Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1889-08-09

rectitude. desires to return. With wish for
something better, he said: "When shall
awake? When shall como cut Of this horrid
nightmare OF iniquityg' But, seized upon by
uneradicted habit, aud forced down hill by
his passions. he cries out: 81 viii seek it yet
again. viii try it once nlore.n
Our libraries are adorned with an elegant
literature addressed to young men, pointing
out to them oil the dangers and pelils of life
complete maps of the voyage showing all
the rocks, tho quicksands, the shoals. But
suppose man has already made shipTrecli;
suppose no is already of the track; suppose
he he's already gene astray. How is he to
get back? That is q field comparatively I'M
touched. propose to address myself to such.
There are those in this audience who, with
every passion of their agonized soul, arc
ready to hear such discussion. They com
pare themselves with what they were ten
years ago, and cry out from the bondage in
which they are incarcerated. Now, if there
be any here, come with an earnest
purpose, yet feeling they are beyond
the pale Of Christian sympathy, and that the
sermon can hardly be expected to address
them, then, at this moment. l give them my
right land, and call them brother Look
up. There is glorious and triumphant hope
for you yet. l sound the trumpet Of Gospel
deliverance. The church is ready to spread
banquet at your return, and the hierarchs
of heaven to fall into line OF hammered pro-
ceSsion at the news of your emancipation.
So far as God may holp mo, / propose to
show what are the obstacles Of your return,
and then how you arc to surmount those
obstacles. The first difficulty in the way of
your return is the force Of moral gravitation.
Just as there is natural law which brings
down to the earth anything you throw into the
air, so there is corresponding moral crawl
tation. In other words, 1t is easier to go
down than it is to go up; it is easier to do
wrong than it is to do right. Call to mind
the comrades of your boyhood days
which most affected you? Call to mind the
anecdotes that you have heard in the last
five or ten years-some Of them arc pure
and some of Thorn impure Which the
more easily sticks to your memory?
During tho years Of your life you have
formed certain courses OF conduct-zsome of
them good, some of thom bad. To which
style of habit did you the more easily
yield? All, my friends we have to take but
O moment Of self-inspoction to find out
that there is in ell our souls force of
moral gravitation! But that gravitation
may be resisted. Just as you may pick up
from the earth something and hold it in your
hand toward heaven, just so, by the power
of Gods grace, soul fallen may be lifted
toward peace, toward pardon, toward heaven.
Force of moral gravitation in every one Of
us, but power in Gods grace to overcome that
force Of moral gravitation.
The next thing in the way Of your return
Is the power of evil habit. | know there are
those who say it is very easy for them to give
up evil habits. do not believe them. Here
Is a man given to intoxication. He knows it
Is disgracing his family, destroying his prop
erty, running him, body, mind and soul.
If that man, being an Intelligent man,
and loving his family, could easily
give up that habit, would he
not do SO? The fact that he does not give
1t up proves that it is hard to give it up. 1t
is very easy thing to sail down stream, the
tide carrying you with great force; but sup
pose you turn the boat up stream, is it SO easy
then to row it2 As long as we yield to the
evil inclinations In our hearts, and our bad
habits, we are sailing down stream; but the
moment we try to turn, we put our boat in
the rapids just above Niagara, and try to
row up stream. Take a man given to the
habit of using tobacco, as most of you do,
and let him resolve to stop, and he finds it
very difficult. Twenty years ago quit
that habit, and would as soon dare to put
my right hand In the fire as once to indulge
In it. WhyH Because it was such
terrific struggle to get over it. Now,
let a man DO advised by his physi-
clan to give up the use Of tobacco.
He goes around not knowing what to do
with himself He cannot add up line Of
as If the world had turned upside down. He
feels his business going to ruin. Where he
was kind and obiging he is scolding and
fretful The composure that characterized
him has given way to fretful restlessness,
and he has become q complete fidget. What
power is it that has rolled wave of woe
over the earth and shaken pOrtent in the
heavens? Ho has tried to stop smoking or
chewing! After q while he says II am going
to do as please. The doctor doesn't under
stand my case. I'm going back to my old
habit" And he returns Everything assumes
its usual composuro. His business seems to
brighten, the world becomes an attractive
place to live in. His children, seeing the
difference, hail the return of their
fathers genial disposition. What wave
of color has dashed blue into the sky, and
greennoss into the mountain foliage, and the
glow Of sapphire into the sunset? What en-
Chantment has lifted q world Of beauty and
joy on his soul? He has gone back to to.
boccoi
Oh the feet is, as we ell know in our owl
experience, that habit is q taskmaster; q!
long as we obey it, it docs not chastise us
but let us resist, and we find we are to be
dashed with scorpion whips and bound with
ship cable, and thrown into the track Of
bone-breaking Juggornauts During the wal
of 1912 there was q ship set on fire just above
Niagara Falls and then, cut loose from its
JnOOTlDSS, III CiliIt0 Gil uOWn
and tossed over the falls. TWAS said to have
been a 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 night of temptation
toward the eternal plunge Oil how hard il
Is to arrest them. God only can arrest them
Suppose man after five, or ten, or twenty
years of evil doing, resolves to do right? Why
oil the forces OF darkness are allied agains
him. fIe cannot sleep nights. Ho gets dow
Oh his knees In tho midnight and cries, 5000
help mep He bites his lip. He grinds hi
teeth. lie clenches his fist In his determine
tion to keep his purpose He dare not lool
at the bottles in the window of wine store
1t was one long, bitter, exhaustive, hand tx
hand fight, with in1amed, tantalizing ant
mercileSs hsbit. When he thinks he is en-
tirely free the old inclinations pounce upoI
him like pack of hounds with their muzzle
tearing away at the TANKS of one poor rein
doer. In Paris thcre is sculptured repre-
sentation Of Bacchus, the god of reYelry. HI
10 riding on a panther at full leap. Oh, how
sllggestivei Let every one who Is speedin,
on bad ways understand he is not riding
docilc and well-brol1en steed, but he is ridinj
u monster, wild and bloodthirsty, going at
death leap
Tow many there are who resolve on q bet
ter 1ilL and say: "When shall / awaken
But, seizeI' on by their old habits, cry: 81
will try it pnco more; | will seek it yet
againp Years ago there wore somo Prince
ton students who were skating, and the ict
was very thin, and some one warned tn
company back from the air hole, and finally
warned them entirely to leave the place
But one young man with bravado after a
the rest lad stopped, cried out: "One roun
morep He swept around and went down
and was brought out corpse. My friends
there are thousands and tens Of thousands c
men losing their souls in that way. 1t is til
one round moro.
I have also to sny that If a man wants
return from evil practices, society repulse
him. Desiring to reform, he says: Nov
will shake of my old associates and | Wi
find Christian companionship." Aud nc al
racars of the church door como Sabbath DAY