Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1895-07-12

,rsu th's suuiius. Sr'aky. -saPeadoas gate
rf tbc losi.
Bat ,ou ssy You have described tsese |
.-atr- q he'll aud shown "a hos they sWiag |
Ca O. aN1W the entrance O. the doomed Will |
YHu uHt. please br'Ore you so through the /
zsfHuHu. tell a. hHH thcsa gates of hell NAV |
-wtus vat O. sll's the os'ape II the peni- /
teui I u,IlN. hut Ncry few escape OF |
the thousand that ~ "a s99 perish suppose /
one 81 ths-r wanderers should Ennck az
yaur duor Wuuli Nvu admit herr Suppose |
vau knew where she yam" ir0m. Would YOU |
ak her O. 1T down n Your dining table, |
Would you ask her g. become the governcss /
~ vour children Would you Introduce her |
among your aslulintAncsship~' Would YOU
AXE the r,.sj,au .'ility Of pulling On the out
side Of tho cate 80 hell while the pusher ON |
the inside ui the gate l. trying 10 get |
uuiy You would not. Not one oi "a
thousand of you would dare O. do ~. You |
would write beautiful poetry over her sor- |
rows and weep over her misfortuues hut !
give her practical help you never will. But |
You say. Are there No ways by which the
wanderrr may escape On. YES, Three or
four. The one way is the sewing girls gar |
ret. dingy. cold, hunger blasted. Bat, YOU |
say. rs there no other way Tor her 10 e.
cape oh, yes! Another way l. the street
thar leads to the river al midnight, the end
OF the city dock, the moon shining down on
tut NAAEl AAAhAlA- ~ ANth ~ NAAtNAA NAAN "'aA
defs II IL i deep enough. Ii l.. No boatman
near enough to hear the plunge. No watch
man near enough Ia pick her out before she
sinks the third time No other wayI Yes; by
the curve at the railroad at the point where
the engineer Of the lightning express train
cannot see a hundred yards ahead 10 the
form that lies across the track. He may
whistle down brakes, but not soon enough
to dlsappOiut the one who seeks her death.
But. YOU say, "lss't God good. and won't He
furg,ve!' Yes but man will not, woman
will not, society will not. The church OF
God saws 1t will but il will not. Our work.
then, must be prevention rather than cure.
Those gates Of hell are to be Frustrated
lust as certainly rs God and the Bible
are true but II will not be done until
Christian men and women, quitting
their prudery and squeamishness in this
matter, rally the whole Christian sent
ment Of the church aud assail these great
evils Of society. The Bible utters its de-
nuuciation in this direction again and again,
and vet the piety OF the day is such mandy
PANTY sort Of thing that you cannot even
quote Scripture without making somebody
restless. A. long as this holy imhecility
reigns IN the church OF God. sin will laugh
YOU to scorn. | do not know but that before
the church wakes up matters will get worse
and worse. and that there will have to be
one lamb sacrificed from each Of the most
carefully guarded folds, and the wave OF I'M
cIeanness dash to the spire of the village
church and the top Of the cathedral tower.
Prophets and patriarchs and apostles and
evangelists and Christ Himself have thun-
dered against these sins a. against no other,
and yet there are those who think We ought
to take, when We speak of these subjects, a
tone apologize. | put my foot on all the
conventional rhetoric on this subject and |
tell YOU plainly that unless you give up that
sin YOUR doom is sealed, and world without
end you will be- chased by the anathemas Of
an incensed God. | rally You to u besiege-
ment of the gates Of hell. We want in this
besieging host no soft sentimentasts but men
who are willing to take and give hard
knocks. The gates of GAIA were carried of,
the gates Of Thebes were battered down. the
gates OF Babylon were destroyed. and the
gates Of hell are going to be Frustrated.
The Christianized printing press will be
rolled up rs the chief battering ram. Then
there will be long list OF aroused pulpits,
which shall be asSailing fortresses. and Gods
redhot truth shall be the flying ammunition
OF the contest, and the sappers and the min
crS will lay the train under these foundations
OF sin. aud ut just the right time God, who
leads on the fray, will cry, Down with the
gates and the explosion beneath will be
answered by all the trumpets of Goa high,
celebrating universal victory.
| But there may be one wanderer that would
/ like to have a kind word calling hOmeward.
/ | have told you that society has no mercy.
| Did | hint, at an earlier point in this subject.
| that God will have mercy upon any wan
| derer who would like to come back to the
| heart of infinite love!
! cold Christmas night In farmhouse.
! Father comes IN from the barn. knocks the
snow from his shoes and sits down by the
fire The mother sits at the stand knitting
| She say. to him, "Do you remember 1t is the
| anniversary tu-nightl' The father is an
/ gered He never wants any allusion to the
| fact that one lad gone away. and the mere
| suggestion that ii was the anniversary of
that sad event made him quite rough, al
| though the tears ran down his cheeks. The
| old house dog that had played with the wan
derer when she was Il child comes up and
puts his head ON the old mans knee but he
| roughly repulses the dog He wants nothing
to remind him Of the anniversary day.
A cold winter night in a city church. 1t
is Christmas night They have been decora-
ting the sanctuary. A lost wanderer Of the
street, with lhin shawlahJut her attracted by
the warmth and light comes III AMI sits near
| the door. The minister Of religion is preach
ing of Him who was wounded for our trans
greSSiuns and bruised for our iniquities, and
the poor soul by the door said "Why. that
must mean me! Mercy for the chief OF sin
| our transgre-sionS
The music that night in the sanctuary
brought back the Old hymn which she used
10 sing when, with father aud mother she
worshipei God in the village church The
service over. the minister went down the
aisle She said to him: Were those wordl
for me-? Wounded for our transgressions
Was that for me- The man OF God under
stool her not. He knew not how to comfort
II shipwrecked soul, and he passed on, and
he passed out. The poor wanderer followed
into the street.
"What are you doing here, Meg?" said the
police. What are you doing here Tonight?
"Oh. she replied. 81 was in to warm my
SELF, Aud then the rafting cough came
and she held to the railing until the psroxysm
was over. Sac passed on down the street,
falling from exhaustion, recovering herself
again, until after awhile she reached the
outs OF the city. and passed oninto the coun.
try road Ii seemed SO familiar. She kept
on the road, ami she saw in the distance Il
light in the window. All, that light
hal been cleaning there every night
since she went away. On that country
road she passed until she came
to the garden gate. She opened it and
passed up the path where she played ia
childhood. She came to the steps and
looked in at the fire on the hearth. Then
she put her fingers to the latch. Oh, if tina,
door had been locked she would have per-
ished on the threshold for she was near tC
death But that door had not been locked
since the time she went away. She pushed
opened the door. She went in and lay down
on the hearth by the fire. The old house
dog growled as he saw her enter, but there
was something in the voice he recognized
AMI he frisked about her until he almost
pushed her down in his Joy.
In the morning the mother tcame down.
and she saw bundle of rags on the hearth
but when the face was uplifted, she knew 1t
and it was no more old Meg OF the street
Throwing her arms around the returned
prodigal she cried: "Oh, Maggie!" Thu
child threw her arms around her mother
neck and said, "Oh, mother' And whll