The Lexington dispatch. [volume] (Lexington, South Carolina) 1870-1917, 1896-08-26

the atoncmeut that I brought with
which to cleanse his soul he sometimes
despised. I came frcm the throne CT
God to convert and comfort and sancti-
fy, and yet look at that man and see
what he is compared with what, unre.
sisted, I would have made him. y
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? Arc all these
things true? eyes. Unclean, unclean,
says every Christian soul. What? Do
you not begin to tremble at the thought
of condemnation?
Summing Up.
We have come now to the most inter-
esting part Of this great trial. The evi-
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 honored BY their race
and thrown contempt upon those who
in the profession have been guilty OF a
great many mcannesses. That profes-
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 cf the Bible and
Christianity in masterly Anglo-Saxon,
every paragraph thunderbolt.
Some of you have read of the famous
trial in Westminster hall Of Warren
Hastings, the despoiler of India. That
great man had conquered India by splen-
did talents, by courage, by bribes, BY
gigantic dishonesty. The whole world
had rung with applause or condemna-
ton. Gathered in Westminster hall,
place in which 80 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
looked down upon the scene. Amid all
that pomp and splendor and amid all
excitement such as has seldom been seen
in any courtroom Edmund Burke ad-
yanced in speech which will last as
long as the English language, conclud-
ing with this burning charge, which
made Warren Hastings cringe and COW
er: II impeach him in the name Of the
commons house of parliament, whose
trust he has betrayed. I impsach him in
the name of the English nation, whose
ancient honor he has sullied. impeach
him in the name of the people of India,
whose country he has turned into des-
ert. And, lastly, in the name of human
nature, in the name of both sexes, In
the name of every age and rank, i'm
peach him as the common enemy and
oppressor of all. ~
But I turn from the recital Of these
memorable occasions to grander trial,
and have to tell you that in this trial
Of the Christian, for the life of his soul,
the advocates are mighticr, wiser and
more eloquent. The evidence all being
in, severe and stern Justice rises Oh be-
half of the prosecution to make his plea.
With the Bible open in his hand he
reads the law, stern and infexible, and
the penalty, "The soul that sinneth. it
shall die" Then he says: 80 thou
Judge and Lawgivcr, this is thine own
statute, and all the evidence i'll earth
and heaven agrees that the man has
sinned against these enactments. Now
let the sword leap from its scabbard.
Shall man go through the very flames
of Sinai unsinged? Let the Jaw be ex-
ecuted. Let Judgment be pronounced.
Let him die. demand that he die!'
O Christian, does it not look very
dark for thee? Who will plead on thy
side in so forlorn cause? Sometimes
man will be brought into court Of
law, and he will have no friends and no
money, and the judge will look over the
bar and say, "Is there any one who
will volunteer to take this mans case
and defend him?'' And some young
man rises up and says, Il will be his
counsel" perhaps starting Oh from that
very point to a great and brilliant ca
reer.. Now, in this matter of the soul,
as you have nothing to pay for counsel,
do you think that any one will volun-
teer? Yes, yes; see one rising. He is a
young man, only 80 years of age. l see
his countenance suffused with tears and
covered with blood, and all the galleries
of heaven are thrilled with the spec
tacle. Thanks be unto God, ave have
an advocate with the Father, Jesus
Christ the righteous.
o Christian soul, your case begins
to look better. I think, perhaps, after
all, you may not have to die. The best
advocate in the universe has taken your
side. No one was ever SO qualified to
defend you. He knows all the law, all
its demands, all its penalties He is al
ways ready. No new turn of the case
can surprise him, and he will plead for
you for nothing as earnestly as though
you brought world of treasure to his
feet. Besides that, he has undertaken
the case of thousands who were as for
lorn as you, and he has never lost a
case. Courage, o Christian soul! 1
think that, after all. there may be some
chance for Won. for the great advocate