Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1888-12-07

the street. Is it not horrible? But bet
ter not say anything about it, because
there may be some mistake. 1 do not
want my name involved in the matter.
1 guess will just go over and ask them
at No. 1853 whether they have heard it.
Guess it must be SO, for Mary Ann says
that her husband saw man who heard
from lis business partner that his blind
old grandmother had seen something
that looked very suspicious!"
The most loathsome, miserable, God
torsaken wretch on earth is gossip. 1
can tell her Oh the street, though have
never seen her before. She walks fast
and has her bonnet strings loose, for
she has not had time to tie them since
she heard that last scandal. She looks
both ways as she passes, hoping to see
new evidences Of depravity in the VIM
dows. l think that when Satan has n
job so Infinitely mean that in all the pit
he cannot find n devil mean enough to
do it, and all brides and threats have
failed to get one willing for the eternal
crusade, he says to one of his sergeants:
Go up to Brooklyn, and in such street,
on such corner, get that gossiping wo-
man, and she will be glad to do it.. And
sure enough. like hungry fish. she
takes the hook in her mouth, and Satan
slackens the line, and.lets her run out
farther and farther, until after awhile
he says: It is time to haul in that line. !"
and with few strong pulls he brings
her TO the beach of fire. What do you
say? That she was q member of the
church? cannot help that. When
Satan goes a fishing he does not care
what school the fish belong to, whether
it is a Presbyterian mackerel or an
Episcopalian salmon. Amidstthe thun-
der crash of Sinai, God said: Thou
shalt not bear false witness against they
neighbor." And in Leviticus he says:
Thou shalt not go up and down as a
tale bearer" Take not into your ear
that scum of hell that people call title
tattle. Whosoever willingly listens to
SANDER is equally guilty with the one
who tells it, and an old writer says they
ought both to be hung, the one by the
tongue and the other by the ear. Do not
smile upon such spaniel, lest, like o
pleased dog, he put his dirty paw upon
you. Throw back the shutter of your
soul, oh Christian men and women, and
see if there be within you vulture with
filthy talons and cruel beak. Let not
this unclean thing roost in your soul,
for my text says: "Ye shall hold in
abomination among the fowls, the vul-
ture."
THE ERROR OF BEING LIKE BAT.
Again, taking the suggestion of the
text, drive out the bat from your soul.
No wonder God set this bird among the
unclean. It is an offense to every one.
Let it fly into the window of summer
night, and all the hands, young and old,
are against it. It is half bird and half
mouse. 1t seems made partly to walk
and partly to fly, and does neither we'll;
and becomes an emblem of those Chris
tians who try to cling to earth and
Heaven at the same time. They want to
toward Heaven in spirituality; and their
soul, between feet and wings, is con-
stantly perplexed. Oh, my brethren, be
one thing or the other! Choose the
world, if you prefer it; and see how
many dollars you can win, and how much
applause you can gain, and how large q
business you can establish, and how
grand house you can build, and how
fast span of horses you can drive.
You may be prospered until you can fail
for 100000, instead of having the grace
to fail for only $4,000 as some unenter-
prising people do. 1t is quite a reward
to be able for ten or twenty years to be
called one of the solid men OF Brooklyn
or Boston; and then, to make your for
tune last as long as possible, we will
give you q SPLENDID funeral, and you
shall have twenty-five carriages follow
ing you with somebody in the most of
them, and your coffin shall have silver
foryou in splendid pocket handkerchiefs
bound with Grape, and with bembazine
twenty full yards long, trailing half
across the parlor, SO that all the COM
pany may stand upon it, and we will
write our letters for the next six months
on paper edged with black. But my
friends, your worldly fortunes will not
last. 1 will buy out now all that you
will; be worth in worldly estate seventy
five years from now. 1 have the money
in my pocket with which to do it. Here
it is! Two cents! It is large sum to
offer for all you will possess at the close
of seventy-fve years. Choose the world,
if you want to; but, if not, then choose
Heaven. That estate lies partly on this
side Of the river, but mostly on the
other. 1t is ever accommodating. The
prospect of it makes one Independent of
earthly misfoltunes; SO that Rogers, the
martyr. slept SO soundly the night be-
him in order to get him awake in time
for the execution; and Paul exults at
the thought of the "joy unspeakable and
full of glory" Oh, choose earth or
Heaven! Make up your mind whether
you will walk in earthly Joys or fly with
heavenly expectations. Be not bat, fit
neither to walk nor fly, having just
enough of Heaven to spoil the world,
and so much of the world as to spoil
Heaven, Christ says that your present
condition nauseates Him to positive sick
ness: Because thou art neither cold
nor hot, I will spew thee out of my
mouth" In the ruins of Pompeii there
was found petrifed woman, who, in
stead of trying to fly from the destroyed
city, had spent her time in gathering up
her jewels. She saved neither her. life
nor her jewels. There are multitudes
making the same mistake. In trying to
get earth and Heaven you lose both.
"Ye cannot serve God and Mammon.
Be one thing or the other. Tread the
earth like lion. or mount the air like
the eagle; for my text says: "Ye shall
have in abomination among the fowls,
the bat"
TURNCoATS AND DOUBLE FACES AS PUB
Lie NUISANCES.
Again, taking the suggestion of the
text. drive out the chameleon from your
soul. There is some difference among
good men as to the name of this creep
ing thing which God pronounced UNI
n II Al. u,