Democratic messenger., 1889-04-13
in and drive the stake for their en-.


campmcnt.
A Loss THAT CANNOT NJ REPLACED.
a steamer fifteen hundred miles
from shore with broken rutltlcr and
lost compass. and hulk leaking fifty
gallons the hour. is better off than a
young man when you have robbed
him Of his Bible. Have you ever no
ticed how despicably V mean il is 10 take
away the worlds Bible without pro-
posing n substituted II is mcancr than
10 come To n sick man and steal his
medicine. mcancr than Ia come 10 n
cripple and steal his crutch, mcancr
than 10 come Ia a paupcr and steal his
crust. mc;lncr than To come 10 a poor
man and burn his house down. II is
the worst Of all larcenics To steal the
Bible. which has been the crutch and
medicine aud food and eternal home TO
50 nlanyl What generous and mag.
unanimous business intidclity has gone
into! This splitting up Of life boats
and taking away Of fire escapes and
extinguishimg OF light houses.
leone out and say To such people,
"What ARE you doing all this fori"
oh" they say. Just for fun" II is
such fun 10 scc Christians try To hold
on to their Bibles! Many of them
have lost loved ones. and have been
told that there is Il resurrection. and il
is such fun to tell them there will be
no rcsurrcctionl Many Of them have
believed that Christ came TO carry the
burdens and To heal the wounds Of the
world. and il is such fun 10 tell them
they will have To he their own Siviourl
Think Of the meanest thing you ever
heard of. then go down thousand
feet underneath il, and you will find
yourself ut the top Of n stairs n hun.
drcd miles long; go 10 the bottom of
the stairs. and you will find ladder
thousand miles long; then go 10 tho
foot Of the ladder and look off prcci.
pice half ms far rs from here to China.
and you will lind the headquarters Of
the mcanncss that would rob this
world of its only comfort in life, its
only peace in death and its only hope
for Immortality. Slaughter a young
mans faith in God. and there is not
much more left 10 slaughter
Now. what has become of the
slaughtered: Well. somcof them are
in their fathers or mothers house
broken down in health. waiting Ia die; /;
others are in the hospital; others are
in Greenwood. or. rather. their bodies
are. for their souls have gone on To
rctribution. Not much prospcc, for n
young man who started life with good
health. and good education. aud
Christian example set him. and oppor-
tunity Of usefulness. who gathered all
his treasures and put them in one box,
and then dropped il into the sea.
Now. how is this wholesale slaugh.
ter Ia be- stopped: There is not II per.
son in the mouse but is Interested in
that question. Young man. arm your.
self. The object of my sermon is Ia
put Il weapon in each of Your hands
for your own defense. Wait not for
Young Mems Christian associations To
protect you. or churches io protect
you. Appealing To God for help. take
care Of yourself
First, have room somewhere that
you can call your own. Whether il
bc the buck parlor Of II fashionable
boarding house. or room in the fourth
story Of II cheap lodging, care not.
Only have that one room Your for
trrss. LIT not the diS>ipaior or IN.
clean step over the threshold Ii they
come up the long flight of stairs and
knock AT the door. meet them face To
face and kindly yet firmly refuse them
admittancc. Have few family por.
traits on the wall. il you brought them
with you from your country home.
Have Biblcon the stand. Ii YOU can
afford il and you can play on one,
have an instrument of music-liarp or
ilutc. or cornci, or mclodcon. 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 Gibrll-
tar. your Scbasiopol. Your Mount
Zion. Let no bad book or newspaper
come into that room. amy more than
you would allow u cobra To- coil on
Your table.
Take care of yourself. Nobody else
will take care Of you. Your help will
not come up two ar three ar four
flights Of stairs; your help will come
through the ruof. down from heaven.
from tlIa, God whom the six thousand
years Of tine worlds history never bc.
traycd n young man who tried la be
good and n Christian. Let me say in
regard Ia youradvcrsc worldly circum.
stances, in passing. that you are on n
level now with those who are finally
to succeed. Mark my words. Young
man. and think Of il thirty years from
now. You will find that those who
thirty years from now are the million
aires Of this country, who ARE the ora
tors Of the country. who are the poets
Of the country, who are the strong
merchants Of the country. who are the
great philanthropisis Of the country
mighticst in church and statc-arc this
morning on II level with you, not an
inch above, and you in strsitcncd cir
cunStanccs now.
EVERY Man HAS A NATURAL EQUIPMENT.
llcrschcl earned his living by play
ing "A violin nj parties. and in the in
tciStccs of the play he would 20 out
and look mp nj the midnight heavens,
the fields uf his immortal conqucstS
George Stephenson rose from being the
foreman in "a colliery Ia bc the most
renowned Of the worlds engineers. No
outfit. no capital To start with! young
man. go down Ia the Mercantile Ii.
brary and get some books aud read Of
what wonderful mechanism God gave
you in your hand. in your foot, in
your eye. in your ear, and then ask
some doctor Ia take YOU into the dis.
srcling room aud illustrate Ia you
what YOU have read about. and never
again commit the blaSphcmy of say.
ing you have nu capital 10 start with.
Equipped, Why. the poorest Young
man in this house is equipped ,ls only
the tod of the whole universe could
afford 10 equip him. Then his body
"a very poor affair compared with his
wonderful soul--oh. that is what
makes mc solicitouS. am not SO
much anxious about you. young man.
because you have 81 little la do with.
aS | am anxious about you because
you havo much To risk and lose or
gain.
There is no class Of persons that so
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