Highland recorder. (Monterey, Highland County, Va.) 1877-1972, 1894-01-05

| the wind shall wait II, AM every LiV"n-
shall become TRANSPORTATION, ana tno s7A
will become the walking place OF MN WY
trol the wave cliffs of stormy Tlberlas, an =,
~ Of ioy, shalI rise toward heaven. and
,ba great sky will become soundlng oosr1
r,ich sball strike back the shout oil salvatioh
n the earth until it rebounds again 10 tne
throne of the Almighty, and the molh a., !
| efar of Christian hope will become INC luii
sunburst Of millennial glory
Again Christ heralds the dawn OF heaven
mon every Christians dying pillow. SUD
nora Won have noticed that the character
isties OF people in their healthy Gays are
very apt to be their characteristics III 10.
dvjngdsvs. The dying words o. ANNUITY an, IL
Napoleon were, "Head OF the arhS. ct
dving words OF poetic Lord Byron were
mnst slesp now" The dying words VI
affectionate Lord Nelson were, KISS me-
HARDY " The diving words of Yoltaire were,
as he saw ono whom he suppoSed W Nc
Jesus in the room, "Crush that "le'1p.
Put have noticed that the dying WORDS OIL
Christians always mean peace Uehela'Iy
the ,,ain is all gone, and there Is grea.
ON etude through the room. As ou9 oi
tness brothers told me OF his mother III w
last moment: "She looked up ana sa'u,
pointing 10 some supernatural peihS tua.
seemed TO be in the room, LOOK AT ina.
bright form. Why, they have come Tor me
| now. 81. +.
Tbe lattice is turned so that the light 10
very pleasant. 1t is peace all around. lou
ask yourself. "Wny, can this he dying
room? It is so different from anything
ever expected" And you walk the floor,
and YOU look out Of tho window. AMI you
come back and look at your watch and you
look at the face Of the patient again, an
there is no change, except that the face IS
| becoming more radiant, more Illuminated.
The wave Of death seems coming mp higher
and higher, until it has touched the ankle,
| then il comes on up until 1t touches the
knee, and then it comes on up until
it reaches the girdle. and then it comes
on up until it reaches the lap,
aud the soul is about to be foated 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 so calm
| w. Perhaps it is o'clock in the morning,
and you have the bed wheeled around TO
the window, AMI the dying one looks out
into the night sky. and she sees something
that attracts her attention, and you wonder
J what it is.
Why. it is a star 1t is a star that out OF
its silver rim is pouring supernatural light
into that dying experience. And you say,
"What is it that you are looking atY' She
SAYS. at is a star" You say, "What star is
it that seems so WELT please your" "Oh.
she says, 'that is the morning star-Jesus =
l would like to have my death bed under
that evangelistic star-l would like to have
my eye on that star, so I 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, I will be with thee, and
tho 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
q banquet-but this light burns on and burn
on. Paul kept his eye on that morning sta.
until he could say 81 am now ready to be
offered, and the time of my departure is at
hand. have fought the good fight. have
finished my course have kept the faith. "
Edward Payson kept his eye on that star
until he could saw. ''The breezes of heaven
fan me-" DR. Goodwin kept his eye on that
evangelistic star until he could say, III am
swallowed up in God" John Tenant kept
his eye on that evangelistic star until he
could say. "Welcome, sweet Lord Jesus
welcome eternity" No other star ever
pointed q mariner into so safe harbor. NO
other star ever sunk its silvered anchor into
tine waters. No other star ever pierced such
accumu,ated cloud, or beckoned Win sucn
holy luster.
With lanterns and torches and guide. we
went down in the Mammoth cave of Ken
tucky. You NAV walk fourteen miles and sec
no sunlight. 1t is stupendous place. Some
places the roof of the cave a hundred feet
high. The grottoes filled 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 Almighty
seulpturing. 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 few hours,
wears ago. were demented. and for years sat
in their insanity. You feel like holding
YOUR breath as you walk across the bridges
that seem to span the bottomle5s
abyss. The guide throws his calcium light
down into the caverns. and the light rolls
and losses from rock to rock and from depth
TO depth making at every plunge newrey-
eIation Of the awful power that could nave
made such place as that
A sense OF sunocaUIon comes uron you az
YOU think that you arc $50 feet in n straight
line from the sunlit surface of the earth. Tho
guide after awhile taxes you into what is
called the "Star Chamber ana then he
saws TO YOU. "Sit here and then he takes
the lantern and goes dow.' under the rocks.
and it gets darker and darker, Until the night
is so thick that the han1 an inch from the
eve is undesirable. And then, by kindlinG
one Of the lanterns and placing - IN cleft
Of the rock. there is a reelection cast on the
dome Of the cave an there ara stars COM
ing out in constelations-a brilliant night
heavens-and YOU invOluntariiy cxclalm
Beautiful beautiful (" Then he takes the
lantern down in other depths of the cavern,
and wanders on. and wanders off, until ne
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 ventriloquist and he initiates the
voices Of the morning and soon the gloom
is oil gone. and YOU stand congratuIatng
Yourself over the wonderful spectacle. Wen,
there are great many people who look down
into the grave as great cavern. They think
il is thousand miles subterraneous, and all
echoes seem TO be the voices OF despair, and
the cascades seem to be the falling tears that
always fall and the gloom of earth seems com
iny up in stalagmts and the gloom OF the
eternal world seems descending in the stalac-
tite, making pillars Of iniescribabe horror.
The grave is no such place at that to nc,
thank God
Our Divine Guide takes us down into the
great caverns and we have the lamp to our
feet and the light 10 our path, and all 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 and,
behold the cavern of the tomb has bscome
kings star chamber And while We are
looking at the pomp of it an everlasting
L x-tr md nj fhn