The national leader., 1889-04-27

pass off as your own all those hackneyed
arguments against Christianity, which
are as old as Tom Paine, as'old as Vol
taire, as old as sin. Now you have
captured his Bible, and you have
taken his strongest fortress; the way is
comparatively clear, and all the gates
of his soul are set open in invitation to
the sins of earth and the sorrows of
death, that they may come in and drive
the stake for their encampment.
A steamer fifteen hundred miles
from shore with broken rudder and lost
compass. and hull leaking fifty gallons
an hour, Is better off than young man
when you have robbed him of his
Bible. Have you ever noticed how
despicably mean it is to take away the
worlds Bible without proposing sub
stitute? 1t is meaner than to come to
sick man and steal his medicine;
meaner than to come to cripple and
steal his crutch; meaner than to
come to pauper and steal his
crust; meaner than to come to a
poor man and burn his house. It is
THE WORST OF ALL LARCENIES
to steal the Bible, which has been the
crutch and medicine and food and
eternal home to so manyl What gen.
erous and magnanimous business in.
fidelity has gone lntol This splitting
up Of life-boats and taking away Of
fire escapes and extinguishing of light
housesl I come out and say to such
people. "What are you doing all this
forp"''Oh, ,"they say, 'Just forfun 1t
iu cuOh FI1n fn coo 0b ri or frU fn hold
on to their Biblesl Many of them have
lost loved ones, and have been told
that there is a resurrection, and it is
such fun to tell them there will be no
resurrection Many of them have be-
lieved that Christ came to carry
the burdens and to heal the
wounds Of the world, and it is
such fun to tell them they will
have to be their own saviourl Think
Of the meanest thing you ever heard Of;
then 60 down a thousand feet under
ueath it, and you Will find yourself at
the top of a stairs a hundred miles
long; go to the bottom of the stairs,
and you will find ladder a thousand
miles; then go to the foot of the
ladder and look off preclpice half as
will find the headquarters or the mean.
ness that would rob this world Of its
only comfort in life, its only peace In
death, and its only hope for Immortality.
Slaughter young mans faith in God,
and there is
NOT MUCH LEFT TO SLAUGHTER.
Now, Uhat has become Of the sIaugh-
tered? Well, some of them are in their
fathers or mothers house broken down
In health, waiting to die; others are in
the hospital; others are in Greenwood.
or, rather, their bodies are, for their
souls have gone on to retrlbution. Not
much prospect for young man who
started life with good health, and good
education, and a Christian example
set him, opportunity of usefulness, who
gathered all his treasures and put them
In one box, dropped it into the sea-
Now, how is this wholesale slaughter
to be stopped? There is not a person
in the house but is interested in that
question. Young man, arm yourself!
The object OF my sermon is to put a
weapon in each of your hands for your
own defense. Wait not for Young
Mems Christian Associations to protect
you, or churches to protect you. APP
peal to God for help.
TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF.
First, have a room somewhere that
you can call your own. Whether 1t be
the back parlor of fashionable board
ing house, or room In the fourth story
of a cheap lodging, l care not. Only
have that one room your fortress. Let not
the dissipator or unclean step over the
threshold. If they come up the long
flight of steps and knock at the door,
meet them face to face and Kindly yet
firmly refuse them admittance. Have
few family portraits on the wall,
if you brought them with you from
your country home. Have a Bible
on the stand. If you can AFFORD it,
and you can play on one, have an in
strument of music-harp or flute, or
cornet, or melodeon, or violin, or
piano. Every morning before you
leave that room pray. Every night
after you come home in that room,
pray. Make that room your Gibraltar,
YOUR Sebastopol, your Mount Zion. Let
no bad book or newspaper come into
that room, any more than you would
allow a cobra to coil on your table.
Take care of yourself. Nobody else
will take care of you. Your help will
not come up two or three or four flights
of stairs; your help will come, through
the roof down from heaven, from that
God who in the six thousand years of
the worlds history never betrayed
young man who tried to be good and
Christian. Let me say, in regard to
your adverse worldly circumstances, in
passing. that you are on a leve, now
with those who are
FINALLY TO SUCCEED.