Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1895-07-06
mcnt of the church and assail these gre,

ment of the church and assail these great
evils of society. The Bible utters its de-
nunciation in this direction again and
again, and yet the piety of the day is
such Mandy PANTY sort of thing that
you cannot even quote Scripture with
out making somebody restless. AS long
as this holy imbecility 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 uncleanness 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
Numbered against these sins as against
no other. and yet there are those who
think we ought to take, when we speak
of these subjects, tone apologetic. I
put my foot on all the conventional rhet-
oric on this subject, and l tell you
plainly that unless you give up that sin
your doom is sealed, and world without
enl you will be chased by the anathemas
of an incensed God. rally you to a
besiegement of the gates of hell. We
want i'll this besieging host no soft SEN
timontalsts, but men who are willing
to take and give hard knocks. The gates
of GAIA were carried off, the gates of
Thebes We're 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 as the chief battering ram
Then there will be long list of aroused
pulpits, which shall be assailing for
tresses, and Gods redhot truth shall be
the flying ammunition of the contest,
and the sappers and the miners will lay
the train under these foundations of sin,
aDd at just the right time God, who
leads on the fray, will cry, Down with
the g=tes!" and the explosion beneath
will be answered by all the trumpets of
God Oh high, celebrating universal VIC
tory.
But there may be one wanderer that
would like to have kind word calling
homeward. have told You that society
has no mercy. Did 1 hint, at an earlier
point in this subject, that God will have
mercy upon any wanderer who would
like to come back to the heart of infinite
love?
A Lost Wanderer.
A cold Christmas night in farm
house. Father comes i'll from the barn,
knocks the snow from his shoes and sits
down by the fire. Tho mother sits at the
stand knitting. She says to him, "Do
| you remember it is the anniversary to-
| night!" The father is angered. He new
| er wants any allusion to the fact that
one had gone away, and the mere sug-
gestion that it was the anniversary of
| that sad event made him quite rough,
| although the tears ran down his checks
The old house dog that had played with
the wanderer when she was child comes
up and puts his head on the old man IS
knee, but he roughly repulses the dog
He wants nothing to remind him of the
anniversary day.
A cold winter night in city church
1t is Christmas night They have been
decorating the sanctuary. A lost wan
| derer of the street, with thin shawl
| about her, attracted by the warmth and
| light, comes i'll and sits near the door.
The minister OF religion is preaching Of
| him who was wounded for our trans
| gressions and bruised for our iniquities,
and the poor soul by the door said:
why, that must mean me! Mercy for
the chief of sinners; bruised for cur in
EQUITIES; wounded for our transgres-
sions.
The music that night in the sanctuary
brought back the old hymn which she
used to sing when, with father and
mother, she worshiped God III the vii
lage church. The service ever, the min
| lister went down the aisle. She said to
him: Were those words fer ne?
Wounded for our transgrossions. Was
that for me!' The man of God under
stood her not He knew not how to COM
fort a shipwrecked soul, and he passed
on, and he passed out. The poor wander
er followed into the street
Return of the Lost.
"What are you doing here, Meg?'
said the police. "What are you doing
here tonight?' "Oh," she replied, II
was in TO warm myself" And then the
rafting cough came, and she held to the
railing until the paroxysm was over
She passed on down the street, falling
from exhaustion, recovering herself
again, until after awhile she reached the
outskirts of the city, and passed ON into
| the country road. 1t seemed so familiar
She kept on the road, and she saw in the
distance q light i'll the window All,
that light had been cleaning there ev-
cry 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 in
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
that door had been locked she would
| have persisted on the threshold, for she
was near to DEATH But that door had
not been locked since the time she went
away. She pushed open 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 some
thing in the voice he recognized, and he
frisked about her until he aln.os pushed
her down in his joy.
In the morning the mother came
down. and she saw bundle of rags on
the hearth, but when the face was up
lifted, she knew it, and it was no more
old Meg Of the street. Throwing her
arms around the returned prodigal, she
cried, "Oh, Maggier' The child threw
her arms around her mothers neck and
said, "Oh, motherr p And while they
We're embraced rugged form lowered
above them. 1t was the father. The Sc
verify all gone out of his face, he stoop-
ed and took her up tenderly and carried
her to mothers room and laid her down
on mothers bed, for she was dying.
Then the lost one, looking up into her
mothers face, said: Wounded for our
transgressions. and bruised for our in-
iquitiesl Mother, do you think that
means me?'' "Oh, yes, my darling, "
L.