Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1896-08-21

full u imperfections. I do not know
but am a great deal better than he is
now Oftentimes he is very earthly, and
he talks so little about Christ and so
much about himself. l am very glad to
testify that this is bad man.
Stop o world with the greedy eye
and hard heart. 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 has
been variance between the world and
the church, and while the world on the
witness stand today has told a great
deal of truth about this Christian man,
you must take it all with much allow
ance, remembering that they still keep
the old grudge good. o world of the
greedy eye and the hard heart, that will
do; yoI may sit down.
The second witness call in this case
is conscience. Who art thou. O con-
science? What IS your business? Where
were you born? What are you doing
here? "Oh, says cohscience, Il was
born in heaven came down to be-
friend this man. l have lived with him.
1 have instructed him. have warned
him. l showed him the right and the
wrong, advising him to take the one
and eschew the other have kindled a
great light in his soul. With a whip
Of scorpions 1 have scourged his wicked
ness, and have tried to cheer him
/ when doing right, and yet l am COM
PEELED to testify on the stand today that
he has sometimes rejected my mission.
Oh, how many cups of life have l
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 God 1t pains me very much
that have to testify against this Chris
tian man, and yet l 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 a
thousand things he ought not to have
done and left undone a thousand things
he ought to have done" That will do,
conscience. You can sit down.
Important Testimony.
The third witness call in the case is
an angel Of God. Bright and shining
one, what doest thou here? What hast
thou to say against this man on trial:
"Oh, says the angel, Il have been a
messenger to him. have guarded him.
have watched him. With this wing |
have defended him, and oftentimes,
when he knew il not, | led him into
green pastures and beside the still wa
ters. l snatched from him the poisoned
chalices. When bad spirits came upon
him to destroy him, l fought them back
with infinite fierceness, and yet | have
to testify today that he had rejected my
mission. He has not done as he ought
to have done Though l came from the
sky, he drove me back. Though with
this wing | defended him and though
with this voice | wooed him. l have 70
announce his multiplied imperfections.
l 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, " Us the
Holy One, Il know him. have striven
with him 1000 times, and, though
sometimes he did seem to repent, he fell
back again as often from his first estate.
Ten thousand times 10, 900 has he
grieved me, although the Bible warned
him, saying: 'Grieve not the Holy
Ghost. Quench not the Spirit. Yes, ne
has driven me back. Though l 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. l came from the throne OF
God to convert and comfort and sancti-
fy, and yet look at that man and see
MIldA llt - Yum lttANA " AAAA h-'@et N--N
sisted, l would have made him.
The evidence on the part Of the prose
cution has closed. Now let tie defense
bring on the rebuttal testimony. What
have you, o Christian soul, to bring in
reply to this evidence Ct the world, Of
the conscience, Of the angel AID Of the
Holy Ghost? NoCvidcncC: Are all these
things true? "YCs. Unclc@D. rnc!ean,
SAYS every Christian soul What? De
you not begin to trCnble at the thought
Of condemnation:
Summing Up.
We have come now to the Most inter
esting part Of this great trial. he eyi-
dence all in, the advocates speak. The
profession Of an advocate Is full Of re-
sponsibility. In England and the United
States there have arisen men who IN this
calling have been honorod by their race
and thrown contempt upon those who
in the profession have been guilty OF a
great many meannesses. That profes-
sion will be honorable as long as 1t has
attached TO it such names as Mansfield
and Marshall and Story and Kent and
Southard and William Writ. The court
room has sometimes been the scene OF
very marvellous and thrilling things.
Some of you remember the famous Gl-
rard will case, where one of our adyo-
Gates pleaded the cause Of the Bible and
Christianity in mastery Anglo-Saxon,
very paragraph a thunderbOlt.
Some OF you have read Of the famous
trial in Westminster hall Of Warren
Hastings, the despoiler Of India That
great nan had conquered India by splen-
did talents, by courage, by brides, by
gigantic dishonesty. The whole world
had rung with applause or condemna-
tion. Gathered in Westminster hall,
place In which 80 kings had been i'll
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