The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1896-12-09
N,e q ,ec,ea,,re day. when,the soul is espe-

OF a wild Drained relormer. Dut an lnStltutiou
, established at the beginning. God has made
natural aud moral laws 30 harmonious that
| the body as we'll as the soul demands this In
stttution, Our bodies are S. en- day clocks
that must be wound up as often as that OF
they will run down. Failure must come
sooner or later to the man who breaks the
Sabbath. Inspiration has called It the Lords
day, and he who devotes It to the world Is
guilty of robbery. God will not let the sin
20 unpunished either in this world or the
world TO come.
This is the statement of man who has
broken this divine enactment: " was en-
gagged in manufacturing on the Lehign
River. On the Sabbath I used to rest, but
never regarded God In 1t. One beautiful
Sabbath when the noise was all hushed, and
the day was all that loveliness could make
it, sat down on my piazza and went to work
inventing a new shuttle. Ineither stopped
to eat nor drink till the sun went down. BY
that time I had the invention completed.
The next morning I exhibited It and boasted
of my days work, and was applauded. The
shuttle was tried and worked well, but that
Sabbath DAYS work cost me $4,000. we
branched out and enlarged, and the curse
OF heaven was upon me from that day on
ward"
While the divine frown must rest upon
him who tramples upon this statute, Coos
special favor will be upon that young man
who scrupulously observes 1t. This day,
properly observed, will throw hallowed
sermon and sanctuary will hold back trorn
presumptuous sins. That young man who
begins the duties Of life with either secret OF
open disrespect 10 the holy day, venture to
prophesy, will meet with no permanent sue.
cesses. Gods curse will fall upon his ship,
his store, his Office, his studio, his body and
his soul. The way Of the wicked He turneth
upside down. In one Of the old fables 1t was
said that wonderful child was horn IN Bag
dad, and a magician could hear his Footsteps
5000 miles away. But can hear in the foot
step OF that young man on his way to the
house of worship to-day the step not only OF
lifetime Of usefulness, but the oncoming
step Of eternal ages OF happiness yet millions
OF years away.
A noble ideal and confident expectation Of
approximating to 1t are an infallible de-
fense. The artist completes in his mind the
great thought that he wishes to transfer to
the canvas or the marble before he takes up
the crayon or the chisel. The architect
plans out the entire structure before he
orders the workmen to begin, and, though
there may for long while seem to be moth
ing but blundering and rudeness, he has In
arch and Byzantine capital. The poet
arranges the entire plot before he begins to
chime the first canto Of tingling rhythms.
And yet, strange to say, there are men who
attempt to build their character without
knowing whether in the end 1t shall be a
rude Tartar's tent or St. Marks of Venice
men who begin to write the intricate poem
of their lives without knowing whether 1t
shall be a Homer's "odyssey" or rhym-
esters botcb.
Nine hundred and ninety-nine men out OF
thousand are living without any great life
plot. Booted and spurred and plumed, and
haste, I ask: "Hello, man! Whittier awav2"
His respones, "Nowhere. Rush into the
busy shop or store Of many a one and TAX
ing the plane out Of the mans hand oriay-
ing down the yardstick, say, "What, man, Is
all this about-so much stir and sweat2"
The reply will stumble and break down
between teeth and lips. Every days duty
ought only to be the filling up Of the main
plan OF existence Let men be consistent.
If they prefer misdeeds to correct courses of
action, then let them draw out the design of
knavery and cruelty and plunder Let every
days falsehood and wrong doing be added
as coIoring to the picture. Let bloody deeds
red stripe the picture, and the clouds Of a
wrathful God hang down heavily over the
canvas, ready to break out in clamorous
tempest. Let the waters be chafed and
froth tangled and green with immess-
urable depths. Then take torch OF
burning pitch and scorch into the fraIae
the right name for it-the souls su1ciGs.
If one entering upon sinful direo-
tions would only In his mind or on pa
per draw out in awful reality this dreadful
future, he would recoil from it and say, Sam
7 no nta fhof hu nrpn Hfa 7 chopld "a
another Inferno2'" But IL you arc resolved
to live life such as God and good men will
approve, do not let 1t be vague dream, I'M
indefinite determination, bur in your mind
or upon paper sketch 1t in all its minuti;e.
You canhpt know the changes to which you
may be subject, but you may know what
always will be right und always will ,e
wrong. Let gentleness and charity and ver-
acity and faith stcnd in the heart of the
sketch.
On some still brooks bank make lamb
and lion lie down together. Draw two Or
three Of the trees Of life, Lot frost stricken,
nor ice glazed, nor wind stripped. but with
thick verdue waving like the palms of
heaven. On the darkest cloud place the
rainbow, that pillow Of the dying storm.
You need not print the title on the frame.
The dullest will catch the design at a
glance and say, "Tbat is the road to heav-
en-" All, me! On this sea Of life what in
Vulnerable ships. heavily laden and we'll
rugged, yet seem bound for no portl Swept
every whittier of wind and wave, they 20 up
oy the mountains, they go down by tho
valleys and are at their wits' end. They
sail by no chart, they watch no star, they
long for no harbor beg every young man
to-day to draw out sketch of what. by the
grace Of God, he means to be. Think no
excellence so high that you cannot reach
it. BE who starts out in life with high
ideal OF character and faith in its attain
ment will find himself 1ncased from a
thousand temptations. There are mag
niacent possibilities before each OF you,
young men OF the stout heart, and the buoy
ant step and the bounding spirit. would
marshal you for grand achievement. God
now provides for you the field and the
armor and the fortiacation. Who is on
the Lords side? A captain in ancient
times, to encourage his men against the
immense odds on the side Of their enemies.
said: Come. my men, look these fellows
in the face. They are 5000; you are 800.
Surely the match is even" That speech gave
them the victory, Be not, my hearers, dis
mayed at any time by what seems ap iul-
mense odds against you. Is fortune, Is want
OF education, are men. are devils against you,
though the multitudes OF earth and hell COZ
front you, stand up to the charge. With
l,000,000 against you, the match Is just even
nay, vol have decided advantage. II
God be for US. who can be against us2 Thus
protected, you need not spend much time In
answering your assailants.
Many years ago word;:came to me that tw o
imposters, as temperance lecturers, had been
speaking in Ohio In various places and Civ
ing their experience, and they told their
audience that they had long: been intimate
with me and had become drunkards by dir.
ing at my table, where I always hea liquors
of all sorts. INDIGNANT to the last degree, /
Brooklyn police, saying that was going to