Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1896-04-08


When they're baked and nicely Drowned
Well. a good strong lock and key, dears,
Is the best thing have found ,,;,o++
Gods Children All.
Am Imy brothers keeper ?-Genesis, iv.,9.
Upon every man that lives is imposed
a double responsibility is definite
" and sharply responsible for himself,
and to a certain extent for every one
who comes within the sphere of his in
auence.
The man who wants everything is
apt to end by being in want of every
thing, while he who gives freely is apt
TO grow richer in heart, though he
grows poorer in purse.
1t is curious to note our dependence
on each other and how impossible it is
to be sufficient unto ourselves. The
world may get on very well without us,
but not for day can weget on with
out the world. 1t furnishes us with
pretty nearly all the materials out of
which we build character and success.
It donates thousand physical com
forts and conveniences which we could
not fashion for ourselves. 1t surrounds
us with certain moral influences which
are the growth of ages, and presents
for our imitation the careers of its no.
blest heroes in every department OF life.
You are but one thread in the great
fabric, and would be counted as moth
ing but for the other threads which
give YOU your Importance.
Out of these facts certain duties grow,
and these duties, properly set in order,
make up what we call practical relig
ion. 1t is system of religion that can
rouse our deepest enthusiasm. for it is
based on the fatherhood of God and
the brotherhood of man. 1t goes back
to the time when shepherds fed their
flocks on the everlasting hills, and it
goes forward as far as the millennium.
Men may speculate as they please
about the nature of duty and the vari-
GUS methods by which salvation can be
attained, but their creeds may all be
whistled down the wind like SO much
thistledown, for over and above all
creeds and all speculation, even as a
giant bendeth over child, these two
facts tower in splendor and majesty
namely, that religion consists in love
toward (5od, love that flies upward
to the stars, and love toward man, a
love that makes each sufferer our
neighbor, or, better still. our brother
The angels stoop to earth with smiling
faces whenever man sacrifices his OWL
comfort in order to encourage some dis
heartened soul. The aeolian harp
makes exquisite music when the breezet
sweep over its strings, but the human
heart makes far better music wheI
willing hands have busted themselves
to uplift fallen brother. There is nc
satisfaction so nearly divine as thai
which comes when Gods angels KNOCK
at your door and thank you for saving
one who but for your efforts would
have gone far astray.
Youwould not dare to sit Indifferent
ly by if some one, blindfolded, were
staggering toward a precipice. L
would be the rankest heresy and the
most contemplate cowardice to declare
that no responsibility for his fate rest
ed on your shoulders. If by your ex
ertions you can save him. you are by
that fact made responsible for the in
jury that befalls.
You cannot wrap your mantle of self
righteousness about you and pursue
the policy OF saving yourself and letting
others take their chances. The father
hood of God repudiates that kind O
religion, and the brotherhood of maj
grows pale at thought of it.
There are many precipices and man.
blindfolded souls are staggering dan
gerously near the edge. Temptation
drives with a whip of knotted cords
and our passions and appetites depriy
us of our common sense. Men are reel
ing toward thousand hells, and pit
of perdltion yawn everywhere. Shall
you be dumb or sit at your ease becaus
there is no pit near you? If mai
falls whom you can save, you also shall
fall in the great hereafter. If souls ar
crying out for help, and you sit idl,
by, there is no heaven for you eithe
to-day or to morrow. You are you
brothers. keeper, and you can do moth
ing better for yourself than doing some
thing for others. If you can say,
have saved this man or that man, tn,
angels will reply. ''And at the sam
time. and by that act, you saved your
self.''
What a grand thing, then, is relig
ion! With what dignity it bears itsel
and how majestic is its mien! What
grasp it has on the heart, and wha
fires of love it kindles How close t,
God we got by getting close to our fel
low men, and how near to heaven w
are when surrounded by good deeds
Speak, then, the kindly, cheering wore
whenever opportunity offers; reach GU
the helping hand to those needy one
who cross your path, and you will b
surprised to find brightness and glad
ness in your own life, for no one eve
clasped his brothers hand without dis
covering that in some mysterious wa.
he clasped Gods hand aslo. The worlt
is beautiful when there is love in tn,
heart.
GEORGE II. HEPWORTH.