Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1895-04-27

4 bNOWN CHEMICAL co. BALTIMORE, ND. Z
AAA
Sin is a luxury now; it is exhilaratioIt
now; it is victory now. But after awhile
it is collision; it is defeat; it is exter-
mination; it is jackalism; it is robbing
the dead; it is stripping the slain. Give
it up today-give it up! Oh. how you
have been cheated on. my brother, from
one thing tn another All these years
you have been under an evil mastery
that You understood not. What have
your companions done for you? What
have they done for your health? Nearly
ruined it by caIousal What have they
done for your fortune? Almost scattered
it by spendthrift behavior What have
they done for your reputation? Almost
ruined it with good men. What have
they done for your immortal soul? AL
most insured its overthrow.
You are fastening on toward the con-
summation of all that is sad. Today
you stop and think, but it is only for a
moment, and then you will tramp Oh,
and at the close of this service you will
go cut, and the question will be, "How
did you like the sermon?" And one
man will say, 81 liked it very well, y
and another man will say, 81 didn't
like it at ALL" but neither of the an
swers will touch the tremendous fact
that if impenitent you are going at 80
knots an hour toward shipwreck. Yea,
You are in battle where you will fall,
and while your surviving relatives will
| take your remaining estate and the cem-
etery will take your body the messen-
gers of darkness will take Your soul and
come and 60 about you. stripping the
slain.
Brought to Life.
Many arc crying out, 81 admit am
slain; admit it. =" On what battlefield,
my brothers? By what weapon? "Pol-
luted imagination, says one man; I'm
toxicating liquor" says another man;
"My own hard heart" says another
man. Do you realize this? Then come
to tell you that the omnipotent Christ
is ready to walk across this battlefield
and revive and resuscitate and resurrect
your dead soul. Let him take your hand
| and rub away the numbness, your head
and bathe off the aching, your heart and
stop its wild throh He brought Lazarus
to life, he brought Jairus' daughter to
life, he brought the young man of Main
to life, and these are three proofs any
how that he can bring you to life.
When the Philistines came down OIL
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 peo-
pie that followed after the armies at
Charlottesville and at Pittsburg Land
ing and at Stone River and at Atlanta,
stripping the slain, but the northern and
southern women-God bless theml--
came on the field with basins and pads
and towels and lint and cordials and
Christian encouragement and tho poor
fellows that lay there lifted up their
arms and said, ''Oh, how good that does
feel since you dressed itp' And others
looked up and said, 'Oh, how you
make me think of my mother!" And
others said, Tell the folks at homo
died thinking about them. - And anoth-
or looked up and said, Miss, won't
you sing me a verse of Home, Sweet
Home, before die?" And then the tat
too was sounded, and the hats were off,
and the service was read, 81 am the res
direction and the life" And i'll honor
of the departed the muskets were load
ed and the command given, Present
firep' And there was a sbingle set up
at the head of the grave, with the ep-
itaph of Lieutenant - in the Four
teenth Massachusetts regulars" or
Captain - in the Fifteenth regi-
ment of South Carolina volunteers.
And SO now, across this great field of
moral and spiritual battle, the angels
of God come walking among the slain,
and there are voices of comfort and
voices of hope and voices of resurrection
and voices of heaven.
A Tragedy Recalled.
One night 1 saw tragedy ON the cor
ner 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 au intelligent forehead, stout
chest; he had a robust development.
Splendid young man. Cultured young
man, Honored young man. Why did he
stop there while so many were going up
and down? The fact is that every
man has good angel and bad angel
contending for the mastery of his spirit,
and there were good angel and bad
angel struggling with that young man $
soul at the corner of Broadway and
Houston street. Come with Inc" said
the good angel; 81 will take you home;
| will spread my wings over your pill
low; / will lovingly escort you all
through life under supernatural protec-
ton; l 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 tho hand
of the bright angel of Christian resur-
rection. In answer to your fathers petit
ton and your mothers prayer have
been sent of the Lord out of heaven to
be yonr 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 seraph breathes OIL it.
mo, no, said the bad angel: 'come
with me; l have something better to
offer. The wines l pour are from chalices
of bewitching carousal; the dance lead
is over floor tessellated with unrestrain-
ed indulgences; there is no God to
frown on the temples of sin where !
worship The skies are italian. The
paths / tread are through meadows,
laisied 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