Democratic messenger., 1889-06-01

nhDlts anu crimes. W nat OI tnat, my
brothers If failed through recklcssncss
and wicked imyrudence for $4,000, Is
the matter allcviatcd at all by the fact
that somebody else has failed for 100000,
and somebody else for $sOO.OOOg h!no.
II have the neuralgia, shall / refuse
medical attendance because my neighbor
has virulcnt typhoid fever! The fact
that his disease is worse than mine-d0cs
that cure miney III, through my fool
hardness, leap of into ruin, does It break
the fall to know that others leap off a
higher cliff into deeper darkness? When
the Hudson river nil train went through
the bridge at Spuytcn Duyvil. did II alle-
viatc the matter at all that instead of two
or three people being hurt there were IS
mangled and crushed? Because Others
are dcpraved, is that any excuse for my
deprayity. Am | better than they !!
Perhaps they had worse temptations than
] have had. Perhaps their surroundings
In life were more overpowcring. Per
haps, o man if you had been under the
same stress Of temptation, instead Of sit
ting here to-day, you would have been
looking through the bars Of a pcnitentia-
ry. Perhaps. D woman if you had been
under the same power of temptation, in
stead of sitting here to-day, you would be
tramping the street, the laughing stock
of men and the grief Of the angels of God,
dungconcd. body, mind and soul, in the
blackncss Of despair. All do not let us
sOlicc ourselves with the thought that
other people are worse than we. Perhaps
in the future, when our fortunes may
change. unless God prevents 1t, we may
be worse than they are. Many man
after 80 years, after 40 years, after 5Oyears,
after 90 years, has gone To pieces on the
sand bars. Oh instead of wasting our
time In hypcrcriticism about others, let
US ask ourselves the questions: Where
do we stand. What are our sins. What
are our deficits? What are our perils
What our hopes: Let each one say TO
himself: "Wherc will be . Shall range
in summcry fields, or grind in mills Of a
great night Where: Where.
Some winter morning you go out and
see snow bank in graceful drifls, ~
though by some heavenly compass it had
been curved: and as the sun glints i, the
lustrc is almost insuiicrable. and il seems
as il God had wrapped the earth in u
shroud with white plnits woven in
looms celestial. And you say Was
there ever anything so pure as the snow,
so beautiful rs the snow But you
brought pail of that snow and pu, il
upon the stove and melted IL and you
( found that there was a sediment at the
bottom, and every drop of that snow WA
ter was rlcd; and you found tha, the
snow bank had gathered up the impurities
Of the field and that after all IL WAS not
iii TO wash in. And so say II will he il
you try 10 gather up these contrasts and
comparisons with others, and with these
apologies attempt to wash out the sins Of
your heart and life. II will he an unsuo
ccssful abluiion. Such snow water will
never wash away II single stain Of an i'm
mortal soul.
FORCE az GOOD RESOLUTIONS.
But hear some one say: IL will try
something better than that. Il will try
the force of u good resolution. Tha, will
he more pungent, more caustic, more ex'
tirpatng, more cleansing The snow wa.
ter has failcd aud now will try the aka
II of gold, strong resolution" MY dear
brother. have You any idea that resolu.
tion about the future will liqui,la,c the
past? Suppose | owed you $5,0O0 and I
should come to you tomorrow and say :
.'Sir, ! will never run in debt 10 you
again; if should live 10 years, | will
never run in debt to you again :" will you
turn to me and say: III you will not run
in debt in the future, will forgive you
the 5000" viii you do iha,y No! Nor
will God. We have been running up
long score of Indebtedness with God. If
for the future we sohuld abstain from sin,
that would he no dciraymcnt Of past in.
debtcdncss. Though you should live
from this time forth pure rs an archangel
before the throne. iha, would not redeem
tie past God, in the Bible, distinctly
declares tha, he Twill rcqui'c that which
is past'-past opportunities, past ncglecis,
past wicked words, past impure imagina-
tons, pas, everything. The past is n
great cemetery, and every day is buried
IN Il. And here is long row Of 3G5
graves. They are the dead days OF isss.
Here Is long row of 3G5 more graves,
and they are the dead days Of 1887. And
here Is long row of 3G5 more graves,
and they ARE the dead days oi 1896. II is
vast cemetery OF the past. But God
will rouse them all up with resurrection
ary blast, and as the prisoner stands face
to face with juror and judge, so you and
will have TO come up and look upon
those departed days face 10 face, exulting
in their smile or covering in their ffown.
Murder will out" Is proverb that
stops too short. Every sin, however small
as well ms great, will out. In hard times
in England, years ago, ii is auihentically
stated that manufacturer was on the way
with bag Of money 10 pay of his hands.
A man iniuria,cd with hunger met him
on the road, and took rail with n nail In
II from railing fence and struck him
down, aud the nail entering the skull in.
siantly slew him. Thirty years after that
the murderer went back To that place lie
passed into the graveyard, where the sex
ton was digging grave, and while he
slood there the spade of the sexton turned
up skull. aud. 10 the murderer saw II
nail protruding from the back part of the
skull and. as the sexton turned the skull.
II seemed with hollow eyes Ia glare on
the murderer and he, first pctriicd with