Democratic messenger., 1888-09-22
when they commemomted the sufferings
aaf Alan osl Xaa LII a -.

OF the Lord. Yes, my lad, you do not have
such fun In sin rs You seem TO have.
know what spoils your fun. You cannot
shake of the influences Of those prayers
long ago offered or of those kind admoni.
tons. You cannot make them 60 away,
and you feel like saying:
Father what, are you doing here
Mother why do you bother me with sug-
gestions Of those olden times? But they
will not go away. They will push you
back from your evil paths. though they
have TO come down from their shining
homes In Heaven and stand In the very
gates Of hell, and their hacks scorchcd 0i
the fieryblast. and with their hand ON your
shoulder, and their breath on your brow.
and thcireycs straight into yours. they will
say I'VE have come TO take you home, O
son Of many anxieiicsr p Atlast tia, young
man turns through the consecutive in
! iiuences of a pious parentage, who out oi
Nprayers fidelities innumcrable made n
cSsin. That is the chain that pulls nightly
this>lorning on five hundred OF you
You may be too proud to shed a tear, and
you may, to convince Others Of your Inn.
pcrturabiliiy, smile to your friends beside
you, but there Is not so much power In an
Alpine avalanche after 1t has slipped for
1000 feet and having struck lower cliff
Is taking It's second bound for 800 fee,
more of plunge, as therr bower in the
chain that pulls you this. went toward
God and Christ and Heaven IOh! the al
mighty pull of the long cl-sin Of early
gracious influences!
EFFECT OF sURROUSDISGs
But all people between 30 and 40 years
Of age, yes. between 10 and 5O-aye, be
tween 30 and 90 years. and all scpiuagen
arians rs well, need surrounding con,
Junction Of good influences. In Sing Sing
Auburn, Moyamcnsing, and all the Other
great prisons. are men and women who
went wrong in mi,l-liic and old age. W.
need around us Gordon of influences
We forget TO apply the wcll.known rule
that chain is M stronger than It's weak
est link. lf The chain he made up Of I ,OO(
links and 900 are strong, hut one Is weak
the chain will he In danger Of breaking nj
that one weak link. We may he strong
In 1000 cNcellenccs, and yet have on,
weakness which cndangcr MS. That !.
the reason that we sometimes see men dis
tinguished for n whole round oi virtue,
collapse and go down. The weak link ir
the otherwise stout chain gave way under
the pressure.
The first chain bridge was built in scot
land. Walter Scott tells how the French
initiated il in n bridge across the River
Seine. lsu, there was one weak point IN
that n bridge. There was a middl,
boltDnnt was Of poor material. hut TIE,
did not know how much depended on that
middle bolt of the chain bridge. On III,
opening day procession started. led on
by the builder Of the bridge. and when
the mighty weight Of the procession was
fairly on IL the bridge broke and prccipi
tatcd the muliitu,lcs. The bridge was all
right except In that middle holt. So the
bridge Of character may he made up o
mighty links strong enough to hold a
mountain, hut il there he one weak spot
that weak point unlocked after may be
the destruction ofcverything. And what
multitudes have gone down for all time
and all eternity because in the chain.
bridge Of their character there was lack
ing n strong middle bolt! lie had but one
fault and that was ayaricc; hence, forge.
ry. lie had hut one fault and that was q
burning thirst for inioxicanis hence, his
fatal dcbauch. She had hut one fault and
that an inordinatc fondncss for dress, and
hence her own and her husbands bank
ruptcy She had bu, one fault and that 4
quick temper; hence, the disgraceiul out
burst. What we all want is To have pui
around us astrong chain Of good inilu
enccs. Christian association is a link
Scripture research is Ink. Faith in God
is u link. Put together all these influences
Make chain,
ASSOCIATE WITH youR BETTERs.