Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1889-07-31

tide carrying you with great force; but sup
pose you turn the boat up stream, is it Sc
easy then to row it? As long as We yielt
to the evil iuclinations in our hearts, ant
our bad habits, We are sailing down stream
out the moment We try to turn. we put oul
boat in the rapids just above Niagara, ant
try to row up stream. Take a man giver
to the habit of using tobacco, as most o.
you do, and let him resolve to stop, and be
finds it very difficult. Twenty seven years
ago quit that habit, and l would as soou
dare to put my right hand in the fire as once
to indulge in it. Why? Because it was such
a terrific struggle to get over it. Now, lei
a man be advised by his physician to give
up the use of tobacco. He goes around not
knowing what to do with himself. He can.
not add up line Of figures. He cannot
} sleep nights. 1t seems as if the world had
turned upside down. He feels his business
is going to ruin. Where he was kind and
obliglng he is seolding and fretful. The
composure that characterized him has given
way to fretful restlessness, and he has be-
come complete fdget. What power is il
that has rolled wave of woe over the earth
and shaken portent in the heavens? He
has tried to stop smoking or chewing. AT,
ter while he says, | am going to do as I
please. The doctor doesn't understand nv
And he returns. Everything assumes its
usual composure. His business seems to
brighten. The would becomes an attrac-
-tive place to live in. His children, seeing
the difference, hail the return of their faith
er's genial disposition. What wave of COL
or bas dashed blue into the sky, and green
ness into the mountain foliage, and the
glow Of sapphire into the sunset? What
enchantment has lifted world of beauty
and joy on hts soul? He has gone back to
tobacco!
Oh, the fact is, as we all know in our
own experience, that habit is taskmaster;
as long as we obey it, it does not chastise
US; but let us resist, and we find we are to
be lashed with scorpion whips and bound
with ship cable, and thrown into the track
of bone breaking Juggernauts During the
war of 1912 there was ship set on fire just
above Niagara Falls, and then, cut loose
from its moorings, it came down through
the night and tossed over the falls. 1t was
said to have been scene brilliant beyond
all description. Well, there are thousands
of men on fire of evil habit, coming down
through the rapids and through the awful
might of temptation toward the eternal
plunge. Oh! how hard it is to arrest them.
God only can arrest them.
Suppose man after five or ten, or twen-
ty years Of evil doing resolves to do right.
Why, all the forces Of darkness are allied
against him. He cannot sleep nights. He
gets down on his knees in the midnight and
cries, "God help mep' He bites his lip
He grinds his teeth. He clenches his fist
in his determination to keep his purpose
He dare not look at the bottles in the win
dow of wine store. 1t was one long, Bit
ter, exhaustive, hand-to-hand fight, with
inf1amed, tsntalizing and merciless habit
When he thinks he is entirely free, the old
inclinations pounce upon him like a pack
of hounds with their muzzles tearing away
at the fanks of one poor reindeer. In Paris
there is a sculptured representation of Bac
chus, the god of revelry. He is riding on a
panther at full leap. Oh, how suggestive!
Let every one who is speeding on bad ways
understand he is not riding docile and
well broken steed, but he is riding a mon
ster, wild and bloodthirsty, going at a
death leap.
How many there are who resolve on a
better life and say, "When shall awaken
But, seized on by their old habits, cry, 81
will try it once more; / will seek it yet
again!" Years ago there were some Prince
ton students who were skating, and the ice
was very thin, and some one warned the
company back from the ir-hole, aad final.
ly warned them entirely to leave the place.
But one young man with bravado, after all
the rest had stopped, cried out: "Oue
round moreP' He swept around and went
down, and was brought out corpse. My
friends there are thousands and tens of
thousands of men losing their souls in that
way. It is the one ronud more.
l have also to say that if man wants
to return from evil practices society repul-
ha :.
"Now will shake eff my old associates,
aud 1 will find Christian companionship."
And he appears at the church door some
Sabbath day, and the usher greets him with
look, as much as to say: "Why, you
here? You are the last man I ever expected
to see at church! Come, take this seat
right down by the door," Instead of say
ing: "Good morning! I am glad you are
here. Come, will give you first.rate
seat, right up by the pulpit" Well, the
prodigal, not yet discouraged, enters the
prayer meeting and some Christian man,
with moro zeal than common sense, says:
I "Glad to see you. The dying thief was
saved, and I suppose there is mercy for
you!'' The young man, disguised, chilled,
throws himself back on his dignity, resolved
he never will enter the house of God again.
Perhaps not quite fully discouraged about
reformation, he sides up by some highly
respectable man he used to know going
down the street, and Immediately the re-
spectacle man has an errand down some
other street. Well, the prodgal, wishing
to return, takes some member of Chris.
tian association by the hand, or tries to-
The Christian young man looks at him,
looks at the faded apparel and the marks
of dissipation, and instead of giving him a
warm grip of the hand offers him the tip
end of the long fingers of the left hand,
which is equal to striking a man in the
! face.
Oh, how few Christian people understand
how much force and Gospel there is in a
good, honest handshaking! Sometimes,
when you have felt the need of encourage
ment, and some Christian man has taken
you heartily by the hand, have you not felt
that thrilling through every fibre of your
body, mind and soul, an encouragement
that was just what you needed? You do
not know anything at all about this unless
you know when a man tries to return from
evil courses of conduct, he runs against re
pulsions innumerable. We say of some
man, ne lives a block or two from the
church, or half mile from the church. ear
There are people in our crowded cities who
live thousand miles from the church. -
Vast deserts of indifference between them
and the house of God. The fact is, we
must keep our responsibility, though thou
sands and tens of thousands perish. Christ
sat with publcans and sinners. But if
there comes to the house of God man
with marks of dissipation upon him, peo-
pie throw up their hands in horror, as
much as to say, "Isu't it shocking?" How
these dainty, fastidious Christians in all
our churches are going to get into heaven
I don't know, unless they have an especial
train of cars, cushioned and upholstered,
each one car to himself! They cannot
90 with the great heard Of publicans and
sinners. Oh, We, who curl your lip of scorn
at the fallen, tell you plainly, if you had
been surrounded by the same influences,
instead of sitting to-day amid the cultured
and the refined and the Christian, you
would have been crouching wretch in
stable or ditch, covered with filth and