministers and princes sat there. Peers
marched in clad in ermine and gold.
Mighty men and women from all lands
looked down upon the scene. Amid all
this pomp and splendor, and amid an ex-
element such as has seldom been seen in
any court room, Emund Burke advanced
in a speech which will last as long as the
English language. concluding with this
burning charge, which made Warren Has
tings cringe and cover: 81 impeach him
in the name of the Commons House of
Parliament whose trust he has betrayed.
impeaCh him in the name of the English
nation, whose ancient honor he has suilied.
impeach him in the name of the people
of India, whose rights he has trampled on
and whose country he has turned into a
desert. And, lastly, i'll the name of
human nature, in the name of both sexes
in the name of every age and rank, i'm
peach him as the common enemy and OPP
pressor of all.
But turn from the recital Of those men,
orable occasions to
A GRANDER TRIAL,
and / have TO tell you that in this trial Of
the Christian for the life of his soul, the
advocates are mightier, wiser and more
eloquent. The evidence all being in, JUS
tice rises on behalf of the prosecution to
make his plea. With the Bible open in
his hand he reads the law, stern an infex-
ible, and the penalty: "rhe soul that sim
meth, it shall die" Then he says: 40
Thou, Judge and Lawgiver, this is Thine
own statute, and all the evidence in earth
Id heaven agrees in stating that this man
has sinned against all these enactments
Now let the sword leap from its scabbard.
Shall man 60 through the very flames of
Sinai unsinged? Let the law be executed.
Let judgment be pronounced. Let him
die. demand that he die"
., Christian,
DOES IT NOT LOOK VERY DARK
for thee? Who will plead on thy side in
so forlorn a cause? Sometimes a man will
be brought into a court of law, and he will
have no friends, and no money, and the
judge will look over the bar and say is
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