The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1894-01-24

retained for misfortune by inopportune
sickness. Just as that lawyer was to make
the plea that would have put him among
the strong men of the profession. neu-
ralgia stung him. Just as that physt-
clan was to prove his skill in an epi-
demic. his own poor health Imprisoned him.
Just as that merchant must be at the store
for some decisive and Introductory bargain.
he sits with rheumatic joint on a pillow,
the room redolent with liniment. What an
overwhelming statistic would be the story OF
men and women and children impoverished
Dy sicknesses Then the cyclones. Then
the Mississippi and Ohio freshets. Then the
stopping Of the factories. Then the curcuios
among the peach trees. Then the insectile
devastation Of potato patches and wheat
fields. Then the epizootics among the
horses, and the hollow horn among the
nerds. Then the rains that drown out
everything, and the droughts that burn
up half continent. Then the orange
groves die under the white teeth OF
the hoar frost. Then the coal strikes, and
the iron strikes, and the mechanics strikes,
which all strike labor harderthan they strike
capital. Then the yellow fever at Brunswick
and Jacksonville and Shreveport. Then the
cholera at the Narrows, threatening to land
at New York. Then the Charleston earth
quake. Then the Johnstown flood. Then
hurricanes sweeping from Caribbean Sea to
Newfoundland. Then there are the great
monopolies that gulley the earth with their
expressions. Then there are the necessities
of buying coal by the scuttle instead OF the
ton, and -four by the pound instead OF the
burrel. and 80 the injustices are multiplied.
In the wake of all these are overwhelming
illustrations of the truth of my text, "Ye
have the poor always with you"
Remember fact that no one emphasizes
a fact, nevertheless, upon which 1 want to
put the weight Of an eternity Of tonnage
that the best way Of insuring yourself and
your children and your grandchildren
against poverty and all other troubles Is by
helping others am an agent OF the oldest
insurance company that was ever established.
1t is nearly 5000 years old. It has the ad.
vantage OF all the other plans Of insur'
ance-whole life policy, endowment.
joint life and survivorship policies,
ascending and descending scales of pre-
MUM and tontine-and 1t pays up while
you live and It pays up after you are
dead. Every cent you give In Chris.
tian spirit to poor man or woman, every
shoe you give to u barefoot, every stick Of
wood or lump of coal you give to flreless
hearth, every drop of medicine you give to
poor invalid, every star Of hope you make to
shine over unfortunate maternity, every
mitten you knit for cold fingers, Is a pay.
ment on the premium Of that policy. / hand
about 500, 900, 900 policies to all who will go
forth and aid the unfortunate. There are
only two or three lines In this policy OF life
insurance-Ps. xii, /, "Blessed Is he that
considereth the poor; the Lord will deliver
him in time of trouble"
Other life insurance companies nay fail,
but this celestial life insurance company
never. The Lord God Almighty is at the
head of it. and all the angels OF heaven are
In Its board Of direction, and Its assets are
all worlds, and all the charitable of earth and
heaven are the beneficiaries. "But," says
some one, 'I do not like tontine policy so
we'll, and that which you offer Is more like a
'sBIessed is he that considereth the poor the
Lord will deliver him In time Of trouble"
Well, If you prefer the old fashioned
policy OF life insurance, which Is not
paid till after death, you can be ac-
commodated. That will be given you In the
day Of judgment and will be handed you
by the right hand, the pierced hand OF our
Lord Himself, and all you do In the right
spirit for the poor is payment on the pre-.
MUM Of that lite insurance policy. I read
you paragraph ofthat policy: ''Then shall
the King say unto them on His right hand,
Come, ye blessed of My Father, for I was
hungered, and ye gave Me meat Il was thirs-
ty, and ye gave Me drink was stranger,
and ye took Ne in; naked and ye clothed
Me-"
In various colors Of ink other life insur-
ance policies are written. This one have
Just shown you is written In only one kind
OF ink, and that red ink, the blood OF the
cross. Blessed be God, that Ia paid up
policy, paid for by the pangs Of the Son OF
God, and all we add to 1t In the way or our
own good deeds will augment the sum OF
eternal felicities. Yes, the time will come
when the banks of largest capital stock
will go down, and the fire insurance
companies will all go down, and
the life insurance companies will
all 20 down. In the last grear earthquake
consequence all banks will forever suspend
payment. In the last conlagration the fire
insurance companies OF the earth will fall,
for how could they make appraisement
of the loss on universal fire? Then
all the inhabitants Of the round world
will surrender their mortal existence,
and how could life insurance companies
pay for depopulated hemispheres? But
our celestial life insurance will not be
harmed by that continental wreck, or
that hemisphere accident, or tnat
like candle-the MONDAY sun Tear It
down like wornout upholstery-rhe last sun
set! Toss it from Gods finger like dew
drop from the anther of water lily-the
ocean! Scatter them like thistledown before
q schoolboy's breath-the world They will
not disturb the omnipotence, or the COM
posure, or the sympathy, or the love OF that
Christ who said II once on earth, and Will
say 1t again In heaven to all those who have
been helpful to the down-trodden, and the
cold and the hungry, and the houseess, and
the lost, "Inasmu:h Us ye did it to them, ye
did to Me"'