The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1897-10-20

the Wilderness, and they are worth more
to the world, and more to the church, and
more to God than those OF Us who nave
never so much as had 8 finger joint still
fened by felon.
Put to full use all the faculties that re-
main and charge on all opposing circum.
stances with the determination OF John OF
Bohemia, who was totally blind, and yet ut
battle cried out, II pray and beseech
you to lead ME so far into the fight that !
may strike one good blow with this sword
Of minel' Do not think so much OF what
faculties you have lost as Of what fac ulties
remain. You have enough left to make
help the earth and balk hell and win
heaven. Arise from your discouragemen ents,
o men and women OF depleted or Grip PIED
physical faculties. and see. what, by the
special help Of God, you can accomplish!
Another form Of disadvantage under
which many labor Is lack OF early educa-
tion. There will be no excuse for ignof-
ance In the next generation. Free schools
and illimitable opportunity of education
will make ignorance crime. i peleVe IN
compulsory education, and chose parents
who neglect to put their children under
educational advantages have but one right
left, and that is the penitentiary. But
there are multitudes Of men and women ID
midlife who have had no opportunity; Free
schools had not vet been established, and
vast multitudes had little or no school at
all. They feel 1t when, as.Ghristian men,
they come to speak or pray IN religious
assemblies or public occasions. patriotlo
or political or educational. They are
ilent because they do not feel competent.
They owe nothing to English. grammar. OF
geography, or bellies lettres, They would
not know q participle from a pronoun II
they met 1t many times day. Many OF the
most successful merchants OF America and
in high political places cannot write an ac-
curate letter on any theme. They are COM
pletely dependent upon clerks, and depu-
ties. and stenographers, t. make things
right. I knew literary man who IN other
years in this city made his fortune by writ
ing speeches for congressman or liking
them up for The Congressiona al Record after
they were delivered. The millionaire IL
literacy of this country Is beyond measure.
fnent.-
Not q word have to say against accur-
acy OF speech or fine elocution or high men-
tai culture. Get all these you can. But
do say to those who were brought up In the
day Of poor school-houses and ignorant
schoolmasters and no opportunity: You
may have so much OF good In your soul and
that you will be mightier for good than any
who went through the curriculum Of Har-
ward or Yale Or Oxford, yet never graduated
In the school OF Christ. When you get up
to the gate oil heaven, no ono will ask you
whether you can parse the first chapter OF
Genesis, but whether you have learned the
fear Of the Lord. which is tho beginning OF
wisdom, nor whether you know how to
square the circle, but whether you have
lived a square life in round world. Mount
Zion Is higher than Mount Parnassus.
-1.aL okIa o,,1fI 1nd nrn
der other disadvantages Here Is Chris
tian woman whose husband shinks religion
a sham, and while the wife Irays the chill
dren one way the husband s'vears them an
other. Or here Is Christian man who ls
trying to do his best for God and the
church, and his wife holds him back and
saws on the way home froIa prayer meet
ing, where he gave testimony for Christ:
"What a fool you made OF yourselfl lhope
hereafter you will keep still" And when
he would be benevolent AMI give $50 she
criticises him for not giving fifty cents. |
must do justice and publicly thank God
that never proposed at horne to give any,
thing for any cause Of humanity or religion
but the other partner in the domestic firm
approved It, and when it seemed beyond
nv ability and faith in God was necessary
she had three-fourths the faith. But
know men who, when they contribute TO
charitable objects, are afraid that the wife
shall find It out. What whitening curse
such woman must be to good mani
Then there are others under the great
disadvantage Of poverty. Who ought to
get things cheapest2 You say those who
buy coal by the ton; they buy 1t by the
bucket. You buy -four by the barrel; they
buy It by the pound. You get apparel cheap
because you pay cash; they pay dear be-
cause they have to get trusted. And the
Bible was right when 1t said. "The destruc.
tion of the poor is their poverty"
Then, there are those who made mis-.
take In early life, and that cvershadows oil
their days. "Do you not know that that
man was once in prison?" Is whispered. OR.
I'D you know that that man once attempted
snicide2" Or, "Do you know thatthat man
o. 80 absconded2" Or, "Do you know thai
tbGt man was once discharged for dis.
honestly" Perhaps there was only one
wrong deed in the mans life, and that one
act haunts the subsequent half century OF
his existence.
Others had wrong proclivities from the
start. They were born wrong, and that
sticks to one even after he Is born again.
They have a natural crankiless that Is 275
years old. It came over with their great
grandfathers from Scotland, or Wales, or
France. It was born on tho banks OF the
Thames, or the Clyde, or the Tiber, or the
Rhine, and has survived all the plaques
and epidemics OF many gen arations, and ts
living to-day on the banks CT the Potomac,
or the Hudson, or the Androscoggi Or
the Savannah, or the La Plata. And when
man tries to stop this evil ancestral
proclivity he Is like a man n rock In the
rapids Of Niagara, holding on with grip
from which the swift currents are trying
to sweep him into the abyss beyond.
Oh, this world is an overb'lrdened world.
and overworked world. It Is an awfully tired
world. 1t is dreadfully unfortunate
world. Scientists are trying to find out
the cause Of these earthquakes In all lands,
cisatlantic and transatlantic. Some say
this and some say that. I have taken the
diagnosis Of what Is the matter with the
earth. It has 80 many burdens on 1t and
so many fires within it, 1t has fit. 1t can.
not stand such circumference and such
diameter. Some new CotoIpaxi or Stron-
boli or Vesuyius will open, and then all WILL
be at peace for the natural world. But
what about the moral woes OF the world
that have rscked all Nations, and for 60o0
years science proposes nothing but knoTl-
edge, and many people who know the most
are the most uncontrolled?
In the way Of practical relief for ell
disadvantages and all woes the only voice
that is worth listening to on this subject is
the voice Of Christianity, which Is the voice
Of Almighty God. Whether have men
toned the particular disadvantage under
which you labor or not, distinctly de-
clare, In the name OF my God, that here is
way out and way up for all OF you. You
cannot be any worse Off than that Christian
young woman who was in the Pemberton
mills when they fell some years ago, and
from under the fallen timbers she was heard
singing, 81 am going home to die no
more"
Take good courage from that Bible, all
NJ whose PROMISES nre for those in bad pre-