Fisherman & farmer. [volume] (Edenton, N.C.) 1887-19??, 1892-02-19

Robert Come inn Nor said he. moth
er. shall never come in till hear YOU say
you forgive me-" Her answer was: .tooert,
I have forgiven you long ago. There Is
nothing to forgive now except that you
stayed away so long"
Nv hearers. forgiveness has been ready
for YOU good while. With more than
mothers tenderness God will take you back.
They are waiting for you up in the palace.
Northumberland was the son Of Nabopolas-
sar who ruled before him, and you are the
child of King
The next thought that passes into my
mind from the contemplation or TINS lnc4-
dent is that conviction is not conversion.
Who is this monarch that makes the boast
about Babylon The very man who, under
the revelation OF dreams that Daniel made
from heaven, deeply humbled himself, while
he confessed that God is God of Gods and
a Lord of Lords, yet behold that that hum
bling and arousing which he before felt did
not result in a radical change.
There is no mistake more frequent than or
supposing conviction a synonym for con-
version. Conviction is merely a sight OF
sin: conversion is a view of pardon. Con-
vlctlcn Is merely alarm; conversion is conf
dence. Conviction is dissatisfaction with
depravity, conversion is a turning away
from it. Conviction is a sword wound; con-
version is the healing. Conviction is the
fever Of thirst; conversion is the shaking of
that thirst. Conviction is the pain: CONVEX
sion is the medicine that cures it. Thou
sands have experienced the former and never
experienced the latter.
There are multitudes who think that as
soon as man is serious he is fit for profess
sion of religion. What if a man should only
think seriously of being merchant; would
that make him merchant? What il man
should only think seriously of being a law
yer; would that make him a lawyer What
if man should only think seriously Of being
a Christian; would that make him a Chris
tan? Felix was convicted but not converted.
The jailer was convicted before he got out
OF bed, but not converted till at the advice
of Paul he believed in Christ. Are you con-
victed but not converted?
tell you what you make me think OF.
You have made up your mind for proper
consideration to deed away a property.
You have drawn the deed. The seal is af-
fixed opposite where you are to write your
name The commissioner OF deeds is pres
ent to witness. You have your pen in hand.
There is ink in the pen. There is only one
thing for you to do and that is to sign your
name Suppose you stop now without
signing your name, what does it all amount
to? Nothing.
So you have resolved to give yourself up
to God. You propose to sign off to Him
your body. your mind, your soul. You have
all things necessary for the transfer. The
angels of God are here to witness the eter-
nal transfer. Why do you not now with
you are and all goes for nothing. Sign your
name to this spiritual transfer.
Professor Arago, the mathematician, got
woefully discouraged in his work and was
about to give it up. when he saw some words
on the paper WHICH nad Oaen USED TO sJ1rTen
the cover of his book, and the words being
indistinct he dampened the cover until he
could take it off and see the words plainly
and he found they were words OF advice
given by DAlembert to student. and the
dc VUos eli 0y1p n yUhn
are convicted, "Go on" You must take one
more step or all the steps you have taken
will amount to nothing. Go on!
Again learn from the misfortune of the
king of Babylon what terrible thing is the
loss of reason. There is no calamity that
can possibly befall US in this world SO great
as the arrangement of intellect-to have the
body of a man and yet to fall even below
the instinct of brute. In this world of sad
sights the saddest is the idiots stare. In
this world of awful sounds the most awful
is the maniac's laugh. A vessel on the
rocks, when hundreds go down never to rise,
and other hundreds drag their mangled and
shivering bodies up the wintry beach, is
nothing compared to the laundering Of intel
Iects full or vast hopes and attainments and
capacities. Christs heart went out to those
who were epileptic falling into the fire, or
maniacs cutting themselves among the
tombs.
We are accustomed to be more grateful
for physical health than for the proper
working of our mind. We are apt to take
it for granted that the intellect which has
served us so well will always be faithful.
We forget that an engine with such
tremendous power, when the wheels have
such vastness Of circle and such swiftness of
motion and the least impediment might put
it out Of gear, could only be kept in proper
balance by a divine hand. No human
power could engineer this train of i'm mortal
faculties
How strange it is that our memory. on
whose shoulders all the successes and mis-
fortunes and occurrences of lifetime are
placed, should not oftener break down. and
that the scales of judgment, which have
been weighing so much and so long, should
not lose their adjustment, and that fancy,
which holds dangerous wand, should not
sometimes nlaliciously wave it, bringing into
the heart forebodings and hallucinations the
most appalling. It is not strange that the
expectations of this intellect should not be
dashed to pieces on its disappointments?
Though so delicately attuned, this instru-
nent OF untold harmonies plays on, though
fear shocks it, and vexations rack it. and
sorrow and joy and loss and gain in quick
succession beat out of it their dirge or draw
from it their anthem. At morning and at
night, when in your prayer you renearse the
objects of your thanksgiving, next to your
salvation by Jesus Christ, praise the Lord
for the preservation of your reason.
How many fine intellects are being de-
stroyed by anodynes and an8sthetics, which
were given by Providence for occasional use
in alleviation of pain or insomnia, but by be-
ing employed continuously after awhile cap
ture and destroy. Choral cocoaine, bro
mide of potassium, opium and whole shelves
OF seductive etceteras that help turn
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS into imbecility into mad
ness Do not trife With opiates that benumb
the brain. If you cannot live without the
perpetual and enslaving use Of them, you
had better die. Better die a sane man than
live fool. What right have You to Kill