Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1896-08-22


now. Oftentimes he is very earthly, and
he talks SO little about Christ and sc
much about himself. am very glad tc
testify that this Is bad man."
Stop, o world with the greedy eye
and hard heart. I fear you are too much
interested In this trial to give impartial
evidence Let all those who hear the
testimony Of this witness know that
there is an old family quarrel between
these two parties. There always ha:
been variance between the world and
the church, and while the world on the
witness stand today has told great
deal of truth about this Christian man,
you must take it all with much allow
ance, remembering that they still keeI
the old grudge good. o world Of the
greedy eye and the hard heart, that will
do; you may sit down.
The second witness call in this case
is conscience Who art thou, O con-
sctenceY What is your business? Where
were you born? What are you doing
herep "Oh," says conscience, ~ was
born In heaven. I came down to be-
friend this man. I have lived with him.
have instructed him. I have warned
him. I showed him the right and the
wrong, advising him TO take the one
and eschew the other. l have kindled 6
great light in his SOUL With why
of scorpions I have soourged his wicked.
ness, and I have tried to cheer bin
when doing right, and yet I am com.
PEELED to testify on the stand today that
he has sometimes rejected my mission.
Oh, how many cups Of life have
pressed to his lips that be dashed down,
and how often hos he stood with his
hard heel on the bleeding heart of the
Son of Cod It pains me very much
that 1 have 10 testify against this Chris
tian man, and yet I must, in behalf Of
him who will in no wise clear the
guilty, say that this Christian man has
done wrong. He has been worldly. He
has been neglectful. He has done q
thousand things he ought not to have
done and left undone thousand things
he ought to have done" That will do,
conscience. You can sit down.
Important Testimony.
The third witness I call in the case is
IN angel of God. Bright and shining
one, what doest thou herer What hast
thou to say against this man on trial!
"Oh," says the angel, II have been o
messenger to him. have guarded him.
have watched him. With this wing /
have defended him, and oftentimes,
when he knew 1t not, led him into
green pastures and beside the still wa
ters I snatched from him the poisoned
chalices. When bad spirits came upon
him to destroy him, fought them back
with infinite fierceness, and yet 1 have
to testify today that he had 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 1 defended him and though
with this voice I wooed him, I have to
announce his multiplied imperfections.
dare not keep back the testimony, for
then l 81 Id 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 One, II know him. I have striven
with him 10000 times, and, though
sometimes be did seem to repent, he fell
back again as often from his first estate.
Ten thousand times 10000 has he
grieved me, although the Bible warned
him, saying: 'Grieve not the Holy
Ghost. Quenoh not the Spirit. Yes, he
has driven me back Though am the
third person of the Trinity he has tram
pied on my mission, and the blood of
the atonement that l brought with
which to cleanse his soul he sometimes
despised. I came from the throne OF
God to convert and comfort and sancti-
fly, and yet look at that man and see
what he is compared with what, unre-
sisted, would have made him.
The evidence on the part OF the prose-
cution has closed. Now let the defense
bring on the rebuttal testimony. What
have you, o Christian soul, to bring in
reply to this evidence Of the world, OF
the conscience, of the angel and of the
Holy Ghost? No evidence? Are all these
things true? eyes. Unclean, unclean, "
says every Christian soul. What? Do
you not begin to tremble OF the thought
of condemnation?
Summing Up.
We have come now to the most inter-
esting part Of this great trial. The evil
dence r'l in, the advocates speak. The
profess. of all advocate is full of re-
sponsib ity. In England and the United
States there have arisen men who in this
calling have been honored by their race
and thrown contempt upon those who
in the profession have been guilty Of q
great many meannesses. That profess
sion will be honorable as long as it has
attached to it such names as Mansfield
and Marshall and Story and Kent and
Southland and William Writ. The court
room has sometimes been the scene OF
very marvellous and thrilling things
Some of you remember the famous Gil
rard will case, where one of our advo-
Gates pleaded the cause of the Bible and
Christianity in mastery Anglo-Saxon,
every paragraph thunderbolt.
Some of you have read of the famous
trial In Westminster hall of Warren
Hastings, the despoier of India. That
great man had conquered India by splen-
did talents, by courage, by brides, by
gigantic dishonesty. The whole world
had rung with applause or condemna-
ton. Gathered in Westminster hall, q
La.
place in which 30 kings had been in
augurated, was one Of the most famous
audiences ever gathered. Foreign min
listers and princes sat there. Peers
marched in, clad in ermine and gold.
Mighty men and women from all lands