The Brookhaven leader. [volume] (Brookhaven, Miss.) 1883-1891, 1889-06-13


dancers that you must see; but before
you accept their convoy or their com
panionship remember that while at tho
end Of a useful life you may be able TO
look balk to kindnesses done, to honor-
able work accomplished, to poverty
helped, to a good name earned, to Chris
tian influence exerted, to a Sayiour'S
cause advanced-these pleasure-seekers
on their death bed have nothing better to
review than a torn play bill, ticketfor
the races, an empty tankard and the
6ast-out rinds of a carousal; and as III
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 and uncoiI VIII
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 thas you
ever sacrifice politeness. A young man man
accosted Christian Quaker with: "Old
chap, how did you make all your money!"
The Quaker replied: "By dealing in on
article that thou mayest deal in u thou
wilt-civility." Always be courteous,
but at the same time firm. Say no as II
you meant ii. Have it understood In
store, and shop, and street, that you Will
not stand in the cOmpaniOnsh1p OF the
skeptic, the idle, the pleasure seeker.
Rather than enter the cOmpanionshlp OF
such, accept the invitation 10 better
feast The promises of God are the
fruits. The harps Of Heaven are the mu-
sic. Clusters from the vineyards OF Goa
have been pressed into the tankards'
The sons and daughters of the Lord AL
mighty are the guests. While standing
at the banquet to fill the cups and divide
the clusters and command the harps ana
welcome the guests, is daughter OF God
on whose brow are the blossoms OF para.
disc, and in whose cheek is the hush OF
celestial summer. Her name is ReIlSlon'
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 / saw young man at
the street-corner evidently doubling as
to which direction he had better take, hH
hat lifted high enough so you could seS
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 a bad angel contending for the
mastery of his spirit, and there was
good angel and bad angel struggling
with that young mans soul at the corner
of the street ''Come with me-" said the
good angel; II will take you home; |
will spread my wing over your pillow; L
will lovingly escort you all through life
artI I
bless every cup you drink out of, every
couch you rest on, every doorway you en-
ter: | will consecrate your tears when
you weep, your sweat when you toll, and
at the last will hand over your grave to
the bright angel of a 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 q voice of unearthly SYM
phony. 1t was music like that viii ca
drops from a Lutte of Heaven when
seraph breathes on it.
''No, no." said the bad angel, "como
with me; have something better to
offer; the wines l pour are from chalices
of bewitching carousal: the dance L lead
is over floor tessellated with unrestrained
indulgences; there is no God to frown on
the temples of sin where 1 worship. The
skies are Italian. The paths 1 tread are
through meadows daisied and primrosed.
Come with me-"
The young man hesitated for q time
when hesitation was ruin, and the bad
angel smote the good angel until it de-
parted, spreading wing through the star
light upward and away, until door
flashed open in the sky and forever the
wings vanished. That was the turning
point in that young mans history;
for, the good angel fowE, he
hesitated no longer, but started on
pathway which is beautiful at
the opening, but blasted at the last. The
bad angel, leading the way, opened cato
after gate, and at each gate the road be-
came rougher and the sky more lurid, and
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 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 afr became
a cutting December blast, and the bright.
wings of the bad angel 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 t0
the bad angel: "What is that serpent?"
The answer was: ''That is the serpent
of stinging remorse." On the left side OF
the road there was lion, and the man
asked the bad angel: "What is that lion?"
and the answer was "That is the lion of
ail-devouring despair" A vulture few
through the sky, and the man asked this
bad angel: "What is that vulture?" and
the ans wer was: "That is the yulture
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
to the bad angel: 'What is it that twists
me in this awful convolution?" AMI the
answer was: ''That is the worm that
never diesw 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 uight; l
trusted it all, and why have you thus de-
ceIved me" Then the last deception
fell off the charmer, and it said: "I
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 my triumph;
now you are here. Ha! hal You are
here. Come, now, let us fill these two
chalices of fire and drink together to
darkness and woe and death. Hail
Haili" Ohi young man, will the good
angel sent forth by Christ or the bad