Decorah public opinion. (Decorah, Winneshiek County [Iowa]) 1895-1928, 1895-10-11

cheated and lied about. There are peo-
pie who dislike us so much that If we
should come down to poverty and dis
grace, they would say, Good for him,
Didn't tell you sou They do not I'M
derstand us. Unsanctified human ma
ture says, wait till you get good
crack at him, and when at last you find
him in a tight place, give it to him.
Flay him alive. No quarter. Leave
not rag of reputation. Jump on him
with both feet. Pay him in his own
coin-sarcasm for sarcasm, scorn for
scorn, abuse for abuse" But, my
friends, that it not the right kind of
heart No man ever did so mean
thing toward us we have done toward
God And if we cannot forgive others,
how can we expect God to forgive us?
Thousands of men have been kept out
of heaven by an unforgiving heart.
Here is some one who says, Il will for
give that man the wrong he did me
about that house and lot; l will forgive
that man who overreached me in q
bargain; will forgive that man who
sold me a shoddy overcoat; l forgive
them-all but one. That man 1 cannot
forgive. The villain can hardly
keep my hands off him. If my going
to heaven depends on my forgiving
him, then will stay out" Wrong feel
ing. If man lie to me once, am not
called to trust him again. If man be-
tray me once, l am not called to put
T.; d. r
have no rest if could not offer sin
cere prayer for the temporal and ever
lasting welfare Of all men. whatever
meanness and outrage they have in
fiicted upon me. If you want to get
your heart right, strike match and
burn up all your old grudges. and blow
the ashes away. IF you forgive not
men their trespasses, neither will your
heavenly Father forgive you your tres
passes"
An old Christian black woman was
going along the streets Of New York
with basket of apples that she had
for sale. A rough sailor ran against
her and upset the basket, and stood
back expecting to hear her scold fright
fully, but she stopped down and picked
up the apples, and said, God forgive
you, my son, as I do" The sailor saw
the meanness of what he had done, and
felt in his pocket for his money, and
insisted that she should take it all.
Though she was black, he called her
mother, and said. Forgive me, mother,
l will never do anything so mean
again" All! there is power in a for
giving spirit to overcome all hardness.
There is no way of conquerlng men like
that of bestowing upon them your par
don, whether they will accept it or not.
Is thy heart right? What question
can compare with this in importance?
1t is business question. Do you not
realize that you will soon have to go
out Of that store, that you will soon
have to resign that partnership, that
soon among all the millions of dollars
worth OF goods that are sold, you will
not have the handling of a yard of
cloth, or pound Of sugar, or penny
worth OF anything; that soon, If con-
Migration should start at Central Park
and sweep everything to the Battery,
1t would not disturb you; that
soon, II every cashier should abscond,
and every insurance company should
fail, 1t would not affect you? What are
the questions that stop this side the
grave. compared with the questions that
reach beyond it? Are you making
losses that are to be everlasting? Are
you making purchases for eternity?
Are you jobbing for time when you
might be wholesaling for eternity :?
What question of the store is so broad
at the base, and so altitudinous, and so
overwhelming as the question, rs thy
heart right?"
Or is it domestic question? Is it
something about father, or mother. or
companion, or son, or daughter, that
you think Is comparable with this ques-
ton in Importance? Do you not realize
that by universal and memorable law
all these relations will be broken up?
Your father will be gone, your mother
will be gone, your companion will be
gone, your child will be gone, you
will be gone. and then this supernal
question will begin to harvest its
chief gains, or deplore its worst
losses, roll up into its mightiest magni-
tude, or sweep its vast circles. What
difference now does it make to Napo-
leon III. whether he rriumphed or sur
rendered at Sedan? whether he lived at
the Tuileries or at Chislehurst, wheth-
er he was emperor or exile? They laid
him out in his coffin in the dress of a
field marshal. Did that give him any
better chance for the next world than
II he had been laid out in a plain
shroud? And soon to us what will be
the difference. whether in this worlS
we rode or walked, were bowed to or
maltreated. We're applauded or Kissed
at, were welcomed in or kicked out,
while laying hold OF every moment Of
the great future. and burning In all the
splendor or grief. and overarching ana
undergoing all time and all eternity, Is
the plain, simple. practical, thrilling,
agonizing, overwhelming question, 'Is
thy heart right?" Have you within
you repentant heart, an expectant
heart? II not, l must write upon your
xyh AL