The Pickens sentinel. [volume] (Pickens, S.C.) 1871-1903, 1890-12-25


ing flute out Of his prison stool. aud
CanoVa, tho sculptor, must toll on
through orphanage modelling Il lion in
butter before he could cut his statues
in marble. And the great Stephenson
must watch cows in the field for q few
pennies and then become Il stokrr, auI
afterward mend clocks before he put,
the locomotive on its track and calls
forth plauditS from parliamrn,s and
medals from kings Abel stevens Is
picked up neglected child Of the
street, and rises through his conSecra-
TED genius to be one Of the most illus
trlous clergymen aud historians OF the
century. And Bishop James Of the
same church in boyh0ol worked his
passage from Ireland to America, and
up to usefulness whore, in the bishop
rlc, he was second to no one who ever
adorned it.
While in banishmcnt Nenophor
wrote his "Anabasis" and Thucy;Iihcs
his "llistory Of tho Peloponnesian
war, and Victor Hugo must he exiled
for many years to the island or Gurr,l-
sey before he can come to that height
IN the affections Of his countrymnn
that crowds Champs Elysees and the
adjoining boulcvards with one million
mourners as his hearse rolls down to
the church OF the Madeleine. On, it is
a tough old world, and it will keep you
back and keep you down and keep YOU
under as long rs it cam Hail sons and
daughters Of the fire.
Stand, as the anvil when the stroke Of stal
wart men falls fierce and fast;
Storms but more deeply root tho oak whose
brawny arms embrace the blast;
Stand like an anvil; noise and heat arc born
Of earth and die with time;
| The soul, like God, It's source and seat is
solemn, still, serene, sublime.
Thirty years from now the foremos,
men in al! occupations and professions
Will he those who are this hour in aw-
full struggle OF early life many of them
without five dollars to their name. So
In spiritual life it takes a course of
bereavements, prosecutions, Sicknesses
and losses to develop stalwart Christian
character. l got a letter a few days
ago saying Il have hardly seen well
day since l was born, aud | could not
write my own name until | was 50
years of age, and am very poor; but
am, by the grace Of God, the happiest
man in Chicago"
| The Bible speaks Of the SHOWS of
Lebanon, and at this season OF the year
the SHOWS there must he tremendous
! The deepest snow ever seen in America
would be insignificant compared with
the mlldest winter OF SHOWS on those
Lebanon mountains. The cedars catch
| that skyfull OF crystals on their brow
and on their long arms. Piled up in
| great heaps are those SHOWS, enough 20
crush other trees to the ground, split
ting the branches from the trunk lcav-
ing them rent and torn, never to rise.
| But what do the ccdarS care for these
SHOWS on Lebanon? They look uD to the
winter skies and say "Snow on,
Empty the white heavens upon us, and
when this storm is passed let other
professions Of tempest try to bury uS
in their fury. We have for hva hun
dred winters been accustomed to this.
and for the next five hundred winters
we will cheerfullytake all you have O
send, for that is the way we develop
our strength, and that is the way we
serve God and teach all ages how to en-
durC and conquer" So ] say: Good
cheer to all people who are showed
under Put your faith in God and YOU
will come out gloriously. Others may
he stunted growths. or weak jumpers
on the lower levels Of spirituality, but
you are going to be Lebanon cctlar>.
At last iC will be said Of such as Won
"Thcse are they who come out of great
tribulatiOn and had their robes washed
and made white in the blood or the
lamb
TIE GREAT MANS FALL.
But while crossing over these noun
tains Of Lebanon | brthink myself of
what an exciting scene it must be when
one OF the cedars does fail. IT, does not
go down like other trees with II slight
crack!e that hardly makes the woods
man look up, or hawk nuttcr from a
neighboring bough. When cedar
falls 1t is the great event in the calrn-
dar of the mountains. The axmen fly
The wild beasts slink to their dcns.
The partridgeS SwoOp to the valley for
escape. The neighboring trees go down
under the awfnl weight OF the descend
ing monarch. The rocks are moved
out Of their places, and the earth trcm-
blcs as from miles around all ravinps
send back their sympathetic cchors
Crash crash crash ! So when thn
great cedars or worldly or Christian in
lluence fall 1t Is something terrific.
Within the past few years how many
mighty and overtOpping men have
gone down! There seems now to be
an epidemic Of moral disaster The
moral world, thD religious world, th"
political world, the commercial w0rlh,
are quakiug with the fail of Lehanon
ccdars. It is awful. We are compelled
to cry out with Iechariah, tho pro-
phet, "iIowl. Hrtrces, for tie cedar is
fallen y Some of the smaller trecs are
glad OF 1t.
When some great dealer in stock goes
down the small dealers clap their hands
and say, Good for hlm |" When a
great political leader goes down thr
small politicians clap their hands and
say, "Just as | expected !" When u
great minister Of religion falls many
little ministers laugh uD their sleeves
and think themselves somehow adj
vantaged. All, beloved brethren, no
one makes anything out Of moral ship
wreck. Not willow by the rivers OF
Damascus, bet Il sycamore on the
plains or jericho, not an olive tree in
All Palestine is helped by the f,il Of a
Lebanon cedar. Better weep and pray
and tremhle and listen TO Paul's advirr
to the Galatians when he says, "In.,-
siderlng thySclf lest thou also Lr ;rnln-
ted.' No man IS sAfc NM;ll he ~ aii.lH