The news and herald. (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1877-1900, 1895-08-10

ETdon we nave them: mas DrOuSnI SalFa-
ton to the dwelling.
Bv strangcst ways and in the most uneX-
peeted manner men are awakened. The gar
dener Of the Countess OF Huntingdon was
convicted ofsin by hearing the countess on
the opposite side of the wall talk about Jesus.
John Harloak was aroused by dream. in
which he saw the last day. and the Judge sit
ting. AMI heard his own name called with
terrible emphasis, 'iJohn Hardoak. come to
Judgment" The Lord has thousand ways
Of waking up Jonah. Would that the mes
sengers of mercy might now find their way
down into the sides Of the ship. and that many
who are unconsci"us!v rocking in the awful
tempest Of their sin might hear the warning:
'What meaneSt thou. 0 sleeper? Aris" and
call upon thy Go ~
Again: L"arn tia: Il man may wake mp
too late If instead Of sleeping. Jonah hal
hepn on his knees rOnfessinc his sins from
the time be went on board the craft. ] think
that Col would hav" saved him from being
thrown overheard Bu. h" w1k" IN too iain.
The tempest is in full hlast. and tn" sea. in
conyusion. is lashinc itself and nothing will
stop ii now but the overthrow OF JJuah.
So men sometimes wake up too late. The
last hour has come. Tho man has no more
idea of dying than I have Of Cropping down
this moment. The rigging is all white with
the foam Of death. How chill the night is
81 must die" he saws. ''vet rot ready.
must push out upon this awful sea. but have
nothing with which to pay my fare.
The while raps The darkness! The
hurricane! How long have [ been sleep
ing? Whole days and months and years. l
am quite awake now. [ see everything. but
ii is TOO late" Invisible hands take him up
Hastrucgles 10 get loosa. In vain. They
bring his soul tn the verge. They let it
down over the side The winds howl. The
sea opens It's frothinc jaws to swallow. He
has gone forrvrr AMI while tho canvas
cracked, and the wards ratified. and the ropes
thumpn!. tn" SET took W the funeral dlrSe.
playing with open diaraSon OF midnight
storm, Because have called. and ye re-
fused. have stretched out Ny hand, and no
man regarded, but ye have set ut naught all
My counsel and would none Of my reproof,
also will laugh at your calamity, will
mock when Your fear cometh."
Now, lest any of you should make this
mistake, address You in the words OF the
Mediterranean sea captain: "What mean
est thou, 0, sleeper? Arise, call upon thy
God. if so be that God will think upon us,
that we perish no." If you have God,
YOU had better call upon Him. Do you say,
II have 10 God?' Then you had better call
upon your fathers God. When your father
was in trouble. whom did he fly to? You
heard him in his old days tell about some
terrible exposure in a snowStorm. or at sea,
or in battle, or among midnight garroters,
and how he escaped. Perhaps twenty
years before You We're born your
fathnr made sweet acquaintance with
Goo. There is something in the
won pages OF the Bible he used to read which
makes you think your father had a God. In
the old religious books lying around the
house, here are passages marked with a
lead pencil-passages that make you think
your father was not goddess man. but that,
on that dark day when he lay in the back.
room dying he was ready-au ready. But
perhaps your father was bad man-prayer-
less and a blasphemer-and you never think
of him now without a shudder. He wor-
SHIPPED the world or his own appetites. Do
not then, I beg of you, call upon your faith
ers God, but call on your mothers God.
think she was good. You remember when
your father came home drunk late on cold
night, how patient your mother was.
You often heard her pray. She used to sit
by the hour meditating as though she were
thinking o. some good, warm place, where
it never gets cold, and where the bread does
not fail, and staggering steps never come.
You remember her now as she sat in cap and
spectacles reading her Bible Sunday after
noon. What ge7d advice she used to give
YOU! How black and terrible the hole in the
ground looked 70 you when with two ropes
they let her down to rest in the graveyard!
All, I think from your look that am on the
right track. Awake, O sleeper, and call
upon thy mothers God.
But perhaps both your father and mother
were depraved. Perhaps your cradle was
rocked by sin and shame, and it Is wonder
that from such a starting YOU have come to
responsibility. Then don't call upon tho
God of either of your parents beg Of you.
But YOU have children. You know God
kindled those bright eyes and rounded those
healthy limbs and set beating within their
breast an immortality. Perhaps in the be-
lief that somehow it would be for the best
YOU have taught them to say m evening
prayer, and when they kneel beside You an
fold their little hands and look up, th:s
faces all innocence and love, you know tAl'
thore is God somewhere about il ths
room.
think am on the right track at last
Awake, O sleeper, and call upon the Goa OF
thy chiidrenl May He set these little ones to
pulling at thy heart until they charm thee tc
the same God to whom tonight they will say
their little prayers.
But. alas, alas. some Of these men and wo'
men are unmoved by tho fact that thei1
father had Il God. that their mother had a
God, and their children have a God. but they
hay, no God. All the divine goodness fol
nothing. All warning for nothing. They are
souni asleen in the side of the ship, though
the sea and sky are in mad wrestle.
Many years ago q mau. leaving his family
in Massachusetts, sailed from Boston to
China to trade there. On the coast Of China
in the midst Of q night OF storm he male
shipwre *. The adventurer was washed up
on the beach senseless-all his mon9y gone.
H, hal to beg in tho streets OF Canton to
keep from starving. For two years there
was no communication between himself and
family They supposed him dead. He knew
not but that his family were dead. He hal
gone out as a captain. He was too prou 70
cone back as private sailor. But after 4
whila he choked down his pride and
saiEeI for Boston. Arriving there
he took an evening train for
the cente- OF the State, where he hal left his
family. Taking the stage from the depot
AMI ri ling score Of miles, he got home.
II" says that. going up in front OF the cot
tag, in tn" bright moonlight, the place
loota.l to him like heaven. He raped on
the winlow. and the affrighted servant let
him in II, ,vnnt +c tho whnra his
wife and child were sleeping. he dill not
dare to wake them for fear % the shock.
Bending over to kiss his child's cheek, tear
fell upon the wifes face, and she wakened,
and he said: .'Mary!" and sh" knew his
voice, and there was an indescrnable scene
of welcome and joy and thanksgiving tc
God.
To-day know that many Of you are sea
tossed and driven by sin in worse storm
than that which came down on the coast OF
China, and yet I pray God that you may, like
the sailor, live to get home. In the house OF
many mansions your friends are waiting to
meet you. They are wondering why YOU dI
not come. Escaped from the shlpwreeks o.
earth. NAV YOU at last go in! 1t will be
bright night-a very bright night a:
you put your thumb on the latch Of that
door. Once in you will find the old family
faces sweeter than when you last saw them,
AMI there it will be found that He who was
your fathers God, and your mothers God,
and YOUR children's God. is your own most