The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1894-01-10


upon every Christians dying pillow. sup
pose you havc noticed that the character
istics OF people In their healthy days are
very apt 10 De saeir characteristics in their
dying days. The dying words OF ambitious
Napoleon were, "Head of the army" The
dying words of poetic Lord Byron were, GL
must sleep now" The dying words Ut
affectionate Lord Nelson were, "Kiss me, :
Hardy" The dying words OF Votaire were,
as he saw one whom he supposed to be
Jesus in the room, "Crush that wretch"
But have noticed that the dying words Of
Christians always mean peace. Generally
the pain Is ell gone, and there Is great
quietude through the room. As one OF
these brothers told me of his mother In the
last moment: ''She looked up and said,
pointing to some supernatural being that
seemed to be In the room, Look at tina:
bright form. Why, they have come for me
now"
The lattice Is turned so that the light Is
very pleasant. It is peace all around. You
tered under tropical suns. These shivered
under Icelandic temperature. These plucked
the vineyards In Italy. These packed the
lifting up their dusky faces in the dawn. And
the wind shall watt 1t, and every mountain
shall become TRANSPORTATION, and the sea
will become the walking place of him who
trod the wave cliffs OF stormy Tiberias, and
the song OF joy shall rise toward heaven, and
ask yourself: why, can this be dying
room? It is so different from anything
ever expected" And you walk the floor
and you look out of the window, and you
come back and look at your watch, and you
look at the face of the patient again; and
there Is no change, except that the face is
becoming more radiant, more illuminated.
The wave OF death seems coming up higher
and higher, rntil 1t has touched the ankle,
then 1t comes on up until 1t touches the
knee, and then It comes on up until
1t reaches the girdle, and then 1t comes
and the soul Is about to be fioated away into
glory, and you roll back the patients sleeve,
and you put your finger on the pulse, and It
is getting weaker and weaker, and the pulse
stops, and you hardly know whether the life
has gone or not. Indeed, you cannot tell
when she goes away, she goes away 80 calm
Iy. Perhaps it Is 4 O'Clock in the morning,
and you have the bed wheeled around to
the window, and the dying one looks out
into the night sky, and she sees something
that attracts her attention, and you wonder
what 1t Is. ra a
Why, it Is a. star. It is star that out Of
Its silver rim Is pouring supernatural light
into that dying experience. And you say,
says, SIT is STAR You soy, "What star Is
It that seems 80 wellto please youw "Oh,"
she says, 'that is the morning star-Jesus !"
7 would like to have my death bed under
that evangelistic star-I would Ike to have
my eye on that star, 80 could be assured OF
the morning. Then the dash of the surf OF
the sea Of death would only be the billowing
up Of the promise, "When thou passest
through the waters, Will be with thee, and
the rivers, they shall not overflow thee"
All other lights will fail-the light that falls
from the scroll Of fame, the light that flashes
from the gem in the beautiful apparel, the
light that flames from the burning lamps OF
banquet-but this light burns on and burns
ON. Paul kept hiseye on that morning star,
until he could say 81 am now ready to be
offered, and the time Of my departure Is at
hand. I have fought the good fight. have
finished my course. have kept the faith"
Edward Payson kept his eye on that star
until he could say, "The breezss OF heaven
fan me-" DR.. Goodwin kept his eye on that
evangelistic star until he could say 81 am
his eye on that evangelistic star until he
could say, "Welcome, sweet Lord Jesus
welcome, eternity" No other star ever
pointed q mariner into 30 safe a harbor. No
other star ever sunk its silvered anchor into
the waters No other star ever pierced such
accumulated cloud, or beckoned with such
holy luster.
With lanterns and torches and a guide, We
went down In the Mammoth cave OF Ken
tucky. You may walk fourteen miles and see
no sunlight. It Is stupendous place. Some
places the roof OF the cave hundred feet
high. The grottoes filed with weird echoes.
cascades falling from invisible height to in
visible depth. Stalagmites rising up from
the floor Of the cave-stalactites descending
from the roof of the cave, joining each
other, and making pillars OF the AlmiShtys
sculpturing. There are rosettes OF amethyst
IN halls OF gypsum. As the guide carries his
lantern ahead Of you, the shadows have an
appearance supernatural and spectral. The
darkness Is fearful. Two people, getting
lost from their guide only for q few hours,
years ago, were demented, and for years sat
in their insanity. You feel like holding
your breath as you walk across the orloges
that seem to span the hottomless
abyss. The guide throws his calcium light
down into the caverns. and the light rolls
and tosses from rock to rock and from depth
to depth making at every plunge new rev.
eIation of the awful power that could nave
made such place as that.
A sense OF sufocation comes upon you as
you think that you are $50 feet in o straight
line from the sunlit surface Of the earth. The
called the ''Star Chamber" and then he
says to You, "Sit here" and then he takes
the lantern and goes down under the rocks,
and it gets darker and darker, until the night
is go thick that the hand an inch from the
eye Is unobservable.. And then, by kindling
one OF the lanterns and placing It in cleft
OF the rock, there is reflection cast on the
dome OF the cave, and there are stars com
ing out In constellations-a brilliant night
heavens-and you involuntarlly excialm !;
beautiful beautiful" Then he takes ths
lantern down in other depths OF the cavern,
and wanders on, and wanders of, until he
comes up from behind the rocks gradually,
and it seems like the dawn OF the morning,
and It gets brighter and brighter. The guide
is a skilled yentrloquist and he initiates the
voices of the morning, and soon the gloom
is all gone, and you stand congratulating
yourself over the wonderful spectacle. Well,
there are a great many people who look down
into the grave as great cavern. Tney tnlnk
1t is a thousand miles subterraneous, and oil
echoes seem to be the voices OF despair, and
always fall, and the gloom Of earth seems COM
ing UP In stalagmite, and the gloom OF the
eternal world seems descending in the stalacT
tite, making pillars Of indescribable horror.
The grave is no such place at that 10 me,
| thank God.
Our Divine Guide takes US down into the
great caverns, and we have the lamp 10 our
feet and the light to our path, and an the
| echoes in the riffs OF the rock are anthems,
and all the falling waters are fountains OF
| salvation. and after awhile We look up ana,
behold the cavern of the tomb has become
a kings star chamber. And while we are
looking at the pomp OF 1t an everlastinS y
morning begins to rise, and all the Tears el
earth Grystallize into stalagmite, rising up
In n pillar on the one side, and all the glo-
ries OF heaven seem to be descending IN
other side, and you push against
the gate that swings between
the two pillars, and as the gate flashes open