The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1896-03-11

farther and farther from God, until
one day l got letter saying:
my Dear Husband-I have tr1et
every way, done everything and pray
ed earnestly and fervently for you
reformation, but 1t seems of no avail
Since our little Henry died, with tn
exception of those few happy week!
when you remained sober, my life hac
been one of sorrow. Many of thu
nights I have sat by the window, with
my face bathed in tears. watching fol
your coming. I am broken hearted
I am sick. Mother and father have
been here frequently and begged me
to come home, but my love for you
and my hope for brighter days have
always made me refuse them. Thai
hope seems now beyond realization
and I have returned TO them. 1t i,
hard, and I battled long before doing
it. May God bless and preserve you
and take from you that accursed appe
tite, and hasten the day when we shall
be again living happily together
This will be my daily prayer, know
ing that he has said, Come unto me,
all ye that labor and are heavy laden,
and will give you rest From your
loving wife, MARY"
"And so 1 wandered on and wander.
ed on" says that man, until one
night I passed a Methodist meeting
house, and I said to myself, I'll 60 in
and see what they are doing and I
got to the door, and they were sing
ing:
"All may come, hoev5 will
This man receives poor sinners STILL"
Aud I dropped right there where I
was, and I said, "God, have mercy!'
and he had mercy on me. My home is
restored, my wife sings all day long
during work, my children come out a
long to greet me home, and my house
hold is little heaven. I will tell you
what did all this for me. 1t was the
truth that this day you proclaim, On
him the Lord hath laid the iniquity
of us all Yonder is a woman who
would say: I wandered off from my
fathers house; I heard the storm that
pelts on a lost soul; my feet were blis-
tered on the hot rocks; I went on and
on, thinking that no. one cared for my
soul, when one night Jesus met me,
and he said: "Poor thing, go homel
Your father is waiting for you; your
mother is waiting for you. Go home,
poor thingr And, sir, I was too weak
to pray, and I was too weak to repent,
but Just cried out-I sobbed out my
sins and my sorrows on the shoulders
of him of whom it is said, The Lord
hath laid on him the iniquity of us
ALL"
There is a young man who would
say: II had a Christian bringing up;
I came from the country to city life;
I started well; I had good position,
a good commercial position-but one
night at the theater I met some young
men who did me no good. They drag
ged me all through the sewers of ini-
quity, and lost my morals, and Host
my position, and I shabby and wretch
ed. I was going down the street
thinking that no one cared for me
when young man tapped me on the
shoulder and said, George, come
with me, and I will do you
good looked at him to see wheth-
er he was joking or not. I saw he
was in earnest, and I said. What do
you mean, sir2 We'll, he replied, I
mean that if you will come to the meet
ing tonight I will be very glad to in
troduce you. I will meet you at the
door. Will you Gomez Said I, I
will I went to the place where I
was tarrying. liked myself up as
we'll as could. I buttoned my coat
over ragged vest, and went to the
door of the church, and the young
men met me, and we went in, and as
I went in I heard an old man pray
ing, and he looked so much like my
father, I sobbed right out, and they
were all around, so kind and so sym
pathetic that I just there gave my
heart to God, and know. that what
you say is true; l know it in my own
experience" "On him the Lord hath
laid the iniquity of us all" Oh, my
brother, without stopping to look
whether your hand trembles or not,
without stopping to look whether your
hand is bloated with sin or not, put it
in my hand and let me give you one
warm, brotherly, Christian grip and
invite you right up to the heart, to the
compassion, to the sympathy, to the
pardon of him on whom the Lord
hath laid the iniquity of usall. Throw
away your sins. Garry them no long
er. I proclaim emancipation to all
who are bound, pardon for all sin and
eternal life for all the dead.
Some one comes here today, and I
stand aside. He comes up three steps.
He comes to this place. I must stand
aside. Taking that place, he spreads
abroad his hands, and they were nail
ed. You see his feet; they were bruis-
ed. He pulls aside the robe and
shows you his wounded heart. say,
cart thou weary2" EYES," he says,
"weary with the worlds Woe" 81
say, "Whence comest thouS" He
says, Il came from Calvary" I say,
"Who comes with thee?" He says:
"No one; I have trodden the wine
press alone" I say, "Why comest
thou here2" 'Oh, he says, ''I came
here to carry all the sins and sorrows
of the people," And he kneels. He
says, "Pdt on my shoulders all the
sorrow and all the sins" And, con-
scious of my own sins first, I take
them and put them on the shoulders
of the Son of God. I say, "Canst