Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1888-04-06
ISLAND POND, VERMONT, APRIL 6, ISss.

against all drinking habits, all g ming prac-
ticeS, all houses of sin. Half and half work
VIII amount to nothing; it must lie a Water
loo Shrink back now and you are lost. Push
on and you are saved. A Spartan general
fell at the very moment of victory, but he
dipped his finger in his own blood, and vr0te
on a rock near which he was dying: Sparta
has conquered" Though your struggle to
get rid of sin may Sc am to be almost a death
stru Egle, YOU can dip your finger in your
own blool, aat write on the Rock of Ages:
VICTORY through our Lord Jesus Christ. Oil
what glorious news it would for some Of
these young men to send home to their
parents in the country. They go TO the post
Office every day or two to SEQ If there are any
letters fro you. How anxious they are to
hear Nothing would please them half SO
much as the news you might senl home to
morrow that You had given yolr heart to
God. | know how it is in the country. The
night comes on. The cattle stand Under the
rack through which bursts the triisses of
hay The horses Just having frisked up
through the meadow at the night fall, stand
knee deep in the bright straw that invites
them TO lie down and rest. The perch OF the
lfoYel is full of fowl their feet warm under
the feathers In the Old farm house at night
no candle is lighted, for the flames clap their
hands about the great backlog, and shake
the shadow of the group up AMI down the
wall Father and mother sit there for half
an hour, saying nothing | wonder whas
they are thinking OF. After while the
father breaks the silence and says: "Well.
wonder where our boy is in town tonight
and tho mother answers: 'in no bad place,
warrant you; we always could trust him
when he was home, and since he has been
away there have been so many prayers
offered for him we can trust him still.n
Then at oc'ock-for they retire early in the
country-at 8 o'clock they kneel down and
fnl,A
country and IN town, on the land and on the
sea.
Some one said to Grec:an general:
"What was the proudest moment of your
life:n He thought moment and said: THE
proudest moment of my life was when sent
word home to my parents that had gained
the victory And the proud st an most
brilliant moment in your life will be the mo-
ment when you can send word to your par
ents in the country that you have conquered
your evil habits, by the grace of God, and
become eternal victor. OH despse not
parental anxiety The time will come when
you will have neither father nor mother, and
you will go round tho pace where they used
to watch and find them gone from the house,
and gone from the field, and gone from the
neighborhood. Cry as loud for forgiveness
as you may over the mound in the church
yard, they will not answer. Dea1 Dead!
And then you will take out the white lock of
HdlT GIldG was Cut llcll (Oul IilOGicI DTOW
just before they buried her, and you will take
the cane with which your father used to walk,
and you will think and think, and wish that
you had done just as they wanted you to, and
would give the world if you had never thrust
a pang through their dear old hearts God
pity the young man who has brought dis
grace on his fathers name. God pity the
young man who has broken his mothers
heart. Better if he had never been born
better if, in the first hour of his life, instead
of being laid against the warm bosom of ma.
ternal tenderness, he had been coffined and
sepulchred There is no balm powerful
enough to heal the heart of one who has
brought parents to sorrowfu grave and who
wanders about through the dismal cemetery,
rending the hair and wringing the hands,
and crying. Mother! mother!" Oh, that
to-day, by all the memories of the past, and
by all the hopes of the future, you would
yield your heart to God May your fathers
God and your mothers Col be your God for