Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1895-04-26

elegant furniture, his children were
beautifully clad, his name was synony
nous with honor and usefulness, but
, evil habit knocked at his front door,
knocked at his back door, knocked at
his parlor door, knocked at his bedroom
door. Where is the piano? Sold to pay
the rent. Where is the hatrack? Sold to
meet the butchers bill. Where are the
carpets? Sold to get bread. Where is the
wardrobe? Sold to get rum. Where are
the daughters? Working their fingers off
in trying to keep the family together.
Worse and worse until everything is
gone. Who is that going up the front
steps Of that house? That is a creditor,
hoping to find some chair or bed that
has not been levied upon. Who are those
two gentlemen now going up the front
steps? The one is constable; the other
is the sheriff. Why do they go there?
The unfortunate is morally dead, social
ly dead, financially dead. Why do they
go there? will tell you why the cred
itors and the constables and the sheriffs
60 there They are, some on their own
account and some on account Of the
law, stripping the slain.1
A Pathetic Request.
An ex-member of congress, one of the
most eloquent men that ever stood in
the house of representatives, said in his
last moments: This is the end am
dying-dying OH borrowed bed, cover
ed by borrowed sheet, in house built
oy public charity Bury me under that
tree in the middle Of the field, where l
shall not be crowded, for | have been
crowded all my life" Where were the
jolly politicians and the dissipating
comrades who had been with him,
laughing at his jokes, applauding his
eloquence and plunging him into sin?
They have left Why? His money is
gone. his reputation is gone, his wit is
gone, his clothes are gone-everything
is gone Why should they stay any
longer? They have completed their
work. They have stripped the slain.
There is another way, however, of
doing that same work. Here is man
who, through his sin, is PROSTATE. He
acknowledges that he has done wrong.
Now is the time for you to 60 to that
man and say, Thousands of people
have been as far astray as you are and
got back. Now is the time for you
to 90 to that man and tell him Of the
omnipotont grace of God, that is suffi-
cient for any poor soul. Now is the
time to 90 and tell how swearing John
Bunyan, through the grace Of God, aft
erward came to the Celestial City. Now
is the time to go to that man and tell
him how profigate Newton came,
through conversion, to be a world re-
nowned preacher Of righteousness. Now
is the time to tell that man that multi
tudes who have been pounded with all
the fails Of sin and dragged through all
the sewers Of pollution at last have risen
to positive dominion Of moral power.
You do not tell him that, do you? No.
You say to him: Loan you money? No.
You are down. You will have to 60 to
the dogs Lend you dollar? | would
not lend you cents to keep you from
the gallows. You are debauchedl Get
out Of my sight nowl Down You will
have to stay down. And thus those
bruised and battered men are some
times acoosted by those who ought to
| lift them up. Thus the last vestige Of
hope is taken from them. Thus those
who ought to go and lift and save them
are guilty Of stripping the slair.
The point want to make is this; Sin
is hard, cruel and merciless. Instead Of
helping a man up, it helps him down,
and when, like Saul and his comrades
you lie on the field it will come and
steal your sword and helmet and shield,
leaving you to the jackal and the crow
Deceived.
But the world and satan do not do all
their work with the outcast and aban-
doned. A respectable impenitent man
comes to die. He is fat on his back. He
could not get up if the house was on
fire. Adroitest medical skill and gen.
tlest nursing have been a failure. de
has come to his last hour. What does
satan do for such man? Why, he
fetches up all the inapt disagreeable
and narrowing things in his life. He
saws: "Do you remember those chances
Won had for heaven and missed them!
Do You remember all those lapses In
conduct? Do you remember all those op-
probrious words and thoughts and ac-
tions? Don't remember them, eh? I'll
make you remember them" And then
be takes all the past and empties 1t on
that deathbed, as the mailbags are emp
tied on the postoffice floor The man is
sick. He cannot get away from them.
Then the man says to satan: You
have deceived me. You told me that all
would be well. You said there would
be no trouble at the last. You told me
If did SO and so you would do so and
So Now you corner me and hedge me
ND and submerge me in everything evil
"Ha, hal" says satan. Il was only fool
ing you. Il is mirth for me to see you
suffer. l have been for 30 years plotting
10 get you just MuCAo JOu "AN' ~ -
for you now; it will be worse for you
after awhile. 1t pleases me. Lie STILL
sir. Don't finch or shudder. Come,
now. will tear off from you the last
rag of expectation. l Twill rend away
from your soul the last hope. l will
leave you bare for the beating OF the
storm. 1t 10 my business to strip the
slain "
While men are in robust health and
their digestion is good and their nerves
are strong they think their physical
strength will get them safely through
the last exigency. They say it is only
cowardly women who are afraid at the
last and CRY Out.for God. Wait till |
come to die / will show you. You
won't hear me pray, nor call for a min
lister, nor want chapter read me from
the Bible. But after the man has been
three weeks in a siokroom his nerves
are not so steady, and his worldly COM
panions are not anywhere near to cheer
him up, and he is persuaded that he
must quit life His physical courage is
ali pona