The Bossier banner., 1892-08-25

via-and he is fastened to the pillar of
martyrdom. It does not take any
strength to tie him fast He makes no
resistance, o Paul! why not now
strike for your life? You have great
many friends here. With that withered
hand just launch the thunderbolt of
the people upon these infamous
soldiers. No, Paul was not going to
interfere with his own coronation. He
was too glad to go. see him looking
up in the face of his executioner, and,
as the grim official draws the sword,
Paul calmly says: II am now ready to
to be offered, and the time of my de-
parture is at hand" But | put my
hand over my eyes. | want not to see
the last struggle. One sharp keen
stroke, and Paul does go to the ban
quet, and Paul does dine with the
King.
What a transition it was! From the
malaria of Rome to the finest climate in
all the universe-the zone of eternal
beauty and health. His ashes were
put in the catacombs of Rome, but the
air of Heaven bathed from his soul the
last ache. From shipwreck, from dun
goon, from the biting pain of the elm
wood rods, from the sharp sword of the
headsman, he goes into the most bril-
liant assemblage of Heaven, king
among kings, multitudes of the saint
hood rushing out and stretching forth
hands of welcome; for l do really think
that as on the right hand of God is
Christ, SO on the right hand of Christ is
Paul the second great in Heaven.
He changed kings likewise. Before
the hour of death, and up to the last
moment, he was under Nero, the thick
neclSed, the cruel-eyed, the filthy
Tipped; the sculptured features of that
man bringing down to us this very day
the horrible possibilities of his nature
seated as he was amidst pictured mar
bles of Egypt, under roof adorned
with mother-of- pearl, in dining-room
which, by machinery, was kept whirl-
ing day and night with most bewitch-
ing magnifcence; his horsos standing in
stalls of solid gold, and the grounds
around his palace lighted at night by
its victims, who had been bedaubed
with tar and pitch and then set on fire
to illuminate the darkness. That was
Pauls king. But the next moment be
goes into the realm of Him whose reign
is love, and whose courts are paved with
love, and whose throne is set on pillars
of love, and whose scepter is adorned
with jewels of love, and whose palace is
lighted with love, and whose lifetime is
an eternity of love. When Paul was leav-
ing SO much on this side the pillar of
martyrdom to gain so much on the other
side, do You wonder at the cheerful
valedictory of the text: ''The time of
my departure is at hand?'
Now, why can not all the old people
have the same holy glee as that aged
man had. Charles l., when he was
combing his head, found a gray hair,
and he sent it to the queen as a joke;
but old age is really no joke all. For
the last forty years you have been
dreading that which ought to have
been an exhilaration. You say you most
fear the struggle when the soul and
| body part. But millions have endured
| that moment, and may not we as well?
They got through with it, and SO can
we. Beside this, all medical men agree
in saying that there is probably no
struggle at the last moment-not so
much pain as the prick of pin, the
seeming sign of distress being alto
gether involuntary. But, you say: "It
is the uncertainty of the future -
| Now, child of God, do not play the in
| fidel. After God has filled 1.-The Bible
till it can hold no more with stories of
| the good things ahead, better not talk
about uncertainties.
But you say; II can not bear to think
of parting from friends here" If you
are old You have more friends in Heaven
than here. just take the census. Take
| some large sheet of paper and begin to
record the names of those who have
emigrated to the other shore; the com
panions of your school days, your early
business associates, the friends of mid
life and those who more recently went
away. Can it be that they have been
gone SO long you do not care any more
about them, and You do not want their
society? Oh, no. There have been days
when you have felt that you could not
endure another moment away from their
blessed companionship. They have gone.
| You say you would not like to bring them
back to this world of trouble, even
| if you had the power 1t would not do
to trust you. God would not give you
resurrection power. Before tomorrow
morning you would be rattling at the
/ gates of the cemetery, crying to
the departed: ''Come back to the
cradle where you slept! Come back to
the hall where you used to play, Come
back to the table where you used to
sit!' and there would be a greet burg
larry in Heaven. No, no, God will not
trust you with resurrection power; but
He compromises the matter and says:
"You can not bring them where you are,
but you can go where they are" They
are more lovely now than ever. Were
they beautiful here, they are more beau
tiful there.
Besides that, it is more healthy
there for you than here, aged
man; better climate there than
these hot summers and cold win
ters and late springs; better hearing.
better eyesight, more tonic in the air,