The Marlboro democrat. [volume] (Bennettsville, S.C.) 1882-1908, 1888-05-09

I IN ~ " 80 WIN / j NOV "
Niagara Falls, and then, cut loose from
its moorings, 1t came on down through
tho night, and tossed over tho Falls, 1t
was said to hayo been u scene brilliant
beyond all description. Well, there
arc thousands of men on fire OF OWL
habit, coming down through the rapids.
and through the awful night Of tcmpt:l-
ton, toward the eternal plunge. Oh.
how hard it Is TO arrest them! Goi
only u arrest them.
Suppose n man, after five or ten or
twenty years Of cvil-doing resolves to
do right. Why, all The forces OF dark
hess are allied against him. lie cannot
sleep nights. Ito gets down on his
knees in the midnight anu cries: .sC;otl
help mcl' He bites his lip. lie grinds
his teeth. Ito clcnchcs his fist III u de-
termination to keep his purpose. lIo
dare not look at the bottles i'll tho Win
doWs OF a vino store. 1t is one long,
bitter, exhaustive. il~and-to-llaid fight
with an inIlamcd, tantalizing, aud mer-
CHESS habit. Wien he thinks he is ell
tirely free, the old inc~linations pouncc
upon him like Il pack OF hounds with
their mnzzlcs tearing away at The Hanks
oil M poor reindeer. In Paris there is
Y sculpturcd representation Of J}accllus,
the god of rcvelry. lie is riding on a
panther ut full leap. Oh, how sugyes-
tive! Lei every II who is speeding
on BAL ways understand he is not rid
ing i, docile and wcll-broken stced, but
nc is riding Il monster, wild and blood-
thirsty, going at a death leap.
low many there are who resolve on
Il better life, and say: "NVNcn Shall L
awaken" but seized on by their old
habits, CRY: 81 viii try it once more,
| will seek il yet agaln!" Years ago,
there were some princeton students
who wcro skating, and the ice was very
thin, and some one warned tho com
pany back from the %air-llolc, and final.
" warned them entirely to leave The
place. But ono young man with BRAY
ado, after all The rest had stopped, cried
out: "Ono round morcl" lie swept
around, and went down, and was
brought out q corpse. My friends,
there arc thousands and tens Of thou
sands Of men losing their souls i'll that
way. III is the ono round more.
| have also to say that if IL man wants
TO ra'nrn from evil practices,
M 'JtIETY REFUSES HIM.
Desiring TO reform, he says: "Now, L
will Shake or my old associates, and I
will find Christian companionship."
And ho appears ut the church door
somo Sabbath day, and the usllcrgrccts
him with a look rs much rs TO say:
"Why, you here? You arc tic last
man ever expected to sec at church,
Come. take this seal. right down by the
door," Instead or saying: Good
morning; am glad you arc hore.
come; | Will give you y lirst-rate seat.
right up by the pulpit" We'll, tho pro-
digal, not yet discouraged, enters a
mayer-mceting, and some Christian
man, with more zeal than common
sense, says: "Glad to SEQ you; the dy-
ing thief was saved, and Isupposc there
IS mercy for you"
TIE YOUNG MAN, DlSGUSTED,
chilled, throws himself on his dignity,
resolved lie will never enter into Tic
house of God again. Perhaps not quito
fully discouraged about reformation, he
sides up by some highly respectable
man he used to know, going down the
street, and Immediately the respectable
man has an crranl down some other
street. Well, tho prodigal, wishing to
return, takes some member Of a Chris
tian association by The hand, or tries to.
The Christian young man looks at him,
looks at the faded apparclan thcmarks
of dissipation: instead OF giving him i
warm grip Of Ito hand, he offers him
the tip ends Of tic long fingers Of The
left hand, which is c9u0l 10 !ri,ing u
man IN tie .tacei Oh, how few Chris
tian people understand how much force
and gospel there is in a good honest
hanG-shaking! sometimes, when You
have felt the need Of encouragement,
and some Christian man has taken you
heartily ny the hand, have you not felt
thrilling through every fibre OF your
body, mind, and soul an encourage
mcnt that was just what you needed?
You do not know anything at all about
this unless you know when Il man tries
to return from evil courses Of conduct
he run against
R~ErUL.SIONs INNUMERAUl.E.
We say OF some man, he lives Il block
or tMo from the church, or half IL milo
from the church. There arc people in
our crowded cities who live Il thousand
miles from church. Vast deserts of in
difference between them and the house
Of God. Tho fact is, we must keep our
responsibility, though thousands and
tens OF thousands perish. Christ sat
with publicans and sinners. But if
there come to the house of Goa Il man
with marks Of dissipation upon him,
people almost throw up their hands in
horror, as much as to say: ''Isn't 1t
shocking?" How these dainty, .justidi-
ous Christians in all our churches are
going to get into heaven, L don't know,
unless they have an especial train Of
cars, cushioned and upholstered, each
ono Il car TO himself. They cannot 90