The Russellville Democrat., 1890-03-13
lief, and that is what is tho matter with

'A0h," you say, If you know what once was and how many times l have grievously strayed, you would under stand why do not como out brighter.
 Then think you would call yourself the chief of sinners. am glad you hit upon that term, for l have promise that fits into your caso as the cogs of one wheel between the cogs of another wheel, or as the key fts into tho laby- rinths of lock. A man who was once called Saul, but afterwards Paul. de- clared:
 This is faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation; that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom am chiefr Mark that--s'of whom am chief"
 Put down your overcoats and hats and l will take care of them wEile you kill Stephen"-so Sat-, said to the stoners of the first martyr-.al .a dn not care to exert myself much, but l will guard your surplus apparel while you do the murder"
 The New Testament account says: 'pThe witnesses laid down their clothes at young mans feet whose name was Saul" No wonder he said: sinners of whom I am the chief.- Christ is used to climbing. He climbed to the top of the temple. lie climbed to Inc top of Mount Olivet. He climbed to the top of the cliffs about Nazareth. He climbed to the top of Golgotha And to the top of the hills and mountains of your transgression He is ready to climb with pardon for every one of you. The groan of Calvary is mightier than the thunder of Sinai. Full receipt is of fered for all your indebtedness. If one throw stone at midnight into bush where the hedge-bird roosts, 1t imme- diately begins to sing; and into the midnight hedges of your despondency these words hurl, hoping to awaken you to anthem.
 Drop the tunes in the minor key and take the major. Do you think it pleases the Lord for you to be carrying around with you the debris and carcasses of old transgressions? You make me think of some ship that has had tempestuous time at sea, and now that it proposes another voyage, keeps on it's davits the damaged lifeboats, and the splinters of a shivered mast and the broken glass of smashed skylight. My advice is: Clear the decks, overheard with all the damaged rigging, brighten up the salted smokestacks, open new log-book, haul in the blanks, lay out new course, and set sail for Heaven. You have had the spiritual dumps long enough. You will please the Lord more by being happy than by being miserable. Have you not sometimes started out in the rain with your umbrella and you were busy and you did not notice that the rain had stopped, and though 1t had cleared of you still had your umbrella up, and when you disc overed what you were doing you felt silly enough? That is what some of you are doing in relig- ious things. You have got so used to sadness that though the rain has stopped you still have your umbrella up. Come out of the shadow. Ascend the stairs of your sepulcher. Step out into the broad light of monday. We come around you to help remove your grave clothes, and voice from the heavens, tremulous but omnipotent, commands:
 Loose him and let him go.
 I think that all the stars are inhab- ited, and by beings like the human race in feelings and sentime ents, and the diff ference is in lung respiration and heart beat and physical conformation; their physical conformation fit for the cli- mate of their world and our physical conformation fl t for the climate of our world. So we shall feel at home in any of the stellar neighborhoods, our physic- al limitation having ceased. One of our first realizations in getting out of this world, think, will be that in this world we were very much pent up, and had cramped apartments, and were kept on the limits The most even our small world .s water, and the water says to the human race: Don't come here or you will drown" A few thousand feet up the atmosphere is un- inhabitable, and the atmosphere says to the human race: Don't come up here or you can not breathe" A flew miles down tho earth is furnace of fire, and the fire says: Don't come here or you will burn" The caverns of the mountains are fuli of poisonous gases. and the gases say: Don't come here or you will be asphyxiat And crossing rail track, you must look out or you will be crushed. And, standing by steam boiler, you must look out or you will be blown up And pneumonias and pleurisies and consumptioEs and apo plexies go across this earth in flocks, in droves, in herds, and it is world of equinoxes and cyclones and graves. Yet we are under the delusion that it is the only place fit to stay in. We want to stick to the wet plank mid ocean while the great ship, the City of God" of the Celestial line, goes sailing past, and would gladly take us up in life-boat. My Christian friends, let me tear off your despondence and fright about disso- lution. My Lord commands me regard you, saying;
 oose him and let him go.
 Heaven is ninety-fiye per cent better than this world, one thousand per cent better, one million per cent. better, Take the gladdest, brightest most jubi- lant days you ever had on earth and compress them all into one hour, and that hour would 5o a requiem, fast day, gloom, horror, as compared with the poorest hour they have had in Heaven since its first tower was built or its first gates swung or its first song caroled.
 ''Oh," you say, ''that may be true, but am so afraid of crossing oyer from this world to the next, and fear the snap ping of the cord between soul and body"
 Loose him, and let him go.
 The only part of my recent journey that really dreaded, although Idid not say much about it beforehand. was the landing at Joppa. That is tho port of entrance for the Holy Land, and there are many rocks, and in rough weather people can not land at all. Tho boats taking the people from the steamer to the docks must run between reefs that looked to me to be about fifty feet apart and one misstroke of an oarsman or an unexpected wave has sometimes been fatal, and hundreds have perished along T.Q