The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1888-03-30

uuIIng Jne war, Telegram came, sayings
"There will be 800 wounded men tonight; be
ready to tale care Of them;n and from my
church there went In some twenty or thirty
men and women to look after these poor
wounded fellows. As they came, some from
one part of the land, some from another, no
one asked whether this man was from Ore
gon, or from Massachusetts,, or from Mime
sofa, or from New York There was a
wounded soldier, and the only question was
how to take off the rags the most gently, and
put on the bandage, and administer the
cordial. And when a soul comes to God, He
does not ask where you came from or what
your ancestry was. Healing for all your
wounds. Pardon for all your guilt. Com
fort for all your troubles.
Then, also, 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 re-
formed Go home today, open your desk,
take out letter paper, stamp and envelope,
and then write letter something like this:
MY Old Companions-I 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. 1t is not ten bad
companions that destroy a man, nor five bad
companions, nor three bad companions, nor
two bad companions, but one What chance
Is there for that young man saw along the
street, four or five young men with him,
hating in front Of grogshop, urging him to
go in, he resisting, violently resisting, until
after while they force him to go in9 1t was
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
counsel you, also, seek Christian advice.
Every Christian man Is bound to help you
If 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 reforma-
ton; and as 1 hope to have my own sins for
given, and hope to be acquitted at the judy
ment seat Of Christ, / win not betray you.
First Of all, seek God; then seek Christian
counsel Gather up all the energies of body,
mind and soul, and, appealing to God for
success. declare this day everlasting war
against all drinking habits, all gaming prac-
viii amount to nothing; it must be Water
loo. Shrink back now and 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 conquered" Though your struggle to
get rid of sin may seem to be almost death
struggle, you can dip your finger in your
own blood, and write on the Rock of Ages:
"Victory though our Lord Jesus Christ" Obi
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 see if there are any
letters from you. How anxious they are to
hearl Nothing would please them half so
much as the news you might send home to-
morrow that you had gwen 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 ut the night fall, stand
knee deep in the bright straw that invites
them to lie down and rest. The perch Of the
howell 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 nothing. 1 wonder what
they arc thinking of. After a while the
father breaks the silence and says: "Well, 1
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 Tor him we can trust him still"
Then at 8 oclock-for they retire early in
the country-at 8 o'clock they kneel down
and commend you to that God who watches
in country al.L in town, on the land and on
the sea-
Some one said to Grecian general:
tWhat was the proudest moment of your
lief" He thought a moment and said: 1.-THE
proudest moment Of my life was when sent
word home TO my parents that 1 had gained
the victory And the proudest and most
brilliant inoa!e;:s il your life will be the mo-
ment when you c.ta send word to your par
ents in tho cou.itry That you have conquered
your evil lial,;;', by the grace of God, and
become etor.IaI victor. Obi despise not
parental anxiety. The time will come when
you will have neither father nor mother, and
you will go rounG the place where they used
to witch ami fad THEN goIo from the house,
and gone FROM the field, and gone from the
neiShborhood. Cry Us loud for forgiveness
as you may over tho mound in the church
yard, thcy will not answer. Deadl DeadI
And then you will take out the white lock of
hair that was cut from your mothers brow
Just before they buried hlr, 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 us tSoy wanted you to, and
would give the world il jon had never thrust
pang throa. II their dear old hearts God
pity the yoIng man who has brought dis
grace on his fathers name. God pity the
young man who has broken his mothers
heart. Better il he had never been born
better If, in the first hour of his life, instead
Of being laid against the warm bosom of ma
ternal tendrrucSS, ho had been coffined and
sepulchred. There is no balm powerful
enough to heal tho heart of one who has
brought parents TO sorrowful grave and who
wanders about through the dismal cemetery,
rending the hair aud wringing the hands,
and crying: "Motherl mother" Oh, that
.Dday, by all the memories of the past and
b. all the hopes of the future, you would
Weld your heart to God. May your fathers
God and ysur mothers God be your God for
ever
Cattle PoIsoners IN the Tolls.
HASTINGS, Mimi, March 2S.-Edward
Knapp aud Mrs. John Maggie, of Inver
Grove, have been bound over to the next
term of the district court by Justice De-
Kay frnn tha aIlaOad oh arcno IF noieoufnep