The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1892-12-28

colonel, "bringing the man here again We
have tried everything with him." "Oh,
no." says the sergeant; 'thsrs is one thing
you have not tried. would like you to try
that" "What is that?' says the colonel.
Said the man, forgiveness" Thee had
not gone 80 far but that it might take that
turn, and so the colonel said: swell. young
man, you have done so and so. What Is
your excuse" ~ have no excuse, but am
very sorry" said the man.
I'VE have made up our minds to forgive
you" said the colonel. The tears started.
He had never been sccosted in that way be-
fore. His life was reformed, and that was
the starting point for positively Christian
life. o church Of God, quit your sarcasm
when man fallsl Quit your irony, quit
your tattle tattle. and try forgiveness. God,
sin may be like a continent, but Gods for
giveness Is like the Atlantic and Pacific
oceans bounding 1t on both sides.
The Bible often talks about Gods hand.
wonder how it looks. You remember dis.
tinctly how your mothers hand looked,
though thirty years ago 1t withered away.
It was different from your fathers hand.
When you were to be chastised you had
rather have mother punish you than father.
1t did not hurt 30 much. And fathershsud
was different from mothers, partly because
It had outdoor toll, and partly because God
intended it to be different The knuckles
were more firmly set and the palm was cal.
loused.
But mothers hand was more delicate.
There were blue veins running through the
back Of 1t. Though the fingers, some of
them, were picked with needle, the palm
Of it was soft. Oh, it was very softi Was
there ever any poultcs like that to take
pain out Of wound7 So Coos hand is q
- Y1z4 -
II it smite you It does not hurt as II 1t were
another hand. Oh, you poor wandering soul
in sin, it is not bailif's hand that seizes
you to-day! 1t is not hard hand. It Is not
an unsympathetic hand. It Is not O cold
hand. It is not an enemy's hand. No. Il
Is gentle hand, loving hand. q sympa-
thetic hand, soft hand, mothers hand.
"As one whom his mother comforteth, 80
will comfort your
I want to say finally that God has .
mothers way of putting q child to sleep.
You know there Is no cradle song like q
mother's After the excitement Of theeven:
ing it Is almost impossible to get the child
to sleep. If the rocking chair stop mo-
ment the eyes are wide open; but the
mothers patience and the mothers soothing
manner keep on until after awhile the angel
of slumber puts his wing over the pillow.
Well, my dear brothers and sisters in Christ,
the time will come when we will be wanting
to be put to sleep. The day Of our life will
be done, and the shadows of the night Of
death will bs gathering around us. Then
we want God to soothe US, to hush US to
sleep.
Let the music at our going not be the dirge
Of the organ, or the knell Of the church
tower, or the drumming Of dead march,"
but let 1t be- the hush Of a mothers lullaby.
On, the cradle Of the grave will be soft with
the pillow Of all the promisesl When we are
being rocked into that last slumber want
this to be the cradle song, "As one whom q
mother comforteth, so will comfort you"
Asleep in Jesusl Far from thee
Thy kindred and their graves may be;
But thine ls stu! a blessed sleep
From which none ever wake to weep.
A Scotchmau was dying. His daughter
Nellie sat by the bedside. It was Sunday
evening, and the bell Of the church was
ringing, calling the people to church. Ths
good old man, In his dying. dream, thought
that be was on the way to church, as he used
to be when he went In the sleigh across the
river, and as the evening bell struck up in
his dying dream he thought 1t was the call
BE said, SHARK, children, the bells are
ringing; we shall be late; we must make the
mare step out quickp He shivered, and
my lassl It Is cold crossing the river, but
We will soon be there, Nellie; we will soon
be there" And he srsied and said, Just
there now" No wonder he smiled. The
good old man had got to church. Not the
old country church, out the temples In the
sldss, Just across the river. how com.
fortably did God hush the old man to sleepl
As one whom his mother comforteth, 80 God
comforted him.