The Forrest City times., 1888-09-22

stingy let us put ourselves among the chsri. table. II we gre morose let us put ourselves among lhe gooinatured If we arc given to uttle- tattle let us put ourselves among those who speak no i'll ot their neishbors. If we are dcsponden. let us put ourselves among those who make the best Of things. If evil Is contagious, l am glad to say that good is also catching. People go up into the hill country ior physical bealth; so it you would De strong In your soul get yourself up of the lowiamds into the attitudes Of high moral as- sociation. For many Of the circumstances of our He Ne arc not responsible. For our par entage we are not responsible For tue place oi our nativity, not responsible, for our feat ures, our stature, our color, not respousible; Tor tbe family relation In which we were born, Tor our natural tastes, for our mental charac- Yer, not responsible. But We are respons ble Tor the associates that we choose and the moral influences under which we put our. selves Character seeks an ilibrium A. B Is good man. '. Z IS a bad man. Let them now voluntarily choose each others so- cietY. A. B. will loose & part oi his good ness and '. z. part of his badness, and they VIII gradually approach each other in char aeter aud will finally stand on the same level One oi the old painters refused to look at poor pictures because he said 1t damaged his style A mus clan cannot afford to dwell among dscords nor can a writer afford to per use books Of inferior style. nor an architect walk out among dispropOrtioncd structures.
 
 be able to afford to choose evil associations Therefore said. have 1t rule of your life to go among those better than yourselves. Can. not find therni Then what pink of perfec- ton you must be When was your character completedi What misfortune for the saint ly and angelic of heaven that they are not en- Joying the improving influence of your so- cietyl An, 1T you cannot find those better than yourself, 1t Is because you are ignorant oi M yourself. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharlsees, hypocritesi
 But, as l remarked In the opening, in sacred and In all styles Of literature a chain means not only adornment and royalty of nature but sometimes captivity. And l suppose there are those in that sense deliberately and per- sistentls making a chain. Now here is a young man of good physical health, good manners and good education. How shall he put together enough links 10 make chain for the down-hll rosdi l will give him some directions. First let him smoke If he can not stand cigars let him try cigarettes. 1 think cigarettes will help him on this road little more rapidly because the doctors say there is more poison in them, and so he will be helped along faster. and have the more confidence in proposing this because about tity of the first young men of Brooklyn dur Ing the last year were, according to the doc tors reports, killed by cigarettes. Let him drink light wines first, or ale or lager, and gradually he will be able to take something stronger, and as all styles of strong drink are more and more aduterated, his progress will be facilitated With the old-time drinks a man seldom got del'rium tremens before thirty or forty years of age; now he can get the madness by the time he is eighteen. Let him play cards, enough money put up always to add interest 10 the game. If the father and mother will play with him that will help by way Of conntenancing the habit. And II Will be such a pleasant thing to think over in the day of judgment when the parents give account for the elevated manner in which they have reared their children. Every pleas ant sunday afternoon take carriage ride and stop at the hotels on either side the road for Sabbath refreshments Do not let the old fogy prejudiees against Sabbath breaking dominate you Have membership in some club where libertines go and tell about their victorious sins, and laugh AS loud as any of them in derisiou of those who belong to the same sex as your sister and mother. Pitch your Bible overheard as old fashioned and fit only for women and children. Read all the magazine articles that put Christianity at disadvantage, and go to hear all the lectures that malign Christ who, they say, instead Of being the Mighty One he pretended to be, was an impostor and the implanter of great delusion. Go, at iirst out of curiosity, to see all the houses of dissipation and then go be- cause you have felt the thrall of their fascI- nation. Getting along sp!endidly uowl
 Let me see what further can l suggest In that direction. Become more defiant of all utNtuC1s HOit lOul-iuDutUtI III your htHcIsui, more thoroughly alcoholized, and instead of the small stakes that will do well enough for games Of chance in a ladies' parlor, put up something worthy, put up more, put up all you have. Well donel Ton have succeeded. You have made a cllain-the tobacco habit one link, the rum habit one link, the impure club another link, infielty another link, Sabbath desecratou another link, uncleanli- ness another link, and altogether they make chain. And so there Is chain on your hand and a chain on your foot and chain on your tongue and chain on your ese and chain on your brain and chain on your property and chain on your soul. Some day you wake up and you say: 'l am tired of this and am going 10 get loose from this shackle-" You pound away with the hammer of good resolution but can not break the thrall. Your friends join you in a conspiracy to help but fall exhausted in the unavailing attempt. Now you begin, and with the writblng of Lao coon, try to break away, and the muscles are distended, and the great beads Of perspir- ation dot your forehead, and the eyes stand out from the sockets and with All the con centered energies of body, mind and soul you attempt to get loose but have only made the chain sink deeper. All ihe devils that epcamp in the wine flask and the rum jug and the decanter-for each one has devil of its own--comc out and sit around you and chatter. In some midnight you spring from your couch and cry: "l am fast. o God, let me loose Oye powers of darkness, let me loose Father and mother and brothers and sisters help me to get loose" And you turn your prayer to blasphemy and then your blasphemy into prayer, and to all the din and uproar there is played an accompaniment, not an accompaniment by key and pedal, but the accompaniment is rattle ana the rattle Is that of . chain. For live years, for ten years, for twenty years, you have been making A chain.
 But here take step higher and tell you there Is a power that can break any chain. chain of hodv, chain of mind chain O! soul. The letters that the hammer Of the Gospel have broken of. it piled together, would make mountain. The captives whom Christ has set free, If stood side by side would make an arm. Quicker than ship chandler's furnace ever melted cable, quicker than key ever unlocked & hand cuff quicker than the bayoDets of revolution prled open the Bsstile, YOU may be liberated and made a free son or free daughter Of God. You have only to choose between serfdom and cmanepa ton, between a chain and eorouet, betSeen satan and God. Make up our mind and make II up quick. When the King of Sparta had crossed the Hellespont and was about to march through Thraee, he sent word to the people in the different regions asking them whether he should march through their countries as friend or an enemy. "By all means AS a friend. answ. cred most of the regions. but the King Of Macedon replied: "l will take time to con slider itn 'Then" said the King of Sparta: Let him consider tt but meantime, We mareh-we march" So Christ, our King, gives us our choice between his friendship and his frown, and many of us have long been considering what we had better do; but meantime He marches on, and our opporlun. tiles are marc ag by. And we shall be the loyiug subjec's 0t His reign, or the victims of our own uracy So, l urge you to pre- cipitaucy rather than slow deliberation, and I write all over your sonl the words Of Christ I saw Inscribed on the monument of Princess Elizabeth in the Isle Of Wight the words to which her index finger pointed in the open B ble when she was found dead iu her bed after a lifetime of trouble; Come unto Me, all ye who are weary and heavy laden, and will give you rest.' Is there drunkarI herel You may. bv the Ssyior's grace have that fire of thirst utterly exting- nished. Is there defrauder berei You may You may b. made as pure as the light. be made a saint. Is there a libertine herei When a minister in an outdoor meeting in Scotland was eulogizug goodness, there were hanging around the edge ot the audi ence some of the most deprayed men and wo- men, and the minister said nothing about mercy for prodigals And depra, ed woman cried out: ''Your rope is not long enough for the like of us.r Blessed be God. our