Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1886-12-20


were you bornY What are you doing here
"Oh" says Conscience, ~ was born in
heaven. l came down TO beiriend this
man. have lived with him. | have in
structed him. | have warned him. |
showed him the right and the wrong, adj
Nlslng him to take the one and eschew
the other. | have kindled n great light
IN his soul. With whip of scorpions |
have scourged his wickedness, and have
tried TO cheer him when doing right;
and yet am compelled to testify on the
stand to day tha he has sometimes re-
1ected my mission. on, 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 | have TO testify against
this Christian man, and yet | must, in
behalf Hof eHim who will IN no wise
clear the guilty, say that this Christian
man has done wrong. He has been
worldly. He has been neglecttul. 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 and shining one
what dost thou heref What hast thou to
says the angel, 81 have been a messenger
TO him. | have guarded him. | have
watched him. With this wing have de-
Tended him, and ottentimes when he
knew IL not led him into the green pas.
lures and beside the still waters.
snatched from him the poisoned chalices,
When bad spirits came upon him to
destroy him fought them back with m-
Unite fierceness; and yet | have to testify
10 day that he has rejected my mission.
He has not done as be ought to nave done.
Though | come from the sky he drove me
back. Though with this wing defended
him, aud though with this voice | woOed
him, | have to announce his multiplied
impertections. dare not k eep back the
testimony, for then should not dare to
appear again amongst the sinless ones be-
fore 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? "Oh, yes" says the Holy One,"l
know him. l have striven with him ten
tnOusand times, and thou h som times he
did seem to repent, he fell back again AS
often from his first estate. Ten thousand
times ten thousand has he grieVed Me.
'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 trampied on my mission,
and the blood of the Atonement that
brought with which to cleanse his sou
he sometimes despised. | came from the
throne of God to convert, and comfort,
and sanctiIy, and yet look at that maH
and see what he is compared with what,
unresisted, | would have made him."
The evidence on the part OF the prose-
cuti0n has closed. Now let the defense
bring on the rebuttal testimony. VIVA
have you, . Christian soul, to bring In
reply to this evidence of the world. OF the
conscience, OF the angel, and Of the Holy
Ghostt No evidence? Are all these
things true? "Yes, unclean, unclean,"
says every Christian soul. Whati Do
you not begin 10 tremble at the thought oi
condemnation?
We have come now 10 the most inter-
esting part OF this great trial. The evil
dence all III, the advocates speak. the
profession Of an advocate 10 iull of re.
sponslhiIity. In England and the United
states there have arisen men who IN this
calling have been honOred by their race
aud thrown contempt upon those VINO
in the profession have been guilty Of a
tession will be honorable as long as it has
attached TO 1t such names as Mansfield,
and Marshall, and Story, aud Kent, and
Southard, and William Writ. The court
room has sometimes been the scene OF
very marvellous and thrilling things.
Some OF you remember the famous
Glrard will case, where one OF our advo-
Gates pleaded The cause OF the Bible and
Christianity in mastery AnglO-Saxon,
every paragraph q thunderboit.
Some OF you nave read OF the famous
trial in estminster Hall, of Warren
Hastings, the despOiler OF india, That
great man bad conquered India by splen.
did talents, by courage, by brIbes, by gl-
ganlIc dishonesty. The whole world had
rung with applause or condemnation.
Gathered in " estminster Hall was one Of
the most famous audiences ever gathered.
Foreign ministers and princes sat there.
Peers marched In clad in elmine and gold.
Mighty men and women from all lands
looked down upon lhe scene. Amid all
that pomp and spiendOr, aud amid an eX-
element sucb as mas seldom been seen In
any court room, Edmund Burke advanced
Ia speech which will last as long as
tue English language, concluding with
this burning charge, which made warren
Hastings crlnge ana cover: 81 impeach
of Parliament, whose trust he has be-
trayed. impeach him in the name Of
tue English nation, whose ancient honor
be has sullied. impeaoh ham IN the
name Of the people Of India. whose rights
he has trampled on, and whose country Le
has turned into a desert. And, lastly, in
the name Of human nature, in the nacle OF
botn sexes, in the name OF every age and
rank, | impeach him az the common
enemy and Oppressor Of all"
But ] turn from the recital OF those
memorable occasions to "a giauder trial.
and | nave TO tell you that in this trial OF
the Christian for the life OF his soul, the
advocates are mighlier, wiser and more
eloquent. The evidence all being in,
Justice rises on behalf Of the prosecution
TO make his plea. With the Bible open in
bis hand, he reads the law, stern and in
flexible, and the penalty: "The soul that
siDneth, IL snail die" Then be says:
so thou, Judge and Lawgiver, this is
Thine own statute, and all the evidence
in earth and heaven agrees in stating
that this man has sinned against all these
enactments. Now let the sword leap from
its scabbard. snail a man go through the
very flames OF Sinai unRin edy Let the
law be executed. Let judgment be pro-
nounced. Let him die. / demand that
he die"
0, Christian, does 1t not look very
dark tor theei Who will plead on thy
side in so forlorn u causei Sometimes a
man will be brought into court OF law,
and he will have no friends, and nc
money, and the Judge will look over the
bar and say: ''Is there anyone who will
volunteer TO take this mans case and de-
fend himr and some young man rises
a ~ .a.YNN1