Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1892-01-22

ties, and say within themselves: well,
he is Il successful man and has probably
studied up the whole subject and is
probably right" That one lying utter
ance against Bibles and churches has
put Eve young men on the wrong track,
and though the influential man had
spoken only in half jest, the Echo shall
come back to him in five ruined
lifetimes, and five destroyed eter-
mites. Nou see the Echoes are an
octave lower than he anticipated. On
the other hand, some rainy day, when
there are hardly any customers, the
Christian merchant comes out from the
counting-roOm and stands among the
young men, who have nothing TO do,
and says: well. boys. this is n dull
day, but it VIII clear of after Il while.
There are good many ups and downs
i'm business, but there IS an overriding
Providence. Years ago | made mp my
mind to trust God and he has always
seen me through. | remember when |
was your age, / had just come
to town and the temptation Of city life
gathered around me, but | resisted.
The fact is there were two old folks out
on the old farm praying for me- and |
knew it, and somehow / could not DO as
some of the clerks did or go where
some OF the clerks went. ] tell you, boys,
it is best always to do right, and there
is nothing to keep one right like The old
fashioned religion of Jesus Christ. John,
whore did you goto church last Sunday?
Henry, how is the Young Mems Chris
tian association pro paung?' About
noon the rain ceases and the sun comes
out and the clerks 60 to their places,
and they say within themselves:
"Wcll, he is a successful merchant,
and guess he knows what he is talk
ing about, and the Christian religion
must be good thing. God
knows l want some help in this
battle with temptation ard sim" The
successful merchant who uttered the
kind words did not know how much
good he was doing, but the Echo will
come back in five litetimcs of virtue
and usefulness, and five Christian death
beds, and five heavens. From all the
mountains of rapture and all the noun
tains Of glory and all the mountains of
eternity, he will catch what Ezekiel in
my text styles "thc sounding again Of
the mountains"
And If it is 50 hard to destroy nat
ural echo, how much harder to stop n
moral echo, spiritual echo, an immor-
tai echo. You know that the echoes
are affected 10y the surfaces, and the
shape of rocks, and the depth of
ravines, and the relative position of
buildings? And, once in heaven, God
will so arrange the relative position of
mansions and temples and thrones
that one of the everlasting charms
of heaven will be the rolling,
bursting, ascending, descending, chant
ing echoes. All the songs we ever
sang devoutly, all tho prayers we have
ever uttered earnestly, all the Chris
tian deeds we have ever done, will be
waiting TO spring upon rs in echo. The
scientists tell us that in this world the
roar OF artillery and the boom OF the
thunder arc so loud, because
they are a combination of echoes
all the hiilsides, and the caverns
and the walls furnishing a share of the
resonance. And never viii we under
stand the full power and music OF an
Echo until with supernatural faculties,
able to endure them we hear all the
conjoined sounds of heavenly Echoes
harps and trumpets, orchcstras and or
atorios, hosaunahs and halleiuiahs, east
side of heaven answering to the west
side. north side to south side. and all the
heights, and all the depths, and all the
immcnsitics, and all the ctcrnities join
ing in echo upon echo echo in the
wake of echo; In the future state,
whether Of rapture or ruin, we will
listen for -eycrbcra items OF earthly
things and doinrs. Voltaire standing
amid the shadows VIII listen, and
from the millions whose goddess
ness and libertinisn and de-
bauchcry were consequence of his
brilliant blasphcmies will come back u
weeping, waiting, dcspairing, agoniz-
ing million-voiccd Echo Paul will,
while standingin the light listen, and
from all the circles Of the ransomed,
and from all the many mansions whom
he helped to people, and from all the
thrones ne helped TO occupants, and
from all the gates he helped throng
with arrivals, and from all the
temples he helped fill with wor-
shippers, there shall come back to him
glorious ever-accumulating, trans
porting and triumphant Echo. On,
what viii the tyrants and op-
pres ors OF the earth DO with the
Echoes. Those who are responsible
for the wars of the world win have
come back to them all the groans
the shriells, the cannOnadcs, the
bursting SHE'LL, the cracl;le of
burning cities, and the crash
~ nations homes.
Ilut you know as we'll as / do
that there are some places where the
reverberations seem to meet, and stand
ing there they rush upon you, they
rain upon you, all at once they capture