The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1888-03-26


war, telegram came, saying: There will
be three hundred wounded men tonight; /;
be ready 10 take care of them" and from
my church there went in some twenty or
thirty men and women to look after these
poor wounded follows As they came,
some from one part of the land some from
another, no one asked whether this man
was from Oregon, or from Massachusetts,,
or from Minnesota, or from New York.
There was wounded soldier, and the only
question was how to take Off the rags the
most gently, and put ON the bandage, and
and administer the cordial And when a
soul comes to God, he does not ask whore
you came from or what your ancestry was.
Healing for all your wounds. Pardon for
an your guilt. Comfort for all your trou-
bles.
Then, also l counsel you, If you want to
get back, to quit all your bad associations.
One unholy intimacy will fill your soul
with moral distemper. In all the ages of
the church there has not been an instance
where man kept one evil associate and
was reformed. Go home to-day, open your
desk, take out letter paper, stamp and en-
velope, and then write a letter something
like this;
my Old Companions: start this day
for heaven. Until am persuaded you will
join me in this farewell" "
Then sign your name and send the letter
by the first post Give up your bad COM
panions, or give up heaven. II is not ten
bad companions that destroy man, nor
hve bad companions, nor three bad COM
panions, nor two bad companions, but one
What chance is there for that young man 1
saw along the street, four or five young
men with him, halting in front of grog-
shop, urging him to go in, he resisting, vio-
lently resisting, until after while they
forced him TO go ini 1t was a summer
night and the door was left open, and saw
the process. They held him fast, and they
put the cup to his lips, and they forced
down the strong drink. What chance is
there for such young mani
1 counsel you also, seek Christian advice.
Every Christian man is bound to help you
IL you find no other human ear willing TO
listen to your story of struggle, come to me
and will by every sympathy Of my heart,
and every prayer, and every toll of my
hand, stand beside you in the struggle for
reformation; and as hope to have my own
sims forgiven and hope to be acquitted at
the judgment seat of Christ, will not be-
tray you. First of all, seek God, then seek
Christian counsel. Gather up all the ener-
gies of body, mind and SOUL and, appealing
to God for success declare this day ever
lasting war against all drinking habits, all
gaming practices all houses of sin. Half
and-half work will amount to nothing; it
must be Waterloo. Shrink back now ana
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 wrote on a rock near
which he was dying: Sparta has con-
quered." Though your struggle to get rid
of sin may seem TO be almost death strug-
.gle, you can dip your finger in your own
blood and write on the Rock of Ages: "Vic-
tory through our Lord Jesus Christ" Ohi
what glorious news it would be 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 500 if there
are any letters from you. How anxious
they are to hear Nothing would please
them half so much as the news you might
send home tomorrow that you had given
your heart to God. know how it Is in the
country. The night comes on. The cattle
stand under the rack through which bursts
the trusses of hay. The horses Just having
frisked up through the meadow at night
fall, stand knee-deep in the bright straw
that invites them to lie down and rest. The
perch Of the hovel 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 and down the wall Father and
mother sit there for half an hour, saying
of. After awhile che father breaks the
silence and says: "Well, wonder where
our boy is in town tonight" !" and the 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" Then at O'Clock
for they retire early in tho country-at
o'clock they kneel down and commend you
to that God who watches in country and in
town, on the land and on the sea
Some one said to a Grecian General:
"W hat was the proudest moment of your
lifeP He thought a moment, and said:
"The proudest moment OF my life was
when sent word homo to
my parents that | had gained the
victory" And the proudest and most
brilliant moment in your life will be the
moment when you can send word to your
parents in the country that you have con-
quered your evil habits, by the grace of
God, and become eternal victor. Oh de-
spise not parental anxiety. The time will
come when you will have neither father nor
mother, and you will go around the place
where they used to watch you, 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 churcbyard, they will not
answer Dead Dead And then you will
take out the white lock Of hair that was cut
from your mothers brow 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
givc the world IL you had never thrust a
pang through their dear old hearts. God
pity the young man who has brought dis
grace on his IaChsr's name. God pity the
young man who has broken his mothers
heart. Better If he had never been born
better If, in tho first hour Of bis life, instead
Of being laid against the warm bosom of
tenderness, he had been coffined
and sepulchred. There is no balm powerful
enough to heal the heart of one who has
brought parents 10 n sorrowful grave, and
who wanders about through the dismal GEM
eterY; rending the hair and wringing the
hands, and crying: Mother motherl" 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
God and your mothers God be your
God forever.
GmtlTLT r,tT mn N q