Orange County observer. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1880-1918, 1891-08-01

minds ro1 Of What you have lost Get your
mind off it! They might as well advise you
10 stop thinking and You cannot stop think
ing ia that direction Take a walk IN the
fresh air Why, along that very street, OF
that very road, she once accompanied you.
Out Of that grass plot she plucked flowers, |
or into that show window she looked fascr
mated. saving. Come. see the pictures" Go /
1eeper into business! Why, she was asso-
ciated 18th all your business ambitions, and
since she has gone you have no amoltlon Left
on. this is a clumsy world wnen 1t tries to
comfort a-broken heart
can build a Corliss engine. l can paint a
Paphaf Is Madonna" I can play a Beethp-
zen ; s,muaons as easily as TINS world can
coufoft a broken heart. And yet you have
been tolaforted. How was it done, Did
Christ come to you and say. Get your mind
aff this. Go out and breathe the fresh air,
+ Plunge deeper into business No. There
was a minute when He came to you-per.
haps in the watches of the night, perhaps in
your place of business, perhaps along the
Strickland He breathed something into your
soul that gave peace, rest, Infinite quiet. 80
mat YOU could take out the photograph Of
tie departed one and look into the eyes and
the face of the dear one and say: ut is all
right. She is better off. I would not call
her hack. Lord, l thank Thee that Thou has
comforted my poor heart"
There are Christian parents here who are
willing TO testify to the power of this Gospel
TO comfort. Your son had just graduated
from school or college and was going into
BUSINESS, anu tne Loru tooK Nun. Or your
daughter had just graduated from the young
ladies' seminary, and you thought she was
going to te a useful woman and OF long life.
but the Lord took her, and you were tempted
to say, All this culture Of twenty years for
nothingm Or the little child came home
from school with the not fever that stopped
not for the agonlzed prayer OF FOR the skill
tul physician. aud the little child was taken.
Or the babe was lifted out of your arms by
some quick epidemic, and you stood wonder
ing why God ever gave you that child at all
if 50 soon He was TO take it away. And yet
You are not replnlng, you are not fretful,
you are not fighting against God. What
enabled you to stand all the trial?
"Ob. you say, Il took the medicine that
God gave my sick soul. In my dlsti ess
threw myself at the feet Of a sympathlzlng
God; and when l was too weak to pray or to
look up He breathel into me a peace that |
think must ba the ~tOretaste Of that heaven
where there is neither Il tear nor a farewell
nor q grave Come. all ye who have been
out to the grave tt weep thcre--cone, all ye
c0lnforted sou :, get 10 OF your knees. Is
there no power in this GoSp-l 20 soothe the
heart, Is there no power i'll this religion to
quiet the worst paroHysm of grief2 There
comes up an answer from cOnforte1 widow
hood aud orphanage and chiidlessness, say
ing, "Ay, ay, We are witnesses"
Again, | remark that we are witnesses
Of the fact that religion has power to give
colnpo5ure III the last moments | shall
never forget the first time | confronted
death We Went across the cornfields in the
country. ] was led by my fathers hand,
and we came to the farmhouse where the be-
reavemeut had come and we saw the crowd
Of wagons and carriages; but there was one
carriage that especially attracted my boyish
attention, and it had black plumas. | said
whats that what's that? Why thos,
black tf.ssels at the top And after it wa
explained to me | was lifted up to look upon
the bright face Of an age1 Christian woman
who three days before had departed in tri
umph. The whole scene made an impression
l never forgot
In our sermons and our lay exhortation
We are very apt, when we want to bring il
Illustrations OF dying triumph, to 60 back tx
some distinguished personage--to a Johr
Knox or a Harriet Newell. But l want 20,
for witnesses. | want to know if you hav
ever seen anything to make you believe tina
the religion of Christ can give composure il
the final hour. Now, in the courts, attorney
jury and judge will never admit mere here
say. They demand that the witness mus
have seen with his own eyes, or heard witt
his own ears, aud SO l am critical in my ex
animation of you now, and l want to knov
whether you have seen or heard anything
that makes you believe that the religion 0
christ gives composure III the final hour.
: Oh, yes you say, Il saw my father an,
:, mother depart. There was a great differ
) ence in their deathbeds. Standing by tbs
4 one we felt more veneration. By the other
there was more tenderness Before the on
a you bowed perhaps. in awe In the othe
I case you felt as if you would Ike to go alon:
with her. How did they feel in that las
hour? How did they seem to act? Wer
5 they very much frightened? DID they TAX
hold of this world with both hands as thou,l
: they did not want to give it up? ''Oh. no,
Q YOU say; no; | remember as though it wer
n Yesterday, she had a kind word for US all
4 and there were a few mementOes distributes
among the children, and then she told US no,
Q KIND we must be to our father in his loneli
/ ness, and then she kissed US goodby and wen
asleep as a child III a cradle" What mad
# her SO composed? Natural courage2
1 No." you say; mother was very nerv
ii Gus, when the carriage inclined to the sid
/, of the road she would cry out: she wa
always rather weakly" What gave he
:. conposures Was it because she did not car,
i much for you, and the pang Of parting wa
not great? 'Oh," you say, ''.she showere.
he upon US a wealth sof affection; no mothe
t. ever loved her children more than mothe
n loved US; she showed it by the way SD
a nursad us when we were sick, and she toilet
;. Tor US until her strength gave out" Wha,
y then, was it that gave her composure ia tn
ps last hour? Do not hide it. Be frank an
let me know. oh" you say, lit was bt
r. cause she was SO good; She made the Lor
: her portion, and she had faith that sh
Is would go straight to glory, and that W
;. should all meet her at last at the foot Of tn
=. throne"
I Here are people who say, II saw a Chris
Il tan brother die, and he triumphed." An
n SON one else. Il saw a Christian sister die
and she ~triumphed." Some one else viii say
,e Il saw a Christian daughter die. and sh
At triumphed." Come, all ye who~have see
IT the last moment of a Christian, and give tes
st timony in this cause on trial. Uncover you
heads, put your hands on the old famil
h. Bible. from which they used to read tn
promises, and promise in the presence {
q high heaven that you will tell the truth, til
ii whole truth and nothing but the trutl
n With what You have seen with your ow
re- eyes and what you have heard with vol
1 own ears, IL tueFe power III unis uospei
give almness and triumph in the last ext,
=. ency: The response comes from all side
- from young and old and middle aged, "N
! are witnesses
- lou see, my friends, have not put befo,
>, you any abstraction or q chimera. or an,