The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1889-06-12

store and shop and street that you will
not stand In the companionship of the
skeptic, the idler, the pleasure-seeker.
Rather than enter the companionship of
such accept the invitation to better feast.
The promises of God are the fruits The
harps of heaven are the music. Clusters
from the vineyards OF God have been
pressed into the tankards. The sons and
daughters of the Lord Almighty are the
guests. While standing at the banquet to
fill the cups and divide the clusters and
command the harps and welcome the
guests is a daughter of God on whose
brow are the blossoms of paradise and in
whose cheek is the flush of celestial sum-
mer. Her name is Religion.
"Her ways are ways OF peasantness
And all her paths peace"
Decide this soon, oh, young man, what
direction you will take. There comes such
q moment offinal decision-why not this
One night | saw young man at the street
corner evidently doubling as to which di-
rection he had better take, his hat lifted
high enough so you could see he had an
intellectual forehead, and he had stout
chest and robust development. Splen-
did Young mani Cultured young man
Honored young mani Why did he stop
there while so many were going up and
down? The fact is that every man has a
good angel and a bad angel contending for
the mastery of his spirit, and there was a
good angel and bad angel struggling
with that young mans soul at the corner
of the street. "Come with me" said the
good angel; 81 will take you home; will
spread my wing over your pillow; | will
lovingly escort you all through life under
supernatural protection; will bless every
1rrr. H., l. e
rest on, every doorway you enter; | will
consecrate your tears when you weep,
your sweat when you toll, and at the last
l will hand over your grave to the bright
angel of Christian resurrection. In an
swer 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 an
gel in a voice of unearthly symphony. 1t
was music like that which drops from a
Lutte OF heaven when a seraph breathes on
it. 'No, no" said the bad angel, "come
with me; l have something better to
offer; the wines pour are from chalices
OF bewitching carousal; the dance ] lead
is over floor tessellated with unrestrained
indulgences; there is no God to frown on
the temples of sin where I worship. The
skies are Italian. The paths l tread are
rosed. Come with me-" The young man
hesitated at a time when hesitation was
ruin, and the bad angel smote the good
angel until it departed, spreading wings
through the starlight 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 flown, he hesitated no longer,
but started on a pathway which is beauti-
full at the opening but blasted at the last.
The bad angel, leading the way, opened
gate after gate, and at each gate the road
became 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
gardens to deserts, and the June air be-
came a cutting December blast, and the
bright wings of the bad angel turned TO
sackcloth, and the eyes OF light became
hollow with hopeless grief, and the fount-
aims, 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 to
the bad angel: "What is that serpent?"
and the answer was "That is the SER
pent of singing remorse." On the left
side the road there was a lion, and the
man asked the bad angel: "What is that
lion 2" and the answer was: THAT is the
lion of all devouring despair" A vulture
flew through the sky, and the man asked
the bad angel: "What is that vulture?"
and the answer was "That is the vuture
waiting for the carcasses of the slain." And
then the man began TO try TO pull off of
him the folds of something that bad wound
him round and round, and he said to the
bad angel: "What is it that twists me in
this awful convolution ?" and the answer
was: "That is the worm that never dies"
And then the man said TO the bad angel:
"What does all this mean? trusted in
what you said at the corner of the street
last night; trusted all, and why have you
thus deceived me?" Then the last de-
cepton fell out of the charmer, and il said
81 was sent forth from the pit 10 DESTROY
your soul; | watched my chance for many
a long year when you hesitated that night
on the street gained my triumph; now
you are here. IIa! ha You are here.
Come, now, let us fill these two chalices
OF fire. and drink together to darkness and
woe and death Hail. Hailw Oh young
man, with the good angel sent forth by
Christ or the bad angel sent forth by sin
get the victory over your soul Their
wings are interlocked this moment above
you, contending for your destiny, as above
the Apprentices eagle and condor fight mid
sky. This hour may decide your destiny.
God help you. To hesitate is TO die.