The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1897-05-02
NO SECT IN HEAVEN.
Published by H. Longstreth, 1886 Chest
nut Street, 1861.

fuDUSleu ny II. LOHSStTetL. IOoO CueSI-
nut Street, 1861.
Talking of sects till late one eve,
OF the various doctrines the saints be-
lieve,
That night l stood in a troubled dream
BY the side of a darkly flowing stream.
And a "Churchman" down to the river
came,
name,
Good father, stop; when you eros this
tide
You must leave your robes on the other
side"
But the aged father did not mind,
And his long gown foated out behind,
AS down to the stream his way took,
His pale hands clasping a gilt-edeged
book.
I'm bound for Heaven, and when I'm
there
And though l put on a starry crown
l should feel quite lost without my
gown"
Then he fixed his eyes on the shining
track,
But his gown was heavy and held him
back,
And the poor old father tried in vain >,
A single step in the flood to gain.
l saw him again on the other side,
,ut his silk gown foated on the tide,
And no one asked in that blissful spot
Wether he belonged to 1.-The Church" or
not.
Then down to the river a Quaker strayed
His dress Of sober hue was made;
my coat and hat must be of gray,
cannot go any other way"
Then he buttoned his coat straight up to
his chin
And staidly, solemnly, waded in,
And his broad brimmed hat he pulled
down tight
Over his forehead, so cold and white.
But a tsrong wind carried away his hat:
"A moment he silently sighed over that,
And then, as he gazed to the farther
shore.
The coat was slipped off and was seen no
more.
AS he entered Heaven his suit of gray
Went quietly sailing away-away,
And none of the angels questioned him
About the width of his beavers brim.
Next came DR.. Watts, with bundle of
Psalms
Tied nicely up in his aged arm,
And hymns as many, very wise thing,
That the people in Heaven, "all round
might sing.
But thought that he heaved an anxious
sigh
AS he saw that the river ran broad and
high,
And hooked rather surprised as, one by
one,
The Psalms and hymns in the wave went
down.
And after him, with his MSS,
Came Wesley, the pattern of godliness,
But he cried, Dear me, what shall l do!
The water has soaked them through and
through"
And there on the river, far and wide,
Away they went down the swollen tide,
And the saint, astonished, passed through
alone,
Without his manuscript, up to the throne.
Then gravely walking, two saints by
name,
Down to the strea mtogether came,
But as they stopped at the rivers brink
| saw one saint from the other shrink.
"Sprinkled or plunged, may I ask you,
friend,
How you attained to life's great end?'
Thus, with a few drops on my brow,
But / have been dipped as you'll Sc ME
now"
"And / really think it will hardly do,
As l in close communion to cross with
you.
You're bound, l know, to the realms of
bliss,
But you must go that way and I'll go
this
Then straightway plunging with all his
might,
And to the left his friend at the right.
Apart they went from this world of sin,
But at last together theS entered in.
And now. when the river was rolling on
A Presbyterian Church went down;
OF women there seemed an innumerable
throng,
But the men | could count as they passed
along.
And concerning the road they could never
agree,
The old or the new way, which it could
be,
Nor even moment paused to think
That both would lead to the rivers brink.
And a sound of murmuring long and loud
Came ever up from the moving crowd
you're in the old way, and I'm in the
new,
That is the false and this is the true"
Or. I'm in the old way and you're in the
new.
That is the false, and this is the true"
~ l.