Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1889-09-25

WOouS IrOm Wllon Cn6 6G0TDdl SnaQOW Il
never lifted, on the shore of the sea owe
whose iron coast tosses the tangled foam
sprinkling the cracked cliffs with baptism
OF whirlwind and tempest, is the best plac'
to study God; bnt in the rushing, swarm
ing, raying street is the bsst place to study
man. Going down to your place of bust
ness and coming home again. I charge you
look about-see these signs of poverty, O.
wretohedness, of hunger, of sin, of bereave
ment-and as you 60 through the streets
and come back through the streets gather
up in the arms of your prayer all the sor
row, all the losses, all the suffering, all the
bereavements of those whom you pass, and
present them in prayer before an all-sym.
pathetic God. Then in the great day oi
eternity there will be thousands Of persons
with whom you in this world never exchang-
ed one word who will rise up and call you
blessed; and there will be q. thousand fin
gers pointed at you in heaven, saying:
"That Is the man, that is the woman, who
helped me when I was hungry, and sick,
and wandering, and lost, and heart broken.
That is the man, that is the woman," and
the blessing will come down upon you as
Christ shall say: 81 was hungry and ye fed
me, I was naked and ye clothed me, l was
sick and in prison and ye visited me; mas.
much as ye did it to these poor waits of the
streets, ye did it to me-"
Again, the street impresses me with the
fact that all classes and conditions of So
ciety must commingle. We sometimes
culture wicked exclusiveness. Intellect
despises ignorance. Refinement will have
nothing to do with boorishness: Gloves
hate the SUM- burned hand, and the high
forehead despises the fiat head; and the
trim hedgerow will have nothing to do with
the wild opswood, and Athens hates Naz-
areth. This ought not to be so. The
astronomer must come down from his starry
revelry and help us in our navigation. The
surgeon must come away from his study of
the human organism and set our broken
bones. The chemist must come away from
his laboratory, where he has been studying
analysis and synthesis, and help us to un
derstand the nature of the soil. l bless
God that all classes of people are compelled
to meet on the street. The glitteripg coach
wheel clashes against the scavenger's cart.
Fine robes run against the peddler's pack.
Robust health meets wan sickness. Hon.
esty confronts fraud. Every class of peo-
pie meets every other class. Independence
and modesty, pride and humility, purity
and beastliness, frankness and hypocrisy,
meeting on the block, in the same street,
in the same city. Oh, that is what Solo
mon meant when he said: 'sThe rich and
the poor meet together; the Lord is the
Maker of them all'' l like this democrat
ic principle of the Gospel of Jesus Christ
which recognizes the fact that we stand be-
tfore God on one and the same platform.
Do not take on any airs, whatever position
you have gained in society, you are nothing
bu5 man, born of the same parent, regen-
Grated by the same Spirit, ceansed by the
same blood, to lie down in the same dust
to get up in the same resurrection. 1t is
time that We ali acknowledged not only the
Fatherhood of God, but the brotherhood of
man.
Again, the street impresses me with the
fact that it is very hard thing for man
to keep his heart right and to get to heav.
en-. Infinite temptations spring upon us
from these places of public concourse.
Amid so much affluence how much tem pta-
tion to covetousness, and to be discomfort.
cd with our humble lot. Amid so many
opportunities for overreaching, what tempt
alton to extortion. Amid SO much display,
what temptation to vanity. Amid SO many
saloons of strong drink, what allurement TO
diss patton. In the maelstroms of the
street, how many make quick and eternal
shipwreck. If a man-of-war comes back
from battle, and is towed into the navy
yard, we go down to look at the splintered
spars and count the bullet holes, and look
| with patriotic admiration on the flag that
foated in victory from the mast head. But
that man is more of curiosity who has
gone through thirty years of the sharp
shooting of business life, and yet sails on,
victor over the temptations of the street.
Oh! how many have gone down under the
pressure, leaving not so much as the patch
of canvas to tell where they perished. They
never had any peace. Their dishonesties
kept tolling in their ears. If had an AK,
and could split open the beams of that fine
house, perhaps I would find in the very
heart of it skeleton. In his very best
wine there is a smack of the poor man s
sweat. Oh! is it strange that when man
has devoured widows houses, he is distarb
ed with indigestion? All the forces of na-
ture are against him. The floods are ready
to drown him, and the earthquake to swal.
low him, and the fires to consume him, and
the lightnings to smite him. But the CHI
dren of God are on every street, and in the
day when the crowns of heaven are distri-
buted, some of the brightest will be given
to those n.en who we're faithful to God and
faithful to the souls of others amid the
marts of business, proving themselves the
heroes of the street. Mighty were their
|
and mighty shall be their triumph.
Again, the street impresses me with the
fact that life is full of pretensions and sham.
What subterfuge. What double dealing,
what twofacednessl Do all the people who
wish you good mor4iug really hope for you
happy day? Do all the people who shake
hands love each other? Are all those anx-
ious about your health who inquire con-
cerniDg it? Do all want to see you who
ask you to call? Does all the world know
| half as much as it pretends to know2 Is
| there not many a wretched stock of goods
with brilliant show window? Passing up
and down these streets to your business
| and your work, are you not impressed with
the fact that much of society is hollow, and
that there are subterfuges and pretensions?
Oh! how many there are who swagger aud
strut, and how few people who are natural
and walk. While fops simper, and fools
chuokle, and simpletons giggle, how few
people are natural and laugh. The courte-
san and the libertine go down the street in
beautiful apparel, while within the heart
there are volcanoes of passion consuming
their life away. say these things not to
create in you incredulity and misanthropy,
nor do forget there are thousands of peo-
pie great deal better than they seem /; but
I do not think any man is prepared for the
conflict of this life until he knows this par
ticuar peril Ehud comes pretending to
pay his tax to King Eglon, and while he
stands in front of the King, stabs him
through with dagger until he haft went
in after the blade. Judas Iscariot kissed
Christ.
Again, the street impresses me with the
fact that it is a great field for Christian
charity. There are hunger and Suffering,
and want and wretchedness in the country;
but these evils chiefly congregate in our
great cities. On every street crime prowls,
and drunkenness staggers, and shame winks
and pauperism thrusts out it's hand asking
for aims. Here want is most squalid and
hunger is most lean. A Christian man,
going along a street in New York, saw
poor lad, and he stopped and said: "My
boy. do You know how to read and Mrite2l,