The Pickens sentinel. [volume] (Pickens, S.C.) 1871-1903, 1890-12-25
Woodman, spare that tree!
Touch not Il single bOugh!

III yOutn III SlcltcTCu me.
And I'll protect it now.
Twas my fOrefathcr'S hand
That placed it near his cot;
There, woodman, let it stand,
Thy AK shall harm it not.
! When but an idle boy,
!: sought its grateful shade;
! In all their gushing joy
llere, too. my sisters play'd.
My mother kisS'd me here,
My father preSs'd my hand
Forgive this foolish tear,
But let that old oak stand
My hcartstrings round thee cling,
Close as thy bark, old friend!
Here shall the wild bird sing,
And still thy branches bend,
Old tree! the storm still brave!
And woodman. leave the spot;
While I've n hand to save,
| Thy AK shall harm 1t not.
AS VIC rode along on these the noun
tains OF Lebanon. VIC brthink how its
cellars spread their branches and
breathe 1hei" aroma and cast their
| shadows all through the Bible Solo
mon di3cOuraeu about them in his bo-
tanical works, \" hen he spoke Of trees
from the CrlItr that is in Lebanon
even unto the hysS0p that springeth
out OF The wall The Psalmist says,
"The righteous shall grow like a cedar
in LahanOn," and in one OF his magni-
iiCent doXolORies calls on the "edars to
praise the Lord. And Solomon says
The count"nancc Of Christ is excellent
us the cedars, and Isaiah declares, "The
day of th" Lord shall be upon all the
cedars Of Lebanon" And jeremiah
and Ezekiel and Amos and Xephaniah
and LeChariah weave it's foliage into
their SubImest uttcrances.
AS we ride over lebanon to-day there
is Il bowling wind sweeping past and
dash Of rain, all the better enabling
us to appreciate that desert ptiOn Of a
tempest which no doubt was suggested
by what David had seen with his own
eyes among these heights, for as SOL
dl"r he carried his wars clear I'D to
Damascus, and such poet as he,
warrant, spent many Il day on the Lee
banou. And perhaps while lie was
seated on this very rock against which
our carriagc jOltS, ne writes that won
dcrful description of thunder storm:
''Ihc voice of the Lord is powerful.
The voice Of the Lord is full Of maies-
tE. The voice Of the Lord breaketh
the crdars Of Lebanon. Yea, the Lord
hrcaieth the cedars Of Lebanon, He
mak"th them also to skip like calf,
Lebanon and SiriOn like young uni
corn. The voice Of the Lord divideth
the flames Of fire."
AS tie lion is the monarch Of tho
fields and Dchcm0th the monarch of
the waters, thH cedar is the monarch Of
The trees. And think one reason why
IL is 80 gloriiicd AL up and down the
ljlOlr IS because we need more of its
characteristics in our religious life.
We have too much Of tho willow, and
are easily ben, this way or that; too
much OF the aspen, and we trcmblc un-
der every zephyr Of assault; too much of
lhe Dramhle tree. and our sharp points
sting and wound, but not enough OF
lhe cedar, Wldc branched and heaven
aspiring and tempest graphing. But
the reason these cedars stand so well is
that they are deep rooted. They run
their anchors down into the caYerns of
the mountain and fasten to the very
foundatlous Of the earth, and twist
around and clinch themselves on the
other side of the deepest layer OF rock
they can reach And that is the differ
cncc between Christians who stand and
Christians whN fall. 1t is the differ-
cncc between IL superficial character
and one that has clutchcd its roots
deep down arOund md under the Rock
Of Ages.
THE ROCK ROOTED CHRISTIAN.
One Of the Lebanon ccdars was ex-
amincd 10y II scientist, and from its
concentric circles it was found to be
thlrty-l"c hundred years old and still
standing, and there is such a thing as
everlasting strength, and such Stanch-
ness OF Christian character that all
time and all eternity instead Of being
It's demolition shall be its opportunity.
Not such are those vacillating Chris
tiaIS who are 80 pious on Sunday that
they have no religion left for the week
day. AS the anaconda gorgcs itself
with lcod and then seems for long
while to Ii" thoroughly insensible, so
there are men who will on SUNDAY get
such a religious surlcit that the rest Of
tn" week they seem thoroughly dead to
all religious emotion. They weep in
church under charity sermon. but if
on Monday subject Of want presents
| itself at the door the bcggar's safety
Will depend entirely on quick limbs
and an un0bStructtd stairway. It.
takes all The grace they can get to keep
them from committing assault and
battery on those intrudars who come
with pale faces and stories of distress
and subscription papers. The reason
mat God pilntCd these cedars in the
bible Was to suggest to us that we
ought. III our religious character, to be
'rep iihe lhc ceuar, high like the cedar,
DTnad h'anched rs tho cedar. A trav-
eler measured the spread of the boughs
OF one of these trees and found il one
hnndicd and eleven feet from branch
up to branch tip, and have seen &C.
darS of Christian charities put out one
branch to the uu"rmost parts of Ame-
rica. AMI another branch to the utter
most parts Of Asia, and these wide
branChrd Christians will keep on null
tiplyirg until AL the earth Is oversha-
dUWrd with :IcrcY.
But mark yon, these Ccda.s OF Leba-
non could not grow if planted in mild
climates and IN soft air and in care
| fully vatrred gardens. They must
| have a." gymnasium of the midnight
hurricane 80 develop their arms. They
| lnlisi play ;he athlete with a thousand
WintrI8 l"fov their feet are rightly
planted ard their forcheads rightly
lifted and their arms rightly muScled.