The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1888-10-11

weighed Inc most. Inc aVdrlclOuS men
of his court said the vase of gold. The
poets said the vase of amber. But the
wisest men said the empty vase, becaus Q
one letter of the name of God outweighe
q universe.
For Him thirst, for His grace beg,
on His promise build my all. Without
Him can not be happy. I have tried
the world, and it does well enough as far
as it goes; but it is too uncertain a world.
am not prejudiced witness. have
been one of the most fortunate, or to use
more Christian word, one of the most
blessed of men, blessed in my parents,
blessed in the place of my nativity, bless
ed in my health, blessed in my field Of
work blessed in my natural tempera-
ment, blessed in my family, blessed in
my opportunities, blessed in comfort
able livelihood, blessed in the hope that
my soul will go to Heaven through the
pardoning grace of God, and my body,
unless it be lost at sea or cremated in
some confagration, will lie down in the
gardens of Greenwood among my kin
dred and friends, some already gone and
others to come after me. Life to many
has been disappointment, but to me 1t
has been pleasant surprise; and yet /
declare that if / did not feel that God was
now my friend and ever present help,
should be wretohed and terror-struck.
But want more of Him. have thought
over this text and preached this sermon
to myself until, with all the aroused en-
ergies of my body, mind and soul, can
cry out:
AS the hart panteth after the water brooks,
so panteth my soul after Thee, o God.
Through Jesus Christ make this God
your God and you can withstand any
thing and every thing, and that which
affrights others will inspire you. AS in
time of earthquake when an old Christian
woman was asked whether she was
scared, answered: mo, am glad that
have God who can shake the world" or,
as in financial panic, when a Christian
merchant was asked if he did not fear he
would break, answered: Eyes, shall
break when the fiftieth psalm breaks in
the fifteenth verse: Call upon me Gin the
day of trouble; I will deliver thee and
thou shalt glorify me-" o, Christian
men and women, pursued of annoyances
and exasperations. remember that lthis
hunt, whether q still hunt or hunt
in full cry, will soon be over. II ever a
whelp looks ashamed and ready to stink
out of sight it is when in the Adiron-
dacks deer, by one long, tremendous
plunge into Big Topper lake, gets away
from him. The disappointed canine
swims in little way, but, defeated,
swims out again and cr1nges with humil-
lated yawn at the foot of his master.
And how abashed and ash AIMED will all
your earthly troubles be when you have
dashed into the river from under the
throne of God, and the heights and
depths of Heaven are between you and
your pursuers. We are told in Revela-
ton, ed and 10Th, "Without are dogs"
by which conclude there is whole ken.
nell of hounds outside the gate of Heaven,
or, as when master goes in q door, his
dog lies on the steps waiting for him tc
come out, SO the troubles of this life may
follow us to the shining door, but they
can not get in. Without are dogs I"
! have seen dogs and owned dogs that /
would not be chagrined to see in the
heavenly city. Some of the grand old
watch-dogs who are the constabulary of
the homes in solitary places, and for
years have been the only protection of
wife and child; some of the shepherd
dogs that drive back the wolves and bark
away the focks from gong too near the
neck and paw Landseer, the painter, has
made immortal, would not find me shut
ting them out from the gate of shining
pearl. Some of those old ST. Bernard
dogs that have lifted perishing travellers
out of the Alpine snow; the dog that John
Brown, the Scotch essayist, saw ready to
spring at the surgeon lest, in removing
the cancer, he too much hurt the poor
ri m m. xxyt he r~1@ 4
protect; and dogs that we caressed
in our childhood days or that in latter
time laid down on the rug in seeming
sympathy when our homes were desolated.
l say, if some soul entering Heaven should
happen to leave the gate aiar and these
faithful creatures should quietly walk in,
it would not at all disturb my Heaven.
But all those human or brutal hounds
that have chased and torn and lacerated
the world; yea, all that now bite or worry
or tear to pieces, shall be prohibited.
"Withort are dogs?" No place there for
harsh critics or back biteIs or despoilers
of the regulations Of others. Down with
you to the kennels of darkness and de-
spair! TIL hart has reached the eternal
water brooks, and the painting of the long
chase is quoted in still pastures, and
LhOkO oA6lA 10 noluluS W Iuub OF u6-
stroy in all Gods holy m CUNT"
Oh, when some of you get there it will
be like what hunter tells of when he
was pushing his canoe far up north in
the winter and amid the ice-foes, and
hundred miles, as he thought, from any
other human beings. He was startled
one day as he heard stepping on the
ice, and he cooked his rifle ready to meet
any thing that came near. He found a
man, barefooted and insane from long
exposure. approaching him. Taking
him into his canoe and kindling fires to
warm him, he res tored him and found out
where he had lived, and took him to his
home and found all the village in great
excitement. A hundred men were search
ing for this lost man, and his family and
friends rushed out to meet him; aud, as
had been agreed, at his first appearance
bells were rung, and guns were dis
charge ed, and banquets spread, and
the rescuer loaded with pres
ents. Well, when some of You
step out of this wilderness, where Won
have been chilled and torn, and some
times lost amid the. icebergs, into the
warm greeting of all the villages of the
glorified, and your friends rush out to give
ron a wa1poniuv Kicc tho MANS 49,