The Banner-Democrat. [volume] (Lake Providence, East Carroll Parish, La.) 1892-current, 1896-08-01
HUMAN ! TROUBLES.
Rev. ~ q image Dsscourses on the
o6Esolat1ons Of Religion.
They Ar Dunleient to Support the Chris-
tsaa Anid Scenes of Trial and
D1saster-God's hand
IN Them AL

Washington congregation, being based
on the text:
And the Lord brought an east wind upon the
land all that day and all that night. Exodus
x.1a
The reference here Is not to cy-
clone, but to the long-continued blow
ing of the wind from an unhealthtul
quarter. The north wind is bracing,
the south wind is relaxing, but the
east wind is irritating and full OF
threat Eighteen times does the Bible
speak against tho east wind. Moses
describes the thin ears blasted by the
east wind. The psei;aist describes
the breaking OF the ships of Tarshish
by the east wind. The locusts that
plagued Egypt were borne in on the
east wind. The gourd that sheltered
Jonah was shattered by the east
wind; and in all the 5000 summers,
autumns, winters and springs of the
worlds existence the worst wind that
ever blew is the east wind. Now, If
God would only give us a climate OF
perpetual nor'wester, how genial and
kind and placid and Industrious Chris
tians we would all bel But 1t takes
almighty grace to be what we ought to
be under the east wind. Under the
chilling and wet wing OF the east
wind the most of the worlds
villianies, fraunds, outrages. suicides
and murders have been Matched out.
think If you should keep d meteoro-
logical history eff the days of the year,
and put right beside it the criminal
record of the country, you would find
that those were the best days for pub
lie morals which were under the north
or west wind, and that those were the
worst days for public morals which
were under the east wind. The points
of the compass have more to do with
the worlds morals and the church's
piety than you have yet suspected.
Rev. Dr. Archibald Alexander, emf
hent for learning and for consecra-
ton, when asked by one of his stia
dents at Princeton whether he always
had full assurance of faith, replied:
"Yes, except when the wind blows
from the east" DIR. Francia, dictator
of Paraguay, when the wind was from
the east, made oppressive enactments
for the people, but when the weather
changed, repented him of the cruel
ties repealed the enactments, and was
In good humor with all the world
Before overtake the main thought
OF my subject want to tell Christian
people they ought to be observant of
climatic changes. Be on your guard
tsx-1, he IL l.
There are certain styles of temptation
that you can not endure under certain
styles Of weather. When the wind
blows from the east. if you are of
nervous temperament, 60 not among
exasperating people, try not to settle
bad debts, do not try to settle old DIS
putes, do not talk with bigot on re-
| ligion, do not go among those people
who delight in saying irritating
things, do not try to collect funds for
a charitable institution, do not try to
answer an insulting letter. If these
things must be done, do them when
the wind is from the north, or the
south, or the west, but not when the
wind is from the east.
You say that men and women ought
not to be SO sensitive and nervous. /
admit it, but / am not talking about
what the world ought to be, / am
talking about what the world is.
While there are persons whose dispo-
sition does not seem to be affected by
changes in the atmosphere, nine out of
ten are nightly played upon by such
tv.A CIrse
such circumstances do not write hard
things against yourself, do not get
worried about your fuctuating expert
ence. You are to remember that the
barometer in your soul is only an
swering the barometer of the
wea Their. Instead of sitting down
and becoming discouraged and
saying, II am not Chris
tian because l don't feel exhil-
arant." get up and look out of the
window and see the weather vane
pointing in the wrong quarter, and
then say: Get thee behind me, Satan,
thou prince of the power of the air;
get out of my house! get out of my
heart, thou demon Of darkness horsed
on the east wind. Awayw However
good and great you may be in the
Christian life, your soul will never be
Independent of physical condition. !
feel ! am uttering a most practical,
useful truth here, one that may give
relief to a great many Christians who
are worried and respondent at times.
DIR. Rush, a monarch in medicine,
after curing hundreds of cases of men,
tai depression, himself fell sick and
lost his religious hope, and he would
not believe his pastor when the pastor
told him that his spiritual depression
was only q consequence of physical de-
preston. Andrew Fuller, Thomas
Scott, William Cowper, Thomas Bos-
ton, David Brainerd, Philip Melancthon
were mighty men for God, but all of
them illustrations of the fact that a
mans soul is not independent of his
physical health. An eminent physician
gave as his opinion that no man ever
died greatly triumphantdeath whose
disease was below the diaphragm.
Stackhouse, the learned Christian
commentator. says he does not think
Saul was insane when David played
the harp before him, but it was a hypo-
chopdria coming from inflammation of
the liver. Oh, how many good people
have been mistaken in regard to their
religious hope, not taking these things
into consideration! The dean of Car
Isle. one of the best men that ever
lived, and one of the most useful, sat
down and wrote: Though L have
endeavored to discharge my duty as