Sharp County record., 1888-09-27

manner in which they have reareu sI sno
children, Every pleasant Sunday "t'Gl ,ho
noon take a carriage ride anu 9'oP I'La+h %L
hotels on either side the road for oaO0".r C,
reFresbments, Do not let the ola log!
nreiudice against Sabbath OLe'n, Lin IN
dominate you. Have memO7Lon5P tail
some club where libertines 60 anu ~,
abont their victorious sins, and IauSn ~, 90
Iord as anv of them in derlslon oA 'nGg
WHO baIonr TO the same sex as your SO
tar and mother. Pitch your Blo'e o'Va o.
hoard as old.fashioned and tit on-y Iol
women and children Read all the nos",
zinn articles that put Christianity al "
disadvantage, and go to hear al 'uo 'o oo,.
ures that malign Christ Wlo' 'IG! 1"''
instead of being the Mighty Ole 10 Ptb bo
tended TO be, was an impostor anu 'nt
imnIanter of a great delusion. 20 "v
first ont of curiosity, to see all the houSUS
of dissipation, and then go because !U'
have felt the thrall of their faSclh"''oH'
Get ting along splendidly now' ,u+
LEI me see. what further can sugsoSt
in that direction? Become more u0iI''ii' -,
of all decency more loud -mouVneG ="
vour atheism, more Thoroughly HlcoitDl
izad and instead of the small stakes InoV
will do we'll enough for games OF chauco
in q ladies' parlor, put up someVlln5
worthy, put up more put up al 90 yG"
have. Well done! You have succoeuou'
Won have made a chain-the toOacCo
habit one link, the rum habit one INK
the impure club another link, lhnueIivn
another link, Sabbath desecrall0n
another link, uncleanuess another nhA,
and altogether they make chain Anu
50 there is a chain on your hand ana
chain on your foot and chain on your
tongue and a chain on your eye anu "
chain on your brain and chain on your
Droperty and a chain on your soul oolHc
day you wake up and you say;
Il am tired Of this, aud am gong u
get loose from this shackle'"
You pound away with the hammer "I
good resolution, but can not break Iuo
tnraT. Your friends join you in con-
spiracv of help, but fall exhausted III Ih2
unavailiug attempt Now you begin, anu
with the writhiug of a LAGOON, to try 10
break away, and the muscles are al'-
tended, and the great beads OF perSplra-
tion dot your forehead, and the eyes
stand out from the sockets, and with an
the concentrated energies Of body miuu
and soul you attempt to get loose OuI
have only made the chain sink deeper
| All the devils that encamp in the Wlno
flask and the rum jug and the decanter-
for each one has devil Of its own-come
out and sit around you and chatter IN
some midnight you spring from your
couch and cry:
~ am fast 0, God, let me loose! O
We powers Of darkness, let me loose!
Father and mother and brothers ana
sisters, help me to get loose"
And you turn your prayer into D!as-
phemy 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 and the rat
tie is that Of chain. For five years, for
ten years, for twenty years you have been
making chain.
But here take q step higher and tell
you there is a power that can break any
chain; chain of body, chain Of mind
/ chain of soul. The fetters that the ham.
mer of the Gospel have broken off, if piled
together, would make a mountain. The
captives whom Christ has set free, II
stood side by side, would make an army
Quicker than ship chandler's furnace
ever melted q cable, quicker than key
ever unlocked a handcuff, quicker than
the bayonets of revolution pried open the
Bastile, you may be liberated and made
| free son or free daughter Of God. You
| have only to choose between serfdOm and
emancipation, between a chain and a
coronet, between Satan and God. Make
up your mind and make it up quick.
When the King of Sparta had crossed the
Hellespont and was about to march
through Thrace, he sent word to the
people in the different regions asking
them whether he should march through
their countries rs a friend or an enemy.
"By all means rs friend" answered
most of the regions, but the King Of
Macedon replied:
81 will take time to consider it,"
"Then," said the King of Sparta, "lCt
him consider it, but meantime we march,
we march,"
50 Christ our King, gives us our choice
between His friendship and His frown,
and many of us have been long consider
ing what we had better do; but meantime
He HemarChes on, and our opportunities are
marching by And we shall be the loving
subjects of His reign, or the victims Of
our own obduracy. SO urge you to pre-
ciptancy rather than slow dehberation,
and write all over your soul the words
of Christ saw inscribed on the mouu-
ment of Princess Elizabeth in rae Isle Of
Wight, the words to which ner index
finger pointed in the open Bible when she
was found dead in her bed after a life
time of trou ble
Come unto me, all ye who are weary and
heavy laden, and l will give you rest.
But why take extreme cases, when we
all have been or are now the captives Of
sin and death? And we may throu Oh the
great EmanCipatOr drop our shackles and
take throne. You have looked at your
hand and arm only as being useful now
and a curious piece Of anatomy, but there
is something about your hand and arm
that makes me think they are an unde-
veloped wing. And if you would know
what possibilities are suggested by that,
ask the eagle that has looked close into
the eye Of the monday sun, or ask the
albatrOss that has struck its claw into the
black locks of the tempest; or ask the
condor that this morning is descending
to the highest peak of ChimborazO. Your