The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1889-08-08

| partnership remember that while at the
end of a useful life you may be eble to
| look back to kindnesses done, to honor
able work accomplished, to poverty
helped, to a good name earned, to Chris
| fian influence exerted, to SaVlour's
cause advanced-these pleasure seekers
! on their death bed have nothing better to
review than a torn play bill, ticket for
the races, an empty tankard and the
cast-out rinds of a caTFusal; and as in
the delirium of their awful death. they
clutch the goblet and press it to their lips,
the dregs of the cup falling upon their
tongue will begin to hiss aud uncoil with
! the adders of an eternal poison.
Cast out these men from your company.
| Do not be intimate with them. Always
| be polite. There is no demand that you
| ever sacrifice politeness. A young man
accosted Christian Quaker with: odd
chap, how did you make all your money!"
! The Quaker replied: ''By dealing in an
article that thou mayest deal in if thou
wilt-civiity." Always be courteous,
but at the same time firm. Say no as ii
| you meant it. Have it understood in
store, and shop, and street, that you will
not stand in the cOmpauiOnship OF the
skeptic, the idle, the pleasure seeker.
| Rather than enter the companiOnship OF
such, accept the invitation to a better
feast. The promises of God are the
| fruits. The harps of Heaven are the mu-
sic. Clusters from the vineyards of Go
have been pressed into the tanEards.
| The sons and daughters of the Lord AL
mighty are the guests. While standing
at the banquet to fill the cups aud divide
! the clusters and command the harps and
welcome the guests is a daughter OF God
on whose brow are the blossoms of para
! disc, and in whose cheek is the flush OF
celestial summer. Her name is Religion.
Her ways are ways of pleasantness,
And all her paths are peace.
Decide this soon, oh, young man, what
direction you will take. There comes
such moment of final decision-why not
! this? One night l saw o young man at
the street-corner evidently doubling as
to which direction he had better take, his
hat lifted high enough so you could see
he had an intelligent forehead, and he
had stout chest and a robust develop
ment. Splendid young man. Cultured
young man. Honored young man. Why
did he stop there while so many were
| going up and down?
The fact is that every man has good
angel and bad angel contending for the
mastery of his spirit, and there was
| good angel and a bad angel struggling
with that young mans soul at the corner
| of the street. "Come with me-" said the
! good angel; 81 will take you home; ]
! will spread my wing over your pillow; l
will lovingly escort you all through life
under supernatural protection; 1 will
| Il l. -
| couch you rest on, every doorway you en-
| ter; l will consecrate your tears when
you weep, your sweat when you toll, and
at the last l will hand over your grave to
the bright angel OF Christian resurrec-
! ton. In answer to your fathers petition
and your mothers prayer, | have been
| sent of the Lord out of Heaven to be your
| guardian spirit. Come with me, " said the
good angel, in voice Of unearthly sym
/ phony. 1t was music like that viii ch
drops from a lutte of Heaven when Il
seraph breathes on it.
mo, no,' said the bad angel, "come
with me; l have something better to
offer; the wines l pour are from chalices
of bewitching carousal: the dance | lead
is over floor tesseIlated with unrestrained
indulgences; there is no God to frown on
!
skies are Italian. The paths I tread are
through meadows daisied and primrosed
! Come with me-"
The young man hesitated for a time
when hesitation was ruin, and the la!
angel smote the good angel until it de-
parted spreading wing through the star
! light upward and away, until door
! flashed open ia the sky and forever the
! win OiCha hot ho
point in that young mans history;
for, the good angel flown, he
hesitated no longer, but started on
! q pathway which is beautiful at
| the opening, but blasted at the last. The
| bad angel, leading the way, opened gate
after gate, and at each gate the road be-
came rougher and the sky more lurid, aud
what was peculiar, as the gate slammed
! shut it came to with jar that indicated
! that it would never open. Passed each
| portal there'was q grinding of locks and
a showing of bolts, and the scenery on
/ either side the road changed from gar
dens to deserts. and the June air became
a cutting December blast, and the bright
wings Of the bad an%el turned to sack
cloth, and the eyes or light became hollow
with hopeless grief and the fountains,
that at the start had tossed with wine,
poured forth bubbling tears and foaming
! blood, and on the right side of the road
there was a serpent, and the man said 10
the bad angel: what is that serpent?"
The answer was: 'That is the serpent
of singing remorse." On the left side of
| the road there was lion, and the man
/ asked the bad angel: "Whatis that lion?u
and the answer was: "That is the lion of
all-devouring despair" A vulture few
through the sky, and the man asked this
bad angel: "What is that vulture?" and
the answer was: ''That is the vultule
waiting for the carcasses of the slain.'
And then the man began to try to pull off
of him the folds Of something that had
wound him round and round, and he said
to the bad angel: "What is it that twists
me in this awful convolution?v au1 the
answer was: THAT is the worm that
never dies" And then the man said to
| the bad angel: What does all this
mean? l trusted in what you said at
the corner of the street last night;
trusted it all, and why have you thus de-
ce1ved me" Then the last deception
fell off the charmer, and it said: II
was sent forth from the pit to destroy
your soul; / watched my chance for many
long year; when you hesitated that
night on the street. [ gained nv t.iur0nI.