St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1896-10-10

case 10 CO0Scle0c0. VINO art tnOU,
Conscience? What 10 your business!
Where werc you born? What are you
doing here? ooh" says Conscience.
II was born in Heaven. came down
to befriend this man. / have lived
with him. I have instructed him.
have warned him. l showed him the
right and the worng. advising him ia
take the one and eschew the her.
have kindled . great light in his soul
With a. whip of scorpions l have
scourged his wickedness. and I have
tried to cheer him when doing right;
and yet / am compelled to testify on
the stand to-day that he has some.
times re jected my mission. Oh, how
many cups of life have pressed to his
lips that he dashed down, and how
often has he stood with his hard heel
On the bleeding heart of the Son of Godl
1t pains me very much that have to
testify against this Christian man, and
vet must, in behalf Of Him who will
in no wise clear the guilty, say that
this Christian man has done wrong.
lie has been worldly. He has been
neglectful. lie has done thousand
things he ought not to have done, and
left undone q thousand things he
ought to have done" That will do,
Conscience. You can sit down.
The third witness call in the case
is an angel Of God. Bright and shin
ing one, what doest thou here? What
hast thou to say against this man on
trial? ''Oh," says the angel, Il have
been q messenger to him. l have
guarded him. l have watched him.
With this wing have defended him,
and oftimes. when he knew it not,
led him into green pastures and be-
side the still waters. l snatched
from him the poisoned chalices.
When bad spirits came upon him
to destroy him, 1 fought them back
with infinite fierccness, and yet have
to testify to-day that he has rejected
my mission. He has not done as he
ought to have done. Though I came
from the sky, he drove me back.
Though with this wing defended
him, and though with this voice I
wcoed him, have to announce his
multiplied imperfections- dare not
keep back the testimony, for then !
should not dare to appear again
amongst the sinless ones before the
great white throne"
There is only one more witness TO
be called on behalf of the prosecution,
and that is the great. the holy, the
august, the omnipotent Spirit of God.
We bow down before Him. Holy
Spirit, knowest Thou this man? 'Oh,
yes" says the Holy Gne, 'Iknow him.
have striven with him 10000 times,
and though sometimes he did seem to
repent, he fell back again rs often from
his first estate. Ten thousand times
ten Thousand has he grievcd me. al-
though the Bible warned him, saying:
'Grieve not the Holy Ghost. Quench
not the Spirit Yes, he has driven me
back. Though am the third person
of the Trinity, he has trampled on my
mission, and the blood of the atone
ment that I brought with which to
cleanse his soul he sometimes despised
came from the throne Of God to con-
vert and comfort and sanctify, and yet
look at that man and see what he is
compared with what. unresisted, /
would have made him.
The evidence on the part of the pros
ecution has closed. Now let the de-
Tense bring on the rebuttaI testimony.
What have you, o Christian soul, to
bring in reply to this evide nee Of the
world, of the conscience. Of the angel
and Of the Holy Ghost? No evidence?
Are all these things true? .'Yes. I'm
clean, unclean.". says every Christian
soul. What? Do you not begin to
tremble Mt the thou ght Of condemns.
ton?
We have come now to the most inter-
esting part of this great trial. The
evidence all in. The advocates speak.
The profession Of an advocate Is full
of responsibility. In England and the
United States there have arisen men
who in the calling have been honored
by their race and thrown contempt
upon those who in the profession
have been guilty Of a great many
meannesses. Tina: profession will be
honorable rs long as it has attached to
it such names as Mansfield, and Mar
shall, and Story, and Kent, and South
ard, and. William Writ. The court
room has sometimes been the scene of
very marvellous and thrilling things.
Some of you remember the famous
Girard will case. where one Of our ad-
vocates pleaded the cause of the Bible
and Christianity in mastery Anglo
Saxon, every paragraph thunder
bolt
Some Of you have read Of the IA
nous trial in Westminster Hall Of
Warren Hastings. the despoiler of In
dia. That great man had conquered
India by splendid talents, by courage,
by brides. by gigantic dishonesty. The
whole world had rung with applause
or condemnation. Gathered in West.
minister Hall. q place in which 30 kings
had been inaugurated, was one Of the
most famous audiences ever gath
cred. Foreign ministers and princes
sat there. Peers marched in, clad
in ermine and gold. Mighty men
and women from all lands looked
down npon the scene. Amid all that
pomp and splendor, and amid an ex-
element such as has seldom been seen
in any court room. Edmund Burke
advanced in = speech which will last
rs long Is the English language, con-
GLIDING with this burning charge.
which made Warren Hastings cringe
and cover: Il impeach him in the
name of the commons house of
parliament, whose trust he has be-
trayed. impeach him in the name of
the English nation, whose ancient
Aonor he has sullied. / impeach him
in the name of the people of India.
whose rights he has trampled on and
whose country he has turned into .
desert. And, lastly, in the name of
human nature, in the name Of both
sexes, in the name of every age and
rank. impeach him Is the common
enemy and oppressor Of ALL.
But turn from the recital of these
memorable occasions to the grander
trial. and l have to tell you that in
this trial Of the Christian for the life
of his soul the advocates arc miQhtioP.