Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1889-06-12

one fly but involuntarily throw up m
hands to catch it; and so, far from layip
an injunction upon bal-playing, or an
!, other Innocent sport, claim them all as be
longing of right to those of us who toll i
the grand industries of Church and State
/ But the life business of pleasure seekin
always makes in the end criminal or
sot. GEORGE Brummell was smiled upon b.
all England, and his life was given to pleas
ure. He danced with peeresses, and swun,
a round Of nirth, and wealth, and applause
until exhausted of purse, and worn out o
body, and bankrupt of reputation, and ruin
ed of soul, he begged biscuit from gro
Ger, and declared that he thought dogs
life was better than mans.
Such men will crowd around your desl
or counter or work. bench Or seek to dscey
you off. They will want you to break ou
with them to Couey Island or to Contra
Park. They will tell you Of some people
you must see: of some excursion that yor
must takej of some Sabbath day that yor
ought to dishonor. They will tell you o
exquisite wines that you must take; of cost
IL operas that you must hear; of wonderful
dancers that you must see; but before you
accept their convoy or their championship
remember that while at the end of useful
life you may be able to look back to kind.
ness done,to honorable work accomplished;
to poverty helped, to good name earned,
to Christian influence exerted, to Saw
ours cause advanced-these pleasure seek
ers on their death bed have nothing better
to review than torn playbill,. a ticket for
| the races, an empty tankard and the cast
out rinds of carousal; and as in the deliri-
um of their awful death they clutch the
goblet and press it to their lips, the dregs
of the cup falling upon their tongue will
begin to hiss and uncoil with the adders of
an eternal poison,
Cast out these men from your company.
Do not be intimate with them. Always be
polite. There is no demand that you ever
sacrifice politeness. A young man accosted
Christian Quaker with: ''Old chap, how
did you make ali your money!" The
Quaker replied: "By dealing in au article
| that ;hou msyest deal in if thou wilt-civi-
| lity," Always be courteous, but at the
same time firm. Say no as if you meant il.
Have it understand in store, and shop and
street, that you will not stand in the COM
pauionship of the skeptis, the idler, the
pleasEre-seeke-.
Rather than enter the companionship of
such, accept the invitation to a better feast.
L
harps of heaven are the music. Clusters
from the vineyards of God have been press
ed into the taukards. The sons aud dangh-
ters of tbe Lord Almighty are thu guests.
While, standing at the banquet, to fill tie
cups and divide shs clusters aud command
the harps and weieame the guests, is q
daughter of God on whose brow are the
/ blossoms OF paradise, and in whose cheek is
the flash of celestial summer. Her name
is Religion.
Her ways are ways of pleasantncss,
And all her paths arc peace.
Decide this soon, Oh, young man, what
direction you will take. There comes such
a moment of final decision-why not this?
Oae night | saw young man at tna street
corner evidently doubling as to which di
rection be had better take. his bat lifted
itgh enough SO you cnuldsee he had an in
ceiigent forehead, aud be had a stout chest
and robust d veiopmeut. Splendid young
man. Cultured young man. Honored
young man. Why did he stop there while
SO many were going up and down? The
fact is, that every man has a good angel
aud bad angel coutending for the mastery
nf his spirit. and there was good angel
and bad angel struggling with that young
mans s1ul 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 protec
ton; will bless every cup you drink out
of, every couch you lest on, every doorway
you enter;I will cOnsecrate your tears when
you weep, your sweat when you toll, and
at the last will hand over your grave to
tbo hris Of Gbr;c
tion In answer to your fathers petition
and your mothers prayer, have been sent
of the Lord out of heaven to ba your guard
iau spirit. Come with me" said the good
angel, in voice of unsarthy symphony 1t
vas 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 l pour are from chalices of be-
witohing carousal; the dance / tad is over
floor tessellated with unrestrained indul-
gences; there is no God to frown on the
temples of sin where worship. The skies
are Italian. The paths l tread are through
meadows, daisied and primrosed. Come
with me-" The Young man hesitatcd at q
time when hesitation was ruin, and the bad
angel smote the good angel until it depart
ed, 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 DO IN, he
hesitated no longer, but started on a path
way which is beautiful 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 gats Slammed shut it came to with a
jar that indicated that it would never open.
Passed each portal, there was grinding of
locks and showing of bolts; and the seen
cry on either side the road changed from
gardens to deserts, and the June air became
cutting December blast, and the bright
wings of the bad angel turned to sack cloth,
and the eyes of light became hollox with
hopeless grief, and the fountains, that at
the start had tossed with wine, poured
forth buhbling tears and foaming blood, and
on the right side the road there was SER
pent, and the man said to the bad angel:
''What is that serpent2' aud the answer
was: "That is the serpent of stinging re
morse" On the left side the road there
was lion, aud the man asked the bad an.
gel: ''What is that lion?" and the auswar
was, "That is the lion of all devouring de-
spair. A VultuIe flew through The SKY, and
the man asked the bad angel: "What is
that vnture?" and the answer was; "That
is the vulture waiting for the carcasses OF
the slaiu." And then the man began to try
to pull off of him the folds of something
that had wound him raund aud round, aud
be said to the bad angel: "What is il that
twists me in this awful convoiutiop?" and
the answer was: "That is the worm that
never dies!' Aud then the man said to the
bad angel: "What does all this mean2 l
trusted in what you said at the corner o
the street that night; trusted it all, ant
Why have you thus deceived me?' Then
the last deception fell off the charmer, ant
it said: II was sent forth from the pit t.
destroy your soul; l watched my chanc,
for many long year; when you heistatet
that night on the street, | gained N,
triumph; now you are here. Ha! hal You
are here Come, now, let US fill these tw'
chalices Of fire, and drink together to dark
ness and woe and death. Hail! Hailr
Oh! young man, will the good angel sen