Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1890-07-11
ing to be a useful woman and of long life:

i9t ,he sklllful physician, and the little
em.1a was taken. Or the babe was lifted
ana y SouI arms by some quick epidemic.
ana you stood Wondering h God ever
gave you that child at all. ii so soon he was
u ,ahe ~ away. And yet you are not re-
pi,ins' you are not fretful, Won are not.
hShtlng against God. NV
Mnatshas enabled you to stand all the
t ims oh, you say. Il took the medicine
Ihat'oa gave my sick soul, In my distress.
! 1hre@ myself at the feet of IL sympathizing
Nou' ana when | WAS too weak to pray or ia
look up he brcathed into me a peace that
,.L,nk must be the forctastc of that heaven
wnu lnefc is neither tear. nor u fare
well nor a grave" Come. all We who have
peen out to the grave to weep there-comn
hl We comforted souls, get up off your
NlieSS. is there no power in this GOSPEL to
spothc the heart? Is there no power in
Inis rerGion to quiet the worst paroxysm of
gf'et' There comes up an answer from
comforted widowhood, and .orphannro and
nesses!" ky ~
When a man has trouble the world comes
IN ana says, Nov get your mind off this;
deeper into business" What poor advi"cl
Get Your mind off it! When everything is
upturncd with the bereavement, and every
thlng reminds you of what YOU have lost.
Get your mind off it! They might as wcll
aavlseyGu to stop thinking. You cannot
- sAAl" wa lllllot SlOp Ilnk1nr
IN mat direction. Take a walk in the fresh
ar! Why, along that very street, or that
very road. she once accompanied you. Out
OF that grass plat she p!uckcd flowers, or
INTO that show window She looked, fascin-
ated, saying. Come see the pictures" Go
deeper into business! Why, she was as
sociatcd with all your business ambition.
ana since she has gone YOU have no am
bition left.
Oh. this is q clumsy world when it tries to
comfort a broken heart. | can build a
Corlear's engine. l can paint a Raphaels
Madonna, L can play a Bcethoven's
"Eroica symphony" as easily as this world
can comfort u broken heart. And vet Won
have been comforted. How was it done?
Did Ghrlst cometo you and say. Get your
mind OIL this; go out and breathe the fresh
air; plunge deeper into huslness?" No.
There was q minute when He came to YOU
perhaps in the watches of the night, per-
hapsln your place of business. perhaps
along the street-and He breathed some
thing into your soul that gave peace, rest,
photograph of the departed one and look
into the eyes and the face of the dear one
and say, 1T is all right: she is better off; 1
would not call her back. Lord, THANK thee
that thou hast comforted my poor heart"
Again, l remark that we are witnesses of
the fact that religion has power to give
composure in the last moment. l never
shall forget the first time / confronted
death. We went across the corn-lelds in
the country. | was led by my fathor's hand,
ana we came to the farmhouse where the
bereavement had come, and we saw the
crowd OF wagons and carriages: but there
was one carriage that especially attracted
my hoyish attention, and it had black
plumes. 1 said: What's that? what's
that? Why those black tassels on the top?"
and after it Was explained to me / was lifcd
up to look upon the bright face of an aged
Christian woman. who three days before
had departed in triumph; the whole scene
made an impression l 1 never forgot.
In our sermons and in our lay exhorta-
lions we are very apt, when we want to
bring Illustrations of dying triumph. to go
back to some distinguished p~ersonage-to a
John Knox or a Harriet Newell. But I want
you for witnesses. wan to know if you
have ever seen anything to make you be-
composure in the final hour. Now. in the
courts attorney, jury and judge will never
admit mere hearsay, They demand that
the witness must have seen with his own
eyes, or heard with his W ears. and so 1
want to know whether you have seen or
heard anything that makes you believe that
the religion of Christ gives composure in
the final hour.
"Oh, yes" you say; I saw my father and
mother depart. There was a great differ
one we felt more vcneration. By the other
there was more tenderness" Before the
one you bowed in awe. In the other case
| you felt as if you would like to go along
with her. How did they feel in that last
hour? How did they seem to act? We're
they very much frightened? Did they take
hold of this world with both hands as though
they did not want to give it up? "Oh, no"
! you say; no., l remember as though it were
yesterday; she had a kind word for us all,
buted among the children, and then she
told us how kind we must be to our father
in his loneliness. and then she kissed us
good-by and went asleep as calmly as a
child in a cradle"
What made her SO composed? Natural
courage? No" you say; mother was very
nervous; when the carriage inclined to the
| side Of the road she would cry out; she was
always rather weakly" What, then, gave
her composure? Was it because She did
ing was not great? oh" you say, she
showered upon US q wealth of affection; no
mother ever loved her children more than
mother loved us; she showed it by the
way she nursed us when W. were sick. and
shetoiled for us until her strength gave
out" What, then, was it that gave her
composure in the last hour? Do not hide it.
Be frank and let me know. oh" you say.
1T was because she was so good; she made
the Lord her portion, and she had faith
hat she would go straight to glory and that
we should all meet her at last at the foot of
the throne"
Here are people who say, I saw a Chris
tian brother die. and he triumphed." And
some one else. Il saw a Christian sister die.
and she triumphed." Some one else will
say, Il saw a Christian daughter die. and
she triumphed." Come. all We who have
seen the last moments of a Christian. and
give testimony in this cause on trial. I'm
cover your heads. put your hand on the old
family Bible from which they used to read
the promises, and promise in the presence
( of high heaven that you will tell the truth.
the whole truth and nothing but the truth.
| With what you have seen with your own
eyes. and from what you have heard with
your own ears, is there power IN this Gospel
to give calmness and triumph in the last
exigency: The response comes from all
81 les, from Young aud old and middle aged:
We are witnesses"
You see, my friends, Ihave not put before
you to-day an abstraction, or chimera. or
anything like guessWork. l present you
afidavits of the best men and women. living
and dead. Two witnesses in court will
establish Il fact. Here are not two wit
nesses. but thousands of witnesses-on
earth millions of witnesses, and in heaven
a great multitude Of witnesses that no man
can number, tcstifying that there is power
in this religion to convert the soul. to give
comfort in trouble and to afford ~composure
in the last hour. Iften men should come to
YOU when you are sick with appalling sick
So.., ,,1 COW tbay- had fba Same sickness.