The enterprise. [volume] (Wellington, Ohio) 188?-1899, 1895-04-24

brought the young man of Main to life,
and these are three proofs anyhow that
He can bring you to life.
When the Philistipes came down on
the field they stepped between the
corpses, and they rolled over the dead,
and they took away everything that
was valuable; and so it was with the
people that followed after the armies
at Charlottesville, and at Pittsburg
Landing, and at Stone River, and at
Atlanta, stripping the slain; but the
northern and southern women-God
bless them!-came on the field with
basins, and pads, and towels, and lint,
and cordials, and Christian encourage
ment; and the poor fellows that lay
there lifted up their arms and said: so,
how good that does feel since you
dressed itl'' and others looked up and
said: 80, how you make me think Of
my mother!" and others said: Tell the
folks at home died thinking about
them" and another looked up and said:
Miss, won't you sing me verse of
Home, Sweet Home. before l die?"
And then the tattoo was sounded, and
the hats were off, and the service was
read: II am the resurrection and the
life" and in honor of the departed the
muskets were loaded, and the command
given, ''Present-fre" And there was
a single set up at the head Of the
grave, with the epitaph of Lieutenant
- in the Fourteenth Massachusetts
Regulars" or Captain - in the
Fifteenth Regiment of South Carolina
Volunteers" And so now, across this
great field of mora. and spiritual battle,
the angels of God come walking among
the slain, and there are voices of com
fort, and voices of hope, and voices of
resurrection, and voices of Heaven.
One night l saw tragedy on the
corner of Broadway and Houston street.
A young man, evidently doubling as to
which direction he had better take, his
hat lifted high enough so that you
could see he had an intelligent fore
head, stout chest; he had robust de-
velopment. Splendid young man. Cul,
tured young man. Honored young man.
Why did he stop there while so many
were going up and down? The fact is,
that every young man has good angel
and a bad angel contending for the
mastery of his spirit, and there was
good angel and bad angel struggling
with that young mans soul at the cor
ner of Broadway and Houston street.
"Come with me" said the good angel;
81 will take you home; will spread
my wings over your pillow; l will
lovingly escort you all through life un-
der supernatural projections; / will
bless every cup you drink out of, every
couch you rest on, every doorway you
enter; l will consecrate your tears
when you weep, your sweat when you
toll, and at the last l will hand over
your grave into the hand of the bright
angel of Christian resurrection. In
answer to your fathers petition and
your mothers prayer, have been sent
of the Lord out of Heaven to be your
guardian spirit. Come with me, said
the good angel in voice of unearthly
symphony. 1t was music like that
which drops from lutte of Heaven
when a seraph breathes on it.
mo, no, said the bad angel, ''come
with me; l have something better to
offer; the wines pour from chalices of
bewitching carousal; the dance l lead
is over floor tassellated with unre-
strained ipdulgences; there is no God
to frown on the temples Of sin where |
worship. The skies are Italian. The
paths | tread are through meadows,
daisied and primrosed. Come with me-"
The young man hesitated at time
when hesitation was ruin, and the bad
angel smote the good angel until it de-
parted, spreading wings through the
starlight upward and away until door
flashed open in the sky and forever the
wings vanished.
That was the turning point in that
young mans history; for, the good
angel flown, he hesitated no longer,
but started on pathway which is
beautiful at the opening, but blasted at
the last. The bad angel, leading the
way, opened gate after gate, and at
each gate the road became rougher and
the sky more lurid, and what was pc
culiar, as the gate slammed shut it
came to with a jar that indicated that
it would never open. Passed each por-
tai, there was a grinding of locks and
a showing of bolts; and the scenery
on either side of the road changed
from gardens to deserts and the
June air became cutting Decem-
ber blast, and the bright wings of
the bad angel turned into sackcloth,
and the eyes of light became hollow
with hopeless grief, and the fountains,
that at the start had tossed with wine,
poured forth bubbling tears and foam
ing blood, and on the right side of the
road there was a serpent, and the man
said to the bad angel: What is that
and the answer was, THAT
is the serpent of stinging remorse."
On the left side of the road there was
a lion, and the man asked the bad an
gel: ''What is that lion?" and the an
swer was, ''That is the lion of all-de-
vouring despair" A vulture few
through the sky, and the man asked
the bad angel: "What is that vulture?"
and the answer was, "That is the vul-
ture waiting for the carcasses of the
slain"
And then the man began to try to
pull off him the folds of something
that had wound him round and round,
and he said to the bad angel What is
it that twists me in this awful convo-
lution?" and the answer was: THAT
is the worm that never dies" And then
the man said to the bad angel What
does all this mean? | trusted in what
you said at the corner of Broadway