The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1893-05-17
There Came out this Calf.
New York Observer.

There came ont this calf. Of course
there did. Pour the molten, seethine
metal into mouth Of calf and it will
never result in q lamb nor produce 8
cherub. It will turn out surely and
always 8 calf. Aaron was and an ex.
cusemaker, q lineal descendant of the
gardener and his wife who were turned
out Of Eden for their sin. 1 have Of
ten thought that had our first parents
confessed their sin promptly and peni.
tently it had Jared better with them.
Goods anger is 80 slow to rise, 30 read.
y to abate," that penitent tears and
hearty contrition might have saved
the sinners of Paradise their peace and
their place. =,
Like them Aaron was ready with
an excuse for his sin instead Of show
ing sorrow for the same. Aaron was 8
coward, my brethren, but sin is ever
cowardly. It will sneak away into
the bushes when it fears discovery. It
is meyer ready to take the punishment
with the punishment.
Sin Is bold: it struts around with q
don't care-what- you've -got-to -say-a-
bout.it are until judgment-day comes,
and then it's cowardice comes out. In
deed something less than blast Of
Gabriers trumpet will disturb guilty
mans slumbers. I have seen men
who needed only thunderstorm to
make them think that section Of the
day of judgment had set In. Their
guilty consciences trembled under the
sound of thunder as though they
caught the echoes of eternal Justice in
battle against iniquity. Be assured
that If aught you dread the sound of
an unexpected football or the sight Of
q righteous man, it is because you
have been at bad business, for sin
makes men arraDt towards.
Know, too, o, well beloved, that sin
reaps; as 1t sows. If the mould is the
mould of a calf the metal will take on
the same pattern.' You cannot SOW
northeasters and reap spring zephyrs.
You cannot SOW thistle-down and gath
er thereform sweet vi0lets. You can
not SOW the proverial wild oats aud
reap Minnesota wheat. Mould calf
and you will have calf.
My text leads me to remark again
that although do not believe animals
are possessed Of immortality, this Aa-
ronfc calf has been endowed with long
life. It speaks to-day and bids us be-
ware of the folly Of Aaron. Do not,
like him, pretend to believe that the
result Of your sin Is different from
your intention. That calf was per-
fectly satisfactory to Aaron until Mo-
ses appeared and called Aaron to ac-
count. If there were to be no stand
ing before the bar Of the Judge, some
of you would not mind the consum-
nation of your sin so much. To some
of your sin Is sweet till 1t Ia found out.
Aaron had calf In mind before be
had one in mould. He wanted calf.
He was lonely and he would have been
disappointed had no calf appeared
when the metal cooled and the mould
was broken. When you sin with q
purpose and you make wine Of sins
fruitisn and drink with delight till the
handwriting appears upon the wall.
Then your knees shake.
Dearly beloved, assume that the
growing of rooster was the sound of
q dulcimer in the ears of st. Peter,
not the bleating Of calf as the music
of harps to Aaron. Our sin makes
some OF the notes In nature's music
sound very discordant. The song of q
nightingale would lose its sweetness to
the man who found in 1t q reminder of
midnight crime. Beware how you
sin lest you multiply unpleasant re-
minders, for these make life unbear.
able. shouldn't wonder Aaron broke
the silence more than once by exclaim-
ing:
HWho said 'calf?'" think he must
have ruined his taste for veal just as
Adam and Eve may have lost their ap-
petite for figs. Thus does the memo
ry of sin take the sweetness out Of le-
gitimate enjoyments.