The San Saba news. [volume] (San Saba, Tex.) 1873-1966, 1888-11-23

. = re chandelier Of every house {
.hying: NY son, this is no D
. iifave you forgotten the Old foIEsf Don't
hOu recognize these wrinkles, and this stoop
ron the shoulder, and this tremulous hand,
Mo home, my boy. 60 homel By the God to
)cforh IN we eonsecraued you. by the cradle in
rhich we rocked you. by the grass grown
raves IN the old country churchyard by
ne heaven where we hope yet to meet YOU
% homei Go home, my boy, 90 homer And
Jme Sunday you will be surprised to find
nat young man suddenly asking for the
srayers Of the church. Some Sunday you
fill see him at the sacrament and perhaps
,., rinking from the same kind Of chalice tina,
d 'Ssie Old folks drank out OF years ago wher
ley concentrated the sutfsrings OF the
9rL Yes. my lad, you do not have such
in sin as YOU seem 70 have. / know what
llils your fun You cannot shake off the
lfnence Of those prayers long ago offered,
An OF those kind adloDitiOus You cannot
lake them 90 away, and yoa feel like say
u lg; Father, what are yoG doing herel
i, ne ,s 1other, why do you bother me with sugges-
! Mons Of those olden timesr But they will
-ot 90 away. They will push you back from
-our evil paths. though they have to come
rom their shining homes in heaven anil
itand in the very gates OF hell. aud their
packs sco-ched by the fiery blast and with
O.ns heir hand on your shoulder, and their
breath on your brow, and their eyes
-OOking straight into yours, they will saw:
w We have come to take you home, o. son Of
siany anxieties,' At last that young man
turns through the consecutive influence of a
pious parentage. who out of prayers and
tdelites innumerable. made a chain That
Is the chain that pulls nightly this morning
on five hundred of YOU. You may be too
proud TO shed a tear, and YOU may, to con
/ vince others OF your inuerturba bility snila
TO your friend beside you. but there is not so
much power in an Alpine avalanche after il
has slipped for thousand feet and having
struck a lower cliff is taking its second
bound for fifteen hundred feet more of
plunge, as there Is pow er in the chain that
pulls out this moment toward God and
Christ and Heaven, Obi the almighty pull
Of the long chain OF early gracious in
finencesi
But all people between thirty and forty
Years Of age, yes, between forty and fifty
aye, between fifty and sixty years ami all
septuagenarians as we'll need a surrounding
conjunction of good influences. In Sing Sing,
Auburn. Moyamensing, and all the other
great prisons, are men and women who went
wrong in mid-life and old age. We neea
around Us a Gordon OF good influences We
forget to apply the we'll known rule that a
chain is no stronger than its weakest link
II the chain be made up of thousand links
and nine hundred and ninety mine are strong,
but one is weak. the chain will be in danger
Of breaking at that one weak link. We may
be strong IN a thousand excelences and yet
is the reason that We sometimes see men dis
tinguished for a whole round of virtues col
lapse and 90 down The weak link in the
otherwise stout chain gave way under the
pressure
The first cham bridge was built in Scot
land Walter Scott tells how the French
i'm lated It in bridge across the river Seine
Bat there wes one weak point in that chain
bridge There was a middle bolt that was of
poor material but they did not know how
much depended on that middle bolt of the
I chain bridge On the opening day pro
eession started. led on by the builder OF ihe
bridge; and when the mighty weight of the
procession was fairly on it, the bridge broke
and precipitated the multitudes The bridge
was all right except in that middle bolt SO
/ the bridge Of character may be made up OF
{ mighty links, strong enough TO holl q
mountain. but il there be one weak spot
I that one point unlocked after may be the de
s;ruction Of everything. And what multi
{ tudes have gone down for all TINT
and all eternity because in the
chain bridge OF their character there
was lacking a strong middle bolt he
had but one fault ami that was avarice;
hence forgery. He had but one fault ana
that was a burning desire. for intoxlcants'
hence, his fatal febauch- She had but one
fault aud that an inordinate fondness Tor
I dress and hence her own and her hushanas
. bankruptcy She had but one fault and that
/ quick temper. hence. the disgraceful out
burst What we all want is &c have put
around Us strong chain OF good innuen-eS
] Christian association is a link. Good hter.i-
tIrs IS a link Church membership is n INK
I scripture research is link Faith in Col Is
a link Put together all these influences
Make a chain
Most excellent Is it for US to get into com
7 prny better than ourselves II we are given
10 telling vile stories let Us put ourselves
] srsoag those who will not abide such utter