The Progress. (Shreveport, La.) 1892-1900, 1896-08-15

! block % pure, white Parian marble
thaA oNt Of black rock that has been
! CRACKED and twisted and split md
/ Scared with the storms of a half CEN
| tN"Y. Could You not write a last will
ana testament. or write decd, or write
| IN important document Oh pure white
sheet N paper easier than YOU could
| writ" T. Ipon sheet scrubbed ali over
| with lofamy and blotted and torn from
! t0p j Co'tOm' And yet there arc those
! VINO lr2 50 uncommon CnsiCal as tC
! believe that though man starts in
| thla world with infancy and It's innO-
2en2a lHd turns out badly. in the next
""E'd ha can start With dead failure
ana t1rN out well. But say some
| people re ought to have another
| chance III the next world because our
| III" here is SO very brief: we scarcely
nav" room to turn around between the
| cradle and the grave, the wood of the
! one almost striking against the marble
or the other. We ought to have another
chaCce because of the brevity Of this
life My friends, do you know what
made The ancient deluge a necessity?
It vas the longevity of the antcdi-
lNvidns. They were worse in the Sec
| ord century than in the first, and worse
when they got three hundred years old
ana worse at four hundred and worse
| at t!e hundred, and worse at six hun
H:ed, and worse at eight hundred; until
the world had to be washed and
secured and scrubbed and soaked and
! sunk ard anchored a whole month IN
De" water before it was fit for decent
people to live in. have seen many
pictures Of old Time with his scythc to
cut. but | never saw any picture of
Ilma with chest of medicines to heal.
Seneca said that in the first few years
OF his public life Nero was set ND as an
! oX@mple Of clemcncy and kindness but
re got worse and worse, the path de-
ac"niins, until at siXty-eight years OF
age ne vas the suicide. If eight hun
drei Years. Of lifetime could not cure
th2 intediluvians Of their iniuuity. |
undertake to say that all the ages of
elernltI would be only prolongation of
depraVity. But" says some one. "in
IN" next life the evil surroundings will
b. Withdrawn and good influences will
be substituted. and hence, expurgation.
sublmltE. glorifcation But you must
remember that the righteous. all their
sins forgiven, pass right up into beat
INC state, and then having passed up
into the beatific state, not need
lng any other chance, that will
leave all those who have never
been forgiven, and who were impeni-
tent. aIone-alone! and where are the
SaiVable influences to como from? Can
il De expected that DR.. Duff. who spent
his Whole life in pointing the Hindcos
to heaven. and Dr.. Abeel, who spent
his life IN evangelizing China, and that
Jndson. who spent his life in preach
liz the Gospel to Burmah-can it be
expected that they will be sent down
from some celestial Missionary Society
to educate and to save those who
wasted their earthly existence? No,
We are told distinctly that all mission
airy and eyangelistic influences will he
ended forever and the good having
passed up 10 their beatiic state, all the
morally bankrupt will be together, and
where are the salvablc influences to
come from? Will specked or bad
apple put IL a barrel Of diseased apples
make The other apples good? Will one
who is down be able to lift others up?
VIII those who have miseraby failed
in the business of this life be able to
pay the debts of other spiritual insol-
vents? VIII million wrongs make
one right: POneropolis was the city
where King Rufus of Thracia, put all
bad people of his kingdom. and when
ever there We're iniquitous people found
in any part Of the land they were all
sent to Poneropolis. 1t was the great
capital of wickedness. Suppose a man
or q woman had opened primary
school in Poneropolis. would the par
ents Of other cities have sent their chill
dr2n there to be educated and re-
formed
Again, | wish you further to notice
that another chance in another world
means the ruin of this. Now, sup
pose 4 wicked man is assured that
after q lifetime of wickedness. he
can tx it all right up in the
future. That would be the demorali
zatic- Of society, that would be the
demolition Of the human race. There
ara men who are now kept on the limits
Of sin Oy their fear. The fear that if
we are bad and unforgiycn here it will
not be well with us in the next exist
encs, is the chief influence that keeps
civilization from rushing back into
semi ba: barism, and keeps semi-bar-
baris1n from rushing back into mid
night savagery, and keeps midnight
sayaparv from rushing hack into ay